Author Archives: Paul Walter

Paul Walter

Some newspapers’ attitude to refugees is downright disgraceful and un-British

By Paul Walter | Mon 31st August 2015 - 11:10 am

Friday 28th August. News came through of an horrific discovery in Austria. 71 refugees, including three children and one baby, were found dead in a lorry there. Adding to a very grim day, reports emerged that a boat packed with refugees had sunk off the coast of Libya, with 200 people feared dead.

One would have thought that such a double humanitarian disaster would have softened the heart of the most hardened Fleet Street editor.

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Posted in News | 73 Comments
Paul Walter

Walter James, last surviving Liberal Party candidate from the 1945 General Election, dies aged 103

By Paul Walter | Sat 29th August 2015 - 3:56 pm

The Times (£) has reported the death of Walter James, who was the Liberal Party candidate for Bury in the 1945 General Election. As such, he is thought to be the last Liberal candidate from 1945 to pass on, leaving, it is believed, just two candidates surviving from that election, both of them from the Labour party: Denis Healey and Jeremy Hutchinson, now Baron Hutchinson of Lullington.

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Posted in News and Obituaries | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Paul Walter

Sexual harassment and assault of women on trains must be taken more seriously

By Paul Walter | Sat 29th August 2015 - 11:05 am

I am rather embarrassed when I see members of my own gender rushing into comments threads about women’s rights/safety with “This is sexist against men”/”What about men/everybody”-type comments.

A) It’s boring. B) It’s embarrassing. Do they not realise how stupid they look?

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 24 Comments
Paul Walter

Conference Countdown 2015: Human Rights motion – we need to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water

By Paul Walter | Fri 28th August 2015 - 9:42 am

As many will know, there is an excellent motion on Human Rights to be debated at the Bournemouth conference. I have set out the motion below this post.

I have one query which readers may be to help me with.

It pertains to this section of the motion:

Conference resolves to:
…C. Retain the Human Rights Act unless it is replaced with a Bill of Rights which incorporates and builds on those rights set out in the ECHR and oppose any attempts by Conservatives to introduce a British Bill of Rights which does not achieve this.

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 16 Comments
Paul Walter

How would Jeremy Corbyn actually lead the Labour party?

By Paul Walter | Tue 25th August 2015 - 2:30 pm

It was bad enough watching Ed Miliband rather out of his depth as leader of the Labour party. He seemed to sit back in his study quite a lot, talking with his inner circle. He did quite well at PMQs sometimes. But you got the impression that he wasn’t really fully in charge. This was made worse by unfortunate (and somewhat irrelevant) incidents such as the bacon sandwich episode.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 64 Comments
Paul Walter

Disgraceful attitude to mental health disguised by the warm words of Iain Duncan-Smith

By Paul Walter | Mon 24th August 2015 - 8:37 pm

Listening to Iain Duncan-Smith can be enough to send anyone to sleep. He drones on and one can be lulled into thinking he is being quite reasonable.

However, behind his warm words, there is a chilling attitude to disabilities and particularly to mental illness.

He seems to be saying: There must be something you can do if you are suffering from depression.

And: If we start cutting your benefits, that’ll act as a little nudge to push you gently into work.

Blimey. What planet does he live on?

Having had a little experience of mental illness and those suffering from such long-term disabilities, I have to say that none of this washes.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 17 Comments
Paul Walter

LibLink: Tim Farron – ‘There is only one opposition now – and it’s not Labour’

By Paul Walter | Sun 23rd August 2015 - 9:54 am

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Tim Farron raises prospect of a repeat of Labour’s disastrous 1981 split. He pitches for the LibDems to replace Labour as the only credible opposition to the Tories:

With just 20 days before Labour chooses its new leader, many who believe Britain needs a strong Opposition are holding their heads in their hands.

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , , and | 71 Comments
Paul Walter

Duwayne Brooks pulls out of London mayoral selection

By Paul Walter | Wed 19th August 2015 - 10:42 pm

ITV News reports that Duwayne Brooks “has pulled out of the race to be London’s next mayor”. The report continues:

Brooks, a former Lewisham councillor, was named today as one of two Lib Dems on the party’s shortlist along with London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon.

But the Liberal Democrats then revealed he was no longer taking part in the contest because of his role in a review of stop and search by police in Northamptonshire.

“Unfortunately Duwayne Brooks has since withdrawn from the Mayoral selection owing to a new professional commitment with a Police Authority which prevents him from going forward.”
– Liberal Democrat statement

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 33 Comments
Paul Walter

Lib Dems on 22% in ICM poll – from our archive

By Paul Walter | Wed 19th August 2015 - 11:00 am

Liberal Democrat Voice has a fantastic archive of posts going back to our establishment in 2006. Here’s an interesting article from our Founding Editor, which was published in October 2006. You can read the post in its original form, with the title “There is no news today”, with comments, here. Rob, our Founding Editor, made a thing about not writing about polls. So, in his amusing way, he didn’t do this poll, but, er, he did do it. Anyway, it is quite eye-watering to look back and see us on 22%!

Guardian 3There is no news today on account of the fact that I do not do polls.

Someone do something. Please.

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Posted in From the LDV Archive | Tagged | 12 Comments
Paul Walter

Cameron’s hot air on seagulls

By Paul Walter | Wed 19th August 2015 - 9:30 am

It’s a problem that’s been going on for at least a century. Seagulls, seagulls and more seagulls in towns. In some places, such as St Ives, Cornwall, the local seagulls seem to have evolved to be particularly skilfull at nicking sandwiches out of “emmets'” tourists’ hands just as they leave the baker’s shop. They swoop from, apparently nowhere, and snatch food. Icecreams are a seagull speciality. The gulls know where the icecream shops are, they know which roofs to sit on, poised. They know exactly when to swoop to grab some poor unsuspecting child’s icecream. (And it is quite a frightening experience for the child and its parents).

The problem is that seagulls are a protected species. They tend to be reasonably protected from predators. Many attempts have been made to curb them in towns, but the problem rumbles on, year after year.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 23 Comments
Paul Walter

When politics gets so serious that politeness gets thrown to one side

By Paul Walter | Tue 18th August 2015 - 12:00 pm

I’ve been in the Liberal party/Liberal Democrats for 25 years. I am happy to say that I have great friends and colleagues in the party and it is a pleasure to work alongside them. 99.99999 recurring % of Lib Dems are unfailingly joyous to deal with.

But I feel I ought to observe that there is a minuscule number of people who have hearts of gold, have the noblest of intentions, but don’t seem to realize that they are not observing basic politeness.

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 24 Comments
Paul Walter

Are you a teenager or first year student just about to go away? – you may need to get vaccinated for the main Meningitis types

By Paul Walter | Mon 17th August 2015 - 2:15 pm

The NHS is providing a free vaccine for certain strains of meningitis to teenagers, sixth-formers and all first-year students who are starting college or university this autumn. All you need to do is contact your GP surgery to arrange a jab, if medically appropriate.

The NHS Choices website says:

Young teenagers, sixth formers and ‘fresher’ students going to university for the first time are now routinely offered a vaccination to prevent meningitis W disease.

The Men ACWY vaccine protects against four different causes of meningitis and septicaemia – meningococcal (Men) A, C, W and Y diseases.

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Posted in News | Tagged | 10 Comments
Paul Walter

Do the Liberal Democrat Voice team choose the adverts on this site?

By Paul Walter | Mon 17th August 2015 - 11:15 am

We are often asked if we directly control the adverts which appear on Liberal Democrat Voice.

We do have a policy on adverts as follows:

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Posted in News | Tagged | 14 Comments
Paul Walter

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #427

By Paul Walter | Sun 16th August 2015 - 7:35 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 427th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (9-15 August, 2015), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 2 Comments
Paul Walter

The stars and stripes flying in Havana top a list of significant achievements by Barack Obama

By Paul Walter | Sun 16th August 2015 - 3:00 pm

I was toddling around in nappies when the US flag was taken down in Havana in January 1961. The decision to break off diplomatic relations between the USA and Cuba was taken a day earlier by President Eisenhower. So started a period of frozen relationships between the two neighbours which included years of trade embargoes.

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Posted in News and Op-eds | 26 Comments
Paul Walter

LibLink: Julian Huppert on 1984, the Telecommunications Act and the crucial need for scrutiny of its use

By Paul Walter | Sun 16th August 2015 - 1:00 pm

GCHQ Bude by Paul WalterOver on Open Democracy, our old friend Julian Huppert writes an excellent piece on his work as an MP looking at the scrutiny of UK state surveillance. He points to the 1984 (yes really) Telecommunications Act and the little debated clause 94 which gives the relevant Secretary of State virtually limitless powers to order telecoms companies to do anything without any parliamentary scrutiny.

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Paul Walter

David Laws peerage “blocked” – plus new Liberal Democrat House of Lords members speculation

By Paul Walter | Sat 15th August 2015 - 5:40 pm

David Laws speaking at Lib Dem Spring conference, Liverpool 2008

The Times (£) reports that former Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has nominated former Yeovil MP, David Laws, for elevation to the House of Lords. However, it adds:

His nomination for a peerage was blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission, chaired by an independent peer, Lord Kakkar.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 83 Comments
Paul Walter

LibLink: Lord Carlile – UK must speak up against sharp rise of executions in Iran

By Paul Walter | Sat 15th August 2015 - 4:40 pm

Stop executions in Iran protest Trafalgar square by helen.2006 or helen61 CCL on FlickrWriting on PoliticsHome, Alex (Lord) Carlile calls on the British government to condemn the situation in Iran, where there have been just short of 700 executions this year:

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , and | 8 Comments
Paul Walter

Nine seats held, nine seats gained since May 8th #libdemfightback

By Paul Walter | Sat 15th August 2015 - 2:10 pm

Well Done image (Aug 14 - website)
The Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC) has been a fundamental engine of Liberal Democrat growth. Now, more than ever, they have a crucial role to play in helping to lead the Liberal Democrat fightback. And they have recently stepped up to the plate in spectacular style with their By-election HQ. This is a newly launched service which is a one-stop go-to website for all of us to find out information about council by-elections across the country. These are an essential way for the party to grow back.

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Posted in Council by-elections | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Paul Walter

LibLink: Tim Farron – After 100 days, the penny is well and truly dropping on how hard Lib Dems fought in government

By Paul Walter | Fri 14th August 2015 - 10:15 am

On Huffington Post, Tim Farron writes:

We’re 100 days into a Tory government and, let’s be honest, they have been fairly clear on what they’re about. Unfortunately, for the majority of us across the UK – those of us who didn’t vote Tory – it doesn’t look pretty.

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 26 Comments
Paul Walter

When a cabinet minister can’t open a door – from our archive

By Paul Walter | Thu 13th August 2015 - 2:15 pm

Liberal Democrat Voice has a fantastic archive of posts going back to our establishment in 2006. Here’s an interesting article from The Voice, which was published in October 2006. You can read the post in its original form, with comments, here:

There is a set of stairs in the mother of all Parliaments. At the top is the committee corridor, and the office of the leader of the Liberal Democrats. In the middle, is the MP’s tea room, and at the bottom, is the most popular restaurant in the palace. It is a busy set of stairs.

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Posted in From the LDV Archive | Tagged | 6 Comments
Paul Walter

New members declare why they are liberal on Twitter #libdemnewbies #imliberal

By Paul Walter | Thu 13th August 2015 - 12:42 pm

This is a great sort of viral sort of thing. You can join in with the hashtag #imliberal and/or #libdemnewbies.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Paul Walter

LibLink: Norman Baker – with the LibDems reduced to a “pile of rubble”, we’re in danger of sleepwalking into a one party state

By Paul Walter | Thu 13th August 2015 - 11:15 am

Writing in the Independent, Norman Baker details a number of reasons why we are “sleepwalking into a one-nation state”, concluding as follows:

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 124 Comments
Paul Walter

Shirley Williams predicts Labour MPs could come together with Lib Dems if Corbyn wins

By Paul Walter | Thu 13th August 2015 - 9:42 am

Speaking to the Huffington Post, Shirley Williams recalls the formation of the SDP in 1981, a key reason for which was the decision of left-wing Labour to campaign to take Britain out of the EEC:

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Posted in News | Tagged | 69 Comments
Paul Walter

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #426

By Paul Walter | Sun 9th August 2015 - 7:41 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 426th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (2-8 August, 2015), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 2 Comments
Paul Walter

Calais: a sharp contrast in approach

By Paul Walter | Sun 9th August 2015 - 1:37 pm

Philip Hammond, the British Foreign Secretary, has made some comments about the Calais situation, reported in the Telegraph:

Millions of African migrants pose a threat to the standard of living and social structure of the UK and the rest of Europe, the Foreign Secretary has warned.

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Posted in News | Tagged | 20 Comments
Paul Walter

EU “No” campaign: It’s all about Nigel

By Paul Walter | Fri 31st July 2015 - 11:05 am

Yesterday was a good opportunity for someone leading the EU referendum “No” campaign to make a mark. You know the sort of thing, a bit of EU bashing and announcing a countrywide campaign. A bit of “no brainer”.

Incredibly, Nigel Farage decided to take a really peculiar tack on Today and other outlets:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 6 Comments
Paul Walter

A great holiday read from the cheeky chappie of politics

By Paul Walter | Thu 30th July 2015 - 12:45 pm

alan johnson bookPlease Mister Postman by Alan Johnson is a great book to take on holiday with you, if you haven’t already read it. It’s now available in paperback, published by Corgi Books for a cover price of £8.99, although you can get it for less.

There are two types of memoirs by politicians: boring self-justification and interesting, good reads. Johnson’s writings are firmly in the second category, along there with Alan Clark, Chris Mullin and Paddy Ashdown (“A Fortunate Life”). Very often the early days of a politician are the most interesting – as was the case with John Major’s auto-biography.

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Posted in Books | Tagged | 6 Comments
Paul Walter

The real reason why Mark Williams MP isn’t in Tim Farron’s front bench team, announced today *

By Paul Walter | Wed 29th July 2015 - 7:41 pm

Mark Williams MP by LIberal Democrats
…Wait for it…

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Paul Walter

Photos: Tim Farron meeting our two sensational Kingston and Richmond by-election victors today

By Paul Walter | Wed 29th July 2015 - 7:23 pm

290715 1
Here’s a couple of photos of Tim Farron today meeting Geraldine Locke and Jon Tolley at Banquet Records in Kingston upon Thames.

Both Geraldine and Jon have scored sensational by-election victories since the general election in May.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 2 Comments
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