Mark Valladares

European Parliament – another day, more elections…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 20th January 2012 - 11:00 am

Following on from the election of Martin Schulz to the Presidency of the European Parliament earlier this week, European Parliamentarians have been electing fourteen Vice–Presidents and five Quaestors.

Incumbent Vice-President, Edward McMillan-Scott (Liberal Democrat, Yorkshire and the Humber), having been elected last time as a member of the European People’s Party when the Conservatives were still members, was successfully re-elected as a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, meaning that the Liberal Democrats are directly represented on the Bureau, which is the administrative decision-making body in parliament dealing with issues such as buildings and MEPs’ expenses.

The full list …

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Adam Corlett

Opinion: If Cameron won’t attend Rio+20 then Clegg should

By Adam Corlett | Fri 20th January 2012 - 8:48 am

The Rio ‘Earth’ Summit in 1992 was the “world’s biggest ever political gathering” with 108 heads of state or government. Its successes and failures on the environment and development continue to shape those debates.

In June, Rio de Janeiro will host the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, a.k.a. Rio+20. A very early draft document suggests it will cover a wide range of topics, including access to food, water and energy; marine litter and pollution; eliminating “market distorting and environmentally harmful subsidies including those on fossil fuels, agriculture and fisheries” (I’ll believe it when I see …

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Mark Pack

How should Diana Wallis be replaced?

By Mark Pack | Thu 19th January 2012 - 11:22 pm

A question for Liberal Democrat members to mull… Under the law used for regional list elections, the decision over who should take over following Diana Wallis’s resignation as an MEP is up to the party (technically, the party’s Nominating Officer).

The general assumption in the past has been that if a list member stands down, it is whoever would have got their place on the list that takes over. That is the process followed in the past, such as in deciding Liz Lynne’s replacement as an MEP on her retirement or Lynne Featherstone’s replacement as a GLA member on her election …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 54 Comments
NewsHound

LibDem MEP retains influential European economic role

By NewsHound | Thu 19th January 2012 - 8:24 pm

Darren Ennis on MHP reports good news for the UK from the European Parliament:

British Liberal Democrat Sharon Bowles is expected to keep her role as chair of the European Parliament’s influential economic and monetary affairs committee, MHP Sources Say.

Despite winning cross-party praise for her increasingly high profile role during the economic downturn, Bowles risked losing the coveted position following British Prime Minister David Cameron’s EU veto and the decision by her UK Liberal Democrat colleague Diana Wallis to stand in this week’s election of a new President of the European Parliament.

Wallis infuriated Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt by standing as an independent, putting at risk a political pact he had negotiated with the Parliament’s two largest groups – the centre-right EPP and the Socialists – designed to keep Bowles as head of the Parliament’s most important committee.

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Nick T

Employee ownership: Some thoughts from a former John Lewis partner

By Nick T | Thu 19th January 2012 - 7:27 pm

Nick Clegg’s speech on Monday was a welcome contribution to the debate about the changes we want to make to our economy following the financial crisis. That the economic boom of the decade leading up to the 2008 bust was unsustainable is a proposition that hardly needs putting, yet the broader debate about how to avoid such a situation in the future (if indeed we think it worth avoiding) is a topic that is largely undiscussed. My own view is that we need a serious discussion about how we measure economic health, because if the last few years showed …

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Nick T

LibLink: Chris Rennard – Integrity in ensuring that people can vote

By Nick T | Thu 19th January 2012 - 6:28 pm

Over on epolitix, Lord (Chris) Rennard has a piece calling for changes to the electoral registration system to place the burden on individuals rather than households following the news that at least 6 million people are unregistered:

All parties and the Electoral Commission are agreed in principle that the electoral registration system should change to put the responsibility on individuals rather than households.

But the Commission report shows that our existing system is not as good as we thought and there are clearly dangers in making any changes. The biggest dangers to the integrity of the process would be to suggest that

…

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NewsHound

Diana Wallis MEP resigns

By NewsHound | Thu 19th January 2012 - 6:08 pm

European Voice reports:

Liberal Democrat MEP announces that she is to quit just days after failing in bid to become president of the European Parliament.

Diana Wallis, a British Liberal MEP who this week failed in her bid to become president of the European Parliament, today announced that she is to stand down as an MEP.

Wallis said that after 12 years as an MEP she wanted “to take a break from politics,” adding that it was time “for someone with fresh eyes to take over”. Wallis said she would give up her seat on 31 January.

Wallis came third in

…

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Nicola Prigg

Opinion: “Capitalism is a great success story.” Really, Nick?

By Nicola Prigg | Thu 19th January 2012 - 4:25 pm

On Monday, Nick Clegg gave a speech on responsible capitalism. This was his first real foray into the debate since it has erupted as a major talking point, even though we as a party have been arguing the need to reform capitalism before it was cool.

Before criticising capitalism, he praised it by saying this:

Capitalism may be today’s political punchbag, but let’s take a long view: it’s one of history’s great success stories. No other human innovation has driven progress  and raised living standards so consistently. Markets catalyse ideas, invention and experimentation. When they work well, they are meritocratic and

…

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Mark Pack

The trade unions could be doing Ed Miliband – and all of us – a favour

By Mark Pack | Thu 19th January 2012 - 3:56 pm

No doubt, both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, joined by a select band of Blairite survivors, would be rather chipper if the trade union chiefs currently making threatening noises about cutting Labour Party funding  turn out to really mean it.

But the real benefit could be much wider: if Labour loses a large chunk of its funding from trade unions bosses then it could unlock the long-running saga that political party funding reform.

Back in December I wrote:

The strong historical links between trade unions and the Labour Party means that any proposals which would curb the amount unions can give to Labour are

…

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Steve Coltman

Opinion: Derby, Bombardier and lessons for Government

By Steve Coltman | Thu 19th January 2012 - 2:57 pm

The award of a £1.4bn contract to Bombardier’s rival Siemens seemed to threaten the existence of Britain’s last remaining train-maker. 1200 workers were being laid off by Bombardier with more losses in the supply chain. The award to Siemens was all the more galling as it followed statements by politicians of all parties saying how important it is that we boost our manufacturing sector.

Two salient points have emerged regarding the Labour Government’s tender process. Firstly, they set this up as a ‘Private Finance Initiative’ and secondly that they used the ‘Utilities Contract Regulations’ rather than the ‘Public Contracts Regulations’. Both …

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George Kendall

Opinion: Political Heroes

By George Kendall | Thu 19th January 2012 - 11:56 am

I used to think of heroes as valiant individuals, standing alone against impossible odds. But, too often, they are media myths, their achievements the work of others.

And so with political heroes. They don’t change the country for the better without help. Too often, the real heroes are unsung, toiling away for little recognition and less reward because it is the right
thing to do.

Ten years ago, my political heroes were the grass roots of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Unexpected from a Liberal Democrat:  the UUP is close to the Conservative party, and, in Northern Ireland, were the establishment, but it is how I feel.

During …

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Mark Pack

Learning lessons from the US elections: four legal differences you need to know

By Mark Pack | Thu 19th January 2012 - 10:56 am

With a new American Presidential cycle producing, as ever, near obsessional coverage (and ignoring other more important electoral news), now is a good time to update a post from the last cycle about learning lessons from the US:

This year is already seeing all sorts of prognostications about the lessons UK political parties and campaigners can and should be drawing.

However, many of the differences between American and British election campaigns are not the result of American campaigners having good ideas the British should copy, but rather are the result of four key legal differences between the two countries.

First – and …

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Posted in Election law, LDVUSA and Op-eds | 3 Comments

Opinion: The Lib Dems should back Lord Foster’s plans for a new Thames Airport

By London Liberal | Thu 19th January 2012 - 9:24 am

Imagine if the Lib Dems had been in power in the west of England in the 1830s during the construction of Brunel’s visionary Great West Rail line. 19th century equivalents of ‘Focus’ leaflets (which, on reflection, would probably have looked much the same and have been produced in much the same way) would have dropped through the letterboxes of local residents in affected towns and villages warning them of terrible noise and rural devastation from years of construction activity that would permanently scar their cherished landscape.

Or imagine Lib Dems in opposition in the 1930s, who would have campaigned against those unsightly …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 43 Comments
Paul Walter

PMQs: Miliband hoist by his Balls’ petard

By Paul Walter | Thu 19th January 2012 - 8:24 am

Let’s start with what Ed Balls, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor said in the Guardian on January 14th:

My starting point is, I am afraid, we are going to have keep all these cuts. There is a big squeeze happening on budgets across the piece. The squeeze on defence spending, for instance, is £15bn by 2015. We are going to have to start from that being the baseline. At this stage, we can make no commitments to reverse any of that, on spending or on tax. So I am being absolutely clear about that.

So, it was something of a surprise when Ed …

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Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 18th January 2012 - 6:55 pm

Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore MP writes a regular column for local newspapers in his constituency. Here’s the latest edition, covering his busy week at Westminster and in the Borders.

Independence Referendum

Deciding on the future of our country and whether it remains in the UK or becomes independent will undoubtedly be the most important decision we Borderers make in our lifetime. Here in Berwickshire, we are very close to our English neighbours and enjoy the freedom of travelling and trading between the two countries. With questions which need answering on the SNP’s plans for an independent Scotland, …

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Mark Valladares

Martin Schulz elected as new President of the European Parliament

By Mark Valladares | Wed 18th January 2012 - 4:55 pm

As reported here on Liberal Democrat Voice on Sunday, the election of a new President of the European Parliament took place yesterday and, as expected, Martin Schulz, from the German Social Democrats, was elected with a plurality of votes in the first round of voting. The result was as follows:

Martin Schulz                 387 votes

Nirj Deva                         142 votes

Diana Wallis                    141 votes

Giving his acceptance speech to MEPs, Mr Schulz told MEPs: “Those who have voted for me can take pride in having done so. Those who didn’t vote for me will be pleasantly surprised.”. However, …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged and | 2 Comments
George Potter

Opinion: What’s happened to democracy in the Liberal Democrats?

By George Potter | Wed 18th January 2012 - 3:55 pm

What’s happened to democracy in the Liberal Democrats? Is it dead? Or is it just comatose?

The reason I ask this question comes from my own experience of our internal democracy.

When I joined the party at the age of 18, I was impressed by how, unlike any other major party,  ordinary members had a real say. That I, as a member, had a voice equal to anyone else in the party, be it my local councillor or the party leader and that everyone’s vote was equal.

So, last year, when I learned about the shocking plans by the government to drastically cut …

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Richard Clare

Opinion: Stop the extradition of Richard O’Dwyer

By Richard Clare | Wed 18th January 2012 - 1:55 pm

Recently Sheffield Hallam student Richard O’Dwyer lost his court case against extradition to the USA for running a website that provided links to websites where users could illegally pirate copyrighted TV material. He will be lodging an appeal with the High Court and he cannot be extradited without the specific permission of the Home Secretary Theresa May.

Richard’s actions were not a crime in the UK because his website did not host the files but rather hosted links to the websites that did host the files, like Google does. Quite simply, it goes against the terms of the Extradition Treaty …

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Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron MP writes… Are two Eds better than one?

By Tim Farron MP | Wed 18th January 2012 - 12:54 pm

Are 2 Eds better than one? I’m not sure – but the two Eds said something very interesting over the weekend: apparently they don’t have a ‘Plan B’ for the economy after all!

As I drove into the village of Haverthwaite on Saturday morning to do some residents’ surveying, I was preparing to turn the radio off and then Ed Balls popped up. I listened with amazement. In his interview he admitted not only that the programme of cuts being carried out by the Coalition government were right, but that Labour would not over turn them if they were in Government. Unfortunately however he didn’t go as far as to admit that the cause behind all the cuts – the dire economic situation – was in fact largely his fault.

You’ll have heard Simon Hughes and me over the weekend rightly calling on the two Eds to apologise. We want them to apologise to the British public for deceiving them for 18 months before finally admitting that what the Liberal Democrats have been doing in Government is broadly the right approach. However, there is one apology we didn’t call for publicly, but which they still should make – that’s an apology to you!

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Graeme Cowie

Opinion: No is not enough; Scottish Liberal Democrats must embrace independence referendum

By Graeme Cowie | Wed 18th January 2012 - 11:53 am

Alex Salmond’s SNP have a political mandate to hold a referendum on Scottish Independence. With an unprecedented majority in the Scottish Parliament and a manifesto pledge, the question is not if we have to confront this issue, but how.

Leaving aside arguments about the Scottish Parliament’s legal authority to legislate on an independence referendum (this can be resolved amicably through Westminster legislation) the Scottish Liberal Democrats must engage with the merits, not just of independence, but also “devo-max”.

Although Liberal Democrats generally support the Union, not all members are so-minded. Some (myself included) are ambivalent or notionally support Scottish independence, …

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Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg’s mental health initiative provides treatment for half a million people

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th January 2012 - 10:55 am

One of Nick Clegg’s first major speeches as leader of the Liberal Democrats, as Lib Dem Voice reported way back in February 2008, was on the subject of mental health, of ensuring much faster access to therapy for those affected.

In Government, he is able to put his ideas into practice, last year allocating £400 million to talking therapies. I wrote then about why I was so pleased to see that much needed investment.

Today’s Telegraph reports that half a million people have entered treatment under the Coalition’s mental health strategy.

Last night, Nick Clegg held a reception in London …

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Mark Pack

The best spoof political interview. Ever.

By Mark Pack | Wed 18th January 2012 - 10:25 am

Earlier in the month I shared my two favourite clips of political canvassing going wrong from TV drama shows. Today it’s the turn of the best spoof interview, courtesy of Australian TV in the 1990s. Enjoy:

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Sean Davey

Vested interests on Cameron’s doorstep

By Sean Davey | Wed 18th January 2012 - 8:55 am

Private Eye has welcomed a newcomer to its Rotten Boroughs column in its past 26 issues: Cotswold District Council.

Here in the idyllic Cotswold constituency, neighbouring  David Cameron’s Witney, there has been massive fraud, resulting, so far, in the prosecution and  sentencing of former Cotswold Water Park Society CEO Dennis Grant, who embezzled £700,000 of the charity’s funds. Now an independent, external police force has been brought in by the County Council to investigate further allegations.

One of the key campaigners leading the way in exposing these dealings is Liberal Democrat Councillor Esmond Jenkins. Elected to represent the Water Park ward …

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Mark Valladares

Coming up in the Lords… 23 January – 2 February

By Mark Valladares | Tue 17th January 2012 - 5:23 pm

It has become abundantly clear since the Christmas break that most of the Parliamentary excitement, apart from that curiosity known as Prime Minister’s Questions, is going to come from the Lords until Easter, and the coming fortnight will be no exception.

Days 5 and 6 of the Report Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill will take place on January 23rd and 25th, with the Third Reading scheduled, perhaps optimistically for 31st January. It’s always dangerous to guess exactly how much progress will be made on Day 4, taking …

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Helen Duffett

Comeback Clegg – the Times’ reasons to be cheerful about the Lib Dems

By Helen Duffett | Tue 17th January 2012 - 4:49 pm

There’s a great article in today’s Times praising the Liberal Democrats and fancying the party’s prospects between now and 2015.

Rachel Sylvester writes that although the received wisdom says coalition government has ruined the Lib Dems’ chances, it’s too early to write them off:

The Liberal Democrats could end up doing a lot better than most people currently think.

She cites encouraging signs in the polls:

A huge number of people still have no idea how they are going to vote and although only 12 per cent say that they would support Mr Clegg’s party if there were an election

…

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Lord Smith of Clifton

Opinion: the dangers of a new Middle East conflagration

By Lord Smith of Clifton | Tue 17th January 2012 - 3:50 pm

Storm clouds are gathering over whether Iran should be invaded as a pre-emptive strike to prevent its manufacture of nuclear weapons. Already, Israel seems to be moving pro-actively, while the subject would have been discussed by Cameron during his trip to Saudi Arabia. The US has initiated the tightening of economic sanctions against Iran and has raised its naval profile in the Persian Gulf, though it would clearly prefer to postpone any military action until after the US Presidential election in November. Meanwhile, are the various diplomatic manoeuvres around Syria a rehearsal for future action against Iran?

Very great caution …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Tagged and | 8 Comments
Caroline Pidgeon

London Liberal Democrats – helping those with the smallest pockets get to work

By Caroline Pidgeon | Tue 17th January 2012 - 2:52 pm

Last week Brian Paddick and I launched a fairer fares package ahead of this year’s London Mayoral and Assembly elections.

Boris Johnson has been Mayor of London since 2008. In just four years he has increased the cheapest bus fare from 90p to £1.35 – and he had planned to raise fares even further until the Coalition Government stepped in and helped limit the rise. As well as bus fares, the cost of travelling on the Tube, the Docklands Light Railway, the Croydon Tramlink and the London Overground have all soared under Mr Johnson’s mayoralty.

Of course there …

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Posted in London and News | Tagged , , and | 10 Comments
Baroness Ros Scott

A postcard from… Chennai

By Baroness Ros Scott | Tue 17th January 2012 - 1:53 pm

Here in the LDV office, we’ve received another postcard from Baroness Ros Scott. Typically, she’s arrived long before the postcard did…

The failure of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament is a good example of just how difficult Parliamentary business can be in India. The Lok Sabha is directly elected on a constituency basis, but with regional loyalties such a strong determinant of voting, thirty-four political parties are represented, as well as nine independents.

If you think that two party coalition is tough, consider for a moment the job of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose ruling Congress Party governs as part …

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Posted in Europe / International and News | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
Lev Eakins

Opinion: Depleted Uranium Weapons – a new area of Liberal Democrat policy?

By Lev Eakins | Tue 17th January 2012 - 11:50 am

After 40 years of increasing disquiet over depleted uranium (DU), the UK’s last operational DU tank munition – CHARM3 – is nearing the end of its shelf-life. DU weapons are chemically toxic and radioactive. Their use (especially in Iraq) generates a hazardous legacy that states recovering from conflict struggle to monitor and mitigate. CHARM3’s propellant charge expires in 2013 and the decision to renew or reject DU munitions may provide an opportunity for us in government.

Unlike the US and France, the UK has not upgraded its anti-tank ammunition in over a decade. This is due to the technical limitations …

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Norman Lamb MP

Our time to lead the debate: Employee ownership

By Norman Lamb MP | Tue 17th January 2012 - 11:29 am

In the debate on so-called crony capitalism two things are clear. First there is genuine and widespread anger at corporate greed and irresponsible capitalism. Second, politicians from the left have been groping around, without much success, trying to come up with convincing responses. Ed Miliband drew a distinction between producers and predators. But he failed to offer any answers.

We see power and wealth concentrated in the hands of the few – the benefits of success going to those at the top rather than being fairly shared between all those who generated that wealth. Even worse, company bosses too often get …

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Posted in News, Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged and | 10 Comments
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