Ed Davey hints that Jane Dodds should resign as leader of the Welsh Lib Dems

The language was coded, but Ed Davey appeared to call on Jane Dodds to stand down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats when he appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this morning' .

Dodds' position was called into question when criticism of her in a 2021 report on the way the Church of England dealt with an abusive bishop was given new prominence by the resignation of Justin Welby.

The Guardian reprints the relevant passage of the interview:

Asked about the case, Davey told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuennsberg show: “I’ve spoken to Jane about this. She has apologised, and she has had a incredible career looking after children, but I’ve made it clear I think she needs to think about her responsibility on this.”

Asked if that meant she should consider resigning, Davey said: “I think she does need to reflect on this very carefully. I accept that she has apologised, but this is such a serious issue, so I think she does need to think about what else she may need to do.”

Asked if this was “code for she should resign”, the Lib Dem leader added: “I want Jane to reflect on this. I have spoken to her. I’ve made my feelings really clear to her about what I think she should do, and I think she’s reflecting. I hope she does.”

You can watch the whole interview, which is mostly about social care, on the BBC iPlayer. It begins at 19:10 and the exchange about Jane Dodds is at 27:30.

Jane Dodds was found to have committed a "grave error of judgement" by the report into the Church's handling of allegations against the late Bishop of Chester, Hubert Whitsey.

So far the Welsh Lib Dems have continued to back Jane Dodds' leadership, but Nation Cymru was able to find critical voices from within the party.

Welsh Lib Dems attack Labour over cuts to rail services in North and Mid Wales

The Liberal Democrats have attacked the Labour government in Cardiff over proposed cuts to services on the Cambrian and Heart of Wales railway lines.

Herald Wales reports that:

Under proposals by government-owned Transport for Wales, services on the Heart of Wales line will be cut from five trains a day to four. They are also removing the two late evening services to Llandovery and Llandrindod Wells.

On the Cambrian Line, TfW will cut four services between Machynlleth and Pwllheli (two in each direction).

Promises for an hourly service on the Cambrian Line between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury ... have also been scaled back and will only be in place for four months of the year when they finally commence in summer 2026.

The paper quotes criticism of the cuts by two leading Welsh Lib Dems. Senedd Member Jane Dodds said:

"At a time where we should be encouraging rail usage and adding extra services, Labour is allowing Transport for Wales to make sweeping cuts to services in rural areas. It is an appalling state of affairs. 

"While services in South Wales are being increased, North and Mid Wales are facing cutbacks. Year after year we see the same story from Labour in Cardiff Bay. 

"I am appealing to the Labour First Minister Eluned Morgan, who represents Mid & West Wales in the Senedd, to intervene directly to stop these cuts."

And the Lib Dem MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, David Chadwick, added:

"These cuts from Labour are an absolute disgrace.

 "You have Labour on the one hand telling people they need to use their cars less, but on the other hand, they are cutting public transport options. The two things don’t go together. It’s a ridiculous situation that shows how poorly they understand rural communities.

"We need more reliable and more frequent rail services across Mid Wales, not less. Access to public transport is vital for increasing economic investment and employment, supporting our tourist industry and attracting highly skilled workers like GPs to work in our communities."

This is a good point to send you to a guest post by Eric Loveland Heath on singing the songs of the Cambrian Railway.

Welsh Lib Dems call for improvements to Heart of Wales line

From Nation Cymru:

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged the Welsh Government to improve train services on the Heart of Wales line.

Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds MS says the government must do more to revitalise the aging fleet of trains currently running on the line, with many being refurbished engines dating from the 1980’s.

She also criticised a decision by Transport for Wales (TFW) to reduce the number of trains on the line from five to four per day from December, warning it could have a “devastating” impact on rural communities.

TfW also confirmed the “removal of the two late evening services to Llandovery and Llandrindod.”

The website also quotes David Chadwick, our general election candidate for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe:

“For far too long now the needs of our rural communities have been cast aside by both the Conservatives Westminster and Labour Cardiff Bay.

“The decision to slash the number of trains running on the Heart of Wales line, a vital transport link for many in mid Wales, is further evidence of this rural neglect and risks trapping our communities in a cycle of decline.

“We as Welsh Liberal Democrats have always stood by our rural communities, and if elected I will carry on this proud tradition.”

My photograph shows the beginning of the Heart of Wales line as it diverges from the Welsh Marches line at Craven Arms in Shropshire. It runs from this simple junction to Llanelli, a distance of 90 miles, and I strongly recommend it for a scenic ride.

Jane Dodds condemns the "faceless brutes" who target women politicians online

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So far, reports the Nation Cymru website, two men have declared themselves as candidates for the leadership of Welsh Labour, but no women.

Despite rumours of Eluned Morgan and Hannah Blythyn joining the race for the First Minister job, both have since ruled themselves out and there are currently no women expected to stand.

On Sunday, Mark Drakeford told Politics Wales that despite there being “hugely talented” women in the Labour group, people know they will be the target for “deeply unpleasant” attacks on social media.

Jane Dodds, the leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, agrees with Drakeford. She told Nation Cymru:

“I welcome the First Minister’s condemnation of vile personal online attacks on female politicians, speaking from my own personal experience I know first hand how exhausting it can be to receive horrific abuse online.

“As the only female leader of a political party in Wales, I know all too well the perils of social media when it comes to abuse from cowards hiding behind their screens.

“The reaction that female politicians receive from certain sections of social media can be both emotionally and mentally draining.

“These so-called keyboard warriors represent the very worst of our society, faceless brutes with nothing better to do with their lives than spread their misery and hatred to others.

“More action must be taken to curb these trolls, whilst many of their comments are nothing but empty threats, the mental impact they have can be severe.

“We must do more to protect female politicians from harmful online abuse, whilst also at the same time encourage more women to get involved in politics.”

I don't know the precise measures Jane Dodds has in mind, but it's clear that online threats of violence must be taken as seriously as threats of violence anywhere else. And it would be good to see more men challenging online sexism. 

Britain already suffers because it draws upon such a small (and often shallow) pool of talent to fill many important roles. We mustn't allow sexist trolls to make things even worse.

Lib Dems call on Welsh government to save the Centre for Alternative Technology

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Jane Dodds, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, has called on the Welsh Government to help save the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, which celebrated its 50th birthday earlier this year.

She told the County Times:

"I was saddened to hear of the news that the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth has been closed to visitors due to a lack of funds, placing 14 jobs at risk.

"For many people, the centre was an entry point that opened their eyes to what was possible and practical when it comes to sustainable energy.

"At a time when we urgently need to transition to net zero, centres like CAT which inspire the next generation to think sustainability are vital in the fight against climate change.

It Is vital that the Welsh government step in and extend a helping hand to the centre during this difficult time to prevent further job losses and potentially reopen the centre."

The paper says the centre hopes to reopen if it is successful in securing Levelling Up funding for an 'overhaul'.

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"We cannot, under any circumstances, repeat the catastrophic mistakes of Thatcher and the Conservatives where whole communities in Wales were destroyed by the closing of industries with no plan to replace them and no plans to reskill the workers who lost their jobs." Jane Dodds is calling on the Welsh government to consider extending its current basic income pilot to workers employed in heavy industries who will be impacted by the transition to a net-zero carbon economy.

Alastair Driver says the government must not water down its funding for Environmental Land Management schemes: "There is absolutely not a 'food crisis' here in the UK. There is, however, a biodiversity crisis and a climate emergency. If we do not take action to tackle them, to use our land for the wider public good, we certainly risk creating a food security crisis for future generations."

Maja Korica offers her manifesto for a more humane academia.

A Twitter thread from Nathan Williams suggests that many who refer to Karl Popper's "Paradox of Tolerance" do not understand his philosophy.

"It might be an overstatement to say that Britain was 'reborn' through a hippy festival in a Somerset field, but in terms of the counterculture realising an 'alternative', the festival has undoubtedly become part of Britain’s cultural make-up. It is now ubiquitous, placing the once rebellious artform of rock music central to mainstream culture." Ben Finlay celebrates the countercultural roots of the Glastonbury Festival.

David Mitchell on why he finds the north coast of Ireland depressing: "With so many abandoned houses, hotels, residential homes and guest houses, the north coast really should be a Hollywood for crime TV ('Protestant noir'?) and low-budget horror movies." 

The Joy of Six 1021

Jane Dodds argues that Wales can thrive with a basic income: "A basic income has five core characteristics: It’s paid in cash, so it’s money you can spend on whatever you want. It’s paid regularly, so you know the next payment is coming. It’s for individuals, with each person getting their own basic income, paid to the individual not the household. It’s unconditional, so you don’t have to work or make any promises to get it. It’s universal, so everyone gets it."

The single transferable vote breaks open one-party fiefdoms. Don't take my word for it: listen to Scottish Conservative councillor Dave Dempsey.

Becca Massey-Chase says making local public transport free at the point of use isn't a fantasy, it's a popular way to help communities and the climate – and it's already a reality in cities around the world.

"If the decline of the UK regional press since 2008 instead had happened to schools, police, fire stations or hospitals there would rightly be national outrage bordering on revolt." Dominic Ponsford on an overlooked tragedy.

"Martin was on a mission to bring down the unjust from their perches to the level of the populace." Max Adam looks at the art of the 19th-century painter John Martin and how in his epic landscapes of apocalyptic scale reflected his revolutionary leanings.

Dan Thompson visits Arlington House, the futuristic tower block that marked the start of 1960s redevelopment in Margate.

Lib Dems promise universal basic income trial in Wales

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have promised to undertake a trial of universal basic Income.

The party's 2020 Senedd manifesto says:

Our economy must support secure, well-paid work and good public services. It must recognise that work is not a guaranteed route out of poverty. We want to see an economy that ensures that work pays and that there is meaningful support for those that are unable to work, working with the UK Government to create a genuine social security system based on values of dignity and compassion.

Jane Dodds, the party's leader, told Nation Cymru:

"The Welsh Liberal Democrats will put recovery first which will mean; an economic recovery, a green recovery and a recovery for mental health that will benefit everyone in Wales,

"The past year has been tough, life as we know it has changed, but I know Wales is a resilient country and we have the chance to build a better future for our children and our children’s children."

Welsh LIb Dems back reopening of Aberystwyth to Carmarthen line

 

A report in Nation Cymru begins:

Reopening the Aberystwyth-Carmarthen railway would cost significantly less than thought, a report by campaign group Traws Link Cymru has claimed.

They claim that the cost of reopening the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen railway could be reduced to around £620 million, 20% less than the Wesh Government’s £775m price tag.

The report, entitled A Strategic Rail Corridor for west Wales comes two years after the Welsh Government published their own feasibility study.

It found that 97 per cent of the original trackbed was clear and that reopening was a realistic prospect.

And on Twitter Jane Dodds, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats says:

Restoring the Aberystwyth-Carmarthen line would breathe new life into communities along the west coast and better connect Wales.

The @WelshLibDems have long supported reopening this line if feasible - which these reduced costs show it can be.https://t.co/w3xZlWdHNW

— Jane Dodds 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🔶 (@DoddsJane) September 24, 2020

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Young Liberals have been dressed as sheep

Events are moving quickly at the moment. The last time I heard from Lord Bonkers he was holed up with the King of the Badgers ready to give his life if Boris Johnson's tanks came rolling on to his land.

Picture conditions there as something between Rogue Male and The Wind in the Willows.

His diary in the new issue of Liberator, by contrast, beings on the eve of the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election.

Thursday

It’s good to have the smell of cordite and unwashed activist in my nostrils again: I have placed myself in command of a committee room on the front line of the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election. It seems only yesterday since that fine actor Roger Livesey captured the seat for the Liberals, but today we must win it all over again.

Every preparation has been made. Crack platoons of knockers up have been dispatched to every street on my patch; sharp-eared Young Liberals have been dressed as sheep and given instructions to lurk outside the other parties’ HQs to see what intelligence they can gather.

A shout goes up! A Brexit party aircraft has been sighted over Talgarth. I give immediate orders for our ack ack guns to be manned (by women, as it happens) and ring the local RAF station to have a Hurricane sent up.

When the polls close we shall be able to look ourselves in the eye and say we have done everything we can to secure victory for Jane Dodds.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West 1906-10.

Six thoughts on Brecon and Radnorshire

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Well done the Liberal Democrats

Brecon and Radnorshire may have looked like an inevitable Liberal Democrat gain – we have held the seat for 20 of the past 34 years – but an enormous amount of work went into winning.

Even to force the by-election after the sitting Conservative MP was committed of fraudulent expense claims required us to collect the signatures of more than 10 per cent of the constituency’s electors. In the event we achieved 19 per cent.

Then we flooded Brecon and Radnorshire with workers for the six weeks of the by-election campaign and overturned a Tory majority of over 8000 votes.

Well done the Liberal Democrats. Well done us.

The Remain Alliance helped…

The Green and Plaid Cymru stood down in favour of the Lib Dems so there was only one Remain candidate.

It was a helpful decision and one the Lib Dems should reciprocate in the few seats where it might have an effect. But it may not have been a decisive one.

At the last general election there was no Green candidate in Brecon and Radnorshire and the Plaid candidate’s vote was (just) lower than the majority Jane Dodds achieved last night.

…but the unofficial alliance with Labour voters was decisive

From what I saw on Twitter last night it was when the boxes from Ystradgynlais were sampled and found to be strongly in favour of the Lib Dems that it became clear we were going to win.

This willingness of Labour voters to abandon their party if another has a better chance of defeating the Conservatives is an important development and an encouraging one for the Lib Dems.

An anti-Brexit vote or an anti-Tory vote?

Brecon and Radnorshire came out for Leave in the EU referendum, but that does not mean that the issue is of overwhelming importance to the constituency’s voters.

Back in June, a YouGov survey found that Leave voters feel less strongly about Brexit than us Remainers do.

Which makes me think that our victory yesterday was more of an anti-Tory vote than an anti-Brexit vote. Brexit was far from the only issue we campaigned on.

The local Tories are to blame

That is what the national Conservative machine was saying. The local party had assured them that Chris Davies was still popular and would win the by-election. They were wrong.

My impression that local Tory officials are increasingly out of touch with the wider electorate has only been strengthened by this contest.

And the national Tories are no better

I have seen tweets from the Conservative Party today telling off people for voting for the Brexit Party.

The idea that you own your supporters’ votes - and that the way to win them back if they stray from the path of righteousness is to attack them – comes straight from the Hard Left.

It will do the Tories no more good than it has done Labour.

Jane Dodds to fight Brecon and Radnorshire for the Lib Dems

From the Welsh Liberal Democrats site:

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds has been selected to be the Party's Westminster candidate for Brecon and Radnorshire. 

Jane has been Welsh Liberal Democrat leader since 2017 and was selected to be the candidate by local party members in an all-member ballot. 

The party made gains locally in recent local elections and hold the Brecon and Radnorshire seat in the Senedd.

This constituency was held by the Lib Dems between 1985 and 1992 and between 1997 and 2015.

Under its old name of Brecon and Radnor, it was in 1985 the scene of one of my favourite by-elections as Richard Livsey gained the seat from the Conservatives.

Jane Dodds' selection carries added interest as the sitting Tory MP, Christopher Davies, had been charged with two counts of making a false instrument and one count of providing false or misleading information for allowance claims.

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"After a year of navel-gazing about 'Registered Supporters' now our Leadership doesn’t even seem to have the energy to ask potential supporters to register with this party in particular." Alex Wilcock demands better of the Liberal Democrats.

Jane Dodds explains why the Welsh Lib Dems want to trial Universal Basic Income.

"It’s hard to find a hero in this story. It seems to me to illustrate in a small way the huge challenge at the heart of modern politics: how to fix complex problems in an accountable way with an increasingly broken system." Ed Maxfield on the closure of Norfolk's Children's Centres.

Who were Jack the Ripper's victims and what sort of lives did these women lead? Hallie Rubenhold presents five things you probably didn’t know about them.

Alexandra Alexa looks at Tolkien's illustrations for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

"As you are a first-time visitor we’ll head up through the mixture of deciduous woodland and onto the grass common of Whitcliffe with its wild-flower meadows where you have the best views over the old town with the Clee Hill in the background." Jude takes us for a walk around Ludlow.

Jane Dodds is the new leader of the Welsh Lib Dems

Welsh Liberal Democrats have elected Jane Dodds as their new leader.

She beat the Ceredigion councillor Elizabeth Evans in what can only be described as a two-horse race.

The Brecon & Radnor Express says Jane Dodds won  53.1 per cent of the vote on a turnout of 35.2 per cent of the party’s membership of over 3000.

That paper quotes her as saying:

"It is an honour to have been elected as the next leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats - to focus my energy on bringing like minded people together to rebuild our party and to re-establish the Welsh Liberal Democrats as the radical, progressive force of Welsh politics."

Jane Dodds was the party's unsuccessful candidate in Montgomeryshire at the 2015 and 2017 general elections as well in the Welsh Assembly elections of 2016.