SLF Weekly Newsletter

9 March - 22 March 2026

With apologies from your author, this weekly newsletter covers two weeks, due to the 13th - 15th Liberal Democrat Spring Conference!

1. SLF News

Lib Dem Spring Conference, 2026

The Social Liberal Forum continued to lead the way at Conference, with lunches, roundtables and fringe sessions. Read some of our write-ups below!

Pre-Conference Lunch: Getting the Tech Revolution Right: Power, Inclusion and Community

The Economy, Is something for everyone possible?

SLF Summer Conference 2026

Have you heard? The Social Liberal Forum is returning to St Albans for our Summer Conference 2026.

Last year, we were joined by Lib Dem Deputy Leaders (okay, there’s only one), Spokespeople, Select Committee Members, Presidents, Academics and Think Tank leaders so make sure to keep the date free!

Save the Date: 18th July 2026

2. Social Liberalism in Westminster

Middle East crisis and war dominates headlines

The most obvious continuing story was the Middle East. Ministers were already updating MPs on the conflict in the early days of the conflict, and the UK was joining international statements on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and addressing the consequences of Iranian attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure. Just today, news on Iranian missiles aimed for the Diego Garcia military base, and the use of UK bases by for US attacks, is making headlines. Reuters and other outlets reported growing concern inside government that the crisis was feeding directly into higher oil prices, inflation risks and renewed pressure on household energy bills and public borrowing. 

This is not simply a foreign-policy story. It is also a reminder that geopolitical shocks are never borne equally. Energy insecurity, rising prices and fiscal tightening land hardest on those with the least resilience. A politics serious about community power has to ask how Britain avoids becoming trapped between military escalation abroad and social insecurity at home. Perhaps if we had listened to Liberal Democrats in coalition, who knew that investment in green energy was the only way to end our reliance on fossil fuels, we would have more breathing space at the moment to do what is right in this conflict.

Immigration remains a live dividing line

Immigration was the other issue that clearly kept resurfacing. On 9 March MPs were called to an urgent question on the Government’s recently announced immigration policy and related rule changes. In the background sat a wider package of reforms, including tighter asylum support rules and changes to refugee leave and other immigration pathways, all of which fed a continuing political argument about whether Labour was chasing Reform UK onto increasingly illiberal territory. 

That debate matters in social liberal terms because it is not only about border control. It is about the balance between fairness, international responsibility and the temptation to reach for tougher rhetoric whenever ministers feel electoral pressure. The fortnight’s coverage suggested a government still trying to appear robust, but without resolving the deeper question of what a liberal and workable migration settlement should look like. 

Public services, the GP contract and the state of the economy

The third recurring theme was the pressure on public services and the state’s capacity to respond. On 16 March, GP contracts were at the centre of the Commons day, while NHS England and the NHS Confederation both set out the significance of the 2026/27 contract changes for access, funding and the reshaping of general practice. At the same time, the Bank of England’s decision to hold rates amid inflation fears, and Reuters’ reporting on higher borrowing, underlined how little fiscal room ministers really had. 

This all makes for a recognisable Westminster pattern: governments talk about reform, but too often do so in ways that feel managerial from the centre rather than empowering from below. Whether the issue is primary care, transport, welfare or local public services, the political question is still who gets control, who gets heard and who gets left waiting. And of course, at any sign of hurdles (or fiscal tightening) the Government flip flops, u-turns and stumbles through to another 6 months.

Liberal Democrats leading in Parliament

In our weekly round-up of key social liberal parliamentary activity this week, Liberal Democrats led on debates, questions and legislation, including:

House of Commons

1. Dr Al Pinkerton MP: Westminster Hall Debate on the impact of local government reorganisation in the South East (Tuesday 10th)
2. Edward Morello MP: Westminster Hall Debate on Government support for English Rugby (Tuesday 10th)
3. Brian Mathew MP: Adjournment Debate on fire station closures (Wednesday 11th)
4. Sarah Dyke MP: Westminster Hall Debate on Government support for carnivals (Wednesday 11th)
5. Roz Savage MP: Westminster Hall Debate on automatic by-elections following MP defections (Monday 16th)
6. Andrew George MP: Adjournment Debate on Isles of Scilly transport provision (Tuesday 17th)
7. Ben Maguire MP: Westminster Hall Debate on Government support for domestic abuse survivors (Wednesday 18th)
8. Tom Morrison MP: Westminster Hall Debate on the future of Cheadle train station (Wednesday 18th)
9. Layla Moran MP: Select Committee Statement on Community Mental Health Services (Thursday 19th)
10. Ian Sollom MP: Backbench Business Debate on tackling online harms (Thursday 19th)
11. Andrew George MP: Westminster Hall Debate on accessibility of banking services (Thursday 19th)

3. Reports out this week

Work, families and economic security

• Institute for Policy Research: Paternity allowance: Six weeks for self-employed and worker dads (9 March 2026)
  • Argues for a new six-week paternity entitlement for self-employed and worker fathers, extending support to groups currently excluded from statutory provision. 
• Social Market Foundation: Pension shock (17 March 2026)
  • Warns of a looming retirement crisis for Generation X, highlighting the risk of inadequate pension savings for people too young to benefit from older defined-benefit arrangements but too old to gain fully from automatic enrolment. 
• Resolution Foundation: Power struggle (18 March 2026)
  • Examines options for helping families cope with rising energy costs, making it especially relevant to the fortnight’s wider concern with living standards and household insecurity. 

Growth, regulation and place

• Centre for Cities: Angels’ delights: Why cities matter for equity investment (11 March 2026)
  • Argues that differences in equity investment across the country reflect differences in the number and growth of investable firms, rather than simply a shortage of finance, with important implications for regional growth policy. 
• Resolution Foundation: Growth Mais-day (18 March 2026)
  • Responds to the Chancellor’s 2026 Mais Lecture and assesses the government’s growth strategy at a moment when questions of productivity, investment and regional development were central to political debate. 
• Re:State: The law of rule: fixing how Britain regulates (18 March 2026)
  • Argues that regulation too often accumulates by default, with weak scrutiny and too little review of whether existing rules remain necessary or effective. 

Education and the politics ahead

• Institute for Policy Research: Improving access and participation in higher education (18 March 2026)
  • Makes the case for stronger evaluation evidence in widening participation and fair-access policy, focusing attention on what actually works rather than what is merely well-intentioned. 
• HEPI: Preparing for populism (19 March 2026)
  • Argues that universities need to rebuild legitimacy across the political spectrum and prepare for a harsher political environment in which higher education may face more direct populist challenge. 

The Social Liberal Forum newsletter is edited by SLF Council Member, Ulysse Abbate. The views outlined in reports and other events referenced in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or the SLF as a whole.

Contact the Social Liberal Forum here.