Helen Duffett

Two more gains in local by-elections… and some post-match blogging

By Helen Duffett | Sun 28th February 2010 - 5:20 pm

The Liberal Democrats gained two seats in by-elections held on 25 February.

In Eastwood South (Broxtowe District Council) the Lib Dems surged ahead of Labour:
LD Keith Longdon 985 (53.1; +34.0)
Lab 484 (26.1; -12.1)
Con 387 (20.9; -0.4)

In Fenstanton ward, Huntingdonshire District Council, the Lib Dems gained a seat from the Tories:
LD Colin Saunderson 391 (51.1; +4.2)
Con 337 (44.1; -4.1)
Lab 37 (4.8; -0.1)

For this week’s full results, commentary and fantastic victory photo see the ALDC website.

Mark “Reckons” Thompson was the candidate in the Owlsmoor by-elections and has blogged about it in My experiences as a …

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Posted in Council by-elections | Tagged , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
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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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Posted in Books and Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

NEW POLL: What’s the main reason you think the Tory poll lead has all but evaporated?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 28th February 2010 - 2:15 pm

Today’s YouGov poll in the Sunday Times suggests the Tory lead over Labour has amost disappeared, and that Labour may even end up the largest party after the general election (which would reflect the exclusive LDV election prediction published here at the start of February).

Nor is today’s poll a flash-in-the-pan. None of the last 12 polls has shown the Tories reaching 40%, the psychologically crucial hurdle most feel they need to be able to clear to be sure of a working Commons majority. Only one of those polls has shown Labour below 30%, and – sigh of …

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Posted in Voice polls | Tagged and | 26 Comments
Mark Pack

Any Questions: it’s not just BBC Question Time that’s the problem

By Mark Pack | Sun 28th February 2010 - 12:50 pm

We’ve covered before the habit of BBC Question Time of dropping a Liberal Democrat from the panel (three times in four weeks most recently) and also of loading up the panel with a far from politically balanced set of non-Parliamentarians.

But it’s not only Question Time where that’s a problem. BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions? has a similar habit: the superficial balance is actually undone by a far from balanced set of non-Parliamentarians.

Let’s have a look at the make-up of the Any Questions? panels so far this year:

Number of Conservative Parliamentarians / candidates: 5
Number of Labour Parliamentarians / …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 10 Comments
Iain Roberts

Victorian contraception – you might be surprised

By Iain Roberts | Sun 28th February 2010 - 11:20 am

Contrary to popular belief, the Victorians tended to be pretty open and frank about sex. The old myth about covering the legs of pianos or tables was a joke told by the Victorians about others.

This text is taken from “An exposition of the true Cause and only Cure of the Three Primary Evils: Poverty, Prostitution and Celibacy”, by Dr George Drysdale and published in 1852.

Excepting medical advances and terminology, it could almost have been written today.

The only means by which virtue and the progress of mankind are rendered possible is ‘Preventative Sexual Intercourse’. By this is meant sexual

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
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Stephen Tall

How to show your colours, Lib Dem style

By Stephen Tall | Sun 28th February 2010 - 10:20 am

Wondering how to show your support for the Lib Dems at this election, but reluctant to sport a rosette? Well, The Guardian has come up with eight options for the fashion-conscious party supporter. Though it probably helps to be a lady. (Or else a male transvestite). Options range from £8 to £695:

…

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Posted in News | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

Daily View 2×2: 28 February, featuring Luciana Berger, homeopathy, Ethiopia and more

By Mark Pack | Sun 28th February 2010 - 9:00 am

It’s Sunday. It’s 9am. It’s time for the latest news from Ethiopia, but first the blogs from the UK. Today we also have a special Luciana Berger update (never let it be said she’s going for the quiet competent candidate approach).

It’s also good to note that Liberal Democrat MPs have not been remiss in keeping up with the latest Twitter craze. Step forward and take a bow, Mr Rennie.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here’s are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

2 Big Stories

The opposition: weak organization, lack of preparedness, appallingly low finances

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Posted in Daily View | Tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo: dodgy Tory stats, Nick’s online Q&A, and the Wallander-inspired Lib Dem PPB

By Stephen Tall | Sat 27th February 2010 - 6:45 pm

Welcome to this latest LDVideo instalment, highlighting three political video clips from the past week.

First up, there’s Lies, damn lies and Conservative statistics courtesy Political Scrapbook (and with a nod towards this iconic Guinness advert):


(Hat-tip: Left Foot Forward. Available on YouTube here).

Secondly, here’s Nick Clegg responding to questions posted to Facebook (Facebook.com/nickclegg) and Twitter (@Nick_Clegg) in his latest online Q&A session with voters, and covering a variety of topics: support for carers, voter apathy, voting Lib Dem, military pay, the ‘Robin Hood Tax’, democratic accountability, Scottish independence; the hunger strikers and rights of children at Yarl’s Wood detention centre, and (forget biscuits) whether he prefers tea or coffee.

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg – Government should nurture virtue

By NewsHound | Sat 27th February 2010 - 5:15 pm

Over at the Guardian’s Comment is Free, Nick Clegg contributes to the Citizen Ethics strand.

He recalls Margaret Thatcher’s economic aims in the 1980s, saying that he seeks a revolution as big as the one in the 1980s, but of a different quality: “I do not want to change things back; I want to change them forward.”

Here’s an excerpt:

I do not believe that society is broken. There are minor miracles done every day by parents, teachers, carers, total strangers: acts of kindness that are the overwhelming majority of human experience. For every banker justifying their grotesque bonus, there are hundreds

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Conservatives rope in Squier, Knapp, Dunn Communications

By Mark Pack | Sat 27th February 2010 - 4:20 pm

Iain Martin’s general election commentary for the Wall Street Journal is rapidly become a must-read for me due to his record of unearthing useful bits of extra information that shed an extra light on the big political stories.

This week he had a good piece on the Conservative Party’s preparation for televised party leader debates during the general election:

Advisers close to U.S. President Barack Obama have been drafted by David Cameron to help the Conservatives in their election campaign against Gordon Brown and Labour.

The Tories have signed a contract with Squier, Knapp, Dunn Communications—a Washington-based Democrat-leaning political consultancy— to help

…

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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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Posted in London and Op-eds | Tagged , and | 7 Comments
Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert: Nick Clegg’s visit to Cambridge

By Julian Huppert | Sat 27th February 2010 - 10:40 am

Julian Huppert with Nick Clegg and students
My campaign to take over from David Howarth in Cambridge was given a huge boost on Thursday, when we were visited by Nick Clegg, who did a Q+A session for students in Trinity Hall.
The turnout was huge – we overflowed the meeting room that was prepared for us. As we walked in, it was clear that there was a great energy in the room.

Nick didn’t do a preamble speech – the idea was just to …

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Mark Pack

May 27th: the forgotten election date

By Mark Pack | Sat 27th February 2010 - 9:20 am

Even if Gordon Brown calls the general election for Thursday 6 May, the date on which local elections are also due to be held, that won’t be the only round of elections this spring.

That’s because the holding of the general election on the same day as local elections means any contested parish and community elections due on 6 May will be postponed by three weeks.

Uncontested elections will still be concluded on 6 May, with people taking office subsequently in the usual way (i.e. on the fourth day after the election). Where there are delayed contested elections, the date of of …

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Posted in Election law | 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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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 20 Comments
Helen Duffett

Home Office report recommends labelling of airbrushed images aimed at children

By Helen Duffett | Fri 26th February 2010 - 6:29 pm

The Home Office has published an independent review into the sexualisation of young people, conducted by psychologist Linda Papadopoulos.

The report warns that children are being increasingly exposed to sexual imagery through advertising, music videos, computer games, magazines and some children’s clothing lines.

From the BBC:

Unless sexualisation is accepted as harmful, we will miss an important opportunity… to broaden young people’s beliefs about where their values lies,” said Dr Papadopoulos, a psychologist. The report’s 36 recommendations include calling for games consoles, mobile phones and some computers to be sold with parental controls already switched on.”

Other recommendations include banning “sexualised” music videos before the TV watershed, making digital literacy a compulsory part of the curriculum from age 5, and labelling airbrushed images:

Evidence suggests that even brief exposure to airbrushed images can lead to acute body dissatisfaction. To help combat this, efforts to raise levels of media literacy should be accompanied by initiatives aimed at encouraging society to take a more critical and questioning approach to the harmful perpetuation of unrealistic ideals. I therefore recommend the introduction of a system of ratings symbols for photographs to show the extent to which they have been altered. This is particularly critical in magazines targeting teen and pre-teen audiences.

The BBC, in reporting the findings, indulges in a little airbrushing of its own:

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 29 Comments
Helen Duffett

The LDV Friday Five: 26 February 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 26th February 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. Times report: Tories “make inroads” into Lib Dem support in south-west England. (But where’s the evidence?) (15) by Stephen Tall.
2. Why Gordon Brown will start the TV election debates with an advantage over David Cameron (2) by Mark Pack.
3. BBC drops Lib Dems from Question Time, again #bbcqt (11) by Mark Pack.
4. The Saturday debate: Burkas – to ban or not to ban? (48) by Mark Pack.
5. Those Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q4, 2009) (7) by Stephen Tall.

5 active LDV Members’ Forum threads

Tower Block of Commons
Death taxes
Twitter as a campaigning tool
National Bullying Helpline/Christine Pratt
Latest Lib Dem Voice Survey

5 biggest groups on ACT

1. Liberal Youth
2. Nick Clegg Meets…
3. NO2ID
4. Approved Candidates
5. ALDC

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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Posted in Friday Five | 5 Comments
Helen Duffett

Children’s operations cancelled over non-transferable CRB checks

By Helen Duffett | Fri 26th February 2010 - 3:23 pm

A report by the Royal College of Surgeons, published today, reveals that children’s NHS operations are being cancelled because of the chaotic introduction of new Government safeguarding regulations. From the report:

Overzealous interpretation of the requirements by NHS Trusts and long delays in the system mean that NHS surgeons cannot move between Trusts quickly enough to deal with rare cases, of which there are many in children, and to cover absences. The RCS is calling for immediate roll out of passport-style arrangements that allow NHS staff who have already received an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check for one Trust

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 5 Comments
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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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 9 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – A military Rolls-Royce, but a political car crash

By NewsHound | Fri 26th February 2010 - 12:45 pm

Over in The Times, former Lib Dem leader Lord (Paddy) Ashdown argues that though there are reasons to be cheerful in the latest news from Afghanistan, battlefield success alone won’t win the war. Here’s an excerpt:

… we do, at last, seem to be getting our act together on the battlefield. We are now following the right military strategy — protecting the people, not chasing the enemy. We have limited our aims to the achievable and matched our resources to our objectives. … it is now possible to turn the momentum on the battlefield in our favour in the next few

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 2 Comments
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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Posted in Op-eds, Parliament and The Independent View | 13 Comments
Helen Duffett

How much of a battle does Bercow face in Buckingham?

By Helen Duffett | Fri 26th February 2010 - 9:10 am

Further developments in Buckingham, John Bercow MP’s constituency, where convention dictates that other parties don’t put up a candidate against the incumbent Speaker:

UKIP is looking forward to a large donation, whilst claiming that fundraising on Bercow’s behalf breaches Parliamentary rules. Meanwhile, Buckingham Liberal Democrats announce their plan for the General Election.

The Times reports that a UKIP member from Buckingham has complained to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after receiving a letter from fundraising team “The Friends of Speaker Bercow”:

has written to the commissioner expressing concern that The Friends of Speaker Bercow may be breaching parliamentary rules by

…

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Posted in General Election and News | Tagged , , , and | 23 Comments
Helen Duffett

Daily View 2×2: 26 February 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 26th February 2010 - 7:00 am

Welcome to Friday, and with another busy campaigning weekend ahead, political parties are counting down the days and counting up the cash:

2 Election War Chest Stories

Labour opts for bargain £4m campaign with no posters

For the first time in more than 60 years, Labour does not plan to use its scarce resources on high street posters, such as those that the big-spending Conservatives have already set up across Britain. Instead, officials say that Gordon Brown will make a virtue out of necessity with a campaign that will lean on the “word of mouth” community organising techniques that helped Barack Obama into the White House.

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Posted in Daily View | Tagged , , , and | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

Innocent people deserve better treatment from Met over DNA database

By Mark Pack | Thu 25th February 2010 - 11:49 pm

A party news release brings the message:

Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly policing spokesperson and member of the MPA, has today called for the Met to address its poor record of meeting requests by innocent people for the deletion of their DNA records held on a national database.

At present only 24% of the requests from innocent people to have their DNA removed are granted by the Met.

After questioning the Met Commissioner at today’s full meeting of the MPA Dee Doocey said:

“The current situation is totally unsatisfactory. The Met Commissioner has the power to delete the records of innocent …

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Posted in London | Tagged , , and | 11 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg – Brown has failed not on character but on credibility

By NewsHound | Thu 25th February 2010 - 8:00 pm

Over at The Independent today, Nick Clegg argues that Labour has no basis on which to claim the ground of fairness any longer. Here’s an excerpt:

Last weekend, Gordon Brown set out his stall, claiming that Labour is the party of fairness in Britain. Their General Election slogan, “A Future Fair for All”, seeks to stake out this territory as their own. But, after 13 years in government, are these claims credible? Gordon Brown also urged people to “take a second look” at Labour. What, then, is Labour’s record on fairness really like?

The slogan itself is old, first used back

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Vince: RBS should not pay out bonuses while bank making losses

By Stephen Tall | Thu 25th February 2010 - 7:00 pm

Bonuses for bankers: can they be justified? That’s the question everyone’s asking following RBS’s announcement that it made eye-watering losses of £3.6bn, but paid out bonues to staff worth £1.3bn.

Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable is dubious:

It’s hard to understand why £1.3bn is being paid out in bonuses when RBS continues to make losses. RBS rewarding individual bankers is like a football team paying their striker for scoring when they’ve just been relegated.  

“While it is good news that RBS is meeting its mortgage lending target, its lending to business has fallen. The Government has to get a grip and

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

Those Lib Dem donation figures in full (Q4, 2009)

By Stephen Tall | Thu 25th February 2010 - 3:20 pm

The Electoral Commission has published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties this week, and its website allow us to gain a picture of the Lib Dems’ fundraising efforts over the years. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.

Five/six-figure gifts coming from the following: Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£222.5k), Christopher Nicholson (£52.2k), Michael Brehme (£50k), Charles Brand (£25k), Brian Roper (£20k), Neil Sherlock (£20k), Susan Kramer (£15k), Richard Duncalf (£11.7k), Christopher Butler (£10.7k), Giles Wilkes (£10.25k), Richard Brindle (£10k), Stephen Dawson (£10k).

25 Parliamentarians contributed this quarter – those who gave £1k+ I spot-checked were:

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Posted in News | Tagged | 12 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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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged , , , and | 3 Comments
Chris White

Opinion: Kill puffins and paint horizontally to save millions

By Chris White | Thu 25th February 2010 - 11:24 am

Local newspapers in western Hertfordshire exploded on Friday evening with news that the county council had lost a court case. It was chasing an invoice for £335 in a dispute with a water company over a broken manhole cover. The county council had had to put up a couple of cones to warn passing motorists and apparently cones are expensive things to handle.

The water company felt that this was excessive and the council and the utility had seen each other in court. The costs of the case were awarded largely against the council and were reportedly £110,000.

Debate has raged. The …

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Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Bill le Breton

Opinion: Engage the Enemy more Closely

By Bill le Breton | Thu 25th February 2010 - 10:50 am

Sorry to be militaristic. This is the signal that the Royal Navy used to make it a supreme force in the world two hundred years ago.

What is the one factor that is preventing thousands of electors giving the Tories another turn? It is fear of what they did last time. It is fear of Margaret Thatcher’s impact on unemployment and on essential services.

Cameron’s main objective has been to move this stigma from the brand – cut’s in services, dole queues, the nasty party.

This morning Osborne admitted on the Today Programme that he will …

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Posted in Op-eds | 7 Comments
Jonathan Fryer

Tweeting for STV

By Jonathan Fryer | Thu 25th February 2010 - 9:50 am

Like many former Liberals of a certain vintage, I was wooed to the cause of electoral reform by the diminutive but formidable figure of Enid Lakeman, who even at an advanced age could spear opponents with her logic and conviction. I wish she were around today to add her appraisal of whether Gordon Brown’s referendum on AV is a step forwards or a step backwards in the long march to Fair Votes.

As virtually everyone seems to be talking about ‘fairness’ these days, surely it is time that LibDems seized the moment and trumpeted our belief in STV? Moreover, we should …

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Posted in Online politics | Tagged , , , and | 5 Comments
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