Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: 21st Century Britain will need the European Union

By Sean O'Curneen | Fri 26th April 2013 - 2:50 pm

Britain’s fraught relationship with the EU is perfectly rational. Think of it this way:

– if I have a problem and you solve it for me, I will like you;

– if you create a problem for me, I will not like you;

– if you solve a problem that I don’t have, I might like you, but I don’t need you.

This is exactly what lies at the heart of Britain’s relationship with the EU. Let’s consider what problems the EU solves:

All nation states need to trade their goods. Membership of the EU provides access to the Single Market, the largest market in

…

Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged european union | 12 Comments

Fraser Nelson attacks pupil premium using report that, erm, doesn’t attack pupil premium

By Stephen Tall | Fri 26th April 2013 - 12:55 pm

Fraser Nelson is in bold form today: Spending more doesn’t improve public services.

His basis for this judgement is a report prepared for the Department for Education by Deloitte (available here). If there’s a headline conclusion it’s the fairly uncontentious point that simply spending money on schools does not, in itself, guarantee good outcomes. It matters at least as much how you spend it.

So far, so obvious. And if Fraser’s article had stuck to that basic conclusion it would’ve been fine. But he wanted to make a …

Tagged deloitte, department for education, featured, fraser nelson and pupil premium | 12 Comments

Welfare Reform – are we missing the Big Picture?

By Paul Reynolds | Fri 26th April 2013 - 9:21 am

The welfare system is a vital part of any modern democracy. The general UK public want people protected from absolute poverty. We invented it – arising from our liberal reformist abhorrence of concurrent poverty and extreme wealth. Unfortunately it became central to big-state socialists’ social engineering policies. It has become a vast industry, with such complexity that its original aims have been all but lost. Amidst the financial crisis it falls to us, its inventors, to overhaul the sprawling system and propose major post-Coalition reforms..

Current Tory reforms aim to reduce complexity and cut the size of the welfare bill – …

Tagged welfare reform | 13 Comments

Julian Huppert MP writes…I agree with Nick. He’s right to kill the Snoopers’ Charter

By Julian Huppert | Thu 25th April 2013 - 9:35 am

On 18th March 2010 Nick Clegg gave a speech to Privacy International about Lib Dem plans to roll back the surveillance state. He said:

The Conservatives talk a good game on privacy but scratch beneath the surface and it is clear they cannot be trusted to roll back Labour’s surveillance state… Only the Liberal Democrats will bring an end to the endless snooping on innocent people.

We committed ourselves at the last election to ending ID cards, curbing CCTV and stopping the Home Office encroachment into our lives. Enough of citizens as suspects. Enough of “endless snooping” by the Government.

One of our …

Tagged communications data bill, draft communications data bill, nick clegg and snoopers charter | 17 Comments

Opinion: Cash for coffees and rights for shares

By Alexander Ehmann | Wed 24th April 2013 - 3:29 pm

This morning I purchased a coffee. Not a very eventful start you might think, but if you’ll allow me, I’d like to dwell on the transaction. The deal with the establishment from which I purchased the coffee, was that in exchange for my ability to leave the store with their product, I had to exchange £3.50 for the privilege. In a functioning free market economy, such exchanges are made willingly by the buyer and seller alike. The key to this relationship is choice. Indeed, I had many choices – whether I needed the product, where to buy the coffee from and what price I …

Tagged employment law, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill and shares for rights | 55 Comments

Opinon: The Liberal Reconfiguration. Thoughts inspired by the One Nation Labour conference

By Nick Tyrone | Wed 24th April 2013 - 12:23 pm

Last week, my job took me to the One Nation Labour conference at Queen Mary, University of London. There I saw a series of lectures followed by Q&A’s on what the future direction of the Labour party should and should not be. It was a fascinating day – the Lib Dem baiting they have gotten used to falling back on has (mostly) stopped and there seems to be an honest appraisal under way within Labour’s ranks about how they want to move forward. Of most interest to Lib Dems, and indeed liberals of all self-applied stripes, were ideas around …

Tagged labour party and liberalism | 34 Comments

Opinion: A reference article for the Communications Data bill

By Dr Jenny Woods | Wed 24th April 2013 - 9:37 am

Back in February 2012, I became concerned about rumours of proposed new legislation which would put in place the means for monitoring all UK citizens’ online and mobile communications – legislation which had previously been thrown out as unworkable by opposition parties when the last Labour government tried something similar.

I wrote a policy amendment, appended to Julian Huppert’s Spring 2012 Conference motion on civil liberties, setting out what I hoped would be a good Liberal Democrat position against those – then unseen – proposals. If I’d known then what was to be …

Tagged civil liberties and communications data bill | 1 Comment

We should drop the ban on political advertising on TV

By Stephen Tall | Wed 24th April 2013 - 8:25 am

This week saw the failure of the attempt by Animal Defenders International to overturn the the UK’s ban political advertising on radio and television. The Guardian reports:

By a narrow majority decision, judges at the European court of human rights in Strasbourg have ruled that preventing the broadcast of a commercial – showing a girl in chains in a chimpanzee’s cage – did not violate freedom of expression. …

The animal rights group lost its appeals in both the high court and the House of Lords before

…

Tagged animal defenders international, party funding and political advertising | 9 Comments

Lord McNally writes… Liberal Democrats can be proud of the Defamation Bill

By Lord Tom McNally | Tue 23rd April 2013 - 8:50 am

Yesterday I published a new government amendment to the Defamation Bill which will strengthen the “serious harm” test already in the bill to make it more difficult for corporations to sue for libel. This new amendment makes it clear that a body trading for profit will only satisfy the serious harm test if it is able to show that the statement complained of has caused or is likely to case the body serious financial loss. This is almost identical to the original clause Anthony Lester proposed in his private members bill. This will make it clear that bodies trading for …

Tagged anthony lester, defamation bill, libel reform and nick clegg | 6 Comments

Lord Anthony Lester writes: Free speech is the lifeblood of democracy

By Lord Anthony Lester | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 6:58 pm

When I began drafting my private member’s bill to reform the law of libel in early 2010, with the help of the Libel Reform Campaign, the Lib Dems were the only party committed to reform, having grasped the chilling effect on free speech caused by the vagueness and uncertainty of the law, and the extortionate legal costs which accompany it.

By the time of the election that year, successful campaigning meant that all three main parties included libel reform in their manifesto commitments.

A pledge to reform libel law to better protect freedom of expression was included in the coalition agreement, and …

Tagged anthony lester and libel reform | 5 Comments

Review: April’s AD LIB goes high tech and has Paddy, campaign success and Conference confessions

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 12:13 pm

So, finally, I get around to reading April’s AD LIB which has a very clear agenda: getting us out on the doorsteps or on the phones talking to people. This month’s edition of the Party’s new monthly magazine is also available in digital form to all members. I have it open on my iPad, iPhone and PC as I write. It’s a bit fiddly on the phone, and it took me a while to work out how to find my way around. On the iPad it really is a thing of beauty but a bit erratic to negotiate …

Tagged ad lib magazine and reviews | 1 Comment

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP…Part 2: Problems at the Home Office

By Mark Pack | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 10:25 am

Dear Jeremy,

In part 1 I explained why the Interception of Communications Commissioner is a failed regulator and one the Home Office should be fixing, yet your civil servants have been reluctant to do so. That should give a pause for thought about the proposals Home Office civil servants keep on pushing to extend the ability of the government to snoop on what we do online.

So too should the way in which the Home Office regularly changes its views of what counts as being in the national interest or vital for the fight against crime, and indeed makes outlandish claims …

Tagged communications data bill, freedom of information, information commissioner, Interception of Communications Commissioner, jeremy browne and Mark Pack | 3 Comments

Opinion: Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference supports retention of Section 3 of the Equality Act

By Robin Lynn | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 8:55 am

At the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference in Cardiff yesterday, a comfortable majority of representatives carried a motion urging that Lib Dem peers be allowed to vote with their consciences on amendment 35 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. By so allowing, the party will send out the signal that our commitment to equality and human rights is undiminished despite being in coalition with a party whose commitment is at best questionable.

Amendment 35 was originally moved in the Lords by disability campaigner Baroness Jane Campbell and passed in March, supported by Labour, cross Benchers, a majority of Lib Dem peers, …

Tagged Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, equality, equality act, welsh liberal democrat conference and welsh liberal democrats | 6 Comments

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP on civil liberties… Part 1: The failed regulator

By Mark Pack | Sun 21st April 2013 - 10:00 am

Dear Jeremy

I doubt that in amongst all the ludicrously large number of issues that pass across the desk of a minister, and a Home Office one no less, you will have noticed a small victory I scored over the Home Office recently.

But I hope you’ll give a pause for thought to the implications of the ruling the Information Commissioner made in my favour over the Home Office (decision notice reference FS50469527).

Partly it’s because of what it says about the never-quite-dead proposals for a huge expansion of monitoring of our online activity. Partly it’s because of what the case reveals …

Tagged communications data bill, freedom of information, home office, information commissioner and Interception of Communications Commissioner | 3 Comments

Martin Horwood MP writes… 1000 days of hunger

By Martin Horwood | Tue 16th April 2013 - 5:10 pm

The first thousand days of a child’s life – from conception through to their second birthday – are full of moments to cherish. First birthdays, first steps, first words. Whether these events are captured on film, or retold to maximum embarrassment in later years, they are treasured milestones in a child’s life.

A report published yesterday by UNICEF reminds us that those first thousand days aren’t only precious, they are the most critical in shaping a child’s future. Their health, their growth, their ability to learn and even their potential to earn are shaped during this period by one crucial …

Tagged child poverty, G8 and unicef | 2 Comments

Large supermarkets are hoarding good housing land

By Mary Reid | Tue 16th April 2013 - 2:31 pm

A large site which has been earmarked by a council for residential housing, but owned by a major supermarket chain, has been lying derelict for 11 years. At a time of pressing housing need, this is a scandal.

Perhaps you know of similar cases to my story. If so, share them in the comments. Does anyone know how much land is being hoarded in this way?

In 2002 Tesco bought a redundant Ministry of Defence site in Tolworth, which lies within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in the southwest corner of Greater …

Tagged featured, housing and Supermarkets | 14 Comments

Opinion: Putting the political back in economy

By Joe Bourke | Tue 16th April 2013 - 10:59 am

“The Liberal Democrats are working for a stronger economy in a fairer society enabling every person to get on in life.” What key policies will reinforce this simple message? How do we ensure that economic liberalism supports and advances social democracy?

My answer to these questions lies with the words of J K Galbraith – “economics does not usefully exist apart from politics. The separation of economics from politics and political motivation is a sterile thing. It is also a cover for the reality of economic power and motivation. And it is a prime source of misjudgement and error in economic …

Tagged economy | 16 Comments

The Independent View: How the Payments Council is delivering a payments system for all

By Adrian Kamellard | Mon 15th April 2013 - 11:55 am

Since the beginning of the financial crisis there has been real appetite for reform into how our financial sector works and how we want it to operate. The Liberal Democrats have played an important part in this, both from within Government as well as from the backbenches.

During its time in office, the Coalition has already introduced a Financial Services Act into law and is currently legislating for a Banking Reform Bill. In addition, there is also the ongoing Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, which I appeared in front of in late January.

Not only is Danny Alexander ensuring the Party’s view …

Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged banking, financial services and payments | 4 Comments

Rebecca Taylor MEP writes…Electronic Cigarettes: No smoke, but lots of fiery debate

By Rebecca Taylor | Mon 15th April 2013 - 8:55 am

You may have heard rumblings that “the EU wants to ban electronic cigarettes”. This is not entirely true; the new EU tobacco directive proposes regulating electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) under medicines legislation and there is fiery debate as to whether this is appropriate.
During the last few years e-cigarettes, devices resembling a cigarette or a pen/torch which enable the inhalation of nicotine containing vapour, have sprung up across Europe including in the UK.
Many e-cigarette users call their habit “vaping” and some prefer to call their devices “personal vaporisers” or PVs. E-cigarettes use a liquid containing nicotine, the addictive component of tobacco, but …

Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged e-cigarettes and european parliament | 41 Comments

Opinion: A radical approach to welfare – forget changing benefits

By Mark Pack | Sat 13th April 2013 - 11:47 am

The word ‘radical’ is to welfare reform what a pot of paint is to a wall full of cracks. The less you really know what to do to fix things, the more you slap it about all over the place in the hope that it will cover up things.

When you peer carefully at the detail of what is said after the roaring demand for radical reforms, you see what usually follows is either an absence of quite what form the radical action should take (‘radical, radical, we must be radical; just please don’t ask me how’) or simply by a …

Tagged welfare reform | 19 Comments

Opinion: The ERR Bill….time for some masterly inactivity

By Robin Lynn | Sat 13th April 2013 - 9:25 am

On Tuesday April 16 the ping-pong stage of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will commence in the Commons. As readers of LDV will be aware the majority of Lib Dem peers supported Baroness Jane Campbell’s amendment to the section of the bill that proposed the repeal of S3 of the Equality Act 2006, the section that sets out the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s central purpose. As has been eloquently pointed out by Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece and many others there is a clear read-across between S3 and the preamble to our Federal Constitution. There are however …

Tagged equality act | 10 Comments

Senior politician defends amnesty for illegal immigrants

By Nick T | Thu 11th April 2013 - 5:59 pm

Heard on Radio 4’s PM earlier

BBC Reporter: But why should millions of illegal immigrants be given an amnesty to stay here?

Senior politician: Why should millions of illegal immigrants have to continue to live and work in the shadows?

14 Comments

Blair misses the point on the pre-crisis deficit

By Nick T | Thu 11th April 2013 - 2:34 pm

Writing in this month’s centenary issue of the New Statesman, former prime minister Tony Blair writes:

Labour should be very robust in knocking down the notion that it “created” the crisis. In 2007/2008 the cyclically adjusted current Budget balance was under 1 per cent of GDP. Public debt was significantly below 1997. Over the whole 13 years, the debt-to-GDP ratio was better than the Conservative record from 1979-97. Of course there is a case for saying a tightening around 2005 would have been more prudent. But the effect of this

…

Tagged austerity and economy | 52 Comments

Thatcher, Blair and the Road to Serfdom

By Joe Otten | Thu 11th April 2013 - 12:55 pm

Among yesterday’s many predictable tributes to Margaret Thatcher on both sides of the house, one from Labour MP Gisela Stuart caught my ear. (Hansard)

Whole generations have forgotten what 1979 was like. I came here from Germany in the 1970s. I know that Margaret Thatcher would not want us not to learn any lessons from the battles that she had fought—some lost, some won, and some which continue. I am thinking in particular of the role of the market. It is interesting that Margaret Thatcher considered that Hayek’s book “The Road to Serfdom” should be compulsory reading. Many Government

…

Tagged constitution of liberty, Gisela Stuart, margaret thatcher, road to serfdom, the spirit level and tony blair | 20 Comments

Opinion: The depressing reality of the Paris Brown case

By Nick Sutton | Wed 10th April 2013 - 11:05 am

After an extraordinarily brutal last few days, 17 year old Youth Police Commissioner Paris Brown resigned from her post at Kent Police. In her resignation statement, she said that she was ‘quitting in the interests of the young people of Kent’ after supposed racist and homophobic tweets dating back a number of years had been found by Daily Mail journalists and ran with by several other major news organisations.

There is no doubting that the tweets themselves were offensive. At no point is it acceptable to engage in homophobic or racist behaviour and the comments should not be made by someone …

Tagged paris brown and youth police commissioner | 23 Comments

Opinion: Is UKIP a threat to community cohesion?

By David Hennigan | Wed 10th April 2013 - 8:47 am

Much has been made of the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party under Nigel Farage. Watch any of Mr Farage’s rabble rousing appearances on Question Time and one might feel that here is a man who speaks common sense. A man on your side – a party ready to change the three party system in this country.

Delve a bit deeper into UKIP and you’ll see a slightly sinister side more akin to the Far Right. It was only 3 years ago that, at the invitation of Lord Pearson (then UKIP Leader), the Dutch Far Right politician Geert Wilders showed an anti-Islam film in the House of Lords. Cheered on by the English Defence League, UKIP claimed that this was a victory for free speech and common sense.

Tagged immigration, manchester and ukip | 94 Comments

Opinion: Dr Strangelove: or how I got utterly fed up with the Left

By Jack Williams | Tue 9th April 2013 - 1:29 pm

Yesterday Margaret Thatcher died.

Predictably social media exploded with chatter about the passing of an epoch-defining politician. Perhaps it says something about the kind of people I associate with, that I found myself reading one comment after another proclaiming “Ding dong the witch is dead”. Some of my Facebook ‘friends’ have even posted grinning photographs of themselves celebrating the happy event.

Whatever it says about my social circle, it says plenty about the Left.

I grew up in a left-wing household. My parents were of the CND generation, Labour party members who supported the miners’ strikes. I had only just started school when …

Tagged featured and margaret thatcher | 153 Comments

Julian Huppert writes … We all need to do our bit to Back Britain’s Charities

By Julian Huppert | Tue 9th April 2013 - 11:17 am

Since becoming an MP three years ago I’ve developed a greater understanding of the work that charities do, and a true recognition of the important role they play in creating and strengthening communities. In Cambridge, for example, charities such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Samaritans are there to offer support when people have nowhere else to turn, and many provide niche services to people who would otherwise slip through the net.

Tagged charities, charities aid foundation and gift aid | 8 Comments

Opinion: Should we change the way sport is funded, or risk the health, and economy of the country?

By Colin Gell | Tue 9th April 2013 - 8:55 am

UK Sport’s World Class Performance Programme is the centrepiece of sports funding in the UK, and competition for funding is fierce. On top of this, localised funding from councils for leisure centres, athletic tracks, and swimming facilities seem to follow this trend, and are likely to support Olympic/Paralympic training facilities over other sports. The results of this mean that we are able to punch way above our weight on the Olympic and Paralympic stages.

The trouble with this strategy is that funding is only available to the few, and those who are unlikely to gain medals are penalised. Even those who are able to fund themselves may be denied Olympian status, despite hitting official Olympic qualifying standards in the UK, if the British Olympic Association deems them not capable of finishing on the podium. This is a harsh message, and means that funding for grassroots sports in the UK is very low compared to other countries in Europe.

Tagged sports funding | 4 Comments

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Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: 21st Century Britain will need the European Union

Fraser Nelson attacks pupil premium using report that, erm, doesn’t attack pupil premium

Welfare Reform – are we missing the Big Picture?

Julian Huppert MP writes…I agree with Nick. He’s right to kill the Snoopers’ Charter

Opinion: Cash for coffees and rights for shares

Opinon: The Liberal Reconfiguration. Thoughts inspired by the One Nation Labour conference

Opinion: A reference article for the Communications Data bill

We should drop the ban on political advertising on TV

Lord McNally writes… Liberal Democrats can be proud of the Defamation Bill

Lord Anthony Lester writes: Free speech is the lifeblood of democracy

Review: April’s AD LIB goes high tech and has Paddy, campaign success and Conference confessions

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP…Part 2: Problems at the Home Office

Opinion: Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference supports retention of Section 3 of the Equality Act

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP on civil liberties… Part 1: The failed regulator

Martin Horwood MP writes… 1000 days of hunger

Large supermarkets are hoarding good housing land

Opinion: Putting the political back in economy

The Independent View: How the Payments Council is delivering a payments system for all

Rebecca Taylor MEP writes…Electronic Cigarettes: No smoke, but lots of fiery debate

Opinion: A radical approach to welfare – forget changing benefits

Opinion: The ERR Bill….time for some masterly inactivity

Senior politician defends amnesty for illegal immigrants

Blair misses the point on the pre-crisis deficit

Thatcher, Blair and the Road to Serfdom

Opinion: The depressing reality of the Paris Brown case

Opinion: Is UKIP a threat to community cohesion?

Opinion: Dr Strangelove: or how I got utterly fed up with the Left

Julian Huppert writes … We all need to do our bit to Back Britain’s Charities

Opinion: Should we change the way sport is funded, or risk the health, and economy of the country?

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Going for four in a row in Scotland

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Happy Birthday to us!

Roz Savage MP writes: Liberalism is having a Moment. But does it have…

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