Tag Archives: featured

Nick Clegg signals changes to Lobbying Bill to address charity concerns

By Andy Boddington | Fri 6th September 2013 - 3:40 pm

The Guardian and the Independent today report that the government will backtrack over parts of the Transparency of Lobbying, non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill.

The coalition has maintained that the bill does not impose undue burdens and restrictions on charities during election periods. A wide range of charities and Unlock Democracy have taken the opposite view. In a report yesterday, the cross-party Political and Constitutional Reform Committee also raised a number of worries and has advised the government to rewrite the bill:

Our main recommendation is that the Government should withdraw the Bill following its Second Reading, and support a motion in the House to set up a special Committee to carry out pre-legislative scrutiny, using the text of the existing Bill as a draft.

Posted in News | Also tagged lobbying bill and nick clegg | 11 Comments

Julian Huppert: Trident – getting off the nuclear ladder

By Julian Huppert | Fri 6th September 2013 - 3:03 pm

I firmly believe that we do not want Trident. We simply don’t need the ability to blow up large parts of the globe. Frankly, the idea that we have spent decades with nuclear armed missiles cruising the oceans ready to fire on a moment’s notice seems absurd to me. I look forward to a world where we do not have such weapons, and where no one else does either.

Even those who believe that the MAD theory worked during the Cold War surely must accept that the world has changed – I am always amazed by those who still live in the 60s.

The Tories are still wedded to that position – they seem to display some bizarrely Freudian attachment to having missiles which can explode violently.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged conference 2013 and nuclear disarmament | 40 Comments

LibLink…Tim Farron: From Whitehall to the Town Hall, why we must say Yes to Homes

By NewsHound | Wed 4th September 2013 - 10:52 am

This week the National Housing Federation is running a Yes to Homes week to encourage councillors to allow more homes to be built within their areas. From their website:

Just a small handful of people can block the new homes that are a lifeline for many. When they are the only people putting pressure on local politicians their views are heard loud and clear.

All too often the people who actually need homes are missing from local debates. That’s why we have launched the Yes to Homes campaign. We want to make sure people who do support more housing are included

…

Posted in LibLink and Op-eds | Also tagged housing, national housing federation, tim farron and yes to homes week | 25 Comments

No, Alex Salmond, the case against independence is not the case “against Scotland”

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 4th September 2013 - 9:08 am

By 10:30 pm last night, I thought the most shocking thing I was going to hear that evening was that the Blessed Mary Berry uses tinned, yes, that’s tinned, peaches and pears in her trifle recipe.

Sadly this was not to be the case. Yesterday was Scotland’s the equivalent of the Queen’s Speech, when the Government unveils its legislative programme, except we get Alex Salmond instead of the Queen. To mark the occasion, he was interviewed for Scotland Tonight.

More of the interview than necessary was taken up with a discussion on which pro UK politician he would debate against in the …

Posted in News | Also tagged alex salmond, Michael Moore, nick clegg, Scotland, Scottish independence referendum and willie rennie | 24 Comments

No chemicals sent to Syria from the UK

By Mary Reid | Tue 3rd September 2013 - 12:22 pm

According to the Independent, Vince Cable is under pressure over some export licenses that were issued by his department in January 2012.

The licenses were for potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride. both of which can be used to manufacture sarin gas, which we now know was used in the chemical attacks in Syria. But further down the article we can read that:

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills insisted that although the licences were granted to an unnamed UK chemical company in January 2012, the substances were not sent to Syria before the permits were eventually revoked last July in response to tightened European Union sanctions.

Posted in News | Also tagged chemical weapons, syria and vince cable | 13 Comments

AD LIB Preview: The one with the kilt

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 31st August 2013 - 11:28 am

The September issue of AD LIB magazine hits subscribers’ doorsteps this weekend. And it’s wearing a very fetching kilt as Glasgow prepares to welcome the Liberal Democrats for Federal Conference. It even has Gaelic on the front cover. And a saltire, which is bound to annoy our nationalist friends, but, hey, they don’t own it.

There’s an article by someone you might recognise which mentions the Krankies and drinking cocktails out of a gramophone. I have to say that much of the cool stuff in that “Welcome to Glasgow” …

Posted in News | Also tagged AD LIB, dick newby, dick taverne, helen duffett, jim wallace, linda jack and Michael Moore | 6 Comments

Baroness Falkner on Syria and intervening abroad

By Kishwer Falkner | Fri 30th August 2013 - 1:03 pm

I join Paddy Ashdown in feeling depressed about my country today.

In my near thirty years as a Liberal Democrat I have heard two tropes consistently from campaigners: that policy is irrelevant and that foreign policy is particularly irrelevant. Yet it is foreign policy above all that shapes our party’s fortunes.

Take the SDP split over Europe – that got me into the party in ’85. Then came our opposition to the UK’s ban in letting in Hong Kong residents before the handover to China – several of my friends joined too, and it put Paddy Ashdown on the map. In the 90’s it was Bosnia and subsequently Kosovo that made us carry a uniquely and sometimes lonely flag for freedom and humanitarian intervention – last night the same isolationist Foreign Secretary of that period was arguing against doing anything in Syria – some things don’t change! We subsequently made the right call on Iraq, and will shortly see the trial of Seif Gaddafy in Libya – who threatened to stamp out Libyan dissenters as cockroaches. Despite current troubles, on balance I am proud that we averted that.

Posted in Op-eds and Parliament | Also tagged syria | 41 Comments

Syria debate: how Lib Dem MPs voted

By Andy Boddington | Fri 30th August 2013 - 9:24 am

Last night, thirty-three Lib Dems voted for the government’s motion; 9 voted against; one abstained and 14 did not vote.

Alexander, Danny: For
Baker, Norman: For
Beith, Sir Alan: For
Birtwistle, Gordon: Against
Brake, Tom: For
Brooke, Annette: Did not vote

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged syria | 39 Comments

Lib Dem members’ poll results on Syria Military intervention: 25% say No, 7% say Yes. 62% say Yes BUT…

By Stephen Tall | Thu 29th August 2013 - 1:20 pm

Lib Dem Voice yesterday polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of the situation in Syria. Some 580 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results today. The survey remains open and we’ll update these results in the next day or so if they change.

Lib Dem members: opposed to Iraq and Afghanistan wars; supportive of Libyan and Kosovo interventions

First, we asked about views of UK involvement in recent conflicts abroad. There was a big span of views. Unsurprisingly, given the Lib Dems were the only party to vote against military action against Iraq …

Posted in Europe / International, LDV Members poll and News | Also tagged syria | 33 Comments

Clegg: Five reasons why this is not Iraq

By The Voice | Wed 28th August 2013 - 8:44 pm

Nick Clegg has just sent the following email to Liberal Democrat party members:

Dear member,

Tomorrow Parliament will consider international action in Syria.

I have been adamant from the outset: any case for international action must be taken to the UN in an effort to achieve as great an international consensus as possible. And I have made certain this is taking place.

We must wait until we hear from the weapons inspectors.

Ahead of tomorrow’s debate, you can read the full wording of the motion we’ll be laying before Parliament here.

For the past week I have been in regular discussions with the Prime Minister, …

Posted in News | Also tagged iraq, nick clegg and syria | 56 Comments

Syria: what do Liberal Democrats want?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 28th August 2013 - 9:57 am

Last night we brought you Nick Clegg’s view on Syria, which can be summarised as follows:

if we stand idly by we set a very dangerous precedent
the use of chemical weapons is a repugnant crime
we will not stand idly by when chemical weapons are used in complete breach of international law
Government “is not going to act outside the remit of international law”
we want to stand up for the standards and norms in the civilised world

In the last couple of days Paddy Ashdown and Sir Menzies Campbell, two of the most respected voices this country has on foreign affairs, have been …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged nick clegg, paddy ashdown, sir menzies campbell and syria | 46 Comments

Book review: Liberal Democrats do God

By Andrew Emmerson | Tue 27th August 2013 - 5:02 pm

Mainstream Christianity often does battle with mainstream liberal values, be that over women in the church, LGBT rights or contraception and abortion. So when I learned that there was a Liberal Democrat Christian Forum and they’d embarked on a new publication entitled “Liberal Democrats do God” my interest was piqued.

At £6.67 on Amazon, I was somewhat surprised when it arrived at its rather lightweight look and feel. At just 70-80 pages, this is no War and Peace.

My first impression of the book upon opening was the number of high profile writers from Tim Farron, Duncan Hames, to Baroness Brinton and Sir Alan Beith … an undoubted breadth and range of Lib Dem opinion and experience.

The books is split into two sections, the first “Why should we do God?” covers essays by John Pugh MP, Tm Farron MP, Greg Mulholland MP and Sir Andrew Stunnell MP. All seek to explain why they hold their respective faiths and how they interlink with liberalism.

Posted in Books | Also tagged liberal democrat christian forum and liberal democrats do god | 45 Comments

Party Reform: The Interim Peers List, is it fit for purpose?

By Sue Doughty | Tue 27th August 2013 - 11:52 am

Tim Farron, our Party President has long championed concerns about how democratic the Lib Dems really are and how can we do better. Federal Executive has now set up the Democratic Reform Group which I chair. Our first task has been to take a hard look at the Interim Peers List and we have published a consultation paper on this together with organising a meeting at Glasgow to consult members about improvements to the process. The Interim Peers list is an group of people elected by Conference Representatives from which the Party Leader can make nominations to the House of Lords.

Posted in News | Also tagged autumn conference 2013, house of lords and interim peers list | 14 Comments

Tom Brake on 38 Degrees and the Transparency and Lobbying Bill

By Tom Brake | Sat 24th August 2013 - 9:03 am

I’m sure some Liberal Democrat members and readers of Liberal Democrat Voice will have recently received a rather alarmist email from 38 Degrees claiming that the Government, through the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, is attempting to stop charities and campaign groups criticising government policy.

I would like to reassure Liberal Democrat Voice readers that 38 Degrees have rather regrettably misrepresented and exaggerated the effect and intent of the bill. We are doing nothing of the sort.

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged lobbying bill | 84 Comments

Opinion: Does the central and local government relationship need rewiring?

By Gerald Vernon-Jackson | Fri 23rd August 2013 - 9:03 am

The relationship between central and local government in the UK has always been strained. The UK is one of the most centralised democracies in Europe, and as we have no written constitution local government has no automatic right to exist or do anything. Everything is dependent on the decisions of ministers.

The new Government in 2010 did good things in reversing some of the things the last right-wing, authoritarian and centralising government had done. The huge inspection and reporting regime was abolished. Ring fencing of budgets was mainly done away with. The Localism Act was brought in that gave local government the power of local competence.

Posted in Local government, News and Op-eds | Also tagged Local government | 6 Comments

I’m a liberal and I’m sticking up for Nick Clegg over David Miranda and The Guardian

By Stephen Tall | Fri 23rd August 2013 - 12:30 am

Civil liberties. It’s the issue that unites Lib Dems like no other. While you’ll find a range of views within the party on big issues that matter more to the voters — such as the economy or the NHS or even tuition fees — personal freedom, the right to live your life as you choose, is at the heart of liberalism. Nick Clegg made his name within the Lib Dems as shadow home affairs spokesman by proposing measures like the Freedom Bill and threatening to go to prison rather than carry an ID card.

Yet civil liberties is also the …

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged david anderson qc, david miranda, edward snowden, glenn greenwald, jeremy browne, jeremy huppert, nick clegg and tim farron | 46 Comments

Why we should consider the detention of David Miranda and destruction of the Guardian’s data as distinct issues

By Nick T | Wed 21st August 2013 - 7:28 pm

The conflation of the detention of David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, and the story of the Guardian having destroyed the computers on which a version of the data released by Edward Snowden was stored was perhaps inevitable, and has certainly been encouraged by the Guardian. But we should avoid considering the issues as a single whole, for there are separate arguments at play in each in relation to the actions of the state and others, particularly when it comes to the actions of Liberal Democrats in government.

I have relatively few concerns about the state’s actions regarding …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david miranda and the guardian | 41 Comments

Some more information on the reasoning behind Nick Clegg’s approval of the destruction of the Guardian’s information

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st August 2013 - 6:16 pm

I think it’s been quite clear, both in the comments to our earlier post giving Nick’s views on the Miranda/Guardian case that people were still unhappy and many felt, including me, that they didn’t really understand why he decided to approve the request to the Guardian to destroy the data that they held. Elsewhere in the Liberal Democrat blogosphere, people like Neil Monnery and Andrew Brown have expressed their concern about Nick’s actions.

This has not gone unnoticed by the party’s spokespeople. They’ve noticed that people have been wondering why they had a quiet word with the Guardian rather than …

Posted in News | Also tagged civil liberties, david miranda and guardian | 34 Comments

Opinion: A Liberal approach to Higher Education

By Sam Phripp | Tue 20th August 2013 - 1:21 pm

When people ask me why I’m a Liberal Democrat, I simplify it slightly. Yes, it’s because I have a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament and I think he’s pretty great, but it’s also because I quite like freedom, and I think it should be applied more liberally (see what I did there?).

I always describe Liberalism as being obsessed with freedom. It’s a very simple way of encompassing so many of the campaigns and issues we care so passionately about. We raised the tax threshold, because people on low incomes deserve freedom from a punitive tax burden. We legalised same-sex marriage because people deserve the freedom to marry whoever they see fit. The changes to benefits – controversial thought they are – are about ensuring that people aren’t beholden to the state without good reason.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged higher education and universities | 15 Comments

Opinion: Paxman, politics and pogonophobia

By Andy Boddington | Wed 14th August 2013 - 3:32 pm

Oh what a fuss about a beard!

The media has gone mad over Jeremy Paxman’s beard, egged on a ‘Twitter storm’ last night. Even the BBC has got in on the act, declaring its presenter’s beard to be ‘notorious’.

What is it about beards that generate such interest, dislike, even fear? (This fear, the media tell us with glee, is properly called pogonophobia.)

Distrust of beards is nothing new. I grew mine the moment I escaped from sixth form. As an archaeologist, being hirsute was pretty much obligatory for men in those days. But when I led a dig for a county council, the head of personnel laughed out loud at the ‘odd habit’ of us diggers growing facial hair.

Posted in Humour and Op-eds | Also tagged beards, jeremy paxman and nick clegg | 15 Comments

Daily Mail accuses “grasping politicians of pocketing spinster’s £500,000 legacy”. Let’s have some facts first, please.

By Stephen Tall | Wed 14th August 2013 - 8:00 am

This morning’s Mail Online has a shocking headline: Grasping politicians pocket spinster’s £500,000 legacy she bequeathed to government to spend ‘as they may think fit’. The newspaper’s front page also splashes on the story (right).

This follows the story we reported here yesterday of Miss Joan Edwards, who had apparently bequeathed £520k to the two Coalition partners as the current governing parties. This was divided 80:20 between them, with the Lib Dems getting almost £100k.

The Mail disputes that interpretation, asserting instead that she intended to leave the money as a bequest to the nation. They say the will’s wording was not (as claimed in newspaper reports yesterday) for the money to be passed “to whoever was the party of government of the day” but that it should be passed to “whichever Government is in office at the date of my death”. On that basis, the paper accuses the Conservatives and Lib Dems of deception bordering on fraud.

My Twitter timeline today suggests two things. First, everyone believes the Daily Mail when it suits them. Secondly, that there are a surprising number of people who think they’re experts on legacy bequests.

Posted in News | Also tagged daily mail, donations (Lib Dem) and joan l.b. edwards | 48 Comments

Reminder: 10 days to get your nominations in for the Liberal Democrat Voice Awards

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 13th August 2013 - 7:55 pm

Last week, I introduced this year’s Liberal Democrat Voice Awards and invited you to submit your nominations by Friday 23rd August.

This is just a reminder to you. We’ve already had a fair few nominations, but there’s plenty room for more, so send your suggestions to [email protected] as soon as you can. Please also feel free to publicise the awards on your own blog or via social media. In the olden days, before I was a member of the team, I used to do posts about the bloggers I’d be nominating.

This year’s awards are as follows:

Liberal Democrat Blog of the

…

Posted in Best of the blogs, Conference and News | Also tagged autumn conference 2013 and Liberal Democrat Voice Awards 2013 | Leave a comment

Duwayne Brooks selected as candidate for Mayor of Lewisham

By Mary Reid | Tue 13th August 2013 - 9:06 am

Congratulations to Cllr Duwayne Brooks who has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Mayor of Lewisham. He will be challenging Sir Steve Bullock who has held the post for 11 years. The election will take place in May 2014.

Last year Mark Pack identified him on Lib Dem Voice as a Local Liberal hero. He charted Duwayne’s political career so far, which includes being nominated as one of Brian Paddick’s Deputy Mayors in the London Mayoral contest in 2012.

Duwayne has posted an open letter to the …

Posted in News | Also tagged duwayne brooks and lewisham | 14 Comments

EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members think of the Coalition as it enters its 4th full year

By Stephen Tall | Mon 12th August 2013 - 8:15 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. More than 600 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

(All comparisons are with our most recent survey conducted in March 2013.)

61% of Lib Dems say party on “right course”

Do you think, as a whole, the Liberal Democrats are on the right course or on the wrong track?

61% (+3%)

31% (-2%) The wrong track

8% (-1%) – Don’t know /

…

Posted in LDV Members poll | 21 Comments

All-women shortlists to select Lib Dem candidates? 66% of party members say no.

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th August 2013 - 3:45 pm

Party members oppose all-women shortlists by 66% to 26%

Events this year have once again shone an unflattering light on the party’s lack of female representation in the House of Commons. Though, as Mark Tompson has previously highlighted here on LDV, this is in part at any rate down to first-past-the-post skewing Lib Dem election results. All-women shortlists is …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged all-women shortlists | 65 Comments

Lessons of Coalition (12): what do the Lib Dems need to learn from the first 3 years?

By The Voice | Sat 10th August 2013 - 8:45 am

LibDemVoice is running a daily feature, ‘Lessons of Coalition’, to assess the major do’s and don’ts learned from our experience of the first 3 years in government. Reader contributions are welcome, either as comments or posts. The word limit is no more than 450 words, and please focus on just one lesson you think the party needs to learn. Simply email your submission to [email protected]. Today Patrick Murray shares his thoughts.

Make sure our policies are reflected in our manifesto

One of the great challenges facing our society is the housing …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged housing, lessons of coalition and patrick murray | 14 Comments

Opinion: How can we advance nuclear disarmament?

By David Grace | Fri 9th August 2013 - 10:03 am

To many the answer to this question is simple: de-commission Trident and don’t replace it. But this only leads to the next question – how do we get a British government to do this ? It is a common mistake, and one that I have made too, to believe that passing a motion at our conference changes the world.

Of course, all we need to do then is win an election on the basis of policies agreed at conference and form a government. Our brief current experience in government tells us that it may be a little more difficult.

The recent Trident Alternatives Review (TAR) and leaked versions of the party’s Defence Report to conference have become muddled and people are taking positions either before or without reading either document. Certainly the speeches of Labour and Tory front and backbenchers in the Commons debate on TAR on 17th July revealed a depressing combination of wilful ignorance and prejudice. Both sides fell over each other to praise the need for a full Cold War system of nuclear deterrence and to denounce the Liberal Democrats for challenging it.

A couple of facts may bring some light instead of heat. Firstly, all options including moving straight to no nukes would save nothing in the next parliament. Even decommissioning is expensive in the short run. As it is we still have old Polaris submarines awaiting safe removal of nuclear material. No option has a significant impact on the country’s current financial problems.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged conference 2013, defence and trident | 16 Comments

Opinion: Shale Gas exploration – Why a cautious approach is the right one.

By Stephen Gilbert MP | Fri 9th August 2013 - 9:10 am

Many Liberal Democrats will, like me, have read with wry amusement the reaction of the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph and some Tory MPs to the local opposition to Cuadrilla drilling in Balcombe in Sussex and the potential of fracking in their area given their previous hysterical support for fracking and shale gas.

Clearly there are a number of groups who are taking the opportunity to mount a vigorous campaign against fracking with, for example, the publication of a map of a “licence to frack” raising fears of fracking taking place across the country. In fact the so called …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged energy, fracking and shale gas | 15 Comments

Tougher penalties for owners of dangerous dogs

By NewsHound | Tue 6th August 2013 - 4:36 pm

Under current legislation dog owners can only be prosecuted if their dogs attack people in public spaces. Recent cases of dogs causing serious injury in the home, where the owners cannot be prosecuted, have prompted the Government to look again at the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act. Earlier in the year the Government undertook to change the law so that owners would be held responsible for an attack by their dogs wherever the attack took place.