The Liberal Democrat Friends of Poland had an enjoyable launch tonight at London's City Hall, at which the start attraction was party leader, Nick Clegg, who got things off with a swing. The whole event was recorded by Polish TV and radio, as well as various representatives of Polish community organisations. LibDem Euro-candidates were out in [...]
One of the irritating things about living in and representing a non-geographically named local authority like Three Riversis that no-one outside the area ever knows where it is. Some people ask you which three rivers are included, but the reply 'Gade, Colne and Chess' seldom seem to inform further. The easiest way to describe the District [...]
In a dramatic move intended to demonstrate his resolve and consistency, George Osborne is set to follow through on his summer consultation over introducing a fuel tax stabiliser, and will call for an increase in fuel duty. As he said when launching the policy idea on 6th July: [This is] A common sense plan to help families, bring stability to the public finances and help the environment by making the price of carbon less volatile. The plan stated: If a Fair Fuel Stabiliser had been introduced at the 2008 Budget, fuel would now be 5p per litre cheaper, shaving £3.50 ...
For those of you highly skeptical of my prediction that the internet will cause the nation state as we know it to be unable to tax fairly incomes or transactions in goods and services and so cease to exist in its current form , here's a slightly different angle on it at Reason... It seems to have finally dawned on the US government that whatever laws and regulations they pass, they will not be able to ban offshore internet gambling: The government concedes "there are no reasonably practical steps that a U.S. participant [financial institution] could take to prevent their ...
Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, met up with his party leader, Nick Clegg, in Eastbourne last week. Mr Clegg was in town, amongst other things, to teach a Spanish lesson to local children. Lib Dem parliamentary candidates across East Sussex were able to meet with the Lib Dem Leader and elections guru [...]
I've just spotted that I was the third most read blog between the 9th and the 15th of November on the Libdemblog network. I'm pretty chuffed now, because that means people actually read this orange blob other than myself! Thanks for reading! :)
Wednesday: Thanks to the The Today Programme, we learn that it is 75 years since the first photo was caught of Mr Jim McNaughty Nessie, the Famous Monster of Loch Nessie. Now, thanks to HootTube we have this EXCLUSIVE new footage... ...terrifying!
There is something not quite right about this rant by Chris Dillow, linked by Jonathan Calder. The death of Reg Varney has rightly led to many tributes. However, his largely pernicious - albeit inadvertent - contribution to economic and political history should not go unnoticed. His portrayal of Stan Butler did much to perpetuate the image of the 1970s worker as a bone-idle work-dodger; we
I went into the Chamber this afternoon to listen to the debates on the Third Reading of the Counter Terrorism Bill, which has rather faded from the headlines since the Government threw in the towel on 42 day detention. The opposition had raised some questions on new clauses giving new powers of entry without the need for a warrant. The Minister failed to give a convincing reason why these new powers are needed and under what circumstances they would be used, and then tried to fall back on a device used in question time, namely, offering to "write to the ...
Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell, has admitted that "had we known what we know now", the Government wouldn't have bid for the Games. Back in 2005, the days of boom and bust were a distant memory, there was cash in the Exchequer and the Games were only going to cost £2 billion. At the time, I remember a construction contractor telling a London property conference that for a more precise estimate, it would be better to double the Government's initial figure, double it again and double it one more time. That took his guesstimate up to £16 billion. With the current ...
Last month, just as 'BrandRossGate' was snowballing into the greatest catastrophe to hit the BBC since they hired Jeremy Vine to be the new Peter Snow on election-nights, Lib Dem Voice asked our readers the timely question: how do you think the BBC should be funded? We presented four options (which, as ever, didn't suit all commenters) to choose from - here's what you told us: • As at present, through the BBC licence fee - 216 (40%) • Scrap the licence fee, but pay for the BBC through general taxation - 110 (20%) • Scrap the licence fee, and let the BBC ...
I see that Starbucks have binned The Times and are now selling The Guardian and Observer as their newspaper of choice. It's a shrewd move by Starbucks. With lefty liberals condemning them for monopolising the high street and exploiting third world coffee growers, what better way is there for Starbucks to say they are on the side of social and global conscience? I wonder how many Guardian journalists like Polly Toynbee and George Monbiot now pick up the fruits of their labour the following morning from Seattle's favourite coffee shop? The Guardian will be contracting out the company canteen next! ...
A special Housing meeting this morning focussed on the attempts locally to deal with the worst effects of "Credit Crunch". We all know the bad news, the good news is that there is a team of Council officers who are determined to do whatever they can in many different ways to alleviate the situation locally. It won't make big changes necessary to solve the situation, but it is good to know...
I was delighted to be able to attend the 'Let's do business' event at the Hastings Centre on Thursday which was put together together by 1066 Enterprise and had a number of local sponsors. Given the doom and gloom that hits you when you switch on the news, it was really refreshing to experience the buzz [...]
Welcome to the 91st of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (9th-15th November), together with a hand-picked quintet, mostly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. How about starting with the most popular blog-posting, and we work our way down? Here goes... 1. Lib Dem President Elect sparks new poll! on Helen Duffett's Paint the Town Orange blog. All together now: Aahhhhh... 2. Somewhat unlikely! on the 'somewhat unlikely' Peter Black AM's blog. On Waterstones and censorship. 3. Motivation on Huw Dawson's Left Side of ...
Before I start wading through loads of links, searches and similar, is there out there somewhere a simple guide on petitioning for a town council referendum? Brighouse is part of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough, but several local towns also have their own town council. I know you need a petition and then you get a referendum, but I only tangentially followed the campaign in Brixham when it happened and local Govt isn't my area of expertise. But loads of you out there know a bit about this stuff, so if there are pointers I'd appreciate it. Went to the Cabinet meeting ...
Mat went to the Council Cabinet thing about selling off our town hall. We have a 6 month stay of execution. That's time enough to do a referendum o having our own town council, right?
Commenting on today's Postcomm report which calls on Royal Mail Group and the Post Office to be run as separate businesses, Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Secretary, John Thurso said: "What both these businesses need is clarity. The recommendation that they should be split into separate businesses is something the Liberal Democrats have long called for and makes good sense. " "Now...
This morning I quoted with approval Andrew Collins' thoughts on the passing of Reg Varney: "Anyone younger than 40 will presumably struggle to place Reg, but it is their loss." Nil nisi bonum and all that. But it has to admitted that there is a case against. Three years ago I quoted Jonathan Pearce's reaction to seeing one of the On the Buses films on television:It was quite a shock watching the film. It was a reminder of how greatly Britain has changed since the early 70s.For starters, the constant leeriness towards women, the assumption that any vaguely attractive woman ...
Bath MP Don Foster has stressed his relief that the Government has finally reached the right decision on the Post Office Card Account, giving the contract to the Post Office. Don said, "I spoke to a lot of sub-postmasters during our campaign to save post offices from closure earlier this year. The concern about this contract going elsewhere was palpable. Sub-postmasters were saying...
We got news on Thursday that one of our Labour colleagues on Haringey Council, Cllr Fred Knight (Seven Sisters) had passed away. Fred was already on the Council when I was first elected in 2002 - well, he'd been on the council for decades before that actually! He was always a perfect gentleman and very pleasant to talk to, it was sad news indeed. Thoughts are with his friends and family. Local newspaper The Journal has a few more details about his life and my Lib Dem colleague Neil Williams also has kind words for Fred.
A Parliamentary Committee that has looked at the issues of drink-fuelled disorder in some detail has recommended that pub happy hours should be banned and supermarkets stopped from selling alcohol at ...
The Yorkshire Ridings Society has obtained a supply of the "New" Yorkshire Flags as follows: 5' New Yorkshire White Rose Flag 100% polyester with two brass eyelets: £4.00 3' New Yorkshire White Rose Flag 100% polyester with two brass eyelets: £3.00 16"X10" New Yorkshire White Rose Car Flag 100% polyester with plastic bracket: £1.85 18"X12" New Yorkshire White Rose Hand Flag 100% polyester on dowel: £1.50 Please add 52p postage for one item or 80p for two or more items. Orders can be sent to: YRS Products 39 Essex Close Redcar Yorkshire TS10 4BY Please make cheques payable to Yorkshire ...
Good piece by Vince Cable in tonights Evening Standard. He rightly points out that; "It is truly shocking that, having committed £37 billion of taxpayers' money to recapitalise the banks, the Government has now decided to wash its hands of any further responsibility. It declines even to appoint directors. The undertaking by the banks to maintain a flow of lending and to discipline bonuses has been quietly buried." Is this not something we should be raising while we are pushing for tax cuts??
According to an interesting post over at LDV it shows how Obama and Clegg are very close on policies, now this is very interesting especially with Cameron and Brown both thinking they are the equivalents of Obama in the UK. A Senator of America who was an international nobody until about 2 years ago is a man that all politicians in the United Kingdom want to be like, which is slightly worrying but we will see what the future of this political role model brings. Nick Clegg isn't gonna get the win that Obama did come the next general election, ...
Poor Boris. His political opponents have long criticised his idea of a Thames island airport for London. I think it's barmy. More criticism comes from anti-Heathrow campaigners. And Tory councillors in Kent. For more on the saga, see the entertaining coverage from Tory Troll. While Boris is still throwing money at the plan, even his friends [...]
The Voice is indebted to James Graham for alerting LibDig.co.uk readers to this article on the BBC website: Britain's political leaders are naturally keen to be seen as Barack Obama's political soulmate - but can any of them truly compare to the US President-elect? How do they measure up? A tantalising intro... here's what Brian says about the Lib Dem leader's policies: Barack Obama: Was against the Iraq war from the start and backs phased withdrawal of troops. He wants a "surge" in troops in Afghanistan and is open to negotiations with Iran. But it was the economy that defined ...
Redcar and Cleveland Council is writing to residents in the vicinity of Cartmel Road following a successful funding application to Sustrans for the Links to School Project to implement a number of cycle routes to school in the borough. Two schools benefitting from the implemention of a route are Lakes Primary and Ryehills Secondary: The Letter reads as follows: A recent successful funding application has allowed Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council to design and implement a number of school cycle routes in the area. Although primarily designed to serve particular schools, they will also benefit the residents and visitors to ...
What a wonderful posting by Sara: She's said all i've wanted to say about this subject - I think it could be a ready reference to the new Labour thinking on this issue which, and let's be frank, is designed in some way to appeal to Middle England as a distraction from the fact that [...]
Redcar Liberal Democrats, have produced the Liberal Democrat Calendar 2009. This A5 black and white calendar features famous Liberals and Liberal Democrats from the past and present. It also features Liberal Democrat Conference dates, Liberal Democrat organisations, with contact details, and County days for those counties which have them. It is priced at £1 plus only 52p postage no matter how many how many copies you order. It is ideal to give to friends as a stocking filler. Copies can be ordered as follows from: Gold Printing Society 39 Essex Close Redcar Yorkshire TS10 4BY Please make cheques payable to ...
I've never been a drug addict. I've never owed money to a loan shark. I've never been abandoned with a couple of small children and no means of support. I've never felt under the control of a man, who might physically or mentally abuse me. I don't know her life story, but I'd bet Jacqui [...]
From Time Magazine, Peter Beinart's take on the Obama Presidency: it is "just the beginning... Shifting attitudes about government will make Democrats the ruling party for a generation" The death and rebirth of American liberalism both began with flags in Grant Park. On Aug. 28, 1968, 10,000 people gathered there to protest the Democratic Convention taking place a few blocks away, which was about to nominate Lyndon Johnson's Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, thus implicitly ratifying the hated Vietnam War. Chicago mayor Richard Daley had warned the protesters not to disrupt his city and denied them permits to assemble, but they ...
It's felt like ages in coming, but the Kensal Rise to Hampstead Heath section of the Overground North London Line was re-opened this morning. I made this little video clip to show that the line is running again - hurrah! Of course one of the issues is lots of people this morning (well the 8-10 people I spoke to were expecting new trains and new service - they hadn't appreciated that this was work on the track not on the service or the rolling stock - that, along with station refurbishments is coming down the track (as it were!) - ...
The figures are stark. Here's The Guardian: An estimated 8,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant but only 3,000 operations are carried out each year. About 1,000 people in the UK die every year while waiting for a transplant. The question is more difficult: should we move away from the current organ donor opt-in system towards a system of 'presumed consent', which would mean that unless people opted out of the register or family members objected, hospitals would be allowed to use their organs for transplants. Lib Dem MP Dr Evan Harris, chair of All-Party Kidney Group and ...
It appears that Lord Voldemort of Hartlepool and Foy is dying to get on his dancing shoes on a Saturday night. Yes not content with being the Spectator's poitical 'newcomer' of the year the Labour peer is jealous of John Sergeant for being able to appear on Strictly Come Dancing every saturday night. While the economy may be the burning issue for most people, the Business minister while on BBC Breakfast was asked about the political correspondents appearances on the show and said: "I was cheering for John Sergeant on Saturday with, I have to say, a degree of... envy." ...
If anyone should talk about ways we should be getting our message across it's Lynne Featherstone - it's obvious that the local Lib Dems in Haringey have really worked hard to get their message with two other councillors on Today this morning and World at One. You could hear the pique in David Lammy's worthy [...]
I was just listening to the World at One on Radio 4 and they had David Lammy MP's first interview on the Baby P case. In my partisan way I thought to myself, "I hope Lynne Featherstone's good work gets a mention". Well it did but not in the way I was expecting. After some typically evasive New Labour defence (he also received the warning letter from the whistleblowing social worker last year), he said this (bah, it isn't available on listen again yet, but I'll update it with the accurate quote once I get a chance - so from ...
Liam Byrne, Labour MP of Birmingham Hodge Hill appears to be a bit of a diva on the sly - he issued his staff with the following instructions:
This week at Suz Blog.
Stephen Tall's post last week- Lib Dem tax policy: the media's starting to listen, so now will the public get to hear about it? - highlighted how the media are increasingly rating our approach - and Vince Cable's in particular - to economic issues. As ever with Stephen, the post was full of good points and insight, but I think a key point was missed when he said that the reason for this not translating yet into higher support for the party is in part due to "anti-Lib Dem media bias and external factors beyond our control." Well yes - ...
It's interesting that when the BBC broadcasts inadvisable late night answer machine messages to actors who people like because they talked funny in 1975, the tabloid newspapers act as if they've been caught bolt-gunning kittens in the street. It's doubly interesting to note the complete lack of tabloid coverage of the excellent BBC Radio 5 Live Donal McIntyre programme last night about unnecessary workplace Criminal Records Bureau checks (check out the BBC IPlayer or look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7731237.stm). This despite the fact that two people complained about Andrew Sachs before the Daily Mail caught onto it, and at least that number ...
Just a quick update to the story I posted below yesterday from the pages of the Sunday Times. The Guardian reports; "The Conservatives yesterday blamed an administrative error after it emerged that the teenage daughter of a foreign arms dealer was recorded as giving £47,000 to the party, even though she did not have the funds to make such a donation." Wafic Said's wife, known as Rosemary, is entitled to make donations as a UK resident and is registered as having made £154,000 worth of donations. A statement says; "A statement from the Conservative party yesterday said: "In 2005, a ...
Just listening to `You and yours` and hearing what looks like a flight back to the mutuals with a representative from the Penrith Building Society. In short, savers who are worried about the banks (particularly those with over £50,000 to save and either want to spread it around or put say the surplus of £49,999 [...]
It's the issue dividing the nation - should John Sergeant still be in Strictly Come Dancing? Every Sunday evening, I sit relaxing with a glass of something nice, only to be sent into a strop by my fellow members of the public and their desire to rig a dancing competition. I will admit that at the [...]
They is more gloom ahead according to new statistics that you can read about in a BBC article suggesting 3M people will be unemployed by 2010. And yet people like Iain Dale are writing about what Conservative posters may say in an early election if it was to take place in 2009. People need to remember that Brown has got it all thought of. He will announce a withdrawal of troops from Iraq in March 2008 which would please gullible people and they will end up voting Labour, as they wont remember who sent the troops to Iraq in the ...
Trailers for tonight's Panorama on Baby P (BBC1, 8:30pm) point to how the police advised Haringey not to return Baby P. Haringey went against that advice - and then the police apparently did an about-face and agreed with them. I think this probably points to one of the problems that will be uncovered in a public inquiry - that ultimately those who sit in partnership on the Safeguarding Children Board - i.e. the local authority, the health and police agencies psychologically (and for safety perhaps) find that they ultimately have to agree amongst themselves. It means the focus can become, ...
Patrick O'Flynn of the Daily Express: "To be frank, I would like to see any adult convicted of a serious offence of child cruelty sterilised - perhaps we could knock a year off their prison term in return for their agreeing for this to be done." He then didn't go on to say: "And whilst I'm on the [...]
The link is to a story on "The Stirrer" based upon a press release I sent out over the weekend. The following is the text of an email I have just sent to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee: Dear Barry I am writing to you as Chairman of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee as you may wish to review the matter of Serious Case Reviews. You will be aware that where
Interesting piece on The Spectators Coffee House blog. It argues that the CBI's forecasts of 2.9 million unemployed by 2010 could point towards an early general election. I think there is something in this; Brown could of be in a catch-22, still behind in the polls but facing the prospect of losing momentum, if it looks like things will be bad in 2010 then he may well plump for 2009. Also, speaking from a purely psychological angle he has had to deal with the consequences of not going to the polls early-on in his premiership. Once bitten, twice shy?? I ...
As I have warned over the past few months, Russia is being particularly badly hit by the global financial crisis. Partly this is a function of the severity of the collapse of commodity prices, especially oil and gas, which has had an exceptionally serious impact on a country where 85% of GDP relies on the extraction of raw materials. However the scale of the crisis in Russia has been hugely increased by a number of massive miscalculations by the Silovik state. Now the speed and scale of the Russian meltdown could conceivably become a threat to the stability of the ...
The Times has this: Leaders of the far-right party believe that their hardline message will chime with voters when, as expected, crime rises during the recession. They can be expected to exploit fears of crime caused by migrant workers in places where immigration from eastern Europe has been high. Winning seats on police authorities would give the BNP influence over forces' budgets, the appointment of chief officers and the allocation of resources. Senior officers and police authorities are alarmed at the proposals for direct elections, which are supported, in differing forms, by Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. They ...
The EU is frequently lambasted in the British press for not having it s accounts in order. This criticism is partially unfair, since 80% of EU funds are spent in and by the Member States and it is in this area that the European Court of Auditors has not been satisfied. It came as a relief, therefore, that on Monday the auditors signed off the EU's 2007 accounts, for the first time in many years. Of course they identified areas where improvements are still needed, especially in agricultural spending; but the overall opinion was an unqualified OK. I was in ...
With the sad news of Baby P came a sudden influx of new visitors to the Voice this week. Our article highlighting local MP Lynne Featherstone's measured question at PMQs unexpectedly became the top link on Google for Baby P, drawing in more people than we've ever seen one thread before. The result is a sombre wake-up call which shows some of our more jaded regulars and editors like me just what the general public really thinks about stories like this. The posting attracted over 200 moving postings, the vast majority from people who've never been to LDV before. We ...
On 7th November (see I mentioned that I had asked the City Council's Acting Head of Transportation to meet with Travel Dundee regarding concerns raised with me about the 2A bus service. Today's Courier gives an update on the situation - click on headline above to view. The 2A service has had its route altered, now missing out Blackness Avenue for example, and not only do the various route changes mean that numerous pupils no longer have the service passing near to their homes, parents have also complained to me that the bus is now failing to reach the ...
There can be no doubt about it. Britain is facing an obesity crisis. The North East has some of the highest obesity levels, affecting all age groups. The Government, in response, launched Change4Life last week in Newcastle. The North East is going to begin the fight back against fat.The focus of the scheme is the supply of fresh fruit and vegetables from corner shops. In effect, the government is
It's easy to take for granted the beauty on our doorstep but Friday brought a reminder of how precious it is. Taking an elderly relative out for a rare trip away from her usual limited area we detoured to see the sea. I've often said to people from outside the area that we're very fortunate here to have industry on our doorstep to provide employment while the coast and hills are so easily
In New Zealand's General Election the right have won and Prime Minister-elect John Key has been meeting with other parties to form a new National led coalition Government.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has confirmed that she will effectively make it illegal for a gentleman to procure the services of a courtesan. Is this the death knell for prostitution? Jacqui Smith has made clear that she will not interfere where a woman is freely selling her body to a man, but it's difficult to see how that's going to work in practice. It will be illegal for a man to have sex with a prostitute if she is "controlled for another person's gain" - if she has a pimp, madam or drug dealer, for example. Further, ignorance will be ...
Reg Varney has died at the age of 92. Console yourself by visiting the On the Buses Tribute Site. And Andrew Collins reminds us: On 27 June, 1967, Reg Varney was the first person in the world to use a cashpoint machine. The first ever electronic ATM was installed at Barclays Bank in Enfield, North London, and for reasons I have yet to specify, Reg was the first to use it.He also says "Anyone younger than 40 will presumably struggle to place Reg, but it is their loss." Quite.
So the march (as his Paso was described) of John Sergeant goes on. Yet again the political correspondent was the worst on show on Saturday night, but he was spared the dance off yet again. Instead that fate went to Cheri Lunghi and Lisa Snowdon with professional partners James Jordan and Brendan Cole. The Saturday before this weekend when Caron was out enjoying a well earned weekend off after Glenrothes, I texted her how appalling John was and that now was the time for him to go. He survived and again this week when I finally caught up with Mr. ...
This morning's Western Mail gives us a flavour of a new book being launched today by the Institute of Welsh Affairs containing chapters by representatives of each of the four parties in Wales. The chapter that attracts the most attention is that by Labour First Minister, Rhodri Morgan. He repeats earlier assertions that his party's poor performance at the ballot box in Wales in recent years is because the party is not seen as sufficiently Welsh. He argues that Labour were punished in West Wales, both North and South, for their apparent opposition to the Welsh language. He says that ...
80 new free parking spaces are coming to Linlithgow turn centre under plans announced recently. Spaces will be created at Linlithgow Sports Club off the Edinburgh Road and an extension to the St Ninians car park, mainly for coaches. Parking in the town has long been a concern that I have heard from local residents in the doorsteps and people will not doubt be welcoming these moves. If it comes along with continued improvements in public transportation provision for the town it will really help Linlithgow to combat climate change. These new car parking spaces are within easy walking distance ...
Today marks the day that the Pentland Firth is being opened up by the Crown Estate to developers seeking to build marine renewable schemes in the area. Up to 700 megawatts of power is expected to be created by the area by 2020. The Pentland Firth is the stretch of water off the north east tip of mainland Britain where the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea collide between the mainland and Orkney. It is the greatest potential for harnessing of wave energy but other main potentials exist at the ends of the Irish Sea, the Bristol Channel and English Channel. ...
Public Finance magazine reported last week that: Delivery of the new Employment and Support Allowance, which replaces Incapacity Benefit, will rely on manual processes and postal services for the first nine months because a new £295m computer system is not ready. The delay comes despite assurances given in June by Lesley Strathie, then Jobcentre Plus chief executive, that the system would be 'business ready' for the ESA's October launch. Doubts have already been expressed on this blog and here about the way the new rules will be applied. Add the necessity for manual intervention by already over-stretched staff, and it ...
... is elegantly explained by Amused Cynicism here. Go, read.
If there are any readers out there who maybe looking for a job I have posted links to some websites which you may find useful.
