Author Archives: Stephen Tall

Stephen has been Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice since 2007. He also writes at his personal website, and is a Research Associate for the liberal think-tank CentreForum. He was awarded the inaugural Lib Dem ‘Blogger of the Year’ prize in 2006, was a councillor for eight years in Oxford, including a year as Deputy Lord Mayor, and appears frequently in the media in person, in print and online. Stephen combines his political interests with his professional life as Development Director for the Education Endowment Foundation, though writes here in a personal capacity.
Stephen Tall

The Sun story about Chris Huhne that was a total invention (and which the other papers happily copied)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 19th May 2013 - 1:15 pm

Remember that front page Sun story from 13 March? On the off-chance Voice readers missed this exclusive, let’s refersh your memory of the splash:

Disgraced MP Chris Huhne was ridiculed on his first day in Wandsworth jail yesterday — after a warder called him to breakfast by yelling “Order! Order!”

Only one small problem with the story: it was a complete fabrication.

sun huhne lie

The Guardian’s Roy Greenslade has the story:

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Of course the EU has to change”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 19th May 2013 - 10:45 am

No prizes for guessing which subject Nick Clegg tackles in his latest weekly letter to supporters: Europe. He rattles through the three positions: ‘calamitous outers’, ‘inconsequential renegotiators’ and ‘achievable reformers’. No prizes for guessing which he identifies with the Lib Dems. Over to Nick…

libdem letter from nick clegg

I’m writing this week’s Letter to you from Kirkwall in Orkney. Alistair Carmichael and Jim Wallace have been trying to persuade me to make the trip for a while and I’ve finally made it in order to join the celebrations of the centenary of Jo Grimond’s birth.

The big debate this week in British politics, which featured strongly in PMQs – where I was standing in for the PM (you can watch it here) – has obviously been about our future role in Europe. An issue on which Jo Grimond was a pioneer and leader.

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Stephen Tall

“They’re all mad, swivel-eyed loons”: a top Tory on the Tories

By Stephen Tall | Sat 18th May 2013 - 12:15 pm

Conservative Party logoHere’s the remark attributed to ‘a member of the Prime Minister’s inner circle’ according to the Telegraph:

“There’s really no problem,” the Conservative figure said about the parliamentary turmoil. “The MPs just have to do it because the associations tell them to, and the associations are all mad swivel-eyed loons.”

There is an obvious point here (and it’s the reason why whoever said it will soon be resigned): don’t diss your own supporters. ‘Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican,’ was Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment. It was as …

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Stephen Tall

In praise of ‘This House’

By Stephen Tall | Thu 16th May 2013 - 10:45 am

A hung parliament against the backdrop of a teetering economy. Parties divided over Europe. The cracks in the UK fuelling separatist demands. The whips are desperately trying to maintain order.

It’s not hard to see the appeal to current audiences of James Graham’s (no, not that one: this one) hit play, This House.

It’s 1974 and the corridors of Westminster ring with the sound of infighting and backbiting as Britain’s political parties battle to change the future of the nation, whatever it takes. In this hung parliament, the ruling party holds on by a thread. Votes are won and lost by one, fist fights erupt in the bars, and ill MPs are hauled in to cast their votes. It’s a time when a staggering number of politicians die, and age-old traditions and allegiances are thrown aside in the struggle for power.

And the good news is that if you haven’t had chance to see it in either of its two sell-out runs in London, then you can watch it live on a screen near you today, Thursday 16th May, as part of the excellent National Theatre Live series. Here’s the trailer:

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Stephen Tall

That EU vote: 6 thoughts on what it means for the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour

By Stephen Tall | Thu 16th May 2013 - 8:40 am

clegg cameron miliband116 Tory MPs last night backed an amendment to the Queen’s Speech and called for an EU referendum bill. Here’s six thoughts from me on what it all means…

This wasn’t about Europe (much): this was about Cameron’s leadership

The Tory outers/Eurosceptics had already won: David Cameron capitulated in January, conceding an in/out referendum he’d tried hard to dodge. But that wasn’t enough for them. So they forced the Tory leader to capitulate again this week, forcing him to rush out a draft Bill legislating for just such a …

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Stephen Tall

How Nick Clegg should deal with Tory Eurosceptics at PMQs today

By Stephen Tall | Wed 15th May 2013 - 11:30 am

Caron’s already given you the 70 minute warning that Nick Clegg is standing in for David Cameron at PMQs today at 12 noon. The Mail’s Matt Chorley has a suggestion for his best approach to the head-banging wing of the Tory party:

The Lib Dem press office took him at his word:

…

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Stephen Tall

Lib Dem attitudes to poverty and welfare: 3 interesting findings from today’s Joseph Rowntree Foundation report

By Stephen Tall | Tue 14th May 2013 - 6:05 pm

Three interesting findings from today’s report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) — Public attitudes to poverty and welfare 1983-2011 — carried out by NatCen Social Research, exploring public attitudes to poverty and welfare over the past three decades.

1) Interestingly… Lib Dem supporters are less likely than Labour supporters to believe that people live in need because of laziness or a lack of willpower.

nat cen jrf laziness

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Stephen Tall

Where Ukip won (or almost won) on 2nd May 2013

By Stephen Tall | Tue 14th May 2013 - 7:45 am

Wondering where Ukip won (or almost won – see below) in the local elections on Thursday, 2nd May? Then here’s a handy graphic and breakdown by constituency…

ukip vote may 2013

My thanks to Lib Dem Ben Mathis (@binny_uk) for crunching the Ukip numbers, as below. We’ll update the list with any more found…

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Stephen Tall

Ukip surge to 18% in latest ICM poll: Lib Dems at 11%

By Stephen Tall | Mon 13th May 2013 - 9:50 pm

ICM: the pollster Lib Dems love and rely on the most. Maybe not tonight, though. Here’s The Guardian’s graph and report:

guardian ukip poll - may 2013

Ukip’s 18% is the best it has achieved with any pollster in any of the surveys logged at UK Polling Report. It is all the more remarkable for ICM, whose careful adjustments for voters who decline to reveal their political preference smooths out the wilder fluctuations of the electoral cycle.

The Tories are plumbing depths they have not experienced in more than a decade – barring

…

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Stephen Tall

Clegg leadership plot: Gove’s ‘crazy grenade’ detonates, briefly, before Tories revert to arguing about Europe

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th May 2013 - 11:05 am

Hats off to Mr Gove! With the Tory party in its customary state of internecine warfare over Europe, the education secretary used his interview this morning on The Andrew Marr Show to allege a leadership plot to overthrow Nick Clegg. Here’s PoliticsHome’s account:

Michael Gove has suggested Nick Clegg’s opposition to increasing childminders-toddlers ratio is due to an internal Liberal Democrat plot to unseat him as leader.

Mr Clegg said last week that he was “yet to be persuaded” by the case for allowing staff to look after more children.

However Mr Gove today said the reforms, which were defended by

…

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Lib Dems remain focused on the things people really care about”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th May 2013 - 8:55 am

Nick Clegg isn’t one for the pomp and pageant of parliament (he’s rather keen to let you know). He’s also keen to let you know that this week’s Queen’s Speech was “designed to build a stronger economy and a fairer society in Britain, enabling everyone to get on in life” (to quote Her Majesty). Over to Nick…

libdem letter from nick clegg

Fair pensions. Decent care in your old age. A tax cut for small businesses taking on staff. A major new high speed railway. Energy investment to keep lights on and bills affordable. Shared parental leave. Rehabilitation of prisoners to set them back on the straight and narrow.

Just a few highlights from the Government’s plans for legislation this year, outlined this Wednesday in the Queen’s Speech, designed to build a stronger economy and a fairer society in Britain, enabling everyone to get on in life.

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Stephen Tall

The double dip recession that never was?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 11th May 2013 - 12:35 pm

Did the double-dip recession ever happen? It looks increasingly possible that it didn’t — the BBC reports the latest revision to the data:

A revision by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has cast doubt on the UK’s double-dip recession last year. Revised growth estimates now suggest the construction industry shrank in the first quarter of 2012, but by less than previously thought. Analysts say the revision may be enough to mean the overall economy narrowly avoided falling into recession for a second time. The ONS is due to give official confirmation of this in June.

In fact there was a …

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Stephen Tall

Vince in not-so-coded call for Lib-Lab cooperation

By Stephen Tall | Fri 10th May 2013 - 7:55 am

Vincent CableVince Cable published an interesting piece in the New Statesman last month (I missed it at the time): My advice to young Lib Dems — rise above the tribalism.

It’s a biographical reflection on his political journey — from Young Liberal to Mr Wilson’s ‘White Heat’ Labour to the breakaway SDP and finally to the Liberal Democrats, where he joined “some of the descendants of Grimond and Crosland”.

However, it also has a very clear political message. At least, I think it does. Tell me below-the-line if you think I’m …

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Stephen Tall

Official: the snoopers’ charter is dead in this parliament

By Stephen Tall | Thu 9th May 2013 - 10:30 am

One element missing from the Queen’s Speech was the Communications Data Bill, aka the ‘snoopers’ charter’. No surprise to Lib Dems: Nick Clegg torpedoed it last month.

So I had a momentary spasm of concern to see on ConservativeHome this story from Mark Wallace: The Snoopers’ Charter comes sneaking back. Again.

I asked Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert (who’s played a crucial role in safeguarding civil liberties this parliament, including on this Bill) if there were any truth in it, and got an immediate reply…

…

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Stephen Tall

The Coalition: we’re trapped in a loveless marriage with no happy ending in sight

By Stephen Tall | Thu 9th May 2013 - 9:15 am

The Guardian’s Martin Kettle has an acute analysis — This is the beginning of the end for the coalition — of what the Queen’s Speech has revealed about the Coalition Government.

It’s 20 years since Norman Lamont, smarting from being sacked as Chancellor by John Major, accused the Tories’ last majority government of ‘giving the impression of being in office but not in power’. Well, the Coalition is in office and it is in power (the big long-term reforms from Steve Webb on pensions and Norman Lamb on social care show that). But it is no longer in harmony. …

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Stephen Tall

The Queen’s Speech: move along folks, not much to see here

By Stephen Tall | Mon 6th May 2013 - 7:35 pm

This week sees the fourth Queen’s Speech of this Coalition Government, but no-one’s expecting it to be especially busy or radical.

(You can hear me discuss some of the reasons why on Radio 4′s PM programme here.)

To some extent, Lib Dems will breathe a sigh of relief: missing from it will be any reference to the Communications Data Bill, already torpedoed by Nick Clegg. Indeed, the Speech seems to have been stripped of those bits of legislation which looked set to cause the Coalition leaders most aggro for least reward. While Lib Dem pressure saw off the …

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Stephen Tall

A Tory-Ukip pact? Up to you, guys. But you do know there’s an easier way, right?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 6th May 2013 - 3:35 pm

farage and cameronUkip’s spectacular showing at last week’s local elections has got the Tories spooked. The full realisation is sinking in that this may not be a one-off eruption of popular protest.

Nigel Farage’s band of modern-life-is-rubbish disciples will likely top next year’s Euro polls. Such momentum may propel them towards a double-digit general election performance in 2015. If so, the Tories’ hope of a majority is dead: Ed Miliband will become prime minister as leader of the largest single party.

Though the local elections were scarcely a bundle of laughs for …

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Stephen Tall

Rape anonymity for the accused: well-intentioned but wrong

By Stephen Tall | Sun 5th May 2013 - 5:40 pm

Nigel EvansRape anonymity — the right of the accused in rape cases to have their identity kept secret — is in the news again today, after Conservative MP and deputy speaker Nigel Evans was named publicly following his arrest on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.

The Coalition Agreement said the Government would ‘extend anonymity in rape cases to defendants’. Though the pledge hadn’t been included in either party’s manifestos, it was Lib Dem policy, agreed at the 2006 party conference. The Lib Dems’ then home office minister Lynne Featherstone …

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “We are back in the saddle.”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 5th May 2013 - 8:55 am

Nick Clegg’s message this week is pretty chipper, name-checking some of the 350 Lib Dems (re-)elected to serve their communities this week, many of them in battleground areas. “A year or two ago even if we worked hard we didn’t win: now our message is getting a hearing again. We are back in the saddle.” His only negative words are reserved for Ukip, who he says offer a “quick fix” which would backfire: “if UKIP ever got to deliver their policies, unemployment would soar, the rich would get a massive tax cut, and we’d face swingeing cuts to our schools and hospitals”. However, their success makes the Lib Dem presence in the Coalition even more necessary, argues Nick: “it is more important than ever that we, Liberal Democrats, anchor the Government in the centre ground.” Read the full message below…

libdem letter from nick clegg

A massive thank you to everyone who worked hard in this year’s local elections. It’s been another tough year in our journey from a party of protest to a party of Government, but where it matters most, in our Parliamentary seats, we’ve stayed strong and even made gains, beating the Conservatives by 5% of the vote.

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Stephen Tall

Local elections 2013: the story in four graphics

By Stephen Tall | Sat 4th May 2013 - 12:05 pm

Here’s the story of this year’s local elections in three graphics…

First, let’s start with the bald statistics: the Lib Dems made a net loss of 124 councillors on Thursday. As I pointed out here, that’s slightly better than forecast. But still, as the party’s chief executive Tim Gordon noted in his post-election briefing, each is “a real loss to both their local communities and the Liberal Democrat family”.

lib dems local elections 2013 - 1

But here’s the reason Lib Dems are feeling not-quite-so-bad this morning:

lib dems local elections 2013

Here’s how the party has summarised the good news:

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Stephen Tall

What the 2013 local elections mean – for the Lib Dems and the next election (and beyond)

By Stephen Tall | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 7:15 pm

Well, it could have been worse.

The BBC calculates that the Lib Dems have finished these local elections with the loss of a net 124 councillors, slightly better than the projected loss of 130 according to the Rallings and Thrasher model I said the results could best be judged by.

The Tories have done slightly worse (actual loss of 335 councillors compared to a projected loss of 310); while Labour has disappointed its own supprters (an actual gain of 291 councillors compared to the projected gain of 350).

There’s no doubt which party is the biggest winner: Ukip, by an …

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Stephen Tall

South Shields by-election: Labour hold solid, Ukip surge, Tories fall and Lib Dems… plummet to 7th. Ouch.

By Stephen Tall | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 7:35 am

polling dayThe South Shields by-election — triggered by David Miliband’s exit from British political life — has resulted in a solid hold for Labour, which polled just over half the vote, only fractionally down on its 2010 position.

But it’s Ukip which has most to celebrate: in a seat they haven’t contested since 2001, they stormed to a strong second, winning almost one-quarter of the vote.

The Tories lost almost half their vote, slipping to third. Meanwhile the Lib Dems’ valiant Hugh Annand lost his deposit, trailing in seventh place behind the BNP.

Full result below:

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Stephen Tall

Polls are closed! Here’s some election reading to keep you going for the loooong wait…

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd May 2013 - 10:05 pm

Lib Dems winning hereThey’re over! Nothing more to be done now but wait. And it’ll be a long wait for most, with many of today’s local elections not due to be counted until tomorrow. I offered my preview of today’s local elections earlier this week. To keep you going, here’s a clutch of analysis.

Local Election Preview (Anthony Wells)

With the Conservatives starting from an extreme high, it is almost inevitable that they will lose a lot of seats and lose control of a substantial number of councils. It also means that Lib Dem councillors up for re-election are overwhelmingly in LD-v-Con areas, not LD-v-Lab areas. In recent local elections the Lib Dems have done OK against the Conservatives, but been massacred where they are up against Labour in metropolitan areas. With very few LD-v-Lab urban areas having elections, don’t expect huge Lib Dem losses this year.

Local Elections 2013 – Seat Projections Too ‘Conservative’? (Patrick Briône and Damian Lyons Lowe for Survation)

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Stephen Tall

What the hell have the Lib Dems done?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd May 2013 - 3:40 pm

That’s the does-what-it-says-on-the-tin name for the website, created by William Summers and run by Mark Pack, highlighting some of the key successes of the Lib Dems in government.

It’s been freshly updated this week, so what better day could there be than to take a look and share it with any friends and colleagues yet to decide how to cast their vote today?

what have lib dems done - apr 2013

PS: I understand from Mark that the updated version of his infographc — click here to enjoy its resplendence — …

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Stephen Tall

The Sun refuses to back the Tories, says ‘Vote local’ (Aka: The Sun hedges its bets)

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd May 2013 - 11:00 am

The Sun_Kinnock_1992Does what The Sun says matter?

In its own terms, of course not. Its own self-promoted myth that it was ‘The Sun wot won it’ for the Tories in 1992 with its anti-Kinnock front page belies the reality: it backs the party it thinks is most likely to win.

It’s in that narrow sense that it’s interesting The Sun has declined to back either the Tories or Labour today for the first time in its 44-year history:

Who you choose today must be a local decision, not a national one. Read

…

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Stephen Tall

“We cannot afford it” – Cameron on raising income tax threshold to £10k. In 2010.

By Stephen Tall | Wed 1st May 2013 - 7:05 pm

With a hat-tip to Ed Stradling, here’s a reminder of what David Cameron told Nick Clegg about raising the income tax threshold in the first leaders’ debate:


(Watch it on YouTube here.)

I think it’s fair to say the Tories have since had a change of heart. Apparently it was their idea all the time:

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Stephen Tall

Ukip set to win 22% this Thursday according to ComRes poll

By Stephen Tall | Wed 1st May 2013 - 10:10 am

UKIP logoMuch excitement this morning at an unusual event: a poll looking specifically at this Thursday’s local elections. And more than that, a poll showing Ukip on 22%! The full figures are:

    Conservatives 31%
    Labour on 24%
    UKIP 22%
    Lib Dems 12%

Important point: this poll was conducted only in the areas which will actually vote this week. That’s why the Tories are ahead and Labour’s behind. The equivalent vote shares compared to the last time these same seats were fought in 2009 is as follows (via the ever-excellent Anthony Wells):

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Stephen Tall

A site house-keeping notice: just because we’re neutral does not mean we’re unopinionated!

By Stephen Tall | Wed 1st May 2013 - 7:30 am

ldv-textA brief site house-keeping notice follows…

Our regular reader may have noticed that those of us who edit LibDemVoice — as well as contributing general news updates, editing and uploading others’ submissions, and requesting guest pieces — sometimes express our own views.

Sometimes trenchantly.*

And sometimes to the displeasure of at least some of those who drop by here, whether signed-up Lib Dems or not.

A couple of people have asked, not unreasonably, how we can square this with our stated intention to be a neutral site for the benefit of all …

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Stephen Tall

While David Cameron and Owen Jones unite in favour of universal benefits, I want us to get explicit about why redistribution matters to society

By Stephen Tall | Tue 30th April 2013 - 8:30 am

owen jones david cameronIt’s an odd coalition: left-wing commentator Owen Jones and Tory leader David Cameron united as one. Yet that unlikely alliance was formed yesterday, as both defended universal benefits for wealthy pensioners and both fought shy of asserting the importance of redistribution.

David Cameron’s defence was in response to Iain Duncan Smith’s rather odd suggestion that the answer to millionaires getting a fuel allowance is that they should voluntarily hand it back to the government. Those trusty ‘sources close to the Prime Minister’ briefed journalists that IDS was on …

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Stephen Tall

Mary Beard explains why she’s voting Lib Dem this Thursday

By Stephen Tall | Mon 29th April 2013 - 9:55 am

Mary-BeardProfessor Mary Beard (Cambridge University’s “wickedly subversive commentator on both the modern and the ancient world”) explains on her A Don’s Life blog why she’ll be voting for the Lib Dems’ Belinda Brooks-Gordon this week:

Since the Iraq War I have been a semi-floating voter. Up to then I had been Labour by default (unless tactics demanded — as they sometimes did in Shropshire — that one put one’s cross by what was back then still the Liberal Party). Since then I’ve looked afresh at each election for someone, somewhere on

…

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Recent Comments

  • User Avatarjenny barnes 19th May - 5:53pm
    "we are basically wild animals and will always compete for resources." this is a very Hobbesian view of the world; very individualistic / capitalist.... Most...
  • User AvatarTony Greaves 19th May - 5:38pm
    Farage also always seems to manage to be photographed sipping a full pint. Does he ever sup the lot or is it like Harold Wilson's...
  • User AvatarMichael Parsons 19th May - 5:30pm
    Have there actually been any "moderate, sensible, liberal, Conservatives" since the days of RAB Butler and Macmillan? I suppose we did have Selsden Man and...
  • User AvatarTony Greaves 19th May - 5:20pm
    Good sense from many people here,particularly Tony Hill. I am looking at the seats UKIP fought and particularly the wons they won and would appreciate...
  • User AvatarMichael Parsons 19th May - 5:14pm
    It might make more sense to massively support the agencies investigating safer nuclear energy from Thorium? Even if that is a UKIP policy as well!...