Slipped in near the end of Nick Clegg’s keynote speech to Liberal Democrat conference was the news that the first democratic elections to the House of Lords are pencilled in for 2015.
Party sources have confirmed that the reference to Liberal Democrat candidates at the next general election fighting alongside candidates for a reformed Upper House means the draft Lords reform legislation due to be published early in 2011 is being planned on the basis of elections in 2015.
By Stephen Tall
| Tue 21st September 2010 - 7:35 am
Over at the Financial Times, Alex Barker has an entertaining compilation of the highs and lows, serious and tragic, of Lib Dem conferences down the years. My favourite two:
7. The White Witch denounces bad vibes around Simon Hughes
This incident is still used to train budding Lib Dem conference chairs. At the end of a particularly long and tedious debate on commerce policy, the chair relucantly gave way to a point of order. “I am a witch,” the lady told the stunned conference hall. She went on to explain she had detected “evil spirits particularly concentrated on Simon Hughes”. Ever since,
By Alex Foster
| Mon 20th September 2010 - 8:22 pm
Yesterday saw the first Q&A of the Lib Dem leader since entering government. We covered it on Lib Dem Voice with a live tweeting session, Stephen Tall’s excellent live-blog and we also recorded it for posterity.
Because quite a lot of what was said might be useful for campaigning purposes, and because in the fullness of time we will want to hold Nick Clegg to account for his answers, I asked BOTY-nominee and Total Politics List star Caron Lindsay to mobilise an army of volunteers to transcribe it from our slightly ropey recording.
Over at the Financial Times, former Lib Dem chief executive Lord (Chris) Rennard surveys the political scene and suggests policy areas where Nick Clegg can show how the party is making an impact in government. Chris notes the problems of being the junior party in a Coalition:
Junior coalition partners in many countries are familiar with getting the blame for what is unpopular and failing to get the credit for what goes well. Nick Clegg’s first priority has to be to show that the coalition works – even with unlikely partners – while maintaining the party’s distinctiveness. If he cannot demonstrate
By Stephen Tall
| Mon 20th September 2010 - 6:05 pm
As the music fades, and the hoardes of conference delegates file out of the Liverpool hall, what did Voice readers make of what he had to say? Here’s my first impression…
First, and above all, this was a sober speech. It wasn’t a barn-stormer, it didn’t grip by the throat or tug the heart-strings. This was a serious analysis of why the Lib Dems have gone into government, and what the party wants to get out of it for the country. Nick was careful to go through the famous four pledges — fair taxes, a fair start for children, a fair …
By Iain Roberts
| Mon 20th September 2010 - 5:48 pm
You know what it’s like at airports. You’ve been round WH Smith and Sock Shop, you’ve had a coffee and an apple danish and all you can do is wait. It seems Nick has at least got a wireless signal as he’s dashed off a quick email to party members.
Imagine you’re asking a friend or neighbour to vote Liberal Democrat in the 2015 General Election.
Imagine how it will feel to say that in Government, the Liberal Democrats scrapped ID cards. To say we cut crime while stopping Labour’s mass incarceration of children. That finally we have a fair
Speaking at Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today , Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will say:
Two and a half years ago, I stood in this very hall to make my first speech as Leader of our party. I said that the chance for change was within our reach, and we had to seize it. That chance came. Perhaps not quite in the way many of us could have expected.
But the chance came and you – we – responded with real courage and conviction.
Cynics expected us to back away. Instead, we confounded those who said …
Strategy: the party’s official line of loving our coalition partners in public has been firmly stuck to by the party’s senior figures, and argued for by Nick Clegg during Q+A at the weekend. Bubbling under the surface are many questions about whether this is the right strategy and if the party could and would be better if it more often made public its disagreements, such as over the opting out of the EU directive
By Stephen Tall
| Mon 20th September 2010 - 1:05 pm
Never say Mike Hancock doesn’t have a sense of timing… On the morning of Nick Clegg’s leader’s speech to the party conference, Mike has delivered what might be considered a stark warning:
I would be grateful if you could confirm in your speech on Monday that you will in the future bring any fundamental policy changes to the agreement without going through the triple lock democratic arrangements of the party. Or if that is not going to be the case that you will bring forward changes to the party constitution to change the triple lock. As I say that was not the case with the VAT rise and the Academies Bill. We are, I believe above all, a democratic party relying on the work and goodwill (more than the other parties) of our volunteers, activists and councillors. This cannot be a party of a dictatorship of 20 Lib Dem ministers.
However, before Labour activists get too excited that — like, erm, Charles Kennedy — Mike might be about to defect, he makes plain his continuing loyalty to the Lib Dems, and indeed to Nick:
Let me also be clear where I am as regards Labour. If Dennis Skinner can remain a member of Labour throughout the past twenty years of new Labour, I as a founding member of the SDP with over 25 years membership of the Lib Dems can certainly remain a member of the Lib Dems.
We should remind people of the actions of new Labour and the Labour ministers who are now going around trying to be their leader did. In fact there is such amnesia amongst them that I fear they have may have had a complete lobotomy! They supported things that you and I campaigned and voted against. Attacks on the poor through the abolition of the 10p tax rate. Attacks on students introducing tuition fees. Attacks on pensioners with the miserly 75p increase in the pension. Attacks on civil liberties with ID Cards and increasing the big brother state. The decimation of the local post office network. And just the down-right mean spirited with not allowing Ghurkhas to settle here. And you are rightly to be congratulated on the campaign that you ran on this.
I know that I and my constituents will not forget these things.
And Mike goes on to acknowledge the democratic strengths of the Lib Dems:
It probably remains one of your frustrations that leading the Lib Dems is a bit like herding cats! However it remains one of the strengths of this party that we can have a proper grown up discussion.
By Stephen Tall
| Mon 20th September 2010 - 10:28 am
Sky News’s Adam Boulton has an interesting take on this year’s Lib Dem conference:
… there is an overbearing sense of seriousness as the Lib Dems cogitate on the political hand dealt them after the last election. Far from glibly queuing to speak in debates, conference organisers report that party members are hanging back, wanting to listen to the explanations from the leadership.
It’s a perception that perhaps helps explain why there are relatively fewer requests to speak in debates, especially considering how much higher attendance at conference is this year. Most Lib Dem conference delegates choose only to speak in …
A combination of meetings and media mean I cannot make it into the hall later this morning for the debate on the party’s Facing the Future policy consultation (pdf copy of document here). It is a document setting out the broad questions (sixty-two in all, though Q59 bears a striking resemblance to Q53) intended to shape the party’s future policy development. Had I been able to make it, this is the necessarily brief speech I would have wanted to give about the last three in the document, on international affairs.
There are two near certainties about any broad policy review …
By Alex Foster
| Sun 19th September 2010 - 9:28 pm
With the success of the most recent Blog of the Year still ringing in our ears, I thought I’d dig through the archive and bring you the tapes from the previous incarnations of the event.
Marvel at our clipped accents and the comical costumes we wore as we take this trip down memory lane.
Firstly, Jonathan Calder unearthed some footage of the very first BOTY ceremony with guest speaker Alex Wilcock. This was way back in 2006 when the world was as a younger, kinder place.
I’m not aware of any recordings from 2007 – if you can help fill the …
By Alex Foster
| Sun 19th September 2010 - 5:32 pm
This lunchtime, Lib Dem conference representatives gathered in the staggeringly poorly signposted Hall 1B to hear a stellar lineup of Susan Kramer, Evan Harris and interloper Will Straw from Left Foot Forward hold forth on the subject of “Fairer? For whom?” – excellently wrangled by the chairman, our own Stephen Tall.
As with all Lib Dem Voice fringe events, we were there with …
Sunday lunchtime saw Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander address Liberal Democrat conference. The packed nature of the hall, the fullest it had been so far save for the rally on Saturday night, reflects both the importance of Danny’s role and the interest from many members in hearing direct from him.
What’s really happening with the cuts? How much is fairness figuring? And can Danny present the message successfully? Not being David Laws is a burden that has hung over his early days in office and this speech was his opportunity to establish himself in party eyes as his own …
By Stephen Tall
| Sun 19th September 2010 - 2:55 pm
Nick Clegg has just taken to the podium to take questions from the floor…
2.52 pm… First up is Linda Jack, who asks, “Can I still trust you with my party?”
Yes of course you can, says Nick. We’ve restored the pensions link, taken 900,000 people out of income tax, imposed a bank levy, addressed capital gains, etc. “There’s nothing fair or socially just about asking our chldren or grandchildren to pay off our debts.”
2.55 pm… Linda comes back: I don’t see enough to deal with young people or poverty or inequality in the Coalition agreement. You can share power with others, …
By Stephen Tall
| Sun 19th September 2010 - 11:45 am
At Lib Dem conference and got no time to read all the papers? Missing Lib Dem conference, and wanting to catch up on all the fun as refracted through the lens of the news media? Then look no further… (Warning: this post contains traces of Daily Mail. Avert your eyes if easily offended.)
By Stephen Tall
| Sun 19th September 2010 - 11:20 am
Nick Clegg is interviewed in today’s Observer, and — as ever with Nick — there are many eminently quotable lines. So here’s a filleted gamble through what he has to say…
On the Lib/Con Coalition:
“It’s seen as unnatural. It’s like cross-breeding between animal strains that shouldn’t,” he says, finally alighting on a comparison from the world of dogs. “We’ve got a sort of Crufts-like language about politics. It’s all about purism and tribalism. And you’re dealing with a government which is a mongrel mix of different blends and ideologies.”
By Iain Roberts
| Sun 19th September 2010 - 10:50 am
Tavish Scott, leader of the Lib Dems in Scotland, bravely took the stage on a wet Sunday morning at Liberal Demcrat conference, and gave a cast iron guarantee from Vince Cable on the Royal Mail and Post Office, following from the recent Government announcement that the Lib Dem policy to privatise Royal Mail whilst keeping the Post Offices in public ownership .
The reason behind privatising Royal Mail (the letter-delivering part) is to give it the ability to raise funds from private sources to modernise and improve, to challenge its private competitors.
The Motor Sport Association (MSA) recently commissioned the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University to evaluate the case for allowing local communities in Britain to stage ‘closed road’ motorsport events.
The study found that the economic impact of the current portfolio of stage rallies, hill climbs and sprints in the UK is estimated to be ‘at least’ £23m per year. However, the report also found that up to £40m of economic benefit could be delivered to local communities over the next five years by allowing 20 motor sport events on public roads in Britain, at no cost to …
By Helen Duffett
| Sat 18th September 2010 - 11:26 pm
What’s loosely termed the awards “ceremony” for the 2010 Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards has just drawn to a glittering close. As the last firework fades in Liverpool’s night sky, I’m delighted to announce the winners:
Speaking at tonight’s Yes to Reform! rally at the Liverpool LibDem conference, Nick Clegg was joined by Jo Swinson MP, former independent MP Martin Bell, actor Art Malek and others. You can also now download campaign materials and find out more about the Fairer Votes Referendum at www.libdems.org.uk/fairervotes.
This was the text of Nick’s speech:
The last few months have been some of the most remarkable in the history of our party. I’m proud that for the first time in our party’s history Liberal Democrats will be addressing a party conference as Secretaries of State and government ministers. And it’s fantastic to …
By Duncan Brack
| Sat 18th September 2010 - 4:27 pm
John Curtice, well-known psephologist and one of the relatively few political academics to take the trouble to study and understand the Liberal Democrats, has published his analysis of the 2010 election from a Lib Dem point of view.
Writing in the latest issue of the Journal of Liberal History, he looks at why the Liberal Democrat ‘surge’ eventually failed to deliver and why the party’s natural disappointment at the result may be masking what was in reality an impressive result – the second best, in terms of seats, since 1929, and the second best, in terms of votes, since 1923.
By Alex Foster
| Sat 18th September 2010 - 3:20 pm
Many many thanks to Lib Dem Voice editor Helen Duffett for organising our major fringe event tomorrow. She’s been hunting around the country for the best talent to speak to us, and has overcome many seemingly insurmountable obstacles to bring a stellar event to the conference.
Hall 1B is a lovely room with a giant set of seats sitting on an enormous turntable, for reasons that will probably become clear if you come and see the fringe.
An email to Lib Dem members, signed by Jo Swinson, is promoting the Lib Dem rally taking place on Saturday evening, with some high-profile guest speakers, as the party gears up for next May’s referendum:
On Saturday, join Nick Clegg, Art Malik, Martin Bell, some surprise special guests and myself as we launch our campaign for a fairer voting system.
As you know , Nick Clegg is leading the fight in Parliament to secure the United Kingdom its first ever referendum on electoral reform.
Fighting for fairer votes will be one of the top priorities for the Liberal Democrats this coming year –
If you want the chance to pitch your idea to our expert panel at our fringe, you have until noon on Sunday 19th September to email your pitch to [email protected].
You need to be able to attend the fringe which is at 1pm on Wednesday 22nd Sept in Liverpool ACC Hall 11C to speak for your idea!
expats Vince Cable....Gordon Brown introduced formal fiscal rules in 1997 alongside the operational independence of the Bank of England: essentially, a commitment to b...
Nonconformistradical @Tristan Ward
Instead of posting such a long link may I recommend the use of https://tinyurl.com/ ?
Which reduced your huge link to https://tinyurl.com/eejs...
Tristan Ward "‘why can’t social care and NHS spending be treated as ‘investment’’. Of course, that wont wash".
It might wash if such spending can wash its face....
Tristan Ward @ Peter Wrigley
"Most of us could live very comfortably even if the government did take, say another 5%-10% of our incomes to repair the public realm"
I p...
Tristan Ward @ Peter Wrigley
"Somebody has to tell the truth: that we are not over-taxed, and that Inteligently directed taxation will not impede growth."
That is not ...
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expats 
Nonconformistradical 
Tristan Ward 