Good morning, once again, and welcome to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. You might never guess that I’m a member of the Federal International Relations Committee…
I’ve been here to attend the ALDE Party Council meeting that took place on Saturday, and I’ll be reporting on the mood at that meeting later in the day. Also, I’ll be covering progress towards a European Liberal manifesto for the 2019 European Parliamentary elections, and the selection of a Spitzenkandidat for the Presidency of the European Commission.
It was another punishing week for the Government in the Lords on the European Union Withdrawal Bill, and it might be helpful to see what changes have been made so far. Of course, the fun isn’t over yet if you enjoy watching Conservative Ministers taking a beating, and we’ll be looking at the week ahead.
Talking about the House of Lords, today is the sixtieth anniversary of an event that changed the Upper House forever, and we have a piece which both marks that and calls for more progress.
But the campaign to stop Brexit can’t just be won in Parliament – it must be the view of the people. Mark Argent has been thinking about the messages we need to convey.
Meanwhile, a regular contributor, David Thorpe, challenges us to look for votes beyond our middle-class heartland. What are we saying to working class voters?
As a bonus, my colleague, Paul Walter, covers Christine Jardine’s barnstorming speech in Berkshire over the weekend.
Finally, of course, as I write, we’re in the market for a new Home Secretary. Caron has already given us her thoughts and I can only add one more. If any incoming replacement really wants to change the culture and direction of the Home Office, properly resourcing the work is key. Long delays and huge backlogs in processing applications, combined with an arbitrary migration target, create the sort of internal culture that we see today.
Making decisions that are legally and ethically just takes time, so employ some more staff, trust them to apply the rules with discretion and neutrality, and you will change the culture, improving morale at the same time. And, perhaps doing something about the sizeable real terms pay cut suffered by civil servants might help too…
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4 Comments
Mark – good suggestions on resourcing and pay. I totally agree. One of my worries about sorting out the Windrush scandal is that staff are going to be diverted from other areas which is going to mean even more pressure on other areas. That will mean longer delays for customers and additional stress for staff which will lead to poor decisions.
Looking out on a grey morning in Eastleigh with a scintillating trip to Tesco on the horizon I am not at all bitter to hear of a Lib Dem colleague in beautiful Sofia. Not bitter at all. Perish the thought!!!!!!!!!!
Ruth,
It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it…
Mark,
The EU applied a three year delay to the admission of Romania and Bulgaria. While Bulgaria chafed about the delay Romania’s readiness continued to be doubtful. Do you think that the Commissioner for Enlargement was afraid of both countries being absorbed into the ‘Near Abroad’?
Do you think that financial aid to new members made the UK’s Exit more likely?