Switch to an accessible version of this website which is easier to read. (requires cookies)

Welcome to Gedling Liberal Democrats!

If you want further information on Gedling Lib Dems or would like to help us campaign please contact us on info@gedlinglibdems.org.uk or see the contacts page for Local Liberal Democrats in your area. Published and promoted by Gedling Liberal Democrats, 2 South View Road, Carlton, Nottingham, NG4 3QL.

Recent updates

  • Campaigns Officer - East Midlands
    Article: May 25, 2013

    £23-£26,000pa (fixed-term to end June 2014) + 8% pension contribution

    Hinckley in Leicestershire

    The Liberal Democrats are seeking a highly motivated candidate with proven campaign and fund-raising skills to push forward the Party's election agenda in the East Midlands. Working with the Regional Campaign Chair and with the Federal Election and Skills Team, the successful candidate will provide expert guidance to local Parties, support regional media and press, co-ordinate key volunteers, deliver training and lead regional fundraising initiatives.


    This highly rewarding job is seen as crucial to retaining and gaining strategic and key seats, and in strengthening the party's European vote.


    Download the application pack

    Download the diversity monitoring form


    For questions and further details please contact: Emma Peall on 020 7227 1280 or emma.peall@libdems.org.uk

    Closing date: Friday 31st May 2013

  • Nick Clegg at Inter Faith meeting
    Terrorism has no religion
    Article: May 25, 2013
    By Don Foster in Liberal Democrat Voice

    I'll warn you up front that I'm not going to use this post to make political points, because this is beyond politics. And, as today's event showed, it's beyond religion too. One of the most compelling phrases I heard at the event, which both Nick and others used, was: "terrorism has no religion". Certainly some terrorists claim to be acting in the name of a religion, but no religion condones terrorist acts such as the one on Wednesday.

    Hearing people from all faiths speak with one voice to reject the attack and agree that this brutal act is nothing to do with Islam or with any other religion, was incredibly powerful. And it makes it all the worse that there has already been a reported increase in Islamophobic incidents since Wednesday, including graffiti and vandalism at mosques and a number of Muslims, including children, being abused in the street. We cannot let this happen. The people who carried out the attack used their political and religious justification to mask what is basic brutality. As one of the other speakers, Canon Guy Wilson from the London Faiths Forum said, we should see each other first as human beings and neighbours. We cannot condone grouping people together by religion and holding the many responsible for the acts of the few who are using a peaceful religion for their own ends.

    At the meeting of community leaders beforehand, many of the participants told us how important interfaith dialogue and interfaith community action are and how important it is that governments past and present have worked and continue to work to encourage and promote this. I hope to be able to announce something further in this area in the very near future.

    Another very positive phrase to come out of this terrible episode, and one which all those who might think of undertaking violent acts should think about, is what a bystander said to one of the attackers in Woolwich: "You're going to lose. It's only you versus many."

    * Don Foster is MP for Bath and the Liberal Democrat Minister for Communities and Local Government.

  • Letter from the Leader: Coming together
    Article: May 25, 2013

    This was a week that put things in perspective. I know I speak for all Liberal Democrats when I say that our thoughts are with the family and friends of Drummer Lee Rigby - the British soldier attacked and killed in Woolwich on Wednesday. And I've made it clear, on the party's behalf, that we are immensely grateful to our police, security services and armed forces, who do an extraordinarily important job.

    That last few days have reminded me, and probably many of you, of a simple but important truth: when your values are under attack, you have to hold on to them even more firmly than before.

    Yesterday, at the request of some friends in the Muslim community, I convened a meeting, in London, of representatives from different faiths, community organisations and secular groups. Before the speeches I held a private discussion with a smaller group, and I wish I could have broadcast it across the nation. Just days after a brutal act of terror, men and women from across the faiths and political parties, gathered around the table, each calling for the same thing: unity. It would have made you immensely proud.

    And there have been other victories for our values this week. Getting the Equal Marriage Bill through the House of Commons was no mean feat and it's something all Liberal Democrats should feel good about. Britain is now one step closer to being a country where all forms of love - gay or straight - are celebrated equally, and that wouldn't have happened without our party.

    The Coalition was also able to confirm that hundreds of Afghan interpreters who served bravely alongside British forces will have the chance to settle in the UK. Paddy's been heavily involved with this campaign for a while. At one point, it was suggested that Afghan interpreters might not be granted this right, but clearly that was something I - we - couldn't accept. Don't forget, it was under pressure from the Liberal Democrats that the previous Labour government extended the right to reside here to Iraqi interpreters. When someone has risked their life to help our servicemen and women, it seems so obvious to me that we owe them a debt.

    So it's been a difficult week, but it's also been a week which has reminded us who we are. This is an open, diverse and generous nation, where, in our toughest moments, we come together. That's something no act of hate or violence will change.

    Yours,

    Nick Clegg

  • Tad Jones
    Opinion: Building a stronger economy by supporting Research and Development
    Article: May 24, 2013
    By Tad Jones - Nottingham

    Perhaps that's alright though, there are probably many in the party more comfortable talking about making our society fairer rather than talking about making us, collectively, richer. However, polling shows that for the average voter the state of the economy is a huge concern. Thanks to Julian Huppert's work last year developing our science policy, we have something that can rebalance the first half of that slogan. Julian called for "a 15-year annual increase in a ringfenced Science Budget, of 3% more than inflation." As research and development (R&D) spending as a proportion of GDP declined under the last tory government and stagnated under labour, this ambition is something we can really make our own.

    Although innovation is claimed to have been ( responsible for two thirds of economic growth between 2000 and 2008, the UK is lagging behind in R&D spending. At 1.79% of GDP, R&D investment in the UK is at a level similar to that of the PIGS (Spain - 1.39%, Italy - 1.26%, Portugal - 1.59%) rather than the more dynamic economies of Germany (2.82%), Denmark (3.06%) and Sweden (3.42%), and generally not making much progress towards our target of 3% of GDP. The most recent ONS figures reported an increase in business R&D of 6% adjusted for inflation, excellent news as 60-65% of all R&D spending is private sector. In comparison, higher education R&D increased by 0.2% (adjusted for inflation). The government clearly needs to do more, not just to keep its end up, but to give confidence and attract further investment.

    If my rough estimate is right, reaching the 3% of GDP target would cost around £6-7 billion, assuming the proportion of publicly funded R&D remains the same. Not a small amount of money, but then the benefits of a stronger, more innovative economy, less reliant on the city, are self-evident. With the right presentation, this might even prove quite popular. While we're waiting for the next manifesto, you can sign this excellent petition calling for an increase in Governmental spend on R&D to 0.8% GDP.

    * Tad Jones is a Liberal Democrat member in Nottingham

    .

    John Wheaver - Kettering and Wellingborough Comments:

    The backgrounds of our leaders are not only remote from the real world in terms of wealth but also of wealth-creation. Engineering (of course using science) is responsible for virtually all economic growth, yet I would guess not only are there few Engineers in the House of Commons but that a minority even know what an Engineer does. "Designs, contrives,
    invents" says the SOED. Just so. 'Engineer' means, rather immodestly, 'ingenious' even 'clever'!

    Comments

  • London communities celebrate strength and unity at event hosted by Nick Clegg
    Article: May 24, 2013

    The speakers at the Hugh Cubitt Peabody Centre in Islington were the Deputy Prime Minister, Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan, Conservative whip Lord Tariq Ahmad, former Army captain Afzal Amin, imam Shaykh Shams ad-Duha Muhammad of Ebrahim College and the co-chairs of Faith Forum for London, Canon Guy Wilkinson and Leonie Lewis.

    Also in attendance were Colonel Hugh Bodington, Chief of Staff of the Army Headquarters at London District, and Commander Mak Chishty of the Metropolitan Police, who has been the force's community liaison for the events in Woolwich.

    Representatives of London's political leaders included Damian Johnson, Chair of the London Assembly, Andrew Boff, leader of the Assembly's Conservative group, Jenny Jones, leader of the Green Party Group and Stephen Knight, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat Group. The local MP Emily Thornberry also took part, along with Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Tom Brake.

    Transcript of the Deputy Prime Minister's speech

  • Nick Clegg
    Nick Clegg: Terrorism has no religion
    Article: May 24, 2013
    In Liberal Democrat Voice

    "Terrorism has no religion because there is no religious conviction that can justify the kind of arbitrary, savage random violence that we saw on the streets of Woolwich."

    He concluded his remarks by quoting a verse from the Koran:

    "If anyone slays a human being, it shall be as though he killed all mankind; whereas, if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he saved the whole of mankind."

    We will have more coverage of this event and an article from Don Foster later this afternoon.

    * Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary published in print or online.

  • NHS
    Opinion: Some thoughts on the NHS from a recent patient
    Article: May 24, 2013

    First and most importantly, hospitals are large, high tech and high skill businesses. They are continually investing in equipment, and the best hospitals will have motivated doctors, nurses and managers who take ownership of their jobs and are part of the process to continually improve the clinical excellence and effectiveness of the hospital. Hospitals share many of the challenges of excellence with manufacturing businesses.

    What are the barriers to excellence? I will give just one: capacity.

    I know of no business that can be excellent while running at maximum capacity most of the time. A business running continually at 100% capacity is fire fighting, lurching from one crisis to the next, lacking strategic direction and usually having a stressed and irritable staff.

    A business that runs at, say a capacity between 70 and 100% will be under pressure for short intense periods, but will normally be under control and will be able to follow the right clinical path for every patient nearly all the time. A hospital can provide excellent care on this basis.

    For most of my time on the ward, every bed was full. I don't know what happened when new patients were admitted through A & E. They couldn't come on to my ward. Some inefficient compromise will have had to take place, wasting staff time and reducing clinical effectiveness. In contrast, when a bed or two became free, they were sometimes taken by patients like me in for a while. On other occasions, patients with fractures were given a bed overnight so the fracture could be monitored and subsequently x-rayed. The free capacity allowed for clinical excellence.

    I identified two structural reasons for the lack of bed availability. The first reason was that the patient, having finished their clinical care, had nowhere to go. It is a compelling argument for joined up interlinked NHS services like a business supply chain. Norman Lamb wrote on this subject on LDV on 14th May.

    The second reason was the attitude of some patients. I was, frankly, appalled by the way a minority of patients treat the NHS. For them it is a 5* hotel, where they can walk in and out of the ward as they please and expect instant attention. The result of this attitude was that the clinical care that the hospital wanted to give was undermined and drawn out by the failure of the patient to cooperate. A patient who should be in for a couple of days would be in for a week. When I asked the nurses about this, they made it clear they were pretty powerless. And a reading of the NHS Constitution (and particularly page 11) gives about as clear a message of entitlement without responsibility as it is possible to give. The Labour Party has indeed hijacked the NHS. A Lib Dem NHS will always be about the rights of a completely universal service AND the patient responsibilities that go with it.

    One last thing: competition. In my recent experience, competition was largely irrelevant. It was clinical excellence that was critical. Excellence exists in both the public and private sector. The NHS isn't a monopoly in the way the water companies are, and there is clearly a role for innovative excellent private companies within the NHS supply chain as part of a dynamic culture of an excellent health service.

    * William Hobhouse is co-founder of the Liberal Democrat Campaign for Manufacturing and runs an industrial textile business in Rochdale

Older items

This is a Carbon Neutral website - you should COCO

Should the Midland Mainline be electrified?