A GOP operative has leaked what looks like a pretty genuine `death list` of ten congressional races that they think are definitely falling to the Democrats: Rating 1" finds 10 Republicans "likely gone." Those districts are New York 13, Alaska, Arizona 1, Virginia 11, New York 25, Illinois 11, Florida 24, Michigan 7, Nevada 3, and [...]
I never did much like John Sununu when he was the older George Bush's chief of staff. His subsequent record in Congress has been less than inspiring. He voted for the charade that was the attempt to impeach Bill Clinton, gaining the approbation of the New Hampshire Christian Coalition in the meantime. He has opposed abortion and increasing the minimum wage while favouring school vouchers and the death penalty. Exactly the person you would want replaced by a good old fashioned Democrat. Former Governor Jeanne Sheehan is his Democrat opponent on 4th November. Electoral Vote has her ahead today by ...
Another day, another opportunity for Lembit to exercise his right to reply. Not much to add today, so I thought I'd just provide a little light entertainment: The questions in question, of course, are: a) Since Lembit claims to have such great campaigning and communications skills, why have the Liberal Democrats in Wales stagnated in the last two assembly elections (sticking with six AMs in 1999, 2003 and 2007)? b) Given the deep problems at the heart of the Kennedy leadership, wasn't it an error of judgment to stand by him? Loyalty is easy - a nodding dog at the ...
http://www.conservativesforchange.com/ http://www.republicansforobama.org/ More nails in the Bush/McCain coffin!
While Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has blown $150k on a fashion spree since her nomination, the Obama family's fashion tastes appear rather more modest, as this video from July makes clear: And if you want a further contrast between the campaigns, check out Obama's shoes.
Our party may be fewer in number than others, but what we lack in quantity we more than make up for in quality. To my mind one of our great assets is Haringey Councillor Fiyaz Mughal. Fiyaz not only carries out his duties as a councillor, but also beavers away, often unnoticed, promoting interfaith dialogue and working with others to tackle extremism. He kindly sent me this reflection on a meeting he attended earlier this week - On Monday, I had the pleasure of speaking at the IMAAN annual conference in Euston. Imaan is a group that focuses on informing ...
No one who went to the Henley by election can fail to have been thoroughly impressed with Stephen Kearney. His decision to get more involved with the party I believe will contribute enormously to our future success. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview him about Lembit's role in the Northern Ireland peace process. You have been a close friend and colleague of Lembit's including during the time he was NI spokes, can you tell us a little about his role in the peace process? Lembit has never really got credit for all the work he did ...
The "Stand up for Poverty" weekend has broken all records, and 116,993,629 stood up for poverty throughout the world. Let us hope that as well as breaking the record we can break the cycle of poverty "More people than ever before joined the fight against poverty and inequality and for the Millennium Development Goals during last weekend. Their actions demonstrate that we can be the generation...
I was on MoreFourNews this evening, talking about Channel Four News' YouGov poll of marginal constituencies: (it's all televisual LIES by the way - the whole thing was done in green screen in ITN's underground Danger Room. I half expected Gollum to virtually take part as the fourth guest.) Because the poll is mainly focused on Lab-Con marginals (with a couple of Lib-Cons and three way marginals thrown into the mix), there isn't much to comment on from a Lib Dem perspective. The main lesson is that the polls are incredibly volatile at the moment. C4's poll last month predicted ...
I'm just back from seeing the new High School Musical movie with lots of little girls - we had about 10 of them, ranging in age from 4 to 13. The HSM Brand is all about making Disney stacks of cash by tuning into the desires of young kids, mainly girls, and this new offering is likely to be every bit as effective as its two predecessors in doing so. The movie is shallower than a Conservative Party policy document, formulaic, and entirely predictable, but is redeemed by being energetic, charming and full of catchy songs that I'll be hard ...
...High energy bills are an environmental problem as well as aneconomic one.We must be most grateful for this insight into our revered leader's mind.Read the rest in today's Guardian 2.Via baked bean can&string
On the train back from Cambridge the other day I read the most recent edition of Adbusters, which had a much better than usual interesting:ludicrous ratio. One of the most thought provoking things (to me, anyway) was this, rather difficult to answer, article. It raises the question, if it's OK to murder people in a videogame because nobody gets hurt, then why shouldn't people also commit virtual
I've been trying and failing to catch up on a backlog of blog topics over the last few days, but the work of a councillor must come first and rightly so. What's less helpful is when little nuggets are thrown your way and your feel the need to disgorge them to the blogosphere asap, thus interrupting the carefully laid plans. Nevertheless, I must divert your attention to the latest Zogby poll (
The parasitic class is those who live off taxation and other government granted privilege. They either produce nothing of their own, produce something which requires subsidy or produce something which would otherwise be produced on the freed market. This does include all state sector employees and politicians but also those nominally private businesses which make their [...]
You would think that automobile-orientated voting might have originated in California, but this report from Orange County suggests that there are states in the eastern US which also make life easier for the four-wheeled voter. Hopefully, the voting mechanism is more sound than these in Charleston. Thanks to Richie for the OC tip.
I want to be clear - I am in no way associated with Liberal Vision or Progressive Vision. I have met Mark Littlewood once. I have met Shane Greer twice. I agree with them on some issues and disagree with them on others. It seems some people think think that because I am a libertarian that I [...]
Recently there has been a spate of attacks upon people wishing to promote ideas well within the liberal philosophy on the LibDem blogs. If these people had their way I think many many Liberals of the past would be unwelcome in the party, not just people like Herbert Spencer and Auberon Herbert, but people like Cobden [...]
I am in Crystal Palace. I don't believe it. The Christmas decorations are up already!---Sent via BlackBerry
That's what Conservative MP's are thinking of doing if they win the next general election, all because of the video above. Basically the Conservatives couldn't take it when they were criticised about Osborne and his Russian mingling. Iain Dale goes as far as saying "The Day Speaker Martin Lost His Job".
I would like to ask readers of this blog, to nominate to me 10 of my best posts! Please feel free to either email me the URL at irfanahmed91@gmail.com or add it as a comment.
I went to one of the Parliamentary cafes last week with colleagues and one of them tried a smal bit of peas pudding. She wrinkled her nose up after trying a small amount. She had not tried peas pudding before and found it so unpleasant that she decided to leave it. Not wanting to see it wasted, I offered to eat it. I instantly discovered why she couldn't eat any more. It was vile. This great
Seriously that is a question people will ask who don't stay up to date with politics. Nick isn't a politically known figure, something that is a worry for our party. Charles Kennedy on the other hand was the known Liberal Democrat. I believe that Nick needs to get to the level of popularity that was achieved by Charles if not higher before the next general election. If Nick was to achieve this then as a party we would have a better chance in the next GE. The people of Britain haven't yet seen Nick and what the Liberal Democrats stand ...
I personally wouldn't trust George Osborne with the contents of my daughter's piggy bank - especially as she's absolutely loaded as she's fantastic about getting her pocket money and not spending it, getting Mummy and Daddy to fork out for the essentials of a 9 year old's life. As Tory Shadow Chancellor he has been shallow, opportunistic and brings nothing to the debate. He is the flat coca-cola to the vintage claret that is Vince Cable. The Tories are trying to pretend that they are just like us and they understand what life is like for ordinary people - hence ...
Channel 4 News has commissioned a poll from YouGov in the 60 marginal constituencies David Cameron needs to win to form a Government. LDV doesn't dwell on individual poll results - the only sensible way to use polls is to look at trends - but it's worth highlighting one finding which is unlikely to get [...]
{Giant oak chair} Sitting on Dartmoor in Devon is this 20 ft (6.5m) high "Giant's Chair". Built by artist Henry Bruce it is currently threatened with being demolished by the local planning authority as he didn't get planning permission when it was raised two years ago. Makes me recall the similar-sized chair by some Italian artist that spent the summer on Hampstead heath a few years ago ...
No surprises that the financial crisis again dominated the slanging-match exchanges at Prime Minister's Questions this week. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg stuck to his week-in-week-out brief - asking punchy questions about the 'bread and butter' issues affecting the lives of everyday folk - this time focusing on fuel poverty, and the estimates that up [...]
The next issue of Liberator poses the same six questions to all three Lib Dem presidential candidates:What relevant experience will you bring to the presidency? The presidency has three functions that do not necessarily sit well together - representing the party to the leadership, acting as a figurehead at functions, and chairing the Federal Executive. Which of these will you be best at, and which worst? Will COG (the Chief Officers Group proposed by the Bones Commission) make the party run more smoothly or will it create a democratic deficit? The party is in a poor financial state and its ...
I have heard today from the Chairman of Marauders Football Club about an issue which seriously threatens the future of the club, and with which the Council are being decidedly unhelpful. Marauders are a family club, giving the opportunity to play football to hundreds of local children. I myself have a trophy from 1989 when my team won the Marauders under 8's 7 a-side league, and I remember the place as a fantastic way to get involved in youth football. Now though the club is faced with problems because of a lack of facilities. Money has been raised for more, ...
I think the Leader of the Council may have been misquoted in relation to the ongoing St Ann's Road / Ruskin Road gardens issue. Either that or he's completely misled local residents and is now back-tracking wildly... The Advertiser last week reported that Cllr Bibby (the Conservative Councillor who is Leader of Bury Council) had acknowledged that the sums of money being demanded from residents were pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of the Council's budget. The paper reported that he acknowledged that the issue should be resolved, and promised to meet the relevant parties as soon as possible to ...
There was concern this morning about the appearance by Atomic Kitten singer (and face of Iceland) Kerry Katona on ITV's This Morning programme. (link is BBC story about it) Katona was repeatedly asked by host Philip Schofield about her slurred speech. A week ago, Jonathan Ross interviewed actor Colin Farrell on his Friday night show. Farrell looked to me as though he was as high as a kite, twitching and jumping and failing to keep up his end of the conversation. Whilst the BBC seems happy to run 'news' stories questioning whether ITV should have allowed Katona to appear in ...
I honestly do think there is a scientific experiment worth performing to see if some unseen natural force purposefully plants obstacles in the way of people in a hurry, and then cackles manically as they stumble over them. Just forget curing disease for a minute, and let the world's scientific community answer the question on everyone's lips - Am I cursed for all time to be bothered by idiocy at every turn? Today at work, I had a presentation to give. The audience comprised mainly of people who control my career prospects like a puppeteer dangling a marionette in front ...
Just a quick update on the atheist bus campaign, which we first featured here. The campaign opened a page on Justgiving for donations yesterday, and smashed through their fundraising target in a matter of hours. By the end of the day, they had raised over £35,000 - seven times their initial target of a fortnight's [...]
My friends at the Consenting Adult Action Network (CAAN) have managed to grab a bit of media attention in their latest protest against the Government's recent we-decide-what-you-can-do-in-the-bedroom legislation outlawing the possession of extreme pornography. The CAAN guys and girls are pointing out that the Government's restrictions go beyond making it a crime to possess "extreme" images, as I blogged about last month. In their well-intentioned but rather less well executed rush to protect children, someone can be banned from working with children if they own violent porn even if there's not the slightest evidence that they're a risk to children. ...
For too long this country has had public services which have benefited people - but which have had to be paid for through higher taxation. This takes away the basic freedoms of everyone to live and die free from state interference. In particular those on middle and higher incomes have seen a disproportionate share of their income spent on services they would never wish to use like public transport, healthcare, roads, education, universities...I could go on. This is patently unfair we in Liberal Vests-on believe that the poor should pay their way. However, we do not believe that they should ...
When Brown needed a saviour he gave Mandelson a peerage and got him back into the Cabinet the day after! Another example of a Labour government that will do what ever it can to get something. For example if the Labour party thought Cllr Mohammed Iqbal or even Cllr George Adam (Power hungry animal) were needed in the cabinet, they would make them Lords then get them to Whitehall. George Adam would get the excuse of "he has chaired the Nelson town council, Nelson area committee and wants to run for County Council" for Cllr Iqbal only God knows the ...
A complete beach has been stolen from the north coast of Jamaica, it seems. Not the one in the picture, but another just a few miles along the coast. Hundreds of tonnes of white sand vanished from a planned resort on the island's north coast in July but three months later there is no sign of suspects nor sand. An estimated 500 truck-loads of sand were removed...
Haringey Primary Care Trust is letting residents down. Its official rating for quality of service has fallen from 'good' to 'fair' - which is bad enough - but even worse its performance in meeting national targets has fallen to 'weak'. Front line services particularly highlighted by the official watchdog - the Healthcare Commission - are breast cancer screening and access to GP services. My Liberal Democrat colleague Cllr Richard Wilson and I have demanded an urgent meeting with the Trust's leaders to seek assurance over an action plan for improvement - and I have contacted Health Secretary Alan Johnson to ...
I just love the Palin `vlogs` by two amateur impersonaters. The real action starts at 2:00 and is a gem: I just love her description of Conservatism. The best humour always has a big dollop of reality!
This youtube illustrates my earlier comments about Sarah Palin's view of the VPship. He at last is having fun!
A couple of weeks ago the Politics Online newsletter featured this piece from me about the use of Twitter. Knowing how badly LDV readers will be suffering from Twitter wittering withdrawal symptoms, here it is: The recent withdrawal in the UK (and most other countries around the world) of free text updates from the micro-blogging service [...]
Lib Dem Voice has mentioned before the distinct lack of liberal commentary in the mainstream media; but we do of course have many Lib Dems who contribute with varying degrees of regularity to national newspapers and magazines. Whenever these appear, LDV is delighted to link to these articles. Simply drop us a line at voice [...]
Vaughan Roderick has provided his own unique commentary on Kirsty William's Liberal Democrat News column here. Sandeff has translated the post for non-Welsh speakers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7683640.stm Apparently we need a 'toilet strategy.' I've already thought it was a golden rule of local politics that you do not close down public lavatories - but apparently they are being closed down in droves, with the Disability Discrimination Act being used as the primary reason. Apparently we now need a strategy to ensure that the right of people to have access to a quality toilet is upheld. This also requires a data collection exercise - the mind boggles. In Hinckley we of course defended the British lavatory user, by removing the 20p charge on the station road toilets. ...
That should be the new message on the website and being put out loud and clear regarding home reposessions.
Palin's becoming a real drag on the ticket: 1. By being too extreme 2. By being too thick 3. By saying that `she will control the Senate`. If she believed that then she's both ignorant and dangerous. The main undercurrent here is the dysfunctional nature of the Republican party and the fracturing of its `alliance of fear`. The first lot [...]
The Sun is stirring up discontent at publicity shots in which Katy "I kissed a girl" Perry poses with a flick knife, which it considers inappropriate after the stabbing of Joey Lappin. Fair enough, perhaps, if they were consistent. But the Sun also reports the horrific death of six people, four of them children, in a terrible car accident on the M6 near Sandbach. Where's the attack on celebrities posing with cars and lorries? I guess they might argue that posing with cars doesn't cause car accidents, but I'm not aware of any evidence that fake-lesbian songstresses posing with knives ...
It appears that both Calum Cashley and Jeff have got some bee in their bonnet today over Edinburgh South's electoral chances. So lets us look at some facts. In 2005 there were 405 votes in this seat. The party in second was the Lib Dems. It is Labour's ninth most vulnerable seat. It is also the second smallest margin that Lib Dems need to take of any seat in the UK and their number one target off Labour. Therefore with Labour on the slide and the Tories on the up a universal swing makes it the Lib Dems first gain. ...
Having run the London Marathon in 2003 for the Terrence Higgins Trust and in 2006 for Amnesty International, it seems the right time to have another go. I am delighted to be part of the Refuge team for April's marathon and am aiming to raise £2,500 for them - so you can help me out by going to www.justgiving.com/matt4refuge and giving as generously as you can. I'll be blogging about whatever attempts at training I do (I'm going for a swim tonight, for the first time in ages) and repeatedly asking for money between now and then - but why ...
Oh dear. Sarah Palin still doesn't have a clue what's in the US Constitution about the role of the Vice-President. It's enough to make a grown man weep: Yesterday, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously
On the al-Hesbah website Muhammad Haafid, an al-Queda supporter, has stated his preference for the election in 2 weeks time. He says one candidate, is the better choice is al-Queda want to exhaust the US militarily and economically. He even says that a terro strike on mainland USA before the election on November 4 could well ensure that his preferred choice wins. So just who is that friend of terrorists? Step forward John Sidney McCain.
Only one question should be asked in everything we do; whether it's a decision to be taken or a method of campaigning: `WHAT WOULD OBAMA DO?` In times like these I would hazard a guess that the Economic Recovery Plan would find pride of place at the front of our website.
Great - another email saying in terms of one syllable our plans for the Economy. So I look at our website - nope not a dicky-bird about it where AN ORDINARY PERSON WOULD LOOK. I'm sorry but i'm getting TOTALLY FRUSTRATED about our lack of abilities to communicate to John and Jo Soap from Cowley Street. What one [...]
The City Council issued this news release today regarding good news about bus punctuality in Dundee and Angus. I recently spoke with my LibDem colleague in Angus, Cllr David May, about this issue - David is the Angus Council Infrastructure Convener - and we are both pleased to see the partnership develop between our councils and the bus companies on this matter : Dundee City Council is working with partners to set up the first initiative of its kind in Scotland aimed at ensuring local bus services run reliably and punctually. A report to the city council's planning and transport ...
Last night Baroness Ros Scott visited Wolverhampton to help canvass and deliver in the Wednesfield by-elections. After a couple of hours of campaigning Ros addressed a meeting of about 20 Liberal Democrats as to her beliefs and why she is standing for the Liberal Democrat Party Presidents.
Although it's in my blogroll, I don't actually look at the Light Blue Touchpaper blog very often. It's from security research scientists at the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory. But I did have a look this week and what do I see? " Liberal Democrat leader visits our lab This week, Nick Clegg, leader of the UK Liberal Democrat Party, and David Howarth, MP for Cambridgeshire, visited our
Wed 22nd
12:20
The Independent View: Broke Britain, not Broken Britain - have banks and the Government swindled the...
Banks are jeopardising the prospects of the next generation, discouraging financial responsibility and leaving young people facing the sharp end of the credit crunch. With the Government, they have created a "gilded generation" of pampered and over-protected young people, mired in debt and unable to understand their finances. The liberal free-market think-tank Reform's new report, written [...]
Giving phone masts the bird The good news - following pressure by local councillors, South Glos has rejected Vodafone's notification of another phone mast on ten Rodford Way frontage of Blaisdon, just yards from the existing O2 mast (though Vodafone can still appeal against the decision)S Glos decided that "The addition of the third mast would be visually intrusive and the cumulative impact of the three masts would have a negative impact on the streetscene and would detract from the visual amenity of the area" We've persuaded Vodafone to reconsider other sites they had previously rejected, and we're waiting to ...
My latest article on Comment is Free: At a time when Vince and Nick are supporting government policy of giving banks high interest loans with the aim of getting them to pay off their debts before handing anything back to shareholders, it seems a little odd to say that the chancellor should not adopt the same fiscal prudence. That isn't to say the party's policy on shifting tax should be abandoned, but we are unlikely to be in a position to issue overall tax cuts any time soon. I'm also going to be on MoreFourNews this evening, apparently with Tim ...
TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!!! THIS BLESSED DAY SEES THE CELEBRATION OF THE KEY OF KEYS, THE KING OF ALL THE KEYBOARD. ALL THE LESSER KEYS MUST OBEY THEIR GREAT AND CRUEL MASTER, LORD CAPSLOCK. YOU CAN CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY IN MANY WAYS, BUT PROBABLY THE BEST IS TO WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPS LOCK FOR THE WHOLE DAY. PLEASE NOTE: JUST HOLDING DOWN THE SHIFT KEY IS NOT ENOUGH, YOU MUST ACTUALLY USE CAPS LOCK OTHERWISE IT ISN'T CAPS LOCK DAY, IS IT? YOU MAY ALSO WISH TO ALERT OTHERS TO THE EXISTENCE OF CAPS LOCK DAY. ...
Please participate in my Poll about whether or not Sajjad Karim MEP will get elected in 2009! To Vote go to the link http://www.polldaddy.com/poll.aspx?p=1029006
Lib Dem Voice a few days ago assessed the crop of polls and argued that the ICM poll that had the Lib Dems on 21% was more accurate than those that had us on the mid teens. All based on sound psephological reasons, natch. I'm now going to have a dig at the MORI poll out today which shows a 13% swing between Labour and Conservatives. Last month - Tory 52, Labour 24. This month - Tory 45, Labour 30. As PB argues - still a massive Tory lead, but a huge shift. The reason why there should be such ...
Now before any of my well informed readers run to correct my statement on geographic grounds about the town of Parky, I'd like to state I'm talking fiscally. As the Yorkshire Building Society has taken over the Barnsley Building Society to protect it from the possible loss of up to £10m that was invested by the BBS in Icelandic Banks. However, it does take us back to the term used by the Chancellor at the start of the Icelandic banking implosion. Then he referred to councils as "informed investors" and therefore was going to exclude them from any protection. What ...
You've got to laugh really! Let's hope this takes off in the media over there.
Nick, Vince and the Lib Dems have a plan to help the country through the recession the governor of the Bank of England has claimed we have just entered. 1. Cutting t...
Here is Tristan Mills' view of public services : So called public services don't serve individuals, they serve the parasitic classes who live off the sweat of others. Huh ? Do we inhabit the same planet as well as the same party Tristan ?!
There is something disturbingly illiberal about a liberal party where elements of the great and the good......alongside elements of the not quite so great and not quite so good........appear gagged. This was effectively demonstrated earlier this week (as picked up by Pandora in the Indy Monday) with Charles Kennedy's surrogate endorsement of Lembit. Now, for reasons that may or may not become clear, he has felt unable to openly endorse Lembit, so in a move, perhaps calculated to be interpreted as such, his brother-in-law, the rather dashing James Gurling, has done the deed for him. Now yesterday I was doing ...
Mark Littlewood has started something of a debate on Liberal Democrat Voice. He is writing as a representative of Liberal Vision which is, I feel, is a factional platform within the party. It has it's own independent organisational structure and a quick visit to the page where you can sign-up to be a supporter reveals you don't even have to be a member of the Liberal Democrats to support Liberal Vision. It's Chairman, Mark Littlewood is self-appointed as is it's Director Chandila Fernando who as we all know is running for Party president. Liberal Vision has it's own membership and ...
It's a shame to see the papers so full of yards of rubbish about who met who on what yacht to discuss this, that and the other while most of us in this country are concerned about rising fuel/living costs, the onset of recession, the lost millions of (council tax payers) council money and the effect that will have on services like education, police etc over the coming years. Not to mention those now facing repossession and homelssness while the bankers still get fat-cat payouts and the fact that the country is borrowing huge sums of money to bail out ...
George Osborne met with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska during the summer Friend of Tony Blair Nat Rothschild claims he illegally solicited a donation for £50,000 from Oleg Deripaska George Osborne denies the allegation Err... That's it © All newspapers across at least four pages today.
The European Parliament convenes for three weeks each month in Brussels and one week in Strasbourg. The monthly excursions from Belguim to France are widely regarded as an expensive waste of time and are unpopular with MEPs whose offices are disrupted. The Strasbourg sessions result from an archaic provision of the Treaty of Rome. Scrapping the monthly trip to Strasbourg would save 200 million Euros [...]
"Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason" Sir John Harrington (1561-1612) There is more to the Osborne affair than meets the eye. The alleged facts are simple, in the words of Nat Rothschild's letter to The Times, "George Osborne, who also accepted my hospitality, found the opportunity of meeting with Mr. Deripaska so good that he invited the Conservatives' fund raiser Andrew Feldman, who was staying nearby, to accompany him on to Mr. Deripaska's boat to solicit a donation. Since Mr. Deripaska is not a British citizen, it was subsequently suggested ...
I would to pay respects to Labour Heath Town Councillor Les Turner who passed away this week, whilst I did not know him many people have spoken highly of him to me.
Call me an old cynic if you like. But I don't think that Obama taking off 36 hours to see his ailing grandmother will be do his campaign any harm. Indeed, it will help it and already has done. Think of what we have seen in the last 24 hours: The news cycle dominated by news that Obama is prepared to take time off to fly all the way to Hawaii to see his dear old grandmother (Trivia alert: This
Wed 22nd
09:56
If the Lib Dems attempted even a fraction of what Obama has achieved it would ELECTRIFY the UK polit...
This comment sums it up for me. If the Lib Dems got their act together and attempted even a fraction of what Obama has achieved it would ELECTRIFY the UK political scene. It's sorely needed and Labour and the Tories simply can't deliver it. Both the main parties are virtually identical and Cameron is about as uninspiring a prospect as I can imagine. Original post (with a run through of some Obama innovation) here
So says The Sun today: More than 11,000 starting at schools this year flunked a basic test. The shocking statistic was revealed after a whopping 20,000 last year were found to be duffers in arithmetic. Student teachers take the tests online but can do so as many times as they want — until they finally [...]
Let's be clear, I have an inherent dislike of closing down debate and respect there are many libertarians who pose questions and raise issues that otherwise would go unheard in the Lib Dems. In that context, they firmly belong within the broad church that is, and should be, the Liberal Democrats. Now my formative political years were spent (like Messrs Littlewood and Fernando) in, ahem, another political party. My time as a Labour member and councillor saw the rise of the 'Militant' faction within the party. Despite being on the 'left' the damage this group did to the wider left ...
All this Osborne business with the Russian business man is just one example of what the Conservatives really stand for. Osborne has been an MP since 2001 he should by now know what he can do when it comes to the finance, and what he cant do. Imagine him as the Chancellor he cant follow funding rules, how is he meant to add up all the numbers for departments, under him as Chancellor the NHS probably would have no money given to them at all! Cameron is defending his fellow Conservative after a bike ride which is interesting... It was ...
I have been viewing the searches people do to get to my blog and a lot of you are searching "Irfan Ahmed Blog" or "Irfan Ahmed Blog spot". I think this is all right and I am on the top of them two listings but to make it easier for yourselves if you search "Irfan Ahmed" this will go to a page that I am about 6th down the list and if you continue to use "Irfan Ahmed", it will move me slowly to the top!
This coming Monday, the Employment and Support Allowance will replace the existing Incapacity Benefit and Income Support for people unable to work because of impaired health. All new claimants will have to complete an assessment considering their capability to work. Current incapacity benefit claimants will have to take this test as from April 2010. Back in March this year, charities expressed concern about the test. The then Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Danny Alexander said: "Disabled people are understandably cynical about proposals from a government that continually emphasises tough measures against benefit claimants, when what is needed is ...
Has Islwyn Labour MP Don Touhig been caught in a time warp. Some of his political opponents certainly think so. They have taken exception to a leaflet he has distributed around his constituency in which he wrote: "There is no doubt we face testing economic circumstances with rising fuel and food bills and the effects of the global credit crunch. Many people are concerned about jobs. Housewives worry about food prices and blokes who need their car for work are angry about rising petrol prices." Kirsty Williams saw the absurdity of his remarks: "I think it's quite shocking that someone ...
As most of the Lib Dem members reading this will know - and as hardly anyone else will know - the ballot papers are currently out for the election of our Party President. I have posted off my ballot paper, with my first choice being Lembit. As his campaign website says, "I pick Opik" (yes, that slogan was almost enough to make me change my mind). I voted for Lembit because I know he has the ability to inspire and motivate members at a local level and has already done much to promote the party. Some of the negativity coming ...
Britain's pensioner and trade union movements are today joining together for the first time to call for a higher basic state pension for the over 60s of today and tomorrow.
Always keen to help people find blogs more interesting than this one to read, I am happy to point you all in this direction.
Logically, the European elections - due to take place on 4 June next year - should be about European issues. But in Britain, at least, they never have been. Shamefully, even the Liberal Democrats, as the only consistently pro-European party in this country, has accepted the received wisdom that Europe is the love that dare [...]
I thought I'd better elucidate more on the context of Whitestone Pond and it's significance and also show off some of the pictures I took on the open day to mark the 1908 Olympics. Thanks to The City of London (Simon Lee and Richard Gentry esp.), to camden (good to see Cllrs Flick Rea and Linda Chung there) and also to the range of residents and local amenities groups there... The name Whitestone Pond appears to be relatively recent and not least event overtaken by other names - until recently (turn of the 20th century it was known still as ...
Remember back in June when the DUP backed Labour in able for the flailing government to secure 42 day detention without trail in the commons? Remember the DUP denying that there were any deals done over upcoming legislation? This despite historically the DUP being a defender of civil liberties in the area of detention without trial even in the tough times of the 70s and 80s. When just what are we to make of the decision of Labour to totally shelf the amendment to the human fertilisation and embryology bill scheduled for today which was to relook at Northern Ireland's ...
If you think you'll need sustenance after a night of nail-biting US election night watching, then the Welsh Lib Dems have got just the event for you: With the US elections on Tuesday, Nov 4 many of us hope to spend some overnight time watching the results come in. By 7.30 am we'll be famished and, [...]
No, not George Osborne, though he does appear to be fighting for his political life. I am talking about the playwright John Osborne. I was in Clun on Friday and found his grave and that of his wife in the churchyard.
Over the years I've enjoyed many a post match meal after a game of bowls barely paying a thought as to how it has been provided. However, the women of Broughty Castle Bowling Club (near Dundee) have brought the whole scenario to the fore. They have voted to stop serving the meals every week for the male members, unless the task of setting, serving and clearing up is shared, or passed out to an outside agency. The men in retaliation have threatened to increase their fees from £46 to £87 which is 75% of the full membership fee paid by ...
Obama is fighting a fantastic campaign. Liberal Democrats will want to learn lessons from it. Key to this camapign has been the use of volunteers. This was crucial to winning the nomination: Obama steamed home in the states that run a caucus system. To do this he had to motivate and organise volunteers. And he did so in a manner that left the Clintons - the masters of the game - gasping in his wake. This wasn't an accident. The whole campaign has been structured around recruiting and using volunteers. It started with a message Obama's message was criticised by ...
...although I think, tomorrow morning, it will be boasting, "we're going to win" that will be considered my biggest mistake. I am a right wing populist now, apparently. You heard it here first: An anti-death penalty, atheist, anti-monarchy, anti-aristocracy, anti-prohibtion right wing populist. Okay so, I am an economic liberal because I am, first and formost, a believer in the individual and the right of an individual to do whatever he or she wants so long as their actions do not interfere with other people's ability to enjoy the same right. I fought long and hard with serious cognitative dissonance ...
I have made a new header for my blog. I like it much better than the plain orange and yellow. But please tell me what you think. Is it good, bad, or ugly? Posted in Uncategorized
