Author Archives: The Voice

Nick Clegg’s speech to Lib Dem conference 2013

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2013 - 3:05 pm

Nick’s just mounted the platform in Glasgow – here’s what he’s expected to say over the next 40 minutes or so…

Three years ago – nearly three and a half – I walked into the Cabinet Office for my first day as Deputy Prime Minister.

Picture it: history in the making as a Liberal Democrat leader entered, finally, into the corridors of power, preparing to unshackle Britain after years of Labour and Conservative rule. Only to arrive and find an empty room and one shell-shocked civil servant promising

…

Posted in Conference | Tagged glasgow conference 2013 and nick clegg | 13 Comments

LDVideo: Stephen Tall reviews the Lib Dem year for BBC’s Daily Politics

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2013 - 11:10 am

Stephen Tall reviews the Lib Dem year – it’s ups and its down – for the BBC’s Daily Politics, recalling some of the questions on Nick’s weekly LBC radio phone-in, Call Clegg…

Posted in Conference, News and YouTube | Tagged call clegg, daily politics (bbc) and stephen tall | 4 Comments

Danny Alexander: “Difficult decisions lie ahead: people can trust the Liberal Democrats to make them”

By The Voice | Wed 18th September 2013 - 10:25 am

Speaking at the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Glasgow on Tuesday, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander highlighted four key points:

2) that Labour “derailed the economy” once and will do so again, given the chance;

3) that the Tories’ obsession with hire-and-fire and anti-Europeanism put the recovery at risk;

4) that Lib Dems are making a real difference – taking the low-paid

…

Posted in Conference | Tagged Danny Alexander | 2 Comments

Stephen Tall guests on Guardian Politics Weekly podcast – Lib Dem conference preview

By The Voice | Fri 13th September 2013 - 11:05 am

LibDemVoice co-editor Stephen Tall joined the panel for this week’s Guardian Politics Weekly podcast, hosted by Hugh Muir and also featuring Guardian columnists Seumas Milne and Anne Perkins. They preview the Liberal Democratic party conference; Ed Miliband’s reception at the TUC; and Boris Johnson losing the plot at the London assembly. There’s also a contribution from Lester Holloway from Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats, highlighting the party’s continuing difficulties in getting MPs elected from diverse backgrounds.

You can listen to it here online, or download it as an MP3 here.

Posted in News | Tagged anne perkins, guardian politics weekly, hugh muir, lester holloway and seumas milne | Leave a comment

Liberal Democrat Voice Awards: The Shortlists (3): Best online campaign by a Liberal Democrat

By The Voice | Mon 9th September 2013 - 4:17 pm

The Liberal Democrat Voice Awards are but five days away. At 10 pm on Saturday 14 September, in Castle 2 of the Crowne Plaza, with cash bar on hand, and an imaginative dress code, the best in blogging, campaigning, social media and politics in general will be feted in a ceremony filled with razzmatazz, glitz and glamour.

Very soon, our Members’ Forum will be e-mailed with the chance to vote for the majority of the awards. They will have first sight of those shortlists and will be able to pick their winner. This survey will also have questions on the likely …

Posted in News | Tagged Liberal Democrat Voice Awards 2013 | 9 Comments

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: And now for something else… Childcare, Lobbying and HS2

By The Voice | Sun 8th September 2013 - 3:45 pm

Last week, Syria dominated. This week Nick Clegg uses his Leader’s letter to promote a just-announced initiative – 15 hours’ free nursery care to children from the poorest families – and defend another two currently under attack: the Transparency and Lobbying bill and HS2. On lobbying, he dismisses as ‘nonsense’ the idea the Government was ever wanting to gag charities and says the Coalition will accept amendments that make this crystal clear. While on HS2 he argues it is vital to increase capacity, and adds it’s just one of many improvements planned to the railways.

A few weeks ago I asked you to let me know what you wanted me to cover in this letter and one message came back more clearly than any other: anything and everything! The winning choice, by far, was “something else” – with suggestions from bees to tax avoidance.

Posted in News | Tagged childcare, HS2, letter from the leader, lobbying, lobbying bill, railways and register of lobbyists | 16 Comments

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

By The Voice | Sun 8th September 2013 - 2:15 pm

Many thanks to the 18,000+ visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Tom Brake on 38 Degrees and the Transparency and Lobbying Bill (79 comments) by Tom Brake MP

+++ Sarah Teather won’t fight 2015 election (140) by Caron Lindsay

The Independent View: It’s not alarmist to raise concerns about government plans for non-party campaigning (11) by Alexandra Runswick

Opinion: The Syria Milishambles (82) by Westminster Insider

Syria debate: how Lib Dem MPs voted (39) by Andy Boddington

The Independent View: Concerns about lobbying bill are not alarmist (2) by Ros Baston

Frankly, I’d

…

Posted in Site news | 2 Comments

Liberal Democrat Voice Awards: The Shortlists (2): Tweeter of the Year

By The Voice | Sun 8th September 2013 - 12:00 pm

The Liberal Democrat Voice Awards are but six days away. At 10 pm on Saturday 14 September, in Castle 2 of the Crowne Plaza, with cash bar on hand, and an imaginative dress code, the best in blogging, campaigning, social media and politics in general will be feted in a ceremony filled with razzmatazz, glitz and glamour.

In the next few days, our Members’ Forum will be e-mailed with the chance to vote for the majority of the awards. They will have first sight of those shortlists and will be able to pick their winner. If you are a party member …

Posted in News | Tagged Liberal Democrat Voice Awards 2013 | 4 Comments

Independent says “Lib Dems go beyond meaning well”

By The Voice | Sun 8th September 2013 - 9:13 am

Today’s Independent editorial has some heartening words about the approach of Liberal Democrats within the Government and our ongoing policy making process.

The background to the motion on childcare is explored:

Hence the party’s plan to extend free childcare to all one- and two-year-olds, which we report on today, is no well-meaning wishlist, but a battle-hardened piece of legislation-ready policy.

The plan emerges from the struggle between the coalition partners over the last spending round, which was announced by George Osborne, the Chancellor, in June. Nick Clegg pushed for a better childcare deal, but eventually had to concede that NHS, schools and

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Posted in News | Tagged childcare, independent, liberal democrat conference and mansion tax | 1 Comment

Liberal Democrat Voice Awards: The Shortlists (1): The Tim Garden Award

By The Voice | Sat 7th September 2013 - 12:00 pm

The Liberal Democrat Voice Awards are only a week away. At 10 pm on Saturday 14 September, in Castle 2 of the Crowne Plaza, with cash bar on hand, and an imaginative dress code, the best in blogging, campaigning, social media and politics in general will be feted in a ceremony filled with razzmatazz, glitz and glamour.

In years past, all the shortlists have been released at once. That’s because the Divine Ms Duffett is kind to you. I on the other hand, am happy to mess with your heads a bit more. So, in the style of the announcement of …

Posted in News | Tagged Jo Swinson, julian huppert, Liberal Democrat Voice Awards 2013, lynne featherstone, tim farron, tim garden and tom brake | 8 Comments

All in a night’s work: Nick Clegg faces down HS2 critics and embraces Home Rule

By The Voice | Thu 5th September 2013 - 8:05 pm

Nick Clegg is in Glasgow tonight, talking to CBI Scotland. Much of what he says is applicable across the whole UK, though. Here are some of the highlights:

The economy

At every step of the way, in the Coalition, we’re fighting hard to create jobs, boost growth and make a genuine difference to people’s lives across the UK.

That’s why we’ve committed to raise the personal allowance on income tax. So that basic rate tax payers will get to keep all of the first £10, 000 they earn. We’ve already taken over 2 million people out of paying income tax altogether. And by

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Posted in News | Tagged cbi, nick clegg, Scotland and speeches | 12 Comments

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: Our Priority is Syria

By The Voice | Sun 1st September 2013 - 10:33 am

Unsurprisngly, this week, Nick’s letter is about Syria. He highlighted his unprecedented Q and A session with members (embedded below if you missed it) and talked about the humanitarian aid that the UK is piling in to help the people of Syria and surrounding nations.

This was a week in which we all grappled with a complex set of questions about Britain’s role in the world: our views on the scope of international law; on the place for humanitarian intervention; and on how to respond to war crimes committed on foreign soil.

My own views are well known: that there is a humanitarian case for the UK to be prepared to participate in multi-lateral, legal, targeted military action in Syria, aimed at deterring the use of chemical weapons. But there are no easy answers in this debate and I entirely understand and respect the misgivings that have led some colleagues and party members to oppose such action.

Last night, Parliament made its opposition to military action clear and of course, the Government will abide by that decision.

I held an online Q&A with members earlier today. If you weren’t able to join in, you can see it here.

Posted in News | Tagged letter from the leader | 20 Comments

By-Election Results – good hold in Windermere Bowness North

By The Voice | Sat 31st August 2013 - 8:30 am

Good news from the heart of Tim Farron country – a solid win in Thursday’s Windermere Bowness North ward on South Lakeland District Council for Colin Jones. He’s pictured here with local MP and Party President Tim Farron.

The result was:

Liberal Democrat Colin Jones: 431

Conservative: 248

Labour: 29

60.8% of …

Posted in News | Tagged by-elections, colin jones, Local government and tim farron | 1 Comment

Clegg: Five reasons why this is not Iraq

By The Voice | Wed 28th August 2013 - 8:44 pm

Nick Clegg has just sent the following email to Liberal Democrat party members:

Dear member,

Tomorrow Parliament will consider international action in Syria.

I have been adamant from the outset: any case for international action must be taken to the UN in an effort to achieve as great an international consensus as possible. And I have made certain this is taking place.

We must wait until we hear from the weapons inspectors.

Ahead of tomorrow’s debate, you can read the full wording of the motion we’ll be laying before Parliament here.

For the past week I have been in regular discussions with the Prime Minister, …

Posted in News | Tagged featured, iraq, nick clegg and syria | 56 Comments

Nick Clegg on Syria: Government “is not going to act outside the remit of international law”

By The Voice | Tue 27th August 2013 - 7:15 pm

Here’s Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg commenting on the Government’s actions on Syria:

Posted in Europe / International and YouTube | Tagged nick clegg and syria | 28 Comments

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

By The Voice | Sun 25th August 2013 - 2:20 pm

Many thanks to the 11,500 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Nick Clegg’s office speaks out on Miranda detention and destruction of Guardian data

Opinion: I disagree with you. You must be stupid, incompetent or a liar… (100 comments) by Mark Valladares

Why I’m not so worried about David Miranda’s detention (42 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Some more information on the reasoning behind Nick Clegg’s approval of the destruction of the Guardian’s information (33 comments) by Caron Lindsay

I’m a liberal and I’m sticking up for

…

Posted in Site news | 1 Comment

Jo Swinson to name and shame rogue employers who fail to pay minimum wage

By The Voice | Sat 24th August 2013 - 3:47 pm

Jo Swinson was featured widely in the media yesterday talking about her plan to tackle employers who fail to pay the National Minimum Wage.

The BIS website outlines the plan:

Employment Relations Minister Jo Swinson said:

Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal. If employers break this law they need to know that we will take tough action.

This is why I’m making changes so it is easier to name and shame employers who break the law. This gives a clear warning to rogue employers who ignore the rules, that they will face reputational consequences as well as a fine if they

…

Posted in News | Tagged employment, Jo Swinson and minimum wage | 20 Comments

Lessons of Coalition (18): We need to show more loyalty to the voters

By The Voice | Sat 24th August 2013 - 2:15 pm

LibDemVoice is running a daily feature, ‘Lessons of Coalition’, to assess the major do’s and don’ts learned from our experience of the first 3 years in government. Reader contributions are welcome, either as comments or posts. The word limit is no more than 450 words, and please focus on just one lesson you think the party needs to learn. Simply email your submission to [email protected]. Today Alan Craw shares his thoughts.

Coalition government was never going to be easy, and so it proved, but the one general lesson we as …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged alan craw and lessons of coalition | 36 Comments

Lessons of Coalition (17): The two biggest problems are betrayal and betrayal

By The Voice | Wed 21st August 2013 - 12:40 pm

The two biggest problems for any future coalition will be the breakdown of trust between the voters and the …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged alex wilcock and lessons of coalition | 46 Comments

Nick Clegg’s office speaks out on Miranda detention and destruction of Guardian data

By The Voice | Wed 21st August 2013 - 11:10 am

A spokesperson for Nick Clegg has released the following statement to the press:

We understand the concerns about recent events, particularly around issues of freedom of the press and civil liberties. The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation is already looking into the circumstances around the detention of David Miranda and we will wait to see his findings.

On the specific issue of records held by the Guardian, the Deputy Prime Minister thought it was reasonable for the Cabinet Secretary to request that the Guardian destroyed data that would represent

…

Posted in News | Tagged civil liberties, david miranda and nick clegg | 98 Comments

Paddick: Police have some explaining and reassuring to do on Miranda detention

By The Voice | Tue 20th August 2013 - 11:44 am

Brian Paddick has just gone on the BBC News Channel to talk, very briefly, about the detention of David Miranda. The former Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate, recently ennobled by Nick Clegg, has a unique perspective on the issue.

He was quite careful in his use of language, but the overall impression I took from what he was saying is that he’s not entirely convinced that the detention was justified. He said that it was extremely unusual for a transiting passenger to be stopped in this way and that the authorities must have had some sort of intelligence that he would …

Posted in News | Tagged brian paddick, civil liberties, david miranda and terrorism | 52 Comments

House of Comments podcast: with added Caron Lindsay

By The Voice | Mon 19th August 2013 - 7:50 pm

LibDemVoice Co-Editor Caron Lindsay guests on the latest House of Comments, the weekly podcast presented by Lib Dem blogger Mark Thompson and Labour’s Emma Burnell.

So if you’re interested in any or all of the following topics — the state of the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg’s position, your favourite minister and MP, gender balance, immigration, Mark’s “I won’t campaign for anyone who voted for secret courts” pledge, drugs policy, and much, much more — then you robably want to give it a listen.

Here’s the magic link: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/house-of-comments-podcast/id579577529.

Posted in News | Tagged caron lindsay, house of comments and mark thompson | 2 Comments

Federal Conference directory available

By The Voice | Mon 19th August 2013 - 1:15 pm

The directory, with fringe listings and ministerial Q&A sessions, for the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference on 14th-18th September is now available here. So plan your fringe programme today.

Your particular attention is drawn to the Liberal Democrat Voice Awards at 10pm on Saturday evening.

Liberal Democrat Voice
Liberal Democrat Voice Awards (incorporating Blog of the Year)
The BOTYs are back with new categories alongside old favourites. Join us for an evening of unrivalled glamour and fun with Nick Clegg and surprise guests as we celebrate the best of blogs, people and media. Dress: imaginative.
Crowne Plaza, Castle 2

Posted in Conference | Tagged autumn conference 2013 | 4 Comments

Cameron plans second coalition, or does he?

By The Voice | Mon 19th August 2013 - 10:56 am

The Daily Telegraph is reporting today that David Cameron is planning for a second coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

The Prime Minister has held private talks with Cabinet ministers over new Conservative Party rules which would make it easier to strike another deal.

This is all very sensible. In the absolute monarchy mitigated by occasional regicide that is the Conservative Party, tighter rules to clamp down on the backbench naysayers to a coalition would be very prudent, just in case.

Under the plans, backbench Tories would be consulted on the new power-sharing agreement with the final text being put to

…

Posted in News | Tagged coalition government and conservative party | 29 Comments

Lessons of Coalition (16): More shocks than lessons

By The Voice | Mon 19th August 2013 - 8:52 am

These are less lessons and more shocks.

1. The robustness of the remaining Lib Dem members

I am quite shocked, or …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged lessons of coalition and paul walter | 16 Comments

What’s being debated in our members’ forum this week?

By The Voice | Sat 17th August 2013 - 3:29 pm

LibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you’re reading now. The second is our private members’ forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access.

If you’re a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that’s on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you’ll be included in our regular surveys’ of party members’ views.

Here’s some of the most active discussions this past 7 days:

Fracking

This should be Nick Clegg’s moment

Is this an achievement?

Things that cheer you up

Is this

…

Posted in Site news | Leave a comment

Sir Menzies Campbell says Egypt violence must end after “barbaric” events

By The Voice | Thu 15th August 2013 - 2:14 pm

In an interview with the BBC News Channel, Sir Menzies Campbell said that the international community, led by the US, should work to bring an end to the violence in Egypt. He described yesterday’s events as barbaric.

He said that the US was best placed to use its leverage, based on its funding to the Egyptian army, to initiate the process towards a sustainable political settlement. While in the long term there were strong arguments for those funds to be reduced, doing so at the moment might do more harm than good as it would remove the ability to set conditions.

He …

Posted in News | Tagged egypt, foreign affairs, sir menzies campbell and us | 12 Comments