Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: time to end the triple lock and finally give younger generations a fair deal

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 24th November 2025 - 6:00 pm

On Wednesday the Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her long awaited (long feared?) Budget at a critical time for Britain’s economy and society.

As liberals committed to inter-generational fairness, we must seize this moment to call for a major reform: scrapping the state pension “triple lock.” The triple lock – the guarantee that the state pension increases each year by whichever is highest of inflation, average earnings growth, or 2.5% – was introduced with good intentions. Yet today it is deeply unfair to the many younger people facing stagnant wages, rising housing costs and insecure careers.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns …

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Vince Cable

What happened to wealth tax?

By Vince Cable | Mon 24th November 2025 - 2:10 pm

There are few issues which animate both the super-rich and the political Left more than the notion of a wealth tax. The idea has been championed by the French Left: a 2% levy would be levied on the roughly 0.01% of household assets worth over 100 mn. Euros. Britain’s Green Party has also adopted it as a signature policy. There is a global version of the same idea promoted by Brazil’s President Lula.

For populist politicians, a wealth tax has a double appeal: it can, in theory, promote greater equality and ‘fairness’, and, also in theory, raise a lot of money for public services. Theory and practice have however diverged.

A wealth tax is unlikely to be in the coming UK budget despite advocacy by Neil Kinnock, leading trades unions and others. Indeed, it is being abandoned by governments including those with a social democratic, redistributive agenda: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Sweden. They found that the tax was difficult to operate, easily avoided and raised disappointing amounts. Only Norway, Spain and Swiss cantons retain a comprehensive wealth tax.

Political demands for wealth taxation are energised by extreme and growing inequalities at global and national level. The world’s wealthiest man is Elon Musk, and his personal fortune appears to be around $500 billion. He has recently negotiated a pay settlement which could earn a further $1000 billion (a trillion) over the next decade: equivalent to the combined salaries of all primary school teachers in the USA.

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Owen Meredith

The battle for local government transparency starts here

By Owen Meredith | Mon 24th November 2025 - 10:30 am

Our local news media is at the heart of community and the first line of defence against corruption in public life. Across the country, thousands of local journalists work tirelessly to hold power to account on behalf of local residents, uncovering truths which powerful decision-makers might prefer to keep hidden.

As more power is devolved to local decision makers, the transparency and scrutiny provided by local journalists will become even more important. Citizens must have full oversight of any plans to change how their local authority governs, and how their money is being spent.

The underlying aim of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to give more power to local communities is laudable. At the News Media Association, we passionately support vibrant local communities served by strong local news media titles.

However, one part of the Bill has caused concern and bemusement within our sector – namely the provision to remove the statutory requirement within the Local Government Act 2000 for communities to be notified of changes to a council’s governance structure through a public notice in a local newspaper. Instead, councils would be free to flag such changes “in a manner they think appropriate”, giving scope for such decisions to be kept entirely secret and buried in the darkest corners of council websites.

This creates a disturbing contradiction within the reforms. On one hand, the government claims it wants to give communities more say in their own destinies. Yet the proposed removal of these types of notices from local papers will do the exact opposite by reducing transparency.

The EDCE Bill will introduce some of the biggest changes to local authorities in England since the Local Government Act 1972 – full transparency is critical to delivering that effectively. Local news media is ideally placed to deliver this scrutiny – titles which are highly trusted and enjoy huge audiences in print and digital.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 23rd November 2025 - 9:52 am

Sudan – and gold

Gold is currently selling at $4,038.05 an ounce. It has increased in value 121 percent in under five years.

It is also financing a civil war in Sudan which, according to the UN, has killed 150,000 civilians, displaced 25 million people and left 30 million facing acute hunger.

The two main Sudanese warring parties — the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — now rely heavily on gold as a source of income.

In 2024, gold production reportedly generated $1.7bn for Sudan via official channels. But then there are the unofficial channels, and, according to a UN Sanctions Committee Report, illicit smuggled gold is worth many times more than that which leaves the country through legal official channels.

The conflict over gold isn’t just a domestic issue. It is tied into a regional ecosystem with armed Sudanese actors with both camps connected to smugglers, refineries and foreign governments. All of which allows the two armies to convert gold into cash to buy weapons, fuel, food and other war needs.

Gold is the ideal money source for Sudan’s warring parties. For a start, Sudan has a lot of it. It is in the world’s top five for gold production. And geologists reckon that because conflict has prevented full exploration, there could be a lot more glitzy minerals in the Sudanese hills.

Next, it is relatively easy to mine, especially if you have no compunction about using environmentally dangerous and toxic mercury. The Sudanese warlords are not known for their green credentials.

Then, there is the fact that it is easily transportable. You can melt it down and mould into any easily smuggable shape, paint it black and carry it out to the gold markets where there is a constant and strong demand which means that the gold can be quickly converted into cash.

The biggest market is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Gold Souk has been a major gold trading hub for centuries. In addition to the traditional souk with its hundreds of bullion shops there is a major free trade zone known as the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. There is also a major gold refinery—Emirates Gold. In 2024 $186 billion in gold passed through the UAE.

More than 97 percent of Sudan’s gold is sold on the Dubai markets after being smuggled out through Egypt or Chad. Some of it is perfectly legal—about $1.52 billion. Just how much is illegal can be guessed at, but Swissaid, which monitors gold transfers, reckons that 60 tonnes of illegal smuggled gold is sold in Dubai. This could be worth up to $7 billion.

The UAE authorities say they follow OECD Due Diligence Regulations for Responsible Mineral Sourcing to ensure that the gold that they sell is coming from legitimate sources and is not being used to fund war. But this is challenged by Swissaid, Chatham House and the Financial Action Task Force, which was set up to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

If the UAE authorities can be persuaded to stop the flow of illicit gold then it will sever the pipeline which is financing the fighting in Sudan and—hopefully—lead to its end.

Ukraine

Details of Trump’s latest peace plan for Ukraine are starting to leak out. The plan basically calls for Ukraine’s surrender.

Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk would be “recognized as de facto Russian, including by the United States.”

“Kherson and Zaporizhzhia will be frozen along the line of contact, which will mean de facto recognition along the line of contact,” the proposal states. “Russia will relinquish other agreed territories it controls outside the five regions.”

The proposal also states: “It is expected that Russia will not invade neighbouring countries and NATO will not expand further.”

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Four-sided Asia Conflict

By Tom Arms | Sat 22nd November 2025 - 9:42 am

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has re-ignited the tense Sino-Japanese relations that underscore the region’s volatile politics.

The roots of these tensions go back centuries and will doubtless last for centuries more. At the moment the main players are China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan with America playing an important peripheral role.

Korea and Japan have a long history involving cultural links, wars and cruel colonisation. According to many historians, the Japanese imperial family originated in Korea. It is a fact that many prominent Japanese have Korean genetic roots.

Much of Chinese culture reached Japan through the Korean Peninsula. This included Buddhism, Chinese writing, laws, government models, horsemanship, metallurgy, iron-working, architecture, construction and agricultural techniques.

From the Japanese point of view, Korea offered an invasion route into China. In the 16th century the Japanese fought a four-year war against Korea and were only defeated when the Chinese joined the fight on the side of the Koreans.

Then, of course, there is the Japanese colonial period from 1910 to 1945 with the bitter Korean memories of slave labour and “comfort women.”

Korea also has its problems with China with whom it has had a long on-off relationship which for centuries involved tributes and recognition of Chinese suzerainty. A key element in Korean foreign policy (north and south) is summed up by the word “sadae” which is interpreted as “serving the great” which in turn means that Korea will always prioritise good relations with China to secure protection and legitimacy.

Taiwan is a relatively more recent issue for both China and Japan. Its indigenous inhabitants—Austronesians—are neither Japanese nor Chinese. They are genetically and linguistically related to the Filipinos and Indonesians. It wasn’t until the 16th century that the Chinese started to take a peripheral interest in the island. Then the Dutch arrived and called it Formosa. This spurred the Ming Dynasty to action. They booted out the Dutch and shortly afterwards formally annexed the island.

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Liam Yip

ALDC By Election Report 20th November

By Liam Yip | Fri 21st November 2025 - 7:24 pm

This week, there were seven local by-elections, of which there was a Liberal Democrat candidate in all but one contest. The six-month rule has now come into effect for seats that are up in 2026, so no more for this cycle will be called.

We start in Stratford-on-Avon, where there were two by-elections. One was a Liberal Democrat defence, whilst the other saw the Conservatives defending their seat. In the former, we successfully defended this seat. However, in the latter seat Reform were able to successfully gain off the Conservatives, only 3 votes ahead of us. Congratulations are due to Paul Harrison for his win. Commiserations to Huw Lewis and the local team for the extremely close result.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Quinton
Liberal Democrats (Paul Harrison): 437 (47.3%, +3.5)
Reform UK: 306 (33.1%, new)
Conservatives: 137 (14.8%, –26.2)
Green Party: 35 (3.8%, –4.7)
Labour: 9 (1.0%, –5.7)

Liberal Democrats HOLD

Turnout: 30.41%

Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Salford Priors and Alcester Rural
Reform UK: 272 (33.3%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Huw Lewis): 269 (32.9%, +9.7)
Conservatives: 227 (27.8%, –29.1)
Green Party: 31 (3.8%, –5.3)
Labour: 18 (2.2%, –8.6)

Reform UK GAIN from Conservative

Turnout: 33%

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Samuel Jackson

The Liberal Democrats need policies for the North of England

By Samuel Jackson | Fri 21st November 2025 - 6:16 pm

In our internal federal elections for 2026, Josh Babarinde and Victoria Collins were elected as our President and Vice President respectively. I wish Mr Babarinde and Ms Collins the best of luck ahead of their tenures as their successes are our party’s successes.

In light of their victories, there is an issue facing our party which we need to address. Kamran Hussain, Ms Collins’ challenger for VP, stood as a candidate who would give the North of England a greater voice within the federal party. That is why I and members of my local and regional parties, among others in the North, supported Mr Hussain’s VP candidacy, and why I supported the Federal Policy Committee candidacies of Abrial Jerram and Andrew Haldane.

At present, our party is dominated by the South of England. Of our 72 MPs, nearly 82% represent Southern seats, with most senior party positions being held by MPs from this region. By contrast, the North of England has only four Lib Dem MPs, with the Northeast having none. While Lisa Smart, Tim Farron and Tom Morrison hold posts in the frontbench team, this continuing imbalance may portray us as a party of and for the South and put us bad stead electorally.

The North of England feels left behind in comparison to the rest of the United Kingdom. Yorkshire and Humberside and the Northeast are in the lowest third of English regions by GDP, with the former having a smaller GDP than the Southwest of England or Scotland despite all three having comparable populations (around 5,000,000 each). The North has rates of unemployment higher than the UK average and worse rates of poverty, deprivation, growth and investment than the South.

The North formed part of Labour’s Red Wall, but recent elections have demonstrated that Northern fealty to Labour is no longer a given. In 2019, the Red Wall collapsed to the Conservatives partly in rejection of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, with many seats in the region reverting to Labour in 2024 owing to vote-splitting by Reform UK. This year’s local elections were a clear rejection of the two-party status quo. While our party’s gains were concentrated in the South due to the continuation of our Blue Wall strategy, Reform’s were principally in the Midlands and North, with those in the latter including the councils of Lancashire, Doncaster and County Durham.

Reform’s performance in local government since May have been mixed. They have lost 38 councillors through resignation, defection, suspension or expulsion. Quarrels within Reform’s ranks have broken out. Spending has either been wasted through payouts for contract violations or cuts to vital maintenance works. Cases of ‘good’ Reform governance, such as Kent County Council’s call for more social care visas or Hull & East Yorkshire Mayor Luke Campbell’s support for his county’s renewables industry, saw breaks with party principles and emulation of the ‘establishment’ that they were meant to rail against.

Reform UK are not winning because of their policies but because of anger against the two major parties and their recent poor records in government. While we are picking up seats through by-elections following short-lived Reform stints in local government, we cannot rest on our laurels and assume that a lack of a plan will doom them by the time of the next general election.

Our policies of lowering prices, improving public services and investing in infrastructure theoretically have appeal in the North. However, we are not cutting through to voters, at least nationally. We must acknowledge that our policies do not address the specific needs of specific regions or communities, and we must recognise that Northern concerns are not purely economic in nature.

Viewed as a party of the South, we may by extension be viewed as a party of and for the middle class. Of the Northern seats we have won, they are usually centred on more affluent towns reminiscent of the Blue Wall, namely Harrogate & Knaresborough located within Yorkshire’s Golden Triangle. Having first seen the decline of heavy manufacturing which provided plentiful, proud work for unskilled and semiskilled workers, the boarding-up of high street and town centre businesses clearly marks another decline where fewer jobs are available. The university-level education now required in the modern job market is unaffordable or inaccessible to many and may be perceived as having little immediate benefit to afflicted communities. Within such environments, populist, anti-establishment parties calling for a return to ‘better times’ would have greater appeal.

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Paul Reynolds

Economic growth – simple but not easy. Reform summary

By Paul Reynolds | Fri 21st November 2025 - 1:08 pm

In a recent 3-part series (part 1, part 2, part 3) I set out some remarks about the pursuit of ‘beneficial economic growth’, and why it needs to be systematic, rather than tokenistic or riddled with ‘solutions looking for problems’. Below is a summary.

‘The economy’ is still the No1 policy concern of the general public, and it was the central ‘cure all’ of the current Labour government when it was elected. The government did not, however, set out its approach systematically, or tell us ‘how’, thus leaving everything to hard-pressed civil servants. The coming dire budget is but one consequence.

QUALITY OF GROWTH

Economic policy throughout government should focus on the quality of growth, not just the quantity. Key quality attributes include fiscal, environmental and social sustainability.

DYSFUNCTIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Economic regulation and promotion is spread across government, and can be harmfully contradictory and dysfunctional. The institutional set up for orchestrating beneficial growth aims, is confusing, and ineffective. The interdependence of reforms seems not to be taken into account. There are many lessons from overseas.

CONCENTRATED FINANCE AND FINANCIALISATION

Investment banks, banks and non-bank-financial institutions, should be providing services to businesses, which should be the master not the servant of finance.  Extreme concentration in international finance (eg via index funds) has led to excessive financialisation, opaque cartelisation, and systemic risks. De-monopolisation and reforms to transparency and capital market rules, are the main remedies.

SCLEROTIC STATE

Few in the UK would disagree that the UK state is sclerotic. But why so ? Excessive secrecy and a lack of transparency and accountability is one factor. The major hidden culprits are … excessive contracting out, appalling procurement practices and lawful conflicts of interest. Coupled with the culture of ‘generalism’ in government and obsessive ‘commercial confidentiality’, this is catastrophic. Transparency, and major changes in the parliamentary supervision of governmental employees/departments, with more accountable value-for-money criteria, are the first reform steps.

LAND AVAILABILITY

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Mo Waqas

Our care workers deserve better than a 15–20 year wait to belong

By Mo Waqas | Fri 21st November 2025 - 11:04 am

I write this not only as a Liberal Democrat, but as a frontline care provider responsible for multiple members of staff across Stockton and Hartlepool. Among them are seven remarkable care assistants from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Pakistan. They came here legally, at Britain’s request, to fill the gaping holes in our NHS and social care system. Today, they keep the elderly and vulnerable safe, fed, clean, and dignified.

They are the reason thousands of families sleep at night knowing their loved ones are cared for.

And now, the Government is telling them they must wait 15 years, or even 20,  before they are allowed to call Britain home.

The human price behind the policy

Let me tell you what this looks like in real life.

One of my care assistants from Zimbabwe works six days a week. She sends money home to her children because she cannot afford to bring them here yet. When she heard the new rules, she asked quietly, “Will I still be waiting when they are grown?” She will be 57 by the time she reaches settlement under the 20-year rule.

A Nigerian carer on my team works double shifts. She has held the hands of dementia patients through the night, comforted people in their final hours, and supported families who were breaking under pressure. Her client told me recently, “She is like a daughter to me.” Yet the country she serves now says: You are welcome to care for our elderly, but not welcome to belong for two decades.

A young woman from Pakistan, who works nights and studies during the day, looked completely defeated when she realised she will spend her entire youth waiting for settlement. “Fifteen years… I’ll be in my forties by then,” she said. “I just wanted a stable life.”

These are not isolated stories. There are thousands like them across the UK.

A policy that punishes the very workers Britain relies on

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Jack Meredith

If Labour speaks like Powell, then we must stand like Jenkins

By Jack Meredith | Thu 20th November 2025 - 12:22 pm

Immigration.

For many, it’s the issue that’s lasted a lifetime. While some, like me, view it as an extension of internationalism and the support of human rights, others view it as an idea to be feared and loathed, where they feel their cultures are set to be torn apart by “others” who are too barbaric ever to understand or accept Western societal views.

The fight for a respectful immigration policy is more prevalent than ever, with the current Labour Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announcing her ‘moral mission’ to tackle illegal immigration. This mission, which she claims is ‘tearing communities apart’, involves making refugee status temporary, enforcing a regular two-and-a-half-year review for their applications, and requiring anyone arriving “illegally” to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement. These policies not only affect the individuals seeking refuge but also profoundly impact the communities they become part of.

This is a far cry from the Labour Party’s stance on immigration from the days of liberal reforming Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins. While not a supporter of unlimited immigration or open borders, Lord Jenkins was an outspoken supporter of cultural integration in a multicultural sense, referring to it as ‘equal opportunity, accompanied by cultural diversity, in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance‘.

There were, of course, the likes of Enoch Powell, who stood opposed to such tolerant and liberal views on immigration and espoused his own ideas, most notably his ‘Rivers of Blood‘ speech, comparing the rise in immigration to Britain preparing its own funeral pyre, calling for an immediate reduction in immigration.

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Mary Reid

Lib Dem councillors win 2025 Cllr Awards

By Mary Reid | Thu 20th November 2025 - 10:17 am

The winners of the Cllr Awards for England and Wales were announced by the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) at an event on Tuesday night. Of the five awards two were won by Liberal Democrats, while a third was awarded to a former Lib Dem.

The Innovator of the Year award went to Cllr Alex Ehmann (centre of photo) of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.  His citation says:

Councillor Alexander Ehmann of the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames has elevated transport and air quality agendas by focusing on residents’ involvement in the design process. He is leading the council’s transformation of its transport strategy with the development of the Richmond 2040 plan. And he was responsible for an innovative new entry treatment for school streets, which is now being adopted by other London Boroughs.

Cllr Harry Boparai (second from left) from Spelthorne Borough Council and Surrey County Council was gained the Community Champion award.

Councillor Harry Boparai from Surrey County Council and Spelthorne Borough Council is a tireless, hands-on problem-solver praised for his impact on everyday quality of life. His focus is on the issues that matter to residents, from tackling rogue landlords and fly-tipping to improving road safety. Well-known for his practical support of local causes, he plays a leading role in protecting green spaces, heritage projects, and supporting organisations working with young people.

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Mark Valladares

19 November 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 19th November 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Inflation stats: Chancellor must put households and high streets first
  • Lib Dems: Govt must go further and “ban surge pricing”
  • PMQs: Kemi Badenoch should apologise for £40bn of Conservative stealth tax hikes
  • Scottish Liberal Democrats call for World Cup fan parks and late night licenses
  • Stone secures meeting with Treasury to save high street banks

Inflation stats: Chancellor must put households and high streets first

Responding to the latest ONS inflation figures released this morning, Daisy Cooper, Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said:

As the cost-of-living crisis rages on, the Chancellor mustn’t look this small gift horse in the mouth.

Hitting people with a stealth tax at next week’s Budget would prolong the pain of higher taxes for much longer and unfairly pull poorer pensioners and low-income workers into paying tax for the first time.

We Liberal Democrats are calling for emergency measures to slash people’s energy bills, save our high streets with a VAT cut for hospitality and boost growth in every corner of the UK – funded fairly by taxing the banks. The Chancellor must put households and high streets first and put an end to the most vulnerable from having to choose between heating and eating.

Lib Dems: Govt must go further and “ban surge pricing”

Responding to the government’s announcement banning the reselling of tickets for profit, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport, Anna Sabine MP said:

Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to ban surge pricing – a practice that can see ticket prices skyrocketing for in-demand events, and require ticket resale platforms to verify that listed tickets actually exist before they are allowed to be sold.

So while this is a good opening act, let’s make sure the encore truly gives live events back to the fans, not the scalpers.

PMQs: Kemi Badenoch should apologise for £40bn of Conservative stealth tax hikes

The Liberal Democrats have blasted Kemi Badenoch’s hypocrisy on stealth taxes at PMQs, highlighting the £40bn stealth tax bombshell the Conservatives hit the public with during their time in office.

Between the stealth tax being announced in 2021 by the Conservatives, and the 2024-25 financial year at the end of the last Parliament, frozen income tax thresholds hit households with £38.7bn in total, according to figures from the OBR.

The Conservative freeze on income tax thresholds has meant that, by the end of the last Parliament, basic rate taxpayers had paid an additional £950 in total due to the freeze on the Personal Allowance, while higher rate taxpayers were hit with nearly £4,800, according to Liberal Democrat analysis of figures from the OBR.

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

Kemi Badenoch should apologise for the years of stealth taxes put in place by the Conservatives if she wants to be taken seriously by the public.

The Conservative government she loyally served hammered families with years of unfair tax hikes.

Both Labour and the Conservatives seem intent on punishing the public with endless tax hikes, instead of turbocharging our economy with a closer trade deal with the EU.

Scottish Liberal Democrats call for World Cup fan parks and late night licenses

Scottish Liberal Democrats have called for huge fan parks to be set up across the country so fans can gather to watch Scotland’s World Cup games and for pubs to get special dispensation to show their matches in the event that they are scheduled for late at night.

The party says stadiums and parks could host huge screens to beam back the games from the USA, Mexico and Canada.

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Caron Lindsay

Internal elections update: the results edge closer as gender and LGBT quotas disapplied

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th November 2025 - 8:06 pm

The Lib Dems moved closer to being able to count our election results this afternoon.

In an email to candidates, party Chief Executive Mike Dixon said:

We have now received legal advice from a second King’s Counsel who specialises in election law and discrimination cases. We asked them to review the recent Federal Appeals Panel judgement about the internal elections and recommend how to proceed at a detailed operational level.

The KC advice is that in the light of the Supreme Court judgement and our Federal Appeals Panel judgement, we must suspend rule 2.5 and rule 2.6(c) in the Federal Constitution for these counts.

We will now arrange with our supplier for the count to take place as soon as possible. (The date will now depend on their team’s availability.)

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone for bearing with us through this process. It has been important that we get this right, both to ensure the results are fair and to protect the party from potential legal risks.

This outcome breaks my heart. I worked hard for years to argue for these quotas and helped put them together back in 2016 as I wrote recently.

They have helped make our party more diverse over the years and I want to see them continue. And I will be fighting alongside many colleagues in the party to ensure that the law is changed so that they can be reinstated.  It’s so infuriating that anti trans groups with the means to take legal action have forced this on us. They have harmed women and LGBT people and, perhaps, when we see the outcome of the elections, the diversity of our party.

LGBT+ Lib Dems issued a statement this evening saying:

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Kamran Hussain

Labour has lost its moral and political compass

By Kamran Hussain | Wed 19th November 2025 - 11:55 am

I have been a Liberal Democrat for many years, and I never imagined a time when a major party on the centre-left would be celebrating its immigration policy alongside the very architects of anti-immigrant sentiment. Yet here we are. As Shabana Mahmood unveils her new asylum and immigration plans, the loudest endorsements are not coming from progressive voices, the NHS, or the communities dependent on migration, but from figures like Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage—men who have built careers on demonising and scapegoating newcomers.

​This applause is a siren call that should terrify the Labour movement, but for the Liberal Democrats, it is a clarifying moment.

​When people like Robinson and Farage applaud Labour’s direction, it sends a crystal-clear signal: Shabana Mahmood is moving the Labour Party so far to the right that the far-right ecosystem now views her as an active ally. For those of us who believe in the core Liberal values of fairness, compassion, and evidence-based policy, this is profoundly alarming.

​The very people keeping our social fabric intact—the hard-working individuals in the care sector—are the ones being betrayed. Under the previous, more humane system, many care workers were on a clear, five-year route to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). This gave them stability, dignity, and a predictable future.

​Mahmood’s proposal to stretch that pathway to twenty years is not a policy; it is a punishment. It translates to twenty years of insecurity, twenty  years of anxiety, telling dedicated workers, “Even though you care for our elderly, our grandparents, and our disabled loved ones, you still haven’t earned the right to call this country home.”

​And who cheered this punitive shift? Tommy Robinson, calling it a step in the right direction. Nigel Farage, claiming she was suitable to join Reform.

If they believe Labour has become their champion, then Labour has utterly lost its moral and political compass.

The tragedy is that Labour believes it is playing a clever political game. Mahmood thinks that by mirroring Conservative and Reform UK rhetoric, she can win over disillusioned voters who are looking for someone to blame.

But politics abhors a vacuum, and voters will always choose the authentic voice of the far-right over its pale imitation. Labour will never ‘out-Reform’ Reform.

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Paul Hindley

Labour’s inhumanity must be opposed!

By Paul Hindley | Wed 19th November 2025 - 8:56 am

Immigration and asylum have been dominant political issues since the general election last year. These issues have been amplified by Reform UK, the Conservatives and right-wing media outlets. However, Labour is in power, not the traditional right, not that you can recognise anything progressive about many of this Labour government’s policies, especially towards immigrants and asylum seekers.

Labour’s current political approach is completely contradictory. You cannot be in favour of economic growth and strong public services on the one hand and anti-immigration on the other hand. Where would our National Health Service, our social care sector, our education system or many of our small businesses be without the invaluable contribution of people from overseas? The answer is that they would be nowhere. They would not be able to function without the work and expertise of immigrants and would surely face collapse without them. Every immigrant that works and pays taxes is actively contributing to this country and making it richer, both economically and culturally. Anti-immigrant politics actively undermines both our economy and our public services. 

As bad and counterproductive as Labour’s approach to immigration is, it is its approach to asylum seekers and refugees that is especially disgraceful. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has outlined a series of hardline reforms to the asylum system. Amongst these reforms, refugees would have to be resident in the UK for 20 years before they could apply for permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain. During this period, asylum seekers would face continual review of their status every 30 months with the potential of being deported back to their home country at any moment if the government deems that country safe to return to.

It was also reported that asylum seekers could face the grotesque prospect of having their jewellery and other precious valuables taken from them to cover their processing costs. Although, ministers have since clarified that only valuable assets could be taken not personal belongings. A small improvement to a terrible policy.

Internationally, Labour’s reforms to immigration and asylum may have significant diplomatic consequences. As part of these reforms, the government is threatening “Trump-style visa bans” against Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A model of visa bans that could be extended to many other countries and thus undermine Britain’s diplomatic standing in the world.

A final aspect that should concern liberals is Labour’s insistence on overhauling Britain’s approach to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Labour plan to change how British judges interpret the ECHR in an attempt to prevent asylum seekers from using the right to a family life to avoid deportation. This would set a very dangerous illiberal precedent. The ECHR does not just protect the political, democratic and legal rights of immigrants and asylum seekers, but the rights of all British citizens. It is a crucial pillar and safeguard of our liberal democracy. It also acts as a common democratic safeguard across the entire European continent, a safeguard that was forged in the aftermath of World War II. If Britain were to leave the ECHR, we would be one of only three European nations to be outside the Convention, the other two being the fascistic regimes of Russia and Belarus.

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Mark Valladares

18 November 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 18th November 2025 - 11:57 pm
  • Highest number of 8 hour waits at A&E in 2025
  • Scot Lib Dems call for action on Alzheimer’s and dementia
  • Rennie: Scottish education deserves better than third decade of SNP
  • Government must set out support for workers at Mossmorran
  • McArthur: Prison crisis shows every sign of getting worse
  • Rennie: Housing Secretary has some nerve as heating bill dropped

Highest number of 8 hour waits at A&E in 2025

Responding to new figures showing only 61.5% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 9th November 2025 (11,020 waited more than 4 hours, the highest in 2025), while 4,532 people waited over 8 hours (the highest in 2025) and 2,181 waited over 12 hours, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Under the SNP it feels like every week at A&E is breaking a some kind of record for long waits. We are now seeing the highest number of people waiting over 8 hours of the entire year.

With the cold snap of the last few days we can be under no misapprehension that winter has now arrived, yet the SNP have squandered the months it had to prepare and left our A&E departments in a perilous state.

The Scottish Government needs to start taking serious action to support the staff facing these pressure cooker conditions. Scotland’s A&E patients deserve better – and with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you can vote for change with fairness at its heart.

Scot Lib Dems call for action on Alzheimer’s and dementia

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today called for the Scottish Government to make sure people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias don’t fall through the cracks as new figures confirmed that they now account for around one in 10 of all deaths.

New figures published today by the National Records of Scotland show:

  • There were 6,612 deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias registered in Scotland in 2024. This is one of the leading causes of death in Scotland, accounting for around one in 10 of all deaths.
  • After adjusting for age, there were 122 deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias per 100,000 people in Scotland in 2024. This rate has almost doubled over the last two decades.
  • Almost two-thirds (64%) of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias were females and 36% were males.

Delegates at the Scottish Liberal Democrat autumn conference recently backed a motion calling for the Scottish Government to urgently establish minimum national care standards and entitlements for Scots with dementia.

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Paul Reynolds

Economic growth – simple but not easy, part 3

By Paul Reynolds | Tue 18th November 2025 - 12:31 pm

This article concludes a three-part series on what the UK needs to do to manage ‘beneficial growth’ policy across government. This article briefly considers examples in banking, trade, commercial law and infrastructure.

De Jure Monopoly Banking – ‘Never a lender or borrower be’

A purposefully restrictive banking sector, dogged by regulatory capture, has done much to inhibit the UK economy. The monopolistic sector structure was designed to create high profitability and crisis resilience in the UK banking sector; but the 2008 crash did not change this justification! In effect the sector’s self-governed, cartelised approach, with multiple regulators, failed. Instead of reform, a permissive approach to ‘accounting tricks’ transpired. The remedies proved to be very profitable.

The sector thus remains largely unreformed. The dysfunctional UK banking sector has relatively few banks, absence of specialist banks, and weird over-extended anti-customer rules. The UK suffers unresponsive services, instability, lack of competition, and reliance on the taxpayer as a last resort. Over-dependence on derivatives and property lending means they hardly ever lend for real-world business development. Remedies include more effective prudential regulation, and a raft of measures to increase competition; for example, a regulatory path from small (eg credit unions) to large, among many steps to eliminate the protections afforded the big banks from smaller competitors.

Trade policy, promotion and facilitation – ‘The expert manufacture of bottlenecks’

There are three critical problems in UK trade policy. First, post-Brexit, the UK is notoriously bad at matching UK tariff demands with evolving strengths and weaknesses in the UK economy.

Second, the UK system of business promotion globally is amateurish compared to (for example), Japan, South Korea, Finland or the USA. Japanese sectoral development associations, global technology organisations such as JETRO, and the role of METI in supporting overseas manufacturing, are worth copying.

Third, trade facilitation within the UK is sclerotic. Consider international freight rail transport from London Gateway to the North, or the Liverpool-Manchester-Leeds-Hull route, (and the permanent gridlock in S.E. Kent). The aims of trade reforms can be clearly stated.

Commercial Law – ‘Labyrinthine and outdated’

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Michael Taylor

The Supreme Court decision – End the Trappist-like silence now

By Michael Taylor | Tue 18th November 2025 - 10:29 am

The Supreme Court (SC) was asked to interpret what ‘man’ and ‘woman’ meant is respect of the Equality Act.

Their decision was that ‘with respect to the Equality Act and that Act only’ man and woman were to mean the biological gender recorded at birth and not that recorded on gender recognition certificates.

This was a very unwelcome judgement and it has been seized upon by all manner of anti-trans people to mean that the judgement applies in all circumstances and in every possible situation. Most notably, this interpretation was jumped on by Kishwer Faulkner, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights …

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Mark Valladares

17 November 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 17th November 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Asylum hotels: state-endorsed robbery will not fix the crisis
  • Lib Dem MP calls for National Crime Agency crackdown after “mountain of waste” uncovered in Oxfordshire
  • Greene calls for Scotland-wide school fire safety audit
  • Poll suggests Lib Dems can win over wide range of voters and take on SNP
  • Scottish Conservatives seem to have nothing but name-calling left

Asylum hotels: state-endorsed robbery will not fix the crisis

Commenting on the Government’s annoucement to confiscate asylum seekers’ jewellery to pay for their housing costs, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson MP said:

The Government must fix the asylum system, but stripping vulnerable people of their family heirlooms will not fix a system that is costing taxpayers £6 million every day in hotel bills.

This policy goes against who we are – a nation that has long responded with compassion to those fleeing the worst atrocities imaginable.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the end of asylum hotels and to give asylum seekers the right to work, so that they can support themselves financially, integrate and pay tax. That is how we bring down the bill – not by state-endorsed robbery.

Lib Dem MP calls for National Crime Agency crackdown after “mountain of waste” uncovered in Oxfordshire

The Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Calum Miller, has used an urgent question in Parliament to call on the Government to pay for a 150 metre illegal waste dump in Oxfordshire, and for the National Crime Agency to investigate the most serious cases.

The mountain of rubbish, which is situated in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington, has been described by Calum as “pollution on a grotesque scale.”

Calum also suggested that the site has to “be seen to be believed” and condemned criminal fly-tipping gangs, who he said are “carefully planning operations to dump industrial waste in the countryside” without consideration for the “health of people or animals”.

Calum has today (Monday 17th November) used an urgent question in Parliament to call on the Secretary Of State to issue an “urgent directive” to clear up the site “before it is too late” for the River Cherwell. The cost of cleaning the pile of waste, which is up to 20 feet high, is more than the entire budget of Cherwell District Council. Calum also called for an Independent “root-and-branch review” into the Government’s response to waste crime.

Greene calls for Scotland-wide school fire safety audit

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the West of Scotland Jamie Greene has urged the Scottish Government to conduct a Scotland-wide audit of fire safety in schools.

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Caron Lindsay

Josh Babarinde asks The Question in Parliament

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 17th November 2025 - 7:31 pm

Every week Lib Dem MPs ask questions in Parliament, aiming to hold the Government to account.

But last week proved to be busier than usual for newly elected President Josh Babarinde.

He asked The Question of his partner Connor in the House of Commons chamber, with the permission of the Speaker and the help of fellow MP Jess Brown-Fuller. And our Earl Russell was on hand to take these beautiful photos.

We think Josh is the first MP to actually propose in the Chamber itself, though photos of that private moment can’t be published.

How cute is this?

Josh said on Twitter:

Last Thursday, I asked a very special question in Commons after official business had finished for the day – not to the Prime Minister, but to my partner Connor (on his birthday!)

…and his answer was YES! 🤩

We marked it with a photo just outside the chamber afterwards.

🙏Thank you to Mr Speaker
@CommonsSpeaker, his team, the Sergeant-at-arms, the doorkeepers, events team and all those who helped make this surprise happen.

And a huge thanks to one of my top pals, @JessBrownFuller, for being my wingwoman in helping me plan this and pull this off over the last few weeks and months!

Connor and I couldn’t be happier and we will never forget it 🙏

📸: Lib Dem member of the House of Lords (and pro photographer)
@EarlRussellLD – thank you John!

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: Labour’s Reform-lite immigration crackdown isn’t leadership – it’s politics by fear

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 17th November 2025 - 4:50 pm

Today the Labour government is unveiling what it grandly calls the “largest asylum overhaul in modern times”. In reality, it’s a Reform-lite crackdown designed to appease the tabloids and outflank the Right, rather than deliver a workable, humane, or genuinely thought-through immigration system.

Temporary refugee status, a 20-year wait for permanent settlement, harsher limits on family reunion, and tightened appeal rights-these aren’t the hallmarks of a compassionate, confident government – they’re the trademark of a party terrified of looking ‘soft,’ a government more interested in signalling toughness than addressing the real drivers of a broken system. Ministers coaching their MPs to fall into line or risk looking weak only reinforces that is pure politics, not sensible policy.

Liberals should say this clearly: You don’t fix the asylum system by making life harder for refugees. You fix it by creating safe, managed, humane routes to the UK; by processing claims efficiently; and by helping people (not forcing them) to integrate and contribute once they’re here, as the overwhelming majority of people do.

A genuinely fair system would do three things.

First, expand safe and legal routes so people fleeing war and persecution don’t have to gamble their lives on dangerous journeys.
We know this works – it’s the safest, most cost-effective, and most orderly way to protect people and maintain public confidence.

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David Chalmers

ALDE Party Congress: Liberal Democrat leadership at the heart of Europe’s liberal family

By David Chalmers | Mon 17th November 2025 - 10:59 am

Three weekends ago, I had the privilege of leading the Liberal Democrat delegation to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Congress in Brussels — one of the most important international gatherings for liberal parties from across Europe. It was the culmination of months of preparation and a clear demonstration that the Liberal Democrats are once again stepping up as leaders within our wider liberal family.

The response to our call for delegates was exceptional. We took 35 members to Brussels — one of our largest, most diverse delegations in recent memory. We were proud to include a wide mix of ages, genders and sexualities, with representation from a range of ethnic backgrounds and lived experiences. Importantly, members with disabilities and those requiring carers were fully supported to participate. Many were first-time delegates.

The feedback was inspiring. Delegates repeatedly described the weekend as energising — one told me it reaffirmed their political home in the Liberal Democrats at a moment when they had been uncertain whether to stay in the party. The improvements we have made over the past three years — pre-Congress webinars, structured support, clear communications and social activities that build team spirit — have turned our delegation into one of the most effective in ALDE.

We should celebrate that success. We are not just showing up — we are shaping the international liberal agenda.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 16th November 2025 - 10:28 am

United States

The Epstein Files story is reaching a climax. Emails released by the estate of paedophile and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein have mentioned Donald Trump’s name, but little more than that.

However, the pathway to the more extensive FBI files on Epstein is now clear. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn in this week and immediately cast the deciding vote in favour of releasing the Epstein files. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson now has seven legislative days to “ripen” the issue. He then has an additional two days to schedule the vote.

The necessary legislation will have no problem passing the lower house. A simple majority is needed and it is reckoned that up to 100 Republican congressmen will vote in favour of release.

Many of them are facing constituents who voted for Trump in the belief that he would release the files as promised. They are angry that there appears to be a cover-up in the service of rich elites. Other representatives do not want to be seen as participating in a cover-up, especially with the threat of even more damaging information to come.

If it passes the House then it goes to the Senate. There may be a problem there as it needs 60 out of the 100 votes to pass. Senators are not as vulnerable to the whims of the electorate as they face re-election every six years whereas those in the House of Representatives go before the electorate every two.

The final hurdle is the president. He can veto the release of the files. But if he did it would be tantamount to an admission of guilt and would almost certainly be overturned by a two-thirds vote in Congress.

China

In the past six weeks Xi Jinping has purged China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of nine senior generals and admirals and several handfuls of lower officer ranks.

The stated reason is corruption. And there is no doubt that China has a problem with senior military figures on the take. It has had the problem for years with officers being purged after police raided their homes to discover refrigerators and microwaves stuffed with cash, jewels and valuable works of art.

But the quantity and quality of the latest purge victims indicates that at least in some cases the corruption charge could be a cover for political disloyalty.

General He Weidong, for instance, was not just a general. He was also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and a member of the ruling Politburo. The charges against him were corruption and “loss of chastity.”

The latter phrase has nothing to do with celibacy—or lack thereof—but political chastity or loyalty to the Party line.

In today’s China the interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are being increasingly conflated with the interests of Xi Jinping. Thus lack of loyalty to Xi is the same as disloyalty to the Party and disloyalty to the Party is disloyalty to the country.

The CCP has long operated on the principle that “the Party commands the gun”. Xi seems deeply concerned that the military remain absolutely loyal to him and the CCP, not just as an institution. Corruption purges within the PLA have been driven not just by efficiency concerns but by loyalty/political control.

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The Voice

Marie Goldman’s statement for Trans Awareness Week

By The Voice | Sat 15th November 2025 - 11:30 am

Lib Dem spokesperson for Women and Equalities Marie Goldman has issued a statement for Trans Awareness Week in which she reaffirms the Lib Dem commitment to fight for a society where everyone is free to be who they are and where trans people are protected from discrimination. She said:

Many trans and non-binary people – in the UK and across the world – face unacceptable barriers to healthcare, employment, education, and public life. In the

…

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: China’s Environmental Paradox

By Tom Arms | Sat 15th November 2025 - 9:25 am

China is both the world’s biggest environmental villain and – paradoxically– the greatest hero when it comes to the development and export of green renewable energy.

The Middle Kingdom is the world’s biggest emitter of CO2 gases—more than the US, India and EU combined. It burns more coal than the rest of the world combined and it continues to build coal-powered plants.

But at the same time it produces 80 percent of the world’s solar panels; 70 percent of lithium-ion batteries, 65  percent of the world’s wind turbines and the world’s most affordable electric vehicles.

China has vast resources of dirty coal and very little oil or gas. So when the Chinese Communist Party decided to go all out for industrial growth it made economic sense to exploit the energy on its doorstep. So it turned first to coal and then to imported oil and gas.

But by the early 2000s the Party leadership came to the realisation that the growing dependence on imported oil meant energy insecurity. Also the burning of coal and growing number of cars was creating dangerous pollution levels. Finally, they saw that the next big industrial revolution would be “Green.”

About the same time Europeans and large slice of Americans were also investing in renewable energy. Western governments were starting to provide tax breaks and other subsidies. China, however, has a command economy. So, it didn’t just subsidise green tech companies. The Chinese leadership made the decision to rebuild the country’s entire industrial base around renewable energy.

There were massive subsidies for solar, wind, electric vehicles, and batteries. Free or cheap land was provided for green industries. The state banks offered low-interest and local governments provided tax breaks and cash incentives.

Heavy emphasis was given to national dominance of the supply chain. So development went from mining of rare earths to development of batteries to production of electric cars. No country had ever industrialized a clean-energy sector at that speed.

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ALDC By Election Report, 13th November

By Chris Ward | Fri 14th November 2025 - 6:24 pm

This week saw five local by-elections, four of which had a Liberal Democrat on the ballot.

Congratulations are due to Cllr Hannah Griffin and the team for the Lib Dem hold in Vale of White Horse.

Vale of White Horse District Council, Ridgeway
Liberal Democrats (Hannah Griffin): 442 (43.1%, -14.9)
Conservative: 250 (24.4%, -17.6)
Reform UK: 204 (19.9%, new)
Green Party: 122 (11.9%, new)
Labour: 8 (0.8%, new)

Liberal Democrats HOLD

Turnout: 38%

Friday’s count in Canterbury delivered less pleasing news, as the Green Party gained from the Liberal Democrats. Commiserations to Guy Meurice and the team.

Canterbury City Council, Wincheap
Green Party: 842 (39.1%, +24.1)
Liberal Democrats (Guy Meurice): 518 (24.1%, -12.2)
Reform UK: 351 (16.3%, new)
Labour: 276 (12.8%, -25.5)
Conservative: 166 (7.7%, -2.6)

Green Party GAIN from Liberal Democrats

Turnout: 33.27%

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Paul Reynolds

Economic growth – simple but not easy, Part 2

By Paul Reynolds | Fri 14th November 2025 - 4:20 pm

The Labour government still has ‘economic growth’ as its cure-all remedy in the lead up to the Budget. However, without any systematic, coherent approach, expectations are low. What should the UK actually do ?

In Part 1, I argued that it was necessary to start from key principles; defining growth and where it comes from, and scoping out the landscape (and boundaries) for beneficial economic growth; at least to help all the relevant people know what is to be achieved. Part 1 also touched upon the ‘headline’ economic problems to be tackled, and institutional obstacles to be overcome.

In Parts 2 and 3 the aim is to comment on a few of the ‘levers for achieving growth’, starting with the two main inhibitors to growth, concentrated finance and its link to monopoly, and a sclerotic state.

CONCENTRATED FINANCE – ‘Make financial services, services again’

In the UK expressions like ‘capital markets’ and ‘institutional investors’ mask the extent to which control of the finance sector is concentrated in a few hands (eg Index Funds). Share prices rise due to manipulations such share buybacks rather than performance, creating vulnerabilities and systemic risks. De jure monopoly, and private cartelisation amongst supposedly arms-length investors are designed to keep share prices rising at all costs. Such institutions have become the masters not servants of productive businesses.  A range of complex measures are required to address cartelisation, and shift power back to ‘real businesses with long term plans’. That is, if these towering financial institutions do not collapse first.

SCLEROTIC STATE – ‘Parkinson’s Laws are Euphemisms’

In the UK over recent decades the path to riches is no longer seen as providing innovative goods or services that people want to buy. It is getting an extendable profitable government contract, or a favourable regulatory change, where the ‘client’ is none too bothered about the detail, or even concerned about value for (someone else’s) money. The ‘reach’ of the state has gone beyond critical mass, fuelled by conflicts-of-interest. Culturally, in the UK, on the political right and left, it has become unfashionable to demand accountability and transparency, especially in procurement, regulatory and civil servant integrity matters.

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Mary Reid

Good practice in palliative care

By Mary Reid | Fri 14th November 2025 - 12:05 pm

Note that this post includes end of life details which you may want to avoid.

The Assisted Dying Bill has raised questions about the quality of palliative care under the NHS. Whatever your views on assisted dying it should never be a substitute for good care at end of life.

Recently I and my family have had a positive experience of palliative care in an NHS hospital, and I am wondering how widespread this is.

My husband, Ian, died last month in Kingston Hospital. It was not unexpected – he had spent almost half of this year in hospital, six visits in total. During the year he was transferred to the Elderly Care (aka Geriatric) team, who took a refreshingly holistic approach to his multiple health conditions. However each time he was admitted his health and mobility dropped down a notch, so he eventually he became effectively bed bound.

Just before he was admitted for the last time he told me that he had had enough and it was time to go. From his hospital bed he made last minute changes to his funeral plans which he had drawn up under Covid. In fact he rather surprised some visitors by discussing it in some detail, asking them to contribute in some way.

Eventually it became clear that the treatment was no longer effective. Our sons were staying with me by that stage, and I asked if one of us could stay all night. They moved Ian into a single room so we could come and go as we pleased.

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Jack Meredith

Strength in solidarity: masculinity and the fight for trans rights

By Jack Meredith | Thu 13th November 2025 - 2:54 pm

My journey in powerlifting spans over a decade, a journey that has not only shaped my physical strength but also my outlook on masculinity.

For those unfamiliar, powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three movements: the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. Each competition allows competitors to attempt each lift three times, with the heaviest successful attempt from each forming a competitor’s overall total.

Powerlifting, for me, has transcended the mere act of lifting. It has sparked profound introspection about the essence of strength. The finest lifters are not defined by their volume or aggression; they are the ones who maintain composure in adversity, bolster others in their pursuit of goals, and persist even when the going gets tough. They don’t wield their strength as a tool to undermine others; they employ it to elevate everyone around them.

In a world where figures like Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Andrew Tate, and Joe Rogan dismiss the concept of being ‘woke’, my fellow male powerlifters and I have consciously chosen to reject this toxic masculinity. We value decency and community over the hollow, performative notion of being an ‘alpha male’.

Our approach can be best described as ‘positive masculinity,’ a form of strength deeply rooted in respect, empathy, and equality.

Positive masculinity, at its core, is about recognising that strength should never come at someone else’s expense. In a society where so many communities still face hostility, cis men have a duty to use their strength, physical, emotional, and moral, to stand beside them. Liberalism is rooted in empathy and fairness; positive masculinity is simply those principles lived out in everyday behaviour.

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Helen Belcher

Some thoughts on the current trans quota chaos

By Helen Belcher | Thu 13th November 2025 - 12:04 pm

A recently published analysis on “lawfare”, where changes in organizational policy are attempted through legal action, has looked at cases related to the Equality Act since 2018. The key finding is that there has been a concerted attempt to sue trans-inclusive organisations into a position where they become trans exclusive – a pattern not seen in any other equalities strand, and one which indicates a substantially well-funded and organized campaign.

So organisations like the Girl Guides, the Quakers and, yes, the Liberal Democrats are threatened with court action or, in some cases, taken to court to be walloped over the head with “the Supreme Court ruling”. The expectation is clearly that a lot of organisations will fold before any court hearing because of the costs involved.

The lesson clearly being taught within the Liberal Democrats is that, if you want to change policy, don’t bother with the democratic processes and conference. Just engage a lawyer.

Having sat through a couple of planning inquiries and seen other legal advice, there are three things I’d like to point out. Firstly lawyers are like politicians – they are paid to present their case as compellingly as they can. Secondly the key word in “legal advice” is not “legal” but “advice”. Other opinions are often available, which is why disputes end up in court. Finally, any legal advice is highly dependent on the question that is asked. If the question is “how can we be trans inclusive” you are likely to get different answers to “how can we exclude trans people”.

The result this time is the chaos that our internal elections have been thrown into. The justification is keeping within the law. To which I would respond with another scenario.

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