In Praise of the Independent: Finding strengths in Nick Clegg

The Independent write At last, a politician fluent in European in which they offer some praise for Nick Clegg which is worth reading:

But the Deputy Prime Minister had one of his finest hours when he went to Berlin to speak on Europe and then presented the same case – for the benefits of the European Union and why Britain had to play a full part in it… Nick Clegg has the knowledge, the experience and the vocabulary to speak not just with conviction and sympathy, but in a way that can be readily understood. This makes him almost unique: a senior British politician capable of making a compelling case for Europe. As Tory Eurosceptics sense the wind in their sails, he should do this more often. Nick Clegg may just have found his role.

In Praise of the Daily Telegraph: Finding strengths in Vince Cable

The Daily Telegraph write Leave Business Secretary Vince Cable alone – he’s the moral centre of this Coalition in which they give some praise for Vince Cable which is worth reading:

I believe that any serious and objective consideration of Mr Cable’s record in office shows that he has been a formidable Cabinet minister, an important ally of enterprise, and, above all, one of the most loyal and supportive members of this Government… Mr Cable deserves the bulk of the praise for the recent small surge of inward investment into Britain, though characteristically he has not tried to grab all the credit… Mr Cable is a new type of politician… Mr Cable has managed to stay loyal to the Coalition without surrendering his identity… Mr Cable is now in that very interesting place: he is the moral centre of gravity for the Coalition and of British public life. If Nick Clegg, as widely expected, steps down as Lib Dem leader before the general election, Mr Cable – should he decide to run – is highly likely to replace him. His best years may lie ahead.

In Praise of The Sun: Finding strengths in Vince Cable

In ‘The Heroes and Villains of Westminster‘ in The Sun they consider Vince Cable this weeks hero and have some very positive words to say about him which are worth reading:

Take a bow, Vince Cable. For the blunt-speaking Business Secretary has secured a fantastic deal that has saved Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory in Cheshire from closure. The decision by General Motors means £125 million of new investment and 700 extra jobs on top of the 2,100-strong workforce. And it all happened after Mr Cable jumped on a plane to Detroit in March to urge GM bosses to back the UK over Germany. Looks like it was well worth him going the extra mile. As his colleagues snipe over firms that are “not working hard enough”, this Cabinet minister has quietly got on with his job and boosted business for Britain.

In Praise of the Daily Mail: Finding strengths in the Lib Dems

The Daily Mail write A prisoner of the Lib Dems? I’m afraid I take that with a very generous pinch of salt, Mr Cameron in which they have some praise for the Lib Dems which is worth reading:

For their part, the Lib Dems undeniably inserted some proposals in the speech which a Tory-only government would not have included, of which the time-consuming and potentially divisive reform of the House of Lords is the most obvious. Proposals to extend ‘flexi-time’ and corral giant supermarket chains into dealing fairly with their suppliers also have an unmistakable Liberal Democrat feel to them.

We CAN argue about whether this or that measure is Conservative or Lib Dem, but the overall picture is surely clear. As has invariably been the case throughout the Coalition’s two-year existence, the Lib Dems, though representing only one sixth of the Government in terms of MPs, get their way over a very much larger proportion of Government measures.

No less importantly, they exercise their power by what policies they keep out as well as by what they get in. They have vetoed reform to human rights law, as Mr Cameron rightly says, as well as plans to repatriate powers from Europe, which the Conservatives had promised to do in their election manifesto.

The first solution focused local authority: Significant improvements to council services as a result

In 2009 Reading Borough Council began a new project to use the solution focused approach within one of their directorates; what was called ‘Solutions 4 Reading’. It became such a success that they expanded the approach across the whole council. The programme applied the pragmatic and positive Solutions Focus approach to coaching and change to council teams and individuals and now Reading Borough Council are putting in an application for best council in the UK in the local authority awards.

Paul Jackson and Janine Waldman are the directors of The Solutions Focus, which is a solution focused consultancy firm and they were employed to develop and implement this project. The project was far-reaching and ambitious considering they wanted to implement it across the whole council with limited resources. They couldn’t train everyone in SF skills and techniques so instead trained SF champions who would embed the practice in their areas to achieve coverage.

Before they started the work they asked some questions to that they knew what they were aiming for:

• What will you be saying as the project ends and what difference will you be noticing?
• What are the key measures? What will have changed/improved?
• What makes us say that these are the ‘right’ measures – what benefits will follow from these figures/stories changing?
• What stories do we want to be hearing as the project progresses?

Knowing what you want to achieve is an important part of making a project successful and such questions allowed them to see what the council wanted to see from the work. The stories of success were shared in a celebration day where people would bring the stories of using SF and the impact it had on their work. There were stories from IT managers who used SF to design and implement a new IT system, finance directors who used SF to discover and communicate ways of delivering services with a decreasing budget, and trainers who used SF to change their training which improved the quality of the training and the participants’ ability to recall what they had learnt. The tools and techniques have spread throughout the council with reports of many successes.

The chief executive states that the council has gone from performing just above the national average to being one of the top performers. He said he will be putting in an application for the council of the year award as a result. You can see a video of the chief executive talking about the implementation of SF across the council here.

This is an important project for solution focused politics, the idea and not this blog, because it shows that its use in governmental services can be improved by the use of the simple tools, techniques and principles of SF. Rather than a method or a theory, SF is an approach which is why it can be implemented in almost any field and it is pleasing to see positive results following the implementation of the approach across the council.

In Praise of the Daily Telegraph: Finding strengths in the Lib Dems

The Daily Telegraph write This fine Coalition government won’t see out 2013 – what a shame for Britain in which there is some considerable praise for this Government and the Lib Dems which is well worth reading:

Plenty of mistakes have been made since 2010, but this has nevertheless been the best government for a generation, led by men and women for the most part of decency and goodwill. Important steps have been taken towards addressing the financial deficit, while the reforms to welfare and education are essential to the health of Britain as a nation and will soon be irreversible… It is only thanks to the skill and admirable personal forbearance of Mr Clegg and Mr Cameron that the project has lasted as long as it has.

In Praise of the Daily Telegraph: Finding strengths in the Lib Dems

The Daily Telegraph write The high cost of coalition: Tory policies are evaporating as the tail wags the dog which is not a very positive piece on the Lib Dems but it does offer this, which is worth highlighting:

On the economy, the most important subject of the lot, the Government does much of its ongoing trading in public. The Lib Dems, smaller and wanting coalition to be permanent, are better at this.

In Praise of The Daily Telegraph: Finding strengths in Nick Clegg

The Daily Telegraph write Nick Clegg is clinging to the Coalition, but is his party starting to let go? which may give a particular view of the Lib Dems right now but has an interesting point about Nick Clegg at the end which is worth pointing out:

Nick Clegg, though a better and braver politician than his poll ratings indicate

In Praise of The Independent: Finding strengths in the Lib Dems

The Independent write Lords reform is a fight that Nick Clegg will never win which is not a very flattering portrayal of the Lib Dem’s move to reform the House of Lords but there is a small section of praise for the Lib Dems which is worth highlighting:

It’s a common complaint among Conservative MPs that the Liberal Democrats wield 50 per cent of the influence in government when they have only 16 per cent of its MPs. And it’s true that the Liberal Democrats have punched above their weight in the Coalition.

In Praise of the Guardian: Finding strengths in the Lib Dems

The Guardian write Liberal Democrats can again enjoy the reflection in the mirror in which there is a robust defence of the Lib Dems and a hopeful picture for the future. It highlights some strengths in the Party which are worth reading:

Lib Dems, both in government and more widely, are a more resilient and coherent party than their critics generally allow. The Lib Dems … exist for reasons that still make sense…

the Lib Dems stand for priorities that are distinctly different from those of their Conservative partners… public opinion may be converging around a fusion of economic competence and social justice – in Lib Dem eyes, their natural territory… You can say what you like about Clegg and the journey on which he has taken his party. But the fact is that he is in the middle of proving that coalition governments can work.

The Lib Dem experience of government is undoubtedly traumatic. But it is a widely underestimated achievement, especially in such tough times. The result is that the Lib Dems are not just battle scarred but battle hardened. They have been through the fire – and survived.