LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Thursday 14th June 2007

Litvinenko house update

Today it is the three weeks since we were told the report from the company who had gone into do a critical survey assessing the risk would be back. Now it looks like Monday. I don't think we are expecting anything other than a diminution in the danger from the Pollonium 210 originally assessed - unless they have found new hot spots. Outside of that the report is likely to make recommendations based on the results of their findings as to what remedial work is necessary and what the specification for that work will be. So we wait…

More holiday! More photos!

Getting on the train: Getting comfortable: Dog tired: Trying to be a mountie: Meeting a real mountie:

Was Scotland right to vote no to Trident ?

I'm being thoroughly stereotypical in the way I act on Trident I am afraid. You see, I'm generally a fence sitter on this issue. I know that there are some within the Lib Dems who would like us to throw away our Nuclear weapons. I'm not one of them. Similarly, there are some who think we should immediately back a replacement for Trident. I'm not sure. After disagreeing with Ming on housing, I have to say I completely back his judgment on all matters foreign and defense related. Ming has been proved rigth time and time again and for ...

Greens fall out in Brighton Pavilion

It seems that the Greens are just as given to careerism as any other political party. The Brighton Argus reports that Caroline Lucas MEP is attempting to muscle in on Keith Taylor's patch. The local councillor has built Brighton Pavilion up into the Green Party's best prospect, achieving 21.9 per cent at the last general election. But to be fair to the other parties, I have never before come across an ambitious politician justifying herself in quite such nauseating terms: "A number of local party members have asked me to do so, along with others whose views I ...

Bonkers Maisie

Pevsner never passed this way, so the building, long abandoned, remains unsung. Hidden by elm and yew and larch and sycamore, only ghosts sing here now… sing and dance, conjure and tumble, toot and whistle and crack the corniest of corny gags you ever did hear. For the crumbling palace of which I speak was [...]

Far be it from me to criticise our new housing policy...

... but I have just a couple of questions about what Ming announced today: 1) We appear to be calling for 1,000,000 new social houses to be built over the next decade. Nice round eye catching number, but where does it come from? Shelter are only calling for an increase in supply to 50,000 a year, when you are massively outbidding the lobby group maybe its time to check your maths. 2) How much

Unspeakable Desolation Pouring Down From The Stars

Hooting Yard is excited (possibly overexcited) to announce publication of Unspeakable Desolation Pouring Down From The Stars, a decisively sensible novella of high adventure, derring-do, and baffling conspiracies. Prior knowledge of arcane philatelic imponderables is useful, but not necessary. The book also contains two shorter pieces, one of which features mute blind magnetic love monkeys. [...]

Iain Dale is right - Ming's scheme does not add up

I hate to say it, but the points that Iain Dale makes in his blog about Ming Campbell's methods of allowing councils to build 1 million new homes do not add up or make sense. Also, to be honest, they don't all seem very liberal, except in the free market sense. Not for one moment am I suggesting that we don't need the houses and I firmly support the principle of what Ming wants to achieve. With house prices in Norfolk set to reach ten times average salary levels here in 2030, there is no way any child of ...

Progress with the A-levels, progress with the party

Pheeewwwwwww. Just had a big block of the A-levels over, Maths today, General studies and economics yesterday so I'm a bit wiped out now though vaguely recovering from the fact that I actually did quite well in Core 3 maths (I barely answered half the questions last time and got 26%, this time I answred all the questions with a lot more confidence). General studies was fun, mainly because its a bunch of exams that really matter very little to me getting to uni. Also they're rather oddly designed so you essentially have a bunch of multiple choice questions where ...

Is Malta the island where Oliver Letwin wanted to send asylum seekers?

Is Malta the island which Oliver Letwin was referring to in 2003 when he said that all asylum seekers arriving in Britain will be immediately deported to a "far offshore processing" island under Conservative plans? The Maltese are currently at the centre of a crisis of illegal migrants. I am sure they would like to hear from Mr Letwin.

The asylum trap - A shocking example of a benefits system that fails everyone

People are so quick to attack people coming to this country as scroungers sponging of this country's wealth, but today I was given a perfect example of the trap our benefits system puts successful asylum seekers in to. In Norwich, a small number of African refugees have been placed as part of a government scheme to take families from refugee camps to Britain. This is a good scheme as it keeps families together and works as a disincentive to illegal asylum seekers, showing them that the legitimate way can work. The problem is that these families have all ...

Menzies housing plan is just what is needed

Not a week goes by without evidence of the acute housing shortage in this country. The lack of affordable housing is one of the major failure of this Labour government. It is therefore excellent that Menzies Campbell has today launched an initiative to build a million more houses in this country. I notice that Menzies/ speech has come under fire from Yvette Cooper and others. I think that is a

My ‘meme’ memo to Gordon Brown

This post is one of a collection of replies to Matt Wardman’s Brown meme now that Labour MPs have decided that it’s got to be Gordon; in this instance at the request of James Graham. In the interests of readers, I have tried to avoid repeating answers I have already seen, with many of which I agree. Two [...]

Freedom of Information - We have won!

Great news, I have just heard that your lobbying of Lib-Dem peers has paid off. Despite reports a few weeks ago that Conservative peer Lord Trefgarne would take on the bill, no member of the House of Lords has come forward to sponsor it, effectively killing the bill off. We mustn't be complacent: the Labour Government has shown little commitment to its own Freedom of Information Act and ministers are still muttering about watering it down. The Liberal Democrats will continue to support the principle of open government, and we will be monitoring for any future attempts to weaken ...

Flexible working could reduce traffic jams

In March, Lorely Burt presented the Flexible Working Bill before parliament. It is good to see David Cameron coming out in support of this initiative today. One thing which is often not mentioned in relation to this issue is the huge potential improvementsto traffic problems that could be caused by more flexible working. It really is crazy to have everyone haring into offices for 9am or 9.30am

What next for international development?

Addressing the All Party group on Overseas Development today. In weekly succession they have had Gareth Thomas (Labour Minister), Andrew Mitchell (Tory) and obviously saving the best til last - me - today! The title of this series is 'What next for International Development? Political Perspectives.’ Despite the Labour Deputy Leader hustings on International Development being scheduled at the same time - the room was comfortably filled. Speaking on a subject where everyone in the room is an expert is far more testing than speaking to the public! I spoke for about 40 minutes and then took 50 ...

Back to Geneva

Thursday 14th June 2007 - A flying visit to the Constituency Office before I head to the airport for my flight to Geneva and the next session of the International Parliamentary Union of the WTO. Pascal Lamy is going to update us on the slow progress of the negotiations on the Doha Development Round. I very much doubt he will actually provide us will much new, substantive information, as all the

Giving up on Internet Explorer

I've just about had enough of Internet Explorer 7. Whilst it seems to be better than most other browsers, in reality it is rubbish. Why is this ? It cannot seem to cope with blogs, or at least blogger ones using new templates. I've had a problem for several weeks accessing Iain Dale's blog via IE7. One minute it accepts it, the next, it beings up an error message, but now it has started doing it with my blog too. If anyone else is suffering these problems, please let me know. In ...

Campbell calls Attorney General “politically inept” over BAE

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats has labelled Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, as “politically inept” over the information given to the OECD regarding BAE Systems. Responding to a letter he received today from Lord Goldsmith, Ming Campbell said: “These events get curiouser and curiouser. “Major decisions involving relevant information to the OECD were taken by officials [...]

Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein threatened with fire-bombs by "Cornish National Liberation Army"

Something called "The Cornish National Liberation Army" has sent an email threatening to firebomb Jamie Oliver's and Rick Stein's restaurants: The group has a history of extremist action, though it has not been heard of on a national level since a series of attacks in the 1980s which included a bomb at a courthouse in St Austell. Its email, signed by the "CNLA Directing Council" and sent via an

Over 100 under-10s on the DNA database

Today we uncovered the worrying fact that over 100 children have been put on the DNA database before they even reached their tenth birthday. DNA is stored until you hit 100 (whether or not you die) so those files will be stored for at least 90 years. The rest of the data shows that, as of January, [...]

Video of Princess Anne falling in Guernsey

Following my earlier post, a lot of people have been googling for video of Princess Anne falling in Guernsey. Here it is below from You Tube. You can also see a better quality version from Channel Television here, both in some stills and, in video form, by clicking on "Princess Anne falls" under "Broadband video". Fortunately, she recovers from the fall very well.

Say "No" to congestion charging

The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) has outlined proposals to bid to Government for a scheme that would be dependent on a congestion-charging scheme for motorists applying to roads connecting the Borough of Bury to Manchester. Bury Lib Dems are against these proposals, and have set up a website at www.burysaysno.com where YOU can add your voice to the growing numbers of

Blink and you'll miss it ...

After spending the weekend at the Download Festival and most of the week on a (top secret - all will be revealed in a week or so's time) Lib Dem project I finally got round to see last Saturday's episode of Doctor Who last night. And what a blinder! Blink was the strongest story of the season so far - and as with all the best scary TV - it was good because of what you didn't see. The general feel reminded me of the classic darker Tom Baker era stories. If you didn't catch it it ...

Lynne Takes on the World

Hornsey & Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone, who has been the LibDems’ international development spokesperson in the House of Commons for the past five months, today addressed a lunchtime meeting in parliament of the All Party Group on International Development (APGOOD, administered by the Overseas Development Institute). This was chaired by her counterpart in the House [...]

Cable: Time to clean up our act

Vince Cable, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has written an article for Comment Is Free calling for an inquiry into the Al Yamamah affair as a step towards cleaning up such international deals. I still find it difficult to get my head round the idea that, until December, one agency of government (the Serious [...]

Attorney General politically inept over BAE Systems

Ming Campbell has accused the Attorney General of political ineptitude over the information given to the OECD regarding BAE systems. The Liberal Democrat Leader today received a letter from the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, regarding the affair. Commenting, Menzies Campbell said: “These events get curiouser and curiouser. “Major decisions involving relevant information to the OECD were taken by [...]

Blidiot

In 1983, the literary magazine Granta published a list of twenty young British novelists who they felt would be important figures in the future. The list included Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Martin Amis, today the dominant names in British fiction. Last December, Ziauddin Sardar, writing in the New Statesman accused them as a triumvirate of representing a neo-conservative trend in UK fiction, in a series of convaluted allegations, which Robert McCrum trashed immediately and with brevity. The clumsy tag Sardar invented, Blitcon, seems to have gained some small degree of credence, at least in the blogosphere. So what got ...

Dave Radcliffe selected in Selly Oak

Last night Selly Oak Liberal Democrats selected Councillor Dave Radcliffe to be their Parliamentary Candidate for the next General Election. Dave is a Councillor in the constituency (Selly Oak Ward) and a member of the Regional Executive and Campaigns Committee.

"Margaret Thatcher was a sweetie to the young and old"

I know, I know, I should stop reading articles in the Daily Telegraph. It would be good for my blood pressure. But, in an article entitled Tough luck if you're not Scottish in that organ today, Alice Thompson reminds us of Neil Kinnock's speech in 1983 when he said that if Thatcher was re-elected: "I warn you not to be young - I warn you not to grow old." Alice Thompson remarks: Margaret

Healthy Living Centre for Belsize/Haverstock?

I went to a very interesting launch of the Camden Network of Healthy Living Centres this morning. They were set up five years ago with lottery monery to promote things like better diet as a way to improve health pro-actively. And they were targetted at deprived areas all over the country in an attempt to address health inequalities. In Camden we have five Healthy Living Centres (in places like Kilburn and Kings Cross) but there's a big gap in the Chalcots/Haverstock area. So I'm wondering whether we can't set one up and I'm now on the case. With both ...

What's Your TV View

We have been looking at the issue of public service broadcasting (PSB) on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. A cursory search on the internet will throw up a number of definitions of PSB i...

The Gordon Brown meme: open to all LDV readers

There’s a Gordon Brown meme (started by Matt Wardman, I think) currently working its way round the blogosphere. For those Lib Dems who have not yet been ‘tagged’, and/or for those without a blog on which to respond, feel free to leave your comments on this thread to the following set of questions: * 2 things [...]

Applause for Glyn Davies

Peter Black's appreciation of Glyn Davies is understandable. His unspun, common-sense, view of the political process is an antidote to the opposite attitude of New Labour and of his current leader in Westminster. Yesterday, on BBC-2 Wales's AM.PM, he identified Ming Campbell's interrogation of the Prime Minister over the alleged BAE payments to a Saudi prince as the most serious questions of the session. There was hardly any reaction in the chamber, apart from some restlessness. Then there was almost palpable relief as MPs reverted, as Mr Davies said, to "their usual knockabout". Mind you, he did reveal ...

That Broon meme

With thanks to James Graham for 'tagging' me (why is the 'blogosphere' so afflicted with such infantilising terms?): 2 things of which Gordon Brown should be proud. Giving independence to the Bank of England. Having been on watch during a broadly benign economic cycle.2 things for which he should apologise. Bank-rolling the Iraq war without a murmur of dissent.An obsession with centralization,

Las Vegas, Safer Travel Textline Launch, Balgay Park/Hill

Janet's just back from Las Vegas (along with Helen, my sister in law and council colleague, and my mother in law) - she's more than a bit jet lagged! Was at the launch of the Safer Travel Textline with Travel Dundee earlier today. The photo shows Jim Lee, the Managing Director of Travel Dundee, and myself at the launch. The Textline is an excellent innovation, allowing bus passengers to text specific details of an incident on a bus to Travel Dundee's Safer Travel Team. This will be helpful to both Travel Dundee and Tayside Police is tackling ...

Campbell sets out plans for a million new affordable homes by 2020

Today, Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ming Campbell said Britain needed a revolution in housing. He unveiled proposals for building one million new socially rented, affordable and low cost homes by 2020. Delivering the Chamberlain Lecture at a Joseph Rowntree Foundation conference in Birmingham, Ming Campbell launched a withering attack on Labour’s record on housing. [...]

Coventry Liberal Democrats

Last night I attended Coventry Liberal Democrats Executive meeting. Sadly they lost a Councillor in May, amongst what appears to have been a very dirty Labour campaign. the good news is the planning for the 2008 local elections has started and I was asked to give input on how they could improve their campaign.

The definition of a local authority

I am trying to finish a book but writing has taken on the life of a half-life: the further I get, the more elusive the end seems to be. Perhaps this is a fear of heights: the further I get, the deeper I want to go. In wanting to delve beneath my own text, I just dig myself into a hole. The present distraction, the excuse I have this week for not letting go, is Michel de Certeau. I have described him in conservation as a Catholic riposte to Foucault – where the latter, who lost God and ...

Why I believe Freedom of Information is important.

There has been an exchange of letters in the Courier over the past few weeks between our Labour MP, James Plaskitt, me. I don’t usually like 'letters page debates' though in this case I feel the issue is important, let me explain why. The freedom of information act means that we have the right to ask for information about how our government is running our country. Now the government is there to take decisions and spend our taxes on our behalf to provide the services we need. It is important to remember that our government is there to serve ...

Weather vane

When things get tense the British way is to talk about the weather so I am going to put aside the discussion of coalitions for now and refer to this article in today's Western Mail about one of the consequences of global warming. The Met Office has predicted that we could see a month’s rainfall over the next two days as the hot humid air bursts into a torrential downpour. North and Mid Wales are likely to be hit the hardest but the entire Welsh coastline may be affected: Average rainfall for June is around 86mm and forecasters ...

Brown Meme

Praguetory has tagged me with Matt Wardman’s Brown Meme. Unlike a lot of memes, this one seems to have the potential for an interesting debate, so here goes: * 2 things Gordon Brown should be proud of. - Helping to make Labour electable - (Most of) Labour’s constitutional reform agenda in their first term of office - [...]

A trip across the pond...

The Telegraph thinks that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's only problem is the fact that he is a Mormon: 'If only Romney weren't such a mormon'It is true that Americans are suspicious of Mormonism - a poll in March found that 46 % of American's have a negative opinion of the religion. But Romney has so far been adept at handling questions about his faith. His answer to a question during the recent republican debate articulately highlighted the similarities he shares with Christians: "The values that I have are the same values you will find in faiths across this country." ...

Al Yamamah: Where are the Tories?

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a fresh inquiry into the Al Yamamah arms deal, following allegations that £1 billion was secretly channelled to the former Saudi Ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Just yesterday, at Prime Minster’s Questions, Ming Campbell asked Tony Blair who was to blame for withholding information about these [...]

Joseph Rowntree knew what Ming should have said.

In one of those odd coincidences, Land Value Taxer colleague Tony Vickers was last week having a few problems adding an article to the 1909 website and eventually he forwarded a quote he had just discovered to me by email to put it into an article. I hadn't thought that the opportunity would come around so soon to do so, but it transpires that Ming Campbell is today giving a speech at a Joseph Rowntree Foundation conference in which he will announce housing proposals, including: read more

Moving on from control freakery…

Attended a meeting of the Southwark great and good last night. Very pleased to have been given a massive public endorsement from the Leader of the Council for the work Groundwork has been doing in Burgess Park. The concept of politicians winning power and then giving away control to local communities is a very difficult one [...]

Good news on freedom of information

I had a useful message yesterday via one of my many Facebook campaign groups. This one is run by James Graham and relates to the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to exempt MPs from the Act and will prevent the publication of their detailed expense claims. As of 5pm yestoday, this Bill was been declared dead by the House of Lords authorities. With no-one willing to sponsor it (not a single one of the 700+ peers), it cannot go any further. "The message goes on to say that of course, in Parliament, no legislation is ever ...

US set to investigate BAE

We’ve reported a number of BAE/Al Yamamah stories from the Guardian this week, and the paper presses on hard with its investigation today: “BAE faces criminal inquiry in US over £1bn payments” is the front page headline. The US department of justice is preparing to open a corruption investigation into the arms company BAE, the Guardian [...]

Opinion: “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore”

By Jock Coats We’re often told that the answer to our housing problems lies not in special schemes - such as, ironically, promises to build a million new social homes - but in freeing up planning laws to allow for more land to supply the demand. The corollary to that, of course, is that many people [...]

Thaksin update

The Thai authorities have frozen assets belonging to Thaksin Shinawatra. The committee which has been investigating claims of corruption has ordered accounts worth about £830m to be frozen. It would appear from this report here that this action may have an impact on the proposed takeover of Manchester City. Thaksin's people were supposed to be performing due diligence on the proposed takeover but now Man City are asking questions about the impact of his assets in Thailand being frozen. Now the military government have stated that Thaksin Shinawatra is free to return to Thailand in order to pursue ...

"Thou Savage Nurse of Noble Men"

"O! Land of Albania, thou savage nurse of noble men" was how Byron hailed the place in Childe Harold. For me too I feel I have come, once again to the dark tower. As always the country seems to be very hard work for a visitor- you end up hot, dusty, thirsty and faintly revolted by the poverty, the dirt and bad smells, the gimcrack buildings and the neediness all around you. Tirana is a crumbling fly blown city which makes Easterhouse look like Paris. It is an increasingly eccentric place- all the crumbling commie buildings are painted ...

Lets Replace Fountain in Frogmoor with replica of original fountain - Cllr Ray Farmer -June 2007

At a recent Town Council Meeting the future of the fountain in frogmoor was discussed. Cllr Ray Farmer suggested that we look to replace with a fountain that is similar to the one that Wycombe had removed in the 1930s. The Council agreed to look at this option.

Churchill's "Tax Switch"

New at 1909, how the People's Budget was intended to change the whole ethos of tax, asking not merely "how much have you got?" but also "how did you get it?" and giving us ideas just as pertinent today for differentiating between people's justified wealth and wealth gained by exploiting the common wealth and the needs of others.

Amnesty or salvation?

Oh dear, another pontifical pronouncement condemns me to hell, it seems: Vatican condemns Amnesty over abortion By Malcolm Moore Last Updated: 2:18am BST 14/06/2007 The Vatican has ordered all Catholic organisations and individuals to stop giving money to Amnesty International in protest at the human rights organisation's stance on abortion. {Support Amnesty International} read more

‘text book for Africa’

Back in August 2006, I created a pledge, using Pledgebank stating that I would co-author and facilitate, with the involvement of experts from all over the globe (particularly including Africa), the development of a science text book for use in schools, or as a resource for educators in Africa and other areas in need of resources. This idea came about from the realisation that a major problem with regard to education in the developing world is access to copyrighted, and therefore expensive textbooks and materials. In many cases, this cost prohibits fair access to education. Many schemes that have ...

Finding romance: a blind date in Buckinghamshire

You know how it is when your friend arranges a blind date. That slightly nervous anticipation. Will they like me? Will I enjoy their company? Will my jokes get the right reaction? Do I have spinach in my teeth? Do we both have the same expectations from any future relationship? And so it was that I found myself on an evening train to High Wycombe, running a little late due to a delayed inbound

Norman Lamb joins protests against Benjamin Court Closure in Cromer

After "Radio Lamb", a series of Podcasts Norman Lamb started a few months ago, Norman Lamb and North Norfolk Liberal Democrats have now branched in to YouTube videos. Unlike the Parliamentary Lib Dems videos, the Norman Lamb one has a commentary, has lots of edited shots, stills and a short documentary news style to it. I think it is quite impressive for a first attempt. Obviously the topic is deadly serious and I think the video makes the point well. What do you think of the video ?

Polonaise

Much of yesterday happened to a Polish tune — a situation that is likely to occur more frequently as I research my next major biography, of the Polish-born painter Feliks Topolski, and get more involved in the mushrooming Polish community in London and their concerns. In the afternoon, I had tea, cherries and strawberries with the octogenarian writer [...]

Day 2354: Blairimort Bites Dog

Tuesday: So, Lord Blairimort has attacked the "FERAL BEAST" of "the Media" and pinpointed the most wicked monster among them… the SU… hang on, it says "INDEPENDENT" here! Who does he think he is kidding? He has had the most FAVOURABLE press of any Prime Monster since pretty much ever, with the SCUM and the TIMES both STILL onside thanks to all of Lord B's bending-over-backwards to keep Roger Stavro Moredick happy. With THAT pack of wolves on your side, blaming the Indy is like keeping the HOUND of the BASKERVILLES and then complaining about SNOOPY ...

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