LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Friday 7th September 2007

Surely, there can't be that many Tory seats left up north?

Election Results: Thursday 6th September 2007. City of York UA, Heworth Without LD Nigel Ayre 914 (46.7; +11.0), Con 703 (35.9; -1.8), Lab 219 (11.2; -5.8), BNP 63 (3.2; +3.2), Green 58 (3.0; -1.4), [Liberal (0.0; -5.2)]. Majority 211. Turnout 61.8%. LD gain from Con. Last fought 2007. There seems to be a pattern emerging here! I may be wrong? What I find remarkable is the turnout at almost 62%. It is often said that the Liberal Democrats usually win By-Elections on low turnouts. Well, how does one explain this one? Equally interesting to note is the collapse of the ...

Replace the Child Trust Fund

The Liberal Democrats today called for the Child Trust Fund to be scrapped, with the money instead being used to help children in the early years of their education. The call comes on the day that the Government revealed that children will be required to study how their Child Trust Funds work. The answer to a Parliamentary Question by the Liberal Democrats has highlighted how the fund will have no impact on inequality until 2020 at the earliest. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary David Laws MP said: "This answer shows that even the Government admits that ...

Summer of British Film: Comedy

An old fart in a blazer is ringing the bell, so we must be starting the last week of the BBC's festival. The theme is comedy, but the fare looks disappointing compared with the earlier weeks. There are three Aardman animations. These are great, of course, but haven't we seem them all several times before? And they're not really for grown ups, are they? There a couple of Carry Ons: Camping and Spying. Good, but not the best in the series. And there are, God help us, two Norman Wisdom films. Even Lucky Jim is spoilt by the miscast Ian ...

Mark Pack says you must watch this

The latest from the Lib Dem Innovations Department

Sustainability in Practice

On the 6-7th September I attended an international conference on Sustainability organised and hosted by Kingston University. The 2 day conference brought together an array of highly influential speakers who delivered informative and thought provoking speaches and workshops. I especially enjoyed meeting eco builder and author, Will Anderson.

Sacrebleu - Pumas beat les bleus

Like virtually everybody I reckoned the World Cup final would be France v New Zealand. If New Zealand's key players had taken a bruising I reckoned France would win. But sacrebleu what a rubbish performance by les bleus tonight and a solid performance by the Pumas. Time to rethink...

Nine children removed in Northampton

The problem with this is that all we have is the allegation that: "There was an incident in which he banged a table and shouted at the little girl, who fled to her room." This is why we really need to understand the full reasoning. The evidence from Anna Freud's nursery is that breaking ties to the birth parents does a lot of damage to children. I cannot see that one incident about someone

Baby's First Haircut................

Oh dear, I swore it wouldn't happen, I wouldn't become a typical doting granny. But, sorry, here is the evidence..............................oh and note she has inheri ted her granny's weakness for shocking pink!

Tyne Tees viewers anger at Council for ditching Yorkshire

Viewers expressed their anger on Tyne Tees TV's North East News programme tonight after Redcar & Cleveland Council voted by 27 votes to 23 yesterday to delete Yorkshire from the Council's postal address. Yorkshire easily won the text poll of local residents. Just in case those watching thought I was going a bit over the top. We don't normally have flags and banners draped over cupboards and on walls. It was just for the filming. This blog, showing the poll on the sidebar, was also filmed though you would have to pause the film to see it. Many thanks to ...

Late for a change........my must read blogs!

Given my blogosphere problems over recent months I unfortunately didn't get to vote in the top blog awards. Even if I did I would find it difficult to rank.........anyways, since I now have oodles of opportunity to mess about in the said blogosphere my must reads are now listed left........... If any of you think you have been badly done by by not being included, this may be an oversight, if not, let me know and I will be suitably contrite. The sad thing is that the guys still well outnumber the gals......is blogging a feminist issue I wonder????? PS: ...

Us at the Atonement Premier

How to evade the world's biggest security cordon

it appears that if you want to drive through two police checkpoints, without be stopped, you simply drive in a limo with Canadian flags on them, with some motorcycle outriders. Oh, and if you really want to avoid the checks, be dressed as Osama Bon Ladin. Sound daft to you ? Well that is exactly what some pranksters from an Australian TV show did !

Look Ma, I'm on top of the world!

It will come as no surprise to many that this blog was never really intended to be a must-read news source for anyone seeking enlightenment about what Liberal Democrats are thinking and why. Originally, the intention was to allow my family to know what I was up to and where. But then, having realised that most of the things I do are related to the Party, it seemed logical, if a mite vain, to link

SNP plans highlight the need for an English Parliament

The plans announced by the SNP on Wednesday show that Scotland's devolved parliament has started to develop in to a real asset for Scottish people, and further highlights the lack of a similar parliament for England. The bills the SNP propose include specifically local things akin to the powers pledged to Labour's proposed regional assemblies, before they were rejected, like the abolition of bridge tolls and safeguarding rural schools. But the Scottish Parliament goes far beyond the powers of a glorified County Council,. which is what the regional assemblies really were, by allowing the SNP to propose scrapping the graduate ...

Dave's Big Ideas: Now he's really pissed me off

You might have noticed a bit of mild scepticism from me about David Cameron's ideas for non-compulsory 'national service'. However, today you get irate spleen-venting. As Benedict Brogan of the Daily Mail points out, the coverage of Cameron's launch included the phrase... "Bookish swots will be shown there is more to life than just exams." and their policy document says... "Those who are overly academic will discover there is more to life". ... . Because educational overachievement is such a big problem in Britain today. In the good old days, the Conservatives were the Stupid Party. Evidently David Cameron is ...

More excitement !

The Tees Port Health Authority doesn't sound very exciting, but it is a meeting of Councillors from other Local Authorities to oversee vital behind the scenes work at the Tees Port. There is a toxin called Afltoxin which can cause serious problems if the mould grows, but there is a team of dedicated working checking it all out for us. I was amazed to find how much comes through the port, and in...

The Blaney game

It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. Apparently the 21st century political equivalent of having a punch up beside the bike shed after school is to have a live debate on 18 Doughty Street. Having had one with Mr Blaney not that long ago - and lived to tell the tale - the one thing I will say about him is that he has a curious attitude towards the individual and the state. The crimes of an individual - in Nelson Mandela’s case the violent reprisals of the ANC - are always unforgivable. The crimes of the ...

Ben Ramm doesn’t speak for me

I feel the need to point this fact out because whenever a journalist wants a rentaquote to be rude about the party leader, they not only trot out Ben Ramm but they insist that he publishes “a magazine for Liberal Democrat activists“. If he does, he keeps quite quiet about it. The Liberal is a literary magazine which occasionally has dalliances with politics but is more concerned with poetry. All fine and dandy (with emphasis on the dandy), but the truth is it is largely ignored by Lib Dem activists. The closest we have to a magazine for Lib Dem ...

Graham's blog entry 7th September 2007

George Bush - 'Kicking ass in Iraq'

Thanks to liberal burblings for alerting us to the latest slide into insanity by the president. One has to wonder how stupid he really is, I'd love to see an IQ test on the guy. Anyway heres what Fry and Laurie have to say on the matter

Election Results: Thursday 6th September 2007

Bromley LBC, Crystal Palace LD Tom Papworth 1051 (49.7; +2.5), Lab 537 (25.4; +1.5), Con 398 (18.8; +3.5), Green 129 (6.1; -7.5). Majority 514. Turnout 24.7%. LD hold. Last fought 2006. City of York UA, Heworth Without LD Nigel Ayre 914 (46.7; +11.0), Con 703 (35.9; -1.8), Lab 219 (11.2; -5.8), BNP 63 (3.2; +3.2), Green 58 (3.0; -1.4), [Liberal (0.0; -5.2)]. Majority 211. Turnout 61.8%. LD gain

Heritage (2)

Linda Ware of the Welsh Nationalists opposes the demolition of a historic mill building in Neath Abbey. She writes in the Neath Guardian: "many people now feel disheartened regarding the treatment of our heritage by Neath Port Talbot Council and its Community Councils. "Neath is a very ancient market town and the area around Neath Abbey could be a huge tourist attraction given the attention it deserves. "The descendants of the last Abbot of Neath Abbey, Abbott Hopkin Leyson, remain in the area today in the Hopkins family, who have farmed for generations and the Leyson family occupy an ancient ...

Thanks!

I'm sorry this is slightly late - I logged in yesterday, meaning to write this post, and got just a tiny bit sidetracked by Mark Oaten! Anyway, I'd like to say a very big thank you to everyone who nominated Hug A Hoodie in the Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards. I really am thrilled to be shortlisted for best newcomer, best individual article, and best design. It means even more when I look at the phenomenally high standard across the Lib Dem blogosphere. When I started blogging, a bit less than a year ago, I was looking for ...

Tahla Ikram

Another non-white child is discharged from care to die at the hands of a step parent. The link is to the BBC's questions in which they say: The final decision on returning Tahla to his father was made by a judge. This is the local authority hiding behind a judge again. The judges basically go along with the recommendations of the Local Authority and Guardian. When you have a particularly good

Led Zeppelin - PLEASE DON'T PLAY GREENWICH

Led Zeppelin are one of the greatest bands of all time (don't bother arguing with that in the comments - it is a statement of unarguable fact). One of the best things of being an old git into music is that I can look smug when telling the young that I have seen Led Zeppelin. If they play again I will lose all that prestige of being able to describe what an experience it was... even worse if they

Bush: 'We're kicking ass' in Iraq

Oh well, that's alright then. At least, I suppose, you can't accuse him of verbosity.

Huzzahs to Papsworth!

If anyone hasn't heard yet, Tom Papsworth (otherwise known as liberal polemic) has stormed to victory in what can only be described as a by-election landslide! Although the liberal democrats had held the area for a long time its always difficult trying to fill the shoes of a dedicated and hard working predecessor and with Tom taking the place of one of Britain's longest serving councillors the challenge must have been no small feat. Tom has obviously taken the challenge straight on though and has been rewarded with a great result! It must be said that even though I may ...

"The KLF have now left the music business"

After last week’s hiatus, the Friday Video returns. Yeah! KLF’s performance of this track at the 1992 Brit Awards, described vividly here, is probably the funniest thing to have ever occurred in the musical history of our nation. Three months later, they “retired” and announced the deletion of their back catalogue. I can’t help but think it’s a pity that they weren't able to achieve their modest and earnest desire, to drench the audience in pig blood. On the broader note of ‘music in general’, Gavin Whenman picks up on a tit-bit in the Times, on the terrifying use of ...

Proud To Be British

Once upon a time it was easy to describe oneself as British and anyone from across the channel as European. How does one explain one's English identity within a British United Kingdom with separ...

Your perception of the Lib Dems ?

There is a growing concern among many MPs that the party has allowed itself to be caricatured as a protest group for the middle classes by taking too little interest in social justice. This is alleged in a piece in 'The Guardian' yesterday. Is this your perception ? It was mine prior to joining the party and there is still a hint of that in my mind. That may possibly hold some water nationally, but as the only party campaigning and opposing the Tories in Torbay, I believe it isn't true locally. Anyone got a view on this ?

Less of a say for local residents on Planning, thanks to Tories

At Council on Wednesday the Lib Dems attempted to convince the Chair of the Planning Committee to change the rules on how local people can be represented at Planning meetings. At the moment, ward councillors can speak on behalf of residents. But last year people in my ward were left without representation because two of their three Councillors were on the committee (and so forbidden from speaking), and the third was unavailable. I wwas not yet elected, so couldn’t help either. Lib Dems tried to speak up for local people at that meeting by nominating a Councillor from the ward next ...

Opinion: The nasty party

Last week’s unveiling of a nine foot bronze statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square was a nice way to round off the British summer (such as it was) – a happy occasion to unite black and white, left and right, in honour of the man who emerged with the utmost humility after 27 years [...]

Meriden Selection Committee Training

Last night Adi Teladia and I went to Solihull and met with most of the members of the Meriden Liberal Democrats Selection Committee to train them. Whilst the Liberal Democrats in Solihull borough have already selected Lorely Burt to re-stand in Solihull constituency they have not yet selected anyone for Meriden and the training was one of the first steps, I expect to see an advert soon.

Lord Sainsbury's generosity shifts betting on snap election

The "Snap election-ometer" must have shifted a little bit in favour of October with the news that Lord Sainsbury's has given Labour £2 million. Every little helps. Oh no, that's Tesco.

Did Labour hypocrisy kill their campaign in Crystal Palace?

Behind the scenes there was a great deal of talking up by Labour of their chances in Crystal Palace. They were claiming in private that all the Liberal Democrat support was a personal vote for Chris Gaster. Of course, without detracting on 35 years of dedication my Chris, this is not the whole truth. One aspect of the Labour campaign does interest me. On their campaign web page they attack the

Your chance to own a football club

That’s what the people behind the My Football Club venture are offering fans, in exchange for £35 a year. The concept is about 50,000 fans each invest £35 for an equal share in a football club. Once that number has been reached (which it now has, according to their website at least), the management will begin talks with various football clubs. Assuming it’s a non-league club that is taken over, attendances could in theory rocket, with commercial opportunities galore. Great idea! At least that’s what I thought at first. When you delve a little more into the detail, you find ...

The pull of co-operation, a painful choice

I in Cowley Printworks bonding yard today with Don Campbell to have instructive chat with Capo Oaten about matters of Family discipline. "Signor Oaten" say the Don, "Much as I appreciate you sending me your new pamphlet, 'Co-operation - we're fucked on our own', I feel, following much inconvenient speculation, that it is important you experience my response, not so much intellectually, but in a very physical way." "That very kind Don Campbell", he say "But I'm sure a Centre for Um briefing note would be sufficient, there really is no need to have my limbs bound with leather hoops ...

Beyond Satire

From today's Times: Mahmood Chandia, a Bury graduate who is now a university lecturer, claims in one sermon that music is a way in which Jews spread “the Satanic web” to corrupt young Muslims. “Nearly every university in England has a department which is called the music department, and in others, where the Satanic influence is more, they call it the Royal College of Music*,” he says.* This

Well done Tom Papworth!

Well done to Tom Papworth for a stonking win in the by-election at the Crystal Palace by-election last night. This is a double bonus because, councillor duties allowing, we should see the return of his thoughtful and knowledgeable blog, Liberal Polemic (which sadly was out of action, due to the election, during the Blog nominations/lists/awards/luvvy-dovey season.) Thanks to Duncan Borrowman.

Reach out with eDemocracy

I find myself speaking on local e-democracy at about a dozen conferences a year, usually representing the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE). At these events I'm often talking to local government officers about e-petitions, online consultations, forums, community websites and lots of other ways in which they could offer increased participation to citizens....

The Tortoise, the Hare and the Witchfinder General

Last week, the BBC’s British film season showed still-alarming horror classic Witchfinder General. Almost as famous as the film itself was the quarrel between director Michael Reeves and star Vincent Price. When their clash of personalities came to a head, Mr Price brought his massive tally of work to bear against the man he saw as an upstart: “I’ve made 87 films,” he boasted. “What have you done?” “I’ve made three good ones,” replied Mr Reeves. Like the old fable The Tortoise and the Hare, it’s a comforting moral for those of us who don’t churn out as much as ...

York by-election win - one in the eye for the pundits!

It is interesting to see that we have won a crucial by-election in York , taking the Heworth Without seat from the Tories, just as the Indie was telling us to pack up our backs and give up! Well done York LibDems!

All UK 'must be on DNA database'

A senior judge has called for the whole population and every UK visitor to be added to the national DNA database. Lord Justice Sedley said the current England and Wales database, which holds DNA from crime suspects and scenes, was "indefensible" saying it would be fairer to include "everybody, guilty or innocent" on it.

'Voters are confused about Cameron' - new Tory Vice Chairman

I think the Tory party is bit like Cricket Clubs - they have 37 Vice Chairs or something like that. Anyway, Kulveer Ranger has just been appointed a Tory Vice-Chair and has said: Voters do not know if David Cameron is a “toff with a conscience” or whether he can relate to wider society, according to a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party. Well it's not surprising is it? I suppose we should

Independent on the LibDems - suicide is painless

There is an extremely optimistic paragraph in this Independent article about the LibDems: ...party strategists insist they are in a stronger position than at equivalent points before previous general elections and argue they are bucking the trend in key marginals, where they are doing "incredibly well". They say they are particularly well placed to make a series of gains from Labour in the

Sensational result in York (Outer)

Nigel Ayre comfortably took the Heworth Without seat on City of York Council last night. This is a gain from the Conservatives and falls within the new marginal parliamentary seat of York Outer, which is a real Lib Dem prospect. I was glad to be able to play a small part delivering leaflets in the heat in the summer,which makes this win all the more sweet. The post-election party tonight should be a good place to be - might even make it myself! What the York Evening Press said: LIB DEMS WIN BY ELECTIONTHE Liberal Democrats have increased their strength ...

Advice, Please!

I'm thinking of shifting from my current BT-based email to a web-based system like hotmail. (The impetus for this being that my current email folders seem to be corrupted and I can't receive any emails to my normal address at the moment) As email is very important for my council work, I want to make the right decision... So I'd be grateful for any comments or advice - particularly from other

Opinion: What to do about excess packaging

The media and public clamour surrounding excess packaging is growing. The Women’s Institute and The Independent are both running national campaigns against packaging, while companies like Lush Cosmetics have begun to see the economic sense of letting consumers buy the products they want, without unnecessary cardboard or plastic accompaniment. The Government has failed to take [...]

Lib Dems gain seat in York

From the York Press: The Liberal Democrats have increased their strength on City of York Council, after winning tonight's by-election in Heworth Without.Nigel Ayre was elected with 914 votes, beating the Conservatives' Adam Sinclair, who polled 703 ...Coun Ayre, who was narrowly beaten when the seat was contested on May 3, said: "I was obviously very disappointed last time, but I am very proud to be able to represent the electorate in the place where I live."And Heworth Without wins our Ward of Week award too!

Lib Dem blogger storms by-election

Tom Papworth (Liberal Polemic) has won the Crystal Palace by-election tonight. Watch this space for his blogging return. Result: Tom Papworth (LD) 1051 Lab 537 Con 398 Green 129 More later...

Better - But Still Too Many

I'm pleased to hear that the number of executions appears to be falling in China(although I am always sceptical of figures issued on "sensitive" subjects by the Communist Regime - they don't have an impressive track record). I genuinely hope that China is gradually weaning itself off the death penalty. If only the US would take leadership on this issue and abolish the death penalty. Then it might look less hypocritical when criticising the Chinese Communist regime's human rights record.

Good sense on Mark Oaten and coalitions

Iain Sharpe's blog Eaten by Missionaries has woken up with a good posting on Mark Oaten's Times article on coalitions: if you are a Lib Dem who wants a coalition your best way of achieving it is not to talk about it too loudly. In the two occasions where the Lib Dems have allowed themselves to be portrayed as potential kingmakers – 1987 and 1992, this has led to a fall in support as the election approached.The electorate are unlikely to respond positively to an uppity third party trying to imply that they can choose between and lay down terms ...

Slovenia — an EU pacesetter

Not for the first time, the Slovenian embassy hosted a presentation and party at the London Press Club at the St Bride’s Institute off Fleet Street last night, with a live band, a buffet and Slovenian wine. They certainly know how to sell themselves. Of course, Slovenia was always different from the rest of Yugoslavia. Whereas most of that hybrid state considered itself to be in the Balkans, Slovenes always thought of themselves as being Middle European. Not quite Austrian, nor indeed Italian. But something similar. Astonishingly, the country’s economic and administrative advance has been so strong that not only ...

Titan Rain - Oh Really?

Strange claims are surfacing that elements of the Chinese "Peoples Liberation Army" (an Oxymoron if ever there was one given the PLA's performance around Tiananmen Square in 1989) have targeted British Government computers. There has been wide speculation for years that certain ultra-nationalist elements of the PLA have wanted to engage in "asymmetric warfare" against the US. Indeed, the military approach of the PLA has always contained a guerilla approach to combat against a larger enemy. This was deployed effectively during both the Chinese Civil War, against the Japanese (although a recent biog of Mao has cast doubt that the ...

Robert de Niro hunts terrorists

This week to follow up Baywatch in Birmingham and Bollywood at its best I would like to share this video of Robert de Niro hunting terrorists.

Friday 7th September 2007

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