Category Archives: LibLink

For highlighting articles by Lib Dems that have appeared elsewhere in the media.

LibLink…Tavish Scott: Community councils empower the people

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd February 2013 - 11:55 am

One of the big themes in Scottish politics in recent years has been the Labour and SNP impulse to centralise anything that stands still for long enough. The SNP Government, against all good advice and much opinion, recently merged Scotland’s 8 police forces into one.

In contrast, the Liberal Democrats under Willie Rennie’s leadership have been emphasising giving power to local communities. Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland writes in the Scotsman about how giving more power to community councils could help deliver the sorts of services communities need, including schools.He cites the example of a plan to close a secondary school …

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Tagged community councils, Local government, rural communities, Scotland, scotsman and tavish scott | 2 Comments

LibLink: Eastleigh by-election and mansion tax

By Mary Reid | Fri 22nd February 2013 - 12:09 pm

The Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast this week focused on the Eastleigh by-election and the mansion tax proposals. These topics were discussed by, amongst others, Lib Dem Voice’s Mark Pack.

You can listen to it here.

Tagged eastleigh, mansion tax and Mark Pack | Leave a comment

LibLink..Lord Lester QC: Five days to save free speech

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th February 2013 - 11:15 am

Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Lester writes in today’s Sun about amendments which could derail the long awaited reform of England’s libel laws. He says that Labour’s Lord Puttnam is leading attempts to introduce a “draconian version” of the Leveson proposals. He warns that if these amendments are passed, the whole attempt at libel reform could fall when the Bill reaches the Commons.

First, he set out what the Bill is trying to do:

The Bill creates a Serious Harm Test to prevent frivolous claims. It makes user-friendly the defences of honest opinion, truth and qualified privilege, and introduces an important public interest

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Tagged defamation bill, lord lester and the sun | 5 Comments

LibLink: Lynne Featherstone – mobile money opens new opportunities in Africa

By Paul Walter | Mon 18th February 2013 - 11:23 am

Lynne Featherstone writes on Huffington Post about the exciting innovation of mobile money:

There is money in the air in Mozambique. The deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and I have just watched Nilza and Herculano transfer 100 meticais (about two pounds) via mobile phone. They may both be standing in front of us for this demonstration, but in a country where less than 12% of adults have a bank account, the benefits of these mobile money systems can be large.

The Department for International Development (DFID) supported the launch of M-Pesa mobile money transfer when it was first launched in Kenya

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Tagged africa | 1 Comment

LibLink: Nick Thornsby – Why Miliband’s tax move is good news for the Lib Dems

By NewsHound | Sat 16th February 2013 - 6:20 pm

Over at the New Statesman, LDV’s Thursday editor Nick Thornsby has looked at Ed Miliband’s proposal to cut taxes for the low-paid funded by introducing the Lib Dems’ mansion tax proposal. Far from being upset by the plagiarism, Nick argues that Lib Dems will be “secretly rather happy” for two reasons:

First, it shifts the political debate to the area where the Lib Dems are at their strongest: tax policy. For whatever else the party has done in government, it is the implementation of a £10,000 tax-free allowance that is cutting through the fog and being recognised by voters as

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LibLink…Danny Alexander: The Liberal Democrats are the only fair tax party

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 16th February 2013 - 9:55 am

Ed Miliband’s speech on tax the other day sparked bemusement amongst Liberal Democrats. For years, Labour have passed off the Liberal Democrats as the sellout Spawn of Satan and here they were embracing Vince Cable’s Mansion Tax and trying to make out that they knew how to make the tax system fairer.

Amongst those bemused Liberal Democrats is Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, the man who has given 23 million people a tax cut by raising the threshold at which they start to pay tax. For the tax year beginning in April, this will amount to £600 being cut …

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Tagged fairer tax | 23 Comments

LibLink…Paddy Ashdown: If you’re opposed to drones, then think again

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th February 2013 - 1:56 pm

In Liberal Democrat circles, when Barack Obama is discussed, it’s generally agreed that he’s doing a grand job except for the not insignificant matter of the extra-judicial killings and the use of unmanned drone attacks.

Paddy Ashdown has expressed a different view writing in today’s Times describing drones as the most “democratic” weapon ever invented.

As a lifelong peace-loving hippy, you’d expect that I would have been the first to head Paddy’s advice:

war is a revolting practice and cannot be discussed without using revolting words. So the squeamish and those morally offended by all violence should look away now.

I didn’t, though. Partly …

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Tagged drones, military intervention, paddy ashdown, President Obama and the times | 19 Comments

LibLink: Vince Cable – Investors deserve red carpet, not red tape

By Mary Reid | Tue 12th February 2013 - 10:56 am

In the Telegraph, Vince Cable writes:

Britain is open for business. What we say to the emerging economies of the world is that, more than other Western countries, we welcome their investment, ideas, talent and visitors. We are not economic nationalists. We are not inward looking. That is a powerful message in São Paulo, Moscow, Mumbai and Shanghai.

In the article he concentrates on our trading relationship with China.

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Tagged china, invest and vince cable | 2 Comments

LibLink: George Lyon MEP – EU budget cuts must not sacrifice research and investment

By Paul Walter | Mon 11th February 2013 - 2:53 pm

Writing on Huffington Post, George Lyon, MEP for Scotland, outlines concerns that the forthcoming round of EU budget reviews does not risk future growth prospects:

The EU Parliament will be scrutinising the proposals closely in the coming weeks before deciding whether to accept or reject the deal in the beginning of March. We must be clear – there are areas of spending that help us generate growth and these need to be our priority going forwards.

One major concern is the proposed funding for the Connecting Europe Facility. This new instrument is set to invest in modern infrastructure such

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Tagged eu budget and european union | 4 Comments

LibLink: Adrian Trett – Why do Europe and LGBT equality measures cause such splits in mainstream parties?

By Paul Walter | Mon 11th February 2013 - 1:23 pm

Writing for PinkNews, as Chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats and Vice-Chair of the Liberal Democrats European Group, Adrian Trett says there are political similarities when it comes to arguing the case for equality and the European Union:

If you have the fundamental freedom to travel and work, live and reside in the place of your choice, then so does everyone else whatever nationality. Just because we may have an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians next January, no Europhobe can turn round and say, sorry you can’t come here, because we belong to a market with free movement of

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Tagged LGBT+ Liberal Democrats | 15 Comments

LibLink: David Laws – Incentive for UK schools to promote talent

By Nick Thornsby | Thu 7th February 2013 - 2:51 pm

Writing in today’s Financial Times, Lib Dem schools minister David Laws has the following to say about the Government’s announcements on reforms to the systems of examination:

We need all schools to teach all children well in all subjects. For that reason, we propose judging schools by the progress their pupils make in eight subjects. Two of those subjects will be English and maths; a further three will be any combination of sciences, history, geography and languages. The remaining three are open – they could be further sciences or languages, subjects such as art or music,

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Tagged david laws and education | 3 Comments

LibLink – Lucy Care: Gay marriage struggle for equal rights is a Quaker one too

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 6th February 2013 - 4:24 pm

Lucy Care, a member of the Federal Policy Committee from Derby and regular contributor to Liberal Democrat Voice, has written an interesting piece for the Independent on the Quakers’ involvement in the fight for LGBT equality.

She recalls a gay man talking to a Young Quaker workshop when she was in her teens and how this affected her:

He described his search for love and finding his ‘Mr Right’. He talked about his joy and loving commitment towards the man with whom he hoped to spend the rest of his life. The emotions which he described seemed to me then – and

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Tagged equal marriage, lucy care, quakers and the independent | 1 Comment

LibLink – Lynne Featherstone MP: Moving towards a world free from Female Genital Cutting

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 6th February 2013 - 12:16 pm

Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Tonight, Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne will be giving a speech tonight (which we will bring you later) and Lynne Featherstone has written an article for the Huffington Post.

She will be taking part in an online discussion here at 12:45pm today.

First she outlined exactly why FGC is a problem.

FGC is a cultural practice involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. In its most extreme form the external genitalia are cut out and the girl’s vagina sewn up, to be cut open on her

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Tagged female genital cutting, huffington post and lynne featherstone | 10 Comments

LibLink: Willie Rennie – after the referendum

By Paul Walter | Mon 4th February 2013 - 2:53 pm

In The Scotsman, Willie Rennie asks some pertinent questions about what might happen after the Scottish referendum:

The Electoral Commission surprised us all on Wednesday when it went beyond spending limits and the wording of the question to press for clarity on the process after either result in the referendum. It did not ask us to negotiate a solution on the substance of our conflicting cases as pre-negotiations are impossible.

Yet, on reflection, I believe this will assist those who share my view that Scotland

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Tagged Scottish referendum | 3 Comments

LibLink: Paul Tyler on target practice

By Mary Reid | Tue 29th January 2013 - 3:43 pm

In a recent post on Lord of the Blogs, Paul Tyler asks where the elusive Parliamentary rifle range is to be found.

For some years, while I was still an MP, there were regular requests for this apparently anachronistic facility, somewhere in the basement, to be replaced with a creche for the children of staff and members of both Houses. One Conservative MP naughtily suggested that the two roles could be combined.

Some years ago Nick Clegg said that it was absurd that parliament should have a shooting range and not a creche. …

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Tagged house of lords, parliamentary rifle range and paul tyler | 4 Comments

LibLink: Lynne Featherstone – Darfur is still suffering ten years after conflict began

By Paul Walter | Mon 28th January 2013 - 9:54 am

Just back from a visit to Darfur, Lynne Featherstone writes on Huffpo about continuing concerns for the region:

Britain’s aid programme is about people, not numbers. But sometimes, the figures are so shocking it is impossible to escape them.

This year marks 10 years since the start of conflict in Darfur and the numbers speak for themselves. During

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Tagged lynne featherstone and sudan | Leave a comment

Your essential weekend reader — my personal pick of the week’s must-reads

By Stephen Tall | Sun 27th January 2013 - 2:20 pm

It’s Saturday evening, so here are twelve thought-provoking articles to stimulate your thinking juices culled from all those I’ve linked to this last week. You can follow me on Delicious here.

My brother, Hans Rausing, entered a world of addiction where no one in the end could follow him – Sigrid Rausing‘s heart-rending account has persuaded her that drug addicts need care, not prison: ‘I do wonder slightly if the people who formulate the policy on drugs know what that heavy hand, the war …

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Tagged weekend reader | Leave a comment

LibLink: Paul David Evans – The Holocaust and David Ward MP

By Joe Otten | Sat 26th January 2013 - 3:14 pm

We carried the news yesterday that David Ward MP had, while marking Holocaust Memorial Day, made comments linking the holocaust to Israeli policy in the occupied territories.

Paul David Evans, who has worked for the Holocaust Educational Trust, examines this commonly-made comparison.

“… is it possible to criticise Israel without being accused of antisemitism, some activists mused on Lib Dem Voice? The answer is that, yes, it’s remarkably easy to criticise Israel without being accused of being a racist. The trick is not to frame your criticism in terms of glaringly obvious

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Tagged david ward and israel | 13 Comments

LibLink… Paddy Ashdown: It’s not a fight against “us”, it’s Islam vs Islam

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 23rd January 2013 - 6:55 pm

In an article in today’s Times, Paddy Ashdown concedes that David Cameron is probably right that the so-called War on Terror (a term Paddy dislikes) will go on for another decade. Paddy argues that we need to recognise that the way western countries have been operating doesn’t work. What is needed now is to recognise that the fight is between different factions of Islam. It should be our job to help out moderate governments where we can.

He outlined why the “invasions, main battle armies and occupation” of

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged afghanistan, iraq, islam, paddy ashdown, the times and war on terror | 5 Comments

LibLink…Stephen Williams MP: The time has come for votes at 16

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 21st January 2013 - 3:56 pm

On Saturday, Hannah Bettsworth and Jenny Marr of Liberal Youth Scotland encouraged us all to lobby our MPs to vote for a motion tabled by Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West Stephen Williams calling for the voting age to be reduced at 16.

Stephen himself has now written a post on his own blog outlining why this issue is so important to him.

I have long believed that 16 year olds are mature enough to vote, if they want to. Years of experience of talking and listening to sixth form and college students has convinced me that enough of them have the

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Also posted in Op-eds | Tagged liberal youth scotland, stephen williams and votes at 16 | 2 Comments

LibLink: Lynne Featherstone working to transform the lives of women and girls around the world

By NewsHound | Sat 19th January 2013 - 1:00 pm

Lynne Featherstone, Minister for International Development, writes at the Huffington Post, on the opportunities 2013 brings to transform the lives of women and girls around the world.

This year is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a lasting difference to the lives of women and girls everywhere in the world.

Between the Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York in March, the work on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals and the UK Presidency of the G8, the international community

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Tagged international development, lynne featherstone and women and girls | 3 Comments

LibLink: Guy Verhofstadt thinks that David Cameron would be wrong to leave the EU…

By NewsHound | Fri 18th January 2013 - 3:51 pm

In a piece for the Huffington Post entitled “The UK Is Sleepwalking to the EU Exit. It Is Time to Wake Up”, Guy Verhofstadt, Leader of the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) Group in the European Parliament, gives a glimpse of the difficulties facing David Cameron in seeking to renegotiate the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union. He warns;

Cameron will not succeed if he attempts to hold his European partners to ransom, exchanging acquiescence to EU treaty change over the eurozone for a unilateral repatriation of powers.

and notes, in language that Liberal Democrats would …

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Also posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged ALDE, david cameron, european union and guy verhofstadt | 18 Comments

LibLink: Kirsty Williams on taking up the baton from Lloyd George

By NewsHound | Fri 18th January 2013 - 11:21 am

As Kirsty Williams notes in opening a piece to mark the anniversary yesterday, 17 January would have been David Lloyd George’s 150th birthday, and she took the opportunity to raise the issue of tax varying powers for Wales;

Today seems like an opportune moment to consider how a future Welsh government can continue David Lloyd George’s radical and redistributive legacy.

We must take the opportunity of the Silk Commission to think big. As Lloyd George himself said, “You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” We must take the opportunity to create a new People’s Budget for Wales.

For the first

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Also posted in News and Wales | Tagged david lloyd george, kirsty williams, tax and Wales | 3 Comments

LibLink… Michael Moore MP: Uncertainty of independence can’t be wished away

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 16th January 2013 - 2:52 pm

Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland wrote in this weekend’s Scotland on Sunday about the next steps as Scotland approaches the referendum on independence which will take place in the Autumn of 2014.

Now that the relevant Section 30 Order, giving the Scottish Parliament the power to hold that referendum is clearing its way through Parliament, the focus turns to the issues rather than the process:

But we need the “great debate” to flush out all the issues. Over the next few weeks and months, the UK Government will start publishing a series of papers that look at Scotland’s position in

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Tagged Michael Moore and scotland on sunday | 2 Comments

LibLink… Steve Webb: A straightforward pension scheme for all

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 14th January 2013 - 2:45 pm

Liberal Democrat Pensions Minister Steve Webb, the man who has already delivered the “triple lock” system for ensuring a decent annual rise in the State Pension, writes in today’s Telegraph about the Coalition’s plans to simplify pension provision and ensure that the basic state pension increases from £107 to £144 from as soon as 2017.

First, he outlined the problems with the complexities of the current system:

In Britain today, we have not one but two state pensions. The first is a basic state pension based on 30 years of National Insurance contributions, with complex rules for people who are divorced or

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Tagged state pension, steve webb and telegraph | 4 Comments

LibLink: Ming Campbell – Europe offers the best deal for Britain

By NewsHound | Sat 12th January 2013 - 1:00 pm

Menzies Campbell Former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell has called on David Cameron to put the national interest ahead of his party’s interest as he prepares for his major speech on Europe:

Those who argue for disengagement in whole or even part have a duty to tell us what the consequences would be. So far they have failed to do so. We need to be rational, not emotional. The issue must be about the essential nature of the relationship, not about squashing the ambitions of Ukip. The EU offers the best deal for Britain.The

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Tagged angela merkel, european union, Ming Campbell and peter bone | 8 Comments

LibLink…Eluned Parrott AM: Looks to be game, set and match to Abertis

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 9th January 2013 - 4:43 pm

Welsh Liberal Democrats are questioning the Labour First Minister’s actions in entering into an exclusive relationship to buy Cardiff Airport for the nation with no prior consultation of the Assembly and without publishing any clear idea of how it will be run.

Eluned Parrott, Liberal Democrat Shadow Economy and Transport Minister has written an article on this over at Freedom Central. She said:

This is of course without consulting the Assembly, without revealing the price he’s offered, without revealing a business plan for the airports future, or without even stating what his government is planning on doing with it or who he

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Tagged cardiff airport, eluned parrott, freedom central, transport and Wales | 2 Comments

LibLink: Andrew De Freitas – rebel with a cause

By Paul Walter | Mon 7th January 2013 - 11:53 am

This is Grimsby has an in-depth article on veteran local councillor Andrew De Freitas:

A year after fleeing riots in his homeland, a young political activist from British Guiana arrived in Grimsby. In the first of a new series profiling our ward councillors, Local Government Reporter Simon Faulkner speaks to the Liberal Democrat Andrew De Freitas.

“I WAS always a bit of a rebel”, smiles Andrew De Freitas, recalling his childhood in the Caribbean colony of British Guiana.

“My father said ‘this boy when he grows up is going to be a lawyer’, because I was always prepared to argue on people’s

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Tagged liberal democrats | Leave a comment

LibLink: Tim Farron – A party of both competence and compassion is in a unique position in British politics

By The Voice | Sun 6th January 2013 - 12:15 pm

In today’s Observer, party president Tim Farron begins the year in chipper mood, pointing out that the political pundits are quick to predict the deaths of political parties, including the Lib Dems — yet we’ve endured it all to become now a party of government:

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher’s landslide, after which serious political commentators, including those writing for the Observer, speculated that Labour could never win again.

In March, we will observe the 10th anniversary of

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Tagged tim farron | 14 Comments

LibLink… Nick Clegg: Labour need to tell us what they would cut

By The Voice | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 2:41 pm

Nick Clegg has issued a challenge to Labour in today’s Times. Rather than, he says, oppose every single cut the Coalition has made, Labour should be saying what they would cut to pay for their policy priorities. If Labour want benefits to rise at the rate of inflation, then they need to spell out exactly how they would pay for it.

Firstly, he talks about what the Coalition has achieved for economic growth, and how it has been pragmatic on cutting the deficit, changing its plans as the global economic circumstances changed:

Here in the UK we have now paid off around

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Tagged benefits, economy, labour, nick clegg and the times | 90 Comments