Category Archives: Op-eds

Lembit4London right to reply

By Ed Joyce | Sun 27th March 2011 - 2:36 pm

At the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference earlier this month Nick Clegg made the following comment.

And of course we’ve even had a Liberal Democrat celebrity flying the Welsh flag in the depths of the Australian jungle! Now that’s one forestry disaster we’re not responsible for!

This comment was then reported as the lead paragraph later in a post by Mark Pack with the following comment :

Nick Clegg’s speech to the party’s Welsh conference contained much in the way of summarising the party’s current official position on politics and government priorities – and also a reference to Lembit Opik. His departure from the Commons was made the subject of a joke rather than a cause of regret ….

Tagged lembit opik | 25 Comments

Who are the heirs of the SDP?

By Chris Nicholson | Sat 26th March 2011 - 12:53 pm

Today (March 26th) is the 30th anniversary of the founding of the SDP. To mark the occasion last Monday CentreForum organised a discussion “the Class of 81: Who are the true heirs of the SDP? with leading former SDP members, Chris Huhne , Greg Clark (Tory Decentralisation Minister) and Andrew Adonis (Labour’s former Transport and Schools Minister) on the panel. In the audience were Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams, members of Roy Jenkins’ family, countless former SDP members as well as a good few ”political anoraks”.

It was an evening of reminiscing, “what ifs”, analysis, historical reflection and a few amusing ironies. …

Tagged SDP | 23 Comments

Opinion: Why Lib Dems should reject the doctrine of liberal interventionism

By David Thorpe | Sat 26th March 2011 - 11:46 am

If the regular politics of coalition is a walk in a minefield, the Libya crisis presents Lib Dems with a walk in a minefield while being haunted by a pair of malevolent ghouls.

Those twin ghouls are ghosts of conflicts past, conflicts where Britain intervened and expedited disaster, such as Iraq , and the countries where the UK sat on its hands, and watched disaster unfold, such as in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

There are a number interesting, and from a Lib Dem point of view welcome, feature of the debate concerning the possibility of the western intervention in Libya, …

Tagged iraq, liberal interventionism and libya | 42 Comments

The weekend debate: Does the Prime Minister’s pay make a useful yardstick?

By The Voice | Sat 26th March 2011 - 8:55 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

The level of the Prime Minister’s pay has become a widely used yardstick for other public sector pay – which suggestions of extra scrutiny for the pay deals of people who are paid more than the PM and counts or complaints about how many people are paid more.

But does the Prime Minister’s pay (or rather salary and pension, for the benefits in kind such as accommodation are rarely factored in) make for a sensible yardstick? And if not, is there an alternative …

Tagged featured and weekend debate | 7 Comments

Tim Farron writes… One chance: let’s make it count #LibDemYES

By Tim Farron MP | Fri 25th March 2011 - 3:18 pm

Tagged #LibDemYES, av referendum, cardiff, kidderminster and oxford and cambridge boat race | 4 Comments

Gordon Birtwistle MP writes… My response to the Budget

By Gordon Birtwistle MP | Fri 25th March 2011 - 11:34 am

For me, this budget goes some way towards rebalancing the economy. The last Government left the country in almost financial ruin and have come up with no credible policies in opposition. The chancellor had very little to play with in his budget but I think the steps he is taking are the right ones.

This was definitely a budget influenced by Lib Dems. It was pleasing to see how many of our policies made an appearance in the budget, particularly the increase in the personal allowance over the next three years.

The budget also provided confirmation of the go ahead of the …

Tagged apprenticeships, budget 2011, green investment bank and manufacturing | 8 Comments

Simon Hughes writes… Why Vote Yes: Believe in better democracy

By Simon Hughes MP | Thu 24th March 2011 - 11:55 am

On May 5th our country will have an historic opportunity.

For the first time the people of Britain will have the choice as to how they will elect their Members of Parliament.

Liberal Democrats must take an active role in this campaign, as we should with every opportunity to make our democracy more representative.

Our society and our politics have moved on from the two-party system that existed 60 years ago, when over 9 out of 10 of the electorate voted for one of the two largest parties. Today there is more real political choice and many more people choose to avail …

Tagged #LibDemYES and av referendum | 28 Comments

Julian Huppert writes… Winning the fight on student visas

By Julian Huppert | Thu 24th March 2011 - 8:55 am

One area of division within the coalition government is about immigration. A number of Tory MPs are keen to keep foreigners out of the country, whereas Lib Dems and some Tories emphasise the need to ensure that businesses and educational institutes can get the best people, wherever they come from.

This has been a long fight, and will continue. The first round was over work visas – Tiers 1 & 2 – with Vince Cable and others ensuring that it would continue to be possible for companies to get the high-skilled staff they need, although there were some serious constraints on …

9 Comments

Dominic Carman writes… Why I want to be the Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate for 2012

By Dominic Carman | Wed 23rd March 2011 - 3:23 pm

The Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor faces enormous challenges: an uphill task on many fronts. It will be very tough. But I’m used to tough fights, having contested the Barking seat at the general election last year and the Barnsley Central by-election earlier this month. To borrow a phrase, London needs someone with muscular liberalism.

I believe I have the right combination of political commitment, intellectual vigour, business acumen and international experience, which would serve the party and the city well. Some may see me as a usurper, an upstart, an underdog, but I recognise the obvious requirements …

Also posted in London | Tagged london mayoral selection | 88 Comments

Forgotten Liberal heroes: Lady Louise Glen-Coats

By Mark Pack | Wed 23rd March 2011 - 10:25 am

Listen to Liberal Democrats make speeches and there are frequent references to historical figures, but drawn from a small cast. Just the quartet of John Stuart Mill, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, David Penhaligon corner almost all of the market, especially since Bob Maclennan stopped making speeches to party conference. Some of the forgotten figures deserve their obscurity but others do not. Charles James Fox’s defence of civil liberties against a dominating government during wartime or Earl Grey’s leading of the party back into power and major constitutional reform are good examples of mostly forgotten figures who could …

Tagged forgotten liberal heroes, history, jo grimond, lady louise glen-coats, orkney and shetland, Violet Bonham Carter and william beveridge | 5 Comments

The Independent View: Why I’m voting Yes to AV – Simon Woolley

By Simon Woolley | Wed 23rd March 2011 - 9:55 am

I was a little surprised to be invited to be guest speaker at the Liberal Democrat spring conference last week. But the surprise was not because I’m supporting the AV Yes Vote. After all, I am vice-chair of the campaign.

It was rather because party bosses are well aware of my criticism after the main conference last September. My beef with them, expressed in the Guardian and other places, was a result of the party’s failure to do something positive about its lack of BME political representation.

Of course, I wasn’t there to talk about representation. But I did anyway. …

Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged av referendum, caroline flint, nick clegg, operation black vote, terry paul and william hague | 2 Comments

Shirley Williams writes… Why Vote Yes – So that voters aren’t taken for granted

By Shirley Williams | Tue 22nd March 2011 - 11:55 am

Let me start by stating an undisputable truth; we live in a pluralistic society. Governments have recognised this in delivering our public services and in fostering multiculturalism. However, when it comes to how we vote for our politicians, we have been stuck with first past the post, and left with the patronisingly simple option of submitting a single cross.

Experts of voting behaviour in the past would have explained voting outcomes through ‘class’. Nearly everybody voted either Labour or Conservative. For example, during every election of the 1950s, at least 90% voted for the two main parties. Now barely two-thirds do. …

Tagged #LibDemYES, av referendum, featured and shirley williams | 7 Comments

Jeremy Browne writes… Britain can’t afford to avoid radical change

By Jeremy Browne MP | Tue 22nd March 2011 - 10:23 am

‘One of the things the RSPB are calling on you today to do is to not cut funding for nature conservation. Can you promise that despite the 30% cuts to your department, you won’t cut nature conservation costs?’

In a typical week earlier this month, the Radio 4 Today programme, having set itself against police reforms the previous day, had just found yet another deficit denial frontier. And it was only Wednesday.

Labour official spokespeople are the same: Exhibit A, DCMS Shadow Minister Gloria De Piero writing on why we should not reduce the arts budget in Total Politics magazine last month:

‘It

…

Tagged budget 2011, ed miliband and gloria de piero | 45 Comments

Voters, not politicians, will choose the future alignments of British politics

By Mark Pack | Tue 22nd March 2011 - 8:55 am

That’s the theme of the article I’ve done for the IPPR’s quarterly journal which has a series of articles looking at political realignment, including Nick Boles making a pitch for the centre-right.

It’s Parliamentary arithmetic which predominantly determines what options are actually open to politicians. That matters far more than any personal preferences of senior politicians, so the choices that are made are shaped far more by the results of what voters do than by what politicians might prefer:

The voters have a habit of making fools of those who make political predictions, even those (and perhaps particularly those) who make long-term predictions … So enthusiastically confident predictions about the long-term future of this coalition government – less than one year old and yet to face a national electoral test of any sort – tell you more about the self-confidence of those making the predictions than they do about the likely course of future events.

Also posted in News | Tagged nick boles | 3 Comments

Opinion: Are hyper-injunctions compatible with the Human Rights Act?

By Niklas Smith | Mon 21st March 2011 - 7:25 pm

“Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” That famous aphorism is commonly quoted, though perhaps not in the courts that hand down hyper-injunctions whose very existence is kept secret on the pain of imprisonment. This incredible situation was exposed in Parliament by John Hemming MP, whose work deserves to be widely read.

When you read a hyper-injunction what strikes you is the sheer sweeping arrogance of the way they make themselves almost totally secret. One of the many questions raised these injunctions is how they can be compatible with …

Tagged human rights act, john hemming and superinjunctions | 2 Comments

Opinion: Nottingham Labour council repeatedly investigates and clears itself

By Tony Sutton | Mon 21st March 2011 - 1:08 pm

You couldn’t make it up!

Nottingham City Council allocated Council Houses to people who shouldn’t have had them and when the Auditor exposed the practise they came to a cosy agreement with the police to let them investigate themselves

Nottingham City Council communications before local elections in 2007 bore a striking resemblance to Labour slogans. The Auditor accepted Council assurances and did not seek a court ruling on the lawfulness. When I discovered a document suggesting Officer involvement in Council and Labour communications the Auditor agreed to let the Council investigate this itself.

Nottingham City Council is employing a consultant before the 2011 …

Also posted in Local government | Tagged nottingham city council | 1 Comment

Paddy Ashdown writes… Why Vote Yes: Take Courage – make change

By Paddy Ashdown | Mon 21st March 2011 - 11:55 am

This is the second in our series, Why Vote Yes, where prominent Liberal Democrats explain the importance of voting Yes in May’s referendum on the UK Parliamentary voting system.

Yesterday, Charles Kennedy described A chance for change we cannot miss. Today, Paddy Ashdown writes:

Fellow Liberal Democrats – I’ve been in politics for a long time. There’s nothing wrong with people of any age getting involved, from a teenager to a centenarian. We can all make a difference.

But when almost every politician at the top of the “No” campaign was already a dinosaur by the time I was first elected to Parliament in 1983, you have to wonder about the freshness of their arguments.

Think of the changes Britain has seen during my lifetime – and theirs:

We’ve joined the European Union. We’ve established a Parliament in Scotland and an Assembly for Wales. We’ve voted in proportional representation elections for both – a far bigger change than AV – and the sky hasn’t fallen in.

And government, always the last to change under Tory and Labour alike, has often been the last to wake up to the incredible social changes that have changed Britain for the better.

So when those old Labour and Tory hacks gang up to tell you to be afraid of a long-overdue but frankly much smaller change, it tells you far more about their fears than those of the British public. Of course they’re against change. They want to hang on to the present system because it makes life easier for politicians. Well I am more interested in a system that makes life better for the voters!

Tagged #LibDemYES, av referendum, featured, paddy ashdown and why vote yes | 18 Comments

Opinion: How 295 losers could have been winners

By Mark Thompson | Sun 20th March 2011 - 3:37 pm

I like Simon Wright, the recently elected Member of Parliament for Norwich South. I met him at a training event at Lib Dem conference a couple of years ago and he seemed like a nice chap. Understated but passionate. There were a few other candidates in the room on that day who could have gone on to become MPs but he is the only one who made it.

However Simon has a particular distinction within the House of Commons. He was elected with the smallest proportion of the vote of any MP. He got just 29.4% of the vote …

26 Comments

Charles Kennedy writes… Why Vote Yes – A chance for change we cannot miss

By Charles Kennedy | Sun 20th March 2011 - 11:55 am

I’ve campaigned for electoral reform for as long as I can remember. I’m both President of DAGGER (Democratic Action Group for Gaining Electoral Reform) and the Liberal Democrat Group of the Electoral Reform Society, so you can imagine how I felt when I found out that we have a chance to change our outdated, broken electoral system and replace it with something better.

Let’s be clear: AV may not be perfect, but it IS better and fairer than First Past the Post. Even the ‘No2AV’ campaign know that, which is why they’ve resorted to making things up …

Tagged #LibDemYES, av referendum, charles kennedy, featured and why vote yes | 10 Comments

John Howson’s review of education policy

By John Howson | Sun 20th March 2011 - 10:15 am

As we approach the end of the first year of coalition government it is worth assessing the balance sheet in respect of education. Can we as Liberal Democrats be pleased or dismayed at what has happened in education?

The two obvious big events provide contrasting pictures. On the one hand there has been the tuition fees debacle, and on the other, the Pupil Premium success. But, there has been much more to consider; new forms of academies; additional schools; changes to the ways schools are funded; abolition of EMAs; and of Quangos such as the GTCE and TDA; provision for deprived …

Tagged academy, education, higher education, pupil premium, schools, STEM, tuition fees and universities | 12 Comments

Opinion: Pirate Party Perspective

By Loz Kaye | Sat 19th March 2011 - 3:39 pm

As leader of Pirate Party UK I often feel like ‘the elephant in the room’ at debates about the future of the Internet and file-sharing ‘piracy’. Good natured calls of ‘who let him in here?’ notwithstanding at the Lib Dem Voice fringe meeting on ‘who runs the Internet?’, I actually felt quite welcome. I guess that is because, as the panel pointed out, the web was founded on principles that are liberal and democratic in a way that most of us can get behind without needing any kind of orange book.

Unfortunately, these principles are under threat. The …

25 Comments

Sarah Harding writes… Fairer Votes: young people are leading from the front

By Sarah Harding | Sat 19th March 2011 - 11:55 am

On the 5th of May, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to effect a change 100 years in the making.

This is our chance to finally fix the broken system that has failed the people of Britain. And Liberal Youth will not waste it.

Young people are leading from the front in the fight for fairer votes. University and college campuses across the country are coming alive with a new wave of political participation. Young people from all political parties and none are uniting to fix our political system, and to give us a electoral system fit …

Tagged #LibDemYES, av referendum, liberal youth and sarah harding | 8 Comments

The weekend debate: Old versus young at work

By Mark Pack | Sat 19th March 2011 - 8:55 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

During the week Foreign Secretary William Hague talked of having a network of diplomats who are past their retirement age of 60 but can be called on to help out at times of international crisis. However Labour MP Frank Roy attacked the idea saying that the Foreign Office instead should be “nurturing young talent”.

What’s your view on this and more generally – should we do more to keep on the skills of people beyond 60, or should people be promptly moved out …

Tagged retirement, weekend debate and william hague | 9 Comments

Tim Farron writes… Join the Lib Dems YES! to Fairer Votes campaign

By Tim Farron MP | Fri 18th March 2011 - 12:23 pm

This morning I launched the Liberal Democrats’ Yes! To Fairer Votes campaign in Manchester.

Over 100 local members and supporters came along to hear speeches from Simon Hughes, John Leech, Gordon Birtwistle and Floella Benjamin about how monumentally essential it is that we win this Fairer Votes referendum.

As Nick Clegg has already argued, this is “a battle between reformers and conservatives” and this is our chance, our one opportunity for genuine electoral reform.

By winning this referendum …

Tagged #LibDemYES, av referendum, floella benjamin, gordon birtwistle, john leech, simon hughes and tim farron | 6 Comments

Opinion: our growing military impotency is restricting our foreign policy

By Alex Paul Shantz | Fri 18th March 2011 - 11:15 am

Recent events in the Middle East have demonstrated how the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) is cutting the British military back to the barest of bare bones. In doing so, we risk losing our position as a leading world player, as befits a nation with a veto on the UN Security Council. Instead we are becoming a two-bit regional player, all diplomatic swagger but militarily impotent.

Amidst the criticism of the Government’s evacuation of British citizens from Egypt and Libya, one success story was the deployment of HMS Cumberland, a Royal Navy frigate, to Benghazi in February. Whilst other countries were having …

Tagged harrier, HMS Cumberland, libya and strategic defence review | 28 Comments

Paul Burstow writes… Labour shouldn’t play party politics with the NHS

By Paul Burstow | Wed 16th March 2011 - 9:50 pm

On Saturday I gave a guarantee to every party member that I, along with other Liberal Democrat members of the Government would listen to every word that you had to say. I completely stand by that. If there are ways in which we can amend the Health and Social Care Bill then we will work to do it. But what we won’t do is to allow our Spring Conference to be hijacked and used as a political tool by Labour. And that’s exactly what they tried to do today.

Today was one of Labour’s designated days in Parliament when they are …

Tagged emily thornberry, labour party and NHS | 61 Comments

Evan Harris writes… The Draft Libel Bill – A good start, but much still to play for

By Evan Harris | Wed 16th March 2011 - 8:12 pm

Yesterday the Government published its draft Defamation Bill. This consisted not only of draft clauses but also a formal consultation on some key issues not included (yet).

The Liberal Democrats have been at the forefront of the campaign to reform our libel laws as Nick Clegg points out in his Guardian piece yesterday. I convened the parliamentary wing of the Libel Reform Campaign in 2008/9, working with Sense About Science, Index on Censorship and English PEN. We achieved our aims of getting manifesto commitments from all three main parties before the 2010 Election. This campaign …

Tagged defamation bill and libel | 2 Comments

Three cheers for Ed Miliband (shame about his party)

By Stephen Tall | Wed 16th March 2011 - 6:40 pm

This evening Labour leader Ed Miliband will urge his party and the public to say yes to fairer votes in this coming May’s referendum.

All of us in favour of electoral reform, and a voting system that puts more power back in the hands of the people, should welcome his personal backing for the alternative vote. Ed, at least, is staying true to what Labour’s 2010 general election manifesto pledged, specifically:

To ensure that every MP is supported by the majority of their constituents voting at each election, we will hold a referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote for elections

…

Tagged alternative vote, dan hodges, ed miliband and electoral reform | 30 Comments

The four best books on the British general election of 2010

By Mark Pack | Wed 16th March 2011 - 10:25 am

Over the last few months, I’ve read (and mostly reviewed on this site) all the books I’ve found published so far about the 2010 general election and the subsequent coalition negotiations, not to mention a fair number about the political events leading up to the general election over the preceding years.

I’ve yet to read a book that is really bad, although many do have very similar content to each other. A few gems either have original content or present that common ground in particularly strong ways. So based on that here are my top four recommended books about the British …

Also posted in Books | Tagged chris huhne, david laws, deborah mattinson, dennis kavanagh, lord ashcroft and philip cowley | 3 Comments

Opinion: It’s time for a no-fly zone

By Rob Blackie | Tue 15th March 2011 - 11:09 am

In 1984 a young aeronautical engineer called Al-Sadek Hamed Al-Shuwehdy,an opponent of Muammar Gaddafi, was hanged in a basketball stadium in Benghazi. As he hung from the rope dying, he was grabbed round his legs and dragged down until he stopped moving by a brutal young woman called Huda Ben Amer. Ben Amer was appointed Mayor of Benghazi, and went on to terrorise the people Benghazi for the decades since. She escaped the Benghazi uprising, and is waiting to return if the Libyan army retake control in the next few days.

Al-Sadek’s story matters, not just because of …

Also posted in Europe / International | Tagged Al-Sadek Hamed Al-Shuwehdy, Huda Ben Amer, kosovo, libya, Muammar Gaddafi and no fly zone | 27 Comments

Op-eds

Observations of an Expat: Post Election Worries (Tom Arms)
How Liberal Democrats can ride Britain’s youth wave on the pro-EU shift (Rupinder Singh)
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)

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Chris Coghlan: put children with complex needs at centre of SEND reforms

SNP Govt defeated on Lib Dem motion

Vince Cable writes: A budget of small things

Chadwick launches leadership bid

Category Archives: Op-eds

Lembit4London right to reply

Who are the heirs of the SDP?

Opinion: Why Lib Dems should reject the doctrine of liberal interventionism

The weekend debate: Does the Prime Minister’s pay make a useful yardstick?

Tim Farron writes… One chance: let’s make it count #LibDemYES

Gordon Birtwistle MP writes… My response to the Budget

Simon Hughes writes… Why Vote Yes: Believe in better democracy

Julian Huppert writes… Winning the fight on student visas

Dominic Carman writes… Why I want to be the Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate for 2012

Forgotten Liberal heroes: Lady Louise Glen-Coats

The Independent View: Why I’m voting Yes to AV – Simon Woolley

Shirley Williams writes… Why Vote Yes – So that voters aren’t taken for granted

Jeremy Browne writes… Britain can’t afford to avoid radical change

Voters, not politicians, will choose the future alignments of British politics

Opinion: Are hyper-injunctions compatible with the Human Rights Act?

Opinion: Nottingham Labour council repeatedly investigates and clears itself

Paddy Ashdown writes… Why Vote Yes: Take Courage – make change

Opinion: How 295 losers could have been winners

Charles Kennedy writes… Why Vote Yes – A chance for change we cannot miss

John Howson’s review of education policy

Opinion: Pirate Party Perspective

Sarah Harding writes… Fairer Votes: young people are leading from the front

The weekend debate: Old versus young at work

Tim Farron writes… Join the Lib Dems YES! to Fairer Votes campaign

Opinion: our growing military impotency is restricting our foreign policy

Paul Burstow writes… Labour shouldn’t play party politics with the NHS

Evan Harris writes… The Draft Libel Bill – A good start, but much still to play for

Three cheers for Ed Miliband (shame about his party)

The four best books on the British general election of 2010

Opinion: It’s time for a no-fly zone

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Chris Coghlan: put children with complex needs at centre of SEND reforms

SNP Govt defeated on Lib Dem motion

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Chadwick launches leadership bid

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