Why David Steel’s Abortion Act means so much to me – a reflection on its 50th...
Today is an important day. We, as Liberals, need to remember that 50 years ago, on this day, the Abortion Act came into being. Why is this important? I know many people, especially disabled people,...
View ArticleA bit of our party’s history remembered
On 29th July, exactly 26 years ago, Paddy Ashdown was elected as the first leader of the newly merged Social and Liberal Democrats (which quickly settled down to being known as the Liberal Democrats)....
View ArticleFormer Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe dies
The party website records the passing of former Liberal Party leader, Jeremy Thorpe, who died today aged 85: Mr Thorpe died today (4 December) at his home in London. He had battled with Parkinson’s...
View ArticleFive party leaders at the funeral of Jeremy Thorpe
View image | gettyimages.com Paddy Ashdown, Nick Clegg, David Steel, Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell attend the funeral of former Liberal Party party leader Jeremy Thorpe at Saint Margaret’s...
View ArticleDavid Steel’s Golden Jubilee
I’m sure that there will be many LDV readers wanting to see the film Selma (as a well-earned break from campaigning!) which is released this week. It depicts Martin Luther King’s leadership of...
View ArticleIn Full: David Steel’s eulogy for Lord George Mackie
We are grateful to David Steel for sending us his eulogy to Lord George Mackie who died at the age of 95 last week. One of the noticeable traits of George Mackie was his reluctance to talk about his...
View ArticleIs David Steel right about the Liberal Democrat attitude to a future coalition?
View image | gettyimages.com David Steel said the other day that there was no appetite in the party for a coalition with anybody after the election. He told the BBC: “the most” Lib Dems would accept...
View ArticlePeter Preston reminisces about David Steel’s by-election victory half a...
View image | gettyimages.com Former Guardian editor Peter Preston has been reminiscing about the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election 50 years ago which was won by a young David Steel. He’s been...
View ArticleLibLink: David Steel – Six ways Nick Clegg steered the Liberal Democrats to...
View image | gettyimages.com On the Guardian Comment is Free, David Steel has a must-read article with remarkably perspicacious observations: Let us hope that we in the Liberal Democrats can, unlike...
View ArticleLibLink: David Steel: Tim Farron is a man of conviction and a risk taker –...
David Steel has written in the Guardian about why he backed Tim Farron and what he thinks he’ll bring to the party: That level of deep commitment which Farron obviously has, combined with his...
View ArticleLibLink: David Steel: We need liberalism more than ever
David Steel has written an article for the Scotsman explaining why liberalism is needed more than ever in the face of both domestic and international challenges. He praises both Tim Farron and Willie...
View ArticleDavid Steel on Northern Ireland abortion law
We’ve just caught up with an interview with David Steel on the BBC Northern Ireland political show The View. (The interview starts 17:58 minutes in) David was responsible for introducing the Abortion...
View ArticleDavid Steel pays tribute to Derek Ezra, emphasising his pro-European views
In twelve years as Liberal Leader, David Steel only got to nominate eight peers. One of them was former National Coal Board chairman Derek Ezra, who died last December. In London this week, Lord Steel...
View ArticleIn pictures: Leaders from the archives
Just delving about in the Getty Images archive, I happened upon these great images of our current leader and some of our past leaders*. Please click on the images to read the captions. * includes...
View ArticleStudent hopes to become the Scottish Borders’ youngest councillor
Following hard on the heels of our post about the Isle of Wight’s youngest candidate on Sunday, here’s news from Galashiels via The Southern Reporter: A teenage student from Peebles is the youngest...
View ArticleCyril Smith: “Scurrilous hearsay?”
11 minutes and 19 seconds into Sunday’s final episode of “A Very English Scandal” Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe spoke the immortal lines: “All that new blood coming through – Clement Freud, Cyril Smith....
View ArticleLib Dems vs Brexit: David Steel on “the complicated lunacy of Brexit”
David Steel did not mince his words in his contribution to the Brexit deal debate in the Lords. He talked about the need for Government to do something to help those who were struggling. My Lords,...
View ArticleLord Steel’s membership suspended over evidence to child abuse inquiry
Late last night, former Liberal leader David Steel’s membership was suspended by the Scottish Liberal Democrats last night pending an investigation into the evidence he gave to the Independent Inquiry...
View ArticleParliamentary psychodrama, knife edge votes, dependent on Northern Irish...
Sound familiar. I’m not describing the current tense parliamentary situation. Forty years ago tonight, at 10pm, a vote of no confidence in Jim Callaghan’s Labour Government was called. It was always...
View ArticleDavid Steel’s membership reinstated
Former leader David Steel’s membership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has been reinstated following an investigation by the Scottish Party Executive. Willie Rennie issued a statement today outlining...
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