Liberal Democrat Voice

New report to call for warning labels on airbrushed photographs

By Mark Pack | Sun 21st February 2010 - 4:20 pm

Girls are feeling under pressure to please boys while boys believe they must sleep with several girls to fit in written by clinical psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos for the Home Office.

She said: “Little boys are always told ‘aren’t you clever, aren’t you strong’. Little girls are told ‘aren’t you pretty?’ even in 2010.

“They are adhering to what society expects and internalising behaviours.”

Dr Papadopoulos cited the example of the computer game Miss Bimbo, where the aim of the game is to accumulate boob jobs and marry a billionaire.

The Evening Standard has reported further details of what …

Posted in News | Tagged linda papadopoulos and real women | 2 Comments

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And lo, with one email Nick Clegg’s opinion poll rating did soar

By Mark Pack | Sun 21st February 2010 - 1:32 pm

I was rather puzzled by the Sunday Telegrpah’s report today by Melissa Kite on the standing of party leaders, which claimed that Nick Clegg’s net leader performance rating in polling for PoliticsHome had plummeted since last September. Puzzled because that would be way out of line with what the other polls have been saying.

One email exchange with PoliticsHome later and lo, what was reported as a +5% rating in the most recent polling turns out actually to have been a +15% when then suffered a typo.

At +15% the rating not only compares well to Cameron (+12%) and of course …

Posted in Polls | Tagged melissa kite, nick clegg and politicshome.com | 3 Comments

Opposition to I.D. cards grows (if people reminded about costs)

By Mark Pack | Sun 21st February 2010 - 1:10 pm

More than half the public (53%) think ID cards are a bad or very bad idea when reminded that “The government has proposed the introduction of identity cards that, in combination with your passport, will cost around £93”. This compares to 37% saying they are a good or very good idea.

Opposition to ID cards has grown since 2006 when only 33% opposed the idea.

You can read more about the Liberal Democrat opposition to ID cards over on the Freedom Bill website.

The results are from the State of the Nation Survey 2010, a new poll of 2,288 people aged 18+ …

Posted in News | Tagged civil liberties, id cards and joseph rowntree reform trust | 2 Comments

Labour Election Campaign Quotations

By Iain Roberts | Sun 21st February 2010 - 11:39 am

A few quotes from Labour’s Campaign Quotations book from the 1951 General Election.

Back in the days before the Internet (yes, young people, it didn’t always exist), Labour published this 300 page book of quotes from friend and foe to help its eager activists.

Socialism is a system of national co-operation. It is based upon the principle of co-operation, as opposed to the principle of competition. It is based on the principle of collectivism as opposed to the principle of individualism. It is union as against disunion, order as against anarchy. It means each for all and all

…

Posted in News | Tagged history, labour party, The way we were and winston churchill | 5 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 21 February 2010 including special “How does your website sound?” section

By Mark Pack | Sun 21st February 2010 - 9:00 am

It’s Sunday. It’s 9am. It’s time for an extra special YouTube-free musical bonus, but first the blogs and the latest from Ethiopia.

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:

New Brighton Pavilion Poll puts Greens in third: Colin Ross has the news from Brighton via ICM
Kent Chief Exec – In the papers once again: Big News Margate reports on the £200,000 pay off the Conservative-run council gave to its Chief Executive, Peter Gilroy

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: Ethiopian edition

Election Campaign With No Credible Alternatives: Uninspiring
By popular demand, our unrivalled of the Ethiopian elections continues. Previously we’ve brought you news of the punch-up over nomination papers, but today it’s news of an election launch with rather British overtones.

Posted in Daily View | Tagged brighton pavilion, ethiopia, kent county council and peter gilroy | Leave a comment

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Is this the new Tory slogan?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 20th February 2010 - 8:45 pm

For the Lib Dems it’s Building a fairer Britain …

For Labour it’s A future fayre free-for-all (or something) …

But for the Tories, David Cameron seems to be adopting an unusually honest approach, according to this PoliticsHome.com teaser:

The Conservative Party is not for many.

Admitting it is the first step, I guess.

Posted in Humour | 7 Comments

The most popular blogs with LDV readers

By Stephen Tall | Sat 20th February 2010 - 4:45 pm

We published the results of our most recent survey of Lib Dem Voice’s 1,000-strong private members’ discussion forum – open to any party member to join – last week: you can catch up with what Lib Dem members thought about a variety of issues by clicking here.

In addition to the policy and party issues raised, we asked a couple of questions about party members’ blog-reading habits. Here’s what we learned …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged blogging | Leave a comment

Administrative details don’t give away general election plans

By Mark Pack | Sat 20th February 2010 - 3:10 pm

Slightly out of character (!), Iain Dale initially missed a chance to put the boot into Labour in his recent post about Labour’s leaflet printing arrangements. Iain went (at first) for the “this could mean we’re about to have a snap election” line, and only really getting to the real story in a subsequent update.

That’s because what the email about Labour’s leaflet arrangements really tells us is that lots of Labour candidates had finalised key parts of their general election artwork, but now Labour is getting a new slogan and they are having to redo their artwork. In other …

Posted in General Election | Tagged gordon brown and iain dale | 1 Comment

The LDV Saturday caption competition – the “Lembit pops his cork” edition

By The Voice | Sat 20th February 2010 - 1:45 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader …

Here’s Lib Dem MP for Montgomeryshire Lembit Opik celebrating the saving of Abermule Post Office from closure. What do you think Lembit, or those surrounding him, might be saying to each other, or thinking about each other?

The winner of our most recent caption competition, the “mine’s a large one” edition a fortnight ago – according to The Voice’s judging panel of one – was this one from Andy Mayer; with …

Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged lembit opik | 10 Comments

Peter Watt’s Inside Out: book review

By Mark Pack | Sat 20th February 2010 - 12:19 pm

When I sat down to read Peter Watt’s memoirs, Inside Out, I was curious to find the answer to two questions.

First, I’d met him regularly at Electoral Commission meetings before he became Labour’s General Secretary and he always struck me as a bright, enthusiastic – and young – person. When he was appointed General Secretary I was intrigued as to how someone who seemed so much younger and less experienced in the ways of the Labour Party than previous General Secretaries had made it to the top. For him, it was just nine years from starting work for Labour …

Posted in Books and Election law | Tagged david abrahams, electoral commission, gerald shamash, gordon brown, isabel oakeshott and peter watt | 1 Comment

How many minders does a Parliamentary candidate need on the doorstep?

By Mark Pack | Sat 20th February 2010 - 11:10 am

This moment from a Granada Regional News report into Luciana Berger, the controversial Labour candidate for Liverpool Wavertree, caught my eye:

Luciana Berger TV report screenshot

One Labour candidate on the doorstep, talking to one member of the public – but with three other Labour people minding her by the looks of it. Perhaps just a little over-staffed 🙂

Posted in News | Tagged liverpool wavertree and luciana berger | 2 Comments

Do your blog comments make a good impression?

By Mark Pack | Sat 20th February 2010 - 10:53 am

There are many reasons people have for posting comments on this site or others: because they’ve got something to add to the conversation, because they want to correct an error, because they like taking part in a debate, because they’ve got a question to ask or a myriad of other reasons.

For those seeking public office, judicious commenting on other people’s sites can also be rather like going to events and meetings in the area; it’s a way of getting to know people, getting known by them and discussing relevant issues. Reaching out to other people’s sites, particularly if they aren’t …

Posted in Online politics | Tagged blogger, facebook and wordpress | 3 Comments

The Saturday debate: Burkas – to ban or not to ban?

By Mark Pack | Sat 20th February 2010 - 8:50 am

Here’s your starter for ten for our Saturday slot posing a view for debate:

Although it is estimated that no more than 2,000 people in France wear a burka, it has become a hot topic of political debate:

A parliamentary commission proposed a ban on the garment in all public services facilities, including transport.

The commission’s report stops short of recommending a complete public ban on the head-to-toe covering, which conceals the face, wanted by many politicians. Instead, it calls for those wearing the garment to be denied access to hospitals, buses, welfare offices and all other public facilities. (FT)

As the

…

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged burka, france and weekend debate | 51 Comments

Peter Chegwyn wins High Court appeal against Standards Board

By Mark Pack | Fri 19th February 2010 - 10:56 pm

Last summer we reported that Peter Chegwyn, Lib Dem leader on Gosport Council, had been banned from being a councillor on both Gosport Council and Hampshire County Council for two years in a dispute over a local music festival.

However, Peter Chegwyn has taken that Standards Board ruling to the Hight Court and this week won a significant set of victories. The two-year disqualification from Hampshire County Council was quashed completely. The two-year disqualification from Gosport Borough Council was quashed and replaced by a two-month suspension, and the Judge ordered the Standards Board for England to pay Peter Chegwyn’s full costs.

The Judge …

Posted in Local government | Tagged gosport, hampshire county council, peter chegwyn and standards board | 12 Comments

By-election news: Seven Votes Swings Seat… again

By John Bridges | Fri 19th February 2010 - 6:16 pm

There were six principal council elections held on the 18th February. Labour held one seat and the Tories two. We lost two seats to Labour but gained one from the Tories There were four Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC. A Tory hold, two Lib Dem holds and a Lib Dem gain from Plaid.

In the Pendre Ward of Bridgend Council in Wales we managed to lose to Labour by just seven votes having won the seat by seven votes just two years ago. We ran a good literature and doorstep campaign but we needed to use the …

Posted in Council by-elections | 3 Comments

The LDV Friday Five: 19 February 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 19th 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. Clegg sacks Jenny Tonge (73) by The Voice.
2. How Lib Dem members rate the performances of our shadow cabinet (2) by Stephen Tall.
3. Are these the three most fanciable Lib Dem MPs? (13) by Stephen Tall.
4. How can we sell the Single Transferable Vote to the public? (39) by Stephen Tall.
5. Jonny Oates writes: The Lib Dems’ campaign slogan – Building a fairer Britain (40) by Jonny Oates.

5 active LDV Members’ Forum

…

Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment

Should governments buy stolen data when hunting tax evaders?

By Mark Pack | Fri 19th February 2010 - 12:50 pm

That’s the question a series of governments across Europe have been grappling with in the last few months. Stolen Swiss bank data reveals key evidence about tax evaders from several countries. Not only is it stolen data but it is only being made available at a price:

A CD identifying around 1500 Germans who have illicit Swiss accounts was procured by a former employee at the Geneva branch of HSBC bank. The disc, which could return an estimated €200 million ($393 million) in lost revenue, was offered to the German Government for €2.5 million…

Merkel and her Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schuble, initially

…

Posted in News | Tagged angela merkel, belgium, holland, switzerland, tax and wolfgang schuble | 6 Comments

Purnell to quit as MP – what does he mean by that?

By Stephen Tall | Fri 19th February 2010 - 11:00 am

Well, there’s a turn-up: James Purnell – former secretary of state for work and pensions, the man who almost brought down Gordon Brown, and seemingly a strong contender for the Labour leadership after the next election – has announced he will be quitting Parliament at the general election. Here’s how The Times reports it:

Labour insiders said that he was telling his Stalybridge and Hyde local party that with regret he was standing down to seek new challenges. …

After his resignation Mr Purnell returned to the back benches and has played a big part in running the Demos centre-left

…

Posted in News | Tagged david miliband, james purnell and new labour | 11 Comments

How do the party’s central finances look in the run-up to the general election?

By Mark Pack | Fri 19th February 2010 - 10:20 am

With the party’s spring federal conference just round the corner, the latest report from the party’s Federal Finance and Administration Committee (FFAC) is out, which gives the chance to compare the party’s finances now with five years ago.

The good news bit

The federal party’s core activities are generating significantly higher income.

General fund surplus after income generation costs:

2004 £2,642,253
2009 £3,214,500

That 22% increase is impressive, particularly given the recession in 2009 and its impact on fundraising.

The no news bit

The federal party’s debts have not changed much over the last five years, with only a very small rise in the accumulated deficit on the general …

Posted in General Election | Tagged federal finance and administration committee | Leave a comment

Opinion: Losing in the Class War

By David Allen | Fri 19th February 2010 - 9:20 am

There’s a class war going on. So the Tories tell us. They treat it with distaste. But they rather seem to revel in doing so.

It’s all about one man, David Cameron. So the Tories tell us. It’s all about the disgraceful proposal from Labour that we should vote against Dave simply because he went to Eton.

Pause for breath.

Labour, let’s face it, make a pretty implausible bunch of class warriors these days. As Blair put it, they are all middle class now. Recently, the Tory press pilloried Harriet Harman as a class warrior when she dared to point out that Labour …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david cameron and jonathan freedland | 47 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 19 February 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 19th February 2010 - 7:00 am

Ah, Friday! It’s the 336th anniversary of the Peace of Westminster. It’s also nearly the end of (relative) peace in Westminster, as the Parliamentary Recess draws to a close.

2 Must-Read Bloggers’ Anecdotes

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two news-related stories that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Sir Nicholas 1st Class Comment Reminds me of a Story of Revenge

by Dazmando at Bracknell Blog

My UFO experience

by Jane on My New LD Blog

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.

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Lib Dem Voice is asking our readers to consider making a donation to help five candidates in the imminent general election. This week’s candidate is Willie Rennie, victor in the 2006 Dunfermline by-election. Click here to read more. Click here to donate to Willie’s campaign.

2 Local Party Stories

David Cameron: I will impose all-women shortlists

Mr Cameron said that as the general election, which must be held by June, was so close, the party was already taking advantage of rules which allowed Central Office to impose shortlists on constituency parties.

This had happened twice already, and the Tory leader confirmed that if any more Conservative MPs stood down in winnable seats in coming weeks, he would consider making the short-lists women only.

Posted in Daily View | Leave a comment

Lib Dems gain Ivybridge Filham, South Hams DC

By Helen Duffett | Fri 19th February 2010 - 1:28 am

(From left: Councillor Tony Barber; Anna Pascoe, Lib Dem PPC for South West Devon; Stephen Kearney, Chair of South West Devon Liberal Democrats; Councillor Keith Baldry; Jill Barber)

Liberal Democrat Tony Barber has won the Ivybridge Filham by-election, following the resignation of the Tory councillor.

The result:

Posted in Council by-elections | Tagged anna pascoe, ivybridge filham, south west devon and tony barber | 5 Comments

What will the impact be of MPs’ expenses on turnout?

By Mark Pack | Thu 18th February 2010 - 10:54 pm

From one of the latest YouGov polls:

Does the expenses scandal…
Makes me more likely to vote at the coming election, to express my anger at the way some politicians have behaved 14%<
Makes me more likely NOT to vote, because politicians are much the same, and I don’t trust any of them any longer 12%
Net: +2%
Make no difference, I will vote anyway 64%
Make no difference, I will NOT vote anyway 5%
Don’t know 5%

The usual caveats apply that this is only one poll and also that people are often more likely to give what is seen as a socially acceptable answer than to …

Posted in Polls | Tagged mps expenses and yougov | 1 Comment

So how keen are the Conservative grassroots on scrapping ID cards?

By Mark Pack | Thu 18th February 2010 - 9:06 pm

Not very, if the “Scrap ID cards” campaign on MyConservatives.com is anything to go by. At the time of writing, it has raised only £100 towards its £5,000 target and got the signatures of just 46 people.

Oh, and no – it’s not a new campaign that has only just been added. Indeed, from the statistics on the embedded YouTube film, the campaign looks to have been there since 28 September, which makes it one third of a signature per day.

Posted in News | Tagged conservative party and myconservatives | 2 Comments

NEW POLL: Is it time to end ‘politically restricted’ jobs?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 18th February 2010 - 7:15 pm

Blogging Labour MP Tom Harris has an interesting story today, revealing that Tina Stowell, the BBC’s head of corporate affairs “is not only a wannabe Tory candidate, but still has a live website proclaiming her love of all things Cameron.” But Tom doesn’t point this out in order to fulminate or demand her resignation:

And you know something? I don’t have a problem with this. I would much prefer to know the politics of someone I’m dealing with because at least you know where they’re coming from. She wants to become an MP? Good for her! I hope she

…

Posted in Voice polls | Tagged civil service, featured, Local government, politically restricted and tom harris | 16 Comments

Clegg blasts Tory MP Sir Nicholas Winterton: “Sadly some MPs still just don’t get it …”

By Stephen Tall | Thu 18th February 2010 - 3:53 pm

Nick Clegg has just tweeted his reaction to Sir Nicholas Winterton’s railing against moves to reduce first-class train travel by MPs – the Tory MP said he needed “peace and quiet” while travelling, and that standard class carriages are occupied by “a totally different type of people.”

The Lib Dem leader’s having none of it, slamming Sir Nicholas’s plea with an exasperated one-liner:

“Sadly some MPs still just don’t get it …”

Well quite. The Tories have been quick to disown Sir Nicholas, acidly dismissing “the out-of-touch views of a soon-to-retire backbench MP”.

The trouble is the Tory party does have a bit of form. As Lib Dem blogger Mark Thompson reminds us, the Tory chairman Eric Pickles hardly covered himself in glory on the BBC’s Question Time last year when he defended his second home on the more-than-dubious grounds that as an MP he has to be in work on time. Let’s remind ourselves once again of that perfect moment of car-crash telly:

Posted in News | Tagged eric pickles, mark thompson, nicholas winterton and nick clegg | 21 Comments

Hear David Howarth give lecture on Parliamentary reform

By Mark Pack | Thu 18th February 2010 - 3:50 pm

As party of the Parliamentary Reform Lecture Series organised by the Hansard Society, David Howarth MP (Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Solicitor General) will give a talk examining the Liberal Democrat’s priorities for reform of Parliament.

It’s at 6pm on March 15th. It’s being held at the Houses of Parliament and is open to the public. Please email [email protected] to register.

The talk is one of a series the Hansard Society is running (one each from each of the main parties) to draw attention to the fact that there is still much progress to be made in the area …

Posted in Parliament | Tagged david howarth, hansard society, parliamentary reform and ruth fox | Leave a comment

Opinion: PCC’s rejection of Jan Moir complaint shows it up as entirely toothless

By Dave Page | Thu 18th February 2010 - 1:55 pm

The Guardian reports that the Press Complaints Commission has rejected a complaint from Andrew Cowles, the partner of the late Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, over a Daily Mail article by Jan Moir originally titled “Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death”. Moir stated that Gately’s death was not natural, despite official reports to the contrary, and claimed that the circumstances were “more than a little sleazy”.

Over 25,000 people complained to the PPC over the article, claiming that it was homophobic and slanderous. The article went on to compare Gately’s death to the suicide of Kevin McGee, …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged jan moir and press complaints commission | 20 Comments

BBC issues usual Question Time non-response

By Stephen Tall | Thu 18th February 2010 - 1:30 pm

Cast your mind back two weeks, and you may recall the BBC making a hash of selecting its panel for the weekly political discussion show Question Time.

In the week when the big political issues were the Iraq war, electoral reform and MPs’ expenses – on all of which the Lib Dems have a distinctive contribution to make – the BBC chose to stuff the panel with an official Labour representative (Lord Falconer), and two former Labour MPs (Clare Short and George Galloway); and, for balance, an official Tory representative (Theresa May), and professional right-wing agitpropette (Melanie Phillips).

Many Lib …

Posted in News | Tagged bbc and bbc question time | 15 Comments

What will deficit politics look like?

By Mark Pack | Thu 18th February 2010 - 10:20 am

Even the keenest, most aggressive deficit cutting rhetoric used in any of the main political parties still envisages a large deficit for many years to come. Politics over the next decade is likely to be hugely shaped by this backdrop. It won’t squeeze out all other issues but, just as the 9/11 terrorist atrocities caused civil liberties and foreign affairs to dominate much of the political debate in subsequent years, the deficit is likely to dominate over the next few.

What will the practical consequences of that be? What issues may come to dominate political debate?

Privatisation returns

How to cut debt? Selling …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged economy | 11 Comments

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Keep the earnings link: don’t repeat the mistakes of the 80s (Chris Perry)

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2 Must-Read Blog Posts

2 Big Stories: Ethiopian edition

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

5 active LDV Members’ Forum

2 Must-Read Bloggers’ Anecdotes

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2 Local Party Stories

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