The MWS Podcast 127: Tim Farron on Liberalism and the Middle Way

Our guest today is the British politician, Tim Farron. Tim was the leader of the Liberal Democrats from July 2015 to July 2017. He’s been the Member of Parliament for Westmoreland and Lonsdale since 2005 and he’s here to talk to us today about Liberalism, its origins and development, its core values and how it might relate to the Middle Way.



MWS Podcast 127: Tim Farron as audio only:
Download audio: MWS_Podcast_127_Tim_Farron
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About Barry Daniel

I live in the Lake District in the UK where I run a guesthouse with my partner Kate and my cat Manuel. I enjoy painting, hillwalking, reading, visiting and entertaining friends, T’ai Chi and playing the guitar. I’m engaged to a certain degree in the local community, as a volunteer with Samaritans and I’m a fairly active member of the local Green party. I’ve had a relatively intuitive sense of the Middle Way most of my adult life but it found a greater articulation and a practical direction through joining the society. It’s also been interesting and great fun engaging with other people with a similar outlook. My main contribution to the society is conducting the podcast interviews, something that gives me a lot of satisfaction and that I’ve learnt a lot from.

One thought on “The MWS Podcast 127: Tim Farron on Liberalism and the Middle Way

  1. Tim came across very well here, in a way I haven’t heard him given the opportunity to do on the mainstream media! I wasn’t expecting too much philosophical depth, but he certainly seems to have ‘got’ and said helpful things about the Jonathan Haidt value foundations. Nevertheless there were some points where he wasn’t so convincing despite the friendliness and humanity. I was less convinced by his response to the point about reason and emotion, and I don’t think he really understood the idea of their interdependence. The other area where I was less convinced was on whether middle-of-the-road responses could be less adequate. Although I felt he was right to point out that ‘you have to take people with you’, you also need to respond to the urgency of the conditions. I didn’t get the sense that he recognised any sense of urgency in relation to, say, climate change.

    Would I vote Liberal Democrat? I have at some points in the past, though there was usually a tactical element to my choice. What would continue to constrain me would be that impression of a rather conventional moderation having slightly too much importance when compared to urgent issues, particularly those to do with social justice and the environment. But I can accept that he might sincerely believe that he’s avoiding dogma, so there are a lot of moves in the right direction too.

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