Clegg reviews coalition approach

 10 May 2011 Last updated at 19:10 ET  The deputy prime minister will signal the coalition is entering a new period The Lib Dems will be more "muscular" in government and their influence more "visible", Nick Clegg will argue on the first anniversary of the coalition.

The deputy PM and Lib Dem leader will say the arrangement with the Tories is "stable and durable".

But he will argue it is a coalition of "necessity not conviction" and say the two parties will show their separate identities more overtly in future.

David Cameron has dismissed claims the Lib Dems are a "moderating" influence.

In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, he said the coalition was a "partnership" with both members working in unison to tackle difficult issues rather than one constantly attempting to restrain the other - as some senior Lib Dems have suggested.

Both party leaders are reflecting on the first year of the coalition government - the first in 65 years - seeking to highlight its achievements but stressing the scale of the challenges lying ahead.

Labour leader Ed Miliband is likely to attack the coalition's record, and highlight its policy differences, at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

'Louder voice'

Mr Clegg has been under pressure from Lib Dem activists to wield more clout in government after the party suffered its worst performance in council elections in England for 20 years and amid complaints the party had become a "human shield" for unpopular coalition decisions.

"The coalition has shown itself to be a durable, stable government," Mr Clegg will say in a wide-ranging speech. "But it is clear, not least from what we heard on the doorsteps in recent weeks, that people want the Liberal Democrats to be a louder voice in government."

The Lib Dems have been "punching above their weight" in terms of their contribution to the coalition's policy agenda, he will say - singling out their support for pensioners, the low paid, nursery education and apprenticeships - but must "do a better job" of trumpeting their achievements.

He will also signal that the coalition - which was damaged by the acrimonious campaign over plans to change the voting system in which the Lib Dems and Conservatives were on different sides of arguments - is entering a new period.

"In the next phase, both partners will be able to be clearer in their identities but equally clear about the need to support government and government policy. We will stand together but not so closely that we stand in each other's shadow," he will argue.

"You will see a strong liberal identity in a strong coalition government. You might even call it more muscular liberalism."

'Formidable force'

The Lib Dems have suggested they will block proposed NHS reforms unless substantial changes are made and will seek to be more assertive over issues such as banking reform and immigration controls.

Mr Clegg will say he relishes the opportunity to make the "Lib Dem imprint and influence more visible".

Despite's last week poll drubbing, in which the party relinquished control of nine English councils and suffered heavy losses in Scotland, Mr Clegg will argue the Lib Dems have "exactly the right answer" and their long-term electoral prospects are good.

"There is a reason neither of the two bigger parties won last May - neither of them were really trusted to deliver both a strong, dynamic economy and a fair society. We can be trusted on both counts.

"I am confident that showing we can combine economic soundness with social justice - competence with a conscience - will make us an even more formidable political force in the future."

The Texas Tribune: Mixed Reviews for Brownsville Ban on Plastic Bags

“I have a whole bunch of these in my truck,” she said, noting that she often forgets to take them in when she shops.

Ms. Orozco’s collection of tote bags stems from a recent ordinance in Brownsville, one of Texas’ poorest big cities: a ban on plastic checkout bags in virtually all businesses. The policy, which took effect in January, has eliminated more than 350,000 bags per day, according to Mayor Pat Ahumada, who said in an e-mail that it has “transformed our city from littered and dirty to a much cleaner city.”

Two other Texas communities, Fort Stockton and South Padre Island, have also approved bans on plastic bags, which will take effect in September and January, respectively. Several large cities, including Laredo and El Paso, have previously considered bans, and even the small town of Poteet, south of San Antonio, plans to assess its bag-banning options.

Brownsville’s policy, the first of its kind in Texas, has stirred controversy. While Ms. Orozco said she liked reusable bags because they helped the environment, others have concerns.

Edmundo Arizpe, 84, who left the A&V Lopez store clutching two small bags of peanuts, said that when he needed to buy lots of groceries, he often went to the nearby city of San Benito.

By driving, “I’m doing worse to the climate,” Mr. Arizpe said. He wishes the ban exempted customers spending more than $50.

The ordinance also worries Duro Bag, a large maker of paper bags with a factory in the city’s port, because, unlike bans elsewhere in the nation, it also restricts paper bags, said Christopher Klein, manager of strategic initiatives at the company.

Paper bags at many Brownsville checkout counters must be extra sturdy and have handles, which Mr. Klein calls “somewhat counterintuitive to reducing trash and litter.” (The requirement is intended to make paper bags reusable.) Duro Bag’s Brownsville factory does not make this kind of bag, but it plans to add equipment so it can; currently Duro Bag ships bags with handles in from another plant for distribution in Brownsville.

Legislation being considered by state lawmakers would encourage shoppers to recycle plastic bags by requiring large retailers like Walmart to place bag recycling bins prominently in their stores. It would also pre-empt local ordinances, however, and that worries advocates of bag bans who fear that it could derail local policies already in existence or under consideration.

Senator Troy Fraser, Republican of Horseshoe Bay, who sponsored the Senate legislation, said that his bill was “not moving” right now, but that a House version had made more progress. Mr. Fraser said he did not intend to overturn policies of cities with existing bans. In the long run, he said, “we would like to wean people off the using of not only plastic but paper” and shift Texans toward reusable bags.

Walmart has backed Mr. Fraser’s legislation, which it sees as more workable than all-out bans.

“Walmart is committed to reducing its plastic bag waste, but we would rather see voluntary programs to reduce plastic bag use” instead of stricter policies like Brownsville’s, said Daniel Morales, a company spokesman in Texas.

At one Brownsville Walmart, customers could be seen carrying bottles of juice or even prewrapped lettuce to their cars — without a bag. Walmart shoppers can still get plastic bags for $1, which is the standard fee established by the ordinance and which goes into a fund to clean up the city. Others opt to buy reusable blue bags for 25 cents, or take bags in with them.

Rose Timmer, executive director of Healthy Communities of Brownsville, which pushed for the ban, said tourists had called plastic bags “Texas wildflowers.”

In South Padre Island, the Surfrider Foundation strongly endorses the town’s ban, partly because plastic bags besmirch the dunes and harm seabirds and sea turtles.

“Using reusable bags is good,” said Rob Nixon, chairman of the group’s South Texas chapter. “They’re not only great shopping bags; they’re great beach bags as well.”

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Bits: PowerReviews Raises Money for E-Commerce Reviews

 

PowerReviews, a company that helps e-commerce sites show product reviews written by other customers, has raised $10 million in venture capital.

When you shop online at REI, RadioShack, Brookstone or 5,000 other Web sites, the reviews you read from other customers warning that the shoes run big or suggesting a digital camera are made possible behind the scenes by PowerReviews. It also sells review software to brands that aren’t retailers, like those in health care, financial services and education, which use it for real-time focus groups.

Shoppers are more likely to make a purchase if they read customer reviews, according to PowerReviews, even if some of the reviews are negative. At Diapers.com, for instance, the percentage of people who made a purchase after shopping on the site increased 14 percent after a month of showing reviews.

E-commerce companies have been slow to adopt social networking tools, even though shoppers say they want to make online shopping a social activity the way it is offline. Product reviews are a small way that Web sites make shopping more social.

Unlike many e-commerce sites, PowerReviews lets people add information about themselves in profiles. A mother reviewing a stroller could say that she has twins and lives in a hilly city, for instance, or a runner could say that he has wide feet. Reviewers can also connect their Facebook accounts to add their profile information.

“It provides a lot more contextual information about that reviewer so the shopper can actually feel more confident and comfortable with who the person is,” said Pehr Luedtke, chief executive of PowerReviews.

People can follow reviewers they relate to and see all their reviews on a site, and future reviews will appear in the shopper’s Facebook newsfeed. Seventy percent of reviews shared to Facebook get comments or likes, according to PowerReviews.

While retailers at first worried about allowing customers to write negative reviews on their sites, they have long since been forced to get over that because customers expect the information, said Cathy Halligan, senior vice president of marketing and sales at PowerReviews and former chief marketing officer at Walmart.com.

PowerReviews, whose biggest competitor is Bazaarvoice, raised the fresh capital from the Four Rivers Group and the Woodside Fund, in addition to previous investors who had already invested $27 million. The company plans to use the money to hire more engineers and salespeople to sell the product to retailers.

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