Author Archives: Mary Reid

Mary Reid

LibLink: Simon Hughes – This water tax trickery in the corporate sector is unacceptable

By Mary Reid | Tue 13th November 2012 - 12:30 pm

Simon HughesOver in the Observer, Simon Hughes is making his views on tax avoidance perfectly clear.

Every pound lost to tax avoidance, tax planning, tax efficiency, or whatever other euphemism is used, by people who simply don’t want to make their contribution is a pound that cannot be spent on vital services. At a time when we are asking individuals and households to make great financial sacrifices, behaviour of this kind from the corporate sector is simply unacceptable.

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Vince Cable on community finance for small businesses

By Mary Reid | Tue 9th October 2012 - 4:08 pm

Last week, over in the Guardian, Vince Cable wrote:

A common complaint I hear when I am out and about meeting sole traders or entrepreneurs is the struggle to get finance through mainstream sources. This is a serious challenge to UK growth.

It’s why I have made it one of my priorities to get credit flowing again and why only last week I announced further detail of the government-backed Business Bank. This will facilitate the provision of loans to more firms

…

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Mary Reid

Conference calls for our parliamentarians to reject Secret Courts

By Mary Reid | Tue 25th September 2012 - 7:43 pm

At most conferences there is at least one debate which proves how different we are from the other main parties. Different because we entrust Conference to decide party policy, in open debate, even where that may be at odds with the views of our parliamentarians.

Today’s debate on the ‘Secret Courts’ motion was a good example. The full title was F41: No Government Above the Law – The Justice and Security Bill.

This motion, submitted by two local parties, called on the Coalition to withdraw Part II of the Justice and Security Bill, which would empower Ministers to allow civil hearings …

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Mary Reid

Lib Dem voters’ views on green energy

By Mary Reid | Tue 25th September 2012 - 4:21 pm

A poll commissioned by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth has revealed some useful data about the  attitudes of Liberal Democrat voters to green energy.

It found that more than half of those who voted Liberal Democrat in 2010 said they would be more likely to do so again if the Liberal Democrats took action on carbon-free electricity generation.

It asked:

The Government’s advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, have said that to meet our climate change commitments the UK must switch to almost entirely carbon-free electricity by 2030.

Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for the Liberal …

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Mary Reid

Work places are communities too

By Mary Reid | Tue 25th September 2012 - 1:34 pm

As Liberal Democrats we are committed to the concept of people participating and exercising democratic rights in their communities. But we usually identify communities geographically, in the villages or the wards where we can deliver our Focuses.  During yesterday’s debate on Mutuals, Employee Ownership and Workplace Democracy (F22 in the Conference Agenda) Alan Sherwood reminded us that the workplace is also a significant community for many people. So workplace democracy is a natural extension of community politics.

In moving the motion, which derived from a policy paper, Martin Horwood went further and claimed that not only should Liberal Democrat …

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Mary Reid

Is this how we get the most out of our schools?

By Mary Reid | Sat 22nd September 2012 - 6:20 pm

With somewhat ironic timing Gove’s controversial announcement on the replacement of GCSEs by the English Baccalaureat was too late for it to be reflected in the conference programme. The deadline for amendments to motions has passed a week earlier.

But a version of the EBacc (not exactly the same as the one that was finally announced) had been trailed for some months, so it got a small mention in motion F6 this afternoon: “Getting the most out of our schools”.

This reference was grasped by some conference reps as an opportunity to open the debate into a wider discussion about the new …

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Mary Reid

From today’s Lib Dem News

By Mary Reid | Fri 21st September 2012 - 1:19 pm

By Howard of Lib Dem News

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Michael Gove and Nick Clegg – A new exam will get the best out of all our children

By Mary Reid | Tue 18th September 2012 - 12:45 pm

The Evening Standard has published a joint statement by Michael Gove and Nick Clegg on the new Ebacc proposals. It begins:

We both grew up in different circumstances and chose distinctive paths. Spending your first few months in care, before being brought up by a Labour-voting mother in a Labour-voting Scottish city isn’t a natural preparation for Tory politics. Likewise, working for a former Tory Cabinet minister in Brussels and rejecting his invitation to follow in his footsteps and ending up standing as a Liberal Democrat in Sheffield instead isn’t exactly an orthodox political path either.

But while we both chose

…

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Mary Reid

How to manage volunteers? Look at the Games Makers

By Mary Reid | Tue 11th September 2012 - 12:41 pm

I have just returned to my duties at Lib Dem Voice after spending an extraordinary two weeks as a volunteer Games Maker at the Paralympics. My final event was the Athletes Parade today when we were thanked over and over again by Coe, Cameron, and Johnson, and by athletes and members of the public.  I have never felt so appreciated in my life!

So how did LOCOG persuade me and 70,000 other people to travel to London from all over the country on six separate occasions for training and collecting uniforms, then to stay for anything between eight and thirty days with friends, in hotels or at campsites in London, all the time working exhaustingly long days (in my case starting work at 5.45am), and all at our own expense?

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Mary Reid

The Conference agenda – media roundup

By Mary Reid | Thu 16th August 2012 - 3:15 pm

The agenda for Autumn Conference has been online for five days, and has already attracted attention from the media. It is instructive to see which stories are  picked up by whom.

The Guardian focuses on the Housing Policy paper under the headline: Liberal Democrats propose major housebuilding programme.

The Independent homes in on the motion proposed by Danny Alexander on ‘Generating Growth and Jobs in a Time of Austerity’: Liberal Democrats slam Osborne over green policies.

Our opposition to airport expansion, and the motion from Watford, are also of interest to the Independent: Lib Dems to oppose South East airport expansion plans. This is also picked up by the BBC, by ITN.

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Mary Reid

Hanging around

By Mary Reid | Thu 2nd August 2012 - 3:52 pm

Yesterday Boris Johnson was in Victoria Park taking the first ride on a new zip wire. This is what happened, courtesy of ITV:

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Mary Reid

“It’s a good thing the British do not vote in our elections” #romneyshambles

By Mary Reid | Sat 28th July 2012 - 11:25 am

Is it really possible to compare a politician unfavourably to Sarah Palin?

It’s not often that I link to the Daily Mail but this headline nailed it:

‘What a car crash… worse than Sarah Palin’: British politicians’ fury at Romney’s blunder-filled visit to London ahead of Olympics

The Democrats have gleefully issued this video. Enjoy.

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Stephen Tall – Vince Cable leading the Lib Dems? Is it time for Plan V?

By Mary Reid | Sat 28th July 2012 - 9:35 am

Stephen Tall, co-editor of Lib Dem Voice, has been blogging away at Huffington Post.

Lots of politicians have 20:20 hindsight. Foresight, however, is generally in shorter supply, which explains why Vince Cable is being acclaimed once again, tipped at the age of 69 both as a potential successor to either the 40-something George Osborne as Chancellor and/or the 40-something Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader. The ‘Septuagenarian Sage of Twickenham’ is enjoying a Second Coming-of-age. Age does not weary him, nor the years condemn. What’s his secret?

Principally, it’s Vince’s tendency

…

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Mary Reid

James Bond escorts The Queen to the London 2012 Olympic Games – BBC

By Mary Reid | Sat 28th July 2012 - 8:34 am

Nothing political – just a lot of fun.

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Mary Reid

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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Mary Reid

LibLink: Steve Webb – I will not hesitate to take action on pension charges

By Mary Reid | Tue 24th July 2012 - 2:24 pm

Steve Webb writes in The Telegraph:

Almost 11 million of the adult population are not saving enough for retirement. So if millions of people are not going to get a nasty shock when they retire we need some big changes in the world of pensions. …So what is the truth about pension scheme charges, and what is the Government doing to make sure that people get

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Stephen Williams says MPs should move their money from big banks

By Mary Reid | Tue 17th July 2012 - 3:20 pm

In an article in The Spectator, Stephen Williams argues:

The Libor scandal has shown the UK’s banking sector in its worst light. The public has lost trust in the big banks and are concerned that their politicians are more interested in political point scoring than the urgent task of fixing our broken banking system.

That is why, last year, I joined the Move Your Money campaign, which urges the public to use their consumer power to change the behaviour of the big banks by moving their money, or at least some of it, to ethical, local or mutual financial institutions.

He has …

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Charles Kennedy – Lords reform: we’ll defeat the rebels

By Mary Reid | Tue 10th July 2012 - 1:13 pm

In the Guardian yesterday evening Charles Kennedy challenged Labour to restore faith in Parliament today by supporting Lords Reform.

He writes:

For 100 years progressives in British politics have tried to bring democracy to one of the most important but arcane institutions in our country – the House of Lords. And for 100 years, the establishment has resisted, blocked or talked out those who argue for change at every turn. But today we have an historic opportunity to finally bring about that change – and it is in Labour’s hands.

…

Labour politicians for

…

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Mary Reid

Steve Webb challenges pension industry to provide ‘money-safe’ pension scheme

By Mary Reid | Tue 3rd July 2012 - 4:08 pm

Steve Webb, the pensions minister, is addressing pension executives today and will be challenging them to provide a money-back guarantee to everyone who will be saving for their pensions through a new workplace defined contributions plan. This kind of scheme would ensure that people get back, as a minimum, the value of the contributions they have paid in.

This is one of several proposals which will be consulted on later in the year. Other ideas include collective risk sharing, which allows pension companies to pool their accounts and share the investment …

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – Silver Linings to the Storm Clouds of Rio

By Mary Reid | Tue 26th June 2012 - 6:06 pm

Last week we linked to an article by former party leader Paddy Ashdown headed “Rio+20 is a chance to secure our children’s future“.

Over on Huffington Post he has now given his assessment of the summit.

 … as the summit reached its conclusion on Friday criticism from environment groups, charities working on poverty issues and the mainstream media over the strength of the agreement was becoming louder.

And yet the news coming from Rio has not been all bad. Indeed, some positive outcomes have emerged from

…

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Mary Reid

Norman Lamb: an extraordinary encounter with Fred Michel

By Mary Reid | Tue 26th June 2012 - 5:31 pm

It was Norman Lamb’s turn to appear before the Leveson Inquiry this afternoon. He dropped a bombshell in the form of handwritten notes (which you can see here) that he made of a meeting with Fred Michel of News International in 2010. The transcript is:

Wed 27/10
0900 meeting Fred Michel News International. An extraordinary encounter. FM is very
charming. He tells me News Int. papers will land on VC’s desk in next 2 weeks. They are
certain there are no grounds for referral. They realise the political pressures. He wants things
to run smoothly. They have been supportive of

…

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Simon Hughes – Polly’s advice to the Lib Dems is double-edged

By Mary Reid | Fri 8th June 2012 - 2:03 pm

Simon Hughes has a letter in the Guardian today responding to Polly Toynbee’s article “Now is the perfect time for Liberal Democrats to wield the knife“.

Simon writes:

Polly Toynbee’s argument, like some arguments she has made before, is based on a false and misleading premise – that this government is embarking on some ideological dismantling of the state. This does everyone a disservice.

Here are three reasons why: first, by the end of this parliament the government will be spending about £730bn a year, a full 42% of GDP and roughly the same as we did in 2008. Hardly back to

…

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Mary Reid

From today’s Lib Dem News

By Mary Reid | Fri 8th June 2012 - 1:00 pm

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Mary Reid

Equal marriage: imminent deadline for consultation

By Mary Reid | Fri 8th June 2012 - 11:40 am

Members of Liberal Youth have a group blog over at The Libertine.

In this video Harry Matthews reminds us why Liberal Democrats support equal marriage.

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Mary Reid

From today’s Lib Dem News

By Mary Reid | Fri 1st June 2012 - 12:55 pm

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – Syria shows the lessons of Libya still unlearnt

By Mary Reid | Fri 1st June 2012 - 11:23 am

Paddy Ashdown writes in the Times today about Syria. He was, of course, the international community’s High Representative in Bosnia, so is ideally placed to comment on western diplomacy in the face of tyranny.

Megaphone diplomacy has failed. The West must let Turkey lead a relief operation.

The slaughter of the innocents in Syria is, of course, horrific, barbaric, shocking, terrifying medieval, bestial — choose your own adjective; they’ve all been used — some many times over. In our attempts to camouflage impotence we are now devaluing hyperbole.

But it is not sufficient. With the West’s moral force in tatters after the blunders

…

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Mary Reid

From today’s Lib Dem News

By Mary Reid | Fri 25th May 2012 - 3:29 pm

Cartoon

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Mary Reid

From today’s Lib Dem News

By Mary Reid | Fri 18th May 2012 - 12:55 pm

Lib Dem News cartoon

 

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Mary Reid

From today’s Lib Dem News

By Mary Reid | Fri 11th May 2012 - 12:52 pm

Lib Dem News cartoon

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Mary Reid

Mystery of fake leaflets in North Richmond

By Mary Reid | Thu 10th May 2012 - 4:03 pm

The leaflet below appears to be normal Lib Dem election literature. It was one of three distributed widely over night on May2nd/3rd for the council by-election in North Richmond, in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames. You may wonder why it is titled Comments instead of Focus, but that is what Lib Dems have always called their leaflets in Richmond.

Indeed, the layout and photos are exact copies of earlier Lib Dem election leaflets. The bar chart, grumble sheet and contact details all look authentic. The writing style is credible.

But a closer inspection reveals something very worrying. The main story …

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