The Independent reports on comments by Lib Dem Leader, Ed Davey, that the Conservatives and Reform UK are planning to turn Britain into a "Trump satellite state". He told the conference that the Liberal Democrat's "orange wall" will stop Reform UK's rise to power and "setting communities against each other": Sir Ed warned an "unholy alliance" between Mr Farage and Kemi Badenoch is "the only way either can get into power". "Together, they want to turn Britain into a Trump satellite state which would trash our NHS, turn our communities against each other, cause untold damage to our environment, and ...
I thought I had finished blogging for today, but this video is too good not to share with you tonight. It's a BBC2 discussion from 1968 with Lady Asquith (better known as Violet Bonham Carter) and Lady Stocks. A young Joan Bakewell is in the chair. They are talking about a television film about how women got the vote, and both take the view that it exaggerated the importance of the militant tactics of the Suffragettes at the expense of the role played by the wider Suffrage movement. And Lady Asquith remembers defending her father, the Liberal prime minister, from ...
I am in Brighton for the Lib Dem conference and yesterday I got to meet a political hero of mine: Lynne (now Baroness) Featherstone. As home office minister in the coalition government (2010-15), Lynne was instrumental in passing the legislation that legalised same sex marriage. It is because of her that I now wear a wedding ring. As she was able to pass the same sex legislation, David and
Dawn Butler lays bare the abuse that a Black female MP faces: "Followers of my social media know how bad it can be. I have a regular "block of the month" feature to raise awareness of the disgusting racist abuse sent to me every day - the N-word, "monkey" and "ape" are common insults. The deluge of abuse has a detrimental impact on my mental health, and on those around me." "There is no reindustrialisation beyond heavily Government-directed industries such as defence and even pharmaceuticals without reversing Brexit. That will not be sufficient, but it is absolutely necessary. And yet, ...
Education spokesperson Munira Wilson gave her keynote speech to Conference yesterday. Enjoy:
Watch Al Pinkerton talk about our vision for closer ties to Europe:
Taking part in Lib Dem Conference online (I cannot make it to Brighton, so watching and voting online) it was good to see the first policy motion was about homeless children, although tragic that we have to discuss the subject at all You can see below more about it, but it covered the awful issues there are for children, as well of course as their parents and other adults. Shocking to hear that There are over 176,000 children living in temporary accommodation across England, and that Since 2019, 104 children have died with temporary accommodation listed as a contributing factor ...
I'm settling in to day 2 of watching Conference. I've already spent more time "in the hall" than I have in the past 3 in person conferences. I'm uaually to be found on the Lib Dem Women or LGBT+ Lib Dem stalls, or flitting about the place from meeting to meeting. And how gorgeous is this stage set? When I saw the purple, I wondered at first if our Jennie Rigg had had a hand in it. But, seriously, if she had, it would have had a lot more purple and Libby would have been turned into a bat. What ...
The Oxford Mail wins our Headline of the Day Award. Far be it from me to criticise the judges, but is this such a surprising story?
The Falklands The Falklands are back in the news. Argentine President Javier Milei has restated claims to "Las Islas Malvinas" and support from America and Chile—which was vital in 1982—is now doubtful. But 2026 is not 1982. In 1982 there were about 100 Royal Marines at Port Stanley to protect the islands and the Royal Navy ice patrol ship HMS Endurance was facing withdrawal. After the Falklands War the government decided that deterrence was the best strategy. There are now roughly 1,200-1,500 British military and supporting personnel in the South Atlantic, centred on the Mount Pleasant Complex, where the Royal ...
I used to wonder why the Liberal Party had never talked about Wallace Lawler, Read the comments on this post and you will see why. I haven't dared raise the subject with Lord Bonkers. The old boy is more on the ball with golf courses and terrorism. This is from the Guardian last month: "Seven people charged with vandalising Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland have been accused of malicious damage 'having a terrorist connection'." Thursday Dusk finds me wending my way to the palatial sett beneath the triumphal arch I had erected to celebrate the victory of Wallace ...
I wrote this in 2008 about a memory that was already more than a dozen years old: Much Wenlock is not just the spiritual home of the Olympics. It also the venue for Festival at the Edge, which I attended a couple of times back in the 1990s. Although it is chiefly a storytelling festival, my chief memories of it are musical. I heard a young Eliza Carthy play (with Nancy Kerr) and, best of all, I heard the Polly Bolton Band. That year everything was running hopelessly late, and it was after midnight when the band (Polly Bolton, John ...
The Guardian reports that British politics is increasingly being funded by individual billionaires with a wave of mega-donations having flooded into UK political parties over the past two parliaments. The paper says that research has found that a total of £179m has been donated by wealthy individuals since 2019: The figures from the IPPR thinktank show how big money is playing an ever more influential role in Westminster, with a particular rise in mega-donations of more than £1m. The research found that contributions from individual donors have accelerated since the Brexit party received £10m from the Thailand-based billionaire Christopher Harborne ...
First up today is a wide-ranging motion on music covering things like AI, planning around music venues, support for music and the right to education in music. That last is so important. Playing an instrument or singing is such a good way of getting out of your own head and the links between musical tuition and attainment are clear. Then it's on to active travel – walking, wheeling and cycling with three amendments, one from the Lib Dem Disability Association looking at making active travel safe and accessible for disabled people from the start, one from Lib Dem Women looking ...
