Tag Archives: chris huhne

The level of inequality in this country is a scandal

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I’ve commented before on how I suspect that issues around equality (is promoting equality of opportunity enough? or do we need more emphasis on delivering greater equality of outcome?) is one of the key philosophical differences between Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg.

Don’t get me wrong – I think both their beliefs sit more happily in the same party than plenty of pairs of Labour or Conservative MPs and their beliefs that I can think of! But I think there are some real differences here.

All of which is a long introduction to saying – Chris has a piece today over on Comment is Free:

The level of inequality in this country is a scandal. In Britain today, the strongest indicator of life expectancy is social class. The strongest indicator of children’s chances at school is their parents’ income: as early as age three, children from disadvantaged families lag a full year behind their middle class contemporaries. The chance of someone born into a low income group of moving into a higher group as an adult is lower now that it was 50 years ago.

Liberal Democrats don’t tend to talk about equality as much as we champion liberty. But in reality we can’t separate the two. The extent of inequality is now so large that it is a serious restriction on freedom – and for all of us, not only those at the bottom of the income and wealth ladder.

Not surprisingly – I agree! Because as I said on an earlier occasion:

Your educational chances are strongly correlated to your social class – setting the prospects for children even before they reach school. In health too, inequalities are still increasing. Ever since the publication of the Black Report twenty-five years ago, it’s been well known that inequalities in people’s health are directly related to inequalities in income and wealth. That’s why Greece, with half the average wealth per person of the US, actually has a longer average life expectancy. And in Iraq – after ten years of sanctions, with war ravaged infrastructure and continuing violence – has an average male life expectancy that is 8 years higher than that of the Calton area of Glasgow. The explanation? Inequalities in wealth again.

In fact, a whole host of studies across different countries have consistently shown that not just in terms of education and health, but also in terms of crime, social respect, trust and participation – the outcomes are linked to the degrees of inequality in wealth and income.

Does the right to protest matter?

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Glad to see that Chris Huhne has made it quite clear in a news release that when the show comes to town in the form of the Olympics, the right to peaceful protest must be upheld:

The Olympics are a chance to put our values in the global showcase which is why the organisers should plan for and allow the right of peaceful protest, which is such an important part of our political tradition. It will not be on display at the Beijing Olympics.
Diversity and freedom of expression is what has always made our society strong, and we should not be afraid to show it.

And I suspect given the number of countries competing whose human rights record may not be quite what we would wish – there will be quite a number of protesters wishing to protest. A good thing too. As a country – we should be proud that peaceful protest is one of our guarantees of freedom of expression.

That’s something that won’t be the case in Beijing and it might not be the case here judging from the Labour Government’s desire to stop all forms of freedom of expression and protest – even when it is just reading out the names of the war dead!

Still – now Chris has thrown down the gauntlet on it – will Nick follow suit? There was a pattern last time round of Chris leading the way on issues – troops out of Iraq, the environment, etc – where he proposed a radical policy, others weren’t so keen – but in the end, it was Chris’s radical position that won the day.

That’s why I like about leadership contests – they push each candidate on and as a party we end up with a better set of policies as a result. Hurrah!

This time round hopefully the issue of the right to protest will become a key point for our party. And then we can also shame the Government into doing the right thing.

The likely lads

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Ming’s departure came out of the blue. A week is meant to be a long time in politics – but for goodness sake – this was only a Monday afternoon. It was around 1pm when I meandered over to Nick Clegg and Vince Cable in Portcullis House to ask what was going on and why we were all being inundated with media calls. They knew nothing. But by 6.30pm Ming was gone.

I think he must have been sick of it all – the slings and arrows of criticism had been relentless since his first outing at PMQs – and with Brown wimping out of the election that never was, Ming clearly decided that he could not and would not be able to staunch the flow of negative coverage and wanted to stop the damage to the Party. So he nobly (as you would expect from someone of Ming’s integrity) fell on his sword.

And now the race is joined between two who would be king – Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg. So with two excellent candidates contesting the leadership – the LibDems are in a win / win position whichever succeeds and have an opportunity not only to showcase our wares – but also to fight and forge in the heat of battle – the way forward. And you know, it’s all very well these boys all wanting to be leader – but it is what you do with leadership that counts.

I’m the Chair of Chris Huhne’s campaign – so obviously I’m biased as to which candidate should win the day. And I am whispering in his ear. Stand up for things that we believe in. Dare to be radical. Don’t join in this swamp of political whoring currently favoured by Labour and Tories who are willing to be anything they think the people want them to be.The last think the country needs is another party offering the same old, same old.

We need a leader not a follower – a leader with the guts to take our Party to new heights and new territory as we challenge the status quo and the busted flush of British politics – the deadly duopoly that is undermining life in Britain today.

The rules of the game have got to change! If we don’t bring back substance to politics -then we are all doomed to ever-decreasing circles. The ghastly, rude, adversarial, rubbish, bully-boy politics that characterises our political conduct is not only distasteful – but is gradually denigrating our trade to the gutter.

And if we really want to rattle the cage of British politics, then we need someone brave, radical, clever, willing to be dangerous and different – someone who will really upset and challenge the vomit-worthy consensus now devouring any remaining difference between Labour and the Tories – a converging and unedifying coalition – where vote-catching, bargain basement offers are the name of the political game. And where beliefs and values don’t mean a thing. I don’t want us to join in that game. The last thing we Lib Dems need now is to join the “say anything to get votes” agenda, which has seen huge poll swings and insane volatility. We have to be the ones standing up to that consensus.

So – leadership is a tough old job, as Brown, Cameron and Campbell have all found. You need to be made of steel, thick of skin (thick enough but not impervious), and firm of spirit to take it on. Chris is tough enough, experienced enough and world-tested enough to take on and beat Brown – even on his old stomping ground of the economy. Chris is a real contrast to the Cameron-Blair style of operation, which is a bonus in my view. And he is saying the things I want to hear about radicalism, equality and fairness.

More than anything, I believe that Britain is fundamentally a liberal country. That’s why “illiberal” is a term of insult here. We need a liberal party to challenge the authoritarian consensus of the two main parties and the political establishment.

Chris is the man who can!

(c) Lynne Featherstone, 2007

Chris has the cojones

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Well – here we go again! It feels a bit deja vu as the establishment swings in behind their chosen candidate, Paddy Ashdown being the latest. Only to be expected! Last time it was Ming, and this time it’s Nick Clegg – and once again, I go in the opposite direction.

Don’t get me wrong. I adore Nick. I worked as his number two in home affairs for a year and a half after the last leadership election, and we get on brilliantly. If he wins this contest he will – as they say – have my full support. Lib Dems are in a win/win situation. But given that a girl’s got to choose, I am going hell for leather to get Chris Huhne elected as leader.

Last time we lost our leader through a series of unfortunate events, I telephoned both Chris and Nick to ask them to run because I didn’t think Ming (as wonderful as he is) was right to lead the party. Chris went for it! In my book that was brave, and it was what our party needed. So my starting point is that the man has guts.

And we are going to need guts as the duel between the (currently) two main parties continues on its mind-numbing, politics-by-numbers, media-directed, cliched way. We need someone brave, radical, clever, willing to be dangerous and different – someone who will really upset and challenge the vomit-worthy consensus now devouring any remaining difference between Labour and the Tories – a converging and unedifying coalition – where vote-catching offers are the name of the game. And where beliefs and values don’t mean a thing. I don’t want us to join in that game. The last thing we Lib Dems need now is to join the "say anything to get votes" agenda, which has seen huge poll swings and insane volatility. We have to be the ones standing up to that consensus. I believe Chris can take that on and has the cojones to do it!

And leadership is a tough old job, as Brown, Cameron and Campbell have all found. You need to be made of steel, thick of skin (thick enough but not impervious), and firm of spirit to take it on. Chris is tough enough, experienced enough and world-tested enough to take on and beat Brown – even on his old stomping ground of the economy. Chris is a real contrast to the Cameron-Blair style of operation, which is a bonus in my view. And he is saying the things I want to hear about radicalism, equality and fairness.

More than anything, I believe that Britain is fundamentally a liberal country. That’s why "illiberal" is a term of insult here. We need a liberal party to challenge the authoritarian consensus of the two main parties and the political establishment.

Chris is the man who can!

This article first appeared on Comment is Free.

(c) Lynne Featherstone, 2007

My choice for Lib Dem leader

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A day of weighing up thoughts on the Lib Dem leadership contest. First – many thanks to everyone who has been lobbying me to run for the leadership. It’s flattering – but sorry, I’m not in the running.

Instead, I am sticking with Chris Huhne. You know he had real balls last time – took the risk – gave the party a real choice. And in the campaign – it was Chris who had the big ideas – so much so that the other leadership contenders followed his agenda. I want the person who sets agendas – that is leadership.

Outside of loads of media interviews – it has been a day of Lib Dem huddles. Who will support who? Who’s the media backing? And so on … but perhaps at last there is a chink of light in the media being (a little!) interested in what the policy choices there may be behind different candidates and what our party’s approach is rather than obsessed with what socks Ming is wearing.

But I’ll give you one firm prediction: whoever runs and whoever wins – their best policies will be nicked by the Tories without hesitation, then nicked by Labour and then the Tories will complain about Labour doing the nicking – as if they were really their policies in the first place!

Why are so many people unhappy?

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Discontent with our modern lot – that was the theme of my speech at last night’s launch of Reinventing the State: Social Liberalism for the 21st Century:

I started out on my chapter just thinking about how often friends or colleagues bound up to me and say, “Hey Lynne, I feel fabulously happy and I there’s nothing I would want different.”

Duh! Never! We appear to wander round in mild to severe discontent with our lot. It’s not actually the ‘fabulously happy’ answer that I really hope for – but I do wonder what it is that makes us feel such dissatisfaction.

It was a packed fringe meeting – and also featured speeches from Chris Huhne, Nick Clegg and Steve Webb. A good evening all round!

Click here to read the rest of my speech and click here to buy the book now.

Prolonging the agony for the mutts of this world

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It On the climate change march with colleagues from Haringeywas the climate change (against!) march yesterday (Saturday) – and off I went with Lib Dem colleagues from Haringey and every part of London. Much hanging around with march organisers marshalling us into position – with other contingents put in their places too. I think it was University College London in front of us – who had a theatrical troupe and loud drums, which livened it up a bit.

For a couple of hours in clear but freezing sunshine we waited for the off. Then indeed we were off – and marching. There is something fantastic about the activity of marching for a cause (and they don’t come more worthwhile than saving the planet). My first ever march was about 30-odd years ago when I marched against ‘Maggie Thatcher, Union Snatcher’ when the then Education Minister wanted to take power away from student unions. I threw flour bags at her effigy. (Street cred or what?).

But there really is something very fulfilling about marching and stating publicly what you are fighting for – what you stand for. As London Spokesperson, I was pleased to see a good turnout – and Chris Huhne (our Environment Spokesperson) was there too – along with Jo Swinson and Ed Davey MPs. As we came into Trafalgar Square the sun was streaming down on us and it was a truly gorgeous day.

In the evening it was Ally Pally fireworks. Funnily enough, having been invited for the last nine or ten years – I have never managed to go as it has always been on the same night as my daughter’s school firework night – and for this sort of thing, it’s children rule OK!

But this year, for the first time, her firework night is next Saturday – so off we went. Sods law, having been on my feet virtually all day for the march – I then had a long hike up to the Pally as there is no other way to access it on firework night. But what a great display it was. Though – every year around this time I just feel so sorry for pets. My dog is petrified by fireworks and every one that goes off sees her running madly around barking with fear. Whilst I accept a couple of weekends around the 5th of November – the fireworks seem to extend for four weeks or so – and not just weekends – prolonging the agony for the mutts of this world.

Police and Justice Bill

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Monday was the second reading of the Police and Justice Bill on which I am leading. The Bill is one of those typical Labour efforts which has a number of sensible proposals combined with some hideous ones. And as ever – the overall trend is to centralise power over the police and police authorities directly into the hands of Charles Clark as Home Secretary. Bet they’d never have supported a Bill that put direct intervention in how the police did their work straight into the hands of Michael Howard!

Someone sent me a comment after the debate complaining that I read from a script during it. So – for the avoidance of confusion – all the frontbenchers from all three parties who make speeches of around half an hour or more in opening statement on the Bill worked from written speeches. The difference is – I wrote my own – whereas I am pretty sure that Charles Clark’s is prepared for him – and I don’t know if Nick Herbert who lead for the Tories wrote his or not. The bit that cheeses me off is the other two have a Despatch Box to lay their papers on – but I have to work in mid-air!

As frontbench spokesperson dealing with this debate – my prime duty as I see it is to get written into the record the issues of concern with the Bill and to lay down our marker for the Committee, Report and Third Reading to come – the battleground. Whilst we all add a bit of speechifying – that is the purpose. Backbench speeches vary more – in that they are generally on a particular constituency issue or particular political point – rather than having to cover the whole extent of the Bill and generally much shorter so that members who want to speak in a debate can get called within the allotted time.

You can read the speech in Hansard.

As you can see – I call the Bill ‘pernicious’ and ‘sneaky’ because it is another one of Labour’s ‘abolition of Parliament’ efforts. Outside of the power grab for the Home Secretary, the extension of surveillance of the innocent, the removal of protection for prisoners from Human Rights abuse and so on – it also has an extensive section on extradition.

Currently, and arising from hasty moves during the post-9/11 debates, the USA can extract one of their citizens from our shores and only have to prove that the person is the person they want. However, if we want to extract one of our citizens from their shores – we have to give prima facie evidence to prove that the person is guilty of the offence for which we are seeking extradition. To add insult to injury – whereas we brought that law into force by statute – the Americans never even ratified their end. So we are voluntarily complying with this unequal legislation. Moreover – it was brought into being for terrorism emergency use – but now the USA is using it for much else. So the Committee stage of the Bill will offer a good opportunity to properly debate this lopsided state of affairs – and ask why we’re letting the Americans do things here they won’t let us do over there.

Also today – the first wave of Ming’s shadow cabinet was announced Monday – and Chris Huhne gets the Environment portfolio – which is fantastic! An eco-economist – this will really give this portfolio the strength and importance it needs. Climate change is one of the biggest dangers threatening us. Nick Clegg gets Home Affairs (and so – if I stay in the Home Affairs team – my new boss).

Protecting personal data

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Main event today after surgery is the European Committee on exchange of data between law enforcement agencies in the EU. What this is about is letting any country in the EU access the information on databases in any other country in the pursuit of crime. Whilst in principle this sounds a great way to catch criminals, the reality is – we can’t even make our own databases secure – let alone open them up to other countries. Huge problems can follow from widespread access to insecure data. Let’s get our own house in order first.

Find myself in the Members’ Dining Room in Parliament in the evening with Chris Huhne and a couple of others from Team Huhne. It’s all over bar the shouting – and none of us have a real clue as to who has won. Roll on Thursday!