Tag Archives: nick clegg

Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “Protecting individuals and press freedom”

By Stephen Tall | Sun 17th March 2013 - 1:15 pm

Nick Clegg’s latest email missive arrived in my email inbox this weekend. Two odd things about it…

First, as Paul Walter and Jonathan Calder have already picked up: the absence of any mention of last weekend’s debate on ‘secret courts’. I understood why it wasn’t mentioned in his leader’s speech last weekend: he wanted to keep the media’s attention focused on the party’s core message. But if we go back to the original intention of the Letter from the Leader, it was – as Nick himself wrote in the first one – “to give you a bit more of an insight into what’s going on behind those Whitehall doors and how we, as Lib Dems, are dealing with the issues and challenges that come up.” Hands up all those party members who think Nick’s lived up to that pledge on secret courts?

The second odd thing is the repeated request to send us to a paywalled website to find out more about Nick’s plans for Leveson: that’s right, Lib Dem supporters are invited to hand over money to Rupert Murdoch to get the party leader’s views on how the Lib Dems intend to crack down on the abuses perpetrated by Rupert Murdoch’s company. Now, I’ve already made clear my disagreement with Nick on this issue. But I’ve no doubt he’s speaking for the majority of party members in backing a Royal Charter to implement the Leveson Report. Yet instead of directing them to a Lib Dem website, or capturing emails via a Lib Dem petition website, the Leader’s Letter invites supporters to bump their head against a paywall and make their views known through a third-party website. Neither are especially smart.

My gripes over — read on…

libdem letter from nick clegg

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Stephen Tall

I’m a liberal and I’m against this sort of thing. Leveson-style press regulation, that is (as well as secret courts)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 17th March 2013 - 8:55 am

Leveson report front pageI’ve got used to describing myself as “a liberal first, a Lib Dem second”. Most of the time the Venn diagram works out pretty well. But not the last couple of weeks.

First, there was ‘secret courts’ and the decision by Nick Clegg, backed by most Lib Dem MPs (though not by party members), to extend legal proceedings which directly conflict with natural justice and that elevate the state above the individual.

And now there’s Nick Clegg’s decision, again likely to be backed by most Lib Dem …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 67 Comments
Stephen Tall

Clegg statement on Leveson: our proposals pose no danger to press freedom, but will give assurance to victims

By Stephen Tall | Sat 16th March 2013 - 10:29 am

clegg on levesonNick Clegg – who declared on Thursday his backing for a free and fair press – has now published a statement on how he’s approaching next week’s critical Commons vote on how the Leveson Report is taken forward:

Next week MPs will have the chance to deliver the robust, independent self-regulation for the press that Lord Justice Leveson recommended in his report.

It was hoped that talks between the party leaders would be able to agree how such a system would work, but the Prime Minister’s decision to end

…

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The Voice

Nick Clegg on Leveson: “I want a free and fair press”

By The Voice | Thu 14th March 2013 - 3:00 pm

cameron clegg miliband 2Nick Clegg has emailed Lib Dem members today to set out his view on David Cameron’s decision to pull the plug on cross-party talks seeking to find an agreed way forward on the Leveson Report’s recommendations for self-regulation of the press underpinned by statute:

As you may have seen this morning the Prime Minister has decided to call off the cross-party talks on implementing the Leveson proposals on press regulation.

Throughout the talks I have sought to defend a free press while making sure ordinary people can be protected

…

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Anthony Hawkes

Opinion: Reflections of a first timer at Conference

By Anthony Hawkes | Wed 13th March 2013 - 2:00 pm

What a first conference! From Friday evening through to Sunday afternoon it did not stop. Sleep seemed to be one luxury too many.

The organisation was far better than I expected. Every event started on time and there were stewards everywhere to help direct you and answer your questions. It was very smooth and professional throughout and everyone I met seemed friendly.

Friday was International Women’s Day and the first event I attended was the Conference rally. Nick Clegg came on and delivered a very good speech addressing the problems of recent weeks. The following speakers (Shirley Williams, Jo Swinson, Lynne Featherstone …

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Gareth Epps

Opinion: The real split in today’s Liberal Democrats – and how to fix it

By Gareth Epps | Mon 11th March 2013 - 2:48 pm

As this weekend’s events have proved, the real and fundamental split in the Liberal Democrats of 2013 is not between Liberals and Social Democrats, economic liberalism or social liberalism, centrists and radicals.  It is a real and growing divide between the Party’s leadership and its activists; and that has been thrown into sharp relief by both the result of the Eastleigh by-election and events at Conference.  As Dan Falchikov, with whom I’m in frequent agreement on strategic if not economic issues, highlights, it is an issue that could be very serious if unaddressed.

The reasons for this are broadly twofold.

The …

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The Voice

LDVideo: Lib Dem spring conference round-up (2)

By The Voice | Mon 11th March 2013 - 12:45 pm

Missed the Lib Dems’ spring conference this weekend? Here are three clips to help you catch-up, or re-live, some of what happened… (You can see part 1 of our round-up here.)

Nick Clegg criticises Theresa May’s Human Rights Convention comments

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The Voice

LDVideo: Lib Dem spring conference round-up (1)

By The Voice | Mon 11th March 2013 - 8:05 am

Missed the Lib Dems’ spring conference this weekend? Here are three clips to help you catch-up, or re-live, some of what happened…

“Where we work we win” says Nick Clegg

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Posted in Conference and YouTube | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
Stephen Tall

“On message. In volume. Over time.” That’s the real text of Nick Clegg’s speech today

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th March 2013 - 2:30 pm

Double Clegg 2 - Some rights reserved by Liberal DemocratsIt took 3,000+ words and Nick Clegg 30 minutes to deliver them — but there was only one message he wanted to be heard in his leader’s speech today:

Only the Liberal Democrats can deliver a stronger economy and a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life.

That’s the core message, one that’s been tested in polling and was tested in real polling in Eastleigh. And it’s the message the party leadership wants the party to get sick of repeating ad infinitum …

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Posted in Conference, News and Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 19 Comments
The Voice

Text of Nick Clegg’s speech to the Lib Dems’ spring party conference

By The Voice | Sun 10th March 2013 - 12:40 pm

Here’s the text of Nick Clegg’s speech to the Lib Dems’ spring conference in Brighton today:

Eastleigh. Conference, I have never seen anything like it. Thousands and thousands of activists flooding in from every part of the UK. Young people arriving in their droves. Hitting the pavements, the phones, Facebook, Twitter, email – finding any and every way to drive our message home. I want to thank you all – you were just brilliant.

They said we’d never win it. The same critics who try to write us off time and time again. But, you know what? The naysayers can tear

…

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Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged | 15 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Conference Rally: Confessional, motivational and defiant

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 9th March 2013 - 8:29 pm

A conference rally without Tim Farron is a bit like strawberries without cream. When he wasn’t there telling his bad football jokes, I wondered if he’d been put on the Naughty Step for his interview earlier. But, no, he hadn’t even arrived in Brighton.

What we did have was a sense of almost cleansing, confessional, cathartic and heartfelt speeches tackling the pain of the last few weeks head on.

Nick Clegg made clear that he wanted to change the culture in the party. What he said is not new for him. He’s always been very pro equality, but this was a new …

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Nick T

Nick Clegg’s speech to conference: what I’ll be looking out for

By Nick T | Sat 9th March 2013 - 10:17 am

nick cleggHuhne, Pryce, Rennard, Eastleigh. A mass of events converge this weekend as Brighton once again becomes centre of the Lib Dem universe for a weekend.

These topics will inevitably dominate conversations in the conference bar. But when Nick Clegg stands up on Sunday lunchtime to make his speech he has to look beyond the short-term events that have dominated Liberal Democrat discourse for the last few weeks and months.

It’s often said of a speeches that they are “one of the most important X has made in the course of his leadership”. …

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The Voice

Nick’s conference speech: “When our opponents tell us we are finished, remember Eastleigh!”

By The Voice | Fri 8th March 2013 - 7:05 pm

Here’s the text of Nick Clegg’s speech at the start of the Spring Conference Rally in Brighton tonight:

I know it is unusual for me to speak at the start of the rally but there’s an issue I want to address head on.

Today is International Women’s Day. It is right that we come together as a party to celebrate the life changing advances in women’s rights both at home and around the world. Advances that Liberal Democrats championed in opposition and are delivering in Government.

But it is also right that – following the events of recent weeks – we

…

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Thais Portilho-Shrimpton

The Independent View: Seeking justice across borders

By Thais Portilho-Shrimpton | Wed 6th March 2013 - 12:53 pm

In October last year, Theresa May announced in the House of Commons the Conservatives’ intention to opt-out of 130 measures of EU criminal law cooperation.

We, at Justice Across Borders, are opposed to it – and many others are too – but the reality is, the way this issue has been presented by the Home Secretary, and has been debated so far, means nothing to the man in the street. That is why we have taken on the challenge to start a debate that can be joined by all.

Yesterday, we met the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal …

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Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg’s son to go to state secondary school

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 4th March 2013 - 2:08 pm

It’s just been announced that Nick Clegg and Miriam Gonzalez Durantez have decided to send their son Antonio to a state Catholic secondary school. He’s been attending a Catholic Primary near his home.

Antonio will attend the London Oratory school. Nick and Miriam expressed the wish that now their decision has been made public, the privacy of their son will be respected.

Nick has previously said that he doesn’t believe in God, but his wife Miriam is a practising Catholic. He recently said:

I’ve never made my kids an issue in politics. My kids are more precious to me than anything else in

…

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Stephen Tall

Nick on ‘Call Clegg’: “Without doubt one week I will regret something I said”

By Stephen Tall | Mon 4th March 2013 - 7:30 am

An interesting couple of snippets from an interview with Nick Ferrari – Nick Clegg’s interlocutor on LBC’s weekly ‘Call Clegg’ phone-in – in this week’s Media Guardian. First, that all three party leaders were approached with the idea, and only Nick bit. And here’s Nick on why he agreed:

On his way out of the studio a few weeks ago, I asked Clegg the same question. “I enjoy it. There’s something spontaneous and authentic about it, which is good in a political world which is in many ways becoming increasingly pasteurised by too much spin and pre-preparation.”

Clegg said he received

…

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Mark Valladares

This week in Europe: 25-28 February

By Mark Valladares | Fri 1st March 2013 - 4:11 pm

European Liberals and Democrats to oppose the 2014-20 budget proposal but accept the global amount

In a statement on Wednesday, the ALDE Group in the European Parliament adopted its position ahead of negotiations on the new EU budget. Guy Verhofstadt, its Group Leader, called for a transfer of spending from farming and cohesion policy towards research, innovation, infrastructure and competitiveness, and condemned the EU’s growing deficit;

Nor can we countenance the creation of excessive deficits, building up outstanding commitments year on year to a potential debt of €300 billion by 2020, if all commitments are taken up.

He also called for a binding …

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Caron Lindsay

Call Clegg: “There were serious mistakes and the women were let down”

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 27th February 2013 - 12:46 pm

We might not have blamed Nick Clegg if he’d stayed under the duvet with a detective novel rather than turn up for his weekly Call Clegg session on LBC. Our leader is not one to duck out of things, though, and deserves respect for not hiding away and allowing himself to be quizzed on live radio. Clearly he was going to be asked  about the allegations surrounding Lord Rennard (which the peer strenuously denies) and what he had done about them.

For the first time he acknowledged that although the main reason for the former Chief Executive’s resignation was health, this …

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Caron Lindsay

The tale of Nick Clegg, 36 celebrities and 3 wishes

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 25th February 2013 - 3:55 pm

With all the other stuff in the papers yesterday, it won’t be surprising if Nick Clegg’s appearance in the Sunday Times magazine passed you by. He faced questions from a panel of 36 celebrities who put their hearts and souls into thinking all sorts of original questions for him.

First up was Jeremy Clarkson, characteristically pithy, asking whether Nick felt sorry for Chris Huhne. “After all,” the Top Gear presenter said, “he was only speeding.”

Nick’s played that with a compassionate but clear bat:

I do feel sorry for the whole family because they have all clearly become engulfed in something that has

…

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Stephen Tall

Today’s front pages: the Chris Rennard allegations dominate

By Stephen Tall | Mon 25th February 2013 - 8:00 am

Today’s front pages of the newspapers are about as grim as you might imagine after the weekend’s events…

rennard front pages - 25 feb 2013

I’ve not had chance to read through all the press yet. Two that have caught my eye are this critical, but fair-minded, editorial in The Guardian:

Like the BBC over Jimmy Savile in recent weeks, the Liberal Democrats have faced difficult press allegations in recent days. Last night the Liberal Democrats found themselves scrambling to clarify whether they looked in the other direction over claims about their former

…

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Stephen Tall

Nick Clegg’s statement on Chris Rennard: 5 key points

By Stephen Tall | Sun 24th February 2013 - 8:55 pm

It’s just over an hour since we published Nick Clegg’s statement concerning the allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour levelled against Lord (Chris) Rennard. Here are some quick, initial thoughts:

1) Nick Clegg has stuck by his position, repeated earlier today by Vince Cable and Danny Alexander, that he “did not know about these allegations until Channel 4 informed the party of them shortly before they were broadcast.” However, he was aware of “indirect and non-specific concerns about Chris Rennard’s conduct” in 2008, his first year as party leader. He asked Danny Alexander to put these allegations to Chris Rennard, who …

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The Voice

Statement from Nick Clegg on Chris Rennard allegations

By The Voice | Sun 24th February 2013 - 7:35 pm

The following statement by Nick Clegg has just been issued:

The allegations made on Channel 4 concerning Lord Rennard last Thursday were extremely serious and distressing to the women involved. It is critical they are investigated thoroughly and dealt with properly and they will be.

But I would like to make one thing crystal clear. I did not know about these allegations until Channel 4 informed the party of them shortly before they were broadcast. I have today spoken to one of the women in the broadcast who I respect and admire and who confirmed that she had never raised the issue

…

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NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg – the Conservatives need to adopt the politics of fairness

By NewsHound | Sun 24th February 2013 - 4:15 pm

In today’s Observer, Nick Clegg makes the case once again for a mansion tax to be introduced as the most effective way of spreading the pain of austerity. In fact, he goes a bit further saying it is inevitable:

Victor Hugo observed that it is near impossible to resist an idea once its time has come. Last week, he was again proved right as calls for a mansion tax, first proposed by the Liberal Democrats in 2009, gathered new momentum. … I offer certainty: the mansion tax, or a version of it, will happen. My party has often led the

…

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Don Foster MP

Don Foster MP writes… The Integration Strategy: one year on

By Don Foster MP | Thu 21st February 2013 - 10:25 am

The Government’s Integration Strategy, Creating the Conditions for Integration was published a year ago on 21 February 2012. Since becoming a minister a few months ago, this is one of the areas about which I’ve had some of the strongest feedback from party members.

The views I’ve heard range from “the strategy is welcome, but not enough” to “it isn’t a serious substitute for a strategy to tackle racism and racial injustice”. Some have said that the document skates over the fact that integration is a two way process of mutual accommodation. Those with this view argue that there’s …

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Caron Lindsay

Call Clegg 20 February: E-cigarettes, London NHS, taxes, special needs and Arsene Wenger

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 20th February 2013 - 8:17 pm

This week and next, Call Clegg, Nick Clegg’s weekly phone-in is happening on Wednesday rather than Thursday. Today’s questions ranged from a new EU directive on e-cigarettes which Nick had never heard of to special needs to fair  tax to the problems of the NHS in London. Today, a few of the questions  were so long that it didn’t flow as well as usual. However, when Nick got the chance, he really chatted properly with people as if there weren’t millions of people listening.

Mansion Tax

The first question was from a man who bought his house in fashionable St John’s Wood …

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Stephen Tall

Don’ forget #CallClegg on at 9am today

By Stephen Tall | Wed 20th February 2013 - 8:45 am

In a change to the usual schedule, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will be taking questions from listeners around the country at 9am this morning, Wednesday (not tomorrow, Thursday):

With any luck, he’ll get the chance to differentiate himself from David Cameron’s ill-judged attack on Hilary Mantel for her article on the Duchess of Cambridge.

And a bit of good cheer for Lib Dems this morning. …

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Stephen Tall

Eastleigh by-election: your essential round-up of all the weekend’s news (18 Feb)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 18th February 2013 - 8:25 am

The penultimate weekend’s campaigning was frenetic at the Lib Dems’ Eastleigh HQ…

Over 530 Lib Dem volunteers passed through its doors in just this weekend (to add to the 1,000+ who’d visited in the previous week). Visitors included an upbeat Nick Clegg (BBC report and video here) and others — as this video shows:

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Posted in Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged , , , and | 2 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Caron’s pick of the Federal Spring Conference agenda

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 13th February 2013 - 2:59 pm

Spring 2013 Federal Conference agendaIt’s just over three weeks until Liberal Democrats gather in Brighton for our annual Federal Spring Conference. This morning the agenda landed on my doorstep and I thought I’d share my highlights with you.

If you can, it’s worth trying to get there for 3 pm on Friday 8th March for the consultation sessions. This is an important part of the policy making process, where ordinary party members can have their say as policy documents are being written. Most of them are on issues which apply to the …

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Stephen Tall

Eastleigh by-election: your essential round-up of the latest campaign news (12 Feb)

By Stephen Tall | Tue 12th February 2013 - 8:20 pm

Here’s a round-up of news from the past 24 hours in the Eastleigh by-election…

mike thornton eastleigh jon aylwinNick Clegg offered Lib Dem candidate Mike Thornton his full backing on a visit to Eastleigh on Monday. Here‘s the Guardian report:

“I am confident we will keep hold of this seat but not because I say so but because the people of Eastleigh are telling us that,” said Clegg. Focusing on the party’s local dominance – it is the only place in the country where every councillor at district and county level is a Liberal Democrat – he said voters would focus on its “record of action” and said the party had “to be quite clear where our differences lie”. … Speaking after meeting students at the local college, Clegg said: “Cutting council tax, promoting more apprenticeships, creating jobs, protecting green spaces – those are things that Liberal Democrats haven’t just talked about, they are things they have actually done and it’s a record of which we are tremendously proud.”

It’s not just Nick Clegg who’s been doing his Eastleigh stint, though. Pictured above (with thanks to Jon Aylwin) is North Devon MP Nick Harvey out canvassing with Mike and some of his supporters.

Want to join the hundreds of Lib Dems who are doing their bit to help get Mike elected as the next Lib Dem MP for Eastleigh on 28th February? Here’s a reminder of how YOU can make a difference:

  • Volunteer to help in Eastleigh itself
  • Make phone calls for the party if you can’t get there in person
  • Give a donation to help fund the campaign.

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    Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , and | 5 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: “If you want fairer taxes, there’s only one party for you: the Lib Dems.”

    By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th February 2013 - 12:00 pm

    No prizes for guessing which subject dominates this week’s letter from Nick Clegg to party supporters: the forthcoming Eastleigh by-election. Nick reflects on his own experiences campaigning in by-elections of yore – “exhilarating, exhausting and exciting in equal measure” – and urges all party activists to help in whatever way we can in the next three weeks. A major feature of the campaign in Eastleigh and across the country will be the Lib Dems’ push for Fairer Taxes, and it’s great to see Nick’s message including web-links to enable readers to take action for themselves on this key message. Here’s …

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