Davey creates 'Reform Watch' team to keep Trumpian councils honest Lib Dems call on Government to 'step up' and pay care workers properly Cole-Hamilton comments on Edinburgh cyberattack Davey creates 'Reform Watch' team to keep Trumpian councils honest Ed Davey has established a new national "Reform Watch' scrutiny board, bringing together local Liberal Democrat leaders in areas where Reform has taken control to take a coordinated approach to opposition and holding them to account. The Liberal Democrats came second to Reform at last week's local elections, winning more councillors than both Labour and the Conservatives for the first time ever. ...
Mon 12th
23:04
Alistair Carmichael: Labour is falling into the same trap the Tories did on immigration
The senior Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael has given a measured and Liberal response to today's intervention on immigration by Keir Starmer. I was pleased to see this following a disappointing press statement from the party this afternoon. Alistair gave his response in a thread on Bluesky - here's what he wrote:I fear that Labour is falling into the same trap that the Tories did - leaning on hostile rhetoric around immigration and damaging our public services and our economy in the process. We should not pander to the far right but instead fix the problems that enable them. If ...
Mon 12th
16:12
"Are you kidding me?" - A Response to the Lib Dem Home Affairs Spokesperson's Response to the Labour...
I joined the Liberal Democrats in 2016, when then party leader Tim Farron made clear that the Liberal Democrats would continue to fight for the UK's place in the EU. A place in the EU that would have preserved freedom of movement and allowed for us to remain a vibrant and multicultural society which recognises that foreign workers strengthen our economy and industries, not weaken them. I have since stayed in the party, a party which I believe reflects my feeling that immigration is not a bad thing. I have supported and spoken up for calls such as Christine Jardine's ...
Mon 12th
15:05Immigration: Clear plan needed to make it easier to recruit British workers for vacancies instead
Normally, this would be published later in the day but, as it has already drawn a response from one of our readers, it seems appropriate to publish it now... Responding to the Government's new immigration policy, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, Lisa Smart MP: After the previous Conservative Government's dire mismanagement, our immigration system has been left in tatters and public trust has been shattered. It's right that the government is taking steps to fix our broken immigration system to ensure it works for our country. However, this must be coupled with a clear plan to make it easier to ...
In March, I asked what was the point of the Labour government, whose current predicament is - I argued - a product of its own making. A few weeks - and a devastating set of local election results later - it seems like Labour has finally found its purpose. Is it tackling poverty? No. Is it perhaps a new focus on the NHS? No. What about inequality, then? No. Social justice? Erm, no, It's immigration. The Prime Minister has made a huge announcement that he is determined to drive down net immigration. Apparently, this is the hill he wants to ...
I'm a big fan of the concept of eigenzeit. It comes from the notion of proper time in the theory of relativity, which is the time as measured by a clock following a given path through four-dimensional spacetime. This proper time is different from the time as measured by someone observing the clock from afar. Because... well... relativity. Eigenzeit takes inspiration from this idea to suggest that each task or activity likewise has its own version of proper time. A set amount of time that it will take us to do the task or to undertake the activity efficiently and ...
I feel absolutely sick to my stomach this morning. I really need to get out of the habit of thinking that Labour Ministers will somehow have more sense, or that their values will align more closely with mine even if they get stuff wrong sometimes. That mindset only leads to crushing disappointment. We have had decades of the right wing press drip-feeding prejudice against immigrants. All political parties, including ours to a certain extent, have failed to stand up against this and unashamedly make the positive case for immigration. This has been remarkably stupid given that we are living in ...
Thanks to a nomination from a Liberal England reader, BBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award. The judges were relieved to find that the story below it is not about a novel form of torture.
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 12 MAY 2025 Blinshall Street (Douglas Street to 50 metres south) - closed until August 2025 for construction works. Douglas Street (Blinshall Street to Brown Street) - temporary traffic lights until August 2025 for construction works. Brown Street (south of Douglas Street) - closed until August 2025 for construction works. Scottish and Southern Energy Networks Elmwood Cable Renewal Scheme - temporary traffic lights and road closure from Tuesday 4 March for 12 weeks insofar as it affects the West End Ward : Ancrum Road (at Peel Street) - ...
Personally I'm glad to live in a country where people want to come to rather than escape from. I like to list how immigrants and the children (and now possibly the grandchildren) of immigrants, enable and enhance my lifestyle. They deliver my morning paper, drill, fill and maintain what's left of my teeth, cut my hair, clean my car, dispense my prescriptions, and provide about two thirds of my treatment on the NHS, the organist and about half the choir (and until recently the vicar) of the church I attend, two of my favourite restaurants, and much more besides. Grateful ...
Mon 12th
06:45To celebrate St Pancras Day: The Beatles at Old St Pancras and a 1983 Steve Winwood interview
Today is St Pancras Day. To celebrate it, here's another showing for this video recreating the Beatles' visit to Old St Pancras churchyard on their London Mad Day Out in 1968. You can read more about their time in the churchyard in an old Guardian article. When you add in the fact that today is also Steve Winwood's birthday, it's clear 12 May should be a public holiday in the Midlands. Certainly, it's a big deal here on Liberal England. To celebrate, here's a 1983 interview with our favourite musician. Winwood talks about his past with the Spencer Davis Group, ...
The Observer reports that unions and care providers have accused the government of putting services at risk after it confirmed plans to shut down the overseas care worker visa route. The paper says that the immigration white paper, to be published today, includes measures to ban new recruitment from abroad for care roles, as part of a wider effort to reduce legal migration and prioritise UK-based workers, but the decision has triggered an angry backlash from industry leaders and trade unions, who say the sector is already stretched to breaking point and still relies heavily on international staff to keep ...
