Unusually for me, for the past couple of weeks I’ve been watching PMQs. It hasn’t been a happy experience for me. On both occasions Clegg has been felled by Brown, who on both occasions has simply swatted him away by smearing about £20bn cuts in public services. And I can’t help but feel that the confusion at the heart of Clegg’s own strategy has lead these blows to be effectively self-inflicted wounds. It’s time he rethought this strategy. Instead of flailing wildly once Brown has accused him of wanting to cut public services, he should confront it face on. I’d like him to say something like: The Prime Minister has repeatedly accused me of wanting to cut public services. If by that he means I am calling for him to abandon the appalling money pit...

I picked up this discussion on Conservative Home via CiF. I have to say that much of the debate around diversity and why women are not being picked is far more sophisticated that ours. I might also add that they are having a debate. There's always a few 'best person for the job' commenters but many of the people commenting do not view it as just a coincidence or a naturally occurring phenomenon that 85% of selections in the last few months have been of men. Most refreshingly they are actually having a proper conversation about it. We always get stuck on the discussion around positive discrimination, collectively condemn it and then go off to think about something else. And so, not much changes...There is on the ConservativeHome comments thread serial recognition that the problem is...

The return of Mandelson to British politics has certainly increased the shrillness factor. Despite pledges of bi-partisanship in "facing this grave crisis", within a few weeks we are back to business as usual. Despite the blatant culpability of Gordon Brown- "no return to boom and bust" now sounds like a slightly off-colour Carry-On joke- the Conservatives have struggled to inflict further damage on the Labour government.There has been much discussion- not least amongst Conservatives- about why this could be. Some have pointed the finger at George Osborne. Certainly he has been guilty of some serious personal misjudgements- not least over the Corfu affair. It is also true that the timbre of his voice and his rather effete demeanour bring out the worst in even the least sensitive class...

Redcar Liberal Democrats, have produced the Liberal Democrat Calendar 2009.This A5 black and white calendar features famous Liberals and Liberal Democrats from the past and present. It also features Liberal Democrat Conference dates, Liberal Democrat organisations, with contact details, and County days for those counties which have them.It is priced at £1 plus only 52p postage no matter how many how many copies you order.It is ideal to give to friends as a stocking filler.Copies can be ordered as follows from:Gold Printing Society39 Essex CloseRedcarYorkshireTS10 4BYPlease make cheques payable to Gold Printing...

In some circles, the fashion among politicians for pinching Barack Obama's magical rhetoric is now known as the Yes We Can-wagon. Last week it was Harriet Harman's turn to climb aboard - though in fairness, there was at least some superficial logic in her use of Obama's name. In the wake of the election of the first black president, she announced a decisive move on the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people at Westminster, and a year-long Speaker's conference inquiry into the issue of representation. The initiative came with a flurry of speculation about building on the legal status of all-women shortlists with new laws allowing all-ethnic minority candidate selection, a pledge to look at gay and lesbian representation, and the obligatory reference to the...

Tax Avoidance by Supermarkets Must End to Rebalance Tax System Clamping down on tax avoidance practiced by large companies should form a key part of rebalancing the tax system to make it fairer, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg said at the ACS Heart of the Community seminar held in London yesterday. In his...

Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News.InVincibleLast time the Liberal Democrats called a Commons debate on the economy, the treasury minister Angela Eagle was scathing. Our motion read "like the storyboard for Apocalypse Now or perhaps even Bleak House." Why, it even said Britain faced the risk of recession! "Fortunately for all of us," Eagle reassured the House, "that colourful and lurid fiction has no real bearing on the macro-economic reality."For good measure, she added: "Hysterical overreaction … might attract a few cheap headlines … but it is not mature or responsible."That was April. Eagle was in her place again on Monday, but in a very different world. As Philip Hammond, the Tory shadow treasury minister pointed out, her reply to Vince Cable’s opening speech...

Nick Clegg made a speech to the Commonwealth Society last night. You can read the full text on the Politics Home website:Global cooperation is the best - I believe the only - answer to these problems. The only way to dig our world back out of recession. The only way to create the growth, trade, and international rules we need for a fairer, greener, safer planet.There is also some comment on the Spectator...

I’ve written another Comment is Free article on this very subject: Make no mistake: this election is no shoo-in for either candidate. They are both extremely strong contenders. At its heart, it has become quickly apparent that this election, more than any other in recent years, is going to be about what the Liberal Democrats are for. This isn’t merely a question of policy; it is a question about where the party strikes the balance between gaining power to change things and standing firm in its beliefs with a view to inspiring the electorate. There is real merit in both points of view and it is a question that, with a hung parliament still a possibility, the Lib Dems may yet end up have to answer at a UK...

Oh no dear, its all the fault of those nasty supermarkets for selling you booze too cheaply. At least that’s the message emerging from LibDem HQ, and its the same message coming from government and the Tory party. Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your actions? A simple remedy would be to ensure that the criminal pays back...

Saturday:And I, for one, welcome our new Baroness Overlord…This was quite an INTERESTING campaign for once, seeming to me to be a debate between people who believe that the President of the Liberal Democrats is a CONSOLATION PRIZE (not looking at anyone in particular, Mr Hugs) and those who think that it is a PROPER JOB, and one that ought to be quite different from the job of I'm-on-the-Telly-because-the-Leader-is-in-Canada-today.But, along with everyone else, I cannot help but be AMAZED at just how CRUSHING a victory it was. And I cannot help but feel sorry for Mr Lembit.I actually felt that the result in the Leadership election last year was very good all round. Rather than being DIVISIVE, the closeness of it meant that both candidates were shown as STRONG. It is quite healthy for Mr...

There is a certain irony in talks about the Scottish Parliament acquiring new tax powers, namely that it has never actually used the main one it currently has.Holyrood has the ability to vary income tax levels by 3p in the pound (down as well as up). This is an option that the Scottish public backed in the second part of the 1997 devolution referendum yet it has remained untouched.It’s no great surprise why: anyone running on the platform of putting taxes up (even if to pay for a popular policy) is likely to be savaged by their rivals, which the SNP found to their cost in 2003.More recently there has been some talk from the Liberal Democrats of actually cutting tax by 2p, albeit without specifying what services they would cut to pay for this.Still the issue has raised its head again,...

Interviewed in the Guardian, the new president of the Liberal Democrats, Ros Scott, says:"We have got to shout out for things we believe in: small scale government, locally delivered services, protecting the environment and no to a third runway at Heathrow."Pointing to the way that Labour and the Conservatives have agreed over Iraq and the economy, she also says:"We have got to be shouting loudly about a different way of doing things."Too much money is spent chasing centrally determined targets and bureaucracy, she said, insisting the Labour government was still spending a huge amount on management and systems."We need less centralisation from government and we need a government that is more supportive of international institutions."It is all good stuff, though it appears to involve us in...

Thanks to Simon Titley for alerting me to the fact that, according to Alexa, Liberal England is the third most popular Liberal Democrat website, behind only Lib Dem Voice and the official party website.I have no idea how Alexa calculates this, but I am not going to argue with...

A correspondent has been looking at the internal party election results recorded on Colin Rosenstiel's website and working out what they tell us about changes in the Liberal Democrats' membership over the years.Party membership, based on the number of ballot papers issued in each leadership and presidential election, has been as follows:2008 (presidential): 60,3572007 (leadership): 64,7132006 (leadership): 72,0642004 (presidential): 72,8681999 (leadership): 82,8271994 (presidential): 101,0911992 (presidential): 101,7681990 (presidential): 82,4551988 (presidential): 80,0711988 (leadership): 80,104Between 2006 and 2007, the loss was 10.2%. Between 2007 and 2008, the loss was 6.7%. And between the membership peak in 1992 and 2008, the loss has been 40.7%.I do not know how this compares with...

The Liberal Democrat Party has elected Baroness Ros Scott as its next President.She won 20,736 votes (72%), while Lembit Opik came second with 6,247 votes (22%).The third candidate, Chandila Fernando, won 1,799 votes (6%)Like Barack Obama, she will take over in January from the preceding President, in this case Simon Hughes.If Chandila Fernando had won, no doubt we'd have heard some ABBA songs at the victory party...You can see Ros Scott's manifesto here.There is a promising commitment to new media, although it needs to go much further:# Keep in touch with the membership through regular e mail bulletins, my blog, LD News and Party mailings.# Use e mail and electronic voting as a means of consulting members.It would be nice if the role of online video and social media in party politics was...

In a one-liner, "Gossip mag Opik loses presidential bid".The vote though might well be remembered more for who lost, than for who won.In the running were two relative unknowns and one all-too-well-known.The winner was Baroness Ros Scott, the former group leader of Suffolk County Council.Businessman Chandila Fernando promised to modernise the party's machinery. And the most recognised name of the three, Lembit Opik, offered a presidency painted in "primary colours".The party leader, Nick Clegg, will be sighing with relief.It was widely thought that Baroness Scott was his preferred candidate. In fact, the deputy leader Vince Cable officially endorsed her.The result:Ros Scott: 20,736 votes (72%)Lembit Opik: 6247 votes (22%)Chandila Fernando 1799 votes (6%)One thing's for sure - Randerson...

That’s the percentage of the vote that Ros Scott got in the Liberal Democrat Party President election and I am astonished that she won by so much.  Despite Ros running a brilliant campaign, I assumed the election would be close simply because Lembit will be so well known amongst armchair members when compared with Ros Scott.  It just shows that if you run a brilliant campaign you can win no matter how high profile your opponent. Despite voting for Lembit, I was happy with either him or Ros getting elected.  I think Ros will do an excellent job. We will now have to see where this leaves Lembit.  I feel a bit sorry for him for not winning.  Lembit is clearly talented and so we will have to see what he chooses to do as he is too good to simply be a backbench MP....

Ros Scott has been elected as the new President of the Liberal Democrats. The voting figures, announced at Cowley Street earlier this afternoon, were as follows:Ros Scott 20,736 votes (72%)Lembit Opik 6,247 votes (22%)Chandila Fernando 1,799 votes (6%)There were 49 spoilt ballots and the turnout was 47.8%, up +0.4% on last time.But before you get too excited about this, in the 2004 Presidential election 34,335 votes were cast, against only 28,782 this time, suggesting a significant decline in party membership.This is an overwhelming and deserved victory for Ros. As Costigan Quist says, it is a victory for Ros's hard work. And as James Graham says, it is a victory for her intelligent use of the internet.Lembit has tested to destruction the proposition that there is no such thing as bad...

Delighted at Ros Scott's victory today in the Liberal Democrat Presidential campaign. The votes were as follows :Ros Scott 20,736 votes (72%)Lembit Opik 6,247 votes (22%)Chandila Fernando 1,799 votes (6%)Ros takes over as Party President on 1st January 2009 and I've no doubt she'll be a super, dynamic President of the...

I was rather irritated this morning to read this article on the Guardian website which, apart from ignoring whole aspects of the internet campaigning (about which I may blog later, but may not), included this sentence: A more colourful Lib Dem, Lembit Opik, has been using Facebook in his bid for the party leadership. Even leaving aside the fact that Lembit was standing for president, not leader, to even think of writing that sentence exposes you as a hack journalist who doesn’t really know what he is talking about. Because in this election, as with the Obama triumph, Facebook was a mere sideshow. The interesting stuff was what was happening elsewhere. Lembit was not the Lib Dems’ answer to Barack Obama; in terms of campaigning style, Ros was. To go from nowhere to 72% of...

The shock is not so much that Labour won. I had a feeling in my water as long as a month ago that Labour might win, even when the bookies and the pundits were saying otherwise. But the scale of Labour’s victory must have shocked everyone. Yesterday, the BBC’s coverage began on the premise that it was “too close to call” or that, if anything, the SNP had squeaked it. Jim Murphy was making his excuses early (and doing a fairly good job of it, it has to be said). Coming towards midnight, it became clearer that Labour had won. The SNP were saying they hoped to have halved Labour’s majority. Even with that knowledge, the scale of Labour’s victory when it was finally announced amazed me. The SNP hadn’t even halved Labour’s majority. In fact,...

One of the things about blogging that a lot of people just don’t seem to get is that the act has a tendency of heightening the author’s personality. I’ve probably written this before but a colleague of mine likes to relate how a Lib Dem activist came up to him once and said “You know James Graham? He’s a very angry man!” which didn’t accord with my colleague’s image of me as a cool, collected and reasonable person at all (what? Don’t laugh!). A lot of people who come across as quite extreme, uncompromising people are pussy cats in reality (in one of two cases I really hope that’s true anyway). It is therapeutic - a way of getting your frustrations out without leaving casualties. What’s more, this heightening can act a...

Until the current party president vote, I have never been completely undecided in a Liberal Democrat internal election before.  Normally I don’t need a campaign to help me decide as I know straightaway who I want to vote for or won’t under any circumstances vote for.  It’s like party committee elections, I always start with the top preferences and the bottom preferences, it’s only the middle that I find hardest.  But this time, it has taken me to the final week for me to make up my mind, and now I have finally voted.  So how did I make my decision? Chandila Fernando I knew early on that I wouldn’t vote for Chandila Fernando.  Firstly, I do want a president who has a good number of years experience in the party.  To be able to do the job of president...

WednesdayThe telephone is brought to me and the voice at the other end says: "Hello this is Nick Clegg. I am ringing to tell you about the Liberal Democrats' exciting policies." "I know it's you, man," I reply, "and we were talking about party policy only this morning. I was about to call you myself to ask if you had had time to think about my idea of extorting money from the Estonian Government by threatening to send back....” Clegg, however, talks over me in the most boorish fashion and our conversation ends with my bidding him a brisk good day and replacing the receiver. If Clegg thinks he is going to win people’s votes by behaving in this fashion he will, I fear, be gravely disappointed.If you like This Sort Of Thing, read:Monday: Nick Clegg goes to Sainsbury'sTuesday: Remembering...

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is being bailed out with £20bn of taxpayers' money, has signalled it is preparing to pay bonuses to thousands of staff despite government pledges to crack down on City pay.The bank has set aside £1.79bn to cover "staff costs" - including discretionary bonuses - at its investment banking division for the first six months of the year alone. The same division caused a £5.9bn writedown that wiped out the bank's profits for the same period. The government had demanded that boardroom directors at RBS should not receive bonuses this year and the chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, is walking away without a pay-off. But below boardroom level, RBS and other groups are preparing to pay bonuses to investment bankers who continue to generate profits.The...

Richard Grayson, Lib Dem PPC for Hemel Hempstead and formerly Charles Kennedy's head honcho, will be appearing on television on Wednesday 5 November.The Hemel Hempstead Gazette says:Dr Richard Grayson, 39, will feature in My Family at War, which explores the family history of celebrities whose relatives fought in World War One.The makers of tonight's episode, that focuses on TV presenter Eamonn Holmes, called on Dr Grayson for his detailed knowledge of the experiences of Catholic soldiers in Belfast.The programme will be shown on BBC1 at 10.45 p.m. on Wednesday 5...

Yesterday, I wrote an article suggesting how this government could reduce taxes to help stimulate growth in the economy. This was partly a Keynesian approach, given I argued that it was possible that these tax cuts could be self-funding, if my proposals worked. The reason for this was, if we do nothing, there is likely to be a significant surge of people claiming benefits, rather than generating income for government coffers. My proposal was, if the government was going to borrow to invest, they would be better off doing so, with a natural stimulus, rather than bringing forward capital building projects which would only benefit a small section of the economy. My proposal, amongst other things, was that government should reduce the basic rate of personal tax by 5%. Over a period of 3...