Author Archives: The Voice

The Voice

David Steel responds to Cyril Smith allegations: “Idle gossip is not a basis for any inquiry at all”

By The Voice | Tue 29th April 2014 - 2:54 pm

Former Liberal leader Lord (David) Steel has responded on today’s BBC Radio 4 World at One to accusations that he failed to take seriously allegations levelled in 1979 by Private Eye magazine that Cyril Smith abused boys at a Rochdale hostel. You can listen to Martha Kearney’s interview with him here:

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The Voice

Lib Dems pay tribute to Oliver Thomas

By The Voice | Tue 29th April 2014 - 9:37 am

logo_lg new Liberal Democrat logoFive people lost their lives in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan last week.  Amongst them, sadly, was 26 year old Lance Corporal Oliver Thomas from Brecon, who had worked as a researcher for Roger Williams in his Westminster office.

Tributes have been paid by a number of leading Liberal Democrats.

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Posted in Obituaries | Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

LibLink: Tim Farron: Let’s extend the pupil premium to young carers

By The Voice | Mon 28th April 2014 - 11:57 am

imageOn his recent column on the ALDC Members’ website, Tim Farron has made the case for the Pupil Premium to be extended to young carers:

One of the biggest Lib Dem wins of this Coalition Government has been the Pupil Premium. The Pupil Premium was designed as extra support for kids in our schools who need a little extra help to get the best start in life.

I don’t need to tell you about it; you’ve supported it from an idea in our manifesto to its implementation. I’m preaching to the converted. It’s

…

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The Voice

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

By The Voice | Sun 27th April 2014 - 3:36 pm

7 ver 4 fullMany thanks to the 17,100 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Jeremy Browne MP responds to LDV debate about his book (71 comments) by Jeremy Browne MP

On Sarah Wollaston’s naming and shaming in the Times of “very aggressive male bloggers” (12 comments) by Stephen Tall

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The Voice

Jenny Willott to become the first female Liberal Democrat minister to attend Cabinet

By The Voice | Sun 27th April 2014 - 2:17 pm

jenny willottThere are many people in the party who would like to see the Liberal Democrats with at least one female Cabinet Minister on a permanent basis. There are plenty strong candidates, not least Jenny Willott and Jo Swinson.

We will have to wait a little longer for that, but this week, Jenny Willott will be there to make a presentation on Coalition efforts to close the gender pay gap. She will also attend future meetings when issues affecting women are discussed.  The Independent has the story:

In her new role secured

…

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Coincidence or not? Ukip put candidate named House to take on Eastleigh’s Lib Dem council leader Keith House

By The Voice | Sun 27th April 2014 - 12:45 pm

keith houseThe Eastleigh News reports what might be accident or might be design – Ukip’s decision to put up a candidate called House against the Lib Dems’ long-standing council leader, Keith House:

Eastleigh’s ruling Lib Dem leader Keith House faces an unusual challenger in next month’s local elections – the Ukip candidate shares the same surname and is alphabetically listed above the Lib Dem by one letter.

John House comes from Chandler’s Ford, some way away from Hedge End’s Wildern ward, which raises the possibility that this is a tactical move by

…

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The Voice

Farron on Murnaghan on Lib Dems standing up for Britain’s interests, the price of government and whether the UK is a Christian country

By The Voice | Sun 27th April 2014 - 11:36 am

Screen Shot 2014-04-27 at 11.32.57Tim Farron has just been on Sky’s Murnaghan show, talking about a variety of issues from the European elections – what can the Lib Dems do to stop annihilation was the introduction. Here are the highlights:

The first question was whether we are paying price for going into government

If you stand for election there’s an occupational hazard you might get elected and that is what you should want if you believe passionately that Britain and the world should operate in a different way.

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The Voice

Farron on Cyril Smith allegations: there is a “need to answer serious questions as to who knew what and when”

By The Voice | Sat 26th April 2014 - 8:00 pm

Tim FarronLib Dem party president Tim Farron has said a police inquiry is the best way to deal with allegations – previously covered here and here by LDV – that former MP Cyril Smith committed a series of sexual assaults and that this was covered up by the authorities. Here’s how the BBC reports his comments:

Police are investigating allegations that the former MP for Rochdale, who died in 2010 aged 82, sexually abused boys at homes and hostels in the town. Mr Farron said the police inquiry was

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 31 Comments
The Voice

What’s being debated in our members’ forum this week?

By The Voice | Sat 26th April 2014 - 2:25 pm

members forum wordleLibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you’re reading now. The second is our private members’ forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access.

If you’re a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that’s on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you’ll be included in our regular surveys’ of party members’ views.

Here’s some of the most active discussions this past 7 days:

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The Voice

Charles Kennedy pays tribute to Tom MacIver, Scotland’s oldest man and founder of Ross-shire Liberals

By The Voice | Fri 25th April 2014 - 3:25 pm

Screen Shot 2014-04-25 at 14.05.04Scotland’s oldest man, Tom MacIver died last Friday at the age of 106. He was a very significant figure in the Highlands and actually founded the Ross-shire Liberal Party way back in 1959. He remained active until relatively recently. He was awarded the MBE for services to politics.

He was a very important player in Charles Kennedy’s election campaigns and was known to ease tensions during those sometimes fraught years of the Alliance. He was a teacher by profession and also wrote a book, Croft Remote, about growing up on a remote Wester Ross farm during the First World War.

Charles paid a generous tribute to him in the Ross-Shire Journal:

Tom’s death is incredibly sad for me, as along with a small handful of people such as John Farquhar Munro and the late Harry Miller, Tom was absolutely crucial to my success in my first election in 1983,” he said.

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The Voice

“The fight is on; it’s time to pick a side” – Clegg launches European election campaign

By The Voice | Thu 24th April 2014 - 11:51 am

Nick Clegg Q&A 19At a Town Hall style event in Colchester this morning, Nick Clegg launched the Lib Dem campaign for the European elections, which will see the party seeking to defend its 12 seats in the European Parliament.

Speaking at the event, Clegg framed the elections as a clear choice between internationalism and isolationism:

The election on the 22 May is about one thing: do you think Britain is better off in the EU, or do you think we should be out? Finally the big question at the heart of the European debate

…

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The Voice

LibLink: Where would you rather live – Great Britain or little England?

By The Voice | Tue 22nd April 2014 - 9:46 am

clegg farage lbcNick Clegg asked this question in The Guardian yesterday, and robustly attacked Ukip’s position:

The isolationists have been allowed to peddle their myths unchallenged for decades. Of all Nigel Farage’s far-fetched claims – and there are many – the most outlandish is the idea that Ukip’s call for an exit is the insurgents’ battle cry. European withdrawal is presented as a great revolutionary promise, held in stark contrast to the status quo upheld by a homogeneous political elite.

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , and | 24 Comments
The Voice

‘The Welsh Liberals’: new book published this month

By The Voice | Mon 21st April 2014 - 2:31 pm

welsh liberalsPublished this month: The Welsh Liberals: The History of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat parties in Wales.

Despite being Wales’ oldest political party this is the first published history of the Welsh Liberal Party or its successor, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Party.

The Welsh Liberals: The History of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat parties in Wales charts the highs and lows of an extraordinary party.

This comprehensive study includes over 40 interviews with senior figures from within the Welsh Liberal Party, the Welsh SDP and Welsh Liberal Democrat Party.

You can order it from …

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The Voice

Vince Cable to crack down on “rogue” directors

By The Voice | Mon 21st April 2014 - 9:28 am

License Some rights reserved by eyewashdesign: A. GoldenVince Cable has rogue directors in his sights, announcing plans to stop people who are convicted of commercial crime overseas from being directors of British companies.

The BBC reports:

The business secretary said dishonest directors could cause “huge” harm.

UK criminals can already be banned as directors, and Mr Cable wants the same for those committed overseas.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said the measures are due to be tabled in the Parliamentary session which ends in spring 2015.

They would mean “stronger deterrents”

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Labour’s “Easter Clegg” – that’s grown up politics for you

By The Voice | Sun 20th April 2014 - 8:57 am

Screen Shot 2014-04-20 at 08.14.13Labour’s Easter weekend headline grab isn’t about their policies. It doesn’t tell you why you should vote for them, why their vision is any good.

Oh no. It’s a highly personal attack on Nick Clegg in the shape of a chocolate Clegg. All very mature.

From the Mirror:

But the packaging warns the Clegg Eggs are “guaranteed to leave a bad taste in your mouth – and like the Deputy PM himself – are “completely hollow”.

The slogan for the campaign on Twitter suggests the eggs, shaped in the image

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 82 Comments
The Voice

What’s being debated in our members’ forum this week?

By The Voice | Sat 19th April 2014 - 3:45 pm

members forum wordleLibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you’re reading now. The second is our private members’ forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access.

If you’re a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that’s on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you’ll be included in our regular surveys’ of party members’ views.

Here’s some of the most active discussions this past 7 days:

…

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Posted in Site news | 2 Comments
The Voice

Bath Lib Dems choose short-list to succeed Don Foster

By The Voice | Sat 19th April 2014 - 8:45 am

don fosterThe Bath Chronicle reports the news of the contenders seeking to succeed Don Foster as Lib Dem MP for Bath:

The party has this week decided on a shortlist of contenders who will battle it out for the Lib Dem nomination. Mr Foster announced in January that he would be standing down from the seat he has held since 1992.

Several hopefuls turned to Twitter to announce they had made the shortlist including Chris Lucas, Steve Bradley, former Bath City chairman Councillor Manda Rigby (Lib Dem, Abbey) and former mayor Councillor

…

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Posted in Selection news | Tagged , , , and | 16 Comments
The Voice

Commenting on Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Fri 18th April 2014 - 4:13 pm

xkcd sums it up:

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Posted in Site news | 28 Comments
The Voice

Two Easter quiz questions from Olly Grender and Ed Stradling

By The Voice | Fri 18th April 2014 - 1:00 pm

First up, from Olly (former communications chief for the Lib Dems and Shelter, now a Lib Dem peer)…

And then from Ed (TV producer/director, the mastermind behind the excellent video The Lost Liberal Democrat Votes)…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 21 Comments
The Voice

Better Together lets some of Willie’s “sunshine strategy” burst through

By The Voice | Thu 17th April 2014 - 2:00 pm

Better Together, the cross-party campaign for retaining the United Kingdom, must have been listening to LDV’s co-editor, Caron Lindsay (always a sensible precaution, we find…). Just a few weeks ago she cautioned against the deluge of negativity that seemed to be the No campaign’s main message:

Charles Kennedy was bang on last week when he said that the pro-UK campaign needed to be more positive. He could do with being a bit more explicit about what he thinks they should be saying. And then he needs to sit Alistairs Darling and Carmichael, Danny, Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader and Nick down and tell them. For the sake of the UK, they need to listen. Better Together is in desperate need of an injection of wit and warmth and not much time to do it in.

Here, then, is the new Better Together advert. Maybe not much wit, but a whole lot more warmth:

better together ad

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Posted in Scotland | Tagged , , , and | 12 Comments
The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Thu 17th April 2014 - 9:44 am

Screen Shot 2014-03-09 at 08.06.08 Liberal Democrats LibbyThe Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.

You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are four simple ways:

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The Voice

Steve Webb on working with IDS: “When it comes to pensions I think he trusts my judgment.”

By The Voice | Wed 16th April 2014 - 1:50 pm

steve webbPensions minister Steve Webb is one Lib Dem minister who has emerged from Coalition with his reputation enhanced, praised even by such diverse admirers as The Sun, The Guardian and Quentin Letts. Today’s Daily Mail features a warm profile of him talking about his passion: pensions. Here are a couple of excerpts that give a flavour…

On working with Iain Duncan Smith

Today, he and Work & Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith have become Westminster’s odd couple. IDS is renowned for his Right-wing stance on benefits and welfare, and Mr Webb

…

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The Voice

Danny Alexander: More people in work than ever before, earnings now rising in line with prices

By The Voice | Wed 16th April 2014 - 12:00 pm

speech danny alexander 6Two pieces of good economic news today, as the BBC reports:

UK unemployment falls to five-year low of 2.2m

The number of people out of work in the UK has fallen by 77,000 to a five-year low of 2.24m in the three months to February, official figures indicate. The unemployment rate now stands at 6.9% of the adult working population, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

After six years, wages finally overtake inflation

After nearly six years of falling real wages, weekly earnings have finally edged above inflation. Weekly wages, including bonuses, rose by 1.7% in the year to February, up from 1.4% in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Earlier this week, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), fell to 1.6%. It is the first time that earnings have been higher than inflation for six years, apart from two months in 2010.

Here’s what the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander had to say:

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 26 Comments
The Voice

A message from Nick Clegg for Passover

By The Voice | Tue 15th April 2014 - 2:36 pm

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 31 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #371

By The Voice | Mon 14th April 2014 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 371st weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (6th-12 April, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 2 Comments
The Voice

Clegg announces three new garden cities to be built

By The Voice | Mon 14th April 2014 - 2:00 pm

Nick Clegg Q&A York Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsThe BBC reports:

Up to three garden cities, each with more than 15,000 homes will be built to help deal with a “chronic” housing shortage, Nick Clegg has announced. The deputy prime minister promised “high-quality homes in thriving new communities”, on potential sites yet to be identified.

Funding from an existing £2.4bn pot will be made available for developments being built up to 2020. Councils will be asked to raise any concerns over the schemes.

Last year 109,370 new homes were completed in England, …

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

#SelfEU: the way to win a day with ALDE’s Guy Verhofstadt*

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 3:45 pm

Guy VerhofstadtYes, the #selfEU is actually a thing, as ALDE’s Guy Verhofstadt promotes his campaign to become the next President of the European Commission:

THE ONE AND ONLY “SELF-EU” CONTEST
It’s simple, just send us an EU selfie or a #selfEU, and you could win a day with Guy Verhofstadt.

The EU is about more than rules and regulations. Show us your favourite thing about the EU. Did you just board an airplane on a cheap flight, cross a border without having to use your passport or change currencies, or

…

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems: “Cyril Smith’s acts were vile and repugnant and we have nothing but sympathy for those whose lives he ruined”

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 3:15 pm

cyril smith bookWe reported here yesterday the latest revelations of extensive alleged paedophile abuse by former Liberal MP, Cyril Smith, in a new book co-authored by his Rochdale successor, Simon Danczuk. Today’s Observer highlights the party’s response, and the responses of two current Lib Dem MPs, John Pugh and John Hemming:

In a statement the party said: “Cyril Smith’s acts were vile and repugnant and we have nothing but sympathy for those whose lives he ruined. His actions were not known to, or condoned by the Liberal Party or the

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 43 Comments
The Voice

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 1:00 pm

7 ver 4 fullMany thanks to the 15,500 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

…

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The Voice

Tim Farron reveals all about the day he impersonated Nigel Farage

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 11:27 am

NickTimHere’s how Lib Dem party president Tim Farron recounted to his local paper, The Westmoreland Gazette, his assistance to Nick Clegg for the second Nick v Nigel debate:

In an empty central London theatre, the Lakes MP donned the trademark purple tie of the Euro sceptic for a practice debate with the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister ahead of the real thing.

Aides revealed that to prepare for the role as the UKIP leader, Mr Farron watched recordings of his public speaking with Farage winning plaudits for his man-of-the-world directness.

Mr Farron’s aides

…

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