Tag Archives: Wales

The Voice

Big wins for Welsh Lib Dems in budget negotiations

By The Voice | Wed 10th February 2016 - 9:41 am

Screen Shot 2016-02-10 at 09.39.40It’s annual budget time and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have secured some substantial investment in young people in the Welsh budget including 5000 new apprenticeships, increase in and extension of the Pupil Premium and a young person’s bus pass.

The full list of Liberal Democrat policies to be implemented is:

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Caron Lindsay

Peter Black AM’s speech to Welsh Lib Dem Conference: Ambition and fairness at heart of Lib Dem housing plans

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 9th February 2016 - 11:20 am

On Sunday, Peter Black, AM for South Wales West, a man with almost as many portfolios as there are days of Christmas, gave his keynote speech to Welsh Conference. He called on both Wales’ Labour Government and the UK’s Conservative Government to do more to help the Tata steel workers set to lose their jobs. He also unveiled the Welsh Lib Dems’ plan to tackle the housing crisis by building 20,000 more houses and implementing a rent to buy scheme. He also touched on political reform, devolution of power, the arts, broadcasting and sport. That’s quite something in just 15 minutes. Here is his speech in full:

Chair, I have been privileged to have served as a Welsh Liberal Democrats Assembly Member for nearly 17 years, representing my adoptive City of Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend.

There are some key issues for me as a local representative, which also go to the heart of Liberal Democrats policy. These include the future of the Tata steel plant in Port Talbot, where job losses will have a devastating impact on the local community and on the economy of South Wales.

I have been pushing the Welsh Government to set up an urban regeneration company for the area, to work within the proposed enterprise zone, and also to cut the business rate burden for the plant.

But we also need the UK Government to step up to the plate and to reduce energy costs, and to take action within the European Community to prevent the dumping of cheap steel from China and Russia.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems: Lambing here

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 8th February 2016 - 8:00 pm

We’re kind of used to invitations to Lib Dem action days containing a hint of a reward for turning up to help. I’ve seen organisers promising all sorts of things to motivate people to deliver that extra 100 leaflets or knock on more doors. I certainly have some interesting photos of a particular candidate to release as a treat for spectacular action day performance. There have been promises of chilli (Tom Utting’s in Edinburgh Western is legendary), cake and all manner of treats to keep the army marching on its stomach.

I have to say that candidate for the Welsh Assembly seat of Montgomeryshire, Jane Dodds, has come up with the mother of all action day fun: a visit to a hill-top farm for food and frolic with little lambs.

Montgomeryshire Action Weekend

It would be great if you could join us for campaigning (and frolics with lambs) at the Montgomeryshire Action Weekend in Welshpool -On Friday 4th and Saturday 5th March – If you can make it please let me know by RSVP'ing to the event here -https://www.facebook.com/events/769949056466276/Thank you!

Posted by Jane Dodds for Montgomeryshire on Monday, 8 February 2016

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Caron Lindsay

Kirsty’s #AskWales2016 initiative: If you were First Minister, what would be the first thing you’d change?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 7th February 2016 - 8:45 am

Kirsty Williams announced a new initiative in her speech yesterday. She’s always listened to people, but now she wants their voices to be heard and she needs the help of Welsh Liberal Democrat activists to reach as many as possible. The idea is that people ask people they know what their first priority would be if they were First Minister. They film them responding (obviously with their permission) and post to social media.

Here’s the first video.

#AskWales1

What would be your priority if you were First Minister? #AskWales #AskWales2016

Posted by Welsh Liberal Democrats on Saturday, 6 February 2016

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Caron Lindsay

Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference open thread #1 – introduction and policing debate

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 6th February 2016 - 9:43 am

I shall just start by saying that I love this auditorium. It’s a lecture theatre so I am sitting up the back with my laptop on an actual desk, not precariously balanced on my lap.

I should also mention that this is a Conference which has smashed all its budget projections. There are a healthy complement of stalls from external exhibitors, 6 fringe meetings today and a healthy attendance of over 250 members.

Eluned Parrott AM opened Conference with a speech outlining how the Liberal Democrats would strengthen communities and transform the economy by “ditching the Thatcherite mantra” and levelling the playing field, investing in infrastructure to maximise inclusion and minimise isolation.

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Caron Lindsay

What’s happening today at Welsh Spring Conference? Leaders, manifesto, policing, education

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 6th February 2016 - 8:00 am

Here’s a rundown on what’s happening today at Welsh Spring Conference. The highlights are obviously keynote speeches from Tim and Kirsty and a debate on the manifesto.

The Debates

09:10 Opening of Conference: Eluned Parrott AM, Assembly Member for South Wales Central

09:30 Policy Motion
PM1: Policing in Wales

10:15 Speech: Aled Roberts AM, Assembly Member for North Wales

10:35 Policy Motion:
PM2: A Manifesto for 2016

11:55 Speech: Tim Farron MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats

13:30 Speech: Kirsty Williams CBE AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats

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The Voice

Kirsty Williams’ More Nurses Bill passes penultimate Assembly stage

By The Voice | Wed 3rd February 2016 - 7:54 pm

Kirsty Williams addresses the Liverpool Spring conference rally March 2015 Photo by LIberal DemocratsGood news from Cardiff tonight as Kirsty Williams’ Bill to ensure appropriate numbers of nurses in Welsh hospitals cleared its penultimate parliamentary hurdle. The Bill would see Wales become the first country in the UK with a legal duty to have safe nurse staffing levels on hospital wards.

The final stage will take place next week.

Kirsty can deliver her Leader’s speech to Welsh Conference on Saturday knowing that she is only the second AM to have got a Private Bill to this stage. The first was her Liberal Democrat colleague Peter Black with his Mobile Homes Bill.

Over 4,500 members of the public have signed petitions in support of the bill which, if it passes stage 4 next week, could receive royal assent in March.

Kirsty said:

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Paul Halliday

The case for making refugees welcome

By Paul Halliday | Thu 28th January 2016 - 5:30 pm

Over the last year there has been a lot of talk about refugees in the UK, much of it based on the politics of fear. Newport, in particular, has seen is fair share of wolf whistle politics around the issue. “1 refugee for every 319 people” is the latest attention grabbing figures in the South Wales Argus. I don’t blame the editor though, in fact his editorial on the issue, although not a position I fully agreed with, was at least honest and brought some humanity to the issue.

What is often forgotten is that for years refugees weren’t distributed around the UK, they were concentrated in the South East costing the government a huge amount of money on private housing. The decision to distribute refugees was made in Westminster, last time Labour were in power, to reduce the costs to the government finances. This was a decision that even our own wolf whistle politician, Paul Flynn MP, voted in favour of.

The truth is that, in Newport, it is only 0.3% of the population that are refugees. A tiny fraction, we are told, that is putting undue pressure on our health service and on our schools, but any system that can’t handle an increase of 0.3% has much deeper rooted problems. Take a look at the Royal Gwent Hospital, as an example. It is overstretched, with A&E based out of Portakabins. For years, Labour have been telling us it is going to be replaced with a new Critical Care Centre, but every announcement seems to be about another delay. The creaking infrastructure is not due to an increase of less than 500 people in a population of 147,000. It is a symptom of many years of under-funding and poor political leadership from the Welsh Assembly. Newport’s population is growing much faster from commuters than it is ever likely to from refugees.

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The Voice

Welsh version of the new “Community” PPB – different running order and added Kirsty

By The Voice | Thu 28th January 2016 - 3:15 pm

Here is the Welsh version of the new Community party political broadcast. It has Kirsty Williams instead of Tim Farron, talking about the warmth and vitality of Welsh communities and how everyone wants good health services and for kids to have great schools to go to.

Welsh Liberal Democrats care about their communities – that's why so many of them are effective community champions. Watch this video to find out why.

Posted by Welsh Liberal Democrats on Wednesday, 27 January 2016

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The Voice

Welsh Conference agenda announced – amendment deadline on 27th January

By The Voice | Sun 17th January 2016 - 12:00 pm

rally kirsty williams 1The agenda for the important pre-election Welsh Lib Dem Spring Conference has been announced. It takes place in Cardiff from 5-7 February and you can find all the details here.

It’s packed with keynote speeches – each of the AMs gets a slot, along with Tim Farron – and policy debates.

Not surprisingly, the manifesto and a motion on policing feature ahead of the Assembly and PCC elections. After some initial hesitation, the party has decided to stand candidates in all 4 Welsh PCC areas.

Flooding and a motion on childcare and education, reflecting the party’s success in persuading the Labour Government to introduce the Pupil Premium finish the first day.

Sunday sees debates on the European referendum, a members only election briefing and an IR Cymru motion on sex education.

If you want to amend any of the motions, or submit an emergency motion or topical issue, you can do so by 27 January. Instructions are here.

Fringe meetings cover the countryside, health and social care, small business, local government and, as always pre-election, the Electoral Commission will be there to answer questions.

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Caron Lindsay

The Lib Dem week in Wales

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 16th January 2016 - 11:55 am

welsh lib demsHere is our weekly roundup of what the Liberal Democrats, led by Kirsty Williams, have been getting up to in Wales.

In the Scottish roundup, we saw Tavish Scott condemn the late CAP payments to farmers. Labour in Wales have been just as bad, with Kirsty Williams telling Wales Online that farmers were under so much pressure that they have been calling her on the brink of suicide:

Farmers have been calling on the brink of suicide due to the financial difficulties they face.

This is on top of the fact that, because of the mishandling of the changes to farming support by Welsh Government, farmers were already only to receive 80% of their entitlement.

Like any business, farmers have bills to pay. They rely heavily on the December payments to pay those bills, so it has a knock-on effect to the wider rural economy. The Welsh LabourGovernment need to sort this mess out and they need to sort it out quickly.

Tackling Doctor shortage

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Caron Lindsay

Welsh Liberal Democrats slam Cardiff Central Labour MP’s hypocrisy over new front bench role

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 7th January 2016 - 6:00 pm

The farce surrounding Jeremy Corbyn’s reshuffle continues. It’s not just that it took him 34 hours to shift 3 ministers, or that there have been as many resignations in protest as there were front bench displacements, or that even after four days (after two weeks of press briefings) it’s still not over, or that the people who were sacked have led the story. Truly, it is the reshuffle that ate itself.

A few of us were joking on Twitter this morning about when we were going to get offered jobs. There are still several hundred thousand Labour members to get through, of course.

The whole thing has created as many problems as it’s solved. Corbyn’s team look like they couldn’t run a bath let alone a country. Hilary Benn’s resignation at a time of his choosing, on principle, seems like a headline waiting to happen. Even Armando Iannucci probably couldn’t make it up.

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Peter Black

Peter Black AM writes…A Welsh budget cast in partnership

By Peter Black | Mon 4th January 2016 - 1:12 pm

The summer of 2014 was a particularly busy one. In addition to the usual constituency and regional based activities I was also engaged in a series of meetings with the Finance Minister and her officials in an effort to get a budget deal for the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

The history of these deals has been chequered during this fourth Assembly. Labour do not have a majority so they need the support of at least one other party to get their budget through. They will not deal with the Conservatives so that just leaves two other possible partners.

At first, the Labour Government had it made. They negotiated with both the Welsh Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, and played one off against the other. In their first budget, they struck a deal with the Welsh Lib Dems and as a result, the pupil deprivation grant was born. In the second they did a deal with Plaid Cymru, who secured a two year investment in apprenticeships.

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Caron Lindsay

Time to think about Spring Conferences

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 3rd January 2016 - 1:25 pm

In the next 8 weeks, Liberal Democrat Spring conferences will be held. First up is the Welsh Conference on the weekend of 5-7 February in Cardiff. I suspect the motions deadline has already passed, but we will keep you up to date when the agenda is published. Lynne Featherstone will be a keynote speaker and the event will be an opportunity to showcase Welsh Lib Dems’ achievements and plans ahead of the Assembly elections in May.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats meet in Edinburgh from 26-27 February, half a day shorter than usual. There is still plenty time to submit a motion. If you have an idea for a change in policy, here are the timescales:

Deadlines for motions to conference are as follows:

Policy motions – 15 January at midday
Amendments – 24 February at midday
Topical issues – 25 February at 17.00
Emergency motions – 25 February and 26 February at 17.00

You need to get 25 members to agree your motion, or you can ask a local party or organisation like EMLD, LGBT+ Lib Dems, Scottish Lib Dem Women or Liberal Youth Scotland to submit it for you.

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Caron Lindsay

The Lib Dem week in Wales

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 31st December 2015 - 4:10 pm

Here is our weekly roundup of what the Welsh Liberal Democrats, led by Kirsty Williams, have been getting up to..

Labour waste money on ad campaign for a metro system that won’t be in use for 5 years

Welsh Labour metro billboard wasteEluned Parrott AM has blasted the Labour Welsh Government for wasting over £52,000 on an advertising campaign intended to promote the South Wales Metro.

Over recent months, posters, light boxes and banners simply saying “It’s approaching” have been appearing in train stations across South Wales.   The posters feature no useful information for the public, but instead just have the word ‘Metro’ and the Welsh Government’s logo on them.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are huge supporters of the South Wales Metro system, but believe money would be better spent on an information campaign that informs and consults with the public.

In response to a written question from Eluned Parrott AM, the Labour Transport Minister Edwina Hart stated that:

the total committed expenditure relating to marketing and information relating to South Wales Metro as of 30 November 2015 is £52,782+VAT.

Work is not expected to start on the Metro system until 2017 and the Welsh Government has made clear that the project will not be complete until at least 2020.

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Kirsty Williams AM

Kirsty Williams’ New Year message: Welsh Lib Dems are “united, growing and up for the fight”

By Kirsty Williams AM | Wed 30th December 2015 - 1:30 pm

2016 will be a big year for Wales.  With the Assembly elections just around the corner, people will soon decide who they want representing them in Cardiff Bay.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats head into these elections with our heads held high and a record to be proud of.  During this Assembly, we have used our influence in budget negotiations to secure, amongst other things, over £200 million extra investment in schools through our Welsh Pupil Premium.  This policy, directed at pupils that need it most, is central to what we believe in: ensuring that everyone, no matter their background, will get a fair start in life.  Despite being a small group in the Assembly, we have made a big difference to the communities we represent.

We combine this dedication to fairness with a pro-enterprise agenda.  We believe in supporting people who have ambition and ideas.  We understand that it’s not just government that creates jobs, but business too.  We recognise that in the real world, even our brightest need support to create and innovate.

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The Voice

Kirsty Williams’ bill to ensure safe staffing levels for nurses takes a step closer to becoming law

By The Voice | Thu 26th November 2015 - 11:35 am

Kirsty Williams’ bill to ensure that nursing levels in Welsh hospitals are put on a  safer, statutory footing has passed another parliamentary hurdle, as Wales Online reports:

A proposed law to introduce a legal minimum staffing level for nurses has overcome another hurdle after Assembly committee members passed amendments to the Bill.

The Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Bill, proposed by Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams, would see an independent assessment for appropriate staffing levels in Welsh hospitals.

The proposal would see Wales become the first country in the UK with a legal duty on safe nurse staffing levels.

The Assembly’s Health and Social Services Committee voted to support Phase 2 of the Bill which will now move to Phase 3.

The Bill has the backing of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales.

The Minister insisted on the removal of the word “safe” from the title of the Bill, which has disappointed Kirsty, but she is pleased that it has passed another stage:

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Caron Lindsay

What Twitter tells us about Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 15th November 2015 - 12:45 pm

The Welsh Liberal Democrats met in Swansea for their Autumn Conference yesterday. Here are some of the highlights from Twitter.

Like the Scottish Kickstart which also took place yesterday, the event opened with a minute’s silence for the victims of the Paris atrocities.

Sal Brinton also mentioned the events in Paris in her speech:

Was some awkward squad rebellion going on?

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Kirsty Williams AM

Kirsty Williams AM writes… An ambitious Liberal Democrat plan for the NHS Welsh people need

By Kirsty Williams AM | Tue 21st July 2015 - 3:58 pm

Today at the Royal Welsh Show I launched our party’s 3 point-plan for Wales’ NHS that puts patients first.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have a wide range of policies and proposals for reforms to improve our health service, but today I wanted to highlight the three key parts of our plans for the NHS ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.

The 3-point plan is as follows:

Guaranteed access to your GP: People are fed up of finding it a real struggle to make an appointment and to access their GP.  In this day and age, everyone should be able to make an appointment easily – that is what the Welsh Liberal Democrats will deliver. We would properly invest in an ‘Access to GPs’ scheme to guarantee a prompt appointment and extend GP opening hours.

End mental health discrimination: I am proud that our party has led on this issue across the UK. Only last month the Welsh Liberal Democrats revealed that in just two years there has been a 472% increase in young people waiting over 14 weeks to receive mental health services. That is a disgrace, which is why we would oversee a culture change to ensure mental health is treated on a par with physical health. We would ensure that patients with mental health issues have an equal right to access treatments as those requiring physical care.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dem Lords fight for votes at 16 in Council elections

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 15th July 2015 - 8:57 am

The Liberal Democrat campaign for votes at 16 enters a new stage today as the Lords debates the Cities Bill. Liberal Democrat Paul Tyler has put down an amendment which would enable 16 and 17 year olds to vote in Council elections in England and Wales.

Labour have said that they will support Paul’s amendment. If it passes, it will then be up to David Cameron’s Conservative MPs to overturn it. I suspect that they will have no problem doing that given that young people are hardly top of their list of priorities at the moment. However, you don’t need many Tory rebels to threaten the Government’s majority. The only thing is that you would need the SNP to vote in order to defeat the Government in the Commons. If the SNP does vote on this entirely English and Welsh matter, you would be less likely to get the Tory rebels. The chances of it becoming law therefore seem slim at this stage.

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Harry Hayfield

Opinon: #libdemfightback is for old and new members working together to rebuild the party

By Harry Hayfield | Sat 20th June 2015 - 6:07 pm

Aye, I can remember the good old days for the Liberal Democrats. Eighteen percent popular vote share, twenty members of Parliament including one in Liverpool. Aye, golden days indeed.

When you are the baby of your local community council and eligible for the long service award at the annual membership awards at the age of 40, it can make you wonder if it’s time for me to rest on my laurels and let the fightback be done by these new 16,000 members.  If that is the case, then I am sorry but that is not how we work because (and this may come as a surprise to our new members) this is fightback number five.

Fightback number one lasted from 1951 – 1966, a time when it was not only impossible to get people to vote Liberal but also impossible to even find someone to stand for the Liberals. At the 1955 general election, we only managed to field a hundred and ten candidates but by 1964 we were managing to field almost a full slate of candidates and in 1966 we won twelve seats across the UK, our highest post war level.

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Caron Lindsay

Williams, Farron and Lamb condemn Welsh Government’s plan to ban on e-cigarettes in public places

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 9th June 2015 - 4:31 pm

The Welsh government has put forward plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public spaces. The BBC reports:

People will be banned from using e-cigarettes in enclosed places such as restaurants, pubs and at work in Wales, under a new public health law.

The plan, likely to come into force in 2017 and the first in the UK, has already divided opinion among health and medical groups, including some anti-smoking campaigners.

But ministers say it is a “balance of risk” and will stop children smoking.

This does not seem to be in any way evidence based.

Liberals really don’t like banning things unless there is a very good reason to do so. It’s therefore not really a surprise to see that Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and both federal leadership candidates have totally condemned the government’s plans:

Kirsty said:

The evidence for this decision is wafer thin.  Banning things just for the sake of it isn’t a position any Government should take.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe all decisions should be evidence based, which is why we are opposed to this ban.  There is very little evidence to date that e-cigs emit anything more harmful than water vapour. Therefore any ban on e-cigs is completely unjustifiable.

We often hear how people are using e-cigarettes to help them give up smoking.  There is a high chance this heavy handed approach from the Welsh Labour Government could actually be counter-productive.

And here’s what the leadership candidates had to say:

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Matt Hemsley

Opinion: Welsh Liberal Democrats need to be bolder in considering a coalition without Labour

By Matt Hemsley | Wed 18th March 2015 - 5:21 pm

 

This past week in Wales, political ears pricked up after Stephen Crabb (the Conservative Secretary of State for Wales) gave support to the idea of a Conservative, Plaid Cymru, Liberal Democrat coalition in the Senedd after the May 2016 elections.

The ‘rainbow coalition’ almost happened in 2007 – but has more recently seen to be off the table, so backing (as it were) from such a prominent politician has sparked off some debate.

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The Voice

LibLink: Kirsty Williams on more power to Wales

By The Voice | Mon 2nd March 2015 - 5:11 pm

Kirsty WilliamsKirsty Williams would ‘”be very happy” to see a Lib Dem Secretary of State for Wales. As she says in an interview with Wales Online, under the Coalition the party has produced three Scottish Secretaries.

Having Liberal Democrats as secretaries of state gives us the best possible chance of wrestling power out of Whitehall and giving it to Wales.

She reflects on the devolution of the NHS Budget to Manchester.

You know, the fact that that kind of responsibility can be passed down without any referendum at all and here in Wales each step of the devolution pathway we have to have a referendum… The irony of that is not lost on me.

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George Potter

Opinion: Combined authorities and English devolution

By George Potter | Sun 1st March 2015 - 8:55 am

The big news on devolution this week has been the twin announcements of more devolved powers for Wales and that Greater Manchester will be devolved control over the £6 billion health budget for the region.

It’s interesting to see what lessons can be taken from this. One is that ‘Devomanc’ really does appear to have substance, despite initial scepticism from various people (myself included) and another is that talk of English Votes on English Laws is even more redundant now that we face the prospect of Mancunian MPs voting on matters affecting the rest of England which don’t affect Greater Manchester.

A further, more worrying lesson, is that devolution is becoming ever more piecemeal with wildly varying levels of devolution both across the UK and across England.

But England the lessons are particularly interesting. Those of us living outside of major city regions like Greater Manchester and Merseyside have been wondering how exactly we can get our share of devolution and it now looks like we have an answer.

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NewsHound

Police surround Lib Dem Councillor using sledgehammer

By NewsHound | Thu 26th February 2015 - 4:29 pm

Never let it be said that Liberal Democrat councillors avoid hard work. When a skateboard park in his ward was damaged, Aberystwyth’s Councillor Ceredig Davies (also our group leader on Ceredigion County Council) arranged to get down there and fix it.

Some local people didn’t see it that way. What they saw was a random man taking a sledgehammer to a local facility, as the Cambrian News tells us:

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Jenny Randerson

Baroness Jenny Randerson writes…Optimism and determination of Welsh campaign teams is impressive

By Jenny Randerson | Wed 25th February 2015 - 12:30 pm

When I am travelling around Wales I take every opportunity as to go out campaigning with our Welsh MPs. Last week I was out knocking doors with Mark Williams and his team in Lampeter. I am a seasoned Ceredigion campaigner- I don’t think I have missed an election there in the last 15 years. So I know what to expect, and the atmosphere hasn’t changed. Mark is known by almost everyone and regarded with huge respect for his constant hard work in a constituency where local issues are particularly important.

In Brecon and Radnor the “Williams Team” are equally well known and Roger is particularly well established in the farming community. Campaigning in such a sparsely populated area is never easy and elections in B and R are not for the faint hearted. But once again we have the benefit of a well-liked and respected candidate and a strong local party able to support him.

Cardiff Central is about as big a contrast as you can imagine: it is geographically the smallest Welsh constituency but, as an inner city seat it has a big turnover of population. I live in the area so it is no surprise that I campaign there regularly. As a Labour facing seat it will obviously be very closely fought and Jenny Willott’s Labour opponent is particularly well funded as she is a Trade Union lawyer. Jenny and our team are working as hard as it is possible to do and, once again, her name is well known and her reputation for hard work is frequently mentioned. Labour infighting on the Council and their plans to close libraries and reduce bin collections have persuaded a lot of local people that they cannot be trusted. The core Lib Dem team in Central are experienced, tough campaigners, but there are also a lot of new members, many of them young, for whom this is their first general election as activists.

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The Voice

Welsh Lib Dems get good media coverage for new website launch

By The Voice | Fri 23rd January 2015 - 4:15 pm

Welsh Lib Dems weibsite“New websites put Welsh Lib Dems at forefront of web campaigning” screams the headline on Wales Online. Not bad coverage for the launch of a website, albeit one using the new .wales and .cymru domain names.

Kirsty Williams is quoted as saying:

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Huw Jones

Opinion: The UK is not working

By Huw Jones | Mon 17th November 2014 - 5:40 pm

WalesFor 45% of Scots and for many in the NW, the SW and in Wales (which I refer to as the devolving regions), the UK doesn’t work, and this should matter to a Unionist Party. As a Welshman who was forced, as were my parents, to spend decades working in England the reasons are only too clear.

In England we are quite often subject to xenophobia. And while our local colleagues go for exotic weekend breaks, we have to struggle back home to tend to ailing relatives via a crazy London-centred transport network that means that the quickest route from Penzance or Aberystwyth to Dover or Great Yarmouth is via the M25 or Paddington. The quickest route from Liverpool to Southampton is via the M25. And to get to Paris on the HS2 the whole country will have to stop off in London.

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Caron Lindsay

It’s been a really good week for Kirsty Williams

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 15th November 2014 - 2:30 pm

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Kirsty Williams gives her keynote speech to the Welsh Conference today. She’s had a barnstormer of a week.

First of all, on Monday, she gave a speech to the Electoral Reform Society in Wales in which she called for more Assembly Members and for Assembly Members to be subject to recall, resulting in this very on message headline:

More AMs for stronger economy

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