Lib Dem rebels get ready to challenge Clegg on NHS

Nick Clegg is facing possible defeat over the government’s NHS changes at his spring party conference next weekend when a heavyweight group of Liberal Democrat figures table an amendment opposing the “damaging and unjustified market-based approach”. Evan Harris, a doctor and former MP and vice-chair of the party’s ruling federal policy committee, will table the amendment, supported by the former cabinet minister Lady Williams, registering their concerns that the current legislation will lead to a widening of UK health inequalities if left unchecked. The government is proposing to give GPs control of more than 80% of the £100bn NHS budget at the same time as driving through efficiency savings of £20bn. The package includes the abolition of primary care trusts. Defeat at his own conference on a central plank of the government’s public service reform agenda would mean Clegg would have to choose between ignoring a vote by his grassroots and negotiating concessions from the prime minister. – the Guardian

Clegg forced into internal fire fighting

Nick Clegg is engaged in a series of last-minute talks with senior Liberal Democrats in an attempt to head off a rebellion at the party’s spring conference in Sheffield next week. Mr Clegg has met a number of backbench MPs, council leaders and peers to shore up his support and limit the damage from Thursday’s disastrous by-election result in Barnsley. The Liberal Democrat leadership fears that anxiety over the party’s poor poll ratings and the prospect of losing control of several large city councils in May’s local elections could spill over into open revolt. It is expecting rank-and-file rebellions over the Coalition’s NHS reform policy and condemnation from the floor over tuition fees. On top of that, thousands of union members and student protesters are set to picket the conference, which will be particularly embarrassing for Mr Clegg as he is a Sheffield MP. One of those Mr Clegg is understood to have met is Greg Mulholland, the head of the newly formed Liberal Democrat Backbench Group. He has also spoken with Warren Bradley, the Liberal Democrat leader of Liverpool council and a critic of higher tuition fees. Mr Bradley has warned that the Coalition’s cuts could result in the Liberal Democrats being wiped out in the North within five years. – the Independent

NICK Clegg was yesterday warned to expect a leadership challenge – after his by-election disaster revealed the full extent of the damage he has done to the Lib Dems by backing Tory cuts. Senior colleagues admitted the party took a humiliating kicking in Barnsley – where they finished SIXTH behind rivals including an independent and the racist BNP – as Labour romped to a comfortable victory. Ex-Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown warned years of “hard pounding” lie ahead. And party official Sue Gymer predicted activists could launch an attempt to topple Mr Clegg within days. With the Lib Dems facing meltdown in May’s local elections, she said people should “wait and see what happens” at the party’s spring gathering in Sheffield next weekend. The chair of the South Cambridgeshire constituency party, added: “I think if it is not at this conference then perhaps the next.” Glum Mr Clegg admitted that opponents would try to “write off” his party in the wake of the devastating result in Barnsley Central. – the Mirror

Is there life left in the Lib Dems?

How the Lib Dem activists react to this reality will be critical in determining whether and, if so, how quickly they recover. Defending a government’s actions will be a new and uncomfortable position for many, especially a Tory-led one that took office with a £150bn+ a year hole in its books. It is hard enough for the Conservatives or Labour to suffer the kind of reverses normally seen mid-term. It will be even more so for the Lib Dems, with their smaller base and previous successes built on a huge amount of hard work. To that end, the AV referendum result really is assuming tremendous importance, not least because of the timing, which will mitigate or exacerbate the gloom on May 6. A No would surely lead many to question whether their achievements in government have been worth the candle; a Yes would give potent answer each time that question was raised. As for rebuilding the machine, the answer’s simple to identify but difficult to do. Like other parties of government, it’s about delivering the policies that the core vote and a large enough segment of floating voters will appreciate. For the Lib Dems – who used to have a huge number of floating voters, including many ‘anti’s – that’ll be no easy task. But what’s the alternative? – Political Betting

Daily Star criticised over EDL stories

The Daily Star has been accused of printing fictional stories by a disgruntled reporter who has resigned over its “hatemongering” anti-Muslim propaganda. In a resignation letter, Richard Peppiatt said he was leaving after the Star gave sympathetic coverage to the far-right English Defence League last month. Peppiatt admits producing a number of fictional stories about celebrities during his two years at the tabloid, a practice he implies was sanctioned by his seniors. The reporter, who was once made to dress up in a burqa, now accuses the paper of inciting racial tensions and Islamaphobia. “You may have heard the phrase ‘the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas’,” Peppiatt wrote to the proprietor, Richard Desmond, in a letter seen by the Guardian. “Well, try this: ‘The lies of a newspaper in London can get a bloke’s head caved-in down an alley in Bradford.’ If you can’t see that words matter, you should go back to running porn magazines.” – the Guardian

Labour win in Barnsley as Lib Dems relegated to 6th

Labour have won the Barnsley Central by-election, while the Lib Dems slipped to sixth in the South Yorkshire seat. UKIP, the Conservatives, the BNP and an independent all finished ahead of the Lib Dems, who came second in the seat in last May’s general election. Lib Dem candidate Dominic Carman said his party had been given “a kicking”, while Labour’s victorious Dan Jarvis said it was a message to the coalition. The seat’s previous Labour MP was jailed for fiddling his expenses. Labour got 14,724 votes in the by-election, extending their majority slightly to 11,771, but the turnout fell to 36.5%, compared with 56.4% at the last general election. Labour took 60.8% of the vote, UKIP’s Jane Collins 12.19%, the Conservatives’ James Hockney 8.25%, the BNP’s Enis Dalton 6.04%, Independent Tony Devoy 5.23% and the Liberal Democrats’ Dominic Carman 4.18%. Mr Carman lost his deposit as the party’s share of the vote fell from 17.2% in the 2010 general election to 4.1%. He said: “The voters here in Barnsley have given me and the Liberal Democrats a kicking. We can take it.” – BBC

The result was particularly grim for the Liberal Democrats whose vote fell sharply collapsed despite the party fielding an experienced candidate in Dominic Carman, son of the celebrated barrister George Carman. Voters took revenge on Nick Clegg, whose U-turn on student fees and hawkish line on cuts have made him particularly unpopular in South Yorkshire, where he represents Sheffield’s affluent Hallam constituency. His party was beaten by the BNP and a local independent as well as Labour, Ukip and the Tories.Labour’s Dan Jarvis, a former paratroop major, won an overwhelming share of the vote but on an abysmal turnout of 36.5% which left the coalition partners with humiliatingly low figures. Clegg and the prime minister David Cameron stayed away from the contest, after little evidence emerged that the disgrace of Illsley, Labour MP for 24 years, was damaging Labour’s campaign. A popular former miner, Illsley’s conviction and 12-month prison sentence caused genuine shock locally. – the Guardian

Nick Clegg has played down the significance of the Lib Dems’ sixth-placed finish in Barnsley, saying the by-election was “no contest for any non-Labour candidate”. Mr Clegg affirmed that he would not be swayed by the result and would continue to do what he considered “absolutely vital for the long-term benefit of the country”. Lord Paddy Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader, called on his party to stand firm in difficult curcumstances after they finished sixth in the Barnsley by-election, losing their deposit and polling behind the BNP. He told Today: “There’s a moment in the battle of Waterloo when the Duke of Wellington rides up and says: ‘Hard pounding gentlemen’. We’ve got to have the discipline and the toughness to stand there and take what needs to be done, do what needs to be done and take the flack for that while this country gets through the most difficult economic crisis it has faced for 40 or 50 years, probably longer than that.” – PolitcsHome (more…)