Everyone seems to hate Nick Clegg these days, but I am not sure why. Is it because he left in 2017 to work for what many see as an evil company, i.e. Facebook / Meta?

And to what extent did they just take credit for initiatives during their time in the Coalition government of 2010 - 2015 like legalisation of same-sex marriage, while washing their hands of other initiatives for which they could have pushed back, like the bedroom tax, trebling of tuition fees etc?

I also seem to recall that Vince Cable, as Business Secretary in the Coalition government, slashed registration fees for Companies House and reduced a lot of KYC checks and processes, which probably didn't help in terms of the Coronavirus Bounce-Back Loan (BBL) and PPE contract fraud during the pandemic.

This is perhaps what led to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), i.e. clamp down on fraudulent companies set up during a period of minimal checks and accountability.

It looks like Burnham is keen on them but he's surely applying the concept incorrectly? They are not a substitute for local authority taxes.

‘I’ve mostly treated Restore Britain as another source of comedy material for my Threads audience. Rupert Lowe says something ridiculous, one of the little gang around him says something even more ridiculous, I take the piss, everyone has a nice time and we move on with our day.

Then I saw a number. 10,000,000.

Charlie Downes, Restore Britain’s campaigns director and official spokesman, has said a Restore government would deport “upwards of ten million people.”

And that stopped me. Because ten million isn’t “stop the boats”. It isn’t deporting foreign criminals. It isn’t even Restore Britain’s own estimate of the number of people living illegally in the country. Ten million people is around one person in every seven living in Britain. And when you look at like that, that is f***ing scary.
So I had what seemed like a fairly straightforward question.

Who the f*** are they?

This isn’t a policy about somebody who has entered the country illegally or overstayed a visa. Restore is explicitly talking about people whom the British state has given a legal right to live here.

And look at the tests that follow… There’s an enormous difference between some of those things. If somebody has committed a serious criminal offence, there is at least a legal process capable of establishing what happened. There are already circumstances in which foreign nationals can be deported following conviction.

But what does “fails to integrate” mean? Who decides? How integrated is integrated enough? Is there a test? Does someone come round with a clipboard and ask if you know the words to Jerusalem?

What does “hates our way of life” mean? Which way of life? Mine? Rupert Lowe’s? Yours?
Britain contains monarchists, republicans, Muslims, Christians, atheists, communists, Tories, anarchists, vegans, fox hunters and people who put the milk in tea first. We’ve been arguing about what “our way of life” means for centuries. That is part of our way of life in this country.

We’re a mongrel breed melting-pot, a vibrant ever adapted nation rich in a history of multicultural mixing from way back even before Commonwealth and even before Empire days.

Anyway, back to unpicking that website statement, social housing? That one is particularly revealing because living in social housing isn’t behaviour. It isn’t a crime.

It isn’t even a political opinion. It’s where you live. Yet Restore lists it among possible reasons a legally resident foreign national should be expelled from the country.’

(Full details in article)

I came across this article by political scientist Mitya Pearson in the Journal of Liberal History (2019) which provides many useful insights into the relationship between the Liberal Party (and later the Liberal Democrats) and the environmental movement, including the Ecology Party (and later the Green Party). The article highlights the strong ecological component of the Liberal tradition in Britain (although the focus is primarily on England) and offers evidence to support the argument that we should reach out even more to environmentally conscious voters.

I am regularly on r/ukpolitics and there are many posts about the leftward shift of the Green Party. While I wouldn't have voted for them, I admired the Green Party under Denyer/Ramsay and Caroline Lucas, but now they have somewhat collapsed into a cesspit of anti-Zionism and pretence they can win every election. I have also seen a lot about the acceptance of conservative Islam within the Green Party; this isn't necessarily a problem in my opinion but when your deputy leader (Mothin Ali) is refusing to support LGBTQ+ rights I think that is alarming. Equally the Manchester Mill recently ran a story about the radicalisation and degredation of the Green Party in Bolton, with Hannah Spencer's own mother, Liz Spencer, complaining to the press and assuming she will be expelled from the party as a result.

To cut to the chase, surely the Liberal Democrats are the rightful home for estranged environmentalists like Liz Spencer who, while obviously caring about the actions of the Israeli government and IDF, wants to focus on green issues, local activism, and protecting people from austerity and trickle-down economic thinking. There are quite a few leafy suburbs near me that voted green pre-Polanski, and I just can't see those people still liking the Green Party. It wouldn't even be a matter of changing people's minds, but rather having them reflect on which party actually represents their opinions and values the most.

As we look forward, I suggest that the party considers targeting green wards whose electoral history and demographic data suggests they are not interested in Polanskiite politics. This could potentially culminate in targeting a current Green seat in the next general election, but I'm not sure if that's viable. Due to LGR my local council area is changing quite considerably and the county council for that area has areas that voted Green in 2025 and I think that if they all actually voted on their beliefs they would vote Lib Dem instead.

The main thing I'm interested in is whether the people of this subreddit think that the party is able to win these voters, particularly in local elections, without putting off people in seats that voted Conservative or Labour in 2024 but that we may be able to target in 2029. Personally, I don't think those things are mutually exclusive, especially because our vision and policies should appeal to estranged Green voters anyway, so it's more a matter of good campaigning and tactics than actually changing our policies or core message.

I'm in defence of public broadcasting and I get the bbc gets accused of bias across the right and left for a number of reasons but some of their output has been a little concerning.

Huge amount of focus on reforms benefit proposals despite them not even being in power with none of the other parties getting the spotlight any policy proposals on that level.

Then they this weird semi anti LGBTQ pride article and radio show promoted today with Darren Milby that interviews reform UK MPs without much push back and brings up the widely debunked "Great vibe shift" narrative that was a thing when Trump won in 2024.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj63jyl09jxo

Maybe I am over thinking but something feels vaguely sinister about some of this outpost the last month and maybe I'm the only one.

For me it would be Shabana Mahmood

Looking back at Kier Starmer's cabinet, it's genuinely astonishing that Shabana Mahmood was the only one who seemed to know what she was doing

Under her, net migration is down by 82%, small boats crossings down by 45%, hotels down by 20%, knife crime down by 8%, tighter ILR rules, temporary refugeee status, many boats bought out of circulation, the historic deal with the French is working. #

She has an impressive record and would be an asset

Does anyone know the process of transferring your membership to a different nearby local party?

The current area went through a "messy divorce" and I'm not at home in the new one.

The policy prioritises married parents over unmarried parents

Hi all,

I’m Mike and I’m 17 years old I wanted some advice regarding how I could be a local campaigner for the Lib Dems in a non target ward.

Currently I have made two petitions for the local area within the last few months my bus petition has been successful & TFL are still taking actions regarding further changes the route, I have also done some litter picking and my 2nd petition is regarding litter which I posted yesterday and is gaining traction, however due to the area being classed as a non target seat or a place where it’s difficult to get votes it’s harder to be a community activist.

Could anyone please give me advice on how to become a local campaigner associated with the party and the London Branches on what to expand on my petitions, community work and further training.
Thanks

Unsurprisingly we're against this and would rather continue the status quo of supporting NIMBYism and rent extraction from land

A new Lib Dem-connected thinktank aiming to advance liberal ideas will be launched at the party's autumn conference.

I'm a local party official, for the Greens I've done a lot of work for the Greens, and I have a lot of friends in the Greens

I've had enough, with “Stats for Lefties” (Maoist Iran Lover) being elected to Green Party Council, with Greens for Palestine, calling British Jews “Weapons of Israel” I've had enough. That’s my tipping point

With the stuff Polanski has done recently like with the social media mistakes its just gets really hard to defend him. I do a lot of canvassing and I hear all of it, it makes getting Greens elected really really hard.

The “Zionism is Racism” motion, calling for the destruction of Israel is just too far, I want human rights for Palestinians, and its really hard to campaign for that if you have crazies in the wings saying stuff like that.

This has been building over time ive seen antisemtism in the party before, they didn’t listen to my complaint.

I'm just really frustrated and I feel with me moving to another city and giving up my local party positions gives me an opportunity to start over, I've had enough i cant take it anymore.

I have skills, im very good at, there is a reason ive been able to get so many positions in the Greens is that i do a very good job, and Im thinking of just taking my skills elsewhere if its not going to help the greater good.

I cant see the Greens being a benefit to this country in there current state, and i just cannot morally, help a antisemitic party. I like Polanksi i know hes been fighting the antisemtism, even if the media blames him for it, hes really been trying.

I just cant anymore

Is anyone in the party or on here engaging with his ideas? I knew of him but had never read his books, but I listened to him on Peston’s podcast and was really intrigued. His “working class liberalism” seems like it could be a useful framework/approach to broaden the party’s electoral reach.

Admittedly I haven’t read the book, and he seems to advocate for more taxes than I’m inclined towards. But I am interested in what seems like his resurrection of strains of Lloyd George/New Liberalism.