Tag Archives: featured

Christmas confessions from the Lib Dem Voice team

By The Voice | Mon 24th December 2012 - 4:53 pm

As the Christmas sherry loosens us all up a bit, here are some confessions from the Liberal Democrat Voice team.

To turn it into a bit of a quiz, no names appear against each confession. So you’ll have to guess who the confessor is in each instance. By all means use the comments field below to have a stab at the identity of the owner of each revelation.

To make it a bit more interesting, there is an unspecified number of

Posted in Humour | Also tagged liberal democrat voice | 10 Comments

A Christmas Carol, as sketched by Bodz. All 5 Staves Omnibus.

By The Voice | Mon 24th December 2012 - 8:45 am

Over the past five days, LibDemVoice has been delighted to bring you a contemporary updating of Charles Dickens’ classic story, A Christmas Carol, penned for us by Andy Boddington.

If you missed any, or simply want to sit back in a comfy chair with a glass of mulled wine and enjoy the whole saga again from start to finish, here are all five staves of the story as sketched by Bodz. God bless them, every one…

Stave One: Mensch’s Ghost;

Stave Two: The Ghost of …

Posted in Humour | Leave a comment

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Lib Dems are on the side of reasonable welfare reform, not indiscriminate welfare cuts”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 23rd December 2012 - 10:45 am

Nick Clegg’s latest letter has hit my inbox, this week reflecting on his five years as party leader — and in particular how he believes the Lib Dems are “anchoring this government in the centre ground”. The example he uses is one that is likely to dominate politics in 2013: welfare reform. As Nick points out, the Tories had wanted swingeing cuts: it was the Lib Dems who at least ensured parity between public sector pay and benefits payments, both receiving a below-inflation 1% cash rise.

And if I had a Christmas wish, by the way, it would be this …

Posted in News | Also tagged letter from the leader, nick clegg and welfare reform | 234 Comments

Jo Shaw: Secret Courts update – please support our new motion to the Lib Dems’ Spring Conference

By Jo Shaw | Sun 23rd December 2012 - 8:35 am

The Justice and Security Bill, which introduces secret courts into almost all civil cases, was rushed into its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday this week.

The Minister in charge of secret courts in the Commons, Ken Clarke, made an opening statement in the debate which made it clear that the Coalition Government does not accept the amendments proposed by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, some of which were passed by the Lords. It is still …

Posted in News | Also tagged 2013 brighton spring conference, justice and security bill, ken clarke, nick clegg and secret courts | 18 Comments

Your essential weekend reader — 12 must-read articles you may have missed

By Stephen Tall | Sat 22nd December 2012 - 5:45 pm

It’s Saturday evening, so here are twelve thought-provoking articles to stimulate your thinking juices culled from the 50+ I’ve linked to this last week. You can follow me on Delicious here.

Kings, queens and the political chess match – Sue Cameron ponders what the invitation to HM The Queen to attend cabinet this week could portend: ‘Charles III might point to that precedent and say he would like to follow it. Moreover, he would like to attend more regularly and speak at it …

Posted in News | Also tagged bryony gordon, carl bernstein, jeffrey toobin, michael crick, nate silver, rafael behr, roy greenslade, ruchir sharma, samuel brittan, stephen tall, sue cameron, tim black, timothy garton-ash and weekend reader | 2 Comments

Tavish Scott: Christmas would be cancelled if Santa had to pay these delivery charges

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 22nd December 2012 - 1:42 pm

In recent years I have resorted to doing virtually all of my Christmas shopping online. I’ve never been a fan of trudging round the shops at the best of times, and the festive crowds bring out the worst in me.

It’s lucky that I live in the central belt of Scotland. If I were to live up north in the rural highlands or the northern or western isles, I’d be looking at ridiculous surcharges for delivery.

Shetland MSP Tavish Scott is fed up with this state of affairs and has put retailers and

Posted in News | Also tagged delivery charges, highlands and islands, Scotland and tavish scott | 7 Comments

A Christmas Carol. Stave Four: The Ghost of Austerity Future

By Andy Boddington | Sat 22nd December 2012 - 8:55 am

LibDemVoice is delighted to bring you A Christmas Carol, a contemporary re-imagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, told in five staves (as Dickens called them). The fourth stave, The Ghost of Austerity Future, follows. You can catch up with Stave One, Mensch’s Ghost, here; and Stave Two, The Ghost of Avarice Past, here; and Stave Three, The Ghost of Arrogance Present, here.

As sketched by Bodz

Osborne stared at the umbrella and blinked. All around him the Olympic stadium was burning and crashing to the ground …

Posted in Humour and Op-eds | 2 Comments

Do US politicians have a mandate for big changes to gun control laws?

By Nick T | Thu 20th December 2012 - 10:56 am

This article, by the Economist’s Lexington correspondent, David Rennie, is one of the best I’ve read on the inevitable debate on gun control following the appalling shooting in Connecticut last week. His argument is essentially that the only change that might actually have an effect is stopping most people having guns, with the rest only allowed under a tough licensing regime.

But since I read the piece a couple of days ago, it is this penultimate paragraph that has had me thinking:

Posted in Op-eds | 15 Comments

Nick Clegg beats James Bond and the Queen

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th December 2012 - 6:31 pm

The BBC reports that You Tube has published its top trending videos of 2012 in the UK. That Gangnam Style came top is not really a surprise, I suppose. What caught my eye, though, is that the Poke’s auto-tuned video of Nick Clegg’s apology over tuition fees beat that iconic moment from the Olympic Opening Ceremony with Daniel Craig and the Queen.

The Clegg video has been seen by over 2 million people. Here it is again in case you missed it…

Posted in News | Also tagged apology, nick clegg, tuition fees and you tube | 3 Comments

Did you know the Lib Dems have lost half a million voters to Ukip? Here’s what I think it means.

By Stephen Tall | Tue 18th December 2012 - 4:55 pm

Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft — who, as ConservativeHome’s Tim Montgomerie has noted before, spends more on polling than all three parties combined — has today published the latest survey looking at the timely issue of the threat of Ukip. Nigel Farage’s party is now regularly polling around the level of the Lib Dems, seemingly taking voters disproportionately from the Tories, contributing to lengthening Labour poll leads.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged european union, immigration, lord ashcroft, peter kellner and ukip | 51 Comments

LibLink: Prateek Buch on Nick Clegg’s speech today

By Paul Walter | Mon 17th December 2012 - 7:30 pm

On Comment is Free, Social Liberal Forum director, Prateek Buch provides an interesting critique of Nick Clegg’s speech today:

At least Clegg recognises that Liberal Democrats have to stand up for what we truly believe in. The recent direction of travel on Leveson, drugs reform and snooping is welcome, and we await more robust promotion of party policy on things that really matter to most people – a fair, sustainable economy where living

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged coalition and liberal democrats | 12 Comments

Libby Local, Episode 7: “New Year’s Resolutions”

By Libby Local | Sun 16th December 2012 - 2:15 pm

It’s true to say that I had not realised that being a Lib Dem and standing for Libbyshire Council was set to consume my life.

It is already mid-December and there is still so much work for my clients not yet done. But, heck, we are busy delivering a Focus across Demsbury. It does not help that one of my deliverers is too ill to continue. Another couple have inconveniently flown off to Goa for the winter. Others simply don’t have time. Inevitably, I’m delivering most of the leaflets

Posted in Op-eds | 7 Comments

Nick Clegg: Time to rethink drugs policy

By Mark Pack | Fri 14th December 2012 - 2:01 pm

The Sun running a story about the attitude of politicians to drugs reform is fairly commonplace. A Liberal Democrat politician calling for the drugs laws to be reviewed is fairly commonplace. What is however rather less common – and so all the more significant – is for the former to feature the latter in a positive light as LDV mentioned earlier today:

Posted in News | Also tagged drugs policy, nick clegg and the sun | 2 Comments

Y’know those stories about the death of the Lib Dems? Turns out, they might’ve been exaggerated…

By Stephen Tall | Fri 14th December 2012 - 10:55 am

As Samuel Ellis Rees points out today:

Of the last 20 Council by-elections to take place, the Lib Dems have won 11 of them. 8 of which were gains from another party. Not too bad.

— SamuelEllis Rees (@SamuelEllisRees) December 14, 2012

And as I noted last week, after the Lib Dems had gained four seats from the Tory party:

Can’t help feeling if Ukip had won 4 council seats from the Tories last night, as LibDems did, the media might’ve mentioned it #narrativerut

— Stephen Tall (@stephentall) December 7, 2012

And yes, before the Lib Dem-baiting starts in the comments below, I’m well aware that local council by-elections need to be taken with a liberal pinch of salt and that none of this alters the party’s flat-lining poll ratings. But the main point remains: in spite of everything, the party’s still alive. Speculation of our demise, as so often in the past, is premature…

Posted in News | Also tagged samuel ellis rees and stephen tall | 65 Comments

LibLink: Anthony Lester – My vision of a Leveson law

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 12th December 2012 - 4:35 pm

Liberal Democrat peer Anthony Lester has written for the Guardian about his independent Press Council bill which he introduced in the House of Lords yesterday.

If his measure became law, it would be the Supreme Court rather than OFCOM which would ensure that the independent self regulatory body was genuinely independent and complying with the principles Lord Leveson set out in his report.

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged anthony lester, guardian, house of lords and leveson | 1 Comment

Equal marriage: it’s a matter of religious freedom

By Mark Pack | Mon 10th December 2012 - 5:59 pm

There’s been a lot in the media today from opponents of equal marriage about how the state mustn’t go about redefining marriage.

What they keep on skating over is that equal marriage isn’t something cooked up by atheists and agnostics. It’s also – as Lynne Featherstone has pointed out – supported officially by Quakers, Liberal Jews and some Unitarian Churches, not to mention many people of other faiths that officially take a different view.

Insisting that the state continues …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged equal marriage and lynne featherstone | 58 Comments

Opinion: It’s time for Nick Clegg to make the liberal case on drugs policy

By Mark Thompson | Mon 10th December 2012 - 8:00 am

The Mail on Sunday yesterday reported that the Home Affairs Select Committee report into drugs policy, reporting this morning, is going to recommend that the option of legalisation should be seriously considered and a Royal Commission should be set up to report on the issue prior to the 2015 general election.

As readers of my blog will know, I am a long standing supporter of liberalisation of our drug laws. So this report is a breath of fresh air as far as I am concerned. – A sensible pragmatic look at the problems with

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged drugs policy | 32 Comments

Nick Clegg’s ‘Letter from the Leader’: “You cannot balance the books on the backs of the poor”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 9th December 2012 - 11:20 am

The sixth weekly missive from Nick Clegg hit my inbox this weekend. Here’s what he had to say about the Autumn Statement, in particular the Lib Dem win on helping low-income tax-payers. Oh, and there’s a bit of a dig against the Tories for their ‘irrational phobia’ of taxing the propertied wealthy a bit more…

Posted in News | Also tagged fairer taxes, letter from the leader and nick clegg | 57 Comments

Stephen Gilbert MP writes… Equal marriage: a step towards a fairer society

By Stephen Gilbert MP | Sat 8th December 2012 - 12:59 pm

So, there we have it: equal marriage for same-sex couples in the civil law and the chance for religious groups to choose to offer same-sex religious marriage if they want to. It’s another step toward equality in front of the law for the LGBT community. The community has come a long way in the 43 years since the Stonewall riots in New York City.

And the Liberal Democrats have led the way in the UK. We were the first party to commit to a policy of civil partnerships, in a Private Members Bill, and at our conference in 2010 we were …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged equal marriage | 6 Comments

In praise of people with drawn curtains in the morning

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th December 2012 - 10:25 am

Night time workers. Work at night, sleep at day. That’s not being a scrounger. Shame so many Conservatives and so-called populists crudely label them all as scroungers with their blunderbuss rhetoric for having the temerity to draw the curtains at home when they’re sleeping after a long session at work.

UPDATE: In other curtain commentary news… Jennie has highlighted in the comments her own post. Here’s the link to it; the comments are well worth a read for a mix of the serious and the very funny. And here’s an Olympian …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged welfare | 21 Comments

Autumn Statement: the good, the bad and the tricky

By Mark Pack | Sat 8th December 2012 - 9:25 am

It’s been a busy week, so for my take on the Autumn Statement, here is my trio of media hits (featuring that tie):

Posted in News | Also tagged Autumn Statement 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s not just this Government that’s unpopular: it’s the idea of Coalition. Here’s what Lib Dems need to do about that.

By Stephen Tall | Fri 7th December 2012 - 8:15 am

There are many arguments the Lib Dems are winning in government. But there is one very big debate we’re currently on the losing side of with the public: that coalition government is capable of working. And it’s not surprising that voters are unpersuaded given we Lib Dems look a whole lot less than convinced by the experience.

The known knowns of Coalition

Let’s get two pieces of mitigation out of the way:
1) Coalition government is always tougher on the junior party: we lack the democratic mandate and …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged coalition, david cameron, ed miliband, john kampfner and populus | 62 Comments

William Powell AM writes… Why we must protect rural banking

By William Powell | Thu 6th December 2012 - 11:23 am

Almost every week brings news of the closure of bank branches in rural areas. As an Assembly Member in Wales representing a large rural region, I know at first hand the real effects of bank closures on local communities and businesses. Latest figures from the Campaign for Community Banking Services, published in September, show that in the last ten years just under 2,000 bank branches have closed. There are now 900 communities that have only one bank branch and 1,200 communities with no bank branch at all. The traditional ‘Big 4’ banks closed 178 branches in 2011. Estimates

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged banking, Wales and william powell | 3 Comments

Jo Swinson ensures fair treatment for supermarket suppliers

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 5th December 2012 - 3:56 pm

It’s a key liberal principle that large, powerful organisations whether government or private companies, should not be allowed to abuse that power, to treat those they deal with unfairly.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats have been so keen to set up a Groceries Adjudicator to ensure that the large supermarkets give a fair deal to their suppliers. The Adjudicator will have the power to arbitrate between retailers and suppliers, and

Posted in News | Also tagged groceries code adjudicator, Jo Swinson, mark williams and tavish scott | 3 Comments

Danny Alexander: “We are delivering on our number one election pledge”

By The Voice | Wed 5th December 2012 - 3:12 pm

Danny Alexander has just emailed Liberal Democrat members about the Autumn Statement, emphasising that the Liberal Democrats have delivered on their key election pledge, to raise the tax threshold to £10,000. From next April, workers will be able to keep the first £9440 they earn, meaning that someone on the minimum wage has had their tax bill halved by the Liberal Democrats.

Danny asks members to share the picture on your right on Facebook. Already the Voice’s timeline is full of them.

The Autumn Statement set out the tough decisions Liberal Democrats are taking in government to build a stronger economy and fairer society.

Posted in News | Also tagged Danny Alexander and tax cuts (Lib Dem) | 18 Comments

That NHS spending row in full

By Stephen Tall | Wed 5th December 2012 - 12:15 pm

The story: Conservative Health secretary Jeremy Hunt ‘rebuked’ for claiming the Coalition has increased NHS spending in England.

The promise: that the NHS budget in England would be increased in real terms during the Coalition. That promise was kept (just) — the 2010 Spending Review committed the Coalition to a 0.1% real-terms annual increase.

The reality: the NHS did not spend all its budget in 2011/12. As a result, the out-turn in NHS spending has, probably, marginally fallen since 2009/10. Though the UK Statistics Authority concludes: “Given …

Posted in News | Also tagged health, jeremy hunt and NHS | 18 Comments

If Leveson is a slippery slope, I’m a teapot

By Paul Walter | Mon 3rd December 2012 - 9:53 am

It’s funny, but before two weeks ago, I can’t remember the last time I heard the phrases “slippery slope” or “crossing the Rubicon”. In the run up to, and immediately after, the publication of the Leveson report we have heard of little else. – That and “underpinning”, another phrase not otherwise in general use.

Hopefully, the weekend has allowed people to actually read some of Leveson’s report and we may now hear less of slopes slippery and rivers Rubicon.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged leveson inquiry | 21 Comments

Libby Local, Episode 5: “Angst”

By Libby Local | Sun 2nd December 2012 - 2:15 pm

Melissa was gentle in her criticism. She is after all my campaign manager – despite being born a Tory. As we supped glasses of Pinot Grigio in the Market Tavern, she spoke softly to ensure that no one else can hear.

“You are my best mate, Libby. But these days you talk about nothing other than the next election. It has begun to take over your life!”

Posted in Op-eds | 29 Comments

European selection results – complete

By Jonathan Davies | Sat 1st December 2012 - 3:19 pm

The English Party is today counting the ballot to select our candidates for the nine English Euro Regions for the 2014 Euro elections. The Scottish and Welsh Parties are running their selections separately, and their results will be announced separately.

The results are listed below. The detailed STV results will be available later and we’ll put the web link in when it is available.

Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged english party and european selections | 19 Comments

Op-eds

The government’s £1bn school sports revamp talks a good game on SEND inclusion. So why are disabled children being benched? (Jean-François Burford)
Don’t slam the brakes on Britain’s EV revolution (Mark Hofman)
“How will you pay for it?” – The reply I’d love to hear Ed Davey give (Jamie Dalzell)
The Lib Dems created the triple lock – we should be the ones to set the terms for its end (Adam Shaw)
We are being held hostage by the Tory voters who have lent us their vote (Theo Rodwell)

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Actually, this Summer of Strategy could be quite good…

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Tag Archives: featured

Christmas confessions from the Lib Dem Voice team

A Christmas Carol, as sketched by Bodz. All 5 Staves Omnibus.

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Lib Dems are on the side of reasonable welfare reform, not indiscriminate welfare cuts”

Jo Shaw: Secret Courts update – please support our new motion to the Lib Dems’ Spring Conference

Your essential weekend reader — 12 must-read articles you may have missed

Tavish Scott: Christmas would be cancelled if Santa had to pay these delivery charges

A Christmas Carol. Stave Four: The Ghost of Austerity Future

Do US politicians have a mandate for big changes to gun control laws?

Nick Clegg beats James Bond and the Queen

Did you know the Lib Dems have lost half a million voters to Ukip? Here’s what I think it means.

LibLink: Prateek Buch on Nick Clegg’s speech today

Libby Local, Episode 7: “New Year’s Resolutions”

Nick Clegg: Time to rethink drugs policy

Y’know those stories about the death of the Lib Dems? Turns out, they might’ve been exaggerated…

LibLink: Anthony Lester – My vision of a Leveson law

Equal marriage: it’s a matter of religious freedom

Opinion: It’s time for Nick Clegg to make the liberal case on drugs policy

Nick Clegg’s ‘Letter from the Leader’: “You cannot balance the books on the backs of the poor”

Stephen Gilbert MP writes… Equal marriage: a step towards a fairer society

In praise of people with drawn curtains in the morning

Autumn Statement: the good, the bad and the tricky

It’s not just this Government that’s unpopular: it’s the idea of Coalition. Here’s what Lib Dems need to do about that.

The known knowns of Coalition

William Powell AM writes… Why we must protect rural banking

Jo Swinson ensures fair treatment for supermarket suppliers

Danny Alexander: “We are delivering on our number one election pledge”

That NHS spending row in full

If Leveson is a slippery slope, I’m a teapot

Libby Local, Episode 5: “Angst”

European selection results – complete

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Actually, this Summer of Strategy could be quite good…

Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy

Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

What’s going on with party strategy?

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The known knowns of Coalition

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