Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: Art for Wealth’s sake

By Simon de Deney | Wed 8th May 2013 - 11:58 am

Pity the artists. The writers, sculptors, composers, musicians and actors. We believed we were struggling in our 21st century garrets, eking out an existence, surviving on our day jobs. At least we were suffering for our art. Only it turns out that we have been bitterly deluded. The latest report from Arts Council England (ACE) demonstrates with forensically gathered evidence and logic that we’re off the scale when it comes to ROI (that’s Return On Investment as any thespian will now tell you).

Outperforming

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR)’s study for ACE shows ACE gets less than 0.1% of …

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Tagged arts, arts council of england and economy | 11 Comments

The Independent View: CentreForum’s three headliners for an alternative Queen’s Speech

By Tom Frostick | Wed 8th May 2013 - 10:45 am

The Queen’s Speech today looks set to be a relatively sedate affair. As Stephen Tall observes, “the Coalition is now pretty much intellectually dead” when it comes to its legislative agenda. Enthusiasm for pushing new ideas has been replaced with a business like determination to deliver what is already underway.

The content of the Queen’s Speech is nonetheless important. It will shape what happens over the course of the next parliamentary session, and will therefore influence the outcome of the General Election. If CentreForum had the privilege of writing the Speech, we would focus on three headline issues in particular: …

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged centre forum, higher education, immigration, planning and queen's speech | 13 Comments

Opinion: Save criminal legal aid

By Geoff Payne | Wed 8th May 2013 - 10:25 am

Having just savaged civil Legal Aid, the Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation paper containing proposals that would do the same in crime. I declare an interest (I am a barrister practising in cases of serious fraud) but I hope that this at least qualifies me to highlight the devastating impact these proposals would have.

The Importance of the right Verdict

For those accused of a crime, representation by a tenacious, high quality lawyer of your choice, as provided currently, is fundamental. Even minor convictions can cost someone their good character and livelihood. A prison sentence can cost them everything. …

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Tagged legal aid | 35 Comments

Let’s play fantasy Queen’s Speech

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 8th May 2013 - 9:25 am

With hours to go before the Queen lets us know the Government’s legislative plans for the year ahead, I thought it might be a good idea to ask you for just one idea you would like to see in the Government’s legislative programme.

Liberal Democrats are likely to wince at further curbs on immigration, but be pleased at the presence of Steve Webb’s pension reforms and at the absence of draconian plans to require companies to keep records of every website we visit and every email we send.

But if you were writing the speech, what would you put in it?

I’d go …

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Also posted in News | Tagged queen's speech | 4 Comments

Opinion: Saving what’s left of Syria

By Joe Bourke | Tue 7th May 2013 - 5:15 pm

President Obama and the European Union continue to agonise over whether to lift the arms embargo on Syrian rebels.

The al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra control several areas and bring Sunni Islamic law, religious persecution and ethnic cleansing under their slogan of “The Alawites to the grave and the Christians to Beirut.”

Israel strikes the Assad regime even as Iran and Hezbollah equip and train a rump Alawite militia in preparation for the fall of the regime.

The western democracies mull over no-fly zones and safe havens while Russia continues to transport weapons to Assad’s forces.

The lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan loom large …

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Tagged syria | 53 Comments

Adrian Sanders writes: Behind Blue Eyes

By Adrian Sanders | Tue 7th May 2013 - 2:31 pm

Both UKIP and the Conservative Party fear the exposure of the truth of what lies behind the image UKIP have so successfully deployed.

It is a truth that on the one hand explains why UKIP would be opposed to what they perceive as big government – the European Union – but it also exposes the designs its ideological founders have for the UK economy and our welfare state, and that is where their problem lies.

It is a truth both parties would prefer hidden as it could encourage even more Conservative

…

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Tagged ukip | 27 Comments

Opinion: Lessons from the local elections – a Congolese point of view

By David Lloyd Mayala | Tue 7th May 2013 - 11:00 am

Last week local elections took place up and down the UK. As local elections go, I know these caused more of a stir than most because of the UK Independence Party’s strong showing. The elections also prompted much personal interest for me as this was the first time I rolled up my sleeves and got involved in political campaigning in the UK.

Coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, elections and the electoral process are in their infancy. Since our nation’s chaotic independence from Belgium in 1960, there have been only two multiparty national elections. The one-party government under the 32 …

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Tagged democratic republic of congo and local elections 2013 | 5 Comments

Opinion: Miliband’s VAT cut plan is deeply regressive and economically harmful

By David Thorpe | Mon 6th May 2013 - 8:30 pm

Ed Miliband’s recent declaration that a future Labour government would seek economic growth through a VAT cut is a disappointing deviation from the recent raft of progressive policies announced by Labour.

Miliband has charted a carefully centrist course for his party- embracing economically liberal ideas, such as the mansion tax, and agreeing with the Liberal Democrats on Heathrow expansion, and ID cards.

In these and other areas Miliband has shown himself to be closer to the Orange Book than the Red Flag, that’s why his proposal to cut VAT is a deeply disappointing return to the “conservative” (Tony …

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54 Comments

A Tory-Ukip pact? Up to you, guys. But you do know there’s an easier way, right?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 6th May 2013 - 3:35 pm

Ukip’s spectacular showing at last week’s local elections has got the Tories spooked. The full realisation is sinking in that this may not be a one-off eruption of popular protest.

Nigel Farage’s band of modern-life-is-rubbish disciples will likely top next year’s Euro polls. Such momentum may propel them towards a double-digit general election performance in 2015. If so, the Tories’ hope of a majority is dead: Ed Miliband will become prime minister as leader of the largest single party.

Though the local elections were scarcely a bundle of laughs for …

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Tagged conservative party, ConservativeHome, featured, nigel farage, tim bale and ukip | 47 Comments

Newbury by-election: 20 years on

By Paul Walter | Mon 6th May 2013 - 12:53 pm

Today is the twentieth anniversary of the Newbury by-election victory for the Liberal Democrats on May 6th 1993.

It seems appropriate to thank all the Liberal Democrats who came to help in that campaign, to pay tribute once again to the party’s by-election machine, to its driving genius, Chris Rennard, and to David Rendel. David was, for twelve years, a first class MP for Newbury. He continues to be an inspiration as a model of liberalism and selfless integrity.

It seems a good day to report that the flame of …

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Tagged by-elections, david rendel, newbury and ukip | 4 Comments

The Independent View: Don’t judge my family, David Cameron!

By Julianne Marriott | Mon 6th May 2013 - 8:55 am

The Prime Minister has confirmed his intention to introduce a tax break for married couples before the end of this parliament. The tax break would be worth about £150 a year and would go to around a third of married couples: only those where one plays the role of breadwinner and the other is a homemaker.

Let’s be clear – this policy is not about supporting children: only 35% of the families who would gain from the policy have children, and only 17% have children under 5. …

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Also posted in The Independent View | 8 Comments

Rape anonymity for the accused: well-intentioned but wrong

By Stephen Tall | Sun 5th May 2013 - 5:40 pm

Rape anonymity — the right of the accused in rape cases to have their identity kept secret — is in the news again today, after Conservative MP and deputy speaker Nigel Evans was named publicly following his arrest on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.

The Coalition Agreement said the Government would ‘extend anonymity in rape cases to defendants’. Though the pledge hadn’t been included in either party’s manifestos, it was Lib Dem policy, agreed at the 2006 party conference. The Lib Dems’ then home office minister Lynne Featherstone …

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Also posted in News | Tagged christopher jefferies, law, nigel evans, rape and stuart hall | 24 Comments

The Independent View: Rumble in the Jungle as Cable takes on Tarzan

By Ed Cox | Sun 5th May 2013 - 2:30 pm

After all the warm words and soft soap on Lord Heseltine’s No Stone Unturned report, in an interview with The Northern Echo, Business Secretary Vince Cable broke ranks this week and poured cold water on any great hopes of any significant new devolution deal.

In the Budget in March the Chancellor of the Exchequer offered general approval for Heseltine’s plans stating that more details of the government’s response, not least the amount of departmental funding that would be channelled into the Single Local Growth Fund, would be announced in June’s Spending Review.

Heseltine has identified departmental funding …

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged comprehensive spending review 2013, michael heseltine and vince cable | 3 Comments

A Labour Party member writes… The 2015 General Election will NOT be a disaster for the Liberal Democrats

By Timothy Sykes | Sat 4th May 2013 - 3:45 pm

Timothy Sykes is a Labour Party member at the University in Hull. Here he offers his take on what the local elections mean for the Lib Dems…

In the 2013 local elections, the Liberal Democrats did much better than many people were expecting. The loss of 124 council seats is less of a mid-term slump than the significant loses inflicted upon the Conservatives, or the disastrous election results that Labour suffered in 2009. The only clear winner was UKIP, which really had an astonishing night, gaining around 140 seats.

The reason the Lib Dems did not suffer quite as embarrassing a defeat …

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Tagged local elections 2013 | 19 Comments

What the 2013 local elections mean – for the Lib Dems and the next election (and beyond)

By Stephen Tall | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 7:15 pm

Well, it could have been worse.

The BBC calculates that the Lib Dems have finished these local elections with the loss of a net 124 councillors, slightly better than the projected loss of 130 according to the Rallings and Thrasher model I said the results could best be judged by.

The Tories have done slightly worse (actual loss of 335 councillors compared to a projected loss of 310); while Labour has disappointed its own supprters (an actual gain of 291 councillors compared to the projected gain of 350).

There’s no doubt which party is the biggest winner: Ukip, by an …

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Tagged featured and local elections 2013 | 79 Comments

Opinion: Ironically, the rise of UKIP makes Britain a more European place

By Giles Goodall | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 7:00 pm

UKIP’s relative success in the English local elections and South Shields by-election this week has met with predictable reactions across the political spectrum: from copycat politics and jealousy on the Tory right, to handwringing and downright despair on the centre left.

But while UKIP has succeeded in hoovering up disenchanted Tories by the thousand, its appeal is clearly much broader. In fact, the rise of UKIP’s populist anti-politics replicates a pattern played out across Europe since the crisis hit, from the Danish People’s Party to Italy’s Beppe Grillo. Ironically, with …

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged denmark, eu, europe, featured, local elections 2013 and ukip | 25 Comments

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Finance Officer: Rory Roberson

By Rory Roberson | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 4:00 pm

Writing this in the wake of running an election campaign in Worcestershire I can say with little doubt that money is absolutely vital for the smooth running of a campaigning force and Liberal Youth desperately needs to become a better campaigning force.

But first a little about myself, I have been involved in politics for a number of years now and have been involved in a full campaign a year since joining the party at Aberystwyth University in 2009, a trend that looks as if it will not finish anytime soon. As well as this I have …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged #lyelects, liberal youth and liberal youth elections 2013 | Leave a comment

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… England Convenor: Stuart Wheatcroft

By Stuart Wheatcroft | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 3:30 pm

I have been a member of the Liberal Democrats since the end of 2005. Despite this, I had no serious involvement with Liberal Youth until early 2012. Liberal Youth was not an effective organisation nationally, and in my area it was non-existent.

A huge amount of progress has been made. Liberal Youth’s contribution to the campaign in Eastleigh has been widely recognised. The momentum has been continued through the Gold Guard project, with action days in key seats around the country and a huge membership engagement push at every level of the organisation. More must be done, but there has been …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged #lyelects, england convenor, liberal youth and liberal youth elections 2013 | Leave a comment

Liberal Youth Elections 2013…England Convenor: Rich Clare

By Richard Clare | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 3:00 pm

It’s that time of year again – time for the young Liberals to choose their executive. I’m standing for Convenor of LY England and I have two main aims: to protect and expand Liberal Youth’s resources by promoting us within the Federal and English parties, and to turn us into more of a campaigning force across the country. Although I have two years’ experience as branch chair in Sheffield Hallam, I am not part of the LY ‘clique’ – if I become the new Convenor, I will be a fresh …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged #lyelects, england convenor, liberal youth and liberal youth elections 2013 | Leave a comment

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Chair: Callum Leslie

By Callum Leslie | Fri 3rd May 2013 - 2:30 pm

For the past 18 months, I’ve been wrestling with the possibility of leaving the party. As the party leadership continues to ignore party policy and members’ wishes, we have to sit through the bedroom tax, secret courts, the NHS debacle, shares for rights, tuition fees and more. The position of conference as the sovereign body of the party by which all are bound is all but extinguished.

About two weeks ago, I came to a realisation. Having been a party member since I was 14 and a candidate …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged #lyelects, liberal youth and liberal youth elections 2013 | 5 Comments

What you get from Liberal Democrat Councillors – a record of action

By The Voice | Thu 2nd May 2013 - 9:58 am

Liberal Democrats around the country are taking to the streets or phones to get out the vote. Here’s Lib Dem HQ in sunny Ludlow.

From the Liberal Democrat website:

The Liberal Democrats are building a stronger economy in a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life.

Our councillors have proud records locally, standing up for local people:

No library will be closed in any Lib Dem-run or Lib Dem-led authorities this year

Northumberland County Council, Portsmouth and Stockport are opening new ones

Liberal Democrats are helping businesses and customers to get their economies

…

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Tagged local elections | Leave a comment

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 1st May 2013 - 10:28 am

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

Better Together

Last week the UK Government published its second Scotland Analysis paper, this time analysing the currency options for an independent Scotland. It set out four main currency choices: firstly, negotiating a formal sterling currency union with the continuing UK; secondly, adopting the pound without the formal consent of the continuing UK; thirdly, joining the euro area; or fourthly introducing an independent Scottish currency.

The paper sets out that all of these options would not be as …

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Also posted in Parliament and Scotland | Tagged Michael Moore and Westminster Notes | Leave a comment

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Finance Officer: Tommy Long

By Tommy Long | Tue 30th April 2013 - 3:00 pm

Supposedly Liberal Youth’s funding is under threat. I’ve never seen anything official but I’m always being told by one person or another that our donors aren’t overly impressed with our performance and are seriously reconsidering whether to let us manage our own finances any more.

This has to stop. Uncertainty means that we cannot properly plan our spending. Perhaps it’s fair to say that we haven’t always done an incredible job with our money-management in the past but as liberals don’t we accept that people do their best when they’re trusted and supported to make their own decisions?

I strongly believe that …

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Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Finance Officer: James King and Robin McGhee

By James King and Robin McGhee | Tue 30th April 2013 - 2:30 pm

Neither of us have ever had much to do with Liberal Youth. We are experienced activists and party officers who were impressed by the potential of Liberal Youth next year and thought we’d have a punt at being Finance Officer. We hope our experience and total lack of ambition will mean we can serve the organisation humbly and well, protecting and improving its finances as we have done together in our student branch.

We met at Oxford University where we eventually ascended to the co-chairmancy of the university branch of the party. In those dim and distant years (2011) Oxfordshire didn’t …

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Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Non Portfolio Officer: Daniel Lewis

By Daniel Lewis | Tue 30th April 2013 - 2:00 pm

I am running for NPO because I believe I have the skills to help the rest of the exec out in a wide range of areas. My pitch runs on three themes: commitment, experience and ideas. For full details visit my website.

Commitment

Throughout my time in the party I have shown myself willing to help out at short notice on all manner of tasks. From getting up at 5am one Sunday a month to make sure an entire ward was delivered in a day to upping sticks to Eastleigh for 2 weeks this February I have a record of …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged #lyelects, liberal youth, liberal youth elections 2013 and non portfolio officer | Leave a comment

Opinion: Welfare reform and poverty

By Paul Reynolds | Tue 30th April 2013 - 10:55 am

Recently on Lib Dem Voice I wrote a short article arguing for equal reform emphasis between poverty alleviation through welfare, and longer term actual poverty reduction including inter-generational poverty reduction . It seems to me that in times of budget squeeze, the means for reducing the need for welfare – social safety net – in the first place, are worth re-thinking. (To pre-empt objections I am not arguing against the provision of welfare, or for a reduction in weekly welfare payments, or for exclusionary policies).

The really difficult challenge for policy in reducing poverty and the need for welfare is …

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Tagged welfare reform | 4 Comments

While David Cameron and Owen Jones unite in favour of universal benefits, I want us to get explicit about why redistribution matters to society

By Stephen Tall | Tue 30th April 2013 - 8:30 am

It’s an odd coalition: left-wing commentator Owen Jones and Tory leader David Cameron united as one. Yet that unlikely alliance was formed yesterday, as both defended universal benefits for wealthy pensioners and both fought shy of asserting the importance of redistribution.

David Cameron’s defence was in response to Iain Duncan Smith’s rather odd suggestion that the answer to millionaires getting a fuel allowance is that they should voluntarily hand it back to the government. Those trusty ‘sources close to the Prime Minister’ briefed journalists that IDS was on …

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Also posted in News | Tagged david cameron, owen jones and universal benefits | 28 Comments

Opinion: Just 0.001% of pensioners hand back their Winter Fuel Payment

By Stuart Bonar | Mon 29th April 2013 - 5:35 pm

Interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith urged wealthy pensioners who do not need the universal benefits they receive to hand them back to the State.

What he didn’t say in that interview, or at least it isn’t reported, is that pensioners are able currently to inform the Government they do not want to receive, for example, the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP). Some already have, but do you know how many? I got hold of the numbers last week thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.

Over 12.6 million people receive the WFP, …

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Tagged universal benefits and winter fuel payment | 15 Comments

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Policy Officer: Will Dyer

By William Dyer | Mon 29th April 2013 - 4:30 pm

Over the last twelve months, as Liberal Youth’s Policy Officer, I served under four different Liberal Youth Chairs, on two Federal Policy Committee terms, though 3 different sets of Liberal Youth elections and worked with over 20 different executive officers.

It is fair to say that Liberal Youth has been through a turbulent time over the last 12 months but look what we have achieved.

Our increased involvement in major by-elections and the up-coming local elections, (which has not gone unnoticed by our minsters in government), an increased turnout at Liberal Youth elections and for the first time since I have been …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged #lyelects, liberal youth, liberal youth elections 2013 and policy officer | Leave a comment

Opinion: Rearguard action and damage limitation are poor substitutes for a coherent Liberal Democrat strategy on Equality and Human Rights.

By Robin Lynn | Mon 29th April 2013 - 3:25 pm

The Government’s partial U-turn on Section 3 of the Equality Act needs to be seen against a backdrop of other changes to the equality and related social justice legislation. These include:

• New restrictions on the ability to challenge the state with restrictions to judicial review

• Tribunals fees of up to £1,200 coming in this summer

• An Increase of the general unfair dismissal qualification from 1 to 2 years

• Reductions in the consultation period for redundancy

• The end of crucial protections in discrimination such as questionnaires and protection from 3rd party harassment

• Legal aid providers and face to face legal advice slashed …

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Tagged echr, equallity and human rights | 12 Comments