Of the various votes that were or were not cast around equal marriage, it was the abstentions of Lib Dem President Tim Farron, and Deputy Leader Simon Hughes, that got the most attention. Farron is widely considered a party leader in waiting, and is hugely popular with the party faithful, but his abstention on an [...]
Lib Dem MPs that voted against equal marriage: Alan Beith (Berwick-Upon-Tweed) Gordon Birtwhistle (Burnely) John Pugh (Southport) Sarah Teather (Brent Central) In total 47 Lib Dems MPs plus one Lib Dem teller (Sir Bob Russell,) were present yesterday, meaning nine of the party’s MPs were absent and so abstained. They were: Malcolm Bruce (Gordon) Tim [...]
Last night Nick Clegg participated in a question and answer session at the Institute of Directors, and once again found himself bogged down in a discussion over Britain’s future in the European Union. He was clearly frustrated with the ongoing debate, and said that his Conservative coalition partners had “moved the goalposts” on Europe, a [...]
John Hemming will join the Conservative rebels in voting to support their EU motion. The Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley is currently the only Lib Dem to vote for the motion, which is going against the Queen’s Speech.
Education secretary Michael Gove has calmly stuck the knife into plotting by Vince Cable and Matthew Oakshott , while backing Nick Clegg into a corner. Gove told James Langdale that Lord Oakshott is “on manoeuvres” and that he was trying to “destabilise Nick” in order to promote his old mate Vince Cable. He claimed this [...]
Yesterday I revealed Chris Rennard’s rather inappropriate intervention during the Queen’s Speech debate. He seems rather proud of it too. Here is a screenshot from a post on his Facebook page: Not only that though, he’s been busy at work campaigning for and speaking at Liberal Democrat events. Posts again on his Facebook page show [...]
In the light of serious sexual harassment allegations, Lib Dem peer Lord Rennard has understandably been keeping a low profile. The party’s former chief exec and campaign guru returned yesterday though to ask a question in the Lords Queen’s Speech debate. When I saw Spectator contributing editor Harry Cole tweet what he had asked about, [...]
No panda this time, just Jezza B, his partner, and their new baby daughter, Molly. Awwww……
I rather like the new Lib Dem magazine ‘Ad Lib’, not least because the stuff in it is actually interesting to party members. I was very pleased when Editor in Chief Phil Reilly tweeted me to let me know that the magazine had gone digital. Helen Duffett blogs about it on Lib Dem Voice: [...]
Last night the House of Lords jumped over the last hurdle in bringing secret courts into the British justice system. Despite valiant work by Lords Strasburger and Marks, the measure was shamefully passed with votes by Lib Dem peers, and comes shortly after Lib Dems helped oversee the introduction of a Royal Charter on press [...]