Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…
Lord Owen attacks coalition over Lords reform ‘farce’ (Telegraph)
Lord Owen was one of 43 of the peers polled who said the Upper House needs to be reformed, even though he disagreed with the changes devised by Nick Clegg and other senior Liberal Democrats. “There does need to be change,” said Lord Owen. “You look around the chamber and you can see the person who is a friend of George Osborne. You can see the person who was a big donor. And you can see the person who is an expert and deserves to be there.” The peer, who served as a Labour foreign secretary in the late 1970s, has a range of criticisms of the Coalition’s proposed changes, which he decribed as a “farce”. “The 15-year terms are too long – they should be six or seven years,” he said. “There is also no need for youth peers – I think there should be a minimum age of 45. It should be a revising chamber, not a challenger to the Commons.
Councillor suspends herself after EDL Twitter comment (BBC News)
A Bournemouth councillor has apologised “unreservedly” after saying online that only the English Defence League “sticks up for the English”. Conservative councillor Sue Anderson said she had suspended herself from the party and referred herself for disciplinary procedures.
Liberal Democrat leader resigns from party (Cambridge News)
The leader of the Liberal Democrats in East Cambridgeshire has resigned from the party … Cllr Ian Allen, who represents Haddenham ward, has announced he has resigned from the party and become an independent councillor. He said: “The stage has been reached where I can no longer support coalition policies that are unfairly directed at worsening the lives of the least well off in society.”
Backbenchers more rebellious than at any stage since World War Two (Independent)
The analysis, by Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart of Nottingham University, discloses that Tory MPs rebelled in 28 per cent of divisions in the two-year parliamentary session that ended last week. Liberal Democrat MPs were almost as mutinous, stepping out of line in 24 per cent of Commons votes. The combined rate of 44 per cent outstrips previous parliaments – and will be particularly alarming for Tory and Liberal Democrat managers as, historically, MPs have tended to be more rebellious as general elections approach.
Fastest defector yet ditches Lib Dems day after election (Press & Journal)
A Highland Liberal Democrat councillor is believed to have made history as the fastest political defector. Veteran councillor Biz Campbell retained her seat of Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh on Friday, but confirmed the following morning she was quitting the Lib Dems because they had “lost direction”.
* Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.
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8 Comments
Oh come on Stephen, there are several documented cases of newly elected Councillors renouncing their elected labels the day after. Across Devon and Cornwall the area I know best it has happened. Even in our East Devon District Council area it happened in 1995, when someone elected Independent defected to Conservative, just before a revolutionary new Lib Dem / Independent power sharing agreement took over. EDDC remains Tory controlled since 1974 to this day!
‘And you can see the person who is an expert and deserves to be there.’ is a depressing comment. The point of experts is that they are experts on just a few issues. I do not want the fertility expert Professor Winston voting on the personal allowance for instance; and yet I have no recourse to un-elect him. Surely if Lord Steel continues to oppose democracy in this way he should have the whip withdrawn (the clue is in the title of our party). As for his comment on age, I am offended – unless he is proposing increasing the voting age to 45 as well, in which case I would at least praise him for his consistency.
In 2009 (I think) one of the Labour councillors defected on the night, handing control back to the Lib Dems . . .
What on earth is Lord Owens justification for a minimum age of 45. Yes people can get more experience and wisdom with age. However they can also just get more set in bad habits of doing the wrong thing.
@Simon:
“… people can get more experience and wisdom with age. However they can also just get more set in bad habits of doing the wrong thing.”
David Owen bucks that trend. He remains, as ever, incorrigably useless. It is a bit unfair for Henry to confuse David Steel with him, however. Did he never see the Spitting Image puppets? 😉
@ Tim13 “Oh come on Stephen, there are several documented cases of newly elected Councillors renouncing their elected labels the day after.”
All the headings are the headlines of the articles they link to – so its the Press & Journal’s claim not mine.
My apologies, Stephen.
Ooops. Yes, I did mean Lord Owen, obviously. We’ll call it a typo – thought the spitting image excuse is a better one 🙂