[IMG: Hundreds stand with long trans flag in show of solidarity] Following on from my post his morning about the show of solidarity with trans people planned for this lunchtime, this is how it went. The event was attended by women and equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine MP, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, Baroness Sal Brinton and former leader Jo Swinson as well as hundreds of Conference goers. Adrian Hyyryylainen-Trett has some more fabulous photos on Twitter: Great to be outside #LibDemConf with the longest #trans & #nonbinary banner with hundreds of delegates firmly stating our party support for #Transrights ...
Today Lib Dem Conference debated health and social care and passed an 11 point plan to deal with the crisis the NHS faces. The debate was unsurprisingly one of the most heavily subscribed at Conference. Regular readers will know that Leicestershire Lib Dem Mathew Hulbert's lovely mum Jackie passed away in 2022 two days after an eleven hour wait for an ambulance. He had written a speech for the debate today but was one of many who were not called. He sent us his speech and you can read it below. "When is help going to come?" That is what ...
In an article stuffed with quotes from unnamed 'senior' Lib Dems, Harriet Symonds looks for possible future fault lines in our larger parliamentary party. Nimby vs Yimby? Tuition fees? Gender? Maybe we should stop using terms like Nimby and Yimby (and Terf and Gammon) - giving your opponents nicknames does nothing for the clarity of your thinking or your ability to win over uncommitted voters. Sienna Rogers talks to Shockat Adam, the pro-Gaza Independent candidate who defeated Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South. "The Government's approach relies heavily on the private sector to deliver against its ambitions. But historically, direct public ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: Looking at the early post-election polling, last week I wrote ... about how Labour did not appear to be having much of a honeymoon but that might not be a cause of too much concern for them... Since then we have had some further new polling which I think nudges things, tentatively in these early days, a bit more towards the 'ooh, this could be quite grim' camp. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and ...
The Liberal Democrats' conference in Brighton is an opportunity to celebrate of the party's best result in terms of MPs elected for more than 100 years. Understandably, few enough of those gathering here are reflecting on this also being the anniversary of the publication of the Orange Book.* Why revisit painful memories? Being the curmudgeon that I am, though, I have found myself reflecting on this mostly forgotten anniversary. In an ideal world I might have spent time preparing a carefully researched paper on the impact of the Orange Book on Liberal Democrat politics, but procrastination and other commitments got ...
Kiki Dee is best known for her duet with Elton John Don't Go Breaking My Heart, which made number 1 in 1976, but she had been recording since the early Sixties. Loving and Free was the title track from a 1973 album of hers, yet it wasn't issued as a single until 1976 - it was a double A side with Amoureuse, which I chose as my Sunday music video years ago. When I remembered the song the other day, I was sure it came from my era of listening to Radio Luxemburg under the bedclothes, so maybe it got ...
"This stuff about the beavers is Dragging On A Bit," Lord Bonkers said to me. "Who wrote it?" "That was you, sir. This is your diary." "Humph. Should've told 'em something about Mr Asquith and Venetia Stanley. You could turn that story into a novel." Thursday The delightful Pippa arrives at the Hall and wastes no time in getting down to business. After listening to my concerns, she goes to talk to the beavers and is away simply hours. She comes back with the bones of an agreement, the long and short of which is that the beavers will agree ...
Lib Dem conference started in Brighton yesterday but I missed it as I was at the Bowes Agricultural Show in Co Durham. So today I am heading south on the train using my Senior Citizen's railcard to make the cost of the tickets that bit more affordable! I have my reading matter for the journey: 2 recent copies of the BBC History Magazine. I should be in Brighton later today.
Jude Parker spent two days this week sewing a huge trans Pride flag with the help of Douglas, her much loved sewing machine. It's pretty massive 15 metres and weighs 4.5 kg. She carried it to Brighton along with the rest of the merch for the LGBT+ Lib Dems stall. It was a real labour of love in response to the blow of hearing that an anti trans group had been allowed to have a stall at Liberal Democrat conference. This flag will be unfurled outside the Brighton Centre at 1pm today in a show of solidarity with trans people ...
In a week where I attended a number of events connected with our uniformed services the highlight of the week was seeing the sword of Liverpool's double VC Noel Chavasse passed to the care of the Dean and Chapter of Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral The last seven days have seen me turning up at a wide range of events which have brought home to me the best of humanity who try and deliver the best of services to keep our communities safe. Some of these have been historic and some current but I believe we do need to remember the courage ...
Ed Davey did his Conference interview with Laura Kuenssberg this morning. Speaking from the top of the Brighton Centre after arriving at the Conference by jet-ski yesterday, he was quizzed about whether we were going soft on Labour. Were we actually going to challenge them. Ed was keen to point out that we already had on issues like the Winter Fuel Payment, and we'd do it more effectively than the official opposition. We will challenge them when we disagree with them. We'll be a better opposition than the Conservatives who are going further to the right We are keeping people's ...
United States Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene WAS the female darling of the Republican far-right. No longer. The new girl on the block is 31-year-old Laura Loomer who is so far to the right that right-wing Ms Greene has called her "mentally unstable and a documented liar." Ms Loomer is also emerging as a confidante of Donald Trump. She travelled on his plane to the 10 September presidential debate in Philadelphia and is said to have fed him the story about immigrants eating pets in Ohio. She continued with the former president to New York and was with him when ...
So what's on at Conference today? You can find full details in the agenda here. Don't forget about the Lib Dem Conf app too – available on your app store. If, like me, you are stuck at home, you can watch all the main hall action live here. One of the highlights is Ed's question and answer session. He's generally very good at these, better I would say than his big keynote speech. There's a keynote speech from Munira Wilson. There are big policy debates on the NHS and national parks and a discussion on our policy in the future. ...
From the City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating Scottish and Southern Energy works. The Order is expected to be in force for four weeks from 18 September 2024. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Lower Pleasance from its junction with the residential car park entrance for a distance of 50 metres or thereby in a southerly direction. An alternative route will be ...
I have just attended a fringe event at Liberal Democrat conference where the main theme was the need to call out the popularists like Nigel Farage and Reform who have made a career out of pursuing an agenda contrary to the best interests of democracy and this country. That is something that main stream leaders like Sunak and Starmer have notoriously failed to do for fear of alienating their target audience, thus allowing misinformation and harmful propaganda to persist unchallenged. This article in the Guardian details one of those events that need more publicity so that the public can see ...
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