Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 2d

We are very glad to see that Lib Dem MP Angus MacDonald appears to have deleted his repost of a statement blaming Gazans for the genocide inflicted upon them.

If the repost was an accident then we sincerely hope he will soon explain as much. Mistakes deserve forgiveness, as long as they're genuine.

2

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 2d

We are very glad to see that Lib Dem MP Angus MacDonald appears to have deleted his repost of a statement blaming Gazans for the genocide inflicted upon them.

If the repost was an accident then we sincerely hope he will soon explain as much. Mistakes deserve forgiveness, as long as they're genuine.

3 6

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 2d

Hamas are a terrorist organisation whose crimes can and must be condemned. But it is perfectly possible to condemn Hamas without blaming the innocent victims of genocide in the process.

Genocide is never, ever, justified, no matter what any terrorist group has done.

3

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 2d

The Lib Dems have, rightly, condemned Israel's genocide in Gaza. Here we have Angus MacDonald, one of our MPs, reposting and endorsing a statement blaming innocent Palestinian civilians, including 20,000 murdered children, for what happened to them.

He needs to lose the party whip. No ifs, no buts.

Screenshot of Angus MacDonald MP reposting an X post by Lee Hurst saying "Next time don't unilaterally launch a mass murder, kidnap, rape spree on your neighbour you total twats" above footage of devastation and ruined buildings in Gaza.

2 6 11

Reposted by Radical Association

James Baillie @jubalbarca.bsky.social · 10d

Lib Dem friends: internal party elections going on, here's my manifesto for Federal Council. Boosts welcome, if you can vote please vote for me, if you know a Lib Dem then please ask them to do so!

And please feel free to ask questions (whether you're a voter or not) about what all this is about :)

Federal Council Manifesto

Why am I running?
- Because I think good scrutiny makes for great leadership and I'm the right person to hold party leaders accountable
- Because I want Federal Council to be an effective and unafraid scrutiny body and would support constitutional changes to empower its role
- Assessing evidence is core to my work and core to this role

What sort of party do we want?
- Open to everyone, especially focusing right now on immigrants & trans folk who are under threat and on working class people who are very underrepresented in politics.
- Better internal communications and giving the microphone to more people more of the time, especially specified associated organisations
- Looking after campaigners and staff better to reduce burnout

Who am I?
I'm a professional historian, living and working in Austria. I'm outside the bubble of Westminster politics but engaged with what needs doing: that's the right perspective from which to be the good critical friend our party leaders need to get things right.

I'm from a rural community in Norfolk, and whilst | now live abroad I've kept my membership with the Breckland & South West Norfolk Liberal Democrats. | want to make sure Federal Council properly represents the rural communities that make up so much of our voting base across the country.

I've helped run digital communities for over half my life, chairing the Exilian creative society and being co-convenor of the Medieval Caucasus Network among other roles. Building spaces, working with constitutions and volunteers, and designing the right social rules and tools for the job is something I've spent my life doing. That gives me a wealth of experience that | can apply to party governance as well.

How do I find out more?
My blog, https://thoughtsofprogress.wordpress.com; @jubalbarca.bsky.social; @JubalBarca@Scholar.Social; james@wavcott.org.uk.

I'm happy to answer any questions - and hope you'll support me for our Federal Council.

Endorsements follow from former Lib Dems in England chair Alison Rouse, and former Federal Board member April Preston.

9 8

Reposted by Radical Association

Cllr Brian Wernham 🔶 C.Eng. MA History @brianwernham.bsky.social · 20d

And what have you been living here for many years and you have indefinite leave to remain?

And what if you then get this digital ID?

And what if Nigel Farage becomes prime minister and starts rounding up people like you to be expelled?

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

UK politics: ID cards ‘will make Britons’ everyday lives easier and build trust’, claims Blair thinktank - as it happened

Thinktank’s Alexander Iosad claims says cards will tackle illegal migration and help people access government services

www.theguardian.com

7 5 22

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 20d

This is absolutely the right stance and it is great to see party HQ saying so quickly and so strongly. Much more of this please.

Liberal Democrats @libdems.org.uk · 20d

Liberal Democrats cannot support mandatory digital IDs. People shouldn't be criminalised just because they don't want to hand over their private data.

“Liberal Democrats cannot support a mandatory digital ID where people are forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives... People shouldn’t be turned into criminals just because they can’t have a digital ID, or choose not to.” — Victoria Collins, Liberal Democrat Science, Innovation and Technology Spokesperson.

1 2 8

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

The Lib Dems have the opposite stance to Reform on basically every conceivable issue. The "none of the above" voters currently leaning towards Reform will not be won over by us triangulating in a Reform direction, they'll be won over by the LDs setting out a clear vision for how to improve the UK.

1

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

The kind of people who voted Conservative in 2024 and who are now flirting with Reform are people who have absolutely nothing in common with the Lib Dems and who will never vote for us. By trying to appeal to them we will lose the votes of far more people who actually *would* vote for us.

1

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Lib Dem gains from the Conservatives last year were based primarily on increased progressive tactical voting plus a drop in Conservative turnout and 1 in 4 Con voters switching to Reform.

Direct Con to LD switching was only critical in a very small number of LD seats.

1 2

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Not to gainsay your personal experience, but the polling says that that really wasn't a significant factor in the 2024 GE:

yougov.co.uk/politics/art...

Only 7% of 2019 GE Con voters switched to the Lib Dems, compared to the 9% of 2019 Lab voters who did so.

How Britain voted in the 2024 general election | YouGov

Using a sample of over 35,000 voters, YouGov looks at how voters voted at the 2024 election across factors like age, gender, class, education, income, work status, housing tenure and their vote at pas...

yougov.co.uk

2 2 2

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

A logical approach to holding onto the gains would be looking at who voted for us in those seats and making sure they keep on voting for us, rather than making a big appeal to the people in those seats who *didn't* vote for us as our central strategy.

1 1 1

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Respectfully, if you think that holding onto our 2024 gains doesn't rely on consolidating the voting coalition of former Labour and Green supporters, then you are not being serious in your approach to party strategy.

1

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Our job for the next GE is to hold the seats we currently have, namely holding together our existing voting coalition in those seats, and to gain more seats by winning new voters elsewhere.

For both of these the polling is clear that our path to doing so does not run through die-hard Tory voters.

2

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Polling analysis shows that the Lib Dem electoral coalition at GE 2024 was built on progressive voters, who switched to us from Labour and the Greens, with very few Con>LD switchers, and our potential for future growth looks very similar.

Graph showing how 2024 LD voters would vote now: 50% are still LDs, 17% are Labour, 6% Greens, 9% Reform, 7% Conservative.

Graph showing the political origins of people who are saying they would note vote Lib Dem: 50% are from Labour, 9% Greens, 7% Reform, 15% Conservative, 14% undecided.

1 2

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Being Tory-lite and appealing to people who *still* voted Tory in 2024, even after everything, is *at best* a strategy for getting the party to plateau at 80 MPs. It is absolutely not a strategy for achieving the party's full potential.

1 1 3

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

That's factually incorrect. According to John Curtice something like only 4% of our 2024 votes came from people who voted Conservative in 2019. The bulk of our vote came from consolidating Labour/Green voters behind us to get the Tories out. The same is true right now.

2 1 2

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

bsky.app/profile/radi...

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

"Conservative friends, come and win with us"

That's Ed Davey saying that he thinks the future of the Lib Dems lies with appealing to 2024 Tory voters. If you disagree, if you think the Lib Dems need to be more than Tory-lite, then join us and fight for something better: radicalassociation.org

1 1 3

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Reupload with corrected audio:

bsky.app/profile/radi...

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

"Conservative friends, come and win with us"

That's Ed Davey saying that he thinks the future of the Lib Dems lies with appealing to 2024 Tory voters. If you disagree, if you think the Lib Dems need to be more than Tory-lite, then join us and fight for something better: radicalassociation.org

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

Re-upload with corrected audio.

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

"Conservative friends, come and win with us"

That's Ed Davey saying that he thinks the future of the Lib Dems lies with appealing to 2024 Tory voters. If you disagree, if you think the Lib Dems need to be more than Tory-lite, then join us and fight for something better: radicalassociation.org

3 5 5

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 22d

"Conservative friends, come and win with us"

That's Ed Davey saying that he thinks the future of the Lib Dems lies with appealing to 2024 Tory voters. If you disagree, if you think the Lib Dems need to be more than Tory-lite, then join us and fight for something better: radicalassociation.org

1 4 8

Reposted by Radical Association

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 26d

URGENT: For those attending #LDConf we have just learned of a likely attempt by transphobic activists to hijack the conference agenda by suspending standing orders first thing tomorrow morning at 9am. If you're going to conference please turn up to oppose this.

Radical Conference Briefing Autumn 2025

Our briefing on motions, policy and key votes at Lib Dem Autumn Conference 2025.

radicalassociation.org

1 11 12

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 26d

URGENT: For those attending #LDConf we have just learned of a likely attempt by transphobic activists to hijack the conference agenda by suspending standing orders first thing tomorrow morning at 9am. If you're going to conference please turn up to oppose this.

Radical Conference Briefing Autumn 2025

Our briefing on motions, policy and key votes at Lib Dem Autumn Conference 2025.

radicalassociation.org

1 11 12

Radical Association @radicalassociation.bsky.social · 26d

What's on at #LDconf? Find out in our Radical Conference Briefing!

radicalassociation.org/news/lib-dem...

Radical Conference Briefing Autumn 2025

Our briefing on motions, policy and key votes at Lib Dem Autumn Conference 2025.

radicalassociation.org

3 2