Category Archives: LibLink

For highlighting articles by Lib Dems that have appeared elsewhere in the media.

LibLink | Paddy Ashdown: Somalia’s ‘children’s famine’ has been ignored

By Helen Duffett | Thu 21st July 2011 - 6:53 pm

Paddy Ashdown writes today at Comment is Free on the urgent need to help famine-stricken Somalia – a situation which has been overshadowed in the news by more sensational events.

The problem when a child is dying from starvation is that they can’t wait. They can’t put their hunger on pause until the glare of the media decides to turn its spotlight on them and help spread the word that children are dying. Instead, they will slowly starve to death.

This is exactly what is happening to nearly 2 million children in Somalia right now. Nearly half of these children are

…

Tagged disasters emergency committee, famine, paddy ashdown and somalia | 1 Comment

LibLink: Mark Pack – What you see isn’t what you get with online politics

By Nick T | Tue 19th July 2011 - 3:25 pm

Over on Huffington Post, Mark Pack has a piece looking at the way US Republican presidential hopefuls are using technology in their campaigns, and at the difficulties of judging online activities from the ‘outside’, given the often hidden nature of much of it.

Here’s an excerpt:

The old days of ‘count the features and say those with the most are the best’ are, thankfully, long gone when it comes to political Internet campaigning. As is common with many technological areas as they mature, after the initial proliferation of features and services, the real success and progress comes with technology that is hidden

…

Also posted in Online politics | Tagged huffington post and Mark Pack | Leave a comment

LibLink | Vince Cable: I declared war on Murdoch… now everyone agrees with me

By Helen Duffett | Sat 16th July 2011 - 5:56 pm

Business Secretary Vince Cable has an interview in the Evening Standard, in which he discusses his declaration of “war” on Rupert Murdoch, his referral of the BSkyB takeover bid to Ofcom and Murdoch’s role in the phone hacking scandal:

…the Business Secretary also reveals for the first time that he considered resigning from Cabinet during the furore when he said he was “at war” with the media tycoon.

“I certainly felt rather low at the time because I was heavily criticised,” he said at the end of a week that has seen the tables comprehensively turned between the two men.

“And I

…

Tagged bskyb, ofcom, Phone hacking, rupert murdoch and vince cable | 26 Comments

LibLink | Reforming public services puts power with the people – Alexander and Letwin

By Helen Duffett | Wed 13th July 2011 - 2:35 pm

After Nick Clegg’s HuffPo debut yesterday, Danny Alexander has co-written a piece with the Conservatives’ Oliver Letwin on the Government’s Open Public Services White Paper:

Our society is blighted by the persistent failure to extend equal opportunity, dignity and worth to all. Inequalities in access to good schools, high quality healthcare, safe places to play, culture, sporting opportunities, decent homes and so much more leave our society less free, less fair and less united.

In order to ensure that every citizen is given the opportunities they deserve this Coalition Government has already moved quickly to lower taxes for the

…

Tagged Danny Alexander, oliver letwin and open public services | 10 Comments

LibLink Nick Clegg: Regulating media, empowering citizens

By Helen Duffett | Tue 12th July 2011 - 4:37 pm

Nick Clegg has a piece in Huffington Post UK today, on media regulation, responsible reporting and replacing the Press Complaints Commission.

He calls new news outlets, such as the newly-launched UK version news and comment website Huffington Post, “a welcome breath of fresh air” at a time when public confidence in the media establishment is being rocked by phone-hacking allegations.

Here’s an excerpt:

The hacking scandal throws up an array of insights. But one in particular stands out to liberals: information is power. It always has been. When elites deploy secretive and opaque practices, it is nearly always to protect their own

…

Tagged arab spring, huffington post, nick clegg, Phone hacking, press complaints commission and twitter | 7 Comments

LibLink: Tim Farron – The phone-hacking stench will linger

By Nick T | Mon 11th July 2011 - 5:27 pm

Yesterday’s Independent on Sunday featured an op-ed by Liberal Democrat party president, Tim Farron, on the ongoing phone-hacking scandal. Tim makes the point that while both Labour and the Conservatives (Labservatives, anyone?) spent much time and effort ingratiating themselves with News International in all its guises, the Liberal Democrats resisted any such activity.

Here’s a sample:

Labour and the Conservatives spent decades cosying up to Rupert Murdoch and his cronies in the hope of an endorsement or a favourable headline. The Liberal Democrats did not.

What David Cameron, Tony Blair or Gordon Brown knew about the practices of the newspapers they sought to

…

Tagged independent on sunday, Phone hacking and tim farron | 10 Comments

LibLink: Mark Pack – The secret concessions behind the 1911 Parliament Act

By Nick T | Thu 7th July 2011 - 5:53 pm

Before he departed for his blogging holiday, The Voice’s Mark Pack had an interesting piece on the Total Politics site looking at the 100-year history of the 1911 Parliament Act.

Here’s an extract from Mark’s piece:

The 1911 Act had its immediate cause in the 1909 People’s Budget from Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, which raised taxes for the richest to pay for military armaments and social works. As he put it:

“This is a war Budget. It is for raising money to wage implacable warfare against poverty and squalidness.”

The sums now seem modest – including the equivalent in today’s

…

Tagged Mark Pack, parliament act and total politics | Leave a comment

LibLink: Lord Tyler – Restore teeth to the Lords

By Nick T | Tue 5th July 2011 - 5:21 pm

Lib Dem peer Lord (Paul) Tyler recently took to the Guardian’s Comment Is Free along with Labour’s Lord (Andrew) Adonis with a joint piece arguing that their fellow members of the House of Lords should back proposals to reform the second chamber.

Here’s a sample:

Any objection that reform is taking place with undue haste will not stand up to scrutiny. It is now 100 years since the passage of the Parliament Act, which states the intention to substitute the Lords with “a second chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis, but such substitution cannot be immediately brought into operation”.

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Tagged andrew adonis, constitutional reform, house of lords, lords reform and paul tyler | Leave a comment

LibLink: Chris Rennard – A fox in the House of Lords

By Nick T | Tue 28th June 2011 - 4:24 pm

Lords of the Blog has a new contributor: Lord (Chris) Rennard, Lib Dem peer and former chief executive of the party. And in his maiden post, Lord Rennard explains why, even after having sat in the place since 1999, he still feels passionately about the necessity for the second chamber’s reform.

Here’s an excerpt:

New visitors to the House usually meet me at Peers’ entrance and often ask fairly quickly about Lords reform. I point immediately to the progress made since I became a peer in 1999. I proudly show them my coat peg in the cloakroom and explain that it

…

Tagged chris rennard, constitutional reform, house of lords and lords reform | Leave a comment

Young people must get the facts on Higher Education – Hughes

By Helen Duffett | Tue 28th June 2011 - 3:29 pm

Simon Hughes MP, the Government’s advocate for access to Higher Education, has a piece over at Left Foot Forward today, on the confusion surrounding student finance.

He cites the Sutton Trust’s findings that more than a fifth of 11-16 year olds believe their families will have to pay for the cost of university tuition, while a further 10 per cent believe students paid for university with money they earned before and during their studies:

This situation is clearly unacceptable. And now as we start a month where higher education is again back on the agenda, with today’s publication of the

…

Tagged higher education, simon hughes and student finance | 18 Comments

LibLink: Julian Astle – The alchemists of liberalism have left their parties behind

By Nick T | Mon 27th June 2011 - 6:54 pm

Over at the Guardian, former Paddy Ashdown advisor Julian Astle has an interesting (but controversial) piece in which he argues that there is a ‘secret club’ of cross-party, centrist, liberal-minded reformers at the heart of British politics, who have run the country for the 15 of the last 18 years.

Here’s a sample:

Consider the ease with which the Lib Dems and Conservative leaderships put together a radical coalition agreement. Or the extent to which that agreement builds on the agenda pursued by the Blairites in their second and third terms. “Reform” in welfare, schools, higher education funding

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Tagged julian astle, liberalism and new labour | 11 Comments

LibLink | Danny Alexander: Make no mistake: we will reform public sector pensions

By The Voice | Fri 17th June 2011 - 10:22 am

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander writes in the Telegraph today on public sector pensions reform, calling the Government’s offer “by far the best that is likely to be on the table for years to come”:

This debate is often polarised between two extremes. There are some trade unions who seem to believe that pensions for public service workers should not change. Then there are those equally misguided voices who seem to think that the public services should be the front-runner in a race to the bottom.

Between these two, I believe there is an indisputable case for reforming public

…

Tagged Danny Alexander, pensions, trade unions and tuc | 53 Comments

Chris Rennard profiled in Total Politics: “Think about the swings and roundabouts over the years”

By Helen Duffett | Mon 13th June 2011 - 6:48 pm

Over at Total Politics Iain Dale interviews former Lib Dem Chief Executive Lord Rennard about his views on the local elections, The AV referendum and Coalition government.

Here’s a flavour:

Bernard Jenkin said you could imagine a Lib Dem enclave within the Conservative Party at some point. It’s happened before, hasn’t it? Do you think that that’s at all possible or likely?

I think that’s just trouble-making by someone who is very anti-coalition. I don’t think in the 21st century things will go back to the way they were in the 1920s or 1930s.

Don’t you think this time it just feels a

…

Tagged bernard jenkin, chris rennard, david cameron, Ian Dale and total politics | Leave a comment

LibLink: Mark Pack – Lords reform: three tests for three party leaders

By Nick T | Sun 12th June 2011 - 8:57 am

Over on the Total Politics website, Mark Pack has a piece looking at what the coalition’s plans for reforming the House of Lords means for each of the three party leaders:

For each of them Lords reform offers both an opportunity and a threat. For David Cameron the opportunity is to push on with his mission to change the Conservative Party, modernising it in a continuing effort to shed the problems that have resulted in nearly 20 years passing since it last won an overall majority. Many in the Conservative Party, especially in the Lords, are opposed to the introduction of

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Tagged constitutional reform, house of lords, lords reform, Mark Pack and total politics | 1 Comment

LibLink | Vince Cable: We agree to differ on restoring economy

By Helen Duffett | Sat 11th June 2011 - 3:21 pm

Business Secretary Vince Cable writes today at the Financial Times on the Coalition Government’s approach to deficit reduction, in response to the International Monetary Fund’s endorsement.

He explores the reasons for the financial crisis and its legacy, and suggests,

The only sensible macro-economic policy stance is a tight fiscal policy combined with a loose monetary one: Plan A.

He concludes:

Co-operation between the coalition partners remains vital for the good of the economy. While there is much common ground there are differences of emphasis. Liberal Democrats prioritise radical banking reform, progressive taxation and the green economy. Conservatives set greater store by corporate tax

…

Tagged imf and vince cable | 7 Comments

LibLink | Nick Harvey: Forget a cyber Maginot line

By Helen Duffett | Wed 8th June 2011 - 2:54 pm

Nick Harvey, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, writes over at Comment is Free about potential threats to digital networks, and calls for a global consensus on cyberspace security:

Threats do not just come from malicious viruses or organised criminals stealing people’s identity or money. Digital networks are now at the heart of our transport, power and communications systems, and our economy as a whole. This reliance brings the capacity for warfare to cyberspace. The consequences of a well-planned, well-executed attack against our digital infrastructure could be catastrophic. In this way, a single networked laptop might be as effective

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Tagged cyber warfare, nick harvey and terrorism | Leave a comment

LibLink | Paul Tyler: Lords’ Question Time is a “farcical free-for-all”

By The Voice | Tue 7th June 2011 - 12:42 pm

Lord Tyler writes over at e-Politix today about the way Question Time is conducted in the Lords:

As the House’s membership has increased in recent months, Question Time has become an ever more farcical free-for-all. There are a large number of Members who wish to contribute at any one time. Newcomers are rightly mystified by the absurd way in which one has to jockey for the opportunity to speak. You have to pop up and start bellowing, ‘My Lords’, in the hope that your bellow will be more thundersome than those of competing Members, or that some Lordly recognition

…

Also posted in Parliament | Tagged epolitix, house of lords, parliamentary reform and paul tyler | Leave a comment

LibLink: James Graham – Liberal – but not so democratic in the Lords

By Nick T | Thu 2nd June 2011 - 3:25 pm

Over on the Guardian’s Comment Is Free site, Lib Dem blogger James Graham has a piece arguing that if the party wants to demonstrate its commitment to reforming the House of Lords, we should start by stopping the appointment of additional peers.

Here’s a sample:

Nowhere are the flaws of political appointment more apparent than in the Liberal Democrat party in the House of Lords. Not only are Lib Dem peers handpicked by their leader (in theory, the leader is restricted in his choice; the reality is somewhat different), they are self-selecting. You are either

…

Tagged constitutional reform, house of lords, james graham and lords reform | 3 Comments

LibLink: Mark Pack – What should happen to an MP who is voted out of office?

By Nick T | Wed 1st June 2011 - 2:55 pm

Over on Left Foot Forward, The Voice’s Mark Pack has a piece highlighting the common, but outrageously undemocratic, practice of appointing defeated MPs to the House of Lords – just one of the many reasons that the second chamber needs thorough reform. And with those with a vested interest already lining up to oppose any changes, Mark makes the point that it is crucial that a grassroots group of reformers unite behind the finalised proposals, rather than making the mistake of opposing some reform because it is not total reform.

Here’s an excerpt:

I can go to a polling station, vote

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Tagged constitutional reform, house of lords, left foot forward, lords reform and Mark Pack | 3 Comments

Nick Harvey profiled in Total Politics

By Nick T | Tue 31st May 2011 - 1:27 pm

Last month’s Total Politics magazine featured a profile of Liberal Democrat Armed Forces Minister, Nick Harvey. The piece looks at Nick’s life before politics, his time as a pre-coalition MP, and the various issues that now end up on his desk as a minister in the Department of Defence.

Here’s a sample:

“This is a difficult and challenging time for the Ministry of Defence and it’s vital that we meet the needs of our service personnel,” said Nick Harvey following his appointment as Minister for the Armed Forces in May 2010. At a time of unprecedented budgetary constraints it promises to be

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Tagged nick harvey and total politics | 1 Comment

LibLink | Lynne Featherstone: “Cross-departmental nagging is my strong point”

By Helen Duffett | Mon 30th May 2011 - 1:43 pm

The June issue of Total Politics has a profile of Lynne Featherstone MP in which interviewer Ben Duckworth looks at how Lynne thinks as a minister and how she is regarded.

Here’s a flavour:

On ministerial visits, she will arrive to discover that people have confused her with her Conservative colleague Maria Miller: “I go somewhere and someone thinks I’m the disabilities minister. I’m taking a look at how that can be communicated better.” This does seem to be down to her vague title, as Featherstone admits. “People think, because my nomenclature is minister for equalities, I cover race, discrimination, age

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Tagged ben duckworth, lynne featherstone and total politics | Leave a comment

LibLink: Mark Pack – Lib Dems Must Not Ditch Commitment To Political Reform

By Nick T | Sat 28th May 2011 - 10:25 am

Over at The Holmes Report website, Lib Dem Voice’s Mark Pack has a piece setting out how the Liberal Democrats should approach the issue of political reform in the wake of the substantial defeat for reformers in the AV referendum. Here’s an extract from Mark’s piece:

It would be a mistake for Liberal Democrats (or indeed reformers in the Conservative Party’s ranks) to conclude from the referendum result that all political reform should now be side-lined. The referendum No vote was not a vote of confidence in our political system. Politicians continue to be one of the least respected professions in

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Tagged constitutional reform and Mark Pack | 1 Comment

LibLink: Julian Astle – The report every school reformer should read

By Nick T | Fri 27th May 2011 - 6:35 pm

Over on his blog at The Telegraph, former director of the Centre Forum think tank, Julian Astle, highlights a report by researchers at the London School of Economics looking into the effect of academies. The findings are good news for supporters of greater autonomy for schools, and one of the (perhaps surprising) conclusions of the analysis is that academies don’t just raise standards for the pupils that attend them, but also for surrounding schools, even as they lose pupils to the new academies.

Here’s what the report has to say on that last point, followed by a brief conclusion from Julian:

“In

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Tagged academies, julian astle and london school of economics | 8 Comments

LibLink | Vince Cable: “I can see another financial bomb going off”

By The Voice | Fri 27th May 2011 - 10:53 am

The New Statesman published an interview with Business Secretary Vince Cable yesterday, in which he talks about the current economic situation, the banks’ reluctance to lend, his political influences and his working relationship with Tory ministers.

Here’s an excerpt:

“If you’re trying to design a system from scratch,” he says, “what you probably want is a Danish-type model, which relates tax to property values. Council tax doesn’t work anymore . The link is broken. There are all kinds of technical problems about valuations; how you concentrate it at the top end with the bottom end. Those are the things we should

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Tagged vince cable | 9 Comments

LibLink | Sarah Teather: Q&A on special needs provision

By Helen Duffett | Tue 24th May 2011 - 4:15 pm

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather recently took part in an interview followed by a readers’ Question and Answer session for the Guardian about special needs provision:

Sarah Teather, the children’s minister, comes across as genuinely passionate about helping children with special needs. So much so that at one point in the interview, she got quite cross. The health service is failing some of our most vulnerable children, she said. The chance of a child receiving speech and language therapy is “between low and nil”, while the wait for a wheelchair can be “really long”, she said.

On free schools and academies helping …

Tagged academies, sarah teather and special educational needs | Leave a comment

LibLink: Tyler versus Steel on Lords reform

By Mark Pack | Sun 22nd May 2011 - 2:03 pm

During the week The Guardian ran an exchange between Liberal Democrats Lord Steel and Tyler – the former Liberal Party leader urging the Lib Dems to drop the party’s long-standing policy (and the Liberal Party’s before that) to introduce elections for the Lords, and Tyler responding.

Here’s a sample:

Steel: I am old enough to recall the defeat of Lords reform proposals through getting bogged down in the Commons in a war of attrition led by Michael Foot and Enoch Powell, and I fear the same may happen to these. There is no public clamour for the changes…

Tyler: Westminster is such an

…

Tagged constitutional reform, david steel, house of lords, lords reform and paul tyler | 5 Comments

LibLink | Alan Beith: “Road safety is not an optional extra”

By Helen Duffett | Wed 18th May 2011 - 2:54 pm

Sir Alan Beith MP, who is presenting the Road Safety Bill to the House of Commons today, has a piece over at ePolitix urging the Government to do all it can to reduce the number of road deaths – because of their social, emotional and financial cost:

I want to see better protection for pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users, along with better support for HGV drivers who face being involved in fatal accidents because of blind spots on their vehicles. A family in my constituency approached me for help after the death of their much loved daughter and

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Tagged alan beith, eilidh cairns, epolitix, fiona hall and road safety bill | 1 Comment

LibLink: Shirley Williams – The line the Lib Dems won’t cross on the NHS

By Nick T | Wed 18th May 2011 - 10:27 am

Over at The Guardian, Baroness Shirley Williams has a piece setting out the problems she has with the government’s proposed NHS reforms, and four substantive changes that the Liberal Democrats would like to see made.

Here’s a sample:

First, the role of the secretary of state: as the excellent fifth report of the House of Commons health committee pointed out, the public, who pay for the NHS, look to the secretary of state to be responsible for the delivery of a comprehensive health service, one that is equitable, accessible to all, and free at the time of use. The National Commissioning Board will

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Tagged NHS and shirley williams | 1 Comment

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What’s going on with party strategy?

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Category Archives: LibLink

LibLink | Paddy Ashdown: Somalia’s ‘children’s famine’ has been ignored

LibLink: Mark Pack – What you see isn’t what you get with online politics

LibLink | Vince Cable: I declared war on Murdoch… now everyone agrees with me

LibLink | Reforming public services puts power with the people – Alexander and Letwin

LibLink Nick Clegg: Regulating media, empowering citizens

LibLink: Tim Farron – The phone-hacking stench will linger

LibLink: Mark Pack – The secret concessions behind the 1911 Parliament Act

LibLink: Lord Tyler – Restore teeth to the Lords

LibLink: Chris Rennard – A fox in the House of Lords

Young people must get the facts on Higher Education – Hughes

LibLink: Julian Astle – The alchemists of liberalism have left their parties behind

LibLink | Danny Alexander: Make no mistake: we will reform public sector pensions

Chris Rennard profiled in Total Politics: “Think about the swings and roundabouts over the years”

LibLink: Mark Pack – Lords reform: three tests for three party leaders

LibLink | Vince Cable: We agree to differ on restoring economy

LibLink | Nick Harvey: Forget a cyber Maginot line

LibLink | Paul Tyler: Lords’ Question Time is a “farcical free-for-all”

LibLink: James Graham – Liberal – but not so democratic in the Lords

LibLink: Mark Pack – What should happen to an MP who is voted out of office?

Nick Harvey profiled in Total Politics

LibLink | Lynne Featherstone: “Cross-departmental nagging is my strong point”

LibLink: Mark Pack – Lib Dems Must Not Ditch Commitment To Political Reform

LibLink: Julian Astle – The report every school reformer should read

LibLink | Vince Cable: “I can see another financial bomb going off”

LibLink | Sarah Teather: Q&A on special needs provision

LibLink: Tyler versus Steel on Lords reform

LibLink | Alan Beith: “Road safety is not an optional extra”

LibLink: Shirley Williams – The line the Lib Dems won’t cross on the NHS

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Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy

Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

What’s going on with party strategy?

A strange but welcome feeling

Category Archives: LibLink

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