LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Friday 1st February 2008

Sea Stores housing development set to go ahead after all

As we reported in September, the Sea Stores development was held up by a claim by previous owners of the land. The development of 250 homes is now back on the rails again after the claim was rejected. The Gazette gives more details of the Sea Stores claim here. Before the hold-up there had been consultations agreement on a "concept statement" setting out a general idea of what would go on the site. The next step will be for the government to find a buyer for the site and for the new owner to apply for outline and then detailed ...

Tea time on the train

Picture the scene. The buffet car on the National Express train heading north. Customer arrives. Asks for a cup of tea. "Milk and sugar sir" One milk, no sugar, replied the weary traveller who picked up one small carton of milk and dropped it into the bag that he will use to carry his cup back to his seat in coach E. At that point, the person serving him grabs a pile of paper napkins and a drink

Railway - Birds tree cutting to start in a fortnight

All the tress on the railway side of the fence are to be cut down With all the landslips, you may have wondered whether Network Rail had forgotten all about cutting the trees on the cutting from the Birds roads (Goldcrest Road, Robin Way) behind Chipping Sodbury school up towards Gaunts Road. However Network Rail tell us that the works are due to start on 18 February. As there is a fairly large area to attend to, it will take about a fortnight to complete.

Waiting restriction proposed to stop car sales at Rodford Way roundabout

South Glos has been consulting about a waiting restriction at the Rodford Way / Westerleigh Road roundabout, where residents have been complaining about vehicles parked for sale - it often looks more like a used car lot. The proposal is to restrict waiting to 2 hours in any 4 between 8am and 6pm, seven days a week. This should deter car sales but two hours might not be long enough for some people visiting the Common, maybe doing conservation work over there. Unfortunately people only knew about this if they saw the poster on site (see photo). South Glos didn't ...

Snow doubt about it

I had an email from David today. He had gone home early because heavy snow would make it difficult to get back from work if he left it any longer. But he does work in the wilds of Co Durham.Then I got an email from a Gateshead Council officer telling me it was snowing and I would be better staying in London! And tonight I got a text from Richard who is in north Wales rather than looking after the

So who decides the right way to staff an MPs office

In response to the scandal over Derek Conway’s employment of his son for doing no work, there have been understandable calls from some commentators to change the way parliamentary staff are employed and monitored. But what worries me about this discussion is that people appear to believe that there is one agreed way for [...]

Parliamentary Language

The link is to Greg Mulholland's comments in Hansard as to the nature of a Labour Minister. That was an interesting, effective and novel way of getting headlines. I tried once to use the word egregious in a parliamentary petition, but was told is was too intemperate. Labour MPs are trying to be sanctimonious about this at the moment. There is a good point that debate should be about debate

Targetting the vulnerable

Elected representatives (councillors, MPs) have recently noticed an increase in their postbag from parents claiming disability living allowance. It seems that allowances which have been paid without quibble for many years are now being abated or cut completely. This target-driven government has clearly set target reductions to each of its spending departments across the board, in an attempt to fill the huge hole in its finances. DWP has cut where it is easiest, which unfortunately means hitting those who are least able to fight back.

Crime prevention advice

Roseberry library, Redcar hosts a crime prevention surgery with PC Ian Solomon on Monday, February 4, from 2pm-3pm.

Busy Week!

Having spent the first part of the week in London with the day job, it has been exceptionally busy on return. Travelled via the new St Pancras International and (despite my dreadful photography attempt) you can see right that its a pretty impressive rail station. On return to Dundee on Wednesday, I chaired the regional transport partnership board (TACTRAN) meeting in Perth and later attended the City Councils Development Quality Forum at which the Depute Director of the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (what we used to call the Reporters Unit!) spoke. It was extremely informative. Yesterday, I attended ...

Everything you ever wanted to know about Taunton but were to afraid to ask

Greg Mulholland is wrong to call Ivan Lewis an arsehole

During the debate yesterday in which Greg Mulholland was heard to call Ivan Lewis an "arsehole", Ivan Lewis, refused to give way three times during a rant he was making against two Lib Dem MP's, thus refusing to allow the Lib Dems in question to refute his allegations against them. Ironically, Mr Lewis was at the time having a go at the politicisation of the debate (heaven forbid we she have politics in parliament), then he went on a party political rant himself. That's it Ivan, prove you are right by copying them, that'll show them ! the question is, ...

Its Friday, its 5 oclock and its Facebook!

Brian Paddicks campaign is having a Facebook Friday where existing Paddick supporters recruit more of the same. Its a novel approach certainly easier than handing out flyers at tube stations. And with Londons diverse and mobile electorate, using Facebook to get people to register to vote as well as to promote votes for Brian [...]

Screening Queens

Can I quickly plug the Screening Queens season at the Hyde Park Picture House ( www.hydeparkpicturehouse.co.uk ) which is part of Leeds Winter Pride (www.leedspride.co.uk ). The season runs 8th to the 13th of February. The programme is a little safe for my liking and some would say panders to sterotype. Though I'm sure of the choices are ment with Post Modern irony. Highlights I suspect will be Beautiful Thing ( I will cry if I go), A Taste of Honey ( brings back memories of my GCSE Drama course) and Drag Idol Leeds: The Movie. I haven't made the ...

Boris - the latest in a substantial recent Tory list of "sleaze"

First, there was news of Cameron breaking fundraising rules. Then, there was a donation to Cameron's constituency association in Witney which shouldn't have been accepted. Then George Osbourne had to admit that he received "£500,000 in secret donations". The Conservatives were forced to admit that they broke the law over a free flight for David Cameron. Then there was "£1.5 million - the cost of

Did Alastair Darling take a mortgage from Northern Rock during its alleged reckless phase

Private Eye asks these fascinating questions: When did Chancellor Darling become a Northern Wresk mortgage customer Darling made this surprise announcement as a declaration of interest when making an announcement about the government's support for the failed bank on 11 October. "My wife and I own a small flat in London which is presently let," he disclosed. This decalration had been made in

Was Greg Mulholland right to call Ivan Lewis an a******* Abso-bloody-lutely.

Well let the Daily Mail set the scene: The image of politicians has taken a further dive after a Liberal Democrat MP called a minister an “a***hole”. Greg Mulholland stormed out after making the remark during a fiery debate about the problems of funding hospices. The party health spokesman was furious after Labour frontbencher Ivan Lewis [...]

Take part in the Lib Dems online health policy Q&A this Tuesday

An email reaches The Voice from party chief exec MLord Chris Rennard, intended for all Lib Dem members, which were sure he wouldnt mind us further publicising Dear The Voice, The party’s spring conference will see a major debate on a set of new health policy proposals, which were published by the party’s health policy working group [...]

David Owen's work for Craig Murray's censor

The Guardian Diary today mentions something of which I was not previously aware - that Lord (David) Owen works as a consultant to Alisher Usmanov. (Usmanov, of course, made a short-lived attempt to silence Craig Murray.) You can judge a man by the company he keeps

Have you signed up to Brians Facebook Friday yet

So far the Lib Dems London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick has 648 supporters listed on his Facebook page, Brian Paddick - Serious About London. Not signed up yet Why not make today - officially Brian’s Facebook Friday - the day you do These bloggers have: Lynne Featherstone Will Howells - No Geek is an Island Colin Ross Mary Reid Duncan [...]

An odd kind of justice

A cyclist jumpts a red light, gets killed by a driver responding to a green light and who is to blame Apparently because the driver had sent a text a few seconds earlier, the court today found the driver to be at fault for the crash and she can now expect a prison sentence. This does seem an odd kind of justice. Let's be clear, the driver should not have been texting, but did it impair her ability to drive after she had sent the text It is debatable I am sure. But the point remains would the cyclist have ...

Spin before safety

Putting spin before safety, public relations consultants advising on controversial plans to cut frontline services. Has Alistair bloody Campbell returned to politics Click link for story.

Chris Huhne Targeted by Referendum Campaign

Voters in the LibDem marginal constituency of Eastleigh will be getting ballot papers through their doors soon, inviting them to respond to two questions: (1) Should the United Kingdom hold a referendum on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty: yes or no, and (2) Should the United Kingdom adopt the EU’s Lisbon Treaty: yes or no The [...]

Individualism, not collectivism, is the leitmotif

Scanning through the pages of my newspaper this afternoon I came across an article which confirmed what I had long suspected we are living in an era where individualism, not collectivism, has become the leitmotif, and the appeal of mass party membership is dying on its feet. And, here was the evidence to back it up. We all know about the drop in reported membership don't we We even know about the problem of group identification and the very low turnouts up and down the country. But did you know things are now getting so bad that there is even ...

Henry Conway's "F**k off I'm rich" party

The Guardian's G2 is taking a serious interest in Henry Conway, the son of Derek Conway MP. Yesterday they directed us to this fashion modelling web site which displays some remarkable photographs of the man. I have shown (left) a low resolution sample of one of the photos, with Henry wearing shorts and knee-high Paisley socks. It is a sight for sore eyes. Today, "Lost in Showbiz" in G2

Islamic extremists: David Cameron's foot-shooting habit

This is the second time that David Cameron has shot himself in the foot when calling for Islamic extremists to be banned or expelled: David Cameron was under fire yesterday after it emerged that the radical Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi had been admitted into the UK when the Tory leader was working in the Home Office. Cameron, at prime minister's question time on Wednesday, demanded that

Who runs Britain The super-rich and some other people

Interesting that it is the daily Telegraph (and not for example the Grauniad) that is serialising extracts from the book Who Runs Britain by Robert Peston. Parts are very relevant to the current uproars: When the going was good, investment bankers, hedge fund managers and partners in private-equity firms all did very nicely from the bonuses and the capital gains and the fees generated by the frenetic manufacturing of deal after deal after deal. Many of them are now paying a price for failing to understand the risks they were taking on. Don't weep for them. They have already extracted ...

WESTMINSTER NEEDS TO MOVE FROM 19th CENTURY TO 21st - CLEGG

I don't usually pedal out Lib Dem press releases here. People can get them elsewhere, and I don't want to be seen as the local "Al Jazeera". But this one has a strong local context... Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg today said he was urging all of the party's MPs to publish details of people working in their offices. Nick Clegg has published details of the staff working at his offices.

Red Ken caught Red Handed

About two weeks ago, during a particularly robust Today programme interview, Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, denied allegations that public servants at the Greater London Authority were forced asked to politically campaign on his behalf during office hours (he defended political campaigning outside of this time). Well, in today’s Times, comes this: Documents passed to The [...]

Bums and Willies! Now that Ive got your attention

Two MPs have recently been turning the controversy surrounding their decision to insult their opponents as a way of progressing their agenda. Daniel Hannan, an MEP who has achieved the remarkable distinction of managing to look even younger than his clearly low mental age, has implicitly compared one of his German colleagues to a Nazi and in the process used the publicity as a soapbox to advance the cause of swivel eyed lunacy: I would almost be tempted to compare it to the Ermächtigungsgesetz law of 1933 but I think that would be disproportionate and perhaps a little rude to ...

The Whiner of First Resort

According to the Financial Times (30 Jan 2008) in the face of the current financial uproar the USA is carrying out rather different policies than those the Washington Consensus economics insist on for every other country caught is a similar trap. The same voices that supported tough macroeconomic policies to deal with the excesses of spending and borrowing in east Asia, Russia and Latin America are today pushing for a significant relaxation in the US to deal with the so-called subprime crisis. Interest rates should be slashed quickly and $150bn put into taxpayers pockets by April at the latest, they ...

Impatient choice

Last night I was at the Civic Centre in Bexleyheath, along with about 300 other local residents, to witness a council scutiny committeee meeting about NHS reforms in the area. The main thrust of this was about the closure of Queen Mary's Sidcup Accident & Emergency and Maternity departments. The meeting started with a number of presentations in an attempt to persuade the audience that the

Brians Facebook Friday

Today is Brian’s Facebook Friday, during which supporters of Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrats’ candidate for Mayor of London, are being asked to sign up as fans on his Facebook page, and to encourage other Londoners on Facebook to do the same. Signing up as a supporter is a good way of keeping in touch with Brian’s campaign and of publicly showing your support - it also gives you a tasteful little Brian Paddick icon on your Facebook profile. If you want to see Brian elected Mayor of London in May and you haven’t done so already, please register as ...

Vote NO in elected mayor referendum in Bury

The petition submitted to Bury Council calling for a referendum on an elected mayor has been accepted and validated, and the vote will go ahead later in the year What this means is that people in Bury will vote, later in the year, whether they want to change to a system where we have a Directly Elected Mayor, instead of the current system. If thats what people vote for, it means an election would be held for an elected mayor of Bury, presumably next year. The Liberal Democrats in Bury are OPPOSED to us having an elected mayor. Heres why: We believe its ...

Kenya believe it's happening again!

Looking at the disaster that is Kenya, formerly one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Africa before as so often has happened one mans arrogance caused the society meltdown, I cant help recalling the Economists call a few years ago for a group of western countries to take over a plot of land in Africa 10 miles square and to run it in effect as a dictatorship. The dictatorship would have a functioning police force, judiciary, economy and would essentially offer that simplest of things, stability. The article speculated on how many people from surrounding countries would find ...

House Points: The Leicestershire eco town

My House Points column from today's Liberal Democrat News. Eco incongruity In Midland England W. G. Hoskins described eastern Leicestershire as a landscape of sharp hills, woodland, stone-built villages and many fine churches. The Stoughton Estate is good example of this. Defras website says it provides ideal walks and suggests you enjoy the pasture beside the River Sence. Stoughton has been owned by the Co-operative Wholesale Society since 1919. It had a dairy herd until the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001 and now grows wheat, oil seed rape and spring beans. It is also home to the Co-ops From ...

Jobs for the Boys

The supposedly shocking scandal of Derek Conway handing over tens of thousands of Pounds to his own family has certainly cheered up the nation. I mean, obviously the cash element is rather annoying, and one can only hope that he will be forced to pay back a bit more than the GBP 13,000 than has been his current sanction, together with his suspension from the House. However, who could resist the rather louche Henry Conway A totally unashamed hedonist, seemingly focussed only on the fripperies of life: parties, fashion and his boyfriends. I mean, we might have been able to ...

Sentenced to death for an interest in women's status

The greatest enemies of organised religion are those who feel uniquely qualified to interpret their sacred writings, usually imposing their interpretation with violence. Christianity and Judaism are not blameless, but few will contest that Islam currently carries the heaviest burden. Frank Little

Election Results: Thursday 31st January 2008

Calne TC, Lickhill LD Glenis Ansell 278 (35.1; +9.3), Con 256 (32.4; -7.7), UKIP 150 (19.0; -14.0), BNP 84 (10.6; +10.6), Green 23 (2.9; +2.9). Majority 22. Turnout 25%. LD gain from UKIP. Kennet DC, Upavon Con 218 (45.8; -14.5), UKIP 106 (22.3; -0.8), LD Fiona Hornby 87 (18.3; +1.7), Lab 38 (8.0; +8.0), Green 27 (5.7; +5.7). Majority 112. Turnout 31.4%. Con hold. Last fought 2007. North

Facebook Friday!

Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat London Mayoral Candidate is having a 'Facebook Friday' today - you can join in the fun at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Paddick/18639339800

Elected Mayor Referendum

The Prestwich and Whitefield Guide is now reporting that the petition submitted on an elected mayor has been accepted and validated and will go ahead later in the year (read full story). What this means is that people in Bury will vote, later in the year, whether they want to change to a system where we have a Directly Elected Mayor, instead of the current system. If that’s what people vote for, it means an election would be held for an elected mayor of Bury, presumably next year. The Liberal Democrats in Bury are OPPOSED to us having and ...

Stop The Traffik

Trafficking in Human Beings is a very clinical term for what is essentially modern slavery: the buying and selling of human beings for profit. Every year up to 120 000 women and children are brought into the European Union by people traffickers. Most are tricked into leaving their homes with promises of a better life. Some are simply abducted. All are destined for exploitation. Once here, they are forced into prostitution or used as a source of cheap labour by unscrupulous employers, in sectors ranging from domestic work to farming, manufacturing and construction. Many of these vulnerable people never see ...

Comprehensive Performance Assesment

On Wednesday I was interviewed by the Inspectors as part of Bury Council’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment. This is the inspection undertaken on behalf of Government to determine how the Council is performing. I was interviewed as one of the Opposition Party leaders on the Council. The inspectors will obviously ask different things to different people, with me as a Councillor they were particularly interested in discussing issues around the council’s decision making process, how we set our priorities and how we involve local people. Although obviously we’re in opposition in Bury, I had some good things to say about how ...

Elected Member Training Group 29 January 2008

On Tuesday I attended the meeting of the Council’s “Elected Member Development Group”, this is the group of councillors and council offers who meet to look at how we make sure that our councillors have the right training and support to carry out their work. There were a few items that were of note: Councillor Training and Development Plans We agreed to develop a system whereby each councillor would look at their own training and development needs, and develop this into a personal development plan. All very sensible, in fact so sensible that the Liberal Democrat group have been doing ...

If you want some material for a satire of Parliament, read on...

My office isnt anywhere near the office my staff use in Parliament. Not terribly convenient so, when the person in the office next to my staff moved out, I thought ah, why dont I see if I can swap my office with the now empty one Theyre pretty much the same, except one is next to my staff and the other is some way away. Simple, sensible, straight-forward Oh no, this is Parliament. Youd have thought Id asked for a whole new floor to be added to Portcullis House or something like that. One year on (yes one year!) this ...

Exclusive - Paddick Positive Publicity Beats Boris - The Stats

If you live in London and maybe if you live outside you cannot have missed the great volume of publicity being gained by Brian's Campaign. For the last 2 weeks Brian's media has beaten Boris's by a good margin. What follows is the listing of press and media hits for Brian in just 10 days. There have been positive comments and endorsements by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in the Indy, Suzanne Moore in The Mail, and Nirpal Dhaliwal in the Standard. 21/01/2008 Canna Zine 21/01/2008 Independent 21/01/2008 New Statesman 21/01/2008 Guardian 21/01/2008 Daily Star 21/01/2008 Pink News 21/01/2008 Guardian Unlimited 21/01/2008 Evening ...

London election news round-up

A variety of new stories for your delectation: Papers show Ken Livingstone used public servants in vote battle says The Times. They have solid looking email evidence that staff at the GLA were working on Ken Livingstone’s re-election campaign when they shouldn’t have been. The one who isn’t Ken or Boris: more from The Times, this time [...]

South Liverpool youth festival needs bands

Acts wanted for HUB The UK's biggest urban youth festival has launched a search for the best bands to star in one of the highlights of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture celebrations. HUB - the biggest free festival of its kind - annually takes place at Otterspool Promenade, Liverpool - and is expected to attract up to 20,000 people on 17-18 May. And event organisers are inviting the best musicians from indie to funk, rock to soul, hip-hop to metal to send in a demo which could see them starring on its live music stage. Successful bands will earn themselves ...

MP scores own goal

I am not a particularly great follower of football but I was rather struck by what I discovered that the Labour MP for my home constituency of Blaydon has done, in the name of the game. So here it is. On Monday, Mr David Anderson MP signed up to an early day motion (no. 756) which was actually sponsored by football mad Lib Dem Bob Russell MP. The EDM condemned the huge increase in the number of

Climate change events in Liverpool

A plug for events being organised by Liverpool Friends of the Earth this month. There is one next Saturday (the 9th) an another the following Saturday at the FACT Centre. Details posted below. Do come along to one or both if you can. SATURDAY 9 FEBRUARY from 11am Join The Big Ask On-Line March! In and around FACT Join Jude Law, KT Tunstall and your mates in a virtual march to act on climate change! A free filming session to place your own mini-blog on Friends of the Earth's climate website. Have your say log on see yourself! See www.thebigask.com ...

Squatter's right

The best of the current round of interviews with Martin Amis is Nick Cohen for Arena. The worst is Johann Hari in the Independent. Amis's cognitive dissonance seems to squat in the room... Seriously

Vulnerable children to be forced home

A story in the Independent today says the Home Office is talking about forcibly deporting asylum seekers who are under 18. In other words, forcibly putting children on planes to go back to war zones. We are not talking about a family group here - but children who are on their own. One of the most vulerable groups there can be. I am at a loss as to why the government is looking at this. Unaccompanied refugee minors are a tiny proportion of those seeking asylum. I remember when I worked at the Refugee Council the very special needs and ...

Serious about London

As I wrote last week, Brian Paddick's campaign to become Mayor of London has a real buzz about it. Londoners are increasingly wary of Red Ken and not at all happy at the prospect of being led by Boris, so awareness of Brian's principled approach is growing. Are you on Facebook If so, have a look at his page and join his list of supporters. If you have not yet...

Whose reality

The Guardian reports that disgraced Tory MP, Derek Conway has been suspended from the House of Commons for ten days for an offence that would surely have got anybody else sacked. Duncan Borrowman, the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup, has referred the matter to the police. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Guardian Marina Hyde speculates that Mr. Conway's son, Henry, may well end up on reality TV within six months. The worrying thing is we just know that she is not joking.

Standing in

Helped out at one of the councillors surgeries this week. It's a while since I have done this. when I lost my seat in May I went from doing two surgeries a week to doing none. At the time I had wondered about the efficiency of doing so many and of choosing those times. As more and more people prefer to get in touch by phone, letter and (increasingly) e mail, I had wondered whether there was in fact a decreasing demand for face to face surgeries. I actually started an analysis of the types of issues, numbers of people ...

Lembit lookalike

Jonathan Calder draws our attention to an article in the Powys County Times revealing "the only official Lembit Opik lookalike in the UK". Neil May lives in Leicester and first discovered his resemblance to the Montgomery MP during Lembit's courtship of Sian Lloyd. The paper reports: The only problem is Neil's never had a booking, the demand for a Lembit lookalike just doesn't seem to be there yet. "To be honest, this is the first phone call I have ever had," he told the County Times, "Maybe if he became leader of the Liberal Democrats or became more well known ...

Tees Heritage Park

It's almost a year now since the Friends of Tees Heritage Park had its formal launch and the idea has grown from the vision of a handful of dreamers to something being treated seriously by SBC officers, British Waterways and other august bodies. The idea of preserving and enhancing the river corridor from Yarm down to Stockton, opening it up to people to enjoy in a variety of ways is gathering

Dezza-gate

Picking up the Bexley Times this week was like "Three Jobs Bob" all over again! The on-line edition is here (well for this week). I get in there for reporting Dezza to the Police (page 3), blogger quote (page 3) and Bexley Pensioners Forum (Page 16)

Hello, good morning, and welcome

With those words from David Frost TVam fell on air 25 years ago today. I had spent the night before filming at the House of Commons - Doug Hoyle MP talking about Exocet missiles with political editor Andy Webb and picketing waterworkers in Hampton with reporter Anita Findlay. Anyway, those of us who were members of the 234 and who seen the emails, Facebook messages etc are meeting up in the

Petition to 'Stop the closure of village Post Offices'

In this weeks Somerset Gazette, Jeremy Browne MP wrote: In February the Government will announce which post offices will be closed in Somerset. The expectation is that one-in-five will shut. In the House of Commons I have been calling on Government Ministers to halt the closure programme. I am not saying that no post office anywhere should ever close. Communities change and adapt and so do the amenities that serve them. But we have already lost thousands of post offices over recent decades. Closing thousands more in the coming years will take the heart out of the comprehensive network. The ...

Commons Outburst

Greg Mulholland have said what most people have been wanting to say to the Labour government for the last few years. Reported here in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Mr Bean Dancing

A funny video of Mr Bean dancing.

Friday 1st February 2008

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