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Stephen Tall

Round-up of initial reactions to the Lib Dem conference NHS Bill vote

By Stephen Tall | Published Sun 11th March 2012 - 2:03 pm

There’s been no shortage of reaction to the vote by the Lib Dem conference this morning to vote by 317-270 to approve an amendment which implicitly calls on the party leadership to drop its support for the NHS Bill.

I say “implicitly” because the motion as passed — pasted at the foot of this post — does not call on Lib Dems to ‘Kill the Bill’. However, conference did vote (albeit narrowly) to remove the call for Lib Dem peers to support the Bill. This follows yesterday’s pre-debate conference vote (again narrowly) to choose not to debate the motion which would …

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Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 51 Comments
Clare Algar

The Independent View: why proposals for secret trials should be opposed

By Clare Algar | Published Fri 9th March 2012 - 8:35 pm

A “chilling threat to liberty and justice” an “excessive and dangerous” move which would “shake our constitution to its common law roots” tilting it “towards the closed courts…so favoured by despots” and miring individuals in “Kafkaesque cases.”

As the Liberal Democrat Spring conference approaches, the disturbing potential of the Government’s plans to extend secret justice across the country’s civil courts has hit the headlines, with the Mail, Times, Guardian, Independent and FT all united in condemnation.

That sense of alarm is also becoming apparent within the party. Tom Brake, chair of the backbench …

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Posted in Conference, News, Op-eds | Tagged , | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

By Mark Pack | Published Thu 8th March 2012 - 3:50 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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Maria Pretzler

Opinion: Lost a guru? Try democracy instead

By Maria Pretzler | Published Wed 7th March 2012 - 1:57 pm

Reports suggest that Steve Hilton’s departure from Downing Street will leave the Conservatives desperately short of ideas. This seems astonishing: Liberal Democrats surely don’t need to turn to expensive advisers for creative ideas, new initiatives and the odd quirky example of tangerine sky thinking! Party members present and debate ideas at conference, and the party does not usually suffer from a shortage of novel suggestions. But these debates also produce serious policies, something which was perhaps beneath Steve Hilton’s pay grade.

 These differences in how the two coalition parties handle policy making have a direct impact

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Campaign Corner: How can I best use Facebook?

By Mark Pack | Published Mon 5th March 2012 - 3:50 pm

The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

Today’s Campaign Corner question: How can I get the best out of Facebook for my ward branch?

Around half the UK’s population is on Facebook, so if you’re wondering what to spend time on campaigning online, then Facebook is a very good choice (perhaps these days it is second only to email). Three pieces of advice then, as is traditional:

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Posted in Campaign Corner, Online politics | Tagged , | 4 Comments
Ruth Bright

Care – dilemmas for us all

By Ruth Bright | Published Fri 2nd March 2012 - 3:00 pm

When my grandfather was in his last week of life I was sitting by his bedside in the local community hospital as he dozed peacefully in a morphine assisted haze.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose next door. I stormed into the other room to see a small group of care assistants throwing pillows from one to another and loudly humming the theme tune from Star Trek.

“Do you mind?” I said: “there’s a man dying in there”.  An instant spokeswoman apologised unreservedly but went on to point out gently: “It’s hard for us too and we have to have a bit of …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 9 Comments
Simon Beard

Opinion: Opening up the benefits of renewable energy means considering much more than just the size of subsidies

By Simon Beard | Published Fri 2nd March 2012 - 11:25 am

At present for somebody to benefit from the subsidies offered to small scale renewable energy production they must have three things:

1 – Ownership of a property suitable for producing renewable energy

2 – A substantial amount of capital to invest in installing the technology and

3 – The opportunity to invest this capital for 25 years, with no possibility of early pay back unless they sell their house, in which case it is an open question what return they might receive.

Unsurprisingly this leave most people unable to access these benefits, even though many may have something to contribute to renewable energy production, …

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 5 Comments
Stephen Tall

In other news… London PPBs, Clegg paint attack, Turing pardon latest, Darlington Lib Dem leader barred

By Stephen Tall | Published Sun 26th February 2012 - 5:35 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past week…

  • Lib Dems fight reduction of their party political broadcasts in London (Guardian)

    • Provisional plans being drawn up by the BBC suggest giving the Lib Dems two party political broadcasts for the elections – the same as the Green party – rather than the three the Lib Dems enjoyed alongside Labour and the Conservatives in 2008. … A party source said the Lib Dems were confident the decision would be overturned, given that they have seven MPs in the capital, 246 councillors, and

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    PMQs: Tragedy, comedy and the Continuing Saga of the Family Bone

    By Caron Lindsay | Published Thu 23rd February 2012 - 4:28 pm

    I’m not used to learning anything from the weekly pantomime that is Prime Minister’s Questions. Sadly, though yesterday’s session brought  me the news of the death of Marie Colvin, the veteran Sunday Times reporter whose often heartbreaking reports from war zones I’ve been reading most of my adult life. Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband paid tribute to her work, the latter calling her brave, tireless and an inspiration to women in her profession. More tragedy followed as Sajid Javid, the MP for Bromsgrove, asked the PM to join in with sympathy for those killed and injured in the bus crash …

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    Posted in News, Parliament | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    “A shitty time to be a liberal”: The Economist’s must-read piece on the Clegg paradox (and 2 reasons why it’s wrong)

    By Stephen Tall | Published Sun 19th February 2012 - 9:55 am

    There’s a must-read column by The Economist’s Bagehot this week focusing on the Lib Dems’ dilemmas, titled The Clegg paradox. It’s a serious and weighty analysis, which asks some uncomfortable questions of the party’s strategy. Here’s it’s conclusion:

    At a recent meeting of the Lib Dem parliamentary party, Tim Farron, an ambitious left-winger and party president, reportedly cheered this anti-Tory success, but bemoaned the fact that unelected peers had led the charge against the NHS reforms and got the credit for it, rather than Lib Dem MPs who need votes. That drew a rebuke from Jeremy Browne, a foreign office

    …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    What The Spectator says: ‘Obama the Lib Dem’. (PS: It may even be a compliment.)

    By Stephen Tall | Published Tue 14th February 2012 - 8:12 pm

    Over at The Spectator, Jonathan Jones looks at the US and UK approaches to their forthcoming budgets — cutting the deficit, taming debt, etc — and his fourth and final point concludes:

    Obama the Lib Dem. It’s striking how similar Obama’s tax priorities are to those of the Liberal Democrats, even though the specifics differ either side of the Atlantic. Obama wants to extend the payroll tax cut for ‘160 million hardworking Americans’, which he says is worth ‘about $40 in every paycheck’ for ‘the typical family earning $50,000 a year’. The Lib Dems have been pushing to raise the

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments
    Mark Pack

    Campaign Corner: Making better speeches

    By Mark Pack | Published Mon 13th February 2012 - 3:55 pm

    The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

    Today’s Campaign Corner question: I often get very nervous when speaking in public. Speeches at the Civic Centre may not matter much but I do want to make a good impression at local groups – and at party conference! What do you advise?

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    Posted in Campaign Corner | Tagged | 15 Comments
    Ed Davey

    Ed Davey MP writes… Solar power for the many, not the few

    By Ed Davey | Published Thu 9th February 2012 - 4:27 pm

    Some things in politics are symbolic. For dyed-in-the-wool environmentalists like the Liberal Democrats, solar power is one of these things – indisputably clean, green and cutting edge technology. The sort of thing Liberal Democrats in a government that aims to be the greenest ever should be unequivocally behind.

    Our commitment to the environment was why I joined the party in the first place.

    So I understand why many of you were confused and disappointed when the Government appeared to scale back the Feed in Tariffs that allow people to install solar panels in their homes and businesses, not least when our decision …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments
    Mark Pack

    How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

    By Mark Pack | Published Tue 7th February 2012 - 12:25 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.

    Continue reading »
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    The Voice

    Lib Dem MPs win concessions ahead of benefits cap vote

    By The Voice | Published Tue 31st January 2012 - 7:35 am

    Lib Dem MPs, including the party’s deputy leader Simon Hughes, look set to obtain concessions from Iain Duncan Smith to win their support for the Coalition’s controversial welfare bill, which will introduce a benefit cap of a maximum of £26,000. Here’s how The Guardian reports the news:

    The government is expected to make a series of concessions in the coming days on it controversial £26,000 household benefits cap to win over wavering Liberal Democrat MPs. Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, is expected to agree that a discretionary fund should be established to ease the burden on families

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments
    Tom King

    Opinion: we must become the fair tax party

    By Tom King | Published Fri 27th January 2012 - 1:45 pm

    Nick Clegg has been all over the airwaves this week, promoting one of the Liberal Democrats’ flagship policies: raising the income tax threshold to £10,000. This is something that everyone interested in social justice should naturally be inclined to support. If implemented in the forthcoming budget, it would reduce the burden on low- and middle-income earners, putting money back in their pockets at a time when many are finding the cupboard bare.

    The policy also leads naturally to what some are already calling ‘Phase 2’ – tying the threshold directly to the current minimum …

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    Posted in News | 7 Comments
    Reg Platt

    Opinion: Flaws in Policy Exchange’s report

    By Reg Platt | Published Mon 23rd January 2012 - 11:54 am

    Another day, another headline on the cost of green policies. This time thanks to a new report from Policy Exchange as part of their ‘Greener, Cheaper’ workstream. With customers feeling the pinch from high energy bills, Chris Huhne continues to have his work cut out to defend green policy spending. Problems with Policy Exchange’s analysis, including their uncritical support of gas and aversion to the promotion of growth by Government, must be brought to the fore.

    The main argument of Policy Exchange’s report is that there are additional costs to consumers from renewable policies beyond those directly on the …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 7 Comments
    Michael Moore

    Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

    By Michael Moore | Published Wed 18th January 2012 - 6:55 pm

    Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore MP writes a regular column for local newspapers in his constituency. Here’s the latest edition, covering his busy week at Westminster and in the Borders.

    Independence Referendum

    Deciding on the future of our country and whether it remains in the UK or becomes independent will undoubtedly be the most important decision we Borderers make in our lifetime. Here in Berwickshire, we are very close to our English neighbours and enjoy the freedom of travelling and trading between the two countries. With questions which need answering on the SNP’s plans for an independent Scotland, …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments
    Mark Pack

    Campaign Corner: How do I deal with information overload?

    By Mark Pack | Published Mon 16th January 2012 - 3:50 pm

    The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest.

    Today’s Campaign Corner question: Aarrgh! There’s just too much information online. How do I cope?

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    Posted in Campaign Corner | Tagged | 1 Comment
    Sid Cumberland

    Has our police force been ‘completely transformed’ by the Lawrence case?

    By Sid Cumberland | Published Fri 6th January 2012 - 1:15 pm
    Like the summer riots, the Stephen Lawrence case provides us with yet another attitudinal Rorschach test; we screw our eyes up, peer closely, and conclude that what we have seen is just what we expected. At least, that’s my view, after hearing Paul Dacre’s astonishing self-congratulation on Tuesday.

    For him, the verdict was ‘a glorious day’ for the Lawrences, the police, British justice, politicians, British newspapers (especially, of course, the Daily Mail, without whose ‘relentless campaigning’ none of this would have happened).

    For me, it was a good day; but it was also a reminder of

    …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments
    Mark Pack

    How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

    By Mark Pack | Published Wed 4th January 2012 - 2:46 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.

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Site news | Leave a comment
    Jock Coats

    Opinion: Liberating the land – prosperity through Rigorous Liberalism

    By Jock Coats | Published Tue 3rd January 2012 - 4:35 pm

    The central tenet of what I call “Rigorous Liberalism” is that a truly liberal state would seek to eradicate economic, social and class barriers to equal opportunity before creating more government programs to subsidise people at a disadvantage in markets distorted by decades or centuries of privilege and rent-seeking.

    Nowhere is this need more obvious than in land, planning and housing policy. Artificially restricting land supply drives up land prices and drives down housing quality. If customers can only afford so much and most is sunk into land costs there’s not a lot left for competition to drive up …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , | 18 Comments
    Mark Pack

    Get your skates on and submit a motion to Liberal Democrat conference about wealth taxes

    By Mark Pack | Published Tue 27th December 2011 - 9:25 am

    Nick Clegg’s recent ‘open society’ speech confirmed that increases taxes on wealth in some form is very much on the political agenda. However, the default party policy option – a mansion tax – was highly controversial in the party when it was introduced (which is rather a polite term for the rolling lesson in how to bungle a policy launch, annoy MPs, irritate party members and feed negative stories to the media all in one fell swoop).

    In other words – now is a very good time for the party to be debating what form of wealth taxes it favours, especially after the opportunity was missed at the party’s autumn conference. As I wrote at the time in Tax: The missing ingredient from the Liberal Democrat conference agenda,

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    Posted in Op-eds, Party policy and internal matters | Tagged , , , , , , | 35 Comments
    Liz Hutchins

    The Independent View: FIT for purpose

    By Liz Hutchins | Published Tue 20th December 2011 - 3:53 pm

    Every day the economic storm clouds get darker and darker as the recession deepens and unemployment soars. Over the past two years one new sector has offered a glimmer of hope: the UK solar industry. But Government cuts to solar payments this month are set to devastate a home-grown economic success story and pull the plug on tens of thousands of clean energy jobs.

    Today Friends of the Earth and two solar firms are taking the Government to court. Ministers are slashing cash-back for generating green energy through solar panels, ahead of plan.

    Pulling the funding rug from under …

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    Posted in The Independent View | Tagged | 10 Comments
    Lorna Dupré

    Opinion: MeRRRy Christmas!

    By Lorna Dupré | Published Tue 20th December 2011 - 12:53 pm

    Like many of us, I’ll be braving the supermarket aisles over the next few days, ready to feed visiting family. This year, however, in more straitened financial circumstances (aren’t we all?), I’m very aware of how much food I’ve wasted over Christmases past, and determined not to make that mistake again.

    Research by environmental organisation WRAP shows that each year we throw away one third (6.7 million tonnes) of the food we buy, over a quarter of that still in its packaging. The average person will have thrown away their own weight in food between January and December. And …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 7 Comments
    Prateek Buch

    Lords Rennard, Carlile, and Lester, with Lynne Featherstone, defend rules on religious civil partnerships

    By Prateek Buch | Published Fri 16th December 2011 - 10:20 am

    The House of Lords yesterday dismissed fears surrounding new regulations allowing religious institutions to celebrate same-sex civil partnerships on their premises. Some campaigners hard argued that such rules could force them to do so against their will, an argument that was laid to rest by Peers. In doing so, they gave the green light to liberal religious organisations to allow same-sex couples to register their civil partnerships under their auspices.

    The Lords debated Conservative Peer Lady O’Cathain’s motion to have new regulations on civil partnerships delayed because of fears that equality campaigners could use the Equality Act 2010 or the Human …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments
    Nick T

    Nick Clegg leads business fightback in Europe

    By Nick T | Published Thu 15th December 2011 - 6:55 pm

    The FT reports:

    Nick Clegg yesterday made a very public display of engagement with business over Europe as the deputy prime minister convened a business breakfast with Business For New Europe, a pro-single market group. Mr Clegg, flanked by Vince Cable, Danny Alexander, Chris Huhne David Laws, wanted to get the message across that he had dusted himself down and was ready to begin work on rebuilding relations on the continent after a bruising week for Britain.

    But beyond the photo shoot and crafted media message lines, was a second, more exclusive meeting between Mr Clegg and the director-generals of key lobby

    …

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    Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments
    Andrew Stunell MP

    Andrew Stunell MP writes… Tackling empty homes is shaping up to be a Coalition success story

    By Andrew Stunell MP | Published Tue 13th December 2011 - 12:45 pm

    As some of you will no doubt be aware, last week was National Empty Homes week. It managed to garner a lot more attention than normal thanks to a week of action from the Empty Homes Agency, who worked together with Channel 4 presenter George Clarke on a series of programmes that focussed on tackling the housing crisis, and in particular on empty homes.

    George’s campaign is a welcome one, and comes at an important time. I regularly describe the number of empty homes we have in the UK as a national scandal. We have enough long-term vacant …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments
    Mark Pack

    How to get Lib Dem Voice by email

    By Mark Pack | Published Sun 4th December 2011 - 6:23 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.

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Site news | Leave a comment
    Mark Pack

    “There is absolutely no chance of us winning there” – Conservative MP’s Feltham & Heston outburst

    By Mark Pack | Published Sun 4th December 2011 - 3:42 pm

    I headed over this morning to help Roger Crouch’s Parliamentary by-election campaign in Feltham & Heston, all of which went fairly smoothly (at least once I remembered to open my eyes) and it was good to see high quality literature that tied in well with other campaign activity, such as the local newspaper adverts for Roger Crouch.

    It was also good to see an idea I helped pioneer at previous Parliamentary by-elections extended at this one – putting a feedback sheet on the back …

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    Posted in News, Parliamentary by-elections | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments
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