The latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.355 – September 2012) has just landed on subscribers’ doormats. Whether or not you are a subscriber, if you’re at party conference in Brighton, do visit the Liberator stall, where you can buy or renew your subscription and also acquire the new edition of the ever-popular Liberator Songbook!
Meanwhile, here’s a summary of the new magazine’s contents:
- The editorial column Commentary says that the recent ministerial reshuffle marks a rightward shift by the Conservatives, but that this could offer the Liberal Democrats the opportunity for ‘differentiation’ they’ve been looking for.
- The insider gossip column Radical Bulletin begins with a look at the problem of Nick Clegg’s advisers and predicts who will be running the party’s next general election campaign.
- ‘Clegg needs a Willie’ – Trevor Smith (a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords) says it’s time for the leader to quit the coalition or quit himself, but wonders whether he has a candid adviser.
- ‘The question that won’t go away’ – Tony Greaves (a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords) says forget leadership speculation. The real problem is that the party has no idea how it can leave the coalition and fight the next election independently.
- ‘Liberal ideas whose time has come’ – Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change) says that collective purchasing and mutual ownership are liberal ideas that the party has failed to shout loudly enough about.
- ‘Asking for it to happen again’ – Several reports have laid out responses to prevent a repeat of the 2011 riots. Claire Tyler (a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords) wonders why the government won’t take any notice.
- ‘Who’s competent?’ – Andrew Duff (Liberal Democrat MEP for the East of England) says that the coalition government’s review of EU competencies will diminish British influence.
- ‘Accredit where it’s due’ – Duncan Greenland (chair of the Liberal Democrats’ Federal Finance and Administration Committee) defends the decision to require police accreditation for Liberal Democrat autumn conferences.
- ‘Putting a leash on leasehold’ – Thomas Brooks and Chris Paterson (researchers at the think tank CentreForum and co-authors of the report A new lease of life: making leasehold fit for the 21st century) say that millions of people’s lives are blighted by dubious freeholders and managing agents in the leasehold sector, and that better regulation is urgent.
- ‘Bottom of the class for Gove’ – Peter Downes (a former headteacher and former president of the Secondary Heads Association, now a Liberal Democrat county councillor in Cambridgeshire and vice-president of the Liberal Democrat Education Association) wonders how long it will take education to recover from the damage inflicted on it by Michael Gove.
- ‘Putting markets in their place’ – Alex Marsh (a member of the Liberal Democrats and Professor of Public Policy at the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol) says we should consciously decide the limits of markets instead of uncritically accepting the marketisation of society.
- ‘Our right to die’ – Chris Davies (Liberal Democrat MEP for North West England) says Britain can learn from its European neighbours in framing right-to-die legislation.
- ‘Sup with the devil’ – Simon Hebditch (a founder of Liberal Left) says the Liberal Democrats’ future depends on trying to talk to Labour now.
- ‘Let’s see the evidence’ – Dr Prateek Buch (an executive member of the Social Liberal Forum) interviews Julian Huppert MP about his efforts to improve the scientific basis of party policy.
- ‘Meeting of minds’ – Rosalyn Gordon (chair of the Campaign for Gender Balance) explains why the two main women’s organisations in the Liberal Democrats plan to merge.
- ‘Less than equal’ – George Potter (a member of Liberal Youth and a disability activist) says that, despite the attention won by the Paralympics, disabled people get a raw deal, including from the Liberal Democrats.
- ‘Time for Lo-Tax’ – Tony Vickers (chair of ALTER – Action for Land Taxation and Economic Reform) says that implementing land value taxation would kick-start growth.
- Book reviews.
- Lord Bonkers’ Diary – Lord Bonkers (Liberal MP for Rutland South West 1906-10) recounts another eventful week.
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One Comment
Great article by Tony Greaves about the vexed question of an exit strategy from Coalition. As Tony says, we don’t know how on earth to do it successfully. At least Tony is thinking hard about it. It would be good to post his article here as a LibLink so that we could all try to build on his ideas.