Tag Archives: Ming Campbell

James King

Opinion: Four point plan for a liberal, democratic Europe

By James King | Sat 27th October 2012 - 2:35 pm

Europe is rising up the political agenda. It’s an issue that could bring down David Cameron or break-up the coalition. Yet the Liberal Democrats are strangely silent. The EU didn’t appear on the Brighton conference agenda and we no longer have a Minister in the Foreign Office. We need to develop a vision for a liberal, democratic EU and get smart about fighting for it.

Here’s my four point plan:

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 47 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Ming Campbell – Afghanistan: We have to see it through till 2014

By NewsHound | Mon 24th September 2012 - 5:00 pm

Former Lib Dem leader Sir Ming Campbell has taken to the pages of the Independent to set out his views on British troop involvement in Afghanistan, and the need to be realistic about the speed at which British troops can be withdrawn from Helmand. Here’s an excerpt:

It is naive to suggest that, even if we began today, we could be out by Christmas. Withdrawal of nearly 10,000 troops and their equipment is not achieved by waving a wand. During any withdrawal, forces are at their most vulnerable. What additional protection measures would be required? What equipment would we be able

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Paul Walter

Menzies Campbell in celebration of Olympians in Parliament

By Paul Walter | Thu 2nd August 2012 - 10:54 am

BBC Parliament has shown a documentary, “First past the post”, which celebrates parliamentarians who are Olympians. Needless to say, our own Sir Menzies Campbell, once one of the fastest men on the planet, is featured liberally in the programme.

Menzies reveals the exotic mixture which his mother used to feed him on race days, and shows viewers his old team blazer. He tells us he can still get into it, but the buttons don’t do up.

Until the end of …

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Stephen Tall

Lib Dems push Coalition to abandon ‘Moscow criterion’ in latest anti-Trident move

By Stephen Tall | Sun 20th May 2012 - 8:55 am

Writing in the Financial Times, former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell has urged Britain to drop the so-called ‘Moscow criterion’ — which commits us to maintaining an independent nuclear deterrent capable of obliterating the Russian capital — in order to open up the possibilities of a more targeted, and cheaper, nuclear alternative to the renewal of Trident:

Nuclear weapons have no intrinsic merit. Their significance is in deterrence. If you ever have to use them it can only be because they have failed in their primary purpose. But nuclear policy ought always to be assessed in its political context. It is

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 7 Comments
Nick T

Lib Dems fight to halt extradition of Richard O’Dwyer

By Nick T | Thu 19th April 2012 - 3:57 pm

The Guardian reports:

The government is coming under cross-party pressure from within the coalition to stay the extradition of a Sheffield student who founded a website sharing links to TV shows, and to review the US extradition treaty in the wake of the case.

The home secretary Theresa May signed an extradition order last month for Richard O’Dwyer, 23, to be sent to the US, where he faces 10 years in high-security prison.

O’Dwyer founded a website, tvshack.net, in 2007, which acted as a search engine for people to find out where they could watch and in some cases download popular TV shows, typically programmes

…

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Stephen Tall

Labour’s not-so-very-local election broadcast shows how unimportant local decision-making is to Ed Miliband’s party

By Stephen Tall | Wed 11th April 2012 - 7:58 pm

Tonight’s Labour local election broadcast, starring telly’s very own Lord (Robert) Winston, climaxes with the rallying cry:

On Thursday May 3rd, vote NHS, vote Labour

Exactly how voting Labour then will help the NHS isn’t explored — not surprisingly, because it won’t. There’s a reason these elections are called local elections, after all.

Before highlighting Labour’s misleading tactics I thought I should first check out the Lib Dem record on fighting local elections. I have to say I was expecting to find comparable examples, times when the party leadership had called …

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

Nick Clegg and Ming Campbell add their tributes to David Walter

By Mary Reid | Fri 30th March 2012 - 2:55 pm

From Nick Clegg:

 This is such sad news. I knew David for years and he was widely loved and admired in the party. He was a gentle and patient man with great integrity and an impressive career in journalism. 

I will always remember him for his great sense of humour at the most difficult or challenging times. He will be hugely missed by all of us in the party and our thoughts are with his family.

From Ming Campbell:

David Walter was a professional to his fingertips. He was universally respected and admired by his fellow journalists and held in great affection by the Liberal

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

LDVideo: Ming Campbell – House of Lords reform part of Lib Dem DNA

By Stephen Tall | Tue 28th February 2012 - 6:50 pm

Here’s a clip of former Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Menzies Campbell declaring reform of the unelected upper house — that century-old piece of ‘unfinished business’ — is an innate part of what defines Liberal Democrats:

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Linda Jack

Opinion: What price democracy in the Lib Dems?

By Linda Jack | Thu 2nd February 2012 - 6:02 pm

Over the past 21 months I have had many moments when I have felt close to despair about the behaviour of our parliamentarians. Sometimes, like voting in favour of tuition fees, they can rightly point to the Coalition Agreement – endorsed overwhelmingly – as Nick Clegg observed at the time – by a North Korean like Special Conference. Other times, like voting against party policy on Legal Aid and Welfare Reform – there is no such defence. Last night calls into question the fundamental values and principles of our party, not just in terms of flying in the face of …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 133 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Sir Menzies Campbell asks for Scottish members’ views on Home Rule

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 25th January 2012 - 7:55 pm

Late last year, Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie appointed North East Fife MP and former leader Sir Menzies Campbell to chair a Commission on Home and Community Rule to set out exactly how a liberal Scotland would divide up government power. Uniquely, our party looks at ways of devolving power from as well as to Holyrood.

Sir Menzies today e-mailed Scottish members to let them know he wants their views and outlining plans for a consultative session  at the Party’s Inverness conference in March. (Should you wish to attend, please note that the deadline to register at the cheaper …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 13 Comments
Stephen Tall

And the most-mentioned Lib Dems of 2011 were…

By Stephen Tall | Sat 31st December 2011 - 7:55 am

Two Lib Dem ministers made it into the top 10 of most-mentioned politicians in the national print media in 2011. Not surprisingly, one was Nick Clegg, the Deputy PM; the other was Chris Huhne, energy and climate change secretary.

Here’s the graphic which shows them placed 4th and 10th respectively:

Two Lib Dems also made it into the list of top 10 backbenchers who appeared in the national print media in 2011. Ming Campbell and David Laws popped up at 9th and 10th respectively (42nd and …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
Michael Moore

Michael Moore MP writes: I am not your average unionist

By Michael Moore | Wed 21st December 2011 - 3:55 pm

In politics, as in other walks of life, labels matter. By accident or design, for good or for ill, they shape our identity — sometimes in our own eyes, but just as importantly in the eyes of others.

For all of us, our identity starts with where we belong. For my part I am a Borderer; a Scot; and British. Perhaps less fashionably but a long-held principle, I am comfortable that I am a European, too.

Beyond that, I am unashamedly a democrat, a liberal and an internationalist. But last week there was a stir in some parts of the media when …

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

Was there a Clegg coup? Review of The Clegg Coup – Britain’s First Coalition Government Since Lloyd George by Jasper Gerard

By Mark Pack | Wed 23rd November 2011 - 9:54 am

Many book titles reveal little about what their book contains, either providing but a banal name for its contents or a clever, clever name which obscures rather than reveals. However, The Clegg Coup – Britain’s First Coalition Government Since Lloyd George by Jasper Gerard has a title which is revealing in two aspects. First, the way general accuracy in the book is marred by detailed slips – for whilst the general point of the title is true, with the May 2010 coalition being the UK’s first peacetime coalition in Westminster since before 1939, the title does not use the …

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Stephen Tall

Clegg orders fresh review of extradition laws headed by Ming

By Stephen Tall | Sat 19th November 2011 - 4:15 pm

It’s two-and-a-half years since Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader publicly stood up on behalf of Gary McKinnon, a computer hacker wanted to by the US authorities under controversial extradition laws:

The Americans are hell-bent on extradition and making an example of him. He was told if he sat back, pleaded guilty and said nothing about his extradition, he could end up doing a shorter sentence in a British prison. But because he exercised his basic right to challenge his extradition, he’s now classed as a terrorist. … No fewer than three Labour home secretaries have played their part in

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Stephen Tall

Willie Rennie apologises for ‘unintentional offence’ of Lib Dems’ Alex Salmond cartoon

By Stephen Tall | Thu 3rd November 2011 - 7:15 am

Some embarrassment for Willie Rennie, MSP and leader of the Scottish Lib Dems, this week following the publication by party staff of a cartoon satirising First Minister Alex Salmond’s hailing of the similarities between Scotland and Qatar:

The Stv website takes up the story:

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Posted in Scotland | Also tagged , and | 16 Comments
The Voice

Ming to head up Scottish Lib Dems’ Home Rule Commission

By The Voice | Wed 2nd November 2011 - 7:06 am

As the Scottish Lib Dems’ website announces:

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP has announced that former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell MP will chair the Home Rule Commission, set up to develop a blueprint for Home Rule in Scotland. The party’s Scottish conference in Dunfermline last month voted to establish a Commission to look at a settled distribution of powers between London, Edinburgh and local councils. Sir Menzies will join other Liberal Democrats to set out a long-term vision for a strong Scotland within the UK and powerful local communities in every part of Scotland.

Here’s what …

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Posted in News and Scotland | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

House of Lords reform: the next steps

By Mark Pack | Sat 24th September 2011 - 9:55 am

As I mentioned when blogging Ming Campbell’s speech from Liberal Democrat conference, the motion in favour of Lords reform was passed overwhelmingly.

That in itself was not a surprise, but that does not mean actually securing Lords reform will be easy. Two immediate ways you can support the campaign for House of Lords reform are:

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Mark Pack

Ming Campbell urges Lib Dem peers to back Lords reforms

By Mark Pack | Fri 23rd September 2011 - 10:55 am

One of the speakers in the Lords reform debate at Liberal Democrat conference was former party leader Ming Campbell, who not only backed the plans for elections to a reformed upper house but also directly addressed the Lib Dem peers who have been talking of opposing the introduction of elections:

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Stephen Tall

LDVideo at Conference | Farron on ‘Tory bashing’, Lamb on NHS reforms, and Ming on the Euro

By Stephen Tall | Wed 21st September 2011 - 10:15 am

At Birmingham and so missing out on how the Lib Dem conference is being reported? Not at Birmingham and so missing out on seeing Lib Dem MPs and government ministers up close and personal? We hope these videos will help re-connect you…

Tim Farron’s Tory-bashing


(Available on the BBC website here.)

Norman Lamb on NHS changes

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

News in Brief: Ming savages Danny, ‘Parenting Matters’, and Don Foster on “rodents with wings”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 6th August 2011 - 6:55 pm

Former party leader Ming Campbell is apparently furious with fellow Scottish Lib Dem, Danny Alexander, according to the Telegraph.

The two MPs are, it appears, at each others’ metaphorical throats over the handing over to the British army of RAF Leuchars in Fife (Ming’s patch), while RAF Lossiemouth in Moray (Danny’s neighbouring patch) — though it should be noted that RAF Kinloss, also close to Danny’s own consituency, will suffer the same fate as Leuchars.

The Telegraph quotes Ming implying with scarcely veiled fury that Danny’s intervention in the defence …

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

Labour and the SNP’s judgement in Megrahi case completely wrong – Campbell

By Mark Pack | Mon 7th February 2011 - 8:25 pm

Lib Dem MP and member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Ming Campbell has been commenting on the revelations about the Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi case:

The Labour government completely failed to take into account the horrific nature of the crime, the consequences and the sentence imposed when it took the view that it could assist the release of Mr Megrahi.

Equally in Scotland, the Justice Secretary failed to take account of these three significant factors when reaching a conclusion about the exercise of compassion.

If both had paid proper attention, the Labour government would not have been so embroiled and the Scottish

…

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Posted in News and Scotland | Also tagged | 9 Comments
Mark Pack

Tuition fees: which way will MPs vote on Thursday?

By Mark Pack | Mon 6th December 2010 - 6:36 pm

Today saw a weird piece of media face with an impostor conning several news outlets into reporting that Edinburgh West MP Mike Crockart was going to resign as a PPS and vote against the tuition fees increase. The impostor even got as far as being interviewed by the BBC on the World at One before the hoax was rumbled. His office said that, “Mike is still waiting to see what the final offer will be before he votes and that has always been our line”.

(Ironically just before this took place, I was in Millbank to appear on the BBC’s …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , and | 76 Comments
Mark Pack

Trident: no renewal this Parliament

By Mark Pack | Tue 19th October 2010 - 9:53 pm

The BBC reports that the predicted policy has won the day:

The government says £750m ($1.2bn) will be saved over four years on the Trident nuclear deterrent missile system by cutting the number of warheads on each boat from 48 to 40 and reducing the number of missile tubes from 12 to eight. The UK’s nuclear warhead stockpile will be cut from 160 to less than 120. The final “main gate” spending decision on Trident will also be delayed until 2016 – after the next general election.

Party President Ros Scott has emailed party members, saying

Trident will not be renewed

…

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The Voice

Ming on university funding: new system may gain his support

By The Voice | Sat 18th September 2010 - 6:45 am

Former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell was one of the party’s first MPs to indicate unhappiness with the Coalition’s programme for government, stating he would vote against any increase in student tuition fees that October’s Browne review on university funding might recommend. Under the terms of the Coalition agreement, Lib Dem MPs were supposed only to abstain on any such measure.

However, this week’s Times Higher Education Supplement indicates that the Coalition’s proposals for a graduate contribution may just be enough to win Ming over:

Speaking in the run-up to the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool starting on 18 September,

…

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Stephen Tall

“When two ride astride, one must ride behind”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 1st August 2010 - 9:45 am

Okay, the poster’s exactly 100 years old – and the issue highlighted here is Asquith’s Liberal government’s attempts to reform the House of Lords – but somehow it was the caption which to me seemed to resonate down the years into these Coalition days:


(From the LSE archives: COLL MISC 0519-053).

For others it may bring to mind Ming Campbell’s nag in Five Days that Changed Britain: “If you have a dog… for long enough, eventually you begin to look like your pet. Well, if you have a coalition …

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Posted in Humour | Also tagged | 10 Comments
The Voice

Ming: Trident must be included in Strategic Defence Review

By The Voice | Fri 30th July 2010 - 3:02 pm

A press release arrives in the Lib Dem Voice in-tray:

Commenting on George Osborne’s announcement that the Ministry of Defence will be responsible for the cost of replacing Trident, Liberal Democrat MP, Sir Menzies Campbell said:

“This confirmation of what had already been predicted makes it essential that the case for like-for-like replacement of Trident should, as the Liberal Democrats have agreed, be part of the Strategic Defence Review.

“How can you possibly take on such a large financial commitment as Trident without considering the military and political implications?

“If fierce cuts are to be made in Britain’s conventional forces, surely we have

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 24 Comments
Stephen Tall

When is a rebellion not a rebellion?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th July 2010 - 7:30 pm

The Coalition decision to raise VAT was, by some measure, the most controversial aspect of the Government’s first budget. In our recent survey of party members, 42% opposed the move, though 48% endorsed it (however reluctantly) to deal with the deficit.

The party’s MPs have also been wrestling with the issue. The VAT increase was debated on Tuesday night in the Commons – in the end only Colchester’s Bob Russell from the Lib Dems voted against the Government, siding with a Labour amendment.

As Jim Pickard in the FT notes, St Ives MP Andrew George, and four other Lib …

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , , and | 13 Comments
Mark Pack

The coalition agreement: transport & universities and further education

By Mark Pack | Sun 6th June 2010 - 5:50 pm

Welcome to the twentieth and last (phew!) in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here.

Traditionally the transport sections of party manifestos contain commitments to various expensive, long-term public expenditure projects. In the current financial climate it is no surprise that the coalition agreement’s transport section is rather heavy on matters of regulation and bureaucracy and rather light on directly spending money to improve transport.

So we have a promise to “make Network Rail more accountable to its customers”, a commitment to “fair pricing for rail travel”, a …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 5 Comments
Helen Duffett

Daily View 2×2: 28 May 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 28th May 2010 - 7:00 am

As Big Ben chimes seven, it’s time to celebrate the day 151 years ago, that the famous bell was drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses from Whitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster.

To show that cuts in Westminster are nothing new, the cost of the bell was reduced by recycling the metal from the previous, faulty bell:

George Mears, then the master bellfounder and owner of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, undertook the casting. According to foundry records, Mears originally quoted a price of £2401 for casting the bell, but this was offset to the sum of £1829 by the metal he was able to reclaim from the first bell so that the actual invoice tendered, on 28th May 1858, was in the sum of £572.

If you’d like to know what Big Ben itself has to say today, you can follow it on Twitter: @big_ben_clock.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

2 Big Stories

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Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Tim Farron runs for deputy leader; Campbell and Munt back him

By Mark Pack | Thu 27th May 2010 - 1:14 pm

News from the Tim Farron campaign camp:

Following the announcement by Vince Cable that he will be stepping down as Deputy Leader to concentrate on his new role as Secretary of State for Business, Tim Farron MP has been urged by colleagues to stand for the position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Commenting Tim said:

“Having served as Vince Cable’s PPS during his eight glorious weeks as acting leader, I am fully aware of what a difficult act he will be to follow and I’m so grateful to Vince for what he has achieved in the role.

“His new …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 33 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Ben Wood
    It is such sad news. I was lucky to get to know Micheal over the last few years (working on a book project for the John Stuart Mill Institute). He reaffirmed fo...
  • Ed Sanderson
    Very sad news. I remember many a lively evening of erudite discussion in Leeds - Michael was a true intellect - and a genuinely warm soul. My condolences to his...
  • Jack
    This is bang on. What is the point of a liberal party that won't stand up for rights, especially when both government and opposition want to make hay out of div...
  • Matt (Bristol)
    I totally understand this is a key issue for many Lib Dems (and I'm not speaking for Lib Dems myself, I'm an ex-member). But I don't understand how this 'vangua...
  • John Grout
    Fully agree with all of this. I've seen a few MPs' Pride Month posts reference Section 28 abolition and Same-Sex Marriage - we need to start talking about this...