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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s Sunday Selection: Must-read articles from the Sunday papers

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sun 4th January 2015 - 12:15 pm

sundaypapsLots to muse on in the first Sunday papers of 2015.

First of all, a very moving article by Debbie Purdy, the woman whose “right to die” campaign led to new guidelines on assisted suicide in 2009. Written just before her death last month, it’s published in the Independent. I hadn’t realised that she’d had to live apart from her husband for so long. Her account of her struggle to find a way of making life tolerable with her condition is tough to read.

She argues that the legislation before parliament now simply doesn’t go far enough because it only covers those who are terminally ill. She thinks it needs to include those with incurable conditions which aren’t terminal:

The law must insist on at least two doctors confirming diagnosis, and that family and/or friends have been talked to where possible, to make sure they have the opportunity to offer whatever support the dying person needs, and are able to access the support they will need when a loved one dies. But in the end, it must be the choice of the person whose life will end, to decide at which point.

Where the patient is suffering unbearably from an incurable condition, the law must allow for assisted dying, but only where other possibilities have been exhausted. This process should take a minimum of a year, but should depend on how long a patient has been ill – the shorter the illness, the longer they need, with the help of psychiatrists, family, friends and doctors to consider ways of living their new life and discovering ways of dealing with new challenges.

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Posted in Op-eds | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

The polls in 2014: what they show with 133 days left til 7 May 2015

By Stephen Tall | Published Wed 24th December 2014 - 1:00 pm

The final polls of the year have been published — getting on for 500 have been commissioned in 2014 — and their story is told in the graph below.

It shows Labour’s declining (down from c.38% to c.33%), the Tories static (at c.32%), Ukip on the rise (up from c.12% to c.16%), and the Lib Dems dipping (down from c.10% to c.8%). I’ve added trendlines to cut through the noise and give us a signal:

2014 in polls

The last month has done little to alter this overall picture.

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Posted in Polls | Tagged , , , , | 36 Comments
Harriet Shone

Africa Liberal Network General Assembly concludes with spectacular success

By Harriet Shone | Published Mon 15th December 2014 - 11:52 am

International officeThis year saw the 11th Africa Liberal Network (ALN) General Assembly, which took place in Marrakech, Morocco, between 26 – 29 November 2014. President of the ALN Olivier Kamitatu said: “This year, the ALN accomplished a number of historic firsts including the election of a gender representative executive committee, the adoption of a robust new constitution and the acceptance of 9 new observer member parties, taking the total number of members to the largest in the Network’s history, with 44 parties.”

It was also the first conference to bring the ALN and the Arab Alliance for Freedom and Democracy together making this the biggest in the history of the network with over 90 delegates from 22 African countries.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , | 5 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #402

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sun 14th December 2014 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 402nd 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 (7 – 13 December, 2014), together with a hand-picked quintet, 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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Caron Lindsay

Reviewing the papers on Radio Scotland’s Crossfire

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sun 7th December 2014 - 8:40 pm

Driving to Glasgow at 6am on a wintry Sunday morning was slightly scary, especially for someone who really doesn’t do Winter, but that’s what I did to take part in the review of the Sunday papers on the Radio Scotland programme Crossfire. I was on with former Herald editor Murray Ritchie and Cat Boyd from the Radical Independence campaign.

Obviously we talked about some bloke deciding he wants to stand for the Westminster Parliament he claims to revile.  Former Special Adviser Sam Ghibaldan on Sunday Politics Scotland and I both made the case that Salmond’s victory is far from assured.

I raised …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

And it’s good-bye from me as LibDemVoice Co-Editor…

By Stephen Tall | Published Fri 5th December 2014 - 7:55 am

Today marks the countdown to my final day as Co-Editor of LibDemVoice. I guess I could say the past seven years and seven months have flown by, but actually it seems like a long, long time since I started here. Tony Blair was prime minister, Ming Campbell was Lib Dem leader, and I was still a councillor.

I think I officially took over as Editor (from the site’s co-founder Rob Fenwick) on 31st May, 2007, though I’d started the Golden Dozen round-up of the best of the Lib Dem blogs a few months earlier.

A couple of years later, …

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Posted in News, Site news | Tagged , , , | 42 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Jo Swinson on one of the great double standards of our time

By Caron Lindsay | Published Thu 4th December 2014 - 2:36 pm

Breastfeeding is in the news again after Claridges thought that it was ok .to tell a mother to cover up as her baby nursed.

Nick Clegg was asked a rather strange question, which he eventually answered pretty well, about whether the importance of breastfeeding should be covered in Personal Health and Social Education classes and whether mothers should be told that it should be done in private. The right answer is, of course, yes to the first and no to the second.

It’s really quite ridiculous to think that it took until 2010 for the rights of mothers to breastfeed their babies in public was protected in law. This means that nobody can ask a mother to stop doing so in any place where she and the baby are allowed to be. Scotland was way ahead of the game, protecting women some five years before. Remembering the struggle it was to get that bill through, I wouldn’t give too much credit to the Labour/Liberal Democrat government of the day. It took a cross party alliance of women to keep Elaine Smith’s private member’s bill alive.

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Posted in News | Tagged , | 34 Comments
Caron Lindsay

A sneak preview of the new Ad Lib

By Caron Lindsay | Published Wed 26th November 2014 - 9:30 pm

In the next few days, a relaunched version of Ad Lib magazine will be landing on all Liberal Democrat members’ doorsteps.

It has been redesigned in accordance with feedback received from subscribers. It’s bigger, brighter and bolder than before.

Screen Shot 2014-11-26 at 17.30.26

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Posted in News | Tagged , | 4 Comments
Paul Tyler

Paul Tyler writes… Voter engagement and Votes at 16: progress!

By Paul Tyler | Published Fri 14th November 2014 - 8:10 am

Today, the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee is doing something I don’t recall any other Committee doing before it. It is publishing a report in draft, and asking for public feedback before making final recommendations.

In announcing this initiative Graham Allen, the Committee’s Chair, writes, “we raise issues around re-building our political parties, their funding, conduct of MPs, how the Media can work to improve public involvement, and how we can restore a sense of excite around our democracy”. These are all clearly crucial issues for Liberal Democrats.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 8 Comments
Laura Gardiner

The Independent View: Will 2015 be the turning point on wage growth?

By Laura Gardiner | Published Thu 13th November 2014 - 11:54 am

image001Another Bank of England inflation report, another set of rosy forecasts for earnings next year. Just as 2014 was supposed to be the year of the pay rise, now it seems 2015 will be the year when things turn positive.

And, according to the Bank, wages won’t just creep into positive territory next year, they are going to take something of a jump upwards. In the last quarter of 2015 the Bank expects nominal wage growth of 3.25% at a time of inflation of 1.4% – so a gear shift from the current position of at best flat-lining real pay to healthy growth of roughly 1.8% in a year’s time.

How sceptical should we be?  The Bank’s Chief Economist has been admirably forthright in highlighting his organisation’s own habit of promising sunshine tomorrow, with spring always just around the corner but never coming to pass, as the chart below from his recent speech illustrates. At some point, though, things have to brighten. And every passing month in which unemployment continues its fall and GDP continue to rise makes a degree of optimism about the following year that bit more plausible.

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Posted in The Independent View | Tagged , | 17 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Tessa Munt: Find new abuse inquiry Chair from abroad and involve public in selection

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sat 1st November 2014 - 10:35 am

To me it had been clear that Fiona Woolf should step down as Chair of the Inquiry into historic sex abuse ever since it became clear that she had been on dinner party terms with Sir Leon Brittain. It’s not that she had done anything wrong, but it was clear at that point that it would be very difficult for everyone to have confidence in her impartiality. Once the victims had said that they didn’t support her continuing in the role, it was only a matter of time before she resigned, as she did this evening.

Back in July, Liberal Democrat MP Tessa Munt revealed that she had been sexually abused as a child. Tonight, she discussed Fiona Woolf’s resignation and what should happen next on Radio 4’s PM programme.

You can listen to discussion on the whole issue here from the start of the broadcast, or go straight to Tessa at 36:50.

Sad it’s come to this, but it might have been anticipated. She supported a lot of things that the previous interviewee, representing the victims, had said.

She was asked where she thought we should go next.

Tessa suggested that the pubic should have a role in choosing the next Chair. She suggested using social media to get potential names and then allowing people to express concerns which could then be investigated before any appointments were made. She said that we shouldn’t entertain the idea of people’s reputations being trashed on Twitter, but if people had serious concerns, they could be looked into. There needed to be a lot more transparency in the process.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Opinion: Alice vs the system: Lessons from a lifetime of “help” from public services #3

By Anonymous Liberal Democrat | Published Tue 28th October 2014 - 2:30 pm

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

This is the third in the series about Alice and her experience of ‘the system’ and covers her life as a young adult. The first article, introducing the series, can be found here and the second, on her adoption and early life, here.

It’s taken me longer to write this article than I thought it would. Things have been difficult for Alice over the past few months; she has recently come off her meds and we’re dealing with the fallout (my contribution is largely indirect, trying to support my mum), and I haven’t had the heart to bring myself to write about it. David Cameron’s “family test” fired me up again though.

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Caron Lindsay

A sneak preview of the Scottish Autumn Conference Agenda

By Caron Lindsay | Published Tue 21st October 2014 - 10:25 am

This year’s Scottish Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference takes place much later than usual. It’s been delayed by the Referendum and will take place in Dunfermline on Saturday 22nd November. There’s just about enough time for Presidential candidates to come and chase some last minute votes.

The preliminary agenda has just been published and it’s busy. Six policy debates, two keynote speeches, a  devolution discussion, a thank you reception for our former MEP George Lyon and two lunchtime fringe meetings crammed into one day.

The policy motions include:

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Caron Lindsay

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #394

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sun 19th October 2014 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 394th 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 (12-18 October, 2014), together with a hand-picked quintet, 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 | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Danny Alexander’s stroll on the Grassy Knoll and other great #dannyswalks

By Caron Lindsay | Published Fri 17th October 2014 - 6:37 pm

Twitter is evil. We all knew that, right?

And it can be very funny.

And even evilly funny.

Out of the most innocent and an assuming of gestures, it can make a Big Internet Thing.

And so it was when all that Danny Alexander did was change his cover photo. He picked an image of him walking alongside Loch Morlich, near Aviemore in the heart of his Highland constituency.  In the shadow of Cairngorm mountain itself, he strolled, casually dressed.

And then Hannah Thompson, who you may remember is the woman whose brilliant campaign against revenge porn is about to change the law to make it an offence, casually mused:

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Linda Jack

Remembering Sarah – Thanking Nick

By Linda Jack | Published Sat 11th October 2014 - 3:37 pm

Almost two years ago I arrived home in the early hours from the Children and Young People Awards, to see the lights on. My stomach hit the floor – if my daughter was still up something was wrong. I was right – my sister Sarah had been found dead in her house, suspected suicide. Members in Watford will know Sarah as one of their deliverers, two weeks before she died she was out with me delivering for the PCC elections in Bedfordshire. But Sarah had one of the most painful illnesses known to man or woman – she was bi-polar and schizophrenic. She was also one of the most loving people you would ever meet, a carer all her life, a house always full of children, especially those who she thought needed feeding! However, her illness led to so much misunderstanding and prejudice, and even for someone like me – trying to get her the right care was like banging your head against a brick wall.

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Posted in News | 12 Comments
Caron Lindsay

The Glee Club makes the headlines

By Caron Lindsay | Published Thu 9th October 2014 - 1:15 pm

Glee Club 2014There’s no question that the Liberal Democrats’ traditional end of conference sing-a-thon is very marmite and Brussels Sprouts. I love it and am usually in my place for the start at 10 pm. This time, though, I didn’t get there till nearly 1 in the morning. It took me from 11pm when I arrived back at the Crowne Plaza after going out for dinner till then to cover the short distance from the door to the room where it was taking place because I kept meeting friends and new people and chatting away to them. I do hope that the people I was chatting to were sober enough to remember the ideas for articles that we talked about. “Confessions of a Trotskyite at Liberal Democrat Conference” is one I definitely want to read.

Anyway, I missed the traditional gathering of the Scots to sing Oh Flower of Scotland, but I did get there just in time for a very non-traditional rendition of English Country Garden. Do not ever find out the lyrics of this song if you are of a delicate disposition. I thought I was broad-minded but there were some things I didn’t know and had to ask. It is the smuttiest thing you will ever read.

The Liberator Song Book is a satirical and nostalgic meander through our party’s history. From The Land, a centuries old radical protest song calling for land value taxation to a song castigating Don Foster for ending our support for student grants (in order to maintain free tuition) in the 1990s, each song and its backstory means something to us. Rumour has it that at the Conference where this was debated, a pint found its way over Don’s head in a late night heated discussion in a Conference bar.

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Posted in News | 8 Comments
Ibrahim Taguri

Opinion: Lobbying, campaigning and pressure groups – a need for transparency

By Ibrahim Taguri | Published Fri 26th September 2014 - 9:25 am

These three words conjure a variety of connotations, more often than not, negative ones. Taken together the mix is considered to be a cloak and dagger approach to getting deals done and policies made.

It’s no secret that many people are disillusioned with the way our political process works. Politics isn’t about decisions made behind closed doors, but must be an open and interactive dialogue. I want to make sure constituents have the opportunity to engage in the issues that matter most to them. Politics should be an inclusive process that encourages public participation.

That’s why I have decided to publish my conference schedule.

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Posted in Op-eds | 5 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg explains Liberal Democrat ministers’ decision to support air strikes on ISIL

By Caron Lindsay | Published Wed 24th September 2014 - 7:03 pm

RAF lightning II aircraft photo by defence imagesNick Clegg has sent an email to all party members this evening to explain why the parliamentary party will be supporting air strikes on ISIL in Iraq.

It contains the entire broadcast interview which he did this afternoon. He talks about what a”vile and murderous” outfit ISIL is, about how the action is legal and how this isn’t being done by “the west” to “the rest”. It comes as part of a coalition of countries acting on a formal request from the legitimate government of Iraq.

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Posted in Europe / International, News, Parliament | Tagged , , , | 38 Comments
Drew Durning

Opinion: The Immigration Premium: A positive approach to immigration

By Drew Durning | Published Tue 23rd September 2014 - 8:55 am

This concept of an Immigration Premium was developed after watching Nick Clegg struggle to counter Nigel Farage on the subject of immigration in the European election debates. The UKIP leader is correctly able to state that we have an open door policy to European Immigration and hundreds of thousands of people arrive year after year, putting immense strains on housing, education, healthcare and other infrastructure elements.

The Immigration Premium turns this problem on its head. New immigrants (identifiable by NI number) have high levels of employment and through sheer weight of numbers make a major contribution to the exchequer both through direct taxes and indirect spending. In fact, immigration is a major factor in the economy’s return to growth. The Immigration Premium identifies additional tax revenues generated by immigration and directs additional funds to the geographic areas and services most directly affected by sudden influxes of large numbers of new people.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , | 43 Comments
Ed Fordham

Stand up against the politics of bullets and threats

By Ed Fordham | Published Mon 22nd September 2014 - 4:19 pm

AlliancePolitics is macho at the best of times – strength and power, even clarity is used in a ruthless context.  All too often there are militaristic metaphors: “I intend to march my troops towards the sound of gunfire” (Joe Grimond 1963).

Indeed, it has always been my experience as a campaigner, member of staff for the Party and as candidate, that macho effort is often valued above more subtle contribution.  You often hear Conference bar boasting about the number of by-elections attended (usually citing the first exciting one that we won, forgetting the less sexy ones: Ogmore or Bootle 2), the number of nights, days, weeks and indeed months (in the case of Brent East) spent at said by-election, and the first by-election attended (often Christchurch or Eastbourne, being a direct reference to the decades of perceived thankless service!).

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 4 Comments
George Potter

Opinion: English devolution – with maps

By George Potter | Published Mon 22nd September 2014 - 3:39 pm

Being very much a politics geek, the renewed discussion on English Devolution following the pledge of home rule for Scotland by all three major party leaders, prompted me to start considering what England might look like if the same powers were devolved to it.

Two well known options for English devolution are those of either a devolved English Parliament or devolved regional assemblies for the regions used in European elections. To my mind the former (as a result of covering 53 million people) would continue over-centralisation in England while the latter is hindered by the regions lacking cohesive identities and being …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 97 Comments
Paul Walter

Can moderate public engagement be a good thing?

By Paul Walter | Published Mon 22nd September 2014 - 10:55 am

Scottish referendum ohot by gerardferryimagesWhile I was a governor at a primary school, we had a yearly dilemma. By law, we had to hold an annual meeting with parents. About a dozen usually turned up. Normally the same faces. Interested and engaged, they gave us good feedback and a nice time was had by all. Soft drinks and nibbles supplied.

But a dozen parents for a school with several hundred pupils was considered low. So, annually, we considered ways of increasing parental attendance, only to be frustrated. After several attempts, I jokingly suggested that the only way to increase attendance was to announce that, at the next meeting, we would be showing a preview of an experimental Swedish sex education video which we were considering showing to pupils.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments
Catherine Bearder

Catherine Bearder writes… Now the referendum is over, we need a unifying vision for Britain

By Catherine Bearder | Published Fri 19th September 2014 - 5:28 pm

Now that the people of Scotland have voted to remain a part of the UK, discussions over what further devolution of powers for Scotland will take place – as well as for the other British nations and regions – will inevitably dominate public debate. However, a big risk facing us as a country is that we become too introspective, turning in on ourselves rather than looking at the wider picture.

That’s because as well as a new constitutional arrangement, we desperately need a unifying vision of Britain and its place in the world. Indeed, it’s the lack of such a vision that has been one of the key factors fuelling Scottish separatism and the nationalism that feeds UKIP.

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Posted in Op-eds | 28 Comments
Stephen Tall

Scotland votes today: 8 things that have struck me about the independence campaign

By Stephen Tall | Published Thu 18th September 2014 - 7:50 am

My own position remains unchanged from February:

“If I were a Scot with a vote in September, I’m not sure which side I would favour. I see no reason why an independent Scotland wouldn’t do quite well out of new arrangements, but it would of course be a risky venture into the unknown (which is why I don’t think the SNP’s bid will succeed). As that great liberal Ludovic Kennedy once rhetorically asked, “I still believe that if Denmark can run its own affairs, why can’t Scotland?””

The debate has been depressing:

I don’t actually mean the acrimony between the …

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Posted in Op-eds | 32 Comments
Rebecca Hanson

Opinion: I sat on the fence for a long time

By Rebecca Hanson | Published Wed 17th September 2014 - 2:00 pm

Alex Salmond - License Some rights reserved by Ewan McIntoshIn history independence (or partition) often leads to a rise in racism, disaffection, poverty, hatred and instability.  I was looking for evidence that Scottish independence wouldn’t do that.

I was looking for intelligent leadership with a coherent vision which would unite Scotland to reassure me that the positives of independence (which would include faster and more sensitive feedback loops for Scottish policy) would outweigh the negatives.  In the early stages of the campaign I saw signs of what I was looking for.

My first …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 58 Comments
Stephen Tall

New LDV members’ survey now live: your views on Scotland, the Coalition, ISIS and Israel/Palestine, and the Party Presidency

By Stephen Tall | Published Sat 13th September 2014 - 11:00 am

imageThe new LDV members’ survey is now live. So if you are one of the 1,500+ 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:

  • do you support or oppose Scotland becoming independent?
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Posted in LDV Members poll | 4 Comments
The Voice

++Vince Cable to vote for Bedroom Tax reform

By The Voice | Published Fri 5th September 2014 - 1:17 pm

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Posted in News | 34 Comments
The Voice

How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

By The Voice | Published Thu 4th September 2014 - 3:45 pm

Why not join hundreds of other Lib Dem Voice readers in getting our latest headlines by email?

Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there’s new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day’s posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with a note of how many comments each post has got and convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want to take a read.

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Caron Lindsay

Caron’s Sunday Selection: Must-read articles from the Sunday papers

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sun 31st August 2014 - 9:47 am

It’s almost September, and, let’s face it, now that the X Factor’s back, tithe countdown to Christmas has begun, so I should probably forget all these leisurely Sunday morning lie-ins and actually start having a look at what’s in the papers again.

sundaypaps

 

 

When terror threats are raised, for me the first question is not “Is something awful going to happen on our streets?” It’s “Which of our precious freedoms are the Government planning to take from us?” With Liberal Democrats in Government that anxiety is considerably less than it would be if there were none, but it is still there. Scotland on Sunday tells us how David Cameron and Nick Clegg are having talks today to finalise the Government’s response. The Observer reports that Paddy Ashdown warns against knee jerk reactions, which is a good sign. We’ll cover that separately.

In the Observer, Catherine Bennett cites the recent dire Better Together commercial and Austin Mitchell’s comments to argue that it really is time for All Women Shortlists:

Without Labour’s all-women lists, parliament would resound, indefinitely, to the grunts of its Mitchells, Soameses and Fabricants. Unrecorded in the YouGov poll are people who dislike all-women shortlists but dislike yet more the reason for their continued existence: the very culture that just created the execrable, the relentlessly mocked Woman Who Made up Her Mind.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 23 Comments
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