Malcolm Bruce

Sir Malcolm Bruce writes…Creating liberal policies to change the political agenda

By Malcolm Bruce | Mon 1st December 2014 - 7:30 pm

I was delighted on Tuesday to be elected as chair of the Federal Policy Committee, for the period up until the general election when I will stand down after 32 years as an MP. With the election now only a few months away it will be a busy and exciting time for the committee as we look to finalise the manifesto and the offer we will take to voters on May the 7th. I’m confident the new committee is up to the challenge and I cannot think of a more talented or committed group of people to work with over the coming months.

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Caron Lindsay

Labour’s attitude to abortion devolution says a lot about their attitude to Scotland

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 1st December 2014 - 3:55 pm

When I wrote about the Smith Commission report last week, I was intrigued by its decision not to devolve abortion law to Scotland despite all the parties wanting to do so,  Here’s a reminder of what I said:

One last point: I’d quite like to know the story behind the fudge on abortion and embryology:

  • The parties are strongly of the view to recommend the devolution of abortion and regard it as an anomalous health reservation. They agree that further serious consideration should be given to its devolution and a process should be established immediately to consider the matter further.
  • The devolution of xenotransplantation; embryology, surrogacy and genetics; medicines, medical supplies and poisons; and welfare foods (i.e. matters reserved under Sections J2 to J5 of Head J – Health and Medicines, Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998) should be the subject of further discussions between the UK and Scottish Governments. Those discussions are without prejudice to whether or not devolution takes place and in what form.

    • If they all agree, why not just devolve it?

    Scotland on Sunday had an explanation. Apparently, it was Labour who vetoed its inclusion:

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    Caron Lindsay

    Liberal Democrats of the Month

    By Caron Lindsay | Mon 1st December 2014 - 2:55 pm

    On Saturday afternoon when every Liberal Democrat on Twitter was pretending not to care whilst refreshing @LibDemPress every 3 seconds to see if we had a result in the Presidential Election, I whiled away the time by asking who they would nominate to be their Liberal Democrats of the Month. It was, frankly, a more constructive use of time than yet another turf war between @LDFriendsofCake and @LibDemBiscuits.

    Here is what they came up with:

    Josh Dixon nominated Kavya Kaushik for making it on to the Federal Executive. She resolutely refused to reciprocate, but I think they are both fabulous so I will nominate Josh. Having two such talented young people with such great ideas for reforming our party at its heart is a Very Good Thing.

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    Posted in Op-eds | 3 Comments
    The Voice

    Nick Clegg’s message for World AIDS day

    By The Voice | Mon 1st December 2014 - 1:32 pm

    Strong stuff from Nick – talking about the importance of tackling stigma, and the part sex education plays in that.

    Here’s the text:

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    Trevor Stables

    Opinion: Towards an ethical trade policy

    By Trevor Stables | Mon 1st December 2014 - 12:02 pm

    As a Liberal Democrat for almost all of my adult life, I am often  bemused that other citizens are yet to share my enthusiasm for our long held belief in a dynamic European Union.

    The prevailing phenomena of Euroscepticism is not purely a UK problem. We only have to look at France and to a lesser extent Germany to see similar. Why?

    In my view the failure is in not articulating the needs of and connecting with European citizens. People have felt marginalised by the closure of traditional industries and a sense of lack of power to change or alter what is happening to them in this brave new world. Far Right Parties have been quick to make the most of this.

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 22 Comments
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    Sara Ogilvie

    The Independent View: Why Liberal Democrat MPs should reject Government’s power-grabbing judicial review proposals

    By Sara Ogilvie | Mon 1st December 2014 - 10:25 am

    Undemocratic, unnecessary and unfair, over the past eleven months the Government’s crude attempts to curtail judicial review have been the subject of intense parliamentary debate. And yet today, as MPs are once again called to vote on the proposals, the government is attempting to pull off an unusual parliamentary feat: disregarding fierce cross-party criticism to make its proposals worse, rather than better.

    Judicial review is the legal mechanism by which individuals and organisations can ask a court to check whether a public authority has acted lawfully. The powers of the court in a judicial review are limited, but in a modern democracy, where great power is concentrated in the hands of the executive, it is one of the great and vital levelers. 

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    Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | 16 Comments
    Penelope Gibbs

    The Independent View: Liberal Democrat MPs should vote against secure colleges which would put younger children and girls at risk

    By Penelope Gibbs | Mon 1st December 2014 - 8:55 am

    “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails” said Nelson Mandela. Well, what would it reveal about the state of our nation if we were to hold our youngest children and some of the country’s most vulnerable girls in unsafe conditions where they felt fearful, intimidated and isolated?

    On Monday, Liberal Democrat MPs will cast the deciding votes on whether this becomes a reality.

    The Commons will consider an amendment made by the House of Lords to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill on “secure colleges” – the new form of child custody introduced by the Bill. These will be very large institutions (there’ll be 320 beds in the first one) which Chris Grayling, the Tory Justice Secretary, is adamant must hold girls and boys between 12 and 17 years of age.

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    Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged and | 5 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #400

    By Caron Lindsay | Sun 30th November 2014 - 7:00 pm

    Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 400th 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 (23 -,29 November 2014), 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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    Posted in Best of the blogs | 1 Comment
    Stephen Tall

    That LibDemVoice survey on the party presidency (which, ahem, called it wrong): 8 thoughts from me

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 30th November 2014 - 5:10 pm

    What happened there, then? I refer to the LibDemVoice survey of party members reported here on Wednesday which showed Daisy Cooper with a clear lead over Sal Brinton in the contest for party president; when actual votes were counted the result was reversed. Is this moment to the LDV surveys what the 1992 election was to the pollsters? In haste, here are a few initial thoughts from me…

    1. The sample itself is drawn from the 1,500+ current Lib Dems signed up to our members-only forum. This is therefore self-selecting; as is who chooses to respond. It isn’t the …

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    Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged | 38 Comments
    The Voice

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

    By The Voice | Sun 30th November 2014 - 1:12 pm

    7 ver 4 fullMany thanks to the 17,200 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

    Opinion: Taxing stuff: What George Monbiot got wrong (41 comments) by Max Trueman (an oldie from 2011)

    Alex Folkes: Cornwall Council and its Chief Executive have serious questions to answer (25 comments) by Stephen Tall

    The “nowcast” for 2015 which gives the Lib Dems 28 MPs (78 comments) by Stephen Tall

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    Posted in Site news | 1 Comment
    Paul Walter

    Desperately seeking Nigel

    By Paul Walter | Sun 30th November 2014 - 10:54 am

    Nigel Farage seems to be everywhere these days (except for turning up to propose his own motion). But, curiously, there is one fairly crucial place he isn’t.

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    Posted in News | Tagged and | 6 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    What is going on with the Liberal Democrat media strategy?

    By Caron Lindsay | Sun 30th November 2014 - 10:20 am

    This morning we have George Osborne all over the media talking about how wonderful it is that he’s able to give £2 billion to the NHS. Let’s bear in mind that Norman Lamb has been pushing for a cash injection for some time. All he gets is billing on the Liberal Democrat website for the months of tenacious evidence building and making the case for further investment.

    I was quite pained to see Simon Hughes put out round the news channels on Wednesday to promote the Counter Terrorism Bill. While he was in the BBC News Channel studio, David Anderson was criticising the very plans that Hughes was defending. It seemed like a bit of a stitch-up. Nick Clegg has always set great store by David Anderson’s judgement. Anderson’s opinion of the Government’s plans to exclude people they think have been fighting in Syria for up to two years was pretty scathing.

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 26 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    A chance to say thank you to Tim Farron

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 30th November 2014 - 8:45 am

    Tim Farron Social Liberal Forum conference Jul 19 2014 Photo by Paul WalterThe Lib Dems now have a President-elect: yesterday it was announced that Sal Brinton had won the only post other than that of party leader subject to an all-member ballot. Congratulations to her; and a big thanks to runner-up Daisy Cooper as well as Liz Lynne for ensuring a healthy debate.

    However, this post isn’t about them, it’s about the current President (until 31st December, when the second of his two-year terms expire), Tim Farron.

    Tim might not have been party president. Initially he stood for election as the Deputy Leader in June 2010, following Vince Cable’s decision to quit that post when he entered the cabinet. He lost out to Simon Hughes, himself a former president. So when a few months later, Baroness (Ros) Scott unexpectedly decided not to stand for a second term as party president, Tim threw his hat into the ring, and beat off tough competition from Susan Kramer to win. He was elected unopposed for a second term in 2012.

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    Posted in News and Party Presidency | Tagged and | 21 Comments
    The Voice

    ++ And the new President of the Liberal Democrats is…

    By The Voice | Sat 29th November 2014 - 5:25 pm

    Sal BrintonSAL BRINTON!

    Many congratulations to her and well done to all three candidates for competing in an excellent campaign. This post will be updated with fuller details and reaction in due course.

    Special thanks also to the staff and volunteers who have been counting in Liberal Democrat HQ since early this morning. It’s been a bit of a marathon with initial problems in getting the votes verified but they’ve all done a great job.

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    Posted in Party Presidency | Tagged , , , , and | 46 Comments
    Paul Walter

    In 2015, if the Lib Dems hold on to as many seats as latest polling suggests, should we thank NO2AV?

    By Paul Walter | Sat 29th November 2014 - 10:54 am

    liberal democrat tory conservative logosEarlier in the week, Stephen Tall covered the latest Ashcroft poll of Lib Dem held seats, which was encouraging. Over on Political Betting, our old friend Mike Smithson offers this intriguing thought:

    If the LDs hold on to as many seats as the latest polling suggests then Clegg should thank NO2AV.

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    Posted in General Election | Tagged and | 92 Comments
    The Voice

    A longer read for the weekend… David Laws on ‘Education: Lessons from this parliament and directions for the next’

    By The Voice | Sat 29th November 2014 - 10:00 am

    david laws centre forumDavid Laws, Lib Dem minister for schools, delivered a keynote speech at CentreForum this week, ‘Education: Lessons from this parliament and directions for the next’.

    As the title suggests, it was a reflection on the Coalition’s policies, and in particular the Lib Dems’ achievements. But also a look forward to what he sees as the major educational issues and what Lib Dems should be seeking to do in the next parliament.

    You can read the full text over at CentreForum’s site here. But here’s an excerpt in which David looks to the challenges of the five years to come…

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 27 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Devo-max for Scotland: what Lib Dem members think

    By Stephen Tall | Sat 29th November 2014 - 8:15 am

    Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. 747 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

    On Thursday, the Smith Commission published its recommendations on how to take forward the promise made by all three party leaders to deliver extensive powers for Scotland in the event of a No vote.

    As my co-editor Caron noted then: “Federalism was never going to come out of this. It couldn’t, given that you need the co-operation of the rest of the UK to do that. We need to keep campaigning for a proper UK wide constitutional convention after the election.”

    Before Lord Smith had reported, though, we tested the water in our survey. How happy were Lib Dem members, most of whom are English, about the priority being afford to the Scots?

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    Posted in LDV Members poll and Scotland | Tagged , , and | 6 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League: how it stands after Week 12

    By Stephen Tall | Sat 29th November 2014 - 7:45 am

    Congratulations (again) to Jon Featonby, continuing to lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 12, having amassed a Chelsea-esque 729 points. That’s enough to put John in the top 0.05% of the 3.5m global players of the league. Not bad.

    He’s put a little space between himself and nearest rivals George Murray (709) and Sam Bowman (700). Just 84 points separates 10th and 1st places, though, so it’s far from over.

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    Dick Taverne

    Lord (Dick) Taverne writes… Cameron heads for Brexit

    By Dick Taverne | Fri 28th November 2014 - 4:20 pm

    David Cameron - head in handsIf Mr Cameron becomes Prime Minister again after May, he is likely to be the Prime Minister who will lead the UK out of the European Union.

    From time to time Mr Cameron has expressed enthusiasm for Britain being at the heart of the EU. In his Bloomberg speech in January last year, he declared:

    “I believe something very deeply, that Britain’s national interest is best served in a flexible, adaptable and open European Union and that such a Union is best with Britain in it….There is no doubt that we are more powerful in Washington, in Beijing, in Delhi because we are a powerful player in the European Union. That matters for British jobs and British security.”

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    Paul Walter

    Christmas is coming, draw tickets need to be sent back!

    By Paul Walter | Fri 28th November 2014 - 1:54 pm

    Vince Cable and Father ChristmasThe Liberal Democrat Christmas Draw is a much-loved and lucrative fund-raising institution for the party. From their organising nexus in Surrey, the Christmas Draw elves work hard all year to round up great prizes and send out ticket books by the sleigh load.

    The top prize this year is a holiday voucher for £2000! There are 39 other wonderful prizes, such as half a case of champagne, which the elves will endeavour to get to winners before Christmas.

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    Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | Leave a comment
    Antony Hook

    Opinion: US analysis of how to beat “far right” UKIP – be consistent

    By Antony Hook | Fri 28th November 2014 - 10:22 am

    Washington DC based think tank, The Marshall Fund, which promotes understanding between North America and Europe, has produced a new research paper: “The Unstoppable Far Right?” that looks at UKIP in Britain and similar parties in Germany (Afd) and the Netherlands (PVV).

    The paper compares “euro-sceptical right-populist” parties in these countries and concludes that what mainstream political parties say and do has a big impact on whether people vote for these parties. The “rise” of these parties is by no means inevitable: the PVV went significantly backwards at the 2014 European elections.

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 16 Comments
    Joe Otten

    LibLink: Farron – we need to be honest about the housing crisis

    By Joe Otten | Fri 28th November 2014 - 8:57 am

    Tim Farron writing at politics.co.uk is calling for 300,000 homes a year to be built to end the housing crisis in contrast to some of the less ambitious policies around.

    The key issue in housing isn’t that first-time buyers can’t get on the ladder, nor that rents are too high. ‘Help to Buy’ isn’t the cure-all to our ills and whilst a rent cap might help renters in the short run, in the long run it will only disappoint. The politicians who propose these short-term measures will also disappoint, unless they have a more thorough approach. Unless we aim to end the housing crisis in its entirety, instead of just tinkering at the edges, we are just short-changing people for short-term electoral gain.

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    Posted in LibLink | 46 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Exclusive survey results: What Lib Dem members think of the Coalition so far

    By Stephen Tall | Fri 28th November 2014 - 7:50 am

    Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. 747 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

    Members back Coalition with Conservatives by 79% to 18%

    Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives? (Changes since last time question asked, September 2014).

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    Posted in LDV Members poll | 40 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Five vie to succeed Jeremy Browne as Lib Dem candidate for Taunton Deane

    By Stephen Tall | Thu 27th November 2014 - 10:08 pm

    There’s a short-list of five to take over from Jeremy Browne as the Lib Dem candidate for Taunton Deane, according to the BBC:

    The successful candidate will be defending a majority of 3,993 over the Conservatives.

    Posted in Selection news | Tagged and | 4 Comments
    The Voice

    Nigel, was there something you forgot to do?

    By The Voice | Thu 27th November 2014 - 5:16 pm

    Nigel farage photo by norbert1As the net migration figures come out today, Nigel Farage has never been far from a tv camera. He’s been on the BBC News Channel. on the Daily Politics, spreading his ill-informed nonsense that we have an open door to half a billion people as if the entirety of Europe was going to pack up and come here to live.

    It must have slipped his mind that he was supposed to be in Strasbourg this morning, voting down the European Commission headed by Jean-Claude Juncker. He must have also forgotten to take part in the debate on the motion on Monday. The funny thing is, he’s been in Strasbourg this week, lining up to meet the Pope.  UKIP MEPs don’t often trouble the Parliament with their presence, but you would think that Farage would have bothered to turn up to support his own motion! He and others including France’s Front National leader Marine Le Pen had wasted Parliament’s time with the motion which was roundly defeated this morning.

    ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt spoke against it in the debate and he didn’t mince his words:

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | 21 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    Vow Max? Has the Smith Commission delivered for Scotland? And what next for Yorkshire and the north?

    By Caron Lindsay | Thu 27th November 2014 - 4:10 pm

    In the febrile pre-referendum atmosphere, the Daily Record put together a “Vow” signed by all 3 UK party leaders to deliver “extensive” powers for Scotland in the event of a No vote. There would always have been further devolution. This “Vow” just put the inevitable on a more detailed timetable.

    A Commission under Lord Smith of Kelvin was put together to deliver on that timetable and has done a power of work in just over two months. They have consulted widely, taking submissions from the five main political parties and many civic organisations and individuals. I managed to get my own submission in at 2 minutes to the deadline.

    In the august surroundings of the National Museum of Scotland, Smith and the 10 members of the Commission unveiled the consensus they had reached. I have to say that I have been a little sceptical about this process. I knew that in the interests of self preservation it would have to deliver something credible or we’d be back facing another referendum before we could blink.

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 17 Comments
    Harcharan Chandhoke

    The Independent View: The political culture in Britain seems to have been infected by a form of madness

    By Harcharan Chandhoke | Thu 27th November 2014 - 3:06 pm

    With each electoral gain made by Ukip, politicians and the media respond with ever more apocalyptic descriptions of the insidious effect of mass immigration on this small overcrowded island.

    A vivid picture is painted daily of a nation overrun by swarms of migrants who are taking our jobs, lowering our wages, scrounging our benefits, crowding our schools, clogging up our hospital wards, destroying our culture and boiling our children before eating them for breakfast.

    Well, maybe not the last bit, but some of the scaremongering rhetoric comes close to such levels of hysteria. It would be laughably surreal were it not so inflammatory and potentially damaging, particularly when it is stirred up by people in positions of power and influence who really should know better.

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    Posted in The Independent View | Tagged and | 9 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Latest Ashcroft polls of Lib Dem seats: MP incumbency protects party in 10 out of 13 constituencies

    By Stephen Tall | Thu 27th November 2014 - 2:44 pm

    Michael AshcroftThe Conservative peer and pollster Lord Ashcroft has released the results of his latest polling of key seats for the next general election, including 13 seats currently held by the Lib Dems and one (Watford) which the party is actively targeting. These seats are ones with bigger majorities than those he’s previously surveyed, and include MPs who commentators have speculated are under threat, such as Ed Davey in Kingston and Surbiton.

    Across all Lib Dem / Conservative battleground seats, 11 of the 13, the standard voting intention question (“If there were a general election tomorrow, which party would you vote for?”) shows the Lib Dems trailing the Conservatives significantly: Con 33%, Lib Dem 22%, Ukip 20%, Lab 17%. Based on this, the Lib Dems would lose all the seats polled.

    However, as is his tradition, Ashcroft has also asked the really important voting intention question: “And thinking specifically about your own parliamentary constituency at the next general election and the candidates who are likely to stand for election to Westminster there, which party’s candidate do you think you will vote for in your own constituency?”

    This produces a very different result: Lib Dem 36%, Con 27%, Ukip 17%, Lab 13%. On this basis, the Lib Dems hold 10 of the 13 seats surveyed:

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    Posted in Polls | Tagged | 38 Comments
    Benali Hamdache

    The Independent View: What do the public want on migration?

    By Benali Hamdache | Thu 27th November 2014 - 11:25 am

    In what seemed an inevitability, Theresa May admitted the annual net migration cap was “unlikely” to be met. The target of 100,000 a year net migration to the UK has long been posited to be unrealistic, and Cameron’s “no if no buts” pledge to meet it impossible. Yet in spite of this every year the government has pushed every effort to bring down migration levels.

    We’ve seen caps on the amount of skilled non-EEA workers, much to businesses’ chagrin. Barriers put in place on UK citizens naturalising partners, heartbreakingly splitting up families. Curbs on international students resulting in the first drop in international student numbers in 30 years. None of these measures have worked to bring down net migration levels, but each have threatened family life, the financial health of our universities and our businesses’ access to the top talent.

    Moreover there’s little evidence that the public actually supports these measures.  In public polling the public is unquestionably in favour of international students, with a plurality believing they bring in more than they take. Equally the public is in favour of professionals coming to the UK to work, with a majority seeing such workers as good for Britain. On spouses a solid majority support UK citizens naturalising their immediate family.

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    Posted in The Independent View | Tagged | 60 Comments
    Suzanne Fletcher

    Opinion: Media misunderstanding on Lib Dem immigration policy

    By Suzanne Fletcher | Thu 27th November 2014 - 9:43 am

    When will the BBC begin to do its job properly, and understand what it is talking about? I woke up yesterday to a news bulletin telling me that Nick Clegg was considering raising the time limit for someone from an EU country to claim benefits. It was suggested that it would be 6 months. It then ended by saying that the Liberal Democrats were now joining other parties in concern about EU migration.

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 17 Comments
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