Author Archives: Simon Radford

Opinion: Cuts, minority partnership, and the continuing importance of constructive criticism

By Simon Radford | Fri 11th June 2010 - 11:20 am

Simon Hughes caused quite a stir by setting out his priorities for how Lib Dem MPs should behave if they are not in the government.

Clearly there is a balance to be struck between supporting our party’s attempt to deliver strong-yet-compromise government in a time of national, and indeed global, emergency, and living our principle that dissent is not weakness. The push-and-pull of coalition government is not the time for hiding our values in the name of unanimity, but voicing them louder than ever to strengthen Nick’s negotiating stance and affecting change that we want to see.

Despite our …

Posted in Op-eds | 23 Comments

Opinion: The ‘V’ Word

By Simon Radford | Sat 15th December 2007 - 10:55 am

The leadership contest has seen much natural agreement and some forced disagreement. One of the issues that confused most onlookers is who was advocating the use of education vouchers. After Chris Huhne repeatedly asked Nick Clegg to deny that he supported ‘US-style vouchers’, Clegg became more and more adamant about his opposition to the idea. Eventually, after its use as a bogeyman had served its purpose, the issue died away. While it was in the spotlight, however, no one seemed to stop and ask, ‘Why shouldn’t liberals advocate vouchers?’

If you do some statistical analysis of PISA results …