Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Category Archives: Op-eds

Secret Courts: Nick Clegg’s refusal to meet campaigners is not helping

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 26th December 2012 - 1:08 pm

Way back in March, I wrote a few words of advice to Nick Clegg in the wake of the NHS debate at Spring Conference. They seem relevant today as activists and leaders are at loggerheads over Part II of the Justice and Security Bill. That’s the part that introduces Closed Material Procedures, or secret courts. This would mean that if national security, Government vetted Special Advocates would represent the non-Government side, but would not be allowed to share any details with them. You can see how difficult it would be to prepare a case if you aren’t even allowed …

Continue reading »

Tagged jo shaw, martin tod, nick clegg, nick thornsby and secret courts | 12 Comments

Opinion: A glass of wine with that?

By Lorna Dupré | Wed 26th December 2012 - 11:00 am

The main dish of the government’s current consultation on alcohol licensing in England and Wales is of course the proposal to establish a minimum price of 45p per unit for alcohol sold in supermarkets and off-licences. You may have your views about this proposal – I know I have mine (cough: illiberal and inequitable). However, the attention given to this particular proposal has overshadowed some of the side dishes served up alongside it in the consultation document, not least …

Continue reading »

Tagged england, government consultations and licensing | 8 Comments

Opinion: Bangladesh – conspiracy to pervert the course of justice?

By Eric Avebury | Mon 24th December 2012 - 2:53 pm

Those who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971 should be prosecuted and, if found guilty by due process, severely punished.

But the trials have been conducted under a law dating from 1973 which is not compliant with international norms. The US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes, Stephen Rapp; Human Rights Watch; Amnesty International; the International Center for Transitional Justice; the International Bar Association; the UK

Continue reading »

Tagged bangladesh | 469 Comments

The Independent View: A strong agenda for the most disadvantaged – an opportunity for Liberal leadership?

By Jenny Pennington | Mon 24th December 2012 - 9:50 am

Fifteen years ago this month New Labour heralded their intent to tackle complex and intractable social problems by launching a dedicated social exclusion unit within government. Fifteen years on, the challenges facing people with complex problems such as mental health issues, homelessness and substance misuse are still very real. In fact, there are indications that these problems are on the rise. Last year saw a 14 per cent increase in the number of homeless households. Rough sleepers are growing in number – up 43% across last year in London. There is a need for

Continue reading »

Also posted in The Independent View | 5 Comments

Opinion: Norway? No way! Why a life on Europe’s periphery is not an option for Britain

By Giles Goodall | Sun 23rd December 2012 - 4:35 pm

Norweigan coast In Britain’s recent EU debate, it’s clear that the anti-Europeans have been doing most of the running. When they’re not basing their arguments on wholesale lies, they fall back on a mixture of half-truths, assumptions and wishful thinking. One of the best examples is the common claim that Britain can leave the EU but keep trading with the Single Market, ’just like Norway’. A have-your-cake-and-eat-it solution that sounds like the best of both worlds. They highlight the non-EU country’s considerable oil wealth – irrelevant to the membership debate – to drive home their point.

Continue reading »

Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged european union and Norway | 24 Comments

Lynne Featherstone writes… Three Lib Dem policies really stand out for me in 2012

By Lynne Featherstone | Sat 22nd December 2012 - 10:50 am

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

What a year 2012 has been! There are three Lib Dem policies that really stand out for me this year: the Pupil Premium, income tax reductions for low paid and middle income workers and equal marriage.

Before entering Government, the Lib Dems knew there were serious social mobility problems in the UK. Only one in five young people from the poorest families achieve five good GCSEs compared to three out of four from the richest families. Through the …

Continue reading »

Tagged equal marriage, income tax, nick clegg, pupil premium and tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 13 Comments

A Christmas Carol. Stave Four: The Ghost of Austerity Future

By Andy Boddington | Sat 22nd December 2012 - 8:55 am

LibDemVoice is delighted to bring you A Christmas Carol, a contemporary re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, told in five staves (as Dickens called them). The fourth stave, The Ghost of Austerity Future, follows. You can catch up with Stave One, Mensch’s Ghost, here; and Stave Two, The Ghost of Avarice Past, here; and Stave Three, The Ghost of Arrogance Present, here.

As sketched by Bodz

Osborne stared at the umbrella and blinked. All around him the Olympic stadium was burning and crashing to the ground …

Continue reading »

Also posted in Humour | Tagged featured | 2 Comments

Eric Pickles’ 50 money-saving ideas show that he has no idea about local government

By Nick Barlow | Fri 21st December 2012 - 1:53 pm

Wedenesday saw the announcement of the local government funding settlement for 2013-14. As expected, councils across England will be facing even more cuts in their already-stretched budgets, and wondering just how they continue to deliver services in the face of ever-widening budget gaps. (See here or here for examples of how a funding squeeze and rising costs are impacting councils)

Of course, local government should be glad that we have a Secretary of State who understands the issues affecting the sector and is prepared to fight its cause in Whitehall while puncturing some of the myths that are propagated …

Continue reading »

Also posted in Local government | Tagged communities and local government and eric pickles | 10 Comments

Why the UKIP surge is good for Liberal Democrats

By Tom Richards | Fri 21st December 2012 - 12:51 pm

Party activists should be cheering on UKIP’s rise in the polls. Why? Because a UKIP surge would most likely end up making it easier for Liberal Democrats to win in Conservative marginals. By my reckoning, every 1% on UKIP’s popularity increases the Lib Dem majority over the Conservatives in these areas by about 90 votes. If last weekend’s polling, putting UKIP at 14%, is correct, that gives Lib Dems in Con-Lib marginals about a 1000 vote head start.

Where do these numbers come from? A recent ComRes poll found that, of people who said they were going to vote for …

Continue reading »

Also posted in Polls | Tagged ukip | 43 Comments

A Christmas Carol. Stave Three: The Ghost of Arrogance Present

By Andy Boddington | Fri 21st December 2012 - 8:15 am

LibDemVoice is delighted to bring you A Christmas Carol, a contemporary re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, told in five staves (as Dickens called them). The third stave, The Ghost of Avarice Past, follows. You can catch up with Stave One, Mensch’s Ghost, here, and Stave Two, The Ghost of Avarice Past, here.

As sketched by Bodz

Osborne was struggling to keep warm on a deserted platform at Corby rail station. He dare not sleep, for fear of imagining yet again the Ghost of Avarice Past that …

Continue reading »

Also posted in Humour | 2 Comments

Opinion: The Welfare Uprating Bill is a mistake; this is not economic liberalism

By Mike Bird | Thu 20th December 2012 - 2:26 pm

I was saddened to hear during the Autumn Statement that increases in many benefits would be capped at 1% for the next three years, particularly because I was in total agreement with David Laws when he opposed a similar policy last year. I was also disappointed that after months of party figures grandstanding about any welfare cuts being contingent on reformed property taxes, no higher council tax bands were announced.

Abandoning indexation for benefits does not just affect them in the year that benefits are not indexed. To use Job Seeker’s Allowance as an example, if inflation is 3% …

Continue reading »

Tagged welfare | 21 Comments

Do US politicians have a mandate for big changes to gun control laws?

By Nick T | Thu 20th December 2012 - 10:56 am

This article, by the Economist’s Lexington correspondent, David Rennie, is one of the best I’ve read on the inevitable debate on gun control following the appalling shooting in Connecticut last week. His argument is essentially that the only change that might actually have an effect is stopping most people having guns, with the rest only allowed under a tough licensing regime.

But since I read the piece a couple of days ago, it is this penultimate paragraph that has had me thinking:

Continue reading »

Tagged featured | 15 Comments

A Christmas Carol. Stave Two: The Ghost of Avarice Past

By Andy Boddington | Thu 20th December 2012 - 8:10 am

LibDemVoice is delighted to bring you A Christmas Carol, a contemporary re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, told in five staves (as Dickens called them). Part One, Mensch’s Ghost, was published yesterday. Here’s the second stave, The Ghost of Avarice Past…

As sketched by Bodz

Osborne sat on the stone bench and shivered. Mensch’s Ghost bothered him exceedingly. “It couldn’t have happened,” he moaned to himself. “There must have been something in that damned Starbucks coffee. Perhaps it is a revenge for my tax crackdown. Bah! Starbucks!”

Very …

Continue reading »

Also posted in Humour | 2 Comments

Large-scale redundancy consultation period to be halved, says Swinson

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th December 2012 - 7:22 pm

Liberal Democrat Employment Minister Jo Swinson has announced that the formal consultation period employers must carry out by law when making more than 100 employees redundant will, from April, be cut from 90 days to 45 days.

According to this BBC report, a consultation showed “strong support” for the changes. I can only imagine this must have been amongst employers because, frankly, it would take a special employee to favour doing themselves out of six and a half weeks’ pay.

It is worth pointing out, though, that people who work for very small employers have the right to individual consultation, but …

Continue reading »

Also posted in News | Tagged employmenet rights, Jo Swinson and redundancy | 52 Comments

A year in the life of…..the Scottish independence referendum

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th December 2012 - 2:30 pm

I thought it might be a bit amusing to trawl through the Lib Dem Voice archives and have a look at how certain stories have developed during 2012.

This time last year, it looked like it was all going wrong for the Scotland Bill that Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore was piloting through Parliament. On top of that, confusion reigned over the forthcoming referendum on independence with the Scottish and Westminster Governments seemingly on a collision …

Continue reading »

Tagged a year in the life of, better together, graeme cowie, katy gordon, Michael Moore, nicola sturgeon, paul edie, Scottish independence referendum and willie rennie | 5 Comments

Clarke’s concessions on secret courts will not satisfy Liberal Democrat campaigners

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th December 2012 - 12:59 pm

Isabel Hardman has written a piece on the Spectator’s Coffee House blog which essentially says that Liberal Democrat MPs and campaigners are on a bit of a collision course over Part II of the Justice and Security Bill. Liberal Democrat conference voted overwhelmingly in favour of this measure being withdrawn because of its provisions on secret courts.

The article suggests that Liberal Democrat MPs are likely to support the measures now that Ken Clarke has accepted an

Continue reading »

Tagged isabel hardman, justice and security bill, nick thornsby, secret courts and spectator | 1 Comment

A Christmas Carol. Stave One: Mensch’s Ghost

By Andy Boddington | Wed 19th December 2012 - 8:20 am

Over the next five days LibDemVoice is delighted to bring you A Christmas Carol, a contemporary re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, told in five staves (as Dickens called them). Here’s Part One, Mensch’s Ghost…

As sketched by Bodz

Osborne was a very grumpy person indeed. Why on earth had the Italian economy decided to implode just days before Christmas? The crisis had kept him chained to his desk long after the rest of the cabinet had fled London. “Curse Berlusconi!” he muttered as his taxi crawled through the …

Continue reading »

Also posted in Humour | 6 Comments

Did you know the Lib Dems have lost half a million voters to Ukip? Here’s what I think it means.

By Stephen Tall | Tue 18th December 2012 - 4:55 pm

Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft — who, as ConservativeHome’s Tim Montgomerie has noted before, spends more on polling than all three parties combined — has today published the latest survey looking at the timely issue of the threat of Ukip. Nigel Farage’s party is now regularly polling around the level of the Lib Dems, seemingly taking voters disproportionately from the Tories, contributing to lengthening Labour poll leads.

Continue reading »

Also posted in News | Tagged european union, featured, immigration, lord ashcroft, peter kellner and ukip | 51 Comments

Opinion: Land is theft

By Alex Smethurst | Tue 18th December 2012 - 11:15 am

In ‘Why Wealth can’t be Taxed’ it was alleged that a mansion tax is illiberal. However, as a liberal, I am concerned for the state of the property market in the UK. The average age of the first time buyer is now 35.

Housing is a policy that has been forgotten, with health and education becoming the areas of priority. However as liberals, we can address the state of housing through taxation, for I would say that ‘land is theft’. There is too much concentration of power in the hands of the few. Land Value Taxation is a key to addressing this.

Continue reading »

Tagged land value tax | 34 Comments

Liz Lynne writes: Making the industrial strategy work in the Midlands

By Liz Lynne | Tue 18th December 2012 - 9:05 am

For years people have been writing off our UK manufacturing industry and underplaying the part it plays in boosting the economy. In my view there has been too much emphasis on the service sector and not enough on manufacturing. I am therefore delighted about the announcement in the Autumn Statement on Capital Allowances. It is something that many people in industry have been calling for for years. By raising the allowance tenfold from £25,000 to £250,000, the government is encouraging investment in new plant and machinery, and providing an incentive for profitable manufacturers to invest in new capacity. This is a government decision that will create new long term jobs.

Continue reading »

Tagged industrial strategy and midlands | 1 Comment

A twin-track differentiation policy

By Mark Pack | Tue 18th December 2012 - 7:50 am

Here’s my take on yesterday’s speech by Nick Clegg, along with some further analysis from the IFS’s Paul Johnson and Conservative MP Robert Halpern, all via the World at One:

Continue reading »

Tagged nick clegg, paul johnson and Robert Halpern | 1 Comment

Opinion: Time for Lib Dems to change the debate on welfare

By Jonathan Featonby | Mon 17th December 2012 - 2:53 pm

On Friday evening, a page entitled “We’re interested in your views about the fairness of our benefit reforms” popped up on the Conservative party website. It invited people to comment on the decision announced in the Autumn Statement that the Coalition want to limit increases in most welfare benefits by 1% for the next three years.

Continue reading »

Tagged Autumn Statement 2012 and welfare reform | 11 Comments

Opinion: Mental health provision in the NHS – follow-up

By Tim Purkiss | Mon 17th December 2012 - 1:23 pm

I intended the previous mental health article on this website to be my last but, having been amazed by the people sharing personal and moving experiences in the comments section, I felt compelled to add something more.

First, I wish to acknowledge that, while I have often felt that my world is crashing down around me during the last few months, my own problems pale into insignificance compared to those which have been shared on this website. It takes a remarkable amount of bravery to share these in a public forum – bravery which I doubt I would be capable of.

Continue reading »

Tagged mental health | 2 Comments

Opinion: A fresh look at China’s road to democracy – the way ahead

By Andy Yau | Mon 17th December 2012 - 12:24 pm

Is China now on the road to democracy? My answer is “yes”.

I began to observe China’s democratic progress on 5 April 1989. Now, 23 years has past. China is still at the starting point. We know in modern democracy, people can decide their own lifestyle and enjoy their own freedom. How about democracy and people’s freedom in China today?

Continue reading »

Tagged china | 7 Comments

Libby Local, Episode 7: “New Year’s Resolutions”

By Libby Local | Sun 16th December 2012 - 2:15 pm

It’s true to say that I had not realised that being a Lib Dem and standing for Libbyshire Council was set to consume my life.

It is already mid-December and there is still so much work for my clients not yet done. But, heck, we are busy delivering a Focus across Demsbury. It does not help that one of my deliverers is too ill to continue. Another couple have inconveniently flown off to Goa for the winter. Others simply don’t have time. Inevitably, I’m delivering most of the leaflets

Continue reading »

Tagged featured | 7 Comments

Ad Lib: If you’re reading this, it’s not for you

By Mark Pack | Sat 15th December 2012 - 1:50 pm

The first edition of the new Liberal Democrat party magazine, Ad Lib, went out to all party members earlier this month. Future copies will only go to paying subscribers, so what to make of the first edition’s efforts to make people part with their cash for future editions?

Judging its contents I think requires bearing three main factors in mind: it’s a monthly publication, it’s one that is printed on paper and it’s probably not aimed at you.

Both the first two attributes are rather …

Continue reading »

Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged ad lib magazine, caron lindsay, jennie rigg, katy riddle, liberator magazine and nick barlow | 34 Comments

Opinion: Are we valuing the right kind of growth?

By Chris Richards | Fri 14th December 2012 - 2:18 pm

Our economic system is built around the indicator of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It measures how much we have produced as a country over a period of time. It does this by adding together the market value of what we have produced. As a result, an increase in the market value of what we have produced signifies that our economy is growing. But should it?

In the grand scheme of human history, GDP is relatively new. It was created to allow the US to better understand how to develop

Continue reading »

Tagged economic policy | 15 Comments

Opinion: Israel/Palestine – the current state of the ‘peace process’

By Tim Purkiss | Fri 14th December 2012 - 11:22 am

At 1900 GMT on Wednesday 21st November a ceasefire came into place between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip which, it was hoped, would signal at least a temporary halt to the bloodshed. Sadly, this ceasefire looks little more likely to last than previous ones have done and it would seem to be a good moment to reflect on the latest tragic and depressing episode in the Middle East and the ‘peace process.’

Continue reading »

Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged gaza, israel and palestine | 36 Comments

Opinion: Make no apologies for religion on equal marriage

By O Hudson | Thu 13th December 2012 - 2:18 pm

If there’s one thing that really irks me about the Tory leadership’s rightful defence of equal marriage, it is this constant, almost apologetic necessity to seek to justify the position by reminding everyone that ‘religious freedoms’ will in no way be encroached upon by this piece of legislation. In his albeit heartfelt endorsement of allowing gay people to enter into “a great institution”, David Cameron was at pains to remind us that any religious groups who oppose the reform will not be forced to hold same-sex marriages.

In a country where the church-going population barely exceeds 10%, it is a …

Continue reading »

Tagged equal marriage | 50 Comments

Opinion: The case for increased surveillance hasn’t been made

By James Baker | Thu 13th December 2012 - 12:43 pm

At the heart of the draft Communications Bill is a drive to make it easier for a range of officials to access information about people’s communications. The Home Office maintains that officals need this push-button surveillance in order to help fight emotive crimes such as terrorism and paedophiles.

Despite widespread criticisms of the bill put forward by the Home Office to achieve those ends, most politicians appear to be uncritically accepting their underlying premise – that officials need to be granted more powers to snoop on citizens. Just take for instace Clegg’s statement on the bill:
“They were very clear that …

Continue reading »

Tagged communications data bill | 3 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

Just growth by lowering deadweight losses through tax (Tony Vickers)
Local democracy should not be an excuse to stop building homes (Massimo Ricciuti)
The need for a nationally relevant message (Mark Corner)
Chris Coghlan MP writes…SEND reform must put children with complex needs at the centre; not treat them as an afterthought (Chris Coghlan MP)
What a night! Democrats smash the midterms (Caron Lindsay)

Advert

Recent Comments

Nonconformistradical
"As an aside, “Who will you be deporting, how many and to where?" Good question...
Carl Pierce
I love this well written piece that captures the essence of all the arguments. We have to address the widening wealth gaps with relevant taxes and the loss of ...
expats
@Roland 5th Nov '26 - 4:48pm..Err no, it actually needs fewer people; just that Westminster politicians are too scared to face the truth that they have been gro...
Peter Davies
"It ticked all the boxes" Unfortunately, all American campaign speeches sound like the speech writer has taken the expression literally....
Graham Jeffs
Apart from all that, the farce of unused permissions needs to addressed. Where are they? What types of property are they for? Let's have some transpare...