Author Archives: The Voice

Lord Rennard not to face charges, Metropolitan Police announce

The Metropolitan Police have tonight issued the following statement following their investigation into allegations against Lord (Chris) Rennard broadcast on Channel 4 News:

Following reports in the media in February, officers from the Specialist Crime and Operations Command launched an investigation into allegations of sexual touching.

Various inquiries were conducted – including meeting with officials from the Liberal Democrat Party – and a number of individuals were spoken to as part of the investigation.

Those inquiries have now concluded that there is insufficient evidence to support a prosecution; a decision which has been made by police.

There was early investigative consultation with the Crown

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Mayor Dorothy announces she’ll go for fourth term in Watford

June 2011 Watford, UK Elected Mayor of Watford Dorothy ThornhillGood news in Watford, where Dorothy Thornhill, who in 2002 became the first directly-elected Lib Dem mayor in the country, has announced she will run for a fourth term of office:

I am really pleased to announce that I am going to stand again as the mayoral candidate for the Watford Liberal Democrats in the 2014 mayoral elections.

Last night we held our official party meeting at St Luke’s Church, at which I was unanimously reselected. The turnout was great,

Posted in Local government and News | Tagged , , and | 3 Comments

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

Many thanks to the 16,000 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Bob Worcester forecasts Lib Dems to be reduced to 24 seats in 2015. I’ll run naked down Whitehall if that happens (72 comments) by Stephen Tall

Hung Parliament: what Liberal Democrats members think will happen and what you want to happen (72 comments) by Stephen Tall

Clegg: “Every primary school pupil should be able to sit down with a hot, healthy lunch with their classmates every day” (110 comments) by Stephen Tall

Opinion: Ten reasons why the Bedroom Tax must go

Posted in Site news | 2 Comments

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

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 10 days:

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LDVideo: Glasgow 2013 party conference redux

Why attend a Lib De conference? And what happens when you do? Those are two of the questions communicatios firm covi set out to get answers to in this 5-minute video featuring Alison Goldsworthy, Vice Chair of the Liberal Democrat Federal Executive: Mark Pack, Editor of Lib Dem Newswire; David Boyle, author and policy maker; and Professor Stephen Lee, Chief Executive of CentreForum…

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Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: The insults were worth it

This is really a commercial for his keynote speech at Conference, with links to it on You Tube and to a text copy. It’s not the best title in the world. I might have preferred to highlight the new policy of free school meals for the first three years, myself. That’s not even mentioned. However, we don’t know if that’s it for this week, or whether there will be another at the weekend. 

libdem letter from nick clegg

 

Over the last few days, we’ve showcased what we’ve achieved in Coalition and we’ve demonstrated …

Posted in News | 23 Comments

By-election round-up: Winning in March, tantalisingly close in Oxford

Some excellent news from Cambridgeshire, as reported on the NE Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats website:

“There was a shock defeat for the Tories in the March North town council by-election on Thursday 19th September 2013. Lib Dem candidate Stephen Court stormed to victory gaining almost 50% of the votes cast and a majority of 156 over the defeated Conservative candidate. Stephen becomes the first Lib Dem councillor on March Town Council and breaks a stranglehold that the Tories had on the March North ward for many years. He is a local campaigner for improved rail connections, open spaces, decent bus services and local community facilities. Stephen ran a strong campaign earlier this year when the council wanted to railroad through development on the open space at Estover. And he shamed the town council into agreeing to issue voting cards at every election. "I would like to thank everyone who supported me during my campaign. I am delighted to have been elected as a town councillor for March North and look forward to using my new role to get a better deal for March and its residents.”

In Oxford, meanwhile,

Posted in News | 8 Comments

Lindsay vs Thornsby – House of Comments podcast comes to Conference

On Sunday morning, Nick Thornsby and Caron Lindsay joined Mark Thompson in the Liberal Democrat Voice broom cupboard in Glasgow and recorded a special edition of his House of Comments podcast.

Have a listen and see whether our crystal balls were right as we predicted how Conference would go and discussed everything from  Trident, nuclear power, fracking, online pornography and Nick Clegg’s position as leader. Deficit hawk Thornsby and old fashioned tax and spender Lindsay put forward their relative positions on the economy in entirely civilised fashion.

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Party Awards 2013: The Winners

Every year, a panel of judges including Tim Farron and representatives from the Scottish and Welsh parties make 4 awards which are traditionally presented by the Party President  just before the Leaders’ Speech at Conference.

This year’s winners are as follows. The words are Tim Farron’s.

The Dadabhai Naoroji Award to a local party for support and promotion of BAME party members

This year, our winning local party has one of our most high profile BAME candidates in a seat I know they’re planning on winning – they’ve been reaching out to their large Indian and Jewish communities locally – they’ve had for

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Nick Clegg’s speech to Lib Dem conference 2013

nick clegg by paul walterNick’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

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

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 , and | 4 Comments

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

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

    1) the economy is improving, and in no small measure that’s down to the Lib Dems’ commitment to provide strong government within a coalition government;

    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 | 2 Comments

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

guardian politicsLibDemVoice 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.

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

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 | 9 Comments

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

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.

libdem letter from nick clegg

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.

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

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

Posted in Site news | 2 Comments

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

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 | 4 Comments

Independent says “Lib Dems go beyond meaning well”

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

Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment

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

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 …

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

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

Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 12 Comments

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

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. 

libdem letter from nick clegg

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 | 20 Comments

By-Election Results – good hold in Windermere Bowness North

Tim Farron and Colin JonesGood 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 , , and | 1 Comment

Clegg: Five reasons why this is not Iraq

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 , , and | 56 Comments

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

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

Posted in Europe / International and YouTube | Tagged and | 28 Comments

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

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

Posted in Site news | 1 Comment

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

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 , and | 20 Comments

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

ldv coalition lessonsLibDemVoice 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 and | 36 Comments

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

ldv coalition lessonsLibDemVoice 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 Alex Wilcock shares his thoughts.

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

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 46 Comments

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

nick clegg by paul walterA 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 , and | 98 Comments

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

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 …

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Recent Comments

  • John B Grout
    Excellent piece, Josh. As for seeking others' thoughts on the pitch, here are mine: Labour and the Greens want to do things for you, the Conservatives and R...
  • David Evans
    It's an interesting article, which gives us more to think about, but when it ends with "Government and politics can strive toward this platform ... giving ind...
  • Neil Sandison
    This one of a series of articles recently published in the Liberal Democrat Voice that defines our social liberal values . Frequently the hot house of Westminst...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    This is the right problem to be working on, and I think the answer may be less about the words than about the moments. In my experience people learn what we sta...
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    It's good to have an MP putting herself forward for this. The manifesto seems a bit vague though. All good thoughts and nothing you can really disagree with, b...