I don't oppose Scottish independence, assuming that that's what the Scottish people want. And, given that the options available to them were independence or, under a Conservative Government, a creeping clawback of powers from Edinburgh to Westminster, you could see why the debate is going the way it has - increasingly polarised. The thing about freedom is that... it isn't actually free. Freedom always comes with a cost, the question being, are you willing to pay it? I tend to the view, having seen some of the financial projections out there, that independence would be costly in terms of GDP, ...
On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home Layla Moran made her first keynote speech since taking over the Foreign Affairs spokesperson and showed that she has mastered her brief very quickly. She was as passionate and compassionate as you would expect and called out the Government on its failure to do enough to support human rights around the world. "We want the UK to take a leading role globally in standing up to repression, genocide and hatred – wherever it appears." – @LaylaMoran #LDconf [IMG: ⬇] [IMG: 🔶] pic.twitter.com/8KEkOxsKjW — Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) ...
I am trans and about as out as it gets. I'm not ashamed to be trans and I'm not ashamed to be out. But I am afraid to be out. Perhaps there are trans or non-binary people in the UK who are not afraid to be out at the moment, but I don't know any. Being trans or non-binary and out in the UK is a scary thing as attacks on who we are (as well as attacks on us for who we are) have skyrocketed. Trans and non-binary people in the UK live in a country where the media ...
Here are some of the highlights from what went down on day two of the Liberal Democrat virtual conference.
Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, may not have won the recent LibDem leadership contest but she absolutely bowled over the Party's autumn conference earlier this evening with an outstanding keynote speech — all the more remarkable given that this was a virtual event, so none of the more than 1000 people listening [...]
Sat 26th
18:14
Speeches of #ldconf: We are liberals. We give people the tools to make their own choices
On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home Harrow's Adam Bernard proposed the Universal Basic Income motion last night. Here is his speech in full: Conference, In the preamble to our constitution, the basic statement of our values, we aspire to a society where "no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity". ——– In a motion about Universal Basic Income, you'd expect me to talk about poverty — and I will — but I'm going to start by talking about conformity. I'm going to talk about conditionality and why it's bad. Conditionality is ...
The Chancellor of the Exchequer's announcement of further government support for the economy is to be welcomed, but is somewhat on the stingy side and one part of it is seriously flawed. First the good bits. 1. Firms which have received state-backed business loans in order to survive while the state imposed lockdowns have greatly reduced or even eliminated their incomes but not their outgoings (rent etc.) are to be given a ten year period to pay back on a " pay as you grow" basis. In other words they are exempt from payments unless and until their income stream ...
On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home You know how when you are at a physical conference and going from event to event you randomly bump into people and end up chatting? There is an alternative to that at the virtual Conference. There's a Networking tab on the left hand side of the screen. If you click it, you will end up talking to a random conference attendee. I had a few minutes to spare between fringe and this afternoon's debate so I tried it out – and ended up chatting to an ...
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Superman won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1979, beating Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the animated Lord of the Rings, Watership Down and the original radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For once I have actually seen/heard all of the finalists. Even though the Worldcon that year was held in the UK, which should have given the BBC a natural home turf boost, Superman won (and Christopher Reeves actually turned up, as did Tom Baker). It's a tough call, but I think I would have just voted for the Hitch-hiker's Guide ahead of Superman (though ...
Though I increasingly name it as my favourite film, I used to worry whenever I watched A Canterbury Tale. It felt such a fragile thing - a rare essay in English mysticism - and I worried that the magic would not work this time. But it always did and five years ago I learnt that its magic is not fragile at all. This is not a film to take lightly. ****** Filmed in 1943 by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, A Canterbury Tale tells the story of three modern-day visitors to the city. They are played by Dennis Price, Sheila ...
On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home The UK is in danger, said Wendy Chamberlain in her proposing speech for today's motion calling for a federal UK. We've already seen one union disintegrate on the basis of divisive nationalism, she said, and we need a liberal offer to fix the union and give power back not just to state governments but to communities. The motion was about building a collaborative, constructive and consultative relationships between the nations of the UK and we will end the current structural inequalities of the Union. Federalism has ...
This weekend is vastly different from the one I was planning nine months ago. The annual pilgrimage to the Liberal Democrat Conference has been much shorter than the usual trek for me down to the south coast to the resorts of Brighton or Bournemouth. After the planned Spring Conference in York was cancelled at the ... Continue reading Oh, I do like to be beside the virtual seaside →
Lib Dem conference opened yesterday but this time with a fundamental difference. It is entirely online, a result of the covid pandemic. As a fan of online meetings for Gateshead Council, the fact we are online is something I welcome for conference. There are, of course, some things I miss about not being able to attend physically - such as meeting friends, looking around the exhibition stands,
On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home Last night was the first time I've been able to see Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds' Conference slot live. Before I've always had to be elsewhere, much to my annoyance. The interview format suited her really well. She is such an asset. Her warmth and compassion shines through and she shows that she understands the struggles that people are facing and has the answers to help. Her commitment to tackling poverty and isolation has been a hallmark of her leadership. Watch her interview in full ...
Fri, 12:56: The rise of Mrs Europe https://t.co/bpbt7q3oRc Brilliant (and long) profile of Ursula von der Leyen by @b_judah. Fri, 16:05: RT @Nat_Vasilyeva: "Well done, Belarusians!" - Mikhail Gorbachev has spoken in support of anti-Lukashenko protesters in Belarus (in Rus) ht... Fri, 17:11: Georgia: From the Coronavirus to a Critical Test of Democracy https://t.co/SuHVTeLToq Three former US ambassadors write. Fri, 18:26: An Inland Voyage, by Robert Louis Stevenson https://t.co/lK9xN1gwrD Fri, 20:48: RT @BeschlossDC: The defeated George H.W. Bush's letter to Bill Clinton on the day of their peaceful transfer of power, 1993: https://t.co/... Fri, 21:15: "Are you so stubborn that ...
On Lib Dem Voice: Reportage | Contribute On the official party website: Conference home Adam Bernard, who was our candidate in Harrow East at the last General Election, and James Baillie, a leading voice in the Radical Association have spent much of the past five years trying to persuade the party of the merits of Universal Basic Income. They campaigned and networked and worked with others, including the Social Liberal Forum to build the case for UBI. They have put huge amounts of energy into persuading people that this was the way to go. When Coronavirus exposed the inadequacies of ...
Ian Kearns and Jon Alexander from the Social Liberal Forum have published 'Winning for Britain: Rebuilding the Lib Dems to change the course of our country'. You can download the report from the SLF website. If you are short of time then its most important conclusion is: The path to a real breakthrough, allowing the party to play a significant role in removing the Conservatives from office while giving it a real say in what happens afterwards, is going to require several things: a rigorous understanding of the diverse voter coalition that needs to be built; a much deeper engagement ...
I issued a short video yesterday in which I described Covid deniers as covidiots. One person took exception to that and gave some examples of why he thinks some of the Covid rules and laws are wrong. He is not ... Continue reading →
Our second day at Bonkers Hall finds the old boy in reflective mood. Tuesday Still, I suppose it is good that we now have a leader. I recall a visit I paid some weeks ago to my own Home for Well-Behaved Orphans. The little inmates hung upon my every word as I told them tales of how life used to be. I spoke of a distant time when one was free to meet one's friends and neighbours as one wished and our thoughts were not dominated by just one subject. "I wish it could be like that again!" exclaims one ...
Just when you thought the government couldn't screw up trade with the European Union anymore, Johnson's unelected guru, Dominic Cummings comes forward with a brilliant wheeze that threatens the future of EU exports to the UK of data-enabled services, worth approximately £31bn in 2017, and UK exports of data-enabled services to the EU, worth around £80bn in the same year. The Guardian reports on warnings from Brussels that a radical "pro-tech" plan championed by Dominic Cummings to rewrite Britain's data protection laws is endangering future cooperation with the EU worth billions to the British economy. They say that the government's ...
This weekend at our party conference we will debate our Europe motion, clarifying the party's policy on our relations with and towards the EU. The main focus of debate between members is likely to be around 'r'. Not the COVID 'r', which we have all become used to, but the Brexit 'r' word - rejoin. We all remember the joy we felt last May when our representation in Europe went from one solitary MEP, Catherine Bearder, to a surprisingly fulsome group of 16 from right across the country - several of whom had not expected to be elected. It was ...
I've long thought that this is a dangerous junction and blogged about one aspect of it back in June 2015 – see link below:- But whilst that plea obviously failed to push Sefton Council Highways Dept into action there is clearly another danger which I've witnessed a number of times recently. If you're turning right out of Sandy Lane into Lambshear Lane you are often faced with a vehicle which has come from Lydiate Village Centre direction and which wants to turn right into Sandy Lane cutting the corner and all but hitting the vehicle/cyclist trying to turn right. ...
i) births and deaths 26 September 1946: birth of Togo Izawa, who played Dr Tanizaki in Cyberwoman (Torchwood, 2006) and the Secretary General of the United Nations in The Pyramid at the End of the World (Twelfth Doctor, 2017). 26 September 1909: birth of Leonard Sachs, who played Admiral de Coligny in The Massacre (First Doctor, 1966) and President Borusa in Arc of Infinity (Fifth Doctor, 1983) 26 September 2014: death of Maggie Stables, who played the Sixth Doctor's audio companion Evelyn Smythe in Big Finish audios from 2000 to 2011. ii) production anniversaries 26 September 2003: the BBC announced ...
Blether Tay-Gither is the Dundee Storytelling Group. From Sheila Kinninmonth, Blether Tay-Gither's secretary : "Hope you can join us for our September Zoom Blether on Tuesday 29th September at 7pm The Theme is "Bimbles" What on earth is Bimbles you may ask, or maybe not! Bimble: informal British. Verb: Walk or travel at a leisurely pace. Noun: A leisurely walk or journey." For the log-in details to participate, contact Blether Tay-Gither at sheila@blethertaygither.org.uk
