LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Last couple of days has seen quite a few local issues reported by constituents and raised by me with the City Council - a recurring theme - roads & pavements - but having spoken with a representative of Scotland Gas Networks today the good news is that the very last of the works in Roseangle are being completed and (given a couple of days for setts to fully set - pardon the pun) the last of the

The agenda for the 4 April council meeting has now been published and can be found here. Items include: the annual report of the Cabinet Member for Local Services andthe Birmingham Manufacturing Strategy 2006-2015.

WATCHDOG BITES BACK Identity Cards for us - secret loans for them The sleaze scandal swept over Labour and Tories alike tonight - just when they were getting together to impose id cards on law-abiding citizens. The Election Watchdog took one look at the Blair/Cameron stories on hidden loans - and told them that he didn-t believe them. Labour and Tories - in debt to the tune of 39 MILLION POUNDS tried to put an end to the secret loans scandal by CONFESSING to the Electoral Commisioner - IN SECRET. But the watchdog SNAPPED back - ...

Up to the House of Lords today to mark an ending and a beginning. The Local e-Democracy National Project, which I have been chairing for the last two years, finishes its work this week. We had invited the Chief Executives and Council Leaders from local authorities across England to a reception on the terrace, to tell them about the project and what we could offer them. ...

…is the new Deputy Leader of the LibDems (or, more accurately, of the parliamentary party). He won by just two votes, beating Matthew Taylor. David Heath, who I suspect many bloggers and activists (including this one) would have preferred, went out in the first round; three of his voters didn’t express a second preference. Full result is [...]

It's Vince so we can all stop worrying and get on with the local elections. I think deep down I wanted David Heath to win (the Western Counties candidate you see). But three great candidates (as Ming says).

one of those bizarre moments yesterday. Was listening to radio 4 and an interview with labour minister Andy Burnham about ID cards. He was asked about the whole business of linking them with passports effectively making them compulsory.. and he said the plan had always been to make them compulsory. JohnHumpreys was silenced in amazement. We all remember labour at the election saying they wanted a voluntary scheme.. and now this guy is saying it was always meant to be compulsory all along. Either he has got it wrong.. or all the blandishments last year ...

Vince Cable has been elected as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, reports ePolitix.com. Ballot Results Round One Matthew Taylor - 25Dr Vince Cable - 21David Heath - 17 Round Two Dr Vince Cable - 31Matthew Taylor - 29 So it's Ming Campbell and Vince Cable. Hmm. Not the most varied of tickets, is it?

Climate Change - Early Day Motions - Cameron's Green credential shows true colours. (Warwick & Leamington Liberal Democrats): "Lib-Dem MP, Chris Huhne, has written to David Cameron, asking him to demonstrate that his party is as united in tackling climate change. All Lib Dems have signed two Early Day Motions in support of tackling climate change and in favour of the Climate Change Bill currently passing through Parliament. In contrast, fewer than half of the Conservative MPs have signed the motions to date. David Cameron himself has not signed either. Warwick & Leamington Liberal Democrats supported these Early Day Motions ...

So, a compromise has been made: You will have to register your details but don't have to get a card. This is not acceptable, the database is the most objectionable element to this scheme. One assumes you will still have to keep them informed of changes of status so they can update your details. I'm pleased to say that the LibDems opposed this deal, but as usual the Tories let this country down

Big chunk of time delivering leaflets today.. with more to come tomorrow. Spent some time in a labour area but one in which people seem to want a change. Good reception... and the first time for ages that I have delivered leaflets and not been rained on!

I have commented before on the strange absence of Bonkers Hall from Ordnance Survey maps, and remarked that Nevill Holt near Market Harborough is the best approximation to it that you are likely to find. This summer Grange Park Opera is staging performances of The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville at Nevill Holt. I doubt that Lord Bonkers would settle for anything less than a complete performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle with the first Lady Bonkers (or possibly Elspeth Campbell) as Brunhilde, but it is good to see Bonkers Hall becoming the Glyndebourne of the East Midlands. ...

We are told in today’s Evening News that the Parliament bar’s £25,000 face lift has only brought in an extra £1 per day. (That makes a total of £3.50 a day - even with heavily subsidised drinks.) Truth is, its not the decor that makes the atmosphere so dreadfully oppressive, its the absence of noise [...]

Ryedale's Liberal Democrat Euro MP, Diana Wallis says a small charge on plastic bags should be amongst a series of measures to clean up streets in the area. Diana Wallis MEP said: "It is estimated that in Yorkshire & the Humber region alone about one billion plastic bags are distributed every year. Imagine how many of those are distributed in Malton alone! Plastic bags litter the environment, pollute our seas and cause the death of birds and other animals as a result. A small tax introduced in Ireland in 2002 has been a huge success, encouraging people to reuse bags ...

Richard and I were shooting the breeze and we realised that our former version of this site replicated many of the techniques used by Wordpress - although mostly via manual means. So as an experiment, and to provide a model for other party groups wishing to consult on policy, we’ve converted the site to [...]

On March 26th, the smoking ban in public places came into force in Scotland. Since film and theatre sets are 'public places' then actors will probably have to use artificial cigarettes. South of the border, this generated a blip of inaccurate press coverage that any films or TV programmes in Scotland had been banned from depicting smoking. I'm glad there isn't a ban on the depiction of smoking in films and TV, but it's a sufficiently credible prospect that expect an announcement from the government soon. There are lots of anti-social things that people do - swearing, binge drinking, committing ...

It is good to see that Michael Connarty has finally caught on to the fact that pension credit is an issue. I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I know that 6,000 of his constituents and 5,500 families in my constituency are in receipt of pension credit. However, there are two worrying things. During the election, it was the one issue that pensioners came to me to shake my hand on—although they

I have been quiet of late, but this is a symptom of campaign fatigue rather than blogging fatigue. I spent the weekend in Islington, delivering and canvassing. And on Monday went to eat, drink and listen to Shirley with Southwark Lib Dems (who seemed cautiously optimistic). Present was Mark Valladares - good to put a face to this previously faceless Liberal Bureaucrat.

A report in theguardian reveals that a two-day follow-up to yesterday’s local government strike is no-longer-secretly planned for May 3rd and May 4th. The latter is the day of local elections in England, which are administered by local government. If the unions think emphasising the issue on local election day is a good way to put [...]

On Monday, following on from last year’s live remake of The Quatermass Experiment, BBC Four screened a new version of 1961’s A for Andromeda. I’m not going to be nice about it, so let’s start with the positives. (Spoilers ahead…) My favourite line in the whole thing was: Where there is intelligence there is Will, and where there is [...]

We have a major, out-of-town superstore in Badger Farm. Most of the time this is a real benefit for local residents (including me, I'm about to go there and buy some sandwiches!) However, the superstore in question owns several pieces of land around the store and these seem to be getting untidier and untidier. If it was council land I'd certainly have had the litter team out dealing with it

is always a good read (except when it gets into clever physics when I'm restricted to admiring the pictures). Last week's issue carred a feature Nuclear Nightmare in Manhattan on the effects of a 'suitcase' nuclear attack on a city. It quoted a physicist's claim that all you need to do to cause a 5-10 kiloton blast is to drop one 45kg lump of weapons-grade uranium onto another from a height of 1.8 metres. So: 90kg of enriched uranium and a tall person with a grudge. The word Iran leaps unbidden into my mind.

Last night the House of Lords defeated the Government for the fifth on Identity Cards, with a majority of 28 (219 to 191) to back an alternative scheme to allow people to "opt out" when cards are introduced from 2008. The amendment would have allowed those applying for new or renewed passports to decide for themselves whether to opt for an Identity card until 2011.

Canvassing is always a great leveller in politics. We tend to be very confident in what we believe is wrong with our elected councils and how we would do things better. On the doorstep, we are brought down to earth by the level of cynicism and scepticism among the general public! That said, the canvassing in Ryemead gives us much to be positive about. Last week we canvassed an area with many elderly residents, not long after Gordon Brown had delivered his budget. We heard the same story on several doorsteps about long term Labour voters who were ...

FAKENHAM - 20060448 - Alterations to classroom to provide food technology room; Fakenham College Highfield House Wells Road for Director of Children's Services Case Officer :Mr G Lyon; (Alteration to Listed Building);OS Grid Ref: TF91853028 Secretary of State to Determine

Quick update to my previous piece on emission targets, renewable energy etc etc Tony Blair says that he wants a technological revolution to slow global warming Brilliant! Great! Fantastic! Piece of news for you Mr Blair.... Number 1 "pushing for an international framework" doesn't count as revolutionary in my book. Number 2 you are the leader of the government (I know this seems in doubt at times) and if you want these things to happen then start to think more radically about what needs to be done, lead from the front and make some really substantive changes.

The Presiding Officer makes the very reasonable point in this morning's Western Mail that the Assembly needs to be more representative of Welsh society. In particular he believes that there needs to be AMs elected next time who belong to ethnic minorities. Further reading reveals that what he is actually doing is placing himself firmly behind the candidature of Cardiff councillor Mohammed Islam, as the second list candidate for Plaid Cymru in South Wales Central. Councillor Islam faces a very tough contest against former Ceredigion MP, Simon Thomas and his ward colleague, Gwenllian Lansdown. He will ...

Various things got me thinking about this one having posted about the pathetic attempt to improve things contained in last weeks budget. So the government admits that we will not make the 2010 target at the current rate of progress. The budget adds a few tweaks but clearly more needs to be done. Meanwhile in Mondays Guardian there was a report that Britain's wind energy is set to exceed expectations with 50% more wind farms powering British homes and industry by 2010 than predicted four years ago. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1740698,00.html So if exceeeding expectations won't do it then we clearly ...