Why community politics mattersThere have been a number of articles in Lib Dem Voice about what the Lib Dems stand for. Tom Gordon MP asked this in what was partly a reflection on the recent local elections in the UK, and others like Peter Black have followed it up. But such discussions too often turn into a wish list of policies people would like the Lib Dems to support or perhaps campaign on harder. What the Lib Dems stand for is best seen in terms of a more general approach to politics, though it does have implications for policies. In an earlier piece ... (more) |
Michael Meadowcroft, 1942 - 2026Michael Meadowcroft has died at the age of 84. He had been suffering from a brain tumour in recent months and died peacefully with family present in Adel, Leeds. He continued to engage with friends throughout his last months. Michael and his wife Liz Bee will be remembered for many reasons by many people. They have had rich and full lives. Michael's political and philosophical contributions will be remembered and valued by most commentators, but we also celebrate the person who was happy, kind, supportive, thoughtful, incisive, inclusive, passionate about the many things he believed and engaged with, and widely-read. ... (more) |
Michael Meadowcroft: A Liberal of Intellectual Rigour and Uncommon IntegrityThe death of Michael Meadowcroft on Monday marks the passing of a distinctive voice in British Liberal politics—one that prized serious thinking over comfortable platitudes, and truth over convenient mythology. I first met Michael in 2009, when I was undertaking research on Liberal history. I had expected to meet a former MP with the usual recollections and political anecdotes. What I encountered instead was something rarer: a political thinker who remained genuinely concerned with ideas, and who was determined to dispel the myths that had accumulated around Liberal history like barnacles on a ship's hull. "Intellectual rigour," he told me ... (more) |
A Federal Britain: 1. Renewing democracy through fair representationThe United Kingdom is undergoing a quiet constitutional breakdown. Not in the dramatic sense of institutional collapse, but in a slower and more corrosive way: voters increasingly feel unrepresented, power remains concentrated in Westminster to a degree unusual among modern democracies, and the link between democratic choice and real-world decision-making has weakened. These are not separate problems. They form a single constitutional question: how can a modern, diverse, multi-national state remain democratic, fair, and stable when many of its institutions were designed for a different era? The answer lies in three connected pillars: fair representation, decentralised power, and fiscal accountability. ... (more) |
Morven-May MacCallum MSP: No-one in Scotland should have to fight harder to be believed than to get wellWhen she was 14, new Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the Highlands and Islands Morven May-MacCallum contracted Lyme Disease after being bitten by a tick. Yesterday made her first speech in the Scottish Parliament in which she spoke of her experience and committed to campaign on behalf of people living with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, POTS, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and other chronic illnesses. It's an incredible speech which will resonate with anyone who suffers from these and other conditions and who has had to fight to be believed. Watch here: The text is below. "It is an immense privilege to stand here ... (more) |
Debt-ridden graduates claim they are seen as cash cowsThe Guardian reports that graduates saddled with ballooning student loan debts have told MPs that they feel they are being unfairly used as "cash cows" to finance measures benefiting older people such as the state pension triple lock. The paper says that student representatives have told an official inquiry about the "harrowing" plight of many young people, while the man who led the 2019 government review into post-18 education criticised the "almost sneaky" changes to loan terms, and appeared to compare the situation facing graduates with the car finance and payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandals: Pressure has been building ... (more) |
3 June 2026 - today's press releaseCarmichael demands meeting with Coastguard boss after cuts to volunteer remuneration Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today written to the Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Virginia McVea, to demand a meeting over cuts to Coastguard volunteer remuneration. Currently Coastguard Rescue Officers (CROs), which make up the bulk of the Coastguard Rescue Service, are given hourly remuneration for attending incidents and training exercises - approximately £11 per hour. The MCA plans to change these rules following a Court of Appeal judgement earlier this year, which classed responders as "workers" while they were carrying out their duties. ... (more) |
Why non-fiction books need their indexesI'm coming across increasing numbers of new non-fiction books that lack an index. No doubt it's done to save costs, but I wonder if it's a false economy. Not only is a book without an index less satisfactory after you've bought it, but that lack makes you less likely to buy it in the first place. I can't be the only person who, faced with a promising new title in a bookshop, turns to the index and looks up a couple of relevant topics I know something about. What the books says about them gives me an idea of the ... (more) |
Adam Harley's first speechNew Strathkelvin and Bearsden MSP Adam Harley made his first speech in Holyrood yesterday, highlighting the importance of providing young people with opportunities, protecting important community facilities and restoring trust in politics. Adam originally worked in theatre and the arts before moving over to the charity sector, fighting for the rights of people with cystic fibrosis to access life-saving medicines. He has also volunteered for organisations educating children from disadvantaged backgrounds and has worked with community groups supporting young people in danger of becoming involved in the criminal justice system, helping them turn their lives around. The text is below ... (more) |
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap upLord knows I love an election map and I start this blog by looking at the 2009 map for Upper Tier Local Authorities. As you can see it's a depressing sea of blue with one small fleck of amber in Bristol, the one gain we made that year. This map represents 12 years of protest votes against New Labour that the Tories mostly capitalised on, not us Lib Dems. The New Labour era represented slim pickings for Lib Dems at a local level - we only made substantial gains in three out of 13 years, and they were directly after ... (more) |