Category Archives: Op-eds

Stephen Tall

The Internet election?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 22nd May 2010 - 2:30 pm

Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat News:

“This will be the first real internet election,” was the oft-repeated claim made in the run up to 2010’s national poll. So how did that claim stack up against the reality?

Some will point to the hype surrounding the leaders’ debates as evidence that television remains the dominant force. Ten million tuned into ITV on 15 April, and ‘Cleggmania’ gripped the nation for the next fortnight. Meanwhile, the principal gaffe of the campaign – Gordon Brown’s ‘Bigotgate’ – was captured not by a citizen journalist, but was an old-fashioned ‘hot-mike’ incident caught by Sky News.

Does this …

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Also posted in General Election and Online politics | 6 Comments
Iain Roberts

Now would be a really good time for the Lib Dems to get some decent IT policy

By Iain Roberts | Sat 22nd May 2010 - 11:35 am

Under Major, Blair and Brown, the UK Government has followed a deliberate policy of running down its internal IT expertise and relying on external providers – mostly big companies like Capita and EDS – to provide IT expertise, systems and services.

The result, many argue, has been expensive IT that’s been very successful in maximising the profits of the consultants but rather less good at meeting the needs of the public sector or, for that matter, the public.  Project after project has run massively over budget and time, with the companies responsible often seeming to be rewarded for their shortcomings.

So what’s …

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Kev O'Connor

Opinion: Let’s switch the P-word

By Kev O'Connor | Sat 22nd May 2010 - 10:20 am

As we start to prepare for a referendum on the Alternative Vote, two words are bothering me. They are Proportional Representation. These words massively simplify the possibilities of electoral reform and unfortunately cloud the issue.

Some talk about ‘Electoral Reform’, but this is far to vague for a referendum and I believe we need a new mantra. Not PR or ER, but PV. Preferential Voting.

This may sound like a tedious matter of semantics, but when it comes to elections and referenda, the structure of your rhetoric will determine the nature of the debate, and the eventual outcome. Switching the ‘P-word’ could …

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Opinion: Representation and politics

By Jane Manning | Fri 21st May 2010 - 3:20 pm

As an Asian member of the party I feel a strong need to speak up. The Diversity Agenda discourse on the question of ethnicity is heartening because it recognises that people like me ought to be represented and about time too. However, do I feel either not represented or under represented because of the lack of a non-pale face at the top? No, I don’t.

Why? Racial integration is a marvellous bridge. If representation is about sending a message of inclusion to a part of society that has been marginalised before then I don’t need a Brown face at the …

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Opinion: Big Society + political activism = community politics

By Kelvin Macdonald Fraser | Fri 21st May 2010 - 12:20 pm

I’m sure I’m not the only Lib Dem struggling to come to terms with the realisation that there is life after going into coalition with the Conservatives. It may not be eternal life (even five years might be too much to hope for!), and it certainly isn’t paradise (the nation’s economic predicament has more of Armageddon about it than Nirvana) but life it most definitely is.

Despite already being subjected to obsessive scrutiny and outrageous cynicism from a surprisingly hostile media, and regardless of some premature and unhelpful ‘noises off’ from disillusioned tribalists in both parties, there is an …

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Tom King

Opinion: A useful analogy?

By Tom King | Fri 21st May 2010 - 11:20 am

Watery sunlight creeps through the gap between the plush curtains as you groggily open your eyes. A cappuccino rests on the bedside table, next to the designer spectacles which have become your trademark. Wearily, you begin to sit up, turning on the DAB radio as you sip the smoking tide. But in the dulcet tones of Evan Davis you begin to discern a disturbing development.

“In a shock move, the Football Association last night voted to open the selection of England’s final World Cup squad to the public through an instant referendum. Votes are likely to divide sharply down club lines …

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5 Comments
Stephen Tall

What I’d do in Labour’s shoes

By Stephen Tall | Thu 20th May 2010 - 8:35 pm

There’s no reason for me to offer this advice; still less reason for Labour taking it. But here goes …

I wrote last week about the potential danger to Labour of adopting a tribally oppositional approach to the Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government, at least while it’s enjoying its honeymoon:

The public, generally speaking, likes to see politicians working together sensibly and rationally, rather than tearing each other to bits. The sheer novelty value of the coalition is going to intrigue voters, many of whom will be willing to give Clegg and Cameron a chance.

With a leadership contest to come,

…

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61 Comments
Iain Roberts

Repealing “daft” laws won’t be so easy

By Iain Roberts | Thu 20th May 2010 - 3:35 pm

Labour created thousands of new criminal offences in its time in office.  The new laws added to the statute books in each of the parliaments since 1997 dwarf anything from any previous parliament.

Did those laws transform our country into a utopian land?  No.  But it would be foolish to think that repealing some of that weight of law will be a simple task.

We might disagree with many of the laws.  We might think they do more harm than good, or that they’re ineffective, or address a problem that doesn’t really exist, or are being applied in a way never envisaged.  …

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23 Comments
Mark Pack

Labour – Lib Dem coalition talks: where James Macintyre gets it wrong

By Mark Pack | Thu 20th May 2010 - 1:59 pm

Having seen trailed in advance the research being done for today’s piece on why Labour/Lib Dem talks broke down, I was intrigued as to what James Macintyre would dig up.

But reading his piece, it’s a big disappointment – because it makes a trio of misjudgements, all of which burnish Labour’s reputation.

Let’s take them one by one.

First, he claims that the vetoing of a private meeting between Vince Cable and Alistair Darling someone shows the Lib Dems weren’t serious about talking to Labour. Actually, no. What it shows is that the party remembers how Gordon Brown went for a series …

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Mark Pack

What do I do with all these new members?

By Mark Pack | Thu 20th May 2010 - 1:20 pm

During the election campaign the flood of new helpers coming in to the party made me write a post, OMG! People want to help – what do I do?, which turned out to be rather popular. Now that the campaign is over, it’s important to keep those new helpers involved – and also to make the continuing flow of new members feel wanted and involved too.

Far more people have joined than have left the party since the coalition was announced, which is a promising sign for the future. There will though be some tough times ahead and a strong local …

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Caroline Pidgeon

Opinion: Countdown to 2012 has already started

By Caroline Pidgeon | Thu 20th May 2010 - 12:20 pm

Harold Wilson’s phrase that a week is a long time in politics was never more true than the dramatic developments that took place last week.

The creation of a new Government, with Liberal Democrats at the heart of it and with so many of our policies built into the coalition agreement, has quite rightly dominated the media. I am sure these events will not easily be forgotten by many Liberal Democrats.

Against such as background it is far from surprising that changes that have taken place in town halls across London and at City Hall have not received a huge amount of …

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Also posted in Local government and London | Tagged | 1 Comment
Simon Dodd

Opinion: And now for the next steps

By Simon Dodd | Thu 20th May 2010 - 11:20 am

It still seems strange to think of the Liberal Democrat party being part of the Government with Liberal Democrats sitting in the Cabinet. The announcement of the coalition with the Conservative party was a bitter sweet moment – at last, we were entering Government, but we were doing so with a party we have long fought against.

It is a fantastic achievement to see long cherished Liberal Democrat policies being part of the Government’s legislative programme. There is disappointment though that other policies are not part of that programme. We must ensure that we continue to fight for these aims, …

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Chris White

Opinion: Culture, media & sport – what’s missing from the coalition agreement

By Chris White | Wed 19th May 2010 - 5:07 pm

So. Like everyone (except I think Tory MPs) I read the Coalition agreement and quite liked it: some really important unexpected wins on the environment and constitutionally. Remarkably little that was truly offensive.

Of course, the knack is to use coalition negotiations as an opportunity to lose those bits of your own manifesto you don’t like by offering them up as sacrifices on the altar of co-operation.

There is of course nothing in the agreement about culture, media or sport. So I thought I would have a go: look at both manifestos, ditch the whacky bits and insert some bits that were …

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12 Comments
Mark Valladares

Diversity and representation – instead of whinging, why don’t we do something about it?

By Mark Valladares | Wed 19th May 2010 - 3:37 pm

I have a reputation for being a bureaucrat. Gradualism is my watchword, and has been for most of the twenty-five years that I’ve been a Liberal and then Liberal Democrat. However, suddenly, I have become an old man in a hurry. Alright, old relative to most of you at least, but still in a hurry. So, imagine I’ve sprouted an Old Testament beard, donned a white flowing robe and found a nice stout staff and harken to my words. I have a few jobs for you to do…

First, do you want to be a candidate at the next General Election? …

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22 Comments
David Wright

Opinion: New Game + New Rules = Success; New Game + Old Rules = Failure

By David Wright | Wed 19th May 2010 - 11:20 am

Like many Lib Dems my initial response to the prospect of a Lib/Con coalition was “no, please, not that!” However, following a few days’ reflection I’m now utterly convinced that my initial response, although entirely understandable, was misguided.

I urge Liberal Democrats everywhere to wake up to the very real possibility of the change we have longed for taking place, albeit in an unexpected way.

Imagine that the Westminster Fairy had granted your wish and introduced PR. How would politics work after that? Well apart from anything else, you can be pretty sure we would have a series of coalition governments, so …

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12 Comments
Charlie Garnett

Opinion: The Liberal Democrat legacy is unwritten; Labour’s unchanged.

By Charlie Garnett | Tue 18th May 2010 - 4:10 pm

Every vote, member, volunteer and supporter that the Lib Dems have lost as a result of entering into a coalition with the Conservatives will be missed. For most, I assume that this will not be a decision that they take lightly. Instead, it will arise as a conviction, from a small seed of doubt. Doubt about whether or not they believe they can be complicit in a Tory Government. I wish them well, and hope that they will be as open to returning as they have been to leaving.

However, to those still wavering on the brink, perhaps you might …

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37 Comments

Opinion: Vote one thing, get another

By Martin Gill | Tue 18th May 2010 - 11:20 am

I keep hearing all these concerns about having voted for one thing (e.g. LibDems) getting another (e.g. Tory). It seems to be the only thing disaffected party members can think of saying (at least those the media has been lining up for us, tearing up membership cards in front of the NEC).

I wish the people spouting all of this would take a step back and realise just how silly they sound. I’ve voted LibDem since I could vote; three different governments, one Conservative, two Labour were the result. I voted LibDem and I got Tory, then I got Labour, …

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42 Comments
Iain Roberts

Larger constituencies present a big problem for the Lib Dems

By Iain Roberts | Tue 18th May 2010 - 8:42 am

Both the Lib Dems and Conservatives proposed a reduction in the number of MPs in their manifestos.  The Lib Dems proposed cutting the number of MPs to around 500 as part of a move to PR, whilst the Conservatives want to keep the current voting system, reduce the number of MPs to around 600 and radically redraw constituency boundaries to equalise the number of voters in each.

So over the next five years we are likely to be fighting:

  • a general election in which almost every constituency in the country will be larger than today with different boundaries.
  • European elections fought under the

…

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42 Comments

Opinion: So that’s all settled, then. Now what about the policies?

By David Lawson | Mon 17th May 2010 - 7:30 pm

So: it’s settled. We may not have planned the route together, but if this train crashes we got on it together. Some people asked about the route and some people wondered about the destination but no one suggested that we may as well stay where we were.

By my reckoning well over 1,500 people attended Sunday’s Special Conference. Some dozen or more voted against the motion adopting the coalition agreement. So that’s a 99% vote in favour.

(In fact the coalition agreement seemed to be as popular as proportional representation. A few lost souls voted …

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13 Comments
Marianne Ibbotson

Opinion: Why the Electoral Reform Society are shooting themselves in the foot

By Marianne Ibbotson | Mon 17th May 2010 - 2:20 pm

Recently, the Electoral Reform Society has released a study claiming to show how the recent election would have gone under the Alternative Vote (and the Single Transferable Vote). This study has been picked up by The Guardian, The Telegraph and the BBC, who all seem to be presenting the results as scientific fact. However, there are massive flaws in this study, which apart from making it plain bad “science”, very possibly end up sabotaging the Electoral Reform Society’s efforts to campaign for Proportional Representation.

The first problem with the study is its assumption that how people voted under …

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Iain Roberts

The Lib Dem vote was soft, it can be hardened

By Iain Roberts | Sun 16th May 2010 - 10:25 am

After the excitement of Cleggmania and the eventual disappointment of the election result, polling evidence suggests the Lib Dem vote was a good deal softer than the Conservative and Labour votes.

Overall turnout for the election, although higher than in 2005, was a few percent lower than predicted, and it seems likely that a big chunk of that were people who said they’d vote Lib Dem and then didn’t make it down to the polling station.

Though disappointing, it’s hardly surprising.  The 29% that Labour got can reasonably be described as their core vote – barely higher than they achieved in 1983.  …

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11 Comments
James Staff

Opinion: For those about to defect – we don’t salute you

By James Staff | Sun 16th May 2010 - 9:20 am

As the finishing touches are put to the coalition deal and the Laws-Osborne team begins to tackle public spending, what is becoming apparent is the Lib Dems will lose some members and voters who may never return.

Yet common sense must prevail, we are less than a week into a coalition Government and whilst there will be numerous concessions (nuclear power, the return of legal fox hunting and abstaining on tuition fees will disappoint the core vote), many are already turning their backs on the party now that it has secured the influence that it long campaigned for.

Indeed, it seems that …

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126 Comments
Iain Roberts

Labour’s first PM gained power after a no confidence vote with no dissolution of parliament

By Iain Roberts | Sun 16th May 2010 - 8:20 am

Labour politicians and activists have spent the last few days merrily confusing motions of no confidence and dissolution, as I discussed on Thursday.

Many have stuck to the  easily disproven claim that the coalition government proposes a 55% threshold for a vote of no confidence.  It doesn’t: a vote of no confidence requires 50%+1 MP now and will continue to do so.

The other line of attack has been to suggest that 50% of MPs can currently vote to dissolve parliament.

Those who’ve taken the trouble to check their facts at least don’t claim that MPs can actually vote to dissolve parliament.  …

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64 Comments
Prateek Buch

Opinion: The counterfactuals seal the deal for a Lib-Con coalition

By Prateek Buch | Sat 15th May 2010 - 6:50 pm

Allow me to indulge the personal for a moment. I was brought up in Eccles, a solidly Labour-voting suburb of Manchester (the seat hasn’t changed hands in the post-war era), by Labour-voting parents, and even gave my first vote to the Labour party, although I stopped short of ever becoming a party member. I say this because I want the reader to appreciate that I come to the Liberal Democrats firmly from the left of the political spectrum, which may make what follows a little remarkable.

In recent days I’ve read so many diatribes against a perceived betrayal from those that have …

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Tagged | 64 Comments
Jem Thomas

Opinion: Identity and narrative – ignored at our peril

By Jem Thomas | Sat 15th May 2010 - 3:50 pm

Policy, relationships, practicalities, even thinking about a little bit of governance and leadership – these will all undoubtedly all pre-occupying the minds of many senior LibDems (and no doubt Conservatives). But right from day one of this coalition, the LibDems, probably more than any other party, will need to keep two things clear in their consciousness – those of identify and narrative.

The LibDems for generations have enjoyed an easy identity – the third party, centre-left, progressive even maverick – even though it didn’t feature strongly on the radar of the general public. Well it does now – with …

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Terry Gilbert

Opinion: Silly me! How I was nearly suckered by the promise of Lords Reform

By Terry Gilbert | Sat 15th May 2010 - 3:46 pm

Last Saturday, just after we started to negotiate with the Tories, I asked on these pages:

Is their a grand gesture to Reform which will make a deal with the Tories acceptable?

I concluded by saying that, while Mr Cameron would not give way on Fair Votes for the Commons, it was just possible that, if his back was against the wall, he might be induced to yield ground on Reform of the upper House.

His MP’s own seats would thus, for the time being at least, remain ‘safe’ enough for them to be dragged into line to accept proportionality in the Lords, …

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34 Comments
Tom Papworth

Opinion: Cold comfort for the Lib Dems in the dawn of the new politics

By Tom Papworth | Sat 15th May 2010 - 2:50 pm

On Thursday night we saw the dynamics of the New Politics unfold.

For the first time, advocates of the Lib-Con pact came face to face with opponents and the general public in a very public forum. On Question Time, Simon Hughes MP and Lord Heseltine defended the new government against a tirade of abuse from Lord Falconer, Mehdi Hasan and Melanie Phillips, while the audience expressed exasperation and dismay. Get used to it. This is the New Politics, and if Cameron and Clegg are to be believed, this is what we have to look forward to …

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Mark Clark

Opinion: Social media enhances our campaigns

By Mark Clark | Sat 15th May 2010 - 10:52 am

In one sense I’m disappointed the election is over.

Returning from my own self imposed wilderness at the dismalness of the political scene to the local fold in New Forest East has been a revelation to me to see how social media networks can re energise the election process, and importantly how it has engaged more of our local membership helpers during campaigns – and not just the under 35s. The more active are definitely the silver surfers who have taken to the new technology like a duck to water. So much so, that a regular evening briefing session …

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Alan Pomroy

Opinon: Equality and the new Coalition

By Alan Pomroy | Sat 15th May 2010 - 9:48 am

A glance at the make-up of the new cabinet does not make great reading for equality campaigners. 86% male, 97% white, 59% privately educated and 69% oxbridge educated – hardly a great advert for our diverse and multicultural society, or indeed a state education. In their defence the Lib-Dems and Tories can point to Labour’s final years in office which shows a broadly similar pattern, with the exception of eductional background, in which there has been a definite backward step. Nick Clegg and David Cameron yesterday talking about aspiring to a new way of doing politics – a noble statement …

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Colin Green

Opinion: Speaking up for coalition

By Colin Green | Fri 14th May 2010 - 3:45 pm

Over the few days since the coalition government was announced I’ve been dismayed to hear several Liberal Democrat members say they will rip up their membership cards in protest.  Whilst many are understandably disappointed that we now have a Conservative Prime Minister, or that we don’t have a Liberal Democrat Prime Minister, a coalition government including the Lib Dems is not a bad thing.

Coalition talks with Labour failed.  Of the two remaining viable options, a Conservative minority was the only other choice to a coalition.  We would have a Conservative Prime Minister either way.  Unlike 1974 when the Liberal Party …

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