Category Archives: Op-eds

Stephen Marshall

Opinion: Poverty, equality and solutions

By Stephen Marshall | Thu 11th March 2010 - 10:50 am

Politicians talk constantly about “lifting people out of poverty”, mending our “broken society”, giving people “equality of opportunity” and, more rarely “creating a more equal society”.

What none of them seem to be prepared to face is the fact that people are poor principally because they have less money than others; and that when poverty goes along with a feeling that it is not going to be possible, whatever one does, to get out of poverty, it does not matter what “opportunities” are provided – poor people will see through the pretence that the opportunities apply to them …

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The Voice

‘Save the Net’ emergency motion submitted … now what?

By The Voice | Wed 10th March 2010 - 6:47 pm

Bridget Fox (PPC Islington South & Finsbury), Julian Huppert (PPC Cambridge) and filmmaker Obhi Chatterjee write:

Several of us have submitted an emergency motion on Freedom, creativity & the internet for the Spring Conference. It concerns an issue which affects the daily lives of almost everyone on which the party appears to have no defined or consistent policy: the internet. A BBC poll shows that 75% of UK adults think access to the internet should be a fundamental right of all people.

Our Parliamentary DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) Team has been doing a great job tackling the worst …

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The Fawcett Society asks Lib Dems: What About Women?

By Ceri Goddard | Wed 10th March 2010 - 5:25 pm

Ceri Goddard is Chief Executive of The Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading campaign for equality between women and men. Fawcett’s aim during the coming general election is to get women and the impact on women considered as part of mainstream policy development by the parties. Ceri explains more here …

This week Fawcett, with more than 40 other organisations are launching our pre-election campaign. Instead of the usual “manifesto” of policies we’re turning the tables on the parties and literally asking What About Women?

All the leaders, Nick Clegg included, have been courting women voters – noted by the mainstream media, this …

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Also posted in The Independent View | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Bill le Breton

Opinion: And there was no more sea … (Revelations 21:1)

By Bill le Breton | Wed 10th March 2010 - 1:15 pm

Have a look at this cutting I found from the Wall Street Journal, 2nd March:

Market has encountered resistance since hitting new highs Tuesday, natural in view of the sweeping rally up to then. Previous pauses in early Jan. and mid-Feb. were followed by renewed rallying; evidence this is a similar period of consolidation seen in pattern of declining volume on recessions, indicating line of least resistance remains upward.

With the Dow today on 10,500 and the FTSE around 5,500, are we moving onwards and upwards towards a recovery?

Nope! The date line on that cutting was 2nd March 1931. That’s about …

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David Laws

David Laws on faith schools and the Liberal Democrats

By David Laws | Wed 10th March 2010 - 11:45 am

As the issue of faith schools has often been debated on this site, and it’s been back in the news with the question of sex and relationship education, we’ve asked David Laws to explain the party’s approach to these issues:

The recent Government climbdown over sex and relationship education in state funded faith schools has prompted further debate amongst liberals about what role, if any, faith schools should have in English education.

Some liberals argue that in a free society faith groups should be free to deliver a faith education, and that parents should be free to send their children to such …

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Also posted in News | Tagged and | 116 Comments
Stephen Tall

5 reasons Nick Clegg should rule out a coalition now

By Stephen Tall | Wed 10th March 2010 - 8:45 am

With most polls showing the next election could result in a hung parliament, there has been various speculation about what the Lib Dem position would be. I think it’s time for Nick Clegg to make an unambiguous statement that the party would not enter a coalition with either Labour or the Tories. Here are my five reasons why Nick should spell this out clearly and simply now …

1. A coalition is a non-starter, so let’s just rule it out now

It’s quite simple: the majority of party members will not for a single moment entertain the idea of a coalition with …

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Sarah Mulley

The Independent View: International development beyond aid – an opportunity to change the political debate

By Sarah Mulley | Tue 9th March 2010 - 4:15 pm

Sarah Mulley is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr).  Before joining ippr, she was coordinator of the UK Aid Network.

A major shift in political attitudes to international development has occurred in the UK during the last decade. There is now strong cross-party commitment to meeting the UN target to give 0.7% of GDP as aid, and DFID’s place in government as an independent department now seems secure.

But the cross-party commitment to aid, and to DFID, is not as clear cut as it might first seem.

First, the question of what counts as aid is crucial.  …

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Mike Guillaume

Opinion: Another Greek tragedy? Time for Europhiles to admit the dream is over

By Mike Guillaume | Tue 9th March 2010 - 11:50 am

In case you wouldn’t have noticed, another crisis has come on top of the big one.

For those who understand French, read carefully this article in the March 5 edition of French daily “Le Monde” . A former German finance vice-minister buries the euro as it is now and advises all Southern-Europe economies (including France) to get out of the Eurozone if they don’t clean up their act, behave more like Germany and adopt many unacceptable social measures. Some German backbenchers have suggested these might include selling off some islands (who would buy these? You guess).

That doesn’t yet …

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Giles Wilkes

Opinion: How to make QE into good Liberal Democrat policy

By Giles Wilkes | Tue 9th March 2010 - 10:20 am

In the last week, there has been a silly fuss about the risk posed by a hung parliament following the next general election. Nick Clegg has scotched the idea that the Liberal Democrats would undermine stability. In fact, his party has taken far more steps than the others to demonstrate credibility to the markets. Cherished policies have been sidelined in the interest of stablity.

The UK’s leading economics writer, Martin Wolf, agrees that there is nothing to fear from minority government, adding: “I cannot be the only person who believes that Vince Cable is far better qualified …

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Ed Randall

Opinion: Who can trust Cameron?

By Ed Randall | Mon 8th March 2010 - 4:25 pm

In June 2006 Professor John Curtice, commenting on opinion polls and shifts in the UK political environment said: “It looks as though we may have entered a new political era”. Andrew Grice, The Independent on Sunday’s Political Editor, observed that the Independent’s ‘poll of polls’ showed “David Cameron’s rejuvenated Conservative Party a seven-point lead over Labour.”

The focus of their political analysis was the impact of a recently elected Conservative Party leader on UK party politics. Here was a leader who had set out to detoxify the Tory brand, and he and his party appeared to be making significant headway.

David Cameron had, according to Andrew Grice, called on …

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Stephen Tall

Pollwatch – State of the Leaders: Clegg +14%, Brown -24%, Cameron +9% (Feb. 2010)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 7th March 2010 - 4:25 pm

Yesterday, Pollwatch looked at the state of the parties in January; today it’s the turn of the party leaders.

As with all polls, what follows comes with caveats. Only two polling companies – YouGov and Angus RS – this past month asked questions specifically to find out the public’s views of the three main party leaders. And each asks variants on the basic question – do you think Clegg/Brown/Cameron are doing a good job – to come up with their figures, so comparison ain’t easy. But, still, we don’t indulge in polls often, so here goes …

Here, in chronological order, are the results of the three polls published in February asking for the public to rate the three major party leaders:

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Also posted in Polls | 4 Comments

The Independent View: Poverty can and must be made history

By John Madeley | Sun 7th March 2010 - 2:15 pm

Ten million people bought Make Poverty History campaign armbands in 2005. Some would hold that voters give development issues a low priority. But those armbands showed that a lot of voters care.

More and better aid, debt relief and trade justice were the demands of campaigners. Five years later, how is the government doing? Brilliantly if you fall for Labour’s spin. Mediocre if you analyse the facts.

An OECD report says that Britain is expected to devote 0.56% of national income to development aid this year. That hides a few things. The government arrives at this figure by including …

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Stephen Tall

Pollwatch – State of the Parties: Lib Dems 19%, Labour 31%, Tories 39% (Feb. 2010)

By Stephen Tall | Sat 6th March 2010 - 4:15 pm

A total of 19 (count ’em!) polls were published during February. Now, as our readers know, LDV doesn’t cover them with the same breathless excitements as other parts of the media. Most poll movements are within the margin of error, so it is only looked at over a reasonable period of time that you can detect whether there has really been any significant movements between the parties. Well, the past few weeks has certainly shown some movement, so let’s get down to business …

Here are February’s polls in chronological order of publication:

    * Con 39, Lab 30,

…

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Also posted in Polls | 4 Comments
David Thorpe

Opinion: Why the mansion tax runs against liberal principles – but a land value tax wouldn’t

By David Thorpe | Sat 6th March 2010 - 2:20 pm

One of the more appealing characteristics and strengths of the Liberal Democrats is the room there is within the party for genuine debate, and the freedom members have to hold views which differ from those of the leadership.

There are of course certain principles which all who hold the Liberal banner aloft share however; principles around the freedom of the individual from the unreasonable constraints of the state into their personal lives, and these principles bound us together and make the party the pleasant place to be that it is.

The Liberal tradition goes back to the enlightenment, with figures such as …

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Mark Pack

The Saturday Debate: what’s wrong with treatments that act like placebos?

By Mark Pack | Sat 6th March 2010 - 8:55 am

Here’s your starter for ten as we continue our new Saturday slot posing a view for debate:

In the lively discussion about homeopathy and placebos following an earlier op-ed piece several people made comments about treatments which rely purely on the placebo effect such as: “If a placebo works and is safe and cheap, why on earth should we stop funding it?”

The more general issue of placebos was raised by Lynne Featherstone in an op-ed back in early 2008:

The placebo effect is seen when people are given treatment, such as pills, where the psychological impact of thinking that the

…

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Josie Cohen

The Independent View: Controversy surrounding biofuels continues to mount

By Josie Cohen | Fri 5th March 2010 - 3:50 pm

Josie Cohen is Campaigns Officer at ActionAid UK and writes about their biofuels campaign:

The controversy surrounding biofuels has been hotting up over the last few weeks, reaching its peak when a comment from a top official within the European Commission was leaked.

Picked up originally by Reuters, the senior official warned that taking full account of the carbon footprint of biofuels would ‘kill’ an EU industry with revenues of approximately $5 billion per year. You would have thought that this revelation would be enough for the EU to put the brakes on the current expansion of biofuel production which, after all, …

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James Graham

Opinion: Could low voter registration cost the Lib Dems seats?

By James Graham | Fri 5th March 2010 - 2:10 pm

The Hansard Society’s latest Audit of Political Engagement has added to the view that there is likely to be another risible turnout at the impending General Election. The study finds that only 54% say they are certain to vote.

The Hansard Society have offered some ideas about how to boost turnout. They suggest that more should be done to target groups such as the ‘disenchanted and mistrustful’. Apparently, a quarter of adults, mostly young and working-class, fall into this category of voters who distrust politicians but not yet entirely hostile.

But a report from the Electoral Commission would suggest that efforts to get these …

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Duncan Macdonald

Barnet’s DIY war memorials

By Duncan Macdonald | Thu 4th March 2010 - 11:50 am

Tory-run Barnet Council is the home of ‘easy council’, the idea that council tax payers pay extra to get the standard of service they should already be getting by default, and has come up with a new money saving idea!

In a report published last month Barnet Council has decided that it will not be responsible for the update of the borough’s war memorials to include the names of service men and women who gave their lives since the memorial was built. Any proposed additions must be paid for by those who want the names added and there must be no additional maintenance costs.

It doesn’t stop there. Barnet Council …

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Also posted in Local government | Tagged and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lord Ashcroft – the three things which strike me

By Stephen Tall | Wed 3rd March 2010 - 8:45 pm

For the third day, the revelation that Lord Ashcroft has dodged paying full UK taxes for a decade with the complicit knowledge of the Tory leadership has been dominating the serious news media. And congratulations are due here to Chris Huhne and his research team for unearthing the estimate that the Tory deputy chairman has saved himself £127m in tax by maintaining his non-dom status despite promising to live in the UK as an ordinary resident.

It’s not been a pretty couple of days for the Tories. Here are three points which have struck me:

1. What does this episode say

…

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Tim Clement-Jones

Lord Clement-Jones on the Digital Economy Bill: web blocking amendment

By Tim Clement-Jones | Wed 3rd March 2010 - 4:20 pm

The Digital Economy Bill, currently at the report stage in the Lords has caused concern, as Lib Dem peers Lord Razzall and Lord Clement-Jones are seeking an amendment to allow site blocking for copyright infringement.

Earlier this week, Open Rights Group posted an appeal for people to write to the peers, asking them to drop the amendment.

Here, Lord Tim Clement-Jones sets out his response:

The Digital Economy Bill, as currently drafted, only deals with a certain type of copyright infringement, namely peer-to-peer file sharing. Around 35% of all online copyright infringement takes place on non peer-to-peer sites and services. Particular threats concern “cyberlockers” which are hosted abroad.

There are websites which consistently infringe copyright, many of them based outside the UK in countries such as Russia and beyond the jurisdiction of the UK courts. Many of these websites refuse to stop supplying access to illegal content.

It is a result of this situation that the Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment in the Lords which has the support of the Conservatives that enables the High Court to grant an injunction requiring Internet Service Providers to block access to sites.

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Neil Roberts

The Independent View: politics, music and a new blog

By Neil Roberts | Wed 3rd March 2010 - 1:10 pm

Heaven is Whenever has been set up by myself (with help from Bella Gerens and Left Outside) as an escape for political bloggers where we want everyone – regardless of party or ideology – to write about the music they enjoy; favourite albums, overlooked artists, memorable gigs or cherished experiences.

We are in the midst of an election campaign which would try the patience of a saint. Though blogging is necessarily combative one of its joys is the space it creates to interact with opposing points of view.

This is a place not to write as esteemed …

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Chris White

Opinion: Tory school plans will give parents nightmares

By Chris White | Tue 2nd March 2010 - 2:37 pm

Monday’s Today Programme on Radio 4 majored on local government.

It was the usual shambles. We were told that local authorities were expecting to make cuts in services – hardly news. One reporter told us that libraries were not used by many people – in fact had she spent ten minutes on research she would have discovered that libraries are visited by half the adult population each year. This makes libraries far more popular than any if not all of the sporting events on which the BBC lavishes time and our money each year.

Another reporter told us that local authorities …

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Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism #14: As a liberal republican sees it

By Kevin McPhillips | Tue 2nd March 2010 - 1:20 pm

Last week, Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, launched the Referendum (Scotland) Bill consultation. The SNP has few aspirations, beyond independence for its own sake. I can’t help but think of them as someone courting a reluctant bride. They keep asking, and keep cajoling, hoping that eventually the electorate will say yes, and let them take them up the aisle.

On Friday, Nicola Sturgeon, who faced parliament about her own troubles earlier in the week, said “this isn’t about what the SNP wants, it’s about what the people of Scotland want”. Well, she’s wrong. This consultation actually is …

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Iain Roberts

Obama would have been blocked by Labour – what about the Lib Dems?

By Iain Roberts | Mon 1st March 2010 - 10:50 am

A former US grassroots campaigner, now working in Manchester, has claimed that Labour is an alienating force in our big cities and Obama would never have made it in the Labour Party.

Gregory Galluzo, the Guardian claimed on Saturday, trained Obama in grassroots politics over a decade ago.

Galluzo is quoted in the Guardian as saying:

In my experience the Labour party in your big cities like Manchester is one of the most alienating forces in Great Britain.

It is a very small group of people that controls the city council and they get voted in because they are Labour, not because of

…

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Stephen Tall

Book review: Peter Watt’s Inside Out – 5 things which struck me

By Stephen Tall | Sun 28th February 2010 - 3:45 pm

Let’s begin with the positive: Inside Out, Peter Watt’s autobiographical account of his two years as Labour general secretary during the handover from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown, is an entertainingly gossipy book which, at 200 pages, doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s packed with anecdotes and throwaway remarks which cast a new – and rarely flattering – light on Labour’s senior dramatis personae. In short, well worth reading.

But does Peter Watt come out of it well. Hmmm, there I’m less sure. Here are the five aspects of the book which struck me …

Thing 1: Tribalism

The over-riding impression of Inside Out is quite how tribal politics is. And not just tribal between parties – that’s, at least in part, to be expected – but also within parties. For example, the very New Labour Peter Watt boasts of exploiting the rift between Blair and Brown when hacking for the post of general secretary, accumulating a motley collection of votes on Labour’s National Executive Committee from “trade unionists, people on the hard left and passionate Blairites”.

Mr Watt presents the traditional mea culpa at the end of the book (“tribalism turns good men bad”), but it’s easy to be sage after the event: what politics needs is for its participants to recognise this when they’re in leadership positions, not when they’ve shed them.

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Caroline Pidgeon

The grit in the Oyster

By Caroline Pidgeon | Sat 27th February 2010 - 12:50 pm

London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon sets out how the Mayor of London’s approach to problems with the London Oyster travelcard is a demonstration of Boris Johnsons wider approach to addressing issues that face Londoners:

This week at City Hall I was accused by Boris Johnson of being a “negative Liberal Democrat” when I dared to question him over some of the problems that have happened as a result of the extension of Oyster Pay as You Go to national rail services across London.

Well I stand by my questioning of the Mayor as there is no …

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Also posted in London | Tagged , and | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

The Saturday Debate: Freedom of speech should have no limits

By Stephen Tall | Sat 27th February 2010 - 8:15 am

Here’s your starter for ten as we continue our new Saturday slot posing a view for debate:

All liberals will happily sign up to the concept of free speech. But the practise of it often makes us uneasy. JS Mill summed up the dilemma by asserting that while all opinions should be aired, one can’t “shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre”. In other words, freedom of speech must be tempered by individual responsibility. The inevitable question then arises: who should exercise that responsibility: the individual, or should it be regulated by the state in some way?

One of the less contentious areas …

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Alex Folkes

The Alternative ConHome 10-point plan to put the Tory election campaign back on track

By Alex Folkes | Fri 26th February 2010 - 1:50 pm

With their lead in the latest opinion polls down to just 5% according to one poll, there is clearly a bit of a wobble at Conservative HQ. Right-wing website ConservativeHome has helpfully printed a ten point plan to put the Tory election campaign back on track. Here’s an alternative take on it …

1. Don’t panic

The Corporal Jones approach. Perhaps not the best way to encourage the Conservative grassroots to stay focussed. As all psychologists will tell you, if you tell people not to panic, the one word they remember is – Panic. What the Tories ought to be running …

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Ben Lyons

The Independent View: Parliamentary interns deserve better

By Ben Lyons | Fri 26th February 2010 - 11:50 am

What do Lib Dem MPs have in common with the Tories and Labour? Hardly any of them pay their interns – along with almost all politicians and media groups. With an increasingly competitive employment market, getting a job today often relies less on your interview skills than your ability to intern for free. An article in the New Statesman highlights this problem, but even they fail to pay those interns who are working for them.

To support yourself in London for three months costs around £2000. The division between those who can afford to do internships, and those who cannot, …

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Also posted in Parliament and The Independent View | 13 Comments
Malcolm Coles

The Independent View: Why it’s time to replace the PCC

By Malcolm Coles | Thu 25th February 2010 - 1:50 pm

Surprise, surprise. The Press Complaints Commission rejected the complaints about Jan Moir’s nasty attack on Stephen Gately.

If there’s any good to come out of this affair, perhaps it’s that this case reinforces the case for wholesale reform of the PCC. Here’s why.

The PCC is not independent

The PCC claims to be independent. One of the advantages of self regulation ought to be that it keeps the press out of the hands of politicians while still holding newspapers to account.

The PCC fails on both counts.

The Chair of the 17-member Commission is Baroness Buscombe, a Conservative member of the House of Lords. Her party …

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