In 1919, the Lloyd George government’s Ministry of Reconstruction published the Report on Adult Education. The report set out the fundamental importance of educational opportunities throughout life:

“Adult education is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable aspect of citizenship, and therefore should be both universal and lifelong.”

Today, access to learning throughout life is no less vital for individuals or for society as a whole. But sadly, a century on, the aspirations set out in the 1919 report for an education system which is truly “universal and lifelong” is no closer to being a reality.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable convened an independent Commission on Lifelong Learning.  

This report covers their recommendations in relation to Personal Education and Skills Accounts.

Jo started out with a heartfelt tribute to those killed in the Christchurch mosque shooting this morning.  

“The forces that sow hate and division and seek to turn fellow citizens against each other must not and cannot win”

Liberal politics for the age of identity

In a wide-ranging set of essays on Britain’s future, Vince Cable casts his party not at the centre of the tranditional left-right axis, but as the leading proponent of a values-based politics, which is open, inclusive and outward-looking, not closed or narrow-minded.

He examines how liberals should respond to the ‘age of identity’ and proposes an ambitious program of radical reform.

Read Vince Cable’s speech to Liberal Democrat Spring Conference, 2019 in York:

Our justice system is failing the vulnerable, and we should all be embarrassed about it.

Legal aid spending in England and Wales has been cut by £933 million in the last eight years. And as a direct result, we’ve seen huge reductions in support.