Cllr Rob Appleyard of Westfield ward, Bath and North East Somerset, has joined the Liberal Democrats. Quoted in Now Bath, he says
I’ve been proud of Labour’s stance on education, but I’ve been disappointed at the way they have played games over our children’s futures. The Liberal Democrats have worked hard to keep all our children’s centres open.
But instead of engaging with the Council on this most important issue, I’ve watched the Labour Party’s narrow focus from the sidelines for no more than political point scoring.
When we are talking about services that people rely on, I cannot support a party that is putting politics ahead of their residents’ need. There is no doubt that the Liberal Democrat approach to full consultation and listening generates full transparency when reaching difficult decisions.
Meanwhile senior Ed Miliband advisor Phil Taylor has also moved to the Liberal Democrats with a stinging critique of Miliband reported in the Mirror, commenting, for example, on the knife-crime issue that
No chance Ed M actually believes this nonsense in private, but terrified of ‘soft on crime’ label – really weak
And on borrowing
Labour’s view still that absolutely anything with label ‘capital’ slapped on must be so economically beneficial it justifies more borrowing
None of this is good news for the under-pressure Miliband struggling to come up with a compelling policy offer – with even the “Youth Tax” being called out as representing a secret agreement with the Conservatives.
* Joe Otten was the candidate for Sheffield Heeley in June 2017 and Doncaster North in December 2019 and is a councillor in Sheffield.
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39 Comments
“Quoted in Now Bath, he says”
Is there really a publication called ‘Now Bath’? (Does it have a sister paper called ‘Now Wash Your Hands’?)
Clutching at … Last month we lost hundreds of councillors because the voters decided, this month we gain one councillor because Mr Appleyard has decided.
He is joined by somebody that I do not think I have ever come across. Perhaps to other readers of LDV the name Phil,Taylor is well known?
Ed Miliband as leader of the Labour Party has just enjoyed seeing his party sweep to victory in virtually every seat it stood in Liverpool, Manchester and most London Boroughs. He must be shaking in fear at the loss of these two political giants Cllr Appleyard and Mr Taylor.
Clearly this is a great victory for our party and at this rate of clear political progress ( two defections per week) by the general election next year we may have gained 80 new recruits. What joy!!!
Welcome to Rob and Phil, a great decision which Lib Dems, except apparently John Tilley, respect and appreciate.
It is election results that matter. See Southam, East Cambridgeshire yesterday, no progress at all, just flat lining in third place. This was an area where 10 years we had over 50% of the councillors!!!.
The Ashcroft poll is the situation we have to attend to, but cannot with the present leadership.
Also can we identify how many of our councillors have defected or gone Independent in the past 6 months? Solihull, well look at that. joining the Greens!
The report does not mention that Phil was Chair of Liberal Democrat Youth & Students in 1995; one of the, er, livelier periods in its history.
The key words I read from the article were the following from Cllr Appleyard:
“There is no doubt that the Liberal Democrat approach to full consultation and listening generates full transparency when reaching difficult decisions.”
THAT is the kind of message which will win people over/back and separate us from the New Labour control freaks and ‘Maoist’ (as Vince Cable once called them) who want to minimise the role of the state and downgrade/scrap/privatise public services to the greatest possible degree. Welcome to Cllr Appleyard and Mr Taylor. Let us hope many will follow their lead.
I bet John Tilley blames last night’s England defeat on Nick Clegg.
If you read ‘Bath Now’ it says that Mr Appleyard had been de-selected by Labour and had left that party in May, so rather than a matter of principle it sounds like someone trying to cling on to his seat. All defectors from every party should be made to stand in a by-election, otherwise it just adds to the cynical view that politicians say one thing and then do another..
defections (in either direction) always leave a bad taste in the mouth.
“If you read ‘Bath Now’ it says that Mr Appleyard had been de-selected by Labour and had left that party in May …”
More a question of an Early Bath, then.
@theakes
I bet if the poll had mentioned Lorely Burt by name the result would have been much more in our favour. The Green’s success in Solihull is a bit of a head-scratcher…but in the recent Council elections the vote in some key squeeze wards held up very well. Much more work to do and ground to recover, but the Solihull party are one heck of an operation. They beat the odds in 2005 and 2010 to win and retain the seat, wouldn’t put it past them to do the same again.
Welcome Rob & Phil, big hugs !
Defections are a normal part of Political life & can give insights into whats happening among activists today & may happen with Voters Tomorow.
The only “bad taste” comes from bloated masculine egos of which the Anti-Cleggites seem to have an abundance.
For an interesting view from inside the Labour camp I can reccomend Hopi Sen,s blog. The current lead article is on Labours “40% strategy” which has now been downgraded to a “32% strategy”. Another year & it should be a 24% strategy.
Are Richard Church and Tim Hill allowed to flout the LDV policy of being polite and on topic?
Their direct personal attack on me seems to have nothing to do with the topic of this thread, nor indeed my comment.
Tim Hill seems to want to comment on Nick Clegg and football, which nobody else has mentioned.
Although the natural connection between that person and defeat is I suppose entirely understandable.
It seems they are, John.
Tim Hill doesn’t know that John Tilley and I know exactly the fault at the heart of England’s loss: not enough players from the Champions of England, Manchester City FC!
“The only “bad taste” comes from bloated masculine egos of which the Anti-Cleggites seem to have an abundance.”
I suggest you get a copy of the clegg coup by Jasper Gerrard – it is quite clear on who has contempt for the party -the irony is that it is written by a Clegg fan and friend who parrots the usual Cleggite line but with the added bonus of revealing the contempt of Nick for the party, for his promises and his ‘vision’ of turning the Lib Dems into a tory-lite free market, centre party of government.
“fluffy bunnies” is one of the many offensive descriptions or normal lib dems, who apparently believe in the “father Christmas school of politics (a bauble for you, another for you) and lets not forget Clegg promised to double the number of MPs not half them.
“Labour’s view still that absolutely anything with label ‘capital’ slapped on must be so economically beneficial it justifies more borrowing”
I wish there were some Labour policy pushing for all kinds of investment. No idea what he’s talking about.
paul barker 20th Jun ’14 – 3:44pm “The only ‘bad taste’ comes from bloated masculine egos of which the Anti-Cleggites seem to have an abundance.”
Thank you Paul. So kind – glad to see you being as “polite and on topic” as usual.
I like the sound of Rob Appleyard. A local councillor, adviser and someone who respects other people’s money.
I bet John Tilley wants to blame Nick Clegg for me being a bit of a tease about John Tilley…..
When every LDV thread stops being plastered with diatribe and twaddle against the Leader, I’ll consider stopping being a bit of a tease……
Can we get back to LDV being something more than an opportunity for anti-NCs to bare their chests on every single thread ?
PPS The reason England are struggling ? The centre back pairing isn’t JT and GC…
For the record. I think it’s too late for a new leader with less than 11 months to the next GE, but think Nick should step down after it.
PS One small claim to fame is my lounge carpet was the resting place for a certain Secretary of State for Energy after the Mayor of Bedford’s Stag Night 🙂
Oh sorry, the councillor and the adviser are two different people! Welcome to both!
Cllr Rob Appleyard that was Chair of Liberal Democrat Youth & Students in 1995 ?
Looks like he’s returned home rather than face the electorate as an Independent after being deselected by Labour.
LD membership has grown, four quarters in a row.
Clegg is our Leader, and will be at least for the next year, and of the main Party Leaders he is the best one by far.
So we are out of the World Cup, are we going to ditch the Manager.?
@peter tyzack
I doubt if your view is a terribly widely shared one among the people who really count (the electorate): http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-06-01/poll-clegg-least-popular-leader-in-modern-uk-history/. I have consistently (since the debacle of the local/European elections and the disaster the “IN” campaign (which led me to rejoin the Party but which actually was a god-send to Farage in giving him more direct exposure to peddle his half-truths and blokey bar room politics than he could have dreamt of)) been against forcing a leadership election campaign before the GE as it would put paid to us for a generation by ripping us totally apart (and disunited parties is one of the top hatreds among the electorate). Surely, however, it should not be beyond the realms of credibility to devise some kind of formula (as with Blair prior to the 2005 GE) to indicate that there will be a change of leadership post-2015. I am afraid that I am becoming ever more convinced that this is the prerequisite for a relaunch/rebirth. (When even the ‘Guardian’ puts the party (not just individuals) in the firing line, it is really time to worry, I think: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/19/mike-hancock-disreputable-member (penultimate paragraph in particular)).
Welcome to the two new members. And pleased to see others on here challenging the tedious anti-Cleggers!
@Peter Tyzack – you assert that Clegg is “the best one by far” of the party leaders.
Yesterday’s YouGov poll asked the question “which party is best described as ‘led by people of real ability'”. Only 3% of people in the poll (and only 26% of self-identified Lib Dems) backed the Lib Dem leadership as having the best leadership.
How do you propose we convince the remaining 97% that Clegg is “the best one by far”?
The only connection I saw between the England team and their mates in the media, and the Liberal Democrat spokespeople churning out their embarrassing scripts after May 22nd, was the ability to declare that humiliating defeat actually amounts to a jmodest success!
Tony
The Sun is now reporting this same bloke has gone over to the Tories. Can we trust anything he says?
Give Cllr Appleyard another week, he has yet to defect to the MRLP!
@Gareth, we had a Man City player in goal for 2 games and conceded 4. A lack of Man City players was not really an issue
Charles Rothwell
Surely, however, it should not be beyond the realms of credibility to devise some kind of formula (as with Blair prior to the 2005 GE) to indicate that there will be a change of leadership post-2015. I am afraid that I am becoming ever more convinced that this is the prerequisite for a relaunch/rebirth.
Wouldn’t going into a general election with the line “The person who is leader now won’t be leader for long” come across as rather strange? People would say “Well, I don’t know what I’m voting for”. The change you now agree should take place should take place BEFORE the general election to avoid that.
Caractatus
I suggest you get a copy of the clegg coup by Jasper Gerrard – it is quite clear on who has contempt for the party
Indeed. Clegg should have disowned this and others on the far right of the party saying similar things.
I do think a lot of criticisms of the party in the coalition have been unfair, because they have been based on unrealistic assumptions about what could have been achieved in that situation. However, all attempts to defend the party on that basis fall down, in part I think because of the way the far right of the party and Clegg himself pushed the idea that they had taken it over and made it into something different (and much more right wing) than it was before. So that means the answer to any attempts to talk about necessary compromise and so on just get met with the line “Oh you’re just saying that to hide the fact that it’s what you really wanted anyway”.
paul barker
The only “bad taste” comes from bloated masculine egos of which the Anti-Cleggites seem to have an abundance.
Don’t worry Paul, I and my ego will be leaving the party to you – with people like you defending its current position, I don’t want to be involved in it. YOU and your like have driven a once keen activist out, and many others like me. I hope you are proud of yourself. You don’t want to listen to constructive criticism coming from experience, you don’t want to listen to suggestions as to how we could get out of where we are now, and not just that, you hurl insults like this at those who put effort into that constructive criticism. The election results we get in 2015 will be YOUR responsibility.
Mark
And pleased to see others on here challenging the tedious anti-Cleggers!
I don’t call throwing insults “challenging”.
Charles Rothwell
THAT is the kind of message which will win people over/back and separate us from the New Labour control freaks and ‘Maoist’ (as Vince Cable once called them) who want to minimise the role of the state and downgrade/scrap/privatise public services to the greatest possible degree.
Bit hard to do that when one of our own MPs wrote a book in praise of this sort of Maoism and called it “authentic liberalism”.
Matthew,
Liberalism needs people like you. Don’t leave the party to those who are trashing it.
David
Can I second what David Evans says, Matthew? I don’t see a lot of hope for the party myself given that Clegg is almost certainly still going to be one of our small band of MPs after the next election, but the electoral roulette that is FPTP may just give us an opportunity to reclaim the party that so many of us have spent our live’s best energy working to promote. Please don’t abandon hope yet : you are needed.
I was going to say something erudite about the Clegg situation and join the appeals to Matthew Huntbach not to leave the Party, but now I feel “Why bother? Noone is listening. It won’t make any difference. ” I’ll just try and save what I can of Liberal Democracy in my City, County and Region.
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter who the Leader is in Westminster. What matters is the Policies in our Manifesto and the quality and conviction with which they are presented next May. And despite the Pupil Premium, the £10k Tax threshold and our defence of Employees Rights and Green Energy against the most ideological, right wing Tory Party in living memory, we lack any real ‘oomph’ in our policies.
How about, for a start, if all Parties are now offering ‘Devo Max’ to the Scots, how about ‘Devo Max’ to the people of England, and that must mean an English Parliament elected on the same proportional basis as Holyrood with the same powers and, most important this, at least 100 miles from Whitehall. The UK Parliament would be a single rump chamber in Westminster. Abolish the Commons or the Lords – neither are worth saving other than as a heritage pageant.
Put the Lords in the bin and replace its revisioning chamber role with a new institution, its members drawn equally from the elected members of seven or so new devolved assemblies for England, plus ones from London, Wales and Scotland. Standardise the powers and responsibilities of those bodies to match those presently enjoyed at Holyrood as a minimum.
We’ve got 700 odd Lords sat on the red benches, of whom only a minority actually contribute anything. That’s 700 new representatives we can create within a democratic system while remaining ‘politician neutral’.
And then, the next time a decent party is let down by inept command and control at the centre, there’ll be somewhere for the activists to retreat to and regroup in, which will have enough legislative capacity to demonstrate a better way. Certainly, that is what we can see happening in Scotland and what England’s underpowered local government situation sorely lacks.
David Evans
Liberalism needs people like you. Don’t leave the party to those who are trashing it.
I’m not intending to leave the party, but I’m not going to waste effort trying to campaign for it while any work I put in will be wrecked by what the Leader says and does. If people want me to get back active with the party, GET RID OF CLEGG!! DO IT NOW!!!!!!!