Vince Cable stands down as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

But, who is next?

In the last hour one of my old bosses, Vince Cable has stood down as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in order to concentrate on his role as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills within the Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government.

I am delighted that Vince has got such a major role within the coalition government, something he rightly deserves, although it is slightly ironic that he is now in charge of the department he put forward that we should abolish!

Vince is an absolute gentleman and will not have come to this decision lightly.

The text of Vince Cable’s resignation letter to Nick Clegg is below:

Dear Nick,

I am writing to offer my resignation in my role as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

It has been an honour to serve as the Deputy Leader of our party. However, in joining the cabinet I have taken on many new challenges and responsibilities and it is right that I focus wholeheartedly on the job in hand.

These are exciting times to be a Liberal Democrat, and despite all the challenges we face we have a real opportunity to change Britain for the better. There are great opportunities for the party alongside our working in coalition.

I wish my successor all the best in what is a rewarding and important role.

Yours ever,

Vince Cable
 
In response to the letter, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“Vince has been a fantastic Deputy Leader during an exciting time for the party. I look forward to us continuing to work together in government.”

The election for the new Deputy Leader will take place on Wednesday 9 June with Lord (William) Wallace acting as the returning officer.
There will be a formal meeting of the Parliamentary Party on Wednesday 2 June to receive nominations.

Should more than one nomination be forthcoming, hustings will take place at the meeting of the Parliamentary Party on 9 June. The ballot will take place at the end of that meeting, with the result declared thereafter.
 
Now, who should be the next Deputy Leader?  For a start, in my humble opinion, it should not be one of the MPs who is a Minister or in the Cabinet, I know that slims the options down but I really think the back benchers need a voice.
 
I would like to see Michael Moore MP nominated.  Michael is currently the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and I feel would add a lot to the role and would provide Nick Clegg with real support.
 
However, it is not up to me, a mere staffer for the Liberal Democrats.

RBS must cancel bonuses

I am somewhat astounded that the Board of Directors at the Royal Bank of Scotland are being so petty and arrogant at the same time.

Vince Cable MP was right to call their bluff over this and say go on then, quit.

The Directors defence was they have to pay these bonuses out of £1.5billion for them to remain competitive.

I disagree, no-one in the banking community is hiring new staff at the current time and secondly, if the Board of Directors had kept their finger on the pulse and run their bank responsibly they wouldn't have needed the massive public funded bailout resulting in the British taxpayer owning 70% of the bank.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer should have a vote in this and the right to veto these outrageous bonuses.

I don't give a damn if these bonuses are tied into the members of staffs contracts or conditions of service, bonuses should be paid as a reward for good work. How do the Directors justify these bonuses this year?

I appreciate the staff within the investment arm have generated £6billion of profit, but perhaps the bonus should therefore only be assessed on 30% of that amount?

The entire board of Directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland cannot in practice all quit at the same time. The Financial Services Authority would not allow this to happen, but the directors would be able to announce a collective intention to quit, so that replacements could be found in an organised manner.

And the final word goes to my former boss, Vince Cable MP, the Liberal Democrats Shadow Chancellor who said; "I would welcome their resignations, as the bank cannot hold the taxpayer to ransom.

"As a state run bank, the Government must finally take control and ensure that both its pay and lending practices are in the public interest."

As usual on these matters it is only the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable talking sense.

Labour Government fail Equitable Life policy holders

I appreciate that neither the Government nor the main Opposition Party are going to want to be seen supporting a Liberal Democrats Opposition day debate or motion, however, the two topics that Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats chose have only highlighted the sheer hypocricy on the other benches.

Back in 2001 when I worked for Vince Cable as his Parliamentary Researcher the Equitable Life story broke and Vince's inbox and intray just filled and filled up with heartbreaking correspondence from people who had lost everything.

Every time Vince got up and spoke in a debate or in one of his many Adjournment Debates or even just a series of Parliamentary Questions people wrote in, emailed and telephoned, in their hundreds and thousands (I kid you not, ask the rest of Vince's team) with more stories.

This is a topic Vince has never let go since then, every year Vince has kept fighting for the Equitable Life policy holders and in May this year Tabled another Early Day Motion, number 1423 this time, the text of the Motion is below;

That this House notes the Parliamentary Ombudsman has taken the unusual step of using powers under the 1967 Act to present Parliament with a further and final report on Equitable Life; also notes that the Public Administration Select Committee's second report on Equitable Life, Justice denied? concluded that the Government response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report was inadequate as a remedy for injustice; recognises the vital role the Ombudsman plays in public life; reaffirms the duty of Parliament to support the office of the Ombudsman; believes the Government should accept the recommendations of the Ombudsman on compensating policyholders who have suffered loss; welcomes the formation of the All-Party Group on Justice for Equitable Life Policyholders; and notes with regret its necessary formation and the fact that over 30,000 people have already died waiting for a just resolution to this saga.

As you will see from the very last line over 30,000 policy holders have died in the time the Labour Government has been dealing (badly) with this issue.

342 MPs signed Vince Cable's EDM 1423 in May 2009 and yet just five months later many of those turned their backs on the very same policy holders they claim they are on the side of and defeated the Liberal Democrats motion this week.

The Motion was defeated by just 25 votes.

Of the 342 who signed the Motion in May, 79 then voted against the Liberal Democrats Motion this week, however one of those 79, Derek Wyatt was actually one of the 6 proposers of EDM 1423.

So, yes those 79 who were supportive of the EDM could have voted Aye with the Liberal Democrats and not only defeated the Government but much, much more importantly than that, they could have stood up for the Equitable Life policy holders - not only should they be ashamed of themselves they are nothing more than hypocrites, and they are;

Derek Wyatt (Labour - Sittingbourne & Sheppey), Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington), Nick Ainger (Labour - Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire), David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon), Janet Anderson Labour - Rossendale and Darwen), Charlotte Atkins (Labour - Staffordshire Moorlands), Hugh Bayley (Labour - City of York), Anne Begg (Labour - Aberdeen South), Roger Berry (Labour - Kingswood), David S Borrow (Labour - South Ribble), Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham Northfield), Colin Burgon (Labour - Elmet), Richard Caborn (Labour - Sheffield Central), David Cairns (Labour - Inverclyde), Ronnie Campbell (Labour - Blyth Valley), Colin Challen (Labour - Morley & Rothwell), Ben Chapman (Labour - Wirral South), Michael Clapham (Labour - Barnsley West & Penistone), Katy Clark (Labour - Ayrshire North & Arran), Tom Clarke (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill), Michael Connarty (Labour - Linlithgow & Falkirk East), Frank Cook (Labour - Stockton North), David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East), Ann Cryer (Labour - Keighley), John Cummings (Labour - Easington), Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South), Janet Dean (Labour - Burton), Jim Dobbin (Labour - Heywood & Middleton), Frank Dobson (Labour - Holborn & St. Pancras), Bill Etherington (Labour - Sunderland North), Mark Fisher (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent Central), Hywel Francis (Labour - Aberavon), Mike Gapes (Labour - Ilford South), Neil Gerrard (Labour - Walthamstow), Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Sparkbrook & Small Heath), David Hamilton (Labour - Midlothian), Fabian Hamilton (Labour - North East Leeds), Tom Harris (Labour - Glasgow South), Doug Henderson (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North), Stephen Hepburn (Labour - Jarrow), Stephen Hesford (Labour - Wirral West), David Heyes (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne), George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley North & Sefton East), Kim Howells (Labour - Pontypridd), Joan Humble (Labour - Blackpool North & Fleetwood), Eric Illsley (Labour - Barnsley Central), Brian Jenkins (Labour - Tamworth), Martyn Jones (Labour - Clwyd South), Gerald Kaufman (Labour - Manchester, Gorton), Sally Keeble (Labour - Northampton North), Ashok Kumar (Labour - Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland), Bob Laxton (Labour - Derby North), Martin Linton (Labour - Battersea), Andrew Love (Labour - Edmonton), Chris McCafferty (Labour - Calder Valley), Andrew Miller (Labour - Ellesmere Port & Neston), Elliot Morley (Labour - Scunthorpe), Paul Murphy (Labour - Torfaen), Bill Olner (Labour - Nuneaton), Sandra Osborne (Labour - Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock), James Plaskitt (Labour - Warwick & Leamington), Greg Pope (Labour - Hyndburn), Gwyn Prosser (Labour - Dover), Linda Riordan (Labour - Halifax), Geoffrey Robinson (Labour - Coventry North West), Joan Ryan (Labour - Enfield North), Martin Salter (Labour - Reading West), Marsha Singh (Labour - Bradford West), Andy Slaughter (Labour - Ealing, Acton & Shepherd's Bush), Angela C Smith (Labour - Sheffield Hillsborough), Geraldine Smith (Labour - Morecambe & Lunesdale), Peter Soulsby (Labour - Leicester South), Howard Stoate (Labour - Dartford), Graham Stringer (Labour - Manchester, Blackley), Dari Taylor (Labour - Stockton South), David Taylor (Labour - North West Leicestershire), Desmond Turner (Labour - Brighton, Kemptown) and Joan Walley (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North).

All 79 of these MPs are Labour MPs and if you live in their constituency, I would urge you to conatct them to ask why they are being hypocritical on this extremely important matter?

Use WriteToThe.com to contact them, it is really easy to use.

Prince Andrew defends Bankers Bonuses

So, a privileged member of the Royal Family (and no I am in no way a Republican) is defending the bonuses for bankers by calling them minute in the scheme of things!

Minute - since when was £105,000 minute?

Come on HRH, get with the programme, that would take the average person 10 years to accrue if they didn't spend their salary on anything else, but because you work for somewhere like Goldman Sachs you get £105,000+ on top just because...well if you are one of the 31,000 people working at Goldman Sachs, that is the average bonus payment due to you.

Banks are predicting paying out £6billion of bonuses in 2009, compared to just £4billion in 2008. In other words people in the banking industry have not learnt anything in the last year, despite banks going to the wall, despite banks increasing charges to ordinary account holders like me, despite part nationalisation of the banks and despite tens of thousands of people across the UK being made redundant by the banks, they are actually going to increase the bonuses they payout, so less staff, and less branches yet £2billion more in bonuses.

Pigs in troughs is what springs to mind and Prince Andrew is obviously not in touch with the real world.

In fact, on Wednesday a White House spokesperson has said of bonuses: "Pay on Wall Street can't return to the speculative era that we saw last, specifically right before the economic collapse..." and added "Pay has to be based on a reasonable assumption of risk, not speculation."

The Liberal Democrats Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Vince Cable MP said: “People will be rightly furious to see Goldman Sachs paying out bumper bonuses just 12 months after it was bailed out by the US government.

“It is farcical that so soon after the reckless greed of bankers brought the world economy to its knees, we are seeing a return to business as usual.

“There is a fundamental problem that the banks which made it through the credit crunch can now operate in a near monopoly, with government backing, and reap massive profits.

“Bankers should spare a thought for taxpayers who bailed the system out, some of whom no longer have jobs.”

Vince as usual is absolutely spot on with this and Prince Andrew should keep his nose out of this one and leave it to those who know what they are actually talking about such as Vince Cable and rich people defending even richer people is hardly a great shock!

Lib Dems radical reform versus Labour's 10% cuts versus Tory Defence & job cuts

So, finally the "C" word is out in the open, cuts, cuts, cuts.

We all knew it was coming. Vince Cable was first out of the blocks with his pamphlet 'Tackling the Fiscal Crisis: A recovery plan for the UK'. Vince outlined nine specific areas of potential savings that are identified as a start to a radical programme of reform, with the emphasis on controlling public spending, not higher taxes.

Today's Scotsman has a fantastic editorial where it says "....we can only hope that both Mr Brown and ....David Cameron, are as honest as Mr Cable has been." "....the Liberal Democrats, has been the most candid with voters."

Yesterday saw Gordon Brown outline his latest vision at the TUC conference in Liverpool, outlining spending cuts had to be made, but fell short of actually stating where the axe may fall - "Labour will cut costs, cut inefficiencies, cut unnecessary programmes and cut lower-priority budgets."

Then the Tories, the same old Tories, I am astounded about the way they have got away with their sheer arrogance on MPs expenses, moats, duck houses and hundreds of thousands repaid because they over claimed.

In today's Scotsman we see that they will treat Scotland with sheer contempt, try and win a handful of seats up here and then along with their independence obsessed bedfellows the SNP they will crap from a great height.

4,600 jobs in the Clyde shipyards are dependent on the construction of the aircraft carriers, but this contract may be under threat if the Tories win George Osborne suggested yesterday. He is will also look at the euro fighter, which will be based at RAF Leuchars in Fife, so more jobs threatened there then.

Instead of these stupid suggestions why not be bold as Nick Clegg has been and declare that we will not renew Britain's trident system - and spend that money where it is needed not where politicians think it is needed.

Cuts, cuts and more cuts - fine but let us see a well thought out spending review and proposals.

At the current time, it is only Nick Clegg and Vince Cable who are daring to think, and then talk about the unthinkable. That is brave.

Election Night Fever - a thing of the past?

The first election that I got deeply involved in the campaign management for was Vince Cable's 2001 General Election campaign when I was his Agent. I remember it like it was yesterday for very many reasons, the main one was that this was very likely to be Vince's wife Olympia's last election. It turned out to be right, she lost her fight against breast cancer just days after Vince's victory.

Anyway Councillor Stephen Knight, who was the literature guru and I didn't finish the printing of the Good Morning leaflets until 2.30am on what was now polling day (Stephen and I made a great team) and then I recall Malinda knocking on the office door at 4.30am to get me out of bed (yes I was sleeping in the office for the final week) and to get the office ready for everyone coming in to start the deliveries.

Then the day continued on until before you know it, it is 10pm, polls are closed and then the count team was off to the college where both counts were taking place, for Twickenham and for Richmond Park. We had issues with Polling Station staff during the day, there was a war of words between the Tory Agent and myself - I won - but it is all part of the day.

This was my first count so I was a little nervous although I had a great and experienced team with me. Both BBC and ITV were trying to get the result first and both were desperate to persuade me to tell them - the BBC won that evening and had the win up on screen a good 5 minutes before any result was discussed with the Agents!

Jonny Oates was in the other half of the college sports hall as Jenny Tonge's Agent, we then all piled back to the Twickenham office to celebrate after Vince had finished all of his interviews and a visit home to see Olympia. Jonny and I then went over to Kingston & Surbiton where Ed Davey and his Agent, Belinda Eyre-Brook had pulled off an amazing result, although I was happy that we had reduced the Tories to their worst result since the second world war.

Belinda, Jonny and I sat in Fishponds Park in Surbiton supping champagne at 8am in the morning and by then we had all been up around 28 hours. We had sat up all night (I drifted off, allegedly) watching the results coming in, cheering the Lib Dem gains contemplating whether we would hold Romsey - we did - and made other gains, plus some losses, it is emotion at its very best.

You maybe wondering what the hell this is all about, well election night is under threat, it is under threat from Councils who feel it is better to wait until the Friday to count the votes, I have never heard such nonsense.

There are already Councils with reputations for being slow, this is taking the biscuit. The General Election result is important for many reasons, whether it be political parties in individual seats or watching the formation of a new government.

It is traditional to have the results announced on Thursday night and can you imagine the news coverage, it would start pre the polls closing on the Thursday night and not end until sometime on Friday lunchtime. Where on earth will the commentators and politicians come from for that length of coverage.

If you support the call to keep the traditional election night on the Thursday and you are on Facebook, join the cross party group now and add your voice.

Clegg leads the way (again) and Cameron plays catch up

Many of my regular readers may have heard of Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com, wheeled out as a consumer champion mainly on GMTV but on other TV shows as well.

Martin Lewis is the man behind challenging unfair bank charges and he had written an open letter to David Cameron in July. Nick Clegg knew about this as he is on the Money Saving Expert's regular email list and was quick off the mark with Vince Cable in sending a reply.

So, before Cameron had replied Nick and Vince sent an open letter of support for the campaign, read it here, as you can see they are going to table a Motion in Parliament and champion this campaign.

Two weeks later, yes two weeks after Nick had already pledged the support including on his own website, David Cameron then replied.

Direct from MoneySavingExpert.com "Cameron's commitment comes two weeks after Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg who, after spotting the letter as one of the 3.5 million recipients of the site's weekly e-mail, agreed to table a motion calling for automatic payouts, if charges are ruled unfair."

So yet again, Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems lead and David Cameron plays catch up.

For those of you who think you have paid unfair bank charges and feel you may be able to get something back, then visit the website here and read all about it.

I've done my claim, a long while back and it is all awaiting a court decision now but that is why as Nick Clegg said the pressure must be kept up on the banks who are continuously over charging for letters and other services unfairly.

Scottish Lib Dem conference at Perth

I am sat here on Saturday evening while the Euro campaign fundraising dinner is taking place, where new Federal Party President, Ros Scott is the guest speaker and Ross Finnie MSP is the Master of Ceremonies.

During the course of today, yesterday and also tomorrow we have run a whole host of training modules and briefings for local party officers and we have had a great response.

I attended the Liberal Youth quiz last night with three quiz masters, Alistair Carmichael MP, top candidate Katy Gordon and Hugh O'Donnell MSP - a great night was had by all and the ballroom at The Royal George Hotel was throbbing.

The Liberal Youth group in Scotland led by Tom Maidwell are fantastic and really do deserve our full support here across Scotland. They have groups here at Perth this weekend from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Glasgow plus others.

This conference has been amazing but I only made it into the hall once and that was this evening for a fringe event by SAMH on mental health issues.

Tomorrow, I will be able to actually venture into the main hall again to watch a debate. Chris Rennard, Hilary Stephenson plus other senior Lib Dems have been here this weekend and of course, covering for Nick Clegg on paternity leave was my former boss and Deputy Federal Leader Vince Cable.

Vince, as always has been fantastic and the Scottish media have been running after Vince all weekend - Vince thank you for coming up (again) and I know you are back up here next month helping out as always.

I will do a final summation tomorrow but a fantastic weekend!

Holyrood Budget Drama

So, the SNP Government - sorry, the SNP propped up by the Tories Government - has failed to get it's budget through Holyrood today.

The Lib Dems have (consistently) warned the SNP that this Budget was an inadequate response to the economic situation currently facing facing Scotland and it's residents.

Today we did see the Labour and Green Party MSPs voting against the budget, despite attacking us two weeks ago for doing the very same thing, however we welcome the fact that they have now seen sense and it is one u-turn I welcome.

I recognise it is important for a Scottish Budget to be passed - however it is more important that the Budget is the right one for our times. It is the duty of Ministers to come back to Parliament with a Budget that can make a real difference to Scotland.

Gordon Brown's VAT cut was just a waste of space but also, let's take this back further to when Vince Cable MP was predicting these turbulent times and even then both Labour and the Conservatives across the UK just dismissed his comments and views - yet now all economic commentators are saying we should have listened to Vince and the Lib Dems.

Let's be clear. This is not the West Wing. There is no immediate threat to public services. The current year's Budget continues to operate and can sustain public services indefinitely. But, evidently, it is a matter that is better sorted sooner rather than later.

These are unprecedented times. Unemployment is at its highest level for 12 years; job losses are escalating; Government borrowing is at record levels; the pound is at a 25-year low against the dollar and approaching parity with the Euro; and today's shocking Scottish GDP figures should ring alarm bells very loudly in the Salmond & Swinney offices.

Yet the SNP budget put to the Scottish Parliament for consideration today was only one per cent different from their original Budget of 2007. A variation of one per cent forms the weakest response of any Western European Government, national or devolved, to the economic difficulties we face in 2009.

The SNP budget, supported by the Conservatives, was woefully inadequate and the Liberal Democrat MSPs simply could not support measures that do not respond to the ferocity of the economic storm. We have repeatedly proposed a 2p income tax cut that would put £330 in the pockets of every low and medium earner in Scotland. It would be a real help to struggling families and individuals when they need it most.

Today, an economic analysis from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre shows that our income tax proposal would support 9,200 direct and indirect jobs.

Remember what the Scotsman also wrote recently: "The only serious budget proposal to boost the economy is a 2p income tax cut put forward by the Lib Dems".

We aren't being awkward or just opposing for the sake of it, this is about standing up for the people of Scotland and putting money into their pocket so they spend more moving the economy onwards and upwards.

I've also bought a piece of land by Heathrow

Greenpeace have bought a plot of land right by where the proposed third runway would be at Heathrow. They are splitting this piece of land between 'beneficiary owners' who don't have to pay anything but will be signing up to show support.

I've signed up - as have Susan Kramer MP, Jo Swinson MP, Lynne Featherstone MP, Sandra Gidley MP and Simon Hughes MP - as have thousands of others.

So if you're interested and want to help stop Gordon Brown's Government embarking on this absolutely stupid decision to build a 3rd runway at Heathrow, visit the Greenpeace site.

I worked in Twickenham for Vince Cable for three years so I know first hand what damage this expansion would do, not just all the obvious environmental arguments, but the increased traffic - the local roads hardly cope now and the increased noise.

I recall the days when Concord used to land and take off, not only could you set your clock by it but the windows rattled and your ears knew about it, now I know that the planes used today aren't as loud as that, but what impact does the constant noise of planes landing and taking off have on the average person who lives within a few miles of Heathrow like my friends and residents in places like Twickenham?

42 days to go.......

First a Happy New Year to both my blog readers, lets hope this year my readership grows.

Yes, it is just 42 days to go or P-42, until I am no longer 39 - enough said, not enough therapy as yet.

Brian Paddick has had another great interview read or listen here. Ken, you have a fight on your hands this time, okay not between you and the Conservatives this time but in fact from the Liberal Democrats. Boris will trip up, he always does, and to be hoest shouldn't he be busy anyway as the MP for Henley, a full time job if being done properly - I should know, I have workrd for three extremely hard working MPs, Vince Cable, Simon Hughes and Lynne Featherstone.

So, on May 1st Londoners will have a choice of people for Mayor, Brian Paddick, who is serious about London and Londoners or Ken who has had 8 years of tax rises and the largest number of spin doctors - including more than Downing Street itself - what an achievement Ken!