Should you vote Liberal?

No, what? That they have a good sense of humour perhaps.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it! ( Following the potty theme)

Police used to say that cannabis users caused car accidents, just the same as other drugs, so they would have to be careful not to drive ( but they would drive
All the same).
Medicinal use only would be better.

Sorry Gracesgran if you didn't see the pun and it is a serious subject I know.

However, your response in telling me I was showing my prejudice was rather extreme if you don't mind me saying.

I am not prejudiced and the subject is one that has been debated for a long time.

roses is correct, there are many drivers on the road who may have used cannabis prior to getting behind the wheel and it is a worrying trend; the testing system is not as robust as it should be and would require to be much more extensive than it is at present.

Like many LibDems, I was unhappy when Nick Clegg acquiecsed in the Tory policy of raising tuition fees. As the smaller party in the first peacetime coalition government, it was clear that we would not be able to enact all of our own policies and compromises had to be made. Nevertheless, in my view it was a mistake which cost us dear in 2015. Other parties, who have made many mistakes, keep reminding the electorate of this and the party has few friends amongst the press.

However we should listen to people like Rahul Mansigani who, as President of Cambridge University students union in 2010 led huge protest demonstrations against the increase in tuition fees, writes-

"I would never have thought that I would ever encourage people to vote Liberal Democrat again. But in 2017, I am a fully paid-up member of the Lib Dems, and proud of it. Last year’s Brexit referendum result was a catastrophe for Britain’s young people, with almost 75 per cent of us voting to remain. As the initial shock subsided, the Tories clarified their plans to crash us out of the single market, restrict our rights to live, work and study throughout the EU, and leave us isolated on the world stage at a time when, in Theresa May’s own words, the world needs the “liberal, democratic values of Europe”.

By September, as Eurosceptic Corbyn obstinately stayed put while his MPs deserted him, and as Theresa May declared that “if you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere” and the Conservatives demanded that companies publish the numbers of “foreigners” they employed, I saw that the only party that would fight for our values and battle against a hard Brexit was the Liberal Democrats. Like thousands of others, I signed up.

Brexit is the defining issue of this election and of our political generation. The way it is conducted will go to the heart of all the issues we protested about in 2010. Back then, the broadest aim of our protests was to give our young people the best chance of success in an open, prosperous, tolerant Britain. We must now support the Liberal Democrats to continue that wider campaign; a Tory Brexit undermines the existence of the Britain we believe in, not to mention the very existence of the UK.

The Lib Dems are and have always been proudly European, and (unlike the policy issue of tuition fees) this is fundamental to the party. Labour, despite its sudden clarity on scrapping tuition fees, remains hopelessly divided on its own vision of Brexit. The Liberal Democrats are the only party left to stand up for the 48 per cent, for the millions of voters, particularly the young, who voted to remain part of Europe, to be free to study in Paris or Berlin, to marry in Rome or Amsterdam and to work in Stockholm or Sofia."

www.independent.co.uk/voices/lib-dems-labour-tuition-fees-jeremy-corbyn-tim-farron-brexit-general-election-never-again-a7728616.html#commentsDiv

You've got Harry Styles on your side. I wonder how many One Direction fans will vote Libdem because of him.

Does anyone know if the Lib Dems have ever said what stance they take on Universal Basic Income?

Two years ago they were in favour of Basic Income.

There is a tracker here on the parties fait tax commitments in their manifestos. To be updated as they appear, of course.

fairtaxmark.net/manifesto-tracker/

Fair tax, sorry, not fait tax.

Thanks Jen.

The Liberal Democrat Manifesto has now been launched. It is presented in a user-friendly form so that you can search for areas of policy.

www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto?utm_campaign=manifesto17_4a&utm_medium=email&utm_source=libdems

Thanks varian

One good thing about it is that Libdems could never go into coalition with the Tories on that manifesto.
Nothing in common.

Well reading the manifesto there is nothing with which I disagree. If I lived in an area with the possibility of getting a Lib. MP rather than a Tory I would definately and very happily give them my vote

Same here, whitewave. I do hope it works in other parts of the country.

Tim Farron has already made it absolutely clear that the LibDems would not be part of any coalition led by Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn.

After the appalling event in Manchester, political campaigning was halted for two days. Now that it has resumed the scheduled party political broadcast by the Liberal Democrats has been replaced by this heartfelt message from Tim Farron

www.libdems.org.uk/lib_dems_replace_tv_election_broadcast_with_personal_message_from_tim_farron

I heard it but didn't realise it had replaced the PPB. Just the right thing at this time.

The brainwashed terrorists who commit kurderous attrocities like the Manchester bomb attack hate our Western liberal democracies.

The knee jerk reaction of the populist press is often a cry for more right wing policies- stop immigration, close the borders, do not admit any refugees, arm the police, build more prisons, bring back hanging etc.

This is exactly what these evil groups are trying to achieve. They encourage authoritarian repressive regimes where the populations can be cowed by fear into conformity with the regime.

We can only defeat this evil by standing up even more strongly for a free, open and tolerant society. Voting Liberal Democrat shows that we hold these values dear.

murderous attrocities

Last weeks "The Media Show" on Radio 4 set out to examine political bias in the media. They discovered that in this election campaign there is a strong back bias towards a two-party system. Only Conservatives and Labour are even mentioned most of the time and there is an anti-Labour bias.

The commentators contrasted this with all the publicity given to UKIP and SNP in 2015. During the whole half hour programme, unless I missed it, the Liberal Democrats were never mentioned at all.

I find this very depressing and it reveals an insidious bias in the media, including the makers of this programme.

At a time when the Tories have moved to the extreme right, taken over most of UKIP's policies, and Corbyn has taken the Labour party further to the left, there are so many people who do not want either of these parties, so many people are liberal in their views and want to see a fair, open and tolerant society. They should not forget that a good centre/left party, the LibDems, does exist, even if most of the media would rather ignore that fact. It does make a mockery of our so-called democracy.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08qxfnl

Are you sure you believe him varian? After all TF is a politician and we all know that with each and everyone, what they say and what they do when push comes to shove, can be, and probably will be two very different things!

Farron voted to triple university fees, varian. Starts off at a low base.

You are mistaken durhamjen

Tim Farron voted AGAINST the raising of tuition fees, as did many other LibDem MPs.

www.libdemvoice.org/tuition-fees-how-liberal-democrat-mps-voted-22346.html

Just noticed they've got a Webchat lined up with TF tomorrow on MN if anyone's interested (think it's 1.00 p.m.)

Yes nigglie I do believe Tim Farron. I have met him and he struck me as absolutely genuine. No side to him at all.

He was one of 21 LibDem MPs who voted against tuition fees.

Remember that tuition fees were introduced by the Labour party, who then promised not to raise them, then forgot that promise and did raise them. The Tories were responsible for the policy of raising them again and I know that the LibDems who did reluctantly support that policy, did so to gain things like the pupil premium which has benefited so many children. The right wing press has succeded in placing the blame for tuition fees on the LibDems. I wonder why?