Caron Lindsay

Secret Courts..what does the party do now?

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 5th March 2013 - 2:02 pm

Its’s not been the easiest 24 hours to be a Liberal Democrat. It was very hard to watch the majority of our MPs vote to remove the right to a fair trial in civil cases where national security is deemed to be a factor.  Just seven MPs voted in favour of amendments advised by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. The fact that the JCHR had a different view from the Government should surely have raised a huge red flag. An even bigger signal that our MPs were on the wrong course was the fact that Labour were voting in …

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Gordon Birtwistle MP

Opinion: Making MORE in Britain with the Lib Dem Campaign for Manufacturing

By Gordon Birtwistle MP | Tue 5th March 2013 - 1:07 pm

Nick Clegg and Vince Cable at a factory 2 - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsThe Lib Dem Campaign for Manufacturing had a hugely successful start, with the first campaign aim being implemented in the Autumn Statement. Our proposal on capital allowances saw the Chancellor increase the annual investment allowance from £25,000 to £250,000 for a two year period. This move by the Treasury will help businesses invest in plant and machinery and I am already seeing the difference in Burnley with a number of firms taking advantage of the …

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Mike Tuffrey

The Green Book – new directions for Liberals in government

By Mike Tuffrey | Tue 5th March 2013 - 12:04 pm

green-bookYesterday saw the launch of a book project that I’ve been working on with colleagues over the last year. Between us, we persuaded 27 authors to put pen to paper and say what should be in a programme for government, one that’s fit for the world we live in today. Some 70 people from business, NGOs, academia, think-tanks and political parties joined us in Westminster for the launch.

Our choice of the title “Green Book” is a very conscious nod towards the Orange Book of a decade ago and indeed Lloyd George’s Yellow Book – really authored by John Maynard Keynes – 85 years ago. Last week I wrote how times have changed since then.

Each author has a specific point of view but all were united in saying we can’t go on as we are, both as a country and as a party. As editors, we were clear that the LibDems are now a party of national government; we need a programme to put before the voters that’s frank about the challenges Britain faces: the first industrialised nation that has largely exhausted its natural resources and now has to compete for energy, food and raw materials with the burgeoning economies of India, Brazil and China.

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Posted in Books, News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
Gareth Jones

Opinion: Funding defence

By Gareth Jones | Tue 5th March 2013 - 10:29 am

HMS Astute Arrives at Faslane for the First TimeDefence Secretary Phillip Hammond has made headlines by suggesting the MOD and the armed forces should be spared any more significant cuts in the future spending review, instead suggesting the cuts should come from the social welfare budget instead.

The problem is… I partially agree with him; the defence budget is already the bare minimum required to meet the UK’s international commitments. It has not only received its share of austerity cuts under the Coalition but was underfunded under Blair and Brown leading …

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The Voice

Women Liberal Democrats and sexual harrassment allegations

By The Voice | Tue 5th March 2013 - 8:53 am

miranda-whiteheadWe have received this statement from the Chair of Women Liberal Democrats, Miranda Whitehead, which has been sent to all their members. In view of its subject matter we have decided to reproduce it in full.

Women Liberal Democrats ( WLD)  are very concerned  by the sexual harassment allegations involving the party .

Of equally serious concern is the implication that the party did not deal appropriately with these complaints when they were first raised and failed to offer support.

We are also aware that it appears WLD was not seen as a place to turn for people with concerns. As some of these allegations are historical we are having to look back through our records, to be certain that these issues weren’t raised to the SAO, but whatever the case that is a failure on the part of WLD, and for that I am personally very sorry.

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Stephen Tall

7 ‘rebel’ Lib Dem MPs back party policy as rest vote for secret courts

By Stephen Tall | Tue 5th March 2013 - 7:45 am

After the excitement of Friday’s Eastleigh by-election result, it’s back to earth with a bump for Lib Dems, after most of our MPs last night ignored the party conference’s overwhelming opposition to ‘secret courts’ and voted into law a measure that flies in the face of natural justice.

Here’s the BBC report:

MPs have voted to back plans to allow more civil courts to examine secret intelligence in private, despite calls for more safeguards. MPs from all sides had tried to press for so-called secret courts to be used only as a last resort. But the government successfully saw off the

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged and | 60 Comments
Paul Walter

Opinion: Dear David Ward – drop it, please

By Paul Walter | Mon 4th March 2013 - 4:10 pm

David WardOn his website, David Ward MP carries an article from his local Telegraph and Argus which begins:

David Ward has lashed out at his Liberal Democrat bosses – accusing them of wrongly claiming he has been ordered to attend “language classes”.
The Bradford East MP insisted no such punishment had been imposed, following his controversial comments about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Mr Ward also said it was his understanding that any disciplinary process was now over – despite the Lib Dem chief whip stating it was merely “adjourned”.
And he spoke

…

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Andy May

Opinion: Where do we go from Eastleigh?

By Andy May | Mon 4th March 2013 - 2:23 pm

Eastleigh railwayman statue - Some rights reserved by Mr. DuckeAfter a superb Eastleigh result, many Lib Dems will be rightly patting themselves on the back for what was a mammoth effort under the most difficult of circumstances. Happy memories came flooding back of the time we used to win by-elections. My first was volunteering in Dunfermline, winning a Labour heartland seat with a 16.2% swing.

After an unprecedented beating, the Tories will clearly take a long hard look at themselves – and hopefully draw all the wrong conclusions, as to why they are in such dire straits in the popularity stakes, by lurching to the right. However drawing all the wrong

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Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg’s son to go to state secondary school

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 4th March 2013 - 2:08 pm

It’s just been announced that Nick Clegg and Miriam Gonzalez Durantez have decided to send their son Antonio to a state Catholic secondary school. He’s been attending a Catholic Primary near his home.

Antonio will attend the London Oratory school. Nick and Miriam expressed the wish that now their decision has been made public, the privacy of their son will be respected.

Nick has previously said that he doesn’t believe in God, but his wife Miriam is a practising Catholic. He recently said:

I’ve never made my kids an issue in politics. My kids are more precious to me than anything else in

…

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Ruth Bright

Opinion: You’re not from round here are you?

By Ruth Bright | Mon 4th March 2013 - 12:53 pm

Some rights reserved by ztephenWas “local”, I wonder, the most overused word in the Eastleigh by-election? Of all the terms in the Lib Dem lexicon “local” is surely our favourite.

A few years ago when the party had one of its periodic embarrassments, it looked like there would have to be a by-election in Winchester. I had a week-old baby at the time and was barely out of hospital when the phone calls started – “Why don’t you stand?”, “Hampshire bred”, “You got a great result in the next

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Caron Lindsay

116 Liberal Democrats write to the Daily Mail opposing secret courts

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 4th March 2013 - 11:55 am

Today’s Daily Mail contains a letter from 116 Liberal Democrats asking MPs to vote down Part 2 of the Justice and Security Bill. The signatories include a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, an MEP, 5 members of the Federal Executive, 2 members of the Federal Policy Committee, 6 past and present members of the Liberal Democrat Voice editorial team and a number of parliamentary candidates. The letter says:

We are writing to urge all MPs to do the right thing by voting against Part II of the Justice and Security Bill when it has its Report stage in

…

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William Hobhouse

Opinion: Making MORE in Britain with the Regional Growth Fund

By William Hobhouse | Mon 4th March 2013 - 11:23 am

Nick Clegg and Vince Cable at a factory 2 - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsThe Spring Conference will debate the motion on creating a strong manufacturing sector in a strong economy. In Vince Cable, the coalition government has a powerful voice for manufacturing. Significant progress is being made in building a more resilient, diverse and balanced economy. Lib Dems are also becoming confident in charting an interventionist industrial strategy that avoids the twin failures of laissez faire and state support for ailing companies – the two positions characterised by historic Conservative and Labour thinking.

The Conference motion says that government funds made available through the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has led to the creation and/or safeguarding of over 550,000 jobs

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Lee Dargue

Opinion: Part of the solution is that we need more male feminists

By Lee Dargue | Mon 4th March 2013 - 10:23 am

Some rights reserved by Leo ReynoldsI’ve had enough.

I’ve had enough of women being seen by far too many people in society as second class citizens. I’ve had enough of working in the private sector and seeing women patronised for their ideas with a “oh that’s a good idea, love” attitude. I’ve had enough of women having to fight for the right to be heard and then being granted a voice, because it’s time to ‘let the woman talk’. I’ve had enough of a pervasive society, which for centuries has degraded women to being the pretty ones who are meant to serve men. I’ve had enough of women being pressurised

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Paul Walter

Last day of the photo fairy

By Paul Walter | Mon 4th March 2013 - 9:23 am

Some rights reserved by Paul Walter

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Stephen Tall

A warm welcome to our new Co-Editor, Caron Lindsay

By Stephen Tall | Mon 4th March 2013 - 8:15 am

I guess that, in the end, it was quite fitting that Mark Pack’s final day with LibDemVoice should have been last Thursday, the day of the Eastleigh by-election: it’s always good to go out on a high. For those who missed the news first time round, Mark has — after over six years as my Co-Editor in name/spirit — stepped down from the team to spend more time with his other 73 roles within the party (plus two day jobs).

caron lindsaySo the end of one era, but I hope also the dawn of a new one. I’m delighted to say that Caron Lindsay, already a member of the site’s editorial collective, has agreed to become this site’s new Co-editor alongside me. Few Lib Dems will need an introduction to Caron. She is the author of the superb Caron’s Musings blog, elected member of the party’s Federal Executive, treasurer of the Scottish Lib Dems, and a former case-worker for Willie Rennie. She is also one of the nicest, most grounded, full-of-common-sense Lib Dems I know. Thank you, Caron, for saying yes so willingly.

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Stephen Tall

Nick on ‘Call Clegg’: “Without doubt one week I will regret something I said”

By Stephen Tall | Mon 4th March 2013 - 7:30 am

An interesting couple of snippets from an interview with Nick Ferrari – Nick Clegg’s interlocutor on LBC’s weekly ‘Call Clegg’ phone-in – in this week’s Media Guardian. First, that all three party leaders were approached with the idea, and only Nick bit. And here’s Nick on why he agreed:

On his way out of the studio a few weeks ago, I asked Clegg the same question. “I enjoy it. There’s something spontaneous and authentic about it, which is good in a political world which is in many ways becoming increasingly pasteurised by too much spin and pre-preparation.”

Clegg said he received

…

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #315

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 3rd March 2013 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 315th 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 (24 February – 2 March, 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:

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “We can be in government and win if we work together”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 3rd March 2013 - 5:55 pm

No prizes for guessing what dominates Nick’s weekly letter: the Eastleigh by-election, which he learned the Lib Dems had held with a majority of almost 1,800 when director of campaigns Hilary Stephenson texted him. ‘We didn’t win in Eastleigh “in spite” of our record. We won because of our record,’ says Nick. Significantly, though, there is also a paragraph dedicated to the party’s response to the allegations against Chris Rennard: ‘It’s clear mistakes were made in the handling of allegations and that is something we have to put right.’ Here’s his letter in full…

libdem letter from nick clegg

What a victory! After three weeks of seriously intense campaigning, we’ve done it. Mike Thornton is the new MP for Eastleigh.

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Stephen Tall

Your essential Eastleigh weekend reader — my pick of the must-reads

By Stephen Tall | Sun 3rd March 2013 - 4:35 pm

Papers - Some rights reserved by NS MewsflashIt’s Sunday afternoon, so here are a dozen thought-provoking articles to stimulate your thinking as you unwind after the turmoil and excitement of the past 7 days. For a change, this week’s collection is devoted to just one topic: the Eastleigh by-election (to be honest, I’ve not had time to read about much else!)…

Eastleigh By-Election: Worst of All Worlds for the Tories – Tim Bale has few words of comfort for the Tories: ‘Having run the economy into the ground, risked their already …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes…..The Preamble, 25 years on

By Julian Huppert | Sun 3rd March 2013 - 3:30 pm

25 years ago, our party agreed its new constitution – and the preamble to that constitution, setting out our core values and vision.

Many of us will know some of it – ‘The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, … in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance, or conformity’.

This extract – the bit that appears on membership cards – is in my view truly poetic, and captures brilliantly what we are trying to do. We are concerned about people, and empowering them to do what they can and want to do. …

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Stephen Tall

Eastleigh shows why the Tories and Labour should now support PR in local elections

By Stephen Tall | Sun 3rd March 2013 - 2:15 pm

imageIf only, if only… Instead of holding out for a referendum on the Alternative Vote the Lib Dem negotiators had secured proportional representation for all local council elections instead.

Hindsight’s easy, I know. At the time of negotiating the Coalition Agreement, electoral reform at Westminster was the party’s deal-breaker. The Lib Dem vote had gone up by a million, our number of MPs down by five. The public were in favour, or so the polls said. It’s possible the party wouldn’t even have approved entering the Coalition if the Westminster voting system had been left untouched.

And yet, and yet… Proportional representation at a local council level would’ve been a far more transformational way of shifting the power dynamics in this country, of introducing genuine electoral competition into contests up and down the country. Eastleigh shows us how.

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Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 27 Comments
Bernard Aris

The View from the Dutch Social Liberals: Lib Dem Phoenix rises above Tory Ashes!

By Bernard Aris | Sun 3rd March 2013 - 12:00 pm

“Men of Harleigh, ye whose action
Put to rout the Tory faction
In their ranks spread wild distraction
Vanquished all their bands.
(…)
Shoulder press to shoulder
Onwards march and bolder
Triumphs more we yet shall see
Before we get much older.
“Peace, Reform and Liberation”
Be our triune aspiration
Till we win them for the nation
And our land be free!”

That was the hymn I hummed all day on Friday when I heard the news from Eastleigh!

We, the Dutch Social-Liberals from D66, know that (in Dutch coalition government politics) “Regeren is halveren”: every time D66 joins a government coalition, we risk getting halved (or worse) in our proportional electoral system …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Willie Rennie and John Prescott crack a joke on Twitter…

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 3rd March 2013 - 10:47 am

The last two big Liberal Democrat by-election winners have not let their place in Liberal Democrat legend go to their heads. Mike Thornton MP (I am not going to get tired writing that in a hurry) was interviewed on BBC News this morning while, as he told us, he was heading to buy a new head for his shaver.

Willie Rennie, who pulled off a spectacular victory in 2006 and has gone on to become leader of the Scottish Party was not too grand to make the tea for us the other night as we were phone banking for Eastleigh.

Willie …

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #314

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 2nd March 2013 - 9:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 314th 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 (17 -23 February 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:

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Jo Shaw

A response to Julian Huppert’s analysis on the Justice and Security Bill

By Jo Shaw | Sat 2nd March 2013 - 7:00 pm

A response to Julian Huppert’s analysis of the Justice and Security Bill

We learned on Wednesday this week that the Justice and Security Bill is being rushed into Report Stage in the Commons. The government has now published its latest proposed amendments to the Justice and Security Bill. Astonishingly I have been told that Conservatives are saying the Bill has been moved forward to conclude in the Commons on 7th March to avoid a further motion at our Spring Conference.

Julian Huppert and Mike Crockart worked very hard during the Committee stage of the debate, and voted (supported by Labour) to defeat secret …

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Giles Goodall

Opinion: Dead parrot bites back – again

By Giles Goodall | Sat 2nd March 2013 - 5:20 pm

Eastleigh HQ leafletsAt the Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth in 1990, Margaret Thatcher famously used Monty Python’s ‘dead parrot’ sketch to mock the Liberal Democrats’ newly-designed bird of liberty. After a series of name changes and a derisory 6% of the vote at the European elections in 1989, the Lib Dems had been virtually written off. But the Eastbourne by-election gave the party the opportunity it needed to defy its media critics and get back into the game. This week, the dead parrot bit back – again.

Mike Thornton’s stunning …

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Tim Gordon

Lord Rennard allegations: the processes now in place

By Tim Gordon | Sat 2nd March 2013 - 3:25 pm

I want to keep you informed on where we stand in the various processes that have started following the allegations against Lord Rennard.

There are now three processes in place:

  • Inquiries by the Metropolitan Police to ascertain whether criminal activity might have taken place. This is still at an early stage and there is no set time limit on when they must decide whether or not a criminal investigation should take place.
  • An internal investigation by the Party, headed by Alistair Webster QC, to establish whether disciplinary action under the Party’s rules is due. This whole process must take no

…

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 4 Comments
Joe Otten

Saturday Forum: The bread-and-butter issue

By Joe Otten | Sat 2nd March 2013 - 1:53 pm

One line in David Cameron’s response to his party’s third place in the Eastleigh by-election caught my eye:

I would like us to do far more to focus on the bread-and-butter issue of cost of living. I think living standards are declining. We talk about only a protest vote. One of the reasons why people feel inclined to protest is because they are hurting in their pocket.

Yes, dead right. If you can keep prices down relative to wages, then people are better off. Spikes in food or energy prices can force some very tough decisions in the household budget.

I hope this …

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Tom Brake

Join Facebook in Brighton for a look at the future of social-media campaigning

By Tom Brake | Sat 2nd March 2013 - 11:07 am

In 2010, Hillary Clinton described social media as a new nervous system for our planet.

Even in the few short years since then, social media has gone from strength to strength. In 2013 every corporation has, or at the very least needs, a social media strategy. And in truth, political parties and our individual Members of Parliament no different.

That’s why I do not have time for parliamentarians who tell me that they have no interest in social media. For me as an MP, I have a duty to be wherever my constituents are and engage with them in whatever medium they …

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Caron Lindsay

Scott ensures scolding for SNP Government

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 1st March 2013 - 5:52 pm

The BBC has the story of how the  SNP Government received a ticking off from the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick yesterday. They’ve developed a bit of an unfortunate habit of leaking reports and the like to the press before sending them to Parliament, in the style of the excesses of the Labour Westminster government. This infuriated Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland, Tavish Scott, not known for his patience in dealing with the Government’s shortcomings at the best of times.

He raised a Point of Order in the Parliament yesterday, asking the Presiding Officer to intervene “in defence of …

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