Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats Simon Hughes has announced an intention to amend the budget to promote fairness. He told the Guardian today that: When it comes to the Budget next week, we will vote for the budget. But…
Monthly Archives: March 2013
Did the budget meet my tests?
A brief note, reflecting on the criteria by which I proposed we should judge the budget, now it has sunk in: What is the timescale? 5 years, so this is a clear Conservative victory. I am deeply concerned about this,…
Tagged with: budget, economy, equality, george osborne, office of budget responsibility, opinion, tax
Posted in blog archive
Posted in blog archive
How should we evaluate the budget?
Regardless of what Liberal Democrats might like the budget to be tomorrow, we always knew it was going to be a compromise between the Lib Dems and Conservatives in government. The Parliamentary arithmetic always meant that the Lib Dems’ game…
Intergenerational equity and the perils of groupthink
Crossposted from Quaequam Blog! As the implications of what it appears that the coalition is about to do in the upcoming budget sinks in, I have to admit to growing increasingly concerned. No-one – outside of the Labour leadership contest…
Tagged with: budget, economy, higher education, intergenerational-equity, opinion, public spending, tax, training, youth
Posted in blog archive
Posted in blog archive
Gove a ‘romantic idealist’?
Plans for so-called ‘free schools’ announced by the Secretary of State recognise the need to improve the education for all pupils; harnessing the enthusiasm of new groups offers the chance to widen community involvement in education. But, like a 1960s…
Autumn Conference motions 2 – feedback from comments so far
Wordles aren’t always as useful as they could be, but this summary of comments over the last few days about what topics the Social Liberal Forum should propose motions on at autumn conference seems quite clear: Schools is a clear…
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What motions should we table to autumn conference?
Crossposted from the Social Liberal Forum social network. The deadline for autumn conference motions is looming (30 June to be precise), so we don’t have much time. But what should the Social Liberal Forum be championing to get onto the…
Tagged with: conference, education, office of budget responsibility, policy, tax, universities, wealth
Posted in blog archive, Uncategorized
Posted in blog archive, Uncategorized
Stop wasting money Mr Gove
Sign the petition. Ideology rather than efficiency seems to be the Watchword in Sanctuary Buildings, the home of Mr Gove’s Department for Schools. Not content with wasting money on changing the name of his department, the only minister to do…
Hughes, Bruce and Oakeshott express concerns over Capital Gains Tax plans
Following on from the Social Liberal Forum’s open letter to Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander about the emergency budget, three prominent Liberal Democrat parliamentarians have echoed our concern on Capital Gains Tax. The FT reports that Lord Oakeshott, Malcolm Bruce…
Tagged with: capital gains tax, malcolm bruce, matthew oakeshott, simon hughes, tax
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Posted in blog archive
Open Letter to Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander
Following our mini-consultation a few days ago, we have written the following letter to Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander outlining our concerns about the upcoming Emergency Budget. Thanks to everyone who submitted their ideas, both on our website and privately…