Stephen Ruffian

How does Tim’s poll rating compare with previous leaders?

By Stephen Ruffian | Fri 30th October 2015 - 2:30 pm

With Tim’s Liberal Democrats being such a reduced force since the election, one might have expected such reductions – and proportional reductions in media coverage – to have affected his ability to make himself known in the one steady, solid indicator of such measures – the monthly Ipsos MORI leadership poll.

Ipsos MORI’s coverage of the question “Is X doing a good job of leader of Y” stretches right back to the second year of David Steel and thus covers the first months of Tim’s immediate predecessors – Paddy, Charles, Ming and Nick.

In his first month, with 22% of the public seeing Tim as doing a ‘good job’ he will be pleased to note that this placed him level pegging with Ming’s first month – and slightly higher than that of Charles, and a whole 7% ahead of either Paddy or Nick. The downside for Tim is that he has a much higher ‘disapproval rate’ (29%) than any of his predecessors, with Paddy being the closest at 19%. The overall score for Tim’s first month was a -7%, which was slightly lower than Paddy’s -4% and Nick’s -3%, but far lower than Ming’s +5% and Charles’ +11%.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 19 Comments
Advert

Agenda 2020 Essay #8 What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today

By Agenda 2020 shortlisted entry | Fri 30th October 2015 - 1:22 pm

Editor’s Note: The party is currently running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme “What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today.” The deadline for contributions is 2nd November. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to [email protected].

It starts with you.

It starts with you and your family.

It starts with you and your family and your friends.

It starts with you and your family and your friends and your community.

It starts with you and your family and your friends and your community and your society.

It starts with you and your family and your friends and your community and your society and your world.

It starts with you and your family and your friends and your community and your society and your world and your future.

It starts with you.

It’s not about doing it for you. It’s certainly not about doing it to you. It’s about giving you the power to do what you want for yourself.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 3 Comments
Graeme Cowie

Against comfort blanket constitutionalism

By Graeme Cowie | Fri 30th October 2015 - 11:58 am

At Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference, I committed a cardinal liberal offence. I voted against a pro-federalism motion, moved by Robert Brown and Lord Purvis. I opposed in sorrow and anger at the Party’s stasis on the constitutional question. I was also annoyed that attempts some of us made to secure a more robust debate at Conference on federalism, were rebuffed by Conference Committee. We were made to feel that the party bureaucracy did not want a real clash of ideas for Conference to resolve democratically.

The motion didn’t take practical steps towards advancing federalism any further than the Party already had. Its tone, if anything, made federalism more difficult to advance. Siobhan Mathers was right when she said in the debate that Lib Dems are excessively high-minded, believing they had more influence than was the reality on further devolution. Though the Campbell Commission reported first, it was outflanked by the Tory proposals on critical areas like welfare. The Party seems reluctant just to admit that, whatever the proximate cause, we lost our radical edge. We did not adapt to the shifting constitutional landscape even before the independence referendum.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 11 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Mixed local election results for Liberal Democrats – joy in Wealden, disappointment in Brentwood

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 30th October 2015 - 11:25 am

We’ll have ALDC’s report later, but I just wanted to highlight a couple of things about the local election results.

Losing a seat where the Liberal Democrats have had a strong local councillor is always a disappointment. I remember back in 2012 the joy when we won the Shenfield ward in a by-election. The seat was retained by Cllr Liz Cohen in 2014. Sadly, it was lost in last night’s by-election as Britain Elects tells us:

Commiserations to the team there who were working very hard to hold the seat. The result was up from the 27.5% we got in the ward this May, but still not enough to hold the seat.

The Brentwood team can take comfort from the knowledge that seats can be regained. They know that from their own experience, but last night, Cllr David White regained the seat he lost in May in the Hellingly ward of Wealdon Council:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 16 Comments
The Voice

LDVideo: Lead not leave, the Lib Dem campaign to stay in the EU

By The Voice | Fri 30th October 2015 - 10:57 am

This video was made at Autumn Conference in Bournemouth. In it, activists, some of whom are also parliamentarians, talk about why they think Britain should stay in the EU. How many can you recognise?

It was great to see so many young people taking part in this.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 3 Comments
Advert
Anne Diamond

Agenda 2020 Essay #7 What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today

By Anne Diamond | Fri 30th October 2015 - 9:50 am

libby on the wall3Editor’s Note: The party is currently running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme “What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today.” The deadline for contributions is 2nd November. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to [email protected].

I did the most terrible thing, which I regretted. I left the Liberal Democrats a few years ago during one of the controversies triggered by Baroness Jenny Tonge. In the coverage of the Middle Eastern situation, what was left out was the Israeli children running the gauntlet of bombs on their way to school, which at the time was not mentioned in the news reports here in the UK. Jews here in the UK were very upset. I was getting increasingly embarrassed, wondering why I was in the party.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 6 Comments

What I learned when I cycled through Palestine

By Anonymous Lib Dem | Fri 30th October 2015 - 8:37 am

Rosina Credit Rugfoot PhotographyJust as tensions began to rise in Israel and the West Bank, I undertook a cycle and study tour of Palestine organised by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). We covered around 200km in five days in 40oC heat – at the time if it felt like the cycling version of the Sahara’s ‘marathon des sables’. I’ve read a lot about the situation in Palestine over the years but nothing could really prepare me for what I saw and experienced in that single week.

Over five days, the sponsored ride took us from Nablus in the North to the enclave town of Qalquilya then on to Ramallah. We then swept down into the Jordan Valley to Jericho and the Dead Sea, 300m below sea level to then climb the next day up to Hebron and back on the final day through Bethlehem to Jerusalem. We were never far from the tensions with Ramallah city going into ‘lock down’ with roads closed not long after we left and one of our group getting trapped in the Al-Aqsa mosque as violence grew in Jerusalem.

What we saw was the suffocating pressure faced by Palestinians in every part of their existence and the resolve needed just to do the day-to-day things we take for granted. The general sense of unease was apparent walking around Jerusalem where there was a heavy military presence and the Jewish civilian settlers were openly carrying hand guns in the street.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Liberal jottings: Stephen Tall’s weekly notebook

By Stephen Tall | Fri 30th October 2015 - 7:45 am

Good Lords above

We live in a topsy turvy world. Following their defeat on tax credits, the Conservatives, who kaiboshed reform in the last parliament, are now urgently reviewing the powers of the House of Lords. Meanwhile Labour, which chose to abstain on a Lib Dem motion stopping the cuts, is promising to support the Tories if they now stop them.

Ah, but aren’t the Lib Dems at least as hypocritical? runs the argument of the unthinking right. The party wants to abolish the Lords yet our peers are “on the warpath”. Let’s leave to one side, for just a moment, that the Conservatives explicitly ruled out making these cuts before the election. Let’s also leave to one side that the Conservatives deliberately chose to avoid a vote on tax credits in the elected Commons… The simple point remains: the Lib Dems participate fully in the Lords because we work for democratic reform within the existing structures. It’s why we continue to stand for election to the Commons even though we think first-past-the-post is a rotten system. I guess it’s also why Ukip stand for election to the European Parliament even though they don’t think it should exist — though oddly you hear a lot less of this alleged hypocrisy from the unthinking right.

Careless Talk Talk

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Nick Clegg: When it comes to the EU, we shouldn’t kid ourselves. All forms of “Out” are as bad as each other

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 29th October 2015 - 4:40 pm

Nick Clegg is doing a lot of writing at the moment. Today, he has an article in the Independent busting the myths put about by Leave the EU campaigners that it would all be fine if we left as we could just be like Iceland or Norway and enjoy the benefits of the single market.

Errr, no, actually, we couldn’t says Nick.

The Outers want us to believe we can have our cake and eat it, effortlessly freeing ourselves from the shackles of Brussels while continuing to trade on equal terms with our neighbours across the Channel.

They argue that Britain can simultaneously abandon the EU, end free movement of people, end all EU budget contributions, repatriate control over employment regulations and retain full access to the European single market. It sounds lovely, but it’s a deception.

And that last point is the most deceptive of all. There is no access to the single market without adherence to its rules and regulations.

Out campaigners respond by talking misleadingly of a ‘free trade deal’ with our European neighbours – but a free trade agreement is a very different thing to accessing the single market.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 22 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Cllr Peter Thornton: Harold Macmillan built our house

By NewsHound | Thu 29th October 2015 - 3:10 pm

Peter Thornton is the Liberal Democrat leader of South Lakeland Council. Their area includes Tim Farron’s Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency. Housing has long been one of the priorities of the Liberal Democrat administration. Peter writes for the Huffington Post comparing the current Conservative thinking on housing to that of their predecessors in the 1950s and 1960s. Harold Macmillan built his family home, he said, on the instructions of Winston Churchill:

This was a generation who knew that setting targets and making speeches was not enough to make things happen. Production, supply lines, labour forces, these were also needed to win wars and also to build the homes that we needed.

Macmillan made sure brickworks were at full production, he organised supplies of softwood from abroad and he divided the country into ten regions, each with it’s own targets. He realised that public housing, Council Houses as we all knew them, was the most efficient way to build homes quickly for the people who needed them.

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Tagged , , and | 10 Comments
The Voice

“I realised my vote was not enough” – why Wendy Chamberlain joined #libdemfightback

By The Voice | Thu 29th October 2015 - 1:40 pm

One of the highlights of Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference last Saturday was seeing new member Wendy Chamberlain introduce Willie Rennie for his keynote speech.

This is what she said:

Firstly, may I offer my thanks to Sheila Thomson and the Conference Committee for asking me as a new party member to speak and introduce Willie to you to deliver his leader’s speech.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Tony Greaves

Lord Tony Greaves writes…Raising awareness of Lyme Disease. Do you know how to deal with tick bites?

By Tony Greaves | Thu 29th October 2015 - 12:10 pm

Ticks courtesy of Lyme Disease Action 1Lyme disease is something rather nasty that you can get from being bittenby a tick. Both Lyme and ticks have had quite a good press of late (or perhaps a bad one) due to a number of “celebrities” getting infected –people such as John Caudwell (founder of Phones 4U) and Bella Hadid, daughter of Yolanda Foster – with long articles in the Mail, Evening Standard and on the BBC website.

Not so well promoted, but I hope important, was a short debate I secured and led on Lyme Disease and other tick-related infections in the House ofLords last week. This was, it seems, the first ever debate in Parliament onthis matter. This is perhaps not surprising since Lyme Disease was onlynamed in 1975 (after a small town in Connecticut where it was first studied). So what is this all about and should we all worry about it?

Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is an infectious disease transmitted tohumans and other animals by bites from ticks, which are small arthropodsrelated to spiders, and I can tell you from a close encounter with quite a big one last June that they are pretty nasty things. Infected ticks transmit the Borreliosis bacterium when they suck your blood, and they are found throughout the UK. They live on vegetation, particularly damp areas of vegetation such as bracken and in woodland. They are found throughout the countryside but they also appear more and more in towns – in parks and in suburban gardens for instance – and they are increasing in number.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 5 Comments
Lester Holloway

Government needs to help push open boardroom doors to BAME talent

By Lester Holloway | Thu 29th October 2015 - 10:48 am

I welcome Vince Cable’s article in the London Evening Standard yesterday on the need for more ethnic diversity in Britain’s FTSE-100 boardrooms.

This is long overdue. British businesses are missing out on diverse talent that could take their companies, and the economy, forward.

In an increasingly competitive global economy we cannot afford to waste the talent that exists in BAME communities.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 18 Comments
Peter Arnold

Agenda 2020 Essay #6 What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today

By Peter Arnold | Thu 29th October 2015 - 9:23 am

Libby - Some rghts reserved by David SpenderEditor’s Note: The party is currently running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme “What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today.” The deadline for contributions is 2nd November. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to [email protected].

To be a Liberal Democrat today is a bit like being part of an endangered species. We no longer appear in the media, opinion poll ratings are still low, and we are treated as a former political party. It was ever thus.

In my nearly fifty years as a member of the Party I have seen our fortunes ebb and flow regularly. This is our third dive to the bottom. We have always managed to come back up, and I believe we will do so again.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Farron: Ministry of Justice need to be “dragged into 21st century” over Tara Hudson

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 29th October 2015 - 8:58 am

Tim Farron has intervened in the case of Tara Hudson, the transgender woman from Bath who has been sent to serve a 12 week prison sentence at an all male prison because, basically, of some paperwork. She’s never applied for a Gender Recognition Certificate, but she has lived as a woman for all of her adult life.

Tim expressed his fears for Tara’s safety to Pink News. He said:

The Liberal Democrats will raise this case in Parliament.

There is a clear need for a policy change in this area. It looks like the Ministry of Justice needs be dragged kicking into the 21st century.

As I understand it, Tara has lived all her adult life as a female. I worry potential risk of harm to her in a male prison which was deemed to have levels of violence ‘considerably higher than in similar prisons’ by the prisons inspectorate.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | 42 Comments
Paul Walter

Tim talks: Talking to refugees in Lesvos and a question to the Prime Minister

By Paul Walter | Wed 28th October 2015 - 7:05 pm

The latest “Tim Talks” video below looks at Tim’s visit to Lesvos and his question to the Prime Minister:

Continue reading »
Posted in Lib Dem TV | Tagged , , and | 9 Comments
Paul Walter

++Tim Farron will be on the Political Slot on Channel 4 at 7.55pm tonight – talking about the refugee crisis

By Paul Walter | Wed 28th October 2015 - 6:00 pm

Tim helping in Lesvos YouTube screenshotFresh back from Lesvos, Tim Farron will be on the Political Slot on Channel 4 tonight arguing that the UK must do more to help with the refugee crisis. It’s on after Channel 4 News at 7.55pm.

The photo above is a screenshot from the video below which shows Tim (in the light blue short and grey trousers) helping refugees ashore in Lesvos.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 9 Comments

Agenda 2020 Essay #5 What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today

By Ian Thomas | Wed 28th October 2015 - 5:19 pm

Libby - Some rghts reserved by David SpenderEditor’s Note: The party is currently running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme “What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today.” The deadline for contributions is 2nd November. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to [email protected].

What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today to me is to promote three basic, yet fundamental, principles to help place in people’s hands the tools they need to make the most of their lives: Freedom, Democracy and Community. I believe that, when achieved, a person can reach their full potential and in turn can help others reach their full potential too.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Iain Donaldson

It is time to press for full gender and sexual equality in our law and administration

By Iain Donaldson | Wed 28th October 2015 - 4:19 pm

The case of Tara Hudson, a transgender woman who has been sent to one of the most violent all male prisons in the country for an admitted assault, highlights once again the need for British law and administration relating to gender dysphoria to be overhauled.

As a cysgender gay man I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to live with a condition where you experience discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between your biological sex and gender identity, but I don’t have to live with medical condition in order to understand the impact …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Cable: Counter-extremism bill will lead to “bland exchange of views” in universities

By The Voice | Wed 28th October 2015 - 8:33 am

The Guardian reports:

The onus placed on universities by the government’s new counter-extremism strategy will lead to inoffensive and bland campus debates without preventing any student radicalisation, according to the former business secretary Vince Cable.

The former Liberal Democrat MP instead says that banning extremist speakers from universities may in fact exacerbate the problem by driving underground hitherto non-violent extremists.

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Tagged and | 8 Comments
Sarah Noble

A Labour leopard doesn’t change its spots

By Sarah Noble | Tue 27th October 2015 - 4:36 pm

Don’t tell anyone, but George Osborne probably let out a sigh of relief when Baroness Manzoor’s fatal motion failed last night.

Of course, it was inevitable that Labour peers would rather bravely abstain on the cuts to tax credits, as their elected counterparts did in July. And Jeremy Corbyn is probably skating on thin ice, given that the scandal of Labour abstaining in July put him where he is today.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 44 Comments
Iain Roberts

It isn’t always good for the Lib Dems when Labour and the Tories agree

By Iain Roberts | Tue 27th October 2015 - 2:52 pm

There are no shortage of lessons for the Lib Dems to learn from our time in Coalition, but one of the most important is to understand the ability of the two main parties to work together to stitch us up like a kipper.

The rule is simple. If the Lib Dems want to get across a particular interpretation of an event, and both Labour and Tories agree on a different interpretation, we’re not going to do it.

I’ll give an example: tax cuts for the rich.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 12 Comments
Simon Oliver

Protecting Nature From The Greed Of Tories

By Simon Oliver | Tue 27th October 2015 - 1:04 pm
Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 19 Comments
The Voice

Tim Farron arrives in Lesvos

By The Voice | Tue 27th October 2015 - 11:52 am

Tim Farron arrived in Greek island of Lesvos (Lesbos) this morning to speak with refugees arriving from Turkey, fleeing conflict in the Middle East.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 12 Comments
Joe Otten

Lords vote to delay tax credit cuts but not to stop them

By Joe Otten | Tue 27th October 2015 - 9:59 am

Yesterday’s “fatal” motion by Liberal Democrat peer Zahida Manzoor to reject the governments tax credits was lost by 310 votes to 99 with the Labour bloc abstaining – another #Labstain on welfare.

Tax credits debate in Lords

Tax credits cuts "will have such a damaging and devastating impact on millions of peoples' lives."That was the verdict of one Liberal Democrats peer – who has provoked fury among Conservatives by introducing an unusual "fatal motion" in the Lords to try to prevent the cuts' introduction.

Posted by Channel 4 News on Monday, 26 October 2015

In moving the fatal motion Baroness Manzoor said

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 39 Comments
Tony Robertson

Agenda 2020 Essay #4 What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today

By Tony Robertson | Tue 27th October 2015 - 8:41 am

Editor’s Note: The party is currently running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme “What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today.” The deadline for contributions is 2nd November. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to [email protected]. 

Liberals by their very nature are people with inquiring minds who want to know as many facts as possible about whatever it is we are considering.

You will rarely see a Liberal reading say the Daily Mail or Daily Mirror because they are little more than propaganda sheets to us. We don’t like our …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 5 Comments
The Voice

Farron on Tax Credits vote: Osborne must go back to the drawing board

By The Voice | Mon 26th October 2015 - 9:03 pm

Commenting on the votes in the House of Lords tonight which resulted in two Government defeats on tax credits, Tim Farron said:

The Government has been forced into an embarrassing climb down. George Osborne must now go back to the drawing board and come back with plans to balance the books that don’t simply attack working families who are already struggling to get by.

We have sent a clear signal to the Tories that the British people will not accept this scale of attack on the vital support they need.

Tonight’s vote gives people hope, but the threat still looms large.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 42 Comments
Rob Parsons

Agenda 2020 Essay #3 What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today

By Rob Parsons | Mon 26th October 2015 - 7:43 pm

Editor’s Note: The party is currently running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme “What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today.” The deadline for contributions is 2nd November. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to [email protected]. 

I am a Liberal Democrat because I have a sense of justice. Justice means everybody getting a fair chance without the playing field being tilted against them throughout their lives. Justice does not mean everyone being treated the same all the time. Equality before the law is a sine qua non, but equality …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Bradley Hillier-Smith

Lib Dems take action to help refugees

By Bradley Hillier-Smith | Mon 26th October 2015 - 6:26 pm

actiondayIt’s that time of the year when you first notice that your breath becomes visible in the cold air and you feel the need for that extra layer. Unfortunately refugees living in the camps across Europe have also noticed their breath in the cold air but may not have the extra layers that they need.

As Lib Dems, I think it is fair to say, we have been appalled by the government’s (lack of) response to the current refugee crisis. We have been appalled that the government has turned its back on …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 6 Comments
Fiona Milne

Politics, everyday sexism and why I won’t be smiling politely anymore

By Fiona Milne | Mon 26th October 2015 - 5:07 pm

I’ve always been a feminist. I just never realised it ’til I started working in politics.

I was brought up with an older brother and sister, by gender/label blind parents. I’m proud of our working class roots (Fife, Bannockburn, mining). It gave us our unfaltering work ethic. A work ethic that keeps my brother in full time employment despite a rare condition that will eventually mean a liver transplant. A work ethic that keeps my sister in full time employment as a single mother of three. A work ethic that stops my parents surrendering to electric armchairs in retirement. Point being, I come from a family of strong willed, free thinking men and women. So the notion that I was a feminist never actually occurred to me because the equality I saw growing up was just a reflection of wider society, right? Wrong! Something I realised 16 years ago when I first became an MSP researcher. “Young filly” was how Middle Aged Male described me as he blithely enquired of my employer, “how do I get one?”.

I was 23. And appalled. But had to smile politely.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 7 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • John B Grout
    Excellent piece, Josh. As for seeking others' thoughts on the pitch, here are mine: Labour and the Greens want to do things for you, the Conservatives and R...
  • David Evans
    It's an interesting article, which gives us more to think about, but when it ends with "Government and politics can strive toward this platform ... giving ind...
  • Neil Sandison
    This one of a series of articles recently published in the Liberal Democrat Voice that defines our social liberal values . Frequently the hot house of Westminst...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    This is the right problem to be working on, and I think the answer may be less about the words than about the moments. In my experience people learn what we sta...
  • Simon Robinson
    It's good to have an MP putting herself forward for this. The manifesto seems a bit vague though. All good thoughts and nothing you can really disagree with, b...