Dick Newby is leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. He grew up in Rothwell, where his family have lived for over 400 years. He was government treasury spokesperson during the coalition, having been Charles Kennedy’s chief of staff. He is a member of the One Yorkshire committee. He lives in Ripon, where his wife is canon pastor at the cathedral.
As the government tries desperately to limit the domestic political damage caused by its plans in the internal market bill to break international law by unilaterally tearing up the withdrawal agreement, it has used a series of excuses to justify its position. Of these, perhaps the most pathetic was the agreement could be broken because […]
Faced with a government that combines incompetence and ruthlessness in equal measure, preventing damaging public policy decisions won’t be easy. But the only alternative to letting them get away with things is to do nothing – in parliament or outside it. For many of us that is simply unthinkable.