Embed from Getty Images Just over a year ago I was appointed to the role of Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Communities in the new Lib Dem/Green partnership running City of York Council following the May elections of 2019. I’m hugely proud of the way our team in York rose to the challenge presented […]
Covid-19
Building back better
After Covid-19, we all must rise to the UN challenge to ‘build back better’. The impacts of the pandemic and the lockdown have accelerated changes that had been predicted would take decades to happen. We all have a new appreciation for housing, outdoor spaces, community services and the welfare state. The uncongested streets, cleaner air […]
Post shielding face masks for extremely disabled passengers
I have been shielding for months due to a medical condition listed as extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 but keeping in touch with work. Over the last few months, I’ve been updated with changing company policy and watching the Government updates closely. Workplace pay was revised in line with the Government’s change of advice for those […]
LibLink: Siobhan Benita: We can’t afford to let today’s acts of kindness become tomorrow’s memories
Lib Dem London Mayoral Candidate Siobhan Benita writes for Mental Health Awareness Week on her website. As we went into lockdown in March, the UN released its World Happiness Report. It ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. As in previous years, Nordic countries dominate the top slots, scoring strongly […]
Ed Davey’s media blitz calling for Cummings to go
I have a friend who is not well. She had to spend lockdown away from her husband, who was working, being cared for by her parents. She didn’t see her husband until restrictions were lifted, even though he was round the corner. Another friend lost her husband. She’s had people at the end of a […]
LibLink: Daisy Cooper MP: Any contact tracing app must respect privacy and maintain public trust
In an article on Politics Home, Lib Dem Culture spokesperson Daisy Cooper sets out the flaws in the Government’s plans for a contact tracing app to slow the spread of Covid-19 and highlighted LIb Dem plans for a law which would underpin safety and privacy. The public won’t use an app if they don’t trust […]
Sal Brinton on Government “lie” on care homes and Covid-19
Lie is not a word anyone in politics uses lightly. But Lib Dems Lords Health and Social Care spokesperson Sal Brinton used it today in response to Michael Gove’s interview on the Andrew Marr Show . But this lie that the Gvt has already put a protective ring round care homes is a lie direct. […]
Layla: We need reassurance and clarity before schools can re-open
Lib Dem Education spokesperson Layla Moran was on LBC this morning talking about getting children back to school. Listen here: Growing inequality for school children during lockdown highlights the need to get children back to learning, but parents and teachers face a lack of reassurance and we all still need clarity on the science. See […]
Civil Liberties and the NHS App
The NHS has launched a tracing App for trialling in the Isle of Wight. How does it measure up against the civil liberties checklist that I authored on Lib Dem Voice on 15th April, along with some excellent additions within the comments? First, the positives: I urged that opting in should be voluntary. It is. […]