Lib Dems are reviewing policy and strategy says PoliticsHome

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The Liberal Democrats are undergoing an overhaul of strategy and policy, "with key areas of discussion including the economy, welfare, and, as the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum approaches, a bolder stance on the European Union", reports PoliticsHome.

Unusually for such articles, which generally rely on anonymous senior Lib Dems and party strategists, this one by Matilda Martin and Zoe Crowther has quotations from named MPs.

One is Tom Gordon from Harrogate and Knaresborough:

Lib Dem MP Tom Gordon said that while the results last month were generally positive for his party, losses in the North that weren’t seen during the coalition years rang “alarm bells” for him.

For Gordon, the results were a "warning sign" that the Lib Dems have been operating in "a very cautious way" so far.

"I don't think it was necessarily the wrong approach, but just given the nature and the timeline of where we're at in this parliament and the political events and that fragmentation, I think there is now a rethinking of what we do, what we offer, how we're more punchy, how we're bolder, and what the offer from us is."

And the other is Layla Moran from Oxford West and Abingdon:

"There's definitely a frustration that it feels like we've been talking about the same things – social care and rivers – and that just felt like we weren't really moving forward.

"So us evolving the position and being quite mindful about how we do that now is really important.”

Daisy Cooper also spoke to them on the record.

The authors found a broad consensus too that how Lib Dem policies are then communicated to the public is key, with multiple sources telling them that the party is growing its social media teams in a bid to boost its digital operation.

Layla Moran said told them the party needs to be better at selling Moran admitted that the party needs to be better at selling policy:

"That’s not just Ed – it's all of us. We all need to get literate on social media; we all need to make this sexy again. We all need to understand how to sell this stuff in 30 seconds."

The media rarely do us any favours, but there is a worrying sense that the Lib Dems' concentration on so few policies has left us, despite our 72 MPs, somehow irrelevant to the national political conversation. If we could write our own headlines, what would they be?

And, when both Labour and the Conservatives are both so unpopular with voters, it is a worry that our performance in opinion polls is so static. So such a review is certainly needed. What will it come up with?

Tom Gordon on how to get more working-class people into politics

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, is the guest on the Spectator's latest Coffee House Shots podcast.

He talks to James Heale about his campaign to improve working-class representation in politics. Tom, newly elected in 2024, explains how getting his mum involved in local politics in West Yorkshire led him to think about the structural issues that exist preventing more people from getting involved in politics.

It sounds as though Tom would welcome contact from Liberal Democrats who share his interest in this important issue. 

The belligerent youths are back: The sacking of Christine Jardine

When Christine Jardine was sacked as the Liberal Democrats' spokesperson Women and Equalities and on Scotland, some bright spark briefed the press that:

"We are not in the business of dancing to the tune of the Conservatives through symbolic votes and virtue signalling."

Simon Titley used to talk of the "belligerent youths" who surrounded Nick Clegg. Judging by that statement, they're back under Ed Davey.

Christine Jardine was universally regarded as an effective front-bench spokesperson, and to lose her over what has been called "an arcane procedural matter" - she voted against an appalling Conservative amendment she had been told to abstain on - is poor leadership.

Nor was her vote a matter of "virtue signalling", for reasons she explained in her dignified resignation letter:

As you know, my late husband Calum, was bipolar. Several people around me have mental health conditions the amendment dismissed as ‘minor’, and not worthy of support. I could not in good conscience do anything other than vote against another Conservative attempt to remove help from those who need it the most. Regardless of my personal circumstances, as Equalities Spokesperson, this is an equalities issue and I could not let down those who are relying on people in power to speak on their behalf. The expression of support I have had from members of the public, the membership and members across the House, has reassured me the choice I made was right, and I am content with that.

Some of the other Liberal Democrat MPs who voted against the amendment will have had equally personal reasons for doing so. There were eight: Lee Dillon, Andrew George, Rachel Gilmour, Tom Gordon, Wera Hobhouse, Freddie van Mierlo, Manuela Perteghella and Cameron Thomas.

I do wonder why it was so important for the Liberal Democrats not to be seen to oppose punitive action against people who are sick or have a foreign national in the family. Are their plans to change party policy in an unwelcome direction? 

I've no idea, but already I hear of rumblings of discontent in the parliamentary party and in constituency parties over Christine's sacking.

And to the belligerent youth who briefed the press about "virtue signalling"... 

The Conservatives are His Majesty's Opposition. They're meant to have some influence over the agenda of the Commons. If they had a halfway-competent leader, they would have rather more.

The Joy of Six 1348

"Neither More in Common nor Opinium highlight the fact that Ed Davey tops their net approval ratings. This amnesia spills into other areas. BMG data shows that more people have not heard of Kemi Badenoch than have not heard of Ed Davey, while Ipsos gives Ed Davey the best net score on whether he would be a good or bad PM." Stephen McNair asks why the press and the pollsters aren't talking about Britain's most popular party leader.

Tom Gordon, Lib Dem MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, calls for adoptive parents to be given more support: "Adoption is often viewed as the happy ending in a child’s journey through trauma and instability, but for many families across the UK, it marks the beginning of a far more complex and challenging chapter."

"Banning books will only drive young people online for answers, where they are more likely to encounter content produced by people who have no interest in equipping them with the information and skills they need to navigate the world. In this age of digital exposure and misinformation, librarians play a more vital role than ever. We should trust them to do their jobs." Alison Hicks on the need to resist the growing pressure on British schools to censor their libraries.

Phoebe Weston meets the volunteers who are restoring ancient hedges.

Bob Fischer talks to Devan Stanfield (Kay Harker) 40 years after the BBC production of The Box of Delights: "I’d worked on television before. I’d done two shows – John Wyndham’s Chocky and Nina Bawden’s The Robbers – so I’d been on set with some very good actors. But I’d never been in a lead role, and I’d never done anything particularly intense. Most of my scenes had been opposite other kids. So that moment on the platform, where I’m face-to-face with Patrick Troughton, really close up, and he switched it on… yeah. I didn’t really have to act."

"A draw or two in the next two series could well go a long way to determining the overarching success or failure of the Bazball project. Time, then, for Stokes to rethink when it comes to the draw and embrace the grey in an increasingly black and white world." James Wallace defends the draw in cricket.