Helen Duffett

Two chances to meet Nick Clegg in London next week

2011-08-02T13:53:00.001+01:00

Town Hall Meeting for Londoners

Londoners can put their questions to Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg next week, in an hour-long discussion in central London.

Iain Dale will host the event on Monday August 8th at 6pm, which will be broadcast live on LBC 97.3.

To apply for a free ticket, fill in the form at the LBC 97.3 website.

Q&A session for London Liberal Democrat members only

And exclusively for London Liberal Democrat members, Nick's taking part in a Q&A session on Wednesday 10 August.

This is a unique chance for London party members to put their questions, queries, suggestions or frustrations directly to Nick.

The event takes place next Wednesday 10 August from 1pm to 2pm, in the David Lloyd George Room at the National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1 Nearest tube: Embankment. [map]

For security reasons, please bring your membership card or renewal slip with you and arrive well before the start of the meeting. There is a very pleasant bar serving drinks and snacks in the Club.

Nick wants to meet members from every corner of London, so do encourage members of your local party to attend, even if you are unable to. It will be a great opportunity to find out more about what Liberal Democrats are doing in Government and to voice any concerns.

There is no charge for the event, which is hosted by London Liberal Democrats (Team London). The Club prefers members and visitors to respect a smart dress code.

Bingo! David Cameron's summer email to Tory members and supporters

2011-07-30T13:18:00.002+01:00

David Cameron's summer email to members and supporters of the Conservative Party is loooong.

At 898 words (excluding salutation and footer) its long copy invites the reader to invest some time. A quick call to action it ain't.

Tellingly, long copy is often used by advertisers of high-priced or unsought products, to draw buyers in and make them feel justified and more secure in their eventual purchase.

Front-loaded with AV referendum back-patting (in case the reader bounces early), Cameron's email continues with a potted review of the year and a tug on Tory heartstrings.

It's all about the key words.

To see what the Conservatives want readers to take away from the screen, look at the word-cloud above: Can you even spot the word "Conservatives"? It's tiny.

The ingredients have been carefully weighed: It's heavy on words like 'Government', 'right', 'country', 'responsibility' and 'proud', with a pinch of 'tough' and 'difficult' to bring out the flavour of decisions to come.

David Cameron and his scribes sure know their audience and have taken care to serve up what their supporters need to hear. As I've often said at training sessions on copywriting, "It's not about you, it's about them - even when it's about you."

When readers forget the majority of what you write, are you concentrating on what you want them to remember?

Andrew Reeves and the friends in high places... #AndrewReeves

2011-06-10T09:58:00.002+01:00

I'm travelling to Edinburgh this morning for the funeral of a dear friend and colleague, Andrew Reeves. I rose at a crazy hour for the journey from London, knowing that Andrew's work day would normally have been well underway by this time.

Caron Lindsay's suggested that those who knew Andrew tweet our memories of him this morning, as we prepare to celebrate his life.

While looking through my photos of Andrew this week I found this one from the Lib Dems' staff Christmas party in 2008:
on Twitpic">

The party took place in Parliament and we had a very special visit from a familiar-looking Father Christmas... I asked for a peek at his security pass, joking that his cover was about to be blown, but he produced a Parliamentary Visitors' pass with a photo of the same bearded Santa on it!

How he persuaded the police to take his picture in that outfit and put it on a pass I'll never know!

Campaigners! Get the new Facebook app #YES2AV #LibDems

2011-04-21T09:53:00.001+01:00

Lib Dem Voice have launched a new Facebook app to make it easy for you to let your friends on Facebook and Twitter know what campaigning you've been doing.

This is a great way of building up a buzz around our campaigning - and the more someone sees their friends have been campaigning, the more likely they are to join in.

You get a list of actions - select one and publish it to your newsfeed.

Some actions are of the simple "I have done" variety whilst others have the option to add a quantity, such as the number of leaflets.

There's a tab for the "Yes! To Fairer Votes campaign" and another for your regular Lib Dem campaigning.

Find the app at http://apps.facebook.com/ldvcapp

There's even the option of linking it to your Twitter account.

The app is still in Beta, so drop us a line at voice@libdemvoice.org if you come across any technical glitches.

Thanks, and happy campaigning!

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Nick Clegg reveals his secret passion and talks about Plan B

2011-04-02T14:39:00.002+01:00

Leicester, with the by-election writ due to be moved any day now, was the scene of Nick Clegg's latest Town Hall meeting last night.

Around a hundred people from Leicester and surrounding areas attended the event, hosted by Capital FM at the Showcase Cinema De Lux in Highcross Lane.

Subjects covered in Nick's Q&A session included electoral reform, taxation, the NHS and the conflict in Libya, but it was Capital's Anna Tyler who uncovered Nick's musical and media preferences, as only a music station interviewer can:

Anna: You've obviously been really busy this week: Mexico, Washington DC - what do you have on your iPod? Do you have an iPod?

Nick: No I don't; I've just bought an iPad, which has already been commandeered by my kids, and it's got lots of games on it, and lots of cartoons. I love cartoons, I have to confess I have a secret passion for cartoon films so I'm probably watching too much cartoon stuff. But I don't have an iPod, no, I don't carry one with me.

Nick admits that he doesn't listen to much pop music, but loves the last CD he bought: The Defamation of Strickland Banks by Plan B.

I reckon Anna Tyler missed a trick by not asking whether Nick will be using his iPad in the House of Commons.

Outside the cinema, protesters continued to misunderstand that parents and students won't have to pay tuition fees upfront.

Earlier in the day, Clegg visited the Masjid Umar in Evington, and met Lib Dem supporters in Hinckley, including blogger Mathew Hulbert, who writes:

In a key line, he told those of us gathered (at the excellent newly refurbished Atkins building in Hinckley-funded in part by the Lib Dem-ran Borough Council) that, at the next election, there’ll only be one party advocating cuts…Labour.

By then, it is hoped, the nation will be in a much better economic state and we’ll have come to the end of the Coalition’s cuts and the Lib Dems will be able to go to the electorate saying ‘elect us and we’ll invest in public services.’

Kate Heywood selected as Lib Dem candidate in Brunswick Park by-election, Southwark

2011-02-10T11:59:00.003Z

Camberwell Liberal Democrats have selected local resident Kate Heywood as the party's candidate for the Brunswick Park by-election on March 10th.

Kate, who has lived in the area for 8 years, is actively involved in local community groups, including as a former management committee member of Bradfield Youth Club on Southampton Way and of All Saints Church, Peckham.

Her 3 pledges to local people:

To clean up Camberwell, tackling everything from dog fouling to housing repairs

To listen to local people, and be an independent voice for residents

To work all year round for all residents, including holding regular advice surgeries

Kate commented on her selection:

I'm very proud to be my party's candidate and I'm looking forward to getting out and hearing from local residents.

For too long Labour has taken local residents for granted. It's time that local people had a councillor that stood up for them at the Town Hall rather than just doing what the Labour leadership tell them.

For details of how to join Kate's election campaign, see the contacts on the ALDC website.

Council by-election called in Brent

2011-01-19T12:11:00.004Z

There will be a by-election in Kenton ward, in the London Borough of Brent, on Thursday 17 February 2011.

From the Harrow Observer:

A by-election has been called for the Kenton Ward following the death of Conservative Councillor Arthur Steel who died on New Year's Day.

Nomination forms are available from and must be returned to Electoral Services, Brent Council, Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 9HD on any working day from Friday January, 14 until 12noon on Friday, January 21.

Kenton ward lies within the Brent North constituency, which has a Labour MP, Barry Gardiner.

The Conservatives held all three seats in the ward in the 2010 council elections. The Liberal Democrats are in third place, behind Labour. Full 2010 results here.

The timetable for the Kenton by-election is here.

Result: Liberal Democrats London Region Executive 2011

2010-12-15T09:20:00.002Z

Following a ballot of London Region conference reps, the Liberal Democrats have announced their London Regional Executive for 2011:

AMBACHE, Jeremy
BRADLEY, Steve
DOLLIMORE, Pete
DUFFETT, Helen
EMERSON, Merlene
GREEN, Matthew
HORSLER, Andrew
JOACHIM, Margaret
STANTON JONES, Elizabeth
MELTZER, Robin
PADDICK, Brian
SHEEHAN, Shas
TRETT, Adrian
WILSON, Michael
ZULETA, Lorraine

I'm delighted to have been re-elected!

Thank you to those who voted for me.

In Government for all the right reasons: the David Laws interview

2010-11-23T23:58:00.001Z

Yesterday I interviewed David Laws, on the day his book 22 Days in May was published. I asked him about the book, his views on the Coalition Government, as well as about the focus of his current work, plus his thoughts on the Ireland bailout.

In the introduction to the book, David Laws writes that its purpose is to “inform those who are interested in this important period of British politics, and to make sure that an accurate account is left of what really happened in May 2010, before memories fade, myths grow and evidence is lost.”

Why have you published this book now? You said you wanted to get matters on the record, but why not write it now and publish it in ten years? That’s the way memoirs used to work, so why so keen to publish after only six months? Isn’t history better judged from a distance?

I think it’s important for us now that people in the country understand how we made the decisions we made in May 2010, and what factors were uppermost in our minds. And also that we nail some of the misrepresentations that have come out from some of the others involved in the talks, particularly on the Labour side, where people have attempted to claim that we went into the negotiations with some sort of preconception about what type of deal we wanted. And actually what the book shows is that if we went in with any preconceptions at all, it was that a coalition with Labour would be considerably easier to deliver if the electoral maths enabled it, than a coalition with the Conservative party.

So I think that the book demonstrates that we went in without some sort of pre-agenda of who we would and who we wouldn’t deal with, and it’s very clear that we were putting the policies in our manifesto and what was right for the country as the key determinants of what we were going to do once we had discovered there was a hung Parliament.

Firstly it's important to get down a historic record, given that this was a very important period in British politics, and having got the time to do it imposed on me in some ways, I have that opportunity.

And I think it’s also important for where we are now in politics, given how controversial the coalition has been with some people that people should understand the decision-making process, and should understand why we did what we did in May.

With cuts on the way, is this an expectation-management exercise, then?

I don’t think it’s expectation-management, but I think it’s fact-management in the sense that some people in the Labour party have claimed that we weren’t serious about the option of negotiating with Labour and I think that what this makes clear is that we did engage in a very serious way over that, and actually if there are any problems in terms of trying to get an agreement or make an agreement with Labour viable, it was really because of the lack of willingness of the Labour party rather than the Lib Dems to engage seriously in a negotiation; their lack of preparedness, the fact that their negotiating team was almost certainly split in their attitudes towards us. And the fact that on the main economic tack, the economic policy issues, that they didn’t make any of the concessions that would have been necessary in order to make coalition a viable option for us.

So the book performs two functions: it can inform the general public about the Lib Dems’ and Tories’ intentions, but it can also rebut the things that Labour are saying about us...

That’s right.

Was it your idea to write the book, or were you getting offers from publishers and newspapers?

No, it was entirely my idea, and I thought from the very earliest time, even while I was still in Government that it was important for us to get our version of this factually on the record. I clearly wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do that if I had been in Government, given how long it takes to do something like this. And I thought about it when I left the Government.

I originally decided that it probably wasn’t the right time, and then, in July when I thought about it again, people said “Yes, this would be useful from the party, and useful to make sure that the public record of all these events is correct.” And so I just used the time that I had, particularly in August, to get the account down.

The coalition negotiations were gruelling. Wouldn’t you have rather had a break before diving in? Many, including the media, were pushing for a quick resolution: what was it like being caught up in the pace of all of that?

I think we were always conscious that there would be a lot of pressure for a quick resolution.

Weren’t you exhausted after the General Election?

I wasn’t, no, because a) the pressures on most MPs are nothing like those on the party leaders – they must have been pretty exhausted, but for the rest of us it’s not the same scale of pressure. And b) undoubtedly there is a bit of an adrenaline rush when you suddenly find yourself pitched into something which is about forming a government and deciding upon which policies should and shouldn’t be implemented.

So I didn’t really find it all that tiring, and I thought that it was inevitable that there would be pressure to do things quickly. I thought that it would be a mistake to drag our heels and insist on doing things very slowly. And while you can’t create a government and sort out a policy agreement overnight, I always thought that if we failed to deliver one by about the Wednesday after the Thursday General Election, then we would begin to face a lot of criticism. And it would be inevitable that we as the third party, and the party with the greater democratic accountability, would be more likely to bear the burden of criticism from the other two parties.

For stalling, perhaps?

Yeah, it was more likely, I thought that we would be the ones blamed for not having a Government, and for any market instability that could follow. And obviously there was a lot of market nervousness and instability around that time, because of what was happening in Greece, Portugal and Spain, so I think we did have to do things quite quickly and not everybody on our negotiating team, as I report in the book, took that view. There were some others who took a different view and thought that we needed to take our time but I don’t think we had that option.

In future, when people get used to the process of coalition-forming it may be that there isn’t the same degree of pressure, but on this occasion, I think it was important to do it quite quickly. And I don’t think that much was sacrificed by doing it in the timescale we did.

You talk about people getting used to the process of coalition-forming – I was interested to read your article in the Telegraph: The Coalition must aim higher than merely balancing the books. I was dissecting it a bit; you keep on dropping in references to judging results over the next ten years: you said that a couple of times, and also talking about “stretching out the era of austerity throughout the entire decade,” I wondered: is that a hint? Are you hoping for or expecting a second term of coalition?

No, I think that’s highly uncertain, but I think that it’s inevitable that the parties will go into the next election fighting as independent parties with candidates in every seat. But my point in the article was firstly that we are doing the process of eliminating the deficit over a reasonably long period. People are saying it’s all rushed, but the fact is we’re taking five years to do it.

It’s hardly a rushed process, and I’m not sure that it would help the country or economic confidence if we were stretching out this process of austerity for 7, 8, 9, 10 years. I mean people want to see some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.

So it’s not with the General Election in mind..?

The reason I refer to 10 years on education and welfare reform was they just are very big pieces of work and if you expect to see some big impact on welfare reform and education, you are not going to see it just in one Parliament. I mean some of the welfare reform stuff won’t start until the end of the Parliament because of the cost of delivering, so that all this can only be judged over time and years. Who knows? In the five to ten year period, who will be running the country is highly uncertain and it could either be a coalition or it could be one party.

I know that overnight change can take five, ten years, and more. But I especially saw your article today as putting a Liberal Democrat stamp on what could have been just Conservative policies. Do you think the input on social policies is distinctly Liberal Democrat? Or do you think that actually the Conservatives are just as keen on the social side?

I think there clearly has been a strong strain of commitment to the social recovery, broken society element of policy in Conservative thinking, but it’s then translating that into the decisions that are made, and the hard commitments.

Later on in the Parliament there will be some choices to make when the deficit is brought back under control, about how we’re going to invest some of the proceeds of growth that there then are that don’t need to go to deficit reduction. All I’m trying to signal is that we then have to be ready to take action to make sure that there is enough money going into education, welfare reform, and the NHS, to make sure that those services are improved.

Do you think that there’ll be conflict further down the line if the Tories want to reduce the size of the State, will we be clawing things back for our agenda, or do you think there’s a will there ..?

I think there is the intention, at least the scope for making sure that the Coalition delivers on those priorities jointly, but we’ll have to cross that bridge when it comes, not least because at the moment everybody is focusing simply on the process of deficit reduction and therefore in a sense it’s almost easier to get both parties to agree on the big strategy.

The big strategy is deficit reduction, but we don’t want to lose sight over the Parliament of the fact that we’re not just in politics to reduce the deficit and to restore good economic management, but that we also want the education system to be improved and to see real social mobility in the country. We want the health system to get better and more responsive to consumers. We want a decent pension system and a welfare system that actually assists those people who want to get back into employment.

All those are very strong areas where there are Liberal Democrat commitments and where the policies may be slightly different from those of the Conservative Party.

After the unhappy events in May, are you still fully invested in politics? Do you hope to be more than a backbench MP in the future?

I leave the speculation for another day, really. I’ve had a difficult year, and I’m just focusing on the job I’m doing as a backbench MP, which I am really enjoying, I’ve got plenty of time to focus on lots of policy issues that I’m concerned about , and can lobby my colleagues about .

When you see the work they’re doing, aren’t you dying to get more involved?

My colleagues are doing a damn good job, so I can’t say that I’m sitting there thinking, “Goodness me, they should have done this, that and the other.”

The big judgements that Nick and Danny and the others are making, I think, are the right judgements. So that is a lot easier than it would be if I somehow felt that things were all going wrong.

Like all Lib Dem MPs I’ve got the opportunity to talk to Nick and others and communicate with them and they’re doing a good job of listening to the party.

What do you think of giving all £7bn we’re saving this year to Ireland, to bail them out?

Well, we’re not going to give it to them, we’re going to potentially advance a loan.

At the moment because the coalition has restored confidence in our economic prospects, we’re having no problems at all raising finance. Our interest rates are incredibly low, even though we have a large deficit, we can’t afford to take that for granted, but it does mean that we’re in a stronger position than we might otherwise be. And I think that the biggest threat to our economy at the moment is not the difficult position that we’re having to deal with within the UK – there are problems and pressures there – but that I think is gradually going to work itself out over time. The biggest threat would be if the world economy and the European economy in particular the people we’re trading with, took a big downturn again, and so stopping the financial chaos and contagion from spreading, I think is incredibly important.

Do you think we’ll have to bail out anyone else, in that case?

I don’t think so, but I think what we learnt from 2008 and 2009 is that if you don’t act quickly to protect big organisations - banks, countries - when these things happen, you can pay a very big price down the line. And so this time I think we are being proactive in not allowing countries like Ireland and the banking system to go down the pan.

We’ve got, as you know, a huge economic network of interests with Ireland and the Irish banks, and if that was allowed to topple over I think it would be extremely bad for our economy and it would then lead to people saying, “Well what’s the next target we can go for?” And that then would be the type of environment where we would risk the economic recovery that we’re now seeing. It’s just essential that that doesn’t happen.

So, however frustrating it is, at a time when we’re having to borrow a lot of money, we’re also having to help other countries. I think it is terribly important that we don’t allow any major country or bank to topple over.

There meme is that we’re overly sympathetic [to Ireland] and that charity should begin at home. Is that just a tabloid construct?

Yeah, and probably more over things like overseas development, whereas over Ireland, it’s not as if the Irish have been crying out for the money - for the best part of the last couple of weeks they’ve been resisting taking these loans from the EU and the IMF.

So I think people can see that what’s been done is not just in the Irish interest but it’s actually been done by all these countries because we think it’s in the European interest, including Britain.

Sometimes you get what you want;
Sometimes you get what you need;
Sometimes you get what you get:
What are you overall thoughts on the way the Liberal Democrats entered a coalition with the Conservatives?

The book shows that there was no great plot to go with one party or the other, that we were genuinely making a decision as a party on what was best for the country and what was most likely to advance the prospects of getting the policies that we stood on in the election manifesto into government, and obviously a lot of people will criticise us for the decisions that we made.

The honest truth is that we didn’t have a great deal of choice. A coalition with the Conservatives not only offered us the best prospect of delivering many of the Lib Dem policies that we regarded as important, but it was probably the only prospect of having a stable government that could deliver for Britain and the British economy.

Had we not been willing to go into coalition with the Conservatives I suspect that there would have been a lot of economic instability. There would have been higher interest rates, there would have been more speculation about the UK. And ultimately there would have had to be a second General Election, which I think would have resulted in us doing quite badly if we were seen to be to blame for there being no Government, which I think there probably would have been.

We would then have had an outright Conservative majority with no Lib Dem voice in it. Which I think most people in the country would regard as definitely an inferior option to the one that we’ve got.

So this is the government that we’ve now formed for all the right reasons, and we’ve got to be active in making it as successful as possible and ensuring that it delivers as much Liberal policy as possible. And if you were going to choose your moment to go into government, not having been in for 70 years, you wouldn’t choose a borrowing requirement of £150bn. But we can’t choose our time. These are the circumstances thrown into our lap and we can only do our best for the country and the party with the hand that we’ve been dealt .

People are giving us some credit for having established a coalition which does seem to be able to make decisions, which is so far viewed by many people as quite successful . The opinion polling seems to suggest that people do believe that Lib Dem involvement has made a difference to the nature of the Coalition in the things we’re doing.

You can order 22 Days in May now from Amazon.

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Whose party is really over?

2010-11-15T08:55:00.003Z

That's the subject for discussion at the Coningsby Club this Thursday night (18 November) where I'll be speaking on the coalition and its implications for the parties. My fellow guest speaker is Jonathan Isaby from ConservativeHome.

Here's the blurb - (and no, I didn't write that blushworthy biography!)

"These are fascinating and changeable political times, and the Coningsby Club benefits from, and must occasionally adapt to, Harold Macmillan's oft-quoted "events, dear boy, events."

We are taking bookings up until Tuesday lunchtime for this week's dinner at St Stephen's Club (please disregard the note on the website about booking time).

Whose party is really over?

With Jonathan Isaby of Conservative Home
and Helen Duffett of Lib Dem Voice
This Thursday 18th November 2010 7.30pm onwards, dinner 8pm

Will the coalition run its five year course? What's the inside perspective on how Conservative members (in Parliament and more broadly) are feeling as the coalition heads into turbulent times? With violent demonstrations over tuition fees occurring even as Nick Clegg stands at the dispatch box answering Prime Minister's Questions, how much longer will the Lib Dems withstand the pain of sharing collective coalition responsibility?

And, lest we forget, one Edward Miliband is now in charge of the Labour party. ....whose party is really over?

Joining us to speak and take your questions are the leading lights in blogging from both sides of the coalition.

Jonathan Isaby is co-editor of leading Tory blog Conservative Home, prior to which he was a political diarist at The Daily Telegraph, columnist for GQ magazine and senior political researcher for the BBC. He is an accomplished public speaker, though we shall have to see if we are treated to his talent for mimicry.

Helen Duffett is editor of Lib Dem Voice and the voice of Liberal Democrat opinion in the mainstream media. A former Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate, Helen is much in demand for speaking and media engagements, unsurprisingly for someone renowned for knowing everyone "from No.10 Downing Street to No.10 Acacia Avenue."

Come and join us for a lively and insightful discussion. In the confidence of the Coningsby's Super Chatham House Rules, our bloggers will be relaxed enough to share that which they dare not write...

Sign up online here.

Dress code: Lounge suit

Location: St Stephen's Club, 34 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AB

The venue is near St James’ Park tube.

Cost:£39, includes a full three course meal.

Have-a-go Hames

2010-11-13T21:27:00.002Z

Duncan Hames, the new Liberal Democrat MP for Chippenham, has spoken of chasing after a man who snatched a woman's bag in his constituency.

From the BBC:

Liberal Democrat Duncan Hames said he had been sitting in his car at traffic lights on Friday when he saw the theft.

He pulled over, spoke to the woman to make sure she was unhurt and chased after the thief through Monkton Park.

He said a cyclist who also saw what happened managed to retrieve the bag. Mr Hames said he had reported the incident to Wiltshire Police.

"I pulled my car over as quickly as I could, spoke briefly to the lady to make sure she wasn't physically hurt, then ran into the back street's car park to see if I could catch the person who snatched the bag," Mr Hames said.

View this article at its original location.

More results: party committees and interim peers panel

2010-11-13T13:20:00.003Z

Liberal Democrat Federal Conference representatives have voted for members of party committees for 2011-2012 and members of the panel from which future Liberal Democrat nominees for the House of Lords will be drawn.

The results are as follows:

Federal Executive
Summary election result for The Federal Executive:
Places: 15
Total valid vote: 1681
Quota: 105.07
Spoiled: 53

Elected:
Qassim AFZAL
Elaine BAGSHAW
Ramesh DEWAN
Sue DOUGHTY
James GRAHAM
James GURLING
Evan HARRIS
Susan JUNED
Gordon LISHMAN
Candy PIERCY
David RENDEL
Joanna SHAW
Gerald VERNON-JACKSON
Chris WHITE
David WILLIAMS

Federal Policy Committee
Summary election result for The Federal Policy Committee Places:
Places: 15
Total valid vote: 1669
Quota: 104.32
Spoiled: 62

Elected:
Dinti BATSTONE
Phil BENNION
David BOYLE
Duncan BRACK
Sal BRINTON
Lucy CARE
Gareth EPPS
Susan GASZCZAK
Michael GERMAN
Sandra GIDLEY
Tony GREAVES
Jeremy HARGREAVES
Evan HARRIS
Linda JACK
Julie SMITH

Federal Conference Committee
Summary election result for The Federal Conference Committee
Places: 12
Total valid vote: 1614
Quota: 124.16
Spoiled: 117

Elected:
Robert ADAMSON
Qassim AFZAL
Jon BALL
Sal BRINTON
Dee DOOCEY
Susan GASZCZAK
Arnie GIBBONS
Sandra GIDLEY
Linda JACK
Chris MAINES
Justine McGUINNESS
Andrew WISEMAN

International Relations Committee
Summary election result for The International Relations Committee
Places: 5
Total valid vote: 1588
Quota: 264.67
Spoiled: 143

Elected:
Ed FORDHAM
Jonathan FRYER
Gordon LISHMAN
Layla MORAN
Gerald VERNON-JACKSON

ELDR Council Delegation
Summary election result for ELDR Delegation
Places: 8
Total valid vote: 1585
Quota: 176.12
Spoiled: 146

Elected:
Phil BENNION
Ruth COLEMAN
Jonathan FRYER
Jo HAYES
Gordon LISHMAN
Peter PRICE
Ros SCOTT
Mark VALLADARES

Interim Peers Panel
Summary election result for Interim Peers List
Top-up Election Places: 15
Total valid vote: 1547
Quota: 96.69
Spoiled: 184

Elected:
Jon BALL
Sue BARING
Kay BARNARD
Chris BONES
David BOYLE
Sal BRINTON
Alan BUTT-PHILIP
Richard CHURCH
Val COX
Antony HOOK
Liz LEFFMAN
Mark PACK
Flick REA
Mike TUFFREY
Chris WIGGIN

Full details, including results for all the stages are available here on Colin Rosenstiel's site.

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Lib Dem Presidential Contest: Result

2010-11-13T12:19:00.002Z

Video also available on YouTube here.

I'm at Cowley Street, at the election count for the next President of the Liberal Democrats.

The count has just been completed and the result is as follows:

Tim Farron: 14,593 votes
Susan Kramer: 12,950 votes

Tim Farron will take up office on 1st January 2011, succeeding Ros Scott.

A total of 65,861 ballot papers were issued and the turnout was 41.9%. 64 ballots were spoiled.

Total ballots returned 27,607.

The outgoing President, Ros Scott, has just emailed party members with this message:

I’m writing to let you know the exciting news that Tim Farron has been elected as the next President of our party. You can find the full result here.

We were incredibly fortunate in this election to have two outstanding candidates for President either of whom would have done a great job. And I’m sure I speak for the whole party when I say that I know Susan will continue to play a huge role in the future of our party.

Tim’s record of campaigning in the party is second to none. The enthusiasm, commitment and dynamism that he will bring to the job will be a huge asset to our party over the coming years. Being in coalition government has brought us huge challenges that we as a party are having to face for the first time in 65 years. And I am certain that Tim – working with Nick Clegg and his Ministerial team – will grab these challenges with both hands.

Being Party President has been both a huge amount of work and an enormous privilege over the last two years and I will certainly never forget the thrilling moments of the closing weeks of the General Election campaign and the days and nights that followed the result. So I’d like to thank everybody who has supported and worked with me over the last two years, especially my family. I could not have done what I have done without them.

I wish Tim all the very best of luck, I know the party will be safe in his hands.

Best wishes,

Ros Scott
Liberal Democrat Party President

View this article at its original location.

Peers call for end of child detention in immigration centres

2010-11-12T19:02:00.002Z

Following the Home Office's decision to postpone until March the end of child detention in immigration removal centres, a group of peers has written to the Guardian calling for the government to honour their commitment to end the practice.

The group of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Crossbench peers includes Roger Roberts and Navnit Dholakia, as well as Sue Miller, who told Radio 4's Today Programme this morning that the equivalent of four or five primary schools per year are being locked up:

We are really tired of waiting for the end of child detention... We need not to lock up innocent children... it has been about 1000 a year.

[You can listen to the clip here]

The letter in full:

Six months ago today the coalition government promised to end detention of children for immigration purposes. Yet children are still being held in detention, despite clear evidence that this is harmful. We call on the government to fulfil the promise that it made to end the detention of children without further delay and to develop a more humane system for the treatment of families and children who are subject to immigration control.

There is evidence from countries such as Sweden that far fewer families end up facing forced removal if steps are taken throughout the immigration and asylum process to address the barriers that prevent families best presenting their case.

Child welfare and safeguarding must be placed at the heart of any new practice that is developed. We have an opportunity to restore the reputation of this country for keeping our promises and for protecting children from harm. The time for prevarication is over and the time for action has come.

Lord Roberts of Llandudno
Lord Dubs
Lord Dholakia
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer
Lord Hylton
Earl of Sandwich
Bishop Tim Stevens
Baroness Howe of Idlicote
Lord Griffiths
Bishop John Saxbee
Baroness Richardson

View this article at its original location.

LibLink: Tim Farron - Tuition fees are the poll tax of our generation

2010-11-12T09:43:00.001Z

Over at the Guardian's Comment is Free, Tim Farron MP reiterates his pledge to vote against tuition fees, calling them "the poll tax of our generation" - a reference to the angry scenes at Wednesday's demonstration.

In his article, Tim makes the distinction between the NUS pledge against tuition fees, signed by Parliamentary candidates before the General Election (which he intends to abide by), the Liberal Democrat manifesto (which became a negotiating document) and the Coalition Agreement (which contains 65% of the Liberal Democrat manifesto).

Here's an excerpt:

Fees are the poll tax of our generation and I cannot in good conscience vote for an increase. It is not for me to tell colleagues how to vote, but I believe we need to move away from burdening young people with debt. Education should be available to all – not just those who can stomach the debt.

The Liberal Democrat manifesto set out a six-year plan to phase out tuition fees altogether. But let's remember we didn't win the general election, which means our manifesto became a negotiating document. We did an outstanding job of negotiating the coalition: if you comb the coalition agreement you will see that 65% of our manifesto is in it.

The anger of the students is understandable, and I sympathise with it. Seeing thousands of young people engaging with politics is fantastic. My clear message to them is this: the Liberal Democrats are the party of free education – stick with us.

I want to see scrapping fees in our next manifesto. It's great to see that the Scottish Liberal Democrats – who abolished fees when they were in power between 1999 and 2007 – have committed themselves again to keeping Scotland fee-free if they form part of the next Scottish government.

He goes on to point out that the Lib Dems have ensured the abolition of up-front fees for part-time students – who make up roughly half of all students - and highlights the the raising of the payment threshold from £15,000 to £21,000:

Along with a package of other measures, it means that the poorest 30% of graduates will be better off under the new system. Anyone who wants their analysis of the student finance package to be taken seriously has to acknowledge these advances – and that the progressive parts of the package only happened because of the Lib Dems.

You can read the full piece here.

View this article at its original location.

Liberal Democrat English Party election results 2010

2010-11-11T16:08:00.003Z

Yesterday the counts took place for the English party elections.

The Acting Returning Officer, David Allworthy, reported the results as follows:

At the close of nominations on 29 September 2010 the following were declared duly elected, unopposed:

Chair of English Party:
Jonathan Davies

Chair of English Candidates’ Committee:
Margaret Joachim

English representative to Federal Conference Committee (1 place):
Geoff Payne

English Candidates Committee (5 places):
Dawn Davidson
Sal Jarvis
Brian Orrell

The following were elected:

English representative to Federal Executive:
Brian Orrell: 46
Michael Wheatley: 32

English representative to Federal Policy Committee:
Dirk Hazell: 10
Geoff Payne: 68

English Executive Committee (12 places):
Nigel Ashton
Stan Collins
Dawn Davidson
Kay Friend
Anders Hanson
Sean Hooker
Sal Jarvis
Steve Jarvis
Brian Orrell
Geoff Payne
Neil Walton
Mike Wheatley

The turnout was 65.5% (higher than the average of recent years).

See here for the breakdown of votes for each stage of the count, courtesy of Colin Rosenstiel.

There will be a ballot in the by-election for the final two places for directly elected places on the ECC. A ballot paper will be included in the EC Final Agenda mailing, which goes out at the end of this week.

View this article at its original location.

Another election in Tower Hamlets: by-election called in Spitalfields and Banglatown

2010-11-11T08:53:00.001Z

A by-election has been called for 16 December in Spitalfields and Banglatown ward, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

The seat became vacant after the election last month of Lutfur Rahman as the borough's first Mayor. He had been one of the ward's three Labour councillors, until his removal from the party by its National Executive Committee in the run-up to the mayoral election.

Rahman went on to stand as an Independent, beating the Labour candidate by more than 11,000 votes.

Dave Hill reports on his London Blog that there is already infighting within the local Labour party over their choice of candidate: some are urging for the replacement of Abdul Alim, who they say was "imposed" and "has very little connection or knowledge of local politics in this ward let alone the ability to win in this complex ward without their support."

Meanwhile, look out for the announcement of a very promising Liberal Democrat candidate...

Three former Labour MPs face criminal trial over expenses

2010-11-10T10:26:00.001Z

The Supreme Court has ruled this morning that three former Labour MPs should face criminal trials over their expenses claims.

Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, charged with theft by false accounting, had previously argued at the Court of Appeal that only Parliament could hear their case.

The three have now exhausted their challenge to an original ruling which rejected their claims to Parliamentary privilege, a 300-year-old immunity from legal proceedings arising from actions within Parliament; however the judge ruled in June that individual expense claims are “not covered by parliamentary privilege and… triable in Crown Court”.

From the BBC:

Former Bury North MP Mr Chaytor, 61, of Todmorden, West Yorkshire; former Scunthorpe MP Mr Morley, 58, of Winterton, north Lincolnshire; and former Livingston MP Devine, 57, of Bathgate, West Lothian, are all on unconditional bail and face separate trials.

All were barred by their party from standing again as Labour MPs at the general election.

View this article at its original location.

Last chance to vote in Lib Dem Committee Elections 2010 (online voting closes noon today)

2010-11-10T08:10:00.001Z

Online voting in this year's Liberal Democrat Committee elections closes at NOON today, so if you're a Federal Conference Rep who hasn't yet returned your vote, there's still time to get online and do so.

To vote by internet, go to:

www.votebyinternet.com/partycommittee2010 and follow the online instructions.

You'll need to enter your security code, which is printed on your ballot paper.

The counts for the Party Committee and Presidential elections will take place this Saturday, 13th November.

To get the results keep an eye on this site, as well as our Twitter feed - I'll be at Cowley Street, to bring you the results as soon as they are announced.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Setting the Independent straight on candidate's defection

2010-11-08T06:48:00.003Z

The Independent's Andrew Grice has spiced up the story of a Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate's defection to Labour with the help of some figures - which turn out to be incorrect.

Andrew Lewin, who stood in Hertford and Stortford in May, has switched to Labour "in protest at his leader's acceptance of Conservative policies and abandonment of key elements of his party's programme."

The article refers to Lewin:

at 23 the youngest Lib Dem candidate in England at the May election

when in fact the youngest Liberal Democrat candidate was Alan Belmore, who was aged 20 on polling day, when he stood in Hemsworth in West Yorkshire.

Andrew Grice also repeats the claim made by the Labour party -

it has attracted 40,000 new members since the election – a third of them from the Lib Dems. The Lib Dems insist their membership has risen since the election even though their opinion poll rating has slumped.

However, Grice himself wrote at the time of Liberal Democrat conference in September that 4,500 people had joined our party since the General Election.

To have lost 13,000 members to Labour and more than replaced that loss in six months would have been a phenomenal churn! I can confirm that the Liberal Democrats have not lost 13,000 members since May 6; in fact national membership has seen a net rise every month since the General Election.

View this article at its original location.

Nick Clegg's speech on European growth

2010-11-04T18:53:00.004Z

This morning Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gave a speech at the Government Leaders’ Forum Europe 2010 in London.

He called for a united response to "a financial crisis that has changed the world" and proposed "four levers for durable, lasting prosperity":

Openness in trade; more flexible labour markets; greater investment in infrastructure; and a workforce equipped to thrive in the green, digital economy of the future.

Towards the end, he touched on UK university tuition fees and outlined the proposed reforms:

The UK is already blessed with a world-class university sector. But we need to secure it for the future...

Read on:

Introduction

There is a growing myth about Europe: It is that our best days are behind us. A cardboard caricature of the old country, which says that we can no longer lead the world in terms of technology or innovation. We are being sidelined by other, hungrier, powerhouses of global growth – India, China, the emerging power of Brazil. Our demographics – low fertility rates and aging populations – are against us. Our labour markets are inflexible, sclerotic. We tie up our innovators in reams of burdensome red tape. We spend our money on industries of the past. And, at the heart of it all, our collective advance is blocked by short-sighted national self-interest. As well as the political malaise of an out of touch, bureaucratic Brussels elite.

These are increasingly popular assumptions. But they are lazy. Many of them exaggerated. And they generate pessimism when what we need is hope for the future. Yes, Europe has its challenges. But no, we will not be written off.

Today I want to talk about how I believe Europe can use the crisis in the global economy as a catalyst to relaunch our own economy. Because we know that Europe has the best chance – it possesses the essential ingredients –to create the economy of the future: one that is digital, high-skilled and low carbon. An economy that is entrepreneurial; creative; versatile, and at the vanguard of invention and design. An economy that generates enough money to sustain our traditions of welfare and social justice.

I will argue today that we will get there through a relentless focus on growth. Recognising where future growth will come from: free trade, flexible labour markets, better infrastructure, and improved skills.

Before I do, it is worth pausing on why we should reject the cynics’ counsel of despair.

The European Union is recovering from the economic crisis. It is true that medium and long-term forecasts are not good enough. Especially when contrasted with projections for the so-called emerging economies. And Europe has not bounced-back with the vigour we had hoped. Individual states continue to advance at different rates, some grappling with high budget deficits – like in the UK – and high unemployment. And the economic crisis exposed deep-rooted problems with our economies: An overreliance, in some countries, on the financial sector. Construction and real estate booms fuelled by unsustainable bubbles in housing and land prices.

But, that is not the whole story. Let’s not forget that the last two decades have seen European GDP grow by 30%. In the three years leading up to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, we had created nearly ten million jobs. And, when the financial crisis hit, Europe took a crucial lead in stabilising the banking system. The financial crisis revealed our weaknesses. But equally it reminded us of our strengths.

Today’s Europe is founded on our ability to come together in times of great turmoil. In the middle of last century, faced with untold loss and destruction, we did so in a way no group of countries ever has. Redefining international cooperation for the modern age.

Think of the great European achievements that have followed: the Single Market, EU enlargement, unprecedented coordination in the face of financial meltdown. For the last 60 years, at every critical moment, every global shock, Europeans have found the answer together. Now should be no different. Providing – I believe – we are decisive. Recognising that the pursuit of economic growth must supersede all else.

Some baulk at that statement. They assume such a single-minded pursuit of growth is in some way too harsh. That we mean growth at all costs, and that in turn threatens our social solidarity. Because, it is alleged, private-sector led growth is blind to peoples’ happiness and well-being, and inevitably leaves the worst off behind.

I do not agree. At a time of widespread fiscal contraction, growth is the only way to pay for the quality of life we want to deliver for our citizens. We have long been a continent committed to social justice. But, unless our economy grows, we simply will not be able to afford the welfare we want to provide. Unless we encourage business, there will be no jobs to go round.

Of course we must protect people, through our well-developed labour laws. And through state action to help those who need it most. And of course we have a duty to encourage growth that is spread across communities, and across industries, so that prosperity is shared. But the fact remains: if we want to maintain progressive welfare systems, we have to be able to pay for them.

As we pursue growth, we must make choices. We cannot now do everything. We do not have the resources to invest in every aspiration. And nor do we have the time to get this wrong. So we need to narrow our focus to the things we know will deliver.

Clearly, growth needs stability. So we must improve the way that we look at macroeconomic policy together. To avoid a repetition of the fiscal imbalances that built up in the last decade resulting in the sovereign debt crisis that hit the Eurozone in recent months.

I do not propose to discuss these things in detail today. Economists disagree on many things – but if there is one thing which is common ground, it is that good macroeconomic policy is a prerequisite for growth. Instead I want to concentrate on the other levers available to us. Not least because our long-term prosperity should not rely on fiscal and monetary policy alone. They are: continued openness in trade; accelerated labour market reform; increased investment in infrastructure; and a relentless focus on skills. Since the 1987 Single European Act our economic union has been explicitly founded on four simple principles: the free movement of goods, of capital, of services and of people. Now, there are four key levers that we must pull.

Trade

First – openness in trade.

Last week the European Commission launched a consultation on 50 proposals designed to improve the functioning of the Single Market. Without wanting to get into the detail of the proposals, the impulse is right. We are not yet making the best of our comparative advantage. The Single Market is home to 500 million consumers. Yet in key areas like services and the digital economy we are failing to remove important barriers that inhibit trade and, with it, growth.

Of all of the people online in the European Union, about half are buying goods and services on the internet. Yet, less than half of those have ever bought anything from other member states. It makes no sense. And it is wasting a huge amount of money. The creation of a true Digital Single Market could add 4% to European growth by 2020. So we need to look very closely at the bottlenecks ensuring, for example, there is a secure platform for online transactions. Taking practical action so that buyers and sellers alike have confidence in the system and know their rights are guaranteed.

Greater openness in trade is as important outside of the EU as within it. We are, after all, the world’s largest exporter. By removing remaining regulatory barriers between the EU and US, for example, we could boost our collective GDP by around 2%. And I am not the first to point out that completion of the Doha round would add $170bn each year to the global economy. If there was any time to get on with that trade agenda it’s now. As we champion openness at home, it is our unambiguous self interest to do so abroad.

Labour market reform

Second, labour markets.

On average, EU labour markets, including the UK’s, have been more resilient than expected. And more so than that of the US. In the face of sharp falls in demand and output. But unemployment continues to be a major problem for many states - as high as 20% in some EU countries. And what is clear after the financial crisis is that there is still much work to be done in improving the flexibility and resilience of these markets.

There is no one answer. Different nations will need to do different things. In the UK we are working very hard to reform our benefits system to ensure that it incentivises work. All countries have an incentive to ensure labour laws do not discourage employers from creating new jobs for fear that the rules will prevent them from managing their own workforce flexibly in response to changing circumstances. In the UK we are also making sure our pension system takes into account our changing demographics. Taking steps to extend working lives.

Across Europe we must confront the challenge of an ageing population too. In the EU, for every person over 65, there are four other people of working age. By 2060 that will be down to two. That creates clear consequences for our public finances, as well as posing real dilemmas for growth.

Infrastructure

Third – infrastructure.

Historically, this is not an issue on which many European states should take lessons from a British politician. And understandably so – we have underinvested in our infrastructure for decades. However, I can assure you that the new UK coalition government is very serious about improving our infrastructure to unlock greater prosperity.

The Prime Minister last week launched our National Infrastructure Plan. The UK’s first ever such plan. And today he is on the other side of the city, in East London, where we’ve been working with big companies who will be investing in the infrastructure in that area. Creating the right environment for the kind of small high-tech businesses that have real potential to grow.

We understand that our businesses need access to broadband. We know that our position in terms of the green technologies of the future depends on us having the right domestic structures. The right networks and systems in energy, transport, and digital communications. And we have learnt that infrastructure does not magically appear without any help from government. It is our job to create the regulatory framework to attract private sector investment. And where the market fails, we should step in.

That’s why, for example, we are investing over half a billion pounds in superfast broadband. It’s why we are setting up a Green Investment bank to provide public backing and leverage private capital for important low carbon projects. And it is why, at the European level, we believe more of the EU Budget should be spent on the areas that really add value. Last week European leaders made clear that the EU Budget must reflect our consolidation efforts to deal with our debts. That constrained Budget must be targeted where it can on the things we know can generate high future growth.

Skills

Finally, skills.

Skills to avert a jobless recovery, and to guarantee our longer term fortunes. We cannot overestimate the importance of human capital. It is people that generate prosperity. People who have ideas; who take chances; who put their heart and soul into their work, reaping rewards that whole communities, whole countries, enjoy. So let’s equip our people to do that. Let’s help them compete in the new, global economy. More of them moving further up the value chain, to products that are more knowledge and technology-intensive. European workers have skills equal to any in the world, but other countries are advancing rapidly. And if we are to compete, we need to modernise.

I want the UK to be among those nations that lead the world in terms of the development of knowledge and skills. Of course, the UK is already blessed with a world-class university sector. But we need to secure it for the future.

The UK Government announced yesterday that we are reforming our currently unsustainable higher education funding system – raising the contributions made by graduates after they have left university – to ensure they retain their world-beating status. The existing system promotes neither fairness for students, nor financial sustainability for universities. Our reforms will give our universities financial stability and the resources to provide a world-class education in an increasingly global market. Graduates will pay less each month than they do now. Part-time students will no longer be faced with unfair, upfront fees. And the poorest graduates will pay considerably less than they do today.

In 21st century Britain, all our young people should have the right to a university education. Our reforms are designed to open up the doors of our universities for bright students from all backgrounds, by ensuring that those who benefit the most from their graduate status pay their fair share. That is extremely important in creating an open society, where people can rise regardless of their background. Where the doors of all our institutions are flung open for everyone. And where higher education is, finally, a right for all, not a privilege for the few.

Conclusion

So, to sum up: Openness in trade; more flexible labour markets; greater investment in infrastructure; and a workforce equipped to thrive in the green, digital economy of the future. The four levers for durable, lasting prosperity. Driven by a single unswerving aim: to get all of our economies growing again.

The options that are open to us are limited. But the rewards that come with making the right choices will still be great. We must now respond to a financial crisis that has changed the world. Coming together to resurrect the spirit of our union. Ensuring that we, together, thrive.

As for the pessimists who have written off Europe, let’s show them they would be wise to think again.

Thank you.

View this article at its original location.

London Lib Dems Regional Conference: online booking now open

2010-11-04T15:16:00.002Z

Online booking is now open for London Liberal Democrats Regional Conference on 4 December:

Click here to register; it's £25 for the day, or £12 for concessions.

The conference is open to all members - you don't have to be a conference rep. The day will feature valuable training for your local party plus guest speakers, an update on the campaign for Fairer Votes and the announcement of our candidates for the London Assembly List

See the LibDems4London website for more information on Conference and Lib Dem campaigns around London.

Come to Haverstock School, Haverstock Hill, London NW3 2BQ on Saturday 4 December. Map here.

Doors open from 9:30 am

Cancelled: 3 November hustings with Tim Farron and Susan Kramer‏

2010-11-02T16:56:00.001Z

Because of the planned 24 hour Tube strike which starts this evening, we've regretfully decided to cancel tomorrow night's hustings with Tim Farron and Susan Kramer.

The event had been due to take place at 7:30pm on 3 November at Woodbridge High School, Woodford Green.

You can still watch last month's online hustings on Youtube here:

Also you can visit the candidates' websites -

Tim Farron
Susan Kramer

Please remember that ballot papers have to be in by 10 November.

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

2010-11-01T20:50:00.002Z

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 of the Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Bill. As part of that debate we will be renewing our commitment to ensuring that all those who are eligible to be registered to vote are.

And this is an important time of year to make that happen, as the annual canvass process is currently ongoing in council across the country. For most councils that process began over the summer and is set to finish on 1st December.

That means that there is now just under one month left until the conclusion of the canvass. So there is plenty of time for electors to return their household forms, or to engage with canvassers who may come knocking at their doors.

We are sure that everybody who is getting this email is registered to vote, but please do just check! Forms will be currently landing on doormats and resting on coffee tables up and down the country and it is vital that they are returned. Once you have made sure your form is safely completed please take a moment to check family and friends have filled out theirs too. Getting half a a dozen of your friends signed up to vote could make the difference in a tight election next May.

Making democracy work is something all politicians should be committed to, and we are proud to encourage Liberal Democrats to play our part.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP and Simon Hughes MP
Leader and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

PS The next big national election will be the Fairer Votes referendum next May; you can join our campaign here.

View this article at its original location.

This week's by-election results: holds all round

2010-10-29T16:50:00.005+01:00

Camden LBC, Kentish Town
Lab 1411 (53.0; +17.7)
LD Nick Russell 715 (26.9; -3.6)
Green 349 (13.1; -4.7)
Con 186 (7.0; -5.1)
[Other (0.0; -1.7)]
[BNP (0.0; -2.7)]
Majority 696
Turnout 26.02%
Lab HOLD
Percentage change is since May 2010

South Lanarkshire UA, East Kilbride West
Lab 847 (41.4; +0.8)
SNP 571 (27.9; -2.4)
Con 403 (19.7; +5.7)
Green 82 (4.0; +0.2)
East Kilbride Alliance 71 (3.5; -0.7)
LD Gordon Smith 70 (3.4; -3.7)
Turnout 17.44%
Labour HOLD
Percentage change is since May 2007

See here for the breakdown of votes for each stage of the count.

Cheltenham BC, Springbank
LD Chris Coleman 722 (66.4; -2.9)
Con 188 (17.3; -13.4)
Lab 142 (13.1; +13.1)
Green 35 (3.2; +3.2)
Majority 534
Turnout not known
LD HOLD
Percentage change is since May 2010

See the article in This Is Gloucestershire.

Great Aycliffe Town Council, West
Lab 388 (46.7)
Ind 286 (34.5)
LD Janine Mawson 156 (18.8)
Majority 102
Turnout 19.19%
Lab HOLD

For full commentary, and details of forthcoming by-elections, visit the ALDC website.

View this article at its original location.

Tom Brake writes to David Cameron on control orders‏

2010-10-28T17:25:00.001+01:00

Tom Brake MP wrote to the Prime Minister yesterday, to push for the scrapping of Control Orders, and for a reduction in the pre-charge detention period. The letter is co-signed by the other Liberal Democrat Co-Chairs of the Home Affairs, Justice and Equalities Parliamentary Party Committee: Baroness Sally Hamwee and Lord Martin Thomas.

The full text of the letter is as follows:

We believe we represent the broad view of the Liberal Democrat membership, both from past policy statements agreed at Conference and set out in the Lib Dem Manifesto, and from current soundings within the Party.

We have been delighted by the Coalition Government’s commitment to re-claiming our civil liberties. You will appreciate of course, that the continuance of Control Orders is quite inconsistent with the thrust of those assurances. In principle, as we argued many times during the administration of the last government, Control Orders should be scrapped.

In practice, in any event, there is no evidence to suggest that Control Orders are effective in preventing terrorism on our streets. Even if a marginal security advantage is gained from their use, it is wholly negated by the adverse impact of Control Orders on Muslims, both individually, and as a community. You will know that we depend on the goodwill of the widest possible cross-section of that community to ensure that the Government’s ‘Prevent’ strategy is effective.

It is our view that a package of counter-terrorism measures - which would be much more effective and have lesser impact on civil liberties - could and should be constructed: the withdrawal of travel rights; more surveillance; unannounced home visits; where appropriate the use of intercept evidence to bring cases to the level where effective prosecution may be carried out through the courts. Other safeguards can no doubt be discussed and developed.

As for pre-charge detention, we are convinced (as is the stated view of the Home Secretary) that 28 days pre-charge detention should be reduced to 14 days.

We believe a maximum of 14 days pre-charge detention gives wholly adequate time to bring charges, even in the most complicated cases of multiple attack. We will regretfully advise opposition to the introduction of draconian bail conditions, which would seek to impose restrictions equivalent to Control Orders as they currently exist.

We look forward to your response on these issues.

Yours sincerely

Tom Brake MP, Baroness Sally Hamwee, Lord Martin Thomas

View this article at its original location.

Making short political videos: three top tips

2010-10-26T13:18:00.002+01:00

Candidates and councillors find videos a real complement to their other campaign methods and, done well, they can be a powerful way for voters to get to know issues and personalities. They're especially useful in internal party elections where candidates may not be able to meet all of their large electorate in person. They're also great for campaigners at a local level, where there's usually a lack of good quality information on hyperlocal matters.

Recently I've noticed a surge of interest from people who are keen to try it themselves, so here are my top tips for making your own short political videos, and they all begin with "V".

Your videos should be:

Valuable: Video should add something to your message. So don't just sit at your desk reciting something you could have written in a blog post. Have a reason to head out - a successful campaign, a grot spot, a special event, a look behind the scenes. Make sure your video is a must-see, adds value, shows something that only video can show. If your video doesn't add value, it's probably not worth the effort.

Visual: i.e. not just a static talking head shot. If you're talking about the new children's playground then go there and show it. Sounds could also add context - traffic, a carnival, etc. Heatmap studies have found that viewers' eyes wander very quickly away from the video box on the YouTube page if the video just features a speaker's head and shoulders. People either start reading the rest of the page or look at another window that they've got open on the screen. Make it interesting to watch and keep their attention.

Visible: Make sure it gets seen or no-one will watch it. It sounds obvious, but you need to put your video about. Embed it on your website or blog, and encourage others to do the same. Link to it in your local emails or on Twitter. Add relevant tags to help it to get picked up in YouTube's search results and related videos.

The good news is that videos don't have to be long, in fact three minutes feels epic and one minute or just under is ideal. You don't need fancy effects or equipment. Keep it simple, with one strong point/message. Remember (as with Twitter) to put a short biography on your YouTube profile and a link to your website.

This is how Sir Archibald Sinclair did it in 1945, and while informative in its day and delightful to watch, his formal style wouldn't set YouTube on fire today:

PARTY POLITICAL SPEECH BY THE LIBERAL PARTY

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Click on the image above to watch the newsreel clip, also available at British Pathe here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

London Lib Dems! Come to the party presidential hustings in Redbridge

2010-10-25T10:20:00.010+01:00

There will be a hustings at 7:30pm on 3 November for Liberal Democrat members to quiz Susan Kramer and Tim Farron - the candidates in the current Lib Dem Federal Presidential election.

All Liberal Democrat members are welcome, from around London and beyond.

I'll be chairing the meeting, and after a speech from each of the candidates, will take both written questions and questions from the audience.

The hustings will take place in Wynndale Hall at Woodbridge High School, St Barnabas Road, Woodford Green, IG8 7DQ.

Use the school entrance beside house number 205 St Barnabas Road. Car parking is available on-site. Woodford Underground Station (Central Line) is a 7-10 minute walk from the school. Map here.

For more details, and to offer or request a lift, see the event's listing on the Liberal Democrats' Flock Together website.

Woodbridge High School was the scene of another high-profile political visit in 1952, when Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the crowd in front of the Mallards Building of the then St. Barnabas county secondary (modern) school.

Click on the image below to watch the newsreel clip, also available at British Pathe here.

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You can see the new Broadmead Road Viaduct in the background, as well as the backs of the houses on St Barnabas Road, and rough grassland where Scoter Close was later built.

Floella Benjamin - I want to be judged on my actions in a political place

2010-10-24T20:11:00.006+01:00

Today's Independent on Sunday features an interview with Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham - Floella to the rest of us - which ranges over a variety of topics, from Floella's childhood, her work on stage and TV, her charity and campaigning work, to her future ambitions.

Some of the stories featured in Floella's recent maiden speech in the House of Lords, but there are some unfamiliar ones, which she has included in her new book about her teenage years Arms of Britannia:

"For the first four years of being in England," she says, sitting on a leather sofa in the genteel surroundings of the club's library, "I fought almost every day. You never know who would spit at you, or try to pee on you, or lift your skirt and say 'Where's your tail, monkey?'". She was beaten up badly at 19 in a bowling alley, while the club bouncers just looked on.

The turning point in her life she, says, came in 1964 at 14, when she nearly killed a boy who was shouting racist names at her, as she walked to the shops in Penge High Street. She grabbed his lollipop and jamming it down his throat, watching him turn blue. Benjamin calls it her "spiritual moment"; the moment when she says she realised that violence was not the answer. She pulled out the lollipop and walked off proud.

And the Benjamin family – high achievers all – made the classic immigrant journey so often held up by politicians of all persuasions. Working hard at school, gaining qualifications and entering the professions. Floella's mother used to clean office buildings. At 16, Floella crossed the threshold of Barclays head office as a clerk, with the ambition of becoming Britain's first female bank manager. She claims she pioneered women wearing trouser suits in the City. In the light of the credit crunch, one likes to imagine what she night have achieved if she'd pursued it.

But Benjamin changed career. Used to singing on stage with her part time jazz musician father's band, she responded to an advert in a newspaper in 1973 seeking non-professionals for a new musical tour. The show was Hair, famously controversial for its hippie onstage nudity. Going in her lunchbreak from the bank, you know all you need to know about Benjamin's steely determination from the fact that she not only got cast, but also rather presumptuously announced at the audition that she wouldn't be taking her clothes off.

Floella also reveals that she was asked to pose naked for Playboy magazine, while still a presenter for the children's programme Playschool, and declined a large sum of money to do so.

She goes on to say what she thinks about Honours, but not about proposed cuts to Child Benefit; about the Deputy Prime Minister, but not about the Prime Minister.

And on the question of running for Mayor of London:

"I can see the headlines," she says, matter of factly. "'Which window has she come through today?' What's the point? My ideas on important issues – on families, on tackling gangs and knife crime would have been overlooked. I'd be between two battling peacocks." But she won't rule it out once she's more experienced.

"I want to be judged on my actions in a political place. It's important that my maiden speech was reported on Today In Parliament on Radio 4 with that audience. People don't yet know or understand me. They think I'm just ambitious, or a silly children's presenter. So I have to prove myself."

You can read the full interview in the Independent on Sunday, here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Any treasures in Nick Clegg's Desert Island Discs?

2010-10-24T19:25:00.002+01:00

Nick Clegg appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs this morning, and revealed his eight essential tunes, as well as a book and a luxury item with which to be marooned.

You can listen to the whole programme on iPlayer here but for the record, here's Nick's list:

Chopin's Waltz in A Minor (played by Idil Biret)

Sunday Morning Coming Down (Johnny Cash)

The Cross (Prince)

Petit Pays (Cesaria Evora)

Street Spirit (Radiohead)

Life on Mars (David Bowie)

Waka Waka - the theme to the 2010 World Cup (Shakira)

Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major (played by Alfred Brendel)

Book: The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Luxury: A stash of cigarettes

As guilty pleasures go, it's a pretty safe list; Desert Island Discs is a chance for famous people to judiciously bury treasure for the listeners to find, and from there to form their impression. Nick's music ranges from centuries-old to this year's summer hit, via milestones from childhood, studenthood and adulthood. There's no deeper message to be gleaned from these than that Nick's music is for wallpaper, rather than for political fuel. No Glee Club anthems here. Nick highlights his tracks' pleasant associations rather than their intrinsic musical skill. Prince's "The Cross" is noted more for its evocation of happy Minnesota memories than its resignation/salvation riff.

Sure, there've been headlines about Nick's occasional smoking habit (I thought this was already in the public domain), but for me the real surprise came in the accompanying interview with Kirsty Young:

Nick mentions "luck" several times throughout the conversation, when speaking of his upbringing, his education and his rapid rise to be the Lib Dem leader, and then Deputy Prime Minister. It gives him an unassuming air, but seems a bit disingenuous given that Nick knows how opportunity, hard work and targeting can translate into success. As Lib Dems know, outcomes aren't necessarily predictable: the Coalition has brought its plot twists, but surely a liberal narrative is informed by opportunity?

His caution that "it's not a time for triumphalism and bunting" may be a clue: Kirsty and Nick sprint through the coming cuts:

Everything's obscured at the moment by the perfectly understandable controversy about where the savings are being made and what I hope is that over time people will see that the picture that is emerging from what this government is doing is a good, progressive one.

There's more on the interview here and you can listen to it in full here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Kirsty Williams on what the Comprehensive Spending Review means for Wales

2010-10-24T18:15:00.002+01:00

Kirsty Williams AM has written a piece for WalesHome on the implications of the spending review for Wales:

THE CSR settlement means that for the Welsh Government, revenue expenditure will be down by less than 2 per cent in real terms each year, less than the three per cent they were planning for. Overall, the budget will be reduced by 12% over 4 years; the Government were planning for 16.5% over 3 years. Despite the obvious glee with which ministers have been playing the victim card, Wales has a better settlement than the UK overall.

This week, we have seen crocodile tears from a Labour party that is in denial both about the mess they created and the measures needed to get us out of that mess. It is pretty clear that the Welsh Government had decided what its response would be before the announcement was even made. Now it needs to get on with making the best of it in the interests of the people of Wales.

The next five years will be tough, of that there is no doubt. But this is not the doomsday scenario that many were predicting. It is three years since Labour’s Finance Minister admitted that cuts would be coming. WAG’s own plans would suggest that they have considered more substantial cuts than they now find necessary.

The First Minister now needs to show some leadership and ensure that his Ministers concentrate on making the savings required, in a way that minimises the impact in Wales.

Kirsty goes on to push for more efficient spending and an end to gimmicks at election time - what she calls "happy meal politics".

She also stresses the need for the Welsh government to show that devolution can work in advance of the referendum next year.

Read the full piece at WalesOnline.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Video: Susan Kramer and Tim Farron's online Presidential hustings

2010-10-23T12:36:00.001+01:00

Tim Farron and Susan Kramer took part in an online hustings this week, taking questions from a live and online audience. Play the video below to watch the two candidates explain why they want to be Party President and discuss what they would do in the role.

Video also available on YouTube here.

Susan and Tim also answered questions on retaining a distinct Liberal Democrat indentity, on youth and diversity matters, as well as current issues facing the party.

You can watch the rest of the clips on YouTube here.

Ballot papers were despatched by second class post on Monday 18th October. Don't panic if yours hasn't arrived yet, it should be with you shortly. If your ballot mailing hasn't arrived by next Monday (25th October) and you are sure that you were a paid-up member on 28th September, please email returning.officer@libdems.org.uk. Remember to include your name, postcode and membership number (if you have it) in the message.

Make sure you return your completed ballot by Wednesday 10th November.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Crossrail gets the go-ahead in Comprehensive Spending Review

2010-10-20T15:21:00.001+01:00

Today’s Comprehensive Spending Review includes the announcement that Crossrail will go ahead.

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said:

This is good news for London and Londoners. When difficult short term decisions are having to be made in so many areas it is excellent news that long term plans to improve transport in London have not been compromised.

Crossrail is needed to provide improvements in London's transport capacity. It will play a critical role in helping London's economy to continue to grow and it will ensure that London remains attractive for international investment for many years to come.

Just as importantly it will play a key role in regeneration of some of London's poorest communities, including Thamesmead and the East End of London. Crossrail proceeding is good news for London and Londoners.

London Liberal Democrats announce GLA shortlist for 2012

2010-10-19T12:48:00.004+01:00

London Region Liberal Democrats have announced the candidates for the London Assembly top-up list for the 2012 election. The shortlist is now final and London members will now be issued with a ballot to place the candidates in order of preference.

The candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

Jeremy Ambache (M)
Steve Bradley (M)
Emily Davey (F)
Merlene Emerson (F)*
Bridget Fox (F)
Stephen Knight (M)
Ajmal Masroor (M)*
Caroline Pidgeon (F)
Marisha Ray (F)*
Nick Russell (M)
Shas Sheehan (F)*

Those marked with an asterisk are Black and Minority Ethnic for the purpose of the ethnic preference rule.

There will not be a ballot for the Mayoral candidate for the time being. Nominations for the Mayoral candidate have been postponed.

Helen Duffett is Membership Development Co-ordinator for London Region Liberal Democrats

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Expressive traffic lights

2010-10-19T11:33:00.003+01:00

Video also available on YouTube here.

I spotted this recently in Kentish Town: someone (possibly motorist rather than pedestrian) has added their editorial on some pelican crossing lights on Kentish Town Road, London NW5.

There's a similarly-adorned set of lights on the A406 North Circular Road.

A smiley face for the green traffic light, and progressively sadder ones for amber and red. From the pedestrians' point of view, the red and green man remain as enigmatic as ever...

Online presidential hustings this week: send in your questions

2010-10-19T10:13:00.001+01:00

This Wednesday the two candidates for Liberal Democrat President will take part in the official Federal online hustings at party headquarters in Cowley Street, London.

Susan Kramer and Tim Farron will answer questions which have been submitted online, and a video of the event will be posted afterwards on YouTube for all party members to refer to.

I'll be chairing the hustings, so please submit your questions via email to helen@libdemvoice.org by 5pm Wednesday.

If you'd like to attend in person, a limited number of places are available. It's on Wednesday 20 October at 7pm. Please contact Johnny LeVan-Gilroy at johnnylvg@gmail.com to register.

Otherwise keep an eye on Lib Dem Voice for a link to the video afterwards.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Tube maps with a twist

2010-10-18T10:10:00.002+01:00

Video also available on YouTube here.

I spent a gloriously geeky afternoon last week, helping Geoff Marshall (former world record holder for travelling around the entire London Underground system in the fastest time possible) make the above film about psychologist and designer Max Roberts.

Dr Roberts' exhibition of alternative London Underground maps is on until the end of this week (Friday 22 October 2010). It's free and is a must for tube and map fans, as well as anyone interested in usability.

Underground Maps Unravelled: Explorations in Information Design explores the use of Beck’s basic design rules: replacing chaotic, twisting routes with straight lines, horizontal, vertical or diagonals at 45 degrees only. The exhibition explores the usability of schematic network design. Using the London Underground map as a framework, it explores why traditional design rules help people, whether they are adequate for today's complex networks, and whether we can improve design by taking fresh approaches, breaking the rules.

The exhibition presents a selection of Dr Roberts’ own work: maps that break all the rules, maps that are easier to use, maps that teach us about good design, maps that challenge our preconceptions, and maps that are just intended to be decorative.

He explained: “With today’s emphasis on using public transport, and the ever-increasing complexity of networks around the world, it is vital that designers create the best possible maps. All too often, the general public is faced with designs that are poor quality, off-putting, and perhaps barely useable. We need to take a good look at whether fresh approaches are required.”

Londoners have made it clear that designers tinker with the Tube map at their peril. There was outcry a year ago when the Thames was removed from the Tube map (see photo above) in an attempt to declutter the design, and it was hastily reinstated.

However, it's the familiarity of Harry Beck's iconic Underground map that makes it a great place to experiment and challenge accepted design ideas. It's led to parodies such as Barry Heck's anagram tube map and Simon Patterson's Great Bear.

Should the Tube map take a radical new turn, and could it change the way Londoners and visitors perceive the city itself?

Underground Maps Unravelled is on at Scott Brownrigg architectural practice, 77 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9DZ until 6pm Friday 22 October 2010.

London Liberal Democrats postpone Mayoral candidate selection

2010-10-16T16:31:00.003+01:00

London Region Liberal Democrats have postponed the Mayoral candidate selection, possibly for up to a year - although it's hoped that nominations will be reopened much sooner.

The Local Government Chronicle said this week:

A selection had been due this autumn after which the party hoped it could get its candidate well enough known to take on incumbent Boris Johnson (Con) and Labour's Ken Livingstone in May 2012. But regional chair Jonathan Fryer said the process had been halted because an insufficient number of approved applicants were available to put before party members.

"There will be a reopening of nominations in about a year's time," he said. "Obviously that means we will be fighting a different kind of campaign over just over six months."

Mr Fryer said the party would go ahead this autumn with choosing a list of candidates for the London Assembly.

"We will be focusing on the GLA list and I am delighted with the both the quality and diversity of the candidates we have for that."

London party members will vote this autumn to determine the order in which these candidates are ranked.

The shortlist of 11 candidates for the Liberal Democrat GLA top-up list has been finalised and is expected to be published early next week.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Tory leaflet shocker: someone who isn't the candidate doesn't support the local football team

2010-10-13T12:14:00.002+01:00

This comes courtesy of the Conservatives in Kentish Town, where there is currently a by-election.

Kentish Town resident and Lib Dem blogger Rocky Lorusso writes:

"I recently received through my door an astonishing first – a locally-focused Tory campaign leaflet.

There’s a by-election campaign underway in Kentish Town in another close fight between the Lib Dems and Labour, so the fact that the Tories made an effort to get something out this time is very novel indeed. However, their lack of campaigning experience in the area is noticable from the poor quality of their leaflet.

Most bizarrely of all is this odd section on Ed Miliband’s apparent betrayal of North London football..."

Rocky reproduces a snippet of the leaflet which says:

LOCAL BOY ED MILIBAND NAILS HIS COLOURS TO MAN UNITED. So much for Ed Miliband's links to North London. Which football team does he visit in his first trip after becoming Labour Leader? Manchester Utd. Maybe singing the Red Flag went to his head...

As Rocky points out, "I mean, that always come up on the doorstep. Definitely. All the time."

Liberal Democrat candidate Nick Russell knows the real issues much better, having previously been a councillor in the ward.

See Nick in action around the ward here on YouTube.

For more on how to help the campaign to elect Nick, see his Facebook page here.

Essential blog for global election geeks: Who Rules Where

2010-10-12T12:48:00.001+01:00

Who rules where is a fascinating new blog by my friend and sometime colleague Fred Carver, which will become an essential resource for election geeks around the globe.

Fred says:

"This is a forum for discussion of the politics of the world. If you have strong views on the elections in the Philippines, or feel that Bingu wa Mutharika could be doing a better job then this is the website for you."

It has sections on recognised states (United Nations), de facto states, colonies and dependencies, as well information on all the upcoming elections. Fred has started blogging each country's political system and issues in a detailed yet highly readable way. He'll be working his way through the list over the coming months.

Visit the website at http://whoruleswhere.com/

You can also follow whoruleswhere on Twitter here.

Jeremy Ambache joins the race to be Lib Dem London Mayoral candidate

2010-10-04T17:08:00.001+01:00

A third person has come forward in the contest to be selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London in the 2012 London elections.

Jeremy Ambache, who was fourth on the top-up list for the London Assembly elections in 2008, has launched his campaign website: Jeremy Ambache for London.

Jeremy joins the two other candidates who have so far declared: Duwayne Brooks and Lembit Opik.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Ingrid Chetram to stand for Lib Dems in Lewisham

2010-10-04T13:48:00.000+01:00

Liberal Democrat campaigner Ingrid Chetram has been selected as the party's candidate in the Ladywell by-election, Lewisham on 4 November.

Find out more about this inspiring woman: check out her Facebook page here. Also, visit her website, Ingrid for Ladywell.

Ingrid has lived in Ladywell for over 20 years. She was born in what was once British Guyana in South America. After a childhood defined by poverty, where her richest asset was her loving family, she started work as a teacher.

Ingrid arrived in the UK initially to further her education and settled in Ladywell, which she now regards very much as her home community.

Ingrid has worked as a Counsellor for 2 Drug and Alcohol agencies in Lewisham (supervising work in rehabs across the Borough and particularly 2 Supported Houses in her ward). She has also managed a Homeless Crisis Day Centre in Deptford, worked with groups of young people/gangs/prisoners, ex offenders, victims and perpetrators of domestic violence/sexual abuse and now work with mental health residents who are in supported housing.

Ingrid says:

My work experience has taught me how degenerating communities can implode and how individuals can become delinquent, abuse substances and become criminal, which in turn can create victims.

I am also a realist and know that services have to be paid for from what we can afford. The issue is to get our priorities right and this requires local consensus.

If selected and voted in as Councillor for Ladywell Ward, I believe that my knowledge, experience and judgement will enable me to serve you as your local community representative.

For more information on the Ladywell by-election, see the Lewisham Council website.

Video: Nick Russell campaigning in Kentish Town

2010-10-04T12:32:00.001+01:00

I had a great day campaigning in London on Saturday: in the afternoon I was back in Tower Hamlets with John Griffiths, the Lib Dem candidate to be the Borough's elected Mayor. (I was thrilled when a number of people there told me they had come to help after reading my blog post on Friday.)

Before that, there was just time for a trip to Camden and a delivery round in Kelly Street, one of Kentish Town's prettiest streets. I also caught up with Nick Russell, the Lib Dem candidate for the by-election, who also showed me some of the local landmarks.

He's campaigning to save one of them, the grand Pizza Express building on Kentish Town Road, which is under threat from developers. You can sign Nick's petition here.

To keep up with campaign news, and to find out how you can help elect Nick Russell on October 28, visit his Facebook page here.

Nick Russell to stand for Lib Dems in Kentish Town

2010-10-01T19:36:00.002+01:00

Liberal Democrat campaigner Nick Russell has been selected as the the party's candidate in the Kentish Town by-election on October 28.

The Liberal Democrats have previously won two by-elections in this ward, one of which Nick won in 2008. And in May 2010, our two top-placed candidates were only 101 and 196 votes behind Labour.

Visit Kentish Town Lib Dems' own blog for local news.

If you're a Camden resident you can find your polling station by entering your postcode here.

For more information on the Kentish Town by-election, see the Camden Council website.

Lib Dems! Come to Tower Hamlets tomorrow

2010-10-01T14:32:00.005+01:00

Campaign HQ is buzzing in Tower Hamlets as volunteers from all over London come to help John Griffiths' Mayoral campaign.

Tomorrow (Saturday 2 October 2010) there's a big delivery day with the help of Sarah Ludford MEP (2pm) and Susan Kramer (11am), who is one of the candidates for Liberal Democrat President.

To meet them, as well as Lib Dems from all over London, come along tomorrow:

1a Peel Grove, London E2 9LR (a short walk from Bethnal Green Tube, map below)

You can keep up with Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrats on Facebook here and follow Liberal Democrat candidate John Griffiths on Facebook here and on Twitter here.

View Larger Map

Kentish Town by-election called for 28 October

2010-09-24T19:51:00.001+01:00

From Camden Council website:

Following the death of Councillor Dave Horan, an election is to be held for ONE Councillor for the Kentish Town Ward.

Nomination papers may be obtained, during normal office hours, from Electoral Services, Room 11, Camden Town Hall, Judd Street, London, WC1H 9LZ. They must be returned to the Elections Office by 12 noon on Friday 1 October 2010.

If the election is contested, the poll will take place on Thursday 28 October 2010 between the hours of 7.00am and 10.00pm.

Camden residents can apply for a postal vote: you can download the form here.

Councillor Horan, who died last Saturday, had regained the seat for Labour in May after losing it to the Liberal Democrats in 2006.

The Liberal Democrats haven't selected a candidate yet, but they have an excellent set of campaigners to choose from, including former councillors for Kentish Town.

For news from the area, check out Kentish Town blogger Rocky Lorusso, Kentish Town Liberal Democrats and local paper, the Camden New Journal.

Do Tweets win seats? – Micro-blogging and politics

2010-09-24T13:13:00.000+01:00

This is my chapter for The Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2010-2011, which is available from Amazon.

Politicos use Twitter to communicate with voters, activists and the media. It’s sociable and fashionable. It’s useful but it has its limits.

And if this was Twitter I’d stop there, for the paragraph above is a 140-character summary of the popular micro-blogging service and its emerging role in politics. Having the luxury of a whole chapter, rather than a couple of lines, I can expound a bit. But sometimes I relish Twitter’s brevity and the way it gives me both the discipline and the excuse not to write at length.

Twitter was to the 2010 General Election what blogging had been to the previous one: novel, topical, conversational, personal. Blogging, in long and short form, is good for quickly spreading campaign messages, news and rumours and it’s freely accessible for anyone with an internet connection.

When I first subscribed to the service a couple of years ago, few news outlets or political candidates were tweeting, although the three main parties were already using it to link to party information and election results.

Over the past year, Twitter has been increasingly taken up by MPs and councillors, bloggers and journalists, even government departments, but crucially by thousands of people who are none of the above, but want to converse with them on an equal footing.

The parties continue to tweet, but now candidates, MPs and party leaders themselves are using the medium, with varying degrees of skill.

Stella Creasy, newly-elected Labour MP for Walthamstow, says it’s important to be authentic:

My big issue is that how people use Twitter shouldn’t be different to any other form of campaigning. I use Twitter to be online how I am offline – to interact with local residents. Great new technologies make that easier, but you also have to want to do that: talk rather than tweeting press releases.

News organisations such as the BBC and the Guardian offer a variety of feeds while individual journalists are building up their own following, posting links to their reports and blogs as well as snippets from their everyday lives.

Twitter has a lot in common with blogging, its older and burlier sibling: it’s easy to share opinions, news stories and links to other items online. You can illustrate your posts with photos, videos and audio clips. Readers can comment in the form of replies. But younger, nimbler Twitter has the advantage of being quick and portable. On Twitter, news travels fast – making this morning’s paper seem out of date when events can be shared instantly, stories retweeted (forwarded) in a couple of clicks.

Liberal Democrat blogger Caron Lindsay told me,

To me, the most exciting thing about Twitter is that it gives everyone - from Cabinet ministers to MPs to councillors, from activists to people who aren’t in politics - the chance to interact on a level playing field. This can and does make political debate healthier.

On his blog, the Canadian writer David Eaves explained, “Twitter is my newspaper”, and indeed this is how I’ve used it over the past couple of years, as a blogger, candidate, activist and avid consumer of current affairs. And I get to choose the columnists. They include friends, politicians, entertainers, businesses, and some of them even are columnists. Twitter has kept me updated on local events, Westminster rumblings, and blogs from colleagues, rivals and commentators. It’s told me whether London Underground is running normally and yes, occasionally, what my friends had for breakfast. I’ve used it to answer constituents’ questions, to arrange appearances in the mainstream media and to tell volunteers about campaign sessions.

If a good press release or blog post tells the reader who, what, when, where and why, a tweet only has room for two things: “What?” and, “So what?” The economy of the medium makes you think about clarity and why your message is relevant – a good discipline for politicians and bloggers alike.

As well as a source of stories for journalists, it’s become a rich seam of information for analysts, who have used it to track sentiment and popular topics. PR agency Edelman focused on analysing Twitter during the General Election saying that “Twitter users are younger, more engaged, more forthright and honest about their views” and were a group whose political preferences were less easy to pin down. They identified that the Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg was attracting the largest number of positive tweets, particularly around the times of the TV Leaders’ debates in April. #Iagreewithnick and #nickcleggsfault were just two popular sentiments on Twitter, the latter a tongue-in-cheek response to negative newspaper coverage of the Liberal Democrat leader. They were memes which spread around Twitter like a show of hands at a public meeting.

It was during events such as the TV Leaders’ debates that the social network came into its own. While the main event was taking place on the older medium of TV, which drew audiences averaging nine million, Twitter was a unique and accessible place to gauge instant reaction. Twittering critics shared jokes, quotes and incisive commentary. At the same time, supporters of Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party held their own Twitter protests at their party’s exclusion from the debates, hoping to get their topic trending and so “make the news”.

Tweetminster reported that 33,095 tweeters posted 154,352 tweets during and related to the third TV debate, peaking at 51.27 tweets per second. The site’s analysis concluded that viewers using Twitter rated Clegg the highest, although his scores dropped the most during the debate, while Cameron and Brown’s were closely matched.

Other shared experiences on Twitter this year have included rallies and conferences, the tweets made searchable by using hashtags – those one-word descriptions prefixed with a ‘#’ symbol. MPs have tweeted from the House of Commons, and councillors from the Town Hall. It’s been a useful channel for eyewitness accounts of events especially in the absence of other types of report.

On 6 May, while I was busy helping to get out the vote, away from radio or TV, Twitter was my news ticker, and I also sent reminders to my followers to cast their votes. After polls closed, Twitter gave me unparalleled coverage of the election results, often keyed directly from the candidates’ own mobile phones: “Sorry guys - I lost,” was Willie Rennie’s downcast tweet, just after the Dunfermline result was declared. I watched from my own count as messages from every corner of the country streamed across my phone’s screen, their brief sentences belying months of hard work: triumphs won or hopes dashed.

Since the election, Twitter has remained an important way to share in the discussion about the new Coalition government and the Labour leadership election. The Queen’s Speech and the June Budget were swiftly summarised in byte-sized pieces. Now, campaigns are being launched and followings built in preparation for the referendum on the Alternative Vote in 2011.

Alberto Nardelli, co-founder of tweetminster.co.uk, says,

General Election 2010 saw no single ‘internet event’ but social media such as Twitter became embedded in the ‘media cycle’ providing a level playing field and affecting how issues were perceived.

And for anyone still tempted to forget that they’re using a public, broadcast medium, Alberto cautions:

What happens on Twitter doesn’t stay on Twitter.

Since Twitter has enabled politicians to issue a public statement before you can say, “press officer”, it’s not just been the big happenings that have made headlines. “A man can get a reputation from very small things,” wrote Sophocles, or as Professor Rachel Gibson of the University of Manchester puts it: “Loose tweets lose seats.” Unless a user locks their account, (so that only pre-approved followers can see the updates) the tweets can be read by anyone – and that includes opponents.

The Scottish Labour party dropped Stuart MacLennan as their candidate for Moray, after they were alerted to some of his tweets which made offensive remarks about the elderly and described some well-known politicians with a range of expletives. Although these messages were posted before MacLennan became a candidate, they were later picked up by the Scottish Sun. MacLennan apologised for his remarks while candidates everywhere, their online lives flashing before them, learned another Twitter lesson.

In 2009 John Dixon, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Cardiff, called Scientologists “stupid” in a tweet. Some six months later, a member of the Church of Scientology made a complaint, although they weren’t following Dixon’s Twitter account when he posted the message. At the time of writing, Councillor Dixon faces a disciplinary hearing for posting the comment on his councillor-related Twitter account. His original tweet has now received widespread attention, more than a year after it was posted. Despite appearing on a public platform, it took amplification by an offended party and the press before readers beyond Twitter knew about it - and suddenly Dixon trebled his number of followers in one day. Although he called it an “ephemeral comment” it took him a 1300-word blog post to fully explain his reasons for making it.

The Conservative Party’s hashjacked Twitterfall (basically some internet-gobbledegook which means unmoderated messages sneaking into a set of tweets being displayed on someone’s website) was another unfortunate Twitter event. The Conservatives set up a stand-alone website called Cash Gordon, to highlight the Prime Minister’s links with the Unite Union. They asked supporters to tweet using the #cashgordon hashtag. Any tweets with the hashtag would show up on the site, and many did appear, though not all were helpful. When the tweets began to include mockery, rude words and redirects to porn sites, the Labour Party and more, the Cash Gordon site was hastily pulled.

Now that Twitter has been tested in a major set of UK elections, what’s the verdict?

Blogger Guido Fawkes was initially sceptical of its value and said in May 2009 that Twitter was a “fad that will soon disappear” and asked a blogging conference, “How profound can you be in 140 characters?” Now he’s experimenting with “Social Guido” at his site, offering (as www.LibDemVoice.org also does) buttons to help readers share posts on Facebook, Twitter or by email. Guido has stopped using Facebook himself but admits, “Twitter is different, nowadays it sends 5% of the traffic to the blog.”

Richard Osley, Deputy Editor of the Camden New Journal, told me that as a local journalist, Twitter helped him promote election blogging foremost and to tap into the local conversation. He warns that lazy journalists may expect the best stories to be handed to them with a tweet, but that Twitter will also grow in importance as a networking tool for journalists:

Politicians and journalists are still feeling their way with Twitter and it is difficult to gauge what effect it had on the overall result of the General Election, if any. Some candidates may have been tweeting away thinking it was possible that voters would see their messages and switch allegiances. That seems a bit of a far-fetched hope to me. I don't think one tweet or a barrage of tweets changed voter intention to a game-changing value. More likely, Twitter was useful in helping parties organise their campaigns locally and to inspire like-minded people to join them, encouraging them to get off the sofa. There is a danger that a hundred retweets can make politicians and journalists feel complacent that they are in tune with voter intention. It is, at the moment at least, too primitive a survey of public opinion. But Twitter has benefits too. Where politicians - and journalists for that matter - use it best, is when they post and respond, creating a two-way connection.

My favourite Twitter moment as a candidate this year came when I experimented with location-based tweeting. While out campaigning one Saturday, I tweeted, “Meeting voters in Romford Market” with a link to a map that pinpointed my location. Meanwhile a Romford resident sat at home, looking up the constituency's candidates for the General Election. Discovering that I was on Twitter, she "followed" me (subscribed to my tweets). Then, seeing that I was in the local market square, ten minutes from her home, she came straight out to find me! I was delighted when she introduced herself and we had a quick chat about the area and its needs. Electioneering meets orienteering, you might say.

For my own amusement (and as a reminder) I made a Google Map of the places I campaigned in the run-up to the General Election, with photos, videos and audio clips. Voters and volunteers could see where and how I had been active.

As with any online campaigning, it's never a replacement for getting out on the streets and doorsteps, but as my surprise meeting showed, the virtual soapbox can complement the physical one. Curiously, I saw another tweet that day about another of the local candidates, which said,

He needs more presence on Twitter, talking with the people. Not merely being present outside the station is enough anymore.

Now that Twitter has taken its place among the other political communication channels, the message is still more important than the medium. While Twitter has been a useful tool for politicians and their commentators over the past couple of years, the platform is still evolving as a networking tool and producing new features. By the next General Election, there may well be another social network, or another phenomenon entirely, that will be proclaimed as the next campaign must-have.

Twitter may feel like a “community” but in elections, the physical constituency is where the votes are counted. MPs, councillors and candidates may have a number of local followers and some of them (such as the press) may amplify the messages among their own audiences. There will be a greater number who don’t use Twitter, but who do receive email and read the local newspaper or hyperlocal blog.

As Twitter and micro-blogging continue to evolve over the next year, commentators and constituents should keep holding politicians to account. And campaigners’ aims should be the same: translating venting and virals to volunteers and votes.

Helen Duffett was the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Romford in the 2010 General Election. She is one of the editors at Liberal Democrat Voice (www.LibDemVoice.org) and was once named as the UK’s 36th most influential political Twitterer. See if you can figure out why, by following @helenduffett on Twitter.

Conference needs claptrap

2010-09-24T09:03:00.003+01:00

Image by Alex Folkes/Fishnik Photography

Max Atkinson blogs some interesting stuff about the nuts and bolts of public speaking and presentation.

This week, he's covered Nick Clegg's and Vince Cable's speeches to Liberal Democrat Conference - noting in particular the audience's physical response in the form of clapping.

He talks about the way that applause was sometimes delayed during both Clegg's and Cable's speeches and wonders whether that was a sign of audience dissatisfaction with their messages.

See Max's blog for more on this, including Claptrap the movie, which explains the devices (including applause hooks) which politicians use to build rapport with their listeners.

When making a political speech, it's vital to establish a physical connection with the audience - after all, it's a physical performance. People have chosen to gather in a speaker's presence rather than read the words in an email or pamphlet. Easier to move hundreds of hands with the right words than it is to go round shaking every single hand in an auditorium.

One way I do it in my own speeches and training sessions is to open with a question: "Hands up if you've ever..." and make it one which most people will respond to with a "yes." Often, a chuckle follows and there: the audience are moved. Literally.

A keynote political speech should be like a song: it should strike a chord, pack a memorable hook, and have the audience humming your tune on their way out.

And that was what struck me after Nick Clegg's speech to Liberal Democrat Conference on Monday - it didn't sing. Something to do with governing in prose, perhaps?

Nick gave us the reasons, the rhetoric, the record of action. It made a very interesting read when I got my copy at the press briefing beforehand.

But in its rendition I felt it was a cautious speech; neither passion nor Powerpoint. I was informed but not inspired. Of course, the real rousing happened at the Rally - the extravaganza that opened Conference - while party President Ros Scott spoke at Conference's close.

Nick's speech, unusually, came in the middle of Conference. "Stick with us," he said as he popped off to represent Britain at the UN in New York. An interim briefing before getting back on with the job.

As with Conference, so with Coalition - there's more to come. He listed the four fairness pledges from the Liberal Democrat manifesto: on tax, children, the economy and politics, before looking ahead: "The destination is the right one but getting there is going to be hard."

Here's what I said to BBC World Service afterwards:

Video also available on YouTube here.

Nick Clegg's speech at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit

2010-09-23T20:55:00.000+01:00

Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is representing the UK at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals summit in New York.

Lib Dem blogger Jonathan Calder is also there, with an international group of bloggers put together by Oxfam to report on the summit. You can read his take here.

The BBC's Laura Trevelyan writes fulsomely about Clegg's diplomatic experience and linguistic skills here.

Meanwhile, here's his speech:

Introduction

It is an honour for me to address the General Assembly today for the first time as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
And it is a privilege to be here with you to discuss how together we can reach the Millennium Development Goals;
To make the necessary commitments towards eradicating the problems that blight the world we share:
Poverty, hunger, disease, and the degradation of our natural environment.

This week we are reviewing progress, assessing obstacles, and agreeing a framework for action to meet our targets.
These are the technocratic terms in which governments must necessarily trade.
But let us be clear: behind the officialese of summits lies our single, common purpose:
To uphold the dignity and security that is the right of every person in every part of the world.

Development is, in the end, about freedom. It is about freedom from hunger and disease; freedom from ignorance; freedom from poverty. Development means ensuring that every person has the freedom to take their own life into their own hands and determine their own fate.

The last decade has seen some important progress.
That progress has, however, been uneven, and, on a number of our goals we remain significantly off track.

Britain's commitment

So my message to you today, from the UK government, is this - we will keep our promises; and we expect the rest of the international community to do the same.

For our part, the new coalition government has committed to reaching 0.7% of GNI in aid from 2013 – a pledge we will enshrine in law.

That aid will be targeted in the ways we know will make the biggest difference.

And I am pleased to announce today that the UK will be stepping up our efforts to combat malaria.

In Africa, a child dies from this disease – this easily preventable disease – every 45 seconds. So we will make more money available, and ensure that we get more for our money, with the aim of halving malaria-related deaths in ten of the worst affected countries.

The UK government is also proud to be boosting our contribution to the international drive on maternal and infant health. Our new commitments will save the lives of 50,000 mothers and quarter of a million babies by 2015.

The case for development

The UK makes these commitments at a time of significant difficulty time in our domestic economy.

The new government has inherited a £156bn budget deficit, so increasing our international aid budget is not an uncontroversial decision.

Some critics have questioned that decision, asking why, at a time when people at home are making sacrifices in their pay and their pensions, are we increasing aid for people in other countries?

But we make this choice because we recognise that the promises the UK has made hold in the bad times as well as the good – that they are even more important now than they were then.

Because we understand that, while we are experiencing hardship on our own shores, it does not compare to the abject pain and destitution of others.

Because we take seriously the fact that the new coalition government is now the last UK government able to deliver on our country’s promises in time for the 2015 MDG deadline.

And because we know that doing so is in our own, enlightened self-interest.

When the world is more prosperous, the UK will be more prosperous. Growth in the developing world means new partners with which to trade and new sources of global growth.

And, equally, when the world is less secure, the UK is less secure within it.

Climate change does not somehow stop at our borders.

When pandemics occur, we are not immune.

And when poverty and poor education fuel the growth of global terrorism, our society bears the scars too.

Twenty two of the thirty four countries furthest from reaching the MDGs are in the midst of or emerging from violent conflict.

Fragile spaces – like Afghanistan – where hate can proliferate and terrorist attacks can be planned, where organised criminals can harvest the drugs that ravage our streets, where families are persecuted, displaced, pushed to seek refuge with us.

So we do not see the Millennium Development Goals just as optimistic targets for far away lands; they are not simply charity, nor are they pure altruism.

They are also the key to lasting safety and future prosperity for the people of the United Kingdom, and of course, for people right across the globe.

On what we expect of others

We welcome the General Assembly’s agreement to annually review progress made against the commitments agreed at this Summit.

The UK will stand up to that test.

Today I call on others to show equal resolve.

The Millennium Development Goals must be a priority for each and every nation present in this room. Developed nations must honour their commitments.

And developing nations must understand that they will not receive a blank cheque. Developing countries and donors must work together – as equal partners – towards securing our common interest.

They will be expected to administer aid in ways that are accountable, transparent, and responsible - creating the conditions for economic growth and job creation.

Prioritising national budgets on health, infrastructure, education and basic services.

Managing natural resources, particularly biodiversity, in an environmentally sustainable way.

Improving the lives of women and girls: empowering them; educating them; ensuring healthy mothers can raise strong children. There can be no doubt that women and girls hold the key to greater prosperity: for their families, for their communities, and for their nations too.

Conclusion

If we each step up, we can meet the Millennium Development Goals.

We can liberate millions of people from daily suffering, and give them the resources to take control of their lives, and their destinies.

So let future generations look back and say that they inherited a better world because – at this critical moment, at this difficult moment – we did not shrink from our responsibilities.

Let them say that we rose to the challenge, that we kept our promise.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Liberal Democrats Abroad launches today

2010-09-23T18:54:00.003+01:00

The Liberal Democrats have today launched an organisation to communicate with the party's overseas supporters.

Liberal Democrats Abroad aims to keep members and supporters in touch with the UK party, to encourage supporters to join, and to register to vote in the UK.

So, who's eligible to vote?

British citizens who live overseas but were last on a UK electoral register within the last 15 years can vote in elections. If you are abroad but not on the electoral register, you'll need to contact the council for the area where you last lived in the UK.

People who were under the age of 18 when their parents moved abroad can also vote once they reach 18 - for up to 15 years from the time when their parents were last registered in the UK.

There's already a Brussels and Europe local party, and more branches are planned soon.

Nick Clegg (who is himself abroad today, at the UN in New York) said:

In response to requests from our many supporters overseas and reflecting the Party’s internationalist outlook, we have decided to set up a new organisation called Liberal Democrats Abroad to connect with our members and supporters living overseas.

Our aim is to ensure that Lib Dems living overseas can stay in touch with the Party in the UK and make certain that, in return, the Party understands the concerns of its members overseas.

We will also encourage our members and supporters to register to vote in the UK.

To this end we will set up a network of Lib Dems Abroad branches in as many countries as we can. We will then give them our continuing support.

Both the Conservative and Labour parties also have international organisations, and with 2.5 million Brits abroad, there's a significant number of votes to be harvested.

For more information, including how to register to vote, visit the Liberal Democrats Abroad page on the party's main website.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Jo Swinson new Deputy Leader of Scottish Liberal Democrats

2010-09-23T18:49:00.004+01:00

Jo Swinson MP has been announced as the new Deputy Leader of the Scottish Lib Dems. Michael Moore MP, now Secretary of State for Scotland, is stepping down after seven years as Deputy Leader.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats website quotes Jo:

After just four months in opposition, Labour has gone back to the cheap tricks and opportunism of the 1980s.

In office, Labour ran up £23,000 of debt for every man, woman and child in Scotland.

Labour caused the rising unemployment that we have inherited.

Labour raised the deficit, Labour cost jobs and Labour ducks the blame.

I intend to work with Tavish, Michael and all of our colleagues to contrast Labour hypocrisy with Liberal Democrat achievements.

Michael Moore said:

It has been a great privilege to serve as Deputy Leader for the last seven years, and I am delighted to hand over now to Jo.

Jo is our second female Deputy Leader and I know she will do an outstanding job. She has the energy, determination and razor-sharp campaigning skills that we need to highlight the things that we need to highlight the things that our party is achieving for Scotland.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott MSP added:

I'm delighted to have Jo as my deputy as we campaign for more jobs, reformed public services and better education.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Now open: Stratford station's new westbound platform. (Train doors open both sides!)

2010-09-05T23:43:00.005+01:00

Video also available on YouTube, here.

Today, for the first time, Central Line passengers at Stratford have a choice of Westbound platforms. [Sunday 5 September 2010]

Train doors open on both sides: the right hand side for London Overground and National Rail services; the left for a faster change onto the Jubilee Line, DLR, or to exit the station.

For more photos and information on the new platform read David Lew's excellent post here.

It's another sign that the 2012 Olympics are getting closer; the next step being the opening of Stratford International DLR extension this autumn.

The LDV Friday Five: 29 July 2010

2010-07-29T14:05:00.001+01:00

It's Friday, so here's a fistful of lists that sum up the past week on Liberal Democrat Voice:

5 most-read stories on LDV this week

1. The Independent View: Labour and Lib Dems must show a willingness to work together (39 comments) by Will Straw
2. Six Lib Dem MPs rebel on Coalition’s Academies Bill (10 comments) by Stephen Tall
3. Opinion: Lib Dems should abstain or campaign for “No” on AV referendum (65 comments) by Fred Carver
4. Nick Clegg meets … Showing the Lib Dem fight against the Tories is alive and well (45 comments) by Stephen Tall
5. Hughes attacks Labour’s “naked opportunism” in opposing vote reform bill (70 comments) by The Voice

5 active LDV Members' Forum threads

Warning!
Not standing against Tories?
How are the otherside feeling
Liberal Youth on local executives
New Members pack - ideas needed

5 from the LDV archive

1. Labour: choose the next Prime Minister for £12 by the Founding Editor, November 2006
2. Vince Cable: Silver Power, the force that could save us by The Voice, July 2009
3. How to blog successfully as a councillor by Mary Reid, November 2009
4. London Mayor candidate selection process starts by Jonathan Davies, August 2007
5. Voice Podcasts: Alex speaks to Nick Clegg by Alex Foster, September 2006. Nick talks about First Past the Post and about taking on roles under unpredictable circumstances.

5 top reader search returns to get to LDV

(excluding Liberal Democrat Voice or its variants)
1. christina speight (-)
2. george mackie mp (n/c)
3. forgemasters (-)
4. lib dem blogs (-)
5. david ward (-)

5 recent Lib Dem tweets

>> @meralhece How many times does BBC need to have the defintion of Coalition Govt explained? NO Party won; why can't implement all Lib Dem policies
>> @jamesgraham I really want David Heath to spot ex-PM Brown from the despatch box and to spontaneously exclaim "Gordon's alive!"
>> @leechalmers I keep on thinking that if I just have one more piece of sexy technology, one more organization app, I won't have to work anymore.
>> @jamesgraham GUARDIAN READING LIBERALS KILL ANDY BURNHAM'S GORGEOUS EYELASHES #labourbingo http://dev.artesea.co.uk/labour-o-matic/
>> @LibDemPress Welcome to the nearly 700 new members that joined @libdems in July. That's a net increase of more than 4,000 since the election!

If you are a Lib Dem who tweets, and would like to be added to Ryan's Lib Dem Tweets aggregator, drop him an email at ryancullen@libdemblogs.co.uk

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Census preparations to go ahead for 2011

2010-07-28T14:10:00.005+01:00

The UK Statistics Authority has confirmed that preparations for the 2011 Census in England and Wales on 27 March 2011 “will now press ahead with all speed”:

The Statistics Authority is determined that, with the full support of the Government and all the other parties concerned, the 2011 Census will be the success that the country needs it to be, and will provide the information about our population which can only be derived from the full-scale Census, which has now been confirmed.

This came in response to an answer by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Rt. Hon. Francis Maude MP, to a Written Parliamentary Question.
However, the 2011 Census could be the last of its type: the Office for National Statistics says on its Beyond 2011 Project page,

While supporting the need for a 2011 Census, users are concerned that the current approach may not be the best way to collect population data looking forward beyond 2011. It is clear rapid changes in society and greater availability of alternative data about the population are leading to new requirements for population statistics. Data users want a greater range of statistics to be available more frequently, to provide an accurate picture of population change.

The Beyond 2011 project aims to address these concerns and will develop a range of options for the production of population statistics beyond the 2011 Census. It is considering how a number of different data sources could be used to produce the key information needed to support effective decision-making.

The Telegraph reported earlier this month that the Census in its current form is to be scrapped after more than 200 years, as the Government seeks a bettter, quicker and cheaper way of providing data on the population.

By the way, Hansard records that there is at least one Jedi Member of Parliament: Jamie Reed, Labour MP for Copeland. In his maiden speech in 2005, he commented on the proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill:

...as the first Jedi Member of this place, I look forward to the protection under the law that will be provided to me by the Bill.

Collators for the last census included a special code to register Jedis after an email campaign to include Jedi as a religion in the run-up to the 2001 survey led to 390,000 respondents listing it as their faith.

Questions for next year's Census will ask about people's households, nationality, faith and marital status as well as the name, sex and date of birth of any visitors staying overnight.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

How much will coalition change Liberal Democrat conference?

2010-07-28T10:20:00.002+01:00

Party conference rumour season is well underway, with more special guest speculation than last month's Glastonbury. But whoever’s doing the briefing, it doesn’t seem to be coming from the Liberal Democrat side.

The story that David Cameron might address Lib Dem conference seems to have originated from the Independent:

David Cameron and Nick Clegg are drawing up plans for closer links between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and senior figures from the two parties will address each other’s party conference this autumn.

The two leaders are keen to cement the coalition and a special meeting of the Cabinet next month will discuss a joint approach to the party conference season, including co-ordinated policy announcements. One option is for Mr Cameron to address the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool and Mr Clegg the Tories in Birmingham. More likely, at present, is that other Cabinet ministers will “change places” and speak at their coalition partner’s event.

The Guardian also ran a similar story the same day: David Cameron could speak at Liberal Democrat conference.

- Well, yes he could,* but here are some things to consider:

The Liberal Democrat Federal Conference Committee hasn’t invited Mr Cameron to speak. This decision rests with them alone, they’re elected by the members, and are there to represent our party, not the Conservatives. There’s been no appetite among Lib Dem members to have David Cameron addressing Lib Dem conference, and FCC have received no request to invite him.

Nor has Nick Clegg received an invitation to speak at Conservative Party Conference in October, although anecdotally I've heard that Nick would be well-received by many Tory members.

Following Special Conference, FCC are well aware of the need for Conference to represent the needs and wishes of party members, rather than the press’s desire for set-pieces. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have entered a coalition, not an alliance, and still have business of their own to discuss at their separate conferences.

The Liberal Democrats need to hold their own ministers to account – so the final day of Conference will be rounded off with a "Cabinet Q & A" session. This will take place just before a closing speech by party President Ros Scott. (Nick Clegg will be representing Britain at the Millennium Development Goals summit in the UN in New York that day, so will make his Leader's Speech on Monday September 20.)

David Cameron’s wife Samantha is expecting a baby around the time of Liberal Democrat Conference, and although due dates are difficult to predict accurately, it’s difficult for a dad to make firm diary commitments around a baby’s due date. Thus it's even less likely that David Cameron will make the trip to Liverpool.

Security at Lib Dem conference will be tighter this year, and if any Conservative ministers attend as well, that will add to the cost. Meetings have taken place between Merseyside Police and members of the Federal Conference Committee to discuss security arrangements, but details will not be made public.

Notwithstanding the last point: fringe events are a good place for speakers from other parties to appear; this has been done before, and plans are certainly afoot for this to happen again (watch this space for details).

From the policy point of view, the Liberal Democrats will continue to debate policy at Conference, with party members debating and voting on motions. The least ambitious way to look at Lib Dem policy formation at the moment is with a view to feeding it into the 2015 manifesto. Traditionally that's what we've done. The interesting question is how to get Conference-grown policy to feed into Government policy.

So, plus ça change? It will be fascinating to witness the biggest Lib Dem gathering since the General Election, and the first Conference since the Special one on 16 May. No doubt the Coalition will be keenly discussed on the Fringe, as well as in the Hall, and Lib Dem Voice will be there throughout.

* just as the Lib Dem Voice Ukulele orchestra could do a turn at Glee Club with Diamonds are Forever...

Labour to oppose voting reform legislation

2010-07-28T09:10:00.003+01:00

The Labour shadow cabinet has decided to vote against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, insisting that it should not be given a second reading.

From the Press Association:

Labour is to vote against legislation paving the way for a referendum on reforming the voting system.

The shadow cabinet decided to oppose the Government's Bill because it also includes provisions for equalising the size of constituencies.

The move sets the stage for a major test of the coalition, with Labour MPs lining up alongside rebel Tories in a bid to derail the proposals.

The commitment to a referendum on switching to Alternative Vote was a key concession obtained by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg as part of his deal with David Cameron.

But more than 40 Conservative MPs made clear they are against holding the poll on May 5, 2011 as scheduled, because it is the same day as local elections.

Nick Clegg said yesterday at Deputy Prime Minister's Questions,

About 84% of voters in England will be voting in any event next May. In Scotland and Wales everybody will be entitled to vote.

About 39 million people will be anyway invited to vote next May and it seems to me, instead of asking people to constantly go back to polling booths to cast separate votes, it is perfectly right to say on a very simple issue, yes or no, to invite them to do so at, by the way, lower cost to the Exchequer - it saves around £17m - on the same day as other elections.

Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission, said last week:

Our priority is making sure that everyone who goes to the polls on 5 May can cast their vote safely and easily whether it’s in an election, a referendum or both.

It is possible to successfully deliver these different polls on 5 May, but only if the risks associated with doing so are properly managed. We’ve set out what we think these risks are and will make it clear during the passage of the Bill if we do not feel they have been adequately addressed.

Read the Electoral Commission's paper: Voting at different polls on 5 May 2011 here.

Dee Doocey challenges Met Police Commissioner over treatment of photographers

2010-07-27T16:40:00.000+01:00

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has said that although the Met has issued guidelines to officers about people taking photographs in public places, he cannot guarantee that officers will interpret them correctly.

His remarks came at a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority at London City Hall on July 22, where Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Dee Doocey asked him,

Are you confident that your officers are aware of the law when it comes to members of the public taking photographs in a public place?

Stephenson replied,

We did go through a period where there was a spate of these types of incidents, and I admit I could not be confident at that time because they were happening.

And it was a matter of occasionally of mourning despair, of what we were doing on occasions around then. The problem is of course, getting all 33,000-plus police officers and all 4000-plus PCSOs to exercise the judgment at 9am in the morning then exercise with a degree more time and less conflict on occasions.

He went on to say,

We did a huge amount to get this message out, because it was causing such a disproportionate loss of reputation for us [the Met] that there is no restriction on people taking photographs in public places, or any other building, other than in very exceptional circumstances, and I think I made the public comment here and various other places: people actually come to London to photograph it! So it’s crazy not to do that. There’s no prohibition on photographing frontline uniformed staff. The act of taking a photograph itself is not usually sufficient to carry out a stop.

So we promulgated the guidelines, but I can’t guarantee you that those guidelines will be interpreted in the way that I or you or anybody else want them to be on every occasion, among all 37,000-plus uniformed officers.

Stephenson said that he was aware of the incident in June, in which police officers detained 16 year old Jules Mattsson for photographing the Armed Forces Day parade in Romford:

We do keep reissuing these instructions, we do try and get that level of discretion used correctly, but sometimes the level of discretion isn’t always right and I know in that incident whilst we have not received any official complaint at this time, the officers have received words of advice.

Dee Doocey, however, insisted that “words of advice” were not enough:

I suppose that’s one of the things that worries me a bit: “The officers have received words of advice” because I don’t know if you’ve actually listened to the recording, but it’s actually eight minutes of two of your officers intimidating somebody, and at one stage they say that they don’t need a law to stop them photographing, but much more worrying: that they don’t need a law to take them away. It is just - it’s not a question in my view of – it is so serious that I don’t think it should be somebody giving them words of advice, and I don’t also agree with you that it’s a question of officers using their discretion.

This was very black and white: two of your officers, who despite the fact that I know you’ve given the guidelines, because I’ve got a copy of it, who totally disregarded it and were either so completely ignorant of the law, or decided to ignore the law and then were just going to try and say that, you know, they knew the law better than the person they were talking to and they were very seriously intimidating. I find that quite worrying that I don’t think you’re taking that quite as seriously as I think you should be.

She added,

My comments are basically about the idea, “words of advice” because when we’ve done some other scrutinies we’re told that when other officers didn’t have their numerals on, no disciplinary action would be taken and I just see this as part of an ongoing problem. But on the wider front, a friend of mine is a very keen amateur photographer, and he tells me that most of the bulletin boards are just full of, not incidences anything like as serious as this, but of officers basically stopping and generally just not seeming to understand the law. So I just wonder if you would look again at this and make sure that there is - I don’t know how you communicate with officers... but clearly whatever communication there was, hasn’t actually got through to quite a lot of people and I think you need to just review it.

Sir Paul Stephenson said that he didn’t think it was the case that the message hadn’t got through to officers, but that he was “quite happy to review it.”

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Joan Ruddock MP submits wholly notional expenses return

2010-07-26T19:20:00.003+01:00

The Londonist reports that Joan Ruddock, the Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford, has taken the unusual step of submitting her election expenses return without attaching any invoices or receipts, instead listing all expenses as "notional":

Why do we need to see boring things like receipts, you ask? Well it's so we can verify what the campaigns say they spent, to ensure no candidate received an unfair advantage by spending more than the legal limits. Without receipts, we have no evidence beyond the campaign's assurance that they stuck to the spending limit, or that they've accurately accounted for costs that were shared across multiple campaigns.

Former energy minister Ruddock's 'short' campaign election expenses return has no invoices or receipts attached. The reason? All spending is, perfectly legally, attributed to "notional expenditure". This is used to account for "benefits in kind" received by the campaign - like a supporter allowing their printer to be used - or for any items paid for on behalf of the candidate. Under Electoral Commission guidance, no invoices need to be submitted for notional expenditure. In Ms Ruddock's case, the Lewisham Deptford Labour Party has paid for and supplied everything bought by the campaign - amounting to £8,100 - and this has been counted as a donation, as required under the rules of notional expenditure.

This is within the rules, since the Electoral Commission's guidance for candidates and agents states:

The agent must keep invoices or receipts for all payments over £20. You do not need these for items bought before the agent was appointed, or for notional expenditure. [paragraph 5.9]

Ms Ruddock's agent has confirmed to the Londonist that this was done to "ease bureaucracy", but it appears to have done nothing to help transparency, given the current scrutiny of politicians' expenses.

The site has published photos of Ms Ruddock's expenses return on Flickr, as well as those of Liberal Democrat candidate Tamora Langley.

The Londonist plans to ask the Electoral Commission to review this part of its guidance.

Read the full piece at the Londonist here.

Photo by the Londonist's RachelH_ on Flickr.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Rogerson and Teather: pupil premium will help all children

2010-07-26T17:50:00.002+01:00

Today the coalition Government announced that plans for a Pupil Premium will go ahead, targeting funding at schools that take pupils from deprived backgrounds.

The premium, a key part of the Liberal Democrats' 2010 election manifesto, will provide additional per pupil funding on top of the existing funding provided to schools, and will be spent as individual schools choose.

Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Education, Dan Rogerson said:

Labour’s unequal education system left too many children falling behind.

The Liberal Democrats made clear during the election campaign that a Pupil Premium targeted at the most disadvantaged pupils was an absolute priority.

This will allow schools to help all pupils in the way that they see fit, which could be reducing class sizes or providing more one-to-one tuition and catch-up classes.

This is vital if we are to give all children the fair start in life that they deserve.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

For too long social background has been a deciding factor in a child’s achievement and future prospects. In a fair society, it’s the Government’s responsibility to close the gulf in achievement, where the poorest children are almost three times less likely to leave school with five good GCSEs than their richer classmates.

That’s why I’m delighted we are today announcing a new pupil premium, which will give extra funding to schools to help them tackle the inequalities that have been a part of our state system for far too long. Thousands of children will finally be getting the extra support they need to succeed.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Revealed: the AV referendum question

2010-07-26T15:10:00.001+01:00

The wording of the question that voters will be asked in next May's AV referendum has been published:

Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons?

The wording of the question is contained in the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, published last week. (The question will also be made available in Welsh.) The Electoral Commission is statutorily required to consider the intelligibility of the question, before reporting back to Parliament, who will consider the comments and have the final say after Recess.

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill will also reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 and establish boundary reviews to create more equal-sized constituencies.

The Fixed Term Parliaments Bill, which was introduced on the same day, provides for general elections to occur every five years on the first Thursday in May, removing the power of the Prime Minister to call an election without Parliament’s consent.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said,

With the introduction of these Bills, fundamental reform of our politics is finally on the way.

The Coalition Government is determined to put power where it belongs – with people. You will decide how you want to elect your MPs. By making constituencies more equal in size, the value of your vote will no longer depend on where you live, and with fewer MPs the cost of politics will be cut. And, by setting the date that parliament will dissolve, our Prime Minister is giving up the right to pick and choose the date of the next General Election – that’s a true first in British politics.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards 2010 - nominations now open

2010-07-26T12:10:00.003+01:00

The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their fifth year. As usual, they’ll be awarded in a ~~budget~~ lavish ceremony at the party’s autumn conference in Liverpool. (There's further information on the event over at the Lib Dems' Flock Together site). Click on the following links to see last year's Shortlist and the Winners.

This year’s awards are as follows:

Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1st September 2009)

Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award)

Best use of blogging / social networking / e-campaigning by a Liberal Democrat

Best posting on a Liberal Democrat blog (since 1st September 2009)

Best non-Liberal Democrat politics blog

Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year

To be eligible for 'Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office', a blog should be written by a councillor, elected mayor, assembly member, or parliamentarian.

The 'Best use of blogging / social networking / e-campaigning award' recognises the expanding role of both blogging and the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in politics. It’s a deliberately open category: you might want to nominate a good campaigning YouTube video, or a particularly interesting Twitter feed.

The Best non-Liberal Democrat politics blog winner will be chosen by you, dear reader (should you choose to take part). Once the judges have chosen their shortlist, these blogs will be put up for public vote here on Lib Dem Voice.

Here's this year's judging panel, (who aren't eligible to win, by the way, so please avoid nominating them):

Prateek Buch, who blogs at consider, evaluate, act

Jonathan Calder, who blogs at Liberal England

Lee Chalmers, co-founder of the Downing Street Project, leadership consultant and blogger at Lee's random blog: Leadership, politics and women's stuff

Ryan Cullen from Lib Dem Voice, who also runs Lib Dem Blogs and his own blog at The Artesea

Helen Duffett (that's me) from Lib Dem Voice and also my own blog

Costigan Quist, winner of Lib Dem Blog of the Year 2009, for Himmelgarten Cafe

Mary Reid, former Kingston Upon Thames councillor, who continues to blog at Mary Reid

Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire

Ros Taylor, Deputy Editor of the Guardian's Comment is Free

Andy Williamson, Director of Digital Democracy at the Hansard Society

Liberal Democrat Voice and any official blogs run by the party aren’t eligible either.

You’ve got until 27th August to nominate your favourites, but the sooner the better (and you can send more than one set if you’d like). Please don’t feel the need to round up hundreds of people to nominate your blog as the number of nominations aren’t taken into account.

Send in your nominations by email to helen@libdemvoice.org and remember to state which award category you're nominating for, in each case.

Photo: Alex Folkes/Fishnik Photography

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

The internet and the 2010 election: putting the small ‘p’ back in politics?

2010-07-26T09:50:00.001+01:00

Just to let you know that I'll be speaking at an event in Parliament this Thursday organised by the Hansard Society.

It should be an interesting discussion, and there's still time to register (plug, plug).

The Hansard Society is a political education and research charity which aims to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourages people to become more involved in politics.

One of the ways it does this is by putting on an interesting and varied programme of events to promote debate on the topics connected to their work.

I've taken part in lots of these events, either online or in the audience, so I'm delighted to have been asked for the first time to join one of their panels:

The internet and the 2010 election: putting the small ‘p’ back in politics?

Described variously as a non event, the dog that didn’t bark and a flop, the UK’s first net election shocked all but the wise and sober in failing to refashion the landscape of British electoral politics

That was Stephen Coleman talking about the 2001 General Election in the Hansard Society’s Cyberspace Odyssey: Elections in the age of the Internet. Nine years on, has much changed? Twitter, Facebook, blogs: 2010 was supposed to be Britain’s first ‘internet election’, but, in the end, it was the televised leaders’ debates that really captured the public imagination. There was no pivotal moment at which we entered the age of internet politics but the 2010 election shows how the internet has become a ‘business as usual’ space for people and, with this, for politics and campaigning.

Join the Hansard Society and our panellists for an interactive conversation about what really happened online and behind the scenes in the digital election.

Thursday July 29 2010 6.30pm to 8.00pm

Portcullis House, Houses of Parliament

The panel includes:

Andy Williamson, Hansard Society (Chair)

Rachel Gibson, University of Manchester

Matthew McGregor, Blue State Digital

Helen Duffett, LibDemVoice and former LibDem candidate

Register for your place here.

By-election results: Victory in Torbay and holds everywhere else

2010-07-23T17:10:00.002+01:00

Cause for celebration this week with a good set of by-election results:

Liberal Democrat Andrew Baldrey won St Mary's with Summercombe (Torbay UA) from the Conservatives with a huge swing:

LD Andrew Baldrey 801 (52.7%;+16.4)
Con 365 (24.0%;-23.9)
Lab 195 (12.8%;+12.8)
UKIP 159 (10.5%;+10.5)
Turnout 26.2%
Percentage change is since May 2007

Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats held all the seats that we were defending: the principal elections were Kidlington North on Cherwell District Council; Nethermayne on Basildon District Council (the seat previously held by Ben Williams who stood down to become a special advisor to the Government’s deputy chief whip) and Thatcham South and Crookham in West Berkshire.

We also held seats on Lewes and Thatcham Town Councils.

In London, we maintained second place behind the Tories in Frognal and Fitzjohn's (Camden) and Holland ward (Kensington and Chelsea).

See ALDC for full details of this week's by-election results.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

What does the Deputy Prime Minister do? Nick Clegg's new responsibilities

2010-06-03T21:40:00.001+01:00

As a result of the formation of the coalition Government, a number of responsibilities will be transferred from the Secretary of State for Justice to the Deputy Prime Minister.

Nick Clegg has already been given special responsibility for political and constitutional reform; now Prime Minister David Cameron has listed the powers which will help Clegg bring this into effect:

Introducing fixed-term Parliaments

Legislating to hold a referendum on the alternative vote system for the House of Commons and to create fewer and more equal sized constituencies

Supporting people with disabilities to become MPs

Introducing a power for people to recall their MP

Developing proposals for a wholly or mainly elected second Chamber

Speeding up implementation of individual voter registration

Considering the “West Lothian question” i.e. that Scottish MPs vote on matters affecting England, but not vice versa.

Introducing a statutory register of lobbyists

Reforming party funding

Supporting all postal primaries

The Deputy Prime Minister will also have policy responsibility for the Electoral Commission, Boundary Commission and Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Despite the Deputy Prime Minister's new role, commentators have speculated about pitfalls aplenty and Lib Dem nerves that the coalition will make or break the Liberal Democrats as a party.

Far from being a "non-job" as initially criticised, Nick Clegg has the chance to implement some important changes for democracy, and ones which Liberal Democrats hold particularly dear.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Lembit Öpik's standup debut - a star is (re)born?

2010-06-03T21:38:00.001+01:00

"Thanks to 13,976 Tory voters for kick-starting a career I didn't even know I wanted."

-Former Lib Dem MP Lembit Öpik performed his first standup comedy gig last night, winning plaudits for his delivery, if not his jokes.

Julian Hall of the Independent gave him two stars:

There was a kind of bittersweet irony that, on the day of the first Prime Minister's Question Time of the coalition government, the former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik was performing an open-spot stand-up gig in a tiny basement comedy club. Opik, it could be argued, has performed comedy in a niche environment on both sides of the election.

Formerly engaged to one of the pop duo The Cheeky Girls, and one of the more flamboyant MPs of the last parliament, Opik's celebrity lifestyle seemed to have caught up with him last month when he lost one of the Liberal Democrat's safest seats, Montgomeryshire.

Not a man to be deterred – he once cheated death after a paragliding accident – Opik wasted little time in arranging this stand-up spot after the election, though the brouhaha that has surrounded it suggests it is a conduit to further celebrity activity rather than a career in comedy.

The Guardian's Paul Fleckney gives a good account of Lembit's act, which featured shoe ventriloquy, self deprecation and celebrity hecklers. He summarises:

Behind Opik's Liberal Democrat rosette (which he wore on stage, presumably in self-mocking reference to his disastrous election night) you could sense confidence, lucidity, composure, sharpness. His set had structure. All of this gives him two years on other novice comedians. One gag about becoming mayor of London, which gently ribbed Boris Johnson, and another about being ignored in a lift by Nick Clegg, were nicely delivered.

You can also listen to Lembit's introduction, with Labour MP Stephen Pound and arts editor Will Gompertz's verdict at the BBC Radio 4 website.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Outstanding service to the Lib Dems: your nominations, please

2010-06-03T21:37:00.001+01:00

The Liberal Democrats are seeking nominations for their two party awards, to be presented at September's Autumn Conference.

One award will be given to a party member who has been elected to public office; the other to a member who has never been elected.

From www.LibDems.org:

Nominations are sought for:

Harriet Smith Liberal Democrat Distinguished Service Award

Open to any Party Member never elected to public office.

President’s Award

Open to any Party Member elected to public office.

These awards are awarded to members of the Party who have given outstanding service in promoting liberal democracy.

The awards are normally made at the Party’s Autumn Conference.

To nominate a candidate for either of these awards, please download this form, comlete it in full and return it to Kate Heywood at kate.heywood@libdems.org.uk.

The closing date for receipt of the nomination papers is July 12, 2010.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

David Laws speaks frankly about privacy, acceptance and low Lib Dem pay

2010-06-03T21:36:00.003+01:00

David Laws has spoken of his relief now that his sexuality has been revealed, and explains his motivation was privacy rather than profit.

From the Daily Mail:

We were conscious this was a much more expensive way of managing our lives than if we had just been honest about our relationship, because if we had, we could have claimed a significantly greater amount of money than we did.

We would often say to ourselves ‘this is ridiculous’, as a consequence of having this bizarre private life, we are costing ourselves far more than if we had just been honest about things.

To me in particular it seemed that was a price worth paying to protect our privacy.

To me, what is really important for people to understand is that none of the things that we did were done to make financial gain. They were done to protect our privacy.

I guess it was pretty stupid really, because all of the people I have spoken to since have accepted it without hesitation: my parents, family and friends. Not being honest with them has meant a huge price over recent years.

David Laws also said that he used the money from his City career to fund his political one:

People assume that I am incredibly rich, but actually the money that I had earned in the city went to pay for my living costs after I left the city and went to work for the Lib Dems on about £14,000 a year, and when I was the prospective candidate here in Yeovil I lived without any income at all when I was working alongside Paddy Ashdown.

Read the full story here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Vince Cable tops popularity poll; Clegg ahead of Cameron

2010-06-03T21:31:00.001+01:00

A nationwide survey by PoliticsHome shows that Vince Cable, Business Secretary and outgoing Lib Dem deputy leader, has a higher approval rating from the public than David Cameron.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg enjoys a clear popularity gap ahead of the Prime Minister, holding an approval rating of 17, compared to David Cameron's rating of 11.

While the two men both attract the approval of 39% of the public, fewer disapprove of Mr Clegg (22%) than Mr Cameron (28%).

From the Guardian:

The strong rating for Cable will hearten his fans, who were concerned when he announced last week his resignation as Lib Dem deputy leader. Cable said this was designed to allow him to devote more time to his ministerial duties.

There has been speculation that Cable, a former Labour member, is the least comfortable of the five Lib Dem cabinet ministers. But he did speak up in favour of the Lib-Con coalition at the crucial Lib Dem parliamentary meeting on the grounds that a Lib-Lab coalition, while politically preferable, was not viable. The poll by PoliticsHome can only strengthen his position within the coalition.

Read the full results here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Deputy leadership contest: Hughes "backed by more than 50% of Lib Dem MPs"

2010-06-03T14:26:00.002+01:00

Nominations closed at 5pm yesterday for the Deputy Leadership of the Liberal Democrats, and it's going to be a contest between Tim Farron and Simon Hughes. Already the Independent is calling it for Simon:

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat left-winger, was on course last night to become the party's deputy leader.

The former party president is understood to have secured the backing of more than half of its 57 MPs. Although he voted in favour of forming a power-sharing deal with the Conservatives, he is likely to prove a thorn in Nick Clegg's side.

Following the close of nominations, he will be standing against Tim Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, who is thought to have the support of some 15 MPs.

Simon Hughes said,

The months ahead are a huge opportunity for our party. We must make sure that the skills and ability of every single Liberal Democrat MP is used to the full.

Now the Liberal Democrats form part of the coalition Government, the role of the deputy leader will change, but it will also be extremely important as a voice that is unashamedly partisan but unflinchingly loyal. It is vital the independence, radicalism and distinctiveness of the Liberal Democrats are maintained.

Hustings will be held next Wednesday, 9th June, at the Parliamentary Party meeting. The ballot will be held at the end of the meeting, and the result declared immediately afterwards.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Nick Clegg – working partner; working parent

2010-06-02T11:35:00.001+01:00

The Independent today features a relationship-focused interview with Nick Clegg. It looks mainly at two areas for balance: work/family and his working partnership with David Cameron:

Mr Clegg... insists he is determined to keep family life and government work as separate as humanly possible.

In this aim he has found an ally in the Prime Minister, who is also the father of small children. Both agreed to change the timing of a cabinet meeting to fit in with the school run. "I try - I haven't entirely succeeded yet - as much as I can to take the kids to school," he says before adding: "To walk them to school."

"In a sense I'm very lucky because David Cameron has young children. We agreed the other day we were going to slightly delay the start of the cabinet meeting to allow us both to take our children to school, which is a reflection - if any was needed - of the fact that we are both of the same generation in this new politics." He adds that he is "very rigid in saying 'no' to endless dinner invitations, to try to make sure I'm back home regularly to put the kids to bed".

And like so many working parents who have to do the odd bit of catching up once those kids are in bed, Nick, we learn, was on the phone to Danny Alexander at midnight on Sunday, following the weekend's dramatic events.

On communicating with David Cameron, his "partner in government":

We speak every day, if not several times a day - it's a very strong working partnership. We have each other's mobiles, BlackBerries, emails.

We work quickly - we are able to arrive at difficult decisions quickly. We understand the constraints we are both working under and we're very pragmatic and workmanlike about the fact our partnership is absolutely essential in making sure the coalition works.

Nick Clegg won't get any questions at the first Prime Minister's Questions of the new Parliament later today, but he refers to the "architectural antagonism of the chamber" and the "yah-boo across the despatch box."

However, he insists:

I am very keen the Liberal Democrat voice should continue to be heard in Parliament and it will be.

Just how this will be achieved isn't quite yet understood, but many of us are already watching to see what kind of start is made in this new partnership in government.

Read the full interview here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Danny Alexander issues a statement on his Capital Gains Tax affairs

2010-05-31T07:50:00.003+01:00

Danny Alexander has made a statement, following an article in the Telegraph on Sunday night, which reported that he had avoided paying Capital Gains Tax on a south London property in 2007:

"My wife and I bought our property in Elspeth Road in 1999, we sold it and moved to the current property in June 2007.

Until the spring of 2006 this was the only property we owned. I had rented a place in Aviemore until then, we subsequently bought a place there and moved into it.

I have always listed London as my second home on the basis set out in the parliamentary rules as I spent more time in Scotland than I did in London.

I sold the Elspeth Road flat in 2007 and moved to another flat but was advised that CGT was not payable because of the operation of final period relief, which exempts homes from CGT for 36 months after they stop being the main home. I paid all the taxes required but CGT was not payable on the disposal of my Elspeth Road flat.

I have already publicly declared that I will pay Capital Gains Tax if the time comes for me to sell my second home."

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Lib Dem landslide in Kendal Town Council elections

2010-05-28T16:20:00.003+01:00

Liberal Democrats are celebrating after they won all 28 seats in Today’s deferred Kendal Town Council Elections – gaining three seats from Labour, re-gaining one from the Greens and one from an Independent.

Liberal Democrats gained Strickland, Fell and Romney from Labour and won in Underley from the Independents. The Lib Dems also re-gained Far Cross ward from the Green Party.

Tim Farron, Lib Dem MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale said:

Four years ago we didn't even have a majority on Kendal Town Council, now we have a clean sweep.

Paul Trollope, our agent, and the whole team deserve huge credit. No victory is ever an accident, but the design, wit and energy behind this success have been immense.

Full ward-by-ward breakdown of results available here.

These elections were delayed because parish level elections cannot be held on the first Thursday in May if there are General and local elections on the same day, as Mark blogged previously.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Liberal Democrat Elwyn Watkins issues a legal challenge over Oldham election result

2010-05-28T14:50:00.001+01:00

The Liberal Democrat candidate for Oldham East and Saddleworth in the 2010 General Election has challenged the result.

Elwyn Watkins has submitted a petition for a hearing of an election court, alleging a breach of the Representation of the People Act (1983).

From the BBC:

Mr Watkins claims that Labour campaign literature, published and distributed he says with the consent of Mr Woolas, constitutes a breach of the act.

He said it was clear that some literature "contained numerous misleading and erroneous claims regarding my personal character and reputation, and that of my campaign".

Under the act, anyone involved in an election campaign who "makes or publishes any false statement of fact in relation to the candidate's personal character or conduct" is guilty of an illegal practice.

Mr Watkins' complaints centre on an edition of The Examiner newspaper, an edition of the Labour Rose, and something called an "Election Communication" leaflet.

His said his case would focus on three areas: claims that he did do not live in the constituency, stories about him "wooing" Muslim extremists and an article regarding campaign financing.

Former Labour minister Phil Woolas beat Watkins by just 103 votes, following two recounts.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Simon Hughes stands for Deputy Leader as "the life and soul of our party"

2010-05-28T12:00:00.001+01:00

Simon Hughes, MP for Southwark and Old Bermondsey has announced his intention to stand for the position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

From his campaign flyer:

Labour have made it clear they want to rewrite history, ignoring the reality of their time in office. They claim to be the only home for progressive voters. I will not let them get away with it.

My experience representing an inner city constituency tells a different story: of too many broken promises and too many people failing to reach their potential. I am convinced that progressive liberal policy and values provide the best solution.

I will champion our democratically agreed policy and elected representatives at all levels. I will ensure that Liberal Democrat ministers, of whom we are all proud, never forget they are our representatives in government.

I have built my profile as a spokesman for the party in the national media for 30 years. I am determined to make sure that our distinctive Liberal Democrat voice is heard loud and clear.

The necessities of coalition government must never mean that we are muffled or crowded out.

I will make sure all Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, assembly members, councillors, activists and members have maximum influence over this government. I will make sure that every Liberal Democrat MP will have the chance to influence our ministers, and feel able to speak out on all issues of concern to them.

Before anything else, I am a Liberal Democrat activist.

Not only have I fought and won elections against Labour in inner London, but I have travelled all over Britain at many general elections, by-elections and local elections, motivating activists, raising money and making sure our voice is heard right across the country.

We will continue to fight and win elections against the Conservatives, Labour, nationalists and others. Crucial to this, we
must remain just as effective as community champions now that our party is in government. Knocking on doors, helping local
residents and changing our communities for the better are at the core of everything we do.

I will never forget that.

Former Deputy Leader Vince Cable is backing Simon:

Simon has given the most phenomenal service to the party over his 27 years as an MP. He represents the best traditions of the Liberal Democrats, both as a parliamentary campaigner and community activist.

He is the person best placed to follow me as Deputy Leader, and to uphold the values of our party.

The support of 5 MPs is required for a valid nomination. Simon says he already has pledges of support from 25 Liberal Democrat MPs. In this election, an overall majority requires the votes of 29 MPs.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Thirsk and Malton delayed election: Lib Dem Howard Keal takes second place

2010-05-28T07:40:00.003+01:00

The result of the Thirsk and Malton delayed election has just been announced:

Anne McIntosh has been elected as the Conservative MP for the new constituency, having previously represented Vale of York.

The votes cast were as follows:

Conservatives: 20,167 (+1%)
Liberal Democrats (Howard Keal) 8,886 (+4.5%)
Labour: 5,169 (-9.9%)
UKIP: 2,502 (3.5%)
Liberal 1,418

From the notional figures, this result shows a 2.6% swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems, and a swing of 11.6% from Labour, with the Liberal Democrats moving from third place to second.

Mike Beckett, Chair of Thirsk and Malton Liberal Democrats said:

This result is an endorsement of the coalition, and the sensible stance the Liberal Democrats have taken.
The hard work of our local candidate, Howard Keal, has resulted in a 2.6% swing away from the Tories. It's another catastrophic result for Labour, and shows that they are still being punished.

Liberal Democrat Party President, Ros Scott said:

Howard Keal and his team ran an energetic and spirited campaign for the Liberal Democrats, achieving the biggest vote increase of the night.

The result is yet another damning indictment of Labour’s record.

Despite all its arrogance following the coalition, Labour has been beaten into third and proven to be way off the mark when it comes to public opinion.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

The Liberal Democrat policies in the Queen's Speech

2010-05-25T13:53:00.001+01:00

It was satisfying (and still a little surreal) to see so many Liberal Democrat policies make it into today's Queen's Speech, including the party’s major priorities: fair taxes, a fair start for children, a green and sustainable economy, and a comprehensive clean up of politics.

Making the tax and benefits system fairer and simpler, including a significant increase in the personal allowance and an ambition to increase it to £10,000

Restoring the earnings link to pensions

Greater freedoms for teachers over the curriculum

Measures to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses

Support for low carbon energy production

Financial services regulation to learn the lessons of the financial crisis

Fixed term parliaments of five years

A referendum on the Alternative Vote

The right to sack MPs guilty of serious misconduct

Reform of party funding

Moving towards a wholly or partly elected House of Lords, elected by proportional representation

A Bill to restore freedoms and civil liberties, through the abolition of Identity Cards and repeal of unnecessary laws

Giving greater powers to councils and giving neighbourhoods and communities more control over planning and housing decisions

Ending child detention

Fair compensation for Equitable Life victims

Enabling the creation of a national high speed rail network

The modernisation of the Royal Mail

Flexible working and promotion of equal pay

Strengthening the voices of patients and the role of doctors in the NHS

A commission on long-term reform of social care

Cutting Quangos and government bureaucracy

Implementing the recommendations of the Calman Commission

A referendum on further powers for the Welsh Assembly

The Queen's Speech transcript, the full list of Bills and other items from the Queen's Speech is available at the Number 10 website.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Poor planning and restrictive laws prevented 1,200 from voting on 6 May

2010-05-20T16:18:00.001+01:00

The Electoral Commission has published its interim report into problems at polling stations on 6 May, when queues left voters unable to cast their votes before the 10pm deadline.

At least 1,200 people were still queuing at 27 polling stations in 16 constituencies at 10pm.

There were scenes of confusion as polling station queues and ballot paper shortages led to problems and protests in several cities. These included students in Sheffield trying to stop ballot boxes being removed, lock-ins in Birmingham, lock-outs in Newcastle and a sit-in in Hackney.

Following the polling day problems Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission announced a review, saying,

There is a real need to look at our Victorian system and modernise it fit for a 21st-century democracy.

The Electoral Commission consulted Returning Officers, and appealed to voters to report any difficulties they had experienced on polling day.

Today's report explains the roles, responsibilities and laws connected with providing and manging polling stations, the scale and nature of problems on 6 May and makes recommendations for change:

The main factors that we have identified as having contributed to these problems were:
Evidence of poor planning assumptions in some areas.

Use of unsuitable buildings and inadequate staffing arrangements at some polling stations.

Contingency arrangements that were not properly triggered or were unable to cope with demand at the close of poll.

Restrictive legislation which meant that those present in queues at polling stations at the close of poll were not able to be issued with a ballot paper.

The report notes that major elections are scheduled to take place in all parts of the UK in May 2011, that it remains the case that a Parliamentary general election could be called at any time, and recommends the following:

the law should be changed to allow people still queuing at polling stations at 10pm to be able to vote

local authorities and Returning Officers should improve their planning, review their schemes for polling districts and polling stations and make sure they allocate the right numbers of staff and electors to each polling station

the structure for delivering elections in Great Britain should be reformed so that elections are managed more consistently and professionally.

Interim Report Into Polling Station Queues

A full report on all aspects of the election's operation is due to be published in July.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Nick Clegg to continue with Town Hall meetings

2010-05-19T19:47:00.000+01:00

He's Deputy Prime Minister now, but it's good to see that Nick Clegg plans to continue his practice of holding meetings where members of the public can come and ask him questions directly.

Nick's starting off with a public meeting in his constituency of Sheffield Hallam. From www.nickclegg.com:

He is inviting local people to come and put their questions and opinions to him in an hour long any questions event.

This event is free to attend but entry is only by registration for a free e-ticket. These are limited to two tickets per application.

When: Friday 21 May 2010, 18.30-19.30pm

(Doors open at 17.50 with last admission at 18.25)

Where: King Edward VII School Upper Site, Glossop Road, Sheffield, S10 2PW (map)

IMPORTANT: Due to security requirements you must bring photographic ID & your email confirmation ticket with you.

(Still Nicky from the block? I think so - even if the block does now include Chevening ;-) )

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

A power revolution: Nick Clegg's "New Politics" speech in full

2010-05-19T16:11:00.006+01:00

Today Nick Clegg made a speech setting out the Government's plans for political reform, at the City & Islington College Centre for Business, Arts and Technology.

As Iain wrote this morning, the media are viewing Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats as revolutionaries, and drawing parallels with the Reform Act 1832.

Nick's speech expands on three more R's: repealing infringements on freedom, reforming politics and redistributing power.

Here it is in full:

I have spent my whole political life fighting to open up politics. So let me make one thing very clear: This government is going to be unlike any other. This government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state. This government is going to break up concentrations of power and hand power back to people, because that is how we build a society that is fair. This government is going to persuade you to put your faith in politics once again.

I’m not talking about a few new rules for MPs. Not the odd gesture or gimmick to make you feel a bit more involved. I’m talking about the most significant programme of empowerment by a British government since the great reforms of the 19th Century. The biggest shake up of our democracy since 1832, when the Great Reform Act redrew the boundaries of British democracy, for the first time extending the franchise beyond the landed classes. Landmark legislation, from politicians who refused to sit back and do nothing while huge swathes of the population remained helpless against vested interests. Who stood up for the freedom of the many, not the privilege of the few. A spirit this government will draw on as we deliver our programme for political reform: a power revolution. A fundamental resettlement of the relationship between state and citizen that puts you in charge.

Today I want to talk about how we’ll get there. Three major steps, that will begin immediately:

One: we will repeal all of the intrusive and unnecessary laws that inhibit your freedom.

Two: we will reform our politics so it is open, transparent, decent.

Three: we will radically redistribute power away from the centre, into your communities, your homes, your hands.

Big, sweeping change. Not incremental, not bit by bit. Our democracy has suffered at the hands of encroaching centralisation and secrecy for decades. Take citizens’ rights: eroded by the quiet proliferation of laws that increase surveillance, quash dissent, limit freedom. Take executive authority: consistently increased by successive administrations to the point that we now have a neutered parliament and government that enjoys almost untrammelled control – over precisely the people who are meant to keep it in check. Take the welfare state: one of modern society’s greatest liberators – but now so utterly different to that envisaged by Beveridge, because it has been distorted by the sheer degree of centralised control and micromanagement.

Britain was once the cradle of modern democracy. We are now, on some measures, the most centralised country in Europe, bar Malta.

So, no, incremental change will not do. It is time for a wholesale, big bang approach to political reform. And that’s what this government will deliver.

I’m a liberal. My starting point has always been optimism about people. The view that most people, most of the time, will make the right decisions for themselves and their families. That you know better than I do about how to run your life, your community, the services you use.

So this government is going to trust people.

We know that, when people see a real opportunity to shape the world they live in, they take it. Just think of the election we’ve just been through. Thousands of young people rushing to register to vote before they missed the deadline. When people have power they use it.

And when they are denied it, there is anger and disappointment. We saw it two weeks ago when across the country hundreds of people were turned away from polling stations on election night. I am eagerly awaiting the findings of the Electoral Commission’s review into that fiasco; not least as an MP representing a Sheffield constituency where it happened...
We must make sure this never happens again. You must be confident that, come polling day, your voice will be heard. And – more than that – that the chance to be heard doesn’t just come round around once every five years. You should be able to use your voice, exercise your power, every single day. Under this government’s plans, you will.

Repeal infringements on freedom:

So, three steps to new politics. First, sweeping legislation to restore the hard won liberties that have been taken, one by one, from the British people.
This government will end the culture of spying on it’s citizens. It is outrageous that decent, law-abiding people are regularly treated as if they have something to hide. It has to stop.
So there will be no ID card scheme. No national identity register, a halt to second generation biometric passports. We won’t hold your internet and email records when there is just no reason to do so. CCTV will be properly regulated, as will the DNA database, with restrictions on the storage of innocent people’s DNA.
And Britain must not be a country where our children grow up so used to their liberty being infringed that they accept it without question. There will be no ContactPoint children’s database. Schools will not take children’s fingerprints without even asking their parent’s consent.

This will be a government that is proud when British citizens stand up against illegitimate advances of the state. That values debate, that is unafraid of dissent. That’s why we’ll remove limits on the rights to peaceful protest. It’s why we’ll review libel laws so that we can better protect freedom of speech.
And as we tear through the statute book, we’ll do something no government ever has:
We will ask you which laws you think should go. Because thousands of criminal offences were created under the previous government; yet taking people’s freedom away didn’t make our streets safer. Obsessive lawmaking simply makes criminals out of ordinary people. So, we’ll get rid of the unnecessary laws, and once they’re gone, they won’t come back. Because we will introduce a mechanism to block pointless new criminal offences.
And, we will, of course introduce safeguards to prevent the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation, including a review of existing powers and legislation. There have been too many cases of individuals being denied their rights, and whole communities being placed under suspicion. This government will do better by British justice. Respecting great, British freedoms; which is why we’ll also defend trial by jury.

Reform politics:

Second, reform of our politics. Reform to reduce the power of political elites, and to drag Westminster into the 21st century.

Starting with the House of Lords. Did you know we’ve been talking about reforming the House of Lords for over a hundred and fifty years? It’s one of the areas where all the parties agree. The time for talk is over. This government will replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber, where members are elected by a proportional voting system. There will be a committee charged specifically with making this happen; but make no mistake: our committee will not be another government talking shop. This will be a dedicated group devoted to kick-starting real reform.
The same haste will be applied to fixed-term parliaments. It’s just wrong that governments can play politics with something as important as a general election; cynically picking the date to maximise their own advantage. So this government has already set the date we think the next election should be: May 7th 2015 - no matter who is where in the polls.
That is unless parliament votes to dissolve itself first. As we legislate to fix parliamentary terms the details will of course need to be worked out; but we believe that the support of 55% of MPs or more should be required for parliament to opt for an early dissolution. That is a much lower threshold than the two thirds required in the Scottish Parliament. But it strikes the right balance for our parliament: maintaining stability, stopping parties from forcing a dissolution to serve their own interests. Now this last week, former Labour Ministers who were once happy to ride roughshod over our democracy but are now declaring this innovation some sort of outrage are completely missing the point: This is a new right for Parliament, additional to the existing unchanged powers of no confidence. We’re not taking away parliament’s right to throw out government; we’re taking away government’s right to throw out parliament.

Parliament’s power will also be strengthened as we bring forward the proposals of the Wright Committee, published in November. Starting with provisions to give MPs much more control over Common’s business.
And, in addition to strengthening parliament, we will of course make sure we’ve cleaned it up. Which is why I have already commissioned work on introducing the power of recall. If you’re MP is corrupt, you will be able to sack them. You will need the support of 10% of people living in the constituency, and your MP will have had to have been found guilty of serious wrongdoing. But it happens in Switzerland, in Canada, in 18 US states, and it’s going to happen here.
We will regulate lobbying in parliament. It’s wrong to present all lobbying as sleazy. Much of it serves a hugely important democratic function, allowing different organisations and interests to make representations to politicians. But it is a process which must be completely transparent. But let’s get real: this is a £2bn industry, where, according to some estimates there are MPs who are approached by lobbyists a hundred times every week, and that activity needs to be regulated properly. Which we’ll do, for example, by introducing a statutory register of lobbyists.

More broadly, as long as money plays such a big part in our politics, we are never going to end the tyranny of vested interests. That’s why David Cameron and I are determined to reform party funding.
All of the parties, all of the parties, have had their problems, and governments have been stopping and starting on this issue for years. But so long as big money continues to hollow out our democracy, everybody loses. So we will pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to deal with this once and for all.

And, in our big clean up, we’ll act to tackle electoral fraud too, speeding up the implementation of individual voter registration.
And no programme to reform our political system is complete without reform of our voting system. This government will be putting to you, in a referendum, the choice to introduce a new voting system, called the Alternative Vote. Under that system far more MPs will have to secure support from at least half the people who vote in their constituency, and, hand in hand with that change, there will be new constituency boundaries, reducing the number of MPs overall and creating constituencies that are more equal in size.
David Cameron and I are very relaxed about the fact we may be arguing different cases in that referendum. But my position is clear: the current voting system, First Past the Post, is a major block to lasting political change. According to some estimates, it ensures that over half the seats in the Commons are “safe”, giving hundreds of MPs jobs for life, meaning that millions of people see their votes go to waste.

Is it any surprise that, with a system like that, we end up with politicians who are seen to be out of touch with the people they serve? New politics needs fairer votes. This referendum will be our opportunity to start to make that happen.

Redistribution of power:

The third, and final step, is the redistribution of power away from the centre. It’s something the Prime Minister spoke about yesterday, and it is something we both strongly believe in. All politicians say they want to give people more control over their lives. This government is going to make it happen.

In fact, if there is one area, where the differences between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are almost impossible to spot, it’s here. We don’t, unlike Labour, believe that change in our society must always be forced from the centre. Unlike the previous Labour government, we’re reluctant to relinquish control.

So rest assured, you will get more control over the hospitals you use; the schools you send your children too; the homes that are built in your community. In our legislative programme we will be setting out plans to strip away government’s unelected, inefficient quangos; plans to loosen the centralised grip of the Whitehall bureaucracy; plans to disperse power downwards to you instead.
And we are serious about giving councils much more power too over the money they use, so they depend less on the whims of Whitehall, and can deliver the services and support their communities need. We know that devolution of power is meaningless without money.

Our plans to disperse power also include strengthening devolution to other parts of Britain: Working with Holyrood to implement the recommendations of the Calman Commission; working with the Welsh Assembly on introducing a referendum on the transfer of further powers to Wales; supporting the continued success of the devolved government in Northern Ireland. And, of course, asking what we can do about the difficult issues surrounding the old West Lothian Question.

So, the repeal of illiberal laws, the reform of politics, and the redistribution of power. Our very own Great Reform Act.
Not everyone will like it. Not every MP, not the vested interests that want government to stay closed, opaque, easily captured. But this new government, this new kind of government, creates an enormous opportunity for those of us who have spent our lives fighting for political reform. This is a moment to step back and look at every bit of damage that has been done to our democracy, before we launch into the most radical programme of reform, empowerment, enfranchisement in over a century.

A programme so important to me personally that I will take full responsibility for seeing it through. And as I do, I will be open, I will be ambitious, and I will listen. I’ll still be holding my town hall meetings that I’ve been holding for the last two years around the country, where you can come and ask me whatever you like. The next one is actually in Sheffield on Friday. As I lead the transformation of our political system, I want you to tell me how you want your politics to be. Power will be yours.

That is new politics.

Thank you very much for listening to me.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Lib Dem Special Conference: the statistics

2010-05-19T14:39:00.000+01:00

Here are the facts and figures from Sunday's Special Conference:

Time taken to organise: 4 days - compared to the year that a Lib Dem conference usually takes. Even the Liberal-SDP merger conference of 1988 was arranged with 4 months' notice.

Total number of delegates: 1650 (of whom 250 registered on the day). This was larger than any Lib Dem Spring Conference.

It featured the longest debate at a Liberal Democrat conference (3.5 hours)

Number of speakers cards submitted: 172

Number of speeches made: 38

Number of intervention cards submitted: 110

Number of interventions taken: 30

Number of amendments: 9 (all passed)

Speeches against the motion as a whole: 6 (from a total of 13 cards put in to speak against; so speeches against were over-represented)

Number of journalists: 0 (Stephen has already blogged about this)

However:

Number of tweets with the #LDConf hashtag: Tweetminster estimates there were just under 10,000 tweets with this hashtag, which trended in the UK during the conference.

Thanks - and congratulations - to the Federal Conference Committee for organising this historic and extraordinary day, and to party President Ros Scott for chairing the event.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

By-election in Redbridge after councillor disqualified

2010-05-18T20:33:00.000+01:00

From the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian:

"A by-election is due to be called in Chadwell ward after it emerged that Labour councillor Mark Gittens - who took the seat from the Lib Dems on May 7 with 1,949 votes - is a teacher at Wanstead High School, a council employee, and therefore not allowed to stand for office in Redbridge.

Mr Gittens, a science teacher at the school in Redbridge Lane West, said: "I was completely transparent about myself during the campaign which can be seen from the leaflets that were handed out.

"No-one would dispute that I fought the seat fairly. Obviously mistakes were made. People make mistakes, but these things happen in life." "

The Chadwell by-election is a chance for the Liberal Democrats to win back a seat they lost just eleven days ago, and a test of Labour's durability after the recent local elections.

Coalition talks are already taking place between the Tories and Lib Dems in Redbridge.

From Dave Hill's London Blog

"The borough election results saw big swings to Labour in terms of total seats and councils controlled along with consolidations in both Labour and Tory strongholds. But two boroughs were left with no overall control. In one of these, Redbridge, the leaders of the 30 Conservatives and seven remaining Liberal Democrats have been "locked in talks" about forming a coalition to trump the 26 Labour councillors. Is a Cleggeron new dawn breaking in Ilford?"

Fake "Miliband for Leader" website slams Gordon Brown

2010-05-18T16:27:00.000+01:00

Last week David Miliband announced his intention to stand for the Labour leadership, and there are already websites promoting and discussing potential contenders.

However, one of them is not what it seems: [click on image to enlarge it]

It looks exactly like David Miliband's personal website, http://www.davidmiliband.info, right down to the photo slideshow, and work has clearly gone into making it come out well in Google search results (known as Search Engine Optimisation).

If you Google "Miliband for Leader" the seventh result on the first page is http://www.milibandforleader.co.uk.

The giveaways are the typo in the copy ("re-elcted") but more important (and potentially damaging) is the text on the right which criticises Gordon Brown:

I will be looking to run as Leader of the Labour party once Gordon has finally accepted that he has lost the Election and can no longer cling onto power. He will go down as the only British Prime Minster to have ruled for 13 years having never been elected by the people. I will stand as the candidate for change in New New Labour.

Compare it with David Miliband's real website:

...and the holding page for his campaign website, "New site to be launched next week."

Not a spoof, but a convincing copy. What can be done about such websites, and will we be seeing more of them in politics?

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

LibLink: Mark Pack - Lib Dems revel in a share of power

2010-05-17T13:50:00.000+01:00

At Comment is Free, Mark Pack shares his impressions of the Liberal Democrat Special (not-so-secret) Conference held yesterday in Birmingham.

In an atmosphere I described yesterday as "more wedding than wake" more than a thousand party members met to debate the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition agreement.

Mark captures the mood of a party who now have their hands on the levers of power:

Travelling by train to the Liberal Democrat conference yesterday, I did what I usually do on my way to party conferences – read through the agenda and background policy information.

Except this time there was one key difference. I wasn't reading a list of worthy exhortations from which, if the Liberal Democrats were really lucky, a couple of policies might be lifted by another party a few years in the future. Instead, I was reading an agreed programme for government which is being put into force.

Moreover, despite it being an agreed programme with the Conservative party, large chunks of it were straight out of the Liberal Democrat manifesto. Even on issues where the parties firmly disagree, the agreement in practice does not change much. Yes, the Liberal Democrats in principle like the euro and the Conservatives do not. But in practice almost no one in the party thinks the economic circumstances for joining the euro have any chance of being right in the next five years, so in practice saying no the euro for the next few years requires no alteration of policy.

That is why the people I met at Birmingham, just like those I had talked to in the preceding week, were overwhelmingly pleased with the coalition government's policy agreement. Compared with the usual habit of reading a new government's plans and disagreeing with most of them, this is an agreement where – thanks to the party's decision to take part in a coalition – the overwhelming majority are ones the party supports.

Read the full piece here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Unveiled: a new bus for London

2010-05-17T11:20:00.002+01:00

The Mayor of London today unveiled the design for the new "Bus for London." (Doesn't quite have the same ring as "Routemaster" but no doubt Londoners will come up with their own nickname.)

Curvy, glassy and airy, this shiny bauble of a bus has echoes of other modern London icons: City Hall, the Gherkin, the pods on the London Eye.

The buses are expected to enter service from early 2012.

Passenger capacity will be comparable to double decker buses currently in service:

Total: 87 (22 seats on the lower deck and 40 on the upper deck. There will also be space for up to 25 standees on the lower deck.)

Here's the virtual tour:

Video also available on Youtube.

From the GLA Press Office:

"The bus will use the latest green technology. It will be 15 per cent more fuel efficient than existing hybrid buses, and 40 per cent more efficient than conventional diesel double decks and much quieter on the streets.

The pioneering design makes use of lightweight materials, with glass highlighting key features and producing a light and airy feel inside the bus. An impressive glass ‘swoop’ at the rear and offside pick out the two staircases and provide a dramatic visual effect. An asymmetric design for the front-end completes the futuristic look.

The open platform is a defining feature, shared with the Routemaster of old, and allows the reinstatement of a hop-on, hop-off service. Three doors and two staircases will aid speedier and smoother boarding.

Video also available on Youtube.

Dan and Dan in coalition

2010-05-15T08:50:00.001+01:00

Hooray! Dan and Dan (of Daily Mail Song fame) have announced their new coalition agreement:

Video also available on YouTube.

Dee Doocey elected chair of London Assembly

2010-05-13T21:48:00.001+01:00

From a news release by the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group:

The London Assembly has today elected Dee Doocey AM as its new Chair for 2010/11. Jennette Arnold AM has been re-elected as Deputy Chair. At their Annual Meeting Assembly Members also re-established a number of committees to examine the Mayor of London’s policies and investigate issues of importance to London.

Chair of the London Assembly Dee Doocey AM said:

“I am honoured that my colleagues have chosen me to lead the Assembly for the year ahead. I will do my utmost to justify their confidence in handing me this additional opportunity to serve Londoners. I am also proud to be the first Irish person to Chair the London Assembly.

At this changing time in our national political landscape it is more important than ever that London has a strong voice and powerful advocates to make the case for funding vital projects like Crossrail. The London Assembly is determined to ensure that the sound arguments for investing in the capital’s future, and the benefits that will also bring to the rest of the country, do not go unheard.

In the months ahead the Assembly will continue to monitor the refinement of the Mayor’s strategies and measure what impact they do or do not have on the quality of life in London. We will also continue to challenge the London 2012 team to deliver not just an excellent Games but also the long term benefits the capital was promised in the bid.”

You can also listen to Dee's acceptance speech via Audioboo, courtesy of Mayorwatch:

Listen!

Congratulations Dee.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Where's the coalition of the sexes?

2010-05-12T19:40:00.001+01:00

With most of the key cabinet posts now announced, and other positions coming at a trickle, the new government so far looks overwhelmingly male.

The exceptions so far are Theresa May (Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality) and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi (Conservative Party Chairman). Reports of a role for Caroline Flint are unconfirmed.

There's been no word yet about any of the talented female Liberal Democrat MPs being offered a role in the new government. However, I can't help noticing a correlation with the Lib Dem (all male) negotiating team, with all but Andrew Stunell getting cabinet posts.

I dislike tokenism - the best person should have the job. But I'd be surprised if all the male Conservative MPs were better qualified for cabinet posts than all the female MPs, whether Conservative or Liberal Democrat.

The Liberal Democrats now have a smaller pool of women MPs to draw from - we had a net loss of two women MPs. The loss of Susan Kramer is keenly felt, but we still have seven excellent women to choose from.

After all the media focus on the leaders' wives during the election campaign it would be especially fitting to see elected women making a real difference in government.

As Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society said today:

It's as though feminism never happened. It seems the default response of politics in political crisis is to revert to type – a men-only zone. This is not only bad for women, it's bad for everyone as we all lose out and our democracy is just plain flawed without women's vital contribution.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Hung Parliament in 3 minutes

2010-05-10T14:11:00.002+01:00

Quick and brilliant guide from Alex Day. Coming up (let us hope): the Triple Lock, Confidence & Supply and the Offside Rule.

Video also available on YouTube.

Amazing space-efficient design

2010-04-27T13:09:00.001+01:00

It's not what you don't have, it's what you do with what you do have.

A Hong Kong architect has made the most of his tiny apartment with a revolutionary "Domestic Transformer" system. Gary Chang can reconfigure the 344 square foot space in 24 different ways, using sliding walls and panels.

Watch this:

Also available on YouTube here.

(If it's design with a political flavour you were after, there's always Ikea's tongue-in-cheek range of kitchens: Brün, Kamerun and Kleggi.)

The voters wear the trousers - yes, even the women

2010-04-26T16:28:00.005+01:00

Following the Leaders' Debates and the explosion in Nick Clegg's popularity, the right-wing press have tried ever more desperately to discredit the Lib Dem leader.

Innuendoes about financial dishonesty and Nazi slurs haven't worked, so it's time to revive a tactic from a few weeks back.

Since the start of the General Election campaign, the press have had their Leaders' Wives voodoo dolls out, taking particularly desperate stabs at Sarah Brown and Miriam Gonzalez Durantez. And by association, at all women who balance their lives with those of their families.

Last night the theme hit a new low, with the Daily Mail's Jan Moir yanking our chain again:

War of the wives: Guess who wears the trousers in Casa Clegg! in which Moir tries to emasculate Nick Clegg, even citing his wife's accident over the weekend, when she fell and fractured her elbow.

"Yet pro-wrestling observers suggest that Mrs Clegg's injury looks far more like it was sustained during the execution of a classic elbow smash; seemingly a routine response in the Clegg household when Nick doesn't empty the dishwasher quickly enough."

Moir goes on to say

"it has become bruisingly clear to the electorate during this campaign exactly who wears the trousers and dictates policy at Casa Clegg. Clue; not him."

Last night the Daily Mail also damned Miriam Gonzalez Durantez for shopping at Rigby and Peller, while giving the store a glowing write-up elsewhere on its site.

So it's ok to berate Miriam for earning her own money, and for going down the shops to spend it? For having a faith that her husband doesn't share? To extrapolate from her conduct that she beats her husband?

Make no mistake, when so-called "journalists" attack a woman for being independent, or even for having crooked toes, they're projecting their own diminishing influence over readers, over voters.

Women (and I am one of them) don't approach politics like this, and don't need a steer from the Daily Mail on which party is fit to govern based on the private life of its leader's wife.

The people are the kingmakers, or to take the metaphor further: we wear the trousers.

Electioneering meets orienteering

2010-04-25T20:22:00.005+01:00

I'm a keen user of Twitter, and from time to time I include my location in my Tweets.

During the General Election campaign I've been doing this by geotagging them, or through the facility on Ubertwitter, which is the Twitter app I use on my BlackBerry. Sometimes I tweet photos via my Flickr or Twitpic accounts, which gives clues about my location, either from the map (on Flickr) or from the scene in the photo.

I've even dabbled a little in Foursquare - though it's the informative rather than the competitive aspect of this that appeals to me.

For me, the breakthrough as a candidate using location-based tweeting came yesterday - I tweeted:

Meeting voters in Romford Market. http://myloc.me/6m4Ti

with a link to this map:

Meanwhile a Romford resident sat at home, looking up the constituency's candidates for the General Election. Discovering that I was on Twitter, she "followed" me (subscribed to my tweets). Then, seeing that I was in the local market square, ten minutes from her home, she came straight out to find me!

I was delighted when she introduced herself and we had a quick chat about the election and the area. I hope we stay in touch.

For my own amusement (and as a reminder) I've been keeping a Google Map of the places I've been campaigning in the run-up to the General Election, with photos, videos and audio clips.

As with anything online, it's never a replacement for campaigning on the streets and doorsteps, but as my surprise meeting yesterday shows, the virtual soapbox can complement the physical one.

Curiously, I saw another tweet yesterday about one of the other candidates, which said,

"He needs more presence on Twitter, talking with the people. Not merely being present outside Romford station is enough anymore."

Pedestrian crossing of the day: a cross between a zebra and a pelican

2010-04-02T20:11:00.004+01:00

The first Panda crossing opened outside Waterloo station on 2 April 1962.

And it had everything: Painted black and white triangles on the road, like a backgammon board; red and amber signals on a Belisha beacon-style pole; steady pulsating lights; other lights that flashed with increasing speed; the words "cross" and "stop" rather than the now-familiar read and green men.

Pedestrians were mesmerised.

From the BBC:

1962: New pedestrian crossings cause chaos
A new style of pedestrian crossing has caused confusion among both drivers and pedestrians following its launch in London.
The first Panda crossing was officially opened today in York Road, opposite Waterloo Station in London by the Minister of Transport, Mr Ernest Marples.

He described the crossings, which are being experimented for a year in 45 selected sites across the country, as "a new idea in pedestrian safety".

But an elderly lady, one of the first to use the new crossing, said:

She said: "That man Marples is up to too many tricks. It's a hairbrained scheme and most dangerous."

Indeed, so baffled were the public that these pandas became extinct in 1967.

See Panda crossings in action in these smashing little BBC videos:

The first Panda crossing opens in Waterloo.

Cardiff's first Panda. (Love the line "Initially the police pressed the button for the public. And of course later, the public are doing it under police supervision.")

Experience the Panda for yourself, with Chris Marshall's demonstration.

Havering Councillor quits BNP for being "a bunch of racists"

2010-04-02T15:23:00.001+01:00

From the Romford Recorder:

A councillor has vowed to stand independently at the next election after walking away from the British National Party for being "a bunch of racists".

Cllr Mark Logan, who has represented Gooshays ward since winning a by-election in March 2008, said he would be "severing all links with the party and the political group of misfits" because he didn't agree with "the calibre of some people" being put forward as candidates for the forthcoming election.

He said: "There's been some really nasty rhetoric directed at coloured people."

While it's obvious to most people that the British National Party is racist, it is newsworthy that Councillor Logan has himself realised this and resigned from the party.

It's a start, but I hope Councillor Logan will think again about the term "coloured" and really look at people more than skin deep.

LDVideo: April (paywall) Fool

2010-04-01T21:25:00.000+01:00

In case you missed Lib Dem Voice's April 1st joke:

Also available on YouTube here.

We told readers this morning:

We're going behind a pay wall.

Just because it's Rupert Murdoch leading the charge to put news behind pay walls, that doesn't mean it's automatically wrong. In fact, having been poring over the details we're convinced here in Lib Dem Voice Towers that it's the right move for us.

Why? Our hosting costs and the amount of time spent on moderation have been growing very sharply in the last 12 months. However, a very large part of that growth is caused by people who only come and visit the site once, never to return.

It's nice when new people drop by, but they're not the audience we are really after and the online equivalent of shouting "Vote Labour" as you walk past a Lib Dem canvasser is not what we want to achieve. We will be happier with a smaller, but more committed and more engaged audience.

A pay wall will also mean that we can much better authenticate commenters, ending the nonsense of Conservative activists trying to pass themselves off as unhappy Liberal Democrat members. It will also generate revenue that we can invest in expanding our very popular coverage of the activities of Conservative (and Labour) councillors around the country.

We are very aware that even a low fee will be hard for some activists to afford, so we have [geek alert] partnered up with Google to become one of the first UK users of their new photograph recognition software.

This will mean people can take photographs of themselves carrying out certain campaign activities, up load them to the pay wall system and have them automatically processed. A photograph of a "Winning here" stakeboard in your garden will, for example, get you 6 months access to the site.

Only teasing, of course. While we're all volunteers on the LDV editorial team, the site does cost a modicum of money to run, so if you feel moved to make a donation, you can do it here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Tories cry "foul" at Lib Dems' fair hearing

2010-03-31T19:10:00.002+01:00

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? Vince connected well with the audience as these clips show, as well as getting very favourable coverage in the media afterwards.

No wonder the Conservatives don't like it.

See the rules for the upcoming Leaders' Debates here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Paul Burstow: Liberal Democrats won't support the Digital Economy Bill

2010-03-30T23:27:00.004+01:00

The Liberal Democrats have now withdrawn their support for the Digital Economy Bill, in a revision of the original plan to vote against certain elements in the "washup" (the last-minute rush to pass laws without debate or detailed scrutiny at the end of a Parliament).

Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat Chief Whip announced on Twitter earlier:

I have told the Govt we won't support the Digital Economy Bill as drafted. There is not enough time for MPs to examine it in detail.

The Guardian takes up the story:

The Liberal Democrats have called for the Digital Economy bill to be scrapped and re-introduced afresh in the next Parliament, and say they will oppose its rushed passage if, as expected, it is speeded through to become law in the "wash-up" ahead of a general election.

Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat chief whip, told the Guardian that although the party's opposition might not be enough on its own to prevent the bill from passing, he hoped that the arguments being put forward - that the issues needed more debate than has been possible - might sway one of the other parties into delaying its passage.

"During the negotiation and discussion in the wash-up we will make it clear that we think that it isn't a suitable way to deal with the issues remaining such as site blocking," Burstow said. "We will put amendments down and make the case and hope that the government and the Conservatives will agree that it shouldn't proceed at this stage," Burstow said.

This is the latest in a series of events within the Liberal Democrats, which began with an open letter by Bridget Fox and 24 other PPCs [including me]. This expressed concern at amendments tabled by Liberal Democrat peers to the Digital Economy Bill.

Dialogue ensued, an emergency motion was submitted to Spring Conference, and was passed with overwhelming support.

The Liberal Democrats Save the Net group has produced a factsheet detailing the motion and explaining its background:

Save the Net Factsheet

Also available at Scribd here.

Crossposted from Liberal Democrat Voice, an independent, collaborative website run by Liberal Democrat activists. Helen is a contributing editor at the site.

Vote Labservative - for more of the same

2010-03-30T15:12:00.004+01:00

Loving the Lib Dems' new viral campaign Labservative.com which shows how hopeless and interchangeable the Labour and Conservative parties are:

"We’ve taken the first step on our unstoppable stroll to victory with the launch of a brand new advertising campaign. Of course, we don’t need a campaign at all – after 13 consecutive General Election victories we can be forgiven a smidgen of complacency. But though our triumph may be inevitable, we’re leaving nothing to chance. Number 10 is where we belong. Besides, all our stuff’s there and the garden looks lovely at this time of year."

Labservative supporters can add their testimonials to the site, under Why I'm Labservative.

The best comments so far:

I would never vote for a party that I’ve never voted for. Doing something new is just asking for trouble so Labservative are the only option. I’ve also never left the house and eat baby food even though I’m 47.
[Olly Drake]

“Labservatives say – stick with what you know! Don’t Vote Liberal Democrat – they’d only change things!”
[Alex Wilcock]

You can download campaign posters and buy merchandise here and follow @GorvidCamerown on Twitter.