James Blessing

Opinion: Who do we want to win the Labour leadership election?

By James Blessing | Sun 13th June 2010 - 11:20 am

It’s been interesting to see the final list of nominations for Labour Party leader which, for those that missed it, is:

Diane Abbott
Ed Balls
Andy Burnham
David Miliband
Ed Miliband

The response from all quarters about the list first that its very ‘samey’, with much said about tokenism and the inclusion of Diane Abbott, not because she’s black or a woman but because she represents the old left of the party. That got me to thinking about who would be the best from a Lib Dem point of view.

A Leftie

Dianne Abbott is the only real left leaning candidate. A Labour party under her ministrations would …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , and | 13 Comments
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Stephen Tall

PollWatch: Lib Dems down at 18% with YouGov in Sunday Times

By Stephen Tall | Sat 12th June 2010 - 10:10 pm

There’s a new YouGov poll in The Sunday Times, just published, and it shows:

    CON 40%(+1), LAB 32%(nc), LIB DEM 18%(-3)

A bit of a dip for the Lib Dems, with the party below 20% for the first time since ‘Cleggmania’ following the first televised leaders’ debate. Though before we grow too gloomy, the drop is within the margin of error.

Nick Clegg’s ratings remain high, with 59% saying he’s doing well as Lib Dem leader, and just 21% badly – a net approval rating of +38% (just behind David Cameron’s +41%). Interestingly, Nick performs marginally better among Tory voters (+83%) than …

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Posted in Polls | 26 Comments
Mark Pack

UKIP donations case set for Supreme Court

By Mark Pack | Sat 12th June 2010 - 5:42 pm

Left Foot Forward has reported:

The United Kingdom Indpendence Party’s dispute with the Electoral Commission over its refusal to forfeit more than £350,000 of impermissable donations has this week escalated to the Supreme Court…

A spokesman for the commission told Left Foot Forward that there had been 67 instances of UKIP not adhering to the laws on donations by failing to check whether donations of more than £200 were from people on the electoral register, over a period of a year, despite repeated warnings from the commission.

You can read the full piece here.

Posted in Election law and News | Tagged and | 4 Comments
Stephen Gilbert MP

Stephen Gilbert MP’s maiden speech

By Stephen Gilbert MP | Sat 12th June 2010 - 4:28 pm

The second maiden speech republished here this weekend after Michael Crockart’s, as Lib Dem Voice continues a tradition started on Cix of reposting maiden speeches for the comment of interested parties.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to speak here today for the first time. I am delighted to follow Jonathan Edwards, and I share his determination to secure a Robin Hood tax on international financial transactions. As it happens, I had the pleasure of knowing his predecessor from my time studying in Aberystwyth, and I am sure he will be a worthy successor.

St Austell and Newquay is …

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Posted in Parliament | Tagged , , , , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

The Saturday debate: does Catherine Zeta Jones need more public recognition?

By Mark Pack | Sat 12th June 2010 - 2:31 pm

A simple enough question to pose for today, with the Queen’s Birthday Honours in the news: should honours go to people who have already received wide-spread public acclaim and wealth such as Catherine Zeta Jones or should the honours be reserved for otherwise unrecognised people? Over to you…

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 14 Comments
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Michael Crockart MP

Michael Crockart MP’s maiden speech

By Michael Crockart MP | Sat 12th June 2010 - 2:30 pm

LDV is continuing the tradition started on Cix of reposting maiden speeches of new Lib Dem MPs for the delectation and comment of our own community. We’ve been reserving them for the weekend, and amongst the new boys speaking this week past, we will be bringing you Michael Crockart, Ian Swales, Stephen Lloyd and Stephen Gilbert.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to make my maiden speech. I want to pay tribute to Steve Baker for his considerable knowledge of the banking industry. I cannot wait to hear more about that in future debates. It is …

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Posted in Parliament | Tagged , , , , and | 2 Comments
Nick Perry

Opinion: Progressives would not cut free school meals

By Nick Perry | Sat 12th June 2010 - 11:20 am

There are many things, in policy terms, that rank and file members will be expected to swallow as a result of the Coalition. There are Lib Dem red lines drawn in the agreement. There are abstentions arranged for the Parliamentary Party on particular issues. The cuts are to come, and we have Danny as Chief Secretary, with the enormous responsibility of managing this process, and making sure that Lib Dem guns are stuck to.

It is a huge opportunity and an unenviable task. What is more, the rationale for the various cuts have to be clear, and the PR of it all has …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 104 Comments
Mark Pack

Well done that poster team

By Mark Pack | Sat 12th June 2010 - 9:20 am

Now that’s an impressive poster site.

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Mark Pack

Two Tory non-doms quit the Lords

By Mark Pack | Fri 11th June 2010 - 10:29 pm

A footnote to our previous coverage of Lords McAlpine and Laidlaw, two non-dom Conservative members of the House of Lords. They had both for a long time been unmoved by criticism of their tax affairs, but ahead of changes to the law they have both decided to give up their seats in the Lords.

Lord McAlpine’s case was relatively straight-forward, but Lord Laidlaw’s case had the added twist that he broke a promise he made on being appointed. Indeed, the Lords Appointment Commission was subsequently moved to say that they would not have authorised his peerage if they had known …

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Helen Duffett

The LDV Friday Five: 11 June 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 11th June 2010 - 5:00 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

1. Do you pass the Lib Dem test? The 13 Yes/No questions that will give you your answer (45) by Stephen Tall
2. Opinion: I’m no longer prepared to support Stonewall under the leadership of Mr Summerskill (36) by Ed Fordham
3. Redundancies announced at the Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats (21) by The Voice
4. Opinion: The coalition’s education policies are seriously flawed (51) by Peter Downes
5. Want to know who the most liberal Labour leadership contender is? (32) by Stephen Tall

5 active LDV Members’ Forum threads

When will we get an AV referendum?
How do you win an alternative vote referendum?
Music
Spads
Deputy Leader…?

5 recently active groups on ACT

1. Support for David Laws
2. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
3. Restore the Presumption of Innocence
4. ENGAGE – The Lib Dem Policy Network
5. Liberal Democrat Christian Forum

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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Helen Duffett

London Assembly to review May 6 polling problems

By Helen Duffett | Fri 11th June 2010 - 3:20 pm

The London Assembly has unanimously passed a motion calling for an investigation into how polling was conducted for the general and council elections in May.

From the BBC:

The review comes after hundreds of Londoners were unable to vote and left queuing as polling booths closed.

About 300 people were turned away in Lewisham and another 150 were unable to vote in Hackney. Long queues were also seen in Vauxhall and Brockley.

The review will look at the issues of overcrowding and as well as allegations of electoral fraud.

The review will be conducted by the Business Management and Administration Committee, …

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Posted in London and News | Tagged | 2 Comments
Helen Duffett

Peer and 3 former MPs facing criminal trial

By Helen Duffett | Fri 11th June 2010 - 1:15 pm

A judge has ruled that three former Labour MPs and a Conservative peer may not avoid trial for expenses fraud, rejecting their claims to parliamentary privilege.

Parliamentary privilege is a 300-year-old immunity from legal proceedings arising from actions within Parliament; however the judge ruled that individual expense claims are “not covered by parliamentary privilege and… triable in Crown Court”.

From the BBC:

Mr Justice Saunders rejected arguments by Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield that only Parliament could hear their case.

There was no bar to a trial, he said.

The four, who all deny charges of false

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

The police’s serious IT failures over stop and search

By Mark Pack | Fri 11th June 2010 - 12:50 pm

The use of stop and search by the police, particularly in London, has often come under criticism. Most often it’s been about ridiculous cases where someone has been stopped or, more seriously, the deeply held suspicion amongst many communities that their members are irrationally singled out by the police for far more searches than their numbers or crime rates justify. This argument about what is sometimes called disproportionality should not only be of concern in terms of wanting to see the police free of discrimination, but also of concern in terms of wanting the police to be using their time …

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Posted in London | Tagged and | 4 Comments

Opinion: Cuts, minority partnership, and the continuing importance of constructive criticism

By Simon Radford | Fri 11th June 2010 - 11:20 am

Simon Hughes caused quite a stir by setting out his priorities for how Lib Dem MPs should behave if they are not in the government.

Clearly there is a balance to be struck between supporting our party’s attempt to deliver strong-yet-compromise government in a time of national, and indeed global, emergency, and living our principle that dissent is not weakness. The push-and-pull of coalition government is not the time for hiding our values in the name of unanimity, but voicing them louder than ever to strengthen Nick’s negotiating stance and affecting change that we want to see.

Despite our …

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Posted in Op-eds | 23 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dem councillor faces investigation over Facebook photo storm

By Stephen Tall | Fri 11th June 2010 - 10:45 am

The Liverpool Daily Post reports on the latest incident of a councillor landing themselves in hot water as a result of a posting on social networking site Facebook. Lib Dem councillor Sharon Green is alleged to have posted a photo of disabled people “with text comparing them with the city’s Labour group”:

Cllr Sharon Green, who represents St Michael’s ward, will face an inquiry despite city Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Warren Bradley deciding against launching a probe.

The national Lib-Dems have now intervened and asked their regional standards chiefs to get to the bottom of the affair, which caused widespread outrage

…

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Stephen Tall

Horwood: coalition deal on nuclear power creates possible “win-win situation” for Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Fri 11th June 2010 - 9:55 am

Part of the coalition deal between the Lib Dems and Conservatives allowed for Nick Clegg and colleagues to abstain on three key issues which divide the parties – raising student tuition fees, the Tories’ marriage tax allowance, and nuclear power.

However, written into the agreement, too, was the pledge that no new nuclear power station will receive a public subsidy – which, as Mark Pack has previously noted, means that if the figures don’t stack up, they won’t happen.

It’s a point Cheltenham Lib Dem MP Martin Horwood re-inforces today in an article on politics.co.uk, Lib Dem hopes for ‘win-win’ …

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Richard Grayson – Lib Dems must dare to be different over prisoners’ voting rights

By NewsHound | Thu 10th June 2010 - 10:10 pm

Over at The Guardian, Richard Grayson, a Lib Dem parliamentary candidate and former director of policy for the party, argues that the Council of Europe ruling against the UK ban on prisoners voting offers the Lib Dems a chance to seize the initiative. Here’s an excerpt:

While Liberal Democrats have consistently made it clear that they understand the need to punish crimes (despite the way the party has been characterised as “soft on crime” by both Labour and the Conservatives), the party is generally most interested in stopping crime in the first place. One way to do that is to transform

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , , and | 41 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg declares “Ich bin ein Berliner”

By The Voice | Thu 10th June 2010 - 9:20 pm

Well, sort of. Here’s the AFP report:

BERLIN — Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has already made history with his meteoric political career and on Thursday he notched up another feat: speaking German to the Germans.

“I find the famous Berlin fresh air very refreshing,” the Liberal Democrat leader told reporters in fluent German after talks with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in Berlin, before talking up the importance of bilateral relations.

But perhaps to the relief of Clegg’s notoriously monolingual compatriots — he speaks five tongues — he was not completely at ease with the grammatical minefield that is the German language,

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 23 Comments
Mark Pack

Freeing up local council finances: details published

By Mark Pack | Thu 10th June 2010 - 8:20 pm

The Government has today published details of its plans to reduce the ring-fencing restrictions around how local government can spend money. The timing is rather double-edged; giving more control over their own finances to local councils has long been a Liberal Democrat demand, but there’s no doubt that Eric Pickles will also have been attracted by the idea of making councils decide where to make future cuts. Even so, it’s a step in the right direction.

The overall effect is a:

Reduction in revenue and capital non-schools ring-fencing this year from 10.7 per cent (£4.5bn) to only 7.7 per cent (£3.2bn) as

…

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Posted in Local government | Tagged | 4 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: David Laws – This is a little longer than usual

By NewsHound | Thu 10th June 2010 - 7:45 pm

Over at the Yeovil Liberal Democrats website, David Laws has posted an article explaining to his constituents his resignation as Chief Secretary, and the reasons behind it. Here’s an excerpt:

… the root cause of my difficulties has been a decision I took long ago, which logic has never succeeded in changing – the decision to cover up my sexuality.

No one person or institution is in any way responsible for my decision to keep my sexuality secret. It is just that when I grew up – just a decade or so after homosexuality was decriminalized in this country – you would

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 17 Comments
Mark Pack

NEW POLL: Should capital and income be taxed at the same level?

By Mark Pack | Thu 10th June 2010 - 6:50 pm

In amongst the debate over capital gains tax and the politics of whether the Budget leans more towards the previous Liberal Democrat or Conservative policies on the topic is a significant issue of principle.

The Liberal Democrats (and previously the Liberals in particular) have traditionally been much keener on the idea that the tax system should treat ‘unearned income’ more equally to earned income, and so tax more equally the growth in capital value of assets compared with salaries.

Of course the use of the word ‘unearned’ is itself the trigger for a whole range of debates as increase values …

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Posted in Voice polls | Tagged , and | 33 Comments
David Thorpe

Opinion: Is Northern Ireland the elephant in the coalition’s room?

By David Thorpe | Thu 10th June 2010 - 2:20 pm

On the surface, David Cameron is the first Prime Minister in generations for whom ‘The Ireland Question” is down the list of priorities.

The Good Friday Agreement has been a glorious success, with the recent devolving of policing powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly the final piece of the power-sharing jigsaw and the birth of a more conventional policy rather than tribal politics in the province.

The 2010 general election saw the Alliance Party gain a seat, the moderate nationalist SDLP doing better than expected and the the failure of the anti-power sharing Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party to make gains seems …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 36 Comments
Stephen Tall

The results of the other Lib Dem Parliamentary contest – Lords Dholakia and Alderdice elected

By Stephen Tall | Thu 10th June 2010 - 12:25 pm

Simon Hughes was not the only Deputy Leader elected last night …

While Simon was elected deputy of the parliamentary party in the House of Commons (though in reality he’ll be known as the deputy leader of the party), Lord (Navnit) Dholakia was re-elected unopposed as deputy leader of the parliamentary party in the House of Lords.

Lord Dholakia, who will continue to support Lord (Tom) McNally in his role as Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, commented:

There was an overwhelming turnout in support of the new structure for the Liberal Democrat Paliamentary

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged , , , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

Want to know who the most liberal Labour leadership contender is?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 10th June 2010 - 9:40 am

Before the election, Lib Dem Voice launched How Authoritarian is your MP?, a website which ranked how authoritarian – or liberal – were MPs in the 2005-10 parliament based on their voting record on 10 key issues. These ranged from ID cards to detention without trial to freedom of speech.

The five candidates for the Labour leadership are now official – so we can now see how their voting record compares, and name the contender who is, officially, the most liberal potential Labour leader …

(NB: if you click on their name you can see how their voting record stacks up).

1. Diane Abbott.

36% authoritarian, 64% liberal.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , and | 35 Comments
Mark Pack

What does a Labour ex-minister think of deficits?

By Mark Pack | Thu 10th June 2010 - 8:50 am

As the Telegraph reported:

Lord Myners, the former City minister, last night criticised Gordon Brown’s administration for living beyond its means and said he had been frustrated by his colleagues’ “flawed thinking” on the economy. “There is nothing progressive about a government that consistently spends more than it can raise in taxation,” he said.

Posted in News | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Helen Duffett

Simon Hughes elected as Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader

By Helen Duffett | Wed 9th June 2010 - 8:38 pm

Simon Hughes was elected as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats this evening following a ballot of MPs.

Simon received 38 votes; Tim Farron received 18.

Speaking after the vote, Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

I am delighted Simon has been elected as Deputy Leader.

Simon has been a huge figure in the Liberal Democrats for decades. He’s a tireless campaigner, a relentless fighter for the vulnerable and marginalised in our society, and one of the hardest working MPs Parliament has ever seen.

There are huge challenges and opportunities ahead for our country and our party, but with Simon by my side I am sure that we can meet those challenges and work to build a fairer, more equal Britain.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Simon Hughes said:

It is an honour and a privilege for me to follow Vince Cable as the new Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. This is not a responsibility I will ever take lightly.

I will fight every day for the principles which underpin our party: fairness, freedom, openness, equality, stewardship of our environment and standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

I will work tirelessly with Nick Clegg and all other Liberal Democrats to help liberal democracy blossom and flourish throughout the land.

Here’s a video of the announcement: (turn your speakers up!)

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 20 Comments
Helen Duffett

Redundancies announced at the Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats

By Helen Duffett | Wed 9th June 2010 - 6:06 pm

Lib Dem Voice has learned the sad news from Cowley Street:

The Liberal Democrats are having to begin a redundancy process to reduce the number of POLD staff by over 20 positions. This is following the confirmation that the party will not be receiving Short Money.

The losses will take place in the Policy and Research Unit, Media Office, and the Leader’s Office. The party will retain a Media Office and a scaled-down Policy department.

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | 25 Comments
Paul Walter

PMQs: Hattie tries to throw a “stinger” in front of voting reform

By Paul Walter | Wed 9th June 2010 - 4:20 pm

Prime Minister’s Questions is definitely becoming more subdued these days. The bellowing and ya-boo atmosphere has reduced by about 80% since the election. The Cumbrian shootings have dominated both sessions so far, which has added to the quietish feeling.

Harriet Harman has suddenly developed an interest in the electoral roll and the fact that “3.5 million people” who could be on it, aren’t. Fascinating. She seems to have suddenly come up with this as a reason to throw a sort of police “stinger” in front of voting reform – or at least constituency boundary re-drawing. She seems to have forgotten that her party was in power for thirteen years. Why didn’t they do something about electoral registration then? And, as David Cameron retorted, the last election was fought on recently redrawn boundaries anyway – which rather kiboshed Hattie’s argument.

Harman then had a go about CCTV. David Cameron went off on one, ending up about rights to enter people’s houses. He did make some good points about civil liberties during which Nick Clegg nodded very strongly. Harman raised an estate on her patch where they want CCTV coverage. Cameron said it was all about proportionality. If only he could say that about voting reform.

Good joke from Cameron:

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Posted in PMQs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , and | 42 Comments
Ian Butler

On life and politics in Fermanagh

By Ian Butler | Wed 9th June 2010 - 3:20 pm

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 …

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Posted in Op-eds | 5 Comments
Simon Hughes MP

Opinion: Ready for the challenge with energy, enthusiasm and passion

By Simon Hughes MP | Wed 9th June 2010 - 12:40 pm

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 …

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Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged | 34 Comments
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Recent Comments

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    I give up!.. Reading some of the posts it seems that Burnham shouldn't have mentioned the EU, the 'triple lock' and also how his electoral reform is the 'wrong ...
  • Chloe
    A huge mistake by Burnham. Opening the EU's pandora box will sap the energy from this government . Everything will be overshadowed by that question....
  • Big Tall Tim
    An excellent article Victor on the great work you are doing. It's a great shame people like David can't give credit where credit is due....
  • Scott Rennie
    Couldn’t agree more Karen. It’s the best speech in a generation, and more importantly an opportunity to build common cause on things that matter to us, like...
  • Nigel Jones
    I too thank you for this interesting article. Community has been in decline for decades in most parts of the country, but this seems particularly the case where...