On Thursday, her last day in the House of Lords before her retirement, Shirley Williams spent 20 minutes talking to Victoria Derbyshire. You can watch the conversation, which covered women in politics, social media (she thinks that “the cruellest people in society” shouldn’t be given a voice), how some were bemused by her specialism in […]
Op-eds
Lib Dem parliamentarians mark #timetotalk day
Today has been Time to Talk day, Time for Change’s annual initiative to get more people to talk about mental health. It’s something we’ve done to great effect over the last couple of years. You can read the many moving and personal articles our readers have written here. One Liberal Democrat parliamentarian who was definitely […]
Why Luciana Berger was so wrong to attack Norman Lamb
When you start a fight, you should choose to fight the side who is damaging you or the cause the most. You should also make sure you have the right backing and tools at hand to win the fight. Luciana Berger has decided to both ignore the current Government’s reneging on spending for mental Health, […]
MPs must work together to safeguard our healthcare
As a doctor, every day I see the enduring effects of short-term political spin on my patients. Hospitals bursting at the seams, short-staffed and lacking beds, are told desperately needed nurses will only be available if there is ‘surplus winter funding’. Patients ready to leave hospital wait weeks for ‘exceptional funds’ to secure specialist accommodation, […]
MPs must work together to safeguard our healthcare
As a doctor, every day I see the enduring effects of short-term political spin on my patients. Hospitals bursting at the seams, short-staffed and lacking beds, are told desperately needed nurses will only be available if there is ‘surplus winter funding’. Patients ready to leave hospital wait weeks for ‘exceptional funds’ to secure specialist accommodation, […]
The Greatest Show On Earth
Embed from Getty Images From the great theatrical showman in Las Vegas to the street-hustlers on trestle tables asking tourists to watch the cups; misdirection, the foremost requirement of magic, is a deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another. No […]
The junior doctors’ strike is about the existence and future of the NHS
Embed from Getty Images I’d like to clarify a few points raised in the LDV comments thread related to the Doctors strike and Tim Farron’s remarks about it. First, I will state my potential conflict of interest: I’m a doctor (retired) a life-long member of the BMA (yes, I do still pay my union subscription) […]
Do you agree with Floella Benjamin on mandatory sugar reduction targets?
Embed from Getty Images Here’s a bit of controversy to liven up a Wednesday evening. Floella Benjamin has written for Politics Home’s Central Lobby arguing in favour of mandatory sugar reduction targets. It’s another of these issues that you can use liberal principles to argue both for and against: Many overweight children grow up to […]
Do you agree with Floella Benjamin on mandatory sugar reduction targets?
Embed from Getty Images Here’s a bit of controversy to liven up a Wednesday evening. Floella Benjamin has written for Politics Home’s Central Lobby arguing in favour of mandatory sugar reduction targets. It’s another of these issues that you can use liberal principles to argue both for and against: Many overweight children grow up to […]
The liberal case for the need to champion social services
As has become obvious to anyone who has read a newspaper or watched a news channel over the past 5 years, the NHS is straining under the weight of demand. With accident and emergency departments swamped, critical staffing levels and insufficient number of beds the national health provider is struggling to provide the excellent level […]