Problem is, we don't have any safe seats
13.25 Paddy Ashdown warns of the euro crisis: "A terrifying and very dangerous jolt is about to happen. It's going to be very turbulent." And
Vince Cable tells the
Guardian's fringe event:
"The whole existence of Europe is in jeopardy."
13.17 Employers' group the CBI is not wholly impressed by Vince Cable's views on executive pay - they say introducing ratios is "overly simplistic" in a global market and the business secretary is kicking a "political football". Director General John Cridland says:
It is crucial that executive pay is squarely linked to performance, and there are cases where this link needs to be clearer. People should be rewarded for good work, and payment for failure is unacceptable, but it must be recognised that the jobs market for senior company executives is one where talent competes globally. We need shareholders to be more involved with the companies they invest in, and they should hold the board to account when it’s necessary. However, it is not the role of shareholders to micro-manage companies day-to-day. We welcome this consultation, but executive pay must not become a political football, and overly simplistic measures like ratios will not address the problem.
And Miles Templeman, of the bosses' think tank the Institute of Directors, says:
It is important that ministers do not politicise a subject that is best approached in a cool, dispassionate way. The Business Secretary should be using all his keynote speeches to promote the competitiveness of British business, rather than dwelling for political reasons on executive pay.
13.13 Nick Clegg is talking to Sky News.
"Nobody is comfortable that there is going to be a stand off," Clegg says of the Dale Farm evictions.
He is asked about the stabbing of an alleged burglar - he says he doesn't know the facts and it's a matter for the police and courts, adding the law states homeowners have a right to self-defence.
High society: yesterday Lib Dems voted for the legalisation of drugs for personal use
We are losing the war on drugs, he says of the new Lib Dem policy tolegalise drugs. "Let's be led by the evidence," he says. "We'd be crazy not look at new ways [of keeping young people off drugs]."
"I'm 44 years old. I've got bags of energy... I certainly will be fighting the next election," he says of mutterings about him quitting after this term.
He's got quite a dry-sounding throat - better rest up before that Wednesday night key note.
12.54 The web reaction seems to be: Cable knows the economy is on the ropes - but where were his plans for growth?
Louise Armistead, the Telegraph's chief business reporter in Birmingham, tweeted:
Vince speech v thin on plans for growth; he was here more as crowd pleaser than policy maker....
Vince gets standing ovation but clearly not one of his most rousing speeches. Corp/city took brunt of rhetoric
Last yr bankers were spivs and gamblers, this year... Flashers?? #vince
Chuka Umunna, shadow minister for small business managed to demand 'growth' three times in 140 characters:
BIS is supposed to be the department for growth - under this government it is the department for no growth. Where was Cable's plan for growth?
Cable says its "Grey Skies" ahead rather than "sunny uplands". Not quite Cameroonian sunshine winning the day.
Cameron Penny, who works for
Cicero Global investment fund, said there will be no manufacturing without those Wicked Bankers:
Cable: "cars not casinos" so no bank financing or FX hedges for Jaguar Land Rover then...car plants grow on trees? #ldconf #cable
And BBC Producer
Paul Twinn was not heartened by promises of flagging living standards
Well that was light and fluffy, Vince. Thanks. Cheered me right up. Probably time to hit the gin.
12.46 Instant reaction: Vince Cable's speech was strikingly, overwhelmingly gloomy about Britain's short-term financial prospects. These final lines capture the mood:
Let me say in conclusion that when my staff saw my draft of this speech they said; we can see the grey skies where are the sunny uplands? I am sorry, I can only tell it as I see it. People aren’t thinking about 10 years ahead when they are worrying about how to survive the next 10 days to payday.
12.20 Vince Cable is up. Read his speech in full here:
He starts on the crisis. A dire warning: "We now face a crisis that is the economic equivalent of war," he says.
"The financial crisis is still with us. We can see that recovery has stalled in the US and the position in the Eurozone is dire."
"Many of our problems are home-grown. Gordon Brown regularly advised the rest of the world to follow his British model of growth. But the model was flawed." He says: "I regret this year is that we did not secure tighter control on bank pay and bonuses." He hails the new Jaguar Land Rover plant to be opened in Britain, saying: "That’s what I mean by a business recovery, cars not casinos."
On the cuts, he says they were left with a "dangerous, unsustainable budget deficit, and says: "Cutting it is a thankless and unpopular task, but unavoidable if our country and party are to be taken seriously."
"Financial discipline is not ideological; it is a necessary precondition for effective government... the progressive agenda of centre left parties cannot be delivered by bankrupt Governments."
He says others treat government like Father Christmas, dropping economic presents down the chimney if they hand out tax cuts. He says thinking tax cuts will draw back non-dom billionaires is a "childish fantasy."
On banks, he calls for Vickers to be implemented. "At present, banks are offered a one way bet. If they gamble and win; they fill up the bonus pool. But when they lose, the taxpayer pays."
"Rogue" banks are "exposing taxpayers to the risk of exploding financial weapons of mass destruction," he says. In a bizarre analogy using trousers, he says there has been "feast or famine" in bank lending - he calls for steady lending growth to small businesses.
On stimulus, he says he wants to cut "red tape which is suffocating growing companies" but in a jibe at ideas credited to Steve Hilton, Cameron's advisor, he says: "What I will not do though is provide cover for ideological descendents of those who sent children up chimneys. Panic in financial markets won’t be stopped by scrapping maternity rights."
Biggest problem is lack of demand he says, in a rallying cry to the Keynesians. Government can act - he cites the 'Green Deal', land auctions for social housing, infrastructure building, broadband and house building as options.
Living standards are being squeezed by inflation and Britain has been left poorer by the crash. "The public will only accept continuing austerity if it is seen to be fair."
"Yet there is currently a great sense of grievance that workers and pensioners are paying the penalty for a crisis they did not create. I want a real sense of solidarity," he says.
"People aren’t thinking about 10 years ahead when they are worrying about how to survive the next 10 days to payday. The truth is that there are difficult times ahead, that Britain’s post war pattern of ever rising living standards has been broken by the financial collapse."
On the mansion tax: He says the "wealthy must pay their share". He says land and property values have been artificially inflated in the last boom. He says mansion owners are saying the same tax as people who live in semis, saying of critics of the policy: "You wonder what part of the solar system they live in."
On CEO pay, he says: "Surely pay should be transparent; not hidden from shareholders, and the public. I want to call time on pay outs for failure. It is hard to explain why shareholders can vote to cut top pay but the managers can ignore the vote."
He concludes: "In the Coalition Agreement we promised to put fairness at the heart of all we do as we rebuild our broken economy from the rubble. Liberal Democrats know that you can’t do one without the other."
12.18 Delegates have just voted for further work to develop proposals by which shares in state-owned banks in RBS and Lloyds will be distributed, "In order to empower the public and give them something back in return for bailing out the two banks."
11.52 Vince Cable is up in half an hour. His speech has been heavily trailed and he's expected to take aim at executive pay, saying the city must end "payouts for failure".
In contrast to Tim Farron yesterday - who said a split was "inevitable" in three or four years, he has ruled out a 'coalition divorce', saying he was "positively committed" to the government and his colleagues are "most definitely not talking about coalition divorce". He told the BBC:
We are committed to the coalition government. We have a massive task to do to turn the economy around. It has to be done in an environment of fairness, which is where this issue of reward for failure comes in, but nobody is talking about divorce. We have to stick with the financial discipline – it is actually fundamental.
It seem to imply that any stories published based on information obtained illegally could lead to journalists going to jail. Would the Guardian, for example, have published its famous story exposing Jonathan Aitken, based on information taken from the minister's bins, if it thought that its journalists might be imprisoned as a result?
Business Secretary Vince Cable has described today's announcement that Jaguar will built a new engine plant in Wolverhampton as a "sign of confidence" in the UK. He said Jaguar owner Tata could have built the new facility anywhere from India to elsewhere in Europe.
He said: "One of the attractions of the West Midlands is this is the heartland of the motor industry. There's a tradition of skilled labour, which is absolutely crucial to their business and I think they are showing confidence in the fact that we've put the boat out for them, we've shown them that we want to work with them. They've concluded this was the best place to be."
11.30 Do Lib Dems break banks? More from our man in Birmingham,James Kirkup.
Fear stalks the Lib Dem conference. Well, sort of. Economically-literate Lib Dems are aware that the rest of the world is more interested in the prospect of eurozone financial armageddon than Dr Evan Harris' thoughts about media regulation. They painfully recall that during the 2007 Lib Dem conference, a bank called Northern Rock ran into trouble. Then during the 2008 Lib Dem conference, a bank called Lehman Bros had a few problems. Fingers crossed that the yellow curse does not strike again and tip the global financial system into a new crisis before Nick Clegg gets to make his big speech on Wednesday...
11.08 A conference attendee has been in touch. "Is it not rather strange that with unemployment climbing and growth at a near-standstill the employment minister didn't talk about jobs?" he says.
11.01 Blogger and troublemaker
Harry Cole drops the live blog a line. He's not impressed with the Lib Dem
riots motion - particularly the line which says wrongdoing is found "at the top and bottom of the socio-economic scale."
Some classic Lib-Demmery here showing just how out of touch they can be at times from the reality based community. Yes rich people commit crimes too, but comparing the sight of businesses being torched and thousands of people rampaging through our cities to the the activities of the financial sector, which pays for our public services, is pretty petty. We know that the LibDems want to strangle the rich, we get it, but cheap points like this won't help them sell that message to ordinary voters.
10.43 Ed Davey, the employment and post minister, is up.
He's doing a warm up act for his boss: "Vince was right on the crash, right on the banks, and right on Rupert Murdoch."
On post offices
He says Labour closed more post offices than Major and Thatcher, and says the days of closure programmes in the post office "are over". He says they will become the "front office" for government and is encouraging local councils and banks to use them.
He proposes the Post Office becomes a mutual, rather than a nationalised business.
He says "sub-post offices" will be merged with the main desk of the business.
On employment law
Mothers and fathers should be able to choose how they divide their paternity and maternity leave, he says.
The Lib Dems ended forced retirement at 65, he says.
Jobs laws "stop job creation" he says. Employment tribunals as they stand only benefit lawyers, so he wants a focus on conciliation rather than confrontation.
Supermarkets
He says big supermarkets are ripping off farmers - and are demanding payments to put products on a shelf. He says he will create a supermarket adjudicator with a "tough new code of practice" to "stamp out bad behaviour." He is working on a Consumer Bill of Rights - but is also holding a "bonfire of red tape."
10.40 The motion condemning tough prison sentences and kicking looters out their council houses passes almost without objection.
What's striking about the executive pay proposal, which has been in gestation in Mr Cable department for some time, is how hard Downing Street tried to stop it. I gather it was the subject of intense conversations between David Cameron and Nick Clegg as part of the pre-conference ritual of announcement haggling. Team Dave think the idea stinks and wanted desperately to spike it. Don't expect the Treasury to let it through without a fight. They surmise that Mr Clegg would have opposed it, but needed to let Mr Cable keep some of his toys.
The Daily Telegraph's Top 50 Most Influential Lib Dems is starting to appear. As ever, Lib Dems profess indifference, while secretly obsessing over their place on the list relative to close colleagues. Even Nick Clegg is a follower, asking last night if he was still No 1 on the list. Told that it was close race between him and arch-rebel and self-publicist Evan Harris, Mr Clegg shuddered and pleaded: "Don't even joke."
10.10 The conference is now voting on a motion responding to the riots.
The motion says:
• "Sentencing is a matter for the courts" - not politicians.
• there is a "lack of respect for the law" amongst rich people too.
• censoring social networking is unjustified - and nor is using curfews and "over-using" dispersal orders against rioters justified.
• the "large number of lengthy custodial sentences" and councils who evict rioters are to be condemend.
• cuts to careers advice services are in part to blame for rioting.
Brian Paddick, London Mayoral candidate and former riot cop in the 1980s riots, is scathing of some lines in motion. It's untrue that there are too few trained officers, as the motion claims, he says.
09.50 The motion on phone hacking is carried unanimously. Lots of pledges of admiration to a "free press" and "investigative journalism." condemnation of Rupert Murdoch and the (already ) illegal practice of phone hacking.
But there was no debate on this line in the motion:
Introduce custodial sentences, commensurate with the seriousness of the offence, for breaching section 55 of the Data Protection Act (unlawful obtaining of data).
... which could cover sins such as getting hold of ex-directory phone numbers, or some would try to argue,
expenses claims. It would be a radical and wide-ranging change in the laws restricting journalists - and not merely the tabloids.
09.45 Former MP, libel reform campaigner and Hacked Off campaign worker Dr Evan Harris is up.
In libel cases there should be a stronger public interest defence for publishers who get things wrong but who behaved responsibly, in the public interest and who apologised quickly, he says.
But he defends rulings on privacy such as that from Justice Eady onMax Mosley. He pays tribute to the bravery of the Dowler family in meeting Murdoch and the party leaders.
09.39 Lawyers for the victims Mark Lewis is up. He accuses "the press" of "atrocities".
"People ask me at conference if I'll be going to the News International party. The News International party was the party of government for 30 years," he says, citing the 1992 'The Sun Wot Won It' headline.
But he adds state control of the media is as 'Murdocracy'. He attacks the cuts to legal aid funding and reforms to no-win no-fee arrangements as preventing people from challenging corporations.
09.30 Delegates now debating phone hacking - but it's really about press reform at large. They say Britain's libel regime is "internationally reviled" and Rupert Murdoch has too much power.
Simon Hughes is up. We must stand up for a free press and good investigative journalism - but we need a responsible press too.
He is calling on the government to block the Met's Official Secrets Act probe into the Guardian newspaper.
He says it's not about footballers - people living on the estates of his Southwark constituency were also at risk of targetting. Hughes says criminality went beyond News International and others must be held to account.
He says it is "obvious" more senior people were involved than the two prosecuted.
"The activities of the press at the moment are clearly indefensible," he says, adding there must be "robust action."
09.20 Over the weekend
Nick Clegg vowed any attempt to cut the 50p tax rate would be met with the introduction of a mansion tax. But
Ian Cowie, our Head of Personal Finance, says that plan is now doomed -
because £1m+ houses are now the "norm" in 41 towns.
No fewer than 47pc of the homes currently on the market in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, are offered for sale at £1m or more, according to Britain’s biggest online property website PrimeLocation, which represents estate agents Savills, Knight Frank and Hamptons International among others.
Its analysis of just under 1m properties across Britain found there are now 41 towns which have a higher proportion of £1m house prices than London. Virginia Water, Surrey, was second most property prosperous with 44pc of homes priced at £1m or more but Much Hadham and Radlett in Hertfordshire were not far behind with a third or more of all their house prices exceeding £1m.
Taxing times: Clegg threatens to whack a tax on £1m+ homes
If the opinion polls prove accurate - the last three showed the Liberal Democrats on 10% - this might be the last time we can find enough elected Liberal Democrats to form a viable top 50. The stark reality they face, and the internal debate that is now raging, is reflected in the top ten. There is the whiff of succession planning in the air. As one MP put it, the year has been “about the rise of the left”.
09.00 Coming up in Birmingham today:
• 09.30: Emergency debate on phone hacking. Delegates are proposing newspapers are subject to large fines if they breach the PCC code of conduct, banning people they don't think "proper" from owning newspapers, and jailing journalists who breach the Data Protection Act by "unlawfully obtaining data" - such as getting hold of ex-directory phone numbers. There's a confusing line on "supporting the existing law on privacy". Interesting stuff, given phone hacking is already very much illegal under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. The motion says:
a free press is at the core of a liberal and democratic society, plays a crucial role in holding public figures and institutions to account, and is vital to healthy national debate.
Well see how many delegates will echo those fine words from the floor.
• 10.30 Speech by Ed Davey, the employment minister.
• 12.20 Speech by Vince Cable, business secretary.
Employees could get a say on pay awards for executives at their companies under plans being promoted by the Liberal Democrats.
Mr Cable will today publish a government "discussion document" looking at possible changes to company laws and regulations. He will outline new rules requiring companies to disclose more information about their directors' compensation packages.
In the discussion paper, Mr Cable says that the "disconnect" between pay and long–term performance suggests "something dysfunctional about the market in executive pay or a failure in corporate governance arrangements".
• 14.30 Motion on tacking violence against women, brought by Home Affairs select committee chair Tom Brake MP. It looks at issues including domestic violence, child prostitution and female circumcision.
• 15.15 Nick Clegg is taking a Town Hall-style Q&A session. Was Tim Farron's morale booster enough to convince the faithful to stand by their leader? We'll find out.
• 16.00 Motion on the Digital Economy, brought by Julian Huppert. The Digital Economy Act was pretty controversial with many activists and Huppert is demanding they "protect the essential freedom of the internet", looking at issues of data ownership and net neutrality. More on this later.
Dozens of people were injured due to building collapses and falling debris
