Tag Archives: featured

Caron Lindsay

Baroness Kath Pinnock: Childcare Bill must focus on impact on children’s lives

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 17th June 2015 - 8:56 am

Kath PinnockThe Childcare Bill had its Second Reading in the Lords yesterday. Liberal Democrat peer Kath Pinnock, in her first major speech in her new role as spokesperson for Children, outlined her concerns with it. Her long experience in local government gives her an understanding of how these things work and who has to organise them that many MPs will not have. She also made a very important point. The Conservatives often talk about childcare as being a mechanism to get women back to work without looking at either the practicalities for the women concerned or the impact of the lives of their children. She argued that the Bill must address more than the economic argument.

She also gets that often women work in low paid, unstable jobs either early in the morning or outside school hours and the system needs to be flexible enough to cope with that. She also outlines the cost of childcare in the school holidays, particularly the Summer.

The House of Lords will be particularly important in this Parliament as the Government does not have a majority there. They have a real opportunity to improve poor legislation.

Here’s Kath’s speech in full. 

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Paul Tyler

Lord Paul Tyler writes…Tackling the Tory Democratic Deficit

By Paul Tyler | Sun 14th June 2015 - 8:55 am

The advent of a Conservative government might once have meant no reform at all to our political system.  However, David Cameron is almost accidentally opening the door to a review of party funding regime, the electoral system and the procedures of the House of Commons.  During the Queen’s Speech debates, the Lib Dem team in the Lords has been tackling all three issues.

The Government wants to dry up some of the money available to Labour by placing restrictions on trade union funding.  The principle that trade union members should consent to their subscriptions funding a political party is quite right.  Yet it will be totally unbalanced to introduce that reform without something on the other side of the ledger, namely a cap on the large individual donations which fund the party arms race in spending.

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Paul Walter

Congratulations to Liberal Democrats on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List

By Paul Walter | Sat 13th June 2015 - 7:41 am

Many congratulations to the Liberal Democrats honoured into today’s birthday honours list.

We’ve already mentioned Simon Hughes, who is knighted.

Duwayne Brooks (pictured) receives an OBE for public and political service. Duwayne was our very prominent and energetic candidate for Mayor of Lewisham in 2014. He has been a councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham, serving as the lead member for the Liberal Democrats on the Safer Communities Board at the Local Government group, where he has also been Community Cohesion and PREVENT Champion. He has run a charity supporting victims of crime. Duwayne is a great example of a Liberal Democrat rolling their sleeves up to make their community better.

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Paul Walter

Arise, Sir Simon!

By Paul Walter | Sat 13th June 2015 - 6:13 am

Simon Hughes is one of a thousand people recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list today, receiving a knighthood. Many congratulations to Simon on an award which is very well deserved after a lifetime of skilful and devoted public service.

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Paul Walter

Closed for a funeral

By Paul Walter | Fri 12th June 2015 - 7:43 pm

The sun was shining today in Caol, making for some wonderful photos of the gathered throng around St John’s church with Ben Nevis looming majestically in the background. A film director couldn’t have wished for a more photogenic scene.

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Daisy Cooper MP

Building a diverse party: the Leadership Candidates respond to Daisy Cooper’s questions

By Daisy Cooper MP | Wed 10th June 2015 - 2:05 pm

Tim Farron MPNormanLambOn 17 May, I set out my challenge to the Leadership candidates in an LDV blog, asking each of them whether and to what extent they would commit to some achievable measures to build a more diverse party. Here are their answers – presented without comment.

1)   Will you promise to take a zero tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviour, insisting that all elected representatives and everyone in your team has a “responsibility to act” on any and all anecdotal and substantive evidence that reaches them?

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What does the party believe?

By Duncan Brack and Julie Smith | Wed 10th June 2015 - 12:25 pm

 

The aftermath of a general election is always a good time to reassess what the party is about – why we are Liberal Democrats, what we mean by Liberalism (or, if you prefer, Liberal Democracy) and what this implies for our politics over the next five years. The party carried out this exercise after the 2005 and 2010 elections, but the catastrophic result of this year’s election, coupled with the huge, and very welcome, influx of new members, make it a vital part of the fightback this time.

So the Federal Policy Committee is proposing a series of activities to set a framework for discussion and debate throughout the party. In agreement with the Federal Conference Committee, we plan to use a number of sessions of the autumn conference to discuss the basic beliefs and values of the party – its philosophy. These will be structured round a consultation paper we’re working on now and which will be available in July, soon after the conclusion of the leadership election.

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The Voice

Memorial Service for Charles Kennedy

By The Voice | Wed 10th June 2015 - 10:22 am

Charles_Kennedy

A memorial service to mark Charles Kennedy’s remarkable contribution to public life will be held in the Bute Hall at the University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ on Thursday 18 June at 7pm.

It is expected that members of the public, politicians from across the spectrum, students old and new, academics and university leaders, friends and colleagues from the world of entertainment and the media will attend this service which is open to the public.

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Opinion: Why we should care about Care

By Ian Thomas | Mon 8th June 2015 - 10:43 am

The declining state of residential and nursing care system in this country is, like so many services, something that has been bundled into the welfare cuts introduced by the Coalition – and now that the Conservatives have a majority it is set to worsen.

While the Tories have promised billions of pounds to the NHS an equally pressing (and in many ways the more important) concern is the lack of social services support on which most preventative and after-care services rely.

In the case of the elderly, if a person living alone has a fall within their own home and are taken to hospital they are not allowed to return until a social worker has done an appraisal to make sure they will be safe living alone. Due to the pressure this puts on already over-stretched local social services not all of these assessments can be undertaken promptly and  leads to elderly patients (who do not have anything physically wrong with them) taking up hospital beds in a number of departments – and more critically in A&E departments.

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Paul Walter

Charles Kennedy on Desert Island Discs

By Paul Walter | Sun 7th June 2015 - 12:35 pm

The BBC’s Desert Island Discs has a wonderful archive of most of their past programmes. Charles Kennedy appeared on the show on Sunday 26th October 2003, in conversation with Sue Lawley. It’s a fascinating dialogue, with some very searching questions from Ms Lawley and excellent answers from Charles.

You can listen to the programme on the BBC’s Radio Player here. And here’s what the BBC said about the programme:

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Paul Walter

Charles Kennedy on Question Time

By Paul Walter | Sun 7th June 2015 - 10:04 am

Bless the BBC. They’ve put together this fantastic selection of clips from Charles Kennedy’s incredible 42 – yes 42 – appearances on Question Time. It’s well worth a watch.

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Paul Walter

Charles Kennedy on Have I got news for you

By Paul Walter | Sat 6th June 2015 - 12:25 pm

Here are a few available clips of Charles Kennedy on Have I got news for you.

Firstly, this was when he presented the show in 2002, courtesy of the Guardian:

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Nick T

LDVideo: Commons tributes to Charles Kennedy from Cameron, Clegg, Farron, Lamb and others

By Nick T | Thu 4th June 2015 - 10:00 am

It is usual, after the conclusion of Prime Minister’s Questions, for the chamber of the House of Commons to quickly, and noisily, empty. Yesterday, however, the House remained full, in sombre, reflective quiet to hear tributes from members to Charles Kennedy. The Speaker, John Bercow, shared his reflections first, followed by David Cameron, Harriet Harman and Nick Clegg.

You can see the full one hour and thirteen minutes in the video below, or via this link, and below the video are the times at which you will find various speeches from a selection of MPs.

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The Voice

In full: Nick Clegg’s Commons tribute to Charles Kennedy

By The Voice | Wed 3rd June 2015 - 3:27 pm

Nick Clegg gave this tribute to Charles Kennedy in the Commons today:

A few days ago I got in touch with Charles because I was looking for a telephone number of someone we both knew.

His friends will not be surprised to learn that we were texting each other. He was notoriously bad at answering his phone but famously fluent by SMS.

He said he didn’t have the number on him – but he would get back to me this week – because he was spending time with his beloved son, Donald, during his half term break.

While we all remember Charles as a formidable parliamentarian and a much-loved politician, it is worth remembering that he retained his greatest pride and devotion for his family. He lived next door to his parents and latterly his brother in his grandfather’s croft house near Fort William and cared for them through sickness and old age.

Much though he was wedded to politics all his life, I think Charles would have wanted to be remembered as a kind and loving father, brother and son first; and an accomplished politician second.

And my thoughts and condolences are with all his family and friends today.

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The Voice

Charles Kennedy on the night of the long sgian dubhs

By The Voice | Tue 2nd June 2015 - 11:30 am

As part of our tributes to Charles, we’re republishing this piece, which he wrote for us just after the May general election. You can see the article in its original form here. Between 7am and 11.30am today this article has been viewed on Liberal Democrat Voice over 6400 times, as a result of being linked by the Independent and on Twitter.

I am very fond of political history. If nothing else, we can all reflect on and perhaps tell our grandchildren that we were there on “The night of long sgian dubhs!”

I would very much like to thank my home team. They have been so energetic, dedicated and selfless to the task. Indeed, with them, I would like to thank the very many over the years who have made possible the previous seven successful general election campaigns locally.

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The Voice

Charles Kennedy – a life in pictures

By The Voice | Tue 2nd June 2015 - 10:04 am

This was put together with tears in our eyes.

Scroll down to view. Hover your mouse over the image to see the caption and click on it to see similar pictures on Getty Images.

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Posted in News and Photo feature | Also tagged | 9 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Tributes to Charles Kennedy

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 2nd June 2015 - 8:24 am

Pretty much everyone is paying tribute to Charles Kennedy and we’ll bring them to you on here.

Tim Farron was on Breakfast a while ago and sounded like he was fighting off tears as he talked about his good mate. I suspect that the tributes will take up several threads today. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Nick Clegg

Charles’s untimely death robs Britain of one of the most gifted politicians of his generation.

Charles devoted his life to public service, yet he had an unusual gift for speaking about politics with humour and humility which touched people well beyond the world of politics.

He was a staunch internationalist and passionate believer in Britain’s role in Europe, yet he was a proud Highlander, Scot and British Parliamentarian.

He was one of the most gentle and unflappable politicians I have ever known, yet he was immensely courageous too not least when he spoke for the country against the invasion of Iraq.

He led the Liberal Democrats to our party’s greatest electoral successes, yet he always remained modest about his huge achievements.

Whenever I asked him for advice, he was unfailingly kind and wise.

Most of all, I will never forget the pride and love with which he would talk about his own family, most especially his devotion to his son Donald.

My heart goes out to his sister and brother and to Sarah and Donald at this tragic time.

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Caron Lindsay

Charles Kennedy 1959-2015

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 2nd June 2015 - 7:19 am

Charles Kennedy by Catch21productionsThat’s something I always hoped I wouldn’t have to write.

I was woken up a few minutes ago by my phone buzzing.  “I just want to send you my condolences” said the message from an old friend. That made me sit up pretty sharpish. It didn’t take long to find out what she meant. If you’re reading this and feeling slightly disorientated and wondering what on earth is going on, the BBC has the facts:

Mr Kennedy’s family said in a statement: “It is with great sadness, and an enormous sense of shock, that we announce the death of Charles Kennedy.

“We are obviously devastated at the loss. Charles was a fine man, a talented politician, and a loving father to his young son.”

I’m sitting here feeling, like most of you will be, shocked, raw and numb. This is a guy whose warmth, wit and wisdom was never more needed. I really don’t like the thought of a world without him in it.

From that day in 1983 when his election in the next constituency showed me that there was a place for young people in politics to his brave decision to oppose the Iraq War to the heartbreaking grace of his concession speech last month, he has been an example to follow.

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The Voice

Farron and Lamb comment on motion to expel Israel from FIFA

By The Voice | Fri 29th May 2015 - 9:53 pm

Both leadership contenders have been commenting on the motion to expel Israel from FIFA.

Norman Lamb said:

Trying to resolve complex international issues through the politics of a football organisation mired in allegations of corruption smacks of the worst of kind of student politics. It will take us no closer to the dismantling of illegal settlements on occupied land, to the creation of a truly independent, democratic and economically viable Palestinian state on the West Bank or to the removal of Hamas terrorists from their grip on Gaza. Only international negotiation, greater European involvement and economic development of the region can achieve a lasting peace.

Tim Farron told the Jewish Chronicle:

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Caron Lindsay

Vince Cable’s zero hours contract ban now in force

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 29th May 2015 - 2:52 pm

The Liberal Democrats may no longer be in government but laws we made are still being implemented. Earlier this week, Vince Cable’s ban on exclusivity contracts in zero hours contracts came into force.

It was pretty ridiculous that a company could both have no obligation to provide work and to require that their employees didn’t work for anyone else.

The CIPD, the organisation for HR professionals, wrote about the change on their blog;

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Keith Aspden

Opinion: Lib Dems take power in York

By Keith Aspden | Fri 29th May 2015 - 11:55 am

York swimming pool successThe last few weeks have been an intense time for all Liberal Democrats not least here in York.

After a gruelling campaign and against the national trend, we made gains in the city’s ‘all up’ local elections increasing our seats from the 8 won in 2011 to 12 this time.

These results were down to the hard work and dedication of our candidates and volunteers, such as Local Party Chair Stephen (now Councillor) Fenton, Print Room Supremo Richard Hill, Citywide Agent Derek Wann, along with countless others.

It was also down to a local party which (as I wrote on this website back in June 2013) was forced into a “period of serious self-reflection” following disappointing losses in the 2011 local elections.

What eventually sprung from this was a very localised campaign. Street-based issues filled our Focus, glossy leaflets and target letters with ‘Stronger Economy, Fairer Society’ perhaps getting less of a mention.

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The Voice

In full: Nick Clegg responds to the Queen’s Speech

By The Voice | Wed 27th May 2015 - 6:34 pm

The Liberal Democrats worked hard to ensure that the coalition government’s agenda had a clear thread of liberalism running through it – from the priority we gave to mental health and the green agenda, to creating the pupil premium and protecting our civil liberties.

So it is dispiriting – if pretty unsurprising – to see how quickly, instead of building on those achievements, the new Conservative Government is turning its back on that liberal stance.

The human rights we hold dear, our right to privacy in an online age, our future as an open-minded, outward-looking country, are all hanging in the balance again because of the measures announced today.

It is clear, too, that the previous Government’s commitment to fairness is also weakened.

There was little in today’s speech to help the poorest and the most vulnerable; not enough to improve social care; and no plan to build the Garden cities and 300,000 new homes a year our young people need for the future.

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The Voice

Rennie and Mark Williams and Kirsty Williams react to “unbridled Conservatism” of Queen’s Speech

By The Voice | Wed 27th May 2015 - 4:55 pm

Scottish and Welsh Liberal Democrat leaders Willie Rennie and Kirsty Williams have reacted to this morning’s Queen’s Speech.

Willie Rennie was unimpressed by the government’s legislative programme. He accused the Conservatives of threatening the economy and punishing the poor.

The UK Government’s programme is unbridled conservatism in action.

The Conservative agenda will undermine our rights, threaten our recovery and punish the poor and vulnerable.

Today’s Queen’s speech demonstrates the need for a liberal voice at the heart of British politics.

The Tories are continuing their campaign of fear with plans for a Snooper’s Charter, threats to our human rights and an attack on benefits.

Policies such as increasing the tax threshold and a focus on childcare and improving mental health services simply wouldn’t be on the agenda without the Liberal Democrats.

It shows why you need the Liberal Democrats to stand up for civil liberties. We will continue to fight for a stronger economy and a fairer society, which creates opportunity for all.

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The Voice

The Liberal Democrat Voice Queen’s Speech

By The Voice | Wed 27th May 2015 - 7:36 am

Liberal Democrats are unlikely to find anything that makes them happy in today’s Queen’s Speech. In fact, many of the measures to be announced will make us cringe with horror.

We thought we’d ask people to contribute their ideas for a Bill they would introduce with a sentence to explain why if they wanted. Do add your own in the comments.

The Leadership candidates

Tim Farron:

I would like a new Great Reform Act – voting reform for  the House of Commons, the House of Lords and local government.

Norman Lamb:

Assisted Dying Bill

Once and for all we should confront the messy compromise that every year denies terminally ill patients, suffering great pain, the right to choose the way they end their life – in dignity and with the support of their loved ones – without travelling to another country.

Suzanne Fletcher

My Government will treat those seeking sanctuary in our country as asylum seekers with dignity, respect and justice.

As a start to this we will this year :

put an end to the disgraceful waste of lives and waste of money in indefinitely detaining people for immigration purposes.

Will further allow those seeking sanctuary in the UK who have been here for more than 6 months to work, allowing them to retain their dignity as well as save the taxpayer money.

Will replace the degrading Azure Card with cash payments giving asylum seekers the freedom to buy essentials for living at the cheapest price.

Duncan Stott

Garden Cities and Urban Extensions Bill – To tackle the housing crisis, we to identify the best sites for a major new housebuilding programme and provide new mechanisms to release this land for sustainable, affordable development.

Andy Myles

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Caron Lindsay

The first key difference in the Liberal Democrat leadership race emerges

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 24th May 2015 - 2:15 pm

So, we have a key difference between the two contenders in our two horse leadership race.

While settling down for Eurovision last night, I asked both if they were watching. Tim was going to watch with his family today as his kids are a bit too young to stay up that late. Norman was making his way back home after a day of campaigning in London. When that was established, I asked them a question of interest to many Liberal Democrats. Doctor Who – yes or no. Here are the responses in the order in which they were received:

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Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Ryan Coetzee: The Liberal Democrats must reunite, rebuild or remain in opposition

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd May 2015 - 11:55 am

Ryan Coetzee has written a long article for the Guardian in which he analyses our election defeat and looks to the future.

He looked at the three fronts of the electoral battlefield, Scotland, Labour-facing and Tory facing seats. He looked at the Tories’ fear tactics throughout the campaign:

About four weeks from election day it became clear that The Fear was hurting us. We tried everything we could to counter it: fear of a Tory minority government in hock to its own right wing, Ukip and the DUP; fear of Tory cuts to welfare, schools and other unprotected departments; ruling out participation in any government that relied on SNP support; offering ourselves as the only guarantors of a stable coalition. All of it was trumped by The Fear, and on a scale we didn’t see coming.

I cannot help wonder what would have happened if Miliband and Clegg had turned round to David Cameron and told him that he was talking nonsense. By ruling out coalition with the SNP, we legitimised his depiction of them as the ultimate bogey party. They were never going to anything other than a pain in the backside. They aren’t monsters. The worst they would be able to do would be to propose amendments on the likes of Trident which would be voted down by virtually everyone else bar a few of us and a few Labour lefties. I understand, I think, why we didn’t do that – it hadn’t gone so well when Clegg faced down Farage, however much we might admire his courage in doing so. I suspect, though that a joint initiative to combat the Tory fear might have helped Clegg and Miliband see they could work tougher and  combat the ridiculous Tory scaremongering. Mind you, Labour’s policy platform was so weak, it might all have been in vain anyway.

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Ryan Cullen

Who Lib Dem Voice members think should be the next leader

By Ryan Cullen | Fri 22nd May 2015 - 7:55 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum  to discover what Lib Dem members think of the General Election results. Some 1065 party members responded – thank you – and we’re publishing the full results.

OK, so before we go any further, we all know how dreadful polling has been recently, and I’m also including our results on the Presidential election last year.

Also these numbers are based on a sample of 1,065 out of 57,773 members, before nominations have closed, and any hustings have taken place.

First Preferences

Which of the eight Liberal Democrat MPs would you like to see as the next leader?

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John Grout

Opinion: The Flame

By John Grout | Mon 18th May 2015 - 11:43 am

phoenixWe are rebuilding.  Nick Clegg said in his resignation speech that we face the task of nurturing the flame of British Liberalism.  But as we rebuild, what does – what should – British Liberalism mean?

This seems like something worth discussing.  We are a broad church with many roots: our forebears were Liberals and Social Democrats, but we incorporated the Pro-Euro Conservatives too, and many more of no former alignment.  So, we’ve got this flame of British Liberalism, and if the attitude of the party members and our spectacular membership surge are anything to go by, it shouldn’t be going out any time soon.

Right.  What does British Liberalism mean to me?  For me at least, two things spring immediately to mind before all else.

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Graeme Cowie

Opinion: Constitutional agnosticism – reuniting Scotland’s liberal voice

By Graeme Cowie | Thu 14th May 2015 - 5:27 pm

The Scottish Liberal Democrats adopted a targeted strategy in its 11 held seats at the General Election. We faced a drop in the popular vote by more than half compared to 2010 and a Scottish Nationalist insurgency. The approach taken was to appeal to a Unionist tactical vote in those areas, hoping that the fear of SNP victories across the board would draw-in Labour and Tory voters in places like East Dunbartonshire, Gordon and West Aberdeenshire.

I want to acknowledge from the outset, that this was a less ineffective strategy for the Scottish Lib Dems than it proved for Scottish Labour. Though losing all mainland seats, the margins by which we were defeated were relatively close. Mike Crockart, for example, was much closer to holding his seat than most Glasgow Labour MPs. There is not zero merit in this approach.

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Gordon Lishman

Opinion: “Values” and Party

By Gordon Lishman | Thu 14th May 2015 - 10:46 am

There has been a lot written about the importance of “values”. I’m not convinced.

Talk about values reinforces the idea that one can pick and mix principles and ideas – just as with policies, one can put together a package which suits your pocket or your likes and then decide which party at any one time best meets your need to vote. Or, indeed, you can just campaign on one or two which happen to strike you as most important.

This view encourages the idea that party is an outdated concept and often inconvenient if there happen to be some bits of your party’s policies which you don’t like – which there always will be in an open and democratic community. In this world of values, party affiliations are worn loosely and are often transient. I want to proclaim the importance of both party and philosophy.

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