Tag Archives: ed davey

Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 8th February 2012 - 8:55 am

Referendum on Independence

Now that we know that a referendum will definitely be held on Scottish independence, I am committed to working with the Scottish Government to ensure we have one that is fair, legal and decisive. A few weeks ago I launched a consultation to seek views on how we could achieve this and I want to encourage Borderers to take part to make their voices heard on this incredibly important issue.

Following the launch of the consultation I have also met with the CBI, Scottish Engineering and others and I plan to meet with many other Scottish businesses, representatives of …

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Posted in Parliament | Also tagged , , , and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Ed Davey’s approach to green issues: they make for better growth

By Mark Pack | Mon 6th February 2012 - 6:13 pm

Ed Davey’s choice of words when presenting a political case is always worth close attention as he is a man very interested in the details and nuances of political messaging. (He was for a while under Ming Campbell’s leadership in charge of refashioning the party’s messaging.)

So what to make of his initial description of his role in charge at the Department of Environment and Climate Change? He said,

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Robin McGhee

Opinion: Lib Dem Cabinet Ministers – surely we can do better than this?

By Robin McGhee | Sun 5th February 2012 - 9:25 am

When the great British public look at their leaders, what do they think? In the unlikely event it’s anything other than ‘what have we done?’, it’s probably indifference or, occasionally, murder. The current crop of Lib Dem Cabinet Ministers do nothing to dispel these opinions. Chris Huhne’s sadly justified resignation provided an opportunity to change our public image for the better. This opportunity was not taken.

As has been pointed out, Ed Davey’s appointment as Huhne’s replacement has removed a ‘big beast’ from Cabinet: someone who can stand up for a broader range of party opinion. However, his appointment …

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Mark Pack

The fallout from Chris Huhne’s resignation

By Mark Pack | Sat 4th February 2012 - 6:10 pm

I’ve been busy with the media yesterday and today giving my take on Chris Huhne’s resignation, so here are the two main highlights if you missed them:

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Stephen Tall

LDV Caption Competition: Ed Davey “I’ve got Energy” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sat 4th February 2012 - 5:25 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…


(Picture from The Guardian.)

Here’s Nick Clegg welcoming new energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey to the cabinet — what do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Eds Balls and Miliband “The Early Years” Edition.

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Posted in Caption Comp | 19 Comments
Stephen Tall

How Lib Dem members rated Chris Huhne and Ed Davey before the reshuffle

By Stephen Tall | Sat 4th February 2012 - 10:45 am

LibDemVoice is currently conducting one of our regular surveys of party members to find out views on a range of issues. One of the questions we always ask is how satisfied Lib Dems are with key figures in the party. Though the survey is still open, a couple are now out-of-date — specifically, what members’ opinions were of Chris Huhne and Ed Davey in the jobs they occupied until Friday. So here are their results…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged | 11 Comments
Prateek Buch

New Lib Dem appointments to government

By Prateek Buch | Fri 3rd February 2012 - 1:39 pm

According to the No. 10 website, Ed Davey MP will replace Chris Huhne as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with Norman Lamb to replace Davey in his role at the Department for Business.

Completing the changes, Jenny Willott becomes an Assisstant Government Whip, and Jo Swinson replaces Norman Lamb as Nick Clegg’s PPS.

Congratulations to those Lib Dem MPs taking up new positions in government.

Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 6 Comments
The Voice

Opinion: Is the Post Office safe in your hands, Mr Davey?

By The Voice | Mon 30th January 2012 - 9:45 am

Editor’s note: the author of this post has requested to remain anonymous, but his identity is known to me.

I write as a lifelong Liberal/Lib Dem and former councillor. I am sadly having to remain anonymous so that my wife is not made subject to reprisals for my views.

Lib Dem Voice recently claimed the future of the Post Office network is secure. I would like to present a counter (sic) viewpoint.

My wife took on a Post Office 10 years ago and her guaranteed monthly salary then was £620. Now, its £800 for a 48-hour working week – less than £3.70 …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 16 Comments
Stephen Tall

Dealing with Labour’s mess, Part 93: Lib Dems secure future of post offices

By Stephen Tall | Tue 24th January 2012 - 8:29 pm

Remember the last Labour government’s record on post offices? Their numbers fell by more than 7,100, or 38%. But not any more, as a result of Lib Dem action within the Coalition — as Lib Dem Voice first reported here almost 18 months ago.

This is how the Press Association reports it:

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Mark Pack

Which four Liberal Democrat ministers have most improved their standings in 2011?

By Mark Pack | Wed 28th December 2011 - 11:55 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 564 party members responded, and we are publishing the full results here over several days.

Jeremy Browne, Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Lynne Featherstone are the four Liberal Democrat ministers to have significantly increased their standing in the eyes of party members over this year, according to the surveys of party members carried out by Liberal Democrat Voice four times in the year.

When asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with a range of party …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged , , , , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Community Buying: a welcome move from Ed Davey

By Mark Pack | Mon 19th December 2011 - 3:26 pm

I’ve written before about how Consumer Affairs Minister Ed Davey is one of the Liberal Democrat ministers getting messaging right, packaging up different policies in a coherent liberal narrative, but this month has also seen the launch of an important new – and liberal – initiative by him, the Buy Better Together Challenge.

Launched in conjunction with Co-Operatives UK, the challenge is designed to encourage communities to get together to buy together:

The idea is a simple one – and an old one. When people club together, they can get things cheaper. Or afford better quality … Perhaps my favourite scheme is the ‘R Shop Bulk Buying Project’ based in Parkwood, Maidstone. The idea for the project came from a local mother who wanted to create something that made shopping both cheaper and easier – especially for the most bulky items like nappies and potatoes. With many local families not having cars and the estate being a good bus ride away from a supermarket, easier cheaper shopping caught on. Run from a community room in the local primary school, local families have cut their weekly shopping bills by up to 30 per cent.

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Mark Pack

Ed Davey: someone getting the messaging right

By Mark Pack | Tue 29th November 2011 - 10:54 am

Having previously criticised other Liberal Democrat speech makers for having speeches which have positive things to say about the past but only gloom about the future, it is only fair to point out that there is one I have heard who does painting a picture of a positive liberal future well – Ed Davey.

I’ve heard Ed speak a handful of times now, but it was his latest speech that was the most striking in this regard as it was at a South West London Lib Dem fundraiser for Munira Wilson, just after Tim Farron had spoken. Tim’s …

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Greg Mulholland MP

Greg Mulholland writes… Here is Lib Dem ministers’ chance to save the pub

By Greg Mulholland MP | Sun 13th November 2011 - 11:05 am

There has been much talk about the demise of the great British pub. People up and down the country are now sadly used to seeing boarded up pubs, many with rather optimistic to let boards outside.

There are many reasons given for the closure of pubs, but a closer look at the names on the To Let boards, often written in small writing, reveals the most fundamental. The names Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns, the two largest pub-owning companies in the land, with around 12,000 pubs between them, are finding it harder and harder to find people to take their …

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Chris Huhne MP

Chris Huhne MP writes: Check, switch, insulate to save

By Chris Huhne MP | Mon 17th October 2011 - 6:53 pm

No government can control volatile world energy prices. But we can still help people get their energy bills down. So today I am bringing together industry, consumer groups and the regulator Ofgem for an energy summit that will focus on getting people the help they need to reduce their bills in time for this winter.

As Liberal Democrats we have long argued that in the long run the only way to reduce bills is to improve energy saving in our homes, and to invest in more energy generation at home to end our reliance on imported fossil fuels. But there …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 15 Comments
Mark Pack

A messaging mess: what Liberal Democrats are achieving in government

By Mark Pack | Fri 23rd September 2011 - 11:55 am

As I wrote in the immediate aftermath of Nick Clegg’s conference speech, the party was much better at saying what it was not and what it was against – not the Conservatives, not unhappy, against tax cheats, against overpaid under-performing company directors and so on – than what it was for.

In theory the answer should have been found in the conference packs handed out to people on arrival at the Birmingham ICC, for inside them was not only an “In government – on your side” leaflet but also three others from different Liberal Democrat ministers, all promoting the party’s …

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Vince Cable

Vince Cable’s speech to LibDem conference

By Vince Cable | Mon 19th September 2011 - 4:39 pm

You can watch Vince’s speech to the Lib Dem conference here…


(Available on the BBC website here.)

Or you can read the text in full here…

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Sarah Teather

Poverty and achievement: breaking the link – Sarah Teather’s speech to conference

By Sarah Teather | Mon 19th September 2011 - 3:50 pm

Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat Minister of State for Children and Families, gave this speech yesterday to Liberal Democrat conference:

“Education… beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery.“

The quote is from HoraceMann, the great 19th century American reformer. But it speaks to the instincts of liberals here with as much resonance as then.

The scandal is that though it should be true, it isn’t.

You will hear many people talk this week about the shocking state of the nation’s finances that was Labour’s legacy. I want to talk about another …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , , , , and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Liberal Democrats Conference round-up and preview: Sunday/Monday

By Mark Pack | Mon 19th September 2011 - 8:21 am

What happened on Sunday in Birmingham at Liberal Democrat conference and what to watch out for today, Monday:

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The Voice

The countdown to Connect has begun

By The Voice | Tue 30th August 2011 - 4:13 pm

News from Lib Dem HQ of the Liberal Democrats’ new campaign software:

Campaigning across the party is set to get a major boost when Connect comes online later this year. Connect is the UK version of the world’s leading campaign software that’s being built for the party by Voter Activation Network (VAN).

It is based on the tried and tested technology successfully used by Barack Obama and the Democrats in the US and in several other countries around the world. Connect combines high level security and stability, powerful campaigning tools …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , and | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

Cable and Alexander on union strike threats: there’s got to be pensions reform, but we want to negotiate

By Stephen Tall | Sat 18th June 2011 - 8:25 pm

With trade unions threatening “sustained and indefinite” strike action if the Coalition goes ahead with its aims to reform public sector pensions in line with Labour peer Lord Hutton’s recommendations, Lib Dem cabinet ministers have been sticking to a simple message to calm the situation: there has to be reform, but we’re very hapy to engage in constructive negotiation.

Here’s Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable speaking today:

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Alex Foster

PODCAST: Q&A with Business, Innovation and Skills team

By Alex Foster | Sat 12th March 2011 - 8:11 pm

Earlier today, Simon Hughes, Lorely Burt, Vince Cable and Ed Davey joined chair Sal Brinton to answer questions from the audience about post offices, tuition fees, the education maintenance allowance and cutting red tape for small businesses.

You can hear the session in full by clicking the “play in a new window” link below.

Coming up later today: our podcasts of the Nick Clegg Q&A and a recording of our own fringe meeting, which is happening right now.

Posted in Conference and Podcasts | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
Bob Barr

Opinion: Address wars – an armistice?

By Bob Barr | Tue 21st December 2010 - 12:24 pm

We take addresses for granted. How hard an issue can they be? Put an address on an envelope and it gets there, a gratifying proportion of the time. Stick a postcode in a satnav and it shows you a route which usually gets you to your destination. Add an address to a name and you usually have an unambiguous reference to a single person.

The problem lies with the word ‘usually’. Get an address wrong and a parcel doesn’t get delivered; the ambulance or fire engine arrives too late to save a life; a Council Tax isn’t collected; a household gets …

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Stephen Tall

NEW POLL: Is the Coalition right to allow us to work beyond 65?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 31st July 2010 - 4:35 pm

This was the statement issued by Lib Dem Employment Relations Minister Ed Davey this week when announcing the end of the default retirement age of 65, and give people the freedom to choose their own retirement date:

With more and more people wanting to extend their working lives we should not stop them just because they have reached a particular age. We want to give individuals greater choice and are moving swiftly to end discrimination of this kind. Older workers bring with them a wealth of talent and experience as employees and entrepreneurs. They have a vital contribution to make

…

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Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged | 15 Comments
Iain Roberts

Default retirement age to be scrapped

By Iain Roberts | Thu 29th July 2010 - 1:20 pm

The Coalition Government plans to scrap the default retirement age of 65 from October 2011, allowing people to work beyond that age if they choose.  Employers will not be allowed to dismiss staff simply because they’re 65 years old.
As the BBC reports:

Business group, the CBI, criticised the speed of the proposed changes saying it left firms “with many unresolved problems”.

The government’s timetable to scrap the default retirement age would give companies little time to prepare, it added.

However Rachel Krys of the Employers Forum on Age was delighted, saying it was “really unfair” that people had been forced out of jobs because of their age.

“We have to stop these blunt discriminators,” she added.

The charity Age UK, which has led the campaign to end the default retirement age, welcomed the government’s plan.

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

Guardian: Labour’s involvement in illegal abduction and torture of British citizens

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th July 2010 - 10:00 am

Today’s Guardian reports the involvement of senior Labour figures, including Tony Blair and Jack Straw, in the illegal abduction and torture of British citizens by the secret services:

The true extent of the Labour government’s involvement in the illegal abduction and torture of its own citizens after the al-Qaida attacks of September 2001 has been spelled out in stark detail with the disclosure during high court proceedings of a mass of highly classified documents.

Previously secret papers that have been disclosed include a number implicating Tony Blair’s office in many of the events that are to be the subject of the

…

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Stephen Tall

The LDV Saturday caption competition: “Ed Davey in fete worse than death” edition

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th July 2010 - 2:35 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader …


(Credit: Mark Garnish).

Here’s Ed Davey, Lib Dem Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (to give him his full title), in the stocks at a school fete last week. What do you think he might have been saying or thinking?

The winner of our most recent caption competition, the “Chris and Evan open the floodgates” edition – according to The Voice’s judging panel of one …

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Posted in Caption Comp | 19 Comments
Mark Pack

Glenda Jackson: Labour’s worst ever transport minister?

By Mark Pack | Tue 30th March 2010 - 10:20 am

Current Secretary of Sate for Transport, Lord Adonis rightly gets praise from across the political spectrum. Although there’s by no means cross-party agreement on some transport issues (think Heathrow for a start), Adonis is generally respected even when he is disagreed with. Whilst he has an extremely strong claim to have been the best Labour transport minister since 1997, some of the competition for that accolade is not exactly stiff.

Indeed, the publication a few days ago of another cross-party Select Committee report into the failings of part-privatisation on the London Underground reminds me of just how bad Labour MP Glenda …

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Posted in London | Also tagged , , , , , and | 5 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dem MPs split on Euro referendum?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 21st January 2010 - 9:50 am

Almost two years ago, in the early weeks of Nick Clegg’s leadership, the Lib Dem parliamentary party managed to tie itself in knots over the question of whether to support a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In the end three frontbenchers, David Heath, Tim Farron and Alistair Carmichael, quit after defying the party’s three-line whip to oppose a referendum.

Well, Sky News has the interesting story that the party still hasn’t managed to get its line straight and agreed, re-opening that split:

Now it seems to be deja vu all over again, with a new Lib Dem split in voting

…

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 9 Comments
Mark Pack

LibLink … Ed Davey: The Wrong Brit for the Wrong Job

By Mark Pack | Thu 29th October 2009 - 8:53 pm

Over at The Independent, Ed Davey writes about the possibility of Tony Blair becoming the EU’s President:

It’s a long-standing gripe of pro-Europeans that historically Britain has played a poor hand in Europe. Too often disdainful, disengaged or domestically divided, Labour and the Tories have sold the country short. For different reasons, their posturing over Blair’s presidential ambitions is in danger of throwing away another golden opportunity for Britain.

Labour’s push for Blair is wrong on two counts. Firstly, he is simply too soiled for export. His disastrous decision to side with President Bush over the invasion of Iraq was horribly divisive

…

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Posted in Europe / International and LibLink | Also tagged | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

Daily View 2×2: 26 October 2009

By Stephen Tall | Mon 26th October 2009 - 7:30 am

2 Big Stories

Miliband backs Blair as EU President

Well, here’s a turn-up for the books – the man who was Tony Blair’s head of policy is now backing his former boss for the new post of President of the European Union. Who’d have thunk it? The BBC reports:

David Miliband has ruled himself out of taking a senior role within the EU, while endorsing Tony Blair for the new post of European president. … it would be “good for Britain and good for Europe” if Mr Blair became the president of the European Council. Although Mr Blair is seen as frontrunner

…

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Posted in Daily View and Europe / International | Also tagged , , , , and | Leave a comment
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  • Yeovil Yokel
    Well, after last night's meeting of the parliamentary party in Westminster and the overwhelming endorsement of Ed's leadership some people have been left with e...
  • Martin Pierce
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  • Jason Connor
    Yes they did but Lib Dems for Change tried as well, all 250 odd of us. But we were still accused of treachery at the time. How different things are now when the...
  • expats
    This smacks of the party in the coalition years...Any criticism of Clegg went from "It's too early to change" to, "It's too late to change" without ever getting...
  • Jason Connor
    Wealthy in the sense that they want to get rid of the triple lock and don't seem to support raising the personal allowance by the looks of things. Policies whic...