Hat tip to ConservativeHome who highlight an Ipsos MORI poll that shows Lib Dems, leaderless, up two points from our nadir at 13%. Which begs the question; perhaps we should fill the vacancy until and unless it starts to fall again...:) Labour 1% ahead in MORI poll tomorrow: {Ipsos} 
Sat blogging watching the Top of The Pops 2 Halloween special. I presume it is a repeat. Just seen the Witch's Promise by Jethro Tull introduced as "classic black and white footage". Problem is, as an old Tull fan, I had seen the clip before. And here it is, in glorious colour:
Today I did something I don’t often do, and for reasons I won’t bore you with, bought the Daily Telegraph. And flicking through it searching for what I was looking for, I was delighted to find a large photograph and interview with Mr Clegg taking up most of one of its pages. It’s generally a positive interview and the journalist, Rachel Sylvester, runs through with Nick his views on quite a wide range of major policy issues, from tax levels to drugs reclassification and employment rights. Personally I was particularly pleased to see him going strong again on what for ...
The Tory nick our policies, Labour steal our policies and now the SNP does it. It's funny how the other parties deride us but are very happy to introduce Lib Dem policies.
I resolved not to make up my mind on the leadership contest until after nominations close, because one shouldn't be hasty (as an Ent would say) but it is constantly on my mind because the politics of the future are not just going to be about party "positioning" (that ghastly word) but about averting disaster, and our party could be crucial in forcing through big changes. Today I was musing on the training I once received in good recruitment practice. First you define the qualities required for the job and then you look at the candidate's track record, which is ... 
I've been in London for most of the last 36 hours (of which I will write more later in the week about my observation on London), and as usual with my trips, I managed to bump in to a celebrity. When we went to Amsterdam a couple of years ago we saw Noel Gallagher (from Oasis ) and the guy who plays Mickey Miller in Eastenders. Then we went to London last year and saw Betty Boothroyd. A year ago this week we went to Blackpool and saw Russell Brand at a motorway services station off the M6 toll road ...
This week there was news on the Government's trials of allowing cars to drive on motorway hard shoulders. Seems they all thought it was a splendid idea. Nich Starling (Norfolk Blogger) posted about this a bit more promptly than I'm doing. We basically have the same point - emergency service access will be pretty difficult with all lanes and the hard shoulder clogged up with traffic. It can be hard enough for police and ambulances getting up and down the M6 when there's a traffic jam normally, with the occasional broken down car in the hard shoulder making progress difficult. ...
At the start of the leadership campaign I setup the Facebook group - Lib Dem leadership - my first preference is up for grabs. But now my mind is made up. Both candidates would make good leaders. The real decider for me is that Chris has, at last, started putting the emphasis onto the environment. His newly redesigned website, where I am now in the list of supporters, has one paragraph that sums
Well, I've now made my mind up following the leadership hustings. Chris gave by far the better hustings speech in my opinion. He was talking to us in the audience. I felt that Nick was speaking the camera much more. Clear blue water is also starting to appear between the two of them, today Chris was entirely clear on his position on Trident, while Nick fell back on our current policy position. Chris also gave by far the better answer to my question, while Nick pretended not to understand it (ie what do you mean by "breaking the mould..."). Chris ...
A few more pictures Mummy (of the kittens) is tired. The babysitter (is actually only 6 months old) More babysitting (actually about a week ago - kittens grow quickly) Lord and Lady Mayor plus two members of the leaders office at the coffee morning for breast cancer. It is difficult to fully comprehend James North's attention to detail. A pink tie and pink braces are visible, but he does
A very busy day today with many of my party colleagues converging in Dundee for a regional party meeting (and my colleague Alison McInnes MSP visiting the Barnardo's shop today in Reform Street to help promote the excellent work Barnardo's undertakes for children). Despite a hectic day, I did manage to briefly pop-in to St Peter's Free Church Hall this morning to wish the Friends of Magdalen Green every success with their coffee morning today (see above right). Having had a call from Sheila, their Chairperson, tonight, I am delighted to say that the Coffee Morning raised in excess of ...
Just back from Rugby for the first official leadership hustings. I have decided to focus on the answers candidates gave to questions, as the contents of their speeches are already well known. Bearing in mind my preferred candidate, I may have inadvertently got distracted from time to time when Chris was speaking, but have picked up as much as I can. Q about what candidates would do in their first 100 days Chris wanted to get the message of fairer, greener, less centralised across. Show that as a party we were more ambitious, not a 3rd party but a 1st ...
Nick Clegg still gets my vote following today’s leadership hustings in Rugby. But what today showed me is we have two candidates perfectly capable of taking our party forward. Nick and Chris agreed with each other far too much for my liking, although I suppose this highlights the unity and stability that Ming worked so hard to provide us with. Chris pulled off an excellent speech, but I can’t help wonder that although his style clearly has a lot of support amongst the membership, will it get our message across to the wider electorate? This for me is what clinches ...
(Hat-tips to Jonathan Calder and Andy Mayer.) As the BBC reports, Parliament’s standards watchdog has said an MP who inserted a quote from herself into an Electoral Commission press release had been “unwise”. Sir Philip Mawer revealed in his annual report the unnamed MP then e-mailed the doctored press release on to the media as if [...]
Does anyone know who is behind this http://www.westphalia-on-sea.blogspot.com/ It's spookily good.
Daylight hours on Thursday were almost entirely taken up by a training session on the new Code of Conduct for Councillors and what will happen if we are accused of breaching the code - scary in parts, it has to be said. I always try to sit in on Cabinet meetings to hear what's being said and to ask questions or make points if appropriate before the decision is taken by the Cabinet. On Thursday I
I was surprisingly impressed by Jack Straw's lecture in Cambridge on Thursday evening (video/audio and a transcript are available). On the whole, it was relatively balanced and academic, largely endorsing the Human Rights Act. But it did stray into the overtly political towards the end: Mr Straw criticised the Tories for their misunderstanding of the margin of appreciation as far as it relates to the application of the ECHR, and their willingness to withdraw from the Convention. He emphasised that the HRA would continue to be the minimum standard applicable domestically even when the new Bill of Rights is introduced, ...
I'm going with the general consensus (not often you'll hear me say that!). I'll be voting for Nick Clegg, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Clegg is the better presenter, and that's what counts. I am far from convinced that Chris Huhne, whilst holding policy positions closer to my heart all round, will be the best person to raise the public profile and standing of the party.
Today the Leadership Hustings took place at the West Midlands Regional Conference, many readers will note I have been strangely quiet on the subject of the Leadership - this is due to Party rules have gagged me! I am not allowed to express an opinion on my favoured candidate!
Rugby hustings... and at last a couple of subjects that seem to differ between the candidates. As coat-trailed in the David Steel endorsement, Chris Huhne raised the question of 'Trident Renewal' in the context of the huge demands on the armed forces, their equipment, the tasks we ask of them and the welfare of our service people. His statement that we have to question whether spending billions on Trident is the best way to spend our defence money provoked the only round of applause for either candidate in the middle of their set speeches. Nick Clegg (who spoke first) did ...
Any thoughts that the expected departure of Gus Poyet to Spurs would have a negative effect on Leeds United were dispelled when David Prutton fired in from outside the box on 37 minutes. The Lions had a goal disallowed after three minutes and had looked the better side early on. Three more United goals early in the second half had the largest home crowd of the season (30,319) in raptures. Jermaine Beckford got his first goal in October on 53 minutes, then a brace from Jonathon Douglas (57 and 60 minutes) seemed to put the game out of Millwall's reach. ...
Guys could we break the mould on 'Breaking The Mould'? Find a less moldy metaphor to cheer us all up. Not that I am objecting to the idea, mind, just that for some of us the phrase is a smelly bit of rhetoric from the less successful days of The Alliance. A random thought from the Rugby leadership hustings...
Following Rachel Pullen's story being public I have been contacted by more people who are being messed about by the system. In essence the "experts" generally avoid being held to account. The story in the Daily Mail continues another of those examples.
Daily Referendum says: The bookmakers are reporting a rush of bets on poor old Dougie to be axed as Brown's scapegoat. It seems Alexander is going to carry the can for both the general and Scottish election fiasco's. I don't know. You carry Brown's bags for years and then the moment a scapegoat is needed you get the chop. Poor fellow. You could almost feel sorry for him. 
I am my own worst enemy at times. Neighbourhood Improvement Plans ( NIPS) are a sub Blairite piece of trash from the Department of Communities and Local Government. When our Area Mangement office drafted one up for my ward without consulting (a) any councillors (b) anyone that actually lived there I should have let them get on with it. These things make someone somewhere feel like they are doing something and it would have gathered dust on shelves where most Council strategies lay to rest. However annoying as I can be I have insisted on a residents imput and after ...
I have written to the Prime Ministers of Japan, Malaysia and India urging them to make their economic relationship with Sudan dependant on Sudan's full commitment to peace and security for the people ...
In this week's Economist: (click to enlarge)
I don’t know whether this would really work well in any British town or City, or even if it can already be found anywhere in the UK, but I thought it is a great idea, and one that maybe a councilor in a small city might like to think about. La Nuit des Museés, Museum Night, is an annual festival of sorts found in a number of European cities (although I am detailing the one in Lausanne, Switzerland here, others might work differently). The concept is quite simple. All the museums in the city are open to the public, from ...
Hook Library in the Hook Centre has just won a national Public Library Buildings Award 2007. It came first in the category 'Heart of the Community'. This is specifically for new or refurbished libraries that have been designed to provide "new, inclusive, innovative services to the whole community". Fantastic news, and well deserved! Congratulations to all the staff...
Just looking at the top ten paperbacks in WH Smiths tells us more about the British psyche than any number of essays. Five of the rop ten books are all 'confessions of a . . . ' books about city girls in London sleeping around. I am no prude, but he this is the state of modern literature and of the British psyche, we are in a bit of a state !
So here’s the problem: several political discussion sites, like Lib Dem Voice, have a problem with anonymous postings by people who are not in fact who they claim to be. Agents provocateurs from other parties, for example, can and do use either an ‘anonymous’ label or a pseudonym to kick debates off in a particular direction for their own purposes. Whenever the debate gets particularly bad, a moderator of the site will threaten to reveal the IP addresses of those who have posted - effectively removing their anonymity, by revealing the unique address of the computer which posted the comment. ...
Chris2Win has had a superficial facelift. Gone is 45 degree dynamic business Chris. Welcome fully vertical, tie off happy friendly Chris. Bye bye Yellow. Hello Green. This makes sense, of course - he’s adapting his image to more accurately tie in with the perceptions of his supporters. I notice, also, he’s using his website to publish the name of the 279 people who’ve got themselves on his mailing list. To me this seems like a bit of a gross invasion of privacy. Did these people know that this might happen? I am essentially running a blog stunt that reproduces the ...
Prepared by the White House in the event that Armstrong and Aldrin couldn't return from the moon in 1969: Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice. These two men
Thanks to An Englishman's Castle for highlighting this from the Telegraph: A man has been placed on the sex offenders’ register after being caught trying to have sex with a bicycle. Robert Stewart was discovered in his room by two cleaners at the Aberley House Hostel in Ayr, south west Scotland, in October last year. On Wednesday Mr Stewart admitted to sexual breach of the peace in Ayr
As if it isn't bad enough that our kids in Haringey are getting £736 less per head than kids in neighbouring boroughs for schooling, this week we found out that our schools are in financial crisis - with questioning from Lib Dem councillors bringing to light figures figures showing that 19 Haringey schools will end the year in debt totalling over £1.5m. To add insult to injury - the Government is about to try and claw back 5% of any school's surplus (so any that aren't in debt will be hammered anyway for prudence). David Laws, Lib Dem Schools Spokesperson, ...
Got an email from the police who want to amplify the call to be careful about thefts from vehicle. Apparently at the moment Haringey is experiencing an increase in theft from vehicles and Sat Nav theft is still a huge problem, with people leaving their cradles visible. Advice on sensible precautions to take is available from the Home Office's website. Be safe - not sorry - that's my tag line!
I have been observing the Yorkshire and Humber Euro Selection with bewildered amusement. On balance I don't regret my decsion not to run. Its clearly an inordinate amount of time and effort which I don't have although I'd like to think I might have spiced things up a bit and added to the gaiety of nations. The basic problem is the God forsaken electoral system that Jack Straw lumbered us with. If you are trying to appeal to 5000 to 6000 ( who over whelmingly don't care) who have never heard of you across a region the size of a ...
The Mayor recently announced a £15 million injection for 9 further education colleges in London that were facing sharp cuts in funding for English as a Second Language courses. The announcement in May 2007 shores up provision and does not provide extra ESOL spaces in these colleges even though need has dramatically increased due to the migration of communities like the Somali, Turkish Speaking and Eastern European groups. I have investigated and talked to ESOL providers in the last 4 weeks. I found severe shortages in some areas and further Government pressures by the introduction of heavy fees to cover ...
Interesting to see that Radio 5 Live is losing listeners on a big scale. It was reported yesterday that its audience has fallen to its lowest level for seven years. Over that period it has lost more than 1.2 million listeners. I must confess that I am one of those lost listeners. Originally, and I suppose we are talking about 10 years ago, I got so fed up with the confrontational style of the Today programme on Radio 4 (yes, John Humphries) that I willingly switched to the new station, especially as sport played a big part. But something has ...
One of the (few) specific claims Melanie Phillips made about drugs on the Moral Maze was that "75% of parents who kill their children are cocaine users". Now, apart from what I call the "Ribena effect" (their advertising claims that 98% of British blackberries are used to make Ribena in a way that implies that Ribena is 98% blackberries. It's not), there are so many qualifiers that you'd need to add to this statement to make it meaningful: 1. Just how many parents have killed their children in the UK in the last, ooh, 50 years? If it's less than ...
The notion that the government should get out of the business of providing education and instead grant vouchers to parents to spend on schooling their children where they like is a notion that I instinctively agree with, but on further reflection, I think that there are some important caveats that need to be made on such a position in order for such a proposal to actually work. Here's a thought experiment: Imagine that we have vouchers and that therefore parents can spend their vouchers and contribute their own funds on top of the vouchers. I presume that this is traditionally ...
Paul Walter, who writes the Liberal Burblings blog which was shortlisted for Lib Dem blog of the year 2007, has ended his undecided status and now backs Chris for the leadership.
I met a Dane once who introduced me to a new salutation. Every time somebody called for a toast he would raise his glass and say “To world peace and lower taxes”. Recently this had me thinking. There are people in the world who claim to want higher taxes, but nobody really does. That might seem an odd statement at first (especially if you are Dr. Evan Harris). People constantly call for increases in taxation. The Liberal Democrats themselves called for an extra penny in the pound to pay for education! But this confuses means and ends. Nobody wants higher ...
James Graham asks where TeamClegg got the distribution list which they used to invite all and sundry to join their supporters list earlier this week. (Richard Allan has now apologised for this). It is an excellent question and one which is answered in the script of the mail which I received: "Welcome to teamclegg@lists.libdems.org.uk. You are signed up using the email address paulwalteruk
Like many people who were away in August, when he died, I was glad to discover that a thanksgiving service for Tim’s life is being held on 30th November. I haven’t seen it publicised it elsewhere so, with Sue’s permission, I am posting details of it here - and please do pass on the information [...]
In March I noted that there are three villages that claim to be the resting place of St Wystan: Wistow in Leicestershire, Wistanstow in Shropshire and Wistow in Cambridgeshire. Now English Buildings has suggested a fourth site for his burial. Writing of St Wystan's church at Repton in Derbyshire, the blog says: It’s quite unusual for a parish church to have a crypt. You usually find these underground spaces beneath large cathedrals, where they housed sacred items such as the remains of saints. Parish churches didn’t often run to such precious relics, but monasteries sometimes did, and the church at ...
Today's Story of the Day comes from the Daily Telegraph: A man has been placed on the sex offenders’ register after being caught trying to have sex with a bicycle.
Over at The Daily (Maybe), a Green blog, two Lib Dem bloggers take the campaign outside the party and explain why they’re backing their choice for party leader. Making the case for Chris is Jock Coats.
News reaches me of moves at long last by Lib Dem led Oxford City Council to get more private sector landlords' properties licensed to ensure a basic decent standard: BBC NEWS | England | Oxfordshire | Licence plan for more landlords: There is a "widespread" problem of sub-standard conditions in rental properties across Oxford city, a councillor claims. With more than 1,000 complaints last year Councillor Patrick Murray wants more residences licensed. This is something I fought for not far shy of ten years ago now when I was on the council. In some predominantly student areas of other cities ...
Friday: I am the Leader MASTER of the Liberal Democrats… {Posted by Picasa} …and you will obey me! (Please!) PSA Happy Anniversary to my Daddies Alex and Richard! | < | October 2007 | > | ||||
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