Author Archives: The Voice

“Chris Huhne has achieved more in a year than most top politicians manage in a lifetime”

By The Voice | Wed 25th May 2011 - 9:48 pm

High praise from the Telegraph for Chris Huhne, and deservedly so. Environmental correspondent Geoffrey Lean says Huhne “has been playing a blinder” through the introduction of the Green Investment Bank and the fourth Carbon Budget:

Over the last two weeks, as the crisis he faces steadily deepened, he has been the driving force behind two of the most momentous decisions any administration has taken, ones that could shape Britain’s economic development for the rest of the century, and beyond.

Last week the government adopted the world-beating goal of cutting carbon emissions to half 1990 levels by 2025. No other

…

Posted in News | Tagged carbon budget, chris huhne, daily telegraph, david cameron, geoffrey lean, green investment bank, nick clegg and vince cable | 12 Comments

Liberal Democrats setting the pace on the green agenda – Simon Hughes updates party members

By The Voice | Wed 25th May 2011 - 6:26 pm

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Simon Hughes has emailed party members to update them on the party’s influence in government, in promoting the green agenda. He highlights the Energy Bill, the fourth Carbon Budget, and the Green Investment Bank, detailed this week by Nick Clegg and Vince Cable.

It’s been a great month for Liberal Democrats, who are setting the pace on the green agenda!

Two weeks ago, Chris Huhne, as Energy and Climate Change Secretary, led for the government when his Department’s Energy Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons. This creates the framework for the Green Deal,

…

Posted in News | Tagged chris huhne, green investment bank, nick clegg, simon hughes and vince cable | 8 Comments

Lord Stoneham defends Goodwin disclosure

By The Voice | Tue 24th May 2011 - 9:16 am

The Liberal Democrat peer who disclosed that former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Sir Fred Goodwin had a relationship with a senior colleague defended his action last night.

Using Parliamentary privilege, Lord Stoneham of Droxford told peers last Thursday:

Every taxpayer has a direct public interest in the events leading up to the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, so how can it be right for a super-injunction to hide the alleged relationship between Sir Fred Goodwin and a senior colleague?

If true, it would be a serious breach of corporate governance and not even the Financial Services Authority would be

…

Posted in Parliament | Tagged ben stoneham, matthew oakeshott and william wallace | 2 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #222

By The Voice | Sun 22nd May 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 222nd 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 (15-21 May, 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment

We’re back…

By The Voice | Sat 21st May 2011 - 11:06 am

Apologies for the problems in accessing our site over the last few days. We are now up and running on a new server, with a new hosting company. Everything should be working fine but if you spot any problems do let us know. Thanks for your patience.

Posted in Site news | 7 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #221

By The Voice | Sun 15th May 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 221st 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 (8-14 May, 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | 1 Comment

Statement from David Laws

By The Voice | Thu 12th May 2011 - 11:30 am

From a party news release:

David Laws, MP for Yeovil, today commented on the conclusion of the Inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and the Standards and Privileges Committee.

The Inquiry identified a number of breaches of rules, in particular it found that Mr. Laws was in breach of the partner rule, and should have designated his constituency home as his main home from 2004/05, on the basis of the nights spent test.

However, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards accepted that Mr. Laws’ motivation was privacy and not financial benefit, and both the Commissioner and the Committee accept that his claims would …

Posted in News | Tagged david laws, mps expenses, parliamentary commissioner for standards and standards and privileges committee | 63 Comments

PCC rules against Daily Telegraph’s sting operation

By The Voice | Tue 10th May 2011 - 8:19 am

Via the BBC:

A newspaper’s decision to secretly tape Liberal Democrat MPs breached press rules on “subterfuge”, a watchdog says.

The Press Complaints Commission said the Daily Telegraph had produced material “in the public interest”.

But it said the paper had not had enough evidence to justify what it called “a fishing expedition”.

Among those taped by reporters posing as constituents was Business Secretary Vince Cable, who was recorded saying he had “declared war” on Rupert Murdoch…

The PCC ruled the newspaper launched the “disproportionately intrusive attention” without sufficient reasons and said it would issue fresh guidance over the acceptable use of subterfuge.

Liberal Democrat …

Posted in News | Tagged daily telegraph, journalism, press complaints commission, tim farron and vince cable | 5 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #220

By The Voice | Sun 8th May 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 220th 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 (1st-7th May, 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment

The LDV Friday Five: 6 May 2011

By The Voice | Fri 6th May 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

Homophobic smears hit Leicester South by-election (37 comments) by Mark Pack
Lib Dem members say: AV referendum result irrelevant to Coalition’s future (16 comments) by Stephen Tall
How to vote – and what to do once you’ve voted (1 comment) by Mark Pack
Greens would pick up most Lib Dem 2nd preferences under AV: LDV members survey (14 comments) by Stephen Tall
LibLink: Chris Huhne – AV referendum: why progressives must unite to vote yes (64 comments) by Nick Thornsby

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

5 from the LDV archive

(6th May, 2007-10)

The Lib Dem 2010 general election campaign: punching above our weight (6 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2010
Why the Lib Dem surge was at just the right time (11 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2010
PMQs: education (5 comments) by Alix Mortimer, from 2009
Opinion: A performance to be proud of, but not to settle for (45 comments) by Neale Upstone, from 2008
Lib Dems say it’s SNP or no-one for coalition partners (5 comments) by the founding editor, from 2007

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment

The LDV election results open thread

By The Voice | Thu 5th May 2011 - 10:20 pm

Here are the starting positions (as Stephen’s already described):

Scotland: the party is defending 16 seats (11 constituency MSPs, and five regional list MSPs), which was a drop of one compared to 2003. There are 129 contested seats for the Scottish Parliament.

Wales: the party is defending six seats (3 constituency AMs, and three regional list AMs), which was the same as in 2003. There are 60 contested seats for the Welsh assembly.

In the English local elections:

1,876 of the 3,948 Liberal Democrat councillors (48%) have been defending their seats today in –

Posted in Local government, Scotland and Wales | Tagged av referendum and leicester south by-election | 29 Comments

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Thu 5th May 2011 - 8:24 pm

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 …

Posted in Site news | Leave a comment

LibLink – Chris Rennard: AV myths are behind MPs’ opposition

By The Voice | Wed 4th May 2011 - 4:55 pm

Chris Rennard, Liberal Democrat peer and the party’s former Chief Executive, writes today at the Guardian’s Comment is Free about the myths behind MPs’ opposition to AV.

The first myth, Chris says, is that the alternative vote system could lead to more hung parliaments, which has led to the Conservative hierarchy ferociously defending first-past-the-post:

The major misconception about the alternative vote system was expressed by former Tory minister Peter Lilley in the debate on the Queen’s speech that followed the coalition agreement. He supported the coalition “because a hung parliament makes it necessary”. But he said: “I would not support changes

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged av referendum and chris rennard | 6 Comments

Video: The answer is AV. The answer is YES!

By The Voice | Mon 2nd May 2011 - 8:53 am

Paddy Ashdown explains why:

Posted in YouTube | Tagged av referendum and paddy ashdown | 3 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #219

By The Voice | Sun 1st May 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 219th 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 (24th-30th April, 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | 1 Comment

Dee Doocey slams Merton Council for buying VIP Olympics tickets

By The Voice | Thu 28th April 2011 - 9:26 am

The Evening Standard reports,

Council bosses came under fire today for taking £4,000 of VIP Olympic tickets at taxpayers’ expense.

Merton Council asked for two tickets – for the Mayor and a companion – for each of the opening and closing ceremonies at a total cost of £3,980.

At £995 a time, they are the most expensive of the tickets offered to London boroughs, which are each entitled to buy 100 prime seats worth £50,000 from Games organisers. Details of Merton’s move comes just weeks after the borough ordered…

Lib-Dem London Assembly member Dee Doocey said: “I am astonished that Merton council plans

…

Posted in News | Tagged dee doocey and olympics | 6 Comments

LibLink: Nick Clegg… AV got the Mayor elected – now he’s voting against it

By The Voice | Wed 27th April 2011 - 3:28 pm

Nick Clegg wrote an article for the Evening Standard yesterday aimed at London voters, who’ll only be voting in the AV referendum on May 5th as London does not have council elections* this year.

As well as outlining the reasons for voting Yes to Fairer Votes, “I believe most Londoners want a new way of electing MPs that cleans up politics, makes MPs work harder and makes every vote count,” Nick busts the myths about AV: “vote-counting machines that don’t exist and won’t be needed. Claims that the alternative vote is too complex for the British people to understand, as …

Posted in London and News | Tagged av referendum, bnp, boris johnson, david cameron, david davis, evening standard, nick clegg and southwark | 24 Comments

Nick Clegg’s message to Labour YES supporters

By The Voice | Tue 26th April 2011 - 3:41 pm

Posted in News | Tagged av referendum, nick clegg and norwich | 25 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #218

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

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 218th 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 April, 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | 1 Comment

Go and see Nick Clegg’s electoral reform speech tomorrow morning

By The Voice | Wed 20th April 2011 - 4:49 pm

Tis the day for tickets for events in London it would seem, as the IPPR have been in touch about a few spaces left for tomorrow’s speech on electoral reform from Nick Clegg:

The Shape of the New Politics
Keynote speech by Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Thursday 21 April 2011, (9.45am for) 10 – 11am
ippr offices, 14 Buckingham St, 4th Floor, London, WC2N 6DF

Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg MP, will give a keynote speech at ippr outlining the case for the Alternative Vote as part …

Posted in News | Tagged av referendum, electoral reform, ippr and nick clegg | 4 Comments

Opinion: Vickers report on banking does not go far enough

By The Voice | Mon 18th April 2011 - 2:25 pm

Naomi Smith and Prateek Buch of the Social Liberal Forum write about the Vickers Commission on Banking…

At Lib Dem Spring conference in Sheffield last month, delegates overwhelmingly supported the Social Liberal Forum (SLF) motion Tougher Action on Banks and Bonuses. The interim report published recently by the Vickers Commission on Banking went some way to addressing the problems within the industry , but as we predicted in our speeches to the SLF motion, falls far short of Liberal Democrat policy which calls for:

A break up of banks deemed ‘too big to fail’ into smaller, safer

…

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged banking, independent commission on banking and john vickers | 6 Comments

The LDV Friday Five: 15 April 2011

By The Voice | Fri 15th April 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

Norman Lamb writes… The NHS: safe in our hands (27 comments) by Norman Lamb MP
Opinion: Why Labour members should defect to the Liberal Democrats (58 comments) by George Kendall
LibLink: Chris Davies – Be angry, be proud – and campaign hard (40 comments) by Nick Thornsby
Steve Webb writes: working for pensioners, now and in the future (20 comments) by Steve Webb MP
Let Clegg be Clegg (just not toooo much) (12 comments) by Stephen Tall

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

5 from the LDV archive

(15th April, 2006-09)

LDVideo #GE2010 #GoNick – Nick anticipates tonight’s televised debate. But how are we all feeling? (0 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2010
Okay, we can breathe again: who do you think won? (32 comments) by The Voice, from 2010
CommentIsLinked@LDV: Nick Clegg – A greater test is to come (3 comments) by The Voice, from 2009
Was Nick Clegg a student Tory? (46 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2008
Autumn Conference timing: tell us your views (1 comment) by Duncan Brack, from 2007

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment

Lib Dem MP Stephen Gilbert sticks up for first-time buyers

By The Voice | Fri 15th April 2011 - 7:45 am

Stephen Gilbert, Lib Dem MP for Newquay and St Austell, has spoken about his difficulties in getting a foot on the housing ladder in his own constituency. Despite earning over £65k, Stephen is renting a flat until he can build up the higher deposit now needed — usually £25k or more — to secure a first home.

The Cornish Guardian reports:

“This is the double whammy first-time buyers have been affected by,” said the 35-year-old Liberal Democrat. “If I can’t afford a deposit on £65,738, what about the thousands on lower incomes?”

Mr Gilbert said: “I think the Government needs to

…

Posted in News | Tagged housing and stephen gilbert | 31 Comments

Simon Hughes on the Coalition: “We have started so we’ll finish”

By The Voice | Thu 14th April 2011 - 10:20 pm

Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes has signalled in the clearest possible langauge his belief that the party’s coalition with the Consevatives can and will run its full five-year course. In a speech today in Bradford, Simon took the opportunity to state how the Lib Dems are delivering results in government:

Just this month nearly one million low income people stop paying income tax altogether. In the metropolitan borough of Bradford alone, 166,000 basic rate taxpayers will receive a tax cut. And this is entirely because of a policy which was campaigned for by Liberal Democrats in opposition and delivered by Liberal Democrats in government.

You can read Simon’s speech in full below:

Posted in News | Tagged simon hughes | 4 Comments

The Independent Banking Commission publishes its interim report

By The Voice | Mon 11th April 2011 - 6:23 pm

Via the BBC:

UK banks’ retail operations should be “ring-fenced” from their investment banking arms, the Independent Commission on Banking has recommended.

However, in its interim report the commission stopped short of recommending the two should operate as separate entities.

It said more competition was needed in retail banking, including the sell-off of more Lloyds branches.

The commission’s final recommendations will be published in September.

Robert Peston adds,

The big banks will claim that putting their retail banks into subsidiaries would impose significant extra costs on them – because it would force them to raise and retain more capital (which is expensive), and it

…

Posted in News | Tagged banking, independent commission on banking, john vickers, matthew oakeshott and robert peston | 4 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #216

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

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 216th 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 April, 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment

PODCAST: AV referendum debate at Gladstone Club

By The Voice | Sun 10th April 2011 - 3:27 pm

On Monday 4th April, in the run-up to the AV referendum, the Gladstone Club hosted a debate in the National Liberal Club on electoral reform which featured Lib Dem Voice’s co-editor Mark Pack and the Chairman of the Edmund Burke society, Ian Alston. Both took a look at the lessons which can be learnt from history by those deciding how to vote in the referendum.

Posted in Podcasts | Tagged av referendum, electoral reform, featured, ian alstom and Mark Pack | 5 Comments

Clegg: “AV is a very British reform”

By The Voice | Sat 9th April 2011 - 11:15 am

In a month’s time we will know the result — will the British people have voted to modernise our electoral system? The next three and a bit weeks will see some frantic campaigning in the first national referendum in a generation.

Tim Farron is leading the charge for the Lib Dems, as he described here on Lib Dem Voice yesterday. And today Nick Clegg, who as deputy prime minister steered through the legislation to give the public their say, will deliver a speech on the merits of the ‘alternative vote’ in London. You can read the full text below. The …

Posted in News | Tagged alternative vote and nick clegg | 3 Comments