Tag Archives: vince cable

Mark Pinsent

Vince Cable crossed with Sid Vicious and with a dash of Sinatra

By Mark Pinsent | Wed 14th April 2010 - 11:50 am

The latest salvo from the InVinceCable We Trust campaign is Vince Cable’s Way…a, umm, ‘mild’ reworking of the crooners’ classic My Way. Though think more Sid Vicious than Sinatra…

Clearly the video’s a lighthearted way to make the serious point at the centre of the InVinceCable campaign: that Vince Cable is the only realistic candidate for chancellor with the credentials to do the job effectively.

We realise that this focus on one position in the next Government and one individual amongst all politicians isn’t one supported by all, but the potential for a hung parliament, in our view, …

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Posted in News, Online politics and The Independent View | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Liberal Democrat manifesto by numbers

By Mark Pack | Wed 14th April 2010 - 9:35 am

The Liberal Democrat manifesto by numbers:

  • 9 different formats for the manifesto (hard copy, video, on screen, iPhone app etc.)
  • 6 photos of Nick Clegg
  • 5 pages of index
  • 4 pages of detailed costsing
  • 4 steps to a fairer Britain
  • 3 photos of Vince Cable
  • 0 mentions of chocolate
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Posted in General Election and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged , , , , and | 7 Comments
The Voice

Clegg on bankers’ bonuses clampdown

By The Voice | Tue 13th April 2010 - 2:50 pm

If you missed LDV’s coverage of Nick Clegg’s plans to bring the bankers’ bonus culture under control this morning, then why not catch up with the BBC coverage of the announcment:

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Posted in General Election | Also tagged and | Leave a comment
Stephen Tall

Don’t take it out on Vince, guys, just ‘cos you’re stuck with George

By Stephen Tall | Sun 11th April 2010 - 8:30 pm

I’ve been amused to see the rush-to-rubbish Vince Cable today among some right-wing bloggers following his appearance on BBC1’s The Politics Show.

Iain Dale (but of course) was first up to tweet: “Well done Jon Sopel for finally exposing Vince Cable as the overrated flipflopper that he is.” He was soon followed by ConservativeHome’s Tim Montgomerie, and Wall Street Journal’s Iain Martin, who has a pet-obsession with Vince’s popularity.

Having missed the show at lunchtime, I sat down nervously to catch up on iPlayer (Vince’s inteview begins about 3 minutes in) fully expecting him to be eviscerated by Jon Sopel.

In fact, what I watched was a robust interview in which Vince more than held his own, and made the key points that (1) the Labservatives have consistently opposed Lib Dem attempts to clean up our politics, and (2) the Tories need to explain how they’re going to fund their various tax-cuts if not through raising VAT.

Why have the Tories got it in for Vince?

Which left me wondering: what got Iain, Tim and Iain so excited that they dashed into the twitblogosphere to try and swing the media narrative against Vince? (Besides the inevitable election-time partisan point-scoring, that is).

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Posted in General Election and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 13 Comments
Antony Hook

Opinion: Debates – the first two questions count most

By Antony Hook | Sat 10th April 2010 - 10:20 am

Amongst the plethora of writing on the 2008 US Election, I came across this observation:

“After every debate the media narrative was determined by the first two questions and answers.”

(J. Heilemann & M. Halperin, “Race of A Lifetime: How Obama Won the White House”, Penguin Viking).

I decided to see if that hypothesis holds true for the recent Chancellors’ Debate as a clue as to whether it will apply to our forthcoming Party Leaders’ Debates.

The first question, asked by a trainee solicitor, in the Chancellors’ Debate was,

“This is a job interview; what personal qualities do you have that make you better …

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Posted in General Election and Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

The Vince Factor: economic credibility and the Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Wed 7th April 2010 - 4:45 pm

Cross-posted from the International Business Times.

It’s a question that’s been playing on the minds of Lib Dems for some time: how can the party translate the popularity of the party’s deputy leader and shadow chancellor Vince Cable into votes for the Liberal Democrats?

Of Vince’s popularity there is no doubt. Two recent opinion polls (one for PoliticsHome.com, the other by Ipsos Mori) showed him well in front of his Labour and Tory rivals for the Treasury post, Alastair Darling and George Osborne.

And it’s not just members of the public. Just this week, a group of non-Lib …

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Posted in Op-eds | 6 Comments
Geoffrey Payne

Opinion: Support the Equality Pledge

By Geoffrey Payne | Wed 7th April 2010 - 11:50 am

For many years the researchers Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett have been investigating the relationship between wealth, inequality, and measurements of a good society. The measurements of a good society would be low levels of crime, low levels of teenage pregnancy, good health in terms of long life expectancy, low levels of obesity – and many other measures besides.

During their research they have published books on this, and finally they published the book “The Spirit Level“, which has had the biggest impact of all.

There are many countries that are poor, and clearly they need economic growth in order to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 8 Comments
Mark Pack

General election: what have we learnt so far?

By Mark Pack | Tue 6th April 2010 - 8:17 pm

a) Gordon Brown wants to be seen as a team player (hence massed ranks of Cabinet behind him for election announcement)

b) David Cameron wants to be seen as Barack Obama (hence shirt, rolled up sleeves and people behind him when he speaks!)

c) Nick Clegg wants to be seen with Vince Cable (hence Vince becomes the first non-leader to ever have his picture emblazoned on a party leader’s battlebus)

Posted in General Election | Also tagged , and | 7 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDVideo Easter Saturday special: Lib Dem leaders at PMQs

By Stephen Tall | Sat 3rd April 2010 - 10:50 am

Welcome to this latest LDVideo instalment, and today as a special holiday treat we’re highlighting three political video clips showing Lib Dem leaders on top form at Prime Minister’s Questions.

First up, is Ming Campbell. Now Ming didn’t always have the happiest time at PMQs, but there were times when he hit his stride perfectly, and this was one such occasion, on 24th January 2007, when shaming Tony Blair’s failure to debate in the Commons whether troops should be withdrawn from Iraq:


(Also available on YouTube here).

Secondly, how could we forget Vince Cable‘s starring turn as acting leader? Certainly Gordon ‘Mr Bean’ Brown will never forget it:

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Helen Duffett

Tories cry “foul” at Lib Dems’ fair hearing

By Helen Duffett | Wed 31st March 2010 - 4:51 pm

More complaints about the Liberal Democrats and media bias – but this time it’s the Conservatives worried that when Liberal Democrats get equal billing, people like what they see.

From the Times:

The Conservatives complained to the programme makers three times during Monday night’s television debate between the candidates for Chancellor, accusing them of skewing coverage in favour of Vince Cable.

At one point during the Channel 4 Ask the Chancellors programme senior Tories phoned the hotline to the production staff claiming that the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman was receiving too much applause.

Yesterday the Conservatives warned broadcasters not to give the Liberal Democrats an easy ride in the leaders’ TV debates.

Although many were happy with the performance of George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, senior Conservatives, including David Cameron, were irritated by the way Mr Cable was able to present himself as a referee between two opponents rather than facing pressure over his own policy positions.

We’ve covered before the familiar problem of media bias against the Liberal Democrats, and explained how you can help.

So what happens when a Liberal Democrat does get an equal chance?

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

FT’s Philip Stephens attacks “sainted” Vince – here’s my reply

By Stephen Tall | Tue 30th March 2010 - 9:25 pm

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: 30 March, 2010
Subject: ‘Honest Vince’ yes; fast and loose no

Dear Philip,

Thank you for your article in today’s FT, Now ‘Honest Vince’ plays fast and loose. It was very much a column of two halves, the first praising Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable, the second seeking to bury him.

I’m guessing the source for most of your attacks on the Lib Dems’ pledge to cut taxes by lifting the personal allowance to £10,000 was the Fabian Society’s recent hatchet-job, published via Left Foot Forward. A number of Lib Dem bloggers took its tendentious claims

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 3 Comments
Helen Duffett

LDVideo: Vince Cable’s best bits from Ask The Chancellors

By Helen Duffett | Tue 30th March 2010 - 4:45 pm

Welcome to this latest LDVideo instalment, highlighting video clips from last night’s Ask The Chancellors debate on Channel 4.

Vince not only speaks the most sense but provokes the best reaction from the audience, getting more rounds of applause and even warm laughter.

On bank bonuses:


available on YouTube here.

I warned of the recession:

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 2 Comments
Philip Sheldrake

In Vince Cable We Trust

By Philip Sheldrake | Tue 30th March 2010 - 11:50 am

A pretty obvious statement to make on this site, “In Vince Cable We Trust”, but it’s also the name for a new campaign established by a small group of marketing, communications and technology professionals with the single stated aim of making Vince Cable the next Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The group is apolitical. In fact, despite being the leader of this merry band, I have voted for all three main parties at some point in my life. But with all government departments’ policy making being strangled by the emptiness of the public purse, the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer will …

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Posted in Online politics and Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
Mark Pack

Ask the Chancellors: live blog

By Mark Pack | Mon 29th March 2010 - 7:47 pm

Here are the verdicts on how it went:

Overall verdict

Very well chaired by Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Cable frequently got applause. Darling held his ground well, but Osborne often weak and looking shifty. No-one got in a killer blow that will shift lots of people’s views, but debate will have confirmed praise for Cable and doubts about Osborne.

You can watch again Vince’s opening and closing statements.

Other people’s verdicts

  • The audience: I make it 6 rounds of applause for Cable, 3 for Darling and 1 for Osborne
  • The journalists: “Audience pretty much unanimous cable won, hacks too privately, but many sticking to party lines in

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 25 Comments
Mark Pack

Lib Dem fiscal policy in a nutshell

By Mark Pack | Mon 29th March 2010 - 3:47 pm

Ahead of this evening’s debate between Alistair Darling, George Osborne and Vince Cable, you might find this little summary of the party’s fiscal policies helpful:

  • The party’s proposed tax cuts (such as raising the basic rate income tax threshold to £10,000) will be paid for by tax rises elsewhere in the system (such as ending the higher rate tax relief on pension contributions)
  • The party’s spending savings (such as scrapping ID cards) will be spent two-thirds on cutting the deficit and one-third on other policies (such as the pupil premium)

As to exactly how much savings will be identified, that in part awaits …

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
Stephen Tall

Vince slams Osborne’s “schoolboy economics” (and the IFS aren’t keen on the Tories’ tax plans either)

By Stephen Tall | Mon 29th March 2010 - 2:15 pm

It’s only a few hours since shadow chancellor George Osborne launched the Tories’ plans to cut Labour’s proposed increases in employers’ National Insurance, and already you can start to hear the sound of it unravelling.

First up, Vince Cable, the Lib Dems’ shadow chancellor:

This is school boy economics. When you have a £70bn permanent hole in the Government’s finances you simply can’t propose cutting tax revenue unless you spell out exactly how you are going to pay for it. The Tories say they are going to pay for a cut in National Insurance through ‘efficiency savings’, but haven’t a first

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

Should this poll result worry us?

By Stephen Tall | Fri 26th March 2010 - 6:45 pm

Today’s BBC Daily Politics / ComRes poll asking which of the three major parties’ leadership teams is more trusted to steer the economy through the current downturn has caused a bit of a stir – it shows Labour’s duumvirate of Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling out ahead of the Tories, an about-turn on three months ago.

Here are the results:

    Putting your party allegiance aside, who do you trust most to steer Britain’s economy through the current downturn?
    Gordon Brown & Alistair Darling 33% (+7% on Dec 2009)
    David Cameron & George Osborne 27% (-6%)
    Nick Clegg & Vince Cable 13% (-6%)
    Don’t know

…

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Posted in Polls | Also tagged , and | 11 Comments
Mark Pack

Low earner Liberal Democrats: what’s the impact of the budget?

By Mark Pack | Fri 26th March 2010 - 10:20 am

Having covered earlier in the week the importance of ‘low earner Liberal Democrats’ to the party’s prospects, how are things looking after the Budget?

One thing Alistair Darling most certainly did not do was to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000, the Liberal Democrat policy that would take millions out of income tax completely and also cut the tax bill for those low income households on higher incomes. Instead, he went in the opposite direction by freezing (i.e. cutting in real terms) the income tax threshold.

(Given the Fabians criticised the Lib Dem plans for raising the basic income tax …

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The Voice

Nick & Vince’s Budget 2010 response in full

By The Voice | Wed 24th March 2010 - 6:10 pm

Missed the Budget? Well, you didn’t miss much. But if you’re wondering what the Lib Dems have to say about it, then look no further.

First up, here’s Vince’s instant vdieo response:


(Also on YouTube here).

And now for the detail, as provided by Nick Clegg’s instant response to the Commons after Alasdair Darling’s budget statement:

Mr Speaker, this Budget has been billed as the preface to the Labour manifesto. Based on what we have seen today. It won’t be a manifesto but an obituary. The Prime Minister may have wanted a “giveaway budget”. What we got was a “given up budget”.

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Posted in News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

Those of a statistically nervous disposition should look away now

By Mark Pack | Wed 24th March 2010 - 9:44 am

A double triumph in the Mirror today: for Vince Cable and for British journalism.

For Vince Cable – congratulations on another poll putting you the most popular choice for Chancellor (32% versus 23% for Darling and 21% for Osborne).

For British journalism – take a bow at a story that uses phrases such as “plunges” and “it’s all the fault of George Osborne” when in fact the poll results are, er…, not statistically significantly different from the previous poll by that pollster. (The changes are all within the margin of error.)

Perhaps next time we’ll have a footnote, “Hey, the above …

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Posted in Polls | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Nick calls for cross-party Council of Financial Stability

By Stephen Tall | Mon 22nd March 2010 - 10:35 pm

Hmmm, well I have my doubts about this one. Not the idea: that’s obvious and right. Of course we need to build political consensus in order to carry through the tough spending cuts any party (or parties) which finds itself in government will have to implement.

Only myopic Labour/Tory tribalists will try and pretend a government with the support of one-in-five of the electorate can decimate (in that word’s literal sense) public spending to bring the deficit under control with any kind of legitimacy.

No, the problem I have with Nick Clegg’s idea is this: the name, ‘Council of Financial …

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Stephen Tall

Clegg gets specific on cuts: Lib Dems to cut winter fuel payments for under-65s

By Stephen Tall | Mon 22nd March 2010 - 10:10 pm

So reports the BBC:

The Liberal Democrats have said if they won power they would stop the winter fuel allowance for people under 65. Anyone aged 60 can claim the allowance, worth £125 to £400, but the minimum age is due to rise to 65 in 10 years’ time.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said his party would implement the change now – saving about £400m in public spending. He said just under £200m would be used to give extra winter help to about one million severely disabled people or those who are terminally ill. …

Mr Clegg told the BBC his plan

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 19 Comments
Helen Duffett

Public poll says Cable for Chancellor – how to bank this in real votes?

By Helen Duffett | Mon 22nd March 2010 - 1:45 pm

Vince Cable is the public’s preferred choice for Chancellor, according to a poll by PoliticsHome.

Of the general public polled, 31% chose Vince Cable above George Osborne, Alistair Darling, Ken Clarke, Peter Mandelson and Ed Balls.

The poll also found that 79% of Liberal Democrat voters supported Vince Cable for the job, while Osborne and Darling received much lower levels of support from their own parties’ voters. (Find the full results at PoliticsHome.)

As Iain pointed out yesterday, Vince’s recent recce to the Treasury does raise questions about how he could land the job.

Of course, national polls like this …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 6 Comments
Iain Roberts

Vince in talks with Treasury, ready to serve as Chancellor

By Iain Roberts | Sun 21st March 2010 - 7:10 am

In what’s believed to be unprecedented in recent times, Vince Cable has held talks with Nicholas Macpherson, the big cheese at the Treasury, about Lib Dems economic policies and what might happen in the event of a hung/ balanced parliament.

Cable was unaware of such meetings having taken place with Lib Dem shadow chancellors before previous general elections. The talks were a sign that the Treasury was “taking seriously” the prospect of his party playing a leading role in economic policy in what could be the first hung parliament since 1974.

Vince has also declared himself ready …

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

LDVideo Special: Lib Dem Birmingham spring conference – Nick & Vince uncut

By Stephen Tall | Mon 15th March 2010 - 8:15 pm

Yesterday, LDVideo brought you some of the media reportage from the party’s spring conference. Today, for those of you who want to re-live it all unexpurgated, here are Nick and Vince’s conference speeches in full …

First, here’s Nick:


(Also available on YouTube here).

And here’s the 3-minute video which introduced Nick:

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Posted in Conference and YouTube | Also tagged | Leave a comment
Iain Roberts

No ring-fencing for cuts as Vince feels the love

By Iain Roberts | Sat 13th March 2010 - 1:16 pm

When the main hall is packed at a Spring Conference, you can be sure it isn’t because everyone wants to debate the third clause of the Federal Conference Committee’s report, or even (as we heard this morning) discuss the rights and wrongs of holding a conference that clashes with Mothers’ Day.

No, it’s because St. Vince of Twickenham is taking to the stage. The halo may have slipped slightly on occasion, most notably the hastily-revised Mansion Tax proposals made at Bournemouth last September, but for the party faithful it’s still Vince who can heal the sick and, if weather conditions …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 1 Comment
Mark Pack

“If you want change, vote for the only party that will bring about change”

By Mark Pack | Sat 13th March 2010 - 11:24 am

That was the message of Danny Alexander’s speech to the Liberal Democrat spring conference this morning. Change – but not just any sort of change:

Two ideas will dominate this election campaign: change and fairness. Only one party is arguing at this election for both fairness and change: the Liberal Democrats.

Change: because business as usual is not the answer to the economic, political, and environmental crises that we face.

Fairness: because too many people in our society are still held back because of the circumstances of their birth, their sex or their parent’s bank balance.

He repeated a now often said promise to …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged | Leave a comment
NewsHound

LibLink: Nick Clegg’s demands for a post-election deal

By NewsHound | Thu 11th March 2010 - 6:06 am

As reported in today’s Independent, Nick Clegg has been talking about what the Lib Dems would do in the event of a hung parliament, and flags up some of the announcements due at the party’s spring conference in Birmingham this weekend.

the Liberal Democrat leader also revealed that his party would try to calm jitters in the financial markets about a hung parliament by calling for a £10bn “repayment” to cut Britain’s public deficit. It would be found from £15bn of spending cuts to be outlined this month.

Mr Clegg declined to speculate whether his party would

…

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged and | 12 Comments
Stephen Tall

5 reasons Nick Clegg should rule out a coalition now

By Stephen Tall | Wed 10th March 2010 - 8:45 am

With most polls showing the next election could result in a hung parliament, there has been various speculation about what the Lib Dem position would be. I think it’s time for Nick Clegg to make an unambiguous statement that the party would not enter a coalition with either Labour or the Tories. Here are my five reasons why Nick should spell this out clearly and simply now …

1. A coalition is a non-starter, so let’s just rule it out now

It’s quite simple: the majority of party members will not for a single moment entertain the idea of a coalition with …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 31 Comments
Helen Duffett

Parties select their “star performers” for General Election campaign

By Helen Duffett | Tue 9th March 2010 - 6:22 pm

From the FT:

The Liberal Democrats will centre their campaign on joint appearances by Nick Clegg, leader, and Vince Cable, Treasury spokesman, in an attempt to project a blend of youth and experience.

A clutch of former Lib Dem leaders will be deployed in the regions. Paddy Ashdown is taking a hands-on role directing the Lib Dem’s defence of the south-west heartlands. Sir Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy will be touring seats in Scotland and the north.

The article also lists Chris Huhne (“pugnacious, quick-footed”) and Lynne Featherstone (“sound media performer”) as ones to watch in the Liberal Democrat campaign.

Read the …

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Posted in General Election and News | Also tagged , , , , and | Leave a comment
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