Speak out. Speak loud.

In doesn't matter who you are or where you're from or what you believe in or what you do. Freedom of speech is a civil liberty.

Liberal Youth are standing up for our civil liberties.

Opinion: Getting rid of ContactPoint – a great day for liberalism

I would imagine Liberals throughout the country breathed a collective sigh of relief this past week when they opened their newspapers or turned on their computers to find the intrusive ContactPoint database was to be switched off at noon on 6th August.

28th February 2010 was the beginning of the end for ContactPoint.

On this day, an emergency motion submitted to Liberal Youth Spring Conference found its way through the ballot and ended up for debate on the final day of our conference. During the debate, we acknowledged the good points of ContactPoint and, whilst we understood its flaws and noted that the intention had been honourable, the fate of ContactPoint – at least in the eyes of Liberal Youth – was clear. We wanted it gone, and we wanted it gone now.

We could not believe that the system had been approved in the first place, that the safeguards put in place were not nearly strong enough for a databank designed to house the details of 11 million children and those responsible for them, and that 330,000 unchecked people would have access. It wasn’t reasonable, it wasn’t an answer to the Victoria Climbie case, it was simply a Labour overreaction that would further infringe our civil liberties.

At a time when the federal party did not have a policy on this dangerous database, the emergency motion passed through our spring conference almost unanimously. Soon after, it became Liberal Democrat policy and appeared in the party’s General Election manifesto. Then, to our surprise and delight, scrapping it became Government policy. Now, after a long hard fight – from the party, civil liberties campaigners and the public – we have the result we were always after.

It’s time to say goodbye to ContactPoint and give a warm welcome to the return of our civil liberties.

Liberal Youth have been the leading voice against this system. If it hadn’t been switched off, we would have kept fighting, because we recognised just how dangerous this database was to us and to young people across the country.

Liberal Youth have been referred to, both internally and externally, as the ‘conscience of the Liberal Democrats’ and, whether true or false, Liberal Youth will keep fighting for our civil liberties – at conference, during Freshers’ Week, and as we approach the Freedom Bill in autumn. Expect nothing less from Liberal Youth than our full support for the abolition of intrusive databanks – from ONSET to the Common Assessment Framework to the proposed Communications Database. We believe firmly that our data was never meant to be used against us, and intend to speak out and speak loud on the issues that matter to us.

Getting rid of ContactPoint is a great Liberal Democrat success – our children are safer, our data is protected – we have taken a large step in the right direction. But, now we’ve taken one, let’s, as a party, start running. We can fight for Identification, Referral and Tracking (IRT) systems to be abolished, for Control Orders to be terminated, and for steadfast opposition to extradition to countries where a fair trial cannot be guaranteed or that have not abolished Capital Punishment.

Mark it in your diaries: 6th August, 12 noon. A great day for liberalism, and the day we started getting our civil liberties back.

* Sarah Harding is a General Executive Member and Policy Officer for Liberal Youth. She also blogs at www.southportliberalyouth.com

Money, Money, Money

There is something about summer that always makes me want to take up a hobby. This usually involves taking up a sport, or attempting to learn a language. (Although this never usually gets beyond the 'hello,' 'goodbye','my name is' and 'can I have a coffee' stage..)

This summer I am determined to learn more about how the economy works and attempt to find out what those polished looking men and women in Canary Wharf really get up to.

The recession has suddenly made the world of high finance a bit sexy. I'm sure in a couple of years we will have Hollywood blockbusters detailing the collapse of Lehman Brothers, or BBC dramas about Adam Applegarth's exploits and Northern Rock's collapse.

Yet its worrying that its taken the recession to ignite interest into what is Britain's biggest industry. While we may not all know the technicalities behind putting a car together or mining for coal, we can certainly understand how these primary industries work and how money and profit can be made.

As the crash highlighted, even top politicians and financial institutions couldn't fully comprehend how the complex markets operate.

Its hardly surprising. Since light touch regulation in the 1980's was introduced the industry is constantly being flooded by new products and practices. During the property boom, mortgages allowed to be given to people who could not afford them were being sliced and diced into lots of different packages and sold on, the result of which we all saw. The trouble is money floating round in the ether is just that; the more removed the knowledge about where it came from and its security then the higher the risk of things going wrong.

I read an excellent blog post today by Robert Peston in relation to the new rules being drawn up by the EU to improve banking supervision. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/. He makes the point that the jargon used by the Basel Committee who are writing these rules cannot be understood by anybody outside the committee that wrote it; yet the potential repercussions for getting it wrong could impact us all.

Its very difficult to have a political argument about something like the future of banks and how they should be taxed and regulated without having some sort of knowledge about what exactly is going on.

So, Im off to learn about Credit Default Swaps and the Libor rate. I may be some time....

RECOMMENDATION: Philip Coggan 'The money machine: How the City works'

Pupil Premium Announced

"I’m delighted we are today announcing a new Pupil Premium, which will give extra funding to schools to help them tackle the inequalities that have been a part of our state system for far too long. Thousands of children will finally be getting the extra support they need to succeed,"

says Children’s Minister Sarah Teather.

The Coalition Government today announced a Pupil Premium to target extra money at schools taking disadvantaged pupils.

The proposed Pupil Premium would provide additional per pupil funding on top of the existing funding provided to schools. Schools will be free to spend the additional funding as they choose to raise the achievement of disadvantage pupils.

This was a key manifesto commitment and one that Nick Clegg made clear was one of his absolute priorities.

Liberal Democrats Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

“For too long social background has been a deciding factor in a child’s achievement and future prospects. In a fair society, it’s the Government’s responsibility to close the gulf in achievement, where the poorest children are almost three times less likely to leave school with five good GCSEs than their richer classmates.

“That’s why I’m delighted we are today announcing a new Pupil Premium, which will give extra funding to schools to help them tackle the inequalities that have been a part of our state system for far too long. Thousands of children will finally be getting the extra support they need to succeed.”

Vince Cable, voice of reason

One of our parties main pledges has been to scrap tuition fees. It is this pledge that has garnered support from young people across the country and feel that it is the one political group that speaks for and represents students or students to be.

The state of the nation's finances means that public spnding has got to be seriously curtailed, which of course has a knock on effect on the ability for this pledge to be delivered. We are still awaiting Lord Browne's Inquiry into University fees, but last night's speech by Vince Cable at London Southbank University has given us a glimpse into how the Government will reconcile economic hardship with the need to keep access to further education as open and as fair as possible.

Vince has asked Lord Browne to examine the introduction of a 'Graduate Tax.' Basically this would mean that students would pay for their studies through their earnings-with those on higher salaries paying more. This would be instead of Universities charging variable higher fees.


Some think its a betrayal of the party's principles; that entering into coalition with the Conservatives has meant that a key policy has had to be watered down. However, the deficit is a large, depressing reality and students cant be exempt from shouldering their share of the burden. If their education is a stepping stone to a salary they wouldnt have acheived without it, then surely being taxed based on this is fair.

Vince also warned that the 'severe financial pressure' in the sector will mean that radical steps will be needed to overhaul the system. He believes that this could include shortening degree courses and introducing more market forces into the sector.

The impact of the recession, and the thousands of graduates streaming out from University with similar degrees, all facing the prospect of a long, hard slog to find a job, should also jolt the Government and the education sector into looking at exactly what skills and qualifications students leave university education with.

A re-balanced economy less dependent on the financial sector demands a re-evaluation of the types of courses that many young people are currently being guided into. If they are entering into University education with the prospect of paying off their fees for many years ahead, they need to be offered subjects that give them a serious chance of finding long-term employment.

You can hear more on Vince's speech here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10646119

First Meeting Success

Southport Liberal Youth met last night for an informal 'Picnic in the Park' at Hesketh Park, Southport.

Despite the drizzly rain, we had a good turnout and a very interesting discussion about how to move Southport Liberal Youth forward. Of the attendees, 2 are definitely going to join the party, and one is even going to stand for co-option to the national Conference Committee- a resounding success if I may say so.

A big thank you to John Pugh, MP for Southport and Councillors Carmel Preston and Sue McGuire who turned up to show their support for Southport Liberal Youth.

The next meeting of Southport Liberal Youth will be held on the 7th August 2010, at 7:00pm at 35 Shakespeare Street, Southport.

There is also a farewell reception TONIGHT in Liverpool for the delegates in the LYMEC (young Liberals in Europe), please ring Sarah on 07896283444 for more details.

Your Chance to Have Your say

"For the first time in a long time, your Government is listening", these were Nick Clegg's words just a few days ago at the launch of Your Freedom (http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/), a new Government site where you can post your views on the issues that matter to you.

The site aims to restore Britain’s traditions of freedom and fairness, and free our society of unnecessary laws and regulations by the most democratic way possible- asking your opinion.

Southport Liberal Youth would urge anyone who has ever had felt their civil liberties were restricted, come up against unnecessary and unfair laws or felt businesses are too regulated to run efficiently, to sign up to the site and give your opinion.

Don't let anyone tell you you can't make a difference, and as Nick so rightly put it, be "demanding about your liberty, insistent about your rights"

This is "your chance to have your say", please do not waste it.