Tag Archives: chris huhne

LDVideo: A fairer, more democratic, greener, liberal country

By The Voice | Tue 22nd February 2011 - 9:43 am

Posted in Lib Dem TV | Also tagged floella benjamin, paddy ashdown, steve webb and tim farron | 9 Comments

Green Investment Bank: the debate in government continues

By Mark Pack | Fri 18th February 2011 - 1:55 pm

A quick update to my previous post about the Green Investment Bank, where I wrote:

Largely unreported there has been a heavy debate over whether the Green Investment Bank will in effect simply by a pot for government grants or whether it will have the ability to operate much like a traditional bank. The more bank-like the Green Investment Bank can be, the more it will be able to do with its initial funding if, for example, it is able to issue bonds and underwrite loans. Helped by the backing of some Conservatives, such as Oliver Letwin, Chris Huhne seems

…

Posted in News | Also tagged george osborne, green investment bank and nick clegg | 3 Comments

European Commissioners debate as Chris Huhne pushes for tougher environmental targets

By Mark Pack | Tue 15th February 2011 - 1:55 pm

The Guardian reports,

Europe’s climate chief insisted on Monday that tougher greenhouse gas targets would improve the EU’s economic performance, rather than push businesses overseas, as companies and green campaigners tussled over whether current emissions goals were too weak…

Her words came as a row flared between Chris Huhne, the UK’s climate change secretary, and Günther Oettinger, the EU’s energy commissioner, over whether to toughen the European climate target from a cut of 20% in emissions by 2020 to a 30% cut.

Last week, Oettinger warned: “If we go alone to 30%, you will only have a faster process of de-industrialisation in

…

Posted in News | Also tagged climate change, connie hedegaard and gunther oettinger | 1 Comment

Nick Clegg, economic growth and the Green Investment Bank

By Mark Pack | Sat 5th February 2011 - 3:57 pm

In a speech yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlined the government’s four-pronged approach to economic growth, setting out the measures that are being taken whilst also admitting that no government has an effective magic lever it can pull to guarantee growth.

The four prongs are a switch from deficit-fuelled growth to investment-fuelled growth, developing the nation’s ‘hard’ infrastructure such as transport links, supporting the ‘soft’ infrastructure such as a workforce with the skills business needs and achieving a better balance across the different regions of the country and sectors of the economy.

Nick Clegg said,

The outgoing Labour Chief Secretary to

…

Posted in News | Also tagged green investment bank, nick clegg and oliver letwin | 17 Comments

Chris Huhne speaks out over phone hacking

By Mark Pack | Sun 23rd January 2011 - 10:35 pm

As I mentioned earlier today, Chris Huhne went somewhat further in his Independent on Sunday profile in making critical comments about Andy Coulson and the phone hacking allegations than the party’s rather bland official statement. He’s now gone further, as the FT reports:

A cabinet minister has sharply criticised Scotland Yard for accepting what he called News International’s “implausible” account of phone hacking at one of its tabloids, as it emerged that Gordon Brown had acted on fears that he was targeted.

Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, raised the political stakes in the illegal surveillance scandal by claiming the police

…

Posted in News | Also tagged andy coulson | 9 Comments

Chris Huhne profiled by the Independent on Sunday

By Mark Pack | Sun 23rd January 2011 - 4:06 pm

Today’s Independent on Sunday has a long profile of Chris Huhne and his work as a Cabinet minister and including some hints of criticism of Andy Coulson:

The one time he appears to choose his words carefully is when discussing Andy Coulson. On a biting Friday morning, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change does not yet know that the chill wind blowing along Downing Street will signal the resignation within hours of the coalition’s director of communications.

“I have no reason to doubt his position,” he says precisely, when asked if he was happy with Mr Coulson continuing in

…

Posted in News | Also tagged andy coulson and ed balls | 7 Comments

Which Way’s Up? The long-term future of the coalition

By Mark Pack | Tue 11th January 2011 - 10:25 am

The rapid appearance since the formation of the Coalition of Conservative MP Nick Boles’s book Which Way’s Up? is a tribute to the speed with which Biteback turns round books – recognising that the previous slothful pace of much political publishing meant books were no longer able to capture the political weather. Boles’s book, by contrast, certainly does that and attracted immediate headlines about his support for a two-term coalition and for an electoral pact.

The heart of the book, however, is about policy rather than political tactics. Boles himself has long been a Conservative moderniser – “a Cameroon before …

Posted in Books and Op-eds | Also tagged evan harris, nick boles and william gladstone | 13 Comments

The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011: making progress on core LibDem beliefs

By Mark Pack | Wed 22nd December 2010 - 11:45 am

Over the festive season we’re running a series of posts on the main Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011. You can find all the posts as they appear here.

Getting economic policy right may be at the heart of the government’s long-term fate, and crucial for the country, but even if everything goes right the benefits are long-term ones – so to keep the coalition working well over the next year will require a steady supply of other good news and much work on internal communications.

Ask Liberal Democrat activists why they are active in politics and why for the Liberal Democrats …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged civil liberties, constitutional reform, control orders, house of lords, lib dem challenges 2011 and parliamentary reform | 7 Comments

LibLink: Chris Huhne – The biggest energy market shake-up in 25 years

By NewsHound | Thu 16th December 2010 - 3:25 pm

Over at the Telegraph, Lib Dem secretary of state for energy and climate change Chris Huhne argues that the UK needs to unlock private investment in its energy market on an unprecedented scale, and ensure the low-carbon revolution at the lowest cost to consumers. Here’s an excerpt:

… on Thursday the Coalition begins a consultation on a reform that would reshape this market more fundamentally than at any time since the 1980s, when the Lawson reforms were the pioneer of Europe’s deregulation. Since then, we have acquired an overlay of instruments – notably the renewables obligation – that has provided a

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged energy | 9 Comments

So, what did Chris Huhne achieve in Cancun?

By Mark Pack | Sun 12th December 2010 - 8:55 am

After the hype and disappointment over Copenhagen, the climate change talks in Cancun were also going to be much lower profile – a gentle attempt to have some successful preparatory work and build up momentum ahead of the next round of talks. However, with the tuition fees vote this week, Chris Huhne’s presence at the talks got rather more publicity than usual. But what actually happened at the talks?

Posted in News | Also tagged climate change | 16 Comments

22 Days in May by David Laws – book review

By Mark Pack | Mon 29th November 2010 - 10:27 am

Many insider accounts have already appeared of the events retold in David Laws’s book 22 Days in May: The Birth of the Lib Dem-Conservative Coalition. It is therefore one of the book’s strengths that not only is it written in a lively style which gives some freshness to the now familiar sequence of events but it also adds many new insights.

Although only briefly mentioned by Laws himself, perhaps the most important is how much the Liberal Democrats owe to Chris Huhne. In April, just before the second TV debate, I wrote,

It’s worth taking a moment to reflect on

…

Posted in Books | Also tagged david laws, featured, gordon brown, nick clegg, paddy ashdown and peter mandelson | 15 Comments

Chris Huhne announces ‘The Green Deal: Putting our ideas into practice’

By The Voice | Fri 5th November 2010 - 7:35 pm

Chris Huhne, Lib Dem secretary of state for energy and climate change, earlier this week emailed party members with the following message, illustrating how the party is putting green policies at the heart of the Coaltion:

Today I am announcing details of the Green Deal, a new and radical way of making energy efficiency improvements available to all, whether people own or rent their properties. Through the Green Deal everyone will have a chance to save energy, cut their bills and tackle climate change, just as we promised in our manifesto.

Initially, over the next two years, we will almost double

…

Posted in News | Also tagged climate change, energy and energy efficiency | 2 Comments

Praise for Chris Huhne from The Ecologist

By Mark Pack | Thu 4th November 2010 - 10:31 pm

Kicking off a new series in The Ecologist, earlier today the magazine wrote:

Redoubtable Huhne

But actually, from a purely environmental perspective, it’s hard to stay too depressed because (whisper it) there are some signs that this government may really be serious about its green agenda. The simple presence of the redoubtable Chris Huhne at DECC is cheering for a start: this is a serious and intelligent politician who is showing encouraging signs of knowing how to maneuvre and fight to get what his department wants. DECC didn’t do nearly as badly in the cuts as some had expected; he preserved the

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Posted in News | Also tagged environment | 6 Comments

The Huhne – Oakeshott two-step

By Mark Pack | Mon 1st November 2010 - 10:51 pm

Over the weekend we saw two stories, two prominent Liberal Democrats, two public staking out of positions on issues that are the subject of much debate within the coalition in Whitehall:

David Cameron was warned yesterday by a senior Lib Dem not to delay the introduction of legislation banning non-doms from making donations to political parties in Britain. In a sign of strains within the coalition, Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott said there was “absolutely no reason” to delay the legislation. (The Guardian)

and

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat energy secretary, reiterated his party’s strong opposition to retaining a policy that he had previously

…

Posted in News | Also tagged matthew oakeshott and theresa may | 3 Comments

Chris Huhne puts £60 million into offshore wind turbine manufacture

By Iain Roberts | Mon 25th October 2010 - 4:19 pm

An email from Chris Huhne:

Today we are taking a key step on the road to a more prosperous, fairer and greener Britain. We’ve announced support for wind turbine manufacture at Britain’s ports – opening the way to a major expansion of the country’s offshore wind industry.

The last week has been tough. None of us came into government to make cuts. Throughout the spending review, as Liberal Democrats and as a Government, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions. We believe they are necessary to stabilise Britain’s economy and eliminate the massive deficit in the public finances.

As Liberal Democrats in Government

…

Posted in News | Also tagged wind turbines | 9 Comments

Sarah Teather on the education funding settlement

By Mark Pack | Thu 21st October 2010 - 8:55 am

I commented yesterday on the good deal Chris Huhne has got for environmental spending (due to go up by a fifth in cash terms over the spending review period). The best settlement for any ministerial area however looks to have been secured for Sarah Teather’s early years education brief – assisted by Nick Clegg’s own repeated insistence on prioritising the area.

Here’s what Sarah Teather wrote yesterday to fellow MPs about the education settlement:

Today’s Comprehensive Spending Review involved some very difficult decisions that we had to take to deal with the black hole in public finances left to us by

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Posted in News | Also tagged comprehensive spending review 2010, education and sarah teather | 20 Comments

How green was the spending review?

By Mark Pack | Wed 20th October 2010 - 11:02 pm

Trawling through the details of today’s spending review, Liberal Democrat concerns for the environment look to have got a pretty strong showing, with overall a 21% increase in environmental spending in cash terms during the spending review period. That makes the environment one of the areas to benefit most from the limited amounts of extra spending, and the initiatives include:

A Green Investment Bank – heavily trailed, but going ahead with a capitalisation of £1 billion plus money from asset sales.
Carbon Capture and Storage – at least £1 billion will go on funding a demonstration project.
Tackling fuel poverty – the

…

Posted in News | Also tagged comprehensive spending review 2010, renewableuk and wind turbines | 22 Comments

What was different about the Liverpool conference?

By The Voice | Sun 17th October 2010 - 11:58 am

This video, filmed at the Lib Dem 2010 Autumn conference in Liverpool, contains interviews with Chris Huhne and Vince Cable about how conference is different now the party is in government, plus interviews with members, a look at why organisations hold fringe events and a tour around the exhibition area with interviews with one internal and one external organisation about why they have a stand in the exhibition area. Presented by Greg Stone and Jonathan Wallace.

You can view the video here.

Posted in Conference | Also tagged nick clegg and vince cable | Leave a comment

How the media loves mixed messages (when they suit their own message)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th October 2010 - 1:25 pm

‘Conservative spending cuts are worse than Thatcher’s, says Alan Johnson’ shouts today’s Observer, reporting the paper’s interview with Labour’s incoming shadow chancellor.

If the election had turned out differently — if Labour had won, rather than suffering one of the worst defeats in its history — the headline could have read a little different… Imagine this headline:

Alistair Darling: we will cut deeper than Margaret Thatcher

But wait, we don’t have to imagine that headline: it already exists, and was used by the Observer’s stablemate The Guardian back in March when reporting the then Labour chancellor’s realistic appraisal of the …

Posted in News | Also tagged alan johnson, alistair darling, Danny Alexander, deficit, media, the guardian and the observer | 13 Comments

Huhne scorns tax breaks for married couples as “flag-waving”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 9th October 2010 - 3:58 pm

Today’s Telegraph has an in-depth interview with the Lib Dems’ climate change and energy secretary Chris Huhne, in which he expertly steers the tightrope of punchily sticking up for party policy while sticking well within collective responsibility.

Somewhat bizarrely, both the BBC and the Torygraph are leading on the least contentious part of the interview, in which Chris points out that the Coalition will adjust economic policy according to circumstances and forecasts:

“I’ve never known one Treasury Red Book to be exactly like the last one. There is always a change. It is a bit like setting sail. If the

…

Posted in News | Also tagged trident, universal benefits and winter fuel allowance | 6 Comments

The Independent View: half of Lib Dems say protecting environment should be more of a priority

By Joss Garman | Mon 27th September 2010 - 1:14 pm

The Guardian reported last week that Chris Huhne is having to do battle with the Treasury on a number of policy fronts to save his department from drastic cuts, including to clean energy budgets. According to the newspaper, “When all government departments were asked to model the effect of 40% cuts over the summer, officials at Decc told ministers that cuts of that level to its £3.2bn budget would make it unable to stand alone as a viable entity.”

A Yougov poll, commissioned by Greenpeace, and published here exclusively on Lib Dem Voice, shows that Chris Huhne has his …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged greenpeace | 9 Comments

LDVideo conference edition (3): Hughes, Huhne, Alexander and Browne

By Stephen Tall | Sat 25th September 2010 - 12:45 pm

Anyone starting to get conference withdrawal symptoms? For those of you who were there, here’s a few videos from the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool to help you catch up with what you missed by, erm, being there. And for those of you who weren’t there and saw it all on telly anyway… well, here’s another chance to enjoy some of the highlights.

(Please note, as these are BBC videos it’s not possible to link to them: they will therefore only be visible to readers viewing Lib Dem Voice directly through your web browser.)

Is Simon Hughes on the political left or right?

Chris Huhne’s ‘green deal to offset budget cuts’

Posted in Conference and YouTube | Also tagged Danny Alexander, jeremy browne and simon hughes | Leave a comment

PODCAST: Cabinet Minister Q&A

By Alex Foster | Wed 22nd September 2010 - 5:14 pm

Our final podcast from the conference floor was the penultimate session, a Q&A with cabinet ministers Danny Alexander, Chris Huhne, Michael Moore and Vince Cable.

The last session at Lib Dem conference is usually reserved for the Leader’s Speech – but that was not possible this time as Nick Clegg had to fly out to the UN.

It’s quite a shock for Liberal Democrats to get to quizz cabinet ministers, but it’s something they took in their stride with relative ease. This was taped from the reserved press section – and it’s interesting that over a dozen journalists had stayed till this …

Posted in Conference and Podcasts | Also tagged Danny Alexander, lorely burt, Michael Moore and vince cable | Leave a comment

The Independent View: Please make sure they really do end child detention

By Clare Sambrook | Wed 15th September 2010 - 1:27 pm

Liberal Democrats are understandably confused about whether child detention is ending or not.

Nick Clegg got the commitment to end child detention into the Coalition Agreement. Only last Thursday Sarah Teather promised: ‘Rest assured. It will be done.’ She also said: ‘We have to be careful not to rush into this as we are dealing with the safety and well-being of often vulnerable children and it is essential it is done properly.’

Quite how children’s safety might be served by not rushing to end a practice proven to wreck their lives is a mystery that suggests leading Liberal Democrats have been

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged damian green, malcolm stevens, nick clegg and sarah teather | 26 Comments

What Lib Dems are saying (or not) about Andy Coulson

By Stephen Tall | Mon 6th September 2010 - 7:00 pm

The official Lib Dem line on Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s director of communications, could not have been clearer prior to the election: this Voice headline from July 2009 gives the flavour – Huhne on Coulson: “either complicit or incompetent”.

Yet the party leadership has been noticeably more reticent to comment on the most recent allegations, triggered by the New York Times’s typically thorough investigation.

(What does it say, by the way, about the quality of the British news media today that — with the honourable exception of The Guardian — it was left to a US newspaper to …

Posted in News | Also tagged adrian sanders, andy coulson, Caroline Pidgeon, jonny oates, lembit opik, media and phone tapping | 33 Comments

LDV survey: 68% of Lib Dem members back nuclear as party of UK’s energy mix

By Stephen Tall | Sat 28th August 2010 - 8:45 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of a variety of key issues, and what you make of the Lib Dems’ and Government’s performance to date. Almost 600 party members have responded, and we’ll be publishing the full results of our survey in the next few days.

First up we asked about Chris Huhne’s announcement that he is now backing nuclear power in order to ensure the stability of Britain’s energy supplies.

Do you believe Chris Huhne is right to say that nuclear power, alongside oil and gas and renewable sources, …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged energy and nuclear power | 16 Comments

Huhne goes on the attack: “Labour’s next leaders in denial about deficit”

By Stephen Tall | Wed 11th August 2010 - 1:40 pm

Lib Dem climate change and energy secretary Chris Huhne joined with Conservative party chair Baroness Sayeedi Warsi today to launch a blistering attack on Labour’s financial legacy.

You can read Chris’s speech in full, below, in which he issues a stark challenge to Labour to “face up to the challenge of fixing our nation’s finances”, warning that if they don’t “they won’t deserve power for another generation.”

However, it is Baroness Warsi’s demand to David and Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham to forfeit their £20,000 severance pay as cabinet ministers – branded their “reward for failure” – which …

Posted in News | Also tagged sayeeda warsi and simon jenkins | 65 Comments

NEW POLL: Should nuclear power be part of the UK’s energy mix?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 9th August 2010 - 2:25 pm

Climate change and energy secretary Chris Huhne was on Radio 4 this morning with what will have been, for many Lib Dems, a surprise announcement: that the Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government is fully behind the opening of a new nuclear power station in eight years’ time.

Arguing in favour of in favour of a mix of more nuclear, oil and gas and renewable energy, Chris declared, “I have no intention of the lights going out on my watch.”

This is something of a change in direction for Liberal Democrat party policy. For example, in the 2010 manifesto the …

Posted in News and Voice polls | Also tagged energy and nuclear power | 70 Comments

“Private sector will build nuclear plants,” says Huhne

By The Voice | Mon 2nd August 2010 - 10:30 am

The BBC reports:

New nuclear plants will be built in the UK as part of the move towards a green economy, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has said.

Mr Huhne told the BBC that breaking the dependence on traditional fossil fuels was vital. The minister said the market would decide which types of low-carbon energy would be used, but he believes nuclear investors are waiting to come forward.

He ruled out specific government subsidies for the new power stations.

Chris was speaking on the BBC1’s Andrew Marr programme, Sunday AM, and confirmed:

My position and my party’s position was always one

…

Posted in News | Also tagged energy, Mark Pack and nuclear power | 19 Comments

Huhne on Lib Dem poll ratings: “Frankly, it doesn’t worry me”

By Stephen Tall | Mon 2nd August 2010 - 9:40 am

We’re into August, the dead political season, so doubtless we can expect plenty more media stories about the collapse of the Lib Dem vote, the imminent collapse of the Coalition, the collapse of Nick Clegg’s ratings etc, etc.

The latest miniplosion of noise has been sparked by YouGov’s latest poll, showing the Lib Dems polling 12% (compared to the Tories’ 42% and Labour’s 38%). For some, strange reason the papers seem much keener to report this poll finding than they were to report ICM’s 19% rating for the party a few days ago. We’ll be looking back fully on July’s polls …

Posted in News | Also tagged Polls | 80 Comments

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Tag Archives: chris huhne

LDVideo: A fairer, more democratic, greener, liberal country

Green Investment Bank: the debate in government continues

European Commissioners debate as Chris Huhne pushes for tougher environmental targets

Nick Clegg, economic growth and the Green Investment Bank

Chris Huhne speaks out over phone hacking

Chris Huhne profiled by the Independent on Sunday

Which Way’s Up? The long-term future of the coalition

The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011: making progress on core LibDem beliefs

LibLink: Chris Huhne – The biggest energy market shake-up in 25 years

So, what did Chris Huhne achieve in Cancun?

22 Days in May by David Laws – book review

Chris Huhne announces ‘The Green Deal: Putting our ideas into practice’

Praise for Chris Huhne from The Ecologist

The Huhne – Oakeshott two-step

Chris Huhne puts £60 million into offshore wind turbine manufacture

Sarah Teather on the education funding settlement

How green was the spending review?

What was different about the Liverpool conference?

How the media loves mixed messages (when they suit their own message)

Huhne scorns tax breaks for married couples as “flag-waving”

The Independent View: half of Lib Dems say protecting environment should be more of a priority

LDVideo conference edition (3): Hughes, Huhne, Alexander and Browne

PODCAST: Cabinet Minister Q&A

The Independent View: Please make sure they really do end child detention

What Lib Dems are saying (or not) about Andy Coulson

LDV survey: 68% of Lib Dem members back nuclear as party of UK’s energy mix

Huhne goes on the attack: “Labour’s next leaders in denial about deficit”

NEW POLL: Should nuclear power be part of the UK’s energy mix?

“Private sector will build nuclear plants,” says Huhne

Huhne on Lib Dem poll ratings: “Frankly, it doesn’t worry me”

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