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 ...
Written for Terence Towles Canote's 13th Annual Rule, Britannia Blogathon. We British have a habit of turning military debacles into victories. The retreat from Dunkirk, for instance, has twice been the subject of a film (in 1958 and 2017) and also forms an important part of the action in Atonement from 2007. But the Suez Crisis of 1956, whether because of the deceit it involved or its abject failure, has proved too shameful a subject for British cinema to tackle. This unsuccessful attempt to overturn Egypt's nationalisation of the Suez Canal, made together with France and Israel, and in particular ...
Paul Walter wrote about the Temporary accommodation debate in his diary earlier It was a great and sobering debate. I just wanted to highlight two things that Lib Dems have done. Prue Bray spoke about what her Council in Wokingham has done to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation and to make it a lot safer for those who are. She said: Temporary accommodation is a subject that could drive us to despair, but I want to give you some hope by telling you how a Lib Dem council is making a real difference. I am really proud ...
One of the highlights of Brighton is that it's got a great running track. You just poodle out to the promenade – chunter westwards for (in my case) 2.5 k and then turn round and go back. Job done. The sloshing about of the sea and wind also gives quite an invigorating awakening at 7 o'clock in the morning. After an instant porridge for breakfast, I was in the main auditorium to hear Gideon Amos MP make an excellent speech in the debate on the Mortality of Children living in temporary accommodation. Here's an astonishing fact to stop you in ...
Thanks to the wonder of Traveline.info and an ingenious chain of five buses, I travelled to Brighton (and will travel back) free on my senior bus pass (Thank you – I know, it's so hard to imagine that I am entitled to one) and saved, I'm told, 55500g of CO2, compared to driving. In the process I learnt some valuable lessons in extreme bussing: Always have "fall back" buses scheduled a little later, in case you miss your connection. Never look at your phone when waiting for a bus. ...Because you may look up just as your bus is passing ...
Lib Dems desperately want a message that cuts through. Something that lifts our standing in the polls with the same gravity-defying ease as we've seen Reform and the Greens achieve. But I'm afraid there is no single magic phrase or policy position that will do that. (Nor, by the way, is there some charismatic new leader who could instantly rally voters to our cause. We don't do leadership cults.) If we want to cut through, we have to be authentic. True to ourselves. True to our values. People are disillusioned with politicians of all stripes. They see no vision, just ...
The Shropshire Star, and not for the first time, wins our Headline of the Day Award. There's more about the scheme to improve the Abbey Foregate area of the town in a BBC News report.
This should keep the literary types among you happy, though I doubt that Ofsted will be so pleased. Wednesday History is all the rage on the electric podcasts, so I have taken advantage of the papers in my library to write a revisionist biography of a leading Whig statesman. You wouldn't believe what the fellow got up to! I won't say it's racy, but I happen to know that the Well-Behaved Orphans have got hold of a copy of the manuscript and are loaning it out to my domestic staff at half a crown per chapter. "Coo!" one young inmate ...
Donald Trump has undermined history's most successful defence alliance. He is engaged in an all-out trade war with America's closest neighbour and ally. He is threatening to take control of the territory of another ally. His tariffs have destabilised the world trading system. His repeated attacks on American elections have damaged confidence in one of the cornerstones of US democracy. He is crude, rude and politically divisive. He has cut support for democratic Ukraine while repeatedly accommodating authoritarian Russia. And finally, he has embroiled the United States in a Middle East war that is pushing up energy and food prices ...
I'm feeling quite sad this morning. I'm not able to be at Conference this year as my husband and I get to grips with our new normal following a life-changing diagnosis a couple of months ago. I'm missing everyone, but at least being at home means I'm not in the whirlwind so I can keep up with what's going on and let you all know about it. Also I can watch the Strictly launch show. So what can everyone in Brighton look forward to today? In the main hall, I'd be wanting to speak on the heartbreaking and disgraceful situation ...
Rhossili is one of the most spectacular bays in Gower, with its sweep of unbroken golden sand stretching from Worm's Head to St Cenydd point, and just the one solitary building standing on Rhossili Down Commons above it. Overlooking the beach, which is a popular destination for surfers, is the highest point on Gower, rugged cliffs that are often used as a launch point for hang gliders. Rhossili Down and Cliffs are among the larger of the commons on Gower covering 354 hectares in total and also boast prehistoric stone circles, cairns and burial chambers.. Rhossili Down is predominately composed ...