Tag Archives: nick clegg

Stephen Tall

Can Nick Clegg hold the line on not offering any red lines?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 30th October 2013 - 8:10 pm

For years Lib Dem leaders have been plagued by the question, ‘Who will you support in the event of a hung parliament?’ In 2010, Nick Clegg straight-batted it pretty effectively, saying the Lib Dems would talk first to the party with the most seats and most votes. In 2015 he’ll stick to that trusty formula, with the added credibility of being able to say it’s exactly what he did last time – the voters remain the king-makers etc.

So unsurprisingly journalists have moved on. Their new favourite question, one we’ll hear more and more the close we get to May 2015, …

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Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg backs BBC in a feisty press conference

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 30th October 2013 - 5:25 pm

Nick Clegg on the BBCNick Clegg’s press conference, postponed from Monday because a crane had blown on to the Cabinet Office roof, took place this afternoon and the leader was in fairly sparky form.

Tweets from the BBC’s Chris Mason and ITV’s Carl Dinnen revealed his comments on HS2 where he absolutely savaged Labour’s position, decrying it as miserable, pathetic and a betrayal of the north.

On energy costs, he repeated his assertion that Ed Miliband’s energy bill freeze was a con:

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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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Mary Reid

Nick Clegg’s speech at the PinkNews awards

By Mary Reid | Tue 29th October 2013 - 9:37 am

Last week Nick Clegg was a guest speaker at the inaugural PinkNews Awards, which were held in Parliament. In his speech he referred to the fact that the deputy editor of PinkNews had just proposed to his partner during the ceremony.

You can watch Nick here (if only to find out why Stephen Gilbert was so well placed to rescue a woman from the Thames):

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Caron Lindsay

Is Nick Clegg looking at all-women shortlists for 2020?

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 27th October 2013 - 10:29 am

From today’s Independent:

Nick Clegg is planning to introduce all-women shortlists for the Liberal Democrats if not enough female candidates are selected in winnable seats in 2015.

The radical policy change, which will upset many activists who believe it would go against the party’s constitution, would be introduced in the next Parliament as many candidates have already been selected for the election in 18 months’ time.

Only 12 per cent of Lib Dem MPs are women, and there are none at all from ethnic minorities. Lib Dem sources said a number of “excellent” female and ethnic minority candidates have already been selected

…

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Stephen Tall

Nick (finally) makes his education speech and launches the Coalition’s own ‘Champions League’

By Stephen Tall | Thu 24th October 2013 - 4:45 pm

Five days after it was pre-briefed, Nick Clegg finally made his speech on A Liberal Vision for Education at Morpeth School in Tower Hamlets.

(Morpeth is, by the way, a fantastic school. I visited it for my day-job 18 months ago, and was shown around by two of its pupils, Vanessa and Mahir: the transformational progress of London schools in the past decade is one of the modern wonders of Britain.)

There was little in the speech we didn’t already know. In fact, there was little that wasn’t known last March when Clegg’s “surprise U-turn on free schools” (© …

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The Voice

In Full: Nick Clegg’s speech on education – enabling every child to achieve a happy and fulfilling life

By The Voice | Thu 24th October 2013 - 1:52 pm

Nick Clegg finally gave his much trailed speech on education today. The full version is below. Stephen Tall will give some more detailed commentary later, but for now, here’s a quick summary. There were six main themes

  • Schools should be free from too much Whitehall micromanagement but must meet core standards
  • Positioning Liberal Democrats in centre between Labour who want to interfere in everything and Tories who would be quite happy to have no core standards at all.
  • Parents need reassurance about quality of curriculum, that teachers are qualified and that healthy food is provided whatever type of state funded school their kids

…

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David Laws

David Laws writes… Nick Clegg and I have always been clear that Free Schools must also be fair schools

By David Laws | Tue 22nd October 2013 - 8:51 pm

On Thursday this week, Nick Clegg will set out the Liberal Democrat approach to improving standards in schools.

He will set out what parents and pupils should expect from schools. This is an issue we have worked on together for some time, and which was debated and agreed at our party’s conference this Spring.

The Liberal Democrats are instinctive supporters of freedom, diversity and choice. We believe in giving schools more autonomy and teachers more freedom.

That’s why we have supported extra powers to innovate for free schools and academies and have taken steps in government to extend autonomy for all schools. We …

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Stephen Tall

Two questions journalists aren’t asking about Nick Clegg’s free schools speech

By Stephen Tall | Tue 22nd October 2013 - 10:15 am

Nick Clegg’s speech on free schools – setting out the policy approved by the Lib Dem conference last March – has ruffled feathers. Apparently he and David Cameron even had lunch yesterday to discuss this ‘bombshell’ announcement (which in fact won’t be made until a speech this Thursday).

My view (as I set out here on Sunday) is that schools should have the freedom to appoint teachers who lack formal qualifications, though I’d expect these to be the exceptions not the rule in the vast majority of state-funded schools. But I don’t think it’s at all surprising that Nick …

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Caron Lindsay

Clegg on Murnaghan: Osborne sat there and talked about “your tax threshold policy”

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 20th October 2013 - 12:27 pm

Nick Clegg LBCNick Clegg appeared on Sky News’ Murnaghan programme and took questions on a wide range of subjects. First up was the issue at the top of the headlines today – schools.

He said that his speech didn’t represent a great coalition crisis, that he was purely stating what he had always said and that it’s simply a difference of opinion between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. While he remains a great supporter of freedom and diversity within the schools system, there are three things that he wants to ensure, and that he says the majority of parents expect wherever children receive their state funded education. They are:

  • that the National Curriculum will be taught
  • that teachers will be properly qualified
  • that the food on offer will be of decent quality

He said that the Tories didn’t favour basic standards about those things, but he did and had always made that case in government. He was keen to emphasise that nothing he was saying was new.

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Stephen Tall

Clegg on free schools and National Curriculum: no more, no less than party policy. And that’s for better and worse.

By Stephen Tall | Sun 20th October 2013 - 11:05 am

No-one should be that surprised by Nick Clegg’s decision to distance the Lib Dems from Michael Gove’s schools policies — specifically that every teacher should be qualified and that every school should teach the national curriculum. After all, what Nick is due to set out in a speech this week is the policy that was voted for overwhelmingly by the party’s conference in March this year.

Here’s what the adopted policy – Every Child Taught by an Excellent Teacher – says about teachers in all schools having qualifications:

All classroom teachers, including in academies and free schools and Further Education

…

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The Voice

Nick Clegg pledges parental guarantee to tackle poor standards in free schools

By The Voice | Sun 20th October 2013 - 9:04 am

Clegg WatfordThe Independent on Sunday today reports that Nick Clegg is to criticise Conservative policy on free schools. He will pledge a new parental guarantee in the 2015 Liberal Democrat election manifesto.

It makes no sense to me to have qualified teacher status if only a few schools have to employ qualified teachers.

What’s the point of having a national curriculum if only a few schools have to teach it? Let’s teach it in all our schools.

And what’s the point of having brilliant new food standards if only a few schools have to stick to the rules? Let’s have quality food in all our schools.

If the Lib Dems re-enter government, the guarantee will assure parents that their child will be taught by a qualified a teacher. The schools will have to follow the national curriculum and conform to national nutritional standards for school meals.

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Tsar code of practice could have stopped Nick Clegg’s mistake with Caan

By Ruth Levitt and William Solesbury | Fri 18th October 2013 - 11:30 am

tsar 200The government’s growing use of tsars is not governed by the principles or rules that apply to other advice given to ministers. It is time for a code of practice. That could have shielded Nick Clegg from his mistakes over James Caan.

Nick Clegg has enlisted two social mobility tsars.

He appointed Alan Milburn as his Independent Reviewer on Social Mobility in 2010 and appointed him to the chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission in 2011. (Clegg welcomed the Commission’s report yesterday.)

Two years later, Clegg launched Opening Doors, which aimed to give more young people from poor backgrounds access to work opportunities on merit. In June 2013, he announced the Opening Door Awards and asked businessman James Caan to chair the panel of five judges. The awards are intended to recognise employers’ efforts to take on capable young people whatever their backgrounds; winners will be announced in November 2013.

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Caron Lindsay

Carmichael for leader in 2014? As likely as him giving up booze for a year, I’d say.

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 17th October 2013 - 4:15 pm

Carmichael Mark Darcy blogThere are occasions when political journalists get things so wrong that they make themselves look a bit silly. The BBC’s Mark D’Arcy has made me laugh with his latest blog in which he suggests that new Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael might challenge Nick Clegg for the party leadership if we have a poor showing in the European elections next year, but this would happen some 4 months after the vote.

This is how the theory goes:

Faced with the prospect of devastation at the next general

…

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The Voice

Nick Clegg welcomes Milburn social mobility and child poverty report

By The Voice | Thu 17th October 2013 - 3:09 pm

Oliver TwistPresenting a report laid before parliament today, the coalition’s social mobility tsar Alan Milburn said “child poverty is a problem for working families rather than the workless or the work-shy.”

Entrenched poverty remains a priority for action but transient poverty, growing insecurity and stalling mobility are far more widespread than politicians, employers and educators have so far recognised.

The nature of poverty has changed. Today child poverty is overwhelmingly a problem facing working families, not the workless or the work-shy. Two-thirds of Britain’s poor children are now in households where an adult works. The problem is that those working parents simply do not earn enough to escape poverty.

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Stephen Tall

New Ipsos-MORI poll: Nick Clegg’s leader ratings in 5 graphs

By Stephen Tall | Thu 17th October 2013 - 2:30 pm

Much excitement among Tories today at the arrival of a new Ipsos-MORI poll showing them drawing level with Labour – 36% apiece – among those who say they’re certain to vote. The explanation’s not too hard to hazard a guess at: the return of economic growth is gradually feeding through into a feel-good factor. (For more on this, see this excellent post by YouGov’s Joe Twyman: ‘“It’s the long term trends, stupid”: the Conservatives, Labour and the economy‘.)

However, it was some of the underlying IPSOS-Mori data concerning perceptions of the leaders which caught my eye… (All the graphs below …

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The Voice

Nick Clegg’s message for Eid-al-Adha – “Countless acts of kindness”

By The Voice | Tue 15th October 2013 - 6:48 pm

Nick Clegg has recorded a message for the festival of Eid-al-Adha, whch ends tonight, in which he says:

The theme of sacrifice and generosity, which defines this festival, works to strengthen the ties between us. It reminds us all – both Muslims and non-Muslims alike – of the obligations we have to each other, especially those who are suffering.

He adds that Muslims will be helping people in their own communities and across the world in “countless acts of kindness.”

He also takes the opportunity to talk about the £100 million extra humanitarian aid which the UK Government has sent to help people forced to leave their homes as a result of the conflict in Syria.

You can watch the message, also available on You Tube,  here:

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Danny Alexander MP

Danny Alexander MP writes… This is the Liberal Democrats’ policy and everybody knows it

By Danny Alexander MP | Mon 14th October 2013 - 3:50 pm

The Conservatives may claim to be the party of hardworking people. But the same cannot be said for their policy wonks. According to today’s Financial Times, the Conservatives are apparently considering a proposal for their manifesto to increase the personal allowance to £12,500. An almost identical idea to our own policy of raising the personal allowance to the minimum wage that we first passed in our spring conference of 2012 and reaffirmed just one month ago at our Autumn conference in Glasgow. Once again, it is the Liberal Democrats who are shaping the future of the British tax system.
…

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Ewan Hoyle

Opinion: Being tough on drugs means being pro-reform

By Ewan Hoyle | Sun 13th October 2013 - 5:00 pm

The Sunday Times is claiming to have knowledge of the results of Jeremy Browne’s drug policy “grand tour”. In an article today, Put that in your pipe, Mrs May, the paper describes many conclusions expected to feature in the final report which will bring great cheer to the ordinary Liberal Democrat member:

“A review ordered by Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, and due to be published before Christmas, is expected to suggest Britain could benefit from emulating two American states where the use of recreational cannabis is legal. The Home Office report is also expected to call for

…

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Newsmoggie

Nick Clegg celebrates 40 years of LBC and asks for a forty year contract

By Newsmoggie | Fri 11th October 2013 - 3:33 pm

It begins with a tongue in cheek moan. Where’s the caviar and red carpet? It ends with Nick Clegg recording a heartfelt tribute to LBC’s 40 years of broadcasting. And in the process Nick asks the broadcaster for a forty year contract.

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Stephen Tall

The 17th Tory policy Lib Dems have blocked: Clegg rejects Theresa May’s plans to impose new immigration regulations on private landlords

By Stephen Tall | Fri 11th October 2013 - 9:55 am

Perhaps the silliest proposal in a generally thread-bare Queen’s Speech in May was the Conservatives’ plan to ‘look busy’ on immigration.

Yes, the party that claims to want to cut back red-tape for small businesses decided to try and tie-up private landlords in it by imposing a legal duty on them check the immigration status of new tenants and lodgers. It’s an, erm, interesting approach to regulation, I guess: out-sourcing it to people who’ll have no way of validating the information they’re given.

However, the Tories’ grand plans have been scuppered thanks to the Lib Dems, as The Guardian …

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The Voice

Clegg: Guardian’s leaked Snowden secrets of “immense interest to people who want to do us harm”

By The Voice | Thu 10th October 2013 - 8:07 pm

Clegg HeadMI5 chief Andrew Parker spoke out yesterday against the leaking of intelligence secrets by Edward Snowden to The Guardian, claiming it seriously endangered national security and had given terrorist groups like al-Qa’ida “the gift they need to evade us and strike at will”. Nick Clegg was asked if he agreed on his LBC radio phone-in show, Call Clegg. Here’s what he said:

Nick Ferrari: Deputy Prime Minister, do you agree with the Prime Minister, who says that Andrew Parker, the Security Chief’s warning to the Guardian’s publication of those files handed

…

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The Voice

In Full: Nick Clegg’s speech on Europe: Richer, stronger, safer, greener

By The Voice | Wed 9th October 2013 - 9:19 am

Nick Clegg in DublinHere, for posterity’s sake, is Nick Clegg’s speech on Europe from yesterday:

I am a pro-European – that is no great revelation, I know. But sometimes you need to say it, clearly and unambiguously.

The isolationist forces in Britain are on the rise – UKIP on the doorstep; Conservative politicians at their conference; familiar headlines in some of our newspapers each placing Britain’s ills firmly at Brussels’ door: too much immigration, too much crime, too much red tape. And every time Europe is back in the spotlight, their hostility towards it – this negative reaction to all things continental – drowns out the other voices in this debate.

Pro-Europeans have to take some responsibility for that. The moderate and rational voices have been too quiet up until now. But we cannot afford that silence anymore. We are no longer asking if Britain will have a referendum on continued membership, we are asking when Britain will have a referendum on continued membership.

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Giles Goodall

Opinion: 50 reasons #whyIamIN

By Giles Goodall | Tue 8th October 2013 - 9:13 pm

nick clegg euNick Clegg’s passionate call this morning for everyone who cares about Britain’s future in Europe to speak out will have been music to Lib Dem ears – and those of many more beyond. As Nick said, the antis have had it their way for far too long. Their arguments do not stand up to scrutiny and the pro-European case is just waiting to be made.

As #whyIamIN started to trend on Twitter this morning, I started to think about just why we are better off in …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 44 Comments
Stephen Tall

Today’s Lib Dem reshuffle: 4 thoughts from me on what it means

By Stephen Tall | Mon 7th October 2013 - 6:17 pm

Four quick thoughts from me on what today’s Lib Dem reshuffle means..

1. Nick feels secure enough to be ruthless.

Sacking both Michael Moore and Jeremy Browne is not something Nick would have been able to contemplate a year ago. Then – with the economy still mired in recession, his apology video still fresh in the memory, and Vince reminding everyone he stood ready, willing and able should the need arise – Nick was vulnerable, in need of allies. Now – with the economy recovering, Eastleigh defended and all key conference votes won – Nick feels able to asset himself.

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The Voice

In full: Nick Clegg’s and Michael Moore’s exchange of letters

By The Voice | Mon 7th October 2013 - 11:28 am

As we reported earlier, Michael Moore is to leave Government and will be replaced as Scottish Secretary by Alistair Carmichael.

When a Minister leaves office, there is always an exchange of letters between them and their party leader. Here is the exchange between Mike and Nick Clegg:

Nick Clegg’s letter to Mike Moore:

Dear Mike

I want to thank you for the vital role you have played as Secretary of State for Scotland over the past three years.

You became Scottish Secretary in 2010 at a critical time in Scotland’s relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom and you have managed the challenges of

…

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Newsmoggie

LDVideo: Nick Clegg playing table tennis

By Newsmoggie | Fri 4th October 2013 - 4:45 pm

During the Federal Conference, Nick Clegg went on a visit to Drumchapel Table Tennis club in Glasgow and ended up actually playing a game. I suspect the collective blood pressure of his entourage was a bit on the elevated side while he was doing it. After all, they usually make sure that their principals never get into any situation that could cause embarrassment.

Thankfully, though, Nick is pretty good at table tennis and acquitted himself well.

The club filmed the proceedings and put it up here on You Tube.

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Nick T

Clegg: Yes to intensive support for unemployed young people; no to automatic benefit withdrawal

By Nick T | Thu 3rd October 2013 - 5:36 pm

On his weekly LBC phone-in earlier today, Nick Clegg took a call (from Lib Dem activist Linda Jack; see comments) on the proposals mooted at the Conservative Party Conference to remove the automatic entitlement to Housing Benefit from those aged under 25 and require them to be in either work, education or training.

The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour has written up Clegg’s response (which has been slightly unfairly characterised, or at least oversimplified, in the headline):

Clegg said he supported the idea that some claimants who had been on the work programme for two years should work for their dole, the proposal

…

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Stephen Tall

Clegg on the Daily Mail: “Overflowing with bile about modern Britain”

By Stephen Tall | Thu 3rd October 2013 - 10:05 am

call cleggI noted earlier this week that the Daily Mail’s attacks on Ed Miliband’s father have echoes of the smears the paper has peddled about Nick Clegg and his family over the years.

And on his ‘Call Clegg’ radio phone-in today the Lib Dem leader didn’t shy away from mounting a full-frontal assault on the Mail pointing out that what it represents is utterly opposed to the British values of decency, tolerance and fair play. Here’s how the Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow reports it:

Wow. That was striking. Nick Clegg has got

…

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Newsmoggie

Nick Clegg attacks Labour council over Don Valley stadium closure

By Newsmoggie | Wed 2nd October 2013 - 12:00 pm

Sheffield’s Labour council have been criticised by Nick Clegg over their decision to close the Don Valley Stadium where Olympic heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill trained.

From the Sheffield Star:

I’m hugely disappointed that Labour councillors have decided Don Valley Stadium is not an asset of community value.

This short-sighted decision has denied the Save Don Valley Stadium group access to central Government grants, which would have helped them develop a business plan and move closer to their vision of running the venue at no cost to the public.

Instead of working with the community to protect facilities, we have a council determined to

…

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