Author Archives: Paul Walter

Paul Walter

Photo gallery of Liberal and Liberal Democrat women past and present

By Paul Walter | Sun 31st May 2015 - 6:13 pm

Through the wonderful archive of Getty Images, here is a smattering photographs of prominent Liberal and Liberal Democrat past and present. Scroll down to view. Roll your mouse or put your finger on the photo to read its caption. You can also click on the photo to see it at the Getty Images site with similar photographs.

And yes, I know that Shirley Williams was in the Labour party at the time of the first photo.

If you think I’ve missed out anyone you’d like to see a photo of here, please let me know in the comments and I’ll add them (if appropriate).

I would have liked to have featured Enid Lakeman, Elizabeth Shields, Margaret Wintringham, Liz Lynne, Jackie Ballard, Diana Maddock and Ray Michie but I couldn’t find any useable Getty Images of them.

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Posted in Photo feature | 10 Comments
Paul Walter

We bored people rigid about electoral reform for decades and learned to hold our tongues – but now is the time to pipe up!

By Paul Walter | Sun 31st May 2015 - 1:40 pm

For decades we were the party that was known for wanting electoral reform. Many people thought it was our only policy.

We went on and on and on and on about it. Then we realised we were getting nowhere with it and started to shut up about it. Then came the AV referendum debacle which shut us up even more on the subject.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 105 Comments
Paul Walter

We need to be impatient to end the scourge of rough sleeping

By Paul Walter | Wed 27th May 2015 - 4:00 pm

Rough sleeper by BlodeuweddThere occasionally comes a time when it is important to state an aspiration. To rise above the detail and say what a particular situation should be, then work out a roadmap to get there. To do so risks criticism for being simplistic and naïve – but so be it.

That is where I find myself with people who are sleeping rough, including in tents.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 18 Comments
Paul Walter

The vintage image on one of those new photo membership cards – Churchill and Lloyd George as Liberal colleagues

By Paul Walter | Wed 13th May 2015 - 10:55 am

There has been considerable interest in the series of new photo party membership cards. When you sign up these days, you can choose from a range of around a dozen cards featuring photos of Liberal and Liberal Democrat heroines and heroes, past and present.

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

10,000 new members since polls closed last Thursday!

By Paul Walter | Tue 12th May 2015 - 8:06 pm

phoenixWe’re entering nosebleed heights. Here’s what Austin Rathe, from party HQ, just told members:

This is absolutely incredible: since last Thursday, 10,000 people have joined the Liberal Democrats to begin the fight back.

Here’s some of the reasons they gave for joining:

Charity from Edinburgh said, “I joined the Lib Dems because Nick Clegg was right in his speech – we need liberal values now more than ever.”

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Posted in News | Tagged | 52 Comments
Paul Walter

LibLink: David Steel – Six ways Nick Clegg steered the Liberal Democrats to disaster

By Paul Walter | Mon 11th May 2015 - 9:21 pm

On the Guardian Comment is Free, David Steel has a must-read article with remarkably perspicacious observations:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 72 Comments
Paul Walter

It’s 1966? 1964? all over again

By Paul Walter | Fri 8th May 2015 - 4:58 am

We thought the exit poll of 10 seats for the Lib Dems was wrong

Now we are struggling to see how we will get there, to ten

Posted in News | 7 Comments
Paul Walter

Election night update at midnight

By Paul Walter | Fri 8th May 2015 - 12:11 am

We’ve had three results and the House of Commons is currently 100% female.

The BBC/ITV/Sky exit poll gave us 10 seats.

Paddy has said he will eat his hat if that exit poll is true.

Nigel Farage is rumoured to have come third in Thanet South.

There is a rumour that Danny Alexander has lost his seat.

George Galloway is rumoured to have lost his seat in Bradford.

Our live election blog is here.

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Paul Walter

Election night update: 11pm – Paddy’s hat is trending

By Paul Walter | Thu 7th May 2015 - 11:10 pm

So far:

An exit poll has predicted 10 seats for the Lib Dems

Paddy says he will publicly eat his hat if that is correct

Paddy’s hat is trending

er…that’s it

Our live blog is here

Posted in News | 8 Comments
Paul Walter

Cameron needs to stop the BS, remember his studies and behave like a statesman/person

By Paul Walter | Thu 7th May 2015 - 10:00 pm

It’s ten o’clock and the polls have just closed all over the country. From St Agnes island hall in the south to North Unst Public Hall in the north, the presiding officers have just locked the doors and are preparing the ballot boxes for transportation to the local counting centre. I can now say what I like!

There has been much dangerous talk in the election campaign. David Cameron has implied that a government with the tacit support of Scottish MPs would somehow be illegitimate. He has accused Ed Miliband of preparing a “con trick” to enter Downing Street with the support of the SNP. Even Nick Clegg has joined in by referring to a “coalition of the losers” – being a possible bloc of MPs led by the leader of the second largest party.

All this sort of talk must now stop.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , and | 2 Comments
Paul Walter

Labour minority government – or coalition with the Lib Dems – would not actually need the SNP’s support

By Paul Walter | Wed 6th May 2015 - 9:25 am

Professor Colin Talbot of Manchester University has written an interesting blog which reinforces many of the points made here by Tony Greaves.

He mentions that much of the talk of “Confidence and supply” deals, Queens Speech votes and second 2015 elections ignores the reality of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011, which is kind to minority governments.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | 45 Comments
Paul Walter

Independent leader article argues for another Lib-Con coalition

By Paul Walter | Mon 4th May 2015 - 9:49 pm

Today’s leader article in the Independent praises Nick Clegg:

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 15 Comments
Paul Walter

The interesting thing about the first of those Milistone promises

By Paul Walter | Sun 3rd May 2015 - 7:01 pm

The first promise on Ed Miliband’s eight foot limestone slab is:

1. A strong economic foundation

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 19 Comments
Paul Walter

Peter Kellner’s latest projection gives hope to the Lib Dems but points to the squeakiest of squeaky bum times

By Paul Walter | Sun 3rd May 2015 - 9:24 am

In the Sunday Times (£ – Phwah!), Peter Kellner predicts 32 seats for the Lib Dems, which is in line with Stephen Tall’s long-standing projection.

But the overall seat projection from Kellner puts us in rather different waters than other projections. The Guardian’s projection, for example, has pointed almost constantly to a Labour minority government with SNP support.

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Posted in News | Tagged | 94 Comments
Paul Walter

Constitutional position in the event of a hung parliament

By Paul Walter | Tue 28th April 2015 - 1:15 pm

I have been blundering around trying to nail down the likely choreographic arrangements after the election result. You know, who leaves Number 10, who drives down or up the Mall at which particular time etc..

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 52 Comments
Paul Walter

Clegg does human again

By Paul Walter | Tue 28th April 2015 - 10:53 am

agenda
Nick Clegg appeared on Tom Bradby’s The Agenda on ITV last night. He was on a panel made up of satirist Rory Bremner, broadcaster Mariella Frostrup and Times journalist Rachel Sylvester from the Times.

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Posted in News | Tagged | 20 Comments
Paul Walter

It’s not often the leader of the DUP says something I agree with….

By Paul Walter | Tue 28th April 2015 - 9:53 am

After her recent slow car crash with John Humphrys on Today, one would have thought that Theresa May would have spent the rest of the election campaign getting quietly lost in darkest Maidenhead.

But, oh no, at the weekend she came back with a bang in an interview with the Mail on Sunday:

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

Nick Clegg’s statement on the SNP doesn’t preclude voting with them

By Paul Walter | Sun 26th April 2015 - 8:52 am

There has been much revolution and intertwinement of under-garments over Nick Clegg’s statement about the SNP yesterday. In its refined form he talked about “not entering into a post-election coalition that relies on life support from the SNP or UKIP”. Earlier he talked about no entering into “arrangements” which involved the SNP.

This is all a bit of a non-event or non-story.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 34 Comments
Paul Walter

On May 8th, could David Cameron just lock the doors of Downing Street and stay put?

By Paul Walter | Mon 20th April 2015 - 9:25 am

24 days ago, I wrote that We’re heading for a Labour minority government backed by the SNP.

Since then, there have been thousands more people polled, millions more pounds spent on campaigning and millions more words written/said about the election. So, I now have a ++BREAKING NEWS++ update!

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , and | 66 Comments
Paul Walter

++EXCLUSIVE: Details of Tory £12bn benefits cuts & £8bn NHS spending revealed

By Paul Walter | Wed 15th April 2015 - 11:59 am

This morning the Hubble Space telescope discovered the detailed Tory plans for £12 billion of benefits cuts and how they will fund £8 billion of extra NHS spending. The details are in the centre of this remarkable image:

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Posted in Humour | 2 Comments
Paul Walter

UKIP’s support is based on irrational fear of the unknown, leading to unBritish and unChristian behaviour

By Paul Walter | Wed 15th April 2015 - 9:34 am

Channel 4 News Factcheck is a place I often go to when I need a bit of sanity. On immigration, they have an excellent post.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 111 Comments
Paul Walter

Liberal Democrat manifesto – detailed costings published

By Paul Walter | Tue 14th April 2015 - 12:00 pm

The Liberal Democrats have published the detailed costings for their 2015 manifesto here.

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Posted in General Election and News | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
Paul Walter

Farage fisked on HIV ‘health tourism’

By Paul Walter | Tue 14th April 2015 - 11:00 am

 

ACT UP London are asking for signatories to a letter concerning Nigel Farage’s claim about HIV ‘health tourism’. The proposed letter contains a helpful fisking of that claim. You can sign the letter here and this is the fisking text:

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Posted in News | 45 Comments
Paul Walter

And now for something completely different…

By Paul Walter | Tue 14th April 2015 - 9:54 am

 

Someone in the Lib Dem campaign team is a fiscal sadist.

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Posted in General Election | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Paul Walter

The Nick Clegg photo opp strategy

By Paul Walter | Mon 13th April 2015 - 10:33 am

 

I listened in to a Lib Dem activists’ campaign update last week.

This was a conference call giving news on what’s going on with our election efforts. Afterwards, I had to breathe into a brown paper bag for several minutes to reduce my respiration rate, such was the excitement generated by the call.

An interesting point was made about photo opportunities. The campaign team are adamant about one thing: Nick Clegg will not be photographed being given royal tours of factories, talking to rather stiff and obsequious employees. David Cameron has been specialising in such photo opps recently (see example below).

Instead, Nick will be photographed in amongst people in the community, talking with real people and rolling his sleeves up. A good example of this genre is above. Nick is amongst a community group with people and babies and casual drinks, and it’s lovely and sunny, people are smiling, the candidate is there (Ed Davey, for it is he and it is Surbiton) and there are some lovely orange diamonds in the background. Perfect.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 15 Comments
Paul Walter

Manifesto launch on Wednesday

By Paul Walter | Mon 13th April 2015 - 9:05 am

 

The Liberal Democrats 2015 general election manifesto will be launched this Wednesday, April 15th from 10am until 1pm at “A Venue in Zone 2, London”. This announcement got me googling “A Venue in Zone 2″ to find the address of the venue, only to belatedly realise that they mean ” A venue in Zone 2, London”.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 27 Comments
Paul Walter

Something nasty – why the Tories aren’t making headway

By Paul Walter | Wed 1st April 2015 - 9:54 am

“I saw something nasty in the woodshed”- Ada Doom, ‘Cold Comfort Farm’ by Stella Gibbons
There is some bafflement in the Tory ranks as to why their party isn’t shooting ahead of Labour in the polls. David Cameron is very popular. People think Ed Miliband is a “muppet”. So why aren’t the Conservatives surging ahead?

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , and | 32 Comments
Paul Walter

++Lib Dems hit another big fundraising target

By Paul Walter | Wed 1st April 2015 - 7:00 am

Great news! Just after midnight last night, Tim Gordon, Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats, sent this message to party members from his Blackberry:

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 6 Comments
Paul Walter

Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems can be very proud of themselves

By Paul Walter | Mon 30th March 2015 - 5:30 pm

In the photo above, Nick Clegg leaves Number Ten Downing Street this morning for an audience with the Queen upon the dissolution of Parliament.

We’ve had many debates on this website about the record of the Lib Dems in government. Nick Clegg has received shedloads of stinging criticism.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 164 Comments
Paul Walter

Ed Davey: It would be incredibly difficult to work with the Tories due to their views on the EU and green issues

By Paul Walter | Sun 29th March 2015 - 10:34 am

The Observer reports

The Liberal Democrat energy secretary, Ed Davey, has hinted strongly that he would oppose a second coalition with the Tories because their policy on Europe amounts to “economic and environmental irresponsibility of the highest order”.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 16 Comments
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