Ten tips for the Liberal Democrats - members, voters and activists alike

Contrary to what many believe, the Lib Dems were right to choose coalition, and can remain a distinctive force.

Julian Glover writes for The Guardian.

Liberal Democrats are not short of advice. Mostly from outsiders. Mostly from people who find it odd that anyone should choose to be a Lib Dem activist and who never expected to see the party in power. Naturally, they see the coalition as an aberration and many expect it to fail.

Here, in no particular order, are 10 thoughts as to how Lib Dems might prove the doubters wrong, as they consider their identity and try to establish a distinctive message.

1) Don't panic. There is no crisis. Don't believe people who tell you that there is. The polls are poor, not catastrophic – 16% in the last Guardian/ICM survey is the same as the party scored in early 2009. The Lib Dem conference was the calmest and most successful of the three. Most Lib Dems believe that joining the coalition was the right thing to do – which isn't the same as approving of all its consequences. There's an impressive determination to make it work. What's striking is not the scale of dissent – but how little there is.

2) However, there is a Nick problem. It's partly unavoidable, but all those pictures of Nick Clegg sitting alongside David Cameron at PMQs and slapping George Osborne on the back have stopped reassuring us that the coalition is real and started reminding us he looks like a Tory. Or, if not that, then just another politician. He's got to take care not to be a backdrop to Cameron. He needs to find causes of his own. Get out of the bubble. Do real things. Don't get downhearted or isolated by hostile coverage.

3) Oh, and win the AV referendum. It's not impossible. And if not that, then at least win the public over to coalition government. It's happening: voters like co-operation and they see the Lib Dems as a moderating force. In 2015 the message should be: like the coalition and want it to continue? Then you'll have to vote Lib Dem.

For points 4 to 10, please read Julian Glover's full piece at The Guardian website HERE.

My advice in Scotland is do not write our party off, we are fighting and will not just roll over as people like Jim Murphy believe.  Write us off at your peril.

Conservative Minister to address the Liberal Democrat Conference this weekend

The Housing Minister, Conservative MP, Grant Shapps is to be the key note speaker at a fringe meeting hosted by Shelter and CentreForum called, What will the legacy of the economic downturn be for housing?

This will offer a real insight to what the Conservative Party is really thinking (I hope), well certainly on housing anyway.

Has the economic crisis really made us think any differently about the housing market, is it time we started to take the private rented sector more seriously, and will house-building ever recover?

The speakers will consider how, in a tight public spending environment, we can justify spending money on housing and how, in a competitive political environment, we can push housing up the agenda.

In my opinion as one of those trapped in the private renting sector currently while house prices in Scotland continue to rise, housing is one of the topics that needs to be addressed by the Liberal Democrats in Government, so this is a fringe meeting I certainly hope to attend.

The speakers at this fringe meeting on Sunday 19th September, 8pm - 9.15pm held in the ACC, Hall 1C are Grant Shapps MP, Conservative Housing Minister, Campbell Robb, Shelter and Councillor Richard Kemp, Local Government Association with Chris Nicholson, CentreForum in the Chair.

Hopefully this will be interesting for people to have a chance to hear and question one of the Conservatives within the Coalition at our own conference.

I may well add to this post when I am a little more awake.

David Miliband does not understand the Liberal Democrats or their voters

The Labour leadership race has highlighted the sheer hypocritical views that the five contenders have.

They voted for the illegal war in Iraq to take place and for the billions of pounds to be spent wasted on that same war and yet now they want to be leader some of them have distanced themselves so far away from the decision you would think they voted with the Liberal Democrats at the time.

More recently we have seen the blatant lies and sheer hypocrisy about the reorganisation of NHS24, being replaced by NHS111, despite this being a Labour Party manifesto pledge both John Prescott and Andy Burnham went on the attack against the Liberal Democrats/Conservative coalition government.

They are taking people for fools in opposition in much the same way as they did in Government and unfortunately many people are still believing their shameful lies.

How do these Labour politicians live with themselves when they blatantly try to deny the last thirteen years when they were in government?

Well today we see David Miliband interviewed on Politics.co.uk and already we see he has no understanding of the Liberal Democrats nor of their core supporters.

Mr Miliband believes Lib Dem tensions hold the key to bringing down the government, but his comments may come as a surprise to the party's left-wing figurehead Jon Cruddas, who endorsed David Miliband over Ed Miliband last month.

Jon Cruddas said just last month;

"Attacking the Liberals is wrong. There's a danger of us spraying too much lead across the forecourt and not really thinking about how we need to regroup,"

Liberal Democrats and their voters know that they disagree with some of the announcements made by the conservative part of the coalition government, however they also know that things would be much, much more right wing if the Liberal Democrats were not part of this coalition government.

900,000 people will no longer pay income tax, the ending of child detention and reform of the political system with a referendum on fairer votes for starters.

Going into the election the Liberal Democrats made clear that they had four key priorities: fairer taxes; a fair start for children with extra funding for disadvantaged pupils; a comprehensive clean up of our politics, including a fairer voting system; and a green, sustainable economy.


Thanks to Lib Dem involvement, the Coalition Government will deliver on each of these.

There are also a large number of other Lib Dem policies and pledges that will now begin to make a real, positive difference to people’s lives because of our role in the Coalition Government.
These include everything from rolling back the surveillance state and giving people back their civil liberties, to prison and NHS reforms, fairer pensions, the ending of child detention and the scrapping of the third runway at Heathrow.

You can read more about what the Liberal Democrats in Government have achieved HERE.
 
So, David Miliband we will not take lessons from you with your 13 years amnesia problem nor will you split our Party.

Nick Clegg at the Despatch Box and the first ten weeks of Lib Dems in Government

Wow, a Liberal Democrat at the Despatch Box answering Prime Ministers Questions for the first time since 1922 and it was Nick Clegg, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister doing that historic event today, and he did well, you can watch it here.

It is a great pity that the Rising of the House has been brought forward from next Thursday to Tuesday, perhaps David Cameron was nervous Nick would do well and didn't want to give him that second opportunity?

Labour have been attacking Lib Dems all day today saying that it wasn't 1922 when a Liberal last answered questions, so here is the history.

The modern type of Prime minister’s Questions only dates from 1961.  Lloyd George was the most recent Prime Minister to be a Liberal at that time (Churchill having joined the Conservatives before being PM).

 

The Coalition fell in October 1922 but the house rose in August.  On 4 August questions that had been addressed to the Prime Minister were answered by Neville Chamberlain, (presumably Lloyd George was absent).  On 3 August he answered the questions himself.

 

You can read those answers here.

 

Nick Clegg took a range of questions from MPs across the House, there were a couple of the obvious planted questions but they have always happened under all Governments and you can still spot the Labour ones.

Jack Straw was a disappointment in some respects, I thought his questions and points were quite rambling.

What Nick Clegg did manage to achieve, despite the Speaker's best attempts to thwart it, was to explain some of the Liberal Democrat achievements under the Coalition Agreement.

In just 10 weeks since the start of the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats have exerted a huge influence over its agenda.


Going into the election the Liberal Democrats made clear that they had four key priorities: fairer taxes; a fair start for children with extra funding for disadvantaged pupils; a comprehensive clean up of our politics, including a fairer voting system; and a green, sustainable economy.

Thanks to Lib Dem involvement, the Coalition Government will deliver on each of these.

There are also a large number of other Lib Dem policies and pledges that will now begin to make a real, positive difference to people’s lives because of our role in the Coalition Government.

These include everything from rolling back the surveillance state and giving people back their civil liberties, to prison and NHS reforms, fairer pensions, the ending of child detention and the scrapping of the third runway at Heathrow.
 
Delivering on our promises

 

Fairer taxes

 

The Liberal Democrats promised to make the tax system fairer by ensuring no one pays tax on the first £10,000 they earn and closing loopholes that allow the wealthy to pay a smaller proportion of their income in tax than people on low and middle incomes.

 

The Coalition Government has already taken a huge step towards achieving this by raising the income tax threshold by £1,000 in last month’s Budget, saving low and middle earners £200 a year, and reforming Capital Gains Tax. The income tax threshold will continue to be increased every year during this Parliament.

 

The Liberal Democrats also promised to restore the earnings link to pensions, which the Government will now do.

 

We also promised wide scale banking reform, including a banking levy to make sure that banks pay for the financial support they received from the taxpayer. The levy, which will raise £2.5bn, was announced in the Budget.

 

A fair start for children

 

The Liberal Democrats promised to introduce a Pupil Premium to target extra money at disadvantaged children. The Coalition Agreement makes clear that this will now happen.

 

We also promised greater freedoms for teachers over the curriculum, which will also be brought in as a key part of the Coalition’s education reforms.

 

Fair politics

 

The Liberal Democrats promised a comprehensive clean up of the rotten political system. This is now a key part of the Coalition’s agenda for which Nick Clegg has responsibility.

 

The plans include:

• A referendum on the Alternative Vote to take place in May 2011
• The right to sack MPs guilty of serious misconduct
• Fixed term parliaments of five years
• Reform of party funding
• Moving towards an elected House of Lords, elected by proportional representation
• A statutory register of lobbyists
• A radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government and community groups

A green, sustainable economy

 

The Liberal Democrats promised a raft of policies to help the economy recover and make sure that we build a new green and sustainable economy fit for the 21st century.

 

A huge number of these policies will now become a reality, including:

• Tough action to tackle the deficit
• The creation of a green investment bank
• Reform of the banking system to make sure that banks lend to viable British businesses
• An independent commission on separating investment and retail banking
• Measures to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses
• Support for low carbon energy production and an increase the target for energy from renewable sources
• Enabling the creation of a national high speed rail network
• The creation of a smart electricity grid and the roll-out of smart meters
• The establishment of an emissions performance standard that will prevent coal-fired power stations being built unless they are equipped with Carbon Capture and Storage Technology
• Replacing Air Passenger Duty with a per-plane duty
• The provision of a floor price for carbon, as well as working to persuade the EU to move towards full auctioning of ETS permits

Other Lib Dem policies that will now become a reality.

 

The Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for the restoration of freedoms and civil liberties eroded under Labour and the rolling back of the surveillance state. A huge number of Lib Dem policies will now happen, including:

• The abolition of Identity Cards, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the ContactPoint Database
• The repeal of unnecessary laws
• Further regulation of CCTV
• The outlawing of finger-printing of children at school without permission
• Extending the Freedom of Information Act
• Ending child detention for immigration purposes
• Removal of innocent people from the DNA database

There are also a host of other Lib Dem policies that will now happen under the Coalition Government. These include:

• Fair compensation for Equitable Life victims
• The modernisation of the Royal Mail
• Flexible working and promotion of equal pay
• Reform of the NHS to strengthen the voices of patients and the role of doctors
• A commission on long-term reform of social care
• Cutting Quangos and government bureaucracy
• Implementing the recommendations of the Calman Commission on Scottish devolution
• A referendum on further powers for the Welsh Assembly

Peter Mandelson's resignation forces Harriet Harman to reshuffle

Yesterday as the world watched the new Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government announce the full details of the coalition agreement, Alex Salmond shouting at Iain Gray or even Annabel Goldie moving deck chairs around there were two quiet resignations.

Lords Peter Mandelson and Andrew Adonis yesterday both quit the Labour shadow cabinet.

On any other day these resignations would have been major news, I have to confess I didn't even notice them despite being on twitter and having my nose in the news websites all day.

What is also surprising is the, quite honestly pathetic, reasons given for them quitting.

Labour said it was "very difficult" to act as a shadow cabinet minister from the House of Lords.


WHAT!?

How is it possible to be more difficult now as a shadow minister than when they were the actual cabinet ministers?
 
When it suited Labour to have the Government Ministers sitting in the House of Lords it seemed to work fine, now it no longer suits them, the shadow ministers jump like rats jumping from a sinking ship.
 
I am sorry this is more about Peter Mandelson retiring from Labour politics isn't it?  He realises that because of the new politics of the coalition government, Labour are now going to be out in the wilderness for at least a decade and he doesn't want to hang around that long.
 
I suppose he can look back with pride, this is the third time he has quit front bench politics, however it is the first time it was his own choice though.

Child detention at Dungavel finishes under new Lib Dem - Conservative coalition government

So, the Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government has stuck to it's word and ended child detention at Dungavel.

Fantastic, and well done Tavish Scott for raising it at First Ministers Question's last Thursday.

This shows what can be achieved when people work together towards a set of objectives.  This was a Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment and unlike the SNP who are now infamous for performing u-turns on their 2007 manifesto commitments we have not performed a u-turn but instead have delivered on that pledge.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said the new policy was being introduced "with immediate effect".

Families with children detained in Scotland may still undergo initial health and welfare screening at Dungavel, in Lanarkshire, but will then be moved to Yarl's Wood in Bedfordhsire.

Last week, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott described the detention of children at Dungavel as "shameful" and praised the new coalition government's commitment to bringing it to an end.
The Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government has already announced the launch of a comprehensive review of alternatives to child detention, including opening a dialogue with relevant stakeholders, organisations and experts across the UK.

This work has now started, because it is in all our interests, including those children who find themselves currently in detention, to do it quickly, but to also do it safely and thoroughly.

Liberal Democrats on the Government benches

Today, Liberal Democrats sat in the House of Commons but instead of the Oppositions benches as before this time it was on the Government benches as the picture below shows.

I will be honest, upto a few months ago this is a scene I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime, however since Chris Fox's arrival as the new Chief Executive the Party has started to believe a lot more and challenge others views.

We are no longer the third party, we are the Liberal Democrats and we are in Government, although it is a coalition, we are still in a position now to start delivering on our manifesto commitments and ensuring Britain becomes a better place.