Kamran Hussain

I watched Ed Davey’s speech. Here’s why it matters 

By Kamran Hussain | Thu 24th September 2026 - 2:01 pm

Whilst those in the media world and the Westminster bubble speculate about the future of our party leader, Ed Davey, Ed focused on what matters most – a plan to end the squeeze on middle-income earners, put hundreds of pounds back in the pocket of millions of people, and take ordinary workers out of paying the higher tax rate that was designed for stockbrokers.

Ed announced that the Liberal Democrats would raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 and increase the higher rate threshold from £50,270 to £56,000. He said that would mean taking two million more people out of paying tax altogether and giving most taxpayers a £680 tax cut.

£680 doesn’t sound like much to some people, but to others, it means a great deal more – carers doing early morning calls and spending a chunk of their wage keeping a car on the road. Lads on nights in the warehouses off the M62. People on the tills doing 30 hours and still checking the banking app before they go shopping. Taxi drivers who’ve watched fuel, insurance and licence costs go up while fares haven’t kept pace. For them, £680 is a couple of months of gas and electric. It’s school shoes without putting them on a card.

What gets me is that many of these people have been paying more tax for years without anyone announcing it. The allowance has been frozen, so when your wage goes up just to keep up with prices, more of it gets taxed. You don’t feel any richer, but you pay more. Under the current plans that freeze runs until 2031. Ed’s plan would lift it.

He didn’t pretend this is only about low earners, either. The higher rate change helps people on better wages, and some will say that’s where a lot of the money goes. That’s a fair point. But in towns and cities across our nation, the people creeping over £50,000 aren’t bankers. They’re senior nurses, teachers who’ve moved up to deputy head, engineers who’ve been with the same firm for twenty years. Ed said a ‘tax band designed for stockbrokers is now holding back teachers and nurses’, and I think most people would recognise that.

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Tom McAdam

Citizens abroad and party strategy

By Tom McAdam | Thu 24th September 2026 - 11:15 am

There were many things to support in the party strategy motion. It includes confident liberalism, modern campaigning, and reaching new communities. However, there is one notable exclusion. In fact, around five million notable exclusions: citizens abroad.

The strategy talks about reaching out to all communities in our country. These five million people are not in the UK, but they are served by our democracy. I live in Switzerland now, having moved for a job. Yet decisions made in Westminster continue to affect my life.

The starkest of those in recent years was of course Brexit. Many of the million British citizens living and working in Europe spent years in limbo after the referendum, not knowing what residency status they would eventually be afforded in the country in which they had built a life. We continue to see Britons being removed from EU countries, most recently Charles, a British citizen deported from Sweden.

All because of a decision made in Westminster. 

It doesn’t stop there. A pensioner retiring to Australia from the UK in 2006 would now receive less than half the basic State Pension of a pensioner who stayed in the UK, despite having made exactly the same contributions.

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The Voice

New party political – with the orange bench

By The Voice | Thu 24th September 2026 - 8:48 am
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Caron Lindsay

WATCH: Max Wilkinson’s speech to Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 23rd September 2026 - 3:55 pm

Creep glasses and jokes at Robert Jenrick’s expense were high on the agenda for Max Wilkinson in his speech to Conference.

I am used to being disappointed by Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesperson’s speeches. I’d rather a more positive message on immigration but this was better than we have had in recent times.

I was glad to see him prioritise tackling violence against women and girls. While I had been worried about the packaging of the campaign about smart glasses,it’s an important issue to tackle. Anna Sabine and Wera Hobhouse’s amendment at Conference called for it to be very clear when …

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Cody Butler

How to capture the Tonbridge Tories

By Cody Butler | Wed 23rd September 2026 - 2:30 pm

In 2025, a think-tank director pressed several volumes on Ted Heath, along with Ian Gilmour and Mark Garnett’s Whatever Happened to the Tories?, into my hands. That led to a lethal intellectual falling-out with the Conservatives, and then to a thesis: the centre ought to unite. I heeded the call and joined the Liberal Democrats. But such a project cannot live on tactical votes. It requires a serious occupation of the Tonbridge Tory.

To do that, you need representatives. Voters can be spoken to in public. Ground is held by people. That means a garrison. Some will want to slot in a Liberal of their own and call the job done. That mistakes a Dieppe raid for D-Day. So long as a better centre-right alternative exists, the voter is only on loan. What is needed is a Légion étrangère of Liberal Tories. They need not sit for Tonbridge. They only need to be in the party. That gives the party room to lean left or right when the election requires it, without either move looking like a desertion of the other. It is the same bargain that keeps Liberal Tories and Brexiteer Tories in the Conservatives: the chance that, one day, it will be their turn at the wheel.

This prophecy can be fulfilled because the centre-left have little patience for a formal deal with the Conservative Party. Once that is admitted, ‘unite the right’ writes itself. A weakened Conservative Party would have little reason to preserve its old balance, leaving moderates stranded. Many MPs will stay from loyalty, habit, or the touching belief that next year will be more sensible. But it may be their Arnhem.

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Mark Hofman

The bigger your car, the bigger your fuel duty cut

By Mark Hofman | Wed 23rd September 2026 - 1:00 pm

Ahead of Ed Davey’s conference speech, the Liberal Democrats launched their cost-of-transport campaign. With households facing higher costs from the conflict in Iran, the party wants an emergency three-month package: a 10p cut in fuel duty, cheaper rail and bus fares, and lower EV charging costs. The bill is around £2 billion, funded from the extra revenue higher fuel prices generate.

There is a clear case for helping people through a sudden shock. But a party that has long argued for tackling climate change should ask a bigger question: are fuel-duty cuts really the best way to help people in the long term?

Britain has a familiar pattern. Prices rise. Households feel it. Government makes fossil fuels cheaper. Billions are spent, the pressure eases, and a few months or years later we are back in the same place.

None of it changes the underlying vulnerability. We remain exposed to international oil markets, and transport costs feed straight into the cost of living. A fuel-duty cut provides relief. It doesn’t reduce our dependence on oil, the majority of which is imported.

Fuel-duty cuts are also poorly targeted. The more fuel you use, the more you save, so someone driving a large, inefficient SUV gains more than someone in a smaller family car. That is hard to square with directing scarce public money at the households who need it most.

The OBR estimates successive fuel-duty freezes cost the Treasury around £120 billion since 2010-11. That money could have gone into transport infrastructure, clean energy and the industries underpinning Britain’s future prosperity.

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Keith Creswell

A call for reform with a small “r”

By Keith Creswell | Wed 23rd September 2026 - 11:30 am

Suella Braverman’s recent statement on making hymn singing mandatory in English schools shows just how out of touch Reform is with modern British society.

Reform UK’s proposed “patriotic curriculum,” explicitly rooted in Christianity, raises a basic question: what does it mean to be British today?

Christianity is central to Britain’s history and cultural inheritance, shaping its institutions, architecture, literature, music and traditions. Children should learn about that heritage. But teaching Christianity’s role in national life is different from requiring children to take part in Christian practice. That is what the proposal would do: every school would have to make pupils sing Christian hymns regularly, backed by law and potentially monitored by Ofsted.

The policy would not reflect modern England. In the 2021 Census, 46.2% of people in England and Wales identified as Christian, down from 59.3% in 2011, while 37.2% reported no religion. Identification also overstates practice: the British Social Attitudes survey found that only about 5% of adults were both Christian and weekly worshippers, while about 9% attended at least monthly. Britain is also religiously diverse. NatCen found that around one in three weekly worshippers attend a mosque, mandir, gurdwara, temple or synagogue rather than a church, with the share higher among younger people.

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Lucas North

Liberals debate

By Lucas North | Wed 23rd September 2026 - 9:55 am

On Monday, Conference debated our motion “Restoring Trans Rights”, and the motion passed overwhelmingly. As Chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats, I’m proud of that – proud of everyone who put the work in, proud of the people who got up and spoke, and proud that our party said clearly, again, that it stands with trans people.

But there is one thing I want us to carry forward from that debate.

We win the argument by making it. We win the vote by voting for it. We do not need to win it by shouting anyone down.

There will always be people at Conference who disagree with us. Sometimes profoundly, in ways that are genuinely upsetting or just plain wrong. But the right response to that is confidence, not volume. Speak up, challenge the misinformation, make the case properly – but let other speakers finish. A heckle has never changed anyone’s mind. Booing doesn’t make our argument stronger. Shouting over someone at a microphone doesn’t add anything. And we don’t need to do it.

Conference heard the arguments on Monday and made its decision. We should have enough confidence in our values, in our arguments and in Liberal Democrat members to allow a debate to happen and then win it.

This matters online too, where there are people whose entire political strategy is to provoke a reaction. They’re not trying to persuade you. They want the quote-tweet. They want hundreds of angry replies. They want the confrontation, because the confrontation is the content.

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Caron Lindsay

What do we think of Ed Davey’s tax cut announcement?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 23rd September 2026 - 8:48 am

I always find it odd that, when we have had hundreds of Lib Dems discussing policy for days, we then have the leader announcing a major new policy in his speech, just as everyone’s about to go out the door.

In Spring it was a new British nuke, which we’ve mercifully not heard much about since. However the tax cut policy announced yesterday might have more longevity.

Basically we are going back to one of the really popular ideas from the coalition years, and raising the threshold at which you pay tax to £15,000. This is the idea initially brought forward by my Lib Dem Women colleague Lizzie Jewkes and which was talked about in a New Statesman podcast just last week. Lizzie was described as an “ordinary woman” and anyone who knows this very lovable force of nature will know she is as far from ordinary as you can get.

When we were in coalition, the Tories constantly claimed credit for this policy because it was so popular without mentioning that it was our idea, of course.

Anyway, the other proposal is that we would raise the threshold at which you pay the 40% tax rate to £56,000.

This would all be paid for by the benefits of rejoining the single market and customs union, proposals which we can probably all get behind.

The detail is set out n this article on the party website.

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Caron Lindsay

What does a Lib Dem “trans activist” look like?

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 22nd September 2026 - 9:30 am

Yesterday afternoon, Lib Dem Conference passed a motion calling for the EHRC’s Code of Practice to be withdrawn and for work to be done on a cross party basis to work out what changes in the law were necessary to ensure that everyone, women, trans people, everyone can go about their lives in dignity and safety. It is not beyond the wit of people to find a way of doing that, and it is something that can be relatively easy given the political will.

The motion was passed overwhelmingly, as these things usually are. In fact, it looked to me as if the number voting against was even smaller than usual.

There has been much criticism on social media and the actual right wing media by members of the gender critical group within the party. They’re accusing Ed Davey of being in the thrall of militant “trans activists” in the party.

Now, and I say this with love, the idea that Ed Davey takes a blind bit of notice of anything ordinary party members say to him, is a bit of a stretch. He makes his own mind up about things and, like every leader in the existence of this party and most others, takes as much power as he can get his hands on. This is just what leaders do. But the idea that he is in thrall to any of us masses is just ridiculous.

Anyway, what do these “trans activists” who apparently make up around 90% of those in the hall and a probably similar proportion of the online vote look like?

Well, I guess I must be one.

So, what am I like?

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Paul Walter

Paul’s conference diary (4) – Why I care, Simon Hughes at church and Glee Club photos

By Paul Walter | Tue 22nd September 2026 - 8:00 am

My last day before I disappear on five buses. I had a run along the promenade and noticed a police operation. I take my hat off to the police. We should remember that they spend an awful lot of time and care following up “concerns for safety”. Often they are like emergency social workers. Full marks to them.

Hove Plinth is a thing. At the moment it has a beautiful sculpture called “Flight of the Langoustine” on it (pictured).

While having breakfast I watched the debate on A Liberal Vision for primary health care.

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Tom Gordon MP

Winning back a generation starts with fixing the broken student loan system

By Tom Gordon MP | Mon 21st September 2026 - 4:00 pm

For too long, student finance has been the subject our party would rather avoid. I understand why. It is uncomfortable territory. The scars of the coalition run deep, and many of us have heard about them on doorsteps ever since.

But we cannot keep kicking the can down the road. Millions of graduates are paying the price. If we want to win back the trust of my generation – the graduates who signed up to Plan 2 loans between 2012 and 2023, and the growing cohort on the new Plan 5 loans – we have to offer them a solution.

That is why I have brought forward a Ten Minute Rule Bill calling for a proper review of student finance, including the terms graduates were sold. The cross-party Treasury Committee has already found that the way loans were promoted amounted to mis-selling, and that the Government has “a moral obligation” to reverse the latest threshold freeze. The Government has refused.

Let’s be honest about how we got here. Today’s system bears little resemblance to the one introduced under the coalition. That scheme promised a repayment threshold that would rise with earnings, and it kept maintenance grants for the poorest students.

Since then, successive governments have bolted on change after change. Grants scrapped. Thresholds frozen again and again. Terms rewritten after students had already signed. What remains is a Frankenstein’s monster that nobody would design from scratch.

None of that lets us off the hook. It is uncomfortable to admit, but we were part of this story, and we should say so. We should also say what this system has become: regressive and illiberal.

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 21 September 2026 – time to clean up our politics?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 21st September 2026 - 2:00 pm

Greetings from somewhere close to Brighton Beach. Admittedly, the Brighton Beach at the end of the B Line from the Bronx, through Manhattan to Queens, but close nonetheless.

There has been a lot of talk about the impact of large donors in recent weeks, with increasing calls for strict limits on the maximum size of donations and tighter eligibility criteria for donors. And there is much to said for it.

The problem is that political parties have become increasingly dependent on a small number of large donors as membership numbers have declined and the obligations on political parties increase. Raising large sums from a small number of wealthy donors is, in many ways, much easier than developing broad-based small donor support. And, if you’re very wealthy, an investment in a political party, especially one with a prospect of power, is a potentially valuable one.

I used to be a member of the ALDE Party’s Financial Advisory Committee, effectively its audit and scrutiny body, developing its policy on donations and establishing clear and transparent reporting mechanisms. This was made much easier by the rule that no annual donation, corporate or individual, could exceed €18,000, approximately £15,000. It ensured that no European political party could easily be influenced by a large donor, allowing policymaking to be influenced more by ideas than the fear of a budgetary squeeze.

In turn, that removes or, at least, restricts, the perception of a political party as being owned by a small number of individuals whose motivation is perhaps questionable.

But that does leave the question of how you fund political parties going forward. In an ideal world, mass membership political parties would be self-financing but we probably need to be realistic – being a member of a political party requires a degree of compromise given that all of them are effective coalitions of opinion and the pressure groups offer people an opportunity to focus on the causes that matter to them.

And that’s why I think that state funding of political parties is probably the best solution. The principle has effectively been conceded – the freepost for General Elections is state funding, after all – and linking funding to performance in multiple electoral cycles will limit fluctuations in cashflow and allow parties to plan better.

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Caron Lindsay

What’s on at Conference today?

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 21st September 2026 - 9:15 am

Conference kicks off with two brief policy debates on making recruitment fairer and regulating abusive use of the legal system. Then GP services in England before a keynote speech by Max Wilkinson.

After a three hour lunch break for fringes, there’s a debate on supporting people to age well in England, a keynote speech by Jane Dodds and a motion on stopping violence against women and girls in the digital age from Lib Dem Women and Marie Goldman, our Women and Equalities spokesperson.

The day ends with the parliamentary parties’ report and two emergency motions. One is from YL on wildfires and the other is from LGBT+ Lib Dems setting out a way forward after the imposition of the cruel and unworkable EHRC Code of Practice on access to services. Under this code, trans people can be banned from facilities associated with their lived gender, and, for trans men and some non binary people, also from facilities associated with their sex assigned at birth. It also suggests that access can be policed based on how people look so if you are a cis woman who is very tall, or with a deeper voice, you could find yourself being challenged when you go to the toilet.

The motion suggests a cross party committee of MPs to work out a way to fix this to ensure dignity and safety for everyone. All very sensible.

The Young Liberals have also put in a motion on action to tackle wildfires which calls for a number of things including preventative measures, assessing risk, temporary restrictions in areas of high risk.

Here’s the day in full.

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Paul Walter

Paul’s conference diary (3) – frog box interview and my new AI girlfriend

By Paul Walter | Mon 21st September 2026 - 8:10 am

Somehow I managed to drag myself into the main hall for the early doors “Making music matter” motion. Jennie Rigg neatly summarised the whole thing saying that copyright law is not being enforced so that LLMs (Large Language Models) copy existing music and it is churned out as “AI slop”. She added that AI2 should be used to support musicians but instead it is being used to rip off composers and musicians.

I then went to my go-to quiet spot to write a speech. I have an idea for the strategy debate later. Mind you, it’s been ten years since I made a speech to conference.

A big shout-out to the conference information desk team. They do a great job. I am normally contactless in my payments but I had a need for a crisp fiver. Knowing the whereabouts of the nearest ATM is a bit Olde Worlde but the team managed to find the info for me.

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The Voice

WATCH: Munira Wilson’s speech to Conference

By The Voice | Sun 20th September 2026 - 4:29 pm

Education spokesperson Munira Wilson gave her keynote speech to Conference yesterday. Enjoy:

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The Voice

WATCH: Al Pinkerton’s speech to Conference

By The Voice | Sun 20th September 2026 - 2:30 pm

Watch Al Pinkerton talk about our vision for closer ties to Europe:

 

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Suzanne Fletcher

What I would have said about homeless children at Conference

By Suzanne Fletcher | Sun 20th September 2026 - 12:19 pm

Taking part in Lib Dem Conference online (I cannot make it to Brighton, so watching and voting online) it was good to see the first policy motion was about homeless children, although tragic that we have to discuss the subject at all

You can see below more about it, but it covered the awful issues there are for children, as well of course as their parents and other adults.  Shocking to hear that There are over 176,000 children living in temporary accommodation across England, and that Since 2019, 104 children have died with temporary accommodation listed as a contributing factor to their death, 76 of whom were under the age of one, with deaths attributed to causes including lack of access to cots and Moses baskets, overcrowding, poverty and the chaos of homelessness.

Excellent and moving speeches, amendments adding important issues. The motion as amended is here.

The next step of course is for those in power to take note, and actually do something about it.

It brought back memories of the mid 1990’s when there were homeless families here in Stockton on Tees in Council accommodation.  My involvement started when I found out that play schemes for the holidays would not include these children.  I was horrified and with a lot of support, and a quickly made grant from the Church Urban Fund a play scheme was started for the summer.

As you can imagine it didn’t end there, with parents asking, what now? A project started with a lot of “challenges”.  The Labour Councillors in charge would not support it any way, and were upset when we got more funding, even though we weren’t a registered charity.  But with the backing of some good council officers (we held meetings at lunchtime so they could attend in their own time), one good labour councillor friend, other friends and churches, we went ahead.  Not just play schemes in school holidays, but activities for parents and under 5’s, and a creche so parents could attend courses.  At the playscheme we had lunch, all sat at tables with knives and forks.  For years afterwards I would meet a mum who said thanks for the opportunity given to her to do some training that had led to her career.  But the downside was that after a few years the revolving door started.  We were seeing the same families that had been housed, back again.  For all sorts of reasons, domestic violence,  family breakdown,  inability to budget as crises hit. 

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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s kitchen table diary

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 20th September 2026 - 10:31 am

I’m settling in to day 2 of watching Conference. I’ve already spent more time “in the hall” than I have in the past 3 in person conferences. I’m uaually to be found on the Lib Dem Women or LGBT+ Lib Dem stalls, or flitting about the place from meeting to meeting.

And how gorgeous is this stage set?  When I saw the purple, I wondered at first if our Jennie Rigg had had a hand in it. But, seriously, if she had, it would have had a lot more purple and Libby would have been turned into a bat.

What I really like is that we are wearing our heart on our sleeve. Right there, the quote from the preamble to our constitution closest to our hearts:

No-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.

On the other side of the stage, “Liberty, Equality, Community.”

And that’s not all. I usually avoid the rally for two reasons. First of all, I can watch it on You Tube any time. I get the chance to catch up with my friends and Lib Dem family twice a year. Secondly, the rally can be a bit of a vomit inducing cringe-fest.

Last night it was an assault on the emotions as speaker after speaker spoke about what motivated them as Lib Dems. Anton Georgiou from Brent talking about his grandparents arriving from Cyprus with £20 and working hard to make their lives here and how that has inspired him to do all the work he does to support refugees.  Wendy Chamberlain talking about how her mother caring for her Grandad and her husband caring for his mum inspired her to achieve her Carer’s Leave Act.

I wonder if all this values-forward stuff has anything to do with James Holt, our excellent head of media during the coalition years who has returned as our Director of Political Strategy. I am sure that he will understand the need to make sure that our actions match up.

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 20th September 2026 - 9:30 am

The Falklands

The Falklands are back in the news. Argentine President Javier Milei has restated claims to “Las Islas Malvinas” and support from America and Chile—which was vital in 1982—is now doubtful.

But 2026 is not 1982. In 1982 there were about 100 Royal Marines at Port Stanley to protect the islands and the Royal Navy ice patrol ship HMS Endurance was facing withdrawal. After the Falklands War the government decided that deterrence was the best strategy.

There are now roughly 1,200–1,500 British military and supporting personnel in the South Atlantic, centred on the Mount Pleasant Complex, where the Royal Air Force bases four Typhoon FGR4 fighters, together with a Voyager tanker and an A400M Atlas transport aircraft. The islands also have radar, ground-based air defence and a rotating infantry company.

At sea, HMS Medway, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, replaced HMS Forth in January 2026 as the Royal Navy’s permanent South Atlantic patrol ship. An attack on the islands would therefore risk giving the attackers a very bloody nose.

Argentina, however, is increasing defence spending. Early control of the air would be key. Argentina has recently purchased 24 former Danish F-16s. The first six operational aircraft arrived in December 2025.

Milei would also need to beef up his navy. The initial 1982 invasion was by sea. Once the airfield at Port Stanley was secured, the Argentines flew in troops on transport aircraft. Defence planners would anticipate a similar requirement today, but this time Argentina would have to neutralise Mount Pleasant and overcome a much stronger British garrison and air-defence system.

The diplomatic position is as important as the military line-up. In 1982 Chile and Argentina were at loggerheads over the Beagle Channel. As a result, the government of Augusto Pinochet provided Britain with vital intelligence, reconnaissance and logistical support.

The Beagle dispute is over and recently President José Antonio Kast reaffirmed Chilean support for Argentina’s “legitimate sovereignty rights” over the Falklands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. He stressed, however, the need for a peaceful resolution to the dispute.

More important is the US position. In 1982 Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger led the way in pushing for strong American support for Britain. The result was the supply of Sidewinder missiles, satellite communications, intelligence, reconnaissance assistance, logistical support and other supplies. Weinberger was later rewarded with an honorary knighthood.

In 2026 the Pentagon has considered using the Falklands issue as leverage over Britain because of disagreements over the Iran War. On 31 August Trump said Washington was reviewing its position on the islands.

Javier Milei heard Trump. He responded with some sabre-rattling and this week announced tougher sanctions against companies involved in oil exploration around the islands.

Milei is highly sensitive to popularity and retaking the Falklands would be politically explosive. But even without American and Chilean support, a successful Argentine military operation would be extremely difficult. The islands are far better defended than in 1982 and Britain still possesses two aircraft carriers, modern destroyers and nuclear-powered attack submarines.

American help would be useful. But Trump’s help is not necessarily essential.

How is the new Hungarian government doing?

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Caron Lindsay

What’s on at Conference today?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 20th September 2026 - 7:30 am

First up today is a wide-ranging motion on music covering things like AI, planning around music venues, support for music and the right to education in music. That last is so important. Playing an instrument or singing is such a good way of getting out of your own head and the links between musical tuition and attainment are clear.

Then it’s on to active travel – walking, wheeling and cycling with three amendments, one from the Lib Dem Disability Association looking at making active travel safe and accessible for disabled people from the start, one from Lib Dem Women looking …

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Caron Lindsay

How Lib Dem Councillors get things done on temporary accommodation

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 19th September 2026 - 8:15 pm

Paul Walter wrote about the Temporary accommodation debate in his diary earlier

It was a great and sobering debate.

I just wanted to highlight two things that Lib Dems have done. Prue Bray spoke about what her Council in Wokingham has done to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation and to make it a lot safer for those who are.

She said:

Temporary accommodation is a subject that could drive us to despair, but I want to give you some hope by telling you how a Lib Dem council is making a real difference. I am really proud

…

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Paul Walter

Paul’s conference diary (2) – things get interesting

By Paul Walter | Sat 19th September 2026 - 6:42 pm

One of the highlights of Brighton is that it’s got a great running track. You just poodle out to the promenade – chunter westwards for (in my case) 2.5 k and then turn round and go back. Job done. The sloshing about of the sea and wind also gives quite an invigorating awakening at 7 o’clock in the morning.

After an instant porridge for breakfast, I was in the main auditorium to hear Gideon Amos MP make an excellent speech in the debate on the Mortality of Children living in temporary accommodation.

Here’s an astonishing fact to stop you in your tracks. Since 2019, 104 children have died with temporary accommodation as a contributing factor to their death. What an absolutely shameful statistic. In the fifth largest economy in the world we cannot find the wherewithal to properly house our families, with 176,000 children living in temporary accommodation in England and Wales – routinely for over two years in many cases.

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Paul Walter

Paul’s conference diary (1)

By Paul Walter | Sat 19th September 2026 - 1:10 pm

Thanks to the wonder of Traveline.info and an ingenious chain of five buses, I travelled to Brighton (and will travel back) free on my senior bus pass (Thank you – I know, it’s so hard to imagine that I am entitled to one) and saved, I’m told, 55500g of CO2, compared to driving.

In the process I learnt some valuable lessons in extreme bussing:

  1. Always have “fall back” buses scheduled a little later, in case you miss your connection.
  2. Never look at your phone when waiting for a bus. …Because you may look up just as your bus is passing at an astonishing rate of knots. (I know, what a pain – but look on the bright side, I enjoyed an excellent coffee waiting for the next bus).
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Phil Wainewright

Lib Dems need a 25-year vision that sets out how we’ll change Britain

By Phil Wainewright | Sat 19th September 2026 - 11:47 am

Lib Dems desperately want a message that cuts through.

Something that lifts our standing in the polls with the same gravity-defying ease as we’ve seen Reform and the Greens achieve. But I’m afraid there is no single magic phrase or policy position that will do that. (Nor, by the way, is there some charismatic new leader who could instantly rally voters to our cause. We don’t do leadership cults.)
If we want to cut through, we have to be authentic. True to ourselves. True to our values.

People are disillusioned with politicians of all stripes. They see no vision, just tinkering at the edges and broken promises. Politicians have been treating voters like consumers that want to be bribed with pleasing offers. But the focus-group approach to policy formation has failed.

Since voters don’t believe any of these bribes, they feel they may as well vote for the newcomers making the most outrageous promises. Give it another roll of the dice.
But voters aren’t stupid. One woman I called on in my local area is typical. Politics has let her down, along with others in her community that she sees struggling to get by. She wants to believe that things will get better, but knows it will take a very long time to put things right. “It’s too late for me. It’s my grandchildren I’m thinking of,” she tells me. “What kind of a future are they going to have?”

We need to fix what is wrong in Britain, but voters like this woman know it won’t happen overnight. Britain needs a generational shift in how the country is run. Today’s policies set the tone, but they should be just the starting point for a credible vision of reform stretching out over the next 25 years. Without that overarching vision, it ís as though our policies are just plucked out of the air or decided on the whim of the leader (which is ironic considering how democratically our policies are decided).

How do other parties do this? A century ago, when the Labour party replaced the Liberals as the main progressive party, it wasn’t by having a more appealing set of policies at each successive general election. On the contrary, Labour made huge missteps in the 1920s and 1930s. It finally triumphed in 1945 because it had built up a consistent vision for state socialism and welfare (with help from some key Liberal thinkers along the way) that put working people first. Irrespective of its specific policies, voters could see what it stood for.

Liberal Democrats are not going to form the next government, but if we’re going to build up our core vote, then voters need a sense of what we’d aim for in government. They need to know the bigger picture behind our commitment to carers and the NHS, our desire to fix the cost of living, our opposition to sewage in rivers, our commitment to PR and to Europe. Not just the values that we all share – a society in which no-one is held back by poverty, ill health or lack of education, where everyone is valued and empowered to choose their path – but a true sense of what that would look like.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an ex pat: Kompromat

By Tom Arms | Sat 19th September 2026 - 9:30 am

Donald Trump has undermined history’s most successful defence alliance. He is engaged in an all-out trade war with America’s closest neighbour and ally. He is threatening to take control of the territory of another ally. His tariffs have destabilised the world trading system. His repeated attacks on American elections have damaged confidence in one of the cornerstones of US democracy. He is crude, rude and politically divisive. He has cut support for democratic Ukraine while repeatedly accommodating authoritarian Russia. And finally, he has embroiled the United States in a Middle East war that is pushing up energy and food prices around the world.

If the aim of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping is to weaken the power of the United States and the Western alliance, it is difficult to imagine that they could have asked for a more disruptive occupant of the White House.

Donald Trump claims that the Mueller Report exonerated him of allegations of collusion with the Russians. That is false. Robert Mueller concluded that his investigation “did not establish” that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its interference in the 2016 election. He also documented numerous contacts between Trump associates and Russians, confirmed that the Russians did interfere and concluded that Moscow expected to benefit from a Trump victory while the Trump campaign expected to benefit from material stolen and released through Russian efforts.

Trump refused Mueller’s request for an in-person interview and instead provided written answers which Mueller later described as inadequate and incomplete. Given everything that has happened since Mueller, it is worth re-examining the allegations and asking the question: Does Moscow have kompromat on Donald Trump?

Kompromat is Russian shorthand for “compromising material” and has entered the vocabulary of intelligence agencies around the world. To ask whether an intelligence service has kompromat on someone is to ask whether it possesses damaging information—true, exaggerated or fabricated—that can be used to blackmail, pressure, manipulate or otherwise exert leverage over that person.

According to the Steele dossier, the Russians possess kompromat on Donald Trump. The details are hazy. The compromising material could involve sex, questionable business dealings, or both.

Republicans frequently say that the Steele dossier has been “debunked.” That is too sweeping. Many of its most sensational allegations have never been substantiated, and some were weakened or contradicted by subsequent investigations. But the broader context in which the dossier was written was very real. Russia interfered extensively in the 2016 election, Trump associates had numerous contacts with Russians, and the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee later concluded that Paul Manafort’s position in the Trump campaign created opportunities for Russian intelligence to exert influence and obtain confidential information.

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Caron Lindsay

What’s on at Conference today?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 19th September 2026 - 7:30 am

I’m feeling quite sad this morning.

I’m not able to be at Conference this year as my husband and I get to grips with our new normal following a life-changing diagnosis a couple of months ago.

I’m missing everyone, but at least being at home means I’m not in the whirlwind so I can keep up with what’s going on and let you all know about it. Also I can watch the Strictly launch show.

So what can everyone in Brighton look forward to today?

In the main hall, I’d be wanting to speak on the heartbreaking and disgraceful situation of children in temporary accommodation. The damage that housing insecurity does to children is simply unforgivable.

The family courts motion is also interesting, particularly in its calls for regulation of therapists who give evidence. It’s frankly frightening that this does not happen already.

A motion on candidate safety looks to tackle the abuse and threats faced by candidates, particularly those from marginalised groups.

And don’t forget the opportunity to question the Federal Conference Committee and Federal Policy Committee. An important part of our internal democracy.

The chilling evidence that 2/3 of maternity units are not alway safe to give birth in is dealt with in the motion on maternity services.

Early life also comes under discussion in motion on rebuilding health visiting.

Debates on rural education, business and the scary state of our world complete the policy debates.

There are also keynote speeches from Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, Education spokesperson Munira Wilson and Gloucestershire Council leader Cllr Lisa Spivey.

Here’s the day in full:

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Steve Mason

A different story of hope for Liberalism in the 21st Century

By Steve Mason | Fri 18th September 2026 - 6:45 pm

The failures are plain to see. Rivers are treated as drains. Homes are left exposed to floods and heat. Public services are forced to pay tomorrow for damage that should have been prevented today. Families face higher bills, weaker services and a natural world in retreat, while Westminster still asks its narrowest question. Has GDP gone up?

GDP is not the enemy. It measures economic activity, and that still has value. The mistake is treating this narrow measure as the test of national success. A business would not sell its factory roof to flatter this year’s accounts while exposing its machinery to the rain. Yet that is what politics does when it runs down the living foundations of our prosperity and calls the transaction growth.

It is time to put GDP back in its place. Let it count activity but not define purpose. Our economy needs a compass, not just a speedometer. It must ask whether growth is widening freedom, strengthening communities, renewing the natural systems on which life depends and increasing the wealth we hold in common.

This is the question for Liberal Democrats. Are we brave enough to tell a different story of sustainability and hope? The liberalism Britain needs now is not thin individualism, nor a faith that remote markets or centralised ministries will save us. It is freedom rooted in dignity, community, stewardship and democratic power. Clean water, secure homes, healthy people, thriving nature, decent work, trusted services and power in people’s own communities are the footings on which liberty stands.

There is no liberal future on a polluted, depleting island. When rivers are unsafe, landscapes are stripped, neighbourhoods are vulnerable and services are hollowed out, people do not become freer. They become more exposed. That is not liberty. It is abandonment dressed up as choice.

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Victoria Collins MP

Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything

By Victoria Collins MP | Fri 18th September 2026 - 4:45 pm

There’s a moment every candidate remembers. Not the selection meeting, not the count on election night but the moment before when someone else believed in you, when someone asked you to stand. For most of us, we’d never have got there on our own. Someone else saw it first.

That’s the thread I kept coming back to recently, when the Joint Candidates Sub Committee brought together our Diversity Affiliated Organisations and Campaign Groups to talk about candidates. We heard a lot of honest, thoughtful feedback about our approvals and selection process – what’s working well, and where we must keep improving.

For me, this isn’t an abstract policy discussion on how we get more diverse candidates approved, selected and elected. It’s personal.

The new Candidates team have done a fantastic job of improving candidate onboarding and setting up a referral programme, we well as working on candidate support. Now, we need you.

Standing for Parliament didn’t feel like something for people like me. I only made it through because people in organisations like Chinese East and South East Asian (CESEA), the Campaign for Gender Balance and the Stellar Programme backed me with time, with mentoring, and with the money I didn’t have. Take any one of those away and I’m not writing this as an MP. I went from delivering leaflets to becoming the 656th woman ever elected to this Parliament, and our party’s first MP of East and South East Asian origin. That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because people and programmes chose to invest in me.

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Shevaun Haviland CBE

The Independent View: To get Britain growing again, we must cut the cost of doing business 

By Shevaun Haviland CBE | Fri 18th September 2026 - 2:45 pm

 As the Liberal Democrats gather in Brighton, some of the discussion will focus on how to build a stronger, more productive and increasingly inclusive economy. The Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce argues that at a key component of this debate should be consideration of how to cut the costs of doing business.

On a recent visit to Lancashire, I met some incredible businesses from the manufacturing, construction, retail, and hospitality sectors. They all told me how squeezed they felt by rising cost pressures. 

But the picture that emerged from our conversations, wasn’t just of the pain businesses are feeling, but of the consequences. One firm said it had previously taken on 25 apprentices, but this year, under the weight of mounting costs, it is hiring just one. 

That story, unfortunately, is repeated across the land. British Chambers of Commerce research shows the cost stack facing a typical small or medium-sized business, built up from a decade of government policy decisions, has increased by more than 70%. A quarter of that increase has landed since the Autumn Budget of 2024. 

Ask business owners what worries them most, and the answer isn’t complicated: inflation, taxation, and business rates, in that order. According to our latest survey, just 17% of firms say they plan to increase investment in the coming months. That’s the lowest level since the pandemic.

 This should worry us all. Every pound a business spends absorbing higher costs, is a pound that doesn’t go towards hiring a young person, upgrading technology, or lowering prices on the shelves. An economy that works for everyone, depends on businesses having the confidence to back themselves. Currently, too many are hamstrung by costs outside their control before they even get the chance to hire, invest, or grow. 

 That is why, ahead of this year’s Budget, the British Chambers of Commerce is calling for urgent action to cut the cost of doing business.

 First, we must tackle the NEETs crisis. Over a million young people out of education, employment or training is a national scandal. Employers want to do their bit, but the incentives to hire young people have been removed, while the risks have grown and the environment toughened. An Employer’s National Insurance holiday for under-25s would make it cheaper and easier for firms to take on a young person rather than pass them over. 

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