Stephen Tall

The Kaminski row: 2 must-read articles

By Stephen Tall | Fri 30th October 2009 - 2:10 pm

The row over David Cameron’s decision to pull the Tories out of the main centre-right European grouping, the European People’s Party (EPP), and set up a new group of “extreme and rag-bag” assorted right-wingers, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), has been simmering for months.

It’s burst into the political mainstream this week, courtesy of the unlikely figure of the chief rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich. Back in July, he emailed the New Statesman’s James Macintyre with some sharp criticism of Michael Kaminski, the leader of the Tories’ new Euro grouping, who has faced accusations of anti-semitism and …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , , , , and | 3 Comments
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Stephen Tall

The ban on MPs employing their relatives: two Lib Dems protest

By Stephen Tall | Fri 30th October 2009 - 1:45 pm

The Telegraph reports today that two Lib Dem MPs – Malcolm Bruce and Matthew Taylor – are among the 17 MPs who have protested to Sir Christopher Kelly at the proposed ban on employing relatives:

Malcolm Bruce
Liberal Democrat MP for Gordon
Employs wife, Rosemary Bruce, as Office Manager and Diary Secretary
“Having my wife as office manager, diary secretary and constituency PA operating from an office in our home is invaluable not only to me but, I strongly believe, to constituents and other organisations I deal with as part of my parliamentary and constituency duties.”

Matthew Taylor
Liberal Democrat MP for Truro

…

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Posted in Parliament | Tagged , , and | 18 Comments
Mark Pack

Welcome to the new bloggers…

By Mark Pack | Fri 30th October 2009 - 12:50 pm

Six blogs have recently joined Ryan’s Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

  • Chris White – good to see another councillor using ALDC’s excellent MyCouncillor system.
  • Giles Wilkes – a think tank blogger spawns his own blog, which is an interesting take on the question of why there are so few successful think tank blogs. His explanation? “‘Institutional’ blogs look and feel terrible.  You need individual personality.”
  • Jeremy Rowe – do not look at the photograph on this post if you are easily scared.
  • John Ault – the man who triumphed on Top Gear turns to blogging.
  • Nigel Roberts – a

…

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Posted in Online politics | Tagged , , , , , and | Leave a comment
Helen Duffett

Daily View 2×2: 30 October 2009

By Helen Duffett | Fri 30th October 2009 - 10:54 am

2 Big Stories

Ministry of Justice plans to cut polling day costs

Thousands of polling stations would be closed and voting hours reduced under a plan to cut the cost of elections.

Other proposals include cutting staff, replacing polling cards with e-mail requests, increasing candidates’ deposits, fixed-term parliaments and reducing security at election counts.

The options, outlined in a working paper drawn up by the Ministry of Justice for the Treasury, are designed to save up to £65 million. They were condemned last night as a “threat to democracy that would save peanuts”. (Times)

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Posted in Daily View | Tagged , , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

LibLink … Vince Cable: We rage at bankers, and the state-backed casino rolls on

By The Voice | Fri 30th October 2009 - 10:45 am

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free, Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable argues that simply “bashing bankers” will not solve the inherent structural problems in the banking system, and urges a considered response to address the issues. Here’s an excerpt:

Of course people are angry, and they have every right to be, especially when so many are losing their jobs in a recession triggered by a banking collapse. There are, however, different types of banks. Bonuses are a big issue in investment banks from proprietary trading, but are rare in retail banks. Some banks over-reached themselves and have been nationalised

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 4 Comments
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Stephen Tall

The Tory councillors who labelled their Lib Dem opponents “morons” refuse to apologise

By Stephen Tall | Fri 30th October 2009 - 10:05 am

Moron: it’s not exactly a nice word. Definitions include “a person of subnormal intelligence” and the more psychologically precise “a person having an intelligence quotient of between 50 and 70”. Many of us might have used the term, but it’s one generally best kept out of civilised political discourse.

Tory councillors in the Cotswolds take a different view, as the BBC reports:

Councillors dubbed “morons” by rivals via social networking site Facebook say they may report the insult to the local government watchdog. Cotswold District Council leader Lynden Stowe and fellow Tory Chris Roberts said Lib Dem rivals “have a

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 21 Comments
Mark Pack

LibLink … Ed Davey: The Wrong Brit for the Wrong Job

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th October 2009 - 8:53 pm

Over at The Independent, Ed Davey writes about the possibility of Tony Blair becoming the EU’s President:

It’s a long-standing gripe of pro-Europeans that historically Britain has played a poor hand in Europe. Too often disdainful, disengaged or domestically divided, Labour and the Tories have sold the country short. For different reasons, their posturing over Blair’s presidential ambitions is in danger of throwing away another golden opportunity for Britain.

Labour’s push for Blair is wrong on two counts. Firstly, he is simply too soiled for export. His disastrous decision to side with President Bush over the invasion of Iraq was horribly divisive

…

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Posted in Europe / International and LibLink | Tagged and | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

Your Caroline Righton reader

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th October 2009 - 8:08 pm

On Sunday Stephen blogged about the behaviour of Caroline Righton, the Conservative candidate for St Austell & Newquay, whose campaign is being accused of faking a message about her Liberal Democrat opponent, Stephen Gilbert, in a botched smear attempt.

The story has also been taken up on quite a few other Lib Dem blogs so, bearing in mind that our readers often ask for more links through to stories on other Lib Dem blogs, here is a selection of the most recent posts:

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Sara Bedford on the Watford play areas ‘Flat Earth News’ day

By Stephen Tall | Thu 29th October 2009 - 6:45 pm

I reported here on LDV this afternoon on the serious mis-reporting of Watford Borough Council’s children’s adventure playgrounds policy, indulged by Iain Dale and some newspapers.

For all the media attempts to stir-up some cliched ‘political correctness gone mad’ controversy, it’s clear that Lib Dem Mayor Dorothy Thornhill has acted sensibly and straightforwardly throughout. I hope all those who have copy ‘n’ pasted the mythologised story without first verifying their sources will now ensure they amend their articles to reflect the facts.

One person who does know what she’s talking about – both as a near-by councillor, and as …

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 7 Comments
The Voice

Coming soon … Paddy’s novel

By The Voice | Thu 29th October 2009 - 6:25 pm

So the Financial Times tells us:

Paddy Ashdown, the party’s former leader, is moving on from writing his own memoirs and into fiction. No prizes for guessing the subject matter. Ashdown, a former Special Boat Squadron operative and (alleged) spy, is penning a novel which is expected to combine boats and, er, espionage. He is currently fine-tuning the central character – obviously not based on himself – and the dialogue, but work is said to be progressing well.

Have LDV’s readers any suggestions for the title?

Posted in Books | Tagged | 6 Comments
The Voice

LibLink … Norman Baker: Devil in detail of MP expenses rules

By The Voice | Thu 29th October 2009 - 6:05 pm

Over at The Guardian, the Lib Dems’ rottweiler-without-portfolio Norman Baker – the MP who was campaigning to clean up Parliamentary expenses long before it was fashionable – argues that Christopher Kelly’s report may help to restore parliament’s reputation, but the solutions it contains must be workable. Here’s an excerpt:

Kelly’s report is an important document and perhaps the most significant staging post in the long and painful journey towards restoring the reputation of parliament. Given the terrible exposures of their abuse of the expenses system, MPs have forfeited the right to decide their own pay and conditions. It was never a

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Andrew Reeves

Glasgow North-East by-election update

By Andrew Reeves | Thu 29th October 2009 - 2:25 pm

Nominations closed yesterday for the Glasgow North East by-election with a mammoth 13 candidates, who in alphabetical order are:

  • Charlie Baillie, British National Party
  • Willie Bain, Labour
  • Eileen Baxendale, Liberal Democrats
  • Mev Brown, Independent
  • Colin Campbell, The Individuals Labour and Tory (TILT)
  • Ruth Davidson, Conservative
  • David Doherty, Green Party
  • Mikey Hughes
  • David Kerr, SNP
  • Louise McDaid, Socialist Labour Party
  • Kevin McVey, Scottish Socialist Party – Make Greed History
  • Tommy Sheridan, Solidarity
  • John Smeaton, Jury Team

The seat became vacant over 120 days ago, when former Speaker Michael Martin MP resigned over the MPs’ expenses and his handling, or failure to handle, the scandal. Here is a brief summary of the 13 candidates.

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Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged and | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

Watford’s liberal Lib Dem Mayor – what Iain Dale didn’t report

By Stephen Tall | Thu 29th October 2009 - 1:40 pm

Tory blogger Iain Dale should perhaps have paused before clicking ‘publish’ on his latest – highly inaccurate – post, How Very Illiberal of a LibDem Mayor. Those few seconds’ hesitation would have been sufficient for him to do a quick Google and find out what he was about to write was nonsense.

In his article, Iain recycled a Metro report to allege that Watford Borough Council (run by elected Lib Dem mayor Dorothy Thornhill) has “barred from public playgrounds in parks. Instead, they are forced to wait outside the railings whilst council-employed “play facilitators” assist the children.”

Iain describes the …

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Posted in Local government | Tagged , , and | 36 Comments
Mark Pack

Scientology convicted of fraud in France

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th October 2009 - 12:50 pm

Back in May I blogged about the then forthcoming trial for fraud the Church of Scientology was facing in France. A quick update seems in order now that the case has taken place:

Two flagship branches of the Church of Scientology in France have been sentenced to pay fines of over €600,000 (£550,000) after being convicted of “fraud in an organised gang” today by a court in Paris.

The judgment against the Scientology Celebrity Centre and a related bookshop in Paris is one of the most important to involve the controversial organisation in recent years.

The judges stopped short of the total

…

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Iain Roberts

Filesharing plans ignore legal rights, claims Foster

By Iain Roberts | Thu 29th October 2009 - 11:49 am

The rights and wrongs of filesharing may still be very much up for debate, but Don Foster again confirmed that, if Lord Mandelson wants support for his “three strikes and you’re out” policy against filesharers, he won’t get it from the Lib Dems.

Lord Mandelson wants those suspected of illegal file sharing to have their bandwidth restricted or to be cut off from the Internet altogether. Mandelson claimed that young people downloading content for free was morally unsustainable.

Don Foster, who just last week was speaking out for live music performers (the clown’s the one on the left) has made …

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 6 Comments
The Voice

More power for cities over skills budgets

By The Voice | Thu 29th October 2009 - 9:20 am

This week The Voice is running a four part series from the Centre for Cities, a think tank that works on analysis and policy to boost city economies. They launched their ‘Cities Manifesto’ at the Bournemouth Lib Dem Conference and this series looks in more detail at its main planks. You can also find out more at http://www.citiesmanifesto.org.

UK business leaders have become so fed-up with our skills system that they’re now refusing even to discuss it. Asked what the priorities for skills reform should be over the next five years …

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Posted in Local government, Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged | 2 Comments
Andy Darley

Opinion: Campaigning for F1

By Andy Darley | Thu 29th October 2009 - 9:18 am

Somewhere around 2003, after almost 20 years of ALDC-approved campaigning and concentrated Rennardism, I burned out and resigned from every bit of Libdemmery I was involved in bar party membership.

Goodbye campaigning, I thought, and went off to do quieter things, like setting up a motorsports website supporting British drivers, www.BritsOnPole.com.

All went well until a chancer named Simon Gillett met a bigger chancer named Bernie Ecclestone and won a deal to take the Formula One British Grand Prix to cosy old Donington Park. Quite how the necessary redevelopment work would be paid for was unclear.

Since then, the slow, painful, but wholly predictable collapse of Gillett’s plans have led to worried fans of British motorsport arriving in droves at our site in search of news and reassurance.

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Posted in News, Online politics and Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 11 Comments
Alex Foster

Daily View 2×2: 29 October 2009

By Alex Foster | Thu 29th October 2009 - 7:53 am

Good morning and welcome to October 29th. Today is the anniversary of the first performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the birthday of Boswell, the biographer of Samuel L Jackson, and the anniversary of the death of Sir Walter Raleigh (he was executed – I didn’t know that.)

It’s also the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which first set up a Constitution for Europe.

2 Big Stories

The postal strike is on
Read all about it on the Times, the Telegraph and the Guardian:

Both sides blamed each other after three days of talks mediated by the TUC collapsed without a deal being reached. As late as evening there had still been some hope that this week’s strike action could be called off to relieve the pressure on Royal Mail.

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Posted in Daily View | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dem council leader quits over ‘Astragate’ affair

By The Voice | Wed 28th October 2009 - 9:45 pm

The Local Government Chronicle reports:

Embattled Northampton BC leader Tony Woods (Lib Dem) has stepped down from the authority’s helm following the so-called ‘Astragate’ affair. Cllr Woods was officially sanctioned by the authority for leaving his untaxed Vauxhall Astra in the authority’s Guildhall car park for more than three months earlier this year.

In a brief resignation speech, Cllr Woods said the incident was a “silly, trivial mistake” that had seen him subjected to a level of abuse not even serious criminals faced.

Local paper the Northampton Chronicle & Echo quoted Cllr Woods as saying he was “truly saddened” to be standing

…

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Posted in Local government | Tagged and | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

NEW POLL: would you support Tony Blair as the first President of the EU?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 28th October 2009 - 7:15 pm

The speculation that Tony Blair might become the first President of the European Union – a post created by the soon-to-be-ratified Lisbon Treaty – continues to swirl around. The BBC reports today:

Gordon Brown has said he would be “very happy” to support a bid by his predecessor Tony Blair to be the first president of the European Council. But the prime minister told MPs the post did not yet exist as the Lisbon Treaty creating it had not become law. The BBC understands Mr Brown will put Mr Blair’s case to other EU leaders in Brussels later this week after previously denying it would do so.

But there are major potential obstacles in Mr Blair’s way – first, other qualified candidates, especially from the EU’s smaller nation states, and, secondly, the opposition of the Lib Dems and Tories to his candidacy. Here’s what Nick Clegg today said:

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Posted in Europe / International and Voice polls | Tagged , , , , and | 48 Comments
Susan Gaszczak

Opinion: Here comes the giant ‘house-swap’

By Susan Gaszczak | Wed 28th October 2009 - 4:40 pm

This morning I wake to news that MPs will be banned from paying mortgages under the new rules that will be suggested by Sir Christopher Kelly. My first reaction was ‘great’ – but how do poor people who do not live within commuting distance become MPs?

As I read the further detail of the suggestions given to the press I realised that, yet again, we are facing a sticking plaster solution to cover up a rotten system. Sir Christopher Kelly is said to be recommending that no MP should be able to claim for a mortgage for their second home …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 16 Comments
Alex Foster

Biscuitgate proponents left with custard on face

By Alex Foster | Wed 28th October 2009 - 1:55 pm

Remember “Biscuitgate” – which Stephen reported on last week – the apparent inability of the Prime Minister to decide which sort of biscuit he liked?

Turns out there’s not a crumb of truth in it. Private Eye’s Adam MacQueen reports for First Post:

“Being more decisive would spare the Prime Minister needless embarrassment” declared the leader column of the Times, and even David Cameron weighed in at Prime Minister’s Questions: “Are we really going to spend another six months with a Prime Minister who cannot give a straight answer, who cannot pass his own legislation, and who sits in his bunker not even able to decide what sort of biscuits he wants to eat?”

Except, er, no one asked him. As Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts has now clarified in a posting on the website, the biscuit question proposed by various messageboard users was never put to Gordon Brown in the hour that he devoted to the interview.

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Posted in Humour and News | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
The Voice

Dodgy dealings at the G20?

By The Voice | Wed 28th October 2009 - 11:20 am

Chris Jordan is Economic Justice Campaigns Officer at at ActionAid and writes about their new campaign – and the opportunity you have to suggest a question to be put to Treasury Minister Stephen Timms.

With the G20 newly anointed as the premier global economic forum, the final Finance Ministers meeting of the year of the in St Andrew’s on 7 November will provide a useful insight into just what kind of ‘G’ the 20 intends to be.

Will they take the path of the G8, making and breaking commitments on an annual basis, or take the opportunity to step up and …

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Posted in The Independent View | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Baroness Ros Scott

Ros Scott’s Report of the Lib Dem Federal Executive held (26th October 2009)

By Baroness Ros Scott | Wed 28th October 2009 - 9:40 am

Our usual practice at Federal Executive (FE) is to have a round up of current issues, presented by Nick Clegg, followed by a Q&A. In Nick’s absence we heard from the Chief Whip, Paul Burstow, and the new Chair of the Campaigns and Communications Committee (CCC), Willie Rennie.

Paul Burstow updated FE on the issue of Members’ expenses, outlining progress on the Legg Report and the Kelly review (due to be published 4th November), neither of which had finished. He emphasised that work on a Lib Dem Code of Conduct for Parliamentarians would be finalised once these two pieces …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Building the houses we need in Britain’s cities

By The Voice | Wed 28th October 2009 - 9:20 am

This week The Voice is running a four part series from the Centre for Cities, a think tank that works on analysis and policy to boost city economies. They launched their ‘Cities Manifesto’ at the Bournemouth Lib Dem Conference and this series looks in more detail at its main planks. You can also find out more at http://www.citiesmanifesto.org.

In our cities, some of the most visible effects of the credit crunch are the housebuilding projects and plans that have ground to a halt. The regeneration of York Northwest …

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Posted in Local government, Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged | 14 Comments
Iain Roberts

Daily View 2×2: 28 October 2009

By Iain Roberts | Wed 28th October 2009 - 7:45 am

2 Big Stories

Kelly committee: MPs should only rent
As the BBC reports:

It is understood the Kelly committee, which has been reviewing MPs’ expenses, will recommend that MPs will only be able to rent second homes in future.

It is also expected to recommend that MPs will not be able to employ family members in the future.

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Posted in Daily View | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Speaker Bercow tells Nick: no inquiry into MPs’ ‘flipping’ or CGT evasion

By Stephen Tall | Wed 28th October 2009 - 12:10 am

Two weeks ago, Nick Clegg wrote to Sir Thomas Legg – in the wake of Sir Thomas’s decision to recommend MPs repay public money if they had been found to have overclaimed expenses for cleaning and gardening – asking that he examine the most serious allegations levelled against MPs:

… when your inquiry was first announced, I think most people expected the worst offences such as flipping to come under the toughest scrutiny. The letters sent this week, however, appear not to focus on these offences. If your review is to be seen as credible it must expose every single one of those MPs who claimed for a non-existent mortgage or ‘flipped’ their second homes purely for personal gain, some of whom then went on to avoid Capital Gains Tax. Some of these MPs appear to have made tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds in profits with the help of taxpayer subsidies. They must be exposed and these illegitimate profits returned.

Today Nick got his answer, but not the one he – or the public – would have hoped for. Sir Thomas passed Nick’s letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, to reply. Here’s what he said (with a big hat-tip to The Times’s Sam Coates):

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Posted in Parliament | Tagged , , , , and | 6 Comments
The Voice

Neil Matthews quits as Folkestone’s Lib Dem candidate

By The Voice | Tue 27th October 2009 - 11:25 pm

It’s deja vu all over again in Folkestone & Hythe … 18 months after Toby Philpott resigned as prospective parliamentary candidate, his successor, Neil Matthews, has also quit:

Shepway Liberal Democrats are sorry to announce that Neil Matthews has stepped down as Parliamentary Candidate for Folkestone & Hythe due to personal pressures. Neil remains an active part of the Shepway Liberal Democrats and Liberal Democrat Councillor for Hythe West.

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Posted in Selection news | Tagged , and | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

Upick Opik? Not if you’re Hansard

By Stephen Tall | Tue 27th October 2009 - 7:25 pm

You’d have thought he’d be famous enough by now, but apparently not … The Independent reports:

Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik will complain to the Commons authorities today after his name was missed off a key internet search tool. The online of version of Hansard, which records everything said in Parliament, has a “search by Member” page – but Mr Opik’s name is not on the alphabetical list. It means his Montgomeryshire constituents cannot simply click through to find his written and spoken contributions.

When told of the error Mr Opik said: “I’m both appalled and amazed by this and will

…

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Posted in Parliament | Tagged and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Mike Collins selected as Lib Dems’ Cotswolds candidate

By The Voice | Tue 27th October 2009 - 7:15 pm

The Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard reports:

A COUNTY councillor from Tewkesbury has been chosen to represent the Liberal Democrat party in the Cotswolds for the forthcoming general election. Mike Collins, 46, will oppose Cotswold MP Conservative Geoffrey Clifton-Brown who has held the seat for the last 17 years. …

“It’s time for a change, so I pledge to the people of the Cotswolds that I will do my best to represent them in a fair and honest way,” he said.

Posted in Selection news | Tagged and | 4 Comments
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