Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

LDV’s Top Twelve of 2016: #11: Some questions for More United

By The Voice | Thu 29th December 2016 - 2:30 pm

Over the next few days, we will be publishing our twelve most read posts of 2016. Many thanks to the 533,000 people who have visited the site over the past tumultuous 12 months. 

At number 11, we have a post from July asking some questions of the newly formed More United. Kudos to Paddy for replying the next day. 

In a blaze on social media. the More United project, supported by Paddy Ashdown, launches this morning.

It’s certainly ambitious:

MoreUnited.uk is a new movement setting out to change British politics. We’re going to transform the way politics is funded, giving a voice to the millions of open and tolerant people in Britain who feel the political system no longer works for them.

It has a Facebook page here and you can follow it on Twitter here.

They intend to fund candidates who subscribe to a series of pretty broad principles:

A fair, modern, efficient market based economy that closes the gap between rich and poor and supports strong public services

A modern democracy that empowers citizens, rather than politicians

A green economy that protects the environment and works to reverse climate change

An open and tolerant society where diversity is celebrated in all its forms

A United Kingdom that welcomes immigration, international co-operation and a close relationship with the EU

There some example policies to flesh this stuff out.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 2 Comments
The Voice

LDV’s Top Twelve of 2016: #12: A message from Tim Farron

By The Voice | Thu 29th December 2016 - 11:30 am

Over the next few days, we will be publishing our twelve most read posts of 2016. Many thanks to the 533,000 people who have visited the site over the past tumultuous 12 months. 

We kick off with our 12th most popular post, a message from Tim Farron in the aftermath of the EU Referendum vote:

Tim Farron has sent this message to members this evening:

Liberal Democrats have always believed that Britain should be outward facing, collaborating with other countries to tackle global challenges. Our membership of the European Union allows us to do that.

Britain has now voted to leave. The margin of victory was small and risks dividing our country. We must respect the outcome of the referendum in how we talk about moving forward.

We also have to understand that for many people this was not just a vote about Europe. It was also a howl of anger at politicians and institutions who they feel are out of touch and have let them down.  Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove won this campaign by deliberately deceiving voters. They offered cheap slogans and easy answers that they knew they could never keep. Their hollow pledge of £350 million for the NHS has already unravelled and people will be right to feel angry that they have been let down again.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | Leave a comment
The Voice

Liberalism must up its game in response to 2016

By The Voice | Thu 29th December 2016 - 9:43 am

The Economist’s main Christmas leader is something of a cri de coeur to liberals to feel not defeated but invigorated by events of 2016:

For a certain kind of liberal, 2016 stands as a rebuke. If you believe, as The Economist does, in open economies and open societies, where the free exchange of goods, capital, people and ideas is encouraged and where universal freedoms are protected from state abuse by the rule of law, then this has been a year of setbacks. Not just over Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, but also the tragedy of Syria, abandoned to its suffering, and widespread support—in Hungary, Poland and beyond—for “illiberal democracy”. As globalisation has become a slur, nationalism, and even authoritarianism, have flourished. In Turkey relief at the failure of a coup was overtaken by savage (and popular) reprisals. In the Philippines voters chose a president who not only deployed death squads but bragged about pulling the trigger. All the while Russia, which hacked Western democracy, and China, which just last week set out to taunt America by seizing one of its maritime drones, insist liberalism is merely a cover for Western expansion.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 17 Comments
The Voice

Farron: Labour make a divided and divisive government look half competent

By The Voice | Tue 27th December 2016 - 9:11 pm

So, President Obama and his former campaign adviser David Axelrod were chewing the fat about the Labour Party and whether the Democrats could go the same way. Of course, Axelrod knows Labour well, as he was hired to try to get us to love Ed Miliband at the 2015 General Election. That didn’t work out so well.

Axelrod was talking about Labour disintegrating after the defeat, and Obama responded that he didn’t see the Democrats going the same way as Labour after losing the presidency to Donald Trump.

Tim Farron took advantage of the President’s comments to hammer home that it is the Liberal Democrats, not Labour, who provide the competent opposition to the Government. 

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 108 Comments
The Voice

Merry Christmas to all our readers

By The Voice | Sun 25th December 2016 - 12:52 am

We hope that wherever you are, you have health, peace and happiness this Christmas.

We especially think of those who are spending their first Christmas without someone they love. These milestones are very tough to endure.

Thank you to all of you for making the site what it is, whether you are a reader, commenter or contributor – or all three.

 

Posted in News | 11 Comments
The Voice

Tim Farron’s Christmas message

By The Voice | Fri 23rd December 2016 - 3:00 pm

Tim went to a refugee centre in Paris to film his Christmas message. He asks what we would want other countries to do if we were a war-torn country. How would we want them to treat us and our children?

He says: “I am not at all squeamish about patriotism” before urging liberals to reclaim the language of national pride by reminding people that British values have long been about openness, tolerance and unity.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
The Voice

Clegg joins two former home secretaries to call for halving of prison population

By The Voice | Thu 22nd December 2016 - 1:59 pm

Nick Clegg has joined Ken Clarke, a former Conservative home secretary, and Jacqui Smith, a former Labour home secretary, in a letter to The Times calling for the prison population to be reduced to the levels seen under Margaret Thatcher, the effect of which would be to broadly halve the number of people incarcerated. Here is the letter:

Sir, The recent violent unrest at HMP Birmingham is a wake-up call for this country. Our prisons have become unacceptably dangerous places, with a 31 per cent increase in assaults in the past year alone. Every three days a prisoner kills themselves.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 25 Comments
The Voice

Clegg to launch Brexit security paper

By The Voice | Wed 14th December 2016 - 10:30 pm

Tomorrow morning, Nick Clegg will launch the latest in his series of papers looking at the main issues around Brexit.

He will be covering the issue of security and will look at things like the loss of the European Arrest Warrant and the impact on things like child custody cases and criminal record checks.

This is the fifth paper he has put together as part of his Brexit Challenge to the Government since his appointment as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in the Summer. The first three can be found here.

He started off in July with a paper that looked at the issues around access to the single market.

Then he looked at what Brexit means for the UK’s trading relationships. 

In October, he outlined what Brexit would mean for the food and drinks sector.

Then last month he tackled the big issue of freedom of movement, saying:

Few people understand the complexities of our relationship with the EU as Nick. He has seen it from inside the European Commission when he worked for the UK’s Trade Commissioner and negotiated trade deals on behalf of the EU with places like China. Then he was an MEP and his five years as Deputy PM gives him an unrivalled experience of how these things work.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 14 Comments
The Voice

Your last chance to have a say in how the party is run…Polls close in party elections at 23:59 tonight

By The Voice | Wed 14th December 2016 - 8:55 am

Voting for the party’s main committees, the Federal Board, Federal Policy Committee and Federal Conference Committee, Federal International Relations Committee, closes at 23:59 tonight.

For the first time, all party members have a vote. Previously the franchise consisted of those who had been elected as Conference representatives by their local parties.

Tim Gordon sent a reminder email to party members:

The ballot for electing the party’s governing committee members is open until 23:59 on December 14th.

You will elect the people who will run our party for the next three years. Also, for the first time, every single member gets to vote in these elections. This is the biggest exercise in internal party democracy in decades.

You will be able to read the candidates’ manifestos and vote online by going to https://elections.libdems.org.uk and following the instructions. All you need is your membership number and personal PIN number below.

Each email contains the individual information that you will need to vote. If you don’t have an email address, you will have had a letter with the information enclosed.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 4 Comments
The Voice

Willie Rennie: Amazon must change its ways

By The Voice | Sun 11th December 2016 - 1:16 pm

Back in January, Willie Rennie called out both Amazon and Nicola Sturgeon over low wages and poor working conditions at the company’s Dunfermline depot. A couple of months later, he found himself banned from the premises after Amazon management cancelled a planned meeting with workers to discuss the issues.

Things haven’t got any better for the beleaguered employees at the depot. This week, the Courier revealed that some seasonal workers were sleeping out in tents in this weather to save the costs of commuting to and from the depot.

Then an undercover reporter working for the Sunday Times (£) wrote about her experience of working there:

In one case, a woman who spent three days in hospital with a kidney infection was docked two points, reduced to one on appeal, despite providing a hospital note.

And:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 11 Comments
The Voice

A longer read for the weekend: Baroness Kate Parminter’s Burntwood Lecture on Brexit and the Environment

By The Voice | Sun 11th December 2016 - 8:55 am

This week Liberal Democrat peer Kate Parminter became only the third woman (after Sara Parkin (1997) and Professor Julia Slingo (2013) to deliver the prestigious Burntwood Lecture to the Institution of Environmental Sciences.. She spoke of the challenges facing the environment from Brexit in a 45 minute lecture entitled “Separation Anxiety.” Read her full lecture below:

It’s an honour to have been asked to present the Burntwood Lecture this year, and to follow in the footsteps of such an illustrious parade of former speakers. Many of your previous guests have been eminent scientists or fearless campaigners; I stand here tonight to deliver this lecture (pause) as a politician. That’s not inappropriate, however: Lord Burntwood, the IES’ first Chairman, whose name the lecture commemorates, was himself a member of parliament and a minister in Clement Attlee’s Labour government. But more importantly, it’s not inappropriate because the great challenge of our time, the subject on which I’ve been asked to speak, is itself primarily political: Brexit.

How the United Kingdom manages its withdrawal from the European Union will shape this country’s future for decades. In the absence of any clarity from the government over what it sees as the final destination of this process, I hope I can enlist everyone here in helping me to draw up the broad approach the UK should adopt in dealing with environmental policy post-Brexit. I’m going to tell you what I think, and I hope you’ll respond at the end with thoughts of your own.

There are two competing visions for the future of the UK outside the EU. One – hinted at by some of the supporters of the Leave side during the referendum, but never fully articulated – is of a country free of the kind of burdensome regulations they liked to pretend emanated from Brussels; a fleet-footed, buccaneering, free-trading nation spotting openings in the global marketplace and exploiting them ruthlessly. This vision implies a deregulated low-cost low-tax low-value economy – with clear implications for environmental policy. In May this year, for example, George Eustice, the farming minister, attacked – quotes – ‘spirit-crushing’ EU directives, including, explicitly, the birds and habitats directives – and went on to criticise the use of the precautionary principle as the basis of EU legislation, a criticism echoed by many of his colleagues. You may remember that this kind of approach echoes Conservative ministers’ attempts, during the coalition government, to water down or scrap environmental regulations through such initiatives as the Red Tape Challenge and the balance of competences review – attempts which, happily, Liberal Democrat ministers ensured came to nothing.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 5 Comments
The Voice

Last day to get early bird discount for Spring Conference

By The Voice | Fri 9th December 2016 - 1:05 pm

York bannerGiven the excellent results we’ve had in the past few months, most recently Sarah Olney’s fantastic victory in Richmond last week, the Spring Conference in York is going to be pretty good.

As well as that, the party will finally settle its position on nuclear weapons without fudging the issue as it has been doing for decades.

It is going to be well worth attending.

Registration is now open, and today is the last day you can claim the early bird discount. Registration (unless you are a first-timer, claimant or are …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | Leave a comment
The Voice

The real story of Sleaford and North Hykeham that you won’t see in the media in one picture

By The Voice | Fri 9th December 2016 - 11:25 am

Something for you to promote about the place a bit.

 

Sleaford and North Hykeham change in vote share

On half the turnout, Liberal Democrats still increased their actual number of votes and were the only party to do so.

 

 

Posted in News | Tagged | 12 Comments
The Voice

+++Breaking: Lib Dems given maximum £20k fine over 2015 General Election expenses

By The Voice | Wed 7th December 2016 - 8:06 am

News is breaking that the Liberal Democrats have been given the maximum £20,000 fine by the Electoral Commission over anomalies in the reporting of General Election expenses in 2015. The national expenditure return submitted by the party did not include details of some national expenditure reported separately by local parties. Even with this expenditure included in the total, the party was nowhere near the limit that the party had to spend.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | Comments Off on +++Breaking: Lib Dems given maximum £20k fine over 2015 General Election expenses
The Voice

WATCH: Nick Clegg: Voters don’t like being told by Brexiteers that they have no right to a say

By The Voice | Fri 2nd December 2016 - 2:13 pm

Classy stuff from Nick Clegg on the BBC News Channel. It was put to him that we couldn’t extrapolate a wider Liberal Democrat resurgence from the Richmond Park result. That’s perfectly right, he said, and then came out with a whole stream of stats showing how well we are doing in local government by-elections and everywhere where people get a chance to hear what we have to say.

He also said that Brexiteers are rubbing voters up the wrong way by dismissing their concerns and right to be heard. Watch the interview here.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 17 Comments
The Voice

In full: Sarah Olney’s victory speech: No to politics of division. We will defend the Britain we love

By The Voice | Fri 2nd December 2016 - 5:55 am

Just in case you missed it earlier, we won! Sarah Olney defeated Zac Goldsmith by 1872 votes.

We can’t call her Sarah Olney MP yet. She only officially acquires that title when she takes the oath in the Commons on Monday.

Her speech at the count tonight was gracious, determined and passionate. Here it is in full:

Let me start by thanking the other candidates for a hard-fought campaign – and to Zac Goldsmith in particular, I wish you well and assure you that I will continue your fight against the expansion of Heathrow.

I also would like to thank the returning officer, the staff that have worked so hard today and yesterday and of course the police. I want to thank my amazing campaign team led by James Lillis and the thousands of volunteers who have taken time to support me over the course of the campaign. I want to thank my family and friends for the wonderful support they’ve given me – particularly my husband Ben and our children. I want to thank our leader Tim Farron, and all the other party members who could not have been more supportive. And I’d like to thank the Greens, More United, the Women’s Equality Party and all the other people beyond the Lib Dems who have supported me in this campaign.

A year and a half ago, I wasn’t involved in politics. I wasn’t a member of a political party. I’d never been involved in a political campaign. I’d never thought about being a politician. But I knew I was a Liberal – I believed in openness, tolerance, compassion, working with our neighbours at home and around the world – and when I saw what happened at the General Election and I felt I had to get involved.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 14 Comments
The Voice

WATCH: Bob Geldof: “The Lib Dems are the only party ballsy enough……”

By The Voice | Wed 30th November 2016 - 4:41 pm

Listen to Bob Geldof explain why he wants the people of Richmond Park to vote for Sarah Olney tomorrow. Choice quotes include:

“You can’t have the settled will of the people of Richmond to stay in Europe betrayed by the poster boy of the Brexiteers.”

He appealed to pro EU voters to back Sarah Olney to beat Zac.

Bob Geldof is as I write this outside a station in the constituency campaigning with Sarah Olney.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 47 Comments
The Voice

Olly Grender celebrates ban on lettings fees for private tenants

By The Voice | Wed 23rd November 2016 - 10:45 am

olly grenderLib Dem peer Olly Grender has welcomed the Government’s reported plans to ban lettings fees for private tenants. This move didn’t come out of thin air but as a result of tireless campaigning by the Liberal Democrats and others. Olly and Tom Brake have been pushing this in both houses of Parliament and have taken part in demonstrations. Liberal Democrat council groups up and down the country have also been campaigning on this issue.

Olly said:

Our relentless campaigning to get tenants’ letting fees banned has finally paid off and the Government has recognised this is the right thing to do. The upfront costs of renting are far too high, pushing many people into debt just to pay the fees, and stopping others from being able to move into a rented home.

“It’s no coincidence that just five days after the debate on our Renters’ Rights Bill, which urged the Government to ban these fees, they have agreed to make this important change. Now they must agree to our calls to make renting safer and more secure too.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 15 Comments
The Voice

Liberal Democrats demand emergency NHS funding in Autumn Statement

By The Voice | Tue 22nd November 2016 - 11:09 am

The Liberal Democrats have released a set of demands for tomorrow’s Autumn Statement, including an urgeng £4bn injection of funding into the NHS, to avert a winter crisis and prevent declining performance and longer waiting lists next year.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 9 Comments
The Voice

More United joins Greens and Women’s Equality Party in endorsing Lib Dem Sarah Olney for Richmond Park

By The Voice | Sat 19th November 2016 - 11:59 am

More UnitedEarlier this week, More United consulted its members on whether to endorse Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Olney in the Richmond Park by-election.

The result was pretty conclusive. From More United’s email email to supporters:

The result was overwhelming. 10,000 of you voted, and 96% said we should campaign for Sarah.

We think this is an amazing chance for us to have a real impact on the result of this by-election. Sarah has said she supports our principles and has put opposition to a hard Brexit at the centre of her campaign.

Sarah is facing a tough fight against Zac Goldsmith, but if she wins it will send the Government a clear message that millions of people believe in a more united, less divided Britain.

More United seeks to support candidates who support their five key principles:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 29 Comments
The Voice

Liberal Democrats mark Remembrance Sunday

By The Voice | Sun 13th November 2016 - 2:46 pm

Individual poppiesLiberal Democrats from across the UK have been marking Remembrance Sunday.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 3 Comments
The Voice

WATCH: Willie Rennie’s speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat conference “Liberals are not quitters”

By The Voice | Sun 13th November 2016 - 11:55 am

Yesterday, Scottish Liberal Democrats had their Autumn Conference in Dunfermline. Here is Willie Rennie’s leaders’ speech. The text is below.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Why we build the wall

By The Voice | Sat 12th November 2016 - 5:00 pm

One of our contributors has drawn our attention to this video, which we happily share with you.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment
The Voice

If we had a vote we would vote Clinton

By The Voice | Tue 8th November 2016 - 12:06 pm

It has become a truism of this campaign that Clinton and Trump are the two worst presidential candidates of all time. We don’t buy it.

Yes, Donald Trump is an ignorant narcissistic bully who would be an embarrassment to any self-respecting Parish Council; a serial groper, liar, and corrupt businessman whose response to these sound charges is generally to accuse his opponent of the same with no evidence. He is happy to fan the flames of racial tension for personal advantage, and as we saw with Brexit, if he wins (promising Brexit+++), supporters will feel justified by this majority in meting out hatred and violence to whoever around them doesn’t fit in.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 37 Comments
The Voice

Cathy Bakewell: the Government must replace the fit for work test entirely

By The Voice | Mon 31st October 2016 - 2:51 pm

cathy-bakewell

Cathy Bakewell, our new Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has not been slow in writing about her brief.

The Government is planning to review the Work Capability Assessment, and she agrees that a review is a ‘step in the right direction. But, and there always is a ‘but’ with this Government: 

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Two Lib Dems at the Palace to collect honours

By The Voice | Fri 28th October 2016 - 3:20 pm

Yesterday Merlene Toh Emerson and Jen Yockney went to the Palace to collect their MBEs. Marlene was awarded for her public and political service and Jen for services to the bisexual community.

Here they are together with some great colour co-ordination:

This is what we said at the time their awards were announced.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Caroline Pidgeon: Case against Heathrow expansion as strong as ever

By The Voice | Wed 26th October 2016 - 8:38 am

Caroline Pidgeon, like all Liberal Democrats, has always campaigned against a third runway at Heathrow. The picture shows her speaking against expansion at a demo in Parliament Square last year.

This is her reaction to yesterday’s announcement that the Government has, inexplicably, decided to back the project:

After an incredibly expensive lobbying campaign the Government has ‎foolishly accepted the myth that what is good for the overseas owners of Heathrow is also good for the UK economy.

The reality is that airports such as Luton and Stansted have spare capacity.   And in time HS2 will also allow easy access ‎to Birmingham airport for many Londoners.

We can improve the UK’s international links through better use of all our airports.  It is the triumph of vested interests for this Government to claim that the environmental wreckage created by a third Heathrow runway‎ is a price worth paying.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 20 Comments
The Voice

LibLink: Tim Farron – Lib Dems are fighting to keep Britain open-hearted

By The Voice | Mon 24th October 2016 - 3:20 pm

In The Times today(£), Tim Farron has a “Red Box” article which accompanies his speech tonight on post-Brexit hate crime and rising xenophobia. He begins:

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Tagged , and | 24 Comments
The Voice

LDV Halloween pumpkin photo competition

By The Voice | Mon 24th October 2016 - 12:25 pm

Donald Trump pumkin by Alex Cole-Hamilton
It’s that time of the year again.

Could you please send us photos of your Halloween pumpkins?

We have had great fun with this in the past.

As a taster, here above is a rather unnerving effort produced by Alex Cole-Hamilton. We’re delighted that Alex is still finding time to keep up his Pumpkin art despite the pressures of office. This is “Trumpkin”.

Continue reading »
Posted in Photo feature | Tagged and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Remembering Aberfan – ‘a generation wiped out’

By The Voice | Fri 21st October 2016 - 9:15 am

At this moment fifty years ago, disaster hit a mining village in Gwent, Wales, as the BBC remembers:

It took just five minutes for the coal tip above Aberfan to slide down the mountain and engulf a farm, several houses and a school.

Pupils at Pantglas Junior School were just beginning their first lessons of the day when the rushing landslide of mud and debris flooded into their classrooms.

Continue reading »
Posted in Obituaries | Tagged | 4 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Jack
    David, the tone is unnecessary. I made no such claim about the Mayor's powers. This is a matter of principle and I can't support someone for a candidature of th...
  • Laurence Cox
    @Jack It was Lauren Edwards' advocacy of using the Parliament Acts to force through the Bill that convinced me that Sarah, and others including our Party leade...
  • Nonconformistradical
    @Jack I was reading https://tinyurl.com/dj4nycr2 which if accurate shows Sarah Olney's contributions to the 2025 debaite. It seems to me that she was prim...
  • David Raw
    @ Jack Jack, could you tell me which particular power the Mayor of London has to allow them to exercise over the Assisted Dying Bill ?...
  • Jack
    Never mind, I've changed my mind. She voted against the Assisted Dying Bill at every opportunity including today - I hadn't realised that. That is her absolute ...