Liberal Democrat Voice

What The Spectator says: ‘Obama the Lib Dem’. (PS: It may even be a compliment.)

By Stephen Tall | Tue 14th February 2012 - 8:12 pm

Over at The Spectator, Jonathan Jones looks at the US and UK approaches to their forthcoming budgets — cutting the deficit, taming debt, etc — and his fourth and final point concludes:

Obama the Lib Dem. It’s striking how similar Obama’s tax priorities are to those of the Liberal Democrats, even though the specifics differ either side of the Atlantic. Obama wants to extend the payroll tax cut for ‘160 million hardworking Americans’, which he says is worth ‘about $40 in every paycheck’ for ‘the typical family earning $50,000 a year’. The Lib Dems have been pushing to raise the

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Posted in News | Tagged barack obama, daniel radcliffe, jonathan jones, tax cuts (Lib Dem) and the spectator | 6 Comments

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Opinion: time to talk about things that don’t matter

By Chris White | Tue 14th February 2012 - 2:53 pm

Now, before I start, let me be clear: I am not an atheist and in fact find atheism’s certainties as puzzling as those of fundamentalists – the latter are certain that God exists and the former that he does not. Quite how, after centuries of Enlightenment philosophy, there are adherents to either point of view is beyond me.

Anyway: I go to Church, have doubts, fall far short of my ideals. Sorry.

Last week there was a High Court judgment against Bideford Town Council. In a nutshell it said that prayers should not form part of a council meeting.

I belong to two …

Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Tagged Local government and religion | 19 Comments

A postcard from… Valladolid

By Ruben Arbaizar | Tue 14th February 2012 - 1:22 pm

It seems that this idea is catching on, as Liberal Democrat Voice has received its first unsolicited postcard. So, without further ado…

It is generally assumed that the Mediterranean countries do not have a strong liberal, democratic strand to their politics. Indeed, the two members of the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) Group in the European Parliament are the nationalist parties of two Regions, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (Catalonia) and Partido Nacionalista Vasco (the Basque Country).

However, there are liberal democrats in Spanish politics, awaiting discovery by …

Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged a postcard from, europe and spain | 12 Comments

Coming up in the Lords… 27 February – 1 March

By Mark Valladares | Tue 14th February 2012 - 11:53 am

Welcome back to Liberal Democrat Voice’s coverage of the House of Lords. Or not, as the case may be, because, as you read this, they haven’t gone away yet. Confused? You see, this column covers the programme for the two weeks to come, and they’re not sitting next week, as they take a short recess to draw breath. But I digress (I’ve obviously spent too much time with some the Conservative backbenchers)…

Refreshed and relaxed after the break, the Lords returns to an increasingly hectic programme of Bills. Days …

Posted in News | 3 Comments

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LibDems – the hopeless romantics – Lord Bonkers comments…

By Lord Bonkers | Tue 14th February 2012 - 10:24 am

Yesterday we covered a survey which suggests that the Liberal Democrats are strongly romantic. Today, Lord Bonkers gives the LDV readership the benefit of his insight on this subject…

We are great romantics here in Rutland. This morning I watched swains, as tradition demands, gather the first snowdrops of the year to take to their loves. (This afternoon I phoned the Oakham Royal Infirmary and Matron is confident that no toes will be lost to frostbite.)

I was pleased to see from this survey that we Liberal Democrats are great romantics too. If one thinks about it, however, it should …

Posted in Humour | Tagged liberal democrats | 3 Comments

The Localism Act – Issues and Questions

By Alex Marsh | Tue 14th February 2012 - 9:13 am

Last Wednesday the LGiU and Bristol City Council collaborated to host a day conference on the Localism Act. Yesterday I introduced some of the main themes from the Government’s perspective, as set out by Andrew Stunell. As the conference progressed many issues and questions emerged. Today I identify those that particularly struck me. A broad message is that there remain significant challenges in effectively communicating to local communities the nature and extent of change.

The discussion of neighbourhood planning and neighbourhood forums highlighted quite how much of the Government’s Localism agenda relies on details yet to emerge. The imminent National …

Posted in News | Tagged localism and localism act | Leave a comment

Lib Dem members back Vince’s ‘mansion tax’ – but views differ about whether on house values of £1m or £2m

By Stephen Tall | Tue 14th February 2012 - 7:45 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 570 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

81% yes to mansion tax – but pretty even split on £1m or £2m levy value

LDV asked: The ‘mansion tax’ would levy a 1% annual charge on properties above a certain value. Would you support or oppose this new tax?

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged mansion tax and vince cable | 21 Comments

Campaign Corner: Making better speeches

By Mark Pack | Mon 13th February 2012 - 3:55 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: I often get very nervous when speaking in public. Speeches at the Civic Centre may not matter much but I do want to make a good impression at local groups – and at party conference! What do you advise?

Posted in Campaign Corner | Tagged featured | 15 Comments

New Liberal Reform group to launch today

By Zadok Day | Mon 13th February 2012 - 1:58 pm

2011 saw the second full year of Liberal Democrat participation in national government. It also saw the beginning of a process to test the waters for the creation of a grassroots grouping supporting the economic and social liberalism, the individual and political liberty that is so valued by our party. Discovering a good level of support for the idea, we decided to proceed. Our mission statement can be found on our website, but its preamble should give you an idea of the direction we intend to take.

Liberal Reform exists to promote four-cornered freedom in the Liberal Democrats – personal, political, social and

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Posted in Conference and News | Tagged liberal reform | 35 Comments

LibLink: James Plunkett – Budget 2012: 20 minutes in, 1-0 Team Clegg

By NewsHound | Mon 13th February 2012 - 12:25 pm

Over at the New Statesman, James Plunkett, who is leading the Resolution Foundation’s Commission on Living standards, looks at what we’ve learned from the recent interventions by Nick Clegg (pushing for a £10k income tax threshold to help the lowest-paid) and Danny Alexander (urging this be paid for by ending higher-rate pension relief) — and what those interventions might mean for George Osborne’s budget this March…

If there’s one thing Alexander’s intervention confirms it’s this: the key question for the 2012 Budget is no longer whether the Lib Dems will get anything on personal allowances but how the next

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged Danny Alexander, james plunkett, nick clegg, pensions and tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 3 Comments

Survey: LibDems are hopelessly romantic

By The Voice | Mon 13th February 2012 - 10:24 am

The Liberal Democrat Voice team is normally very circumspect about surveys. But, it being Valentine’s Eve, our romantic natures got the better of us on this occasion…

UK Dating site FreeDating.co.uk has carried out a survey which reveals differing attitudes to Valentine’s Day, based on political persuasion. According to the survey, Liberal Democrats are particularly positive to Valentine’s Day.

The site says:

Liberal Democrats are hopelessly romantic – along with lawyers, Christians, and women who don’t read books.

Both Tory and Labour voters

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Posted in News | Tagged liberal democrats | 10 Comments

The Localism Act – over to you

By Alex Marsh | Mon 13th February 2012 - 9:15 am

Last Wednesday the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) collaborated with Bristol City Council to run a major one-day conference on the Localism Act, which is now rapidly moving towards implementation. The audience comprised primarily local authority elected members and senior officers. The conference was kicked off by Barbara Janke, the Liberal Democrat Leader of Bristol City Council. The day’s discussions were bookended by wide ranging presentations from Westminster Liberal Democrat politicians: Lord Shipley in the morning and Andrew Stunell, …

Posted in News | Tagged localism and localism act | 3 Comments

Should the Liberal Democrats contest elections for Police and Crime Commissioners?

By Mark Pack | Mon 13th February 2012 - 8:50 am

A topic of much debate in the party, the question of whether or not there should be Liberal Democrat candidates in this autumn’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections was also the subject of a piece on The Westminster Hour on Sunday:

Posted in News | Tagged elected police commissioners and featured | 14 Comments

90% of Lib Dem members back 50p tax for highest earners & 73% increased taxes for wealthiest

By Stephen Tall | Mon 13th February 2012 - 7:45 am

90% of Lib Dem members back principle of 50p rate

LDV asked: In 2009 a new top rate of income tax of 50p in the pound was introduced for earnings over £150,000. Previously the top rate of income tax had been 40p in the pound. At what income level do you think the Coalition Government should set the 50p top rate of income tax?

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged tax cuts (Lib Dem) and wealth taxes | 13 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #260

By The Voice | Sun 12th February 2012 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 260th 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 (5-11 February, 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 | 1 Comment

In other news… Vince upsets Tories, Liverpool to choose mayor, Radcliffe hexes Clegg, and Hughes settles with Murdoch

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th February 2012 - 5:27 pm

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

Cable sticks by Les Ebdon as his choice of ‘university tsar’ – the Lib Dem business secretary is opening up a rift in the Coalition:

Business Secretary Vince Cable is standing by his candidate to head the university fair access watchdog, despite a rejection by MPs. Les Ebdon had been put forward by ministers as their preference for director of the Office for Fair Access. But MPs on a select committee have voted to try to block the appointment. However ministers are not backing

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Posted in News | Tagged daniel radcliffe, les ebdon, liverpool city council, news international, richard kemp, simon hughes and vince cable | Leave a comment

Four Tory councillors in storm over homophobic nickname targeting Lib Dem leader

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th February 2012 - 3:58 pm

Here’s a story that shows politics in both its best and worst lights — the facts, as far as I’ve gleaned them from the local paper, the Thame Gazette, are as follows…

Four Conservative councillors on Aylesbury Vale district council coined a nickname for the openly gay leader of the Lib Dem group, Stephen Lambert — they called him ‘Lily’ on at least four documented occasions, at the election count last May and at a number of group meetings. The homophobic slur came to light ‘when a member of the Conservative group approached with notes of the comments’.

Here’s what …

Posted in News | Tagged aylesbury vale, homophobia, john cartwright and steven lambert | 7 Comments

Clegg resurrects party funding talks, appoints Laws as Lib Dem negotiator

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th February 2012 - 2:35 pm

Earlier this week The Guardian reported that Nick Clegg ‘is to revive all-party talks on party funding admitting that extra state funding is off the table, but insisting a wider deal is still possible’:

Clegg as deputy prime minister is responsible for constitutional affairs, and was not taking the initiative as Lib Dem leader. The aim would be to set out heads of agreement on a range of issues by Easter. This high-level agreement would cover individual and company donor limits, the treatment of union affiliates, spending caps at elections and the distribution of existing state funding between parties, currently

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Posted in News | Tagged david laws, party funding and tim gordon | 1 Comment

The failure of David Steel’s Lords reform measure is good news

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th February 2012 - 1:10 pm

The attitude of former Liberal Party leader David Steel to Nick Clegg’s House of Lords reform proposals has been lukewarm at best. Although the party he headed up repeatedly called for a democratic upper house, Steel has not been supporting Nick Clegg’s attempt to turn those often made demands into policy. He even signed a cross-party letter against the proposals that was published the day of Clegg’s formal announcement.

Instead, Steel has been pursuing a different, much more modest, line – arguing that some modest reforms can be secured and they should be banked immediately as radical reform will take …

Posted in News | Tagged constitutional reform, david steel, lords reform and nick clegg | 6 Comments

Lib Dem members back ‘devo-max’ for Scotland (oh, and for England too, please)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th February 2012 - 9:15 am

Majority say referendum should offer straight yes/no choice on independence…

LDV asked: Thinking of the forthcoming referendum in Scotland, some have said the referendum should offer people the straight choice over whether Scotland should remain part of the UK or negotiate independence. Others however say that a third option should be included on the ballot paper, offering people the chance to vote for an …

Posted in LDV Members poll and Scotland | Tagged featured | 31 Comments

Bristol launches own currency to boost local business

By The Voice | Sun 12th February 2012 - 8:05 am

The Financial Times reports an innovative new development in Bristol designed to help local businesses:

A Bristol credit union is launching its own bank notes with which traders in the city will be able to pay their business taxes. The Bristol pound, which is supported by the Liberal Democrat-led city council, will be accepted tender in the city by businesses that sign up to the project. … The plan is to encourage more local trading – as the pounds will only be accepted by other shops or businesses in the city.

“One of the ways we can protect independent traders

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Posted in News | Tagged bristol council | 2 Comments

Danny Alexander: it’s time to axe higher-rate tax relief on pensions to fund tax-cuts for lowest-paid

By The Voice | Sat 11th February 2012 - 5:58 pm

A couple of weeks ago, Nick Clegg signalled his determination to cut the taxes of the lowest-paid — now Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander is pressing for the tax-rise that would enable the Coalition to get on with it.

Here’s how the Telegraph reports it:

Danny Alexander, a Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister, says the better-off are receiving overly-generous tax relief when they invest money for their retirement. Mr Alexander’s proposals would see tax relief halve from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. He also wants workers on the minimum wage, who earn up to

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Posted in News | Tagged Danny Alexander, pensions and tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 8 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Clegg, Cam & Lansley “You can hear the white coats flapping” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sat 11th February 2012 - 3:50 pm

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

Here’s David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Andrew Lansley rolling up their sleeves over the NHS reforms — 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, Ed Davey “I’ve got Energy” Edition.

Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged andrew lansley, david cameron, NHS and nick clegg | 29 Comments

LibLink: what to look out for at Lib Dem Spring Conference

By NewsHound | Sat 11th February 2012 - 12:00 pm

The Voice’s Mark Pack has a post over at Total Politics, discussing the issues likely to dominate the upcoming Lib Dem Spring Conference in Gateshead.

The first thing to note, says Mark, is that some of the most contentious political issues of recent weeks such as the reforms to the NHS and to the welfare system don’t appear on the conference agenda as it was drawn up some time ago:

There is a slot for emergency and topical issues to cover this eventuality, but with only time for one motion, not all of the controversies can be aired. Unless a

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Posted in Conference and LibLink | Tagged Gateshead 2012 Conference, health and social care bill, Mark Pack, NHS, total politics and welfare reform | Leave a comment

Lib Dems put pension tax breaks for the richest under scrutiny again

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th February 2012 - 10:25 am

Liberal Democrat pressure in the coalition government has already secured significant reductions in the tax breaks for the very richest. However, these tax breaks are still sufficiently generous that there is the scope for raising plenty more money without introducing punitive tax rates.

For example, restricting the tax relief on pension contributions to 20% (the standard rate for most people) rather than the current 40% for those earning over £100,000 would raise over £3.5 billion more each year. Last year, in a clear sign of the way in which senior Liberal Democrats are thinking, David Laws asked a series of Parliamentary …

Posted in News | Tagged Danny Alexander, david laws, tax and tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 10 Comments

What Lib Dem members think about Europe, Cameron’s ‘veto’, and the Eurozone

By Stephen Tall | Sat 11th February 2012 - 7:55 am

Party members split over the future of Europe

LDV asked: Which of the following options would be your ideal future for the UK and the European Union?

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Posted in Europe / International and LDV Members poll | Tagged david cameron, european union and nick clegg | 11 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

What The Spectator says: ‘Obama the Lib Dem’. (PS: It may even be a compliment.)

Opinion: time to talk about things that don’t matter

A postcard from… Valladolid

Coming up in the Lords… 27 February – 1 March

LibDems – the hopeless romantics – Lord Bonkers comments…

The Localism Act – Issues and Questions

Lib Dem members back Vince’s ‘mansion tax’ – but views differ about whether on house values of £1m or £2m

81% yes to mansion tax – but pretty even split on £1m or £2m levy value

Campaign Corner: Making better speeches

New Liberal Reform group to launch today

LibLink: James Plunkett – Budget 2012: 20 minutes in, 1-0 Team Clegg

Survey: LibDems are hopelessly romantic

The Localism Act – over to you

Should the Liberal Democrats contest elections for Police and Crime Commissioners?

90% of Lib Dem members back 50p tax for highest earners & 73% increased taxes for wealthiest

90% of Lib Dem members back principle of 50p rate

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #260

In other news… Vince upsets Tories, Liverpool to choose mayor, Radcliffe hexes Clegg, and Hughes settles with Murdoch

Four Tory councillors in storm over homophobic nickname targeting Lib Dem leader

Clegg resurrects party funding talks, appoints Laws as Lib Dem negotiator

The failure of David Steel’s Lords reform measure is good news

Lib Dem members back ‘devo-max’ for Scotland (oh, and for England too, please)

Majority say referendum should offer straight yes/no choice on independence…

Bristol launches own currency to boost local business

Danny Alexander: it’s time to axe higher-rate tax relief on pensions to fund tax-cuts for lowest-paid

LDV Caption Competition: Clegg, Cam & Lansley “You can hear the white coats flapping” Edition

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Lib Dems put pension tax breaks for the richest under scrutiny again

What Lib Dem members think about Europe, Cameron’s ‘veto’, and the Eurozone

Party members split over the future of Europe

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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

81% yes to mansion tax – but pretty even split on £1m or £2m levy value

90% of Lib Dem members back principle of 50p rate

Majority say referendum should offer straight yes/no choice on independence…

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Party members split over the future of Europe

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