US Pushing for Chlorinated Chicken Trade

“We must stop Boris Johnson ramming through a damaging Trump trade deal.”

The US trade team is offering PR tips on how to force chlorinated chicken down our throats.

That tells you everything you need to know.

Leaked documents from the US-UK trade deal talks have revealed the truth. The US team agreed to share their “public lines” on chlorine-washed chicken.

Why? They argue it’s to “inform the media narrative.”

In reality, it’s “how to sell the lie.

These trade talks hang in the balance due to Brexit. US negotiators had ‘the most angst’ about EU limits to the use of chemicals in food production. They want a no-deal Brexit so we can break from EU regulations on food standards.

The Tories’ desperation for a trade deal with Donald Trump risks leading to lower standards for the food on our tables. A hard Brexit means fewer regulations and standards on the quality of our food.

This will not just be damaging to our health. It will be incredibly damaging to our food production industries, too.

We must stop Boris Johnson ramming through a damaging Trump trade deal. It will do great damage to both British consumers and farmers.

We will stop Boris, stop Brexit and uphold our world-leading food standards.

Our country’s health is at the heart of our vision for a brighter future.

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The Problem With Boris Johnson

“Boris Johnson only cares about Boris Johnson.”

When I meet children and teenagers in schools, they often ask me what you need to be good at to become a politician.

And my answer is always this:

Being able to write a press release and understand legislation is important for the job. But you can learn all of that.

What matters the most – and is almost impossible to learn — is caring.

Caring about the people in your community and in your country, so that your decisions are based on what you genuinely believe to be best for them.

I say it is impossible to learn, which perhaps is just as well.

I am not sure Boris Johnson has time for lessons on caring alongside his “technology lessons”.

Boris Johnson only cares about Boris Johnson.

And he will do whatever it takes, sacrifice whatever is needed, to get what he wants.

This is a man who decided which side to support in the EU referendum by game-playing whether it would get him the keys to Number 10.

His life has been about becoming Prime Minister. Not out of some deep-seated desire to make people’s lives better, but out of some sense of Etonian entitlement. Because it’s what people like him get to do.

And you cannot trust a word Boris Johnson says – the man will say anything if it means getting what he wants.

He lied to the 3 million other EU countries citizens in the UK when he told them he would guarantee their right to stay.

He lied when he said that no Conservative Prime Minister would ever put a border down the Irish Sea.

He lied to the Queen to unlawfully shut down our democracy.

He lied when he said over and over that we would leave the European Union by 31 October.

He lied when he said he would rather be dead in a ditch than ask for an extension to Article 50.

“We are the only party that can win seats off Johnson and Farage’s hard-right cabal.”

Well, there might not be a ditch, but Boris Johnson has dragged the office of Prime Minister through the mud.

Johnson cannot be allowed to win a majority.

We have a different vision for our country. The Liberal Democrats are the only party that will build a fair, open society for both our generation and the next.

We are the only party that can win seats off Johnson and Farage’s hard-right cabal.

Together, we can prevent a damaging Tory majority.

Together, we can build a brighter future.

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Stop Boris, Stop Brexit

Today, we’ve unveiled two posters attacking Boris Johnson.

The first attacks him for lying to the Queen, Parliament and the people. The other will show him flanked by Donald Trump and Nigel Farage with the caption: “Brexit is good for them, how is it for you?”

And this is the whole point of this election. While Boris Johnson and his backers may stand to benefit from Brexit, it’s families across the country who will suffer.

Johnson has shown time and again that he can’t be trusted. Now, he’s trying to dupe the public yet again. This time, he says that voting for him will make Brexit go away.

This is the biggest lie of all. His disastrous Brexit plan would mean even more years of uncertainty. This would cause more damage to our economy, NHS and public services.

Johnson’s lie must be challenged head-on.

So we launched the posters to do just that!

Four poster vans will tour Conservative / Liberal Democrat marginal seats. We have already seen massive surges in those seats…

And if we win there, we could deny Boris Johnson a majority.

We can stop Boris. Not only that, we can stop Brexit, too.

Together, we will build a brighter future by taking seats off the Tories up and down the country.

Please click below to download the posters:

Poster 1

Poster 2

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Johnson Happy to Sell NHS

Today, a document was released that lays out the details of talks involving UK and US officials.

The documents are horrifying.

They reveal what looks like a deal cooked up between the Tories and Donald Trump that puts our NHS on the table. This, despite Johnson’s repeated insistence that the NHS is not for sale.

Yet again, Johnson has lied to all of us.

For all intents and purposes, Johnson has now become Trump. They are clearly in cahoots, and Johnson now emulates his friend by lying again, and again, and again.

The US trade representatives have said a no-deal leaves ‘all to play for.’ This shows how vital it is that Boris Johnson is stopped. It could not be clearer that Brexit will make the UK weaker, and that Donald Trump wants to profit from this weakness.

When our NHS is on its knees after Brexit, it will be sold off to American pharmaceutical companies, raising the prices of medicine for millions.

Only we can prevent Boris Johnson from getting a majority in this election. If he succeeds, we will have no way of stopping him from pursuing either his damaging Brexit deal or crashing the UK out with no-deal in 2020.

We must fight to protect our precious NHS. We can and must defeat the Tories and prevent a Johnson majority.

We are the only party that will stop Johnson, and stop this pointless Brexit. When we do, we will build a brighter future, together.

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From Under the Duvet….

“Being stuck in bed most of the time doesn’t have to mean it’s all over and life is finished.”

‘Confined to bed’. ‘Restricted to bed’. Bedbound, bedridden.

Words and terms that sound so pitiable. So pathetic. So awful. A life that’s hardly worth living. The end of ever having a ‘normal’ life again. Better off dead.

But that’s not the case. 

It doesn’t have to be like that. Being stuck in bed most of the time doesn’t have to mean it’s all over and life is finished. There is so much that can still be done, so much left to do, so much life yet to live. 

I know there are many people who are in horrible pain or, at least, in considerable discomfort for much of the time. I can’t speak for them as I haven’t experienced it. I don’t fall into that category, but there are also lots of people, like me, who are just unable to get up much because of their impairment. 

This can be due to the medical equipment they need to stay alive or due to the lack of help and support they have. 

Or just because it’s such hard work to do it and it’s often not worth the effort. I’m one of that category.

With assistance, I can get up and sit in my wheelchair and go out but I usually just can’t be bothered. It takes several people, lots of planning and a whole load of equipment to get me into my wheelchair and ready to leave my room. 

So much faff and palaver. 

And then, of course, we would have to do the reverse to get me back to bed later on, when I return, so I usually just don’t do it. Another two hours of my life, one at either end of the day, that I wouldn’t get back. Why go through all that if I’ve nothing to do, nowhere to go and no-one to see. Might as well just stay put.

Most of the things I would do if I got out of my bed can also be done from under my duvet anyway! So, most of the time, that’s where I stay. 

Shopping? I can get what I want online and have it delivered straight to my door. I can get items from anywhere in the world, not just my local high street, and it’s all so very easy. 

Meet with friends for coffee? I have some lovely friends who come around to my house to visit regularly, with delicious treats and gooey cakes so that we can indulge ourselves together, here. I’m considering buying a coffee machine too. Last of the big spenders!

Trips to the cinema? Netflix is a thing and I have a Dvd player. 

“Most of the things I would do if I got out of my bed can also be done from under my duvet anyway!”

Meet new people? Hello Facebook and Twitter! Loads of people from all over the world to chat to there. 

Get a job? More and more employment opportunities are available online which can be done from home. Amongst other things, I’ve done envelope stuffing, entered responses from surveys onto a database and worked on a national helpline where I provided advice, information and assistance to callers by phone, email and letter.

Continue my education? I am considering doing a course online through Open Learn or the Open University or with one of the plethora of US universities which have online courses. The world of education is, as they say, my oyster. 

Be involved in local life? All things are possible. I’ve stood – well, lain down any rate – for election to my local Council. I’m involved with local pressure groups, trying to improve life for everyone in my area, too. They all have websites, with a Social Media presence, and so do I.

And National Politics is not a no-go area either. I can be involved with that too. I’ve been a member of the Party for many years, and I’ve been on the national Executive for the Liberal Democrat Disability Association for several years. I was recently on a selection panel for a role at HQ which was conducted by phone and online and that all went very well. 

I was very much involved with the whole process, felt that my opinion was valued and considered and never got the impression I was just a token towards diversity and inclusivity. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to do something similar again in the future. 

I am also a bit of a teacher too. Once or twice per year for the past 4 or 5 years, my lovely GP has sent a group of medical students from Kings College Hospital round to visit me so I can help them learn how to work with people like me and develop their ‘bedside manner’. 

I consider this to be helping a lovely GP with her work, a valuable lesson for the students that they can’t learn from books and I love doing it. It’s part of my way of ‘giving back’ and saying ‘Thank you’. If it means that even just one of them becomes a better, more empathetic medic as a result then I’ve done my job, made a difference and I’m happy.

“There are plenty of things to do, people to meet and ‘virtual’ places to go so I’m off to meet, do and visit them all as soon as I can.”

And then there are the hobbies and activities which can all be done from or in my bed too. I like writing. Both fact and fiction. I have had my work published in the National Press, written articles for magazines and journals and have been commissioned to produce items for various websites on a variety of topics. 

I also have fun every year with something called ‘Nanowrimo’ or National Novel Writing Month. This takes place worldwide every November and participants are challenged to write a novel of at least 50,000 words in just 30 days. Thousands take part and its such fun. Your imagination runs riot and the words can just flow. Several people have written best-selling novels after taking part in the challenge but, even if you don’t, it’s still really good fun trying. I’ve done it twice so far, achieving my 50k once, and I have an idea bubbling at the back of my brain for my next attempt. 

Whether anything comes of it, watch this space but, if nothing does, there’s always next year!

Spending most of your life under a duvet is no longer a reason for withdrawing from the world and slamming the door shut. There are plenty of things to do, people to meet and ‘virtual’ places to go so I’m off to meet, do and visit them all as soon as I can.

Why not join me, it’ll be fun!

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