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Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: Getting ambitious on renewable energy

By William Hobhouse | Thu 4th December 2014 - 11:59 am

The debate on fracking and renewables is warming up. Ed Davey’s LDV article on renewables set the scene, Norman Baker contrasts renewables and fracking, and my article from August – Renewables not Fracking — remains relevant.

There are some Lib Dems who support fracking. In response to that, I set out here a vision for sustainable energy in the UK, a vision that, in the long term, does not include any fossil fuels.

Renewables currently supply about 15% of UK electricity supply. By 2020, Ed Davey’s aspiration is 30%. With a clear political vision, electricity from renewables can grow by 3 – 4% a year and there is no obvious plateau point.

This means 30% electricity from renewables in 2020, 60% electricity from renewables in 2030, 90% in 2040, 120% in 2050, and 150% in 2060.

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Tagged renewable energy | 37 Comments

Lord Ken MacDonald writes… For Liberal Democrats, civil liberties belong to every age

By Lord Ken Macdonald | Thu 4th December 2014 - 10:10 am

The closer we get to the election, the louder the question resonates: what have Liberal Democrats brought to government? In all the compromises and stresses of coalition, has our difference made it all worthwhile?

In the area of civil liberties, so important to us as a party, the answer must be a resounding ‘yes’. Of course not all the coalition battles around freedom have taken place in public, but they have been fiercely fought nonetheless- sustained, difficult struggles against the Tories and parts of the Whitehall machine, to keep our country loyal to its most enduring values in the face of terrorism and risk.

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Tagged civil liberties, counter terrorism bill and ken macdonald | 6 Comments

Lord (Archy) Kirkwood writes… the challenge of financial inclusion

By Lord (Archie) Kirkwood | Wed 3rd December 2014 - 4:34 pm

It is a stark fact that while we are a global leader in financial services, financial exclusion is still rife: some two million adults in the UK don’t have a bank account and an estimated two million people took out a high-cost loan in 2012 as they were unable to access any other form of credit. Nine million have no access to mainstream credit, either because they are unbanked or are not able to access credit facilities through their bank. Meanwhile, the level of unsecured consumer credit has tripled in the past 20 years, reaching a staggering £160.4 billion in 2014 while only 41% of households have savings that could tide them over a period of crisis in their finances.

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Tagged personal debt and universal credit | 7 Comments

Opinion: Council tax reform is better than the Mansion Tax

By Stephen Phillips | Wed 3rd December 2014 - 1:54 pm

The November 2014 AdLib makes interesting reading. Amongst other issues, it set me thinking about the Mansion Tax. It is axiomatic of any decent society that those most able to pay should contribute the greatest amount towards the cost of maintaining it; especially in respect of social costs.

This seems to be an unpopular concept with many on the right of politics, who would presumably see themselves as paying more; while those on the left may be tempted to adopt it as an unthinking mantra, without considering the practical implications. Nevertheless, we must find fair ways of making the better off pay their fair share.

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Tagged council tax and mansion tax | 17 Comments

Opinion: Stop state sponsorship of sweat shops

By David Allen | Wed 3rd December 2014 - 11:54 am

BBC News reports:

Outlining proposed restrictions on tax credits and child benefits, Mr Cameron said a migrant in work with two children was getting £700 a month on average in support from the state, twice the amount paid in Germany and three times as much as in France.

Let’s forget about migrants for a moment. Britain’s “generous” in-work benefits are payable to all. Should we be proud of our “generosity”?

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Tagged david cameron and employment | 28 Comments

Nick Clegg announces £150 million to help young people with eating disorders

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 2nd December 2014 - 9:32 pm

Yesterday, Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb visited a youth centre in Brent where they announced £150 million was being invested in services to help young people with eating disorders. From the BBC:

Mr Clegg will say he wants to see services transformed, with the focus shifted from expensive institutional care to targeted community-based provision.

Eating disorders cost the NHS around £200m a year, and the bill for in-patient care averages out at £98,750 per admission.

From 2012 to 2013, there were 2,560 hospital admissions for eating disorders in England – a rise of 8% on the previous year.

One in five of those taken into hospital with an eating disorder was admitted and discharged on the same day.

But one in 17 stayed in hospital for longer than six months.

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Tagged eating disorders, mental health, nick clegg, norman lamb and young people | 4 Comments

Opinion: Liberal Democrats must prioritise skills development

By Cara Jenkinson | Tue 2nd December 2014 - 3:38 pm

One of the depressing facts that came out from last week’s Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on poverty is that only 1 in 5 of low paid employees have left low paid work completely ten years later. Also in the news recently were reports of severe staffing shortages of skilled staff in several sectors including construction and health/social care, leading to major recruitment drives overseas. There is a real problem with skills development in the UK.

There are several reasons for this. Since the recession companies have cut back on investment, and that includes training. The increase in outsourcing in our public services has had an impact; some private providers have good long term training programmes, whereas others take a much more short term approach, particularly if they are fighting to win government contracts on cost. Another cause is the rise in self-employment – 15% of the UK working population is now self-employed compared to 13% in 2008. Many of these self-employed are rehired to their original organisations but without many of the benefits including a training budget.

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Tagged employment, low pay, skills development and trade unions | 19 Comments

Stephen Knight AM writes…Putting the car first in urban areas comes with a huge cost to human life and health

By Stephen Knight | Tue 2nd December 2014 - 10:59 am

Lying on a cold and damp pavement in central London as part of a ‘“die in”protest to highlight the level of deaths facing pedestrians and cyclists might not be everyone’s idea of a fun Saturday afternoon, but a couple of weekends ago that is exactly what I was doing.

The reason why?

Because the current level of road deaths – let alone serious injuries – is something we can’t continue to accept as being “inevitable”.

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Tagged cycling, featured and london | 14 Comments

Nick Clegg on the “utter nonsense” of Tory spending plans

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 2nd December 2014 - 9:29 am

In another strong demonstration of the differences between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, Nick Clegg went on the Today programme yesterday to talk about deficit reduction and fiscal policy in the next parliament. While the Tories want to reduce the deficit by cutting spending alone, Liberal Democrats want to raise taxes on the wealthy.

From the Guardian:

Nick Clegg insisted taxes would have to rise in the next parliament. Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “What the Conservatives are saying is a complete and utter nonsense. There is not a single developed economy anywhere in the world that has balanced the books and only done so on the backs of the working-age poor, which Osborne has now confirmed several times he wants to do.”

As he set out his party’s plans to remove tax breaks for wealthy pensioners, Clegg also accepted that the public finances were not improving as fast as planned due to tax receipts failing to match forecasts, but he refused to say if this would require the coalition to put back its deficit plans.

He said: “If tax receipts are not as buoyant as predicted then of course that has an effect. Time will tell if that is a semi-permanent effect or a temporary blip, but it means it comes down a little less than predicted.”

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Tagged deficit reduction, economy, nick clegg and taxation | 39 Comments

The graph which shows why the Lib Dem policy of raising the personal allowance is the wrong priority

By Stephen Tall | Tue 2nd December 2014 - 7:55 am

Here’s a graph which should make Lib Dems who continue to advocate increasing the personal allowance as an effective way to help low- and middle-income earners sit up and pay attention.

It’s from the Resolution Foundation’s report, Missing the target: tax cuts and low to middle income Britain, published yesterday.

What it shows is which households gain from the party’s policy to increase the threshold at which income tax is payable to £12,500 over the course of the next parliament. As you can see, those households which benefit most are at the wealthier end of the spectrum; the poorest 20% benefit least.

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Tagged Danny Alexander, income tax, national insurance, resolution foundation and tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 46 Comments

Sir Malcolm Bruce writes…Creating liberal policies to change the political agenda

By Malcolm Bruce | Mon 1st December 2014 - 7:30 pm

I was delighted on Tuesday to be elected as chair of the Federal Policy Committee, for the period up until the general election when I will stand down after 32 years as an MP. With the election now only a few months away it will be a busy and exciting time for the committee as we look to finalise the manifesto and the offer we will take to voters on May the 7^th. I’m confident the new committee is up to the challenge and I cannot think of a more talented or committed group of people to work with over the coming months.

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Tagged federal policy committee | 10 Comments

Liberal Democrats of the Month

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 1st December 2014 - 2:55 pm

On Saturday afternoon when every Liberal Democrat on Twitter was pretending not to care whilst refreshing @LibDemPress every 3 seconds to see if we had a result in the Presidential Election, I whiled away the time by asking who they would nominate to be their Liberal Democrats of the Month. It was, frankly, a more constructive use of time than yet another turf war between @LDFriendsofCake and @LibDemBiscuits.

Here is what they came up with:

Josh Dixon nominated Kavya Kaushik for making it on to the Federal Executive. She resolutely refused to reciprocate, but I think they are both fabulous so I will nominate Josh. Having two such talented young people with such great ideas for reforming our party at its heart is a Very Good Thing.

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3 Comments

Opinion: Towards an ethical trade policy

By Trevor Stables | Mon 1st December 2014 - 12:02 pm

As a Liberal Democrat for almost all of my adult life, I am often bemused that other citizens are yet to share my enthusiasm for our long held belief in a dynamic European Union.

The prevailing phenomena of Euroscepticism is not purely a UK problem. We only have to look at France and to a lesser extent Germany to see similar. Why?

In my view the failure is in not articulating the needs of and connecting with European citizens. People have felt marginalised by the closure of traditional industries and a sense of lack of power to change or alter what is happening to them in this brave new world. Far Right Parties have been quick to make the most of this.

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Tagged eu and trade | 22 Comments

The Independent View: Why Liberal Democrat MPs should reject Government’s power-grabbing judicial review proposals

By Sara Ogilvie | Mon 1st December 2014 - 10:25 am

Undemocratic, unnecessary and unfair, over the past eleven months the Government’s crude attempts to curtail judicial review have been the subject of intense parliamentary debate. And yet today, as MPs are once again called to vote on the proposals, the government is attempting to pull off an unusual parliamentary feat: disregarding fierce cross-party criticism to make its proposals worse, rather than better.

Judicial review is the legal mechanism by which individuals and organisations can ask a court to check whether a public authority has acted lawfully. The powers of the court in a judicial review are limited, but in a modern democracy, where great power is concentrated in the hands of the executive, it is one of the great and vital levelers.

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Also posted in The Independent View | 16 Comments

The Independent View: Liberal Democrat MPs should vote against secure colleges which would put younger children and girls at risk

By Penelope Gibbs | Mon 1st December 2014 - 8:55 am

“It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails” said Nelson Mandela. Well, what would it reveal about the state of our nation if we were to hold our youngest children and some of the country’s most vulnerable girls in unsafe conditions where they felt fearful, intimidated and isolated?

On Monday, Liberal Democrat MPs will cast the deciding votes on whether this becomes a reality.

The Commons will consider an amendment made by the House of Lords to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill on “secure colleges” – the new form of child custody introduced by the Bill. These will be very large institutions (there’ll be 320 beds in the first one) which Chris Grayling, the Tory Justice Secretary, is adamant must hold girls and boys between 12 and 17 years of age.

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged justice and youth justice | 5 Comments

A longer read for the weekend… David Laws on ‘Education: Lessons from this parliament and directions for the next’

By The Voice | Sat 29th November 2014 - 10:00 am

David Laws, Lib Dem minister for schools, delivered a keynote speech at CentreForum this week, ‘Education: Lessons from this parliament and directions for the next’.

As the title suggests, it was a reflection on the Coalition’s policies, and in particular the Lib Dems’ achievements. But also a look forward to what he sees as the major educational issues and what Lib Dems should be seeking to do in the next parliament.

You can read the full text over at CentreForum’s site here. But here’s an excerpt in which David looks to the challenges of the five years to come…

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Tagged centreforum, david laws, education and schools | 27 Comments

Lord (Dick) Taverne writes… Cameron heads for Brexit

By Dick Taverne | Fri 28th November 2014 - 4:20 pm

If Mr Cameron becomes Prime Minister again after May, he is likely to be the Prime Minister who will lead the UK out of the European Union.

From time to time Mr Cameron has expressed enthusiasm for Britain being at the heart of the EU. In his Bloomberg speech in January last year, he declared:

“I believe something very deeply, that Britain’s national interest is best served in a flexible, adaptable and open European Union and that such a Union is best with Britain in it….There is no doubt that we are more powerful in Washington, in Beijing, in Delhi because we are a powerful player in the European Union. That matters for British jobs and British security.”

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Tagged brexit, david cameron, european union, featured and immigration | 20 Comments

Opinion: US analysis of how to beat “far right” UKIP – be consistent

By Antony Hook | Fri 28th November 2014 - 10:22 am

Washington DC based think tank, The Marshall Fund, which promotes understanding between North America and Europe, has produced a new research paper: “The Unstoppable Far Right?” that looks at UKIP in Britain and similar parties in Germany (Afd) and the Netherlands (PVV).

The paper compares “euro-sceptical right-populist” parties in these countries and concludes that what mainstream political parties say and do has a big impact on whether people vote for these parties. The “rise” of these parties is by no means inevitable: the PVV went significantly backwards at the 2014 European elections.

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Tagged ukip and vvd | 16 Comments

Vow Max? Has the Smith Commission delivered for Scotland? And what next for Yorkshire and the north?

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 27th November 2014 - 4:10 pm

In the febrile pre-referendum atmosphere, the Daily Record put together a “Vow” signed by all 3 UK party leaders to deliver “extensive” powers for Scotland in the event of a No vote. There would always have been further devolution. This “Vow” just put the inevitable on a more detailed timetable.

A Commission under Lord Smith of Kelvin was put together to deliver on that timetable and has done a power of work in just over two months. They have consulted widely, taking submissions from the five main political parties and many civic organisations and individuals. I managed to get my own submission in at 2 minutes to the deadline.

In the august surroundings of the National Museum of Scotland, Smith and the 10 members of the Commission unveiled the consensus they had reached. I have to say that I have been a little sceptical about this process. I knew that in the interests of self preservation it would have to deliver something credible or we’d be back facing another referendum before we could blink.

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Tagged constitutional reform, devolution, Michael Moore and smith commission | 17 Comments

Opinion: Media misunderstanding on Lib Dem immigration policy

By Suzanne Fletcher | Thu 27th November 2014 - 9:43 am

When will the BBC begin to do its job properly, and understand what it is talking about? I woke up yesterday to a news bulletin telling me that Nick Clegg was considering raising the time limit for someone from an EU country to claim benefits. It was suggested that it would be 6 months. It then ended by saying that the Liberal Democrats were now joining other parties in concern about EU migration.

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Tagged immigration | 17 Comments

Simon Hughes writes… Counter-terrorism bill – the Liberal Democrats are on the right track

By Simon Hughes MP | Wed 26th November 2014 - 4:20 pm

The rise of the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is one of the most serious and dangerous issues we have had to face since we came into Government. Whatever we call this organisation – IS, ISIL or Da’ish – we can’t ignore their brutal activity. The graphic and disturbing images of violence coming from Syria and Iraq show the barbaric way this extremist group has perverted the Muslim faith.

We also need to face up to the reality that this group has publicly announced its desire to bring its murderous ideology to the streets of Britain. The murder of Drummer Lee Rigby is a stark example of the potential threat from extremist ideologues. It is estimated that around 500 British citizens have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for ISIL and other military groups. Around half have returned and others will continue to do so. This presents a new and unique challenge to the UK security services and police, and earlier this year the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, run by MI5, raised the threat level from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe’. This means that an attack in the UK by violent extremists is highly likely.

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Tagged counter-terrorism and simon hughes | 23 Comments

Gulags in the UK? – “no” says Simon Hughes

By Paul Walter | Wed 26th November 2014 - 12:45 pm

#56684896 / gettyimages.com

On Monday, Theresa May introduced some new counter-terrorism measures to Parliament.

Let’s take two specifics which were mentioned:

Requiring ISPs to retain and disclose user IP address details

May announced:

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Tagged anti-terrorist legislation and theresa may | 5 Comments

Open season on Facebook is unfair

By Paul Walter | Wed 26th November 2014 - 9:54 am

Does Sir Malcolm Rifkind actually understand the internet? As chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee he has pointed the finger at an un-named internet giant, later revealed to be Facebook, for failing to report a threat by Lee Rigby’s killers.

There seems to be an assumption, in the coverage of this, that Facebook actually knew about the threat.

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Tagged facebook and intelligence and security committee | 20 Comments

It’s International Day for the elimination of violence against women. Lynne Featherstone highlights need for men and boys to act. What do Liberal Democrat MPs do?

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 25th November 2014 - 7:15 pm

Today marks the start of 16 days of action, from today’s International Day for the elimination of violence against women to Human Rights Day on 10th December, when events all over the world will raise awareness and take action to stop violence against women.

Jo Swinson and Lynne Featherstone have been speaking to students at an NUS event aimed at Kings College London about the importance of changing the culture and the role that men and boys need to play in that.

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Tagged catherine bearder, international day for the elimination of violence against women, nick clegg and tim farron | 14 Comments

Liberal Democrat members and ministers talk mental health for Channel 4’s political slot

By The Voice | Tue 25th November 2014 - 5:45 pm

Last week, the Liberal Democrats used their Political Slot with Channel 4 to talk about mental health. Norman Lamb said that it was “morally wrong and economically stupid” to deny people with mental ill health speedy treatment and talked about Liberal Democrat plans to introduce waiting time targets over the next five years.

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Tagged andrew page, linda jack, mental health and norman lamb | Leave a comment

Opinion: ALDE Party Council: Bouncing Czechs, “which Slovenes are the liberals?”*, and a prospective rise in the price of cod…

By Mark Valladares | Tue 25th November 2014 - 10:44 am

Whilst you might not have guessed it from those manifestos you read from candidates for places on the Party’s ALDE Council delegation, the policy debates were still in our future when Council made an early start on Friday morning.Our task was a straightforward one, debate changes to the constitution, including a revision of the membership structure, authorise the creation of a business club, consider six membership applications, receive and approve the 2015 budget and debate the report of the Bureau… in two hours (English Council, please note).

The constitutional changes were adopted, although there were concerns over the apparent absence of a code of conduct for fundraising. Luckily, a helpful British member of the Financial Advisory Committee was on hand to both reassure and clarify the position – there is one, it was available for circulation, and it could be applied to the proposed business club, a means for corporate sponsors to fund events without directly funding a political party’s campaigning activities.

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged ALDE | 9 Comments

Julian Huppert MP writes… Recalling MPs – how to let the public recall MPs who have committed misconduct

By Julian Huppert | Mon 24th November 2014 - 10:58 am

Today, the Recall of MPs Bill comes back to the House of Commons for further consideration. During its Committee Stage, David Heath and I proposed improvements, which would ensure that constituents could access the recall process without the involvement of any parliamentary committee (link to previous article).

Greg Clark, the Government Minister responding to our proposals, told MPs that it was an “important suggestion much to commend it” and that he would “reflect carefully on the amendment.” This is usually parliamentary parlance for “I like this idea and will bring it back in my own name at the next stage”.

However, …

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Tagged constitutional reform and recall of mps | 14 Comments

Tim Farron MP writes…Green Climate Fund shows this government is leading the world

By Tim Farron MP | Thu 20th November 2014 - 7:52 pm

We often forget to say thank you, because we’re straight on to the next thing. But today, I want to say thank you to everyone – from our members, activists, staff, councillors, MPs and Peers to Ed Davey for the success we’ve seen as a party on the Green Climate Fund. Even if climate change doesn’t get your heart racing, if you want evidence that the Lib Dems in the Coalition are alive and kicking – look no further. Cameron’s “green crap” attitude hasn’t stopped us leading the world on climate change. We’ve got a lot more to do – but this is good news that should give us confidence.

Set up five years ago at the Copenhagen climate conference, the Green Climate Fund is designed – over time – to replace the spaghetti system of existing funds, and become the main channel for finance to help developing countries reduce emissions and protect themselves from dangerous climate change. It was one of the outcomes which saved the Copenhagen climate conference from complete failure.

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Tagged climate change and environment | 15 Comments

Opinion: Sticking up for the entrepreneurs of the future

By Alain Desmier | Thu 20th November 2014 - 2:35 pm

I spoke at a Global Entrepreneurship Week event at the University of Exeter last night, and I was asked to define the qualities of an entrepreneur.

It was an event for more than a hundred or so eager undergraduates who have already decided that the corporate world is not the life for them, and who were trying to gather as much information as they possibly could, to help them start their own entrepreneurial journeys, post-graduation.

University entrepreneurship isn’t limited to Exeter, universities all over the country have growing entrepreneurship societies and NACUE (National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs) have done fantastic work promoting them.

Whilst entrepreneurship societies thrive on campus, Lib Dem University societies struggle having taking much of the frontline flack for the tuition fee compromise. In a previous post for LDV, I drew comparisons between the values of an entrepreneur and Lib Dem members. I think we’ve got even more to say to entrepreneurial students who are making their own way in life.

But how do we say it?

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Tagged entrepreneurs | 69 Comments

Opinion: TTIP and the inversion of the Free Trade debate

By John Dixon | Thu 20th November 2014 - 1:23 pm

The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership provides an interesting case study as to how the very meaning of ‘Free Trade’ is changing. The treaty itself is on the rocks with increasing opposition from France and Germany alongside a powerful combination of unions and anti-globalisation advocacy groups. Nothing about that is particularly unusual but a crucial difference is the arguments these groups are making. For the first time they are talking about consumers.

Traditionally trade deals meant hitting producers to help consumers with the abolition of tariffs, subsidies and protectionist legislation. Although there is an element of this in the TTIP the majority of it is actually about the harmonization of consumer standards and it is this which flips the traditional free trade debate so firmly on its head.

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Tagged free trade and ttip | 49 Comments

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