There have been some high profile (if not high level) Blairite defections to the Tories. While there are some similarities between the Blair legacy and our coalition partners, the defectees seem to have overlooked or discarded one idea – joining the Liberal Democrats. As Jonathan Powell says in his book, The New Machiavelli, and as

The Commons have already passed, and the Lords are currently voting on, the Welfare Reform Bill. It contains provisions which will scrap the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and replace it with the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). It also contains changes to time limit receipt of contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) (a sickness and disability

Writing in The Times, Danny Finkelstein (here for subscribers) predicts that the Coalition Government will stick together in 2012 and that those who think there will be a general election this year are wrong. I agree. The coalition will survive and there will not be a general election. But I hope that the coalition will

I was never a convert to the theory that by going into an alliance with the Conservatives, the Libdems had committed suicide as an independent political party. They had a plausible plan and get-out clause. But Osborne's budget on Tuesday killed the original plan and now there's a real chance the Libdems will be wiped out at the next election.

Paul Waugh on PoliticsHome gives three examples where the LibDems “put the brakes on” Conservative policy aspirations in just three hours yesterday morning: First, Danny Alexander chucked a large bucket of cold water over Tory hopes of abolishing the 50p tax rate, saying: It’s very very important indeed that we continue to ensure that the

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill returns reaches Report stage in the Commons this week. And before the eye-catching business of knife crime sentences and no-win-no-fee solicitors comes up on Tuesday and Wednesday, we get legal aid and the possibility of a Lib Dem rebellion.

I keep seeing sensible people argue that the Libdems will be wiped out because of the Coalition (as some have across Europe) or because of the NHS reforms. I'm afraid this is just wishful thinking. And furthermore, if Labour don't get a majority at the next election, they may have to go into a coalition with them.

The perennial question cropped up again the other day, on the beach this time: “What do the LibDems stand for?” I replied that the Tories and Labour view British society through the same prism of class or socio-economic groups, but that the LibDems see individuals. We don’t believe that your gender, the colour of your

Yesterday, the Daily Telegraph’s stark above-the-fold headline warned: Reforms add £300 to energy bills. Rabid commenters on the Telegraph and Daily Mail websites, pounced on this revelation of the hidden costs of green energy. Westminster villagers saw only the politics of Huhne's rough treatment by Cameron's team. Both are wrong.

We need the Liberal Democrats to draw a line here: from activists, to MPs and cabinet ministers. Giving state funding and legitimacy to organisations which seek to limit women's choices, and in the process endangering women's lives by delaying access to medical treatment is not what the Liberal Democrats stand for. If they truly believe they are a moderating influence in this government,...