Lisa Smart

Lisa Smart MP writes…Why now is the time to update our thinking on digital ID

By Lisa Smart | Wed 3rd September 2025 - 11:55 am

Back in the 2000s, the Liberal Democrats led the fight against the Labour Government’s plans for compulsory ID cards and a vast, centralised database of personal information. The scheme was expensive, invasive, and fundamentally illiberal, and we were absolutely right to oppose it.

The values that guided us then still underpin our work today. We remain firmly committed to protecting privacy and civil liberties, and to limiting the power of the state. But the tools now available to both invade and protect privacy have evolved dramatically. In this new information age, it is only right that we take a fresh look at how best to defend these principles.

Smartphones are ubiquitous. Many of us now access banking, healthcare, and public services online. Meanwhile, private companies have created their own forms of digital identity, and government departments have trialled new systems, often without a clear, open debate about their scope or safeguards.

The world has changed profoundly, but our policy has remained largely unchanged for twenty years.

In an increasingly digital world, it is worth asking whether we should revisit our approach to ensure it continues to protect the freedoms we have always sought to uphold.

So what should we be thinking about?

It seems to me that any digital identity system needs to respect individual autonomy; needs to be voluntary, not compulsory; needs to protect people’s data, rather than collect more than is needed; and needs to be secure, transparent and designed with clear legal limits.

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NewsHound

Liblink Christine Jardine: Human beings are human beings

By NewsHound | Wed 3rd September 2025 - 10:25 am

In her column for the Scotsman this week, Christine Jardine tackles the issue of immigration head on.

She starts by talking about the issue of the protests at the hotels where asylum seekers have been accommodated and the court action surrounding the use of those hotels:

igger now than before the break, with a legal ruling in England which cast doubt on the future of asylum hotels and added to Nigel Farage’s ramping up of the rhetoric to push his party’s case. The Home Office successfully challenged the ruling, but there had already been protests and the espousal of anti-immigration rhetoric which made my blood run cold.

Build camps, treat people fleeing persecution and poverty like criminals, pay regimes like the Taliban to take back those whose only desire was to escape them and build a better, freer life for their families is what he calls for.

Nobody climbs into a flimsy overcrowded boat to endure a life-threatening journey with no life jackets for their children because it was the easy option?

Yet that is how Farage and his followers paint it in a campaign which aims to undermine the international structure of protections for Human Rights for refugees, indeed for us all, which grew out of the chaos and persecution of the Second World War.

Ahd she’s not happy at how some politicians are reacting to all of this:

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Rowan Fitton

Conference Countdown: The UK Government must provide stability to Ukrainian children in the UK

By Rowan Fitton | Wed 3rd September 2025 - 8:55 am

For over three years, the people of the UK have opened their homes to Ukrainian families and welcomed them into our communities. Offering them safety in the face of Russia’s indiscriminate shelling of cities and the illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory. However, at no point over these three years has our government provided Ukrainian families with certainty or stability. 

So far, the UK government, first under the Conservatives and now under Labour, has refused to grant any permanent status to Ukrainians residing in the UK. The current visa system is strictly temporary and requires extending each time. Which means that Ukrainians face difficulties in securing rental agreements or job offers, and can often feel unsure about putting down roots in their local communities.

This uncertain status also has an impact on Ukrainian children and their education. The temporary nature of their status means that families could be forced to return during a child’s exams, or that children could be uprooted for a second time after living the majority of their lives in the UK. Children need stability to achieve their full potential and young people deserve to make the most of opportunities presented to them no matter their circumstances. 

At multiple different points, and in multiple different contexts, the concerns of Ukrainian parents and the difficulties facing their children have been clearly articulated. As such, those of us in the Young Liberals, as the party’s official diversity AO for children and young people, took it as a sign that something needed to be done.

As such, YL has submitted a motion for debate later this month at Autumn Conference entitled ‘Certainty for Ukrainian Children Living and Learning in the UK’, which will be moved by our party’s Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart MP. The motion outlines a clear set of policies designed to ensure Ukrainian children and their families have the stability and support needed to flourish whilst they are residing in the UK. 

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Mark Valladares

2 September 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 2nd September 2025 - 11:15 pm
  • Reform Journalist Ban: Lib Dems call for DCMS committee inquiry as Farage testifies in US on free speech
  • Lib Dems slam Reform council as “bad Vance tribute band” and call on Farage to expel leader as local journalists banned until they ‘apologise’
  • Rennie comments on embargoed housing report
  • Cole-Hamilton: 85 drug deaths each month is a national tragedy
  • Operations remain below pre-pandemic levels
  • Cole-Hamilton: SNP have ripped up promises on delayed discharges
  • Scotland needs world class mental health services as psychological therapies target missed again
  • Nursing and midwifery vacancies rise by more than 50% in just 6 months

Reform Journalist Ban: Lib Dems call for DCMS committee inquiry as Farage testifies in US on free speech

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to launch an inquiry into Reform UK banning its councillors in Nottinghamshire from speaking to local media, as Nigel Farage visits the US tomorrow to testify before Congress on free speech.

This comes after the Reform UK leader of Nottinghamshire County Council banned a local newspaper and local democracy reporters from speaking to him or any of his councillors, except for in ‘emergency’ situations.

Liberal Democrat Media, Culture and Sports Spokesperson Max Wilkinson will be writing to the DCMS committee chair to call on Nigel Farage to give evidence to the UK Parliament on why his councillors are being gagged from speaking to the media.

Liberal Democrat Media, Culture and Sports Spokesperson Max Wilkinson MP said:

It’s barmy that after six weeks away from Parliament, Nigel Farage is skipping the first days of the Autumn term to go jet-setting wearing his MAGA hat and waving his Trump pom-poms.

Instead of peddling myths to the US Congress about free speech in the UK, he should be giving evidence to our Parliament on why his own party is cracking down on free speech by gagging his Reform colleagues from speaking to the media.

He should focus on getting his own house in order before going on tour to badmouth Britain.

Lib Dems slam Reform council as “bad Vance tribute band” and call on Farage to expel leader as local journalists banned until they ‘apologise’

Responding to reporting that Reform council leader Mick Barton will keep local democracy reporters banned from reporting on the council until they ‘apologise’, Max Wilkinson MP, Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport Spokesperson and former local journalist, said:

Reform’s gang of councillors are acting like a bad JD Vance tribute band.

Politicians demanding that those on the side of democracy grovel and apologise without reason — we saw and condemned that behaviour in Trump’s Oval Office. It’s horrendous to see it happening in Britain.

As a former local journalist I’m appalled to see Reform’s disregard for basic transparency.

Farage must step in and expel Barton from Reform immediately. He is not fit to grace public office.

Rennie comments on embargoed housing report

Commenting on the embargoed report commissioned by Shelter Scotland, CIH Scotland and SFHA into Scotland’s housing need, Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP said:

This report sets out the scale of the challenge we face in tackling the housing emergency. Through years of drift the SNP government deprioritised housing and stopped listening to the needs of the sector and of ordinary people who are desperate for a home.

Homelessness applications rose again last year and the number of households and children in temporary accommodation hit record highs. Concerningly the number of homeless households not even being offered temporary accommodation spiked to over seven thousand.

Slashing the affordable housing budget by the SNP and Greens was a grave mistake which Scottish Liberal Democrats reversed in this year’s budget. However we need to go further to build more homes, bring thousands of empty homes back into use and re-establish social rent as a valid, long-term option.

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Mark Valladares

1 September 2025 – yesterday’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 2nd September 2025 - 10:04 pm
  • Lib Dems write to Badenoch telling her to “come clean” on allegations of made-up academic record
  • Kemi Badenoch visit is a timely reminder for Scottish Conservatives to jump ship
  • Landslides continue to block A83 in Argyll because of years of SNP dithering
  • Greene: No end to ferry nightmare amid fresh delay

Lib Dems write to Badenoch telling her to “come clean” on allegations of made-up academic record

The Liberal Democrats have written to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, calling on her to come clean over doubts reported in the Guardian over her claim that she was offered a place at the US University Stanford when she was just 16.

Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Munira Wilson has now written to Badenoch calling on her to “come clean” and give the full story behind these allegations. In her letter, Munira Wilson noted that when commenting on allegations surrounding the Chancellor’s CV Badenoch said that “restoring trust in politics is the great test of our era” and asked that Rachel Reeves “comes clean”.

She said that if Badenoch refused to do so she would “devalue the work” of all those who received their A-levels and GCSEs in the past few weeks.

Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Munira Wilson MP said:

After the endless comments she made over Rachel Reeves’ CV, if these allegations prove to be true she will have set a new world record for hypocrisy.

If Kemi Badenoch cares about restoring trust she should start by explaining her own academic record.

Failing to come clean over these allegations would send a message to the thousands of pupils who just received their exam results that their hard work does not matter and that you can just bluff your way to the top.

Kemi Badenoch visit is a timely reminder for Scottish Conservatives to jump ship

Responding to Kemi Badenoch’s visit to Scotland, Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene, who defected from the Conservatives earlier this year, said:

I know that many Conservatives are completely sickened by how desperately low their party has fallen with their climate change denial, stoking up community grievances and ripping up any decency they had left.

Kemi Badenoch’s visit might just be a timely reminder to them that jumping ship, as I did, is the only way out of the sorry mess the Tories have become in Scotland.

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David Chalmers

ALDE delegation – it’s international work

By David Chalmers | Tue 2nd September 2025 - 10:33 am
In my article on the ALDE delegation elections I explained about the delegates to ALDE Council up for election this autumn. The post covers the work of the ALDE delegations.
Internationalism is one of the absolute core values of our party and since leaving the EU we have waged a battle to ensure that the LibDems, retain our

…

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Mathew Hulbert

Mathew on Monday: Patriotism, flags, and motive

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 1st September 2025 - 4:30 pm

Happy September 1st, folks.

And if it’s the first Monday in September, the return of Parliament, and the start of the new political season, it must mean the return of your favourite column by a Lib Dem, gay, Christian, (anti monarchist) Republican, Woke, progressive former Councillor… er, that’d be me then.

But seriously I’m delighted to be back in this space after a month off; rejuvenated, revitalised, and ready to give my forthright but hopefully also well informed and nuanced views about the Lib Dems and politics more widely as head towards Conference season, a possible Government reshuffle, the Budget, internal party elections, and lots more.

So, where to start?

Well, as we all know, the summer has been dominated by the issue of migration, small boat crossings, flags, patriotism, hotels, and protests. And what a deeply unedifying spectacle it had been.

Some in our country, in our media (both old and new) appear to have lost the ability to talk about potentially contentious issues in a way which deals with facts and from a place of care, rather than with falsehoods and from a place of hate.

On Saturday evening I made my debut on GB News. Now I appreciate that is very unlikely to be the channel of choice for most readers of this column, but we have to face the reality that lots of people do watch/listen to it and we as a party need to be trying to communicate with them as much as any body else; we shouldn’t just write them off as ‘not our people’ or ‘beyond the pale.’

I was chuffed to be invited on the debut edition of ‘Alex Armstrong Tonight,’ to talk about the flags issue. Or, more specifically, the alleged ‘hypocrisy’ of Lib Dem run Portsmouth City Council having apparently said that it’ll clean away the St George’s crosses painted on roundabouts in its locality whilst at the same time having previously agreed a rainbow pedestrian crossing.

On the programme I said, “In terms of the rainbow pedestrian crossing, that will have had to go through safety checks, and been agreed by the Council, and be voted on. That’s a bit different, isn’t it, to people taking it upon themselves to paint stuff on a roundabout.”

Later in the segment I said, “The rainbow flag represents diversity, it celebrates modernity, it celebrates the right to be different, and I just worry that there’s something much darker going on in terms of some of these people that are painting the St George’s Cross. I’m really concerned about it. I think it’s supposed to stoke fear, it’s supposed to stoke resentment, and I believe it’s starting to do that.”

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Samuel Jackson

We need to sink Reform UK’s flagship policy

By Samuel Jackson | Mon 1st September 2025 - 11:28 am

A few days ago, the Appeals Court ruled in favour of the Labour Government, allowing asylum seekers to remain at The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex. Despite this new precedent, all twelve Reform-controlled councils have announced that they will still pursue legal challenges against asylum hotels, with some Conservative-controlled councils indicating that they will follow suit.

Immigration and asylum. Those are Reform UK’s top priorities. They have announced Operation Restoring Justice, a pledge to deport 600,000 foreign nationals over five years of a Reform government. Conflating immigrants and asylum seekers, these plans would incur harm to the UK’s international …

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Katharine Macy

The verbal abuse I get has sky rocketed – and we probably know why

By Katharine Macy | Sun 31st August 2025 - 4:36 pm

As a fat, visually disabled queer femme person, there’s lots of reasons for people to yell/spit at me. None legitimate, of course, but plenty of reasons.

I usually get someone maybe monthly, but in the last week I have:

  • had someone deliberately run into me then spit at me while calling me a “bent cripple”
  • Had multiple honks, most telling me to smile, and when I flipped one off he decided to yell “fat bastard” until the traffic began moving
  • Had several leering men on buses, including one who sat close and kept moving his hand to my thigh

Granted, I’ve had a lot on this week, daring to leave the house every day, if not multiple times, but I’m always pretty busy, yet this week has just felt like abuse after abuse.

People feel empowered to exhibit these behaviours lately.

But I’m still so grateful because most of this has come due to the increased anti immigrant and increased racism. I’m white, I’m only getting the increased hate that comes alongside normalising racism. (Liberation for one group cannot come without liberation for all – just look at the rabbit hole transphobes go down!)

We need allyship more than ever. We need to call out all micro aggressions and offhand comments. We need to hold ourselves to a higher account and recognise we are all racist, misogynistic etc., and it’s only a moral failing if we ignore this.

As liberals, we need to recognise it has to start with us. We need to call friends and family out, we need to call ourselves out.

It starts with us, because we need to stop going down this dangerous road. 

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Obituary Archibald Ian Jenkins MBE MA (1941-2025)

By Graham Garvie | Sun 31st August 2025 - 8:46 am

Ian Jenkins at pro EU street stall

The passing of Ian Jenkins peacefully in his 85th year was a huge blow to many people who had the privilege of knowing Ian and the very special man he was.

Raised on the isle of Bute and having graduated from Glasgow University with an MA, Ian decided to enter the teaching profession. He progressed in that until, in 1970, he was appointed Principal Teacher of English at Peebles High School. His wife, Midge, also took up a teaching appointment there and they moved to Peebles. 

Ian knew much more than most of us about our wonderful language, its rules and nuances and how to use these creatively. In particular, his deep knowledge of literature and poetry were legendary. 

One of his favourite writers was C.S. Lewis who wrote a book called “The Four Loves” contrasting four different meanings of love—affection, friendship, eros and charity. These four overlap with one another and can grow into the others. Yet the greatest of these is the last which Lewis called Charity which is simply the kind of love that seeks the welfare of others than yourself.  

In all his doings, Ian was a living example of that kind of love—genuine, thoughtful and kind. And one always left a conversation with Ian better informed and enriched—and almost always with a smile on one’s face. A few minutes in his company would confirm his wisdom, his careful arguments and his literary allusions and his ever-present good humour.

Ian and Midge put down new roots in Peebles but Ian’s pride in his adopted home never diminished his pride in their origins on Bute. 

Be it the Rotary, youthwork, mental health, culture, golf, rugby, Ian was ever involved in some local charity or worthy cause. The breadth of his work was recognised nationally in 2023 when he was awarded the MBE for services to charity and the community. Typically, his reaction was “I don’t deserve such recognition”; but he did accept it and, accompanied by Midge, was presented with his Medal by Princess Anne in Holyrood Palace last year.

A master craftsman in his profession as a teacher, it was not surprising that he was an unconventional disciplinarian. Opposed to corporal punishment long before it was outlawed, he relied on persuasion, good humour and empathy to secure his authority as a senior figure in one of Scotland’s leading schools.

Ian’s other passion was politics. Liberal by nature and a non-conformist thinker, Ian inspired many people in the Borders and elsewhere to become active Liberals and few were as important as Ian in that. 

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David Chalmers

ALDE Council: What it does, Lib Dem representation and why it matters

By David Chalmers | Sat 30th August 2025 - 1:01 pm

In the list of federal party positions up for election this autumn is the Lib Dem delegation for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ALDE Council. The arrangements for this have changed recently, hence this post.

As an internationalist party, I am immensely proud of how, despite Brexit, the Lib Dems are still major players on the European political stage, through our membership of ALDE and in the wider world through our membership of Liberal international. The ALDE Party includes political parties from inside and outside the EU. None of the other political groups in Europe – apart from the Greens – allow non-EU parties, like ourselves, to participate as full members. In the other political groups to the left and the right of the political spectrum, non-EU parties are treated, at best, as guests or observers. However in ALDE we send delegates to both meetings of its Council and Congress, bring forward motions and participate fully in debates. ALDE is a European party not just focused on the EU.

The ALDE Council meets twice a year, to which we currently send 8 elected delegates – which include the Chair of the Federal International Relations Committee and delegation lead, a representative each from Scotland, Wales and under 26 year olds with the four remaining positions taken from the top four candidates elected by all members in the federal elections.

The ALDE Council delegates ensure that the voice of our party is heard on the European stage. It plays an important governance role at the heart of our European political family ( and which we co-founded as EDLR in 1976). Our delegation keeps in contact throughout the year and meets in the run up to ALDE Council meetings to consider motions to be submitted ourselves or to propose amendments to motions submitted by other parties. It is our responsibility to ensure that those motions we submit reflect our party policies. At the ALDE Council meeting itself we have the opportunity to ask questions and endorse political parties wishing to join our liberal political family, and generally network and build relationships with colleagues from our sister parties.

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Sarah Brown

Why are UK trans people upset?

By Sarah Brown | Sat 30th August 2025 - 11:09 am

I want to explain a few things and then it might be clearer why UK trans people are upset.

In 2001 I married my wife, Sylvia.

In 2005 I started medical transition. For the state to recognise this I had to submit to standards of “care” which were humiliating, degrading and which placed me at risk of violence.

But I did it “by the book”

As I did it “by the book”, the NHS agreed to reregister me as female, which makes sense because my anatomy now is.

In 2007 I had sex reassignment surgery. This had to be signed off by two mental health professionals, “by the book”, and it was.

In 2008 I applied for gender recognition. This involved signing a statutory obligation, stating that I promised, BY LAW, to live fully as female for the rest of my life. As this was done, “by the book”, the government promised that it would treat me as such.

Its first act as treating me as female was to annul our marriage because it was a same sex marriage and those were not allowed.

The state then reissued my birth certificate, correcting the “mistake” it had originally made when it recorded me as male, “by the book”.

In 2009 Sylvia and I married for the second time, in a same sex civil partnership, which was done “by the book”, because the state regarded me as female and I was bound by law to be female.

In 2013 we married again, because the state decided that same sex marriage was in fact allowed after all. This was done, “by the book”. Despite having been married for 12 years, we had to submit ourselves to individual questioning to prove our relationship was genuine, “by the book”.

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Liam Yip

ALDC by-election report, 28th August

By Liam Yip | Fri 29th August 2025 - 3:51 pm

This week, only one by-election had a Liberal Democrat candidate. The other saw the Conservatives attempting to defend their seat.

In London, Councillor Janet Grauberg and the team secured an impressive victory on Camden Council, with an impressive 15% increase in vote share. Congratulations to everyone involved in the local team!

Camden LBC, West Hampstead
Liberal Democrats (Janet Grauberg): 1,176 (54.4%, +15.4)
Labour: 458 (21.2%, -23.4)
Conservative: 222 (10.3%, -6.3)
Reform UK: 155 (7.2%, new)
Green Party: 152 (7.0%, new)

Liberal Democrats GAIN from Labour

Turnout: 26.44%

Here are the results of the by-election in Nottinghamshire, where there was no Liberal Democrat candidate.

Broxtowe BC, Nuthall East and Strelley
Conservative: 405 (28.6%, -16.5)
Reform UK: 400 (28.3%, new)
Broxtowe Alliance: 275 (19.4%, new)
Labour: 244 (17.2%, -20.1)
Green Party: 70 (4.9%, -6.7)
Independent: 21 (1.5%, new)

Conservative HOLD

Turnout: 35.22%

Thank you to all of our candidates, agents, and campaign teams. A full summary of these results, and all other principal council by-elections, can be found on the ALDC by-elections page here.

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Ed Fordham

Vivien Jean Berry (1941-2025)

By Ed Fordham | Fri 29th August 2025 - 1:30 pm

And so to Spalding for the funeral of Vivien Berry, friend, mentor, supporter, and fellow Liberal Democrat… where I learnt the importance of standing, the handling of losing and the difficulties of being a lone Liberal voice…

Vivien and Dick Berry, and their home 33 Halmergate was the location of my first schooling in Party politics. They welcomed me in, made me feel comfortable and made sure I was heard and given space to speak.

Over the years I went back, as my political career developed, I kept them informed and they loved hearing about my working with Paddy Ashdown, becoming a councillor in Stoke on Trent, the campaigns of North London, Hampstead and Kilburn, and more recently in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

And that occasion when I returned to see them both after winning my seat on Stoke-on-City Council – and Dick gave me a pair of cufflinks from his grandfather (I think) and I wore them today with pride.

Vivien herself had stood several times for Spalding East ward but it was not to be… but more significantly she was the agent in 1987 for the huge ambitious campaign for Becky Bryan (later Tinsley) for Stamford and Spalding.

As Liberal politics didn’t flourish enough to elect Vivien (or Becky) she threw herself into the fabric of the town: The Civic Society received a huge amount of her energy and she was able to shape and affect change in the town through its work and role in planning matters.   More recently the Spalding Community Choir received her attention and support and wow did they recognise that today with their rendition of Hallelujah.

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Anna Sabine MP

Anna Sabine MP writes: The risk worth taking: Authentic politics

By Anna Sabine MP | Fri 29th August 2025 - 11:55 am

I came of “political age” in 1997: a politics-mad 17 year old, I won my sixth form’s mock election (for the Lib Dems obviously) and marvelled at the idea I was now living under a Government which wasn’t Conservative. That year, Labour swept to power on a wave of optimism. But very quickly, politics became about message discipline, media management, and “lines to take.” Ministers stuck rigidly to scripts, ducked difficult questions, and avoided risk at all costs. At first it looked professional; soon it looked fake. That culture of spin eroded public trust and, I believe, has left politics diminished.

Politics is so often thought of as a battle of ideas – manifestos, policies, the detail of legislation. But we know most people don’t follow politics in that way. Voters don’t usually sit down with policy papers; they judge us on how we make them feel, whether what we say rings true, and whether we sound like people they can actually trust. More than ever, politics is less about the issues themselves and more about how we communicate.

That’s why figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, however vile their ideas, have managed to cut through. They project a bluntness that their supporters interpret as honesty. It seems authentic – unscripted, unpolished, and real. People believe they are hearing what these politicians actually think, rather than a line from an adviser’s grid.

We’ve also seen a very different kind of authenticity in Ed Davey’s leadership. His willingness to speak openly about his life as a carer – the challenges and sacrifices of looking after his disabled son – has struck a chord. It hasn’t been about clever soundbites but about showing humanity. That kind of authenticity builds a connection with voters that I see played out whenever I meet constituents – “Ah yes, Ed Davey, I like what he says about care” is usually the kind of positive comment that’s made about him.

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Caron Lindsay

Joint Young Liberals and Lib Dem Friends of Palestine statement on Gaza

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 29th August 2025 - 10:25 am

The Young Liberals and Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine released this statement following a debate on Gaza at the Young Liberals’ Conference last week.

Young Liberals set new a party precedent by calling out “Genocidal” Israeli activity in Gaza, and urge the UK government to take urgent steps to promote a just and lasting resolution.

Cambridge, 22nd August 2025 – At their Summer Conference 2025, the Young Liberals overwhelmingly passed a motion calling on the UK government to take urgent and concrete steps to confront Israel’s genocide in Gaza, end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, and support a just, secure and liberal future for both states. 

The motion highlights the immense suffering caused by Israel’s military assault on Gaza and deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid to the Strip. It notes the International Court of Justice’s January 2024 ruling that there are plausible grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, condemns its refusal to comply with the binding measures ordered by the Court, and affirms that it is now right to plainly describe Israel’s actions as genocidal. The motion has fired a starting gun on a new conversation within the party regarding the use of the term genocide, only weeks before the national Annual Conference takes places in Bournemouth.

The motion warns that the failure to justly resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict has eroded democracy and civil society on both sides, leaving Palestinians and Israeli civilians trapped in cycles of violence and insecurity, and affirms that only a negotiated political settlement can deliver a just and lasting peace that respects the right to dignity, freedom and security for both peoples. 

The Young Liberals urged the UK Government to uphold international law and end its complicity by:

  • suspending all military and security cooperation with Israel;
  • banning all trade with illegal settlements;
  • prosecuting British citizens credibly accused of committing war crimes in Gaza; and
  • launching a public inquiry into UK involvement in the conflict.

The motion further calls for:

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Mo Waqas

Rebuilding the NHS with common sense

By Mo Waqas | Fri 29th August 2025 - 8:55 am

When I think about the state of healthcare in this country, I sometimes describe myself as both a dreamer and a realist. I’m a dreamer because I can imagine an NHS that works again, one that feels close to the founding vision of 1948. But I’m also a realist because I know that change won’t come from wishful thinking it will come from practical, common-sense decisions about where we spend money, how we organise services, and who we put first.

Right now, the NHS is struggling not just because of limited funding, but because we don’t use the money we do have in the smartest way. Too much of it is leaking out through privatisation and outsourcing, where contracts are awarded to private companies that often provide poor value and fragmented services. We are patching problems rather than preventing them. And in the process, we are losing sight of the community-based healthcare that once made the NHS the envy of the world.

Take A&E departments as the clearest example. They are overstretched, overcrowded, and overwhelmed. People turn up there with issues that could be treated elsewhere not because they want to wait eight hours on a plastic chair, but because it feels like the only option left. If we properly invested in 24-hour walk-in clinics and community health centres, staffed by trained nurses and doctors, we could take the pressure off hospitals. A&E should be for genuine emergencies, not because a GP appointment is impossible to book or the local clinic has been closed.

This isn’t about reinventing the wheel. Other countries have shown what works. Look at the Netherlands: they have made preventative care central to their system. Around 70% of Dutch adults regularly take part in routine health check-ups. That means issues like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are caught early, treated early, and often prevented from spiralling into life-threatening emergencies. It’s cheaper for the system, and it’s far better for the patient.

We could apply that lesson here. When I was diagnosed with diabetes at 19, I was lucky it was picked up early. If it had been left later, there’s every chance it would have been misdiagnosed as something else, or discovered only when complications had already set in. That’s the story of too many people in Britain today. We end up firefighting late-stage illness when we could have saved lives and money with early intervention.

Another example comes from Australia, where they handle something as simple but crucial as healthcare wages with more foresight than we do. Every three years, they renegotiate pay in line with inflation. That way, nurses and healthcare staff don’t fall behind, and the system avoids endless cycles of strikes. Here in the UK, we lurch from one dispute to another, with exhausted staff having to fight tooth and nail just to stop their pay slipping backwards. It’s demoralising, and it drives people out of the profession. If we had a model like Australia’s, we’d have a more stable workforce and patients wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire of political stubbornness.

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Mark Valladares

28 August 2025 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th August 2025 - 11:20 pm
  • Lib Dems call on Farage to intervene after Nottinghamshire Reform council bans local journalists reporting
  • Davey calls on Blair to give evidence in Parliament following White House Gaza meeting
  • Adult mental health waits stretching to more than 1,000 days
  • Rennie comments on report showing bill for flood schemes is spiralling

Lib Dems call on Farage to intervene after Nottinghamshire Reform council bans local journalists reporting

The Liberal Democrats have written to Nigel Farage to demand he intervenes after Reform’s Nottinghamshire County Council Leader blocked his councillors from speaking to local journalists from Nottinghamshire Live and the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson Max Wilkinson has written to Farage demanding he step in and urge Reform’s council leader Mick Barton to reverse the “dangerous and chilling” decision.

Max Wilkinson said the move risks contravening local government’s code of conduct, which calls on elected officials to “submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure … accountability”, and prohibits information being withheld from the public “unless there are clear and lawful reasons for doing so”.

Max Wilkinson MP, Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson, said:

Reform’s move to block local journalists from reporting on their work is straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook. It’s a cornerstone of our democracy that politicians of all stripes are held to account — but for some reason Farage’s cronies think they can make themselves exempt.

This move sets a dangerous and chilling precedent for if Reform were to win power nationally and goes against our deeply rooted British values of freedom of the press. We must stand up to Reform’s assault on those principles.

Nigel Farage pretends to champion free speech: I’m calling on him to take some responsibility for once in his political career and demand that Nottinghamshire County Council Leader Mick Barton reverses this decision.

Davey calls on Blair to give evidence in Parliament following White House Gaza meeting

Responding to Tony Blair’s meeting at the White House with the Trump administration discussing the war in Gaza, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Tony Blair needs to come before Parliament to give evidence about his discussions with the Trump administration about the ongoing war and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

If he has special insight into Trump’s intentions, it’s only right that Parliament and the Government are made privy to this.

Trump has a unique power to help end this war, get the hostages out, and get the desperately needed aid in to relieve the horrendous human suffering in Gaza. We must leverage all the information and resources at our disposal to make him do the right thing.

Adult mental health waits stretching to more than 1,000 days

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that the SNP have no plan to fix the crisis in mental health after new research by his party revealed shocking waits for psychological therapies across many of Scotland’s health boards, including a patient waiting more than seven years to start treatment.

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Why I’m standing for Party President

By Natalie Bird | Thu 28th August 2025 - 4:50 pm

In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates – one to launch their candidature (like this one) plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign.

Should I receive the nominations, I intend to stand for Party President.

A Truly National Party

I am a Northerner, and it matters deeply to me that our party speaks to—and for—the whole of the UK, not just privileged parts of the South. Too many communities have endured decades of chronic underfunding, leaving structural problems that demand structural solutions.

One of the clearest ways we can drive prosperity is through transport. A railway system that is reliable, punctual, and affordable should be the backbone of opportunity across the country. Transport must be a tool for growth and connection—not a barrier.

Protecting Women’s Rights

I have spent years challenging the party’s internal culture, including taking legal action over discrimination. I won my case for sex discrimination, yet the leadership failed to communicate that outcome clearly to members. Meanwhile, some of those responsible for the problems I raised remain in place, with some even seeking promotion.

We face serious governance issues. We have lost our ability to hold ourselves accountable. Justice must not be a privilege reserved for the wealthy. That is why I will push for expanded access to legal aid, ensuring that ordinary people can seek justice without fear of financial ruin.

Protecting Women’s Rights

Women fought hard for the right to vote, to be heard, and to have single-sex spaces. These rights must never be eroded—by our party or by anyone else. The Supreme Court’s ruling on this issue must be respected and implemented by all councils.

I am also deeply concerned that the party has remained silent on the Cass Review. We still have policy dating back to 2015 promoting puberty blockers for children—despite clear evidence that this is not a safe or appropriate stance. Continuing to endorse unevidenced medical treatment is indefensible. Conference has repeatedly failed to update outdated or unscientific policies. That must change.

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Nick Baird

Labour is playing into Farage’s hands in the immigration debate

By Nick Baird | Thu 28th August 2025 - 2:57 pm

Tuesday brought the announcement of Reform UK’s plans for immigration and asylum, plans which were then relentlessly platformed by the BBC and other media outlets in an exercise that felt like a day-long party political broadcast for the UK’s seventh largest party.

Even cursory examination revealed the plans to be as impractical and they were immoral, but it’s all too clear that Nigel Farage is setting the agenda on the immigration debate, and Labour’s initial response by Party Chair Ellie Reeves criticised the plans for their “lack of detail” rather than their lack of humanity. Fortunately the Liberal Democrat response from Ed Davey, Daisy Cooper and others was considerably more robust, if much less reported on.

But there is a fundamental dishonesty at the root of Reform’s policy, and it’s one that Labour is too scared to challenge. That dishonesty is encapsulated in the statement from Farage that “the only way to stop small boats crossing the English Channel is by detaining and deporting absolutely anyone who comes via that route”.

That’s simply not true. The only way to stop the boats is in fact to fulfil the Lib Dem manifesto commitment to create the currently non-existent legal routes to claim asylum, which really would remove the incentive to risk small boat crossings and destroy the people-smuggler’s business model.

Labour could do that, as could the Tories before, so why don’t they?

Currently you can normally only claim asylum once already in the UK, yet you can’t apply for a UK visa for the purpose of claiming asylum, and without a visa you can’t legally board a flight to the UK and pay an airline instead of a smuggling gang for your journey. This creates a Catch-22 that prevents legal asylum claims. Effectively it is unwritten UK policy to choke off the number of asylum claims by making it extremely difficult to make an application, requiring a high-risk journey to the UK courtesy of a criminal gang, something Labour is no more willing to admit than the Tories before them.

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The Liberal Democrats must lead the way on global women’s rights

By Janey Little and David Chalmers | Thu 28th August 2025 - 12:50 pm

Last week, The Guardian reported that the UK Government is considering scrapping the commitment to spending 80% of foreign aid on programmes that have gender equality as at least one component.

This is the latest of a series of Government decisions to leave the most marginalised women around the world at even greater risk. Cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA) have disproportionately affected programmes focusing on women and girls, but Starmer has decided to slash ODA to 0.3%. In the Comprehensive Spending Review, women and girls were not included in the priority list for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for the first time.

Meanwhile, misogyny is on the rise, violence against women is epidemic, and social, political, and economic inequality persist. Nearly a quarter of countries reported a backlash to women’s rights in 2024. Every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by a partner or family member. Trump’s America continues to threaten the livelihoods of women globally, with the dismantling of USAID depriving women and girls of essential healthcare.

The UK should be a world leader in defending women’s rights and rejecting growing misogyny and international backlash to gender equality. That’s why we’re bringing a policy motion to Autumn Conference titled Defending Women’s Rights Across the Globe.

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Judy Abel

We need better political decision-making and accountability 

By Judy Abel | Thu 28th August 2025 - 10:25 am

Government has no money of its own, yet successive governments have spent taxpayers’ money on failed projects with impunity – and immunity!

When considering one of the recent less than helpful policy choices foisted on us by Labour, putting up National Insurance on employers’ contributions – which has in practice stopped many companies from taking on new employees despite Labour pinning everything on growth! – it got me thinking about how poor policy decision-making often is at the top. Presented with the key facts, almost anyone could have told Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves (and they did) that this NI hike on employers was a poor idea, yet the decision was made by top politicians earning six-figure salaries!

Let’s think about some of the other poor and costly policy decisions of recent years. It’s actually hard to know where to start!

Most Lib Dems would struggle to approve of any of the measures enacted by the Thatcher Government, but selling off council housing, a deeply ideological move, was perhaps one of their most reckless ideas. The lost pool of social housing was never replaced so, decades later, we have many less well-off families permanently locked out of affordable housing and, tragically, more homeless people than ever on our streets.

And what about the Iraq War? There never were any weapons of mass destruction and Tony Blair only really agreed to stand shoulder to shoulder with President Bush on the War because of the questionable ‘special relationship’. Think what this cost the UK in terms of lost lives and billions wasted on military combat. The 2016 Chilcot Enquiry concluded, “The consequences of the invasion and of the conflict within Iraq which followed are still being felt in Iraq and the wider Middle East, as well as in the UK”. Yet somehow only the Lib Dems could see in advance that this War was deeply wrong.

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Mark Valladares

27 August 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish and Welsh press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 28th August 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum
  • Cole-Hamilton: Scotland deserves better than Farage
  • Nigel Farage accused of plan to ‘rip up Welsh countryside’ with fracking
  • Scot Lib Dems comment on Simpson defection
  • Reconviction rate increases among prisoners

Cole-Hamilton calls for stronger response to nitazenes ahead of Scottish Drugs Forum

Speaking ahead of the Scottish Drugs Forum on Wednesday 27th August, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has called on the SNP government to take strong action on the growing number of drug deaths caused by synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, which can be hundreds of times more powerful than heroin.

In …

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Mark Valladares

27 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th August 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Energy price cap: Government must cancel rise and take up plan to halve bills
  • Mounjaro supply chaos: Lib Dems call for CMA investigation
  • Farage u-turn shows he “has taken as much time reading his own plan as he does his constituents’ emails”
  • Thames Water fines: Govt should stop “wheeling and dealing” and finally put customers first
  • Ed Davey to boycott Trump state banquet in push to end Gaza’s humanitarian disaster

Energy price cap: Government must cancel rise and take up plan to halve bills

Responding to Ofgem announcing that the energy price cap will rise by 2%, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

The last thing struggling

…

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The Voice

Ed Davey to boycott Trump State visit banquet over Gaza

By The Voice | Wed 27th August 2025 - 7:37 pm

Ed Davey has announced that he will boycott the State Banquet to be held during Donald Trump’s State Visit because of Trump’s complicity in the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. He explains why in this video:

He said:

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Jack Nicholls

We are the party of human rights, and we need to sound like it

By Jack Nicholls | Wed 27th August 2025 - 11:55 am

When Ming Campbell ran for the leadership, his best line was that Britain did not need a third conservative party. The situation now is so much worse; we have three hard authoritarian parties engaged in virility contests for who can be more horrible to and about very vulnerable people. I would like us to be much more emphatically full-fat liberal in the things we do and say, particularly in relation to migration.

I want to see our spokespeople saying that immigrants make us a stronger, better country, are net contributors to both the exchequer and our wider social life, and that in a liberal, plural society, and we are just about still a liberal society, the presence of another culture  does not have to threaten yours.

I want them to bang the drum for human rights, both in law and spirit. I want them to say proudly and firmly that people have a right to seek asylum, and that this right comes from the same laws and conventions that protect everyone who was born here. I want them to say that to claim asylum you have to physically show up, and that is harder to do by conventional routes since the Tory government shut a lot of them down.

I want them to say that if we leave the ECHR, which I fear Starmer and Cooper are now privately toying with, everybody in this country will be less safe. I want them to cite Tony Benn – a good civil libertarian, whatever our other differences with him – saying that how a government treats refugees is instructive of how it would treat the rest of us if it could get away with it.

I want them to bang on about how swapping human rights for a British Bill of Rights means your statutory standing and privileges are based on your citizenship, which, however rarely it might happen, can be revoked. Ask Sajid Javid, he did it. 

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The Voice

Nominations for party President are open

By The Voice | Wed 27th August 2025 - 10:25 am

Yesterday party members should have received an email from Civica Election Services titled The Liberal Democrats Internal Federal Elections 2025 – Nominations Process. 

This is the starting gun for the Federal Party’s internal elections this year when all the Federal Committees will be up for election alongside the Party President and Vice President.

The email tells you what you need to do to put yourself forward as a candidate and nominate others.

At this stage nominations are only open for President and Vice President.

At the time of writing there are two publicly declared candidates for President, both of whom have written launch pieces for Liberal Democrat Voice, Josh Babarinde and Prue Bray.

Liberal Democrat Voice has also been advised that Natalie Bird has declared herself to be a candidate, although as yet we are not aware that there has been a public campaign launch.

There are two declared candidates for Vice President, Kamran Hussain and Victoria Collins.

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Callum Robertson

Three ways to highlight Lib Dem local government beyond Conference

By Callum Robertson | Wed 27th August 2025 - 8:55 am

Nick da Costa’s recent article on local government inclusion at conference made for pleasant reading. However, our work to champion our local government work, has to exist beyond conference.

It is important because winning a greater number of councillors in any given area is crucial to winning more parliamentary seats. Crucially it goes beyond that. Every single councillor elected means that a greater number of people across our country get a hard-working local councillor standing up for them and their community and when we win control of councils, we can deliver life changing opportunities to local areas.

Inclusion of local government work within our comms grid to members.

Our emails are good at explaining what we are doing in parliament. However, as the third party in parliament we can only have so much impact.

So where can we communicate that we have had a direct impact on people’s lives? 

Through highlighting our local government work and the impact it can have on people’s lives to members, we could both increase the respect that local government has in the party but also increase the number of people who actually want to be local councillors.

Promote the work of our councils in the media.

I am a great believer that you can learn from your opponents, and whilst we share basically nothing in common with Reform, they have managed to make their councils and councillors newsworthy. Albeit often for the wrong reasons.

We should be shouting about the achievements of our councils and councillors. Whilst our Liberal Democrat-led councils are delivering for residents every day, our opposition councillors are also punching above their weight.

For example, Cllr Tom Astell, who is an opposition councillor in Hull and East Yorkshire managed to win some fantastic coverage for his work holding the Reform Mayor to account for his flexible interpretation of public finance regulations. Another example is councillor Michael Mullaney in Leicestershire who has hit out over reform chaos.

Champion getting more metro-Mayors and London Assembly Members elected.

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – yesterday’s Scottish press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 27th August 2025 - 7:30 am
  • Fewer WTE GPs now than in 2019
  • Cole-Hamilton comments on record NHS waiting lists, social care delays and worsening A&E waits
  • Chamberlain: Crime statistics “deeply troubling”
  • SNP oversees worsening outcomes for looked-after children
  • Cole-Hamilton responds to record low birth rate

Fewer WTE GPs now than in 2019

Commenting on the publication of GP workforce numbers, where despite an uptick there are still fewer whole time equivalent GPs now than there were in 2019, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

The Scottish Government is absolutely miles away from delivering the 800 extra GPs it promised by 2027.

General practice is overwhelmed. People are ringing their surgeries hundreds of times to try and get an appointment. GPs tell me that they can rack up nearly 100 separate contacts with patients in a single day.

Scottish Liberal Democrats would draw on the wider skills that exist in mental health, physiotherapy, pharmacy and more. By adding specialists to local teams we can lessen the load on GPs and get you fast access to the best care.

Scottish Liberal Democrats also secured more money for GPs in this year’s budget. This money can start unpicking years of damage caused by the SNP, but what the NHS really needs is a change of government.

Cole-Hamilton comments on record NHS waiting lists, social care delays and worsening A&E waits

Responding to official statistics showing a record 879,215 patients are now on outpatient, inpatient or diagnostic waiting lists, including thousands waiting for years, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP commented:

Hundreds of thousands of people are waiting in pain and uncertainty. People can’t get on in life and it’s impacting the economy.

Waiting lists in Scotland are now far worse than those in England, the rollout of national treatment centres has stalled, and repeated SNP promises to speed up treatment have fallen flat.

Since June 2024, the number of people waiting over two years for outpatient appointments has more than trebled. Some waits are even longer still.

After almost two decades in charge, the SNP have proved to be bad for your health. Scotland deserves better.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are bursting with fresh ideas to get our NHS back on its feet and get everyone the care they need in good time. At next May’s election, everyone can vote for those plans by backing my party on the peach regional ballot paper.

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Mark Valladares

26 August 2025 – today’s Federal press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 26th August 2025 - 11:05 pm
  • Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights
  • Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed
  • Starmer must rule out conceding to Trump on digital services tax
  • Government’s latest announcement on EU deal shows it “moving at a speed sloths would laugh at”
  • Liberal Democrats warn of Reform ‘Taliban Tax’ as regime says it is willing to work with Farage

Reform press conference: Farage wants to follow Putin and tear up our hard-won rights

Responding to Reform’s press conference this morning, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said:

Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. The idea that Reform UK is going to magic up some new places to detain people and deport them to, but don’t have a clue where those places would be, is taking the public for fools.

Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave. Doing so would only make it harder for each of us as individuals to hold the government to account and stop it trampling on our freedoms.

On Zia Yusuf’s comments regarding paying the Taliban to take back Afghan migrants, Daisy Cooper added:

Reform’s Taliban tribute plan would send British taxpayers’ cash to fund their oppressive regime, fuelling the persecution of Afghan women and children and betraying our brave Armed Forces who sacrificed so much fighting the Taliban. Clearly British values mean nothing to Farage and his band of plastic patriots.

Dash Questionnaire “doesn’t work”: Urgent review into approach to domestic abuse needed

Responding to the news that Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has admitted the main screening tool used to decide which domestic abuse victims get urgent support “doesn’t work”, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Josh Babarinde MP said:

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