Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

Total Politics Blog Awards: voting is now open

By The Voice | Tue 9th August 2011 - 3:48 pm

It’s that time of the year again, the Total Politics blog awards, in which people very kindly voted The Voice number one Liberal Democrat blog last year.

This year the voting rules are slightly different both to remove the old system of sending in emails and also to reflect that some people blog in several different places, so you can now vote for bloggers as well as blogs:

  1. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. The higher you rank a blog

…

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The Voice

Media reform in the UK

By The Voice | Mon 8th August 2011 - 10:00 am

Anthony Barnett (Our Kingdom), Sunny Hundal (Liberal Conspiracy), Mark Pack (Lib Dem Voice) & Will Straw (IPPR) write…

July 2011 will be remembered as one of those rare moments where the nation came together in shared outrage and disgust. The hacking of Milly Dowler shocked the country and led to a series of unprecedented events which would have seemed inconceivable just weeks before. The drama culminated in the resignation and arrest of several News International executives and senior police officers; the termination of a 168-year old national newspaper; and the appearance of a humbled Rupert Murdoch before a public hearing.

The various …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Mon 8th August 2011 - 9:23 am

The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.

You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are four simple ways:

1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there’s something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you’re an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or you’ve seen …

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Posted in Site news | 1 Comment
The Voice

‘Nick Clegg is chasing women’, says the Indy

By The Voice | Sun 7th August 2011 - 11:05 am

Under this deliberately playful headline comes news that the Deputy Prime Minister is determined to improve his image with female voters:

… the Deputy Prime Minister is to embark on a campaign to woo female voters – and the Liberal Democrats have hired a new PR guru to help him. … on a breakneck tour of town hall Q&As and private meetings with party members … His team stresses that these are “party” events. … In the first sign of the fightback, Mr Clegg will tomorrow use a speech to debunk the suggestion that women are getting a raw

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 10 Comments
The Voice

Vince: This isn’t a banking crisis, this is a debt crisis

By The Voice | Sat 6th August 2011 - 1:45 pm

Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable has sought to reassure the British public that the financial crisis currently destabilising the markets is substantially different to the 2008 crash which sparked the ‘credit crunch’ and recession.

While the Lehmans-triggered crash left the British economy reeling because of the knock-on effect on our banking-reliant financial services sector, notes Vince, this current crisis is the result of the markets’ failure to be convinced by the US and Eurozone efforts to curb sovereign debt — whereas the Coalition’s austerity measures to cut the deficit have the confidence of the markets.

Here is Vince speaking on the BBC today:

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems gain council seat in David Laws’s constituency

By The Voice | Fri 5th August 2011 - 11:21 pm

The Press Association reports:

Liberal Democrats gained from Tories in this week’s only reported council by-election amid signs of revival in some areas following the hacking scandal.

Candidate Michael Maxwell won Somerset County Council’s South Petherton division on a big swing.

It is covered by the Yeovil constituency of the party’s former Cabinet minister David Laws.

The result comes after it defied Labour at Warrington last week by winning in a marginal ward where it had lost another seat in May’s main contests.

This suggests that Lib Dems could be benefiting from their lack of high level links to the Murdoch empire.

RESULT

Somerset County – South

…

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Posted in Council by-elections | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

New comms team in place at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

By The Voice | Thu 4th August 2011 - 10:35 am

PR Week reports:

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has completed the process of building a nine-strong comms team for Nick Clegg, with the appointment of a Home Office senior press officer.

Helen Cook will move across from her role at the Home Office, which she has held for a year-and-a-half, later this month.

Cook will report to the chief press officer Peter Graham, and takes her place as the final link in Clegg’s comms armoury.

Sorene told PRWeek: ‘The appointment is the end of a process that started last year with the restructure of Cabinet Office and Number 10 comms.

…

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The Voice

Councillor Warren Swaine apologises for offensive tweet

By The Voice | Thu 4th August 2011 - 7:53 am

Reading Councillor Warren Swaine has issued an apology for his actions on 27 January.

I would like to take this opportunity apologise for making derogatory comments during the BBC Question Time programme on the 27th January especially those relating to Chuka Umunna MP. I made a lot of comments that were insulting that night and I regret that.

In respect of one particular tweet, no offense was meant but I absolutely acknowledge that it was recklessly worded and liable to an interpretation that was never intended. For that I would like to offer my sincere apologies to Mr Umunna and

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #232

By The Voice | Sun 31st July 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 232nd 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 (24-30 July, 2011), 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

The LDV Friday Five: 29 July 2011

By The Voice | Fri 29th July 2011 - 5:00 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

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The Voice

Councillor Warren Swaine reinstated after Twitter race row

By The Voice | Fri 29th July 2011 - 3:46 pm

Reading Councillor Warren Swaine has had his Liberal Democrat membership restored after being accused of making a racist remark about a Labour MP in February – but will have to complete diversity training if he wishes to be an officer for the Liberal Democrat council group.

The Reading Chronicle reports:

The Lib Dems’ South Central office announced today that Reading borough councillor, Warren Swaine, who represents Katesgrove ward, will have to undergo diversity training if he wants to be a spokesman for the group in the next two years.

The decision comes more than five months after Cllr Swaine was suspended

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 29 Comments
The Voice

Chris Huhne cleared over election expense claims

By The Voice | Thu 28th July 2011 - 8:44 pm

As Mark Pack reported over on his blog, for the second time allegations over Chris Huhne’s election expenses that were strongly backed by Paul Staines and Harry Cole have collapsed after the Electoral Commission investigated them:

The review concluded that one item had been under-reported by £10.15 (sic) but that otherwise the expenditure in the short and long campaign had been properly recorded and declared.

Regularly readers may recall how stridently both of them attacked people who disagreed with their claims over Huhne’s election expenses (such as in this thread, which includes Paul Staines daring anyone to bet that Chris …

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The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #231

By The Voice | Sun 24th July 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 231st 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 (17-23 July, 2011), 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

Huhne ‘orders inquiry into fossil fuel lobby influence over Tory MEPs’

By The Voice | Sun 24th July 2011 - 1:20 pm

From the Guardian this week:

Chris Huhne has ordered a private inquiry into which fossil fuel lobbyists “got to” the Conservative MEPs who defied David Cameron and voted down an ambitious carbon emissions target in the European parliament on 5 July.

“I have asked for a full analysis of what happened,” said the energy and climate change minister, speaking at an event in parliament. “We thought the vote was going to be close, but it was not close. We want to see which lobby groups managed to get to the MEPs.”

New research by the Guardian and Greenpeace into lobby groups and

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 7 Comments
The Voice

The LDV Friday Five: 22 July 2011

By The Voice | Fri 22nd July 2011 - 5:00 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

  1. LibLink | Vince Cable: I declared war on Murdoch… now everyone agrees with me (25 comments) by Helen Duffett
  2. Police and Crime Commissioners: Lib Dem candidates start here (17 comments) by Helen Duffett
  3. Opinion: David Laws takes another step on the road to redemption (26 comments) by Mark Valladares
  4. Opinion: Stephenson resignation – the bar just got lowered (22 comments) by Richard Morris
  5. Opinion: Cameron’s ten big mistakes – more please! (21 comments) by Paul Walter

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

  1. What’s your favourite Murdoch smear of the Lib Dems?
  2. The next battle after Murdoch?
  3. Materials for local campaigning – your views wanted!
  4. FOI requests er… request
  5. Elected Police Commissioners

5 from the LDV archive

(22nd July, 2007-10)

  1. An Interview with the Whips Office – comfy chairs will be provided… (0 comments) by Dominic Addington, from 2010
  2. Moving to an elected second chamber – a loss of expertise, or just privilege (9 comments) by Alex Runswick, from 2010
  3. Tall photographer stopped again by police (7 comments) by Helen Duffett, from 2009
  4. CommentIsLinked@LDV… Nick Clegg: MPs’ holiday betrayal (0 comments) by The Voice, from 2009
  5. Join us on Facebook! (1 comment) by Alex Foster, from 2008

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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The Voice

Stephen Williams: Labour spent £38m taxpayer cash on News International advertising

By The Voice | Wed 20th July 2011 - 3:19 pm

From a party news release:

The Government spent nearly £38m on advertising in News International titles between 2005 and 2010, a Parliamentary answer to Co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Treasury Committee, Stephen Williams, has revealed.

The figures show:

  • More than £17m was spent advertising in The Sun, including £4.5m between April 2009 and March 2010.
  • More than £7m was spent advertising in the News of the World, including £1.8m between April 2009 and March 2010.
  • £877,153 was spent advertising in all News International titles between April 2010 and March 2011.

Commenting, Stephen Williams said:

Despite the dire state of public finances, the Labour Government continued

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 10 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #230

By The Voice | Sun 17th July 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 230th 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 (10-16 July, 2011), 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

What made the Mail, the Express and the Telegraph keen to see Nick Clegg doing more of his job?

By The Voice | Sat 16th July 2011 - 2:47 pm

An odd set of messages this week from some of the right-wing press: the Mail, the Express and Telegraph all ran pieces criticising Nick Clegg for taking his children to school, while being essential to the smooth running of the country.

In a classic bit of pandering/flamebait (delete according to taste), they variously criticise Clegg for not working 24 hours a day before concluding that he is “powerful”, “Co-Prime Minister” and “the second most senior politician in the land”.

The Express’s Virginia Blackburn likes to think of Clegg as “a commanding figure, a statesman, a diplomat representing his …

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

The LDV Friday Five: 15 July 2011

By The Voice | Fri 15th July 2011 - 5:00 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

  1. Opinion: Nick Clegg didn’t suck up to Murdoch – that’s why his minions tried to destroy him (28 comments) by James Percival
  2. Stephen Gilbert MP writes: UK housing policy in crisis (22 comments) by Stephen Gilbert MP
  3. In Praise of Nick Davies, the British Bernstein & Woodward to Murdoch’s Nixon (8 comments) by Stephen Tall
  4. Opinion: Liberal Democrats didn’t just avoid Murdoch, we tried to cut him down to size (37 comments) by James Percival
  5. Brian Paddick writes: The Lib Dem Guide to phone hacking (10 comments) by Brian Paddick

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

  1. That old time zone issue
  2. Switching to renewable energy
  3. Generation Y – the key to community politics?
  4. News Corporation – Vince was Right – Dare we say it?
  5. Someone should send this guy a membership form…

5 from the LDV archive

(14-15 July, 2007-10)

  1. What a difference three months makes #nickcleggsfault (16 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2010
  2. Opinion: With Liverpool in my mind (26 comments) by Ed Randall, from 2010
  3. CommentIsLinked@LDV: Chris Huhne – Fresh questions for the News of the World (0 comments) by the Voice, from 2009
  4. Channel 4 News: Zac Goldsmith has “questions to answer” about election spending (17 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2010
  5. Nick gets the Twitter-bug (0 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2009

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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The Voice

“Liberal Way Forward for the Press: Free, Accountable, Plural” – Nick Clegg’s speech in full

By The Voice | Thu 14th July 2011 - 3:15 pm

This morning Nick Clegg gave a speech on freedom, accountability and plurality of the media at the Institute for Government in London.

Here’s the full text:

This has been one of those weeks in which it really feels like something big has changed. Pillars of the British establishment have been put under the spotlight – the media, politicians, the police – with public confidence in each crumbling before us.

As the Prime Minister explained yesterday, the Government has set up an Inquiry into these events. A two-stage, judge-led Inquiry looking, without delay, at the culture, ethics and practices of the British

…

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Posted in News and Speeches | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
The Voice

“Yates must go” – Dee Doocey exposes News International and Met Police’s cosy relationship

By The Voice | Tue 12th July 2011 - 5:18 pm

A Freedom of Information Request has revealed that the then Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman and Assistant Commissioner John Yates had lunches and dinners with News of the World and executives of News International while investigating alleged criminal allegations against the News of the World.

Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly policing spokesperson and member of the Metropolitan Police Authority said:

Such a cosy relationship between the News of the World, News International and senior Met police officers who were leading an inquiry into the News of the World phone hacking allegations goes to the very heart of the

…

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Posted in London and News | Tagged , , , , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Clegg urges Murdoch to reconsider BSkyB bid

By The Voice | Mon 11th July 2011 - 2:08 pm

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 16 Comments
The Voice

“The pillars of the British establishment are tumbling” – Clegg

By The Voice | Mon 11th July 2011 - 8:53 am

The Independent features an interview with Nick Clegg, given on Friday during his visit to Paris.

He speaks of “politicians falling to their knees ingratiating themselves with media moguls”, “too many vested interests tied up with each other” and “a culture of arrogance and impunity” as he lists the casualties of recent crises: journalism and hacking, MPs’ expenses, and banking.

Here’s an extract:

The deputy prime minister senses a rare opportunity in the hacking scandal to carve out a separate niche. The Liberal Democrats have never wooed or been wooed by the media moguls. Unlike David Cameron and Ed Miliband, Mr Clegg

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #229

By The Voice | Sun 10th July 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 229th 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 (3-9 July, 2011), 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

Video: Clegg says PCC is “a busted flush” and “needs to be replaced”

By The Voice | Fri 8th July 2011 - 5:55 pm

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 23 Comments
The Voice

The LDV Friday Five: 8 July 2011

By The Voice | Fri 8th July 2011 - 5:00 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

  1. What does the Inverclyde result mean for the Scottish Liberal Democrats? (25 comments) by Caron Lindsay
  2. John Hemming MP: Why I’m calling for a review of the smoking ban (70 comments) by John Hemming MP
  3. Labour holds Inverclyde with reduced majority (27 comments) by Helen Duffett
  4. LDVideo: That Ed Miliband TV interview car crash in full (8 comments) by Stephen Tall
  5. Tim Farron MP writes: Out of the Westminster bubble (7 comments) by Tim Farron MP

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

  1. “I’ve only just moved in”….
  2. Switching to renewable energy
  3. Same-sex marriage
  4. Google+
  5. Selling the brand “Liberal Democrats”

5 from the LDV archive

(8th July, 2007-10)

  1. Opinion: A Cornish perspective on the Budget and VAT (18 comments) by Andrew George MP, from 2010
  2. Vince: “This is not so much a White Paper as a blank paper” (0 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2009
  3. It’s a three-way contest for next Scottish Lib Dem leader (1 comment) by The Voice, from 2008
  4. Opinion: Why we should back liberal Free Schools (71 comments) by Christopher Leslie, from 2008
  5. Isn’t this perfectly reasonable? (6 comments) by Geoffrey Payne, from 2007

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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The Voice

Revealed at last? Labour’s low carbon policy thinking

By The Voice | Wed 6th July 2011 - 11:41 am

There’s one less blank sheet of paper at Labour HQ as the party gets ready to reveal how its policy review is progressing.

Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary Meg Hillier is to give a keynote address to green executives and industry leaders which will “for the first time offer a detailed insight into the opposition’s low carbon policy thinking.”

Looking forward to finally hearing what Labour think, 9 months and 7 days after first appointed as Chris Huhne’s shadow!

Posted in News | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Green Party called it wrong on phone hacking

By The Voice | Wed 6th July 2011 - 8:49 am

Just a month ago, London Green AM and Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones criticised the Metropolitan Police for spending too much time investigating phone hacking:

Jenny Jones, the Green Party member on the authority, said that the investigation, which is being handled by the Met’s serious crime directorate, was diverting officers away from more important crimes.

“Although this is not a victimless crime it is not something we should be spending a huge amount of time on,” she said.

“There are murders, child abductions and rapes that these officers could be investigating. All these people have to do is not use the

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 7 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #228

By The Voice | Sun 3rd July 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 228th 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 (26 June-2 July 2011), 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

The LDV Friday Five: 1 July 2011

By The Voice | Fri 1st July 2011 - 5:00 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

  1. Why Simon Kelner is wrong to defend Johann Hari (19 comments) by Stephen Tall
  2. What can the Lib Dems do about the Coalition’s ‘Northern problem’? (55 comments) by Stephen Tall
  3. Brian Paddick writes: Why I want to be Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor in 2012 (22 comments) by Brian Paddick
  4. Opinion: Stephen Williams is right to support the criminalisation of squatting (33 comments) by Tom Papworth
  5. Opinion: Why today’s strike action is wrong (21 comments) by Steve Middleton

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

  1. Same-sex marriage
  2. Where do you get membership forms from?
  3. Higher Education White Paper
  4. Generation Y – the key to community politics?
  5. VAN cost?

5 from the LDV archive

(1st July, 2007-10)

  1. Opinion: General Election 1.5 – 2010, the almost Internet Election (6 comments) by Charlotte Henry, from 2010
  2. Nick Clegg launches “Your Freedom” (23 comments) by Helen Duffett, from 2010
  3. Clegg to announce AV referendum date “next week” (4 comments) by Helen Duffett, from 2010
  4. Six (count ‘em) families now benefitting from Labour’s mortage rescue scheme (4 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2009
  5. Opinion: The devil is in the detail (5 comments) by Martin Land, from 2008

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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