LDV was given an EXCLUSIVE tour of the Brighton confence centre this morning, as final preparations were being….er….finalised.
Here, we can EXCLUSIVELY reveal evidence of secret last minute behind the scenes preparations to wire the Gents loo (of the East Bar at the conference centre) for not only sound, but vision also
Lib Dem MP Paul Burstow, until the reshuffle the Lib Dem health minister, has written an article in today’s Telegraph with a plea for the Coalition to ‘be bold and take the decisions needed to fix our broken social care system’. Here are a couple of excerpts, first looking at why Paul fears the reforms he pushed in government might not go anywhere:
The Coalition understood the “urgent need for reform”, and has been wrestling with these issues since May 2010. In July the White Paper I drafted was published. It tackles much that is wrong with care. Widely welcomed, it
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A majestic soaring eagle. The lightning flash of a kingfisher. Feeding the ducks.
For most people, wildlife ignites their first sparks of interest in environmental issues, yet it is currently conspicuously absent from the political discourse. We hear a lot about sustainability and climate change, but if this Government is to realise its ambitions to be “the Greenest Government ever” it has to tackle biodiversity conservation as well.
We desperately need action: the UK has missed its commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2010; 42% of our most important habitats and …
You’ve gotta love ConservativeHome. No, really. This morning Tim Montgomerie reports a deliciously mischief-making poll from YouGov, commissioned by the Lord Ashcroft-backed site, comparing the standing of Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats in general.
It won’t surprise anyone to learn that Vince Cable performs better than Nick Clegg in all the measures of leadership qualities asked about. (You can see the results in the graph at the foot of this piece.) This leads Tim to conclude: ‘If the Liberal Democrats are looking for a leader who can increase their electoral competitiveness these are powerful numbers.’
Call me …
So writes Toby James:
There has recently been a rise in concerns about the quality of elections in the UK and electoral administrators have commonly been blamed for making administrative errors or not planning properly for elections.
The causes of legal fragmentation and complexity are partly devolution. This has created many overlapping frameworks of electoral law, more frequent elections and more combined elections and the lack of consolidation. But it is also that electoral law needs to be consolidated periodically and this has not been done since the 1980s.
Read his piece in full to find out what is being done about that.
From The Independent:
Nick Clegg will veto George Osborne’s demands for a two-year freeze in most state benefits from next April and a further £10bn of welfare cuts…
The Deputy Prime Minister revealed he will block the Treasury’s demand for more cuts before the 2015 election to compensate for lower-than-expected growth. “Not a penny more, not a penny less,” he declared.
The message is reinforced Danny Alexander in The Guardian:
As at 9pm tonight, Nick Clegg’s debut single “Nick Clegg says I’m sorry (the Autotune remix)” has gone live on iTunes. It will go live on Amazon and other outlets in the next 24 hours. The Poke has the full story of their success with this brilliant adaptation of the DPM’s apology by Alex Ross.
You can download the single at iTunes here.
All proceeds from the sale of the single will go the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, at the request of Nick Clegg, via Twitter.
It’s time to cast your votes (by STV) in the category for Best non-Lib Dem politics blog in the Lib Dem Voice Blog of the Year Awards 2012.
Simply use the app below and vote by 5:30 tomorrow.
The results will be announced at the BOTYs ceremony at Conference tomorrow night (10pm, Pavilion Room at the Grand Hotel, Brighton) and will appear online shortly afterwards. Follow the ceremony on Twitter using the hashtag #LDBOTY.
Poll closed, results tonight
Poll for LibDemVoice Blog of the Year Awards brought to you
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It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:
While Labour and the Tories debate how to reinvigorate their annual party conference programme, the Liberal Democrats democratic policymaking structure means that debates at their conference remain engaging and relevant. And with the party now in Government, the journey from the Conference floor to the statute book is rather more direct than has previously been the case.
This means that over the next few weeks, the Lib Dem gathering in Brighton is the most likely place for progressive yet plausible policy ideas to get a hearing. The Social Liberal Forum’s motion 106 on employee ownership, to be debated on Monday 24th September from 09:05-11:05, is a particularly good example. The motion calls for a number of radical measures relating to the stewardship of large companies (>250 employees) including:
• The right for employees of listed companies to request 5% of company shares
• A role for employee representatives in major corporate decisions, including conditions of employment; Director’s pay; and the strategic direction of the company
• The right for companies to implement German-style two-tier board structures, with a supervisory board (including a shareholder’s representative) and a management board (including a worker’s representative).
In September 2010, Lib Dem Voice ran a revealing poll of its members to gauge opinion on Trident. With results strikingly similar to YouGov polls of Lib Dem members nationally, it found that 57% were opposed to replacing Trident and nuclear weapons altogether, while 90% were opposed to replacing Trident with a ‘like-for-like’ system.
It was commendable that the Liberal Democrats carried this sentiment into their 2010 election manifesto: standing apart from the Conservative and Labour consensus of ploughing £100bn into nuclear weapons amidst the worst economic crisis of recent times.
Opponents of Trident outside the party were also inspired by …
As the coalition approaches the halfway point of the Parliament, Liberal Democrats are in search of policies that demonstrate their distinctive contribution to government – especially on the crucial issue of growth. Pre-conference briefing suggests that leading party figures see affordable house building as a leading option. They are right to do so. It would boost demand, create jobs, and meet a pressing social need. The Tories are focused on reforming the planning system, but evidence suggests this is a tough political sell. Efforts to finance house building through clever Treasury wheezes that try to circumvent borrowing constraints have …
Compass chair Neal Lawson has a must-read letter to the Lib Dems in this week’s New Statesman. In it, he argues that the centre left bungled a governmental opportunity in 2010 due to unpreparedness. He encourages us to start the ground work now for a potential centre left progressive coalition in 2015, rather than leaving it to the likes of David Laws and Michael Gove to “stitch it up again”.
That’s why we have to build relationships now – through policy, ideas debates and campaigns. We
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Those of you who have worked your way through the conference agenda and Conference Extra will by now have reached the emergency motions (page 28, since you ask) and will notice that there are four in the ballot: banks are awful, Julian Assange is awful, teacher qualifications are under threat and ‘what have you done with our planning system?’
I paraphrase unfairly, of course. All tastes are clearly catered for and you can make your own mind up about which to vote for if you are at conference.
The planning one (which I have something to do with) is a mild rebuke to government and unusual because ALDC, its sponsor, rarely uses its rights to propose motions. Its mild tone perhaps masks the considerable anger at grass roots level: on 6 September the Government made various announcements about relaxing planning rules, claiming that these will help kickstart the economy. In summary these are
With the November elections for Police and Crime Commissioners rapidly approaching, candidates across the country are starting to outline how they intend to improve public safety in the areas they want to represent. Successful candidates will have to set out a five year police and crime plan to determine local policing priorities.
One issue I think is vital for candidates to address is how to engage properly with young people. Back in 2006, when I was our Shadow Minister for Youth Affairs, young people often spoke to me about their lack of confidence in the police. Today, I still have the …
This year, the Liberal Democrat autumn conference has one day per theme, covering jobs, education, environment and tax.
Monday is jobs, with policy motions on creating jobs and policy papers on both sustainable prosperity and also on mutuals, employee ownership and workplace democracy. The first of these (F23) may generate some lively debate around an amendment that would delete the reference to keeping to the government’s “fiscal mandate”.
Last year was the first time I’d been to a Federal Conference in 13 years. I thoroughly enjoyed every exhausting moment. Conference is the best fun you will ever have, but if you’re new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I spent the first day wandering round like a child in a toy shop.
So, with that in mind, I thought I’d throw together a fairly random list of tips and hints for getting the best out of the annual cornucopia of Liberal Democracy.
The Conference day starts with breakfast fringes …
From a Party news release:
Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, Martin Horwood has been appointed as the Chair of the Liberal Democrat 2013 Local Election Campaign.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg said:
I am delighted that Martin will be heading our 2013 local election campaign.
With Martin’s wealth of local government and campaigning experience, I know he will do an excellent job.
I look forward to working with him to deliver the results our hard-working councillors and activists deserve.
Commenting further, Martin Horwood said:
I’m honoured and a little daunted to be asked to take on this role. It’s no secret
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As Benjamin Franklin wrote back in the eighteenth century, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. So while tax policy may not set hearts racing, anything that takes money from people’s pockets will provoke a strong response.
Already, in government, we’ve had major successes. Our flagship tax policy of a £10,000 tax-free allowance is being implemented, which will provide millions of taxpayers with an tax cut of £705 per annum by the end of this Parliament; we’ve raised capital gains tax for higher rate taxpayers; and we are clawing back £7bn worth …
As the head of an independent economic research institute, it’s not my job to attend the Liberal Democrat conference (or indeed that of any other party). But, following up this FT article, I’d like to share some thoughts on this line from a motion you will be debating at conference:
Conference recognises that the difficult decisions taken by the Coalition Government have ensured the credibility of the UK government’s position in the financial markets allowing the UK to borrow at record low rates.
and on an amendment to the motion which you’ll also debate:
Conference also notes that it would be a mistake
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So asks the new tax campaign website launched by the Liberal Democrats today:
We believe that everyone should pay their fair share of tax. That means the people who have the most paying more than those who have less. To help make that happen, we want to give a tax cut to every working family in the country by raising the amount you can earn before paying income tax, initially to £10,000 a year.
This would give every working person in the country a tax cut of over £500.
You can sign up to back the campaign or to find out more …
A fairer, more sustainable economy – that’s what Lib Dem conference will be about
I’d like propose a new hashtag – #IAgreeWithSimon. Hughes, that is, specifically I agree with this:
The government’s record to date is not encouraging, and with Liberal Democrats gathering in Brighton on Saturday to debate how the to shape the nation’s political economy, conference fringe will once again be where it’s really at.
This year, the Liberal Democrat autumn conference has one day per theme, covering jobs, education, environment and tax.
Saturday is education day, with David Laws giving a keynote speech. For many party members he is more respected than trusted; recognised for his skills yet leaving people uneasy over quite what a David Laws manifesto would look like or whether it was right to bring him back into government this year. Saturday is his big chance to win over members.
If he chooses to take it, that is – as there …
The Voice’s Mark Pack has taken to the (web)pages of The Spectator to dispute the case put by Home Office Minister James Brokenshire about the Draft Communications Data Bill:
What do you do if a regulator has failed? Leave them unreformed and instead give them greater powers? That is the line Home Office Minister James Brokenshire is arguing.
The regulator in question is the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the powers relate to online monitoring. For the Draft Communications Data Bill would not only give the government far more scope to monitor what we do online, but Brokenshire also argues we should be
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The pupil premium — additional cash targeted at the most disadvantaged children — is the policy of which Nick Clegg is proudest and with which he is most closely associated. The policy itself dates back to Julian le Grand in the 1980s (when it was touted as a progressive version of school vouchers) but it was Nick who put it firmly in the political mainstream as long ago as 2002 in a pamphlet he co-wrote based on experiences of it working within continental Europe.
Though the Tories nominally signed-up to the concept of a pupil premium in their 2010 …
When Lynne Featherstone first agreed to do an online webinar for party members, she was Equalities Minister. Then the reshuffle happened and now she is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of International Development. Last night she took questions for three quarters of an hour on both roles in an informative and lively session.
Lynne spoke with great passion about her work as Equalities Minister. She said we now had the best equalities law in the world. Her last act, at about 4:30pm on the afternoon of the reshuffle was to sign off …
Nick Clegg has just emailed Liberal Democrat party members:
I’ve been travelling the country talking to party members over the summer. I’ve heard a lot of you say you think it’s important for the party and me personally to address, head on, the many concerns raised about the decisions I took in recent years about higher education funding and tuition fees.
I agree. Where we get it wrong we must hold our hands up, but when we get it right, we can hold our heads up too.
That is why I’ve made this video which will be our next Party Political Broadcast and which we are sharing with the media this evening:
The new LDV members’ survey is now live. So if you are one of the c.1,300 registered members of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum — and any paid-up party member is welcome to join — then you now have the opportunity to make your views known.
Questions we’re asking this month include:
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Conference or What? (Roderick Lynch)
Where next on the Triple Lock? (Shaun Ennis)
I watched Ed Davey’s speech. Here’s why it matters (Kamran Hussain)
Citizens abroad and party strategy (Tom McAdam)
How to capture the Tonbridge Tories (Cody Butler)
Alan Garner: The Edge of The Ceiling
My days in the Lib Dem News broom cupboard with Jock Gallagher
Children and their parents need holidays
The Joy of Six 1581
Jeremy Clarkson left red-faced over 'stolen' sheep that were never even missing
Lib Dems come from third to win by-election in Katie Lam's constituency
Brexit was a 'unilateral declaration of political impotence'
Roland 
Paul R 
Michael BG 
Suzanne Fletcher 
Robyn Peel 
