The Voice

Lib Dem MPs win concessions ahead of benefits cap vote

By The Voice | Tue 31st January 2012 - 7:35 am

Lib Dem MPs, including the party’s deputy leader Simon Hughes, look set to obtain concessions from Iain Duncan Smith to win their support for the Coalition’s controversial welfare bill, which will introduce a benefit cap of a maximum of £26,000. Here’s how The Guardian reports the news:

The government is expected to make a series of concessions in the coming days on it controversial £26,000 household benefits cap to win over wavering Liberal Democrat MPs. Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, is expected to agree that a discretionary fund should be established to ease the burden on families

…

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Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Danny Alexander – ‘No-one wants bonus culture’

By Stephen Tall | Mon 30th January 2012 - 8:00 pm

Here’s Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander interviewed on Sunday lunchtime, defending the Coalition’s decision not to demand RBS chief executive Stephen Hester return his controversial bonus — a few hours before Mr Hester voluntarily forfeited it to defuse the row:

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Paul Walter

Opinion: Never mind ‘disrespect’, “Iron Lady” is just not a very good film

By Paul Walter | Mon 30th January 2012 - 6:23 pm

The film “Iron Lady” starring Meryl Streep has attracted a fair amount of Tory ire. Rob Wilson, MP for Reading East said in the House of Commons:

This week I attended the screening of The Iron Lady and was disturbed by the way in which the film portrayed its subject. Can we therefore have a debate on respect, good manners and good taste, as I found the film—although brilliantly acted—to be disrespectful to a Member of this Parliament?

While I once met Mrs Thatcher, and Denis, it will come as no surprise that, as someone who got involved in politics as …

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Paul Walter

LibLink: Lynne Featherstone – Success so far of the body image campaign

By Paul Walter | Mon 30th January 2012 - 5:23 pm

In the first of a series of monthly posts on Huffington Post, Lynne Featherstone outlines the case for changing perceptions of body image, and the success of the campaign so far:

Every day people are confronted with images of the ‘perfect’ body that just don’t reflect the diverse society we live in. These unrealistic images set an impossible standard, potentially damaging self esteem and crushing confidence.

We need to challenge this culture of conformity and widen the definition of beauty to include all ages, shapes, sizes and ethnicities. And we need to help people recognise that their value goes beyond

…

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes… A new Lib Dem science and research policy

By Julian Huppert | Mon 30th January 2012 - 4:23 pm

Britain has an excellent track record in science and research, with many great figures in natural sciences, humanities, computing, computing, engineering and mathematics over the years. We continue to outperform other countries in our achievements in these fields, in terms of outputs per person and per pound. We publish 13.8% of the world’s most cited papers, and massively outperform other countries on papers and citations per pound spent or per researcher.

However, we should not just assume that this will just continue automatically, and the UK needs both a thorough vision and policies that support science and research. It is in …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 11 Comments
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Mark Pack

Campaign Corner: Getting the most out of a delivery session

By Mark Pack | Mon 30th January 2012 - 3:50 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’re organising a mass delivery session next weekend. Any last minute tips on what we should do?

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The Voice

University figures: Highest year ever for teenager applications – except for last year’s spike

By The Voice | Mon 30th January 2012 - 2:25 pm

The BBC reports:

University applications from UK students for the first year of higher tuition fees are down by 8.7%, according to figures from the admissions service.

With fees rising to up to £9,000 per year, the impact has been biggest for England’s universities – down by 9.9%.

The LibDem Voice team have been quick to respond. Mark Pack pointed out three key facts about the figures:

1. Proportion of poor school-leavers applying to uni. at record levels
2. Best year ever for applications by teenagers save last year’s spike
3. Drop in mature student applications, which has caused the overall decrease figure

And …

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Nick Hollinghurst

Opinion: A healthy chamber in a healthy democracy?

By Nick Hollinghurst | Mon 30th January 2012 - 1:54 pm

Well, last week Liberal Democrats had a good week in the House of Lords. Our peers played leading roles in attempts to mitigate the more regressive effects of the benefit changes. And on Thursday, with Labour supporting us effectively for once, Shirley Williams led our peers to a signal victory on the NHS Bill.

There has been a long campaign to rescue the NHS from some of the harmful changes in the Bill. One of the most fundamental and, in the longterm, the most dangerous change was the removal of the duty of the Secretary of State “to provide or secure …

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Chris White

Opinion: What happens if Salmond loses the independence referendum?

By Chris White | Mon 30th January 2012 - 12:54 pm

There are clear signs that support for independence in Scotland is volatile and that the current debate is weakening it. Issues, such as defence, uncertainties over any financial settlement – not least because RBS is as Scottish as a glass of Glenmorangie – plus the normal fear of voters faced with a big step into the unknown, will all conspire between now and 2014 to make victory less and less likely.

So the residents of Scotland (including many who would describe themselves as English) may well say no. What then? Does the issue fade away?

In Scotland there would have to be …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 18 Comments
Mark Pack

Local liberal heroes: Alexi Sugden

By Mark Pack | Mon 30th January 2012 - 11:50 am

Earlier in the year, I penned a series of posts profiling forgotten liberal heroes (to which a couple of other people also kindly contributed), looking at some of those who achieved great things for liberalism in their time but have been unjustly forgotten – such as Margaret Wintringham, the very first female Liberal MP.

There is also another group of people who I think are often unjustly obscure – those local campaigners who are often at the heart of their local community and local party, delivering liberalism and helping others, but as their stage is a local one they are often …

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Dan Rogerson MP

Dan Rogerson MP writes… Welcoming more transparent school performance data

By Dan Rogerson MP | Mon 30th January 2012 - 10:54 am

Performance data for secondary schools was published last week, and there is an important difference between the latest figures and those that have been published in previous years. For the first time we are publishing separately the GCSE achievements of looked after children and children on free school meals at each and every school – the same group of young people who are eligible for the Pupil Premium.

With the Pupil Premium, funding is being specifically targeted at disadvantaged pupils, so that schools have the resources they need to make a difference. The new information will give us the opportunity …

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The Voice

Opinion: Is the Post Office safe in your hands, Mr Davey?

By The Voice | Mon 30th January 2012 - 9:45 am

Editor’s note: the author of this post has requested to remain anonymous, but his identity is known to me.

I write as a lifelong Liberal/Lib Dem and former councillor. I am sadly having to remain anonymous so that my wife is not made subject to reprisals for my views.

Lib Dem Voice recently claimed the future of the Post Office network is secure. I would like to present a counter (sic) viewpoint.

My wife took on a Post Office 10 years ago and her guaranteed monthly salary then was £620. Now, its £800 for a 48-hour working week – less than £3.70 …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 16 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #258

By The Voice | Sun 29th January 2012 - 8:25 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 258th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (22nd-28th January, 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:

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NewsHound

LibLink: Mr Clegg Goes to Peterbrook

By NewsHound | Sun 29th January 2012 - 5:55 pm

We’ve not often LibLinked through to the ‘Breaking News’ section of Peterbrook Primary School’s website. In fact we never have before. But their report of Nick Clegg’s visit, alongside local Solihull MP Lorely Burt, deserves a wide audience, and here’s a snippet:

Together with Solihull M.P Lorely Burt and an entourage of press and media broadcasters, Mr. Clegg came from London to see us so that we could share with him our curriculum developments using ‘Pupil Premium’ funding to support the learning and personal development needs of all pupils, with a specific focus at times, on those pupils who are eligible

…

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Stephen Tall

In other news…

By Stephen Tall | Sun 29th January 2012 - 4:45 pm

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

  • Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt is taking on sexism in the BBC: ‘The BBC must ensure there are more women presenters and executives working on its radio network if it is to justify its licence fee, MP Tessa Munt said today after she found that in some cases there were fewer female voices than 25 years ago.’
  • The FT reports how Danny Alexander, Lib Dem Treasury chief secretary, has highlighted a crackdown on high pay in the public sector: Danny has

    • …

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    Mark Pack

    A close escape – and now we should change our Euro-selection rules

    By Mark Pack | Sun 29th January 2012 - 2:50 pm

    This week the Liberal Democrats have had a close escape. Diana Wallis’s sudden resignation as an MEP highlight flaws in the party’s rules for picking a successor.

    Those rules aren’t new, but many people (myself included) have not paid that much attention to them in the past. It was only the circumstances of a resignation surrounded by controversy which brought attention to their weaknesses. Weaknesses only side-stepped by the decision of Stewart Arnold not to seek to succeed Diana Wallis.

    Most of the events of the last few days are specific to the Diana Wallis resignation – the fallout amongst …

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    Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged and | 30 Comments
    The Voice

    Shirley Williams’ campaign against NHS reforms wins new concessions from Lansley

    By The Voice | Sun 29th January 2012 - 12:30 pm

    Here’s how The Guardian reports today’s news that the Coalition will offer further concessions to the NHS reform bill in an attempt to head off a revolt in the House of Lords led by Lib Dem peer Baroness Williams:

    … ministers will table a series of amendments to the health and social care bill that will oblige Andrew Lansley to maintain the NHS as a national public service and, his critics say, limit his ambitions to expand the role of the private sector. The changes will also spell out the kind of services that must be offered by GPs and

    …

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    NewsHound

    Lib Dem Councillor Amy Kitcher shows the compassionate side of politics

    By NewsHound | Sun 29th January 2012 - 11:00 am

    A touching story epitomising the compassionate side of politics reaches The Voice via Dominic Hannigan:

    Prompted by Merthyr councillor Amy Kitcher, wellwishers from all over the borough have come to the aid of Paul Thomas, who was living in a flat in conditions he described as a “living nightmare”.

    And the dad-of-two, who is battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, admits that, if it wasn’t for the help of local people, he might even have considered taking his own life.

    “If it wasn’t for Amy Kitcher and if I wasn’t such a strong person, I could be dead by now,” the 34-year-old

    …

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    Dinti Batstone

    Opinion: Cross-Party Support for Job-Sharing

    By Dinti Batstone | Sun 29th January 2012 - 10:00 am

    What do Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, the Conservatives’ Peter Bottomley and our own Jenny Willott have in common? They’ve all signed up to this Early Day Motion tabled by Liberal Democrat MP for Ceredigion, Mark Williams.

    Mark’s motion welcomes a recent report, Job-Sharing at Senior Level: Making It Work, highlighting that job-sharing can stem the ‘female brain drain’ by enabling more women to progress into senior roles while combining work with family. It notes a striking finding that 80% of highly qualified women wish to work part-time and calls on the Government to consider the implications of this in the context of …

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    Stephen Tall

    LDVideo: Clegg on RBS Hester’s pay – “these figures seem like they’re from another planet”

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 29th January 2012 - 9:40 am

    The debate reverberated here on LibDemVoice yesterday: Should Stephen Hester accept his bonus? Here’s what Nick Clegg had to say about it all yesterday:

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    Posted in YouTube | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Cam’s Euro U-turn – this is what happens when you fail to negotiate

    By Stephen Tall | Sat 28th January 2012 - 5:50 pm

    Much wailing and gnashing of teeth today on the right as evidence emerges that David Cameron is backsliding on his ‘veto’ preventing the European Union from enforcing fiscal integration among the Eurozone countries. Here’s how The Guardian reports it:

    Ahead of Monday’s summit of EU leaders, which is due to finalise “political agreement” on the fiscal compact treaty, the government signalled that it would not challenge a role for the European commission and, more sensitively, would also allow resort to the European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg to enforce new debt ceilings and fines for fiscal miscreants in

    …

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    Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged and | 9 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    LDV Caption Competition: Eds Balls and Miliband “The Early Years” Edition

    By Stephen Tall | Sat 28th January 2012 - 4:40 pm

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


    (Image from The Guardian.)

    Here’s Labour top two Eds — the party leader and shadow chancellor — pictured in their salad days, Spadding for the Blair/Brown government. 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, Michael Gove “May the Lego be with you” Edition.

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    Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged and | 28 Comments
    Paul Pettinger

    Opinion: We have let neoliberals devastate state education, we must not let them do the same to the NHS

    By Paul Pettinger | Sat 28th January 2012 - 11:45 am

    To believe the Government’s hype, we are currently experiencing a liberal revolution in England’s education system – powers are being decentralised, with schools given more autonomy to innovate, while new education providers are adding further diversity to the state funded system by joining it through Academy sponsorship.

    The uninitiated could be forgiven for believing Michael Gove’s claim that the evidence base shows the structure of the state funded school system is holding education back, as well as his recent assertion that opponents of Academies are “ideologues”, who uphold a “bigoted backward bankrupt ideology of a leftwing establishment that perpetuates division …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 67 Comments
    Nick Tyrone

    Opinion: Firm Friend and Equal Partner – Alex Salmond’s Lecture at the Scott Trust

    By Nick Tyrone | Sat 28th January 2012 - 10:30 am

    I attended Alex Salmond’s lecture at the Scott Trust this Tuesday. It will come as no surprise to most of you that it was a terrifyingly brilliant performance by Scotland’s First Minister. However, it is important to note that the man is an enviable position at the moment and is well aware of that fact.

    For a start, he has the luxury of being both in government and opposition at the same time (government in Scotland while being able to dump on everyone in Westminster, including Labour). He proudly declared on Tuesday night that not only are the three main party …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
    Carl Quilliam

    The weekend debate: Should Stephen Hester accept his bonus?

    By Carl Quilliam | Sat 28th January 2012 - 9:25 am

    Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

    Since the £963, 000 shares bonus for RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester has been revealed there have been opinions pouring out from across the political spectrum.

    When Ed Miliband accused David Cameron of a “failure of leadership” over it, Cameron promptly distanced himself from the process altogether, with George Osborne claiming it was due to rules put in place by Labour.

    Boris Johnson seems to be against it, as is our usually economically …

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    The Voice

    The LDV Friday Five: 27 January 2012

    By The Voice | Fri 27th January 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

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    Paul Reynolds

    Opinion: Memo to Jeremy Browne MP

    By Paul Reynolds | Fri 27th January 2012 - 4:30 pm

    Dear Jeremy,

    Thank you very much for your typically robust performance on BBC TV’s Question Time last night. However I wish to counsel you against using the prospect of war with Iran as a vehicle to demonstrate your resolve, and the Party’s new-found ‘establishment’ credentials. Your political future, and maybe even your personal freedom, are at stake here….

    In the debate you not only expressed your support for blockade-type unilateral sanctions, that do not have UN support, but also you gave the distinct impression that you were in favour of the UK joining a major war against Iran.

    The recent rise …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 11 Comments
    Henry Vann

    Question: Big or small government? Answer: effective

    By Henry Vann | Fri 27th January 2012 - 3:00 pm

    One prominent member of Liberal Youth hits the nail on the head when she says ‘ frankly sick of all this I’m a social liberal so I’m a better Lib Dem; no it’s Orange Bookers that are real Lib Dems… we’re in the same party ffs.’

    And the contrasting Economist correspondent missed the target by a mile when he wrote – following our last conference – that ‘the Liberal Democrats are still in denial about their innate dividedness.’

    You see according to this correspondent – quoted again in The Week – he has had a brilliant insight: ‘You cannot be both for, and against, the Big State.’ But whilst his truism is logically …

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    Tom King

    Opinion: we must become the fair tax party

    By Tom King | Fri 27th January 2012 - 1:45 pm

    Nick Clegg has been all over the airwaves this week, promoting one of the Liberal Democrats’ flagship policies: raising the income tax threshold to £10,000. This is something that everyone interested in social justice should naturally be inclined to support. If implemented in the forthcoming budget, it would reduce the burden on low- and middle-income earners, putting money back in their pockets at a time when many are finding the cupboard bare.

    The policy also leads naturally to what some are already calling ‘Phase 2’ – tying the threshold directly to the current minimum …

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    Posted in News | 7 Comments
    Prateek Buch

    IPPR: making the Third Wave of Globalisation work for us all

    By Prateek Buch | Fri 27th January 2012 - 12:30 pm

    A new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), headed by a foreword by Lord Peter Mandleson, takes an in-depth look at the positive and negative impacts of the increased internationalisation of trade – what they characterise as the Third Wave of Globalisation.

    IPPR’s Will Straw and Alex Glennie set out how the modern increase in global commerce is distinct from those seen around the Industrial Revolution and World War II that were dominated by the UK and the USA respectively. Today’s growth in global trade is lead by developing economies in the East with a …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
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