Lord Tom McNally

Leader article: Peer Pressure

By Lord Tom McNally | Sun 16th December 2007 - 9:55 am

A dozen years ago, when I first took my seat in the House of Lords, there were a number of self-deprecating jokes which summed up how the country saw the House of Lords and how it saw itself:

There was the Peer who dreamt he was speaking in the Lords, and when he woke up he was.

There was the Peer who read the Times Obituary column each morning to make sure his name was not there. If it wasn’t he went in.

Thus was this anachronistic, quaintly amusing arm of our governance seen by friend and foe alike. It survived, in …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 3 Comments
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Ryan Cullen

New Theme

By Ryan Cullen | Sun 16th December 2007 - 9:31 am

After spending all week working on this new theme, it’s time to launch our new look.

Posted in Site news | 34 Comments
The Voice

Show us how you are better than everyone else

By The Voice | Sun 16th December 2007 - 7:50 am

There’s still time to enter The Voice’s Leadership Election Prediction Competition.

Go on, you know you want to show us all how you’re the cleverest and best informed reader of The Voice.

Posted in Leadership Election | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

Should Simon Hughes know the value of your home?

By Mark Pack | Sat 15th December 2007 - 7:26 pm

I only ask because of this intriguing Google Ad I came across on the Daily Telegraph’s website. The first two adverts I can understand, but the third seems a little desperate…

Google Ads oddity

Posted in Online politics | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

A touch of Tory Photoshopping

By Mark Pack | Sat 15th December 2007 - 7:07 pm

Labour activist Hopi Sen has the story on A blog from the back room.

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Will Howells

Something for the Weekend: Santa Claus is coming to town

By Will Howells | Sat 15th December 2007 - 2:34 pm

It’s Saturday, it’s Lib Dem Voice, it’s Crackerjack Something for the Weekend!

We’re edging closer to Christmas, the weather’s getting colder and the inter-office Cowley Street decorations competition is hotting up. Fingers crossed that the Campaigns Department doesn’t burn down in a faulty fairy light induced fireball.

In the Something for the Weekend grotto today: David Cameron flees the country; Iain Dale moves in next door; Vince Cable meets Santa; and more!

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Opinion: The ‘V’ Word

By Simon Radford | Sat 15th December 2007 - 10:55 am

The leadership contest has seen much natural agreement and some forced disagreement. One of the issues that confused most onlookers is who was advocating the use of education vouchers. After Chris Huhne repeatedly asked Nick Clegg to deny that he supported ‘US-style vouchers’, Clegg became more and more adamant about his opposition to the idea. Eventually, after its use as a bogeyman had served its purpose, the issue died away. While it was in the spotlight, however, no one seemed to stop and ask, ‘Why shouldn’t liberals advocate vouchers?’

If you do some statistical analysis of PISA results …

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Posted in Op-eds | 33 Comments
Stephen Tall

Guardian: “Huhne and police clash”

By Stephen Tall | Fri 14th December 2007 - 3:56 pm

Actually not quite as exciting as the paper’s teasing headline suggests (they didn’t come to blows):

Earlier this month Huhne, the Liberal Democrat leadership candidate, asked the Durham force to look into how the Labour supporter won planning permission for a business park off the A1 at Bowburn, County Durham.

Today he claimed today that a police investigation into the affair was still ongoing. Durham police emphatically deny this, saying that “there is definitely no police investigation”. …

It is understood that Durham’s head of CID, Detective Chief Inspector Ian Scott gave Huhne a “flea in his ear” last night for issuing

…

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Posted in Leadership Election and News | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Local councils and female representation

By Mark Pack | Fri 14th December 2007 - 1:55 pm

The newly published Thrasher & Rallings analysis of May’s local election results has some interesting figures on gender balance amongst candidates and councillors:

30% of Conservative candidates were female
31% of Labour candidates were female
34% of Liberal Democrat candidates were female

29% of Conservative councillors are female
31% of Labour councillors are female
34% of Liberal Democrats councillors are female

Posted in News | 32 Comments
Stephen Tall

Should the Lib Dem president be neutral in leadership elections?

By Stephen Tall | Fri 14th December 2007 - 12:36 pm

That’s the question Jonathan Calder asked on his Liberal England blog, following Simon Hughes’s endorsement of Nick Clegg on Lib Dem Voice this week. His piece sparked a lively comments thread, and has even prompted a story in today’s Pandora column in The Independent:

Simon Hughes has found himself on the receiving end of bitter cat-calls from Liberal Democrats after wading in with his views about the current leadership contest. This week Hughes posted some comments on the political website Lib Dem Voice, in which he came out strongly in support for the candidacy of Nick Clegg. …

Hughes’s

…

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Posted in Leadership Election and Site news | Tagged , and | 23 Comments
The Voice

Leadership contest competition

By The Voice | Fri 14th December 2007 - 8:15 am

Fortune tellerThe time for spin is over; the time for slide rules has started. Yes, it’s time for the Liberal Democrat Voice leadership election prediction competition.

To enter the competition, post a comment to this message by 8am on Tuesday 18th December giving your predictions for:

  • Nick Clegg’s percentage share of the vote, to one decimal place
  • Chris Huhne’s percentage share of the vote, to one decimal place
  • Percentage turnout, to one decimal place

Clegg and Huhne’s percentages will be calculated excluding spoilt ballot papers. Percentage turnout will be calculated including spoilt ballot papers.

One point will be awarded …

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Posted in Leadership Election | 83 Comments
Stephen Tall

BBC Question Time: open thread

By Stephen Tall | Thu 13th December 2007 - 9:55 pm

Charles Kennedy, former Lib Dem leader, is one of the panellists on tonight’s edition of Question Time (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT).

He’ll be alongside Hazel Blears, Labour’s secretary of state for communities and local government; Lord (Chris) Patten, former Tory party chairman; Piers Morgan, former Mirror editor; and Kirstie Allsopp, TV presenter and celebrity Tory.

If you’re watching, and want to sound-off, please feel free to use the comments thread.

Posted in Lib Dem TV | Tagged and | 46 Comments
Stephen Tall

Friends of the Earth interviews Clegg & Huhne

By Stephen Tall | Thu 13th December 2007 - 9:55 am

And the results are here.

Friends of the Earth’s Parliamentary Campaigner Katie Elliott, comments:

“We’re delighted that both candidates for the Liberal Democrat leadership agree that environmental issues are at the top of their priorities. We face a huge environmental challenge, especially on climate change, so it’s really important that our party leaders are committed to taking urgent action to help safeguard the planet for future generations. We hope that Liberal Democrat members will hear what the candidates have to say before they cast their vote.”

(For the record, I hope you’ve already cast your vote: it needs to be back …

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Simon Titley

The subprime crisis explained

By Simon Titley | Thu 13th December 2007 - 7:45 am

The economic crisis caused by the selling of subprime mortgages is a complex issue that few understand. Luckily, the Long Johns have provided this explanation:

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Stephen Tall

PMQs: Vince skewers Gordon (again)

By Stephen Tall | Wed 12th December 2007 - 6:46 pm

Vince did it again, successfully raising a host of Government debacles, most seriously Iraq, at the last Prime Minister’s Questions of the year – and his final one as acting leader. What is grabbing Vince another round of plaudits, though, is his quickfire riposte to Gordon Brown not to speculate about leadership contests given the PM’s recent lacklustre record.

Vince’s triumph in the bearpit of the Commons is undisputed (for all that PMQs remains our Parliamentary democracy at its pantomime worst), and he’s certainly raised the bar for his successor, whether Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne. Whoever wins could be forgiven for feeling a tad daunted at the prospect of following Vince.

Anyway, here’s the full Hansard exchange:

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Posted in News and PMQs | Tagged | 2 Comments

Opinion: What should the new leader do in his first 100 days? #3

By David Morton | Wed 12th December 2007 - 3:25 pm

In less than a week, the Lib Dems will have a new leader – either Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne will have succeeded Ming Campbell. Lib Dem Voice is inviting party members to tell us what you think should be his top priorities. Paul Walter and Linda Jack have both had a go. Today it’s David Morton’s turn…

Paddy Ashdown once said that the first thing a third party leader had to do in the morning “was get noticed.” The media’s love of the two party consensus is well known but very real. As it seems that one slip …

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Posted in Leadership Election and Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 6 Comments

Leadership Platform 7: Join Matthew Taylor and John Leech on Chris Huhne’s campaign team

By Anna Werrin | Wed 12th December 2007 - 11:23 am

There are just days to go, but there’s time for members to get ballot papers back with a first-class stamp on it! We need the help of Chris’s supporters to call members and get crucial votes returned for him by Saturday.

I’m delighted that two more MPs have chosen to declare their support for Chris Huhne as Liberal Democrat leader today. Matthew Taylor, former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Chairman, and Campaign Chairman for Charles Kennedy’s Leadership campaign in 1999, has announced his backing. So too has Manchester Withington MP John Leech, our Shadow Transport minister.

Chris was part of Matthew Taylor’s economy …

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Posted in Leadership Election | Tagged and | 2 Comments
The Voice

12 down…

By The Voice | Wed 12th December 2007 - 10:40 am

We’re nearly halfway through Advent, which means we’re nearly halfway through our Labour Party Christmas Cheer Advent Calendar.

It feels like we have Labour donation scandals coming out of our ears and we have a pile of stories still to cover, but if you’ve got any other good examples of Labour calamity you think we should highlight in the run-up to Christmas, do let us know in the comments.

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Simon Titley

Opinion: Vince Rocks (And So Can You!)

By Simon Titley | Wed 12th December 2007 - 8:55 am

Vince Cable has deservedly won much praise for his recent performance as acting leader of the Liberal Democrats. He has set a high standard for next week’s victor to match. The danger is that we will treat Vince’s performance as an entertaining interlude before normal service is resumed. Instead, we should analyse and understand the generic lessons that the next leader (and other leading Lib Dems) can learn and apply.

There are essentially six things that Vince has got right:

1) Moral clarity – Politics is ultimately about making moral choices. Vince’s statements make it clear that he has a sense of …

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Posted in Leadership Election, Op-eds and PMQs | Tagged | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #42

By Stephen Tall | Tue 11th December 2007 - 11:58 pm

Welcome to the 42nd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (2nd-8th December), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed.

In a week’s time, we’ll know the name of our new leader. Until then, it looks like the speculation will continue… Here are the top-rated stories in descending order:

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The Voice

New MORI poll, featuring leadership question

By The Voice | Tue 11th December 2007 - 4:03 pm

The Voice doesn’t normally obsess over each individual new opinion poll, but today’s MORI poll is of interest as it has a question about the leadership election:

Q6 Which one of the following politicians I am going to read out, if any, would you like to see lead the Liberal Democrats?
Base: 938 British adults 18+

  %
Chris Huhne 12
Nick Clegg 10
Other 6
None of these 14
Don’t know 58
Posted in Leadership Election and Polls | 6 Comments
Linda Jack

Opinion: What should the new leader do in his first 100 days? #2

By Linda Jack | Tue 11th December 2007 - 3:25 pm

In a week or so’s time, the Lib Dems will have a new leader – either Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne will have succeeded Ming Campbell. Lib Dem Voice is inviting party members to tell us what you think should be his top priorities. Paul Walter got the ball rolling yesterday. Today, it’s Linda Jack’s turn…

Paul Walter has certainly set the bar high for any other of us to contribute anything fresh to the 100 day debate. However, never one to duck a challenge, I have chosen to approach the question from a different perspective.

Following on from …

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Posted in Leadership Election and Op-eds | Tagged | 15 Comments
Stephen Tall

Northern Rock: Which party leader do you think has got a grip on the issue?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 11th December 2007 - 2:37 pm

Is it a) Vince Cable

The acting Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, has written to the prime minister to urge him to introduce a bill in parliament before Christmas to permit “temporary” nationalisation of the bank. … Cable said efforts to sell to a private buyer had so far failed and temporary measures must be taken to secure taxpayers’ money.

“The consortiums involved are struggling to raise the vast amount of money needed. We are talking here about raising £30bn – roughly the size of the current defence budget – in order to repay the loan. … At the moment is

…

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Posted in News | 3 Comments

Opinion: How to cure the NHS

By Bob Wootton | Tue 11th December 2007 - 2:03 pm

I have worked in the NHS, in various jobs, from 1986 until 2006. I started as a physio department porter, then night telephonist, occasional CSSD storesman, domestic assistant in Stoke-on-Trent, and then as a student nurse in Hull. I flunked the Health Promotion section of the Foundation examinations.

I was then a nursing assistant working with the elderly mentally ill until the hospital closed and I was made redundant. The policy was to move patients out of institutional hospitals into the community. My last job in the NHS was as a domestic assistant in North Devon District Hospital.

There are two relatively recent policy changes that have, in my view, messed up the NHS. The first is Margaret Thatcher’s decision to bring ‘the market’ into the NHS. Second, is the system of Nurse Training.

But there is also a third aspect that also messes up the healthcare system: the way it was structured when the NHS was created in the first place. No-one in particular is to blame for this. Our politicians and doctors did not have the skills and knowledge that is available now to construct a timely and responsive sytem that reacts to the clinical and psychological healthcare needs of the patients/clients as they arise.

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Posted in Op-eds | 4 Comments
Simon Hughes MP

Leadership Platform 7: A message from Simon Hughes…

By Simon Hughes MP | Tue 11th December 2007 - 8:26 am

Dear Friend,

As I’m sure you know this is the last week of the Liberal Democrat leadership contest. For your vote to count it needs arrive by first post on Saturday. So if you haven’t already voted I urge you to do so now.

We are fortunate to have two excellent candidates to be leader. I would be delighted work with either of them. And I believe this contest has been an excellent showcase for our party.

However my vote in this election has gone to Nick Clegg. I believe he has that ‘X factor’ that means he can reach out to those …

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Posted in Leadership Election and Op-eds | 27 Comments
Richard Huzzey

Introducing LDVUSA

By Richard Huzzey | Mon 10th December 2007 - 4:46 pm

As the 2008 Presidential election approaches, Lib Dem Voice is looking to expand its coverage of American politics and the coming contest.

We’re particular looking to offer analysis and insight from a Lib Dem perspective. For example, will “states rights” (i.e. decentralisation) always be seen as a Republican issue? We know which party is more “liberal” in U.S. language, but which is more liberal by our standards?

If you’re a Lib Dem member living in America and following the 2008 race, we’d like to hear from you about writing for LDVUSA, our new series looking at the race. Please drop …

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Posted in LDVUSA | 22 Comments
Paul Walter

Opinion: What should the new leader do in his first 100 days?

By Paul Walter | Mon 10th December 2007 - 1:49 pm

In a week or so’s time, the Lib Dems will have a new leader – either Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne will have succeeded Ming Campbell. Lib Dem Voice is inviting party members to tell us what you think should be his top priorities. First up, is noted Lib Dem blogger, Paul Walter…

Without doubt, the priority for the new leader is to have an almighty media blitz in the first 100 days: Visits, interviews, tours, articles….you name it, the new leader should suddenly appear everywhere 24 hours a day for 100 days.

Can’t be done? Oh all right then, but it …

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Posted in Leadership Election and Op-eds | Tagged , and | 21 Comments
Richard Huzzey

“Beyond Rennardism”: Responses to Chris R’s Lib Dem News article

By Richard Huzzey | Mon 10th December 2007 - 12:30 pm

The latest issue of Lib Dem News featured an editorial column by the party’s Chief Executive, Chris Rennard, responding to comments he’d heard about the party needing to go “Beyond Rennard”. In doing so, Chris is himself kick-starting a debate about how our campaigning should evolve.

There have been a number of thoughtful responses on Lib Dem blogs where such a debate should lead us which are worth looking at:

The Canard of Rennard on James Graham’s Quaequam blog

Rennard’s Challenge on Andy Mayer’s blog

Beyond Rennard – Dangerous talk costs seats on Pete Dunphy’s Party Political PLC

We’re not going …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Leadership coverage ‘skinny’

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th December 2007 - 9:56 am

Nick Clegg:

* Nick Clegg to blow Lib Dem cobwebs away (Daily Telegraph, 10th Dec);
* Clegg calls for end to ‘politics of fear’ (ePolitix, 10th Dec).

Chris Huhne:

* My Week in Media (The Independent) – which deserves special mention for this paragraph:

Last week I surfed… Some of the key blogs on the Lib Dem Voice (www.libdemvoice.org). I’ve enjoyed reading them this week, but that isn’t always the case, as they tend to have quite vitriolic debates with each other on whether Nick or I have done best in a public debate.

* And Chris is quoted in two …

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Posted in Leadership Election and News | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Will Ming ‘sex up’ his memoirs?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th December 2007 - 9:50 am

That’s the demand of his publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, according to The Observer’s media diary:

Menzies Campbell has followed a path well trodden by political leaders past, settling down to write his life story, which should hit the shops in 2009. But we hear the first draft has already been sent back by publishers Hodder & Stoughton – because it is too boring. Editors were horrified to discover the former Lib Dem leader failed to reflect on the ousting of predecessor Charles Kennedy or the subsequent knifing Sir Ming himself endured. Since the twin defenestrations are the only newsworthy parts

…

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Posted in Books and News | Tagged and | 5 Comments
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