Liberal Democrat Voice

LDVideo: David Laws on the future of the coalition

By Nick T | Thu 29th March 2012 - 2:54 pm

A couple of weeks ago, David Laws made a speech at Parliament, organised by the Bright Blue think tank, expressing his views on the future of the coalition.

You can watch the very interesting speech below, or on YouTube here.

Posted in YouTube | Tagged david laws | 12 Comments

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Christian group pledge support for gay couples marrying

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th March 2012 - 12:50 pm

Pink News reports:

The Progressive Christianity Network (PCN) is the latest British faith-based group to come out in favour of legal recognition of gay marriage.

Reverend John Churcher, a Methodist minister and chair of the PCN, said in response to comments from Roman Catholic bishops – who have urged Christians to campaign against the government’s proposal – that there are very few biblical texts that appear to condemn homosexuality, and that the interpretation of those that do is controversial…

There are now a range of Christian groups on both sides of the debate. Those groups who have expressed support for gay marriage

…

Posted in News | Tagged equal marriage and equalities | 12 Comments

Why I can’t defend Tim Farron, the ASA, Healing on the Streets… or the terms of this debate

By Tom King | Thu 29th March 2012 - 12:24 pm

Tim Farron must be wondering when he became quite such a powerful man. Becoming President of the Lib Dems was one thing, but the mere act of appending his name to a letter has, I hope briefly, let slip the dogs of war within the party. Lib Dems everywhere seemed to decide Tim had made a catastrophic Faith Heal Turn. As I am both a member of the party and an evangelical Christian, I thought I would attempt to set out why the terms of this debate, in my view, are misguided.

I have great respect for Tim. I find his …

Posted in News | Tagged ASA and tim farron | 21 Comments

A lack of democracy at Unlock Democracy

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th March 2012 - 10:50 am

The pressure group Unlock Democracy is generally pretty good at understanding that having a healthy democracy is more than simply about the narrow confines of casting and counting votes. Healthy democracy involves meaningful debate and choice between a range of views.

That makes the latest mailing I have received from them all the most disappointing. Good news – supporters are being asked to submit nominations for its governing council. Bad news – the highly restrictive campaigning rules that make even the old Liberal Democrat internal election rules seem rather …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged mark valladares and unlock democracy | 7 Comments

The curious case of Ian Liddell-Grainger and the personal data

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th March 2012 - 8:50 am

The website for Ian Liddell-Grainger, Conservative MP for Bridgwater, is probably the only website for a British Parliamentary to be blessed with a prominent animated cat on its front page. It invites you to click on a link to read Mogg-the-Blog, where a rather darker set of content awaits than the amateurish layout and intensive wall of block capitals on the website’s front page.

In the blog, or rather to give it the full title Mogg-the-Blog, is a series of posts documenting the falling out between Ian Liddell-Grainger and a member of the public. An MP and a member of …

Posted in News | Tagged featured and ian liddell-grainger | 15 Comments

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Opinion: Abortion reform – handing power back to women

By Sophie Bridger | Wed 28th March 2012 - 8:15 pm

Despite being in the 21^st century, we appear to value the approval of medical professionals, and their control over women’s bodies, more than we do women’s autonomy.

Last week it came to light in a Telegraph report that some abortion clinics – up to one in five – were performing abortions illegally. Doctors were pre-signing forms to permit abortions before they had seen the patient’s medical information. Why are so many good doctors not following the law?

Under the 1967 Abortion Act, termination of pregnancy is legal up to 24 weeks, as long as two doctors approve it. Not one, two. …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged abortion, BMA, royal college of obstetricians and womens rights | 22 Comments

Tim Farron MP writes… The ASA and me – a response

By Tim Farron MP | Wed 28th March 2012 - 6:51 pm

I’m aware that my signing of a letter to the ASA about the power of prayer has caused a stir. I thought I should just clarify what I actually think on this.

I completely understand why some of you are concerned. It’s not a well-worded letter – the reference to the ASA providing indisputable evidence is silly, and the implication that people should seek faith healing at the expense of medical intervention is something that I just don’t believe in. For what it’s worth, I also think that the Fabrice Muamba reference is crass. So on all those fronts, I should just say sorry and not bother defending myself. I shouldn’t have signed that letter as it was written, so I apologise for putting some of you in quite a difficult position.

However, my reasons for agreeing to raise a concern with the ASA are simply these:

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged advertising standards authority | 51 Comments

Opinion: 3 Liberal Criticisms of Stephen Tall’s defence of Tim Farron

By David Parkes | Wed 28th March 2012 - 3:58 pm

Lib Dem Voice co-editor Stephen Tall has produced his 3 liberal reasons to stick up for Tim Farron. Now Stephen is a man I respect and who writes a lot of sense, but on this occasion I beg leave to disagree.

To that end I thought I’d give 3 liberal reasons to criticise Stephen Tall’s defence of our party president Tim Farron. We are of course talking about the storm Tim Farron created by co-signing a lett er to the Advertising Standards Agency urging the ASA to overturn a ban on a Christian group claiming prayer could cure medical conditions.

(1) …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged advertising standards authority, religion, stephen tall and tim farron | 19 Comments

Opinion: Building an economic recovery

By Joe Bourke | Wed 28th March 2012 - 2:56 pm

Two issues on which there appears to be virtual universal consensus across the political spectrum are the pressing need to address the UK‘s housing problems and the economic benefits of a rejuvenated construction sector. The lack of adequate affordable and social housing has been a major weakness of the UK economy and social fabric for many years.

This problem has manifested itself in seriously overpriced housing costs relative to incomes, soaring housing benefit expenditures, uncompetitive labour costs and inter-generational inequity.

The Centreforum report Delivering growth while reducing deficits – lessons from the 1930s highlights the major part that house building played …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged centreforum, construction, economy and housing | 33 Comments

Peter Black AM writes: Welsh Liberal Democrats say no to regional pay

By Peter Black | Wed 28th March 2012 - 1:28 pm

The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that regional pay would further entrench Wales as a low-pay economy, both in the public and private sectors. More to the point it would lead to men and women doing the same job at different ends of the country, but receiving different rates of pay. I believe in the principle of an individual being paid a rate for a job, not in a multi-tier system which sees wages set on a postcode-by-postcode basis which will ultimately see the rich areas of south-east England become richer at the expense of the rest of the UK and …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged regional pay, Wales and welsh liberal democrats | 30 Comments

Opinion: The French battle for London

By Yannick Naud | Wed 28th March 2012 - 11:29 am

The forthcoming Mayoral election is certainly the contest that London is currently focusing on; however, scratch beneath the surface and there is a quiet but equally fiercely fought election taking place. June sees the French Parliamentary Elections which for the first time include eleven overseas parliamentary seats; the 3^rd constituency is a whopping 1.5 million square miles area, from Greenland to Lithuania, encompassing every Nordic & Baltic countries, Ireland and the UK. London is however where most of the French expats in this constituency reside and therefore the epicentre of this election.

I am standing for the Mouvement Democratique (MoDem) Party, …

Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged europe, france, french elections, mouvement democratique and yannick naud | 8 Comments

Liberal Democrats block David Cameron’s plans to erode workers’ rights

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 28th March 2012 - 10:55 am

Another glimpse into what a Tory Britain would look like comes in today’s Independent which reports that the Liberal Democrats in the shape of Business Secretary Vince Cable have fended off an attempt by the Prime Minister to erode the rights of employees. Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist who has donated almost £600,000 to the Conservative Party, produced a report last year which has so far not been published, which is believed to include proposals to allow employers to fire unproductive workers and cut entitlement to maternity leave.

The Tories, says the Independent, from David Cameron down, wanted to implement this …

Posted in News | Tagged employment rights, independent and vince cable | 8 Comments

Some thought-provoking reminders of our liberal history

By Mark Pack | Wed 28th March 2012 - 10:25 am

Alex Wilcock and I penned this list of six things* to remember for Liberal Democrat News, the party’s weekly newspaper:

Paddy Ashdown once admitted to under-estimating the importance of a party’s history: “A political party is about more than plans and priorities and policies… It also has a heart and a history and a soul”.

Yet there is no “history of the party” training session for the keen Conference representative nor history briefings for new members. So here are six snippets from the party’s history to entertain, elucidate and illustrate our heart and soul in ways that should still strike a note today.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged alex wilcock, featured and history | 17 Comments

Brian Paddick to be questioned live on Guardian website TODAY 1-2 pm

By The Voice | Wed 28th March 2012 - 9:53 am

Liberal Democrat London Mayoral Candidate Brian Paddick will be answering questions live on the Guardian website between 1 and 2 pm today.

If you have anything you want to ask Brian about what he stands for and what he wants to do for London, head here and put your question in the comments.

We’ll bring you news of how he got on tomorrow.

PS It’s a busy day for the London campaign. Don’t forget about the tweetathon to launch Caroline Pidgeon’s One Hour Bus Ticket campaign which she wrote about last night here.

Posted in News | Tagged brian paddick, guardian and london mayoral election | 1 Comment

Home Office decides against national spending limits for Police and Crime Commissioner elections

By Mark Pack | Wed 28th March 2012 - 8:50 am

The controversy over the Government’s view that there should be no freepost election addresses for Police and Crime Commissioner elections has caught the headlines so far, but there is something far worse in the details of the draft legislation. Put simply: having considered having national expenditure limits for the elections, the Conservative ministers in the Home Office have decided to have none.

There will be expense limits for individual candidates and their campaigns. However it is proposed that political parties and outside …

Posted in Election law and News | Tagged elected police commissioners and theresa may | 5 Comments

All Aboard! One hour bus campaign moves up a gear

By Caroline Pidgeon | Tue 27th March 2012 - 7:22 pm

Tomorrow Brian Paddick and I are boarding our first campaign bus together, and what better way to celebrate than using it to launch our great One Hour Bus Ticket policy.

We’ll be travelling round eight London boroughs informing residents that the Lib Dems are dedicated to targeting fare reductions at those Londoners who need them most. Our Fairer Fares package proposes six ways to save, one of which is a One Hour Bus Ticket that will allow people to hop-on and hop-off buses as many times as needed within one hour, paying only one single fare.

The scheme works successfully in several …

Posted in News | Tagged brian paddick, Caroline Pidgeon, one hour bus ticket and twitter | 2 Comments

Opinion: subtexts rule! (or, why the subtexts of the budget and new roadbuilding plans are more important than the headlines)

By Paul Reynolds | Tue 27th March 2012 - 4:52 pm

This last week has demonstrated that a sailing ship without a destination will… well… just drift with the wind.

During this last budget week the Tories, under pressure from their backbenchers, reduced the 50% rate of tax for higher earners. Under the principle of Collective Cabinet Responsibility, Lib Dem ministers defended the change, implying that this concession has been granted in return for broader anti-avoidance tax measures for the better off, and the next step in the reduction in the number of lower earners paying income tax. BIS Minister Vince Cable weighed in dutifully with facts and figures showing that the …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged budget 2012, motorways, public finance initiative and Road transport | 3 Comments

Opinion: the Government’s new integration strategy – when are we going to learn?

By Issan Ghazni | Tue 27th March 2012 - 2:52 pm

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) recently published and launched its new integration strategy – “Creating the Conditions for Integration”. Following discussions with many concerned Lib Dem party members and feedback from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community organisations involved in race equality work, I am now more convinced than ever that this document does little to address the persistent racial inequalities that exist across the nation. The Government for their part are trumpeting this publication as equivalent to a race equality strategy – although one which has diminishing credibility within BAME communities up and down the …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged diversity, emld and integration strategy | 6 Comments

Opinion: sometimes Liberal Democrats just can’t win, but we won’t stop trying

By Lisa Harding | Tue 27th March 2012 - 1:30 pm

Everyone this week has pretty much agreed that the Liberal Democrats did a good job on tempering the worst of Tory excesses in the budget last week. There is also universal agreement that we did well in getting our message out and I was particularly pleased with the splash page on the homepage of the national site.

But if you read Deborah Orr in the Guardian on Saturday, it is quite clear that in the eyes of some we will never get it right. Deborah started off her article by bemoaning leaks from the budget and laying the blame squarely …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged budget 2012 and guardianistas | 27 Comments

Equal civil marriage consultation: have you responded yet?

By Mark Pack | Tue 27th March 2012 - 12:35 pm

Over on the Home Office website there is a simple* online survey as part of the consultation into introducing equal civil marriage.

It’s an issue that is being effectively pushed by Lib Dem Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone, whose views on the topic you can read here.

If you haven’t yet given your views, why not head over to the Home Office website to do so? And if you have, why not share this post with others to encourage them to do so too?

The …

Posted in News | Tagged equal marriage and lynne featherstone | 9 Comments

In defence of Tim Farron: 3 liberal reasons to stick up for him

By Stephen Tall | Tue 27th March 2012 - 11:50 am

Lib Dem party president Tim Farron has caused something of a storm within the party by co-signing a letter in his capacity as Vice Chair of the ‘Christians in Parliament’ group urging the Advertising Standards Authority to withdraw their ruling “that the Healing On The Streets ministry in Bath are no longer able to claim, in their advertising, that God can heal people from medical conditions.” The controversy is easy to understand, as it pits two tenets of liberalism against each other: free speech and rational scepticism.

Personally, I am very happy to defend Tim Farron’s stance. Here’s three …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged advertising standards authority, featured and tim farron | 85 Comments

Opinion: how will the Liberal Democrats once again become the party of my generation?

By Gary Shearer | Tue 27th March 2012 - 10:52 am

When I was a student between in the middle of the last decade the Liberal Democrats were the party of choice. That was because under Charles Kennedy we were seen as a radical centre-left alternative to the Labour party that championed the causes of the young.

It’s unlikely that many would have guessed that only five years after I left university we would be two years into a coalition with Nick Clegg at the helm. However, it is precisely the move into Government with the Tories that has alienated so many of the people who once saw themselves as Lib Dems. …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged housing | 12 Comments

Federal Policy Committee welcomes careful thinkers

By NewsHound | Tue 27th March 2012 - 9:53 am

It is almost certainly a complete coincidence but, having published some thoughts on how the Party might develop policy in future, news reaches us that Federal Policy Committee are looking for volunteers (Party members only, I’m afraid) to form Policy Working Groups on the following subjects;

One might almost suspect that work on the 2015 Manifesto has begun…

For an application form for these working groups, please contact the Party’s Policy Unit on 020 7340 4989, or e-mail lucymcdonaldlibdemsorguk.

The deadline for applications is …

Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged federal policy committee | 6 Comments

Has Tim Farron got a prayer against the Advertising Standards Authority?

By Mark Valladares | Tue 27th March 2012 - 7:49 am

In a rather unexpected departure from the usual activities of the Party Presidency, Tim Farron, in his role as a Vice Chair of the ‘Christians in Parliament’ group, has co-signed a letter to the Advertising Standards Agency;

Rt Hon Lord Smith of Finsbury
Chairman, Advertising Standards Agency
21st March 2012

We are writing on behalf of the all-party Christians in Parliament group in Westminster and your ruling that the Healing On The Streets ministry in Bath are no longer able to claim, in their advertising, that God can heal people from medical conditions.

We write to express our concern at this decision and to enquire

…

Posted in News and Party Presidency | Tagged advertising standards authority and tim farron | 45 Comments

Campaign Corner: How can we talk more policy?

By Mark Pack | Mon 26th March 2012 - 4:24 pm

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: A strange question perhaps, but we seem to spend all the time in my local party talking about campaigning and never about policy. Maybe that didn’t matter in opposition, but it certainly matters in government! How can we get a better balance?

Posted in Campaign Corner | Tagged dawn barnes and featured | 2 Comments

Opinion: Localism is the answer

By Louise Shaw | Mon 26th March 2012 - 1:54 pm

This year, there’s a lot of concern about public service cuts and rises in taxes for certain groups. This, to me, indicates the problem facing anyone in government – the British public wants better public services and lower taxes.

I fully believe that the electorate is not stupid. But, right now, it’s somebody else’s problem – how to square the circle between wanting good public services and as much cash as is needed to achieve this, and paying as little tax as possible. These aims are mutually exclusive in the main, and certainly as exercised by New Labour and Tory.

The …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged public services and tax | 12 Comments

Op-eds

Conference from the other side of the barrier (Barry Rhodes)
Proper Grimond liberalism (Jack Meredith)
Is Conference still supreme? (John Kelly)
Ed Davey’s Conference speech (Hugh Andrew)
Conference or What? (Roderick Lynch)

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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

LDVideo: David Laws on the future of the coalition

Christian group pledge support for gay couples marrying

Why I can’t defend Tim Farron, the ASA, Healing on the Streets… or the terms of this debate

A lack of democracy at Unlock Democracy

The curious case of Ian Liddell-Grainger and the personal data

Opinion: Abortion reform – handing power back to women

Tim Farron MP writes… The ASA and me – a response

Opinion: 3 Liberal Criticisms of Stephen Tall’s defence of Tim Farron

Opinion: Building an economic recovery

Peter Black AM writes: Welsh Liberal Democrats say no to regional pay

Opinion: The French battle for London

Liberal Democrats block David Cameron’s plans to erode workers’ rights

Some thought-provoking reminders of our liberal history

Brian Paddick to be questioned live on Guardian website TODAY 1-2 pm

Home Office decides against national spending limits for Police and Crime Commissioner elections

All Aboard! One hour bus campaign moves up a gear

Opinion: subtexts rule! (or, why the subtexts of the budget and new roadbuilding plans are more important than the headlines)

Opinion: the Government’s new integration strategy – when are we going to learn?

Opinion: sometimes Liberal Democrats just can’t win, but we won’t stop trying

Equal civil marriage consultation: have you responded yet?

In defence of Tim Farron: 3 liberal reasons to stick up for him

Opinion: how will the Liberal Democrats once again become the party of my generation?

Federal Policy Committee welcomes careful thinkers

Has Tim Farron got a prayer against the Advertising Standards Authority?

Campaign Corner: How can we talk more policy?

Opinion: Localism is the answer

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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

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