Author Archives: The Voice

#NewMembersDay Why I joined the Liberal Democrats #3

By The Voice | Wed 13th May 2015 - 2:56 pm

Some more new members respond to our tweet and tell us why they are part of the many thousands who have joined the party in the last few days. We asked people on Twitter to tell us why they had joined. Here are some of the responses:

Lee Wright:

In 2010 I voted for the Liberal Democrats. I believed and bought into Nick Clegg and his party’s vision. When the party became the third-largest in the House of Commons and entered the coalition I was hugely disappointed that is was the Tories they would be working with. However, I paid close attention to the party’s progress over the past five years and could see the positives that the Liberal Democrats were making. The huge loss of seats last week was nothing more than I expected. The moment Nick Clegg put one foot in the door of number 10 with David Cameron, the party was doomed to fail next time around. The public, and some supporters of the party, had had their fingers burnt. Once bitten, twice shy. Nick Clegg was never going to survive another day as leader after May 7th. He took a bullet for the party, which has taken five years to hit the target.

But anyone who thought that the Liberals were dead, should have watched Lord Ashdown on the BBC’s Question Time programme last Friday. He won me over. His passion and determination for the party to continue was all the persuading I needed to pay and become a member of the party for the first time in my life. Now Tim Farron says the party must “turn our anger into action.” Nothing truer has ever been said. With Labour at sea, and a majority Tory government steering the ship, anyone in the country who values a fair, free and open society will need a Liberal to fight their corner. And I’m up for it.

Chris Buckett

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged #newmembersday #libdemfightback | 1 Comment

#NewMembersDay Why I joined the Liberal Democrats #2

By The Voice | Wed 13th May 2015 - 12:25 pm

This time a selection of new members tell us their reason for joining after we asked them on Twitter.

First up, Dagmar Mackett from Bewdley in the West Midlands

I joined because I felt the LibDems received no credit for its record in Government. Yes, mistakes had been made, but punishing the party in such a way means putting liberal Britain as a whole in jeopardy. Voters will realise this once they understand the full extent of what the Tory government will push through in forthcoming months, and a new strong LibDem “movement” will be required to try to counter balance this.

Now David Luton-Brown:

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged #newmembersday #libdemfightback | 10 Comments

Rennie and Williams back “brilliant communicator and outstanding campaigner” Farron

By The Voice | Mon 11th May 2015 - 1:51 pm

Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie, and Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Kirsty Williams, have today endorsed Tim Farron to be the next leader of the federal Liberal Democrats.

In a joint statement, they said:

Thursday’s results were devastating for the Liberal Democrats.

Our pain is eased by the knowledge that our liberal gains in government will endure.

Despite our loss our party remains optimistic, hopeful and confident about what we can achieve on behalf of Britain.

However, we now have to earn the right to be listened to again.

To move forward we need a fresh start. With that in mind we call on Tim Farron

…

Posted in News | Tagged kirsty wiilliams, liberal democrat leadership 2015, tim farron and willie rennie | 50 Comments

There’s a whole load of hat eating going on in the world

By The Voice | Sat 9th May 2015 - 10:02 pm

Paddy Ashdown will probably never live down his statement that he’d eat his hat if the exit poll was right. On Question Time last night, they made him actually do it. Sort of. Here’s the video, from the Telegraph:

He’s not the only one who has eaten a hat in the last day or so. Remember that nice Mike Beckett, candidate for Scarborough and Whitby whose cartoon we featured a couple of months ago? He had a bit of a special birthday during the election and decided to celebrate it with a hat-shaped cake.

Posted in News | Tagged humour, mike beckett and paddy ashdown | 11 Comments

A message from Willie Rennie

By The Voice | Sat 9th May 2015 - 1:55 pm

This message came out from Willie Rennie to all Scottish members this afternoon. As ever he strikes the right tone:

Scotland has lost liberal giants. Our Members of Parliament were local champions with powerful liberal voices. They enriched the political debate of our country.

I am sad for the loss to our party, to their communities and to the politics of our country. I know they will make a contribution to rebuilding our strength.

We can proud of many of our achievements in government. We brought stability, unity and decency in tough economic times. Getting the economy back on track and doing it fairly, the biggest tax cuts ever for workers, the green investment bank, big childcare expansion, big pension increases, ending child detention at Dungavel, a multi-billion pound international budget guaranteed and more powers for the Scottish Parliament are just the start of a long list of achievements.

We have an ongoing duty to the people who voted for us to promote liberal values.

That duty is even important in the face of a Conservative majority at Westminster, already planning to bring back the Snoopers Charter that we blocked in Government.

And in the Scottish Parliament the job goes on with the centralising and often illiberal agenda being pursued by the SNP.

We will heed the lessons and message of the election result.

It has been a body blow to our party but that over 2,000 new members have joined the party in just one day gives me great hope.

Thank you for your tireless support throughout this and every campaign. That we came so close to victory in many seats is a testament to your campaigning efforts.

Our vision for Scotland is hopeful for the future, founded on opportunity and liberty for all. It is a positive prospectus.

A year from now we have an opportunity to grow. The Scottish Parliamentary Election campaign starts today.

Best wishes,

Willie Rennie MSP

Posted in News | Tagged willie rennie | 6 Comments

Records smashed here at Liberal Democrat Voice – Our place to talk – thank you!

By The Voice | Sat 9th May 2015 - 8:15 am

View image | gettyimages.com

The Liberal Democrat family has been knocked sideways by disastrous election results. We’re also all cream crackered after working all hours for months.

But over 2,000 people joined the party yesterday.

And here on Liberal Democrat Voice you have helped to smash records.

Posted in Site news | Tagged liberal democrat voice | 26 Comments

Sal Brinton – Libby is our phoenix

By The Voice | Fri 8th May 2015 - 4:18 pm

Here is Party President Sal Brinton’s video address to members this afternoon:

Posted in News | Tagged featured, liberal democrats and sal brinton | 41 Comments

The LibDemVoice Election Live Blog

By The Voice | Thu 7th May 2015 - 10:01 pm

We are going to be here all night

Posted in General Election | Tagged featured | 291 Comments

Why this Bristol student is backing Stephen Williams

By The Voice | Thu 7th May 2015 - 12:56 pm

Bristol University’s student newspaper, epigram, has a piece from Sarah Redrup explaining why she is backing the Lib Dems’ Stephen Williams when she heads to the polling station in Bristol West today:

It may seem strange to some that a 2012-entry student from an under-achieving state school has chosen to support the Liberal Democrats. There are several reasons why I believe, despite the tuition fee debacle, that the Liberal Democrats are a party that represent my interests as a student.

The policies that attracted me the most to the Lib Dems were those addressing the specific barriers to accessing university that I felt whilst at school. One of these is the Liberal Democrats’ 2010 manifesto priority, Pupil Premium , which directed funding towards children and students on free school meals, helping secondary schools like mine address serious attainment gaps.

Posted in News | Tagged bristol west | 1 Comment

Why The Times’s David Aaronovitch is voting Lib Dem

By The Voice | Thu 7th May 2015 - 8:07 am

The Times’s David Aaronovitch has a piece in today’s newspaper that will put just a bit more wind in the sails of Liberal Democrats heading out for the all-important get out the vote operation.

First, he deals with his local situation in Hampstead and Kilburn in North London:

In other seats I think you should reward bravery and political honesty. We rejected voting reform in 2011 but that shouldn’t force us to cast our own clumsy ballots for candidates purely on the basis of which party they represent. If someone stands out, reward them, whichever party they belong to. Labour’s Stella Creasy in Walthamstow, Naz Shah, also Labour, in Bradford West and the Tories’ Anna Soubry in Broxtowe. I have a candidate in my own constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn, Maajid Nawaz of the Liberal Democrats, who has proved himself far-sighted and courageous. He gets my vote.

Posted in News | Tagged david aaronovitch and featured | 6 Comments

Jo Swinson’s SNP rival has row with Lib Dem on Twitter – then complains to their employer

By The Voice | Wed 6th May 2015 - 9:59 pm

So, you have a row with someone on Twitter. Most of us would just shrug it off and get on with our lives. Not John Nicolson, the SNP candidate up against Jo Swinson.

After a Twitter exchange with Federal Policy Committee member Belinda Brooks-Gordon, he blocked her and then took the unusual step of writing to her employer.

The Daily Record has the story:

East Dunbartonshire hopeful John Nicolson sent a bizarre email to the master of Birbeck College in London after the fiery Twitter exchange with Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon.

The lecturer in forensic psychology is standing for the Lib Dems in the Cities of London and Westminster seat and had voiced her support for Nicolson’s opponent Jo Swinson.

Brooks-Gordon had referred to former BBC journalist Nicolson’s property portfolio in London and suggested he could return to the city and questioned his credentials as a local candidate.

Nicolson joined the Twitter exchange to rubbish the claim.

But he did not let the matter rest there and decided to send off an email to Brooks-Gordon’s boss at the college, which is part of the University of London.

Belinda made a very good point, asking what he would do if a constituent disagreed with him or criticised him. Would he be complaining to their boss, too?

Posted in News | Tagged belinda brooks-gordon, general election 2015, Jo Swinson and snp | 14 Comments

The final Liberal Democrat party election broadcast – all 3 versions: It’s decision time between self-interest and grievance or Lib Dem fairness, tolerance and decency

By The Voice | Wed 6th May 2015 - 6:32 pm

Here’s the party’s final party election broadcast, It’s decision time now for all the people we’ve met in the series. The film argues that Liberal Democrats have brought compassion and fairness, built on consensus and co-operation, to Britain.

Your vote will be the difference between a government of self-interest and grievance or a coalition of tolerance and decency.

Here’s the Scottish version and listen to who is voicing it. There’s more emphasis on what we stopped the Tories doing.

Posted in LibLink | Tagged general election 2015, liberal democrats and party election broadcasts | 12 Comments

Manatee needs your help!

By The Voice | Wed 6th May 2015 - 4:56 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

Look at this beautiful manatee! Isn’t he adorable?

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged general election 2015 and Lib Dems | Leave a comment

Election night on LDV

By The Voice | Wed 6th May 2015 - 1:45 pm

Posted in News | Tagged 2015 general election and liberal democrat voice | 1 Comment

Former OxWAb Green candidate backs Lib Dem Layla Moran

By The Voice | Wed 6th May 2015 - 8:45 am

Good news for the Lib Dem’s Layla Moran in Oxford West and Abingdon. The Green candidate from 2010 has endorsed her. The Cherwell has the story.

Chris Goodall, who ran as the Green candidate for the area in the 2010 General Election, has written to residents urging them to vote for Layla Moran of the Liberal Democrats, rather than the Greens’ Larry Sanders.

In the letter, he explained, “If the UK had proportional representation, I’d have no hesitation giving Green candidate Larry Sanders my vote this time. But we don’t.”

He went on to call the seat “ultra-marginal”, saying that no one except that Conservatives and the Lib Dems “stands the remotest chance of winning”.

He continued, “Those of us who want to see a fairer, more tolerant and more equal society have to vote for Layla even if it is against our party loyalties.”

Despite the tactical nature of his endorsement, however, he also had high praise for Moran herself, calling her “a thoughtful and energetic individual”, and opining, “Parliament needs far more people like her with a background in science. And her experience of living in different countries would help reduce the extraordinary insularity we often see in the House of Commons.”

Posted in News | Tagged general election 2015, layla moran and oxford west and abingdon | 2 Comments

Watch: Paddy’s Team Talk for the final few days: Where we need to win, we’re winning and what’s more the Tories know it…

By The Voice | Tue 5th May 2015 - 3:07 pm

As activists all over the country pull up their hoods to protect them from the torrential rain, Paddy pops up to say thanks, to remind us to keep going till 1o pm on Thursday and reminds us why we are doing it – for stability, decency and unity in our country.

He also reminds us that the Tories know that we are winning where we need to be and points out that at this stage in the last election they said they only had to win 14 seats, this time they are saying it’s 23 but we know it’s more.

Posted in News | Tagged featured, general election 2015 and paddy ashdown | 4 Comments

Norman Baker’s genius response to David Cameron: David, I need you to stop sending dishonest and patronising letters

By The Voice | Tue 5th May 2015 - 12:16 pm

The Tories don’t seem to have got the hang of excluding the opposition from their target mailings. This may be a good thing as we wouldn’t have had the joy of reading our Norman Baker’s fantastic and hilarious response to a missive he received from David Cameron, in whose government he served until last November.

Here’s the Prime Minister’s letter:

And here, in full, is Norman’s pithy response. Enjoy.

Posted in News | Tagged david cameron, general election 2015, humour and norman baker | 19 Comments

Manifesto snippets in BSL Part 7: Crime, freedom and equality and political reform

By The Voice | Tue 5th May 2015 - 8:41 am

The Liberal Democrats have produced a series of 20 videos giving snippets of our manifesto in BSL. We are the first major party to do so. The full list is here.

We’ll also put them up on here in batches over the next wee while. If you want to see all our posts, just click on the bsl tag at the bottom of this post.

In this post, you will find crime, freedom and equality and political reform.

Crime

Freedom and equality

Posted in News | Tagged bsl, general election 2015 and liberal democrat manifesto | Leave a comment

Lib Dem Manifesto snippets in BSL Part 6: Europe, International and Defence

By The Voice | Mon 4th May 2015 - 2:38 pm

The Liberal Democrats have produced a series of 20 videos giving snippets of our manifesto in BSL. We are the first major party to do so. The full list is here.

We’ll also put them up on here in batches over the next wee while. If you want to see all our posts, just click on the bsl tag at the bottom of this post.

In this post, you will find Europe, and International and Defence.

Europe

International and Defence

Posted in News | Tagged bsl and general election 2015 | Leave a comment

Election night LIVE on Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Mon 4th May 2015 - 11:15 am

View image | gettyimages.com

We’ll be covering election night live here on Liberal Democrat Voice on Thursday night through to Friday morning.

Posted in Site news | Tagged general election 2015 and liberal democrat voice | 2 Comments

Alex Salmond tries to claim SNP credit for policies introduced by the Lib Dems when he wasn’t even an MSP

By The Voice | Sat 2nd May 2015 - 3:45 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

Alex Salmond must have been too busy with his book signings to actually check his facts. Literature going out in his name in the Gordon constituency makes some interesting, and easily disprovable claims. From the Scotsman:

Free personal care and the Scotland-wide free bus travel pass scheme was brought in by the Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition which preceded the current SNP administration at Holyrood. But literature being distributed by Mr Salmond’s campaign team in Gordon claims the SNP “led the way” on this policy.

Even for Salmond that is a cheek, as our candidate Christine Jardine pointed out:

Experience has taught us that Alex Salmond sometimes has problems remembering the fine detail of the actualité, but, even by his standards, these are blatant untruths. It’s typical of the SNP’s attempts to rewrite history, but I’m confident that voters in Gordon will see past these false claims and remember that the Lib Dems have a genuine record of working with like-minded colleagues to deliver real improvements

Posted in News | Tagged alex salmond, christine jardine, general election 2015 and gordon | 12 Comments

Manifesto snippets in BSL Part 4: Pensions, climate change and energy and environment and nature

By The Voice | Fri 1st May 2015 - 8:55 am

The Liberal Democrats have produced a series of 20 videos giving snippets of our manifesto in BSL. We are the first major party to do so. The full list is here.

We’ll also put them up on here in batches over the next wee while. If you want to see all our posts, just click on the bsl tag at the bottom of this post.

In this post, you will find pensions, climate change and environment and nature

Pensions

Climate Change and energy

Posted in News | Tagged bsl, general election 2015 and manifesto | 2 Comments

Manifesto snippets in BSL Part 3: The economy, Disabilty and Deafness and Work and Welfare

By The Voice | Thu 30th April 2015 - 7:10 pm

The Liberal Democrats have produced a series of 20 videos giving snippets of our manifesto in BSL. We are the first major party to do so. The full list is here.

We’ll also put them up on here in batches over the next wee while. If you want to see all our posts, just click on the bsl tag at the bottom of this post.

In this post, you will find the economy, disability and deafness and work and welfare.

Economy – might it be stronger by any chance?

Disability and Deafness

Posted in News | Tagged bsl, general election 2015 and manifesto | Leave a comment

Watch: Nick Clegg on Lib Dem red lines on education and economy

By The Voice | Tue 28th April 2015 - 12:50 pm

Here’s Nick Clegg speaking to BBC Breakfast about the party’s red lines announced over the last day on education and the economy. He called for a “stability budget” to ensure that the recovery, which, as George Crozier pointed out the other day, is a Liberal Democrat economic recovery, continues. The growth figures announced this morning show that we are not fully out of the woods yet, although we are certainly seeing some sunshine. The message from the party is clear: we wouldn’t want to jeopardise what the Liberal Democrats have achieved in the last five years.

And explaining the idea of the “stability budget”

Posted in News | Tagged coalition negotiations, economy, education and general election 2015 | 8 Comments

Latest Liberal Democrat Party Election Broadcast

By The Voice | Mon 27th April 2015 - 7:26 pm

We were a bit remiss and didn’t publish last week’s Party Political Broadcast when it first came out.

Continuing the theme from previous broadcasts, this time we have a young woman walking around in the dark listening to Nick on the radio talking about what the Liberal Democrats can offer as coalition partners. Enjoy.

The Scottish version is voiced, very well, actually, probably with even more clarity and feeling than Nick, by Willie Rennie:

Posted in News | Tagged general election 2015 and party election broadcasts | 18 Comments

LibLink: Norman Lamb on a mission

By The Voice | Mon 27th April 2015 - 4:39 pm

View image | gettyimages.com

Over on Huffington Post, Norman Lamb has written about his campaign to end discrimination against mental health.

The Liberal Democrats are on a mission to end the discrimination against mental health. From Paul Burstow who changed the law to give mental health equality with physical health to my work ensuring there is proper mental health crisis care available across the country.

Nick Clegg has announced the first ever waiting time standards, ending Labour’s discrimination against mental health that meant it missed out when money was tight. And we’ve committed over a billion pounds to revolutionise children’s mental health. In the next parliament we will go further and invest at least £3.5billion to guarantee better support for people with mental health problems – and improve wellbeing and mental health for everyone.

Posted in News | Tagged mental health and norman lamb | 3 Comments

A clutch of manifestos

By The Voice | Mon 27th April 2015 - 11:27 am

We have all see the 2015 Lib Dem manifesto, but did you know that the party has also published a series of specialist manifestos?

These include (click links to download):

Environment manifesto

Manifesto for disabled people

Local government manifesto

Manifesto for the mind

Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic Manifesto

You can also read the main manifesto in easy read, clear print, plain text or Braille versions, or listen to it on an audio recording.

Posted in News | Tagged 2015 general election, featured and manifesto 2015 | 7 Comments

Senior renewable energy figures support Lib Dem involvement in next Government

By The Voice | Sun 26th April 2015 - 11:00 am

Twenty figures from the renewable energy industry have written to the Independent on Sunday to say that they want Liberal Democrats to be involved in the next Government because of our record, in adverse circumstances, in this one. They said:

Posted in News | Tagged climate change, general election 2015 and renewable energy | 5 Comments

Danny Alexander’s note to Liam: We won’t let you or the Tories screw up the recovery

By The Voice | Fri 24th April 2015 - 1:20 pm

Five years apart, two letters tell a very different story. David Laws found this on his desk at the Treasury:

Danny Alexander got round to replying today:

As George Crozier pointed out last week, this recovery is very much a Liberal Democrat recovery:

Posted in News | Tagged Danny Alexander, economy, general election 2015, george crozier and liam byrne | 15 Comments

Danny Alexander says HSBC worries about UK leaving EU show dangers of Conservatives and UKIP

By The Voice | Fri 24th April 2015 - 12:23 pm

HSBC has said today that it might consider pulling out of the UK and cited uncertainty over Britain’s position in the EU as part of its reasoning. From the Guardian:

HSBC, Britain’s biggest bank, has issued a stark warning about the economic risks of the UK pulling out of the European Union as it revealed it was considering moving its headquarters out of London.

The surprise announcement of a full-blown review into where the bank should base its operations will stun politicians on the general election campaign trail.

HSBC listed the economic uncertainty created by the risk of the UK going alone – a blow to the Conservatives which have pledged to hold an “in-out” referendum on the EU.

It would be a massive deal if HSBC were to leave as 48,000 jobs would go.

Danny Alexander said that this highlighted the dangers of a Conservative/UKIP government:

Today’s HSBC announcement confirms fears that businesses have over a swing to the right and the prospect of a ‘Blukip’ coalition pulling us out Europe.

David Cameron, held hostage by UKIP partners and the right wing of his party, would drive the country further towards a ‘Brexit’ – which would hit both jobs and business.

As I revealed today, the markets and businesses are increasingly showing their concern at the prospect of an unstable government.

Only stable government with the Liberal Democrats in the mix will stop Britain from being pulled sharply to the right with Nigel Farage, or to the left with Alex Salmond.

Posted in News | Tagged economy, general election 2015 and hsbc | 31 Comments

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Author Archives: The Voice

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Freedom and equality

Europe

International and Defence

Pensions

Climate Change and energy

Economy – might it be stronger by any chance?

Disability and Deafness

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