This loathsome mealy mouthed woman (MP for Islington South & Finsbury), whose very voice seems to be queuing system of a whole load of anti-Lib Dem cynicism as if it were acid, first challenged Danny Alexander by asking `what are the Lib Dems going to do, Danny, what are their policies?` Danny mentioned a couple [...]
"We are the only party that will put money into people's pockets with fair tax cuts. The only party to offer universal childcare and smaller classes in our primary schools. The only party that will use Gordon Brown's wasted billions to create thousands of jobs today by investing in homes, hospitals, schools and public transport to build the green economy of tomorrow. The only party that will rebuild the jobs, homes and hopes this recession has destroyed. So don't believe the doubters, the nay-sayers, the professional cynics. This time it can be different." - extract from Nick Clegg's speech to ...
The Liberal Democrats have given Gosport one of its lowest Council Tax increases for years. The inflation-beating rise of just 2.5% is also one of the lowest in the country. Gosport Council's share of the Council Tax for a Band D property will go up by just £4.94 a year this April. That's less than 10p a week. Sadly the Conservative County Council have increased their share of the Council Tax by four times as much, adding £19.17 for a Band D property and increasing their share of the Council Tax for a Band D to over £1,000 for the ...
The Lib Dems are demanding that the ex-HBOS boss blamed for the bank's collapse give back his pension. Sir James Crosby, 50 — who has quit as a City regulator after claims he ignored disaster warnings — has a £10million pension pot. Details were buried in a new annual report from HBOS, which has merged with Lloyds. Taxpayers now own 43 per cent of the firm. Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said Sir James had a "moral obligation" to repay some of the money.
Government staff are misplacing their security passes at a rate of 23 a day, it has emerged. Almost 17,000 civil service passes have been lost or stolen over the past two years. Around two thirds of the misplaced cards have been misplaced by staff at the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The figures follow a series of other security lapses by civil servants, including an incident where highly sensitive intelligence files on al-Qaeda were left on a train by a senior Whitehall official. In January last year, a laptop with the details of 600,000 people on it was taken from a ...
Today's video comes from the first lady of France. Heiress to the CEAT tyre manufacturing fortune, Bruni has colourful and disputed parentage. She began as a model, but later devoted herself to music. She married M. Sarkozy last year.Sexy, chic, beautiful - that's more than you can say for Sarah Brown, Cherie Blair or Norma Major. Or for Denis Thatcher, for that matter.And she can sing, even if the arrangement here has a bit of an oompah feel to it. For another performance of the same song, try the Spencer Davis Group (in their pyjamas) from the film The Ghost ...
"I'm a liberal - I'm against this sort of thing." That's what Harry Wilcox, a dry cleaner from North London, said when asked to produce his ID card in the 1950s. He drew the line. It's time we drew that line again. The actions of two repressive parties - first the Conservatives, now Labour - have robbed us of too many of our fundamental rights and freedoms. The Liberal Democrats are proposing the Freedom Bill - http://freedom.libdems.org.uk - and here's a selection of the measures it incorporates: • Scrap ID cards for everyone. • Restore the right to protest in ...
This blogging during conference thing doesn't seem to work. I got halfway through my Howard Dean post when the battery gave up. I couldn't find a power socket. Then I got swept up in the conference whirlwind. Ho hum.But I am now home and will write up the happenings of Harrogate over the next few days.
A new political movement was launched today. It is called The Jury Team and its aim is to encourage non-aligned individuals to engage with the political and parliamentary process. This seems a noble aim but whether it can galvanise people who are simply not interested in politics is another matter. While being politically independent, the organisation does take a very critical view of politics and parties today. For now, it must be a case of watch this space...
Slavery may be forgotten, but it's not yet gone. Before Cllr Pete Pattisson was elected to represent Whitefoot, he spent a year photographing modern forms of slavery around the world to draw attention to this evil practice. He will be exhibiting his photographs in the library at the Downham Leisure Centre from Sunday March 22 to Saturday April 4. Do go along to see them, or if you can't make it, visit his website: www.petepattisson.com
What do they have in common? They're all on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting of the Environment Select Committee. The review of Dog Fouling and Animal Welfare is drawing to a close and the recommendations and report should be finalised tomorrow afternoon. We'll also be following up on previous reviews into cemeteries and memorials. The meeting is being held in Nightingale House, also known as
Bad news today in both Northern Ireland and Baghdad. Just when we thought life could being to get back to normal terrorist attacks kill and maim innocent people. The only difference I can see between both attacks is the scale. At the Masserene army base two soldiers were killed and four others were injured. In Baghdad 28 [...]
Nick Clegg used his spring conference speech to position the Liberal Democrats as the party of hope and change. More than that, he talked about everyone having opportunity, opposition to monopolies, regulation, backing the individual entrepreneur and tax cuts for the middle classes. If this all sounds familiar it is because it echoes Obama during his Presidential bid. Going into the US Presidential, the Obama programme was very similar to the Liberal Democrats. Obama's speeches could easily have been made by a British liberal and now we have Clegg framing his party as the only vehicle for hope and change. ...
I didn't get time to blog about this on Friday before heading off for the Liberal Democrats Spring in Harrogate ( more later) Its official: under the Liberal Democrats, Islington Council has been awarded 4 stars by the Audit Commission, the highest score possible! Islington is just one of two London councils to go from a 'poor' score to 'excellent' in just seven years. The Liberal Democrats inherited a notoriously poorly run council after decades of Labour control, which was officially a 'basket case'. Its transformed beyond all recognition. It is such good news and a vindication that all the ...
I read on the BBC website that the government will commit new money to mental health provision - always a Cinderella service - in anticipation of more people needing help during the economic depression. As Tory MP Andrew Lansley says in that report, this is great news. But he couldn't help but add that the government was following Conservative policy in doing this - presumably referring to his speech on the issue in November 2008. If we were to be equally petty, we might point to another politician who raised this a month before Lansley did. However, let's just be ...
It's been a rotten day for campaiging, with freezing wind, sleet and lashing rain. Still, the reception's been very good and it's always nice to be out leafletting in company. The downside to our local by-election (aside from the usual: being away from family, masses of work, and all those other things you can't find [...]
A little off topic but over at Pickled Politics Sid has a good blog post about washing you anus after a number two, which is a custom in Pakistan and India and he writes about how he enjoyed it. Personally I think its great to see the Asian culture being discussed in the british blogosphere! Washing of the anus with a lota which you can see in the image is the traditional way but with things moving on people tend to use water spray pipes like Sid used whilst in India. On another note a lota is the name given ...
I'm back home, feet up, and reflecting on Nick Clegg's speech. A typical leader's speech slags off the other parties, makes a few jokes, ticks some policy boxes, and ends with some feelgood promises and election-ready tub-thumping. Nothing wrong with that. But this was something different. No jokes. This a brave move. In a leader's [...]
And so the moment I'd all been waiting for, the moment when Ros seized the symbols of ultimate power from the cold, dead hands of the ancien regime, the moment when everything became possible, when... oops, err... Let's start that again, shall we? It is a tradition, passed down from the Liberal Party, that the outgoing President passes to his or her successor the symbols of office, the gavel and the sacred text, 'On Liberty' by John Stuart Mill. The book is obvious, the gavel perhaps less so. In the 'old days', the President of the Liberal Party chaired every ...
The Liberal Democrat leader tells his party conference that it will be a long, slow climb out of recession but his party offers hope for the future
Chris Mullin someone who I have never heard of has a book that Iain Dale has recently being reading and in a blog post about the book; which is basically a publication of his Diary, Chris writes about how Tony Blair said something about him and ICT, the quotation from the book is as followed: about the computer course he is taking. Students are apparently tested repeatedly to see how they are getting on and Tony kept failing. He noticed that the young man at the neighbouring terminal was getting extremely agitated. 'Am I making you nervous?' he asked. 'No,' ...
I am a fan of the BBC, but I also feel there is a large amount of laziness amongst journalists which is endemic within the BBC. Locally the BBC news team in East Anglia, and I am sure in other regions too, miss real political news stories and instead only print what is sent to them in press releases by the councils. This means we get a half baked version of the news, and this is true beyond the politics arena too. Too many journalists wait for a press release rather than finding a story themselves. So what does a ...
As someone who has a business in the town centre, I see a lot of what goes on there. From time to time I spot problems - broken slats on the benches, rubbish bins not emptied, planters needing attention - which I report to Street Scene. I would be annoyed if one of the Central ward councillors came to North Road and started reporting problems, but I reckon the town centre belongs to all of us,
Sometimes cyclists do themselves no favours - and I say this as a member of the Darlington Cycling Campaign. One day last week the bike shown in the photograph was chained to the top of the only handrail down the steps at this point (sorry, the angle doesn't show the steps!). Any disabled or elderly person would have had to negotiate this bike, or walk quite a way to the next set of steps where
I had intended to blog my way through Conference but, due to a schedule which started off as busy and rapidly sped towards hectic, it proved to be impossible. However, I'm on the train back to London now, so it's time to catch up. My Conference started with the Rally on Friday evening, sponsored by the Federation of Small Businesses, which took place in a packed Royal Hall. It was a pleasure to be able to thank them for their generosity in sponsoring the event, and for laying on wine for those who could make it to the bar through ...
Now that we are home, and have access to slightly more reliably computers than our trusty laptops using the over-subscribed conference centre network, we can poke around a bit more and find out what was stopping us bringing your the recording of our highly successful fringe meeting last night. If you were following our twitter feed, you may already have seen a series of short messages giving the outline, but we are now very pleased to bring our the full recording. As our twitter readers will know, we booked a woefully inadequate room for the fringe: all but alone in ...
I see that Jeff is yet again displaying his love for the Lib Dems on his sleeve by referring to Jason Allardyce from today's Sunday Times. Of course Jeff focused on the comments that were nice to the SNP and somehow missed out this: "Many of us would be happy if we could deal with the SNP. Labour is now so contaminated that a deal with them looks impossible." It is the contamination of the Labour Party that is the key. Back in 1999 there was a sense that Labour could move things forward and in 2003 with them weakened ...
Conference rounded off as usual with the Glorious Leader's speech. Overall I thought Nick deserved an A for his delivery. He is becoming an impressive speaker and, apart from one or two minor stumbles, again gave a powerful and passionate delivery. In terms of content, though, I think it was probably a B minus. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with it, and indeed much of it was good liberal stuff, including the explicit mention of Europe as being vital to the UK's interests. But I didn't really feel there was an over-arching theme to the speech and I'm not sure ...
How many different ways are there of saying that childcare is A Good Thing And We Should Have More Of It? Quite a lot, apparently, judging by the debate on the subject at Lib Dem conference. Speaker after speaker lined up to say the proposals for up to 20 hours per week flexible childcare from age 18 months and for parental leave of a total of 19 months, to be split between the parents as they see fit, were a thoroughly good thing. All in all, that made the debate one of those which covers a quite important subject, but ...
In my first major mistake of the conference, I managed to pick two fringe events that were both packed and not handing out free food or drink. Luckily, I'd had the foresight to avail myself of a tasty chicken kebab (a traditional Yorkshire recipe, I believe). The Social Liberal Forum fringe saw self-styled bruiser James Graham on camera duty. If I may, I'll summarise the first hour (the bit before I left to get a kebab). Social Liberalism is a good thing. There are lots of nasty things happening in the world where a social liberal perspective is needed. The ...
I read a Will Hutton Observer article once every ten years. The decade came round again today and I thoroughly welcome his incisive economics article entitled: Printing money is the right way out of this mess:What we have needed is more measures to put a floor under the economy next year; for if confidence can return, the upward movement may be quite sudden.Last week we got one such measure. The
Barack Obama is to visit Turkey to make a speech, as promised, in the capital of a Muslim country in his first 100 days. When I listed, in January, the odds of which country this would be, I didn't include Turkey. D'oh! And double D'oh! - considering the fact that I have actually been to Turkey and should have known to include it. Never mind!
As part of the debate on our proposals for education, there was much discussion on the issue of faith schools. This is an issue which excites a lot of passion among liberals, with people of faith lining up against committed secularists and plenty of positions in between. The main proposal was a compromise one which sought to allow people the freedom to choose state-funded faith schools but which sought to abolish schools being able to select pupils on the basis of their faith. The first amendment was to try and delete all reference to faith schools from the motion, in ...
Turnout in European elections has been traditionally very low but with the five yearly polls only three months away this time they have an added significance on two fronts. Firstly, people are angry about Labour's recession. They're likely to take this opportunity to send a message to my constituent about this mess. With Vince Cable providing sound leadership on economic issues I would suspect that many will choose us as a vehicle to send that message. Secondly, there is a strategic decision to be made about the future direction of the nation. While the country is in recession do we ...
A successful conference. I have spoken to lots of people who read my blog, taken bucket loads of photos and ran 5 photo ops though this time I took the photos at only 2 of them.The most surreal moment for me over the weekend was at dinner last night. I was out with a group of about 12 and the person sitting next to me, Stephen from Scotland, who I hadn't met before, had the same interests as me
{testway-housing.jpg} I am pleased to report that Testway Housing has made important concessions in their plans to reclassify The Oval from sheltered to general purpose housing. The building needs extensive improvements to bring it up to standard and county officials had declared it unsuitable as sheltered accommodation. Testway wrote to residents explaining the proposed changes and residents called in me as, their councillor, to express their concerns I contacted Testway requesting a review of the proposals and Testway in conjunction with Test Valley Housing department reviewed the plans. As a result residents will be consulted about refurbishment of their kitchens ...
{Dark Lane, Icknield Way} Following complaints from residents about uninsured and unlicensed motorbikes using Dark Lane between Andover and Enham I contacted police and neighbourhood wardens for action Patrols were increased in the area and as a result two offenders were issued with warning notices. Police are confident they have solved the problem in the short term and that the offenders will move on to more suitable locations. In the meantime they will continue to monitor the area. If you see a repeat of motorcycles using the lane or any other footpath please advise the police on 08450 454545 or ...
I managed to miss both of last year's federal conferences. In March when the party went to Liverpool, I went on a different kinda party, to New York which is an experience I will never forget and had an amazing time with the friends I went. I missed Bournemouth for completely different reason - I was broke. And going to New York earlier in the year clearly hadn't helped that. So whilst almost the entire party went to Bournemouth I started my new job in John Hemming's Office, as one of his caseworkers/researchers. So now 18 months after lasting going ...
I am pleased the Metropolitan Police, so quick in the past to shoot innocent people on the London underground, have finally got their fingers out of their back sides and arrested the protester who threw green custard at Peter Mandelson on Friday. Whether you like Peter Mandelson or not, and I fall in to the "not" category, he is a minster, he ought to have had proper protection from any potential terrorist threat (especially as he was Northern Ireland Minister), and as a human being, he has the right to walk along our streets free from harassment and physical assault. ...
Personally I think the Liberal Democrats could learn a lot from the speech given by Howard Dean and its worth watching!
The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference has backed plans to give all families 20 hours of free, high quality childcare as well as allowing fathers to take up to one year of paternity leave. The proposals include: Providing 20 hours of free, good quality childcare a week from 18 months to five years old Ensuring all childcare workers are qualified to a minimum level Improving the quality of childcare by expanding the role of children's centres as training institutions Providing 19 months parental leave, shared between both parents making it easier for fathers to play a fuller role I don't have ...
This weekend it's been the Lib Dem spring conference, and it's given the party the chance to re-affirm and establish policies in lots of important areas. One of the things that most attracted me to the party when I joined was our opposition to tuition fees for students. There's no surer way to make university unappealing to poorer young people than charging a fortune to go. If we want fair access, e shouldn't be asking poorer families to pay for a first degree. And this weekend the Lib Dem conference re-affirmed the party's plans to scrap the fees. We also ...
Back in the autumn South Glos rejected Vodafone's application for another phone mast on the Rodford Way frontage of Blaisdon, only a few yards from the existing O2 mast. Now Vodaphone has slapped in an appeal to the Government inspector for exactly the same site, despite promising local councillors that they would reconsider alternatives. If they get it, that will mean four masts in a row from Merlin Way down to the Sundridge Park junction - two from 3, one from O2 and this one from Vodafone. Cllrs Mandy Sainsbury and Paul Hulbert have met the South Glos Council official ...
Howard Dean's speech at the Lib Dem Spring Conference this weekend in Harrogate was interesting even if he didn't say anything particularly revolutionary. The six key points he made that were interesting were: 1. Build relationships first with the existing communities - you have to reach out to people who care about an issue that you've got common ground with. Implication - start by listening to what people are saying about your issues 2. You can potentially get the community to then adopt your messages (and discipline) - once they're bought into your victory. Implication - see message discipline by ...
Timothy Garton Ash recently wrote in the Guardian: For 30 years I have been travelling to unfree places, from East Germany to Burma, and writing about them in the belief that I was coming from one of the freest countries in the world. I wanted people in those places to enjoy more of what we had. In the last few years, I have woken up - late in the day, but better late than never - to the way in which individual liberty, privacy and human rights have been sliced away in Britain, like salami, under New Labour governments that ...
Catching up on my TV dramas, I saw 'Margaret', with Lindsay Duncan powerful in the title role. These were the dramatised events of her downfall in 1990. At the time I was at university in Aberystwyth and found the events in November fascinating - my only memories of other PMs were of Mike Yarwood's impressions - and as for the winter of discontent, when I was 11, I can well remember all the snow and the black bags outside various gates during the dustman's strike. But by 1990 I simply could not imagine anyone else as Prime Minister. Mrs T ...
Edit: Link to text of speech 12.20 Standing ovation welcome. Nick begins with a few words about yesterday's attack in Northern Ireland. 12.21 Talks frankly about the need to update our policies - he doesn have a perfect answer for everything. But our liberal values must win through. 12.22 Over his paternity leave, he has had time to reflect. And he has never been so certain that liberalism is what people want. This is a recurring theme from Clegg this weekend. And he refers again to the "dismal" choice offered in the last recession by a Thatcherite right and a, ...
Morning, campers, and apologies for the hiatus in updating, owing to (a) the nervous illness of your correspondent after a thrillingly successful Lib Dem Voice inaugural fringe meeting last night and (b) the apparent inability of the rest of the team to put up a post saying "this is happening this morning, and here's how it went." Tcoh. Fortunately, in the LDV cupboard with me are George Crozier and Rupert Dewey, who have been, well, doing what we've been doing for the last two days on the official website but, er, better, and with fewer made-up words. Heavens, we might ...
I have, in the past, noted my respect for the newly elected Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams. Winning an election is one thing, doing the job is another, however. Each 'first time' is studied by close observers of politics, analysed and picked apart to see if you're up to the job. It can be nerveracking, if you let it. Kirsty's answer? To just let rip, to revel in the history and traditions of Welsh liberalism, to condemn the Welsh Assembly Government for their ineffectual, centralising approach, for their failure to take positive steps to help Welsh workers ...
This weekend sees me hit the milestone of spending 7 months without Julie. Something I had considered impossible 7 months ago. Certainly, during the early months it was all about survival and just existing. Thanks to friends and family, I have made it this far. I turned a corner with the new year and the [...]
Here. My favourite is this one below. An absolute classic.Chuck, watch out for that...So, Chuck Storm is here to discuss a robbery and he decided that to make the report more appealing, he wouldn't just stand in place like most reporters. No, our friend Chuck decided that he was going to walk and talk while staring directly at the camera instead of what was in front of him. Bad idea.
Peggy Mitchell the owner of the Queen Vic in Eastenders is running for election is Walford as an Independent as programme watchers will know, but most will easily be able to tell that she is a Tory at heart. Now Peggy has received campaign tips from Alastair Campbell the man behind Blair's success. Peggy and I now share something in common, she has had political tips from Campbell whilst I have had a blog endorsement! The tips from Alastair to Peggy can be seen by following the link, you can also read what Alastair has to say about being mentioned ...
Simon Hughes's speech from yesterday morning is online to watch, and for your viewing convenience we present it here: Simon Hughes addresses spring conference 2009 Uploaded by libdem You can also read the text on the party's website.
So Terrell Owens has signed a $6.5 million 1 year deal with the Buffalo Bills. Good luck to Buffalo. TO is a toxic asset, who will probably help with the stats, but his attitude stinks. He'll be doing quite nicely out of this deal, all the same. As for the Bills have they taken on [...]
The Liberal Democrat spring conference in Harrogate this morning called for firm action by Britain and its EU partners to bring Israel to account for its recent disproportionate military action in the Gaza Strip as well as supporting the establishment of an international tribunal to investigate all parties, including Hamas, which may have been guilty [...]
I lost my conference virginity to the Liberal Democrats yesterday (excluding leftie conferences I have attended) and, I have to say, it was a pretty painless experience and even more than a little pleasurable. I missed most of the morning though I am told Howard Dean's speech was quite amazing. I know for a fact that Vince Cable's was and he fully deserved his standing ovation. Rewinding a little a few minor quibbles; I was less than impressed that I couldn't vote due to me being able to afford one day of the weekend and despite me actually being a ...
I hashtag because I have been told off for not hashtagging enough, and so I am making myself hashtag. Have met many many lovely people, had lunch with LizW and DJM4, been given marvellous booze by po8crg, interviewed El Presidente, voted, exchanged amusing email with The First Lady while we both should have been paying attention to a debate (not the important votey one), had lots of training, been to my first ever glee club, not had much sleep, and been amazed to discover that Dr Pack isn't, as has been insinuated by others, an alien, but is a WOMAN! ...
This really is mind-blowingly good. A running commentary on the LibDem conference, on the official LibDem website. It is ideal for all us people with lives which do not allow us to attend conferences regularly.Well done LibDem website! Well done George Crozier and Rupert Dewey - who appear to be the people crouched over laptops tapping in the updates!
The final debate of the day was on criminal justice and prisons. Islington members Greg Foxsmith and Sarah Ludford were among the speakers. Islington has the unusual distinction of two prisons, although as far as we know there are no plans to float Titans on the Regent's canal. Then on to the NUT fringe on education [...]
In the classic children's story "Four children and it", the "it" (a sand fairy, or Psammead) pops its head up from the sand slightly grumpily to grant wishes. Secretly we'd quite like a president in that vein. "I wish our membership would double" Charlie might have said; and Simon would have looked about, scrunched up his eyes in concentration and, with a bit of magic, the job's done. As we all know, magically granted wishes rarely go according to plan, so perhaps it was for the best our President, Ros Scott, was not in wish granting mood. All our desires ...
Howard Dean came to town yesterday (or more specifically on Thursday I think, but the Oxford Union had him for a day or two first). He talked largely about his work as chairman of the DNC. You can listen to what he said here. I was struck by two things 1, His message not to just target who you have always targeted it. The Democrats reached out to voters of faith this time, discovering young
Jerry Brown was Governor of California when he had hair. (His father was also the governor.) He ran for US President but failed because he went on about flushing toilets with less water. Now he doesn't have any hair, he is looking good for a possible comeback as Arnie's successor as Californian governor (he is currently Attorney General). Mind you, that depends on Dianne Fenstein not running or
There's an interesting interview with Vince Cable here on the Guardian website. He says that the Tories have been caught completely flat-footed by the economic crisis and didn't expect it.He says that many of the economic problems we have originate from the Thatcher years. For example, he argues, the demutualisation of the building societies started in the Thatcher years and that policy has been
Channel M (for Manchester) has the story of a man who was arrested for allegedly taking part in terrorism reconnaissance by taking pictures of sewer-grates in Manchester. The problem? The man was not taking pictures. He didn't even have a camera, and there were no pictures of sewer-grates on his phone... Watch the report here. Liberty stated in press release 4th Dec 2008 "Retaining DNA samples of innocents breaches human rights" The DNA profiles of roughly 850,000 innocent people should be taken off the National DNA Database (NDNAD) following a European Court of Human Rights judgment today said Liberty. Two ...
Daily collection of links and thoughts that weren't worth a whole post. 22:18 is in Glee Club. Why am I in Glee Club? I blame SB. #ldconf #Microblogging using LoudTwitter and Twitter. matgb_twitter is there if you're mad enough.
Saturday was the day for the schools debate and the controversial topic of faith schools. The daily announcements showed 3 different amendments on faith schools. I put in a card to speak - so had everyone else. But that was for the afternoon. First I went to hear Simon Hughes on the fight for fairer fuel [...]
Irfan Ahmed points us to the a poll by Politics Home which shows that people who have Lib Dem MPs rate them as more local, independent, approachable, experienced, independent and perhaps best of all, they keep in touch more often than MP's of other parties. If you are really undecided about whether to vote Lib Dem or not, take a closer look at the poll and put your "x" in the correct place.
A world view of CO2 and population statistics.
It's a bit long, but I was impressed. Hope you are too.Nick Clegg's 2009 Spring Conference Speech in FullLiberal Democrats: today is about a choice for the people and families of Britain;A choice at ...
{Lib Dem Bird} Well, we had the conclusion of the budget, it only took us around 10 hours over three days to come to an agreement. I say 'us' but that really means us and Labour - NO NOT A PACT - as we were the only ones who had anything in writing. I'm sorry, the Tory line of freezing council tax sounds fantastic, but would have meant £2.8 million cuts. Despite what Labour have said about us in the press, it took us months to find any reductions and this is why we only wanted to reduce the budget ...
Jim Murphy first: Whilst it is important to stress that the financial mess is not down to the effect of minimum wage strawberry pickers from overseas... Warning over credit crunch racism Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy will warn the country not to pander to "credit crunch" racism, when he addresses the Scottish Labour conference. He will outline the increasing pressure on jobs amid the financial crisis, while attacking "irresponsible bankers on £1m bonuses". [From BBC NEWS | Scotland | Warning over credit crunch racism] ...the irresponsibility started, for electoral reasons, at number 11. And now for Vince: Vince Cable has called ...
Yesterday's Daily Telegraph reports that Justice Secretary, Jack Straw has abandoned plans in the Coroners and Justice Bill that would have led to patients' confidential medical records being passed to third parties. Instead he will try to reach a consensus on introducing a scaled-back version at an unspecified stage in the future. However that does not mean that he is off the hook: Simon Davies, director of the pressure group Privacy International, said last night: "This is an extraordinary U-turn but we cannot be led into a false sense of security. "We congratulate the Government on its decision, but it ...
Before my enforced absence from any form of communication, thanks to the inaptly named TalkTalk (I now have a phone line that crackles so badly I can't hear the other end of the conversation, I can't receive incoming calls, and I only have internet access while actually on the 'phone) I was going to write [...]
No doubt there was a flurry of excitement amongst bansturbators and regulators today in Harrogate as the Lib Dems debated a motion on banking regulation, the credit crunch and whipping city boys. And there comes a time in a man's life when you realize that you are so far out of step with the way everyone else is thinking that you can lose confidence in your own opinions, maybe even think you are wrong and ought to cave in to the prevailing opinion. Especially when the prevailing opinion is being promulgated by such august people as former city regulator and ...
