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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.
Follow @stephentall

LDV poll: 83% of Lib Dems say break-up of Eurozone will be bad for Britain’s economy

By Stephen Tall | Mon 11th June 2012 - 9:09 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. Some 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

This weekend saw eurozone ministers agreed to lend Spain’s banks up to 100bn euros (£80bn) in the latest attempt to stave off economic collapse. We asked our sample of Lib Dem members for their views…

LDV asked: Thinking about the current problems facing the European single currency, the Euro, do you think it would be good or bad for Britain’s economy if the …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged Eurozone and spain | 2 Comments

Lib Dem donation figures in full (Quarter 1, 2012)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th June 2012 - 4:15 pm

The Electoral Commission has recently published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties, showing that the Lib Dems raised £606,724 between January and March this year.

(At the foot of this post is the full breakdown of donations (excluding public funds) received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004. I’ve uploaded a public Google spreadsheet of all Lib Dem donations between 2001 and 2011 available here; and a separate one for the first quarter of 2012 available here.)

By comparison, the party raised £698,875 in the first quarter of 2007 (the equivalent …

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Posted in News | Tagged donations, donations (Lib Dem), fundraising and party funding | 7 Comments

Local pay for the public sector: a row the Lib Dems and the Coalition will want to dodge?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th June 2012 - 10:15 am

The Huffington Post published an excellent dissection of the twists and turns the debate on local pay for public sector workers (sometimes called regional pay) is taking within the Lib Dems:

Letters written by the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander the number two minister at the Treasury appeared wildly enthusiastic about civil servants being paid different amounts depending on where they work as recently as the start of this year.

But subsequent letters show Alexander softening his stance, suggesting he’s come under pressure from fellow Lib Dems over the proposals, confirmed by George Osborne in the

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Danny Alexander, featured, huffington post, local pay, nick clegg and regional pay | 30 Comments

LDV survey: Lib Dem members’ favourite Tory ministers revealed!

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th June 2012 - 8:45 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. Some 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Ken Clarke remains Lib Dems’ most popular Tory cabinet minister

The Lib Dems have been in Coalition with the Conservatives for two years — so we thought it would be interesting to find out who our sample of party members think is ‘hot or not’ among our Coalition partners.

LDV asked: Which of the following Conservative ministers have genuinely impressed you since the Coalition …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 8 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Cameron & Miliband “Cooee!” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sat 9th June 2012 - 5:12 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

Here’s Labour leader Ed Miliband waving across the aisle to David Cameron at the Diamond Jubilee service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral. What do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Nick.i.am “Hands on with Clinton” Edition.

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Posted in Caption Comp | 23 Comments

LDV poll: 80% of Lib Dem members continue to back current Coalition & 63% open to another Coalition after 2015

By Stephen Tall | Fri 8th June 2012 - 9:25 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. Some 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Lib Dem members back Coalition by 80% to 16%

LDV asked: Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives?

For all the current difficulties the Lib Dems find ourselves in, it’s actually pretty extraordinary how high support for the party being in coalition with the Conservatives remains. …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged featured | 28 Comments

LDV poll: Vince or Tim are Lib Dem members’ top choices for leader in event of vacancy

By Stephen Tall | Thu 7th June 2012 - 8:57 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. Some 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

28% choose Vince, 21% tip Tim: how you voted

Yesterday we reported the finding that 34% of Lib Dem members surveyed thought Nick Clegg should step down as party leader before the 2015 general election compared to 59% who thought he should stay to fight it. Today we report the hypothetical question we then posed: who should take up the reins if for …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged david laws, ed davey, Jo Swinson, nick clegg, norman lamb, party leadership, tim farron and vince cable | 14 Comments

Our political writers can pretend they know what makes us tick: a response to Matthew d’Ancona

By Stephen Tall | Wed 6th June 2012 - 8:25 pm

Here’s how Matthew d’Ancona could’ve started his article for today’s London Evening Standard, ‘Our political class can now work out what makes us tick’. But he didn’t.

So what was all that about? As the waves of media fervour subside to reveal the bleak promontories of Austerity Commentariat, let us pause and ask what this extraordinary four-day Jubilee told us about journalists, and their obsession with extrapolating about our national life and character.

There then follows some delicious cognitive dissonance. First, an acknowledgement of what is to follow:

The lazy reflex for political observers is to extract the lessons that suit them.

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged diamond jubilee, matthew d'anconca, nick clegg and the queen | 5 Comments

Lib-Lab cooperation: there’s one easy way to find out if Labour are serious

By Stephen Tall | Wed 6th June 2012 - 5:55 pm

Today’s Guardian big-ups a call by Labour’s chief whip in the Lords, Lord Bassam, to his Lib Dem opposite number Lord Newby as a sign that ‘elements of the party are preparing the ground for a possible Lib-Lab coalition after the next election.’

I have to say on first reading the tenor of Lord Bassam’s note strikes me more as told-you-so than conciliatory, but maybe I’m being over-sensitive — judge for yourselves from this excerpt:

“The last couple of years have been a bit bruising for your colleagues in this house, and no doubt they will be looking forward to

…

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Posted in News | Tagged constitutional reform, dick newby, house of lords, lord bassam and lords reform | 28 Comments

LDV poll: 34% of Lib Dem members say Nick Clegg should stand down before 2015

By Stephen Tall | Wed 6th June 2012 - 8:00 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. Some 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

LDV asked: Following this year’s poor local election results for the Lib Dems, it was suggested by Lembit Opik that Nick Clegg should set a timetable for his departure as party leader by the end of this year while continuing to serve as Deputy Prime Minister until 2015. Would you like to see Nick Clegg remain as Liberal Democrat leader to fight the …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 76 Comments

In other news… Huhne in court, Clegg dines Tories, Ming protests immigration rules & other stories

By Stephen Tall | Sun 3rd June 2012 - 4:05 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…

Chris Huhne’s ex-wife Vicky Pryce pleads not guilty (BBC News)

Vicky Pryce, the ex-wife of Chris Huhne, has pleaded not guilty to taking the former energy secretary’s penalty points for a 2003 speeding offence. The Eastleigh Lib Dem MP did not enter a plea because he will try to dismiss the charge against him at a future hearing, Southwark Crown Court heard. The pair, who were married for 26 years, face charges of perverting the course of justice. A date for the trial,

…

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Posted in News | 8 Comments

LDV Poll Result: Majority of Lib Dem members reject conference accreditation

By Stephen Tall | Sun 3rd June 2012 - 8:55 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. Some 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Members oppose accreditation 52%-36%

The decision by the party to approve a system of police accreditation for Lib Dem members attending this year’s Autumn Conference triggered one of LibDemVoice’s most vigorous recent comments threads. We asked our sample of members their view:

LDV asked: The party has announced there will be a system of police accreditation for members attending this year’s Autumn Conference citing …

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Posted in Conference and LDV Members poll | Tagged conference accreditation and tim farron | 14 Comments

Hunt out to dry? Clegg refuses to back Tory culture secretary as Lib Dem MPs push inquiry

By Stephen Tall | Sat 2nd June 2012 - 9:05 pm

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is piling the pressure on Jeremy Hunt, whose closeness to the Murdoch empire has been embarrassingly laid bare by the Leveson Inquiry in the past few weeks, by refusing to endorse David Cameron’s decision not to refer his culture secretary to the official adviser on the ministerial code, Sir Alex Allan. Here’s how The Observer is reporting it:

Nick Clegg refuses to back Jeremy Hunt as Lib Dems demand investigation

Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, has refused to give unequivocal backing to Jeremy Hunt over his handling of the BSkyB takeover controversy as senior Liberal

…

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Posted in News | Tagged adrian sanders, david cameron, featured, jeremy hunt, lorely burt, news international, nick clegg and richard morris | 12 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Nick.i.am “Hands on with Clinton” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sat 2nd June 2012 - 7:15 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

(Photo by CarlPendle.com)

Here’s Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, President Bill Clinton and musician and The Voice UK coach, will.i.am. What do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Vince & Dave “Watch your step” Edition.

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Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged bill clinton, nick clegg and will.i.am | 17 Comments

Clegg’s triple whammy: intervenes on secret trials, slams those who ‘bowed’ to Murdoch, calls for reform of ‘broken establishment’

By Stephen Tall | Tue 29th May 2012 - 1:45 pm

If Nick Clegg has time to keep a diary of his time in government (which I doubt) I’d like to pre-order it now. The principle of collective cabinet responsibility, together with the reciprocated determination of he and David Cameron to maintain an effective working relationship, means we don’t often see the reality of the behind-the-scenes battles between the Lib Dems and Conservatives.

Those which are made public — such as Nick’s very public disagreement with the Prime Minister’s veto-that-wasn’t at December’s EU summit — are deftly agreed in advance, allowing some grown-up differentiation to emerge.

But today we see three …

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Posted in News | Tagged leveson inquiry, news corporation, nick clegg and rupert murdoch | 3 Comments

New LDV members’ survey now live: your views on the economy, the Coalition, Nick Clegg, personal freedoms & more

By Stephen Tall | Mon 28th May 2012 - 8:25 pm

The new LDV members’ survey is now live. So if you are one of the c.1,300 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:

what you think of the current state of the economy;
whether you back a market rents for households in social housing earning more than £60k;
your views on Nick Clegg’s leadership and any post-2015 coalition;
what you think about Section Five, internet clampdowns and Lib Dem conference

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Leave a comment

In other news… Mensch sticks up for Clegg, Rennie takes on Salmond, Bristol mayoral election latest & other stories

By Stephen Tall | Sun 27th May 2012 - 5:25 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…

On day UKUncut protestors targeted Clegg family home, Tory MP Louise Mensch urges people to donate £5 to Lib Dem funds (ConHome)

Louise Mensch, the Tory MP for Corby is recommending that her followers donate £5 to the Liberal Democrats for today only. She thinks it will show solidarity with the Cleggs who have been targeted by UNuncut protestors today. Hundreds gathered outside the Putney home of the Lib Dem leader, some chained themselves to railings and they held a noisy but apparently

…

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Posted in News | Tagged alex salmond, bristol council, graham walker, iain roberts, leamington council, louise mensch, nick clegg, st austell & newquay, stephen gilbert, stephen williams, ukuncut, willie rennie and yvonne moore | 11 Comments

LDVideo: Nick Clegg – Syrian human rights abusers to be banned from London Olympics

By Stephen Tall | Sun 27th May 2012 - 3:10 pm

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg appeared on the Andrew Marr Show this morning to say that those guilty of abusing human rights in Syria will be banned from entering the UK for the Olympics:

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged nick clegg, olympics and syria | Leave a comment

Desperately thin stuff – Observer fails to reveal Lib Dem ties with Murdoch

By Stephen Tall | Sun 27th May 2012 - 1:20 pm

Liberal Democrats’ ties with Murdoch aides revealed to Leveson inquiry shouts The Observer headline today followed by a breathlessly hyped claim:

Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats were sucked deeper into the controversy over News Corp’s planned takeover of BSkyB on Saturday as evidence submitted to the Leveson inquiry revealed close party ties with Murdoch executives.

I then read the story to try and find what amazing revelations backed-up the paper’s confidence. Then I read it again. And again. I’m still none the wiser how “Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats” have been “sucked deeper into the controversy”.

The Observer’s attempt to implicate the Lib …

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Posted in News | Tagged fred michel, giles wilkes, news corporation, nick clegg, the observer and vince cable | 27 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Vince & Dave “Watch your step” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sat 26th May 2012 - 3:10 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

Here’s Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable, the man who declared war on Murdoch, side-by-side with the man who LOL-ed with News International. What do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Nick & Dave “Can you feel the love?” Edition.

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Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged david cameron, news international, rupert murdoch and vince cable | 15 Comments

The Weekend Debate: What’s wrong with making membership of the second chamber a lottery?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 26th May 2012 - 8:55 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

The debate about what a reformed House of Lords should look like has been defeating legislators for well over a century — and here’s a novel proposal from Sandy Walkington, who stood for the Lib Dems in St Albans at the last election:

Greece is not exactly in fashion at the moment. But we could learn a thing or two from ancient Athens. They chose their office holders by lot from amongst the citizens, who then had to serve for a

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged house of lords, lords reform, sandy walkington and sortition | 40 Comments

Clegg calls for Coalition to “shift up a gear” on the economy

By Stephen Tall | Fri 25th May 2012 - 7:45 am

Nick Clegg has said the Coalition Government’s economic policy needs to “shift up a gear”, following news yesterday that the UK economy shrank by 0.3% in the first three months of the year, down on the initial estimate from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing a contraction of 0.2%. Here’s Nick speaking on BBC2’s Newsnight last night:

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Posted in News and YouTube | Tagged economy, gavin kelly, george osborne and nick clegg | 14 Comments

How referendums are the most effective way to maintain the status quo & what it means for Lords reform

By Stephen Tall | Thu 24th May 2012 - 1:55 pm

Warning: this post contains paradoxes and thinking in progress…

Paradox 1: When asked, most people in this country say the current system of British politics needs to change. Yet the public consistently votes for small-c conservative parties and causes.

Paradox 2: As both a liberal and a democrat, I want a more participative democracy. Yet I’m sceptical referendums are the best way to achieve this.

A brief history of referendums in this country

Let’s take a look at our three most recent experiences in this country of referendums:

Just three weeks ago, 11 cities in England voted on whether or not they

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged constitutional reform, featured, house of lords, House of Lords referendum and lords reform | 22 Comments

A warm welcome for Andrew Marr’s change of heart on blogging

By Stephen Tall | Thu 24th May 2012 - 7:40 am

Here’s the BBC’s Andrew Marr speaking in October 2010:

“Most citizen journalism strikes me as nothing to do with journalism at all. A lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mother’s basements and ranting. They are very angry people. … Most of the blogging is too angry and too abusive. It is vituperative. Terrible things are said on line because they are anonymous. People say things on line that they wouldn’t dream of saying in person.”

And here’s Andrew Marr speaking to the Leveson Inquiry yesterday:

“You look around and a

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged andrew marr, blogging, gordon brown, leveson inquiry, Mark Pack and tim montgomerie | 4 Comments

LDVideo: Davey on energy policies and climate change action

By Stephen Tall | Wed 23rd May 2012 - 8:50 am

Lib Dem energy and climate change secretary Edward Davey was asked this week by Andrew Neil why people were being asked to pay more for their power while many were struggling. He said it was “right to pursue climate change policies” and told Andrew Neil that prices of onshore, offshore and solar renewable sources were “coming down fast”. You can watch the interview here:

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged andrew neil, climate change, edward davey, energy and fuel poverty | Leave a comment

We must be doing something right – Mail rails at ‘Commie Clegg’, Telegraph blasts ‘Socialist Vince’

By Stephen Tall | Wed 23rd May 2012 - 8:25 am

There’s a measure in marketing known as Advertising Value Equivalents (AVE) — it’s used to assess the impact of coverage in the media. Glancing at today’s right-wing press, the Lib Dems have won headlines money can’t buy…

Nick Clegg’s push for increased social mobility, to equalise opportunities for the poorest in society, has earned him the tag ‘Commie Clegg’ in today’s Mail. This is of course the same paper that only two years ago splashed on the bizarre headline ‘Clegg’s Nazi slur on Britain’.

Meanwhile …

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Posted in News | Tagged daily mail, daily telegraph, featured, nick clegg and vince cable | 27 Comments

In other news… Paddy in Lords bust-up; Manchester elects Lib Dem lord mayor; Defections round-up

By Stephen Tall | Sun 20th May 2012 - 5:25 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…

Lord Ashdown and Lord Phillips in Lords reform clash (BBC News)

Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown has clashed with one of his party colleagues during a debate on government plans to reform the House of Lords. Lord Phillips of Sudbury complained that the proposal would turn Parliament’s second chamber into a clone of the House of Commons, with politicians simply following the party line when it comes to voting. In finger-jabbing exchanges, Lord Ashdown argued that most peers should be elected. A

…

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Posted in News | Tagged defections, elaine boyes, lord andrew phillips, manchester council and paddy ashdown | 9 Comments

Paddy: So you want to be a politician? Get a life (first).

By Stephen Tall | Sun 20th May 2012 - 10:35 am

That’s Paddy’s view, as reported in the Independent’s diary here:

Paddy Ashdown, the first leader of the Liberal Democrat party, has remarked on how politics has been taken over by people who have never had a job anywhere else but in politics, giving the strong impression that he does not approve. “The difference with politics today, and politics when I was leader of the Liberal Democrats, is the people working in politics,” he said. “I worked in the military. I was involved in business. I have been unemployed twice, working as a voluntary youth worker. Today’s politicians have simply only

…

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Posted in News | Tagged john major, neil kinnock and paddy ashdown | 38 Comments

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