Category Archives: Op-eds

Simon Rix

Opinion: Lib Dem communications must improve to capitalise on our successes in government

By Simon Rix | Thu 10th May 2012 - 11:28 am

Lib Dem poll ratings have plummeted. We are not winning some crucial arguments within government. Many of our best councillors have lost their seats. It certainly doesn’t feel good being in this vicious circle.
 
The answer is not to panic, but equally we shouldn’t stick our heads in the sand either. That means recognising that whilst it’s way too early to say our time in government has been a failure, it’s not too early to say our communications have failed to hit the mark.
 
Some people think our polling slump is due to people punishing us for forming a coalition with the …

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23 Comments
Ian Wallace

Opinion: Civil Service strike – the follow up

By Ian Wallace | Thu 10th May 2012 - 8:58 am

“Once more unto the breach” goes the rallying call from my Union Reps as we prepare to strike on May 10 2012. Following up the N30 strike on public sector pensions which I have written about previously on this blog, I issued an alternative rallying call – to get round the table and negotiate. But unsurprisingly ignored.

I find myself weirdly ambivalent this time. I shouldn’t be. It is fundamentally about funding my life throughout retirement and yet, the approach taken by the union since the previous strike does not do anybody any favours.

The three tests for me are: Do we …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: What does the Queen’s Speech mean for civil liberties?

By Julian Huppert | Wed 9th May 2012 - 4:45 pm

So – how does the Queen’s Speech rate for those of us who care about civil liberties? Well, there’s some excellent news, and some areas where we need to keep working to get the right result.

First, we have fantastic news about libel reform. I am delighted that the Defamation Bill will finally come into being. As Liberal Democrats we have long made the case that our libel laws are out-dated and in desperate need of improvement.  Our current system unfairly favours the rich because the cost of lawsuits means ordinary people find it very difficult to defend themselves against false …

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Europe Day Special: Avoiding the slippery slopes towards euroscepticism

By Sir Graham Watson MEP and Andrew Wigley | Wed 9th May 2012 - 11:56 am

Today is Europe Day. The Treaty of Rome, the EU’s founding treaty was signed 55 years ago; post war Europe sought a new strategy to end old enmities and forge shared prosperity through economic growth. However one measures the achievements of those goals, the conclusion has to be the European Union has delivered on both counts.

For those of us who believe in the EU’s objectives and feel that Britain should be leading in Europe, these are turbulent times.

Restoring faith in a political structure which may appear removed from the citizen, and rebuilding an economic framework which has been proven inadequate …

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Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged , , , , and | 10 Comments
Bill le Breton

Opinion: Austerity and defying the Laws of gravity

By Bill le Breton | Wed 9th May 2012 - 10:58 am

“It’s ideology, stupid.” – a subtext to the Queen’s Speech

On Five Live a bond trader says that austerity isn’t working and the government should be more expansionary. In Wake Up to Money a fund manger says that austerity has been overdone and it’s time for countries like Germany and Britain to borrow more.

Yet on Tuesday’s Today programme, David Laws continued to advocate austerity.

It is more and more apparent that ‘economics’ is being used to serve the ideology of a smaller State, damning the idea that the State should have different responsibilities at different times, especially when the private sector is …

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Mark Pack

Ludovic Kennedy: a man who just missed becoming Liberal leader

By Mark Pack | Wed 9th May 2012 - 10:25 am

For many years Adrian Slade has interviewed prominent Liberal Democrats. To mark his recent decision to make his archive of the interview recordings available to researchers and other interested parties, Lib Dem Voice is running a selection of his write-ups of interviews from over the years. The latest is with broadcaster, writer and twice Liberal candidate Sir Ludovic Kennedy from 2003.

In the 1959 general election just 2,000 votes separated Ludovic Kennedy from becoming Liberal MP for Rochdale, and possibly a future party leader.

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Stephen Tall

Is this the day the Coalition admitted reality and buried its claim to be a radical government?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 8th May 2012 - 9:50 pm

One of the iconic images of the early days of the Coalition — in the midst of the summer haze of the leggeron rose garden bromance — was The Economist’s front cover depicting the Prime Minister as a punk, representing the Coalition’s self-appointed claim to be one of the most radical governments in history.

Economically (a cuts agenda intended to rebalance the economy between the private/public sectors), socially (from free schools to gay marriage) and politically (police commissioners to Lords reform) — this ‘liberal conservative government’ was supposed …

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David Heath MP

David Heath MP writes… Freedom of Information and the NHS risk register – we should publish as much as possible

By David Heath MP | Tue 8th May 2012 - 6:55 pm

It was 12 years ago that I sat on my very first House of Commons bill committee, and a pretty important bill it was too. We were considering what was to become the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and I was helping Bob McLennan try to stiffen up what was in danger of becoming, in the hands of the last government, an increasingly flaccid piece of legislation.

After decades of campaigning, the 2000 Act was certainly a longtime in coming for Liberal Democrats. It was Clement Freud who first introduced a Private Members Bill in 1978 that attracted considerable support, …

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Adam Corlett

Opinion: This graph of income tax rates might surprise you

By Adam Corlett | Mon 7th May 2012 - 11:54 am

If this graph seems confusing, it’s because it accurately describes taxation of income in the UK. What alternative can Lib Dems offer? I think there are four key problems and solutions.

  • Firstly, while the personal allowance is rising (to £9,205 next year), the National Insurance thresholds lag behind. As I’ve written previously, raising these is more progressive and, so, equalising the thresholds and the allowance must be the priority before going beyond £10,000.

  • Then there’s the withdrawal of the

…

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Mike Tuffrey

Opinion: Learning lessons from London – two and half quick reflections

By Mike Tuffrey | Sun 6th May 2012 - 3:25 pm

Let’s start with the facts….

  • Overall turnout was down to 38%, from 45% last time.
  • Two Liberal Democrat Assembly members elected, compared to three in 2008 and five in 2004.
  • Mayoral vote was 92,000 (4.2% – and deposit lost), compared to 236,752 (9.8%) in 2008.
  • Our Assembly list vote was 150,447 (6.8% – just over the threshold), against 275,272 (11.4%) in 2008.
  • The Greens “pushed the Lib Dems into fourth place”: actually their Assembly vote flat-lined at 8.5%, although their Mayoral vote was up a bit, from 3.2% to 4.5%.

First off, a big thank you to Brian Paddick, his brilliant deputy Caroline Pidgeon, and the …

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Also posted in London | Tagged and | 27 Comments
Norman Lamb MP

Norman Lamb writes… Putting two national treasures back on their feet

By Norman Lamb MP | Sun 6th May 2012 - 2:25 pm

Royal Mail and the Post Office are two of our most recognisable and most trusted brands. For hundreds of years the post office has been at the heart of our communities – with a value that goes beyond mere economics to the social and the symbolic. Royal Mail, meanwhile, is a service that covers every part of the country and reaches every part of society. The public, quite rightly, is fiercely protective of both institutions.

Sadly previous governments left them both in a mess. Labour opened up the postal market, thereby exposing Royal Mail to the full force of competition. Ludicrously, …

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Bill le Breton

Opinion: Time for women, grey hairs and drastic action

By Bill le Breton | Sun 6th May 2012 - 8:50 am

In an email to members, ALDC’s Tim Pickstone wrote, “Winning elections as a Liberal Democrat is never easy … Winning those elections when you’re also in Government is even harder.”

Well Tim, what you say is true, but if we console ourselves with these thoughts we are doomed to become a party which, like the Saxons of Hereward the Wakes’s time, is holed up in a few isolated corners and crevices of the land, where our flag is carried by an MP and a council group, well resourced, skilled and of sufficient mass to evade destruction, but unable to link up …

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Ben Norman

Opinion: Reflections on the elections

By Ben Norman | Sat 5th May 2012 - 5:55 pm

This is the third election since 2010 where I’ve watched results roll in with a feeling of mild despair. Obviously I’m disappointed. Whilst losses are lower than many were predicting, Labour have taken away Cardiff and Cambridge, and we were beaten by a man dressed as a penguin in Edinburgh.

In the London Mayoral Boris Johnson has been re-elected but Brian Paddick – who really has run a campaign streaks ahead of his 2008 attempt – has received a disappointingly low share of the vote. We’ve also seen our presence in the London Assembly reduced, from three to two.

Obviously I’m disappointed, …

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168 Comments
Claire Tyler

Baroness Tyler writes… To improve social mobility, we need to shine a spotlight on early years

By Claire Tyler | Sat 5th May 2012 - 1:21 pm

One of the fascinating things I have discovered since joining the Lib Dem group in the Lords last year is the profusion of all party groups in Parliament on virtually every subject under the sun. There are quite simply hundreds of them including some pretty bizarre ones ! About a year ago I decided to join the cross party group on social mobility – a key interest of mine since my time in central government as the Head of the Social Exclusion Unit. On Tuesday we launched our first report at a packed event in hosted by the Policy …

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Mark Pack

Six thoughts on the results so far (UPDATED)

By Mark Pack | Fri 4th May 2012 - 8:50 pm

An update to my earlier post, adding in the YouTube clip and reflecting a couple of other pieces of news, though still pre-London results.

For the overall picture, see my views on BBC Breakfast from the amazing new Salford studios this morning:

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Also posted in Local government | Tagged , , and | 80 Comments

Vote for change in London – Ashdown, Steel and Williams

By Paddy Ashdown David Steel and Shirley Williams | Wed 2nd May 2012 - 11:20 am

Tomorrow those of you in London have the chance to make your voice heard by voting in the mayoral and assembly elections. It is vital that you do. We have an opportunity to do something to bring real change to London.

Throughout the campaign it has been clear that huge numbers of Londoners are undecided and unenthusiastic about voting for either Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone. And the more they have seen and heard Brian Paddick the more they like him and believe he will bring real change. It is only now that election day is upon us that most of …

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Also posted in London | Tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Tom Brake

Tom Brake MP writes… A landmark achievement in fight for our civil liberties

By Tom Brake | Tue 1st May 2012 - 4:13 pm

Today the Protection of Freedoms Bill became an Act: a landmark for the campaign to roll back Labour’s surveillance state. Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for this piece of legislation, proposing a “Freedom Bill” more than five years ago when Nick Clegg was the party’s Home Affairs Spokesman.

The Act will protect millions of people from unwarranted state intrusion in their private lives, building on some of the things we’ve already achieved like the ending of ID cards and the destruction of the National Identity Register.

I just want to highlight a couple of things that will now happen. …

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Stephen Tall

‘Brand Clegg’ continues to out-poll ‘Brand Miliband’: what it means for the Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Tue 1st May 2012 - 9:15 am

It’s a harsh reality that ‘Nick Clegg’ has become an easy punchline for many comedians. Nick can perhaps draw some comfort from the truth universally acknowledged that it’s better to be joked about than never to be joked about at all.

But he can draw greater comfort from some of the polling evidence showing him doing better than Ed Miliband, even though the Lib Dems’ ratings significantly trail Labour’s. The Independent’s Matt Chorley noticed this little-noticed phenomenon last week:

Most, though not all, months the Independent on Sunday/Sunday Mirror/ComRes poll has asked voters whether they agreed or disagreed with these statements

…

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Also posted in Polls | Tagged , , and | 42 Comments
Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP

Sarah Ludford MEP writes… Deal on transfer of passenger data to the US was least worst option

By Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP | Mon 30th April 2012 - 2:54 pm

The transfer to the US of EU travellers’ Passenger Name Record (PNR) data – the information we give the airline for booking purposes – has been happening for over a decade. MEPs including me have been battling since then to control the terms on which that transfer takes place in order to build in adequate data protection, and we have secured considerable improvements.

It is important to recall that the US has a sovereign right to impose whatever conditions it wishes on airlines and …

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Simon Holbrook

Opinion: Vince for No.11 – for growth and investment

By Simon Holbrook | Mon 30th April 2012 - 11:54 am

Coming after several weeks of self-inflicted damage, the news that the UK economy has gone back into recession risks further undermining public confidence in the Government’s ability to deal with the problems the country faces.

Nick Clegg says the principles of the coalition’s economic strategy remain sound – repairing the public finances, reforming the financial system and rebalancing the economy – and I agree. The problem is that we are only making progress on the first one of these …

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Duncan Stott

Opinion: We can’t let councils discriminate against house-sharers

By Duncan Stott | Mon 30th April 2012 - 10:15 am

With the option of becoming a first-time buyer becoming ever more elusive for young adults, increasing numbers are turning to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) for their housing. Nationally there will soon be more tenants living in the PRS than in social housing. In areas with high housing costs and in university cities with a young population, the PRS has become a major part of the housing mix.

This shift in occupancy type has led to rather rapid changes to some communities, which has …

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Stephen Gilbert MP

Stephen Gilbert MP writes… The Pasty Tax is unfair, unworkable and unenforceable

By Stephen Gilbert MP | Sun 29th April 2012 - 2:05 pm

There’s an awful lot that we, as Liberal Democrats, should be proud of in this year’s budget: the uplift in the personal allowance that takes almost 2million of the lowest earners out of income tax; the support for small businesses to help stimulate growth and create jobs; and measures to give a helping hand to aspiring home owners.

But, there’s one measure which I’ve been unable to accept. Not just because it’s politically unpopular, but also because I believe Osborne has – on this occasion – got it wrong. I’m talking, of course, about the VAT extension to hot food dubbed …

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Richard Morris

Opinion: I don’t think Jeremy Hunt should resign

By Richard Morris | Sun 29th April 2012 - 9:25 am

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a post I really wanted to write. But I don’t think Jeremy Hunt should resign over the Murdoch affair. Lord, I hate myself.

Anyway, ‘why so?’, you’re all bellowing at the screen. Let me explain

As of now, Jeremy Hunt has not been shown to have done anything wrong, and he maintains he has been whiter than white. The blame has been laid firmly at the door of his SpAd, Adam Smith, who has dutifully fallen his sword. Innocent until proven guilty and all that, so no reason for Hunt to go as yet.

Hence the …

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Mark Pack

The Interception of Communications Commissioner has failed

By Mark Pack | Fri 27th April 2012 - 10:25 am

I’ve been reading through all the annual reports issues by the Interception of Communications Commissioner since the passage of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. He is meant to make sure that the powers granted to public bodies under RIPA to intercept our communications are being used correctly.

The annual reports are not a pretty read, especially when set against a modicum of knowledge about the outside world during the years the reports cover. Consider the following.

1. No scrutiny of the costs system

First, under RIPA there is provision for the government to pay communication service providers costs for meeting the …

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Catherine Bearder

Catherine Bearder MEP writes… Lib Dem MEPs kill ACTA

By Catherine Bearder | Fri 27th April 2012 - 9:10 am

After careful consideration, Lib Dem MEPs have decided to reject the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in the European Parliament. There is now a majority in the Parliament that will reject the ratification of this plurilateral treaty originally designed to establish international standards for intellectual property rights.

So why do we reject ACTA?

In principle, Lib Dems support the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and the fight against counterfeiting – in particular when it comes to dangerous counterfeit medicines, electronics and toys. But we are also champions of fundamental rights and freedoms and we must weigh up carefully between the need to …

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Also posted in News | Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Daniel Henry

Opinion: Is it time to rescue education policy from the hands of MPs?

By Daniel Henry | Thu 26th April 2012 - 5:28 pm

When Labour’s shadow minister of education, Stephen Twigg, announced his “Office for Educational Improvement” idea, it was quite well received by many of us. It pushed a lot of our buttons, not least the welcome emphasis on evidence and the idea of protecting educational policy from the whims of politicians with “transient ambitions”.

The question that crossed my mind was how this might be combined with our liberal themes of localism and democracy to improve it further. So to start a debate, here’s a suggestion:

How we might “devolve” educational policy

We could create a council to deal with educational policy. …

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Paul Pettinger

Opinion: It is time to pick a fight and show we are serious about institutionalised faith based homophobia

By Paul Pettinger | Thu 26th April 2012 - 1:56 pm

At the next general election Liberal Democrats should look forward to being able to point to the introduction of same sex marriage as a Liberal Democrat achievement. Although the move is supported by some Conservatives, it has only happened because of Lib Dem pressure.

That the Party has made the issue such a high priority, especially when working with a conservative Party, helps to communicate to the public how much we care about equality for LGBT people, and is something that we should be able to draw collective pride. However, the Government is still failing in its commitment on page 29 of …

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Mark Pack

Barry Norman on life as film critic and a liberal

By Mark Pack | Thu 26th April 2012 - 10:25 am

For many years Adrian Slade has interviewed prominent Liberal Democrats. To mark his recent decision to make his archive of the interview recordings available to researchers and other interested parties, Lib Dem Voice will be running a selection of his write-ups of interviews from over the years. The first is with broadcaster, writer and Liberal Democrat, Barry Norman from 2003.

For British cinemagoers Barry Norman is the personification of film. For twenty-six years, with only a brief break in ‘81/’82 when he fronted ‘Omnibus’ for the BBC, he was the authentic voice …

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Lord Tyler and Baroness Scott write… We urgently need to reform our bloated second chamber

By Paul Tyler and Ros Scott | Wed 25th April 2012 - 12:53 pm

This week, after 30 interminable meetings and much going round the houses, the Joint Committee on David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s Draft House of Lords Reform Bill published its report.

Within minutes, a minority group from the Committee, having lost many votes on amendments to the official text, published an “alternative report”. It advocates, guess what: more meetings, more discussion, another Commission. You name the delaying tactic, they have thought of it.

The reform opponents are also much alive to the success of misleading figures in distorting the public debate on AV last year. …

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Carl Miller

The Independent View: A blueprint for social media intelligence

By Carl Miller | Wed 25th April 2012 - 10:25 am

The controversy over the Government’s plans to legislate for Internet surveillance, the ‘Communications Capabilities Development Programme’, has exposed a deep division within the Coalition. Into the dispute that has simmered since some details were first leaked earlier this month, David Cameron himself has weighed in to say that the proposals are necessary to stop crime, whereas Tim Farron has threatened to kill it “if we think this is a threat to a free and liberal society”.

This rumbling outrage surrounding CCDP testifies to the importance of a principled, publicly argued grounding for any kind of intelligence. It is exactly …

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