Welsh Liberal blogs

 Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, paid tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Parliament. The deep mourning across the country now – just like the celebrations of her Jubilee a few months ago – comes not from a sense of duty, but from genuine and heartfelt affection, love and admiration of Her Majesty. It's not because we were her subjects, but because she was truly our Queen. What she meant to us is perhaps best summed up by a phrase on so many people’s lips over the last twenty-four hours:   “I can’t imagine our country without her.”   For almost everyone in the country, she has been there our whole lives. At times of national grief and national jubilation, she has never not been there for us. So it is hard to accept that she is gone. And hard to see how we go on without her.   But we will. Our great United Kingdom has a great future – because The Queen’s spirit of strength, grace and resolve lives on in her people. One of the great...

  Read Ed Davey's message October is Black History Month — an opportunity to celebrate the enormous contributions that Black people have made across our country. From Mary Prince to Paul Stephenson, so many Black pioneers have transformed our society’s cultural and political landscapes. We owe a great debt to everything they have achieved.  Yet here in the UK, far too many people’s lives are still blighted by discrimination, inequality and injustice. This Summer, the Euros championship exposed the best and worst of our country’s relationship with race. The incredible achievements of Black players like Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka made us all proud. They united the whole country behind them — and most courageously, these young Black men took the knee to protest the racism that they have sadly experienced. But they were met with abuse from a small minority of the public. These heroes were booed and subjected to vile, racist online abuse ...

  The idea of the Taliban getting closer to power in Afghanistan is very worrying indeed. That it comes at a time when we are withdrawing troops and slashing foreign aid by 78% shows astonishing irresponsibility on behalf of our government. You can’t just walk away and leave people in the lurch as we are doing. Ed Davey has spoken of his concerns about the advance of the Taliban: As the Taliban take swathes of territory on their advance towards Kabul, millions of women and girls are facing the prospect of a new era of injustice, inequality and brutality – while the potential for a new vector of international terrorism forms across Afghanistan. Meanwhile the UK is failing to meet its moral obligation to those interpreters who risked their lives supporting our troops, while our international development spending in Afghanistan has been slashed. The spectre of a new security threat is looming. The UK government must work urgently with our international partners because right now we ar...

  Jane Dodds and Welsh Liberal Democrats congratulate Ed Davey on Lib Dem Leadership Victory Ed Davey has been elected as the new leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said:  “I’m incredibly excited to start working with Ed as our new leader, I know he will help communicate our positive liberal message at a time when it’s needed more than ever. “Ed is a friend of Wales understands our nation, our traditions and crucially devolution and the importance of the Senedd elections next year. With more and more people joining our party we have a renewed sense of optimism for the future, something in stark contrast to Boris’ bungled handling of the Covid-19 pandemic” “Ed has championed the cause of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon which could generate renewable power for 150,000 homes as well as in recent weeks lead the campaign against the carers Covid bonus being taxed.  “We were incredibly lucky as a party to have h...

Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey responds to Keir Starmer's election as Leader of the Labour Party At this moment of national crisis, the role of all opposition parties must be to support measures to tackle the coronavirus, whilst also standing up for the most vulnerable by properly scrutinising the Government.  I look forward to working with Keir Starmer on that task. Saving lives from coronavirus remains the absolute priority. Vital issues such as expanding testing capacity, access to adequate protective equipment for frontline health and social care staff, and ensuring the most vulnerable are not left behind as a result of the economic uncertainty are at the top of the agenda. Liberal Democrats will always work with whoever we can to pursue our liberal values, to fight for action on the climate crisis and to build a more caring and just society. In those areas where we share common ground, Liberal Democrats and Labour now have an oppo...

Today, MPs will debate the Government’s emergency Coronavirus Bill. The Coronavirus crisis is an unprecedented threat, leaving the most vulnerable in our communities at risk. People across the country are rightly worried about their loved ones. This is a national emergency and emergency powers are clearly necessary to keep individuals and communities safe from the virus. Liberal Democrats are working with the Government and other opposition parties in Parliament to pass the emergency legislation we need. But we are also focused on ensuring that these powers do not go any further than absolutely necessary. Many of the powers in this Bill have serious implications for civil liberties and human rights. We are therefore making it clear that these powers must only be used when necessary during this emergency – and not a moment longer. Liberal Democrats will remain vigilant to ensure that any restrictions on civil liberties are only temporary, and that our rights and freedom...

Responding to the Budget, Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said: This Budget reveals the UK economy was alarmingly weak even before Coronavirus. The Government is desperate to blame anyone or anything but the reality is that it’s the Conservatives’ Brexit which is costing Britain’s economy dearly. Whilst the Government is taking some action to deal with the Coronavirus, after five years of Tory governments the NHS and our social care sector are chronically under-funded, under-resourced and under-staffed, just at the moment we need them most. Nothing is being done to fill the care sector’s staffing needs here and now. With COP26 around the corner this government has fundamentally failed to show any real global leadership on dealing with the climate emergency. Rather than create a green infrastructure plan for the future, Ministers have hidden their infrastructure strategy because it was not compliant with tackling the climate emergency and getting t...

Today is International Women's Day - read Ed Davey's message now On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the incredible contributions of women in every corner of the world. Today, we celebrate the women pushing boundaries, defying stereotypes and shattering glass ceilings. Let us recognise those who have paved the way - from Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer, to Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest woman in British history. And of course, my amazing friend, Jo Swinson, who last year became the first female leader in our party’s history. Each of these women and countless others have played an important role in inspiring the next generation by showing young girls everywhere that gender should never place a limit on what a person can achieve. Sadly, the fight for equality is far from over, much work remains to be done. In the UK alone, women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence, 1 in 5 women will experience sexual assault during their l...

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the UK Government to reverse plans to scrap the BBC licence fee and ensure the future of S4C is secure in any future funding settlement. Welsh Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Roger Roberts has criticised the proposed scrapping of the licence fee as a threat to the future of S4C. Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey and Liberal Democrat DCMS Spokesperson Daisy Cooper have written to the Prime Minister, outlining how the Conservative government's plans will "cost the BBC hundreds of millions of pounds" and "at least double the cost of viewing the BBC". Welsh Liberal Democrat Lord Roger Roberts, commented: Since its inception in 1982, S4C has been a major factor in promoting and supporting the resurgence of our language. S4C is a vital part of Welsh broadcasting and Welsh political life, with their work being primarily supported by the licence fee. If this government scraps t...

Ed Davey’s speech in full For the last four years, the Liberal Democrats fought to stop Brexit. We held street stalls, town hall meetings and we marched in our millions. Today we stand strong in the knowledge that we did everything we could. Tens of thousands of people got involved with our campaign. People who had never campaigned before. And old hands, campaigning harder than they ever had before. We fought with good humour and great energy. We fought because we love our country. Our pro-Europeanism is built on our patriotism. So I will always be proud of the campaigners, candidates, activists and members of our movement who had the courage to stand up for what we believe in. And though ultimately we did not succeed in stopping Brexit, I am immensely proud of all that we did achieve. We built the largest pro-European movement this country has ever seen. Prevented a catastrophic no-deal Brexit – not once, not twice but three times. ...