LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Tuesday 20th May 2008

A Good News Day

Aside from the disease and natural disaster, this looks pretty good, Y/Y? Abortion stays at the same limit, Rusty quits Who, lovely George Takei is getting married, and the gay Iranian dude has been granted asylum? All this, and Bush is issuing personal apologies (I assume they mean to a Korean, not a Koran, but they're excited, they're allowed a typo) and Obama's looking good too... I am dreaming, right? Oh well, I shall enjoy it while it lasts... ETA: with a nod to Unity at LC: (Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8OfKdOFR_c)

Doctor Who: Is that it?

I am taking my life in my hands - this is the Lib Dem blogosphere - but I have not been impressed by the recent series of Doctor Who. My problem is not so much the content as the format. When I was young the show was broadcast in four-past series. It would just be getting exciting, a Dalek would appear in the doorway and then there would be that wonderful music and you would have to wait a whole week before you found out what happened next. These days the whole thing has to be over in 45 minutes. ...

The QI vision of education

Dare to Know points us to an article from last week's Sunday Times by Tom Hodgkinson, the editor of The Idler. It quotes the prescription for education of John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, the authors of the QI books. I can take or leave the QI television programme, but this strikes me as spot on: One: play not workSchools should be resource centres, not prisons. Teachers should be returned to their original roles as facilitators, not bureaucrats or drillmasters. The more "work" resembles play - telling stories, making things - the more interested kids will become.Two: follow the chain of ...

The Clegg narrative in action

In a recent post, I discussed Nick Clegg's narrative. In today's Independent, he sets out his views on parliament. But his piece is wider than that and shows the narrative in action.

on the abortion limit

I agree with the Norfolk Blogger. Lies, damned lies and statistics. Listening to Nadine Dorries' speech just a short while ago in the House of Commons, I couldn't help but feel that most of her stats were simply plucked from thin air. When the Minister stood up to correct her on a statistic based around the number of GPs she seemed stunned, so overwhelmed by facts was she. Nadine Dorries did, however, raise one important point at the end of her speech. Given that Parliament last voted on this issue almost 20 years ago, and given that other elements of ...

My Local (Labour) MP is Fab

I talk a lot about national politics, but not as much about local. My local MP is standing down at the next election. I think this is a shame, because she's been a bloody good local MP, and stands for a lot of things that I believe in. She fought to stop VAT being added to motorcycle helmets, for example, and has been a strategic rebel in a number of votes where I have backed her view over the government's. So why am I posting about her today? She is doing a STERLING job of standing up for sense and ...

Islam and the use of force

Interesting panel discussion in Temple Church yesterday on the question Can moral or religious obligation ever justify the use of force inadmissible under secular law? - part of a series on "Islam in English law" set up as a response to the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent lecture on the recognition of religious law in the UK. The speakers were Abdullah Ahmed An-Na'im, who wrote one of the key texts on the module I've just finished, and Tariq Ramadan. Unsurprisingly to everyone except the chair of the panel (a former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia under Thatcher, whose experience of Wahhabism ...

Boulton & Co. talks up Lib Dem campaign in Crewe

Writing from Crewe on the Sky News Boulton & Co. blog, Niall Paterson says: The surprise for me was the confidence of the Lib Dems. They feel that there's been a real move to their candidate in the past couple of days, and insist they'll be challenging the Tories for the seat.

Prediction: Hugo award 2011

Steven Moffat to win Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form for the 2010 series of Doctor Who. It'll be a nice complement to his short form awards. You lot definitely liked the likely winner this year anyway. ETA: El Reg has managed to sum up my view of Rusty's term in office quite well, so here's a link.In other news, I am not well. Neither is SB—we've caught whatever bug Teh Shrub had last week. Consequently I'm barely reading entries and have no energy to comment much (or reply to a few comments). Normal service may be resumed if I can ...

A Bigger, Better Europe

When the European Union expanded in 2004 to take in eight former Communist states of central and eastern Europe, plus Cyprus and Malta, Eurosceptics hoped this would break the organisation apart. But as Professor Helen Wallace persuasively argued in the Charlemagne Lecture*, ‘A Bigger Europe — But Is It Better?’, at the Polish Embassy in [...]

The Youth of Today!

How often when we hear that phrase it's a sign of exasperation because the young people haven't behaved in the way which an older person expects. Last night was rather different, and a few preconceived ideas were shaken away. Some weeks ago young people from local secondary schools were consulted about what they thought of the Western Area (Preston, Eaglescliffe, Yarm, Kirklevington, Long Newton

Booklist 2008, part 21

29) Khaled Abou El Fadl, The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists (New York: HarperCollins 2007, ISBN 9780061189036). Explains the differences between what he calls puritan (extremist, mostly Wahhabi) and moderate Islam, how they came about, and what he thinks moderate Muslims and non-Muslims should be doing to combat the puritans. I reviewed one of his previous books here. This one is less scholarly (though still quite well referenced) and aimed at a more popular market. It's very readable, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick overview. I think you have to understand Wahhabism and ...

Is it Three Jobs Boris ?

I heard on Radio Five Live earlier that Boris Johnson was going to use money from his Telegraph article he writes to fund some promotion of "Classics" (Latin and Ancient Greek) in the capital. The thought struck me that Boris is Mayor of London, MP for Henley and also a writer for the Telegraph. Surely "Three Jobs Boris" has enough to do. So when will he resign his Henley seat ?

Charity Bungee jumping at the White Horse, 21st June

Well done to Jackie and Steve who are again trail blazing in the charity fund raising stakes. The have only gone and planned a bungee jumping event that will take place at their White Horse Pub at Shophouse Road, on Saturday 21st June, The event will take place between 4pm & 6pm and participants will plunge from a crane in the Car Park. I was asked if I would have a go to...

Recognition and respect

A recent study, led by Labour MP Quentin Davies, looking into ways to improve relations between the military and the public produced 40 recommendations. The move to end discrimination against officers wearing uniform will probably prove relatively uncontroversial as will proposals for a new public holiday and plans for local authorities to organise 'welcome home' parades. It is undoubtedly true that the armed forces do a difficult job that most of us could not comprehend doing and that this job deserves recognition whatever you may think of the actual tasks the government of the day asks them to perform. However, ...

Email newsletter

I have just done my monthly email newsletter to constituents. The circulation for this edition is about 900 homes and businesses. One of the articles is about a planning application to demolish a house in my ward and build five on the site instead. The road with the house is Grange Lane (though four of the five houses will be accessed through Grange Nook, a rather tiny street that currently has 6

King Blauds Pigs come to Twerton and Progress made at Southside.

Local Councillors from Twerton & Southdown Gerry Curran, Dine Romero and myself have sponsored the southside pig - part of the King Blaud's Pig public art project going on around Bath this summer. We have given the pig to the young people of Southside youth centre who have had help and advice in turning it into a work of art and it is now progressing very well indeed. It is...

Clegg sets out Lib Dem plans for fairer, greener taxation

Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg today called for tax cuts for low and middle-income earners after a decade of tax hikes and unprecedented public spending rises. During a speech to the Policy Exchange think-tank, Nick Clegg set out Lib Dem plans for radical and effective changes to the tax system that are will make Britain a fairer place where taxpayers’ money is spent more efficiently: � Nick Clegg criticised Labour for years of tax rises: “Over the course of eleven years of the Labour Government, we have seen National Insurance bumped up, Council Tax sky rocketing, stamp duty quadrupled, dozens ...

Celebration night at Whitehorse Twerton

I attended a very pleasant evening with residents of Cotswold View & the Hollow on Sunday evening celebrating the demise of the planning application that had blighted their lives for so long. I am pleased that the community has pulled together in a joint effort to overcome what must at one time seemed to be impossible odds. I t was good to see many people speaking together...

'Father figure' amendment defeated

An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill requiring those who want IVF treatment to have to provide a 'father figure' has been defeated in the first of tonight's contentious votes. The government won the vote quite comfortably by 292 votes to 217; a majority of 75. The view that children need a nuclear family to provide them with a stable upbringing and that this is the only way is one of the oldest prejudices in the book. Currently IVF clinics are instructed to consider the 'welfare' of a potential child where as now they will be need to ...

When you exaggerate or tell lies you've lost the argument

On the topic of abortion rights I am firmly of the opinion that as a man my rights have no real validity as it is a woman's choice whether she does or does not have a termination, so I will not be joining other bloggers in lecturing women on the issue. However, I take issue with Nadine Dorries, the Tory MP who is proposing that abortions from 20-24 weeks should be stopped. Her key argument, and she raises this over and over again on the radio and in other media, is that more and more premature babies are surviving prior ...

NEW POLL: Do you believe in term-limits?

This week, Boris Johnson announced his support for legislation which would limit the term of office of the elected London mayor to two terms of four years. Over at his Liberal England blog, Jonathan Calder applauds the move: This seems to me entirely sensible. In a perfect world all local councillors would be limited to two [...]

Gordon Brown kowtows to Oppresive Regimes

The Chinese government are little better than the Burmese Junta or Mugabe and his militia, yet Brown is snubbing the Dalai Lama by not having him as a guest at Downing Street - apparently it's ok for dictators or footballers, but not anyone the ch... Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Tory PPC for Taunton

It must be exhausting having to fight a General Election all year round, but if you're selected to run against an MP like Jeremy Browne you must need all the energy you can get. Attempting to persuade the voters of Taunton to oust their perfectly able and gifted MP must be a pretty arduous and draining task. Obviously not short of time or money, and most likely both, Mark Formosa runs surgeries in Taunton Deane and jumps on every bandwagon going spare, breaking a few rules and laws along the way. Constantly of scruffy appearance despite wearing suits and responsible ...

Evan Harris does well in Lesbian couple IVF debate

I sometimes worry about myself. For about an hour, I've been watching the House of Commons debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill and the amendment on "the need for...a father or male role model" in cases of lesbian couples applying for IVF treatment. It's quite absorbing. The health minister Dawn Primarollo, though spirited, managed to put all her thoughts through a "

Labour and Tories veto Lib Dem fixed-term elections bill

As we previously reported, Lib Dem MP David Howarth tabled a private members bill in the Commons last Friday which would have ended the Prime Minister's right to call a general election at a time of their choosing (ie, when they find themselves ahead in the polls, and/or when they can catch opposition parties on [...]

2 and a half cheers to California

In one way I’m glad that California will recognise gay marriage. As far as I’m concerned the state has no business discriminating between unions of heterosexuals and homosexuals. Civil partnerships are still discrimination, even whilst they are better than an outright ban. On the other hand, this simply reinforces the idea that marriage is something to [...]

Simon Hughes in Crewe and Nantwich

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao9tcjm6Ndc

There's good news and bad news, and news which could be either...

Good news: GRATS GEORGE!!! Nobody deserves a beautiful wedding more than you, mate. Bad News: OFFS you have GOT to be JOKING?! Have they learnt nothing whatsoever from all the recent data fiascos? Clearly not. Then again, maybe it's a late April Fool... Or maybe they announced this today in the hopes that it would be burying in all the noise about abortion... Could be either: Moffat is taking over from Rusty on Who. On the one hand, Moffat has written all of the best episodes of new Who, so even if he takes the show in a bad direction, ...

Nick Clegg starts to tell our story

Today, I have starting to see evidence of a real narrative being built up by Nick. As the Free Think Blog mentions, Nick has been all over the papers like a rash today. And in his article in The Independent at last creates a story that will resonate with voters! Hoo-bloody-ray!!! It has been some time since the bloggers interview of Nick Clegg that I attended; I have to be truth had other things on my mind since then and have struggled to give the interview and my write up of it the attention it deserves. However, as I sit ...

Nick's reform agenda for the Commons should be applauded, but why would we then need a second chamber?

Today’s Independent carries a very perceptive analysis by Nick Clegg�on what’s wrong with our democracy.��His suggestions for improving the character of the House of Commons with a fairer voting system, beefed up parliamentary committees and greater scrutiny of ministers and senior officials�should�be applauded by all democrats.�But it raises the�question; if these reforms were implemented, why�would [...]

Black & Ethnic Minority Women Councillors Task Force launched

I attended the reception last night at Admiralty House in Whitehall, to launch the Black and Ethnic Minority Women Councillor's Task Force, to which I have been appointed by Harriet Harman MP, Minister for Women & Equality. This is the extract from the press release: The taskforce will be chaired by Baroness Uddin, the first Muslim woman in the House of Lords and a prominent figure in the black and Asian community. Members will include councillors from across Britain, from all ethnicity's and political parties. Cllr Meral Ece from Islington is one of the first 14 members appointed to the ...

Abortion, Stem Cells, hybrid embryos and IVF

Parliament is undertaking a series of votes this week on 'ethical and moral' issues.

Couple of updates

A couple of updates on issues from earlier today :The bin collection for part of Seafield Lane finally got done this morning - a day late - thanks to badly parked cars causing an obstruction. What residents find really annoying is the vehicles don't belong to local residents. I'm pleased that, through the residents' parking consultation exercise - now underway - and proactive action by Home Scotland at this particular location (Home Scotland own the residents' car park here), there are steps in hand to resolve this sort of problem. Anyway, many thanks to the Waste Management Department for its ...

On the train to Crewe

Matt Withers picks up on Lembit Öpik's frustration with the train service between London and Crewe, which produced this memorable Early Day Motion: EDM 1612 THE 12.44 CREWE TO LONDON VIRGIN TRAIN 19.05.2008 Opik, Lembit That this House is appalled by the unreliable performance of the 12.44 Virgin Train service on 19th May from Crewe to London; condemns the failure of Virgin staff to warn customers of a potential delay prior to the departure of the train, rejects the notion that a signal failure exonerates them from responsibility to their customers; notes that this train was packed with hon. Members, ...

LATEST: Clegg 'unambiguously' denies Telegraph story regarding "hung parliament" support for the Tories

UPDATE, 20/5/08: Nick Clegg comprehensively denied that there was any truth at all in the Telegraph story at the Policy Exchange tax launch this lunchtime. Commenting on a thread on LibDem Voice, Andy Mayer wrote: "I've just come from Nick's tax launch speech at Policy Exchange where he addressed a question about this with the entirely unambiguous response that there was no truth at all in the

The Dalai Lama's visit

I can see no good reason why the Dalai Lama should not be met at 10 Downing Street, unless it is another example of Brown being a bottle-job. Even Bush met the Dalai Lama publicly!

10 famous... Estonians

As I am off to Tallinn once more, here is the latest in my series of 10 heroes from each country. Much harder to choose than usual... 1. Paul Keres- one of the greatest chess players- "unlucky, like my country" 2. Jaan Tonisson- Moral political figure in the foundation of Estonia & a great Liberal. 3. Arvo Part- Innovative and hypnotic composer. 4. Kristjan Paljusalu- Double Olympic Wrestling Gold Medalist. 5. Jaan Kross- Elegiac and powerful novelist 6. Jaan Kaaplinski- Poet of brevity and unusual imagery 7. Neeme Jarvi- Internationally renowned conductor 8. Lennart Meri- film maker, writer and President ...

on Conservative "policy"

The FT has quite interestingly listed all the Conservative party policy announcements, since David Cameron became pretender to the throne. It is an interesting array of policies, with a list of so called 'policy gaps' where the party has simply announced something, received the headline and neglected to put meat on the bone. Here are a few questions that I would like answered if any Tory commentator so wishes to, maybe even Dave 'web' Cameron, himself. That would be most helpful... On tax, why the over emphasis on married couples? What about 'hard working' single people, or do they not ...

HFE Bill again

Yesterday I voted generally against human hybrid embryos on the basis that currently research regulation is not working and I am hence concerned about pushing the boundaries of the law whilst research regulation is inadequate. I voted both (present abstention) on saviour siblings and to prevent a saviour sibling from being created to give an organ transplant. (the "regenerative" option). On

Signs of a disintegrating government, no.12

Yesterday it was Charles Clarke being talked up as about to challenge Gordon Brown for leadership of the Labour Party. Today it is Alan Milburn. Tomorrow, who knows? Perhaps Frank Field and Quentin Davies could launch a dream ticket.

Nick Clegg's Speech on the Liberal Democrat approach to taxation

Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg today called for tax cuts for low and middle-income earners after a decade of tax hikes and unprecedented public spending rises.

Big Brother is back

No not the television show, though I understand that we are shortly to have another series of that too, but the rather the Orwellian tendencies of the Government. This time it is a proposal by civil servants that a database be set up of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK. The worrying thing is that I can just see Ministers agreeing to it on the rather flimsy pretext that it is necessary to fight terrorism. I cannot think of a single one who might veto the idea as the barking mad proposal ...

Why won't the Blairs just go away?

Cherie Blair has been all over the papers for the last week with her book, does she not realise no one cares, and even less people care about her contraceptive equipment! The one interesting snippet from her book was she cast some doubt on the legality of the Iraq war.

Money released for M32 bus lane - but First doesn't want to run our buses up it

The Evening Post reports that the West of England Partnership bus route improvement money is now on the table. "Work can now start on a network of new priority bus lanes around the city, starting with one along the M32, to form the Greater Bristol Bus Network (GBBN). The West of England Partnership, made up of the four councils in the former Avon area, hopes to have the M32 bus lane complete by the time Cabot Circus opens in September." Just in time for the Yate and Sodbury buses not to run up it.

Big Brother

It seems almost inconceivable, but it might actually be true, The Home Office is proposing the creation of a gigantic database that would log every phone call, every e-mail and every website that is visited from Britain. The nominal excuse- as usual- is "to combat terrorism". However it represents a truly vast invasion of the privacy of British Citizens. It reflects a culture amongst some key elements of the security agencies and law enforcement officers that people are all guilty until proven innocent. This is the mindset that has already made the UK the most spied on free society in ...

A case of Tory over-regulation?

I’ve already said broadly what I have to say about the Tory’s dog whistle politics regarding the embryology bill (although apparently last night’s Dispatches put a particularly sinister spin on things). My favourite example of this now has to be the fact that, in order to stave off accusations that his amendment is homophobic, Iain Duncan Smith has changed the wording of his amendment so that in addition to IVF children needing a “father” they would need a “mother” as well. I don’t know how far he thinks the technology for test tube babies has advanced, but last time I ...

Classic Immigration Poll

Do you think the 2% accidentally bought the wrong paper? Thanks to Bob Shaw for pointing these results out.

Good news! You might not need to keep records of your emails any more...

… because the Government is thinking about keeping all the records for you. Yes indeed, the BBC brings the news that the Home Office is thinking of introducing a national database containing details of every email sent in the UK. Only a spoilsport would mention Big Brother, unnecessary surveillance, IT project failures, invasion of privacy, money being diverted from other more worth causes, risk of data being stolen, problems if there are any errors or any of that other stuff.

"Got some idiots in 'ere."

I was thinking last night about a viral video the party could make to highlight the stupidity of the tax system in the UK and Brown’s increase inability to deal with the situation. My thinking was along the line of a guy handing out money to some, getting it back off others, and then throwing an almighty huff when then don’t listen to his superior wisdom. and then it clicked, someone had already created such a character: Get the Flash Player to see this player. var s1 = new s1.addParam("allowfullscreen","true"); s1.addParam("allowscriptaccess","always"); s1.addVariable("javascriptid","n1"); s1.addVariable("shownavigation","true"); s1.addVariable("width","320"); s1.addVariable("height","260"); s1.addVariable("screencolor","0x000000"); s1.addVariable("autoscroll","true"); s1.addVariable("displayheight","240"); s1.addVariable("largecontrols","false"); ...

From Help the Aged ...

Dear Councillor Macpherson We're very grateful for your support of our Just Equal Treatment campaign over the past year, and keep a regular eye on your blog for updates you may receive following your letters to ministers. As the forthcoming Equality Bill looms closer, we're intensifying our campaign, and have launched a viral video to highlight just how ridiculous leaving ageism legal would be. I hope you find it amusing, but more importantly, a powerful statement on how much we need to move forward. You can find the video by clicking on headline above, and to accompany this we are ...

Conservatives dodging tough questions on the economy - Cable

Commenting on David Cameron's 'Living within our means' tax speech, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "David Cameron's vision for the UK economy is just an empty shell. "The Conservatives' attempts to make a virtue of having no policies will not convince anyone. "You cannot simply claim you will make Government more efficient and improve public services without offering any concrete solutions for how you will do it. "In reality, to reduce taxes and make government more efficient, tough choices about all areas of government spending must be made. "David Cameron insists on talking about sharing the proceeds of ...

Eco Towns and patronage: stuffing the panel?

According to the Government's recent consultation paper 'Eco-towns: Living a greener future' the purpose of the 'independent' Eco-towns Challenge Panel is to "challenge and advise schemes on their environmental proposals and their effectiveness". Why is it that "declarations of political activities are not required" by members of the panel, as Housing Minister Caroline Flint revealed yesterday in the Commons. Is it not possible that the committee might challenge some bidders more than others if it so wished? Mrs Flint also revealed that members of the Panel will be paid £350 a day. The Panel's members have been appointed by Caroline ...

Government has no new ideas on empowerment - Goldsworthy

Last week, Hazel Blears made a nod towards localism, by outlining plans to give people the right to trigger action on local issues. Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: "This is a real example of 'do as I say not do as I do' from the Government. There is nothing here to suggest that we will cease to be the most centralised state in Europe. "Many councils are already forging ahead in empowering communities and today's proposals are not new ideas. "Liberal Democrat councils in Birmingham and Eastleigh already hand over budgets and decisions to ...

Clegg coverage explodes

George Bridges has unfortunate timing.� The former Senior Conservative staffer writes in The Telegraph today criticising the Lib Dem leader for failing to make an impression on the press in his piece 'Nick Clegg is about to get squeezed out'.Unfortunately, that piece has appeared on the same day that Clegg has managed to get a raft of stories across a range of papers.Firstly, The Guardian, Telegraph and Sun cover his Afghanistan visit - mostly because of the rocket fire that came his way whilst there.Secondly, there's a poll in The Guardian that puts the gap separating Labour and the Lib ...

Parliament is little more than a bizarre theme park

Nick Clegg has an op-ed piece in today’s Independent: Politics is in deep trouble. The vast power of the Government has reduced Parliament to little more than a bizarre theme park - and voters have lost faith with a system that doesn’t represent them. Reflecting on his first five months as Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg [...]

Gordon Brown leaves Treasury, stress levels drop

An interesting graph from Guido Fawkes today.

The Orwellian Nightmare Draws Closer

When one has been away from blogging for a while, it’s often hard to know where to start. However, news today that Britain is likely to take another step towards George Orwell’s famous nightmare horrifies me. If you haven’t seen the news yet, check out the BBC website or The Times online. The upshot is that the government will now consider setting up a database containing details of every telephone call you make and every email you send. Not only that, they also want details of all of your internet activity. Am I alone in finding this somewhat sinister? Of ...

More pressure on the One Wales' Agreement?

Unrest amongst Labour activists about working with Plaid Cymru has come to a head in this morning's Western Mail in which a number accuse the nationalists of ganging up on Wales' premier party following the local council elections a few weeks ago. Their beef is that the rapprochement reached in the Assembly does not appear to have been reproduced in the vast majority of Welsh local authorities where voters, for whatever reason, sent Labour away with a flea in their ear on 1 May. The paper records that in Cardiff, Plaid has entered a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, while ...

Being Mill's Marilyn Monroe

Happy birthday to you, *batters eyelids* Happy birthday to youuuuuu, Happy *brief, almost sexual pause for breath and little gasp* biiirthday dear JS Mill. Happy birrrthday ... to ... *flirtatious eye contact* ... you. Hip hip hooray! John Stuart Mill - 202 years old today.

The 20 week amendment

Today sees the debate on 20 or 24 weeks being the upper limit for abortions. While the Tory MP for Mid Beds has been a driving force on this amendment, I have to ask what this amendment will achieve. Looking at the statistics for abortions between 20 and 24 weeks 2% or 2,812 abortions took place last year. Of those abortions 2036 were for reasons excluded by her amendment. That leaves...

URGENT - Conference Motion: Unfinished business

As many of you will know, tomorrow at noon is the deadline for conference motions for autumn Federal conference. I've been a bit behind the game recently, but would like to submit the following motion. If you are a conference rep and feel you can support this (I'll accept friendly amendments too - via the comments if you like) could I ask you to let me have your details (email address, name, membership number and local constituency) as soon as possible. I need nine more before tomorrow - it is being circulated in other forums as well though. Unfinished business: ...

Clegg to outline tax policy shift

This is interesting. It seems almost the same as David Cameron's big fuss about tax yesterday, but I am sure it will distinctly liberal. BBC Online reports: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is expected to mark a party policy shift by signalling his intention to cut tax for low and middle income families. In a speech in London, it is thought he will explain plans to crack down on tax avoidance

Clegg outlines democratic reform needs

In the Independent Nick Clegg draws together his views on reform of the democratic system. In an engaging article which starts with how he was rapped for breaking parliamnetary rules recently for holding up a Gurkhas medal, he concludes: ...Parliament itself must be transformed. A fully elected House of Lords, of course. A cut in the number of MPs by a third. Powers for MPs to vet and, with

Sensible words from Obama

Despite some serious misgivings about Obama’s economics and some of his domestic policy, I think he’s rapidly becoming my preferred candidate. This is largely to do with his foreign policy. McCain and Clinton are both militaristic in outlook. They are concerned with perception of strength and the use of force. Obama on the other hand appears more [...]

Why every household needs a man

There is, of course, an imminent debate about whether same-sex female couples should have a man 'about the house' before they have IVF treatment. Despite my previous post on this, I have now changed my mind and, based on my years of experience as the sole male in a household with two females, I am solidly of the view that every household needs a man. Here are the reasons a man is needed: 1.

Bevan and Thatcher in the Senedd

These are the artworks that are causing so much controversy at the moment. The portraits of Margaret Thatcher and Aneurin Bevan have been erected in the Senedd so as to provoke debate. When I first saw it I thought that the Aneurin Bevan portrait looked a bit like Max Boyce. Now, I am not so sure.

Government Phone and Email Database Considered: Old joke alert

The Times has the full story about this absurd plan.

Eurovision semi-finals part 1 tonight

On BBC3, at 8pm. You can listen to the entries here. One blogger’s helpful guide to the entries is here. There is at least one turkey as well as one from Turkey. Enjoy….

Is Nick doing a secret deal with the Tories?

"Nick Clegg will back Tories in hung parliament." You might not think this is a highly controversial sentence to write in a Tory newspaper...but according to various Lib Dem members on Lib Dem Blogs and Lib Dem Voice, it's time to panic. There is a lot we don't know about the political future, but it doesn't take someone with an MA in politics to tell you the Tories have risen from the subs bench and are back in play. It also doesn't take much to work out that it would raise our profile if we flirted outrageously with the party ...

At home with George Orwell

I have posted before about the shop in South End green where George Orwell worked - well of course, if he worked there - he must probably have lived nearby? And sure enough up on Parliament Hill is the answer... This house right at the top of the road is the house - currently a multi-occ house. it got me thinking about what it was like when orwell lived there - was it a student house, rented to 6-8 people who didn't really know each other, who just perched here in one of london's many student houses... he would have ...

Eurovision '08 first semi-final

Just a reminder to folk to watch BBC at 8 where the first 19 songs are shown to be whittled down to 10 by televote. My scoring is in brackets. This is my cut-out and keep guide: 1. Montenegro - good opener - standard Montenegrin chug-along rock pop fayre by the guy who represented them last year. [...]

According to the god squad, I'm a Satanist

Tonight's Dispatches programme on Channel 4 looked at the growth of the Christian fundamentalist movement in the UK. I'm always a bit wary of Dispatches, having seen the hatchet jobs they've done on other subjects and I'm sure the producers of the programme sought out the most objectionable religious nutters they could find for this one. Yet, there was something very disturbing about watching five and six year olds being brainwashed by creationist theory at a state funded, fundamentalist faith school. And the attempt by the Headteacher to defend the school's science tests which included questions on how many days ...

Labour's 5 Point Lead... Over the Lib Dems

So there's a new Guardian ICM poll out today. (I know, I know, one single poll does not a trend make... still). It makes some interesting reading for Lib Dems, not only because Labour support has dropped sharply, but because comparatively little of it has gone to the Tories. Look: Worth noting also this from the Guardian's story on it: Voters are moving away from Labour to a range

Day 2694: DOCTOR WHO: The Unicorn and the Wasp

Saturday: The moving FLUFFY FOOT writes, and having writ moves on... I say whodunit is DADDY RICHARD with the DOCTOR WHO REVIEW on the JUBILEE LINE! Here's the Evidence {Posted by Picasa} As charming, whimsical and entirely flyaway as one of Lady Eddison's picnics on the summer lawn, this was an absolutely topping way to while away a warm summer's evening*. One part pitch-perfect period costume-drama with sparkling cast and sumptuous setting; one part rollicking Doctor Who monster chase, and what a monster; one part laugh-out-loud black comedy... one thing that it wasn't, of course, was an Agatha Christie mystery. ...

Tuesday 20th May 2008

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