Category Archives: LibLink

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

Nick T

LibLink: Julian Astle – Not finking straight

By Nick T | Sat 19th March 2011 - 7:25 pm

Over on his Telegraph blog, director of the Centre Forum think tank and former Paddy Ashdown adviser, Julian Astle, casts his analytical eye over a piece on the alternative vote by the Times’s Danny Finkelstein.

Here’s a short extract from the post, but do go and read the whole piece – there are even some charts, for those of you who are that way inclined:

What is remarkable is the movement of the dots from the red and blue triangles into the white area in the centre, showing the growth in the number of MPs (now around two thirds) who do not enjoy the

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Nick T

LibLink: Richard Grayson – NHS reforms: Listen to your party, Nick, or the voters will punish you

By Nick T | Thu 17th March 2011 - 10:25 am

Writing on Comment Is Free on Sunday, Professor Richard Grayson warns Liberal Democrats in government against ignoring the calls of party members to re-think elements of the planned NHS changes.

Here’s a sample of what he had to say:

If the Liberal Democrat leadership is wise (and they have said that they want to listen to the party), it will now act to the advantage of both the party and the NHS. Unless the leadership actually agrees with the reforms, why continue to support them now that they have such an opportunity to amend them significantly? The party leadership must tell the

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Nick T

Interview: Life with Lord Ashdown is no Werther’s Originals advert

By Nick T | Wed 16th March 2011 - 2:25 pm

The Independent on Sunday carried an interview with former leader of the Liberal Democrats Paddy Ashdown. Among topics covered are his upcoming book on the Special Boat Service (in which he served), his 7oth birthday, the coalition, the MOD and the situation in Libya.

Here’s an extract from the piece:

“Being a party in government requires a completely different approach but I am astonished at the maturity that, by and large, the party has taken to that. There are some who still want to live in the cloud cuckoo, never-neverland of opposition. I have always said there is no point being

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Nick T

LibLink: Nick Clegg – We will end the libel farce

By Nick T | Wed 16th March 2011 - 8:55 am

Over on the Guardian’s Comment Is Free site, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has penned a piece to coincide with the government’s publication of a draft Defamation Bill, which proposes significant changes to Britain’s libel laws.

Here’s some of what he has to say:

London is the number one destination for libel tourism, where foreign claimants bring cases against foreign defendants to our courts – even when the connection with England is tenuous at best. It is a farce that has prompted Barack Obama to legislate to protect his citizens from rulings in our courts.

These laws

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Helen Duffett

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – It is time for Europe to back a no-fly zone in Libya

By Helen Duffett | Mon 14th March 2011 - 1:31 pm

In the Financial Times, Paddy Ashdown (former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and former Leader of the Liberal Democrats) calls for a no-fly zone in Libya:

It is difficult not to feel a wearisome sense of déjà vu watching European leaders on Friday saying something needed to be done in Libya, but failing completely to say what.

Libya is not our backyard. But what happens there and in the other countries of the Maghreb matters to us Europeans very much. If those who have overturned dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt (and hopefully Libya) in this “Arab spring” can create effective,

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Nick T

LibLink: David Hall-Matthews – Barnsley: a Lib Dem communication failure

By Nick T | Sat 12th March 2011 - 2:25 pm

Over on the Guardian’s Comment Is Free site, chair of the Social Liberal Forum, David Hall-Matthews, has a piece urging Liberal Democrats – both members and the party’s leadership – to be a little more vocal in our trumpeting of Lib Dem successes in government; not just those things we are doing, such as raising income tax threshold, but also those things we are stopping the Tories doing.

The whole piece is well worth a read, but I thought this line was particularly good: “Losing protest votes – or those who thought the Lib Dems were to the left of Labour …

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Nick T

LibLink: Dominic Carman – What it’s like to be the most despised man in the town political correctness forgot (and come SIXTH in a by-election)

By Nick T | Mon 7th March 2011 - 5:25 pm

There’s what you might think is a somewhat over-the-top headline on Dominic Carman’s piece on the Daily Mail website detailing his experience as the Liberal Democrat candidate in last week’s by-election in Barnsley Central, but after having read the piece it seems somewhat less hyperbolic. Barnsley is not natural Liberal Democrat territory – the content of Dominic’s article will demonstrate why. You couldn’t invent a better example of a Labour stronghold if you tried, and the historic and deep hatred of the Conservative party by many in such seats means campaigning there as a Liberal Democrat now is especially tough.

All …

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Helen Duffett

LibLink: Jeremy Browne and Nick Harvey on an International Arms Trade Treaty

By Helen Duffett | Thu 3rd March 2011 - 5:42 pm

Over at Comment is Free today, Jeremy Browne and Nick Harvey argue for the need for an international arms trade treaty, and that Britain must lead its creation:

On Monday the second round of negotiations to establish an international arms trade treaty (ATT) began at the United Nations headquarters in New York. These negotiations, and the need for better regulation of the arms trade, could not be timelier.

The courage displayed in the popular uprisings across the Middle East and north Africa over the last month has been fascinating and inspiring. But the shocking retaliatory brutality, especially of

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Mark Pack

LibLink: Chris Huhne’s micro op-ed in The Sun

By Mark Pack | Thu 3rd March 2011 - 1:15 pm

If there was a prize for the shortest op-ed this year, chances are it would go to Chris Huhne. His latest op-ed weighs in at just 117 words – though given those are 117 words in The Sun they reach a rather larger audience (even of Liberal Democrats) than many a longer piece elsewhere.

Here is a brief sample:

Before long, we’ll all be plugging into the mains.

For the full 117 words, see The Sun’s website.

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Nick T

LibLink: Olly Grender – Who Da Man ……….. Date

By Nick T | Wed 2nd March 2011 - 3:25 pm

Over on her New Statesman blog, Olly Grender, former Lib Dem Communications Director, tackles the tricky topic of mandates. It has become a familiar refrain that the current government has no mandate to implement this or that reform, despite the fact that it is one of the few in recent history which is made up of parties which received more than 50% of the (combined) vote at the last election.

Here’s Olly’s take on the subject:

When I hear the regular accusation about lack of a mandate, I have some sympathy. No, really — I do. But that begs several questions. How

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Nick T

LibLink: Julian Astle – The real threat to the Coalition’s public services reforms doesn’t come from the EU

By Nick T | Tue 1st March 2011 - 3:25 pm

Over on his Telegraph blog, Julian Astle, director of the CentreForum think-tank and former adviser to Paddy Ashdown, argues that the real threat to the coalition’s plans to reform public services comes not from European law, but more pertinently from the system of national pay bargaining.

Here’s an excerpt:

Although the government is trying to raise standards across the board, its particular focus is on reducing the UK’s intolerably high levels of health and educational inequality. But as Professor Alison Wolf has demonstrated, it is the system of national pay bargaining that locks these inequalities in place. Leave that system in place, and all the Government’s

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The Voice

LibLink: Danny Alexander… We’re not giving nice cover to nasty Tory cuts

By The Voice | Sat 26th February 2011 - 11:53 am

Today’s Times (£) features an interview with Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, which touches on Coalition cuts, the Budget, banks, Nick Clegg, electoral pact rumours – and even red squirrels.

Here’s a taster:

“One of the things about a coalition is it’s two different parties, with different policies and different thinking. The only way you can deal with things is through discussion based on evidence and it does mean that you have a bit more formality about the processes of government than perhaps existed before.”

When he took over at the Treasury, his predecessor left him a note saying

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Helen Duffett

LibLink: Moving house – the John Thurso story

By Helen Duffett | Wed 23rd February 2011 - 2:25 pm

BBC Politics yesterday profiled the life of John Archibald Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso – better known as John Thurso, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross:

John Thurso has spent a decade as an MP, but still regards himself as “an entirely accidental politician”.

Living in the “ruins” of his family castle in the northernmost part of Scotland, he might appear a gentleman amateur in the careerist world of Westminster.

Yet politics is in the blood of this grandson of former Liberal leader Sir Archibald Sinclair.

Mr Thurso, the 57-year-old Lib Dem MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, was the first

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The Voice

LibLink… Paddy Ashdown: Defence cuts? Why, they’ve barely started

By The Voice | Tue 22nd February 2011 - 2:43 pm

In today’s Times (£) Paddy Ashdown argues that the Ministry of Defence is “no longer fit for purpose.”

Ashdown says that the current government are not making enough progress with addressing the Ministry’s problems: the large annual deficit, bureaucratic blunders and project overruns and puts them down to a lack of political direction.

Here’s an excerpt:

The dust is now settling on the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published last October. And what it reveals is that the deeply painful cuts already announced are not going to be enough to balance the books. There will have to be more — there may

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Nick T

LibLink: Michael Moore interviewed

By Nick T | Tue 22nd February 2011 - 11:57 am

Sunday’s Scotland On Sunday newspaper featured an interesting interview with Liberal Democrat MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk and Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore. The interview begins with a discussion of the pre-Christmas ‘sting’ on Liberal Democrat MPs by journalists from the Daily Telegraph, of which Michael was one of the (albeit less publicised) ‘victims’. Also touched on is the Scotland Bill, which is one of the main focuses of Michael’s attention.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview, in which the upcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections are discussed:

The other big issue on the agenda is May’s election. While Clegg has

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Nick T

LibLink: Mark Pack – The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference agenda, whistlestop guide version

By Nick T | Sat 19th February 2011 - 1:05 pm

Over on his Mandate, Hogarth and Penrose blog, Lib Dem Voice’s Mark Pack provides the time-pressed among us with a whistlestop guide of the agenda for the upcoming Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Sheffield.

Here are the bits of conference that Mark suspects are liable to be the most controversial:

Saturday 10:15am: conference debates the Disability Living Allowance – mobility component, which is one of the areas of proposed welfare reform that has generated much controversy between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives in the coalition.

Saturday, 10:45am: a long motion supporting the NHS reforms, including the words, “Conference welcomes the vision for the NHS

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Nick T

LibLink: Vince Cable – Private recovery can create growth potion

By Nick T | Fri 18th February 2011 - 3:25 pm

Today’s Financial Times carries a piece by Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable, on the coalition’s strategy for economic growth. However, as Vince points out,  a government ‘strategy’ can only do so much. The main weapon in the government’s armoury is – perhaps counter-intuitively to some – to actually do less, particularly, for example, in terms of burdensome regulation, which is often a particular problem for small businesses. The best thing the government can do is create a situation in which it is more likely that businesses will invest and grow; this will be the route to sustainable, lasting economic …

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Nick T

LibLink: Jonathan Calder – Larry the cat is no true blue

By Nick T | Thu 17th February 2011 - 3:13 pm

Over on the Guardian’s Comment is Free site, Liberal Democrat blogger-in-chief, Jonathan Calder, turns his attention to one of this week’s most important political stories: the arrival of Larry, Downing Street’s newest resident (who also happens to be a cat). It was, of course, Downing Street’s rodent problem (no, actual rats, thank you Harriet) that necessitated Larry’s presence, and Jonathan even has time for a brief history of Westminster’s rodential (yes, that really is a word) residents, as well as its feline ones.

Here’s an extract:

You could argue that his arrival marks a much-needed victory for Nick Clegg. True, Larry is

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Nick T

LibLink: Mike Tuffrey – GLA Budget 2011: Failing to plan for the future

By Nick T | Tue 15th February 2011 - 12:55 pm

Over on the MayorWatch website, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member, Mike Tuffrey, gives his take on Boris Johnson’s first budget under the coalition government. Mike believes that the Mayor’s budget “fails to grasp the opportunities offered by the coalition’s localism agenda and continues to rely on financial reserves to defer difficult, but necessary, decisions”.

Here’s an excerpt:

Three years into his mayoralty, this is Boris Johnson’s first budget since the change of government. Regrettably it fails to rise to the challenge of the new national reality.

In so doing, it exposes the direction that Boris Johnson intends to travel up to election day:

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Nick T

LibLink: Nick Clegg – Sweeping away the illiberal measures of the past

By Nick T | Sat 12th February 2011 - 10:25 am

Over on Sean Dilley’s blog, there’s a transcript of an interview he conducted on talkSPORT with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg discussing yesterday’s announcement of the government’s long-awaited Freedom Bill. Here’s an excerpt of what Nick said:

I first proposed the idea of a Freedom Bill some years ago, because I think under Labour, too many of our Freedoms were taken away. Our Privacy was invaded. Too many innocent people were treated with suspicion. Look, under Labour, your children could have their finger prints taken at school without your permission. You could be spied on by your local Council, your bins

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Nick T

LibLink: Jeremy Browne – Lib Dems can’t just be a home for protest votes

By Nick T | Fri 11th February 2011 - 5:45 pm

Over on the Guardian’s Comment Is Free site, Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Foreign Office Minister, Jeremy Browne, makes a valuable contribution to what will be an increasingly important conversation for Liberal Democrats to engage in in the coming years: how we can make our participation in government an electoral asset, and make it more likely that 2010-2015 will not go down in history as simply a one-off period of Liberal Democrats exercising national power.

Jeremy’s main thesis is that, to ensure future success, the Liberal Democrats need to replace those voters who supported the party as a protest, whose …

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Nick T

LibLink: David Laws – Tax cuts for the rich can wait. Tax reform can’t

By Nick T | Mon 7th February 2011 - 5:25 pm

In today’s Times, David Laws, Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury , argues that the coalition must live with increased taxes on the rich as part of its deficit-reduction programme, but that reforming Britain’s complex and unfair tax system must be undertaken in earnest. Here’s an excerpt:

Under the last Labour Government tax policy was characterised, in the words of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, by “drift, punctuated by poorly thought-out changes”. A 10p in the pound rate of income tax was introduced and abolished. National insurance changes were made for political, not economic, reasons.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron – Easing of control orders makes this a proud day for civil liberties

By NewsHound | Thu 27th January 2011 - 3:20 pm

Lib Dem president Tim Farron writes in The Guardian’s Comment is Free about the Coalition’s reforms of control orders, restoring greater freedom for UK citizens. Here’s an excerpt:

With details of reform of counter-terrorism laws unveiled in the House of Commons, today is a proud day for those who cherish the freedoms that we in Britain have enjoyed for centuries and that our ancestors fought and died for. … the proposals detailed mark a decisive move away from the paranoid, authoritarian state presided over by Labour. No longer will people who have had no charge brought against them be locked up

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NewsHound

LibLink: Labour Government ‘lost control of spending’

By NewsHound | Thu 20th January 2011 - 3:43 pm

Into the ongoing debate over whether Labour’s actions in Government contributed to the huge national debt and record deficit weighs Sir Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury.

As Sky News reports, Sir Nicholas identifies three departments – Defence, Health and Education, which struggled to keep control of their finances.

said spending at the Ministry of Defence under the last government was “lost control”, adding it had been put into “special measures” and ordered to report on a month-by-month basis on spending.

Sir Nicholas admitted the Department of Health and Department of Education had problems with their finances during

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NewsHound

LibLink: David Laws on the government’s economic policies

By NewsHound | Wed 19th January 2011 - 10:43 pm

Over in The Guardian, David Laws yesterday has this piece:

Of all the challenges which confront the coalition in 2011, none is more important than the economy. This is also the issue where the biggest political dividing lines are drawn. Ed Miliband is betting that economic recovery will be derailed, and while trying to reconcile many divergent views in his party, he has generally taken the position that cuts should be delayed and that high tax rates (including the 50% tax rate) should be retained. Ed is getting all the big economic decisions wrong, and leading his party into an economic

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NewsHound

LibLink: Simon Hughes – ‘We’re not trying to escape’

By NewsHound | Sat 8th January 2011 - 8:35 pm

Over at The Guardian today, there’s an interview with Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes following his recent appointment as the Coalition’s ‘advocate for access to education’ despite having not voted in favour of the Government’s tuition fees proposals.

Simon talks about the difference between government and opposition:

What is it like, being in power? What’s it like, after decades of not a sniff of it? “It is entirely different, and it has taken me and other people in our party a bit of time to get used to, to be honest.” Hughes, 59, has a calm, practiced warmth, and while

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NewsHound

LibLink: Simon Hughes – The hard reality of power

By NewsHound | Thu 6th January 2011 - 11:25 am

Over at the New Statesman, the Lib Dems’ deputy leader Simon Hughes argues that the party is now bringing about real change, “coming of age” as a constructive force of progressive politics. Here’s an excerpt:

… huge opportunities to implement a liberal agenda in every year of this parliament. The opportunity will come this year to win the referendum for a fairer parliamentary voting system – a huge and important prize not delivered by Labour during its 13 years in power, despite manifesto pledges, and now resiled from by many Labour MPs who were elected on this very commitment only

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Iain Roberts

LibLink: the full shambles of the ID card trial in Greater Manchester

By Iain Roberts | Thu 30th December 2010 - 6:44 pm

The Manchester Evening News has been investigating Labour’s ID Card trial in Greater Manchester last November. Only 13,200 signed up from a population of over two million.

The MEN reveals how:

* Senior Whitehall officials were urged to email friends and relatives encouraging them to buy cards because of fears about the level of demand
* UK and overseas border guards refused to recognise the cards – with one traveller chased through an Italian airport after trying to use one as ID
* The Home Office discovered the cards could stop some credit

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NewsHound

LibLink: Norman Baker – Despite the doomsayers’ predictions of failure from Day One, the Coalition has bedded down well

By NewsHound | Sun 26th December 2010 - 2:40 pm

Over at the Mail on Sunday, Lib Dem transport minister Norman Baker talks about his own experiences of being on the wrong end of the Telegraph’s ‘sting’ operation, in which the paper targeted MPs’ constituency surgeries to entrap them into confessions of Coalition discord. Here’s an excerpt:

Over the years, I have seen thousands of constituents at my surgeries. Many have had big problems. Many have been in a highly emotional state. Some have even been crying. Every week, up and down the country, constituents like this access their MP for help. They come along because they trust their MP to

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NewsHound

LibLink: Chris Huhne – The biggest energy market shake-up in 25 years

By NewsHound | Thu 16th December 2010 - 3:25 pm

Over at the Telegraph, Lib Dem secretary of state for energy and climate change Chris Huhne argues that the UK needs to unlock private investment in its energy market on an unprecedented scale, and ensure the low-carbon revolution at the lowest cost to consumers. Here’s an excerpt:

… on Thursday the Coalition begins a consultation on a reform that would reshape this market more fundamentally than at any time since the 1980s, when the Lawson reforms were the pioneer of Europe’s deregulation. Since then, we have acquired an overlay of instruments – notably the renewables obligation – that has provided a

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