Author Archives: Iain Roberts

False claims of betrayal do the NUS no credit

By Iain Roberts | Published 16th November 2010 - 5:29 pm

Have the Liberal Democrats betrayed students? The NUS certainly say so, and plenty of people agree.

They’re wrong.

The Liberal Democrats have made a u-turn on tuition fees – they haven’t denied it. As I argued a few days ago, the Lib Dems have no claim to be morally superior to any other party. We didn’t want to go back on commitments and promises but, like Labour and the Conservatives, we have done.

But is that u-turn a betrayal of students?

Or, to put it another way, is the result of that u-turn that students get a worse deal than they’d …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged higher education, nus, tuition fees, universities | 93 Comments

A morally superior party? I don’t think so

By Iain Roberts | Published 9th November 2010 - 4:03 pm

I confess that I cringe a little inside when I hear politicians from one party claiming that their’s is somehow more honest, more decent and better at keeping their promises than another.

Lib Dem politicians have certainly fallen into the trap from time to time, but they’re not alone: every party has its moments (with many Labour people being particularly convinced of their moral superiority at the moment, if some of the comments on this site are anything to go by).

It’s easy to see how people genuinely come to believe it’s true. As I noted a few days ago, we’ve …

Posted in Op-eds | 12 Comments

Forced to work without pay…Labour got there first, says FT

By Iain Roberts | Published 7th November 2010 - 3:40 pm

The FT Blog is reporting that Labour beat the Coalition to yet another policy – this time it’s the IDS plan to make four weeks’ unpaid work part of the scheme to get the long-term unemployed back into the job market.

As Jim Pickard at the FT reports:

In case you thought the IDS scheme was familiar – forcing people to do 4 week’s labour for their benefits – that is because it already exists. Since last October anyone out of work and claiming jobseekers’ allowance for over a year (in most parts of the country) has to

…

Posted in News | 175 Comments

Which party’s supporters most favour partnership with the French?

By Iain Roberts | Published 7th November 2010 - 2:55 pm

If you had to guess which political party’s supporters were most in favour of sharing our aircraft carriers and nuclear weapons testing with the French, which would you go for?

According to a YouGov poll a few days ago, those who say they’ll vote for the traditionally internationalist and pro-European Lib Dems are clearly in favour (58-36) but – what’s this?

Even more in favour are Conservative voters, by nearly two to one (it’s 61-34 with 5% don’t knows).

I wrote a few days ago that whether we approve of a policy has far more than we’d like to admit to …

Posted in News, Polls | 6 Comments

Allowing Woolas’ behaviour is not “vital to our democracy”

By Iain Roberts | Published 6th November 2010 - 9:15 am

Phil Woolas has vowed to fight on to keep his parliamentary seat of Oldham East and Saddleworth, following the ruling on Friday that voids his General Election victory and bans him from standing as an MP for three years.

He no right of appeal against the judges’ decision, but wants to take it to judicial review, though on what grounds isn’t clear.

Mr Woolas would like us to think that the judgement is not only wrong but fundamentally damaging to political discourse – that it will allow politicians to get away with all sorts whilst their opponents cower, unwilling to risk …

Posted in Election law, Op-eds | Tagged elwyn watkins, phil woolas | 20 Comments

Is yours a party of principles or scoundrels?

By Iain Roberts | Published 2nd November 2010 - 2:56 pm

Party A is in politics to gain power so they can put their policies and principles into action. Without power, what they can achieve is limited so they – sensibly – are willing to compromise and indulge in some give-and-take.

Some policies are dropped or changed because to not do so would see less of the programme getting through over all. Deals have to be done, compromises made, unexpected situations dealt with – this is the real world, after all.

The party pushes through some policies it doesn’t really believe are in the the best interests of the country – because they’re …

Posted in Op-eds | 40 Comments

The same policy can be good or evil – depends who thought of it

By Iain Roberts | Published 1st November 2010 - 10:16 am

In May 2010, the Labour Party pledged to cap Housing Benefit. In their manifesto [pdf], they argued that the State shouldn’t be subsidising people to live in private rented properties that “ordinary working families” couldn’t afford.

Over 600 Labour parliamentary candidates happily stood on the pledge, not a whisper of opposition to the idea was heard from their ranks.

Fast forward to October 2010, five months later, and the Coalition Government come up with the same plan.

Not only was the Coalition scheme denounced by Labour in the strongest terms, with talk of “social cleansing” echoing the horrific Kosovan experiences, …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged housing benefit, psychology | 70 Comments

Liblink: Liberal Vision grills Kramer and Farron

By Iain Roberts | Published 26th October 2010 - 5:34 pm

Liberal Vision have published interviews conducted with each of the candidates for the Liberal Democrat presidency: Susan Kramer and Tim Farron.

Read the Farron interview here and the Kramer interview here.

As a taster:

Liberal Vision: In one sentence why should people who read our blog back your campaign?

Susan Kramer: Overwhelmingly it’s to be the voice for the grass roots of the party, creating that two-way connection between the grass roots and the leadership, and keeping us unified. We shouldn’t let other pull us apart

Tim Farron: Because they want the Liberal Democrats to win, and because

…

Posted in LibLink, Party Presidency | Tagged susan kramer, tim farron | 4 Comments

Chris Huhne puts £60 million into offshore wind turbine manufacture

By Iain Roberts | Published 25th October 2010 - 4:19 pm

An email from Chris Huhne:

Today we are taking a key step on the road to a more prosperous, fairer and greener Britain. We’ve announced support for wind turbine manufacture at Britain’s ports – opening the way to a major expansion of the country’s offshore wind industry.

The last week has been tough. None of us came into government to make cuts. Throughout the spending review, as Liberal Democrats and as a Government, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions. We believe they are necessary to stabilise Britain’s economy and eliminate the massive deficit in the public finances.

As Liberal Democrats in Government

…

Posted in News | Tagged chris huhne, wind turbines | 9 Comments

Lib Dem MEP calls for EU budget cuts

By Iain Roberts | Published 23rd October 2010 - 7:05 pm

Writing on 18th October, Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies called for the European Union to cut its spending, just as national governments across Europe are having to do.

While George Osborne is proposing his cuts package to the House of Commons, Euro-MPs are likely to be voting on the first round of the annual EU budget debate. It seems certain that the European Parliament will end up supporting an increase above the rate of inflation, with our own institution seeking 5.5% more spending “to meet the additional costs of implementing the Lisbon Treaty.”

It is bound to prompt the question of

…

Posted in Europe / International | Tagged european union | 4 Comments

Speed voting European style

By Iain Roberts | Published 23rd October 2010 - 2:38 pm

Votes at Westminster are painfully slow, as MPs are summoned from far and wide to file past into the voting lobbies.

Not so the European Parliament, which was considering over a thousand amendments to the 2011 budget proposals.

Amendments are voting on within six seconds, to the extent that one MEP complains she can’t keep up with all the voting six minutes in.

I’ve not got the faintest idea what any of the amendments were – I can only hope the MEPs themselves …

Posted in Europe / International | Tagged european parliament | 5 Comments

Cutting spending back to 2006 levels will be tough, but it has to be done

By Iain Roberts | Published 20th October 2010 - 11:12 am

The cuts that will be proposed today by the Coalition Government will not reduce the national debt. Over the next four years, the debt will continue to grow. After four years, if all goes according to plan, it will stop growing. By that time it will already be a lot higher than it is today.

We, as a country, are currently adding £400 million a day to that national debt. That’s £400 million that we, and our children, will need to cover the interest payments on until it’s paid off. For every three pounds the Government raises in tax, it currently …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged spending cuts | 38 Comments

Our ministers can’t always follow party policy

By Iain Roberts | Published 18th October 2010 - 8:10 am

The issue of tuition fees has raised a more general challenge the party needs to get its head round. This one’s been bubbling away quietly since the Lib Dems entered the Coalition and we seem no closer to an answer now than we were then.

Are our Government ministers bound by party policy?

When one of our ministers is formulating what the UK Government should do on a specific issue, or setting out the Lib Dem bargaining position to get the best final deal, how far should that minister be reaching for a party policy document rather than using their own …

Posted in News, Op-eds | Tagged federal policy committee, higher education, nick clegg, tuition fees, universities, vince cable | 38 Comments

Administrative note: check before submitting a tuition fees article

By Iain Roberts | Published 15th October 2010 - 8:09 am

We’ve received more articles for publication on the topic of tuition fees than on any other single topic for a long time. Those not already published will be coming over the next few days.

Due to this high volume, we can’t commit to publish all new articles submitted on the subject.

If you’re thinking of writing an article for Lib Dem Voice on tuition fees, please drop us an email first () with an brief outline to avoid disappointment.

Posted in Site news | 4 Comments

Author Archives: Iain Roberts

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