Essex Fire Service in danger
ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
21 Nov 2015
National News
21 Nov 2015
Bombing Daesh in Syria?
The possibility of a vote in Parliament on bombing Daesh (also known as ISIL/ISIS/IS) in Syria is coming with talk in the news of which Labour MPs might back it, in a potentially close vote. I think we need to debate this too. It is likely to be a free vote or one with significant rebellions on all sides. Should our MPs be whipped? The difference between attacking Daesh in Iraq and Daesh in Syria seems to be a legal one not a moral one. The former is in support of Iraq/Kurdish Iraq at their request, and the latter would arguably require a UN Security Council resolution which may be unlikely. And practically there are Iraqi ground forces to support from the air. In Syria, this is less clear, and bombing alone never seems to achieve anything.
JO
21 Nov 2015
Excellent news: Lib Dem membership incentive scheme rescued
I wrote before about the English Party's plans to axe nearly all of the budget for the local party membership incentive scheme: "If you don't count 'get massacred in an election' as a membership initiative, then the most successful initiative in the history of the party to get Liberal Democrat membership growing has been the recent financial incentive scheme.
MP
21 Nov 2015
Listen to Paddy in conversation with Andrew Rawnsley
If you're heading to Oldham, or elsewhere out on the campaign trail, you might want to download this wee gem from the Guardian. Just imagine being out in the cold with a bundle of leaflets with Paddy's ruminations on life, the universe, and everything helping you on your way. It's perfect delivery round length, at around one and a half hours' long.
CL
21 Nov 2015
Jim Wallaces inaugural Charles Kennedy Memorial Lecture: Charle's legacy should be a call to refresh our radicalism
Five days before what would have been Charles Kennedy's 56th birthday, Jim Wallace, who entered the Commons on the same day as Charles in 1983, delivered the inaugural Charles Kennedy Memorial Lecture in Fort William. Seeing Charles Kennedy and Memorial in the same sentence still freaks me out slightly. It feels very wrong. Jim has very kindly provided us with a copy of his lecture so that those of us who couldn't make it up to Fort William can hear what he had to say. His subject was Charles, the legacy he left of internationalism and an example of always conducting his politics with respect and how his values were shaped by his highland background. He talks about the challenges we now face as a party and how we can learn from Charles as we deal with the challenges we face.
JW
21 Nov 2015