Gareth Epps

Opinion: Pubs v Pubcos, which side are you on, Mr Cameron?

By Gareth Epps | Mon 3rd March 2014 - 9:57 am

Dear Dave,

The last time we spoke was in the Tite Inn at Chadlington, a great village pub with a landlord who I and others helped get rate relief for to keep the last pub in the village going.  We know you appreciate pubs – when the phone-hacking scandal was rife, you bolted to Charlbury Beer Festival, though you needed practice at Aunt Sally.  Maybe you’ll have more time to do that soon.

Fast forward a decade or so and you have a big decision in front of you.  With over 100 pubs a month closing due largely to the overpricing …

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Sue Doughty

Opinion: One member, one vote: What’s not to like?

By Sue Doughty | Mon 3rd March 2014 - 8:55 am

As many members will be aware, votes on policy, and for members of the committees who run the party are in the hands of the conference representatives elected by local parties.  In other words, your ability to vote depends on your contacts back home. There were good reasons for this once but in this day and age it is time to take a fresh look which is why the Internal Democratic Reform Group of the Federal Executive wants to hear your views.

At present the only all member votes are for the Party Leader and the Party President, and we hope …

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #367

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 367th 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 February – 1 March, 2014), 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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Stephen Tall

BBC: Accused Weymouth councillor joins Lib Dem ‘coalition’

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 6:00 pm

A pretty unbelievable story from Dorset, as reported by the BBC:

A new coalition has been formed by Liberal Democrat councillors to include a member suspended from the party while he faces child sex charges. Weymouth and Portland councillor Ryan Hope was forced to stand down from the party last month after the intervention of its leader Nick Clegg.

The local party set up the Coalition of Liberal Democrats and Allies to protect Mr Hope’s place on council committees. Mr Hope, who is due to stand trial in April, denies all the charges. Under council rules, seats on committees are

…

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Posted in Local government | Tagged , , and | 8 Comments
The Voice

LDVideo: The ladder, the elephant and the bird that flies to the left

By The Voice | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 4:30 pm

Today’s Sunday Politics featured three parliamentarians putting forward new ideas for their party logos. We wonder if they actually tried to find an MP, or whether the BBC  just went to Matthew Oakeshott to give him the chance to do his traditional “Let’s get rid of Nick Clegg” pre-Conference spiel.

Anyway, here are the efforts they came up with. I actually think Halfon’s had the best rationale, although I expect a health and safety adviser would have had something to say about unsafe working practices.

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Julie Pörksen

Opinion: Extending participation in education must mean extension of free school transport – support motion to Spring Conference NOW

By Julie Pörksen | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 3:00 pm

The age of participation in education is rising to 18, so soon every student will have to enter school, college, an apprenticeship or work with training when they finish their GCSEs.

I believe that every young person has the right to access free state education up to year 13. Accessing free education should include the provision of free transport to the most local educational establishment that is right for them.

Last week Nick Clegg was reported on on this site as saying that he would promise young people “ an equal shot” by helping them to make the right choice after taking their …

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 1:45 pm

Many thanks to the 12,781 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Andrew Rawnsley: “The real reason Nick threw the gauntlet down to Nigel” (19 comments) by The Voice

Shirley Williams: “A separate Scotland would be a diminished Scotland, leaving behind a diminished United Kingdom” (46 comments) by The Voice

Two Liberal Democrats on holiday together? They must be plotting to overthrow Nick Clegg.(16 comments) by Newsmoggie

Cameron “to rule out second Coalition” piece in Telegraph. It may be a bluff, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be forced to do it (36 comments) …

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Stephen Tall

Farage says Britain’s becoming “unrecognisable”. But the British public says our sense of belonging is increasing.

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 12:00 pm

Ukip leader Nigel Farage was dog-whistling for all he was worth at his party’s spring conference this week:

“In scores of our cities and market towns, this country, in a short space of time, has, frankly, become unrecognisable. Whether it is the impact on local schools and hospitals, whether it is the fact that in many parts of England you don’t hear English spoken any more, this is not the kind of community we want to leave to our children and grandchildren.”

His words were eerily reminiscent of William Hague’s insidious “foreign land” speech in 2001. And his party’s slogan …

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Caron Lindsay

Paddy: We’re one mistake away from war in Ukraine

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 10:49 am

Paddy AshdownWhenever there’s a horrible international situation, I always want to hear what Paddy Ashdown has to say. He’s very wise on all the intricate web of international relations, agendas and history. I don’t always agree with him, but he’s worth listening to because he’ll tell it exactly like he sees it. He makes it all so much more real.

He’s just been on Murnaghan talking about the situation in Ukraine. Unfortunately, he confirmed my feeling that the world is a very much more scary place this weekend.

He was very clear that one foolish mistake could tip a volatile situation into war. That, he said, could be one “trigger-happy” Russian soldier opening fire, a Ukrainian misjudgement of a situation. Something that could very easily happen in the heat of a tense moment.

He said that it wasn’t clear what the Russians were up to. He said it was possible, but unlikely, that their ambitions were limited to securing their international treaty defined rights of access to the port of Sevastopol rather than wider territorial gain. He likened Putin’s stance to Hitler’s over Sudetenland as opposed to the modern Western view that the fate of nations is subject to the view of its people.

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , , , and | 52 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Farron: It’s Lib Dems v UKIP in European elections

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 9:43 am

Last year on the eve of Spring Conference, we reported Tim Farron’s controversial interview in House magazine in which he described activists as cockroaches and said the party was in a critical state. He certainly got into a bit of trouble from Them Indoors, but, as Stephen Tall pointed out:

The language is colourful: that’s Tim for you. He could give dull, measured interviews that are risk-free. But it’s not his way. And I don’t think many activists would want him to be anything other than himself. It is precisely because Tim is un-spun, a straight-talker who takes his role

…

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The Voice

What’s being debated in our members’ forum this week?

By The Voice | Sat 1st March 2014 - 8:23 pm

LibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you’re reading now. The second is our private members’ forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access.

If you’re a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that’s on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you’ll be included in our regular surveys’ of party members’ views.

Here’s some of the most active discussions this past 7 days:

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Caron Lindsay

Can everyone please just play nice? Briefing against other Liberal Democrats and insulting party activists is never going to help.

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 1st March 2014 - 4:33 pm

carmichael and teddy bearWe’ve had some pretty strange and random articles appearing all over the place about who might replace Nick Clegg. The least strange and random was of course this by my co-editor Stephen Tall.

People who know Graeme Littlejohn have generally been laughing their heads off at the notion that he’s been brought in as Danny Alexander’s Head of Office as some Machiavelli who’s going to win him the leadership. That’s been in a couple of papers now and I’m just wondering who on earth is spreading this stuff. Actually, I do have some ideas, but these are better kept to myself for the time being.

Yesterday, it was the turn of Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael to get the Leadership Speculation Treatment, by Thomas Byrne over at the New Statesman.:

Carmichael has managed to avoid falling prey to the left/right divide emerging more clearly in the party as it gets used to power. “He could be a compromise candidate… post-coalition we need someone to hold the party together. Alistair might be the guy,” one Lib Dem told me. As chief whip for the Lib Dems before becoming Scottish Secretary, he will know where the bodies are buried. Not only did this position make building a relationship with all the MPs in the party compulsory, it also meant he commanded their respect. Don’t mess with Carmichael.

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ALDC

ALDC’s by-election report 27 February 2014

By ALDC | Sat 1st March 2014 - 12:30 pm

Just one principal by-election this week. In Scotter ward of West Lindsey District Council, the Conservatives held on in a two way contest with the Liberal Democrats. Keith Panter more than doubled the Liberal Democrat vote achieving 34.3%. Surprisingly UKIP who came second in the County Council elections last May didn’t stand a candidate after coming fourth in a by-election for the ward last December. The Liberal Democrats have been making good progress in this part of rural Lincolnshire recently having won the county division in a by-election last December.

The Scotter team’s campaign focused on River Trent flood warnings, better information …

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Stuart Bonar

Opinion: Do people not care about civil liberties?

By Stuart Bonar | Sat 1st March 2014 - 10:54 am

It is inevitable that amongst the images of more than 1.8 million Yahoo! users hoovered up by GCHQ there are photos of children, and surely – given the scale of it – of children in their bedrooms. Yet where is the outcry?This latest discovery from the Snowden files is not simply the next chapter in the story of how every aspect of our online lives has been monitored over recent years. It also blows apart the standard defence used so far that only metadata – who called who when, but not the content – has been gathered up and …

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Prateek Buch

Opinion: On child poverty targets, on which I agree with David Laws

By Prateek Buch | Sat 1st March 2014 - 9:16 am

“A fair, free and open society, in which… no one shall be enslaved by poverty.”

The fundamental basis of our party’s constitution – its very soul – is the elimination of poverty. We may disagree amongst us on how best to achieve this ambitious goal, but there’s little dissent on having it as a goal, particularly when it comes to the blight of children growing up in poverty.

As Caron made clear, we find ourselves in government with a party that doesn’t share many of our values – rarely is this crystallised as starkly as this week’s battle over child poverty …

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NewsHound

Tim Farron says Liberal Democrats are likely to oppose “Bedroom Tax” in 2015

By NewsHound | Fri 28th February 2014 - 2:32 pm

Tim Farron has said that he expects that Liberal Democrats will oppose the so-called “Bedroom Tax” in 2015. In an interview with Inside Housing, he has said that in its current form it was causing hardship and depriving housing associations of the money to build much needed new homes. While he praised the Liberal Democrats who had secured more money for discretionary housing payments to mitigate its effects, he acknowledged that reforms were needed.

He said:

I would be disappointed if we did support it in its current form.

I do not expect our party to support this policy unreformed, we must

…

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Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP writes…A great leap backwards for gay rights

By Lynne Featherstone | Fri 28th February 2014 - 12:28 pm

Uganda’s new anti-homosexuality legislation is abhorrent. It imposes draconian penalties for repeat offences of homosexuality, so-called ‘aggravated’ homosexuality, same-sex marriage, attempting to commit homosexuality and for the loosely defined ‘promotion’ of homosexuality. This is nothing short of a great leap backward – not just for Uganda but for gay rights across Africa. I believe it marks a growing state-backed homophobic trend across the continent, one we cannot and should not ignore.

From Day 1 in my role as Africa minister at the Department for International Development (DFID), strengthening the department’s LGBT rights strategy has been one of my top priorities. I …

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Liberal Youth seeks your views on improving further education

By LY Working Group on Further Education | Fri 28th February 2014 - 11:25 am

LY campaigning in WestonYesterday Nick Clegg made an announcement on Further Education. This is a response from members of Liberal Youth’s working group on Further Education.

Nick Clegg’s announcement yesterday was largely focussed on improving careers advice, severely damaged as a result of the scrapping of Connexions, and giving those who haven’t gone to Higher Education an equal chance to those who have. Nick talked about creating a ‘one stop shop’ website for 16 year olds to help them plan their next move, similar to UCAS but will include information about apprenticeships, …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 7 Comments
The Voice

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Fri 28th February 2014 - 10:25 am

The 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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Posted in Site news | 9 Comments
Caron Lindsay

David Laws challenges Tories on child poverty

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 28th February 2014 - 9:28 am

The frustrations of being in government with the Tories are no greater than when they are concerned with issues of poverty and vulnerability. Many Liberal Democrats have ongoing concerns about welfare reforms which remove support from people who need it. However much we might try to console ourselves with the fact that we are making a difference with things like free school meals, the raising of the tax threshold, extra childcare for the poorest, an early start to education for the poorest 2 year olds and making sure that the whole country enjoys the benefits of the economic recovery and …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

Eastleigh one year on: the by-election which secured Nick Clegg’s leadership

By Stephen Tall | Fri 28th February 2014 - 8:00 am

A year ago today, Mike Thornton was declared the new Lib Dem MP for Eastleigh.

Clegg Thornton Eastleigh

I’ve just been re-reading my first reflections on the result, written minutes after Mike’s narrow victory over Ukip was confirmed. As I pointed out then, despite the horrendous circumstances surrounding the by-election – Chris Huhne’s resignation, the allegations against Chris Rennard – Eastleigh was a good seat for the Lib Dems to contest owing to our long-standing, entrenched local strength there.

The other night’s victors, I noted, were Ukip: “There must also now be …

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The Voice

Photo of the Day: Merkel addresses Parliament in German

By The Voice | Thu 27th February 2014 - 10:00 pm

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, today delivered an historic address to both Houses of Parliament, hailing Germany’s “close partnership” with the UK, and making it clear she wants Britain to remain a strong voice in Europe.

Here’s the official photo of Clegg meeting Merkel:

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The Voice

LibLink: Lynne Featherstone: In praise of civil servants

By The Voice | Thu 27th February 2014 - 4:39 pm

Lynne Featherstone, writing on her own blog, has given us a very interesting insight into the mechanics of Government and is full of praise and appreciation for the people who have brought about her two key acts as a minister, equal marriage, and the fight against the abhorrent practice of female genital mutilation.

She described receiving invaluable tips from Michael Heseltine and Andrew Adonis when she first became a Minister. It’s interesting that just a short time after Adonis left office himself, he was providing sensible advice for the newbies. Politics is a lot more civilised behind the scenes than you …

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Stephen Tall

Four-in-10 voters would never consider voting for the Lib Dems – but it’s not all bad news…

By Stephen Tall | Thu 27th February 2014 - 3:30 pm

Some interesting poll data from Ipsos-Mori who were asked by British Future to look at attitudes towards voting for the four main political parties. Here’s three points that stood out for the Lib Dems:

  • Four-in-10 voters would never consider voting for the Lib Dems, Conservatives or Ukip. Labour is less unpopular: one-in-three voters would never consider voting Labour.
  • Lib Dem supporter are the most anti-Ukip: 62% say they would never consider voting Ukip. This compares with 43% of Lib Dems saying they would never consider voting Conservative, and 38% saying they would never vote for Labour.
  • The feelings mutual… Ukip supporters

    • …

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    Posted in Polls | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    My favourite Vince Cable quote on Tory immigration policy

    By Stephen Tall | Thu 27th February 2014 - 2:20 pm

    Vince Cable smiling - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsThe good news is that more people chose to come to the UK last year. Net migration to the UK increased to 212,000 in the year to September 2013, up from 154,000 in the previous year. As the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has shown before: if you want increased growth, you should welcome immigration.

    Here’s how Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable put it, according to the BBC:

    Vince Cable welcomed the increase in net migration to the UK, saying

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 18 Comments
    Louise Furness

    My work placement with Chris Davies MEP

    By Louise Furness | Thu 27th February 2014 - 1:18 pm

    Louise Furness recently spent a week on a work placement with North West MEP Chris Davies. Here she tells us about her insight into life in Brussels.

    Monday: Walking into the European Parliament for the first time is quite something. It is an impressive complex and a hive of activity – and this is supposedly a quieter period as fewer proposals are put to Parliament and MEPs spend more time in their constituencies in the run-up to the elections. The week began with a team meeting, during which Chris discussed his diary with Carly and Joana from his office. This …

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    Newsmoggie

    Clegg acts to ensure opportunities for all young people

    By Newsmoggie | Thu 27th February 2014 - 12:19 pm

    Nick Clegg is spending today announcing new initiatives to help young people with their career choices by improving career advice in schools, allowing job centre plus to give advice to 16 and 17 year olds and to improve opportunities for work experience.  There will be a UCAS style “one-stop shop” to help those young people.

    From today’s Independent:

    Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, will pledge to “end the snobbery surrounding vocational education” that limits the prospects of those who do not go to university, and promise them “an equal shot” by helping them to make the right choice after taking

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
    NewsHound

    Clegg: Tribal voices should not deprive the UK of stable government

    By NewsHound | Thu 27th February 2014 - 11:21 am

    Today’s Guardian reports Nick Clegg’s comments at his monthly press conference on reported moves in both Conservative and Labour parties to rule out a second coalition after 2015.

    He said:

    Clearly, there is a sort of McCluskey tendency in both the Labour and Conservative parties.

    I think what you are seeing, in a sense, is the last gasp of the assumption from the two bigger parties that somehow they have got a right to run things.

    We should let the British people have their say rather than people constantly assuming that they can decide, rather than the British people, about how this country

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged and | 12 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    FT: “For nearly four years, Britain has been served reasonably well by multi-party government”

    By Stephen Tall | Thu 27th February 2014 - 9:15 am

    On Tuesday, it was reported that David Cameron wanted to rule out the possibility of a second Lib-Con coalition in the event of another hung parliament. This tit was matched by an equivalent tat from the left, when Unite leader Len Mclusky urged Labour to do the same.

    Today’s Financial Times leader attempts to inject a dose of reality into this anti-coalition arms race:

    All this chest-beating has stirred Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem deputy prime minister, whose party can only govern with others, to denounce “tribal voices”. And he is right to do so. This should not

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | 11 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    So what’s happening at Conference? Part 2: The Training

    By Caron Lindsay | Wed 26th February 2014 - 4:45 pm

    A Liberal Youth training sessionPart 2 of my quick guide to Conference features the training programme that’s on offer on Saturday. You can read Part 1 on the debates here.

    The biggest problem with Conference is that there simply isn’t enough time to do everything you want. There aren’t enough hours in the day, even if you dispense with sleeping to catch up with friends and go to all the debates and fine meetings and training sessions you want. That’s not just because many of the things you want to go …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 4 Comments
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