Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has queried the “workability” of a suggested tax on banks to curb excessive bonuses. Lord Turner, head of the UK’s finance watchdog, has suggested taxing banks’ financial transactions. The Treasury has urged restraint on bonuses but stressed taxation was a matter for the chancellor. Mr Clegg said the idea had practical pitfalls but agreed with Lord Turner’s “sentiments” and said that some banks needed to be broken up. …
Mr Clegg said there were real questions marks about the “workability” of a UK-only bank tax, given that most banks operated across
A Liberal Democrat MP has accused both the Tories on Bristol council and one of the city’s newspapers of misrepresenting a National Lottery grant to a gay group. The Bristol Evening Post ran a story yesterday on Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH). The highly-respected group has been awarded £391,668 by the Big Lottery Fund for a project reaching out to LGBT young people.
EACH said on its website:
“Throughout the next five years this will be spent upon EACH’s ground-breaking project, REACH: supporting lesbian, gay or bisexual young people develop a sense of pride in their identity and help their peers and adults in young people’s settings challenge homophobic bullying.”
The leader of the Conservative group on Bristol City Council, Councillor Richard Eddy, told the paper the grant was “mistaken and misguided” and “an outrageous waste of money.”
Nick Clegg has today launched the Lib Dems’ ‘Ask the People in the Know’ project inviting public sector workers to help identify ways in which government can cut out waste while protecting services in order to save taxpayers’ money.
Anyone working in the public sector can submit their ideas on where money can be saved at http://nickclegg.com/intheknow. Nick has pledged that ideas submitted via the ‘Asking the People Who Know’ website will help inform the work currently being undertaken by the party to identify areas of waste in public spending:
Hard-working nurses and teachers tell me how frustrated they are by
Powys’s County Times has noted the sudden spate of spoof websites linking some 90 Lib Dem MPs and candidates to the Nazis:
Every Lib Dem MP in the UK has fallen foul of one political blogger, who goes under the tag ‘Illiberal Democrat’, and has created a series of blogs which appear to link the party to Naziism. Both Powys MP’s are Liberal Democrats, and both have their own page filled with anti-liberal propaganda and Swastikas.
Roger Williams MP, Brecon and Radnorshire, was quick to condemn the blogs: “I think it’s rather pathetic and rather purile for someone to soil our
An interesting piece from the American Campaigns & Elections site which acts as a salutary reminder that, for all the impressiveness of Obama and his use of the internet, there’s rather more to campaigning:
Two recently released surveys on how Americans perceive brands and make decisions gives us geeky political junkies an idea of how different campaign tactics work to win votes. The first survey, released by Harris Interactive last week, indicates that while adults “use a mixture of traditional media and new media, including those that would constitute ‘push’ (advertising and websites) and ‘pull’ (information from neutral, informal communication),” Americans are persuaded (and informed) most by face-to-face communication.
Racist attackers abducted a Muslim community leader at knifepoint, bundled him into a car and threatened his life unless he stopped running prayer sessions in a community hall that has been the target of a British National party campaign. Police have confirmed they are treating the incident as a hate crime and are investigating links with an earlier firebomb attack on the same man’s home. …
Three stories today – see if you can spot the blatant connection.
First up, the first R: Remand. Lib Dem research today revealed that over a million kids have been convicted of a criminal offence over the last decade, with a further million cautioned since Labour came to power in 1997. Here’s the breakdown of figures as revealed in an answer to a Lib Dem parliamentary question:
* 1,033,454 children aged between 10 and 17 have been convicted of a criminal offence since 1997. This includes almost 30,000 10 to 12 year olds.
Here’s a new one to add grist to I Hate Ryanair‘s mill – truancy rates are on the rise as more parents pull children out of school to take advantage of cheap holidays, reports the Telegraph:
Almost 68,000 pupils in England are missing classes every day, an increase of 7,000 compared with the same period last year, it was disclosed. The rise was fuelled by term-time holidays, suggesting more parents are looking for cut-price deals in the economic downturn. According to official figures, family breaks accounted for the largest number of school absences after illness.
Nick Clegg has today penned an article for The Daily Telegraph urging the Labour and Tory parties to take action to reform Parliament in the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal. Here’s an excerpt:
The new political season is beginning. Spring and early summer were defined by the expenses scandal, but what will the autumn be like? Will demand for change continue or will the political establishment succeed in sweeping it under the carpet? …
24% (116 votes): An increase in % vote and an increase in seats
22% (103): An increase in % vote but a decrease in seats
12% (57): A decrease in % vote but an increase in seats 42% (201): A decrease in % vote and a decrease in seats. Total Votes: 477 Poll ran: 7th-24th August 2009
A fairly pessimistic assessment, you might conclude, with a plurality of readers reckoning the party will go backwards, both in terms of share of the vote and number of seats held. Interestingly, while almost half (46%) of you think the party will increase its share of the vote, barely one-third (36%) think the party might also end up with more MPs as a result.
Mr Murray, 27, has announced his decision not to stand at the General Election. He said the decision of the sitting MP Martin Salter to stand down had made him realise he would not have the time to fight the seat.
The Electoral Commission has published the latest donation and borrowing figures for the political parties today, and its website allow us to gain a picture of the Lib Dems’ fundraising efforts over the years. Below is the full breakdown of cash and non-cash donations received by quarter since 2005, and annually between 2001 and 2004.
Lots of familiar names on the 2009 Q1 list, with five/six-figure gifts coming from: Lord Alliance (£250k), Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (£205k), Anthony Wilkinson (£105k), C& C Business Solutions (£50k), George Lyon (£15.5k), Christopher Nicholson (£15k), and Andrew Haisley (£10k). Incidentally, as I understand it, Lord Alliance’s gift is the conversion of a loan to a donation, which represents a big boost to the party’s balance sheet – which is no bad thing, given the party’s deficit in 2008.
The most generous Parliamentarians I spot-checked were:
Lib Dem Voice doesn’t note the resignations of all councillors, but Gordon Seekings – for 22 years Lib Dem councillor for Northgate in Crawley – will be well known to many from the party’s membership services. Here’s how Crawley News reports it:
Cllr Gordon Seekings, who represented Northgate for 22 years, cited “personal reasons” for his departure. He left his Crawley Borough Council post immediately after the announcement, meaning Northgate will be missing one councillor until the by-election. …
Cllr David Shreeves, deputy leader of the council’s Labour group, added: “Gordon’s efforts as a councillor have been very valuable to the
In a heated exchange of emails on Monday Steve Barton, the party chairman in Plymouth, issued an ultimatum to Sutton and Devonport prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) Dr Judy Evans.
He accused Dr Evans of making “negative and destructive comments”, and said he saw “two possible outcomes:
“1. You are de-selected as a PPC.
“2. That I stand down as chair, as after 18 months of turmoil and rebuilding, I feel that I have not got the enthusiasm or strength to tackle up to eight months
In the absence of much real political news, Tory shadow home secretary Chris Grayling’s rather bumbling attempt to drink the kool-ade – by referencing cult US crime TV show ‘The Wire’ in a speech echoing his party’s tired ‘Broken Britain’ theme – has backfired.
As The Indpendent caustically notes today, not only has Mr Grayling shown himself to be guilty of ludicrous hyperbole, but he’s also been forced to admit his Wire knowledge is a little on the scant side:
… his comments are not backed up by facts. With 234 murders in 2008 Baltimore had nearly twice the number of London, despite having less than one tenth of the population. In fact the chance of being murdered in Baltimore, a city with a population of about 650,000, is one in 2,700. In Britain the chances are one in 85,000.
Gordon Brown has, after five days’ silence, commented on the Scottish government’s decision to release on compassionate grounds Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of involvement in the Lockerbie bombing. Mr Brown said he was “repulsed” by the welcome Mr al-Megrahi received on his arrival home.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dems’ shadow foreign secretary, is unimpressed:
Gordon Brown’s comments on Lockerbie are a masterclass in evasion. When a decision is made by another politician, and has such grave international consequences, the Prime Minister’s refusal to say whether or not he supports it almost amounts to negligence.
“It is hard to see why he can’t tell us what he thinks of the decision to release a man who has been convicted of the worst terrorist attack in British history. As long as Gordon Brown remains silent on this issue, people will suspect he has something to hide.”
This appears to be yet another example of Mr Brown’s tin-ear for communication. It strikes me the Prime Minister had two choices, both of which are (to my mind) equally valid.
Catching up on what happened in British domestic politics while I was sojourning on the continent, I came across Vince Cable’s Guardian article, The rich must be reined in, in which our deputy leader advocated the establishment of a high pay commission ‘to measure the claims of top earners that their rewards are justified and necessary, even if they offend natural justice and our sense of fairness.’
It seems to have evaded the LDV Collective’s radar (tsk, I go away for two weeks, see what happens), so here’s an excerpt:
There is nothing intrinsically offensive to most people about talented inventors, entrepreneurs, performers or sports stars benefiting substantially from unique talents that enrich or protect or entertain the rest of us. Even if Bill Gates didn’t give away a lot of his fortune, most of us wouldn’t quarrel with his being a very rich man.
There are, however, two things that do cause offence: one is reward without merit, or reward for failure; the other is tax-dodging. We have plenty of both. If a £25,000-a-week footballer is lazy or useless, the crowd provides a public exercise in market-testing. Other talents are less public. That is why all high pay should be publicly declared in a way that directors’ pay already is. …
What’s cost the taxpayer £82m over the last five years? Answer: compensation claims against county councils and unitary authorities by members of the public who have tripped on pavements. The figures from 90 local authorities were obtained by the Lib Dems under Freedom of Information requests; there are still 10,000 claims unsettled.
Here’s what the Lib Dems’ shadow transport secretary Norman Baker had to say:
With council and household budgets under more pressure than ever, the last thing the local taxpayer needs is to be paying massive compensation claims for injuries caused by dangerous pavements. This is money that could have been spent on improving pavements and preventing these problems in the first place.
A new studyof MPs on Facebook shows widespread use of the social network by Parliamentarians, but also a range of curious choices about how to use the medium which may in part reflect a failure to change default settings.
The study, carried out by Woodnewton Associates and based on evidence gathered in May this year, found that:
26% of MPs have a Facebook presence (a page or profile).
Liberal Democrat MPs lead the way in Facebook usage, with 65% being on Facebook. 25% of Labour MPs and 21% of Conservative MPs are on Facebook.
Retailers who sell violent video games and 18-rated DVDs to children cannot be prosecuted because of a legal blunder 25 years ago. Dozens of prosecutions under a 1984 Act have been dropped because the government of the day failed to notify the European Commission about the law. But previous prosecutions will stand, according to the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).
Lib Dem shadow culture, media and sport secretary Don Foster was quick to react to the news:
The Conservative’s incompetence when they were in Government has made laws designed to prevent video piracy and protect
Tory MP Sir Patrick Cormack – the grandees’ grandee – isn’t alone in thinking MPs are under-paid. Today’s Times reports (under the oh-so-impartial headline, MPs hijack expenses inquiry with complaints and demands for pay rise – do you remember the days when newspapers reported facts, and let us form our own opinions?) that Sir Christopher Kelly’s Committee on Standards in Public Life inquiry into Parliamentary standards has been
bombarded by MPs’ complaints about their miserable lifestyles, media intrusion, the inadequacy of existing allowances — along with repeated demands for a hefty pay rise. … A detailed analysis by The Times of hundreds of submissions shows that such views are far from exceptional, particularly among Conservative MPs who believe that they would be earning far more if they had never entered politics.
The debate has been well-rehearsed. Gone are the days of amateur MPs, men with means who could afford to regard being elected to Parliament as their public duty and/or an amusing hobby. Paying members of Parliament is an essential pre-requisite of a democracy of all the talents. How much they should be paid inevitably plunges you into the murky realms of envy, greed and compromise.
On a rational supply and demand basis, it is perfectly obvious that MPs should be paid not a single penny more. Political parties in winnable seats have no problem in finding candidates: more people want to do the job than there are vacancies available. It’s an employer’s market, and in this case the employer is the taxpayer: why should we cough up more cash?
Nick Clegg has today condemned Gordon Brown for issuing no statement following the release on compassionate grounds of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi:
Although the decision to release Megrahi was a Scottish one for which Gordon Brown was not personally responsible, the fallout puts the UK at the centre of an international storm.
“In these circumstances, it is absurd and damaging that the British Prime Minister simply remains silent in the hope that someone else will take the flak.”
He went further on this lunchtime’s BBC Radio 4 World at One, openly criticising the decision of the Scottish Executive, saying, “I find it difficult to accept that someone convicted in a British court of law should be released as he was.”
But speaking on this morning’s BBC Radio 4 Today Programme his predecessor Lord (David) Steel – a former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament – defended the Prime Minister’s stance:
Welcome to the 131st of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (16th August – 22nd August 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, partly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.
Don’t forget, by the way, you can now sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.
As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:
Channel 4’s new series Benefit Busters has reopened the debate on how (depending on your point of view) we best support the most vulnerable people find work, or stop wasting billions on a welfare system that has engendered a culture of dependency.
Last week the Telegraph and Express revealed that the UK Exchequer will pay out more in benefits this year than it receives in Income Tax. As the recession continues it is inevitable that this huge area of public spending will come under further scrutiny and is likely to be a major battleground in next year’s General Election.
This is a great opportunity for our party, because we have a package of policies that would make the greatest difference.
The rest of The Voice’s Daily View team may have decided to have a lie in each morning during August, but we’re made of sterner stuff here on the Sunday slot. And as it’s a Sunday, it’s also time for the now traditional bonus musical extra.
Big Stories
The release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has blasted Scotland for releasing Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi saying the decision “gives comfort to terrorists.”
In a letter to Scottish Minster Kenny MacAskill dated August 21, FBI Director Robert Mueller said he was “outraged” at the decision to release Megrahi, who is dying of cancer, on compassionate grounds.
“Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice,” Mueller wrote. “Indeed, your action makes a mockery of the rule of law.
“Your action gives comfort to terrorists around the world who now believe that regardless of the quality of the investigation, the conviction by jury after the defendant is given all due process, and sentence appropriate to the crime, the terrorist will be freed by one man’s exercise of ‘compassion.'” (AFP)
Fraud allegations over Afghan elections
Reports of widespread and systematic fraud and intimidation continued to emerge amid delays in the counting of votes in the Afghan elections, raising the spectre of turbulence when the results are announced.
Allegations of ballot-rigging were particularly prevalent in the southern Pashtun belt. The region, which holds the key to the contest, also suffered from drastically low turnout due to Taliban violence and threats. There were accounts of the insurgents’ retribution against voters, including fingers being chopped off. (The Independent)
2 Must-Read Blog Posts
Paul Walter explains how his views of the party’s Real Women policy proposals are changing.
Simon Goldie’s post is probably the shortest that’s been highlighted in these round-ups, being basically just a link through to a provocative and thought-provoking article in the Financial Times.
(Both of these posts have been selected from those which appeared on Lib Dem Blogs on Saturday. To read more from other Liberal Democrat blogs, take a look at the Lib Dem Blogs website and to see what Lib Dems have been saying on Twitter, take a look at Liberal Tweets.)
Sunday Bonus
It’s Sunday. Ready your vocal chords. Hit play and sing along. You know you want to.
A small housekeeping announcement: when we revamped this site, we removed the list of links to the latest blog posts on Lib Dem Blogs as the list was slow to load, took up a lot of space and only showed posts for a very short period of time (given the volume of posts over on Lib Dem Blogs).
Many readers have said though that they appreciated the convenient links through to other Liberal Democrat blogs, so we are testing out a Lib Dem Blogs button in the right-hand column, just under the latest poll. This gives you a clickable pop …
Ah, the summer, that mystical time when politicians stop being lazy in their grand offices and spread their laziness across the land (or not, of course, though I suppose you can judge for yourself using the Western Mail’s list…) The summer was never going to be politics-free, however, particularly in Wales where everyone has to factor in their annual visit to Senedd-on-Sea.
Considerably Welsher than yow
Or to be more accurate, Senedd-by-the-Lakeside, as this year’s National Eisteddfod was held in Bala. With Rhodri’s 70th birthday (his promised retirement date) little more than a month away, it was time for Bridgend …
One hundred and fifty years ago, on the 6 June 1859, at Willis Rooms in St James, Westminster, Radical, Peelite and Whig Members of Parliament met to formalise their Parliamentary coalition to oust the Conservative government and finally brought about the formation of the Liberal Party.
To commemorate the compact made at Willis Rooms in 1859 and the consequent founding of the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democrat History Group and the National Liberal Club organised a joint event at the Club on 20 July 2009. The evening was …
The way the Repubicans are trying to get to grips with improving their internet presence following last year’s Presidental election defeat suggest some interesting pointers for the UK. As I’ve often written in the past, US politics is very different from British politics – and so one should be cautious at reading across lessons from one country to another. Nonetheless, the Republicans efforts to catch-up do highlight what they feel are the most important areas.
Yesterday’s CNN report on the topic highlights two facets to this: the importance of Twitter and the degree to which a successful internet presence relies on senior figures being willing to move away from traditional modes of communication.
Ashfield’s Liberal Democrats remain the biggest group on the District Council with 13 seats.
Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Jason Zadrozny says, “This once again shows the Liberal Democrats are the clear challengers to Labour in Ashfield. In election after election right across the District, local residents are picking Liberal Democrat candidates over Labour every time. In June’s County elections the Lib Dems made 4 gains from Labour and now we have bagged the Hucknall Central District seat as well.
nigel hunter We cannot fund the needs of the people and country if we are a low tax party....
Jonathan Calder Do we want to be a low-tax party? It seems the leadership wants to fight the next election on that basis, but I detect no great enthusiasm for the idea among th...
Nick Baird @Alex @Rees - I was referring to the quoted surveys by VPZ and E-Cigarette Direct, who have a vested interest in selling vapes and are effectively claiming that...
Rees Southern Hi Nick, as Alex points out, ASH is not a vested interest. Nor are the other organisations mentioned in my article, including the Royal College of Physicians, C...
Matt (Bristol) I dont think lib dems should be a low tax or high tax party. I would like them (Or someone else) to be a subsidiarist, consensualist party, whereby levels of ta...
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Colin Milburn at Lord's in 1968: The first test innings I remember
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What do Britain's death-penalty cheerleaders have to say about Christa Pike?
nigel hunter
Jonathan Calder
Nick Baird
Rees Southern
Matt (Bristol)