PAC medical negligence report: staggering sums lay bare a health service that is "not functioning" Lib Dems call for a critical incident to be declared after unsafe maternity unit in Somerset forced to closed Cole-Hamilton: Social care being doubly failed by Labour and SNP Cole-Hamilton: Both governments neglecting social care PAC medical negligence report: staggering sums lay bare a health service that is "not functioning" Responding to the Public Accounts Committee report, which condemned the 'astronomical' fees paid to medical negligence lawyers, Liberal Democrat Hospitals and Primary Care spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller MP said: These sums are absolutely staggering and symptomatic ...
Liberal Democrat Voice has a thoughtful post by William Wallace - Lord Wallace of Saltaire - on the relation between Liberalism and religious faith. But I was most taken by this personal reminiscence: I grew up as a Protestant Anglican. I learned what I now understand as social liberalism from the sermons of Canon Marriott, preaching the 'social gospel''in Westminster Abbey (putting down my Biggles book, which choristers were allowed to take in to keep us quiet during sermons).
The new Reform UK leader of Lincolnshire County Council has suggested there's a link between circumcision and transgenderism in children, reports the Jewish Chronicle. In a now-deleted post on social media, Sean Matthews, who earlier this month became leader of Lincolnshire County council, said: "It's no surprise that children want to remove their penises and become girls. "Most of their parents started the process shortly after birth, by chopping their foreskin off in the name of (insert deity)." I'm not going to blog about every fruitcake, loony and closet racist that got elected as a Reform councillor on 1 May, ...
Embed from Getty ImagesNick Cohen's latest podcast dropped two days ago. His guest, billed as an expert on the Conservative Party, was Paul-Marshall-era Liberal Democrat turned Reform supporter Nick Tyrone. In the course of their discussion Tyrone argued that when Robert Jenrick replaces Kemi Badenoch, as he surely will, he'll prove no more popular than she has. He then suggested that the Tories should go for someone untainted by their 14 years in government and choose a leader from their 2024 intake of MPs. Pressed for a name, he suggested Patrick Spencer, who was arrested the following day. Spencer denies ...
Earlier this week, Liberal Democrat MPs forced a vote on an amendment which would have allowed asylum seekers to work if they had been waiting on their decision for more than three months. Of course Labour, Tories and Reform voted against it. Here is our Home Affairs Spokesperson Lisa Smart introducing this in Parliament. Allowing asylum seekers to work has long been an aim of our party. In the last Parliament Christine Jardine attempted to bring in a private members bill which would implement this. Lisa has been writing on the party website about this week's vote and why we ...
As I relinquish the role of Lord Mayor of Liverpool, I've had time to reflect on what it is that makes our city the great place to live that most people think it is. There are some wonderful buildings starting with the town Hall where I have spent much of my time during the last year. Liverpool has 981 listed buildings, three of which are the top level of historical and architectural merit and are a grade one starred listed building. On top of that we have 52 conservation areas. he wealthy shipowners, commodity brokers, insurance agents, and bankers built ...
Liberals will have followed the papal Conclave with mixed feelings. Liberalism was forged in opposition to state power and state churches, their enforced orthodoxy and suppression of dissent. On the European continent that gave early Liberalism a strong anti-Catholic tinge, which hasn't entirely disappeared. In England and Wales the alliance between Whigs and nonconformists became central to the 19th century Liberal Party, with campaigns to disestablish the Anglican church and to remove its control over schools and universities. The high point of nonconformist influence in the party was between the 1880s and the first world war. In recent decades, some ...
Scintillating slide guitar from Jeremy Spencer.
I really ought to finish my blog about my Interrail trip, so here goes... I'd slept well, and with a rather pleasant breakfast consumed, it was time for another walk along Rimini's promenade. Rimini is, effectively, cut in two by the railway, which parallels the coast, and so there is a clear delineation between the resort and the rest of the city. That means that all of the historic stuff, and most of the shopping streets, are kept apart from the resort. And, in early April, the resort is fairly quiet as a result. It was nice to have the ...
Gender inequity is pervasive in healthcare. Between stigma, delayed and incorrect diagnoses, gender bias, not being taken seriously, under-representation in clinical trials, and insufficient funding for health issues impacting women and gender diverse people, women face numerous barriers to high-quality care and equitable outcomes in healthcare. These issues are just the tip of the iceberg, and racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia further shape women's experiences of healthcare. This week is Women's Health Week, which was started by the U.S. Department of Health to help raise awareness of women's health issues. Here are three areas we as Liberal Democrat Women ...
More from "Bridges not Borders" (see previous post) "The first [take control of our the borders] law in Britain , the 1905 Aliens Act, gave Britain the power to 'prevent the landing of undesirable immigrants ', widely acknowledged to have been aimed at curbing Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe, the 'unwanted migrants' of that era. Likewise Britain's border regime today is focused on keeping out undesired people.* Punitive immigration policies mean that families are routinely torn apart and people are criminalised simply for seeking safety or a better life. Many of these people have been forced to move becasue of ...
Starting this Friday :
The bright spark in Number 10 Downing Street who had the idea to invoke the ghost of Enoch Powell in the Prime Minister's speech on immigration has a lot to answer for. Well that is what many Labour members and MPs seem to think anyway, The Guardian reports that Keir Starmer is facing severe opposition from Labour MPs and employers over his immigration shift, while social media feeds are burning with the indignation of many Labour members and supporters who are incredulous and despairing at the fact that the Labour Party is now positioning itself on the Farage wing of ...
