Pendlebury bye-election results (2008 results in brackets): Lib Dem: 368 (375) Labour: 1055 (975) Conservative: 874 (826) Independent: 49 (117) BNP: 373 (352) Green: 43 Turnout: 30% (30%) Well we didn't win, but we fought the hard and held our own - it's incredibly hard fighting a campaign when you start in third as the party in second does their best to squeeze [...]
I am pleased to announce that Ealing Borough Liberal Democrats have selected their Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (PPCs) for Ealing North and Ealing Southall parliamentary constituencies. For Ealing North, Francesco Fruzza has been unanimously selected as their Parliamentary candidate. For Ealing Southall, Nigel Bakhai has been unanimously selected as their Parliamentary candidate. Both of these candidates are experienced campaigners who both have fought elections on previous occasions.
I LOVE watching the body language on Question Time! Best bit of the show in years? Watching the looks that flitted across the faces of Doctor Twinkletoes and Ken Clarke as Fern Brittan sat between them being ditzy about the economy. Vince and Ken clearly respect each other, though, even if they don't necessarily agree on everything. Tessa Jowell is a canny operator, too, and got an acknowledging eyebrow raise from Vince for quoting him. Shame she talks such shite...
It's not often I say that BBC's Question Time looks unmissable, but I may make an exception for tonight's edition (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm GMT). What prompts my salivation, you ask? Well, the Lib Dem representative is none other than St Vince of Cable, the party's deputy leader and shadow chancellor. In fact, Vince's presence alone would justify tuning in. But, wait, there's more. For the Tories will be represented by one of their only sane Big Beasts, Ken Clarke, the party's shadow business minister. Now if only Labour had had the gumption to put up Baron Mandelson, of ...
Why would someone stick a polling station just fifty yards from another polling station for one single by-election in one single ward, when there is ample room in either polling station to accommodate the other one...and this, by the way, for a town council election with an expected turnout of ...um....20% tops? (It happened today in the Thatcham Town Council South by-election.)Answers on a
After two years travelling to Anfield and Old Trafford, the relegation of the mighty Royals to the Championship has meant my trips this season have been to more mundane venues, such as Tuesday night's match at the new Belle Vue Stadium in Doncaster.Three points means our quest for automatic promotion is back on track. Bizzarely, Sir Steve Coppell has signed Dave Kitson and Glen Little on loan
The campaign to save one of the few open air Lido pools in the Country at Portishead has been won! The result means that the Portishead Pool Community Trust have 12 months to make the pool work, with a 40 year lease promised by North Somerset Council if it can be shown to be managed successfully. Congratualtions should go out to Portishead Pool Community Trust as well as all the people who have turned out to protect the pool. Now we must all turn out again to use it as soon as it opens at the end of May.
Of course, I was really keen to do this myself, but Anne-Marie Curry got there first. Ever the gentleman, I acknowledged her right to put her head in the stocks set up on Joseph Pease Place by the Darlington Market traders for Red Nose Day. Courteous to a fault, I took this photo. Sadly, I failed to get one with a wet sponge in her face, so you'll just have to imagine it.The Mayor, Ian Hazeldine,
Hilaire Belloc's first piece of political writing was an essay on the origins of Liberalism: he said it began with William Cobbett and his rural radicalism, rather than with Richard Cobden and the free trade campaign. I think he was right. I keep thinking about Cobbett as the various stories flow through every day of the outrageous salaries and bonuses, not just in banking, but at the top of the public and private sectors alike. I read yesterday that the top 123 executives at Transport for London all earn over £100,000 a year. That doesn't really compare to the staggering ...
I couldn't get to Harrogate this year, but was assured that Nick Clegg's speech on Sunday was excellent. So, I thought I'd watch it on Youtube. But if it's there, I can't find it. In fact, the only stuff about the Harrogate Conference I can find on Youtube is Jonathan Wallace's video diary of the weekend (including a toe curling singalong known as the glee club, purleese!) and the short film
I. Just. Can't. Believe. It. I've heard about Governments seeking a second least of life, but this is just ridiculous. Alright, the numbers can hardly get us out of the recession, but it betrays an absolute stupidity. Are they trying to suggest that in the future people will pop into their Second Life local DWP office to sort out disability benefits, allowances, etc? I suppose that'd stop the shitholes that are the Jobcentres from fulfilling that odd dichotomy of purposes: to be both singularly useless yet apparently neccessary. I suppose it'd mean people are not intimidated by security guards when ...
Andry Rajoelina doesn't look like your usual African evil dictator. He's a young and supposedly popular leader. He was democratically elected mayor of Madagascar's capital, but has seized control of the country in a very undemocratic way. He won over the support of the army following protests and they've seized control and now put him in charge. The President in hiding was democratically elected two years ago with over 5o% of the vote in one round. He had even promiced a referendum. But the military still seized control. The opposition should have and could have waited for elections. The arguement ...
More bad news for under-performing George Osborne. Tory friends of mine are beginning to openly question whether he will survive the next few months. Some are now predicting that Georgie will be moved in a summer reshuffle. Cameron shouldn't hesitate. It is clear that Osborne is out if his depth in his shadow portfolio and would be an utter disaster as Chancellor. So, who would replace him? Michael Gove is the man my Tory friends want. I wonder what odds you'd get on that?
{recycling-centre.jpg} Test Valley Liberal Democrats plan to consult local residents on proposals to implement additional recycling facilities across the borough.Test Valley Borough Council currently operates an alterative bin collection system (ABC) where household waste is collected one week and recyclables (paper, card and some plastics) are collected on the next week. Unlike some councils, TVBC does not collect glass. The council has considered and rejected a door step collection of glass because of costs but Lib Dem councillors have asked for officers to look again at the possibility of a small scale trial or collections in urban areas only. Lib ...
The Financial Times reported yesterday that Libya is investing some of its £70 billion sovereign fund into London's commercial property market. By all accounts, the fund has acquired one building and is on the hunt for more. London's commercial property market is beginning to look a rather attractive investment, as prices have fallen by up to 40% since the high of August 2007. Add to that the collapse of Sterling, which knocks off another 25% for those buying in dollars and euros, and you can see how London represents incredible value for money. This recession has a long way to ...
From yesterday's statement in which the Labour Plaid Cymru Government effectively introduced top-up fees for Welsh students in Welsh universities: Jenny Randerson: Thank you very much, Minister, for your statement and, indeed, for letting me have early sight of some of your plans this morning. I will start by taking us back to 2002, when the Minister who then had responsibility for education stated to the Assembly that one reason why she was opposing tuition fees was because the Rees report had concluded unequivocally that upfront tuition fees did not just deter those who would have to pay them, but ...
I was watching BBC News and they were interviewing an Austrian News Company's correspondent in Britain. It turns out there will be no inquiry into how the horrific things Josef Fritzl were not found out. Fritzl had claimed his run away daughter had dumped three babies at their doorstep, when in reality they had been born in his cellar. It was also suggested that Austria isn't thinking deeply about this, it was compared with how in Britain the nation thinks deeply about something, such as the Baby P case. The BBC news reporter quoted an Austrian who had said Austria ...
Further evidence, if you needed it, that the recession hasn't hit the public sector. The Local Government Association has published a list of 200 words that it is encouraging its councils not to use because they allegedly confuse local residents. I wonder how long it took a well paid officer to put this list together and how many committee meetings to agree it. Having looked down the list, I guess every council will now have to take down its website and burn all their information leaflets and committee reports. A full list of the 200 banned words can be found ...
Looking at the news concerning the tragic death of Natasha Richardson, there are scenes showing the family members walking into the hospital where she died with the Paparazzi seemingly surrounding them. I thinks it's utterly heartless and degrading. No one should have to face the annoying flashing and the questions from the Paparazzi when a family member is dying. And why wasn't the hospital able to call the police to have the Paparazzi moved out, surely they should be allowed to do that?
On Saturday 28th March it's the Kilburn High Road Spring Clean This is a chance to give Kilburn the reisdent and trader led spruce up once a year at least - it's great fun and a chance to pitch in. Stalls and groups will be operating off of Kilburn Square opposite Kilburn High Road Station (Euston-Watford Line) please do come along. But also we have the Kilburn High Road history tours. Roman Emperor Claudius, Alfred the Great, Henry I and of course Henry VIII, George Orwell, Ian Dury, and of course the Danes, Irish, Poles - all on one road! ...
Sometimes, even in the Assembly Plenary one can learn something new. So it was yesterday when my party colleague Eleanor Burnham introduced an acronym I had not heard before: Eleanor Burnham: We recently received a statement from your Deputy Minister on the high number of young people not in education, employment or training in Wales—referred to as NEETs. I was concerned to learn this week that a new type of disengagement has been identified, described as RHINO—really here in name only. In the present economic climate, with young people facing diminishing job opportunities and the prospect of thousands of pounds' ...
Liberal Democrat Economic Guru, Vince Cable, will be appearing on Question Time this evening at 2235. However it will be aired on BBC Wales at 2305 (30 minutes later).
This month in the Lords: - Borders Bill on its way- Pushing forward bit by bit with Lords Reform- Op-Ed: Supporting Ports around the UK In the House The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill has started what is sure to be a rocky passage through the Lords. There have been 11 immigration Bills since 1997 and the Government have not yet succeeded in creating a simple system for dealing with asylum seekers and economic migrants fairly and recognising their different situations. Baroness Miller targeted the issue raising the fact that "asylum seekers are disproportionately targeted by new measures." In a ...
The issue comes to talk after Political Betting blogged about it earlier today. Apparently Gordon Brown could get a Nobel Prize for economics and personally I think its a joke and it would be stupid not to mention damn out of order if it was to happened. Gordon Brown has done nothing for this Country and its economy except maybe run it down to the ground yet I don't understand how anyone except for maybe a novice would think that Gordon Brown deserves any sort of appreciation or award never mind a Nobel Prize. Secondly if Brown was to get ...
Gordon Prentice MP will be coming to Nelson and Colne College tomorrow and students have been given the choice to get tickets and go and see Gordon tomorrow and I shall be attending. Gordon Prentice MP is Pendle's MP who is more Westminster based then probably any other MP in the whole of the Country. Anyway its good to know that Gordon is taking the time out to meet local constituents, and I thought I would just inform him that I shall be seeing him there! See you there Gordon, please come prepared as Nelson and Colne College houses a ...
The Government has admitted that unemployment is now over the 2 million mark. To quote Work & Pensions Minister (and former Islington councillor) James Purnell, "these are bad figures. There is no gloss that anyone is going to try and put on them." It's hard to take in the scale of the figures - the latest rise, [...]
I have not blogged as much today because Virgin Media have not been sending up a signal to my modem which has not allowed me to be connected to the Internet, and they are many reasons for them not sending the signal which I shall explain. Firstly Virgin Media are using this tactic to cut down on the number of people who use modified modems to get a free Internet connection. You know who you are many of these people consist of ex and current politicians from across the political spectrum. Secondly Virgin Media are well known for pi**ing customers ...
I was feeling much better today, and managed to last until lunchtime before collapsing in a heap and needing to go to bed. I was in a very deep sleep that was disturbed by Anna jumping on me and puncturing my unconsciousness with the words "If you don't wake up soon I'll get a wet sponge" when she came in from school. She then excitedly told me how she had won an award at school for being a "Successful Learner" (it's Scottish Curriculum for Excellence jargon, don't worry about it) for her story writing this week. It turns out that ...
Many more examples from Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner at Impact Lab.
Headline from the Welwyn & Hatfield Times pretty much says it all, though long-term LDV readers may also be interested in Grant Shapps's involvement: A FORMER councillor who branded Liberal Democrat policy as a bigger danger to children than a baby rapist has said sorry. Sam Smith had caused uproar after posting comments on an internet forum run by Tory MP Grant Shapps.
It's psephological handbags at dawn over at Lib Dem Voice where one of my friends, Mark Pack, has taken another, PoliticalBetting's Mike Smithson, to task ove his criticism of David Laws. Mike's general point is that too many pundits compare current polls with those in the mid-nineties without taking account of the changes in methodology that have happened since then. He is quite right in this. Many of the polls in the run up to the '97 election gave Labour a massive lead, way ahead of the actual result. Several pollsters changes their methodolgy as a result. However in his ...
Thu 19th
16:20
"we can and must take the moral and political lead in tackling world poverty" - campbell
{Ming Campbell} Senior Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell today took the chair at the launch of the "Trade Out of Poverty" (TOP) campaign in Westminster. The campaign, led by five senior parliamentarians from across the political spectrum including Sir Menzies, John Battle MP, Lord Hastings, Peter Lilley MP and Clare Short MP, aims to let the poorest countries prosper through trade. TOP is a an independent, all-party movement dedicated to tackling poverty by helping the world poorest countries trade their way to a better life for their people. The campaign aims to mobilise support for helping poor countries to ...
You're a national tabloid newspaper. You've a big story - Jade Goody's dying of cervical cancer aged just 27. Having spent most of the last few years hating and abusing her, you've now decided she's virtually a saint (albeit with a shady hubby - after all, your readers still need someone to hate). So whilst we're selling thousands of extra copies, let's start a totally irresponsible health campaign based on zero evidence. Let's ask all our readers to sign a petition calling for women to have routine cervical smears from the age of 20, instead of 25, as it is ...
The by election in Totteridge caused by the sad death of Glyn Galbraith will be held on Thursday, April 23rd 2009. Wycombe Liberal Democrats have selected Steve Guy as their candidate. Steve is an active campaigner who has struck a chord with residents in High Wycombe. He has worked in a number of campaigns (some of them still ongoing) including: Local Post Office closures The Campaign to save Holywell Mead pool The Campaign to achieve Fairtrade Town status for High Wycombe {Steve Guy} Steve Guy Steve says: 'The ruling Conservative group on Wycombe District Council has really lost it's way. ...
I have received a response today from officers in response to my ongoing campaign to improve road safety on Northumberland Avenue, launched in January 2008. The Thames Valley Road Safety Partnership, who are responsible for routine maintenance of the speed camera which has been damaged, have been instructed to submit a price for repair to the Council, so hopefully this will be repaired soon. Officers have told me they have completed a study into road safety on Northumberland Avenue, considering accident hot-spots and issues. This follows sustained pressure from the Lib Dems and local residents. I'm pleased to say proposals to improve ...
Thu 19th
15:21
Opinion: The Member States should each propose one female and one male candidate for the next Europe...
Simone Veil's historic address to the European Parliament on the subject of gender equality last week, thirty years after her election as the first President of the directly elected European Parliament prompted us to observe that the current college of European Commissioners (where only a third of whom are female) does not exactly shine in terms of gender balance. We believe that a further step is needed, drawing on the model of the European Court of Human Rights. Judges at this court are elected from a shortlist of three candidates put forward by governments. Only lists containing at least one ...
Yesterday our water bill arrived from Three Valleys Water for 2009/10. It's gone up by almost exactly £12, or 4%. In these cash-strapped, credit-crunched times, you might expect me to be cross about an inflation-busting increase. But I can't help but feel I'm getting a bargain. Of all the many bills we pay, I don't begrudge [...]
There seems to be a debate taking place on Lib Dem Voice and various other blogs about the true state of the Tory lead in the polls. The issue was kicked off by David Laws MP on BBC on Wednesday who pointed out that whilst the Tory poll lead is in the region of 12%, this is far less than that enjoyed by Labour in the
{mc} Sir Menzies Campbell MP has called for "decisive action" to be taken to tackle job losses in light of the recent figures which show unemployment in Scotland has risen by 1,000 to 135,000 and the UK wide figure breaching 2 million. The North East Fife MP said: "With the UK facing the worst recession for decades we need decisive action to tackle job losses. Right here in North East Fife there are still almost five people for each advertised job. "We can create 100,000 jobs if the Government scrapped this years £12.5 billion VAT give-away which costs £350 every ...
A great map showing independent local news websites on Justin Williams' blog can be found here: http://www.countervalue.com/
The news that Benitez has signed for another five years as manager of Liverpool leaves me with mixed feelings. As a(n armchair) Liverpool fan I think he has been very good for the club and I think another five years of him would be a good thing for us. However, for a while now I have felt that the whole structure of payments within football is totally wrong and this is an example. Why do managers get to sign for such protracted periods? What often happens in these scenarios is that the manager does not do as well as was ...
Sorry for the paucity of posting for the last couple of weeks. I was running around like a headless chicken for the week before Scottish conference, and since I came back I've had a horrid cold. Very irritating, since I have lots of uni work to do, but so be it. That should also explain [...]
According to the Times, security is being stepped up in advance of next month's G20 summit in East London. The fear is that, instead of attacking the actual venue, which is quite easily defendable, protesters will opt for soft targets such as hotels and public buildings. This puts yesterday's incident into perspective. Ros and I were heading to the London Regional Conference when, at Westminster station, I was called over by a British Transport Police officer. He courteously explained that he and his colleague were undertaking stop and search checks on individuals, and asked if their rather cute springer spaniel ...
No.Oh. You want more? then go read this.
Last November I wrote an article titled "Second Life: death would be more fun". You can probably guess that I was then, and still remain today, not exactly the biggest fan of the virtual world. By and large it's an overblown, over-hyped and over-marketed waste of time, promising much and delivering a rather limp experience. I was taken to task by a number of Second Life fans (see the comments) - clearly it was working for them, but my opinion remains. So you might expect that I'd be fully behind Tory MP Nick Hurd. He's attacked the Government for setting ...
Wednesday: Mr Clogg battles on behalf of all citizens who pay our taxes and (nowadays) own our banks. Yesterday, the Grauniad published a secret document from Barclays Bank on how best to AVOID TAX. They then UNPUBLISHED it when Barclays obtained a GAGGING ORDER on the grounds that revealing how they AVOID TAX might be commercially prejudicial. Mr Clogg went into a meeting with the Barclays boss, Mr John Vastley, and gave him what for! "It didn't come to a stand-up row," Mr Clogg told the The Today Programme, "because I used my JEDI POWERS to subdue him first. Ahem." ...
News is reaching us that the Government has withdrawn the Housing Legislative Competence Order from consideration in the House of Commons. The Order hit trouble last week when a joint Parliamentary Committee ruled that the Secretary of State's veto on the abolition of the right to buy was possibly illegal. The Assembly's Presiding Officer added to the Government's troubles by suggesting that he might vote against the LCO in the Lords for this reason. A further announcement is expected from the Government on this issue today but it seems that they have four options: 1. Tough it out, let the ...
Almost all whizzy websites fail to get any significant audience. Almost all pages on big websites such as Facebook or Youtube get a tiny audience. Closely related to this there are plenty of simple websites, such as Iain Dale's successful blog, that are simply well designed blogs using technologies such as Wordpress.
I have written a few times about the death of Dennis O'Neill in 1945 on a remote farm in Shropshire. It was a case that scandalised the country - dominating the newspapers even above coverage of the war - and led directly to the reforms of the 1948 Children Act. A member of the O'Neill family recently left a comment on one of those posts telling me that Dennis's brother Terry, who was with Dennis when he died, has written the story of his life. It is on the website Authonomy - it seems you have to register to read ...
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Youth and Equality, Lynne Featherstone has written to William Hague to ask him to clarify if the Conservative Party intends to form an alliance with the Polish Law and Justice party in the European Parliament. Senior politicians from the Law and Justice party have made homophobic statements, as well as describing Barack Obama's election as marking 'the end of white man's civilisation'.
Tuesday: The European Space Agency have launched a new GRAVITY-MAPPING satellite called Goce. (Not to be confused with the PASTA-mapping satellite called Gnocchi!) Allegedly sensitive enough to measure the impact of a snowflake on a super-tanker, Goce will be on the frontline in monitoring CLIMATE CHANGE, tracking every butterfly on Earth and predicting the HURRICANES that they are going to cause... er, maybe. .
Are you sitting comfortably (having recovered of course from the power of Kirsty's performance in Harrogate)? Then let's begin by opening our books to the odds of the One Wales Government lasting the month... The Civil War Of Unit Three Plus One To begin at the beginning, back in October an independent review recommended abolishing the grant that Welsh students studying in Wales receive to negate their top-up fees, in favour of more means-tested help. A month later, Education Minister Jane Hutt endorsed that review's findings. Which was all well and good, except that Plaid stood on an anti-fees platform ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have today outlined their backing for the Fuel Poverty Bill, but have warned that Wales would not see the full benefits of the Bill if it is passed because of the Barnett Formula.The Bill will provide for a massive 'fuel poverty-proofing' of the existing housing stock in England to bring older homes up to current energy efficiency standards, and will also introduce
Today's Telegraph reports on the concerns of former Cheltenham Lib Dem MP Nigel Jones, who was injured, and local councillor Andrew Pennington killed, in a brutal attack during a constituency surgery: A former MP who was attacked by one of his constituents with a samurai sword fears for his safety after his assailant said he wants to move to a town just nine miles away. Lord Jones of Cheltenham is so concerned that Robert Ashman wants to live in nearby Gloucester that he is meeting Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, to express his concerns. Ashman, now 58, stabbed and killed ...
Over at the Yorkshire Post, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg argues that, after a decade when British banks have been allowed to get away with far too much, it's high time for real reform of the banking industry. Here's an excerpt: I want a return to old-style high street banks so people's savings are protected from bankers who are obsessed with taking high risk gambles with other people's money. I propose that banks are given a choice: they can do ordinary consumer business like current accounts, mortgages, business loans, savings, they can even make sensible low-risk investments and we will ...
A couple of months ago, I randomly found an article about X Factor Judge Louis Walsh getting involved with a children's charity and blogged this thinking that a bit of publicity in the blogosphere for the cause wouldn't be a bad thing. The Charity concerned, Amy and Friends, was set up by Jayne, mother of 17 year old Amy, who suffers from Cockayne Syndrome. It's a very rare condition which causes premature aging and shortens life expectancy. To give an idea of how rare it is, they are only aware of 18 children and young people in England who currently ...
I saw this comment from David Morton on Lib Dem Voice about why he was a Liberal Democrat: I found it hard to disagree- especially about beer... David Morton Says:19th March 2009 at 11:26 am 1. Because if push comes to shove I'd choose Liberty over Equality (even though the preamble says otherwise !) 2. Because if we don't re-order society on Gaian principles then the Biosphere will defend its self and we'll go extinct. 3. Because the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance and we need at least one party that be relied upon to do the Philadelphia lawyer ...
Monday: Announcing their own SPECIAL kind of "fiscal stimulus", Russian President Dimity Mediocre said: "We have learned lessons of history. Cure for Depression is MASSIVE REARMAMENT followed by WORLD WAR... Dos vedanya, Tovarisch!" .
These are difficult financial times, for sure. If you were James Purnell, and your hands were on the purse strings of the Department of Work and Pensions, which of the following would you think is the most deserving use of public resources? a) Sorting out the diabolical mess that is the CSA b) Making sure that JobCentrePlus and the Benefit Delivery Centres can cope with the new applications for benefit that are flooding in now that here are 2 million unemployed - and in my experience they can't, nor do the staff seem to have much understanding of recent rule ...
The Conservatives are celebrating the release of a campaign poster that the Tories hope to use in the next general election but I think they are making a mistake with this campaign. The poster that you can see below will do them no benefit and personally I think its going to be bad news for them. Personally I think people will be reminded of Thatcher which isn't a good thing especially for Cameron who more and more is being shown to me the male version of Thatcher. The Conservatives might have released the poster above but the general public can ...
Jennie's done it again and found me something else to play with during my enforced rest. Create your own FACEinHOLE The musical Wicked is my favourite thing of the moment and I'm listening to Idina Menzel belting out Defying Gravity as I type this. And no doubt the image will give my friends something to laugh about - one in particular has been referring to me openly as the Wicked Witch of West Fife for years. Note to self, get some better quality friends:-) LibDig This!
Saturday: We could have done this one last week too, you know! Daddy has got DOCTOR WOO on my iPhant, so at conference, late at night, we were able to snuggle round the telephone and watch tiny little Dr Who and tiny little Rose and tiny little Mr Dickens... But then we got our copy from the Doctor Woo DVD files so we watched it again this week too. Honestly, with all this watching Doctor Woo all the time we are starting to look like BBC3's target audience. BBC4 will get JEALOUS! Of course, they never expected to do Christmas, ...
Ken is someone I 'grew up with' in many ways; first his stint taking over the GLC and then more recently his founding of the GLA. I always thought it highly amusing that where County Hall — the seat of the GLC — was directly opposite Westminster, City Hall — where the GLA was eventually based — was well out of sight of the Houses of Parliament, over by Tower Bridge. Indeed, being on the opposite bank of the river to the Tower of London there were moments when I expected someone to shout "Off with his head!" {Ken Livingstone} ...
I shall blog later on today about the new Tory poster and how it might not be a good idea as the Tories think, personally I think it reminds people of Thatcher!
No MEP has done more than Cecilia Malmstrom to try and put an end to the European Parliament's travelling circus, the term often used to describe the monthly shifting of its operations between buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg. She organised a petition of 1 million signatures to protest against the colossal waste of money involved. These days my Liberal former colleague is the Swedish European Minister, so in Stockholm I asked her how she might pursue her campaign when Sweden takes over the EU presidency. She picked up my suggestion that she could call on MEPs to have a clear ...
David Laws on the BBC Daily Politics yesterday was making the point that Cameron's Conservative Party's lead in the opinion polls is not as good compared with Labour's in the run up to the 1997 'wipeout election'. Mike Smithson was quick to attack on his blog - "Why's the LD schools spokesman getting it so wrong?' "You'll have to indulge me if you think I've banged on about this too much - but I have a real "bee in my bonnet" about the phoney invalid polling comparisons that journos, pundits and politicians are rushing to make when they compare the ...
Jonathan Calder and I have a different take on the "Keep Calm and Carry On" phenomenon. I have to admit that until I had read the Guardian article yesterday, this whole thing had passed me by. Now that I am aware, I don't find it as charming and comforting as some of the commentators do in the piece by Jon Henley. "Carrying on" is a much overrated concept. The fact is we can't carry on as we have done for the past twenty, thirty years. The economic collapse was caused by people spending far too much time "keeping calm and ...
Last night I went to a meeting of the Bruges Group at the Foreign Press Association which is housed in Gladstone's old house in Carlton House Gardens. In the very room where the Grand Old Man once conducted occasional cabinet meetings, Professor Tim Congdon and John Redwood were scheduled to speak on the place of the Euro in the current economic crisis. Well, except they did no such thing. All Tim Congdon did was point out that different countries in the Euro zone have different interest rates from Germany and that the UK was very lucky not to be involved. ...
Sir Liam Donaldson is the government's chief medical adviser. Recently, he's been arguing in favour of a new policy: a minimum price per unit of alcohol. That might get rid of the odd handful of dangerously cheap all-you-can-drink deals and promotions, but it'll also force sensible and moderate social drinkers up and down the country to pay more money. You can argue the toss as to whether this is a good policy or not. Personally, I don't. But the main thing that bothers me is this: why does Donaldson see it as his business to come up with public policy? ...
The Guardian continues to haemorrhage credibility. Every time Polly or Jackie makes an absolutely-last-and-positively-final-ditch defence of Labour, I read it and think, well, that at least is the very pits of absurd desperation, they cannot possibly dig themselves in any deeper than that. I mean, surely to goodness they must now realise that by carrying on [...]
Plaid have betrayed students. Labour have continued their war against students. Thank God the Liberal Democrats led the opposition against the vote in the Assembly. Already, students are bearing a heavy burden in Wales. This is now going to become worse. The Cardiff Student Liberal Democrats will be setting up protests in Cardiff, at this outrageous action. That's it, for today. I am so angry that I can barely write. How these cowardly wimps of politicians can stand there (sorry, SIT there, with their nice, nifty laptops just clicking inanely, boringly and stupidly as they look at screens like zombies, ...
A couple of weeks ago, the Scottish Sunday Express published an article on its front page about the Dunblane massacre survivors. I read the article when I first saw it linked to on one of the blogs I read. Well, to be honest I didn't finish it as I was so disgusted but I did read enough to get the gist of what was being said. They have now taken it down from their website but here is a link to a copy of the front page from that day. The article basically ripped into the young adults (who have ...
Tuesday and Wednesday have passed by in a blur of meetings and events. Unlike Mark, I've never really got the hang of blogging on the move, partly due to the inadequacies of my parliamentary PDA and partly due to the inadequacies of your truly. So when I'm really busy, its a struggle to blog regularly, unless I'm with Mark and can dictate to him. ( Dictating in relation to blogging and in no other way, you understand) After most of the day in the House on Tuesday, in and out of the Chamber, I met with the Leaders' office to ...
Well done to Mark Pack for shooting this particular fox:Mike Smithson is usually bang on the money (literally, probably) on the subject of polling. But he said David Laws was wrong to say that the Conservatives lead now is "fairly modest" in comparison to that of Labour in the run-up to the 1997 election. With his usual extraordinarily tenacious anorak-work, Mark picks out the polling of ICM,
It is good to have a local Internet TV channel for Birmingham. I have linked to their piece about the St Patricks Day
You may have noticed that, thanks to efforts from our Webmaster, a couple of pictures have appeared (see 9th and 13th of March). Over the years, I've learned a lot about publishing photos, but that has virtually all been on paper, for Focus leaflets. Preparing them for use on the Web is subtly different in all sorts of ways, so I'm having to update my skills. I have quite a backlog of photos now, so you'll have to excuse me if my studies get in the way of ordinary text posts... I'll keep you informed.
Last night was the regular meeting of Bury Council's Executive Committee. This brings together the nine Executive Members of the ruling Conservative Group in Bury. Myself and the leader of the Labour Group attend but cannot vote. It was the last meeting of the Executive of the municipal (council) year, so for some reason we had a huge agenda of about 25 items. For the full report click below. Read the rest of this entry.
Daily collection of links and thoughts that weren't worth a whole post. 15:51 reading @scalzi's first novel and laughing. Lots. While eating a sammidge with the bread I baked yesterday. Nom nom nom # 00:47 has been watching Andromeda on Virgin's on demand thing. a) it's really shite b) Lexa Doig is worth watching c) Roddenberry ran out of names #Microblogging using LoudTwitter and Twitter. matgb_twitter is there if you're mad enough. Hopefully I've fixed the recursion problem, and if you'd rather this was cut, then editing your LJ code to do so is easy.
I didn't get to our regional conference yesterday as I had another busy day in Islington. I hared off early for a breakfast time photo op at Highbury Corner about road safety: Boris wants to reduce the time we have to cross main roads, and we're not happy about it. Lots of support from passers by! [...]
In a previous post I offered to send a copy of the letter from the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority out to anyone interested. This is the letter correcting many false impressions in the leaflet about the proposed Jack Allen Holdings waste plant. I don't have an electronic copy so please if you do post to say you'd like a copy, please give me your postal address (you can e mail me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk with this if you would prefer) Alternatively a scanned version has, I understand, now been added to www.southliverpoolresidents.org.uk.
Next month marks the 175th anniversary of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. They were a group of farm workers in Dorset who in 1834 were sentenced to be deported to Australia for forming a trades union, an illegal act in those days. A massive demonstration in support of the men set off from Islington's Copenhagen Fields to Parliament, [...]
The Local Government Association earlier this week said that there were certain words and phrases that councils (and by extension others) shouldn't use because they were meaningless or confusing. Fair enough - its important that the language we all use is understandable and correct. So I'd like to throw my own pet hates into the mix! Firstly - "going forward" which seems constantly used in the context of plans or organisations. Well unless we are all about to go time travelling - there is not really any other way you could go! Now I know that people who use this ...
Dundee City Council propose to make an Order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, the effect of which will be to allow easier enforcement of the abuse at the rising bollard in Tom McDonald Avenue which is designed to only permit buses to pass through. Some other vehicles are managing to circumvent the system. Full details of the proposals are contained in the draft Order, which together with a Statement of the Council's reasons for proposing to make the Order may be examined during normal office hours and without payment of fee at Dundee City Council offices, Reception, Floor ...
In 2007 Liberal England we gave you a chance to win a DVD of the film Taking Liberties. Now those nice people at Gibson Square have sent me three copies of Eamonn Butler's book The Rotten State of Britain as prizes in a new quiz. The questions will be posted here in a couple of days. Butler is head of the Adam Smith Institute and the organisation's website describes his book as follows:Will Hutton's The State We're In famously shredded the record of the Thatcher-Major governments. Now Eamonn Butler shows how - after a decade of Tony Blair and Gordon ...
Interesting developments in Parliament as the Government appears to be coming clean. After working for years to make pretty much everything else illegal, they've now admitted they're turning their attention to criminalising our imaginations. In particular, the Government is keen to make it illegal for anyone to imagine sexual activity either involving or watched by under-18s. When your mind wanders to stray thoughts of a sixteen year old watching two eighteen-year-olds making the beast with two backs, or those schoolgirl fantasies so beloved of tabloids, you're clearly endangering children. Sadly, the technology doesn't yet exist to vet our thoughts (though ...
Today's "Courier" (click on headline above to view) and last night's "Evening Telegraph" (see carried my comments about the fire vandalism near Victoria Park Bowling Green. Last weekend, some 15 mature conifers were destroyed, as well as some border plants. Tayside Fire and Rescue has correctly pointed out that anyone deliberately starting fires is putting lives at risk. I have already been advised by the City Council's Leisure & Communities Department of its replanting proposals. Additionally, although I appreciate that staff cannot be everywhere at all times, I have also asked if an increased presence in the park can ...
The Harrogate conference rally was preceded by a film of various people explaining why they are a Liberal Democrat, including a particularly pithy contribution from Paddy Ashdown right at the end:
From the Welwyn & Hatfield Times: A former councillor who branded Liberal Democrat policy as a bigger danger to children than a baby rapist has said sorry.Sam Smith had caused uproar after posting comments on an internet forum run by Tory MP Grant ShappsYes, Smith is a former councillor. A former Labour councillor. And this is not the first time Grant Shapps has had problems with a web forum.
Well His Infallibleness Benny XVI's comments in Africa have come under much scrutiny, not least in the Vatican's own official website. While His Condomless was heard to say about AIDS in Africa: "It is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, and that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms which even aggravates the problems." The Vatican's website changed the word for the phrase "merely risks aggravating". There is another subtle change and dispute in the Italian text of an interview given on the flight to Angola the colloquial term from condoms is preservati this was replaced ...
Friday: Mr Andy writes a timely reminder of just what kind of FRUIT-LOOP it is that Mr Balloon is getting into bed with (though obviously NOT in the way that "will lead to the downfall of civilization") Currently, Mr Balloon's Conservatories are members of the centre-right or "Christian-Autocrat" aligned European People's Party, motto: "Europe's Driving Force". But Mr Balloon doesn't WANT to be a "driving force" in Europe. In fact he wants to climb OUT of the driving seat and into the back with the MAD OLD GRANNY who keeps shouting "it's all the fault of those {delete as applicables}..." ...
Wednesday: Because on the face of it, they certainly seem to. Planet #1: Mondas, aka Blowy-uppy-world. Mondas, I don't like Mondas, I'm going to burn the whole planet down. Though, ironically, that's what they try to do to Telos, and only blow up Mondas by mistake. In "The Tenth Planet", astronomers from Earth SUDDENLY spot a ruddy great planet barrelling down on us. Now, even though this was set in the DISTANT FUTURE of, er, 1986, and therefore before Mr Lembit had got all shouty about asteroids, a planet the size of Earth (which, by definition, Earth's TWIN planet would ...
The double standards for the SNP have come to light again this time over the Freedom of Information. Last month they were up in arms with Jack Straw about the UK Government's failure to release Cabinet papers in the run up to the Iraq war. However, when the Scotsman asked them to release the minutes of the Cabinet meeting on 10 February when the Cabinet decided to drop plans to ditch replacing Council Tax with LIT, nothing. Taking Angus Robertson's words from last month. "The public feels it was lied to about the reasons for going to war in Iraq, ...
Thu 19th
01:00
Day 2990: How I bottled out of asking Mr Vince if he was going to slash higher education and the arm...
Monday: As I said, I was LATE for my interview with President Ros because I was in the main hall listening to the speech of our Treasury Spokesperson, Mr Vince "the Power" Cable, and could not tear myself away. I came away with the distinct impression that our SAINTED Shadow Chancellor was carefully and quietly laying the groundwork for announcing strategic cuts in government spending. Or more bluntly, warming up the sacrificial knife and letting some of the sacred cows know they have an appointment... Specifically mentioned were higher education and the armed forces. The suggestion that we cut the ...
Thu 19th
00:30Day 2988: If your local party is a bit rubbish... who you gonna call? - Millennium Elephant meets Pr...
Saturday (again): All right, so I arrived LATE for this interview. It's a LONG way up that spiral ramp to the auditorium in the Harrogate Centre and my fluffy legs are only LITTLE, so it takes AGES to get all the way back! Anyway, the Fragrant Ms Mary Reidmyday and Mr Costigan Quist have already given you the low down on what happened when they along with lovely Jenny and Auntie Helen and (yes, yes EVENTUALLY) my fluffy self got together for an interview with Ms Baroness Ros Scott, who looked resplendent in the newly minted Presidential diamante conference-badge lanyard. ...
This blog is still technically defunct - I'm still banning myself from blogging here so that I can concentrate on developing the new one, but I wrote this as a response to a comment and... well I think it's worth cutting and pasting here. See, when I move on things are going to be different. The job isn't to bash socialists around the head for being thick, or slag people off for their beliefs. That was never my plan, never my intention. The job is to say, hey, you know what? Economic liberalism is a good thing. A really, really ...
All-round good-egg Jonathan Calder has a deliberative piece today that eventually links to this piece in the Guardian about a very old wartime poster that has suddenly found new favour. Two things struck me about the article. One was the nice little detail that the Nottingham Emergency Planning team have a copy in the Emergency Control Centre in the Guildhall on Burton Street. (I've never been in that room, but it must be the easiest room to find. The Guildhall is a complete rabbit warren, but every floor and every corridor has a sign in it pointing out the direction ...
London Liberal Democrats filled the large lecture hall of the Polish Centre in Hammersmith last night, at the regional Spring Conference. The undoubted draw of the evening was Vince Cable, MP, the party's own Delphic oracle. As someone pertinently asked him in the question time after his speech, how can the Mail on Sunday readers' love [...]
