Daniel Lewis

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Non Portfolio Officer: Daniel Lewis

By Daniel Lewis | Tue 30th April 2013 - 2:00 pm

I am running for NPO because I believe I have the skills to help the rest of the exec out in a wide range of areas. My pitch runs on three themes: commitment, experience and ideas. For full details visit my website.

Commitment

Throughout my time in the party I have shown myself willing to help out at short notice on all manner of tasks. From getting up at 5am one Sunday a month to make sure an entire ward was delivered in a day to upping sticks to Eastleigh for 2 weeks this February I have a record of …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , and | Leave a comment
Advert
Geoffrey Payne

Social Liberal Forum Conference. “Ownership and Democracy – where does Power lie?”

By Geoffrey Payne | Tue 30th April 2013 - 12:20 pm

slflogoOn July 13th at a rearranged venue in the Central Manchester Friends Meeting House, we are organising the third annual Social Liberal Forum conference, in addition to the one in London on 1st June.

The overall theme will be “Ownership and Democracy – where does power lie?”.  I came up with the idea for this theme after attending an excellent fringe meeting organised by CentreForum at the 2012 Federal conference on “What is Cleggism?”. The debate included David Howarth’s contribution which you can watch on this video.

David Howarth …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 10 Comments
Paul Reynolds

Opinion: Welfare reform and poverty

By Paul Reynolds | Tue 30th April 2013 - 10:55 am

Recently on Lib Dem Voice I wrote a short article arguing for equal reform emphasis between poverty alleviation through welfare, and longer term actual poverty reduction including inter-generational poverty reduction . It seems to me that in times of budget squeeze, the means for reducing the need for welfare  – social safety net – in the first place, are worth re-thinking. (To pre-empt objections I am not arguing against the provision of welfare, or for a reduction in weekly welfare payments, or for exclusionary policies).

The really difficult challenge for policy in reducing poverty and the need for welfare is …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 4 Comments
Caspar Bowden

The Independent View: Data preservation instead of data retention

By Caspar Bowden | Tue 30th April 2013 - 9:17 am

TARDISUbiquitous personal communication technologies are here to stay. Because of exponentially falling data storage costs, two contrasting states of society can be envisaged. The default will be either that individuals determine whether and when their history is recorded, subject to exceptions, or data will exist about everyone all the time. This is the policy choice between data retention and preservation, and it is a sharp dichotomy.

Over two decades the UK has been in the vanguard of a core group of five European countries seeking systematic Internet surveillance. A blanket retention regime gives law-enforcement an “Internet Tardis” to go back in time and find out retrospectively what anyone was thinking about, whom they were talking to, and where they were. The dichotomy between retention and preservation is really about whether we want to give government such a “time machine” to scrutinize everyone’s past behaviour without prior reason.

Continue reading »
Posted in The Independent View | Tagged | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

While David Cameron and Owen Jones unite in favour of universal benefits, I want us to get explicit about why redistribution matters to society

By Stephen Tall | Tue 30th April 2013 - 8:30 am

owen jones david cameronIt’s an odd coalition: left-wing commentator Owen Jones and Tory leader David Cameron united as one. Yet that unlikely alliance was formed yesterday, as both defended universal benefits for wealthy pensioners and both fought shy of asserting the importance of redistribution.

David Cameron’s defence was in response to Iain Duncan Smith’s rather odd suggestion that the answer to millionaires getting a fuel allowance is that they should voluntarily hand it back to the government. Those trusty ‘sources close to the Prime Minister’ briefed journalists that IDS was on …

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged , and | 28 Comments
Advert
Stuart Bonar

Opinion: Just 0.001% of pensioners hand back their Winter Fuel Payment

By Stuart Bonar | Mon 29th April 2013 - 5:35 pm

Interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith urged wealthy pensioners who do not need the universal benefits they receive to hand them back to the State.

What he didn’t say in that interview, or at least it isn’t reported, is that pensioners are able currently to inform the Government they do not want to receive, for example, the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP). Some already have, but do you know how many? I got hold of the numbers last week thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.

Over 12.6 million people receive the WFP, …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 15 Comments
William Dyer

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Policy Officer: Will Dyer

By William Dyer | Mon 29th April 2013 - 4:30 pm

Over the last twelve months, as Liberal Youth’s Policy Officer, I served under four different Liberal Youth Chairs, on two Federal Policy Committee terms,  though 3 different sets of Liberal Youth elections and worked with over 20 different executive officers.

It is fair to say that Liberal Youth has been through a turbulent time over the last 12 months but look what we have achieved.

Our increased involvement in major by-elections and the up-coming local elections, (which has not gone unnoticed by our minsters in government), an increased turnout at Liberal Youth elections and for the first time since I have been …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , and | Leave a comment
Robin Lynn

Opinion: Rearguard action and damage limitation are poor substitutes for a coherent Liberal Democrat strategy on Equality and Human Rights.

By Robin Lynn | Mon 29th April 2013 - 3:25 pm

The Government’s partial U-turn on Section 3 of the Equality Act needs to be seen against a backdrop of other changes to the equality and related social justice legislation. These include:

•          New restrictions on the ability to challenge the state with restrictions to judicial review

•          Tribunals fees of up to £1,200 coming in this summer

•          An Increase of the general unfair dismissal qualification from 1 to 2 years

•          Reductions in the consultation period for redundancy

•          The end of crucial protections in discrimination such as questionnaires and protection from 3rd party harassment

•          Legal aid providers and face to face legal advice slashed …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
Morgan Griffith-David

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Policy Officer: Morgan Griffith-David

By Morgan Griffith-David | Mon 29th April 2013 - 2:30 pm

Picture - MorganLiberal Youth can campaign. Liberal Youth can recruit. Liberal Youth can train.

But Liberal Youth cannot forget our crucial Policy portfolio.

Solid policy forms the backbone for all other work we do; our innovative policies attract new members to our cause, our campaigns endeavour to change policy and we get our candidates elected to implement liberal policy. This is why I am utterly committed to making Liberal Youth policy comprehensive, professional, and engaging; to provide us with strong foundations in the run up to 2015.

Liberal Youth’s policy independence from the federal …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Nick Clegg MP

Nick Clegg MP writes… The Labour and Tory exodus

By Nick Clegg MP | Mon 29th April 2013 - 12:50 pm

Something is happening on the centre ground of British politics. An exodus. The Conservative leadership is being lured to the right. Ed Miliband is pulling his party to the left. Only the Liberal Democrats are holding firm.

That creates an opportunity for our party. Over the last twenty years the centre has become a crowded place. First New Labour pitched up, determined to demonstrate a new found credibility on the economy. Then followed a detoxified Conservative Party, hugging hoodies and frolicking with huskies. Yet now – in what, in time, may prove to be a highly significant political shift – the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , and | 80 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Banning smoking in cars when children are present: what do you think?

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 29th April 2013 - 11:25 am

Jim HumeNorth of the Border, the war on smoking continues. Today, larger shops are no longer allowed to display cigarettes. Now, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP and health spokesperson Jim Hume is introducing a Member’s Bill in the Scottish Parliament which will ban smoking in cars where children are present. His proposal will be put out to public consultation from 28th May. Talking about his plan over the weekend, he said:

The tobacco display ban is another welcome step in changing Scotland’s relationship with smoking which began with the ban in smoking in

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 30 Comments
Stephen Tall

Mary Beard explains why she’s voting Lib Dem this Thursday

By Stephen Tall | Mon 29th April 2013 - 9:55 am

Mary-BeardProfessor Mary Beard (Cambridge University’s “wickedly subversive commentator on both the modern and the ancient world”) explains on her A Don’s Life blog why she’ll be voting for the Lib Dems’ Belinda Brooks-Gordon this week:

Since the Iraq War I have been a semi-floating voter. Up to then I had been Labour by default (unless tactics demanded — as they sometimes did in Shropshire — that one put one’s cross by what was back then still the Liberal Party). Since then I’ve looked afresh at each election for someone, somewhere on

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg talks economy, snoopers charter and human rights with Andrew Neil

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 29th April 2013 - 9:25 am

Yesterday, Nick Clegg did a long and quite technical interview with Andrew Neil on the Sunday Politics. They talked about the fragility of the economy, measures taken by the Coalition to boost construction and manufacturing and  the Green Investment Bank. They also talked about Nick’s decision to kill off the so-called Snoopers’ Charter. Neil showed him quotes from senior police officers and he said quite unequivocally that the Police had enough powers already. You can watch the whole interview here and for a quick summary, I’ve done a collection of my tweets on Storify.

 

–>

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

What will happen to the Lib Dems in Thursday’s local elections?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 29th April 2013 - 8:25 am

Lib Dems winning hereThere are just three campaigning days left until this Thursday’s local elections taking place across much of England.*

It’ll be tough-going for the Lib Dems…

The last time these seats were fought, in 2009, was a high water-mark for the party: we polled a national equivalent vote-share of 25%. As I said in my morning-after-the-night-before round-up here, they “were, generally, pretty damn good for the Lib Dems”.

Since entering government, the party’s become used to taking a battering in local elections. As the national polls indicate, our vote share has roughly halved since the Coalition was formed. Because we poll higher in local than national elections, this means we’re likely to secure around 15-16% of the popular vote on Thursday. If that’s the case, our number of councillors will again decline.

Continue reading »
Posted in Local government and News | Tagged , , , , and | 26 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #323

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 28th April 2013 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 323rd weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (21-27 April, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

Continue reading »
Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment
Linden Parker

Liberal Youth Elections 2013…Non Portfolio Officer: Linden Parker

By Linden Parker | Sun 28th April 2013 - 3:00 pm

My main reason for standing to be a Liberal Youth Non Portfolio Officer is that I know I can be a great asset to the rest of the executive. I want to ensure that all members have a big say in the way Liberal Youth is run – something which the current executive have been particularly strong on over the past few months.

As one of Liberal Youth’s two Non Portfolio Officers, I want to help support the rest of the executive in all areas, but particularly with campaigns, communications and events. I am keen to help with the organisation and …

Continue reading »
Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Andrew Emmerson

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Non Portfolio Officer: Andrew Emmerson

By Andrew Emmerson | Sun 28th April 2013 - 2:30 pm

When you get your vote for the Liberal Youth elections, please use it wisely, don’t just vote for friends. Liberal Youth in the past few months has taken some real strides forward. If we want a strong vibrant and attractive youth wing, then there are clear choices. One of those is voting #1 Andrew Emmerson for Non-Portfolio Officer.

For many years I have sat on the side-lines being vaguely critical of Liberal Youth, but not done a whole lot about it. Now is time to change that.  I am the candidate in these elections whose experience is varied and wide. This …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , and | 11 Comments
Charlotte Curry

Liberal Youth Elections 2013… Non Portfolio Officer: Charlotte Curry

By Charlotte Curry | Sun 28th April 2013 - 2:00 pm

I am a caring, thoughtful teenager who has fought against unfairness, bullying and for those who have lacked the confidence to speak up for themselves. This is one of my strengths according to my form teacher.

I am currently on a recruitment drive in Darlington to increase the number of youth members. This will greatly reduce the average age for members in Darlington and hopefully increase the number of active members. This will also give the youth of Darlington a voice that can be heard. In 2013 I plan to set up the first Lib Dem Youth group in Darlington for …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Steven Spielberg presents… President Obama: “I’m Daniel Day-Lewis.”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 28th April 2013 - 12:15 pm

The 2013 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the annual event which disproves any notion the Americans can’t do irony…


(Watch it on YouTube here.)

And here’s the full 20 minute Obama routine:

Continue reading »
Posted in LDVUSA and YouTube | Tagged and | Leave a comment
The Voice

Former Lib Dem by-election candidate Elizabeth Shenton defects to Labour

By The Voice | Sun 28th April 2013 - 11:55 am

Newcastle councillor Elizabeth Shenton, Lib Dem candidate in the 2008 Crew and Nantwich by-election, has left the party to join Labour. Local paper The Sentinel reports:

A senior Lib Dem councillor and former parliamentary candidate has defected to Labour. Elizabeth Shenton said she had left the Liberal Democrats due to the coalition Government’s ‘damaging policies’. She has now joined the ruling Labour group on Newcastle Borough Council. Mrs Shenton, below, who was the Lib Dem candidate in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election in 2008, had been member of the party for 10 years.

Mrs Shenton, who has also served

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Local government | Tagged , and | 26 Comments
Stephen Tall

Liberals and Tories row over national debt

By Stephen Tall | Sun 28th April 2013 - 10:25 am

Paying down the national debt: it’s always been a controversial issue. Here’s a Liberal poster (from the 1886 general election?) attacking the Tories for their failure to clear our debts:

liberal tory national debt 1885

For balance, here’s a Tory poster (from the same year?) accusing the Liberals of being high-spenders:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “5 good reasons to get out and campaign for the Lib Dems”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 27th April 2013 - 6:08 pm

‘Only Liberal Democrats fight for a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life.’ You might have heard that one before. You’ll hear it again in Nick’s message below. And in every speech between now and the next general election. Lib Dem supporters are bound to get sick of hearing it; let’s hope so, because then there’s just a chance it’ll have been heard even once by most voters.

It’s been a good week for Nick, as his ‘5 things’ message emphasises: the ‘snoopers charter’ has been torpedoed; the economy is growing again; crime is falling; income tax for the low-paid is being cut again; and the Green Investment Bank has issued its first guarantee. Those aren’t bad headlines ahead of this Thursday’s local elections in England. Read all about them below…

libdem letter from nick clegg

Five good reasons to get out and campaign for the Liberal Democrats this weekend, and support us in Thursday’s local elections.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Joe Otten

Margaret: Myth of a Revolutionary

By Joe Otten | Sat 27th April 2013 - 1:44 pm

I never thought I would recommend a film from Martin Durkin, famous for climate change denialist hysteria on Channel 4. But in Margaret: Death of a Revolutionary (until 13th May) he pays tribute to the woman who did possibly more than anyone else to make climate change a globally recognised issue, leading to the formation of the IPCC. But no tribute for doing that in particular, obviously.

There is much that is wrong, and more that is missing (the poll tax!) and in the telling of Thatchers victory over and then defeat at the hands of the upper class …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 9 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Tory marriage tax break back on the table, says Cameron

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 27th April 2013 - 11:20 am

From the Telegraph:

The Prime Minister categorically said he will recognise marriage in the UK tax system within the next two years after receiving heavy criticism for his failure to assist traditional British families.

Speaking in Carlisle, where he was answering questions from workers at a Pirelli factory, Mr Cameron piled pressure on the Liberal Democrats to allow the policy to pass through Parliament.

Asked whether he still has plans to recognise marriage in the tax system the Prime Minister said: “Yes I do, we set them out at the last election in the Conservative manifesto. The Coalition agreement specifically said that

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 38 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Call Clegg 25 April 2013: the highlights

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 27th April 2013 - 9:06 am

Our reports from this week’s Call Clegg have concentrated on Nick’s unequivocal announcement that the so called Snoopers’ Charter, which would have obliged companies to store details of websites visited and social media contacts, will not be enacted while the Liberal Democrats are in Government. However, that only took up a small part of his half hour session. Here are some of the other highlights:

Abu Qatada

Nick was asked several times about the idea that Britain should temporarily pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights. While he did not explicitly rule the idea out, I do not think …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 4 Comments
The Voice

The LDV Friday Five: 26 April 2013

By The Voice | Fri 26th April 2013 - 5:00 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

  1. The Economist’s political map of the UK: the north/south divide revealed (35 comments) by Stephen Tall
  2. How a spreadsheet error has wrecked the world economy… or not (74 comments) by Joe Otten
  3. How Thatcherite are you? (27 comments) by Stephen Tall
Continue reading »
Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment
Sean O'Curneen

Opinion: 21st Century Britain will need the European Union

By Sean O'Curneen | Fri 26th April 2013 - 2:50 pm

Britain’s fraught relationship with the EU is perfectly rational. Think of it this way:

– if I have a problem and you solve it for me, I will like you;

– if you create a problem for me, I will not like you;

– if you solve a problem that I don’t have, I might like you, but I don’t need you.

This is exactly what lies at the heart of Britain’s relationship with the EU. Let’s consider what problems the EU solves:

  1. All nation states need to trade their goods. Membership of the EU provides access to the Single Market, the largest market in

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged | 12 Comments
Pawel Swidlicki

Liberal Democrats risk civil liberties blind spot on EU crime and policing laws

By Pawel Swidlicki | Fri 26th April 2013 - 1:19 pm

There are few issues that galvanise Liberal Democrat members like civil liberties. Since going into coalition, party members have upheld this tradition by campaigning on a range of issues, most notably the so-called snooper’s charter and secret courts. However, the party has also traditionally been strongly committed to European co-operation – what happens when these clash?

The immediate context is the choice facing the coalition on whether to definitely opt into around 130 EU criminal and justice laws, including the European Arrest Warrant, by 2014. This is part of a wider debate whether it …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and The Independent View | Tagged | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

Fraser Nelson attacks pupil premium using report that, erm, doesn’t attack pupil premium

By Stephen Tall | Fri 26th April 2013 - 12:55 pm

fraser nelsonFraser Nelson is in bold form today: Spending more doesn’t improve public services.

His basis for this judgement is a report prepared for the Department for Education by Deloitte (available here). If there’s a headline conclusion it’s the fairly uncontentious point that simply spending money on schools does not, in itself, guarantee good outcomes. It matters at least as much how you spend it.

So far, so obvious. And if Fraser’s article had stuck to that basic conclusion it would’ve been fine. But he wanted to make a …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 12 Comments
Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert says, “Get Britain Cycling”!

By Julian Huppert | Fri 26th April 2013 - 11:49 am

On Wednesday, after a four month inquiry, the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group – of which I’m co-chair – published our plan to “Get Britain Cycling”.

Cycling is fast, safe, healthy, cheap, environmentally sound, and fun. Yet in 2011 less than 2% of journeys made in the UK were by bike.

For a nation in which 30% of our children are overweight or obese, and our roads are increasingly congested, this is a serious problem.

Our report sets out how, with strong leadership from the top, we can increase the proportion of journeys made by bike to 10% by 2025, and …

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged and | 3 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • David Allen
    In other news, Ed Davey lurches back to the Right: "Sir Ed’s tax cuts may be smart politics, parking Lib Dem tanks on Tory territory. But they are a world ...
  • Paul R
    Time to finish decolonisation and just give them to Argentina. It is hypocritical to go about “occupied territory” in the Middle East while continuing to...
  • Johnmc
    Enjoy conference, although I remain supportive of the party in England I cannot stomach its bizarre and frankly illiberal efforts to stifle even the idea that p...
  • Jack Nicholls
    You are for this and so many reasons a total inspiration to me Caron ☺️🔶🌈...
  • Steve Trevethan
    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...