Tag Archives: preamble

New Issue of Liberator Out

By Liberator Collective | Thu 7th February 2019 - 2:10 pm

Issue 394 of Liberator is on its way to subscribers.

Our first free sample article for this issue gives three perspectives from the continent on Brexit, by Søs Haugaard, Kate Vanovitch and Sonja Rentz.

In the second, Tony Greaves explains how the Liberal Democrat preamble – barely contentious when written – now reads like a revolutionary text.

Both are on: www.liberatormagazine.org.uk

Also in this issue:

PARLIAMENT PERFORMS THE PARROT SKETCH  The contortions of Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn over Brexit remind David Grace more of Monty Python than an effective legislature

PADDY ASHDOWN 1941 – 2018 Obituaries by Alan Leaman, Rebecca Tinsley, Roger Hayes, Mark Smulian, Claire Tyler and Les Farris

WHERE DID ENGLAND GO?  Jonathan Coe’s new novel Middle England uses characters from some earlier books to chart the nation’s path into one of mutually uncomprehending tribes after the 2016 referendum, finds Jonathan Calder

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Paul Walter

We’re all “Preamble Lib Dems”

By Paul Walter | Wed 30th September 2015 - 6:00 pm

There has been a very minor outbreak of people using the label “Preamble Lib Dem” to describe themselves.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 104 Comments
Mark Argent

Defecting or coming home?

By Mark Argent | Thu 24th September 2015 - 2:20 pm

Jeremy Corbyn’s election has brought speculation about people on the right of the Labour party switching to the Liberal Democrats. Some of those comments make sense, but others don’t.

At its best, there are times when a genuine change of conviction makes a change of party into a home-coming. I think of the authenticity of Jacob Whiten, writing in Liberal Democrat Voice on his move from UKIP to the Liberal Democrats, and the enormous contribution of people like Shirley Williams, who came into the Liberal Democrats by moving from Labour to the SDP.

But defections can backfire, and the language of encouraging them can play badly, as in the case of a recent spoof email from Tim Farron to Chuka Umunna encouraging him to switch, written by Amol Rajan in the Evening Standard.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 15 Comments
Seth Thevoz

Opinion: Blast from the Past: Wisdom from the old Liberal Party

By Seth Thevoz | Wed 10th September 2014 - 3:00 pm

Amidst the party’s recent problems, a lot of people have been talking about the party’s principles, and in particular, the preamble to the constitution.

As a statement of principles, it’s fine – I would imagine that most Liberal Democrats can sit through it, nodding in broad agreement. It speaks to my head – but not my heart.

And we mustn’t imagine that it’s set in stone. I recently dug up this beauty: the Preamble to the Constitution of the old Liberal Party, from 1980. It’s stirring stuff, and is really worth a read.

The original preamble was …

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