John Leech

John Leech MP writes…My Voice, My Vote

By John Leech | Thu 17th April 2014 - 11:12 am

Ballot paperBritain is suffering from a crisis of alienation. Despite a wave of democratic reforms since 1997, including the rebirth of localism in 2010, the UK remains one of the most centralised European States. Even after devolution to Scotland and Wales, the majority of power is still concentrated in London and held by a narrow class of professional politicians most of whose lives seem increasingly detached from the people they represent. Local councils struggle to make an impact on their communities, and in vast swathes of the country voter turnout continues to sink as the electorate loses faith in the system’s ability to deliver the services they need.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 16 Comments
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The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Thu 17th April 2014 - 9:44 am

Screen Shot 2014-03-09 at 08.06.08 Liberal Democrats LibbyThe Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.

You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are four simple ways:

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NewsHound

LibLink: Martin Horwood – Lib Dems clamping down on the arms trade

By NewsHound | Thu 17th April 2014 - 9:07 am

martin horwoodOver at the Lib Dems’ website, Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has welcomed today’s announcement that Vince Cable has put out a call for evidence on a new register of arms brokers, introducing tougher regulations on the arms trade. Here’s an excerpt:

Arms brokers act as intermediaries in many arms deals by bringing together potential buyers and sellers in return for a cut of the transaction. Currently UK companies require a license before they can export military goods, but brokers are somewhat of an unknown entity. Under the proposals all brokers will

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

New LDV members’ survey now live: your views on Scotland, drugs, Nick v Nigel, the economy, the Coalition, and much more!

By Stephen Tall | Wed 16th April 2014 - 4:55 pm

imageThe new LDV members’ survey is now live. So if you are one of the c.1,500 registered members of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum — and any paid-up party member is welcome to join — then you now have the opportunity to make your views known.

Questions we’re asking this month include:

  • do you support or oppose Scotland becoming independent?
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Posted in LDV Members poll | 7 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron – In 2010, we promised to deliver the Pupil Premium. In 2015, I want us to promise to deliver the Student Premium

By NewsHound | Wed 16th April 2014 - 3:01 pm

Tim Farron speaking - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsLib Dem party president Tim Farron has given his personal backing to the Lib Dems promising a Student Premium – modelled on the well-received Pupil Premium – at the next election. First proposed by his colleague Stephen Williams, Tim writes the Student Premium “could potentially change the game in terms of student uptake, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds”. Here’s an excerpt of his article for the April issue of the magazine, Politics First:

The Pupil Premium is being delivered only because the Liberal

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , , , , , , and | 53 Comments
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The Voice

Steve Webb on working with IDS: “When it comes to pensions I think he trusts my judgment.”

By The Voice | Wed 16th April 2014 - 1:50 pm

steve webbPensions minister Steve Webb is one Lib Dem minister who has emerged from Coalition with his reputation enhanced, praised even by such diverse admirers as The Sun, The Guardian and Quentin Letts. Today’s Daily Mail features a warm profile of him talking about his passion: pensions. Here are a couple of excerpts that give a flavour…

On working with Iain Duncan Smith

Today, he and Work & Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith have become Westminster’s odd couple. IDS is renowned for his Right-wing stance on benefits and welfare, and Mr Webb

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 11 Comments
The Voice

Danny Alexander: More people in work than ever before, earnings now rising in line with prices

By The Voice | Wed 16th April 2014 - 12:00 pm

speech danny alexander 6Two pieces of good economic news today, as the BBC reports:

UK unemployment falls to five-year low of 2.2m

The number of people out of work in the UK has fallen by 77,000 to a five-year low of 2.24m in the three months to February, official figures indicate. The unemployment rate now stands at 6.9% of the adult working population, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

After six years, wages finally overtake inflation

After nearly six years of falling real wages, weekly earnings have finally edged above inflation. Weekly wages, including bonuses, rose by 1.7% in the year to February, up from 1.4% in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Earlier this week, inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), fell to 1.6%. It is the first time that earnings have been higher than inflation for six years, apart from two months in 2010.

Here’s what the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander had to say:

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Stephen Lloyd

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… Can good Religious Education build better communities?

By Stephen Lloyd | Wed 16th April 2014 - 10:45 am

lessons from quran, drasIn the UK we benefit from a truly diverse and multi-cultural society, yet we continue to be bombarded with distorted images of nationality, customs, faith and belief in the mainstream media and the internet.

Sadly some of these myths and stereotypes have become embedded in the national psyche, making it harder for our young people to make important ‘informed’ decisions around faith and belief and distorting perceptions of some minority groups.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 31 Comments
Stephen Tall

Daily Mail attacks Nick Clegg for Cyril Smith RIP tribute. Why?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 16th April 2014 - 9:00 am

mail cyril smith lib dems‘Squirming of the Lib Dems’ is the Daily Mail’s front page splash today. It’s the second successive day the paper has tried, a bit desperately, to pin blame on Nick Clegg for the extensive abuse allegedly committed by former Liberal MP Sir Cyril Smith in the 1960s and ’70s.

The basis for the paper’s accusations is that Nick Clegg issued a tribute on his 80th birthday and when Cyril Smith died. As Nick has pointed out, “I would never have dreamed of saying the things …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 34 Comments
Stephen Tall

The verdict of Philip Collins, chief speech writer for Tony Blair, on Nick Clegg: “the Deputy Prime Minister should be applauded by all liberal voters”

By Stephen Tall | Tue 15th April 2014 - 5:45 pm

Nick Clegg Q&A 19Philip Collins uses his column in today’s Times to write something not often written on that paper’s pages (or anywhere else for that matter): praise for the Lib Dems in Coalition. Here’s the paywalled link, and here’s a glimpse behind the paywall of what he has to say:

It is therefore a serious defence of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats to commend them for things that would have happened had they not been there. It is in the nature of things that have not happened that we

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Danny Alexander MP

Danny Alexander writes… Direct community engagement on Scotland’s future

By Danny Alexander MP | Tue 15th April 2014 - 4:46 pm

TGOC 2011: NW Highlands (gp027)When Russell Johnston, that stalwart of liberal democracy, first ran for parliament for Inverness in 1964 he made a point of holding public meetings across the constituency. And when I first met him, in the 1980s, he was still following that old tradition – small gatherings, inviting all-comers to engage in open debate, determined that he could persuade the communities he served so energetically to follow him on the best path for the Highlands.

Over the subsequent years, politics has perhaps lost a little of that traditional engagement.

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The Voice

A message from Nick Clegg for Passover

By The Voice | Tue 15th April 2014 - 2:36 pm

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 31 Comments
Shami Chakrabarti

The Independent View: Removing the ‘right to have rights’

By Shami Chakrabarti | Tue 15th April 2014 - 12:33 pm

LibertyWhile the Commons grappled with the latest wave of backbench Euroscepticism, quietly and without fanfare the Home Secretary introduced an amendment to the Immigration Bill which strikes at the heart of our national conscience.

The impetus for this power came not from the urgent necessity of fighting terrorism, but is rather the result of a six year legal battle. In October last year, the Supreme Court held that the executive could not remove British nationality from an individual where to do so would render him stateless.  A frustrated Home Secretary now seeks a broad, discretionary power to remove what Hannah Arendt so memorably described as “the right to have rights”.

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Stephen Howse

Opinion: Liberalism – it’s not a set of policies, it’s a state of mind

By Stephen Howse | Tue 15th April 2014 - 10:49 am

8-5-10: They didA couple of things have struck me in the wake of the publication of Race Plan, Jeremy Browne’s personal liberal manifesto.

Don’t worry – this isn’t an article about the book itself. We’ve had enough of those over the last few days (as I write this, the top 5 most read articles on LDV are about it!) – I’d wager there have been more angry comments about the book on LibDemVoice than there are people who have actually read the thing.

Rather, this article concerns the nature of Liberalism.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 71 Comments
Stephen Tall

Latest ICM poll: Lib Dems at 12% for Westminster, but just 6% in the Euros

By Stephen Tall | Tue 15th April 2014 - 10:00 am

As I’ve mentioned before, The Guardian’s ICM poll is the one I wait for each month. The latest figures are now up, and the figures are… well, I’m not sure what to make of them really.

icm april 2014

In the snapshot of Westminster voting intentions, the Lib Dems are unchanged from last month on 12%, ahead of Ukip on 11% (+2%). Labour lead the Conservatives by 37% (-1%) to 32% (-3%). All the figures are within the margin of error. The party will be relieved to see that there’s …

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Posted in Polls | Tagged and | 49 Comments
Mathew Hulbert

Opinion: A liberal case for Regional Ministers

By Mathew Hulbert | Tue 15th April 2014 - 8:47 am

Over the past week or so there have been a number of newspaper reports about Labour planning to bring back regional Government Ministers if it becomes part of a new Government next year.

Though some have attacked this idea, I believe there is a liberal case for regional Ministers. A progressive Government of Labour and Liberal Democrats could work on such a project together, building up the various regions of the UK to ensure that all of our regions can compete in the global economy, as well as making sure that all of our people have a chance to make the most …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #371

By The Voice | Mon 14th April 2014 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 371st 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 (6th-12 April, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, 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 | 2 Comments
Max Forza

Opinion: Police use of the TASER – what counts as ‘reasonable force’?

By Max Forza | Mon 14th April 2014 - 4:00 pm

Holstered taserMost of us have an idea of what is, and should be, understood by the the term ‘reasonable force’ – presumably, that which a reasonable person would consider reasonable in the circumstances, and generally the lowest amount of force necessary to achieve the desired objective.

However, in the heat of the moment, what one may subjectively regard as reasonable in the circumstances may not be judged by others as acceptable after the event.

As a now ubiquitous piece of police equipment, the TASER is marketed and deployed as a ‘less-than-lethal’ weapon …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 24 Comments
The Voice

Clegg announces three new garden cities to be built

By The Voice | Mon 14th April 2014 - 2:00 pm

Nick Clegg Q&A York Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsThe BBC reports:

Up to three garden cities, each with more than 15,000 homes will be built to help deal with a “chronic” housing shortage, Nick Clegg has announced. The deputy prime minister promised “high-quality homes in thriving new communities”, on potential sites yet to be identified.

Funding from an existing £2.4bn pot will be made available for developments being built up to 2020. Councils will be asked to raise any concerns over the schemes.

Last year 109,370 new homes were completed in England, …

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 17 Comments
ALDC

By-election update: Lib Dems make a gain from Tories in Wantage

By ALDC | Mon 14th April 2014 - 11:25 am

ALDC Master Logo (for screen)Last Thursday saw four principal by-elections.

In Wantage Charlton (Vale of White Horse district council) the Liberal Democrats missed out on taking the seat by just 49 votes. The by-election, caused by the conviction of the previous Conservative councillor, saw the Tories hold the seat with 41.9% (-5.3%). Jim Sabbald, the Liberal Democrat candidate, took 38.4% (+2.5%). Labour came third with 11% and the Greens last with 8.8%.

However the by-election on Wantage Town Council caused by the disqualification of the same former councillor saw Jim Sabbald …

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 20 Comments
Antony Hook

Opinion: Regina v Nigel Evans should wake up MPs

By Antony Hook | Mon 14th April 2014 - 9:30 am

Statue of Justice - The Old BaileyNigel Evans’s acquittal on charges of rape and sexual assault has triggered various expressions of concern.
Those expressed, trenchantly by some, are:

    1. The Crown should never have prosecuted him because the evidence was weak.
    2. The Crown treated him differently because he is an MP.
    3. The case shouldn’t have relied on alleged victims who did not consider themselves to have been victims.
    4. Nigel Evans is left with a huge bill to pay his defence.

“The Crown should never have prosecuted him because the evidence was weak.” …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 36 Comments
Paul Reynolds

Opinion: The Scottish independence referendum – a lack of wisdom in the pro-UK camp?

By Paul Reynolds | Mon 14th April 2014 - 7:50 am

September 14th "Welcome to Scotland"In September 2014, the Scottish public will vote on independence from the rest of the UK. As of mid-April 2014, the opinion polls suggest that the pro-UK camp is ahead, but over the past few weeks the pro-independence camp has been fast catching up. Why?

One reason seems to be the spat between the London-based UK administration and the Scottish National Party (SNP) over the role of Britain’s sterling currency. All three main UK national parties stepped in behind a sudden policy of non-cooperation with an independent Scotland …

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Posted in News, Op-eds and Scotland | Tagged , , , and | 22 Comments
The Voice

#SelfEU: the way to win a day with ALDE’s Guy Verhofstadt*

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 3:45 pm

Guy VerhofstadtYes, the #selfEU is actually a thing, as ALDE’s Guy Verhofstadt promotes his campaign to become the next President of the European Commission:

THE ONE AND ONLY “SELF-EU” CONTEST
It’s simple, just send us an EU selfie or a #selfEU, and you could win a day with Guy Verhofstadt.

The EU is about more than rules and regulations. Show us your favourite thing about the EU. Did you just board an airplane on a cheap flight, cross a border without having to use your passport or change currencies, or

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems: “Cyril Smith’s acts were vile and repugnant and we have nothing but sympathy for those whose lives he ruined”

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 3:15 pm

cyril smith bookWe reported here yesterday the latest revelations of extensive alleged paedophile abuse by former Liberal MP, Cyril Smith, in a new book co-authored by his Rochdale successor, Simon Danczuk. Today’s Observer highlights the party’s response, and the responses of two current Lib Dem MPs, John Pugh and John Hemming:

In a statement the party said: “Cyril Smith’s acts were vile and repugnant and we have nothing but sympathy for those whose lives he ruined. His actions were not known to, or condoned by the Liberal Party or the

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 43 Comments
The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 1:00 pm

7 ver 4 fullMany thanks to the 15,500 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

…

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The Voice

Tim Farron reveals all about the day he impersonated Nigel Farage

By The Voice | Sun 13th April 2014 - 11:27 am

NickTimHere’s how Lib Dem party president Tim Farron recounted to his local paper, The Westmoreland Gazette, his assistance to Nick Clegg for the second Nick v Nigel debate:

In an empty central London theatre, the Lakes MP donned the trademark purple tie of the Euro sceptic for a practice debate with the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister ahead of the real thing.

Aides revealed that to prepare for the role as the UKIP leader, Mr Farron watched recordings of his public speaking with Farage winning plaudits for his man-of-the-world directness.

Mr Farron’s aides

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 14 Comments
Stephen Tall

Jeremy Browne’s ‘Race Plan’. I’ve read it, so here’s my review…

By Stephen Tall | Sun 13th April 2014 - 8:00 am

Jeremy Browne bookThree points to make right from the start about Jeremy Browne’s new book, Race Plan.

First, it’s a wholly Good Thing that a Lib Dem MP is choosing to think aloud, to set out clearly his views. Nick Clegg having decided that he did, after all, like one of the Beecroft recommendations and decided to fire-at-will his home office minister, Jeremy could have slunk away, tail between his legs, to nurse his bitterness. He’s chosen a rather more constructive outlet for his disappointment. By which I mean this book, rather than his short-lived, C.19th-throwback, gap year beard.

Secondly, there is a fundamental problem with the central conceit of this book: that Britain is in a global race, and that if we don’t get fitter, we’ll be overtaken by or competitors in the coming Asian Century, fall behind, and become poorer.

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Posted in Books, News and Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , and | 59 Comments
The Voice

In the next month 6 seats will short-list their wannabe Lib Dem MPs

By The Voice | Sat 12th April 2014 - 5:10 pm

Lib Dems winning hereHere’s the full list of selection contests in the coming month available for Lib Dems on the approved parliamentary candidates’ list, together with the closing date for applications. They include Bristol North West, on paper the 26th most winnable seat for the Lib Dems, needing a swing of 3% from the Tories.

The following seats have selections in progress and are currently advertising for candidates:

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Posted in Selection news | Tagged | 2 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Sir Robert Smith – We must not turn our back on Afghanistan

By NewsHound | Sat 12th April 2014 - 2:15 pm

At a workshop on child rights at French Cultural Centre, Kabul, AfghanistanSir Robert Smith, Lib Dem MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Co-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afghanistan, has written this week about the need for Britain, as our direct military involvement comes to an end, to ensure we keep our promise to maintain support for a developing Afghanistan.

… the attacks of September the 11th brought home the fact that what happened in that far away country made a difference back here.

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , , , and | 8 Comments
The Voice

Jeremy Browne responds on Twitter to Times’s ‘pointless’ front page headline

By The Voice | Sat 12th April 2014 - 10:00 am

Three weeks ago, Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne joined Twitter. He’s been putting it to use this morning to refute The Times’s front page headline that claims he said the Lib Dems are ‘pointless’:

As for those imagining that he’s about jump ships, Jeremy couldn’t be clearer:

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 37 Comments
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