Liberal Democrat Voice

LibLink … Vince Cable: Hard hats on, here comes the Rotten Election

By NewsHound | Sun 27th December 2009 - 1:40 pm

Over at the Mail today, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable anticipates a year of fevered political battle, and issues a call for a reformed political system and a grown-up debate. Here’s an excerpt:

Once the seasonal festivities are out of the way, the public will be on the receiving end of months of sustained political bombardment over the airwaves and through the letterbox until a General Election puts an end to it. As someone who will be firing a lot of the ammunition, I am ready for this battle but I am conscious that the old rules no longer apply.

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged electoral reform, recession and vince cable | Leave a comment

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The 12 Op-Eds of Christmas (Day 3)

By The Voice | Sun 27th December 2009 - 11:30 am

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2009. The tenth most-read LDV op-ed of 2009 was by LDV co-editor Stephen Tall, and originally appeared on 4th May …

What must happen for the Lib Dems to overtake Labour?

It’s a serious question: what do we think needs to happen for the Lib Dems to become the official opposition within the next 10 years? What are the circumstances, and which are the ones we have the control to influence?

Posted in Op-eds | 2 Comments

Lib Dems and Labour neck-and-neck on 28%, says voting study

By Stephen Tall | Sun 27th December 2009 - 11:05 am

Today’s Times publishes a study by Professor Colin Rallings and Professor Michael Thrasher of Plymouth University based on actual votes cast in the dozens of by-elections that take place for council seats each month. Here are the headline findings:

It shows that although David Cameron’s Conservatives have a 10-point lead over Labour as the year draws to a close, the gap has been narrowing since the summer. The by-election model, which has been reworked to take account of different patterns of competition between the parties, has the Tories on 38%, with both Labour and the Liberal Democrats on 28%.

The calculations

…

Posted in Polls | Tagged colin rawlings, hung parliament, michael thrasher and sunday times | 13 Comments

Will going commando get me through airport security faster?

By Iain Roberts | Sun 27th December 2009 - 9:56 am

If the media reports are accurate, another attempted terrorist attack on an aeroplane failed when the would-be mass-murderer managed nothing more lethal than setting fire to himself, leaving the 289 passengers and crew on flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit unharmed.

The world breaths a sigh of relief and anyone flying in the next few weeks looks forward to more security checks and delays.

As the only person injured in this attack would seem to be the attacker, 23 year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, what lessons can we draw?

Carrying out a successful terrorist attack, especially on an aeroplane, would seem to be …

Posted in Op-eds | 5 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 27 December 2009

By Mark Pack | Sun 27th December 2009 - 7:00 am

It’s Sunday. It’s 7am. It’s time for the Chicken Song, but first the news.

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:

Clegg’s Clear Stance on Gaza: Jonathan Fryer writes.
Day 3281 (again): DOCTOR WHO: The End of Ten (Part One): rumour has it that some Lib Dems are Doctor Who fans; rumour has it too that some believe an elephant is talking to them. If you are in both groups, then this post is for you.

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

Renewed clashes reported in Iran

Posted in Daily View | Tagged gordon brown, iran and mohammad khatami | Leave a comment

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NEW POLL: will the TV debates make any difference to the Lib Dems?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 26th December 2009 - 6:37 pm

We now know the UK will see its first ever televised debates between the leaders of the three major UK-wide parties in the run-up to the 2010 general election. The consenus is there have been two winners: Sky News, which, with brilliant audacity, put the issue front and centre, and by so doing ensured that (i) the debates will happen, and (ii) it muscled in on the act, instead of being excluded by the BBC and ITV. (There’s a lesson there for Channel 4, which had been comprehensively outmanoeuvred).

The second winner, according to the commentariat, is Nick Clegg. Here’s Andrew …

Posted in Voice polls | Tagged andrew grice, featured, jonathan calder, leaders tv debate, nick clegg and steve richards | 12 Comments

What the papers say…

By Philip Young | Sat 26th December 2009 - 3:43 pm

Civil servants are as bad as bankers … The Telegraph trumpets Gladstone’s anniversary … Tories support Labour’s school Sats Tests … Another dodgy Tory donor exposed … Labour split on voting reform … Lords skim expenses cream … BBC to make film on Thorpe tragedy … what Chris Huhne thinks of Prince Charles … Unions sit on money for Labour … look at who says Hauge is Vauge …and the only thing the final polls of the year can agree upon is that Liberal Democrat support is holding up

Now Civil Servants join bankers in ludicrous bonuses – Daily Mail,, 24.12.09

…

Posted in News | Tagged abdelbaset ali al-megrahi, chris grayling, chris huhne, david cameron, ed vaizey, electoral reform, essex county council, fouad makhzoumi, george osborne, jeremy thorpe, julie kirkbride, michael gove, nick clegg, norman lamb, peter mandelson, sion simon, theresa may, tony greaves, universities, vince cable, what the papers say, william gladstone, william hague and willie rennie | Leave a comment

The 12 Op-Eds of Christmas (Day 2)

By The Voice | Sat 26th December 2009 - 11:30 am

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2009. The eleventh most-read LDV op-ed of 2009 was by Jury Team co-founder Morus, and originally appeared on 8th April …

‘A flop’? Jury Team responds to Mark Pack

May I first of all begin by thanking Lib Dem Voice readers for indulging us, and to the editors for letting me write a response to Mark Pack’s post, Jury Team: so far, it’s a flop.

You won’t be surprised that …

Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment

Michael White names Vince one of six politicans of the decade

By The Voice | Sat 26th December 2009 - 10:45 am

The Guardian’s Michael White kicks off his series of ‘Politicians of the Decade’ with Vince Cable:

At the start of the decade he was Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham, a well-regarded if relatively unknown trade and industry spokesman.

By the end of the decade he was the party’s Treasury spokesman and deputy leader, the best known and most well-respected Lib Dem MP. …

When the Lib Dems’ “Orange Book” was published in 2004 Cable was more clearly identified with the pro-market wing of the party, denounced by the more state-minded left. He has since made “fairer taxes, not higher taxes” his talisman,

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged vince cable | Leave a comment

The 12 Op-Eds of Christmas (Day 1)

By The Voice | Fri 25th December 2009 - 11:30 am

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2009. The twelfth most-read LDV op-ed of 2009 was by LDV co-editor Mark Pack, and originally appeared on 17th October …

Jan Moir: the dilemma for the PCC (and what you should say in your complaint)

The reaction to Jan Moir’s article about the death of Stephen Gately has been widespread and swift. Fuelled primarily by Twitter and Facebook, complaints about homophobia flooded in on the Daily Mail, …

Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment

Merry Christmas!

By The Voice | Fri 25th December 2009 - 8:00 am

Christmas tree

Posted in News | 1 Comment

Daily View 2×2: 25 December 2009

By Helen Duffett | Fri 25th December 2009 - 7:00 am

Good morning and happy Christmas, loyal LDV readers! I hope you’re in fine voice as there’s singing to be done. Join me in waking the neighbours, the kids or the lark with some a capella goodness.

But first – the history, blogs and news:

On this day in 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. On this day in 2003 British-built Mars probe Beagle was lost after failing to make contact with scientists.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

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

Different types of snow

Tim Pickstone, councillor and Chief Executive of ALDC, gives us a glimpse of his daily commute.

KitKat Time

Futility Monster takes a break from blogging this Christmas – unless any real news happens…

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

President Obama hails Senate health bill support
From the BBC:

US President Barack Obama has welcomed the passage of his healthcare bill through the Senate, saying it paves the way for “real” reform.

The bill, which passed with 60 to 39 votes, aims to cover 31 million uninsured Americans.

“This will be the most important piece of social legislation since Social Security passed in the 1930s,” he said.

It must still be reconciled with similar legislation passed by the House of Representatives.

Mr Obama said: “We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people.”

Posted in Daily View | Tagged a capella, aldc, barack obama, futility monster, swine flu and tim pickstone | 1 Comment

LDVideo … Christmas Eve supplement

By Stephen Tall | Thu 24th December 2009 - 6:30 pm

Welcome to this latest, Christmas Eve LDVideo instalment, featuring three of the most memorable video clips doing the rounds on the blogosphere.

First up, is this simple but poignant ‘Merry Christmas from the UK Border Agency’ video, with a tip of our hat to Duncan Stott’s Split Horizons blog.

And now for something completely different, courtesy of Beau Bo D’Or: ‘Politicians B-Roll video for naff political advertising’.

Posted in News and YouTube | Leave a comment

Mandelson forcing universities to offer less choice and lower standards, says Stephen Williams

By The Voice | Thu 24th December 2009 - 5:20 pm

As early Christmas presents go, Lord (Peter) Mandelson’s announcement of swingeing cuts to university budgets lacked something of the festive spirit – the BBC reports:

The government is to cut university funding in England by a total of £398m for 2010-11 compared with this year, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said. In a letter to the Higher Education Funding Council For England (Hefce), he also asks universities to protect quality and access to higher education. His letter confirms efficiency savings of £180m and £83m – and makes a further £135m budget reduction.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Universities Secretary, Stephen Williams, is none too …

Posted in News | Tagged education, peter mandelson, stephen williams and universities | 6 Comments

Davey: Brown should face Iraq inquiry music

By Stephen Tall | Thu 24th December 2009 - 4:55 pm

Hopes have never been high that Sir John Chilcott’s inquiry into the Iraq war would provide a real sense of closure: it’s come too late, and opinions are fixed. Opponents of Tony Blair’s decision will forever believe that he knowingly mislead Parliament into voting for a war he believed was essential; those who defend his actions will forever believe it was right to topple Saddam Hussein with or without the UN’s sanction.

But those initial hopes for Sir John’s inquiry are receding still further thanks to his decision to excuse Gordon Brown, David Miliband and Douglas Alexander from appearing before the …

Posted in News | Tagged edward davey, iraq and sir john chilcot | Leave a comment

LibLink … Clegg on Gaza

By NewsHound | Thu 24th December 2009 - 2:01 pm

Writing in the Guardian two days ago, Nick Clegg highlighted Palestinian suffering in Gaza:

On 27 December last year, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, an overwhelming exercise of military force aimed at silencing the Hamas rockets which had terrorised Israeli towns and villages. The immediate effects of the invasion are well known: 1,400 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, with many more wounded or displaced; 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians killed, dozens more injured; and thousands of families in southern Israel forced to flee to other parts of the country. The rocketfire from Gaza into Israel has slowed but

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged gaza, israel, nick clegg, operation cast lead and palestine | 4 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 24 December 2009

By Alex Foster | Thu 24th December 2009 - 7:37 am

Good morning, and thank you for trudging through the snow and ice to Daily View. It’s Christmas Eve, and the staff at LDV Towers are expecting a half-day holiday if they get through all their work.

Across Europe, it’s today (rather than tomorrow) that many continental children receive their visit from Santa. Is that enough date-related trivia? Hell no! Carol Vorderman, Caroline Aherne and Barry Chuckle were all Christmas babies and are celebrating birthdays today.

Literary giants Harold Pinter and William Makepeace Thackery both died on Christmas eve, albeit 145 years apart.

And in events on Christmas eve: in 1946, the French Fourth Republic was founded; and in 1968 the crew of Apollo 8 were the first humans to escape the Earth’s gravity, and the first to broadcast the bible from space.

An eventful day! But click on to find what’s happening today.

Posted in Daily View | Tagged alexis rowell, anglican, apollo 8, bad weather, barry chuckle, carmageddon, carol vorderman, caroline aherne, duncan stott, evangelism, extreme weather, harold pinter, indoctrination, jonathan calder, mark lynas, proselytism, santa and william makepeace thackery | 1 Comment

John Hutton was right: Gordon has been ‘a fucking disaster’. But who else was there?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 10:50 pm

At long last, what was widely known in Westminster Village circles has rippled out beyond: John Hutton was the cabinet minister who told the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson in 2006 that Gordon Brown would be ‘a fucking disaster’ in the role of prime minister. Well done to BBC Radio 4’s Eddie Mair for wringing the admission from a reluctant Mr Hutton.

But it prompts two questions.

First, if this was Mr Hutton’s view – albeit one from which he has subsequently resiled, in public at any rate – why did he choose to become one of the 308 Labour …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david miliband, eddie mair, gordon brown, john hutton, john reid, new labour and nick robinson | 2 Comments

ID cards trial failure

By Alex Foster | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 7:56 pm

Hot on the tails of the news that P&O refused to recognise an ID card as a European travel document comes this investigation from the Manchester Evening News:

THE national identity card scheme was in chaos last night as an M.E.N investigation revealed some of the country’s biggest travel companies are telling customers that they can not be used instead of passports.

Some 1,736 people in Greater Manchester have bought the £30 cards after the Home Office promised they could be used to travel in Europe.

But customer service staff at nine major travel companies – including British Airways, Eurostar and

…

Posted in News | Tagged eurostar, failure, farce, id cards, manchester evening news, national identity register, transport and waste | 3 Comments

The Christmas present Barking doesn’t need

By Helen Duffett | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 5:56 pm

I spotted this poster on my way through Barking yesterday – it features Nick Griffin, the BNP’s Parliamentary candidate for that constituency, raising a glass and purporting to wish the locals a Merry Christmas.

It’s in a high-traffic spot, and I’m told there are other such posters around the town. Griffin said when he was selected for the seat back in November that his party would concentrate more money and resources on Barking than they had done for any other election campaign.

Ironic that Griffin chooses this moment to highlight some of the benefits brought to this country from overseas.

Posted in News | Tagged barking, bnp and nick griffin | 10 Comments

Official: Lib Dems the winners in 2009 local by-elections

By Stephen Tall | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 3:45 pm

There’s been a fair degree of criticism of the Lib Dems’ parliamentary by-election performances in the last couple of years: the 2006 ‘glory days’ of beating Labour in Dunfermline, and coming oh-so-close against the Tories in Bromley have seemed an increasingly distant memory. So, let’s celebrate an arena where the party is doing well: local government by-elections. And not merely doing well: in fact, doing better than the other two major parties.

(Hat-tips to John’s Liberal Revolution blog and to middle englander on the Vote 2007 website).

Here are the summary results of the 280 by-elections held during 2009:

Posted in Local government and Polls | Tagged aldc, liberal revolution blog, Polls and vote 2007 | 2 Comments

Wonderful news for Matthew Taylor and his family

By The Voice | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 2:40 pm

Six months ago, Lib Dem Voice reported the sad news that Arthur Taylor, – the two year-old son of Lib Dem MP Matthew Taylor and his wife, Vicky – had been admitted to hospital after doctors found a tumour on his spine.

So it was wonderful to read on Alex ~~Lanson~~ Folkes’s blog that Arthur has been given the provisional all-clear by doctors. Here’s an excerpt from the Taylors’ statement:

The last eight months have seemed an eternity of worry, and especially the last two weeks. The operation brought a real risk of disabling Arthur, and we could not

…

Posted in News | Tagged matthew taylor | Leave a comment

Voting started in Britain’s best MP campaign

By Keith Halstead | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 1:20 pm

You may remember that back at the beginning of December we launched our ‘Best MP’ campaign to highlight the fact that not all MPs should be tarred with the same brush as the ‘expenses cheats.’

We asked users of our website – Yoosk – to send in their nominations for Best MP and to send us the questions they would like to put to the nominees. All eight nominated MPs agreed to answer and you can compare what they said on our website now and cast your vote in our Poll, which will be ‘live’ until the 31st December.

Here is a sample of how we edited the answers together to make them easier to compare. This question came from ‘artichelper’ and received most votes from our users:

‘What do you believe is the best change in policy that you, yourself played a significant role in making that change happen?’ And you can view a compilation of the answers below.

Posted in The Independent View | Tagged bob russell, david howarth, featured, Jo Swinson, lynne featherstone, tom harris and yoosk | 1 Comment

A decision the next Prime Minister must make

By Tony Edwards | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 11:20 am

The last Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was undertaken in 1998 and the die is now cast for the remaining months of this government. As the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said in his last speech on the subject of defence, ‘The nation must debate and decide what we want our country to do in the world and then fund it, so that it does not slip by default into the second division’. A major decision with respect to foreign and defence policies and their funding awaits the next Prime Minister and this decision can no longer be fudged.

We could decide …

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

Daily View 2×2: 23 December 2009

By Iain Roberts | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 10:52 am

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Yesterday was a busy one on Lib Dem Blogs, though a lot quieter if you take out the posts from Lib Dem councillors and campaigners giving people information on snow, gritting and road conditions.

John Ault on the perils of paper underpants
Darrell Goodliffe picks out some interesting points from the latest ComRes poll (and it’s not the headline figures, which are all over the shop in recent polls).

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

I’m going to work on the assumption that you’ve noticed the spot of bad weather we’re having and don’t need me to point it out to you.

More poor people should marry, say Tories

Posted in Daily View | Tagged david willetts and taxpayers alliance | 2 Comments

Vince: the accountants’ choice as Chancellor

By Stephen Tall | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 10:20 am

My favourite bedside reading, Aaccountancy Age, has the story:

Vince Cable has emerged as the accountants’ choice for the next Chancellor following the pre-Budget report. In a poll of around 600 readers conducted by Accountancyage.com both before and after the pre-Budget report, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader and shadow chancellor proved popular with members of the profession, with 44% and 45% of voters wanting him as next chancellor rather than political rivals Alistair Darling and George Osborne.

Here are the results in full:

Pre PBR

George Osborne 45%
Vince Cable 44%
Alistair Darling 10%

Post PBR

Vince Cable 45%
George Osborne 38%
Alistair Darling 17%

As …

Posted in News | Tagged accountancy age, george osborne and vince cable | 2 Comments

Eurostar’s shabby behaviour – there should be a law against it

By Chris White | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 9:23 am

I was not altogether surprised that Eurostar had managed to strand four of its trains in the Channel tunnel. They have form. I was on a train in the summer similarly stranded, although thankfully not under the sea. There was little water and no food. There was also no meaningful information – and no concern.

We finally reached St Pancras long after the Underground had ceased running. Passengers were marshalled into snaking queues hoping to find late night taxis. Because my daughter and I were able to escape onto Thameslink – which curiously and usefully runs all night – …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged eurostar | 17 Comments

Lib Dems will fight for fair bank charges in Parliament – Clegg

By Mark Pack | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 7:51 am

From a party news release:

Commenting on the OFT’s decision to drop its investigation into the fairness of bank overdraft charges, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“This is extremely disappointing and a blow for millions of bank customers.

“Having come so close to overhauling an unfair system of charging that penalises vulnerable groups of people, I know that the campaign will not just stop.

“The Liberal Democrats will continue the fight for fair bank charges in Parliament and push for a change in the law if necessary so that high street banks cannot keep ripping off their customers.”

Posted in News | Tagged bank charges, nick clegg and oft | 2 Comments

Is Danny Finkelstein right about televised party leader debates?

By Mark Pack | Wed 23rd December 2009 - 12:51 am

Over at The Times, Danny Finkelstein has cast doubt on the possible impact of the televised party leader debates at our next general election:

By the time of the campaign proper they are probably too late. We should be having these debates now if we want them to be influential.

In his piece, Danny draws on the evidence from the US (only – not from other Parliamentary democracies with TV debates, tsk tsk). However, there is some very relevant evidence from the UK. It’s from the polling carried out by The Times’s own pollster, Populus, at the time of the …

Posted in News | Tagged danny finkelstein, leaders tv debate and populus | 4 Comments

Rochdale’s first female leader

By Alex Foster | Tue 22nd December 2009 - 5:52 pm

News reaches t’Voice (via the Middleton Guardian) that Lib Dem Irene Davidson has become the new leader on Rochdale Council – and in doing so has become the first female leader of the Council.

Coun Davidson, who works as a prison officer in Manchester, will be replacing the leader Alan Taylor, who decided last week to stand down due to ill health.

Earlier this year, she stood in for Coun Taylor during one of his bouts of illness. She was acting leader when Rochdale hit the national news headlines after installing its Christmas light decorations in August.

Councillor Davidson said: “It is

…

Posted in News | Tagged alan taylor, firsts, irene davidson, rochdale and rochdale council | 1 Comment

Op-eds

Observations of an ex pat: Stormy Red Sea (Tom Arms)
By-Election Report 01.10.26 (Joe Nutt)
Picking our allies, a perspective on Israel/Palestine (Gillian Mosely)
Burnham is right to reform the triple lock; the Lib Dems should support it (James Hill)
Why I won’t Wayve goodbye to Black Cabs (Christian de Vartavan)

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Vince Cable writes: Drill, baby, drill…or not

Lib Dems must do better on Burnham

Britain should be proud, but never afraid of the stranger

Lib Dem Women: Amplifying women’s voices at Conference

What must happen for the Lib Dems to overtake Labour?

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‘A flop’? Jury Team responds to Mark Pack

Jan Moir: the dilemma for the PCC (and what you should say in your complaint)

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