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Category Archives: Op-eds

Opinion: time to close the book on Booktrust

By Stuart Bonar | Thu 6th January 2011 - 2:32 pm

The Government should have stuck to its guns, and ended its relationship with Booktrust.

There was never any withdrawal of funding or cut as far as I can tell. The last government signed a time-limited deal with the charity to dish out books to children of various ages. That contract is due to come to an end next April, and the Coalition has always had every intention of honouring that contract.

From the media coverage and the reaction of some, you might imagine that instead of not renewing a contract, the Coalition had instead decided to indulge in human …

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Tagged andrew motion, booktrust, carol ann duffy, department of education, michael gove and scrooge | 24 Comments

Everything you ever wanted to know about the internal workings of the Liberal Democrats but were afraid to ask…

By Mark Valladares | Thu 6th January 2011 - 12:25 pm

Welcome to my new column, a humble bureaucrat’s contribution to internal Party debate and participation. When Mark Pack invited me to become a columnist for this august website, I was a mite surprised but, after some thought, realised that this might be an opportunity to help people to take a greater role in their Party. So here we go!

The Party’s internal workings are varied and strange. Indeed, so strange are they that when Ros Scott asked for an organogram before taking office as President two years ago, she was moved to remark, “Shouldn’t the boxes be joined to each other?”. …

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Also posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged nick clegg, ros scott and tim farron | 17 Comments

The Independent View: Rhetoric is not enough on tax dodging

By David Babbs | Thu 6th January 2011 - 11:50 am

The VAT rise will mean tighter purse strings for everyone, with the poorest being hardest hit. But there is an alternative which some sections of the media and certain politicians seem reluctant to talk about, let alone act on.

The £120bn tax gap is more than the NHS budget and over three times the budget for education. It dwarfs the £13bn brought in by the VAT increase. At a time when George Osborne is telling the British public that we’re all in this together, 38 Degrees members are calling on him to do more to make sure everyone plays by the …

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged 38 degrees, george osborne, tax and tax avoidance | 29 Comments

The two electoral tests the Coalition should run

By Mark Pack | Thu 6th January 2011 - 8:55 am

During 2011, the political reform agenda is likely to be dominated by a spring referendum on the alternative vote and by the government fleshing out its promise to bring in elections by proportional representation for an elected Upper House. Significant though the impact of both the alternative vote and Upper House elections may be, there are two much smaller ideas the government should look to pilot during the year because a healthy democracy also requires healthy turnouts; 2011 should see weekend voting and increasing the number of polling stations tested out.

Raising turnout in public elections is a widely …

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Also posted in Election law | Tagged turnout and weekend voting | 7 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 12)

By The Voice | Wed 5th January 2011 - 6:55 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV has been offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The top most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by former contributing editor (and former party member) Richard Huzzey, and originally appeared on 9th December …

Opinion: Richard Huzzey – “I resign”

Vince Cable and Nick Clegg have pursued a strategy that has resembled a poorly-scripted comedy as much as a bitter tragedy in the past month.

This week we have reached the final act of a farcical and disastrous …

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The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 11)

By The Voice | Tue 4th January 2011 - 6:55 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The second most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by LDV co-editor Stephen Tall, and originally appeared on 8th May …

Deal or no deal? Here’s what I think

Who would want to be in Nick Clegg’s place today? For all the talk during the campaign that the Lib Dem leader would end up as ‘Kingmaker’, that now looks the least enviable position imaginable.

I’ve read and absorbed lots of …

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6 Comments

The Independent View: The UK voting system is broken

By Nick Pearce | Tue 4th January 2011 - 6:04 pm

One of the key arguments made by defenders of First Past the Post is that it produces clear outcomes on which strong and stable government is based. New analysis published today by the ippr (Worst of Both worlds: Why First Past the Post no longer works) shows why this claim no longer stacks up. It shows that the last general election result was not an aberration but a reflection of long-term changes in voting patterns across the UK which significantly increase the likelihood of more hung parliaments in the future.

Britain has evolved into a multi-party system, but it still has an electoral …

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged av referendum, electoral reform and ippr | 7 Comments

Chris White writes: New Year challenges for localists

By Chris White | Tue 4th January 2011 - 12:05 pm

Andrew Stunell told Lib Dem Voice in December: ‘The Localism Bill presents a lot of positive news for local government.’

I don’t demur from that but there is much we need to challenge in this Bill.

Take for instance the much vaunted General Power of Competence. If you open Volume 1 of the Bill (yes, it is that long) you will find that the Secretary of State ‘may by order make provision preventing local authorities from doing, in exercise of the general power, anything which is specified, or is of a description specified, in the order.’

Basically the Secretary of State can, …

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Also posted in Local government | Tagged andrew stunnell, general power of competence, localism bill, mayoral referendum, open source planning and planning | 6 Comments

Why I support the Coalition: in praise of compromise

By Iain Roberts | Tue 4th January 2011 - 10:17 am

I support the Coalition. Or, more precisely, I want to see Lib Dem policies and principles actually changing people’s lives, not just piling up forever more in some dusty old cupboard of policy papers and manifestos past, and right now the Coalition is without a doubt the only game in town when it comes to achieving that.

But what about all those horrible compromises we’re having to make? What about the compromise on tuition fees and many other areas? What about the 35% of the Lib Dem manifesto that’s not in the Coalition Agreement? How can we …

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58 Comments

What does the Zac Goldsmith case mean for election expense controls in future?

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th January 2011 - 8:55 am

It’s always tempting to view the verdict of investigations through a partisan filter – if ‘your side’ does not get punished, it’s a great result by a wise team of investigators; if on the other hand it does get punished, it’s a muddle-headed verdict from dangerously ignorant investigators, whether that means the police, the courts or a regulator.

However, the case of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith’s election expenses raises important issues which deserve a more careful consideration that the immediate partisan filter. Some are longer-term ones about how regulation of election expenditure is changing as the methods people use alter; others …

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Also posted in Election law | Tagged electoral commission and zac goldsmith | 3 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 10)

By The Voice | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 6:55 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The third most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by LDV contributing editor Iain Roberts, and originally appeared on 13th May …

Confusion reigns over 55% – the reality is rather different

Labour activists are up in arms – apparently the Lib Dems and Conservatives are going to change the law so the government can only be brought down if 55% of MPs vote against it.

They’ve got a point – …

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Why Cameron’s a credible candidate for 2010’s Liberal Voice award

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 3:15 pm

Lib Dem Voice is currently running our fourth annual Liberal Voice of the Year poll. The purpose of this award since we launched it in 2006 has been to find a liberal from beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems — a Good Thing for a party committed to pluralism.

Equally traditionally, this has attracted some flak. Last year, it was Peter Tatchell’s inclusion which sparked strong views from those irate that the Voice should have recognised one of the Green Party’s leading lights. This year it’s the inclusion of two Tories — Ken Clarke and David Cameron — which …

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Tagged david cameron and liberal voice 2010 | 62 Comments

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… This government is working

By Stephen Lloyd | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 1:13 pm

The last six months as the new Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne have been more of a rollercoaster than I could ever have imagined they would be! I’ve been pretty much just as flat out, albeit in a different way, as an MP as I was during the 6 months frenetic run up to the General Election.

Much has gone on as you’ll all be aware but the two things I’d like to write about today show the upside of being in Government and the upside of having the privilege of influence all MPs enjoy.

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Tagged benefits, damian green, eastbourne, iain duncan smith and stephen lloyd | 32 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 9)

By The Voice | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 8:15 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The fourth most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by LDV co-editor Mark Pack, and originally appeared on 18th June …

The easy, progressive way to cut £44 billion without harming worthwhile public services or the least well off

It may sound a challenge, cutting £44 billion from public spending.

But actually, it’s easy.

Not only that, it can be done without hitting the least well off. Without cutting worthwhile public services.

…

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8 Comments

10 key Lib Dem questions for 2011

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 2:25 pm

In what is fast becoming a pre-New Year tradition as eagerly anticipated as ‘the biggest ever DFS sale’, Lib Dem Voice is publishing its list of 10 key questions, the answers to which we think might well help shape 2011 for the party. You can read last year’s list here; and our answers to those questions here (Part I) and here (Part II).

Here below, then, are my top 10 questions for the coming year in Lib Demmery:

1. The biggest question of all: will the Lib Dem / Conservative Coalition Government last the year?
Plenty have predicted its …

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Tagged featured | 14 Comments

Opinion: Brown was deceived by his “friends” – let’s hope the Coalition is more careful!

By Nick Hollinghurst | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 10:55 am

In days of old, when Brown was bold (well, in 1992 anyway) he gave a stirring speech, as Shadow Chancellor, calling for a “powerful alternative to free-market thinking”. He clearly explained why regulations and strong institutions were needed to bring the City under control. Then, five years later he was catapulted into power by the Labour landslide, becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony Blair’s government.

Tony Blair naively developed an undue admiration for what he romantically saw as the swashbuckling and flamboyant world of supposedly successful entrepreneurs, whose company he found flattering. Gordon, alas, similarly fell for a charm offensive launched by the very people he once …

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Tagged derek wanless, gordon brown and tony blair | 14 Comments

Is 100,000 a big number?

By Mark Pack | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 8:55 am

Even I would concede that 100,000 maltesers would be quite a large number, but what about when it comes to signatures on a petition? The fear that all sorts of humorous and trivial ideas could get 100,000 verified signatures from people on the electoral register is one of the reasons some people have given for criticising the government’s plans to give proposals that get 100,000 signatures some debating time in Parliament.

I think those criticisms are misplaced because, as I said previously, “The usual tiny number of votes deliberate joke candidates get at election time (unless there is a …

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15 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 8)

By The Voice | Sat 1st January 2011 - 6:45 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 20109. The fifth most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson, and originally appeared on 3rd November …

Jo Swinson MP writes on tuition fees

Today the Government has outlined its response to the Browne review, and the future of higher education funding. This is arguably the most challenging issue for Liberal Democrats in the coalition so far.

Our party has long prided …

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The Independent View: Child detention – mind the gap between rhetoric and reality

By Clare Sambrook | Sat 1st January 2011 - 2:25 pm

‘Today marks a big culture shift within our immigration system,’ said Nick Clegg two weeks ago, announcing plans purporting to end child detention. ‘That practice, the practice we inherited, ends here,’ he said.

Sadly, it didn’t end there.

Liberal Democrats interested in these matters might take a look at two dossiers of evidence compiled by End Child Detention Now and published on openDemocracy.

Mind the Gap! Coalition claims and realities for child detention in the UK tests the new ‘compassionate approach to family returns’ as expressed in government documents released on December 16

Drawing on evidence elsewhere, for instance an HMIP report on …

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged child detention | 18 Comments

Opinion: Coalition must resist the easy option of raising interest rates

By David Thorpe | Sat 1st January 2011 - 1:20 pm

When historians looking back on Gordon Brown’s career are searching for an epitah, they may well settle on the former Chancellor’s claim to have “abolished boom and bust”.

Questionable at the time it was uttered, the crash of 2008 rendered it a nonsense, but there are lessons to be learned for the coalition as they try to unravel the mess left by the Labour Government. The comment mentioned above is an example of a Chancellor falling victim to hubris, and the Coalition must be careful to not to be afflicted by the same condition.

Inflation and how best to prevent it wrecking …

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Tagged economy, gordon brown and norman lamb | 22 Comments

Our starters for 2010 – how did we do? (Part II)

By Stephen Tall | Sat 1st January 2011 - 10:55 am

A year ago, Lib Dem Voice posed 10 questions, the answers to which we believed might shape the Lib Dem year – time to revisit them, wethinks. You can read Part I of our round-up here.

6. Will any of the party’s senior figures – within or without the Lib Dem shadow cabinet – take an official position offered by whoever forms the next government?

When I posed this question I rather had in mind Gordon Brown’s GOAT appointments — such as Lib Dem MP-turned-peer Lord (Matthew) Taylor’s housing review, or Baroness (Shirley) Williams’ advice on nuclear proliferation. …

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Tagged featured | 4 Comments

The Saturday debate: Should we have more directly-elected Mayors?

By Mark Pack | Sat 1st January 2011 - 8:55 am

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

Directly-elected Mayors were introduced by Labour to a very mixed reception. Now the idea is back again with the Government pushing for more, arguing that direct accountability of an individual makes for better decision-making and more meaningful democracy.

Agree? Disagree? Post your comments below…

Tagged weekend debate | 14 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 7)

By The Voice | Fri 31st December 2010 - 6:45 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 20109. The sixth most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by a long-standing Lib Dem member who preferred, for professional reasons, to remain anonymous, and originally appeared on 22nd January …

Opinion: UK Border Agency plunges colleges into crisis

I wrote recently about the train-wreck that is happening before our eyes with the new student visa rules. Well, there has been a new development. The UK Border Agency has …

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1 Comment

The Labour and Conservative MPs who were in favour of AV before they were against it

By Mark Pack | Fri 31st December 2010 - 10:25 am

Here’s a curious detail about the voting record of MPs on the alternative vote: before the general election, the House of Commons agreed to introduce elections for select committee chairs using the alternative vote (and the first set of these such elections have now been held).

Most of the Conservative and Labour MPs who have said they oppose AV for public elections were also MPs when this decision was taken – and not one of them forced a vote on the matter, let alone vote against introducing AV. Instead, they all let the introduction of AV go through.

Now of course …

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Tagged av referendum and electoral reform | 54 Comments

Our starters for 2010 – how did we do? (Part I)

By Stephen Tall | Fri 31st December 2010 - 8:30 am

A year ago, Lib Dem Voice posed 10 questions, the answers to which we believed might shape the Lib Dem year – time to revisit them, wethinks.

1. In the 2010 general election, how many Lib Dem MPs will be elected? Will we increase our number from the current total of 63; or will we fall back? Will we increase our vote percentage compared with 2005, when we polled 22% of the popular vote? Or could we do, as we did in 1997, see our popular vote drop, but our Parliamentary strength grow?

My prediction at the start of 2010 was …

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Tagged featured | 6 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 6)

By The Voice | Thu 30th December 2010 - 8:58 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 20109. The seventh most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Nick Perry, and originally appeared on 7th July …

Opinion: I admit it, I am shocked by Labour’s hatred

Call me naive, but I have been genuinely shocked by the bilious and unbridled hatred that has been pouring out from every Labour orifice you could care to mention.

Not just from the Labour leadership contenders. Not just in the press. But even here in sunny Hastings, Labour is looking to knee-cap a Lib Dem or two.

It’s bewildering. It’s so far removed from the kind of national political culture that I want to be part of.

My sense of the Lib Dems is that we wear our political hearts on our sleeve a bit. We are passionate about social justice, civil liberties, political reform. And maybe that’s why the first 50 days of the Coalition have been so difficult to come to terms with.

Coalition policies are, de facto, not Lib Dem policies, despite our party having influenced (for the better) the policies that are now being brought forward.

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12 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 5)

By The Voice | Wed 29th December 2010 - 6:45 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 20109. The eighth most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by new party member Chris Jones, and originally appeared on 12th May …

Opinion: I’ve joined the Liberal Democrats

Last night I watched as the helicopter above central London followed and filmed the new Prime Minister David Cameron’s car as it drove from Buckingham Palace back to Downing Street. I watched as Mr. Cameron arrived at number 10, made a speech …

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Opinion: Answers on no more than 2 sides of A4 (part 1)

By Alex Feakes | Wed 29th December 2010 - 12:30 pm

In the first of a series of three, school governor Alex Feakes looks at elements of the recent education white paper.

The Importance of Teaching schools White Paper published by the government last month has lots going for it and has attracted the qualified support of many in the teaching profession. As a discussion paper, however, there are still quite a few wrinkles to be ironed out. Here’s one:

Exclusions

Like many secondary school governors who have been on disciplinary panels, I occasionally have had to confirm the headteacher’s decision to permanently exclude a student from the school. If the …

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Tagged exclusion, importance of teaching, schools and white paper | 1 Comment

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