It's Sunday night, it's the early hours of the morning - it's LDV Catchup! And this was the week in which even more MPs fell foul of the media in the great expense extravaganza, which was particularly embarrassing for Jacqui Smith. Chris Grayling came in for criticism for representing a constituency 17 miles from London but still claiming both second home allowance and high travel costs. Eric Pickles fun time on Question Time finally became available on Youtube - both with and without a Monty Python Yorkshiremen mashup. Thank goodness Nick Clegg has the answer. It was also the week ...
At Harrogate, the Liberal Democrat European Group held a rally on Saturday evening to launch our campaign for the elections, "Stronger together - poorer apart". The speakers were Andrew Duff MEP, Nick Clegg MP, Willie Rennie MP,Catherine Bearder, Helen Foster-Grime, and Phil Bennion. Here are some pictures, taken by Martin Turner: Posted in Campaigning, Europe [...]
Is it me or has this country's record on human rights got worse in the last few years? As a loyal Guardian/Observer reader my grip on my newspaper, as I read it, has been turned very shaky by a long series of outrages in the last few years. The absolute scandal of the death of Jean Charles de Menezes was the tip of the iceberg. We've had the revoltingly supine attitude, and perhaps direct active
Exeter College students recently voted to elect Patrick Elsdon as their new sabbatical president. The college have now said they 'wouldn't work with Patrick' because he was in the middle of a course and because he has low attendance - which makes him 'not a good enough role model'.There will be procedures to deal with any isssues about his performance as a student. Punishing the students union
The winner is Ashfield District Council leader Jason Zadrozny, who is due to stand against Geoff Hoon as LibDem candidate for Ashfield at the next election. Quoted on the Nottingham Evening Post website complaining that "What really galls me ... is that his main home in Derby is still miles away from his constituency," he says: "When he is claiming for three properties, you hope at least one is in the constituency."
Welcome to the 111th (and, yes, I am hopping) of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (29th March - 4th April 2009), together with a hand-picked quintet, mostly courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down. 1. Welcome to the Irfan Ahmed Challenge! on Mark Valladares' Liberal Bureaucracy blog. The vexed question of MPs' expenses becomes even more vexed. 2. Liberal Youth: Chair election - the result... on Mark Valladares' Liberal Bureaucracy ...
The link is to the government's acceptance that they got their forecasts wrong.A few years ago I tried to get details of how they did their forecasts so I could check them. It is important to have reliable forecasts.They refused to provide the information. I tried getting it through the Information Commissioner and that failed as well.
Sun 5th
21:28
The British Police Are The Best In The World, I Don't Believe None Of These Stories I've Heard...
I try to be shocked. I really do. I try to really feel how terrible it is, but this kind of thing has happened too often. Last week, a man died during the G20 protests. The story put out in the media at the time was a clearcut one. Man gets stressed by an out of [...]
Our opponents always say things like `if you have PR you'll let minority parties have too big a say` (actually it just keeps larger parties on their toes and sharpens up their message) or `with PR you'll let the BNP in` (as if we should have a system that excludes a registered political party). Well, the [...]
Stephan Tall, in a monthly review of polling data, compares Lib Dem public opinion poll scores to previous years at the equivalent point in the electoral cycle. March 2009: 18% (Clegg) 2004: 23% (Kennedy second term) 2000: 13% (Kennedy first term) 1996: 16% (Ashdown second term) 1991: 9% (Ashdown first term) Nick's leadership is scoring double the support of the early Ashdown years. [...]
LDV has an interesting blog post about poll results from March 2009 and looking at them and giving my commentary on them was something that I was to do but I have forgot so its great to see that LDV have done all the research for me. The average poll results for March are: Tories 42% (-1%), Labour 30% (+1%), Lib Dems 18% (n/c) Then LDV goes to to talking about the Lib Dem poll result compared to past polling results and you can see the results below: March 2009 LD average: 18% February 2004: 23% March 2000: 13% February ...
In recent months Lib Dem bloggers have been paying more attention to the Wikio rankings for British blogs. A bit like Google rankings, these are compiled from the number and authority of links to your site from other blogs. I have always been slightly disappointed that Liberal England did not appear in the rankings, yet when I tried to add it to Wikio's index I received an automatic reply from them saying it was already listed. The other day I emailed Wikio. I was impressed when they replied the next day saying they had sorted out this blog's record. And ...
Friday's 'Courier' covered residents' concerns about the extent of the growth of houses in multiple occupation in some streets in the West End, following the matter being discussed at the Licensing Committee on Thursday. As the report in the Courier mentioned, I have welcomed the introduction on HMO limits for both planning and licensing purposes. I recently requested updates about how the limit policy is working and I'll report back to residents on feedback. I've been away in Sussex this weekend as my long-standing friend Julie had her 40th birthday party in Wivelsfield - in the village hall - a ...
{a saxophone} Some people's taste in music can be pretty bad, but criminal?? A jazz musician in Wales was arrested by armed police as part of a major anti-terror raid. Victor Frederick had been aware of police surveillance days before his arrest. From WalesOnline, via Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing: Victor Frederick, 63, was arrested and strip-searched just yards from his home, just moments after his partner Andrea Heath and their daughter had infra-red sights trained at them and were told they would be shot if they moved. No charges were ever brought against Mr Frederick...[who told how] police interpreted ...
Reported two lamposts on during the daytime in Parkside Drive, via Central Beds customer service email address. Cannot seem to locate an online form to report these type of problems, like we used to get with Bedfordshire County Council. In fact the old link takes me to a page that seems to be just for Bedford problems. Also reported a fault with their web site. Can't read white text on a white background. I'll be watching closely to see how they respond, and how quickly. Updated my own votelibdem.com "Problems" web page to remove SBDC weblinks, and replace with Central ...
The sun is warm, the sky is blue (as is the sea). Yes, Ros and I are on holiday, here in Cyprus. This is my first trip to Cyprus, and it isn't a country that, in the past, I would have given a lot of thought to. It's a bit near, a bit Mediterranean, and lacks that sense of adventure that once marked my travelling. However, Ros was convinced that I would enjoy it so, here we are. And, as usual, she's right. The warmth of the sun, and the gentle pace of life turns out to be to my ...
As Honorary President of the Rosyth based International Fire Rescue Association I take every opportunity to see them off on their latest mission. On Friday a team of four set off for Bosnia with another van full of fire fighting and school supplies. They will also be training the local rescue services. This is a great service the Association provides. I was told that donated equipment that went out to Bosnia last year was used to save children from a fire in an orphanage. Quite literally all of this donated equipment is helping to save lives.
A few weeks ago there was a lot in the papers about Google and the Performing Rights Society failing to agree a deal. We were told that British surfers would soon be blocked from viewing Youtube music videos. Then the story went quiet and I thought no more of it. Until yesterday, when I tried to view a music video and was told "This video is not available in your country". So maybe it has started. While you still can, enjoy this single from 1978. The Rezillos were an Edinburgh band whose personnel at one time or another rejoiced in ...
You know it's a Sunday because there is another revelation about a Labour Minister on the take by claiming expenses for things that might be okay by parliamentary rules, but to the ordinary common man in the street seem like a total scam. Today's it's Geoff Hoon. Do we do a sweep stake on who it will be next week ?
For the first time the Roundup is hosted by Charles Crawford.
Over the last week or so, Lib Dem Voice has invited the members of our private forum (open to all Lib Dem members) inviting them to take part in a survey, conducted via Liberty Research, asking a number of questions about the party and the current state of British politics. Many thanks to the almost 200 of you who completed it; we're publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of our exclusive LDV members' surveys by clicking here. In the light of the controversy over Swiss right-to-die organisation Dignitas, LDV ...
At our Full Council meeting this week I tabled a motion calling on Haringey Council to oppose the proposed cuts to local station ticket office opening hours. I wanted the Council to throw its weight behind the campaign to stop First Capital Connect cutting the hours at Harringay, Hornsey and other local stations (see my previous post on 28 January). Thanks to all the work from local campaigners, particularly our MP Lynne Featherstone, our local public transport 'watchdog' Travelwatch has objected to the decision (details here). My understanding is there is now a period of intense negotiation going on with ...
A pleasant few hours were spent this morning delivering leaflets around the beautiful little Kent village of Newington - as part of our county council election campaign. The weather was sunny, the houses were nice, and it became a pleasurable stroll. One lady opened her door as I approached. 'What's this?' she said with suspicion. 'A Focus and a newspaper asking you about local issues' said I cheerfully, 'from the Lib Dems.' 'Oh,' she said brightening up. 'We don't get that from the other parties.' I may have got us a vote there. We're fortunate in Kent to have many ...
Having gone through The Crucifixion by Stainer this afternoon ready for a Come and Sing I've just realised I've missed out a couple of choruses. I've quickly found a MIDI file of it and I'm learning it even as I type. Thank goodnes for MIDI and thank goodness for multi-tasking. Whoops! I'm on now. Bye!
A huge piece in the Observer today: teachers are complaining that children (not just those from poorer families) start school unable to take turns, share, dress themselves or eat at a table. If that wasn't bad enough, some parents are dissing the teachers, challenging their authority, blaming them for just about everything from daughters getting pregnant (I assume this wasn't literally down to the teachers) to sons smoking pot. Justine Roberts, apparently a co-founder of mumsnet.com, hits back saying that parents are being put under a lot more pressure to feed their children lots of fruit and veg, read to ...
Recently Bradford Council (Conservative) has given out grants, supposedly to parish councils within its boundaries. Bradford (Conservative controlled) handed out grants to Oxenhope Parish Council (part of Worth Valley Ward) and Haworth Parish Council ...
From the Bradford Telegraph & Argus, 5 March 2009: "Bradford Council has plunged to its lowest overall star rating ever and is now the worst performing authority in the county, according to Audit Commission results released today. The Council ...
We are grateful to Liberal Democrat Voice for drawing attention to a useful map* which is a great example of how you can use maps to make statistics clearer. Mark Pack of LDV writes: "In this case, the big issue is that MPs do have genuinely different legitimate travel needs depending on where they live. It's only reasonable for an MP from Scotland to have much higher travel expenses than one who lives in London, for example. "Putting the sums on a map helps show the patterns which are reasonable. And it also highlights those which are a bit more ...
A number of blogs have been up in arms today over plans by the Government to instruct Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to keep the details of emails, browsing history and internet phone calls of everyone for a period of 12 months (I particulary liked Charlotte Gore's blog response, see here) This means the Government will [...]
The Sunday Telegraph have a table of their calculations of the best and worst MPs. The basis of the calculations looks pretty fair. Top of the table is former Bromley councillor, Kettering Tory MP Philip Hollobone (Value rating £376) followed by Dennis Skinner (£603). At the bottom is George Galloway (£21,201), followed by Clare Short (£6,546) and then, no surprise here, Derek Conway (£6,044).
If I hear the phrase "It was within the rules" one more time I may have to damage something. Hard. The continuing revelations about MPs allowances and expenses has now made me understand what Mr Eugenides means when he says he is "trying to hold back the rage". The latest senior MP to have been caught enriching himself at the taxpayer's expense is Geoff "Buff" Hoon. Predictably his defence is that what he did was within the rules. When will these people understand that we have now reached the point where the rules are so widely despised that use of ...
We tend not to be too poll-obsessed here at LDV - of course we look at them, as do all other politico-geeks, but viewed in isolation no one poll will tell you very much beyond what you want to read into it. Looked at over a reasonable time-span and, if there are enough polls, you can see some trends. Here, in chronological order, are the results of the eight polls published in March: Tories 42%, Labour 30%, Lib Dems 19% - Populus/Times (9th March 2009) Tories 41%, Labour 31%, Lib Dems 17% - YouGov/S. Times (15th March) Tories 42%, Labour ...
Yesterday we set off to see The Boat that Rocked. I have read several reviews that criticise it, making their comparisons with Richard Curtis's well known romcoms. I have one message for those reviewers, get over it. This is not a romcom, and it is all the better for it. So Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian when you say the cast are "almost never given any honest-to-goodness funny lines", the
Liberator has marked the launch of the Social Liberal Forum with two articles which they have kindly allowed us to republish - one by SLF Director Matthew Sowemimo and the other by Federal Policy Committee member and writer David Boyle. David is a different kind of critic from someone like Charlotte Gore. Very much "one of us," he wrote a chapter in Reinventing the State and I've worked with him on a number of projects over the years, including a motion on participatory democracy that was debated at Autum Conference last year. So the fact that he is a sceptic ...
According to the Sunday Mercury. This story is abour someone I like a lot making a complaint about someone I dislike a lot - well done Dave! The full story from the Sunday Mercury follows:
BNP 0 MEP's Conservatives 2 MEP's Labour 2 MEP's Liberal Democrats 2 MEP's UKIP 2 MEP's The results above are from the first Euro Poll of the North West, more will follow in coming weeks and months leading up to the election. As I blogged previously the results are exclusive to Irfan Ahmed's Blog so if you want to link to the poll results feel free. Otherwise stayed tuned for more results!
Tomorrow letters are going to be issued to all ISPs, large and small, demanding that details of emails, internet phone calls and browsing history be retained for 12 months. I don't need to say that this is unspeakably diabolical. Truly, this is the most terrifying milestone of them all. Available to the Government, for the first [...]
A couple of days ago I received a leaflet from the Conservatives. Obviously there is an election coming up because this is the first thing I have heard from them in a few years.In the leaflet it asks a serious of questions including whether I am happy with the state of roads, secondary education and level of policing. If I am not the leaflet goes on to say the Conservative candidate is the best
Have just heard about what Exeter College are doing to their student union and if it's true then it's disgraceful! They have told the President Elect that they will not work with him because they don't believe he's a 'good role model'. This completely undermines the idea of student democracy and representation. To support Patrick Elsdon who was elected as student union president please join this Facebook group.
Yesterday I spent editing a report on the Chittagong Hill Tracts (as co-chair of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission); constructing a letter to Jack Straw about security procedures in the prisons for visiting chaplains (as Patron of the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy Angulimala); writing to two British aid workers in Colombia about an announcement of a change in our policy on Colombia; helping a neighbour who married a Japanese citizen when she was awaiting the outcome of an appeal against refusal of her application for an extension of leave to remain as a student, and writing to Home Office Minister Lord ...
If you have a spare £8 in the next few weeks, and you're vaguely either Liberal or Feminist, I urge you to spend it on this quarter's issue of The Journal of Liberal History, which is a special issue about the interactions between liberalism and feminism, and is going to be great fun for me, as both, to pick apart. :D
The news that the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports, the Rt.Hon Andy Burnham had ordered a local inquiry into the closure of 11 libraries in Wirral, which has temporarily halted the closures, has had the effect of bringing out the most pious and sanctimonious of the 'I told you so' brigade. Reading [...]
No, says Don Foster, the Lib Dems' shadow culture, media and sports secretary, following media regulator Ofcom's announcement on Friday that it was fining the BBC £150,000 following the infamous prank calls made by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on Mr Brand's Radio 2 show: This money should come out of Jonathan Ross's salary so that broadcasting does not suffer." Hmmm. Sorry, Don, but you've not convinced me your statement is anything other than populist drivel. Of course Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross bear ultimate resonsibility for their potty-mouths. But what they said was broadcast by the BBC, and the ...
Sun 5th
10:53
Found this early today i thought cllr Merry had taken our advice and stood down, well back to the dr...
Like the hat john. Looks a great spot,wish i had the stamina to climb it.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that details of every email sent and website visited by people in Britain are to be stored for use by the state from tomorrow as part of what campaigners claim is a massive assault on privacy: Police and the security services will be able to access the information to combat crime and terrorism. Hundreds of public bodies and quangos, including local councils, will also be able to access the data to investigate flytipping and other less serious crimes. It was previously thought that only the large companies would be required to take part, covering 95 per ...
I yesterday blogged about an awaited scandal and it has near enough happened according to a scandal in today's Mail. Geoff Hoon the Labour MP has been claiming expenses for two homes and been living in one for free because he was a minister. But out of the two that he was not living in he has one on rent, now that's interesting because I either have powers to see into the future or I know someone in the media who tipped me off. I have to say it wasn't because I know someone in the media, so it must ...
How much more damning can it be that it takes an American politician to find something so positive and inspiring in a school shunned by its own MP? That's the conclusion of a thoughtful piece in the Observer about what Michelle Obama's visit tells us about the First Lady and about schools like EGA. I was a [...]
This is quite amusing. Hat tip to Tom Harris
The Observer reports on witness statements taken by the Independent Police Complaints Commission: Investigators are examining a series of corroborative accounts that allege Ian Tomlinson, 47, was a victim of police violence in the moments before he collapsed near the Bank of England in the City of London last Wednesday evening. Three witnesses have told the Observer that Mr Tomlinson was attacked violently as he made his way home from work at a nearby newsagents. One claims he was struck on the head with a baton. ... A police source told the Observer that Mr Tomlinson appears to have become ...
I'm all for encouraging gardening. More gardening can make people healthier, benefit the environment and improve the local area. And, far more importantly, for many people it's a great source of enjoyment. I'm also relaxed about the idea of government in some way being involved in such encouragement; for example, by local councils running gardening courses. But I really can't see how the government can claim with a straight face that encouraging more gardening is one of the objectives for the 2012 Olympics. For as the Financial Times reports: Ministers sought to dig themselves out of an allotment-sized hole on ...
Welsh Labour's presence on the internet is a long-standing joke. At best they have two sites of any significance and worth. Newport MP, Paul Flynn is an early pioneer and continues to offer a blog and website of a high standard, whilst Marcus Warner stands alone as an independent-minded Labour blogger. Considering that the party is the dominant political force in Wales they should be doing much better. Why they are not doing so is apparent from a very revealing blog entry by Paul Flynn this morning. Writing about an away-weekend of MPs and AMs he says: We had a ...
The Rabbi of a small town died. His widow, the Rebbetzin, was so disconsolate that the people of the town decided that she ought to get married again. But the town was so small that the only eligible bachelor was the town butcher. The poor Rebbetzin was somewhat dismayed because she had been wed to a scholar, and the butcher had no great formal education. However, she was lonely, so she agreed, and they were married. After the marriage, Friday came. She went to the mikvah (a Jewish ritual bath to get rid of impurities). Then, she went home to ...
Welsh Labour's attack-blog, Aneurin Glyndwr entered new territory yesterday when it directly criticised the performance in government of the Deputy First Minister.In this instance the author was unhappy at the way that Plaid Cymru are handling the economy portfolio and the contradictory message being sent out by the Government as a consequence:But the big story that the BBC are continuing to
Answers on a post card.
They say that confession is good for the soul, but what good will it do for the economy? Yes even after all the positive vibes from Gordon's 'budgetesque' speech presenting the G20 decision in the week the Chancellor is finally fessing up. Sadly not to the fact that the Government could have done more to ease the bust phase when they were claiming to have done away with 'boom and bust'. Not that they could have done more to regulate the banks to keep up their capital levels to prevent them taking so much risk. No, all that Alistair Darling ...
Over the past couple of weeks I have been invited several times to join up to Twitter. Politicians, bloggers and celebrities seem to be clamouring for me to take their Twitter feed. Many millions have done so, in order to get messages in 140 characters or less -so-called "Tweets"- from Stephen Fry or anyone else who wants to tell you about their world in a simple Tweet. Indeed these Tweets, which can be published to blogs as well as other formats such as mobile phones have become something of a craze. Certainly the messages, usually beginning with the @ sign ...
This article originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of Liberator Magazine (#332). Liberator have kindly allowed us to reproduce this here, along with Matthew Sowemimo's accompanying article. We have a new Liberal Democrat think-tank. And when there has been little or no thinking around the party for two decades, that has to be a good thing. So why am I uneasy about the appearance of the Social Liberal Forum? It isn't that I am suspicious of social liberalism. Heaven knows, I was even a contributor to the excellent essay collection Reinventing the State. Nor am I a closet 'market ...
This article, an adaptation of the speech Matthew Sowemimo gave at the Social Liberal Forum fringe meeting at Harrogate Spring Conference in March, originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of Liberator Magazine (#332). Liberator have kindly allowed us to reproduce this here, along with David Boyle's accompanying article. Social Liberalism is the mainstream philosophy of the Liberal Democrats and has been so since the Grimond era. Social liberalism recognises that an individual's material and personal circumstances can act as a constraint on them realising freedom. How meaningful is freedom if you don't have a house or a pension? This ...
The Ideas Factory is a chance for you to pitch your own idea of what should be in the next Liberal Democrat manifesto. The proposal here is not the policy of the Social Liberal Forum. We will however be passing it - and the response it generates - onto the Manifesto Working Group. The Proposal For many Liberal Democrats, income tax is the most progressive of taxes. Those who earn most, so the argument goes, can afford to pay most (Forgetting that top earners are the top avoiders and evaders!). 'Land taxers', including ALTER members, usually dispute this. To us, ...
