Tag Archives: iain dale

Mark Pack

Conservatives keep their funding secret – again

By Mark Pack | Tue 28th November 2006 - 9:33 pm

Today’s headlines have been caught by the massive debts run up by the Conservative and Labour parties.

Full marks in the irony department to Tory HQ for unveiling a website calling people in debt tossers just before the publication of figures showing their own huge debts.

Buried in the figures are a few interesting snippets, such as the Tory party’s reliance on a £3.6 million loan from an overseas company – and as it is based in the British Virgin Islands, it has to publish almost no information about its activities.

So once again they’ve been using a funding method which allows them to …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 12 Comments
Alex Foster

Tory “Tosser” Furore

By Alex Foster | Fri 24th November 2006 - 10:31 pm

So, here’s the story: the Tories launch a rather lurid website about the problem of personal debt in which they label the financially incontinent “tossers.”

A few Lib Dems (Nich, and Jonathan Wallace) wonder whether really that’s the sort of language a political party ought to be using to refer to voters. Even Vince Cable condemns it with some rather choice words. And there are plenty of Tories who aren’t that keen either – as Paul Walter points out.

That nice Iain Dale weighs in with “My party right or wrong,” and a reference to …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 12 Comments
The Voice

Toksvig to stand for Lib Dems?

By The Voice | Wed 22nd November 2006 - 12:33 pm

Top Lib Dem blog Hot Ginger & Dynamite reports that Iain Dale reports that Sandi Toksvig may stand for the Lib Dems at the next General Election.

UPDATE: Local officials have confirmed Toksvig did NOT apply for Meon Valley, and that she is not on the approved candidates list.

Posted in News and Selection news | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
Mark Pack

BBC exposes Tory MP’s links to funding scandal

By Mark Pack | Sat 11th November 2006 - 7:50 pm

J KirkbrideThe role of the Midlands Industrial Council in funding Conservative party activity has been bubbling away as a controversy for some time.

In essence, by giving money to the MIC rather than directly to the Conservative party, it has allowed big donors to remain anonymous. The MIC in turn, after receiving these anonymous donations, funds Conservative campaigning. After public pressure, they’ve published a one-off list of their currently active members – but won’t say who else has given money in the past or that they’ll publish names of new donors in the …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 13 Comments

Mark Oaten speaks to Iain Dale

By the founding editor | Tue 7th November 2006 - 12:33 pm

OatenLast night conservative commentator Iain Dale conducted an hour long interview with Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten on 18 Doughty Street. You can find it at:

http://www.18doughtystreet.com/blog/?page_id=174

The first 25 minutes cover Mark himself, the remainder of the time discussing broader liberal politics.

Have you watched it? What do you think? There’s a short audio-only teaser below. Click ‘play now’.

Posted in News | Also tagged | 9 Comments

Sandra Gidley attacks Liberal Democrat manifesto writers

By the founding editor | Thu 2nd November 2006 - 1:11 pm

Iain Dale has pointed out an interesting exchange in Westminster Hall on Monday.

Mr. O’Brien: It has been reported to me, although the hon. Lady (Sandra Gidley) might want to suggest that it is a misquote, that at the last Liberal Democrat conference—amazingly, I was not there—the hon. Lady called her party’s policy of free personal care “dishonest”, because people thought that their accommodation costs would also be paid for, which is certainly not the case.

…

Sandra Gidley: The hon. Gentleman has quoted me correctly. I think that we should have been more open about what our policy did. That is …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 6 Comments

Do you have lots of time on your hands? Want to go on Internet telly? 18 Doughty Street needs YOU

By the founding editor | Mon 23rd October 2006 - 12:13 pm

An e-mail from Iain Dale of Internet Telly (it’s the future) station, 18 Doughty St:

I’m keen to get a list of LibDem bloggers who would be available on Monday evenings, which is where I have a panel of bloggers from all three parties to discuss blog issues and the week ahead. Can you advertise it on LibDem Voice and ask people to email me [email protected]? We’d need people from 8.30pm till 10pm.

Vox Politix is the least rabidly Tory of the programmes I’ve watched so far, and unlike most of 18 Doughty St’s other programming it isn’t …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 14 Comments

Can you spare £30, gov? Lib Dems biggest donor was “entirely fraudulent and had never traded”

By the founding editor | Thu 12th October 2006 - 11:28 am

Times OnlineThe Times reports today:

“THE business that gave the largest financial gift to the Liberal Democrats was entirely fraudulent and had never traded, a High Court judge ruled yesterday.”

and:

“The Electoral Commission, which polices political donations, said last night that it will study the judgment in detail. It has the power to ask the courts to force parties to surrender gifts. Under election law, corporate donations may be accepted only from companies “carrying on business” in Britain.”

Rather hilariously, Iain Dale interprets this as “LibDems Stare Bankruptcy in the face.” Two things on that.

1) If we were forced to repay all of the donations, that would require each Lib Dem member to fork out about £30 to get the party out of a hole. I’d open my chequebook now. The major party donors would do the same, I’m sure.

2) Our party is the only one of the big three that ended its last reporting period solvent. Unlike Labour and the Conservatives, we don’t have eye-watering debts beyond our wildest dreams. We can find £2.5m in extreme circumstances.

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Op-eds | 21 Comments

Big applause to Ros Taylor

By the founding editor | Fri 29th September 2006 - 2:30 pm

The Guardian’s Ros Taylor, hated by Guido Fawkes (and thus I am immediately a fan), has been writing spoof diaries from all the party conferences. They are genius.

Their mastery is that they are always just believable if you don’t read them too closely. So far, to my knowledge she has caught out me (though I mercifully didn’t blog it!), blogger and flirt of the year Stephen Tall, and even the Blogosphere’s very own Iain Dale. There but for the grace of God…

Posted in News | Also tagged | 2 Comments
Alex Foster

Alex and the Blogging Queen

By Alex Foster | Wed 20th September 2006 - 5:26 pm

Alex Foster took the opportunity of eight minutes alone in a quiet corridor with Iain Dale to check his linguistic skills – and received an interesting proposition.

Posted in News and Podcasts | 2 Comments

Ditch the pigeon?

By the founding editor | Thu 14th September 2006 - 11:02 am

Iain Dale has seen the Tory logo future, and it’s… scribbled.

Some months ago I was sat in a pub in Bath, with a friend who was hovering on the brink of becoming a Liberal Democrat party member. He’s on board with our policies, believes in personal liberty, cherishes civil rights. A natural Lib Dem. “There is just one thing I wish you guys would change, though”, “what’s that?”, “your stupid logo – what’s that all about, then? it’s been around for ages.”

Libby. The Bird of Liberty. In her day she was young, thin, and beautiful, then time passed and she put on weight, and there were even rumours she had passed on.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 28 Comments

Countdown to conference

By the founding editor | Sun 10th September 2006 - 11:30 pm

“What are you doing in here? are you bored?” – the words of a friend of mine as he slumped in to the adjacent chair at the back of the conference hall in the Blackpool Winter Gardens in September last year.

My friend had been on one of his annual conference rituals – the exhibition freebie run. The star prize of an Electoral Commission anorak had eluded him, but he was content enough with his Local Government Association biro and mints, and his BBC keyring.

He’d done better than me – my trawl of the exhibition had turned up only a copy of the latest DELGA newsletter and a cold stare from someone I’d chatted up the night before, tempted back to my hotel room (for a stimulating discussion of the General Election manifesto, obviously), and promptly fallen asleep on.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged | 9 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • David Allen
    The deafening silence about who might be a good new LD leader tells its own story. A leadership change is a big opportunity for a party to reposition itself an...
  • Neil Hickman
    For good reason, Town Council byelections normally aren't included. But I think the result in Uckfield West is worth noting. Straight fight between the Lib Dem...
  • Peter Martin
    LibDems aren't invisible. If you were, you wouldn't have 72MPs and thousands of councillors. You don't have more because yourselves and the Labour Party aren't ...
  • Kevin Hawkins
    Here is my usual monthly summary of the last fifty local by-elections. Percentage Vote Share: Reform 24.46%, Labour 18.81%, Conservatives 17.13%, Liberal ...
  • David Raw
    In Sheffield Southey (Brightside constituency) the Lib Dem vote has dropped by half to a mere 2.2% and fifth place. Is it not a cause for concern that in 20...