Tag Archives: simon hughes

Mark Pack

MP conference fringe league table 2011: Vince is the new Simon, Simon is the new Vince

By Mark Pack | Tue 13th September 2011 - 10:25 am

Back for its third year (see 2009 and 2010) is my conference fringe meeting league table, showing how many fringes each MP will be speaking at. As ever, this is based on the information from the official fringe listings in the printed conference directory.

The Simon Hughes Memorial Prize for Multiple Simultaneous Fringe Booking award this year was tightly contested. After Simon Hughes winning in 2009 and then in 2010 the honours being split fourways between Burstow, Cable, Featherstone and Teather, 2011 saw a tight contest again.

There were numerous MPs who managed one, or more, double bookings. Special mention …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
Nick T

LibLink: Simon Hughes – Profits must no longer go to the few at the top

By Nick T | Tue 16th August 2011 - 6:27 pm

Over the weekend, Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Simon Hughes, penned a piece for the Guardian’s Comment Is Free site arguing that Britain needs to become a more equal place both in terms of the distribution of wealth and of opportunity.

Here’s a sample:

We must now focus on the redistribution of wealth. But this will not succeed by means of greater hand-outs. Financial benefits must seek to engage people positively. The redistribution of hope and opportunity means the redistribution as well as the creation of work. Co-operative and mutual businesses and social enterprise should be prioritised. The private sector, like the public

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged and | 16 Comments
Nick T

Tune in to Iain Dale’s Lib Dem night tonight on LBC, featuring Nick Clegg, Simon Hughes and others

By Nick T | Mon 8th August 2011 - 4:54 pm

Iain Dale returns to his evening show on London’s LBC radio tonight with a Lib Dem special. First up is a live Q & A with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, followed by interviews with a whole host of prominent Lib Dems, including three of the four London Mayoral hopefuls as well as deputy leader Simon Hughes.

Here’s the schedule in full from Iain’s blog:

6-7pm Live Q & A with LibDem leader Nick Clegg
7-7.30pm Interview with Nick Clegg (tbc)
7.30-8pm Reaction to Clegg with Lord Oakeshott, Susan Kramer & Jo Phillips
8-9pm Meet the LibDem London Mayoral Candidates – Brian Paddick, Brian

…

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Nick T

LibLink: Simon Hughes – Make university an option for all

By Nick T | Tue 2nd August 2011 - 1:54 pm

Simon Hughes, Lib Dem deputy leader and author of The Hughes Report on access to higher education, recently had an op-ed in the Daily Express outlining the thoughts he sets out in that report.

Here’s a sample:

Last week I submitted my report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, with more than 30 recommendations on what can be done to improve access to higher education.

These do not focus only on university admissions but on what can be done to encourage young people to think about university from an early age.

This is crucial because from the age of 13 children

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , and | 16 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink | Stephen Tall: Would you hire someone without interviewing them?

By NewsHound | Thu 28th July 2011 - 2:55 pm

Stephen Tall has an article over at Dale & Co on the Hughes Report on Access to Higher Education, which he previously outlined here on Lib Dem Voice.

Stephen comments:

However, there is one recommendation in ‘The Hughes Report’ with which I take issue:

It is my firm view that interviews which are conducted by an academic who will end up teaching that particular student are too subjective. … interviews should be conducted by trained admissions personnel who will not have face to face teaching responsibilities for the interviewee. (p.33)

It’s an odd comment for two reasons. First, it

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , and | 13 Comments
Stephen Tall

‘The Hughes Report’: Lib Dem MP’s 33 recommendations to improve access to higher education

By Stephen Tall | Sun 24th July 2011 - 3:25 pm

Last week saw the publication by Simon Hughes, the Government’s advocate for higher education access, of his report for the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on how more young people can be encouraged to apply for university. It’s received little attention, perhaps understandably given the current frenetic news cycles — but it’s a shame because the report is a serious piece of work.

Though 45 pages long in total, it presents clearly, readably and concisely 33 recommendations designed to ensure that everyone, from young to old, has the chance to experience higher education. You can read the report in full below, but there are five aspects which struck me as worth highlighting:

  • Importance of early years: the report recommends that, from primary age onwards, ‘schools can play an important role in motivating children to think about their future career and start working towards achieving their dreams’. These range from work experience opportunities to, in particular, ensuring proper advice is available at age 13-14 ‘when a young person starts to make the choices of courses influenced by the qualifications they hope for and the careers they plan.’
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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 22 Comments
Helen Duffett

Hughes, Farron and Foster write to Rupert Murdoch – full text of letter

By Helen Duffett | Wed 13th July 2011 - 6:53 am

Simon Hughes, Tim Farron and Don Foster have written to Rupert Murdoch about the proposed take-over of BSkyB by News International.

They ask Murdoch to respond to public opinion by changing his commercial strategy in the UK: withdrawing his News Corporation bid for BSkyB and concentrating all his efforts on cleaning up News International.

The letter in full:

Proposed take-over of BSkyB by News International

Ever since the report of our Information Commissioner ‘What Price Freedom?’ and the conviction and imprisonment of Goodman and Mulcaire in 2006, there has been growing concern about the policy and practices of UK newspaper titles owned

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

The Lib Dems on ‘Hackgate’ and Murdoch: Ashdown, Huhne, Hughes, Farron, Oakeshott all join the fray

By Stephen Tall | Sun 10th July 2011 - 4:25 pm

It’s been a frenzied week in British politics, with attention for once focused less on the mis-deeds of politicans than the criminality practised by many journalists, both at the News of the World and beyond. Here’s a brief round-up of what the Lib Dems have been saying…

BSkyB takeover: Lib Dems hint at backing Labour motion to delay deal (Guardian)

The Liberal Democrats have indicated they could back a Labour move in parliament to delay the Murdoch takeover of BSkyB until after the police investigations into phone hacking. …

Hughes told Sky News: “We have to be careful and I would

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 8 Comments
Helen Duffett

Young people must get the facts on Higher Education – Hughes

By Helen Duffett | Tue 28th June 2011 - 3:29 pm

Simon Hughes MP, the Government’s advocate for access to Higher Education, has a piece over at Left Foot Forward today, on the confusion surrounding student finance.

He cites the Sutton Trust’s findings that more than a fifth of 11-16 year olds believe their families will have to pay for the cost of university tuition, while a further 10 per cent believe students paid for university with money they earned before and during their studies:

This situation is clearly unacceptable. And now as we start a month where higher education is again back on the agenda, with today’s publication of the

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged and | 18 Comments
Mark Pack

What the future holds for Liberal Democrat tax policies

By Mark Pack | Tue 28th June 2011 - 10:25 am

More economically competent than Labour, fairer than the Conservatives – that’s what many at the top of the party hope the message will be come the next general election. If the economy is not doing well at the time of the next election . However, if it is then the party will need the right combination of economic policies to support that proposition.

That is why people such as Danny Alexander are starting to sketch out possible tax policies for the next general election which will involve giving tax cuts to the least well off, paid for by taxing the richest more.

That combination …

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

Benefit caps and central London: how many children will be moving school?

By Mark Pack | Thu 23rd June 2011 - 12:54 pm

Many Liberal Democrats I’ve spoken to have mixed feelings about the proposed benefit cap and some of the housing benefit changes. On the one hand, they have very little sympathy with the complaints of people such as Frank Dobson that rule changes means he wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in his council flat. Count me in the camp who doesn’t think council housing should be used to let ex-ministers with decades of salary earning that puts them amongst the best paid in the country and with membership of a decent pension scheme live in one of London’s most …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 21 Comments
Prateek Buch

Opinion: This is the Social Liberal moment

By Prateek Buch | Tue 21st June 2011 - 4:25 pm

After months of planning, and not inconsiderate last-minute scrambling, the Social Liberal Forum’s first ever conference took place at City University on Saturday; envisioned by Hackney’s Geoff Payne and put into action by the outstanding team he led, the conference (#SLFconf on Twitter) was a massive success from so many perspectives.

Firstly, there was the interest generated by having two Cabinet Ministers and the Party’s Deputy Leader speaking – Vince Cable’s speech was carried live by the BBC and Sky news was also filming throughout the day. Of course the Ministers were a significant draw, but the packed-out audience was …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , and | 7 Comments
Chris White

Chris White writes: I have just received an email from Simon Hughes

By Chris White | Thu 26th May 2011 - 4:18 pm

I have just received an email from Simon Hughes. It said:

It’s been a great month for Liberal Democrats who are setting the pace on the green agenda!

It doesn’t quite say it’s been a great month for ‘the’ Liberal Democrats but most people will read it that way and think vaguely of my one and only Kipling joke:

If you can keep your head while all around are losing theirs…then you haven’t understood the true seriousness of the situation.

To be fair on Simon and his team, we do need reminding that there is more to this coalition than AV, Lords reform …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Liberal Democrats setting the pace on the green agenda – Simon Hughes updates party members

By The Voice | Wed 25th May 2011 - 6:26 pm

Lib Dem Deputy Leader Simon Hughes has emailed party members to update them on the party’s influence in government, in promoting the green agenda. He highlights the Energy Bill, the fourth Carbon Budget, and the Green Investment Bank, detailed this week by Nick Clegg and Vince Cable.

It’s been a great month for Liberal Democrats, who are setting the pace on the green agenda!

  • Two weeks ago, Chris Huhne, as Energy and Climate Change Secretary, led for the government when his Department’s Energy Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons. This creates the framework for the Green Deal,

…

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

Learning the lessons from last week #4: The party’s local government base matters

By Mark Pack | Thu 12th May 2011 - 7:21 am

Broadly speaking, the party’s local government base is now back to where it was in 1993. As I put it:

For those who joined the Liberal Democrats in the last 18 months, and may not yet even have been in school in 1993, that may well seem a long time away and a big step back; for those who have seen the party’s ups and downs in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s, 1993 looks rather better – and nothing like as bad as the dog days of having a party leader on trial for conspiracy to murder (late 1970s) or

…

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Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Clegg, Cable and Hughes on ‘What next?’ for the Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Sun 8th May 2011 - 6:02 pm

After the party’s battering at the polls on Thursday, and the simultaneous rejection of electoral reform, the Lib Dems’ future in the Coalition government has been the subject of much media discussion this weekend, with Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Simon Hughes all leading the fightback. Here’s a round-up of some of their BBC interviews…

Clegg fights back with tough NHS pledge …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 19 Comments
The Voice

Simon Hughes on the Coalition: “We have started so we’ll finish”

By The Voice | Thu 14th April 2011 - 10:20 pm

Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes has signalled in the clearest possible langauge his belief that the party’s coalition with the Consevatives can and will run its full five-year course. In a speech today in Bradford, Simon took the opportunity to state how the Lib Dems are delivering results in government:

Just this month nearly one million low income people stop paying income tax altogether. In the metropolitan borough of Bradford alone, 166,000 basic rate taxpayers will receive a tax cut. And this is entirely because of a policy which was campaigned for by Liberal Democrats in opposition and delivered by Liberal Democrats in government.

You can read Simon’s speech in full below:

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Posted in News | 4 Comments
Mark Pack

Ivory Coast debated in Parliament; Simon Hughes asks question

By Mark Pack | Sat 2nd April 2011 - 8:56 am

Having commented adversely previously about how little attention has been given to the spiralling humanitarian disaster in Ivory Coast by Parliament, it’s only fair to mention that it was the subject of an urgent question in Parliament this week and the previous lack of Parliamentary interest in the issue from Liberal Democrats was broken by Simon Hughes:

Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD): As well as encouraging Ministers to persist in their efforts to resolve the conflict, may I have an assurance that they are keeping in touch with the small but not insignificant community here in order

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Tim Farron MP

Tim Farron writes… Join the Lib Dems YES! to Fairer Votes campaign

By Tim Farron MP | Fri 18th March 2011 - 12:23 pm

Tim Farron launches the Lib Dem YES! campaign

This morning I launched the Liberal Democrats’ Yes! To Fairer Votes campaign in Manchester.

Over 100 local members and supporters came along to hear speeches from Simon Hughes, John Leech, Gordon Birtwistle and Floella Benjamin about how monumentally essential it is that we win this Fairer Votes referendum.

As Nick Clegg has already argued, this is “a battle between reformers and conservatives” and this is our chance, our one opportunity for genuine electoral reform.

By winning this referendum …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

The party strategy debate: rolling highlights

By Mark Pack | Sun 13th March 2011 - 10:05 am

Note: If you’re catching up with this post after it was published, read it from the bottom up.

Final result – both amendment and motion passed overwhelmingly. The overall tenor of the debate was more good natured than might have been expected – people did not take the opportunity to express any unhappiness in strident tones, and the party being in coalition with the Tories until 2015 was accepted and expected, explicitly or implicitly, by all speakers. Tuition fees and NHS got mentions, but brief ones. Norman Lamb’s comments about the health debate (see below), however, were unexpected and welcome.

James Gurling, …

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Posted in Conference and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , and | 1 Comment
Alex Foster

PODCAST: Q&A with Business, Innovation and Skills team

By Alex Foster | Sat 12th March 2011 - 8:11 pm

Earlier today, Simon Hughes, Lorely Burt, Vince Cable and Ed Davey joined chair Sal Brinton to answer questions from the audience about post offices, tuition fees, the education maintenance allowance and cutting red tape for small businesses.

You can hear the session in full by clicking the “play in a new window” link below.

Coming up later today: our podcasts of the Nick Clegg Q&A and a recording of our own fringe meeting, which is happening right now.

Posted in Conference and Podcasts | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 2 Comments
Helen Duffett

Lib Dems’ half-term report: gold stars from Simon Hughes – and Paul Waugh

By Helen Duffett | Thu 17th February 2011 - 8:45 pm

Over at PoliticsHome, Paul Waugh has a very positive piece, highlighting the recent series of announcements which bear a distinctive Liberal Democrat stamp:

Today, Nick Clegg can bask in last night’s AV Bill victory, delivering an historic referendum that could possibly see his party in power for a long time.
But the DPM can also celebrate having played a key role in a string of other areas being discussed today. On each issue, you can judge his success by the irritated reaction of the average Tory backbencher.

Paul helpfully lists welfare reform, gay marriage, green policy, growth, the AV referendum and more.

Go …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

Community politics: is it set to disappear as a core Lib Dem belief?

By Mark Pack | Wed 16th February 2011 - 8:55 am

One of the reasons – in fact, probably the main reason – why so many Liberal Democrats are relaxed about the Conservative Party leadership’s enthusiasm for the Big Society idea is the overlap between the Big Society and the traditional Liberal Democrat belief in Community Politics. That’s a topic I wrote about at greater length before Christmas, but what has struck me since is how little senior Liberal Democrats talk about Community Politics now.

Despite the frequent media discussion about the Big Society, which provides an opening to talk about the Liberal Democrat alternative/supplement (delete as you wish), Community …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 22 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Simon Hughes – ‘We’re not trying to escape’

By NewsHound | Sat 8th January 2011 - 8:35 pm

Over at The Guardian today, there’s an interview with Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes following his recent appointment as the Coalition’s ‘advocate for access to education’ despite having not voted in favour of the Government’s tuition fees proposals.

Simon talks about the difference between government and opposition:

What is it like, being in power? What’s it like, after decades of not a sniff of it? “It is entirely different, and it has taken me and other people in our party a bit of time to get used to, to be honest.” Hughes, 59, has a calm, practiced warmth, and while

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , and | 7 Comments
Mark Pack

Simon Hughes takes up education post

By Mark Pack | Wed 29th December 2010 - 4:02 pm

The BBC reports:

A senior Lib Dem who abstained from the vote on tuition fees has been appointed by the government to help encourage poorer teenagers to go to university.

Simon Hughes was among Lib Dems to raise concerns about a hike in the cap on university tuition fees in England.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg said it would be a tragedy if youths were put off applying due to “misinformation”.

Labour said the appointment was “window dressing” and showed they were worried students would be put off by the rise.

The Lib Dem deputy leader has been appointed to the unpaid, six-month

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 100 Comments
Mark Pack

Tuition fees: will Lib Dem MPs split three ways?

By Mark Pack | Mon 29th November 2010 - 10:27 pm

How to avoid a three-way car crash with most ministers voting for the Browne Report, some ministers and many backbench MPs abstaining and yet a further group of Lib Dem MPs voting against is now the main debate within the Parliamentary Party over tuition fees.

Some changes to the original Browne report proposals have already been promised, but the debate has now moved on from the question of whether or not there could or should be more modifications to how people will vote on that modified package, which is unlikely to change any further at this point.

Until fairly recently, the party’s …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 88 Comments
Mark Pack

Housing benefit reforms set to be delayed

By Mark Pack | Sun 28th November 2010 - 10:11 pm

The BBC reports:

Millions of people who currently claim housing benefit are to be given more time before cuts are introduced.

Ministers had planned to introduce a cap from next April on how much housing benefit could be claimed.

But the BBC understands that existing claimants will now have until January 2012 to adjust their circumstances if needed before the caps are brought in.

The Department for Work and Pensions would not confirm the move, which it said was “speculation”.

Simon Hughes’s response has been:

If the reports about changes to the housing benefit proposals are true, then this will be very welcome. Many of

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 14 Comments
Sean McHale

Opinion: Lib Dems must change strategy if they are to regain electoral credibility

By Sean McHale | Sun 21st November 2010 - 9:56 am

Nobody likes an apologist. So why are the Liberal Democrats apologising for every decision the Coalition takes? Continue on this road and the party is heading toward electoral annihilation.

This apologist outlook has stemmed from the strategy the Lib Dems have operated with since 1997, namely, attacking the government from the left. The strategy must be broadly viewed as a success. Only a month prior to the election the party were ahead in the polls, and although they suffered a net loss in regard to seats, the party gained a notoriety amongst the public not witnessed for over 80 years.

But the …

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Posted in Op-eds | 32 Comments
Helen Duffett

Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes ask: Are you registered to vote?

By Helen Duffett | Mon 1st November 2010 - 8:50 pm

In the light of today’s news that 3.5 million voters are missing from the electoral register, and in view of the forthcoming boundary changes based on the number of voters on the electoral roll as it stands next month, a timely email reminder today to Liberal Democrat members from Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes:

I’m sure you will agree that we as Liberal Democrats need to play our part in helping to ensure that everybody who should have the right to vote is in a position to exercise that right come next May.

Tomorrow we will be debating the third reading

…

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

Simon Hughes pays tribute to Claire Rayner

By Helen Duffett | Tue 12th October 2010 - 12:43 pm

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Simon Hughes has paid tribute to Claire Rayner, the NHS campaigner, agony aunt and Liberal Democrat member who died yesterday:

Claire Rayner was a wonderful, no-nonsense, agony aunt to the nation, but also she was much more than that.

Claire’s campaigning was an inspiration to millions and especially to Liberal Democrats, who were so proud that she was a member of our party.

Continuous work and campaigning to improve our National Health Service for all our patients will be the best sort of tribute our country can give her.

Posted in Obituaries | Also tagged | 3 Comments
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