Baroness Ros Scott

Ros Scott writes… Party President’s report to members, October ‘09

By Baroness Ros Scott | Wed 4th November 2009 - 5:15 pm

October was a month which began for me in India and ended in Cairo. I had been invited to India by the Indian High Commission along with a small delegation of Parliamentarians who are “Liberal Democrat Friends of India”. We were led by Lord John Alderdice through a week’s visit which was split between Delhi and Pune and included a number of meeting and visits to reflect India today, politically, socially and economically.

I was in Cairo for three days to attend the Congress of Liberal International, which is held every 18 months. The Lib Dem delegation is led by the Party President, but all the work is done by the Chair of the International Relations Committee, who is Robert Woodthorpe Brown. It’s a pretty humbling experience to hear from campaigners who risk their life and liberty for working to make democratic change in oppressive regimes, and certainly puts domestic politics into perspective.

In between the two, Parliament resumed after the summer recess, and I’ve been busy in the Lords with voting, select committee work and a few speeches. The expenses issue continues to rumble.

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Paul Elgood

LDV USA: No surprises in Nov 3rd US state and city elections – Obama gets a bloody nose

By Paul Elgood | Wed 4th November 2009 - 3:45 pm

In a followup piece to his preview of US Elections ’09, Paul Elgood updates us on the results of yesterdays voter ballots across America.

Somewhat predictably President Obama got a wake-up call last night in the 3rd November elections. Attention focused on a handful of contests, most notably for the Virginia and New Jersey Governor’s Mansions. Both unsurprisingly went to the Republicans – in Virginia by a wide margin, closer in New Jersey.

However, it wasn’t all bad news for the Democrats. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg got an unexpected tougher ride, with a far closer than anticipated …

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Posted in LDVUSA and Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 5 Comments
Prateek Buch

Opinion: The Nutt affair – or, the thin line between evidence and policy

By Prateek Buch | Wed 4th November 2009 - 2:35 pm

Firstly, a disclaimer: I am a scientist, who is also interested in governance and politics, so the following post may come across as somewhat heated. Apologies, but I do feel that the recent furore over Prof. David Nutt’s sacking as Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) goes right to the heart of why I took up both science and politics as profession and interest respectively.

We begin with Prof. Nutt’s most recent criticism of the government’s drugs policy, which attracted headlines for claiming that alcohol, despite being legal and freely available, was more harmful than the Class A narcotic ecstasy (MDMA). At first sight this may seem like an outlandish statement to make, but the evidence, collated by Prof. Nutt, suggests otherwise; granted, the recent publication from Nutt’s The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) at King’s College London wasn’t peer-reviewed, but the methodologies used to calculate his ‘harm index’ were so, and published in one of the most respected medical journals, The Lancet in 2007 (the full article is behind a paywall, contact me if you want the pdf…). Just to repeat this – using what seems to me to be a robust method, taking into account everything from physical harm to the user to social harms at large, ecstasy does indeed seem to be less dangerous than alcohol, and it’s using this tried and tested method of enquiry that Nutt used to conclude that cannabis should remain a class C drug.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , , , and | 9 Comments

Introducing the all-new LibDems.org.uk website

By David Loxton | Wed 4th November 2009 - 1:33 pm

If you’ve visited the Liberal Democrat party website in the last 24 hours, you’ll have noticed quite a dramatic change. Here, David Loxton, the party’s director of marketing, fundraising and members’ services explains the thinking behind the new site, and previews some of the other exciting new changes emerging within the party’s web strategy.

The new Liberal Democrat web strategy has been launched with a redesigned libdems.org.uk as its first stage. The new version is much more focused on setting out what the Liberal Democrats stand for, who we are and what visitors to the site can do to …

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Posted in Online politics and Op-eds | Tagged and | 39 Comments
Ed Randall

Opinion: Cast-iron Conservatism – brittle promises obtained from a flexible friend

By Ed Randall | Wed 4th November 2009 - 11:45 am

On 26th September 2007 David Cameron gave what he called a cast-iron guarantee. The guarantee appeared in a piece published under his name in Mr Murdoch’s Sun. Liberal Democrats, who set some store by their own political education and haven’t read the piece, really should take the opportunity to read it in its entirety.

The aspiring party leader explains that it is an article of faith for him that: “No treaty should be ratified without consulting the British people in a referendum.” And, because of that, he promises, any Conservative government led by him will “hold a referendum on any EU treaty.”

Mr Cameron explains, in the same piece, that his determination to hold a referendum isn’t simply a reflection of his deepest political beliefs but a practical matter too. It is integral to Conservative economic policy making. Why should that be? The explanation seems straightforward. It is vital because: “One of the great challenges rolling back the tide of bureaucracy.” And, Mr Cameron continues, “you can’t do that without targeting one of the main sources of this bureaucracy – Brussels.”

Without the referendum he’d promised Mr Cameron makes it clear it will not be possible to free UK businesses from red tape; the kind of European regulation which makes it impossible for the UK economy to succeed. Of course what most of us call regulation – and Mr Cameron calls red tape – isn’t quite the easy target that it once was. And Mr Cameron’s cast-iron guarantee has almost completely rusted away.

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 3 Comments
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Iain Roberts

Daily View 2×2: 4 November 2009

By Iain Roberts | Wed 4th November 2009 - 7:25 am

2 Big Stories

Tory trouble as Lisbon Treaty passes
As the Czech President Vaclav Klaus ratified the EU’s Lisbon Treaty – now set to become law within a few weeks – the Conservative Party once again finds itself risking deep divisions over Europe rising to the surface.

As the Daily Express reports:

denied that the party had broken any promises by dropping the referendum pledge.

“A British referendum until this very day would have meant that the Lisbon Treaty wouldn’t enter into force if people voted no. The position of president of the European Council, the foreign minister of Europe, would never have been implemented,” he said.

“We were very clear that our promise applied to those circumstances. After today, those things will come into force and a referendum can’t change them, it can’t unwind them, it can’t prevent those things being created.

However for Tory Eurosceptics it has become an article of faith after Mr Cameron gave a “cast iron guarantee” two years ago that he would give the British people a chance to vote on the treaty.

Eurosceptic Conservative MP Bill Cash said he had written to Mr Cameron urging him to “reconsider” his decision not to hold a referendum, saying the Tory leader had been “badly advised”.

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Helen Duffett

Edinburgh, brace yourself: the first Lib Dem Bloggers’ Unconference

By Helen Duffett | Tue 3rd November 2009 - 5:34 pm

Just under three weeks to go now – but there’s still time to register for the feast of blogging talent and advice that is the Lib Dem Bloggers’ Unconference.

I’m pleased to announce that Tavish Scott, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, has agreed to give a Bloggers’ Interview around lunchtime.

Also joining us: Jo Swinson MP, John Barrett MP, Mike Crockart (newly-selected PPC for Edinburgh West), leading Scottish bloggers, Andrew Reeves (prolific blogger and Deputy Director of Campaigns for Scotland) as well as Lib Dem Blogfather Jonathan Calder and members of the Lib Dem Voice team.

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Posted in Blogger Interviews and Events | Tagged , , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Norwich North by-election report undermines the case for Friday counting

By Mark Pack | Tue 3rd November 2009 - 11:50 am

Cross-posted from The Wardman Wire:

Although this summer’s Parliamentary by-election in Norwich North kicked off much subsequent debate about the alleged benefits of Friday (rather than Thursday night) counts after it was counted on a Friday, a close reading of the Electoral Commission’s report into the Norwich North by-election reveals that in fact the Norwich experience undermines the case made for moving to Friday counts.

One of the arguments used for favouring Friday counts over Thursday nights is that the anti-postal vote fraud measures introduced in recent years mean that far more checking is required of postal votes than previously, …

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Mark Pack

Slough Conservatives update: convictions upheld on appeal

By Mark Pack | Tue 3rd November 2009 - 7:50 am

An update on the tale of the six convicted for postal vote fraud in Slough, courtesy of the Maidenhead Advertiser:

A pair of election fraudsters jailed for the ghost vote scandal which rocked Slough politics have failed in an appeal against their convictions.

Tory candidate Raja Mohammed Eshaq Khan … admitted conspiracy to defraud and perjury at Reading Crown Court in January and was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Mahboob Khan, 46, of Quinbrookes, Slough was convicted of conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and perjury and jailed for four-and-a-half years.

At the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, both

…

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

“No one in Norfolk knows how to use Google”

By Mark Pack | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 11:31 pm

So say, umm, a Conservative from Norfolk talking about the controversy over Lizz Truss’s selection as a candidate:

John Mortimer, 62, a member of the Swaffham Conservative club in the constituency for 20 years, said … “They make out we’re stupid, saying details of her affair were on Google, but no one in Norfolk knows how to use Google”.

No comment needed really.

Hat tip: Tory Bear

Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 20 Comments
Mark Pack

BBC launches new Democracy Live website

By Mark Pack | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 10:34 pm

Here’s how the BBC describes its new Democracy Live website, which covers the Westminster Parliament, the European Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly:

It brings together for the first time in the BBC, live and on demand video coverage of proceedings in our national political institutions and the European Parliament. Democracy Live builds on previously available content in the form of video streams, guides and biographies.

But the real magic lies in the site’s search function, which is unlike anything the BBC has done before.

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Helen Duffett

Crack cocaine fines cheaper than a parking ticket

By Helen Duffett | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 6:36 pm

Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne has uncovered the figures through a Parliamentary Question:

In 2007, the last year for which figures are available, the average fine for criminals convicted of possessing crack cocaine was £38.33 – less than a standard £60 parking fine or speeding ticket, and less than a quarter of the average fine in 1997, which was £180. Over the same ten year period, fines for possession of heroin have more than halved, to just £65.83.

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 7 Comments
Helen Duffett

Southport Conservatives and the missing £21k

By Helen Duffett | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 5:07 pm

Two members of Southport Conservative Club have been arrested on suspicion of theft after an audit revealed around £21,000 of discrepancies in the club’s finances.

From the Southport Visiter:

The private 130-year club last night refused to comment though the Visiter understands that executive members noticed anomalies with the accounts over the course of the year, and finally raised the alarm in August.

A member of the club, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “This has come as a shock to everyone. There is no question about it, £21,000 is an awful lot of money for any kind of social club.”

Posted in News | Tagged | 1 Comment
The Voice

Earthwatch debate

By The Voice | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 2:02 pm

News reaches the Voice of a debate about crises around water planned for later this month. If you’re able to attend, why not write it up for a post on Lib Dem Voice? See our notes for contributors for details.

Earthwatch Debate: From Tsunami to Drought

Thursday 19th November, 7.00pm – 9.00pm at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR

Chaired by award winning broadcaster Andrea Catherwood.

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Bill le Breton

Opinion: Why this is no time for “Savage Cuts”

By Bill le Breton | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 12:15 pm

Those concerned that the drive to lower the deficit by cutting government spending in the near term will stall recovery and lead to the so-called double dip recession have had their views strengthened by the publication of Slash and Grow? Spending cuts and economic recovery by liberal think-tank Centre Forum.

The big hint is in the little question mark of the title. After twenty-eight pages of detailed analysis, Centre Forum summarises i its news release:

Osborne’s plan for cuts imperils Britain’s recovery.

George Osborne’s determination to cut the deficit at all costs risks leaving the economy sluggish and the government still mired

…

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Posted in Op-eds | 29 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDV doesn’t do statporn, but if we did (Oct. ‘09)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 11:00 am

… We’d say a big thank you to the 31,331 ‘absolute unique visitors’* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in October.

That’s a 10% uplift on last month’s readership, and a 38% increase on the same period a year ago, when just over 22,000 readers visited LDV.

This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 Nov 2008 – 31 Oct 2009) to 312,829, almost double the equivalent figure for 2007-08 of 169,320.

The 5 top-read stories during the month were:

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Posted in Site news | Tagged | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Scottish Lib Dem conference: your LDV reader

By Stephen Tall | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 10:30 am

On Saturday, LDV reported the news that the Scottish Lib Dems were uniting behind leader Tavish Scott’s opposition to the SNP referendum on independence, ahead of a special private conference for party members. And so it came to pass, as the BBC reports:

Tavish Scott has consistently opposed a referendum, but some divisions within the party have emerged and the issue was debated in a closed session at the party’s autumn conference in Dunfermline, Fife, on Saturday.

Senior Lib Dem MSP Ross Finnie, who has been asked to lead a consultation with members about the party’s stance,

…

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Stephen Tall

Daily View 2×2: 2 November 2009

By Stephen Tall | Mon 2nd November 2009 - 10:00 am

With just 59 days til the end of the third millennium’s first decade, we can celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the birth of BBC1, and that it’s 49 years to the day since Penguin Books was found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley’s Lover case.

2 Big Stories

Johnson faces backlash over decision to sack drugs advisor

The fall-out continues from Home Secretary Alan Johnson’s decision to sack Professor David Nutt as chair of his scientific advisory body on drugs policy – The Times reports:

The Government is facing mass resignations from the official advisory body on drugs after the sacking

…

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Posted in Daily View and Europe / International | Tagged , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

The Sunday political TV shows: senior Tories go AWOL

By Mark Pack | Sun 1st November 2009 - 4:08 pm

The latest round up from Jon Sopel of the best bits from today’s TV political shows is now up on the BBC website, including this observation:

If you think there’s a dearth of senior Tories from Sopel on Sunday, that’s because there is.

Could it be that with the MPs’ expenses scandal still raging, senior Conservatives had collectively decided it might be a good weekend to leave the microphones and make-up to politicians from other parties?

Posted in News | Tagged | 1 Comment
Andy Mayer

Opinion: Consumer Politics‏

By Andy Mayer | Sun 1st November 2009 - 2:48 pm

Working in public affairs means I get to travel outside the tribe and visit other Party Conferences, if exhausting after 3-4 weeks, it’s never a bad experience. In the main they are not dissimilar; set pieces in the conference halls, fringe meetings where the real debates happen, training sessions, social events with plenty of opportunity to end your career if you enjoy them too much, and halls full of exhibitors.

Within those halls one of highlights is the opportunity to engage in a little shopping. We have Lib Dem Image, Labour have their Campaign Shop, the Conservatives have Shop for Change… and as an innovation a mall of other suppliers from Harvey Nichols to Crombie, to novelty Christmas decorations.

Liberal Democrat Image was set up by the party in 2000 to supply a range of branded campaign goods. It’s a franchise operation run by Stuart and Leola Card, and the arrangement requires them to provide activist essentials but with the option to broaden the range should they wish.

This they do. Around 75% of the expanded product range has come from member suggestions, and some come from third parties like Bob Russell’s MP playing cards and Clegg and Cables Credit Crunch Chocolate. The only time LDI have hesitated to sell a product was a proposed range of party underwear “for reasons of good taste”*.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

The plans to cut election expenses may be dead but there are still lessons to learn

By Mark Pack | Sun 1st November 2009 - 1:49 pm

Blink and you might have missed it: first details of a discussion about ways to cut the costs of running elections are leaked and then Jack Straw promptly disowns them and kills off the discussion.

Given how weak the proposals were – and the relatively small sums involved – I think that was the right decision by Straw and, although he and Liberal Democrats are usually not the best of friends, I think there’ll be widespread agreement in the Lib Dems with his comment, “Democracy has to be paid for”. Ideas such as replacing the general election freepost leaflets with one booklet would go quite against the current appetitie from the public to hear more from individual candidates about what the believe and what they want to do.

There are, though, three lessons to learn from the ideas that were floated.

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Posted in Election law and Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Forthcoming Parliamentary selections

By Mark Pack | Sun 1st November 2009 - 12:50 pm

Courtesy of the LibDems4Parliament website, here is the list of PPC selections closing this month:

  • Ealing North – PPC  (07 Nov 2009)
  • Doncaster Central – PPC, Doncaster North – PPC, Don Valley – PPC (13 Nov 2009)
  • Central Devon – PPC (13 Nov 2009)

For further details on how you could become the Liberal Democrat prospective candidate in any of these constituencies see http://libdems4parliament.org.uk/events.

Posted in Selection news | 3 Comments
The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Sun 1st November 2009 - 9:20 am

The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.

You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are three simple ways:

1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there’s something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you’re an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or you’ve seen …

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Posted in Site news | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Daily View 2×2: 1 November 2009

By Mark Pack | Sun 1st November 2009 - 7:00 am

It’s Sunday. It’s 7am. And we’ve got the definitive musical proof that Australian Premier Kevin Rudd is not US President Barack Obama. But first, the news.

2 Big Stories

Government to set up bank chains
Done well, this could be rather good news. A bit more competition in the banking sector could improve service, reduce costs and – by undermining some of the basis for massive bank profits – indirectly help deal with massive bonus payments:

Three new High Street banking chains are to be created by the government by 2015 as part of a major overhaul.

They will be set up by breaking up Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Northern Rock, the banks it partially or wholly controls after bail-outs…

The aim of the new banks is to increase competition and recoup taxpayers’ cash.

The government, which holds a 70% stake in RBS and a 43% stake in Lloyds after last October’s bailouts, hopes to announce the sell-off plans on Tuesday.

The new banks will be standard retail banks concentrating on deposits and mortgages.

They will be sold to new entrants to the banking market and not to existing financial institutions. (BBC)

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Posted in Daily View | Tagged , , , and | 11 Comments
Mark Pack

Mike Crockart selected for Edinburgh West

By Mark Pack | Sat 31st October 2009 - 7:51 pm

Ex-policeman Mike Crockart has been selected for Edinburgh West, the constituency currently held by Lib Dem John Barrett who is retiring at the next general election. The Press Association reports Mike Crockart as saying, “I’m over the moon to be elected, but I’m taking nothing for granted.”

Best of luck with the campaign Mike.

Posted in Selection news | Tagged and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

Times: Tavish Scott expected to see off Lib Dem rebellion on opposition to referendum

By Stephen Tall | Sat 31st October 2009 - 1:00 pm

A week ago, LDV asked the question, Is it time for the Scottish Lib Dems to back an independence referendum?, amid suggestions in The Sunday Times that there was “a growing rebellion within the party’s ranks over its opposition to Alex Salmond’s Referendum Bill.” Today’s Times reports that Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott will win overwhelming backing for the leadership line:

Senior Lib Dems were increasingly confident that a minority of “referendum rebels” would not succeed in forcing Mr Scott into a U-turn that could pose serious question marks over his continued leadership.

The issue of the Scottish government’s

…

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Posted in Scotland | Tagged , , , and | 12 Comments
The Voice

The LDV Saturday caption competition – Nick Clegg’s desk job

By The Voice | Sat 31st October 2009 - 9:45 am

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

Here’s Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg campaigning in Bradford East – what do you think he might be saying/thinking?

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Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged | 22 Comments

Blogging style and etiquette

By Jonathan Calder | Sat 31st October 2009 - 8:50 am

Young woman, blogging by windowWelcome to part four of our “Introduction to blogging” guide for Liberal Democrat bloggers or would-be bloggers. It’s appearing each Saturday between now and Christmas, with all the posts available via this page. The series will then be revised and collated into an e-book, so please do post up your comments as the series progresses. Today it’s the turn of Jonathan Calder with a set of essential writing tips.

Blogging is a very personal thing that we do in public. And there …

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Posted in Blogging guide | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

The LDV Friday Five (ish): 30/10/09

By Stephen Tall | Fri 30th October 2009 - 6:50 pm

What could be simpler: five categories, each with five links. And it’s Friday.

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

1. Mark Littlewood resigns Lib Dem membership for IEA Director job (175) by Richard Huzzey
2. Opinion: A Liberal Line on Immigration (61) by Patrick Murray
3. What did you make of Chris Huhne’s Question Time performance? #bbcqt (30) by Stephen Tall
4. Watford’s liberal Lib Dem Mayor – what Iain Dale didn’t report (31) by Stephen Tall
5. Nick Griffin’s verdict on Chris Huhne (8) by Stephen Tall

5 recent Lib Dem tweets

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Posted in Friday Five | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

David Nutt: why was he sacked?

By Mark Pack | Fri 30th October 2009 - 6:13 pm

Earlier today Home Secretary asked the Government’s chief drugs advisor, Professor David Nutt, to resign. The government line is that he was “asked” to resign but, outside the world of pedantic spin doctors who watch too much of The Thick of It, being “asked” to resign is the same as being sacked.

But what’s more concerning is the reason for him being removed. The Home Secretary has said the reason for sacking him  is that, “I cannot have public confusion between scientific advice and policy”.

But David Nutt isn’t being accused of getting evidence wrong (even though some of it gets into …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 53 Comments
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