Tag Archives: mike martin

The Voice

Layla Moran asks Urgent Question on Northern Gaza

By The Voice | Wed 8th January 2025 - 3:43 pm

Yesterday, Layla Moran was granted an urgent question in the House of Commons on the humanitarian crisis in Northern Gaza.

She said:

Over 450 days on, we all know the statistics—45,000 Palestinians killed, 100 hostages missing, 2.3 million people desperate—but I want to tell a single human story. I have previously spoken about my friend, consultant surgeon Mohamed, who operated on me when I had sepsis. His family are trapped in the Jabalia refugee camp. They are elderly and sick. One is a three-year-old girl. He has described how there are bodies strewn in the street.

I am sorry to report that death did not come knocking this weekend. Rather, it was dropped by a precision drone as Mohamed’s brother and his son walked 10 metres to get aid. The son died of a brain injury, two 13-year-old girls and their mother have shrapnel wounds, and Mohamed’s elderly father, who was already ill, is in hospital. A three-year-old, her mother and Mohamed’s mother are alone in a house with no one to help them get food.

These were obviously not militants—they were sick. They are not legitimate targets of war. There is no excuse for this. Mohamed told me it feels like they are living in “The Hunger Games,” dodging drones and scavenging for the basics. Even if they wanted to leave, how can they?

What part of international law makes any of this okay? Where is the accountability? Where is the justice? What does the Minister have to say to Mohamed, who spends his days saving lives here in the UK while his family are slaughtered overnight?

And it is not just Mohamed. People in Gaza are trapped in a doom loop of hell—hospitals decimated, and ceasefires promised and never delivered. So I press the Government again: is this really everything the UK has got? Have we deployed everything to make this stop? When will we recognise Palestine? Why have we not stopped the arms trade to Israel? And when will the Government ban trading with illegal settlements?

The frustration is palpable. Our grief is fathomless. People across the UK are looking on in horror, and the horror in Gaza must stop now.

There were nine other Lib Dem contributors:

Our foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller:

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The Voice

Our new MPs: Mike Martin, Danny Chambers, Charlie Maynard, Will Forster, Clive Jones

By The Voice | Sun 7th July 2024 - 1:15 pm

We thought you might like to find out a little bit about our new MPs. We didn’t think we’d have quite so many, but this is a lovely problem to have. All details come from the party website or the MPs’ social media. We’ll get to know them more over the next wee while, but here’s a taster. 

Our editor sleepily compiled a Twitter list of all our MPs’ accounts she could find. You can follow it here. 

Mike Martin MP: Tunbridge Wells

Mike Martin is standing as the candidate for Tunbridge Wells. He is a former British army officer who served multiple tours in Helmand, Afghanistan. Since leaving the army, he has also had other leadership roles, including as a senior executive in a global charity working to bring different people and organisations together to solve problems.

Mike is a Senior Fellow at King’s College London – an expert in geopolitics and conflict – and the author of several books on psychology, conflict and travel.

His background has taught him a lot about how to understand and work with different perspectives, how to bring people together to solve problems and how to get difficult things done.

Mike is campaigning on making the town centre of Tunbridge Wells a town centre that is fit for the 21st century—greener, less traffic, and with more things for youngsters to do. He would also like to lead a drive towards building more affordable housing in the area and, crucially, to make sure there is sufficient infrastructure for the houses that we already have. This means enough GP surgeries, and school places, and public transport.

At a national and international level, Mike has significant expertise in geopolitics and conflict. If elected, his focus at a national level will be on helping guide the UK through the turbulent years that we face.

Twitter: @threshedthought

Danny Chambers MP: Winchester

Danny works as a vet in Winchester, is the trustee of two charities and was elected by his peers to the body that governs the veterinary profession. He’s been involved in charitable projects all over the world.

He is committed to campaigning for better healthcare services for Winchester. He has also used his platform as a vet to campaign nationally on wider issues ranging from mental health to animal welfare.

Danny enjoys cycling, running and hiking. One of his favourite routes is the Itchen Navigation along the route of the old canal.

Twitter: @dannyvet

Charlie Maynard MP: Witney

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