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A Lost Generation?
August 01, 2013 11:15 AM
In the early 80’s I was at an education conference where someone was talking about youth unemployment and the devastating impact it was having in his community in the North East – his words still ring in my ears “that time is lost and it’s lost forever”. At least in those days there was still a youth service which was geared up to work with those young people but today it’s not just nothing to do, it’s also nowhere to go. The energy, creativity and joy of being young is being crushed, not only i -
The need for “grown up” policy
July 29, 2013 8:22 AM
It’s being billed as a set piece set-to. The rapidly approaching Autumn Conference in Glasgow is of great significance. Discussions that shape the content of the next General Election manifesto will be at the core of the agenda. It would appear that Nick Clegg and his aides are aiming to use a string of votes at Conference to push the party in his preferred direction. The major Clegg-sponsored motion on the economy – which basically asks voting reps to sign up to Osbornomics as official party p -
On Identity
July 24, 2013 2:34 PM
According to Nick Clegg’s aides the summer will see the start of a concerted attempt to shift (further, some might add) the Liberal Democrats to the centre-Right, culminating in a series of binary choices at Conference in Glasgow on a range of issues from tax to Trident. This would mean abandoning the centre-left political territory occupied by British Liberals since Keynes inspired the 1929 L -
The Road to 2015
July 22, 2013 2:19 PM
Stephen Tall suggested that Nick Clegg’s motion on the economy, to be debated at party conference in Glasgow, marked the beginning of the 2015 general election campaign for the Liberal Democrats. I disagree. The road to 2015 began the day Nick took office as Deputy Prime Minister, the day the Coalition formed, in May 2010. I don’t mean this t -
Watch Vince Cable, Norman Lamb and Clare Oakley at the SLF Conference
July 19, 2013 2:21 PM
Vince Cable calls for more diversity in the banking system
Norman Lamb talks about mutuals in public services
Clare Oakley on mutuals in public services
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Bloggers comment on the SLF Conference
July 18, 2013 11:32 AM
Bloggers attending the SLF Conference in Manchester on Saturday 13th July have posted comments. Some of them interviewed Steve Webb over the lunch break. A Question of Fairness by Mark Jewell Interview with Steve Webb at the Social Liberal Forum Conference by Maelo Manning on Lib -
Statement on economics motion at Lib Dem conference
July 15, 2013 3:37 PM
On Saturday, when the Social Liberal Forum Conference in Manchester was discussing on how we get growing again five years after the financial crash, Liberal Democrat Voice published a motion on the economy to be debated at Confere -
SLF Scotland Conference - a report
July 03, 2013 2:49 PM
The third SLF Scottish Conference took place in Glasgow on Saturday 29 June. This was a lively affair, with a number of interesting presentations and discussions which produced considerable input from those attending. There were three basic themes to the agenda:- Matters of current political interest. The Conference heard presentations from Robin Tennant of The Poverty Alliance on Welfare and Blair Jenkins of YesScotland on independence.
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A Fairer Society is a Freer Society
July 01, 2013 1:28 PM
Britain today lies in the grip of austerity. Welfare cuts, unemployment, a shrinking public sector and hostility to the poor are some of the aspects of this austerity. This period of economic difficulty is only the latest chapter in a thirty year project that has seen a rapid expansion in the reach of the free market, as well as an equally rapid rise in inequalities between wealth, power and freedom. Despite such vast inequalities, many politicians seem to be unprepared to challenge them and mak
