Tag Archives: alistair carmichael

The Beveridge Group announces its relaunch

By NewsHound | Published 10th January 2012 - 12:18 pm

The Liberal Democrat Voice team have received a press release from John Pugh MP, which may be of interest to those in the Party keen to engage in debate on policy and philosophy.

With an eye to the new parliamentary year and forthcoming legislation, the Beveridge Group has reformed and a new updated website is already up and running. The initiative follows widespread concern inside and outside parliament as to where Coalition policy on public services may be going.

We want to prompt a proper debate as to where the …

Which four Liberal Democrat ministers have most improved their standings in 2011?

By Mark Pack | Published 28th December 2011 - 11:55 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 564 party members responded, and we are publishing the full results here over several days.

Jeremy Browne, Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Lynne Featherstone are the four Liberal Democrat ministers to have significantly increased their standing in the eyes of party members over this year, according to the surveys of party members carried out by Liberal Democrat Voice four times in the year.

When asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with a range of party …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged chris huhne, ed davey, jeremy browne, lynne featherstone, tim farron, vince cable | 3 Comments

The significant part of Tim Farron’s speech

By Mark Pack | Published 20th September 2011 - 12:55 pm

Tim Farron is probably the Parliamentary Party’s best funny speech maker (though I’d pay good money to see him head-to-head in a laugh off with Alistair Carmichael), so it’s not a surprise that Tim’s speech to Liberal Democrat conference caught the headlines mostly for his humour and his stress-testing of political marriage analogies to destruction.

Yet there was a significant section about how Liberal Democrat ministers act and his own role:

There are 18 Liberal Democrats who don’t have the luxuries that I do.

They can’t just sound off if they don’t like government policy or trot through the no lobby on

…

Posted in Conference | Also tagged danny alexander, george osborne, michael gove, sarah teather, tim farron, vince cable | 4 Comments

So you think you know how to improve campaigning? Come to Conference Dragons’ Den

By Mark Pack | Published 22nd August 2011 - 1:55 pm

Autumn conference in Birmingham will see a new type of campaigning event which sounds rather fun: a Dragons’ Den style fringe meeting at which people pitch their ideas for new approaches to campaigning.

The panel will be Alistair Carmichael MP, James Gurling (Chair, Campaigns & Communications Committee), Hilary Stephenson (Director of Elections and Skills) and Kirsty Williams AM. It will be on Sunday 18th September at 1pm in Room 103 of the Jurys Inn.

Submissions are open to any party member except for Campaigns Department employees.

Step one is to submit your idea by Monday 12th September to Tim Pollard on . …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged hilary stephenson, james gurling, kirsty williams | 10 Comments

Interview: Alistair Carmichael Part 2 – The Life of a Whip

By Caron Lindsay | Published 7th April 2011 - 6:55 pm

Welcome to the second part of my interview with Liberal Democrat Chief Whip and Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael.

Most of us who are interested in politics have either read House of Cards or watched it on DVD and think we know how a Chief Whip operates from watching the dastardly Francis Urquhart at work. I said to Alistair that I really didn’t think pushing people off buildings or lacing their heroin with rat poison was quite his style – so what was a typical day in the life of a Chief Whip like?

Caron, that’s one of the nicest things …

Posted in Blogger Interviews | Also tagged caron lindsay, guest editor | 1 Comment

Carmichael moves to end MP-MSP dual mandates

By Mark Pack | Published 24th February 2010 - 3:20 pm

Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary, has tabled amendments to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill aimed at bringing an end to MSPs and MPs holding both jobs at the same time.

The amendments follow legislation backed by both the Government and the Conservatives which seeks to end ‘double jobbing’ by Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLAs) who are also MPs. They offer two options:

a measure which would end the ability of MPs who are also MSPs to receive salaries from both jobs, along the same lines as the Government and Conservative-backed legislation on MLAs and intended to act as

…

Posted in Election law, Parliament, Scotland | Also tagged constitutional reform and governance bill | 6 Comments

Welcome to the new bloggers…

By Mark Pack | Published 6th February 2010 - 4:20 pm

Four blogs have recently joined Ryan’s Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Alistair Carmichael - http://alistaircarmichael.wordpress.com – the MP for Orkney and Shetland is a very welcome addition to the ranks of blogging Lib Dem Parliamentarians.
Daisy Benson - http://daisyscampaigndiary.blogspot.com – our Reading West candidate gets stuck into local issues.
Dave Page - http://davepage.focusteam.org.uk – good to see a new local blog using the excellent ALDC MyCouncillor system.
Mike Finn - http://histospeak.wordpress.com – a blog from a former historian; my views on the virtues of that are of course completely unbaised.

Good luck to all the new bloggers, and …

Posted in Online politics | Also tagged blogging, daisy benson, dave page, mike finn | 3 Comments

Lib Dem MPs split on Euro referendum?

By Stephen Tall | Published 21st January 2010 - 9:50 am

Almost two years ago, in the early weeks of Nick Clegg’s leadership, the Lib Dem parliamentary party managed to tie itself in knots over the question of whether to support a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In the end three frontbenchers, David Heath, Tim Farron and Alistair Carmichael, quit after defying the party’s three-line whip to oppose a referendum.

Well, Sky News has the interesting story that the party still hasn’t managed to get its line straight and agreed, re-opening that split:

Now it seems to be deja vu all over again, with a new Lib Dem split in voting

…

Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged david heath, ed davey, john hemming, lembit opik, lisbon treaty, mike hancock, referendum, tim farron | 9 Comments

Interning for MPs: exploitation or experience?

By Helen Duffett | Published 13th November 2009 - 5:24 pm

Donal MacIntyre and Hannah Barnes have reported on MPs’ interns for BBC Radio 5 live:

MPs could be breaking the law by not paying their parliamentary interns. Hundreds of young graduates are putting in thousands of hours of unpaid work at Westminster. This practice is excluding many young people without independent financial support from a route that many see as the first step on the ladder to a political career. But, this is not just a question of pushing the bounds of fairness. Minimum wage regulations require that some of these interns should be paid.”

You can listen to the podcast …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged donal macintyre, hannah barnes, internships, lynne featherstone, mps expenses, phil willis | 22 Comments

Times: Tavish Scott expected to see off Lib Dem rebellion on opposition to referendum

By Stephen Tall | Published 31st October 2009 - 1:00 pm

A week ago, LDV asked the question, Is it time for the Scottish Lib Dems to back an independence referendum?, amid suggestions in The Sunday Times that there was “a growing rebellion within the party’s ranks over its opposition to Alex Salmond’s Referendum Bill.” Today’s Times reports that Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott will win overwhelming backing for the leadership line:

Senior Lib Dems were increasingly confident that a minority of “referendum rebels” would not succeed in forcing Mr Scott into a U-turn that could pose serious question marks over his continued leadership.

The issue of the Scottish government’s

…

Posted in Scotland | Also tagged referendum, scottish independence, snp, tavish scott | 12 Comments

Is it time for the Scottish Lib Dems to back an independence referendum?

By Stephen Tall | Published 25th October 2009 - 3:05 pm

The Sunday Times reports:

Senior Liberal Democrat figures will hold talks in an attempt to halt a growing rebellion within the party’s ranks over its opposition to Alex Salmond’s Referendum Bill. Party managers will meet on Monday to decide the best way of tackling the revolt, which could seriously undermine Tavish Scott’s leadership of the party.

Strategists have yet to decide whether they will allow the issue to go to a vote at a special conference being held in Dunfermline next Saturday to confirm the party’s stance. It is understood that several of the party’s Westminster candidates are preparing to join

…

Posted in Scotland | Also tagged referendum, tavish scott | 20 Comments

Unemployment: Lib Dems on the bleak national picture

By Stephen Tall | Published 15th October 2009 - 6:50 pm

Three separate Lib Dem press releases ping into the Voice’s inbox, each of them them telling a depressing story about the human impact of the recession.

First up, Lib Dem shadow work and pensions secretary Steve Webb on the doubling of long-term unemployment in the last year alone:

Ministers try to spin the slower rise in headline figures as progress, but long-term unemployment has doubled in a year and if it is not tackled now it will be a devastating legacy of this recession.

Posted in Scotland, Wales | Also tagged jenny randerson, recession, steve webb, unemployment | 3 Comments

Lib Dem MP: Where’s my nearest railway station? In Norway.

By The Voice | Published 13th October 2009 - 9:50 am

The Voice enjoyed this snippet from Hugh Muir’s diary in today’s Guardian:

Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP for the distant seat of Orkney and Shetland, received a parliamentary travel expenses form, which asked: “What is your nearest mainline railway station?” He contacted the Fees Office to explain that his constituency is in the middle of the North Sea but was told he had to answer. OK then, he said: Oslo. The member for Smarty-pants west.

Posted in News | Also tagged hugh muir, mps expenses | 8 Comments

LDV post-conference members’ survey (3): what you thought of the Lib Dem conference

By Stephen Tall | Published 11th October 2009 - 4:30 pm

Over the last week, Lib Dem Voice has invited the members of our private forum (open to all Lib Dem members) inviting them to take part in a survey, conducted via Liberty Research, asking a number of questions about the party and the current state of British politics. Many thanks to the 200+ of you who completed it; we’ve been publishing the results on LDV over the past few days. You can catch up on the results of all our exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

First up, we asked how many of you had actually …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged bournemouth 2009 conference, chris huhne, edward davey, evan harris, sarah teather, tim farron, vince cable | 1 Comment

Gidley and Carmichael back Bercow for Speaker

By Stephen Tall | Published 18th June 2009 - 2:46 pm

Two Lib Dem MPs have declared who they’re supporting in the forthcoming election for the next Speaker of the House of Commons. Sandra Gidley and Alistair Carmichael are co-signatories to a letter published in today’s Guardian extolling the virtues of Conservative MP John Bercow:

With the standing of parliament at an all time low, the next Speaker will take office in unprecedented circumstances (Speaker candidates call for end to prime minister’s questions, 16 June). Reform is desperately needed as the “old” way of doing things does not carry the confidence of those we serve – too many of our traditions,

…

Posted in News, Parliament | Also tagged commons speaker, john bercow, sandra gidley | 3 Comments

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