Liberal Democrat Voice

Daily Mirror: ‘Time for Plan V’ (aka ‘Vince for Chancellor’)

By Stephen Tall | Thu 26th July 2012 - 7:50 am

The front page of this morning’s Mirror newspaper may bring a smile to the face even of that most sober of politicians, Vince Cable:

Posted in News | Tagged george osborne, matthew norman, steve richards and vince cable | 8 Comments

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Paul Tyler writes: A victory for democracy?

By Paul Tyler | Wed 25th July 2012 - 6:58 pm

Doubtless some peers now believe that they can go off for the long summer recess, secure in the knowledge that the status quo in the House of Lords is preserved. The thought of a shake-up is so uncomfortable for some inhabitants that they have resorted to calling the Coalition’s House of Lords Reform Bill ‘rushed’, despite its genesis in over a decade of cross-party discussion, and a hundred years of gestation. Yet after subjecting the legislation to a painstaking Joint Committee, which met thirty times to take evidence from almost everyone who has ever thought about the subject, my bets …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged coalition agreement, house of lords and lords reform | 3 Comments

Nick Clegg: Olympics belong to everyone

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 25th July 2012 - 4:56 pm

As some members of the Liberal Democrat Voice editorial team prepare to go a bit daft over the Olympics, watch sports most of us have never heard of and cheer on our favourite athletes, we were pleased to see that Nick Clegg went to welcome Team GB to their new quarters in the Olympic Village.

He told them that the people of Britain wouldn’t just be watching them, they’d be right there with them, backing them all the way:

The nation is gripped by Olympic fever in a way it never, ever has been. Because, when you host the Games, you

…

Posted in News | Tagged london 2012, nick clegg, olympics and team gb | 3 Comments

Lib Dem John Sharkey publishes bill to pardon Alan Turing

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 25th July 2012 - 3:53 pm

MPs may have gone back to their constituencies for the Summer, but the House of Lords is still sitting. Liberal Democrat Peer John Sharkey has today introduced a Private Members’ Bill which, if passed, would grant a pardon to brilliant mathematician Alan Turing. During the Second World War, Turing’s work on cracking the Enigma Code saved lives and shortened the conflict.

Posted in News | 8 Comments

Congratulations to Sir Malcolm Bruce!

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 25th July 2012 - 2:35 pm

One of the highlights for me of the Queen’s Birthday Honours last month, as I wrote at the time, was the news that Malcolm Bruce, Liberal Democrat MP for Gordon since 1983, had been given a knighthood. This comes in his 30th year in Parliament and the 50th anniversary of him joining the Liberal Party.

Sir Malcolm is a former leader of the Scottish party and in that role made a searingly passionate speech to the 1992 Federal Spring Conference in Glasgow. Remembering it even twenty years on gives me goosebumps. Malcolm spoke for all of Scotland when he described …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged knighthoods, malcolm bruce and nick clegg | 3 Comments

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As economy shrinks again, Oakeshott calls for Osborne to be moved to make way for “our A team at the treasury”

By Stephen Tall | Wed 25th July 2012 - 1:35 pm

Here’s how The Guardian reports the call by Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott for George Osborne to be moved from Number 11 in the wake of today’s fresh dire news on the economy:

A senior Liberal Democrat peer has called on George Osborne to be sacked as the chancellor continued to insist the government was on the right economic path, despite “disappointing” official

Posted in News | Tagged economy, gdp, matthew oakeshott, nicholas watt and vince cable | 24 Comments

What happens people work together – equal marriage to become reality in Scotland

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 25th July 2012 - 12:59 pm

The Scottish Government announced this morning that it would legislate for full equal marriage in Scotland, giving same sex couples the right to marry and allowing those religious organisations who wish to conduct these marriage ceremonies to do so. No celebrant or religious organisation will be compelled to carry out marriage ceremonies for same sex couples. This is everything that campaigners for equal marriage have been asking for and is the culmination of a vibrant 4 year campaign which has won hearts and minds across Scotland.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made it clear that cross party support for equal marriage …

Posted in News | Tagged equal marriage, lynne featherstone, nick clegg, Scotland and willie rennie | 8 Comments

Edward Davey MP writes: The greenest government ever – at an affordable price

By Ed Davey | Wed 25th July 2012 - 11:58 am

The announcement I made today of the levels of support for renewable generation for the period 2013-17 will unlock generation and network capital investment worth £20-25 billion between 2013 and 2017 This is the kind of sustainable long run growth and green jobs we need to get the economy moving again. This is further evidence that pursuing green policies can bring real economic benefits. The CBI recognised this in their report earlier this month stressing the need for a stable climate for green investment. I just wish that some of the critics of green growth policies would pay heed …

Posted in News | Tagged climate change, economy, green jobs, jobs, renewable energy and sustainable growth | 6 Comments

Today’s news is: Let’s all be shocked by the blatantly obvious

By Mark Pack | Wed 25th July 2012 - 10:25 am

Story one.

Dear politician, do you think people should knowingly assist others in breaking the law? What, you say ‘no they shouldn’t’? Hold the front page, I’ve got a scoop!

Story two.

Dear politician, might you want to lead your party one day? What, you might!? Hold the front page again. This is an amazing scoop discovering a politician who would fancy leading their party.

Story three.

Dear politician, if there is another hung Parliament, would you take the same approach as you did to the last one? What, you would? OMG! Someone saying they would do the same thing again! Unthinkable! …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david gauke, journalism, nick clegg and vince cable | 5 Comments

Opinion: Boundary changes are an opportunity to elect 50 MPs by PR

By Daisy Cooper MP | Wed 25th July 2012 - 8:55 am

The current proposals for electoral boundary changes include the idea that the number of constituencies and MPs should be reduced from 650 to 600. My suggestion is this: let’s keep the overall number of MPs at 650, and let’s agree to reduce the number of constituency MPs to 600 on the condition that the other 50 (less than 10%) are elected from party lists on the basis of proportional representation.

In a democracy, all votes should be equal. Votes will never be equal in the UK until the country adopts the proportional representation (PR) voting system. Under the ‘first past the …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged boundary changes, coalition agreement, electoral reform and lords reform | 14 Comments

Paul Burstow writes: Have Your Say on Care and Support

By Paul Burstow | Tue 24th July 2012 - 4:53 pm

A fortnight ago I wrote about how the Care and Support White paper and draft Bill signalled the biggest overhaul of social care in over 60 years.

The media storm triggered by that announcement inevitably focused on a single issue – namely who pays for care.

And while of course that issue is very important (and is something I care deeply about), it doesn’t address the urgent problem of fixing our broken system of social care.

Posted in News | Tagged care | 2 Comments

Video: Weird political ad #547 – Politicians get down and dirty with pigs

By Paul Walter | Tue 24th July 2012 - 3:35 pm

There are plenty of contenders for the strangest political ad of all times. Carly Fiorina’s “Demon Sheep” ad is widely considered to be high on the list.

This one is weird, but, yet, strangely artful. It features “politicians” getting down on their hands and knees with pigs, slinging mud at each other and, even, apparently, eating mud (or is it whatever the pigs are eating?).

Posted in Humour | Tagged usa | 1 Comment

LibLink: Steve Webb – I will not hesitate to take action on pension charges

By Mary Reid | Tue 24th July 2012 - 2:24 pm

Steve Webb writes in The Telegraph:

Almost 11 million of the adult population are not saving enough for retirement. So if millions of people are not going to get a nasty shock when they retire we need some big changes in the world of pensions. …So what is the truth about pension scheme charges, and what is the Government doing to make sure that people get

Posted in LibLink | Tagged pensions and steve webb | 5 Comments

Kirsty Williams writes: A lack of transparency in the Welsh Government

By Kirsty Williams AM | Tue 24th July 2012 - 12:59 pm

At a time when the public has so little confidence in our political system, it is essential that Governments do all they can to create a more transparent system.

The Coalition Government in Westminster has recognised this and put in place significant changes for the good of democracy. It was only as a result of the UK government’s decision to publish all departmental spending over

Posted in News | Tagged Wales and welsh assembly | 8 Comments

The Independent View: Making coalition government work – lessons for the future

By Ben Yong | Tue 24th July 2012 - 10:50 am

In 2011 the Constitution Unit spent one year examining how the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition works. We interviewed almost 150 people about the Coalition: individuals from both parties—both in and outside Parliament—as well as civil servants, journalists, and interest groups. We have just published the result of our study in a book: The Politics of Coalition: How the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Works

We are particularly grateful to all those Lib Dems who were so generous in giving their time to be interviewed, and for Mark Pack’s very kind review of our book. And in the same spirit, we offer some thoughts on lessons for the future. Professor John Curtice argues that the conditions that led to a hung parliament in 2010 remain; and even if the boundary reforms goes through, the possibility of a hung parliament is still quite high. Even if, as some suggest, the Liberal Democrats will lose a large number of seats in 2015, they may still be in a position to determine the shape of a new government. So what lessons are there to be learned from the last two years of the Coalition, and how might the Lib Dems approach a hung parliament in 2015?

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged coalition, featured, john curtice and Mark Pack | 10 Comments

Gender quotas get legal backing in Ireland

By Mark Pack | Tue 24th July 2012 - 8:50 am

Interesting news from Ireland on the long-running question of male dominance of elected Parliamentary posts:

GENDER QUOTAS are set to become law after the Electoral Amendment (Political Funding) Bill 2011 passed all stages in the Dáil yesterday.

The legislation, which has yet to be signed by the President, will halve State funding to parties unless 30 per cent of their candidates at the next general election are women. This figure will rise to 40 per cent at subsequent general elections…

Posted in Election law and News | Tagged candidate selection rules, gender balance and republic of ireland | 5 Comments

Sticking up for David Gauke and his tax-avoidance comments

By Stephen Tall | Tue 24th July 2012 - 8:15 am

David Gauke, the exchequer secretary to the treasury, is a Conservative minister I’m quite happy to stick up for. He’s in the headlines this morning for an interview he gave to the Telegraph in which he states it is “morally wrong” to pay cash-in-hand to get a nod-and-a-wink no-tax discount:

“Getting a discount with your plumber by paying cash in hand is something that is a big cost to the Revenue and means others have to pay more in tax. I think it is morally wrong. It is illegal for the plumber but it is pretty implicit in those circumstances that there is a reason why there is a discount for cash. That is a large part of the hidden economy.”

His comments have provoked an unfair backlash.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david gauke, featured, policy exchange, tax and tax avoidance | 41 Comments

Fantasy leadership scenarios – the silly season has arrived

By Paul Walter | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 4:53 pm

There currently seems to be a cottage industry of Tories writing off Nick Clegg. This article by Iain Martin in the Telegraph is typical:

The reality is that if Labour is the largest party after the next election and the Lib Dems want to talk, then a pre-condition is going to be the absence of Clegg.

This ignores two points:

Posted in News | Tagged ed miliband and nick clegg | 26 Comments

Bogdanor: Cable has exposed the Liberal Democrat divide

By NewsHound | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 4:38 pm

Over on Comment is free, Vernon Bogdanor says that Vince Cable’s ‘hat in leadership ring throw’ reflects a fundamental divide within the party:

Cable’s intervention, therefore, should not be seen solely in personal terms, but as bringing to the surface the conflict between the social and the economic Liberals in his party. No one can predict how this conflict will be resolved. But it is probably safe to assume that the instincts of most Lib Dems remain on the left, and that they continue to regard Labour as a competitor,

…

Posted in News | Tagged liberal democrats and vince cable | 7 Comments

Opinion: What’s wrong with the Welfare State?

By Alex Smethurst | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 1:53 pm

Last Saturday the Social Liberal Forum met for its 2012 conference. Being in a centre-right Coalition with the Conservatives has not lead to an abandonment of our centre-left principles. Our achievements in Government represent a broader party ethos of our social democratic belief in the Welfare State. However, instead of evolving with the times, the Welfare State stands rigid and unreflective of the world we live in today. For example, our nation is getting older: 10 million people in the UK

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged orange book and welfare | 9 Comments

Leaked letter shows Osborne is pressurising Ed Davey on green energy

By NewsHound | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 12:23 pm

Jim Pickard in the FT carries details of a leaked letter from Gerge Osborne to Ed Davey laying down the law on crucial green energy issues. The letter includes the demand that Davey sends a “strong signal” that the government is in favour of “unabated gas”:

…I have been handed a letter from the chancellor to Ed Davey, energy secretary, which suggests that the wind subsidies are only

Posted in News | Tagged ed davey, george osborne and renewable energy | 6 Comments

Norman Lamb MP writes… Liberal reform in employment law

By Norman Lamb MP | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 11:53 am

On the last day before Parliament’s summer recess, while many MPs were packing their bags for home, I was handling the last of seventeen committee sessions for the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (ERR) Bill.

Along with important measures establishing the Green Investment Bank and creating a powerful new competition authority, the Bill contains a whole range of provisions designed to improve regulation, increase

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged green investment bank | 5 Comments

Clegg: ‘I’d form a new coalition with Ed Miliband’

By NewsHound | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 10:23 am

There was an interesting interview with Nick Clegg in yesterday’s Sunday People:

Nick Clegg would form a coalition with Ed Miliband in the next government, he told The People.

The Lib Dem leader could even stay on as Deputy PM if a general election replaced one governing party with another.

Posted in News | Tagged ed miliband, labour party, liberal democrats and nick clegg | 25 Comments

Opinion: Vince Cable’s leadership comments are unwelcome

By Paul Walter | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 8:54 am

A few months ago we received advice from Tim Montgomerie:

… you need to change party leader. Not now. Not, I suggest, until 2014. But you can’t go into the next election with Nick Clegg at the top of your ticket.

OK, on that occasion, the advice was asked for in the form of an invitation to write for this esteemed website.

Posted in News | 47 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #283

By The Voice | Sun 22nd July 2012 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 283rd 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 (15-21 July, 2012), 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 | Leave a comment

In other news… Trident, MI6, DECC, defections & other stories

By Stephen Tall | Sun 22nd July 2012 - 5:25 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…

Coalition set for new split on cut-price Trident plan (Scotsman)

COALITION splits over Britain’s nuclear deterrent are set to be reopened after an internal Ministry of Defence review suggested a slimmed-down version of the £25 billion Trident replacement could be an option. … The report, led by Lib Dem armed forces minister Nick Harvey, looks set to reopen coalition divisions with many Tory back-benchers concerned that Britain’s replacement for Trident could end up being sacrificed for political reasons. However, with final decisions not

…

Posted in News | Tagged baroness falkner, charles kennedy, chris baron, chris holley, ed davey, john sawers, MI6, nick harvey, nikki thomson, phil lucas, ric morgan, sara bedford, southend council, stafford borough council and trident | 5 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Lumley & Clegg “Ab Fab” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sun 22nd July 2012 - 3:05 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

(Picture by PaperMaven.)

Here’s Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg with star of Absolutely Fabulous Joanna Lumley. What do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Nick Harvey “Pleased to see me?” Edition.

Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged joanna lumley and nick clegg | 4 Comments

Tory donor pays £2m to taxman after judge rules against Guernsey trust

By The Voice | Sun 22nd July 2012 - 11:35 am

The Mail on Sunday reports:

One of the Tory party’s biggest donors has been ordered to pay back millions of pounds in tax after a judge ruled against an offshore scheme he had used to slash his bills.

The judge said a Guernsey-based trust set up by hedge fund boss George Robinson, one of the City’s highest-paid financiers, was ‘cosmetic’ and told him and three colleagues to pay the taxman £13 million.

Mr Robinson, who is facing a personal bill of more than £2 million, used an arrangement favoured by top footballers and City banks such as Goldman Sachs after being advised it could

…

Posted in News | Tagged george robinson, tax and tax avoidance | 3 Comments

The crisis of trust facing the news media

By Stephen Tall | Sun 22nd July 2012 - 8:45 am

The Hansard Society this week published part two of its annual Audit of Political Engagement, focusing on the media and politics. Three graphs in particular stood out for me…

63% of public say tabloids “look for any excuse” to tarnish politicians

… tabloid newspapers are consistently identified by two-thirds of the public as displaying negative traits in their coverage of politics and politicians. … Tabloids are three times more likely to be perceived to be negative in their approach to the coverage of politics than are the other

…

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured, hansard society, Mark Pack and media | 4 Comments

Court bid to get Woking election result overturned

By Mark Pack | Sat 21st July 2012 - 5:31 pm

Get Surrey reports:

Woking Borough Council (WBC) will appear at the High Court later this month after an application was made to declare an election result invalid.

Labour hopeful Mohammad Ali, who came second at the borough council election for the Maybury and Sheerwater ward in May, has submitted the claim, highlighting what he calls ‘persistent electoral irregularities’ including the number of postal votes in the area and rejected ballots.

Posted in Election law | Tagged mohammad ali and woking borough council | 5 Comments

Op-eds

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)

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Caron’s kitchen table diary

Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything

To get Britain growing, we must cut business costs

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And the winner of our last caption comp is…

63% of public say tabloids “look for any excuse” to tarnish politicians

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