One day I will learn how to actually embed the Sky.Com News videos into my blog, but for the time being you can find my little slot on Sky.Com News this evening here. We talked about the power of the blogosphere versus how political parties attempt to control the media, UFOs, a comparative analysis of redundancy costs, The particle accelerator breaking down and Brad Pitt spreading malware. It was short but sweet!!
No not that one - the one between Ros and Lembit. I like both websites and am still a little unsure as to `what the President does every day`. Ros - upsides - Seems to WANT it! Seems a pleasant person on the vid! Paddy likes her! Seems to think its about `connecting the dots`. Isn't an [...]
Liberal Democrat bloggers may have in the past given the impression that they consider American pollster Frank Luntz as a wholly inappropriate person to be used by the BBC because of his clear right-wing bias. In fact we now realise that Mr Luntz is a wholly impartial expert, with an unrivalled insight into the popular appeal of political leaders.
Ceredigion's Welsh Lib Dem MP Mark Williams has congratulated Trefechan resident Martin Shewring on winning the Aberystwyth Rheidol Town Council by-election for the Welsh Liberal Democrats. Martin Shewring, a local businessman and resident in Trefechan, won the by-election contest ahead of Plaid Cymru's Sandra Oliver by 243 votes to 167. After the result, Martin Shewring said: "I'm delighted to have won a seat on the Town Council and would like to sincerely thank everyone who came out and voted for me in this by-election. I enjoyed going around the door-steps and talking to residents about their day-to-day conccerns. The greatest ...
It has become clear to me this week that I am not actually very good at anything. And this disturbs me somewhat. When I was at school I was never really very accomplished at art. Or science. Or sport. I wasn't awful at them, I just wasn't very good. I could kick a football, a skill which foxed some people. I just couldn't kick it in the direction I intended. And I could more or less get through a biology class, even if on occasion I muddled my fallopian tubes with my umbilical cord rather more than I am comfortable ...
Oh dear. So I complain to Abbey about them breaking their own rules by taking too long to respond to my original complaint along with a range of absurdities, including one of their complaints departments refusing to take phone calls from another of their complaints departments (best not think about the internal politics going on there). And what do they do? Yes, they break their own rules again by once again failing to respond within their own deadlines. I think they have too much irony in the water at Abbey HQ.
Conference is over and the queues for the terminals provided by Microsoft proved just too much of a barrier to blogging while there. Standing in a queue in order to stand at a terminal was not my idea of relaxation so it was a case of doing a quick check of emails and then handing over to the next person. Suffice to say that the debates were very high quality, as they always are at our
According to the South Shropshire Journal: Ludlow Town Council is the most complained-about authority in the county, according to figures released by standards committees across Shropshire.In south Shropshire, there have been 20 complaints about breaches of the councillors' code of conduct since May this year, when a new system for reporting breaches came into force.Fifteen of the complaints were made about Ludlow Town councillors.Earlier postings on this blog will show you why.
Today I have had the great privilege of being a judge in the Children and Young People's Services Awards. It was inspirational, and although I am sworn to secrecy about who we shortlisted, suffice to say that we read of many many wonderful projects going on up and down the country to improve the life chances of children and young people. But, I also met a fellow Lib Dem, someone who unprompted told me she was planning to leave the party in the light of what she perceived as our drift to the right. She was proud to be part ...
I performed this sketch in the Liberal Revue on Monday night at Bournemouth. I wrote it with Mark Smulian. Voiceover And now on Radio Liberal Revue, 'A Book at Bedtime'. We present a reading from the unpublished chapters of Ming Campbell's memoirs. Reader 1st March 2006. I am elected leader of the Liberal Democrats. Extraordinary. How did that happen? Elspeth says I will have to go to something called 'a Spring Conference'. I wonder what goes on there? I never bothered with them before. I fear it will be ghastly. 2nd March 2006. To Harrogate for this 'Spring Conference'. It ...
(Still catching up with my posts . . . ) For a few minutes on Monday, the principles of open debate and free speech at the Liberal Democrat conference were directly threatened. Not by Tory boys or Labour thugs, but by a green protester with a pair of handcuffs. Here's the background. I chaired a fringe meeting at the Lib Dem conference climate clinic, organised by Greenpeace, Christian Aid and others. It was called Coal or Renewables? A Moral Choice. The backdrop to the meeting was E.On's plan to go ahead with building a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth, ...
Well according to Planning Officers of Perth & Kinross Council the above photographs don't amount to any significant loss of privacy and we are not losing amenity by being greatly overlooked. I wonder what would happen if we went into an estate agency and tried to get them to market the house as having "private gardens to the rear"? laughed out of the shop I would think. The top photograph shows my eye line of sight, at night, when I'm standing at the back door having a cigarette. The middle shows the view from the closest neighbouring property's patio doors. ...
The Farnley and Wortley by-election ended in a near run thing for the Liberal Democrats as their candidate, Rosie Spencer, finished a tantalising 32 votes behind the Greens who hung onto this ward in Leeds. It represented an increase of 22.2% for the Liberal Democrats. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the Conservative candidate who ran a bizarre campaign [...]
A column from today's Liberal Democrat News. Turbulent times There are two certainties about the Liberal Democrat Conference. The first is that the weather will be good. In fact, if I weren't a Lib Dem I would always choose mid September for my holidays. It's just that, because of the second certainty, your house might not be there when you got back. Because you can also be sure the British economy will collapse. This year share values are tumbling. Last year it was Northern Rock. And at Harrogate back in 1992, Sterling fell out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism ...
A couple of hours I noticed a dead animal on the side of the road. At first I thought it could have been a domestic cat or possibly a small badger cub. In fact it was a Polecat. It is the second dead polecat i have seen. I have never seen a live one being mainly nocturnal. This small cat sized carvivore feeds on rats, voles, frogs and toads and is still not that common. More common in rural Wales than anywhere in the British isles. It has a thick fur, a very shiny gingery brown body with a creamy ...
This outstanding post on the Dom Care Dragon blog underlines the reality of fuel poverty for many elderly people and the skewed values that still exist in our society: She is not an easy woman, but then, she is not having the retirement she anticipated. Her husband has Parkinsons and their life revolves around caring for him, day hospital and carers, incontinence sheets and hospital beds. She is grieving the life she didn't get and the husband who is gone, replaced by a confused and sometimes aggressive man. I comment on the view and she turns blank eyes to the ...
Liberal Democrat Voice highlights the very interesting focus group conducted by Frank Luntz on Newsnight last night. LDV highlights The Spectator's Coffee House blog which describes it thus: Of more immediate relevance, however, was the further evidence that the focus group provided about what a risk the Tories are running with their tax policy. When Cameron talked about how the Tories can't promise tax cuts the panel dialled him down, when Clegg talked about tax cuts they almost unanimously dialled him up. If the Lib Dems can get their new tax cutting message across, they could eat into Tory support. ...
Every now and again a story comes along that demonstrates how clueless journalists are about basic science. Such a story arrived today with reports of a study in Nebraska, published in Science. The study looked at whether it was possible to predict people's political views from their reactions to threats. And apparently it is possible: people who are easily startled tend to hold more conservative views; those who are less fearful tend to be more liberal. Well, that's lovely isn't it. Conservatives are all a bunch of scaredy-cat, cowardly wimps whilst liberals are a stronger breed altogether - a genetic ...
Regular readers will have noticed that recently I've been even more grumpy than usual, at least as far as the Lib Dems are concerned. Even conference hasn't had its usual endorphin-promoting effect on me. I'm aware of it myself and while I'm not in the business of handing out mea culpas, I am aware that I'm currently arguing my way out of party politics altogether. The fact is, for the last four years, I haven't really had a role in the party. I've blogged and for much of last year was on a policy working group. That's it. I'm aware ...
Just back from a 'day job' day in Tillicoultry to a load of phone messages and e-mails to follow up! On the way home, visited Union Place, where I have had complaints about a badly sited grit bin and the pavement condition caused by poor utilities' repairs (see latter, right). Have reported this to the City Council. It is actually the second complaint about poor utilities' restorations this week, as I have also reported residents' complaints about a similar situation in West Park Gardens. The "Evening Telegraph" tonight in its 'Civic Scene' feature mentions the huge numbers of hits on ...
If you are a registered member of the Liberal Democrat Voice forum - and any paid-up party member is welcome to join - then you now have the opportunity to make your views known on a range of issues in our special post-conference members' survey. Topics we are asking your opinion on include: - why you [...]
{Bath University} The university Autumn term starts next week, but new students are moving into their campus halls this weekend. 20% of students are expected to arrive on Saturday with the majority, 60% on Sunday. The remainder will move into their new accomodation on Monday. Locals will know to expect heavy traffic, especially from the motorway, and queues on the university campus. It may also be a bad time to shop at Fresh or attempt a coffee at Dolce Vita (these are the campus retail outlets). This means that Freshers' week is about to begin, with young adults newly liberated ...
I've just finished uploading a wide selection of the the best of my conference pics to the Lib Dem Flickr account (see link below). Local parties and candidates are free to use them for campaigning purposes. Anyone else who wants to use a pic should contact me on the email or phone number given
As well as uploading the best conference pics to Flickr, I have also been busy with more work. Yesterday I was in Watford to take pictures of a visit by Nick Clegg and Sal Brinton to a Citizens Advice Bureau in Abbotts Langley. As you will be aware, the Conservative Candidate in Watford recently pleaded guilty to a huge number of acts of criminal damage as part of a smear campiagn against Sal and the local Lib Dems. He was due to be sentenced on Tuesday but the judge deferred the case until mid October as reports were not yet ...
The chair of North West Hants Lib Dems has today written to Lloyds TSB CEO Eric Daniels expressing concerns over the deal that sees Lloyds TSB purchase HBOS. In a highly unusual move for a bank merger, the company insisted it would retain its Scottish HQ and that its "management focus is to keep jobs in Scotland". This statement is considered by many commentators to mean that a political deal has been done by Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling to limit the job losses in Scottish banking at the expense of the English operations of Lloyds TSB/HBOS. This announcement coincides ...
Watched last night's Question Time, great to see the series back. Some very interesting topics were raised, not just about the recent financial trading debacle, the US election and Labour's leadership no-contest situation (let's be honest, no one with a political career to worry about would want to be the PM who loses the next election for their party...) but also about the longer view over the direction that UK politics is going in terms of 'celebrity' and presidential-style leadership. In a popular culture that feeds off soundbites and youtube footage and where news stories, good or bad are immediately ...
While Liberal Democrat Voice doesn't do polls, as regular readers know, news reaches us of a new voting intention poll from YouGov which will be reported in tomorrow's Telegraph. The poll was carried out at the end of this week. Here are the headline figures compared with the last YouGov poll: LD: 20% (+4) Con: 44% (-2) Lab: 24% [...]
....apparently....
My impression from afar was that overall Nick Clegg and the Party had a very good week in Bournemouth. I was a bit surprised at Iain Dale (the Tory one) making a bit of an arse of himself over Nick's comments when anyone with half a braincell would realise that Nick was talking to the person in the street about Lehman Brothers, Meryll Lynch etc. I'm really delighted that Making It Happen was adopted without amendment and I think that finally the Party has begun to capture the mood of the moment. People are struggling to make ends meet and ...
I'm still working away here in Zagreb and so was not able to get along to Bournemouth and so hence my question. I'm curious to know if the Liberal Democrat Business Forum is still operating. I would be grateful for any information anyone has on whether or not it is operating and how I could get involved if I wanted to.
The favourite rhetorical opening of Lib Dem speech-givers at conference this year seems to be inviting the audience to cast their minds back to a year ago; and indeed, the contrast between then and now is startling - Gordon Brown was riding high, David Cameron was forced to throw everything into a conference speech to try and rally his party, and Ming Campbell's leadership was in dire straits. Then came the election that never was, the reversal in the polls, the end of Ming's leadership. After Vince Cable's brief but memorable spell as party leader, Nick Clegg settled into the ...
...I just entered a PatchWatch Area!
Girl Fight! Okay, okay, I'm shameless. Sue me. Alix Mortimer is clearly right at the front of Lib Dem thought these days, in addition to being a Grade A quality writer that's charmed the socks of the liberal blogosphere this last year. And seriously, good on her: She has earned her awards, of that there's no doubt. After moonlighting over on LDV and CiF, she's finally back blogging on the People's Republic of Mortimer pointing out how blatently stupid it was to advertise that we were spamming people using those evil little noise boxes. So far so good. But then ...
In keeping with today's celebration, I'm writing this post from the number 8 bus, but not the usual one. This one's from Andover to Amesbury, and here I am, parrot on my shoulder, and a chest full of pieces of eight... sorry, I'm 4 Ros leaflets. Tonight, the I'm 4 Ros roadshow hits North Wiltshire, an area with little in the way of a seafaring tradition - unless you know better, gentle reader.
Fri 19th
17:11
Communication, Communication, Communication: The Lib Dems Have The Right Message, Now If Only People...
The Frank Luntz focus group for last night's Newsnight was quite a surprise, and somewhat at least, I think, a vindication for the repositioning of the party that Clegg has done. Now don't get me wrong, I understand the flaws with this particular focus group, and its organiser. The group was made up of "left-leaning" voters in Manchester, hardly a place where the Conservatives do well, and so did perhaps not present a true reflection of David Cameron. Whilst I'd like to see a similar exercise done in the south, somewhere like Portsmouth, where Labour are under pressure from both ...
After last season's goal-scoring exploits, I would never have believed that I would be writing this article. Joleon Lescott has been arguably one of if not the best Everton player since his £4.5m capture from Wolves two years ago. His consistent, robust defending, powerful attacking surges from centre half or left back, and terrific goal-scoring record have meant he ranks up with Nigel Martyn, Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta as one of David Moyes' best buys. Not so this season. Although only five games in, Lescott has looked a shadow of his former self. He has looked shaky, and has ...
Congratulations to Caroline Page and the Liberal Democrat team in Woodbridge. I spent several hours there yesterday, helping knock up, and was delighted to get a call at about midnight (when I was back in London) telling me that Caroline had gained a County council seat from the Tories. The results was Lib Dem 970 Conservatives 826 Independent 378 Labour 147 For the first time in my life, I was sent to do some telling - at the Fred Ramsay Community Centre. I asked the conservative teller his name "Fred Ramsay" he replied! A charming man - and probably worth ...
Blogger, you have failed me for the last time. I am currently in the progress of abandoning blogger and moving back to Wordpress, except rather than using the installed version on my own server I'll be using the freebie hosted version. Blogger insists on: 1) Taking multiple attempts to submit posts.2) Labelling all posts as created 5:22 yesterday. Tolerate this, I will not. You know, I have to say, the whole blogging thing... blog software is awful. Blogs are awful. There's got to be a better way to do this. (Update: Well, turns out Wordpress have a 'so you want ...
A technical test.
The above video from BBC Scotland's Landward programme illustrates what the resident's of Carnbo village have been going through for over 3 years. A few questions for Simon Wilson:1. Why have you built a wall, without planning permission, on someone else's property?2. Why have you destroyed the mill lade and caused another property to have a burn running through it where no burn existed before?3. Why does the NHBC logo appear on your website when your company is not registered with the NHBC?4. Why does your website advertise 6 house available for sale at Pitcairnie when you have only built ...
Good news from the TES (Times Education Supplement) this week: a poll of 6,000 teachers puts the Liberal Democrats top with positive views on 4 out of 5 party policies compared with 2/5 for the Conservatives and 1/5 for Labour policies.
djm4 has kindly pointed out that my contributions to Conference (and indeed everyone else's, at least as far as the main agenda is concerned) are available for a few days on BBC iPlayer: The DELGA motion (around 3hr 36 min in) Broadcasting Court proceedings (around 18 mins in) My question to the Economy panel (2 hours in) Seeing myself on screen is a bit scary, but not as bad as I'd anticipated.
A report by respected consulting firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers found that Sutton is the highest-performing borough in London. The report looked at performance data from 2007-08 and compared Sutton Council's performance with that of other boroughs. The draft report also found that Sutton is top of the league when all unitary authorities outside London - the big cities and mainly urban areas - are included. This is good news especially considering the financial pressures under which we have to operate. But my colleagues and I are not complacent and we are determined to continue to offer you good services in future. ...
Isn't it marvellous? Yes, once again it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day, and to mark the occasion, I'm going to... Stonehenge. So, I'll be the pirate with the white robes, the silver sickle and the blood sacrifice of a hedge fund manager then... So splice the merchant banker and sing with me "Fifteen men stuck to their vests, yo ho ho and a bottle of gum..."
Nick Clegg has inspired more Floating Voters then Cameron and Brown together according to a Video I watched on the BBC's Website that you can watch HERE. Just another piece of Evidence to give Cameron a blow in the Bollocks that you are not all that. The People are slowly realising the Liberal Democrats and you are going to have a tough time ahead of you. This Video is quiet interesting, If you have 14 Minutes of your time and want some interesting Political Info that Video is great at this moment of time!
The Conservatives want to Scrap the Vocational Diploma's in College. This is one of the most silliest idea I have ever heard of. Diploma's are now a route that most people are taking as many subjects are covered by the Diploma for example ICT, Business Studies and even Science. As a National Diploma Student of ICT, this is one of the most silliest ideas I have ever come across. Many Conservatives will not be happy with these plans especially a few of them which I can think of that will most likely get to their Advanced Course when the Conservatives ...
Lib Dem's in Bury are welcoming the concession by Bury Council, to allow for appeals "in person" for staff affected by the current pay and grading review. Intervention by Bury Liberal Democrats has led to concessions by Tory-run Bury Council, and the news that council staff set to lose money after job evaluation will be allowed to attend their appeals in person. Prior to the meeting of Full Council on Wednesday 10th September, the Conservative-run Council had been clear that no personal hearings would be granted. However, following a question by Liberal Democrat Cllr Wilf Davison asking for this policy ...
Those who watched BBC2's Newsnight last night will have been treated to the sight of something pretty remarkable: party leader Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems being shown to be the overwhelming favourites - well ahead of either Labour or the Tories - among a selection of voters assembled by US pollster Frank Luntz. You [...]
Glasgow City UA, Baillieston SNP 2318 (45.3, +12.1) Lab 2167 (42.3, -3.7) Con 259 (5.1,-1.4) LD David Jackson 159 (3.1,-0.7) BNP 73 (1.4,+1.4) SSP 58 (1.1,-5.6) Green 45 (0.9,-0.8) Ind 43 (0.8,-1.3) Turnout 22.7% SNP hold The election was held under the AV system and the winner was elected at the 9th stage. Percentage change are on 1st preferences since May 2007 when the ward elected 2 Labour
A major new fund for small voluntary and community organisations has recently been launched. It offers small grants between £250 and £5000. The next deadline is 7 November 2008, although there will be further deadlines in 2009. The themes of the fund are: Strengthening Communities - projects that encourage people to play an active part in there communities. Bringing people from different backgrounds together - Projects that build positive community relations. Responding to local need - Projects that address a specific community problem. Strengthening organisational capacity and ability - Projects that address the training needs of volunteers, management committee and ...
Original here
Okay, so this is akin to asking "What is jazz?". There is no easy answer, but I know it when I see it. Sean Gabb, director of the Libertarian Alliance recently said a libertarian is someone who: Wants to be left alone Wants to leave others alone Wants others to be left alone This covers a lot of positions. From [...]
Well, there's a surprise. There was a county council by-election yesterday in the St Dogmaels ward, which falls in my county (Pembrokeshire), but not in my constituency. The local party over there have the right idea about long-term campaigning. Where they have a good candidate selected early enough, they have proved that they can win. This was a bit of a different matter as the resignation of our own Liz Campion prompted a very sudden (and technically illegally called) election. There was no chance to do what Liz had done and promote the candidate for over two years before polling ...
I suppose the people most to blame for the financial meltdown, apart from those who invented collateralised debt obligations - funny how we don't know their names - are the credit ratings agencies which were conned into giving them a nod of approval. But what makes me most hot under the collar at the moment is the sheer hypocrisy from the cheerleaders of the financial world. All those columnists, from the FT to the Evening Standard, now complaining about the rampant greed and risk-taking, were notably silent about while it was going on. At least the Conservatives are sticking by ...
2,500 tenants will soon be receiving a questionnaire from Six Town Housing to find out what they think of housing services and where improvements could be made. Six Town Housing, the council's at Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO), has teamed up with Salford University to carry out the survey. Salford University is acting as an independent consultant for the work and they will be posting out the surveys to residents over the next few weeks. The tenants who have been randomly selected to take part in the survey will be asked their views on a wide range of issues including ...
As part of the consultation on future options for residential care, a free phone number and email address have been set up to extend opportunities for people to have their voice heard on this important matter. Tel: 0800 107 9906 (quoting Bury Council) Email bury@rmltd.net These facilities, which are being run independently of the council to encourage participation, will be available until mid October 2008. Whilst many people may want to focus specifically on the options, the Council is also interested in people's views on related topics such as: Should the council be helping more people to live at home ...
The Wednesfield North and Wednesfield South By-elections have now been called for 23 October.
You may have seen some of the media coverage this week for Nick Clegg's closing speech to our party conference in which he laid out our plans to make Britain fairer and our four-step economic recovery plan.
James Grieves is being an arse again. I have to go into Exeter and haven't time to eviscerate him. One of you guys pick up the slack for me? Cheers.
You may have noticed a new set of buttons appearing at the foot of stories on Liberal Democrat Voice (thanks Ryan!). These buttons allow you to share our stories on some of the most popular social bookmarking sites, such as Digg and Del.icio.us. (What is social bookmarking? It's a way of saving links to stories that [...]
It is not unreasonable to pay performance bonuses but why should it be that, whilst there is a reward for success, there appears to be little punishment for failure? There are those who say that losing your job is enough of a punishment but, until recently, even that was unlikely. The new rich have drawn vast amounts out of the system yet suffered very little during less successful times. So,
The multicultural annual dinners put on in Neasden by Brent Liberal Democrats have already become legendary events and last night's was special, as it marked the fifth anniversary of the election of Sarah Teather in the Brent East by-election. Poor Sarah — who missed all of this week's Bournemouth conference — is very much under [...]
Avast, ye scurvy knaves! It be international talk like a pirate day, and Cap'n Mat and his bawdy pirate wench will be heading to the good ship Exeter for raids and pillaging. As a geeky pirate, I have a checklist: View Poll: International Talk Like a Pirate Day Am amused to see the number of people who are doing that photo meme who are also wearing white towelling dressing gowns, btw...
This week saw the launch of Europarl TV, a new webTV channel designed to give people balanced and fair coverage of goings-on in the European Parliament. Hitherto we have broadcast live coverage of the sittings of the House, but often these make tedious viewing for all but the the MEPs themselves or the professional EP-watchers. Europarl TV should offer viewers a wide choice of material to watch at the time and place of their choosing and will offer four channels: Your Parliament, for those with a particular interest in EU politics: Your Voice, aimed at the general public; Young Europe, ...
Just a quick note, to let you know that I am on Sky.com News tonight, at the new time of 7pm going through the top internet stories of the day!
Well me e-hearties, it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day today. Shiver me timbers and splice the mainbrace, it's lucky I'm not at work today. Ah haaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. That feels better.
On this same calendar day, the 19th September, in 1893, New Zealand became the first country to grant all women the right to vote. Take a bow, Kiwis.
It features me of course. Oh and some humans like Nick Clegg, Jo Swinson, Lembit Opik, Lynne Featherstone and Tim Clement-Jones. Woof woof!
Local Police Teams are hosting a Youth Fair at Westcroft Leisure Centre on Saturday 27th September 2008 from 10am to 2pm. The event brings together lots of local organisations and sports clubs who offer activities for young people between 4 to 18 years old. There will be demonstrations, information and people to talk to throughout the [...]
From the FT: The ban on short-selling bank stocks marks another political victory for Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, who has proved a prescient forecaster of financial doom. Mr Cable's lacerating attacks this week on hedge funds "hunting in packs" to drive down bank shares appeared in tune with a populist backlash against the "short-selling [...]
The plan for the Lib Dems to phone 250,000 people on Wednesday evening, after the conclusion of the party conference, has attracted some criticism both inside and outside the party. If this is the big idea to come back from sending people to the US Democrats' Convention then I'm not sure the flights were worth it. [...]
As so often, Alix Mortimer talks a lot of sense on this issue. Her posting makes a lot of good points about the bias in much of the media against liberal ideas, and the two-party mindset that afflicts so many journalists. But I think we have to recognise that the failure of much of the media to discuss our liberal ideals is as much down to us as it is to any bias on the media's part. First of all, I should defend my fellow journalists. It's entirely possible for a reporter to come up with a well-written carefully crafted ...
Barack Obama is pounding John McCain on the economy, with another very effective ad - click below. But one fascinating aspect of the US Presidential election campaign is to observe which ads actually get broadcast on television and with what frequency. Many ads, which are much talked about in the press, are actually only broadcast to a very limited extent. The campaigns take advantage of "
John McCain has got himself into a very sticky mess over his refusal to commit to meet the Prime Minister of Spain (Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero) if he (McCain) is elected President. This was in an interview with a Miami radio station. However, if you listen to the interview (click below) it seems that McCain may have been confused and thought that Zapatero was a Latin American leader.
The South Bank Ward By Election has provided Liberal Democrats with an opportunity to introduce 18 years old Toni Meir to front line line campaigning. Toni (pictured) may be the youngest ever candidate for Redcar and Cleveland Council. "I am delighted that we giving a young person a chance. Toni would be an excellent advocate for South Bank and I am sure that she will do very well for local residents," said Ian Swales the Liberal Democrats Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Redcar. The By Election takes place on 16th October.
Yesterday I accompanied Nick Clegg on a visit to Abbots Langley's Citizens Advice Bureau. The manager told Nick of the very real issues that are affecting local residents and the waiting area was standing room only at times. You would have thought that some of this would have filtered through to our local MP, the [...]
Those who are interested in the Party organisation issues that I have been discussing on this blog might want to have a look at the debate conference had on the Bones Commission report. You can watch it on the BBC iPlayer If anyone is particularly interested to see my contribution to the debate (oh the vanity!) it is about 21 minutes in.
I've just come back from nearly a week at the Liberal Democrat's Party Conference in Bournemouth. This was Nick Clegg's first major Autumn Conference as Leader, and delegates gave him a brilliant response. Here's his main speech to conference: Some important decisions were made by Conference, not least important vision and values paper "Make it Happen". Other important policy decisions include our new Transport Policy and a response to the current mortgate and financial crisis. You can read more about the Conference proceedings here. Outside of being a Councillor, my paid job is for the Party, so conference is a ...
Already the memory of conference is fading and many of the posts have been knocked off the front page to vanish into obscurity as the mists of time draw a veil over the etc etc. Just because I think they were worth doing - and hundreds of you have listened already - here are some handy [...]
Rhodri Morgan fires the first shots for the defence in the run-up to the Labour Party Conference by telling the Western Mail that plotters hoping to remove Gordon Brown are "insane". He said MPs who wanted a change of leadership should be focusing on riding out the economic storm and attacking David Cameron's Conservatives. Rhodri will not actually be in Manchester for his party's conference. Instead he will be representing Wales in Valhalla, Kentucky at the Ryder Cup. He may be relieved to have this little diversion from the realities of Labour internal politics because it is looking increasingly unlikely ...
Short-selling: A practice by which speculators bet, often with good information, on who is going to go bust next and, by doing so, act a bit like a canary in a mine. If someone takes away your canary, you won't stop being scared of gas. No, you will be scared of gas everywhere, rather than just in places where your canary is pushing up daisies. Malicious short-selling is already illegal.
Another day, another 'how I regretted my abortion' story from the Daily Wail. Every time I read these articles, with a similar compulsive relish to Prescott in a Chinese restaurant, I always wonder - what is the Wail trying to achieve? Is it just that women enjoy reading how other women regretted their abortion? So a simple case of selling more newspapers. Or does the Wail have an agenda? Do
Last night saw the Annual Dinner of Borough of Brent Liberal Democrats, with star guest, Vince Cable. How times change. Two years ago, Vince stood in at the last moment and was considered worthy if not the biggest draw in the world. Now, he is a hero, bestriding the world of liberal democracy like a colossus. Unsurprisingly, there was a good turnout for what has become a pretty good draw on the
Another week with Rutland's most celebrated peer draws to a close. Sunday I have decided to dabble in popular music once again (my part in the phenomenon that was Rutbeat in the 1960s has yet to be fully chronicled) and am on the lookout for new talent to add to my stable of artistes. When I say "stable," I mean it literally, as that is where the recording studio is located. This morning I audition a charming pair of twins who go under the name of "The Impertinent Girls": they are not very good singers, but I gather that is ...
It doesn't really matter if its raining or its fine, Just as long as you've got time, To P-L-A-Y, P-L-A-Y, Playaway, Playaway, Playaway. Robin: Holy Makeral Batman one time presenter of kids show Playaway, Jeremy Irons is 60 today. Batman: That's very true Robin but he went on to many other things and is considered a serioius thesbian these days. Winning an Oscar an Golden Globe for Reversal of Furtune as well as other awards and nominations. Robin: But don't you also have an important birthday today Batman? Batman: Well not me personally Robin but yes Adam West (right) who ...
...no not Adrian "Biffer" Sanders return from conference this.
Lord Eatwell (alas, he is not one of ours; he's a former economic advisor to Kinnock) has written this rather interesting article for CiF. It is an attempt to put a little meat on the bones that are the current sentiment that "something must be done" to change the regulation of financial institutions in the light of the current financial crisis. Having attended a talk on the subject of the credit
