Liberal Democrats

From "They Work For You":

Lee has never voted on gay rights or same sex marriage. He was always absent, possibly because he was still a Conservative and wasn't then prepared to go against the party whip. I'm puzzled why he's being smeared as homophobic.

The vote for same sex marriage wasn’t whipped - it was PLs choice to deliberately abstain. I wouldn’t use the term homophobe - I’d say he didn’t support equal rights for gay people

jo swinson voted against plans to block fracking in 2015 then personally accepted £14,000 in donations from fracking firms across 2017-2018

Thanks for the info suzie. I couldn't remember.

In any case, it's not true to accuse him of voting against gay rights because he didn't. As I've tried to explain, I do accept his point that the state shouldn't dictate what the church does. He wasn't against gay marriage, just gay marriage in church.

I'm actually more concerned about his record on welfare and benefits. In fact my doubts about the LibDems are more to do with their historic record on welfare.

I'm hanging on as a member because I don't see any alternative for me, but I'm not blind to the direction the party is taking. The LibDems also have a good track at local level and round here are a real alternative to the Conservatives.

PS. Phillip Lee is being smeared as homophobic on Twitter and other social media. Maybe he is (I honestly don't know), but his voting record doesn't show that he is.

Ggggrrrr… I hate social media "smearing" on scant evidence.

Off to bed!

Boris Johnson has suffered a fresh blow as the former Tory universities minister Sam Gyimah dramatically defected to the Liberal Democrats, accusing the prime minister of “veering towards populism and English nationalism”.

In a major coup for the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson at the start of her party’s annual conference, Gyimah said he had left the Conservatives to fight against the government’s “scorched earth approach” to delivering Brexit regardless of the cost to the country.

The Observor reports today.

In the last few weeks the Liberal Democrats have won a by-election gaining Jane Dodd's as MP for Brecon and Radnor and seen no less than six existing MPs join from other parties.

Chukka Umunna, Luciana Berger and Angela Smith were former Labour MPs and Sarah Woolaston, Philip Lee and Sam Giymah were former Conservatives.

In normal times the party winning a byelection or gaining an MP from another party would have been sensational news, but now we can hardly remember normal times in politics.

One thing we can be sure of that compared with the chaos and confusion in the Tory and Labour parties, the LibDems are a haven of sanity and are going from,strength to strength.

Politicians who defect to another party should automatically trigger a bye election, to allow their constituents to voice their approval or otherwise of finding themselves with an MP supporting a party they didn't vote for! But in these days of ambition and duplicity, doing the decent thing is never very likely to happen unless MP's are made to by law!

People are entitled to change their minds as they learn more and as circumstances change.

twitter.com/RemainerNow/status/117
3159577707323392?s=09

twitter.com/RemainerNow/status/1173159577707323392?s=09

Of course they are! But MP's changing their stripes need to go back to their constituents to make sure the people they represent are happy with their change of heart!

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to cancel Brexit if they come to power at the next general election. Members voted for the new policy at their party conference in Bournemouth after it was moved by their former leader, Sir Vince Cable.

Previously, the party has backed another referendum or "People's Vote", saying they would campaign to Remain. The leader, Jo Swinson, said the manifesto pledge made the LibDems the "stop Brexit party".

In his first speech at conference as a Lib Dem MP, Chuka Umunna - who left Labour over its Brexit stance - said it would give the party a "clear unequivocal position". He said: "For three years Liberal Democrats have led the fight to stop Brexit. Our position is not only right, but has helped secure us incredible election results. This [policy] will stop this national embarrassment and enable us to focus on the things that really matter."

The motion, which was passed by an overwhelming majority, said that if the party became the government at the next general election, it would revoke Article 50 - the law that ensures the UK leaves the EU.

Earlier, Ms Swinson told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: "If people put [the Lib Dems] into government... the stop Brexit party, then stopping Brexit is exactly what people will get. Everybody can see we are stuck, that Brexit is in a mess. There needs to be a way out of that."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49706643

Liberal Democrat policy clearly explained bu Chuka Umunna.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP267QvtqlE

"The Liberal Democrats have pledged to cancel Brexit"

But the Liberal Democrats have made pledges before, and then proved to thousands of young people that a pledge can easily be broken.

A political party sets out in its manifesto what it would do if it gained power.

There is a clear distinction between what a Liberal Democrat majority Government can achieve and what could not be made to happen as part of a coalition, especially when the LibDems were the junior partner.

Be assured that a majority LibDem government would not have raised tuition fees and a majority LibDem government would Revoke Article 50 and Stop Brexit.

But the Libdems can't possibly believe that they will win a majority in Parliament. They can therefore make as many pledges as they like in the certain knowledge that they can break their pledges in a coalition.

That is not certain. There is no such thing as "certain knowledge" where our political future is concerned. All political parties set out their aspirations and the Liberal Democrat position on brexit is crystal clear.

Scottish Sundays saying Swinson in talks with Tories re a coalition ...much to the disgust of Wee Willie Rennie who tells Holyrood regularly that Scottish Lib Dems will have nothing to do with the tories.
Thats Wee Willie Rennie ..NOT Willie Rennie McIntosh as Corbyn called him last month...lol THats mans lack of knowledge about all things Scottish is astounding...well for a party leader it is ,we know the rest of the UK has very limited info about us .For thosewho didn't understand the LOL ..its Charles Rennie McIntosh architect and artist and HE was famous unlike wee Willie !

I think in the times we live in we could see a majority Liberal government. It would depend on how they perform whether the got voted in again but it is certainly possible the could be voted in once.

Since Jo Swinson confidently predicted that the LibDems would win a Commons majority of 300 seats (talk about setting yourself up for humiliating failure) on Andrew Marr this morning, she and the rest of the LibDem MPs should return to their constituencies and prepare for Government!
Jo Swinson, the greatest LibDem leader since Nick Clegg.

She said that. Without batting eyelid...

That will come back to haunt her.

Wrong UG you were not paying attention.

Jo Swinson did not predict the result of the next general election. She merely said that the Liberal Democrats would have a clear policy of stopping brexit, and that is what would happen if there was a majority Liberal Democrat government.

She also said that there is no limit to the ambitions of the Liberal Democrats. Why should there be?

If before there was a general election, a second referendum or people's vote was proposed, then the LibDems would back it and campaign for Remain.

Over the last three and a half years I have noticed that it is only the arrogant leavers that ever confidently predict the future and time and time again their predictions prove to be wrong.

No she didn't UG. Could we have a verbatim quote if you are so sure otherwise I, for one, will feel you have similar tendencies to the great Johnson we have somehow been lumbered with as prime minister.

and yet has ruled out working with Labour every time she's asked.

Even her own party recognise they're just
@Conservatives
now..
"
@LibDems
leader
@joswinson
has been shouted down by her own party members, as she defended the records of ex-Conservative MPs who have joined the party"

Now why would someone apparently so anti Brexit rule out Labour but not Johnson and Mogg ?

She would go in coalition with the Tories.
Appalling her Tory like voting record

She reminds me of Versace Salt

Has Swinson been asked about a Coalition with the Conservatives? What was her reply?

She would like to be deputy to Johnson ha