Liberal Democrat Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 8th December 2013 - 2:00 pm

Many thanks to the 16,600 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

Opinion: Child taken from the womb by social services. Really?( 137 comments) by Evan Harris

Jo Swinson takes on Daily Mail’s Liz Jones, who thinks she shouldn’t be “procreating” (11 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Hemming helps woman in forced caesarean and adoption case (28 comments) by Caron Lindsay

Times: “The increasingly confident and powerful Mr Clegg” (28 comments) by Newshound

Opinion: Women must stop stepping into the political shoes of men (45 comments) by Andy Boddington

Nelson Mandela: the long walk is …

Posted in Best of the blogs, Op-eds and Site news | Tagged sunday best | Leave a comment

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Christmas present ideas from the LDV team and friends, days 6, 7 and 8

By The Voice | Sun 8th December 2013 - 12:30 pm

We’ve fallen a bit behind with our Christmas present ideas, so here we catch up with 3 ideas.

The first is from party president Tim Farron who wants us to look up. Literally. He suggests that a telescope would be an amazing gift because:

It opens up the awesomeness of everything.

Regular LDV contributor Alisdair Calder McGregor suggests this Doctor Who laden page. He says:

I don’t think I really have to explain why do I?

Posted in News | Tagged aldc and christmas present ideas | Leave a comment

Danny Alexander earns a reprieve after strong performance on Andrew Marr

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 8th December 2013 - 10:57 am

Danny Alexander went on the Andrew Marr Show this morning to talk about the Autumn Statement and the Liberal Democrats’ contribution to the economic recovery. If I had to pull him up on anything, it’s not getting in any mention of shared parental leave. No Liberal Democrat interview should be complete without it. It ticks all the stronger economy, fairer society, enabling people to get on in life boxes and is one of the best practical demonstrations of Liberal Democrat values in action that we’ve delivered in government.

He said that the proposed MPs’ pay rise would be wholly inappropriate when there’s pay restraint in other areas of the public sector.

In terms of differentiation from the Tories, he said that Liberal Democrats wanted more taxes on the wealthy, opposed what he called the tax penalty for unmarried people and opposed the removal of housing benefit from young people, which we had stopped in this Parliament.

He also confirmed that free school meals for younger children was a permanent commitment and reports that it was unfunded after 2015 were not true. He said the money was there but the work had not yet been done to allocate them to individual departments.

I’ve done a quick Storify which covers the main points of the interview.

Posted in News | Tagged andrew marr show, Danny Alexander, free school meals, housing benefit and marriage tax break | 26 Comments

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: Nelson Mandela

By The Voice | Sun 8th December 2013 - 9:13 am

A very brief note this week, devoted to Nelson Mandela. Nick highlights his statement and points us towards the debate that will take place in the House of Commons tomorrow. We also discover that Paddy spends time on his phone at the dinner table. He wouldn’t get away with that in LDV Towers.

A very sad week. I never met Nelson Mandela but, like many of you, I’ve also never known the world without him in it. This weekend it feels like an emptier place.

I was having dinner

…

Posted in News | Tagged letter from the leader | 2 Comments

Danny Alexander’s passion for Irn Bru and admiration for Lyndon Johnson revealed in Guardian Q & A

By Newsmoggie | Sat 7th December 2013 - 2:03 pm

Danny Alexander is featured in today’s Guardian Q & A. It’s a strange feature that is sometimes contradictory, sometimes very revealing and sometimes just a little too on message for comfort. But then, he’s not talking to Liberal Democrat members, he’s talking to the wider public so if there was no mention of a stronger economy or fairer society, it would probably be a bit of a missed opportunity. When we are sick of hearing something, it’s only just starting to get through to the wider public. He even recognises himself, though, that he might over-use “The mess Labour left …

Posted in LibLink | Tagged Danny Alexander and the guardian | 3 Comments

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Opinion: Mandela’s moral greatness

By Anonymous Liberal | Sat 7th December 2013 - 12:30 pm

Nelson Mandela’s political legacy is too great, too various, to summarise in a single post. But for me he represents a core insight.

For a revolutionary political idea to thrive, it must not be consumed by the very zeal it ignites.

This is not to underestimate the importance of Mandela’s cause. And it is sobering to think that, two hundred years after the Enlightenment’s high watermark, the rightness of that cause was not at all self-evident to the greater part of white South African opinion, any more than Rosa Parks’s validity as a person with rights was self-evident to George Wallace.

Rather, it …

Posted in News | Tagged nelson mandela | 3 Comments

This week’s by-elections: a Lib Dem hold and a near miss

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 7th December 2013 - 11:04 am

Amongst the crop of this week’s by-elections are a convincing hold in Todmorden Town Council’s Stoodley ward:

LD Zaheer Abbas 203 (39.9)
Lab 123 (24.2)
Ind 71 (13.9)
National Front 59 (11.6)
Ind 53 (10.4)
Majority 80
Turnout 19.12%

In Cardiff’s Splott, we came within 102 votes, and raised our vote by 3.5%, of taking a seat from Labour.

Lab 706 (39.1; -8.7)
LD Jamie Matthews 604 (33.5; +3.5)
UKIP 209 (11.6; +11.6)
Ind 94 (5.2; +5.2)
Con 86 (4.8; +0.5)
TUSC 80 (6.1; +3.2)

Majority 102

Glasgow Shettleston has never been our strongest area, but I can report a 0.6% rise in our vote in the ward for our candidate Jamie Spiers. 53 local residents …

Posted in News | Tagged by-election results and Local government | 38 Comments

LibLink: Caron Lindsay – It’s time to get real people involved in the indyref debate

By NewsHound | Sat 7th December 2013 - 8:15 am

LDV’s Co-Editor, Caron Lindsay, has written for The Herald newspaper about 2014’s Scottish independence referendum. She’s a bit bored with the same old politicians serving up the same old rehearsed lines. She wants real people to start having their say:

Let’s have the next debate around the kitchen table with some ordinary people. Take my friends Anne and Stevie as an example. The referendum is on her birthday. If we become independent, that’ll happen on his. She’s pro UK, he’s pro independence, albeit with a slightly different and quirkier vision than that presented by the SNP. They care deeply

…

Posted in LibLink and Scotland | Tagged caron lindsay and Scottish independence referendum | Leave a comment

Opinion: Nelson Mandela: A personal tribute

By Parmjit Singh Gill | Fri 6th December 2013 - 5:15 pm

Nelson Mandela commanded an enormous degree of respect from leaders across the world and will be a great loss to us all. He truly was one of the great souls of the last century along with Mahatma Gandhi who he credited with being a major source of inspiration in his life, especially with his philosophy of non-violence. Both Gandhi and Mandela were leaders who were imprisoned for years by oppressive regimes and now their statues share a place on Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, South Africa.

While Gandhi influenced Mandela, a young Gandhi himself was mentored by Dadabhai Naoroji who was the …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged leicester south by-election 2004 and nelson mandela | 9 Comments

Opinion: The inspiration of Nelson Mandela

By Issan Ghazni | Fri 6th December 2013 - 3:56 pm

The passing of Nelson Mandela is a moment in history which has touched almost everyone as we reflect on the momentous achievements of the great man and compare them to his engagingly humble personality.

His belief in peace, non-violence and reconciliation mark him out in the same bracket as Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jnr and Mahatma Gandhi. His role as a freedom fighter and international symbol of resistance of Apartheid show an uncompromising spirit.

Mandela was a hero to most and his fight inspired many to get involved in the political process, perhaps more in the Liberals than any other British …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged nelson mandela | 8 Comments

Opinion: Do you love this country?

By David Gray | Fri 6th December 2013 - 12:14 pm

One question asked by the Home Affairs Select Committee to Alan Rusbridger over the Snowden leaks should be of great concern to us all. During the often heated exchanges, Keith Vaz asked:

Do you love this country?

If we were told that in, for example, Russia, a committee of MPs were grilling a newspaper editor over his patriotic credentials, we would rightly condemn it as a worrying level of state pressure on the press. Just what were Vaz’s intentions behind that question? Would it have been held against Rusbridger if he had said ‘no’? We can only speculate. But, whether or …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged alan rusbridger, keith vaz, Parliament and patriotism | 32 Comments

Opinion: Cash in your pocket or green fields on your doorstep?

By Andy Boddington | Fri 6th December 2013 - 10:48 am

Cash in your pocket or green fields on your doorstep?

Does anyone think the planning system is working? I don’t and neither do many communities and local councils. Ministers certainly don’t think so. Buried in the National Infrastructure Plan published on Tuesday are proposals for more planning reform (pdf). They are bad proposals.

One plan is to set up a specialist court to deal with planning disputes. That’s a good idea, but as with so much legislation under this government, the detail undermines the principle (for example, the Lobbying and Antisocial Behaviour bills). What the government is really aiming for here …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged planning and rural affairs | 21 Comments

Liberal Democrats pay tribute to Nelson Mandela

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 6th December 2013 - 9:10 am

My social media timeline is full of tributes to Nelson Mandela. The interesting thing is that they come not from the usual political suspects, but from so many of my friends, from all generations, from all over the world. Everyone knows that he taught us how to bring harmony to a country that could have descended into a horrendously bloody civil war. He could have taken his revenge on the brutal regime who had kept him locked up for so long, but, thankfully, he showed us a better way. Think how much the world would improve if more people followed …

Posted in News | Tagged featured and nelson mandela | 4 Comments

Nelson Mandela – the long walk is over

By Mary Reid | Fri 6th December 2013 - 7:18 am

Barack Obama described Nelson Mandela as ‘a hero for the world’ and it is difficult to think of another politician who was as admired globally as he was. Perhaps the only comparable figure is Mahatma Gandhi, who also began his public life as a lawyer working for the civil rights of South Africans.

However, while Gandhi practised non-violent civil disobediance throughout his life, Mandela moved towards militant opposition to apartheid. His transition in public perception from terrorist to saint has been unique.

In 1996 Mandela was granted the Freedom of the City of London. I was very privileged to be present at the event in London’s Guildhall.

Posted in Obituaries and Op-eds | Tagged featured and nelson mandela | 15 Comments

Christmas present ideas from the LDV team and friends: Day 5

By The Voice | Thu 5th December 2013 - 3:45 pm

Do you have a great big long list of people to buy Christmas presents for and no idea what to give them? I hope that you will find our ongoing series of present suggestions helpful.

Today, our former co-editor Mark Pack puts forward something that will surprise nobody. He’s always keen to make sure that Liberal Democrats are the best equipped political geeks around. Last year he was keen to ensure that we didn’t let a little bit of snow and ice get in the way of …

Posted in News | Tagged christmas present ideas | 2 Comments

Autumn statement – 5 quick thoughts from me

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 5th December 2013 - 2:54 pm

I don’t pretend to be an economist so don’t expect any commentary on debts or deficits from me. I want to take a very quick look at some of the practical aspects of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. You can read Stephen Tall’s take on it here.

I’m not taking any marriage tax break

If Liberal Democrats hadn’t allowed the Tories their awful marriage tax break, we’d have been breaking the Coalition Agreement in the same way as the Tories did over Lords Reform. I would have preferred we hadn’t agreed to it in the first place. We won’t be voting for …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged autumn statement 2013 | 28 Comments

Autumn statement: George is jubilant, Ed blusters and Danny breathes a sigh of relief

By Stephen Tall | Thu 5th December 2013 - 1:50 pm

“A lot done, a lot left to do.” It’s the slogan that adorns many re-election campaigns and it’s the one George Osborne adopted in his autumn statement today. He was cautiously jubilant. Growth has returned with the OBR seemingly struggling to get its forecasts to keep up. Borrowing will fall – slower than the Chancellor forecast, true, but a cash surplus is expected within five years.

This gave the Coalition the wriggle room it needed for an assortment of giveaways… Free school meals for 5-7 year-olds, the personal income tax allowance to rise to £10k then be pegged to inflation, …

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged autumn statement 2013 and featured | 9 Comments

Danny Alexander on Autumn Statement: Our stronger economy will help us deliver a fairer society

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 5th December 2013 - 12:58 pm

Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has emailed Liberal Democrat members to highlight what we have brought to the Autumn statement which, he says, is “packed full of Liberal Democrat ideas.” Here it is in full.

Our greatest achievement in Government has been bringing our economy back from the brink of Labour’s disaster.

On Wednesday, I set out how we are literally re-building the fabric and infrastructure of Britain.

Today, we have delivered an Autumn Statement that clearly shows we are making real progress in rebuilding our economy after the ‘car crash’ Labour years. Growth is improving. There are record levels …

Posted in News | Tagged autumn statement 2013 and Danny Alexander | 6 Comments

Liberal Youth by-elections are go!

By The Voice | Thu 5th December 2013 - 11:31 am

As we reported recently, Liberal Youth are currently holding by-elections for Membership and Communications Officer.

This morning, emails containing links to the electronic ballot were despatched to voters. If the party knows you are under 26, in full time education and you have supplied an email address, you should have received an email from Opavote. If you have not, please contact the Returning Officer at [email protected].

Details of candidates and their manifestos can be found here.

Posted in News | Tagged liberal youth and liberal youth elections | 1 Comment

The Autumn Statement and the unreal economic debate in which everyone pretends the Coalition stuck to ‘Plan A’

By Stephen Tall | Thu 5th December 2013 - 10:15 am

It’s autumn statement day. George Osborne will stand at the despatch box of the House of Commons this afternoon and present his pre-budget report. The Guardian’s Martin Kettle sums up what it’s all about:

For the Conservatives, today is about redefining themselves – in the face of a run of seriously disappointing polls – as the party that feels the voters’ pain over energy prices, house price inflation, wind farms or payday loans – while still, boosted by yesterday’s strong economic surveys and the possible return of the UK’s AAA rating, managing a recovering economy more soundly than Labour. For

…

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Danny Alexander, economic policy, ed balls, george osborne and jonathan portes | 13 Comments

Opinion: Women must stop stepping into the political shoes of men

By Andy Boddington | Thu 5th December 2013 - 8:55 am

It’s a cute piece of research for two reasons. It sits comfortably with what so many of us think, even if we don’t say it out loud. Yet it challenges every one of us.

University of Pennsylvania researchers have shown that women’s brains are wired from left to right – that’s linking logic with intuition. In men, the neural connections go from front to back. That strengthens their spatial and motor skills. This research suggests that those age old stereotypes are true. Overall men are better at reading maps and being single-minded when tackling a problem. Women are in general …

Posted in News | Tagged equality and gender balance | 47 Comments

Times: “The increasingly confident and powerful Mr Clegg”

By NewsHound | Wed 4th December 2013 - 4:45 pm

Anyone who watched Prime Minister’s Question Time or listens to Call Clegg regularly will know that Nick Clegg is often in relaxed, confident mood these days. He answers questions with ease and authenticity.

Writing in today’s Times, Alice Thomson writes about the “increasingly confident and powerful Mr Clegg” in a way that makes you think she doesn’t really like it.

But the bizarre paradox is that the more scandals they have overcome and the worse the Lib Dems do in the polls, the more confident their high command has become.

She doesn’t really take into account that national polls don’t really mean that …

Posted in News | Tagged alice thomson, nick clegg and the times | 29 Comments

Christmas present ideas from the Liberal Democrat Voice team and friends – Day 4

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 4th December 2013 - 3:33 pm

As we’re untangling the tinsel and dusting off our baubles in LDV Towers, we’re inviting our team and some of our friends to suggest some ideas for Christmas presents which we hope will inspire you.

Today it’s the turn of Yorkshire’s Jennie Rigg who has two suggestions.

First up, it’s Lego Lord of the Rings

Lego LotR has got to be a winner, right? We have Shelob dangling from the curtain rail in our living room and we’re all Lib Dems, and Lib Dems like building things, whether that’s winning election teams or miniature battle sets (and seriously, the number of

…

Posted in News | Tagged christmas present ideas and jennie rigg | 4 Comments

Gordon Birtwistle MP writes… Careers advice should reflect the value of apprenticeships

By Gordon Birtwistle MP | Wed 4th December 2013 - 3:17 pm

Apprenticeships are just a valuable as degrees – careers advice is vital to ensure this message is heard.

As Government Apprenticeship Ambassador to Business, my job is to advocate and promote apprenticeships to businesses, young people and schools across the country; working closely with the National Apprenticeship Service and BIS.

Over the next two years (and in the upcoming months) I will be visiting more schools, training providers, businesses including small and medium enterprises and apprentices to hear from a range of people and to establish how the Government can improve on apprenticeships.

So far we have been up and down the country …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged apprenticeships, BIS and national apprenticeship service | 9 Comments

Opinion: Parental equality: a step, and only a step in the right direction

By Name Withheld | Wed 4th December 2013 - 2:30 pm

I heard the announcement by Nick Clegg regarding shared parental leave and I am pleased that the party is moving the arrangements into the 21st century and away from the 1950’s. I do though still have an internal sigh when I hear the debate only being framed as a “mummy and daddy” debate, when it is reported in the media.

Hearing this language personally annoys me, as it reinforces the view that a family is only correct if it is for one mother and one father. This is patent nonsense in the 21st century and causes subconscious bias towards parenting …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged LGBT rights and shared parental leave | 3 Comments

Ed Davey MP writes…Big boost for investment in renewable electricity

By Ed Davey | Wed 4th December 2013 - 1:01 pm

It may seem to Lib Dem Voice readers that important energy announcements are a bit like buses. You wait some time for one and then several come along together. So hard on the heels of Monday’s energy bills package today Danny Alexander announced the final strike prices for renewable technologies and also which companies had qualified for the final stage of being awarded early investment contracts. This is good news for investment in the UK’s infrastructure and good news for our move to a low carbon economy.

On the back of these announcements we expect an additional £40 billion of …

Posted in News | Tagged electricity and renewable energy | 5 Comments

The Independent View: Help, don’t judge – better uses for the £700 million marriage tax break cash

By Jenny Allen | Wed 4th December 2013 - 11:58 am

Another Westminster set piece, another piece of the jigsaw for David Cameron’s marriage tax allowance. This Thursday the Chancellor gives his Autumn Statement. With the economic upturn shaky at best we can expect little in the way of good news and plenty more squeezing of budgets. Except, that is, for the little matter of the £700m the Conservatives are gearing up to spend on giving tax breaks for married couples. The Chancellor is expected to give more detail on this policy, which even its supporters believe is only of symbolic value.

With …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged don't judge my family, featured and marriage tax break | 7 Comments

Liberals launch new European network for LGBT rights

By Giles Goodall | Wed 4th December 2013 - 10:24 am

Last weekend, over a thousand European liberals met in London for the annual ALDE congress, hosted by the Lib Dems and opened by Nick Clegg. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe – the European family of liberal parties – became the first to adopt their joint manifesto for next May’s elections to the European Parliament.

But a second historic event took place at the congress: the launch of a new European liberal campaign for LGBT rights: Liberals for Equality. LGBT rights are human rights, …

Posted in News | Tagged ALDE, equality and LGBT | 3 Comments

Opinion: “Freedom is a Word I Rarely Use Without Thinking”

By Bill le Breton | Wed 4th December 2013 - 8:55 am

A letter originating from the Leader’s Office on Liberal Principles has provoked some much needed discussion on this subject. For example, this opinion piece from Paul Connolly received a warm welcome.

But it seems odd to discuss Liberalism without ever mentioning directly power.

There been a few mentions of that awful concept of ‘empowerment’ which is so deeply ‘illiberal’ and yet seen as a badge to be worn by post 1997 ‘liberals’.

To ‘empower’ is to allocate power. It is in the first instance the acceptance of the taking of power from people and to ‘reallocate it’. It is a fundamentally …

Posted in News | Tagged freedom, liberalism and power | 19 Comments

Brent Labour councillor Dhiraj Kataria joins Liberal Democrats

By The Voice | Tue 3rd December 2013 - 4:29 pm

Brent Council’s Liberal Democrat contingent was strengthened today when West Harp councillor Dhiraj Kataria left Labour to join them.

He gave his reasons as:

I have become increasingly disillusioned by the way the Brent Labour Group has operated – and particularly by the top-down way in which that it has been led. I feel decisions taken by the Labour Group and Labour Executive members, such as closing half our libraries and cutting street cleaning, have been against the interests of my constituents.

I have been impressed by the Liberal Democrat Group’s commitment to

…

Posted in News | 6 Comments

Op-eds

Lib Dems need a 25-year vision that sets out how we’ll change Britain (Phil Wainewright)
Observations of an ex pat: Kompromat (Tom Arms)
A different story of hope for Liberalism in the 21st Century (Steve Mason)
Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything (Victoria Collins MP)
The Independent View: To get Britain growing again, we must cut the cost of doing business (Shevaun Haviland CBE)

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Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything

To get Britain growing, we must cut business costs

Bobby Dean MP writes: The resilient state

Sarah Olney bids to become candidate for Mayor of London

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

Christmas present ideas from the LDV team and friends, days 6, 7 and 8

Danny Alexander earns a reprieve after strong performance on Andrew Marr

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: Nelson Mandela

Danny Alexander’s passion for Irn Bru and admiration for Lyndon Johnson revealed in Guardian Q & A

Opinion: Mandela’s moral greatness

This week’s by-elections: a Lib Dem hold and a near miss

LibLink: Caron Lindsay – It’s time to get real people involved in the indyref debate

Opinion: Nelson Mandela: A personal tribute

Opinion: The inspiration of Nelson Mandela

Opinion: Do you love this country?

Opinion: Cash in your pocket or green fields on your doorstep?

Liberal Democrats pay tribute to Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela – the long walk is over

Christmas present ideas from the LDV team and friends: Day 5

Autumn statement – 5 quick thoughts from me

I’m not taking any marriage tax break

Autumn statement: George is jubilant, Ed blusters and Danny breathes a sigh of relief

Danny Alexander on Autumn Statement: Our stronger economy will help us deliver a fairer society

Liberal Youth by-elections are go!

The Autumn Statement and the unreal economic debate in which everyone pretends the Coalition stuck to ‘Plan A’

Opinion: Women must stop stepping into the political shoes of men

Times: “The increasingly confident and powerful Mr Clegg”

Christmas present ideas from the Liberal Democrat Voice team and friends – Day 4

Gordon Birtwistle MP writes… Careers advice should reflect the value of apprenticeships

Opinion: Parental equality: a step, and only a step in the right direction

Ed Davey MP writes…Big boost for investment in renewable electricity

The Independent View: Help, don’t judge – better uses for the £700 million marriage tax break cash

Liberals launch new European network for LGBT rights

Opinion: “Freedom is a Word I Rarely Use Without Thinking”

Brent Labour councillor Dhiraj Kataria joins Liberal Democrats

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Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything

To get Britain growing, we must cut business costs

Bobby Dean MP writes: The resilient state

Sarah Olney bids to become candidate for Mayor of London

I’m not taking any marriage tax break

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