Lib Dem energy guarantee would cut prices for all householdsBBC News reports today's announcement by Daisy Cooper of new Liberal Democrat proposals for reducing consumer energy prices: Under the scheme every household would receive an "Essential Energy Allowance", which would provide "enough to get by" and be charged at a discounted price. There would be an extra allowance for families with more children. Households that need more help, such as those on the lowest incomes, or with extra needs such as charging an electric wheelchair or a home ventilator, would receive a "discount on all their energy". Cooper said her party estimated it would mean a saving of £100 ... (more) |
Mathew on Monday: "We need to be bold"EXCLUSIVE: "We need to be bold, we need to be relevant, and we need to show people that we're serious" – party figures react to news of strategy review This weekend news broke, via PoliticsHome, that the Lib Dems are conducting an internal review of policy after concerns that had previously been kept mostly behind closed doors became public, with figures including former leadership candidate and current Chair of the Commons Health Select Committee Layla Moran speaking to the outlet about a "frustration" that the party's been talking about the same things and that we "weren't really moving forward." Despite ... (more) |
As a party we must be better defined for the 2029 general electionThere's a fear emerging in the so-called realignment of British politics. All the talk is of Reform UK and the Greens being the insurgent parties that are taking over from the traditional main forces of the Conservatives and Labour. If that's the current media and social media narrative, where do the Lib Dems fit in? The harsh truth is that, unless we have a message that gives us an identity among those who don't take a massive interest in politics but do at least vote, we are heading for irrelevance. That's not true in terms of our electoral performance in ... (more) |
Chase Park fair photosA few photos from Saturday's fair at Chase Park, Whickham. I took along Dandelion and one of the baby goats. They raised £58.20 for the park. (more) |
Green and Lib Dem Southwark brings government closer to votersCommunity councils, which last operated in Southwark in 2016, are to be restored by the Green and Liberal Democrat coalition that took control of the borough from Labour at last month's elections. Victor Chamberlain is the Lib Dem deputy leader of the council and holder of the neighbourhoods, strategic planning and wellbeing portfolio. He told Southwark News: "This is something that both parties are very passionate about and making sure that we are supporting and empowering our diverse communities. "That's best done by bringing the council back into their neighbourhoods and making sure the council is visible and responding to ... (more) |
From national averages to local realities: inequality in our communitiesEconomic decline, Conservative austerity and misguided government policy have all been blamed for worsening inequality in the UK, however, this fails to take a rounded view of inequality and leads to debate over economic solutions that neglect local challenges. By defining inequality solely as an economic problem, we enter further debate about inequality as an economic indicator. Critics can readily underplay the impact of inequality in our society by pointing out that relative poverty has remained constant. Inequality must be viewed through the lenses of income, wealth, health and education, all of which are rooted our local communities. Unaffordable housing, ... (more) |
A swamp of lies and disinformationAs we approach the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, Jonathan Freedland writes in the Guardian about the country we have become as a result. He says that the choices Keir Starmer and his would-be successors face, indeed the entire political and cultural landscape we now inhabit, are informed or were shaped by that event. We are living in Brexit Britain. Freedland writes about Etonians working out their schoolboy rivalries, with nothing less than the destiny of the UK at stake, a recklessness with the future of seventy million people that remains unforgivable, the guilt belonging to Cameron and Osborne ... (more) |
The mysterious mole men of New York caught on videoAdam Gabbatt reports from New York for the Guardian:The first sewer episode happened on 5 May, at 2am. Three people, wearing hip waders and carrying flashlights, walked to a manhole cover in the middle of the road, hauled the circular cover aside, and clambered down into the darkness. That was that, until Thursday 28 May, when a group of people shifted a manhole cover and climbed into the sewer in south Brooklyn. Hours after that, a group of people lowered themselves into a sewer hole in north Brooklyn. "I could tell they were up to no good," Aki Jakupovic, who ... (more) |
Doing better? The goal must be SufficeincyThere seems to be a general expectation, at least in the "developed " world, that each generation can and should "do" better than the one before it. Parents expect that their children will have a "better time of it" than they had. At first sight that seems to imply a higher physical quality of life - more "stuff " - bigger house, kitchen refitted every five years, bigger cars changed more often, more foreign holidays, more gadgets, more bread and circuses. The "more leisure" that Keynes anticipated doesn't seem to have caught on, (other than more phone time). As I ... (more) |
Michael Meadowcroft (1942-2026) - A Liberal to His CoreMichael Meadowcroft at his final Lloyd George Society appearance in 2025. Last week, the Lloyd George Society was saddened to hear about the death of our friend and colleague, Michael Meadowcroft, after a short illness. I first came across Michael's name whilst undertaking the research for my PhD on the Welsh Liberal Party (WLP). (Although I was aware of him before this, it was here that I paid attention.) The WLP was set up in 1966 as a separate party which maintained federal links to the other Liberal parties in Britain. This new party faced considerable criticism from members of ... (more) |