Tag Archives: nick clegg

Stephen Tall

Time for the Lib Dems to blow the final whistle on national wage settlements

By Stephen Tall | Sun 18th March 2012 - 2:25 pm

It’s over 50 years since the campaign by Jimmy Hill, then chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association, successfully scrapped the maximum wage which operated throughout the football league until 1961. Some probably lament the commercialisation of the game which it set in motion. But the idea that individuals should have a ceiling placed on their wage-earning potential by the authorities seems quaintly absurd today.

Except in the public sector. If you’re paid by the government — if, for example, you work in schools, colleges and universities, or the civil service and local government — then your wages are defined by national pay rates determined by Whitehall and trade union negotiations. It doesn’t matter which part of the country you work, you operate within that centrally-set national pay framework. It is as quaint and as absurd as the wage rules of football were half a century ago.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 97 Comments
Stephen Tall

Q: What links the AV referendum, boundary changes & Lords reform? A: The Coalition Agreement

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th March 2012 - 9:57 am

It appears the Tories are attempting a sneaky re-write of some very recent, and well-documented, history. What prompts me to say this? Let’s look at the FT’s Kiran Stacey’s report of Nick Clegg’s feisty performance at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions:

asked why he was so focused on House of Lords reform when there were so many other more important issues to tackle. Clegg’s response was very telling:

There are other issues like changing the boundaries which I know are close to his party’s heart…

The Tories will absolutely hate that. They say the original agreement between the two parties was

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , , , , and | 6 Comments
Paul Walter

PMQs: Your boys took a hell of a beating

By Paul Walter | Wed 14th March 2012 - 8:49 pm

I’m looking forward to the comments this week.

We saw a newly confident Nick Clegg at Prime Minister’s Questions today.

I’ve written before that Nick’s early Dispatch Box appearances were a bit like bear bating. He stood there, red-faced and growling as Labour MPs jabbed at him from all angles.

But, today, we saw an assured and relaxed Nick Clegg who was convincingly combatative. Most impressively, he discharged the session with barely a single reference to a piece of paper. Not for him the “chained to my indexed folder” look of David Cameron. In short, Nick Clegg was Prime Ministerial. “Best ever” was …

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Posted in PMQs | Also tagged , , and | 19 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Lib Link: Nick Clegg – my mission to make the ultra rich pay

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 14th March 2012 - 2:27 pm

Nick Clegg was interviewed in the Telegraph at the weekend. On the train journey to Gateshead, he covered how he wants to make the rich pay their fair share in tax, economic policy beyond the deficit, support for equal marriage and his relationships with his cabinet colleagues.

On taxing the rich he had this to say:

“It makes people so incredibly angry when you are getting up early in the morning, working really hard to try to do the right thing for your family and for your community, you are paying your taxes and then you see people literally in a different

…

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Posted in LibLink and News | Also tagged | 8 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Nick Clegg does PMQs – my tweets

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 14th March 2012 - 1:16 pm

As always, Paul Walter will be along later with his imitable account of PMQs, but I thought that seeing as our own Nick Clegg was standing in for David Cameron today, we could have a bit of a bonus.

I tweeted my way through a session that could have been a tough one for our leader – but he managed to deal with the predictable Labour attacks on unemployment and the Health and Social Care Bill thoughtfully and without aggression or rancour.

Here is a link to my tweets – with apologies for the spelling mistakes. My fingers had trouble keeping …

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , , , , and | 1 Comment
Martin Horwood

Martin Horwood MP writes… Why Nick Clegg’s response to Jenny Tonge was right

By Martin Horwood | Wed 14th March 2012 - 9:23 am

The controversy surrounding Jenny Tonge’s resignation from our party in the House of Lords has attracted a lot of comment online. I’m co-chair of the parliamentary party’s international affairs committee (although writing here in a personal capacity) and I think the stance which Nick took as leader was right.

Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine – for whom I have a great deal of time – have suggested that Jenny’s ‘intention was to imply that Israel’s wilful failure to uphold and respect the human rights of Palestinian Muslims and Christians is behaviour which is likely to lead to its …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 16 Comments
Scott Hill

Opinion: the way forward – with Clegg at the helm

By Scott Hill | Tue 13th March 2012 - 9:22 am

As soon as the Liberal Democrats bravely stepped in to coalition with David Cameron’s Conservatives we knew tough times may lie ahead. Whilst the coalition’s majority party has sailed through relatively unscathed, the junior partner has suffered an incessant flow of unfair and unjust criticism. Just as we thought this was beginning to wane, this month has witnessed an increase in anti-Clegg rhetoric.

First to weigh in was the Lib Dems’ very own Lembit Opik (as eccentric and publicity-seeking as ever), who has outlined in his new book a plan for a Lib Dem resurrection. He states that Clegg must …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 26 Comments
Stephen Tall

EXCLUSIVE: What Lib Dem members say about the party’s direction and Nick Clegg’s leadership

By Stephen Tall | Mon 12th March 2012 - 7:45 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 500 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Big drop in satisfaction with party’s direction

LDV asked: Do you think, as a whole, the Liberal Democrats are on the right course or on the wrong track? (Comparison with December’s figures.)

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Posted in LDV Members poll | 42 Comments
The Voice

Text of Nick Clegg’s speech to the Lib Dems’ 2012 spring conference

By The Voice | Sun 11th March 2012 - 12:15 pm

Nick Clegg is currently speaking to the Lib Dems’ spring conference at NewcastleGateshead — here’s the text of his speech:

This year will show the best of Britain. The Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, a nation proud of our past, but with our face to the future. A nation that treasures liberty, honours hard work and values fair play and fair chances. That is the character of our country: strong, confident, united.

And our character as a nation is being tested, because even in this year of celebration families are under pressure, worrying about paying their bills, about keeping their jobs,

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo Conference Special: the views of Nick Clegg, party members & Simon Hughes

By Stephen Tall | Sun 11th March 2012 - 7:15 am

If you’re missing out on the thrills and spills of the Lib Dems’ spring conference in NewcastleGateshead, hopefully these videos will offer you some flavour of proceedings…

Nick Clegg to tell Lib Dems: Stop lamenting, start celebrating

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Nick Clegg – “If I thought this Bill was about privatising the NHS, it would never have seen the light of day”

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th March 2012 - 6:55 pm

Nick Clegg took part in an afternoon Q&A at today’s Lib Dem conference, and vigorously defended the changes to the NHS being implemented by the Coalition as amended by the party. Conference representatives earlier voted, by a slim margin of 309 votes to 280, to debate tomorrow morning Shirley Williams’ motion, ‘Saving the NHS’, rather than the ‘Drop the Bill’ motion put forward by Winchester Lib Dems.

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo: Nick Clegg – ‘It is only fair millionaires pay their share’

By Stephen Tall | Sat 10th March 2012 - 5:55 pm

‘Nick Clegg goes after the ultra-rich’ is how the Telegraph today trails its interview with the Lib Dem leader, in which he signals his determination to write into law a ‘Tycoon Tax’ — a specific minimum rate of tax to ensure people are “paying their fair share” and not “massaging” the system.

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Posted in YouTube | Also tagged | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Lib Dem spring conference: a quick guide to the highlights

By Mark Pack | Fri 9th March 2012 - 1:50 pm

The traditional pre-conference rally at Liberal Democrat conferences seems more lively and informal than the main set piece speeches during conference, so expect even more football references than usual from Party President Tim Farron this evening when he speaks in Gateshead.

Nick Clegg’s speech rally speech will feature an attempt to set a different message for the party, looking much more positively to the future:

We’re in Government, and it is a better Government for it. Fairer, freer and greener.

Lower taxes for working people. Fairer chances for our children. And the beginnings of a new, green economy that benefits everyone in

…

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Posted in Conference and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Sean Davey

Opinion: Reasons to be Cheerful

By Sean Davey | Fri 9th March 2012 - 7:55 am

Waking up to the encouraging string of headlines as I did on Monday, I’m suddenly wondering if this is the point where we as a party have started getting it right?

If there are three uncontroversial elements to Lib Dem identity then equal marriage rights, campaigning against Trident and defending the individual (Nick Clegg launching the #thisisabuse campaign) are surely good starting points?

Conference is this weekend, so you could be forgiven for thinking these brilliant policies appear pre-emptively in our packs – but no, it’s almost as if we are a party of government: the Deputy Prime Minister appearing …

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Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem members think about the NHS Bill: 57% opposed, but majority might back it if significantly amended

By Stephen Tall | Thu 8th March 2012 - 11:15 pm

We’ve been surveying the views of current Lib Dem members this week on your views on the NHS Bill. Over 500 responded, and here’s what you told us…

  • A majority of Lib Dem members – and a majority of Lib Dem members who will be voting delegates at the party’s spring conference at NewcastleGateshead this weekend – oppose the Coalition Government’s NHS reforms as they currently stand. By 57% to 32%, Lib Dem members reject the Health & Social Care Bill.
  • However, that does not automatically mean the Lib Dem conference will vote to ‘Kill the Bill’ if

    • …

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    Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 18 Comments
    Richard Carr

    The Independent View: how Liberal Democrats can provide Clegg’s “gear shift” in infrastructure spending

    By Richard Carr | Wed 7th March 2012 - 11:25 am

    As Nick Clegg has recently noted, there needs to be a ‘gear shift’ in infrastructure spending. Whilst George Osborne dots the i’s and crosses the t’s on his third budget, it is worth considering how such a ‘gear shift’ may be enacted. Localis has undertaken just such an analysis, and this week launched Credit Where Credit’s Due – produced in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group – that illustrates how local government can help deliver a step-change of this type from the bottom-up. Though our report alights on many policy areas, from increasing the powers of LEPs to astute asset management …

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    Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged , , , and | 3 Comments
    Suresh Chauhan

    The Independent View: Do us all a favour and drop the NHS Bill

    By Suresh Chauhan | Tue 6th March 2012 - 3:44 pm

    About 2 weeks ago, Shirley Williams rightly claimed that the whole competition chapter of the Bill would need to be removed before it could be passed. However, the amendments that Nick Clegg has proposed, as indicated in his letter of 28th February, just do not match up to her reasonable demand. The competition chapter contains clauses 70 to 81. The Clegg amendments only affect clauses 78, 79 and 80. So, clauses 70 to 77 remain unchanged. Hence, a lot of the Lansley ‘nasties’ remain and if the Bill is passed, these ‘nasties’ will become law of our land.

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    Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged | 40 Comments
    The Voice

    Tonge: Clegg acted “very hastily and ill-advisedly” in issuing apologise-or-resign ultimatum

    By The Voice | Sat 3rd March 2012 - 12:41 pm

    Here’s the Press Association report of Baroness (Jenny) Tonge’s BBC interview following her resignation this week over controversial remarks about the future of Israel:

    Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Tonge has claimed her party leader Nick Clegg acted “hastily” in quickly disowning her after she said Israel “would not be there forever”. She was forced to give up the party whip after the Deputy Prime Minister told her to apologise or resign hours after her comments to students at Middlesex University were revealed.

    During a talk at the university, she claimed Israel would “reap what it has sown” if the United States

    …

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    Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 17 Comments
    Helen Duffett

    Nick Clegg’s speech to Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference

    By Helen Duffett | Sat 3rd March 2012 - 10:25 am

    Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference started yesterday in Inverness and runs until tomorrow (Sunday). Nick Clegg addressed Conference yesterday afternoon; here is his speech in full:

    Liberals from the Highlands and Islands have always been at the heart of our party. From the late great Jo Grimond and Russell Johnston, great leaders like Bob Maclennan, Charles Kennedy and Jim Wallace in Scotland, to our current team at Westminster, Highland and Island voices have shaped who the Liberal Democrats are.

    In Danny Alexander and Alistair Carmichael, I have Liberals from the Highlands and Islands with me right at the heart of British Government. …

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    Posted in Scotland and Speeches | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | Leave a comment
    Baroness Liz Barker

    Baroness Barker writes… Liberal Democrats protecting the integrity of the NHS

    By Baroness Liz Barker | Fri 2nd March 2012 - 2:25 pm

    We trust that doctors and nurses will care for us to the best of their ability, and we trust the decisions they make about our treatment are always in our best interest. It is clear that for patients and medical professionals alike, maintaining the integrity of the NHS is essential.

    Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will bring their unique knowledge of the health needs of their patient population to the design and commissioning of health services as part of the proposals contained in the Health and Social Care Bill.

    We know that CCGs must be transparent and accountable to the public and …

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    Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 31 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    LDVideo: Nick Clegg – Workfare critics have a “messed up set of priorities”

    By Stephen Tall | Fri 2nd March 2012 - 10:10 am

    Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg this week launched a passionate defence of the Coalition’s work experience initiatives, arguing that they help prepare jobless young people for employment. This follows the controversy about ‘workfare’, which some critics have labelled ‘slave labour’, an attitude Nick condemns here as displaying a “messed up set of priorities”:

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    Posted in YouTube | Also tagged | 17 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Jenny Tonge resigns Lib Dem whip over controversial “Beware Israel” remarks

    By Stephen Tall | Wed 29th February 2012 - 6:08 pm

    A quick follow-up to our story, Jenny Tonge resigns…

    Baroness (Jenny) Tonge has this afternoon resigned the Lib Dem whip after coming under intense pressure following the widespread reporting of remarks she made last week declaring that Israel “will reap what they have sown” once the USA gets “sick of giving £70bn a year to Israel to support what I call America’s aircraft carrier in the Middle East”.

    It is by no means the first time Baroness Tonge has landed herself in hot water for her out-spoken views on Israel:

    • She was sacked by then leader Charles Kennedy as the Lib

    …

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    Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 73 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    What’s on at Scottish Liberal Democrat conference this weekend?

    By Caron Lindsay | Wed 29th February 2012 - 1:55 pm

    This weekend, Scottish Liberal Democrats gather in Inverness for their annual conference. This is the second most important event to take place in the city this year, next to  my sister’s wedding in the Highland Capital on 8 April.

    Every Council seat in Scotland is up for election in May so the Conference will be a good launch pad for the campaign. It’s also new leader Willie Rennie’s first Spring Conference speech, a chance for him to map out where he wants to take the party over the next year and remind us of how the small but strong Liberal Democrat …

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    Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged , , , , , and | 3 Comments
    Mark Cole

    A 2012 Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference Preview

    By Mark Cole | Wed 29th February 2012 - 10:28 am

    This weekend, the Welsh Liberal Democrat family will be gathering in Cardiff for our spring conference.

    This has become a staple part of my diary and this year sees me celebrate my 10th anniversary of attending Liberal Democrat and Welsh Liberal Democrat conferences.

    So, what’s the message?

    Well, unsurprisingly, we’re concentrating on the forthcoming Council elections: our record as Welsh Liberal Democrats in local government across Wales and our vision for the future.

    It will all begin with the pre-conference rally on the Friday evening where Kirsty Williams will speak alongside current Councillors from across Wales and new candidates.

    You’ll be hearing a lot about …

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

    New poll finds 60% of public backs Lib Dem flagship policy of tax-cuts for low-paid funded by tax increases for wealthy

    By Stephen Tall | Tue 28th February 2012 - 9:45 pm

    It’s a month since Nick Clegg made a fresh bid to put the Lib Dems’ flagship 2010 manifesto policy once again front-and-centre: further tax-cuts for the lowest-paid to be funded by higher taxes for the wealthiest.

    And today came news of what the public thinks of the Lib Dem approach to fairer taxes, with the Independent reporting the following ComRes poll results:

    A majority of people want George Osborne to raise taxes for the rich in next month’s Budget in order to take more low paid workers out of tax, according to a ComRes survey for The Independent. Some

    …

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    Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 23 Comments
    Mark Valladares

    Lords Reform: Nick Clegg faces the music…

    By Mark Valladares | Tue 28th February 2012 - 8:53 am

    House of Lords. Photo: Parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of ParliamentYesterday, the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill Joint Committee met for its last public session before retreating into report writing mode. And, as a special treat, they got an opportunity to savage the midwives of the proposed reforms, Nick Clegg and Mark Harper.

    It was perhaps unfortunate that their evidence was somewhat overshadowed by an interview given by Lord Lee of Trafford …

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

    Why Tory Euro-sceptics should back Nick Clegg

    By Mark Pack | Tue 28th February 2012 - 7:50 am

    Writing for ConHome, Lord Michael Dobbs argues against reform of the House of Lords because elected peers would behave differently from unelected peers:

    I would demand more influence, a stronger voice, and that new power could come from only one place – the House of Commons.

    There’s two flaws with that argument. The first, the most obvious, is the question of why, if such a transfer of power happens, should we fear it? Taking power away from elected politicians and giving it to the unelected is certainly often to be feared (though not always – judges and juries, not ministers, should …

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    Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 3 Comments
    Caron Lindsay

    PMQs: Tragedy, comedy and the Continuing Saga of the Family Bone

    By Caron Lindsay | Thu 23rd February 2012 - 4:28 pm

    I’m not used to learning anything from the weekly pantomime that is Prime Minister’s Questions. Sadly, though yesterday’s session brought  me the news of the death of Marie Colvin, the veteran Sunday Times reporter whose often heartbreaking reports from war zones I’ve been reading most of my adult life. Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband paid tribute to her work, the latter calling her brave, tireless and an inspiration to women in her profession. More tragedy followed as Sajid Javid, the MP for Bromsgrove, asked the PM to join in with sympathy for those killed and injured in the bus crash …

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    Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 4 Comments
    Helen Duffett

    LDVideo: Nick Clegg “An extra £60 in your wages each month”

    By Helen Duffett | Thu 23rd February 2012 - 8:13 am

    Earlier this week, Tim Farron emailed Lib Dem members with a sneak preview of the latest Party Political Broadcast. Here’s the full version in case you missed it on TV last night:

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    Posted in Lib Dem TV | Also tagged | 3 Comments
    Joss Garman

    The Independent View: The major environmental tests facing the Liberal Democrats in 2012 (Part 1)

    By Joss Garman | Wed 22nd February 2012 - 1:50 pm

    The Liberal Democrats have long been seen as the greenest of the biggest three political parties. Now in government, the party is facing tough decisions with huge implications both for our country’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and for wider protection of the natural world.

    During his time in office Lib Dem Climate Secretary Chris Huhne won a couple of significant battles with Cabinet colleagues. Most notably, despite opposition from the Chancellor, he won the backing of David Cameron to put into law tough new carbon targets for the 2020s that were recommended by their independent advisers the Committee on …

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    Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged , , , , , and | 6 Comments
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