Category Archives: LibLink

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

Helen Duffett

LibLink: Stephen Tall on how to cure Lib Dem masochism

By Helen Duffett | Tue 31st August 2010 - 8:47 pm

Stephen Tall writes today at Comment is Free that not only is it healthy to be open about disagreement within the coalition, but that it could be good for future Lib Dem – and coalition – success.

He cites the results of this week’s Lib Dem Voice survey, in which 84% of respondents still support the coalition partnership between the Lib Dems and Conservatives – yet just 17% believe it will be good for the party’s prospects at the next general election.

Far from being taken for a ride by the Tories or being carried away by power-hunger, as …

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Helen Duffett

LibLink: Education, not indoctrination – Evan Harris’ 10 commandments for RE teaching

By Helen Duffett | Tue 31st August 2010 - 4:41 pm

Evan Harris, writing in the Guardian today, shares his blueprint for better RE teaching. He says that the evolution-creationism debate in schools should take place in RE lessons as well as science lessons:

Secularists like me believe that RE is a valid subject for study in the curriculum but should be about what different religions (and other world views like humanism) believe; it should not be about what ought to be believed. So Catholic schools should be allowed to use RE lessons to teach that the Catholic church opposes contraception and believes that homosexuality is a sin, but not that

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NewsHound

LibLink: Evan Harris – The relevance of a doctor’s religion

By NewsHound | Fri 27th August 2010 - 7:45 am

Over at the Guardian’s Comment is Free website, former Lib Dem MP Evan Harris argues that it’s misleading to say atheist doctors are ‘more likely to hasten death’, and asserts that the real issue is adequate patient consultation. Here’s an excerpt:

Read in isolation, the headline of the Guardian’s report into newly published research on doctors’ attitudes and behaviour (“Atheist doctors ‘more likely to hasten death'”) might lead you to think that there are a bunch of humanist physicians poised, with potassium chloride-filled syringes, over the bedside of sick patients. However, the article itself informed us that the problem did not

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NewsHound

Liblink: Nick Clegg on fairness, the Budget and the IFS report

By NewsHound | Thu 26th August 2010 - 9:53 am

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, writing in today’s Financial Times (free registration required), champions the government’s commitment to fairness and explains why he believes yesterday’s IFS report is asking the wrong questions.

Fairness is about every child getting the chance they deserve, regardless of their background. Poverty and deprivation matter enormously but fairness also demands that what counts is not the school you went to, the jobs your parents did, or the colour of your skin but your ability to move beyond the circumstances of your birth.

…there is a bigger problem with the analysis: it measures the impact of

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NewsHound

LibLink: James Graham – Lib Dems must agree to publicly disagree

By NewsHound | Tue 24th August 2010 - 4:29 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment is Free website, Lib Dem blogger James Graham argues that Nick Clegg needs to admit the party’s economic differences with the Tories in public – the alternative, he warns, is that the Coalition will become rudderless. Here’s an excerpt:

That the government is embarking on a programme of deep cuts is not in question; but nobody seems to be able to explain what it is all for. The coalition can’t explain because, frankly, the coalition can’t agree. That’s why the government’s “vision” has been dominated by empty flannel such as the “big society”, which can

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Iain Roberts

LibLink: every key Westminster model country is hung

By Iain Roberts | Mon 23rd August 2010 - 6:06 pm

A blog post from Prof Patrick Dunleavy at the LSE on the Australian election results points out that, for the first time in history, every key Westminster Model country – the UK, India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – has a hung parliament.

For the first time in history, the Australian outcome means that every key ‘Westminster model’ country in the world now has a hung Parliament. These are the former British empire countries that according to decades of political science orthodoxy are supposed to produce strong, single party government. Following Duverger’s Law their allegedly ‘majoritarian’ electoral systems (first past

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Stephen Tall

LibLink: Mark Pack – We are now facing sobering reality of sharing power

By Stephen Tall | Mon 23rd August 2010 - 12:28 pm

For a brief few weeks during the election campaign, the Indy became quite a readable newspaper, offering some balanced coverage which was at least some relief from the right-wing papers’ slavish Cameron obeisance. The paper didn’t back the Lib Dems, but it did give the party a fair hearing. Well, normal service is now resumed, with the Indy today devoting its front page to some idle, cliched speculation (“growing pressure”, “jittery atmosphere”, “braced for a backlash”).

Compare and contrast these two assessments of Nick Clegg’s demeanour, by the way.

  • In the Indy: ‘One MP said last night: “Nick just does

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg – Judge us on five years, not 100 days

By NewsHound | Wed 18th August 2010 - 8:45 pm

Over at The Observer at the weekend, Nick Clegg anticipated this week’s Coalition anniversary with an article setting out some of the Government’s achievements to date, but stressing that the Lib Dems and our Conservative partners are in it for the long haul:

A coalition can only work if it is upfront about the differences between the two parties and explicit about the partnership it is seeking to create. It requires collective decision-making and a high level of candour as two different parties seek to govern together. … our painstakingly negotiated programme for coalition government all about a five-year plan

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg – My vision for a new political map and voting system

By NewsHound | Tue 17th August 2010 - 7:45 pm

Acting Prime Minister… are we allowed to call him that? No, okay then: Holding the Fort Prime Minister Nick Clegg has an article in today’s London Evening Standard setting out how he thinks the way in which people vote can be improved by the next general election, in 2015.

He looks at three issues. First, Nick notes the current unfairness that unequal constituency sizes mean that the votes of 87,000 voters in the East Ham constituency are worth less than the 66,000 voters living 10 miles away in Islington North: “So, if you live in Islington, your voice counts for more.” …

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Helen Duffett

LibLink… Shirley Williams on the coalition: Not one bed – two beds

By Helen Duffett | Sat 14th August 2010 - 4:50 pm

The Guardian today has an interview with Shirley Williams, who at 80, continues to work full-time and is active in questioning the coalition government’s stance on academies, health and Trident:

If you give up what you most care about you start dying. It doesn’t matter what age.

Debate within the coalition on the key issues is a positive thing, insists Williams:

What we have to do is get as much as one possibly can of what Lib Dems believe into the coalition programme. It’s no good simply saying our role is to say no to everything.

Williams admits her surprise that the Liberal Democrats, of whom she was a founder, formed a coalition with the Conservative Party.

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NewsHound

LibLink: THE shock of election night

By NewsHound | Thu 12th August 2010 - 12:20 pm

The BBC have an interview with Ian Swales, the Redcar MP who turned a 12,000 Labour majority into a 5,000 one for the Lib Dems.

The interview may not be the toughest he’ll face, but it covers the throny issue of a Lib Dem MP in coalition with the Conservatives but representing a traditionally Labour area.

But what about the thousands of traditional Labour voters who defected to him last May?

I didn’t find it too tricky last May to find Swales supporters who felt they hadn’t voted for him to see the Tories in government.

Equally, I found others prepared

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NewsHound

LibLink: Vernon Bogdanor – Change the voting system, change the UK

By NewsHound | Tue 10th August 2010 - 8:15 pm

Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at the University of Oxford, and David Cameron’s tutor at Brasenose College, looks at the alternative vote referendum in an article in today’s Financial Times, and suggests it could have far-reaching consequences. But first he points out the Alice in Wonderland politics of the referendum:

The Lib Dems, who favour true proportional representation, now back a system that can yield even more disproportional outcomes than first-past-the-post. Labour, the only party to propose a referendum on AV in its manifesto, will oppose the bill providing for it. The Conservatives will oppose change, but in muted fashion, since

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NewsHound

LibLink: John Kampfner – Yes, I feel queasy. But I don’t regret backing the Lib Dems

By NewsHound | Mon 2nd August 2010 - 11:45 am

Back in March, former editor of the New Statesman and current Chief Executive of the Index of Censorship John Kampfner publicly came out as a Lib Dem supporter – as reported by Lib Dem Voice here. Fast forward five months, does he have any regrets?

Doubts – yes, citing the Lib Dems’ failure to gain credit for Ken Clarke’s liberalising justice reforms, and the Tories’ zeal for austerity:

… in spite of various opportunities to do so, I have not repudiated my original decision. For sure, a number of attributes and decisions of this coalition government have left me feeling

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NewsHound

LibLink: James Graham – Labour’s accusations of gerrymandering are self-defeating

By NewsHound | Sat 31st July 2010 - 6:20 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment is Free website earlier this week, Lib Dem blogger James Graham dismissed Jack Straw’s overblown accusations that the Coalition is ‘gerrymandering’, and urged the voting reform bill to receive the more serious scrutiny it deserves. Here’s an excerpt:

Every time a Labour politician uses the word “gerrymandering” a puppy dies. … Gerrymandering is the act of deliberately fixing a boundary in order to give a political party an unfair advantage. Yet the proposed changes will not to lead to any more political interference in the boundary review process. …

One of the main effects of the

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Iain Roberts

Happy ID carders nearly all government employees

By Iain Roberts | Thu 29th July 2010 - 2:20 pm

Back in the old days, before we had a government that cared about civil liberties, Labour were busy telling us how wonderful ID cards were. No-one was quite sure what they were useful for (beating terrorism? tackling benefit fraud? getting a drink in the pub? travelling to France without a passport?) but whatever it was, they were really good at it.

Now, thanks to some persistent questioning from No2ID National Co-ordinator Phil Booth, we know that of the nine people who featured in the glossy advertising telling us how ID cards had transformed their lives and possibly cured …

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NewsHound

LibLink: the worst kind of gerrymandering in the world?

By NewsHound | Thu 29th July 2010 - 11:03 am

Writing in the Guardian, Martin Kettle isn’t wholly impressed with Labour’s approach to reform.

It tells you something about today’s Labour party that it is no longer willing to go into the parliamentary lobbies in September to advance the equality of representation for which the Chartists campaigned. Instead it will enter the lobbies with the opposite goals. It aims to block a reform that would equalise parliamentary constituencies. And it seeks to protect an unequal status quo of over-empowered smaller seats of which Labour is the main beneficiary. It will do this, moreover, in the

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NewsHound

LibLink: Phil Willis – We must re-think the role of universities if we want to produce a world-class workforce

By NewsHound | Wed 28th July 2010 - 12:25 pm

Former Lib Dem MP, Phil Willis – or Baron Willis of Knaresborough to give him his full title – has penned a piece for the Yorkshire Post arguing that now is the time for a radical re-think about the role and function of our universities and how they could be re-engineered to provide a world-class workforce to deliver world-class goods and services to a global economy. Until his retirement from the Commons, of course, Phil was chairman of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee.

He has some tough things to say about the Coalition’s emergency budget:

The emergency Budget,

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NewsHound

LibLink: Simon Hughes – Ten weeks that have revitalised politics

By NewsHound | Mon 26th July 2010 - 3:15 pm

(In fact, it’s almost 11 weeks now, as the Voice inadvertently missed the Lib Dem deputy leader’s article when it first appeared …)

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website last week, Simon Hughes launched a vigorous defence of the Coalition Government and its initial achievements … especially the Lib Dem ones. Here’s an excerpt:

In the last 10 weeks we have seen three refreshing changes in the politics of Britain. There has been change from a government which had lost direction and run out of steam, to a government clear about its direction and full of energy. There has been

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NewsHound

LibLink: Paul Burstow – We can democratise health service

By NewsHound | Mon 26th July 2010 - 9:20 am

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website last week, Lib Dem minister of state for health Paul Burstow vigorously defended the Coalition’s health white paper, arguing it frames one overriding principle for the NHS – focusing on what people want, not what politicians prescribe. Here’s an excerpt:

Our consultation, Local democratic legitimacy in health, is a grand title for a simple question: how do we ensure the NHS better serves and accounts to the public for the money it spends and the results it achieves? In other words, how does the government’s localism agenda fit the NHS? …

Last year

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Stephen Tall

Mark Pack on election cost rules: “important that the rules are robust and that the rules are properly enforced”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 25th July 2010 - 6:15 pm

LDV Co-Editor Mark Pack – who has written here and here about the Channel 4 News reports of MPs allegedly stretching their election exenses – has been interviewed by the channel about the complex rules.

You can watch one clip here:

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mark Pack – Why AV reform would still be a big improvement on Westminster

By NewsHound | Wed 14th July 2010 - 7:35 pm

Over at the Liberal Conspiracy website, LDV Co-Editor Mark Pack takes a look at the proposed new electoral system, the alternative vote, and points out some of the welcome behavioural changes it might exert on British political culture. Here’s an excerpt:

What really interests me about AV is the change in political culture it can bring about. … Under preferential voting most candidates hoping to win most of the time have to have an eye on appealing to the second preferences of those who cast a first preference for another party. That imposes a significant burden on the style of politics

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NewsHound

LibLink: Clarke fleshes out liberal line on prison

By NewsHound | Wed 14th July 2010 - 1:20 pm

Commentators on Lib Dem Voice are starting to get used to being in agreement with government ministers – sometimes even the Conservative ones.

Such an event occured yesterday, when Ken Clarke spoke to judges at the annual Mansion House Dinner, making the same argument made here a couple of weeks ago.

Crime has fallen in Britain throughout a period of both rising prison populations and throughout the same period of economic growth, with strong employment levels and rising living standards.

“No-one can prove cause and effect. The crime rate fell but was this the consequence of the policies of my successors

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3 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Julian Astle – How Lib Dems are being defamed

By NewsHound | Tue 13th July 2010 - 6:45 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment is Free website, the director of liberal think-tank Centre Forum, Julian Astle, gives a personal take on what it’s like as a Lib Dem to be taunted as a Tory by Labour’s “deficit deniers”, and parises the Coalition measures he believes should cheer all progressives. Here’s an excerpt:

Deficit denial may have its advantages if you are an opposition politician vying for the leadership of your party. Take that denial into government, however, and the consequences would be catastrophic. … The uncomfortable truth is that, to bring in a lot of money, governments have no

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg & David Cameron – We’ll transform Britain by giving power away

By NewsHound | Mon 12th July 2010 - 11:20 am

The Pirme Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, have jointly authored an article in today’s Telegraph setting out their hopes for the coming Parliament. Dealing with the deficit is vital, they say – but the real mission of the Coalition is to give people control over their lives.

On dealing with the deficit:

… for both of us, sorting out the public finances is a responsibility, not a passion. We didn’t come into politics just to balance the books. We are both ambitious for Britain: we want to change our country for the better. We want to

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NewsHound

LibLink: Edward McMillan-Scott – AV is not the only vote

By NewsHound | Mon 5th July 2010 - 3:45 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment is Free website, former Conservative, now Liberal Democrat, MEP Edward McMillan-Scott argues there should be a third option in the coming referendum on electoral reform – the single transferable vote. Here’s an excerpt:

I understand that the Electoral Reform Society and senior Liberal Democrats have concluded that the alternative vote option presented in the coalition agreement is the best that can be achieved at this stage and that any discussion on the issue will cloud the debate. …

Single party advantage has no part to play in what amounts to a change of constitutional significance. Westminster has

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NewsHound

LibLink: Chris Huhne and Vince Cable – The green economy is still viable

By NewsHound | Mon 5th July 2010 - 9:45 am

Over at The Independent today, Lib Dem cabinet ministers Vince Cable and Chris Huhne argue that the Coalition Government’s plans to set up a Green Investment Bank, announced in the Budget, are of huge significance for establishing a successful green economy in this country. Here’s an excerpt:

… there is much to be decided about how this might work. Bob Wigley’s comprehensive review of the issue, published last week, sets out one possible model – a commercially independent bank given clear overarching goals for green investment in new technologies and infrastructure. Innovative green financial products could give an opportunity for individuals,

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Stephen Tall

LibLink: James Graham – On electoral reform, it’s AV or nothing

By Stephen Tall | Fri 2nd July 2010 - 3:10 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website, Lib Dem blogger James Graham – who works for Unlock Democracy, incorporating Charter 88 – argues that, whatever reservations electoral reformers may have about the non-proprotionality of the alternative vote system, it is quite simply the only show in town. Here’s an excerpt:

We could debate what system is best until the cows come home, but to seriously suggest that there is a viable alternative to AV at this stage is simply politically naive. AV is on the table because of a classic British compromise: it is a Labour policy being

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander on the Budget

By NewsHound | Sun 27th June 2010 - 9:19 am

Writing in The Observer Danny Alexander says,

Labour’s approach of denial and complacency would bring higher interest rates, fewer jobs, less growth, more debt. It exposes us to much greater risks of financial irresponsibility – being forced by others to cut harder, with less care and control. That is the position of some European countries – it must never be Britain’s. There is nothing progressive about the consequences of denial and delay.

The coalition has chosen responsibility. We are restoring order to the nation’s finances, credibility to our position internationally, and confidence in our economy that is essential for growth. Having chosen

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NewsHound

LibLink: Lib Dems back cuts to reinvent the state, not to reduce it – Julian Astle

By NewsHound | Sat 26th June 2010 - 4:20 pm

Julian Astle, a Director of CentreForum, has an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph about the party’s attitude towards the state and cuts:

There aren’t many Liberal Democrats who went into politics to shrink the state. It is true that many Liberals, like Conservatives, are sceptical about the ability of big, centralised bureaucracies even to function efficiently, let alone bring about social and economic change. But this scepticism leads them to policy conclusions quite distinct from those advocated by small-government Tories.

The primary goal for Liberals is not to reduce public spending per se, but to devolve public spending and other decisions to

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NewsHound

LibLink: Vince on the budget

By NewsHound | Wed 23rd June 2010 - 12:20 pm

Vince Cable writes in today’s Guardian with his thoughts on the emergency budget.

It should be no surprise that this is such a tough budget. Last summer, in pamphlets and speeches, Nick Clegg and I both prepared the ground for these difficult choices…

Now, to put it bluntly, Britain is much poorer than we thought we were two years ago but we have public spending levels that assume we are richer…

For me a key test of the budget is whether it is fair as well as tough. The budget is shot through with commitments my party fought for: a £1,000 rise

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