Tim farron

Paddy Ashdown slaps down Tim Farron: ‘Judgement is not his strong suit’

It seems Tim Farron has rather annoyed his senior Lib Dem colleagues with his quite naked desire to become party leader. After the ambitious MP said that the Lib Dems got 2/10 for the way they’d handled the Coalition, he received a pretty hefty slap down from Lord Ashdown on this morning’s Pienaar’s Politics on Radio 5Live. The Lib Dem General Election campaign chair didn’t bother sending veiled messages to Farron about criticising the party leadership and saying that the Lib Dems are ‘dead’. Instead, he just verbally roughed up Farron in the way Farron has been roughing up his own party leadership. ‘His well-known ambition would be better served with

Lib Dem manifesto horsetrading begins

After Tim Farron set out a new position for the Lib Dems on the ‘bedroom tax’ this morning, Labour wants to try to humiliate the party by staging a vote on the policy in the Commons. It was approved long ago, but this lunchtime Labour sources were saying that they would put pressure on the Lib Dems by finding a mechanism to force a vote on the bedroom tax. This is always exciting for the Labour party as they can dig out some lines about flip flops and broken promises, but the chances are that an Opposition Day debate would either be ignored by Lib Dem MPs, or a mollifying

Tim Farron tells Coffee House: I might vote against leadership on 50p tax

One of the many confrontations between the Liberal Democrat leadership and party activists this week in Glasgow is over tax. When conference debates its tax policy paper, ‘Fairer Taxes’, on Monday, it will vote on a motion that includes a reintroduction of the 50p rate of tax, should an independent review conclude that the cost of introducing it won’t exceed the amount it raises. It is this vote that the leadership expects to lose. But I’ve been speaking to Tim Farron, the party’s president, who tells me that he is considering supporting the motion on 50p against the leadership’s wishes. He says: ‘I am sympathetic to the arguments in favour

Lib Dems try to avoid their own local election jitters

The dominant narrative in the build-up to these local elections has been all about UKIp vs the Tories, with a bit of angst about Labour’s southern mission thrown in. The Lib Dems didn’t really get a look in. They had moved to a reasonably stable position after romping home in the Eastleigh by-election, but today’s results could change that. Their awful showing in South Shields – coming 7th – will shake the party, but so will any surprise big losses. The party has already failed to take control of Somerset County Council, which was one local authority it had focused a great deal of effort on. Sending out Tim Farron

Exclusive: Senior Lib Dems push for changes to secret courts bill

Senior Lib Dem MPs are deeply concerned about the government’s plans for secret courts, and will urge the government to accept changes made to the legislation in the House of Lords, I understand. The Justice and Security Bill will have its second reading in the House of Commons in the next few weeks, fresh from a series of embarrassing defeats on the secret courts measures in the House of Lords. Ken Clarke has said that some of the amendments brought in the upper chamber will need modifying at the very least. But the Liberal Democrat grassroots have been lobbying their parliamentarians to drop the Bill entirely ever since their conference

The importance of being earnest | 4 December 2011

The absence of growth and the importance of credibility are recurring themes in this morning’s papers. John Lord Hutton has told the BBC that revised growth figures make pension reform even more urgent, and he added that the deal that was put before trade unions was ‘perfectly credible’. Meanwhile, David Cameron has insisted that ministers increase their pension contributions by an average of 4.2 per cent (more than the 3.2 average across the public sector) to show that ‘we are all in this together’. Pensions also feature in an Independent on Sunday interview with Tim Farron, the Lib Dem President. Farron says he has ‘sympathy’ with state employees who are caught

Lib Dem conference: Tim Farron on Labour

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem president, underlined his popularity with grassroots as he jogged up to the stage at the Independent’s fringe event to the fervent cheers of activists. They were eating out of his hand as he answered questions for an hour with Steve Richards. Farron threw his weight behind Nick Clegg as leader, praising the Deputy Prime Minister’s ability to remain a warm and engaging man in spite of the trials of his job. But he blew pretty cold on his leader’s tuition fee apology, emphasising that it was a ‘totemic’ issue, and arguing that Lib Dems would be wrong to expect this to be a ‘turnaround’ for

Lib Dem conference: Tim Farron discovers his coalicious side

Distinctive not destructive — that’s Tim Farron’s view on how the Liberal Democrats can redefine themselves within government. Speaking to the New Statesman after his muted conference speech today, the Lib Dem president blamed the media’s narrow perception of the coalition for a misunderstanding of their partnership with the Tories. Tantalisingly, he made reference to a potential partnership elsewhere: ‘We’re either seen as cats in a sack or having a love-in. No one seems able to understand that this is a just a business arrangement…a relationship that could exist with another party’ Sadly, Farron made no reference to whom exactly that might be with. He did admit that the rose-garden

Rallying the Liberal Democrat faithful

One of the striking features of the opening rally at Liberal Democrat conference was how it was figures from the left of the party who attacked Labour most vigorously. Simon Hughes, the deputy leader, scolded those who think that governing with Labour would be easy; pointing out that the parties are at odds on nuclear power, Trident, civil liberties and a whole host of other issues. While the party’s president Tim Farron demanded that Labour apologise for the expensive failure of the NHS PFI projects, the Iraq war and a whole host of other issues. Nick Clegg himself was on fairly confident form. He began with a couple of gags

The trouble with tax

MPs are clip-clopping their way through the corridors of power once again this morning after the summer recess. Not unlike the first day back at secondary school, those returning to Parliament bring their rows and rivalries back with them from the beach. There are those vying for a place in the reshuffle, who could find themselves remaining on the outside of the tent while an old foe is beckoned in within the next 24 hours, and there are those who prefer to remain on the outside, offering advice. Former Conservative leadership candidate David Davis will be doling out some of that wisdom from the outside this lunchtime when he gives

Cable on the move

Vince Cable’s decision to speculate publicly about a post Nick Clegg leadership race is a significant moment. To be sure, saying ‘I wouldn’t exclude it’ about running for the job is a long way from launching an actual challenge. But it is not the answer that a politician gives if they want to stop all speculation. There’s long been gossip at Westminster that Cable’s interest in the leadership has revived — and this interview appears to confirm that. It is worth remembering that Cable only didn’t run last time because he thought that the party wouldn’t pick another veteran as leader after the Ming Campbell disaster. So, there’s unfulfilled ambition

Lib-Lab bonding over legal aid

The Legal Aid Bill limps back to the Commons this afternoon, having had a rough ride through the upper chamber where the Lords inflicted 11 defeats on the government. And it looks like its next stint in the lower chamber might not be much smoother. As Paul Waugh reports, a group of MPs have tabled a new amendment to the Bill (actually, an amendment to an amendment tabled by the government on Friday) to continue to provide legal aid advice (but not representation) for reviews and appeals of benefit cases. What’s significant is that the amendment is signed by seven Lib Dem MPs, including party president Tim Farron, and four

Cameron pushes back on snooping powers

It seems David Cameron’s found a neat way of needling his coalition partners over their resistance to the so-called ‘snooper’s charter’. Last week, Nick Clegg insisted on proper pre-legislative scrutiny before any expansion of surveillance powers goes ahead, while a group of Lib Dem MPs wrote a letter in the Guardian declaring that: ‘It continues to be essential that our civil liberties are safeguarded, and that the state is not given the powers to snoop on its citizens at will.’ And Lib Dem president Tim Farron told the BBC that his party is ‘prepared to kill’ the proposals ‘if it comes down to it’. ‘If we think this is a

The coalition split draws nearer

Why did Nick Clegg change his mind on the snooping bill? Because he can’t afford to back something that his party rejects — like the NHS Bill. Over the next few weeks, we will see Clegg impaled on the horns of yet another policy dillema as the government decides what to put in the surveillance bill. The president of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, has laid out his position in the Times (£) this morning: ‘I am prepared to recognise that there is obviously a need in modern society with new technology to have a look at what needs to be given to the security services but only if it

Web surveillance plan divides the coalition

The government’s under fire from members of both coalition parties over its plans to extend the state’s investigatory powers to cover new means of communication. Currently, under section 22 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), public bodies can obtain communications data without the need of a warrant or any external authorisation. This gives them access to a wide array of information including the location, time, date and duration of a phone call or the IP address from which an email was sent. Over 100 public bodies — from the Home Office and local councils to the Food Standards Agency and the Charity Commission — can make use

The Lib Dems are being urged leftwards

If you didn’t know that it’s the Lib Dem spring conference this weekend, then you will after a quick rustle around the political pages. The yellow bird of liberty is splattered everywhere today — and in some instances it’s causing trouble for the coalition. Take Exhibit A, Tim Farron’s article for the Guardian. Farron is, of course, not one of the most Tory-friendly Lib Dem MPs out there, and neither is he a member of the government — but he’s still rarely been quite so provocative as this. ‘We are in power now, sharing government with a party that unashamedly favours their people, the millionaires,’ he writes, ‘It’s a serious

So much for taking the politics out of the NHS

So here we are again. At least Lord Justice Leveson had the humanity to give us a couple of weeks off whining celebrities, shifty ex-journalists and declaiming newspaper editors. From the Health and Social Care Bill there is no respite. The Bill is back in the House of Lords and Liberal Democrat guerrillas are wound up for a fresh assault on the lumbering mule train as it passes through. Does anyone care any more which bit of this battered and bleeding legislation has been chosen for further victimisation in this week’s shenanigans? In case you do, it is part three of the Bill, the casket that carries the remains of

Tim Farron wants competition dropped from the Health Bill

Will there be further changes to the Health and Social Care Bill? Liberal Democrat President Tim Farron certainly wants some, as he told ITV’s Party People last night: ‘If the new competition introduced through this Bill is removed, then I think it’s better on the books than it is off it… What I want is for the Lords to propose changes that will remove the new competition elements from the Bill and I would like the Government to give way on those things. It’s all to play for.’ Farron’s echoing the call made by fellow Lib Dem Shirley Williams last week and by a group of activists who have submitted

The Lib Dems prepare their strategy for future coalitions

Contain your excitement, CoffeeHousers: the Lib Dems are debating whether to change their ‘constitution’ so that their members have a greater say over future coalition negotiations. The amendment has been put forward Tim Farron and Norman Lamb, and proposes that, in the event of coalition talks, the party’s ‘negotiating team’ should have to consult with a ‘reference group consisting of not more than nine people appointed equally by…’ blah, blah, blah. In fact, you can just read the whole thing on page 41 of this document. The Lib Dems will be voting on it at their Spring Conference next month. But while internal Lib Dem governance may not be the

Farron’s difficult day

I’ve been away from Birmingham today but, even from a distance, it’s clear that Tim Farron has had a rather difficult day. It started with a story in The Times this morning about upset among his fellow MPs about his rhetoric on Sunday implying that the coalition partners would get divorced before 2015 and continued with him getting in a bit of a tangle about his leadership ambitions in interviews with Andrew Neil and Gary Gibbon. Farron’s problem is that he is an obvious candidate to run in any future leadership contest and so the leadership will constantly push him about his intentions. These are hard enough questions for any