Opinion: Don’t make Guido’s day
What an enjoyable holiday Guido Fawkes must be having. While he is sunning himself in France he is also managing to create a ludicrous fuss in the UK with his campaign to use the new e-petition website...
View ArticleOpinion: the battle for the Electoral Reform Society
One of the consequences of the failure of the AV campaign may be radical change at the venerable Electoral Reform Society. The ERS is conducting the biennial election for its Council at the moment with...
View ArticleOpinion: Time to face reality on conference security
Lib Dem Voice has carried a number of articles in recent weeks, reflecting wider discussions among Lib Dems, about the security arrangement for the Birmingham Conference. The tone of many of these...
View ArticleOpinion: The battle for the Electoral Reform Society – the results
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the battle for control of the Electoral Reform Society. The results of the Electoral Reform Society Council election have since come out and they show a clear...
View ArticleOpinion: Why won’t Nick Clegg trust the people with a referendum on Europe?
If there is one thing which Liberal Democrats need to be careful about after the tuition fees debacle, it is being seen to renege on any of our manifesto commitments. But this appears to be exactly...
View ArticleThe really important issue at Gateshead is a Constitutional Amendment
Discussion about the Gateshead Spring Conference has mainly focused on the potential row about the NHS Bill, but the Agenda also contains a Constitutional Amendment which could have a huge impact...
View ArticleOpinion: Making our party more democratic and participative
We Liberal Democrats pride ourselves on being the most democratic Party in the UK. We were the first (and so far the only) major party to have members electing the leaders in a one member, one vote,...
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Opinion: Abu Hamza isn’t Gary McKinnon but we should still be concerned about...
The extradition of Abu Hamza and 4 other men to the US seems to have given almost universal pleasure and there is no doubt that he seems an extraordinarily unpleasant man, with a long criminal record...
View ArticleOpinion: Liberal Reform response to ‘Shares for Rights’
Liberal Reform has responded to the BIS Consultation on ‘Employee owner’ status. Like most Lib Dems we do not see that there is any need for this and it is noticeable that no evidence has been...
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Opinion: Liberal Reform urge MEPs to oppose a secret vote on the EU Budget
It probably came as a surprise to most Lib Dems to hear that it is possible to have a secret vote in the European Parliament at all, let alone when as few as 20% of MEPs call for one. Press reports...
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Opinion: People don’t care who provides their healthcare
The publication of a new poll by ICM for Civitas on the NHS should give encouragement to those in the Lib Dems who believe that we should not be bound by a single provider approach to the NHS. The...
View ArticleSpecial Lib Dem Conference announced
An unprecedented alliance of groups within the Liberal Democrats have announced an agreement to turn the Spring 2016 gathering into a special Conference. Liberal Vision, the Social Liberal Forum,...
View ArticleOpinion: Let’s have some facts on the ‘bedroom tax’
One of the ‘facts’ about the ‘bedroom tax’ which is becoming increasing accepted is that 9 out of 10 disabled people affected by the ‘bedroom tax’ and refused a discretionary payment are going without...
View ArticleOpinion: Vince is wrong about London
One of the oddest statements made by a Lib Dem in 2013 was surely Vince Cable saying that London was “draining the life out of the rest of the country”’. Odd not just because Vince is MP for a London...
View ArticleOpinion: Generation Y – Why don’t they vote Lib Dem?
Last year the Economist ran a fascinating article on “The strange rebirth of Liberal England” on how young people have attitudes in many areas which are very liberal, though as we know this does not...
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Petition asking Labour to oppose benefit cuts sweeps the internet
Lib Dems will be familiar with the many petitions launched by 38 degrees attacking us during the Coalition years in which the iniquities of the changes to benefits was a constant theme. Given that 38...
View ArticleIt’s time to move party HQ out of London
One of the adverse effects of the awful General Election result has been a significant drop in Party income, as we are now of much less interest to potential donors and people who wish to exhibit and...
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We must speak for our EU Citizens in the UK
Canvassing during the referendum in the London borough of Merton one point came up on a surprising number of households – what was going to happen to people from the EU living here if we voted to...
View ArticleLib Dems table Bill to give Europeans the right to stay in the UK
Tom Brake has tabled a Bill to be debated next Tuesday which would give Europeans living here the right to stay in the EU. This follows on from both the Government and Theresa May refusing to give...
View ArticleWe need a new type of hustings for the Leadership Election
In the last leadership election I went to several of the hustings. They were interesting enough events but didn’t really probe much into the candidates. The format was usually a speech by the...
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