Author Archives: Nick T

Nick T

LibLink: Simon Hughes – Make university an option for all

By Nick T | Tue 2nd August 2011 - 1:54 pm

Simon Hughes, Lib Dem deputy leader and author of The Hughes Report on access to higher education, recently had an op-ed in the Daily Express outlining the thoughts he sets out in that report.

Here’s a sample:

Last week I submitted my report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, with more than 30 recommendations on what can be done to improve access to higher education.

These do not focus only on university admissions but on what can be done to encourage young people to think about university from an early age.

This is crucial because from the age of 13 children

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Nick T

“From hero to zero and back again” – Vince Cable profiled in the Independent on Sunday

By Nick T | Mon 1st August 2011 - 10:27 am

Yesterday’s Independent on Sunday featured a profile of business secretary Vince Cable. Vince’s stock certainly appears to risen in recent weeks, his reputation for prescience partially restored by the woes of the Murdoch empire.

But it is his real passion – economics – on which the piece focuses. With the spending review and tuition fees out of the way, what can Vince and his department do to improve the lackluster growth figures?

Well, George Osborne has his Plan A, but Vince has his Plan A+:

“Plan A+ is about really mobilising growth, thinking outside the box, not breaking your fiscal rules –

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Nick T

LDVideo: Clegg and Huppert on phone-hacking

By Nick T | Fri 22nd July 2011 - 11:03 am

Below you can see a video produced by the national party of Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert, talking to the deputy prime minister about the phone-hacking scandal.

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Nick T

LibLink: Mark Pack – What you see isn’t what you get with online politics

By Nick T | Tue 19th July 2011 - 3:25 pm

Over on Huffington Post, Mark Pack has a piece looking at the way US Republican presidential hopefuls are using technology in their campaigns, and at the difficulties of judging online activities from the ‘outside’, given the often hidden nature of much of it.

Here’s an excerpt:

The old days of ‘count the features and say those with the most are the best’ are, thankfully, long gone when it comes to political Internet campaigning. As is common with many technological areas as they mature, after the initial proliferation of features and services, the real success and progress comes with technology that is hidden

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Nick T

LibLink: Tim Farron – The phone-hacking stench will linger

By Nick T | Mon 11th July 2011 - 5:27 pm

Yesterday’s Independent on Sunday featured an op-ed by Liberal Democrat party president, Tim Farron, on the ongoing phone-hacking scandal. Tim makes the point that while both Labour and the Conservatives (Labservatives, anyone?) spent much time and effort ingratiating themselves with News International in all its guises, the Liberal Democrats resisted any such activity.

Here’s a sample:

Labour and the Conservatives spent decades cosying up to Rupert Murdoch and his cronies in the hope of an endorsement or a favourable headline. The Liberal Democrats did not.

What David Cameron, Tony Blair or Gordon Brown knew about the practices of the newspapers they sought to

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Nick T

LibLink: Mark Pack – The secret concessions behind the 1911 Parliament Act

By Nick T | Thu 7th July 2011 - 5:53 pm

Before he departed for his blogging holiday, The Voice’s Mark Pack had an interesting piece on the Total Politics site looking at the 100-year history of the 1911 Parliament Act.

Here’s an extract from Mark’s piece:

The 1911 Act had its immediate cause in the 1909 People’s Budget from Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, which raised taxes for the richest to pay for military armaments and social works. As he put it:

“This is a war Budget. It is for raising money to wage implacable warfare against poverty and squalidness.”

The sums now seem modest – including the equivalent in today’s

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Nick T

LibLink: Lord Tyler – Restore teeth to the Lords

By Nick T | Tue 5th July 2011 - 5:21 pm

Lib Dem peer Lord (Paul) Tyler recently took to the Guardian’s Comment Is Free along with Labour’s Lord (Andrew) Adonis with a joint piece arguing that their fellow members of the House of Lords should back proposals to reform the second chamber.

Here’s a sample:

Any objection that reform is taking place with undue haste will not stand up to scrutiny. It is now 100 years since the passage of the Parliament Act, which states the intention to substitute the Lords with “a second chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis, but such substitution cannot be immediately brought into operation”.

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Nick T

LibLink: Chris Rennard – A fox in the House of Lords

By Nick T | Tue 28th June 2011 - 4:24 pm

Lords of the Blog has a new contributor: Lord (Chris) Rennard, Lib Dem peer and former chief executive of the party. And in his maiden post, Lord Rennard explains why, even after having sat in the place since 1999, he still feels passionately about the necessity for the second chamber’s reform.

Here’s an excerpt:

New visitors to the House usually meet me at Peers’ entrance and often ask fairly quickly about Lords reform.  I point immediately to the progress made since I became a peer in 1999.  I proudly show them my coat peg in the cloakroom and explain that it

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Nick T

LibLink: Julian Astle – The alchemists of liberalism have left their parties behind

By Nick T | Mon 27th June 2011 - 6:54 pm

Over at the Guardian, former Paddy Ashdown advisor Julian Astle has an interesting (but controversial) piece in which he argues that there is a ‘secret club’ of cross-party, centrist, liberal-minded reformers at the heart of British politics, who have run the country for the 15 of the last 18 years.

Here’s a sample:

Consider the ease with which the Lib Dems and Conservative leaderships put together a radical coalition agreement. Or the extent to which that agreement builds on the agenda pursued by the Blairites in their second and third terms. “Reform” in welfare, schools, higher education funding

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Nick T

David Laws interviewed in the FT

By Nick T | Mon 20th June 2011 - 4:55 pm

This weekend’s Financial Times magazine featured (registration required) a lengthy interview with Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil, David Laws, by the paper’s political editor, George Parker.

David is extremely open about his personal life in the interview, talking about the effect of what he calls the “triple bashing” he underwent (having his previously-much-guarded personal life exposed by The Daily Telegraph during the course of an expenses story for which he later received a Commons suspension, as well as losing his newly-found Cabinet career).

Here’s a sample:

Laws looks back on the 44 years before May 28 2010 as if it was another life: “Your

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Nick T

Where next for Lib Dem ‘muscular liberalism’?

By Nick T | Mon 20th June 2011 - 10:25 am

Over on the BBC News site, BBC political correspondent Norman Smith has written a piece looking at how the Liberal Democrats will continue to exert their influence in a more public way within the coalition after the combined effect of the AV referendum, the local election results and the success of the party’s push to re-think the NHS reforms.

As Norman says:

From the top to the bottom of the party, there is a hankering for clear yellow lines running through government policy.

However, where those lines should be drawn to best reassert the Lib Dems’ independence, is much harder to agree.

There …

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Nick T

LibLink: Mark Pack – Lords reform: three tests for three party leaders

By Nick T | Sun 12th June 2011 - 8:57 am

Over on the Total Politics website, Mark Pack has a piece looking at what the coalition’s plans for reforming the House of Lords means for each of the three party leaders:

For each of them Lords reform offers both an opportunity and a threat. For David Cameron the opportunity is to push on with his mission to change the Conservative Party, modernising it in a continuing effort to shed the problems that have resulted in nearly 20 years passing since it last won an overall majority. Many in the Conservative Party, especially in the Lords, are opposed to the introduction of

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Nick T

Opinion: Time for that Lib Dem tax cut in full?

By Nick T | Fri 10th June 2011 - 10:55 am

“Under a Liberal Democrat government, you will not have to pay any income tax on the first £10,000 you earn.”

So said the manifesto on which we fought last year’s election. And while we didn’t get a Liberal Democrat government, we did get the policy.

The coalition agreement commits the government to making real terms steps each year towards the target of £10,000, kicked off by an initial increase of £1000, benefiting the low paid by £200 this year.

But should we be moving faster?

Recent economic growth has, of course, been weaker than expected – no surprise given the circumstances. The events of …

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Nick T

Q&A with new Lib Dem AM William Powell

By Nick T | Sat 4th June 2011 - 12:55 pm

Over on the BBC website, William Powell, a newly elected member of the Welsh Assembly, has taken part in a Q&A to introduce some of the new AMs elected in May.

Here’s a sample:

Why stand for the assembly?To be a strong liberal voice for Mid and West Wales, including the old Liberal heartlands in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire

Most frustrating thing about your first week as an AM?Negotiating the maze of corridors in the assembly buildings – no prizes for my orienteering so far

What’s your poison?Whipping Tree Ale, best-selling ale from the Rotter’s micro-brewery in Talgarth

First record you bought?Max Boyce – Live at

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Nick T

The country’s youngest councillor talks about his new role

By Nick T | Fri 3rd June 2011 - 3:55 pm

May’s local elections witnessed the election of the country’s youngest councillor as a Liberal Democrat in Ashfield. Councillor Tom Hollis got involved with the party during Jason Zadrozny’s very nearly successful general election campaign last year and, by the sounds of things, worked extremely hard to get himself elected in May.

The Mansfield and Ashfield Chad has an interview with Tom over on their website – here’s an excerpt:

After joining the Lib Dems, Tom helped the party deliver leaflets before Coun Zadrozny put him forward as an election candidate.

Describing the gruelling campaign, Tom says: “I would get up at 5.30am

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Nick T

LibLink: James Graham – Liberal – but not so democratic in the Lords

By Nick T | Thu 2nd June 2011 - 3:25 pm

Over on the Guardian’s Comment Is Free site, Lib Dem blogger James Graham has a piece arguing that if the party wants to demonstrate its commitment to reforming the House of Lords, we should start by stopping the appointment of additional peers.

Here’s a sample:

Nowhere are the flaws of political appointment more apparent than in the Liberal Democrat party in the House of Lords. Not only are Lib Dem peers handpicked by their leader (in theory, the leader is restricted in his choice; the reality is somewhat different), they are self-selecting. You are either

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Nick T

LibLink: Mark Pack – What should happen to an MP who is voted out of office?

By Nick T | Wed 1st June 2011 - 2:55 pm

Over on Left Foot Forward, The Voice’s Mark Pack has a piece highlighting the common, but outrageously undemocratic, practice of appointing defeated MPs to the House of Lords – just one of the many reasons that the second chamber needs thorough reform. And with those with a vested interest already lining up to oppose any changes, Mark makes the point that it is crucial that a grassroots group of reformers unite behind the finalised proposals, rather than making the mistake of opposing some reform because it is not total reform.

Here’s an excerpt:

I can go to a polling station, vote

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Nick T

Nick Harvey profiled in Total Politics

By Nick T | Tue 31st May 2011 - 1:27 pm

Last month’s Total Politics magazine featured a profile of Liberal Democrat Armed Forces Minister, Nick Harvey. The piece looks at Nick’s life before politics, his time as a pre-coalition MP, and the various issues that now end up on his desk as a minister in the Department of Defence.

Here’s a sample:

“This is a difficult and challenging time for the Ministry of Defence and it’s vital that we meet the needs of our service personnel,” said Nick Harvey following his appointment as Minister for the Armed Forces in May 2010. At a time of unprecedented budgetary constraints it promises to be

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Nick T

The Independent On Sunday: Chris Huhne is a tenacious fighter for an important cause

By Nick T | Mon 30th May 2011 - 6:55 pm

Yesterday’s Independent on Sunday carried an editorial devoted to the energy secretary, Chris Huhne. While acknowledging that Huhne has had some personal difficulties over the past few weeks, the newspaper praises him for the (often unnoticed) work he has been doing to realise this government’s ambition to be the greenest ever. And, considering he’s only been in place for just over a year, his achievements to date are already commendable.

Here’s an extract from the piece:

In all this speculation about whether Mr Huhne would keep his job, however, one consideration has been almost totally overlooked. How well has he

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Nick T

Chris Rennard: Fill in the blanks of the Big Society

By Nick T | Sun 29th May 2011 - 12:25 pm

Acevo’s Big Society Commission, chaired by Liberal Democrat peer Lord (Chris) Rennard, has now produced its final report into the subject, entitled ‘Powerful people, responsible society’. The report calls on the prime minister to “take the reins” of the policy to articulate a much clearer vision of what the concept means.

Interestingly, the Commission came up with the following vision of what the big society means to them:

Our own vision is a society in which power and responsibility have shifted: one in which, at every level in our national life, individuals and communities have more aspiration, power and capacity to take decisions

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Nick T

LibLink: Mark Pack – Lib Dems Must Not Ditch Commitment To Political Reform

By Nick T | Sat 28th May 2011 - 10:25 am

Over at The Holmes Report website, Lib Dem Voice’s Mark Pack has a piece setting out how the Liberal Democrats should approach the issue of political reform in the wake of the substantial defeat for reformers in the AV referendum. Here’s an extract from Mark’s piece:

It would be a mistake for Liberal Democrats (or indeed reformers in the Conservative Party’s ranks) to conclude from the referendum result that all political reform should now be side-lined. The referendum No vote was not a vote of confidence in our political system. Politicians continue to be one of the least respected professions in

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Nick T

LibLink: Julian Astle – The report every school reformer should read

By Nick T | Fri 27th May 2011 - 6:35 pm

Over on his blog at The Telegraph, former director of the Centre Forum think tank, Julian Astle, highlights a report by researchers at the London School of Economics looking into the effect of academies. The findings are good news for supporters of greater autonomy for schools, and one of the (perhaps surprising) conclusions of the analysis is that academies don’t just raise standards for the pupils that attend them, but also for surrounding schools, even as they lose pupils to the new academies.

Here’s what the report has to say on that last point, followed by a brief conclusion from Julian:

“In

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Nick T

Better news for Chris Huhne; more bad news for Guido

By Nick T | Fri 27th May 2011 - 11:43 am

Here’s what Guido eagerly reported yesterday:

Hot on the revelation that Vicky Pryce has signed an affidavit confessing to have taken Chris Huhne’s points…

But today comes a complete volte-face:

Guido understands that both the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday have evidence that is not in the form of a “sworn affidavit” as was claimed yesterday by rivals the Telegraph.

I think that’s the closest Guido ever comes to saying, “I was wrong”.

Meanwhile, there appears to be some better news for Chris Huhne in today’s Telegraph, who are reporting that his ex-wife, Vicky Pryce, is now refusing to confirm to the police …

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Nick T

Mike Tuffrey interviewed at The Guardian

By Nick T | Thu 19th May 2011 - 10:53 am

Over on Dave Hill’s London Blog at The Guardian, there’s an interview with London assembly member Mike Tuffrey. The piece touches on a whole range of interesting topics and is well worth a read, but here’s a short extract in the meantime:

Lack of ambition, in his view, has marked the first eleven years of mayoral rule. He credits Boris with engendering lots of small scale activity but, “When I stand back and ask what it really adds up to, I only give him five out of ten.” He thinks Ken Livingstone’s terms came up short too. “We have a

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Nick T

LibLink: Shirley Williams – The line the Lib Dems won’t cross on the NHS

By Nick T | Wed 18th May 2011 - 10:27 am

Over at The Guardian, Baroness Shirley Williams has a piece setting out the problems she has with the government’s proposed NHS reforms, and four substantive changes that the Liberal Democrats would like to see made.

Here’s a sample:

First, the role of the secretary of state: as the excellent fifth report of the House of Commons health committee pointed out, the public, who pay for the NHS, look to the secretary of state to be responsible for the delivery of a comprehensive health service, one that is equitable, accessible to all, and free at the time of use. The National Commissioning Board will

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Nick T

David Cameron’s support for an elected House of Lords

By Nick T | Tue 17th May 2011 - 8:17 pm

On the day the coalition announces its proposals for reforming the House of Lords to make it more efficient and accountable, it’s worth highlighting the support for such reforms expressed by the Prime Minister in last year’s first debate between the three party leaders.

It’s often said that David Cameron is at best ambivalent about House of Lords reform, but he is quite clear in his view in this video clip:

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Nick T

LibLink: Podcast – Mark Pack on the coalition’s first year

By Nick T | Sat 14th May 2011 - 6:34 pm

Over at The Guardian, The Voice’s own Mark Pack has taken part in a discussion with Hugh Muir and Martin Wainwright of The Guardian and Conservative Home’s Harry Phibbs to mark the first anniversary of the formation of the coalition. The discussion touches on most of the high and low points of the last year, and the views of the contributors as to whether the government will last its full term through to 2015.

The discussion, as well as contributions from voters in both Nick Clegg’s and David Cameron’s constituencies, is available to listen to as a podcast at The Guardian …

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Nick T

LibLink: Chris Huhne – No reform now means bigger reform later

By Nick T | Fri 13th May 2011 - 3:55 pm

The Independent on Sunday featured an article by Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, arguing that, while the AV referendum result was clearly a setback for electoral reformers, the pressures that still exist within the system will at some point make change inevitable. Now that such a change has been delayed, Chris argues, when the time for reform does come again, it will be on a much bigger scale than the relatively modest reform that AV would have been.

Here’s a sample:

The problems to which electoral reformers are responding have not gone away and will continue to demand an answer. British society

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Nick T

LibLink: Julian Astle – Is Nick Clegg’s time as Lib Dem leader coming to an end?

By Nick T | Tue 10th May 2011 - 12:54 pm

Is Nick Clegg’s time as Lib Dem leader coming to an end? Over on his Telegraph blog, Julian Astle poses a question which undoubtedly deserves a place on John Rentoul’s list of Questions To Which The Answer Is No – while also answering another QTWTAIN which others have posed.

And here’s why Julian think Clegg is here to stay:

First, the coalition is supported by the political equivalent of the “automatic stabilisers” which ensure that the weaker the coalition partners become, the stronger the coalition gets. Why? Because just as turkeys don’t vote for Christmas, so politicians don’t  trigger general elections if they

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Nick T

LibLink: David Allen Green – What the Liberal Democrats should do next

By Nick T | Mon 9th May 2011 - 6:25 pm

Over on his New Statesman blog, lawyer and Liberal Democrat member, David Allen Green, has posted a piece setting out his thoughts as to what the Liberal Democrats should do now to avoid another round of election results like the one we have just experienced.

Here’s an excerpt:

If the Liberal Democrats are to be a serious party in respect of central government, there are two things to be done. First, they need to be more realistic and consistent in what they campaign for: manifestoes and pledges now need to practical and attainable. The luxury of striking populist poses is for

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