Lib Dem Achievements in Government

This blog is all about highlighting Liberal Democrat achievements in Government. As such, it will feature issues as and when they arise. 

A lot of movement had already been made on a number of manifesto commitments prior to me starting to post here, though. Fortunately a summary of these has been produced and you can find it here - it's well worth a read.

Andrew

Hat Tip to Matthew Harris for his blogpost on this (and to whoever posted the Twitter link that I followed to find it - unfortunately, I can't now locate the tweet concerned!)

Royal Mail Part Privatisation

The sell off of shares in the Royal Mail is in the news today as it has become clear that, surprisingly, the Royal Mail is under no obligation to use the Monarch's image on stamps. But that is a side issue as far as this particular blog is concerned.

The Liberal Democrat Manifesto said this with regard to the Royal Mail:

"Give both Royal Mail and post offices a long-term future, by separating Post Office Ltd from the Royal Mail and retaining Post Office Ltd in full public ownership. 49 per cent of Royal Mail will be sold to create funds for investment. The ownership of the other 51 per cent will be divided between an employee trust and the government."

Oddly, the Tory manifesto didn't mention the Royal Mail and only mentioned Post Offices in passing. The Coalition agreement, however, states:

"We will seek to ensure an injection of private capital into Royal Mail, including opportunities for employee ownership. We will retain Post Office Ltd in public ownership."

The government has also opted to delay a decision on the precise percentage to be sold, so it may yet prove to go further than the Lib Dem mainifesto (the bill allows the sale of up to 90% with 10% passing to employee ownership).

That said, however, this is another example of policy into which Liberal Democrats input is obvious and which is being implemented by Lib Dem ministers.  See the Department of Business website for more on the Royal Mail and the government's proposals and check the bill's parliamentary progress here.

Andrew

An End to Child Detention

Nick Clegg announced today that no children would be detained for immigration purposes over Christmas and that the practice would be completely ended by May 2011.

For more:

BBC News

Lib Dem Voice

The Deputy Prime Minister's You Tube channel:

Andrew

This Blog's Purpose

When the coalition was created in May, Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrat negotiation team were lauded for their achievements. Commitments were secured with regard to each of the four key manifesto promises and a  host of other policies, as well as and five Cabinet positions. There was much talk, some of it from bitter conservatives, of us punching above our weight.

Fast forward 8 months and things may not seem so rosy. The party has taken a real battering on tuition fees and there is a perception that it is, somehow, being used as a human (or hamanising) shield for Tory policies. Or, to carry on with the boxing metaphor, the party is being allowed to be used as a punchbag for any unpopular policies, regardless of what the manifestos said.

Counter intuitively, though, when Liberal Democrat policies are implemented - such as the introduction of the Pupil Premium - the party does not seem to get the credit. This was noted by Lord Bonkers, who lamented the lack of trumpeting of the Pupil Premium and led me to write this post on my general blog, the widow's world.

I intend it to function as a digest of links to news reports and blog articles about positive Liberal Democrat achievements arising from the coalition. Occassionally I shall cross-post longer pieces but don't anticipate I'll have the time to do that on an ongoing basis.

The first post proper - to be made shortly - will celebrate the news that detention of children in the immigration system is to end.