Tag Archives: norman lamb

The Voice

Lamb and Farron reply to Lib Dems for Seekers of Sanctuary

By The Voice | Fri 26th June 2015 - 4:25 pm

The Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary (which you can join here) has put some detailed questions on asylum, immigration and humanitarian matters to the leadership candidates. Here are their answers.

 We appreciate that there are now far less parliamentarians, but will you ensure when organising teams that there is a spokesperson that covers asylum related issues?

Norman’s reply:

Absolutely, yes.  I want our party to rebuild the reputation we won under Paddy for speaking out clearly and consistently on the difficult international issues we face as a country.

We must lead the way in challenging the appalling humanitarian disaster across the Mediterranean, with thousands of desperate North African migrants drowning in their attempts to flee civil war and famine, crossing the sea in tiny boats.

We must also keep up pressure to improve our system for handling asylum applications, ending long delays that can leave people’s lives on hold for many months while they wait for a decision.

We have a fantastic team of peers, and I know they are determined to play their part in speaking out for our party on these important issues.

I would also want to work with members of Lib Dem Seekers of Sanctuary to support the group in speaking out itself on behalf of the many members who feel strongly about Britain’s asylum policies.  And as leader I would take a close personal interest, adding my own voice to make sure our party is heard and – most importantly – in working to achieve real change and make sure Britain fulfils its responsibilities to those threatened by violence and conflict around the world.

Tim’s reply:

Yes, absolutely. The Liberal Democrats must make the case for a compassionate, open United Kingdom when it comes to asylum seekers – if we don’t, no one else will

I have frequently raised these issues in Parliament, including as the party’s Foreign Affairs spokesman in the run-up to the election. For example, I wrote an article for the New Statesman about the horrors of hundreds of people dying in the Mediterranean, and the urgent need for Britain to work with our European partners to save lives rather than turning our backs. You can read it here:

So yes, if I am leader I will make sure that a consistent, compassionate Lib Dem voice is heard loud and clear on these issues.

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The Voice

Farron and Lamb send third all member emails

By The Voice | Fri 26th June 2015 - 2:55 pm

The leadership candidates have sent their third official emails. You can read the first two here and here. 

First of all, the Returning Officer’s information:

Below are the top lines and links in the third of four emails from the candidates that I am distributing on their behalf.  I do this in my role as the Acting Returning Officer for this election.

Also please find below contact details for how you can find out more about each of the candidates.

Ballot papers are being dispatched today so you should receive your ballot paper by post within the next week.   With your ballot there will also be a copy of both candidates’ manifestos.

Our ballot counters must receive your complete ballot paper by 2pm on July 15th for it to count.

Many thanks for participating in this important election.

Tim Farron’s letter

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Caron Lindsay

Liberal Democrat leadership: So what happens at a Lib Dem hustings meeting?

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th June 2015 - 9:02 pm

newcastle bridges by ratherbewalking
I was peeved when I saw that the Scottish leadership hustings were taking place this coming Saturday as I knew I had to be in London for a Federal Executive away day. In a moment of madness, though, I decided that I would make a trip to Newcastle for the hustings last Friday night. I am, after all, the FE liaison person for the North East region so it would be good to meet people there.

After a 90 minute train journey, a delicious Chicken Fajita in a place called Zapatista and a quick look at the Centurion pub next to the station to see the amazing Victorian tile work (honest), I headed to the Station Hotel a full hour before the hustings started. It was already buzzing with people. They were expecting so many to turn up that they had had to arrange a bigger room.

I managed to get one of the last seats in the room even though I’d got there so early. Strictly speaking, I might have spent too long drinking gin in the bar with my friend of two decades, Jo, where I also found out something about Tim Farron’s past that I didn’t know. I am now hunting down the evidence and when I find it, you will be the first to know. It’s not scandal, unless you count crimes against fashion in that category. 

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Caron Lindsay

Lib Dem Leadership: Big name endorsements for each camp as ballots are posted to members

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th June 2015 - 7:50 pm

Ballots for the Liberal Democrat leadership hit members’ doorsteps from tomorrow.

With that in mind, both camps have unveiled big name endorsements. From the Lamb campaign, he kind of unveiled it himself in his inimitable style:

It isn’t the biggest surprise in the whole world. During our Spring conference, he was pretty critical of Tim. Paddy becomes the latest party establishment figure to support Norman Lamb.

At the start of the campaign, Tim Farron unveiled a list of over 100 parliamentary candidates who had supported him. On Monday he announced the support of over 200 councillors, council group leaders and elected mayors like Dorothy Thornhill and Dave Hodgson. The Westminster Bubble may have gravitated towards Norman, but Tim has significant grassroots support.

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The Voice

Tim Farron and Norman Lamb face a live audience on Victoria Derbyshire

By The Voice | Tue 23rd June 2015 - 8:15 pm

This morning leadership candidates Tim Farron and Norman Lamb appeared on the Victoria Derbyshire programme on BBC2. They were quizzed by Victoria and a live audience. See how they got on below:

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Caron Lindsay

Norman Lamb’s campaign removes two volunteers for alleged misuse of personal data for negative push-polling

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 20th June 2015 - 11:01 pm

So just over 24 hours ago, I was sitting in a packed room with hundreds of Liberal Democrats from all over the North East Region. We had all been treated to an excellent two hours of debate between leadership candidates Tim Farron and Norman Lamb. They had each shown the best of themselves. Norman’s thoughtful, intelligent analysis and ideas, his determination to give a voice to the voiceless, Tim’s tub-thumping, barnstorming adrenaline rush of a speech underpinned with good ideas and things that would make Quentin Letts from the Daily Mail hyperventilate. It was great. We truly do have two hugely talented contenders.

Tonight, though, a shadow has been cast over the contest as Norman Lamb has had to suspend two volunteers for misuse of the membership data. The Telegraph has the story:

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NewsHound

Leadership LibLink: Norman Lamb: It’s time to halve the prison population

By NewsHound | Sat 20th June 2015 - 7:57 pm

Earlier this week, Norman Lamb wrote for the Huffington Post outlining a strong, liberal case for putting fewer people in prison. It’s powerful stuff:

There can be no other area of public policy, with the exception of the related issue of drugs reform, where establishment politicians so readily bang the drum for the exact opposite of any evidence-based solution. Our prisons clearly fail to rehabilitate: half of those released reoffend within a year, including six in ten of those on sentences of less than twelve months.

Liberal Democrats must lead the call for drastic and urgent action to reduce crime, protect victims more effectively, help criminals turn their lives around and protect taxpayers money: we must push for a Ministry of Justice target to halve the prison population by 2025.

Maybe we should look at the reasons people commit crime and tackle them, says Norman:

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Jim Maxon

Opinion: It’s time to rock and roll – with Tim Farron

By Jim Maxon | Sat 20th June 2015 - 1:56 pm

I watched the Tower Hamlets Leadership Hustings video last night and it compelled me to reflect on my more than 40 years’ experience of studying leadership. By studying I mean both academically and through observation, and then using this knowledge when teaching leadership in numerous public and private sector organisations throughout the UK and Europe, as well as in many well-known Business Schools, and also acting as leadership coach to countless senior managers. I am not bragging but simply ‘setting out my stall’ before making the following comments about leadership in relation to Tim Farron.

Great leaders understand, and make use of, a raft of very specific skills and characteristics. They are exceptional communicators who are able to make use of all communication channels open to them. They not only write in a language that everyone can understand, but they are also able to speak directly to people and encourage them to buy-in to what they are saying and take action as a result. Great leaders not only have a very clear vision of where they want to lead their organisation in the future but also understand how the vision links to the past, as well as knowing what needs to be done now to make the vision become a reality. Great leaders have a well balanced mix of charm, humour and wit. They take their role as leader very, very seriously but not themselves. They are usually very humble, use the ‘we’ word rather than ‘I’, and are quite happy to use themselves as the butt of their own jokes, not other people. Great leaders understand the idea that ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’. They are very bright yet have a common touch – they can do verbal battle with the best of them but are also able to touch the soul of the woman or man on the street.  I could go on!

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Norman Lamb MP

Norman Lamb MP writes…We must renew, restructure and simplify the way our party works

By Norman Lamb MP | Fri 19th June 2015 - 3:50 pm
I believe a priority for the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats is to renew, restructure and simplify the way our Party works. Some parts of the Party work well – others do not. Good practice should be shared and problem areas tackled.

As Liberal Democrats, we rightly set high standards for ourselves on tolerance, equality, openness, accountability, and diversity.  But our party often doesn’t live up to them.

During this campaign people have been telling me that there wasn’t enough accountability within the party.  People had concerns about our central message and the way we fought the election – but it felt like there was no easy channel to get those messages through.  And where mistakes were made, it wasn’t clear who ultimately was responsible.

Few party members really understand how our party works.  There are so many committees with overlapping responsibility.  The process for election to many offices within the party is arcane.  If no-one knows how our party structures work, there cannot be effective accountability.

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Mark Argent

Opinion: A moment of acceptance

By Mark Argent | Fri 19th June 2015 - 8:55 am

In the election campaign I was touched, but not surprised, to see Sal Brinton post a link on facebook to an interview with Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett where he spoke of his experiences growing up gay, and self-identifying as an HIV+ parliamentary candidate. My suspicion was that many would encourage someone in Adrian’s position to “be discreet”: but seeing him being so open and the party President support him so clearly made me proud to be a liberal democrat.

From a gay perspective, it’s been encouraging in the present leadership election to see doubts over Tim’s support for LGBT people raised as a cause for concern, and to see him act quickly to counter them.

Recently I had a very positive surprise when I read an article picking up on Norman Lamb’s piece in Pink News where he moved the whole debate on a stage by saying:

until every young person is proud of who they are, who they find attractive and who they love, our fight will continue.

The shift feels significant: from accepting a minority (which keeps them as a minority whose acceptance is to be fought for) and something genuine. It calls to mind the slogan of the LGBT-majority Free Community Church in Singapore: “welcome home”

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The Voice

For new and infrequent commenters only: What do you think of the leadership election so far?

By The Voice | Thu 18th June 2015 - 10:25 am

This is one of our occasional posts where we reserve the comments for those who don’t comment very often. Anyone who has made five or fewer comments in the past month is welcome to take part.

The subject for debate today is the leadership election. Liberal Democrat Voice is taking an entirely neutral stance and are doing our best to give equal and balanced coverage of the contest.

We just wondered what you thought of it all so far.  Have you seen the candidates in action? Are they talking about the things that you want to hear about? What do you think of their campaign websites, videos and themes? Do you have any questions for them?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

If you haven’t seen the two in action so far, you can always have a look at the New Members’ Hustings. A big thank yo to James Wright, too, for pointing me in the direction of these videos shot  by his Dad Andrew Cambridge hustings last week. They are really good quality.  Here they are:

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The Voice

Lamb and Farron make their second email pitches

By The Voice | Wed 17th June 2015 - 1:15 pm

Tim Gordon as Returning Officer in the Leadership election is sending out a series of emails to party members on behalf of each candidate.

We covered last week’s here.
There is information in the official email about when the ballot papers will be sent out:

You should receive your ballot paper by post around the last weekend in June. There will also be a copy of both candidates’ manifestos included with it.

Our ballot counters must receive your complete ballot paper by 2pm on July 15th for it to count.

To help you make your decision a number of hustings events are being held around the country further details can be found on our website.

Many thanks for participating in this important election.

Here are this week’s:

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Caron Lindsay

Video: Watch Farron and Lamb in action at leadership hustings

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 17th June 2015 - 10:25 am

A few weeks ago, Tim Farron and Norman Lamb took part in a hustings in London for several hundred new members of the party. The video footage has finally been put online. It’s two hours long, so get yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up and enjoy. It’s particularly useful for those of you who can’t get to a hustings meeting. I’m particularly thinking of those in the Highlands who would have to travel to either Aberdeen or Edinburgh. The full list of official hustings events is here and there are other unofficial events where both candidates will be appearing.

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David Faggiani

Opinion: Let’s write our new leader a two-year contract – and get rid of him if it doesn’t work out

By David Faggiani | Mon 15th June 2015 - 5:45 pm

NormanLambTim FarronThere’s been a lot of focus on the Labour Party’s new Leader being given a 2017 ‘break clause’, to ensure the freshness and efficacy of the Leader come 2020. Meanwhile, I saw a comment from a Lib Dem the other day to the effect of “we must give Farron or Lamb a good ten years, it’ll be a slow climb, etc.” I began thinking about the issue, and I have a proposal: why not give the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats a two-year contract, with rigidly-defined goals to meet, and either applaud them for meeting them, or get rid of them for not, on those criteria?

For too long, leadership challenges have been bloody, opportunistic, or subjectively triggered. Or, worse still, they haven’t happened, when they almost certainly should have done. We have recently seen the unreliability of opinion polls in measuring future performance. Will it be enough if, in 2017, we are polling back at, say, 20%? No. It will be success sculpted in the air, and prone to disassembly at a moment’s notice. What matters are solid, progressive results.

Here’s my proposal. We present the new Lib Dem Leader with a five-point contract, to cover the term August 2015 to July 2017. If they fulfil four or five criteria, astounding! If they fulfil three, that’s still a majority, they could carry on and improve. If they only manage two, one, or even none, they’re gone. We would have an automatic Leadership election.

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NewsHound

LibLink: Norman Lamb MP.. I will stand up for LGBT rights as Lib Dem Leader

By NewsHound | Sat 13th June 2015 - 2:51 pm

Tim Farron gave a major interview to Pink News a few weeks ago and now it’s the turn of Norman Lamb to lay out his views on LGBT issues.

He wrote for the site this week, starting off by reminding us that when he came into parliament, it was legal to discriminate against LGBT adoptive parents, section 28 was still in force, homophobic bullying was rife in school and LGBT couples were not allowed to get married (or even have a civil partnership).

It has been a privilege throughout that time to have had the chance to be part of the movement to change these profoundly homophobic laws that institutionalised bigotry, created misery and held back people’s freedom to love and thrive.

So far, my contribution to that change was as Health Minister in the Coalition government. I made the cause of equality for those suffering mental ill health a true NHS priority for the first time.

I recognise the impact of mental ill health on the LGBT community. I introduced the first maximum waiting times for mental health treatment.

I also worked to tackle the evil of gay ‘conversion therapy’, that treat people’s sexuality as a sickness rather than something to celebrate.

I proposed and secured the first ever memorandum of understanding with all the key bodies to commit clearly that this so called therapy has no place in a modern country.

There is, he argues, so much more to do:

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Daisy Cooper MP

Building a diverse party: the Leadership Candidates respond to Daisy Cooper’s questions

By Daisy Cooper MP | Wed 10th June 2015 - 2:05 pm

Tim Farron MPNormanLambOn 17 May, I set out my challenge to the Leadership candidates in an LDV blog, asking each of them whether and to what extent they would commit to some achievable measures to build a more diverse party. Here are their answers – presented without comment.

1)   Will you promise to take a zero tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviour, insisting that all elected representatives and everyone in your team has a “responsibility to act” on any and all anecdotal and substantive evidence that reaches them?

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The Voice

Leadership contest: Who are parliamentarians past and present and key party figures backing?

By The Voice | Tue 9th June 2015 - 7:38 pm

As the leadership contest gets under way in earnest, we thought it was time to have a look at how key party figures are lining up behind each of the candidates. This is bound to change as time goes on, so we will update it from time to time.

Tim Farron

MPs

Greg Mulholland
John Pugh
Mark Williams

Former MPs

Jo Swinson
Duncan Hames
Simon Hughes
Sir Alan Beith
John Leech
David Howarth
Sarah Teather
Martin Horwood
Paul Keetch
Brian Cotter
Mark Oaten
Steve Webb
Dan Rogerson
Ian Swales
Lembit Opik

MSPs

Willie Rennie
Jim Hume
Liam McArthur

Former MSPs

Euan Robson

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Caron Lindsay

Williams, Farron and Lamb condemn Welsh Government’s plan to ban on e-cigarettes in public places

By Caron Lindsay | Tue 9th June 2015 - 4:31 pm

The Welsh government has put forward plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public spaces. The BBC reports:

People will be banned from using e-cigarettes in enclosed places such as restaurants, pubs and at work in Wales, under a new public health law.

The plan, likely to come into force in 2017 and the first in the UK, has already divided opinion among health and medical groups, including some anti-smoking campaigners.

But ministers say it is a “balance of risk” and will stop children smoking.

This does not seem to be in any way evidence based.

Liberals really don’t like banning things unless there is a very good reason to do so. It’s therefore not really a surprise to see that Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and both federal leadership candidates have totally condemned the government’s plans:

Kirsty said:

The evidence for this decision is wafer thin.  Banning things just for the sake of it isn’t a position any Government should take.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe all decisions should be evidence based, which is why we are opposed to this ban.  There is very little evidence to date that e-cigs emit anything more harmful than water vapour. Therefore any ban on e-cigs is completely unjustifiable.

We often hear how people are using e-cigarettes to help them give up smoking.  There is a high chance this heavy handed approach from the Welsh Labour Government could actually be counter-productive.

And here’s what the leadership candidates had to say:

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The Voice

The leadership contenders send out their first all-member emails

By The Voice | Tue 9th June 2015 - 2:59 pm

Lib Dem Chief Executive Tim Gordon, in his capacity as Acting Returning Officer for the Leadership Election, has sent out the following email to members today:

As you will have seen Nick Clegg resigned as Party Leader after the General Election and nominations closed last Wednesday for the election of his successor.  Two candidates have been duly nominated, Norman Lamb and Tim Farron.

Below are the top lines and links in the first of three emails from the candidates that I am distributing on their behalf.  I do this in my role as the Acting Returning Officer for this election.

Also please find below contact details for how you can find out more about each of the candidates.

You should receive your ballot paper by post around the last weekend in June. There will also be a copy of both candidates’ manifestos included with it.

Our ballot counters must receive your complete ballot paper by first post on July 15th for it to count.

To help you make your decision a number of hustings events are being held around the country further details can be found at http://www.libdems.org.uk/leadership_events

Many thanks for participating in this important election.

All 61456 (correct at time of writing but increasing all the time) members of the party will get a ballot paper. These will be despatched on 24th June and the result will be announced on 16th July. Hustings meetings are taking place all over the country, so do take the opportunity to see the candidates in action. Already 1200 people have signed up for the London hustings alone! The New Members’ hustings which took place a couple of weeks ago will be put on the party website at some point.

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Joanne Ferguson

Opinion: Why I would follow Tim

By Joanne Ferguson | Mon 8th June 2015 - 11:38 am

 

I joined the Liberal Democrats a couple of weeks ago. For the most part I joined because of Nick Clegg, whose eloquence and calmness intrigued me and piqued my interest in the moderate course. I had decided before the general election that I was going to join after my exams and I was distraught when I realised I would never be following Nick.

I wanted to follow Nick because he was genuine, he could be funny, and he was gracious. I could also tell he was a very smart man who understood his party’s policies and was dedicated to the principles of liberalism. From watching Tim on ‘Question Time’, I could tell he was genuine, funny and gracious, possibly more so than Nick. What I was worried about was the second part of what I admired in Nick.

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Mark Argent

Opinion: Why I’m supporting Norman Lamb for leader

By Mark Argent | Mon 8th June 2015 - 9:15 am

At the Spring Conference I went to a fringe event by the Social Liberal Forum entitled Mental Health: equality of esteem?, addressed by Norman Lamb with Ian Brodie Brown (of Imagine Mental Health) and a mental health services user.

This could easily have been just a health minister supporting health things, but there was a great deal more to it than that. Mental health is stigmatised. It took courage to make a stand and put this on the agenda before it became clear that it would not cost us votes.

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Caron Lindsay

In full: Lib Dem MPs’ Commons tributes to Kennedy

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 6th June 2015 - 6:55 pm

We’ve already posted the video of the tributes to Charles Kennedy from the Commons on Wednesday and we’ve also posted Nick’s in full. We thought it might be useful to put the text of all five of the Lib Dem tributes, including Nick’s, in one post for ease of reference and posterity. They all did Charles proud. Greg and Mark talked about the way he really connected with ordinary people and about his concern for others. Norman spoke about his unfailing courtesy in his dealings with people, highlighting the need to tackle the stigma around mental ill health and emphasising Charles’ passions for internationalism and social justice. Tim’s emotional tribute spoke about Charles the persuader, how he could change minds and really tug on the heartstrings. Nick’s was just beautiful, and I particularly liked the memory he shared about their fly smoke outside the National Liberal Club where they discussed the Coalition. In years to come, I hope that Charles’ son and those who were close to him find great comfort and pride. To be universally admired in our tribal politics takes some doing.

I guess I should advise that if you are going to read all five of them in one sitting, you will need a cup of tea and a box of tissues.

So, here they all are, starting with:

Greg Mulholland

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Nick Perry

Opinion: We made Mental Health an issue – now we must lead the fight to make it possible

By Nick Perry | Mon 1st June 2015 - 5:05 pm

Having worked as a frontline mental health social worker for the past 15 years, there was no-one prouder than I was to see Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb push mental health care (and its place within the NHS) up the political agenda .

There is no doubt that without the determination of our gutsy Party, we would not have seen, over the course of the General Election, the other political parties try to associate themselves with our work: securing more funding for mental health care (particularly child and adolescent mental health care) over the last Parliament.

But as any social work student …

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NewsHound

LibLink: Norman Lamb: We can build a new progressive, liberal movement of change across the country

By NewsHound | Sat 30th May 2015 - 6:15 pm

Yes, I know, lots of leadership stuff today – but then, there’s a lot out there and it is a Very Big Thing for the party at the Norman Lamb badgesmoment.

Norman Lamb has outlined his vision for Politics Home. Trust the people, he says:

As liberals, we fundamentally believe that government can’t pick and choose which human rights are important, or who should have them.  We believe that powerful organisations – both public and private – must be open and accountable.  And we believe that, when people use the internet, they don’t surrender the right to privacy from government snooping.

And at the very heart of my liberalism is the idea that we must trust in people. That we must take power away from unaccountable institutions and give it to individuals – so that they can decide how to live their lives, rather than being told what to do by the state.

Nearly a decade ago, I won a long battle with the Labour government to force the then-Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to publish lists of the individuals he met.  That principle now extends across all government ministers – and is crucial in holding ministers to account for the way that decisions are made.

And it’s important to give those most vulnerable a proper say in what happens to them:

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The Voice

Leadership News: The Tweets

By The Voice | Sat 30th May 2015 - 3:15 pm

We thought we’d take an occasional look through the Twitter feeds of leadership hopefuls Norman Lamb and Tim Farron. Today they are united, marching for human rights.

…

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NewsHound

Leadership News: Support for both Farron and Lamb in Huffington Post

By NewsHound | Sat 30th May 2015 - 1:45 pm

Two recent articles from the Huffington Post speak out in favour  of each candidate for the Liberal Democrats.

First, Jack Davies tells why he is supporting Tim Farron:

It was a cold afternoon in November when, huddled before my computer screen, I typed out a message to Tim Farron, the then party president of the Liberal Democrats.

The message was a call for help. I was hoping to stand for election as the Liberal Democrat PPC in New Forest West and I needed assistance in applying.

I didn’t expect Tim to reply, but to my surprise, he did.

His reply was polite and helpful. He offered to read my application script and pointed me in the right direction with tips on what to say. I was taken aback by the response and even more astounded that so much care was afforded to it.

It is moments like these that inspire people to enter the world of politics, to aspire them to be as good as the politician who has taken the time to talk to them. It certainly inspired me into getting more involved and I set up New Forest Liberal Youth to encourage more young people in the New Forest to become involved.

Editor of The Secularist Conversation Stefan Rollnick explains his support for Norman Lamb:

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NewsHound

Lamb looks to Farage for inspiration

By NewsHound | Sat 30th May 2015 - 12:15 pm

The Huffington Post reported Norman Lamb’s remarks at a new members’ event in London this week.

Lamb told the activists: “There are remarkable things happening these days, just look at the rise and fall of corporations. The big companies that are household names one day and disappear the next. The startups that suddenly catch fire and become enormous new organisations.

“The same is happening in politics. Look at what happened with the SNP, look at what happened indeed with a different force, one we reject entirely. Nigel Farage communicated a view to people in a way that got people listening,” Lamb said.

He adding: “Now, his message is one of division, ours is one of uniting people.

“There are so many people out there ready to hear from us. And actually wanting to hear a progressive liberal voice in opposition to a right-wing Conservative government. With the the Labour Party in a state of internal turmoil themselves and likely to face many years, I suspect, of infighting, the responsibility of us to step up to the plate and make the case for progressive liberal politics, the politics of hope not the politics of fear, is overwhelming.”

 

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The Voice

Video: Norman Lamb’s pitch for leader

By The Voice | Thu 28th May 2015 - 10:48 pm

Norman Lamb has released a video talking about why he wants to be leader.

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Norman Lamb MP

Norman Lamb MP writes: I want us to lead the way in Parliament to allow assisted dying

By Norman Lamb MP | Wed 27th May 2015 - 11:59 am
For many years, I opposed attempts to legalise assisted dying.  I had concerns, shared by many, that the risk to the most vulnerable individuals outweighed the benefits.  Equally, I respect those with deeply held religious concerns.
 
But my views have been challenged in recent years. As an MP and in my role in the last Parliament as a health minister, I have spoken to many terminally ill patients, and the families of those who suffered slow deaths in great pain.
 
So many of them were convinced, when someone is suffering intolerably, and when they are reaching the end of their life, they should be allowed to end their suffering with dignity, and with the support of those closest to them.
 
These testimonies have forced me to think again. Would I want the right to decide for myself, when faced with terminal illness, when I wished to die? And would I want it for loved ones? The answer is unequivocally, yes. 
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Caron Lindsay

Lamb and Farron launch Liberal Democrat campaign to save the Human Rights Act

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 25th May 2015 - 8:45 am

Both leadership candidates have joined forces to launch the Liberal Democrat campaign to save the Human Rights Act from destruction. This is yet another of these things that the Tories would have quite happily done at any point in the last five years but were prevented from doing so because of the Liberal Democrats. Way back in January 2010, I wrote of my horror at Cameron’s comments in an Andrew Marr interview:

“The moment a burglar steps over your threshold……they leave their human rights outside”

I mean, what cheap, populist rubbbish. If you take his words to their logical conclusion, they could be taken as an incitement to virtually anything.

Now, burglary is horrible. I have friends whose house has been done over twice in the last few years and I’ve seen how traumatised they were. I’m not suggesting it’s soemthing that shoud go unpunished. Let’s get that clear before I get any “you’re soft on crime” thrown at me.

However if a burglar “leaves his human rights outside” what is Cameron giving licence to? Kicking them where it hurts? Bopping them over the head with a frying pan? Stabbing them? Calling your mates over to give them a good hiding?

I mean, if these people have no right to be treated as human beings, where do you stop?

I found it quite scary to hear such nonsense coming from somebody who thinks he’s going to be Prime Minister in a few months.

It doesn’t make me feel particularly safe to hear Cameron talk like this. I can only see an approach on his lines leading to more dead people, householders and burglars. I don’t really think we need to change the law.

Whatever differences our leadership candidates have, they are both totally committed to preserving the Human Rights Act which has:

  • Stopped the state spying on us, supported peaceful protest and protected soldiers.
  • Helped rape victims, defended domestic violence victims and guarded against slavery.
  • Supported those in care, shielded press freedom and provided answers for grieving families.
  • Preserved our right to a fair trial, prevented indiscriminate stop-and-search and protected minorities.
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