Category Archives: Op-eds

Here is a smattering of the many articles I’ve found informative or infuriating in this week’s Sunday papers.

Firstly, a leader in the Independent argues that Coalition has improved the quality of government by ensuring more than one party’s ideas are heard:

Granted, the old bipartisan system has its advantages – it gives clarity and stability to government – but one thing the experience of coalition has done is to remind us that government is sometimes improved by having to take into account more than one view. We may have to get used to these compromises which are, of course, perfectly normal for many of our European neighbours. The only certainty is that there is no certainty and it’s rather exhilarating.

The Observer looks at Liberal Democrat prospects both at the polls and with tough choices after all the election. Robert Ford’s analysis of seat battles is reasonable on the types of battle we are facing – all of them tough – but deeply flawed on the “lost causes” he identifies. He clearly has no idea what is happening on the ground and is basing his projections on uniform swings. While it will be great to see his face dripping with egg yolk on May 8th, it bothers me that our opponents will be packaging this as “leading academic says” in our seats. It simply is not credible to say that in the likes of Edinburgh West and East Dunbartonshire, where Mike Crockart and Jo Swinson are out-campaigning everybody and have been for years that the seats are lost. He puts nine of our seats in Scotland in that category, which is simply wrong. I don’t know anybody with a working knowledge of Bradford East who expects David Ward to lose and who would bet against Duncan Hames in Chippenham? He also counts Cambridge as a “tight urban battle” despite the Ashcroft poll this week showing a sensational boost for Julian Huppert. If you’re going to tell us that we have a lot of tight fights on our hand, well, you are stating the bleedin’ obvious. But don’t write off clearly winnable options.

Oh, and any list of possible gains that doesn’t include Layla Moran in Oxford West and Abingdon is a very poor show.

Toby Helm et al look at our post coalition decision making and make the startling revelation that it might just be difficult to get the party to sign up to another deal with the Tories. Who knew? Gordon Lishman, Martin Tod and Naomi Smith are all quoted in it.

On Monday, Liberal Democrat candidate for Vauxhall Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett told Buzzfeed about his HIV status which means that he’s the first openly HIV positive candidate to contest an election in the UK. Yesterday, as Buzzfeed reports, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish praised his courage.

After hearing about the story, Elton John and his husband David Furnish contacted BuzzNews News with a heartfelt message of support for Adrian.

“Elton John and David Furnish applaud Adrian Trett for his courage and bravery in publicly acknowledging his HIV+ status,” the statement said. “He is a fine example that HIV+ people live robust, happy and productive lives. We wish him all the best.”

Adrian was really chuffed with this:

He told BuzzFeed News: “I’m completely overwhelmed to have the support of Elton John and David Furnish and particularly appreciate it coming as a result of disclosing my HIV status. Their kindness means a lot to me, not least because Elton and David, along with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, have worked tirelessly on combatting HIV/AIDS – and the stigma surrounding it – for years.”