Tag Archives: featured

The Voice

Top of the Blogs: The Lib Dem Golden Dozen #296

By The Voice | Sun 21st October 2012 - 7:00 pm

Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 296th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (14-20, 2012), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

Continue reading »
Posted in Best of the blogs | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

The pointlessness of political opinion polls

By Mark Pack | Fri 19th October 2012 - 7:50 am

Leo Barasi’s piece over on Liberal Conspiracy raises an interesting point about the frequency of political opinion polling in the UK. We now have far more polls than before giving national voting intention figures (this Parliament so far: 878, 2001-5 312 in total, 1987-92 548 in total – to give some examples). But do we have too few?

Due to the vagaries of random sampling, a poll that shows a party’s support going up or down a couple of points doesn’t really show anything. It’s like tossing a coin 10 …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Polls | 12 Comments
Mark Pack

MPs and expenses: return to an unwelcome past

By Mark Pack | Thu 18th October 2012 - 1:15 pm

Oh dear:

MPs are trying to block publication of material which could show they are renting their taxpayer-funded homes to each other, it is claimed.

Expenses watchdog The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is considering an Freedom

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 22 Comments
Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron MP writes… This week could have been very different

By Tim Farron MP | Thu 18th October 2012 - 11:20 am

Last weekend was the fifth anniversary of the day that Gordon Brown changed his mind at the last minute and didn’t call the widely anticipated 2007 autumn General Election. Given the remainder of his tenure it is easy for many of us to forget that following his succession to No. 10 Downing St, Gordon Brown did received a popularity bounce. Brown was 10% ahead in the polls, David Cameron was floundering following a difficult period as opposition leader, and of course the banking collapse of 2008 had not yet happened.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , and | 23 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg gets sassy at DPMQs

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 17th October 2012 - 3:51 pm

Yesterday saw the monthly “Pick on Nick Clegg” day at Westminster. Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions is not known for its searching scrutiny of Government. Instead, Labour and Tories line up to take cheap shots at Nick. The experience he gains there is probably why he’s so good at town hall meetings and question and answer sessions at Conference.

DPMQs usually passes by unnoticed by the press. Yesterday, however, was different. Nick had a “Stalin

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
Iain Roberts

Is liberalism wrong – and how would we know?

By Iain Roberts | Wed 17th October 2012 - 11:58 am

A couple of hours on Twitter is more than enough to see the acolytes of political philosophy A assuring the world that everyone who believes in political philosophy B is stupid, immoral or more than likely both. The favour is typically returned in kind.

And yet anyone who’s acquainted with that slightly curious place known as the “real world” knows there are many highly intelligent, moral and clear-thinking people in pretty much every camp. Anyone who thinks Burke, Mill or even Marx had nothing worthwhile to say is a fool.

Who’s actually right? Are our political philosophies just religions in which we must

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 22 Comments
Tracy Connell

Employee share ownership – open letter to Vince Cable and Nick Clegg

By Tracy Connell | Tue 16th October 2012 - 10:53 am

We, the undersigned, are extremely concerned by the employee share ownership policy. We call for this bill to be amended to remove the part where workers have to give up their rights for share-ownership and, rather, for the proposal to mirror that agreed by the Liberal Democrat conference in this document.

The proposal appears to allow for workers to give up their rights in return for company shares, as detailed on the HM Treasury website:

Under the new type of contract, employees will be given between £2,000 and £50,000 of shares that are exempt from capital gains tax. In exchange, they

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 80 Comments
Vince Cable

Vince Cable MP writes… My view on George Osborne’s employee ownership scheme

By Vince Cable | Mon 15th October 2012 - 2:18 pm

Last week at the Conservative Party conference the Chancellor announced a new equity ownership scheme. His proposed scheme, targeted at small companies, is entirely voluntary and cannot be forced upon employees. It would offer employees shares (from £2,000 to £50,000) in their business in exchange for certain employment rights. The shares are Capital Gains Tax free – which if the company grows extremely fast is a valuable offer.

The scheme has had a mixed reaction. However a few

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 76 Comments
Paul Walter

The Sun’s “Hero of the week” is a straw man

By Paul Walter | Mon 15th October 2012 - 9:23 am

The Guardian reports:

Nick Clegg has declined to back the campaign to ban page 3 girls from the Sun, on the grounds that the state should not dictate the content of newspapers. In an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live, the deputy prime minister said it would be “deeply illiberal” for the state to dictate what appears in newspapers…Clegg was asked by Shelagh Fogarty, the Radio 5 presenter, if he would support the page 3 ban during a live broadcast from Sheffield. “No, no, no,” he said. “I’ve got three little sons so I don’t have page 3

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 29 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg is The Sun’s Hero of the Week… again

By Stephen Tall | Sat 13th October 2012 - 12:20 pm

Perhaps it’s a pre-Leveson softening up exercise. Or perhaps we’ve activated a Lib Dem sleeper agent at the heart of Wapping. Whatever the explanation, Nick Clegg has been awarded the accolade — for the second time in three weeks — of being The Sun’s Hero of the Week. I’m not sure the reasons for which the paper has saluted him will do him many favours with all Lib Dems, but (simply in the spirit of sharing) here goes anyway…

The Sun, 12th October, 2012

Notwithstanding the fact that he was our Hero of the Week just three weeks

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 30 Comments
Mark Pack

At this rate, I’m going to be launching the Save Andrew Mitchell Fan Club

By Mark Pack | Sat 13th October 2012 - 9:25 am

The Andrew Mitchell Gate-Gate story started off simply enough: politician does stupid thing, bungles apology and faces heavy pressure to quit. Add to that what I’ve heard from people who have worked with him, and it all seemed a straight forward story of a person with an unpleasant streak getting found out.

But you know what? The longer this has gone on, the more sympathy I have with him. Hard to believe, but consider two salient facts.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 39 Comments
Stephen Tall

Your essential weekend reader — 8 must-read articles you may have missed

By Stephen Tall | Sat 13th October 2012 - 8:15 am

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

No, you’re not entitled to your opinion – Patrick Stokes at The Conversation argues that proper debate relies on contested claims based on relevant expertise: just holding to your own view ain’t enough.

Is The Economist left or right? – its digital editor Tom Standage answers the question ‘yes and no’: which can

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment

Opinion: Shares for Rights? An open letter to Nick Clegg

By Nigel Quinton | Fri 12th October 2012 - 11:52 am

Dear Nick

Like most people I have spoken to this week I had imagined that Osborne’s announcement of “shares-for-rights” was for the Tory conference audience, and would not see its way into government policy, not at least while the Liberal Democrats are part of the government.

Yet today I read in Tim Gordon’s weekly update that we actually are supporting this as a promotion of employee ownership! Nick, it is anything but!!

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , and | 32 Comments
Stephen Tall

When will the Coalition end? Here’s what Lib Dem members say…

By Stephen Tall | Thu 11th October 2012 - 4:20 pm

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum before conference to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Four-in-five say Coalition will be bad for Lib Dem prospects in

Continue reading »
Posted in LDV Members poll | 11 Comments
Willie Rennie

Willie Rennie writes: Salmond must tell us what Ryder Cup trip cost

By Willie Rennie | Wed 10th October 2012 - 7:47 pm

Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie writes for local newspapers in his Mid Scotland and Fife constituency:

The excitement surrounding Team Europe’s victory in the Ryder Cup should bring the opportunity that comes our way at Gleneagles in two years time into sharp focus.

250,000 people poured onto the course between the first strike of the ball during the practice rounds and the last putt of the final pairings.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 7 Comments
Gareth Jones

Opinion: A Submarine for all seasons

By Gareth Jones | Wed 10th October 2012 - 9:54 am

The former defence minister, Nick Harvey, has reignited the debate about the replacement of Trident or, more specifically, the ballistic missile-carrying nuclear submarines which convey it.

Ironically, the Conservative Chancellor George Osborne has greatly helped the case for not renewing Trident, by placing the £25 Billion cost of the successor submarine in the main Defence budget, to compete with conventional arms for money. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the chiefs of the three services are reported to be going cold on the idea of a like-for-like replacement.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

The politics of sluggish growth: good for the Tories, bad for Labour, and as for the Lib Dems we’ll see

By Stephen Tall | Tue 9th October 2012 - 11:10 pm

Today saw the publication by the IMF of its latest growth forecasts. UK growth prospects are downgraded once again. Growth in 2012 is now forecast to be -0.4% (the most recent quarter’s strong showing is anomalous) and an anaemic 1.1% in 2013. As The Spectator’s Jonathan Jones observes, the only thing new here is that the IMF is falling ‘into line with the consensus’.

On the face of it this is bad news for the Coalition, further evidence that the economic strategy of deficit reduction driven forward by David Cameron and George Osborne, and endorsed by Nick …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 33 Comments
Ruth Bright

Opinion: Questions for Jeremy Hunt on abortion

By Ruth Bright | Mon 8th October 2012 - 12:54 pm

The Abortion Act 1967 Act was passed when I was nine months old. Women of my generation have grown up believing our rights were safe and our bodies were our own. Even those who had never heard of a backbench MP named David Steel had reason to be grateful to him for ensuring that women could not be forced by the state to continue with pregnancies they did not want.

Women of my generation and others now have to wake up and realise that the settlement, we thought was so safe, is no longer. Thanks to the Coalition, the Health Service is now in the hands of

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 54 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dems’ internal elections: your guide to where we’re at (UPDATED)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 7th October 2012 - 4:50 pm

Every couple of years the Lib Dems hold internal elections in which conference representatives choose members of key party committees. As one of the seemingly few Lib Dems neither standing for election nor with a vote, I thought our readers might like an update on where we’re at…

Federal Executive

What does it do?
The formal answer: ‘The Federal Executive is an elected committee responsible for directing, co-ordinating and implementing the work of the Federal Party.’ (From the party website.)
The informal answer: What does the Federal Executive do? by Alison Goldsworthy
Who’s standing?
There are 36 candidates (26 men, 10 women) competing for …

Continue reading »
Posted in Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

A flagship borough: 25 years of a Liberal Democrat Sutton Council

By Mark Pack | Fri 5th October 2012 - 9:45 pm

Look round the room at the next Liberal Democrat event you attend and ask yourself how many people in the room will have their names recorded in places that future political historians can find. A few, certainly, especially if they have been elected to public office.

For most, however, their contribution to a political party slips away through the cracks of the historical record, disappearing as the direct personal memories people have of them fade and then end with death.

Continue reading »
Posted in Books, Local government and London | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Michael Gove declares war on curves (square corners are OK though)

By Mark Pack | Thu 4th October 2012 - 12:25 pm

Bizarre micro-management at its worst, courtesy of Michael Gove.

Now, it’s easy to see why he’s keen to seen if schools can be built at lower costs. It’s also easy to see how a bit more standardisation between different new school designs could reduce costs.

So looking for more standardisation in design? No problem.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 17 Comments
Nick T

Manchester Labour’s “crazy” decision to spend £425k on pop concert

By Nick T | Thu 4th October 2012 - 10:56 am

The decision of Manchester’s Labour-run Council to spend almost half a million pounds on a pop concert starring Alicia Keys has been branded “crazy” by Lib Dems in the city. Manchester City Council is currently in the process of making £296m of cuts to its budget over a two year period – cuts condemned as “ideological” by the Labour Council Leader Sir Richard Leese.

Here’s what the Lib Dem group leader on Manchester City Council, Simon Wheale, had to say about this use of scarce public money:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

The top campaigning lesson from Ed Miliband’s speech: repetition is what you need

By Stephen Tall | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 8:25 am

“We are the One Nation party,” Nick Clegg will tell the Liberal Democrats in his speech to their spring conference tomorrow.

Remember this headline? Probably not. Yet it dates from March 2012, just six months ago.

So what happened? Two key things, I suggest. First, Nick’s ‘One Nation’ message was drowned out by the furore over the NHS reforms which dominated the party’s spring conference this year. Secondly, it was one line among many which was uttered and quickly disappeared, like a whispered greeting on a windy day.

There was some snarky commentary from journalists who heard Ed Miliband …

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 27 Comments
Paul Walter

Conference Skype* speeches – a must have

By Paul Walter | Mon 1st October 2012 - 11:54 am

There is a vast opportunity staring the Liberal Democrats in the face: To be the first British political party to accommodate speeches via Skype at their conference.

There are all sorts of arguments for and against this. Would it stop people bothering to come to conference altogether and just participate from their living room? Would that kill conference?

But there are two massive reasons why it should be done very

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 15 Comments
Helen Duffett

Liberal Democrat Party Awards 2012: The winners

By Helen Duffett | Sun 30th September 2012 - 4:20 pm

Each year at Autumn Conference, the Party President presents awards for outstanding service to the Liberal Democrats.

Tim Farron appealed for nominations back in May, and presented the awards on the final afternoon of Conference in Brighton last week.

Tim Farron also took a moment to thank all those who work hard in their local areas and for their local parties, everyone who campaigned in the council elections in May, and those who will play a part in this autumn’s elections for Police Commissioners, the Bristol Mayor and Parliamentary by-elections.

The winners of the 2012 Party Awards are as follows:

Patsy Calton Award

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Miliband: Labour took my mobile phone away

By Mark Pack | Fri 28th September 2012 - 12:01 am

Ed MilibandWhat a bad year it is to be a political satirist. First there was the problem of the minister who met the Prime Minster, intending to resign – yet somehow the conversation ended without the PM noticing that a resignation was on offer. Hard for a satirist to top that.

And now we have the bizarre case of the Labour Party confiscating its own party leader’s mobile phone, as reported by Sky:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

+++ Paddy Ashdown to chair 2015 general election campaign

By Mark Pack | Wed 26th September 2012 - 3:13 pm

Party leader speeches at conferences rarely contain completely untrailed and fresh news. Nick Clegg’s does: that Paddy Ashdown will chair the party’s 2015 general election campaign.

Although his name wasn’t one of those I speculated about previously, it is a logical choice because the party’s plan is to fight a 1997-style general election campaign, with a tough national vote share environment hopefully bucked by very effective Parliamentary by-election style campaigns …

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged , and | 14 Comments
Mark Pack

Another day at conference, another education policy launched

By Mark Pack | Wed 26th September 2012 - 10:34 am

BlackboardTax, tax and a bit more about tax: that’s been the main theme of the Liberal Democrat conference, from the slogan on badges and the banner outside the building through to the content of speeches and the main policy focus of the media coverage.

When it comes to new policy announcements, however, it is education that has had a strong showing.

First there was the news on summer schools:

Lib Dems announce further £100m for summer schools to help children catch-up
Mr Laws said: “All too often pupils who have made big progress

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged , , , and | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

Liberal Democrats to veto plan for benefits freeze

By Mark Pack | Sat 22nd September 2012 - 8:20 am

From The Independent:

Nick Clegg will veto George Osborne’s demands for a two-year freeze in most state benefits from next April and a further £10bn of welfare cuts…

The Deputy Prime Minister revealed he will block the Treasury’s demand for more cuts before the 2015 election to compensate for lower-than-expected growth. “Not a penny more, not a penny less,” he declared.

The message is reinforced Danny Alexander in The Guardian:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 7 Comments
Paul Walter

Nick Clegg’s debut single goes live on iTunes

By Paul Walter | Fri 21st September 2012 - 11:22 pm

As at 9pm tonight, Nick Clegg’s debut single “Nick Clegg says I’m sorry (the Autotune remix)” has gone live on iTunes. It will go live on Amazon and other outlets in the next 24 hours. The Poke has the full story of their success with this brilliant adaptation of the DPM’s apology by Alex Ross.

You can download the single at iTunes here.

All proceeds from the sale of the single will go the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, at the request of Nick Clegg, via Twitter.

Posted in Humour | Also tagged | 7 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Chris Williams
    All well and good, but what is a fascist? What are their policies? And are they on the right, left or both? You need to be able to identify your enemy in order ...
  • Andrew Moore
    I'm with Jana on this one. Fascism is defined (Cambridge Dictionary) as: 'A political system based on a very powerful leader, state control of social and econ...
  • Steph
    Great article and a very important topic! To add an important point of clarity relating to Britain's treaty obligations to prevent genocide, it is important to ...
  • David Evans
    Jana, Spot on. Too often people on the illiberal left and even worse many people who chose to describe themselves as progressive adopt the word fascist to des...
  • Chloe
    Exactly Jason ; It needs to be called out on all sides. Numerous videos of Young Bob online being attacked by students who've little in the way of any coherent ...