Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

A message for candidates from They Work For You

By The Voice | Sat 24th April 2010 - 10:50 am

Are you a Parliamentary candidate? Do you know one? If so here’s a handy reminder:

TheyWorkForYou.com has sent online surveys to nearly 3000 candidates  across the UK, including most of your party’s candidates. If you don’t know it, TheyWorkForYou is probably the largest politician transparency website in the UK, with about 3m visitors last year.

The survey we’ve sent is a rigorously neutral attempt to clarify candidates positions on many of the biggest national and local issues at the election. It is also a long-term document – the data that comes from candidate responses will be viewed millions of times between now  and the general …

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The Voice

Vince on 0.2% growth: “the promised recovery is barely visible”

By The Voice | Fri 23rd April 2010 - 9:15 pm

It’s official: the UK economy has enjoyed a second quarter of growth, as the BBC reports:

The UK economy continued to recover from recession in the first three months of the year, according to official estimates. GDP grew by 0.2% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Here’s what Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable had to say – in text:

These figures show that the promised recovery is barely visible. There is a real danger of the UK going into a double dip recession. As people deal with their own debts and as the banks continue to strangle good British businesses by starving them of credit the recovery will remain fragile.

“The British economy has had a massive heart attack – it has just emerged from the intensive care unit into the recovery ward. The worst possible action is the Tory proposal to pull out the drip-feed when the patient is still in a critical condition.

“Not only must we tackle the deficit in a considered and rational fashion, we must also ensure that we support jobs and infrastructure as well as making sure businesses get the credit they need to drive growth in the economy.”

And on video:

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The Voice

Can the surge last? Lib Dem bloggers give their views …

By The Voice | Tue 20th April 2010 - 2:35 pm

Lib Dems leading the election race, and polling above 30% – that’s not a line (m)any of us expected to be able to type with a straight face. But it’s the present reality. The questions is: can the Lib Dem surge last? Here’s what a handful of Lib Dem bloggers think …

James Graham

Anyone who claims to know what will happen electorally next month simply doesn’t know what they are talking about. But there are a number of reasons to suggest that the Liberal Democrats’ poll leap over the weekend might last.

Firstly, polls tend to be mutually reinforcing. This is why some countries ban them during election time. The same factor which has reinforced the Lib Dems’ image as no-hopers in the past might well work in our favour now, especially since it is such a dramatic development.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 49 Comments
The Voice

The Cut-Out Debate Question … How would you change a broken light bulb?

By The Voice | Sun 18th April 2010 - 4:40 pm

The Voice is grateful to Saoirse Cathal Kavan – a member of the Facebook group We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office! which is growing at a quite astonishing rate (over 80,000 members) – for allowing us to publish this alternative take on the leaders’ debate …

Tim from Bristol: If you were to come into power, how would your party change a broken light bulb?

Nick: We’d ensure that the people have the power to replace light bulbs when they break and also see to it that replacement light bulbs are

…

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Posted in Humour and Op-eds | 1 Comment
The Voice

Mick Bates to face assault charge

By The Voice | Sun 18th April 2010 - 8:30 am

WalesOnline reports:

LIBERAL Democrat AM Mick Bates has been suspended by the party after it was confirmed he will face prosecution for assault following a late night incident in Cardiff city centre.

Joanne Foster, chief executive of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, issued a statement which said: “This afternoon, Mick Bates was told by South Wales Police that he will be summonsed at a future date for various offences following an incident in Cardiff on January 20. The Welsh Liberal Democrats regard this matter with the utmost seriousness. Therefore, Mr Bates’ membership of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has been suspended, pending the

…

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Posted in Wales | Tagged | 7 Comments
The Voice

Okay, we can breathe again: who do you think won?

By The Voice | Thu 15th April 2010 - 10:10 pm

Time for the post-match spin – what did LDV’s readers make of it all?

Update: Sun/YouGov poll result puts Clegg on 51%, Cameron 29%, Brown 19%
ITV poll shows same result: Clegg 43%, Cameron 26%, Brown 20%

Posted in General Election | 32 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dem manifesto launch: Clegg’s speech and BBC video

By The Voice | Thu 15th April 2010 - 6:50 pm

In case you missed yesterday’s launch of the Lib Dem manifesto – and want to catch up ahead of tonight’s first debate – here are two treats for you. First, the BBC report of the launch. And then Nick’s speech at the launch … in full.

Lib Dems to unveil ‘fair’ pledges – The Liberal Democrats present their election manifesto, saying it is a “serious” plan for government voters can “trust”.

And now here’s Nick’s speech launching the manifesto:

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The Voice

Photo evidence – Geoff Hoon for sale!

By The Voice | Tue 13th April 2010 - 3:50 pm

Last month Geoff Hoon was one of a clutch of Labour MPs caught on film by Channel 4’s Dispatches selling their services. It would appear from this photo that he’s now taking this very literally …

PS: what does this say about Labour’s confidence in their chances of holding onto Geoff Hoon’s seat of Ashfield? The Lib Dems’ Jason Zadrozny is mounting a strong challenge – you can visit his site, and find out how you can help Jason’s campaign here.

Posted in General Election | Tagged and | 10 Comments
The Voice

Clegg on bankers’ bonuses clampdown

By The Voice | Tue 13th April 2010 - 2:50 pm

If you missed LDV’s coverage of Nick Clegg’s plans to bring the bankers’ bonus culture under control this morning, then why not catch up with the BBC coverage of the announcment:

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The Voice

BBC: ‘Lib Dem candidate withdraws amid police probe’

By The Voice | Mon 12th April 2010 - 4:30 pm

The BBC reports:

A Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate has withdrawn from the general election amid a police investigation, the party said. David Murray was standing for The Wrekin seat in Shropshire.

A Lib Dem spokesman confirmed he was no longer contesting the seat but said he could not comment further “due to an on-going police investigation”.

West Mercia Police said it could not comment or confirm if Mr Murray was being investigated.

The Lib Dem spokesman said: “Mr Murray, on the advice of the party, has withdrawn as the candidate in the forthcoming election. We are unable to comment further due to

…

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Posted in General Election | Tagged and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Andrew Rosindell runs into a spot of bother with his posters

By The Voice | Sun 11th April 2010 - 3:50 pm

Conservative MP for Romford Andrew Rosindell has again raised doubts about his team’s tactics and ability to run a joined-up campaign.

In March, Left Foot Forward asked Did Rosindell deliver the leaflets he denies approving? – leaflets which included alarmist comments about immigration.

Now the Romford Recorder reports:

Romford’s Tory parliamentary candidate, and sitting MP, has been breaking the rules while canvassing for the May 6 election, says a political opponent.

Andrew Rosindell was accused of fly-posting in Havering-atte-Bower – pinning election posters and placards to trees on the highway without permission – and parking unauthorised with two wheels on the pavement while

…

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The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Sat 3rd April 2010 - 9:10 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 three 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

Harris and Huhne question legality of Labour’s ‘meow meow’ ban

By The Voice | Thu 1st April 2010 - 11:25 am

With just a fortnight until the Government’s mephedrone ban comes into effect, Lib Dem MPs Chris Huhne and Evan Harris have challenged the legality of the move (though the party has supported the ban itself). Today’s Guardian reports:

Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said the six resignations from the government’s advisory council on the misuse of drugs had left it inquorate and legally unable to issue formal advice to the home secretary. He also questioned how a decision to ban mephedrone without first publishing the council’s report on its potential harms complied with

…

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The Voice

Lib Dems launch ‘Enterprise in a fair society’ plans to boost business

By The Voice | Thu 1st April 2010 - 11:00 am

Want to know what the Lib Dems will do to boost the enterprise culture here in the UK? Well, Nick Clegg and shadow business secretary John Thurso this week launched their programme in keeping with the party’s campaign emphasis on fairness, Enterprise in a fair society.

Here’s the party’s news release announcing the programe …

The proposals include:

    * Restoring a public interest test for regulatory authorities to consider when takeovers are proposed and changing the rules on which shareholders can vote on takeover proposals

…

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The Voice

Matthew Taylor signs up to South West Water board

By The Voice | Sun 28th March 2010 - 5:53 pm

Matthew Taylor, Lib Dem MP for Truro and Falmouth, is one of seven Lib Dems standing down at the coming election. After more than two decades in Parliament, he’s been considering what to do next – and now we know at least part of the answer, courtesy of The Western Morning News:

A CORNISH MP and critic of unfair water charging has been made a non-executive director of South West Water. Matthew Taylor, who is standing down at the next election after 23 years as the Liberal Democrat MP for Truro and St Austell, has been a vocal critic

…

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The Voice

Lib Dems set pace in signing up for Royal British Legion pledge

By The Voice | Sun 28th March 2010 - 2:50 pm

The Royal British Legion is asking candidates from all parties to sign up to its manifesto ahead of the coming election campaign. Nick Clegg, along with the other two party leaders, has signed up to the Legion’s pledge, meeting recently with its Director General; while defence spokesman Nick Harvey has spoken at Legion fringe events.

The Legion has been keeping a tally of the proportion of MPs from each of the parties who have signed up to its manifesto – and as they comment, “Lib Dem MPs are setting the pace!”

…

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The Voice

Earth Hour 2010 – Tonight at 8:30pm

By The Voice | Sat 27th March 2010 - 3:40 pm

Marcus Hickman, from wearesocial.net, highlights the aims of Saturday night’s Earth Hour, and how everyone can get involved …

Tonight at 8:30 pm people, businesses and iconic buildings around the world will switch off their lights to show the support for WWF’s Earth Hour. Participating is easy; all you have to do is sign-up and join others across the UK as they switch off for an hour tonight at 8:30pm.

Last year Earth Hour saw hundreds of millions of people across 3,000 cities and towns in 83 countries participate to show the world’s governments that climate change needs to be addressed urgently.

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The Voice

Nick & Vince’s Budget 2010 response in full

By The Voice | Wed 24th March 2010 - 6:10 pm

Missed the Budget? Well, you didn’t miss much. But if you’re wondering what the Lib Dems have to say about it, then look no further.

First up, here’s Vince’s instant vdieo response:


(Also on YouTube here).

And now for the detail, as provided by Nick Clegg’s instant response to the Commons after Alasdair Darling’s budget statement:

Mr Speaker, this Budget has been billed as the preface to the Labour manifesto. Based on what we have seen today. It won’t be a manifesto but an obituary. The Prime Minister may have wanted a “giveaway budget”. What we got was a “given up budget”.

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The Voice

The Budget 2010: open thread

By The Voice | Wed 24th March 2010 - 1:23 pm

Alistair Darling has delivered his last budget as Chancellor, and what may prove to be the last Labour budget for many years. It was deeply, deeply dull, not aided by Mr Darling’s sonorous delivery. The Guardian has a summary of the key points – here are my subjective top 5:

    • No further announcements on VAT, national insurance and income tax. By freezing personal allowance, this is a real terms increase in income tax – as Mark Pack was quick to tweet, and as Nick Clegg was on-the-ball to note in his budget reponse. David Cameron, by contrast, seemed

…

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Posted in News | 6 Comments
The Voice

Tory tangle over non-white candidates

By The Voice | Sun 21st March 2010 - 8:20 am

The Observer today carries a story about the curious lack of photos of the Conservatives’ black and asian candidates in Barking and Dagenham.

The candidates exist (to the Tories’ credit) and their names and contact numbers are on the leaflets, but the photos are all white.

The Conservatives denied that the move amounted to deliberate “airbrushing” of ethnic minority candidates. They insisted that the lack of photographs of their non-white candidates on all campaign calendars dropped through letter boxes was because their list of candidates had not been completed when the material was published. But they could

…

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The Voice

Donna Boffa RIP

By The Voice | Fri 19th March 2010 - 6:10 pm

Sad news has reached us here at Lib Dem Voice that Islington Councillor Donna Boffa died today after a long illness.

From the Islington Tribune:

Cllr Boffa, 43, was first elected to represent Bunhill ward in 2003, in a by-election following the death of Lib Dem Cllr Rose Wooding. She leaves behind five children.

Islington Council leader Lib Dem Cllr Terry Stacy said: “Donna was a fighter right through to the end. From the day she was elected a councillor, Donna never forgot where she came from or who she was there to represent. Donna was all about helping the people without

…

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The Voice

Nick’s privacy pledge: only the Lib Dems will “bring an end to the endless snooping on innocent people”

By The Voice | Thu 18th March 2010 - 6:05 pm

Nick Clegg will be speaking tonight at the 20th annivesary celebrations of human rights group, Privacy International, and will stress the importance of this coming general election as an opportunity to win back privacy.

Here are some extracts from his speech:

Labour has spent 13 years trampling over people’s privacy. From allowing children’s fingerprints to be taken at school without their parents’ consent; to making us a world leader in CCTV; to wasting vast sums of taxpayers’ money on giant databases that hoard our personal details. And now we hear that ministers want pensioners to swap their bus passes for ID cards.

“The Government’s staggering record on losing private data – leaving it in pub car parks and on commuter trains – just makes matters worse.

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The Voice

Want to catch up on LDV’s Lib Dem conference coverage? Look no further … #ldconf

By The Voice | Mon 15th March 2010 - 11:50 am

It was packed weekend here at Lib Dem Voice, just as it was for conference delegates – so if you missed our coverage because you were in Birmingham, or simply want to re-live it all again, here’s the Voice’s handy guide to the conference-related posts published this past weekend …

Nick at conference:

…

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The Voice

+++ Exclusive: MEP has change of heart – now happy to have penis

By The Voice | Sun 14th March 2010 - 4:33 pm

News reaches us in LDV Towers that Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies has had a change of heart and will be allowing his name to go forward for the Flying Golden Penis trophy for Politician of the Year at the Erotic Awards 2010.

Last month, as we reported, Chris Davies wrote:

It’s an honour to be considered but it’s not justified. I organised a fringe meeting to give sex workers a voice at last year’s party conference, and more recently I put out a press release defending sex workers from prohibitionist government policies. But it’s not enough

Whether Chris has been …

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

Nick Clegg’s #ldconf speech: read it in full here

By The Voice | Sun 14th March 2010 - 12:20 pm

A hoarse-sounding Nick has just started adressing the Lib Dems’ spring conference in Birimingham. Here’s what he’s saying …

Shall I tell you the one phrase that bothers me more than any other? It’s this. “That’s just the way things are”.

No.

The way things are is not the way they have to be. We do not have to live in a country where the poorest pay the biggest chunk of their income in tax. We do not have to live in a country where politics is the plaything of wealthy donors and corrupt MPs. We do not have to live in a

…

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Posted in Conference and News | Tagged | 17 Comments
The Voice

LAUNCHED TODAY: new Lib Dem Voice website – How Liberal / Authoritarian is your MP?

By The Voice | Fri 12th March 2010 - 7:05 pm

In just under an hour’s time, the Lib Dem Voice spring conference fringe takes place in Birmingham, marking the official launch of our new website: How Liberal / Authoritarian is your MP? The site’s web address is http://rank.libdemvoice.org.

(We will be uploading the podcast of the Lib Dem Voice fringe meeting here as soon as possible.)

How Liberal / Authoritarian is your MP? has a very simple aim: to provide an easy way for the public to find out online how liberal or authoritarian are the views of their MP according to his or her voting record in parliament.

Here’s …

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The Voice

What’s the Liberal Democrat position on homeopathy?

By The Voice | Thu 11th March 2010 - 9:20 pm

As the issue has been debated several times recently on this site, here’s the latest statement of the party’s position:

A recent report by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee examined the provision of homeopathy through the NHS and called for funding by the NHS to be stopped. The Committee did recognise that many users derive benefit from its use and did not argue that such treatments should be banned.

The Liberal Democrats believe that, as a basic principle, individuals should have maximum freedom about how they choose to get treated, so long as the therapy is safe.  When it

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 106 Comments
The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Thu 11th March 2010 - 9:20 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 three 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 …

Continue reading »
Posted in Site news | 1 Comment
The Voice

‘Save the Net’ emergency motion submitted … now what?

By The Voice | Wed 10th March 2010 - 6:47 pm

Bridget Fox (PPC Islington South & Finsbury), Julian Huppert (PPC Cambridge) and filmmaker Obhi Chatterjee write:

Several of us have submitted an emergency motion on Freedom, creativity & the internet for the Spring Conference. It concerns an issue which affects the daily lives of almost everyone on which the party appears to have no defined or consistent policy: the internet. A BBC poll shows that 75% of UK adults think access to the internet should be a fundamental right of all people.

Our Parliamentary DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) Team has been doing a great job tackling the worst …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 29 Comments
The Voice

Student visas – Sir Les Patterson’s message of thanks to everyone Down Under

By The Voice | Tue 9th March 2010 - 7:16 pm

Last month Labour home secretary Alan Johnson announced tougher rules for students wishing to gain visas to study in the UK. Lib Dem Voice reader Ian Lawrence has passed us this thank you message from Australia’s Cultural Attache aka Sir Les Patterson …

G’day. Just heard my little possums that ahead of Labour’s March Visa rules, one group of Turkish students has decided not to go to Bournemouth but to spend tens of thousands in Australia instead – makes a change from Indians. The first of many groups I hope

…

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