Tag Archives: house of commons

Clegg on AV referendum bill: “We must make the system fair. We must put people back in charge.”

By Stephen Tall | Published 7th September 2010 - 9:28 am

Plans to change the way MPs are elected have cleared the first Commons hurdle. A bill introducing a referendum on changing the voting system, changes to constituency boundaries and fewer MPs, was backed by 328 votes to 269.

Labour says the changes would affect Labour-supporting areas and said the bill was “political skulduggery”. Tory opponents of the referendum said it could cost £100m but deputy PM Nick Clegg said it would restore “people’s faith in the way they elect their MPs”.

Despite criticism, the bill passed with a majority of 59 and a Labour bid to kill it off

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Posted in News, Parliament | Also tagged alternative vote, electoral reform, nick clegg | 21 Comments

Has something gone wrong with political reporting in the UK?

By Stephen Tall | Published 8th June 2010 - 9:30 am

That’s the question asked today by Lib Dem blogger Andy Hinton in an article titled, If you want to keep something secret…

Andy highlights the mangled reporting of the BBC in claiming that Nick Clegg is back-tracking on the coalition government’s commitment to fixed-term parliaments by fleshing out further details on the proposed 55% dissolution rule – as he points out, Nick was simply repeating what the Lib Dems’ deputy leader of the house David Heath had said a fortnight ago in the House of Commons. This chimes with the general media reporting standard that unless something is said …

Posted in News | Also tagged andy hinton, david heath, media, nick clegg | 28 Comments

The 14 non-Lib Dem MPs who backed the Single Transferable Vote

By Stephen Tall | Published 10th February 2010 - 6:43 pm

The House of Commons yesterday voted by 365 votes to 187 to hold a UK-wide referendum on changing the voting system next year from first-past-the-post to the alternative vote. The Lib Dems reluctantly voted for the alternative vote, as the most modest of improvements on the current, broken system.

But the party, in the person of Cambridge MP David Howarth, also moved an amendment to leave out ‘an alternative-vote’ and insert ‘a single transferable vote’ – in other words, to ask Parliament to approve an electoral system which would at last reflect the votes cast for parties across the country, …

Posted in Parliament | Also tagged alternative vote, electoral reform, james purnell, proportional representation, single transferable vote | 13 Comments

MPs rally to Hemming’s cause over “intimidating” solicitor’s letter

By The Voice | Published 16th January 2010 - 2:20 pm

LDV reported on Wednesday that Lib Dem MP for birmingham Yardley John Hemming had been granted an emergency Commons motion to debate what he termed an “intimidating” email received from a firm of solicitors Withers LLP.

A brief update, courtesy of the BBC report:

MPs have rallied round one of their number who said he was being “intimidated” and prevented from exercising his right to freedom of speech in the Commons by a firm of solicitors.

On 14 January 2010, they backed a request from Liberal Democrat John Hemming to refer the matter to Committee on Standards and Privileges, who will

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Posted in Parliament | Also tagged john hemming, withers solicitors | 2 Comments

Emergency Commons debate after Lib Dem MP John Hemming “intimidated” by solicitors

By The Voice | Published 13th January 2010 - 5:00 pm

The BBC reports:

Commons Speaker John Bercow has granted MPs an emergency debate after one Member claimed he had been “intimidated” by a firm of solicitors.

Liberal Democrat John Hemming, who represents Birmingham Yardley, complained about an e-mail he had received from Withers LLP.

Mr Bercow said the MP believed it amounted to a “contempt of the House” and ordered a debate for Thursday. It was a matter “to which I should allow precedence”, he told the Commons.

Full story here.

Posted in Parliament | Also tagged commons speaker, john hemming | 5 Comments

Nick: Government’s Afghanistan strategy “over-ambitious in aim and under-resourced in practice”

By The Voice | Published 30th November 2009 - 5:05 pm

The BBC reports:

Gordon Brown has confirmed he will send 500 more troops to Afghanistan, taking the total UK deployment to over 10,000. He told MPs all conditions had now been met to send the extra personnel and that eight other countries had also offered additional troops. The UK force level will reach 9,500 but special forces takes this to 10,000.

Here in full is Nick Clegg’s Commons response to Gordon Brown’s announcement:

I join the Prime Minister in recognising and commending the enormously impressive work of our Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
Finally it has become mainstream to talk about the need for a big shift in strategy in Afghanistan.
When I first questioned the effectiveness of our action there six months ago and called for this kind of step-change, I was told it was unpatriotic.
The Prime Minister’s change of tone since then has been dramatic – and welcome.
The Liberal Democrat approach to Afghanistan has always been simple: we should do this properly or not at all.

Posted in Europe / International, Parliament | Also tagged afghanistan, gordon brown, nick clegg | 1 Comment

LDV readers say: pay MPs more!

By Stephen Tall | Published 25th September 2009 - 2:45 pm

A month ago, Lib Dem Voice set up a new poll for readers asking the simple question, MPs are currently paid £65k per annum. Do you think they should be paid more than this, the same, or less in the future?

Here’s what you told us:

44% (234 votes) – More than £65k
35% (187) – The same as now
21% (115) – Less than £65k
Total Votes: 536. Poll ran 24 Aug – 13 Sept 2009.

Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged mps expenses | 3 Comments

NEW POLL: What should we pay our MPs?

By Stephen Tall | Published 24th August 2009 - 8:57 pm

Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack – the grandees’ grandee – isn’t alone in thinking MPs are under-paid. Today’s Times reports (under the oh-so-impartial headline, MPs hijack expenses inquiry with complaints and demands for pay rise – do you remember the days when newspapers reported facts, and let us form our own opinions?) that Sir Christopher Kelly’s Committee on Standards in Public Life inquiry into Parliamentary standards has been

bombarded by MPs’ complaints about their miserable lifestyles, media intrusion, the inadequacy of existing allowances — along with repeated demands for a hefty pay rise. … A detailed analysis by The Times of hundreds of submissions shows that such views are far from exceptional, particularly among Conservative MPs who believe that they would be earning far more if they had never entered politics.

The debate has been well-rehearsed. Gone are the days of amateur MPs, men with means who could afford to regard being elected to Parliament as their public duty and/or an amusing hobby. Paying members of Parliament is an essential pre-requisite of a democracy of all the talents. How much they should be paid inevitably plunges you into the murky realms of envy, greed and compromise.

On a rational supply and demand basis, it is perfectly obvious that MPs should be paid not a single penny more. Political parties in winnable seats have no problem in finding candidates: more people want to do the job than there are vacancies available. It’s an employer’s market, and in this case the employer is the taxpayer: why should we cough up more cash?

Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged featured, mps expenses, patrick cormack | 28 Comments

Opinion: How can the Lib Dems use mass media to re-connect Parliament and public?

By Jack Taylor | Published 2nd August 2009 - 4:35 pm

It has been documented extensively via many different platforms that Parliament and the public are more disconnected in the 21st century than at any time in history – although Parliamentarians have never been hugely popular with those who elect them.

Part of the problem has stemmed from the reduction of parliamentary coverage by mass media outlets. This can be traced back many years to the gradual reduction in the reporting of speeches in broadsheet newspapers. Speeches are now hardly ever published, and parliamentary sketch writers usually focus on specific moments during proceedings – sometimes only the trivial.

However, in order to open up Parliament to the mass media, and therefore the electorate, radical reforms to proceedings need to take place. The problem lies with the fact that many people who care about ensuring that Parliament is a more trusted institution are relatively conservative in nature – even if they are radical in other ways. In an institution where clapping is seen as unprecedented behaviour, you know you have a long way to go.

It is clear that media coverage of politics has moved on far more than Parliamentary reform. Here are two suggestions that could be implemented to bring Parliament in to line with 24 hour media output:

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged parliamentary reform, PMQs | 22 Comments

Tory council leader accuses Lib Dem MP of smear

By Stephen Tall | Published 5th July 2009 - 1:30 pm

The BBC has the story:

A Tory peer referred to the police over expenses says it is part of a campaign of “attacks and innuendo” by an MP. Lord Hanningfield claimed the unnamed MP was determined to “blacken my name” over education policy in Essex, where the peer is council leader.

The frontbencher claimed £99,970 over seven years for the cost of staying in London, despite living 40 miles away.

Lib Dem MP Bob Russell said he believed the peer was referring to him but added he was only interested in the facts. … Colchester MP Bob Russell, who raised Lord Hanningfield’s

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Posted in News | Also tagged bob russell, colchester, essex, lord hanningfield | 10 Comments

What Nick said to Gordon about political reform

By The Voice | Published 10th June 2009 - 5:45 pm

At 12.30 pm today, Gordon Brown stood up in the House of Commons to make what was billed as a “wide-ranging statement on proposed changes to Britain’s constitution and voting system.” As so often, the feature didn’t match up to the trailer. Here’s Nick Clegg’s response, as recorded by Hansard, to Mr Brown’s statement:

Mr. Nick Clegg (Sheffield, Hallam) (LD): I thank the Prime Minister for his statement. Of course everyone agrees that the political crisis requires big changes in the way we do things, so I welcome this deathbed conversion to political reform from the man who has blocked

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Posted in Parliament | Also tagged #MPexpenses, electoral reform, house of lords, nick clegg | Leave a comment

LDV Members’ Survey – MPs’ expenses (6): your views about the Speaker

By Stephen Tall | Published 25th May 2009 - 10:20 am

Almost a week ago, LDV emailed those Lib Dem party members signed-up to our private discussion forum inviting them to take part in a survey focusing on MPs’ expenses. Many thanks to the 240+ of you who completed it; we’ve published the results in full on LDV over the last few days. You can catch up with all our past exclusive LDV members’ surveys by clicking here.

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LDV asked: Now that the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, has resigned a handful of Liberal Democrat MPs have been suggested as the new Speaker. It has …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged alan beith, commons speaker, michael martin | 1 Comment

LDV readers say: 85% wanted Michael Martin to quit

By Stephen Tall | Published 19th May 2009 - 12:50 pm

Well, y’know, I’m personally convinced that Michael Martin must have been finally convinced to quit when he saw the overwhelming result of LDV’s over-night poll showing 85% of readers thought he should quit now. So much more likely than that the Prime Minister instructed him to resign voluntarily.

Here, for the record,is what you said in response to the question, “Do you think the Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin should resign over his handling of the MPs’ expenses row?”

>> 85% (137 votes) – The Speaker should resign now – reform cannot wait until the general election.
>> 9% (15)

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Posted in News, Parliament, Voice polls | Also tagged douglas carswell, michael martin, mps expenses, nick clegg | 4 Comments

CommentIsLinked@LDV: Nick Clegg – Voters’ trust in democracy is shattered. We must restore it

By The Voice | Published 17th May 2009 - 11:43 am

Over at The Observer, Nick Clegg argues, after a tumultuous week in politics, that the public must be given more power than the politicians. Here’s an excerpt:

We are in the eye of the perfect storm: an economic crisis followed by a total collapse of public faith in politicians. One way or another, MPs’ self-serving expenses will now, thankfully, be changed for good. But this must be a moment for fundamental change, not just tinkering to eliminate the worst excesses of the past. The uncomfortable truth is that these revelations are merely the tip of an iceberg – our whole political

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged constitutional reform, mps expenses, nick clegg | 9 Comments

Clegg calls for Speaker Michael Martin to quit

By The Voice | Published 17th May 2009 - 10:09 am

Lib Dem leader has become the first party leader publicly to call on House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin to quit. The BBC has the story:

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has called on Commons Speaker Michael Martin to stand down, saying he has become an obstacle to much-needed reform of Parliament. Mr Clegg said the speaker should do the “decent thing” and step aside, saying he was not the “right man” for the job. He criticised the speaker for “dragging his feet” over the issue of MPs’ expenses, causing such public anger. …

By becoming the most senior politician –

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Posted in News | Also tagged michael martin, nick clegg | 10 Comments

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