Category Archives: Op-eds

David Allen

Opinion: The Rawnsley Challenge

By David Allen | Tue 15th July 2014 - 9:57 am

White Rabbit Super Yacht visits MelbourneAndrew Rawnsley, in the Observer, describes the rumoured Westminster paedophile scandal and asks the question: “Whom do you trust? Comes an answer that is as popular as it is succinct: trust no one.”

Rawnsley wearily summarises why we have lost trust in bankers, doctors, intelligence services, police, bishops, supermarkets, media and celebrities – and above all, politicians of all sides, from Blair onwards.  Then he gets more original.  He identifies judge-led enquiry as a means of establishing who we can trust – and then shows how that option was kyboshed.  When Hutton exonerated Blair (and when Blair recommended the Hutton process to his friend Rebekah Brooks), judge-led enquiry was discredited. Government, as often, has been slow to recognise the problem – as evidenced by the recent proposal that the sister of a previous Attorney-General should lead a historic child abuse enquiry.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 21 Comments
Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker MP writes…Why the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill is compatible with human rights

By Norman Baker MP | Mon 14th July 2014 - 5:15 pm

Data CenterAs a party we care deeply about human rights. Left to their own devices, the Conservatives would have pulled us out of the European Convention. Thanks to the Liberal Democrats, we have stopped that from happening.

So I am concerned by some suggestions that the emergency legislation we published on Thursday isn’t compliant with the ECHR. This is simply not true.

As many of you will know, in April this year the European Court of Justice overturned the EU Data Retention Directive. They did so on the basis that this …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 38 Comments
Marisha Ray

Opinion: Just remember we’re all human

By Marisha Ray | Mon 14th July 2014 - 2:30 pm

antony Gormley statue by kungfugenWhen young adults, who may even at the time have been members of prestigious universities and their more infamous clubs, became intoxicated and indulged in aggressive or loud and disturbing speech, violent actions or were simply careless and destructive, did we automatically assume that when they matured they would behave that way for the rest of their lives? We did not. Indeed some may still be thought fit to take part in the running of our country.

When young adults or older youths indulge in isolated incidents of unwise pyromania, do we say that they will be pyromaniacs for life? We do not, and in general they are not.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 11 Comments
Mark Pack

Opinion: DRIP under the microscope – should Liberal Democrats support this Bill?

By Mark Pack | Mon 14th July 2014 - 12:59 pm

Samsung Galaxy Note 3Unusually for me, I’m starting writing this piece without knowing what conclusion I’ll come to by the end of it. Normally it’s straight forward enough to marshal evidence, decide on view and then write it up (unless the curse of writers’ block strikes of course).

But the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill (DRIP) takes the usual perils of journalism turning most stories into a simple good versus bad dynamic, throws in the paucity of expert mainstream coverage of many technical issues and adds a dash of juggling different uncertainties.

Certainly if …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 29 Comments
Brian Paddick

Lord Brian Paddick writes: The difficult balancing act between privacy and security

By Brian Paddick | Mon 14th July 2014 - 10:45 am

Data storm byt Dave HerholzAs a Liberal former police officer I am acutely aware of the difficult balancing act the government has to perform between keeping us safe and keeping our personal data safe. At the same time I see both the anxiety that those concerned with civil liberties have over the new legislation and the Government’s need to act to prevent a valuable crime detection tool slipping from our grasp.

So why the need and why the rush?

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 37 Comments
Vince Cable

Vince Cable writes…Strengthening confidence in the UK’s takeover laws

By Vince Cable | Sun 13th July 2014 - 12:43 pm

London Stock Exchange photo by Jam_90sThe attempted but abortive Pfizer takeover bid for AstraZeneca has triggered a timely political debate in the UK about whether the safeguards in mergers and takeover legislation are adequate – especially when significant research and development assets are at stake.  It is now clear to me that some changes should be made.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Cool politicians poll showcases the paucity of political debate

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 13th July 2014 - 10:15 am

I thought we’d scraped the bottom of the barrel when these photos of poor Ed Miliband eating a bacon sandwich led to him being mocked in virtually every publication in the UK. But it gets worse. The other day I sighed when I saw the headline “Ed Miliband is less cool than Sir Menzies Campbell”. Apparently YouGov has been spending time and money asking people how cool a group of current and former party leaders are.

Unsurprisingly, nobody makes it out of the negatives:

You Gov Cool poll

 

It’s certainly true than …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

A longer read for the weekend… Edward Lucas on the threat posed to peace by Russia and what the West should do about it

By Stephen Tall | Sun 13th July 2014 - 8:45 am

edward lucasEdward Lucas worked for Paddy Ashdown, has helped at by-elections, and was active in the National League of Young Liberals (NLYL) and the Union of Liberal Students (ULS). He’s better known, though, for being a senior editor at The Economist and an expert on energy, cyber-security, espionage, Russian foreign and security policy and the politics and economics of Eastern Europe. In 2008 he wrote The New Cold War, a prescient account of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In 2011 he wrote Deception, an investigative account of east-west espionage. And earlier …

Continue reading »
Also posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , , and | 64 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Lessons must be learned from the Jo Swinson speculation

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 12th July 2014 - 2:20 pm

jo swinson by paul walterOn Thursday, George Eaton of the New Statesman blogged that Jo Swinson was about to replace Ed Davey in the forthcoming Cabinet reshuffle.

Today, the Guardian’s Nick Watt says that this is not the case and Jo is expected to become Secretary of State for Scotland in September after the independence referendum.

Nick Clegg, acutely conscious that the five Liberal Democrat cabinet ministers are all men, is expected to promote the business minister Jo Swinson to the cabinet. But she is expected to succeed Alistair Carmichael as Scotland secretary after September’s independence referendum in September if, as expected, the pro-Union side prevails. Carmichael would be praised for his role in the victory as Swinson took charge on introducing greater devolution to the Scottish parliament.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , , , , and | 36 Comments
Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Norman Baker: Security and freedom in the internet age

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 12th July 2014 - 9:58 am

Samsung Galaxy Note 3Norman Baker wrote an article for the party website which I thought you might find useful because it deals with some of the points raised in the questions to my mammoth post yesterday.  I must warn you, though, that there are some examples of apostrophe abuse in it, so steel yourselves.

Many, if not most, people are concerned about the rush to get this legislation through in just two days. Norman gives his explanation of why he thinks it’s necessary:

No government introduces fast track legislation lightly, but the challenge

…

Continue reading »
Also posted in LibLink | Tagged , , and | 9 Comments
Sarah Ludford

Baroness Sarah Ludford writes…How not to use Brussels for policy laundering

By Sarah Ludford | Fri 11th July 2014 - 7:20 pm

Racks line photo by Tristan SchmurrThe new Data Retention and Investigatory Powers (DRIP) Bill responds to the European Court of Justice annulment of the 2006 EU Data Retention Directive.

The government asserts that the DRIP Bill only confirms existing law as it is broadly the same content as the 2009 regulations implementing the EU Directive. But as that Directive has been swept away, DRIP provides a new legal basis, and this will in fact be the first time that legislation to regulate retention of phone, email and internet records has been generated …

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 7 Comments
Iain Sharpe

Opinion: State security measures can protect liberty not just threaten it

By Iain Sharpe | Fri 11th July 2014 - 3:08 pm

Benjamin Franklin, Old Town Hall, Boston (493550)It is an unwritten law of Lib Dem debates on security issues that before long someone will quote Benjamin Franklin that ‘Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.’

I have always been intrigued by the origins of this comment, primarily because taken on its own and literally, it is hyperbolic nonsense. Almost any form of government involves some tension between liberty and security. The state provides defence and police forces, but to do so levies taxes and circumscribes individuals’ freedom to use force to defend themselves.

There seems to be very little on the web about what Franklin actually meant. But an academic paper by Benjamin Wittes of Brookings Institute unsurprisingly reveals that Franklin’s aphorism was intended in a very different sense from that in which it is now so often quoted.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 7 Comments
Joe Otten

Cable backs right to strike and opposes strikes

By Joe Otten | Fri 11th July 2014 - 11:57 am

Vince Cable speaking to mediaQuoted in the Independent

We believe that getting round the negotiating table is better than striking.

We do not believe unions should be striking and causing mass disruption when everyone has been affected by similar pay conditions.

This reflects the fact that a better deal for one group of public sector workers would be paid for out of taxes on other workers, that the strikes if successful would not win a better deal for working people in general, rather for some at the expense of others. There is …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 78 Comments
James Baker

Opinion: We should be ashamed of these emergency surveillance powers

By James Baker | Fri 11th July 2014 - 8:43 am

Fingers typing at keyboardIn April the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK’s regime of mass data retention was incompatible with the treaty on fundamental rights, particularly with article 8 that stipulates the right to private and family life, right to protection of personal data and the right to freedom of expression. This was a major victory for many Liberals, civil liberties advocates and privacy campaigners who have fought against the widespread blanket retention of innocent and law-abiding citizen’s data.

The ruling set out 10 principles that new legislation should adhere …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 56 Comments
Stephen Tall

The security bill: why I think dirty hands are better than empty hands

By Stephen Tall | Thu 10th July 2014 - 9:16 pm

Hands on ! Photo by craig Sunter Cjs*64Today saw the surprise springing of emergency new surveillance legislation, announced by David Cameron and Nick Clegg and agreed with Ed Miliband. The Lib Dems have been quick to assert this isn’t the Snoopers’ Charter Revisited – torpedoed by Clegg after a Lib Dem grassroots’ revolt in April 2012 – but any attempt by the government to legislate in these areas gets liberal hackles up.

I’ve not had chance to read and absorb the details yet, though I’m reassured by the clear …

Continue reading »
Also posted in News | 20 Comments
Alex Smethurst

Opinion: Liberal Democrats should take a stand on state surveillance powers

By Alex Smethurst | Thu 10th July 2014 - 2:00 pm

ServerThe Coalition Government has announced it is rushing through emergency legislation underpinning the state’s right to keep personal data held by internet and phone companies. This is in reaction to the ruling by the European Court of Justice that at an EU directive on privacy retention had over-reached its powers and amounted to an invasion of privacy.

If the European Court of Justice says existing state surveillance powers are unlawful then we should not re-introduce them with no questions asked. Let’s have the debate as to whether the state should have these powers …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 30 Comments
The Voice

Julian Huppert: This is not Snoopers’ Charter. It’s what we had already plus additional safeguards

By The Voice | Thu 10th July 2014 - 10:56 am

Data CenterWe’ve been asked to reproduce Julian Huppert’s email with the details of the new legislation in a separate post so that people don’t have to go through the mammoth post to find it, so here it is. Now, because people are clearly wanting the debate to stay in one place, we’ve closed off comments. If you have a point to make, please do it on this post here.  We’re not doing it to be evil and awkward but because people have criticised us for having too many threads going …

Continue reading »
Tagged | Comments Off on Julian Huppert: This is not Snoopers’ Charter. It’s what we had already plus additional safeguards
Sal Brinton

Sal Brinton to stand for party President

By Sal Brinton | Wed 9th July 2014 - 3:45 pm

Liberal Democrat badge - Some rights reserved by Paul Walter, Newbury, UKThe Liberal Democrats have had a really tough four years since the formation of the coalition. Even though we suspected it would be tough, being in Government has taken its toll. Too many councillors who have worked hard, campaigned hard, and faithfully served their communities well, have lost their seats. They embody Liberal Democrat principles in action all over the country, so we must rebuild our local government base as a priority.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 13 Comments
Joan Walmsley

Baroness Joan Walmsley writes…The NSPCC does not go far enough

By Joan Walmsley | Wed 9th July 2014 - 1:15 pm

Children Walking on TrailThis morning the BBC had an exclusive story from the NSPCC. They have at long last shifted their position on making it a crime to cover up child abuse and have come out with a very half-hearted and confusing policy. I call it “safeguarding light.” Instead of making it the duty of everybody with the care of children in a regulated institution (like a school) to report to the Local Authority any child abuse or serious suspicion of child abuse, as I am advocating, they are saying that …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 4 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Benefits sanctions: what should happen when guidelines and reality are at odds with each other?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 9th July 2014 - 10:25 am

Benefits-welfareBack in April, I wrote about how the overuse of benefits sanctions appeared to be at odds with the Department of Work and Pensions guidance which was actually quite reasonable and gave decision makers some flexibility to take things like poor mental health into consideration.

Both the use and the penalty for even a minor infringement of the rules have been dramatically increased in the last couple of years. It’s worth noting that the minimum period of benefit loss is now 4 weeks. Given that the maximum help you can get from a food bank is 3 days’ food, 3 times a year, you can just imagine how much incredible hardship this can cause. You would think that a decision maker would take very seriously the consequences  of imposing a sanction and only do it when the circumstances were clear cut.

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 27 Comments
Paul Burstow

Paul Burstow MP writes… Making the pursuit of happiness as important as GDP

By Paul Burstow | Tue 8th July 2014 - 7:44 pm

cf reportOver the past 12 months I have been working with mental health experts and the think-tank CentreForum, grappling with the challenge of how we can improve mental health care.

Today sees the publication of our final report, The pursuit of happiness: a new ambition for our mental health. It reflects the expertise of many, makes a number of recommendations to transform not just health services, but the mental health of the nation, and it has one overarching call – that the pursuit of happiness should be a priority …

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 13 Comments
Barry Holliday

Opinion: An end to OFSTED

By Barry Holliday | Tue 8th July 2014 - 12:41 pm

old schoolThe dissolution of OFSTED is a policy we as Liberal Democrats need to support and implement to ensure our young students are being offered the best education possible.

I am not saying that schools shouldn’t be inspected and checked.The public needs to have confidence in the school system. Parents have the right to be informed about teachers abilities and performance. Most of all we must be able to ensure that teaching meets the needs of our children.

OFSTED for too long has been nothing but a political football. School inspections should be …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 39 Comments

Alice vs The System: Lessons from a lifetime of “help” from public services #1

By Anonymous Liberal Democrat | Mon 7th July 2014 - 2:30 pm

Alice in Wonderland Central lark, New York. License Some rights reserved by -JvL-

Down the Rabbit Hole

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Continue reading »
Tagged , , and | 8 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Inequality “narrows” due to Liberal Democrat policies

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 7th July 2014 - 9:45 am

imageAn interesting report (£)  in the Sunday Times yesterday tells how official figures show that the gap between the richest and poorest is narrowing.

While most people have suffered a squeeze on incomes since Britain was plunged into recession six years ago — and only now is the economy getting back to pre-crisis levels — those on lower incomes have done relatively better than those at the top. Households Below Average Income, an official report published last week, showed income inequality, measured after taking into account housing costs, had fallen to

…

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 15 Comments

Launching ASD Liberal Democrats

By Matthew Casey | Mon 7th July 2014 - 8:55 am

Autism Awareness Ribbon, Colorful Puzzle Pieces, Free Creative Commons Public Domain DownloadFollowing on from my article a couple of weeks ago, Autism – Challenges on entering the workplace,  I have had several members contact me regarding  difficulties that they faced within the party and expressing a desire that there should be a support network for themselves and for Local Parties and Council groups, in order for people to remain as effective local Councillors.

As a result I am pleased to announce that ASD Lib Dems has been created to help serve the Autistic community both within the party and to the wider ASD Community.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

Why 40% is the magic number in the Scottish referendum

By Stephen Tall | Sun 6th July 2014 - 10:00 am

Brazil v Scotland 22For some reason, 40% is a figure which has long exerted political significance.

That devolution for Scotland wasn’t introduced in 1979 wasn’t because a majority of those who voted didn’t want it: by 52% to 48% the Scottish voted in favour of establishing a Scottish parliament. However, a Labour MP, George Cunningham, introduced an amendment to the Scotland Act (1978) specifying a minimum turnout threshold of 40% of the electorate. The actual turnout of 33% meant Scottish devolution had to wait a further two decades.

I was reminded of …

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 41 Comments
Jenny Willott

Jenny Willott MP writes… Historic milestone for women on company boards

By Jenny Willott | Sun 6th July 2014 - 8:15 am

Canary Wharf photo by Jim NixOn Thursday, 26th June, 2014, I was delighted to hear the news that the mining and commodities trader Glencore Xstrata had appointed Patrice Merrin, a Canadian former mining executive, as an independent non-executive director.

This decision means there are no longer any all-male boards amongst the UK’s top companies. In 2011, 21 of the FTSE100 companies had no women on their boards, and now there are none. This is an important step forward and one which Liberal Democrats can be proud of helping to make happen. …

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 35 Comments
Dick Newby

Lord Dick Newby writes…Action on employee ownership shows Liberal Democrat values in action

By Dick Newby | Sat 5th July 2014 - 10:30 am

Westfield Stratford City - John LewisI’ve just returned from the second of two events marking Employee Ownership Day. Employee ownership is one of those worthy but rather dull sounding policy ideas which has been in our Manifestos from time immemorial, but like motherhood and apple pie, has a comforting rather than inspiring air.

What this Government has done about employee ownership however, deserves rather more attention. In 2012 Norman Lamb appointed Graeme Nuttall,

Continue reading »
Tagged | 15 Comments
Cara Jenkinson

Opinion: Making property tax fairer

By Cara Jenkinson | Fri 4th July 2014 - 4:06 pm

Mansion Only - Some rights reserved by Gerg1967One of the issues that we heard frequently on the doorstep in Haringey in the run-up to the Council elections was fear over the mansion tax. Many of our wards are in nice leafy areas, where the ridiculous rises in house prices over the last year have left some relatively modest family homes pushing up to the £2m barrier. A retired builder who had bought his home for under £50,000 forty years ago told me that he would never vote for us …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 35 Comments
Stephen Tall

5 things Nick Clegg could do next

By Stephen Tall | Fri 4th July 2014 - 11:30 am

Nick Clegg Q&A 8My last piece of advice to Nick Clegg was to stand down as Lib Dem leader. He didn’t, and it’s pretty clear now that Nick will lead us into the next general election.

Two problems remain, though, and we need to find ways of addressing them. First, morale in the party has dipped since the May elections. Secondly, support for the party has also dipped in the polls. Yes, Lib Dem MPs benefit from the incumbency effect but that only stretches so far – we also need to start winning the air war, or at the very least avoid being ignored. As it stands, what Nick says just isn’t getting a listening. However unfair, it’s a reality we need to deal with.

Here are five suggestions from me for ways in which Nick Clegg could help restore party morale and maybe get himself a hearing from the media and public…

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , , , , , , , and | 52 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • cim
    I would have thought one of the biggest barriers to buildings getting built is the supply of materials and the availability of competent staff to turn those mat...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    This subject needs far more attention and more noise from Liberal Democrats, particularly in London. Rob’s direction is right, and the report is useful. But w...
  • Peter Davies
    London is a special case. There wasn't enough undeveloped land without planning permission sold to get an accurate figure. What matters is what developers think...
  • Tim
    @peter - Land prices have not been rising, at least in London, for ages. The idea that developers string out negotiations is hard to sustain in the context of t...
  • Jim Webber
    I spent 17 years in London. Nothing speaks louder about the problems affecting this country than the closure of key bridges in our country's capital. The closur...