A year after the ICJ ruling, the UK is still complicit in Israel’s unlawful occupation

112 Parliamentarians, including 19 Lib Dem MPs and Peers, have this week sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Attorney General, calling on the Government to fulfil its promise to formally respond to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory. The letter states that the UK’s obligations under the ruling are immediate and “crystal clear,” warning that continued delays place the Government in breach of its legal obligations.

Issued almost exactly a year ago, the ICJ ruling found that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem) is unlawful, and declared that all states are obliged not to recognise or assist the occupation in any way. The ruling places concrete obligations on the UK, including to abstain from entering economic relations that help entrench Israel’s unlawful presence, and to ban all forms of trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

When the ruling was issued, the Government acknowledged its central findings and promised to respond in due course. But in the year since, it has chosen to deflect and delay, relying on procedural excuses and taking no meaningful steps to implement its obligations. The letter sent this week reflects growing cross-party concern that the UK’s failure to respond constitutes a serious breach of its responsibilities under international law. The letter urges ministers to honour their commitments, set out clearly the measures that will now be taken, and demonstrate that the UK will not continue to act as an enabler of persistent violations.

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ALDC by-election report, 17th July

In Market Harborough, the Conservatives secured a close-fought victory against us. Commiserations to Roger Dunton and the local team for the result here.

Harborough DC, Market Harborough-Logan
Conservative: 410 (31.3%, +4.1)
Liberal Democrats (Roger Dunton): 355 (27.1%, -19.8)
Green Party: 290 (22.2%, +14.5)
Reform UK: 190 (14.5%, new)
Labour: 44 (3.4%, -9.1)
Independent: 10 (0.8%, -4.8)
Communist: 9 (0.7%, new)

Conservative GAIN from Liberal Democrats

In Liverpool, the Green Party successfully defended seat, albeit with a decrease in their vote share. Well done to Tristan Paul and the local team for increasing our vote share by over 15%.

Liverpool City Council, Sefton Park
Green Party: 468 (49.8%, -7.0)
Labour: 211 (22.4%, -11.1)
Liberal Democrats (Tristan Paul): 193 (20.5%, +15.4)
Reform UK: 54 (5.7%, new)
Conservative: 14 (1.5%, -3.0)

Green Party HOLD

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Should the government lower the voting age to 16?

Wow! The Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield and I, only a week or so ago, spoke with students from Stanborough School about whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. We divided the Council Chamber into two groups and we encouraged a healthy and respectful debate on a topic, which is truly important and fascinating.

Who would have said that the Labour Government will propose potentially the biggest reform of the electoral legislation since 1969? Have they secretly listened to our conversation? Who knows! 

Interestingly, the minimum voting age is already 16 for e.g. local elections in Wales and Scotland. Lowering the voting age to 16 was part of the Labour’s party manifesto, however it didn’t feature in last summer’s King’s Speech, which sets out government priorities. 

There are quite a few advantages and disadvantages of this Election Bill. If you can work or pay taxes, you should be allowed to cast your vote. Many others would disagree and argue that if you are not allowed to get married, buy an alcoholic drink or if you are simply not “mature enough”, the voting age should remain the same, at 18. Our Welwyn Hatfield debate was won by the students, who were in favour of lowering the voting age. 

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17 July 2025 – today’s press releases

  • Workforce figures: public “desperately” needs a govt focused on getting growth back on track
  • Voting reforms: Elon Musk-shaped hole in Government’s announcement
  • Afghanistan data leak “devastating” — Government must launch inquiry
  • Carmichael welcomes progress on votes for 16-year-olds in UK elections
  • Jane Dodds responds to UK Government plans to introduce votes at 16

Workforce figures: public “desperately” needs a govt focused on getting growth back on track

Responding to the latest workforce figures, which show the labour market continuing to weaken, with higher unemployment and slowing wage growth, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

We can’t go on with such a sluggish economy: the Government must go for growth by reversing the jobs tax which is stifling small businesses and rip up the red tape holding back British businesses from trading with the rest of Europe. Only then will the Government unlock billions of pounds to protect public services and support struggling families.

After years of economic mismanagement by the Conservatives, the public desperately needs a government focused on getting our economy back on track – and these are the most obvious first steps to doing that.

Voting reforms: Elon Musk-shaped hole in Government’s announcement

Commenting on the Government’s announcement on voting reforms, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

Votes at 16 is a no-brainer. Liberal Democrats have campaigned for this change for well over twenty years and so of course we welcome this decision.

However, there appears to be an Elon Musk shaped hole in the Government’s proposed changes to elections. Ministers must go much further to close the door to foreign oligarchs interfering in British politics – anything less undermines our democracy.

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ALDE Party Council, Helsinki 2025 – a report

Last time I was in Helsinki, it was about 10 years ago when I was a Young Liberal and had been attending the European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) congress on the ferry between Helsinki and Stockholm. My memory of it is a bit patchy, admittedly…

A decade later, I was there as a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Council. Nae bad for a quine fae Aberdeen. Which reminds me, I’ve still got to share my memories with LYMEC ahead of their 50th anniversary next year. I’m sure some of you reading this might want to do …

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Why Liberals should keep one eye on Corbyn’s new wheeze

Budge up! We need to make room at the British political table for a new guest. Or, an old guest wearing a different hat which, in these days of UKIPs, Brexit parties, and Reform Uks (Reforms UK?), happens a lot.

It seems that former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will return to leading a political party. We didn’t hear it directly from him of course, but from fellow left-wing MP Zarah Sultana who will be joining him in this new, yet unnamed, venture.

At the time, it seemed Sultana had jumped the gun and announced the move without Corbyn’s approval – perhaps he was present, whether he was involved remains unclear.

But why should liberals, capital letter or lower case, care about what’s going on behind the newest set of curtains in the dysfunctional cul-de-sac of UK politics?

Well, because we like balance and particularly balancing opportunities with obligations; and the new party of the hard-left, which some are already calling “Jezbollah”, presents us with both.

First, the opportunity.

Labour has had a rough year or so in government. The smooth, slick, optimistic Keir Starmer that won the General Election is no more. Even though the Tories were about as popular as the Ebola virus at the time, Labour’s victory was impressive and showed that a sensibly led Labour party can win.

But since then, it’s all gone a bit wrong.

There are some Labour folks who still cling to the idea that it is some grand plan by the leadership to dispose of the difficult stuff (cuts, winter fuel, immigration etc) in the beginning so that when the next election arrives, it’ll be all free puppies and rising GDP.

What they’ve got is plummeting popularity and inflation at 3.6 percent.

Labour is one major scandal away from asking the Ebola virus to share who does its PR and now the ghost of May Day past is haunting their feast. One set of polls even has Starmer’s Labour neck and brass neck with the People’s Front of Kneecap and Bob Vylan.

For Liberals, a chance presents. We can rally behind our shared values of individualism, freedom, and community to show disenfranchised soft-right Labour voters that there is a home for them with us. They do not have to choose between Sir Keir’s downbeat, depressing round table and Jeremy Corbyn’s wonky picnic table where you may well end up sat next to someone from Hamas.

There is an alternative with Liberal Democrats.

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Labour’s Embrace of Trickle Down Economics: An Open Goal for Lib Dem Opposition

A few “political open goals” have been facing the Lib Dems recently, from the firing of Christine Jardine from the front bench (covered wonderfully by Lib Dem Voice’s own Mathew Hulbert) to Unite the Union suspending Angela Rayner over Labour’s lack of open support for striking bin workers.

We can now add another open goal to the list: Labour’s embrace of “trickle-down economics”.

As reported by The Guardian, Rachel Reeves plans to scrap regulations introduced by Gordon Brown, Keir Starmer’s predecessor, to mitigate the impact of the 2008 financial crash on households. Chaitanya Kumar of the New Economics Foundation has criticised the move, calling the situation Groundhog Day, questioning the decision to expect the financial sector to do “most of the heavy lifting in terms of growth”.

We’ve seen how Prime Ministers have fared with trickle-down economics in recent times, with former Prime Minister Liz Truss being removed from office after less than 50 days in power for introducing a budget that sought to scrap banker bonuses, abolish the top rate of income tax, and reverse any increase on corporation tax.

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The Afghan data breach shows up poor law and appalling Tory Government actions

“There are some things that you just can’t polish.”

So I said when i spoke against the Government’s plans to bring secret courts into the area of civil law back in 2013. For some inexplicable reason, Nick Clegg had decided to agree to this dreadful proposal. The party, pretty universally, was livid. That’s one reasons why factions don’t usually work in this party. At the time, the Social Liberal Forum and Liberal Reform were at each other’s throats on economic policy but we were united in standing up for civil liberties.  You can read some of the background to that here.

We’ve learned a lot about how secret courts operate in the past couple of days thanks to Lewis Goodall from the News Agents. He found himself subject to a super-injunction back in August 2023 when he learned about the leaking of a data set containing the contact details of everyone who had applied to come to this country under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy. These were people, 18000 of them, who had worked for the UK Government while we were in Afghanistan and who had targets on their back when the Taliban took over.

Anyway, Goodall is a serious, responsible journalist. When he discovered this story, he went to the Ministry of Defence, making it clear that he had no plans to publish. That didn’t matter. The resulting super injunction was in force  until this Tuesday at noon. The second it was lifted, Goodall got out all the stress of the previous 23 months out in a blistering podcast which revealed:

  • Secret courts and secret courts within secret courts
  • How many of the 18000 people and their families the Tory Government actually planned to help. Spoiler, it’s less than you think, despite this being the main legal rationale for the super-injunction
  • How Tory ministers avoided pushing this forward, silencing scrutiny
  • How much this cost the public purse
  • How the first judge to hear the case actually suggested to the Government that they go for a super-injunction

If you listen to nothing else today, listen to this now because it shows a chilling use of government power which, the Judge openly remarked, stopped democracy. Judge Martin Chamberlain said it was:

fundamentally objectionable for decisions that affect the lives and safety of thousands of human beings, and involve the commitment of billions of pounds of public money, to be taken in circumstances where they are completely insulated from public debate.

So what have Liberal Democrats had to say about all of this:

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16 July 2025 – today’s press releases

  • Lib Dems: Bolster energy security to tackle “stubbornly high” inflation
  • Ed Davey calls for public inquiry into Afghan data leak and unprecedented superinjunction
  • Davey speech warns of Farage’s plan to tie Britain to Putin’s Russia
  • Carmichael to lead parliamentary debate on Global Plastics Treaty

Lib Dems: Bolster energy security to tackle “stubbornly high” inflation

Responding to June’s inflation figure of 3.6%, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

These stubbornly high inflation figures are hammering the pockets of households who are still struggling with a cost-of-living crisis that refuses to go away.

The Conservatives’ mismanagement of the economy led us here and now Donald Trump’s senseless trade war and the Government’s wage suppressing jobs tax are only adding to people’s pain.

Only by building an economic coalition of the willing to stand up to Trump’s bullying, scrapping the Government’s jobs tax and bolstering our energy security will we see pressure ease for families across the country.

Ed Davey calls for public inquiry into Afghan data leak and unprecedented superinjunction

Ed Davey has called for a public inquiry into the MOD data leak that put at risk the lives of up to 25,000 Afghans who supported the British campaign in Afghanistan, and the unprecedented superinjunction used to keep it hidden from the public for years.

The Liberal Democrats have criticised the Conservatives’ cloak-and-dagger efforts to protect Ministers’ identities via an unprecedented 600-day superinjunction, only revealed following a concerted effort by the British media to bring the details into the public domain.

The party’s leader, Ed Davey, has called for an urgent public inquiry – to report by the end of the year – which would allow for the level of scrutiny appropriate to the “size and significance” of the data breach and subsequent Government efforts to keep the details hidden from public view.

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15 July 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish press releases

  • Patients waiting up to a year for cancer treatment under SNP
  • Wishart blasts Ministers for lack of action on air travel review
  • Cole-Hamilton criticises SNP over new A&E and drugs reports
  • MacDonald urges public to respond to Community Benefit energy consultation

Patients waiting up to a year for cancer treatment under SNP

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP today said that the SNP government isn’t giving people the best chance of surviving cancer as he revealed the longest waits for first treatment of cancer, with patients waiting up to a year.

Scottish Liberal Democrats analysed waiting times from an urgent referral with suspicion of cancer to first treatment for patients in every health board.

This analysis shows that:

  • In the quarter ending March 2025, a patient in NHS Lothian waited 393 days for treatment.
  • In the same period, patients in Grampian, the Borders, and Dumfries and Galloway waited 11 months for treatment.
  • Between the quarter ending March 2015 and March 2025, the longest wait in NHS Borders has more than quadrupled, increasing from 76 days to 343 days.
  • Over the same period, the longest wait in NHS Dumfries & Galloway has more than trebled, from 99 days to 347 days.
  • Since March 2015, the longest waits in NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland have more than doubled.

It comes as Scottish Liberal Democrats revealed that the median waiting time for cancer treatment across the whole of Scotland, 52 days, is the worst on record.

In June, Public Health Minister Jenni Minto admitted that “people could be dying as a result of later cancer diagnoses”.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

All across Scotland, the SNP government isn’t giving cancer patients the best chance of survival. These statistics show huge increases in waiting times to begin treatment after an urgent referral with suspicion of cancer, stretching up to a year.

International studies show Scotland falling behind. The fact that SNP ministers are now admitting that their failures may have caused people to die shows just how badly they have got this wrong.

Access to screening programmes, diagnoses and treatment is a postcode lottery across the country. Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see ministers who will move mountains to bring down waits and get to grips with the gaps in tech and staff.

Patients deserve better than an SNP government that keeps letting them down. Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats will bring a real vision and a real plan for delivering the care they need.

Wishart blasts Ministers for lack of action on air travel review

Scottish Liberal Democrat and Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart has written to the Scottish Government questioning their lack of action on the Highlands and Islands Air Discount Scheme after almost a year since the publishing of Transport Scotland’s Aviation Statement which made the following commitment:

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15 July 2025 – yesterday’s Federal press releases

  • Adass survey should make Government “heed warning” they cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care
  • Thames Water results: time for Governmentt to end “nightmare” and put Thames Water into Special Administration
  • Ed Davey sets out plan to halve energy bills in a decade and takes on Farage’s fossil fuel myths
  • Afghan data breach: Government must confirm how many other MoD super injunctions exist
  • Lib Dems on Reeves speech: “spaghetti junction of red tape” between country and continent

Adass survey should make Government “heed warning” they cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care

Responding to The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services survey which found that recent overspend by councils in England on their adult social care budgets was the highest in a decade, Liberal Democrat Care and Carers spokesperson Alison Bennett MP said:

The Government needs to heed this warning that without fixing social care the NHS 10 Year Plan will fail to deliver the change that people are crying out for.

We will continue to see people stuck in hospital beds when they could be cared for at home, patients treated in A&E corridors and council budgets stretched to breaking point.

If the Government is to break with the years of neglect that the Conservatives oversaw, they need to get on with reforming social care, and that starts by completing their review by the end of the year. We cannot afford to wait any longer.

Thames Water results: time for Government to end “nightmare” and put Thames Water into Special Administration

Responding to Thames Water reporting a £1.6bn loss over the last year and sewage spills increasing by a third, Lib Dem MP for Witney Charlie Maynard said:

These are terrible results. The nightmare needs to stop.

After months of pressure, Steve Reed has now finally admitted that it is highly likely to cost the Government nothing in the medium term if Thames Water is put into Special Administration. He now needs to get on and do this.

Every day he holds off means that customers continue to get stuffed by ridiculously high interest charges and advisory fees. We can’t afford it, and nor can our rivers.

Ed Davey sets out plan to halve energy bills in a decade and takes on Farage’s fossil fuel myths

  • Liberal Democrat Leader gives major economic speech at IPPR setting out new plan to slash energy bills
  • Ed Davey says “we have got to break the link between gas prices and electricity costs” so people get the benefits of cheap, clean power
  • Speech takes on Farage and Badenoch’s myths on renewables and warns tying Britain to fossil fuels will only benefit dictators like Putin

In a major speech on the economy tomorrow, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will set out his party’s plan to halve energy bills for a typical household by 2035.

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Nominate someone for a party award: Deadline August 11

One of the best moments of any party conference is when we honour the people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty for the party.

Party members are invited to nominate party colleagues for the following awards for this Autumn’s conference in Bourmemouth by 11th August.

The President’s Award

Eligibility: open to any Party Member elected to public office and who has demonstrated excellence and commitment, either in that role or both in that role and other roles for the party.

Criteria: the winner will be recognised for outstanding commitment and service to the Party. Local, regional, and state parties should be seeking to nominate people who deserve recognition for their hard work, long service, and demonstrable dedication to the party, at whatever level. It is expected to be special awards to be awarded from the Party for whom public recognition is overdue.

The Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

Background: this award is named for Harriet Smith, who campaigned and worked tirelessly for the Party, notably alongside Paddy Ashdown, with the Federal Conference Committee, and in the Bath party. A beloved figure, she is also missed from the Conference revue and by the team at the Liberator Magazine.

Eligibility: open to any Party Member never elected to public office.

Criteria: the Harriet Smith Award shares its conditions with the President’s award.

The Belinda Eyre-Brook Award

Background: this award is named for legendary campaigner Belinda Eyre-Brook, whose achievements with the Party include being Ed Davey’s agent in 1997, overturning 15,000 Tory Majority, and establishing one of the party’s longest-serving MPs.

Eligibility: given to recognise and celebrate the efforts of people working for our elected representatives in their local areas – from local party employees to political assistants to council groups, to people working in MPs’ constituency offices.

Criteria: the winner of this award will care about their local area and be committed to the success of Liberal Democrats within it. Turning local political priorities into electoral success, and priorities for elected officials is a key part of the work of successful local Party figures – as is linking with the national party.

The Dadabhai Naoroji award

Background: this award is named for the ‘Grand Old Man of India’, Liberal MP, and joint founder of the Indian National Congress, Dadabhai Naoroji. His work highlighting the reality of British rule over India and campaign for justice is an example to us all and his place in history, as the first non-white and first Indian Parliamentarian, is assured.

Eligibility: presented annually to the local Party that has done most to promote ethnic minority participants to elected office as Councillors, Assembly Members or Members of Parliament.

Criteria: this award is designed to encourage local parties to work towards the goal of increasing their ethnic diversity to more accurately reflect the areas they represent, and to recognise those that already make a great effort to involve different communities in their work.

The Penhaligon award

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Liberal localism, Labour centralism

As Parliament approaches the summer recess, the government is pushing out announcements to set the agenda for the autumn.  An ‘English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill’, 300 pages long, was published on July 10th, which according to the Local Government Association ‘signals a significant shift of powers from Whitehall to local leaders – making it one of the biggest changes to local government in 50 years. It will have a profound impact on all tiers of local government’.  The government is about to publish a White Paper on Election Regulation, in preparation for the Elections Bill it will bring forward in the next parliamentary session.  Both have major implications for British democracy; both take us away from a Liberal approach.  Last week the ‘UK Government Resilience Action Plan’ was also published, setting out measures to respond to future epidemics, disasters and domestic emergencies. 

Looked at together, these three embody Labour’s approach to Britain’s democracy: a deep commitment to the two-party system, a focus on delivery rather than participation, and an assumption that ‘local’ government is about delivering central government’s priorities.  Liberal Democrats will want to argue for a much more open democracy, for relying on local activity to respond to local problems and crises, for allowing and encouraging local initiatives and experimentation in providing public services, and in drawing local citizens in as far as we can to participate in public life.

Liberal Democrat local councillors will have strong views on the weakening of local democracy over the past 30-40 years.  Reorganisation has decreased the number of elected councillors and Councils, increasing the gap between ‘local’ government and the people it serves.  Council taxes have remained the main source of revenue; transfers from central revenues have been cut back and repeatedly altered from one set of conditions to another, while obligations placed on local authorities have increased.  What the Bill now proposes is to extend the elected mayoral model across the whole of England, leading ‘strategic authorities’ which will deliver government priorities, with a single tier of local government below them.  There will be fewer local elections, and fewer Councils; ‘local’ government itself will become more remote from England’s towns and villages.

The Elections White Paper will reverse some of the damaging aspects of the Conservatives’ 2022 Elections Act.  We expect some tightening of the rules on political finance, although Liberal Democrats will press for these to go much further.  The voting system for elected mayors that the 2022 Act changed to First Past The Post will be returned to Jack Straw’s ‘supplementary vote’ in the English Devolution Bill, in the hope of getting it in place for the 2026 elections; the Elections Bill is unlikely to offer any concessions to the transformation of the UK’s political landscape, with ‘the two major parties’ failing to retain the support even of half the electorate between them.  There will be nothing to address the depths of popular disillusion with Westminster politics.

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Ed Davey to set out plans to halve energy bills in a decade

This afternoon, Ed Davey will give a major speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research in London.

We’re used to hearing from the right that our high energy prices are all to do with nasty net zero. Ed will tackle that nonsense

As an alternative, he will set out a plan to dramatically slash bills for families and businesses still struggling through a cost-of-living crisis.

He will call for “a Liberal Democrat energy policy in service of the British people, not a Nigel Farage energy policy in service of Vladimir Putin”.

He will set out a plan to break the link between gas prices and electricity costs, so people get the benefits of cheap, clean power. As well as accelerating investment in cheap renewable power and home insulation, the plan would move older expensive renewable projects to cheaper Contracts for Difference – which were pioneered by Ed Davey when he was Energy Secretary. Experts have estimated that this move alone could cut bills by around £200 a year for a typical household.

Here are some snippets that the party has released ahead of the speech:

After nearly a decade of criminally negligent energy policies under the Conservatives, that pushed up everyone’s bills, I believe the right policies now could cut energy bills in half – at least – within ten years.

That should be the goal. Nothing less. A Liberal Democrat energy policy in service of the British people. Not a Nigel Farage energy policy in service of Vladimir Putin.

On the sky-high bills facing families and businesses

Families and pensioners are being clobbered with bills that are still more than £50 a month higher than they were five years ago. So many people, who were already struggling to make ends meet, having to find an extra £50 a month – just to keep the lights on, or keep their homes warm this winter.

And businesses are suffering too. Even with the welcome extra help promised in the new Industrial Strategy, parts of British industry will continue to face some of the highest electricity prices in the OECD. We have to get those prices down – to boost living standards and grow our economy.

Addressing the myths peddled by the likes of Farage and Badenoch:

The narrative – seized upon by Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch – says the reason energy bills are so high is that we’re investing too much in renewable power. And if we just stopped that investment – and relied more on oil and gas instead – bills would magically come down for everyone.

The experience of record high gas prices in recent years shows that’s not true. And even when gas prices are softer, the long history of volatility in fossil fuel prices means it’s only a matter of time before high prices return. So we know that tying ourselves ever more to fossil fuels would only benefit foreign dictators like Vladimir Putin – which is probably why Farage is so keen on it.

But refusing to engage hasn’t stopped his myths from spreading, from gaining traction in the new world of fake news. So we must change that.

On breaking the link between gas prices and electricity costs:

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Report highlights women’s experience of “abuse, exclusion and bias” in political parties

There is quite a sisterhood in politics, a solidarity between women that transcends party. One of the major drivers of that is that we all have to put up with the same crap within our parties. Whether its under-representation, barriers to approval and selection as candidates, being talked over or dismissed in meetings or having our experiences of sexist behaviour minimised when we call them out, our experiences are strikingly similar. And if you are poor, from an ethnic minority or disabled, the barriers you face increase.

Scottish organisation Engender has laid that all out in a new report which aims to show the extent of “abuse, exclusion and bias” women face in the political system and it sets out how political parties can and must do better.

Our party is not immune to such behaviour, although there have been marked improvements in culture in the past 15 years or so.

So what problems do women face?

Women, particularly Black, minority ethnic and disabled women,face multiple compounding and entrenched barriers at each stage of the candidate journey, across all parties. Party processes continue to operate based on an imagined “default candidate” that is white, middle-class, male, and non-disabled. Only 35% of survey respondents felt their party genuinely prioritised diversity in candidate selection. Everyday sexism,including inappropriate comments and gendered stereotypes,remains commonplace across parties, with 24% of
selected candidates experiencing sexist language or bullying.

Specific barriers that this report explores,include:
▪ Lack of transparency, information and unclear processes
▪ Limited financial assistance
▪ Gaps in available guidance and formal support networks
▪ Caring responsibilities
▪ Accessibility needs
▪ Unclear expectations and feedback
▪ Decision-maker bias

The report also highlights the abusive political environment which can lead to women fearing for their safety and that of their family which is “contributing to a growing retention issue for women in politics.”

The report highlights how women with caring responsibilities are particularly adversely impacted:

When selecting candidates,parties can place disproportionate importance on “presenteeism”,disproportionately focussing on hours spent on party activities,rather than other candidate skills. This can disadvantage people with less free time due to caring responsibilities. This persists once candidates are selected and elected,negatively impacting women’s overall experience and likelihood of running again in future.

One woman told the researchers:

At one meeting where a couple of mums including me brought youngish children along, other members made their displeasure evident despite the children being well-behaved.

I and another officer bearer eventually had to stand down due to these problems,which meant that the profile of office bearers was people (mainly older) with no childcare responsibilities.

But these problems can be overcome with a bit of effort and understanding:

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Shocking report on Child Poverty

The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza has produced a totally damming Report on Child Poverty in the UK.

The report is based on listening to children about their experiences of poverty – not just statistics but what it feels like – the sense of shame of being poor,  a great awareness of their families financial situation, the challenges of keeping homes warm and of living in temporary accommodation.   What struck me in particular was children  hiding the family’s financial circumstances and feeling embarrassed about it and being bullied and shamed by other children for being poor.

The commentary by Dame de Souza on the Report could hardly be blunter. She says there is:

 an almost-Dickensian level of poverty facing some children in England today. After four years as Children’s Commissioner and as a teacher and headteacher before that, few things truly leave me speechless

She says that there are no simple solutions and that the extension of  free school meals to all children living in households receiving Universal Credit will help – this is of course a long standing Lib Dem request. 

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Josh Babarinde talks to Nick Robinson about domestic abuse reform

One of the brightest stars on the Lib Dem front bench, Josh Babarinde, has been talking to Nick Robinson on this week’s Political Thinking podcast.

He described his ultimately successful tenacious pursuit of Labour ministers to get them to bring in a specific category of offence for domestic abuse. He saw the need for this when Labour released many prisoners early to make room in our crumbling and inadequate prison system. He was furious that Labour could not make good on its promise not to release domestic abuse perpetrators early because they couldn’t identify them all.

He talks about his own background and why this issue is so important to him.

He tells Nick about his early life, an inspirational teacher and his first job serving pizzas.

Luck played a huge part in his success and he describes his fight to “minimise the role of luck” in making sure other young people could fulfil their potential.

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14 July 2025 – today’s press releases

  • Trump state visit: PM should invite Mark Carney for official visit and to address Parliament
  • Lib Dems slam “astounding” arrogance of Thames Water following hosepipe ban announcement

Trump state visit: PM should invite Mark Carney for official visit and to address Parliament

Responding to the date of Donald Trump’s state visit being confirmed, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The Prime Minister should invite Mark Carney for an official visit to the UK just ahead of Trump’s visit, including the opportunity to address Parliament. This would send an important signal that Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Canada against Trump’s chaotic trade war.

With

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Mathew on Monday: Restore Christine Jardine to the front bench!

Well, that was all quite a shambles wasn’t it?

A political own goal if ever I’ve seen one. No, on this occasion I’m not speaking of Labour on welfare, the Tories on, well, pretty much everything, or Reform UK on its failing candidate vetting. I’m speaking of our leader Ed Davey’s sacking of Christine Jardine after she voted in line with our party’s values on a welfare amendment last week and, in doing so, nominally broke the party Whip which was (inexplicably) to abstain.

As a Lib Dem MP source said to me (in news I broke on my Substack the morning after) “this has been handled dreadfully.” The same MP answered in the affirmative when I asked them if there was significant disquiet about the issue in the Lib Dem Commons caucus. That matches cool anger among the party base; with Lib Dem Women writing to the Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain with their concerns and more than one hundred party members signing an open letter in less than twenty-four hours calling not only for Christine Jardine to be re-appointed as our Scotland and Women and Equalities Spokesperson but also for her to be given a formal apology over the handling of the matter. I’m proud to be one of the signatories of that letter.

Christine Jardine says she only learnt of her demotion from the media, that is surely disgraceful. The fact she’d been warned this might happen is not the same as being informed that it had. Our Whips/leadership need to do better.

And, on a further point, how can Ed Davey go from saying at a recent conference that Christine was “the best equalities spokesperson the party’s ever had” to sacking her from the role for voting in line with our party’s values?! It makes no sense whatsoever.

I don’t mean this negatively in regards to her replacements (which by the way were not given a formal announcement but just had their positions changed on the party website), that being Susan Murray as the new Scotland Spokesperson and Lisa Smart on Women and Equalities, but Christine Jardine should be restored to her prior roles without delay. And the leadership should ask themselves some very serious questions about how this whole matter has been handled and ensure nothing like it happens again!

We need to be loud in speaking up for civil liberties!

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Labour infighting, Lib Dem opportunity

Another week brings another public disagreement between Labour’s leaders and the trade unions that once formed the backbone of their movement.

This time, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner faces criticism after being suspended by Unite the Union for not supporting striking bin workers in Birmingham.

Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, was clear: “We will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette.” Graham argued that the Labour-run Birmingham Council has let its workers down, and Rayner, who had “every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute,” instead sided with the council. There’s a sense of déjà vu here, with Labour’s old tendency to look the other way when problems occur closer to home.

For those of us who believe in social justice and strong local government, the question that naturally comes to mind is: “Which side are you on?” But as this latest episode unfolds, it’s apparent that Labour’s leadership’s answer is: its own side.

There is a precedent for Labour figures speaking out when their party is in the wrong. Neil Kinnock’s well-known rebuke to Militant Liverpool in 1985 is a notable example. However, nowadays, it seems more about posturing than principle.

Labour’s internal disputes shouldn’t just be entertainment for outsiders. They have real impacts on communities, services, and working people. As one of Rayner’s allies said, she’s “not interested in silly stunts… she’s interested in changing workers’ lives.” Yet, while Labour leaders argue among themselves, workers’ pay and conditions are left neglected. Some suggest that Unite’s actions and Sharon Graham’s ambitions ahead of a leadership election are the same. But for Birmingham’s residents, this political drama hardly offers solace.

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Advance to the left

The Liberal Democrats are a flexible party on the spectrum. Coming from the traditional centre ground, it has attracted many voters who have come from different perspectives on politics. Recently, we have won a lot of votes from the centre right of the political spectrum with Sir Ed Davey’s focus on ‘Middle England’, taking votes away from Conservative leaning voters who feel that the Tories have gone too far right or neglected the ‘Blue Wall’. There is also the Progressive base who have gone to the Liberal Democrats in the Brexit era, aiming to reverse that referendum result in 2016.

I feel that our party is made up of members who feel disillusioned with the leadership of their political ends. You can put me in that category; a former member of the Labour Party. Due to choices from the Labour Government, I left them for the Liberal Democrats. Whilst I see Liberalism (the belief in freedom for all) as the principle we should live by, I am always left with the question of how?

In some scenarios, freedom is not an abstract concept. If you live in any dictatorship, you are not free. If you live in a democracy, it can get complicated. We can vote in elections, our politicians are held to account, free press, free speech and an independent judicial system. However, there is another freedom that we don’t have… the freedom to live prosperously.

Due to the cost-of-living crisis, people are choosing between heating and food in the winter. Recently with the ill-thought Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill that has just passed the Commons, there will be disabled people who will not have the same rights and freedoms to receive PIP compared to existing claimants with the same conditions.

As someone who has left-leaning politics, there was something in the Liberal Democrat Federal Constitution which led me to join the party. Specifically, it was the quote: “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity”.

That is a vision I want the Labour Party to strive for. Sadly, they don’t. Other lefties like Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana have decided that a new political party is the answer to fill the left-wing gap… it won’t work. Another party splitting the Labour vote will only help Reform. But there is a movement that has consistently won battles for their aims and have pressured Westminster to make profound changes… the trade unions.

Posted in News | 27 Comments

Thoughts on Live Aid, 40 years on

I’ve had more reminders than I needed about how old I am getting this weekend.

First of all, both brilliant finalists in the men’s singles at Wimbledon were born in the 2000’s. And we won’t dwell for too long on the knowledge that people getting the vote next year will have been born in the year of the 2008 Financial Crash.

And then I spent many hours on Saturday evening watching the re-run of Live Aid. How can it possibly be 40 years since Bob Geldof put together the spectacular transatlantic concert to raise money for aid for those starving due to famine in Ethiopia? I certainly don’t feel 40 years older.

Live Aid was something you wanted to be part of, a collective effort to do something positive to help people who were really suffering. I went along to the Alliance and Leicester in Wick to hand over my pocket money. In those days there was no way of doing this in seconds with online banking on your phone. The very idea that a tiny rectangle could basically contain your entire life was barely even the stuff of science fiction.  The bank clerk had to write things out in longhand to put the donation through.

Neither my sister nor I think that our parents actually let us watch the concert, though I know I certainly, surreptitiously,  disobeyed them for some of it. My husband didn’t see it at all as he didn’t have a television at the time, so we thoroughly enjoyed the re-run on Saturday.  From Madonna rocking the white socks and court shoes look to the iconic Queen, to Phil Collins appearing in both London and Philadelphia, to Kiki Dee and Elton John, to David Bowie giving up his last song to show a devastating video which really brought the cash in and had me in tears again, it was an incredible showcase of the soundtrack of my youth. I knew pretty much every single word of every song they sang. I always swore I would never be one of those people who said that the music of their youth was the best, but of course it was. It has to be. The songs you first fall in love with are the ones that stay with you.

It dawns on me that the people in their teens and twenties who cheered on the bands then are now approaching their sixties and seventies and too many of them are supporting Reform.

What on earth happened?

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A longer read for the weekend: Labour’s NHS Data marketplace

As Liberal Democrats, we believe in universal access, clinical autonomy, local accountability, and innovation that serves the patient rather than the platform. Labour’s 10-year plan for the health service threatens each of these foundations. It shifts decision-making power from clinicians to digital triage apps, replaces continuity of care with walk-in hubs, and centralises England’s patient data under the control of Palantir, a US surveillance firm with no democratic oversight. The plan anticipates fewer staff, conditions access on risk scores and outcomes, and introduces no new safeguards on how patient data is routed, monetised, or reused. This is not modernisation. It is a quiet, systemic repurposing of the NHS, and the public deserves to understand the full implications.

Digital Gatekeeping

At the centre of Labour’s digital vision for the NHS is a radical shift in how patients access care. By 2028, the NHS App will become the universal entry point to NHS care in England (Labour 2025: 10). This includes triage, appointment booking, and condition management, all of which are presently core functions of local practices and NHS staff. The plan outlines a “My NHS GP” feature to route all access digitally (Labour 2025: 11, 31).

Yet placing digital triage at the heart of NHS access introduces serious and well-documented clinical risks. AI symptom checkers show error rates of 20–40% depending on symptom complexity, often under-triaging serious cases or giving false reassurance (Fraser et al. 2022; BMJ 2020). They lack clinical context, are not accountable, and disproportionately fail older adults, patients with cognitive or language barriers, and those with multimorbidity (King’s Fund 2022).

Institutionalised Staffing Shortages

These risks can, of course, be mediated through medically professional oversight, a practice common on the continent, where digitalization is introduced to augment, rather than replace, medical professionals. However, rather than follow European best practice, Labour’s plan appears to institutionalise staff shortages as necessary to the functioning of the new digital NHS. By forecasting that ‘fewer staff than projected’ will be needed by 2035 due to anticipated efficiencies from automation, AI scribes, and redesigned roles (Labour 2025: 74), the plan builds systemic understaffing into the future model of care.

Cutting roles on the assumption of seamless substitution rarely works in complex systems like healthcare. Evidence from NHS digital implementation reviews shows that automation and role redesign frequently fail to deliver efficiency in practice due to clinical interdependencies and the unpredictable nature of care pathways (King’s Fund 2021; Health Foundation 2020). Rather than reducing labour, substitution redistributes pressure, deepens burnout, and increases the likelihood of unsafe gaps in safety-net care (GMC 2022; BMJ 2022). Digital tools can assist, but they cannot replace the presence, judgement, or adaptability of a trained clinical team operating under pressure (WHO and OECD 2020).

The End of Outpatients

As is to be expected from radical reductions in workforce expectations, Labour’s plan includes a restructuring of service delivery. By 2035, outpatient departments in England will be eliminated and replaced by “Neighbourhood Health Centres” responsible for diagnostics, monitoring, and follow-up (Labour 2025: 35). These are framed as flexible and multi-skilled, but there is no provision for clinical continuity, responsibility, or long-term therapeutic relationships.

However, removing that continuity risks far more than administrative confusion. Patients without a consistent clinical anchor are more likely to fall through gaps, face delays in diagnosis, and suffer from contradictory advice (King’s Fund 2018; Royal College of General Practitioners 2020). Complex or chronic cases (the very patients who use outpatient services most) depend on long-term therapeutic relationships (National Voices 2022). Labour’s plan dismantles that structure without offering an alternative, making the system more efficient for providers but more opaque and fragile for patients.

Disenfranchisement Risks

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Tom Arms’ World Review – 13 July 2025

July 4th was America’s Independence Day. It was also the day that Trump signed his Big Beautiful Bill. And it was the day that flash floods in Texas left At least 100 dead and more than 160 still missing.
As the flood waters started to recede the blame game began, and it is clear that Trump’s cuts are playing a major part in the disaster.
At first it was thought that cuts in the National Weather Service were responsible. But it turns out that the meteorologists did accurately predict the storm and sent out the necessary warnings.
The problem was the police did not receive the warnings in time to react. This was because the weather service employee in charge of coordinating communications between police and the NWS was gone. He had been forced into early retirement by Elon Musk’s Department for Government Efficiency and had not been replaced.
On top of that, the search and rescue teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency could not respond to the disaster because Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (who is in charge of FEMA) had decreed that any expenditure over $100,000 required her personal approval. Noem didn’t sign off on the deployment of FEMA teams until 72 hours after the floods.
Both Trump and Noem have said they want to completely scrap the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
.
Japan is having a difficult time understanding Donald Trump. They thought that the purpose of tariffs was to increase investment in American industry.
So, when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met Trump at the White House in February he pledged to increase Japanese investment in the US from $783 billion to a staggering $1 trillion. This would, Ishiba believed, encourage Trump to go easy on Japan when it came to tariffs.
It didn’t work. Trump this week imposed a new 25 percent tariff on most Japanese goods. He announced a similar tariff on South Korea and a host of other countries are reeling from the impact of tariffs ranging from 25 to 50 percent. The worst affected was Brazil.
But the Japanese really did think they were a special case. After all, when Ishiba and Trump met they expressed their “unwavering commitment” to the Japanese-American relationship. Japan is the biggest foreign investor in the US and the key building block in America’s Pivot to Asia. Surely Trump would not jeopardise that.
No, Trump announced on Truth Social that Japan was guilty of “unfair trading practices” In particular, the Japanese were unwilling to buy American cars and rice. The US president said that the Japanese were “spoiled” and added that despite seven rounds of talks a trade deal was “unlikely”
Trump’s tariffs are a major blow to the world’s third largest economy which shrunk by 0.2 percent in the last quarter.
Japan has already been hit hard by Trump’s first round of “Liberation Day” tariffs in April. The value of Japanese exports to the US has dropped by 11.2 percent in April, May and June. Their biggest export—cars—fell by 8.2 percent in April alone.
Trump’s new tariffs could not have come at worst time domestically for the government. A general election is scheduled for July 20 and all the polls indicate strong opposition to compromise on tariff negotiations. In fact, they show a strong anti-American bias.
Windmills and solar panels  v. black gold. Green technology v. fossil fuels. China v. The United States.
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 6 Comments

Observations of an ex pat: Leaving Trump

Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill helps the rich and hurts the poor. And yet, Trump was elected by a demographic shift of poor voters to Republican ranks.

They voted for him not because they believe he supports the rich instead of them, but because they feel he speaks to their values, frustrations, and identity in ways that matter more to them than traditional economic policies.

Trump validates their worldview.He gives them someone to blame for their struggles. He channels their anger into a story where they are the true Americans under siege.

So how loyal is that base? Pretty loyal. For many supporters, Trump is not just a politician—he’s a symbol of resistance to liberal elites, political correctness, globalisation, and a system they feel left them behind. He taps into identity, not just policy. That is a bond that runs deep.

So what could break that bond? Nothing less than a clear personal betrayal that his supporters could directly feel. The Big Beautiful Bill’s cuts in Medicaid are a step in that direction. And Democrats believe that they can use it to win back control of the House of Representatives and Senate in the 2026 mid-term elections.

But that will be hard road because Trump—and MAGA—are expert at blaming others such as Congress or the “deep state”.

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ALDC’s by-election report – 10 July 2025

In Woking, two seats were successfully defended, both with overwhelming victory, with both a county and district by-election. Well done to Louise Morales, Deborah Hughes and the local team for ensuring these seats remained with us.

Surrey CC, Woking South
Liberal Democrats (Louise Morales): 1,939 (63.8%, +5.8)
Reform UK: 584 (19.2%, new)
Conservatives: 291 (9.6%, -16.0%)
Green Party: 134 (4.4%, -2.5)
Labour: 91 (3.0%, -4.6)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

Woking BC, Hoe Valley
Liberal Democrats (Deborah Hughes): 1,118 (63.3%, -8.1)
Reform UK: 379 (21.1%, new)
Conservative: 130 (7.2%, -9.0)
Green Party: 83 (4.6%, new)
Labour: 69 (3.8%, -8.6)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

In Oxfordshire, we successfully defended our seat in the Vale of White Horse. Well done to Ben Potter and the team for ensuring an overwhelming victory in this by-election.

Vale of White Horse, Botley & Sunningwell
Liberal Democrats (Ben Potter): 732 (71.5%, +7.9%)
Conservative: 162 (15.8%, -1.8)
Green Party: 130 (12.7%, +11.2)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

We successfully defended a council seat in Leatherhead, ensuring an overwhelming victory for the Liberal Democrats. Well done to Lawrence Penney and the team for ensuring that this seat remains held by us.

Mole Valley DC, Bookham East & Eastwick Park
Liberal Democrat (Lawrence Penney): 1,056 (56.0%, -6.6)
Reform UK: 387 (20.5%, new)
Conservative: 386 (20.5%, -10.1)
Green Party: 56 (3.0%, -1.5)

Liberal Democrat HOLD

In Tewkesbury, Reform UK gained a seat from an independent. Well done to Guy Fancourt and the local team for ensuring that we came second place in this by-election.

Tewkesbury BC, Northway
Reform UK: 374 (41.4%, new)
Liberal Democrats (Guy Fancourt): 279 (30.9%, +7.0)
Conservative: 116 (12.8%, -11.6)
Green Party: 91 (10.1%, new)
Labour: 44 (4.9%, -15.8%)

Reform UK GAIN from Independent

On the Isle of Wight, the Island Independents secured an overwhelming victory. Thank you to Rachel Lambert and the local team for flying the Liberal Democrat flag.

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Freedom

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.

This is what can be found on the back of every Lib Dem membership card. The part I want to focus on in this piece is the point regarding a “fair, free and open society”. One person’s concept of freedom may differ from another’s. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss it.

Freedom is the right of an individual in this country to vote. Freedom is the right of an individual to own property. Freedom is the right of an individual, so long as they follow the law and do no harm to others, to live their life as they see fit.

Freedom is a regulated market that allows small businesses to prosper alongside multinational corporations. Freedom is empowering a community to take ownership of its energy provisions, its pubs, its community centres, and its future. Freedom is the ability to trade freely and easily with our neighbours, in Europe and the world.

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Public sector procurement

Both Peter Black and Lord Bonkers have referred to the problems of public procurement. It is a major problem and one that would have had our Victorian and Edwardian ancestors scratching their heads in bewilderment. Whenever they wanted to build say a railway, they would get an Act of Parliament passed authorising all the necessary work, the finance and land acquisition, appoint contractors and get on with it. This didn’t only apply to new undertakings. A recent TV documentary based round Leeds told us that a local building contractor was appointed to sort out the land and tracks round Leeds Station in the late 1800’s devastated by a fire in Dark Arches. The contractor gathered a huge workforce and had the railway back in business in 6 days. Can you imagine that ever happening today? Yet, when I was young, British Rail often got railways running again in a few days, even after serious crashes.

Just look at the mess surrounding major projects, like CalMac’s new ferries, HS2, Midland Mainline electrification and many more. Constant delays, huge price rises, cancellations. Why is this happening and why do both the UK and Scottish governments accept huge price rises often amounting to a doubling of the price?

Here a comparison with the private sector is apt. If someone wants a house/houses built or if a business wants new offices or a factory, professionals are employed to get the necessary permissions, raise the finance and employ a contractor to do the job. A price and timetable are agreed with the contractor and very often there are penalty clauses for not completing on time and to budget. If a contractor doesn’t do the sums right, then that’s their problem. They can’t, usually, go back and ask for more money. When I was in the USA in the early 70s, motorways had to be resurfaced overnight and there were huge penalties if they were not completed on time. Where is that sort of operation in the UK today?

Yet, somehow, with public contracts, this doesn’t apply. Contractors seem to have carte blanche to announce delays and demand more money, presumably on the basis that it’s only the state and their funds are bottomless. Why are contractors for public projects not held to the same rules as those working in the private sector?

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Christine Jardine’s response in full

Following on from yesterday’s report of her sacking as the Party’s Spokesperson for Women and Equalities, and Scotland, Christine Jardine has published what can only be described as a classy response…

Dear Ed,

It is with sadness I am responding to your decision to remove me as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities, and Scotland following the Welfare Bill votes.

I wanted to thank you for all the support you have given me over the past 8 years. Please know I wish my successors all the best, and I will do anything I can to aid them in their

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 9 Comments

Diary of a Returning Officer: Week 3 – why diary planning isn’t necessarily easy…

There was a simpler time, when a Returning Officer turned up, ran a contest between whoever had put their name forward, and the members who had bothered to turn up made the decision. The administration was more onerous, given that things had to be posted to people, and more expensive to Local Parties as a result, but it was at least simple. It wasn’t necessarily fair, or consistent, and more often than not the prize for winner was to come a distant third in the subsequent General Election, so there wasn’t much harm done.

Now, it can be technically more complex, even though technology means that you can send mailings for free in the blink of an eye, and hustings meetings are often held online. A Returning Officer can deal with everything from his own computer at home most of the time. But there are more “moving parts” to deal with.

If you’re not the most technology friendly soul, you need an e-ballot administrator, so that’s one person you have to co-ordinate your diary with. You’ve got a Shortlisting Committee to deal with, possibly made up of members of multiple Local Parties, all of whose Executive Committees not unreasonably want to be kept up to speed with progress.

And, of course, you need answers from authoritative sources, your Regional Candidates Chair and your Regional Campaigns Manager, for example. They’re busy people, and might be waiting for answers themselves.

So, for example, the new English Selection Rules state that any decision regarding positive action must be signed off by either the Party’s Head of Compliance or the Head of Party Services on behalf of the Chief Executive. How do I know that this has happened? I could assume that all is well, but we all know what happens if you assume…

Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 2 Comments
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