Tag Archives: featured

Opinion: New Labour, New Machiavelli?

By David Rundle | Sat 23rd October 2010 - 4:55 pm

What has already become the best-known anecdote in Jonathan Powell’s The New Machiavelli is a snippet of conversation he had with his then master, Tony Blair. Powell asked him how he could put up with having a three-hour conversation with Gordon Brown, to which Blair responded by asking him whether he had ever been in love. ‘“Not with a man”, I replied’ — and we know he was lying. This book is testimony to his devotion to Blair.

It is, for sure, a curious billet doux -– less like a bunch of roses than a handful of thorns. Comparing, however …

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Posted in Books and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Our Christmas presents guide

By Mark Pack | Tue 19th October 2010 - 10:26 am

Wondering what to get people for Christmas presents? Here’s a selection of what various Liberal Democrat bloggers suggest:

Jonathan Calder recommends Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music by Rob Young: “Anyone with an interest in folk music will find this book engrossing. Young traces the rise of the genre from Cecil Sharp and other Edwardian song collectors like Ralph Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth, through the post-war radialism of Ewan MacColl and Charles Parker, to its electronic heyday in the hands of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. He finds the visionary spirit living on in unlikely artists such as …

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

“Loathe this government if you will…” – 4 points following on from Julian Glover’s must-read Guardian article

By Stephen Tall | Mon 18th October 2010 - 7:45 pm

Julian Glover, writing for The Guardian’s Comment Is Free, puts forward a trenchantly pro-Coalition, pro-Clegg line — one that’s guaranteed to attract the ire both of Guardianistas, and of some Voice readers, too. This excerpt offers the substnance of his argument:

Loathe this government if you will, but at least acknowledge that neither side in it got all it wanted at the election and that neither has sold out all of its principles. The strangeness of co-operation exposes its component parts to the easiest of attacks: of promising one thing before an election and doing another after it. But as

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 100 Comments
Stephen Tall

EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members think about Browne and tuition fees

By Stephen Tall | Sat 16th October 2010 - 8:15 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem party members think of the party’s reponse to The Browne Report into higher education funding and student finance in England. Some 567 party members have responded, and we’ll be publishing the full results of our survey this weekend.

How you want higher education to be funded

First, we asked: How would you prefer higher education is funded?

Here’s what you told us:

  • 54% – Through general taxation (as was the case before 1998)
  • 26% – Tuition fees paid by students after they have graduated according to their earnings

…

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged , , and | 41 Comments
Mark Pack

General Sir Richard Dannatt’s verdict: more cash, more time please

By Mark Pack | Fri 15th October 2010 - 10:25 am

General Sir Richard Dannatt’s memoir of his time in the British army manages somehow to be both fascinating and banal.

Fascinating because of the detail he provides to back-up his severe criticism of Ministry of Defence civil servants and politicians, Labour ones in particular but Gordon Brown above all, for failing to fund the army sufficiently for the jobs they demanded of it. Banal because, despite his long experience of counter-insurgency and peace-keeping operations starting with Northern Ireland in the 1970s, his repeated message through the book is one of ‘give the army more money, give the army more time’.

…

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Posted in Books | Also tagged | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Clegg secures £7 billion extra to fund education for the most disadvantaged – from pre-school through to university

By Mark Pack | Fri 15th October 2010 - 6:25 am

Just as plays have a classic three-act structure, so too do tricky political decisions: first you rule out a potentially popular alternative, then you put out the bad news and finally you sweeten the pill as you try to avert people’s worst fears.

Last weekend saw act one on the tuition fees message, with Vince Cable taking to email to rule out a graduate tax – and trying to pre-empt Labour support for it by emphasising that party’s own previous opposition to the idea. (Given the subsequent news of now Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson’s continued opposition to a …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 32 Comments
Mark Pack

Paperwork gone mad at the Ministry of Justice

By Mark Pack | Wed 13th October 2010 - 10:25 am

Despite the government’s rhetoric of cutting bureaucracy, the Ministry of Justice – one of the largest Whitehall departments and responsible for many important administrative systems – is spectacularly failing to set a good example with its own hugely bureaucratic approach to health and safety when people are driving as part of their work according to information I’ve unearthed in a series of freedom of information requests.

The MoJ has two specially produced full colour booklets, a flowchart, an FAQ document, more than six different forms and training sessions for managers in how to make the whole system work all in the …

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

Government scraps target – Met Police sets up new committee

By Mark Pack | Tue 12th October 2010 - 10:10 am

You might have thought that scrapping central government targets would result in local bodies being able to cut at least some of their own monitoring and reporting setups. But in an Alice in Wonderland style twist, Home Secretary Theresa May’s decision to scrap the “confidence target” for the police has been followed by the Met Police setting up a new “Confidence and Satisfaction Board”.

In June Theresa May announced that the police would be judged on cutting crime, ending both the set of performance targets bundled up as the Policing Pledge and also ending the judging of police by whether or …

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Posted in London and News | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

The Browne Review and university funding: what’s likely to happen next…

By Stephen Tall | Mon 11th October 2010 - 11:57 am

The publication of the Browne Review into university funding has been brought into even sharper focus for Lib Dems by Vince Cable’s email to party members over the weekend ruling out a ‘pure’ graduate tax to replace tuition fees.

This has sparked vigorous debate, both here on Lib Dem Voice, and beyond, with Lib Dem MPs coming under pressure to stick by their pre-election pledge to oppose any increase in tuition fees.

Some of this sound and fury has been overdone. None of us has yet seen the detail of the funding proposals being brought forward by Vince Cable, which …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 41 Comments
Stephen Tall

Mail readers attack paper’s ‘Hypocrisy’ slurs on Nick Clegg

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th October 2010 - 11:35 am

Ah, the Daily Mail and its stable-mate the Mail on Sunday: bastions of enlightened reason and liberal decency. Or something. Today, the paper takes it upon itself to scream ‘Hypocrisy’ at Nick Clegg.

Not on grounds of policy, but because of the options Miriam and he are considering for their eldest child’s school, including a voluntary-aided Catholic school in London, the Oratory: as the Mail so subtly fulminates, ‘Nick Clegg is an atheist whose party doesn’t believe in school selection. So where does he want to send his sons… the same exclusive Catholic school as the Blairs’.

You can gauge the extent of the Mail’s self-righteous fury from the comparison of Nick Clegg to Tony Blair. The only thing missing from the usual Mail checklist-of-outrage is the accusation that Nick Clegg causes cancer. Next week, perhaps.

What do the Mail’s online readers make of the paper’s tirade? Here are the top three ‘best rated’ comments so far submitted:

Why is atheist Nick Clegg considering sending his son to an exclusive Catholic school?
erm – his wife is Catholic.
– Paul, Richmond, 9/10/2010 23:39

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 41 Comments
Stephen Tall

Vince: why I’m saying ‘No’ to the graduate tax

By Stephen Tall | Sat 9th October 2010 - 7:05 pm

Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, has tonight written to all Lib Dem members in anticipation of the publication next week of the report of the Browne Review (‘The Independent Review of Higher Education & Student Finance in the UK’ to give it its official title).

Here’s what Vince has to say:

Dear Friend,

As you know, one of the most urgent tasks facing the Coalition Government is to reform the funding of Higher Education. Our objectives are clear: high-quality university teaching and research; fair access for all, regardless of background; and a progressive funding structure.

At the same time,

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 97 Comments
Mark Pack

Lords reform: 100 years in the making, another 50 to go?

By Mark Pack | Wed 6th October 2010 - 9:27 am

One of the major achievements in the Coalition Agreement is the commitment of the Conservatives to support not merely a “wholly or mainly” elected Upper House but also one elected by proportional representation no less.

The timetable has started to slip, from the original agreement’s decision to “come forward with a draft motions by December 2010” to talk about draft legislation in January and then, slipped in near the end of Nick Clegg’s conference speech, the intention that the first elections will not be held until the latest possible moment while still keeping the commitment to act in this Parliament – …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 15 Comments
Mark Pack

Promising news on welfare spending as major reforms set for go-ahead

By Mark Pack | Sun 3rd October 2010 - 8:57 am

On Friday I mentioned how the old Liberal Democrat policy of integrating and simplifying the tax and benefits systems is getting a revival courtesy of Iain Duncan Smith. The former Conservative leader turned Work and Pensions Secretary has been arguing hard for the funds to introduce a simplified universal benefit that also is more generous than current rules to people in low-paid jobs. This would mean that people who currently find that taking a job makes them worse off, or only marginally better off, than being unemployed thanks to loss of benefits would lose less of their benefits and so …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 24 Comments
Stephen Tall

The Saturday Debate: Local government is to the Lib Dems what the unions are to Labour and big business is to the Tories

By Stephen Tall | Sat 2nd October 2010 - 8:45 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our Saturday slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

I was struck by this recent article by the Economist’s political columnist Bagehot, headlined When progressive actually means misanthropic, reflecting on the Lib Dem conference, and specifically the debate on free schools.

Highlighting that, while the party may have lacked power at Westminster, the Lib Dems have for decades now been a major player in local government, it observes that:

… local government occupies much of the mental space taken up by national politics in the Labour and Conservative parties. … more

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 23 Comments
Mark Pack

Thinking of standing for election or re-election next year? The questions you should ask yourself

By Mark Pack | Fri 1st October 2010 - 10:20 am

Knowing what it takes to be a good candidate and then a good councillor is vital to winning elections – and to then making something out of the opportunity the voters have given you. So here are seven questions to ask yourself if you are thinking of standing in the local elections next May or in a council by-election.

What will you do different from a councillor of another party?
There are decent people who will be conscientious and work hard in (just about) every party. And even in the most rural of wards, there is more than one person who is local to the ward. So what …

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Posted in Local government | 5 Comments
Mark Pack

Has the long-term decline in trust finally bottomed out?

By Mark Pack | Thu 30th September 2010 - 10:27 am

It has been a regular finding of both MORI and YouGov research that the public’s trust in members of different professions has been steadily declining for many years. However, the latest survey from YouGov suggests this decline has stopped, with several professions – including politicians – seeing a recent recovery in their standings.

In 2003 on average 49% of people said they trusted different professions on average to tell the truth a great deal or a fair amount. This fell to 42% in 2006 and 37% in 2007 but was 39% this August. The two point rise is not statistically significant …

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Posted in News and Polls | Also tagged and | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

Dear David Davis…

By Mark Pack | Wed 29th September 2010 - 1:05 pm

Dear David Davis,

You have me confused.

In your speech today you warn against “the destruction of a 200-year-old constitution” and give this as a reason to oppose AV.

But aside from our voting system, there is another part of that 200 year old constitution that is also currently up for change before Parliament.

200 years ago the size of Parliamentary constituencies varied hugely. Much more than 5% or 10% and not simply on islands or in the Highlands. Massive variations were built into the system, specially to protect particular vested interests.

So if you are wanting to protect our 200 year old constitution, I …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 16 Comments
Stephen Tall

Ed Miliband’s leader’s speech: my first impressions

By Stephen Tall | Tue 28th September 2010 - 4:20 pm

Well, that’s one job done: the new Labour leader (but not the New Labour leader: absolutely not) has got through his first, major task: to deliver his speech to the party conference. It seemed to me to best understood as a ‘detoxifying’ speech. Just as David Cameron’s biggest achievement as Tory leader was to make it almost respectable to vote for his party, so was Ed Miliband attempting to cast off the most illiberal and unpopular aspects of the last Labour government (even though he was a member of its cabinet).

Perhaps inevitably this meant the focus of the speech was …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 60 Comments
Stephen Tall

Three key issues facing the new Labour leader, Mr Miliband

By Stephen Tall | Sat 25th September 2010 - 3:35 pm

In an hour’s time we shall know who is the new leader of the Labour party. Though the bookies now make Ed Miliband favourite, my hunch is that older brother David will get the nod, just. We shall soon see. The best guide I’ve read on what to look out for as the votes are announced is over at Next Left; Adam Boulton’s blog also has a good guide to the nuts and bolts of what happens when.

But whichever of the Milibands wins through, here are three issues they will need urgently to address heading into the party’s …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

What did you make of Vince Cable’s speech?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 22nd September 2010 - 2:30 pm

It was the speech which revived the Lib Dem conference, oddly listless after Nick Clegg’s speech on Monday: Vince Cable’s rallying final day speech gave members and activists a real lift, and provided plenty of red meat for the media to chew on. Here’s my first impression…

Perhaps what was most impressive about Vince’s conference speech was how unchanged it was from his usual fare: uncompromising, wise-cracking, punchy, intelligent.

The right-wing media has focused on Vince’s attacks on capitalism, with the Daily Mail in typically shrill mood, and ConservativeHome giving it the silly billing of ‘Red Vince Day’.

That’s the thing about some right-wingers: too often they are unable to see past their own dogma which assumes Big Business must always be right. It’s the same blind spot left-wingers have about the unions.

Liberals — and I’m not using that as a party label because it also encompasses Adam Smith — understand that unfettered capitalism is not the same thing as the free market, and capitalism does not automatically promote market competition. That is why liberals, and Liberal Democrats, believe in a regulated free market, to curb the excesses of capitalism and to promote the interests of healthy market competition from which individuals and society can benefit.

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 68 Comments
Stephen Tall

EXCLUSIVE: Lib Dem party presidency – first poll of Lib Dem members

By Stephen Tall | Tue 21st September 2010 - 12:00 pm

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of the early race for the party presidency, the London mayoral selection, Trident, and the Labour leadership. Over 400 party members have responded, and we’ll be publishing the full results of our survey in the next couple of days.

A fortnight ago, in a surprise announcement, Baroness (Ros) Scott said she would not seek a second term as Lib Dem party president, the only party post other than the Leader directly elected by Lib Dem members. Ever since there has been much speculation about …

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Posted in LDV Members poll and Party Presidency | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

What did you make of Nick Clegg’s conference speech?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 20th September 2010 - 6:05 pm

As the music fades, and the hoardes of conference delegates file out of the Liverpool hall, what did Voice readers make of what he had to say? Here’s my first impression…

First, and above all, this was a sober speech. It wasn’t a barn-stormer, it didn’t grip by the throat or tug the heart-strings. This was a serious analysis of why the Lib Dems have gone into government, and what the party wants to get out of it for the country. Nick was careful to go through the famous four pledges — fair taxes, a fair start for children, a fair …

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Posted in Conference and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 97 Comments
Stephen Tall

Grappling with government: how will we change our minds when the facts change?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 20th September 2010 - 10:28 am

Sky News’s Adam Boulton has an interesting take on this year’s Lib Dem conference:

… there is an overbearing sense of seriousness as the Lib Dems cogitate on the political hand dealt them after the last election. Far from glibly queuing to speak in debates, conference organisers report that party members are hanging back, wanting to listen to the explanations from the leadership.

It’s a perception that perhaps helps explain why there are relatively fewer requests to speak in debates, especially considering how much higher attendance at conference is this year. Most Lib Dem conference delegates choose only to speak in …

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

Blog of the Year Awards 2010: The Winners

By Helen Duffett | Sat 18th September 2010 - 11:26 pm

What’s loosely termed the awards “ceremony” for the 2010 Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards has just drawn to a glittering close. As the last firework fades in Liverpool’s night sky, I’m delighted to announce the winners:

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Posted in Best of the blogs and Conference | Also tagged , , and | 4 Comments
Helen Duffett

Blog of the Year Awards 2010: The Shortlists

By Helen Duffett | Tue 14th September 2010 - 1:00 pm

Nominations for the Liberal Democrats’ Blog of the Year Awards 2010 closed on 27 August. Since then, the judges Prateek Buch, Jonathan Calder, Lee Chalmers, Ryan Cullen, Helen Duffett (that’s me), Costigan Quist, Mary Reid, Jo Swinson and Andy Williamson have been poring over the entries for the six categories.

It’s been a big task, and a fun one, to distil so many excellent examples of Lib Dem blogging and e-campaigning into lists of the five best.

Congratulations if you’ve been shortlisted, but if you haven’t: remember that the shortlists are based on the judges’ subjective opinions. The awards are intended to be a fun way to celebrate the talent in the Lib Dem blogosphere, whilst introducing you to some blogs you might not have read before.

First, a reminder that the winner of the Best non-Liberal Democrat politics blog category will be decided by a public vote here on Liberal Democrat Voice, so please have a read of the nominated blogs and then head on over to the sidebar to cast your vote.

Next, a plug for the awards ceremony itself. If you’re coming to party conference in Liverpool, do come along to Grace Suite 1 at the Hilton Liverpool from 9.45pm on Saturday 18th September.

Now, without further ado, here are the shortlists: (Drumroll, please)

Blank

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Posted in Best of the blogs and Conference | Also tagged | 14 Comments
Stephen Tall

Who would get your vote in the Labour leadership contest?

By Stephen Tall | Mon 13th September 2010 - 7:45 am

The weekend papers were full of speculation about the Labour leadership contest, which as it draws to a close appears to be a nail-bitingly close finish between the Brothers Miliband.

According to pollster YouGov, Ed Miliband is set to sneak victory by the closest of margins after second preferences are taken into account; though the poll didn’t appear to take into account the votes of MPs and MEPs who control one-third of Labour’s electoral college. This is not, after all, a party which believes all votes should be equal, whether in Parliamentary constituencies or in their own leadership race.

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 29 Comments
Stephen Tall

Who do you think should stand for the Lib Dem presidency (and what should they do if elected)?

By Stephen Tall | Sat 11th September 2010 - 6:50 pm

Ros Scott’s announcement that she is standing down from the position of party president has come as a surprise to Lib Dem members.

First, because it has become almost traditional for party presidents to serve two terms — Ros’s three predecessors, Simon Hughes, Lord Dholakia and Lord Maclennan all served two terms each, unchallenged. Secondly, because Ros herself is popular among the party’s grassroots. Though her authority took something of a knock during the MPs’ expenses scandal, the Voice’s most recent survey of party members showed she had a very good net effectiveness rating of +30%.

And, thirdly, because …

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Posted in Party policy and internal matters and Party Presidency | Also tagged , , and | 30 Comments
Stephen Tall

Everybody loves us Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Sat 11th September 2010 - 5:35 pm

I blame the Tories. Ever since David Cameron became their leader, he’s been determined to ‘love-bomb’ the Lib Dems. Love-bombing is the ingenious tactic by which other parties claim to believe in enough Lib Dem policies without, y’know, actually being Lib Dems.

Labour leadership hopeful Ed Miliband was at it last month. Then earlier this week the Greens’ Caroline Lucas made her pitch.

And now it’s the turn of the continuing Liberal Party:

We appreciate over the last few weeks many LibDem Councillors and members have become increasingly uneasy about the coalition government.

The fact that LibDem MP’s will be

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 62 Comments
Stephen Tall

Book review: Campaign 2010 by Nicholas Jones

By Stephen Tall | Sun 5th September 2010 - 3:45 pm

Anyone who has read Nicholas Jones’s previous books – especially Soundbites and Spin Doctors (1995) and Sultans of Spin (1999) – will look forward to a new tome from the BBC’s former political correspondent, who has proved himself to be an acute observer of the Westminster scene, and a fearless revealer of politicians’ trade secrets.

Campaign 2010, Mr Jones’s new work, is billed by publisher Biteback as “political theatre brought to a fresh level”. Can it live up to such hype? Sadly – and it genuinely pains me to say it, as I have high regard for …

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Posted in Books | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

History doesn’t repeat itself: why the Lib Dems won’t split

By Stephen Tall | Sun 29th August 2010 - 2:55 pm

“A healthy pedestrian mowed down by a runaway omnibus” – Trevor Wilson’s metaphor to describe the fall of the Liberal Party between 1916 and 1931 is quoted approvingly by Professor John Shepherd, co-director of the Labour Research Unit at Anglia Ruskin University, in a fascinating article in the summer issue of the Journal of Liberal History.

One of the Coalition memes doing the rounds among some of the commentariat is that, by embarking on a partnership with the Conservatives, the Lib Dems have sealed their own fate, that a split is inevitable. After all, the argument goes, Lloyd George’s …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 86 Comments
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