Cash for peerages – “major developments”

By the founding editor | Thu 16th November 2006 - 5:19 pm

Guido Fawkes’ blog claims to have a copy of correspondence sent from Inspector Yates of Scotland Yard to Tony Wright, chair of the Public Administration Select Committee, which speaks of “major developments” not yet in the public domain.

If the letters are not fakes they present a serious breach in the security of the investigation.

That is, however, something of an ‘if’.

  • At first glance, the letters purport to be scans of the original (eg the text is slightly blurry, the logo is in colour), but there is no evidence of the paper – the scan appears on a pristine screen-white

…

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Mark Pack

New Lib Dem TV broadcast: Brown, Cameron and Iraq

By Mark Pack | Thu 16th November 2006 - 4:23 pm

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Will Howells

Mirza Tahir Hussain’s death sentence commuted

By Will Howells | Thu 16th November 2006 - 9:12 am

Last month we reported on Greg Mulholland’s efforts to save Leeds man Mirza Tahir Hussain from execution in Pakistan. President Musharraf was also lobbied by Members of the European Parliament and by Tony Blair.

The BBC reports today that the hanging, imposed by a Sharia court after Hussain had been cleared by Pakistan’s high court, has been commuted to a life sentence by the President. Official confirmation is expected later this morning.

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The Voice

PM “trying to legislate his way in to history”

By The Voice | Wed 15th November 2006 - 11:49 am

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell has accused the Government of ‘statutory addiction’ and commented that this Queen’s Speech was ‘remarkably similar to those which have gone before’.

Menzies Campbell said:

After nearly ten years in office the government and the Prime Minister are still chasing the same elusive goals and the same elusive headlines.

This is a rush from judgement towards legislation. The government suffers from a statutory addiction.

This is a Prime Minister trying to legislate his way into history.
Before the Prime Minister was elected he told us that his priority was education, education, education.

Since he was elected his priority has proved to be legislation, legislation, legislation.

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The Voice

AGM season is upon us

By The Voice | Tue 14th November 2006 - 2:41 pm

Wine and cheeseIt’s that time of year again when we’re all downing wine and cheese and MPs are trying to wriggle out of their agreements to give speeches to local party and branch Annual General Meetings.

AGMs are serious business, but can be comical – if your AGM produces a story that will make your fellow Lib Dems laugh, cry, or sit up and applaud, e-mail [email protected]. If you request it, we will give you total anonymity.

If you haven’t yet been told when your local AGM is, then contact the

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Mark Pack

One Mayor, one pool, two views

By Mark Pack | Mon 13th November 2006 - 1:39 pm

There has been a successful campaign in Lewisham to save the Ladywell swimming pool.

The (Labour) Mayor, Steve Bullock, had these lovely words to say about the campaigners:

“I feel the passionate and enthusiastic campaign by Save Ladywell Pool, although challenging at times, is a great example of how local people can get their views heard. Their work is an example to all communities and shows how people can get together and make a real difference.”

What a shame then that on the same day as these words were uttered, the latest edition of Time Out appeared, with these words from the very same …

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Labour ‘concealed £12m from auditors’

By the founding editor | Mon 13th November 2006 - 1:21 pm

From both the Sunday Mail and the Sunday Independent:

“Labour party officials tried to hide details of millions of pounds in loans from auditors examining the party’s finances, it emerged.

“Police believe the party went to extraordinary steps to conceal the fact that it had received £12million loans from businessmen nominated for peerages by Tony Blair.”

More

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With one, united voice

By the founding editor | Mon 13th November 2006 - 1:19 pm

Commenting on the resignation of David Sainsbury, the Liberal Democrats said:

“David Sainsbury was the best thing about the Government’s science policy. He provided continuity and an obvious enthusiasm”

oh, and:

“In March Sir Menzies Campbell highlighted the obvious conflict of interest in having the Labour party in hock to one of its own ministers. Lord Sainsbury has done the right thing by standing down.”

 

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Mark Pack

Voting machines: a warning from the US

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th November 2006 - 10:08 am

There have been lots of tales from America about problems with electronic voting machines in the mid-term elections, but my favourite example is this one – where a candidate was recorded as getting zero votes even though he’d gone and voted for himself.

Two things are common across many of the stories – the absence of a proper paper-based audit trail to check things if the machine comes up with a suspicious result and the reluctance on the part of officials running elections to believe their machines may have got it wrong. They are both important factors to look out …

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The Voice

South East Lib Dems call for change in party policy on the Lords

By The Voice | Sun 12th November 2006 - 10:00 am

South East Liberal Democrats have voted by an overwhelming majority to call for a change in party policy to call for a fully elected body to replace the House of Lords.

The new policy was passed at the Regional Conference in Effingham, Surrey. It goes further than the party’s 2005 manifesto pledge for a “predominantly” elected House of Lords. South East Lib Dems intend to take the motion to Federal Conference next Spring.

The motion was proposed by former Dover PPC Antony Hook and was summated by Regional Chair and Federal Executive member Mike Simpson.

Antony Hook, a barrister, described the motion as principled, unambiguous, and consistent. In his speech he argued liberals must believe that those effected by lawmakers’ decisions should be able to choose their lawmakers and get rid of them when they start taking bad decisions, which he described as the best guarantee of government in the public interest.

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Mark Pack

BBC exposes Tory MP’s links to funding scandal

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th November 2006 - 7:50 pm

J KirkbrideThe role of the Midlands Industrial Council in funding Conservative party activity has been bubbling away as a controversy for some time.

In essence, by giving money to the MIC rather than directly to the Conservative party, it has allowed big donors to remain anonymous. The MIC in turn, after receiving these anonymous donations, funds Conservative campaigning. After public pressure, they’ve published a one-off list of their currently active members – but won’t say who else has given money in the past or that they’ll publish names of new donors in the …

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The Voice

PPC News: Selection in Clare Short’s constituency up for grabs

By The Voice | Sat 11th November 2006 - 4:37 pm

This week we’ve added East Lothian to our list of seats which have selected PPCs standing in the next election. Know someone who’s missing? e-mail [email protected]

The following seats have recently announced they are seeking Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (people to run as the Lib Dem candidate for MP at the next General Election).

We list the constituency name, application closing date, and the contact details of the Returning Officer, whom you should contact for an application form.

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Why I’m glad Nick Griffin was acquitted

By Charles Anglin | Sat 11th November 2006 - 11:40 am

Nick Griffin, the Leader of the BNP, was acquitted yesterday of charges of inciting racial hatred. In 2004 Griffin made a speech to BNP activists in which he described Islam as a “wicked, vicious faith” and said that Muslims were turning Britain into a “multi-racial hell hole”.

Griffin is a racist, he espouses an ugly creed based on fear and ignorance, almost every word he says is offensive. But being offensive shouldn’t be enough to land you in jail.

Yesterday, Mizanur Rahman, a young radical Islamist was jailed for his part in the protest earlier this year over the Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Rahman waved banners and chanted into a megaphone shouting “Annihilate those who insult Islam” and “Behead those who insult Islam.”

Although he apologises now, Rahman’s remarks were full of hate, they were grotesque, offensive and shocking. But being shocking shouldn’t be enough to get you convicted.

I’m a black gay man and much of the anti-hatred legislation that Griffin and Rahman were prosecuted under was designed to protect people like me. But freedom is a delicate thing, and I believe that our current raft of hate crime laws in danger of undermining the very freedom they aim to protect.

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Racism row Tory councillor: local paper asks ‘should she go?’

By the founding editor | Fri 10th November 2006 - 10:07 pm

Calne town councillor Ellie Bland, who has been suspended from the Tory party for sending a racist email, is the subject of a poll on her local paper’s website.

At the bottom of the editor’s choice column they ask “Should Ellie Bland resign as a councillor over the racist e-mail joke she sent her council colleagues?”

Current figures are YES 59%, NO 41%. Lib Dem Voice readers who live in the area should make their view known.

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Mark Pack

Lib Dems come from fourth to win in Redbridge

By Mark Pack | Fri 10th November 2006 - 7:57 am

Last night Irfan Mustafa came from fourth place to win a safe Labour seat in Clementswood ward (London Borough of Redbridge).

The result was: Lib Dem 904, Labour 715, Tory 377, Independent 65, Green 49, British Public Party 48.

In May (only five months ago!) the result was (taking top vote for each party): Labour 1,424, Tory 477, British Public Party 315, Lib Dem 307, Green 129.

As with the recent good by-election result against Labour in Manchester, this result suggests that the hugely increased levels of support amongst ethnic minority communities which the Iraq war brought the party show no signs of fading.

Posted in Council by-elections and News | Tagged and | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Defections from Labour in Manchester

By Mark Pack | Thu 9th November 2006 - 10:42 pm

Read about it in Asian Image:

It is always hard to sever your ties with a political party you have supported but the way this Government has been behaving over so many issues relating to civil liberties and human rights made that decision much easier.

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Mark Pack

Cartoons by email

By Mark Pack | Thu 9th November 2006 - 6:16 pm

You can now sign up to be notified by email each time a new cartoon is added to the Liberal Democrat website. The cartoons appear in the e-postcard section and you can sign up to the emails on the Get Email News page (tick option number 2).

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Heads up: Campbell & Clegg to launch Freedom Bill at 10am

By the founding editor | Thu 9th November 2006 - 8:22 am

Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg will launch a “Freedom Bill” in Westminster this morning, calling for the repeal of 10 parliamentary acts passed since Labour came to power.

More

UPDATE: After that, Menzies Campbell and our shadow cabinet will gather for a strategy meeting in Henley-Upon-Thames from lunchtime Thursday to lunchtime Friday. According to Cowley Street “The party is preparing for a possible general election in October 2007”. I’ve heard there’s a good motivational speaker available in Henley…

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Mark Pack

Online conference registration now available

By Mark Pack | Wed 8th November 2006 - 7:01 pm

You can now register online for the party’s next spring UK-wide (federal) conference. It’s being held on 2-4 March 2007 in Harrogate and registration information is here.

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Labour: choose the next Prime Minister for £12

By the founding editor | Wed 8th November 2006 - 5:29 pm

The Labour party are allowing the entire British public to have a say in choosing the next Labour party leader and Prime Minister of Britain – all you have to do is join the party (for a minimum of £1pm unwaged) first.

Labour’s “Join up, join in” campaign says:

“Being a member of a political party means a lot and in the coming months our members will be asked to elect a new Leader and Deputy Leader for the Labour Party, and, for the first time in history, the next Prime Minister. Never before has the membership of any political party had such power to …

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Will Howells

Holmes re-elected parliamentary party chair

By Will Howells | Wed 8th November 2006 - 3:07 pm

Chesterfield MP Paul Holmes has been re-elected by Liberal Democrat MPs as chair of the parliamentary party. He was challenged by Cardiff Central MP Jenny Willott but won by 43 votes to 16.

Evan Harris defeated Chris Huhne to be elected as the English MPs’ representative on the Federal Policy Committee.

Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , and | 3 Comments
The Voice

US mid-terms: best of the Lib Dem blogs

By The Voice | Wed 8th November 2006 - 10:13 am

Here’s a quick round-up of the best Lib Dem commentary on the mid-terms

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Cosmo backs Swinson

By the founding editor | Wed 8th November 2006 - 9:00 am

FFF

Jo Swinson, MP for East Dunbartonshire, has been honored with a National Award in The Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Female Awards with Olay.  The initiative, launched earlier this year, celebrates women with the FFF factor – smart, passionate and inspirational women from a variety of backgrounds, who have been truly inspirational and not afraid to break boundaries, be at the top of their field and help those in need.  

Jo Swinson, who, at 26 years old, is the youngest MP in the House of Commons, attended the glittering Awards ceremony …

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No PMQs on Wednesday

By the founding editor | Tue 7th November 2006 - 11:18 pm

The Westminster Parliament has completed its work for this session, and effectively goes in to recess until next Wednesday.

Parliament will be proroged at 11:30am on Wednesday 8 November.

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The Voice

All through the night: your guide to the mid-term election results programmes

By The Voice | Tue 7th November 2006 - 1:55 pm

If you’re planning on staying up tonight to pray for a Democratic revival in the U.S., we hope you’ll find these listings helpful:

  • On Radio 4 from 12:30am-5:20am James Naughtie and Shaun Ley present election night coverage from the U.S.
  • From 8pm 18 Doughty Street’s programming focusses on the election, and is extended by two hours to 2am with election news.
  • From 3am, BBC News 24 picks up the baton and at 6am they hand over to BBC Breakfast news

Sky’s listings don’t suggest an election special, but their listings often don’t bear any resemblance to what is broadcast. I’ve just switched it on to see if they’re advertising anything. If they do, I’ll update this post.

UPDATE: Sky election special from midnight

Also, keep your eye on Video the vote, a project to monitor problems with the electoral process by posting video evidence to YouTube.

Will Howells has a concise intro to what exactly is up for grabs tonight.

Our Boston correspondent

Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Elgood is currently out in Boston, USA. He sent us this update:

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Posted in LDVUSA and News | 6 Comments

Mark Oaten speaks to Iain Dale

By the founding editor | Tue 7th November 2006 - 12:33 pm

OatenLast night conservative commentator Iain Dale conducted an hour long interview with Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten on 18 Doughty Street. You can find it at:

http://www.18doughtystreet.com/blog/?page_id=174

The first 25 minutes cover Mark himself, the remainder of the time discussing broader liberal politics.

Have you watched it? What do you think? There’s a short audio-only teaser below. Click ‘play now’.

Posted in News | Tagged and | 9 Comments
Mark Pack

Big public support for taxing 4x4s

By Mark Pack | Tue 7th November 2006 - 8:40 am

4x4Liberal Democrat run Richmond Council generated quite a lot of media coverage recently for its plans to vary the costs of residents’ parking permits based on how polluting their vehicles are. Interesting then to see the latest poll finding from YouGov in The Telegraph:

72% said they would support “increasing the tax on large executive-style, estate and 4×4 vehicles” with 21% opposing.
(Fuller poll details are here.)

I wonder if The Telegraph will mention their own poll next time they talk about Lib Dem councils, green taxes and 4x4s … 🙂

And this …

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Conservative referred to racism watchdog by Liberal Democrats

By the founding editor | Mon 6th November 2006 - 2:24 pm

David CameronEd Davey has today written to the Commission for Racial Equality providing details of an offensive email sent by a Conservative councillor and parliamentary candidate.

Ed has also written to David Cameron and Francis Maude calling for the Conservatives to take swift and decisive disciplinary action.

The email – which contains an inflammatory ‘poem’ that features on a white supremacist website, as well as a picture of the white cliffs of Dover with the words ‘piss off – we’re full’ on them – was sent by Conservative councillor Ellenor Bland to other Conservative councillors …

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Mark Pack

Video: Simon Hughes and Lynne Featherstone on the Climate Change march

By Mark Pack | Mon 6th November 2006 - 8:07 am

In addition to the film featuring Chris Huhne, Sheila has also done a film of Saturday’s march with two of our other MPs – Simon Hughes and Lynne Featherstone:

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Video: Chris Huhne and the Liberal Democrats on the Climate Change march

By the founding editor | Sun 5th November 2006 - 7:44 pm

Sheila Rainger has compiled a great video of Lib Dems on the march, you can watch it below.

I really don’t recall how I ended up being the guy asking the questions, but nice camerawork, Sheila!

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