Author Archives: NewsHound

NewsHound

Rachel Smith talks to the Telegraph about the Coalition, being a politician’s wife, and how she’s a fan of Nick

By NewsHound | Wed 12th March 2014 - 10:46 am

In 2001, Rachel Smith, went along to a local meeting in the New Forest at which Vince Cable was speaking. She asked him a question and the rest is history. They were married in 2004. Last year about this time, she gave an interview to the Telegraph. This year, she’s done it again. She comes over as very warm, human and honest – just the same as she does when you meet her.

She had this to say about Vince’s supposed leadership ambitions:

She pre-empts questions about her husband’s alleged bid to oust the Lib Dem leader. “When people mutter about

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NewsHound

Ed Davey makes QR codes compulsory on energy bills

By NewsHound | Tue 11th March 2014 - 4:39 pm

ed-davey-post-officeAccording to the BBC: Energy bills to come with compulsory QR barcodes. This is one of Ed Davey’s initiatives as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He explains:

The government hopes its plans will encourage the development of smartphone apps that let consumers swipe their phone over an energy bill to read data such as tariff and consumption.

The data could then be automatically uploaded to price comparison sites, to let consumers look at deals from other energy suppliers.

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NewsHound

Reports of domestic violence rise, but convictions drop

By NewsHound | Tue 11th March 2014 - 1:36 pm

Norman BakerThe Guardian reveals that the proportion of domestic violence cases that are being referred by the police to prosecutors has dropped from 12.1% in 2009/2010 to 10.5% in 2012/2013, even though the number of cases reported to the police had risen.

According to the House of Commons Library, more than 838,000 reports of domestic violence were made to police forces across England and Wales in 2012/2013, but only 6.3% resulted in a conviction, compared to 7.1% in 2009/2010.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Sarah Teather – Why I’m Going Hungry on Saturday

By NewsHound | Sat 8th March 2014 - 7:55 am

Sarah Teather, MP for Brent Central

Lib Dem MP for Brent Central Sarah Teather will be part of a hunger-fast relay today in protest at what she describes as the coalition government’s “wilful indifference to the hunger of its citizens”. Here’s an excerpt of what she’s written for the Huffington Post:

I shall be fasting as part of the End Hunger Fast Relay. I pick up the baton from the Bishop of Salisbury tonight and pass it on to a Quaker leader on Sunday as we take part in an act of community solidarity with the thousands of British people who go hungry each day because they cannot afford to buy food.

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NewsHound

Tim Farron says Liberal Democrats are likely to oppose “Bedroom Tax” in 2015

By NewsHound | Fri 28th February 2014 - 2:32 pm

Tim Farron has said that he expects that Liberal Democrats will oppose the so-called “Bedroom Tax” in 2015. In an interview with Inside Housing, he has said that in its current form it was causing hardship and depriving housing associations of the money to build much needed new homes. While he praised the Liberal Democrats who had secured more money for discretionary housing payments to mitigate its effects, he acknowledged that reforms were needed.

He said:

I would be disappointed if we did support it in its current form.

I do not expect our party to support this policy unreformed, we must

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NewsHound

Clegg: Tribal voices should not deprive the UK of stable government

By NewsHound | Thu 27th February 2014 - 11:21 am

Today’s Guardian reports Nick Clegg’s comments at his monthly press conference on reported moves in both Conservative and Labour parties to rule out a second coalition after 2015.

He said:

Clearly, there is a sort of McCluskey tendency in both the Labour and Conservative parties.

I think what you are seeing, in a sense, is the last gasp of the assumption from the two bigger parties that somehow they have got a right to run things.

We should let the British people have their say rather than people constantly assuming that they can decide, rather than the British people, about how this country

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NewsHound

LibLink: Edward McMillan-Scott MEP: Cameron’s EU policy plays into Putin’s hands

By NewsHound | Wed 26th February 2014 - 3:12 pm

Edward McMillan Scott, Vice President of the European Parliament with responsibility for human rights and democracy has been writing about how David Cameron’s European policy has enabled Russia’s President Putin to develop his strategy for a Eurasian Union based on illiberal and anti-democratic values.

He opens by outlining the problems faced by Angela Merkel with the rise of the eurosceptic right wing AFD:

Events in Ukraine may still overshadow Thursday’s trip to London by Angela Merkel, during which David Cameron will seek her support for EU reform.  She will not be pleased that Cameron has allowed his Eurosceptics to continue talks with

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NewsHound

LibLink: Baroness Floella Benjamin: Positive role models can break cycle of despair

By NewsHound | Mon 24th February 2014 - 10:22 am

Baroness Floella Benjamin has written for the Voice website about what the government is doing to help young black people find jobs.

More than 30 million people are now in work and since the 2010 General Election, the number of people claiming the main out-of-work benefits has fallen by 566,000. This is great news and my party, the Liberal Democrats, have worked hard in government to achieve success stories like these, listening to people’s concerns and ensuring the right support is being put in place.

But disappointingly there’s no denying that unemployment is still disproportionately high amongst young black people, especially men

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NewsHound

LibLink: Danny Alexander: Scotland can’t go it alone and keep the pound. That’s not bullying, it’s reality

By NewsHound | Sun 23rd February 2014 - 5:45 pm

Danny Alexander has taken to the pages of this week’s Mail on Sunday to write about the Scottish independence referendum.

He tackled the hostile reaction from some nationalists to David Bowie’s entreaty at the Brits. “Scotland, stay with us.” said the rock legend.

David Bowie’s call sparked strong reactions on both sides of an ever more passionate debate. He was attacked for being a ‘celebrity’, being English and not living in the UK.
And why shouldn’t a ‘celebrity’ have a view and express it? Why shouldn’t an Englishwoman have a view on  an issue that will change the country she lives in, too?

Come

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NewsHound

Nick Clegg “vows to veto any Tory Eurosceptic as EU Commissioner”

By NewsHound | Sat 22nd February 2014 - 9:04 am

nick clegg euFrom the Independent:

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will veto any attempt by the Conservatives to appoint a Eurosceptic candidate to become Britain’s next EU Commissioner, The Independent has learnt.

As Prime Minister, David Cameron has to nominate a successor to replace Baroness Ashton, who will step down as Britain’s representative on the European Commission later this year.

But the Liberal Democrat leader has made it clear that many of the candidates favoured by the right wing of the Conservative Party who want to see “one of their own” in Brussels would be unacceptable to him and he would veto them.

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NewsHound

LibLink: David Heath: Electorate has casting vote on number of female MPs

By NewsHound | Sun 16th February 2014 - 10:35 am

Just two weeks after the excellent Sarah Yong was selected to fight his Somerton and Frome constituency next year, retiring MP David Heath has been writing in the Frome Standard about the need for more women in Parliament.

He will be slightly red-faced to have under-estimated even our lowly number of women in the MPs, saying we have five, rather than seven, but that doesn’t undermine the premise of his piece.

But I think there is still an issue for all political parties in ensuring that parliament better reflects the make-up of the country at large. Instead, there is a huge

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NewsHound

The tale of Nick Clegg and the naked Legends of Somerset

By NewsHound | Sat 15th February 2014 - 12:15 pm

Legends of SomersetFrom the Wells Journal:

WELLS MP Tessa Munt has shared naked men with leading Liberal Democrats in Parliament – in the form of naked calendar Legends of Somerset.

Her party leader, Nick Clegg, and fellow MPs David Heath of Somerton and Frome, Don Foster of Bath, Simon Hughes of Bermondsey and Old Southwark, David Laws of Yeovil and Jeremy Browne of Taunton, all agreed to have their photo taken with the hit charity calendar.

The calendar is being sold here to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Here’s how it got …

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NewsHound

Danny Alexander’s photograph used in US scam

By NewsHound | Fri 14th February 2014 - 10:21 am

Danny Alexander’s photograph has been used by a con-man as a device to extract money from an American woman.  From the Independent:

Francis Rains received a phone call last September telling her she had won $2.5m and a Mercedes-Benz.  A man called her a couple of days later, apparently from a Jamaican number, saying she needed to send money to pay off the tax on her prizes.

In order to convince her to send the money, he sent her a picture of ‘himself’. The picture he sent was a smiling picture of Chief secretary to the Treasury,Danny Alexander.

Two other people,

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NewsHound

LibLink: Edward McMillan-Scott MEP: Tories are playing into Putin’s hands in high stakes game

By NewsHound | Thu 13th February 2014 - 7:00 pm

Edward McMillan ScottYorkshire and the Humber MEP Edward McMillan-Scott has a longstanding interest in human rights. He’s travelled all over the world to make the case to governments who don’t respect their citizens’ freedoms. He’s understandably not wildly chuffed about the Winter Olympics taking place in Sochi and how this might fuel Putin’s ambitions. He explained why in the Yorkshire Post.

Putin has international ambitions for Russia: this is the new Great Game, the 19th century strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Eurasia.

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NewsHound

Calder Valley PPC backs regional assembly for Yorkshire

By NewsHound | Thu 13th February 2014 - 3:16 pm

Yorkshire radio station The Pulse reports:

Yorkshire should be given a regional assembly like Scotland and Wales, according to a group of Calderdale councillors.

The idea is being discussed at the Liberal Democrat conference next month and would see decisions on things like Education, Health and Agriculture made away from Westminster.

Yorkshire, which has roughly the same population as Scotland, would be offered the chance to take control of such powers instead of having them controlled from London.

The proposal will be debated at the Liberal Democrat spring conference, which will take place in York on the 7th-9th of March.

LibDem PPC for Calder Valley,

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NewsHound

LibLink: Christine Jardine – From the fourth estate to Westminster

By NewsHound | Thu 13th February 2014 - 9:58 am

Christine Jardine, who was recently selected as PPC for Gordon, has been interviewed by the Deeside Piper – the newspaper she used to edit – about her selection and her journey from journalist to politician.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

DEESIDE PIPER: What do you hope to achieve if voted for by the people of Gordon?

CHRISTINE JARDINE: Over the last 30 years, Malcolm has been a strong voice for the people of Gordon and that is what I would want to be as well. For both the urban and rural communities. I believe rural communities need a strong voice particularly at the moment. The most important thing is listening to what is important to the people of Gordon and, if you like, what I aim to achieve if I am elected after 2015 will be dictated by what they want me to achieve

If I was the MP at the end of five years, I would hope that I’d continue Malcolm’s work and had worked hard for the oil industry-won investment for the North-east, particularly in infrastructure and being a strong voice in getting our road and transport network improved. What would be important to me as an MP would be making sure that I work for the people and what they want to happen. I would hate to think after however many years that people felt “We voted for her but what has she done for us.”

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg: Only the Liberal Democrats are prepared to stand up for Britain’s place in Europe.

By NewsHound | Wed 12th February 2014 - 11:00 am

Nick Clegg has been writing over at the Independent to mark 100 days before the European elections.

He has a simple and clear message – you can only trust the Liberal Democrats to stand up for Britain’s interests, and therefore safeguard jobs, in Europe. He says that the Euros don’t usually “set the heart racing”, but this time, there’s a lot to lose:

Ukip has been coming up on the rails in British politics for years and it sees this May as its breakthrough moment. Mainstream politicians have made the mistake in the past of not taking UKIP, or the people who

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NewsHound

LibLink: Maajid Nawaaz: Why I am speaking up for Islam against the loudmouths who have hijacked it

By NewsHound | Wed 29th January 2014 - 4:45 pm

Liberal Democrat candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn Maajid Nawaaz has written for the Guardian about his controversial decision to tweet a cartoon featuring Jesus and Mohammed, explaining why he’d done it:

My intention was not to speak for any Muslim but myself – rather, it was to defend my religion from those who have hijacked it just because they shout the loudest. My intention was to carve out a space to be heard without constantly fearing the blasphemy charge, on pain of death. I did it for Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab who was assassinated by his bodyguard for

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NewsHound

Sir Menzies Campbell: “We will not allow Nigel Farage to set our moral compass”

By NewsHound | Wed 29th January 2014 - 11:21 am

On the Today programme this morning, Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife Sir Menzies Campbell debated the decision by the Government to give sanctuary to some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees with Conservative MP Brooks Newmark who was less enthusiastic, it’s fair to say, about the idea.

Of course it’s a question of humanity and we should not allow the argument about immigration to stand in the way of our responsibility and we should not allow Mr Nigel Farage to set our moral compass in this matter.

Newmark said that if Britain was giving more money than other EU countries, we shouldn’t feel obligated to take in refugees as well.  You could hear the exasperation with such an insular, uncompassionate attitude in Sir Menzies’ voice:

These are not mutually exclusive. The fact that Britain has given £600 million is something of which we can legitimately be proud. We’ve also been part of the political effort going on at the moment in Geneva to try and find a political settlement out of this terrible morass. But none of that, however praiseworthy it is, can be regarded as being inconsistent with exercising the kind of humanity which legitimately might be expected of a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Sarah Ludford MEP: Despite their claim to be a libertarian party, UKIP have a shocking record on LGBT rights

By NewsHound | Sun 26th January 2014 - 9:19 am

Over at the Huffington Post, Sarah Ludford MEP has been looking at UKIP’s record on LGBT rights.

She first shows that they really don’t get it:

On the Ukip website, it states “As a libertarian party, we are entirely at ease with their (LGBTI community) choice and wish all of them well.” I question the appropriateness of this folksy language and the implication that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, particularly considering that LGBTI citizens continue to be the target of around 100 hate crimes per week. But even if it was well intentioned, why then do we consistently hear voices from

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NewsHound

LibLink: Vince Cable: Baroness Shirley Williams, the Lib Dem peer who defined British public life

By NewsHound | Fri 24th January 2014 - 2:21 pm

Over at the New Statesman, Vince Cable has been reviewing Mark Peel’s new biography of Shirley Williams.

He starts off by expressing annoyance at the conclusion – and quite rightly, too, given her major contribution to national and international life over 6 decades:

She is, of course, approachable, informal, engaging and whatever else “nice” means. But “niceness” is also a dismissive put down, as in William Hague’s comment in an Oxford Union debate (quoted as the punchline of the introduction): “In politics, Mrs Williams, it isn’t enough to be nice.” And it misses the essential point, that she is an extremely interesting

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NewsHound

LibLink: Alison Goldsworthy: Westminster’s treatment of women is stuck in the 1950s

By NewsHound | Thu 16th January 2014 - 7:15 pm

Over at the Telegraph, Alison Goldsworthy, Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrats’  Federal Executive has written a thought provoking piece about the way young women are treated in the political bubble that is Westminster.

She paints an unedifying picture of life inside the Palace, across all parties:

Tales of parliamentarians in their 50s, heavy breathing that they may be giving up their seat, or promotions would be on offer whilst getting uncomfortably close to female staffers in their early 20s are commonplace. Go to the bars of Westminster most days of the week then you will see it in action. You don’t

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NewsHound

LibLink: Stephen Tall: Hold tight, get lucky

By NewsHound | Sat 11th January 2014 - 1:51 pm

Stephen Tall has been writing for Total Politics, painting a worrying scenario of what might happen electorally if the Liberal Democrats were to go into coalition with Labour after the next General Election. That ominous phrase “Be careful what you wish for” is the theme…

He points out that the Coalition has caused problems for the party:

In the circumstances, we might be forgiven for turning round to the voters and saying, “You know what, guys? Next time you can’t make up your minds, don’t look to us to break the deadlock. You can suffer Conservative/Labour minority rule instead. That’s right. See

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tavish Scott: Cuts plan is Osborne masterstroke

By NewsHound | Sat 11th January 2014 - 10:35 am

Well, we almost choked on our tea here in LDV Towers when we read that headline. Then we remembered that Tavish is hardly best buddies with the Tories, nor with the idea of the Coalition.  What was his latest article in the Scotsman all about? Well, possibly getting his wooden spoon out and stirring it a bit. This article was even quoted in Thursday’s First Minister’s Questions by Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm.

Tavish looks at Osborne’s assertion that there must be £25 billion further spending cuts:

Fast forward to this week and Chancellor Osborne is positioning his party against both Labour

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NewsHound

LibLink: Christine Jardine: Campbell-Bannerman, School Meals Pioneer

By NewsHound | Fri 10th January 2014 - 5:19 pm

There has been some controversy about Nick Clegg’s sudden announcement last September that schoolchildren would get a hot meal every day at school for the first 3 years. Some within the Party feel that resources could be better spent. Others argue that it does make a difference, having a direct effect on children’s learning ability.

Clegg though, is not the first liberal to be associated with such a policy, as former Special Adviser Christine Jardine wrote in the Scotsman this week:

Exactly a century ago, the last Liberal government to win a majority at Westminster made their policy compulsory to ensure councils

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NewsHound

Farron and Huppert submit Lib Dem Conference motion to curb surveillance

By NewsHound | Thu 9th January 2014 - 1:28 pm

Today’s Guardian reports that Tim Farron and Julian Huppert are behind a move to get Liberal Democrat conference to adopt policy which would stop intrusive mass surveillance of personal data.

Judicial oversight of state surveillance and a regular release of the number of data requests made by the security services should be among the issues examined by a government “commission of experts” into all the recent allegations raised by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, theLiberal Democrats are to propose.

They will also call

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NewsHound

LDVideo: BBC’s report on the Liberal Democrats’ secret weapon, featuring Stephen Tall

By NewsHound | Wed 8th January 2014 - 12:30 pm

The BBC has been looking ahead to the Liberal Democrats’ prospects in next year’s General Election. Contributing to the report are retiring MP David Heath and our own Stephen Tall.

I should point out that our secret weapon is not Stephen’s famous pledge to run naked down Whitehall if the party is reduced to 24 seats next May.

You can watch the whole thing here.

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NewsHound

Carmichael: Job security and stronger economy mean more than illusory SNP independence promise

By NewsHound | Mon 6th January 2014 - 4:45 pm

The Sunday Herald carried an interview with Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael yesterday.

He talked about how he relaxes away from the stresses of his job, ensuring he gets home at weekends to spend time with his family:

“That’s important to me, that’s the sanity valve. As long as I can just spend some time mucking about with my boys, or walking the dog on the beach,” he says.

But can he really keep that up to September 18? “That’s my intention. Look, this is an important, exciting job, but I have other jobs as well. I’m

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LibLink: Tavish Scott: One party rule is harming Holyrood

By NewsHound | Sat 4th January 2014 - 12:45 pm

This week, Holyrood’s Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick put forward proposals which she said would strengthen the Parliament’s role in holding the Scottish Government to account as the Herald reports:

Under her plan, conveners of Holyrood’s 20 committees would be elected by their fellow MSPs, rather than installed by their party chiefs.

The move, which would be one of the most far-reaching reforms of the Parliament since its creation in 1999, would help remove party politics from the often sensitive work of committees, she believes.

Ms Marwick also threatened to put time limits on exchanges at First Minister’s Questions.

Trouble is, her proposals kind

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LibLink: Christine Jardine: Let’s be grateful for the EU

By NewsHound | Sat 4th January 2014 - 9:08 am

Former Special Adviser and current Scottish Euro candidate Christine Jardine writes in the Scotsman about what Europe means to her and how she first became aware of what it meant as a child:

For me, joining what was then the EEC was the beginning of a very different, more positive and much less life-threatening relationship with the Continent than the previous generations of my family had experienced.

In 1973 Europe was all about new money, counting everything in tens and hundreds and new equipment to learn with at school.

Yard sticks were out and metre sticks were in. No more inches. It was

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