Nick T

TTIP and the NHS: Separating fact from fiction

By Nick T | Thu 8th January 2015 - 11:01 am

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a proposed agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union and United States. If agreed it will make it easier for companies and individuals across all EU member states and America to trade with one another, as well as encouraging greater bilateral investment.

I wrote generally about TTIP on LDV back in July, given that it is party policy to support the agreement. However, even at that point a concerted campaign had begun linking TTIP to the supposed privatisation of the National Health Service, with union leaders, campaigning websites and politicians calling either for TTIP to be abandoned or for special safeguards to be included.

This piece, therefore, addresses that issue in some detail.

Investor State Dispute Settlement

The “investment” part of TTIP seeks to increase the amount of foreign direct investment that flows between EU member states and the US. In other words, the amount of money that is spent establishing or expanding businesses or on other projects on which a monetary return is expected.

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Cara Jenkinson

The place to go for all things Education – LDEA’s new website

By Cara Jenkinson | Thu 8th January 2015 - 8:59 am

If you are a parliamentary or council candidate and you want to find out more about Lib Dem education priorities and 2015 manifesto policies, you can now go to the shiny new Liberal Democrat Education Association (LDEA) website.

Whilst we have achieved a lot in this government including £2.5billion of pupil premium, free school meals for infants, a new progress-based measure to replace the A*-C metric and our programme for 2-year olds, many challenges remain. Teacher morale is low, mainly as a result of the Govian years of a lack of trust and respect for the profession coupled with a target-driven, data-led culture which has increased workload substantially. Although standards have risen in some areas, provision in many rural areas and seaside towns is poor. A punitive approach by Ofsted has made the role of headteacher even more demanding and contributes to recruitment challenges for senior positions. Education funding remains under threat, with neither the Tories nor Labour committing to protect the schools budget.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Edward McMillan Scott – The embarrassing link between Cameron and Germany’s anti-Islamic movement

By NewsHound | Wed 7th January 2015 - 4:50 pm

Writing on Politics.co.uk, former MEP Edward McMillan-Scott highlights a potential cause of tension at today’s meeting in London between the Prime Minister and the German Chancellor:

When Angela Merkel meets David Cameron in London today, one topic could cause embarrassment to both leaders: Cameron’s association with the German anti-Islamist movement, Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West), which was condemned at the New Year by the German chancellor.

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The Voice

Nick Clegg on the Charlie Hebdo horror: “barbaric attack on freedom of speech”

By The Voice | Wed 7th January 2015 - 4:10 pm

Nick Clegg has responded to the news of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris:

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David Faggiani

Opinion: Why not limit MPs to four terms in Parliament?

By David Faggiani | Wed 7th January 2015 - 3:40 pm

 

I was thinking recently about how to increase opportunity and impact in UK politics for people, in a popular way. I came to an idea which I thought was worth floating, not because of its originality, but because of its obviousness: why not limit Westminster terms for MPs?

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The Voice

Charlie Hebdo – in sympathy and solidarity

By The Voice | Wed 7th January 2015 - 2:40 pm

The news from Paris today is deeply shocking. There are twelve people who are reported dead and four reported injured by the attack at the offices of satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. Four cartoonists and the editor-in-chief of the magazine are reported to be among the dead. We express our sincere sympathy to those who have lost loved ones and those affected by the tragedy. We also express our solidarity with the French people and Charlie Hebdo magazine in standing for free speech and against such mindless acts.

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Newsmoggie

LibLink: David Laws – Tories will cut schools spending by a quarter

By Newsmoggie | Wed 7th January 2015 - 2:05 pm

Writing in today’s Telegraph, David Laws says that Tory plans will mean huge cuts to spending on schools:

The Conservatives are offering unfunded tax cuts, meaning they will have to go on making deep cuts to public spending – by far more than is necessary to balance the books.

This would be a huge threat to all we are achieving on education.

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Paul Walter

Shirley Williams talks about the new film based on the life of her mother, Vera Brittain

By Paul Walter | Wed 7th January 2015 - 11:54 am

Baroness Shirley Williams has been speaking to the Telegraph on the occasion of the release of a film based on her mother, Vera Brittain’s memoir, Testament of Youth:

Baroness Williams has praised her mother Vera Brittain’s lifelong efforts as a pacifist, saying her only regret is that “she wasn’t here when we fought against the Iraq war.”

The 84-year-old Lib Dem grandee spoke about her mother at the premiere of the film adaptation of Brittain’s First World War memoir, Testament of Youth.

She said of the writer, feminist and campaigner who died in 1970: “She never gave up. She was as much against the Vietnam War as she was against the First World War.”

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Paul Walter

Offering “heart and spine” – should we be mentioning the “c” word in the election campaign?

By Paul Walter | Wed 7th January 2015 - 9:54 am

 

As an experiment, comments for this post will be moderated and confined to new and infrequent commenters on this site. “Infrequent” is defined as having posted less than five comments in the last month. We have 40 posts a week where our frequent commenters have more than enough space to express their views. This post is reserved for new and not-so-frequent commenters.

We carried Nick Clegg’s Monday press conference speech in full. It was a very well-written and compelling narrative.

He said that the 2015 election will be about:

Who is best placed to finish the (recovery) job and do so fairly?

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Paul Walter

Our next post will be reserved for new and infrequent commenters

By Paul Walter | Wed 7th January 2015 - 9:44 am

 

A very good morning from your Wednesday editor.

Our cheery morning photo (above) shows Stephen Fry and Elliott Spencer. Many congratulations to them both on their forthcoming marriage, the plan for which became public yesterday.

We’re going to try something a bit different today.

As an experiment, comments on the next post, to follow in ten minutes’ time, will be moderated and reserved for new and infrequent commenters on this site.

“Infrequent” is defined as having posted less than five comments in the last month.

We have 40 posts a week where our frequent commenters have more than enough space to express their views. We welcome those views but we’d like to try giving a little breathing space especially to people who haven’t commented here before or have done so only a little recently.

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Caron Lindsay

Vince Cable and Danny Alexander to be confirmed as Election Spokesmen for Cabinet jobs they have been doing for the last five years

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 7th January 2015 - 8:36 am

 

Exclusive, Vince Cable will lose his economy job with the Lib Dems tomorrow screams the Spectator headline. In fact, this is the second biggest surprise since the sun last rose in the East. The first biggest surprise, by the way, was that Alex Salmond would stand in Gordon where he faces defeat by Lib Dem Christine Jardine in May.

Anyway, back to the story which is about the party announcing its spokespeople for the General Election. It is hardly a surprise that Vince and Danny have been named as covering the roles they have been doing for the last five years. Doesn’t sound quite so scandalous that way, does it? Some might say that’s a sensible choice and would be more of a story if it weren’t that way round.

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Caron Lindsay

48 good things Nick Clegg has done

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 7th January 2015 - 7:48 am

 

It’s Nick Clegg’s 48th birthday today and we at Liberal Democrat Voice obviously wish him a happy day and successful year ahead.

I thought it might be a good idea (with a little help from LDV colleagues) to take a look at some of the good things he’s done, 48 of them to be precise, and encourage party supporters to make 48 calls to voters in our key seats to tell them about them this week. Not all of them in each call, of course, but there’s plenty to be going on with.

So, here we go:

1.  From his very first major speech as leader, championing mental health and in government improving treatment and services.

2.  Investing money in disadvantaged kids in school which is already helping to improve attainment figures in that group.

3.  Defying both Labour and the Conservatives to cut income tax for people on low and middle incomes.

4.  Having the guts to take questions for half an hour every week from members of the public on live radio.

5.  Not just voting for same sex marriage but actively and enthusiastically being comfortable with it.

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Newspuppy

The tale of Taylor Swift, Twitter and the Liberal Democrat MP

By Newspuppy | Tue 6th January 2015 - 11:20 pm

 

This has to be the strangest Twitter conversation involving a Liberal Democrat MP this year.

Lib Dem conference rally and party political broadcast superstar Kavya Kaushik asked Jeremy Browne on Twitter:

Hi @JeremyBrowneMP do you like Taylor Swift? Do you like Libertarian Fans of Taylor Swift on Facebook? Did you create the movement?

His reply:

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The Voice

While we’re talking about deadlines….

By The Voice | Tue 6th January 2015 - 7:08 pm

We told you about the secret elections earlier, but there’s something else you might want to think about. The deadline for submitting motions for the Spring Conference in Liverpool is less than 8 days away. It’s 1pm on Wednesday 14th January so if you are keen to see a change in policy, now is your chance. Get it drafted and get 10 voting representatives to sign it.

The party website has some tips for writing motions here.

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Opinion: Could there be a National Government by the end of the year?

By Sally Pearson | Tue 6th January 2015 - 2:54 pm

Many readers of Liberal Democrat Voice may have missed the Financial Times’ prediction that 2015 “will see the creation of a national government in the UK.” It sounds deeply implausible. But activists who remember the coalitions between Labour and Conservative that have operated in local government over the past 25 years will recognise that these two deeply self-interested parties have more in common than they admit – including a strong reluctance to share power with Liberal Democrats.  So here is a New Year fantasy on how the FT’s prediction might come true.

No-one was surprised that the General Election of May 2015 was inconclusive but the degree of uncertainty was even larger than expected. Labour won the most seats – some 279, on 30% of the vote.  33% voted for the Conservatives, but this gave them only 267 MPs.  UKIP came third in terms of votes, but won only 6 seats. The Liberal Democrats, with 38 MPs, were the third largest party in the Commons, but with 4% less votes than UKIP. The SNP won 36 MPs, claiming that with a loose alliance with the 3 Plaid MPs it now outweighed the Liberal Democrats.  3 Greens, and 18 Northern Ireland MPs (9 DUP, 3 SDLP, 5 Sinn Fein, 1 Alliance), completed the tally.

With three or four parties polling over 20% in many seats, nearly 50 MPs had been elected on less than a third of the vote; 15 were returned on less than 30%, including 2 Greens and several Liberal Democrats.  Newly elected MPs who had scraped small majorities in hard-fought contests had little enthusiasm for an early second election.

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David Warren

Opinion: A life after caring

By David Warren | Tue 6th January 2015 - 1:32 pm

There are an estimated six million carers in the UK and the system is struggling to provide them with the support they need.

I have written previously about my experience, in which I abruptly had to give up a full time job to become a carer.

The Liberal Democrats have included policies in their pre manifesto that will help, but it isn’t just about carers while they are actually caring.

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The Voice

You’d think these important party elections were a secret or something

By The Voice | Tue 6th January 2015 - 11:55 am

 

Chances are you don’t know this unless you’ve been unusually geeky about the party website over the Christmas period, but some very important elections are taking place and the closing date for nominations is this Friday, 9th January, at 5pm.

The electorate is very small – the 30 or so members of the Federal Executive. However, there are several positions, such as the Chair of the influential Campaigns and Communications Committee, that are open to any party member. Here’s the call for nominations which is hidden away in the members’ section of the party website. In fact, you actually have to download the papers to get it. Here’s the posts available:

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The Voice

Clegg says Lib Dems would spend extra £8bn on NHS

By The Voice | Tue 6th January 2015 - 10:25 am

nhs sign lrgNick Clegg has set out how the Liberal Democrats would invest in the NHS in government for the next five years.

From the Guardian:

Fleshing out the figure released by the deputy prime minister at a press conference, the Lib Dems said they would increase the NHS’s funding by £8bn a year by 2020-21 in three stages. They would make permanent the coalition government’s extra £2bn a year – which was announced in the autumn statement – by 2015-16.

In addition, Clegg said the party would find another £1bn a year in real terms in 2016-17 by capping pension tax relief for the wealthiest (which the Lib Dems said would save £500m), aligning dividend tax with income tax for those earning more than £150,000 (saving £400m) and scrapping the shares for rights scheme, which allows employees to forfeit certain employment rights in return for company shares (saving £100m).

Once it had reduced the deficit in 2017-18, Clegg said that the party would increase health spending in line with growth in the economy. He said: “It’s a combination of change plus more money and the reason we can do that, and no other party will be able to do that, is firstly, as we explained at our party conference, is we are going to introduce some tax changes which only affect the very wealthiest, to put in an extra billion pounds into the NHS, and next year and the year after that.”

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Paul Pettinger

Opinion: We need to stand up for Liberal Democrat distinctiveness on economic policy

By Paul Pettinger | Tue 6th January 2015 - 8:55 am

This weekend the latest Federal Party mailing further confirmed that the Party continues to define itself as a split-the-difference party between Labour and Conservatives, painting only Labour as a risk to the economy. Successive rounds of poor election results should have taught us that we need to change tack. The mailing reads, ‘Our message for 2015’:

So the choice in this election is clear: Labour will borrow too much, risking the economy. The Tories will cut too much, threatening public services and sacrificing the least well off. The Liberal Democrats will borrow less than Labour and cut less than the Tories.

Campaigners should deviate from this line to achieve a better election result. We need to stand up for Liberal Democrat distinctiveness on economic policy. If we don’t, no one else will.

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Caron Lindsay

++Breaking: Clegg gets tough with Theresa on terror measures

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 5th January 2015 - 10:46 pm

I have been uneasy about some of the measures in the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill which will be debated in the Commons in the next two days. It will clear its Commons stages, but once the Lords get their hands on it, they could quite easily defeat some of its key provisions. Nick Clegg has signalled that Liberal Democrats may withdraw support if more judicial oversight isn’t guaranteed. The Guardian has the story:

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Caron Lindsay

LDVideo: Nick Clegg on buoyant form, saying: Liberal Democrats needed to govern responsibly and fairly

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 5th January 2015 - 10:18 pm

Nick Clegg looked not just ready for but enthusiastic about the 122 day long election campaign to come this morning. He was in great form at his monthly press conference and in a short video afterwards made 3 key points:

1. “The simple question is who can finish the job of sorting the economy but do so fairly.”

2. It’s not lefty Labour or never-ending austerity with the Tories. He also called the SNP, UKIP and Plaid a “rag bag” of factional and sectional interests who would make a mess of the next Parliament.

3. Liberal Democrats offer compassionate, fair government and economic competence.

Watch the whole thing here.

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Stephen Phillips

Opinion: 120 days to save the country

By Stephen Phillips | Mon 5th January 2015 - 5:28 pm

Like most voters. I dislike negative electioneering. It does nothing but give the impression that politicians behave more like little children who cannot share their toys than like the people in whose hands we should be placing the safety and economic wellbeing of the country.

That said, we can be confident that there will be plenty of negativity about, particularly as the Conservatives try to distance themselves from the steadying effect that the LibDems have had within the coalition. So I wonder if we should take this opportunity to get negativity out of the way now, before we get on with what really needs to be said in the election campaign proper.

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Iain Roberts

Opinion: Make your city a global success in six easy steps – part 1

By Iain Roberts | Mon 5th January 2015 - 4:00 pm

In 1900 just one in ten people lived in cities. Today over half do and nearly all population growth in the next few decades is expected to be in larger conurbations. Around the world cities are the engines of growth and prosperity, with governments working to tackle the challenges that brings with it.

The UK has a major city problem: with the exception of London our cities underperform. Other countries do it better – the concentration on one city at the expense of the rest is unusual. As the Royal Society report The Future of Cities (2014) says:

The relative underperformance of the large secondary cities, and the low number of cities that perform well above the national average, sets the UK apart.

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The Voice

The 12 most-read LDV posts of 2014 (Day 12)

By The Voice | Mon 5th January 2015 - 2:45 pm
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The Voice

Nick Clegg’s press conference today

By The Voice | Mon 5th January 2015 - 2:15 pm

Nick Clegg Glasgow 2014 Liberal DemocratsAt the press conference this morning Nick Clegg said:

We, as a country, have come a long way since the great crash of 2008. Those long nights in May 2010 when we negotiated the coalition as riots took place on the streets of Athens and our economy teetered on the brink seem ages ago now.

It’s been a hard slog – for everybody – but one that is beginning to pay off. The economy is recovering, the deficit is coming down, more people are in work and wages are starting to overtake inflation.

The central question in this year’s election is simply this: who is best placed to finish the job and do so fairly?

There are two huge risks which now loom large: the threat from those whose plans would undo the economic repair job; and the threat from the populists who want to put their own narrow interests ahead of the interests of the country.

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Martin Horwood

Martin Horwood MP writes…Pavement politics

By Martin Horwood | Mon 5th January 2015 - 11:58 am

Pavement_parking_1 by PeterEastern
It is a badge of honour for Lib Dem MPs, Councillors and activists when people call us pavement politicians. We are a party that is relentlessly focused on community politics and the issues that matter on streets up and down the country.

That’s why, when I was drawn earlier this year in the Private Member’s Bill ballot, I decided to champion a Bill focused on an issue that blights tens of thousands of streets across the country – pavement parking.

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Helen Flynn

Opinion: What it will take to win in 2015

By Helen Flynn | Mon 5th January 2015 - 9:31 am

The fact that there are just over four months now until the general election put me into a pensive mood about the state of British politics, what we need to do to change it and what I need to do to win.

The “trends” are:

  • People are increasingly disengaged from politics and have little faith in either politicians or the political process
  • People are increasingly not aligned to individual political parties
  • Young people, in particular, generally struggle to see the relevance of politics to their own lives
  • Because of prolonged austerity and “squeezed” living standards for the majority, populism, the politics of fear and a culture of blame are rallying support for extremist parties such as Ukip.
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The Voice

What’s on in our parliaments this week? 5-9 January 2015

By The Voice | Mon 5th January 2015 - 8:22 am

While AMs in Cardiff have another week off, it’s back to business at Holyrood and Westminster. So what will MSPs and MPs be debating this week?

Holyrood

Mental health is starting to really matter on the political agenda and although the Scottish Government is lagging behind Norman Lamb and Nick Clegg in terms of improvements to service, at least the Parliament will be debating a Scottish Government motion on mental health on Tuesday.

There will also be debates on boosting the economy, active travel and Winter Festivals.

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The Voice

Christine Jardine attracts cross-party support in her quest to become MP for Gordon

By The Voice | Sun 4th January 2015 - 8:00 pm

Christine jardineLiberal Democrat PPC for Gordon is receiving offers of help from people who campaigned for a No vote in the independence referendum last September. These include supporters of both Labour and Conservative parties who are prepared to vote for her to stop Alex Salmond’s return to Westminster.

There will be no official pact between the parties but Christine won a lot of friends during the referendum campaign with her infectious enthusiasm and endless energy so it’s hardly surprising that they think she’s more than a match for Salmond.

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #405

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 4th January 2015 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 405th 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 (28 December 2014 – 3 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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