Responding to President Biden's comments that he has "no regrets" on withdrawal, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP said: "President Biden's comments are deeply disappointing. "Women and girls in Afghanistan put their trust in US, UK and other coalition forces. Now, as a direct result of the nature of our withdrawal, they face the terrible prospect of their human rights being routinely violated and their liberties totally curtailed. "Make no mistake, the UK, US and other NATO countries will bear the responsibility for this betrayal for decades to come. It is a shameful situation."
In crude, self-interested terms, Liberal Democrats owe a great deal to pavement politics. In many areas, our credibility rests on our engagement with local issues that matter to people beyond the bubble of the chattering classes. Yet, we are missing an opportunity to recruit new, motivated activist members while our only profile on global issues revolves around EU membership. Lib Dems have a great Parliamentary team on international issues: Layla Moran and Baroness Northover (FCDO shadows), Sarah Olney and Lord Purvis (international trade), with Alistair Carmichael relentlessly raising Hong Kong and the Uighurs in China. Yet, judging from the motions ...
This is the latest post in a series I started in late 2019, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days, I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in recent circumstances. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. The main business of the month was our family holiday in Northern Ireland. We went to Newgrange, which is always amazing. ...
On the 7th March 2020 I watched a Premier League football match at Burnley. We all knew about coronavirus, but the League continued as normal. It would have been hard to cancel the Premier League on the 7th March. We were all afraid of what was coming, but at that time only 2 people had died in the UK. Later, as Britain recorded many deaths – deaths that were the result of infections spreading rapidly during March – we blamed the government for being indecisive. What are the lessons? On 8th August 2021 I drove from the Midlands to a ...
Peace cannot be kept by force: It can only be kept by understanding. (Albert Einstein) The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is presented as a key example of an intractable conflict, where there is continual, tragic loss of life and political solutions prove illusive. Understandably, many Liberal Democrats have strong feelings about the continuous loss of life and injustices that stem from this conflict. The longer this conflict continues, the greater the risk becomes that we feel tempted to take positions that mirror the parties to the conflict. Readers will note the existence of other groups within the Lib Dems concerned with the ...
Wed, 14:14: For the first time since early 2020!!! (@ Eurostar Terminal in Saint-Gilles, Brussels-Capital Region) https://t.co/0a05XxzTgP Wed, 18:00: I'm at London St Pancras International Railway Station - @stpancrasint in London, Greater London https://t.co/AgYIY75gxl Wed, 18:31: Martin Lukes: Who Moved My Blackberry, by Lucy Kellaway https://t.co/vUJST6kKAl Thu, 10:45: Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute https://t.co/LDwlKkYV5d The truth about the 1973 strike in space.
Here's my latest monthly report for Liberal Democrat members and supporter from the party website: Only £1 to come to conference Our autumn federal party conference is being held online in September. There's a brilliant offer for people who have not come to conference before: you can register for just £1. Conference will include an important trio of linked debates: on our party's values, our policy platform and our strategy. Traditionally, we have debated these separately at conference, even years apart. But all three need to fit together in a coherent way – which is one of the lessons from ...
Reacting to estimate figures released this morning showing that the UK's GDP increased by 4.8% in Q2 2021, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "These figures shouldn't lull us into thinking that all our problems are solved. We still face potentially massive obstacles if the Government goes ahead with ending the furlough scheme and the Universal credit uplift at the end of next month. "Hard pressed families and struggling businesses need more reassurance than improving GDP figures - they need support extended into next year. "So many people have done the right thing and got vaccinated, but we ...
Government Ministers may be talking the talk on climate change, but when it comes to actually doing something about it they are failing to deliver according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). As the Guardian reports, the WWF's analysis of the spring budget has found that the UK government is spending many times more on measures that will increase greenhouse gas emissions than on policies to tackle the climate crisis. The WWF have concluded that only £145m in the March 2021 budget was devoted to environmental spending, most of it on the post-Brexit emissions trading scheme for industry, but the ...
Ed Davey has announced our candidate for a future General Election in the South West London seat of Carshalton and Wallington. Congratulations to Bobby Dean who was selected in a well-fought contest which attracted a very able field of candidates. Carshalton and Wallington is a marginal blue wall seat, held by Tom Brake from 1997 until 2019, when it was won by the Conservatives with a slender majority of 629. It also forms half of the London borough of Sutton, which Liberal Democrats hold with a substantial majority (33 seats to 18). So not surprisingly it is one of our ...
Last night I asked the Neighbourhood Service Committee of Liverpool Council to support a motion that I moved about the Roscoe Gardens Cemetery in central Liverpool. I am delighted to say that not only did they do that but they ... Continue reading →
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of road marking works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the entry to Brown Street at its junction with Hawkhill, Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Monday 16th August for one day. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for vehicles are available West Port roundabout / Session Street / Guthrie Street / Brown Street. For further information contact 433168. Executive DirectorCity Development DepartmentDundee City Council
The first two tests of the 1976 West Indies your of England more or less went to plan for the hosts in that they ended in draws. Tony Greig's notorious remark about making the West Indies grovel came after a tour of Australia in which they had displayed a certain naivety and lost the series despite their talent. Greig reasoned that if he could keep the series close then the West Indies might display similar frailties in the later tests. But the third test put an end to that strategy as Andy Roberts and Michael Holding blew England away. In ...
