WATCH: Charles Kennedy Memorial LectureYou might remember that a few weeks ago we told you about the Charles Kennedy Memorial Lecture organised by the European Movement. Nick Clegg talked about the path to closer alignment with the European Movement. You can watch his speech courtesy of the European Movement's You Tube channel. The text is below: We are here in part to remember a much-missed friend and colleague, Charles Kennedy. It has been just over a decade since Charles passed, and we are all the poorer for it. He was one of the lights of liberalism in this country, and his absence in public ... (more) |
The Keir Starmer we never gotThe latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Usually the starting point for these newsletters is something I have done in Parliament, but this time it's the work of a colleague, William Wallace, that is the trigger – and it's shown us a glimpse of what a different Keir Starmer premiership could have been like. The Cabinet Manual is getting an ... (more) |
Indecision costing the taxpayers millionsThe Times reports that delays and indecision over plans for the restoration of the Palace of Westminster are costing the taxpayer up to £420 million a year, while the historic estate faces an increasing risk of "catastrophic failure". The paper says that a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that parliament currently spends about £1.5 million a week on maintenance of the palace, including refurbishment projects and that this is forecast to increase to about £2 million a week between 2026 and 2030: The Palace, a Grade I listed building within a Unesco World Heritage site, requires extensive ... (more) |
Back on the campaign trailIt feels as though election campaigning is never going to end in Gateshead. We have a by-election in High Fell caused by the resignation of a Reform Councillor after only 11 days in the job. Polling day is on 9th July. Lots to do and my Saturday morning was taken up trudging the streets of High Fell delivering the next leaflet for the Lib Dems. We have 18 patches in the ward. Most were done (more) |
1963: London's summer of the HoverbusJago Hazzard looks back to a short-lived transport experiment that took place in London in the summer of 1963. From 1 July to 31 October, a hovercraft service operated on the Thames in London between Festival Pier at Waterloo and Tower Bridge. The experiment was not a success and the Hoverbus's manufacturers, Denny, went out of business the following year. But Jago is right: hovercraft were once seen as the future. Later in the Sixties, I can recall, you often got mini-hovercraft rides at more ambitious fetes. But then, as Jonathan Meades once pointed out, the future happened briefly in ... (more) |
High Fell by-election leaflet watch 3: the proof is in the readingReform's High Fell by-election leaflet fell into my hands over the weekend. Take a look. Anyone spot the error? The text ends abruptly. Always get someone else to proof read drafts of leaflets. Had Reform done so, they would have spotted half their leaflet is missing! (A bit like ex-Councillor Cavanagh.) (more) |
J.M. Keynes "Anything we can actually do, we can afford."Reading Chris Bowers' recent Yorkist post, I thought it to be an excellently optimistic paper – the diagram grouping the Liberal Democrats in the Progressive Left, Anti-System group is very persuasive. The idea of promoting a Keynesian economic philosophy is brilliant and needs to challenge the current economic orthodoxy. The final paragraph on page 22 of The New Deal reads: The Lib Dems need to be unashamedly Keynesian in their approach to the 2029 election. This will not be an easy task, as it means challenging the orthodoxy that has taken root in both the Treasury and the Bank of ... (more) |
Mathew on Monday: Banning Under-16s from Social Media is the Wrong AnswerThe newly announced ban on social media for under-16s may be politically popular, but popularity alone does not make good policy. As liberals, we should be deeply sceptical of blanket bans that restrict freedom while failing to tackle the root causes of a problem. There is no doubt that social media can be harmful. Young people are exposed to bullying, misinformation, unhealthy content and algorithms designed to maximise engagement rather than well-being. These are serious concerns and they demand action. But the question is whether an outright ban is the right response. I do not believe it is. First, the ... (more) |
Spread it out: the liberal case for a wealth taxWe are at a crossroads. Trust in politics is low, and people are right to feel let down. The economy works beautifully for those at the top and barely at all for everyone else. Across the West, that frustration is being picked up by people who offer someone to blame rather than something to fix. Liberals can offer something better. It's in our DNA, but sometimes we get confused about what liberalism is and fail to make the case. So let's say it plainly. Liberalism has one founding fight, and we have fought it in every century - the fight ... (more) |
We need a long term strategy with vocational education and apprenticeships at the heartAt a time when students face increasing academic pressure, uncertainty about future careers, spiralling debt and challenges related to mental health and wellbeing. Now is a good time to review our post 16 and further education system. In a recent article by Jon Henley, and Senay Boztas titled What can the Dutch teach the UK about how to tackle the youth jobs crisis? The article argues that the Netherlands has the lowest NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or training) rate in the EU, at around 5%. Researchers and policy experts attribute the low youth unemployment partly to the country's strong ... (more) |