Stephen Tall

“Where we work, we win” – will that Lib Dem maxim survive the 2015 test?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 5th January 2013 - 9:50 am

Chris RennardDon’t splutter on your Saturday morning cornflakes, but the Guardian has today published two intelligent articles on the Lib Dems and the strategy which the party is hoping will see us through to the other side of the 2015 election intact.

First, there’s Patrick Wintour‘s analysis — Liberal Democrats bank on ground war to hold on to seats — which uses as its springboard an analysis by Lord (Chris) Rennard, the party’s former chief executive and elections guru:

insists it should not be ground down by low national polls. “The

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Mark Valladares

Next week in the Lords: 8-11 January

By Mark Valladares | Fri 4th January 2013 - 5:51 pm

Whilst rumours of a list of new Peers swirls around the Palace of Westminster, the Lords returns to work on Tuesday, and a somewhat lop-sided week continues through to Friday in order to fit in the postponed debate on Leveson.
 
Never let it be said though that the Lords needs a gentle warm-up before asking the difficult questions. Tuesday sees oral questions on airport capacity in London, housebuilding in South East England and the effect of the ‘fiscal cliff’ solution on the UK economy, before the Growth and Infrastructure …

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged , , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

The LDV Friday Five: 4 January 2013

By The Voice | Fri 4th January 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. NEW POLL: Who is your Liberal Voice of the Year? (25 comments) by Stephen Tall
  2. So you think Ukip are the new third party? Let’s have a look at the data… (75 comments) by Stephen Tall
  3. Which Lib Dem minister had the worst year? Here’s what party members think… (9 comments) by Stephen Tall
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Pawel Swidlicki

Independent View: how should Lib Dems respond to Cameron’s Europe speech?

By Pawel Swidlicki | Fri 4th January 2013 - 3:21 pm

cameron-europeThe Westminster village might still be in post-holiday slumber mode, but a significant political event is due to take place only in a couple of weeks – David Cameron’s long awaited, ‘tantric’ speech on Europe. While the exact details remain unclear, Cameron could well argue that the UK’s terms of EU membership require revision, and that this should include the repatriation of some powers, after which the new package will be put to a referendum. So how should the Liberal Democrats respond?

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Posted in Europe / International, News and The Independent View | Tagged , and | 50 Comments
Mark Valladares

Europe – what to look out for in 2013…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 4th January 2013 - 1:51 pm

EU Parliament Brussels - Some rights reserved by PoetografieWhilst most of the attention will be on whether or not the Euro can survive, or whether another country will need to be bailed out, there will be much else besides going on. So, for your delectation and delight, here are some of the highlights;

The first half of 2013 will see the Irish hold the rotating Presidency and, at the end of their watch, the Europe of 27 will become the Europe of 28, as Croatia become members of the European Union on 1 July, just as the Lithuanians take over the

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , and | 7 Comments
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NewsHound

LibLink: Paul Burstow, Lynne Featherstone and Paul Tyler

By NewsHound | Fri 4th January 2013 - 12:21 pm

Elsewhere, whilst some of us adjust back into the normal routine after the New Year, some of our tribunes are already up and running.

Paul Burstow hit the headlines yesterday with his call for means-testing of the winter fuel allowance, with the intention of saving £1.5 billion, to be redirected towards paying for the proposed social care changed recommended by the Dilnot Commission. Writing in the Guardian;

Some argue this is a debate we need to have at or even after the next general election. But by that time it will be too late. The research in my report reveals that

…

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Mark Valladares

2012 in the European Parliament – the video

By Mark Valladares | Fri 4th January 2013 - 10:51 am

Well, given that you (and I) paid for this, it only seems fair that it gets a wider audience. It is in French, but with English subtitles, even where the person on screen is speaking English. Go figure…

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged | 1 Comment
Tom Brake

Marginal gains

By Tom Brake | Fri 4th January 2013 - 9:21 am

Silver bullet - some rights reserved by eschipulToo often people come into political campaigning searching for a silver bullet which will revolutionise their candidacy and transform the electorate into ardent fans overnight. It’s the most common mistake of first time candidates. Those of us who have already spent decades stuffing letterboxes know that a quick fix doesn’t exist.

That isn’t to say there aren’t campaign game-changers – the advent of television or how some candidates have harnessed the internet, but in truth they are few and far between. Instead candidates and campaigns

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Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day… 4 January 2013

By Mark Valladares | Fri 4th January 2013 - 7:52 am

Well, I don’t know about you, but it seems as though it has been ages since we were last together, and much turkey has been eaten since then, I guess. Admittedly, not by me, as you’d be amazed at how difficult getting a turkey is when you’re a sea otter.

However, on with the medley, I say… so now that we’ve found love, what are we going to do?…

As usual on a Friday, we’ve got a fair bit about Europe, with a video looking back over last year in the European Parliament, a preview of coming events there in 2013, and …

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Stephen Tall

68% of Lib Dem members back backbench rebellion over energy decarbonisation target

By Stephen Tall | Thu 3rd January 2013 - 6:54 pm

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 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

68% back decarbonisation amendment rebellion

LDV asked: The Government’s Energy Bill was published in November. In exchange for securing significant investment in the renewable sector up to 2020, Ed Davey dropped a commitment to include a 2030 decarbonisation target opposed by George Osborne. Labour are likely to table an amendment to the Energy Bill to create a target to decarbonise the power …

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Mark Pack

Tim Gordon scorecard, 1 year on

By Mark Pack | Thu 3rd January 2013 - 9:50 am

Tim GordonLast January I wrote an open letter to the party’s then new Chief Executive Tim Gordon, setting out four priorities. One year on, how are things looking?

Here’s what I wrote (with introductory pleasantries skipped), with each of the four points followed by an update and a score. Read on to see how Tim has been doing…

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Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron

By Stephen Tall | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 6:35 pm

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 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Cameron ends the year a nose ahead of Miliband among Lib Dems

We’ve been asking this question for 15 months, and over the past year there has been quite a reversal in fortunes for the two party leaders, as this graph illustrates:

cam mili member ratings - dec 2012

Here’s the detail from this month’s survey…

Do you think David Cameron is doing well or badly as Prime Minister?

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Mary Reid

LibLink: From Baftas to building standards – why Don Foster isn’t looking back

By Mary Reid | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 5:00 pm

don fosterDon Foster begins his article in the Telegraph thus:

Having spent the first two years of the coalition government as a Lib Dem spokesman on culture, media and sport I knew what a gruelling schedule was, well before becoming Communities Minister.

Fitting in film premières, football and rugby matches, plays, and the BAFTAs was tough but somebody had to do it as the old joke goes. And I loved it. And now as the minister with responsibility for housing what have I swapped this for? Building regulations conferences.

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Jonathan Fryer

Opinion: Changing Gear in London

By Jonathan Fryer | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 3:55 pm

fireworksThe fireworks over the Thames that signalled the New Year in London symbolically coincided with a handover of the chairmanship of London Liberal Democrats, as I ended my three years at the helm and Mike Tuffrey – until last May a leading Member of the London Assembly – took over.

My time in office was quite a roller-coaster, from the inflated national euphoria of Cleggmania just before the 2010 general election – when in the event we managed to hold on to seven parliamentary seats, but alas lost Richmond Park – to the frankly dire city-wide vote we received in the London Mayoral and GLA elections last May. At least we managed to return Caroline Pidgeon (rightly recognised in the New Year honours) and Stephen Knight to the Assembly.

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The Voice

LibLink… Nick Clegg: Labour need to tell us what they would cut

By The Voice | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 2:41 pm

Nick Clegg has issued a challenge to Labour in today’s Times. Rather than, he says, oppose every single cut the Coalition has made, Labour should be saying what they would cut to pay for their policy priorities. If Labour want benefits to rise at the rate of inflation, then they need to spell out exactly how they would pay for it.

Firstly, he talks about what the Coalition has achieved for economic growth, and how it has been pragmatic on cutting the deficit, changing its plans as the global economic circumstances changed:

Here in the UK we have now paid off around

…

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Nick T

2013 can be the year Lib Dems prove the cynics wrong, but we have to get smart

By Nick T | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 12:43 pm

Nick Clegg after his conference speechOne of the most interesting results in Lib Dem Voice’s most recent poll of party members was the answer to the following question: Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives?

After two-and-a-half years of difficult negotiations with our Conservative partners, deep spending cuts, unpopular tax rises, hundreds of council seats lost and a national poll rating now consistently in the single figures, still only 19% of Lib Dem

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 36 Comments
Rob Parsons

Opinion: 2013’s banana skin?

By Rob Parsons | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 10:47 am

Banana skin - Some rights reserved by purplemattfishThe LibDem Voice end of year survey gives us, as usual, much food for thought.

Net approval of the coalition’s record is down to 14% from 41% a year before. “Three big hits seem to have been responsible: first, the row over the NHS Bill; secondly, the omnishambolic March budget; and thirdly, the collapse of Lords reform”.

What issues might derail us this year? One is slowly poisoning our society, and with it the claims of the Liberal Democrats to be a party of fairness.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 37 Comments
Mark Pack

Sometimes to win an argument, you need to adopt your opponent’s point of view

By Mark Pack | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 8:50 am

Wedding bouquetFraming, that is the way in which a choice is presented, is often key to winning political (and indeed non-political) debates. Consider the following two statements, for example:

It’s dreadful that the government is letting private companies access more medical data about people.

It’s great that the government is letting medical researchers access more medical data about diseases.

They are both ways you could describe the current government’s actual policy. Whether the issue is framed as being about private companies or medical researchers and whether it is about personal data or information about diseases …

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Posted in Campaign Corner and LDVUSA | Tagged | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

So you think Ukip are the new third party? Let’s have a look at the data…

By Stephen Tall | Tue 1st January 2013 - 5:45 pm

Food for thought for John Rentoul (who calls Ukip ‘The new third party’ here), courtesy of PoliticalBetting’s Mike Smithson:

(Hat-tip: Vote Clegg, Get Clegg Facebook page.)

Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 101 Comments
Stephen Tall

NEW POLL: Who is your Liberal Voice of the Year?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 1st January 2013 - 2:15 pm

liberal-voiceToday’s the day we launch our search for the Liberal Voice of the Year to find the individual or group which has had the biggest impact on liberalism in the past 12 months. This is the sixth annual award, and as is our tradition, we’re looking beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems to find the greatest liberal who’s not a member of our party.

The list of 10 nominees appears below. These were sought from Lib Dem members via our most recent survey; 222 nominations were submitted, and each of those short-listed needed to clear a threshold of five separate mentions.

To vote, please use the poll below to rank the nominees in order of preference.

This year’s shortlist for Liberal Voice of the Year is as follows

(in alphabetical first-name order):

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Posted in Polls | Tagged and | 30 Comments
Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Christine Jardine… Stop pressuring our children to be perfect

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 1st January 2013 - 11:15 am

Children in Quito, South America - Some rights reserved by epSos.deIt’s New Year and every single magazine aimed at women and girls will inevitably be full of the latest crash diet. Whether it’s claiming you’ll lose a stone in seven days, or banning carbs or suggesting you base your diet on cabbage soup or eggs, we are told that we should get rid of the excesses of the Festive Season as soon as possible with often drastic measures.

Jo Swinson recently wrote an open letter to magazine

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Eric Avebury

Opinion: Apostasy and Saudi Arabia

By Eric Avebury | Tue 1st January 2013 - 9:15 am

Jeddah Corniche - Some rights reserved by CharlesFredRaif Badawi, a Saudi Arabian liberal writer, was arrested on June 17 in Jeddah and charged with ‘insulting Islam through electronic channels’ and ‘going beyond the realm of obedience’. His ‘crime’ at that point appeared to be setting up an online forum, Free Saudi Liberals, and attending a meeting in Cairo on May 7 of the Arab Alliance for Freedom and Democracy, but the words that constitute the offence were not specified.

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Caron Lindsay

A guid New Year tae ane and aw…

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 1st January 2013 - 12:00 am

Hogmanay celebrations - Some rights reserved by The Queen's HallSee what happens when you give the Scot on the team the key to Lib Dem Voice Towers on Hogmanay…

On behalf of all of us here, I wish all our readers, commenters and  contributors all the very best for 2013.

I’d also like to say a huge thank you to the rest of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. They are a great bunch of people to work with and are an illuminating and understanding  source of help,

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The Voice

The 7 most-read posts of 2012

By The Voice | Mon 31st December 2012 - 5:55 pm

As 2012 draws to a close, here are the 7 most-read posts published on Lib Dem Voice this year. Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of readers who’ve joined us in the last 12 months; we look forward to seeing you again next year.

libdemvoice happy 2013 graphic

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Willie Rennie

Willie Rennie MSP’s New Year Message: 3 vital issues we must tackle in 2013

By Willie Rennie | Mon 31st December 2012 - 3:59 pm

Saltire - St Andrews Flag - Scotland - Some rights reserved by byronv2After the merriment of Christmas, New Year is a time to look forward. A time to set new goals and ambitions. A time to confront those things that we have put off in previous years.

For most, this will mean eating less and exercising more but as a nation we are confronted with far greater challenges than losing a few pounds.

The welfare state was constructed and sustained with the goal of eradicating what Beveridge called “the five giant evils of society” – squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease.

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David Allen

Opinion: Against liberalism

By David Allen | Mon 31st December 2012 - 2:23 pm

Statue of David Lloyd George - Some rights reserved by GabludlowI am a liberal. I believe in standing up for people and communities against over-powerful vested interests – in business, the State, the media, or the unions. However, I also believe that liberalism alone is an inadequate political philosophy, and an insufficient foundation for this Party.

The problem centres on our determination to play down the significance of Left and Right. We sneer that the concepts are simplistic. We seek to defuse or ignore left-right conflict. The inconvenient truth we deny is that Left and Right do matter, often enough to split our party.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 62 Comments
George Potter

Opinion: We’ve got our strategy the wrong way round

By George Potter | Mon 31st December 2012 - 12:53 pm

Liberal Democrat badge - Some rights reserved by Paul Walter, Newbury, UKLast Friday Lib Dem HQ sent out an email to parliamentarians, PPCs, council group leaders and other office holders about our party’s new message script. The full email, if anyone is interested, can be found herehere, courtesy of the Liberator.

Aside from the immensely catchy wordy message of “the Lib Dems are working to build a stronger economy in a fairer society, enabling every person to get on in life” (complete with an incredible 16 sub messages), a key point was this:

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 41 Comments
Richard Clare

Opinion: Proposed conference motion on extradition to the US

By Richard Clare | Mon 31st December 2012 - 11:23 am

USA Flag - Some rights reserved by freefotoukIt’s that time of year when Federal Conference Reps are pestered for signatures to help get motions selected for Spring Conference and this is no exception.

Our motion concerns US-UK extradition terms and follows the conclusions of Sir Menzies Campbell’s report on the treaty recommending the introduction of the ‘forum bar’ to allow judges a greater role in deciding on extradition, and a minor amendment in the actual treaty to afford those arrested in the UK the same legal

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 6 Comments
Geoff Crocker

Opinion: Should the Queen speak out on the Belfast flag issue?

By Geoff Crocker | Mon 31st December 2012 - 9:54 am

Queen Elizabeth IIThe pictures of the Queen joining the Cabinet meeting were charming. They conveyed a reassuring image of a stable democracy with a historic back-stop. Almost always we want the democratic element to prevail, but there are perhaps very limited issues and occasions when the monarchy can make a difference. The Queen inviting Harold Macmillan to form a government rather than Rab Butler in 1957 is the occasion often quoted. It did actually make a political difference, since Harold Wilson was later reported as having feared that Rab Butler may well have won the 1964 election.

Northern Ireland may be another occasion when the monarchy could make a

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

Who’s up, who’s down? How party members rate the performances of leading Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Mon 31st December 2012 - 8:10 am

lib dem conf votingLib 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. Over 500 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

LDV asked: How would you rate the performances of the following leading Liberal Democrats and government ministers?

Full results are published below, but here’s three key lists for those who want to cut to the chase… (with comparison to November 2012 ratings in brackets)

Top 5 Lib Dem performers in the Government:

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 1 Comment
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