Posts Tagged “nick clegg”
What Vince Cable said about teachers – and, more importantly, what he meant
by Stephen Tall on March 6, 2014
“Teachers know absolutely nothing about the world of work.” That’s what Vince said if you believe today’s newspaper headlines. And they’re right, he did use those words. But what the newspapers are choosing to ignore is what he meant by them. Here’s the full quote, from a question-and-answer session about how best to improve the […]
Lib Dems as ‘The Party of IN’ – Clegg’s pro-European strategy starts to pay off
by Stephen Tall on March 5, 2014
Kudos to Nick Clegg and his team, including his director of strategy Ryan Coetzee. The gambit of issuing a personal challenge to Nigel Farage to debate Nick on Europe has been accepted not only by the Ukip leader, but also now by the media. As Caron Lindsay reported here this morning – #NickvNigel – We […]
BBC: Accused Weymouth councillor joins Lib Dem ‘coalition’
by Stephen Tall on March 2, 2014
A pretty unbelievable story from Dorset, as reported by the BBC: A new coalition has been formed by Liberal Democrat councillors to include a member suspended from the party while he faces child sex charges. Weymouth and Portland councillor Ryan Hope was forced to stand down from the party last month after the intervention of […]
Eastleigh one year on: the by-election which secured Nick Clegg’s leadership
by Stephen Tall on February 28, 2014
A year ago today, Mike Thornton was declared the new Lib Dem MP for Eastleigh. I’ve just been re-reading my first reflections on the result, written minutes after Mike’s narrow victory over Ukip was confirmed. As I pointed out then, despite the horrendous circumstances surrounding the by-election – Chris Huhne’s resignation, the allegations against Chris […]
FT: “For nearly four years, Britain has been served reasonably well by multi-party government”
by Stephen Tall on February 27, 2014
On Tuesday, it was reported that David Cameron wanted to rule out the possibility of a second Lib-Con coalition in the event of another hung parliament. This tit was matched by an equivalent tat from the left, when Unite leader Len Mclusky urged Labour to do the same. Today’s Financial Times leader attempts to inject […]
Cameron to “rule out second Lib-Con coalition” claims Telegraph. It may be a bluff but that doesn’t mean he won’t be forced to do it.
by Stephen Tall on February 25, 2014
Today’s Telegraph splashes on the claim that David Cameron is preparing to rule out the possibility of a second Coalition with the Lib Dems if the Tories are the largest single party but lack a majority: The Prime Minister wants to make a commitment in the Conservative Party election manifesto not to sign a second […]
Clegg v Farage: why Nick needs Nigel
by Stephen Tall on February 20, 2014
Some smart stuff from Nick Clegg this morning, issuing a direct challenge to Ukip’s Nigel Farage to debate him on Europe. For starters, it seizes the initiative. Nick’s been ambushed often enough on his radio phone-in show, Call Clegg, with the producers lining up disgusted ex-Lib Dem members, and folk like Boris Johnson and Cathy […]
Après Nick: which Lib Dem MPs are best-placed to become the next Lib Dem leader?
by Stephen Tall on February 16, 2014
Today’s Independent has an interesting story speculating on the Lib Dem leadership contest to come if the 2015 election result triggers Nick Clegg’s resignation. It’s one of the features of this parliament – perhaps linked to it being a fixed-term in which we know the dates are all known – that there hasn’t been nearly […]
Nick Clegg: “If you are anti-drugs, you should be pro-reform”
by Stephen Tall on February 9, 2014
The message may not be new – Nick Clegg first declared that “If you are anti-drugs, you should be pro-reform” back in December 2012 – but that’s no reason not to welcome the Lib Dem leader’s re-statement that urgent reform of the UK’s drugs laws is needed. It’s the splash in today’s Observer, which reports: […]
Free school lunches for infants: 60% of Lib Dems back Nick Clegg’s policy
by Stephen Tall on February 3, 2014
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 750 party members responded – thank you – and we’ve been publishing the full results. (There were a couple of results I ran out of time […]
