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Kelly-Marie Blundell

How accessible is Federal Conference?

By Kelly-Marie Blundell | Published Wed 30th October 2013 - 10:14 am

For those who are regular attendees at Federal Conference, you will know that over the last few years, the venues have changed significantly. Being in Government, we’ve seen a shift from open door policy to armed police.

And with this added security, many of us with access needs have found problems. Walking distances have increased, check points have increased and venues seemingly expand every year in colour, size and choice of experience.

When you suffer from a long term condition, it’s often overlooked by those who don’t that such needs can have an impact on your ability to enjoy and make the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , | 10 Comments
George Lyon MEP

George Lyon MEP writes… not a single Liberal Democrat voted for extra spending from Brussels

By George Lyon MEP | Published Fri 25th October 2013 - 6:21 pm

Earlier this year, Nick Clegg said that when we are having to tighten our belts at home it would be wrong for the EU to press ahead with big spending increases. He was right then and he is right now. This is why Liberal Democrats in Brussels backed moves to cut the EU budget by 8bn Euros.

Despite this fact, this week our friends at the Daily Mail reported that Lib Dem MEPs voted for an increase in the EU budget. The truth is that not a single Liberal Democrat voted for more spending from Brussels.

Liberal Democrats are committed to …

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Posted in Europe / International, Op-eds | Tagged , | 3 Comments
Leon Duveen

Time to do away with Lib Dem Friends of Israel and Friends of Palestine

By Leon Duveen | Published Fri 25th October 2013 - 3:03 pm

Why, in a liberal and democratic party that “seeks to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community”, do we allow two groups to flourish in the party, when they should share a common aim? I refer of course the Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine and Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel.

Let me be clear and open. I have Israeli nationality and look back fondly on the ten years of my life spent living in Israel. That doesn’t mean I am uncritical of the Israeli governments, past and present, and of many of the actions and policies they have implemented over the years. I have been calling for a two state solution for nearly 40 years since I first saw at first hand the degradation and suffering in the refugee camps in Gaza. The occupation of Palestine harms both the occupied and the occupiers.

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Posted in Op-eds | 41 Comments
Matt McLaren

The European Election – Fighting an Integrated Campaign

By Matt McLaren | Published Tue 22nd October 2013 - 10:52 am

European Union flagIn a speech earlier this month Nick Clegg detailed just how crucial the European Union is for prospects of a stronger economy and a fairer society here in Britain (you can read the full text of his speech here).

The Liberal Democrats’ success in the European Election is thus hugely important in making sure the EU lives up to its potential in contributing to that combination of increased economic strength and greater social fairness that we are uniquely in a position to deliver. The election is also significant from a political perspective, with the party’s eventual performance being used as a yardstick for our relative success or decline by pundits and opponents alike.

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Posted in Europe / International | Tagged | 1 Comment
Giles Goodall

The palatable truth about EU migration: 5 reasons why it’s good for Britain

By Giles Goodall | Published Sun 20th October 2013 - 10:04 am

Telegraph MigrationThe Sunday Telegraph’s disingenuous claim last weekend that “600,000 unemployed EU migrants are living in Britain at a cost of £1.5 billion to the NHS” sparked a chorus of protests about so-called ‘benefit tourism’ from the Mail, Sun and Express. Conservatives and Ukippers gleefully joined the feeding frenzy, with hard-right Tory MP Douglas Carswell upping the rhetorical ante from “waves of migrants” to a “tsunami of economic refugees”.

Fortunately, the European Commission, the NIESR and others were on hand to point out some facts. The Sunday Telegraph wrongly included students, retired people, parents on leave and some schoolchildren in its definition of unemployed. In fact, the Department of Work & Pensions’ own estimates state that fewer than 38,000 people from the other 27 EU countries claim jobseekers allowance in the UK. This represents approximately 2.6% of all claimants and is just 6% of the Sunday Telegraph’s front page ‘EU unemployed’ figure.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , | 31 Comments

Vampire railway: High Speed 2 to suck life out of local economies

By Andy Boddington | Published Sat 19th October 2013 - 10:03 am

HS2 Distortion 200The case for High Speed 2 is looking more and more like a Tonka project – a big showy toy that politicians can brag about, but will do little for the UK’s economy. And it is not an equitable project. It is set to damage the economy of areas like east of England and boost London at their expense.

It’s not long since KPMG published a report claiming that the line could boost the economy by £15 billion a year. Now BBC’s Newsnight reports that the KPMG report left out data on those areas that stand to lose out from the project.

In cash terms, the BBC lists Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray  as faring the worst, losing £220m a year by 2037. But local economies are different sizes, so it helps to look at percentages.

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Posted in News, Op-eds | Tagged | 37 Comments
Stephen Tall

New Ipsos-MORI poll: Nick Clegg’s leader ratings in 5 graphs

By Stephen Tall | Published Thu 17th October 2013 - 2:30 pm

Much excitement among Tories today at the arrival of a new Ipsos-MORI poll showing them drawing level with Labour – 36% apiece – among those who say they’re certain to vote. The explanation’s not too hard to hazard a guess at: the return of economic growth is gradually feeding through into a feel-good factor. (For more on this, see this excellent post by YouGov’s Joe Twyman: ‘“It’s the long term trends, stupid”: the Conservatives, Labour and the economy‘.)

However, it was some of the underlying IPSOS-Mori data concerning perceptions of the leaders which caught my eye… (All the graphs below …

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Posted in Polls | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments
The Voice

What’s being debated in our members’ forum this week?

By The Voice | Published Sat 12th October 2013 - 6:50 pm

LibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you’re reading now. The second is our private members’ forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access.

If you’re a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that’s on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you’ll be included in our regular surveys’ of party members’ views.

Here’s some of the most active discussions this past week:

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Posted in Site news | Leave a comment

Reshuffle – Lib Dems demoted at Defra as Heath axed

By Andy Boddington | Published Tue 8th October 2013 - 9:02 am

David Heath has been sacked as Minister of State for Agriculture and Food at Defra. In his place is North Cornwall Lib Dem MP Dan Rogerson, but at the more junior position of Parliamentary Under Secretary.

Dan Rogerson

In his letter to Heath, Nick Clegg said:

I am very aware of the pressure on you within Defra over the last year, and I am particularly grateful to you for the clarity and objectivity you have brought to issues of animal and plant disease, your defence of environmental issues, your commitment to agriculture and rural areas, and the development of new and exciting policies to enhance our forests.

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Posted in News | Tagged , | 30 Comments
The Voice

What’s being debated in our members’ forum this week?

By The Voice | Published Sat 5th October 2013 - 1:00 pm

LibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you’re reading now. The second is our private members’ forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access.

If you’re a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that’s on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you’ll be included in our regular surveys’ of party members’ views.

Here’s some of the most active discussions this past 10 days:

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The Voice

Lib Dem equalities minister Jo Swinson backs Elle magazine’s ‘Make Them Pay’ campaign

By The Voice | Published Sat 5th October 2013 - 10:49 am

jo swinson by paul walterJo Swinson is not only the government minister responsible for employment relations, consumer and postal affairs – she’s also the Lib Dems’ equalities minister. And she appears in November’s issue of Elle magazine backing its ‘Make Them Pay‘ campaign:

Today, we are proud to announce, the government has gotten behind us too. Women and Equalities minister Jo Swinson is urging all women to follow the advice in The Feminist Times and Mother campaign: ‘If he does the same job as you, ask him his salary.’

Praising our initiative,

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , | 20 Comments
Laura Willoughby

Opinion: The marriage tax allowance is no free lunch

By Laura Willoughby | Published Thu 3rd October 2013 - 10:24 am

We could give kids free lunch up to the age of 11 if we did not have this silly marriage tax allowance …..

In my last blog on the marriage tax allowance I wondered what we would gain for Lib Dem acquiescence over the illiberal and expensive marriage tax allowance. It is not what I expected but I quite like it.

In the most obvious bit of horse-trading in this coalition yet we won free school meals for five to seven year olds. (I hope that is as far as the involvement of horses goes – sorry!)

I don’t want to

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Why every minister should know the price of bread

By Andy Boddington | Published Wed 2nd October 2013 - 6:53 pm

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt is a classic journalist’s trap. David Cameron was challenged on LBC Radio. “How much does a value loaf cost?” His guess was “way north of a pound.” “Caught you”, the presenter almost said. A value loaf, in London at least, costs 47p.

Now, I simply did not believe this. To my certain knowledge – until this afternoon – an 800g white loaf costs a full £1. Of course, I was wrong.

I live in a classic rural market town of around 10,000 people, three supermarkets, four convenience stores, a great market, local butchers and bakers, and much more. Ludlow has streets that are amongst the 10% richest in the country. But walk just half a mile from the historic centre and you will find housing areas that are amongst the 10% most socially deprived areas in Britain.

We are a town famous for its food and we have some of the best bakers in Britain. But for so many of our residents, the price of bread really matters.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 17 Comments
The Voice

Mayor Dorothy announces she’ll go for fourth term in Watford

By The Voice | Published Thu 26th September 2013 - 3:35 pm

June 2011 Watford, UK Elected Mayor of Watford Dorothy ThornhillGood news in Watford, where Dorothy Thornhill, who in 2002 became the first directly-elected Lib Dem mayor in the country, has announced she will run for a fourth term of office:

I am really pleased to announce that I am going to stand again as the mayoral candidate for the Watford Liberal Democrats in the 2014 mayoral elections.

Last night we held our official party meeting at St Luke’s Church, at which I was unanimously reselected. The turnout was great,

…

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Posted in Local government, News | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Iain Dale accepts police caution for assault on anti-nukes protestor

By Stephen Tall | Published Thu 26th September 2013 - 1:35 pm

iain dale no nukesOn Tuesday, Conservative blogger, publisher and LBC radio presenter Iain Dale hit the headlines when he took on anti-nukes protestor Stuart Holmes, who’d annoyed him by insistently trying to get in shot while ITV’s Daybreak programme interviewed his latest high-profile author, Damian McBride. (See Iain Dale unilaterally disarms anti-nukes protester in front of TV cameras.) Iain immediately blogged his justification, but after the police became involved, he decided to apologise and has today accepted a police caution. He’s now issued a Statement and Apology, …

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Posted in News | Tagged , | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

Ed Miliband’s speech: 5 thoughts on what it means for Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and the 2015 election

By Stephen Tall | Published Wed 25th September 2013 - 3:45 pm

Ed MilibandI listened to, rather than watched, Ed Miliband’s speech to the Labour party conference yesterday. On the up-side that meant I missed the three hammy mid-speech standing ovations (shades of IDS c.2003); on the down-side it accentuated the peculiar whooping of some of the more excitable delegates (calm down, it’s just a politician talking). In its own terms — getting noticed for its content rather than simply as an impressive no-notes memory feat — it was an undoubted success. Matthew Parris in The Times rather brilliantly captures the flavour:

Crikey

…

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Posted in News, Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments
Tim Oliver

Conference: Defending the Future will not defend the realm

By Tim Oliver | Published Sun 15th September 2013 - 2:02 pm

The defence of the realm is the foremost responsibility of any government. The defence policy paper that will be debated in Glasgow this week is not only worrying, but potentially dangerous.

The first business of any defence policy is to recognise that the armed forces are to wage war in the name of our interests. We must be clear what these interests are. We can then be clear as to when we will deploy our armed forces into combat, what equipment they will need, the training they will require and the size and composition they must be. War is, after all, …

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Posted in Conference | Tagged , , | 3 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Liberal Democrat Voice Awards: The shortlists (8): Political Broadcaster and commentator

By Caron Lindsay | Published Fri 13th September 2013 - 8:00 pm

The Liberal Democrat Voice Awards are but 26 hours away. At 10 pm on Saturday 14 September, in Castle 2 of the Crowne Plaza, with cash bar on hand, and an imaginative dress code, the best in blogging, campaigning, social media and politics in general will be feted in a ceremony filled with razzmatazz, glitz and glamour.

And so we come to the end of the shortlists we’ve been drip feeding you for nearly a week now. The final categories are political broadcaster and political commentator (print/online) of the year. The nominations were submitted either via the Summer members’ survey or …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 2 Comments
Louise Shaw

Conference: The Coalition and Beyond – Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead

By Louise Shaw | Published Fri 13th September 2013 - 3:02 pm

Lloyd George PosterLiberal Reform’s first publication – The Coalition and Beyond : Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead is an interesting, thoughtful and practical guide to ideas the party needs to be looking at the next few years, through the rest of the coalition and beyond.

We’ve had some really great contributions, from people within and outside the party with liberal credentials. It’s been remarked already how many different levels of the party have contributed to this – from Parliamentarians, to PPCs and ordinary activists and members. We did have this aim in mind, so are pleased with the result.

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Posted in Conference | 1 Comment
Keith House

Keith House writes: Low carbon development, the Eastleigh way

By Keith House | Published Thu 5th September 2013 - 3:30 pm

This is the second of three extracts from the forthcoming collection of essays Green liberalism: a local approach to the low carbon economy. Similar collections will be published under Green Alliance’s ‘Green social democracy’ and ‘Green conservatism’ projects as part of the Green Roots programme, which aims to stimulate green thinking within the three dominant political traditions in the UK. 

An international airport where two major motorways bisect may not, at a first glance, be the obvious place to start when looking for a council committed to the green economy. Add in support from the council for the managed growth of …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , | 4 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Syria: what do Liberal Democrats want?

By Caron Lindsay | Published Wed 28th August 2013 - 9:57 am

Last night we brought you Nick Clegg’s view on Syria, which can be summarised as follows:

  • if we stand idly by we set a very dangerous precedent
  • the use of chemical weapons is a repugnant crime
  • we will not stand idly by when chemical weapons are used in complete breach of international law
  •  Government “is not going to act outside the remit of international law”
  • we want to stand up for the standards and norms in the civilised world

In the last couple of days Paddy Ashdown and Sir Menzies Campbell, two of the most respected voices this country has on foreign affairs, have been …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , | 46 Comments
Sue Doughty

Party Reform: The Interim Peers List, is it fit for purpose?

By Sue Doughty | Published Tue 27th August 2013 - 11:52 am

House of Lords. Photo: Parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of ParliamentTim Farron, our Party President has long championed concerns about how democratic  the Lib Dems really are and how can we do better.  Federal Executive has now set up the Democratic Reform Group which I chair.  Our first task has been to take a hard look at the Interim Peers List and we have published a consultation paper on this together with organising a meeting at Glasgow to consult members about improvements to the process.  The Interim Peers list is an group of people elected by Conference Representatives from which the Party Leader can make nominations to the House of Lords.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments
Caron Lindsay

How to do Twitter, Home Office style

By Caron Lindsay | Published Thu 22nd August 2013 - 10:25 am

Oh, they have been busy bees at the Home Office this Summer.  The Go Home vans, immigration checks at tube stations, not telling Nick Clegg what they’re up to, it’s amazing they’ve found time for anything else.

On Tuesday they published their Twitter policy. While I’d like to think it was hastily drawn up in response to criticism of the way its account was used during the immigration spot checks, with statistics of how many people had been arrested were given along with disturbing photographs of people being bundled into vans, I’m not sure the wheels of …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments
Giles Goodall

EU birth certificates myth swallowed whole by the anti-European press

By Giles Goodall | Published Mon 12th August 2013 - 3:45 pm

It may be the silly season, but the latest Euromyth to ruffle right-wing feathers takes silliness to a whole new level. The Express, Mail, Sun and Telegraph unanimously announced at the weekend that Brussels wants to remove the royal crest from British birth certificates and replace it with the hated EU flag. The Mail declared Brits would be “stamped with the EU flag from the cradle to the grave” while the Sun led with the rather lame “B-EU-rths ‘n deaths”.

They gave generous space to Eric Pickles, who fumed:

This imposed Euro-law is part of an

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , | 20 Comments
Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron MP writes… Helena Morrissey report update

By Tim Farron MP | Published Thu 8th August 2013 - 1:55 pm

The Helena Morrissey report was incredibly difficult reading for our party. Facing up to the reality that the party that I love and joined at 16 had not always lived out its values is painful. But throughout this process my top priorities have always been the people affected, getting to the truth, ensuring justice and making certain that we enact every single recommendation of Helena Morrissey’s report. That’s why I wanted to give you an update on the work we have done to put Helena Morrissey’s recommendations into practice.

Since the report was published, I have made efforts on …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Britain can’t cook, won’t cook. Should we care?

By Andy Boddington | Published Fri 2nd August 2013 - 7:05 am

A year ago we set up a tiny community garden on the verges of our barren car park. Not a great deal grew in the first season, but what we produced we tried to give away, sometimes without success.

“What will I do with it?” asked J as I offered him a bunch of dirty carrots. A few days ago, I got a glimpse inside J’s fridge. Everything was pre-packed, microwave or oven ready, accompanied by step-by-step instructions. J doesn’t cook and he is not alone.

A review for Defra by Best Foot Forward highlighted that one in six …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 29 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Chickens, eggs, Twitter and report abuse buttons

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sun 28th July 2013 - 8:30 pm

In the last 24 hours, over 40,000 people have signed an e-petition calling on Twitter to install a “report abuse button.” This was started after journalist Caroline Crialdo-Perez suffered numerous tweeted threats of rape and sexual assault in the wake of her successful campaign to have Jane Austen put on a bank note. Shewrote for the Independent about her experience both of the abuse and the support she’d received in return. Ishould warn you that if you click on the link you will see some examples of the tweets she was sent:

These are all tweets from men. Men who

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments
Simon Shaw

2 gains from Labour on Merseyside – and very nearly a third

By Simon Shaw | Published Fri 26th July 2013 - 3:45 pm

Maghull Victory July 2013Winning a council seat in Merseyside off Labour would be a significant achievement.  Winning two on the same day would be virtually unheard of.

Yesterday, in Maghull, Sefton MBC, Merseyside, Lib Dems won two seats off Labour and came within 9 votes of winning a third.  The by-elections concerned took place in three adjacent seats on Maghull Town Council.

Maghull Town Council, 8 miles to the North West of Liverpool City Centre, is the largest civil parish in the country and levies a Band D council tax precept of nearly …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , | 41 Comments
Stephen Tall

The economy is growing again. But that’s no reason to think the voters will be grateful.

By Stephen Tall | Published Thu 25th July 2013 - 12:45 pm

Economy-in-the-UKWhat a difference 3 months makes.

As late as 24th April, the fear was the UK economy might be slipping into a ‘triple dip’ recession. That was a bullet dodged. Then a month ago, on 27 June, we discovered the ‘double dip’ recession never actually happened after all. That was a bullet extracted.

Today, the Office of National Statistics has announced GDP growth increased by 0.6% in the second quarter of 2013. The smile of relief has become something more genuine.

No-one should get too carried away. The …

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Posted in News | Tagged , | 15 Comments
Layla Moran MP

Opinion: Performance related pay for teachers: does it drive up standards?

By Layla Moran MP | Published Thu 25th July 2013 - 11:30 am

Michael Gove’s most recent big idea to improve the teaching profession takes the form of performance related pay. Like many of Gove’s big ideas it has incensed teachers. But it’s also a populist move. One poll estimated that 61% of voters backed the idea. But will it improve teaching standards?

The evidence for performance related pay leading to improving standards in education is inconclusive. Literature shows no causal relationship between performance related pay and standards and results vary enormously depending on the context. In India one study showed that “after controlling for student ability, parental background and the resources available …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , | 33 Comments
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