Back at the end of October, the results of an annual nationwide survey of secondary school children were published by Ofsted, the people who bring you school inspections. Oddly, the report doesn't seem to have been reported in the Sun, Daily Mail or the Telegraph (nor anywhere else that I've found). Which is odd. The media normally take an enormous interest in Britain's illiterate, drugged up, smoking, shagging, knife-carrying teenagers and this was a pretty big survey. It wasn't just some lazy journalist hunting out trouble and phoning a rent-a-quote MP. 150,000 secondary school children in over 3,000 schools across ...
I've been having a bit of an exchange with that Iain Dale over the past twenty-four hours, and will be resuming 'hostilities' shortly. However, I've had Irfan's contribution to the Israel/Palestine debate tossed back at me, so I had a look... and gosh, you really know how to pour paraffin onto a fire, don't you? And yes, I noticed your subsequent correction but really, what were you thinking? So
More problems related to boilers needing replacing today. This one has taken so long to sort out that the parts have to be re-ordered under an extremely bureaucratic system causing upset as it is so difficult to find out what is happening and more delays. In this cold weather it should be a crime. Not that my blood boiling is going to help people in cold homes. I wish I had the power to...
Peter Riddell is the doyen of Times columnists and his insights into politics are usually pretty spot-on. It was therefore gratifying to see him arguing in yesterday's column that the "irrelevant initiatives and hectic trips around the country" of Gordon Brown and David Cameron are merely a substitute for action, and that their many and varied proposals are economically flawed and designed to buy-off political constituencies rather than achieve macro-economic recovery. Brown's pledge to create 100,000 jobs and Mr Cameron's new savings package do not address the cause of the deepening recession: the lack of credit. Everything else is secondary... ...
Thatcher had Alan Walters. Blair had Derek Scott. It seems that Gordon Brown is turning to Robert Mugabe for economic inspiration. News reports today suggest the Government is looking at printing money to stimulate the economy. This is policy that brought economic havoc to Zimbabwe and is generally the last ditch throw of the dice by military dictators trying to shore up their power at times of economic collapse. General Juan Domingo Peron, another supporter of the printing money school of economic management and the man who oversaw Argentina's spectacular post war decline, is reported to have marvelled "there is ...
Thanks to Peter Black for reminding me... Great site - visit. Following a meerkat on twitter anyone?
It is one of the most contested discussions in the history of mankind. It has pitted clerics against philosophers for many centuries. Does God exist? And if so, what form does God take? Is it Allah, the Christian God or should we be talking about gods plural? (Note: other belief systems are also available) Well, the good news is that there will shortly be a decision on the matter. And who better to take it than the Advertising Standards Authority. They have received a complaint from the organisation Christian Voice (firmly in the Yes camp) who object to the atheist ...
Nick Clegg, Susan Kramer (MP for Richmond Park) and the environmental campaigner Tony Juniper attracted a full house at the Duke Street Baptist Church in Richmond (Surrey) this evening, for a Question Time on the economy and the environment, chaired with characteristic panache by 'University Challenge's' Bamber Gascoigne. This was a variation on the town hall meetings [...]
Ladbrokes have become the first bookmaker to try to tempt political punters into the fray by offering odds on a range of seats for the General Election. Because of the boundary changes there are many unknowns out there. Detailed study will pay dividends but real inside knowledge will shine here. I suspect that Ladbrokes have actually been quite clever. Few punters will want to go the whole hog on a bet this far out when just about anything can happen to swing the result before a polling day which may well be 15 months away. But the spread of bets ...
This is a really clever and rather fun site: Q. Isn't a meerkat a type of mongoose? A. NO! This great insult! Mongoose not good enough to lick dropping from my shoe! I am meerkat and I live in mansion filthy mongoose could only dream about in wildest dreams.
What a pleasant surprise it was to hear Lord (Norman) Lamont on the radio bemoaning the lack of a consistent policy from the government in the midst of the current economic crisis. It was pleasant simply because it reminded us all that it is not just the Labour party who are capable of massive mismanagement of the economy and the treasury. To hear Norman Lamont go on about the government lacking a thought through policy and failing to give policies a chance to work was almost hilarious given the fact that Norman Lamont (ably assisted by David Cameron as one ...
Nick Clegg reshuffled his front bench team today in what will probably be the last change of roles before the General Election. I personally was delighted to see Steve Webb go back to Work and Pensions. He's done well at Environment and Climate Change, but he is Mr Pensions and knows everything there is to know in that complex minefield. I actually don't understand why he was ever moved in the first place and I am sure we will benefit from his expertise in this important area. Top Lib Dem MP Blogger Lynne Featherstone is to head up the as ...
Amongst the catalogue of disasters presided over by the Conservative Executive struggling to guide Bury Council through its Equal Pay review, today's news of recalled redundancy letters must rank amongst the worst. To cut a (very) long and painful story short, the end of the Equal Pay review sees all staff made redundant and then re-hired on different contracts including their new pay. This was supposed to happen this week. Unfortunately, having sent out 4,000 redundancy notices to staff, the Council have now had to rescind and withdraw them, and have agreed to come back to the table and talk ...
I've just read an email from the council's events team seeking approval for a number of community events over the summer. The events are run by community groups and council teams and are funded by the council. I'm extremely concerned to see that four of the events use the funfair provider mentioned in this story: "Pink [...]
What is the world coming to when French Minister, Rachida Dati, is back at work just five days after giving birth (and looking amazingly fantastic after it too) and Nick Clegg suggests new fathers should be given a whole year's paternity leave? The timing of his comments couldn't be more embarrassing coming as they do in the week that thousands are being laid off and as his Labour and Tory counterparts, Brown and Cameron, tour the country looking at the impact of the economic downturn. This ridiculous additional burden on business must be the last thing the management of M&S ...
The world watched in horror yesterday as the conflict in Gaza claimed its latest innocent victims in the rubble of a UN school. Any hopes of reconciliation are being snuffed out as anger spills into protests around the world. The past two weeks have been a telling indictment of the international community. We have an outgoing US president sanctioning Israel's military...
The danger now is of deepening recession mutating into deflation Four months ago, in September, the Bank of England was debating whether to increase interest rates beyond 5 per cent to counter mounting inflation. There were people who thought that crude oil, then $140 a barrel, would soon fetch $200 or even $250. That world now seems light years away. As...
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg today announced his team for the next General Election. He said: "I am proud to lead the best front-bench team in British politics, a team which has consistently been ahead of the curve on the big debates that matter to the British people. "This team leaves the Liberal Democrats well placed to take the fight to both...
If you are trying to get a handle on what the Obama Presidency might look like then the BBC have two radio documentaries available on their iPlayer that you might find useful: Obama: Professor President looks at Obama's academic background and what it may mean for his style of government. Available until 13/01/09.Profile: Rahm Emanuel looks at Obama's Chief of Staff. Available until10/01/09.
To see the Leaked document go to Tom Harris Tom Harris has an interested leak of a memo that is for bloggers and candidates, it gives them all the excuses they can use to cover their tracks when they are put under pressure on policy issues. So Andrew Stephenson when asked by Constituents why we don't have an Iceland in Nelson Town Centre? Just reply by saying "It's Brown's fault!" *not true
Right, time to get back to blogging after two weeks away over Christmas and New Year, and then being struck down by a cold on my return (sniff, cough). The Herald today splashed on the fact that local councils in Scotland face severe financial pressures as they prepare to set their budgets for the coming year. That shouldn't really surprise anyone, as a combination of a council tax freeze, reduced revenues as a result of the recession, the increased expenditure that recessions also bring and finally the requirement from the Gnat government for a total of £500m in 'savings' from ...
Gordon Brown will not be coming to the North East as part of his current tour of the nation in which he looks at the problems of the recession. The region is not sure whether they should feel relieved or insulted. I suspect it is a mixture of both. However, the Brown tour to other parts of the country goes ahead on the day one of the most successful private sector employers in the North East,
It seems a daft question to ask as no Conservative has been elected to Newcastle City Council since 1992. However, listening to Labour Group Opposition Leader Councillor Nick Forbes, I can be forgiven for thinking his briefings come straight from Conservative Central Office. In early January, Lib Dem run Newcastle announced plans for a council tax rise of 2.9% which would pay towards helping
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Two of the Lib Dems more respected House of Commons performers have done well out of Nick Clegg's reshuffle today. David Heath returns to become our shadow leader of the House, the position he occupied between 2005 and 2007. It is a great shame that Nick Clegg's first act as leader was to oblige him to resign by... But don't start me on that. David Howarth is promoted to shadow justice secretary, a post eminently suited to his talents. Elsewhere, Susan Kramer is standing down to defend her seat (and oppose a third runway at Heathrow) and Lynne Featherstone takes ...
Ehud Olmert the Israeli PM was forced to resign due to corruption charges. Since he's been preparing for leaving he's been speaking out in a brave manor, strongly condemning attacks by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and he called upon Israel to act calmly when the Israel-Hamas ceasefire ended. Whereas the New Kadima leader, Tzipi Livni claimed she would topple Hamas once leading the country. And rival Likud sent out extreme messages. Since the ceasefire broke down Olmert seems to have gone very quiet. Ms Livni, the foreign minister, deputy PM, and PM hopeful has been speaking loud and ...
Hopefully we will have more luck at attending this demo on Saturday. It's Scotland-wide and being supported by everyone from the Stop the War coalition to Scottish Jews for a Just Peace to the Muslim Council of Scotland. The Meeting Point is East Market Street at 12.30 pm and march to the US consulate, then back to Princes Street for a rally with speakers. Don't forget to take in date medicines, sealed in their original containers, to send to Gaza. LibDig This!
Thu 8th
17:57
Are Kettering Town being kept off television because they are sponsored by a Palestinian charity?
A non League club is drawn at home against a Premiership club in the fourth round of the FA Cup. So the tie is a certainty to be shown live on television, you would think. Wrong. Neither ITV nor Setanta is planning to show Kettering Town vs Fulham as one of the five games they are screening live between them. Why is this? Could it possibly be because Kettering's shirt sponsor is Interpal, a charitable organisation that distributes aid in the Palestinian territories? Mentioning the story in passing this morning, the Guardian said that this is the explanation that will ...
An encouraging story on PoliticalBetting.com says: it's interesting following the prices in the Ladbrokes general election constituency betting to note that the main movers seem to have been to the Lib Dems in Labour held seats where the Clegg's party is in with a shout.The four seats it mentions are: Hampstead and KilburnBrent CentralWatfordBedford You can inspect the individual constituency odds for yourself elsewhere on the same site.
Looking back at the statistics for this blog for 2008 I can see two, not particularly surprising, trends. Visitors tend to come to the site either in peaks of interest driven by my posts appearing on Lib Dem Blogs and Liberal Democrat Voice or as part of a constant background traffic generated by Google. According to Google Analytics the 5 most popular posts viewed on my blog over 2008 were:
Many Labour and Tory politicians have been in Manchester in the recent days and the reason for that is they have a by election in the Didsbury West Ward, the ward that was represented by the Late Neil Trafford who passed away after a car crash a few weeks ago. The politicians that have been to the ward are: Geoff HoonLiam Byrne and Lord MandelsonDavid CameronNow this is an interesting list of politicians especially for a ward seat, high profile politicians don't normally bother with ward seats but it shows that the Tories and Labour parties really want to win ...
The Liberal Democrats shadow cabinet has been reshuffled and no Lembit opik? I have in the past wrote about how I think Nick Clegg needs to bring Lembit back into the cabinet but no one has listened. I am today going to email the office of Nick Clegg MP and ask him to bring Lembit back into the cabinet and I shall explain some of my reasons in this post. When Charles Kennedy and Ming Campbell had party members conspiring against them the only person who stood up for them in the media and with in the party was Lembit ...
Susan Kramer MP has been leading the Lib Dem's campaign against the expansion of Heathrow Airport. Her constitiuency of Richmond Park includes all the parts of the borough north of the Kingston/New Malden railway line, and she has the full support of her Lib Dem colleagues nearby. So it is pleasing to hear that she has decided to focus all her energies on this very important...
So, Nick Clegg has announced his 'General Election team' and now the next question is logically will David Cameron follow suit?? Iain Dale gives us his thoughts on his blog; he thinks the speculation is damaging the Tories and he may well be right because if nothing else it conveys the impression of unease. Of course, the big question is the will he/won't he speculation over the return of Kenneth Clarke. Here I have to agree with Iain's line that the exclusion from office on grounds of his stance over Europe is risible. One thing that will occur if they ...
With Guido planning to move his blog platform from Blogger to another company which is still unknown but soon will be known in due course. Meanwhile a model from Canada is suing Google for a blog that is set up on their platform, Blogger. Now I am not in favour of censoring blogs and I think bloggers should be allowed to express their freedom of speech but with this news releases about this Canadian model I am serious starting to doubt that bloggers will be allowed to speak their mind for much longer. I just hope that Guido has a ...
{MC in the Commons} North East Fife Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell has been appointed to be a member of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, which has the responsibility of scrutinising the Intelligence Service and GCHQ. Appointments to the all-party committee are made by the Prime Minister personally and members are drawn from the ranks of senior MPs and members of the House of Lords. Sir Menzies commented: "I am honoured to be appointed to this committee which does valuable and responsible work and is of particular importance at this time." ENDS
I mean, I haven't bought a guitar Nor have I cleaned the house, or bought milk, though I was in Morrisons an hour ago and forgot. Although I don't have the technology to join in with this meme, I am surprised that nobody has added the verse "I'm sorry I haven't delivered the leaflets." Is this because although we are all sad enough to waste tonnes of time on the internet, we always make sure our leaflets are out there first? If you have no idea what I'm talking about and are intrigued, have a look here. Pink Dog's response ...
After the result of last night's 14-5 victory on tuition fees at the party's Federal Policy Committee, I was hoping to be told who voted which way. No chance! Apparently there is a convention not to reveal which way other people voted - why I'm not sure. I know who about half the Righteous 14 are, [...]
The Iranian ambassador to Belgium, His Excellency Mr Aboulghasem Dalfi, calls to see me in my office. Through an interpreter he expresses his concern for Palestine and the people of Gaza. I concur. "But what about the firing of rockets by Hamas aimed at innocent Israeli civilians?" I ask. "It's immoral and it's politically self-defeating. It's used by the Israelis to justify their attacks upon Gaza. If Iran is supplying or funding these rockets then it could be said that it has contributed to the suffering of Palestinians." The ambassador justifies the use of the rockets on the grounds that ...
The Times has a follow-up to the story initated by Julia Goldsworthy yesterday, which found that Councils in England and Wales are taking people to court too quickly if they fall behind with their council tax payments. One million people received court summons, whilst bailiffs called on 600,000. They have found that some householders who owe less than £2,000 in arrears are suddenly faced with a bill of up to £50,000 and forced to sell their homes because of the exorbitant fees which kick in after bankruptcy. Insolvency accountants who chase up small council tax arrears of a few hundred ...
Today I got my first letter addressed to the Managing Director of Gauge Opinion Ltd. So I guess its official; I now have my own company registered at Company's House and ready to start doing some Strategic Communications consultancy work. Fortunately I have two clients already and am busy looking for the third. All the communications work I have done successfully in the past has started with a process of gauging opinion - finding out what people think about a product, a campaign, a service or an organisation. Having picked up a degree in Experimental Psychology from Corpus Christi College, ...
Rushing headlong into a year-in-review column feels somewhat precipitate, given that this is only the second flight of the kite (as it were). Then again, I'm always keen to fulfil my contractual obligations to the blogosphere and it seems positively churlish to let the highlights(sic) of 2008 in Wales pass unmarked... All Quiet On The Socialist Front It seems rather strange to say that the party with twenty-nine of Wales' 40 MPs, twenty-six of its 60 AMs and in power in both Westminster and Butetown had a quiet year, and yet that's what it was. Part of that is down ...
I must be in the last generation of people that didn't have the internet as a teenager. What this meant was that most of the bands in my music collection were mysteries to me. I had the music and the album covers to go off, or if I was lucky I'd snatch a glimpse of a video or something on television. At the time we thought that the age of the music video was killing some of the mystery and mystique that bands used to be able to create. I'm thinking here about Led Zeppelin, for example. No music videos. ...
Do we - do I - want privacy or not? One minute we're getting paranoid about criminals stealing information from our hard drives and MI5 treating us all as potential terrorists, the next we're posting intimate photos and details of our lives on Facebook and sending out a tweet about the state of our bowel movements. First up today we have a report from Which magazine recommending that old hard drives be smashed with a hammer. They think nothing short of that will stop your personal information falling into the hands of criminals. The only problem is that Which's advice ...
Well, not really, but clearly the problem of excessive queue lengths at Darlington's Crown Street Post Office is not something exclusive to this town, and not something that only happened in the last couple of weeks before Christmas. Lynne Featherstone , our excellent MP for Haringey, makes the same points as me about her local post office. The Tottenham, Wood Green and Edmonton Journal reported
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg today announced his team for the next General Election.
News from Manchester that Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo has written off his Ferrari, after apparently driving it into a wall in a tunnel on the A538. Witnesses say that Ronaldo was unhurt by the crash, but emerged from the car clutching his shin, before falling to the ground and rolling over two or three times.
Nick Clegg has announced his reshuffle with details being on Liberal Democrat Voice and comment on Iain Dales Diary. I think Steve Webb did a creditable job in his position at Climate Change although his move across to the Work and Pensions brief is on-balance a good thing because this is going to be a key area in which we will have to hammer Labour. Dale says that this is a 'missed opportunity' for Lynne Featherstone though I do note from the Liberal Democrat site that her brief will include overseeing the online campaigning that the party does. Given her ...
At work in the staff restroom areas we have a couple of PCs not linked up through the server but straight to an outside line. It is from here that the agents and other staff can access the websites that are blocked from their networked machines with the proviso that they do not breach other company guidelines regarding legality and decency. Well it appears that as of some point since this morning that these machines are now blocking Facebook. Something that they had already blocked from desktop machines early last year. Now many of us use that site to make ...
I haven't yet written up a review of 2008 and being already eight days into 2009 it feels like I should be looking forward and not back. However, sticking to politics and not the personal, 2008 has for me been largely about four themes; The first was watching Nick Clegg's first year as leader of the Liberal Democrats. While I am frustrated that the Party is not doing better, I don't really blame
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg today announced his team for the next general election. He said: "I am proud to lead the best front-bench team in British politics, a team which has consistently been ahead of the curve on the big debates that matter to the British people.
I am so excited about fronting the new Technology Board for the Party. Clever move by Nick Clegg I think as I think / hope this will be a good match between me and the need for a non-geek, non-nerdy human being to lead the way (vital and lovable though geeks and nerds are!). I have always used the internet to campaign - - and to communicate with all the different people that I have wanted to reach for different reasons, different issues and to achieve a variety of outcomes. And behind the scenes, I've always appreciated the importance of ...
The Cabinet (and by that I mean the one from Westminster) is meeting in Liverpool today. And what a circus it is. Obviously government ministers are free to go where they want. Ministerial visits are in the job description and we have had our fair share of visits up here. But moving the whole circus for a meeting is just barmy. I have been doing some work looking at the policing costs of the whole exercise. The cabinet did a similar day trip to Leeds a while ago and there local taxpayers have had to foot a bill which could ...
Today's Yorkshire Evening Post carries a story of the most remarkable display of petty party-political foot-stamping by the Labour group. It concerns the nomination of the next Lord Mayor who in this case is a Councilor Judith Elliot; traditionally the main parties take it in turns to fill the post however, Elliot is a non-party independent and it was due this time to be Labour's 'turn'. Cllr Keith Wakefield, leader of the City Council's Labour Group, summed up the pettiness of Labour's position; "I have no problem with with Judith Elliot wanting to be Lord Mayor. But I do take ...
{Lynne Featherstone rolling dough at Dunns} I made a croissant! No - I didn't completely make the dough - but I rolled it. It was at Dunns (the bakers in Crouch End) where I went to work for an hour yesterday morning - they said it was so good that if things didn't work out in the future I could always have a job! I was there to really show solidarity with our local shops and small businesses - as they face the dreadful economic downturn and struggle to survive. Now Dunns (owned and run by Chris Freeman - fourth ...
Highlights from the full story: Simon Hughes: Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Steve Webb: Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions David Heath: Shadow Leader of the House Jenny Willott: Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster David Howarth: Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Susan Kramer: chosen to leave the shadow cabinet to take up a new role leading the party's campaign against the expansion of Heathrow Airport Lynne Featherstone: Chair of the New Technology Board Reactions include: Steve Webb on his blog Lynne Featherstone on her blog The Guardian
A call from my delegation leader, Andrew Duff MEP: "We need to rally around the courageous position taken by Nick Clegg in calling for an arms embargo against Israel. Comments on your blog might be taken to suggest that you are calling Israeli's racist, and this is not helpful." "Someone's been getting at you," I replied. But I checked my blog, and I think it clear to any impartial reader that words I have used describe Israeli government policy as racist, not Israeli people in general. But this is how some of the knee jerk pro-Israeli Government lobby works. One ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7816680.stm I really can't get that upset for the press on this one. Personally, I hate league tables. As much as they might be a worthwhile idea, ostensibly to let parents choose the best schools, they are hideously misleading. 1: A school might pull in the middle-class to upper-class children, which (statistically) perform better, lifting league tables up. 2: A school might work hard in catchment area where social problems are massive. The hard work of pupils and staff in these schools is often not noticed, with league tables. 3: A school will often work harder and harder just for ...
European cooperation was initially designed to avoid another world war but because this has been so successful only a few on the extremes believe there is any prospect of war between western European countries today. It's not a danger that most British people think is realistic. Although Lib Dems will highlight this major achievement in the European Elections in June it is unlikely to shift a significant number of votes in our favour. The European Union has also made significant improvements to the lives of people which is something we will highlight in our communications. Yet people rarely reward parties ...
This piece in the Guardian is very troubling. I thought it was time I gave you all some tips on how to avoid being arrested under anti-terrorism laws: 1) Don't be weird. This is the golden rule. Normal people dress normally, walk at a normal pace and it is normal to go outside only to go from A to B without doing anything weird along the way. 2) Taking photographs is weird. Making notes is weird. Doing sketches is weird. You're breaking the 'you only go outside to go from A to B rule' and therefore the police's suspicions will ...
Dates have now been confirmed for the Prestwich Local Area Partnership (LAP) meetings for the rest of this municipal year. So run straight to the nearest diary and write them in in permanent marker pen immediately. The LAP meetings are a great way to find out about what's going on in the local area. Representatives of all the public services are there. So if you like looking at firemen or, heaven help you, local Councillors, then this is your ideal port of call. Any issues to do with local health services, schools, roads, crime or anything else to do with ...
As reported in last night's "Evening Telegraph", I am pleased that, following the intervention of the City Council's planning enforcement staff, a Belgium-based developer has finally commenced the tidying of a badly overgrown area of ground in the Shepherd's Loan area. Residents and I had contacted the City Council regarding the badly overgrown condition of the ground south of Steven's Yard near to High Mill. The ground had become highly overgrown and residents were rightly complaining about the eyesore. Clearly the concern in such instances is that neglected ground becomes a magnet for fly-tipping, so I am pleased that following ...
The next Prestwich Local Area Partnership meeting will take place on Tuesday 13 January at 6.30pm at Butterstile Primary School, School Grove, Prestwich. Items under the spotlight at this meeting are the final regeneration plans for Prestwich, changes to local NHS services and an update on St Mary's Conservation Area. One of the key issues highlighted through responses to the consultation was the importance of keeping the Railway and Naturalist pub in the centre of Prestwich. The LAP meeting will announce the final proposals for this aspect of the regeneration plans. Attendees will have the chance to discuss the regeneration ...
Is in the market for ideas for Power of Information Task Force report - what should government's priorities be on this agenda in 2009?
A special "Awarm" Training Session will be held at 5.30 on Tue 13 January 2009 at Butterstile Primary School - Children's Centre. As the eyes and ears of Prestwich community you may have access to vulnerable people living in cold, damp unhealthy homes? If so this training is for you! The new Energy Support Officer for Bury Council and part of my remit is to implement the Affordable Warmth Strategy action plan which aims to reduce fuel poverty, this is where a household needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel & power. In 2005 it was ...
It seems my earlier item on the 1947 proposal to share the land of Palestine was wrong. I had forgotten the equally far-sighted plan proposed by Saudi Arabia and agreed by all 22 members of the Arab League, with the acquiescence of Hamas and Iran. Adrian Hamilton writes in the Independent: "But then there's an offer on the table that could overarch and even subsume the basic Palestinian-Israeli discord and that is the Arab League proposal to offer Israel recognition by the whole Arab world in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders. "First authored by Saudi Arabia ...
Obviously, we are seeing quite a few retrospectives on the Bush years. The BBC take a jolly look at some memorable Best Bushisms. Oh, how we laughed! For a more sobering, even chilling perspective, take a look at these simple but shattering "Then and Now" measures from MSNBC's First Read (the "then" being the day Bush took office in 2001): UNEMPLOYMENT RATE Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor
I am delighted to have been asked by Nick Clegg to take on a key economic role in the newly re-shaped Lib Dem front bench team announced today. Nick is setting up a group of economic advisers that will meet regularly to determine the best response to the current economic problems and in my new role shadowing Work and Pensions issues I will play a key role in that group. I will also be able to spend more time campaigning on issues that were the focus of my time at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and at Bath University, including ...
Duncan Borrowman's post reminds that I meant to check whether there was a Compare the Meerkat site to back up the recent TV advertising campaign. Well, I'm very impressed with what's there. It's obviously been thought through. Sadly, I have to admit I've now become a fan of the Chief Meerkat on facebook but even I draw the line at follwing him on Twitter...
Two stories from the Journal: SUPPORT is mounting for a life-size bronze statue to be built remembering a pioneering black footballer and First World War hero at the new Spurs stadium... Early backers of the online petition include Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, and Walter Tull's biographer Phil Vasili. Mr Blumsom said: "I've always been fascinated by Walter Tull's story. He had to overcome prejudice and racism both in his career as a footballer and as a soldier. "I've suggested that this statue should be placed in a prominent position on the approach to the new stadium." ...
Mat and I read this morning's entry, and said in unison but I LIKE reading about Mitch's views on Doctor Who...! However, we recognise that we may not be in the majority. Therefore, a poll: View Poll: Mitch Benn's blog
The Prime Minister is spending a lot of time in Liverpool these days, he has taken his cabinet to the city and the North West is a region in which the PM is spending a lot of time. To read the article by the BBC follow the link. Personally I think the Prime Minister has a motive to be in the North West and that is, he has a lot of MP's in the North and if he is spending time here then it will help them getting elected come the general election. The Prime Minister tends to get a ...
I have made my views on the London Assembly elections well known in private, but have stayed pretty quiet in public. I was strongly of the view that Brian Paddick did a great job of what he was asked to do, but the job he was asked to do was the wrong one. We shouldn't have been indulging in the Boris v ken battle. We should have been maximising the number of Lib Dem Assembly Members to keep the
The following article by Nick Clegg regarding Israeli action in Gaza was published in the Guardian yesterday.
I like reading Irfan Ahmed's blog however, I have to disagree with his current stance on the Israel/Palestine question very vigorously. Yesterday, he posted actually taking pride in Iain Dale's characterisation of the Liberal Democrats as an 'anti-Israel' party; an issue which I took-up with Iain in his comments section and there is also another excellent reply by Mark Valladares on his blog. Irfan is however intent on pressing his case; having already caused some uproar in his comments section by referring to the 'disgusting' behaviour by 'the Jews' he carries on; "The war between Palestine and Israel is a ...
It appears that the shock waves that reverberated around Watford, after then Conservative parliamentary candidate Ian Oakley pleaded guilty to a vile hate campaign against his LibDem opponents, has hit Conservative Central Office. Newsnight's political editor Michael Crick has obtained a copy of the minutes of a top level meeting at CCHQ which demonstrates some real nervousness [...]
Thu 8th
08:55
Terrorists target Alan Sugar - or freelance journalist goes undercover and winds up polite letter-wr...
The Sun - Tabloid Lies blog has a demolition of The Sun's story that Alan Sugar is being threatened by terrorists: The Sun today has an exclusive: TERROR TARGET SUGAR their front page shrieks, with EXTREMIST THREAT TO UK JEWS in a banner above it... However, all is not as it seems for not only is this story seemingly based on an appeal for addresses actually so that a "polite" letter-writing campaign could be run, but also the moderator of the board where the appeal appeared said: I can confirm that the User "AbuIslam" who was posing as a Muslim ...
Graham Watson, one of the South West's Euro-MPs, has written on Comment is Free: Everybody wants to get a first in something: a race, a university degree, a newspaper scoop. This week I launched my campaign for president of the European parliament knowing that I am not the first British candidate, but I am the first - of any nationality - to run a public campaign, and that is already something to be just a little bit proud of. The chattering classes love to have a pop at the behind-closed-doors culture that we are told thrives in Brussels. Europe's reputation ...
News from The Red Box blog: A major breakthrough in Freedom of Information rules has happened today, thanks to the tireless work of Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman and FOI expert. The Information Tribunal has forced Downing Street to release the names of every official, adviser and minister met by the Prime Minister in "internal meetings" during the period of one month. You can read the full post here. Update: The Guardian has more: The ruling by the tribunal, taken with another recent decision to release the minutes of a lobbying meeting between the media mogul Rupert Murdoch ...
2009 A year of social responsibility 6 January Epiphany 11 January Plough Sunday www.farmcrisisnetwork.org.uk 16 January Martin Luther King Day (US) 18 - 25 January Week of Prayer for Christian Unity www.ctbi.org.uk 18 January Peace Sunday www.paxchristi.org.uk 18 January World Religion Day www.worldreligionday.org 25 January World Leprosy Day www.leprosymission.org.uk 27 January Holocaust Memorial Day www.holocaustmemorialday.gov.uk 1 - 8 February Poverty and Homelessness Action Week 'Voices from the Edge' www.homelessness-Sunday.org.uk; www.church-poverty.org.uk 2 February Candlemas 6 February UNICEF Day for Change www.unicef.org.uk 8 February Education Sunday www.educationsunday.org 23 February - 8 March Fair Trade Fortnight www.fairtrade.org.uk 25 February Ash Wednesday 1 March ...
Thu 8th
08:34
London Region: why building your strategy based on the views of four individuals is less than ideal
James Graham reports that Chamali Fernando, an aspiring Mayoral candidate for the 2012 London elections has apparently resigned her membership of the Liberal Democrats. In some ways, I regret that. I voted for her over Brian Paddick in the selection contest for our nomination last time because, whilst I expected him to win, I wanted Chamali to know that there were those of us who thought that she
I live in Market Harborough. Well, Little Bowden, actually. And it seems that the village has a claim to fame in that it was the childhood home of John Illsley, the bass player with Dire Straits. As the Leicester Bands website tells it: John was born in Leicester in June 24, 1949. He spent five years in the city before his father accepted the post of Westminster Bank deputy manager in Market Harborough and the family moved to Shrewsbury Avenue, Little Bowden.In lyrical mode, the website reports: In the scarred world of rock 'n' roll, harrowing childhoods are worn like ...
Last month we were all mourning the death of Oliver Postgate. The Dragons' Friendly Society is doing much to keep his work alive by selling Noggin the Nog, Pogles Wood and Pingwings DVDs.
So, a week into my new job, and I've spent most of it recovering from the dreaded lurgy that is doing the rounds. I'm on the mend though, and was able to venture into London for two days of meetings and general Presidential stuff. This included my first ever meeting of the Federal Policy Committee (FPC). Others have commented on the decision taken with regard to our stance on tuition fees, and I won't add to their postings. I want to report on how impressed I was with proceedings. Stephen Williams and his working group have gone to great efforts ...
Thu 8th
07:53CommentIsLinked@LDV: Vince Cable - Confiscating savings from the poor is both stupid and cruel
The Independent today has an op-ed piece from Vince Cable. You can read it in full here, but here's an excerpt: As it became clear that we faced a serious recession we Liberal Democrats broke the taboo of the political and economic Establishment by calling on the Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rates by 2 per cent initially. Our call was treated like a rude noise in church. But it has happened - and more - and we now have a two per cent base rate. The danger now is of deepening recession mutating into deflation and a downward ...
The Times (not the sadly demised Ealing Times) has this amazing story. My reactions are twofold... How dare Labour remove the cross-London service between Birmingham and Brighton? The direction we should be moving in is having *more* train services that pass smoothly and conveniently through London for people travelling between the North and the South without disgorging their passengers onto the heaving tube network. How dare Labour waste our money on this unused coach because they don't have the guts to consult people about axing this rail service? Ministers' efforts to avoid political embarrassment know no bounds. Toran suggested a ...
My blood boiled yesterday lunchtime. The Sun yesterday run an article complaining that top celebrities were sunning themselves on glamorous holidays while the rest of us was facing the credit crunch. How dare The Sun lecture us on who can take a holiday and who can't. Last summer I decided not to go away with my friends because it was too expensive. I did not hold this against them and I
A week may be a long time in politics to what about 6 months. Aye that is how long it has taken the SNP to wake up to the blight of Parkhead Fire Station. Back then John Mason was merely a humble councillor for Ballieston before he took the seat off Labour and a disgruntled Margaret Curran. However, when all the candidates back then where challenged by Lib Dem candidate Ian Robertson over the shutting down of the station serving the heavily tenemented area they remained silent. However, now Sandra White has spoken up against this closure saying: "Parkhead fire ...
Raymond Blanc may only shut down the restaurant of one couple who dream of running one every week on his TV show The Restaurant. But away from the world of reality TV the reality is looking far more harsh. Restaurants are going to be facing their toughest year since 1990 according to a recent survey. With the credit crunch taking a grip eating out is hitting high on people's list of economising. The end result of course will be that our catering industry is looking likely to follow the retail trade in restaurants no longer being able to keep up ...
On 6th January the Federal Policy Committee flexed its muscles in reaffirming opposition to university tuition fees - indeed extending the policy to opposition to part-time and further education fees as well. I was there, and I found it refreshing after quite a long period of that committee being rather tame. It has suddenly become extremely interesting. I don't think media observers really understand how the Lib Dem policy-making process works - they think the MPs do it. Not really. The party constitution is a dull read, but it was cleverly made, and it contains the key to where policy-making ...
Back in July last year I was in Glasgow East fighting the by-election for the Lib Dems. We were advised by the Fire Brigades Union, as were all the four main parties that Strathclyde Fire Board and Brigade were considering closing Parkhead Fire Station. We ran the story alerting the public to this outrageous closure, our fantastic candidate Ian Robertson publicly challenged all of the candidates to back the campaign - we were met with deafening silence. So, today imagine my surprise when this story appeared in todays Glasgow Evening Times - where an SNP MSP has decided to back ...
I have given in to the fascist hive mind and contributed to the Will Howells guitar meme: As it happens, I think fascist hive mind is indeed one of the alien races you can play in Cosmic Encounter. Available at all good game stores now!
I recall the day I told Charles Kennedy, then Lib Dem party leader, at a policy meeting in 2003 that the issue on the Iraq invasion was illegality (though that was not how it was being put at the time) and that despite the awful time Labour and Tory MPs were giving him, he should stick to his opposition. Well, he did, and he was right, and eventually most reasonable people realised he was right. And it was, indeed, an issue of illegality. Now there is a bloodbath in Gaza and the issue is illegality, and this time it is ...
Dear Councillors Crane, Moher & Moher, I've lived in Kingsbury for about eighteen months now, in a Labour-held ward (Fryent) in a Labour-held constituency (Brent North). Curiously, on the new boundaries, Fryent is in fact the only Labour-held ward in the new Brent North (three wards are Liberal Democrat, the other five are Conservative - independents who defected from their Party excluded). So
Last night at the Safer Reading campaign meeting I mentioned yesterday, we received an update about Neighbourhood Policing. On the positive side, Thames Valley Police have finally seemed to have recognised the need to support chairs of Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) - all of whom are volunteers from the local community. This is something I've raised several times as I'm aware that some people have resigned as chairs finding it an uphill struggle. In addition, two admin assistants have been appointed to support Neighbourhood Police teams. Following the concerns I expressed when Neighbourhood Policing was launched in 2007 about problems around the retention of neighbourhood officers in ...
I attended the Transition Town Lewes forum tonight. Heard that the currency group has £30,000 in circulation. Ovesco are doing good work using local contractors for energy efficiency works, and have great plans for the future. The waste group has been working with the County Council and Furniture Now! on an anaerobic digester, which will take food waste from local businesses. The transport group
Lib Dem Candidate brands the Tories at North Somerset Council 'A public inconvenience' over the launch of the 2009 draft budget. "The Tory run Council have shown disrespect to the people of North Somerset with their lack of transparency over the 2009 budget," says Dr. Brian Mathew the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate. "They don't care about people not having information on what they are planning for the future. The so called draft budget is more of a 'daft budget' as they have not been open about what they are planning to do. Opposition councillors are aware that cuts in services ...
