LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Tuesday 1st May 2007

A "thank you" from a constituent

I was phone at teatime today by a constituent who I had helped out with three different pieces of case work over the last four years. The very pleasant thing was that he phoned merely to thank me for all I had done in my role of councillor and to say that he believed that I, along with my Fakenham Lib Dem colleagues Simon, Simon and Jacky (who are all standing down for various reasons) would be missed. I've been looking forward enormously to getting my life back and no longer being a councillor, but occasionally some things, ...

What do Gordon Brown and David Cameron have in common?

This just about sums up my views very well!

Tory candidate predicts Lib Dem gains in Hull

The New Statesman is running a group blog on this year's local elections. One of the contributors is Martine Martin, described as "a well known Tory blogger" who is "active in Conservative Future and standing for Hull council". She wrote of the Lib Dems today: Yet everyone in a position to know seems to be in agreement; they could pledge to make Smurf hats a legal requirement in Hull and they would still be set for an excellent year. While Labour are concentrating on ways to soften the blow caused by national government ineptitude and the Conservatives are fighting ...

Well done to Liverpool from an Everton fan

Let me be one of the first to congratulate Liverpool on beating Chelsea tonight to go in to the European Cup final (as it should be called). As an Evertonian, you can imagine that I don't have a lot of time for the red half of Merseyside, but credit where credit is due, Liverpool play much better football in European matches than they ever do in the Premiership. Well done to them, and as an Englishman, I also wish good luck to Manchester United tomorrow. An all Premiership[ Champions League final would be something of a spectacle and ...

Latest Scottish Polls show SNP lead down

Newsnight are reporting that a poll for the Scotman has the SNP overall projected seats down to just one more than Labour whilst The Times has a poll showing the SNP down again, with them having two more MSP's than Labour. Whilst these polls can't be spun as bad news for the SNP given that they are in the lead still, it does show some slippage in their vote and perhaps a sign of concern amongst voters in Scotland about their policies. Could it be the 1992 election all over again ? Fear of the principle opposition driving ...

Questions for the non-politicos

Just a few questions for my non-political friends. Elections are obviously all-consuming for those of us whose livelihoods depend on the whim of the voter. But to most normal people, elections are a rare event. So for the normal people out there - what has been your experience of these elections? Had many leaflets? Read anything [...]

Libertarians and Immigration

There’s quite a few fairly liberal people out there who often call themselves libertarians. They like to talk about individual freedom, free trade, free markets, all good liberal stuff. They then throw all that out of the window by talking about the great threat of immigration. Perhaps only people in the country they live in are [...]

Alex Salmond will eat your baby

Actually, he won't. I might disagree with him on independence, but I'm sure he's not a bad man. A bit indecisive about what Parliament he wants to be in and which constituency he wants to represent, and his party's policies do stray into fiscal illiteracy a fair bit of the time, but that hardly puts him in the same league as Beelzebub or King Herod or the Daleks. However, if you listened to anything coming from Labour, or watched their PEB tonight, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Nationalists would be at your ...

Hail, bounteous May

The Common Ground page for May is in place.

Bumper stakeboard harvest this year

Stakeboards are grown in allotments, gardens and bits of scrubland. Here are some Chesterfield’s harvest growing in the garden behind the office. They’re not quite fully grown but will have to be harvested early and replanted into people’s gardens, where they will continue to grow. Like all Lib Dem policies, the stakeboards are cut and dried. Here [...]

Plain white placard

Armed with a small grievance…… No, I’m not going to talk about the issues that we face from the excesses of those who suffer from the Napoleon Complex again, even though you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, and last night’s Channel 5 programme on Hidden Lives: Short Angry Men is a real eye opener about the difficulties experienced by people with a particular obsession, don’t forget that not all short people feel the need to overcompensate, as most are quite well within the normal distribution curve as well rounded human beings who simply aren’t ...

Modbury leads the way

I read over the weekend about Modbury. Modbury is a town in the West Country, from today it became the first plastic bag-free town in Europe. All 43 traders have agreed not to sell or give away plastic bags for at least six months.

Litvinenko house: "imminent risk of serious harm"

So - finally today I got to speak to the Litvinenko lawyer following our conversation last week. From conversations today I know that close neighbours remain worried - not surprisingly given that Haringey Council, whilst taking down the plastic sheeting, has now put up an 'Emergency Prohibition Order' (under the Housing Act of 2004, Section 43). I quote from the Order: 'The Council is further

Conservative candidate joins UKIP

From the Worcester News, via RecessMonkey: A CONSERVATIVE candidate in the Worcester city council elections has plunged her party into chaos by secretly joining the UK Independence Party … When confronted by the Worcester News, Miss Heider initially denied being a UKIP member, but she was later forced to come clean. Oops.

Councillors - do we get what we pay for?

Stephen Tall wrote an interesting post on Councillor’s pay. He informs us that Croydon councillors can look forward to £22,000 per year for his trouble, while their counterparts in Corby gets less than £3,000. I remember running for Bucks County Council a couple of years ago and being sent a helpful guide to the County [...]

yeah, yeah, yeah.....

Anonymity Now according to the stats that you get with a blog I am getting something like 3-400 people a week reading my blog. Not a lot I know, I’ll never convince the LibDem Shop to pay me for advertising, but enough to flatter me that there are at lest a few of you out there who either find it; a. Amusing b. Entertaining c. Provocative d. So mind numbingly dull you just can’t stop yourself and it helps put you to sleep. So, the question is, why don’t any of you ever leave comments? ...

Rubbish collection: are the Tories saying different things to different people?

Compare and contrast: Caroline Spelman … the Shadow Local Government Secretary questioned the wisdom of moving towards more fortnightly bin collections (from the Conservative Party website) with Fortnightly collections ‘boost recycling’ LGA chairman [Conservative] Lord Bruce-Lockhart said: “The move by some to alternate weekly bin collections is aimed at working with residents to reduce waste, increase recycling and slowing [...]

Wembley Stadium

So there I was, sitting in the England changing room at the new Wembley Stadium, just waiting for John Terry to join me. Strangely enough he did not appear, but it was rather exciting looking around the lavish showers, baths and treatment rooms. The Mayor of Brent had been trying to organise a mayoral visit to Wembley all year, and managed to fit it in just before the end. We began...

Labour community cash grab proposal confirmed

Labour's politically motivated proposals to rip-off local people impacted by development, first reported in the Southwark News and this blog, have provoked a furious response from Richard Thomas, Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Regeneration. In a post on the Council group blog he comments: “Labour’s plans to siphon cash from local projects in Bankside, Bermondsey, Walworth and Rotherhithe into Camberwell and Peckham are outrageous and illegal,” “Labour Leader Peter John has shown his utter disdain for the north of the Borough.” “So-called ‘planning gain’ is the money given to the Council by developers to lessen the ...

The racist vote

How sad it is that the racist vote continues to rear it’s ugly head. Canvassing has become a pretty full time occupation lately, but for the most part I am enjoying it. But every now and then (and twice on Saturday): ME: ‘Hello, I’m Steve Guy, one of your Liberal Democrat cand…’ VOTER: ‘…and you can f*** [...]

Why two days before the election

One Lib Dem Candidate and a Lib Dem Councillor in Birmingham have been arrested in respect of allegations about the 2006 Local Elections. The real question is why this has been done two days before the election (this morning) rather than after the election. (Mohammed Saeed and Cllr Zakar Ullah Choudhry) Superficially it appears that the police are intervening in the election itself. They

My tenth birthday!

Ten years ago today was the day when my life changed beyond recognition. For the preceding six weeks I had been pounding the streets of Northavon, knocking on doors and trying to persuade people that we could overcome a Tory majority of around 11,000. I didn't dare believe it, even though I lost count of the number of people who said: "I've always voted Tory, but now I'm changing". The first time I dared believe was when I sat down at 10pm on May 1st 1997 and the exit polls suggested that there ...

When cars come first for the Green Party

It appears that the Green's policies in Norwich are at odds with what you would expect of an environmentally conscious party to be. In the Nelson Ward of Norwich there was a proposal to introduce limited double yellow lines on narrow corners of roads in order to allow emergency vehicles proper access. However, the Green's opposed this because they said it would reduce the number of parking spaces for cars. Isn't it nice to know that in Norwich and in Nelson Ward, a Ward close to the city centre and served by relatively good public transport links, ...

A new liberal and libertarian site

After Libertarian Home went to wherever it is websites go to die its creator, Alex Singleton, thought a bit about it. It was popular, but required too much time to manage. In response he’s come up with Spontaneous Order which is based upon the popular site Digg. Rather than a top down approach this relies on people [...]

Post Office closures

Odd that the Evening Post should publish Claire Waller's release about PO closures over the last seven years in Aberavon (for which we are, of course, grateful), but make no mention of Sheila Waye's comments on the proportionately larger culling (ten out of forty-two post offices) in Neath. Could it be that the Neath press release reminded people that the Conservatives closed 3500 post offices while they were in power, and the Aberavon one didn't?

Release Alan Johnson

{Alan Johnston banner} I should have added this long ago but my life has taken an odd turn and the recent months have been rather challenging!

The Blair legacy

On the day before the PM is presumed to announce the timetable of his departure, the Independent newspaper publishes an opinion poll suggesting that he will most be remembered for Iraq - 69% of respondents put that at the top of the list. 9% would remember his relationship with George Bush. The first positive aspect of his tenure, the Northern Ireland peace process, comes in next at 6%. Then came cash-for-honours, the minimum wage and "spin", all at 3%. I think that history will be somewhat kinder to Blair, and recall one or two reforms that the poll ...

Are politicians really necessary?

I was thinking while sat at Bristol airport, waiting for a delayed flight about politics and whether politicians/government is really necessary in the 21st Century. After all, politicians are only there because we can’t agree - so we vote for people to disagree on our behalf. The problem is most people don’t bother voting any more for [...]

Sweden to abandon PR?

Johan Norberg suggests that Sweden may move away from a proportional system to a single representative system to counter the increased popularity of the nationalist Swedish Democrats. The Social Democrats would be attracted to this as it would also enable them to stop relying on Green and Left Party support for their governments. This would be [...]

Tuned in and turned on?

I have penned an article on political blogs, published in the current issue of Parliamentary Monitor, apparently “widely regarded and regularly highlighted in independent research as the No 1 monthly read for MPs and Peers”. If you have a subscription, you can read it online here. If, like me, you don’t you can read it online here: *** Which definition comes closest to your view of political

So what's the vibe on the streets ?

Following on from our defeat in the 2005 referendum over our structure of local government and the subsequent election of a Tory Executive mayor we faced a difficult set of local elections here in Torbay. As regular readers of 'Liberator' will know relations between our council group and the rest of the party (MP, officers, activists and supporters) could have been better. Unsurprisingly as well as the mayoralty vote, we lost a number of successive by-elections. Torbay, by anyone's standards, is an oddity at local government level, with wild swings between the the Tories and ourselves typical at ...

Stop the Rot : Letter to 'Herald Express' 300407

As yet unpublished ! : It is with some incredulity that Torbay Conservatives' core message for the 2007 local elections is to 'stop the rot' with regard to Torbay Council. One assumes this is meant as an attack on the Liberal Democrats, but this blithely overlooks the fact that their party controlled the council from 2000-2003 and again from October 2005 to date. The first administration was rated as 'poor' by the Audit Commission and Conservative rule since 2005 has seen the Tories seek to foist a second casino on Torquay without reference to the residents of the ...

Breaking purdah

The one unbreakable rule of government is that whoever is in power should not abuse their position by making announcements in an election period that might give them some electoral advantage. It was with astonishment therefore that I heard on the radio this morning that the health minister had announced another £2m for the Children's Hospital for Wales. Brian Gibbons tells us that the decision was taken at the end of March, as one of his last acts as health minister before Thursday's assembly poll was called. He said he had kept it secret to avoid charges of ...

Torbay Tory Campaign and Stupid Tory Pledge

As many will be aware we have an all-powerful executive mayor in Torbay, along with a Conservative 'cabinet'. The greater number of councillors are currently Lib Dem. An uneasy period of 'co-habitation' since October 2005 has been the result. The thin-skinned mayor is not keen on being challenged and held to account by the Lib Dems, despite the limited powers these councillors have. In their local election materials on the one hand the Conservatives boast of his achievements since being in power. On the other hand they ask if people are fed up with this Lib Dem run ...

It's all about money

With just days to go to the polls things are getting interesting as each party comes under more intense scrutiny. First up is the cost of Plaid Cymru's manifesto promises. All the other parties are convinced that Plaid have got their sums wrong and that the only way that the nationalist's figures will add up is if they budget for zero growth on other Assembly budgets. To be fair that is exactly what Labour did in 2004. Their budget for that year effectively froze half of the Assembly budget lines imposing real-term cuts on some key services such as ...

Tales from the campaign trail no 6: beware BNP masquerading as "Christians"

The BNP are hoping to pick up a seat in Gateshead in the local elections. Their top target is Dunston and Teams ward. On Saturday, I was handed a leaflet delivered apparently commercially with some takeaway restaurant flyers to houses in the ward, which purported to come from "The Christian Taxpayer's Revolt" based in Welshpool. The leaflet uses BNP artwork (the now familiar Libby logo made up

30 April - 1 May - lost in thought by the pool…

It is so easy to forget how stressful being on holiday is. The torture of having to drink cold beer (Tusker Premium, the local brew) to prevent overheating, the agony of having to sit by the pool for hours on end, the tropical sun beating down as I sit (lie) here under a large umbrella, meditating on what I would do if I were Regional Chair. Do I go for a swim, do I order another beer, do I

25-29 April - aren’t family wonderful?

Alright, I admit that Auckland is my least favourite place in New Zealand to be a tourist, although Gore in the rain in a close second. But, with two cousins in the city, both of which I’m rather fond of, I like to put in an annual appearance if I can. So, the sixth annual trip to New Zealand was a rather short one but a pleasure all the same. Wednesday was spent travelling, with the centerpiece

If I was London’s Regional Chair, I’d…

…well, what exactly would I do? Before we start, let’s make a few things clear, first, that this isn’t an attack on the current incumbent, nor is it a manifesto for a potential run for 2008.The role of the Chair is one of leadership and support. If the Officers and Administrator know their jobs, they should be encouraged to get on with it, rather than have the Chair second guess them at every

You've got to admire their gall!

What do you do if you are the countries leading retailer, and are the subject of serial abuse by those unhappy with your success? How to you respond to their criticism? Why, stock it and sell it, of course! Preferably at 20% off. Textbook! (Hat tip to Brian Micklethwait, who found this last week)A site for political analysis and opinion of an avowedly liberal view. It's all about freedom.

24 April - dawdling in the Dandenongs

I needed some fresh air, and a day in the country seemed to be just the thing. So, after a hearty breakfast, I made my way to Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street, for those of you that know the city) to buy a ticket to Belgrave, a terminus station east of Melbourne. Locating my train, I made myself comfortable for the ride through some curiously familiar suburbs, even though

The truth of the UK Family Courts and forced adoption

The linked story is from York. It is another one where the children (who were forcibly adopted and taken to Canada) are returning to their birth mother. The UK Family Courts decided that it was "in the best interests of the children" to remove them from their mother. What use is it to have this sort of thing done to families where in the end no-one has won. The adoptive family lose out, the

Weak leadership strikes again.....

The criticism of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from the Israeli Government’s Commission into the first five days of the war is damning. It lays the blame for the results of the war on Ehud Olmert’s as a result of his position and behaviour. What is so striking about the findings of the report (read more here) is that it brings us back to the reality, that whatever our analysis of

"The Tory Party in Wiltshire descended into outright civil war yesterday"

As the Western Daily Press writes: The Tory Party in Wiltshire descended into outright civil war yesterday on the eve of vital elections over plans to axe five local councils and replace them all with one super-council.Three of the county’s four Conservative MPs attacked their own party’s county councillors for seeking greater glory for themselves over [...]

Our old friends, Nazi Germany!

For the second time in a fortnight, Iain Dale has been seduced by the visceral lure of reductio ad Hitlerum, comparing the final days of Tony Blair's administration with dying of the Third Reich in the Fuehrerbunker. Usually a tool of the dim Left, this is precisely the sort of unimaginative, unamusing and vapid analogy which I have no doubt he would have railed against when Thatcher was given the heave back in 1990. Please Iain, spare us.

Real Baby Milk launches in Scotland today!

I am so excited! My projects first step outside of Cornwall is happening as I type this, Real Baby Milk - Inverclyde is press launching! Unfortunately due to elections I can't be there but 1000 copies of the guide and the website are being launched today! I really hope it is as successful up there as it has been down here ... apparently other areas of Scotland are already thinking about getting in touch!

Written Parliamentary Questions: 1st May 2007

OM Energy Q:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the status is of the OM Energy projects; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government support for OM Energy. A:Phase one of the OM Energy project has progressed well with its objectives being fully met including academic validation of the technology; the establishment of a UK company; the securing of

Thanks, activists. Thactivists.*

HRH Sir Mr the Merciless (© Millennium Elephant) would like to thank all we activists who’ve been pounding pavements, littering letterboxes, procuring poster sites, setting up stakeboards and canvassing communities for the local, Welsh and Scottish elections this Thursday. To make it extra special, he’s decided to do it through the medium of song and [...]

It was ten years ago today

Ten years after being elected, Tony Blair has expressed regrets, apparently. I can imagine that would take a while! InnerWest sums up Tony Blair's successes and failures thus: Tony's Tenure's Top Three....1. An Independent Central Bank. People really have never had it so good. 2. Northern Ireland. The IRA - remember them? 3. Devolution. Not everybody agrees about how much power should be given away from the centre, but the important thing is that some was and it's gaining it's own momentum.... and the Bottom Two: 1. Foreign Policy. An ethical intent gave way to the allure ...

Campbell thanks hard-working campaigners

Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell has released a video message thanking party activists and supporters from across the country for their hard work in the run-up to Thursday’s elections. You can watch a subtitled version on Google Video here.

No roundheads

Having campaigned across the South West over the past weeks, on Sunday afternoon I visited Wells and had a hilarious time with Tessa Munt (PPC for Wells) and David Hughes (Fight Club), campaigning in Glastonbury. Tessa is always a delight to campaign with. After doing the least posh bits of the town, she took us to a local pub where a supporter's band was playing. We didn't hear much of the music as Hughies was on a roll, telling tales like only a serious politico can. His best are of course almost unrepeatable, such as the ...

For God's Sake-use your vote

The Archbishop of York-Dr John Semtanu-has placed the following advert in the York press. Couldn't put it better myself! For God’s Sake York, Use Your Vote! This Thursday is election day. Please use your vote. By not voting you run the risk of short changing our city. Democracy costs. I am paying for this advert as a symbol of the cost paid by all those who gave so much so that you might be able to use your vote. Not voting creates a political vacuum, leaving the way open to unrepresentative politicians ...

Vote Early, Vote Often

The natty graphic below is doing the rounds of young Lib Dems, popping up in Facebook profiles all over the shop. As a Londoner, I'm not actually voting on Thursday, but still, good to remind others (even if non-pol people do hate being reminded about that woman who threw herself under a horse and why they should be ashamed if they don't cast their ballot). Following some rather stupid and ill-considered comments about young candidates from one of our Councillors in Rugby, Adi Teladia and West Midlands LDYS have re-affirmed the party’s commitment to both young and old. Quite right ...

Polling Day approaches!

As I am doing up to 15 hours a day campaigning across the West End in the run-up to polling day on Thursday, updating the blog may be problematic before Friday! However, I print below a message to the people of the West End, and thank everyone for such a positive and warm reception to what has proved to be the most enjoyable election campaign I have been involved in! Dear Resident The first duty of any councillor is to provide a service to all the people in his or her Ward. Since being elected as one of ...

Late nite printing to The Eagles

Late nite printing of “Good Morning” leaflets. Oh, the irony. The Eagles Greatest Hits Vol 1 playing on iTunes, when the computer isn’t overloaded with mailmerge and my ears not already deafened by two risos, a laser printer and the folding machine working at full tilt. Lots of scary lines in the songs that mesh with what [...]

Why, dude?

Look, I’ve stated many times that I’m no fan of the BBC licence fee. But I still have huge respect for Auntie’s programming output. Yet, in the name of all that’s good and true, can anyone provide me with a justification for this, as reported in Media Guardian: ... fans of Neighbours have started an online petition in a bid to keep the soap on the BBC. Nearly 4,000 people have already signed the

Military coups aren't all that bad, y'know

Negative publicity following your military coup? Best hire a PR firm.

Once Upon A Maritime…

Things are getting a little tense around here lately, so to lighten the mood, check out the list of novel business names from the National Business Register. I quite fancy a trip to Beau Thai in Solihull, perhaps after getting a new hairdo at Dye Hard. But, could I ever bring myself to eat Chinese from “Wok [...]

Tuesday 1st May 2007

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