Fair votes are now more vital than ever!
Advocate of proportional representation and progressive politics. Humanist. Anti Brexit! Anti Trump! @libdems.org.uk
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Fair votes are now more vital than ever!
So, there will be two parties challenging Labour from the left. Perhaps Labour only has itself to blame but Farage will be delighted www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
A warning from @pollytoynbee.bsky.social - our dangerous electoral system could propel Farage into Number 10 on as little as 30% of the vote. It’s an existential moment for liberal democracy, time to act! We need electoral reform! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Still on the EHCR are we? British politics is stuck in a post-Brexit doom loop, addicted to spectacle politics and unable to engage with its actual problems: the sclerotic post-GFC economy that has seen real wages stagnate and increasing inability of government to invest in public services.
The Government is doing its best at the moment to imply it has no problem with the ethnonationalism now rearing its ugly head. And I don't understand why. 1/5
To assert the UK has taken enough action in the face of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza is frankly outrageous. We must impose a full arms embargo, halt all military cooperation, ban settlement goods, ramp up sanctions, and ensure an immediate ceasefire & accountability for war crimes.
“The government must learn their lesson and now apply relentless pressure to the Netanyahu government to end this crisis.” @CalumMillerLD.bsky.social
Elon Musk, one of the world’s most powerful and richest men is posting far right ideology. Remigration is commonly seen as a far right concept of ethnic cleansing. To deport migrants and their descendants to their place of racial ancestry. That would include me. Why are we not talking about this?
“The First-Past-the-Post voting system is under growing strain as British politics experiences unprecedented fragmentation and volatility. This threatens to produce increasingly chaotic and unrepresentative election results, further undermining trust in politics” @alexsobel.co.uk
🔴‘Progressive Parties Must Start Working Together or Concede the Next General Election to the Nationalist Right’ If parties on the left can’t find a way of working together, then the Conservatives and Reform will, argues Neal Lawson bylinetimes.com/2025/08/29/l...
Reform is polling to win a majority of seats on merely 30% of the vote thanks to #FPTP. Our new publication "The Temper Trap" by Stuart Donald shows that instead of emboldening populist right parties, #ProportionalRepresentation weakens them. Read: compassonline.org.uk/publications...
@compassoffice.bsky.social's new report, "The Temper Trap", explains how PR systems actually temper Populist-Right parties, instead of aiding and abetting them. www.compassonline.org.uk/publications...
'I would quite like to change the voting system and have a more proportional system' Darren Jones MP - Let’s hope he hasn’t forgotten his support for electoral reform. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I wish we had a PM with the eloquence, political intelligence and humanity of a Jonas Gahr Store.
Tomorrow I will be a tabling a motion to force the government to release the legal advice it has received on Israel's military action in Gaza and breaches of international law. Ministers cannot turn a blind eye to this humanitarian catastrophe any longer.
The ‘Dear Leader’ and his ‘Cabinet’ #Trump youtube.com/shorts/zRgeO...
“A group of cross-party MPs have set out a "ready to go" blueprint for an independent review of the UK's first past the post (FPTP) electoral system” - Good news! It’s time to upgrade our democracy! @appgfairelections.bsky.social www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/09...
👏👏👏
📜 We're pleased to publish a Terms of Reference for a National Commission on Electoral Reform ⚖️ This is a ready to go plan to independently review how Parliament is elected, promote a national conversation, and build consensus on a way forward 🧵 1/3
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will tomorrow table a motion in Parliament in an attempt to force the Government to publish legal advice it has received on potential breaches of international law in the Israel-Gaza conflict
American troops on the streets of an American city under a massive photo of their ‘Dear Leader’ - The US today under Trump…
“Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work.” Committee to Protect Journalists. At least 189 Palestinian journalists are dead in Gaza;l www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Oh dear …
With Trump in the White House and this lot authoritarians seem to be taking over the world. So now, more than ever, we need Europe to step up and defend open, liberal societies. 🇪🇺
How many Americans actually believe this bull*hit?
Under FPTP it doesn’t matter if 70% of us reject Reform, they would still get a massive majority in Parliament. Does that sound democratic to you?
This should have been the time for Europe to lead not to submit to Trump’s caprice.
Nigel Farage is almost as unpopular as Kemi Badenoch – but the risk for Labour is that a united right beats a divided left. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
Would anyone be surprised? www.thesun.co.uk/news/3650583...
“Trump’s dictator-like behaviour is so brazen, so blatant, that paradoxically, we discount it. But now it’s time to call it what it is” @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Seeing some politicians competing for just how brutal and dehumanising they can be to vulnerable minorities - I can’t help comparing that to 16th and 17th witch trials. It’s so depressing.
I’ve often wondered why Nigel Farage, who as godfather of the Brexit fiasco engineered the biggest British foreign policy disaster since Suez is continually offered so much space in some newspapers and broadcast media. Serious question. Thoughts welcome.
"The lamps are going out all over the US, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time"
How much more evidence do we need to certify this guy is mentally incapable of doing his job! 🥴👇🏼
In a dangerous world, Europe can count on a strong Finland. For decades, you have bravely guarded Europe’s borders. Today you teach us the art of preparedness. Not only through military strength, but through societal readiness.
🗣️ CALLING OUR ACTIVISTS! 📢 🏛️ This Tuesday, MPs will debate the scrapping of FPTP in mayoral elections. 🗳️ ✍️ Head to Action Network and ask your MP to attend and speak in support of scrapping FPTP - link in bio! 🔗 @makevotesmatter.bsky.social @compassoffice.bsky.social @unlockdemocracy.bsky.social
It shows such a basic lack of political understanding that Labour didn't go straight on the attack over this. Just because most people are worried about immigration being too high it doesn't mean they're psychopaths.
We need to take money out of British politics as well.
The NRA buys off Congress. No action on guns. The oil industry buys off Congress. No action on climate. Insurance companies buy off Congress. No action on health care. The list goes on and on. Money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.
No, having people who have spent a lifetime studying subject and know what they are talking about is a feature of science. Totalitarians don’t like them!
They regularly do in local elections. Many voters also vote tactically between them.
Me too, I assume Zack wants the Greens to be a socialist party like the new Corbyn party. They would be foolish to compete against each other.
Very exciting technology
Support for Labour is paper thin, their election victory last year was based on less than 34% of the popular vote. The @libdems.org.uk could become the progressive choice with policies free of political dogma and vested interests. A people focused compassionate politics. news.sky.com/story/lib-de...
Trump blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations' annual meeting in New York - The US is a rogue state…
US to stop Palestinians attending UN meeting in New York - Perhaps the UN should move to a neutral country like Switzerland? www.bbc.com/news/article...
We dont have to live like this. Other countries dont. We dont have to fear that our kids will be shot at school. Children shouldn’t have to fear dying at school. Its a choice. GOP lawmakers receive millions of dollars from gun manuifacturers for their vote against all rational gun laws
📍Camden 🔶 👏 Big congrats to *Cllr* @JGrauberg who led the @LibDems team to a barnstorming victory in last night’s West Hampstead by-election! 🟥🟥🔨This is even more proof that Liberal Democrats can—and must—take the fight to Labour too, even in historically Labour areas 💥
Ed Davey, "I'm afraid Nigel Farage helped cause this problem in the first place" "Brexit has meant we're not able to force the French to take illegal immigrants coming over on small boats back"
Agreed 👍
Trump ends Secret Service protection for Harris - Trump is a vindictive child… www.bbc.com/news/article...
Very succinct WSJ summary of the staggering migration shock that successive Tory governments inflicted on Britain as they tried to mitigate and hide the economic consequences of the Brexit disaster
My Prospect piece yesterday set out how a illiberal radical government with a firm majority and competent advisers could easily abuse the UK constitution - and that the UK more vulnerable to this than US. But. This sort of warning is not new. It has been over a hundred years in the making. >
🇪🇺 On 29 June 1985, European leaders chose a symbol that would stand the test of time. Twelve golden stars in a circle. A powerful symbol of who we are and what we stand for: unity and peace, democracy and solidarity. Today, we celebrate 40 years of our common flag.
It’s a one person party
Quite a result for the @libdems.org.uk
Prayer might make the person praying feel better, but it won’t stop children bring shot and killed. Gun control is needed not prayer, but payer is all that Trump will offer.
Trump will never ban assault weapons. 😡 news.sky.com/story/minnea...
Indeed
The perfect introduction to humanism. #Thatshumanism from Humanists UK features Stephen Fry narrating four animations and brand new classroom posters on values, ethics, and meaning. Explore here: humanists.uk/thatshumanism/
On the left, my warning from September 2024 about what Trump 2.0 would look like. On the right, recent headlines. I wish I'd been wrong. But because Trump is following a classic authoritarian playbook, it’s up to state and local governments to push back on this tyranny while it’s still possible.
So 34% of the vote would give Reform 64% of MPs. Can anyone justify this undemocratic result? People might just cross their fingers and hope it might never happen but is that really a way to run a democracy? In a fair electoral system Reform would get around a third of MPs, but not this abomination!
Tony Blair needs to come before Parliament to give evidence about his discussions with the Trump administration about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Trump has a unique power to end this war. We must leverage all the information at our disposal to make him do the right thing.
Column, on a grimly familiar Farage plot line and Starmer sticking to the script in the Brexit sequel. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
So valid criticisms of the Lib Dems. They have many good policies but I think they have trouble encapsulating it in an overall narrative. I agree also that the local and national messages need to work better together. They have a golden opportunity to be a new progressive force. I’m on their journey
The horror… news.sky.com/story/gaza-l...
White House fires CDC director as other officials resign from health agency - The authoritarian takeover of the US continues to gather pace. What will America look like in another 3 years? www.bbc.com/news/article...
With the Tories and Labour at a historically low point in the polls wouldn’t it be great if the Lib Dems emerged as the main progressive force in British politics? Free of vested interests and able to promote evidence led, compassionate policies.
NEW RESULT: Democrats have flipped a state Senate in Iowa. This was a seat Trump carried by 11%, but Democratic nominee Catherine Drey has just won it by 10.4%. This is the second legislative flip by Dems in Iowa this year. It also means the GOP loses its supermajority in Iowa’s senate.
In the context of most people now thinking Brexit was a mistake it’s not at all surprising… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
I’m surprised Trump isn’t joining this authoritarian get together…
Most people also think Brexit was a mistake! Enough with the baby steps, it’s time to return to the heart of Europe!
Quote: “The government could be more aggressive in its criticism of Boris Johnson’s Brexit, and more courageous in facing down the militant Eurosceptic minority that has for too long arrogated to itself the right to speak for the whole nation” I’d say! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
“Is it too much to expect a Labour government to raise the Reform leader’s proven failure as an arbiter of the national interest? His probity and judgment were sold as the product called Brexit. It turned out to be a piece of shit” @rafaelbehr.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Via the Lib Dems: Today Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP has announced he is to decline an invitation to the state banquet for Donald Trump next month, to raise the issue of 'Trump’s complicity in the humanitarian disaster in Gaza'
😉
“I feel a responsibility to do whatever I can to ensure the people in Gaza are not forgotten during the pomp and ceremony, and to ensure the UK makes Trump’s personal responsibility for securing peace in Israel and Palestine an issue” @eddavey.libdems.org.uk www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What an unbelievably stupid time to be alive.
There are 400 million guns in America. The gunman had at least 3. Trump thinks praying will help 🤔
Good for you
I'm boycotting the state banquet to send a message to both Donald Trump and Keir Starmer that they cannot close their eyes and wish away the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Donald Trump can stop this catastrophe in Gaza and get the hostages released. youtu.be/4MqPsjiage8
Brutal. A humiliation ritual.
Just want to make clear it’s not me. Never been Tory or Reform thank you very much! 😡 www.bbc.com/news/article...
With Labour and the Tories at historically low approval ratings there’s a massive opportunity for the Lib Dems to become the voice of progressive opposition to Reform and for a new type of undogmatic evidence based politics.
Nigel Farage and the Reform Party’s Taliban Tax means sending hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money to an oppressive regime that British soldiers fought and died to defeat.
American citizens have been conducting covert operations in Greenland. Denmark's public broadcaster quoted sources as saying the aim was to infiltrate Greenland's society and promote its secession from Denmark to the US - Trump still has territorial ambitions! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Constitutional and electoral reform are vital. Without electoral reform Farage could gain power on minority vote and without constitutional reform he could wreck havoc on our society.
I can’t help thinking if the @libdems.org.uk gained the support of people like @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and @rory-stewart.bsky.social they would be well on their way to becoming an even bigger force in British politics…
Why Rory thinks the proscription of Palestine Action is 'mad'.
If progressives can’t offer a better alternative to the likes of Trump and Farage we should pack it in and take up stamp collecting. (No insult intended to philatelists!)
Times today
Trump’s Cabinet: sycophants all
Trump’s Cabinet, sycophants all…
Why do you think Kirk had to steal some from the 1980s
What if Russia sends sharks with lasers on their heads and they grab onto the windmill at the bottom and then the centrifugal force hurls them onto our territory and then boom, there's laser sharks right on your street, President Trump is very concerned about that and every American should be too
Putin invaded Ukraine. They are defending themselves, they didn’t ’go to war’ with Russia. Trump!
As we've seen across history, the populist playbook used by Farage is ugly, powerful and incredibly destructive. We know where it will lead if we don't stop it.
“How can Palestinians have a future without their land? How can they defend their society when those at its heart, embodying its knowledge and culture, including doctors and journalists, are eliminated?” @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
