From an article by John Hess on the BBC News website: A studio debate for BBC's Sunday Politics between the MEPs of the East Midlands had been lively enough. Then it happened - the Liberal Democrat Bill Newton-Dunn lobbed in his accusation against UKIP's Roger Helmer. He accused the veteran former Conservative, now UKIP MEP, of "not bothering to turn up to vote" at the European Parliament. Mr Helmer was outraged and demanded an immediate on-air apology from Mr Newton-Dunn.I fear Bill may have overstepped the mark here. I have photographic evidence that Roger Helmer does turn up to the ...
Following the policy motion on 'Making Migration Work for Britain' at the Lib Dem Spring conference in York and the passionate speeches given on how asylum seekers are treated, another case of a cruel detention has come to light. This time it is an 18 year old called Yashika Bageerathi who came to the UK in 2012 to escape abuse in Mauritius. There is a possibility that she could be deported back to Mauritus because she is now 18. If deported, she will be separated from her family who are allowed to live in the UK. How is it that ...
Lynne Featherstone on the latest steps in the campaign against female genital mutilation. "The City of London threatens U.S. security and abets corruption. Revisionist powers like Russia have figured out this dynamic and are busy exploiting it." How others see us - in this case Nicholas Shaxson on The American Interest. Writing for Politico Magazine, Elizabeth Wahl explains what it was like to work for the Russian propaganda machine and why she quit her job on live TV. "The memorialising of Benn's eloquence is not only nostalgia. It is a reminder that there is a fundamental connection between speaking well ...
I haven't blogged in an age. So what could drag me back into writing? Well how about the story of a nun, a TV show and general all round awesomeness? If you know me well you'll know that gutter TV and me are in a relationship. I watch a lot of rubbish television. A lot. Like a lot of people I also enjoy The Voice, well the audition part of The Voice anyway. The rest isn't that great but the auditions are fun. I watch the UK version. I watch the American version and I also scour YouTube to watch ...
I've donated, please consider doing the same Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Crime, Fundraising, NoMakeUpSelfie, Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre (OSARCC), Violence against Women
This afternoon I stood in bright sunshine on a stage in London's Finsbury Park, speaking to a crowd of several thousand Kurds, to mark the festival of Newroz. In traditional Kurdish villages, people would jump over a fire at Newroz, but as I said in my speech, although there was no fire in front of [...]
Mike Smithson has tweeted a timely reminder about how little attention most people pay to big political news: Great info from @PopulusPolls on what people recall was in the budget pic.twitter.com/MHD11Jq7xq — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 22, 2014 It's a reminder of the old political campaigning adage: repetition matters. Being repetitive without being boring can be a tricky combination (on which see the wise advice from ad man Bill Bernbach). Without repetition you may not be boring, but you also don't make any impact. People as diverse as Martin Luther King and William Shakespeare were great believers in repetition – despite ...
Sun 23rd
14:30
Opinion: European Commission is right to demand Ed Davey and the Coalition re-thinks on nuclear powe...
[IMG: Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant - Some rights reserved by John O Dyer] In October 2013, Lib Dem energy secretary Ed Davey set out his arguments for reversing his long-held antipathy to nuclear power. On behalf of the Coalition, he is applying to the European Commission to ensure that the measures he is promoting – to ensure construction of the first new nuclear power station in the UK for a generation – are compatible with the Single Market. But now the Competition Directorate of the European Commission has sent a 70-page rebuttal to the UK Government, completely rejecting its arguments ...
Trying to get to the nub of what is wrong about the theology of the Westboro Baptist Church tells us a lot about the core of Christianity Fred Phelps, the founder of the bigoted Westboro Baptist Church, has passed away. Much has been written about his death but I've yet to see anything that addressed [...]
The steps taken by President Putin on 18 March to attempt to annex Crimea to Russia are in flagrant breach of international law and send a chilling message across the continent of Europe. The choice remains for President Putin: take the path of de-escalation or face increasing isolation and tighter sanctions. Preparatory work is now underway for a third tier of European Union sanctions, including economic and trade measures. The Government has cancelled this year's French, Russian, UK, US naval exercise, and suspended a proposed Royal Navy ship visit to St Petersburg. The Government believes that under current circumstances there ...
Let me start by saying that the yellow in the blog post title refers to the colours of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, and nothing else. It might seem like a strange disclaimer with which to start a blogpost, but TWGOOFBTO in Northern Ireland (those who get out of bed to be offended) caused Ulster Unionist councillor Michael Copeland to have to issue an apology to the Alliance Party's candidate in the European elections over a tweet of his expressing similar sentiments. One of Northern Ireland's claims to fame is that it is home to the the highest concentration ...
Sun 23rd
13:05Independent: "Lib Dems fall out over who should take on George Osborne in election debate"
[IMG: Cable alexander clegg some rights reserved by liberal democrats] Stephen Tall's article here yesterday – Without a shadow of a doubt: Vince Cable should be the Lib Dems' Shadow Chancellor at the 2015 election – has been picked up by today's Independent: As the minority coalition partner, the Lib Dems do not have a shadow chancellor. Nick Clegg must choose between the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, who represented the Lib Dems in the 2010 debate. A senior activist said it was a "no-brainer" that it should be Mr Cable, because ...
I gave an exclusive interview to Marie Woolf of the Sunday Times about an announcement I would be making about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) at the 57th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March 2013. However, I wouldn't give her the figure. I kept that for the moment when I actually announced the UK new anti FGM funding from the platform at the UN to a hall full of hundreds of people. Campaigners and leaders from around the world on the issue of FGM had gathered to discuss this most extreme form of violence against ...
Another Spencer Davis Group track? It's a while since we had one. Besides, it is my birthday on Tuesday. But haven't we had a live version of Till the End of Time before? We have, but this is a different one that has just appeared on Youtube. It comes from December 1966, so it must be on the group's last performances before the Winwood brothers left. Steve Winwood was about to form Traffic and get it together in the country. He has already bought the shirt for it. What was remarkable about Winwood in this era is that he went ...
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the 14,400 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... A longer listen for the weekend: Can liberalism be better advanced by Lib Dems or Tories? (46 comments) by The Voice By-election update: Lib Dems take two seats from Tories in Canterbury and Ludlow (31) by ALDC Some first thoughts on the Budget (46) by Caron Lindsay 33 years ago today the launch of the SDP was announced (36) by NewsHound Opinion: The hole in the "35 percent strategy" - the Lib Dem vote (25) by ...
If the university tuition fees regime introduced by the coalition: Turns out to have little or no beneficial effect on the amount that has to be paid out to HE institutions from general taxation, contrary to the expectations of the IFS in October 2012 Discourages graduates from taking on the additional liabilities necessary to complete postgraduate courses Damages lifelong learning, part-time education and discourages mature students from seeking to fulfill their potential Means that the overall increase in the funding universities have received is perceived to have simply inflated vice-chancellor's salaries rather than improved provision Remains toxic to the LibDem ...
The Associated Press reports: Dutch citizens and politicians united on Wednesday in posting voting booth selfie photos, an increasingly popular phenomenon that could threaten the principle of the secret ballot but also encourages people to vote. Alexander Pechtold, who heads the centrist D66 party, was among the many Dutch voting in Wednesday's local elections who tweeted a #stemfie, a combination of "stemmen", the Dutch word for voting, and selfie. The photos, often of voters posing with the red pencil used to make their democratic choice or the candidate list, spread over Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, with the #stemfie hashtag trending... ...
Sun 23rd
10:59
Lib Dem MEPs Vote To End Mobile Roaming Charges By December 2015 Despite Conservative Opposition
Mobile roaming charges across the EU are set to be abolished altogether by December 2015 following a vote in the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee today. These include costly charges for data roaming, which are currently capped at £376 per gigabyte in the EU. However, Conservatives voted for an amendment that would reject the proposals altogether. Meanwhile UKIP MEPs did not turn up for the vote but have made it clear in the past that they oppose efforts to cut the costly fees. Commenting, Leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs Fiona Hall said: "UKIP and the Tories have ...
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention in the past couple of days... Stop this 'near-obsession' with damaging immigration controls, say Tory MPs – UK Politics – UK – The Independent Good on Mark Field et al » Stop this 'near-obsession' with damaging immigration controls, say Tory MPs http://ind.pn/1mnUS5p Liberal Hero of the Week #63: Andrew Bridgen | CentreForum Blog My 63rd @CentreForum Liberal Hero of the Week is Conservative MP @AndrewBridgenMP. Find out why here: http://bit.ly/1glv33z Hurrah for the Dull and Earnest | Hopi Sen Excellent Hopi Sen take-down of Peter Oborne's bewildering weltenschaung » Hurrah ...
In The Telegraph, Christopher Booker reports on the mass petitioning of the European Parliament about state sponsored child stealing in the UK. This week, for example, a Portuguese Family involved in that protest were arrested. Their case has been widely reported in the Portuguese media including the English Speaking Portuguese Media such as This Story in "Portuguese Resident. On Wednesday
'Liars!' MPs use DNS investigation to accuse Atos over PIP contract (tags: ) The climate change deniers have won (tags: ) Without a shadow of a doubt: Vince Cable should be the Lib Dems' Shadow Chancellor at the 2015 election | Stephen Tall Of course *I* was Vince fangirling before it was cool. Before it was cool the FIRST time. [/hipster] (tags: ) New study shows we work harder when we are happy (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
This recovery wouldn't be happening without the Liberal Democrats in Government. Forming the coalition has provided the country with the stable Government it needs to sort out Labour's financial mess. Liberal Democrat policies are at the heart of the government's economic plan that is delivering jobs and growth. While there is still a lot more to do, we have ensured that growth is back, employment is rising, unemployment is falling and inflation is under control. The Liberal Democrats are committed to building a stronger economy and a fairer society. This Budget boosts fairness by: The Liberal Democrats have fought for ...
[IMG: tuition fees vote] On Friday, the Guardian published an article pointing out that a lot more public money than expected will have to be contributed to tuition fees loans. This has been greeted with a certain amount of glee by the usual suspects. On some level, I can understand the excitement, but nevertheless, it looks like a case of trying hard to have this particular cake and keep eating it. People who used to shout about fees are now upset that after all, the state is putting more money into the system than scaremongered at first: not that this ...
The Dundee Art Society's Spring Exhibition of members' work is running until next Saturday (each day 10am to 5pm). It takes place at the Society's Roseangle Gallery - a map to the venue is available at http://goo.gl/maps/w3OMf.
Over on the Liberal England blog, Jonathan Calder highlights Vince Cable's mastery of the economy brief in his contribution to the debate on the budget. You can read the whole speech by clicking on the link but I thought it worth highlighting some key points from it: 1. Growth is up, unemployment down and inflation down. Labour are accusing us of a "millionaires' tax cut", but when they were in government they argued consistently that any increase in the top rate of tax above 40% would be counterproductive and damaging to the economy. 2. Under Labour the total bankers' bonus ...
Sun 23rd
05:44
Reality check for Welsh Government as UK Economy begins to take off whilst Wales left behind
Speaking during a debate on the economy in the Assembly this Week, I warned against Labour talking down the economy and called on them to redouble their efforts to improve the Welsh economy which is struggling when compared to the wider UK picture. Labour Ministers in the Assembly love nothing more than talking the UK Economy down The truth however is very different. Apprenticeship numbers in England are up, because since 2010 the Liberal Democrats have helped create over 1.6million apprenticeships alongside over 1 million jobs in the economy. Here in Wales the number of apprenticeships is down including an ...
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