Stephen Tall

LDV readers vote Aung San Suu Kyi your Liberal Voice of the Year

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th January 2011 - 12:28 pm

Congratulations to Aung San Suu Kyi, who has won Liberal Democrat Voice’s fourth annual Liberal Voice of the Year award – an award which publicly acknowledges the campaigning work of non-Liberal Democrats in promoting liberal values.

She gained a plurality of votes, with 22%; the runner-up was Prime Minister David Cameron (assisted by some right-wing push-tweets), with 20%, followed by fellow Tory Ken Clarke, with 12%.

  • 22% (238 votes): Aung San Suu Kyi – for her courageous stand against political abuse in Burma
  • 20% (216): David Cameron – for his commitment to forming the Liberal-Conservative Coalition Government

…

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Posted in LDV Awards | Tagged and | 11 Comments
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David Boyle

Opinion: The next big idea – humanity

By David Boyle | Mon 10th January 2011 - 10:25 am

The cacophony from Facebook, the blogosphere and all the rest of the Twitterati sometimes drives out what is most significant.  But every so often someone writes something that you know is important for the future.

Neal Lawson is an indefinable character.  His Compass campaign group is a fountain of new ideas designed to revitalise the Labour Party.  He is no friend of the Liberal Democrats, but neither is an enemy or party to the destructive game of name-calling and innuendo that characterises the Labour campaign in Oldham East and Saddleworth.

I also believe his article in the Guardian, with a slightly …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem members think about an elected House of Lords and directly-elected mayors

By Stephen Tall | Mon 10th January 2011 - 8:45 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. Over 660 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results over the next few days.

An 80% elected House of Lords

LDV asked: The Coalition Agreement committed the Government to “a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation”. It is reported that Nick Clegg will present plans for 80% of the new house to be elected under the Single Transferable Vote. Would you be happy …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Tagged , and | 11 Comments
Mark Pack

Wigan Council falls for the snow myth

By Mark Pack | Sun 9th January 2011 - 10:56 pm

Ooops, not quite all good new on the snow myth-busting front. Despite good news from many parts of the country about councils laying to rest the myths around people being sued if they clear snow from outside their own homes, Wigan Council has gone for reinforcing rather than rejecting the legal myths:

HOMEOWNERS and businesses could risk being sued for clearing snow from the front of their premises if someone slips or falls, legal experts at Wigan Council have warned…

With more snow forecast for this weekend, Wigan Council’s borough solicitor Kevin Lawson said: “It is the council’s responsibility, so far as

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 12 Comments
The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #203

By The Voice | Sun 9th January 2011 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 203rd 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 (2nd – 8th January, 2010), 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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Prateek Buch

Opinion: Liberal Democrats in government are protecting free speech and other cherished civil liberties

By Prateek Buch | Sun 9th January 2011 - 4:50 pm

The Institute for Government was the setting for Deputy Prime Minister’s keynote address on the Coalition Government’s plans for protecting civil liberties – and for those of us keen to see Britain’s tarnished international reputation on personal freedoms restored, Nick Clegg’s speech was enough to brighten even the most dismal of days.

Nick began with a nice touch, telling us why his belief in civil liberties sprang from an upbringing that “made sure that my brothers and sister and I grew up certain of one thing: you must never take your freedom for granted.” This personal insight helped set …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

Those Oldham East and Saddleworth polls: what do they mean?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 9th January 2011 - 2:15 pm

We reported last night the results of the three opinion polls published ahead of the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election this Thursday. Let’s take a look now at the only two questions that matter when reading these polls…

1. Will the opinion polls prove accurate?

Opinion polls in by-elections have a notoriously patchy record — unsurprisingly, as the pollsters are unable to refine their techniques over time and measure their snapshots against actual results as they are able to with their general election predictions. For example, pre-by-election polls in Glasgow East (2008) and Blaenau Gwent (2006) showed the wrong winners.

They …

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Posted in Parliamentary by-elections and Polls | Tagged and | 94 Comments
Richard Clare

Opinion: One good reason to vote Lib Dem

By Richard Clare | Sun 9th January 2011 - 12:50 pm

With the looming by-election in Oldham East & Saddleworth and each candidate eager to win, with each of their respective parties hoping to be able to boast about the win for years to come, I’d imagine the people of OE&S are probably scratching their heads. A Labour party that endorsed the Phil Woolas who combined pretty much everything we hate about politicians in his lies intended to stir racial tensions? A Liberal Democrat party that, let’s be honest, is not the most glamorous of groups at the moment, still reeling from scandals and broken pledges? A Conservative party barely even …

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Posted in Op-eds and Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , , and | 49 Comments
Mark Pack

The Independent calls for a ‘Yes’ vote in voting reform referendum

By Mark Pack | Sun 9th January 2011 - 11:33 am

From today’s Independent on Sunday:

To try to calculate the case for different voting systems by party advantage (or disadvantage) is not only wrong, it is also a mistake. Although we can guess how past elections might have turned out under AV, based on opinion-poll evidence of voters’ second preferences (as we report today, there might have been a hung parliament in 1992 and a Lib-Lab deal might have been more possible last year), people would behave differently under a different system.

Now it is time, therefore, to consider the philosophical or pure case for the alternative vote. In this, we

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 13 Comments
Simon Hughes MP

Simon Hughes writes… Why I’ve taken up a government post

By Simon Hughes MP | Sun 9th January 2011 - 10:25 am

There are many good and legitimate arguments to be had about tuition fees and whether they are the best way to fund our higher education system. These include the big concerns about intergenerational inequality, and whether the market system is the best way to drive forward excellence in our higher education institutions. Liberal Democrats have long opposed tuition fees for these and other reasons, including of course the additional concern that fees are a barrier to access into higher education.

But the one criticism that cannot be levelled at the government’s proposals is that it will make university unaffordable for future students. The system of financing for the teaching of higher education which …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 16 Comments
Mark Pack

By-election polls: Labour 17% ahead – or 1%

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th January 2011 - 9:13 pm

Two polls out tonight (so far – there may be a third) on the Oldham by-election:

ICM for Mail on Sunday: Labour 44%, Lib Dem 27%, Conservative 18%
Populus for Lord Ashcroft / Sunday Telegraph: Labour 46%, Lib Dem 29%, Conservative 15%

UPDATE: New pollster Survation (who are applying for membership of the trade body, the British Polling Council) makes it much closer with Labour 31%, Lib Dem 30% and Conservative 6% (don’t knows not excluded, hence the lower figures all round).

Posted in News, Parliamentary by-elections and Polls | Tagged and | 72 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Simon Hughes – ‘We’re not trying to escape’

By NewsHound | Sat 8th January 2011 - 8:35 pm

Over at The Guardian today, there’s an interview with Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes following his recent appointment as the Coalition’s ‘advocate for access to education’ despite having not voted in favour of the Government’s tuition fees proposals.

Simon talks about the difference between government and opposition:

What is it like, being in power? What’s it like, after decades of not a sniff of it? “It is entirely different, and it has taken me and other people in our party a bit of time to get used to, to be honest.” Hughes, 59, has a calm, practiced warmth, and while

…

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Posted in LibLink | Tagged , , and | 7 Comments
Paul Walter

Opinion: Neal Lawson and the Good Society

By Paul Walter | Sat 8th January 2011 - 6:56 pm

On Comment is Free, Compass’ Chair Neal Lawson has outlined his ideas for the “good society” which he sees as a vision for the centre left. This follows on from an early December essay entitled “Welcome to New Socialism”  in the New Statesman penned with John Harris, which I reviewed previously on Lib Dem Voice.

In his CiF article, Neal Lawson fleshes out his philosophy for the “good society” mentioning Aristotle and the need for a more meaningful existence beyond what he succinctly sums up as our “learn-to-earn-to-spend culture”.

The philosophical bit is all very laudable and nothing with which most …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Lord Oakeshott attacks bank bonus secrecy

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th January 2011 - 3:32 pm

From The Guardian:

Cracking down on bankers’ bonuses is a “moment of truth” for the coalition government, a leading Liberal Democrat has warned, amid mounting expectations that payments of at least £7bn will be awarded in the coming weeks…

Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman, said this was a moment for the coalition to act, particularly on forcing more disclosure from banks on the amount they pay.

“This is the coalition’s moment of truth on fairness,” he said. “The first item on our coalition agreement is a promise to deal with unacceptable bankers’ bonuses. Secret bonuses are by definition unacceptable, so

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 9 Comments
Antonia Mochan

The Independent View: How do you know what to say about Europe?

By Antonia Mochan | Sat 8th January 2011 - 2:25 pm

Rightly or wrongly, the Liberal Democrats are as seen as the most pro-European of the three main political parties. The UK debate on the European Union is often framed in terms of “Europhiles v Eurosceptics”. However, it’s my experience, after 2 and a half years as the European Commission’s head of media in the UK, that most people don’t really have much of an opinion either way. They care about things that affect them personally, and probably don’t see the EU very present in their daily lives. European debates, either in the UK or at EU level, have a tendency …

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Posted in Europe / International, Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged and | 11 Comments
John Howson

Opinion: Control orders – not the only problem with restrictions on liberty

By John Howson | Sat 8th January 2011 - 10:55 am

How far do we want to permit detention without trial? If Control Orders are regarded as an unacceptable deprivation of liberty under Article 5 of the ECHR legislation, what are we to make of police officers who summarily impose long curfews on those arrested but not charged with any offence?

Fanciful as it may seem, it is perfectly possible for a police officer to arrest someone, take them to a police station, have an interview with them, and then release the person on police bail for four weeks but impose a curfew from 9pm to 6am requiring the person to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

The Saturday debate: Drugs

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

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

Government policy on drugs: what should it be?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 36 Comments
Mark Pack

Fact Check factchecks the Fact Check quoters

By Mark Pack | Fri 7th January 2011 - 11:27 pm

Oops. Bit of, err…, over exuberance over on Labour List who ran the story:

Deficit caused by economic crisis, says Channel 4…
The Tories have spent most of the past year trying to establish a media narrative that says Labour are to blame for the deficit. Once they had acheived that, it was just a small step to argue that “austerity” was needed to fix problems “caused by Labour”. So it’s pleasing that Miliband’s defence of Labour’s economic record has been so swiftly vindicated by the respected Channel 4 factcheck.

There was one slight problem, as the update to the post reveals:

Channel

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 11 Comments
The Voice

The LDV Friday Five: 7 January 2011

By The Voice | Fri 7th 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. NEW POLL: Who is your Liberal Voice of the Year? (34 comments) by Stephen Tall
  2. Why Cameron’s a credible candidate for 2010’s Liberal Voice award (62 comments) by Stephen Tall
  3. The VAT rise: a refresher course for Labour (89 comments) by Stephen Tall
  4. Why I support the Coalition: in praise of compromise (54 comments) by Iain Roberts
  5. The Independent. It isn’t. (41 comments) by Stephen Tall

5 sample LDV Members’ Forum threads

  1. Times endorses Lib Dems in OES
  2. Tips wanted for phone canvassing
  3. What next after PagePlus 11?
  4. Net Neutrality
  5. PPCs for the next General Election

5 from the LDV archive

(7th January, 2006-2010)

  1. Britain’s best MP competition: the results (10 comments) by Keith Halstead, from 2010
  2. Happy 42nd birthday, Nick! (2 comments) by The Voice, from 2009
  3. Opinion: Why I am so passionately pro-European (13 comments) by Professor Patricia Leighton, from 2009
  4. Jeremy Clarkson changes gear on privacy (10 comments) by Richard Huzzey, from 2008
  5. Hemming threatens to name social workers in Parliament (120 comments) by The Founding Editor, from 2007

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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Sara Bedford

Former MP jailed for expenses fraud

By Sara Bedford | Fri 7th January 2011 - 2:41 pm

Disgraced former MP David Chaytor was today jailed for 18 months, after admitting to three charges of false accounting on his expenses, totalling over £20,000. He had faced a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment, but his guilty plea was taken into account.

The former Labour MP for Bury North had made claims for renting two properties which were owned by him and his mother, and for IT consultancy for which he was never charged. According to the Daily Telegraph, Chaytor had spread more than £91,100 of expenses claims across five different properties in five years, ‘flipping’ the designation of his second home six times.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 29 Comments
Stephen Tall

The Yes! to Fairer Votes campaign asks: Where does your MP stand on the Alternative Vote?

By Stephen Tall | Fri 7th January 2011 - 2:28 pm

Earlier this week, Lib Dem Voice highlighted the No2AV campaign’s embarrassing failure to check whether all the Labour MPs they said were opposed to reforming the UK’s unfair electoral system actually are opposed. It turns out that five of the 114 named were listed wrongly.

As a result of the No camp’s confusion, the Yes! to Fairer Votes campaign is asking the public to help make sure all MPs come clean about which side of the debate they support:

What really matters in this referendum is what the people want, not politicians. But since they are meant to represent us,

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 10 Comments
The Voice

Nick Clegg: “A liberal approach to freedom, a British approach to freedom”

By The Voice | Fri 7th January 2011 - 1:25 pm

Nick Clegg today set out the principles which will drive the Coalition’s plans to uphold civil liberties while protecting national security, and outlined reforms to Freedom of Information laws and English libel laws. You can read the full speech below — here’s the conclusion:

So, to sum up: the restoration of every day liberties; counterterrorism measures that uphold liberty while protecting security; free citizens able to see into, and speak out about, the organisations that affect their lives. It is a liberal approach to freedom; a British approach to freedom. It forms an important part of our programme to rebalance the relationship between the state and its citizens. Our Labour predecessors will be remembered as the government who took your freedoms away. We want to be remembered as the ones who gave them back.

And here’s the BBC News report in which Nick talks about the ‘dilemma’ the Government faces in working through how to replace Control Orders:

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 33 Comments
James Lloyd

Opinion: It ain’t what you do…

By James Lloyd | Fri 7th January 2011 - 9:09 am

I’m currently listening to the Bananarama / Fun Boy Three version of the song “It Ain’t What You Do It’s The Way That You Do It” and I can’t help but think that Nick Clegg should have this playing on repeat in his office.

Remember how well he performed in the debates? Remember how, even on difficult issues like immigration he found the example of a special care baby unit that had the equipment but didn’t have the staff to look after babies due to immigration restrictions? It was masterful explanation of policy that brought to life something …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , and | 46 Comments
Stephen Tall

Labour members attack party’s “Daily Mail view of the world”

By Stephen Tall | Fri 7th January 2011 - 7:25 am

Another day, another nail in the coffin of liberalism in the Labour Party. Sadiq Khan, the party’s shadow justice secretary, today amped-up the debate on votes for prisoners by condemnIng the Coalition’s proposals as — POPULIST CLICHE ALERT — “a slap in the face for victims of crime”.

But his pandering to the forces of authoritarian conservatism hasn’t gone down well with all Labour members. Over at LabourList, Kevin Peel has an excellent post criticising Mr Khan’s outburst, pointing out that no matter what you think of the decision the UK was under a legal obligation following a …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , and | 22 Comments
Mark Pack

Lib Dems push forward on freedom of speech, freedom of information

By Mark Pack | Thu 6th January 2011 - 9:45 pm

Two snippets of news today about freedoms – a reminder of the importance of libel law reform and good news on extending freedom of information.

In the Independent, John Kampfner (Chief Executive of Index on Censorship) writes:

“There’s nothing like a boob job cream to get readers going on an important issue. The case of Dr Dalia Nield, one of the country’s leading plastic surgery consultants, goes to the heart of the problem with English libel law. Dr Nield took issue with the company producing the cream, which claimed to increase a woman’s cup size. Her remarks, in a national newspaper,

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

The Times’ advice to voters in Oldham: “They should vote Lib Dem.”

By Stephen Tall | Thu 6th January 2011 - 9:10 pm

Well, here’s a bit of a turn-up… While the Lib Dems’ erstwhile friends, the Guardian and Independent, take delight in stilettoing the party, The Times has come out in support of the Lib Dems’ Elwyn Watkins in next week’s Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election.

No link, I’m afraid — blame the paper’s paywall — but here’s an excerpt the final line of which I imagine will find its way onto a few Lib Dem leaflets over the next seven days:

A Labour victory in Oldham might lead the party, quite wrongly, to think itself on the right course when, in fact,

…

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Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , and | 43 Comments
Dan Roper

Opinion: Green Paper on Crime – “Breaking the Cycle”

By Dan Roper | Thu 6th January 2011 - 3:44 pm

The government published the Green Paper on reforming the Criminal Justice System “Breaking the Cycle” in November with most news coverage centring on proposals for “payment by results” and putting physical work apparently at the centre of prison life. However, behind the headlines this is in many ways the most thoughtful government document on crime in years, a clear move away from “Prison Works” and a return to increased professional discretion as opposed to Whitehall dictats.

The paper is not without its problems. The headline of prisoners working a forty hour week is totally unrealistic given current prison structures, issues …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , and | 6 Comments
Stuart Bonar

Opinion: time to close the book on Booktrust

By Stuart Bonar | Thu 6th January 2011 - 2:32 pm

The Government should have stuck to its guns, and ended its relationship with Booktrust.

There was never any withdrawal of funding or cut as far as I can tell. The last government signed a time-limited deal with the charity to dish out books to children of various ages. That contract is due to come to an end next April, and the Coalition has always had every intention of honouring that contract.

From the media coverage and the reaction of some, you might imagine that instead of not renewing a contract, the Coalition had instead decided to indulge in human …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , and | 24 Comments
Mark Valladares

Everything you ever wanted to know about the internal workings of the Liberal Democrats but were afraid to ask…

By Mark Valladares | Thu 6th January 2011 - 12:25 pm

Welcome to my new column, a humble bureaucrat’s contribution to internal Party debate and participation. When Mark Pack invited me to become a columnist for this august website, I was a mite surprised but, after some thought, realised that this might be an opportunity to help people to take a greater role in their Party. So here we go!

The Party’s internal workings are varied and strange. Indeed, so strange are they that when Ros Scott asked for an organogram before taking office as President two years ago, she was moved to remark, “Shouldn’t the boxes be joined to each other?”. …

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Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , and | 17 Comments
David Babbs

The Independent View: Rhetoric is not enough on tax dodging

By David Babbs | Thu 6th January 2011 - 11:50 am

The VAT rise will mean tighter purse strings for everyone, with the poorest being hardest hit. But there is an alternative which some sections of the media and certain politicians seem reluctant to talk about, let alone act on.

The £120bn tax gap is more than the NHS budget and over three times the budget for education. It dwarfs the £13bn brought in by the VAT increase. At a time when George Osborne is telling the British public that we’re all in this together, 38 Degrees members are calling on him to do more to make sure everyone plays by the …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged , , and | 29 Comments
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