Tag Archives: matthew oakeshott

Clegg leadership plot: Gove’s ‘crazy grenade’ detonates, briefly, before Tories revert to arguing about Europe

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th May 2013 - 11:05 am

Hats off to Mr Gove! With the Tory party in its customary state of internecine warfare over Europe, the education secretary used his interview this morning on The Andrew Marr Show to allege a leadership plot to overthrow Nick Clegg. Here’s PoliticsHome’s account:

Michael Gove has suggested Nick Clegg’s opposition to increasing childminders-toddlers ratio is due to an internal Liberal Democrat plot to unseat him as leader.

Mr Clegg said last week that he was “yet to be persuaded” by the case for allowing staff to look after more children.

However Mr Gove today said the reforms, which were defended by

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged michael gove, nick clegg and vince cable | 32 Comments

Tim Farron tops our poll as Lib Dem politician who enjoyed the best 2012

By Stephen Tall | Sat 29th December 2012 - 11:20 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 500 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Farron, Huppert and Oakeshott had best 2012 say Lib Dem members

LDV asked: In your opinion, which Lib Dem MP or peer overall has had the best year?
This question allowed an unprompted, free-text response, which over 400 party members filled in. And …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged featured, julian huppert and tim farron | 6 Comments

Lords reform is dead! Long live, erm, a bloated, ineffective, undemocratic Lords!

By Stephen Tall | Sat 24th November 2012 - 10:40 am

The Guardian reports today that dozens of new life peers are to be appointed to the House of Lords:

Political parties are preparing to draw up lists for dozens of new appointments to the House of Lords in a move that will reignite controversy over creating peers just months after the collapse of legislation to dramatically reduce the second chamber. The move, which is expected to create at

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Posted in News | Also tagged lords reform | 20 Comments

LibLink: Matthew Oakeshott – Osborne isn’t working – how do we rebuild the economy?

By Nick Thornsby | Thu 1st November 2012 - 2:48 pm

Writing in the Guardian, Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott is typically forthright in his assessment of the chancellor’s performance and the changes he would like to see:

What we need instead is a far bolder plan for economic recovery. I call it plan C for construction and capital investment rather than plan B but we can all agree at least, on this side of the debate, that Osborne isn’t working. We must be mad to treat our record low long-term interest rates as some sort of virility symbol, instead of an unrepeatable opportunity to finance desperately needed investment.

The pension funds and insurance companies

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Posted in LibLink | 8 Comments

If you’re going to suggest that Nick Clegg isn’t the answer, you need a plan B ready…

By Mark Valladares | Sun 2nd September 2012 - 10:52 am

Following the interventions of Matthew Oakeshott and Trevor Smith, there will be those both inside and outside the Liberal Democrats, who will be looking forward to next month’s Federal Conference with an eye to a future. Not necessarily the future, but a future nonetheless.

But before anyone gets terribly carried away, there are two key questions that need to be asked and, ideally, answered.

What are you changing the Leader for?

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged nick clegg, party leadership and trevor smith | 50 Comments

Who Lib Dem members think are the most effective non-MPs at promoting the party

By Stephen Tall | Tue 14th August 2012 - 7:55 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 500 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Oakeshott, Ashdown and Pack top your list

LDV asked: Which prominent Lib Dems who are NOT MPs (eg, peers, campaigners) are doing an effective job of promoting the party to the public? Please write-in.

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged brian paddick, Caroline Pidgeon, chris davies, chris rennard, evan harris, kirsty williams, lord mcnally, Mark Pack, paddy ashdown, ros scott, shirley williams, stephen tall, susan kramer, tony greaves and willie rennie | 6 Comments

LibLink: Matthew Oakeshott – The Treasury needs a new team to stop this slide back into recession

By Mary Reid | Fri 27th July 2012 - 2:55 pm

In The Guardian Matthew Oakeshott writes:

Britain’s economy after this week’s grim GDP figures looks like an old steam train struggling up Shap Fell. George Osborne, the driver, is doing his best but there’s just not enough coal in the firebox, the train’s lost momentum, and it’s slipping back down the hill. We need two massive growth locomotives, called housing and banking, with a new team on the footplate to stop the slide.

That’s why I’ve been saying we need a bold plan A+, making banks lend, especially RBS,

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged george osborne and treasury | 14 Comments

Vince Cable on the economy, George Osborne and his own ambitions

By Mark Pack | Thu 26th July 2012 - 9:14 am

From last night’s Newsnight:

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Posted in News and YouTube | Also tagged economy, george osborne and vince cable | 3 Comments

As economy shrinks again, Oakeshott calls for Osborne to be moved to make way for “our A team at the treasury”

By Stephen Tall | Wed 25th July 2012 - 1:35 pm

Here’s how The Guardian reports the call by Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott for George Osborne to be moved from Number 11 in the wake of today’s fresh dire news on the economy:

A senior Liberal Democrat peer has called on George Osborne to be sacked as the chancellor continued to insist the government was on the right economic path, despite “disappointing” official

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Posted in News | Also tagged economy, gdp, nicholas watt and vince cable | 24 Comments

LDVideo: Oakeshott on Osborne, Oaten on BSkyB, George on fishermen

By The Voice | Sat 2nd June 2012 - 2:52 pm

You can catch up with many of the recent appearances of Lib Dems in the media on LibDemVoice’s ‘Video’ page.

Lord Oakeshott: Osborne ‘should focus on the day job’

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged andrew george and mark oaten | 2 Comments

Tune in to Iain Dale’s Lib Dem night tonight on LBC, featuring Nick Clegg, Simon Hughes and others

By Nick Thornsby | Mon 8th August 2011 - 4:54 pm

Iain Dale returns to his evening show on London’s LBC radio tonight with a Lib Dem special. First up is a live Q & A with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, followed by interviews with a whole host of prominent Lib Dems, including three of the four London Mayoral hopefuls as well as deputy leader Simon Hughes.

Here’s the schedule in full from Iain’s blog:

6-7pm Live Q & A with LibDem leader Nick Clegg
7-7.30pm Interview with Nick Clegg (tbc)
7.30-8pm Reaction to Clegg with Lord Oakeshott, Susan Kramer & Jo Phillips
8-9pm Meet the LibDem London Mayoral Candidates – Brian Paddick, Brian

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged brian haley, brian paddick, iain dale, jo phillips, lembit opik, london mayoral selection, mike tuffrey, nick clegg, simon hughes and susan kramer | Leave a comment

The Lib Dems on ‘Hackgate’ and Murdoch: Ashdown, Huhne, Hughes, Farron, Oakeshott all join the fray

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th July 2011 - 4:25 pm

It’s been a frenzied week in British politics, with attention for once focused less on the mis-deeds of politicans than the criminality practised by many journalists, both at the News of the World and beyond. Here’s a brief round-up of what the Lib Dems have been saying…

BSkyB takeover: Lib Dems hint at backing Labour motion to delay deal (Guardian)

The Liberal Democrats have indicated they could back a Labour move in parliament to delay the Murdoch takeover of BSkyB until after the police investigations into phone hacking. …

Hughes told Sky News: “We have to be careful and I would

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, media, news international, nick clegg, paddy ashdown, rupert murdoch, simon hughes and tim farron | 8 Comments

Lord Stoneham defends Goodwin disclosure

By Helen Duffett | Tue 24th May 2011 - 9:16 am

The Liberal Democrat peer who disclosed that former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Sir Fred Goodwin had a relationship with a senior colleague defended his action last night.

Using Parliamentary privilege, Lord Stoneham of Droxford told peers last Thursday:

Every taxpayer has a direct public interest in the events leading up to the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, so how can it be right for a super-injunction to hide the alleged relationship between Sir Fred Goodwin and a senior colleague?

If true, it would be a serious breach of corporate governance and not even the Financial Services Authority would be

…

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Posted in Parliament | Also tagged ben stoneham and william wallace | 2 Comments

The Independent Banking Commission publishes its interim report

By The Voice | Mon 11th April 2011 - 6:23 pm

Via the BBC:

UK banks’ retail operations should be “ring-fenced” from their investment banking arms, the Independent Commission on Banking has recommended.

However, in its interim report the commission stopped short of recommending the two should operate as separate entities.

It said more competition was needed in retail banking, including the sell-off of more Lloyds branches.

The commission’s final recommendations will be published in September.

Robert Peston adds,

The big banks will claim that putting their retail banks into subsidiaries would impose significant extra costs on them – because it would force them to raise and retain more capital (which is expensive), and it

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Posted in News | Also tagged banking, independent commission on banking, john vickers and robert peston | 4 Comments

Independent Commission on Banking threatened mass resignation to make Osborne back-off

By Mark Pack | Tue 1st March 2011 - 7:34 pm

Matthew Oakeshott’s departure as a Liberal Democrat spokesman for criticising the ‘Project Merlin’ deal with the banks over bonuses and the like may have got the headlines, but the real story is revealed by Anthony Hilton in the Evening Standard – all the members of the Commission threatened to resign in protest at government interference with their work.

The Government offered to emasculate the Independent Commission on Banking as it tried to strike a deal on bank bonuses a few weeks ago. I am told it backed off only when Sir John Vickers, chairman of the inquiry, and his entire committee, Clare

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Posted in News | Also tagged banking, george osborne, independent commission on banking, john vickers and lord turner | 13 Comments

Matthew Oakeshott profiled in The Guardian

By Mark Pack | Sat 26th February 2011 - 6:41 pm

Today’s Guardian has a profile of Lib Dem peer Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott:

Lord Oakeshott is the master of the one-liner. Treasury officials, in his opinion, “couldn’t negotiate themselves out of a paper bag”. Bankers’ pay particularly irks him: “If this is bonus restraint, my name is Bob Diamond,” is one of the most memorable remarks uttered by any politician this year…

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Posted in News | 9 Comments

Lord Oakeshott departs as a Lib Dem Treasury spokesman

By Mark Pack | Wed 9th February 2011 - 10:33 pm

By “mutual agreement”, earlier today Lord Oakeshott stopped being a Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman in the Lords. In a lively alternative to the usually banal exchange of letters on such occasions, Oakeshott and Danny Alexander instead exchanged waspish soundbites.

Matthew Oakeshott criticised today’s deal with the banks on bonuses, lending and other matters saying, “If this is robust action on bank bonuses, my name’s Bob Diamond and I’m going to claim my £9m bonus next week”.

Danny Alexander responded on Channel 4 that his “name clearly isn’t Bob Diamond”.

Lord Oakeshott was not “the” Liberal Democrat spokesman in the Lords, a role which …

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Posted in News | Also tagged cathy newman and Danny Alexander | 48 Comments

Lord Oakeshott attacks Barclays over bonsues

By Mark Pack | Sat 5th February 2011 - 6:25 pm

The Guardian reports:

Barclays was tonight accused of making a mockery of attempts to call a truce with the government over “banker bashing” amid fresh expectations that its chief executive Bob Diamond would be awarded a bonus of at least £8m.

After months of talking with the banks, the coalition is yet to announce a deal, codenamed Merlin, under which the industry would to agree lending targets of up to £190bn and show restraint on bonuses in return for less criticism from the government.

The talks with the banks have been led by Diamond’s predecessor John Varley and tonight Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged banking, bob diamond and john varley | 16 Comments

Lord Oakeshott attacks bank bonus secrecy

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th January 2011 - 3:32 pm

From The Guardian:

Cracking down on bankers’ bonuses is a “moment of truth” for the coalition government, a leading Liberal Democrat has warned, amid mounting expectations that payments of at least £7bn will be awarded in the coming weeks…

Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman, said this was a moment for the coalition to act, particularly on forcing more disclosure from banks on the amount they pay.

“This is the coalition’s moment of truth on fairness,” he said. “The first item on our coalition agreement is a promise to deal with unacceptable bankers’ bonuses. Secret bonuses are by definition unacceptable, so

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged banking | 9 Comments

The Huhne – Oakeshott two-step

By Mark Pack | Mon 1st November 2010 - 10:51 pm

Over the weekend we saw two stories, two prominent Liberal Democrats, two public staking out of positions on issues that are the subject of much debate within the coalition in Whitehall:

David Cameron was warned yesterday by a senior Lib Dem not to delay the introduction of legislation banning non-doms from making donations to political parties in Britain. In a sign of strains within the coalition, Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott said there was “absolutely no reason” to delay the legislation. (The Guardian)

and

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat energy secretary, reiterated his party’s strong opposition to retaining a policy that he had previously

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne and theresa may | 3 Comments

Oakeshott: New tax only way to end bank bonus culture

By Sara Bedford | Wed 6th October 2010 - 10:18 am

A Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman has called for a new tax on bonuses to be placed on banks. Lord Oakeshott’s call came after the Royal Bank of Scotland’s chairman claimed that regulation was the only way to restrain the annual bonus bonanza in the financial services industry. Sir Philip Hampton admitted that the bank was “paying a lot of people who aren’t worth it” and concluded that, whilst RBS had made changes to the structure of bonus deals to avoid rewards for failure, “My own view is it can probably only be decisively solved through regulation”.

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Posted in News | 10 Comments

Tory donor, tax affairs, Oakeshott on the case: some things haven’t changed

By Mark Pack | Wed 25th August 2010 - 8:11 pm

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott is clearly not put off by coalition from his pursuit of Tory donors and their tax statuses. Today it is Jon Wood, whose tax affairs have been in the papers with Lord Oakeshott saying, “Now is the time to take big money out of British politics”. You can read more here.

Posted in News | Also tagged conservative party and donations | 3 Comments

Labour U-turns on non-doms as Lib Dem’s Oakeshott wins battle

By Stephen Tall | Mon 1st February 2010 - 6:55 pm

Glad tidings from the House of Lords today, where Labour has – at long, long last – bowed to Lib Dem pressure and announced that non-doms will no longer be able to sit in Parliament.

The party’s terrier-like Treasury spokesman Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott has welcomed the Government’s announcement:

I have introduced 4 bills over the last 5 years to ban non-doms from the House of Lords with no support from the Government and with serious obstruction from the Conservatives.

“Now, with an election looming, I am delighted that the Government has had this last-minute conversion and adopted my Bill almost to the letter in their amendment.

“It’s outrageous if people who sit in our Parliament do not pay full British taxes like everyone else. They must pay up or pack up.”

The Government, in the person of the almost-tautologically named Baroness Royall, has sent a letter to all peers today explaining how the new law will affect them:

20100102 All Peers Letter

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Posted in News | Also tagged non-doms | 1 Comment

What the papers say…

By Robert Dobson | Sat 16th January 2010 - 5:22 pm

Tories claim Labour is using taxpayers’ money to fund election advertising campaign – Telegraph, 15.1.10

“The Conservatives accused Labour of “raiding” taxpayers’ money to fund their election campaign. New figures uncovered by the Conservatives show that spending on advertising has increased to £232 million, which is a 39 per cent increase on the previous year.”

A tenth of schools fail to meet GCSE targets – The Guardian, 14.1.10

“One in 10 secondary schools in England failed to meet basic targets for GCSEs last summer and academies were disproportionately represented among the failing institutions, government statistics published today reveal.

“David Laws, the Liberal Democrats’ education …

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Posted in General Election and News | Also tagged alistair darling, chris bryant, david cameron, david laws, david miliband, demos, ed balls, ed miliband, frank field, gordon brown, nick clegg, peter mandelson, peter watt and zac goldsmith | 2 Comments

What the papers say…

By Robert Dobson | Sat 9th January 2010 - 2:20 pm

Brown sees off the plotters…just – The Daily Telegraph, 7.1.10

“Gordon Brown was forced to rely on lukewarm backing from senior Cabinet colleagues last night to see off an attempt to oust him as Prime Minister.

“By last night, the attempted coup, which had begun at lunchtime, appeared to have failed as no senior figures were prepared to back it. But while every senior minister issued a statement condemning the letter, few voiced strong support for Mr Brown.”

MPs could be in line for £15,000 pay rise – Daily Mail, 6.1.10

“MPs could receive a big pay rise to compensate …

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Posted in News | Also tagged alistair darling, david blunkett, david cameron, george osborne, gordon brown, lord adonis, NHS, steve hilton and vince cable | Leave a comment

Now even the Telegraph calls on Tories to make Lord Ashcroft “come clean” over tax status

By Stephen Tall | Mon 21st December 2009 - 12:30 pm

The decision of the Tory party to turn a blind eye to the mysterious tax status of their deputy chairman – and the man who funds their marginal seats campaign – has come under close media scrutiny in the last few weeks, with Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable last week raising the issue at (Deputy) Prime Minister’s Questions, and labelling Lord (Michael) Ashcroft a “non-dom”.

A week ago, Lib Dem treasury spokesman Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott wrote to his fellow peer to put the the simple question – “Are you a non-dom or not?” – to him directly: …

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Posted in News | Also tagged conservative party, david cameron, lord ashcroft and vince cable | 4 Comments

Zac Goldsmith’s £260,000 “punt” on getting elected

By Helen Duffett | Tue 15th December 2009 - 12:05 pm

Latest figures from the Electoral Commission reveal that Zac Goldsmith, Conservative candidate for Richmond Park, has spent more than a quarter of a million pounds of his own money in the hope of getting elected.

From today’s London Evening Standard:

“The environmentalist has donated £260,000 since he was selected to fight the Richmond Park seat in 2007, according to the latest figures from the Electoral Commission…

“Virtually all of the money goes to office staff and “office costs”. The party says that Mr Goldsmith set up his own office in Richmond, separate to the local association’s headquarters. The candidate employs two members

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged donations, electoral commission, richmond park and zac goldsmith | 13 Comments

Oakeshott asks Ashcroft the simple question: “Are you a non dom or not?”

By Stephen Tall | Mon 14th December 2009 - 9:15 pm

David Cameron, yesterday, on Sky News:

I think it time to pass a law that says that if you want to be in the Houses of Parliament, if you want to be a legislator, you need to be or be treated as a full UK taxpayer.”

And quite right, too. But what has prompted the Tories’ Damascene conversion? After all, they had the opportunity earlier this year to vote for exactly what Mr Cameron is now, belatedly and under media pressure, calling for.

Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott’s House of Lords (Members’ Taxation Status) Bill had its second reading on 23 January 2009, …

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Posted in News | Also tagged lord ashcroft | 4 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 12 October 2009

By Stephen Tall | Mon 12th October 2009 - 9:45 am

2 Big Stories

MPs’ expenses row re-ignites as MPs question findings of independent inquiry

In case you thought the row had blown itself out, here comes the sequel:

Gordon Brown has urged MPs to repay expenses claimed up to five years ago if asked to do so following an audit ordered after the furore. There are reports that some MPs plan to defy calls to repay money and may challenge the request in the courts.

The PM is among hundreds of MPs expected to be asked to repay sums following a review of all claims by former civil servant Sir Thomas Legg. …

The BBC understands he has set retrospective limits for some items and annual limits on what he believes they should have claimed. These are £1,000 a year for gardening, and £2,000 a year for cleaning. It is believed to have angered some MPs who say they will not repay the money.

Saturday’s Telegraph reported the following snippet:

Last night, the Lib Dems, who are confident that they avoided the worst excesses, stepped up pressure on the Conservatives

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged george osborne, gordon brown, mark thompson, mps expenses, peter black, thomas legg and vince cable | 2 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 5 October 2009

By Stephen Tall | Mon 5th October 2009 - 9:50 am

2 Big Stories

Tory conference opens, and it’s time to party like it’s 1994

A few thousand Tories are converging on Manchester today, with two issues dominating discussion: Europe and welfare cuts. Ah, and there we were thinking The Major Years were but a distant memory.

On a more positive note, the Tories will be singing today from the localism song-book, with Caroline Spelman championing the party’s conversion to local control of local services – an interesting about-turn for an MP who opposed Scottish and Welsh devolution, and believes central government should impose council tax freezes from Whitehall.

Ministerial …

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged caroline spelman, conservative party, harriet harman, jock coats, pensions and peter black | Leave a comment