Category Archives: Op-eds

The Independent View: Judicial review changes would advance state powers at expense of individual freedom

By Gillian Guy | Thu 14th November 2013 - 3:59 pm

In its 2010 Manifesto, the Liberal Democrats pledged to ‘restore and protect hard-won British liberties’. The Government’s consultation on judicial review, which closed this week, could result in a radical shift of power from individuals to the state. If this happens, the legal system and the people who depend on it for fair treatment will be weaker for it.

Plans from the Ministry of Justice to introduce serious restrictions on access to judicial review will make it much harder for people to challenge the execution of public power on behalf of an individual citizen.

The Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has argued that …

Continue reading »

Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged access to justice, citizens advice, judicial review and legal | 7 Comments

Lord (Eric) Avebury writes…Pakistan’s Army stands firm against the Taliban

By Eric Avebury | Thu 14th November 2013 - 10:28 am

The Pakistan Army’s Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) has condemned Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Chief Syed Munawar Hassan’s statement in which he called former Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Chief Hakimullah Mehsud a martyr.

In fact, Mehsud was a mass murderer, motivated by implacable religious hatred, and his killing by a US drone on November 1 was fully deserved. Under his leadership the TTP slaughtered Pakistani soldiers and civilians, men women and children indiscriminately. He targeted Shia Muslims, of whom 700 have been killed so far this year.

The objective of the TTP is to overthrow the state of Pakistan and to replace it with …

Continue reading »

Tagged afghanistan and pakistan | 12 Comments

Carmichael: 3 questions the SNP must answer on currency, pensions and costs after independence

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th November 2013 - 3:35 pm

In the beautiful surroundings of Bishop’s House in Inverness, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael gave his first keynote speech. The whole thing is published below the cut, but here are the highlights:

The Highlands and Islands have never been better represented in Government – a boy from Colonsay and a boy from Orkney in the Cabinet.
How you vote in the referendum does not determine how Scottish you are – once you start mixing patriotism and politics, you quickly get into dangerous territory.
The UK’s greatest hits. He said it wasn’t a list of them, but it so was. And pretty compelling, too.
3 questions for the SNP:
What’s your Plan B if we can’t have a currency union between Scotland and the rest of the UK?
How much more will pensions cost us if we leave the UK?
How much will independence cost?

I get the feeling these 3 are the start of many. Overall, it’s a strong speech delivered with humour, passion and sharpness. He’s put the Nationalists on notice that he’s going to be very specific with them. They won’t get away with squealing about who they want to debate, or how Scottish anyone is,

Continue reading »

Tagged Alistair Carmichael, featured, Scotland and Scottish independence referendum | 15 Comments

Opinion: Lib Dem Voice compromised its independent voice with Heathrow sponsored post

By Andy Boddington | Wed 13th November 2013 - 3:02 pm

Lib Dem Voice got it wrong yesterday publishing a propaganda article on behalf of Heathrow Hub. It compromised its integrity. It undermined its independent voice.

In my view, it is wrong in principle and wrong in practice to take the corporate shilling for editorial content.

The post on Lib Dem Voice yesterday came just three days into Heathrow’s big money PR offensive on “the plan for a quieter Heathrow expansion that isn’t being heard”, which began with a full page advertisement in the Sunday Times. Advertising is fine. But advertorials in a political context are not. They distort the editorial process because “he who pays the piper, calls the tune.”

Continue reading »

65 Comments

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 13th November 2013 - 10:25 am

Liberal Democrat MP Michael Moore writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition.

Apprenticeships Campaign

Over the last few months, I have been campaigning to encourage local businesses to take on apprentices. I have visited many businesses across the constituency to see how they have managed to create very successful apprenticeship schemes.

As part of this ongoing campaign to increase apprenticeships in the Borders, last week I visited Hawick Cashmere to meet the apprentices there.

Continue reading »

Also posted in Parliament and Scotland | Tagged Michael Moore and Westminster Notes | 1 Comment

Paul Burstow writes … we must pay greater attention to the mental health needs of children

By Paul Burstow | Tue 12th November 2013 - 5:40 pm

The recent report from the Chief Medical Officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, on children’s health makes for sobering reading. Together with warnings about a lack of physical activity, and vitamin deficiencies, the need to pay greater attention to the mental health of our children and young people came out painfully clearly.

Current estimates put the annual costs of mental health problems among children aged 5-15 at around £2.35 billion across the UK. Yet only around one in four children are receiving help from specialist services within 3 years, and, as the report’s atlas of variation reveals, access may be most …

Continue reading »

Tagged child mental health | 2 Comments

Stephen Lloyd writes… It’s all about the jobs!

By Stephen Lloyd | Tue 12th November 2013 - 3:08 pm

Stephen Lloyd with Matt Hancock MP, the Minister for Skills & Unemployment

The “jobs agenda” is one of the top priorities for all Liberal Democrats; whether you’re an activist on the doorstep, someone who is concerned for the future of our young people – or indeed a parliamentarian. I happen to be all three!

In Government, our party has actively pursued policies that are enabling many people to benefit from work and to a greater extent, they are working! Almost one and a half million new private sector jobs have been created; a million new apprenticeships are getting our young people into work and Liberal Democrat policies are helping businesses grow with the £3.2 billion Regional Growth Fund.

We have seen real results from core Liberal Democrat policies. The achievement I am most proud of so far is a subject I am passionate about. In fact, it is one of the issues that drew me back to politics: the dignity afforded to us by being in a job. The scar of benefit dependence that has built up over generations, alongside the apparently intractable problem of high youth unemployment, is something I have been keen to tackle, and have worked furiously on both locally in Eastbourne and nationally in Parliament.

Continue reading »

Tagged apprenticeships, employment and jobs | 8 Comments

Opinion: Secrecy, federal committees and a lack of democracy

By Mark Pack | Tue 12th November 2013 - 8:47 am

Nearly all the debates about Liberal Democrat federal committees and democracy hinge on who the electorate for committee elections should be – conference reps or all party members?

However these debates miss a big problem, which is simply that the electorate, whoever it is, knows very little about the performance of incumbents. Democracy isn’t just about the right people having the vote, it’s about them being able to cast their votes in a meaningful way.

If you don’t know what people have done, it is hard to hold them to account.

Currently there …

Continue reading »

Tagged federal executive, federal policy committee and internal party democracy | 8 Comments

Swinson argues against unpaid internships, Leech advertises for unpaid interns. Who’s right?

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 11th November 2013 - 5:20 pm

On the face of it, Liberal Democrats are sending out mixed messages on internships at the moment.

Jo Swinson, as employment minister, has been promoting the Government’s Pay and Rights helpline (0800 917 2368) and talking about it being appropriate to pay interns while John Leech’s office in Manchester is offering an unpaid internship proramme. This is in contrast to the party’s internship programme which is offering the National Minimum Wage.

Jo on Good Morning Scotland (from around 1:52 in) that she wanted to ensure that employers were not unwittingly or unintentionally doing the wrong thing and making sure that people …

Continue reading »

Tagged internships, Jo Swinson, john leech and tim farron | 19 Comments

John Major: Class warrior

By Joe Otten | Mon 11th November 2013 - 2:55 pm

Former Conservative Prime Minister John Major is back in the news today condemning the stranglehold on power and influence enjoyed by the elite:

In every single sphere of British influence, the upper echelons of power in 2013 are held overwhelmingly by the privately educated or the affluent middle class. To me from my background, I find that truly shocking.

This follows his unexpected intervention in the energy debate calling for a windfall tax on energy companies. In both cases Major seems to be taking on the role of Cameron’s One Nation conscience, speaking up for people in modest …

Continue reading »

Tagged class, david cameron, john major and margaret thatcher | 50 Comments

Opinion: Auditors refuse to sign off EU accounts – the latest untruth from the anti-Europeans

By Stuart Bonar | Mon 11th November 2013 - 8:55 am

I’ve just been accused of issuing the dullest tweet of the week. Admittedly, “This week, the European Court of Auditors signed off the #EU’s accounts, as it has done annually since the 2007 financial year” is hardly the most exciting 133 characters ever featured on twitter, but with half-a-billion tweets emerging from the twitter fire hose daily, it was quite a condemnation.

But the point I made in that tweet is important. Why? Because this week saw another raft of accusations that – yet again! – the European Court of Auditors has refused to sign off the EU’s accounts.

The

Continue reading »

Tagged accounts and eu | 20 Comments

Has Stonewall snubbed the Liberal Democrats in their awards?

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 9th November 2013 - 11:56 am

Every time I think kindly about Stonewall, they do something to annoy me. Way back in 2010, their opposition to equal marriage reached the fringes of our Liverpool Conference. That came just a few months after Ed Fordham wrote on here that he was no longer able to support Stonewall over its treatment of David Laws.

Happily, Stonewall did eventually come around to supporting equal marriage and attended the vigils outside Parliament which Ed organised when the Bill was being debated. They are also just about to start a brilliant campaign on homophobic bullying to run in anti-bullying …

Continue reading »

Tagged julian huppert, LGBT rights, liz barker, lynne featherstone, nick clegg, stephen glenn and stonewall | 6 Comments

MPs under attack again – for claiming mileage for doing their jobs

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 8th November 2013 - 4:02 pm

Having Nigel Farage on Question Time again was more than enough to make my blood boil last night. Sadly, even my Facebook timeline had little to soothe. I saw an 18 month old story being recycled again to give MPs another kicking.

In May last year the Telegraph had a go at some MPs who claimed mileage to attend Remembrance Day services, including a couple of Liberal Democrats. Why on earth should that particular engagement be any different than any other that they attend in the course of their official duties? How many people would meet work expenses out of …

Continue reading »

Tagged angharad bethan jones, facebook, geoff payne, greg judge, jackie pearcey, louise bloom, mps expenses, remembrance sunday, simon hutton and telegraph | 41 Comments

The Independent View: Democracy for Toddlers

By Ellie Levenson | Thu 7th November 2013 - 12:00 pm

One of the things I love most about being a parent is being asked questions that make me think about the world in a new way. Why, my toddler daughter wants to know, don’t we have dessert after breakfast? And why there is a moon? And where the people we can see from the bus window are going? In my household we call in ‘Whying’. I am quite convincing on the first of these questions, and can make a stab at the second. And for the third, about the people on the bus, I make up answers and that does …

Continue reading »

Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged children's books and democracy for toddlers | 7 Comments

We need to embrace Russell Brand – he’s the new political messiah

By Andy Boddington | Wed 6th November 2013 - 3:32 pm

He’s not going to go away. After all, celebs rarely do, even after their stardom has faded. My instinct is to ignore him. But I’ve talked to young friends. And they tell me my instinct is wrong.

They are saying to me that even if I can’t embrace the anarchic politics of Russell Brand, I should at least try to understand why he is so in tune with the next generation of non-voters.

This whole fuss started with Brand editing an edition of the New Statesman, then throwing Paxo into a state of complexity on Newsnight. Our media, bored to its teeth with the professional dullness of today’s politicians, drooled on every rebellious word.

Yesterday, Brand was back on ebullient form in the Guardian:

I’ve had an incredible week since I spoke from the heart, some would say via my arse, on Paxman. I’ve had slaps on the back, fist bumps, cheers and hugs while out and about, cock-eyed offers of political power from well intentioned chancers and some good ol’ fashioned character assassinations in the papers.

Continue reading »

Tagged russell brand | 47 Comments

Opinion: Benefits cap – right or wrong?

By Kelly-Marie Blundell | Wed 6th November 2013 - 3:00 pm

There’s a lot in the news about the Benefits Cap following yesterday’s dismissal of the case where three single mothers took forward a legal challenge to the cap on their benefits. They lost, but perhaps we as Liberal Democrats should question the logic behind the benefits cap.

Now, on one hand, when you look at it, £500 per week seems like a lot of money. Even for a family of three. With this in mind, it seems completely legitimate to cap the amount of support families receive to £26,000 per year. With the average earnings in the UK resting at …

Continue reading »

Tagged benefits cap and welfare reform | 57 Comments

Opinion: Liberal Youth Scotland campaigns against SNP cuts to student bursary cuts and college places

By Hannah Bettsworth | Wed 6th November 2013 - 9:50 am

Student finance. Mention those two words to most students and you’ll either get people moaning about the amount of forms they have to fill in, or excited about how rich they are at the beginning of the month.

However, at the end of the day, you have to pay it back. Unless you vote SNP. That was the message they gave graduates in 2007. Strangely enough, I still seem to have a student loan and quite a substantial amount of money to pay back. They knew they couldn’t afford it and scrapped the pledge in their first budget. It was a …

Continue reading »

Tagged liberal youth scotland, Scotland and student finance | 1 Comment

Study shows that UK benefits from immigration from European countries

By Mary Reid | Tue 5th November 2013 - 4:25 pm

Liberal Democrats celebrate the fact that immigrants make a substantial social contribution to UK society, and they have long suspected that immigrants make a net financial contribution as well. That claim is now backed up by a recent study undertaken by University College London, and reported by the BBC.

In a paper for the Centre of Research and Analysis of Migration, authors Christian Dustmann and Tommaso Frattini conclude that:

Continue reading »

Tagged Centre of Research and Analysis of Migration, Christian Dustmann, featured, immigration and Tommaso Frattini | 33 Comments

Andrew Stunell writes … Removing discrimination from electoral campaigns

By Andrew Stunell MP | Tue 5th November 2013 - 3:34 pm

Last week the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Electoral Conduct published its recommendations. The Liberal Democrats played a leading part in this inquiry and we are pleased to report that our approach to tackling discrimination is rightly credited in the findings of the all-party panel.

Electoral campaigning in Britain is, the Inquiry found, generally a positive and democratically enriching process. There are however a number of areas in which better frameworks for action could be introduced which would make Britain not just a responsible democracy but one that is world-leading in facing down discriminatory electoral conduct.

Continue reading »

Tagged discrimination and electoral conduct | 10 Comments

Opinion: Labour’s Living Wage really means the State taxes the poor more

By Alisdair Calder McGregor | Tue 5th November 2013 - 2:38 pm

This is – according to the Labour Party – the start of “Living Wage week”, a soundbite policy of the kind we’re now used to hearing from Labour.

Superficially, the idea of the Living Wage is simple and tempting. Figure out how much it costs to live, and force employers to pay that much.

Labour’s chosen method of doing this is to offer employers tax breaks – for a year – if they comply with the Living Wage rather than the national minimum wage. However, as pointed out by the Adam Smith Institute, what we are actually dealing with is …

Continue reading »

Tagged adam smith institute and living wage | 33 Comments

Julian Huppert writes … Immigration Bill: Update

By Julian Huppert | Tue 5th November 2013 - 10:44 am

I thought it might be useful to let you all know where we’ve reached with the Immigration Bill. Today, we start to discuss each clause in detail in the Bill Committee, which I’m serving on.

I’ve tabled a whole series of amendments, to try to move the Bill back towards the sort of thing that we would like to see.

I’ll be suggesting that students shouldn’t pay the NHS levy – they already contribute to our economy by coming here to study, and we don’t want to drive them away to countries we compete with. I’ll also argue that people who’ve been …

Continue reading »

Tagged child detention, immigration bill and NHS levy | 4 Comments

Opinion: The Case for Community Banking

By Selwyn Runnett | Tue 5th November 2013 - 8:57 am

There are signs that the banking crisis may be coming to an end. The old TSB has re-emerged, Lloyds may be returned wholly to the private sector. William & Glyn’s may also re-emerge with investment, from amongst others, the Church Commissioners for England.

So, if we ignore RBS, the banking sector looks like it can get back to solid day-to-day retail banking, can’t it? Well, not quite. Retail banking is now disappearing from our local communities with only local credit unions filling the gap.

Continue reading »

Tagged banking | 9 Comments

Opinion: You don’t have to wear a red poppy

By Richard Church | Mon 4th November 2013 - 6:42 pm

This week there is a bit more pressure on all of us to conform. You would think, watching the telly, that wearing a poppy is compulsory, it isn’t. Of course, the expectation to conform by wearing a symbol in a lapel is nothing to the expectation placed on young men 100 years ago.

This year I discovered a letter from my great grandfather, Wesley Church, published in his local paper, the Northampton Echo, in 1917, condemning people for throwing stones at a conscientious objector who was on his way to attend a tribunal. He wrote: ‘There are hundreds who are …

Continue reading »

30 Comments

Why do so many Liberal Democrat MPs not claim for energy costs?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 3rd November 2013 - 3:49 pm

There’s a new expenses scandal in the offing. Today’s Sunday Mirror headline screams that 340 MPs are getting their second home energy bills paid. Yes, energy bills are a hot topic at the moment but let’s look behind the hyperbole.

Of course, MPs are paying their own energy bills in their homes out of their salaries. What is being paid by the public purse is the cost of their accommodation in either their constituency or London. If you’re going to do the job of an MP properly, you need two bases. It stands to reason, therefore, that the second base …

Continue reading »

Tagged mps expenses | 48 Comments

Opinion: We need to grab our current luck and champion the Lib Dems

By Liz Leffman | Sun 3rd November 2013 - 10:03 am

Far too often, information about the work our ministers are doing reaches us, and the general public, through a cloud of white noise created by the media. The information that we local activists get from Lib Dem HQ can be drowned out by what we read and hear elsewhere. It’s often difficult to tease out our ministers’ achievements in government from the work of the government as a whole. But in the past few weeks we seem to have found a way of dispersing our uncertainty and showing the public that we stand for something tangibly different from our coalition partners.

The discussion about energy policy offers a way of unlocking the conundrum we have faced for the past two and a half years. How do we remain constructive partners in coalition, while reassuring voters that we are different from the Tories?

Continue reading »

Tagged 2015 general election and grassroots activism | 8 Comments

The Independent View: What’s wrong with HS2?

By Penny Gaines | Fri 1st November 2013 - 4:14 pm

High speed 2 easily cleared its first parliamentary hurdle yesterday, with just 34 MPs voting against the High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill – 350 voted in favour. Here Penny Gaines argues the case against HS2 is still strong.

High Speed 2 will cost £50bn, including the trains. But it is an environmentally damaging vanity project, with a constantly shifting rationale for building it.

The current argument is that speed is irrelevant for the case for HS2, but that our existing railways are nearly full and the only option is to build a new high speed railway. This argument does not stand up to scrutiny.

Continue reading »

Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged high speed 2 | 46 Comments

Opinion: A liberal approach to affordable childcare

By Richard Shaw | Fri 1st November 2013 - 10:15 am

Childcare in the UK is expensive.

In 2011 the OECD reported the UK having the second highest costs of childcare for any OECD country in terms of average family incomes. According to the Daycare Trust, full-time nursery care costs parents an £11,000 per year on average and around £4,000 for care for two school-age children around the start and end of the school day.

Many parents have to choose between leaving work to care for their kids, sacrificing much needed income or continuing in work and struggling with the costs of childcare. If they’re lucky their household earnings are enough that either option doesn’t cause any considerable hardship.

But it’s not the cost of childcare that’s the problem – it’s the way we pay for it.

Continue reading »

Tagged childcare | 6 Comments

Opinion: Reform of the Duchy of Cornwall – on the cards?

By Michael Hall | Thu 31st October 2013 - 3:58 pm

Lord Berkeley’s “Rights of the Sovereign and Duchy of Cornwall Bill” is due to have its second reading in the Lords on 8 November. He has been quoted as saying he wants to “provoke a debate”, and it may be supposed that Bill is likely to be defeated at its second reading. As it would affect the Prince’s private interests, it would require his consent in order to progress. He has given his consent to several bills in the past, according to the Parliament website. It is surprising how many bills require his consent. This is

…

Continue reading »

Tagged duchy of cornwall, lord berkeley and monarchy | 11 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

Introducing The Grimond Society (Jack Meredith)
The proud independence of the Isle Of Man (Paul Walter)
Mathew on Monday: Carl Cashman is a Liberal Hero – and his critics would love his media reach (Mathew Hulbert)
Welcome to my day: 6 July 2026 – a nation dares to dream? (Mark Valladares)
The Jenkinsite Policy Network present a new vision for British liberalism (Rosemary Runswick)

Advert

Recent Comments

Peter Martin
@ Simon, "Why are you calling us British one minute, and Manx the next? " </em? Don't you regard yourself as British? If this designation of ...
Dennis Delice
Thank you for your priceless insights, David; you bring to light how co-operatives are in not a stranger to the liberal tradition, and have roots in British lib...
Paul Walter
@peter “They should make up their minds” Er, well they have. They’re self governing crown dependencies. Thanks for the information and debate, all. I a...
Nonconformistradical
Quoting expats: "However, Johnson, Gove, Rees-Mogg, Davis et al were all offering different LEAVE promises.. ‘Hard’ Brexit, ‘Soft’ Brexit, etc.. How...
expats
eter Martin 8th Jul '26 - 6:06pm..“The folly that was Brexit should make everyone very, VERY reluctant to contemplate referendums.”... So what you, and oth...