Lib Dems fear support dropping by day so move writ for by-election

Well, it looks like we’re going to have a Jan 13th by-election in Oldham East and Saddleworth. Labour MP Chris Ruane’s question at PMQs wasn’t knocked down by David Cameron and Tory sources later all but confirmed the date. This is all highly unusual because normally it is upto the incumbent party to move the writ of a by-election. Labour sources say they were planning to do so in early January, with the election taking place in Feburary. They point out that it has only been a couple of weeks since the Woolas court judgement and didn’t want to impose a campaign on the voters over Christmas and New Year. If the Lib Dems do indeed break with the convention and try to move the writ themselves (it has always been open to any party to do so), it will further underline the gulf between them and Labour. – PoliticsHome

Normally it is up to the party who previously held the seat – in this case Labour – to call the election. But the Lib Dems will break with Parliamentary convention and call the election themselves. The party’s decision means that campaigning for the election will take place over the quiet Christmas period. It also means that over 1200 students studying at the Huddersfield University campus in Oldham will still be on holiday when by-election takes place. The Lib Dems only need 103 more votes than in May to take the seat from Labour who said yesterday they will not to contest the move. – The Independent

The headline in the Manchester Evening News says it all. The Lib Dems will be moving the old & Sad by-election writ today and a Tory prime minister accuses Labour of “running scared”. Clearly the decision to put convention to one side and for a non-incumbent party to be moving the writ suggests a high degree of co-operation between the coalition partners. For if Labour object the overwhelming advantage that the Tories plus the Lib Dems have in terms of MPs will come into play. Labour might have wanted a February encounter but they have no control. – PoliticalBetting

Liam Fox under fire from Foreign Office

Liam Fox, the defence secretary, is planning to defy the Foreign Office by making a personal visit to Sri Lanka this weekend to deliver a speech in honour of a former foreign minister. The Foreign Office is debating whether to appeal to Downing Street to prevent Fox from visiting Sri Lanka, whose government is facing allegations of war crimes during its final assault on the Tamil Tigers last year. The row erupted after Fox, who has personal links to Sri Lanka from his time as a Foreign Office minister in the 1990s and who has visited the country twice in the last 13 months, accepted an invitation to deliver the Lakshman Kadirgamar memorial lecture. The invitation was issued by the widow of the late foreign minister, who was murdered by a Tamil Tiger sniper in 2005. – The Guardian

Ainsworth calls for drugs policy shake up

Mr Ainsworth is the most senior politician so far to publicly call for all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, to be decriminalised. He said he realised while he was a minister in the Home Office in charge of drugs policy that the so-called war on drugs could not be won. Mr Ainsworth has called for a strict system of legal regulation under which different drugs would either be prescribed by doctors or sold under licence. The Labour backbencher said successive governments had been frightened to raise the issue because they feared a media backlash. But he predicted in the end ministers would have no option but to adopt a different approach and consider decriminalisation. – BBC

Action on EMA’s

Tens of thousands of teenagers, college lecturers and teachers will take to the streets tomorrow to protest against the abolition of a grant that helps young people from low-income households stay in education after the age of 16. Demonstrators have organised lunchtime marches across the country – from Hackney in north-east London to Gateshead – in a last-ditch effort to reverse the government’s decision to scrap the Education Maintenance Allowance. Almost 647,000 of England’s 16- to 18-year-olds receive the allowance, which was introduced in 2004, in return for agreeing to remain in education: £30 a week when household income falls below £20,817; £20 a week if household income is between £20,818 and £25,521; and £10 a week if it is between and £25,522 and £30,810. In some parts of the country, such as Birmingham and Leicester, four-fifths of 16-year-olds receive the allowance. Campaigners say black and minority ethnic students will be particularly affected by its abolition because a high proportion claim the grant. David Cameron announced in October the allowance would be stopped at the end of the academic year, and it closes to new applicants next month. Before the general election, Michael Gove, now education secretary, denied that his party intended to end the benefit. – The Guardian

Warning siren for Lib Dems

Extensive polling of 2,000 people who voted for Nick Clegg’s party in May suggests just 54 per cent will back the Lib Dems in five years’ time. Some 22 per cent of Lib Dem voters say they will chose Labour. The polling, conducted by Lord Ashcroft, the former Tory deputy chairman, and revealed exclusively by The Sunday Telegraph, also shows that 44 per cent of Lib Dem voters in May say their view of the party has “got worse.” The findings will make grim reading for Mr Clegg and his fellow Lib Dem ministers. The polling, all in Lib Dem-held seats, was done 10 days before last week’s key parliamentary vote to increase university tuition fees to up to £9,000 a year, which saw the party’s MPs split three ways and the coalition’s Commons majority slashed by three quarters. Mr Clegg faces a series of further tests of his leadership, starting this week when the House of Lords votes on the tuition fee rises. Insiders predict the result could be “even tighter” than last week. – The Telegraph

A Liberal Democrat MP has warned Nick Clegg that he needs to convince his party that he remains the right person to be leader. In an open attack on Mr Clegg, Greg Mulholland, a former schools spokesman for the party, who voted against raising tuition fees on Thursday, questioned the wisdom of the party being in the Coalition. And he warned Mr Clegg that the party was “hurting”. “It is very important that Nick gets out to the wider party and reassures people that the Coalition is not only doing a good job for the country but also that it is the right thing for the Liberal Democrats as a party,” he told the BBC’s The World This Weekend programme. “He has done a very good job as Deputy Prime Minister but he also needs to show that he remains the right person to get out and communicate with our members.” It emerged that Labour is to step up its efforts to woo the 26 Liberal Democrat MPs who refused to support Mr Clegg on tuition fees. “I want to make a clear offer to them that I want to work with them,” said Labour leader Ed Miliband. – The Independent (more…)

EU parachute for Clegg?

Clegg's Sheffield seat will be targeted at election

Nick Clegg is being lined up for a top EU job in an “emergency exit” strategy as he faces a revolt in his party over tuition fees. David Cameron is ready to ­parachute the Lib Dem leader into Brussels as Britain’s EU Commissioner amid fears Mr Clegg will struggle to hold his seat as an MP at the next election, say Downing Street sources. The Deputy PM would ­replace Labour peer Baroness Ashton in the post which carries a £239,000 salary and perks package worth ­another £100,000 a year. The Foreign Affairs chief is due to stand down with the other EU ­Commissioners in October 2014 – just ahead of the next general ­election in May 2015, though there is speculation she could quit sooner. A Downing Street source revealed: “David Cameron owes Nick Clegg a huge debt for coming into the coalition and taking a massive personal hit over tuition fees. “If it looks like he will lose his Sheffield Hallam seat, there will be an emergency exit strategy which could see him land one of the big jobs in Brussels. – The Mirror

Lib Dem grassroots look towards Miliband

The depth of anger among the Liberal Democrat grassroots over tuition fees is laid bare tonight in an astonishing article by the party’s former director of policy. Richard Grayson claims that most Lib Dem members have more in common with their counterparts in the Labour party and the Greens than with their own leadership. Grayson, who was director of policy between 1999 and 2004, and until October a vice-chairman on the party’s federal policy committee, says the divisive issue of tuition fees should make ordinary Lib Dems “sit up and think”. He urges the party to seize the “exciting opportunity” of Ed Miliband‘s leadership and to engage more with its traditional enemy. He says the Labour leader is a genuine pluralist and points to the fact that he has signed up to the campaign for the alternative vote (AV). But he adds: “The current Liberal Democrat leaders will not always be our leaders. In time, the centre-left roots of the party should (or at least could) reassert themselves.” – The Observer

Research by Ipsos MORI for the News of the World underlines the damage from last week’s Commons showdown which saw the party’s MPs split three ways. Mr Clegg has appealed for the Lib Dems to come together in the wake of the bitter arguments, disclosing new details of the Pupil Premium for poor children in an effort to highlight the benefits of being in coalition with the Tories. But some backbenchers have been highly critical of his handling of the fees issue and there are even rumours of a leadership challenge. Labour leader Ed Miliband used an interview to try to capitalise on disaffection in the ranks, appealing for Lib Dem MPs to come and work with the Opposition. “I want to extend a welcome to them to work with us,” he told The Sunday Times. – PA

Labour ahead in poll of polls

For nearly a fortnight the YouGov daily poll has had the Tories equal or ahead making it out of line with all the other firms. Now that has changed tonight with the Politicalbetting All Pollsters Index (PAPA) showing a Red-Blue gap of more than three points. For the Lib Dem the polling woes continue with YouGov having them down once again into single figures. The hit that the party has taken is enormous and we’ll be able to see the full impact when the other December polls come in. – Politicalbetting

Tories at war over justice reforms

The reaction from the public – and from Fleet Street – has already forced the Coalition to toughen its policy: 24 hours after Clarke announced the abolition of minimum sentences for murderers, he was ordered by Cameron to reinstate them. A fascinating battle is raging between Andy Coulson, Downing Street’s tabloid-attuned head of communications, and the Justice Secretary. Clarke is not, however, a man to be bullied. Like Iain Duncan Smith, he has no ambitions for promotion. If he isn’t allowed to deliver the reforms he wants, he will simply light one of his favourite cigars, slip on his famous hush puppies, and walk out of the Government. – The Telegraph

Coulson under fire for fees

Coulson, while he was in court last week, as a witness in the Tommy Sheridan perjury case in Glasgow, he gave the impression that, having taken legal advice, his fees had been paid by his former bosses at News International. This has caught the eye of Labour MP Tom Watson, who suspects any such payment may constitute a “gift” (or at least may invite suspicion of a lingering outside influence), and therefore needs to be declared to his civil service bosses. Just to make absolutely certain (many a slip, and all that), Watson has dropped a line to Cabinet Secretary, Gus O’Donnell. – Independent on Sunday

Fees vote forced through – protesters and police clash

Yesterday was a most difficult day for the LibDems. They LibDems hit 8% in a poll – their lowest for 20 years – on the eve of the university fees vote. With 11 backbenchers and 17 frontbenchers voting for the policy, with 21 against and 8 abstentions, it looks as though almost three-quarters of Nick Clegg’s backbench MPs did not vote for his policy. It was the biggest Liberal rebellion since 1918 and beyond. Is Clegg to end up like Lloyd George, ultimately the victim of a Tory cohabitation? In the time-honoured fashion of governments who have lost a public argument, Ministers put it all down to difficulties of “communication”. But whatever errors they made since May pale into insignificance compared with the hole they dug beforehand. Like control orders, nuclear power, marriage tax breaks and VAT, tuition fees were always going to be a hot policy potato for LibDems in a Coalition government. – Next Left

MINISTERS forced through a huge rise in university tuition fees last night, despite violent protests in Westminster and a rebellion from Lib Dem MPs. In the first big Commons test for the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition, MPs backed moves to allow English universities to charge as much as £9,000 a year by a majority of 21 – with 323 MPs in favour and 302 against the plan. After weeks of agonising, only 27 of the 57 Lib Dem MPs voted for the rise, many having signed pledges before the election promising to oppose any increases. As violence raged outside, all three Welsh Lib Dem MPs defied the leadership. One of the three, Cardiff Central’s Jenny Willott, resigned as a parliamentary aide to Energy Secretary Chris Huhne. – Western Mail

After the Commons vote, a group of protesters breached police defences intent on ­vandalising the Treasury on Whitehall. Reinforcements had to be rushed in to bolster the ring of steel, with officers donning riot helmets and shields. Two men carrying a rock and a steel bar smashed a window on the side of the Treasury building. As they shattered one pane, the blinds were lifted to reveal riot police inside. Outside, officers surged forward using batons and shields. At Trafalgar Square protesters tried to set the Christmas tree alight and pull it down, before police moved in to repel them. As the violence spread through central London, tourists and workers on their way home were caught up in it. – The Mirror

WHO can blame students who can envisage little else but years and years of burdensome debt stretching ahead in front of them for wanting to stage a noisy protest on the night that MPs voted on tuition fees? That is their right, and we would condemn anyone who tried to deny them that right. What they cannot do, though, is take their protest to the disgraceful level seen by millions around the country on TV news last night. Police were injured, students were hurt, and even the limousine taking Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to the Royal Variety Performance was splattered with paint and had a rear side window cracked. As we have said here before, there will be a great many people around the country who will sympathise with the students’ point of view, knowing that they themselves might never have got their own degree, if they had been forced to hand over up to £9,000 a year in tuition fees. But that support will simply vanish away into thin air if legitimate demonstrations turn violent and descend into the kind of chaos we witnessed last night, with many perhaps wondering if they want the public purse to fund further education for the unruly minority of students who ignore the rule of law. – Liverpool Daily Post

Coulson in court

Andy Coulson, the prime minister’s chief media adviser, has denied in court that he ordered reporters to “practise the dark arts” by illegally hacking phones and “blagging” confidential information when he was editor of the News of the World. Coulson was giving evidence for the first time at the trial of Tommy Sheridan, the former Scottish Socialist party leader, who is accused of lying on oath when he won a £200,000 defamation action against the News of the World in 2006, following a three-year police inquiry. Coming face-to-face with Sheridan – who is conducting his own defence – Coulson told the high court in Glasgow that he had no idea his newspaper had used private detectives to illegally “hack” phone messages from members of the royal family and other targets. He repeatedly denied promoting a “culture” of hacking and “blagging”, where people’s confidential data such as tax details, criminal records or phone bills were illegally accessed, in the NoW’s newsroom. – The Guardian (more…)

Government tries to shore up support for fees vote

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne will miss the vote as he will remain at the climate summit in Mexico. Lib Dem officials confirmed he would remain at the climate change conference in Cancun – it had been thought he had been called back for Thursday’s vote. Another Lib Dem MP, Martin Horwood, who was expected to vote against the fees package, will also remain in Mexico but Conservative climate minister Greg Barker will return to Westminster. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes told BBC Newsnight he would at least abstain on the vote – but said he had been asked by his local party to consider voting against the plans and he would “reflect” on that request overnight. More than a dozen Lib Dems are expected to rebel, by voting against the plans to raise the tuition fees ceiling from £3,290 to £9,000 a year. They say they have no choice as they signed a National Union of Students (NUS) pledge to oppose any increase. – BBC

TODAY I and my Lib Dem colleagues are being asked to support a big hike in tuition fees. I am a Government backbencher and I support the Government. I also accept that both parties in the coalition have to compromise. But £9,000 fees isn’t a compromise. Nor is it in the spirit of the coalition agreement. If you had asked any of the 57 Lib Dem MPs back in May, when we agreed the coalition, that later in the year we’d be asked to back £9,000 university fees, we’d have laughed at you. We knew that we would have to give up our previous policy on fees, but we were sure that whatever came forward would not involve trebling them. We should never have been put in this position by the party’s leadership. If the Government loses the vote today, it only has itself to blame. Rushing through legislation is never a recipe for good legislation, but to do so when there is so much anxiety and anger would be a huge mistake. – Greg MulHolland MP, The Mirror

Ministers have offered a series of concessions to critics of the Government’s higher education reforms as the coalition sought to head off a major backbench rebellion. Ahead of Thursday’s crunch Commons vote, Business Secretary Vince Cable announced further measures designed to ease the financial burden on students from poorer backgrounds. They included increasing the number of part-time students who would no longer face upfront tuition fees and increasing the threshold at which existing graduates have to start repaying their loans. The move comes as Dr Cable and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg face a revolt among Lib Dem backbenchers intent on honouring a pre-election pledge to oppose an increase in tuition fees. – Press Association

Lib Dems at 8%

Tonight’s YouGov poll for the Sun has topline figures of CON 41%, LAB 41%, LDEM 8%. It’s the lowest Lib Dem score YouGov have ever shown, and as far as I can tell the lowest Liberal Democrat score any pollster has shown since September 1990, over 20 years ago. I’ll add my normal caveats about not getting too excited about a single poll, new extreme highs and lows for parties do tend to be the outliers, but nevertheless, the fact that we’ve got our first 8% for the Lib Dems suggests that their support is still on a downwards trend. It is probably no co-incidence that this comes after several days of the Liberal Democrats internal ructions over tuition fees have been all over the political headlines. – UK Polling Report (more…)

Tory MPs join Lib Dem rebels

Nick Clegg tonight resigned himself to a Liberal Democrat split in the vote on planned increases in tuition fees, as he told his MPs he and other wavering ministers in his party would vote in favour of the plans but accepted many of them would not “walk through the fire” with him. After a parliamentary party meeting in Westminster, Clegg appeared to have partially ameliorated the split by persuading ministers who had once indicated they could not vote in favour of the planned increase. Aides to the deputy PM said there would be at least 24 of the party’s 57 MPs voting in favour. But abstentions and votes against the measures leave Clegg facing a three-way threat in his party. The new line will test the ministerial code of conduct. Today the party high command agreed parliamentary private secretaries – ministers’ aides – could abstain on the plan. But the new code, drawn up by David Cameron in May decrees that a PPS must toe the government line or face resignation. – The Guardian

It emerged that half a dozen Conservative MPs may refuse to support the hike in fees. David Davis, the former shadow Home Secretary, will oppose the move, as will the former frontbencher Julian Lewis. Others who may abstain or vote against include Lee Scott, a parliamentary private secretary, Bob Blackman and Andrew Percy. Despite the unexpected Tory rebellion, the betting at Westminster is that the Government will win the crunch vote. Mr Clegg’s MPs are still likely to split three ways – some supporting the Government, some voting against and others abstaining. Several backbenchers with doubts rallied behind him last night. And unless any ministers change their mind, Mr Clegg will avoid any resignations over the issue. Allies of Mr Clegg said he had laid down the law, and called it a sign of the party’s maturity that its ministers would support the proposals. The Deputy Prime Minister said after last night’s meeting: “I’ve listened to the debate, I’ve listened to the protesters, I’ve listened to my party and, having done that, I can announce that all Liberal Democrat ministers – every single one – will vote for this measure when it comes to the vote on Thursday.” – The Independent

“Because, in these difficult circumstances where the country doesn’t have very much money, this is the best and fairest possible way to ensure we have world-class universities for generations to come and that youngsters for generations to come cannot only dream of going to university but can go to university irrespective of the circumstances of their birth.” Mr Clegg confirmed that ministerial aides would not be disciplined if they chose to abstain. He added that, given the economic circumstance, the Coalition felt it was more important to devote funds to early-years education. However, a number of Tories have announced that they will vote against the plans. Lee Scott, a rising Tory star, and backbenchers Andrew Percy, the MP for Brigg and Goole, Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, and Julian Lewis, representing the New Forest, have disclosed that they will rebel. They will join David Davis, the former Tory leadership contender, Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Lib Dem leaders. – The Telegraph

Labour Yes campaign

Next year we have the opportunity to vote for a fairer voting system – one in which everyone’s vote counts and every MP is required to get the backing of a majority of voters. It means that every Labour party member and supporter, in every seat in the country, can cast their vote for Labour and then mark any other preferences, knowing their vote won’t be wasted. First past the post isn’t working. When just a few thousand people determine every election result in a few swing seats, the interests of the Labour party and the people we represent go unheard. The alternative vote means the majority get their voices heard; it will shut the door on extremist parties like the BNP. When people switch off from politics it damages Labour, not the Tories. That’s why the Tories don’t want fairer votes. They don’t want change; they say no! Labour is the party of fairness and change. Labour says yes. It’s time for change. – Letters, The Guardian (more…)

Clegg faces rebellion and resignations

A Liberal Democrat grassroots revolt over the party leadership’s support for trebling tuition fees emerged tonight as members of the party’s policy committee demanded powers to rein in ministerial independence from Lib Dem policy. Separately, proposals were being put forward by some activists to make it easier for local parties to deselect Lib Dem MPs. The moves came as David Davis, the Conservative MP and rightwing standard-bearer, announced that he will rebel in the key Commons vote on Thursday by voting against the trebling in tution fees. Although Davis insisted he was “a rebellion of one,” provoked by the damage he said the fees rise will inflict on social mobility, his move prompted coalition fears that a few other rightwing Tories might also break ranks, so reducing, but probably not endangering, the coalition majority in Thursday’s Commons vote. – The Guardian

Nick Clegg’s attempts to hold his party together suffered another setback yesterday when three Liberal Democrats threatened to resign their government posts over plans to allow universities to charge £9,000 a year in tuition fees. Norman Baker, the Transport Minister, and two parliamentary private secretaries – Jenny Willott and Mike Crockart – may quit so that they oppose the fees rise in a crucial Commons vote on Thursday. They are among the Lib Dems who are agonising over how to vote because all its 57 MPs signed a pledge to oppose an increase in fees at this year’s general election. – The Independent

THREE Lib Dem ministers may vote against the hike in tuition fees, it emerged last night – plunging the coalition into chaos. Transport Minister Norman Baker, Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone and Pensions Minister Steve Webb told Nick Clegg they are undecided. This comes despite his desperate efforts to talk party doubters round. Unless they resign, opposing the key Government bill would force the party leader and Deputy Prime Minister to sack them. All 57 Lib Dem MPs will have a final meeting in the Commons tonight for a showdown before the Thursday afternoon ballot. Mr Baker said yesterday he still did not know if he would vote for or against, or abstain. He said: “There are three options and I haven’t yet decided what I’m going to do.” – The Sun (more…)

Count down to fees vote

Nick Clegg is facing the strongest challenge to his authority as Liberal Democrat leader since the formation of the coalition after he failed to broker an agreement on tuition fees with the party’s president in advance of a Commons vote on Thursday. As rebel Lib Dem backbenchers intensify their demands for the vote to be abandoned in favour of a wider review of university funding, the deputy prime minister was tonight bracing himself for a “train wreck” which could see his MPs splitting four ways. Amid fears in Downing Street that Clegg is suffering a disproportionate amount of damage, David Cameron sanctioned a “rescue Nick” operation over the weekend to shore up his deputy’s position, scheduling two announcements that would appeal to Lib Dem members. – The Guardian

Just four days to go before the big commons vote on fees and what could potentially be a career-ending decision for each of the 57 MPs who were elected for the Lib Dems last May. What would you do in their position – there are just three options: You vote for the tripling of the maximum fee and risk being accused of breaking your promises and alienating a significant part of your electorate who might take it out on you at the general election. You vote against the increase in fees and risk party unity as well as in four years time being unable to associate yourself as much with the success of the coalition’s policies, assuming that they are perceived to have worked. You abstain which also breaks the fees pledge that you signed, means you cannot share as much credit for the recovery if that indeed is what happens and you look like a wuss. To my mind abstention is the worst of all worlds with none of the pluses and all of the minuses. – Politicalbetting

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “These proposals, if they go through, will change the entire landscape of education in this country and we must continue to oppose them. We need to expose the damage they will do to our universities, colleges and communities. MPs must be left in no doubt of the strength of opposition to these plans and the consequences of voting for them. We have been overwhelmed by support from people across the country against these plans and we hope they will all join us in making their voice heard this week.” NUS President Aaron Porter said: “The joint NUS and UCU march that brought together 50,0000 people on 10 November has provided the spur to a new wave of activism and lobbying, placing the Government’s policy on fees and student support policy under huge pressure. This week we must keep that pressure up as the vote approaches. MPs can be left in no doubt as to the widespread public opposition to these plans or of the consequences of steamrollering them through Parliament.” – Press Association (more…)