Tag Archives: vince cable

Helen Duffett

Vince is the business on the dance floor

By Helen Duffett | Sun 26th December 2010 - 3:28 pm

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Posted in Lib Dem TV | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
Mark Littlewood

Opinion: Vince wasn’t just wrong to say it. He was just wrong

By Mark Littlewood | Wed 22nd December 2010 - 1:20 pm

It was an extraordinary day. In front of two total strangers, Vince Cable, still the nation’s Business Secretary, had declared he’d gone to war – and was going to win – against Rupert Murdoch. He also pontificated about how he might use the “nuclear option” against his own cabinet colleagues. To be sure, such extreme militaristic hubris is deeply odd behaviour from a Liberal Democrat. But in the fog of a curious day at Westminster, liberals must not lose sight of the serious policy implications facing British broadcasting.

Rupert Murdoch is an easy hate figure for the centre-left. He is …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 61 Comments
Mark Pack

Robert Peston nails the Cable story

By Mark Pack | Wed 22nd December 2010 - 12:38 pm

I was going to write a post about the Cable / Telegraph / other Lib Dem ministers story, but reading Robert Peston’s post I see he’s said what I was going to say – but said it first and said it better. So over to him:

What I still feel bemused about is why the Telegraph, for which I used to work, did not publish the one story that would have unquestionably legitimised its under-cover exercise to elicit the private views of Lib Dem ministers.

Pretty much everything these Lib Dems have been caught saying about their Tory colleagues is what one

…

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 27 Comments
Mark Pack

Vince Cable: stays in Cabinet, responsibility for takeover ruling moves

By Mark Pack | Tue 21st December 2010 - 7:50 pm

The net upshot of the day today:

  • Vince Cable disagrees with Conservatives (shocking news, I know)
  • Vince Cable tells people he thinks are his constituents the truth when asked (grounds for questioning his judgement on this, yes, but isn’t it rather odd to see the Daily Telegraph thundering about how awful it is that a politician told the truth?)
  • Yup, there was something significant in the Telegraph publishing what it claimed was a “full” transcript but which in fact clearly had been edited – though the reason wasn’t one I’d expected
  • Decision on Rupert Murdoch takeover plans has been moved to Jeremy Hunt

…

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Posted in News | 110 Comments
Mark Pack

Vince Cable: I could bring down the government

By Mark Pack | Tue 21st December 2010 - 7:48 am

When I talked before about the Liberal Democrats showing in public the behind-the-scenes disagreements in the coalition with the Conservatives rather more, this wasn’t quite what I expected…

Vince Cable has privately threatened to “bring the Government down” if he is “pushed too far” during fractious discussions with his Conservative colleagues, The Daily Telegraph can disclose…

He believes that policies are being rushed through by the Conservatives and that ministers should be “putting a brake on” some proposals, which are in “danger of getting out of control”. Mr Cable says that, behind the scenes, the Tories and Liberal Democrats are fighting

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 163 Comments
Mark Pack

The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011: the economy

By Mark Pack | Mon 20th December 2010 - 11:25 am

This is the first in a series of posts on the main Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011 we’re running over the festive season. You can find all the posts as they appear here.

The state of the economy is central to the fate of the Liberal Democrats, both because it is so important in shaping people’s perceptions of the government and also because the better the economy does the more scope there is to get public interest in Liberal Democrat achievements in other areas. No matter how wonderful the government’s green achievements, for example, they would get very little attention …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 23 Comments
The Voice

Newsagents call on Cable to think again on tobacco display ban

By The Voice | Sun 19th December 2010 - 11:27 am

An open letter to Vince Cable from the National President of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents:

Dear Mr Cable,

The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) would like to express the views of Britain’s small businesses, those at the heart of their local communities, in response to the UK’s proposed tobacco display ban. We do so with the firm support of over 60 backbench MPs who have called on you personally to look again at the proposed ban, as well as 33,000 small family businesses across every town and village in the UK.

These MPs who have signed the open letter understand that the display ban is not a health vs …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 39 Comments
Mark Pack

Nick Clegg on life with the Conservatives, tuition fees and the coalition’s future

By Mark Pack | Sun 5th December 2010 - 9:36 am

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is interviewed today in the Independent on Sunday, with the report inevitably featuring tuition fees:

He says he is still determined to tackle social disadvantage and educational underperformance, and says that a £150m national scholarship scheme will give a year’s free tuition to 18,000 students on free school meals. Universities wanting to breach the £6,000 cap on fees, to charge up to £9,000, will have to give another free year to the poorest students.

In the coming weeks, months and years he will need to “grit my teeth, display a bit of resilience, and explain calmly and

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 93 Comments
David Parkes

Opinion: On Broken Promises

By David Parkes | Wed 1st December 2010 - 2:45 pm

I’m sure many of you, like myself, watched Vince Cable’s interview on the Politics Show last week where he denied breaking any promises to oppose a rise in tuition fees, with a certain feeling of discomfort. But now I think the time has come to discuss a change in narrative.

Lib Dem MPs and Ministers (including up until now Vince Cable,) have a reputation for giving straight-forward honest answers to journalists questions without coming across as evasive or revisionist. However, with the tuition fee pledge to deny a promise was ever made and as such never broken is not a …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 45 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
NewsHound

Vince: there has been no betrayal

By NewsHound | Sun 21st November 2010 - 8:45 am

The BBC is reporting that Vince Cable has argued that there’s been no betrayal of students by the Lib Dems, and that he’s working to get the best deal for students.

We didn’t break a promise. We made a commitment in our manifesto, we didn’t win the election. We then entered into a coalition agreement, and it’s the coalition agreement that is binding upon us and which I’m trying to honour

Vince speaks in an interview to be broadcast on the Politics Show later today.

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , and | 45 Comments
Shas Sheehan

Opinion: Let’s hear from Labour their tuition fees policy

By Shas Sheehan | Sat 20th November 2010 - 10:27 am

What a mess we seem to have got ourselves into over tuition fees. How on earth did we get here?

I can only speak for myself. I joined the party because of its policies on green issues, clarity of thought on civil liberties, regard for international law, opposition to nuclear energy and renewal of Trident, and tuition fees.

This latter policy was very important to me.

I don’t come from a privileged background. At school I was one of the kids on free school meals and to go to university I had a full grant.

I hated free school meals because everyone knew who …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 59 Comments
Paul Walter

PMQS: Cameron promised faster wheels amidst squeaky bums

By Paul Walter | Wed 17th November 2010 - 4:52 pm

What a relief! For a change, Prime Minister’s Questions gave more cause for Tories to be uneasy than it did for LibDems. Don’t get me wrong, LibDems care passionately about frontline policing. Of course they do. But the Tories tend to see it as more of a cojones (or should I invent the adjective “cojonal” here?) measurement issue – it’s closer to the nerve with them. So I think there must have been a lot of uncomfortable shifting around on the benches behind David Cameron today. “Squeaky bum time”, as Sir Alex might put it.

For once there was a good …

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Posted in PMQs | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , and | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

Vince orders Ofcom investigation of News Corp’s bid for BSkyB

By Stephen Tall | Thu 4th November 2010 - 11:58 am

The last few months has seen a curious coalition emerge, uniting media foes of right and left and non-aligned, ranging from the Daily Mail to the Guardian, Trinity Mirror to the Telegraph, the BBC and Channel 4. What has brought them together? Opposition to the bid by News Corporation, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, for full control of BSkyB (the company currently owns a minority 38% stake).

Well, today Vince Cable offered them some cheer — he has referred News Corp’s bid to the media regulator, Ofcom. The BBC reports:

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has ordered Ofcom to investigate News

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , , and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Vince Cable: this is a fair deal for students

By The Voice | Wed 3rd November 2010 - 6:00 pm

Vince Cable, Lib Dem secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, has sent the following email to Lib Dem members following today’s announcement of the Coalition’s proposals for higher education funding in England:

The Liberal Democrats have always championed our universities. We have long fought for a fair deal for students.

Now in Government we are in a position to turn that campaigning into real action.

The higher education package I am announcing today will promote high-quality university teaching and research. It will guarantee fair access for all, regardless of background. It will deliver a progressive, sustainable funding structure.

The key points are

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 36 Comments
Richard Morris

Opinion: Why we should be trying to win the London Mayor contest

By Richard Morris | Wed 3rd November 2010 - 1:55 pm

Earlier this month, LDV published a piece of mine suggesting Vince Cable would make an excellent candidate for London Mayor, which I wrote because I happen to think that he can win.

Some people agreed with my supposition, others for various reasons disagreed. It was the third set of responses that surprised me. That it was the very fact that Vince could win that made him a poor choice – because the allegedly approved strategy in London was to find a candidate ‘who understands that their role is not to try and win the mayoral election but to help our …

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Posted in London and Op-eds | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

Will the tuition fees concessions be enough to win over Lib Dem MPs?

By Stephen Tall | Wed 3rd November 2010 - 12:25 pm

It’s three weeks since Vince Cable announced in the House of Commons that he, on behalf of the Coalition Government, supported the broad thrust of The Browne Report’s recommendations — in particular, that tuition fees in England should be increased.

This Lib Dem policy U-turn sparked the biggest outcry among party members of the Coalition to date, with many members regarding opposition to tuition fees as fundamental to a belief in free education and to the party’s broader identity. (See the comments threads here, here and here, for example.)

Lib Dem Voice’s survey of party members …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 28 Comments
Chris White

Chris White writes: FPC, tuition fees and party policy – the inside story

By Chris White | Wed 3rd November 2010 - 11:15 am

No. I don’t like Vince Cable’s announcement today on higher education either.

Nevertheless, Party Policy is clear: we want fees to go. This means that we don’t need to spend a six figure sum on a special conference just to repeat ourselves. Or to say we’re cross with Vince. Nor is there any need of a grand public statement in the Guardian letters page. Or a row at Federal Policy Committee.

FPC is still asking itself what it is for. On the one hand, it must get on with developing new Party policy – but with sharply limited resources. On the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 7 Comments
David Rendel

Opinion: Not the whole truth

By David Rendel | Sat 30th October 2010 - 5:25 pm

On Monday, while in London for a meeting, I picked up a copy of the Evening Standard. (I can never resist a good freebie – I was once an MP after all –  and besides it gave me three extra Sudokus to do on the train home).

Inside I found four vouchers (one for each of the remaining days of the week) for “i” – Britain’s first new quality newspaper for over two decades. The paper only costs 20p a day. But I am such a sucker for freebies that I just could not resist using the vouchers to try it …

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Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

Dear John Gray…

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th October 2010 - 9:26 pm

Dear John Gray,

You have me  baffled, I’ll confess.

Writing recently in the London Review of Books you talked about how in your view Vince Cable and others in the Orange Book a vision of a “small government”.

I’m confused because it’s true that Vince Cable’s chapter does call for a cap on the maximum that the state can raise in taxation. However, that maximum was set higher than the Labour government was taking in at the time in 2004, several years after they had ‘turned on the taps’ on public expenditure and left previous Conservative Party spending targets well behind.

Blair and …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 24 Comments
Mark Pack

Yes, ministers can disagree and the world doesn’t end

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th October 2010 - 12:25 pm

Better late than never, it’s worth highlighting Peter Oborne’s thoughtful piece on the politics of coalition which came out last month:

Cameron and his Liberal Democrat partner Nick Clegg have fundamentally changed the nature of British public discourse. For years, mainstream politicians haven’t questioned the dominant orthodoxy that robust argument is incompatible with good government. In particular, this doctrine lay behind New Labour’s humourless apparatus of strong central control. Those who spoke out of turn or questioned official policy were threatened, punished and if necessary eliminated…

We are already starting to take this courteous and civilised method of doing business for granted.

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Role reversal for the Liberal Democrats

By Mark Pack | Wed 27th October 2010 - 8:55 am

Hopi Sen has blogged thoughtfully several times recently about the risk to Labour of slipping into focusing on the tactics without getting the strategy right. In Labour’s case that means, for example, an undue focus on how to next best shout – “those cuts are awful!” rather than working out how to deal with the public mostly blaming Labour for the need to cut in the first place. Tactical triumphs at PMQs only gets you so far; rebuilding a reputation for economic competence is what is needed to win – as William Hague found in his time as Conservative …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 10 Comments
Mark Pack

What Vince told the CBI

By Mark Pack | Mon 25th October 2010 - 8:51 pm

Earlier today Vince Cable gave a pugnacious speech, bashing bankers to use the tabloids’ favourite phrase, but doing so in the name of industry:

I can see Richard covering his eyes and groaning, alarmed that I may be about to embark on a round of “banker bashing”. What I can tell him is that businesses – including a lot of CBI members – keep telling me that I am not bashing them enough.

Of course, there is no point in engaging in a sterile public exchange of insults. But no one listening to the Chancellor’s statement last week will be under any

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
Mark Pack

Welcome news from Vince Cable on pensions

By Mark Pack | Mon 25th October 2010 - 3:25 pm

The BBC reports:

The government is planning a “very radical” overhaul of the state pension, Business Secretary Vince Cable says…

Mr Cable, speaking to BBC One’s Breakfast, said the government wanted to “get away from what we’ve had for the past quarter of a century where state pensions have fallen behind the rest of the economy”.

“What Steve Webb and his colleagues want to do is to particularly protect the position of women, who because they weren’t covered by contributions don’t have a proper state pension,” he said.

Women frequently fail to qualify for the full basic state pension because they have stopped

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 23 Comments
Richard Morris

Opinion: A Mayoral candidate in waiting?‏

By Richard Morris | Sat 23rd October 2010 - 9:23 am

With the launch of the shortlist of candidates for the London Assembly top up list, every good (London) Lib Dem’s thoughts should be turning to the Mayoral election – and who can we get to stand.

While there are probably excellent reasons why we’ve postponed the process for up to a year (leaving any approved candidates feeling – well, bruised at best), our two main rivals have their candidates in place and are already slugging it out. So I’m feeling a little left in the cold. And with the party polling 4% (!!!) in the latest Mayoral polling we probably need to name a candidate sooner rather than later.

The criteria seem clear:

  1. Someone who can actually win (wouldn’t that be nice?)
  2. A name that’s as well known as his/her rivals
  3. Someone who already represents Londoners and understands their issues
  4. A candidate who gets the City of London – but isn’t in their pockets.
  5. Perhaps someone who isn’t 100% happy in their current post – maybe someone who finds himself having to present policies he doesn’t 100% believe in and work with colleagues he doesn’t 100% trust? And is probably getting a little fed up with all the mudslinging going on at the moment, with much of it aimed at them.

It’s Vince isn’t it?

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Posted in London and Op-eds | Also tagged | 29 Comments
Mark Pack

Tuition fees to be capped?

By Mark Pack | Fri 22nd October 2010 - 12:45 pm

From The Guardian:

David Willetts said he disagreed with one of the main proposals of Lord Browne’s radical blueprint for universities, published last week.

Browne, former chief executive of BP, recommended ministers allow universities to set tuition fees – currently £3,290 a year for students in England – as high as they thought they could command.

Browne said institutions charging more than £6,000 should have to pay a rising percentage of each additional £1,000 as a levy to government. This would mean a university that charges £7,000 would receive 94% of the fee, while one charging £10,000 would receive 81%.

Speaking to vice-chancellors

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 16 Comments
Mark Pack

Nick Clegg on the spending review

By Mark Pack | Wed 20th October 2010 - 11:04 am

Here is Nick Clegg’s email to party members about today’s spending review. What’s notable about the content is the strong continuation of the ‘love everything the coalition is doing in public’ line – rather than talking up what is being done differently because Liberal Democrats disagreed with Conservatives.

Notable also is the continuation of Nick’s strong emphasis on the importance of early years education. It is an issue that he has consistently spoken passionately about being one of his priorities even though, as recent events have shown, the party more widely has often preferred to place a great emphasis on other …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 30 Comments
Phil Willis

Phil Willis writes: fighting the right battles over Higher Education

By Phil Willis | Tue 19th October 2010 - 1:15 pm

That Lord Browne’s conveniently delayed report ‘SECURING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION’ recommends a significant shift for the funding of university teaching from the state to the student or graduate is hardly surprising. Indeed in January 2004 when the introduction of ‘variable fees’ was pushed through the House by Alan Johnson I stated ‘the reality is that by 2009 it will not be possible to go back to a system of state funding our universities with flat-rate fees’.

I genuinely believed that to be the case then and despite the most noble of efforts by the Liberal Democrats to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 21 Comments
Iain Roberts

Our ministers can’t always follow party policy

By Iain Roberts | Mon 18th October 2010 - 8:10 am

The issue of tuition fees has raised a more general challenge the party needs to get its head round. This one’s been bubbling away quietly since the Lib Dems entered the Coalition and we seem no closer to an answer now than we were then.

Are our Government ministers bound by party policy?

When one of our ministers is formulating what the UK Government should do on a specific issue, or setting out the Lib Dem bargaining position to get the best final deal, how far should that minister be reaching for a party policy document rather than using their own …

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Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 38 Comments
Ed Randall

Opinion: pots and kettles – names and games and a journey towards political maturity

By Ed Randall | Sun 17th October 2010 - 1:11 pm

Michael Collins, a lecturer in twentieth century British history at UCL, has predicted at Open Democracy–Tuition fees just the beginning of Lib Dem troubles that the “SDP contingent” in the Liberal Democrats faces an existential battle with “coalition Liberals” over the future of the party.

Collins’ fantasy Lib Dem politics isn’t very convincing but there are a growing number of matching accounts, which mirror his portrayal of Liberal Democrat division, include accusations of unprincipled behaviour and go on to predict the party’s demise. It seems reasonable to respond to Collins’ account of ‘Lib Dem troubles’ with a little history and …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 17 Comments
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