The Voice

Got some spare time? Can you help out in Kingston today?

By The Voice | Thu 25th July 2013 - 12:51 pm

There’s a whole crop of by-elections today across the country. ALDC have the details here over three pages. Have a look for details of one near you and do what you can to help your local campaign.

However, there is only one Liberal Democrat defence, in Edward Davey’s Kingston constituency, so here at the Voice we are asking Liberal Democrat supporters reading this to concentrate their efforts there.

Lesley Heap is our candidate in Beverley ward. She’s a former NHS worker who’s now a swimming coach. She’s lived in the ward for 12 years.  And she needs you to ring her supporters …

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Posted in Local government, London and News | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
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Stephen Tall

The economy is growing again. But that’s no reason to think the voters will be grateful.

By Stephen Tall | Thu 25th July 2013 - 12:45 pm

Economy-in-the-UKWhat a difference 3 months makes.

As late as 24th April, the fear was the UK economy might be slipping into a ‘triple dip’ recession. That was a bullet dodged. Then a month ago, on 27 June, we discovered the ‘double dip’ recession never actually happened after all. That was a bullet extracted.

Today, the Office of National Statistics has announced GDP growth increased by 0.6% in the second quarter of 2013. The smile of relief has become something more genuine.

No-one should get too carried away. The …

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Layla Moran MP

Opinion: Performance related pay for teachers: does it drive up standards?

By Layla Moran MP | Thu 25th July 2013 - 11:30 am

Michael Gove’s most recent big idea to improve the teaching profession takes the form of performance related pay. Like many of Gove’s big ideas it has incensed teachers. But it’s also a populist move. One poll estimated that 61% of voters backed the idea. But will it improve teaching standards?

The evidence for performance related pay leading to improving standards in education is inconclusive. Literature shows no causal relationship between performance related pay and standards and results vary enormously depending on the context. In India one study showed that “after controlling for student ability, parental background and the resources available …

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The Voice

Last chance to book for conference at reduced rates

By The Voice | Thu 25th July 2013 - 10:02 am

Tomorrow – 26 July – is the last day on which it is possible to book to attend conference at reduced rates. A full week at full price is, until tomorrow, £96 – after that the price rises to £134.

You can book here.

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Stephen Tall

POLL EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members think will happen in 2015 – and what we want to happen in the event of a hung parliament

By Stephen Tall | Thu 25th July 2013 - 8:15 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. More than 600 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

72% of Lib Dem members predict another hung parliament in 2015

What do you believe is the likeliest outcome of the next general election?

    5% – An overall majority for the Conservatives

    6% – A Conservative minority government

    3% – A Conservative-led coalition with parties other than Labour or the Lib Dems

    11% – A Conservative-Lib Dem coalition

    29% – A Labour-Lib Dem coalition

    3% – A Labour-led coalition with parties other than the Conservatives or the Lib Dems

    20% – A minority Labour government

    9% – An overall majority for Labour

    0% – A “grand coalition” between Labour and Conservatives

    13% – Don’t know

I deliberately offered multiple, mirroring choices to capture the full span of opinion on this. But let’s now group the data together to help us understand what it’s saying:

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Posted in LDV Members poll and News | Tagged | 50 Comments
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The Voice

Lib Dem MP Sir Bob Russell slams Israeli parliament for “ethnically cleansing between 40,000 and 60,000 Bedouin”

By The Voice | Wed 24th July 2013 - 8:05 pm

bob russell_2Lib Dem MP Sir Bob Russell launched a broadside in the Commons last week against the Israeli parliament for approving (in his words) “what can be described only as ethnically cleansing between 40,000 and 60,000 Bedouin”.

He went on to attack the US Government and the European Union for their inaction and the British media for its silence — but singled out for praise Jewish Voice for Peace, which is campaigning against what it terms “this massive violation of human rights”. His call was echoed by the Conservative …

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged , , , and | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

Alan Turing: is a pardon the best way to excuse our crime against him?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 24th July 2013 - 4:05 pm

Alan_Turing_photoThe campaign to pardon Alan Turing, the father of computer science who was convicted for acts of homosexuality in 1952, troubles me.

I take as a given the good intentions of those Lib Dems such as Lord (John) Sharkey and Manchester MP John Leech who have led the calls in parliament. But I am struck by Matthew Parris’s words in today’s Times:

Why only Turing? Many, many tens of thousands of gay men have been convicted for behaviour that was once against the law. Tens of thousands of careers, reputations

…

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Caron Lindsay

Liberal Democrat Job Watch – 24 July 2013

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th July 2013 - 2:45 pm

Fancy working for the Liberal Democrats? There are a fair few jobs to choose from over on Work for an MP website which includes both party jobs and jobs with parliamentarians.  There are opportunities in the north, south and east of mainland UK.

North

There are two jobs in Scotland. Jo Swinson is looking for a caseworker in her East Dunbartonshire office:

An empathetic, organised, highly efficient individual is sought for the role of Caseworker to Jo Swinson MP. The role is permanent, based on a working week of 37.5 hours. The position is based within a lively and dynamic team in

…

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Caron Lindsay

Exclusive…Liberal Democrats: “Go home” poster vans “disproportionate, distasteful and ineffective”

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th July 2013 - 2:01 pm

go home illegal immigrant posterThe Liberal Democrats, so I hear, had nothing to do with the poster vans sent by the Home Office into 6 London boroughs which have caused much anger in Liberal Democrat circles  as I wrote earlier.  I said that I had seen no evidence that Liberal Democrat ministers had cleared them and it seems that my instincts were right.

A party spokesman told me:

These poster vans were not cleared or agreed by Liberal Democrats in government. We are totally committed to tackling illegal immigration but this is

…

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Caron Lindsay

“Go home” billboards – an open letter and blog round-up

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th July 2013 - 12:55 pm

Since my post on Monday about the Home Office’s plan to send mobile billboards proclaiming that people who are in this country illegally should go home or face arrest, a number of bloggers and party members across various internet fora have expressed emotions ranging from horror to anger at the plan.

Sarah Teather is, as far as I can tell, the only Liberal Democrat MP to have passed any comment at all, and just to remind you, she wasn’t chuffed:

Vulnerable individuals who are fleeing persecution and violence are treated with disbelief and a complete lack of compassion in a rigid

…

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Dr Lynn McDonald

Opinion: Why Florence Nightingale should be in the National Curriculum and why Liberal Democrats should want her there

By Dr Lynn McDonald | Wed 24th July 2013 - 11:45 am

The Secretary of State for Education has decided that Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), famous for the Crimean War (1854-56) and major founder of professional nursing should be thrown out of the National Curriculum. Mary Seacole, who is there now, is to stay. Many Liberal Democrats support this, probably thanks to misinformation in wide circulation from Seacole campaigners.

Nightingale influenced not only Britain but the world on nursing and hospital safety. She brought trained nursing into the dreaded the workhouse infirmaries, beginning in Liverpool in 1865. She called for quality health care for all, including those who could not pay fees (no NHS …

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Stephen Tall

The good news on university applications in 5 graphs

By Stephen Tall | Wed 24th July 2013 - 10:15 am

While the attention of the world’s media was focused on an 8lb 6oz bundle of Royal joy, there was perhaps even more significant good news about young people that didn’t garner quite so much coverage: demand for higher education from young people is at or near record levels for each country of the UK in 2013. This was announced by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) yesterday, an analysis of patterns of demand from over 20 million applications for higher education from 2004 to 2013 — if ever there were a day to bury good news…

Here are five graphs which tell the story…

Demand for higher education from young people is at or near record levels for each country of the UK in 2013.

ucas figures - application figs 2013

Application rates for English 18 year olds have increased by one percentage point to 35 per cent in 2013. This increase is typical of the trend between 2006 and 2011 and takes the application rate back to the 2011 level, after its decrease in 2012. Application rates for 18 year olds in Northern Ireland have increased to 48 per cent, application rates in Scotland (32 per cent) and Wales (30 per cent) are similar to the 2012 cycle.

Application rates for young, disadvantaged groups have increased to new highs in England.

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Paul Thompson

Opinion: Cameron’s false porn panacea

By Paul Thompson | Wed 24th July 2013 - 8:52 am

From suggesting that the Blackberry messenger service be shut down during the 2011 riots, to proposing that the food standards agency can monitor your home internet usage It’s clear that Cameron, or those around him, have a limited appreciation of how the internet works.

Yesterday Cameron announced another clanger – default internet filtering for every household in the country, so unless you tell you ISP otherwise, pornographic content would be blocked – or at least some porn, as Cameron was today forced embarrassingly admit that the Sun’s Page 3 topless models wouldn’t be blocked.

So isn’t it a good idea to …

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Mary Reid

The dance of coalition

By Mary Reid | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 4:24 pm

Nick Clegg and David CameronSteve Richards, writing in the Independent, has a thoughtful analysis of the three main parties and their level of unity. He claims that the Liberal Democrats display “the greatest sense of unity and discipline” and yet they have the greatest level of internal differences. I like to think that is because we are a broad church that tolerates and even celebrates differences, because we do unite around the fundamental principles of fairness, liberty and equality.

But, according to Richards, those differences make it unlikely that the party will agree to another coalition with the Conservatives, hence his headline: “There will be no Con/Lib coalition after the next election”.

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Caroline Pidgeon

Caroline Pidgeon writes: Setting our cities free from the stranglehold of the Treasury

By Caroline Pidgeon | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 3:00 pm

City Hall and Tower BridgeReforming local government finance – a phrase that is enough to send many of us to sleep.  But put a different way, devolving financial powers to our great cities, allowing local innovation and genuine localism, may keep your interest for longer!

May saw the launch of an excellent policy report called Raising the capital.  The report was produced by the London Finance Commission, an authoritative wide ranging group of experts from both inside and outside politics, but crucially including experts from Birmingham and Manchester.  The commission was chaired by respected Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics.

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Caron Lindsay

ATOS lose monopoly on work capability assessments after audit shows up “unacceptable” standards

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 1:29 pm

Those of us who are concerned about the fairness of the welfare system often cite the Work Capability Assessment, which claimants of Employment and Support Allowance are required to take. It seems that every few days there’s a story in the press reporting how someone has been marked fit for work when it is clearly inappropriate to do so. Yesterday the Daily Record carried the story of a woman who lived just a couple of miles away from me who was told she was fit for work weeks before she died of a brain tumour.

Concerns about the WCA appear …

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NewsHound

Unite members don’t (unite, that is)

By NewsHound | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 12:13 pm

A poll of Unite members reveals today that only 12% would like to join the Labour Party.

Following the public debate about whether union members should be offered the option of opting-in to the political levy, rather than opting-out as at present, only 30% of Unite’s members would choose to opt in.

The Lord Ashcroft poll surveyed over 700 members of Unite, the UK’s largest union, which draws its members from across a wide range of industry sectors. It seems that one third of them didn’t know whether they paid into the political fund and over half would prefer an opt-in …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Our July survey of Lib Dem members: today’s your last chance to take part

By Stephen Tall | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 11:45 am

Our new LibDemVoice members’ survey went live last Friday: all 1,500 of those who are signed-up to our private members’ forum were emailed with a unique link asking questions about a range of current political issues.

Over 500 have already completed it, and today’s your last day to fill it in and make sure your views count.

A few people have mentioned, here or on Twitter, that they’ve not received the email. If that’s you, please be assured this isn’t a conspiracy to deprive you of your chance to have your say! The three most likely reasons you’ll have heard …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 2 Comments
NewsHound

Jeremy Browne’s consultation on Tramadol

By NewsHound | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 10:47 am

Jeremy Browne - Some rights reserved by Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeJeremy Browne, the Liberal Democrat Minister at the Home Office, is launching a public consultation on the proposal to make Tramadol a Class C drug.  You can read the consultation paper and respond to it here.

Tramadol is a prescription only painkiller used to treat a number of painful conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. It is a synthetic opioid, which is why it has developed a following as a recreational drug. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) says that …

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Mary Reid

John Leech writes to a constituent

By Mary Reid | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 8:56 am

john leechAny of us who have been elected to public office will have received letters, emails or even phone calls that shock us into realising that not all our compatriots are liberal and fair-minded.  Rascist, homophobic or simply personally offensive rants, expressed in highly charged language, remind us that we still have much work to do.

When it has happened to me I have initially been quite upset, then dealt with it by distancing myself from the contents and refusing to respond. But maybe there is another way to handle such communications.

John …

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The Voice

Nick Clegg on the Royal birth: “Good news to make the whole country smile”

By The Voice | Tue 23rd July 2013 - 8:45 am

Here’s how Lib Dem MPs responded to the news of the new addition to the Royal Family…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

An Open Letter to The New Prince

By Stephen Tall | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 10:05 pm

Dear Your Highness,
Kate and William
Congratulations on being born! It’s the first universal experience you’ll share in common with your subjects-to-be. From now on, your life and the lives of the 2,000 other babies born in the UK today will begin to diverge. You probably won’t notice this happen for a good, long while (nor will they). But, eventually, one day it will hit you: your life has been marked out to be different from the very start.

The reason is simple. It’s not just that, as every media outlet informs us, ‘the

…

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged and | 31 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Teather slams Home Office “Go Home” billboards as “straightforward intimidation”

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 7:47 pm

The Evening Standard reports that the Home Office is planning on sending large billboards with “Go home or face arrest” on them around six London boroughs:

The billboards will also display the number of illegal migrants arrested recently in the relevant part of the capital.

Ministers say that the hardline message is intended to encourage visa overstayers or others here unlawfully to return voluntarily.

A phone number offering help – including potential free flights and other travel assistance – will also be shown on the adverts along with the promise that those who come forward voluntarily will not be detained while they

…

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Martin Horwood

Martin Horwood MP writes… Balance of competence reports shows EU membership is crucial for UK jobs

By Martin Horwood | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 4:53 pm

The Government today published the long awaited first six reports of the review of the balance of competences between EU and national levels, due to be finalised at the end of 2014. The review has been overseen by a Ministerial star chamber with Lord Wallace of Saltaire leading impressively for the Liberal Democrats in the complicated process.

Contrary to the perception in Eurosceptic ranks, this review is not and was never about creating a wish list of demands for unilateral repatriation of powers. Liberal Democrats have been unwavering in our arguments that the EU needs reform to make …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 6 Comments
Iain Roberts

Opinion: Cameron’s porn ban – what does it mean?

By Iain Roberts | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 3:55 pm

"PC Baan" internet cafe in Seoul, Korea - Some rights reserved by HachimakiDavid Cameron is out to make the world a safer place by tackling what he sees as the problems caused by pornography. We don’t really know the details of the policy yet, but with Cameron doing the rounds on TV and radio today we’ve got a reasonable idea of what he’s got in mind.

Block pornography by default
Web filtering software is very common – most schools and businesses have it installed. It does a passable job of blocking access to undesirable sites whilst allowing others. Inevitably, some sites that you don’t want to block get caught up, but by and large the filters work OK.

Cameron’s concern is that they aren’t being extensively used by parents of younger children, and the suspicion (probably rightly) is that in many cases it’s because parents aren’t tech savvy enough to know they exist or how to implement them.

So this main headline item – that ISPs all implement filtering software for all customers, and that it be turned on by default (with someone in the household having to make a positive decision to turn it off) – is a “nudge” policy.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 45 Comments
Caron Lindsay

An engagement is announced…..

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 2:59 pm

From today’s Times (£):

Ed and Russell Times cropped

Mr E T Fordham, of course, is  better known to us all as Ed, vice-chair of LGBT+ Liberal Democrats who, along with many others from that organisation, took pride of place in our Equal Marriage Roll of Honour.

We knew of his and Russell’s happy news already, of course, because Julian Huppert had told the world about it during the Commons’ final passing of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill and been told off by the Speaker. The exchange is recorded forever …

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Mathew Hulbert

Opinion: We should all be born equal

By Mathew Hulbert | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 2:02 pm

Royal familyOf course the birth of a baby is a joyous occasion and only the most cold-hearted of person would fail to wish any new parents and their newborn well.

But, that having been said, today’s sycophantic media coverage of the Duchess of Cambridge’s going into labour has shown, yet again, that all too many journalists appear to lose their critical faculties when it comes to anything Royal.

They seem to forget that polls consistently show that a sizeable percentage of the population support a democratic alternative to the Monarchy, a Republic.

I feel …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 20 Comments
Mark Pack

Labour’s MP for Tottenham tells residents: ‘wait till September for help’

By Mark Pack | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 12:54 pm

Some MPs rightly get annoyed when the press and public talk about Parliamentary recess being “holiday” for they continue to work hard in their constituencies during recess.

Labour’s MP for Tottenham David Lammy (aka the man who got away over his expenses thanks to his second home claims coming out before the media got interested in the topic), however, is just the sort of MP who gives those others a bad name.

Here is what he emailed residents on 12th July:

Due to the parliamentary recess, my next advice surgery will be on Friday 13th September.

If you want to see your MP …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 17 Comments
The Voice

The Royal Baby: the Liberal Democrat Voice non-rolling coverage

By The Voice | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 11:45 am

We at the Voice obviously wish the Duchess of Cambridge, and anyone else giving birth today, all the very best. However, you will be relieved to know that we won’t be dispatching any members of our team to West London to hang around outside St Mary’s Hospital and write copious amounts of rather hilarious speculation about what might be going on inside. We recognise that we might be missing a trick, and that, actually, people do want to hear men speculate about what Kate might be feeling, but we reckon we’re on pretty safe ground with our readers.

Two things that …

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The Voice

LibLink… we’re still fighting the cold war

By The Voice | Mon 22nd July 2013 - 10:56 am

The UK does not need a hair-trigger nuclear weapons system to keep it safe. To suggest otherwise is Cold War thinking at its most outdated – and last week it was a shame to see both the Conservative and Labour parties in denial…

…writes Danny Alexander in the Independent.

Danny goes on to argue that the level of alertness of a weapons system should be justified by a threat level – a doctrine that is accepted for conventional weapons. He points out that we have an opportunity to take a positive step towards disarmament, and that this debate should not be …

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