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What’s on at Scottish Liberal Democrat conference this weekend?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 29th February 2012 - 1:55 pm

This weekend, Scottish Liberal Democrats gather in Inverness for their annual conference. This is the second most important event to take place in the city this year, next to my sister’s wedding in the Highland Capital on 8 April.

Every Council seat in Scotland is up for election in May so the Conference will be a good launch pad for the campaign. It’s also new leader Willie Rennie’s first Spring Conference speech, a chance for him to map out where he wants to take the party over the next year and remind us of how the small but strong Liberal Democrat …

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Posted in Conference and News | Tagged Danny Alexander, ed davey, liberal youth scotland, malcolm bruce, Michael Moore, nick clegg, vince cable and willie rennie | 3 Comments

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The Independent View: Participatory democracy and the People’s Budget

By Phil Teece | Wed 29th February 2012 - 12:27 pm

It’s budget season and here’s a question ….

Is it an exaggeration to claim that there is a crisis in our system of democracy? When so many people don’t bother to vote and there are communities in the UK which no longer have any faith in the willingness of parliament and local government to address their needs and concerns, to actually represent their interests, then I think not. However, the direction of the coalition government’s policy is avowedly towards greater accountability and a stronger role for local people in decisions about local services.

The reality is that, despite the rhetoric about localism …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged budget, community, democracy and Local government | 3 Comments

The Local Government Slot: Coalition boost to English Language funding

By Andrew Stunell MP | Wed 29th February 2012 - 11:29 am

Going down the road to the Post Office, the supermarket, or just chatting at the school gates are things we take for granted in our everyday life. But they are only really possible because we have a shared language – English – that enables us to communicate what we want effectively. That’s not true for everyone, though. And if you speak no, or very little, English, it’s not just your social life that’s cramped. You can’t help the children with their homework, and you’ll find it very hard to get a proper job. A high proportion of the people who …

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Posted in News | Tagged english language funding and local government slot | 4 Comments

A 2012 Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference Preview

By Mark Cole | Wed 29th February 2012 - 10:28 am

This weekend, the Welsh Liberal Democrat family will be gathering in Cardiff for our spring conference.

This has become a staple part of my diary and this year sees me celebrate my 10^th anniversary of attending Liberal Democrat and Welsh Liberal Democrat conferences.

So, what’s the message?

Well, unsurprisingly, we’re concentrating on the forthcoming Council elections: our record as Welsh Liberal Democrats in local government across Wales and our vision for the future.

It will all begin with the pre-conference rally on the Friday evening where Kirsty Williams will speak alongside current Councillors from across Wales and new candidates.

You’ll be hearing a lot about …

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Posted in News | Tagged kirsty williams, nick clegg, rodney berman, roger williams and welsh liberal democrats | Leave a comment

In praise of… Tom Brake

By Mark Pack | Wed 29th February 2012 - 9:25 am

Before I was winning chocolate at the weekend, I was campaigning in Croydon and Sutton as part of the excellent Action Day organised by George Kendall and others. It is no secret that the reason Liberal Democrats from across London are now paying rather more attention to Croydon than before is because significant parts of it may be moved into Tom Brake’s constituency.

It is typical of Tom that in amongst all the heat and rhetoric of the Parliamentary boundary review process, he has been quietly getting on with thinking ahead and acting. Rather than just abstractly debating what his constituency boundaries might be, he and the Sutton team (including the excellent Ruth Dombey) have started working with colleagues in Croydon to build up the strength of the party there.

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Posted in News | Tagged croydon liberal democrats, george kendall, sutton liberal democrats and tom brake | 4 Comments

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LDVideo: Simon Hughes on the Coalition Budget, 50p tax rate and NHS reform bill

By Stephen Tall | Wed 29th February 2012 - 7:55 am

Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem deputy leader, was interviewed by the BBC’s Andrew Neil at the weekend on some of the key issues currently facing the party and the Coalition. These included the Lib Dem push for tax-cuts for the low-paid, maintaining the 50p tax-rate for those earning more than £150,000, and the NHS reform bill.

Here’s what he had to say:

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged andrew neil and simon hughes | Leave a comment

New poll finds 60% of public backs Lib Dem flagship policy of tax-cuts for low-paid funded by tax increases for wealthy

By Stephen Tall | Tue 28th February 2012 - 9:45 pm

It’s a month since Nick Clegg made a fresh bid to put the Lib Dems’ flagship 2010 manifesto policy once again front-and-centre: further tax-cuts for the lowest-paid to be funded by higher taxes for the wealthiest.

And today came news of what the public thinks of the Lib Dem approach to fairer taxes, with the Independent reporting the following ComRes poll results:

A majority of people want George Osborne to raise taxes for the rich in next month’s Budget in order to take more low paid workers out of tax, according to a ComRes survey for The Independent. Some

…

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Posted in News | Tagged comres, nick clegg, Polls, tax and tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 23 Comments

LDVideo: Ming Campbell – House of Lords reform part of Lib Dem DNA

By Stephen Tall | Tue 28th February 2012 - 6:50 pm

Here’s a clip of former Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Menzies Campbell declaring reform of the unelected upper house — that century-old piece of ‘unfinished business’ — is an innate part of what defines Liberal Democrats:

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged house of lords, lords reform and Ming Campbell | Leave a comment

A postcard from… Oulu

By Baroness Ros Scott | Tue 28th February 2012 - 5:22 pm

Oulu, Finland’s 7th largest city, lies on the same latitude as Iceland, the southern tip of Greenland and Fairbanks, Alaska. It is however in central Finland and there’s an awfully long way you can travel north.

Students across the country are celebrating penkkarit marking their graduation from school with processions through the towns involving music, playing tricks on your old school and the throwing of sweets to the watching crowds. This ceremony is about a hundred years old and goes back to the time when the few students who …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged a postcard from, Local government and ros scott | 1 Comment

Tim Farron MP writes… Leap for victory

By Tim Farron MP | Tue 28th February 2012 - 4:53 pm

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Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment

Poetry for harassed Liberal Democrats

By Edis Bevan | Tue 28th February 2012 - 4:17 pm

Call us quirky, but a touch of culture, and a moment to reflect never does any harm. So, when Liberal Democrat Voice received this contribution, we wondered where it fitted. But then, why should a political website be entirely serious?…

In a mad world, remember Denmark’s Piet Hein. Theoretical physicist, poet, wartime resistance activist, mathematician and simply a human being in all its warmest glory. His short poems (Grooks) have a haiku-like quality, reflecting on the simple complexities of life, and as a consequence of real politics as it hits real people. I have cherished these gems for a long time, …

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Posted in News | Tagged poetry | 6 Comments

Trusted, professional and effective: British policing at its best – Tom Brake MP on the Lib Dems’ new policing paper

By Tom Brake | Tue 28th February 2012 - 3:53 pm

Today we have launched the new Liberal Democrats policing paper: Trusted, professional and effective: British policing at its best.

It is my pleasure to be launching this paper, based upon which a conference motion will be debated by Liberal Democrat Conference in Spring 2012. Along side my Co-Chair Baroness Hamwee and the rest of the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Justice and Equalities Committee we are constantly working to define Liberal Democrat Policy outside the Coalition.

Public confidence in the police has been shaken in recent times: by the riots, by phone hacking, and by the increasing state intrusion into our …

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Posted in News | Tagged policing and Protection of Freedoms Bill 2010-11 | 10 Comments

The Local Government slot: winning with localism

By Richard Kemp | Tue 28th February 2012 - 2:52 pm

It’s very possible to get a bit glum at the moment isn’t it? All the talk is about cuts and the health service reforms with our opponents blithely ignoring the facts that they were a principal cause of the deficits and that they would have had to deal with the growing problems of the NHS.

So when I am down a bit I think of the many good things that have been done by this government and work out how I can take full advantage of them both politically and for my community.

Chief amongst these is the continued drive for localism. …

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Posted in Local government | Tagged local government association and richard kemp | Leave a comment

Is this the most biased opinion poll question ever asked?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 28th February 2012 - 12:27 pm

The Coalition for Marriage was launched last week. And as many groups do to ~~try and drum up some publicity~~ announce themselves to the world, they commissioned an opinion poll of public attitudes to equal marriage.

Which is fair enough. But then, it appears, a thought struck them. The UK is, by and large, a tolerant nation, with the vast majority now accepting of gay and lesbian relationships being respected and recognised. So… how to pose an opinion poll question that could produce the result they wanted?

Thankfully, ComRes (a member of the British Polling Council) did them proud. You can read …

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Posted in News | Tagged coalition for marriage, comres, equalities, gay equality, gay marriage and lynne featherstone | 26 Comments

A postcard from… Abuja

By Mark Williams MP | Tue 28th February 2012 - 11:12 am

A week away from Westminster offers our Parliamentarians an opportunity to travel. And whilst Ros Scott went north, as we’ll see later today, Mark Williams headed towards the warmth of West Africa. He sent us this…

If ever there was a justification for our coalition government’s commitment on overseas aid, it was laid bare for me on a half-term trip to Nigeria as part of the All-Party Group on Global Education working with the charity ActionAid International. I will never forget the village school in Abuja with 700 children with absolutely no water supply, no toilet provision, no drinking water, but …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged a postcard from, international development and mark williams | Leave a comment

Paddick accuses Met of leaking confidential witness information

By The Voice | Tue 28th February 2012 - 9:50 am

Yesterday former policeman Brian Paddick gave evidence to the Leveson inquiry, including these claims about the Met Police:

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Posted in London and News | Tagged brian paddick, lord leveson and Phone hacking | 1 Comment

Lords Reform: Nick Clegg faces the music…

By Mark Valladares | Tue 28th February 2012 - 8:53 am

Yesterday, the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill Joint Committee met for its last public session before retreating into report writing mode. And, as a special treat, they got an opportunity to savage the midwives of the proposed reforms, Nick Clegg and Mark Harper.

It was perhaps unfortunate that their evidence was somewhat overshadowed by an interview given by Lord Lee of Trafford …

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged house of lords and nick clegg | 8 Comments

Why Tory Euro-sceptics should back Nick Clegg

By Mark Pack | Tue 28th February 2012 - 7:50 am

Writing for ConHome, Lord Michael Dobbs argues against reform of the House of Lords because elected peers would behave differently from unelected peers:

I would demand more influence, a stronger voice, and that new power could come from only one place – the House of Commons.

There’s two flaws with that argument. The first, the most obvious, is the question of why, if such a transfer of power happens, should we fear it? Taking power away from elected politicians and giving it to the unelected is certainly often to be feared (though not always – judges and juries, not ministers, should …

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Posted in News | Tagged constitutional reform, house of lords, lords reform, michael dobbs and nick clegg | 3 Comments

Opinion: Hacking scandal should not be an excuse for politicians to settle scores with the media

By Mark Oaten | Mon 27th February 2012 - 4:24 pm

I have deliberately kept away from the hacking and press freedom story over the last few years but now I have had a full apology from News International, it is time to offer a view.

The recent arrest of Sun journalists over alleged payments to police brings to over thirty the number of journalists currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as part of the phone hacking scandal. It has become one of the biggest investigations for decades and will result in court cases and further evidence to the Levison inquiry. It’s right that criminal investigations take place, but as …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Phone hacking | 17 Comments

Campaign Corner: How can I make my direct mail better?

By Mark Pack | Mon 27th February 2012 - 3:25 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: We’ve started doing a lot more direct mail in my local party, partly because there are so many shared houses and blocks with one letterbox. How can we make our letters better?

Direct mail is a very important and powerful tool, as long as you remember it’s about quality as well as quantity:

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Posted in Campaign Corner | Tagged direct mail and featured | 1 Comment

Opinion: Our Green and Pleasant Land – and Councillors’ powers

By Michael Parsons | Mon 27th February 2012 - 2:24 pm

Our peaceful occupation of land in England for leisure or gardening or amenity is the result of a century of struggles for land access. “He who controls the land controls the life of the people”: and our native soil was alienated to landlords by the Enclosure movement and in Scotland by the vicious Highlands Clearances; and today such risks are still real. Fortunately Liberals began a defence of the people’s land-rights in the reforms of the 1906-1911 Parliament.

More land cannot be produced by landlords no matter how high its price goes. Charging more for it is no remedy for …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged green space | Leave a comment

Getting involved in the Association of Liberal Democrat Engineers and Scientists

By Craig Brown | Mon 27th February 2012 - 1:24 pm

The Association of Liberal Democrat Engineers and Scientists (ALDES) organises a fringe event at each conference. Our fringe event this Spring is entitled ‘The UK Space Industry: An Unsung Success Story’ – a topic very close to my heart, as an engineer designing space missions out of an office in Hertfordshire. Yes, ladies and gents, the UK ‘does space’. And what a lot of people don’t realise is, we do it very, very well.

The UK space industry has bucked the national trend and has seen impressive growth during the recession. Areas such as satellite broadcast, communications, equipment and support services …

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Posted in Conference | Tagged ALDES | 2 Comments

LibLink: Chris Rennard – David Cameron wants nothing less than Tory hegemony

By Paul Walter | Mon 27th February 2012 - 12:54 pm

On the Guardian’s Comment is Free, Chris Rennard warns that Libdems should beware becoming part of a grand plan to secure permanent Conservative domination:

Thirteen years of opposition were especially painful for those Tories who formed their political opinions in the years when Margaret Thatcher appeared to reign supreme. Opposition from 1997 was humiliating and served to increase the fiercely competitive instincts of the Cameron circle. Time in opposition helped them to plan to try and ensure that, if Labour let them win back power, they would never lose again – even with historically low levels of support for the

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged conservative party and liberal democrats | 9 Comments

Opinion: Where was Nick Clegg’s summit on the NHS?

By Nick Perry | Mon 27th February 2012 - 11:54 am

Much of the recent column space on Health issues has been filled with criticism or scepticism of the summit that David Cameron held in Downing Street, and more specifically Andrew Lansley’s Health & Social Care Bill.

The sceptics say that Cameron only invited ‘Yes people’ – people who would confirm his own world view of NHS reform, and who would be nice about Mr Lansley.

As usual, I ain’t bovvered about the Conservatives and what they do to attract media criticism. The more the better as far as I am concerned. What concerns me is what the Liberal Democrat leadership has been …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged NHS | 7 Comments

Opinion: The empowering world of unpaid work

By David M Gibson | Mon 27th February 2012 - 10:54 am

Last week, an article was published here attacking Tesco for exploiting the unemployed. Two major factual errors, albeit fairly understandable ones, were at the heart of the piece.

The first was that Tesco’s unpaid work experience scheme was being forced upon the unemployed by the Job Centre. In actuality, participation was voluntary and the scheme was not part of the government’s Mandatory Work Experience (aka ‘workfare’). In neither scheme is work unpaid, as benefits are paid in exchange for labour.

The second error was to suggest Tesco was ‘expecting the jobless to line-up’ for exploitation. The truth of the matter …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged workfare | 32 Comments

Warning to Lords: if you play silly buggers with Lords reform, you’ll lose your say

By Mark Pack | Mon 27th February 2012 - 9:50 am

The last few days has seen seep into the media an idea that has been doing the rounds of pro-Lords reformers in government for a little while.

It is an answer to the question of how the Coalition Government could get Lords reform through the Lords itself without the legislation being bogged down in filibustering and disruptive tactics designed to wreck other legislation. For all the childish temper tantrum tinge to the views of some peers (mainly Conservative) – ‘if you dare take away my place in the Lords, I’ll scream and I’ll scream and I’ll wreck all your bills’ – it is a serious threat. Because, after all, unelected peers don’t have to worry about making themselves look ridiculous, out of touch or petulant in the eyes of the electorate as they’re currently blessed with a seat in Parliament for life, regardless of what the public thinks.

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Posted in News | Tagged constitutional reform, david cameron, house of lords and lords reform | 12 Comments

Video: The first rule of politics is broken in the most spectacular fashion

By Paul Walter | Mon 27th February 2012 - 8:54 am

That is “the first rule of politics” in the sense of the “first rule of comedy, Spike” catchphrase in the late lamented David Croft’s Hi de Hi.

In this case, the rule I am thinking of is:

Always book a venue slightly too small for your expected audience. That way the room/hall will seem full and vibrant.

LibDems love to repeat the story of the agent who put out one chair for a meeting. Three people arrived. The agent brought in two extra chairs from the next room, then released a statement to the press about the meeting saying:

Extra chairs had to be brought in.

It says something about the cack-handedness of Mitt Romney’s US Republican nomination campaign that he can obviously learn a thing or two from the humblest agent.

The Democrat National Committee have put together this video of a rather disastrous Mitt Romney “rally” in Detroit, Michigan.

It’s worth watching this video all the way through for the priceless comment from an incredulous political pundit at the end.

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Posted in YouTube | Tagged Mitt Romney and usa | Leave a comment

Nick de Bois is wrong on Lords reform

By Mark Pack | Mon 27th February 2012 - 7:50 am

Conservative MP Nick de Bois put an apparently appealing case on Lords reform at the weekend – yes, let’s get rid of hereditaries, but hey, let’s not rush:

Lords reform should not be rushed.

Appealing that is, if you’ve missed out on the last century.

Because not only is it a century since further Lords reform was first promised by a government, but in the interim that have been proposals, debates and schemes aplenty.

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Posted in News | Tagged constitutional reform, house of lords, lords reform and nick de bois | 8 Comments

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