Tag Archives: david cameron

LDV Caption Competition: Clegg, Cam & Lansley “You can hear the white coats flapping” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Published 11th February 2012 - 3:50 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

Here’s David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Andrew Lansley rolling up their sleeves over the NHS reforms — what do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Ed Davey “I’ve got Energy” Edition.

Posted in Caption Comp | Also tagged andrew lansley, nhs reform, nick clegg | 12 Comments

What Lib Dem members think about Europe, Cameron’s ‘veto’, and the Eurozone

By Stephen Tall | Published 11th February 2012 - 7:55 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 570 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Party members split over the future of Europe

LDV asked: Which of the following options would be your ideal future for the UK and the European Union?

…

Posted in Europe / International, LDV Members poll | Also tagged european union, nick clegg | 6 Comments

Opinion: Calm Down, Dears!

By Zadok Day | Published 7th February 2012 - 4:57 pm

It’s a great shame that so many Liberal Democrats have reacted to the political downfall of Chris Huhne by bashing his successor. Ed Davey is an immensely capable minister and will do a wonderful job in his new position. Sadly, some have chosen this news to complain because a woman wasn’t promoted instead of a man. Gender balance is an issue that seems to divide opinion a great deal in the online world, for some reason, despite being hardly as controversial in the real world, where the principle is generally accepted that talent should be rewarded rather than the accident …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged chris huhne, edward davey, gender | 46 Comments

Cam’s Euro U-turn – this is what happens when you fail to negotiate

By Stephen Tall | Published 28th January 2012 - 5:50 pm

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth today on the right as evidence emerges that David Cameron is backsliding on his ‘veto’ preventing the European Union from enforcing fiscal integration among the Eurozone countries. Here’s how The Guardian reports it:

Ahead of Monday’s summit of EU leaders, which is due to finalise “political agreement” on the fiscal compact treaty, the government signalled that it would not challenge a role for the European commission and, more sensitively, would also allow resort to the European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg to enforce new debt ceilings and fines for fiscal miscreants in

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Posted in Europe / International, News | Also tagged nick clegg | 9 Comments

PMQs: The importance of Doncaster, almost to the exclusion of everything else

By Paul Walter | Published 26th January 2012 - 12:56 pm

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, David Cameron and Ed Miliband first clashed on the subject of economic growth (or, indeed, contraction). That entanglement was, more or less, a score draw. But Ed Miliband was much stronger during a later exchange on the NHS reform bill, culminating with this belter:

I shall tell the Prime Minister what is happening in the NHS: waiting lists up, morale down. What does the majority-Conservative Select Committee on Health say about his reorganisation? It says that it will be a “disruption and distraction that hinders the ability of organisations to” release savings.

Let us be frank: this

…

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged economy, ed miliband, eleanor laing, malcolm bruce, NHS, sir robert smith | 3 Comments

Opinion: If Cameron won’t attend Rio+20 then Clegg should

By Adam Corlett | Published 20th January 2012 - 8:48 am

The Rio ‘Earth’ Summit in 1992 was the “world’s biggest ever political gathering” with 108 heads of state or government. Its successes and failures on the environment and development continue to shape those debates.

In June, Rio de Janeiro will host the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, a.k.a. Rio+20. A very early draft document suggests it will cover a wide range of topics, including access to food, water and energy; marine litter and pollution; eliminating “market distorting and environmentally harmful subsidies [...] including those on fossil fuels, agriculture and fisheries” (I’ll believe it when I see …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged climate change, environment, nick clegg, Rio+20 summit, united nations | 4 Comments

PMQs: Miliband hoist by his Balls’ petard

By Paul Walter | Published 19th January 2012 - 8:24 am

Let’s start with what Ed Balls, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor said in the Guardian on January 14th:

My starting point is, I am afraid, we are going to have keep all these cuts. There is a big squeeze happening on budgets across the piece. The squeeze on defence spending, for instance, is £15bn by 2015. We are going to have to start from that being the baseline. At this stage, we can make no commitments to reverse any of that, on spending or on tax. So I am being absolutely clear about that.

So, it was something of a surprise when Ed …

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged andrew george, david hamilton, economy, ed balls, ed miliband, tessa munt, unemployment | 15 Comments

Vested interests on Cameron’s doorstep

By Sean Davey | Published 18th January 2012 - 8:55 am

Private Eye has welcomed a newcomer to its Rotten Boroughs column in its past 26 issues: Cotswold District Council.

Here in the idyllic Cotswold constituency, neighbouring David Cameron’s Witney, there has been massive fraud, resulting, so far, in the prosecution and sentencing of former Cotswold Water Park Society CEO Dennis Grant, who embezzled £700,000 of the charity’s funds. Now an independent, external police force has been brought in by the County Council to investigate further allegations.

One of the key campaigners leading the way in exposing these dealings is Liberal Democrat Councillor Esmond Jenkins. Elected to represent the Water Park ward …

Posted in Local government, News | Also tagged cllr esmond jenkins, cotswold district council, cotswold water park | Leave a comment

Andrew George writes… A veil of initiatives

By Andrew George MP | Published 16th January 2012 - 9:53 am

The Iron Lady cast a steely shadow over the Westminster village last week.

Memories of Baroness Thatcher’s reign of heavy metal terror still strike fear in those who inhabited the place in the days when she would mercilessly handbag anyone who dared to cross her path.

Last week, of course, her major Hollywood biopic was released. Fearing unfavourable comparisons, the PM appears to have gone into manic overdrive; launching an overlapping series of popular-sounding and eye-catching initiatives.

Having spotted that City fat cats are still awarding themselves performance-related perks, which bear no relation to their performance, the PM has become quite cross. …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged andrew george, margaret thatcher, NHS | 6 Comments

Nick Clegg unites with Lords in battle to alter benefit cuts

By Mark Pack | Published 14th January 2012 - 8:29 pm

So reports tomorrow’s Observer:

David Cameron has been lobbied by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, on the need to rewrite the government’s flagship benefit reform to help children suffering as a result.

Clegg proposed a series of changes to the £500-a-week cap, including exempting current claimants, in an attempt to ameliorate some of the worst consequences of the change, which critics claim will make 40,000 families homeless by making their current homes unaffordable.

It is understood Clegg made his appeal during a meeting attended by the chancellor, George Osborne, and Danny Alexander, chief secretary of the Treasury. Cameron asked the Liberal Democrats

…

Posted in News | Also tagged danny alexander, george osborne, housing benefit, nick clegg | 13 Comments

PMQs: Opposition leader asks: “Can I agree with the Prime Minister”?

By Paul Walter | Published 12th January 2012 - 9:25 am

2012′s first Prime Minister’s Questions started with a bit of a score draw about rail fares. It got rather heated as Ed Miliband said the government had allowed fares to go up by 11%. He said:

The last Labour government saw that the train companies were taking advantage of consumers…we took away that power from them

David Cameron retorted that:

The power (to increase fares well above inflation) was given to them to do that by the last Labour government.

Channel 4 News FactCheck, as usual,has an excellent analysis of this spat, concluding that they couldn’t give either men a “Fact” or “Fiction” …

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged ed miliband, greg mulholland, mike crockart, railways, sir bob russell | 1 Comment

Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism special: Dramatic independence referendum duel in London and Edinburgh

By Caron Lindsay | Published 11th January 2012 - 3:58 pm

It’s been a torrid few days in Scottish politics.

Since the SNP won an overall majority in the Holyrood elections last year, there has been much talk of the independence referendum they pledged to have in the second half of their term. They have been tight-lipped on their plans.

There has been uncertainty on the legality of such a referendum. Even respected legal blogger Lallands Peat Worrier, himself an SNP supporter, has expressed that the terms of the Scotland Act may not allow it. And amid all the bluster of this blog post from senior SNP strategist Stephen Noon is …

Posted in News, Scotland | Also tagged alex salmond, conservative party, haggis neeps liberalism, independence referendum, labour, michael moore, nick clegg, snp | 17 Comments

The weekend debate: Should we end the bargain booze bonanza?

By Carl Quilliam | Published 31st December 2011 - 9:25 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

Just in time to kill everyone’s new year buzz David Cameron has announced government plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing in England, similar to recent proposals by the Scottish government.

The details are still to be confirmed but the proposed system could stop the sale of alcohol at below 40p to 50p a unit in shops and supermarkets and cost drinkers up to £700 million a year.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alcohol, weekend debate | 17 Comments

Tag Archives: david cameron

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Party members split over the future of Europe

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