Tag Archives: equalities

Daniel Russell

Opinion: Strange bedfellows?

By Daniel Russell | Sun 31st May 2009 - 3:30 pm

As a Liberal Democrat supporter currently residing in Warsaw, Poland it is with great interest that I have read David Cameron will be in my adopted home town tomorrow to launch with Czech and Polish partners, a new right-wing group in the EU parliament. It is well documented that Cameron pledged to withdraw the Tories from the centre-right EPP grouping but as can be seen from this weekend’s Guardian this is not altogether a popular decision amongst senior Tories.

The Tory party has long made itself irrelevant on European issues – but what bothers me so much is that the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | Leave a comment
The Voice

Sarah Teather on sex and politics

By The Voice | Wed 29th April 2009 - 10:20 pm

Today’s Times asked five female MPs for their perspectives – here’s what Sarah Teather had to say about the difference sex makes to how women are treated in politics:

I never would have imagined myself doing this job. I speak to female researchers who are brilliant, confident and articulate and they say that they’ve never thought of being an MP. They see people working in the building and think, ‘That’s not for me – I want a life.’

“The qualities that are prized in the Westminster village are quite male. The “yah, boo” politician, the big hitter; inevitably that means aggressive and

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 11 Comments
The Voice

Evan: Labour has dealt serious blow to reform of the monarchy

By The Voice | Fri 27th March 2009 - 3:57 pm

Even as the Prime Minister was, according to the headlines, proving his commmitment to ‘ending anomaly of royal ban on Catholics’, his Government was conspiring to ‘talk out’ Dr Evan Harris’s private member’s bill reforming the right of succession and the laws preventing the monarch marrying a Catholic. Evan was not amused:

Despite the spin from the Prime Minister about amending religious and sexual discrimination in our constitution being a higher priority, the Government has dealt a serious blow to the prospects of reform by talking out my Bill. Jack Straw was asked three times to provide either a timetable,

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dems back government over vote on gay hatred

By Stephen Tall | Wed 25th March 2009 - 7:05 pm

Free speech has always posed a liberal dilemma. On the one hand, we hold dear the principle that individuals are free to speak their mind, even when it gives offence. On the other hand, there is Mill’s ‘harm principle’ – what to do about those individuals who incite hatred and violence through their words.

It was this dilemma which was at the heart yesterday’s Commons debate on the Coroners and Justice Bill, which will criminalise incitement to hatred over sexual orientation. An attempt was made group of MPs, led by Labour’s David Taylor, to amend the bill to insert a so-called “free speech” defence. The BBC report gives the background:

The controversy stems from last year’s Criminal Justice and Immigration Act when Tory former home secretary Lord Waddington succeeded in amending the legislation dealing with inciting hatred on grounds of sexual orientation to allow for “discussion or criticism” of sexual practices.

The government was unable to remove the amendment last year due to a lack of parliamentary time but is now using the Coroners and Justice Bill to scrap it. Mr Taylor, MP for Leicestershire North West, said his proposal simply made “clear that discussion or criticism of sexual conduct is not caught by the homophobia law”.

High-profile critics of the government’s approach have included Blackadder star Rowan Atkinson, who claimed it could stifle creativity for writers and comedians.

David Howarth led for the Lib Dems on this, and voiced the party’s opposition to the amendment, and in favour of the bill’s criminalisation of incitement of homophobic bullying and intimidation. You can read extracts from his Commons’ speech explaining his and the party’s position below:

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged | 4 Comments
Diana Wallis MEP

Opinion: The Member States should each propose one female and one male candidate for the next European Commission

By Diana Wallis MEP | Thu 19th March 2009 - 3:21 pm

Simone Veil’s historic address to the European Parliament on the subject of gender equality last week, thirty years after her election as the first President of the directly elected European Parliament prompted us to observe that the current college of European Commissioners (where only a third of whom are female) does not exactly shine in terms of gender balance. We believe that a further step is needed, drawing on the model of the European Court of Human Rights.

Judges at this court are elected from a shortlist of three candidates put forward by governments. Only lists containing at least …

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • David Allen
    The deafening silence about who might be a good new LD leader tells its own story. A leadership change is a big opportunity for a party to reposition itself an...
  • Neil Hickman
    For good reason, Town Council byelections normally aren't included. But I think the result in Uckfield West is worth noting. Straight fight between the Lib Dem...
  • Peter Martin
    LibDems aren't invisible. If you were, you wouldn't have 72MPs and thousands of councillors. You don't have more because yourselves and the Labour Party aren't ...
  • Kevin Hawkins
    Here is my usual monthly summary of the last fifty local by-elections. Percentage Vote Share: Reform 24.46%, Labour 18.81%, Conservatives 17.13%, Liberal ...
  • David Raw
    In Sheffield Southey (Brightside constituency) the Lib Dem vote has dropped by half to a mere 2.2% and fifth place. Is it not a cause for concern that in 20...