Author Archives: Stephen Tall

Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall. He writes a fortnightly column for ConservativeHome and 'The Underdog' column for Total Politics magazine. He edited the 2013 publication, The Coalition and Beyond: Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead, and is a Research Associate for the liberal think-tank CentreForum. He was awarded the inaugural Lib Dem ‘Blogger of the Year’ prize in 2006, was a councillor for eight years in Oxford, including a year as Deputy Lord Mayor, and appears frequently in the media in person, in print and online. Stephen combines his political interests with his professional life as Development Director for the Education Endowment Foundation, though writes here in a personal capacity.
Stephen Tall

Syria – Lib Dem members’ views on military intervention

By Stephen Tall | Sun 29th September 2013 - 2:25 pm

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Almost 700 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

It’s a month ago to the day since David Cameron lost the vote in the Commons on keeping open the option of military intervention against Syria. Just a day ago, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons.

In the week before the Lib Dem conference in Glasgow we asked what party …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged | 13 Comments
Stephen Tall

Telegraph claims Clegg has ruled out a coalition with Labour. I claim the Telegraph is talking nonsense on stilts.

By Stephen Tall | Sat 28th September 2013 - 7:28 pm

Last week’s serialisation sensation was all about Damien McBride. This week’s is Matthew d’Ancona’s inside scoop on the Coalition, In It Together.

The Telegraph, doubtless keen to get its money’s worth, has hyped-up the revelations, splashing with the headline, ‘Cameron opens talks with Clegg on second Coalition’. Here’s the key passage, which reads unconvincingly to me, as I’ll explain below:

D’Ancona writes: “From time to time, he would raise the question of a second coalition with Clegg. ‘If we did it again,’ he mused to the Deputy Prime Minister, ‘I’d have to seek collective permission.’ ” It is

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 47 Comments
Stephen Tall

Iain Dale accepts police caution for assault on anti-nukes protestor

By Stephen Tall | Thu 26th September 2013 - 1:35 pm

iain dale no nukesOn Tuesday, Conservative blogger, publisher and LBC radio presenter Iain Dale hit the headlines when he took on anti-nukes protestor Stuart Holmes, who’d annoyed him by insistently trying to get in shot while ITV’s Daybreak programme interviewed his latest high-profile author, Damian McBride. (See Iain Dale unilaterally disarms anti-nukes protester in front of TV cameras.) Iain immediately blogged his justification, but after the police became involved, he decided to apologise and has today accepted a police caution. He’s now issued a Statement and Apology, …

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Ed Miliband’s speech: 5 thoughts on what it means for Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and the 2015 election

By Stephen Tall | Wed 25th September 2013 - 3:45 pm

Ed MilibandI listened to, rather than watched, Ed Miliband’s speech to the Labour party conference yesterday. On the up-side that meant I missed the three hammy mid-speech standing ovations (shades of IDS c.2003); on the down-side it accentuated the peculiar whooping of some of the more excitable delegates (calm down, it’s just a politician talking). In its own terms — getting noticed for its content rather than simply as an impressive no-notes memory feat — it was an undoubted success. Matthew Parris in The Times rather brilliantly captures the flavour:

Crikey

…

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Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Iain Dale unilaterally disarms anti-nukes protester in front of TV cameras

By Stephen Tall | Tue 24th September 2013 - 10:05 am

Don’t mess with Dale! And definitely not when he’s in protective publisher mode and wants to ensure a hassle-free interview for his latest political author, Damian McBride. Just a still photo and the link to the video for now, but it’s bound to be on YouTube soon enough…

iain dale no nukes

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged , and | 14 Comments
Stephen Tall

5 reasons not to assume the FDP wipeout in the German elections will happen here in the UK

By Stephen Tall | Mon 23rd September 2013 - 9:10 am

fdp germany logoAn amazing result for Angela Merkel, increasing her vote and almost winning an absolute majority for the conservative CDU in her third election. A dire one for the liberal FDP, eliminated from the German Bundestag after failing to cross the 5% popular vote threshold – from 93 seats to 0 in one go. Ouch.

Part of the fun of elections in foreign countries is cherry-picking the bits of confirmation bias that suit our own weltenschaung. “Liberal party wiped out after coalition with centre-right party, eh – you just wait til …

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Posted in Europe / International | Tagged , , , , , and | 58 Comments
Stephen Tall

Flow-chart: The 5 questions that will decide if there’s another coalition in 2015

By Stephen Tall | Sun 22nd September 2013 - 8:45 am

‘What are your thoughts on coalitions? Should the Lib Dems go with Labour or Conservatives – if they are in a position to choose?’ That was the question I was asked by the BBC’s Daily Politics in advance of appearing on Thursday to talk about any future coalition (you can catch my discussion with historian Lord (Peter) Hennessey here for the next few days).

Here’s the answer I gave, one I didn’t actually have chance to discuss during the programme… First, as a flow-chart and then my original email reply:

Coalition flow-chart - Sept 2013

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Stephen Tall

The Lib Dem Voice Awards – re-living the highs and the highlights…

By Stephen Tall | Sat 21st September 2013 - 8:15 pm

A week ago today, the all-new, revamped Lib Dem Voice Awards hit Glasgow. For those who were there, and those who couldn’t make it, here’s what happened…

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Posted in Conference | Tagged | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

Ukip’s Godfrey Bloom brands Michael Crick a racist and hits him with party’s ‘no black faces’ conference brochure

By Stephen Tall | Fri 20th September 2013 - 2:40 pm

This tweet from Mark Wallace was picked up Channel 4’s political editor Michael Crick…

… who decided to quiz shy and retiring Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom about the absence of black faces from his party’s conference brochure.

Here’s what happened next…

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged , , and | 48 Comments
Stephen Tall

Good on Damian McBride – making the case for coalition government

By Stephen Tall | Fri 20th September 2013 - 12:55 pm

damian+mcbrideI’ve met Damian McBride only once, in February this year. Two things struck me.

First, how much healthier (and happier) he looked than he did in 2008 when his role in a dirty tricks campaign against the Tories was exposed. He was only 34 when that furore flared, yet in pictures from the time he looked at least a decade older.

Secondly, he is seriously smart. A career civil servant promoted to Head of Communications at the Treasury he retains a deeply impressive knowledge of the knottiest tax policies. It makes …

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s speech: my first impressions

By Stephen Tall | Wed 18th September 2013 - 5:17 pm

This was Nick’s sixth speech to a Lib Dem autumn conference, and was his most relaxed and assured performance to date. As with the best of his Letters from the Leader, it worked because he took us behind the scenes of government – such as “shell-shocked civil servant promising me we’d get on with things shortly – but first he had to get us some desks”.

The list of achievements in government was despatched pretty quickly: tax-cuts for the low-paid, the Pupil Premium, new apprenticeships social care reforms, railway investment, same-sex marriage, and so on. Past speeches have sometimes …

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Tagged , and | 33 Comments
Stephen Tall

Clegg: “Every primary school pupil should be able to sit down to a hot, healthy lunch with their classmates every day”

By Stephen Tall | Tue 17th September 2013 - 8:15 pm

school childrenNick Clegg’s speech to the Lib Dem conference on Wednesday will contain one new, significant policy announcement: all pupils at infant schools in England are to get free school lunches from next September.

In addition, disadvantaged students at sixth form colleges and further education colleges in England will also be eligible for free school meals also from next September. Money is also being provided for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but as education is a devolved issue, it will be up to those running schools there to decide whether …

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Posted in Conference and News | Tagged , , , , , and | 112 Comments
Stephen Tall

Bob Worcester forecasts Lib Dems to be reduced to 24 seats in 2015. I’ll run naked down Whitehall if that’s the result.

By Stephen Tall | Tue 17th September 2013 - 5:15 pm

At a conference fringe meeting on Monday evening, the pollster’s pollster Bob Worcester, MORI’s founder, made a forecast of how many seats the Lib Dems will win at the 2015 election: 24.

His prediction was based on current polling which he’d fed into the Electoral Calculus website and implied the number should be 17. His slightly higher punt allows for known Lib Dem strengths, such as our MPs’ habit of holding on tight in seats we win through sheer Stakhonovite grit.

Forecasting the next election is a bit of a mug’s game, as the Coalition means there’s no past precedent to …

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Stephen Tall

Bedroom tax: Lib Dem conference says no – as do 53% of party members

By Stephen Tall | Tue 17th September 2013 - 10:15 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Almost 700 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

Lib Dem conference representatives voted overwhelmingly to review the controversial policy known by most as the ‘bedroom tax’, by some as the ‘spare room subsidy’ and by no-one at all as the ‘under-occupancy charge’. Here’s how the BBC reported it:

In the last of a series of debates at the party’s conference in Glasgow, delegates voted overwhelmingly

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dems reject 50p top-rate of tax by just 4 votes, 224 to 220

By Stephen Tall | Tue 17th September 2013 - 12:35 am

How many times have Lib Dems knocked on doors at 9.55pm to get out the last remaining identified voters because “your vote really could make a difference” in this election?

Today’s vote on whether to keep the top-rate of tax levied on those earning £150k or more at 45p, or to pledge to raise it to 50p was much, much, much closer: conference narrowly voted for the leadership’s preferred policy – 45p – by a wafer thin majority of just 4 votes, 224 to 220.

The closest previous conference vote I can recall was in spring 2007 when representatives voted …

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Stephen Tall

Our survey says Lib Dems want a 50p top-rate of tax – but will they vote for it at conference?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 16th September 2013 - 4:05 pm

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Almost 700 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

56% of Lib Dem members back a 50p rate of top-rate tax

As I type, the party is debating its tax policies. It’s highly likely the Lib Dems will vote to extend its popular tax-cuts for the low-paid package by lifting still further the personal allowance so that no-one paid the minimum wage has to pay any tax. …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg Conference Q&A: live-blog

By Stephen Tall | Mon 16th September 2013 - 2:50 pm

A relaxed looking, tieless Nick Clegg is about to take to the conference floor, for the second time today, to take questions from conference representatives…

Zero-hour contracts:

2.47 pm… Pauline Wilson (SE Cambridgeshire) says they work for her grandson, so please don’t ban them. Nick Clegg says yes, they do work for some, but can easily topple over into unfairness. For example, if an employer has an exclusivity contract which stops the employee from taking other work.

Economy debate

2.53 pm… Richard Rowles (Romsey & Southampton North) asks, “Are we still fighting for all the people of Britain?” Nick reflects on the debate …

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Stephen Tall

Vince pitches for the Lib Dems to be the new unity party; Nick breathes a sigh of relief

By Stephen Tall | Mon 16th September 2013 - 2:25 pm

Vince Cable smiling - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsOvernight it was reported that Vince Cable wouldn’t be attending the Lib Dem debate on the economy because he would be busy preparing his keynote speech to conference. As diplomatic excuses go, it wasn’t subtle. In the end he managed to combine both, belatedly joining the debate thronged by cameras, before his turn to take centre stage.

The speech – which you can read in full here – reminds us of Vince’s original roots both in Glasgow and in Labour …

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Stephen Tall

Economy motion carried: Nick Clegg wins overwhelming backing from Lib Dem conference

By Stephen Tall | Mon 16th September 2013 - 12:45 pm

Lib Dem conference has spoken — and it has overwhelmingly backed Nick Clegg. Before the debate I had a hunch the result would be somewhat different. Though Nick had shrugged off a reported split with Vince Cable as “a storm in a tea cup”, I thought Vince’s obvious discontent with the decision to make this vote a test of strength, together with the assiduous ground-work and careful drafting of the Social Liberal Forum’s amendments, would pose a real problem for the party leadership.

And for the first third of the debate I thought my hunch might be fulfilled, with …

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Stephen Tall

The Lib Dem conference economy debate: Nick Clegg raises the stakes. He’ll have only himself to blame if he loses

By Stephen Tall | Mon 16th September 2013 - 9:40 am

After a weekend of averted rows – nuclear power and ‘fracking’ supported, axeing of tuition fees dropped – today’s debate on the economy will see a return to Lib Dem conference tradition: a dust-up between the leadership and the activists.

A year ago, there was a poorly coordinated attempt by Lib Dem members within the Social Liberal Forum and Liberal Left groupings to get the party to change the Coalition direction on the economy, to bring in an explicit Plan B. It suffered a crushing defeat, with Vince Cable, Steve Webb and Tim Farron all speaking in favour of …

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Stephen Tall

Hung Parliament: what Lib Dem members think will happen… and what you want to happen

By Stephen Tall | Sun 15th September 2013 - 3:15 pm

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Almost 700 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

76% of Lib Dem members predict another hung parliament in 2015

What do you believe is the likeliest outcome of the next general election?

    8% – A Conservative minority government

    6% – An overall majority for the Conservatives

    2% – A Conservative-led coalition with parties other than Labour or the Lib Dems

    14%

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged , , and | 77 Comments
Stephen Tall

EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members think about nuclear power, fracking, tuition fees and online pornography

By Stephen Tall | Sun 15th September 2013 - 8:15 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Almost 700 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

In advance of this year’s federal conference in Glasgow, we asked about a number of hot-topic issues that are going to be discussed here over the next few days. here’s what you had to say about the issues being debated today, Sunday…

65% say yes to nuclear power

Do you believe that nuclear power, alongside oil and gas and …

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Posted in Conference and LDV Members poll | Tagged , , and | 39 Comments
Stephen Tall

New LDV members’ survey now live: your views on Syria, conference hot-topics, the Coalition – plus your chance to vote in the LDV awards

By Stephen Tall | Wed 11th September 2013 - 12:00 pm

The new LDV members’ survey is now live. So if you are one of the c.1,500 registered members of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum — and any paid-up party member is welcome to join — then you now have the opportunity to make your views known.

Questions we’re asking this month include:

  • your views on military intervention in Syria;
  • what you think about nuclear power and ‘fracking’;
  • other conference hot-topics like tuition fees, the 50p top-rate of tax, and the ‘bedroom tax’;
  • are you in favour of HS2?
  • your views on Nick Clegg’s leadership leading figures within the Lib

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

RIP David Frost. Here’s the TW3 sketch I’ll remember him for

By Stephen Tall | Sun 1st September 2013 - 12:45 pm

Sir David Frost – satirist, interviewer, writer – has died. Here’s my favourite That Was The Week That Was sketch, in which he and Willie Rushton excoriated Conservative home secretary Henry Brooke. It concludes with the brutal pay-off: “If you’re Home Secretary, you can get away with murder”.

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Stephen Tall

I am an internationalist, not an isolationist. The headlong rush to inaction is as bad as the headlong rush to war

By Stephen Tall | Fri 30th August 2013 - 8:30 am

18 March 2003: I remember how I felt when the House of Commons voted to approve military action against Iraq. Sad. But not surprised. Sad because like millions of others, many of whom I marched with, I did not believe the case for war had been made and that we were rushing headlong into a conflict we were likely to make worse. But not surprised because with most Labour and almost all Conservative MPs four-square behind military action the vote was a formality.

29 August 2013: Today, following Parliament’s decision to rule out military action against Syria, I feel both sad …

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Posted in News | 32 Comments
Stephen Tall

+++ Government defeated on Syria motion by 13 votes

By Stephen Tall | Thu 29th August 2013 - 10:35 pm

The Coalition Government’s motion backing a strong humanitarian response “which may include military action” has just been DEFEATED in the House of Commons by 13 votes (285 votes against to 272 in favour).

Responding, David Cameron has said he “gets” the will of the House.

Earlier, Labour’s amendment – urging further evidence of the Assad regime’s responsibility for chemical attacks – was defeated by 112 votes.

No official list yet, but here’s an *unconfirmed list* of Lib Dem MPs thought to have abstained or voted against the Government:

Gordon Birtwhistle
Malcolm Bruce
Paul Burstow
Tim Farron
Andrew George
Julian Huppert
John Pugh
Ian Swales
Sarah Teather
Roger Williams
(David Ward)

Posted in News | 55 Comments
Stephen Tall

** Lib Dem members’ poll results on Syria ** Military intervention: 25% say No, 7% say Yes. 62% say Yes BUT…

By Stephen Tall | Thu 29th August 2013 - 1:20 pm

Lib Dem Voice yesterday polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of the situation in Syria. Some 580 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results today. The survey remains open and we’ll update these results in the next day or so if they change.

Lib Dem members: opposed to Iraq and Afghanistan wars; supportive of Libyan and Kosovo interventions

First, we asked about views of UK involvement in recent conflicts abroad. There was a big span of views. Unsurprisingly, given the Lib Dems were the only party to vote against military action against Iraq …

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Posted in Europe / International, LDV Members poll and News | Tagged and | 33 Comments
Stephen Tall

Make your views known on Syria: Lib Dem members’ survey now live

By Stephen Tall | Wed 28th August 2013 - 9:25 pm

The new LDV members’ survey focusing on Syria is now live. So if you are one of the c.1,500 registered members of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum — and any paid-up party member is welcome to join — then you now have the opportunity to make your views known.

There are five questions relating to the current situation in Syria. 300 Lib Dem members have completed the survey within a couple of hours of it going live. We’ll be reporting the initial results on Thursday, though the survey will stay live for a couple more days to give as …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

How you can take part in LibDemVoice’s exclusive party member surveys

By Stephen Tall | Mon 26th August 2013 - 9:00 am

LibDemVoice’s surveys of party members signed-up to our discussion forum have been running for close to four years now. (I posted yesterday the final set of figures from our most recent poll.)

Our surveys are a way of testing members’ views on a variety of hot topics. And as they’ve been running throughout the first three years of the Coalition they’re also an interesting record of changing views on how the Coalition is regarded within the party.

If you would like to take part in the LibDemVoice surveys, there are simply two steps you need to follow:
1) Be a current …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

I’m a liberal and I’m sticking up for Nick Clegg over David Miranda and The Guardian

By Stephen Tall | Fri 23rd August 2013 - 12:30 am

Civil liberties. It’s the issue that unites Lib Dems like no other. While you’ll find a range of views within the party on big issues that matter more to the voters — such as the economy or the NHS or even tuition fees — personal freedom, the right to live your life as you choose, is at the heart of liberalism. Nick Clegg made his name within the Lib Dems as shadow home affairs spokesman by proposing measures like the Freedom Bill and threatening to go to prison rather than carry an ID card.

Yet civil liberties is also the …

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