Tag Archives: steve richards

“In government, a thorn in the Tories’ side” – James Landale’s alternative Lib Dem conference slogan

By Stephen Tall | Published 17th September 2011 - 1:45 pm

‘In Government On Your Side’ is the official slogan of the Lib Dems’ autumn conference, which officially starts today. But the BBC’s James Landale has proposed an alternative – and I’m rather taken with it:

In government, a thorn in the Tories’ side

The suggestion comes in his pre-conference assessment here. It’s a fair-minded take that recognises the bruising year the Lib Dems have endured, but also acknowledges why the mood in Birmingham will be more upbeat than much of the media was probably expecting (or hoping). And for two …

Posted in News | Also tagged birmingham 2011 conference, james landale | 2 Comments

Opinion: Nick Clegg didn’t suck up to Murdoch – that’s why his minions tried to destroy him

By James Percival | Published 8th July 2011 - 9:22 am

There was a moment during the election campaign last year when many Liberal Democrats realised we had passed through the looking glass.

Nick Clegg’s performance in the first leaders’ debate broke the glass ceiling of British politics and, it seems, caused more than one Tory-supporting newspaper editor to wet themselves in fear.

Then, on the eve of the second debate, the right wing press let slip the dogs of war.

It wasn’t just the Murdoch papers that went for Nick, but they did and they did it viciously. The Sun ridiculed him, splashing outrageous and ridiculous headlines on their front page for days …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david yelland, leaders debate, nick clegg, rebekah brooks, rupert murdoch, vince cable | 28 Comments

Tom Baldwin and the “triple lock”: you could have read it here Tom

By Mark Pack | Published 12th March 2010 - 2:12 pm

Today Tom Baldwin in The Times reports on its exciting persistent investigative journalism into the party’s “triple lock” rule for deals with other parties:

The exact wording of this rule, disclosed only after repeated inquiries to Liberal Democrats headquarters this week, sets a high bar for clearing “any substantial proposal which could affect the party’s independence of political action”.

A pedant would point out that it was “disclosed” here back in November. Then it was Steve Richards I took to task (for calling the rule – which was debated in public at party conference – “secret”).

Perhaps you should add us …

Posted in News | Also tagged hung parliament, tom baldwin, triple lock | Leave a comment

Is this the laziest piece of political journalism ever?

By Stephen Tall | Published 5th January 2010 - 8:05 pm

Well, no, it’s probably not. But it must at least qualify for the laziest piece of journalism this decade. I refer to today’s Independent article, ‘Clegg faces party backlash over Tory alliance’, by Nigel Morris and Michael Savage. Oh, go on, then, here’s a link if you must; though I begrudge handing them the traffic. The opening para gives a flavour of the kite-flying, unsourced speculation:

Nick Clegg faces a backlash from grassroots Liberal Democrats if he moves his party too close to the Conservatives in a hung parliament.

Well, yes, he probably would. Which is why he won’t. Unless the …

Posted in News | Also tagged christopher lovell, hung parliament, jane watkinson, michael savage, nich starling, nick clegg, nigel morris, the independent | 9 Comments

NEW POLL: will the TV debates make any difference to the Lib Dems?

By Stephen Tall | Published 26th December 2009 - 6:37 pm

We now know the UK will see its first ever televised debates between the leaders of the three major UK-wide parties in the run-up to the 2010 general election. The consenus is there have been two winners: Sky News, which, with brilliant audacity, put the issue front and centre, and by so doing ensured that (i) the debates will happen, and (ii) it muscled in on the act, instead of being excluded by the BBC and ITV. (There’s a lesson there for Channel 4, which had been comprehensively outmanoeuvred).

The second winner, according to the commentariat, is Nick Clegg. Here’s Andrew …

Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged andrew grice, featured, jonathan calder, leaders tv debate, nick clegg | 12 Comments

Cameron: more Hague than Blair? How the Tory leader has lost sight of his strategy

By Stephen Tall | Published 2nd December 2009 - 11:20 pm

That’s the question the Indy’s Steve Richards asks in a persuasively argued column today:

David Cameron’s leadership of his party is often compared with Tony Blair’s during the period up to the 1997 election. … The comparison is one of the most misleading in British politics. … [Cameron is heading] for the election leading a party that proposes tax cuts for the well-off and married couples, massive spending cuts whether or not Britain is out of recession, withdrawal from the social chapter and a renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty. … The trajectory of Cameron’s leadership is much closer to another former leader. He might have tried to learn from the New Labour guidebooks on how to win elections, but inadvertently he has followed more closely the course adopted by one of his own recent predecessors. …

Both Hague and Cameron are outstanding parliamentary performers, witty and quick to exploit the weaknesses of political opponents. Both are calm under fire. Both started to shift their positions when they appointed press secretaries to advise them on the media. Amanda Platell urged Hague to adopt more right-wing and populist policies. Andy Coulson has sometimes advised Cameron to do the same on issues such as immigration, crime and tax cuts.

Posted in Op-eds, Opposition watch | Also tagged conservative party, david cameron, featured, tony blair, william hague | 26 Comments

Since when is something debated in public, in front of journalists called “hidden”?

By Mark Pack | Published 26th November 2009 - 9:20 am

Since yesterday, in fact. Because in an otherwise thoughtful piece on hung Parliaments in The Independent, Steve Richards made this comment:

If there is a hung parliament there will almost certainly be no formal coalition government, even if Nick Clegg and Vince Cable would like to join one. Clegg is trapped by what is known as his party’s “triple lock”, a hidden rule that might become of vital relevance. Before entering a coalition he is bound to secure the agreement of his MPs, other national representatives and the membership.

Credit to Steve Richards for knowing about this rule. But “hidden”? It …

Posted in News | Also tagged baroness barker, hung parliament, the independent, triple lock | 3 Comments

Paul Staines: not the Messiah, just a very naughty boy

By Stephen Tall | Published 18th April 2009 - 1:56 pm

A week ago, Damian McBride was still the Prime Minister’s chief media advisor, and LabourList’s Derek Draper was attempting to laugh off as blokeish banter the emails which implicated Number 10 in smears against senior Tories. But, then, we know what they say about a week in politics.

Paul Staines, sole author of the Guido Fawkes’ blog, has had a good week, given ample, respectable print space to repeat a central point he’s been making for years: that those political journalists who are part of the ‘lobby’ system have failed democracy:

Though the fourth estate may not have a formal

…

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alice miles, blogging, damian mcbride, guido fawkes, iain dale, media, paul linford | 11 Comments

That hoary old Hung Parliament chestnut

By Stephen Tall | Published 17th March 2009 - 8:38 pm

There’s an interesting article by The Independent’s Steve Richards today, focusing – as the media does every three months or so – on the prospect of a ‘Hung Parliament’, and what the Lib Dems would do in such an eventuality.

Actually the article’s a bit broader than that, and I can’t let the opportunity pass without briefly digressing to agree wholeheartedly with his snipe at the Tories’ two key initiatives of the past week: David Cameron’s ‘apology’ for failing to anticipate the economic crisis until way too late (Steve accuses the Tories of “still playing student-like games”); and yesterday’s …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david cameron, hung parliament, proportional representation, sam coates, triple lock | 12 Comments

What have James Purnell, Geoffrey Howe and Elvis Presley got in common?

By Mark Pack | Published 20th February 2009 - 9:42 pm

Why, they all feature in the same sentence in the excellent piece from Steve Richards on the Labour leadership rumblings of course.

Posted in News, Opposition watch | Also tagged elvis presley, geoffrey howe, james purnell | Leave a comment

Confessions of a ‘Newbie’

By Mark Thompson | Published 21st January 2009 - 3:20 pm

I went to the one-day Lib Dem policy conference at the London School of Economics at the weekend. As a fairly new member of the Lib Dems (I joined a few months ago) I was curious to see what happens at these sort of events and was also looking forward to it. I attended with Darren, a fellow member of my local constituency branch in Bracknell, who has been a member for a while longer than myself.

The first thing that struck me was how open everything was. The 300 or so people who were there, who included councillors, …

Posted in Op-eds, Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged nick clegg, party membership, sarah teather, social mobility, vince cable | 4 Comments

Our starters for 2008 – how did we do? (Part I)

By Stephen Tall | Published 28th December 2008 - 9:20 am

A year ago, Lib Dem Voice posed 10 questions, the answers to which we believed might shape the Lib Dem year – time to revisit them, wethinks.

1. Will Nick Clegg become as well-known and respected/liked as Paddy and Charles became?

Well, not in his first year, he hasn’t – as Nick himself fully acknowleged yesterday, commenting: “This is my first year in the leadership, I have enjoyed it immensely. I also know that I am in the early stages of my leadership. If you look back in history it takes a while for all Liberal Democrat leaders to get …

Posted in Op-eds, PMQs | Also tagged brian paddick, david cameron, james graham, make it happen, nick clegg | 4 Comments

Some serious media coverage of Nick’s speech

By Stephen Tall | Published 18th September 2008 - 6:35 pm

Lib Dem Voice has devoted some space this week to our Media Moron Watch – so let’s redress the balance and highlight a handful of articles which have attempted fair analyses of Nick Clegg’s speech and the Liberal Democrat conference. A couple are pretty positive, a couple less so: but they’re all thoughtful:

First up, the Indy’s Steve Richards, who concurs with yesterday’s LDV view that Bournemouth 2008 was a sucessful conference:

Against the odds, the Liberal Democrats have held a successful conference. Tumultuous events elsewhere meant media attention was limited, but they managed still to convey, with some success, a new message. They wish to be seen as Britain’s new radical tax-cutting party, one that is still committed to social justice. The fact that the message got anywhere at all was remarkable, as they have yet to offer any precise details about how they will cut the overall amount paid in tax. Nonetheless, they have conveyed the same message to themselves as well, the equivalent of conjurors falling for their own trick. … [The party] needs to send out signals in what for them is a highly complex and changed political situation, needing to defend themselves against a more popular Conservative party while seeking to make the most of a decline in support for Labour. At the broadest strategic level, they have pulled it off, with an offer of tax cuts while retaining a commitment to social justice.
They have done it in such a way to make nonsense of claims that the party is moving rightwards. There were two challenges for Nick Clegg as he delivered his first address to the party conference. One related to a question of style. Could he pull off the daunting task of delivering a big speech at his annual conference? The answer was an unequivocal “Yes”. He looked at ease as he wandered around the stage aided by the invisible autocue.
In terms of substance, he more or less pulled it off as well, stressing that he was as committed to social justice as previous leaders and yet outlining a distinctive pitch far removed from the Conservatives and Labour in its current plight. On the stage, although not in all the interviews he has given this week, he looked entirely comfortable, much more so than his immediate predecessors.

These generally warm words are echoed by the Indy’s editorial:

Posted in News | Also tagged david cameron, nick clegg | 4 Comments

Preview of Clegg’s interview with GMTV

By Stephen Tall | Published 9th November 2007 - 4:04 pm

Nick Clegg has been interviewed by Steve Richards for this Sunday’s GMTV, as Chris Huhne was last week.

I’ve been sent the full transcript, and it looks, on first reading, like the first real stumble by Nick in his campaign so far. Judge for yourselves below, as I’ve filleted some of the key passages. Of course, what won’t come across when you read it is Nick’s emphasis or body language – which might make his meaning clearer, and his performance more impressive. After all, politicians are judged not just by what they say, but also how they say it.

The real question, as James Graham has already noted in his preview, is why Nick didn’t have a much clearer answer ready for the obvious question, ‘How do you pay for your pupil premium?’ Because ‘Er, yes, there’s a black hole’ just ain’t good enough.

Other issues covered below include:

- whether he was attacking Chris Huhne by saying the party needed to communicate better its ‘green tax switch’ proposals;
- whether the campaign has got nasty; and
- is he going to win the contest?

Also covered in the full interview – this Sunday, 9 am – are questions to Nick about the Government’s proposals for increasing the number of days suspects can be detained without charge, and on a referendum for the European Reform Treaty.

Interview transcript extracts follow:

Posted in Leadership Election | Also tagged james graham, nick clegg | 36 Comments

Preview of Huhne’s interview with GMTV

By Stephen Tall | Published 2nd November 2007 - 2:41 pm

An email from GMTV’s Sunday Programme pings into my inbox with the transcript of Steve Richards’ interview with Lib Dem leadership contender, Chris Huhne. Here’s a few snippets to whet your appetites. (The full interview will be broadcast this Sunday morning).

On Chris’s comment that the Lib Dems mustn’t become a third Tory party:

CH: What I see in British politics, which I think is very disappointing to a lot of people, is a sudden Gaderene rush towards the same solutions being offered by all of the different political parties, and there will not be a future for the Liberal Democrats unless we’re prepared to stand outside that consensus and say where it’s failing and why the political process is held in such disrespect and disillusion, frankly, by so many people, and I think we’ve got to re-inject into our message that sense of being the anti-establishment party that actually wants to change the whole system, not just change the ministerial faces on the back seat of the limousine, and if we are there as just seen as another potential participant in another consensus government of blancmange, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, we’re not going to make any progress.

On what distinguishes his candidacy from Nick Clegg’s:

CH: Well, I just think that from that point of view we’re both energetic, we’ve both got a lot of verve and vigour, and I think that if you look at the track record, and I think that many, many people have said that the party could do well with either of us, and I certainly think that Nick would make an excellent leader. My position is simply, not this time. So I think that we’ve got great opportunities, but I think that we need to have clear dividing lines from the Tories, clear dividing lines from Labour, and not get sucked into a cosy consensus on things for example like use of market solutions, where they don’t work in public services.

On whether he’s the ‘left-wing’ leadership candidate:

Posted in Leadership Election | Also tagged chris huhne, paddy ashdown | 15 Comments

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