Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: Lib Dems must replace Labour as the party of the Left

By Jonathan Hunt | Mon 19th March 2012 - 11:24 am

Gateshead is hardly likely to go down in Liberal Democrat history as a mould-breaking or even memorable conference. On the key issue of the NHS, the spoils are divided. But our image among non-committed voters is bound to rise as a result of the look-again victory on Sunday morning.

Back in the real world, polls show us still struggling to reach double figures, the party’s tally of councillors is at its lowest level this century, and continual calls of betrayal from some former voters leave us in urgent need of good cheer.

To obtain it, it would help to ignore …

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Tagged liberal democrats and tax | 106 Comments

Opinion: LibDem campaigning must be kept local

By Robin McGhee | Mon 19th March 2012 - 9:54 am

In a recent article on Lib Dem Voice, Scott Hill talked of the need for ‘modernisation’ of the party’s campaigning mechanisms. Some of his ideas are excellent: for example, who could argue with putting more emphasis on internet campaigning? However, I think he has gone somewhat off the rails in his adulation of what can only be described as aggressively centralising tendencies. ‘Message and projection is everything’, he writes. ‘As a party, it is vital that we sing from the same hymn sheet. Undoubtedly, debate and deliberation is necessary, but unity must be maintained right the way through the …

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Tagged campaigning and liberal democrats | 14 Comments

Labour picks an unusual poster location in Bradford

By Mark Pack | Sun 18th March 2012 - 9:11 pm

It’s not unusual for parties to put up posters in by-elections, far from it. But Labour don’t seem to have fully thought through their choice of one poster location in the Bradford West by-election.

One of the issues coming up in the campaign is Labour’s neglect of the town centre. So where has Labour put up one of its posters? On a run-down building just outside the town centre, neatly not only drawing more attention to the building but also associating Labour with it. Why, thank you Labour poster team.

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Tagged bradford west by-election and jeanette sunderland | 7 Comments

Time for the Lib Dems to blow the final whistle on national wage settlements

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th March 2012 - 2:25 pm

It’s over 50 years since the campaign by Jimmy Hill, then chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association, successfully scrapped the maximum wage which operated throughout the football league until 1961. Some probably lament the commercialisation of the game which it set in motion. But the idea that individuals should have a ceiling placed on their wage-earning potential by the authorities seems quaintly absurd today.

Except in the public sector. If you’re paid by the government — if, for example, you work in schools, colleges and universities, or the civil service and local government — then your wages are defined by national pay rates determined by Whitehall and trade union negotiations. It doesn’t matter which part of the country you work, you operate within that centrally-set national pay framework. It is as quaint and as absurd as the wage rules of football were half a century ago.

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Tagged alison wold, centreforum, featured, gordon brown, jimmy hill, nick clegg and regional pay | 97 Comments

Opinion: What message would scrapping the 50p rate send?

By Joe Jordan | Fri 16th March 2012 - 5:50 pm

The rumour mill is turning at an alarming rate about next week’s budget- the grapevine is whispering that the 50p rate is about to be scrapped, and less than a week after Liberal Democrat spring Conference voted for this:

“Conference resolves that the wealthy and those with the very highest incomes should make the greatest proportionate contribution to the tax measures necessary for the reduction of the structural budget deficit and that the Additional Income Tax Rate of 50% on the top 1% of earners is needed to achieve this.”

Fairer taxes, one of our four key manifesto pledges supposedly delivered in the CSR, will mean …

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Tagged budget and income tax | 45 Comments

Musings on campaign direction

By Scott Hill | Fri 16th March 2012 - 12:38 pm

Since Chris Rennard coined the groundbreaking concept of ‘pavement politics’ the party has struggled to move forward and evolve with regards to innovative and modern strategic frameworks. Whilst no one individual holds the monopoly on this, I would like to share a few thoughts on the matter.

First, it is important to acknowledge that things have changed considerably since May 2010. We can no longer package ourselves as the anti-establishment party and must accept that our voter demographic has altered significantly. The days of lentil-eating, sandal-wearing members are over. We are now a fully-fledged, professional, suited-and-booted organisation that has demonstrated its …

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Tagged campaigning | 38 Comments

The Independent View: Why the women-in-the-boardroom brand of feminism is limited

By Tess Lanning | Fri 16th March 2012 - 8:42 am

The government has reaffirmed its commitment to encourage firms to put more women on their boards in the wake of the launch of the first annual progress report on Lord Davies of Abersoch review of Women on Boards. In the run up to International Women’s Day last week various high profile women, from Cherie Blair to Jeanette Winterson, also argued that gender parity on company boards is the defining issue for women’s equality.

Much of the debate has centred on how to get there. The government favours a light touch approach, hoping businesses will see sense in response …

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Tagged women | 5 Comments

Chris Rennard writes… 50 years after the Orpington by-election

By Chris Rennard | Thu 15th March 2012 - 8:50 pm

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Tagged eric lubbock, jeremy thorpe, jo grimond and pratap chitnis | 4 Comments

Opinon: Planning for a brighter future

By Tom Papworth | Thu 15th March 2012 - 3:56 pm

Yesterday, I set out the indictment of our current land-use planning system, which has created a housing crisis, is stifling our economy and leading to damaging environmental outcomes. That’s fairly widely acknowledged. It is far less simple to propose an alternative, but below I hope to outline some possible principles as mechanisms for a better planning system that empowers individuals and communities rather than bureaucrats and politicians.

The first thing we need to do is to restore the principle that those who suffer the secondary effects of development are compensated. The original Town and Country Planning Act (1947) did contain provision …

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Tagged Local government and planning | 13 Comments

Opinion: Conference votes again on access to justice, Parliamentarians should follow

By James Sandbach | Thu 15th March 2012 - 2:53 pm

For the third Party conference in a row, Liberal Democrats voted for a policy motion covering legal aid and access to justice directly contrary to the Government’s legal aid reforms – in the Legal Aid, Sentencing Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO) – reaching their final stages in Parliament. Gateshead conference voted to ensure that “the scope of civil legal aid covers appropriate legal help and assistance in categories of law where the issues raised are of substantial importance.. and which cannot be settled by alternative dispute resolution” but night after night I see our Peers voting to remove category after …

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Tagged dee doocey, house of lords, legal aid and tom brake | 4 Comments

Tim Farron MP writes… Equal Marriage consultation: take part and spread the word

By Tim Farron MP | Thu 15th March 2012 - 1:03 pm

One of our fundamental values as a party is our firm belief in equality. This is why I am member of our party and why I am so proud to be your President. We have always stood for individual liberty and the right to choose how we lead our lives. That’s why we came into being in the 19th century to protect the rights of religious minorities, it’s why we led the support for equality for women and why we decided before any other major party that civil marriage should be open to same-sex couples equally. The Liberal Democrats in …

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Tagged equal marriage, equalities, LGBT rights and lgbt+ lib dems | 7 Comments

The Independent View: How should Liberal Democrats respond to the views of their voters on Europe

By Pawel Swidlicki | Thu 15th March 2012 - 12:25 pm

In the polarised and often exaggeratedUKdebate on the EU, the Lib Dems have often been caricaturised by much of the press and Tory MPs as being unreservedly in favour of greater EU integration or even an ‘EU super state’. The truth is of course far more nuanced.

That’s why a new YouGov/Cambridge cross-country poll out today is so interesting. It shows that a majority of UK voters (53%) support either no further EU integration or a looser arrangement. Only 14% said they wanted more integration. These attitudes span the political divide, with 50% of Lib Dem voters saying they …

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Also posted in Europe / International and The Independent View | 15 Comments

Opinion: We shouldn’t be afraid to raise parking charges

By Matt Hemsley | Thu 15th March 2012 - 10:55 am

Boosting the local economy and local high streets, cutting carbon and making our transport system greener, more reliable and affordable are surely key aims of Liberal Democrats across theUK.

Between 2007 and 2010 I worked for the party in Bath. During that time I helped to lead a campaign against increased evening parking charges that the then Conservative-run council was bringing in. I also helped to put together an 8-point plan to boost the local economy during the recession. Included in it was a call for free parking on one day a week to encourage shoppers into Bath. Unfortunately, I was …

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Tagged parking charges and town centres | 18 Comments

Opinion: Let’s raise tax threshold to £10,000 for all taxpayers

By Joe Bourke | Thu 15th March 2012 - 8:57 am

To keep the cost down, the increase of £1,000 in the personal allowance this year excluded higher rate taxpayers and over 65’s. Also, the higher rate threshold was reduced to bring more people and income into the 40% tax band.

The 2011 budget announced an increase in the personal allowance for under 65’s by £630 in April 2012, with the higher rate threshold unchanged. The freezing of the higher rate threshold brings more people and a greater proportion of existing earnings into the higher rate band – so-called fiscal drag.

This process seems consistent with the aim of increasing the personal allowance …

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Tagged budget, child benefit, raising tax threshold and tax | 22 Comments

Opinion: the ongoing disaster of British land-use planning

By Tom Papworth | Wed 14th March 2012 - 4:56 pm

Britain’s planning system is generally defended on environmental grounds. Yet far from keepingBritain“green and pleasant”, the Town and Country Planning Acts have led to the creation of dormitory towns, required the building of extensive infrastructure, and have increased urban density at the expense of urban green space.

In a new report released by the Adam Smith Institute, I argue that we need to do away with the old, top-down planning system. In this first article, I will lay out the indictment of the system. Tomorrow, I will make some proposals for how we can liberate the land and empower individuals …

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Tagged Local government and planning | 24 Comments

A story, a story, my kingdom for a story

By Mark Pack | Wed 14th March 2012 - 3:50 pm

Neil Stockley has often, and rightly, written about the power of stories in conveying a political message. A dry recital of bullet points and decimal points may make for a good conference motion or a useful background briefing document. What it does not make for is a message that will move and convince people. It needs a story to bring it to life.

Last week I heard Norman Lamb talking to Twickenham and Richmond Liberal Democrats, at a fundraiser for Munira Wilson’s GLA campaign. His speech neatly illustrated the point. As he was getting into the flow, he veered …

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Tagged munira wilson, neil stockley and norman lamb | 2 Comments

Chris Rennard writes… Who will win the debate between Shirley Williams and Polly Toynbee?

By Chris Rennard | Wed 14th March 2012 - 1:51 pm

I spent some of last Saturday morning in the briefing session at the Lib Dem Conference with the Lib Dem parliamentary health team sitting just in front of Andrew Sparrow and Patrick Wintour (both of the Guardian) as Shirley Williams laid into Polly Toynbee’s account in their paper of a key amendment on the Health Bill. For those of us who are fed up with Toynbee’s ‘tribal’ attacks on the Lib Dems it was a joy to listen to.

Andrew Sparrow wrote a great account of Shirley’s clear rebuttal of the Toynbee attack. He tweeted that, “It …

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Tagged polly toynbee and shirley williams | 23 Comments

Martin Horwood MP writes… Why Nick Clegg’s response to Jenny Tonge was right

By Martin Horwood | Wed 14th March 2012 - 9:23 am

The controversy surrounding Jenny Tonge’s resignation from our party in the House of Lords has attracted a lot of comment online. I’m co-chair of the parliamentary party’s international affairs committee (although writing here in a personal capacity) and I think the stance which Nick took as leader was right.

Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine – for whom I have a great deal of time – have suggested that Jenny’s ‘intention was to imply that Israel’s wilful failure to uphold and respect the human rights of Palestinian Muslims and Christians is behaviour which is likely to lead to its …

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Tagged friends of palestine (Lib Dem), israel, jenny tonge, kishwer falkner, nick clegg and william hague | 16 Comments

Opinion: bashing bankers the economically liberal way – risk and responsibility

By Mike Bird | Tue 13th March 2012 - 3:23 pm

Just before conference I caught some largely unreported news on a Private Member’s Bill, put to the Commons by Steve Baker MP, founder of the Cobden Centre, and one of the Conservative 2010 intake.

My usual response to scant coverage of a Conservative backbencher’s bills would be thankful, but in this case, the bill highlights something that has received astonishingly little attention: reforming the personal liability of directors. We’ve rested on the important points of how to discharge shares in effectively state-owned institutions, and how to increase lending to struggling businesses. On these issues Stephen Williams …

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Tagged banking | 11 Comments

Opinion: even football supporters have civil liberties… don’t they?

By Gary Shearer | Tue 13th March 2012 - 11:52 am

There I was with a couple of mates when a group of police officers appeared and started filming us.

None of us had a criminal record, nor were we doing anything remotely suspicious. We were not drunk, we were in a public place and there was nothing untoward going on around us either.

Our only crime was to have visited a football stadium to watch a match.

To rub it in even further, not only was one of the officers recording video for almost the entire 90 minutes another stood right next to her and took dozens of pictures.

At first I thought the …

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Tagged civil liberties and football | 14 Comments

Opinion: the way forward – with Clegg at the helm

By Scott Hill | Tue 13th March 2012 - 9:22 am

As soon as the Liberal Democrats bravely stepped in to coalition with David Cameron’s Conservatives we knew tough times may lie ahead. Whilst the coalition’s majority party has sailed through relatively unscathed, the junior partner has suffered an incessant flow of unfair and unjust criticism. Just as we thought this was beginning to wane, this month has witnessed an increase in anti-Clegg rhetoric.

First to weigh in was the Lib Dems’ very own Lembit Opik (as eccentric and publicity-seeking as ever), who has outlined in his new book a plan for a Lib Dem resurrection. He states that Clegg must …

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Tagged nick clegg and party leadership | 26 Comments

Opinion: Lynne is our Champion for equality and everyone should know it!

By Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett | Mon 12th March 2012 - 1:17 pm

Contrary to the pernicious article in the Guardian on Saturday, Lynne Featherstone MP, Minister for Equalities has worked her socks off to put equality and women’s rights at the top of the agenda for this Coalition Government.

And not only at the top of the agenda, but driving in every possible direction to ensure the rights of women (and also in particular the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people) are catapulted on to the front page of every tabloid and broadsheet paper and into the mainstream political debate and discussion.

So with all this extraordinary work, you would hope …

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Tagged campaign for body confidence, equal marriage, homophobia, jane martinson and lynne featherstone | 4 Comments

A new start: Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform

By Maria Pretzler | Mon 12th March 2012 - 12:24 pm

On Saturday, 10th March, at Spring Conference in Gateshead, we launched a new organisation – Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform. At the moment, LDER has over 70 members and is aiming to gain the status of an Accredited Organisation (AO) at the earliest possible opportunity.

Electoral reform is not exactly a new cause, you might think, and the voters have told us exactly what they think about it. As I went around the conference centre asking Liberal Democrats to sign up for LDER, I was asked repeatedly: ‘Why electoral reform?’ ‘Why …

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Tagged electoral reform | 11 Comments

Extending the LibDem youth contract to self-employment

By Joe Bourke | Mon 12th March 2012 - 10:54 am

Small and medium sized businesses account for 51% of turnover and 55% of employment (DTI figures). They primarily employ UK based staff and pay full UK tax on the value generated here.

Equipping young people with the training and skills for self-employment has the advantage of developing a more flexible and resilient workforce, better able to adjust to a fast changing economy, as well as enlarging the pool of entrepreneurs capable of starting and growing small business concerns.

An enhanced Liberal Democrat youth contract aimed at developing a base of budding entrepreneurs, would establish a core of upwardly mobile, aspirational self-starters, a …

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Tagged youth contract | 7 Comments

Steve Gilbert MP writes… Church opposition to gay marriage is “intolerant, out of touch, and wrong”

By Stephen Gilbert MP | Mon 12th March 2012 - 9:24 am

Another Sunday and another set of intolerant and out of touch comments from senior Church leaders who have set their face against the Coalition plans for equal marriage. It’s clear that some parts of the Church are on a collision course with Parliament and the people. But, rather than showing themselves to be modern defenders of values we all share, they are showing how out of touch they are with British society today and the institution they seek to protect. They are also plain wrong: extending marriage to same-sex couples will not undermine the institution; it will renew and reinforce …

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Tagged same sex marriage | 22 Comments

The Independent View: why proposals for secret trials should be opposed

By Clare Algar | Fri 9th March 2012 - 8:35 pm

A “chilling threat to liberty and justice” an “excessive and dangerous” move which would “shake our constitution to its common law roots” tilting it “towards the closed courts…so favoured by despots” and miring individuals in “Kafkaesque cases.”

As the Liberal Democrat Spring conference approaches, the disturbing potential of the Government’s plans to extend secret justice across the country’s civil courts has hit the headlines, with the Mail, Times, Guardian, Independent and FT all united in condemnation.

That sense of alarm is also becoming apparent within the party. Tom Brake, chair of the backbench …

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Also posted in Conference and News | Tagged ministry of justice and security policy | Leave a comment

The Independent View: Dropping the bomb

By Kate Hudson | Fri 9th March 2012 - 4:25 pm

A report launched this week caught the headlines by describing the replacement of Trident as “nonsensical”.

“Replacing Trident makes no sense” said the BBC, while the Guardian led with “Trident nuclear deterrent upgrade ‘nonsensical’”.

But they were not quoting the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament or any other campaigning organisation. Rather, they were quoting the liberal thinktank CentreForum, which David Cameron has previously commended “for their excellent work”.

Nick Clegg has also indicated the policy significance of CentreForum: “Many of the policy areas my party is implementing in government were developed, tested and refined through dialogue with the CentreForum team.”

The …

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged centreforum, cnd and trident | 5 Comments

Liberal Insight: new think tank launched

By Tom Smith | Fri 9th March 2012 - 3:25 pm

Today we are announcing the launch of Liberal Insight, the new liberal think tank. Liberal Insight will contribute radical, progressive and innovative ideas to a vision of liberal society. Our advisory board is being chaired by Party President Tim Farron MP.

Liberalism has seen a resurgence in Britain in recent years, culminating in almost 7 million voters at the last election for the Liberal Democrats, a place in the Coalition Government and a long-awaited opportunity to implement distinctly liberal policies.

This rise in electoral success has come against a trend of the liberal gains of the last century being eroded by the deliberate actions …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged liberal insight | 11 Comments

Stephen Williams MP writes… What would you do with £60 extra every month?

By Stephen Williams | Fri 9th March 2012 - 2:43 pm

The Liberal Democrats are demanding that our Coalition Government gives you a much needed tax cut. We want to give hard-working people over £700 extra a year; that’s about £60 extra in your wages every month. Instead of helping millionaires, the Lib Dems want to give millions of deserving people a break. You can help us to get this tax cut announced in the Budget on 21st March.

Please tell me today what you’d do with an extra £60 a month.

By telling me how you’d use the £60 tax cut you’ll not only be spreading the word, you’ll also …

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Tagged tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 22 Comments