Showing posts with label Liz Barker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liz Barker. Show all posts

Friday, July 14, 2017

Tim Farron says he planned to resign after the general election



In a BBC interview this morning Tim Farron told Emma Barnett that he decided to resign the leadership of the Liberal Democrats after the election a couple of weeks into the campaign.

But I share the confusion of two fellow Lib Dem bloggers - Andrew Page and Neil Monnery - about the muddled way Tim's resignation took place if that is the case.

Lord Bonkers has had his say and you can also download a pdf of an article by Liz Barker from the Liberator website.

Liz pours cold water on "Lib Dem Voice conspiracy theorists". She is critical of Tim's stance on gay rights and his handling of the issue once that stance became a problem for the party. But she is also clear that this failing must not be used to avoid debate on the wider problems with our general election campaign.

We always blame advisers - Parliament was doing so right up until it cut Charles I's head off - but it seems to me that the Lib Dem press operation could have done better on this.

Though Norman Lamb's camp attempted to exploit Tim's Evangelical Christian morality obliquely in the last Lib Dem leadership election, by putting 'the right to die' at the centre of his campaign, it was always clear this might be an area of vulnerability for him.

His advisers should have recognised that. If Tim was prepared to say he does not regard gay sex as a sin, he should have said so from the start.

Equally, while Tim's performance in his interview with Andrew Neil was poor, some of the questions Neil asked were eminently predictable to anyone who has watched The Daily Politics since the referendum.

Lord Bonkers was right on one thing at least:
We Liberal Democrats pride ourselves on electing our leaders by one member, one vote, but should we not pay some attention to the way they are removed from office?
But unless Radical Bulletin in the new Liberator has more on Tim's resignation than I expect, we rank-and-file members will continue to be left in the dark over the affair.

Saturday, April 08, 2017

Lib Dems launch their manifesto for Leicestershire county elections

Photo from Michael Mullaney on Twitter

The Liberal Democrat manifesto for next month's Leicestershire County Council elections was launched at an event in Hinckley yesterday evening.

Speeches were given by my old Liberator collective colleague Baroness Liz Barker and my old Harborough District Council colleague Simon Galton.

Simon is now leader of the Lib Dem group on the county council.

The Leicester Mercury quotes him:
"The deepening financial crisis in the NHS, proposed funding reforms in education and local government and the expected transfer of new responsibilities to the county council suggest the second half of this period of austerity is going to be even harder than the first. 
"Yet now is not the time to despair. It is time to turn things around. 
"There are things we can do to change direction and put local residents concerns and needs at the heart of decision making. 
"Whether it's by fixing the problems with adult social care, ensuring we have enough adequately qualified foster carers to ensure every vulnerable child has a stable home, or abandoning unpopular plans to install parking meters in our towns, there is much that can be done to improve things in Leicestershire."
As Simon went on to say, the Conservatives are in charge at Westminster and County Hall, so there is no one else they can blame.

Which explains why their strategy for these elections has so far been to resort to insult and abuse:
Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton has described the Liberal Democrats as "slimeballs" in a speech to Tory councillors and candidates.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Former Liberator Collective member wins Peer of the Year

Congratulations to Liz Barker, named this evening as Peer of the Year by PinkNews.

The winners are not yet on the organ's website yet, but Liz's nomination says:
Baroness Barker has continued to be a strong advocate for LGBT rights within Parliament. 
Late in 2014, she led a debate on the health of lesbians which uncovered key areas where NHS provision should be improved. 
She has contributed to other debates on LGBT rights and is a frequent commentator on PinkNews.
Having a former Liberator Collective member as a peer always seemed remarkable, so this may well be a sign that the end of days is upon us. Mind how you go.

Monday, August 19, 2013

East Midlands Lib Dems Autumn Conference and AGM, Oundle, 2 November

Baroness Barker will be the keynote speaker at the region's Autumn 2013 conference and Annual General Meting on Saturday 2 November. The event takes place at Queen Victoria Hall, West Street, Oundle PE8 4EJ.

Liz Barker has been a peer since 1999 and has championed the cause of equal opportunities for years. In the past she has been President of Liberal Youth & Students, Chair of the party's Federal Conference Committee and a member of the Liberator collective.

You can book a place via the East Midlands Lib Dems website, which promises some innovative ideas for your participation.