Author Archives: NewsHound

NewsHound

Diana Wallis MEP resigns

By NewsHound | Thu 19th January 2012 - 6:08 pm

European Voice reports:

Liberal Democrat MEP announces that she is to quit just days after failing in bid to become president of the European Parliament.

Diana Wallis, a British Liberal MEP who this week failed in her bid to become president of the European Parliament, today announced that she is to stand down as an MEP.

Wallis said that after 12 years as an MEP she wanted “to take a break from politics,” adding that it was time “for someone with fresh eyes to take over”. Wallis said she would give up her seat on 31 January.

Wallis came third in

…

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NewsHound

ELDR announces venues for 2012 meetings

By NewsHound | Tue 17th January 2012 - 10:23 am

The European Liberal Democrats have announced the venues for their Council meetings and annual Congress for 2012.

The first Council meeting will take place in Yerevan, Armenia and is expected to take place on 11-12 May, just five days after scheduled Parliamentary elections. This might be seen as a bold decision, given that following the 2007 elections, opposition parties alleged widespread fraud and called for mass demonstrations, although European observers felt that the vote largely met international standards. The Liberal Democrat delegation of fifteen, led by Robert Woodthorpe-Browne, will …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged | 7 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: David Laws – Reasons to be cheerful in 2012

By NewsHound | Mon 16th January 2012 - 11:54 am

In the Daily Mail, David Laws gives readers a tour d’horizon of the economy, ending with some optimisim:

The first good news is that inflation should fall – and steeply. Last year, inflation rose because of higher energy and food prices, and the rise in VAT.

Most of those increases are behind us – last week, energy price cuts of five per cent were trumpeted. Inflation, which peaked last year at 5.6 per cent (retail prices), should be down to about 2.5 per cent by May.

That will help hard-pressed household budgets.

The second piece of good news is that

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 10 Comments
NewsHound

Clegg sets out vision of “John Lewis economy”

By NewsHound | Mon 16th January 2012 - 11:36 am

The BBC reports:

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has urged more companies to offer shares to their employees, saying it will improve productivity and unlock growth.

He told an audience in the City that the government planned to cut red tape, and reform the tax system to accommodate employee ownership.

It is hoped the measures will create what he called a “John Lewis economy”.

…The Lib Dem leader told the event hosted by the City of London Corporation and Centre Forum think tank: “We don’t believe our problem is too much capitalism – we think it’s that too few people

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NewsHound

LibLink: “John Hemming is definitely a cat man”

By NewsHound | Sat 14th January 2012 - 2:10 pm

John Hemming, Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley, is an unabashed iconoclast. The Independent this week sought to understand what makes him tick a little better. Inevitably there is some focus on his private life — most notoriously brought to public attention by his estranged wife’s stealing of a kitten from his girlfriend’s house — but also a lot of space given to his views on the UK care system and the economy. Here’s an excerpt:

Hemming is serious but funny, blithely overweight, and a stickler for detail. He sits surrounded by plenty of clutter, a frisky kitten and an inquisitive

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NewsHound

The Beveridge Group announces its relaunch

By NewsHound | Tue 10th January 2012 - 12:18 pm

The Liberal Democrat Voice team have received a press release from John Pugh MP, which may be of interest to those in the Party keen to engage in debate on policy and philosophy.

With an eye to the new parliamentary year and forthcoming legislation, the Beveridge Group has reformed and a new updated website is already up and running. The initiative follows widespread concern inside and outside parliament as to where Coalition policy on public services may be going.

We want to prompt a proper debate as to where the …

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 15 Comments
NewsHound

Duwayne Brooks interviewed on Today

By NewsHound | Mon 9th January 2012 - 8:54 am

Liberal Democrat Councillor Duwayne Brooks, the only witness to Stephen Lawrence’s murder, talked movingly to Radio Four’s Today programme this morning.

He described some of the effects of his post-traumatic stress disorder following the murder, praised the police for the conviction of two of the attackers and expressed some doubt that the other attackers will ever be brought to justice.

You can listen to the full interview here.

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NewsHound

Stephen Lawrence – “Some justice at last”

By NewsHound | Tue 3rd January 2012 - 3:43 pm

The BBC reports the stunning news:

Two men have been convicted of the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, 18 years after he was stabbed to death at a south London bus stop.

Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence.

Scientists found a tiny blood stain on Dobson’s jacket that could only have come from Mr Lawrence.

As he was led away, Dobson told the jury they had condemned an “innocent man”. Sentencing will be on Wednesday.

Stephen’s parents, Doreen and Neville, wept in court as the jury found

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – Why David Cameron won’t be calling a snap general election

By NewsHound | Mon 2nd January 2012 - 5:11 pm

Over on the LSE’s British Politics blog, The Voice‘s Mark Pack has been explaining why commentators speculating about a snap general election have got it wrong:

Fixing the date of the next general election (and future ones) outside the control of the Prime Minister was a central part of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition agreement because it was a way of guaranteeing the five-year deal. Otherwise the risk for the smaller party is that at any point the larger one can suddenly pull the rug out from under an agreement and call an election. No doubt it helped sweeten the pill for

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – 2011 was a year of treading water

By NewsHound | Wed 28th December 2011 - 10:25 am

Yesterday The Times ran a set of op-eds looking at how the parties did in 2011, featuring ConHome’s Tim Montgomerie, Ed Miliband biographer Mehdi Hasan and The Voice’s own Mark Pack.

Here is a flavour of what Mark had to say:

This year has certainly not been short of Harold Macmillan’s “events, dear boy, events”.  Political and economic turmoil disrupted even the usually quiet periods deep in August and the final shopping days before Christmas.

Yet at the end of the year the political rollercoaster has left all three main parties in remarkably similar situations to those in which they found themselves

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , and | 7 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: From David Laws to Andrew George – The Lib Dem rebellion league table

By NewsHound | Mon 19th December 2011 - 11:55 am

Over on Left Foot Forward, Mark Pack has blogged an infographic analysing the patterns of rebellion amongst Liberal Democrat MPs:

Liberal Democrat peers used to be in a remarkably privileged position in the party. Not only because they have held office without the pesky need for elections but also because for many years the third party in the House of Lords has been the key swing vote when the government has been wanting to get legislation through…

 helped by the primacy of the Commons, revolts by Liberal Democrat MPs which could cost the government its majority are now no longer the neglected,

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Posted in LibLink and Parliament | Tagged , and | 9 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink | Steve Webb fears poor rap for pensions

By NewsHound | Sun 20th November 2011 - 11:28 am

FTAdvisor.com reports:

Steve Webb MP has raised fears about pensions’ poor image and how low interest rates and quantitative easing have damaged annuities. The Pensions Minister, who said the government is going to use employers to promote pensions and auto-enrolment, described auto-enrolment as being like a Ming vase – “very precious, but very fragile”.

He added he wants to change perceptions and instil confidence in retirement planning to ensure that charges are not too high and that pensions offer value for money. He said: “We need to move from a system that’s fiendishly complicated, that still leaves millions of pensioners living in poverty, to one, ideally, where we have a single, simple, decent state pension on which people can build.” …

He also said quantitative easing has damaged pensions. When asked about concerns over annuity risk given low interest rates and quantitative easing, the Minister admitted to “an issue about volatility, not knowing what you are going to get and an issue about poor returns.”

You can see Steve’s interview with Saga’s Director-General Ros Altmann below:

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NewsHound

LibLink | In praise of… Shirley Williams

By NewsHound | Sun 20th November 2011 - 10:08 am

One of this week’s Guardian leader columns, ‘In praise of…’, was deservedly dedicated to Shirley Williams, a Lib Dem peer, founding member of the SDP, and former Labour education secretary. Here’s a snippet:

Forever running late, but with a warmth that ensures she’s forgiven, Williams has great faith in reasonable compromise. She has pursued a more softly-softly approach towards the dreadful health bill than we have advocated. But survivors of the SDP’s internecine wars recall a wily chair perfectly capable of calling a crunch vote when an awkward customer had gone to the loo, and it is too early to judge

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Thornsby – A simple change to the tax system could ease Britain’s economic woes

By NewsHound | Mon 24th October 2011 - 10:16 pm

Over on Comment is free, Nick Thornsby is arguing for income tax cuts:

Political leaders in the eurozone must sort out their problems – and there is finally some hope on that front. When it comes to inflation, while George Osborne’s options to tackle the problem itself may be limited, he can certainly take action to negate its effects on the people on whom it impacts most severely. One of the most effective things he could do is to let those on low and middle incomes keep more of the money they earn. The coalition agreement already commits the government to

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – Unsolved problems of individual electoral registration

By NewsHound | Thu 20th October 2011 - 10:25 am

Over on the Total Politics blog, Lib Dem Voice’s Mark Pack has been summarising the state of play with plans to move to individual electoral registration:

So far, the planned move from household to individual electoral registration in Great Britain (catching up with the changes made in Northern Ireland several years ago) has generated rather more political heat than light. But after the announcement from Nick Clegg at the last Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions that he is minded to part of the government’s plans, what is the outlook for the proposal?

Mark goes on to outline the three main issues, as you …

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack advises the party to be more like John Prescott

By NewsHound | Thu 22nd September 2011 - 9:50 am

Writing for the New Statesman, The Voice’s Mark Pack has picked an unusual role model for the Liberal Democrats:

What Prescott managed to do very successfully as a backbencher in the last years of the Labour government was both be a member of a party in power and also be consistently anti-establishment, especially in his attacks on some in the financial sector – and his mobilising of public support behind his campaigns.

For a party such as the Liberal Democrats who have such a strong tradition of anti-establishment ideology and campaigning, pulling off that combination now is all the more important. Or

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 2 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink | Norman Lamb: Lib Dems are helping to make Britain a fairer country

By NewsHound | Tue 20th September 2011 - 2:05 pm

Norman Lamb, Lib Dem MP for North Norfolk and political advisor to Nick Clegg, writes over at The Guardian about his view of how the party is delivering in government. First he defines the audience he is addressing: open-minded progressives:

For some on the left, the mere act of working with the Conservatives is a sin. We’ll never convince those people driven by hatred of the other tribe. But for progressives willing to examine the facts rationally, it is time to reassess the case. After all, 13 years of Labour government ultimately disappointed.

Norman then identifies two specific policy areas where he …

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 3 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink | Tim Farron: Community is our priority

By NewsHound | Mon 19th September 2011 - 1:52 pm

Over at The Guardian, Lib Dem president Tim Farron acknowledges the bumpy ride of the first 15 months of Coalition, and stresses the centrality of community politics to the party. Here’s an excerpt:

The Lib Dems have led the way in the practice of community politics since, serving local communities across Britain in a way that engages them in the political process. Community politicians immerse themselves in their communities – empowering people to take action over the issues they face rather than the alternative, where politics is “done to” communities. Community politics is not just what liberals do, it’s part of who they are.

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NewsHound

LibLink | David Laws: The Lib Dems must serve not as the government’s brake, but as its engine

By NewsHound | Mon 19th September 2011 - 12:05 pm

Over at the Guardian, Yeovil MP David Laws sets out his hopes for how the Coalition will be remembered by 2015 — as a movement for fixing the economy and promoting economic change with the Lib Dems in the vanguard of both. Here’s an excerpt:

We must use our precious years in government constructively, to reshape Britain – to sort out the economic mess, tackle Britain’s unfair and broken society, and clean up our environment. Securing growth and reducing bloated borrowing remain top priorities. We helped create “Plan A”, and we will stick with it. Now is not the time for

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – Some party rebellions are good for the leader

By NewsHound | Sun 18th September 2011 - 2:34 pm

The Voice’s Mark Pack has been guesting over at the New Statesman again, this time pointing out how there are some party rebels Nick Clegg may rather welcome:

Political pundits go on endlessly about how leaders should have “Clause 4 moments” when they pick a fight with parts of their own parties. In this case, the reluctant have handily offered themselves up in opposition to Nick Clegg and democrats, providing an easy route for the Deputy Prime Minister to garner the benefits of a Clause 4 moment without its usual pains.

You can read Mark’s post about Lib Dem conference …

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NewsHound

LibLink: Simon Hughes – It’s our job to rein in the ruthless Tories

By NewsHound | Sun 18th September 2011 - 9:55 am

Today’s Observer carries an interview with Simon Hughes:

At a time when the Tory right is pressing David Cameron ever harder to follow its agenda and trample on the Lib Dems, Hughes is acting as his party’s, and the coalition’s, left-wing brake. “I think the useful role I can play is to be a guardian of the policy and traditions of the left of the party,” he says…

Hughes has a strong message for such Tories as they demand a more eurosceptic agenda and the end of the 50p rate of tax for those earning more than £150,000. He describes them as

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 5 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Rennard and Webb in the Saturday papers

By NewsHound | Sat 17th September 2011 - 4:36 pm

A double dose of LibLink love with two pieces to highlight.

First, an op-ed from (Lord) Chris Rennard for The Guardian with a lesson from history for the Liberal Democrats:

leaves the Liberal Democrats shaken by the drop in poll support but not entirely surprised by it. My view is that the drop in support should not be regarded as inevitable on polling day in 2015. In December 1996, the Lib Dems were suffering from too close an association with Labour and a poll rating below 10%. Analysis of the new parliamentary boundaries showed that the Lib Dems were down to

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – How the health bill will be handled at conference

By NewsHound | Mon 12th September 2011 - 6:21 pm

Over on his work blog, The Voice’s Mark Pack has written about how the health issue is likely to be handled at party conference:

The plan for the party’s autumn conference was straight-forward: talk up the party’s achievements in getting the Health and Social Care Bill changed, have a question & answer session to let people discuss but not disrupt the revised legislation and move on to talk about other issues.

That plan has been under assault, however, from health rebels within the Liberal Democrats who do not believe the changes have gone far enough.

You can read Mark’s post here.

Posted in Conference and LibLink | Tagged and | 13 Comments
NewsHound

Danny Alexander suggests £12,500 income tax threshold

By NewsHound | Thu 8th September 2011 - 12:13 pm

Danny Alexander MP has argued in an interview in this week’s New Statesman magazine that he would like to “push further” eventually on raising the income tax threshold higher than the planned £10,000.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview, published in the Staggers:

From the Treasury perspective, the main Lib Dem contribution to government has been the plan to raise the income-tax threshold to £10,000 by the end of the parliament. Alexander is very attached to this policy as a way of compensating people on low incomes for the cuts. “I think it’s a direction that we will want to

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NewsHound

LibLink: Shirley Williams – Why this flawed bill threatens the very future of the NHS

By NewsHound | Sun 4th September 2011 - 6:32 pm

Writing in today’s Observer, Liberal Democrat peer Shirley Williams says:

As the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill has ground on, the doubts and questions that accompany it have become ever more difficult to address. This is a bill that has been subjected to a listening exercise, extensive consultation and a report by Steve Field, chairman of the Future Forum, redrafting by Parliament, more than 100 hours of debate, and dedicated efforts by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, and the Liberal Democrat minister of state for social care, Paul Burstow, to amend it to meet the worries Lib

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – The missing ingredient from Liberal Democrat conference

By NewsHound | Thu 1st September 2011 - 9:28 am

The Voice’s Mark Pack has been guesting over on the Huffington Post again, this time writing about what he thinks is missing from the Birmingham conference agenda:

There are many weighty issues on the agenda for the Liberal Democrat autumn conference in Birmingham, as well as some potentially significant debates overthe party’s medium term strategy and policy outlook. There is also, however, a curious omission: tax.

The word tax is not completely absent from the agenda, but aside from a reference in one motion calling for the party to look at its tax policy as part of a big policy review, there

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Posted in Conference and LibLink | Tagged and | 7 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink | Tom Brake MP: Yes, we are bringing an end to the detention of child refugees

By NewsHound | Thu 11th August 2011 - 1:30 pm

One of the Lib Dems’ key 2010 election manifesto pledges was that child detention in immigration centres would be ended. A year after Tom Brake MP welcomed this Lib Dem policy being adopted by the Coalition government, he has written for The Guardian to highlight how the policy is improving the lives of those young and innocent victims who were treated so disgracefully by the Labour government:

The current practices with regard to children awaiting deportation cannot be – and should not be – in any way compared to the shameful past. Children are no longer held for weeks,

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LibLink | Brian Paddick: Police must show there is no bias against black people

By NewsHound | Wed 10th August 2011 - 2:55 pm

Former deputy assistant commissioner of the Metroplolitan police, and current contender to become the Lib Dem candidate for Mayor of London, Brian Paddick has written for The Independent on the need for our law-enforcers to re-earn the trust of the capital’s balck community. Recounting his own experiences of policing London on the front-line over the decades, Brian writes:

I was a sergeant on the streets during the 1981 Brixton riots. Together with 10 officers hiding behind our plastic shields, we became the focus for community hatred, pelted with bricks and broken paving slabs. The police and the community tried to rebuild some kind of relationship – it took a long time. Twenty years later I became the police commander there. After 15 months, when I was moved out of Brixton, there were protests – it had been quite a turnaround from 1981. Do the people of Tottenham have to wait 20 years for the weekend’s scars to heal?

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NewsHound

LibLink | Stephen Tall: Would you hire someone without interviewing them?

By NewsHound | Thu 28th July 2011 - 2:55 pm

Stephen Tall has an article over at Dale & Co on the Hughes Report on Access to Higher Education, which he previously outlined here on Lib Dem Voice.

Stephen comments:

However, there is one recommendation in ‘The Hughes Report’ with which I take issue:

It is my firm view that interviews which are conducted by an academic who will end up teaching that particular student are too subjective. … interviews should be conducted by trained admissions personnel who will not have face to face teaching responsibilities for the interviewee. (p.33)

It’s an odd comment for two reasons. First, it

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – It’s back to 1993 for the Liberal Democrats

By NewsHound | Fri 6th May 2011 - 1:21 pm

Over on his work blog, The Voice’s Mark Pack is using 1993 as the yardstick to judge this year’s elections results by:

The year 1993 is turning out to be the benchmark for the Liberal Democrat performance in Thursday’s elections. Though no-one (including myself) was talking of 1993 before Thursday, two numbers both point to that year.

First, it looks as if the proportion of local councillors who are Liberal Democrat will be back to 1993 levels once the final results are in today. Second, the April ICM poll put the party  on 15% – the same figure as in April 1993,

…

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