Stephen Tall

Free school meals for infants – the controversy over Nick Clegg’s pledge rumbles on

By Stephen Tall | Sun 24th November 2013 - 3:30 pm

Clegg WatfordI wrote yesterday about Sir Nick Harvey’s forecast that the next election is Labour’s to lose. But there was another issue he focused on in his Huffngton Post interview – Nick Clegg’s conference pledge that all 5-7 year-olds should have free school meals, regardless of their family’s income status.

“It was absolutely astonishing. It came from nowhere,” he exclaims. “It seemed to be part of some coalition deal where it was meant to make the Lib Dems feel better about allowing the Tories to progress their wretched married

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sun 24th November 2013 - 2:15 pm

Many thanks to the 18,000 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here’s our 7 most-read posts…

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The Voice

“Nick Clegg is an idle f*****r says David Cameron”

By The Voice | Sun 24th November 2013 - 11:45 am

clegg-cameron_different_directionsThe Mirror’s headline promised Coalition discord and rancour. The reality was a lot less interesting – a joke by the Tory leader as his Lib Dem counterpart enjoyed dinner with his wife. Here is that racy anecdote in all its “foul-mouthed” glory:

The PM’s foul-mouthed remark came as he heard the Lib Dem leader and his wife were enjoying a meal out – while he was still busy working. He made the discovery after calling a horse-training pal who happened to be in the same restaurant as the Cleggs.

Mr Cameron

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The Voice

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Smack bang in the liberal centre – the only place you can deliver real, liberal freedom”

By The Voice | Sun 24th November 2013 - 10:18 am

Tory planning minister Nick Coles’ admission this week that the Conservative brand is still tainted provides the cue for Nick Clegg to stake the liberal flag squarely in the centre ground once again. The Tories see us too statist, he says, while Labour sees us as too hard – Nick reckons this confirms the Lib Dems are exactly where we should be. And he defines his version of what liberalism is: “liberalism is about enabling everyone to get on in life”. Read his letter in full, below…

libdem letter from nick clegg

This week there’s been a lot of chat in the Westminster village about an issue close to our party’s heart: liberalism.

Specifically, on whether or not the Conservative party can be liberal. Sparked, on this occasion, by a Tory Minister and arch-moderniser, Nick Boles, conceding that their detoxification project has failed.

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The Voice

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

By The Voice | Sat 23rd November 2013 - 5:00 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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Richard Wingfield

Opinion: Why Liberal Democrats should support lowering the age of consent

By Richard Wingfield | Sat 23rd November 2013 - 2:30 pm

Liberal Democrats have long-championed the rights of young people. We were the first major party to call for the voting age to be lowered to 16. We were the only party in 2010 which committed to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law. In government, we have ended the detention of children for immigration purposes. But in one area of personal freedom and development, we remain distinctly illiberal: the age of consent.

In response to the recent calls from Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, to lower the age of consent …

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NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron – EU: The Liberal Democrats as the ‘Party of In’

By NewsHound | Sat 23rd November 2013 - 12:35 pm

With 6 months to the European elections, the Lib Dems are stepping up the party’s drive to be identified as the most pro-European party – in contrast to previous campaigns when the party has tended to downplay its pro-Europeanism.

There are two reasons. First, the Lib Dems believe we’re better off in. Secondly, the party’s private polling shows that those who aren’t current Lib Dem voters, but would consider voting for us, are generally pro-European and like the party’s stance.

Party president Tim Farron published an article on the Huffington Post yesterday making the Lib Dem case. Here’s an excerpt:

Of course,

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Stephen Tall

Is Nick Harvey right that “Labour is on course to win the next election”?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd November 2013 - 10:50 am

Nick Harvey MPSir Nick Harvey, Lib Dem MP for North Devon (and former defence minister), has little doubt who’s going to win the next election, as he tells the Huffington Post:

… Harvey has a “clear sense” of what he thinks is going to happen. And even more than that, he is “astonished” that few others within the Westminster Village share his view.

“Stand fast a game changing event, which is always possible in the febrile political era in which we live, Labour is on course to win the next election,” he

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Norman Lamb MP

Norman Lamb writes… How Liberal Democrats are promoting safety and openness in the NHS

By Norman Lamb MP | Sat 23rd November 2013 - 8:45 am

nhs sign lrgAs a Liberal Democrat, my priority for the NHS is simple. I want patients to have the best possible care. When people are ill and vulnerable, they deserve safe and compassionate care provided by doctors and nurses with the best possible training and medical expertise. And people need to know that, when mistakes are made, doctors will be open with them – and that lessons will be learnt.

What happened at Mid Staffs Hospital was a shocking scandal. The stories of neglect sent shock waves across the country. This Government …

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The Voice

BBC: “Mike Hancock MP will not face charges over sex assault”

By The Voice | Sat 23rd November 2013 - 12:01 am

Mike HancockBBC News reports:

Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock will face no further police action in relation to alleged sexual assault claims.

A Hampshire Police statement said it had discussed the case with the Crown Prosecution Service and would not be taking any further action.

Mr Hancock, who is also a councillor, had strongly denied the allegations.

An independent report released in September found he failed to observe the council’s code of conduct.

Hampshire Police said it had informed those affected by the decision.

Mr Hancock said: “I’m personally delighted and pleased they have come to

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The Voice

Hull Labour councillor pledges: “500 Twitter followers and I’ll punch a Lib Dem”

By The Voice | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 10:40 pm

The Hull Daily Mail reports:

A TWITTER row has broken out after a Hull City councillor tweeted he would “punch a Lib Dem in the face” if he reached 500 followers. Labour councillor Chris Sumpton claims the tweet was only meant as a joke but his Liberal Democrat colleagues are furious and are considering taking the matter further.

The issue was raised at yesterday’s full council meeting when an angry Councillor Eliza Mann asked council leader Stephen Brady to condemn the tweet.

But the leader said he couldn’t comment because he wasn’t in possession of the full facts and wasn’t familiar with

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes… EU budget boost secures UK’s position as world leader in science

By Julian Huppert | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 3:35 pm

Europe Day - European Union - Some rights reserved by Niccolò CarantiI heard some good news this week. It may not have grabbed the headlines, but the UK economy was given a colossal shot in the arm thanks to the European Union.

Lib Dem MEPs on Tuesday voted for an EU budget, which was overall lower – a 6.5 per cent cut – but crucially included a 30 per cent increase in funding for research and innovation. This is important funding, and a clear sign of what can be achieved to help …

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Willie Rennie

Willie Rennie MSP writes…Equal marriage is an important step to a fairer society

By Willie Rennie | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 1:49 pm

Most people know that politicians can sometimes talk up goings on in Parliament in the hope of gaining a bit of newspaper coverage. Observers of Scottish politics will be familiar with claims that this or that debate marks a momentous change from what has gone before.

But this week at Holyrood we discussed legislation that can legitimately be described as historic. There is no need to exaggerate the impact it will have because it is plain to see that this Bill will change the lives of thousands of Scots around the country.an act that offers same-sex couples the same protections and …

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Mark Valladares

This week in Europe: 18-21 November

By Mark Valladares | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 11:51 am

Lib Dem MEP welcomes EU infrastructure investment

Liberal Democrat European transport spokesman, Phil Bennion, welcomed Tuesday’s adoption of an EU infrastructure package worth EUR 33 billion between 2014 and 2020.

The ‘Connecting Europe‘ programme will help fund and facilitate projects of common interest in the areas of energy, transport and infrastructure, and the West Coast Main Line corridor is among the identified priority projects that would be eligible for EU funding.

Phil Bennion MEP said:

When it comes to energy, transport and digital infrastructure it is important to look beyond national borders to exploit potential synergies and enable an easy

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James Gurling

The future of Lib Dem Spring conference – how to have your say by 29th November

By James Gurling | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 11:24 am

As part of the budget setting process, earlier this year, the Federal Executive were asked to look at how the Party runs its Spring Conference and the costs it incurs. With pressures on Party finances as they are, the challenge was therefore to look at how to make spring conference, at worst, a ‘break-even’ event.

From the start, FE recognised that answering this challenge involved potentially significant changes to Spring Conference, and produced a paper which looks at three broad options – continuing as we do with a two day spring conference (and seeking to make cost …

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Phil Bennion

Phil Bennion MEP writes… Anti-Bullying Week: The EU has a duty to share best practice on Autism-related bullying

By Phil Bennion | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 10:26 am

This week is Anti-Bullying Week, now an annual UK event. It aims to raise awareness of bullying of children and young people and people with conditions such as autistic spectrum disorders which make them particularly vulnerable to abuse. Organised by the Anti Bullying Alliance (ABA) in England, which is made up of sixty member organisations, the week is an important opportunity for policy-makers to take stock of efforts to stamp out this social evil and evaluate new approaches.

As MEP for the West Midlands region, I have always believed that the European Union has an important role to play in …

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Nick T

JFK: educator of the nation or a presidential achiever?

By Nick T | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 8:52 am

John F KennedyOn Monday 7 August 1962, Arthur Schlesinger, liberal historian and adviser to President John F Kennedy, had lunch at the White House with a friend of his, Harvard historian Frank Freidel. Naturally enough, the pair stopped off in the Oval Office for Freidel to be introduced to the president.

Among the things discussed was an article written by Schlessinger’s father, also a very accomplished historian, and published the previous month in The New York Times Magazine. In the piece, Schlessinger Sr published the results of a poll of 75 leading …

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NewsHound

Clegg and Farron champion green issues after Cameron appears to backtrack

By NewsHound | Thu 21st November 2013 - 5:12 pm

Of course he hasn’t said this publicly, but the Telegraph reports that David Cameron has stated privately that he wants to “get rid of all the green crap” from Coalition policies.

Nick Clegg and Tim Farron are both quoted as robustly defending green measures and the jobs they create. Nick says that he doesn’t think the headlines portray David Cameron’s views.

On Call Clegg, Nick said:

Well, if I may use the word, it isn’t all crap, of course. It is worth remembering that a lot of the policies that we’ve got support tens of thousands of people who work in a

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Caron Lindsay

Liberal Democrats storm to victory at press gallery quiz

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 21st November 2013 - 3:27 pm

press gallery quiz conquering heroes croppedThe Liberal Democrat team took first prize at the annual Press Gallery quiz in Westminster last night. Our five triumphant heroes are David Heath MP, LDHQ head of policy Christian Moon and special advisers Emily Walch, Sean Kemp (who was also team captain) and James McGrory.

The clever quintet answered questions on all the usual pub quiz type subjects, specialising in sport (how on earth do any of them have the time to know anything about sport?) and netting double points from the Also Known As round. They had gone into the event hoping to improve on last year’s second place and they did so in style, beating the Daily Politics. As an aside, the Daily Politics team contained Alice Aitken, a former Liberal Democrat policy researcher on Culture, Media and Sport matters. Another familiar face was event organiser Elizabeth Johnson, who was for many years a Cowley Street stalwart.

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Lester Holloway

EMLD to discuss how party can better appeal to BAME communities

By Lester Holloway | Thu 21st November 2013 - 2:30 pm

cropped EMLD logoThis Saturday, 23rd November, Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats (EMLD) will hold their Annual General Meeting. Speakers include Simon Woolley from Operation Black Vote and Tim Snowball, the Party’s director of communications.

Discussion will address how Lib Dems can better appeal to BAME communities. It promises to be a great debate, come along! All are welcome. You don’t have to be an EMLD member to attend but please bring your party membership card. Refreshments will be provided.

The event will be at 11.30am at Lib Dem HQ, 8-10 Great George Street, Westminster, SW1P 3AE.

We have just published our annual review which is also available here.

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Roger Williams MP

Roger Williams MP writes…Protecting children from second-hand smoke

By Roger Williams MP | Thu 21st November 2013 - 12:59 pm

Too many children in the UK are still being regularly exposed to high concentrations of second-hand smoke in cars. This exposure can have detrimental effects on children’s health due to their smaller lungs and less developed immune systems. The Royal College of Physicians published a report collating all available evidence on second-hand smoke to show how it affects children’s health. They found that there were 300,000 GP visits by children every year, there were 165,000 new episodes of disease and 9,500 admissions to hospital every year in the UK because of passive smoke.

In 2007, legislation to ban smoking in public …

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Jo Swinson MP

Jo Swinson MP writes…I want to stamp out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools

By Jo Swinson MP | Thu 21st November 2013 - 12:01 pm

Regardless of sexuality, all pupils should feel safe and accepted at school, but for far too many young people, bullying is a sad reality of their daily lives.  In particular, a survey conducted by Stonewall in 2012 found that more than half of young lesbian, gay and bisexual people said they experienced homophobic bullying at school, while over two-thirds reported that they heard homophobic language often or frequently.  Only three in ten said their school responds quickly to homophobic bullying when it occurs.

These statistics reveal the scale of the problem and that, while some are doing a fantastic job, not …

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Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone writes…Giving residents a say on High St redevelopment

By Lynne Featherstone | Thu 21st November 2013 - 10:43 am

International Development minister Lynne Featherstone writes a monthly column for one of her local newspapers. Here is the latest one…..

I declare an interest in Hornsey High Street. My constituency office is based there, above the Three Compasses pub! As such, I spend a lot of time on the High Street – popping into the shops and cafes and talking to local residents.

The old Depot site on the High Street (almost opposite the pub) has been a point of contention for many years. Parts of the site have been derelict since 1998 and the land is desperately underused, as Labour-run Haringey Council …

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William Hobhouse

Opinion: Time to rethink Co-operation

By William Hobhouse | Thu 21st November 2013 - 9:02 am

When we moved to Rochdale in 1999, we could hardly fail to take pride that the town was not only the birthplace of Gracie Fields, but of the Co-operative Movement. Moving our banking to the Co-op seemed the right thing to do, and national events a few years ago reaffirmed our commitment to being part of a movement that did things differently.

It is only in the last few years – well before the latest scandal – that I have become disillusioned with the business that purports to have inherited the values and practices of …

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Caron Lindsay

Rennie: “You are a joyous, happy force for good” as Scottish equal marriage bill passes first stage

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th November 2013 - 8:19 pm

Willie at equal marriage rallyFive years ago, the embryonic Equal Marriage campaign could scarcely imagine that they would get to the point where the Holyrood Parliament would debate, and most likely pass with a stonking majority, a bill legalising its aim.

That they have captured Scotland’s imagination is down to its relentlessly positive, simple campaign, culminating with the It’s Time video. I defy anyone to get to the end of it without smiling.

Tom French, the spokesperson for the campaign, has had to endure some pretty unpleasant, inaccurate, disrespectful challenges during live debates on the media. He is one of my heroes of the year for dealing with such provocation in a very calm, unflappable manner.

Today, the Bill passed its first parliamentary hurdle. Before the debate, a rally took place outside Parliament. I went along with Andrew Brown who writes the widow’s world blog. The weather might have been freezing cold, but the atmosphere was the exact opposite. We sang (although probably best we didn’t attempt the re-written I am who I am on the back page of the song sheet), we chanted, we laughed, we cheered. Oh, and we listened to some politicians, too.

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Giles Goodall

Opinion: The Sun’s correction to “benefit tourists” claim goes viral

By Giles Goodall | Wed 20th November 2013 - 3:33 pm

sun benefit tourists correctionLast month, the Sunday Telegraph ran a scurrilous story claiming there were ‘600,000 unemployed EU migrants living in Britain’. On closer inspection, it turned out that the real number of (non-British) EU citizens claiming jobseeker’s allowance was just 38,000, according to DWP estimates. But the story had in the meantime been replicated by the usual suspects (the Sun, Mail and Express), leading me to write a piece to correct some of the most common myths about EU free movement.

I’m pleased to report that in a minor …

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Caron Lindsay

David Laws’ “Manifestival” now up on You Tube

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th November 2013 - 2:00 pm

David Laws and PinguLast night, David Laws spent an hour answering members’ questions on the development of the Liberal Democrat manifesto. He took questions on a huge range of issues ranging from the economy to civil liberties to justice, fracking and schools. It’s quite remarkable that this is being done so openly and publicly.

Some of us had trouble accessing the event. If it hadn’t been for Stace Williams, I wouldn’t have managed it at all. As it as, I have half an hour to catch up on. And I can, too. Because it’s up on You Tube.

It’s 53 minutes long, so best to be enjoyed over a cup of tea.

I make no apology, by the way, for the gratuitous use of the photograph of David and Pingu. I don’t think Paddy Ashdown has yet forgiven you readers for not voting it the best photo in the Liberal Democrat Voice awards. I see no reason why we shouldn’t use it as much as we possibly can.

Anyway, enjoy the Q & A. You will note that the Divine Ms Duffett looks as if she has been at that Fountain of Eternal Youth again. She is very good at chairing these webinars, making them informal and informative.

I should also emphasise that David said that he ideally needs ideas for the manifesto within the next six months s0 get them to him. Go and Join the Debate.

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Caron Lindsay

Nick, you’re right on UKIP’s ideas but please ditch the “unpatriotic”

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th November 2013 - 12:29 pm

London loves Business reports Nick Clegg’s recent comments on UKIP.

I think the view represented by UKIP, large parts of the Conservative Party and Paul Sykes is a betrayal of the national interest and an unpatriotic approach because it would leave many people poorer, it would leave us weaker as a country and it would throw many people out of work, and I can’t possibly see why anyone thinks that that is something that in any way represents the long-term national interest.

On the substantive point, he’s absolutely right. Leaving the EU would isolate us, cost jobs, lose us access to …

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Toby Keynes

Opinion: Spring Conference – Ditch it or shift it?

By Toby Keynes | Wed 20th November 2013 - 11:30 am

The future of Spring Conference is in question: the Federal Executive is seriously considering whether it should be scaled down or even abandoned, mainly to cut costs.

Neither of these are attractive options, and they appear to be deeply unpopular with activists.

However, the party has to contend with Spring Conference’s high fixed costs (bad for delicate party finances) and relatively poor attendance (bad for both party finances and party democracy).

At the moment, Spring Conference takes place in early March, during the Easter parliamentary recess.  That’s under 2 months before the May elections (except in European Parliament election years), when many activists …

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Paul Strasburger

Lord Paul Strasburger writes…Government must engage in public debate on surveillance

By Paul Strasburger | Wed 20th November 2013 - 10:00 am

No reasonable person would deny that our spies should be able to intrude, as deeply as is appropriate, into the affairs of people suspected of the most serious offences.  But this scandal is not about those suspects.  It’s about suspicion-less, untargeted surveillance of the entire population as represented by GCHQ’s Project Tempora.

The real questions I will be asking in the chamber of the House of Lords are:

1.       How have we sleep-walked into a situation where GCHQ is collecting massive amounts of the private data of every innocent citizen without the informed consent of Parliament?

2.      Why won’t the government acknowledge this …

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