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

Another big money political scandal: can Lib Dems force Tories & Labour to take it seriously this time?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 25th March 2012 - 11:53 am

Let’s remember the words of David Cameron two years ago:

… there is another big issue that we can no longer ignore. It is the next big scandal waiting to happen. It’s an issue that crosses party lines and has tainted our politics for too long, an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money. I’m talking about lobbying – and we all know how it works. The lunches, the hospitality, the quiet word in your ear, the ex-ministers and ex-advisors for hire, helping big business find the right way to get its way. In this party, we believe in competition, not cronyism. We believe in market economics, not crony capitalism. So we must be the party that sorts all this out.

Now let’s fast-forward to the words of the Tories’ leading fundraiser (until last night):

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Stephen Tall

Budget 2012 verdict: my pick of the top 9 stand-out issues

By Stephen Tall | Thu 22nd March 2012 - 3:55 pm

Here are my personal pick of the top 9 points from this year’s Budget…

1. A definite Lib Dem win on raising the income tax threshold

Raising the income tax threshold — indeed, the biggest ever uplift, to £9,205 — is undoubtedly a big win for the Lib Dems. It’s two months since Nick Clegg made the unusual move of publicly calling on the Coalition to move “further and faster” on taking more of the lowest-paid out of tax, the number one Lib Dem manifesto priority at the last general election. Evidence from the first ‘snap’ budget poll shows 92% …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 28 Comments
Stephen Tall

Boost for Brian as Lib Dem London fundraising hits £400k

By Stephen Tall | Mon 19th March 2012 - 7:55 am

The media may be focusing on the Boris v Ken show for London mayor, but Brian Paddick’s Lib Dem campaign is making some noise. His hard-hitting campaign posters focusing on crime — an issue the former police commander in the Metropolitan police knows first-hand how to tackle — abound in London.

And one of the reasons Brian is able to achieve this exposure is the success of the London Lib Dem fundraising effort. I understand that the total raised has, or is about to, pass the £400,000 …

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Posted in London and News | Tagged , , and | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDV Caption Competition: The Obama & Cameron ‘Special Relationship’ Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th March 2012 - 5:15 pm

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

Here’s the popular leader of a leading nation whose economy is on the road to recovery on a Boy’s Night Out with David Cameron. 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, David Cameron & Alex Salmond “Who’ll take the Highland?” Edition.

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Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged and | 13 Comments
Stephen Tall

Time for the Lib Dems to blow the final whistle on national wage settlements

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th March 2012 - 2:25 pm

It’s over 50 years since the campaign by Jimmy Hill, then chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association, successfully scrapped the maximum wage which operated throughout the football league until 1961. Some probably lament the commercialisation of the game which it set in motion. But the idea that individuals should have a ceiling placed on their wage-earning potential by the authorities seems quaintly absurd today.

Except in the public sector. If you’re paid by the government — if, for example, you work in schools, colleges and universities, or the civil service and local government — then your wages are defined by national pay rates determined by Whitehall and trade union negotiations. It doesn’t matter which part of the country you work, you operate within that centrally-set national pay framework. It is as quaint and as absurd as the wage rules of football were half a century ago.

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Stephen Tall

LibLink: Ed Davey – Out of the Shadows

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th March 2012 - 12:20 pm

The Lib Dems’ newest cabinet minister Edward Davey, secretary of state for energy and climate change, is the subject of an extensive profile in the latest issue of The House magazine, re-printed on PoliticsHome.

And it sounds like he couldn’t be much happier: “This is the thing I wanted to do – it’s my dream job. Environment, and the whole climate-change agenda, is one of the reasons I joined the Liberal Democrats. It’s something that really motivates me in politics and it’s a great privilege to be here. … I’m not going to be giving in on Liberal Democrat …

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Stephen Tall

‘How can Lib Dems avoid oblivion?’ asks PoliticsHome

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th March 2012 - 10:38 am

Over at PoliticsHome, Mark Gettleson puts Lib Dem campaigning under the microscope to ask what the 2015 general election might hold for the party. He makes four points:

1. In 2010, the Lib Dems won the air war and lost the ground war

There had been an uncoordinated increase in votes – around a million – largely in seats they were not going to win. But what was clear was that the party lacked the kind of national organisation into which to feed the volunteers of Cleggmania, the ability to measure success in given seats (few saw the loss of Harrogate

…

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Stephen Tall

The LibDemVoice comments policy: why we moderate & how to avoid us moderating you

By Stephen Tall | Sat 17th March 2012 - 2:35 pm

There are many aspects of running this site that the LibDemVoice editorial collective actively discuss: which articles to publish and when, which adverts to accept and which to reject — and, most spiritedly, how to define our comments moderation policy.

Until two years ago, we didn’t really have a policy: basically it was a free-for-all until somebody complained, or a lawyer got in touch. Partly in response to the latter — but more especially in response to reader feedback that the comments threads were too often a no-go zone for all but the most thick-skinned — we started to …

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Posted in Site news | 36 Comments
Stephen Tall

LibLink: David Laws and Tim Farron – Budget 2012: Osborne must help the squeezed middle and tax the top

By Stephen Tall | Sat 17th March 2012 - 12:25 pm

Rumour a-plenty ahead of George Osborne’s third budget. Adding to theose rumours — or, more likely, giving us the inside gen on what’s likely to transpire — are the former Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury David Laws and Lib Dem party president Tim Farron in The Guardian. Here’s an excerpt:

Nick Clegg has made the Liberal Democrat priority very clear – a significant acceleration of planned increases in the starting point for paying income tax. This should be Osborne’s centrepiece – easing the pressure on household budgets, after the unprecedented recent squeeze. …

… whatever decisions Osborne makes on individual

…

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Stephen Tall

LDVideo | Poor old Ed, it’s the Miliband ‘Gaffes Tape’ Special

By Stephen Tall | Sat 17th March 2012 - 9:00 am

Poor Ed Miliband — an attempt to make a serious speech on youth unemployment was overshadowed yesterday by his failure to be able to distinguish men from women when he took questions. As ITN labelled it in true tabloid fashion, Ed Miliband’s triple-fail: ‘Is that a man or a woman?’ Here’s the video:


(Available on YouTube here.)

Actually the real shame of Ed’s fluffed lines distracting from his speech is that it distracts from Labour’s latest fluffed policies. Not only is the party re-spending — for the umpteenth time — their bankers’ bonus tax, but their so-called ‘Real Jobs Guarantee’ is a pale imitation of Nick Clegg’s Youth Contract. As Jo Swinson noted:

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

Pauline Pearce – the ‘Hackney Heroine’ – standing as Lib Dem candidate in May’s elections

By Stephen Tall | Fri 16th March 2012 - 9:55 am

Pauline Pearce’s outspoken and down-to-earth condemnation of the London rioters at the height of the violence last summer gained the attention of the nation, and she was dubbed the ‘Heroine of Hackney’. Now she is standing for the Liberal Democrats in this May’s local elections.

For those who don’t remember or have never seen Pauline’s most famous moment, here’s the video footage. (Please note there is strong language throughout.)

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Stephen Tall

Who’s up, who’s down? How party members rate the performances of leading Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Fri 16th March 2012 - 7:45 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. Over 500 party members responded, and we’ve been publishing the full results.

Today we focus on the performances of the leading lights of the Liberal Democrats — those of our MPs in the cabinet, those occupying ministerial positions, and other leading Lib Dems.

LDV asked: How would you rate the performances of the following leading Liberal Democrats and government ministers?

Full results are published below, but here’s three key lists for those who want to cut to the chase… (with comparison to February 2012 ratings in brackets)

Top 5 Lib Dem performers in the Government:

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged | 5 Comments
Stephen Tall

Q: What links the AV referendum, boundary changes & Lords reform? A: The Coalition Agreement

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th March 2012 - 9:57 am

It appears the Tories are attempting a sneaky re-write of some very recent, and well-documented, history. What prompts me to say this? Let’s look at the FT’s Kiran Stacey’s report of Nick Clegg’s feisty performance at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions:

asked why he was so focused on House of Lords reform when there were so many other more important issues to tackle. Clegg’s response was very telling:

There are other issues like changing the boundaries which I know are close to his party’s heart…

The Tories will absolutely hate that. They say the original agreement between the two parties was

…

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Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem members think of the impact of the Coalition

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th March 2012 - 7:52 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. Over 500 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Party members give Lib Dems 7 out of 10 for influence within the Coalition

How would you rate the extent of the Liberal Democrat influence within the Coalition Government, where 10 is highly influential, and 1 indicates no influence.

    1: 0%
    2: 3%
    3: 11%
    4: 8%
    5: 9%

Lacking influence = 31%

    6: 18%
    7: 26%
    8: 17%
    9: 4%
    10: 2%

Achieving influence = 67%

This is the first time we’ve asked the party members …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 5 Comments
Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem members think of the Coalition & its record

By Stephen Tall | Wed 14th March 2012 - 7:50 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. Over 500 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

81% of Lib Dem members support the Coalition

Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives? (Comparison with February 2012’s figures)

    81% (-3%) – Support
    14% (+1%) – Oppose
    4% (+1%) – Don’t know / No opinion

Support for the Coalition remains high, at 81%, in spite of the difficulties its endured in recent weeks as a …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem bloggers have been saying about the NHS Bill after Lib Dem conference

By Stephen Tall | Tue 13th March 2012 - 8:25 pm

Unsurprisingly, there’s been plenty of post-conference reaction to the weekend’s events.

A quick recap of what happened: on Saturday, Lib Dem conference representatives narrowly voted not to debate a motion that called for the NHS Bill to be dropped. Then on Sunday, Lib Dem conference representatives narrowly voted following a debate not to support part of a motion that called for Lib Dem peers to back the NHS Bill.

Here’s how Lib Dem bloggers have responded to these events:

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 31 Comments
Stephen Tall

Coalition defeats rebel Lib Dem backbench MPs’ attempt to stop the NHS Bill

By Stephen Tall | Tue 13th March 2012 - 7:48 pm

The Coalition Government has just now defeated by 314-260 votes an attempt by five backbench Lib Dem MPs — Andrew George, John Pugh, Adrian Sanders, Greg Mulholland, and David Ward — to halt the controversial Health & Social Care Bill.

Their move came in the form of an amendment to this Labour motion:

That this House notes the e-petition signed by 170,000 people calling on the Government to drop the Health and Social Care Bill; and declines to support the Bill in its current form.

The Lib Dem 5 proposed the following amendment, which was accepted by Labour:

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Posted in News | 21 Comments
Stephen Tall

Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron

By Stephen Tall | Tue 13th March 2012 - 7:55 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. Over 500 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Miliband rating slips back again, to -84%, among Lib Dem members

LDV asked: Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party?

    0% – Very well
    7% – Well
    Total well = 7%
    47% – Badly
    44% – Very badly
    Total badly = 91%
    3% – Don’t know / No

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged and | 15 Comments
Stephen Tall

EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members say about the party’s direction and Nick Clegg’s leadership

By Stephen Tall | Mon 12th March 2012 - 7:45 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. Over 500 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Big drop in satisfaction with party’s direction

LDV asked: Do you think, as a whole, the Liberal Democrats are on the right course or on the wrong track? (Comparison with December’s figures.)

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged | 42 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo at Conference: Lib Dem activists speak out against NHS Bill

By Stephen Tall | Sun 11th March 2012 - 8:10 pm

If you missed out on today’s key NHS debate at the Lib Dems’ spring conference, this BBC video featuring clips from a handful of the speakers who oppose the Coalition’s NHS reforms gives you a flavour. You can also catch up with what happened via Mark Pack’s live-blog of the debate here, and my round-up of the immediate reactions to the vote against the party leadership here.

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Stephen Tall

In other news… Vince, Telegraph inaccuracy, Lembit, Eastleigh, Boundary Commission, site news

By Stephen Tall | Sun 11th March 2012 - 5:15 pm

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

Vince Cable on that leaked letter to No. 10 (and other matters (The Guardian)

“We’re no longer arguing about fiscal policy – monetary policy’s now taking on most of the heavy lifting anyway,” he says as he notes that Labour has now accepted the need for fiscal discipline. “So the argument has shifted into a debate around how active government should be in promoting the recovery. Is it getting out of the way or is government being proactive and positive? That was the purpose

…

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Stephen Tall

Round-up of initial reactions to the Lib Dem conference NHS Bill vote

By Stephen Tall | Sun 11th March 2012 - 2:03 pm

There’s been no shortage of reaction to the vote by the Lib Dem conference this morning to vote by 317-270 to approve an amendment which implicitly calls on the party leadership to drop its support for the NHS Bill.

I say “implicitly” because the motion as passed — pasted at the foot of this post — does not call on Lib Dems to ‘Kill the Bill’. However, conference did vote (albeit narrowly) to remove the call for Lib Dem peers to support the Bill. This follows yesterday’s pre-debate conference vote (again narrowly) to choose not to debate the motion which would …

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Stephen Tall

LDVideo Conference Special: the views of Nick Clegg, party members & Simon Hughes

By Stephen Tall | Sun 11th March 2012 - 7:15 am

If you’re missing out on the thrills and spills of the Lib Dems’ spring conference in NewcastleGateshead, hopefully these videos will offer you some flavour of proceedings…

Nick Clegg to tell Lib Dems: Stop lamenting, start celebrating

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Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Nick Clegg – “If I thought this Bill was about privatising the NHS, it would never have seen the light of day”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th March 2012 - 6:55 pm

Nick Clegg took part in an afternoon Q&A at today’s Lib Dem conference, and vigorously defended the changes to the NHS being implemented by the Coalition as amended by the party. Conference representatives earlier voted, by a slim margin of 309 votes to 280, to debate tomorrow morning Shirley Williams’ motion, ‘Saving the NHS’, rather than the ‘Drop the Bill’ motion put forward by Winchester Lib Dems.

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged , , and | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Nick Clegg – ‘It is only fair millionaires pay their share’

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th March 2012 - 5:55 pm

‘Nick Clegg goes after the ultra-rich’ is how the Telegraph today trails its interview with the Lib Dem leader, in which he signals his determination to write into law a ‘Tycoon Tax’ — a specific minimum rate of tax to ensure people are “paying their fair share” and not “massaging” the system.

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Do Lib Dem members’ views differ from conference representatives’ views? Here’s what our survey says…

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th March 2012 - 12:15 pm

We published yesterday the results of our survey of Lib Dem members’ views of the Coalition’s NHS reforms. Given the importance of this weekend’s debate at the party’s spring conference, we have also tried to test how Lib Dem members who are conference representative might vote on Sunday, when there is likely to be an emergency debate on the future of the Health & Social Care Bill.

All party members registered on the LibDemVoice forum were able to vote: 507 did so, including 147 who said they would be attending the conference as a voting representative. To compare their views …

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Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem members think about the NHS Bill: 57% opposed, but majority might back it if significantly amended

By Stephen Tall | Thu 8th March 2012 - 11:15 pm

We’ve been surveying the views of current Lib Dem members this week on your views on the NHS Bill. Over 500 responded, and here’s what you told us…

  • A majority of Lib Dem members – and a majority of Lib Dem members who will be voting delegates at the party’s spring conference at NewcastleGateshead this weekend – oppose the Coalition Government’s NHS reforms as they currently stand. By 57% to 32%, Lib Dem members reject the Health & Social Care Bill.
  • However, that does not automatically mean the Lib Dem conference will vote to ‘Kill the Bill’ if

    • …

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    Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged , , , , , , , and | 18 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    New LDV members’ survey now live: your views on the NHS reform bill

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 4th March 2012 - 11:42 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.

    This month’s survey focuses on the Health and Social Care Bill currently being debated in Parliament, in addition to our regular set of ‘Coalition tracker’ questions. We’ll publish the results ahead of the party’s Spring conference in NewcastleGateshead this coming weekend.

    It should take no longer than 5-10 minutes minutes to fill in. All …

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    Posted in News | 2 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    In other news… Richard Kemp for Liverpool, Kennedy on the UK, defection in Cambridge, Hughes at Leveson

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 4th March 2012 - 3:45 pm

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

    Richard Kemp to represent Liberal Democrats in Liverpool mayor election in May (Liverpool Echo)

    ‘He said: “I am standing because I believe that only the Liberal Democrats have the long term strategies which will place this city in a leading position able to create the jobs and investment which this city so badly needs. Liverpool needs an encompassing vision and direction that everyone in the city, residents, business and friends can buy into and support.”

    You can read Richard’s own account of …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
    Stephen Tall

    LDV Caption Competition: David Cameron & Alex Salmond “Who’ll take the Highland?” Edition

    By Stephen Tall | Sat 3rd March 2012 - 4:45 pm

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

    Here’s Prime Minister David Cameron and Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond meeting recently to discuss the fate of the Untied Kingdom. 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, Steve Webb & IDS “Supermarket (Chimney-) Sweep” Edition.

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    Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged and | 21 Comments
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