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Mark Pack

Get an extra link for your website

By Mark Pack | Published Thu 13th March 2008 - 10:25 am

Do you display the party’s campaign buttons or Liberal Democrat TV feed on your own website or blog?

If you are displaying them, here’s your chance to advertise your site and get an extra link. We’re going to start listing on www.libdems.org.uk sites which are using the buttons and/or feed, so if they appear on your site drop an email to [email protected] with your web address and whether it is the buttons, TV feed or both that you’re displaying.

(In case you are not familiar with them, details of how to add the buttons and TV feed to your site …

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Posted in Online politics | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #55

By Stephen Tall | Published Tue 11th March 2008 - 7:45 am

Welcome to the 55th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (2nd-8th March), together with a quintet hand-picked by Lib Dem blog readers you might otherwise have missed.

Tempers flared in the Lib Dem blogosphere last week – both between bloggers, and also against the leadership following the party split over a Lisbon Treaty referendum. Fortunately, a successful conference in Liverpool has intervened, with a great speech by Nick Clegg, so perhaps there will be a return to sweetness and light in the coming days.

Anyway, without further ado, here we go in descending order of popularity:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 5 Comments
Nick Harvey

Nick Harvey introduces… Forces Focus

By Nick Harvey | Published Fri 7th March 2008 - 6:25 pm

Our 2005 Manifesto stated that one of our priorities was to look after our Armed Forces so they can look after us. At a time when our forces are committed to fighting on two fronts, as well as operations around the world, this holds just as true now as it did three years ago.

With continued operations around the world, defence remains at the top of the agenda and it is essential that the Government’s ‘duty of care’ to service personnel is fulfilled.

However, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have proved to be more challenging and more hostile …

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Posted in Online politics | Tagged | 2 Comments
Jeremy Hargreaves

Future party policies – your chance to shape them

By Jeremy Hargreaves | Published Tue 4th March 2008 - 7:45 am

One of the features which marks out the way in which we Liberal Democrats as a party make our policies is that they are decided by the members, not just by the Leader and Shadow Cabinet.

We often tend to focus on the fact that all policies have to be voted on by Conference.

But in fact there is another way in which all party members – including those who aren’t able to go to Conference – can have what is probably an even greater influence on what our policies are.

And that’s through the process by which every working …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #54

By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 3rd March 2008 - 8:26 pm

Welcome to the 54th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (24th February – 1st March), together with a quintet hand-picked by Lib Dem blog readers you might otherwise have missed.

Here we go, in descending order of popularity:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | Tagged | 18 Comments
Alex Foster

LibDemVoice at Lib Dem Conference

By Alex Foster | Published Mon 3rd March 2008 - 12:04 pm

Lib Dem Voice will be providing enhanced coverage of this Spring’s Lib Dem Conference – live from Liverpool.

Voice reporters will be at the Liverpool Arena with all the inside information from the movers and shakers on the conference floor, and up-to-the-minute coverage of the Conference fringe and exhibitions.

Lib Dem Voice has also been granted unique and privileged access to the Federal Conference Committee as they debate the inner workings of Conference.

We’ll be hoping to bring you podcast interviews and an interesting multimedia experience as and when it happens. And whether you’re attending conference in person, or watching from afar, we …

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Posted in Conference | 9 Comments
Alex Foster

Weekly Catchup 25th Feb – 2nd Mar

By Alex Foster | Published Mon 3rd March 2008 - 9:33 am

Catchup brings you best of Lib Dem Voice in a helpful package first thing on a Monday morning.  You can read it by clicking on the link at the top of the page or get a feed of it here.

It’s been a tougher week to choose than normal, with more posts than either of the previous two weeks.  MP Andrew Stunnell talked about his campaign to provide more housing ahead of his conference motion. Mike Smithson no longer believe the Lib Dems are worth a punt – but only because he loves us so much. Elizabeth …

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Posted in A weekly catchup | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #52

By Stephen Tall | Published Sun 17th February 2008 - 7:49 pm

Happy 1st birthday to the Golden Dozen, and welcome to the 52nd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (10th-17th February), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed.

Here we go, in descending order of popularity:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

Nick Clegg in the media: ID cards and crime

By Mark Pack | Published Thu 7th February 2008 - 10:40 am

Nick Clegg’s done an interview with Reuters – ‘Clegg sees ID card vote a decade away’ – and has also got coverage in Bradford for his views on tackling knife and gun crime.

All of which is nicely timed to highlight a new (RSS) feed available from the party:

http://feeds.libdems.org.uk/nickcleggmedia

You can subscribe to this feed in the same was as any other RSS feed, e.g. through a feed reader such as Bloglines or through most web browsers, and you can also display it on your website. It’ll be regularly updated with a selection of the latest media coverage from …

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Posted in News, Online politics | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

How balanced is the BBC’s Question Time?

By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 4th February 2008 - 8:31 pm

That’s the question LDV posed in last Thursday’s Open Thread on the programme. It was prompted not only by the absence of a Lib Dem on the panel, but also by the appearance of a second Tory-in-all-but-name, Amanda Platell, alongside former Tory chancellor, Ken Clarke (as well as former Tory MP, and now New Labour cabinet minister, Shaun Woodward).

So what?, you might ask. And fair enough, except that this was the fourth consecutive QT in which a Tory-aligned commentator has been signed up to appear alongside the official Tory representative. Ms Platell followed in the stilettos of Sarah Sands …

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Posted in Lib Dem TV | Tagged | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

Should the Lib Dems be supporting the ban on patio heaters?

By Stephen Tall | Published Thu 31st January 2008 - 12:36 pm

It’s a big day for patio heater manufacturers, as the European Parliament looks set to approve a Lib Dem-inspired measure which would see the faddish appliances phased out, along with electrical stand-by modes, and minimum standards set for energy efficiency on air-conditioning, television “decoder” boxes and light bulbs.

Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall is behind the initiative (which has no legal force). You can read her report in full here. Here’s an extract:

Latest scientific evidence suggests that the world has as little as eight years to tackle global warming. If global temperatures rise more than 2ºC above pre-industrial levels, climate

…

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Posted in Europe / International, News | 66 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #49

By Stephen Tall | Published Tue 29th January 2008 - 11:53 am

Welcome to the 49th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (20th-26th January), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed.

As next week marks The Golden Dozen’s half-century, it’s time to freshen things up – which means opening up the five personal choice postings selected (numbers 8-12) to LDV readers… So if there’s post which appears/ed on the Aggregator between the 27th January and 3rd Feburary and you think it deserves to be incuded in next week’s Golden Dozen, drop me a line at [email protected]. Self-nominations are allowed – but as there are only five slots available, I can’t guarantee inclusion.

Anyway here are the best-read posts this last week, in descending order:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 4 Comments
Alex Foster

Edwards tanks Nevada

By Alex Foster | Published Sat 19th January 2008 - 11:15 pm

Since I (somewhat arbitrarily) declared for John Edwards a few days ago, I’ve been following his press release feed.

JohnEdwards.com

What fascinates us Brits about the US elections is that they’re sort of the same as here, but at the same time, completely different.

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Posted in LDVUSA | 3 Comments
Baroness Ros Scott

Opinion: Labour miss the point on communities

By Baroness Ros Scott | Published Sun 13th January 2008 - 3:49 pm

I spent last week in Westminster, where in the Lords we spent Thursday afternoon debating the Government’s recently published “Action Plan for Community Empowerment”.

It’s hard to know which pair of words is the more depressing “Action Plan” or “Community Empowerment” Their Lordships certainly failed to be either empowered or active. Apart from the mover – my noble Friend Lord Greaves – and the front benches, there were 2 backbench speakers plus one Bishop making his Maiden speech on the subject. There were twice as many speakers for today’s other two debates, on China and on missile defence.

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

Nick Clegg TV interview on Sunday

By Mark Pack | Published Sat 5th January 2008 - 3:55 pm

10am, Sunday Live, Sky, 6th January.

(This previous post tells you how you can get advanced warning of such media appearances via the web, email or an RSS feed).

Posted in News | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Will Ming ‘sex up’ his memoirs?

By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 10th December 2007 - 9:50 am

That’s the demand of his publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, according to The Observer’s media diary:

Menzies Campbell has followed a path well trodden by political leaders past, settling down to write his life story, which should hit the shops in 2009. But we hear the first draft has already been sent back by publishers Hodder & Stoughton – because it is too boring. Editors were horrified to discover the former Lib Dem leader failed to reflect on the ousting of predecessor Charles Kennedy or the subsequent knifing Sir Ming himself endured. Since the twin defenestrations are the only newsworthy parts

…

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Posted in Books, News | Tagged , | 5 Comments
Stephen Tall

Top Lib Dem media tarts: Sept-Nov 2007

By Stephen Tall | Published Wed 5th December 2007 - 8:20 am

Which Lib Dem MPs received the most media mentions between 1st September 2007 and 30th November, 2007? To find out I trawled Lexis-Nexis’s online database of all UK national newspapers (and a huge number of regional ones), feeding in the names of each of our MPs in turn, and seeing how many returns were generated.

To qualify, the MP must have been mentioned either as a Liberal Democrat or Lib Dem. This will disadvantage those MPs who are working their regional media hard, but whose names do not appear under the party’s banners. Sorry, but them’s the rules.

Anyway, here’s the list in descending order of media mentions (with their 2006-07 positions in brackets):

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Posted in News | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

David Whitton MSP dragged into Labour donation scandal

By Mark Pack | Published Mon 3rd December 2007 - 6:32 pm

The number of senior Scottish Labour figures caught up in the Wendy Alexander illegal donation scandal continues to widen, with David Whitton MSP the latest name to feature.

As the Daily Record reports:

A SECRET list of Alexander’s donors has been leaked to a Sunday paper…

The entry for First Group boss Moir Lockhead gives David – David Whitton – as the contact.

A sum of £995 is listed though there is a question mark over whether it had been received. It said no money had been banked.

Under the heading “Name/address for Electoral Commission purposes” the list gives the name of former Labour

…

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Posted in News | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #41

By Stephen Tall | Published Sun 2nd December 2007 - 9:54 pm

Welcome to the 41st of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (25th November – 1st December), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed.

Well, Saj Karim’s defection did at least achieve one thing – it knocked the party leadership contest off the Golden Dozen top spot. Here, then, are the top-rated stories in descending order:

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Posted in Best of the blogs | 6 Comments
Simon Titley

Opinion: Will you take the ‘Bunker Pledge’?

By Simon Titley | Published Fri 23rd November 2007 - 8:08 am

A recent post on LDV speculated who would be in the new leader’s shadow cabinet. A more interesting question is who will occupy his kitchen cabinet.

Every political leader has one – a group of staff and unpaid advisors acting as an ‘inner circle’. At best, such groups provide leaders with a sounding board and confidential advice from people they can trust. At worst, a bunker mentality develops, with the inner circle isolating the leader and feeding him information selectively.

Ming Campbell was not in the job long enough for this to become a serious problem but all his predecessors, at …

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

Catch Liberal Democrat MPs in the media

By Mark Pack | Published Sat 10th November 2007 - 1:55 pm

Ever missed seeing a Liberal Democrat on Question Time, or a party political broadcast, or some other media appearance because you didn’t know about it in advance?

Courtesy of Flock Together, you can put those days behind you. It includes a service to advertise in advance major appearances in the media by Liberal Democrat MPs and other senior figures.

There are three different ways you can tap into this information: 

  1. Using this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LiberalDemocratsMediaAppearances, or
  2. By email: register at FlockTogether and pick “Media appearances” as one of the categories of

…

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Posted in Online politics | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Useful information for Liberal Democrat bloggers

By Mark Pack | Published Fri 9th November 2007 - 9:55 am

There’s been a noticeable burst of new Liberal Democrat bloggers in the last few weeks, possibly driven in part by the leadership contest, including David Boyle, Charlotte Gore, “Harold Muckle“, Alix Mortimer, Bernard Salmon and Andrew Tate.

So now seems a good time to remind Lib Dem bloggers about some of the tools and widgets the party has available – including the Liberal Democrat campaign buttons, the Lib Dem TV feed and an easy way to let people sign up as party supporters.

Details of them all are on the party website. You don’t need any …

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Posted in Online politics | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

Oh gawd, now they’re wheeling out Baxter

By Stephen Tall | Published Tue 9th October 2007 - 12:06 am

There’s nothing amateur psephologists and party hacks like more then feeding the latest poll figures into Martin Baxter’s Electoral Calculus seats predictor. Tonight, there’s a small ripple of excitement in the blogosphere as it shows the Lib Dems with zero (0) seats.

From which we can infer two possible conclusions:

1. The Baxter model is nonsensical for three party politics (which is what now de facto exists in the UK);

2. Or the Lib Dems are going to find themselves in a worse position than the Liberal Party in 1979, which retained 11 MPs even after Jeremy Thorpe’s resignation and the

…

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Posted in News | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

So what would you do if you were Gordon?

By Stephen Tall | Published Thu 4th October 2007 - 8:53 pm

100 days in power, and the toughest decision yet faces the Prime Minister: does he seek a mandate, or does he delay calling an election?

A week ago, the decision looked a formality. Labour was riding high in the polls on the back of their ‘nobody mention the Blairs’ party conference, and a couple of polls suggesting double-digit leads over the Tories. Spool forward, and it’s all looking a lot less rosy, with a slew of polls indicating a narrowing of Labour’s lead.

If there’s one thing more stupid than taking too much notice of opinion polls, it’s taking no …

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Posted in General Election, News | 21 Comments
Dinti Batstone

Opinion: Mind the Gender Gap!

By Dinti Batstone | Published Thu 27th September 2007 - 7:55 pm

Surprisingly, fewer women (18%) than men (21%) support the LibDems, while for both Labour and the Tories the opposite is true.

Why?

Perhaps an explanation lies in Ming’s remark in Brighton last week that “we can’t represent a country if we’re not representative of it”.

School-gate mums and working parents are an important demographic, but not one of our parliamentarians is a mother of young children. It’s hard to show we empathise with family issues when women juggling politics and family life are all but invisible in the Lib Dems.

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 16 Comments
Stephen Tall

On your way to the Forum?

By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 24th September 2007 - 7:40 pm

If you’re a party member you can register to use the members’ forum – our place to say whatever’s on your mind without the danger of it being misquoted (or quoted out of context or quoted all too bloody accurately) on opposition leaflets.

Topics currently being discussed include:

  • Will there be a snap election?
  • Sharia law
  • That referendum
  • Why join the lib dems
  • Decommisioning laws
  • Brighton feedback
  • Candidate selection
  • Taking on the BNP

    Remember, it’s good to talk.

    • Posted in Site news | 2 Comments
    Richard Huzzey

    Who wants to play ‘follow the leader’?

    By Richard Huzzey | Published Wed 19th September 2007 - 5:51 pm

    The media are having fun. This morning Sir Michael White quipped that Ming’s ‘toilet bowl’ photo must have been behind the poll surge reported by his august organ and friend of Lib Dem Voice, The Grauniad. But their main sport is speculating on who will be the next Lib Dem leader – even though, as most of the mooted contenders point out, there is no vacancy.

    At the afternoon press briefing, hacks were keen to veer off the topic of Sir Ming’s speech, and onto the question. Ed Davey was asked for the second time in the day whether he’d stand. …

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

    The Grauniad – pathetic, just pathetic

    By Stephen Tall | Published Tue 18th September 2007 - 12:02 pm

    I expect this kind of thing of downmarket right-wing tabloids like The Times. Naively I hold out slightly higher hopes for The Guardian. Alas.

    Yesterday, Ming conducted an hour-long Q&A with Sandi Toksvig – it went down well in the conference hall (I heard several warm compliments from those who have been luke-warm about Ming). But for those outside the conference hall, of course, their verdict will be formed by the media verdict, which was as unkind as it was puerile.

    The Grauniad’s Deborah Summers was ‘liveblogging’ the Q&A. Here’s a particularly emetic extract:

    Asked about PMQs, Sir Menzies said everyone

    …

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    Posted in Conference, News | Tagged | 12 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    High praise for Huhne’s green proposals

    By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 3rd September 2007 - 1:47 pm

    Chris Huhne’s new zero-carbon Britain proposals – which Chris wrote about for Lib Dem Voice last week – have met with the glowing approval of Guardian economics correspondent, Ashley Seagar:

    At last someone in the mainstream of politics is taking climate change seriously. … when one of the main parties comes up with a coherent strategy for dealing with climate change, both at home and abroad, it deserves close attention, particularly as … Labour has made very little progress in moving to a sustainable energy economy, and knows it. The Tories, too, although talking about taxing flights, will duck serious policy changes when their Quality of Life report emerges later this month.

    The LibDem document makes for fascinating reading.

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    Posted in News | Leave a comment
    Stephen Tall

    Top Lib Dem media tarts of the year

    By Stephen Tall | Published Mon 3rd September 2007 - 7:30 am

    Which Lib Dem MPs received the most media mentions between 1st September 2006 and 31st August 2007?

    To find out I trawled Lexis-Nexis’s online database of all UK national newspapers (and a huge number of regional ones), feeding in the names of each of our MPs in turn, and seeing how many returns were generated.

    (I first compiled this list back in March, over at my own blog, since when Iain Dale has taken to tracking the performance of the Tory shadow cabinet – and a handful of Lib Dems – on a monthly basis.)

    For ultra-fairness, those with variations on their names – eg, Vince Cable and Ed Davey – have had their scores combined. To qualify, the MP must have been mentioned either as a Liberal Democrat or Lib Dem.

    Anyway, here’s the list in descending order of media mentions:

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Tagged | 2 Comments
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