Arriving from in Fermanagh from England in July 2008, five weeks after having had a stroke, I was understandably more concerned with my recuperation than with politics. However fate has a sense of humour and I found my new constituency plunged into the center of a political battleground that allowed me the opportunity to look at Northern Ireland politics. It allowed me to compare and contrast politics here with my 20 odd years of political activism in the Labour Party in England.
Enniskillen is my home now and nestling on the Island between Upper and Lower Lough Erne is the greatest …
I have now been a political activist for quite a long time! Starting with campaigning for a Palestinian state and against apartheid in my teens, joining the party as a Liberal student, and then elected to Parliament in 1983 when Mrs Thatcher was at the height of her powers. Twenty seven years later, I have never forgotten what I came into politics to do. Fight for social justice, civil liberties, internationalism and a fair and responsible Britain where power is handed back to and not taken from the people.
For many people in our country these are not characteristics which …
Overseas places come and go as the fashionable one to talk about in Westminster political circles. After 1992 it was Japan, with the fourth Conservative general election victory in a row spawning comparisons with Japan and the long period of Liberal Democrat rule there. In the run up to 2005 it was the Australian state of Queensland, where an incumbent state government had seemed set for re-election but suffered a shock defeat, put down largely to complacency amongst its supporters. And of course, as a third example, when in doubt there’s always the 1960 US Presidential election, Barack Obama or …
Last night the new Parliament had its first vote on the Queen’s Speech; the government parties voted together of course. So there I was rubbing shoulders in the voting lobby with all these Tories, many of them new, most of them – through no fault of their own – from rather privileged backgrounds. Never before have I felt quite so aware of my state comprehensive / red-brick education – and immensely proud of it too.
I was also made acutely aware that our new bed-fellows are not very much like us but that our Labour opponents will nevertheless work hard to …
The Coalition Government has avoided the temptation to reorganise Whitehall departments. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has been renamed the Department for Education but there has not been the wholesale reshaping we saw under Blair – which led to the creation of such historical oddities as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and a vast amount of anomalies, cost and muddle.
ODPM, of course, could not by definition outlive the retirement of John Prescott. So it morphed into the Department for Communities and Local Government. The D then suddenly disappeared and now we have ‘CLG’.
We’ve begun to see how the cutbacks in the Transport Department’s budget are going to affect Britain’s railways. There were always going to be some projects that would need to be delayed, but we should be careful that Transport Secretary Philip Hammond doesn’t just look at the impact on his own budget but also the impact on the industry and communities that build and maintain Britain’s railway network. He should also look forward beyond the end of this Parliament.
At the moment, after years of cuts and rationalisation by the previous Conservative and Labour regimes, Britain is now down to one …
The 2010 general election will live long in the memory for a variety of reasons – the end of New Labour, a surprising Con-Lib coalition, the first TV debates – but one crucial aspect of the campaign that had politicians and commentators chattering with excitement was the entrance of a new political player – the internet.
Social networking and Web 2.0 opened the floor of the political debate to everyone, from satirical photoshoppers to cynical bloggers and, of course, let us not forget Twitter gossip worth its weight in retweets.
Whilst the political parties did their best to tackle new media during …
David Laws has resigned and the story has more or less moved along. For my part I know and like David a lot and his loss is a real blow to the Liberal Democrats, the Government and the country. But most of all this was a personal story.
So I was appalled by the decision of Stonewall’s Chief Executive Ben Summerskill to take the airwaves and print media to launch his own mini-campaign against David.
The very organisation that you would expect to have the courage to stand up and explain the moral realities of being gay and struggling with a public …
It is one of the great battles of 21st century Liberalism to balance the party’s commitment free trade while not damaging the foundations of the welfare state which were established by previous Liberal governments.
But the point at which both sides of the debate come together can be summed up in a single word: ‘Employment’, as both sides search for efficient and equitable ways to create sustainable jobs and aid Britain ’s economic recovery.
When casting his eye across the various options open to Britain , new Business secretary Vince Cable should perhaps look at renewing the Eneterprise Allowance Scheme …
Peter Downes, a former comprehensive school head-teacher and current Liberal Democrat councillor, examines the new coalition government’s education policies …
1. While it is encouraging to see that the Lib Dem case for a ‘pupil premium’ has been accepted as a policy by the coalition, how this will operate is unclear. The foreword to the Coalition Agreement stated:
extra money following the poorest pupils so that they, at last, get to go to the best schools, not the worst.’
Does it mean:
a) that the extra money to be allocated to pupils who are considered poor because they are on Free School
Whilst political pundits struggle to fathom the implications of coalition and ‘new politics’, the signs are that Lib Dem voters are optimistic and that they are responding well to the new vision. It seems that when the new order combines with a strong local campaign and a candidate who offers the traditional Lib Dem promise of ‘service and action all year round’ success follows.
A series of elections over the last two weeks brought first an encouraging result in the extended Parliamentary election in Thirsk and Malton. This being a safe Tory seat with a notional majority of over 14,000 and …
After an extended election break, we’re reviving our Saturday slot posing a view for debate:
The election campaign of 2010 will, above all, be remembered for the transformative effect of the television debates, and the breakthrough of Nick Clegg. They were, in the main, substantive discussions in which real policies – and real political differences – were openly debated. But they also re-inforced the impression that British politics is, above all, about personality; and in particular, that the quality politicians need above all is empathy, an ability to connect with the voters they seek to represent.
Empathy is a vital quality of leadership. It is one which is perhaps tipping the balance of opinion in the Labour party against David Miliband, who comes across as less of a listener than his brother and rival, Ed.
But empathy can all too easily tip over into something else: an overly emotional reaction which blinds politicians to sound reason. The moment a politician loses his rag – however understandably, however provoked, however gloriously – is the moment I feel my respect draining away.
I do not want a politician who knows only how to emote. I want a politician with cool, clear, concise judgement. Our leaders are faced with umpteen improbably tricky decisions before breakfast: they cannot afford to waste their energies as the mood takes them.
Perhaps the ultimate exemplar of the non-emoting politician happens also to be the world’s most powerful leader, President Obama. Yet he has come in for criticism in recent days from the Washington media for failing to show sufficient anger at BP, forcing Obama to declare himself somewhat falsely ‘furious’ (while reasonably pointing out he wasn’t hired to yell at people):
There’s been some interesting discussion on LabourList about whether Labour should – yet again – pick Ken Livingstone as their candidate for London Mayor. Declan Gaffney has made use of some very interesting research into the demographics of London elections (published here).
That demographic analysis deserves a long second look; and once you do, the picture isn’t pretty for anyone who wants Ken Livingstone to be elected as Mayor of London.
The most striking feature in the demographic facts and figures is the polarisation of London politics between 2004 and 2008. The study looks at the election results, ward …
Mark Prisk is Minister of State for Business & Enterprise and is MP for Hertford & Stortford:
Cutting the burden of regulation is vital if we are to help the private sector grow. This is especially the case for small and medium sized enterprises that face disproportionate costs from unnecessary red tape.
Under Labour the burden of regulation grew inexorably, to the point that by the time of the May 2010 election it was implementing the equivalent of 14 new regulations every working day. The Federation of Small Businesses has worked out that this meant that the average small business is spending …
Last week’s announcement of new peers didn’t seem much like a “new way of doing politics”. On the Tory side, wealthy party donors were rewarded for their largess. On our own side, just two of the nine appointments were of people directly elected to the interim peers list, three owed their place on that list to being ex-MPs and four had not come from the interim peers list at all – so much for party democracy!
The statement in the coalition deal that “Lords appointments will be made with the objective of creating a second chamber that is reflective of the …
Back near the beginning of the election campaign the parties had a bit of fun with a Gene Hunt election poster. Labour had Gene on his red Audi Quattro, warning us about a return to the ’80s. The Conservatives thought the reckless Hunt, who frequently bends and breaks the rules to get results and thumbs his nose at authority, was a rather positive model and put out their own version of the poster.
It seems Labour was nearer to the truth.
There are MPs – in all parties – who have exploited the expenses system to enrich themselves at the …
There’s an interesting in-depth feature in today’s Guardian, focusing on the future prospects for the Lib Dems now the party is in government: Will the Liberal Democrats survive the coalition? (It’s a question I think we’ve all been asking ourselves for the last three weeks).
It’s a generally fair and balanced take – highlighting the many acknowledged threats to the party, recognising there are opportunities, too – with interviewees including Lord (David) Steel, Simon Hughes and James Graham.
However, it’s a little marred by some rather strange omissions by its author, Andy Beckett. For example, it seems odd to talk …
Nick Clegg is not normally reticent about commenting on the Middle East – see, for example, his public call for the international community to stop arming Israel 18 months ago.
So why did it take more than a day for the Lib Dem leader to speak out against the “unjustifiable and untenable” blockade of the Gaza Strip? Why do his words appear only on the Press Association website, rather than the party’s? It was at least tweeted by the official Lib Dem account, but that was the only communication via official party channels.
Special advisers (or “spads” for short) tend to have a bad press. Alastair Campbell was a spad, as was Jo (“good day to bury bad news”) Moore; Andrew Blick’s book on the topic was called People Who Live in the Dark; and a contributor to a recent Lib Dem Voice exchange observed that “We made so many breaks with New Labour, why did we have to adopt their spad culture?”
Actually special advisers have a much longer history than that. One can trace their origins right back to Lloyd …
Many months ago, I wrote a piece on immigration policy for Lib Dem Voice in light of the calls for a variety of illiberal measures from caps to quotas. It is with some regret that I return to this issue now to view what you could call a radically changed landscape. We are now in coalition with the Conservatives, in agreement with the need for a ‘cap’ on ‘non-EU migrants’ and in favour of harder, tougher and nastier barriers against ‘foreigners’. This rhetoric is both disappointing and damaging, not only for myself but also for the thousands of other …
There have been many debates in these Liberal Youth elections, many of them, dare I say it, ill-informed. The situation Liberal Youth is in is an interesting one. The vast, vast, vast majority of our members never chose to join the organisation. Due to the very nature of the system where you are automatically a member if you are under the age of 26 or a student people don’t choose to be a member of Liberal Youth, they just are. There are around …
Well that was a depressing 24 hours, depressing in so many different ways.
I don’t think I’d describe David Laws’s forced resignation as either right, or wrong: it was quite simply inevitable. There was no way he personally, nor the coalition politically, could withstand the clamour for his head. Eventually he would have been dragged down by the explosion of self-righteousness that the right-wing press and Labour tribalists have let rip over the past two days. I find that depressing.
It is one of the ironies of coalition government that, as it brings together two different, competing parties – two parties …
The following is a piece from a Liberal Democrat member in England:
I’ve lived with a rape victim. I know about the nightmares, the sleepwalking, the self-harm, the blackouts, and other unpleasant things I won’t mention. I’ve seen at first hand the damage rape can wreak upon a woman, and I can’t think of anything offhand that might be worse.
I mention this firstly to explain why this article is posted anonymously, and secondly in consideration of what difference it would have made to the woman I loved and lived with if her attacker had been brought to justice.
I will try and write about the Coalition without any reference to ‘uncharted waters’ or ‘interesting times’. Someone has to.
To begin with I was pleasantly surprised when I read the Culture, Media and Sport sections of the full agreement: more or less what I had wanted but without some of the policies I had criticised in our own manifesto. I can live with the ‘reduction in red tape for live music’ although I still believe we need to concentrate on opportunities for new bands.
My worries are in fact in a different area: academies. I didn’t like this policy before the …
Richard Wilson is a candidate for Chair of Liberal Youth.
Yes, I’m going to say it. We don’t need Liberal Youth in its current form. We really don’t. I’m not leading a call for dissolution. Just for it to be labelled what it currently is – Liberal Democrat Students. No more and no less.
Let’s look at the evidence – Of the candidates at this election, the vast majority are students. Of the campaigning Liberal Youth does, well, it’s mainly about student issues, and of the money Liberal Youth spends on campaigns…well, I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear that it …
I’ve read, and listened to, a great deal of comment about David Laws today. Rumours are currently circulating that Laws has resigned from the Government. If so, I think it’s a great shame, a great injustice and a great disservice that’s been done to the British people.
Let’s take the absolute worst case scenario: that Laws knowingly broke the rules, saw himself and James Lundie as partners, chose not to admit it and took the money.
If that were the case – and Laws says it isn’t – the public purse will have been no worse off as a result …
Damien Shannon is a candidate for Vice Chair (Finance) of Liberal Youth.
It is a dispiriting sight to see the swell of twenty Liberal Democrat Ministers of the Crown – five of whom have taken on Cabinet roles – abandon with gusto the free thinking policies that secured the popular approval of twenty three percentiles of the voting public just a few short weeks ago. Nick Clegg, Vince Cable, David Laws, Chris Huhne and Danny Alexander will all have had a stark realisation of the tremendously constrictive machinery of government awaiting them when acceding to their respective offices. They will all …
Since getting involved in the party almost nothing has disappointed me more than Liberal Youth. At times it appears remote, unaccountable and to have little to say on policy outside of the tuition fee debate. Given its elections are going on, I thought it was the right time to ask, why do we need Liberal Youth? Because working regularly with enthusiastic students (and being a young person myself) I’m not sure we do, for the following reasons…
1. As ‘young Lib Dems’ do we actually need a single voice?
What can we expect from the Government on tax avoidance and evasion?
Cast your mind back to the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto launch in April. A major theme was the plan to raise £4.6 billion by tackling tax avoidance.
This has been reduced to a single bullet point in the coalition’s Programme for Government, a promise to “make every effort to tackle tax avoidance, including detailed development of Liberal Democrat proposals.”
Vince Cable remains committed, telling the Telegraph soon after his appointment as Business Secretary that, “tackling tax avoidance by businesses is essential and this is an area that I …
Tom Bailey On Monday Keir Starmer will see the King and tell him that he is no longer the Prime Minister. Andy Burnham will shortly after, see the King and tell him that h...
Mick Taylor Nonconformistradical. The whole thrust of our complex and bewildering tax code IS to protect the rich. The Tories don't want to change it. Labour are in hock to...
Nonconformistradical "The real scandal is not the rates, it is a tax code so complex the wealthy can tiptoe round it while the rest of us can not. "
Indeed
"Shouldn’t “faire...
Tristan Ward The argument about Russia's not being successful in Ukraine is a bit of a red herring. Ukraine has survived (to date) thanks in part to significant financial ...
Geoff Reid More important than William's erudition is his wisdom! It woudn't do us any harm to look at the language used in other European countries when debating tax leve...
; and a contributor to a recent Lib Dem Voice exchange 
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Five new Liberal Democrat peers appointed
Has the Chancellor set the tone for a Burnham administration?
"His glamour tarnished, his boorishness came to notice": On being the monarch's second son
Tom Bailey 
Mick Taylor 
Nonconformistradical 
Tristan Ward 
Geoff Reid 