Liberal Democrat Voice

FT: ‘Cable leaves leadership bid open’

By The Voice | Sat 21st July 2012 - 3:20 pm

Today’s Financial Times reports an interview with Vince Cable in which the Lib Dem business secretary declines to exclude the possibility he might one day become party leader:

Mr Cable stressed that the Lib Dem leadership was not on his radar screen, nor remotely up for grabs, insisting that Nick Clegg was “doing a good job and is standing up to the pressures”. But in an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Cable was careful not to close down the prospect of a leadership bid when a vacancy arose. “I don’t exclude it – who knows what might happen in the future,” he said. …

“The worship of youth has diminished – perhaps generally – in recent years,” he said: a comment that might be deemed by some as a criticism of the generation of forty-somethings at the top of the government. Mr Cable added that this reappraisal might be because “there is a certain respect for people who have had some insight into what’s going on”.

Vince also notes his popularity among Lib Dem members as recorded in our regular LibDemVoice surveys:

Posted in News | Tagged vince cable | 11 Comments

Advert

Winning / Swinging Here! Sensational Lib Dem victory in annual Parliamentary Staff Rounders tournament

By The Voice | Sat 21st July 2012 - 1:50 pm

Here at Voice Towers we don’t normally run press releases — but we’re going to make an exception for the sensational Lib Dem victory in this week’s annual Parliamentary Staff Rounders tournament…

Liberal Democrat team ‘winning here’ in Parliamentary Staff Rounders Tournament

Staff working for Liberal Democrat MPs braved the rain to take the trophy in this year’s annual Inter-Parliamentary Staff Rounders Tournament.

Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged anthony gale, john williams and paul edgeworth | 2 Comments

A campaign thought for the weekend

By Mark Pack | Sat 21st July 2012 - 10:55 am

The latest Ofcom survey shows that 94% of UK households use mobile phones.

Now consider what proportion of UK households have a usable letterbox for delivery of campaign leaflets; i.e. exclude those rural homes without a letterbox, those urban blocks of flats with just a door to push leaflets under, the multiple occupancy houses with a communal hallway but no personal letterboxes and so on.

And then there’s that property on the electoral register which, despite you circling the block four times, taking a peak from the skies …

Posted in Campaign Corner | 10 Comments

The graph which shows how many Tory, Labour and LibDem voters support House of Lords reform

By Stephen Tall | Sat 21st July 2012 - 8:45 am

The London Evening Standard reported this week a new poll under the headline Even Lib-Dems say Lords reform is not a priority. Buried two-thirds of the way down, however, was this interesting data:

Posted in News and Polls | Tagged constitutional reform, featured, house of lords and tom brake | 18 Comments

The LDV Friday Five: 20 July 2012

By The Voice | Fri 20th July 2012 - 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

Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment

Advert

Join the Party Congress of the European Liberal Democrats!

By Mark Valladares | Fri 20th July 2012 - 3:21 pm

The Congress of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) is the number one event for Liberal Democrats who want to adopt policies, network and debate in the European context.

The 2012 Congress will take place in Dublin on 8-10 November. The main theme of this year will be a liberal roadmap for energy transition in Europe. In addition to debates on this issue, there will be a fringe programme to cater for a broad range of interests, as well as exclusive sessions for parliamentarians.

Join the 500 ministers, party leaders, European commissioners, national and European parliamentarians, local councillors and party …

Posted in Conference, Europe / International and News | Tagged eldr, energy and energy policy | Leave a comment

Opinion: Unions are not our enemy. Don’t make them into one.

By Andreas Christodoulou | Fri 20th July 2012 - 2:22 pm

The announcement yesterday by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) that its members would strike on Thursday 26th July – the day before the Olympic Games begin – risks turning our country into something just shy of a laughing stock and damaging Britain’s reputation and tourism industries in the short and medium term.

Tourism is a massive industry and hundreds of thousands of people from countries across the globe will be descending on London over the next few weeks to watch the games. Tourists bring in massive amounts of money into the country, and I’m fairly sure that everybody agrees …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged pcs and trade unions | 28 Comments

From today’s Lib Dem News

By The Voice | Fri 20th July 2012 - 12:50 pm

By Howard of Lib Dem News

Posted in Humour | Tagged lib dem news | 2 Comments

Independent View: Housing Benefit reform needs liberal principle of localism

By Graeme Cooke | Fri 20th July 2012 - 10:51 am

The Prime Minister’s recent suggestion that young people under the age of 25 might be barred from receiving Housing Benefit has re-ignited the debate about welfare reform. Talk of a further ‘benefits crackdown’ duly generated the positive headlines that Downing Street strategists were after, while opponents howled in apocalyptic objection to this latest attempt to control the benefits bill. Pretty soon, the political debate moved on, everyone having fulfilled their roles to perfection. Evil Tory bogeymen, tabloid headline writers, charity campaigners all did exactly what we would have expected them to do. Maybe the specific proposal will remerge in future …

Posted in The Independent View | Tagged housing benefit and ippr | 5 Comments

Government publishes implementation plan for individual electoral registration

By Mark Pack | Fri 20th July 2012 - 9:25 am

This week the Cabinet Office has published its detailed implementation plan for the introduction of individual electoral registration in England, Scotland and Wales. (Northern Ireland already uses it.)

Individual electoral registration has long been pushed for by the Electoral Commission and supported by all three of the main political parties. However, getting the details right is important as this is one of those issues where the administrative details can completely wreck the policy if got wrong.

Posted in Election law and News | Tagged electoral commission and electoral registration | 3 Comments

European Parliament selections: time is running out to get your application in

By Mark Valladares | Fri 20th July 2012 - 8:22 am

The Senior Returning Officer, Jonathan Davies, has asked us here at Liberal Democrat Voice Towers to pass on a message on behalf of Chairs of Shortlisting Committees in Scotland and the English Regions.

And I paraphrase just a bit…

If you want to be a contender, don’t forget that the deadline for applications is 6 p.m. on Friday 27 July

So don’t…

* Mark Valladares is Chair of the Shortlisting Committee for the East of England, and can assure you that he and his colleagues are gentle people who really like applicants, really we do…

Posted in Europe / International, News and Selection news | Tagged european parliament | Leave a comment

Incredible

By Mark Pack | Thu 19th July 2012 - 8:17 pm

PC Harwood managed to avoid one disciplinary charge by resigning from the Met force on health grounds, then rejoining two days later as a civilian employee. (Sky)

Posted in News | Tagged simon harwood | 32 Comments

Simon Wright MP writes… Creationism won’t be taught as fact – Fact!

By Simon Wright MP | Thu 19th July 2012 - 4:24 pm

New Free Schools will not be able to teach Creationism as fact. That sums up precisely what the rest of this article is about. If you just wanted a firm answer as to whether free schools will be able to teach Creationism in science classes, then feel under no pressure to read on. I won’t be offended.

A debate has arisen on this subject following rumours that the new Exemplar Free School intends to teach its students that Creationism is scientific fact. I can confirm, however, that this is not the case.

The 2013 Free Schools application process specifically says creationism, intelligent …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged creationism, free schools and simon wright | 35 Comments

Opinion: Lords reform – how Labour could learn from the Germans

By Stuart Bonar | Thu 19th July 2012 - 2:29 pm

Labour clears the way. So says the century-old Labour campaign poster depicting working men smashing down the door to the House of Lords. Oh dear. Given the opportunity earlier this month to live up to that proud boast they sided instead with rebel, anti-reform Conservatives and together succeeded in forcing the Government to abandon a vote on its proposed timetable for the bill.

Without the timetable, those who, for whatever bizarre reason, don’t believe that the governed should elect those who govern them could talk until the cows come home, ensuring the reform bill is killed off.

Labour could easily have sided with the Government. The …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged angela merkel, constitutional reform, germany, house of lords, labour party and lords reform | 14 Comments

The SNP, equal marriage and a large dose of red herring

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 19th July 2012 - 1:55 pm

Equality campaigners across Scotland were quietly confident on Tuesday. It had been widely expected that the SNP Government would at least allow equality in civil marriage if not religious. After all, the measure had already secured the support of a majority of MSPs and the Equality and Human Rights Commission report suggest sthat it has the support of over 60% of Scots. The Government’s plans have, however, attracted vocal opposition from some religious organisations.

However, the Government announced that it was delaying the decision and setting up a Cabinet Committee to “further examine some particular issues of detail”. A …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged cardinal keith o'brien, equal marriage, LGBT rights, nicola sturgeon, Scotland, snp and willie rennie | 8 Comments

Tory MP’s summer resolution: “I am going to learn to love the coalition” (But he’ll still block Lords reform)

By Stephen Tall | Thu 19th July 2012 - 1:00 pm

There’s an interestingly conciliatory post on ConservativeHome from Tory MP Gary Streeter — introduced as ‘one of the 81 rebels on an EU referendum and one of last week’s 91 rebels on an elected Lords’ — re-committing himself to supporting the Coalition.

… we need a steady hand on the tiller at this time of global crisis. We need stability in government. We need to be able to look ahead for more than just a few months. We need to survive until 2015 and thereafter might even be in

…

Posted in News | Tagged ConservativeHome and gary steeter | 9 Comments

Opinion: Standing by hard-won freedoms helps remind us what the EU is all about

By Giles Goodall | Thu 19th July 2012 - 11:56 am

European Commission President Barroso yesterday used uncharacteristically tough language to condemn the current political turmoil in Romania. Calling for “urgent action” by the country to win back the confidence of its EU partners, Barroso talked about the “exceptional events” which have been “a major source of concern to the EU” and “shaken our trust.” Barroso also announced that the EU was extending a special system of checks on Romania’s respect for the rule of law and judicial independence, instigated after the country joined the EU five years ago.

The unprecedented language from the EU follows a political crisis which has …

Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged europe, josé manuel barroso and romania | 2 Comments

Opinion: Free schools good, free schools bad?

By Tom Simon | Thu 19th July 2012 - 10:23 am

Liberal Democrats don’t like free schools do they? After all they undermine local authorities and are bad for the democratic accountability of our state school system. They introduce demand as opposed to need for the creation of new schools. Certainly there is some truth in these objections, but the reality is not black and white.

In my ward in LB Camden the Labour administration has refused to take action to meet the shortage of primary school places. They have fudged the issue with figures that show that they are adhering to statutory requirements. I was elected in 2009 and every …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged free schools | 13 Comments

Cable: “Murdoch war claim improved my reputation”

By Paul Walter | Thu 19th July 2012 - 8:54 am

If you missed it, it’s worth listening to yesterday’s PM from Radio Four. It includes an interview with Vince Cable over lunch (stuffed aubergine and jelly for afters, since you asked). In the discussion, Vince says that his reputation has been improved in the long run by his “I’ve declared war on Rupert Murdoch” comment, caught on tape by under-cover Telegraph reporters. He also says that you need to avoid using irony in government.

The interview is available on BBC iPlayer here under the “18/7/2012” edition.

BBC online have a news …

Posted in News | 2 Comments

Opinion: Why aren’t Liberal Democrats complaining loudly about draconian new family immigration rules?

By Stephen Howse | Wed 18th July 2012 - 6:55 pm

It’s not often that I find myself on the same side of an argument as Sayeeda Warsi. It’s even less often that I find myself on the same side when it comes to marriage equality.

I am thankful, however, that the Baroness was in Cabinet to lead the charge – along with Liberal Democrats – against the Home Secretary’s outrageous plans to impose a draconian income threshold (of up to £40,000) on British citizens who wish to bring their spouses to live with them in this country. The Coalition’s harsh immigration cap is hard enough for a Liberal to stomach without …

Posted in News | Tagged coalition, immigration, sayeeda warsi and theresa may | 18 Comments

‘Could a Lib Dem / Labour agreement happen before 2015?’ asks Hopi Sen

By Stephen Tall | Wed 18th July 2012 - 4:05 pm

I realise the headline may well pre-destine this post for John Rentoul’s ever-expanding #QTWTAIN category. But Hopi Sen, an influential Labour blogger, is always worth listening to, and this week he put forward a scenario in which “a LibDem-Labour realignment could foil the Tories”:

Could this happen?

For the first time, it seems at least plausible. Senior LibDems feel let down by the Conservatives over Lords reform and the AV referendum. They feel they have delivered painful changes to their policy programme for the sake of national unity and this generosity has not been reciprocated. They see the Tory backbenches unafraid

…

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged hopi sen | 18 Comments

LibLink: David Laws – I still believe the Coalition can last the course

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th July 2012 - 3:03 pm

Writing in the Telegraph, David Laws has been giving his thoughts on how Cameron and Clegg can breathe new life into the coalition, not by a new Agreement as he says the one we have is the most effective and bold programme of any peacetime government in the last 100 years. He adds that it’s vital that the Coalition does continue because the consequences of failure for the country would be unpalatable for the country.

Alongside the over-riding priority of the economy and stimulating economic growth, he gives an outline of what the Coalition could achieve over the next two and …

Posted in LibLink | Tagged coalition, david laws and telegraph | 5 Comments

The compromiser’s dilemma: House of Lords reform

By Mark Pack | Wed 18th July 2012 - 2:10 pm

You propose something. Someone objects to it, giving many reasons. You offer to make some changes to meet some of the objections. A deal is made and progress is achieved.

A perfectly normal sequence of events, both inside and outside politics and whether the matter is as mundane as what to eat for dinner tomorrow or as public as the wording of Parliamentary legislation.

One big …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged av referendum, constitutional reform, featured, guy lodge, house of lords, lord wakenham, lords reform and michael kenny | 17 Comments

The Independent View: Liberal Democrats should support Financial Transaction Tax

By Richard Carr | Wed 18th July 2012 - 12:59 pm

Charles Beaumont has recently written on this site about the potential for the Lib Dems to go further in taxing the financial sector. In doing so, he raises two options: the Financial Activities Tax (FAT), which he favours, and the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). For clarity at the outset, the FAT is generally understood to be an additional corporation/income tax on the excessive profits/remunerations in the financial sector. An FTT, on the other hand, taxes all the transactions of financial organisations, such as banks and hedge funds, at the point at which their deals are settled.

Whilst the overarching thrust …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged financial activities tax, financial transaction tax, stamp out poverty and tax | 15 Comments

Lib Link: Christine Jardine – Scottish Lib Dems on the ropes but definitely not down and out

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th July 2012 - 11:55 am

Christine Jardine was until recently the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ very own CJ inside Downing Street as special adviser on Scottish affairs. She’s now returning to full time politics in Scotland and is looking towards Westminster and Holyrood elections in 2015 and 2015. She’s started off by writing in yesterday’s Scotsman about what she sees as the way forward for the party in Scotland.

She puts forward a robust defence of the calm professionalism of our ministers, MPs and advisers and argues that we activists need to get out on the doorsteps and take the message of their achievements directly to the voters.

For

…

Posted in LibLink | Tagged christine jardine, Scotland, scotsman and scottish liberal democrats | 5 Comments

Do the Lib Dems have a core vote, and can we grow it?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 18th July 2012 - 10:45 am

Is it possible to build a bigger Lib Dem core vote? Mark Pack has previously written here on the need for the party to adopt a ‘core vote’ strategy to protect the party from the adverse headwinds of the next election. I don’t disagree with the aim, I’m just not sure of its realism. Here’s why.

What do we mean by a ‘core vote’?

First, let’s define what’s meant by a ‘core vote’: voters who identify with the party and stick with it through the bad times as well as the good. Traditionally this identification has tended to be class-based: working-class …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david owen, featured and Mark Pack | 49 Comments

Michael Moore’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 18th July 2012 - 9:25 am

Every week Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore writes a column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. Here’s this week’s edition.

Farming

It has been a challenging few months for farmers here in the Borders with the extreme weather putting pressure on feed and bedding supplies and causing untold damage to crops and disruption to livestock. We have also heard the worrying news that processors are aggressively cutting the price they pay to our dairy farmers at the farm gate. These cuts are extremely disappointing because they appear to fly in the face of rising prices in global markets …

Posted in News | Tagged consumer, farepak, farming, Michael Moore and Westminster Notes | Leave a comment

Immigration: a supply-side measure to boost growth the Tories fiercely oppose

By Stephen Tall | Wed 18th July 2012 - 8:25 am

I suggested at the weekend that there was one over-riding policy area where the Lib Dems and Conservatives agree more often that we disagree — the economy, and the need for deficit reduction — and that we should focus our combined energies on ‘reforming capitalism’. But of course there are also fundamental disagreements between the two Coalition parties on how best we can boost growth.

The Tories would prioritise implementing in full the ‘Beecroft proposals’ — including no-fault dismissal of employees — to make it easier for businesses to …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged adrian beecroft, featured, immigration, office for budget responsibility and vince cable | 11 Comments

How you can take part in LibDemVoice’s exclusive party member surveys

By Stephen Tall | Wed 18th July 2012 - 7:45 am

LibDemVoice’s surveys of party members signed-up to our discussion forum have been running for over three years now. (I posted yesterday the final set of figures from our most recent poll.)

Our surveys are a way of testing members’ views on a variety of hot topics. And as they’ve been running throughout the first two years of the Coalition they’re also an interesting record of changing views on how the Coalition is regarded within the party.

If you would like to take part in the LibDemVoice surveys, there are simply two steps you need to follow:
1) Be a current Lib …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Leave a comment

Opinion: The Lib Dems’ moment of Reckoning

By Geoffrey Payne | Tue 17th July 2012 - 5:13 pm

It has been widely remarked that House of Lords reform is not such a major issue and that it should not break the Coalition.

Maybe so.

However what is of fundamental importance is the Coalition Agreement. It was that that was broken last week by Tory MPs.

Up until then the Coalition Agreement had been considered sacrosanct. Lib Dem MPs had loyally voted for policies they didn’t agree with on the understanding the Tories would do likewise; this is how Coalitions work. However it is clear that a substantial number of Tory MPs do not want it to work, and there are more …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged coalition agreement | 21 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)

Advert

What does a Lib Dem “trans activist” look like?

Caron’s kitchen table diary

Victoria Collins MP writes.. The ask that changes everything

To get Britain growing, we must cut business costs

Liberal Democrat team ‘winning here’ in Parliamentary Staff Rounders Tournament

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

What do we mean by a ‘core vote’?

Farming

Subscribe

Most Read

Search

Op-eds

Recent Comments