Statement by Ed Davey on Iran situation
We are living in dangerous times.
9 Jan 2020
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Trump, Harris and the Future of Transatlantic Relations
LIBG held a well-attended meeting on the first day of Liberal Democrat conference, discussing the future of NATO, Ukraine and American foreign policy. With an audience of over 130 people, LIBG was heartened by the show of interest in this crucial area of policy.
Mark Bergman, from the Democratic Party in Washington DC, refused to forecast the November 5th result. However, he left the meeting in no doubt that a Trump victory would have catastrophic consequences for Ukraine. He said that while Trump wants to withdraw the US from NATO, not all of his advisors shared this view, and that there was a chance that wiser heads might prevail. Phil Gordon, Kamala Harris’s likely national security advisor, has a track record suggesting not so much intervention (he was against the Iraq invasion and the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan), but of fighting to uphold the liberal, democratic values of partner nations. Rather than isolationism or America first, a Harris administration would see America as one among partners, working collaboratively.
Yevheniia Kravchuk, deputy chair of Ukraine’s ruling Servant of the People party, spoke movingly about the existential fight facing her nation. The meeting was also an opportunity for members to listen to the new MP for South Devon, Caroline Voaden. It was chaired by LIBG chair Irina von Wiese.
The general discussion on Ukraine included concerns that Putin would not stop short of crushing and erasing Ukrainian identity if he is allowed to occupy the country. If the international community loses the will to support Ukraine, the result will be a repressive occupation in which thousands are imprisoned, tortured and killed.
When discussing the likelihood that Putin might respond to the use of Storm Shadow missiles on Russian soil, there was a view that a massive cyber attack on the UK could be more likely. This is concerning as the British public is in no way prepared for such an attack, and the UK government should be educating people to understand the scale of disruption that is possible, should the Kremlin decide to unleash its cyber capabilities.
More details will be included in the next edition of InterLib.
Many thanks to Rebecca Tinsley for organising this event.
Report of Global Strategy Forum London 19 March 2109 by Paul Reynolds
Yesterday I attended a packed Global Strategy Forum event at the National Liberal Club, on the UK's future post-Brexit foreign policy. Malcolm Rifkind spoke for the Conservatives, Jack Straw for the Labour Party and Menzies Campbell for the Liberal Democrats. It is the largest lunchtime event I have ever attended at the NLC, over 40 years, and it was standing room only.
20 Mar 2019
From Saudi to Cameroon, do UK business links really ‘open channels to raise human rights concerns’?
LIBG executive member Rebecca Tinsley has written a piece on the Open Democracy website in her own capacity on whether the UK's business links with dictatorships really open channels to raise human rights issues, as the Government claims.
1 Dec 2018
LI executive Tbilisi, Georgia, May 2016 report
Liberal International executive meeting Tblisi, Georgia, May 2016
MS
27 May 2016
Report of launch of LIBG north west branch
The inaugural meeting of LIBG's north west England branch took place in Preston on 22 April.
KR
30 Apr 2014
Report of LI Congress Rotterdam April 2014
Liberal International's 59th congress suffered perhaps from a rather odd choice of timing - a congress in Europe held only weeks before most of the continent would be caught up in European Parliament elections.
MS
30 Apr 2014