Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: Three flaws in the Government’s education reforms

By George Potter | Wed 20th March 2013 - 8:55 am

One of the things that seems to characterise Tory ministers in this government is a remarkable attraction to putting ideology and an assumption that they know best ahead of little details like “facts” and “evidence based policy”.

A good example of this comes in the form of Michael Gove’s education reforms which have been characterised by a breathtaking disregard for decades of research into what works and an aversion to listening to anything or anyone who disagrees with the reforms.

Nevertheless, I’d like to highlight the following facts about education. It would be nice if he paid attention:

Starting maths early damages educational

…

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Tagged education and michael gove | 45 Comments

Opinion: The ‘Bedroom Tax’ does not pass the Fairer Society test

By John Coburn | Tue 19th March 2013 - 4:32 pm

The leadership’s positioning over secret courts has angered many of the party faithful over the past week, but for me the major disappointment has been our uncritical support of the Tory inspired ‘spare bedroom subsidy’ policy or how I think more accurately describes it – the ‘bedroom tax’. Our leader Nick Clegg used the provocative ‘spare bedroom subsidy’ term in a Q&A session at last week’s Spring Conference, and it has been repeated by senior Lib Dems including Mike German on Newsnight in the days following.

The policy, which is part of the government’s welfare reform package, will cut the amount …

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Tagged bedroom tax and housing | 48 Comments

Opinion: People don’t care who provides their healthcare

By Simon McGrath | Tue 19th March 2013 - 3:45 pm

The publication of a new poll by ICM for Civitas on the NHS should give encouragement to those in the Lib Dems who believe that we should not be bound by a single provider approach to the NHS. The poll shows that people are proud of the NHS but not concerned by who provides their healthcare.

The key question is:

“It shouldn’t matter whether hospitals or surgeries are run by the government, not-for-profit organisations or the private sector, provided that everyone including the least well-off has access to care”.

83% o agreed with …

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Tagged NHS | 30 Comments

Ming Campbell writes: Britain lost moral authority as a result of its participation in Iraq

By Ming Campbell MP | Tue 19th March 2013 - 2:01 pm

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. We are marking it by publishing reflections on the war and its aftermath by senior Liberal Democrats.

The second is by Ming Campbell.

It is hard now to find anyone who will defend British participation in the American-led invasion of Iraq ten years ago. Labour’s current frontbench seek now only to distance themselves from personal involvement in the decision to go to war and it has been all but airbrushed out of recent Tory history. Even in …

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Tagged featured, iraq and iraq war | 10 Comments

David Heath MP reports back on the CITES conference and global agreement to protect sharks and manta rays

By David Heath MP | Tue 19th March 2013 - 12:55 pm

Much of my work in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs centres on the last two parts of the title, so it’s good just occasionally to be able to make a difference on the other part of the agenda, the environment. I had just such an opportunity last week when I represented the United Kingdom at the meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

I was in Bangkok, Thailand, leading a trade mission on behalf of British meat and livestock to the biggest trade fair in Asia. But the timing meant that …

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Tagged cites, defra and worldwide fund for nature | 1 Comment

Opinion: More than a Fly on the Great Wall

By Merlene Emerson | Tue 19th March 2013 - 11:28 am

Last November I blogged here about my trip to China shortly before the Chinese leadership handover at the 18^th Party Congress. On Sunday 17 March that hand over was finally completed with Xi JinPing installed as President and Li Keqiang as Premier of the world’s emerging second super power.

China watchers have been keen to study the background of these two men to predict the future direction of the Chinese Communist Party under their leadership. Their fluency in the English language and easy manner might suggest that they are more westernised hence would be “modernisers” or “reformers”. I believe it is still early days to be using such labels.

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Tagged china and chinese liberal democrats | 8 Comments

Emma Nicholson writes: Was the war worth it? … a resounding Yes from me

By Baroness Emma Nicholson | Tue 19th March 2013 - 10:16 am

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. We are marking it by publishing reflections on the war and its aftermath by senior Liberal Democrats.

The first, by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, was written in Basrah, Iraq

I am writing this dispatch from a conference in Basrah where the Iraqi Oil Minister has just been outlining plans to spend US$200 billion to rebuild the hydrocarbons industry, in a country where US $1 trillion is earmarked for reconstruction and where in just a few weeks free and fair local elections will be held.

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Tagged iraq war | 53 Comments

Baroness Tyler writes… A strong charitable sector is at the heart of a fairer society

By Claire Tyler | Mon 18th March 2013 - 4:56 pm

A lot of people are talking about what the challenge of creating a stronger economy and a fairer society means in practical terms. I’m going to focus here on the latter. As well as implementing key Lib Dem policies such as the Pupil Premium ,raising the tax-free personal allowance, making childcare more affordable and introducing the new single tier state pension, it’s important we recognise the role charities and voluntary organisations play in helping people going through difficult times as part of a broader approach to social justice. This country has a proud history of charitable activity to …

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Tagged andrew percy, charities aid foundation, comic relief, david blunkett, parliamentary inquiry into growing giving and pupil premium | 11 Comments

Opinion: It’s time to burst the football fans’ ‘bubble’

By Paul Head | Mon 18th March 2013 - 1:00 pm

The travel arrangements for Hull City fans wanting to attend their team’s away trip to Huddersfield later this month probably haven’t caught the attention of too many Lib Dem Voice readers. And why should they?

Here’s why.

West Yorkshire Police (WYP) have decided to make the game a “bubble” match. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular policing tactic, it involves forcing all fans to travel on designated coaches, from specific pick up points, to and from the game. If fans want to make their own way to the game, …

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37 Comments

Libby Local, Episode 13: “Brighton Secrets”

By Libby Local | Sun 17th March 2013 - 2:45 pm

My arrival at Brighton was a something of a financial shock. A huge £3.90 for a coffee in the Metropole. You can buy a coffee and a pint of beer for less than four pounds in Demsbury. A good slug of Pinot Grigio is only a few pence more!

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference was not at all as I expected. I’m an avid conference goer in my professional life, but this conference proved totally different. Okay. I have never encountered so many bad taste yellow ties before. But what struck me most was the diverse group of people, disabled, young, …

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Also posted in Local government | Tagged featured | 6 Comments

I’m a liberal and I’m against this sort of thing. Leveson-style press regulation, that is (as well as secret courts)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 17th March 2013 - 8:55 am

I’ve got used to describing myself as “a liberal first, a Lib Dem second”. Most of the time the Venn diagram works out pretty well. But not the last couple of weeks.

First, there was ‘secret courts’ and the decision by Nick Clegg, backed by most Lib Dem MPs (though not by party members), to extend legal proceedings which directly conflict with natural justice and that elevate the state above the individual.

And now there’s Nick Clegg’s decision, again likely to be backed by most Lib Dem …

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Also posted in News | Tagged featured, leveson inquiry, nick clegg and secret courts | 67 Comments

Opinion: Time for Liberal Democrats to consider new claims about climate change

By Michael Taylor | Sat 16th March 2013 - 4:24 pm

I have just finished reading what for me is the most thought provoking book I have ever read. I was totally unaware until I read The Chilling Stars by Nigel Calder and Henrik Svensmark that not only does the earth move round the sun, but that the sun moves round the Milky Way Galaxy that we live in. The discoveries of Cosmoclimatology turn the accepted theory about climate change on its head. It challenges the prevailing views about climate change held by our party and offers real scientific evidence that there are much larger drivers of climate change …

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Tagged climate change | 78 Comments

Saturday Forum: The Harm Principle

By Joe Otten | Sat 16th March 2013 - 1:31 am

From On Liberty by JS Mill

The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of

…

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Tagged harm principle | 15 Comments

Opinion: Gender blindness or… why we don’t want token women

By Jade Holden and Ewan Hoyle and Eilidh Dickson | Fri 15th March 2013 - 1:21 pm

To the delight of many party members, Mark Pack recently announced his decision to decline invitations to sit on all-male panels at Liberal Democrat fringes, urging other men to take the same course of action. A few of us, however, feel uncomfortable with the suggestion that women should be invited to speak for their contribution to the diversity of the panel, rather than for what they can bring to the debate.

Currently, anybody who is invited to speak at a fringe can be confident that they have been asked – obvious choice or not – because somebody thought they had something …

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Also posted in Conference | Tagged gender equality | 60 Comments

Lord McNally writes… Justice and Security Bill: our authentic and liberal efforts

By Lord Tom McNally | Thu 14th March 2013 - 5:26 pm

I am the last person to argue that you should never resign from a political party. I resigned from the Labour Party just over thirty years ago. I know it to be an intensely personal and often painful decision. So I pass no judgement on those who have decided to leave the Liberal Democrats because of opposition to the Justice and Security Bill. I think I am entitled to ask, however, what kind of Justice and Security Bill we would now be contemplating if either Labour or the Conservatives had been governing alone?

It seems incoherent to me to resign …

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Tagged closed material proceedings, jim callaghan, justice and securuty bill and public interest immunity certificates | 49 Comments

Rosie Wallace talks to Liberal Democrat Voice about her books

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 14th March 2013 - 2:39 pm

Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael’s Twitter account is always good for a laugh. At least, I hope he was joking here…

@mirrorjames Do they use the whole horse I wonder? The odd horse’s head could be useful in the office….

— Alistair Carmichael (@acarmichaelmp) January 15, 2013

It was from Alistair’s Twitter that I discovered that we have an accomplished and talented author in the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Rosie Wallace has written two novels, set in the same small town, about its parliamentarians and their families. She should know …

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Also posted in News | Tagged books, jim wallace, laura grimond, orkney, reviews and rosie wallace | 1 Comment

Opinion: 10 reasons that you will not be able to stamp out the Liberal Democrat “Cockroaches”

By Tom Hancock | Thu 14th March 2013 - 1:34 pm

Since the conception of the coalition government the future of the Liberal Democrats has been one of the biggest talking points in British politics. The conventional wisdom was that they would be annihilated in 2015 as a result of broken promises and the tough decisions of government. Yet the party secured a stunning victory in Eastleigh on the back of 8% national poll ratings, abysmal national council elections and several heavily-reported scandals. Despite these difficult circumstances certain political commentators have claimed that the Liberal Democrats should not celebrate Eastleigh, pointing towards the 14% swing against them. But this is …

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Tagged eastleigh by-election and party strategy | 25 Comments

The boom years were the dream. This is reality

By Nick T | Thu 14th March 2013 - 11:44 am

Pieces of writing can do lots of things: challenge, comfort, exasperate, inform, entertain. Occasionally, though, one reads a piece that, in prose far more clear, lucid and fluent than one’s jumbled thoughts, nonetheless perfectly describes those thoughts.

I’ve long been a fan of The Economist’s David Rennie, and have praised him here on the Voice before. Last summer he took over the paper’s Lexington column (in tragic circumstances), but before that he was for two years British political editor and author of the weekly Bagehot column.

In May last year he wrote one of those columns I describe …

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Tagged david rennie, economy, featured and the economist | 65 Comments

Opinion: Ban barbaric, unnecessary snaring

By Euan Davidson | Thu 14th March 2013 - 10:27 am

One of Liberal Youth Scotland’s campaigns this year has concentrated on encouraging the Scottish Liberal Democrats to adopt a policy to ban snaring. We believe that this practice is barbaric, cruel, indiscriminate and unnecessary.

On Saturday 16^th March, Scottish Liberal Democrat conference will debate an LYS motion calling for a ban on snaring. Scotland has led the way on this issue with the Scottish Government adopting new guidelines in 2008. However research undertaken by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) has shown that 85% of the public are in favour of an outright ban.

One Aberdeenshire Vet …

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Tagged animal welfare, liberal youth scotland, Scotland, Scottish liberal democrat conference and snaring | 7 Comments

Stephen Knight AM writes…Invest now in affordable housing for jobs and growth

By Stephen Knight | Thu 14th March 2013 - 9:32 am

Vince Cable is right to argue that the government should give the economy a fiscal stimulus with increased borrowing to fund infrastructure investment, especially affordable home building. Cable’s argument is sound: the finance is cheap, the multiplier in this kind of investment is relatively large and there is an urgent need to give our flat-lining economy a kick-start.

Investment in affordable housing would provide particular economic benefits in London and the south east, where the shortage of affordable homes is undeniably the single biggest break on the region’s economy.

The UK’s construction industry has massive spare capacity, having shrunk significantly in the …

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Tagged housing | 13 Comments

Opinion: Reflections of a first timer at Conference

By Anthony Hawkes | Wed 13th March 2013 - 2:00 pm

What a first conference! From Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon it did not stop. Sleep seemed to be one luxury too many.

The organisation was far better than I expected. Every event started on time and there were stewards everywhere to help direct you and answer your questions. It was very smooth and professional throughout and everyone I met seemed friendly.

Friday was International Women’s Day and the first event I attended was the Conference rally. Nick Clegg came on and delivered a very good speech addressing the problems of recent weeks. The following speakers (Shirley Williams, Jo Swinson, Lynne Featherstone …

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Tagged liberal democrat conference, nick clegg and tim farron | 9 Comments

Opinion: Ideas are great, but don’t be trapped by ideology

By Graeme Littlejohn | Wed 13th March 2013 - 10:55 am

As though I have regressed to a version of myself more than two decades in the past, a question I often get asked these days is “why did you do it?”

People are interested to discover that despite having a well paid and relatively secure job with the Liberal Democrats in Scotland at a crucial time in our country’s history, and having just bought my first home, I decided to leave it all behind and move to Africa to work for Volunteer Uganda, a charity which strives to alleviate poverty through education.

As a mischievous child, impulsive, some would say reckless, …

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Tagged Scotland, Scottish independence referendum, uganda and volunteer uganda | 18 Comments

Jo Swinson MP writes…Consumers need to be protected from the predatory behaviour of payday lenders

By Jo Swinson MP | Wed 13th March 2013 - 9:28 am

Every MP has seen tragic cases of constituents struggling with debt problems.

Like Mrs S, whose daughter was granted hundreds of pounds of loans, despite not being in employment and suffering from mental health problems. That young woman is now in arrears with 2 different payday lenders. She is being charged high default fees and her situation is getting worse each day.

The Coalition Government is determined to make sure that consumers are properly protected and that payday lenders stop taking advantage of vulnerable people. The evidence of the scale of unscrupulous behaviour by payday lenders and the impact on …

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Tagged financial conduct authority, Jo Swinson, office of fair trading and payday lenders | 5 Comments

Opinion: Is Vince writing for the Economist?

By Joe Otten | Wed 13th March 2013 - 8:13 am

A leader in the latest Economist offers the UK a growth plan that involves structural reforms, infrastructure spending and monetary policy changes while maintaining fiscal discipline. Particular highlights include a more welcoming attitude to talented immigrants, and Land Value Taxation.

The tax system could also be changed to promote growth. One reason why companies sit on development land is because they do not pay taxes until the offices and warehouses are built. It would be much better to tax the land value: that would make hoarding expensive and force owners to sell to someone who can use

…

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Tagged economy, the economist and vince cable | 1 Comment

Do Liberty want rid of their Liberal Democrat members?

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 12th March 2013 - 6:24 pm

I have spent the last few months campaigning hard against secret courts. That’s in no small measure down to the energetic and informative campaign against Part II of the Justice and Security Bill run by Jo Shaw and Martin Tod.

On two occasions, Liberal Democrat Conference has overwhelmingly rejected the Government’s plans. Hundreds of us signed a petition and wrote to MPs and Lords. I don’t intend giving up until this measure is consigned to the dustbin. If it passes into law, I will campaign against it until it’s repealed. Is that a good enough statement of intent?

I am hopping mad …

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Tagged jo shaw, liberty, philippe sands and secret courts | 57 Comments

After prison

By Mary Reid | Tue 12th March 2013 - 1:30 pm

A former journalist, who rose through the political ranks to become a cabinet minister, resigns in the midst of a scandal of his own making, strenuously denies the allegations but is convicted of perverting the course of justice and goes to prison, with his political career and reputation destroyed.

That was the tragedy of Jonathan Aitken, who has been doing the media rounds in the last 24 hours.

I want to tell his story – it happened some years ago so some readers may not remember – because it is a tale of redemption.

The incident that led to his downfall took place in when he was Minister of State for Defence Procurement, but it only came to light in 1995 after he had been promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He accepted hospitality, in the form of nights at the Ritz in Paris, from a Saudi businessman. The Guardian unearthed the story and Granada investigated it further in World in Action documentary.

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Tagged chris huhne, jonathan aitkin and prison reform | 8 Comments

Opinion: Cable’s New Statesman article presents a classic Liberal Democrat dilemma

By David Thorpe | Tue 12th March 2013 - 9:05 am

The reason Vince Cable stood so far above his Labour and Tory counterparts during the financial crisis was his unique combination of economic subtlety and political guile; his rivals possessed those attributes the reverse way around.

In his much mentioned essay in the New Statesman entitled ‘When the facts change should I change my mind?” Cable shines a light on the dilemma serious politicians face in trying to balance the economic and political concerns inherent in policy making.

The essay, which takes its title from a famous JM Keynes quote, debunks a number of the left’s cherished myths, and delivers …

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Tagged economy and vince cable | 6 Comments

Huhne / Pryce: I just don’t see how ‘prison works’ for anyone here

By Stephen Tall | Tue 12th March 2013 - 8:10 am

His crime was speeding then lying (and lying some more). Her crime was lying and self-immolating revenge. Last night they spent their first night in prison.

Few people will spare much sympathy for either Chris Huhne or Vicky Pryce. They are, as Mr Justice Sweeney said yesterday when sentencing the pair to eight months each, the architects of their own downfall. Though I also think it would take a particularly stony heart not to look at the ashen-faced photos of them, besieged by a mob-handed press as their humiliation is played out in real-time in the full glare of publicity, and …

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Also posted in News | Tagged chris huhne, crime, prisons and vicky pryce | 48 Comments

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