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

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

Good 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,

…

Posted in Local government, News | Tagged dorothy thornhill, elected mayor, sal brinton, watford | 3 Comments

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

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

On 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, …

Posted in News | Tagged iain dale, stuart holmes | 8 Comments

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

I 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

…

Posted in News, Op-eds | Tagged austerity, ed miliband, energy, featured, jonathan freedland, labour conference, leaders tv debate, matthew parris, nick clegg | 26 Comments

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, …

Posted in Conference | Tagged defence, glasgow conference 2013, nuclear disarmament | 3 Comments

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 …

Posted in News | Tagged Liberal Democrat Voice Awards 2013 | 2 Comments

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

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

Liberal 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.

Posted in Conference | 1 Comment

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 …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged green alliance, green liberalism, low carbon | 4 Comments

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 …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged featured, nick clegg, paddy ashdown, sir menzies campbell, syria | 46 Comments

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

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

Tim 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.

Posted in News | Tagged autumn conference 2013, featured, house of lords, interim peers list | 14 Comments

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

…

Posted in News | Tagged eric pickles, euromyth, european union | 20 Comments

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 …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged helena morrissey, tim gordon | 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 …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Food, sustainability | 29 Comments

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

…

Posted in News | Tagged caroline crialdo-perez, communication, internet abuse, misogyny, sexism, twitter | 14 Comments

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

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

Winning 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 …

Posted in News | Tagged council by-elections, Local government, maghull | 41 Comments

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

What 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 …

Posted in News | Tagged economy, gdp | 15 Comments

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 …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged david laws, education, featured, michael gove, performance related pay, schools | 33 Comments

Opinion: Cameron’s false porn panacea

By Paul Thompson | Published Wed 24th July 2013 - 8:52 am

From suggesting that the Blackberry messenger service be shut down during the 2011 riots, to proposing that the food standards agency can monitor your home internet usage It’s clear that Cameron, or those around him, have a limited appreciation of how the internet works.

Yesterday Cameron announced another clanger – default internet filtering for every household in the country, so unless you tell you ISP otherwise, pornographic content would be blocked – or at least some porn, as Cameron was today forced embarrassingly admit that the Sun’s Page 3 topless models wouldn’t be blocked.

So isn’t it a good idea to …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged ceop, david cameron, internet, pornography | 15 Comments

Martin Horwood MP writes… Balance of competence reports shows EU membership is crucial for UK jobs

By Martin Horwood | Published Mon 22nd July 2013 - 4:53 pm

The Government today published the long awaited first six reports of the review of the balance of competences between EU and national levels, due to be finalised at the end of 2014. The review has been overseen by a Ministerial star chamber with Lord Wallace of Saltaire leading impressively for the Liberal Democrats in the complicated process.

Contrary to the perception in Eurosceptic ranks, this review is not and was never about creating a wish list of demands for unilateral repatriation of powers. Liberal Democrats have been unwavering in our arguments that the EU needs reform to make …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged european union, william wallace | 6 Comments

Catherine Tate’s top tips: Be nice to everyone and don’t be late…

By Caron Lindsay | Published Sat 20th July 2013 - 9:30 am

Catherine Tate? On a politics site? Really?

Well, this is a lovely Summer Saturday morning, Parliament has just broken up for its holidays, so I just thought I’d do something a little bit different. You can tell me to take a running jump if you like, and this is something I would only ever do sparingly, but I thought I’d give it a try. Please don’t worry. My fixations with Doctor Who, Strictly and F1 will be confined to my own blog.

A few weeks ago, I missed both the Social Liberal Forum Scottish conference and the British Grand Prix to …

Posted in News | Tagged catherine tate, david tennant, doctor who, holiday fun | 3 Comments

Nick Clegg gives an extra £400 to disadvantaged kids – so why is this turning into a story about ranking pupils?

By Caron Lindsay | Published Wed 17th July 2013 - 10:24 am

You have to feel for Nick Clegg. He’s doing the media rounds this morning with some really good news. Primary schools are going to get an extra £400 in Pupil Premium, bringing the total per child per year to £1300. Impressive, surely?

It makes sense that the money is directed so that if a child is struggling in primary school, they get the help that they need then. Early intervention has to be the name of the game. The last thing you would ever want is for …

Posted in News | Tagged education, nick clegg, pupil premium | 37 Comments

Liblink… Greg Mulholland calls for referendum on EU membership

By Joe Otten | Published Mon 15th July 2013 - 11:20 am

The Daily Mail is reporting Greg Mulholland’s call for a vote on EU membership without waiting for a treaty change.

Even the huge changes that have taken place in Europe over the years – we’ve moved from EEC to EC to EU – have not led to a public vote. And it is not a little ironic that at the times there was a significant and constitutional change – in 1984, 1986 and 1992 – the then Conservative governments did not give the British people a say. The same happened under

…

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged European referendum, european union, in/out referendum | 5 Comments

Opinion: Does the School Food Plan really ban packed lunches?

By Iain Roberts | Published Sat 13th July 2013 - 11:30 am

If you’re an independent person involved in writing a report for Government, I offer some advice. Take a holiday for the week after the report’s published. Somewhere remote. Ideally without internet.

How else to avoid your blood-pressure shooting through the roof as the media – both social and traditional – ignore 99% of your work and misrepresent the rest?

For the latest example, look no further than the School Food Plan, a 149 page practical guide to improving the health and attainment of young people by improving their diet in …

Posted in News | Tagged daily mirror, featured, fleet street fox, michael gove, school food plan, schools, susie boniface | 10 Comments

Vince Cable opens massive biofuels plant

By Mary Reid | Published Tue 9th July 2013 - 11:53 am

For a picture of Vince Cable in a hard hat and hi vis clothing, check out the Yorkshire Post. He was opening a £350 million bio-fuels plant in Humberside, one of the largest in Europe.

The plant converts animal quality wheat into bioethanol which is then added to petrol to produce a greener fuel. This is in an area which has been described as the ‘wheat belt’ of the UK.

Vince Cable is quoted as saying:

Here we are turning an agricultural product potentially into very good fuel, blending for motor vehicles, creating environmentally

…

Posted in News | Tagged biofuels, vince cable | 5 Comments

Farron asks Gove to put mental health on the school curriculum

By Caron Lindsay | Published Mon 8th July 2013 - 7:43 pm

Last Friday a new charity, providing online counselling to teenagers with mental health issues, launched in London. Mindfull, run by the team behind BeatBullying, built the service after feedback young people themselves. We’re talking about a third of our young people either self-harming or contemplating suicide because they are feeling so bad. The case stories in the report give some idea of how that feels:

Jessica was 14 when she started to feel very down. She didn’t tell anyone about the way she was feeling until she was 15, and even though she started to have suicidal thoughts it took

…

Posted in News | Tagged education, mental health, michael gove, nick clegg, tim farron | 6 Comments

How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

By Caron Lindsay | Published Wed 3rd July 2013 - 10:24 am

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.

Posted in Site news | 1 Comment

A free-for-all on school term dates?

By Mary Reid | Published Tue 2nd July 2013 - 2:58 pm

Michael Gove has had another ‘good idea’, produced without any reference to the professionals who will have to implement it, nor to the general public who will have to work around it. This time he is keen to allow all schools to set their own term dates, in line with the freedom already granted to academies and free schools.

It sounds like a superficial change, but those of us who have examined the issue in depth know that the implications could be far greater than you might imagine.

Some eight years ago I attended a series of meetings of councillors who, like me, held education portfolios in London boroughs. Our aim was to co-ordinate school term dates across the whole of London, and, wherever possible, with the surrounding counties, and we did achieve that. At the same time we looked at patterns of terms, considering some quite radical alternatives, such as six or seven equal length terms, with a shorter break in the summer.

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged michael gove, schools | 30 Comments

Interview: Nick Clegg on the economy, welfare, Cleggism and the “superb” Kung Fu Panda films

By Nick T | Published Mon 24th June 2013 - 1:02 pm

We brought you a taste of the Voice’s exclusive interview with the deputy prime minister yesterday. Here is the full interview, covering the economy, welfare reform, pensions, Cleggism, our approach to the manifesto, Kung Fu Panda and Clegg’s cooking.

Nick Thornsby: What’s your take on where the economy is now, three and a bit years into the coalition?

Nick Clegg: My overall assessment is that it is healing. There are signs of confidence slowly seeping back into the sinews of the economy. Some of the latest data on consumer confidence are better …

Posted in News | Tagged economy, featured, general election manifesto, nick clegg, pensions, spending review, steve webb, triple lock, welfare | 7 Comments

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

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

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

Conference: Defending the Future will not defend the realm

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

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

Keith House writes: Low carbon development, the Eastleigh way

Syria: what do Liberal Democrats want?

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

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

Tim Farron MP writes… Helena Morrissey report update

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

Chickens, eggs, Twitter and report abuse buttons

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

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

Opinion: Cameron’s false porn panacea

Martin Horwood MP writes… Balance of competence reports shows EU membership is crucial for UK jobs

Catherine Tate’s top tips: Be nice to everyone and don’t be late…

Nick Clegg gives an extra £400 to disadvantaged kids – so why is this turning into a story about ranking pupils?

Liblink… Greg Mulholland calls for referendum on EU membership

Opinion: Does the School Food Plan really ban packed lunches?

Vince Cable opens massive biofuels plant

Farron asks Gove to put mental health on the school curriculum

How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

A free-for-all on school term dates?

Interview: Nick Clegg on the economy, welfare, Cleggism and the “superb” Kung Fu Panda films

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Vince Cable writes: Drill, baby, drill…or not

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Britain should be proud, but never afraid of the stranger

Lib Dem Women: Amplifying women’s voices at Conference

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