The title comes from one of those jokey parliamentary sketches in the Times. But perhaps it sums up one of those rare days when Liberal Democrats were in the news for a twenty-four hour period, and for all the right reasons.
The fuss that has been generated following the arrest and questioning of Ruth Turner does pose some questions about how there can be investigations into political figures. There may well be legitimate questions about why it was necessary to mount a dawn raid. A Prime Ministerial aide is hardly likely to be a serious flight [...]
With the news yesterday tha tthe Roman Catholic Church are trying to blackmail the government in to having an "opt out" from having to follow equal opportunity laws, and the news today that the Church of England are backing them on this, it is worth noting the discussion currently ongoing on "Conservative Home". Sorry about the small screenshot, but I'll print below what this person was writing : "The first homosexual marriage lasted just for one year and most of their relationships are over in a matter of weeks. Paedophilia and homosexuality go hand in hand and Blair ...
So a dusting of snow and the trains and tube are in chaos. The train companies/Network Rail show yet again rail privatisation was a farce. As for Metronet, they screw up when it is too hot, they screw up when it is too cold. They are a company who are not fit for purpose, and should be straight out on their ear for disrupting the lives of the whole of London.
Tonight I attended the meeting of local residents concerned about the redevelopment of Tulle Court in Prestwich, at St Mary's Church. It was certainly an interesting meeting. I was surprised by how many people were there (I thought there was a service on in the Church when I arrived!). It certainly arouses some passions in local people, who were as interested as me in the detailed plans 
Whenever I have a large pile of post built up whilst I have been away, I go through it to open the hand written envelopes first. There was a very large pile of post waiting for me when I got home for the weekend and in it were plenty of handwritten envelopes. It was shortly after midnight on Sunday morning when I opened them.Letters from constituents and lots of petition replies. But it was the
This evening I received a letter from a local resident concerning the junction of Hilton Lane and Scholes Lane at Bury New Road. So I gave her a call to talk it over. It seemed mad to her (and, I must admit, it seems a little crazy to me too) that there are no crossing facilities for pedestrians there. They must take their chances with the cars when attempting to cross. This is doubly risky
Having posted a pretty jaundiced article here following the wrist-slitting tedium that goes by the name of Full Council on Monday, it’s only fair to say that Tuesday was indeed another day. A three-hour area planning meeting may sound like most normal people’s idea of a living hell, but it focused on just one issue, of huge interest and concern to many of my residents in Headington and the
Someone might be able to help my ailing memory. Iain Dale wrote yesterday: As Sir John Junor used to say, 'there will be dancing on the streets of Auchtermuchty' this evening, as the Conservatives announce the apparent demise of the 'A' List I left a comment saying: Iain, I thought it was Bill McClaren who referred to "dancing in the streets of (insert name of appropriate Scottish town)
My project for early 2007 is to walk up and down every street in Headingley Ward. I have many motivations for doing so and have always tried to make ad hoc patrols part of being a Councillor. What has proved very interesting though is the first question that everyone has asked me when I have mentioned the idea. " I didn't think you were up for election this year?". Well I'm not! I should point out that Headingley is a compact, largely terraced and semi detached ward and so this project won't take me that long or is much ...
Twas one of those things. We were all set up to have a vote on the adjournment, but had not been warned that the first vote was on that the vote be now put. That was not supposed to be a division, but noone had told me and the Nats. I then asked who was running the second call. I was told that there were tellers so went into the Lobby. The tellers did not do the second call and lo and
Adrian Sanders was quite right to draw attention to the pollution flowing from the SS Napoli. In many ways it is a more worrying situation than the beach "salvage" exercise seen in the media. We now see the damage and death to birds caused by the oil released from the vessel.
Labour’s failure to meet their target of getting all school buildings fit for purpose by 2010 will be a major obstacle to the improvement of academic standards, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Peter Black, has said. Mr. Black was responding to comments in the annual report of Schools Inspectorate Agency, Estyn, that children’s education benefits from the modernisation of their school and that the advantages are even greater in areas with high levels of social and economic deprivation. New or refurbished buildings allow schools to offer a greater quality of teaching and a wider range of ...
Leading the debate on Iraq in the House of Commons Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell has outlined the Liberal Democrats’ strategy to bring troops home from Iraq by October: The detailed Liberal Democrat proposals are available on the party’s website.
Having a fancy new phone which has amazing video playback, the ability to run TomTom Navigator 6, store the A-Z of central London and be used as an MP3 player I decided that my 1GB memory card was just too small. So I went out and purchased a 4GB card. With this I placed all the [...]
The slightly light-hearted reply I've sent to this email: My re-collection of Monday's show is that we certainly did not swear - I think the harshest thing I said was "bugger". I appreciate that if I lived in the US and had the FCC to contend with, I'd be screwed, but "bugger" is hardly a post-watershed word. As for sex, yes it was discussed on the show, as were a number of other things: the US
Yes, well done for facing up to the reality of a controversial proposal. Withdrawal from Iraq is not a retreat from the wider principle of defending western values if the troops are then re-deployed to the Afghan theatre of operations where there is still the prospect of success. If George Bush wants to throw good money after bad that's up to him - it's not going to change anything now.
State of the Union 2007 - Bush Impression. Yes, I have got the hang of posting videos again!
The "tough" Home Secretary's advice regarding keeping people who have committed serious offences out of prison today should serve as a timely reminder to those who label the Lib Dems as soft on Crime just who we can and cannot trust. John Reid is one of a succession of Labour Home Secretaries who have failed to deliver on their promises to reduce crime, increase police numbers to the levels they promised and really do something about prisons. I was speaking to a group of dinner ladies at school today and all they were talking about was how diabolical ...
I entered in to this "blogpower" group a few days ago, slightly unaware of the fuss within their group concerning BNP activists getting involved. Looking at some of the names on their list encouraged me that it would be okay, Ellee Seymour, a very reasonable and witty Tory to name but one. However, I began to feel slightly alarmed when I started getting comments from one of the BNP people in "blogpower" who has then started posting comments to my blog with links to the BNP website. So I have withdrawn from Blogpower, and whilst I hope their ...
I hope that all we Liberals are writing to Tony Blair and Ruth Kelly to argue against any exemption for Catholic adoption agencies to the new equality laws. The most important thing in deciding on the suitability of prospective adoptive parents is surely their ability to provide a loving, stable home for a child who may well have been damaged in early life. If they have the skills and the commitment to do that, then they should be allowed to adopt. End of story. The laws of the land apply to everybody equally otherwise we create ...
Being a good liberal dog, I'm well used to being in a minority. (When I'm not running away from a man with a gun that is). Liberalism is all about sticking up for minority points of view. So it's deeply unsettling to see that in the BBC's online poll on Iraq, over 70% of people are agreeing with Ming Campbell.
Well I have to say Ming really delivered the message on Iraq with passion today. And looking at the BBC online poll, the public think so too! I marched with my daughters in 2003, as thousands of other Lib Dems did, this stance is the right stance, and makes me proud to be in the Lib Dems. Well done Ming!
One of the aspects of Ming Campbell’s character I noticed from the leadership hustings was that his undoubted passion is slow-burning. Though he unfailingly ignites, he doesn’t get angry easily, and doesn’t have Tony Blair or David Cameron’s, erm, talent for faking it on demand. This has its disadvantages in today’s tell-me-quick sound-bite age, and Ming has been criticized for lacking the
The Prime Minister has announced a compromise with Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, who on this morning’s Today Programme claimed that “We’re totally against discrimination, absolutely no doubt about it,” but that a “balancing act” was needed so as not to discriminate against people who are in favour of discrimination. A comprehensive overhaul of anti-discrimination laws to avoid offence to conscientious bigots like Dr Sentamu begins today. Among the first measures announced are that hoteliers who don’t wish to cater to ‘that sort’ (delete ‘sort’ as applicable) will once again be permitted to display ‘No Coloureds’ signs ...
My colleague, Danny Hughes, resigned from the council this week. He has been ill for a while and one of his family has been ill for longer. Danny felt he couldn't do the job of councillor the way he wanted to while dealing with all of this.. so decided to resign. We all understand his decision. The way resignations work at the council means you stop being a councillor the day you resign. What that means is that there are now only two councillors int he ward and the vacancy will be sorted out ...
Today leading the debate on Iraq in the House of Commons Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell has outlined his party's strategy to bring troops home from Iraq by October.
Yesterday, met with a local resident and Waste Management/Environmental Health & Trading Standards Department staff about a refuse problem in the Seafield Road area; both departments have been really helpful in attempting to resolve the issues. Today, a deluge of complaints from residents in Roseangle and Bellefield Avenue about the extent of noise coming from the rail yards/rail bridge area - as one resident put it - "The noise - a dull ringing sound and ongoing vibration - is incredibly irritating for those of us who work from home. " I have spoken today to the Rail Bridge ...
Short blog today as I move from meeting to meeting. Woke to a covering of snow on the London streets. Modernisation Committee first thing taking evidence from Party Whips on how to improve...
Iain Dale says that Menzies Campbell's proposed British withdrawal from Iraq by October would lead to a "full-scale civil war". Hello? There is a full-scale civil war there already! Menzies Campbell's statement (see video on right) on Iraq is absolutely right and I applaud his courage in making it: Given the lack of UK influence over coalition strategy, the deepening sectarian conflict, and 
Paul Rainger recently left as Lib Dem Director of Campaigns to become the Head of the Farm Animals Programme at the World Society for the Protection of Animals. At that time I added a join WSPA link on the right hand side of my blog so people could join. WSPA have just sent me an email asking me to promote it, so here I am... WSPA's policies: WSPA believes that animals have biologically
Ken MacDonald, Director of Public Prosecutions, on the "war on terror" in the UK: "London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7, 2005 were not victims of war. And the men who killed them were not, as in their vanity they claimed on their ludicrous videos, 'soldiers'. They were deluded, narcissistic inadequates. They were criminals. They were fantasists. We need to be
As Tristan has noted, Cicero has another well-thought-out post on his blog. Personally, I’m kicking myself as I nearly went to Andrus Ansip’s lecture at the LSE but bailed out at the last minute. (I might have known Cicero’s true identity!). Cicero writes “The Liberal Democrats have an opportunity to speak out for a genuinely Liberal Europe… in favour of free trade and freer movement in services and agriculture, [and] against a European super state and "ever closer union". He is spot on. I have been advocating for some time a shift in emphasis for the Lib Dems ...
iraq Lib Dem TV menzies campbell
David “Dave” Cameron has set up a “Northern Board” whose aim is apparently to revitalise the Tories in the North of England, where they did even less well than the rest of England at the general election. William Hague has been appointed chair but he may have his work cutout if this top secret map [...]
Moseley and Kings Heath Liberal Democrat Councillor Martin Mullaney has been campaigning against graffiti in his ward, he now has a video on YouTube.
Yesterday, the Assembly returned to its favourite subject, our failing transport system. There is no doubt that this is one subject on which AMs are intimately acquainted, as was evidenced by the many contributions from those who have had nightmare journeys around Wales. As busy people they would like to cut travelling times down to the bare minimum, however, even we accept that there are limits to how fast trains can travel, not Eleanor Burnham: My constituents in north Wales certainly deserve a clean, reliable and usable service that will entice them from their cars—that is the big issue. ...
The Birmingham Mail has launched a bus survey. If you download the bus questionnaire and return it to the Mail by Wednesday 31 January 2007 then you will automatically be entered into a prize draw for £100.
James explains why Hugo Swire's number hasn't come up. And why moaning about it is little more than "cheap and rather dishonest posturing".
My inbox brings good news this morning. Facekbook are investigating my complaint of anti-doggism in their T&Cs. They've even promised, "Stand by as we should be back with you soon". I will keep you posted...
I can't tell you how delighted I was to hear that Ming was at last calling for troops out of Iraq.........phew, that was a long haul, but better late than never! At spring conference two years ago I moved an amendment to the Iraq motion which would have meant our party policy was troop withdrawal. I was vilified, not least by Tim Garden (OK so it was a bit David and Goliath - I never quite made it to Air Chief Marshall level in my short military career - mainly coz me and the army didn't quite see eye to ...
Cicerois one of the most consistently thoughtful bloggers out there, and again I find myself agreeing with him fully over Europe. His post about last night’s talk by Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip makes several very good points about the way we should seek to move Europe to, and what is needed from the United Kingdom. He [...]
Iain Sharpe tells me that his blog has woken up. It is well worth a visit. He writes: it’s harder to start blogging again once you have stopped than to keep going when you’ve started.Oh dear.
Blogging remains light - and is likely to do so for a while - because of continued family problems. The same is true for my other writing efforts. But we'll get there. On the bright side, a letter has flooded into Cowley Street asking what has happened to my House Points Column in Liberal Democrat News. So someone has noticed.
Simvastatin Q:To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the effects on costs to the public purse of prescribing Simvastatin instead of Atorvastatin or other branded statins; and what the timetable is for Simvastatin to be prescribed instead of branded statins. A:The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement recently published the "Better Care, Better Value"
This afternoon is a special meeting of Butterstile Primary School's governing body (of which I am a member) to discuss plans for the new Children's Centres in Prestwich, one of which may be sited there. The plans are exciting, but we need to make sure that they are right for everyone, and not implemented without a proper consideration of the impact that they will have on lots of different groups.
I have now read the complete letter to Tony Blair from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York about the "Sexual Orientation Regulations". Most of it is a plea for tolerance and sensitivity. We can all agree with that. The last paragraph contains some firm substance: It is vitally important that the interests of vulnerable children are not relegated to suit any political interest. And that
British forces should begin a “staged withdrawal” from Iraq in May, with the last forces leaving by the end of October, the Liberal Democrats say. Leader Sir Menzies Campbell said ministers should now spend three months consulting coalition and regional allies over precise details. He is the first main UK party leader to suggest a definite [...]
The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has ruled out a pact with the SNP over a referendum on independence. Nicol Stephen, deputy first minister in the current Scottish Executive, said such a referendum would prevent any possible coalition deal with the SNP. His comments echoed those made by the UK Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies [...]
Today's Western Mail reports that just one Assembly Member will use the subsidised North-South air service, which the Assembly Government plans to launch in the next few months. This service will need an annual subsidy of £1.8 million, but because the North Wales terminal at RAF Valley on Ynys Mon, is so far from main population centres, it will fail to attract much business. The only AM who expects to use the flights to attend business in Cardiff Bay is Ieuan Wyn Jones, who represents Ynys Mon in the Assembly. No doubt he will have plenty of seats to ...
British troops should leave Iraq by October according to Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell. The staged withdrawal should begin in May, after consultation with allies. But, whilst the House of Commons debates Iraq today Prime Minister Tony Blair will be meeting business leaders.
Celebrity Big Brother contestant Danielle Lloyd appears to have been dumped by her footballer boyfriend Teddy Sherringham. This doesn't surprise me, I have over the years been a fan of Teddy's (from his Millwall days) and if he has finished with Danielle because of her racist bullying then he goes up in my estimation.
For those who don’t know, what is left of legal aid in England and Wales is due for something of a shake-up, based on the proposals delivered last year by Lord Carter. The thrust of the projected changes are that legal aid should become a more market driven service; crucially with pricing fixed by case. The rationale is that lawyers will be incentivised to deliver more and work faster, though there seems to be an emerging professional consensus that it will simply lead to a cherry picking of the smallest and easiest cases, with no enticement to tackle complex and ...
Let’s imagine I ran a successful business and employed fifty people around the country as part of my empire. I’ve got a good turnover, making a nice profit, and helping the economy. Then I decide that I don’t want to pay corporation tax - I decide it’s ethically wrong to take away money that I could [...]
As a gently fallen shroud, soft snow covers the roofs and stucco sills of Pimlico this morning. One winter I made a snowman, he got this scarf for me. You see, he was a real snowman….
Foundation Trusts Q:To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will change the relevant rules to give members of Governors Councils of Foundation Trusts who are not members of committees of the Council the right to attend meetings of those committees. A:The circumstances of each national health service foundation trust (NHSFT) are different, which is why the legislative framework for
I'm at home this morning, having booked a visit by an engineer to repair my ailing vacuum cleaner (a vital piece of equipment in a house with five cats, let me tell you). I was told that he would come between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., so I booked the morning off and waited patiently for him to arrive, knowing in my heart that he probably wouldn't come until the last possible minute. You can therefore
OK, first things first... The European Union needs to change. The question is, how? Last night the Estonian Prime Minister, Andrus Ansip, put forward a few ideas. Firstly, and unlike most British political leaders, he made the point that the European Union as it stands has had a generally beneficial effect- "as a peacemaker, the Union has been of central importance". Economically the single market and enlargement have had a terrifically positive effect. However, his vision of Europe is not one of mushy Federalism, what he called "the absorption of countries by the EU"; instead he ...
See It’s Chriiiiiiiiistmas on Flickr.com
There is an interesting article on the Guardian website today that looks at carbon footprint. It takes you through step by step the process of calculating your own footprint. I know there are sites out there that let you do this already but this article actually explains what it all means and how it’s calculated. The [...]
It is not so very long ago that a significant proportion of the population would have accepted, at least as an aspiration, the view of most Christian churches that sex was something that should happen within marriage, meaning heterosexual marriage. Views on sexual morality have changed – and a good thing too. By not altering its teaching to move with the tiems, the Roman Catholic Church has come to appear at best anachronistic, and at worst bigoted. Even most practising Catholics have moved on and their views on divorce, gay and lesbian rights, contraception and abortion tend to have more ...
1916: U.S. Supreme Court finds the income tax is constitutional.
It snowed overnight. Unlike some, I’m not a fan. It looks nice enough, but once I start trudging around in it my feet get wet, then cold; the snow melts and refreezes as slippery ice and, as I plod around in my permeable, gripless shoes, I tend to end up on ground, getting even wetter. The [...]
I’m not one of those who whinges that Britain grinds to a halt every time there is a bit of snow - I realise that investment in dealing with severe weather is a balance of risk and reward. Having lived in Poland, where they have proper weather, I can see the point of spending a [...]
Posted by Chris Pictured cheek to cheek with Prince William is my sister Cheryl's boy, James Hunter. They are in the same regiment stationed just outside Windsor Castle.
Ming was second item on the news on the Today programme this morning.
Sir Menzies Campbell has called for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by October. He was speaking on Radio 4’s Today ahead of this afternoon’s Commons debate on Iraq, which Tony Blair has been trying to avoid attending - not surprising given quite how unpopular his misadventure in Iraq is. Ming’s piece on Today should be [...]
If you click on the headline above, you can read download some of the latest details of courses being run by local Adult Learning Workers with the Community Based Adult Learning Team in the West End!
I was uncomfortable with the overly fulsome tributes the other week to Loyalist leader David Ervine, examples aplenty here. So I was pleased to read a typically forthright ripose from Ruth Dudley Edwards here. One of the sad things for me about media coverage of the Northern Ireland peace process is the way that reporters are so indulgent of those with nasty paramilitary pasts, so long as they can master inclusive language and Guardian speak. Had a former Alliance Party leader died suddenly, it is hard to imagine that they would have received the kind of eulogies ...
Tuesday: Lord Blairimort is reported to be UNDECIDED whether to allow the Catholic Church a "get out of jail free card" on the law on treating Gay Daddies equally. Presumably he is torn between gaining forgiveness for his eternal soul… and getting into the Catholic Church. This is all because a FROCK-WEARING MAN called Mr Tarmac Mary-O'Conman who is also the Cardinal Archbigot of Westminster for the Catholic Team has sent a letter to everyone in the Closet Cabinet saying that he wants SPECIAL RIGHTS for his lot to be bullies. Has Big Bother taught us nothing? Did Jade ...
Redcar and Cleveland Council is giving the public the chance to have their say in preparing its 2007/2008 budget, which plans a £6million-plus investment for more and better services for the elderly, children and environment and only a cost of living Council Tax rise. The consultative meetings are planned for Tuesday, January 30 - the first to start at 10am at the Redcar Education Development Centre, Corporation Road, Redcar and the second fixed for 6pm at Redcar Central Library, Coatham Road, Redcar. The Council's Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources Councillor Glyn Nightingale will outline the Council's budget strategy ...
Delightful story of pending election success for UKIP in the Daily Telegraph today. The author is that darling of the rightous Right - Humpty Dumpty Heffer. Simon Heffer huffs and puffs, as is his want. And no doubt he will use his column inches in the Daily Telepgraph newspaper to espouse repeated nonsense of the electability of UKIP over the next couple of years. Mr Heffer never ceases to provide much thought provoking entertainment at the breakfast table, but his explosions of observed truth and critique are long forgotten by lunchtime. UKIP will remain an attractive home ...
Monday: Look, Look! The Liberal Democrats have an exciting New Crime Policy! This has been widely reported in none of the newspapers and received no coverage on the BBC ten o'clock news, possibly because they were covering an announcement from Mr Balloon [Thatcher, Thatcher, Thatcher] that he has seen a butterfly, or learned how to fasten his own trousers or something. Still, why cover politics when a story about robbing looters QUITE LITERALLY falls off the back of a cargo ship! Daddy tells me to look up the words BITTER and TWISTED! Life must mean life… is the ...
Will Leeds survive in the Championship or are they destined for the drop? Dennis Wise has made five signings in the transfer window so far and the squad is now on a winter training camp in Cyprus ahead of next Tuesdays critical game away to Hull. The five signings (so far) are : Tresor Kandol (£0.2m) Striker Tore Andre Flo (free) - Striker Robbie Elliott (free) Defender Miguel Armando Sa (loan) Defender Alan Thompson (loan) Central Midfield of which I would say at least three (Flo, Elliott and Thompson) are known quantities who ought to be ...
A 90 minute debate this morning at Westminster gave MPs from a large part of Southern England chance to vent their anger about the failures of First Great Western in providing decent commuter services. MPs from Wantage, Oxford, Romsey, Plymouth, Bath, Bristol, Cornwall and Newbury all told horror stories about their local services - as one MP put it, people are now standing "three to a toilet" on some services, and second class tickets are now known as 'standing class' tickets. The recent rail protest issued fake tickets with the destination "Hell and back". The ... | < | January 2007 | > | ||||
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