Author Archives: Rebecca Tidy

Rebecca Tidy

Opinion: why I’m still a Liberal Democrat…

By Rebecca Tidy | Fri 5th April 2013 - 3:10 pm

I’ve been a Liberal Democrat supporter as long as I can remember. My parents were involved with the party, and often shared their political views with my sister and I when we were children. Therefore, I suppose it is no surprise that I actively support the party today.

However, I have to confess that since the Coalition agreement, and the abandonment of the tuition fees promise, I have occasionally wondered why I continue to support the party. A little doubt was creeping into my mind. I never supported the tuition fee policy, but was a little disappointed that some MPs …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 11 Comments
Rebecca Tidy

Opinion: For the sake of democracy, we need to be civil online

By Rebecca Tidy | Mon 21st January 2013 - 1:23 pm

Twitter logoSome of the world’s best-known politicians have messed up on Twitter.

…From the Labour whip who called the Tory opposition “pigs”, to the American Republican politician Jeff Frederick who prematurely tweeted about a Democrat defection, and the Hull councillor who called members of the electorate voting for the opposition ‘retards’.

Therefore, it was hardly surprising when Lib Dem favourite Sir Graham Watson made his first Twitter blunder, tweeting something potentially ill-judged on Wednesday night. A popular MEP winning 80% of first-preference votes in the last Euro selections, opponents jumped on the error, and …

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 6 Comments
Rebecca Tidy

Opinion: Are Nick Clegg’s emails to members too little, too late?

By Rebecca Tidy | Tue 20th November 2012 - 2:26 pm

Nick Clegg has started sending weekly emails to my inbox.  As I research political communication, I was interested to see that Clegg and his team had taken a new approach to the mass membership email.

I recently carried out a large survey of Liberal Democrat members. Oddly, a large proportion of respondents commented that they weren’t too keen on the emails from Party HQ.  I was initially puzzled as much of the research in this area suggests that emails are an effective way of building up a relationship, and encouraging activists to do more.  The common view suggested that they were

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 27 Comments
Rebecca Tidy

Opinion: Work-fare or work fair? Why I shan’t be shopping at Tesco

By Rebecca Tidy | Wed 22nd February 2012 - 6:56 pm

It seems that Tesco finally bowed to public pressure and is no longer expecting the jobless to line-up and provide them with four weeks of unpaid labour. Whilst I was pleased to read this, it was too little, too late for me. Do Tesco expect us to be pleased that they’re finally offering to pay people in return for their hard work?

This has taught us an awful lot about Tesco’s ethical beliefs. The company was happy to accept unpaid labour before the public knew about it, but as soon as they started receiving negative press coverage, they brought the scheme …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 54 Comments
Rebecca Tidy

Opinion: Time to give inheritance tax the chop

By Rebecca Tidy | Tue 23rd August 2011 - 1:53 pm

Whilst on my weekly perusal of Lib Dem Voice I spotted an interesting article by my lovely colleague Stuart Bonar. He was discussing inheritance tax; an issue that I hope will not affect me for a while, but nonetheless, an important one to many of us. I was initially inclined to agree with Stuart’s view that individuals should be taxed on these ‘wind-falls’ but then I got thinking…

Inheritance tax used to be a tax on the rich, something not relevant to most of us. But it’s now a tax paid by many, as house and asset prices have risen to extraordinary levels; many being valued at over £325 000, which is the threshold for this tax. However, I do wonder whether many of the rich, the original subjects of this tax, pay it, as they can afford expensive and skilled accountants or leave the country to escape this payment, something that I and many others cannot do.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 105 Comments



Recent Comments

  • User AvatarIan Patterson 19th Jun - 11:37pm
    Quelle Horreur. Nearly choked when reading liberator article today. we do not need more millionaires in ranks in lords, however 'active' they have been in...
  • User AvatarTim13 19th Jun - 9:45pm
    Interested to hear a comment from candidates' Office at HQ on the numbers of PPCs in place. For the 2005 and 2010 the party made...
  • User AvatarRoland 19th Jun - 8:29pm
    @Keith - Actually, I overlooked a couple of important points: Firstly Caron did say 'qualifies' rather than 'receives' - so apologies to Caron if I...
  • User AvatarDavid Pollard 19th Jun - 8:22pm
    I still fail to see the point of the Labour party. It's funded by the Unions but it does not support the working man. It...
  • User AvatarDavid Pollard 19th Jun - 8:12pm
    Go for it. There is all to play for.
  • User Avatarpaul barker 19th Jun - 8:05pm
    Come 2015 we will need 2 parallel campaigns, for seats in the 75 Targets & for votes everywhere else. The campaigns will need very different...
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