Tag Archives: john vincent

Wanted – a bit more dissent!

The last piece I contributed to Lib Dem Voice appeared a couple of years ago in August 2018 and was entitled Why Aren’t We Doing (Much) Better? That posting (which does seem, at least in part, to have been vindicated by subsequent events) was prompted by a critical analysis of party performance in The New Statesman: this one, which could reasonably be accused of being “Why aren’t we doing (much) better 2”, is prompted by a critical analysis of party performance in The Spectator. Not, interestingly, from The Spec’s ever-growing army of cultural warriors of the libertarian right, but from that pillar of Europhile liberal Toryism, Matthew Parris.

Mr Parris is saying that we Liberal Democrats haven’t said one new or critical or penetrating thing since the last Election. Who can reasonably disagree with him? The scars of 2019 (and 2015, and 2017) go deep within our party, and there has inevitably been an extended period of introspection. Both ourselves and the Labour Party are now in the very uncomfortable position of recognising that in the autumn of 2019 the majority of active party members wanted to take positions on Europe that proved politically disastrous. Those wise older LibDem hands who warned against the Revoke position lost the relevant conference vote by a landslide, with consequences that grew more apparent everyday: as a party we were unquestionably tough on Brexit, but on the (politically more resonant) causes of Brexit we were, and arguably remain, absolutely nowhere.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 72 Comments

Reigate Liberal Democrats select John Vincent to be their PPC

Reigate Liberal Democrats have selected John Vincent, an aviation safety expert, as their candidate in the next general election.

Mr Vincent beat four other candidates in a vote of local party members at a hustings held on Friday evening at Reigate College.

Speaking after his success, John Vincent said:

I’m thrilled to be selected for Reigate. People here deserve so much better than the current set-up. We need to move from despair to hope. We need to build a better future for everyone in our community.

On the national political situation Mr Vincent said:

We are

Posted in News | Also tagged | 1 Comment

Clegg: “Every primary school pupil should be able to sit down to a hot, healthy lunch with their classmates every day”

school childrenNick Clegg’s speech to the Lib Dem conference on Wednesday will contain one new, significant policy announcement: all pupils at infant schools in England are to get free school lunches from next September.

In addition, disadvantaged students at sixth form colleges and further education colleges in England will also be eligible for free school meals also from next September. Money is also being provided for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but as education is a devolved issue, it will be up to those running schools there to decide whether …

Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged , , , , and | 112 Comments
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  • expats
    Tristan Ward 15th Jul '25 - 7:57pm... To move from that to the method of dismissal is a non-sequitur... Hardly.. It is the obvious next step.. The inept way ...
  • David Warren
    @SimonR As I said you know little if anything about trade unions....
  • Ruth Bright
    Lovely post. You don't have to go all anthem for doomed youth Caron. You don't look 40 years older - which is the main thing x Loved the bit when the young M...
  • Steve Trevethan
    Might a possible approach to addressing the Birmingham bin disagreement be to revise community charge taxation so that it really represents the value of the pro...
  • Tristan Ward
    @ Jenny Barnes "“Labour’s problem, as a {Tory-lite} party is perhaps existential since history seems to be showing the the {neo-liberal}project is doomed...