Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

Laws: schools focus on average pupils to ‘flatter league tables’

By The Voice | Wed 11th February 2009 - 6:26 pm

The Telegraph reports:

Schools are increasingly focusing on average pupils in an attempt to “flatter” official league tables, according to research by the Liberal Democrats. They are prioritising teenagers on the cusp of getting C grades – officially a good pass – at the expense of the very brightest, it is claimed. Figures show the number of pupils getting these grades in GCSEs has increased quicker over the last decade than in other areas. Focusing on so-called “borderline” candidates can dramatically improve schools’ positions in national rankings.

David Laws, the Lib Dems shadow secretary of state for schools and children, is …

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 11 Comments
The Voice

Do you fancy being Vince’s voice to the press?

By The Voice | Tue 10th February 2009 - 1:49 pm

What more fun job could there be currently than to brief an agog media on the latest eminently quotable words of wisdom from the Lib Dems’ deputy leader and shadow chancellor, Vince Cable? If your answer to that is, ‘No job could be more fun’, then why not consider applying for the vacant post of Lib Dem Deputy Head of Media /
Press Officer for Shadow Chancellor:

This senior position strengthens our 24-hour media operation, supervises staff and their work rotas, promotes the Liberal Democrats as part of the duty rota cover team including acting as Press Officer for Shadow Chancellor on

…

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The Voice

Lembit reveals all to the Mail (Part II)

By The Voice | Mon 9th February 2009 - 1:46 pm

After a year of reading about himself in the press, Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik has decided to open up to the Daily Mail about last year’s annus horribilis by writing an exclusive two-part feature article. The first part focused on Lembit’s relationship with Gabriela Irimia; the second part recounts their split-up, his unsuccessful bid for the party presidency, and how the year ended with Lembit beginning to discover himself – here’s an excerpt:

As 2008 passed into 2009, everything went quiet. Work returned to its weekly rhythm. The photos of lost loves faded from the pages of the Press

…

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Posted in News | Tagged | 15 Comments
The Voice

Evan wins Secularist of the Year 2009

By The Voice | Sun 8th February 2009 - 6:46 pm

We may be only five weeks into 2009, but Lib Dem MP Evan Harris has already won an award – Secularist of the Year. The BBC reports:

The Liberal Democrat was named joint winner, with Lord Avebury, for their work in abolishing the blasphemy libel law in England and Wales. Dr Harris called the law “ancient, discriminatory and illiberal” as well as not compliant with human rights and against free speech. The offences of blasphemous libel and blasphemy were abolished last summer. …

Dr Harris has also campaigned to separate religion and the state claiming the current system has a number

…

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The Voice

The Indy asks The Big Question of Lib Dem class sizes proposal

By The Voice | Fri 6th February 2009 - 6:28 pm

Yesterday LDV reported on Nick Clegg’s announcement of the Lib Dems’ radical new education policies to fix inequalities in Britain’s ‘class-based education system’. In today’s Independent newspaper, there The Big Question feature has a very fair and balanced look at the issue, which you can read here – here’s an excerpt:

Why are we asking this now?

Because the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has announced that, if elected, his party would dramatically reduce class sizes for children aged five to seven – to just 15. it would be part of a £2bn cash injection into education spending.

…

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The Voice

Lembit reveals all to the Mail

By The Voice | Tue 3rd February 2009 - 1:20 pm

After a year of reading about himself in the press, Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik has decided to open up to the Daily Mail about last year’s annus horribilis by writing an exclusive two-part feature article. The first part focuses on his relationship with Gabriela Irimia – here’s an excerpt:

Frankly, I had no expectation of anything romantic happening between us, although I must admit that I was secretly hopeful. When, two months later, we became more than just friends, cynics derided our alliance. To them it just had to be a stunt, after all I was 41 and she was

…

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Posted in News | Tagged | 12 Comments
The Voice

The Future Shape of Capitalism – Vince Cable & Andrew Neil

By The Voice | Tue 3rd February 2009 - 11:00 am

21st Century Challenges is the flagship public engagement series at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Their next event, and one possibly of particular interest to our readers who are within reach of London, will be ‘The Future Shape of Capitalism’, on 17 March 2009, 7pm at the Society’s headquarters in South Kensington.

An expert panel, including Vince Cable MP, writer and broadcaster Andrew Neil, and John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist will discuss whether the current financial crisis and the downturn in the global economy will change the shape of capitalism as we know it today.

Tickets are £10 / £7 …

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The Voice

Forthcoming PPC selections

By The Voice | Sun 1st February 2009 - 9:10 am

The Lib Dems 4 Parliament site brings news that there are seven selections closing during February:

DURHAM NORTH – PPC (6th Feb 2009).

DURHAM NORTH WEST – PPC (6th Feb 2009).

TYNEMOUTH – PPC (14th Feb 2009).

NORTH TYNESIDE – PPC (14th Feb 2009).

BRENT NORTH – PPC (20th Feb 2009).

BLAYDON – PPC (21st Feb 2009).

BEACONSFIELD – PPC (27th Feb 2009).

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The Voice

Are there more ex-SDP members on the Tory front-bench than the Lib Dem front-bench?

By The Voice | Fri 30th January 2009 - 6:40 pm

Danny Finkelstein asks the question over at The Times’s Comment Central here. Scores on the doors (allegedly) so far show it to be a draw…

Tory shadow cabinet ex-SDPers: Greg Clark, Chris Grayling, Andrew Lansley and David Mundell.
Lib Dem shadow cabinet ex-SDPers: Vince Cable, Chris Huhne, Tom McNally and Paul Burstow

Or can LDV readers point out more…?

Posted in Humour and News | Tagged , , , , , , and | 13 Comments
The Voice

Duwayne Brooks to stand for Lib Dems in Lewisham

By The Voice | Fri 30th January 2009 - 1:50 pm

The Mirror today reports what visitors to Lewisham Lib Dems’ website knew last week – that Duwayne Brooks, one of the best friends of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence is fighting a council by-election for the Lib Dems:

Liberal Democrats have selected two people committed to working hard on behalf of Downham residents to fight the Council by-elections on February 19th, Duwayne Brooks and Jenni Clutten. They hope to join Cllr Julia Fletcher as the representatives for the area on Lewisham Council.

Duwayne, 33, is well known in Lewisham as a campaigner against knife crime and, if elected, will be working

…

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Posted in Local government and News | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Lembit: “Time to talk to al-Qaeda”

By The Voice | Fri 30th January 2009 - 1:20 pm

The BBC reports on Lembit Opik’s plea for the West to speak to al-Qaeda:

It is time to talk to al-Qaeda. Having been through this in the past, I know this is right. Declaring war on terror does not deliver peace. The random killing of hundreds of civilians has obviously secured headlines from the perpetrators. As long as this cycle is repeated, we have relatively little chance of achieving closure on the terrorist methodology.

“For those people that want revenge, it’s hard. But then the crime will have created its own ricochet. That would distract from any chance of strategic solutions

…

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , , and | 6 Comments
The Voice

Guest post: Peter Luff MP on an innovative online consultation

By The Voice | Thu 29th January 2009 - 3:38 pm

Peter Luff is the Conservative MP for Mid Worcestershire and Chairman of the Business and Enterprise Committee.

Politicians in the UK are often criticised for not using modern technology and communication methods effectively to engage with the public. This is a fair criticism – we should be doing so much better.

Sure, there are MPs who flirt with blogs and ministers who ‘twitter’, but there’s still an overwhelming sense that parliamentarians are using new media to be seen to be using new media, and that we actually still don’t know our dongles from our floppies.

In stark contrast to the US, we have …

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The Voice

Norman Lamb and the ‘prince of grime’

By The Voice | Thu 29th January 2009 - 10:13 am

The Guardian’s Patrick Barkham has the story of the strange connection between Tinchy Stryder “a 22-year-old grime artist from east London, enjoying the highest new entry at No 3 in this week’s singles chart” and Norman Lamb “a middle-aged Liberal Democrat MP from Norfolk”:

Stryder’s tiny independent record label was created by Lamb’s son, Archie, when he was just 17, after his Lib Dem dad remortgaged their home to loan him £10,000. Archie and his friend Jack Foster dropped out of school after booking Stryder – then completely unknown – for their urban music nights in Norwich and persuading him to

…

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The Voice

Scottish Lib Dems offer to “get round the table” with SNP over budget

By The Voice | Thu 29th January 2009 - 9:49 am

Tavish Scott, Lib Dem leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, has offered to open discussions with the SNP government in Scotland to resolve the budget breakdown triggered by the Holyrood parliament’s rejection of the SNP’s budget for 2009-10.

Though the Tories fell in line with the SNP, the 16-strong Lib Dem group, together with Labour and the Greens, voted against – the budget was ultimately defeated on the casting vote of the presiding officer. But this morning the BBC reports:

The Liberal Democrats want discussions with the Scottish Government about what concessions might gain their support for a revised budget.

…

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The Voice

CommentIsLinked@LDV: Chris Huhne – Cleaning up the house

By The Voice | Tue 27th January 2009 - 3:20 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free blog, Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne argues that the cash-for-influence scandal is evidence that the House of Lords requires major reform – and a police investigation. You can read it in full here, but here’s an excerpt:

There are no adequate safeguards within the House of Lords to bring the matter to justice, as there is no easy means of suspending or expelling peers. Unlike the Commons, which was cattle-prodded into reform by Tory sleaze in the 1990s, the Lords has never had a crisis. … That is an important reason

…

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The Voice

More on the party’s technology plans: Lynne Featherstone interviewed

By The Voice | Mon 19th January 2009 - 5:43 pm

Lynne Featherstone has been interviewed by the Wardman Wire blog on the party’s plans for a new Technology Board, answering the questions:

1) What is the Technology Board for the Party for, and what is your remit as its Chair?

2) The Liberal Democratic Party is a federation of organisations. How does the Technology Board fit in locally and regionally?

3) How does your role compare to that played by Mark Pack?

4) What do you think needs to be done differently in the UK to Obama’s online campaign, and (briefly) why?

5) Would you list 3 specific things you would like to achieve during

…

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Posted in Online politics | Tagged and | 2 Comments
The Voice

The Tory reshuffle in full

By The Voice | Mon 19th January 2009 - 12:02 pm

Following the news this morning of Ken Clarke’s return to the Tory front-bench, PoliticsHome lists all the changes:

The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Mark Francois MP
Shadow Minister for Europe

Alan Duncan MP
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

Chris Grayling MP
Shadow Home Secretary

The Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice

Nick Herbert MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow Minister for Women

Eric Pickles MP
Chairman

…

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The Voice

Lib Dem MP to put down motion against expenses cover-up

By The Voice | Sun 18th January 2009 - 1:32 pm

Yesterday David Heath said that both he and Nick Clegg opposed plans to exempt MPs from having to publish full details of their expenses. Now fellow Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson has said she will be putting down a Parliamentary motion supporting this opposition:

Jo Swinson, will on Monday table a parliamentary motion against the Government’s decision to exempt MPs from publishing full details of their expenses.

The motion criticises the “regressive effect” of the move on Parliamentary transparency.

Commenting, Jo Swinson said: “Ministers should not be cooking up plans to keep MPs’ expenses hidden from public view. With this

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged , , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Clegg: only the Lib Dems “can truly change Britain for the better”

By The Voice | Sat 17th January 2009 - 12:29 pm

Speaking to the Lib Dems’ one-day policy conference in London today, Nick Clegg has highlighted the party’s policies to address the UK recession, and attacked the Labour/Tory “cosy consensus” for ignoring the needs of ordinary people and communities:

Our problems are systemic. Take a look at the problems in Britain today, from the economic crisis to the lack of social mobility, from disengagement with politics to our failure to get the best out of the European Union. The blame lies squarely at the feet of Labour and the Conservatives.

The Conservative adulation of the City of London, replicated by the Labour party: supplicants each in turn to the Square Mile’s masters of finance. That’s what’s made our economy so vulnerable to the global financial crisis. Both parties’ dependence on special interests, their centralising, micro-managing ways, that ignore the needs of ordinary people and local communities. That’s what’s sucked the life out of our politics.

The two old parties have been running Britain, turn and turn about, making the same mistakes, for longer than most people can remember. A cosy cabal, not wanting to change too much.

His speech concluded:

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 7 Comments
The Voice

15th Lib Dem MP signs up to ‘Airplot’ battle against Heathrow expansion

By The Voice | Sat 17th January 2009 - 11:46 am

Yesterday LDV reported the Parliamentary speeches of Norman Baker and Susan Kramer opposing the Labour Government’s planned expansion of Heathrow airport.

And today we can note that Richard Younger-Ross has become the 15th Lib Dem MP to become a ‘beneficial owner’ of a plot of land on the site of the proposed third runway at Heathrow airport, a Greenpeace move aimed at holding up the scheme in planning red-tape. As Susan says on the Greenpeace website,

At every stage the Government has ignored public opinion and shamelessly ignored the grave environmental risk of expanding Heathrow. At every stage, residents

…

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The Voice

Online trouble for the Conservatives

By The Voice | Thu 15th January 2009 - 8:41 pm

Via LabourList:

Just as Labour gets its new media act in order, cracks start to appear in the Tories cyber-strategy. The team that brought you Cameron’s Washing Up: The Movie is apparently under pressure and out of favour with the ‘old money’ at Tory HQ.

The Tories web guru is Rishi Saha and he’s trying to do some good stuff but from what I hear he’s not got the backing from the people internally who can make things happen.

Full post here.

Posted in Online politics | 4 Comments
The Voice

Lamb reveals 50 Health civil servants earn £100k+

By The Voice | Tue 13th January 2009 - 1:40 pm

From today’s Telegraph:

The number of staff earning three-figure salaries at the Department of Health has shot up from just eight in 1997 when Labour came to power. Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat health spokesman who obtained the figures in response to a written Parliamentary question, said: “For too long the Government’s priority has been increasing the amount of bureaucracy in the NHS.

“The explosion in the number of managers, not just in the Department of Health but across the NHS in general, is crazy when front line services are under huge pressure. People will be shocked that so many civil

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Congratulations to Brian

By The Voice | Tue 13th January 2009 - 11:50 am

Brian Paddick, the Lib Dems’ candidate for Mayor of London in 2008, married his partner Peter Belsvik in Norway this weekend. The Sun has the full story, revealing that guests included some of Brian’s fellow jungle contestants on I’m A Celebrity, including Simon Webbe, Nicola McLean and George Takei:

Brian, 50, was the sixth celebrity voted out of the reality show last year, after undergoing gruelling challenges such as sleeping in a cage full of rats and skydiving. After leaving the jungle, he said: “For a long time, in the police force, I’ve been doing serious stuff. It’s all bad

…

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The Voice

Clegg: Lib Dem Social Mobility Commission “shatters the idea that Britain in 2009 is a free and fair society”

By The Voice | Mon 12th January 2009 - 9:20 pm

The Lib Dem website reports that the party’s independent commission on social mobility – set up by Nick Clegg the day after he was elected leader – has published its full report:

The Independent Social Mobility Commission, set up by Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg and chaired by Barnardo’s Chief Executive Martin Narey, has found that a child’s life chances are ‘dependent on the background and earnings of its parents’. The commission’s report also found that increased education funding has failed to reach those children most in need.

The report sets out recommendations for improving the opportunities of disadvantaged children and young people across six key areas: child poverty, early years, education, employment, health and communities.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Clegg on Harry

By The Voice | Sun 11th January 2009 - 11:28 am

Repsonding to the news of Prince Harry’s race row video – in which he refers to two army friends as a ‘Paki’ and ‘raghead’ – Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has made clear his dismay:

Mr Clegg added his voice to those criticising Prince Harry’s remarks, saying he would have sacked a member of his team for saying such things. Asked about Prince Harry’s comments, he said: “He should not have used those words, it would have cause considerable offence.” And asked if he would have had to sack a member of his team for using such language, he added:

…

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Posted in Conference and News | 9 Comments
The Voice

Final call for Lib Dem bloggers: Orwell Prize 2009 for blogs

By The Voice | Sat 10th January 2009 - 3:44 pm

It’s almost a month since we first alerted LDV readers to the following:

The deadline to enter the Orwell Prize, Britain’s pre-eminent prize for political writing, is fast approaching: 14th January 2009. Submissions are invited for work published between 1st January 2008 and 31st December 2008 (inclusive).

It won’t surprise you to know that, with the elapse of a month, the deadline is even faster approaching. Of special interest, perhaps, to Lib Dem bloggers is the new Blog Prize:

In the year that we have made George Orwell a blogger, the Orwell Prize is delighted to announce a Special Prize for

…

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Posted in News and Online politics | Tagged and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Lib Dems are top choice of voluntary sector workers

By The Voice | Sat 10th January 2009 - 1:50 pm

ThirdSector.co.uk brings us the news:

A survey has suggested that more voluntary sector campaigners support the Liberal Democrats than Labour, with a significant percentage supporting the Conservative Party. The survey was carried out by recruitment consultancy The Right Ethos, which finds campaigners jobs with charities.

It looked at all 550 people on its database and found that, of the 80 who mentioned an involvement with a political party on their CVs, 45 per cent had a link with the Liberal Democrats, 31 per cent with Labour and 19 per cent with the Conservatives. Only 5 per cent favoured the Green Party.

Brian

…

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Posted in News | Tagged | 8 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg’s reshuffle: how did the press pack do?

By The Voice | Fri 9th January 2009 - 9:53 am

Nick Clegg has “demoted” Steve Webb (The Independent) although he also “promoted” him (Daily Mail). Meanwhile, Chris Huhne was “stripped of some front-bench duties” (Daily Telegraph), although in fact giving those duties to David Howarth was actually just “rubber-stamping” the existing position (Daily Mail). For bonus points, whilst Lynne Featherstone is still Youth and Equalities spokesperson, that’s not the Daily Telegraph world where she has been “moved”.

Promoted, demoted; stripped, not stripped; moved, not moved. It’s all the same isn’t it?

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The Voice

+++ Clegg reshuffles Shadow Cabinet

By The Voice | Thu 8th January 2009 - 12:39 pm

Highlights from the full story:

Simon Hughes: Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Steve Webb: Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
David Heath: Shadow Leader of the House
Jenny Willott: Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
David Howarth: Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Susan Kramer: chosen to leave the shadow cabinet to take up a new role leading the party’s campaign against the expansion of Heathrow Airport
Lynne Featherstone: Chair of the New Technology Board

Reactions include:
Steve Webb on his blog
Lynne Featherstone on her blog
The Guardian

Posted in News | Tagged | 24 Comments
The Voice

CommentIsLinked@LDV: Vince Cable – Confiscating savings from the poor is both stupid and cruel

By The Voice | Thu 8th January 2009 - 7:53 am

The Independent today has an op-ed piece from Vince Cable. You can read it in full here, but here’s an excerpt:

As it became clear that we faced a serious recession we Liberal Democrats broke the taboo of the political and economic Establishment by calling on the Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rates by 2 per cent initially. Our call was treated like a rude noise in church. But it has happened – and more – and we now have a two per cent base rate.

The danger now is of deepening recession mutating into deflation and a downward spiral

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 1 Comment
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