And now for the goodnews

Back to Northern Ireland again! This time some good news. Westminster legislation has now been enacted to put an end to the near-total ban on abortions and the outright ban on same sex marriage. Northern Ireland has now been brought into alignment with the rest of the UK and Ireland. It would have been better for the liberalisation of the laws to have come from the Northern Ireland assembly but there are times when basic rights have to be universally available. And since the Assembly hasn't functioned for over two years, Westminster had to step in to bring about the reforms.

We are witnessing however a bizarre situation in which the DUP, the party which looks to Westminster to ensure Northern Ireland is treated no differently from the rest of the UK, is attacking Westminster for not treating Northern Ireland as different to the rest of the UK. And Sinn Fein, no fans of Westminster and with elected MPs who refuse to take their seats in the Commons, are welcoming the new conformity of Northern Ireland with the rest of the UK (and Ireland).

What a strange world in which we live.

Video - People's Vote Rally

This is the video I filmed on Saturday of the People's Vote rally in London. A million people were on the march, including thousands of Lib Dem members.

A cracking deal that's cracking up

Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay isn't exactly performing well while in the spotlight. He recently described the Brexit deal as "cracking" for Northern Ireland businesses as it would give unfettered, frictionless access to the Single Market while enjoying all the benefits of being in the UK customs area. This begs the question, why should the rest of the UK not benefit in the same way? But now we learn that Barclay didn't quite get it right when he said there would be no tariff barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. There will be such barriers in place. For a party that said such a situation would be unacceptable, in effect the Johnson government has surrendered. This is just one example of why railroading the Brexit Bill through Parliament is dangerous. Over 100 pages need to be scrutinised and that can't be done in 3 days.

So, a cracking deal for Northern Ireland? Or is the Brexit deal simply cracking up under what little scrutiny that has so far occurred.

People's Vote Rally

On Saturday I was in London for the People's Vote Rally. I was one of those tiny specks in a vast, one million strong, crowd of people that snaked its way from Hyde Park to the Houses of Parliament. I joined the Lib Dem contingent and, as usual, took along my cameras. You can see my full set of photos this link.

The shortest meeting on record?

After delivering 160 tabloids in Birtley (and returning home for a shower and a quick change of clothes, I headed to Gateshead Civic Centre for a special full council meeting. It must have been the shortest meeting I have ever attended. I think it was less than a minute! Only one item on the agenda: the new senior management structure. To ensure it goes ahead, it had to be agreed by full council. As the next full council meeting is not scheduled until late November, this extra meeting was called to deal with it. Given the fractious nature of the September council meeting, today was a significant improvement.

Delivering in Birtley

This morning I headed to Birtley to deliver 160 tabloids. A gloriously sunny morning, I was rather pleased I'd decided to wear a light jacket. Delivery was done in less than an hour.

Printing for Deckham

After cabinet yesterday morning I headed to the Lib Dem office in Consett to print our next leaflet for Deckham ward. It will be going into circulation shortly.

Gateshead East branch meeting

Gateshead East branch Lib Dem monthly meeting tonight and I attended as group leader. The longest section on the agenda was ward reports. There was much to report on. Central Gateshead wards reported on their Focuses, Low Fell and Pelaw and Heworth wards informed us of their eFocuses as well as their printed Focuses. Action days are planned including in the riverside area (the Staiths Cafe is always a popular meeting place!)

Meanwhile, Ron Beadle and I reported on recent developments on Gateshead Council. There was a great deal of interest in the bottled water motion we moved at the last meeting which Labour then destroyed. Some discussion also took place on possible motions for future meetings.

I took along 600 tabloids for delivery in one of the central Gateshead wards. I'm pleased to report that someone took all of them and will deliver them tomorrow!

Labour's "urgent meeting"

Back from the Civic Centre earlier today and I bring news that Labour in Lobley Hill and Bensham ward are selecting their candidate on 22nd October for the local elections next May. The expectation is that Labour Deputy Leader Catherine Donovan will be chosen again to fight the ward. So, in a spirit of good comradely relations, let me wish Catherine good luck.

But what's this? An email to Labour branch members calling them to an "urgent additional branch meeting to discuss the local election campaign." Lobley Hill and Bensham has been Labour for as long as anyone can remember. But Labour's vote came down with a bump in May this year. The Lib Dems jumped from 5th to 2nd place with a modestly healthy vote increase.

Are Labour getting so nervous in a heartland ward that they require an "urgent" meeting?

Meanwhile, our latest Lib Dem tabloid is going into circulation and lots of people are reading it in Lobley Hill!

Conference video

This is the video I shot at the North East Lib Dem regional conference on Saturday. It includes parts of Tim Farron MP's speech, regional awards and the Presidential hustings.

Delivering in Lobley Hill

I was in Lobley Hill today armed with 250 of our Gateshead Lib Dem tabloids. All delivered in under an hour and a half. The tabloid is gradually hitting the streets across the borough. There are however still tens of thousands to deliver.

Customs confusion

The suggestion leaking out from the government over Northern Ireland customs arrangements is that the province will remain within the UK's customs territory but customs arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic will continue as if Northern Ireland is in the EU customs union. So, customs between the North and South will continue to be harmonised. Were the UK to achieve the unicorn dream of trade deals that results in some imports being free of duty or at least at a lower rate, people in Northern Ireland would be paying initially the EU customs rates but could then claim a rebate. This sounds like a horrendous bureaucracy and will also mean Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK are operating different systems. That's what brought down Theresa May's deal.

But, let's suppose the dual system is put into operation. What's to stop someone in Northern Ireland importing lots of goods from the UK's trading partners under the mythical unicorn trade agreements we are supposed to sign who then claims a customs rebate before quietly shipping all the goods over the border into the Republic. Since the border will be open, there will be no customs checks.

This would be a smugglers charter.

North East Lib Dem conference

North East Lib Dem conference was held today at the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Hartlepool. A well attended event, I was in the interesting situation of most of those attending were strangers to me. The increase in membership of the Lib Dems and the growing number of party activists means that many new faces are around.

There were a number of debates. I spoke in the one about exploring tactical voting alliances to defeat the Brexit backing Conservatives. I pointed out that this would not work as Labour in the North East contains plenty of Brexit backers. While there are some Remain MPs whose re-election would not cause us difficulties, there were others we would not want to touch with a barge pole. The motion was defeated but it was a good-natured debate and there is always the scope for arrangements on the ground in specific constituencies.



In the awards section, Gateshead member Paul Gibson won the Frances Foote Wood award. This is for someone who has given exceptional service as a member who has not previously been elected as a councillor or MP. Paul is part of an amazing delivery machine and over the years he must have delivered hundreds of thousands of leaflets. He wasn't able to attend conference so Gateshead Chairman Dawn Welsh collected the award on his behalf.

Tim Farron MP was the guest speaker and there was also a hustings for the two candidates standing for the position of Party President: Christine Jardine and Mark Pack. I'm still undecided how to vote.

Lib Dem tabloid arrives

Gateshead Lib Dems have been working on a big project recently. Our next tabloid has now been written and printed. It arrived three days early. That meant yesterday saw quite a bit of activity to move tens of thousands of tabloids from their drop off site to the ward teams. Delivery began this morning.