Daniel Furr

Opinion: it’s time for us liberals to fight back

By Daniel Furr | Tue 14th September 2010 - 4:45 pm

Labour’s timid leadership election highlighted one significant point. The opposition is getting hostile and vicious to the coalition, especially to the Liberal Democrats. Instead of compromising and trying to remain neutral it is time for us to show some teeth. We need to fight back.

Party activists and elected officials, in the Labour party, believe we despise the coalition and would rather be associated with them. The media are portraying this narrative too. But it is not true. Our special conference overwhelmingly voted in favour of being in government. Liberals have taken 800,000 people out of income tax, a pupil premium …

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Posted in Op-eds | 118 Comments
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Peter Arnold

An introduction to the Association of Liberal Democrat Co-operators (ALDCo)

By Peter Arnold | Tue 14th September 2010 - 2:27 pm

ALDCo is a Liberal Democrat pressure group whose aim is to promote discussion within the party on all aspects of co-operation. This concept includes the traditional co-operative movement founded in Rochdale in 1844, now known as The Co-operative, but it also includes social enterprises, mutual organisations, credit unions, co-operative housing schemes, and community and voluntary organisations all over the country that operate along co-operative lines, and provide local goods and services to people in the areas where they live.

Our belief is simple: people working co-operatively together can achieve far more than people working on their own. In short, teamwork always wins.

Britain needs …

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Posted in Op-eds | 21 Comments
Helen Duffett

Blog of the Year Awards 2010: The Shortlists

By Helen Duffett | Tue 14th September 2010 - 1:00 pm

Nominations for the Liberal Democrats’ Blog of the Year Awards 2010 closed on 27 August. Since then, the judges Prateek Buch, Jonathan Calder, Lee Chalmers, Ryan Cullen, Helen Duffett (that’s me), Costigan Quist, Mary Reid, Jo Swinson and Andy Williamson have been poring over the entries for the six categories.

It’s been a big task, and a fun one, to distil so many excellent examples of Lib Dem blogging and e-campaigning into lists of the five best.

Congratulations if you’ve been shortlisted, but if you haven’t: remember that the shortlists are based on the judges’ subjective opinions. The awards are intended to be a fun way to celebrate the talent in the Lib Dem blogosphere, whilst introducing you to some blogs you might not have read before.

First, a reminder that the winner of the Best non-Liberal Democrat politics blog category will be decided by a public vote here on Liberal Democrat Voice, so please have a read of the nominated blogs and then head on over to the sidebar to cast your vote.

Next, a plug for the awards ceremony itself. If you’re coming to party conference in Liverpool, do come along to Grace Suite 1 at the Hilton Liverpool from 9.45pm on Saturday 18th September.

Now, without further ado, here are the shortlists: (Drumroll, please)

Blank

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Posted in Best of the blogs and Conference | Tagged and | 14 Comments
The Voice

The Independent View: Political Innovation No.3 – assertion-flagging: for less partisan, prejudiced blogging

By The Voice | Tue 14th September 2010 - 12:00 pm

This is a guest cross-post by Andrew Regan – originally posted on the Political Innovation site here.

Most political bloggers are motivated to fight what they see as bigotry, prejudice, and ill-informed, unjustifiable assertion.

Close up of an eye; click for photo credit

This is a fine and noble cause, because the spreading of false beliefs – without the evidence to support them – is bad for all of us, as is the displacement of informed argument by mere rhetoric. All the more so when the perpetrator …

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

Fixed-term Parliaments: better by standing orders?

By Mark Pack | Tue 14th September 2010 - 10:26 am

Last week Malcolm Jack, the Clerk of the House of Commons, got a little flurry of media coverage for his evidence before a Parliamentary committee considering the proposed legislation for fixed-term Parliaments. “Parts of the government’s plans to bring in fixed-term parliaments are vulnerable to legal challenge” was how the BBC reported it.

It is understandable why that got the headlines, but lurking in the detail are important questions about how Parliament operates and whether its administration is competent. Jack’s evidence, and concerns about the legislation, really fall into three parts.

First, as might be expected from an official whose …

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Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Tagged , , , and | 11 Comments
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Helen Duffett

Coming later today… Lib Dem Blog of the Year shortlists revealed

By Helen Duffett | Tue 14th September 2010 - 9:20 am

Just a short, teaser post to let you know that the shortlists for the Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year awards 2010 will be published this afternoon at 1pm.

Nine judges – Prateek Buch, Jonathan Calder, Lee Chalmers, Ryan Cullen, Helen Duffett (that’s me), Costigan Quist, Mary Reid, Jo Swinson and Andy Williamson – have been poring over the entries for the following six categories:

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Posted in Conference | Tagged | 1 Comment

Woolas trial report: day one

By Kevin Peters | Mon 13th September 2010 - 9:55 pm

This report is from the Lib Dem Voice court reporter. You may also like to read Nick Thornsby’s account of the first day of the trial

Helen Mountfield is the lead counsel for Elwyn Watkins with James Laddie QC her able second from Matrix chambers.

Elwyn was in the witness box first. Mountfield’s opening statement was devastating in that it refered to email from Woolas’ campaign team which wrote “we have to make the white folk angry” or as they put it ‘angrey’.

It would seem that all trials now have to refer to the European Human Rights …

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Posted in Election law and News | Tagged , and | 14 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #186

By Stephen Tall | Mon 13th September 2010 - 7:25 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 186th 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 (5th – 11th September, 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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Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment
The Voice

Clegg on the “profound effect” of fixed-term Parliaments

By The Voice | Mon 13th September 2010 - 2:22 pm

NickClegg.com has noted the significance of today’s legislation to establish the principle of fixed-term parliaments, removing from Prime Ministerial whim the timing of future general elections:

“Establishing parliaments of fixed-terms is a straightforward, but fundamental, change in our politics. It is a simple constitutional innovation, but one that will have a profound effect.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has pledged the introduction of a five year fixed term parliaments will have a “profound effect” and lead to greater stability in the political system.

The Fixed term Parliaments Bill faces its second reading in the House of Commons this afternoon.

“Establishing parliaments of fixed-terms is

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Tagged and | 27 Comments
Mark Pack

What do the academics say? The impact of public service broadcasting

By Mark Pack | Mon 13th September 2010 - 11:54 am

Welcome to another in my occasional series on useful, interesting or controversial findings from academic studies. Today it is a study into the impact of public service broadcasting which looked at the US, the UK, Denmark and Finland.

These four countries were chosen because Denmark and Finland have a very strong TV public service approach, the US close to a pure-market based system and the UK is somewhere in-between.

TV news in Denmark and Finland was more likely to have hard news (“news reports about topics such as politics, public administration, the economy and science”), with the US and UK lower. Denmark …

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Posted in What do the academics say? | 7 Comments
Lord Anthony Lester

Opinion: The pressing need for libel reform

By Lord Anthony Lester | Mon 13th September 2010 - 10:27 am

Our libel law is complex, costly and out of date. It lacks certainty and sweeps too broadly in ways that threaten freedom of speech. That is why I have prepared a Defamation Bill to act as a catalyst enabling the coalition Government to give effect to their commitment to review libel laws, and to give Parliament the opportunity to make better law.

Recent calls for libel law reform have come from the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Report Press Standards, Privacy and Libel, the Ministry of Justice Working Group on Libel, and the Libel Reform Campaign led by a coalition …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , and | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Who would get your vote in the Labour leadership contest?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 13th September 2010 - 7:45 am

The weekend papers were full of speculation about the Labour leadership contest, which as it draws to a close appears to be a nail-bitingly close finish between the Brothers Miliband.

According to pollster YouGov, Ed Miliband is set to sneak victory by the closest of margins after second preferences are taken into account; though the poll didn’t appear to take into account the votes of MPs and MEPs who control one-third of Labour’s electoral college. This is not, after all, a party which believes all votes should be equal, whether in Parliamentary constituencies or in their own leadership race.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , and | 29 Comments
Mark Pack

Phil Woolas election case: follow the online coverage

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th September 2010 - 8:45 pm

Monday sees the start of a court case against Labour MP Phil Woolas alleging false statements were made about his Liberal Democrat opponent, Elwyn Watkins, during the general election earlier this year.

The case will involve a court judging on how far it is acceptable to go in very robust election literature and involves the rarely used provision in Section 106 of the 1983 Representation of the People Act which covers false statements about candidates:

(1) A person who, or any director of any body or association corporate which—
(a) before or during an election,
(b) for the purpose of affecting the return of

…

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Posted in Election law | Tagged , , and | 18 Comments
Dinti Batstone

Opinion: a brief history of MP job-shares… and why we need them

By Dinti Batstone | Sun 12th September 2010 - 6:28 pm

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So when I heard Caroline Lucas trumpet MP job-shares on Friday morning, part of me was delighted. But the suggestion that political job-shares are a radical new idea from the Greens had me spluttering into my Lady Grey.

For the record, here’s a brief history of Liberal Democrats advocating MP job-shares:

Nick Clegg on Mumsnet in January

Baronesses Ros Scott and Kate Parminter in a Lords debate on 21 July

…and yours truly in a speech to party Conference 2009, on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour in February, on Lib …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 27 Comments
Mark Pack

The press and the right of reply

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th September 2010 - 5:56 pm

Here on Liberal Democrat Voice we’ve often covered the work of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), including the motion being proposed at party conference on it and a response to motion piece from the PCC itself.

It isn’t only on Liberal Democrat Voice that the PCC has been given a full column to express its views. Last week’s edition of the party’s newspaper, Liberal Democrat News, also contained a column from the Press Complaints Commission, this time in the form of its chair Baroness Buscombe.

On reading it I was moved to pen the following letter, which appears in the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | Leave a comment
David Thorpe

Opinion: radical approach needed on International Development

By David Thorpe | Sun 12th September 2010 - 2:03 pm

International Development must surely be a Ministry which any aspiring cabinet member would view positively.

A Department where there are plenty of opportunities for easy publicity and there is money to be disbursed, with fewer of the potential banana skins of the other departments.

But the announcement that the coalition are to ‘ring fence’ spending on this department should not prevent Liberals from questioning the current minister, Andrew Mitchell, and the orthodoxy concerning how the budget is spent.

One thing which unites Lib Dems of all stripes is a commitment to decentralisation, yet the framework for distributing the International Development budget is skewed …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 11 Comments
Iain Roberts

Royal Mail privatisation – another Lib Dem policy delivered

By Iain Roberts | Sun 12th September 2010 - 12:04 pm

Among the Stricty Come Dancing banter on Twitter yesterday evening, I picked up some Labour activists attacking the Lib Dems. Nothing new there, you might think.

The attack was that the Lib Dems had betrayed our principles, done a u-turn and were privitising the Post Office.

I think we’re all familiar enough with Labour attacks by now to check those facts before jumping to any conclusions. And it turns out that the attack is wrong in every single respect.

The Government is not proposing to privatise the Post Office. And what’s being proposed, far from being a u-turn, is Lib …

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Posted in News | Tagged , and | 70 Comments
Stephen Tall

Why there were no Lib Dems on Sky News’s Sunday Live with Adam Boulton

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th September 2010 - 11:25 am

An interesting posting yesterday evening from Katie Snape on the Boulton & Co blog:

It’s 7pm on Saturday, I’m late for a friend’s wedding and I’m still waiting to find out whether I can send a satellite truck to Wiltshire for an interview with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander. How hard can it be? His special adviser says he wants to do it but apparently I’m waiting for clearance from Downing Street. I’ve left a message for No 10’s Head of Broadcast, he texted back and two hours later, I’m still waiting.

I started the week bidding for

…

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Posted in News | Tagged and | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

Going to Lib Dem conference? Then get ready to be mingled with by ministers

By Stephen Tall | Sun 12th September 2010 - 10:52 am

Today’s Independent reports under the headline Nick Clegg orders ministers: ‘Mingle with the troops at conference’:

Nick Clegg has told his ministers to “mingle” at the Liberal Democrat conference next week, to avoid the impression that being in government has gone to their heads.

On Friday, the Deputy Prime Minister hosted a meeting of all Lib Dem members of government at Chevening, his official residence. Mr Clegg cautioned his colleagues against being seen as “too distant” since moving seamlessly into government. For some of the grass roots, working with the Tories has been a little too seamless, some complaining that the

…

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Posted in Conference | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

Majority think Coulson should be sacked, police should re-open investigation

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th September 2010 - 9:27 am

A YouGov poll commissioned by The Sun and carried out over Monday / Tuesday finds:

The editor of the News of the World at the time, Andy Coulson, denied knowledge of the phone tapping operation, but accepted the “ultimate responsibility” as editor and resigned. He has since taken a job as David Cameron’s Director of Communications. There have recently been allegations from former employees of the News of the World that phone tapping was more widespread at the News of the World and that Andy Coulson was personally aware of the tapping. Mr Coulson has denied allegations that he was …

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Posted in News and Polls | Tagged , and | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Who do you think should stand for the Lib Dem presidency (and what should they do if elected)?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 11th September 2010 - 6:50 pm

Ros Scott’s announcement that she is standing down from the position of party president has come as a surprise to Lib Dem members.

First, because it has become almost traditional for party presidents to serve two terms — Ros’s three predecessors, Simon Hughes, Lord Dholakia and Lord Maclennan all served two terms each, unchallenged. Secondly, because Ros herself is popular among the party’s grassroots. Though her authority took something of a knock during the MPs’ expenses scandal, the Voice’s most recent survey of party members showed she had a very good net effectiveness rating of +30%.

And, thirdly, because …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | Tagged , , , and | 30 Comments
Mark Pack

Councillor cleared of postal vote fraud

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th September 2010 - 6:29 pm

A quick update about Walsall Conservative councillor Mohammed Munir, whose suspension from the party after postal vote fraud allegations were made we previously covered. His case has now gone to court and he was found innocent.

Posted in Election law | Tagged , and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Everybody loves us Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Sat 11th September 2010 - 5:35 pm

I blame the Tories. Ever since David Cameron became their leader, he’s been determined to ‘love-bomb’ the Lib Dems. Love-bombing is the ingenious tactic by which other parties claim to believe in enough Lib Dem policies without, y’know, actually being Lib Dems.

Labour leadership hopeful Ed Miliband was at it last month. Then earlier this week the Greens’ Caroline Lucas made her pitch.

And now it’s the turn of the continuing Liberal Party:

We appreciate over the last few weeks many LibDem Councillors and members have become increasingly uneasy about the coalition government.

The fact that LibDem MP’s will be

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , and | 62 Comments
Mark Pack

Yes to Fairer Votes campaign unveils its first appointments

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th September 2010 - 2:24 pm

Yes to Fairer Votes, the group being created to campaign for a yes vote in the electoral reform referendum, has unveiled its steering committee:

Pam Giddy, Chair
John Sharkey, Vice Chair (and former chair of the Liberal Democrat general election campaign)
Neal Lawson, Compass
Peter Facey, Unlock Democracy
Willie Sullivan, Electoral Reform Society
Carina Trimingham, Electoral Reform Society

The initial version of the campaign website is also up and running at www.yestofairervotes.org – and you can sign up to support the campaign and offer your help.

Posted in News | Tagged and | 12 Comments
Dinti Batstone

Political Reform: the dragons’ den

By Dinti Batstone | Sat 11th September 2010 - 1:07 pm

Come and pitch your idea for political reform to our “dragons’ den” style panelists, Lynne Featherstone MP, Baroness Ros Scott and Alice Delemare (Electoral Reform Society), moderated by Katie Razzall from Channel 4 News.

This fringe event is at 1-2pm on Wednesday, 22nd September at ACC Liverpool , Hall 11C.

In the coming year we have a once in a generation opportunity to change politics for good: getting rid of the first past the post system and reforming the House of Lords. With Nick Clegg in charge of political reform, Liberal Democrats have a unique opportunity to shape the reform …

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Posted in Conference | Tagged | 1 Comment
Nick Perry

Opinion: which is the biggest disgrace – the marriages or the sentence?

By Nick Perry | Sat 11th September 2010 - 11:39 am

St Leonards on Sea has had its share of the national news recently – Banksy has been to visit and has left his moniker on our seafront; and in the last few days we have had a local vicar sentenced to four years in prison for his part in a sham weddings scam which has broken immigration law and also, it seems, a Marriage Act from the 1940s.

In case you missed it, the Independent has covered the case of Revd Alex Brown in detail. It transpires that no-one has been able to identify the motive of this errant …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 12 Comments
Mark Pack

Dear Nick Clegg…

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th September 2010 - 9:26 am

Dear Deputy Prime Minister,

I read your speech from Thursday to the Committee on Standards in Public Life with interest. It is good to see the progress being made in many areas of political reform, including the commitment made in the speech that, “in the New Year we will produce draft legislation to complete the modernization of the House of Lords”.

Much else too in the speech was good to read, but I think you are missing an important issue about how the changes to election expense rules introduced for the 2010 general election are driving political parties in the wrong direction.

To …

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Posted in Election law and Op-eds | Tagged , and | 5 Comments
Helen Duffett

Ros Scott not standing again for Lib Dem President: “The time has come to pass on the baton”

By Helen Duffett | Fri 10th September 2010 - 7:37 pm

Liberal Democrat Party President Ros Scott has announced that she does not intend to stand again for the office, despite being eligible to stand for a second term.

In an article today for Lib Dem News, Ros explains that she feels it is time “to pass on the baton”, to “a strong media performer and tough campaigner” who will articulate the Liberal Democrats’ distinctive values and identity.

Here is Ros Scott’s article in full:

All right, I know it’s a cliché, but time really does fly when you’re having fun! My two year term as Party President is coming towards its close, and the hectic schedule of meetings, conferences, Party business and local Party visits has ensured that I’ve been kept pretty busy. With the European and local elections of 2009, the General Election of 2010, and the amazing aftermath which saw Liberal Democrats in national Government for the first time in decades, it’s been pretty eventful.

There’s no job description for the Party President, and each incumbent has done the job differently, depending on their own areas of interest and expertise, and the political climate at the time. When I ran for election two years ago I didn’t make extravagant pledges but focussed on the areas where I knew the Party President could really deliver and where my experience in local government and business could make a difference. In the run up to the General Election, I felt that internal Party development was a key priority for us, and I have concentrated my efforts on that aspect of the job.

I’m pleased at what we have achieved together.

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

The LDV Friday Five: 10 September 2010

By Stephen Tall | Fri 10th September 2010 - 4:58 pm

It’s Friday, so here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the past week on Liberal Democrat Voice:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

1. RIP Cyril Smith (10) by The Voice
2. Who will be the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor? (35) by Mark Pack
3. A letter to the Daily Mirror regarding MPs whose former partners now work as prostitutes (38) by Iain Roberts
4. Disaster for Labour as one in five desert the party (46) by Iain Roberts
5. Has Phil Woolas declared himself unfit to be an MP? (10) by Iain Roberts

5 active LDV Members’ Forum threads

1. Science cutbacks
2. Tony Blair’s extraordinary attack on Freedom of Information
3. AV again
4. Local Experience Please!
5. Council Housing For Life

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)

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Posted in Friday Five | 1 Comment
Iain Roberts

A good night for Labour in Norwich

By Iain Roberts | Fri 10th September 2010 - 2:50 pm

Labour were the party with most to be happy about after the 13 Norwich by-elections (or delayed elections) that took place yesterday.

The Lib Dems lost one of their two seats to Labour, with the Conservatives losing both of theirs. The Greens, who had hoped for a breakthrough, held five seats but failed to make any gains.

The Lib Dems held Eaton ward with an increased share of the vote.

Compared to the last time the seats were fought in 2008:

Labour finished up three on seven seats
The Greens won five seats, the same as in 2008
The Lib Dems were down one …

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Posted in Council by-elections | Tagged | 26 Comments
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