We've got a raft of vacancies open on various Scottish Liberal Democrat committees. Being on a committee is a really potent way of having your say on how our party is run. If you're keen to get more involved, why not take a look? Scottish Executive Committee – responsible for the day-to-day management and conduct of the party. 8 vacancies remaining to be filled Scottish Policy Committee – responsible for researching and developing policy, as well as putting together election manifestos. 2 vacancies remaining to be filled Scottish Conference Committee – responsible for organising Scottish conference 3 vacancies remaining to ...
That is the bleak message of Professor Sir Michael Marmot in his major new report on health inequality. Entitled 'Health Equity in England: the Marmot Review 10 Years On', it assesses lack of progress in the last decade, since his review in 2010 entitled 'Fair Society, Healthy Lives'. He writes: Since 2010 life expectancy has stalled: this has not happened since at least 1900. If health has stopped improving it is a sign that society has stopped improving. This damage to health has been largely unnecessary. Health is closely linked to the conditions in which people are born, live, work ...
May 2005 was a massively busy month. Most notably from the family point of view, we mounted a massive expedition with little F and littler U to Washington, New York and Boston, seeing spaceships and whales, for my brother's wedding in Massachusetts. I went almost directly from the wedding to the first ever meeting of NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, held in Åre, Sweden, where I spoke on a panel of people with Wikipedia pages: James Elles (then an MEP), Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (then foreign minister and subsequently president of Croatia), Pierre Lellouche (then a French MP), Dimitrij Rupel (the foreign minister ...
This week the trenches have been dug starting work on a new sports building at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex - behind Brimsham green School. The building is being funded by Yate Town Council with grants from Sport England and help from Yate Boxing Club. It will provide a new home for the boxing club and space for lots of other local sports. The photo shows the Councillors who have been leading the project on site with the contractors and Yate Town Council estates manager as work starts.
Coronavirus outbreaks and cruises The news that a 6th person on board a cruise ship from Tokyo has died from the coronavirus Covid-19 has reminded me of the main reason why I would never go on a cruise. Cruise ships ... Continue reading →
Good news this week from Duxford in Cambridgeshire, where Peter McDonald won a County Council seat with a massive 26% swing! Congratulations to him and his team. Duxford (Cambridgeshire) result: LDEM: 59.6% (+26.3) CON: 40.4% (-14.7) Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. No Lab (-7.6) and Grn (-3.9) as prev. — Britain Elects (@britainelects) February 28, 2020 * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames where she is still very active with the local party.
There has been controversy this week over a visit paid to a Scottish primary school by a drag queen. Having sung on a West End stage with Danny La Rue when I was eight, I take a relaxed view of the matter. When I first told this story I wrote: I was one of the children asked up on to the stage halfway through one of his pantomimes - Queen Passionella and the Sleeping Beauty, to be precise. We sang "Doe, a Deer", as it happens, and having a deep voice I was given the first line. Anyway, my strongest ...
I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. So if you have views on what the Liberal Democrats should do next, why not share them here? As you can see from this list of the 10 most recent guests posts, I am happy to consider a wide range of subjects beyond the Lib Dems If you would like to write a guest post yourself, please drop me an email so we can discuss your idea. For Liberalism to succeed we must embrace all of its creed - Patrick MaxwellForgotten Victorian folklore collectors: An undiscovered treasure trove - Francis YoungJoseph Merrick in ...
Every week I do a programme for American radio. It is an hour-long midweek discussion of world affairs. The other half of the discussion is dyed-in-the-wool Trump supporter Lockwood Phillips. I am the loony London liberal, and I am assured that a large number of radios are splattered with rotten tomatoes every time my dulcet tones waft over the air waves. Normally I can anticipate Lockwood's questions. In fact, the format involves my submitting an agenda and him asking me for analysis on the subjects I chose. This week, however, he threw me a zinger: "What about the Chinese conspiracy ...
Thu, 12:56: RT @GeorgePeretzQC: A thread on Article 5 of the Northern Ireland Protocol. This is the provision that governs what rules must be applied t... Thu, 14:48: RT @mediadefence: Judgment just out: @Khadija_Ismayil arrest and detention ruled unlawful by @ECHR_CEDH - We and Amal Clooney @DoughtyStInt... Thu, 16:05: Comments on the 1945 Retro Hugo Nominations in the Dramatic Presentation Category (film comments by Mark R. Leeper)... https://t.co/ZubiLYjCmO Thu, 17:11: RT @hhesterm: How did we get from "the easiest trade deal" to well... whatever this is? Some thought on why reaching a #Brexit deal is argu... Thu, 18:52: A Killing ...
Fri 28th
10:47
Here's the problem with the Lib Dems trying to convince voters of their "progressive" credentials
I have by chance spoken to a few Lib Dems over the past fortnight about the state of the party and what they see, if any, as the chances of recovery. The answer I got back, in slightly different forms, went something like this: the Lib Dem activists and most of the parliamentary party see themselves as closer to Labour than the Tories. Given this, the party needs to reconnect with "progressive" voters and win them back, particularly in Tory-Lib marginals. I am usually then given examples of Tory-held seats in which if everyone who voted Labour in 2019 had ...
The most dangerous of political myths in a still functioning democracy is "They're all the same". It goes hand in hand with "All politicians are liars". I believe that we have to be explicit in insisting that in our country a small number of our politicians really do tell lies but most do not. There are plenty whose ideas, values and political aims we can disagree with but that does not mean they are liars. Someone's interpretation of an issue may appear to be false but that is not about telling lies. There is of course a grey area between ...
I went to have a look at this new exhibition yesterday and want to congratulate Sharon Brown (NML's Land Transport Curator) and her staff on a great piece of work. Here's some photos from my visit:- I'm going to write up specific postings about the Ford Escort MK1, Liverpool cycle manufacturers, Meccano and Vulcan cars of Southport which were also a part of this excellent exhibition. I'm told that in the recent children's half term holiday the Museum of Liverpool was packed out and I'm sure many visitors were there to see Liverpool on Wheels. By the way there's an ...
Writing in a public Facebook post, Shaun Roberts has announced his departure as the party's Director of Campaigns & Elections: I wanted you to be among the first to know about a decision I've made to resign as Director of Campaigns & Elections. Working at the Liberal Democrats is a tremendous privilege but the time comes for everyone at some stage to consider what they want to do next. We've had some tough times and also some truly fantastic moments over these last few years - from winning by-elections in Richmond Park and Brecon & Radnorshire to delaying Brexit several ...
Liberal Democrats are delighted following a ruling by the Court of Appeal today (27th Feb) saying that expansion was unlawful because ministers failed to properly consider the impact on the climate and the environment. The case was brought by Friends of the Earth and others, arguing that Heathrow expansion does not match the UK's commitments under the Paris Agreement. The news comes following a New Economics Foundation (NEF) report on Thursday that concluded Heathrow expansion would shift 27,000 jobs to London and the Southeast from other regions, as well as £43 billion of the nation's income. The Northwest would be ...
The UK Government hit a new low yesterday in its dealings with the European Union when it announced that it plans to abandon a crucial tool used to speed up the transfer of criminals across borders with other European countries. As the Guardian reports, acting in defiance of strong advice from senior law enforcement officials, the government said it would not be seeking to participate in the European arrest warrant (EAW) as part of the future relationship with the European Union. In a document setting out the UK's approach to negotiations with the EU, the government said: "The agreement should ...
The Liberal Democrats have accused the Conservatives of turning the UK into "a hostile environment for everyone", as new official figures show that the number of Brits moving abroad has reached its highest level in more than six years. The latest Migration Statistics, published today by the Office for National Statistics, show that 140,000 British people emigrated in the year to September 2019, up 16% on the previous year and the highest 12-month total since April 2012 to March 2013. Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:"The Conservatives are driving people away through a combination ...
The Liberal Democrats are calling for asylum seekers to be given the right to work, as new figures show a dramatic rise in the number who are still waiting for a decision on their claim months after applying.The statistics, published today by the Home Office, show that at the end of 2019 29,218 people were waiting for an initial decision more than six months after lodging their asylum application. That represents a 76.5% increase since December 2018, and a six-fold increase since 2015. Asylum seekers are barred from working until they've been waiting for 12 months, and even then they ...
Following the publication of the Government's Brexit negotiating strategy this morning, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Layla Moran MP has warned that the UK "has one foot out of the door" on Erasmus. Section 21 of the document reveals that the UK will "consider options for participation in elements of Erasmus+ [after 2021] on a time-limited basis, providing the terms are in the UK's interests." This suggests that the UK may seek looser membership of Erasmus as a 'partner country', which would mean less funding for British universities and colleges to offer student and staff exchanges. Instead, they would be reliant ...
Responding to reports that the Conservative government will not seek to participate in the European arrest warrant as part of the future relationship with the EU, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "The first priority of any government should be to keep people safe. Instead, the Conservatives are robbing our police of a vital crime-fighting tool, and making it easier for thousands of dangerous criminals to evade justice."Boris Johnson's reckless decision to cut the UK off from the European Arrest Warrant will make our country less safe."Crime is increasingly a cross-border problem, and Liberal Democrats will continue ...
Responding to the news that the Government is threatening to leave negotiations with the EU in June if the EU do not accept Tory demands, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:"Once again we have seen the PM is more interested in brinkmanship and pleasing the Tory backbenches than working with the EU to build a sustainable trading partnership."People are tired of the Government's posturing. What they want is a well-functioning trading relationship with the EU that protects our jobs and businesses, not more self-imposed deadlines and threats to sabotage the negotiation."Finalising an agreement by 2021 is already ...
Last year, I was asked by the West End Tennis Club to write a letter of support for its fundraising effort to resurface the courts and to make them accessible to wheelchair users. I was delighted to do so as the club is an excellent community sports facility in the West End. The lifespan of the current court surface is now ending, and the resurfacing is much needed. It would also ensure that wheelchair users can enjoy the benefits of the club. I was therefore delighted to be advised by the club recently that the fundraising effort has paid off! ...
