Caron Lindsay

Sneak Preview of new Party Political Broadcast: Scottish version #whyIamin

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 5th February 2014 - 2:51 pm

And here’s the Scottish version of the new broadcast, with a section featuring Willie Rennie arguing that Scotland needs to stay in the UK and the UK needs to stay in the EU.

He said in an email to members:

The European elections might be just round the corner but the Conservatives are flirting with exit from the EU. Labour won’t lift a finger to keep us in Europe and the SNP’s independence plans gamble with our EU membership and threaten jobs at home.

The message we are sending to Scots in this broadcast is clear. Only one party is protecting jobs by working to keep Scotland in Britain – and Britain in Europe. That party is the Liberal Democrats.

To secure the economic recovery and get more Scots into work we need strong Liberal Democrat voices at Holyrood, Westminster and in Brussels.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | Leave a comment
Advert
The Voice

Sneak Preview of new Party Political Broadcast: #whyIamIn

By The Voice | Wed 5th February 2014 - 2:15 pm

Tonight, the new Party Political Broadcast will be shown. It has, funnily enough, a very heavy pro EU message, showing the practical reasons we need to be in the EU. We have a sneak preview below.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 38 Comments
Newsmoggie

“Lib Dems veto Pickles’ Council Tax cuts”

By Newsmoggie | Wed 5th February 2014 - 10:58 am

From the FT:

One of the government’s main tax-cutting drives has been to encourage councils to keep tax rises to a minimum. Ministers have done this in two ways: firstly, by giving councils a cash incentive to freeze council tax; and secondly, by forcing any council that wants to raise tax by 2 per cent or more to put it to a local referendum.

Of course, any self-respecting council is going to set a rate that’s just below the threshold. Eric Pickles was not chuffed and wanted to lower that threshold to 1.5%.

He did not get his way, thanks to the …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 28 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Scottish Parliament backs equal marriage

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 5th February 2014 - 9:58 am

Jim Caron Euan Hannah at equal marriage rally 4 FebLast night there were many celebrations across Scotland as the Holyrood parliament passed its same sex marriage bill by a margin of 105-18. All Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs voted in favour.

While England might have been ahead of the game – its first marriages will happen next month – the Scottish Bill is much better. In Scotland there transgender people won’t have to suffer the indignity of a spousal veto and religious organisations who wish to do so can opt in to perform …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 4 Comments
Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 5th February 2014 - 8:52 am

 Liberal Democrat MP Michael Moore writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition. 

A Stronger Economy 

Last week, I welcomed the announcement of the strongest GDP growth figures since before the financial crisis began in 2007, with the UK growing by 0.7% in the last financial quarter and 1.9% throughout the whole of 2013.  Growth is vital for our prosperity so this is a really important development.

We have also seen the inflation rate dropping to 2% from a peak of 5.2% in September 2011, decreasing unemployment and both the World Bank and the IMF indicating …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds, Parliament and Scotland | Tagged , , , and | 2 Comments
Advert
Mary Reid

YouGov asks: What is it about Lib Dems and Sci-Fi?

By Mary Reid | Tue 4th February 2014 - 4:59 pm

TARDISYouGov has the hard evidence for something that a lot of us have suspected for a long time – that “There is a strange correlation between supporting the Liberal Democrats and being a fan of Science Fiction“.

YouGov regularly polls its panel of 400,000 people (including me, as it happens) so has built up some rich data. The survey last year on Doctor Who showed that while 31% of the population are interested in the programme, that jumps to 41% for Lib Dem supporters. (Nick Barlow blogged about the survey at the time)

Time and time again the Liberal Democrats appeared as the most correlated political party for Sci-Fi related topics. Movies like The Matrix, Blade Runner, Alien, The Fifth Element, Stargate, Back to the Future and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and sci fi classic books like Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy, Dune and I Robot – ALL show positive correlations to support for the Lib Dems.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 29 Comments
The Voice

New Deputy Leader Sir Malcolm Bruce hits the airwaves.

By The Voice | Tue 4th February 2014 - 3:16 pm

On Sunday, our new Deputy Leader, Sir Malcolm Bruce was despatched on media rounds. His first appearance was on John Pienaar’s show on Radio 5 Live. Pienaar said that this was Malcolm’s first interview since his election. I beg to differ.

This interview was strongly focused on the future of the coalition, the economy and the forthcoming European and general elections.

On the coalition, Pienaar painted a Godfatheresque picture of a coalition at war, behind the mattresses, all the Liberal Democrats round Malcolm’s house with meatballs on the stove and machine guns under the beds.

The essence of coalition politics is working

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Lib Dems accuse Danny Alexander of ‘going native’

By The Voice | Tue 4th February 2014 - 2:05 pm

According to the Independent, members of the Social Liberal Forum have challenged Danny Alexander over ‘straying beyond party policy’ by outlining proposals to maintain the squeeze on spending throughout the next Parliament.

Under the heading “Lib Dems accuse Danny Alexander of ‘going native’ at the Treasury as he backs George Osborne’s plans for more spending cuts” Andrew Grice reports that:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 26 Comments
John Ault

Remembering David Penhaligon

By John Ault | Tue 4th February 2014 - 12:27 pm

david-penhaligonBlogs are supposed to be a topical and pithy commentary on the news of the day, so it might seem strange to be talking about a Cornish MP, who was elected 40 years ago this year. However, students at Exeter University in Cornwall are building a fascinating political history project that will record local and national memories of this famous Cornishman.

I met David only once, when I was 16, at the Knowsley North by-election, where the Liberal/SDP candidate was Rosie Cooper in a by-election caused by the resignation of Robert Kilroy-Silk. I wonder what ever happened to them… but I walked into the HQ to see the rather odd sight of a man, with his shirt sleeves rolled up with his head inside an old offset litho printing press. I assumed he was just a bloke come round to mend the thing which was clearly in a poor state of repair. You can perhaps imagine my surprise when I discovered he was the MP for Truro.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 10 Comments
Steve Coltman

Opinion: Chris Huhne on Fracking

By Steve Coltman | Tue 4th February 2014 - 10:48 am

chris_huhneChris Huhne, former Energy and Climate Change Secretary and member of ALDES, has written this critique of Fracking in the Guardian.

Personally, I don’t like the abrasive and sarcastic tone of it but he makes some very valid points nonetheless. In particular he points out that the USA is disconnected from the world’s gas market allowing a local surplus to cause gas prices (and coal prices) to drop in the USA. The UK, in contrast, is very connected indeed and even if we did produce masses of Shale Gas at reasonable …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Sir Menzies Campbell to develop plan for more powers to Scottish Parliament

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 4th February 2014 - 10:02 am

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie puts some much needed positivity into the hitherto dismal and demotivating debate on Scottish independence. We’ve been drowning in a deluge of claim, assertion, counter claim and denial for months now and there are times when even this determined no voter is exasperated by Better Together’s inability to inspire. Yes Scotland and the SNP are just as bad.

The one glimmer of soul food for the federalist has come from Willie Rennie’s constant calls for the development of a consensus on more powers for the Scottish Parliament. He wants to see a common proposal to …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

How you can take part in LibDemVoice’s exclusive party member surveys

By Stephen Tall | Tue 4th February 2014 - 8:45 am

LibDemVoice’s surveys of party members signed-up to our discussion forum have been running for close to four years now. (I posted yesterday the final set of figures from our most recent poll.)

Our surveys are a way of testing members’ views on a variety of hot topics. And as they’ve been running throughout the first three-and-a-half years of the Coalition they’re also an interesting record of changing views on how the Coalition is regarded within the party.

If you would like to take part in the LibDemVoice surveys, there are simply two steps you need to follow:
1) Be a current Lib …

Continue reading »
Posted in LDV Members poll | Leave a comment
The Voice

Mike Hancock resigns from Lib Dem cabinet on Portsmouth City Council

By The Voice | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 9:10 pm

Three new developments today in Portsmouth as the local Lib Dem party and city council group work out how to deal with the allegations of sexual assault against Mike Hancock, which he denies.

Twelve days ago, Hancock, who had already stood down from the party whip at Westminster, was suspended by the national Lib Dems, making him ineligible to be re-selected as Portsmouth South’s MP. However, he controversially retained his post in the Lib Dem-run cabinet as an independent councillor, apparently on a tied 10-10 vote among the city council group. This prompted the resignation of Eleanor …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , and | 6 Comments
Helen Duffett

Spring 2014 Conference Agenda now online

By Helen Duffett | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 4:50 pm

The Conference Agenda has been finalised and is now available online.

The agenda features a variety of debates including one on a Digital Bill of Rights on Making Migration Work for Britain.

There will also be speeches by Jenny Willott MP and Danny Alexander MP. Nick Clegg will do a Leader’s Q&A on Saturday 8 March at 15:05 and you can submit concise questions (up to 25 words) on any topic up until 12:40 on 8 March at the Speakers’ Table in the auditorium or by email ([email protected]) before 17:00 on Thursday 6 March.

Every motion in the agenda is open to …

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Tagged , , , and | 13 Comments
Mark Pack

Opinion: David Cameron – the Conservative Party’s answer to Harold Wilson

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 4:25 pm

More and more, David Cameron reminds me of Harold Wilson.

Both became leaders of their party when a sequence of election defeats forced change upon it. Both briefly were the young leader with a new purpose for their political tradition; the white heat of technology in the 20th century, huskies in the 21st.

Both struggled to win over the public, with neither getting an overall majority at their first attempt. Both turned out to be heavily beholden to their party’s traditional, backward-looking wing.

Wilson’s opportunities to be a dominating figure who reshaped society and rejuvenated the economy were wrecked on the Labour …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 18 Comments
Claire Tyler

Baroness Claire Tyler writes: Why banning smoking in cars with children in can and should be enforced

By Claire Tyler | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 2:11 pm

I read with great interest Caron’s very balanced blog entry on Thursday about banning smoking in cars with children and the varied comments that followed. These showed a quite legitimate difference of opinion about how to apply liberal principles in an such an area , as illustrated when Nick Clegg shared his own personal views on Thursday’s Call Clegg.

Much of the ensuing media and blog debate -including on Lib Dem Voice -has focussed on whether it’s right to legislate about what people do in private cars and whether this isn’t too great an intrusion by the “nanny state” into …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 17 Comments
The Voice

Can you help Lynne Featherstone’s campaign to end FGM in a generation?

By The Voice | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 1:07 pm

This Thursday, 6th February, at 11am, Lynne Featherstone’s campaign to end FGM in a generation is hoping to raise awareness of the issue across social media. By means of a clever thing called Thunderclap, you can set up a tweet or Facebook post in advance. When they all go out at the same time they’ll reach millions of people.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 14 Comments
Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert writes… Thoughts on a memorial service

By Julian Huppert | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 12:04 pm

On saturday, I attended the memorial service for a life-long Liberal, George Watson. It included a reading from John Stuart Mill ‘On Liberty’.

George stood for Parliament in 1959 in Cheltenham, unsuccessfully, and then became a Fellow at St John’s College Cambridge, where he became a noted scholar in literature, literary criticism and liberal political thought.

I got hold of his campaign literature from 1959, and while the layout and style is different – no bar charts – the central messages are unchanged.

To quote from his section ‘Put Freedom First’:

Liberals made them get rid of identity-cards – but the State Still has

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 3 Comments
Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron MP writes…No politician should be able to sleep at night while children don’t have access to primary school

By Tim Farron MP | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 10:58 am

Fifty years ago, Lyndon Johnson stood before a joint session of Congress and declared war. “It will not be a short or easy struggle,” he warned the lawmakers. “No single weapon nor strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won.” He was talking about a war on poverty – he was saying that a politician can change the world.  That through their words and deeds, they can make a difference and make the world a better place.

President Obama (Number 44 – LBJ was 36) stood up last Wednesday night and gave his annual State of …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 1 Comment
Alexandra Jones

The Independent View: London – a magnet for talent

By Alexandra Jones | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 9:55 am

london by Harshil ShahVince Cable recently accused London of acting like a giant machine that sucks in all of the talent from the rest of the country. Our new report, Cities Outlook 2014, shows that London is indeed a magnet for young people from across the country. But the big question is: why does this happen, and what does it mean for policy?

First, let’s look at the key stats. Somewhat counterintuitively, overall London loses population to the rest of the country. But this is overwhelmingly to the Greater South …

Continue reading »
Posted in The Independent View | Tagged , , and | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

Free school lunches for infants: 60% of Lib Dems back Nick Clegg’s policy

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 8:45 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. Some 750 party members responded – thank you – and we’ve been publishing the full results.

(There were a couple of results I ran out of time to publish during the Christmas holiday period – I’m publishing them this week.)

On Saturday, I reported the results of what party members think about school structures. Yesterday, we looked at whether you thought teachers should have formal professional qualifications and if the National …

Continue reading »
Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged , , and | Leave a comment
Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #363

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

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 363rd 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 (26 Jan – 1 February, 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:

Continue reading »
Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment
Fadel Galal

Opinion: Protecting journalists and foreign correspondents – it’s about time

By Fadel Galal | Sun 2nd February 2014 - 4:45 pm

What is currently happening in Egypt in my view is a very sad and violent transformation. Yet as a native of this country, I believe this to be an internal process and should be shaped only by Egyptians living in Egypt.

However, what should not be accepted as an internal matter is the level of intimidation and violence against journalists and foreign correspondents, particularly foreign journalists and those working for foreign media organisations.

They are unwittingly being sucked into a political turmoil they do not control. They are seasoned professionals caught in the line of fire while doing their …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Willie Rennie warns against SNP “dismantling of Scottish justice system”

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd February 2014 - 2:05 pm

The other day, someone said in a comment on here that the SNP seemed like a liberal party. I don’t doubt that there are liberals in it, but they are not evident at the higher levels and particularly in regard to anything the Scottish government does in relation to justice.

Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary has presided over a massively disproportionate use of stop and search powers, agreed to appalling overuse of solitary confinement for vulnerable female prisoners, failed to be mortified after a second damning inspection report at Scotland’s women’s prison, Cornton Vale and is now

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

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

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 2nd February 2014 - 12:30 pm

Many thanks to the  17,300 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Statement by Maajid Nawaz and Mohammed Shafiq (47 comments) by The Voice

And the new Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader is…. (44 comments) by The Voice

Jane Merrick: “How we can all stop worrying and learn to love the Lib Dems” (46 comments) by The Voice

Tom Brake MP writes… Liberal Democrats have improved the Lobbying Bill (58 comments) by The Voice

The Malcolm Bruce Interview Part 1: on the Liberal Democrats’ achievements in Government and why SNP’s promises are undeliverable (4 …

Continue reading »
Posted in Site news | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

Gove and Laws scrap it out on front pages over sacking of Ofsted head. Here’s what the row is all about.

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd February 2014 - 11:22 am

Today’s newspaper front pages are full of the scrap taking place at the heart of the Department for Education between Conservative secretary of state Michael Gove and Lib Dem schools minister David Laws:

gove laws - papers

  • Ofsted row: Lib Dems furious at Conservative plan to ‘politicise’ classrooms (Independent on Sunday)
  • Lib Dems savage Gove over sacked schools boss (The Sunday Times, £)
  • Angry Lib Dems accuse Michael Gove of bid to politicise education (Observer)

    • Why is there a row?

    On Friday night, The Independent broke the news that Baroness (Sally) Morgan, the Labour

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | 28 Comments
    The Voice

    Emma Gilpin-Jacobs quits as Director of Communications to the DPM

    By The Voice | Sun 2nd February 2014 - 10:55 am

    Three months ago we reported: Emma Gilpin-Jacobs appointed as Director of Communications to the DPM.

    Today we report: Emma Gilpin-Jacobs quits as Director of Communications to the DPM.

    Here’s how PR Week reported the swift departure:

    The former FT comms chief confirmed the Lib Dem line that she had resigned from the post due to the realisation that the position demanded more political focus than her corporate comms experience.

    She told PRWeek: “I chose to leave because my strategic global, corporate-focused communications experience will be better utilised in a less day-to day-political operational role – and it’s all very amicable.”

    The party

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Tagged and | 15 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Education: 59% of Lib Dems say teachers should have formal teaching qualifications

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd February 2014 - 8:45 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. Some 750 party members responded – thank you – and we’ve been publishing the full results.

    (There were a couple of results I ran out of time to publish during the Christmas holiday period – I’m publishing them this week.)

    Yesterday I reported the results of what party members think about school structures. Today we look at your views on teachers and the curriculum…

    59% of Lib Dems say teachers employed by state-funded

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged , , , and | 15 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    Sarah Yong selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for Somerton and Frome

    By Caron Lindsay | Sat 1st February 2014 - 8:06 pm

    Sarah Yong has received a very special 30th birthday present – selection as Liberal Democrat candidate for Somerton and
    Frome. She hopes to replace David Heath MP who is standing down.

    So, who is Sarah? Well, her Leadership Programme profile tells us:

    Sarah was born in Edinburgh to a Scottish mother and a Chinese Malaysian father, and her family moved to Somerset when she was three years old. Sarah attended local state schools before graduating with a BA in Politics and History.

    Upon leaving university, Sarah embarked on a military career and attended The Royal Military Leadership Academy for Officer training in 2007.

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 13 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    Julian Huppert welcomes advertising ban rethink

    By Caron Lindsay | Sat 1st February 2014 - 4:23 pm

    The Advertising Standards Authority is a funny old body sometimes. There are occasions when it overlooks quite outrageous flouting of infant feeding regulations in formula advertisements (although one such ad was banned this week for making misleading claims). Then last week it tried to ban a Cycling Scotland advert on public safety grounds because it showed a cyclist not wearing a helmet and cycling too far into the road. The positioning was later proven to be entirely consistent with the Highway Code and it is not a legal requirement to wear a helmet.

    There is, in fact, some controversy in the …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Tagged , and | 6 Comments
    Advert

    Recent Comments

    • Jamie Sharpley
      Westminster by-elections now get a considerable amount of coverage and scrutiny. The Party is not doing itself any favours by only campaigning in seats where th...
    • Caron LindsayCaron Lindsay
      I thought the sardines were representing you being squashed into the buses! This time next year, I'll have my bus pass, but I won't be able to use it outside...
    • tony/Cumbria
      25 years? and I thought a week was along time in politics!!...
    • Ruth Bright
      We will miss you too Caron. Hope your weekend is as comfy (and full of Strictly sequins!) as is possible in these challenging circumstances....
    • David Barnsdale
      The growth in polarization is attributed to social media but to an extent the forms of social media that we now have (that reward tribalism) is shaped by ideas ...