Tag Archives: featured

Caron Lindsay

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

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The Voice

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.

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Stephen Tall

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 …

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Paul Walter

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.

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Libby Local

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!”

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Posted in Op-eds | 29 Comments
Jonathan Davies

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.

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged and | 19 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg: We won’t find better solution than Leveson’s

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 29th November 2012 - 4:58 pm

Nick Clegg has just told Parliament that the victims of phone hacking and tabloid abuse deserve swift progress on Lord Leveson’s “proportionate and workable” reforms. After the Prime Minister had told the House that he was unconvinced for the need for any changes in the law, Nick said that it was important that Leveson’s incentive scheme was recognised in law so that the courts could take account of it. He also cited the example of the Irish system as having statutory underpinning. He said he wasn’t aware of complaints from the many UK newspapers with Irish editions.

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Stephen Tall

Whatever the Leveson Report recommends, it’s worth remembering the value of the Leveson Inquiry

By Stephen Tall | Wed 28th November 2012 - 6:25 pm

I’m as clueless as anyone else at the moment about what Lord Justice Leveson will recommend in his report, to be published tomorrow, on press standards in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

I’ve said already I oppose any form of state regulation which would allow the government of the day, whether explicitly or (far more likely) implicitly, to interfere in the content of the free press. My co-editor Mark Pack has a different take on things here. But, regardless of whether Mark or I end up most agreeing with Lord Justice Leveson’s recommendations tomorrow, two points I …

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Joe Bourke

Opinion: A Comprehensive Middle East Peace Settlement

By Joe Bourke | Wed 28th November 2012 - 1:10 pm

Simon Hughes said this year,  “We are near to the end of the opportunity of being able to get a peaceful two-state solution because of the extent of the settlements. The separation of Gaza from the West Bank and the increasing encroachment of the settlements mean that an alternative to the two-state model must be explored. We need to be honest and realistic about having a Plan B and a Plan C as well as a Plan A, as an international community.”

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Tony Koutsoumbos

Opinion: Come back Nad! A layman’s guide to public engagement

By Tony Koutsoumbos | Tue 27th November 2012 - 3:52 pm

Nadine Dorries has been unfairly judged. In fact she should not be judged at all. We have been so busy arguing whether she has brought herself and Parliament into disrepute by flying out to Australia to share a platform with B-list celebrities and eat Marsupial genitalia, that we seem to have forgotten all about the original question she was trying to answer: how can MPs and indeed all public officials of every office, from mayors to parish councillors, reach out and re-connect with the public?

My answer …

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Mo Saqib

Opinion: Tuition fees and inconvenient truths

By Mo Saqib | Mon 26th November 2012 - 11:23 am

Wednesday, 21st November 2012 is, to use Mr Roosevelt’s words, “a date that will live in infamy”. Indeed, it was a day that finally brought the government to its knees. The coalition had well and truly been smashed to pieces.

Well, that’s what you’d believe if you were a member of the Socialist Workers’ Party.

What really happened? A student protest that was never aimed at achieving anything (and indeed it didn’t). The protest of November 2010 aimed to lobby MPs in the run-up to the vote on raising tuition fees. For all the cost and effort put into organising it, this week’s

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Mark Pack

Duff arguments to ignore over Leveson

By Mark Pack | Sun 25th November 2012 - 4:57 pm

Here is a safe prediction: whatever the Leveson report recommends for British journalism, there will be an awful lot of duff arguments rolled out. Despite much of the debate being couched in how important it is for the press to tell the truth and how many difficult judgements there are to make, we’ll hear plenty of simplistic rhetoric based on shonky factual foundations.

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s fourth Letter from the Leader: “The only way out of the housing crisis is to build our way out.”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 25th November 2012 - 1:15 pm

Here’s Nick Clegg’s latest missive to Lib Dem members and supporters — this week focusing on his efforts to get Britain building again to help those households in need of decent, affordable housing…

I’m writing this as we come to the end of an incredibly hectic week in politics.

The negotiations over the budget in Europe, securing of a much needed ceasefire in Gaza, rising speculation about the upcoming Leveson report. And Ed Davey’s important announcement of a landmark coalition deal on low carbon energy that will deliver

…

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Stephen Tall

As Leveson reports… Why I’m sticking up for ‘Press freedom with no buts’

By Stephen Tall | Sun 25th November 2012 - 8:30 am

Lord Justice Leveson’s inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal will report this week. His recommendations on the future of press regulation are the subject of intense speculation, with essentially three positions being staked-out:

What’s being proposed

‘Independent regulation backed up by statute’
Advocates, who include Evan Harris and the Hacked Off campaign group, argue that the only way to ensure the press does not abuse its position in the future is for it to be regulated. But, they insist, this should be independent both of government and the press, the two main …

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Stephen Tall

Reasons for Lib Dem cheer — as told by Labour and Tory supporters

By Stephen Tall | Sat 24th November 2012 - 3:15 pm

Just two things from me:

1) Anyone trying to forecast how the Lib Dems will do in 2015 based on extrapolating mid-term opinion polls on the basis of uniform national swing is likely to be as wrong as they would have been at every general election in modern history.

2) My confident forecast for 2015 is the Lib Dems will a) do less well than I’d like and b) do better than our fiercest critics would like.

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Stephen Tall

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

By Stephen Tall | Sat 24th November 2012 - 8:15 am

It’s Saturday morning, so here are twelve thought-provoking articles to stimulate your thinking juices…

The lottery of life: Where to be born in 2013 – The Economist‘s annual list of the top quality-of-life countries: ‘Being rich helps more than anything else, but it is not all that counts; things like crime, trust in public institutions and the health of family life matter too.’ Britain comes 27th. (The Telegraph has a picture-only version here.)

The burdens that Israel should not have to bear – Brendan …

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Geof Todd

Scaling-up the UK’s creative business

By Geof Todd | Fri 23rd November 2012 - 4:21 pm

Danny Boyle’s fantastic opening ceremony for the Olympics highlighted that Great Britain has a great heritage and we can really put on a show – given the right investment! The ‘Big Society’ fails to provide a suitable framework to rebuild and refocus our future, to re-launch UK plc on the global stage. In short, how are we going to make Britain ‘Great’ again?

We have the opportunity to build the world centre of excellence around a major ‘Creative Business’ initiative in which we must

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Bill le Breton

“Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!”*

By Bill le Breton | Fri 23rd November 2012 - 11:21 am

Enough is enough. In the face of soaring national debt, the Liberal Democrat leader has this week called for the Central Bank to be made less independent to pave the way for more aggressive and unlimited monetary easing, a dramatic relaxation of the inflation target accompanied by a major public works programme and a supplementary budget.

Great news! The tragedy is that the Liberal Democrat leader in question is not Nick Clegg speaking on the eve of the Autumn Spending statement, but Shinzo Abe, Leader of the Japanese Liberal Democrats, launching his general election campaign which he is tipped to win. And the reaction of those dreaded markets? Positive – rising 4-5% as other world

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Stephen Tall

What did George Osborne agree to do that Nick Clegg refused to do?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 22nd November 2012 - 3:25 pm


(You can like and share this graphic via LibDemVoice’s Facebook page by clicking here.)

Compare and contrast:

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Helen Duffett

AD LIB: A new magazine for Liberal Democrats

By Helen Duffett | Wed 21st November 2012 - 2:43 pm

Cover of AdLib issue 1

Last month I asked for your views on the new members’ magazine to replace Liberal Democrat News.

We got loads of really good feedback and we’ve tried to get as much of it into the magazine as possible.

Of course, no one has ever made 100 per cent of Liberal Democrats happy 100 per cent of the time, but we sincerely hope AD LIB lives up to most (if not all of) your expectations.

We’re not giving away too much about the content yet, but Twitter and Facebook profiles for AD LIB are up and running and for a teaser we’ve released the front cover (above right).

I know, I know, as defenders of transparency in public life how can we justify keeping the contents secret?

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Michael Moore

Michael Moore’s Westminster Notes

By Michael Moore | Wed 21st November 2012 - 12:30 pm

Every week, Michael Moore MP, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, writes a column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. Here’s the latest edition in which he is too modest, however, to draw attention to the fact that he won Best Scot at Westminster in the Herald’s Scottish Politician of the Year awards,  

Post Offices

In recent months a number of my constituents have written to me

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Caron Lindsay

172 Liberal Democrats write to the Times to oppose secret courts

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st November 2012 - 11:30 am

As the Justice and Security Bill is debated in the House of Lords for the second day this week, 172 Liberal Democrats have written to the Times to express opposition to the proposals for secret courts and their letter has been published today (£). Although only five names are given in the paper, the full list of 172 who signed before the letter was sent and more who signed subsequently is published on the Lib Dems against secret courts website.

What’s interesting about the list is that it contains such a broad range of

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Mark Pack

Eliminating the structural deficit is aiming for the wrong target

By Mark Pack | Mon 19th November 2012 - 10:53 am

HM Treasury logoThere is an appealing simplicity behind the idea of having a zero structural deficit. It is the policy the government is committed to, with its plans to eliminate the structural deficit. And it’s also wrong.

For all the problems in measuring the structural deficit accurately, the concept is a useful one – to measure what the deficit is, once you have allowed for where we are in the economic cycle. Or, as the FT puts it, “A budget deficit that results from a fundamental imbalance in government receipts and expenditures, as opposed to one based on one-off or short-term factors”.

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Chris Rennard

Chris Rennard writes… Liberal Democrat News RIP

By Chris Rennard | Mon 19th November 2012 - 9:53 am

In 1945 the Liberal News was a receipt for your weekly Liberal Party subscription. As a weekly newspaper, it outlasted Conservative and Labour Party rivals by some decades. Week by week party members, and a handful of others, were reminded of what the Liberal Party was up to when the mainstream media paid scant attention to it.

At times, when Liberal members could only dream of the days when the party might return to Government, Liberal News (and then Liberal Democrat News) reported on the great by-election breakthroughs like Orpington, Edge Hill, Eastbourne, Newbury and Brent East. At other times, the best that it could do to sustain hope was to feature an occasional parish council by-election win.

As someone who helped to organise many of the most spectacular by-election wins, I knew that the party paper also helped to bring

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Eric Avebury

Lord Avebury writes… World Toilet Day and sanitation: an unspoken problem

By Eric Avebury | Mon 19th November 2012 - 7:33 am

Today is World Toilet Day and it is important to remember that 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. One in three women across the world risks shame, disease, harassment and even attack because they do not have a safe place to go to the toilet. This is unthinkable in the UK, but a reality in the developing world and the impact is devastating. Absence of clean toilets and inadequate sanitation facilities are key causes of diarrhoeal disease, the second largest killer of children worldwide, causing around 760,000 child deaths every year. Diarrhoeal disease is also a contributing factor to malnutrition, which in turn can lead to stunted growth and impede cognitive development.

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Libby Local

Libby Local, Episode 4: “The Canvass”

By Libby Local | Sun 18th November 2012 - 2:30 pm

It was late on a Tuesday night and I was parked up in the Market Tavern with Melissa having a good moan over a Pinot Grigio. I’d just finished a particularly scrappy and argumentative rehearsal with the Demsbury Orchestra. Susan, the new clarinet player, had caused us all grief.

“I’ve had enough of it,” I sounded off. “The Orchestra is not well-run anyway, and now we get this bloody new clarinet player who will not listen and does her own thing.” Melissa didn’t look the least bit interested, so I tried to bait her. “I bet she’s a Tory as …

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Posted in Op-eds | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick’s third ‘Letter from the Leader’: “More freedom for parents and more rights for people with mental health problems”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th November 2012 - 2:05 pm

The third of Nick Clegg’s Letters from the Leader series has hit party members’ email inboxes today — here’s what he has to say…

In a week when we saw a set of disappointing elections – with hard working Liberal Democrats not getting the results they deserved and turnout slumping to a new low – it’s worth remembering what we’re achieving in Government.

This week I had the privilege – and I really do mean privilege – to announce a change in government policy that I’ve been working

…

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Stephen Tall

Teather: “Benefit cap is immoral and divisive”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th November 2012 - 11:20 am

Lib Dem MP for Brent Central Sarah Teather makes the front page of The Observer today for a powerful interview slamming the Government’s plans to bring in a benefit cap. I’m quoting extensively from it, below, but it’s well worth reading the whole piece here.

This is clearly an issue that touches Sarah deeply, not least because of the number of her constituents she knows will be deeply affected by the changes. What impresses me most, though, is the way she acknowledges the way the arguments are being …

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Mark Pack

What does the data show about the Obama campaign’s use of data?

By Mark Pack | Sat 17th November 2012 - 9:50 am

So far, there has been a weird paradox at the heart of the coverage about the Obama 2012 campaign machine. On the one hand we’re all meant to be impressed by how it was based on data and analysis, honing campaign techniques and targeting activity based on what the data said. On the other hand, we’re meant to take it all on trust (or trust plus bucketloads of anecdotes; i.e. trust) that this hard-nosed, evidence-based approach to campaigning worked. Where’s the evidence that the reliance on evidence really worked?

There’s been remarkably little presented. Which is why the following graph is so

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Stephen Tall

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

By Stephen Tall | Sat 17th November 2012 - 8:15 am

It’s Saturday morning, so here are twelve thought-provoking articles to stimulate your thinking juices…

Growth or bust (Financial Times) – Tim Harford on why there just aren’t enough companies going bankrupt in the UK: ‘The ability to fail quickly – and without much collateral damage – is a tremendous economic asset.’

On Managerialist Ideology (Stumbling and Mumbling) – In the wake of the BBC crisis, Chris Dillow questions the cult of management as a panacea for organisational failings: ‘the solution to sloppy journalism is, …

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