Tag Archives: bournemouth 2009 conference

LDV readers say: Yes to Vince’s ‘Mansion Tax’

By Stephen Tall | Published 22nd October 2009 - 6:45 pm

Was it only a month ago we were in the throes of the Lib Dem conference? How time flies. Cast your minds back four weeks, and the Lib Dems’ shadow chancellor, Vince Cable, made a few waves by announcing his wish to introduce a new tax, quickly dubbed the ‘Mansion Tax’, of 0.5% on the value of properties over £1m.

In fact, as LDV’s Alex Foster spotted at the time, Vince was re-treading a policy he’d been forced to abandon just 18 months previously. But, then, a lot has changed in the last 18 months, both economically, and in terms of Vince’s popularity. The surprise announcement caused Vince more than a few headaches, with shadow cabinet colleagues complaining of being kept in the dark.

Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged mansion tax, vince cable | Leave a comment

Opinion: Après les conférences

By David Lawson | Published 16th October 2009 - 10:55 am

I doubt if the conference season has changed the political landscape. The Liberal Democrats were ill-disciplined; Labour was defiant in face of expectations of defeat; and the Conservatives were trying not to be overconfident — with only partial success.

Peter Riddell, The Times, 9 October 2009

It is easier to write from a position of ignorance rather than knowledge. Unlike Riddell this was the first time I have been to a party conference but that may leave the view clearer. The general opinion is that Lib Dems and Tories missed a chance and Labour avoided disaster by ignoring reality.

The Liberal Democrat and Conservative leadership made the same strategic judgment to tackle head-on the problems raised by the blooming budget deficit and both offered at least some practical indications of where the pain might be felt.

Why was the Liberal Democrat conference perceived to be worse? Partly, because the Lib Dems do not have the same practical need to face up to the budget crisis, but was it “ill-discipline”?

Posted in Conference, Op-eds | 6 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 alistair carmichael, chris huhne, edward davey, evan harris, sarah teather, tim farron, vince cable | 1 Comment

LDV post-conference members’ survey (2): ‘savage’ cuts, tuition fees, ‘mansion tax’ and the leadership

By Stephen Tall | Published 7th October 2009 - 6:35 pm

Over the weekend, Lib Dem Voice 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’re publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of all our exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

First up, LDV asked: In a media interview before the party conference, Nick Clegg spoke of the need for the Lib Dems to be “quite bold, or even savage, on current spending”. Do you agree with Nick’s assessment?

Here’s what you told us:

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged higher education, mansion tax, nick clegg, spending cuts, tuition fees, universities, vince cable | 2 Comments

LDV post-conference members’ survey (1): Nick Clegg approval ratings

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th October 2009 - 4:45 pm

Over the weekend, Lib Dem Voice 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’re publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of our exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

First up, LDV asked: What is your view of Nick Clegg’s performance as Lib Dem leader?

Here’s what you told us (with September’s pre-conference figures in brackets):

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged chris huhne, nick clegg, vince cable | 2 Comments

Bournemouth was a hit, no shambolic disaster

By Iain Roberts | Published 29th September 2009 - 11:04 am

“What’s the name of your leader?” a constituent asked me the day after the Lib Dem conference closed. Luckily, it was a question I could answer with some confidence. “Nick Clegg”. “Oh yes, that’s right. Saw him on the news last night. Good speech.”

That seemed a perfectly reasonable, and probably typical, comment from someone with no particular interest in politics who’ll still most likely be casting their vote in the General Election; not to mention the sort of person every political party is looking to engage with.

So how does that fit with William Le Breton’s claim that Bournemouth was …

Posted in Conference, Op-eds | Also tagged nick clegg, vince cable | 30 Comments

LDV readers split on Nick’s talk of need for “savage” cuts

By Stephen Tall | Published 28th September 2009 - 7:25 pm

A week ago, Lib Dem Voice asked our readers the question on everyone’s lips at conference: Do you think Nick Clegg was right to say that the Lib Dems need to be “quite bold, or even savage, on current spending”?

I was clear on my view:

I cannot see how the talk of “savage” cuts is helpful – quite simply, it’s not the language of Lib Dems. Just as importantly, it’s not backed up by policy proposals. Even Vince Cable has so far come up with some £14 billion of potential savings, while estimating that a total of £112 billion will

…

Posted in Conference, Voice polls | Also tagged nick clegg, public spending | 2 Comments

#ldconf feedback questionnaire

By Alex Foster | Published 28th September 2009 - 12:57 pm

A message arrives from the Conference people asking for our feedback on all matters Conference.

Conference is important to the Liberal Democrats. Your input, debates and votes are vital in shaping the Party’s policies and campaigns, and ensuring that we remain the only truly democratic party in British politics.

So we want to make sure you come back! Your views are important to us, as they help us improve conference year after year. If you attended autumn conference this year, please take the time to give us your feedback. By clicking on the link below and filling out our online questionnaire, you’ll

…

Posted in Conference | Also tagged FCC, feedback, questionnaire | 7 Comments

Opinion: The disaster of Bournemouth was avoidable

By Bill le Breton | Published 26th September 2009 - 10:25 am

This was always going to be a disastrous conference. We have spent our annual opportunity to reach out to people by communicating a confused image. When the country needed hope, vision and leadership we offered it the ‘straight talk of progressive austerity’.

This disaster was foreseeable.

It was made from a dangerous mixture of a wrong political strategy (based on a wrong economic strategy) added to a leadership and a communications team which had very, very little political experience.

Ming Campbell and Vince Cable when they came to conference as leaders had to be stabilisers with a reassuring …

Posted in Conference, Op-eds | 26 Comments

CommentIsLinked@LDV… #ldconf special bumper edition

By Stephen Tall | Published 24th September 2009 - 7:35 pm

Alix Mortimer of the LDV parish rounded up some of the best commentary on the Lib Dem conference here on Sunday – let me try and bring the story up-to-date …

First up, James Graham has had an active conference, popping up a couple of times at the Guardian’s Comment Is Free blog. One was penned jointly with Neal Lawson of Compass – A camp site not a big tent – and made an unabashed pitch for social liberals and liberal socialists – whether they count themselves as Lib Dems, Labour, Greens or even nationalists – to come together in a progressive alliance. Here’s the mission statement:

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged charlotte gore, james graham, neal lawson | 1 Comment

YouTube ‘cos we want to: bumper conference catch-up special edition

By Stephen Tall | Published 24th September 2009 - 6:40 pm

Welcome to this very special bumper conference edition of our occasional LDV feature, YouTube ‘cos we want to, featuring some of the most memorable moments from the past week. For those Lib Dems who’ve been isolated inside the ‘Bournemouth bubble’, missing out on all the media coverage I hope this selection of clips gives you a sense of what you missed while you were, erm, there.

From Nick’s leader’s speech to Vince’s dust-up with Paxman on Newsnight, Chris Davies’s rant to the Huhne ‘n’ Pickles show on Radio 4 – it’s all collected here for your viewing/listening pleasure. Enjoy …

Posted in Conference, YouTube | Also tagged chris davies, chris huhne, ed davey, eric pickles, evan harris, jeremy paxman, ming campbell, nick clegg, vince cable | 2 Comments

The Lib Dems: ahead of the curve or missing the moment? #ldconf

By Stephen Tall | Published 24th September 2009 - 10:25 am

The editorials of two newspapers today sum up the alternative ways in which this past week’s Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth has been regarded – both internally by party activists and externally by the media. (Who knows what those members of the non-politically obsessed public thought, if anything, of the whole thing?)

The Times is pretty scathing of the party’s week in its leader column, Missing the Liberal Moment:

This week has been an opportunity lost for the Liberal Democrats. As the week unfolded, the excitement dissipated. With an election on the near horizon, with the Labour Government’s lease on power coming to an end and the Tories not yet commanding enthusiasm, this week has been an object lesson in how not to seize the day. …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged the independent, the times | 11 Comments

#ldconf podcast: Beyond Twitter

By Alex Foster | Published 24th September 2009 - 10:07 am

Below, you will find our final fringe event at conference, Beyond Twitter. MP Jo Swinson joined LDV regular Mark Pack and MySociety’s Richard Pope to debate the future of public online engagement with politics.

We still have one more fringe event in the cans ready for sound processing, but I won’t be able to bring that to you just yet.

Posted in Conference, Podcasts | Also tagged jo swinson, mark pack, richard pope | 1 Comment

#ldconf podcast: IPPR fringe

By Alex Foster | Published 23rd September 2009 - 8:01 pm

We were taping ippr‘s fringe with our own Editor at Large Stephen Tall along with some relative political unknowns – Shirley Williams, Menzies Campbell and Charles Clarke.

The ippr did say they were recording the event themselves, and their recording is probably better than ours, but I can’t immediately find it on their website.

Posted in Conference, Podcasts | Also tagged charles clarke, fringe, ippr, ming campbell, mp3, recording, shirley williams, stephen tall | 1 Comment

Nick Clegg’s conference speech, the live-blog #ldconf

By Stephen Tall | Published 23rd September 2009 - 2:25 pm

Update: the full text of Nick’s speech is available on the party’s website here.

There’s a lot of expectation heaped on Nick Clegg’s shoulders ahead of his speech to the Lib Dem autumn conference in Bournemouth this afternoon. The media coverage has been less-than-glowing, fuelled by murmurs of discontent among party activists following Nick’s talk of the need for “savage” cuts, the row over the de-prioritising of the abolition of tuition fees, and Vince’s surprise announcment of a ‘mansion tax’.

So Nick will be looking to unite the conference hall this afternoon with a passionate statement explaining why the Lib Dems deserve the votes of the British public at the next election. Nick is, of course, an accomplished – seemingly nerve-less – public speaker, always at ease on the conference podium, and I don’t expect this afternoon to be any different. I’ll be live-blogging the speech as it proceeds, as well as keeping an eye on any Twitter reactions at libdemvoice.org/tweets. Join me at 3pm …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged featured, nick clegg | 11 Comments

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