Back in 2010 we campaigned on a vision of open government and “new politics”. The debacle over the NHS Strategic Risk Register shows how far we have strayed from this policy objective and also how hit and miss the Coalition’s political management has become.
The Risk Register issue is just one in a very long line of political blunders in the life of the Health and Social Care Bill. This time the Government is still trying to oppose public opinion, the Information Commissioner and now a Labour motion in the Commons, causing far more political upheaval than necessary. Whatever the actual …
The author, broadcaster and campaigner Sir Ludovic Kennedy has died aged 89. A former BBC Panorama journalist, Sir Ludovic spent decades investigating miscarriages of justice, including the case of the Birmingham Six. He contributed to the abolition of the death penalty and was also president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.
Nick Clegg has joined in the tributes to Sir Ludovic, a member of the Liberal party and later the Lib Dems, for most of his life:
Ludovic Kennedy was one of the great thinkers of his generation. His pursuit of justice and his championing of sometimes unpopular and controversial causes marked him out as a true liberal. He will be greatly missed.”
Sir Ludovic was the Liberal candidate and runner-up in the 1958 Rochdale by-election, propelling the party to its highest vote in the constituency since the 1920s, with the Tories pushed from first to third place. It was the first UK election to feature televised debates between the candidates, with Granada also broadcasting the count – another first.
He quit the Lib Dems in 2001 in protest at Charles Kennedy’s refusal to countenance legalised euthanasia, even standing as an independent candidate for the cause in Devizes, Wiltshire, polling just over 1,000 votes. He later re-joined the party.
During the 1980s and ’90s, Sir Ludovic gained fame among a new generation (such as myself) through his appearances as himself in the superior BBC comedy programme, Yes, Minister, as well as his interviews with Peter Cook, playing Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling, for A Life in Pieces. Here’s the first programme from that fantastic series, first broadcast in December 1990:
David Allen The deafening silence about who might be a good new LD leader tells its own story. A leadership change is a big opportunity for a party to reposition itself an...
Neil Hickman For good reason, Town Council byelections normally aren't included.
But I think the result in Uckfield West is worth noting. Straight fight between the Lib Dem...
Peter Martin LibDems aren't invisible. If you were, you wouldn't have 72MPs and thousands of councillors. You don't have more because yourselves and the Labour Party aren't ...
Kevin Hawkins Here is my usual monthly summary of the last fifty local by-elections.
Percentage Vote Share:
Reform 24.46%, Labour 18.81%, Conservatives 17.13%, Liberal ...
David Raw In Sheffield Southey (Brightside constituency) the Lib Dem vote has dropped by half to a mere 2.2% and fifth place.
Is it not a cause for concern that in 20...
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