Last Friday saw the memorial celebration of Councillor Neil Trafford in Manchester Town Hall. The memorial celebration was recorded and is now available on YouTube at www.youtube.co.uk/russelleagling. Part I is below: This was a major gathering of the Liberal Democrat campaigning family in tribute of one of our most influential and gifted campaigners. Neil, who was tragically killed at the age of 33 in a car crash just two weeks ago, was one of the architects of the win in Manchester Withington (2005) and a leading by-election stalwart. Neil was a close friend to many and had a wide range ...
Libertarian ice queen and top blogger Charlotte Gore has some sympathy with claims that liberals are, clinically, stark staring bonkers. The suggestion has been made by an experienced clinical psychologist with an eye for publicity. His book is called "The Liberal Mind: The psychological causes of political madness". Charlotte rightly points out this attack is against the American definition of liberalism, and the word has a more statist, collectivist sense over there than in the good old U of K. So that's me off the hook then. Sadly I haven't read this book and I very much doubt I shall ...
The Cowley St Xmas Party was held yesterday. Santa was there but as the event was held in the Lords, he needed a temporary pass to get in! All other photos can be viewed on this link:
Google's Top Ten of fastest rising search terms during 2008 has "Sarah Palin" at the top of it. Don't I know it. My natural curiosity would have, of itself, fueled most of my many posts on Madam Palin during the autumn. But the fact that if I put "Sarah Palin" in a title it caused my humble little hitcounter to go ballistic may have, I freely admit, egged me on a bit. At the turn of the year,
I realise that I've not posted here for a tad over a month, so thought that I'd better update my health status - the hospitalisation ended up being only for two days (1 overnight) and I was cleared of having a DVT or PE or meningitis, which is the good stuff. The less so good news is that the headache which I've now had for 5 weeks continues, varying from a dull throb (when fully medicated) to what I would liken to wearing a skull cap of molten metal. At times it affects my ability to read and, especially, look ...
Today saw the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change announce the outcomes of the Strategic Transport Projects Review. There was some good news for our region in this, and although not every project the Tayside & Central Scotland Transport Partnership (TACTRAN) would wish to see included was there (so far as one can see thus far - it is a huge read), the positives include park and ride for Dundee and improving the A90 around the City. I reproduce tonight's news release from TACTRAN below : The Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership (TACTRAN) has welcomed today's Government announcement ...
The Global Zero campaign aims to secure the complete elimination of nuclear weapons from the world through a step-by-step plan. The campaign was launched at a conference in Paris on 8-9 December. I note that one prominent signatory is a certain David Owen, which will raise scorched eyebrows in veterans of the 'Alliance' defence policy bunfights preceding the LibDem phoenix. One hundred international political, military, business, and civic leaders from across political lines launched a new initiative today in Paris to eliminate nuclear weapons globally to combat the threat of proliferation and nuclear terrorism. Called Global Zero, the initiative will ...
Wed 10th
17:53
Liberal Vision - if it wasn't nailed to its perch, it would be pushing up the daisies...
Three months ago, we all got terribly excited about 'Liberal Vision'. It was all about freedom, removing the dead hand of government from the lives of the people. Not a concept that, in itself, that I was particularly troubled by. On the other hand, they did feel it necessary to mark our MPs for liberalism - their 'poster boy' promptly calling for a ban on the sale of cheap alcohol by
Tipping my hat to Jonathan Calder, this pronouncement by a clinical psychologist that 'liberals' suffer from 'clinical madness' takes the idea that certain elements of collectivist ideologies are somewhat irrational - something I've argued myself - and seeks to take it even further into the realms of actual disorder. Of course, this being an American psychiatrist 'liberal' this is the American (and Lefty Conspiracy's) use of the word. The word 'Socialist' has been taboo for a very long time. Now 'liberal' is as much a term of abuse as a label, so the baton has now passed to 'progressive' and ...
From Politics Home... "Ms Willott said she had "grave concerns" about new government proposals to make people work in return for unemployment benefits. "The issue with working for the dole is it leads to employers thinking people can't do anything other than the very basic jobs they will have been doing," she said. She added: "It has to be sustainable jobs, it has to be skills that are going to help them get work rather than using them as cheap labour". "If it just undermines their chances of getting a sustainable job, that's no good for any of us," she ...
The Tory run council in Preston has brought in a new law banning swearing on the streets. Those who transgress with be handed an £80 on the spot fine. This is totally absurd. Is this even legal? I understand Preston Council's desire to make their city more pleasant (there is also an anti-littering campaign) but this is so insanely stupid. Has it really come to a time when in the name of civility it is considered acceptable for the government to censor what we say? What a load of baloney. Thankfully the law will be totally unenforceable. How will words ...
I know some of the CSLD disagree with me on this one. They might do a blog post soon disagreeing, but that's debate for you. The news yesterday that government directives will force shops not to display cigarettes behind the counter is to me, ridiculous. My objection is the illiberal nanny-state interference in our lives. What next? We can't take advantage of drink offers that save us money and let us enjoy our nights out? Oh, wait... that's being tackled too. Suggestions that obese people won't qualify for treatment on the NHS? That's been suggested too! It seems to me ...
Politics Home just published the Number 10 lobby briefing, its got a bit of a screamer in it. "The Prime Minister will travel to the two-day EU summit in Brussels with climate change and the economy top of the agenda. His spokesman said the opening day would focus on climate change, and coincide with the global talks taking place in Potsdam."Not Poznan then? Wrong place, wrong country. Germany, Poland, 20th Century, 21st, what's the difference to a bunch of journo's? They might have "saved the world" but that doesn't mean they know world geography or history. Suppose Brown thinks Labour ...
This morning I was one of the speakers on Nihal's show on BBC Asian Network debating the Government's new welfare reforms- 'Raising Expectations..', with a Tory from South London, with contributions from a live phone-in. My main point was that we all support the notion that people who can work, should be encouraged and given the support, training and skills to get work, but there seems to be the usual focus on 'lone mothers' , and under the proposals, only those with children aged one and under will receive unconditional benefits. The Tory Woman from South London actually told me ...
The Votewise website is a non-partisan service which advertises council by-elections, giving candidates a chance to set out their case and the public a chance to ask questions of all their candidates. For each council by-election they contact all candidates asking them to supply copy for the site. Usage of the site varies a lot from by-election to by-election, but there are a growing number of Liberal Democrat by-election candidates who have had good exchanges with members of the public through the site and even found new supporters who have ended up as members or helpers. It's worth emphasising that ...
I have just received a letter from agents acting on behalf of Jack Allen - the company making the application for the waste facility at Garston Dock. The application is being withdrawn. This doesn't mean it has gone away however as I am told an application will be re submitted following some public consultation next year. There's no way of knowing at the moment whether this is a means of buying time in order to run a persuasion campaign or whether local views are genuinely being sought. Obviously the public meeting scheduled for the 15th was organised before this news. ...
The Prime Minister not only Saved the Banks, he saved the World! Brown was probably rethinking a dream he has about saving the world when a meteor heads towards the world.
Mike Smithson over at Political Betting has recently started to do a weekly average of what the gamblers think is going to be the outcome of the next general election in the terms of Number of MP's to the main three political parties.Many of my blogs readers don't read Political Betting because of that reason I will post the table on my blog every week with a little analysis. This is the table of results from Monday this week, The difference between Labour and Conservatives is closing in, this could mean that Tory gamblers are losing faith in Cameron or ...
Today is the 60th anniversary of the day the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. How ironic then that I am too busy writing my dissertation on that very document to write a proper post about it! I recommend that my readers spend a little time at the Guardian's [...]
There was a TV show in the eighties called MASH the theme tune of which was a song called "suicide is painless " Actually it is anything but, particularly for the families and friend left behind and of course anyone unfortunate enough to witness the event. So tonight on SKY TV we are about to shown a man who will commit suicide. It is a controversial subject and one I have very clear views on and some understand off. I think suicide is a selfish act, It has to be, because someone deciding to take their lives (and I am ...
Spiderman? No. Mandy the smooth operator? No. Gordo the mild mannered prudent Chancellor? Could be. Yes apparently in answer to David Cameron's first question about banking at today's PMQs the Prime Minster said "he has saved the world". Just how much borrowing has he been doing? How are we going to pay for all this world wide borrowing? Has the UK now bailed out General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, as well as the banks across the world? Or was it just an imprudent slip of the PM's tongue? Could be.
Tonight the death of Craig Ewert, 59, from Harrogate, North Yorks, will form part of a Sky 'Real Lives' TV program. Obviously this has caused much controversy and was even raised at PMQ's earlier; euthanasia is one of those issues that it is very hard to have a proper debate about because of the obvious 'heavy-loading' of emotions. It is a tricky issue for liberals because on the one hand we have the issue of freedom of choice for an individual versus the possibility of inappropriate use of that freedom. Life always has to mean, to me at least, something ...
Welcome to the third edition of Lib Dig Pig, being a roundup of non-Lib Dem oriented gems on the internet, as voted by Lib Dem members using Lib Dig (if you aren't one, and are a Lib Dem member, sign up here: http://libdig.co.uk). The rules for inclusion here are simple: they must have been "dug" for the first time in the last seven days and they can't be Lib Dem-related or come from a Lib Dem blog. The top rated article of each category will be listed, along with three runners up, will be listed here. And finally, for the ...
Gordon Brown saves the world!
The Conservatives sometimes like to think that they believe in freedom. I'm not entirely sure where they get this delusion, but I am always assured that sooner or later they will expose themselves as the paternalistic autocrats that they naturally are. So a hat tip to Conservative Home for highlighting the Tory council that has banned a lollipop man from adorning his lollipop with tinsel,the Tory council that is using anti-terror laws to spy on paper boys, and the Tory council that is trying to outlaw swearing.
Vaughan Roderick has blogged here about yesterday's rather chaotic Conservative press conference in which the planned assault on the Welsh Assembly Government was derailed by a throwaway remark by Tory leader, Nick Bourne: Concerning the poet Patrick Jones's invitation to read his work in one of the assembly offices on Thursday. You're bound to remember the background. The event was organised by Peter Black and Lorraine Barrett after Waterstones cancelled a similar reading in the face of protests by the group "Christian Voice". The Tories' news conference became a shambles this morning when Nick Bourne mentioned in passing that the ...
The European Parliament and representatives on the 27 Member States have agreed a deal over the Renewable Energy Directive.
Our usual insightful team of commentators are away from their desks this lunchtime so it falls to me to report PMQs, Questions from Cameron about recapitalisation allowed the PM to patronise him on economic answers. A slip of the tongue for the PM led to him telling the house he had saved the world. Chutzpah much? Alan Simpson, the Labour rebel for Nottingham South (including the ward I represent) pointed out the value of saving the world when you have an opposition that can't even save face. He went on to ask whether now is the time to introduce a ...
David Cameron used his first question to "ask again" about getting banks lending, asking if Gordon Browns recapitalisation had failed. Gordon Brown rather grandiosely claimed to have "not only saved the worlds banking system" but claimed that not one saver had lost their deposits in Britain. Howls of laughter from the Conservative benches were followed by David Cameron claiming that Brown had "forgotten about the businesses of this country". Brown retorted that the Tories were clinging to the "failed policies of the 1980s". He said that the loan guarantee scheme only covered 0.2% of business lending and continued with his ...
Ofcom have announced that Channel S World Limited, Channel S Plus Limited and Channel S Global Limited have been fined a total of £40,000 for breaching the TV Advertising Code by repeatedly broadcasting a political advertisement. The Bengali stations aired an advert 44 times during April this year urging people to "Vote Brian Paddick for Mayoral candidate, and Jalal for GLA candidate..." Ofcom concluded that the material was in breach of the following Sections of the TV Advertising Code: 4(a), which prohibits advertisements by or on behalf of any body whose objects are of a political nature; and 4(b), which ...
Somewhat belatedly I just wanted to do a quick post about last Friday's Memorial Celebration for Neil Trafford at Manchester Town Hall. The most important thing for me was just bringing together so many people who knew Neil in so many different ways. As well as being a huge gathering of the clans of Liberal Democrats [...]
This is what Dave said the Tories would do to address the current financial crisis, as reported in the Independent: "A credible long-term plan for controlling public spending has three components. First, reducing the demands on the state by fixing our broken society. Second, increasing the productivity of the state by reforming our public services. And third, cutting government waste." Which is pretty much nothing. How exactly will the Tories - the party of priviledge - 'fix the broken society'. They did a blinding job on that score in the 1980s, after all...What is the 'broken society'? Where is the ...
No2ID have a terrifying new campaign video: www.no2id.net/TakeJane/ for more information. (Hat-tip: Shane Greer).
The first Westmoreland Pact got off to a good start on 27th November 2008 at Oldfield Park Baptist Church and we will now be following up on the issues that were raised. The Three priorities that were set were. Three priorities were agreed : 1. Cleansing of the area (B&NES Cleansing) Lower Bristol Road Lack of...
I've always loved Christmas. As a kid, we'll take it as a given that stacks of presents and Christmas TV held a certain charm. But even as a grumpy old atheist I still like it. I like the decorations, mulled wine, Christmas markets, parties, present giving and receiving and seeing relatives. I love the quistlets' building excitement as the big day approaches; their uncertainty over whether Santa exists. I like Christmas carols, mostly the traditional ones but some new ones too. Even the ones with bizarre lyrics like the version of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" with the verse that ...
This blog is called Process Guy for a reason. Here is Simon Hughes in Monday's House of Commons debate on the Damian Green affair: "However, you, Mr. Speaker, above all, are the guardian of processes and procedures, which safeguard people's rights and liberties. Whether it is the European convention on human rights, which some people support, or the traditional rights and liberties, they are
Every year Kingston Council applies to Transport for London for funding for roads and transport - this is known as Local Implementation Plan (LIP) funding. We heard a couple of weeks ago that Kingston has been given £3.9 million for 2009-2010. That may sound like a lot, but we actually asked for £8.2 million to deal with all the improvements needed for drivers, cyclist and...
I have heard from Henry Brown who tells me that the Better Bath Forum have agreed to continue for another year. This is good news for the city to be able to have a debating forum for our local residents in Bath. I will publish details of when the Forum will next meet and what subject matter they will be discussing as soon as I have the details.
A planning application for the display of 3 non-illuminated fascia signs at 89/90 High Street, to replace existing signs has been submitted. The application was first registered on 2nd December 2008 and has a decision date of 27th January 2009. The application reference number is 08/04517/AR and you can view the application buy following the link on the application...
Last week at Prime Minister's Questions the PM was asked when the Government would respond to the Ombudsman's highly critical report on the losses suffered by Equitable Life policy holders, and he said it would be 'before Christmas'. So what is he likely to say? There is one reason to be optimistic and two reasons to be pessimistic. The reason to be hopeful is - bizarrely - Peter Mandelson. Since Lord Mandelson returned to these shores, the Government seem to have stopped shooting themselves in the foot quite so often. The clearest example of this was the U-turn on scrapping ...
In the course of the question and answer session that formed the latter part of the book launch, one questioner introduced himself as the Chair of the UKIP London Regional Committee, Paul Wiffen. He suggested, apparently in all seriousness, that money was a bad thing. He noted that he was doing as much as possible without the use of money, and only had £5 on him because, "his aunt had given him
Nick Clegg marks the 60th anniversary of the birth of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Guardian by attacking Jack Straws description of it as a '"villains charter'": "Jack Straw's headline-grabbing declaration that Britain's Human Rights Act has become a "villain's charter", and must be "rebalanced", should be seen for what it is: a rejection of the simple notion that all of us, no matter how rich or poor, how powerful or weak, possess certain inalienable rights" Full article here...
The Pull out of troops may begin from March onwards according to a BBC report and you can read the whole BBC article on their website. Personally I think it is a little late for the pull out, but its still good to see that our troops are coming out of this illegal war! When the Labour and Conservatives sent the troops to Iraq many people protested and people still carry the grudge against them. But people have now forgot about the whole Iraq issue. Some people who I can speak of at the time campaigned against Iraq, Labour and ...
If you want to post your ballot off in the Greater Manchester Congestion Charge referendum, then TODAY is the last chance you can do it. The papers have to arrive at the returning officer by tomorrow. If you want to be absolutely sure, or can't get to a post box today, there is still time to hand deliver your ballot as well, and this can be done tomorrow if you want, between 7am and 10pm. The delivery drop off points are at the main town halls in each of the Boroughs (Bury Town Hall on Knowsley Street, for instance). Regular ...
Just a couple of Postgate-related things. He wrote about why Childrens' TV matters a few years ago and I completely agree with what he said. Unimaginative kids' TV is just another nail in the coffin of a thoughtful nation (along with over-testing at schools). I find what the BBC woman said both depressing and depressingly unsurprising. The second thing is something I knew I saw ages ago and it made me laugh. I'm sure I saw it more slickly done as a poster image with a white background ont' net at the time but all I can find now with ...
I have never had much time for Andrew Green - the absurd extrapolations of questionable statistics that his "Migration Watch" group publish periodically serve only to get a few scare story headlines rather than actually contributing to the debate on migration. Since Mayor Boris Johnson- a figure who increasingly impresses me- mused publicly about the idea of an amnesty for illegal immigrants, it was only a matter of time before Green would publish some swivel-eyed nonsense. The scare story headline was that "legalising" illegals would cost £4 billion. However even before we start, we find that half of this is ...
Hello to Dr Lyle Rossiter, who says: "The roots of liberalism - and its associated madness - can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind."
There is a wide-ranging debate going on in local goverment, sadly often not within communities, about place shaping. What is it? What does it mean? How much does it cost? I have an increasingly clear view that it is about small things of interest, curio's, oddities and objects of distinction.So here is an example of what I mean and why.Just off of Elm Row in Hampstead is a small footpath that leads down to New End - it's easy to pass it and not notice it...But in terms of making the area one of the nicest you have come across ...
I started this blog three months ago today, so time for a rare navel-gazing post. Thanks to Alex, who suggested I start this blog and gave me some very good advice, and to everyone who's been kind enough to comment on my posts (in some cases to tell me I'm being an arse - we all need to hear that from time to time). My statporn (the honestly-darling-size-doesn't-matter bit) In November my blog had 1,832 unique visitors, up from 1,403 in October (my first full month). Not up there with Lib Dem Voice, but sort of respectable I hope. My ...
Monday night saw my farewell performance as a member of the London Region Executive Committee. I admit that it was high time that I took a step back, as I'd lost my edge on a committee that had given the impression of a lack of respect. Last night, I celebrated my new-found freedom by attending the launch of Stephen Haseler's new book, "Meltdown - how the Masters of the Universe destroyed the
Quick reminder about the energy saving event this Friday - 11.30am-2.30pm, Salvation Army Hall, 24 Lymington Avenue, Wood Green, N22 6JA. Details here.
When I landed at Bangkok airport last night, I discovered everything was back to normal. No-one who was uninformed could have guessed that only last week, the place was being occupied by thousands of protestors and that there had even been violent confrontations. Everything is functioning smoothly, it's all spotlessly clean and hordes of tourists [...]
Yes, they were terrible. I'm talking about Haringey Labour's new Leadership team, which blocked any discussion at all at the Full Council last night about the outcome of the Joint Area Review led by Ofsted into the Baby P case. Since the last Full Council just two weeks ago, we have had a report condemning the Council for a catalogue of failings. A Cabinet Minister who said its findings were devastating. Two resignations of the council Leader and Lead member, One dismissal, news reports of another serious case review, and a government agency that has admitted that Haringey hides behind ...
Good News: it is with an enormous sense of relief that I can announce the book is now available for publication, and can be bought directly from the lulu.com website. Here, finally, is the link you need. {Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.} Bad News: if you want a guaranteed copy for Christmas, you need to hop along to Lulu on or before Friday and fork out six quid for postage (the express option). Other Good News: the surprisingly expensive postage seems to apply whether you buy one copy or 20. So why not get a copy for ...
Following on from the arrest of Guo Quan last month, China have now arrested Liu Xiaobo on Monday. Liu was first jailed for his role in the Tiannanmem Square demonstrations in 1989 and this arrest came hours before the online launch of the "Charter 08". The Charter signed by 300 scholars, journalists, freelance writers and activists in China marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by calling on greater freedom of expression and the end of one party system. The hope was to bring about democracy and human rights to China. It most not be forgotten ...
After a six-month search, the party has finally been able to appoint a successor to Jonny Oates in the key role of Director of Policy and Communications: Chris Fox will be joining the Lib Dems in the New Year. Chris has spent 20 years leading communications in international and FTSE100 companies, and is currently employed by engineering firm Smiths Group. Prior to that he was Director of Corporate Relations at Tate and Lyle plc. Chris stood for the Lib Dems for Parliament in 1997, in Windsor, finishing runner-up, with 29% of the vote. In 2000, he stood unsuccessfully for election ...
Bury Council has launched a consultation in relation to the proposed closure of the cash payment facilities at Prestwich Library. The aim of the consultation exercise is to gain a broad view of opinions about the proposed closure. Research undertaken by Bury Council indicates that there has been a 70% decline in the number of people using this facility. In order to ensure that the council offers a value for money service it is proposed that this facility close and staff be redeployed to other customer focused services. The council has identified that there are a number of local post ...
{Support independent publishing: buy this book on Lulu.} If you've been following my shameless promo posts on Lib Dem Voice, you will not be in any doubt that over the last few weeks I have typeset a book that we have published through the self publishing website lulu.com. It's a compilation of work from our talented and beautiful crowd of contributors to Lib Dem Voice. It took more than one go to get it right, and I will not entirely believe it has actually worked until I have the finished article in my hot little hand. But so far all ...
When nominating oneself for the Golden Dozen, try not to do it in a week when one has made the clickthrough chart also. It looks greedy. * sheepish grin * Maybe remembering to nominate other people might be a plan also. Millennium and Mr Quist and Alex have all had excellent posts this week which didn't get selected, for example... Oh dear. Am feeling guilty now. Time to give the old hair shirt an airing and flagellate myself a bit. Toodle pip.
Human Rights Day is celebrated on 10 December. On that day in 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
