There are moments that demand we speak plainly. The moment that Trump demeaned and mocked the sacrifices of our troops is one of them. It is time we recognise this moment for what it is, and move together as a party and as a country to meet it. Donald Trump has accused NATO forces in Afghanistan of having "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines." It is time for an uncomfortable truth. This man is no friend of Britain, and we must stop pretending that he is. Our armed forces personnel stand ready, if necessary, to lay ...
Embed from Getty ImagesOne of the great Archers scenes was the one with Clarrie in labour with her first child: "Eddie, if I die, I don't mind you marrying again. But not that Jolene." After the baby had been born, she told Eddie and Joe: "His name's William and I want the house cleaned before I come home." It was clear that William Grundy was named by Clarrie after Charles and Diana's son William. Which has made me realise how much the Charles III's sons resemble Ed Grundy's: William - upright, respectable and just a bit of a prig - ...
Council meeting on Thursday at Gateshead Civic Centre. It was the first meeting to be broadcast live over the internet (other than during the pandemic). The Lib Dem group fought long and hard to ensure the council's meetings are online. We got there, eventually.
On Sunday I had to stay at home in the morning to work on data for forthcoming Lib Dem literature. At the same time Gateshead Lib Dems were holding yet another action day, this time in Bridges ward. I told colleagues in advance that I would not be at the action day in the morning but I would join up with everyone at the Gateshead Tesco cafe for lunch. I brought David with me as we were both
Labour have been in power in Gateshead Council since the authority first came into existence 52 years ago. We have all-out local elections in May and the Lib Dems are determined to sweep Labour from power - hence the photo above. I took this shortly before full council yesterday - some of Gateshead's Lib Dem councillors with brooms ready to sweep Labour out of office.We hear on the
This week, there were seven principal council by-elections, of which five were in England, one was in Wales, whilst another was in Scotland. There were two Tuesday by-elections and a further five on Thursday. We start our deep dive into the results Cotswold DC, where the Green Party were defending the ward of The Rissingtons, and we won a stupendous victory. Congratulations to Cllr Craig Thurling and the local team on an amazing result. We had not even stood in this seat in the previous election but from nowhere we took 37.5% of the vote on a massive 43% turnout. ...
Britain needs Europe. Europe needs Britain. But not as they currently are. This thought began by watching the current US administration's repeated disdain for European allies—the transactional contempt, the treaty ambiguity, the suggestion that decades of partnership count for nothing. Liberal internationalism is under threat. The transatlantic order that underwrote European security for seven decades is fracturing visibly. That creates a vacuum—and a question the Liberal Democrats are uniquely positioned to answer: what should Europe become, and where does Britain fit? No other party will ask this. Labour has calculated that silence on Europe costs less than clarity. The Conservatives ...
Liberal Democrat Newswire #205 came out at the start of the week and you can now also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Welcome to Lib Dem Newswire #205 and first a thank you to all the readers who kindly responded to last time's edition by making a donation to Swale Lib Dems after the appalling behaviour they had been on the receiving end of. I'm made a couple of changes to the usual format of the newsletter for the ...
In January of this year alone, Donald Trump has undermined the international rule of law and the postwar global order, all in the name of 'Making America Great Again'. He ordered the capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela to combat America's drug problem and potentially to access Venezuelan oil and raised the prospect of an intra-NATO war to obtain Greenland. While I and others are grateful that UK and European leaders have been able to stand up to Trump and get him to back down over Greenland, the wider international community needs to be more assertive. This year, the ...
Let's imagine for a moment that Trump's second presidency is a teachable moment. Instead of clutching our pearls, rolling our eyes, and denouncing his bully-boy belligerence, let's look at him through a different lens. For all the tantrums and tumult, turmoil and toxicity, let's ask ourselves: if Trump is here to inadvertently serve some higher purpose, what might that purpose be? Across many cultures, there is a recurring figure in myth and psychology: the Trickster. The Trickster disrupts, breaks taboos, thumbs its nose at authority and exposes uncomfortable truths. They are rarely admirable, often infuriating, and sometimes dangerous. Yet their ...
"The evidence shows that when local people are involved in welcoming newcomers - helping to secure housing, navigate services, and build early social connections they learn local languages more quickly; move into employment sooner; and become part of community life in ways that benefit everyone."Tony Vaughan, Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe, calls on his government to publish a clear plan for the implementation of a community sponsorship scheme for refugees. Lewis Goodall posts some hard truths from Minnesota: "The United States under Trump is no longer our military ally (Greenland), our strategic ally (Ukraine and Russia), our political ally ...
The Eastern Daily Press, which knows a news story when it sees one, wins our Headline of the Day Award.
Donald Trump's administration has taken another step towards authoritarianism. Trump-backed Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has openly backed calls for federal judges who rule against the President to be impeached. This escalates Johnson's rhetoric; he had previously called for funding cuts to judges who rule against Trump in place of impeachment. The point of a federal judge, as with all judges, is not to agree with the President simply for loyalty's sake. Their job is to interpret and apply the Constitution and federal law, including striking down executive orders as unconstitutional or ruling that government agencies have ...
A pair of Tuesday principal authority council by-elections in Derbyshire kicked off the elections this week. Both had a Liberal Democrat candidate, one up on the last time these wards were up. First up that ward without a Lib Dem last time but with a candidate this time: Codnor, Langley Mill & Aldercar (Amber Valley) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: ➡] RFM: 45.6% (+24.1) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 19.1% (-20.8) [IMG: ☑] ADV: 12.3% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 10.0% (-15.3) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 5.9% (-5.5) [IMG: 🏘] DCP: 3.8% (New) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 3.2% (New)Reform GAIN from Labour.Changes w/ 2023. — Election ...
She has been Welsh First Minister for nearly six months but in that time, Eluned Morgan has barely expressed a word of criticism of the UK Labour government, even though Starmer and Co have completely sold her government down the river. The UK government has refused to devolve control of the crown estate, refused to give Wales powers over railways or reclassify rail projects like HS2 so that we get the Barnett consequentials and refused every request for extra powers including over the justice system. In that time Eluned Morgan and her predecessors have talked up the benefits of having ...
