Tag Archives: featured

Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron writes… A liberal win on ‘Go Home’ vans

By Tim Farron MP | Tue 22nd October 2013 - 6:39 pm

go home illegal immigrant posterSince I have been President I have worked hard to try and make sure members views are heard in the heart of government.  Banging on ministerial doors to try and make policy after policy better and more liberal.

Over the summer the ‘Go Home’ vans came onto our streets.  At the time I joined Sarah Teather and, oddly, Nigel Farage to oppose them. (Who says politics doesn’t give you strange bedfellows!)

My view was clear both then and now: The vans represented the worst kind of divisive politics and …

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Andrew Watson

The Independent View: The Lobbying Bill threatens grass-roots campaigning

By Andrew Watson | Tue 22nd October 2013 - 3:32 pm

 gagging law

Take a good look at this picture. This is what grass-roots political activism looks like – and you’ll be seeing a lot less of it if the coalition’s “Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill” becomes law.

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged and | 14 Comments
Issan Ghazni

Open letter to Lib Dem MPs: The Immigration Bill is illiberal

By Issan Ghazni | Mon 21st October 2013 - 5:51 pm

Dear Lib Dem MPs,

We Liberal Democrats have long been proud of our internationalism and compassionate stance towards refugees and immigration. Not an ‘open borders’ party, but a party which believes controlling our borders does not conflict with welcoming newcomers or upholding their human rights.

By contrast the Conservatives care little for rights, European or otherwise. Theresa May is engaged in creating a “hostile environment” made so unpleasant for “irregular migrants” will simply pack up and leave, and minority ethnic British citizens could end up being racially-profiled if they ‘look foreign.’ This approach is diametrically opposed to the values I …

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey MP writes… Hinkley Point C – a big step forward for energy decarbonisation

By Ed Davey | Mon 21st October 2013 - 11:59 am

Today I announced that we have reached an outline commercial agreement with EDF to build the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset.

I know this will cause a wide range of reactions within the party. Most will welcome this very significant step forward in our plans to decarbonise our energy sector. A substantial minority I know will be disappointed. Before outlining the terms of what I believe is a good deal for the British consumer let me repeat what I said at the Glasgow conference as to why I have changed my mind and now believe that nuclear has …

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Stephen Tall

Clegg on free schools and National Curriculum: no more, no less than party policy. And that’s for better and worse.

By Stephen Tall | Sun 20th October 2013 - 11:05 am

No-one should be that surprised by Nick Clegg’s decision to distance the Lib Dems from Michael Gove’s schools policies — specifically that every teacher should be qualified and that every school should teach the national curriculum. After all, what Nick is due to set out in a speech this week is the policy that was voted for overwhelmingly by the party’s conference in March this year.

Here’s what the adopted policy – Every Child Taught by an Excellent Teacher – says about teachers in all schools having qualifications:

All classroom teachers, including in academies and free schools and Further Education

…

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Giles Goodall

The palatable truth about EU migration: 5 reasons why it’s good for Britain

By Giles Goodall | Sun 20th October 2013 - 10:04 am

Telegraph MigrationThe Sunday Telegraph’s disingenuous claim last weekend that “600,000 unemployed EU migrants are living in Britain at a cost of £1.5 billion to the NHS” sparked a chorus of protests about so-called ‘benefit tourism’ from the Mail, Sun and Express. Conservatives and Ukippers gleefully joined the feeding frenzy, with hard-right Tory MP Douglas Carswell upping the rhetorical ante from “waves of migrants” to a “tsunami of economic refugees”.

Fortunately, the European Commission, the NIESR and others were on hand to point out some facts. The Sunday Telegraph wrongly included students, retired people, parents on leave and some schoolchildren in its definition of unemployed. In fact, the Department of Work & Pensions’ own estimates state that fewer than 38,000 people from the other 27 EU countries claim jobseekers allowance in the UK. This represents approximately 2.6% of all claimants and is just 6% of the Sunday Telegraph’s front page ‘EU unemployed’ figure.

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Caron Lindsay

Michael Moore “turned down chance to resign Cabinet post”

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 19th October 2013 - 10:45 am

A report in today’s Herald suggests that former Scottish Secretary Michael Moore was offered the chance to resign from the Cabinet rather than be sacked. A “spend more time with his family” scenario was apparently Nick Clegg’s first choice method of removal. Moore, though, was reportedly not having any of it:

In what might have been meant as a conciliatory gesture, Mr Clegg offered his Cabinet colleague the chance to resign. But friends of Mr Moore made clear the Borders MP rebuffed the offer immediately, telling his party leader: “If you are going to sack me, sack me. I won’t

…

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Caron Lindsay defends Jo Swinson’s right to stand

By Andy Boddington | Fri 18th October 2013 - 2:00 pm

Jo Swinson GlasgowThe government has been introducing a lots of “rights to” of late. Communities have rights to bid and to build. Individual have rights to buy and to personal budgets. After the last 48 hours of media coverage, it may be that we need to bring in a “right to stand.”

The story runs like this. Jo Swinson arrives for Prime Ministers Questions at a point when the house is already crammed out. She stands for a while and she’s happy with that. The political editor of the Spectator, James Forsyth however was horrified and tweeted.

Quite remarkable that no MP has offered Jo Swinson, who is seven months pregnant, a seat. Really shocking lack of manners and decency

The Daily Mail then took up the case. Caron Lindsay took that newspaper to task last night, concluding:

I find the Mail’s attitude to women much more offensive and harmful to society than anything that happened in the House of Commons yesterday.

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Jeremy Browne talks to the Times on his sacking and not being a Tory

By Andy Boddington | Fri 18th October 2013 - 9:45 am

Clegg and BrowneIn today’s Times, Jeremy Browne reveals that he has been approached by senior Tories, including Grant Shapps, who “he suspects were seeking his defection” (£). He describes his sacking from the Home office as disorienting, puzzling and painful. He says that he received a black mark over the Go Home poster van row. The Telegraph’s Benedict Brogan, however, has tipped Browne for defecting and joining a future Tory cabinet.

Talking to the Times, Browne signals his dismay with Clegg’s effort to distance the Lib Dems from the Tories. He urges the party to take credit for the government’s “central pillars”: reducing the deficit, crime and education reforms, and also curbing immigration.

He says the party is a “shopping trolley that defaults to the Left” and accuses a “substantial number” of Lib Dems of being happy as a “peripheral force that campaigns against the Conservatives.”

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Ed Davey

Ed Davey MP writes… Labour’s energy policy is a con

By Ed Davey | Thu 17th October 2013 - 11:58 am

Energy-bills-006“There is no such thing as a free lunch” was one of the first things I learnt in economics. But it seems that Ed Miliband thinks there is. He seems to believe that you can have freeze energy prices for 20 months with no adverse impacts. It may have seemed a politically smart thing to do leading into the traditional period of energy price increases. But it is likely to have really harmful consequences. In short, it’s a con.

Many commentators have already pointed out that energy companies will be free to …

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Stephen Tall

Norman Lamb is surely right: pensioners who own their own homes and have more than £23,000 savings are ‘quite wealthy’

By Stephen Tall | Wed 16th October 2013 - 10:25 pm

“If someone as well as their home has substantial other assets, money in the bank, shares or whatever, should they be expected to use those assets to pay for care? Or should we say, we will always defer the costs of selling their home? If you’ve got a vast amount of money in the bank, you’re quite wealthy, it’s desirable that we protect that money but the scheme has to be affordable. If together with owning your own home, you have more than £23,000-odd in the bank, the question is should you be expected to use that money. You are

…

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Stephen Tall

The Labour party ‘Plebgate’ website they no longer want you to see

By Stephen Tall | Wed 16th October 2013 - 10:00 pm

Here’s the key question Labour was asking a few months ago: Who do you trust? The Police or Andrew Mitchell?

labour plebgate pic

According to an official police report, Conservative Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell said to a police officer:

“Best you learn your f***ing place … you don’t run this f***ing government … you’re f***ing plebs.”

Andrew Mitchell is denying it. But he won’t admit what he said. And David Cameron is choosing to believe the word of a Tory MP over the word of a hard-working police officer.

But, strangely, when you visit

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Sam Phripp

As David Heath stands down, local councillor Sam Phripp pays a personal tribute

By Sam Phripp | Tue 15th October 2013 - 2:10 pm

On Friday night at a constituency meeting, David Heath, my MP, my boss and my friend told Liberal Democrats that he won’t be seeking re-election in 2015. I couldn’t honestly write down all the things that I was feeling then – sometimes we’re feeling too many things at the same time.

I wanted to write now and talk about the man that I know, and how him standing down will be a great personal loss so many people in Somerton and Frome.

To me, David Heath isn’t a politician, he’s the chap who knew instinctively to ask about my A-Level results …

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David Laws

David Laws writes: Reforming Labour’s league tables will end the race to the middle

By David Laws | Tue 15th October 2013 - 11:37 am

schoolsignThe Conservative Chair of the Education Select Committee today praised an “educational breakthrough”.

At the same time, his Labour predecessor welcomed what he said was the best announcement the coalition has made since coming to power in 2010.

It’s not often our political opponents come together to support a Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment, but that’s exactly what happened in the House of Commons yesterday.  Indeed, people across and outside the political spectrum have welcomed our radical shake up of school league tables, that will finally set teachers free to focus on every child rather than the few in the middle.

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Only the Liberal Democrats are, unambiguously, the party of ‘In’.”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 13th October 2013 - 3:00 pm

This week the Lib Dems got #WhyIamIn trending on Twitter to launch the party’s campaign to show the positive benefits of British membership of the European Union. Nick Clegg takes up the cause in his weekly letter, making the point you’ll hear a lot between now and next May’s Euro elections: “Only the Liberal Democrats are, unambiguously, the party of ‘In’.” As I pointed out this week, it’s not just a cause the vast majority of the party passionately believes in — it’s also smart electoral politics. Here’s Nick’s letter in full…

libdem letter from nick clegg

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David Babbs

38 Degrees on the Lobbying Bill: Let’s hope the House of Lords sorts it out

By David Babbs | Sun 13th October 2013 - 11:15 am

30 Degrees Gagging LawIt was heartening to see an increased number of Liberal Democrat MPs vote against the Lobbying Bill, or ‘gagging law’, this Wednesday. But the majority of Lib Dem MPs voted loyally in support of the government. Overall, this week parliament did nothing to dispel the perception that the gagging law is being actively driven by Lib Dems.

Why is this? Most Lib Dems tend to assume it’s a Conservative bill driven by Andrew Lansley. Amongst those closer to the party leadership, the tone is more bullish and the attitude towards the bill’s critics is actively hostile. Those that fall between the two camps say that the bill is well-intentioned but has unintended consequences which need fixing.

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Alice Sachrajda

Closed for business? The UK needs more foreign students

By Alice Sachrajda | Sat 12th October 2013 - 9:03 am

Heathrow Immigration QueuesConflating international students’ use of the health service with so-called ‘health tourism’ sends out the wrong message to prospective students.

The government’s new Immigration Bill, according to immigration minister Mark Harper will:

Stop migrants using public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the pull factors which encourage people to come to the UK and make it easier to remove people who should not be here.

The measures focus on enforcement and clamping down. They include a requirement for temporary migrants, such as overseas students, to make a contribution to the National Health Service to prevent so-called “health tourism”.

International students make up around half of all migrants coming to the UK. According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, they contributed £13.1 billion to the national economy in 2011.

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Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

++ David Heath announces he will stand down as an MP in 2015

By Stephen Tall | Fri 11th October 2013 - 8:25 pm

Lib Dem MP for Somerton and Frome David Heath, who earlier this week lost his rural affairs ministerial job, will stand down at the next election:

 

Elected in 1997 by just 130 votes, David has been re-elected a further three times with increasing majorities – by 2010 it had grown to 1,817. However, there’s no doubt that his decision to retire will make the scrap to hold this seat against the Conservatives even tighter in 2015.

Update: Saturday AM

The Frome Standard reports David telling a constituency meeting last night:

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Has Eric Pickles destroyed the government’s role in communities?

By Andy Boddington | Fri 11th October 2013 - 12:03 pm

Pickles Hot AirEric is clearly bored out of his mind. He’s been raging around about parking, yellow lines, even about bin collections in Wales – but then he likes to bash the Welsh. In my mind, he is truly the minister of hot air and no substance.

In recent months he has taken meddling in applications for really rather small gypsy and traveller sites. Now he has somewhat imperiously declared that he will call in planning appeals for small renewable energy projects for his own decision (£). When he first came to office, Pickles said he would only use this right occasionally. Now, it seems, such call ins are becoming his hobby.

I can only guess Pickles is doing this because he is bored. He claims he is doing so because he wants:

To give particular scrutiny to planning appeals involving renewable energy developments so that I can consider the extent to which the new practice guidance is meeting the government’s intentions.

Nonsense.

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Stephen Tall

The 17th Tory policy Lib Dems have blocked: Clegg rejects Theresa May’s plans to impose new immigration regulations on private landlords

By Stephen Tall | Fri 11th October 2013 - 9:55 am

Perhaps the silliest proposal in a generally thread-bare Queen’s Speech in May was the Conservatives’ plan to ‘look busy’ on immigration.

Yes, the party that claims to want to cut back red-tape for small businesses decided to try and tie-up private landlords in it by imposing a legal duty on them check the immigration status of new tenants and lodgers. It’s an, erm, interesting approach to regulation, I guess: out-sourcing it to people who’ll have no way of validating the information they’re given.

However, the Tories’ grand plans have been scuppered thanks to the Lib Dems, as The Guardian …

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Danny Alexander MP

Danny Alexander writes… A good home should not be a luxury for the few, but an achievable aspiration for the many

By Danny Alexander MP | Wed 9th October 2013 - 4:30 pm

Across the UK tens of thousands of aspiring homeowners find themselves in the same situation. They have steady jobs, reasonable incomes, but for them the dream of owning their own home is currently just that-a dream. It’s made even worse by the fact that they can afford the mortgage repayments on a new home.

The one thing holding them back is the cost of a big deposit. And without parents wealthy enough to give them a helping hand these aspiring homeowners will continue to be excluded from the property ladder. I don’t think our housing market should be shut off …

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Giles Goodall

Opinion: 50 reasons #whyIamIN

By Giles Goodall | Tue 8th October 2013 - 9:13 pm

nick clegg euNick Clegg’s passionate call this morning for everyone who cares about Britain’s future in Europe to speak out will have been music to Lib Dem ears – and those of many more beyond. As Nick said, the antis have had it their way for far too long. Their arguments do not stand up to scrutiny and the pro-European case is just waiting to be made.

As #whyIamIN started to trend on Twitter this morning, I started to think about just why we are better off in …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 44 Comments
Mary Reid

Lib Dem victory on e-cigs

By Mary Reid | Tue 8th October 2013 - 5:13 pm

European Union flagIn the European Parliament earlier today, MEPs backed a Liberal Democrat amendment which will ensure that electronic cigarettes are available for sale on the same basis as tobacco.

The original proposal from the Commission was that e-cigs should be treated as medicines, which would have restricted sales. But the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe  (the Group to which our Liberal Democrat team belongs) argued that they had a major role to play in reducing tobacco-related deaths. The amendment did require e-cigs to meet safety standards and for …

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Mary Reid

LibLink: Miriam González Durántez – Why I’m calling on brilliant British women to go back to school

By Mary Reid | Tue 8th October 2013 - 3:45 pm

González_DurántezMiriam González Durántez has written for The Telegraph about how to provide good role models for girls.

She writes:

The UK, and Europe in general, is without any doubt one of the best places in the world to be a woman, if not the best. We can vote, we can work, we can travel, we have access to education, we can own and inherit property, we can speak freely, we are the masters of our own emotional lives. It is often easy to take all this for granted.

And yet while men are able to toy with unlimited options, we still face a series of stark choices. If we do not have children, people assume we are “frustrated”. If we stay at home taking care of our children, it is said we are “not working”. If we have a job, we are portrayed as just “part-time mums”, and sometimes even as bad parents. If we succeed in our professional lives, we’re branded “scary”; if we follow fashion, we’re “shallow”; if we like science, we’re “geeks”; if we read women’s magazines, we’re “fluffy”; and if we defend our rights, we’re “hard”.

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Stephen Tall

Today’s Lib Dem reshuffle: 4 thoughts from me on what it means

By Stephen Tall | Mon 7th October 2013 - 6:17 pm

Four quick thoughts from me on what today’s Lib Dem reshuffle means..

1. Nick feels secure enough to be ruthless.

Sacking both Michael Moore and Jeremy Browne is not something Nick would have been able to contemplate a year ago. Then – with the economy still mired in recession, his apology video still fresh in the memory, and Vince reminding everyone he stood ready, willing and able should the need arise – Nick was vulnerable, in need of allies. Now – with the economy recovering, Eastleigh defended and all key conference votes won – Nick feels able to asset himself.

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The Voice

A reply to Matt on welfare by Lib Dem ministers Norman Lamb and Steve Webb: “We believe in standing up for the vulnerable”

By The Voice | Sun 6th October 2013 - 8:30 am

This week, Lib Dem Voice published a deeply personal account by one of our readers, Matt: I need the Liberal Democrats to stand up for me when Conservative ministers denigrate me. It was read by many in the party, including two Lib Dem ministers in the Coalition — Norman Lamb MP (Department of Health) and Steve Webb MP (Department for Work and Pensions) — who have co-authored the following response.

lamb and webb

When we read the article posted on Lib Dem Voice on Wednesday by Matt, setting out very personally the distressing and painful experiences he has faced over the past few years in trying to access the welfare and health support he needs, we felt it was important that we respond properly to what he had said.

As Liberal Democrats, we instinctively understand that divisive rhetoric is both unhelpful and inaccurate, and for both of these reasons we should all remain constantly vigilant in challenging those who use this type of language to denigrate any member of our society. We believe in standing up for the vulnerable and providing support to those who are facing personal difficulties in their lives.

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Stephen Tall

The poll findings which should encourage (some) Lib Dems and worry Labour

By Stephen Tall | Sat 5th October 2013 - 8:45 am

I highlighted during Lib Dem conference season an interesting finding from Lord Ashcroft’s latest polling of marginal seats:

Lord Ashcroft – the former deputy Tory chairman and the man who spends more on polling than all the political parties combined – released his latest findings this week. 13,000 voters in the 40 Conservative seats with the smallest majorities were surveyed, including eight where the Liberal Democrats came second in 2010: Watford, St Albans, Oxford West & Abingdon, Harrogate & Knaresborough, Camborne & Redruth, Truro & Falmouth, Newton Abbot and Montgomeryshire.

Remember: these are seats which are potential Lib Dem gains in

…

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The Voice

++ Lib Dem membership UP for first quarter in a decade outside elections

By The Voice | Fri 4th October 2013 - 3:55 pm

That’s the news just in from the party’s HQ:

Congratulations to all involved, especially those local parties who’ve successfully retained and/or recruited members. Full speed ahead to elections in 2014 and 2015!

PS: anyone know how the Tories’ membership figures are looking? Ah yes.

Posted in News | Also tagged | 35 Comments
Caron Lindsay

A few thoughts after Matt’s brave post – we have to make the system more realistic, fair and compassionate

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 4th October 2013 - 2:58 pm

It’s impossible to read Matt’s brave post on his battles not just with his own severe illnesses, but with the welfare system without feeling deeply moved. I felt upset and angry at the many failures of the state to give him the care and support he needs. I’m not just talking about medical care. It’s about having to fight for the benefits which put food on the table and keep a roof over his head. A liberal society takes care of those who are too ill to make their own living. There can never be a compromise on this. …

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John Thurso

John Thurso MP: Lobbying Bill to be amended to protect charities and lobby groups

By John Thurso | Fri 4th October 2013 - 2:02 pm

Big Ben Orange Blue 200Government’s “Transparency” Bill seeks to ensure that those who are not standing in an election, but nonetheless wish to spend money influencing the outcome, are also subject to tight limits within constituencies and have to be transparent about the source of their money. It builds on existing law passed by Labour, and reduces present spending limits.

However, the Bill has caused an unexpected row, with charities and lobbying groups claiming that restrictions on election expenditure could be a “gag” on their right of free speech. That is not the experience of candidates. Nonetheless, I wanted to make absolutely sure the Bill was about changing what people could spend, rather than restricting in any way what they could say. I tabled probing amendments at the Committee Stage of the Bill, and for the first time in my parliamentary career, a Minister accepted my argument from the Despatch Box and promised to do roughly what I had asked!

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Recent Comments

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    A very similar argument to that set forth by Phillip Inman in the Guardian the other day. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/13/labour-introduce-w...
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