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The Autumn 2026 edition of the Journal of Liberal History published

By Nick Alderton | Mon 5th October 2026 - 2:49 pm

The Liberal Democrat History Group are pleased to announce that the latest issue of the Journal of Liberal History (issue 132, Autumn 2026) has just been published.

The Journal is published quarterly and can be purchased here or you can take out an annual subscription here.

The Journal was first published in 1993 as a newsletter. It has come a long way since then and is read by people from all walks of life and all over the world. As a peer-reviewed journal, the highest rigours of accuracy are maintained but we have made sure the content is as accessible as possible.

The latest issue is packed, across its 56 pages, with features, articles and reviews.

Liberal History News

The editor of the Journal, Duncan Brack, looks back at the life of Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, who died in January.

Lord Wallace was a Scottish Liberal/Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland from 1983 to 2001. He was the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 1992 to 2005 and as a member of the Scottish Parliament, he served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 1999 to 2005. He stepped into the role of acting First Minister twice.

Articles

Showcasing the work of historians, whether professional or amateur, is what the Journal does best. All the articles are peer-reviewed by leading historians, allowing for an accessible and interesting read.

In this issue, our authors have provided us with a broad set of articles:

Flattered to Deceive? John Curtice examines the performance of the Liberal Democrats in the May 2026 local and devolved elections.

Boundaries, Science and the redrawing of England’s Electoral Map in 1832 Martin Spychal describes the 1832 Boundary Act and the work of the 1831–32 Boundary Commission.

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Posted in Liberal History | Tagged emlyn hooson, jim wallace and journal of liberal history | Leave a comment

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Can we afford the Triple Lock? Not as a low tax party

By Joe Wright | Mon 5th October 2026 - 12:32 pm

A tale of two conference speeches: Ed Davey declared the Lib Dems to be the party of low taxes, and outlined £17bn of tax cuts to Income Tax and Fuel Duty, paid for by making a better deal with the EU, whilst Andy Burnham proposed a National Care Service – with an estimated cost of £18bn according to the Health Foundation. Burnham proposed funding this by adjusting the Triple Lock – although he didn’t explain it that well in the speech. The new approach will tackle the “ratchet” effect – where inflation is high one year, wages grow high in the second in response, so the pension grows rapidly twice in a row. The new system will keep it roughly in line with a third of average wages, making it more predictable and affordable. Importantly, it will never decline in real terms.

The triple lock was designed for those halcyon days of the 2010s – low inflation and modest wage growth, not the stagflation of the 2020s which in our hubris we assumed was condemned to the history books of the 1970s.

Now Burnham’s costings don’t actually add up – his proposal will start to save substantial sums over the long term – but will be a few billion short. That’s fine, it’s a conference speech not a Budget. All the major opposition parties came out the gate to oppose this – despite initial polling showing that this trade off is popular and fair.

Davey said that social care can’t wait for the next parliament – we need action now – which we all agree with. He also said it shouldn’t be funded by modifying the Triple Lock, which begs the question, can we afford the Triple Lock? The answer is yes for the next 10 or 15 years, but not as a low tax party.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged triple lock | 7 Comments

Labour’s new vape tax is disastrous policymaking

By Rees Southern | Mon 5th October 2026 - 10:16 am

On Thursday, Labour’s new vape tax came into effect. Vaping Products Duty charges £2.20 per 10ml of vape liquid. Because VAT is charged on top of the duty, the real cost at the till is £2.64. In practice, an average £3.00 bottle of 10ml liquid will now cost £5.64, an 88% price hike.

VPZ, the UK’s largest vape retailer, surveyed 2,640 of its customers ahead of the tax coming into force and found that 63% say it will be harder for them to stay off cigarettes and tobacco, 21% say they may return to smoking, and 34% say they will look for “cheaper alternatives”, which in practice is likely to mean illicit vapes, cigarettes or tobacco.

VPZ’s own prices show the scale of the change. Its standard 10ml liquid, which cost £4.49 before the tax, now costs £7.13, a 59% increase. Its standard 100ml liquid has risen from £16.99 to £43.39, a 155% increase.

E-Cigarette Direct, one of the UK’s largest online retailers of vapes also surveyed 2,068 of its customers and found that 28% said that they would not have switched from smoking to vaping if the tax already existed, with 1 in 6 saying they are now more likely to purchase illegal products with the tax in place.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged taxation policy and vaping | 9 Comments

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 4th October 2026 - 8:30 am

The Brazilian presidential elections could presage a major shift in Western Hemispheric politics.

At issue are the rabidly pro-Trump conservative policies of Flavio Bolsonaro v. the more independent-minded and left-leaning incumbent President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula).

Flavio is the 45-year-old son of former president Jair Bolsonaro who is serving a 27 year prison sentence for attempting to overthrow the government and conspiring to assassinate President Lula. At the top of the younger Bolsonaro’s manifesto is the promise of a pardon for his father.

He also wants to lower taxes; do away with at least ten government departments and build five huge maximum security prisons.

But most important of all is Bolsonaro’s foreign policy. He wants to reduce ties with China; pull Brazil out of BRICS and forge iron-clad links with the Trump Administration to create “the strongest conservative alliance in the history of the Western hemisphere.”

Lula’s attorney general is investigating claims that the Trump Administrating is helping to finance the Bolsonaro campaign. The White House and State Department have denied the claims.
First round of voting is on Sunday. There are 13 candidates but Flavio and Lula are the only two that count. The opinion polls give Lula the slight edge in round one with a projected 45 percent of the vote compared to 40 percent for Flavio Bolsonaro. It is highly unlikely that either of the front runners will run the overall majority required for a first round victory.

So, the presidential election will almost certainly go to a second round on 25 October and current polls predict a dead heat. This means even more claims of American election interference and, of course, more denials.

Canada’s Mark Carney continues to be President Trump’s third worse nightmare and biggest mistake. The first one is undoubtedly the Iran War and the second is probably tariffs in general.

This week the Canadian prime minister announced the projected construction of “Pacific Link” pipeline to carry roughly 20 percent of Canada’s oil from Alberta to the Pacific coast for shipment to Asia.

The pipeline will be a key element in Carney’s plans to reduce Canada’s dependence on its southern neighbour. Reducing dependence, however, is not good news for America.
Canada is not generally known to be an oil giant. But the fact is that it is the world’s third largest producer and has proven oil reserves of 171 million barrels. Eighty-three percent of them are in Alberta.

At the moment 90 percent of Canada’s oil exports are piped across the border to refineries in the Midwest and along the Gulf coast—Trump country. Canadian oil represents 63.4 percent of America’s oil imports.

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Posted in News | Tagged tom arms world review | 1 Comment

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Observations of an ex pat: Stormy Red Sea

By Tom Arms | Sat 3rd October 2026 - 9:33 am

Oh, for the days of the British Empire. A protectorate in Egypt and Sudan. British troops at both ends of the Red Sea — Egypt and Suez in the west, Aden and Somaliland in the east. Trade flowed relatively freely between Europe and Asia.

Today’s picture is less simple.

The immediate problem is the conflict between the Iranian-backed Houthis on one side and the internationally recognised Yemeni government and its Saudi allies on the other.

But it is far more complicated than that. The Iran War has increased the importance of the Red Sea as an alternative outlet for Gulf oil, with the Saudis piping their product to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, from where it can be shipped north towards Suez and south through the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait towards the Indian Ocean and Asia.

But the Saudis and the Houthis are not the only players in the Red Sea drama.
Bang opposite Bab el-Mandeb is the tiny former French colony of Djibouti, which hosts military facilities used by France, the United States, China, Japan and Italy. The two most significant are the American and Chinese installations.

The Americans have about 4,000 personnel at Camp Lemonnier, which covers nearly 600 acres. The Chinese have 1,000 personnel squeezed into 90 acres, although the facility is reported to include some 23,000 square metres of underground space. The Chinese base also has a substantial naval pier and is particularly well positioned for operations in the Gulf of Aden. It is China’s first overseas military support base.

To complicate matters further, more countries are sticking their oars into the turbulent waters of the Red Sea.

Israel has established diplomatic relations with Somaliland, while the United Arab Emirates has developed extensive commercial and security links with Somaliland and has invested heavily in the port of Berbera. The UAE previously maintained military facilities in the region as part of its operations in Yemen.

Britain does not maintain a major permanent military base in Djibouti, but British forces operate alongside American and other Western forces in the region. Turkey and Qatar have also developed growing political, economic and security interests around the Red Sea and Horn of Africa.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged observations of an ex pat | 1 Comment

By-Election Report 01.10.26

By Joe Nutt | Fri 2nd October 2026 - 6:05 pm

Six principal authority by-elections took place across Scotland and England on Thursday 1st October.

Reform UK were defending two seats in Northumberland (Amble and Hirst), the Conservatives were defending two seats (in Stirling and North West Leicestershire), Labour defended one seat in Blackpool, and an Independent seat was contested in Highland.

The headline story of the week was a sensational Scottish Liberal Democrat gain in Highland Council, where Julie Calder stormed to victory with over 50% of first-preference votes in the SNP Council Leader’s own ward. Across the border in England, a decisive dynamic unfolded as the newly formed Restore party split the right-wing vote in both Blackpool and Amble. Had Restore’s votes gone to Reform UK, Reform would have won both seats; instead, the split allowed Labour to hold Blackpool and gain Amble. Labour also reclaimed Hirst from Reform UK, while the Conservatives held off challenges in Stirling and North West Leicestershire.

Scotland

Highland Council, Wick and East Caithness

In the Scottish Highlands, the Liberal Democrats delivered a staggering by-election victory in the Wick and East Caithness ward of Highland Council following the resignation of an Independent councillor.

Wick and East Caithness is a multi-member ward governed under the STV system, where the SNP Leader of the Council also holds a seat. In 2022, the Liberal Democrats topped the first-preference vote with the SNP leader finishing second – both getting elected in the first round, before an Independent and Conservative filled the remaining seats in the fifth round.

In last night’s contest, Julie Calder secured an astonishing 50.4% of first-preference votes – an increase of 21.6 percentage points – to win the seat outright on the very first stage of counting! Reaching an absolute majority of first preferences in the council leader’s own ward is a phenomenal achievement and reflects the immense trust residents place in our Highland Liberal Democrat team.

A massive congratulations to Cllr Julie Calder and the local campaign team in Caithness on an iconic victory!

Lib Dem (Julie Calder): 1,522 (50.4%, +21.6%)

Independent: 714 (23.6%, new)

SNP: 424 (14.0%, -11.3%)

Reform UK: 283 (9.4%, new)

Conservative: 79 (2.6%, -12.5%)

Turnout: 30.0%

First-preference votes. Elected at Stage 1.

Liberal Democrat GAIN from Independent

Stirling Council, Forth and Endrick

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged local government by-elecitons | 1 Comment

Picking our allies, a perspective on Israel/Palestine

By Gillian Mosely | Fri 2nd October 2026 - 2:13 pm

There’s been a lot of noise recently about applying international law. What exactly does this mean? Statutes on human rights were formalised as international law following the atrocities committed during the Holocaust in which at least twelve million were killed, six million of them Jews.

But over the years these laws have seemingly been applied indiscriminately with Western powers left off the hook time and again. Questions around British and American actions in places like Iraq linger, but in recent years the heat has been turned up. Israel, traditional ally to many Western powers, has been the subject of case after case brought to the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice. Judgements to date include a decision that Israeli occupation of the West Bank is illegal under international law, and Israel has been warned that accusations of genocide in Gaza are plausible and the ICC is adjudicating this case.

As Israel’s allies defend the actions of the Israeli government, international law is again being scrutinised. What’s it for? I’d have hoped that would be obvious – it’s designed to prevent world atrocities and to adjudicate a world in which we can all thrive, but this only works if everybody and every country are held to the same standards and here lies the problem. Rather than admit wrongdoing, countries like the US and Israel are doing their best to undermine the validity of international law by decrying the international courts. Shocking when you consider that the US led in creating statutes on human rights because of what had happened to victims of the Nazi regime, many of whom migrated to Palestine then Israel.

So as a Jew, descended from 1200+ years of famous Rabbis and Jewish community leaders, including a number of Britain’s earliest chief rabbis, I was particularly driven to find out how we have arrived at this juncture. Pew Research did a poll in Spring 2024 which revealed that 73% of Jewish Israelis felt Israel’s response to October 7th was proportionate or not strong enough. By then tens of thousands of Gazan civilians had died. As a Jew and a filmmaker I wanted to find out where this popular opinion had come from. I went to Israel to film with the hypothesis that the results of this poll were a combination of unresolved Jewish trauma, and current-day Israeli politics. What I found gave me sleepless nights.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged international law, israel and palestine | 10 Comments

Burnham is right to reform the triple lock; the Lib Dems should support it

By James Hill | Fri 2nd October 2026 - 11:45 am

In his conference speech this week, Andy Burnham made a brave political decision to reform the triple lock on the state pension. The reformed triple lock will increase the state pension by either inflation or 2.5% every year. If there is sustained growth in average wages over several years – enough to outpace the inflation and 2.5% locks – then the pension will rise to match that wage growth.

This ensures that every year the state pension will be protected, or increase, in real terms, and it retains its value relative to wages. This is a sensible reform; similar proposals have been put forward by the resolution foundation, and our own peer Tim Leunig, and there is widespread agreement from economists that the unreformed triple lock is financially unsustainable. Under the current triple lock, the state pension can grow faster than both wages and inflation, due to a ratcheting effect where correlated higher inflation and larger wage increases lag each other and lead to compounded state pension increases. And remember, every time the state pension bill increases, this money must come be found from increased taxes, spending cuts or (currently dismal) growth. The triple lock reform removes this ratchet by tracking average wage growth over many years, instead of an annual wage growth lock, saving an estimated £15 billion/year by 2039/40 (though this is hard to predict). This is a large sum of money in the medium and long term and will significantly ease the huge spending pressure the country is facing.

So it was disappointing to see an immediate condemnation of this policy from the party leadership – seemingly without considering the details or merits of what has been proposed. They seem to have jumped into opposition because of a (misguided) belief that the most politically popular option is to oppose any change to the triple lock, now and forever more. The polling around this announcement shows how wrong this assessment is (Lib Dem voters are the most supportive of the reform)!

Our deputy leader Daisy did an interview with Sky News setting out the party’s 3 main problems with the plan, 24 hours after the PM’s speech:

1) The reform doesn’t raise any money in the short term for urgent social care needs

2) It seems like cross party talks have been torpedoed

3) Triple lock “hasn’t done its job yet” in tackling pensioner poverty

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged andy burnham, pensions and triple lock | 8 Comments

Why I won’t Wayve goodbye to Black Cabs

By Christian de Vartavan | Fri 2nd October 2026 - 9:59 am

Since September 3, Uber and Wayve have been operating a small number of self-driving cars in London. Passengers can travel in electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es equipped with Wayve’s AI driving system. For now, these are supervised autonomous journeys: a trained, TfL-licensed private-hire driver remains in the vehicle to monitor the system and intervene if necessary — which, incidentally, seems to defeat the point of a driverless vehicle. The initial service operates across the capital, excluding airports, and is being expanded gradually.

The UK government forecasts a self-driving market worth up to £42 billion, creating up to 38,000 jobs by 2035. These are UK-wide projections, not a guarantee that London will gain equivalent employment. The more immediate risk is that the distinctive, human-driven black-cab trade will be squeezed, accelerating a decline that has already seen the number of licensed taxi drivers fall from more than 25,000 in the mid-2010s to around 16,000 in 2025/26.

All of this rests on a professional qualification that is unusually demanding by international standards. To become a licensed London taxi driver, candidates must pass the Knowledge of London: an in-depth study of around 320 set routes, roughly 25,000 streets and thousands of examinable points of interest within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross. Although the current examinable list is seemingly closer to 6,000 points than the traditional figure of 20,000 often quoted, the process nevertheless takes around three years on average and involves notoriously rigorous oral examinations.

In addition, drivers must meet strict character, medical and driving standards, undergo enhanced DBS checks, complete safeguarding training and pass the Safety, Equality and Regulatory Understanding (SERU) assessment. They must also take a taxi-specific driving test. This is not a job one can enter after a short course; it is a profession built on mastery of the city.

That mastery matters. In many countries, taking a taxi can be not only unpleasant but genuinely risky. I have personal memories of this, most recently in Kazakhstan in the middle of the night: an aggressive driver and the distinct feeling that my safety hung by a thread. London’s black cabs are different. They are licensed, insured and wheelchair-accessible, and driven by people who have demonstrated over years that they know the city and are accountable for the service they provide.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged black cabs, london and taxis | 21 Comments

Keep the earnings link: don’t repeat the mistakes of the 80s

By Chris Perry | Thu 1st October 2026 - 3:56 pm

The triple lock was introduced in 2010 by David Cameron’s Coalition Government when Steve Webb (Lib Dem) was Minister of Pensions, to restore the erosion which had taken place since the earnings link was replaced with a prices’ link in the 1980s. To replace the triple lock with a prices’ link or 2.5%, as was proposed today, will reverse the progress of the last sixteen years. Clearly it has been proposed to save money, as it was in the 1980s, which means a reducing state pension at the very time Government should have been looking to increase it to reduce demand upon the NHS and social care. It is not just about paying for social care.

Prices are about the cost of living. Earnings are about the standard of living and quality of life. As the economy grows so too do the expectations and necessities of life. For example in the 1950s very few people had a fridge: it would be difficult to live without one today. In the ten years before the introduction of the triple lock in 2010 earnings went up by 41.7%, pensions linked to RPI by 32.4% and those linked to CPI (as now proposed) by 26.6%.

There is a wealth of empirical evidence into the social determinants of health which has demonstrated the correlation between low income and health. Widening income inequality and increasing poverty are the root cause of so many of the problems the Prime Minister was addressing in his speech to the Labour Party Conference.

In 1980 the average house was 3.5 times average earnings and the average pay of a chief executive of a top hundred company 18 times average earnings. In 2026 the average house is 8.5 times average earnings and the average pay of a chief executive of a top hundred company 186 times average earnings. Unless Government addresses the widening income inequality and increasing poverty in our society the NHS will not keep pace with demand and will always be playing catch up. Governments cannot go on throwing more money at the first aid camp at the bottom of the cliff without building a fence at the top. Treating the symptoms not the cause.

Britain has one of the lowest State Pensions in the developed world with 2.4m older people living in poverty. Older people got no benefit from the two pre-2024 General Election cuts in National Insurance, previously lost their free television licence and some their winter fuel allowance and have to pay more income tax due to the freezing of the tax-free allowance. And are now to see a year-on-year erosion of their pension.

Older people account for approximately 70% of the expenditure of the NHS. To raise the State Pension to lift all older people out of poverty would improve their quality of life, reduce demand upon the NHS (saving huge amounts of money) and mean that if they did need long term care in a care home applying the same financial assessment which has been in place since the 1948 National Assistance Act they would be able to contribute more reducing the cost to local authorities and mean that their capital and house would no longer need to be taken into account.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged pensions, social care and triple lock | 27 Comments

Where have we heard this one before? Labour and electoral reform

By Jack Meredith | Thu 1st October 2026 - 1:46 pm

A Labour Prime Minister has announced a commission on electoral reform. Where have we heard this one before?

For those who remember, or, like me, are interested in political history, you would know that Andy Burnham isn’t the first Labour leader to announce the creation of a commission on electoral reform; that accolade belongs to Tony Blair.

Time for a quick crash course: as part of their 1997 election manifesto, New Labour committed to holding a referendum on an alternative voting system to First Past the Post. After entering office, Blair asked Lord Jenkins to head a commission on electoral reform, later called the Jenkins Commission.

The commission’s result was the “AV+” voting system: 80% of MPs would be elected in single-member constituencies via a run-off system, with the remaining 20% elected via a “top-up” system using regional lists. While it wasn’t supported unanimously by the Commission, with Lord Alexander of Weedon opposed to maintaining single-member constituencies, it was the final product of the Commission. It presented a viable alternative to First Past the Post.

So, with the Commission’s work complete, Blair’s response was… to ignore it. Instead of following through on his party’s manifesto pledge, Blair kicked the can down the road. He faced pressure from trade unions not to change the voting system, along with a cabinet split on whether to honour the pledge. Lord Jenkins even went on record saying he doubted Tony Blair would ever support electoral reform, adding that political parties “rarely had the courage” to make changes that would damage their electoral prospects when they had the power to do so.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged electoral reform and proportional representation | 13 Comments

Opportunity at the heart of our vision in local government

By Callum Robertson | Thu 1st October 2026 - 9:22 am

For too many young people, the transition from education into employment is becoming harder. Employers face rising costs and are understandably cautious about taking on additional staff. Young people without extensive experience then find themselves trapped in the familiar catch-22: they need experience to get a job, but they need someone to give them a job to gain that experience.

In Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere, the Liberal Democrats are trying to do something different to solve this problem whilst simultaneously supporting local economic growth.

That is why we are calling on the Government to establish a pilot “Special Economic Zone” for young people and the creative industries across Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere.

The idea is relatively straightforward. Creative-sector businesses taking on a new apprentice would be exempt from employer National Insurance contributions for that employee.

It would give businesses a direct financial incentive to create genuinely new opportunities for young people, while supporting a sector with enormous potential for our local economy.

Fundamentally, this proposal is about giving young people a chance by removing the financial disincentives that Labour have put in place through successive employment reforms.

When we talk about young people who are not in education, employment or training, it is very easy for discussions to become dominated by statistics and acronyms such as “NEET”. Behind those statistics, however, are real people who want the opportunity to build their independence, develop their skills and start their careers.

Yet because entry level jobs in every sector are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, young people remain locked out of many sectors. The evidence on this is clear, the longer somebody remains outside employment, the harder that first step can become.

At the same time, we need to recognise the pressures facing employers. A small or growing business might want to give an 18 or 19-year-old their first opportunity but ultimately decide that the costs and risks involved are simply too high.

Our proposal would change that calculation.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged apprenticeships and young people | 3 Comments

Vince Cable writes: Drill, baby, drill…or not

By Vince Cable | Wed 30th September 2026 - 11:28 am

Now that the Prime Minister is back from his trip to see Donald Trump and has enjoyed the emotional warm bath of his party conference, he rejoins the world of hard choices. The budget looms. A more immediate question is to decide on whether to proceed with drilling for gas and oil in the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields in the North Sea.

The politics are awful. Environmentalists regard the issue as central to the government’s credibility on climate change. The Labour v Green battle in Camden provides context. On the other hand, rejection of the developments will send a negative signal to those, including bond traders, who are looking for signs of commitment to economic growth and those who worry about energy security. Both sets of voices have been loudly heard at Labour conference not least from the new Scottish Labour leader, Michael Marra, who wants to press ahead with both developments. For her part, Kemi Badenoch has made this a signature issue for the Tories and will be shouting ‘Drill baby drill’ next week. President Trump will undoubtedly provide his own, loud backing for fossil fuel exploitation: if he can tear himself away from his plans to construct a giant ballroom and a triumphal age honouring his rule

In fact, the serious arguments are complex and allow for a nuanced approach. I took to the airwaves last week to defend Ed Davey’s decision to back the Jackdaw field on its own separate merits. Jackdaw is a Shell development (spoiler alert: I used to work for them 30 years ago). The gas field, east of Aberdeen, is already underway but was paused by a Greenpeace injunction seeking a climate change assessment. The field should provide around 5% of gas demand in the UK and that gas would be otherwise imported. Gas will remain a transitional fuel while renewables are developed and there are good reasons for producing it in Britain rather than importing it (Norway is the major and uncontroversial source; the USA and Qatar more subject to political intrusion). Ed was right on this issue and his experience as Energy Secretary gives credibility to his assessment. (I confess that I had more difficulty defending the proposed subsidy on motor fuel).

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged climate change, ed davey, environment, featured, jackdaw, north sea oil and rosebank | 1 Comment

123 days in power: putting our new strategy for urban Britain into practice

By Victor Chamberlain | Wed 30th September 2026 - 9:28 am

Last week at Liberal Democrat Conference, I was delighted to pass an amendment to our party strategy making clear that, if we are serious about growing our party, we must become more relevant to people living in urban areas, diverse communities and younger generations.

Our recent electoral successes give us an extraordinary platform. But we cannot be satisfied with consolidating our support only where we are already strong. We should be ambitious about winning and governing in cities and diverse communities across Britain too.

For Southwark Liberal Democrats, this is not just a discussion about party strategy. We are already putting it into practice.

Following May’s elections, Liberal Democrats entered a Joint Administration with the Southwark Green Party, ending 16 years of majority Labour rule.

This week we marked 123 days in office. We are demonstrating what Liberal Democrats can achieve in one of the most diverse and densely populated urban boroughs in Britain.

We have announced the return of Community Councils, putting neighbourhood democracy and devolved decision-making back at the heart of the council. We have reintroduced One Stop Shops, announced community skips, invested more in community safety and created a free school uniform bank for families who need it most.

We have launched an empty homes task force to get council homes back into use, secured a better deal from developers of student accommodation to fund local community projects and defended our affordable housing requirements.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberal democrat councillors, liberal democrat councils, Local government, london and southwark | 7 Comments

Andy Burnham’s speech was good: Here’s how Lib Dems can make the implementation better

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 30th September 2026 - 8:05 am

Chris Bowers talked about the lack of a “Yesss” moment at our Conference yesterday.

Well, like buses, if you wait long enough, several come along at once – the problem is that they were in the speech of the leader of another party.

Andy Burnham’s speech yesterday was quite simply one of the best I have ever heard from a UK politician. It had heart and soul and ideas and emotion and mission. I had goosebumps and it’s a long time since a speech has done that to me. I’d have to go back to Obama for that.

A speech that targeted the good emotions, ignited the things that bind us together. You have to give it credit.

I will never, ever join the Labour Party a) because I am a liberal to my core and b) because they, whatever good they do are so authoritarian and centralising and one size fits all that they need a liberal party to stop them when they go too far.

But the job of a liberal party is to help rebuild a culture of togetherness to combat the horrific targeting of marginalised communities we have seen from Reform and its evil twin Restore, the Conservatives and, yes, from the Labour Party when it’s tried to ape Reform in a cowardly quest to get its vote back.

We should broadly welcome Andy Burnham’s clear enthusiasm to get moving on closer relations with Europe, social care, electoral reform, getting utilities into more public ownership. So what has our reaction been:

“Andy Burnham spent years telling the country what he would do if he were in power. Now that he is sitting in Number 10, what we got was a lot of ‘Definitely Maybe’ and a total absence of action today.

“Families struggling with a broken social care system cannot wait until after another election and it can’t be funded from the pockets of our poorest pensioners. Communities blighted by sewage cannot wait yet another decade to finally stop profit trumping morals in our water industry.

“This Prime Minister had a historic opportunity to start to fix our broken voting system and rebuild our relationship with Europe, but everything remains a maybe.

“This looks too much like Starmerism with a veneer of panache.”

It’s all a bit po-faced.

Surely we should be saying that there are things we can work with him on?

Now, it’s not surprising that we are rushing to defend the Pension Triple Lock that was our idea. Over the past decade and a bit it’s worked to restore poorer pensioner’s incomes. And pensioners on fixed incomes have a lot to lose as, for example, energy bills get higher leading to wider inflation.

I get that it’s an important thing for us, but I do think we need to look at whether there is some wriggle room here. Has it done its job? Do we need to look at what Burnham is proposing in more detail and look at what it does to affect older people’s lives in a holistic way?

The right are going to go after Burnham on this big time. Do we really need to be part of that chorus? Using some savings from the triple lock while protecting poorer pensioners does seem like an idea that we should not immediately dismiss. We could perhaps be more nuanced in our comments.

Yet I suspect we will be contributing to the noise with petitions and campaigns and votes against. Let’s be a bit more constructive. Let’s listen to young people as well who feel as though their generation is being forgotten.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged andy burnham, featured and party strategy | 33 Comments

Britain should be proud, but never afraid of the stranger

By Anton Georgiou | Tue 29th September 2026 - 11:55 am

Photo credit: John Russell

More than 50 years ago, my grandparents, mother and aunts came to Britain as refugees from Cyprus. They arrived in London with just £20.

My grandfather took whatever job he could find. My grandmother spent long days in front of a sewing machine. They worked, saved, bought a home and raised their daughters.

Britain gave my family something they could not take for granted: the chance to be safe and build a future.

That history is personal to me. It also shapes how I think about the debate around refugees and asylum today.

The asylum system needs to be faster and more effective. Claims should be processed more quickly. Decisions cannot be allowed to drift for years. Public money should not be wasted through delay. Criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people must face the full force of the law. Where someone has no right to remain, the state must be capable of enforcing its decisions.

A functioning asylum system should be able to do these things. Saying so isn’t hostility towards refugees.

The latest Home Office figures show that 85,891 people claimed asylum in the year to June 2026. At the end of June, more than 40,000 people were still waiting for an initial decision on their application. Those figures show the scale of the challenge. But they tell us very little about the people behind them.

It’s easy, in political debate, for a family to become a “case” and a person arriving here to become a statistic. We should resist a politics that turns administrative failure into an excuse to blame people who had little control over the circumstances that forced them to flee their homeland.

There are legitimate questions about immigration that liberals should be willing to answer.

The state has a responsibility to control its borders, and not every asylum claim can succeed. A liberal society should be able to enforce its rules without abandoning the principle that the people subject to them still deserve dignity.

For me, that is what liberalism should mean in practice.

Individual freedom and human rights are easy to defend when everyone agrees with you. The harder test is what you do when the politics becomes divisive and uncomfortable.

This is why Liberal Democrats should be willing to lead this debate. We shouldn’t leave questions of borders, asylum and migration to the far right. If people are worried that the state has lost control, liberals should be willing to address that concern. We shouldn’t retreat from the conversation, but neither should we abandon our values.

Communities are understandably frustrated when basic systems aren’t working. But directing that frustration at refugees does not fix these failures.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged asylum, featured, immigration and refugees | 11 Comments

Where is that ‘Yesss’ moment going to come from?

By Chris Bowers | Tue 29th September 2026 - 8:22 am

The past week has been marked by plenty of people asking what I made of Conference. My general answer has been that it was OK, but we still need to feel from our most prominent representatives that Liberalism is inspiring.

I don’t want to hark back to a golden era that may never have existed, but a feature of the Paddy Ashdown years – and to a large extent the Steel and Kennedy leaderships – was that, whatever our electoral fortunes happened to be, you tended to leave conference feeling “Yesss, I will go out and deliver some more leaflets!” That moment of inspiration was still missing in Brighton.

Let’s avoid the rabbit hole of whether we need a different leader. We might, but that might not solve the problem, because (a) a new leader may not be better, (b) there isn’t an obvious one, certainly from the 2024 intake of MPs for whom it’s probably too soon, and (c) the problem may not be the leader but the party. But I’m convinced the problem is not Liberalism – it’s the way we present it.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged messaging and political strategy | 16 Comments

Mathew on Monday

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 28th September 2026 - 8:02 pm

Brighton was wonderful but I’m still left asking: what are the Liberal Democrats for?

There is much I love about Lib Dem Conference.

Brighton last week reminded me why. Seeing friends and colleagues from across the country, some of whom I only ever see at Conference, was wonderful. There were fascinating fringe meetings, including the one on Assisted Dying that I was honoured to chair on behalf of Dignity in Dying, passionate debates and the reassuring experience of spending a few days among people who, whatever part of the party they’re from, share a belief in liberalism, internationalism and social justice.

But I returned home with the same nagging question I took to Brighton: what, exactly, is our party trying to become? To be fair, the party knows it has a problem. The new party strategy talks about the need for a clearer national Liberal identity and a distinctive message. Conference itself was full of conversations about what-and who-we are for.

Yet I’m not convinced our gathering in Brighton provided the answer. Are we becoming a sort of One Nation Conservative Party, offering a home go moderate former Tories who are repelled by the direction of their old party?

Are we returning (as I’d certainly prefer) to our radical, centre-left traditions, talking about inequality, redistribution, public services, Europe and constitutional reform? Or are we, as I suspect, still rather vulnerable to that oldest accusations against Liberals: that we face both ways?

Ed Davey’s announcement of £17 billion of income tax cuts, funded through the growth the party believes would follow from rejoining the Single Market and a customs union, illustrated the dilemma perfectly. There was plenty there I welcomed – particularly the much stronger argument for rebuilding Britain’s broken relationship with Europe but what bigger story are we telling about the society we want to create?

And there is another question our party must answer: what are we saying to urban, Labour-facing England? Our spectacular advances against the Conservatives transformed the party’s parliamentary strength and should be celebrated.

But Liberalism cannot become something practised only or mainly in prosperous southern constituencies where the Tories are the principal opponent.

What is our offer to Leicester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham and Newcastle, to name but a few? What do we have to say to people in communities where inequality, struggling public services, poor transport connections and insecure work shape everyday life (which, of course, includes pockets in the South too)?

Our own strategy now talks explicitly about expanding in the North, Midlands and urban Britain. Good. But organisational strategy, important though it surely is, isn’t enough. We need a story to tell, too.

For me, that begins with confident Liberalism: internationalist, socially just, decentralising, environmentally ambitious, unapologetically pro European and determined to redistribute, power, wealth and opportunity.

Brighton reminded me just how much I love this party and its people.

Sadly it didn’t exactly answer my question about where we’re going next.

Christine Jardine deserved better

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2026 autumn conference, christine jardine and mathew on monday | 8 Comments

You can’t elect a Community Champion without a community

By Elin Kingston | Mon 28th September 2026 - 3:27 pm

As Liberal Democrats, we pride ourselves as being “local champions”.

It’s on every Focus leaflet, in every direct mail. Our spatulas, fitbits and our friends and family who are oft abandoned in favour of doorknocking on a Saturday morning can attest to the fact that we are community people who believe in community politics.

But how can you be a champion of a community that doesn’t exist?

This is the question that has been running around my head after speaking to hundreds of residents in my ward of Waterloo and South Bank, the most central ward in London, in the lead up to May’s elections.

I remember meeting seven people on the same estate who had the same long-standing disrepair issue. But they’d never met each other. Young professionals living in the area for under a year and unable to name the street parallel to theirs before they’re priced out. Families living in social housing longing to move out because the nursery their kids go to was closing.

And those were just the people you could meet – there’s a whole hidden electorate behind intercoms and concierges, inaccessible to the humble community champion. Inhabiting space without any concept of where they are, who they live with, or what the problems may be.

I missed out on being elected in Waterloo and South Bank by 86 votes.

Josh Mitte and Patrick Stillman have both already written on LDV about why campaigns like mine came up short across London. Much of what they say is absolutely spot on, and if we are to win in new places we must have another layer of messaging on top of being a “community champion”. (The Greens won votes in my ward with a paper candidate because their message didn’t rely on locality. “Hope” is a pretty universal concept.)

But though it is no longer sufficient, it is absolutely still essential that we Lib Dems continue to be community champions.

As Tim Farron said in our 2024 General Election Review:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged community politics | 4 Comments

Words matter, use them carefully!

By Leon Duveen | Mon 28th September 2026 - 1:23 pm

There are any number of slogans linked to the Palestine / Israel conflict that mean different things to different people. Accordingly we must be incredibly careful in how we speak. Our words can have a different meaning for those who hear them from the meaning we intended to convey.

Some well known examples spring to mind.

Those who shout “Free Palestine” at demonstrations, marches or concert stages may well mean a free Palestine alongside a secure Israel. However, to many Jewish Israelis and British Jews these words are heard as a call for an attack on all Jewish residents between the Mediterranean and the Jordan and their expulsion from there to any country that might take them in.

Another phrase “Am Israel Chai” (עם ישראל חי – The People of Israel Live) can sound like a war cry against the Palestinian people. But when it is shouted by a Palestinian Israeli playing for the Israeli national football team, it takes on a quite different implication.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged gaza, israel, middle east and palestine | 3 Comments

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 27th September 2026 - 10:50 am

Canada and Europe

Liberal Democrats around the world cheered when Mark Carney and Ursula Von der Leyen announced that Canada would become an associate member of the European Union.

It was the first substantive circle in Carney’s Venn Diagram diplomacy.

And it made sense. Canada is a liberal democracy governed by the rule of law, international norms and respect for human rights and individual liberties. The EU is the same. The problem is that Europe is in danger of changing dramatically.

The populist right is on the rise across Europe and it is especially dangerous on Europe’s two key states—nuclear power France and economic engine Germany.

This week in elections in the German Lander of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) trounced the CDU—the senior partner in Germany’s ruling coalition. The AfD also did well in elections in Berlin and the latest opinion polls show it to be the most popular party with 27 percent of the vote.

The AfD leadership has links with Neo-Nazis. It wants to end German support for Ukraine and improve relations with Russia. They argue that climate change is a hoax; are Euro-sceptics; believe that Germany’s Nazi past should be re-examined in a positive light; want to expel hundreds of thousands of immigrants and question the value of NATO and the rule of law that political leaders like Mark Carney are trying desperately to preserve.

Across the border in France far-right perennial presidential candidate Marine Le Pen mirrors many of the AfD’s policies with a French twist. Ms Le Pen is projected to win 34 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections next April. This is far ahead of any of the other candidates and makes her the favourite to be the next occupant of the Elysee Palace.

The success of the populist right is mirrored in Italy where Giorgia Meloni governs with the Brothers of Italy. In Austria the Freedom Party is at 37 percent in the opinion polls. Vox in Spain is holding steady at 17-19 percent share of the projected vote; Geert Wilders PVV remains a force in the Netherlands and Sweden’s Sweden Democrats stand at 19 percent in the latest opinion polls. Britain’s Reform Party has dropped from the lead position after allegations of illegal funding, but it still commands the support of 23 percent of the projected vote and is level with the conservatives who have been forced to move further right in response to the threat from Reform.

There is no single right-wing party platforms that transcends European borders. But there are strong similarities. Across Europe, populist parties of both left and right are challenging the established political consensus, particularly over immigration, national sovereignty and the powers of Brussels. On the right, a significant faction is also questioning Europe’s support for Ukraine and its confrontation with Russia—but the populist right is itself deeply divided over NATO, Russia and the future of the Atlantic alliance.

All of which threatens the cohesion of the European project with which Mark Carney wants to link. The problem is that the European project is the dream of a political elite. For years the public went along with the dream because it was producing prosperity. Now growth in the EU is stuck at 1.2 percent and unemployment in France is 8.3 percent and in the double figures for young people.

Carney wants Canada closer to Europe. The irony is that Europe itself may be moving away from the liberal consensus that made the relationship so attractive.

Greenland

Denmark wins. Greenland wins. NATO wins. Trump thinks—and says—he wins.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged canada, donald trump, european union, greenland and oil | 3 Comments

Lib Dem Women: Amplifying women’s voices at Conference

By Donna Harris | Sun 27th September 2026 - 8:55 am

I’ve just about emerged from the mayhem of Brighton — and I’m most definitely ready for a break!

But now I’ve had a chance to catch my breath, it has really struck me just how much Lib Dem Women, the official organisation representing women in the Lib Dems, achieved over the course of conference.

From motions and amendments to our childcare campaign, new bursaries, fringes, campaigning and celebrating the achievements of women in our party, the voice and representation of women was truly amplified throughout conference.

And I’m incredibly proud of what our LDW team achieved.

Standing up for mothers and babies

We started the weekend with our amendment to F4: Mortality of Children in Temporary Accommodation, highlighting the particular impact of poor and temporary housing on mothers and babies and the importance of ensuring families receive the care and support they need.

LDW Executive member Cllr Hina Bokhari spoke powerfully on the issue, helping to ensure that the experiences of women and children were firmly part of the debate.

Launching our campaign for childcare at conference

Saturday afternoon gave us our first opportunity to hear reactions to our new LDW Campaign for Childcare at Conference.

LDW has pledged £1,000 to get the initiative started, and we asked members to sign our petition so that we can take it to those with the power to make the scheme happen.

It was a huge pleasure to have Jo Swinson kick off the petition by backing the scheme.

We’re determined that parents and carers should not be prevented from participating fully in our party because they have childcare responsibilities.

Investing in women’s progression

We also announced a new LDW bursary and support programme at conference, designed to help women participate, develop and progress at all levels of our party.

The scheme includes:

Conference Fund: £500 each for two women

Online Conference Tickets: up to 10 tickets each conference

Conference Childcare Fund: £1,000

Future MPs’ Weekend: £500 each for two women

ALDC Kickstart: £320 each for two women

For me, this is a really important part of what LDW wants to achieve.

It is not enough simply to say we want more women involved. We need to help remove some of the financial and practical barriers that can prevent women from participating and progressing.

Whether that means being able to attend conference, develop campaigning and leadership skills, explore standing for Parliament or take the next step in their political journey, we want to invest in women and give them the opportunity to progress.

We don’t want our money sitting in the bank. We want to use it to support women.

Celebrating the women who built liberalism

Saturday afternoon also saw our long-awaited joint fringe with the History Group: Women for Liberty: Women Who Built Liberalism.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged ben maguire, donna harris, featured, hina bokhari, Jo Swinson, josh babarinde, lib dem women, marie goldman, ruth dombey and victoria collins | 1 Comment

Christine Jardine to stand down as MP at next election

By The Voice | Sat 26th September 2026 - 7:22 pm

Many of our readers will be very sad to see that Christine Jardine MP will not fight the next election.

In a statement tongiht she said:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged christine jardine and featured | 32 Comments

Observations of an Expat: When Donald met Xi

By Tom Arms | Sat 26th September 2026 - 9:44 am

Donald Trump met Xi Jinping this week. Little of substance was agreed. But the meeting itself was of considerable substance.

The symbols of protocol send powerful messages. Where people meet. The colour of the carpet. The body language and the strength of the hand clasp and the sincerity of the smile can set a diplomatic agenda for years to come.

The Xi-Trump Summit was all about diplomatic signals. Trump’s messages were clear from the red carpet to the flyover to the state banquet, he was telling Xi: We respect you. We need you.

Xi, on the other hand, arrived knowing that several cards that Trump wanted were in his hand.

The fact is that Trump’s tariffs backfired. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that since early 2025, Chinese imports from the US—especially the politically important agricultural products—have fallen by 15 percent. But the amount it has imported has remained relatively stable as China replaced American imports from elsewhere.

Trump went into this week’s summit wanting China to buy more from America. Xi arrived having demonstrated that China could buy less from America without any bad consequences.

And the tale from the other side of the trade coin—exports—is even more lopsided. According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) the loss of the US market created by tariffs was more than offset by trade with other countries. Tariffs caused Chinese exports to the US to drop by $105 billion. Chinese exports to other parts of the world increased in 2025 to $301 billion.

Nor does the fall in direct Chinese exports necessarily mean that fewer Chinese-made products reached American consumers. Some Chinese manufacturers have responded by shifting production and intermediate-input trade to Vietnam, Mexico and other countries, allowing supply chains to be rerouted around the tariffs.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged china | 2 Comments

ALDC by-election report, 24th September

By Joe Nutt | Fri 25th September 2026 - 6:30 pm

Six principal authority by-elections took place across England on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th September.

The Conservatives were defending two seats (in South Staffordshire and Berkshire), Labour defended two seats (in Milton Keynes and Brighton & Hove), localist party Tunbridge Wells Alliance defended one in Kent, and the Green Party defended one in Gloucestershire.

The highlight of the week came from Kent, where the Liberal Democrats staged a sensational victory in Tunbridge Wells – surging from third place in May to win the ward with 37.4% of the vote. In Berkshire, we came within a whisper of another major gain in Bray, boosting our vote share by +20.1% to fall just 26 votes short of the Conservatives on a council we flipped in 2023. Over in the Cotswolds, Danny Loveridge delivered an impressive performance from a standing start to take a clear second place as the Green vote collapsed, while Labour and the Greens exchanged seats on Brighton and Hove Council.

South East

Tunbridge Wells DC, Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden

In Kent, the Liberal Democrats secured an extraordinary gain in the Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden ward of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.

The Liberal Democrats took control of Tunbridge Wells Council in 2024 before going on to win the parliamentary constituency at the July 2024 General Election. When this three-member ward was run on new boundaries in 2024, the Conservatives took two seats and the localist Tunbridge Wells Alliance won the third. In the local elections earlier in May 2026, the Conservatives held their seat while our candidate finished third behind Reform UK.

This by-election saw a dramatic turnaround. Supported by an energetic campaign team, Harry Wormington achieved a huge +22.9% surge in vote share to leapfrog both Reform UK and the Conservatives, winning the seat outright with 37.4% of the vote.

Huge congratulations to Cllr Harry Wormington and the team on a phenomenal win against both the Tories and Reform UK!

Lib Dem (Harry Wormington): 697 (37.4%, +22.9%)

Conservative: 590 (31.6%, -14.6%)

Reform UK: 392 (21.0%, -4.4%)

Green Party: 188 (10.0%, -3.9%)

Liberal Democrat GAIN from Tunbridge Wells Alliance

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Posted in News | Tagged aldc local government by-elections | 7 Comments

Conference from the other side of the barrier

By Barry Rhodes | Fri 25th September 2026 - 5:10 pm

Four conference ago, I walked into Liberal Democrat conference as a delegate. I arrived on my own, not knowing many people and not really knowing what to expect.

This year’s conference has now come to an end. It was my fourth conference overall and my third time stewarding, so I thought it was a good opportunity to reflect on what conference looks like from the other side of the barrier.

When you attend as a delegate, you naturally see the debates, speeches, motions and fringe events. What you don’t necessarily see is everything that happens behind the scenes to make it all work.

That’s where the stewards come in.

There are people arriving who need directions, rooms to check, questions to answer and all the little things that need to happen throughout the day. It can be busy, but that’s part of what makes it enjoyable. You’re part of a team and everyone is there to help make sure conference runs as smoothly as possible.

Being a steward also doesn’t mean giving up your own conference experience. You still get opportunities to attend debates, fringe events and other sessions you’re interested in. With a bit of planning around your stewarding duties, you can still get along to the things you really want to see.

That’s important because we’re all there for our own reasons. For me, there are debates I want to hear, fringe events I want to attend and, of course, people I want to catch up with.

And the people are probably my favourite part of conference.

I’ve been lucky to work with a fantastic stewarding team, led by our chief steward Jodie. She does a brilliant job of keeping everyone organised and making sure the team feels supported.

Over the three conferences I’ve stewarded, I’ve met some brilliant people and made friendships that have grown beyond the stewarding shifts. There are people I might not see for months, but when conference comes around again, it’s like no time has passed.

Sometimes the evening can be just as memorable as the daytime programme. You can sit down with friends for a chat about the day’s events and end up talking about politics, life and everything else until much later than you intended.

That’s the thing about conference. The politics brings people together, but the friendships are what make it special.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2026 autumn conference | 2 Comments

Proper Grimond liberalism

By Jack Meredith | Fri 25th September 2026 - 2:54 pm

On Tuesday, 22 September, Tim Farron MP delivered a speech at our 2026 Autumn Conference during the F36 policy motion, “Restoring our waters: Britain’s water company crisis”, on the need for water mutualisation amid repetitive failures of privately owned water companies.

During this speech, he said, “proper Grimond liberalism”, referencing former Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond and his support for cooperatives and mutuals to manage public services over nationalisation and laissez-faire economics. For many people, this would have simply been just another niche reference, but for us at the Grimond Society, it meant a great deal.

Since July 2026, the Grimond Society has advocated for greater support for cooperative and mutual business models, social enterprises, shared ownership models, and co-determination in Liberal Democrat policy. We believe spreading power and wealth doesn’t stop at the ballot box; it extends to our communities, our workplaces, and every facet of everyday life.

We have grown significantly since our founding. We boast almost 70 members, including lay members, councillors, elected members of devolved parliaments, and party grandees. We have been featured in Co-op News, and the ever-fantastic Josh Matthews delivered the Society’s launch speech at Conference.

So hearing Tim mention “Grimond liberalism” on Tuesday reaffirmed the need for our party to show greater support for collective ownership. Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable, as Business Secretary during the 2010-2015 coalition government, advocated greater support for employee-owned businesses, but more recently, that same level of support has been lacking. If it weren’t for Josh Matthews’ earlier speech during the F6 policy motion “Liberal Democrats Mean Business,” there would have been only a passing mention of “mutuals, social enterprises and community interest companies”.

And for good reason, too, our party should once again become more supportive. According to Cooperatives UK’s “Cooperative and Mutual Economy 2026 report“, the cooperative and mutual economy generated £241.3bn this year alone, an 8% increase from last year. 1.7m people work in the democratic economy, with the number of cooperatives and mutuals increasing to 11,113; those are 3.2% and 4.9% increases, respectively. More people than ever are getting involved in democracy beyond voting and campaigning, and we should be there to support them and the causes they care so deeply about.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged grimond society and mutuals | 2 Comments

Is Conference still supreme?

By John Kelly | Fri 25th September 2026 - 12:48 pm

Aspects of the recent Party conference in Brighton raise an important question in my mind: what has happened to democratic policy-making in the Liberal Democrats?

When Nick Clegg was leader, he repeatedly distinguished us from Labour and the Conservatives by emphasising how we made policy. Conference, he reminded us, was supreme.

I remember many conferences where that principle was visible in practice. There were robust debates, speakers for and against, amendments carried and defeated, and motions sometimes lost. Conference was not there simply to endorse a predetermined position. Its purpose was to debate and decide.

The contrast with the conference just gone is striking. Every motion debated was approved and, as far as I am aware, so was every amendment.

That should make us ask whether something has changed.

It appears increasingly difficult for a motion, or even an amendment, to reach the agenda unless the Federal Conference Committee has reason to believe the relevant party spokesperson is content for it to be discussed. If that is how the system operates in practice, it creates a formidable barrier for individuals, local parties and affiliated organisations wanting to put forward new or challenging ideas.

The problem does not end with motion selection. At this conference, remarkably few speakers were called to oppose motions or amendments. Many amendments were so uncontroversial they might better have been treated as drafting changes, leaving precious conference time for genuine disagreements.

I find it difficult to believe there were not more members willing to speak against. In at least two debates, I know there were.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged 2026 autumn conference and federal conference committee | 16 Comments