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Helen Duffett

AD LIB digital edition – teething problems solved

By Helen Duffett | Published Thu 18th April 2013 - 10:20 am

Hopefully all of you have had the chance to have a play with the new AD LIB interactive digital edition which was launched this month.

If not, why not have a play now?

Remember, this issue is free to all party members.

As well as all the good stuff you get with the paper copy, the digital edition has a number of interactive elements. If you want to listen to Paddy’s conference speech while reading his cover interview, you can. If you’re intrigued about Eluned Parrott’s ‘On the Record’ music choices, you can click straight to the music videos. And if you …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , | 4 Comments
Martin Horwood

Martin Horwood MP writes… 1000 days of hunger

By Martin Horwood | Published Tue 16th April 2013 - 5:10 pm

The first thousand days of a child’s life – from conception through to their second birthday – are full of moments to cherish. First birthdays, first steps, first words. Whether these events are captured on film, or retold to maximum embarrassment in later years, they are treasured milestones in a child’s life.

A report published yesterday by UNICEF reminds us that those first thousand days aren’t only precious, they are the most critical in shaping a child’s future. Their health, their growth, their ability to learn and even their potential to earn are shaped during this period by one crucial …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , | 2 Comments
Nick Sutton

Opinion: The depressing reality of the Paris Brown case

By Nick Sutton | Published Wed 10th April 2013 - 11:05 am

After an extraordinarily brutal last few days, 17 year old Youth Police Commissioner Paris Brown resigned from her post at Kent Police. In her resignation statement, she said that she was ‘quitting in the interests of the young people of Kent’ after supposed racist and homophobic tweets dating back a number of years had been found by Daily Mail journalists and ran with by several other major news organisations.

There is no doubting that the tweets themselves were offensive. At no point is it acceptable to engage in homophobic or racist behaviour and the comments should not be made by someone …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 23 Comments
Peter Bradwell

The Independent View: The battle for privacy in the EU and how the Liberal Democrats can help

By Peter Bradwell | Published Wed 27th March 2013 - 2:37 pm

Last year Liberal Democrats took a principled stand against the “Snoopers’ Charter” – more formally called the draft Communications Data Bill. This added up to a defiant, important defence of citizens’ privacy rights in the face of a concerted (and ongoing) effort by the Home Office to undermine them.

Right now there is another, equally important, battle for our privacy going in the European Parliament. The same principles are at stake. Once again Liberal Democrats have a really important role in determining what sort of law we get.

The “Data Protection Regulation”, proposed by the European Commission and now being considered by …

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Posted in Op-eds, The Independent View | Tagged , , | 5 Comments
Libby Local

Libby Local, Episode 14: “Team Libby”

By Libby Local | Published Sun 24th March 2013 - 2:20 pm

“I’m not at all political but I’ll help you if like.”

My standard doorstep smile broke into a broad grin. Half an hour and a pot of Earl Grey tea later, I had recruited myself a designer and copyrighter – @Demsburybess.

Correction. ‘Team Libby’ had gained a designer and copywriter. One of the first suggestions @Demsburybess made is that we have a team identity. Team Libby it is. I’m just a little self-conscious about the sobriquet but I’m really excited about it at the same time.

Team Libby is growing rapidly. Our helpers have been recruited through church contacts, in …

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Posted in Op-eds | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Boris has a right Mair in live BBC interview

By Stephen Tall | Published Sun 24th March 2013 - 10:30 am

It was a masterclass in TV interviewing from Eddie Mair, occupying Andrew Marr’s Sunday morning chair on BBC1. (You can watch an excerpt from the interview here.)

mair johnson -mar 2013With documentary-maker Michael Cockerell’s film, ‘Boris Johnson: The Irresistible Rise’, to be screened on Monday evening (BBC2, 9pm), Mair took the opportunity to put to the twice-elected Mayor of London the allegations he’s always previously been able to laugh off. There’s a good feature about it in the Daily Mail (sorry) here.

Usually interviewers indulge Boris; I could say …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , | 18 Comments
The Voice

The LDV Friday Five: 15 March 2013

By The Voice | Published Fri 15th March 2013 - 5:45 pm

It’s Friday. It’s five o’clock. Here’s a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

  1. Jo Shaw quits Lib Dems in protest at leadership’s pro-secret courts position (25) by Stephen Tall
  2. Losing one of our best….an appreciation of Jo Shaw (91) by Caron Lindsay
  3. Vince Cable on Labour’s opposition day debate on Mansion tax (62) by Helen Duffett
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Nick T

Steve Webb’s speech to conference

By Nick T | Published Sat 9th March 2013 - 5:03 pm

Steve Webb, Lib Dem minister for pensions, delivered his speech to conference earlier today. The text of his speech is below.

As some of you know, I used to teach at Bath University. And I enjoyed nothing more than setting my students tough questions to get them thinking.

So when I was planning what I would say today, I thought – why not set all of you a tricky exam question instead. You may have thought that you had come to Brighton for a good time. But not while I’m on the platform!

And my exam question is this: “How do …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 25 Comments
Danny Alexander MP

Danny Alexander MP writes exclusively for Lib Dem Voice: Statement on Lord Rennard allegations

By Danny Alexander MP | Published Fri 8th March 2013 - 6:29 pm

Nick Clegg has today announced that Helena Morrissey will chair the independent inquiry into culture, process and complaints within the Liberal Democrats. Jo Swinson is speaking at the party conference rally tonight and will tell party members about her role in dealing with allegations about Lord Rennard. I want to do the same.

I had been Nick’s chief of staff since his election in December 2007. In 2008, Jo told me of concerns that had been expressed to her privately and in confidence by a number of women about the conduct of Lord Rennard.

While she did not give me any names …

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Posted in News | Tagged | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

Huhne / Pryce: this is a human drama, not a political story

By Stephen Tall | Published Thu 7th March 2013 - 8:33 pm

huhne quitsIt was the number of voicemail messages on my mobile (having been holed up in meetings for my non-political day-job) that alerted me a story had broken this afternoon. A clutch of requests from news stations eager to know what the political fall-out for the Lib Dems would be from Vicky Pryce being found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

My short answer? I just can’t see it. Vicky Pryce is the ex-wife of an ex-MP. Yes, it’s a compelling human drama, a modern morality tale of how …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 22 Comments
Caron Lindsay

116 Liberal Democrats write to the Daily Mail opposing secret courts

By Caron Lindsay | Published Mon 4th March 2013 - 11:55 am

Today’s Daily Mail contains a letter from 116 Liberal Democrats asking MPs to vote down Part 2 of the Justice and Security Bill. The signatories include a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, an MEP, 5 members of the Federal Executive, 2 members of the Federal Policy Committee, 6 past and present members of the Liberal Democrat Voice editorial team and a number of parliamentary candidates. The letter says:

We are writing to urge all MPs to do the right thing by voting against Part II of the Justice and Security Bill when it has its Report stage in

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Sarah Teather on “deeply upsetting” report on pregnant women in asylum system

By Caron Lindsay | Published Wed 27th February 2013 - 7:00 pm

Sarah Teather has been speaking in Parliament today about a new report by Maternity Action and the Refugee Council which highlights the treatment of pregnant women and their new babies in the asylum system. You can read her whole speech here, and I warn you it will make you upset and angry in equal and consuming measure. The description of a woman who had just given birth being made to carry her newborn baby home by foot in the snow was harrowing. There are many such similar stories in the report.

These vulnerable women suffer both poor physical and …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , | 6 Comments
Tim Gordon

Update on the Party’s processes following the allegations concerning the conduct of Lord Rennard

By Tim Gordon | Published Mon 25th February 2013 - 5:03 pm

I want to update you on three developments to the processes I outlined in my post on Saturday.

Arrangements for victims and witnesses to come forward

Firstly, we have sought the assistance of Public Concern at Work, the UK’s leading whistle-blowing authority, to ensure that the whistle-blowing arrangement is sufficiently independent to provide the required support to those wishing to come forward in relation to the alleged behaviour of Lord Rennard.

Public Concern at Work have agreed to take over the role, temporarily filled by Kate Parminter, as the main point of contact for anyone wishing to come forward with further allegations or information.

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Update on the Party’s processes following the allegations concerning the conduct of Lord Rennard
Don Foster MP

Don Foster MP writes… The Integration Strategy: one year on

By Don Foster MP | Published Thu 21st February 2013 - 10:25 am

The Government’s Integration Strategy, Creating the Conditions for Integration was published a year ago on 21 February 2012. Since becoming a minister a few months ago, this is one of the areas about which I’ve had some of the strongest feedback from party members.

The views I’ve heard range from “the strategy is welcome, but not enough” to “it isn’t a serious substitute for a strategy to tackle racism and racial injustice”. Some have said that the document skates over the fact that integration is a two way process of mutual accommodation. Those with this view argue that there’s …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments
Mary Reid

A hole in his sock

By Mary Reid | Published Tue 19th February 2013 - 4:44 pm

The Telegraph has a lengthy profile of Rachel Smith, Vince Cable’s wife.

If cows can be considered to have a casting vote, then Hopeful and Caramel have done their bit to make sure Rachel Smith sees more of her husband in the future. The wife of the business secretary, Vince Cable, is a farmer with a dwindling beef herd in the middle of the New Forest. For months she has been trying to get these two Dexters in calf. The bull has visited; the artificial insemination man has

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

Half a defence of John O’Farrell’s comments on Margaret Thatcher

By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 18th February 2013 - 8:50 pm

OFarrell-things betterI wonder if Labour HQ wish they’d read John O’Farrell’s 1998 book, Things Can Only Get Better, a little more carefully before he was selected to fight the Eastleigh by-election?

First there was his call for Labour voters to vote tactically for the Lib Dems to beat the Tories, as uncovered by Mark Pack here: Should Labour supporters vote tactically to beat the Tories? “Go for it” said John O’Farrell. (Incidentally, the Telegraph then ran the story here without any credit.)

And then yesterday, the Mail ran with …

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Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , , , , | 68 Comments
Stephen Tall

Eastleigh by-election: your essential round-up of all the weekend’s news

By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 11th February 2013 - 9:15 am

A quick round-up of all things Eastleigh — especially for the benefit of those who’ve been in Eastleigh this weekend and as a result have missed out…

Lib Dem candidate selected: congrats Mike Thornton!

First, and most important, the Lib Dems have a candidate: Mike Thornton was selected by the Eastleigh local party on Saturday evening.

You can read about him and his policy priorities here.

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Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment
The Voice

Gove forced into GCSE U-turn ‘under Lib Dem pressure’

By The Voice | Published Thu 7th February 2013 - 7:35 am

The morning’s big news is that Conservative education secretary Michael Gove is set to announce a U-turn today on his plans to scrap the current GCSE exams and replace them with a new EBacc qualification in 2015. Here‘s how the Independent reports it:

The Education Secretary bowed to overwhelming pressure for a rethink from Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, the exams regulator Ofqual and MPs from all parties. It is understood that he decided to act after being warned by civil servants that one key plank of his reforms – handing each of the core subjects over to just

…

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments
Mark Valladares

Next week in the Lords: 4-7 February

By Mark Valladares | Published Fri 1st February 2013 - 11:21 am

House of LordsStrangely enough, in the absence of a Lords Reform Bill to debate (and who’s sorry now?), things are relatively quiet on the red benches. Quiet, but not exactly dead, I’m delighted to say. And now that Paddy Ashdown has hit Twitter, life is going to be a bit more exciting. And talking of Twitter, don’t forget that our Parliamentary Party in the Lords has its own Twitter feed. And yes, those are real Peers tweeting, in live time. So, what might they be covering next week?

On Monday, …

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Posted in News, Parliament | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
Nick T

Baroness Kramer: Focus on small businesses to get the economy moving

By Nick T | Published Thu 31st January 2013 - 9:17 am

Susan Kramer - Some rights reserved by David SpenderI have previously highlighted some of Baroness (Susan) Kramer’s excellent House of Lords speeches on the economy here on Lib Dem Voice. There follows, courtesy of Lords Hansard, an extract from another speech she gave on Tuesday to the House in a debate on economic growth, urging the government to focus on small and medium size businesses, by whom the vast majority of people are employed:

I would like to add something slightly different to this debate, because as a doer and deliverer I am going to ask him if he might

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Chris White

Opinion: Gove’s A Level reforms risk pushing many universities out of reach

By Chris White | Published Wed 30th January 2013 - 12:30 pm

I am not from the educational establishment and, having seen two daughters through state schools, I have plenty of zeal for major reform.

But that reform does not encompass sending a copy of the King James Bible to every school nor yet banishing the Arts from the nation’s principal academic qualification.

In so many ways Michael Gove uses the same techniques as his colleague Eric Pickles: pander to the right wing press, eschew evidence based thinking, make a splash.

The AS level announcement this week is just one more example. I didn’t have the option of AS levels. I sat O-levels in a …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 32 Comments
Giles Goodall

Opinion: Cameron is wishing for an EU that already exists

By Giles Goodall | Published Fri 25th January 2013 - 11:21 am

The prime objective of David Cameron’s Europe speech was always to placate anti-European critics on his right flank rather than to set out a bold vision in the national interest. And in that sense, his ‘red meat’ pledge of an in/out referendum after 2015 may succeed in sating his own party’s Eurosceptic appetite, at least in the short term. But there are at least three reasons why his strategy is not only mistaken, but risks deeply damaging the national interest.

First, while the ‘repatriationist’ wing of Cameron’s own party may be satisfied with the promise of a renegotiation of as yet …

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Posted in Europe / International, Op-eds | Tagged , , | 12 Comments
Sam Lawes

Opinion: Time to get serious about food wastage

By Sam Lawes | Published Thu 24th January 2013 - 11:52 am

License Some rights reserved by szczelIt may not seem a naturally risky topic, but the rate at which we are wasting food is nothing less than scandalous. From gross inefficiencies at the heart of modern food production to domestic habits, food waste is the quiet scandal of the decade.

A recent BBC article reported that up to half of the food we produce is simply thrown away. Worldwide. The waste of North Americans and Europeans, says another report, could feed the world’s hungry several times over.

This makes for uncomfortable reading on all sides. …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 11 Comments

Opinion: For the sake of democracy, we need to be civil online

By Former Organiser | Published Mon 21st January 2013 - 1:23 pm

Twitter logoSome of the world’s best-known politicians have messed up on Twitter.

…From the Labour whip who called the Tory opposition “pigs”, to the American Republican politician Jeff Frederick who prematurely tweeted about a Democrat defection, and the Hull councillor who called members of the electorate voting for the opposition ‘retards’.

Therefore, it was hardly surprising when Lib Dem favourite Sir Graham Watson made his first Twitter blunder, tweeting something potentially ill-judged on Wednesday night. A popular MEP winning 80% of first-preference votes in the last Euro selections, opponents jumped on the error, and …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Steve Webb’s pension reforms are a great step forward”

By Stephen Tall | Published Sun 20th January 2013 - 4:40 pm

Europe might have been the focus for much of the commentariat this week, but there’s no doubt what’s been the most significant domestic news: the Coalition’s reforms of the state pension. And it’s that issue — and Steve Webb’s contribution to it — which is the focus of Nick Clegg’s latest letter: ‘you can tell that Steve Webb has delivered a pension change that makes it worthwhile to save, and simple to prepare for retirement.’

It’s not often (ever?) you’ll find the Lib Dem leader and the Daily Mail’s Quentin Letts on the same page: their admiration for the pensions minister is the exception to the rule.

lib dems pensionsThe party has produced three infographics that are easy to share via Facebook. Nick’s letter doesn’t link to them, or thank the hundreds who’ve already shared the news of this Lib Dem success in government with their friends — so here are the links for those who want to tell their friends of Steve Webb’s success:

libdem letter from nick clegg

This week I want to tell you about my good friend and colleague, Professor Steve Webb.

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments
Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day… 18 January

By Mark Valladares | Published Fri 18th January 2013 - 7:52 am

Yes, it’s Friday and we start with the news that, according to Animal Planet, sea otters are the cutest animals in the world (say those last three words as Jeremy Clarkson would, why don’t you?). Hat-tip to Stephen Tall, whose devotion to his Popbitch feed appears to be a thing of beauty (but not as cute as a sea otter, of course).

The overnight by-election news is… unknown as I write this. Hopefully, when daylight comes to Creeting St Peter, I’ll have more news…

Sea otterSo, what do we have today? In …

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Posted in News | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

By Mark Pack | Published Thu 10th January 2013 - 3:55 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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Paul Walter

Duncan Hames is one to watch – Independent

By Paul Walter | Published Mon 7th January 2013 - 1:23 pm

Duncan Hames - Some rights reserved by Duncan HamesDuncan Hames has been picked out by the Independent as a political star of the future. John Rentoul feeds some “scientific criteria” into his machine to come up with a list of MPs to watch in the future. The criteria include performing well on TV, networking, administrative ability and ideological positioning.

Duncan comes out of the machine as the one Lib Dem pickee:

Duncan Hames, 35, who has been PPS to Nick Clegg

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Posted in News | Tagged | 5 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Lynne Featherstone takes on church leaders on equal marriage

By Caron Lindsay | Published Wed 26th December 2012 - 4:45 pm

Lynne honeycombLiberal Democrat hero of everything to do with equalities, Lynne Featherstone, has used her blog to take a coach and horses through the arguments that various church leaders have been using this Christmas to attack the Coalition’s plans to introduce equal marriage.

Sometimes MPs’ and Government Ministers’ blogs can become quite bland. This is not the case with Ms Featherstone’s. It’s good that she is quite comfortable with the idea of talking directly. It’s important that someone does. Willie Rennie did exactly the same up here in Scotland …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments

A Christmas Carol. Stave Four: The Ghost of Austerity Future

By Andy Boddington | Published Sat 22nd December 2012 - 8:55 am

LibDemVoice is delighted to bring you A Christmas Carol, a contemporary re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, told in five staves (as Dickens called them). The fourth stave, The Ghost of Austerity Future, follows. You can catch up with Stave One, Mensch’s Ghost, here; and Stave Two, The Ghost of Avarice Past, here; and Stave Three, The Ghost of Arrogance Present, here.

LDV scrooge story

As sketched by Bodz

Osborne stared at the umbrella and blinked. All around him the Olympic stadium was burning and crashing to the ground …

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Posted in Humour, Op-eds | Tagged | 2 Comments
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