Tag Archives: labour

Mark Pack

Opinion: Leaderless parties don’t make for good partners in hung Parliaments

By Mark Pack | Tue 14th January 2014 - 12:30 pm

Ed-Balls-and-Ed-Miliband-006The recent Twitter-flirtation between Nick Clegg and Ed Balls was in itself not hugely significant, even if it was a welcome burst of public banter taking the place of off-the-record briefings.

Politicians, after all, manage to be polite to each other far more often than Prime Minister’s Questions might suggest, and the ability to behave (occasionally) like a well-mannered, polite adult is part of what makes them politicians who get insulted in the comments on blogs rather than commenters who insult politicians  in the comments on blogs.

However it is symptomatic also …

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Posted in Op-eds | 16 Comments
Mark Valladares

Opinion: as Labour and the Conservatives play “Find the Lady” on immigration, what are we to do?

By Mark Valladares | Sun 12th January 2014 - 11:45 am

I must admit that the whole immigration debate bemuses me. As Labour and the Conservatives compete for the prize of being ‘not quite as tough on migrants as UKIP want to be’, some of my fellow Liberal Democrats respond by only talking of the benefits of migration, making the mistake of assuming that there is a rational debate to be had there.

The problem is that there isn’t – not now, at least. Instead, I suggest a different approach – holding the other three parties to account over their proposals. You see, I have concluded that most of the proposals will …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 28 Comments
Caron Lindsay

The battle for pensioners’ votes begins with Cameron on Liberal Democrat turf

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 5th January 2014 - 11:35 am

The latest Ashcroft polling shows that the Conservatives have a long way to go to be within a shout of victory, with 37% of those who voted Tory saying at the moment that they would not do so if there were an election tomorrow. It’s hardly surprising, then, that David Cameron kicks off the next stage in the 2015 election campaign, in an interview with today’s Sunday Times (£), by pledging to stick to one of the Coalition’s most successful policies through another Parliament.

The Tories have previous for trying to claim the credit for a Liberal Democrat policy. Last …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 20 Comments
The Voice

Hull Labour councillor pledges: “500 Twitter followers and I’ll punch a Lib Dem”

By The Voice | Fri 22nd November 2013 - 10:40 pm

The Hull Daily Mail reports:

A TWITTER row has broken out after a Hull City councillor tweeted he would “punch a Lib Dem in the face” if he reached 500 followers. Labour councillor Chris Sumpton claims the tweet was only meant as a joke but his Liberal Democrat colleagues are furious and are considering taking the matter further.

The issue was raised at yesterday’s full council meeting when an angry Councillor Eliza Mann asked council leader Stephen Brady to condemn the tweet.

But the leader said he couldn’t comment because he wasn’t in possession of the full facts and wasn’t familiar with

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 32 Comments
Sarah Brown

Opinion: Sexist Labour needs All Women Shortlists, the Liberal Democrats can change without them

By Sarah Brown | Wed 30th October 2013 - 6:57 pm

The Independent reported on Sunday that Nick Clegg 2ould consider imposing all women shortlists for the 2020 general election if the party did not select enough women in winnable seats.

I defected from Labour earlier this year and I want to share my experiences of a party that needs to use all women shortlists to select female candidates for parliament and councils.

Earlier this year, Mark Fergusonrightly pointed out on Labourlist  that no women had been selected in open shortlists since before the general election. It pointed out that when local labour parties had the choice between a man and …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 47 Comments
Newsmoggie

Kirsty Williams interview: “Scary” Paddy, women in the Cabinet and the reality of a Labour government

By Newsmoggie | Wed 30th October 2013 - 12:55 pm

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams has given a lively and often funny interview to Total Politics magazine in which she talks about everything from her success in persuading the minority  Labour government in Wales to implement the Pupil Premium.

What happened to the last person who said no to Paddy?

Anyone who knows Kirsty will know how down to earth she is and that comes across very much in the interview. She’s asked about whether she would move to Westminster and said that Paddy Ashdown has already asked that question:

Paddy says I should think about going to London,” Williams reveals. “He’s

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , and | 13 Comments
Ed Davey

Ed Davey MP writes… Labour’s energy policy is a con

By Ed Davey | Thu 17th October 2013 - 11:58 am

Energy-bills-006“There is no such thing as a free lunch” was one of the first things I learnt in economics. But it seems that Ed Miliband thinks there is. He seems to believe that you can have freeze energy prices for 20 months with no adverse impacts. It may have seemed a politically smart thing to do leading into the traditional period of energy price increases. But it is likely to have really harmful consequences. In short, it’s a con.

Many commentators have already pointed out that energy companies will be free to …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 19 Comments
Alisdair Calder McGregor

Opinion: Labour’s energy freeze is terrible economics but excellent politics

By Alisdair Calder McGregor | Wed 25th September 2013 - 10:30 am

Ed Miliband announced in his keynote speech to Labour Party conference that, if elected, he would force energy companies to freeze energy bills for 20 months.

Now obviously, from an economic liberal  perspective, this makes no sense.

Freezing energy costs is precisely the wrong way to go about dealing with the cost of living problem in this country. By freezing income while costs rise in the global upturn & the population expands to require greater supply, Miliband is depriving the energy companies of the capital they need to invest in the expansion of the system.

This will inevitably drive the energy supply industry …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 84 Comments
Joe Otten

That Ed Miliband speech in full…

By Joe Otten | Tue 24th September 2013 - 3:59 pm

milibandThe following arrived in a brown envelope at Lib Dem Voice Towers, this morning. It is probably an early draft.

I want to start by thanking somebody from the bottom of my heart.

Ella Philips, who fell off her bike and called me an action hero who mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. She called me suave and not geeky at all.

I was pretty pleased with this until I realised she was concussed. So I got her to vote in her local constituency candidate selection.

I have emotion that is felt at kitchen tables …

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Posted in Humour | Also tagged | 71 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink…Paddy Ashdown: After the Syria vote, Britain must not sleepwalk into isolationism

By NewsHound | Sun 1st September 2013 - 7:48 pm

Paddy Ashdown has been writing about the implications of the Syria vote for the Guardian’s Comment is Free site. First, he pretty much repeats what he said on Friday:

There are strange paradoxes here. It is possible to be both proud of a parliament that said no to the executive on a matter like military action. But sad; even – dare I say it – a little ashamed at the decision it took.

Of course there are reasons for this. The leftover poisons of the Iraq war; the toxic effect of public distrust in our politics. Mishandling by the government. President Obama’s

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 98 Comments
Nick T

Falling living standards are a problem of Labour’s making

By Nick T | Tue 6th August 2013 - 5:25 pm

Making use of the slowest news month of the year, the Labour party has released details of a report which (shock horror) has shown that living standards have fallen as a result of the financial crisis and subsequent recession.

Of course, they don’t put it quite like that, choosing to blame the coalition rather than the bust they promised would never come. Here’s Chris Leslie, Labour’s shadow financial secretary to the Treasury (presumably Balls is on holiday…):

David Cameron will go down in history as a disastrous Prime Minister for people’s living standards. He is totally out of touch, his economic policies

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 40 Comments
Nick Tyrone

Opinion: Ed’s made a bold move, but he absolutely needs to see it through to the end

By Nick Tyrone | Wed 10th July 2013 - 2:59 pm

As a Lib Dem, I obviously write as neither a Labour party member nor supporter, but I was genuinely stirred by Ed Miliband’s speech at the St Bride Foundation yesterday. It was bold, gutsy and liberal minded – qualities the Labour leader’s critics often accuse him of lacking. The announcement that Ed will push forward plans to change the current arrangements in which all union members across the country are automatically affiliated with the Labour party, to one in which union members will have to voluntarily opt in to Labour affiliation, was brave to say the least. It potentially …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 15 Comments
The Voice

Labour play games on Robin Hood Tax

By The Voice | Wed 19th June 2013 - 1:28 pm

Labour’s attempt to force a vote on a financial transaction tax, outlined in yesterday’s Guardian, appears to be more of a ruse to embarrass the Liberal Democrats than a serious attempt to develop a consensus on the issue. The SNP used to habitually put forward motions in the Scottish Parliament aimed at splitting the Labour/Liberal Democrat Government. It’s just something that happens.

The reality is that things change on this over time, by painstaking negotiation, not by a mischief making motion in Parliament. We know that the idea of such a tax sits well with Liberal Democrats. Vince Cable has …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 13 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Keep the faith: Liberal Democrats are doing good things in Government, not that you’d know it from today’s headlines

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 1st April 2013 - 1:25 pm

Liberal Democrats have taken a pounding across the Labour supporting media over the past few days. Article after soundbite condemns the welfare reforms which come into effect from now. It’s been a clever, co-ordinated onslaught which seems aimed at demoralising Liberal Democrat members and activists rather than opposing the changes themselves. After all, I haven’t heard Ed Miliband promise to repeal any of them. And we have to remember that it was the Labour Government who introduced Local Housing Allowance – the Bedroom Tax of the private sector.

Where have the Liberal Democrat MPs and key figures been?

That Labour would use …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 56 Comments
Helen Duffett

Vince Cable on Labour’s opposition day debate on Mansion tax

By Helen Duffett | Mon 11th March 2013 - 8:55 pm

This evening, the Liberal Democrats have confirmed they won’t vote for Labour’s mischievous Opposition Day debate on mansion tax, instead tabling a Coalition amendment stating our support for the mansion tax and the Conservatives’ opposition to it. Vince Cable, architect of the mansion tax, has issued a statement explaining why:

This amendment allows Liberal Democrats in Parliament to back our long-held policy of the mansion tax. We created it and will continue to champion it.

The amendment also makes it clear that although we are in coalition with the Conservatives, we have different views on the desirability of a mansion tax.

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , and | 66 Comments
David Hennigan

Northern council cuts are Labour’s choice – it’s that straightforward!

By David Hennigan | Fri 18th January 2013 - 8:52 am

Manchester City Hall - some rights reserved by nik_doofA New Year, same pain is the message coming from Labour Councils – mainly in the North. Looking at my old stomping ground of Levenshulme, Manchester – the cuts beggar belief. Labour’s slash and burn approach to Municipal Governance has come to the fore. Levenshulme has fought off attempts to close their swimming baths three times – now the campaigners are out in force as Labour tries again.

A letter written by the Labour Leaders of Liverpool, Sheffield and

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Posted in Local government and News | Also tagged | 28 Comments
The Voice

LibLink… Nick Clegg: Labour need to tell us what they would cut

By The Voice | Wed 2nd January 2013 - 2:41 pm

Nick Clegg has issued a challenge to Labour in today’s Times. Rather than, he says, oppose every single cut the Coalition has made, Labour should be saying what they would cut to pay for their policy priorities. If Labour want benefits to rise at the rate of inflation, then they need to spell out exactly how they would pay for it.

Firstly, he talks about what the Coalition has achieved for economic growth, and how it has been pragmatic on cutting the deficit, changing its plans as the global economic circumstances changed:

Here in the UK we have now paid off around

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , and | 90 Comments
Tim Purkiss

Opinion: Can Labour be trusted on mental health?

By Tim Purkiss | Wed 21st November 2012 - 8:55 am

In my last two articles for Liberal Democrat Voice I wrote about the current under provision in mental health treatment in the country and why it is important that properly addressing mental health is brought into the political mainstream.

Thankfully in recent weeks this has started to happen. Of course there was Ed Miliband’s speech to the Royal College of Psychiatrists in which he spoke of the need for improved provision in mental health treatments across the country. Many people will of course welcome this state of affairs and it is encouraging if Miliband is intending to put improved …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 4 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.

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

Spotted outside Labour Conference – a reminder of how Lib Dems cut taxes for poorest

By NewsHound | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 1:23 pm

Labour conference delegates and Manchester residents will see an interesting sight as they pass the Conference Centre.

With many thanks to Liberal Democrat Kat Dadswell for tweeting the picture, the Voice brings to you:

 

After Ed Miliband’s “one nation” speech yesterday, the Liberal Democrats fight back with a graphic demonstration of how much income tax has been cut for those earning the minimum wage. Struggling low paid workers handed £1018 to Alistair Darling in 2010. Their tax bill will be just £573 in 2013.

This is part of the Fairer …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 17 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Mick Taylor
    @Russell. The UK already has almost the worst state pensions in Europe even with the triple lock. We pay out millions in supplementary pensions, housing benefit...
  • William Wallace
    Jana: Investing in strong research and development in key sectors (which is where China is soaring ahead), rebuilding training, apprenticeships and early edu...
  • David Raw
    @ Russell "First, by dumping the triple lock". Are you sure you've posted this on the correct website, Russell ? In the meantime I sincerely hope you never ...
  • Laurence Cox
    Our motto should be "not just higher taxes but fairer taxes". Individuals should be taxed exactly the same on their income whether that comes from earned income...
  • Russell
    By committing to not raising the 3 main taxes but then raising taxes by over £70bn on stupid taxes Labour have done a lot of unnecessary damage to the UK econo...