Liberals are in the news every week. Here we try to highlight the... highlights.
This week:
- Clapham Common & women's freedoms
- Protest crackdown bill & the freedom to protest
- Lib Dem Spring conference
Emerging economies, disappearing freedoms
By Rob Davidson | Thu Mar 18 2021
It's common, perhaps, to look to the future and get a sense that things are getting worse. How many cliches do we have for that slippery slope? They weren't like that in my day, it's a dangerous road, it's all going to hell in a hand cart, the end is nigh! But when it comes to global trade and global power, our fears are being validated.
Dominic Raab, the UK's Foreign Secretary, was recently recorded as saying, "If we restrict [our trade deals] to countries with [decent] standards of human rights, we’re not going to do many trade deals with the growth markets of the future." This has caused outrage amongst human rights campaigners and Liberals and with good reason but, fundamentally, he is correct: tomorrow's big economies are all human rights abusers.
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When the Tories ban peaceful protest, what options will remain?
By James Belchamber | Mon Mar 15 2021
Protests have been an essential tool for achieving greater freedom, and for highlighting the plight of oppressed people, for almost all of humanity. Without the protests of the UK civil rights movement we may still have "No Irish, no blacks, no dogs" proudly displayed in our B&Bs; without the marches of the WSPU women may still not have the right to vote.
But protests have another function: when properly enabled, they are an effective and relatively non-destructive option for trying to achieve social/political change. People can come out and march, even with their families and their friends - without having to prepare to defend their right to do so. By heavily restricting the right to protest, the Tories are giving those people a choice: shut up, or prepare to be attacked by the police.
This risks an almost certain escalation of violence between protesters - of all stripes - and the state.
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Liberals are in the news every week - here we try to highlight the... well, the highlights.
This week:
- Reclaim these streets
- New coalmines - and we're the canaries
- Covid - nationalism and liberties
- Scotland and an unusual coalition
How to win with Basic Income: Event Review
By Daniel Mermelstein | Thu Mar 11 2021
Nearly 200 Lib Dem activists signed up to join the “How to win with UBI” online event on Tuesday night, organised in partnership between Lib Dems for Basic Income, the Social Liberal Forum, and the Compass-hosted Basic Income Conversation.
The overall message was summed up by the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London, Luisa Porritt, who reminded everyone that: "this is a moment where people are really open to new and big ideas. They understand that the pandemic has fundamentally disrupted our world, our society, the way that we live and work.”
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Liberals in the news: on budgets, barbarism and federalising Britain
By justLiberals | Sat Mar 06 2021
Liberals are in the news every week - here we try to highlight the... well, the highlights.
This week:
- The Budget
- Ending Conversion 'Therapy'
- Federal UK