Tag Archives: liberal democrats

Exclusive Paddy Ashdown Interview ‘I Am Devoted To The Liberal Democrats’

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Here is part three of our exclusive Paddy Ashdown interview. Take a look at part one and two.

That’s a good answer. In your diaries you are clear about how close you were to Labour before and after the ’97 election, and that PR was the price of coalition. Given that the Lib Dems eventually went into coalition with the Tories, with just a promise of a referendum on AV, how do you think events would have unfolded if you’d accepted a similar deal in ’97?”

I don’t know. I mean I can’t take you through the what would have happened parts of history. I suspect the circumstances would have been very different if we also had the referendum on a sensible system rather than a lesser sensible one. I don’t think you would have had the leading party in the country at the time deliberately doing what they could at the time to destroy the motion and the national newspapers at the time supporting them. That is the ‘what would have happened’ bits of history and we could all spend hours deciding how the world would be different  if Britain hadn’t won the battle of Waterloo; It’s very interesting but it doesn’t bear much relevance.

Paddy_Ashdown_3You also said in your diaries that you were worried that the party would start with Gladstone and end with Ashdown, what do you think was your greatest achievement as the Liberal Democrat Leader?

I have never ever believed that I am a good judge of my own achievements, I leave that to others to decide on what your achievements are. I was very proud to lead the Liberal Democrats for eleven years, I loved it, I am devoted to them. I was also very proud to be the International High Representative in Bosnia for the British Government.  No doubt I made mistakes in both of those jobs, probably quite a lot of them. When you have the privilege of doing jobs like that you can use it to your advantage and I quickly realised what I was good at and what I was bad at.

What do you think will happen with the Liberal Democrats in 2015?

I actually think all the polls now are wrong. I have to rely, as I always have done, on the good judgement of the british electorate, I think we have a good story to tell, we have been in government, everyone said we couldn’t do it. I think we have been more united than the Tories, tougher than the Tories, and played a really serious role in bringing our country through a crisis. If I know the British electorate at all well, when the moment comes, I think we’ll reap the dividends of that. I also think that the British electorate probably, having had the benefit of the coalition may not be very happy returning to absolute power in anybody’s hands. Also, having a coalition of some sort forces people to work together instead of spending all their time scratching each other’s eyes out. Maybe that is a much better system than what we had in the past. Those two things will help us I think.
Who Is Your Favourite Politician?

I think as someone said to me; ‘Who is my hero?’ and I said William Wilberforce who is as unlike me as you could possibly get, apart from Gladstone of course, who is the greatest Prime Minister this country has ever had both internationally and domestically, he was a man who said, “We did not march across the law of anti-slavery, we did not march towards a monument in the distance, we gathered friends like flowers along the way.” and I think he was an extraordinary politician.

Do you think we should have intervened in Syria?

No, I don’t. I’m against intervening in Syria while the opposition is so fractured and defused. Anyways, they’re being funded by extremist elements and encouraging extremist elements so, no, I thought that would lead us towards an engagement in what I think is a widening religious war. I did however think we should intervene in defense of one of the principles pillars of international law; a prohibition on the use of chemical weapons that has stood since 1926 and strained even Hitler and Stalin, and I thought that unless we were prepared to show strength to Assad, not by intervention because we wouldn’t have done, but there was a price to pay that was painful for breaking this principle of international law, then it would only have encouraged the wider spread of chemical weapons. So, no, I don’t think we should have intervened in Syria but I do think we should defend International Law and indeed one of the most important pillars of the international law that preserves some semblance of civilised behaviour in the prosecution of wars.

You testified against Slobodan Milosevic. Was that scary?

No, it wasn’t scary. It was more scary being bombarded by his troops. I mean, I testified about being in the middle of the Albanian villages when they were being bombarded by the main battle units of his army, that was much more scary.

I can understand that. You have done a lot of different things in your life. What is your favourite?

I think there is nothing I’ve done that will match my sense of pride of being a member of parliament for my own community of Yeovil. There is no thing you could ever do that matched being the representative in Westminster of the community you live in and love. So if somebody said you can have one line to put on your gravestone it would be ‘Member of Parliament for Yeovil’.

What was it like being an intelligence officer?

I was a perfectly ordinary diplomat

What is the best advice you have ever received?

Never stop learning.

Thank you Paddy.

 What do you think?

Exclusive: Paddy Ashdown On Clegg, The Tories, The Liberal Democrats & The NHS

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Part two of our Interview with Paddy Ashdown. Here he talks about politics. Part three will be up tomorrow. Let us know what you think. Part one, where he talks about writing and his books,  is here.

Do you mind if I ask you some political questions as well?

No, go on.

Would you prefer the Liberal Democrats to side with Labour at the next election?

That is a matter not for me or my preference but it is a matter for the British electorate voting in the ballot box.

Do you think Nick Clegg has been true to liberal values?

Absolutely. I think he is remarkable. I think he is…I am devoted to the man, I think he is one of the most brilliant politicians in Britain today. Hugely, publicly, under-rated. He’s got very, very good judgement. He’s got extraordinary courage and he is a liberal down to the marrow of his bones. So I think he’d undoubtedly make the best Prime Minister that you could have today.

He has a very hard job. Doesn’t he? 

It’s a thankless job. I did it for eleven years and let me tell you it is the most thankless job  because you represent the only philosophy: liberalism, that makes any sense.

He has it tough because generally people don’t seem to like the Tories

No they don’t like the Tories and I don’t like them either. I spent my life fighting them. If the public elects a coalition where the only coalition that can have a majority in the House of Commons inherently, mathematically, adds up to ourselves and the Tories do they really want people that don’t listen to them?, the public democratic view. And you better ask yourself what they like best. Do they really like the complete and utter corrupt mess this country was left in by Labour, which would have bankrupted young people for the next twenty years or do they like two parties that put aside their differences for the national interest and work together to get us out of the worst recession we have had since the 1930s and back on the path of growth. Which of these two would you prefer?

I agree with that, Labour left the country in a very big mess.

Absolutely. People have likes and dislikes in politics and what I’m interested in is doing what’s right for my country. That is what I have always been interested in and if the Liberal Democrats pay an electoral price for that, and I think they will by the way, if they did, if I was doing what I believed to be right for my country and helping it out of a crisis then I am proud of that and that’s what politics is for.

Do you think the Liberal Democrats made an error over tuition fees?

Yes, they made an error by promising it when it couldn’t be delivered. We’ve been in opposition for a hundred years, we haven’t been in government, so of course from time to time decisions which were driven to a certain extent by opportunism. I said at the time that we were making a promise that I didn’t think in the economic climate could be delivered. If we had been in government by ourselves I think we might have decided to sacrifice other things in order to deliver what we promised but we weren’t in government, we were in coalition. So, no, neither parties manifesto has been in operation. Both parties have had to make some compromises. I don’t call that anti-democratic. I call that the operation of democracy.

Do you think the NHS is being privatised?

What concerns me more than anything else isn’t who owns the NHS but how the public is served. How the citizen is served. For instance, even under the last government, under Mr Blair’s government, I had to have some health checks done and I went to a private organisation run under contract from the health service as an alternative means of delivering health services, that is; free at the point of delivery health services, and they did a wonderful job. Now I could have gone to a health service hospital, it’s all paid out of our taxes, it’s all paid by the national health service. One of those organisations was privately run, one was publicly run. It doesn’t matter who runs it. I don’t believe in private health but if there is a private provider providing to the health service under health service conditions and they can do it better for the costumer, then that is surely what you want. I mean I don’t believe the argument that says private/public is the necessary argument. I am strongly in favour of public services being offered free at the point of delivery and paid for on taxation, but who actually runs the organisation that delivers it is far less important to me than how well the citizen is served.

I agree with that. That is a question we get asked a lot but I got an MRI on my back and it was done through the NHS via a private company and they did an amazing job. Very professional, very quick.

Yes, that’s right. If you had a monopoly public service I don’t even think it would be a better public service. It needs competition. It makes people live up to the mark. I bet you there were more people abused and receiving bad service and ignorant service when the NHS was a public monopoly. I don’t believe in public monopoly. I believe in things being paid for either by taxation, free at the point of delivery but then who does that?, providing it is subject to inspection and national control is a matter of irrelevance.

 

Exclusive Paddy Ashdown Interview: On His Books

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Paddy Ashdown has been a Royal Marine, the leader of the Liberal Democrats for eleven years, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is a life peer in the House of Lords. On top of that he has written 8 books, with the 8th coming out on the 5th of June. I can’t wait as I have loved all of his other books. I interviewed him about his books and politics. Here is part one.

Did you get the idea for A Brilliant Little Operation: The Cockleshell Heroes and the Most Courageous Raid of World War 2 while you were a member of the Royal Marines elite Special Boot Squadron?

No, my publisher approached me and said ‘it’s the 70th anniversary how about writing the book’. Which is my seventh book. I am just about to produce my 8th so it was a natural subject really.

What is your 8th book about?

The 8th book is about the largest resistance battle with the Germans in the Second World War. It is called A Terrible Victory, about the Vercors plateau on June 1944 and it was the biggest resistance German battle in Western Europe. [Learn more about the book here. It is about the chronicle of the French Resistance during World War Two]

That sounds fascinating. You have written quite a lot of books. Do you have a favourite?

I think the one I am working on now is always my favourite. I love writing books and whatever you’re working on consumes your mind so it is always the one you are most thinking about.

You’re books are very good. They are always very factual and have lots of history in them. How do you go about writing them. What is your writing schedule?

Writing The Brilliant Little Operation, and the one I am going to produce, Harper Collins will publish it on the 5th of June, takes me about three years of research. I mean, I start writing before then and overall I don’t like writing unless I have all of the research it is possible to get. Normally the whole process will take my three and a half to four years. Of which three years is spent on research. Going to the wonderful archive museum in Britain, the National Archives in Britain. In the case of both of my most recent books, to the Château de Vincennes in Paris, In France there are three key archives you have to go to. And also the Bauhaus-Archiv in Germany.

I spend a lot of time in archives. In writing my present book I have read sixty other books on the subject, all of them in French. In writing a Brilliant Little Operation I have read four books before and a lot of research. So research is very important.

You can really tell that when you read your books.

Thank you, that’s kind. That’s very generous.

Tomorrow: The Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, Nick Clegg, Labour and the NHS: Exclusive interview.

 

Tax year end: last minute pension planning tips

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  • Investors are urged not to forget the ‘forgotten’ allowances
  • Falling annual allowance emphasises the importance of making hay while the sun shines
  • 50% tax relief is only available until 5th April
  • Bed and Sipp
Use your earnings related pension contribution allowance. For the past three years, we have seen a steady erosion in pension contribution allowances, with both the annual and lifetime allowances being cut. Both the Liberal Democrats and Labour have threatened to go further and limit the rates of tax relief available on pension contributions. If you have spare capital which you are looking to invest for your retirement, then it makes sense to get on and do it before 6 April.
Tom McPhail, Head of Pensions Research “Pensions are sometimes the forgotten allowance at this time of year when attention tends to be focused on ISAs, but with retirement saving tax breaks coming under increasing pressure from the Chancellor, wise investors will make hay while the sun shines. If you don’t use the allowances now, you may not get the chance next year.”
Non-earner’s pensions
It makes sense to share household retirement savings to take full advantage of the tax free personal allowance in retirement. Non-earners can contribute up to £3,600 a year to a pension and enjoy tax relief on their contributions. With personal allowances set to rise to £9,440 in 2013/14, a couple in retirement could enjoy a household income of nearly £19,000 a year without having to pay any tax – but only if they have shared their pension saving equally between them.
It is also possible to make pension contributions for your children – an effective way to give them a head start on their own retirement saving, as well as reducing a potential inheritance tax bill.
Bed and Sipp
Use existing investments to make a pension contribution. Even if you don’t have cash available to invest in a pension, you can potentially use other investments.
For example: Peter has some shares which he bought 10 years ago for £10,000. Today they are worth £15,000. He sells the shares, realising a gain of £5,000, which falls within his Capital Gains Tax allowance of £10,600. He invests the proceeds in his pension and immediately repurchases the share portfolio within his Sipp. As well as having now sheltered his investment within a pension for tax purposes, he also benefits from immediate tax relief of £3,750 which is added to his pension. If he is a higher rate taxpayer Peter can claim a further £3,750 after the end of the tax year.
Take advantage of the 50% tax rate.
For the (un)lucky few who pay 50% income tax, it makes sense to invest in a pension before the end of the tax year. Any contributions made from 6 April onwards will only be eligible for relief at 45%. If using carry forward as well, this could mean up to an additional £10,000 in tax relief.
Carry forward unused relief to boost contributions. If you have the capital to spare, then provided you also have the earnings to justify the contribution, it is possible to carry forward unused pension tax relief from up to 3 years ago. This means it is possible to make a pension contribution of up to £200,000, which for a 50% tax payer could then result in up to £100,000 of tax relief.
Plan ahead for flexible drawdown.
You’re not allowed to make any pension contributions in the same tax year in which you start flexible drawdown. So anyone planning on using flexible drawdown may want to top up their pension with any final contributions before 6th April – any contributions after that date could mean having to wait up to another 12 months before getting full access to their pension funds.

Lib Dems take major stand on low carbon growth

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Responding to a Lib Dem party conference motion from Danny Alexander supporting a legal commitment to a carbon-free power sector by 2030 as a means to support growth in the low-carbon sector, Joss Garman, senior campaigner for Greenpeace UK said:

“Danny Alexander deserves praise for standing up for our low-carbon sector, which generated a third of all growth in our economy last year. This issue goes to the heart of the coalition’s growth and infrastructure plans. A clear commitment to a carbon-free power sector by 2030 will boost clean industries, create jobs, get energy bills under control, and get us on track with reducing carbon emissions.”

Young People In Politics: Ben Mallet Interview.

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It takes a lot for me to be impressed by people, Ben Mallet scores on this point. He is smart, passionate and obscenely young ( Still in his teens!). Ben is one of life’s doers, and, I am almost certain, will one day be Prime Minister. Keep an eye on him.

Why did you go into politics and why conservative?

I got involved with the Conservative party from quite a young age, not because I was a political anorak (I would hope), but because I’ve always thought its really important for young people to take an interest in decisions being made by governments, that are going to affect people of my age, later on.

How do you think we get more people involved in politics?

I think the key to involving young people in politics, is acknowledging that the majority of young people are already interested in politics, just not the politics that we see on BBC Parliament.

If you were to ask one of my friends, “What do you think of the Coalition government?” then I would happily bet that they’re eyes would glaze over and they would have lost interest before you’d even finished the question. Where as, if you were to ask “What do you think of the Coalition government’s policy to increase tuition fees?” then you would get a completely different reaction- probably one involving a pretty lively response.

To give another example, I was at a Kingston council meeting last week and the Lib Dems decided that they were going to launch a motion stating their opposition to the rise in Tuition fees. The audience was mostly made up of local teenagers coming to hear the debate and three even got up to speak!

It’s all about making politics RELEVANT to young people.

Tell me about setting up the Richmond park CF
Richmond Park Conservative Future is a real success story, although not just my own. So many people worked to make RPCF what it is today- not least Zac Goldsmith.

Our underlying principle, as I’ve just stated, is making politics relevant to young people. As a result, we held Summer & Christmas parties, inviting loads of local teenagers to come and quiz Zac on what he stands for, as well as enjoying themselves. Combined, over 350 people came to these events. We’ve also held discussions with local politicians and events at the local universities.

We also teamed up with a local autism charity to hold a sponsored Fun-Run in Richmond Park, raising hundred’s of pounds for a really great local organisation.

How did you get involved with Zac Goldsmith

I first met Zac when I volunteered to work in the local association office- he had just been selected as the parliamentary candidate and was looking to really launch his campaign locally.
I got involved because Zac wanted lots of young people to get involved- and so the ball began to roll.

You got new 180 members at The Kingston Fresher’s Fayre. How does that feel?

I feel very humbled by it. It was a total team effort and there was a lot of effort involved. The explosion of young people’s engagement in local politics we witnessed wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for the energy displayed by Zac or the campaign team. I am honoured, however, to have acted as a catalyst.

Why do you think there is a stigma to being a Tory?

This is a question that a lot of people ask me- the truth is that the Conservative party has always had some “Marmite” tendencies- you either love them or you hate them. As a result there are some areas of the country and some groups of people who will always hate the Tories- for what they did decades ago that haven’t yet been forgiven.

The flip side of the coin is that there are some areas of the country and some groups of people who love the Tories.
The Conservative party is one of the oldest political parties in the world and so it’s history ultimately plays a big part in the party’s perception today.

Why are you a Tory?
I think its all about trust. When you strip off all the political party slogans, logos, PR machines and spin doctors, it all comes down to how each party treats people.

The Labour party doesn’t trust anyone. It doesn’t trust me to not be a racist or a nutter, so it imposes ridiculous political-correctness and health and safety laws. It doesn’t trust doctors, teachers or even the police to do their job, so it imposes layers of bureaucracy, targets and by-laws. It doesn’t trust my community to make decisions themselves so leaves the power with bureaucrats in Whitehall and doesn’t trust businesses to work effectively, so imposes heavy regulations and red-tape. And to fund all this centralization, they have to ask for huge amounts of tax on everything from Income to Bingo.

I believe that the Conservative party does trust people. Michael Gove’s plan to allow parents, communities or organisations to set up their own schools is one example of this. Another example is Andrew Lansley’s plans to give more power to doctors, or Eric Pickle’s policy to radically decentralize power to local councils. The Prime Minister’s Big Society is all about trust.

Thank you Ben.