Iain Roberts

Opinion: Make your City a Global success in six easy steps – part 2

By Iain Roberts | Mon 12th January 2015 - 4:00 pm

The UK has a problem: outside London our cities underperform. They fail to generate as much wealth as they should and many are net drains on the public purse. That’s not the case in every country – the UK is unusual in its concentration of wealth and power in one big city.

In part 1 of my article I set out the first three of the six steps cities need to take to turn that situation around. In this concluding part I identify the final three steps.

Step four: create more employment

The study “Investing in City regions” (2014) by Volterra Partners identifies a correlation between employment density and earnings. Where employees are packed in more closely together, they tend to earn more and work in more knowledge-intensive industries. Employment areas are ten times denser in parts of London than in Manchester. Of course, denser employment makes transportation even more important and reduces the role of the car.

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Lord Dominic Addington

Lord Dominic Addington writes…Disabled students must have an equal shot at life

By Lord Dominic Addington | Mon 12th January 2015 - 3:00 pm

Last week I asked a question in the Lords on the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). The DSA allows those with a disability, a long term health condition, or dyslexia (like myself) an equal shot at higher education. The support people receive through this allowance can be vital in ensuring a student’s chances of academic success aren’t dictated by their disability or health, but by their effort and ability.

Like all areas of Government spending, the DSA is being examined for potential savings and to make sure money is going where it is needed most.  However, my question in the Lords was inspired by the amount of confusion there is within all the groups involved in the DSA, ranging from suppliers to students, over what exactly is going to be in place once these reforms go through.

At the moment there is a great deal of fear mongering about not having sufficient resources to enable people to be able to complete their course, let alone work independently as you’re supposed to in higher education. Any change that does not embrace this principle is effectively excluding certain groups unnecessarily.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Paddy Ashdown – We have experienced anarchy like this before. We should not over-react to it

By NewsHound | Mon 12th January 2015 - 2:00 pm

PAddy Ashdown by Liberal DemocratsWriting in the Independent on Sunday yesterday, Paddy Ashdown compared the violence in Paris with earlier events:

You do not have to be a young Muslim living in the 21 century to be subject to radicalisation. It has always, down the ages been possible to persuade young men (and a few – a very few young women) of all faiths and none to the believe that is noble to kill innocent people in pursuit of what they have been persuaded is a great cause.

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Rob Blackie

Opinion: How to interrogate a terrorist using diabetic biscuits

By Rob Blackie | Mon 12th January 2015 - 12:32 pm

Is it more effective to force people to do things, or to charm them?

The surprising answer that’s tucked into the US Senate’s recent investigation into terrorist interrogation, is that, even with hardened Al-Qaeda terrorists, charm is usually more effective.

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Caron Lindsay

No ifs, buts or maybes. Liberal Democrats must not support Counter Terrorism and Security Bill in its current form.

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 12th January 2015 - 12:03 pm

I’ve written before that I have reservations about the Government’s Counter Terrorism and Security Bill. Last week, there were signs that Nick Clegg was going to insist on changes when it comes to the House of Lords.

The very least you would expect for a Bill that’s supported by Liberal Democrats is that it meets human rights standards. Today, a report by Parliament’s joint committee on human rights says that amendments are required in several key areas of the Bill:

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David Warren

Opinion: The Trade Union and Workplace Reforms Debate

By David Warren | Mon 12th January 2015 - 10:56 am

The issue of the unions and strikes is back in the political arena.

I have lost count of the number of times in recent years that the Tories have called for participation thresholds in industrial action ballots before they can be considered legal. Indeed I commented on similar Tory proposals for Lib Dem Voice back in 2011. This time the figure they are proposing is 40%.

Once again they are focusing on the public sector; this is clearly an attempt to throw some red meat to their supporters.

It is too early to say if this going to be a big issue in the coming General Election. The winter of discontent is a distant memory, and union membership has fallen dramatically since its height in the late 1970s. However all democrats should be opposed to measures that restrict the rights of working people to withdraw their labour.

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NewsHound

LibLink Special: Martin Horwood’s cartoon column for his local newspaper in tribute to Charlie Hebdo victims

By NewsHound | Mon 12th January 2015 - 10:26 am

Martin Horwood, Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham is also a skilled cartoonist.

He writes a regular column for the Gloucestershire Echo. This week, he felt it was time to pick up the pen again “for the right to write and draw and think in freedom.”

Martin Horwood cartoon column

 

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Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone writes on violence against women in India and Burma

By Lynne Featherstone | Mon 12th January 2015 - 9:11 am

Since 2010 I’ve had the pleasure of serving as the UK’s ministerial champion for tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) overseas – a role that’s followed me from the Home Office to Department for International Development and back, which makes sense. It’s a clear sign that as well as our commitment to tackling violence against women and girls in the UK, this Coalition Government is committed to working internationally to end this global problem.

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The Voice

Featherstone and Hughes defend Coalition record on civil liberties in letter to Independent on Sunday

By The Voice | Sun 11th January 2015 - 8:30 pm

The coalition’s record on civil liberties took a bit of  a pasting in last week’s Independent on Sunday. Today, Justice Minister Simon Hughes and Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone defended the Liberal Democrat record in a letter to the paper. Their missive rather felt the sharp edge of the editor’s pen, but the full version (via the party website) is below. They have a good go at both the Tories and Labour.

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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s Sunday Selection: Must-read articles from the Sunday papers

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 11th January 2015 - 7:35 pm

sundaypapsA bit later today, but here’s my pick of the best of the Sunday papers.

First up, in the Sunday Times (£), we have a story on Osborne’s plan to cut taxes for rich dead people (shelved from 2010 when Nick Clegg ensured that taxes were cut for low and middle income earners instead) while also cutting public spending for those people who rely on public services.  Their priorities are clear, I guess.

In the same paper, an article looks at the likelihood of terrorist attacks in this country and moves afoot to prevent them. It highlights differences of opinion between Nick Clegg, who has put his foot down on increased surveillance powers and Ming Campbell who sits on the Intelligence and Security Committee.

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #406

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 11th January 2015 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 406th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (4 – 01 January, 2015), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can 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:

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The Voice

LDV’s Sunday Best: our 7 most-read articles this week

By The Voice | Sun 11th January 2015 - 2:35 pm

7 ver 4 fullMany thanks to the 19,100 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Êtes-vous Charlie? (100 comments) by The Voice

Ming Campbell’s response to the Charlie Hebdo shootings worries me (95 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Could there be a National Government by the end of the year (42 comments) by Sally Pearson

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Paul Walter

Je suis encore Charlie

By Paul Walter | Sun 11th January 2015 - 12:54 pm

It was a “you’ll remember where you were when you heard the news” moment.

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Newspuppy

You can tell there’s an election coming up.. #1

By Newspuppy | Sun 11th January 2015 - 10:54 am

You can always tell when there’s an election coming up when stories start appearing in the press in the category of: “Someone with an (incredibly tenuous) link to a Lib Dem has done a Bad Thing.”

The Guardian’s been guilty of two of those recently.

First they published a story saying that an “aide to Vince Cable” had tweeted that convicted rapist Ched Evans was “probably not guilty.” The person in question was a civil servant in Vince’s department.  I would imagine that the spokesman for Vince Cable quoted was also a BIS press spokesperson, not a Liberal Democrat.

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Lee Dargue

Opinion: Why we can all be Charlie

By Lee Dargue | Sun 11th January 2015 - 8:55 am

I’ve often been moved to offer a rebuttal to comments made in the public sphere. Indeed, I’m known for taking a sharp intake of breath and squeezing my eyes shut in an anxious state when Michael Gove went to make a comment on education, before taking my big letter writing pen to an article asking what planet he inhabits.

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Caron Lindsay

Tweets from the campaign trail – the first major campaign Saturday of 2015

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 10th January 2015 - 9:16 pm

I’m going to get told off for that headline, I’m sure, because I expect most Liberal Democrat campaign teams were out campaigning last Saturday too. Anyway, I thought I’d share a few tweets to give a wee flavour of what our candidates have been up to today.

We have to start with Tom Brake. Can you believe he’s been running street stalls in Wallington since 1990? That’s 300 separate occasions.

Lynne Featherstone shows that Lib Dem MPs get results:

The Cleggster was out and about in Sheffield.

And Christine Jardine wasn’t letting the snow stop her from socking it to Salmond in Gordon:

A warm reception on the doors, then.

Nobody was letting the seasonal weather put them off, especially not Tim Farron. It was quite appropriate that I’d been writing this morning’s article about him last night (I know how to live) while watching a programme about the excellent film Frozen.

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NewsHound

Trouble and strife for Labour in Redcar

By NewsHound | Sat 10th January 2015 - 12:55 pm

In 2010, Liberal Democrat Ian Swales won the Redcar seat with a swing of 22% from Labour. He announced last July that he was standing down and in September local Councillor Josh Mason was selected to defend his 5200 majority.

It seems that while the Liberal Democrats in Redcar are working hard to elect Josh, all is not so well in the Labour camp where local leaders have been likened to North Korea and a neighbouring Labour MP has taken to using Freedom of Information legislation to find out what his party’s council is doing.

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Caron Lindsay

Ruwan Kodikara becomes Nick Clegg’s “Head of Media and Brand”

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 10th January 2015 - 10:55 am

I have to say that “Head of Media and Brand” is a job title that makes me want to cry. A human being is not some corporate monolith that makes tins of soup or handbags.

PR Week has more information:

Kodikara, who is based in Number 10 and becomes a special adviser to Clegg, was previously a senior consultant at Quiller. Prior to that he was associate director at MHP Communications. Kodikara is also chairman of Kingston & Surbiton Liberal Democrats and treasurer of the body Lib Dems in Communications.

Kodikara has an impressive Liberal Democrat pedigree. Often unfairly, Nick’s inner circle is criticised for not having enough of a party pedigree. Matt Hanney cops this one most, but he was delivering Focus before he was out of nappies. Kodikara has a long association with the Liberal Democrats both at HQ and in Kingston.

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The Voice

Farron: Publish Chilcot Report within a week

By The Voice | Sat 10th January 2015 - 9:22 am

On Thursday, Tim Farron, writing for this site, said that Liberal Democrats must continue to push for the Chilcot Report to be published.

In the same way, we must push for the UK’s Chilcot report into the Iraq war to be published. The delay has gone on long enough – key actors like Tony Blair and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw must be held to account. Jack Straw steps down as an MP in May – it is vital that the truth about Iraq comes out long before that!

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Stephen Tall

LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League: how it stands after Week 20

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th January 2015 - 7:50 am
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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg We must always be free to criticise ideas, even religious ones

By NewsHound | Fri 9th January 2015 - 2:30 pm

A powerful article in today’s Telegraph passionately defending the right to free speech by Nick Clegg:

Every so often we are confronted by events that force each of us to take a clear stand – and a side. The attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo was just such a moment, demanding a straight answer to a simple question: “are you Charlie?” You don’t have to agree with everything, or even anything, that Charlie Hebdo published to “be Charlie” – you only have to wish to protect the freedoms and rights that define liberal societies like ours.

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Opinion: Liberal Democrats are the only party which can be trusted to get the European question right – we should say so

By Bryan Cartledge | Fri 9th January 2015 - 12:59 pm

At some point during the next 2-3 years the British people will probably be faced with the most crucial decision to confront them since the end of World War II: that of whether or not to leave the European Union. The importance of this issue far transcends that of the individual policies listed in the emerging manifestos of the three main parties. The impact of these policies will be felt for, at best, the span of a single Parliament. The impact of our decision on Europe will be felt for decades.

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The Voice

Êtes-vous Charlie?

By The Voice | Fri 9th January 2015 - 11:31 am

There was a bit of a discussion on Twitter yesterday about the use of the hashtag “Je suis Charlie.” Some people are uncomfortable about being seen to endorse a publication whose views they did not agree with. Here are two opposing views from George Potter and Caron Lindsay:

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Mark Wright

Opinion: Deliberately offending people might be necessary

By Mark Wright | Fri 9th January 2015 - 8:36 am

I’ve been pretty disappointed in the reaction of progressives to the aftermath of the Paris massacre, in particular the debate over satirical imagery of Mohammed. A fair few progressives are saying that it’s wrong to publish such satire, because it’s known that it will offend people, and deliberately offending people is wrong. This initially sounds like a reasonable position, but as a progressive it disappoints me for two reasons.

The first reason is that just a few weeks ago, many of these same people were arguing in exactly the opposite direction:

a) a mother was breastfeeding in public and was given a …

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The Voice

Je suis Charlie

By The Voice | Thu 8th January 2015 - 7:22 pm

Charlie front page

We have made an extraordinary change to our home page. We have four “featured post” windows at the top of it. They contain a photo accompanied by a headline. Today we have changed all the photos to show a “Je suis Charlie” image. The headlines then link to articles, on the subject, which we have published so far.

This is a small act, to underline a few things.

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Vince Cable

Vince Cable writes… Osborne’s deep cuts are damaging and ideological

By Vince Cable | Thu 8th January 2015 - 6:31 pm

It is encouraging to be part of a Lib Dem chorus from across the party denouncing Osborne’s damaging, ideologically inspired, proposals for further deep cuts in spending on public services throughout the next Parliament.

Being in coalition means that we have to go out of our way to differentiate ourselves clearly from the Tories on the central issue of economic policy. The Tories want to create an election narrative of Tory competence versus Labour incompetence (with the LibDems portrayed either as marginal to the story or cheering the Tories on). Next week’s parliamentary debate on a fiscal charter makes the issue of differentiation particularly topical.

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Caron Lindsay

Ming Campbell’s response to the Charlie Hebdo shootings worries me

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 8th January 2015 - 4:40 pm

I was more than a little perturbed when I saw Ming Campbell on the BBC News Channel this morning. He was talking about yesterday’s atrocity at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

He started well enough, saying that this was not just an attack on France but on our values, Then he worried me by asking that we now need to ask ourselves how much we need to curb freedom in order to protect it, adding that the bigger the threat, the greater the precautions you need to take.

He brought it back a little by saying that you can’t protect everyone from everything, but there are things you can do to minimise the risk. Then came the killer punch: he said that we may have to consider things that would be unacceptable at other times in order to deal with the extremists.

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The Voice

Christmas in Bermondsey the Simon Hughes way: “Our big city is made up of little villages, little communities and we all have to look after each other”

By The Voice | Thu 8th January 2015 - 3:30 pm

Do you have those inevitable first week of January blues? This will warm your heart because it’s really what politics is all about. It’s about making people’s lives better. It’s a short film showing Simon Hughes going around various community events in his constituency on Christmas Day. As he said, the big city is made up of villages and we all need to look after each other. Enjoy.

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Caron Lindsay

Call Clegg review: “You cannot have freedom unless people are free to offend each other”

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 8th January 2015 - 2:00 pm

A very croaky Nick was back in the hot seat for Call Clegg this morning. Gone was his usual jacket and tie-less shirt combo for a more relaxed pullover look, and he seems to have new glasses too.

Yesterday’s attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris was uppermost in everyone’s minds, with three questions on this. The first two were variations on the theme of “Is enough being done to stop this happening here?” The third provoked exactly the angry response you would expect from the leader of a liberal party. The questioner implied that the magazine’s content was the staw that broke the camel’s back for Muslims after the US being complicit in torture and the invasion of Iraq. I was quite shocked at his line of questioning and very proud of the way that Nick dealt with him.

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Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron writes… Never has the political market been so crowded in the UK. Never has there been more space for a Liberal Party.

By Tim Farron MP | Thu 8th January 2015 - 12:30 pm

I cannot start this article without expressing my deep shock and concern for the families affected by the attack on Charlie Hebdo. It is stark warning that we can no longer take for granted the liberal order which our predecessors fought for.

It is a great honour to be appointed Foreign Affairs spokesperson and I want to thank Nick for giving me this opportunity. I am very aware that it is rare for foreign affairs to be the defining issue for most voters. But this election, as in so many other ways, is not running the usual course.

UKIP has brought …

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