Liberal Democrat Voice

Welsh LIberal Democrat councillor charged with causing an explosion

By NewsHound | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 1:41 pm

A councillor has been charged with causing an explosion after a series of blasts saw residents evacuated from homes in the north Wales town of Denbigh.

Liberal Democrat John Larsen, 46, from Lenten Pool, was arrested on Friday.

He is due to appear at Prestatyn Magistrates’ Court later on Monday.

Residents in Lenten Pool were evacuated from their homes on Friday night and again on Saturday after police and army explosive experts searched a house.

The incidents have been concentrated around the Lenten Pool area of Denbigh

North Wales Police said Mr Larsen, who represents the Central ward, was charged with causing

…

Posted in News | Tagged john larsen and Wales | 11 Comments

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Review: April’s AD LIB goes high tech and has Paddy, campaign success and Conference confessions

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 12:13 pm

So, finally, I get around to reading April’s AD LIB which has a very clear agenda: getting us out on the doorsteps or on the phones talking to people. This month’s edition of the Party’s new monthly magazine is also available in digital form to all members. I have it open on my iPad, iPhone and PC as I write. It’s a bit fiddly on the phone, and it took me a while to work out how to find my way around. On the iPad it really is a thing of beauty but a bit erratic to negotiate …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged ad lib magazine and reviews | 1 Comment

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP…Part 2: Problems at the Home Office

By Mark Pack | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 10:25 am

Dear Jeremy,

In part 1 I explained why the Interception of Communications Commissioner is a failed regulator and one the Home Office should be fixing, yet your civil servants have been reluctant to do so. That should give a pause for thought about the proposals Home Office civil servants keep on pushing to extend the ability of the government to snoop on what we do online.

So too should the way in which the Home Office regularly changes its views of what counts as being in the national interest or vital for the fight against crime, and indeed makes outlandish claims …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged communications data bill, freedom of information, information commissioner, Interception of Communications Commissioner, jeremy browne and Mark Pack | 3 Comments

Opinion: Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference supports retention of Section 3 of the Equality Act

By Robin Lynn | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 8:55 am

At the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference in Cardiff yesterday, a comfortable majority of representatives carried a motion urging that Lib Dem peers be allowed to vote with their consciences on amendment 35 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. By so allowing, the party will send out the signal that our commitment to equality and human rights is undiminished despite being in coalition with a party whose commitment is at best questionable.

Amendment 35 was originally moved in the Lords by disability campaigner Baroness Jane Campbell and passed in March, supported by Labour, cross Benchers, a majority of Lib Dem peers, …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, equality, equality act, welsh liberal democrat conference and welsh liberal democrats | 6 Comments

Times: ‘Cameron is told to drop snooping on web users’

By Stephen Tall | Mon 22nd April 2013 - 8:05 am

Today’s Times front page is dominated by the news that nine cyber-security experts and academics have issued a stark warning to David Cameron to halt ‘sweeping plans to hand the security services the power to snoop on emails, website visits and social media sites’: “they remain as naive and technically dangerous as when they were floated by the last government,” they warn.

The paper notes the opposition both of Nick Clegg — who highlighted his disagreement with the draft Bill last December — and of Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert, who points out: “Where we lead, other countries would follow, snooping on their citizens’ legal activities. … The case for these proposals is massively out-weighed by the cost and the harm to privacy, here and overseas.”

Posted in News | Tagged angela sasse, communications data bill, david cameron, featured, ian brown, julian huppert, nick clegg, ross anderson, the times and theresa may | 4 Comments

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Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #322

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 21st April 2013 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 322nd 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 (14-20 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | 3 Comments

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “I absolutely love being out on the campaign trail”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 21st April 2013 - 5:20 pm

With local elections taking place across much of England (and, lets not forget, the Isle of Angelsey in Wales) on Thursday 2nd May, Nick Clegg’s letter this week focuses on the drive to get out the Lib Dem vote…

With less than two weeks to go until this year’s local elections, the campaigning has really stepped up a notch. I’ll be spending the next week criss-crossing the country, knocking on doors, delivering leaflets and hearing about local Lib Dem success stories from jobs we’ve created to libraries we’re

…

Posted in News | Tagged featured, kendal, letter from the leader, local elections 2013, nick clegg, south lakeland council and tim farron | 5 Comments

Lloyd George among Royal Mail’s latest 1st Class ‘Great Britons’

By The Voice | Sun 21st April 2013 - 4:15 pm

Royal Mail this week announced the launch of its latest set of special stamps, ‘Great Britons’, a set of 1st Class stamps celebrating the achievements of 10 distinguished individuals from the realms of sport, journalism, music, politics and the arts.

David Lloyd George, the last Liberal Prime Minister, is the chosen politician. Here’s how Wikipedia describes him:

Lloyd George is best known as the highly energetic Prime Minister (1916–22) who guided the Empire through the First World War to victory over Germany and its allies. He was a major player at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that reordered Europe after the Great War. As an icon of 20th-century liberalism, he is regarded as the founder of the British welfare state. He made a greater impact on British public life than any other 20th-century leader, thanks to his leadership of the war, his postwar role in reshaping Europe, and his introduction of Britain’s social welfare system before the war.

Posted in News | Tagged david lloyd george and royal mail | Leave a comment

The Economist’s political map of the UK: the north/south divide revealed

By Stephen Tall | Sun 21st April 2013 - 1:45 pm

Here’s the traditional political map of the UK, each constituency colour-coded to the winning party:

It’s a map which flatters to deceive. The Tories appear to be the dominant force across pretty much the whole of England. The Lib Dems’ strength through the celtic fringe appears to put us pretty much on a par with Labour.

The Economist has this week done something very simple: create a political map which equalises the size of constituencies and colour codes according to the turn-out for the winning party…

Posted in News | Tagged featured, political map and the economist | 35 Comments

Kirsty Williams on criticism of the Coalition: “It knocked my confidence.”

By The Voice | Sun 21st April 2013 - 12:00 pm

It’s the Welsh Lib Dems’ conference this weekend and Kirsty Williams will take the opportunity to argue that a “crucial turning point” has been reached, reports BBC News:

At the conference in Cardiff, Ms Williams will claim the fact the Lib Dems retained third place in the Cardiff South and Penarth by-election last November, albeit with a much reduced share of the vote, was a “sign post that things were changing” for the party.

“Eastleigh was a turning point,” she will say. “Yes, the criticisms of our

…

Posted in Wales | Tagged cardiff south and penarth, kirsty williams and nick clegg | 3 Comments

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP on civil liberties… Part 1: The failed regulator

By Mark Pack | Sun 21st April 2013 - 10:00 am

Dear Jeremy

I doubt that in amongst all the ludicrously large number of issues that pass across the desk of a minister, and a Home Office one no less, you will have noticed a small victory I scored over the Home Office recently.

But I hope you’ll give a pause for thought to the implications of the ruling the Information Commissioner made in my favour over the Home Office (decision notice reference FS50469527).

Partly it’s because of what it says about the never-quite-dead proposals for a huge expansion of monitoring of our online activity. Partly it’s because of what the case reveals …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged communications data bill, freedom of information, home office, information commissioner and Interception of Communications Commissioner | 3 Comments

How Thatcherite are you?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 20th April 2013 - 7:30 pm

“We are all Thatcherites now,” declared David Cameron on the morning of Margaret Thatcher’s funeral. Not so, said Nick Clegg:

“He’s the leader of the Conservative Party he’s perfectly entitled to say that. I certainly wouldn’t call myself a Thatcherite. I’m a Liberal, she wasn’t a Liberal. I’ve always called myself a Liberal, I always will.”

Do you think you’re a Thatcherite? Well, the Daily Telegraph has devised a test to help you find out: you’re 10 questions away from finding out on how much you and The Lady (dis)agreed.

Posted in News | Tagged daily telegraph, david cameron, margaret thatcher and nick clegg | 27 Comments

Small-scale blogs to be excluded from post-Leveson media regulation

By Stephen Tall | Sat 20th April 2013 - 5:15 pm

A week ago I posed (and answered) the question, After Leveson: which blogs are to be regulated? Answer: no-one yet knows. Well, we do now know.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) yesterday announced a ‘refinement’ of the Leveson legislation included within the Crime and Courts Bill. And it confirms that small-blogs are no longer to be expected to join the proposed self-regulator (though they can do if they wish):

The amendments, which have cross-party agreement, make clear that small blogs will not be classed as ‘relevant publishers’, and be considered by the House of Commons on

…

Posted in News | Tagged big brother watch, blogging, crime and courts bill, department of culture media and sport, evan harris, hacked off and leveson inquiry | 13 Comments

Vince Cable talks about helping regions

By NewsHound | Sat 20th April 2013 - 4:06 pm

From the Guardian:

The business secretary, Vince Cable, has highlighted the serious disparities between different parts of the country in economic performance and job prospects.

He was speaking at a conference designed to boost local enterprise partnerships, the government’s chosen vehicle for regional business growth.

Cable said: “There are worryingly high disparities between economic performance and employment prospects in different parts of the UK, and those areas that become highly dependent on the public sector face particularly difficult challenges.”

Liberal Democrat ministers have often talked of the need to ensure that all parts of the UK benefit …

Posted in News | Tagged economy, regional growth fund and vince cable | Leave a comment

Clegg and Farron say Liberal Democrats fairest in tough economic times

By NewsHound | Sat 20th April 2013 - 11:49 am

There was a double dose of senior Lib Demmery on yesterday’s World at One with Nick Clegg and Tim Farron both talking about the local elections. Firstly, Nick on the Liberal Democrats making fair decisions in challenging economic times:

Everybody knows money is tight and that local councillors have done and will continue to have to make savings. The question is who can be relied on to do it most fairly. You certainly can’t rely on either Conservative or Labour parties if you look at their local records. I think

…

Posted in News | Tagged local elections, nick clegg, tim farron and world at one | 13 Comments

How a spreadsheet error has wrecked the world economy… or not

By Joe Otten | Sat 20th April 2013 - 10:20 am

An economics student has overturned a key finding in the economics literature on the relationship between high public debt and low growth, the BBC reports.

While it remains clear that heavily indebted countries grow more slowly, Reinhart and Rogoff’s particular finding that growth drops sharply when debt reaches 90% of GDP appears to be in error.

We should of course be greatly relieved because the national debt stood at 90% at the end of 2012 (source). So we are now, like it or not, in the 90%+ danger zone of slower long term growth. To avoid this would have required …

Posted in News | 76 Comments

The LDV Friday Five: 19 April 2013

By Helen Duffett | Fri 19th 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

Rebecca Taylor MEP writes…Electronic Cigarettes: No smoke, but lots of fiery debate (24 comments) by Rebecca Taylor MEP
Julian Huppert writes…Update on the Defamation Bill (15 comments) by Julian Huppert MP
Ding Dong & Mrs T. It’s simple: don’t buy it and don’t ban it (47 comments) by Stephen Tall

Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment

Opinion: One last chance to achieve far-reaching libel reform

By Prateek Buch | Fri 19th April 2013 - 3:42 pm

The Defamation Bill is nearly law. Several key reforms needed to protect free debate are already included in the Bill, thanks to the tireless work of the Libel Reform Campaign (declaration: I have acted as an adviser to the campaign), the heroic defence of free speech by individuals in the face of financial ruin, and Parliamentarians from both Houses, with Lib Dems leading the charge.

At the very last, however, a Tory attempt to scupper one of the most important provisions that was included in the bill needs to be defeated if the ensuing Act is to achieve …

Posted in News | Tagged adrian sanders, david allen green, defamation bill, greg mullholland, john hemming, john leech, julian huppert, libel reform and tim farron | 11 Comments

Next week in the Lords… 22-25 April (and there shall be ping pong enough for all)

By Mark Valladares | Fri 19th April 2013 - 1:51 pm

Yes, I know, I’ve been rubbish at keeping up with this in recent weeks, but it’s a busy week ahead in the Lords, as they return from their early Spring recess for a hectic week of tying up loose ends before the end of the Parliamentary session when they… go off for the recess before the Queen’s Speech…

So, without further ado…

Monday sees the introduction of the Bishop of Truro, just in time for consideration of Commons amendments on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and

Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged defamation bill, hugh dykes, john lee, julian huppert and tim clement-jones | 2 Comments

This week in Europe: 15-18 April

By NewsHound | Fri 19th April 2013 - 12:11 pm

Lib Dem MEP calls on EU Parliament to scrap planned budget hikes

On Tuesday, senior UK Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon called on the European Parliament to scrap planned budget increases ahead of the next series of votes on EU spending.

Mr Lyon, a vice chair of the EU Budget Committee, has tabled amendments that, if implemented, would see the one off costs of funding the European election absorbed within a real-terms budget freeze.

Commenting, he said:

At a time when

…

Posted in News | Tagged chris davies, common fisheries policy, eu budget, european parliament and george lyon | 1 Comment

ALDE Council preview: separating the Central European goat from the Eastern European sheep?

By Mark Valladares | Fri 19th April 2013 - 10:48 am

It must be said that, when I was elected to be one of the Party’s delegates to the Council of what was then ELDR and is now ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe), I had a vague idea that the travel would be interesting.

And yes, Dresden and Palermo were interesting, despite there not being very many direct flights. Yerevan, on the other hand, was not exactly an obvious destination, although the warmth of the welcome, and the sheer enthusiasm for ‘Europe’ was invigorating for someone who has to …

Posted in News | Tagged ALDE and croatia | 1 Comment

Candidate news for those with disabilities

By NewsHound | Fri 19th April 2013 - 9:22 am

As some of our readers may already be aware, the Government has set up the Access to Elected Office Fund, as part of its Access to Elected Office Strategy, to help pay the disability-related costs that disabled people standing for elected office might face. The fund is open to all disabled people who wish to be selected as a candidate in an election, or who have already been selected and are standing in an election.

Candidates may apply for money from the fund to meet the costs of disability-related support needed to stand for elected office, e.g. costs related to …

Posted in News | Tagged diversity and government equalities office | 1 Comment

Welcome to my day: 19 April… not this time in Arun

By Mark Valladares | Fri 19th April 2013 - 8:21 am

Two years ago, I remember campaigning for election to Mid Suffolk District Council and the sun shone for the last six weeks of the campaign. This year, the weather has been pretty unfriendly for the most part, and I’m struck down by shingles. It really was better in the old days…

Only one principal authority by-election last night, in the Angmering ward of Arun District Council in West Sussex, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The result;

Andy Cooper (Conservative) – 878 votes (64%, +25% on 2011)
Carly Goodwin

…

Posted in News | 2 Comments

The importance of new faces in Liberal Youth

By Kavya Kaushik | Thu 18th April 2013 - 6:02 pm

Every incarnation of Liberal Youth has had the exact same problems: egos, an unnatural obsession with constitutions and a party-within-a-party mentality. Members of the Liberal Democrats almost expect Liberal Youth to fail at some point, which isn’t a healthy foundation for us to build upon.

I believe these recurring problems are the result of a very easily fixable problem. There is a narrow pool of people interested in standing time after time: The Liberal Youth Clique. There are many people who want Liberal Youth to succeed and become a vital campaigning and recruitment force within the Liberal Democrats.

I do believe in …

Posted in News | Tagged liberal youth | 19 Comments

Cable: No room for complacency over getting more women on company boards

By NewsHound | Thu 18th April 2013 - 2:05 pm

The Guardian reports comments from Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable, following evidence that the proportion of female appointments to FTSE 100 and 250 companies has reduced:

The Liberal Democrat business secretary and former chief economist at Shell is also clear that slow progress isn’t an indication of disregard for the agenda, instead he explains that the overall trend shows culture and practices are changing.

Earlier this year however, Boardwatch, part of the Professional Boards Forum, found that while female appointments to non-executive director roles are increasing, executive board promotions remain low. Cable admits

…

Posted in News | Tagged vince cable | 6 Comments

Some recommended reading from the BBC’s Defence Correspondent

By Nick T | Thu 18th April 2013 - 12:07 pm

Those of us interested in politics and current affairs generally have particularly policy areas to which we pay closer attention and therefore develop greater knowledge of.

One of the vitally important areas of government policy which I don’t know enough about is defence. I read the Strategic Defence and Security Review when it was published, but its aim is not to act as a primer for the uninitiated, and it doesn’t do so.

Wishing to gain some knowledge (not least because the Lib Dems will shortly be voting on our future defence policies), therefore, …

Posted in News | Tagged caroline wyatt and defence | 5 Comments

Watford’s last Conservative Councillor moves to Liberal Democrats because of Conservatives’ “right wing drift”

By NewsHound | Thu 18th April 2013 - 10:49 am

From the Watford Observer:

Watford’s Conservative party has been extinguished at borough level after the last Tory councillor has defected to the ruling Liberal Democrat group.

Steve Johnson, who had been the leader of the Conservatives onWatford Borough Council until recently, announced this morning he was crossing the floor due to the national Tory party’s “right wing drift”.

In a statement the Leggatts representative said: “I have become increasingly disappointed by the right-wing drift of Conservative party rhetoric, particularly its attitude to welfare issues. I feel my views are more in tune with the Liberal Democrat part of the coalition, in

…

Posted in Local government and News | Tagged dorothy thornhill, steve johnson, watford and watford observer | 9 Comments

AD LIB digital edition – teething problems solved

By Helen Duffett | Thu 18th April 2013 - 10:20 am

Hopefully all of you have had the chance to have a play with the new AD LIB interactive digital edition which was launched this month.

If not, why not have a play now?

Remember, this issue is free to all party members.

As well as all the good stuff you get with the paper copy, the digital edition has a number of interactive elements. If you want to listen to Paddy’s conference speech while reading his cover interview, you can. If you’re intrigued about Eluned Parrott’s ‘On the Record’ music choices, you can click straight to the music videos. And if you …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged ad lib magazine, eluned parrott and paddy ashdown | 4 Comments

LibLink..Tavish Scott: Our difficult decisions easier than in US

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 18th April 2013 - 9:15 am

Tavish Scott, Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland, writes in today’s Scotsman contrasting the battle over gun control in the US to the consultation in Scotland over licensing of airguns.

Of the situation in the States in the wake of the awful Sandy Hook shootings last Christmas, Tavish writes:

But Obama senses a moment. The Connecticut shooting was so awful that pressure on Washington lawmakers is now intense. Last week, the president met Sandy Hook families who lost children and then flew them in Air Force 1 to Washington DC. These parents then met lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They asked for mandatory background

…

Posted in News | Tagged airgun consultation, gun control, Scotland, scotsman, tavish scott and us | 6 Comments

New Zealand Parliament rejoices at passing of same sex marriage bill

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 17th April 2013 - 7:30 pm

Something made me cry today, and it involved a bunch of politicians in what is normally a solemn ritual.

It took place in the New Zealand Parliament when MPs voted in favour of same sex marriage. In the House of Commons, you might, if you’re lucky, get some order papers waved. Having said that, I hear tales of The Land and Lloyd George knew my father being sung in the Lords voting lobby by certain of our peers late one night.

Anyway, look at this place – real warm celebrations. Hugs, kisses, flowers and the spontaneous rendition of a Maori …

Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged conference, conference accreditation, equal marriage and new zealand | 4 Comments

Op-eds

What does a Lib Dem “trans activist” look like? (Caron Lindsay)
Winning back a generation starts with fixing the broken student loan system (Tom Gordon MP)
Welcome to my day: 21 September 2026 – time to clean up our politics? (Mark Valladares)
What I would have said about homeless children at Conference (Suzanne Fletcher)
Caron’s kitchen table diary (Caron Lindsay)

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What does a Lib Dem “trans activist” look like?

Caron’s kitchen table diary

Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything

To get Britain growing, we must cut business costs

Welsh LIberal Democrat councillor charged with causing an explosion

Review: April’s AD LIB goes high tech and has Paddy, campaign success and Conference confessions

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP…Part 2: Problems at the Home Office

Opinion: Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference supports retention of Section 3 of the Equality Act

Times: ‘Cameron is told to drop snooping on web users’

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #322

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “I absolutely love being out on the campaign trail”

Lloyd George among Royal Mail’s latest 1st Class ‘Great Britons’

The Economist’s political map of the UK: the north/south divide revealed

Kirsty Williams on criticism of the Coalition: “It knocked my confidence.”

An open letter to Jeremy Browne MP on civil liberties… Part 1: The failed regulator

How Thatcherite are you?

Small-scale blogs to be excluded from post-Leveson media regulation

Vince Cable talks about helping regions

Clegg and Farron say Liberal Democrats fairest in tough economic times

How a spreadsheet error has wrecked the world economy… or not

The LDV Friday Five: 19 April 2013

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

Opinion: One last chance to achieve far-reaching libel reform

Next week in the Lords… 22-25 April (and there shall be ping pong enough for all)

This week in Europe: 15-18 April

ALDE Council preview: separating the Central European goat from the Eastern European sheep?

Candidate news for those with disabilities

Welcome to my day: 19 April… not this time in Arun

The importance of new faces in Liberal Youth

Cable: No room for complacency over getting more women on company boards

Some recommended reading from the BBC’s Defence Correspondent

Watford’s last Conservative Councillor moves to Liberal Democrats because of Conservatives’ “right wing drift”

AD LIB digital edition – teething problems solved

LibLink..Tavish Scott: Our difficult decisions easier than in US

New Zealand Parliament rejoices at passing of same sex marriage bill

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