Tag Archives: rob blackie

Mark Valladares

19 January 2024 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 19th January 2024 - 11:20 pm
  • Rob Blackie: Flashy Fares Freeze Fools No One
  • Welsh Lib Dems push for Senedd reform

Rob Blackie: Flashy Fares Freeze Fools No One

Following Sadiq Khan’s announcement he is freezing fares for a year, Lib Dem Candidate for London Mayor, Rob Blackie, said:

Sadiq Khan’s flashy fare freeze fools no one. It is typical of a Mayor who prefers delivering headlines to delivering for Londoners.

We all know the state of Transport for London’s finances and so the Mayor will simply claw this back through other means – most likely after votes have been cast. It is simply an election year gimmick.

After eight years of mismanagement, the Mayor has repeatedly cancelled investments like the Sutton tram – only now to find money down the back of the sofa for an election campaign sweetener.

Khan can’t be trusted to run Transport for London.

Welsh Lib Dems push for Senedd reform

The Senedd Reform Bill Committee today published its report ahead of the introduction of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill.

Jane Dodds MS sits as a member of the committee and has played a fundamental role in the scrutiny of the electoral method proposed by the Welsh Government.

Ahead of the upcoming Senedd reforms, the party have set out their position to see the Senedd expanded in terms of its members whilst also pushing for the fairest electoral system possible with the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote system.

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Mark Valladares

21 November 2023 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 21st November 2023 - 10:30 pm
  • Surfers against Sewage Report: “Shameful” that people are falling sick from swimming in sewage
  • 400,000 patients waiting for NHS treatment since last Autumn Statement
  • Sexual harassment survey: Comment on BTP findings
  • Welsh Lib Dems urge speed up of Net Zero Plan
  • Welsh Lib Dems call more for ambitious clean air target
  • Welsh Lib Dems lay down their demands for Wales from upcoming Autumn statement

Surfers against Sewage Report: “Shameful” that people are falling sick from swimming in sewage

Responding to the Surfers Against Sewage report which has found bathing sites in the UK are failing to meet minimum safety levels, while hundreds of people are falling sick due to sewage pollution, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

It is shameful that so many popular swimming spots are being ruined and people are getting seriously ill because of filthy sewage dumping. Water companies are being allowed to get away with committing environmental vandalism on a huge scale while pocketing huge bonuses.

This is an insult to families across the country who just want to swim at their local river or beach without worrying about falling sick because of disgusting sewage. It’s about time Conservative ministers cracked down on sewage dumping, starting with banning bonuses for water company bosses until this filthy practice is brought to an end.

400,000 patients waiting for NHS treatment since last Autumn Statement

  • The NHS backlog has grown to 7.8 million since last year’s Autumn Statement, with almost 400,000 waiting for treatment since before November 2022
  • Liberal Democrat Leader calls on the Chancellor to bring down NHS waiting lists to get people back to work and boost economic growth
  • Ed Davey: “Any plan for economic growth needs a plan for urgent NHS action. Without a new NHS plan, tens of thousands of people will be left out of work, in pain, desperate for treatment.”

Nearly 400,000 patients have been on a waiting list to start NHS treatment since before last year’s Autumn Statement, research by the Liberal Democrats has been revealed.

This new analysis of NHS figures shows a staggering 391,122 patients have been stuck in a backlog waiting for consultant-led treatment since before last November’s Autumn Statement. Meanwhile, the number of patients stuck on NHS waiting lists has increased to 7.8 million, up 700,000 compared to last year.

It comes as new polling by the Liberal Democrats found that one in seven working age adults (15%) say they’ve had to take a significant length of time off work in the past year as they wait for NHS treatment or surgery for a health condition.

The Liberal Democrats are warning that these treatment backlogs are damaging economic growth and will continue to impact both the economy and people’s quality of life without a significant rescue package.

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The Voice

Rob Blackie challenges Transport for London to tackle sexual harassment

By The Voice | Tue 21st November 2023 - 8:40 pm

A British Transport Police survey published today revealed that a third of women had said that they had suffered some level of sexual harassment on their daily commute by train or tube:

The recent survey also shows that half (51%) of those who have been victims of sexual offending say that other passengers tried to help them, yet only one in five (18%) people who have witnessed sexual harassment have reported it to police.

Contrary to popular belief, crime data also shows that most sexual offending takes place during the evening rush hour period (5-7pm) in busy train carriages.

Just three weeks ago, Transport for London told London Lib Dem Mayoral candidate Rob Blackie that their own survey showed sexual harassment was at a very low rate.

Rob said today:

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Caron Lindsay

Rob Blackie tackles Met Police on stop and search study failure

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 19th November 2023 - 11:55 am

Lib Dem London Mayoral Candidate Rob Blackie has been persistent in holding the Mayor to account over civil liberties issues.

He has identified through Freedom of Information requests that the Metropolitan Police has made little progress on crucial research into stop and search, three years on from promising to do so.

The answers  show that the Mayor’s office has failed to get  the Met to make any meaningful progress on the bodycam research project:

In June 2023 the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime stated to Rob Blackie:

MOPAC held debrief sessions with the Met in October 2022 to discuss the issues, but the Review was told only four of the initial 20 coders attended, some of whom had not done any coding…In January 2023, discussions took place between the Met and MOPAC around a potential solution to allow research to progress and the Met set up a specific group to progress the work. This was due to meet in February 2023 but little progress was made. The current status is that there is a meeting due to take place between MOPAC and MPS at the end of June to progress and decide the next steps of the project.

When Rob asked in July 2023 how the June meeting had made progress, MOPAC replied that:

There are no current outcomes or timelines we can provide on the progression of the project.

This all comes from the Action Plan published in November 2020 which was supposed to improve trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police.  It is disappointing, especially given the Casey Review’s conclusion earlier this year that the Met was institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynist.

You would think they would want to get a wiggle on to show that they were improving.

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Mary Reid

The shoplifting epidemic

By Mary Reid | Thu 16th November 2023 - 6:43 pm

I live in one of those quieter outer London suburbs, but over the last few months I have noticed that larger shops have introduced higher levels of security. Some supermarkets now have a member of staff apparently on greeting duty, and others have fitted extra barriers and even gates.

A large M&S Food store near me now has gates into and out of the drinks section – I once got stuck in there when the exit gate refused to open and I couldn’t go back out through the entry gate until someone else approached it and triggered the latch. Yes, I know …..

It seems shoplifting has increased dramatically. And part of the reason is because the response rate from the police is so low, and shoplifters know they can get away with it.

Back in September an article in the Guardian carried the troubling headline: ‘It’s organised looting’: UK in grip of a shoplifting epidemic, say store owners.  It claimed that shoplifting had doubled in the last three years.

(The Co-op) claimed that police failed to respond to 71% of serious retail crimes, and that bosses were considering whether it was safe and commercially viable to keep some branches open.

Paul Gerrard, the chain’s director of public affairs and a former customs officer, described some of the shoplifting as “organised looting”, saying gangs would climb over kiosks and brazenly empty shelves into rucksacks, construction bags and even wheelie bins.

…

The company said it had been forced to spend more than £200m to counter criminal behaviour, with measures such as body-worn cameras and headsets for staff and “dummy” packaging for items such as £6 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates and £6 jars of Kenco coffee to deter thieves from looting or “bulk-shoplifting”.

It has also hired undercover guards, often former police officers, who can detain shoplifters until police arrive. But Gerrard often feels their efforts are in vain because officers don’t always attend.

“We then have to let the shoplifters go, which actually is worse than intervening in the first place because that means they know, and they’ll tell all their mates, that even if they catch you the police don’t turn out. The point here is that the risk for an offender is minimal,” he said.

Rob Blackie, the Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor, has been looking into this problem across London. He has discovered that there have been 23,881 calls for shoplifting to the police on 999 since the beginning of the year. That is a massive increase of 49% on the comparable period last year.

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NewsHound

Rob Blackie: Ban on laughing gas “waste of time”

By NewsHound | Wed 8th November 2023 - 11:20 am

London Mayoral candidate Rob Blackie has criticised the Government’s ban on Nitrous Oxide which, as the BBC reports, has come into force

Now categorised as a class C drug, possession of laughing gas for its “psychoactive effects” will carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.

The government says the ban will combat anti-social behaviour and reduce damage to users’ health.

Experts previously warned against a ban saying it would be disproportionate to the level of harm it causes.

Nitrous oxide is regularly used as a painkiller in medicine and dentistry. When mixed with oxygen, it is known as “gas and air”, which can help reduce pain during childbirth.

But it is also one of the most commonly used recreational drugs by 16 to 24-year-olds. It causes short-term euphoria but can damage the nervous system.

Under the new rules, those found in unlawful possession of the drug could now face a prison sentence or unlimited fine, with up to 14 years for supply or production.

Rob said:

The Conservative Government’s new ban on laughing gas is just wasting the police’s time – precious time that should be spent on serious and violent crimes.

With all the exemptions, the ban is going to be pretty unenforceable. Officers are going to spend huge amounts of time on paperwork in the office having to justify their work.

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Nicholas Chan

A fair housing target is a fairer democracy

By Nicholas Chan | Thu 21st September 2023 - 1:40 pm

Our Liberal Democrat London Mayor challenger Rob Blackie, wrote a great article on determination to meet housing targets. His first statement “Britain spends more on housing benefits than any other rich country,” hits the mark on the choice we can make: increase home ownership and maintain a fair democracy for Britain.

We can continue spending on housing benefits, but our current model has a few issues. First, our social housing strategy has shifted towards rental accommodation in the private sector. No longer are councils owning sufficient housing to provide affordable rentals. This meant shared ownership and social credits to rent privately were the only solutions. The former further distorts the market as, in essence, gives free public money to expand property developers into bigger landlords. This is the kind of market distortion faced in Berlin where most Berliners used to rent. They are effectively providing quantitative easing to property developers. The latter, private rentals, is funding an unregulated market to exploit the less privileged. Because of the security this had offered to the private lessor, they find it easier to simply offer a shelter without the necessary up-keep while monthly rentals are directly paid into their accounts by the council. It is effectively a secured, fixed-deposit investment for private lessors; so secured they have no incentives to upkeep the property they leased out. This is quite similar to New York City where the rent ceiling exacerbated the issue.

The solution can only be ownership. The responsibility of a citizen can be driven either through harsh and unjust punishment or through providing a sense of belonging. The logic is infallible because of social psychology. The state can employ harsh laws to imprison rule breakers with long incarceration or allow for the creation of individual opportunities where each has a stake in the society they can treasure.

A democracy can be built upon the rule of law. But a liberal democracy must be sustained through private equity.

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The Voice

Liberal Democrats announce London Mayoral shortlist

By The Voice | Mon 17th July 2023 - 11:22 am

The Liberal Democrats have announced their shortlisted candidates for next year’s London Mayoral election. Rob Blackie and Chris French have been shortlisted and will now have the summer to win the support of London Liberal Democrat members. The result will be announced in September.

Rob Blackie advises startup technology companies, working on challenges such as accelerating cancer treatments and tackling climate change. In 2022 Rob founded the award-winning Breaking Putin’s Censorship Campaign – fighting Russian propaganda about the Ukraine war. Rob is number 2 on the Liberal Democrats London Assembly List for the 2024 elections.

Chris French is a community …

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The Voice

Bokhari and Blackie head London Lib Dem list

By The Voice | Sat 13th May 2023 - 4:32 pm

Current AM Hina Bokhari will be our top London list candidate in the GLA elections next year. Second on the list is Rob Blackie.

The results were announced in an email to London members from London Regional Chair Ann Glaze this afternoon.

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Mark Pack

Lynne Featherstone vs Steve Hilton on maternity pay

By Mark Pack | Mon 17th October 2011 - 7:25 am

From yesterday’s Observer:

In a wide-ranging interview with the Observer, Featherstone said it was vital the coalition delivered on its family-friendly rhetoric … In a forthright attack on some of the advisers shaping government policy, she criticised the role of Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist tasked with reporting to the prime minister on how to cut regulation on business. Beecroft is understood to have recommended a U-turn on government policies on shared parental leave and flexible working.

The proposals, outlined in a white paper, would allow couples greater freedom to co-ordinate maternity and paternity leave. A separate proposal would make it

…

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Mark Pack

Grassroots Liberal Democrat campaign for Lords reform launched

By Mark Pack | Tue 14th June 2011 - 7:22 am

From a news release sent out by, er…, me and as featured on page two of this week’s Liberal Democrat News:

The number of Liberal Democrat peers opposing the government’s plans for elections to the House of Lords has triggered the creation of a new campaign group by grassroots activists who back the introduction of elections.

“Liberal Democrats for Lords Reform” is campaigning for Liberal Democrat peers to stick to the party’s long-standing policy of an elected Upper House.

“We’ve already been waiting over 100 years for Lords reform to be completed. It’s absurd that in the 21st century you can get

…

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Helen Duffett

Daily View 2×2: 22 January 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 22nd January 2010 - 11:14 am

It’s January 22nd. It’s one year to the day since President Obama ordered Guantánamo Bay detention camp to be closed – within one year.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts – each with a question – that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

  • How good is the Taliban internal communications department?

    • Rob Blackie asks this because the Taliban have issued their members with a code of conduct:

    As anyone in internal communications will tell you – it’s getting people to read and internalise this sort of guidance that’s difficult.

  • How long does it take to deliver leaflets to the whole parliamentary consituency?

    • asks Philip Ling, Lib Dem PPC for Bromsgrove. Read on to find out his answer, and to take a couple of bundles off his hands.

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