Liberal Democrat Voice

LibLink: Simon Hughes – The hard reality of power

By NewsHound | Thu 6th January 2011 - 11:25 am

Over at the New Statesman, the Lib Dems’ deputy leader Simon Hughes argues that the party is now bringing about real change, “coming of age” as a constructive force of progressive politics. Here’s an excerpt:

… huge opportunities to implement a liberal agenda in every year of this parliament. The opportunity will come this year to win the referendum for a fairer parliamentary voting system – a huge and important prize not delivered by Labour during its 13 years in power, despite manifesto pledges, and now resiled from by many Labour MPs who were elected on this very commitment only

…

Posted in LibLink | 4 Comments

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The two electoral tests the Coalition should run

By Mark Pack | Thu 6th January 2011 - 8:55 am

During 2011, the political reform agenda is likely to be dominated by a spring referendum on the alternative vote and by the government fleshing out its promise to bring in elections by proportional representation for an elected Upper House. Significant though the impact of both the alternative vote and Upper House elections may be, there are two much smaller ideas the government should look to pilot during the year because a healthy democracy also requires healthy turnouts; 2011 should see weekend voting and increasing the number of polling stations tested out.

Raising turnout in public elections is a widely …

Posted in Election law and Op-eds | Tagged turnout and weekend voting | 7 Comments

No2AV campaign left red-faced by list gaffes

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th January 2011 - 7:45 pm

Last week I posted to Lib Dem Voice what I thought to be an accurate list of the 100+ Labour MPs who had proudly announced they would be opposing electoral reform in the May referendum.

I assumed it must be accurate… after all, the list was taken directly from the No2AV campaign’s official website. Surely they would have checked with each MP before publishing their name, I thought. Not carefully enough, it turns out.

As Left Foot Forward has highlighted, five Labour MPs named by No2AV as opponents of electoral reform have been listed incorrectly — take a bow …

Posted in News | Tagged alternative vote and left foot forward | 31 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 12)

By The Voice | Wed 5th January 2011 - 6:55 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV has been offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The top most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by former contributing editor (and former party member) Richard Huzzey, and originally appeared on 9th December …

Opinion: Richard Huzzey – “I resign”

Vince Cable and Nick Clegg have pursued a strategy that has resembled a poorly-scripted comedy as much as a bitter tragedy in the past month.

This week we have reached the final act of a farcical and disastrous …

Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment

For the Lib Dems, Paddy Power means something entirely different

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th January 2011 - 3:50 pm

There were only 103 votes in it back in May, a statistic the voters of Oldham East and Saddleworth may have noticed one or twice on Elwyn Watkins‘ Lib Dem by-election campaign literature.

But, according to bookmakers Paddy Power, the race is over. As The Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow acerbically notes on his essential daily live-blog, “I’m normally reluctant to quote bookies, because their press releases are cheap bids for free publicity which normally don’t tell us anything very new” — before breaking his own rule to quote a press release from Paddy Power (also received by the Voice):

“Victory

…

Posted in News | Tagged elwyn watkins, oldham east and saddleworth, paddy ashdown and paddy power | 16 Comments

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Welsh Lib Dem councillor defects to Labour

By The Voice | Wed 5th January 2011 - 3:25 pm

Some sad news for Welsh Lib Dems today, with Lib Dem county councillor John Warman defecting to Labour. The BBC’s Betsan Powys reports:

John Warman, a Neath County councillor has “come home to Labour” after 30 years as a Lib Dem. It’s clear he always very much felt and sounded like a Labour politician anyway and his is hardly the high profile defection Labour might have hoped for.

But if politicians who defect tend to be seen as opportunists, it has to be said Mr Warman didn’t much look like one this morning. He just looked fed up and too unhappy

…

Posted in News and Wales | Tagged defections and john warman | 37 Comments

The Independent. It isn’t.

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th January 2011 - 2:15 pm

‘Lib Dem support hits all-time low’ shouts the front page of the Independent today. It’s a bit of a rum story for two reasons.

First, because it’s not true — though I recognise that’s rarely a reason for a newspaper not to run a story. Those who doubt my word can read Anthony Wells’ UK Polling Blog post, pithily titled: Lib Dem support NOT at all-time low.

And, secondly, because even if it were true it’s not really news — we all know Lib Dem poll ratings have taken a battering. We also all know how fickle have been the opinion polls over the past 12 months. A year ago, many were writing off the Lib Dems’ chances because we were regularly polling below our 2005 general election figure. The came ‘Cleggmania’, and our ratings rocketed — only to subside by polling day itself. And since then they’ve been on a downward trend.

What will be the position by May 2011? No-one really knows. Our opponents and pessimistic supporters will assume we should get used to low ratings; those who are optimists among our ranks will look forward to our ratings increasing.

Posted in News and Polls | Tagged the independent | 46 Comments

Getting ready for May: seven steps to building up your website traffic

By Mark Pack | Wed 5th January 2011 - 10:25 am

Building up traffic to a local party or councillor website is much like building up a delivery network: it brings big benefits, but it’s not the sort of thing you can do overnight. They are both best achieved by making slow and steady progress over a period of time.

Steadily work your way down the list over the next couple of months and by the time this May’s election campaigns proper kick off you should really notice the difference.

Make sure the site is listed: there are numerous websites and blog directories, but generally only two really matter for political sites: DMOZ …

Posted in Online politics | Tagged featured | 1 Comment

Bank levy introduced

By Mark Pack | Wed 5th January 2011 - 8:55 am

It’s January, so the government’s bank levy has come into force. The basic details are that it is a o.05 per cent levy on bank balance sheets, but rises to 0.075 per cent in 2012 and the details of how it works are designed to encourage banks to rely more heavily on more stable sources of funding in the future.

Expected to bring in £2.5 billion a year, the revenue is pretty small compared to the estimated costs of the financial crisis overall (even if future sales of the government’s bank shareholdings are factored in). However, at a time when …

Posted in News | Tagged banking, independent commission on banking, robert peston and vince cable | 9 Comments

More steps in the localism shuffle

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th January 2011 - 7:25 pm

Earlier today both Chris White and Nick Barlow pointed out how the government’s “localism agenda” (formerly known as the man in Whitehall doesn’t know best) has taken two steps back this week. But for the two steps back, there are also two steps forward: with councils being given more discretion to decide what parking charges should be in their own patch (a piece of localism which will most likely see some Conservative councils downplay environmental considerations in setting charges, but if you believe in local decision-making…) and also, hooray, a scrapping of the “pre-determination rule” in …

Posted in Local government and News | Tagged chris white and nick barlow | 11 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 11)

By The Voice | Tue 4th January 2011 - 6:55 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The second most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by LDV co-editor Stephen Tall, and originally appeared on 8th May …

Deal or no deal? Here’s what I think

Who would want to be in Nick Clegg’s place today? For all the talk during the campaign that the Lib Dem leader would end up as ‘Kingmaker’, that now looks the least enviable position imaginable.

I’ve read and absorbed lots of …

Posted in Op-eds | 6 Comments

The Independent View: The UK voting system is broken

By Nick Pearce | Tue 4th January 2011 - 6:04 pm

One of the key arguments made by defenders of First Past the Post is that it produces clear outcomes on which strong and stable government is based. New analysis published today by the ippr (Worst of Both worlds: Why First Past the Post no longer works) shows why this claim no longer stacks up. It shows that the last general election result was not an aberration but a reflection of long-term changes in voting patterns across the UK which significantly increase the likelihood of more hung parliaments in the future.

Britain has evolved into a multi-party system, but it still has an electoral …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Tagged av referendum, electoral reform and ippr | 7 Comments

The VAT rise: a refresher course for Labour

By Stephen Tall | Tue 4th January 2011 - 1:58 pm

Today’s increase in VAT from 17.5% to 20% — announced in the Coalition’s emergency budget last year — has triggered a fresh burst of ~~opportunism~~ criticism from Labour. The “wrong tax at the wrong time” claims their leader Ed Miliband.

How Labour’s last Chancellor backed a VAT rise

I suspect there’s a Labour MP we won’t be hearing from today, though: Alistair Darling*, Chancellor until the party’s defeat in May. As Mark Pack noted here last July, Mr Darling was a strong advocate of increasing the rate of VAT in order to tackle the UK’s massive deficit, with The …

Posted in News | Tagged mark valladares, michael gladwell, nick hollinmghurst, vat and vince cable | 89 Comments

Chris White writes: New Year challenges for localists

By Chris White | Tue 4th January 2011 - 12:05 pm

Andrew Stunell told Lib Dem Voice in December: ‘The Localism Bill presents a lot of positive news for local government.’

I don’t demur from that but there is much we need to challenge in this Bill.

Take for instance the much vaunted General Power of Competence. If you open Volume 1 of the Bill (yes, it is that long) you will find that the Secretary of State ‘may by order make provision preventing local authorities from doing, in exercise of the general power, anything which is specified, or is of a description specified, in the order.’

Basically the Secretary of State can, …

Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Tagged andrew stunnell, general power of competence, localism bill, mayoral referendum, open source planning and planning | 6 Comments

Why I support the Coalition: in praise of compromise

By Iain Roberts | Tue 4th January 2011 - 10:17 am

I support the Coalition. Or, more precisely, I want to see Lib Dem policies and principles actually changing people’s lives, not just piling up forever more in some dusty old cupboard of policy papers and manifestos past, and right now the Coalition is without a doubt the only game in town when it comes to achieving that.

But what about all those horrible compromises we’re having to make? What about the compromise on tuition fees and many other areas? What about the 35% of the Lib Dem manifesto that’s not in the Coalition Agreement? How can we …

Posted in Op-eds | 58 Comments

What does the Zac Goldsmith case mean for election expense controls in future?

By Mark Pack | Tue 4th January 2011 - 8:55 am

It’s always tempting to view the verdict of investigations through a partisan filter – if ‘your side’ does not get punished, it’s a great result by a wise team of investigators; if on the other hand it does get punished, it’s a muddle-headed verdict from dangerously ignorant investigators, whether that means the police, the courts or a regulator.

However, the case of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith’s election expenses raises important issues which deserve a more careful consideration that the immediate partisan filter. Some are longer-term ones about how regulation of election expenditure is changing as the methods people use alter; others …

Posted in Election law and Op-eds | Tagged electoral commission and zac goldsmith | 3 Comments

New LDV members survey now live: your views on political reform, tuition fees, and the Coalition

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 7:19 pm

The new LDV members’ survey is now live. So if you are one of the 1,000+ registered members of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum – and any paid-up party member is welcome to join – then you now have the opportunity to make your views known.

Questions we’re asking this month include:

what you think of proposals for an elected House of Lords and directly-elected mayors;
whether you think the Lib Dems and Conservatives should agree to any form of electoral pact;
asking if you agree or disagree that much of the Lib Dem manifesto is being implemented;
your

…

Posted in LDV Members poll | 6 Comments

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 10)

By The Voice | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 6:55 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The third most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by LDV contributing editor Iain Roberts, and originally appeared on 13th May …

Confusion reigns over 55% – the reality is rather different

Labour activists are up in arms – apparently the Lib Dems and Conservatives are going to change the law so the government can only be brought down if 55% of MPs vote against it.

They’ve got a point – …

Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment

Why Cameron’s a credible candidate for 2010’s Liberal Voice award

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 3:15 pm

Lib Dem Voice is currently running our fourth annual Liberal Voice of the Year poll. The purpose of this award since we launched it in 2006 has been to find a liberal from beyond the ranks of the Lib Dems — a Good Thing for a party committed to pluralism.

Equally traditionally, this has attracted some flak. Last year, it was Peter Tatchell’s inclusion which sparked strong views from those irate that the Voice should have recognised one of the Green Party’s leading lights. This year it’s the inclusion of two Tories — Ken Clarke and David Cameron — which …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david cameron and liberal voice 2010 | 62 Comments

Stephen Lloyd MP writes… This government is working

By Stephen Lloyd | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 1:13 pm

The last six months as the new Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne have been more of a rollercoaster than I could ever have imagined they would be! I’ve been pretty much just as flat out, albeit in a different way, as an MP as I was during the 6 months frenetic run up to the General Election.

Much has gone on as you’ll all be aware but the two things I’d like to write about today show the upside of being in Government and the upside of having the privilege of influence all MPs enjoy.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged benefits, damian green, eastbourne, iain duncan smith and stephen lloyd | 32 Comments

“Who agrees with Nick?” – BBC Radio Sheffield’s Nick Clegg documentary

By Helen Duffett | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 10:23 am

There’s still time to listen to BBC Radio Sheffield’s documentary about Nick Clegg, which features an exclusive interview with Nick, as well as comments from Paul Scriven (Leader of Sheffield City Council), Allan Wisbey (Nick’s election agent in Sheffield Hallam for the 2010 General Election) and Joe Otten (Lib Dem blogger and Chair of Sheffield Hallam Liberal Democrats).

From the accompanying blurb on the BBC Sheffield and South Yorkshire website:

“It’s been a real rollercoaster year.”

Nick Clegg’s own assessment of the last few months could be seen as something of an understatement.

Go back to December

…

Posted in News | Tagged allan wisbey, joe otten, nick clegg, paul scriven and sheffield hallam | 14 Comments

Rachel Smith RIP

By Sara Bedford | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 9:04 am

Rachel Smith first came into my life last year, through the medium of Twitter, where she tweeted as @rachelolgeirsso. Witty and intelligent, Rachel readily engaged others in conversations about politics, life and popular culture. Although we were both active Lib Dems, we’d be as likely to exchange comments about The Apprentice or Strictly Come Dancing as about the coalition or political policies.

Rachel had been an active tweeter through the general election and the formation of the coalition, strong about the Lib Dems place in government and scathing as to what she saw as Labour’s opportunism and hypocrisy, especially where it related to her own constituency of Sheffield Hallam and her MP, the Deputy Prime Minister. So it was no surprise when in July she started blogging. The reason for this soon became clear: Rachel was looking for a distraction whilst she was in hospital, undergoing chemotherapy for leukaemia.

Posted in News and Obituaries | Tagged rachel smith | 10 Comments

Inside the Danger Zones: Paul Moorcraft on thirty years of war reporting

By Mark Pack | Mon 3rd January 2011 - 8:55 am

Paul Moorcraft’s account of his several decades touring the world’s violent trouble-spots as a journalist and some-time government representative entertains as well as informs. From Rhodesia in the 1970s through to his contemplation of pioneering a niche market in blind observers for African elections in 2010, Moorcraft’s account reflects plenty of the swagger of many war correspondents but with enough self-mockery to make the account illuminating and interesting rather than a macho display. Even the clichés about drinking and womanising journalists, which he seems to have often fulfilled to the maximum, are full of his own failings.

The result is a portrait of not only the countries he visited but also the breed that makes up war correspondents, with their bravery, their bravado and their desire to get the story and the footage even at great personal risk. The motivation for such story getting may often be as much ego as public service, but in the end the public benefits from people willing to take remarkable risks with their personal safety in the name of journalism.

Posted in Books | Tagged afghanistan, featured and paul moorcraft | 1 Comment

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 9)

By The Voice | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 8:15 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers ~~a load of repeats~~ another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which have appeared on the blog since 1st January, 2010. The fourth most-read LDV op-ed of 2010 was by LDV co-editor Mark Pack, and originally appeared on 18th June …

The easy, progressive way to cut £44 billion without harming worthwhile public services or the least well off

It may sound a challenge, cutting £44 billion from public spending.

But actually, it’s easy.

Not only that, it can be done without hitting the least well off. Without cutting worthwhile public services.

…

Posted in Op-eds | 8 Comments

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #202

By The Voice | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 6:58 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 202nd 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 (26th December 2010 -1st 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:

Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment

LDV doesn’t do statporn, but if we did (December ’10)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 5:58 pm

… We’d say a big thank you to the 51,153 ‘absolute unique visitors’* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in December.

That’s a notch down on our November figure of c.59,000, but almost double the equivalent figure for December ’09 of c.27,000.

Incidentally, if you’re wondering why we publish our readership figures — is it show-off vanity, or pedantic statophilia — I came up with a few reasons at the start of last year. The arguments still stack up, I think.

The 5 top-read stories during the month were:

Opinion: Richard Huzzey – “I resign” (225) by Richard Huzzey
Probably the

…

Posted in Site news | Tagged statporn | 6 Comments

LDV Sunday caption competition: “At last, it’s the the Nick & Tim show” edition

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 4:15 pm

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

(Image by Alex Folkes/Fishnik Photography via Lib Dem Flickr photostream.)

Here’s the new Lib Dem party president Tim Farron side-by-side with Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. What do you think they might be saying to, or thinking about, each other?

The winner of our most recent caption competition, the “Tim Farron goes out on a wing” edition – according to The Voice’s judging panel of one – was

Posted in Caption Comp | Tagged nick clegg and tim farron | 23 Comments

10 key Lib Dem questions for 2011

By Stephen Tall | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 2:25 pm

In what is fast becoming a pre-New Year tradition as eagerly anticipated as ‘the biggest ever DFS sale’, Lib Dem Voice is publishing its list of 10 key questions, the answers to which we think might well help shape 2011 for the party. You can read last year’s list here; and our answers to those questions here (Part I) and here (Part II).

Here below, then, are my top 10 questions for the coming year in Lib Demmery:

1. The biggest question of all: will the Lib Dem / Conservative Coalition Government last the year?
Plenty have predicted its …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured | 14 Comments

How you can help Liberal Democrat Voice

By The Voice | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 1:25 pm

The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that’s fine, we’re grateful for people taking the time to read the site.

You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are three simple ways:

1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there’s something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you’re an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or you’ve seen …

Posted in Site news | Leave a comment

Opinion: Brown was deceived by his “friends” – let’s hope the Coalition is more careful!

By Nick Hollinghurst | Sun 2nd January 2011 - 10:55 am

In days of old, when Brown was bold (well, in 1992 anyway) he gave a stirring speech, as Shadow Chancellor, calling for a “powerful alternative to free-market thinking”. He clearly explained why regulations and strong institutions were needed to bring the City under control. Then, five years later he was catapulted into power by the Labour landslide, becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony Blair’s government.

Tony Blair naively developed an undue admiration for what he romantically saw as the swashbuckling and flamboyant world of supposedly successful entrepreneurs, whose company he found flattering. Gordon, alas, similarly fell for a charm offensive launched by the very people he once …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged derek wanless, gordon brown and tony blair | 14 Comments

Op-eds

Where is that ‘Yesss’ moment going to come from? (Chris Bowers)
Mathew on Monday (Mathew Hulbert)
You can’t elect a Community Champion without a community (Elin Kingston)
Words matter, use them carefully! (Leon Duveen)
Tom Arms’ World Review (Tom Arms)

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Lib Dem Women: Amplifying women’s voices at Conference

Christine Jardine to stand down as MP at next election

What does a Lib Dem “trans activist” look like?

Caron’s kitchen table diary

Opinion: Richard Huzzey – “I resign”

Deal or no deal? Here’s what I think

How Labour’s last Chancellor backed a VAT rise

Confusion reigns over 55% – the reality is rather different

The easy, progressive way to cut £44 billion without harming worthwhile public services or the least well off

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