LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Monday 23rd July 2007

How we have made the floods worse

Inevitably, there has been a lot of talk about global warming and climate change. But human action has made the current floods worse in two more tangible ways. The first is through changing agricultural practices. Here is an extract from a speech that the late Lord Renton of Mount Harry - who, as Tim Renton, was Norman Baker's predecessor as MP for Lewes - made in the House of Lords, on 18 December 2001: One cause of the problem in the South Downs is without doubt the effect of intensive agriculture, especially as a result of the sowing of winter ...

For Trekkies everywhere

Proof that it is recess after all!

DNO and Selection Committee Training

I have just got in from running a DNO (Delegated Nominating Officer) and Selection Committee Training event in Birmingham, it was well attended with about a dozen people there.

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #22

Welcome to the 22nd of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (15th-21st July), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. As you might expect, this last week’s offerings have been rather dominated by the Ealing Southall and Sedgefield by-elections: 1. [...]

You spent how much?

According today's Torygraph the Conservatives spent £125,000 on their failed bid to win the Ealing Southall By-Election. That is £15.19 a vote for those of you keeping score at home. They would probably have been better off stumping up for a poster lottery.

PHP Question - Removing tags and content

This is mainly out there to those who code in php. At the moment LibDemBlogs, strips out all formatting from blog posts, mainly to ensure that cut-off <b> tags don’t end up bolding everything, but also it puts each post on a equal platform. However over time I’ve noticed an increase use in the <strike> tag. This tag text and is normally used to later correct a mistake, or imply someone might not be telling the truth. But as LDBlogs removes the formatting, it makes for an odd read. So I’m trying to completly remove everything between the tags, Google ...

Noah-like rumours

As Will Howell highlights there have been some alarming rumours today. The whisper went round our office that a vast wave is forecast to come down the Thames and flood the environs of Wargrave, Caversham and Twyford in Berkshire at 2am tomorrow. My father-in-law is in one of those areas, but he is fortunately on a hill. There is an excellent facility on the Environment Agency website where you

Staggering mains water stoppage in Gloucestershire

I've just been watching the Chief Executive of Gloucestershire County Council on Channel Four news. The scale of the unfolding crisis there is staggering. It has gone from flooding which impacted a few thousand homes to a mains water stoppage which will impact 350,000 homes for seven days. That is half the population of Gloucestershire county, and about 80% of the economy!

Opinion: Three cheers for ‘bomb proof’ Lib Dems

It is nice for us LibDems to be heading towards our holidays with a bit of a spring in our step, due to a couple of reasonably sanguine by-election results. We do have reason for confidence in the long-term due to robust structures in our party which mean we are “bomb proof” in three areas where [...]

Quaequam Ealing Southall

I am a bit late doing this, but I just wanted to heartily praise James Graham's post "Return to Ealing Southall" on Quaequam Blog! It is a thoroughly absorbing commentary on the by-election.

Testing

This is a test post

THAMES FLOODS: PREPARE TO FLEE

That’s the marvellously becalming headline screaming from today’s Evening Standard boards. But I’m going to take the advice and will, fingers crossed, jump on a plane to Eastern Europe early tomorrow morning. I’m a bit under the weather after some seriously long nights - I was awake for 29 hours on by-election night, from early morning delivery through the daylong campaign and the count (where I spotted Tory campaign chief Grant Shapps - I couldn’t quite see his box count sheet, but I’ve a suspicion it may have included the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4), to shooting a quick ...

Tory MP: Now it's okay for us to say to Cameron: "What the hell are you talking about?"

Thanks to Mark Pack on LibDem Voice for pointing out this absolute beaut of an article from the Telegraph. Essentially, David Cameron is facing the prospect of a very rough ride when he faces his MPs on Wednesday. They now know that the Emperor has no clothes so they have a much freer rein to question and criticise him: However Mr Cameron decides to proceed, he must first placate his MPs. As

Ealing fallout: Grant Shapps axed

So says The Telegraph: Much of the blame has been apportioned to campaign director Grant Shapps, the shadow housing minister, who was promptly stripped of his role running by-elections. It was Mr Shapps, and the then Tory chairman Francis Maude, who persuaded Mr Cameron to put his name on the Ealing ballot paper, something the Tory [...]

Rouge trader

Misprint of the week (in the Richmond and Twickenham Times): Rouge trader now in prison

Turks Back Democracy and Europe

{turkish-elections.jpg} There was a resounding endorsement of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in yesterday’s general election. His Justice and Development Party (AKP) won 47% of the vote, giving it a very comfortable majority in parliament. Moreover, the turnout was over 80%, even though many people had to abandon a slice of their summer holidays to take part. It’s a slap in the face for the military, which had been making threatening noises, and for those opposition forces — including ultra-nationalists — who had been wrongly claiming that Mr Erdogan intends to turn the country into an Islamic Republic. ‘We ...

Floods and Gloucestershire (and South Worcs)

One of the problems faced by people in the floods is an absence of water and electricity. Those depending upon services for their lives are particularly at risk. We have looked at this in Birmingham Emergency Planning and are happy to help, but have not been contacted. The government has said they are doing this contingency planning, but if they are then they should have contacted Birmingham.

Borough's under 16's can swim for free

There's a splashing time in store for the Borough's under 16s who can swim for free at Tees Valley Leisure Limited's four pools in Eston, Saltburn, Loftus and Guisborough. The new swimming initiative funded by Redcar and Cleveland Primary Care Trust and supported by Redcar and Cleveland Council. The scheme will run throughout the summer holiday period and offers general swimming and fun inflatable sessions both during the week and at weekends. Normal supervision ratios apply throughout the scheme so that accompanied under eights through to teenagers can benefit from free swimming right up until the first week of September. ...

Am I the only person who is tired of the "I have not got any house insurance" stories ?

Whilst the flooding is an absolute tragedy for so many people and for virtually everyone involved you feel absolutely enormous sympathy, surely I am not the only person who is slightly tiring of hearing hard luck stories about people who have no insurance ? If they were people who were refused insurance because of the previous flooding or who could not afford it due to extreme poverty, then I could accept it. But in case after case on TV you see someone who has basically taken a risk, a gamble if you like, that they will not pay the £3.50 ...

It's a bit wet here ...

I was going to blog about the excellent by-election results (for us anyway!) and the brilliant agents' training weekend we've just had. But unfortunately we are flooded out, and I spent this morning moving more stuff upstairs, and we are now staying with friends waiting for the next Thames 'surge'. Ho hum ...

Amid Tory wobbles, the policy debate moves on

The FreeThink blog appears to have two kinds of readers: those attracted by party political comment; and those attracted by policy debate. This weekend's papers has plenty on offer for both. On the party political track, we have the fevered speculation about the health or otherwise of the Tory party - with columnists such as Andrew Rawnsley ('Could Cameron turn out to be the Tories' Kinnock?') and Janet Daley ('Tories must stop their modernisation mania') seemingly conspiring with the denizens of Conservative Home - and a fair share of opposition bloggers - to stoke a crisis in the Cameron project. ...

Day 2392: Lord Blairimort Plays his "Get out of House of Lords Club Free" Card

Friday: So, no one will be going to gaol over the Cash-for-Coronets affair. This came at a perfect time for Mr Frown, since it drew a line under the time of Lord Blairimort on the same day as the Ealing and Sedgefield by elections showed that Mr Frown was a WINNER in his own right. (Only a CYNICAL READER could think that he leaked allowed the news to become known the evening of the by-election results to give the papers something else to talk about in case things went wrong for the Labour!) This outcome is not terribly satisfactory for ...

Opinion: “Workin’ 9 til 5″

How would you feel if you told your boss you wanted a pay increase that kept up with inflation this year, and he then stopped paying you, and hired someone else to do your job, until you changed your mind? I suspect you wouldn’t be best pleased to say the least. Nonetheless, this is pretty much [...]

The Lib Dems on the floods

Quick round-up: ‘Lib Dem leader in flood-hit city’ (BBC Online) Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell has criticised the government’s flood plans as he prepared to visit Hull to see the aftermath of last month’s deluge. He said a lack of government planning had led to a “summer of suffering”. ‘Row over disaster response deepens as flooding [...]

Beware the curse of Rees-Mogg?

I’m feeling conflicted. A good rule-of-thumb is to believe the opposite of what Lord William Rees-Mogg, columnist for The Times, and one of the least acute of Tory political commentators, writes. Today he uses his column to praise the Lib Dems’ performance in last week’s by-elections as “excellent”. Twice. What’s going on? Last week’s by-election results [...]

Have aliens landed in Shropshire?

Probably not, but the Shropshire Star has a fascinating photograph.

Iraqi translators working for British forces

Dan Hardie writes: Since British troops occupied Southern Iraq in the spring of 2003, thousands of Iraqi citizens have worked for the British Army, the Coalition Provisional Authority (South) and for contractors serving UK forces. There is now considerable evidence that their lives, and the lives of their families, are at risk: some former workers for the British have been murdered, and many others have fled to neighbouring countries or gone into hiding in Basra. The British Government, for whom they were ultimately working, has not offered them the right of asylum in the UK. This is morally unacceptable.He is ...

The floods of 1947

Earlier this month I wrote about the 1947 floods. Now everyone is drawing parallels between them and the current flooding, it is worth pointing out that my original post was wrong in implying that the 1947 floods only affected the Fens. As these links show, they also affected the Thames Valley and York.

The ode less travelled - Opik the poet

This morning Lembit Opik read out something described as an ode to caravaning. At least it didn't mention Margaret Beckett. For future composition, I do recommend Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled . Meanwhile keep the day job, Lembit.

Labour Government Housing Policy - wet !

"The government will continue to build houses on flood plains, as long as the "proper defences" are in place" according to Housing Minister Yvette Cooper. They just don't get it , do they ? Ask yourself who will buy a house that they cannot insure against floods that are bound to happen more and more often ? Building in flood plains also makes matters worse for existing houses, because

Moving

I am in the Assembly all day unpacking my office after the big move. Essentially, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have taken over the Tory offices at the end of the corridor so as to enable all the other groups to work together. I am due to be in the Royal Welsh Show tomorrow and already I am looking forward to wading through mud to get from the carpark to the main showground. Could this be Wales' answer to Glastonbury? All the reports of flooding and Cabinet Emergency Sub-Committees are creating the impression of an almost-apocalyptic event. Then just when we ...

Cllr Joan Lang's funeral

There was a packed church on Friday for the funeral of Cllr Joan Lang. It was good to see so many people turn out to pay their respects. There were some really nice tributes too. I am glad that Joan's son, Graham, explained the choice of music. Apparently "all the time in the world" was special to Joan and "mr Wonderful" was a song she used to sing to Graham when he was a baby.

Buses under threat - latest news

Brian Collin and I have now distributed an emergency Focus across the ward about the proposed cuts to the number 5 bus service. Time is incredibly short. The County Council decision is on Tuesday morning (tomorrow!). If you would like to show your opposition, we've set up an online petition. You can also contact the decision-maker, Mel Kendal - and our local County Councillor, Charlotte Bailey

New Seriousness

I delayed commenting on the by-election results- partly because of themselves they are not particularly important. However the reaction to the results I think is becoming quite significant. I have written elsewhere, that these by-elections were important for the Liberal Democrats, since a fall back would have shown some very serious problems. However moving from third into second at Sedgefield and dramatically cutting the majority in both seats is a good result. Could it have been better? Yes, we could have won in Ealing Southall, and the stubborn and well funded campaign by the Tories in fact stopped us from ...

Injured

I am injured. I am off work because the back trouble that had prevented me from turning around fully all of last week descended last night into near paralysis. It is like I am made of sheet metal all of a sudden, utterly unable to bend in any direction, and forced to move in robotic lurches whenever I want to go anywhere. This morning's foray to the bathroom will live long in the memory.

Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky

Eirik Glambek Bøe, half of ace Norwegian band Kings of Convenience is a candidate for the liberal Venstre Party in the beautiful municipality of Bergen. I would imagine that Eirik would make a very good Councillor. May mighty Thor curse his drittsekk opponents! Edit: Oddly, I realise I actually posted about both the band and Venstre some months ago, without knowing there was any connection. Spooky.

Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink

In all the coverage of widespread flooding, I have only heard one person suggest the role of climate change - Barbara Young, Head of the Environment Agency. If the government or any politicians including Liberal Democrats want the public to be ready to accept taxes or controls on carbon emissions, we have to make the link with the consequences of carrying on as we are.

Crazy plan to build on flood plains

The government is maintaining that it will still be okay to build on flood plains " as long as adequate flood defences are in place. Perhaps the government should look at all the places that were flooded over the weekend that were either ; a) Already provided with flood defences that were in adequate for that amount of water. or b) Thought to be at no risk of flooding because water levels had never ever reached that height before. I know this government has set ambitious targets for building new houses, but must they be on flood plains ?

Is the Number One acting as a rain dance?

Think about it. We've had two months of rain. And "Umbrella" has been number One for two months. It doesn't take a genius to work out the connection. Stop buying the darned thing!

Barclays' new sugar daddies

Sod the European Union and loss of sovereignty. News arrives this morning that two state owned investment funds - The China Development Bank and Temasek, the investment arm of the Singaporean government, have between them taken a 10% plus stake in Barclays Bank. Now, there's nothing new, or inherently threatening, about overseas money investing in UK companies, but in this case there are two issues. First, these funds (as with the Qatari bid for Sainsbury's last week) are themselves so wealthy because of state protectionism. China in particular is not operating on the same economic "rules" as most of the ...

Eli

Ian and I went to meet our new grandson Elisha in Bristol over the weekend. He's just lovely and I'm finding it difficult to think of anything else at present.

Flood watch

The stretch of the Thames between Shepperton and Teddington Lock is on Flood Watch. According to the Environment Agency this means Flooding possible. Be aware! Be prepared! Watch out! This, of course, includes the riverside as it runs through the Borough from Surbiton to Ham.

Science and religion - where are the liberals?

Gordon Lynch complains that the ‘God-buster’ troops led by Dawkins, Dennett and Co. ignore religion and theology. Yep! True, one would expect a little bit of research on the subject matter the author is writing about, but perhaps this is too sophisticated for pop-lit. What is symptomatic of the age and most worrying is these pop-scientists lacking understanding of philosophy of science. Science is the real victim here. In their flawed attempt to elevate it to universal and, in some cases, transcendent truth, science is being reduced to dogmatic scientism. On the other hand, the image most people have of ...

Joseph Goebbels: “honestly, it’s like living in a police state!”

Reading Sarah Helm’s article in yesterday’s Observer severely pissed me off, on at least two levels. The complete lack of contrition from Blair’s inner-circle that they had done anything wrong. Lest we forget that if anyone tried raising funds via undeclared loans now, they would be committing a criminal offence. They might not have committed any laws, but they were going around bending them like it was going out of fashion. If Sarah Helm was capable of self-introspection, she might be a little less quick to bemoan how her family has been treated these past few months. If anyone, say ...

Unwise about water

Last Friday, as I walked through the new shopping mall at Cardinal Place, Victoria with its vast area of glass roof, I said to myself: "The runoff from this place must be phenomenal." Less than an hour later the exceptional rainstorm arrived. Later that day photos on the BBC news website showed Victoria Street, Westminster transformed into a lake. Which proves my point, I think. During the deluge itself I was in Embankment Gardens East, below the Savoy Hotel. I took refuge at the cafe there (a London treasure, but that's another blog). The waterfall gushing off the balcony roof ...

Quote of the Day

Or of yesterday by now. It comes from the BBC's coverage of the extraordinary last day of the British Open. This usergroup message records it: Most entertaining comment of the day though goes to Padraig's son.Right at the very end of the BBC coverage they showed a close up of his father showing him the trophy. He asked "Can we put ladybirds in it?"

The Blair Years

I was just taking a look at Timeline: The Blair Years and Tony Blair: Highs and lows on the BBC website which got me thinking about what other moments from Tony Blair's time as Prime Minister will be something that he will be remembered for.

Monday 23rd July 2007

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