Tag Archives: andrew george

The Voice

WATCH: A brighter Lib Dem future for Britain – with Tim, Andrew, Layla, Jo – and a cameo by Jasper

By The Voice | Thu 1st June 2017 - 11:50 am

The party has been producing some cracking videos lately. This one is bound to make you smile. In it, Tim talks about what Lib Dem MPs can do for their communities and highlights the key strengths of 3 of our key candidates. Andrew George on fishing, Layla Moran on science and Jo Swinson on business are featured.

And, if, like me, you are a fan of Tim’s Springer Spaniel, Jasper, you’ll be very happy indeed.

Enjoy.

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Andrew George

Andrew George writes…After Coalition with the Conservative…participation in ‘Progressive Alliance’?

By Andrew George | Sat 19th September 2015 - 12:30 pm

Should we be ‘once bitten twice shy’? After suffering the disastrous electoral consequences of Coalition with the Conservatives, should the Liberal Democrats avoid the risks of participation in any form of ‘Progressive Alliance’ with parties of the centre/left?

This year’s General Election was a triumph of strategy for the Conservatives. With accusations sticking, Labour was unable to throw off the encumbrance of perceived incompetence, crucially of economic incompetence.

Arguably bedazzled by high office, the Liberal Democrats were perceived to be naïve; not so much falling for the logic of Coalition Government, but appearing to compromise too much in what appeared to the electorate like an ultimately deadly embrace with the Tories.

All the Tories had to do was to identify and then mercilessly target a few hundred thousand ‘swing’ voters in ‘marginal’ seats with their unmatchable wealth and superior arsenal.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 34 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Andrew George on renewable energy

By NewsHound | Fri 30th January 2015 - 4:14 pm

andrew georgeAndrew George, Lib Dem MP for St Ives, has been writing for The Cornishman on renewable energy in the county.

I consistently pressed for Cornwall to become the ‘Green Peninsula’ – the UK exemplar for environmental policy, renewables and energy security – coining the phrase in an economic strategy paper for Cornwall ‘Rediscovering our distinctiveness’ in 1998.

I’m pleased that Cornwall has made good progress, but there’s still more to do. Cornwall now has thousands more jobs and millions of pounds more in turnover and is exporting its know-how and talents worldwide, in geothermal, offshore renewables infrastructure, etc.

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged | 7 Comments
Kate Parminter

Baroness Kate Parminter writes…Campaigning on green issues in the south west

By Kate Parminter | Wed 29th October 2014 - 12:30 pm

With the Green Party announcing they are targeting 12 seats including a number of our key seats, and the Labour party acknowledging the threat they pose by appointing Sadiq Khan to lead the fightback, Green votes could make the difference between winning and losing – as we sadly saw with Graham Watson MEP.  So as our Environment Spokesperson in the House of Lords I’ve been keen to get out and help our candidates promote what we have achieved in Government and champion our 5 Green Bills which we’d introduce in a future Parliament.  Over the summer I spent two days visiting the Great Heath Project in Mid Dorset & North Poole with the Wildlife Trust and our parliamentary candidate, Vikki Slade.

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Andrew George

Coalition-Lite – a better way of doing coalition government?

By Andrew George | Sun 5th October 2014 - 1:03 pm

Shortly before midnight on 11th May 2010, just five days after the General Election, Liberal Democrat MPs and Party chiefs voted to enter Coalition Government with the Conservatives and to support the difficult but inescapable compromise Coalition Programme for Government.

This was a sobering moment. No jubilation. Just a recognition that we had to make this work; and determined that, contrary to past history and evidence from elsewhere, it wouldn’t inflict terminal damage on the Party.

This was, of course, a “least worst” option. The public finances were in a mess; the economy in danger of catastrophic decline. The last thing the country needed was the routine tribalism of the Westminster Village. No party had a majority. The country needed stable government. We did what had to be done.

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Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Also tagged and | 21 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Farron name checks Liberal Democrat PPCs Julie Pörksen and Vikki Slade in Commons Bedroom Tax speech

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 6th September 2014 - 10:30 am

"Frozen Poetry" - Houses of Parliament, LondonDuring the debate on Andrew George’s Affordable Homes Bill yesterday, Tim Farron name-checked the two Liberal Democrat candidates whose motion on the Bedroom Tax was passed with just one vote against at Party Conference last year.  Julie Pörksen, PPC for Berwick and Vikki Slade, PPC for Mid Poole and Dorset North, argued strongly for the sort of reform to the policy that has now appeared in Andrew’s Bill.

Here’s what Tim had to say:

I am proud of my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives for bringing this Bill forward, and I am proud of my party for pushing us all collectively to reflect on the proposals before us today. I would like to mention Vikki Slade and Julie Pörksen, who proposed at our conference a year ago that we look again at this policy. Frankly, Members of all parties would do well to admit that, on reflection, things could have been done better. Given that we were put in this economic crisis in the first place, it would be lovely to see from Opposition Members a change of heart and an admission that things did not go as well as they could have done.

He then looked at the practical reasons why the Bill should be passed. It should be noted that it’s not all about the Bedroom Tax. It’s also about the wider issue of the lack of housing which drives rents and consequently Housing Benefit up.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 4 Comments
The Voice

‘Bedroom Tax’: Lib Dem Andrew George’s Affordable Homes Bill wins key Commons vote backed by Lib Dem / Labour MPs

By The Voice | Fri 5th September 2014 - 7:50 pm

andrew georgeA year ago Lib Dem members voted at the party’s conference for an urgent review of the impact of what’s termed by critics the ‘Bedroom Tax’. Two months ago Danny Alexander announced he’d be recommending a major U-turn on the policy. And this afternoon, as the BBC reports, Lib Dem MPs teamed up with Labour to vote through reforms which mean that tenants who cannot be found a smaller home will be exempt from the cuts, as well as disabled people who need a spare bedroom or who have adapted homes:

Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs have joined forces to defeat Conservatives in a Commons vote to partly overturn housing benefit changes. MPs backed the Affordable Homes Bill at second reading by 306 votes to 231.

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 28 Comments
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    Very well tried, Antony. We could not see the text of the evidently wrecking amendment, but the complacency of the Conservative side in a county...
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    Paul I have felt ,the element of musicality in his cadence, and vibrato in his voice, is like a cross between a classical actor or...
  • User AvatarLibDemer 19th Oct - 7:30pm
    Thank you for the tip. Will try to watch tonight.
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    I have enjoyed this series of articles. Thank you so much !! My youngest child is American by birth. The States is a country I...
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