Last night more than 25% of the Lib Dem Parliamentary party abstained on the tuition fees vote. Those abstaining included the current and last two leaders and the current party president. What a principled bunch they are:
Annette Brooke
Ming Campbell
Nick Clegg
Mike Crockart
Tim Farron
Mike Hancock
Julian Huppert
Charles Kennedy
John Leech (spoke in debate)
Greg Mulholland (spoke in debate)
John Pugh
Ian Swales
Mark Williams
Roger Williams
Simon Wright
by Tom Watson
Had the Chinese conducted 900 hack attacks on BT’s telecommunications network, we’d be moving resolutions at the united nations.
Were Osama Bin Laden to destroy enough railway signalling to deprive Britain of 20,000 hours of the productive capacity of its commuters, there would be special sittings of Parliament.
And this level of damage is, indeed, being deliberately done to the country’s infrastructure. But because the destruction is being wrought not by spies or terrorists, but by vagabonds and thieves, the home office barely notices.
Metal thieves are eating away at key parts of the UK’s infrastructure. They are doing it day in day out, in towns and cities up and down the land. They’re causing many millions of pounds of damage to businesses and communities. Sometimes, like terrorists, they even blow themselves up. They are the enemy within and they need to be stopped. Read the rest of this entry »
Wikileaks: Cameron and Osborne lack experience and are “light weight”
The head of the Bank of England privately criticised David Cameron and George Osborne for their lack of experience, the lack of depth in their inner circle and their tendency to think about issues only in terms of their electoral impact, according to leaked US embassy cables. Mervyn King told the US ambassador, Louis Susman, he had held private meetings with the two Conservative politicians before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit. He said the pair operated too much within a narrow circle and “had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability”. He also predicted that economic recovery would be “a long drawn-out process”, since Britain had not been through an economic restructuring. – The Guardian
The disclosures could test the relationship between Mr King and the Prime Minister and his Chancellor. Labour is sure to exploit the embarrassment at Prime Minister’s Questions later today. Mr King’s fears, made in a meeting on Feb 16, were sent in a cable to the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and disclosed last night by the WikiLeaks website. The Governor complained that the future Prime Minister and Chancellor relied too heavily on a narrow circle of advisers. They also “had a tendency to think about issues only in terms of politics, and how they might affect Tory electorability [sic]”. Mr King also said he had held private meetings with the Tory leader and Mr Osborne before the election to urge them to draw up a detailed plan to reduce the deficit. – The Telegraph
The rightwing Conservative MP for Sevenoaks and now Conservative deputy chairman, Michael Fallon, also confided his doubts to US diplomats. His remarks were detailed in a cable sent in October 2008 titled: “Conservative party caught flat-footed by Brown’s quick manoeuvres on financial crisis, says senior Tory MP”. It stated: “The Tories’ response to the crisis has been regrettably tepid … The Conservative party felt the absence of a strong shadow chancellor and the party’s counter-proposals to Labour’s plans have been ‘all over the place’. Fallon particularly criticised Osborne’s op-ed piece in the October 28 Daily Telegraph as a ‘weak’, almost laughable, response to the economic crisis.” Mark Tokola, the embassy’s economic minister at the time, concluded: “Fallon’s comments to us reflected Conservative frustration – and some grudging admiration – for prime minister Brown’s skill in seizing the high ground during the economic crisis”. – The Guardian
Will they, won’t they?
NICK Clegg and Vince Cable yesterday hinted they may not vote on tuition fees – leaving their party in disarray. The Deputy Prime Minister refused to say if he’d back the Coalition’s plans to hike the fees to up to £9,000 a year. And Business Secretary Mr Cable – the minister in charge of the controversial plans – admitted he may ABSTAIN in the face of protests from Lib Dem MPs. Party sources also admitted they were listening to the views of student protesters, who held demonstrations against the plans yesterday. One senior Lib Dem said the party’s MPs were not “tone deaf” to the criticisms of the policy. – The Sun Read the rest of this entry »
“Hazel Blears? Good luck mate. She’s the most on message politician I’ve ever met”.
“Hazel is a robot. ‘Tony good. Labour good. Tony good. Labour good’. Scratch the surface and you just find another surface underneath”.
"I was asked to go and defend the government in some circumstances when no one else wanted to"
Hmmm. Uncut arrives at our meeting with the woman described by one Labour MP as the bionic Blairite with some trepidation. We like discipline and loyalty – in moderation. But we also like a peek behind the curtain. Will we be able to uncover what makes the bionic Blairite tick?
Let’s kick off with Ed Miliband. She voted for him fourth, behind Andy, David and Ed. According to reports, he offered her a job and she turned it down, although Ed’s office officially denies this. Hazel confirms that she had a meeting with Ed and told him she wanted some time out on the back benches. So what does she think of the new leader?
“I would characterise Ed’s leadership as calm, measured, steady, and actually, a surprise to people. I don’t think you have to come out as a brand new leader with fireworks and pazzaz. When Ed won, a lot of people said ‘Ed’s a blank page’. Well in a lot of ways that’s not bad for us, because we need to reflect on why we got the worst result since 1983. I don’t mind a bit of reflection”.
No fireworks. No pazzaz. This could be a long haul.
“But, if we don’t defend our record nobody will. If you walk round my city, it’s not paradise, it’s not nirvana, but it’s a damn sight better than it was. This narrative the Tories are getting traction with, that it was all a disaster, we bust the bank, spent all the money; it’s at our peril that we let that just be the story. People may accuse me of wearing rose tinted glasses, being gung ho; well sorry I’m not going to be snivelling and apologising for what I think in many ways was a damn fine government”.
A flash of passion. Not synthesised. Real, “I’ll see you out side”, anger. Read the rest of this entry »
by David Mentiply
The idea that central government can influence the behaviour of its citizens via taxation still holds sway in most democracies across the world.
When government becomes dependent on the revenues from a specific tax, however, an obvious conflict of interest emerges.
Vehicle excise duty and road fuel duties, for instance, raise in excess of £20 billion for the treasury each year – but where does the money go? Public opinion seems to regard such taxes as pure revenue-raising by Whitehall. People do not believe that the money goes towards investment in alternative transport infrastructure. In part, this is due to a failure of consecutive governments to communicate to the public how and where they have invested the revenues from road and vehicle duties. In the main, however, public perceptions have been spot on. The revenues raised from the above taxes have swelled the coffers of the treasury and have not been used to offset carbon emissions. Indeed, in spite of the relatively high duty levels in the UK, compared, for instance with the US, the investment in and development of alternatives to petrol and diesel fuel has been minimal.
Here is where the Labour party must now be radical. It must recognise that the old model of taxation has been limited in improving our transport infrastructure and environment. Read the rest of this entry »
Opposition debate tempts Lib Dems
Ructions in the government over plans to raise university fees will be forced into the open today when Labour triggers a vote in the House of Commons that could bring about the first rebellion of the coalition. MPs will debate the plan to raise tuition fees to £9,000 a year asstudents stage their third and largest national demonstration against the plans. Last night the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, wrote to the head of the National Union of Students appealing to students not to distort the debate over fees, saying that many believe wrongly that they will have to pay fees immediately instead of when they graduate. Clegg warned of potentially “tragic” consequences whereby the poorest would be put off applying at all. Coalition MPs are under a three-line whip to attend the opposition day debate on a Labour-authored motion that falls short of opposing higher fees, but calls for the white paper on the future of universities to properly explain the plans before the Commons votes on the fee cap. – The Guardian
Nick Clegg has urged students to reflect on the “true picture” about government plans to raise tuition fees. Ahead of further expected protests on Tuesday, the deputy prime minister said graduates in England on lower incomes would be better off than they are now. It was “crucial” people realised there will be no upfront fees and repayments will begin at £21,000, he told the National Union of Students. Meanwhile, fellow Lib Dem Jenny Willott said she would vote against the plans. Ms Willott, MP for Cardiff Central, said she could not support plans to allow English universities to charge £6,000, almost double the current £3,290 cap, and up to £9,000 under certain conditions. – BBC
Mr Clegg appealed to the NUS to help ensure that those taking part in protests understood “the true picture” of the proposed reforms, which he insisted were fairer than the current system. “All of us involved in this debate have a greater responsibility to ensure that we do not let our genuinely-held disagreements over policy mean that we sabotage an aim that we all share – to encourage people from poorer backgrounds to go to university,” said the Liberal Democrat leader. The NUS has launched a “right to recall” campaign to force by-elections in seats held by Liberal Democrat MPs – including Mr Clegg – who signed a pledge to oppose increases in fees before the general election. Liberal Democrats secured a provision in the agreement forming the coalition Government that their MPs can abstain in the vote to increase fees, though it remains unclear whether the party’s ministers will do so. But Lib Dems are expected to vote against a Labour motion in the Commons on Tuesday which calls on ministers to delay legislation on the fees hike until after they have published a White Paper spelling out their vision of the future of higher education. – PA Read the rest of this entry »
by Kevin Meagher
Poor old Rowan Williams. He is a decent man who deserves a break. Instead, all he gets is to see the Church of England fall apart on his watch. Last week’s general synod saw yet further attempts to bandage the gaping wounds in the Anglican communion. They go deep: divisions over fundamental points of theology; a pervasive sense that they have lost their way and are on the cusp of being eaten up by a larger rival.
Nick Clegg, the cherubic but rather less devout leader of the Liberal Democrats, faces parallel problems: simmering internal discord and an existential crisis about his party’s future. But Clegg does not deserve a break. He is the architect of the afflictions that beset his tribe.
Just as women bishops were inevitable once the general synod voted to allow the ordination of women clergy back in 1992, so, too, it should be a short journey of logic for the Lib Dems to realise that supporting a right-wing Tory government leads to VAT hikes, benefit cuts and scorched earth public services.
Despite the pervasive threats to his organisation, Rowan Williams’ emollient circumlocutions keep the show on the road. Clegg’s line to his own party, however, is now much tougher: welcome to coalition politics. Compromise is now a way of life. Deal with it.?And for hitherto allies on the left, Clegg is equally disabusing. He used his recent Hugo Young Memorial Lecture to slam the door in the face of Labour ecumenists. “Old progressives” he opined, “emphasise the power and spending of the central state”. In contrast, shiny “new progressives” focus on “the power and freedom of citizens”. Read the rest of this entry »
by Michael Dugher
Only the Labour Party, on attracting 40,000 new members and going five-points ahead in the opinion polls – for the first time in what felt like living memory – could be written up as being in real difficulty. The (mainly Conservative-supporting) newspapers have talked of “growing rumblings” about the Labour leadership and “mounting criticisms”. Ed Miliband’s speech to the national policy forum was described by yesterday’s Sunday papers as a “fightback”’ and a “relaunch”, and even a move “to avert a leadership crisis”, according to the Mail on Sunday.
But we can’t just blame the journalists for this mischief. They are just filing copy, filling space in the paper, doing what they are paid to do. Too often, the negative stories are the result of “friendly fire” from our own side – ill-judged remarks (if you are feeling forgiving), “public diplomacy” (if you are feeling cynical). Or they come from the whingeing briefings and bar-room gossip that are all part of the trade.
Commentators, too, have been quick to say where we are going wrong. Our own Dan Hodges, contributing editor of Labour Uncut, is usually a saint of reason. He offers both insight and wisdom. But his recent piece in the New Statesman that Labour is on the brink of a “new civil war” was as wild as the jungle. Some stories are written to generate more stories, and this Hodges piece unfortunately read as such. Read the rest of this entry »
Hazel Blears and Jon Cruddas are joining forces to wrest the “big society” from the Tories. The two senior back benchers have established the “social action forum”, a committee of MPs and stakeholders tasked with taking the fight to David Cameron over his flagship policy.
The inaugural meeting will take place in the House of Commons this Wednesday, with Ms Blears expected to be elected chair of the new grouping. The Labour leadership has been consulted over the formation of the committee, and has given it the seal of approval, including authorisation to extend membership to representatives beyond the PLP.
Speaking at Saturday’s Labour policy forum, Ed Miliband urged the party to “take back” the big society from the government. “It sticks in our throat when David Cameron tries to claim he’s the man for the big society because he has an old fashioned view about the big society. His is essentially a view that says look, if government gets out of the way then society will prosper. None of us believe that”, he told delegates.
“We were slow off the mark in appreciating the dangers of the big society agenda”, Hazel Blears told Uncut.
“It’s more than just a cynical cover for cuts. It’s a much more fundamental realignment of public services, and of Tory politics. This is a very clever piece of rebranding. If you have a big society that says to your right wing ‘you can have a smaller state’, it’s nice blue meat to them. But it also says to the Liberals, “what we want is more people being involved. There is such a thing as society”. So what it does in one easy way, in just two words, is continue that detoxification of their brand which was a key foundation of them getting into power. And now is part of the realignment of politics. It’s a very big strategy”.
She concedes that Jon Cruddas and herself represent unlikely political soul mates, but believes this will add political ballast to the committee.
“One of the best bits of the last six months for me is discovering that Jon and I have got far more in common than a lot of people might have thought. We’ve always chatted and talked, but when you come to think about it we come from a similar background. Ordinary families, represent similar working class constituencies, he has a very strong family background, so do I, and were both Labour, Labour, Labour. It will confound some people, but we’ve increasingly discovered when we talked, and we talked at length, is that wherever you are on the party’s spectrum there are some issues that transcend where people would traditionally place themselves”.
Hazel Blears’ first major political interview since resigning from the Brown government will appear on Uncut tomorrow.
Wikileaks release US cables
Britain’s politicians and diplomats are waiting to discover what their US counterparts really think of the special relationship. Over 250,000 classified cables from US embassies are to be released by the whistleblowing website Wikileaks over the next fortnight. They are already sending diplomatic shockwaves around the world. Pressure from Arab states urging military action against Iran and instructions for US officials to spy on UN leaders are among the most significant revelations.Concerns about the stability of the coalition government and criticisms of David Cameron’s premiership could be among the revelations which prove most significant in Westminster. – Politics.co.uk
The “revelations” in the latest download from WikiLeaks strike me as surprisingly dull. You would have thought that, in 250,000 pages of diplomatic cables, there would be insights that were a bit more startling than the suggestions that Angela Merkel is cautious, Silvio Berlusconi is vain, Nicolas Sarkozy is thin-skinned and David Cameron is a bit of a lightweight. Tell me something, I didn’t know. – The FT
Is it justified? Should a newspaper disclose virtually all a nation’s secret diplomatic communication, illegally downloaded by one of its citizens? The reporting in the Guardian of the first of a selection of 250,000 US state department cables marks a recasting of modern diplomacy. Clearly, there is no longer such a thing as a safe electronic archive, whatever computing’s snake-oil salesmen claim. No organisation can treat digitised communication as confidential. An electronic secret is a contradiction in terms.
Anything said or done in the name of a democracy is, prima facie, of public interest. When that democracy purports to be “world policeman” – an assumption that runs ghostlike through these cables – that interest is global. Nonetheless, the Guardian had to consider two things in abetting disclosure, irrespective of what is anyway published by WikiLeaks. It could not be party to putting the lives of individuals or sources at risk, nor reveal material that might compromise ongoing military operations or the location of special forces. – The Guardian
Vince “personally committed” to fees increase
Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable is “personally committed” to plans to raise university tuition fees, a Tory colleague has said. Higher education minister David Willetts said he was “confident” Mr Cable would back the measure in a Commons vote next month. Before the election the Lib Dems signed a pledge not to support any rise in fees, currently set at £3,290 a year. But Mr Cable’s department is overseeing an increase to as much as £9,000. Students at several universities are continuing sit-in protests against the plans. Twelve occupations reportedly on-going on Sunday included those at Plymouth, Leeds, Cambridge, Newcastle, Edinburgh and University College London. – BBC Read the rest of this entry »
