Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: I have never told my mother I have a mental illness #timetotalk

By Name Withheld | Thu 6th February 2014 - 1:25 pm

Time to talk day

I am writing this as I read the post on Time to Talk day by Caron . These are just my personal opinions and personal experiences and should be taken only as so.

I have suffered from Hypomania for what has been the best part of my adult life; I am 25 now. I probably had it when I was a child but my mother just put it down to being  “full of energy”. Friends have also told me that I probably have ADHD and maybe some form …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

It’s #timetotalk about mental health at Liberal Democrat Voice

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 6th February 2014 - 10:02 am

Time to talk dayLiberal Democrat Voice is always “Our place to talk” but today, we are talking about mental health. Time to Change is having a national #timetotalk day. Why?

Thursday 6 February is the first ever Time to Talk Day: 24 hours in which to start conversations about mental health, raise awareness and share the message that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, neither is talking about it.

Sometimes it’s the little things we do that make a big difference – like having a chat over a cuppa, sending a text or inviting someone out. And on Time to Talk Day we’re encouraging people to do just that. In fact, we’re hoping to spark a million conversations, and we want your help to do that.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 14 Comments
Keith House

Opinion: Tackling Britain’s housing crisis

By Keith House | Wed 5th February 2014 - 5:00 pm

Terraced housingLiberal Democrats have long recognised the housing crisis that has grown steadily worse since the 1979 Conservative Government stopped councils building new homes.  In Government, Liberal Democrats have made a good start at increasing the number of affordable homes built for rent, with 335,000 homes to be completed between 2011 and 2018, and supported initiatives to help deliver market housing.

We’ve also agreed an ambitious target of 300,000 new homes each year for overall housing supply as party policy.  But even with some councils starting to build again, there is a long way to go before anywhere near enough homes are built each year in Britain to meet need. 

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 13 Comments
Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 5th February 2014 - 8:52 am

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

A Stronger Economy 

Last week, I welcomed the announcement of the strongest GDP growth figures since before the financial crisis began in 2007, with the UK growing by 0.7% in the last financial quarter and 1.9% throughout the whole of 2013.  Growth is vital for our prosperity so this is a really important development.

We have also seen the inflation rate dropping to 2% from a peak of 5.2% in September 2011, decreasing unemployment and both the World Bank and the IMF indicating …

Continue reading »
Also posted in Parliament and Scotland | Tagged , , , and | 2 Comments
Steve Coltman

Opinion: Chris Huhne on Fracking

By Steve Coltman | Tue 4th February 2014 - 10:48 am

chris_huhneChris Huhne, former Energy and Climate Change Secretary and member of ALDES, has written this critique of Fracking in the Guardian.

Personally, I don’t like the abrasive and sarcastic tone of it but he makes some very valid points nonetheless. In particular he points out that the USA is disconnected from the world’s gas market allowing a local surplus to cause gas prices (and coal prices) to drop in the USA. The UK, in contrast, is very connected indeed and even if we did produce masses of Shale Gas at reasonable …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 10 Comments
Mark Pack

Opinion: David Cameron – the Conservative Party’s answer to Harold Wilson

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 4:25 pm

More and more, David Cameron reminds me of Harold Wilson.

Both became leaders of their party when a sequence of election defeats forced change upon it. Both briefly were the young leader with a new purpose for their political tradition; the white heat of technology in the 20th century, huskies in the 21st.

Both struggled to win over the public, with neither getting an overall majority at their first attempt. Both turned out to be heavily beholden to their party’s traditional, backward-looking wing.

Wilson’s opportunities to be a dominating figure who reshaped society and rejuvenated the economy were wrecked on the Labour …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 18 Comments
Claire Tyler

Baroness Claire Tyler writes: Why banning smoking in cars with children in can and should be enforced

By Claire Tyler | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 2:11 pm

I read with great interest Caron’s very balanced blog entry on Thursday about banning smoking in cars with children and the varied comments that followed. These showed a quite legitimate difference of opinion about how to apply liberal principles in an such an area , as illustrated when Nick Clegg shared his own personal views on Thursday’s Call Clegg.

Much of the ensuing media and blog debate -including on Lib Dem Voice -has focussed on whether it’s right to legislate about what people do in private cars and whether this isn’t too great an intrusion by the “nanny state” into …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 17 Comments
Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert writes… Thoughts on a memorial service

By Julian Huppert | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 12:04 pm

On saturday, I attended the memorial service for a life-long Liberal, George Watson. It included a reading from John Stuart Mill ‘On Liberty’.

George stood for Parliament in 1959 in Cheltenham, unsuccessfully, and then became a Fellow at St John’s College Cambridge, where he became a noted scholar in literature, literary criticism and liberal political thought.

I got hold of his campaign literature from 1959, and while the layout and style is different – no bar charts – the central messages are unchanged.

To quote from his section ‘Put Freedom First’:

Liberals made them get rid of identity-cards – but the State Still has

…

Continue reading »
3 Comments
Fadel Galal

Opinion: Protecting journalists and foreign correspondents – it’s about time

By Fadel Galal | Sun 2nd February 2014 - 4:45 pm

What is currently happening in Egypt in my view is a very sad and violent transformation. Yet as a native of this country, I believe this to be an internal process and should be shaped only by Egyptians living in Egypt.

However, what should not be accepted as an internal matter is the level of intimidation and violence against journalists and foreign correspondents, particularly foreign journalists and those working for foreign media organisations.

They are unwittingly being sucked into a political turmoil they do not control. They are seasoned professionals caught in the line of fire while doing their …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 3 Comments
Issan Ghazni

Opinion: Eastern Europeans hold the key to the European elections

By Issan Ghazni | Sat 1st February 2014 - 2:30 pm

Boston-eurosDoomsday predictions in the media that Liberal Democrats are set to lose all our MEPs to UKIP are wide of the mark. The closer we get to the Euro elections in May the greater the opportunity for us to win support from the substantial minority of voters who are pro-Europe.

Yet there is no doubt the threat of UKIP is a substantial one. And just as Nigel Farage is boxing clever we Lib Dems need to get smarter about our strategy. Our Euro-slogan ‘In Europe, In Work’ is a powerful statement about …

Continue reading »
46 Comments
Alex Smethurst

Opinion: Registering young voters increases party loyalty

By Alex Smethurst | Fri 31st January 2014 - 11:36 am

Ballot paperThe move to Individual Electoral Registration later this year has the capacity to enable our party to re-engage with many young and new voters. Given our polling numbers, this is all the more pertinent, as registering young voters increases party loyalty.

There is considerable evidence that if people vote at the start of their careers as citizens, they are more likely to carry on voting. Rather than canvassing people sporadically, we should be targeting 16,17 and 18 year olds. Just like voters of all ages, young voters are attracted to candidates that reach out to them. Partisan loyalty develops during their first few years of being enfranchised. Reams of academic research in America show a young voters’ first presidential vote and party vote influence their party choice for decades. As Rock the Vote explain, voter registration remains the largest barrier to youth participation, but if they are registered, young people vote! Individual Electoral Registration opens the doors to the younger voters.

Continue reading »
Tagged | 1 Comment
Ed Davey

Ed Davey MP writes…£2m for low carbon heat networks

By Ed Davey | Thu 30th January 2014 - 3:56 pm

Ed Davey meets Paul Burstow and Sutton Councillors at Heat network funding...Today I visited Lib Dem controlled Sutton to announce £2 million of DECC funding for developing low carbon local heat networks. The money will go to 26 local authorities – including Sutton – to develop their own local projects.

By 2030 around 14% of UK heat demand could be met by these networks and around 43% by 2050. While it is up to each local authority to develop their own projects, the idea is that networks source heat from a central source – for example landfill – and then deliver it through insulated pipes to offices, apartments and social housing.

This will provide low carbon heating, and potentially bring down energy bills too.

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 7 Comments
Ming Campbell MP

Sir Ming Campbell MP writes…Britain has the power to shape the EU

By Ming Campbell MP | Thu 30th January 2014 - 10:34 am

A report on the successes and failures in Britain’s Europe policy, published today by British Influence shows that we have the power to shape the EU, if we wield it correctly. The report, by a cross-party panel of EU experts on which I served, shows that Britain has either achieved its objectives or is on track to achieve them in nine out of ten of the policy areas, but it makes clear that we will only be able to achieve more if we lead in a cooperative manner.

There are parts of the EU which need to be reformed. There …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 4 Comments
Tom Brake

Tom Brake MP writes…Liberal Democrats have improved the Lobbying Bill

By Tom Brake | Wed 29th January 2014 - 6:27 pm

Yesterday the long, and at times tortuous, journey of the Transparency Bill through Parliament came to an end.  It will shortly receive Royal Assent.  The Bill had many critics, so it is worth reiterating the purpose of the parts of the Bill I was closely involved with as a Minister.

Part 1, sets up a Statutory Register of Lobbyists, to complement the existing regime of quarterly data published by Ministers about which external organisations they meet.  Liberal Democrats have successfully pushed for this data to become much more accessible and useful in future, so that all the data is published …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 59 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Afternoon Debate: Should all members have a vote for Deputy Leader?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 29th January 2014 - 2:27 pm

Last night we saw Sir Malcolm Bruce narrowly defeat Lorely Burt for the post of Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons, to give it its full name.

I’ve seen a few posts on social media this morning from people who have never heard of Malcolm. If that’s the case, then I’m glad that they have the chance to get to know him. I can still remember speeches he made over 20 years ago and for me his closing speech at Scottish Conference is always a big treat for me. You get some idea of the man’s …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Pupil Premium: is it working? Probably – but it’s not a quick-fix solution

By Stephen Tall | Wed 29th January 2014 - 10:05 am

The Pupil Premium – money targeted at children from low-income households – is the Lib Dems’ flagship education policy. By the end of the Parliament, it will be worth £2.5 billion, cash given directly to schools to spend as they wish on improving attainment outcomes.

Is it working? That’s the question being asked, given the news that the attainment gap at age 16 – the difference between GCSE results achieved by pupils eligible for free school meals and all other pupils – increased very slightly last year. In fact, results for both low-income pupils and all other pupils improved; …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 13 Comments
Alex Smethurst

Opinion: More money in your pocket from April

By Alex Smethurst | Wed 29th January 2014 - 8:28 am

MoneyAt the last election, Liberal Democrats up and down the country campaigned hard to cut taxes for working people and put money back in your pocket. It was our top priority – taken from the front page of our manifesto – to increase the amount you can earn before paying tax to £10,000. This has made a real difference to taxpayers up and down the country.

Since 2003, middle wages have failed to rise with growth. When we came into government, someone working full time on the minimum wage would lose …

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 24 Comments
Nick Clegg MP

Nick Clegg MP writes…The recovery would not be happening without us

By Nick Clegg MP | Tue 28th January 2014 - 4:25 pm

This morning we’ve seen yet more proof that the economy is firmly on the path to recovery. Growth is returning, with today’s figures showing the longest period of growth since 2007. We’ve also had good news on jobs – with youth unemployment down, jobs outside of London up and a surge in new full time jobs.

In Government we’re clearing up Labour’s mess. Here are four reasons why it would not be happening without the Liberal Democrats.

1. Our decision to go into coalition gave Britain the stable government needed to get the country through these difficult times. Despite the endless clamour …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 14 Comments
Toby Fenwick

Opinion: Go for a freefall nuclear force

By Toby Fenwick | Mon 27th January 2014 - 3:50 pm

Former US Defence Secretary Robert Gates recently decried the UK’s conventional force cuts making it clear that the UK’s ability to conduct global operations as a major US partner would be threatened. In doing so, Gates was pointing out the obvious implications of the Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Houghton’s December speech at the Royal United Services Institute.

I was therefore heartened by Sir Nick Harvey’s recent LDV post, where he accepts that the conventional force cuts will constrain the international role to which he aspires. He then logically makes the …

Continue reading »
27 Comments
Ed Davey

Ed Davey writes… Power to the people

By Ed Davey | Mon 27th January 2014 - 12:01 pm

Power to the People! Edward Davey and Greg Barker in BrixtonFor those of you old enough to remember, ‘Power to the People’ was the battle cry of ‘Wolfie Smith’, Robert Lindsay’s character in the BBC sitcom ‘Citizen Smith’. The running joke of the series was that while he had radical and revolutionary ideas, the delivery side was left somewhat lacking.

What I’ve announced today is both radical and sets out how community energy will be delivered. Astonishingly, it’s Britain’s first ever community energy strategy and will empower …

Continue reading »
23 Comments
Mark Pack

Opinion: Lessons from 1979

By Mark Pack | Mon 27th January 2014 - 8:32 am

Leaving through some kindly donated old copies of Liberator from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, there is a distinct sense of déjà vu. Calls to revive Community Politics. Urgent pleas to reinvent liberalism for a modern age. Complaints about how the English Party is run. Provocative comments from Simon McGrath triggering hostile rejoinders. (Although it did amuse me to find that one passionate argument against the party ending up a centre-right pro-capitalism outfit came from one Gavin Grant.)

Some of the issues covered have been lost in the gaps of history. Others are still very …

Continue reading »
30 Comments
Paul Head

Opinion: Football, Freedom of Speech and the Y-word

By Paul Head | Sun 26th January 2014 - 10:20 am

spurs yid armyIn the last few days, the Crown Prosecution Service has taken the decision to charge three Tottenham Hotspur supporters with “using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour”. The charges relate to the use of the word “Yid” by the fans.

The decision to charge the fans should be a cause of major concern to anyone who values freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

For those unaware of the history and context behind the use of the word by Spurs fans, it’s worth a quick …

Continue reading »
Tagged , , , and | 26 Comments
Rob Parsons

Opinion: The male voice on Female Genital Mutilation

By Rob Parsons | Fri 24th January 2014 - 5:19 pm

Please note that the second paragraph of this article contains some graphic details of the procedure of FGM which some people might find distressing.

I’m very glad to see Liberal Democrats at the forefront of the drive to rid this country and the world of female genital mutilation (FGM), one of the most horrible expressions of male power over the female. The debate about it, around the world, as well as in this country, is often blurred by comparisons with male circumcision, which many people also campaign against actively (and in my view rightly). When the topic of FGM comes …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 79 Comments
Sarah Ludford

Sarah Ludford MEP writes…Being “In” Europe crucial for jobs and living standards

By Sarah Ludford | Fri 24th January 2014 - 1:00 pm

When the Liberal Democrats say we’re the party of ‘In’, it’s not because we worship symbolically at the altar of EU institutions. It’s because being In Europe is vital to achieve real policy goals, of which the most immediately important is jobs in Britain. This is the clear message coming from major employers, like Ford, Nissan, Siemens and BAE Systems, which have all warned against pulling Britain out of Europe.

According to a recent YouGov poll 6% of British companies said they would go out of business if we left the EU. This translates into almost 10,000 firms closing and 300,000 people being out …

Continue reading »
Tagged and | 26 Comments
Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone writes… Lib Dem action on tax helps to ease the cost of living

By Lynne Featherstone | Fri 24th January 2014 - 11:55 am

International Development minister Lynne Featherstone writes a monthly column for one of her local newspapers. Here is the latest one…..

There are so many perks of living in Haringey – vibrant high streets, good transport links, wonderful parks and views – to name but a few!

But on the downside, our bin collections, roads and other public services are notoriously bad. Haringey Council – which is run by Labour – has been rated the worst in London.

Week in, week out, Haringey Labour seem to lurch from one crisis to another. They failed to meet their own targets for making our local …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 15 Comments
Richard Dyer

The Independent View: Vince Cable should make sure all companies are bound by new transparency law

By Richard Dyer | Fri 24th January 2014 - 10:45 am

Consider this question – what is the difference between a T-shirt from Tesco and one from TopShop? Lib Dems will undoubtedly have their own style preferences.

But for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Minister Vince Cable there’s an important distinction. Cable is seeking to weaken proposed EU rules that would require companies to report annually on risks their operations pose to communities and the natural world, such as accidents, pollution and human rights. The new non-financial reporting directive could be a game-changer on a path towards more sustainable production.

It should ensure that a firm like Tesco, as a large …

Continue reading »
Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Paul Tyler

Lord (Paul) Tyler writes… Transparency Bill – Government concessions

By Paul Tyler | Thu 23rd January 2014 - 3:01 pm

Yesterday Lords amendments came to the Commons for consideration. The Government has accepted the principle of my amendment on including Special Advisers (SpAds) in the regime of transparency about who lobbyists get to meet in government. However, the Conservative Party refuses to ‘switch on’ this provision at this stage, and probably for the duration of this Parliament.

The Government therefore brought forward an amendment which will allow Ministers to bring those who meet SpAds into the register of lobbyists, but they will remain out for now. David Cameron says ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant’. Since two of the big lobbying scandals …

Continue reading »
Tagged | 3 Comments
Ed Davey

Edward Davey MP writes…Lib Dem led British diplomacy paves way for global climate change deal

By Ed Davey | Wed 22nd January 2014 - 6:28 pm

Liberal Democrats in Government are having a huge impact on tackling climate change, and today you’ve seen concrete evidence of how we’re winning the debate – not just in the UK, but across the EU and potentially beyond.

The main prize is huge – we’re working towards a global climate change deal that will be discussed at the critical 2015 talks.  But how do we get there?

Firstly, I got cross-Government agreement on an ambitious UK position. We have pushed for a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the EU by 2030. We want this increased to 50% if the rest …

Continue reading »
Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged and | 15 Comments

Opinion: So who are those Rock the Boat people?

By Grace Goodlad | Wed 22nd January 2014 - 11:30 am

Rock the Boat logoEleven months ago the Liberal Democrat world was tipped on its axis when Channel 4 broadcast reports from women making serious allegations of sexual harassment against one of the Party’s most senior, loved and respected figures.  As the sorry tale unfolded it was clear that the party had failed to deal with the complaints they had made and had failed to let anyone involved in the terrible situation get justice. It became clear that we, as an organisation, had a cultural problem and no idea of how to get our house in order.

As one would expect – if you know Lib Dems at all – the grassroots spoke, and James Shaddock set up a Facebook group called “Rock the Boat.” It grew rapidly and now has over 400 Liberal Democrat members.  The idea was that sometimes you have to say or do uncomfortable things to stop sexual harassment – whether that is to speak out about your own experiences, write policy motions, tell your friends if you think they are behaving inappropriately, or even reflect on your own actions and behaviours and perhaps change them after some soul searching and analysis. Sadly, eleven months ago it became quite obvious that when people had spoken up on sexual harassment, they had been told “Don’t Rock the Boat” – hence the name.

Continue reading »
Tagged , and | 15 Comments
Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 22nd January 2014 - 10:25 am

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

Free Childcare

My colleagues in the Scottish Parliament have been making the case for extending child care provision in Scotland for some time. So the fact that from August 2014 thousands of two-year-olds in Scotland will be entitled a free childcare place for 15 hours a week is excellent news for families across the Borders.

This means that we now catch up with the situation in England where the Liberal Democrats have helped to deliver a similar plan for two years now. The …

Continue reading »
Also posted in Parliament and Scotland | Tagged , , , and | 1 Comment
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Slamdac
    I think it is right for all sensible political parties to rule out reparations. I don't see it ever being politically viable to ask the electorate of 2026 to p...
  • Hywel
    "As a point of info, Flood Re only covers homes built before 1 Jan 2009." Well I learnt something new today! My (former) house (indeed probably all the at r...
  • Simon McGrath
    “ If you have done something wrong, I have no problem in apologising for it. That’s what normal people expect to do“ Ed is right of course. But there ...
  • Simon Robinson
    As a point of info, Flood Re only covers homes built before 1 Jan 2009. That's a very sensible restriction to avoid incentivising building more inadequately pro...
  • Tim
    @Noncom... In London of course most existing houses are already built on a flood plain and that is why we have the barrier. In any case, the main way to get mor...