Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

House of Comments podcast: with added Caron Lindsay

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

caron lindsayLibDemVoice 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.

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The Voice

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

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The Voice

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

…

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (16): More shocks than lessons

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

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 Paul Walter shares his thoughts.

These are less lessons and more shocks.

1. The robustness of the remaining Lib Dem members

I am quite shocked, or …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 16 Comments
The Voice

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:

…

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The Voice

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 …

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (15): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Tue 13th August 2013 - 4:15 pm

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 Richard Flowers shares his thoughts.

The Economy (it’s too soon to say)

Three years into a five-year fixed Parliament, with the economy showing tremulous signs …

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (14): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Mon 12th August 2013 - 12:58 pm

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 Joe Otten shares his thoughts.

Government is hard

As it should be. There is an idea that there are easy solutions to all the world’s …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 52 Comments
The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (13): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Sun 11th August 2013 - 4:45 pm

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 David Allen shares his thoughts.

If It Won’t Work, Walk

In 1974, Ted Heath called on Jeremy Thorpe to join the Conservatives in a historic …

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 11th August 2013 - 8:26 am

Many thanks to the 11,000 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

…

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (12): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Sat 10th August 2013 - 8:45 am

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 Patrick Murray shares his thoughts.

Make sure our policies are reflected in our manifesto

One of the great challenges facing our society is the housing …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 14 Comments
The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (11): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Fri 9th August 2013 - 8:25 am

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 Bill le Breton shares his thoughts.

The Open Coalition and Its Enemies

The most noticeable characteristic of the present Coalition Government is how similar it …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (10): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Thu 8th August 2013 - 8:15 am

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 Richard Morris shares his thoughts.

Make the red lines deeper and wider

Do you remember the ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’ …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Behind the scenes of ‘Call Clegg'”

By The Voice | Wed 7th August 2013 - 11:30 am

‘Nick Clegg effect helps LBC to record 1m listeners’ noted The Guardian last week — yes, the Lib Dem leader’s risky decision last January to host a weekly radio phone-in has proved a hit with the public. (“Imagine if we could do it with a politician who was popular,” side-swiped Nick’s co-host Nick Ferrari.) In this week’s letter Nick offers a behind-the-scenes video glimpse of the show…

libdem letter from nick clegg

I hope you’re having an enjoyable summer so far and getting some time to relax, enjoy the sunshine and enjoy time with family and friends.

This week I was back on LBC for my regular radio phone in show ‘Call Clegg’. I really enjoy doing it, and like the many town hall meetings I also do, it’s a great way to speak directly to the public.

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (9): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Wed 7th August 2013 - 8:15 am

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 Rob Parsons shares his thoughts.

Understand the mechanics of government

Be grown up. It is possible to be grown up in politics, as exemplified by …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (8): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Tue 6th August 2013 - 8:15 am

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 Robin McGhee, co-treasurer of Liberal Youth, shares his thoughts.

We should organise ministers better

When entering coalition, Nick Clegg decided to spread out his party’s …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #337

By The Voice | Mon 5th August 2013 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 337th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (28th July – 3rd August, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (7): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Mon 5th August 2013 - 8:04 am

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 Mark Pack  shares his thoughts.

The invisible ministers should up their game, or be sacked

For the start of both 2011 and 2012, I wrote …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 8 Comments
The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (6): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Sun 4th August 2013 - 2:20 pm

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 Louise Shaw shares her thoughts.

One member, one vote for all party elections

Coalition has exposed and accentuated the differences between two powerbases within the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 20 Comments
The Voice

What can be done about food waste?

By The Voice | Sun 4th August 2013 - 11:40 am

It is a little known fact that the European Union has a target for reducing food waste, aiming to reduce the 2011 level by half by 2020. Astonishingly, it was estimated that 89 million tonnes of food were wasted in 2011 across the European Union. As part of their efforts to reach their target, the European Commission have recently launched a public consultation on the subject.

In response, the House of Lords European Union Committee has launched an inquiry, seeking to establish a common understanding of the issue, identify and scrutinise proposed EU-level solutions, consider their implications and identify …

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (5): what do the Lib Dems need to learn form the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Sat 3rd August 2013 - 10:25 am

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 Caron Lindsay shares her thoughts.

That old “walk a mile in each others’ shoes” thing works

In the first few days of Coalition, I

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (4): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Fri 2nd August 2013 - 8:01 am

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 Nick Thornsby shares his thoughts …

Making a success of coalition government as a concept

Making a success of this coalition government meant two things for the Liberal Democrats. It …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 12 Comments
The Voice

So, who are these new Liberal Democrat peers, then?

By The Voice | Thu 1st August 2013 - 5:15 pm

Earlier today, we told you about the ten new Liberal Democrat peers. We thought you might like to know a little more about them.

Cathy Bakewell

Cathy was first elected to Somerset County Council in 1993 and has since gained expertise in a number of fields: fire and rescue, policing, equalities, safeguarding children and further education. Her appointment bolsters our local government experience in the Lords. She also served on Ruth Kelly’s 2007 commission which looked at the barriers to people becoming councillors. She may have similar ideas about addressing our under-representation of women in other areas.

Olly Grender

Olly Grender’s career has …

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The Voice

New Lib Dem peers announced

By The Voice | Thu 1st August 2013 - 11:09 am

The new Liberal Democrat Peers, announced today, are:

  • Catherine (Cathy) Mary Bakewell MBE – former leader of Somerset County Council
  • Rosalind (Olly) Grender MBE – former Director of Communications for Shelter and former Director of Communications for the Liberal Democrats
  • Christine Mary Humphreys – President of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and former Member of the National Assembly for Wales
  • Zahida Manzoor CBE – Former Legal Services Ombudsman and Deputy Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality
  • Brian Paddick – Former Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police Service
  • James Palumbo – Co-founder and chairman of Ministry of Sound Group, the

…

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The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (3): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Thu 1st August 2013 - 8:03 am

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 Gareth Epps shares his thoughts …

Government: What’s Occurrin?

A couple of years ago I took a trip to Barry Island and went on one of the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Lessons of Coalition (2): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Wed 31st July 2013 - 8:15 am

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 Mark Valladares shares his thoughts …

Better party communications responding to the realities of governing

My lesson of coalition is the importance of building a Party …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 17 Comments
The Voice

Know someone in local government who deserves an award?

By The Voice | Tue 30th July 2013 - 1:52 pm

The ALDE Group in the Committee of the Regions has launched the third edition of the awards for key liberal players at regional and local level. This year’s awards ceremony will be held on 4th of December in Brussels.

Both the national board of ALDE and EDP member parties as well as their local branches can submit nominations of persons that are considered to be suitable candidates for such an award, accompanied by a small motivation. Nominations need to reach the ALDE Secretariat by 30th September 2013.

There will be 2 categories of awards:

  • Local Leader of the Year
  • Regional Leader of the Year

Each …

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Posted in Europe / International, Local government and News | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 28th July 2013 - 2:30 pm

Many thanks to the  15,000 unique visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Opinion: Cameron’s porn ban – what does it mean? by Iain Roberts (42 comments)

POLL EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members think will happen in 2015 and what we want to happen in the event of a hung parliament  by Stephen Tall (47 comments)

Labour MP for Tottenham tells residents: wait until September for help by Mark Pack (15 comments)

The good news on university applications in 5 graphs by Stephen Tall (29 comments)

Exclusive: Liberal Democrats: “Go home” poster vans “disproportionate, distasteful and …

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The Voice

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: It’s Summer – back to work

By The Voice | Sun 28th July 2013 - 10:40 am

This week, Nick’s focus is on the Liberal Democrats’ Million Jobs campaign. He talks about his experience shadowing an apprentice in a pharmacy in his Sheffield constituency. We’re glad he reassured us that his work was carefully double and triple checked. Find out what other Liberal Democrat MPs are up to in their areas…

libdem letter from nick clegg

This summer, Liberal Democrat MPs and Peers are going back to the shop floor and finding out what it is like to be an apprentice.

For my part, I spent some time last week

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 6 Comments
The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sat 27th July 2013 - 2:55 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 10 days:

…

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  • 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...
  • Simon Robinson
    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...