For too long, policymaking has been monopolised by civil servants, self-serving pressure groups and sensationalist journalists. We get a vote once every four or five years and we’re expected to be satisfied with that.
Public services are too important to get lost in headline issues, and too big to leave to those who have the time and energy to write letters or sit on committees. The best communication happens when it’s easy to do, and when it’s a conversation, not just a complaint.
Nick Clegg was not around for the whole of the Lib Dem conference this year. After giving his keynote address he got on a plane and flew to New York, as the UK’s most senior representative to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Review Summit.
The MDGs were agreed in 2000, and signed by world leaders from 189 nations, pledging to halve extreme poverty by 2015.
However, a decade later the MDGs are badly off-track. The MDGs Review Summit is a chance to accelerate progress and keep the promise to the world’s poor.
Nick Clegg made his first UK public speech on international development on 15th September, explaining how the UK Government will meet its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals. He was presented with a giant suitcase, representing the hopes of the 1.3 million people across the UK who have taken part in campaigns for the MDGs over the last year.
The weekend before the MDGs Review Summit began, 1,324 campaign actions took place in 74 countries, calling for a breakthrough plan to meet the MDGs. In the UK, campaigners from the Bond network of NGOs gathered with drums, bells, whistles, pots and pans outside the House of Commons. The message, clearly expressed on banners and in chants was clear: Keep your promises: Deliver the MDGs.
The Millennium Development Goals are clear, measurable, and achievable. They are the best articulation of what progress on tackling global poverty might look like. Delivering them will involve supporting civil society in poor countries, maintaining aid levels, stopping climate change and reforming the international financial institutions that too often harm poor countries instead of helping them.
Nick Clegg has reaffirmed his commitment to the MDGs to NGOs, to party activists, and to countries of the world at the UN.
As the below video shows – people in the UK have consistently shown their support for government action on development. With five years to go until the 2015 deadline, the Liberal Democrats are well placed to make sure the UK’s part of the deal is kept.
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 …
Delivering a Digital Economy is a critical test for the new government. A pledge in the Coalition Government Agreement, the Departments of Business and Culture, Media & Sport now face the challenging task of ensuring broadband is rolled out across the UK by end of this Parliament. But why is access to broadband—and next generation broadband– so crucial?
There are two crucial econ-political reasons for the government to support the expansion of broadband. The coalition has emphasised repeatedly that broadband infrastructure and access to services, particularly for the UK’s business community, will drive the UK economy …
Although Government claims to want our participation and wants us to appreciate its policies, it hides the evidence on which it bases its policies in fat documents and reports that are hard to read and only available free at special events at think-tanks around Whitehall.
Liberal Democrats are understandably confused about whether child detention is ending or not.
Nick Clegg got the commitment to end child detention into the Coalition Agreement. Only last Thursday Sarah Teather promised: ‘Rest assured. It will be done.’ She also said: ‘We have to be careful not to rush into this as we are dealing with the safety and well-being of often vulnerable children and it is essential it is done properly.’
Quite how children’s safety might be served by not rushing to end a practice proven to wreck their lives is a mystery that suggests leading Liberal Democrats have been
Most political bloggers are motivated to fight what they see as bigotry, prejudice, and ill-informed, unjustifiable assertion.
This is a fine and noble cause, because the spreading of false beliefs – without the evidence to support them – is bad for all of us, as is the displacement of informed argument by mere rhetoric. All the more so when the perpetrator …
Well, you wouldn’t still be reading had I called it the politics of procurement now would you? (no, stop – don’t go!). No-one who engages with government procurement comes away impressed with it. It’s a process that wastes £billions and rewards process over outcomes.
Yet we all know that, deep down, it’s a symptom of a political problem. It is a system set up to manage …
By Carl Miller
| Thu 2nd September 2010 - 11:57 am
Conspiracy theories, an increasingly popular dinnertime conversation, are often otherwise dismissed and ignored. At most they are regarded as the amusing yet ultimately harmless hobby of a fringe, irrelevant few. They are neither of these things. They are a powerful social phenomenon. In many contexts they demolish trust between government and communities. In some, they are dangerous.
On Sunday, Demos released a report, The Power of Unreason. In it, we looked at the role that conspiracy theories play in radical and extremist groups. Analysing over 50 such groups, we found conspiracy theories to have a strong functional value that play …
The communication revolution that we’ve undergone in recent years has two big impacts:
It changes what’s possible. It makes creating networks between people across organisations easier; it opens new ways for communication between citizens and state; it gives everyone who wants it a platform for global communication; and it makes it possible to discover local online dialogue.
It changes citizen expectations of government. When I can follow news from my neighbour’s blog on my phone, why can’t I get updates on local services on the mobile-web?
When bloggers meet, I often find that old allegiances (be they left right, or Unionist/Republican often dissolve into a different political spilt. Those of us who imagine that we ‘get’ the read-write web against the political colleagues that we have who, we believe, fail to foresee the possibilities or the threats.
I’ve occasionally witnessed left-right-and-centrist bloggers in (non) violent agreement with each other – not about political direction, but about what is possible in harnessing the power of the web. About how a more effective participative political culture can bring about a range of subtle changes – to reverse the broken politico/media relationship out of some of the cul-de-sacs that it appears to have stuck in.
Today, a few of us have come together to launch a project called ‘Political Innovation’. It’s for anyone who has ever asked themselves ‘why is politics still done like this?’
We’ve put a call out through our personal networks for initial contributions and we’ve already had promises of more than ten essays suggesting serious political innovations that are based upon an understanding of what interactive social media and the web can achieve.
The motion on the Press Complaints Commissionwhich has been selected for debate at the Liberal Democrat conference is concerning. It contains a number of inaccuracies and appears to be based on several false premises. It is especially disappointing because the philosophy behind the PCC and its independent self-regulation of the newspaper and magazine industry is entirely in tune with the Liberal tradition.
The PCC exists to protect freedom of expression, while upholding standards by ruling on strict criteria of inaccuracy, intrusion, harassment (and so on), and by establishing case law and the acceptable boundaries of practice. It provides a public service which is easily accessible, free to use and which speedily …
PM Cameron’s heavyweight government plus business trip to India went swimmingly, so we are to believe, despite that diplomatic faux pas about Pakistani support for terrorism and Indian discontent about proposed immigration quotas. One fortunate outcome for Mr Cameron was that both issues diverted attention from a highly contentious arms deal involving arms giant BAE.
Under the deal, 57 Hawk jets will be manufactured under licence in India with BAE’s Indian partner, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with technical support from BAE. Roll-Royce also gets a slice of the deal as its jet engines will be used in production. The deal is …
As a long-term believer in the need for a more progressive politics, I take no great joy in the spate of polls showing the Liberal Democrats in free fall.
The latest projections from UK Polling Report show that a Lib Dem collapse to 15% in the polls would deliver a Conservative majority of 18 and the balance of power being held by the Tory right rather than the Lib Dem right. The Lib Dem concessions on inheritance tax, capital gains tax, and Europe – for which they should be praised – would go in a flash.
Colin Challen was Labour MP for Morley and Rothwell 2001-2010 and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group:
I am living in hope that Chris Huhne has not been handed a poisoned chalice. From my time in parliament I know Chris to be a dedicated environmentalist who understands the issues as well as being open minded. Of course, as a former Labour MP I had differences of opinion, but on the substantive issues like the need for a proper global framework on climate change or the uselessness of nuclear power we were agreed. It is also true that on legislation …
1,500,000 children a year suffer from abuse every year, and two a week are killed by abuse and neglect. Social services are woefully under-resourced to cope with the problem.Of the 1.5 million suffering abuse, only 550,000 are reported, and social services are only equipped to allocate a social worker to 35,100.
The voluntary sector is doing its bit to help. One charity, Kids Company, runs centres for vulnerable children across London, but the problem is huge. Research by the University of London shows that of the 14,000 children and young people Kids Company reaches, 84% are homeless, 83% …
Teeing up public sector workers like midwives for cuts in their pensions, Nick Clegg spoke recently about the “unreformed gold-plated public sector pension pots” that people like firefighters and soldiers enjoy. We hear a lot about the long-term cost of public sector pension schemes, as if they are a fiscal time-bomb ready to explode at the heart of the public finances.
Firstly, let’s take a look at the reality of these bounteous public sector pension pots. Take the average pension for a female NHS worker, £5,000. What is worse, half of all women pensioners who have worked in the NHS get a …
In 1999, the government announced that it meant to end child poverty by 2020. Making progress towards that objective is now the responsibility of the Coalition; how well is it likely to do?
Tony Blair’s pronouncement, made out of the blue at a meeting in Toynbee Hall, was a typical coup de théâtre, and it even surprised his own cabinet. It illustrated Mr Blair’s strengths – reassuring supporters who worried that new Labour had lost touch with their Party’s traditional values and at the same time neutralising critics from the other end of the spectrum. For a generation, inegalitarians had …
Vince Cable’s new department, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, was saddled with the heaviest round of cuts in the first round of cuts announced by the coalition government. They will have to find £836m of savings in 2010. Meanwhile the rest of us have been asked to participate in a comprehensive spending review.
There is one candidate for cuts that many in the Liberal Democrats and the country at large would be pleased with – an end to government support for arms exports. One way the government helps arms companies sell their weapons to other countries is …
Last week, people across the UK celebrated Refugee Week – a time to reflect on the contribution refugees make to their communities around the UK, and celebrating that refugees are welcomed and valued here.
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the UN Convention for Refugees next year, it is ever more important that the new government honour our proud tradition of offering shelter to those fleeing persecution in their own countries. It is clear that the main countries refugees have been fleeing from over the last ten years – Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Eritrea – are countries where …
It’s Refugee Week, and this year the British Red Cross is focusing on the issue of destitution among asylum seekers in the UK. A recent poll, commissioned by the British Red Cross, found that many people have conflicting, negative opinions and a lack of understanding of the legal definition of asylum:
Although 89% correctly said the definition of an asylum seeker is someone fleeing persecution in their own country, 28% still thought an asylum seeker is someone who has come to this country to illegally look for work.
57% of people thought that asylum seekers were given vouchers to cover living expenses up to £100 a week with 14% thinking the weekly amount was over £100.
In reality, asylum seekers receive accommodation and vouchers equalling just £35 a week. Refused asylum seekers on the other hand, do not receive any support at all.
This year’s Look Beyond the Label campaign is fronted by an interactive viral video featuring Hollywood star Dougray Scott, singer Karen David and stand up comedian Stephen K Amos. The video is hosted on a Facebook application, where people can click “like” to vote for an end to destitution in the United Kingdom. Viewers can also share the application on their own Facebook profiles, write comments showing their support, or click through to read other refugee stories.
Margaret O’Donnell, British Red Cross Head of Digital Media said:
“This year we are asking people to look beyond labels like ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum seeker’ and use their online networks to advocate for an end to destitution in the UK.
“Now, more than ever, people can make their voices heard by taking a stand using social media. Sharing, tweeting and discussing the issues of destitution and asylum, allows people to speak out in their own digital communities to ask for change to a process that results in thousands of people each year living in destitution.”
When the Coalition announces its Emergency Budget next week, attention will rightly focus on the Government’s plans to cut the deficit. But the Budget will also be a chance to set out an agenda for a more competitive economy and more productive private sector. With the Office of Budget Responsibility’s revised projections suggesting the UK’s trend rate of growth will be slower than was hoped for this Parliament, it is now more important than ever before to improve the UK’s business environment.
Even while running up huge debts, the last Government felt it necessary to set out an ambitious …
The 2010 general election will live long in the memory for a variety of reasons – the end of New Labour, a surprising Con-Lib coalition, the first TV debates – but one crucial aspect of the campaign that had politicians and commentators chattering with excitement was the entrance of a new political player – the internet.
Social networking and Web 2.0 opened the floor of the political debate to everyone, from satirical photoshoppers to cynical bloggers and, of course, let us not forget Twitter gossip worth its weight in retweets.
Whilst the political parties did their best to tackle new media during …
Mark Prisk is Minister of State for Business & Enterprise and is MP for Hertford & Stortford:
Cutting the burden of regulation is vital if we are to help the private sector grow. This is especially the case for small and medium sized enterprises that face disproportionate costs from unnecessary red tape.
Under Labour the burden of regulation grew inexorably, to the point that by the time of the May 2010 election it was implementing the equivalent of 14 new regulations every working day. The Federation of Small Businesses has worked out that this meant that the average small business is spending …
What can we expect from the Government on tax avoidance and evasion?
Cast your mind back to the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto launch in April. A major theme was the plan to raise £4.6 billion by tackling tax avoidance.
This has been reduced to a single bullet point in the coalition’s Programme for Government, a promise to “make every effort to tackle tax avoidance, including detailed development of Liberal Democrat proposals.”
Vince Cable remains committed, telling the Telegraph soon after his appointment as Business Secretary that, “tackling tax avoidance by businesses is essential and this is an area that I …
The recent election must have been a major disappointment to the Liberal Democrats – but that doesn’t matter because they have the ‘whip-hand’ in government formation. The party has ‘walk-away value’.
If they don’t like a deal with the Conservatives they have other options (Labour & LibDems, with SDLP and Alliance brings you to 320). The Tories on the other hand don’t really have other palatable options other than a minority administration, which Cameron has already indicated he doesn’t prefer. This makes the Lib Dems (despite their size) much stronger than any other party. This is akin to the position …
This election had the promise of being the most significant for a generation. My generation. It should be an opportunity for a radical change in direction in the same way that the elections of 1945 and 1979 were for our grandparents and parents respectively. This seems to be lost on Labour and the Conservatives, who simply want to preserve the status quo.
For an issue that ranks second only to the economy in importance for voters, the campaign debate on the NHS has been oddly disconnected from the chilly reality that awaits it beyond May 7th: a significant reduction in the generosity of funding compared to the past ten years, regardless of which party comes into power. Most parties have been making offers in their manifestos with resource implications: more single rooms, shorter waiting times for cancer tests, more choice of GP. But on the whole there has not been much discussion of the need to save, beyond the ubiquitous offers to cut …
Since Nick Clegg’s success in Thursday’s TV debate, there have been incredible comments made by high-profile Labour and Conservative politicians that have led to questions about how seriously the establishment takes the Liberal Democrats.
On Friday, Michael Gove called the Lib Dems “eccentric” and “outside the mainstream”, and Bob Ainsworth called their policy on Trident “silly”.
How can a political party with 20-30% of voters supporting them be eccentric and outside of the mainstream? Many Labour and Conservative policies could be seen as just that.
The suggestions of not replacing Trident, an amnesty for long-term illegal immigrants and cutting class sizes …
At the last general election, I voted for the first time, and gave it to Diana Johnson Labour MP for Hull North. When it came to the local election I voted for the Lib Dem candidate. Notwithstanding Dizzy Thinks posting this on the 1st of April, I just had to have a go at it: “For anyone confused about how they might vote at the General Election, Vote Match 2010 has now been launched. It’s pretty straight forward multiple choice survey that will match what you think against what the political parties have told Vote Match they think”. …
Peter Hirst One of the aims of most societies is some sort of redistribution. So fiscal federalism must have a mechanism for the rich regions giving to the poorer. Without ...
Peter Martin The price mechanism is essentially a system of rationing. In wartime it is usually recognised that it isn't the most equitable system! So some better system h...
David Allen A clear, credible, principled strategy from the Yorkists! Makes a welcome change.
Sadly, followed by twenty below-the-line posts, providing nearly twenty ve...
Simon McGrath so we get a permanant increase in costs for these subsidies based on ( alleged ) windfall profits. Its another big increase in spending -how is it to be paid ...
Peter Davies @Kira CollinsThat assumes we want to help people more with their energy bills than with all the other bills they may be struggling with. There is no reason why ...
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Brexit and summer holidays
The pine martens of Shropshire
The shame of Liverpool Labour councillors taking their allowances but not turning up to do the work
Peter Hirst 
Peter Martin 
David Allen 
Simon McGrath 
Peter Davies 