Archive for david laws
22 Days in May by David Laws – book review
Many insider accounts have already appeared of the events retold in David Laws’s book 22 Days in May: The Birth of the Lib Dem-Conservative Coalition. It is therefore one of the book’s strengths that not only is it written in a lively style which gives some freshness to the now familiar sequence of events but [...]
The Saturday debate: What is fairness?
Here’s your starter for ten in our Saturday slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate… In his recently published book, 22 Days in May, David Laws writes, The coalition needs to redefine what fairness means. Fairness cannot mean just maintaining people above an arbitrary income line, whatever their personal circumstances. Fairness [...]
Why do we demand such high standards of politicians?
The Independent ran this piece from my yesterday: There was no need for The Telegraph to run a snatched doorstep photo of David Laws’s partner – but it is standard fare for political coverage across the media After years when ministers were far too reluctant to resign, clinging on to their jobs regardless of criticism, [...]
David Laws: should I stay as an MP?
Last night David Laws issues the following statement to the local media in his constituency (source):
The last few days have been the toughest of my life, and I would like to thank all those friends, family and local residents who have sent me messages of support.
It has been a very emotional experience to find so [...]
The coalition agreement: defence and deficit reduction
Welcome to the sixth in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here.
Despite the importance of the two areas, these are two of the shortest sections in the agreement, reflecting how there are a small number of dominating issues.
For defence there is the [...]
Dear Benedict Brogan…
Hi Benedict,
Saw that you just wrote: “The snap polls gave the debate to Mr Cameron.”
That seems a bit odd given the actual poll results are:
YouGov and Populus – Cameron winner
ComRes, Angus Reid and ICM – Clegg winner
I can’t quite see how that tallies up with your statement?
Best wishes,
Mark
As if by magic (well, actually email) back [...]
A Delicate Balance: the history of Liberals and hung Parliaments
The Liberal Democrat History Group meeting at Bournemouth Conference, supported by The Guardian, looked at hung Parliaments. In his introduction, the meeting chair Duncan Brack explained that one reason for picking the topic is that work such as that by John Curtice has shown that the odds of the next general election producing a hung [...]
Media news from Bournemouth – and our media at its very best
A round-up of more media coverage from conference here in Bournemouth:
Nick Clegg faces backlash over weakened pledge on university fees
Richard Dawkins condemns British libel laws
Lib Dems are a ‘radical party of power’ says Nick
Nick Clegg tries to talk his way out of trouble after call for ‘savage’ cuts
David Laws: You Ask The Questions
And finally, something [...]
Why David Laws was right
Appearing on the BBC earlier today, David Laws made the point that the Conservative Party’s lead in the opinion polls is fairly modest at the moment compared with Labour’s in the run-up to 1997.
This led Mike Smithson to blog:
Why’s the LD schools spokesman getting it so wrong?
You’ll have to indulge me if you think I’ve [...]
