Iain Roberts

Daily View 2×2: 29 January 2010

By Iain Roberts | Fri 29th January 2010 - 7:21 am

Ninety-seven days to the likely General Election. Happy birthday to Germaine Greer and Tom Selleck (both keen readers of Lib Dem Voice, I’m certain). In his State of the Union Address on this day in 2002, George W Bush first introduced us to the Axis of Evil.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

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

  • Norfolk Blogger asks the pertinent question about Andrew Wakefield and his MMR scam (perpetuated and multiplied a hundred-fold by the media , let’s not forget).
  • Stephen Glenn celebrates his well-deserved success. Recognise his genius, damn you!
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Mark Pack

Twitter, Taxpayers’ Alliance and claims of dodgy journalism

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th January 2010 - 9:18 pm

Well well well, this is a bit of a rum turn of events in Cornwall.

Councillors send tweets during council meeting.

Western Morning News runs a story about this, taking a few potshots and quoting The Taxpayers’ Alliance slamming the councillors for this behaviour.

One of the councillors then points out that someone from the TPA was actually sending them messages on Twitter during the meeting asking them questions.

But TPA then say, no – they weren’t being hypocritical for criticising councillors for tweeting whilst also encouraging them because the quote they gave the press was in fact in response to being …

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Mark Pack

Nigel Waterson MP attacked by his own side for negative campaigning

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th January 2010 - 8:59 pm

Nigel Waterson, the Conservative MP for Eastbourne who is struggling to hold his seat in the face of Stephen Lloyd’s challenge, has suffered a further blow today.

Only a few days ago the former Tory MP Ernle Money said he would be voting Lib Dem in Eastbourne, saying Nigel Waterson “has been a rotten MP and on numerous occasions, he has jumped onto any passing bandwagon and taken up causes after they have already been dealt with by others.”

Now the former chair of the local Conservative Association has accused Nigel Waterson of negative campaigning and revealed that he had told his own campaign team that he was losing the seat.

You can watch the BBC’s report on Nigel Waterson here:

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The Voice

Jeremy Browne wins expenses appeal – acted “openly and honestly”

By The Voice | Thu 28th January 2010 - 8:58 pm

The BBC has the story of how Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne has won his appeal against repaying £18,000 of expenses.

Taunton MP Jeremy Browne complained after auditor Sir Thomas Legg ruled he must repay the cash claimed for mortgage interest on his second home.

Sir Paul Kennedy, who was appointed to hear appeals, said he had acted “openly and honestly” when making his claim.

Mr Browne said he felt “relieved” and “vindicated”, but “not elated”.

He is the first of the 80 MPs who challenged Sir Thomas’s requests to repay money to make the results of his appeal public.

Labour’s Frank Cook, Frank

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Tory councillor’s nicknames: domestic abuse victims are “screamers”, gay people are “queens”

By Stephen Tall | Thu 28th January 2010 - 8:45 pm

Brentwood Tory councillor Keith Parker has shown the caring, sharing side of his party in the last week. PinkNews reports:

A Tory councillor in Brentwood who made a joke about promoting gay rights and help for domestic violence victims has been accused of being offensive.

Keith Parker, the councillor for Brizes and Doddinghurst ward, remarked at a committee meeting last week that the “scream team will be conversing with the queen team”.

Following the meeting, he was criticised by Labour and Lib Dem councillors for the remarks.

Lib Dem Cllr Karen Chilvers told the Brentwood Gazette she had made a formal complaint to

…

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Stephen Tall

Cameron: he was against paternity pay before he was in favour of it. What will his view be next month?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 28th January 2010 - 7:25 pm

‘Dads will be able to take up to six months’ paternity leave while their child’s mother returns to work, under government plans announced today,’ reports The Guardian.

The Lib Dems’ shadow children, schools and families secretary, David Laws, is deeply unimpressed with Labour’s approach:

The Government fails to understand that all families are different and need far more flexibility when it comes to parental leave. Labour seems to think it knows best when it comes to how families should arrange their lives.
 
“Instead of more rigid and complex reforms, the Liberal Democrats would introduce fully flexible parental leave which

…

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The Voice

Lamb urges tighter rules for foreign doctors

By The Voice | Thu 28th January 2010 - 6:45 pm

The Telegraph reports Lib Dem shadow health secretary Norman Lamb’s proposals to tighten rules on the employment of foreign doctors after the death of a 70-year-old man treated by a doctor from Germany:

Norman Lamb, the party’s health spokesman, called for a series of reforms including a national language and competency test for every doctor wishing to work in Britain.

The demand comes after David Gray, from Manea, Cambridgeshire, died after he was given more than 10 times the recommended daily dose of diamorphine by Daniel Ubani, a locum doctor from Germany.
Dr Ubani, 67, had been on his first

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 7 Comments
The Voice

Lester QC vs Goldsmith QC: Lib Dem peer says “He didn’t give the correct legal view”

By The Voice | Thu 28th January 2010 - 6:10 pm

Channel 4 News asked top lawyer and Lib Dem peer Lord Lester for his view on former Labour attorney general Lord Goldsmith’s evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the war against Iraq. You can see the eight-minute video below, together with C4’s news report:

Lord Lester QC, a leading human rights lawyer and expert in international law, believes Lord Goldsmith failed in his responsibilities on Iraq. “He didn’t give the correct legal view,” says the Lib Dem peer.

As Britain went to war in March 2003, 16 out of

…

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Stephen Tall

New Lib Dem members’ site goes live

By Stephen Tall | Thu 28th January 2010 - 4:15 pm

Lib Dem members on email will have received the following message from the party’s interim chief executive Chris Fox this afternoon advertising the new members’ site, designed to complement the main party website and the ACT social networking website.

Dear Stephen,

Today we are launching the new Liberal Democrat members’ website: www.libdems.org.uk/members
This provides a new channel of communication right across the Party and it is an important resource for all party members.

The new members’ website is there to give you the things you need. It includes our latest news,

…

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Stephen Tall

If Gordon’s a “glum optimist” and Dave’s a “perky doom-monger”, can Nick be the “honest optimist”?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 28th January 2010 - 1:55 pm

Here’s how The Economist’s Bagehot characterised the performances of Gordon Brown and David Cameron at their respective press conferences this week:

On Gordon Brown: “… was his usual funereal self (even if he did manage a decent joke about the date of the general election). I thought he looked exhausted. But what he had to say was relatively upbeat: the recession is over; the government has plans for the “job-rich prosperity” that is just around the corner and an expanded middle class.

On David Cameron: “… was his usual breezy self, cracking jokes, remembering journalists’ names, etc. But what …

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Posted in General Election and Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 5 Comments
Alex Foster

Three “disgusting, eco-fascist, bullying” questions for Conservatives

By Alex Foster | Thu 28th January 2010 - 11:18 am

Cast your world-weary, battle-hardened, politico and political eyes over this disgusting filth spewing from the keyboard of swivel-eyed maniacs working through the night on behalf of some disreputable campaign to send vile messes to hard working Tory PPCs:

Can you clarify that:

You accept that climate change is caused by human activity?

Do you support the target to achieve 15% renewable energy by 2020?

Do you support the EU imposing tougher regulation to combat climate change?

Hardly the worst questions a campaigner will receive.

In my brief time working in politics both as an elected representative myself and for MEPs and MPs, I have seen some …

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Posted in News and Online politics | Tagged , , , , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Social media’s impact on politics, part one: the groups that face extinction

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th January 2010 - 10:20 am

Welcome to a two-part series about the real impact social media (or social networking) is having on politics in Britain. In part one I look at the groups which face extinction, whilst in part two I will look at why pundits searching for the impact of social media on politics in 2010 are looking in the wrong place.

What impact has the introduction of cheap colouring printing technology had on British politics? Almost none. Certainly many more leaflets are colour than used to be the case, more target letters contain colour inserts and a generation of amateur designers have had the …

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Posted in Online politics and Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 8 Comments
Alex Foster

Daily View 2×2: 28 January 2010

By Alex Foster | Thu 28th January 2010 - 7:08 am

Smoke trails against a black skyGood morning, and welcome to Daily View this morning. 24 years ago, 28 January saw the NASA Challenger disaster.

It’s the date of the death of Henry VIII and the beginning of the Diet of Worms. (If they went to that sort of effort, I hope they lost a lot of weight!)

197 years ago today saw the first publication of Pride and Prejudice and in 1958, Lego bricks were first patented. Today’s bricks still mesh with the original 1958 system.

Birthday bunny hops today go to novelist David Lodge and hobbit-actor Elijah Wood.

2 Big Stories

Boris Johnson to stand down as chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority

Over to the Guardian for today’s first story.

In direct contradiction to his manifesto, Boris Johnson has decided he doesn’t have time to be a writer, a mayor, and a Police Authority chair, and so something had to give.

Tory Troll has a bunch of handy quotes and links on the story.

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Mark Pack

Stoke election result upheld

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th January 2010 - 11:19 pm

Stoke’s The Sentinel newspaper reports the latest in the case of an election won by one vote with one ballot apparently missing:

The public inquiry, which began on Monday, looked into why 742 postal vote envelopes were counted before election night, of which 26 were rejected, leaving 716, but only 715 were accounted for after the official count.

The petition was rejected by electoral commissioner Richard Mawrey, who said it had led to cumulative costs of six figures for both parties.

He said the “missing” vote could be explained by mistakes in the recording of information on the records.

“They seem to be

…

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Posted in Election law | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Piracy letter campaign ‘nets innocents’

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th January 2010 - 11:01 pm

So reports the BBC:

More than 150 people have approached consumer publication Which? Computing claiming to have been wrongly targeted in crackdowns on illegal file-sharing.

ACS:Law has sent thousands of letters to people claiming they have illegally downloaded material and offers them a chance to settle by paying around £500.

Which? says it has been approached by some – including a 78 year-old accused of downloading pornography – who have no knowledge of the alleged offence.

You can read the full story here.

The wider significance of the story is that the Government’s line on the Digital Economy Bill is that in future more …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 7 Comments
The Voice

Baker: time to refund passengers forced on to rail replacement buses

By The Voice | Wed 27th January 2010 - 6:50 pm

Ah, the joy of train travel – you buy your ticket, possibly costing you a small fortune unless booked in advance, only to discover you’re chucked off the train and onto a bus if there are repairs being made to the line. Well, no more, says Norman Baker, the Lib Dems’ shadow transport secretary.

Stormin’ Norm is proposing that the Lib Dems would radically overhaul Network Rail, replacing its executives with a ‘Public Interest Board’ made up of representatives of customer watchdog Passenger Focus, the Local Government Association and independent experts. They would be charged with putting the interests of passengers …

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Chris White

Opinion: MPs should keep out of local rag debate

By Chris White | Wed 27th January 2010 - 6:41 pm

MPs were debating what are sometimes called ‘council newspapers’ last week. None was supportive.

At first sight it is easy to see why. Administrations exploit the legislation which forbids party political propaganda on the rates. So long as the rag doesn’t actually say ‘Vote Conservative’ it is usually quite within the letter of the law. So a publication featuring mainly the leader of the council and only positive stories may irritate the opposition (and the voter) but will not cause the monitoring officer to stir.

But this isn’t why it is open season on these publications. Trinity Mirror and other regional publishers …

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Posted in Op-eds | 3 Comments
The Voice

Clegg on suppressed Iraq documents: “this has all the hallmarks of a cover up”

By The Voice | Wed 27th January 2010 - 6:25 pm

Sir John Chilcot, who is chairing the inquiry into the Iraq war, today expressed publicly his “frustration” that the Government has refused to declassify certain information. The BBC reports:

The Lib Dems have accused the government of trying to “gag” the inquiry by refusing to publish them.

The documents include letters between Mr Blair and President Bush. The Cabinet Office said no documents had been withheld from the inquiry but some needed legal clearance before they could be released to the public.

Nick Clegg has called – once again – for those documents requested by the Chilcot inquiry to be published, and …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 1 Comment
John Cross

The Independent View: Close the Freedom of Information loophole

By John Cross | Wed 27th January 2010 - 1:50 pm

John Cross from the MySociety team writes about their latest campaign:

On New Year’s Day 2005, when the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force it was described in the Government Press Release as “one of the most generous Freedom of Information regimes in the world.” The reality has been mixed, information released has lead to thousands of news stories but there are still too many loopholes that can be used to avoid or delay the release of information that really ought to be made public.

I recently wrote to MP about one of the worst of the loopholes which …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Memo to Home Office: it would be terribly nice if you sometimes answered a letter

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th January 2010 - 10:20 am

From a letter to my MP:

I emailed Sir Roger Singleton on 14 September about my concerns with the way the Independent Safeguarding Authority’s guidelines state that if someone has been found innocent in a court of law that does not mean they could have been completely innocent. Particularly given the many issues about the ISA’s remit, this choice of wording in their own guidelines is one of obvious concern.

I heard nothing so I emailed again on 16 October. On 19 October I was told by the Vetting & Barring Scheme Information Team that the issue had been passed to

…

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Richard Huzzey

British Social Attitudes survey: what does it signify for the Liberal Democrats?

By Richard Huzzey | Wed 27th January 2010 - 9:40 am

While the BBC has focused on more liberal attitudes to homosexuality, the latest British Social Attitudes survey contains some other interesting results.

The survey found that 27% of people identify as Labour supporters, compared to 32% for the Tories. That suggests Labour’s current poll rating is pretty similar to the percentage of adults who think of themselves as “Labour people”. That presumably reflects Labour has been reduced to a core vote of devoted party loyalists. The only remaining question is how many more of those 27-30% of Labour voters can be shaken from party identification (which is a much stronger measure …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 19 Comments
Mark Pack

Hearing starts into the case of the missing Stoke ballot paper

By Mark Pack | Tue 26th January 2010 - 10:45 pm

From The Sentinel newspaper:

A PUBLIC inquiry has opened into whether a Stoke-on-Trent City Council election was held according to the law…

In October, Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey counted the ballot papers behind closed doors and ruled a public hearing would have to take place in Stoke-on-Trent. The two-day inquiry began at Hanley Town Hall yesterday.

Ms Maley, of Eaton Street, Northwood, lost out to Liberal Democrat candidate Dave Sutton after several recounts – by just one vote…

It has previously been discovered that 742 postal vote envelopes were counted before election night, of which 26 were rejected, leaving 716. But only 715 were

…

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Posted in Election law | Tagged and | 6 Comments
The Voice

Oaten reduced to tears in new Channel 4 documentary

By The Voice | Tue 26th January 2010 - 9:50 pm

The Sun reports today, with unsubtle snideness, on a new Channel 4 documentary, Tower Block Of Commons, in which ‘four pampered MPs were reduced to tears and tantrums when they swapped their grace and favour lifestyles for eight days living on a council estate.’

One of the MPs who took part is Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten, who is standing down at the next election. Here’s how the paper reports his experience:

In the first of the four-part series, the programme begins with Winchester MP Mark Oaten cleaning out his pool at his Hampshire pile and musing about what life on

…

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Mark Pack

“Labour goes to war over the selection of Luciana Berger for Wavertree”

By Mark Pack | Tue 26th January 2010 - 8:39 pm

So reports the Liverpool Daily Post:

The Labour party has descended into civil war over Luciana Berger’s success in winning the candidacy for Wavertree.

Last night Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle broke cover branding Miss Berger a “student politician” and questioned her support for Israel, views she shares with Jane Kennedy, the outgoing Wavertree MP who supported her campaign.

Mr Kilfoyle and Ms Kennedy may well have history, but his intervention has merely added fuel to a fire that was already alight since the decision was announced on Sunday.

He has given voice to a feeling of discontent shared with others in the local Labour

…

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Stephen Tall

ICM: 59% of Lib Dem voters support marriage tax breaks … Or do they?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 26th January 2010 - 7:50 pm

The Guardian’s monthly ICM poll, published today, asks a couple of intriguing questions.

For a start, we discover where Lib Dem supporters perceive they sit within the class system (however self-defined) – 50% say they are middle-class, and 48% that they are working-class. This compares with 38% middle-class to 61% working class for Labour; and 56% to 39% for the Tories.

(Slightly bizarrely, it turns out the Lib Dems have more supporters who identify themselves as upper-class (2%) than the Tories do (1%); the poll’s margin of error may explain that finding.)

But the ICM/Guardian question which interested me most …

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Sara Bedford

Police stop TV presenters under anti-terrorism legislation – for carrying glittery hairdryers

By Sara Bedford | Tue 26th January 2010 - 7:20 pm

Anna Williamson and Jamie RickersIt appears that photographers are only one of a long list of ‘suspects’ for London’s crimefighters. Today children’s TV presenters Jamie Rickers and Anna Williamson reported that they had been questioned by police under anti-terrorism powers – for carrying glittery hairdryers.

The pair, who front ITV1’s Toonattik, were filming on London’s South Bank. Along with the hairdryers, they were also armed with  children’s walkie-talkies and hairbrushes.

The Press Association has the story:

Anna, 28, said: “We were filming a strand called Dork Hunters, which is to do with one of the animations

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 1 Comment

The Independent View: Three myths about PR – and one uncomfortable truth

By Jason O'Mahony | Tue 26th January 2010 - 4:30 pm

Jason O’Mahony was a former activist and candidate for the now defunct Irish Progressive Democrats. He now blogs on politics at www.jasonomahony.ie .

Let’s be honest. In the darkest chambers of British psephologist hell, beneath the pit of Parliament Channel subscribers, and even deeper than the cavern of sweaty handed ‘I’ve just found a 1970 Enoch Powell election poster. In crisp condition!’ enthusiasts, there is a special place reserved for Proportional Representation aficionados. Even amongst political anoraks and people who feel passionately about Peter Snow they are the underclass.

Of course, as an Irish political activist, who has lived his entire …

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Posted in The Independent View | Tagged , , , , , and | 15 Comments
Mark Pack

‘Hyndburngate’ spying allegations

By Mark Pack | Tue 26th January 2010 - 3:20 pm

Strange goings on in Lancashire:

‘Hyndburngate’ spying allegations

EXTRA CCTV is being installed at the borough council officers amid claims of a ‘Hyndburngate’ involving bosses being spied on.

At Hyndburn’s full council meeting leader Coun Peter Britcliffe accused the Labour group of behaving ‘like the Richard Nixon administration’, claiming documents were being searched during ‘internal break-ins’.

However the Labour group said the allegations were ‘completely unfounded’…

At the meeting Coun Britcliffe said: “There have been internal break-ins in which councillors have been snooping up and down looking at letters.

“We do know that one Labour councillor was found at the back of somebody’s computer in the

…

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Posted in Local government | Tagged | 1 Comment
Iain Roberts

Tip: if you want to be credible, avoid claiming the NHS is a Nazi/Communist plot

By Iain Roberts | Tue 26th January 2010 - 11:40 am

There are times when it’s difficult to get a handle on where a pressure group is coming from. Do they have sensible ideas (even if you disagree with them)? Are they based on good evidence and research? Is there an intelligent debate to be had?

On other occasions it’s just that little bit simpler.

Say you wanted to reform British healthcare. Fair enough – you’d be hard-put to find anyone who thought it was perfect.

So you and your colleagues, full of reforming zeal, get together for a bit of brainstorming.

“How shall we get our message across, and persuade …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Vince on 0.1% growth: “We are not out of the woods yet”

By The Voice | Tue 26th January 2010 - 11:03 am

So, it’s official: the UK has at last emerged from the most sever recession in 90 years … just. Figures released today show the economy grew by 0.1% in the last three months of 2009, lower than many analysts had predicted, says the BBC.

Here’s what Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable had to say:

The markets will be surprised that growth has been markedly slower than expected. Far from the quick recovery the Chancellor has been praying for, the economy is only just staggering back into growth.
 
“The British economy has had the economic equivalent of a heart attack

…

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