Tag Archives: ben stoneham

Mark Pack

14 Liberal Democrat rebels help defeat housing benefit cuts in the House of Lords

By Mark Pack | Wed 14th December 2011 - 9:26 pm

Fourteen Liberal Democrat peers, including the former party Chief Whip Archy Kirkwood and the former interim Chief Executive Ben Stoneham, joined a successful rebellion in the House of Lords today. The vote, on part of the Welfare Reform Bill, was over the proposal to cut housing benefit payments from people who have spare bedrooms in their property.

The peers voted to restrict these cuts to people who have two or more spare bedrooms, excluding the controversial category of people with one spare bedroom – which, under the rules as proposed, might in fact not have been that spare. Concerns had also …

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The Voice

Lord Stoneham defends Goodwin disclosure

By The Voice | Tue 24th May 2011 - 9:16 am

The Liberal Democrat peer who disclosed that former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Sir Fred Goodwin had a relationship with a senior colleague defended his action last night.

Using Parliamentary privilege, Lord Stoneham of Droxford told peers last Thursday:

Every taxpayer has a direct public interest in the events leading up to the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland, so how can it be right for a super-injunction to hide the alleged relationship between Sir Fred Goodwin and a senior colleague?

If true, it would be a serious breach of corporate governance and not even the Financial Services Authority would be

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Ben Stoneham

Lord Ben Stoneham’s maiden speech

By Ben Stoneham | Fri 28th January 2011 - 2:24 pm

In recent months, LDV has been bringing its readers copies of our new MPs’ and Peers’ first words in Parliament, so that we can read what is being said and respond. You can find all of the speeches in this category with this link. Yesterday, Baron Stoneham of Droxford, of the Meon Valley in the County of Hampshire, made his maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on Tourism. His words are reproduced below.

My Lords, it is an honour and a privilege to speak to the House for the first time. I would like

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Helen Duffett

Fifteen new Liberal Democrat Peers appointed

By Helen Duffett | Fri 19th November 2010 - 11:33 am

Fifteen new Liberal Democrat working peers have just been announced…

  • Dr Sarah (Sal) Brinton – Executive Director of the Association of Universities in the East of England

  • Dee Doocey OBE – Chair of the London Assembly

  • Qurban Hussain – Deputy Group Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Luton Borough Council

  • Judith Jolly – Chair of Executive Committee of Liberal Democrats in Devon and Cornwall

  • Susan Kramer – former Liberal Democrat MP

  • Raj Loomba – businessman and campaigner for widows’ rights

  • Jonathan Marks – commercial and family law QC with specialist interest in human rights and constitutional reform

  • Monroe Palmer OBE – Liberal

    • …

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    Mark Pack

    How a Conservative employee spread defamatory comments about Ming Campbell

    By Mark Pack | Sat 19th April 2008 - 5:49 pm

    I’ve not seen this passage from Ming Campbell’s memoirs, My Autobiography, quoted elsewhere, so here’s the story of the Conservative Press Officer and the defamatory email:

    A former Liberal Democrat party employee working in public relations rang to alert my team to a damaging e-mail. It accused me of taking money from defence manufacturers in return for asking questions in the House of Commons. If true, which it most certainly was not, it could have led to my expulsion. I was furious about its potential damage to my leadership campaign if any newspaper published it. We had lawyers standing by

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    Stephen Tall

    Ghazni appointed Lib Dems’ new National Diversity Adviser

    By Stephen Tall | Tue 11th September 2007 - 10:55 pm

    Issan Ghazni has been appointed to the newly created position of National Diversity Adviser based at the party’s Cowley Street Headquarters. Issan has a consulting and professional background in Equalities and Diversity at the highest level and has extensive experience of the public, private and voluntary/community sectors.

    Issan is also a Liberal Democrat activist who fought Nottingham East in 2005, doubling the Lib Dem vote and achieving a swing against Labour of almost 12%. Commenting on his appointment Issan said:

    “This is an exciting time to be joining the team at headquarters. I am really looking forward to tackling the diversity

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