Free Republic

Liberal Democrat President Tim Farron today vowed the party would "kill" proposals for increased monitoring of emails and internet use if they were not watered down. Mr. Farron said he was "prepared" to look at draft legislation, dubbed a "snoopers charter", when it is published, but warned he was "in no mood" to back "authoritarian" laws. Many Lib Dems were "horrified" by the plans, which would allow Government listening post GCHQ to monitor internet traffic—times, dates, numbers and addresses—in real time. … The Government has faced an intense backlash over the plans, with senior Conservatives joining Lib Dems and civil...

Critics of U.S. spending on the United Nations got a huge boost—and supporters of that spending, especially the Obama Administration, took a body blow—from an unlikely source this week: the British government, long one of the U.N.’s staunchest supporters. In a sweeping and hard-nosed reorganization of priorities for its $10.6 billion multilateral foreign aid program, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron has pulled the financial plug entirely on four U.N. agencies at the end of next year, put three others judged merely “adequate” on notice that they could face the same fate unless they improve their...

The Liberal Democrat faction in the European Parliament has warned Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about possible sanctions from the EU. The recent resolution on Russian human rights violations in the European Parliament “is the diplomatic equivalent to a football referee using his yellow card,” said the open letter to Putin, published on the eve of his visit to Brussels. Liberal Democrat leader Guy Verhofstadt and his colleague Christina Ojuland, the keynote speaker on Russia, signed the letter. “Continued violations of human rights, political interference in the judicial process and the murder or disappearances of critics and journalists in recent...

From Berlin to Tokyo, governments struggle to instigate enough growth to pay their bills and gainfully employ workers, meanwhile China enjoys breakneck progress. Democratic capitalism is not flawed. Rather, government policymakers are destroying a system that took mankind from dark feudal superstitions to cracking the secrets of life with deceptions, delusions and abuse. From Athens to Sacramento politicians have deceived voters by telling them pension systems can be constructed allowing retirement at ages 55 or 60. Whether funded by savings and investments or taxes, no solvent pension system is possible that permits educated professionals, unionized workers and government employees, who...

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are edging towards a power-sharing deal that could see David Cameron become Britain’s new prime minister this week. MPs and officials from both parties said that an outline agreement could be agreed within the day. It is believed that the deal would stop short of a full coalition where the Lib Dems would get seats in the Cabinet.

The Tories Will Lose The Next Election If They Enter Into A Coalition With The Tainted Lib Dems Norman Tebbit May 8th, 2010 What a mess! What an unholy mess! The unloseable election against the worst government in British history finishes in talks to establish the terms on which the losers’ party with only 23 per cent of the votes and only 57 seats might graciously allow the party with 36 per cent of the votes and 307 seats to form a government. This was the election in which the poisonous legacy of Blair’s NuLab plan for the irreversible change...

Sorry, Guardianistas, but your declaration succinctly encapsulates every reason why I would rather shove my hands into a wasps nest than vote Liberal Democrat….

Political leaders have headed off on the campaign trail after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the UK general election would be held on 6 May. He said he would seek a "clear" mandate to continue the "road to recovery", as Labour bids for a fourth term. David Cameron, whose Conservative Party has been ahead in the polls, said they offered "hope" and a "fresh start". Nick Clegg, leader of the UK's third biggest party the Liberal Democrats, said only they offered "real change".

Tony Blair has suffered a bad night in England's local elections with Labour losing more than 300 councillors. The main winners were the Tories, who had their best results since 1992. The Lib Dems failed to make much headway. Elsewhere the BNP doubled its councillors, including winning 11 seats from Labour in Barking. The Greens and Respect also made gains. The prime minister has reshuffled his Cabinet to try to regain momentum after days of bad headlines. The projected vote share if the polls were held nationwide shows the Tories on 40%, Lib Dems 27% and Labour 26%. Turnout is...

The Liberal Democrats put their leadership woes behind them and won a startling by-election victory early today in the constituency where Gordon Brown has his family home. In a personal humiliation for the Chancellor, the Lib Dems overturned an 11,500 Labour majority to capture Dunfermline and West Fife. Their 1,800 majority represented a swing of 16.24 per cent. Willie Rennie celebrates with his wife and party members Willie Rennie celebrates with his wife and party members The Scottish National Party finished third but in David Cameron's first by-election since becoming Tory leader his candidate failed to improve on fourth place....

The family-run Darley Oaks Farm in Newchurch will stop breeding guinea pigs for medical research after a six-year campaign of intimidation by animal rights activists. Liberal Democrat science spokesman Dr Evan Harris said it was "sadly a victory for terrorism and extremism". And he said the closure could have been avoided "had the government and police acted swiftly and effectively back in 1999 when the campaign of violence and intimidation first started". The intimidation of the family farm culminated in grave robbery of the remains of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond, who was a relative of the family farmers. Mrs Hammond, buried...

June 7, 2004Labour set for severe losses on all sides By Jill Sherman, Whitehall EditorLABOUR is heading for huge losses in many of its inner-city heartlands in the council elections on Thursday, with gains split between the Tories and the Liberal Democrats. Hundreds of seats are likely to change hands, with Labour set to lose up to 400 and to see its share of the vote plummet to below 30 per cent. The Lib Dems are on course to sweep up seats in Labour urban areas in the North with the Tories likely to gain inner-city seats in the South...

Alarm over cargo ships tracked by intelligence By Nigel Morris and Ben Russell 20 February 2003 Ministers will face questions in Parliament next week over fears that Saddam Hussein could be evading United Nations inspections by hiding chemical and biological weapons on the high seas. Security experts and senior MPs expressed alarm last night at the prospect that three giant cargo ships are being tracked by Western intelligence agencies because they could be carrying deadly Iraqi weapons. In response to a report in The Independent yesterday, the Government will also be questioned over Britain's defence against illegal maritime trafficking in...

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy is set to express concern over US policy towards Iraq as his party begins its annual conference in Brighton. Mr Kennedy is to make a statement to delegates on the crisis on Monday afternoon. He has already made it clear that taking pre-emptive action against Iraq without a United Nations mandate would be "quite wrong". Mr Kennedy's statement, being made ahead of the emergency recall of parliament on Tuesday, will question the US's aim of "regime change". It will also criticise what he perceives as US undermining of the UN's authority. The recall of parliament...