It is some time since we have looked at the affairs of the Tory MP for North Wiltshire. Study of the Daily Mail site reveals the following: Tory cad ordered to repay expenses he gave dumped wife Cheating Tory husband re-selected as candidate
Just been watching 18 Doughty Street for the first time (properly) since it launched, and I have to say, I was impressed. The production values were not too shabby - I've seen worse on some of the more obscure digital TV stations*, the video streamed well for the whole three hours I watched and, much more importantly, considered views from some "real" (albeit politically aware) people, rather
... and all across the land, Returning Officers are wondering what's in their stockings (actually, I'm not sure that I like that analogy) but I've already opened all of my presents, notified the Selection Committee and filed a list with Candidates Office to check that they're all validly approved candidates. And now the fun really starts, with decisions to be made over longlisting, interviews to
So I am down in Little Ealing print-franchise talking to Signor Rennard about how we eliminate local competition. Franchise is cleverly hidden in abandoned warehouse in old industrial estate surrounded by defensive moat where live some pretty aggressive ducks who act as early warning mechanism in case of intruders. The new local Capo Signor Nigel "Killer" Bakhai is currently feeding them local spicy bread which make them quack a lot and bite Signor Davey who is attempting to talk to him about security. "So Liberali" say Signor Rennard "We have a cunning and brilliant plan to eliminate the ...
There has been a lot of comment over the last couple of days that the failure of the immigration bill in the US Senate marked the death of George Bush's chances of any kind of domestic legacy from his second term. Lamed by Iraq and the Democratic victory in last year's midterms, it is widely thought that he now lacks the authority (as well as the votes) to force any of what is left of his agenda
I didn't just pick up a collection of Auberon Waugh's columns in Norfolk: I also bought some of Simon Hoggart's from the early 1980s. Sitting in the rather luxurious pub in Burnham Market, I started to read it and soon came across this passage: I hear a touchng and delightful story about the Prime Minister. Recently she held a formal dinner party at Chequers, and one of the serving girls accidentally spilled gravy all over Sir Geoffrey Howe's suit. Seeing this disaster, Mrs Thatcher was on her feet immediately. She rushed round the table to comfort, not the Chancellor, ...
Jo Whiley was going on today about the bloke next to Prince William at the Princess Diana Concert. Apparently he was a star of the show, with his dancing display. Who on earth was she talking about?
If 70% of Headingley's housing stock is buy to let multi occupancy and 80% of those houses turn over tenants on the 30/6 to 1/7 then you can imagine what the ward has looked like over the weekend. A bit like an Inner Urban apocalypse. The rubbish system can't cope with the sudden out pouring of domestic waste, Landlords dump tonnes of what is in my opinion trade waste on the streets and teams of bag rippers descend on the area looking for pickings and credit card receipts. I have done my best to try and improve the Councils ...
I don't think I've been to the theatre laughed so much and still come away feeling disappointed that this evening. Bruce Norris' The Pain and the Itch seems to have everything going for it, a stellar cast headed Matthew McFadyen who are on top of their game, an easy target in America's uptight not so liberal east coast Liberals and some really great laugh lines. But yet this drags. Even with the
I hope tomorrows Populus Poll ( Lab 37 Con 34 LD 18 ) will calm a few nerves. I read Norfolk Bloggers thoughtful piece today calling for Ming Campbell to stand down or be forced out. As an aside it will be interesting to see what role the blogosphere will play in the issue over the next few months. It was the media inferno of 24 hour rolling news that was used to ease out Kennedy last year. Could the party's internal guns be used next time? ( Fellow Leeds Blogger Carl Quillam also has it in for Ming) ...
Zane Lowe's Radio One show this evening was a corker. It was great to hear the new single from Dans Le Sac V Scroobius Pip, which is called 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped'. It is brilliant. I sincerely hope it is an extraordinary hit. I had very mixed feelings about 'Thou shalt always kill'. It was great at the start of the track. The backing was great. But it went a bit funny at the end...well
Jamie Matthews has been selected to be the Lib Dem Candidate in Headingley Ward next May when I will be standing down. He is 24, lives locally and works as a political organiser. One interesting biographical note is that he tells me he had co editing responsibility for the infamous Jody Dunn By Election blog in Hartlepool in 2004. On this basis you can imagine what he has had to say about this one over the last year. I promise this will be your only appearance on this blog Jamie but I just couldn't resist.... Good ...
I read with interest the Horse & Hound article about the Countryside Alliance , their AGM , and their reported loss of £232k The Chief Executive Simon Hart puts a call out to all CA members to urge a friend to join . He explains that this would sort out current CA financial problems! However, Mr Hart as a member, I ask you to look at what you are doing with our money which CA has and how you are spending it! It is all very well asking us as members to "introduce a friend" ...
I Cancelled last Saturdays " Euro Policy Conversion interview". For non party hacks this is a process I needed to pass to be able to stand for the European Parliament. The Lib Dems are beginning to select there candidates for the 2009 elections now. I would genuinely would love to be a Euro MP and standing this time round would be essential experience for a serious attempt in 2014. So why cancel? One of my great CV weakness as a Politician is my lack of experience at internal selection processes. Having seen a few at close hand over the ...
Friday: Daddy Richard would like everyone to know that he has NOT been exploded. The office Summer Party in Leicester Square on Thursday night was AT LEAST a score of metres away from the Haymarket car bomb, he left a good couple of hours before the bomb was supposed to go off and most importantly, it DID NOT GO OFF anyway. So, no reason to panic! 
I have just spent a wonderful day at Ealing Southall. My photo shows some of the recent leaflets which have been distributed, as well as moi, in the HQ. It was marvellous to see the largest HQ in LibDem by-election history with a real buzz about it, with Nigel Bakhai and his team firing on all cylinders. Even though today was a rainy Monday, the visitors' book was choc-a-bloc with volunteers
People might be interested to know that Tesco have applied for a licence to sell alcohol at their (forthcoming) store on the Meridian South development off Hither Green Lane. They are applying to sell alcohol Monday – Sunday 06:00 – 23:00. Any objections would need to be on the grounds of Prevention of Crime and Disorder. Protection of Children from Harm Public Safety Prevention of Public Nuisance Objections would need to be with Lewisham Council by 30th July 2007. The Council contact on this application is Kim Giddings at Kim.Giddings@lewisham.gov.uk
Just a quick note to say thank you to the many people that have already responded to requests for help in the by-elections. (And apologies for not being able to send personal replies to everyone individually so far today) My team is currently working our way through the offers and responding appropriately. The key message is JUST TURN UP! Both HQs are open and busy. There is plenty to do at each.
So you want to be ‘Green’ and are spending a bit more time thinking before you buy, but how can you tell which is the green choice? There are lots of companies claiming they are environmentally friendly or claiming to offer a green product, but are they really? Have they just seen the marketing opportunities?Marks and Spencer are hoping to capture more of the ‘green pound’ with their 100 point plan, and it will no doubt work, but so many of the steps they are taking should be standard for all organisations. B&Q have a green range, such as solar ...
One of the most significant changes and probably the best change to going into 6th form was the luxury of free periods, in which you “could” study and most significantly leave school. Being the swat I am I never actually to advantage of the “could.” Last year the 6th form head was replaced by someone out of school, he was bought in by the governors to seriously improve the schools ailing A level results. Rumours followed him like a dark cloud, the introduction of a school uniform for 6th form, the end to free period etc etc. ...
Dear Ealing Council, I just thought I should let you know there’s a parliamentary by-election on, in case you hadn’t noticed. Yours, A. Geek The most likely explanation, of course, is that the council’s electoral administration department are completely snowed under - not surprising given the absurdly short timescale to which they are being made to work. No doubt [...]
My alter ego over at Lib Dem Voice has compiled a list of some Lib Dem MPs’ summer reading suggestions. Feeling rather left out, I’m publishing mine here: Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin - we’re told this is most assuredly not the seventh instalment of his superb Tales of the City series. Whatever, Maupin has perhaps the most acutely empathetic ear for dialogue of any living writer.
There are two parliamentary by-elections on July 19th, and the Lib Dems are fighting hard in both. I am going to help out in Ealing Southall the weekend after next, and I know lots of people are going there and to Sedgefield to help the Lib Dems campaign there too. The by-elections give us a great opportunity not only to win two more seats in Parliament, but also to show the country that we can
Yesterday I was soaked on a number of occasions whilst out leafleting. I apologise to any residents of Prestwich Hills who saw a stranger lurking by their front-doors at teat-time, but it was only me trying to shelter from the torrents that had arrived without warning. I thought I'd seize a rare break in the wentess to get all my leaflets out, but sadly God's incessant mocking continues and he
During one of the darkest episodes in British History in the early 1990s the then British Government sat on its hands while tens of thousands of civilians were slaughtered by Serbian death squads in Bosnia. Douglas Hurd, advised by his then Security Chief, Pauline Neville Jones, campaigned tirelessly to ensure that the legal government of Bosnia Herzegovina could not defend itself against Serbian murderers. He called this disgraceful policy "ensuring a level playing field". Tens of thousands of women were raped, tens of thousands were killed, and the population of such cities as Sarajevo and Dubrovnik were besieged ... 
I don’t just make this stuff up, you know: THE floods which claimed seven lives and deluged thousands of homes were the result of “moral degradation”, claims the Bishop of Carlisle. The bishop, who is a leading evangelical, said that people should heed the stories of the Bible, which described the downfall of the Roman Empire as [...]
Only I could be forgiven for thinking, that they were miles off, judging by the amount of navel gazing going on around here! Let’s just sort our priorities into some sort of order here. Lynching our leader (again) is not going to help us one bit in Sedgefield or Ealing Southall. I nailed my colours to [...]
One of the features of our party’s policy is the amount of consultation that goes into preparing it. Every party member has the opportunity to feed in their views before proposals are drawn up for taking to Conference. This has always included publishing a consultation paper before every new policy paper, and consultative sessions are [...]
As the scale of the latest terrorist attack, or rather attempt, emerges, I do not think that I am alone in feeling vastly relieved that the new crew do not stoop to Tony Blair's emotive histrionics. Jack Staw's comments were almost along the lines of "well these things happen", and actually as a line to take, it is not a bad one. We know that there are out there a whole load of dangerous nutters out to kill as many innocent people as they can. However, as the attacks on London nearly two years ago showed, it takes more ...
We are to believe, of course, that there is no smoke without fire. So, with that in mind, it is entirely possible that Grant Shapps has dredged up some disgruntled lunatic who will testify that the Lib Dems run secret poster lotteries. Of course, for it to be actually true, you’d have to be able [...]
Cheering news for local Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, Labour have reselected Kirsty McNeill to contest him at the next General Election. This is not a surprise, Kirsty has been promoting herself as such for at least a year before actually being reselected. And if her opening leaflet after the local elections is typical, we can look forward to another entirely scurrilous election. Kirsty's track record in living up to her colleague Harriet Harman's unconvincing desire to remove spin from politics is not good, starting with this touching tribute to her campaigning style from the Oxford Student newspaper in 1999. ...
We were told when Ming was standing to be party leader that Ming's greatest assets were his experience and his judgment. I now believe that these were lies. Ming has, for me, shown since his election that he lacks these. The party has drifted in a gentle downward direction in terms of councillors and MSP's. Party membership has not picked up and the press have got it in for Ming. Ah, the press. Is that any reason to doubt him ? Well yes, in my opinion it is. Not because everything the press says is correct, far from ...
Following up on the last entry about digital terrestrial television in the West End (or lack of it for many residents), there's no doubt about the strength of feeling people have about the unfairness of the way in which it has been rolled out, if my postbag has been anything to go by recently! I paste below the latest exchange with OFCOM, following my earlier exchange with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (click on headline above to read the last exchange on this from last month). The bottom line I feel on this is if ...
Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell has published proposals for a comprehensive programme of constitutional reform. Ming Campbell, who wrote to Gordon Brown at the start of Brown’s leadership campaign calling on him to take up the cause of reform, urged the Prime Minister not to squander the opportunity to revitalise Britain’s democracy. The Liberal Democrats’ programme [...]
As I was driving around the North Circular Road through Private Eye's beloved Neasden, I came past the end of an Aboyne Road. It crossed my mind that I don't recall seeing a Neasden Road in Aboyne, or even a Willesden Green. Indeed the only reference to anything that might be to do with England is the Low Road. Strange that.
…according to those ever-present “Sky Sources” UPDATE: David Cameron has appointed non-elected Conservatives to his shadow cabinet, including Sayeeda Warsi (Community Cohesion) and Pauline Neville-Jones (Shadow Secretary of State for Security). Both will take up seats in the House of Lords.
This article seems to be another version of the old question "Have you stopped beating your wife ?" This is clearly just an attempt to discredit the Lib Dems early on in Ealing. The Tories were already widely touting the fact on Politicalbetting.com that they needed to lie about the Lib Dems early on, and this seems to be the first of, no doubt, many Tory lies. Credit is due, in part, to Iain Dale for clearly raising an eyebrow as to its credibility and printing Lord Rennard's clear response.
When I return back to school in September, my classroom will be fitted out with a new interactive whiteboard. I have used one of these before and they really enhance lessons and learning whilst helping make some mundane lessons seem a little bit more fun for kids. What I have never been told and never had explained to me as that there are health risks associated with using whiteboards. There are ways, quite simple ways, of avoiding these risks, but they have never been explained to me or anyone else I know. It is good to read HERE ...
Its a mixed bag today. Not of election results, but of topics and views from the newspapers. Rather than try and link them, the more interesting pieces are listed here:Yasmin Alibhai-Brown writes passionately in The Independent following the terrorist plots last week:These are hobby terrorists with screwdrivers and screwed heads; they appropriate legitimate concerns, turn them into excuses on their own violent reality shows, sure to be broadcast again and again on screens around the world. With no politics, no aim, no dreams, no noble imperative, for these Islamicists and their ideological masters, the means is the end. They are ...
The 'zippo lighter' attacks have obscured the preparations for Browns initiatives on the UK Constitution. We put in our pre-emptative position on the constitution with Ming's statement on June 29th and the publication of our twenty-step programme for democratic renewal. Over on the Our Kingdom blog which is spearheding debates on the constitution issues they comment that LibDem blogosphere discussion of this theme seem not to be visible and ask for any links.
Being Secretary of your Regional Party is not just the province of faceless bureaucrats like myself, but can be a stepping stone to greatness. In fact, my immediate predecessor has just stepped, blinking slightly, into the spotlight as our candidate in the forthcoming Ealing Southall by-election. I’ve got a lot of time for Nigel, and was pleased to see him survive the rigorous process by which
We’re into July, yet summer seems to have decided to give the UK a miss this year (so far). No matter. Packing books for the beach (or wherever) is as much a summer ritual as the Brits crashing out of Wimbledon, and helping out in the latest Parliamentary by-elections. So Lib Dem Voice asked a [...]
The past three weeks have been epic. I roadtripped across seven countries (well, five proper countries plus Monaco and Liechtenstein). Then, I moved out of my flat in Berlin. It took me a day to pack everything, and another day of playing Tetris with my bags and my car boot. By the time I'd wedged three suitcases, two violins, two guitars and two amplifiers into the back of my Mégane, there was no space left for that barrel of Duckstein or that case of Almdudler I'd hoped to bring back; oh well. It took a day, a night ...
This morning I received a letter through the post that appeared to come from HM Revenue & Customs, with the heading Final Tax Amnesty Notification. Now I don't have any overseas funds, but it did apparently identify one of those VAT refunds that you can sometimes claim for items bought on holiday. It asked me to complete form P86 which was on the back and fax it back to a number. The...
Welcome to the 19th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (24th - 30th June), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. A week’s a long time in politics, and ain’t that the truth: 1. ‘Williams and Carlile’ on [...]
The principle behind the smoking ban is profoundly illiberal. It is predicated on a vision of government as having a duty to protect people against themselves and their own actions or that people are incapable of exercising choice in what they do with their time. If the government wishes to ban smoking from all government property [...]
Local choice Nigel Bakhai is set to challenge Labour once more in Ealing Southall, after being selected by Ealing Southall Liberal Democrats. Nigel Bakhai doubled the Liberal Democrats vote at the 2005 General Election.
Barry Stocker commenting on my post on blogging, defends Hegel by reference to TH Green. Wikipaedia gives a good summary of the modern debate on Hegel, from which I learn than even neo-conservative thought owes some debt to Hegel. I confess that as a student I gave up trying to read sentences like "The goal is that it come to be known that [Spirit] presses forward only to know itself as it is
As the hapless George W. Bush and the venomous Vladimir Putin gather for a summit at Kennebunkport, there is a sense of lost glories. These summits are no longer the peace or war, life or death discussions that they were under the cold war. However that is not to say that the meeting could not have some highly significant consequences. Particularly if Dubya repeats his "I looked into his soul" stuff from their first meeting in Ljubljana. The fact is that Putin is a despot at home and an aggressive expansionist abroad. The American idea of who "lost" Russia, ...
Iain Dale has a barking mad story here about how Lib Dems bribe people to put up posters in by-elections. This is the first time this rumour has surfaced. Presumably it's meant to refer to the last by-election, which was the one in Bromley and Chislehurst, last summer. (If not, why didn't they mention it before?); and if so I'm going to take it personally. I was the person responsible for most of the hundred or so LibDem posters in gardens in Bromley. Getting people to agree to have Lib Dem posters in Bromley was certainly an experience ...
Seneddwr has already beaten me to the punch in writing about who will be filling the roles of Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer if the Plaid-Labour Coalition is approved at the weekend. I had intended to wait for the outcome of the two conferences before posting but as the discussion has started then I may as well join in. It seems to me that there are three options available to the Assembly once the Plaid-Labour Government get their feet under the desk. However, what the timescale is to resolve this matter is difficult to predict. There ...
Dr Layla Al-Roomi was the guest speaker at the Hammersmith and Fulham LibDems’ garden party last night. Until recently a consultant paediatrician in Glasgow, Dr Al-Roomi is a former political prisoner who was lived in exile for over 30 years, though she did go back to visit family in Baghdad after the US-led invasion. She shares a [...]
Local choice Nigel Bakhai is set to challenge Labour once more in Ealing Southall, after being selected by Ealing Southall Liberal Democrats. Nigel Bakhai doubled the Lib Dem vote at the 2005 General Election. The Liberal Democrats are the main challengers to Labour in the seat. They were second at the last General Election. Local Liberal Democrat [...]
SMOKING BAN: Where you can smoke The ban on smoking in public places became law yesterday. As a reminder, smoking is allowed on the Parliamentary estate only in the following places: The House of Commons Terrace when the smoking ban begins on July 1.Commons Court (North West corner, Commons Court)North Terrace (between Portcullis House and Norman Shaw South)A designated area on the west side of
MEMBERS OF THE CABINET: Prime Minister: Gordon Brown Chancellor of the Exchequer: Alistair Darling Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: David Miliband Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor: Jack Straw Secretary of State for the Home Department: Jacqui Smith Secretary of State for Defence; and Secretary of State for Scotland: Des Browne Secretary of State for
There's been quite a bit of coverage of the chaos over the new junior doctor appointments - doctors not being able to get onto the system, no way of chosing the best person for the job etc. It was one of the many problems in what was Patricia Hewitt's department. But there has been less said about another by product of the new system.. and one which is potentially a lot more dangerous. Talking to a friend who works in a major Liverpoo hospital I discovered that all the job changes - that is new doctors starting ...
It will be interesting to see whether the Tory approach to the Ealing Southall by-election comes through for them. They have clearly tried to create the impression of a flying start by selecting a candidate very quickly, having Cameron turn up for an early visit, and set up their 'virtual HQ'. However this approach is already causing them problems. The quick selection of a candidate who does not live in the borough, has no record of Conservative activism and who has only recently joined the party has caused consternation amongst party activists and has even been described ...
I am delighted to see that Nigel Bakhai has been chosen as our candidate for the Southall by-election. I know Nigel from various London training events over the past few years and I know he is very committed to working hard for the community where he lives. The fact that he is a genuinly local candidate can only help too. I believe we will also be announcing our candidate for Sedgefield soon. I'm sure it will be reported here.
By far the most attractive item in this morning's media is this one about a wave of plastic ducks heading for the Welsh coastline. The Western Mail reports that tens of thousands of the bath toys have bobbed across the globe since three containers full of them were washed off a ship during a storm in the middle of the Pacific in January 1992. The ducks have already landed in Indonesia, Australia and South America, and now an expert is predicting they could now reach the Welsh coastline, 17,000 miles from where they plunged overboard. Apparently, ...
There are some remarkable photographs of the Glasgow bombers in the papers today. The Sun shows an off-duty policeman hosing down the bomber who was on fire, and the same bomber lying on the ground, having been arrested. The main news this morning is that two of the suspects are doctors. One of those was apparently stopped on the M6 after coming up on one of the new number plate recognition
The latest fund-raising figures in the US Presidential campaign, have been eagerly awaited. They can be crucial in indicating who is in the lead and who is faltering. Barack Obama has raised $32.5 million between April and June. This is well ahead of Clinton's $27 million. This is a very significant achievement for Obama. The Clintons are no slouches when it comes to raising funds.
I have to admit that I was originally drawn to this article in today's Guardian by the sub-heading stating that 'David Cameron doesn't exactly come across as Roosevelt. More Paris Hilton.' However, it does contain an interesting high level analysis of the challenges facing the new Chancellor of the Exchequer. Larry Elliott argues that the Tories are not interested in targetting Alistair Darling. Their objective, he says, is to do a demolition job on Gordon Brown. He may have ceased to run the Treasury but he will still be held to account for the economy. Mr. Elliott points out ...
I am on the train to London. Our first stop is Durham City. The guard has just announced that smoking is not allowed anywhere on GNER property and so people are being warned not to get off the train to light up. It's been a long time coming but at last the liberation of non-smokers from the activities of smokers has at last happened.I experienced breathing someone else's smoke in a bar for the
Liberal Democrats in Ealing Southall have selected local campaigner Nigel Bakhai, our candidate in the General Election two years ago, to challenge Labour in the Ealing Southall by-election. More here.
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