What Lib Dems are saying (or not) about Andy Coulson
The official Lib Dem line on Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s director of communications, could not have been clearer prior to the election: this Voice headline from July 2009 gives the flavour – Huhne on...
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I agree with Adrian Sanders and 22 Conservative MPs
Yesterday in Parliament Adrian Sanders and 22 Conservative MPs voted to reduce the maximum number of ministers allowed in the Commons in line with the forthcoming reduction in the number of MPs: If the...
View ArticleAdrian Sanders MP compares the PCC to a “fishnet condom”
Enduring image of the day, and, I’ll warrant, its first entry in Hansard*, goes to Liberal Democrat MP Adrian Sanders for his contribution to yesterday’s emergency debate on phone hacking at the News...
View ArticleAdrian Sanders is still right
With the reduction in number of MPs back in the news, so too is the question of how many ministers there are. As I wrote in October last year: I agree with Adrian Sanders and 22 Conservative MPs...
View ArticlePMQs: You can’t gesticulate your way out of a Balls-up
He still looks like a clever sixth former to me, but it is fair to say that Ed Miliband has cracked Prime Minister’s Questions. His performance this week was excellent. “Just a bit late” was David...
View ArticlePMQs: Miliband 1 Barn Door 1
It was the last pre-Christmas Prime Minister’s Questions today and we saw the return of Nick Clegg loyally sitting at the PM’s right-hand side. Ed Miliband started on the economy, and the news that...
View ArticleLeveson: it’s a good thing Nick Clegg was there
Today’s latest revelations from the Leveson Inquiry are a reminder of how wise it was to create a judge-led inquiry with wide terms of reference and powers. And who was it who did that when the...
View ArticleHunt out to dry? Clegg refuses to back Tory culture secretary as Lib Dem MPs...
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is piling the pressure on Jeremy Hunt, whose closeness to the Murdoch empire has been embarrassingly laid bare by the Leveson Inquiry in the past few weeks, by refusing to...
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Why is the UK government encouraging companies to use tax havens?
Plans by the government to change Controlled Foreign Companies (CFC) rules are threatening to deny the developing world billions of pounds in tax revenues. The current CFC rules discourage UK companies...
View ArticleNick Clegg’s leadership: 3 thoughts from me
Today’s papers are full of speculation about Nick Clegg’s leadership prompted by a handful of party members — inevitably labelled ‘senior’ — calling on Nick to go, such as Lib Dem peer Lord Smith of...
View ArticleWhatever the Leveson Report recommends, it’s worth remembering the value of...
I’m as clueless as anyone else at the moment about what Lord Justice Leveson will recommend in his report, to be published tomorrow, on press standards in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal. I’ve...
View Article++ Government wins vote on Benefits Uprating Bill; 6 Lib Dem MPs rebel
There were no serious doubts the Coalition Government’s Benefits Uprating Bill — pegging increases in welfare payments at a below-inflation 1%, the same as public sector wage rises, for the next three...
View ArticleOpinion: One last chance to achieve far-reaching libel reform
The Defamation Bill is nearly law. Several key reforms needed to protect free debate are already included in the Bill, thanks to the tireless work of the Libel Reform Campaign (declaration: I have...
View ArticleEDMwatch #1: animals, VAT on tabloids, Diabetes and Sir Alex Ferguson
I thought it might be a good idea to introduce a new feature for the start of the shiny new parliamentary session – a regular look at the Early Day Motions tabled by MPs. These are basically House of...
View ArticleAdrian Sanders vs Miss England
Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has come under fire after complaining about the area’s hosting of the Miss England finals. This is Plymouth has the story: A row has erupted between Miss England organisers and...
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A longer read for the weekend: Nick Harvey on how “the whole model of local...
There was a mini-Lib Dem rebellion this week, when five MPs – Tim Farron, Nick Harvey, Andrew George, Stephen Gilbert and Adrian Sanders – all voted against this year’s funding settlement between the...
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Nick Clegg’s leadership: A summary of the coverage
Well, there was a certain inevitability that poor election results would lead to calls for Nick Clegg to resign. Today, the papers are full of comments from activists and MPs critical of the Deputy...
View ArticleThree moments from today’s PMQs
View image | gettyimages.com I’ve taken to avoiding Prime Minister’s Questions. However today, I had no choice. At the moment it feels like a particularly angry and vindictive goat has stuffed my...
View ArticleAdrian Sanders to stand in Torbay council by-election
Exactly a month ago, the party lost one of its most successful campaigners when Ruth Pentney from Torbay died. Her son Nicholas wrote a wonderful tribute to her here. Ruth wouldn’t stop working even...
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++ Breaking news: Adrian Sanders wins in Torbay
Congratulations to Adrian Sanders, the former MP for Torbay, who won a local council seat in yesterday’s by-election, increasing the percentage of votes from 30% to a stonking 69%. The by-election...
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