Kirsty Williams AM

Kirsty Williams writes… Education is a cause that unites us all

By Kirsty Williams AM | Tue 1st February 2011 - 11:35 am

Education has always been particularly important to Liberals. Wales has always prioritised education but this great tradition has been left to slide.

Alarm bells rang when last summer, our GCSE and A level results fell behind England for the first time.

Now, two recent reports have exposed just how badly Labour and Plaid Cymru have mismanaged the Welsh education system.

Firstly, an international assessment of performance (PISA, run by the OECD) has shown that Wales is the lowest achieving nation of the UK and falling behind many European countries. Welsh students have fallen behind in reading, mathematics and science. …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Wales | Tagged and | 11 Comments
Advert
Mark Pack

The Challenge of Affluence

By Mark Pack | Tue 1st February 2011 - 10:25 am

Avner Offer’s The Challenge of Affluence starts with certainty and ends with doubt. “Affluence breeds impatience, and impatience undermines well-being”, states Offer at the start of Chapter 1. That theme runs through the book to his conclusion, but the lessons he draws from it are not as simple or confidently stated: “Well-being is more than having more. It is a balance between our own needs, and those of others, on whose goodwill and approbation our own well-being depends … I present these findings in the hope that they will make our choices appear not simpler and easier, but as …

Continue reading »
Posted in Books | Tagged , , , and | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

Deal struck in Lords over Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

By Mark Pack | Tue 1st February 2011 - 8:55 am

From the BBC:

Tory and Labour peers have reached a deal ending the deadlock which threatened to block a 5 May referendum on changing the Westminster voting system, Lords leader Lord Strathclyde has said…

The government accepted in principle an amendment tabled by the convenor of crossbench peers, Baroness D’Souza, which reinstates public inquiries in the boundary review process in certain circumstances.

The crossbench peers’ amendment would allow, but not compel, the Boundary Commission to hold a local inquiry where an objection raised “substantive issues”. Inquiries would take no more than six months…

Lady D’Souza withdrew her amendment, telling peers she was encouraged

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 28 Comments
Mark Pack

Rich to lose most, more to pay higher tax – IFS

By Mark Pack | Mon 31st January 2011 - 7:17 pm

Today the Institute for Fiscal Studies published an analysis of the likely impact of the tax and benefit changes due in April, with a complicated and mixed picture summarised by its balanced headline: Rich to lose most from new measures in April, as 750,000 brought into higher rate tax.

The media coverage however has been to latch onto the second half of that headline and bury the first part a long way down the story. Take The Independent, with its headline Teachers and nurses dragged into top-rate bracket. It goes on to point out how some tube drivers also will end up …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 61 Comments
The Voice

“Lost” emails found in News International phone-hacking case

By The Voice | Mon 31st January 2011 - 1:07 pm

Via The Independent:

A “lost” hoard of emails sent by senior executives in Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire at the height of the phone-hacking scandal has been found, The Independent has learnt.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police are now expected to examine the database of emails in their renewed search for News of the World journalists who may have hacked into mobile phone messages or hired private detectives to do so in breach of privacy laws…

The claim that emails had been lost was made by the News of the World’s Scotland editor Bob Bird during the perjury trial of the former Scottish

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 2 Comments
Advert
Chris White

Chris White writes: LGA all in a Pickles

By Chris White | Mon 31st January 2011 - 11:15 am

Lib Dem Voice, the Local Government Chronicle and the Daily Mirror all featured a story recently about council leaders reaching the end of their tether with Eric Pickles. The event was a routine meeting of the Local Government Group Executive (LGA to you and me). I was one of those quoted as hurling my toys out of the pram. The Tories were more muted at that meeting but have nevertheless been pretty vocal elsewhere in their hostility to the Secretary of State for Local Government.

Surely it was ever thus? New Government comes in. Local Government gets its hopes up. New …

Continue reading »
Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Tagged and | 14 Comments
Stephen Tall

EXCLUSIVE: How party members rate the performances of leading Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Mon 31st January 2011 - 9:58 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of a variety of key issues, and what you make of the Lib Dems’ and Government’s performance to date. Over 660 party members responded, and we’ve been publishing the full results of our survey over the past couple of weeks.

Today, in the final part of our survey, we focus on the performances of the leading lights of the Liberal Democrats — those of our MPs in the cabinet, those occupying ministerial positions, and other leading Lib Dems:

How would you rate the performances of the …

Continue reading »
Posted in LDV Members poll | 11 Comments
Mark Pack

Meet the Lib Dem bloggers: David Boyle

By Mark Pack | Mon 31st January 2011 - 8:55 am

Welcome to the latest in our series giving the human face behind some of the blogs you can find on the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator.

Today it is David Boyle, who blogs at The Real Blog.

1. What’s your formative political memory?
I don’t know when I became a Liberal, but found myself cheering the party on during the Sutton & Cheam and Isle of Ely by-elections while I was studying for my O Levels. In 1979, I interviewed the local Liberal candidate (Dermot Roaf) for a student mag and went straight off and joined the party afterwards.

2. When did you start blogging?
2007 I think.

3. Why did you start blogging?
Partly because I seemed to be bursting with things to say; partly because, when I said them, people seemed to have a confused look on their faces. I also wanted to think out loud about the political implications of a book I wrote called Authenticity. (I also have an incredibly small publishing outfit called The Real Press.)

4. What five words would you use to describe your blog?
Liberal, human-scale and optimistic.

5. What five words would you use to describe your political views?
Radical, green, localist, humane, naive.

6. Which post have you most liked writing in the last year (and why)?
A post I wrote for Lib Dem Voice which, rather inadequately, tried to set out why I wasn’t as outraged as the Guardian thinks I should be about the spending review.

7. Which post have you most liked reading in the last year (and why)?
Neal Lawson’s Comment is Free blog about using ‘human’ as the yardstick for a new politics. I was fascinated to read it because I had been thinking along parallel lines myself.

8. What’s your favourite YouTube clip?
I think it has to be my wife Sarah’s film about our curtain pattern Kandahar.

Continue reading »
Posted in Online politics | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #206

By The Voice | Sun 30th January 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 206th 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 (23rd -29th January, 2011), 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:

Continue reading »
Posted in Best of the blogs | 2 Comments
Jonathan Featonby

Opinion: A hurting Lib Dem and the stagnant economy

By Jonathan Featonby | Sun 30th January 2011 - 6:12 pm

For the first time since his election as leader of the Labour party, I found myself agreeing with Ed Miliband during Prime Minister’s Questions this week.

With his new Shadow Chancellor sat next to him and in response to the news earlier in the week that the economy had contracted by 0.5% during the final quarter of 2010, Miliband urged David Cameron to think again over the upcoming spending cuts and VAT rise.

To make matters worse for the Coalition, the outgoing director-general of the CBI accused the government of putting politics before growth. Sir Richard Lambert argued that “politics …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 126 Comments
Stephen Tall

Local by-elections, the national picture: Lib Dems at 12%

By Stephen Tall | Sun 30th January 2011 - 5:28 pm

The Voice reported late on Thursday night the excellent performance of the Lib Dems in Winchester, recording a strong council by-election hold in the improbably-named Oliver’s Battery and Badger Farm.

The Independent, noting the party’s victory, however also recorded the national projections based on January’s eight local by-elections, which show the state of the parties as:

    Lab 39.4%, C 38.6%, Lib Dem 12.1%.

The report added:

… six of the contests were in areas where Lib Dems are traditionally the main challengers to Tories. In most of these the Conservative vote held up. This contrasted starkly with a huge swing

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

New Torygraph smears against Nick, as Hennessy hits a hat-trick

By Stephen Tall | Sun 30th January 2011 - 3:35 pm

‘Nick Clegg – no more Government business please after 3pm’ squeals the Torygraph today, delighted that they have managed to link their three favourite things in one story: (1) Having a pop at Nick Clegg (check); (2) Having a pop at the Coalition (check); and (3) Having a pop at ‘political correctness gawn mad’ (check).

If you read the story by the paper’s reliably on-right-wing-message Patrick Hennessy — and it’s almost worth it to see a political editor in full reactionary cry — a few facts become clear. First, that the 3pm deadline refers to the Whitehall practice of ‘closing’ …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , and | 39 Comments
Mark Pack

The Heart of the Party: what the LibDems stand for, 1995 version

By Mark Pack | Sun 30th January 2011 - 1:55 pm

Back in 1995 the Liberal Democrats under Paddy Ashdown made a video explaining what the party stands for and why people should back it. If you’ve been around in the party a few years you can have some fun spotting familiar faces from 15 years ago (including a young Danny Alexander), and even if not it’s striking how well some of the points have aged:

Continue reading »
Posted in Lib Dem TV | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Judith Jolly

Baroness Judith Jolly’s maiden speech

By Judith Jolly | Sun 30th January 2011 - 12:37 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Earlier in January, Baroness Jolly of of Congdon’s Shop in the County of Cornwall, made her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the NHS. Her words are reproduced below.

My Lords, I start by thanking noble Lords kindly for the warm welcome that I have found since my introduction on Tuesday-from Members opposite as well as from my own Benches. Advice about my speech was to keep it simple, but most of all to keep it short. I extend these thanks to members of staff who have been exceptionally helpful in all manner of ways. I must say that I am not without trepidation. My introduction by comparison was easy, as once in my robes I was but an actor. Today, I feel somewhat naked without them, particularly in such eminent company.

Continue reading »
Posted in Parliament | Tagged , , , , and | 1 Comment
Ruth Irwin

Opinion: Where are the girls?

By Ruth Irwin | Sun 30th January 2011 - 10:15 am

There are more Labour MPs called Ann than women Lib Dem MPs. There are more ‘David’s in the coalition cabinet than women. How can we dare to call ourselves a progressive party whilst continuing to operate tacit acceptance of male domination? And, just as importantly, why are more women not banging on the doors of power, trying to become PPCs and councilors? Why is the organisation I intern for, Women Liberal Democrats, limited to one part-time staffer and a fast-diminishing grant? Virginia Woolf famously wrote that women needed independent means in order to pursue professional careers – “a room of …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , and | 27 Comments
Chris Rennard

Chris Rennard writes: The row over the AV referendum will bring forward major changes in the House of Lords

By Chris Rennard | Sat 29th January 2011 - 11:30 pm

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill has now had a longer Committee stage in the House of Lords than any legislation taken there since at least 1945. The Bill is not a particularly complicated Bill when compared with, say, the last Labour Government’s Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. Labour’s last constitutional Bill covered thirteen different areas of constitutional reform (including an AV referendum) and was dealt with in the Commons in a few days by use of a ‘Programme Motion’ (guillotine).

The PVSC Bill has been subject to an extensive and well organised filibuster on Labour’s benches abusing …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Tagged , , , , , and | 56 Comments
Mark Pack

Blair criticised by top civil servant for keeping Iraq legal advice from Cabinet

By Mark Pack | Sat 29th January 2011 - 10:55 am

The Guardian reports:

The country’s most senior civil servant … said the cabinet should have been told of the attorney general’s doubts about the legality of invading Iraq before Tony Blair went to war.

“The ministerial code is very clear about the need, when the attorney general gives written advice, the full text of that advice should be attached “, Sir Gus O’Donnell told the Iraq inquiry.

The clear implication of his evidence is that Blair breached the code of conduct ministers have a duty to uphold.

You can read the full story here.

Posted in News | Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

The weekend debate: Was Beveridge right to oppose the creation of a welfare state?

By Mark Pack | Sat 29th January 2011 - 8:55 am

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

Though he is often thought of as the father of the modern welfare state in this country, William Beveridge in fact had other views on the matter. As he said of the Beveridge report, the aim, “was not security through a welfare state but security by cooperation between the state and the individual”. In other words, the state should assist people in achieving self-reliance (and so the contributory principle in the report) rather than being simply a benevolent charity writ large (and …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 71 Comments
The Voice

The LDV Friday Five: 28 January 2011

By The Voice | Fri 28th January 2011 - 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

  1. ID cards to be scrapped at midnight tonight (8 comments) by Helen Duffett
  2. Economy shrinks by 0.5% (67 comments) by Iain Roberts
  3. Labour’s plan to scrap the EMA (71 comments) by Iain Roberts
  4. Lib Dems GAIN Marl, Conwy (and other by-election results from Jan 20) (29 comments) by Helen Duffett
  5. Anti-terrorism review: 6 questions to judge the government by (38 comments) by Mark Pack

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

  1. Of mergers, pacts, alliances and secret deals
  2. Equalising constituency sizes
  3. Tax evasion/avoidance
  4. Which Hat do you wear normally?
  5. Anyone for the EU?

5 from the LDV archive

(28th January, 2006-2010)

  1. New Lib Dem members’ site goes live (7 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2010
  2. Three “disgusting, eco-fascist, bullying” questions for Conservatives (3 comments) by Alex Foster, from 2010
  3. If Gordon’s a “glum optimist” and Dave’s a “perky doom-monger”, can Nick be the “honest optimist”? (4 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2010
  4. Who has more power? A council chief exec, council leader or a local MP? (8 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2009
  5. Thorpe’s advice to Clegg: don’t go into coalition (9 comments) by Stephen Tall, from 2008

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

Continue reading »
Posted in Friday Five | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

It’s not only in the House of Lords where filibustering is an issue

By Mark Pack | Fri 28th January 2011 - 3:25 pm

Labour’s filibustering in the House of Lords in many ways echoes the current tactics of Republicans in the Senate: using delaying tactics to avoid issues coming to a vote when they know they will almost certainly lose a vote when it comes.

The Wall Street Journal reports how the US version is being addressed:

Senate leaders announced on Thursday a package of rule changes that seek to reduce the stalemate and gridlock that has characterized the chamber in recent years.

But lawmakers failed to agree on a limitation to the use of the filibuster—the right of any senator to hold up any

…

Continue reading »
Posted in LDVUSA | 3 Comments
Ben Stoneham

Lord Ben Stoneham’s maiden speech

By Ben Stoneham | Fri 28th January 2011 - 2:24 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Yesterday, Baron Stoneham of Droxford, of the Meon Valley in the County of Hampshire, made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on Tourism. His words are reproduced below.

My Lords, it is an honour and a privilege to speak to the House for the first time. I would like

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Parliament | Tagged and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Government presses ahead with devolving more powers to Scotland

By Mark Pack | Fri 28th January 2011 - 10:55 am

The coalition agreement’s commitment to devolve more powers from Westminster to Scotland was one aspect that helped it win strong support from Scottish Liberal Democrats as further devolution has been a long-running Lib Dem demand. Now the Scotland Bill is moving through Parliament to turn those commitments into action.

The BBC reports:

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said the Scotland Bill, giving Holyrood increased responsibility for borrowing, would bring a new phase in devolution.

Mr Moore said the legislation contained the right balance of powers and would give Holyrood greater accountability…

The most eye-catching proposals in the Scotland Bill are plans to give Holyrood

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Scotland | Tagged , and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Ah, now I see why I’m paid by neither the Daily Telegraph nor the Spectator

By Mark Pack | Fri 28th January 2011 - 8:55 am

You see, when I write about topics such as election law and psephology, I frequently check to see what is said in peer-reviewed academic papers. Particularly when I’m disagreeing with what people have claimed in such academic papers because, after all, saying something is wrong without actually taking a look at it is a bit of a risky leap of faith isn’t it?

But seeing what James Delingpole says, I can see where I’ve been going wrong. Clearly if I want to be a serious proper writer who gets published regularly by the Daily Telegraph or the Spectator the thing to remember is that criticising peer-reviewed papers (and indeed accusing authors of being in a conspiracy) is most properly done by never actually looking at them yourself:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged | 14 Comments
Helen Duffett

Lib Dems HOLD Oliver’s Battery and Badger Farm, Winchester

By Helen Duffett | Thu 27th January 2011 - 11:51 pm

Congratulations to Cllr Brian Laming

Photo: New Councillor Brian Laming and team. Also available on Flickr here.

The Liberal Democrats have won today’s by-election at Oliver’s Battery and Badger Farm, Winchester City Council.

LD Brian Laming 894 (53.9%)
Conservative 604 (36.4%)
Labour 161 (9.8%)
Turnout 51.1%
LD hold.

Councillor Brian Laming commented:

This is a real honour and a tribute to the local Lib Dem team and their work over the years. I’m also really grateful to the hard work from the whole Winchester team across the last few

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Council by-elections | Tagged and | 29 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Tim Farron – Easing of control orders makes this a proud day for civil liberties

By NewsHound | Thu 27th January 2011 - 3:20 pm

Lib Dem president Tim Farron writes in The Guardian’s Comment is Free about the Coalition’s reforms of control orders, restoring greater freedom for UK citizens. Here’s an excerpt:

With details of reform of counter-terrorism laws unveiled in the House of Commons, today is a proud day for those who cherish the freedoms that we in Britain have enjoyed for centuries and that our ancestors fought and died for. … the proposals detailed mark a decisive move away from the paranoid, authoritarian state presided over by Labour. No longer will people who have had no charge brought against them be locked up

…

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Tagged , and | 36 Comments
Mark Pack

England’s woodland sell-off plan gets a partial rethink

By Mark Pack | Thu 27th January 2011 - 1:55 pm

Looks like some welcome changes in the government plans for our forests according to the papers today:

The government is to make a partial climbdown tomorrow over proposals to sell off England’s woodlands, following pressure from campaigners and Liberal Democrats. The environment department is expected to announce that up to 80,000 hectares of England’s most cherished woodlands, such as the Forest of Dean and Cannock Chase, will be put into charitable trusts with the requirement that their current goals are maintained.

Posted in News | 28 Comments

The Independent View: Holocaust Memorial Day

By Carly Whyborn | Thu 27th January 2011 - 12:45 pm

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and the national event in London will bring together survivors from the Holocaust and subsequent genocides, politicians, religious leaders and dignitaries.  In addition hundreds of local events will be held across the UK giving everyone the opportunity to get involved in some way.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust took over responsibility for delivering HMD from the Home Office in 2005 and six years on our aims remain the same as they did then – to ensure that we remember the victims and honour the survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution and those from subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and during the ongoing atrocities in Darfur.

This year’s theme

This year’s theme for HMD is Untold Stories and builds on the success of HMD 2010 which focused on The Legacy of Hope. In 2010 tens of thousands of people signed up and pledged to become part of this ‘legacy’, ensuring that the experiences of Holocaust and genocide survivors were never forgotten, and that we can all learn from the lessons of the past.

The Untold Stories theme ensures that these pledges become a reality. This year we have focused on listening to stories of suffering, persecution, but also hope.  Importantly we heard many stories that have never been told before. Already we’ve lost millions of stories through acts of hatred and this year’s theme sends out a clear message that we cannot allow this to continue. Just some of the Untold Stories that we’ve heard can be seen in our film:

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Who runs the internet? Wikileaks, piracy and censorship

By Mark Pack | Thu 27th January 2011 - 10:57 am

We’re once again running a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat spring conference. This time we’re looking at the internet and who is allowed to control whom:

Who runs the internet? Wikileaks, piracy and censorship

WikileaksLibel law reform campaigner and former MP Evan Harris, website pioneer Mary Reid, James Blessing of the Internet Service Providers’ Assoication (ISPA) and Jim Killock of the digital rights champions Open Rights Group debate recent issues about free speech and the internet with chair Mark Pack.

Meeting Room 6, Mercure St Paul’s Hotel, 119 …

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Tagged , , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Clegg signals Coalition to emphasise growth over cuts in coming years

By The Voice | Thu 27th January 2011 - 9:58 am

Today’s Financial Times carries an interview with Nick Clegg in which he signals the Coalition is shifting its attention towards promoting growth after the last eight months’ focus on cuts:

The deputy prime minister admitted the 0.5 per cent fall in economic output at the end of last year was “very disappointing” but said that rebuilding the public finances was an essential plank of restoring growth.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Clegg said he would tell world financial leaders at Davos that the coalition would not be deflected by increasingly strong Labour attacks on its economic policy. “We will maintain

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged and | 49 Comments
Mark Pack

Liberal Democrat responses to anti-terrorism legislation review

By Mark Pack | Thu 27th January 2011 - 8:55 am

Here’s a round-up of responses from Liberal Democrat figures and blogs:

Tom Brake MP (Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs and Justice)

Sanity and justice have been restored to British life.

Today is a victory for those who have campaigned to restore the historic freedoms that Labour spent 13 years destroying.

Control orders are gone, 28 days detention without charge is gone, indiscriminate stop and search is gone and the abuse of anti-terror powers by councils to pursue petty offences is over.

There will always be a balance to be struck between freedom and security and these proposals

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , and | 10 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Chloe
    'What is our offer to Leicester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham and Newcastle, to name but a few' By the sound of it , rejoin the EU and we'll be the land o...
  • Mick Taylor
    There have been too few facts and far too much speculation. I do think we should be told exactly what has happened and why. Attempts to cast aspersions on indiv...
  • Mohammed Amin
    I agree. Whenever I speak or write about Israel & Palestine, I am immensely careful about the words I use....
  • Iain Brodie Browne
    There is far too little talk of spreading wealth. Anyone interested in just how radical the party was should check out David Steel's essay in his book Partners ...
  • Miranda Pinch
    Simon Lytton. Thanks for pointing out the issue with the expense of going to conferences. I have given up on York and Brighton is now so expensive and shabby. B...