Hina Bokhari

Britain is a tinderbox and our efforts to confront Islamophobia are not good enough

By Hina Bokhari | Fri 20th June 2025 - 12:25 pm

At this week’s Mayor’s Question Time, I asked Sadiq Khan a straightforward but urgent question: why is there still no dedicated Islamophobia training across London’s public institutions?

It’s a question I asked not just as an Assembly Member, but as a Muslim woman who knows what it feels like to live in Britain right now. Recently online, I’ve been told I’m an immigrant who doesn’t belong here. At a street surgery, I was told all Muslims should be killed. At London Bridge station, I was called a Paki and told I should go home.

Islamophobia has been normalised in politics, in the media and in daily life and it now stands at record and alarming levels. Muslims in Britain today live with legitimate fear of being harassed in the street, targeted online, or being viewed with suspicion simply for existing.

And that fear isn’t paranoia. It is rooted in an ugly and worsening reality. The horrific stabbings in Southport last year didn’t just shock the nation—they unleashed something darker. We witnessed terrifying mob violence targeting asylum seekers, Muslims, and anyone perceived as other.

One year on, little has improved. Britain remains a tinderbox. The conditions that led to those outbreaks of hate are not only still here, they are deteriorating by the day. Meanwhile, the silence from much of the political establishment has been deafening.

Worse still, those in power have not helped calm the situation – they’ve inflamed it. When the Prime Minister uses hostile rhetoric about immigrants, it legitimises the very forces that seek to dehumanise entire communities. Meanwhile, GB News and the Reform Party are given free rein to pump conspiracy theories into the mainstream, with barely any challenge.

All of this is happening while many of our public institutions remain fundamentally unequipped to respond. That’s why the absence of Islamophobia training in key London bodies, including the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade, is so dangerous. This isn’t just a symbolic omission, it’s a critical operational failure.

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Tony Vickers

Global Capitalist Economics: time to unmask GDP?

By Tony Vickers | Fri 20th June 2025 - 9:52 am

It seems increasingly probable that capitalism must evolve radically. The drift to populism shows that our democracy is failing because our model of market-led economics isn’t achieving what a growing majority of voters want.

It was refreshing to find at Harrogate that this view is now widely shared among Liberal Democrat activists, as shown by the response to “Leading the Way”. ALTER (Action for Land Tax and Economic Reform) summed it up in our response: “The Economy must work for Society, not the reverse”.

None of the other three main UK parties seems to question this. Yet we see no plan from any of them that could conceivably deliver “growth” (read on) that meets even most of the urgent needs of any UK government. Labour seems stuck with Treasury orthodoxy but look what happened when Liz (the lettuce) Truss put neoliberalism into overdrive.

The last time I looked (in 2023), Treasury’s own figures on National Wealth showed that the only element which has grown significantly since the 1990s is land wealth. Considering land value (as opposed to building value) is passive and represents wealth tied up and thus non-productive, it is not surprising that everything useful seems to be deteriorating. An owner of land with actual or potential development (buildings, etc.) on it on most days in the past 40 years has seen their wealth grow more than an average wage-earner, while they do nothing. The “real” economy gains nothing. That land owner is behaving rationally; by following the current dysfunctional economic model, the government isn’t – if it wants Growth!

I’m no economist but history tells us that in an emergency we somehow set aside ‘normal’ economics and find the resources to do what needs doing. Is Treasury – or rather ONS – now starting to do this, with its “Beyond GDP” blog?

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Jack Meredith

Please sir, may I have no war?

By Jack Meredith | Thu 19th June 2025 - 11:31 am

The presidency of Donald Trump has, thus far, been defined by his failure to fulfil his election promise to de-escalate global conflicts.

Most recently, Trump has flirted with the idea of the US entering into the Israel-Iran conflict, commenting, “I may do it, I may not do it” when questioned. To put it simply, this is not the language of de-escalation.

But the next logical question after “Will the US get involved?” can only be “Will it call on the UK to join?”. This decision will come down to Keir Starmer, who will either have the choice of authorising the UK’s involvement or putting the decision to a parliamentary vote, the latter being the route taken by former Prime Minister Tony Blair regarding the Iraq War.

There is, however, a third option: the Wilson approach.

Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson decided to withhold the UK military’s involvement in the Vietnam War, a decision echoed by his successor, Edward Heath. While both provided support through materials and rhetorical encouragement, neither leader engaged directly.

Keir Starmer will likely face this choice in the coming weeks and months. Either he will have the UK join Trump in engaging in war, or he will withhold British military support. It is his moment to show whether Wilson or Blair inspires his leadership.

I hope that he chooses the former, for all our sakes.

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Suzanne Fletcher

How good that LDV posts don’t fade away

By Suzanne Fletcher | Thu 19th June 2025 - 9:26 am

Whilst looking up the words “Put it on a piece of paper, shove it through a letter box”, David Penhaligon, this LDV link came up from September 2012:

“What the three departing Lib Dem ministers said as they leave Government”

How interesting and I am afraid depressing to read what three of our retiring Ministers said on their dismissal 13 years ago.

Sarah Teather rightly saying:

I’m hugely proud of the part I have been able to play in ending child detention, and rolling out the pupil premium, giving free nursery places to disadvantaged two year olds, amongst many other achievements.” And we should never forget that.  But also “Particularly close to my heart has been the work to reform the system of support for children and families with special educational needs and disability.

One of the crying out needs today about the need for a much better system for SEND children and their families.  Let us not forget that the fight started there,

Paul Burstow:

Having dedicated most of my political career to improving the health and care of others it has been an absolute privilege to be directly involved in framing a new social care law and working closely with colleagues in the sector to set out a reform agenda in the Care and Support White Paper.  In the last two years or so I have been able to introduce policies that will improve the mental health of adults and children, the care of older people and the diagnosis of dementia.

How crucial it is today that the care system is reformed.  Let us not forget the fight that started with that white paper.

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The civil service impact statement for the Assisted Dying Bill could be very inaccurate

By A retired medical doctor | Wed 18th June 2025 - 5:31 pm

Editor’s note: This article contains details of terminal medical procedures which some readers may find upsetting.

The Civil Service has done an ‘impact assessment’ for what the NHS and hospice sector will look like if Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying (AD) Bill becomes law.

It’s chosen a sample of a  few ‘comparator’ US jurisdictions  and New Zealand to show how many cases of AD there are (expressed as percentage  of total deaths). The population of the sample is equivalent to England and Wales.

The projection estimates a few hundred AD cases here a year initially, rising annually. However, New Zealand, in its first year of AD, recorded an AD rate six times the rate that was recorded in the first year in  California – equivalent to 4,000 England/Wales deaths if we scale up for population size. The maximum Civil Service estimate for the first year in England and Wales is 1,600 deaths. So what has gone wrong ?

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Simon McGrath

Lib Dems should say no to the UK acquiring tactical nuclear weapons

By Simon McGrath | Wed 18th June 2025 - 12:34 pm

The Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June, contains plenty of ideas which I believe our Party should support – an increase in the number of ships in the Royal Navy, increased reserves of munitions, and a big increase in our capacity to produce them, many more drones and protection of our underwater communications are all sensible proposals in the more dangerous world in which we now live.

But there is one part of the review which I do not believe we should support, and that is a proposal for the UK to acquire tactical nuclear weapons and the capacity to deliver them. The SDR says (Recommendation 30):

“Commencing discussions with the United States and NATO on the potential benefits and feasibility of enhanced UK participation in NATO’s nuclear mission.”

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Andrew Chandler

Why I support the right to die with dignity; a Liberal case

By Andrew Chandler | Wed 18th June 2025 - 9:29 am

I will always remember my Catholic mum said to me; last time we had this debate about Assisted Suicide when it went to the then High Courts sometime in the 00’s. I remember her saying as we watched the announcement on TV in our living room with great sigh “I think people should just be allowed to go to heaven on their own flight plan.” Mum was always great to make something sound so simply to sound so deep and meaningful.

Some year’s passed, and my mum had Bowel cancer, stage four. Eventually she had to be moved to a hospice. By the final weeks, even pain-relief could no longer dull her agony. What do you say to someone who is desperate to die, not because they are suicidal, but because they are exhausted? Frail and failing. Her dignity, slowly stripped away by bedpans and catheter tubes. She didn’t want to die soon, she wanted to die free.

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Mark Valladares

17 June 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 17th June 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • NI tax hike: Government must scrap damaging jobs tax
  • Trump tariff deal: Govt must come clean and publish impact assessment
  • Lib Dem MP to take Thames Water to the Supreme Court
  • Rennie responds to school leaver deprivation gap widening
  • SNP miss key targets for drug treatment and care
  • Rennie: Will another 77 pages of school violence guidance change anything?
  • Cole-Hamilton: NHS, care and economy at the heart of liberal vision

NI tax hike: Government must scrap damaging jobs tax

Commenting as S&W’s business owners sentiment survey revealed around a third of business owners have said they plan to cut more jobs after being hit by higher national insurance contributions, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Unfortunately, this confirms what we knew from the start – that the unfair National Insurance tax hike is a massive hammer blow to businesses already struggling to cope, and will lead to people losing their jobs or seeing their salaries suppressed.

Small businesses are the engine of our economy and the backbone of our communities. After all the damage they faced under the last Conservative Government, the government should be doing everything it can to support them.

Ministers need to go back to the drawing board, scrap this damaging jobs tax that holds back economic growth, and instead ask the big banks and social media giants to pay their fair share of tax.

Trump tariff deal: Govt must come clean and publish impact assessment

Responding to the news that the UK-US trade deal has been partially signed off by Donald Trump, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson and Deputy Leader, said:

The Government needs to come clean on the full details of this deal – including publishing impact assessments on how it will affect British farmers, food standards and steel industry. When you’re dealing with someone as unreliable as Trump, you have to read the small print.

If precedent is anything to go by, Trump will be working behind the scenes to extract more concessions. We need a cast-iron guarantee that the NHS will be exempt from any kind of Trump deal and that US tech giants won’t be given a tax cut.

Lib Dem MP to take Thames Water to the Supreme Court

Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard will be appealing to the Supreme Court, and asking them to hear his case against the Thames Water (TW) restructuring plan.

This follows Charlie’s case earlier in the year which was heard in the High Court. Charlie is arguing that the public and customer interests should be taken into account for this restructuring plan given Thames Water provides essential public services and has a monopoly over customers, and that the Court should not leave it up to the Secretary of State or Ofwat to decide whether there are any public interest objections.

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Neil Casey

Drilling for illusions: Why more North Sea oil won’t cut your energy bills

By Neil Casey | Tue 17th June 2025 - 3:00 pm

Oil markets are on edge again. With the price of Brent crude fluctuating amid the ongoing Israel–Iran conflict, you’d think drilling more in the North Sea would be the obvious fix for UK households drowning in energy costs. You’ve probably heard the claim: if the UK just drilled more oil and gas from the North Sea, we could reduce our reliance on imports and bring down energy prices. It’s a line repeated by politicians and industry figures alike. But even in a storm of geopolitical shocks, more domestic extraction won’t shield us from global price swings or cut what we pay at the pump or on our heating bills.

North Sea oil is not reserved for domestic use. It’s extracted by private companies who then sell it on the global market to the highest bidder. It doesn’t stay in the UK, and it’s not priced for UK customers. That means that even if it’s drilled off the coast of Aberdeen or Shetland, it could end up in China or the USA – whoever pays the best price. The UK then buys back refined oil products, particularly diesel and jet fuel, at global prices, just like everyone else. And even though the UK is a net exporter of petrol, the price you pay at the pump is still determined by the global market.

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Mark Valladares

Diary of a Returning Officer: Week 1 – the Regional Candidates Chair has called, and I’ve said yes…

By Mark Valladares | Tue 17th June 2025 - 1:00 pm

There’s been a lot of debate, dare I say controversy, over the recent proposal to Federal Conference regarding how Parliamentary candidate selections are managed. But perhaps it might be interesting to see how the process actually works…

I’ve been a Returning Officer for the Party for a very long time, more than thirty years. My “patch” has generally been the South East of England, covering four of the Party’s Regions – London, South East England, South Central and the East of England. There was a time when I “had ballot box, will travel” but, for a variety of reasons, I’m not willing to take on too many these days. On the other hand, the modern processes don’t actually require me to leave my home office, so I can theoretically cover more territory.

A few days ago, I had a phone call from our Regional Candidates Chair. That’s not totally unusual, as I was foolish enough to stand for the Regional Candidates Committee which, of course, she chairs. And, as a veteran of the candidate selection processes, she apparently values my opinion – or humours me, you’d have to ask her that. She had a request, would I take on a selection? I thought about it for a moment, but agreed readily enough. She promised to put me in touch with the Local Party and, after a quick chat about general business, we said our goodbyes.

So, I need to do some preparation. First of all, there are new Selection Rules, approved by English Council in March. As I’m not a member of English Council, I hadn’t read them. And now I have. They are, it must be said, a streamlined version of what had previously existed which, in turn, was a streamlined version of its predecessor. The new version runs to just nine pages plus some Appendices, which cover another ten. They aren’t as daunting as they might have been.

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Jack Meredith

You can’t spend sovereignty, Mr. Farage

By Jack Meredith | Tue 17th June 2025 - 11:09 am

In 2015, Nigel Farage visited Swansea, Wales, in the run-up to the referendum on European Union membership. He made several claims during his visit, stating that Wales was receiving a “rotten deal” from the EU, alleging its membership was causing severe damage to the Welsh steel industry and that small businesses were at risk of collapse. He claimed that the UK had ceded control of fishing, industry, farming, and business to the EU, but provided no evidence to support these claims.

Fast forward four years. By this time, the UK had voted to leave the EU, and Mr Farage was back in Wales once more, this time in Merthyr Tydfil, campaigning for a UKIP victory in the European elections. When questioned by a BBC reporter about the benefits to Wales of leaving the EU, by then referred to as “Brexit”, Mr Farage was unable to answer. When questioned about the money Wales received from the EU, specifically £250 million a year, Mr Farage simply responded that “we” have given away hundreds of billions over the last few decades.

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Mark Valladares

16 June 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Mon 16th June 2025 - 10:45 pm
  • More than 1.3 million PIP claimants at risk of losing support with worst hit areas revealed
  • Davey: Starmer must rule out Trump tax on life-saving drugs
  • Casey Review: Victims must finally get the justice they deserve
  • McArthur: SNP must explain why it is using England as ‘dumping ground’

More than 1.3 million PIP claimants at risk of losing support with worst hit areas revealed

The Government’s cuts to Personal Independence Payments could leave 1.3 million people claiming the standard and enhanced-rate payment for daily living activities at risk of losing some support, analysis of the Government’s response to a Liberal Democrat Written Parliamentary Question has revealed.

Under the Government’s plans, from November 2026 people on PIP will be required to score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to receive support with everyday tasks such as washing and cooking. Those scoring less will lose access to the “daily living” component, which for some will result in a full withdrawal of the benefit.

The Government’s response to a Lib Dem Written Parliamentary Question revealed the number of current claimants who did not score at least four points. The figure hit 1.3 million, with 1.1 million standard-rate and 200,000 enhanced-rate claimants at risk. It means that 87% of standard-rate claimants and 13% of the enhanced-rate claimants could lose out.

The analysis also revealed the number of claimants at risk in each constituency. The constituency with the highest number of claimants who could lose support was Liverpool Walton with 5,250 enhanced and standard-rate claimants at risk. This was followed by Blackpool South and Liverpool Riverside with 5,060 and 4,940 respectively.

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Samuel Jackson

We need a debate on Electoral Reform

By Samuel Jackson | Mon 16th June 2025 - 7:15 pm

As we approach the first anniversary of Labour’s loveless landslide general election victory, it is worth taking stock of the current state of British politics.

The Starmer ministry has committed a series of unpopular acts, many of which run contrary to the ethos of the Labour Party as the left-leaning of the two major parties and have proven alienating to some of their key voters. The Conservatives have failed to make any significant recovery in the opinion polls, likely due to ongoing backlash against their disastrous decisions over austerity, Brexit, coronavirus, the cost-of-living crisis and the mini-budget. And Reform UK seems on track to form the next government on a lower vote share than Labour won in 2024, with Labour and the Conservatives seemingly aping their anti-migrant, anti-woke policies in a desperate bid to reattract disaffected voters.

Such a picture would surely highlight the need for a more responsive democracy in the UK. Having usually elected a single party to majority government on under half of the national vote, First Past the Post has proven unconducive to delivering such a democracy. With declining support for the two-party status quo, FPTP may serve to elect Parliaments that have little or no bearing on voters’ intentions.

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: We must never deny the importance of soft power

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 16th June 2025 - 4:35 pm

No one can deny the reality that we live in an increasingly dangerous world.

Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine. Israel’s war with Hamas. The dangerous stand off between Iran and Israel. Ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. The Democratic Republic of Congo. And on and on.

With the benefit of hindsight how foolish it now seems for the political scientist Francis Fukuyama to have declared, in an at the time much lauded book in 1992, the ‘end of history.’ The argument that, with the conclusion of the Cold War, Western liberal democracy had won the battle of ideas and beaten autocracy; as he wrote, ‘not just… the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: That is, the end-point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalisation of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.’

If only, eh?

Less than a decade later such a theory began to be tested to distruction with the 9/11 attacks on American power by Islamist terrorists and the subsequent ‘war on terror.’. Two decades on from that, the world, as noted above, whilst not quite in flames is certainly more dangerous and uncertain than since the end of the Cold War if not longer.

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Mark Paine

‘What is truth?’ (and why this matters to Liberal Democrats)

By Mark Paine | Mon 16th June 2025 - 2:16 pm

We live in a post-truth age. No longer is there any such thing as objective reality. On both Left and Right, the media, commentators and politicians present their own subjective reality, primarily based on feelings and lived experiences. These alternate realities allow facts to be denied, history to be altered and new ‘facts’ to be created which are more conducive to the mindset of other people who live in this particular simulacrum of ‘real’ reality. When facts do not matter, when a lie is believed even when all the evidence points to the contrary, when we cannot or refuse …

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Suzanne Fletcher

How to empty the hotels

By Suzanne Fletcher | Mon 16th June 2025 - 11:15 am

It is a Labour pledge to empty all hotels of asylum seekers by the next general election. So how are they going to do it?

I sincerely hope not by expanding sites like Wethersfield where, as the Helen Bamber Foundation has said that accommodating people at the base causes harm to their physical and mental health and “Housing people, including survivors of torture and trafficking, in an isolated, overcrowded camp reminiscent of an open-air prison, with inadequate healthcare and legal services, is an inhumane way to treat those seeking protection.”.

There are Liberal Democrat alternatives, other than “I wouldn’t have started from here.”. All the following is established Lib Dem policy.

We start from the premise that there needs to be radical reform, independent of central Government, to speed up decision making. Such should be taken out of political control completely and move towards a caseworker-model of support for applicants, to seek just outcomes that are right first time. It is no use moving policy-making to different departments if the Home Office retains control of the process of administering and assessing applications. It isn’t just a quicker decision that is needed but one that is right first time. 75% of decisions are appealed and 33% of those are allowed first time. If the cost of appeals were to be transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Home Office that in itself would make a difference. It is easy to refuse and then hope a person did not appeal. Sometimes the Home Office do not even bother turning up at an appeal hearing. If they had to pay for it, they would do a better job.

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John Jewers

Governments must do more for survivors of same-sex sexual assault

By John Jewers | Mon 16th June 2025 - 7:30 am

There’s a strange fact which you may not know about the UK. You live in the world’s only country that tells the world that no person (man or woman) can ever be raped by a woman. 

Imagine telling a lesbian that they don’t count because their assaulter wasn’t a man? We live in a time where it is in vogue to put on a rainbow in June but gay or lesbian survivors of same-sex assault aren’t even recorded. Is this not the peak of homophobia? But this is our law.

Here’s another funny fact. We’re the world’s only jurisdiction that records sexual violence against men as a crime against women and girls. The state telling men who are sexually assaulted that they are actually women is one of the worst and most demeaning insults male survivors can endure. I know, because I am one. It implies that my manhood is gone because I was victimised. Alas, neither Labour or the Conservatives seem to think this is a big problem. 

The situation for male survivors especially is worsening. Today a little under half of crisis centres will turn men away from their door. But in 2025, the government is cutting the country’s only support line for male survivors. The cost of maintaining this line is not much, a mere £250,000 pa.

Empathy is a value that our party puts first. I am a survivor of sexual violence. I live in a world that is hostile to my existence.

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Mark Valladares

14-15 June 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 15th June 2025 - 11:30 pm
  • SNP’s ScotRail: 17,000 cancellations and 300,000 trains running late
  • Greene brands Findlay “McFarage”

SNP’s ScotRail: 17,000 cancellations and 300,000 trains running late

In his first major investigation since being appointed transport spokesperson, Scottish Liberal Democrat Jamie Greene MSP has revealed that more than 17,000 trains were cancelled and a further 300,000 did not arrive on time last year on government-owned ScotRail.

Mr Greene is now calling on the Scottish Government to deliver a reliable railway system that works for all communities, all ages and the climate.

Figures provided by Transport Scotland to Scottish Liberal Democrats have revealed that:

  • 17,491 trains were cancelled in the financial year

…

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Mark Valladares

13 June 2025 – Friday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 15th June 2025 - 3:04 pm
  • Davey: International leadership is needed now
  • Davey urges Starmer to forge new UK-Canada defence pact to reduce reliance on Trump
  • Greene to Tories: It’s Kemi-geddon
  • Greene: Badenoch might as well say vote Lib Dem

Davey: International leadership is needed now

Following Israel’s strikes in Iran overnight, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

People across the UK and the world will be fearing the break-out of widespread regional conflict in the Middle East, following Israel’s strikes overnight.

The UK must work with allies to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions through diplomacy, not war.

The UK Government should urge both Israel and Iran not to do anything that will escalate the situation any further.

International leadership is needed now.

Davey urges Starmer to forge new UK-Canada defence pact to reduce reliance on Trump

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has called on the Prime Minister to forge a new UK-Canada defence pact, to strengthen national security and boost the economy, while reducing both countries’ reliance on Donald Trump’s US administration.

It comes as Keir Starmer is expected to arrive in Canada ahead of the G7 summit beginning this weekend.

This week the Trump administration said it would review the submarine deal with the UK and Australia, saying the security pact must fit its “America First” agenda.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Trump has shown his disregard for our collective security time and time again – not least this week, displaying total indifference to his traditional allies by threatening the future of the AUKUS defence agreement.

We should work with our Commonwealth ally Canada as it joins the UK in increasing defence spending, but also looks to move away from its reliance on US military exports.

That is why I am urging the Prime Minister to propose a new, bilateral UK-Canada defence pact at the G7 this weekend, making us more secure while also boosting British manufacturing.

Greene to Tories: It’s Kemi-geddon

Speaking as the Scottish Conservative conference gets underway at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene said:

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John Kelly

UK sanctions on Israeli ministers must be a turning point, not a token gesture

By John Kelly | Sun 15th June 2025 - 12:15 pm

This week, the UK government announced sanctions on Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, alongside Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway. citing their incitement of violence and abuses of Palestinian human rights. This marks a significant shift – from targeting individual settlers to sanctioning sitting ministers – and is a move the Liberal Democrats have long called for in parliament. 

But if this action is to be more than symbolic, it must mark a broader change in UK policy. Sanctions should not stop at ministers who incite violence; they must extend …

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Tom Arms

Tom Arms’ World Review

By Tom Arms | Sun 15th June 2025 - 10:11 am

United States

The Los Angeles riots started at a local Home Depot store. These stores are a national network of shops selling hardware and DIY material.

Throughout America they act as a magnet for illegal aliens—main Hispanic and Latinos—who base themselves outside shops in search of part-time construction and handyman jobs.

Where illegal aliens gather you will now find Trumps ICE (Immigration Control Enforcement) agents ready to swoop down, arrest, detain and deport. Which is exactly what happened last Friday at the Home Depot store in Los Angeles’s Westlake District and at LA’s Huntington Park.

Normally, the arrests are relatively peaceful. The arrestees may try to run for it, but generally, they are quiet affairs. This time they fought back. They were soon joined by friends, neighbours and family trying to prevent the arrests.

The result was a riot. There was looting and cars were set alight. But the fighting was confined to a few city blocks. Elsewhere in Los Angeles life continued as normal.

Trump did not care. The Los Angeles riots were an opportunity to project his strong man image on the one issue that resonates most with American voters—immigration. Despite the local nature of the riots he went over Governor Gavin Newsom’s head and ordered in 2,000 National Guardsmen and 600 marines.

According to the LAPD, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass and Governor Newsom, Trump inflamed the situation and – most important of all—broke the law.

The law which they claim Trump broke is the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which restricts the use of federal troops for domestic law enforcement. There are exceptions, mainly those governed by the 1807 Insurrection Act which says the president can order in federal troops in order to suppress rebellion or insurrection or to enforce federal law when local authorities are unwilling or unable to do so.

The Home Depot disturbances were not an insurrection—however much far-right nationalists claim otherwise. Neither were they a rebellion. And as for the willingness of the local authorities, the mayor had already ordered in the police who said they were in control.

The end result is three-fold. First liberal progressives are now convinced that Trump will use every demonstration as an excuse to shout “insurrection” and possibly declare martial law which could lead to a postponement of elections. Secondly, MAGA Republicans think their president is even more wonderful which means the country is even more divided. Finally, Trump faces another court case. This time he is being taken court by Governor Newsom who also happens to be the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028.

Trump v Musk

The Battle of the Titans—Trump v. Musk—is over. And Trump has won.

It was inevitable. Alright, Musk is the world’s wealthiest man at $400-plus billion. But Trump controls the machinery of the world’s most powerful country, and he has repeatedly proven that he is not afraid to use that power to further his own ends.

Musk talked—or rather tweeted—big about exposing Trump’s sexual antics and funding a third political party. But his power is based entirely on his pile of cash and Trump has the power to reduce it.

Musk does have some leverage. Both NASA and the Pentagon are dependent on the billionaire’s technology to maintain vital satellite communications and complete planned lunar expeditions. The contracts to provide this technology are worth billions for several years to come.

Trump—in one of his more peevish moods—did threaten to terminate those contracts. It was an empty threat.

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Mark Valladares

12 June 2025 – the Scottish press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 15th June 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Cole-Hamilton: Youth work is key to tackling youth violence
  • Cole-Hamilton to Swinney: Do the right thing and give Fornethy survivors access to Redress
  • Wishart comments on energy report calling for delay to RTS switch off
  • Cole-Hamilton calls for investment in concrete youth work after summit

Cole-Hamilton: Youth work is key to tackling youth violence

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and former youth worker Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called for greater investment in youth work ahead of a summit on youth violence.

Later today, Alex will attend a cross-party summit hosted by the First Minister on tackling youth violence and knife crime.

It follows a recent spate of violent incidents involving young people across the country, including the murder of 16 year-old Kayden Moy on Irvine Beach.

Before entering politics, Alex was a youth worker. During that time, he worked with a range of vulnerable young people, including those who had grown up in the care system and children who had been trafficked to Scotland.

Commenting ahead of the summit, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

For the best part of twenty years, I was a youth worker, helping some of the most disengaged young people get their lives back on track.

That experience taught me that no child is inherently bad. Most of the time, they are just in need of some direction, a need that has only been fuelled by the isolating impact of lockdown.

That’s where youth work comes in: it provides young people with the direction they need and gives them a positive adult role model who is neither a teacher nor a parent.

It teaches teenagers to come out of their comfort zone, helps them rebuild their sense of self-worth and fosters a whole host of key life skills.

Since the pandemic, however, the SNP have presided over the quiet death of youth work. Budgets have been squeezed, services have struggled to survive, just when we need them the most.

While acts of violence require a strong response, punishing predominantly law-abiding young people cannot be our broader solution. We need youth work to pre-empt and prevent those acts of violence, to properly engage young people in society and lay the foundations for them to succeed in life.

Cole-Hamilton to Swinney: Do the right thing and give Fornethy survivors access to Redress

Ahead of a members’ business debate in the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has urged John Swinney to do the right thing and grant the Fornethy House survivors access to the Redress compensation scheme.

The Scottish Government’s Redress Scheme pays out up to £100,000 and offers support to those abused in residential care.

More than 200 women have now come forward alleging that they were sexually, physically and mentally abused in the 1960s and 70s at Fornethy House- an all-girls residential school in Angus.

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Mark Valladares

12 June 2025 – Thursday’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sat 14th June 2025 - 11:05 pm
  • GDP figures: Chancellor’s claims at spending review have not “survived contact with reality”
  • Spending review: Over £4.5 billion of “hidden” cuts to departments could be avoided with better UK-EU trade deal
  • Reeves must rule out tax rises for families and small businesses, say Lib Dems
  • AUKUS: Trump move to bring submarine deal under review throws “grenade” into security partnership

GDP figures: Chancellor’s claims at spending review have not “survived contact with reality”

Responding to GDP falling by 0.3% in April, the first month of figures since the employers’ national insurance rise came into effect and Trump’s tariffs came into effect, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

At the spending review yesterday the Chancellor suggested that the country was on the up but today this claim has not survived contact with reality.

Today’s figures should be a wake up call for the Government which has so far refused to listen to the small businesses struggling to cope with the jobs tax, worried that our high streets will be completely hollowed out and that our hospitality sector is hanging by a thread.

To tackle Trump’s tariffs, Ministers must stop cowering in the corner and get on with building an economic coalition of the willing with our European and Commonwealth neighbours.

It’s time for the Government to get serious, scrap their damaging jobs tax and go for growth with a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union that will raise billions to re-build our public services.

Spending review: Over £4.5 billion of “hidden” cuts to departments could be avoided with better UK-EU trade deal

Government departments are facing real-terms cuts of £4.6 billion by 2028-29, Liberal Democrat analysis of the Spending Review has revealed.

The Liberal Democrats said these “painful cuts” could be avoided by boosting growth, including through a better UK-EU trade deal that could boost public finances by around £25 billion a year.

Some departments will see significant cuts over the spending review period. The Foreign Office, Home Office and Department for Transport are all expected to be hit with real-terms cuts of over £1 billion. DEFRA will also see a £355 million real-terms cut over three years.

The Liberal Democrats said that the spending review will see public services already stretched to breaking point be expected to endure another round of painful cuts.

The party said that the Government would not have to make these choices if it got a better trade deal with the EU and moved to negotiating a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union. Previous analysis has found that a better deal even within the Government’s own red lines could boost GDP by 2.2% raising £25 billion a year in extra revenue for the Exchequer.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

Hidden in the small print of the spending review are painful cuts to public spending, with funding for social care and our police being stretched to breaking point.

We cannot afford to wait another decade for the government to fix social care while patients are treated in hospital corridors and elderly people wait for months on end for a care home place.

The Chancellor would not have to make these difficult choices if she got serious about going for growth, got a better trade deal with the EU and cut red tape for British businesses.

That is the best way to boost our economy, put more money into people’s pockets and rebuild our public services.

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Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Bombing Iran

By Tom Arms | Sat 14th June 2025 - 10:03 am

There is no safe way to bomb an Iranian nuclear reactor.

This is especially true of Iran’s facilities as the key ones are buried deep underground and heavily protected.

The more impregnable the target. The bigger the bomb required to destroy it. The greater the risk of a nuclear disaster.

This is why Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), quickly called a press conference when he heard of Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear power plants.

Nuclear sites, he said, should never be attacked. He added: “Any military action that jeopardises the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region and beyond.”

The 1986 Chernobyl Disaster resulted in radioactive dust carried to a dozen European countries. Forests died in Scandinavia. Fish stocks were polluted and restrictions on sheep grazing were in place in Wales and the English Lake District for decades. A total of 2,600 square kilometres around Chernobyl has been closed.

Iran has five nuclear facilities – Natanza, Fordow, Isfahan, Arabk and Bushehr. The ones suspected of producing nuclear warheads are Natanza and Fordow. Natanza’s reactors are buried 40-50 metres underground. Fordow’s are also buried deep inside a mountain.

If one of them is severely damaged than the Shamal wind would blow radioactive particles towards Iraq, Syria, the Persian Gulf, Lebanon and even Israel.

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dems in the Birthday Honours

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 13th June 2025 - 11:15 pm

From a quick late night glance at the Birthday Honours I have found just two  Liberal Democrats from searching political service and local government.

Mike Cox, Party Treasurer  and Bournemouth Councillor gets a CBE for public and political service. From other parties, Penny Mordaunt becomes a dame and I was really pleased to see Glasgow  Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy get an MBE.

Council Leader Stephen Giles-Medhurst from Three Rivers gets an OBE.

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Chris Ward

ALDC by-election Report, 12th June

By Chris Ward | Fri 13th June 2025 - 5:55 pm

This week saw the first non-Thursday by-election of the new cycle, with a Labour defence in Stroud on Wednesday. The Green Party narrowly beat Reform UK and the Conservatives, as Labour were pushed into fourth place. Thank you to Mike Stayte and the team for flying the Lib Dem flag mid-week.

Stroud District Council, Severn
Green Party: 439 (27.8%, +10.0)
Conservative: 425 (26.9%, -6.6)
Reform UK: 421 (26.7%, new)
Labour: 177 (11.2%, -21.3)
Liberal Democrats (Mike Stayte): 112 (7.1%, -9.1)
UKIP: 5 (0.3%, new)

Green Party GAIN from Labour

This was followed by four Thursday elections, three of which had a Liberal Democrat on the ballot. It was another Green Party victory in Mid Suffolk, this time a hold. Thank you to Tim Glenton and the team for getting the Lib Dems onto the ballot this time, when we weren’t previously.

Mid Suffolk District Council, Haughley, Stowupland & Wetherden
Green Party: 901 (64.1%, -12.7)
Conservative: 444 (31.6%, +8.4)
Liberal Democrats (Tim Glenton): 61 (4.3%, new)

Green Party HOLD

In Leeds, Reform UK continued their strong performance against localists, this time gaining from Morley Borough Independents. Well done to Michael Fox and the team for jumping up into third place with a great vote share increase!

Leeds City Council MBC, Morley South
Reform UK: 2,119 (36.8%, +29.8)
Morley Borough Independents: 1,450 (25.2%, -12.9)
Liberal Democrats (Michael Fox): 1,009 (17.5%, +15.9)
Labour: 634 (11.0%, -20.3)
Green Party: 313 (4.3%, new)
Conservative: 230 (4.0%, -5.6)

Reform UK GAIN from Morley Borough Independents

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Kieron Franks

Leading the Fight for Local Government: Why you should vote in the LGA elections

By Kieron Franks | Fri 13th June 2025 - 12:16 pm

3000

No, I’m not quoting the Busted song – this is the approximate electorate for this year’s Lib Dem Local Government Association Group Elections! It’s a number of councillors that only a few years ago would have looked completely inconceivable and it’s a testament to the hard work of councillors and campaigners across the country that we’re in range of overtaking the Tories as the 2nd largest party in local government.

Our 2025 cohort join us during the most critical time for local councils in over 50 years with Local Government Reorganisation and local budgets stretched to the absolute limit. We now have 76 council leaders (we might need some new giant numbers for Autumn Conference…) managing billions in council budgets and countless opposition groups holding their administrations to account while fighting for a new structure of local government that can still deliver for our residents. No pressure!

Who we elect as our leadership at the LGA is central to ensuring that we have the powers and the money to shape our communities, working with the Government where we can and taking them to task when they push to transfer even more power to Whitehall. While we know who most of our group officers will be (congratulations to Joe Harris, Bridget Smith and Heather Kidd on their re-election), we also need to decide who will represent us when negotiating key areas of LGA policy – fighting for effective regulatory powers, planning policy that works for our communities and funding for children’s services.

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Andrew Chandler

Reeves’ Spending Review lacks vision

By Andrew Chandler | Thu 12th June 2025 - 1:23 pm

In the afterglow of Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review, Labour’s press machine was quick to declare victory. Behind the slogans, the figures, and the bumptious cheers from the Labour benches, reality reared its head — fast and unflinching.

Yes, the NHS has gotten a financial uplift. Day-to-day spending is to increase to 3% per year. A welcome move. But let’s not uncork the bubbly just yet – since 1999, most parliaments have averaged a 4% increase. And anyone who’s ever tried to buy medical equipment knows, health inflation tends to swagger above consumer average.

And behind the figures and planted slogans; Reeves tried to hide—like a magician shuffling a bent card back into the deck—the real sin. The real detail, if you look hard enough, is hidden in plain sight. The capital budget – for bricks, beds, scanners and surgical machines – is flat. Flat in real terms over the review period. So while Reeves praises its “Labour choices”, the reality is a Review that feels like it offers the NHS by putting on fresh coat of paint on a house riddled with damp.

And what of social care? A passing mention? No. Not a word. A critical part of tackling patient backlog, ignored. As Daisy Cooper rightly called it – a missed opportunity. Labour hoped some wouldn’t notice. But some of us did while social care is kicked back again into the long grass.

Much like some of us noticed Labour’s clumsy sleight of hand with the bus fare cap. “We’ve kept it at £3!” I saw them gloat on their social media’s. Yes, after you raised it from £2 last year. The party that hiked the fare now wants applause for “protecting” the price they hiked up. Working people, like myself, who actually use buses – we’re not daft. The message smells less of sincerity, more of spin and exhaust fumes.

Still, I’ll admit: not all was bleak.

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Jack Meredith

Make Wales great again? Reactions to Nigel Farage’s vision for Wales

By Jack Meredith | Thu 12th June 2025 - 10:04 am

This past week, Nigel Farage took to Wales Online to outline his vision for Wales, ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections.

His article, published on Sunday, June 8th, at 10:30 PM, bears all the hallmarks of what is to be expected from a regressive, right-wing populist voice such as Mr Farage.

Firstly, his first reference to Wales isn’t of the 20s, the 10s, the 00s, or any time in modern history; it’s 1851. Mr Farage’s entire argument relies upon the 1851 census to justify Reform’s manifesto, citing the number of people in industrial jobs rather than agricultural ones, and even makes the bold claim that Reform will “reindustrialise Wales” by reopening coal mines, in one of his many attempts to defeat “woke spending”.

Of course, I can’t speak for everyone in Wales, but I can for my family. My grandparents’ relatives worked down the mines, and they did not live to see past 50 years old due to ill health and complications related to coal dust in their lungs. I’ve no doubt this story is the same for so many others in Wales. Nobody in their right mind wants to see the mines reopened.

Mr Farage goes on, moving from the coal mines to the need for regional technical colleges, to teach young people trades such as welding, plumbing and industrial automation. While I am far from opposed to apprenticeships and believe they are vital for providing a wide variety of career choices, Mr Farage’s support for them doesn’t stem from the same sentiment. He believes that there are “useful degrees,” and that people not studying science, technology, engineering, medicine, or mathematics need not bother going to university and should instead invest in a trade.

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Mark Valladares

11 June 2025 – today’s other press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 11th June 2025 - 11:45 pm
  • 10-Year rail funding reaction – Labour showing contempt to Wales
  • Greene criticises potential closure of Scottish bus builders
  • Rennie: Swapping around a few ministers won’t erase SNP failures

10-Year rail funding reaction – Labour showing contempt to Wales

Responding to Labour’s announcement that the £445 million they announced for rail funding this morning will, in fact, be spread out over 10 years, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP said:

Labour’s contempt for Wales just gets worse and worse.

The indefensible decision to spread this measly amount of rail funding over 10 years not only robs Wales of what it is owed for past projects, but also guarantees that we will continue to fall behind in infrastructure spending, as major transport projects in England get the green light.

Labour clearly has no interest in growing the Welsh economy or giving us the tools we need to thrive and attract investment into our country.

Greene criticises potential closure of Scottish bus builders

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP has today said that the wheels are falling off the SNP’s economic strategy as it was announced that bus builder Alexander Dennis has launched a consultation on potentially closing its Falkirk and Larbert sites and moving all production to Scarborough, citing a lack of forthcoming work.

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