Tag Archives: featured

Helen Duffett

Chris Fox to step down as Liberal Democrats’ Chief Executive

By Helen Duffett | Mon 5th September 2011 - 2:54 pm

Following Chris Fox’s decision, announced today, to stand down as Chief Executive at the end of November, Nick Clegg and Tim Farron have praised the transformation he has brought to the party organisation.

Chris Fox took over the role of Chief Executive in July 2009. During his time in the role he has led on strategy and the air war and headed up the executive team during the General Election. Since then he has focused on modernising the party which culminated in a move to new high tech headquarters in the heart of Whitehall a week ago.

Chris Fox said:

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , and | 20 Comments
Mark Pack

Liberal Democrat conference and security checks #ldconf

By Mark Pack | Sat 3rd September 2011 - 3:22 pm

The rolling saga that is security checks for people attending Liberal Democrat conference has generated a lot of heat, some light – and a fair degree of confusion. So this post is my attempt to untangle the main aspects of the story, which really fall into three sections: the principle of the checks, the way the checks have been communicated and the way the checks have in practice been carried out.

In theory, the principle of whether or not the Liberal Democrat conference organisers should have agreed to the police’s request for extra security checks on attendees for the autumn conference …

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Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged , , and | 31 Comments
Mark Pack

Did journalists really not misuse one of the UK’s largest databases of personal contact details?

By Mark Pack | Wed 31st August 2011 - 8:54 am

Here’s a little conundrum for you.

Imagine you are a journalist working on one of the  many titles that the Information Commissioner found was involved in dubious practices to get hold of personal information about people.

Don’t you think it’s quite likely you would now and again have wanted to get hold of someone’s home address? Perhaps to track down someone to doorstep them. Or maybe to trawl round the relatives of someone famous to find if anyone is willing to give you an interview.

Now imagine there is a database of people in Britain which is so comprehensive and has been built …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 11 Comments
Helen Duffett

Liberal Democrats moving HQ : the future’s bright

By Helen Duffett | Fri 26th August 2011 - 4:21 pm

The sun sets on Cowley Street

As the sun sets on Cowley Street, Lib Dem Chief Exec Chris Fox emails party members with the HQ’s change of address and a brief look back, before taking “another big step for the party and our ambitious modernisation programme”. (He also includes a handy list of contact details for other parts of the party.)

Simon Cooper’s sneak-preview photos show that for LDHQ, the future’s bright:

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Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , and | 12 Comments
Mark Pack

Campaigning In Your Community: new book out

By Mark Pack | Wed 24th August 2011 - 11:54 am

Phew, book number 18 that I’ve been involved in as author or editor is now out. It’s written by myself and Shaun Roberts, called “Campaigning In Your Community”. Think of it as as guide to getting going with community politics, starting from your own doorstep.

A free copy is being sent to every ALDC (Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors) member or you can buy copies from the ALDC online shop (sales only open to party members).

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Posted in Books | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Chris Rennard

Chris Rennard writes… Can we tell what will happen in four years?

By Chris Rennard | Sun 21st August 2011 - 2:55 pm

Four years ago, David Cameron was on the run.

The Conservatives had ‘thrown the kitchen sink’ into winning the Ealing Southall by-election in the summer of 2007 and they had raised expectations of a Tory victory based on the appointment of a well known local Asian businessman as ‘David Cameron’s Conservative candidate’ in a seat with a lot of Conservative Councillors.

But on polling day, the Conservatives not only failed to win the by-election (or even overtake the Lib Dems), but they fell from second place to third in the parliamentary by-election in Sedgfield following Tony …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 22 Comments
Stephen Tall

At his best and his worst: 5 thoughts on Tony Blair’s analysis of the UK riots

By Stephen Tall | Sun 21st August 2011 - 10:23 am

It’s only been four years since Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister (somehow it seems longer) — and he’s back today with an opinion piece for The Observer on the underlying causes of the riots, ‘Blaming a moral decline for the riots makes good headlines but bad policy’. Here are 5 thoughts on his article:

1) Mr Blair remains the ultimate triangularist

Witness the oxymoronic opening line: ‘Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband made excellent speeches last week and there was much to agree with in what they said.’ First, no they didn’t; neither speech rose to the occasion. Nick Clegg’s under-reported speech was a much weightier contribution than either the Tory or Labour leaders mustered. Secondly, to agree simultaneously with directly opposing arguments suggest that Mr Blair retains his crown as the past-master of intellectual flexibility.

2) Mr Blair remains at heart an authoritarian

As evidenced by his line, ‘my experience with the police is they need 100% backing’. Like all other professionals the police deserve respect and understanding for the immensely difficult job that they do.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 15 Comments
Mark Pack

Nick Clegg: The Biography published today – is it worth reading?

By Mark Pack | Sat 20th August 2011 - 11:47 am

The pre-publication newspaper serialisation of Chris Bower’s biography of Nick Clegg used extracts which covered the Deputy Prime Minister’s early life. When you read the full book the reason for this is amply clear. It has much interesting to say about Nick Clegg’s multi-national family and their close brushes with the tragedies of the early twentieth century. As it gets on to Clegg’s political career, however, it increasingly has little to say that will not already be familiar to close followers of political news from other accounts.

In a few cases it even has less to say than has already …

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Posted in Books | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Ben Hammersley

The Independent View: Ben Hammersley writes… Let the Internet be so that good can flourish

By Ben Hammersley | Sat 13th August 2011 - 2:25 pm

It was only going to be a matter of time before the technology was blamed. The rioters, along with the rest of the western world, were found to have been using the dominant communication platform of the 21st century as, well, their dominant communication platform. The government’s response: give us powers to turn it off. As the Prime Minister said this morning,

So we are working with the Police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and

…

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Posted in The Independent View | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

What caused the riots? It’s more than just the economy, stupid.

By Stephen Tall | Thu 11th August 2011 - 8:57 am

Aditya Chakrabortty has a pretty compelling article in today’s Guardian scrutinising the political responses to the past few days’ rioting under the concise headline, UK riots: political classes see what they want to see. He summarises the binary analysis that has dominated:

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 55 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Opinion: CentreForum’s parenting report is a step in the right direction

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 7th August 2011 - 2:55 pm

Liberal think tank CentreForum has produced a report, Parenting Matters, which advises the Government to do more to promote better quality parenting, specifically targeted at those families who need it most.

Much of the publicity surrounding the report concentrated on its “5 a day” campaign which suggests that parents should:

    1. Read to their child for 15 minutes
    2. Play on the floor with their child for 10 minutes
    3.  Talk to their children for 20 minutes every day with the television off
    4. Adopt positive attitudes to their child and praise them frequently
    5.

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 15 Comments
Stephen Tall

Who are the Lib Dems ‘unconventional men (or women) whose mad ideas make us think’?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 31st July 2011 - 9:55 am

Andrew Rawnsley, writing in today’s Observer under the surprisingly un-PC title In praise of unconventional men who make us think, sticks up for those iconoclastic thinkers who challenge their parties’ conventional thinking, citing as paragons the Tories’ Steve ‘Big Society’ Hilton and Maurice ‘Blue Labour’ Glasman:

Conventional is not a description you could apply to either of these eclectic thinkers. … There are many big differences between these two men and their philosophies, but something interestingly common to them is anti-statism, a deep antagonism to bureaucracy and managerialism. … It would be a shame if either were to be silenced.

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 34 Comments
Stephen Tall

‘The Hughes Report’: Lib Dem MP’s 33 recommendations to improve access to higher education

By Stephen Tall | Sun 24th July 2011 - 3:25 pm

Last week saw the publication by Simon Hughes, the Government’s advocate for higher education access, of his report for the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on how more young people can be encouraged to apply for university. It’s received little attention, perhaps understandably given the current frenetic news cycles — but it’s a shame because the report is a serious piece of work.

Though 45 pages long in total, it presents clearly, readably and concisely 33 recommendations designed to ensure that everyone, from young to old, has the chance to experience higher education. You can read the report in full below, but there are five aspects which struck me as worth highlighting:

  • Importance of early years: the report recommends that, from primary age onwards, ‘schools can play an important role in motivating children to think about their future career and start working towards achieving their dreams’. These range from work experience opportunities to, in particular, ensuring proper advice is available at age 13-14 ‘when a young person starts to make the choices of courses influenced by the qualifications they hope for and the careers they plan.’
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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 22 Comments
Stephen Tall

News International’s William Lewis, BBC’s Robert Peston, and the alleged act of theft which aimed to bring down Vince Cable

By Stephen Tall | Sat 23rd July 2011 - 4:27 pm

Rewind to December 2010, and you will recall the furore which greeted the revelation by the BBC’s Robert Peston that Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable had been secretly taped by undercover Telegraph hacks “declaring war” on Rupert Murdoch and his bid for BSkyB.

Vince was almost forced to resign, responsibility for handling the bid was handed over to a Murdoch-friendly Tory, and the Telegraph was embarrassed by the implication that they had censored the story in order to avoid assisting media rival News International.

A report in today’s New York Times sheds a new and extraordinary light on that sequence of events, and suggests that:

  • The Telegraph was not sitting on the Cable/BSkyB scoop, but was all set to run it as a follow-up to the paper’s initial story focusing on Vince’s forthright views on the Coalition;
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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 13 Comments
Mark Pack

Who is Ed Miliband?

By Mark Pack | Thu 21st July 2011 - 12:26 pm

Authors of the best accounts of the New Labour years delved deeply into the rival Brownite and Blairite versions of events before coming to their own conclusions. Those who did not frequently ended up with embarrassingly lopsided and inaccurate accounts.

Mehdi Hasan and James Macintyre, the authors of Ed: The Milibands and the making of a Labour leader, have avoided making the next generation’s version of the same mistake by talking to both sides of the Miliband family, even returning more than once to the conundrum of when Ed told David he was going to run against him for leader. …

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Posted in Books and Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 16 Comments
Mark Valladares

Does a political party really need a manifesto or… what is policy for?

By Mark Valladares | Mon 18th July 2011 - 10:21 am

On Saturday, I found myself in an all day meeting of the strategic body of a campaigning organisation, and I found myself thinking something that hadn’t previously shown a fin in the ocean that is my political consciousness – is having policy spelled out to the nth degree really a good way to run a society? Indeed, how many people care about the details?

I am a member of a political party, and therefore have more of an interest in ideas of governance than most. But, like most members of political parties, I have an awareness of our policies, rather than …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 14 Comments
Helen Duffett

Police and Crime Commissioners: Lib Dem candidates start here

By Helen Duffett | Fri 15th July 2011 - 9:26 am

The Liberal Democrats are inviting potential candidates for the new Police and Crime Commissioner posts, which, if the legislation is passed, are expected to be elected in May 2012.

The party wants to encourage the widest possible range of applicants so the membership can select from the best possible choice of candidates.

So if you’re interested in applying, you need to be an approved Parliamentary candidate:

The Bill to create directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners is currently before Parliament. The first elections of Police and Crime Commissioners are expected in May 2012.

The English Regional Parties will be inviting applications to be candidates

…

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters and Selection news | Also tagged and | 19 Comments
Stephen Tall

In Praise of Nick Davies, the British Bernstein & Woodward to Murdoch’s Nixon

By Stephen Tall | Sat 9th July 2011 - 11:50 am

One man, above all, deserves to be singled-out for his single-minded pursuit of the lies, deceit and criminality that have stained British journalism: The Guardian’s special correspondent, Nick Davies.

His has been a lonely crusade. Despite the mounting evidence of corrupt practices, the tentacles of which have extended right into the very centre of the Establishment in this country — Parliament, media barons, senior police officers, Downing Street — Nick Davies has doggedly pursued a campaign which has resulted in the closure of this country’s most-read newspaper. That is some accolade.

But, as he would be the first to point out, it should never have got this far.

The closure of the News of the World would have been avoided if those who knew the truth, or at least had the power to uncover the truth, had done their jobs properly, had fulfilled their duty to the public. And that’s as true of Rebekah Brooks as it is of ‘Yates of the Yard’.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 10 Comments
Mark Pack

A sideways look at a Liberal Democrat institution

By Mark Pack | Wed 6th July 2011 - 10:25 am

Chances are, if you’ve been to a Liberal Democrat event, you’ve bought a raffle ticket or two. Now don’t get me wrong. I like raffles. Some of my best friends run raffles. I’ve even won two raffle prizes in the last year. But for such a popular Liberal Democrat activity, we are often surprisingly poor at running them.

In perhaps three raffles out of five, by the time you get to the final few prizes, just about everyone in the room (if they are still paying attention) is impatient for the raffle to end, with too many prizes then exacerbated by …

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Posted in Op-eds and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , and | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

30 things every would-be politician should do this summer

By Mark Pack | Thu 30th June 2011 - 10:53 am

Inspired originally by Journalism Grads: 30 Things You Should Do This Summer and prompted by Stephen Tall, it’s become a summer tradition for me to run a list of 30 suggestions for would-be politicians, particularly those new to public office or seeking it in the next few years.

As ever, a new summer brings a new lick of paint for the list, with a few updates here and there and my thanks to those who commented on the previous lists:

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Posted in Op-eds | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

What the future holds for Liberal Democrat tax policies

By Mark Pack | Tue 28th June 2011 - 10:25 am

More economically competent than Labour, fairer than the Conservatives – that’s what many at the top of the party hope the message will be come the next general election. If the economy is not doing well at the time of the next election . However, if it is then the party will need the right combination of economic policies to support that proposition.

That is why people such as Danny Alexander are starting to sketch out possible tax policies for the next general election which will involve giving tax cuts to the least well off, paid for by taxing the richest more.

That combination …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 23 Comments
Stephen Tall

Forget about abolishing Labour’s shadow cabinet elections, Ed. That’s not the battle you need to win.

By Stephen Tall | Sat 25th June 2011 - 5:45 pm

It’s been a tough few weeks for Labour leader Ed Miliband, with increasing mutterings internally and in the media with his performance, culminating in this week’s ICM poll showing him to be less popular than Nick Clegg.

On the upside, he’s starting to score points off David Cameron at PMQs, a crucible of irrelevance to actual politics but crucial in shaping personality-obsessed journos’ perceptions. And, with today’s interview in the Guardian, he’s proposed a ‘reform agenda’ to open up the Labour party — in his words, “in order to have a good conversation at party conference, you’ve …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

Campaigning in your local community

By Mark Pack | Wed 22nd June 2011 - 7:42 am

In the latest edition of ALDC’s Campaigner I previewed their next publication, written by myself and Shaun Roberts:

UPDATE: Campaigning In Your Community has now been published and is available for purchase.

In communities across the country there are improvements just waiting for a successful campaign to bring them about. Yet there are also people – far too many people in far too many places – who do not believe they and their neighbours have any power to change the streets around them, let alone the wider world.

Helping bring about those changes and helping people realise their own power should be at the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Helen Duffett

“It was a virtuoso performance” – Viscount Astor on Lord Ashdown on Lords reform

By Helen Duffett | Tue 21st June 2011 - 11:17 pm

Reading tonight’s Lords Hansard at bedtime (as you do), I’ve just found Paddy Ashdown’s speech from this evening’s debate on the House of Lords Reform Draft Bill.

Viscount Astor (Conservative), who spoke next, said:

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Ashdown, has just given a speech that I am sure will be used by every Liberal Democrat candidate who wishes to stand at an election to this House in the future. It was a virtuoso performance. I am afraid that my contribution will be somewhat more modest.

If you do wish to stand at a future election to the House of Lords, I’m reproducing Paddy’s speech below so you can get memorising right away.

What did Baroness Boothroyd say that Paddy found so bloodcurdling? Why would he happily exchange wisdom for legitimacy? How would history have been affected if the House of Lords had been constructed differently?

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , , , , and | 16 Comments
Stephen Tall

Does Labour have a ‘Plan B’ for the economy at the next election?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 19th June 2011 - 9:15 am

The question is repeatedly asked of the Coalition and its economic policy of deficit reduction: do you have a Plan B? (It is, by the way, a ludicrous question to ask — Steve Richards, the left-leaning Independent commentator, has acknowledged as much: ‘The debate is silly because no Chancellor can acknowledge an alternative route in advance.’)

But if the question’s going to continue to be asked, let’s at least do it the justice of turning it round: does Labour have a Plan B? The thought was in particular prompted by this excellent post — unambiguously titled, Labour must stop …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 8 Comments
Stephen Tall

What Nick can do next…

By Stephen Tall | Sat 18th June 2011 - 2:58 pm

The Guardian’s Michael White poses the tricky question for Liberal Democrats — “Nick Clegg is doing better, but will it be enough?” — on his blog, following Nick’s well-received speech to the Parliamentary Press Gallery. As Michael points out, only the sharp jokes were reported in the media, rather than the substance which accompanied them (a charge to which I also plead partially guilty). So let’s add a bit of balance…

had three non-jokey points to make – three you didn’t read in the papers today. One was that, whatever happens at the next election, Britain will not

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 22 Comments
John Alderdice

Lord Alderdice writes: The NHS Bill is substantially improved

By John Alderdice | Tue 14th June 2011 - 4:24 pm

As Liberal Democrats we are reformist by instinct and as in every other area of our community life we want to see reform of the NHS, not only to enable it to deal with the major resource and demographic challenges of the next twenty years, but also to ensure that it is more clinician-led, patient-centred and outcome-focussed than it has ever been before. That is why our MPs supported the principles of the Secretary of State’s original NHS Bill when it came to 2nd Reading in the House of Commons.

Our very public concerns have centred round whether the precise organizational …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 25 Comments
Mark Pack

Our lost phrase: community politics

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th June 2011 - 12:28 pm

On a hunch, earlier this year I did a little research ahead of writing a blog post for Liberal Democrat Voice: how often is the phrase “community politics” used by the party’s national spokespeople since the May 2010 election?

The answer was far worse than I’d feared. Looking through all of Nick Clegg’s major speeches, all the news release from him and also all those from others issued via the Liberal Democrat press team, I could only find one use of “community politics” – by Paul Burstow. Andrew Stunell deserves an honourable mention for using it in an LGA pamphlet …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 8 Comments
Peter Black

Opinion: A guide to fighting list seats

By Peter Black | Sat 11th June 2011 - 8:54 am

In writing this article I do not claim any great wisdom in how to fight list elections. In fact the fact I survived the latest Welsh Assembly poll has more to do with the decline in the Plaid Cymru vote than anything I did, though the amount of effort and targeted work we put in must have had some significance in securing a 54 vote majority.

This is what I did. It may not be appropriate in other areas and it may be fairly obvious to any experienced campaigner. Inevitably there were things I could have done better or did not …

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Posted in Op-eds and Wales | 4 Comments
Helen Duffett

Liberal Democrats receive Queen’s Birthday Honours

By Helen Duffett | Sat 11th June 2011 - 7:53 am

Graham Watson, Liberal Democrat MEP for South West England and Gibraltar, has received a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2011.

He’s listed under Knights Bachelor – Knighthoods:

Graham Robert WATSON, MEP. For public and political services.

Congratulations, Sir Graham!

Also:

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 8 Comments
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