Caron Lindsay

Sarah Teather slams “cowardly, politically motivated” freezing of asylum support

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 7th June 2013 - 1:37 pm

Regular readers will be well aware of Sarah Teather’s long record of campaigning for fairer, better treatment of asylum seekers. Earlier this year, she talked about a “deeply upsetting” report which told how pregnant asylum seekers did not receive the support that they need. In fact, one particularly distressing account told of a mother having to walk home in the snow carrying her newborn because she could not afford transport or a pram.

Yesterday, she described the  Home Office’s announcement that asylum support rates will be frozen for the upcoming year as cowardly and politically motivated. The freeze comes despite …

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NewsHound

LibLink…Ed Davey MP: I want to see a community energy revolution in the UK

By NewsHound | Fri 7th June 2013 - 11:53 am

Ed Davey has been writing in the Guardian about grassroots energy projects.

He tells us the Government has commissioned research to find out what encourages people to get involved in community energy projects in the hope of generating more across the UK. So, what are these projects?

People across the country are coming together to change the way we think about our energy system and their relationship with it. From a community-run advice service in Hampshire that promotes energy efficiency to a community-owned windfarm just north of Swansea, to a renewable heat project in Herefordshire that replaces fossil fuels with locally grown

…

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Joe Bourke

Opinion: Arming the Syrian Rebels

By Joe Bourke | Fri 7th June 2013 - 10:30 am

The Independent reported this week that Cameron faces serious Cabinet split over arming Syrian rebels.

Nick Clegg is said to have warned at a recent meeting of the National Security Council that supplying weapons to the Free Syrian Army might only escalate the conflict, killing many more people without any realistic prospect of decisive victory and that it could be “next to impossible” to ensure that British arms do not fall into the hands of Islamist militants.

A Whitehall source said Mr Clegg did not believe “there was a military-only solution to Syria” and would not back any attempt to arm …

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Andy Strange

What’s on the agenda for English Council?

By Andy Strange | Fri 7th June 2013 - 8:55 am

There will be a meeting of the Liberal Democrat’s English Council on Saturday 15th June at University College London.

The English Council is the governing body of the Liberal Democrats in England. It meets twice a year to consider matters of importance to the English Party.

Alongside the usual reports from officers and representatives of the English Party on other party bodies, the main business of the meeting will be to discuss the results of the recent local elections and think ahead to next year’s European election.

There will also be a number of minor constitutional amendments to be approved. These are:

* An …

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Caron Lindsay

Call Clegg highlights 6 June – “I was lucky, but it’s not about luck, is it?”

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 6th June 2013 - 6:55 pm

call clegg

So, if you haven’t got time to sit through the half hour of Call Clegg, here are my highlights of today’s session.

On his Opening Doors initiative

But to be honest I think what this is about is what about those kids who aren’t lucky enough to have, I don’t know, families or parents who can help or can try and help them, who just don’t have the contacts, who don’t have the support they need to live out their dreams….

…I actually do think there are so many young children today …

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Annette Brooke MP

Annette Brooke MP writes…What I hope to achieve in my new role

By Annette Brooke MP | Thu 6th June 2013 - 3:54 pm

I was very pleased this week to become Chair of the Parliamentary Liberal Democrat Party. I was elected unopposed, and took my place as Chair at the Parliamentary Party meeting, in what many would consider a slight baptism of fire, having only had my new role confirmed hours before!

I am delighted to be embarking on this new role. The job is an extremely important one and I am really excited to be taking it on. As I am retiring at the end of this Parliamentary term, I feel that while many of my colleagues will need to be focusing …

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Stephen Tall

Are employment levels one of the “better stories” of the Coalition, as Fraser Nelson claims? Not really.

By Stephen Tall | Thu 6th June 2013 - 2:15 pm

The Spectator’s editor Fraser Nelson is — rightly — very hot on politicians being accurate in their use of stats. For instance, he’s — rightly — called out both Nick Clegg and David Cameron for confusing (whether accidentally or deliberately) the terms ‘debt’ and ‘deficit’, claiming the former is falling when they mean the latter.

However, Fraser is sometimes a bit casual with facts himself — for instance, wrongly claiming that an old report for the Department for Education ‘proved’ the pupil premium was flawed when it did no such thing.

And today he makes a point of highlighting …

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Nick T

Would PR spell the end of the Liberal Democrats?

By Nick T | Thu 6th June 2013 - 12:23 pm

It is one of the biggest yet most under-appreciated ironies of British politics that the policy that unites the Liberal Democrat party membership in its most fervent rapture — the introduction of proportional voting to Westminster elections — is also, probably, the thing most likely, if implemented, to lead to the end of the party is we know it.

That is not to say that PR would necessarily lead to the break up of the party, but it is undeniable that majoritarian electoral systems force together the relatively broad coalitions that are the pre-requisite to winning elections.

The way in which individuals …

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NewsHound

Nick Clegg launches Opening Doors Awards

By NewsHound | Thu 6th June 2013 - 11:11 am

Nick CleggNick Clegg has long championed improving life chances for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. As he said on this morning’s Call Clegg:

My dad helped me. I was very lucky. But is shouldn’t be all about luck. That’s what we need to address.

He said that bright kids from poorer backgrounds were being overtaken at school by less bright children from more affluent backgrounds by the time they were 7 and the problem continues as they decide on their careers. If you’re from a poorer background, you don’t have the connections to land you the best opportunties. Remedying that problem is what’s behind the Opening Doors campaign which 150 companies have signed up to. Yesterday Nick launched the Opening Doors awards, which aim to find the best examples of reaching those bright young people and giving them the help they need. It’s a very strong example of the least heard but most important part  of the Trinity of Liberal Democrat Mantras – enabling everyone to get on in life.

There are a number of categories in the awards, from best outreach, to most inspirational young person to a Deputy Prime Minister’s excellence award which “will be given to the organisation who has excelled in setting the standard and communicating the case for social mobility.”

This is Nick’s video launching the awards which is also available here on You Tube:

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Stephen Tall

Clegg says no to childcare ratio changes. My question is: why’s it the Government’s job to dictate them?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 6th June 2013 - 9:45 am

teather_cleggNick Clegg’s statement is categorical — the Coalition is abandoning plans to allow nurseries and childminders in England to look after more children. Revealed in January by Conservative children’s minister Liz Truss, the idea that the ratio for under 2s, for example, could increase from 1:4 to 1:6 was always going to be controversial. Here’s Nick:

“One of my absolute top priorities in government is to deliver better quality, more affordable childcare for parents up and down the country. I will relentlessly champion and pursue policies that deliver that –

…

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James King

Opinion: Feeling at home with housing policy

By James King | Thu 6th June 2013 - 9:04 am

With the general election less than two years away, it is increasingly important for the Lib Dems to pursue ‘differentiation’ from our coalition partners. This includes advancing clear and specific Lib Dem proposals that we will seek to deliver this side of the election. But we should also start highlighting priorities which will form the basis of our pitch to the electorate in 2015.

The emerging agenda includes support for wealth taxes, defence of EU membership and the protection of civil liberties. These issues are as important as ever, but at this stage our platform seems light on ‘social liberalism’ and …

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Stephen Tall

Same sex marriage bill: how peers voted by party

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th June 2013 - 9:25 pm

We reported last night the historic decision of the House of Lords to approve the second reading of the Same Sex Marriage Bill by a hefty majority. 73 Lib Dem peers voted against Lord Dear’s wrecking amendment.

And if you were wondering about the breakdown across the parties — how many of each voted for or against? — then Will Howells (formerly of this parish) has posted this handy graph to Twitter:

equal marriage votes

Figures are from Public Whip, with one or two errors as noted here by Will.

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Alistair Carmichael MP

Alistair Carmichael writes…We should be talking about how Lib Dems won record investment for renewable energy

By Alistair Carmichael MP | Wed 5th June 2013 - 8:30 pm

Yesterday I voted against the inclusion in the Energy Bill of a target for decarbonisation to be met by 2030. In truth I think that the setting of a target would have been sensible and that is why I am content with it being party policy. So why vote against it? I didn’t do so because I am a bad person who is determined to ignore party policy. The truth is a little more complex than that.

Firstly, it seems to be conveniently ignored by many that the Bill does include a power to set a target but in 2016 – …

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The Voice

Stephen Williams gets award from World Health Organisation for anti smoking work

By The Voice | Wed 5th June 2013 - 7:47 pm

Stephen and Anna Soubry - WHO AwardEvery year on World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organisation gives out medals to people who have made outstanding contributions to tobacco control.

There were just six awards given out in Europe, and one of them was to Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West, Stephen Williams, who was nominated by two organisations, Action on Smoking and Health and Smokefree South West.

He was presented with the medal by Health Minister Anna Soubry today. The Minister backed his campaign for plain packaging of cigarettes.

Since he …

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Stephen Tall

Registers and recall: I support them both. But they’re not going to clean up our democracy

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th June 2013 - 7:25 pm

The weekend’s revelations that two Labour peers and an Ulster Unionist were filmed offering to lobby ministers for cash, following hot on the heels of Tory MP Patrick Mercer’s resignation of the Tory whip over similar allegations, has re-ignited the question of how to clean up Parliament.

Two proposals are being pushed, both of them originally pledged in the Coalition Agreement.

Register of lobbyists

First, there’s a register of lobbyists, intended to bring greater transparency to the way in which professional lobbyists seek to influence government decisions. This is one of Unlock Democracy’s top campaigns:

If we don’t know

…

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NewsHound

Annette Brooke is new Chair of Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party

By NewsHound | Wed 5th June 2013 - 6:55 pm

Annette BrookeAnnette Brooke is the new Chair of the Parliamentary Liberal Democrat Party. Annette was elected unopposed, and took her place as Chair of a meeting of Liberal Democrat MPs last night.

Annette’s new role will involve the chairing of Parliamentary Party meetings, interaction with all colleagues, providing a communication channel to represent views where appropriate and providing a listening and supportive pastoral role to complement the work of the Liberal Democrat Whips.

Annette will bring a wealth of experience to the role, having been a member of the Chairman’s Panel in Parliament …

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Caron Lindsay

LibLink… Willie Rennie: The fear in a continental drift

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 5th June 2013 - 3:59 pm

Willie Rennie - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsThe last time I heard the phrase continental drift used was when I was half asleep in a Geography class more years ago than I care to remember.

Willie Rennie uses it in today’s Scotsman to talk about the problems which he thinks would ensue an independent Scotland joined the EU and the rest of the UK left it. I certainly have been susceptible to thoughts that, although far from my first choice, an independent Scotland in the EU would be preferable to a …

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Sean O'Curneen

Lord Tope tackles goldplating EU laws

By Sean O'Curneen | Wed 5th June 2013 - 2:29 pm

“Goldplating” – the practice whereby national governments add on extra regulation to the law emanating from the EU – is what often leads citizens to believe that the European Union “over-regulates”. Whilst there may be cases of such excessive regulation from Union bodies, such as the recent proposal to ban certain types of olive oil jugs, which has been thankfully withdrawn, the fact is that much of the over-regulation happens when the European law is being processed at national level. Unfortunately, Westminster has not been immune to the “goldplating bug.” 

For this reason, Lord Tope, member of the EU’s assembly of …

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NewsHound

Ashdown says package offered to Afghan interpreter doesn’t “fulfill our debt of honour”

By NewsHound | Wed 5th June 2013 - 12:59 pm

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the Government had changed its mind and would allow Afghan intepreters to settle in this country. This is something that Paddy Ashdown and Nick Clegg had argued for vociferously.

However, as details of the scheme have emerged, they have been dismissed as insufficient by various people, including Paddy Ashdown as the Times (£) reports:

Senior politicians have accused the Government of mistaken priorities in their handling of safeguards for British Army interpreters when UK forces leave Afghanistan.

Only those interpreters who were still in British service on December 19, 2012, will be offered 

…

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Paul Tyler

Paul Tyler writes….There can be no party funding consensus without compromise

By Paul Tyler | Wed 5th June 2013 - 11:59 am

This week’s revelations about MPs and Peers profiting from their seats in Parliament has been a catalyst to get the political reform agenda going again, though Alexander Ehmann is quite right to say that these stories were not a “lobbying” scandal as such.  No lobbyist worth their salt (or their fee) would seriously approach a parliamentarian offering ready cash.  Only journalists would do that, exposing their targets as greedy and stupid in equal measure.  The parliamentarians concerned – it would appear – have broken the rules which already exist.  And if they have sinned, it looks like a case …

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Kirsty O'Brien

Opinion: London is not a foreign country

By Kirsty O'Brien | Wed 5th June 2013 - 11:00 am

Big Ben LondonLondon is a world city so it’s no wonder tens of thousands of Scots like me call it home. Some come to work for a while then head home, others put down more permanent roots and stay for the long-haul. I can’t speak for all of them but I don’t know anyone who has considered the move a ‘migration’. Leaving Scotland is a wrench but you don’t feel you’re moving to a foreign country.

I love this city – I love how busy, diverse and vibrant it is.

…

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Stephen Tall

Labour and Tory MPs have a new twist on an old game. Block democratic reform. Then criticise lack of democratic reform

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th June 2013 - 10:25 am

clegg on levesonLabour and Tory MPs have a new favourite hobby. It’s one they’ve been practising for decades, but they’ve really refined their art in the last three years.

Basically it works like this…

A political scandal happens. Abuse of expenses by MPs or cash-for-questions/honours/favours, that sort of thing. Everyone demands reform. This must never happen again, they say. Cross-party talks are immediately convened. Then re-convened a few months later once the pressure’s off a bit. And finally they’re abandoned once they’re sure people have got bored with it all and …

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Caron Lindsay

Same sex marriage bill: Speeches from Lords Phillips and Carlile

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 5th June 2013 - 9:55 am

wedding ringsWe’ve covered in full all the Liberal Democrat speeches from the Same Sex Marriage Bill, which passed its second reading in the Lords last night.

Lord Phillips of Sudbury was the last but one speaker very late on Monday night. He made an original contribution, describing himself as “pathetically open-minded.”  I’m not sure that  young people will be entirely satisfied with his comments which implied that when they grow up, they won’t support equal marriage in as large numbers. He di, however, again use thoughtful and temperate language in his critique …

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Keith Aspden

Rebuilding our campaigning base in York

By Keith Aspden | Wed 5th June 2013 - 8:55 am

Image courtesy of freefoto.comYork is a classic example of an English city where the Liberal Democrats developed a strong local base as voters became disillusioned with both the Conservatives and later Labour in the 1990s and 2000s. After two decades of Labour control we won a landslide victory in 2003 and formed the administration on City of York Council for eight years. As elsewhere, in 2011 we took a hammering from the voters, our first electoral test as a party of government.

The unitary authority of York is split into two parliamentary constituencies including the marginal (famously ‘doughnut-shaped’) York Outer, a seat that the Conservatives won with a majority of less than 7% over us at the 2010 general election.

Within months of a disappointing general election result, we rightly anticipated a tough fight in all-up local elections in 2011, especially against the unfavourable national picture. A resurgent Labour Party took eight council seats from us to win overall control, including five seats in York Outer that they won from third place.

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Caron Lindsay

16 Liberal Democrats rebel and vote for 2030 decarbonisation target

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 4th June 2013 - 9:15 pm

Battersea Power StationAn amendment to the Energy Bill which would have set a target for carbon emissions target for the power industry was defeated by just 23 votes tonight. 16 Liberal Democrat MPs backed the amendment while 30 voted against it.

10 of the 16 are already on the Friends of the Earth website (plus Mike Hancock, who temporarily withdrew from the Whip last night).

They are:

Andrew George

Greg Mulholland

Julian Huppert

John Hemming

John Leech

Martin Horwood

Roger Williams

Andrew Stunnell

Mark Williams

Adrian Sanders

In addition, Tim Farron and Gordon Birtwistle supported it and Mike Thornton in his first act of …

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Caron Lindsay

Updated: The journey to equality continues: Same Sex Marriage Bill passes first Lords stage

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 4th June 2013 - 8:13 pm

mark and ros at equal marriage vigilThe Same Sex Marriage Bill received its Second Reading in the House of Lords this evening after Lord Dear’s wrecking amendment was defeated by a much larger than expected majority of 390-148 after two days of debate.

While this is obviously welcome news for the Bill’s supporters, there is still virtually limitless potential for their Lordships to make mischief with its provisions.

It will be very important to keep talking to Lords in the run-up to the next stage of the Bill. It will now be considered …

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Craig Brown

Opinion: Evidence-Based Policy and the Culling of Badgers

By Craig Brown | Tue 4th June 2013 - 5:47 pm

Tomorrow, our MPs will have the opportunity to vote in an Opposition Day debate on government plans for a badger cull. It is almost unheard of for the government to lose an opposition day motion, the last one being on settlement rights for veteran Gurkhas in 2009 – the first time since 1978. I have it on good authority that our parliamentary party has made up its mind that badgers are to be culled in the UK.

I would like to make a few things clear before I get into the meat of this post. Firstly, I’m not an ‘animal lover’ …

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Mary Reid

Meat is a treat

By Mary Reid | Tue 4th June 2013 - 4:48 pm

barbecued-chickenParliament’s International Development Committee, chaired by Lib Dem MP Sir Malcolm Bruce,  has been turning its attention to global food supplies. According to The Independent the committee reports that even in the UK we are never more than few days away from a significant food shortage. You can read the full report on Global Food Security here.

We all throw away far too much food – up to one third of all food produced globally – so the committee is urging the Government to develop strategies that will help us to reduce the amount of food wasted in the UK.

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Jonathan Featonby

Opinion:The Ministry of Justice’s latest reforms to legal aid will cut access to justice, not the deficit

By Jonathan Featonby | Tue 4th June 2013 - 3:49 pm

Scales of Justice - Some rights reserved by CitizensheepTuesday 9 April 2013 was Be Kind to Lawyers Day – it was also the day that the Ministry of Justice launched its consultation on proposals to further reform the legal aid system in England and Wales. The proposals will affect both civil and criminal legal aid and, while the changes to criminal legal aid have attracted some media coverage, the changes to civil legal aid have received scant attention.

The civil legal aid changes fall into two categories and they represent a fundamental shift in the relationship between the state and those who are affected by its actions. Firstly, there will be a residence test which will require individuals to be in the UK at the time of the claim and to have been “lawfully resident” for at least 12 months.

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Ed Fordham

Opinion: My marriage will be different, but equal, my Lords and Ladies…

By Ed Fordham | Tue 4th June 2013 - 2:26 pm

wedding ringsIt has been said that people who vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill will be ‘standing on the wrong side of history’ – as those of us who know and study history accept, only time will tell.  But yesterday, as we led the Equal Marriage Vigil outside the House of Lords  I was struck that we were witnessing and perhaps even making history.

What occurred at our Vigil can be variously described as glorious, fashionable, tuneful and positive. In short we gathered together the LGBT+ communities and their families …

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    You are for this and so many reasons a total inspiration to me Caron ☺️🔶🌈...
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    Thank you for a bravely honest article! Might the “leadership” which took the L. D party into enforced student debts/loans have been confused about the i...
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    Weird that this appears to be the first LDV article about this, and the first time anyone in the parliamentary party has spoken up about it (as far as I'm aware...
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    Delighted to see conference overwhelmingly reject the EHRC guidance (they don't deserve three quarters of that name - I accept they are a commission). People ar...
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    Somebody had to say it eventual!y. Thank you Tom for inviting us to be honest on this matter....