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Ming Campbell writes: Britain lost moral authority as a result of its participation in Iraq

By Ming Campbell MP | Tue 19th March 2013 - 2:01 pm

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. We are marking it by publishing reflections on the war and its aftermath by senior Liberal Democrats.

The second is by Ming Campbell.

It is hard now to find anyone who will defend British participation in the American-led invasion of Iraq ten years ago. Labour’s current frontbench seek now only to distance themselves from personal involvement in the decision to go to war and it has been all but airbrushed out of recent Tory history. Even in …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured, iraq and iraq war | 10 Comments

David Heath MP reports back on the CITES conference and global agreement to protect sharks and manta rays

By David Heath MP | Tue 19th March 2013 - 12:55 pm

Much of my work in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs centres on the last two parts of the title, so it’s good just occasionally to be able to make a difference on the other part of the agenda, the environment. I had just such an opportunity last week when I represented the United Kingdom at the meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

I was in Bangkok, Thailand, leading a trade mission on behalf of British meat and livestock to the biggest trade fair in Asia. But the timing meant that …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged cites, defra and worldwide fund for nature | 1 Comment

Opinion: More than a Fly on the Great Wall

By Merlene Emerson | Tue 19th March 2013 - 11:28 am

Last November I blogged here about my trip to China shortly before the Chinese leadership handover at the 18^th Party Congress. On Sunday 17 March that hand over was finally completed with Xi JinPing installed as President and Li Keqiang as Premier of the world’s emerging second super power.

China watchers have been keen to study the background of these two men to predict the future direction of the Chinese Communist Party under their leadership. Their fluency in the English language and easy manner might suggest that they are more westernised hence would be “modernisers” or “reformers”. I believe it is still early days to be using such labels.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged china and chinese liberal democrats | 8 Comments

Emma Nicholson writes: Was the war worth it? … a resounding Yes from me

By Baroness Emma Nicholson | Tue 19th March 2013 - 10:16 am

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. We are marking it by publishing reflections on the war and its aftermath by senior Liberal Democrats.

The first, by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, was written in Basrah, Iraq

I am writing this dispatch from a conference in Basrah where the Iraqi Oil Minister has just been outlining plans to spend US$200 billion to rebuild the hydrocarbons industry, in a country where US $1 trillion is earmarked for reconstruction and where in just a few weeks free and fair local elections will be held.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged iraq war | 53 Comments

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Nick Clegg’s statement to the Commons on press regulation

By The Voice | Tue 19th March 2013 - 7:57 am

Last night we published Nick Clegg’s email to supporters setting out his views on press regulation. Here’s the text of his full statement in the Commons yesterday:

Mr Speaker, when Lord Justice Leveson published his recommendations, the Liberal Democrats supported them. I agreed with his basic model of a new, independent self-regulatory body for the press…
With a new recognition body authorised to check, periodically, that the system is working properly.

Given the importance of the relationships between politicians, the public and the press… I said at the outset

…

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Posted in Parliament | Tagged leveson inquiry and nick clegg | 1 Comment

Nick Clegg writes… Press regulation: a liberal solution

By The Voice | Mon 18th March 2013 - 9:35 pm

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has written to party supporters tonight…

Having been in face to face negotiations till nearly midnight last night – followed by calls, texts and emails for many hours afterwards – I am delighted to have stood up this afternoon in the House of Commons to welcome the cross-party agreement on implementing the Leveson Report. It wasn’t easy but after a lot of hard work – led on our side by the tireless Jim Wallace, we have got there.

The Leveson Inquiry was established after public revulsion at the phone hacking scandal. So, when Lord Justice Leveson published

…

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Posted in News | Tagged leveson inquiry, media and nick clegg | 22 Comments

Baroness Tyler writes… A strong charitable sector is at the heart of a fairer society

By Claire Tyler | Mon 18th March 2013 - 4:56 pm

A lot of people are talking about what the challenge of creating a stronger economy and a fairer society means in practical terms. I’m going to focus here on the latter. As well as implementing key Lib Dem policies such as the Pupil Premium ,raising the tax-free personal allowance, making childcare more affordable and introducing the new single tier state pension, it’s important we recognise the role charities and voluntary organisations play in helping people going through difficult times as part of a broader approach to social justice. This country has a proud history of charitable activity to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged andrew percy, charities aid foundation, comic relief, david blunkett, parliamentary inquiry into growing giving and pupil premium | 11 Comments

Royal Charter deal struck on press self-regulation

By The Voice | Mon 18th March 2013 - 4:55 pm

The BBC reports:

A deal has been struck between the three main political parties on measures to regulate the press in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal. An independent regulator will be set up by royal charter, but views vary over whether it would be underpinned by law. Labour leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said this would be the case, but the prime minister denied it. …

Mr Clegg said he had worked “flat out” to get the deal, and was “delighted” with the cross-party agreement.

“We’ve secured the cherished principle of freedom of the press, which

…

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Posted in News | 3 Comments

Opinion: It’s time to burst the football fans’ ‘bubble’

By Paul Head | Mon 18th March 2013 - 1:00 pm

The travel arrangements for Hull City fans wanting to attend their team’s away trip to Huddersfield later this month probably haven’t caught the attention of too many Lib Dem Voice readers. And why should they?

Here’s why.

West Yorkshire Police (WYP) have decided to make the game a “bubble” match. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular policing tactic, it involves forcing all fans to travel on designated coaches, from specific pick up points, to and from the game. If fans want to make their own way to the game, …

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Posted in Op-eds | 37 Comments

LibLink: Nick Clegg – If Iraq taught us anything, it’s this…

By NewsHound | Mon 18th March 2013 - 10:45 am

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the invasion by the USA and the UK of Iraq. In an article published in The Independent, Nick Clegg reflects on the decisions made by the last Labour government and the lessons to be drawn. Here’s an excerpt:

The pretext given by the Blair government for the invasion – Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction – proved false. The intervention led to years of instability, sectarian violence and religious extremism within Iraq and beyond. It strengthened Iran’s ability to destabilise its neighbours and it undermined the credibility of the United Nations.

The

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged iraq and nick clegg | 7 Comments

What Lib Dem members say about ‘secret courts’: 66% back repeal, 64% say Clegg has handled issue “very badly”

By Stephen Tall | Mon 18th March 2013 - 8:50 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 650 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

66% say party should commit to repealing ‘secret courts’ legislation

The House of Commons has approved legislation extending the use of Closed Material Procedures – also known as ‘secret courts’ – in any civil proceedings (except, at present, for inquests) in cases where national security is said to be at risk. Do you support or oppose the repeal of this legislation featuring …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged featured and secret courts | 5 Comments

My speech in secret courts debate to Scottish Conference

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 18th March 2013 - 7:57 am

Ok, this might be slightly egotistical, but I thought you might be interested in seeing the speech I made proposing the motion opposing the legislation on secret courts at Scottish Conference this weekend. The motion, calling for a repeal of the legislation to be put into our manifesto in 2015, was passed overwhelmingly. There were in fact only two votes against in a busy hall, and one of them was from Jim Wallace. If you scroll to the bottom, you can see a wee snippet of it.

Here’s what I said:

For over four centuries our legal systems have been based on

…

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Posted in News | Tagged Scottish liberal democrat conference and secret courts | 2 Comments

Hoggart on Webb: “He understands it so you don’t have to! Thank heavens!”

By The Voice | Sun 17th March 2013 - 4:55 pm

The Guardian’s Simon Hoggart has been collecting examples of impenetrable jargon. This week, Lib Dem pensions minister Steve Webb features:

Thanks for the many examples of jargon you’ve sent in, and we’ll have a proper look at it all soon. In the meantime, there are examples which are actually quite helpful.

Take work and pensions, which is without a doubt the most difficult of all government departments. Yet the Liberal Democrat minister Steve Webb actually seems to know exactly what he is talking about. He may be alone. See if you

…

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Posted in Humour | Tagged simon hoggart and steve webb | 5 Comments

Libby Local, Episode 13: “Brighton Secrets”

By Libby Local | Sun 17th March 2013 - 2:45 pm

My arrival at Brighton was a something of a financial shock. A huge £3.90 for a coffee in the Metropole. You can buy a coffee and a pint of beer for less than four pounds in Demsbury. A good slug of Pinot Grigio is only a few pence more!

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference was not at all as I expected. I’m an avid conference goer in my professional life, but this conference proved totally different. Okay. I have never encountered so many bad taste yellow ties before. But what struck me most was the diverse group of people, disabled, young, …

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Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Tagged featured | 6 Comments

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Protecting individuals and press freedom”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 17th March 2013 - 1:15 pm

Nick Clegg’s latest email missive arrived in my email inbox this weekend. Two odd things about it…

First, as Paul Walter and Jonathan Calder have already picked up: the absence of any mention of last weekend’s debate on ‘secret courts’. I understood why it wasn’t mentioned in his leader’s speech last weekend: he wanted to keep the media’s attention focused on the party’s core message. But if we go back to the original intention of the Letter from the Leader, it was – as Nick himself wrote in the first one – “to give you a bit more of an insight into what’s going on behind those Whitehall doors and how we, as Lib Dems, are dealing with the issues and challenges that come up.” Hands up all those party members who think Nick’s lived up to that pledge on secret courts?

The second odd thing is the repeated request to send us to a paywalled website to find out more about Nick’s plans for Leveson: that’s right, Lib Dem supporters are invited to hand over money to Rupert Murdoch to get the party leader’s views on how the Lib Dems intend to crack down on the abuses perpetrated by Rupert Murdoch’s company. Now, I’ve already made clear my disagreement with Nick on this issue. But I’ve no doubt he’s speaking for the majority of party members in backing a Royal Charter to implement the Leveson Report. Yet instead of directing them to a Lib Dem website, or capturing emails via a Lib Dem petition website, the Leader’s Letter invites supporters to bump their head against a paywall and make their views known through a third-party website. Neither are especially smart.

My gripes over — read on…

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Posted in News | Tagged letter from the leader, leveson inquiry and nick clegg | 7 Comments

I’m a liberal and I’m against this sort of thing. Leveson-style press regulation, that is (as well as secret courts)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 17th March 2013 - 8:55 am

I’ve got used to describing myself as “a liberal first, a Lib Dem second”. Most of the time the Venn diagram works out pretty well. But not the last couple of weeks.

First, there was ‘secret courts’ and the decision by Nick Clegg, backed by most Lib Dem MPs (though not by party members), to extend legal proceedings which directly conflict with natural justice and that elevate the state above the individual.

And now there’s Nick Clegg’s decision, again likely to be backed by most Lib Dem …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged featured, leveson inquiry, nick clegg and secret courts | 67 Comments

Opinion: Time for Liberal Democrats to consider new claims about climate change

By Michael Taylor | Sat 16th March 2013 - 4:24 pm

I have just finished reading what for me is the most thought provoking book I have ever read. I was totally unaware until I read The Chilling Stars by Nigel Calder and Henrik Svensmark that not only does the earth move round the sun, but that the sun moves round the Milky Way Galaxy that we live in. The discoveries of Cosmoclimatology turn the accepted theory about climate change on its head. It challenges the prevailing views about climate change held by our party and offers real scientific evidence that there are much larger drivers of climate change …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged climate change | 78 Comments

Scottish Conference overwhelmingly rejects secret courts

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 16th March 2013 - 11:48 am

Only two members of the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference voted against a motion opposing the introduction of secret courts. One of them was Jim Wallace, whose name is on the Government’s bill.

The leadership didn’t put up a fight, which in some ways is more frustrating. Why won”t they come forward and engage in the debate? It’s clear they have no intention in taking the slightest bit of notice of the vote, or the previous votes carried by enormous majorities at Federal Conference.

There was only one speech against and that was from someone who opposed secret courts in principle but …

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Posted in News | Tagged Scotland, Scottish liberal democrat conference and secret courts | 14 Comments

Clegg statement on Leveson: our proposals pose no danger to press freedom, but will give assurance to victims

By Stephen Tall | Sat 16th March 2013 - 10:29 am

Nick Clegg – who declared on Thursday his backing for a free and fair press – has now published a statement on how he’s approaching next week’s critical Commons vote on how the Leveson Report is taken forward:

Next week MPs will have the chance to deliver the robust, independent self-regulation for the press that Lord Justice Leveson recommended in his report.

It was hoped that talks between the party leaders would be able to agree how such a system would work, but the Prime Minister’s decision to end

…

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Posted in News | Tagged leveson inquiry, lord president of the council and nick clegg | 6 Comments

Saturday Forum: The Harm Principle

By Joe Otten | Sat 16th March 2013 - 1:31 am

From On Liberty by JS Mill

The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged harm principle | 15 Comments

That was the day that was… 15 March (with added by-election good news)

By Mark Valladares | Fri 15th March 2013 - 7:51 pm

Another day over, here at Liberal Democrat Voice, and a fascinating one it has been too.

There is good news to report from Arun, in Sussex, courtesy of Cllr Jamie Bennett;

#LibDem destroy a 1000 Tory majority to take the #Arun district Aldwick east seat in today’s by election for the first time @libdemnews

— Cllr. Jamie Bennett (@JamieBen120689) March 15, 2013

To put the result in perspective, a Conservative majority of nearly 1,000 was overturned, with Liberal Democrats up from 16% to 34%. Congratulations to our successful candidate, Paul Wells, and all of the team in Aldwick East.

Elsewhere, Liberal Democrat proposals for press regulation have been published on the Party website. We’ll have more coverage of that over the weekend and early next week.

And finally, in keeping with my occasional attempts to bring culture to the masses, here’s a little something that I’d like to dedicate to our site’s resident Eurosceptic…

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Posted in Humour and YouTube | Tagged culture | 4 Comments

The LDV Friday Five: 15 March 2013

By The Voice | Fri 15th March 2013 - 5:45 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

Jo Shaw quits Lib Dems in protest at leadership’s pro-secret courts position (25) by Stephen Tall
Losing one of our best….an appreciation of Jo Shaw (91) by Caron Lindsay
Vince Cable on Labour’s opposition day debate on Mansion tax (62) by Helen Duffett

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Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment

David Howarth responds on the question of secret courts

By David Howarth | Fri 15th March 2013 - 3:52 pm

Tom McNally has expanded his Brighton speech in favour of the Justice and Security Bill on Liberal Democrat Voice. He makes several assertions and assumptions that simply do not stand up to scrutiny.

The main objection to closed material proceedings is not, as Tom (and most of the media) claim, that they are ‘in private’ but that they are one-sided. Not only the public but also the other party is excluded. Even the other party’s lawyer is excluded. The other party is ‘represented’ by a special advocate who is not allowed to reveal the precise facts in issue.

…

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged secret courts | 42 Comments

Secret Courts Bill… don’t get your hopes up

By Mark Valladares | Fri 15th March 2013 - 2:51 pm

So, it has come to this. Apparently, the only hope left of stopping the Secret Courts element of the Justice and Security Bill is to persuade the Parliamentary Party in the Lords to either vote down Part II of the Bill, the bit with the Secret Courts elements in it, or to vote down the entire Bill. Easy, really. Or, perhaps, not. You see, this presumes that the Lords gets to vote on Part II or the entire …

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged house of lords, justice and security bill and secret courts | 9 Comments

Opinion: Gender blindness or… why we don’t want token women

By Jade Holden and Ewan Hoyle and Eilidh Dickson | Fri 15th March 2013 - 1:21 pm

To the delight of many party members, Mark Pack recently announced his decision to decline invitations to sit on all-male panels at Liberal Democrat fringes, urging other men to take the same course of action. A few of us, however, feel uncomfortable with the suggestion that women should be invited to speak for their contribution to the diversity of the panel, rather than for what they can bring to the debate.

Currently, anybody who is invited to speak at a fringe can be confident that they have been asked – obvious choice or not – because somebody thought they had something …

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Tagged gender equality | 60 Comments

New report from the ERS: Reviving the Health of Our Democracy

By Nick Tyrone | Fri 15th March 2013 - 11:51 am

After months of independent research, the Electoral Reform Society has now published a report on Reviving the Health of Our Democracy. On the plus side, we discovered that most people are as politically charged as ever, albeit mostly through individualistic modes of participation such as single issue campaigns. The downside, of course, is that they feel less and less like their political ideas and aspirations can be reached via traditional representative democracy. Turnout at most sets of local elections is now below forty percent. Even more alarmingly, last year’s Hansard Audit of Political Engagement discovered that the percentage of people …

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Posted in The Independent View | Tagged electoral reform | 8 Comments

Last week in Europe: 11-14 March

By Mark Valladares | Fri 15th March 2013 - 10:21 am

Liberal Democrats want better deal for UK in EU’s long term budget

Liberal Democrat MEPs today voted to approve the size of the EU’s multi-annual financial framework deal reached by Member States last month. They also supported moves to renegotiate the shape of the budget by making it more flexible and focused on areas that will bring jobs and growth to the UK, such as investments in R&D, innovation and infrastructure.

Senior Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon, Vice-President of …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged air travel, eu budget, george lyon and phil bennion | Leave a comment

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