Just back from a campaign planning meeting. (Loads to do between now and election day on 4th June.) Lib Dem leader on Chelmsford council, Mike Mackrory, reported on a council meeting last night. The Conservatives who run the council have COMPLETELY ignored the hundreds of people who commented on their plans for 4000 houses on green fields. (Details here.) They press on with their plans for an
Finished a survey for on and offline consumption - ready for printers. hurrah!!! # Time to get invoicing #
Hat tip to Stephen for pointing out this story highlighting the success of local (to us) woman, Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. And in case you were wondering, no, she wasn't the stripper I've been complaining about. Stephen was at my house when the show was on and I think it's fair to say that this woman is a miracle worker. Shutting one of us up is an achievement, stunning two of the biggest gobs in the Scottish Lib Dems if not the Scottish blogosphere into awed silence is probably unprecedented. She didn't look like she was going to ...
Back in the 1990s I worked for an audio visual presentation company on Lord Byron Square, just off Eccles New Road in Langworthy (Salford). The location of my work made it a great excuse to have fish and chips for lunch at least twice a week, and once my boss was hooked (he often paid for all of us!), sometimes more often than that. So off I would go, up Langworthy Road and stand in line patiently (it was always busy) while Neil, the owner, fried up my order of 10 lots of fish and chips. "Front of house" was ...
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The Conservatives have spoken we must stop ASB How are they going to do it? seem a little short on r...
News story It's time to back-up the law abiding majority Chris Grayling has spoken about the urgent need to "tackle the blight of antisocial behaviour" in order to fix our Broken Society. The Shadow Home Secretary highlighted Home Office statistics showing three million acts of antisocial behaviour recorded last year, adding, "And that's only a tiny fraction Yes [...]
Gordon Brown has apologised for 'smear-gate'. At last. But the way he made the apology just showed how incredibly bad he is at understanding how an apology works. To open up with the phrase 'As I've made clear all along...' is crass in the extreme. To begin with Brown refused to say anything. Then he sent the letters of regret to some of the potential victims of the smears. Regret only for the damage that had been done to politics, not an apology and not even regret for the harm done to the potential victims. So Brown's apology will mean ...
I really love Just a Minute and Clement Freud is about the best panellist there has been in my time of listening to the programme. And so when I got to meet him during a Lib Dem Leadership Election when he backed Chris Huhne I came over all fanboy. I went to his flat in Marylebone and turned up early. He was incredibly charming and happily chatted until the appointed hour for the photo I was taking of him and Chris. Listening to the tributes earlier today, I loved the one told by Stephen Fry on Today. On a Parliamentary ...
... ARE UTTER BAR-STUDS. Whose bright idea was it to make an advert for them based on the Magical Trevor song? I've only seen the bloody thing twice and now I can't stop going round the house going:Everyone loves Magical Trevor Cos the tricks that he does are ever so clever...It's almost as bad as badgerbadgerbadgerbadgerbadgerbadger mushroom mushroom... But still nothing like the Little Red Monkey:
Paul Staines has done an interview with Newsnight that you can watch by following the link, in the video Guido talks about how his blog has helped to make politics interesting and I have to say its made politics more then just interesting. Guido Fawkes is becoming a massive thing, millions are now reading it and Paul just needs a pint at the Westminster Arms and he is sorted. He can blog away. Paul Staines is the next thing since sliced bread and he will make politics interesting in the coming years. I just can't wait for a Tory government ...
It's a source of great regret to me that I never met Clement Freud. Our political paths were separated by a generation and his close association with Suffolk is in the north of the County, in Aldeburgh, where his wife Jill is involved with the local theatre. My agent in the 1997 Suffolk County Council elections, Terry Mayes, had been Clement's agent in Ely and had a fund of Freud stories. His Tory opponent was, apparently, an identikit candidate who we would describe today as a clone. Clement once leaned out of the upper story window of the campaign office ...
So, the Severnside Lib Dems have reached a conclusion on the Severn Barrage. You can read the press release on the Severn report here. The BBC cover it here.The report itself if pretty readable, as these things go. It's argument makes a lot of sense. It would of course, be a change of policy for the party on either side of the estuary, and will need to be voted on at conference in the Autumn.My
I haven't done a linkblog for a little while, partly because I've been doing a weekly one over at LC (my latest one is up now), but since comics dont come out until tomorrow because of Easter, I thought I'd do one today. Alex at Love And Liberty has a tribute to Peter Rogers (producer of [...]
I've done a Tom Watson - taken a short sabbatical from blogging - and what a period I've missed, with 'smeargate' dominating the headlines for a week. It confirms what most of us have appreciated for a while now - that Gordon Brown and the thugs that surround him are incapable of winning a General Election. I say this not because they've had to resort to negative campaigning or some moral objection to what they've done - dirty tricks, unsubstantiated claims and downright lies have been part of politics from the start and as David Milliband, Stephen Byers, Peter Mandelson, ...
I often end up eating supper in front of a late night episode of 'Law and Order' or 'CSI' - not ideal given all those autopsies. Mobile phones have become intrinsic to the plots: not just for the characters to contact each other, but tracing calls, connecting witnesses, and even locating suspects by triangulating their [...]
This is the kind of Prime Minister I want, I want someone who isn't scared to get his hands dirty!
A father and son on holiday in London were stopped by police and made to delete photos from their cameras, of a bus station and some double decker buses. From the Guardian: Like most visitors to London, Klaus Matzka and his teenage son Loris took several photographs of some of the city's sights, including the famous red double-decker buses. More unusually perhaps, they also took pictures of the Vauxhall bus station, which Matzka regards as "modern sculpture". But the tourists have said they had to return home to Vienna without their holiday pictures after two policemen forced them to delete ...
I'm sad to hear of the death of Sir Clement Freud, a great Liberal and a great human being who has died just before his 85th birthday. One of a kind, life will be duller without him.
The Countdown to Conference starts here.You can follow it on Twitter here.Given that there are no leadership issues at this conference (national, UK, or presidential), it's going to be a tricky one for the Welsh media. They're going to have to ditch the typical conference coverage template. Maybe even talk about some issues?No - I doubt it. Probably focus on Kirsty - is she living up to
{rolling-sound-leybridge} I dropped by Leybridge Court after work last night and was really pleased to find the Rolling Sound bus full of young people trying their hand at music production. It's the first time I've been on the bus, and the transformation from London bus to state-of-the-art studio is amazing. The bus is back at Leybridge tomorrow and then hits Manor House Gardens on Saturday. Full details of the sessions in Lee Green here.
A quick reminder that it's my surgery this Saturday at Leybridge Court from 10am until 11am. Do feel free to drop by the McEwan Centre if there's anything you think I can help with.
I've been bedridden for the past 24 hours, and can I just say that day time telly, is dull and boring, there's not anything interesting on apart from on the yesterday channel, and old episodes of Top Gear on Dave. Any way, a few days ago, I tried to begin to understand how both the Labour Party and Conservative Party claim to be the face of what Obama stands for. First things first, Obama is a Liberal we can see that in the way he has brought about common sense to foreign policy, brought the idea of Keynesianism back to ...
I blogged about how I think Tim Ireland is a scum bag who has been attacking Iain Dale but after reading what Tim has written I am starting to question who the actual scum bag is in this whole case. Iain Dale does for some reason not want to talk to Tim, I can think of why not but I still believe he should to clear this whole issue up once and for all. Update: Iain Dale is actually someone we should all trust, I have been doing my research and Tim Ireland is a guy who we should show ...
This has to be a most amazing idea, but it has been raised as an issue by no less a personage than the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry. Mind-blowing. Of course, he would say the same if his own party was in power in Washington. Of course. This gives some idea of the remarkably partisan atmosphere in American politics at the moment. The fact that a State Governor, indeed the Governor of the second
As I awoke this morning, I read some rather sad news; that concerning the death of Clement Freud. I am a great fan of the BBC Radio 4 comedy pannel game called, Just a Minute. Clement Freud was one of the funniest people on there, with his unique style of play, which included being completely deadpan. This is how I shall remember him, for his excellent humour and the way in which he interracted with the other pannelists. He will be greatly missed! Many people have already left their own tributes to such a great man; Stepen Fry being one ...
The recent Damian McBride affair is evidence of the continuing poverty of New Labour policy, if anyone thinks that this incident is just another in a long line of political mudslinging, then they should pause and consider the wider implications of how a system became so corrupt, discredited and morally bankrupt? The malicious and vitriolic [...]
Sunniside History Society have been in touch with me to ask for my help in tracking down a missing Victorian miners' banner. Marley Hill is a small, former pit village just up the road from Sunniside where I live. As well as being the location of Dad's allotment (!), it was also the last, non coastal deep mine in the region, closing in 1984. It was also the last pit in the region to use pit
Old Tallie on LDV has come up with a devilishly attractive poll as to the best living Lib Dem orator. He's come up with an excellent list: Paddy Ashdown, Evan Harris, Simon Hughes, Lembit Opik, John Pardoe, Cyril Smith, Jeremy Thorpe, Shirley Williams.I have had the honour of listening to all of those, bar Cyril Smith, speak in the flesh.John Pardoe's oratory, performed via a bullhorn from the
Yesterday the Government released a list of 11 sites in England and Wales where new nuclear power stations could be built, with the aim of having the first reactors operational within a decade. The Lib Dems' shadow energy and climate change secretary Simon Hughes was unequivocal in stating his anti-nuclear position on behalf of the party, branding this new generation of nuclear power stations a "colossal mistake": They are hugely expensive, dangerous and will take too long to build. There is a real danger that the Government is becoming too close to and [sic] the big energy companies. The best ...
The deaths have been announced of two men with enormous track records in entertainment: Peter Rogers, who fabulously produced every single Carry On film; then celebrity cook, glacially slow Just A Minute speaker and contributor to the gaiety of the nation through Parliamentary Liberalism Clement Freud. Both of them and their work have been presences through my whole life, and I'm sorry that I never met either of them. I did, however, meet John Cater, an actor whose death was also announced recently, and I'd like to celebrate that genuinely nice chap as well as the two more famous men. ...
ASBO clampdown planned for Salford Quays <!–Last Updated - 16th April 2009 at 03:43 PM –> Measures to keep anti-social behavior at Salford Quays at bay are to be stepped-up ahead of the warmer weather. I commend any action to cut the levels of anti social behavior,i only hope the same interest is shown to [...]
Congrats to Cllr Allan Witherick who managed to blag a spot on Radio 5's Drive show by rapping his manifesto and sticking it on Youtube. They weren't impressed - that awful Victoria woman was merciless and got him to admit it was dire, but as Allan pointed out: He got on the Radio, didn't he? His story [...]
This morning I walked through the streets of The Hague, off to give evidence to a parliamentary select committee about carbon capture and storage technology. It was a glorious spring morning, and thousands of cyclists were negotiating their way around the cars and avoiding the trams. Not one was wearing a helmet. I have heard of studies that suggest that far from saving lives, being expected to wear cycling helmets simply discourages people from cycling at all. They cycle a lot more in Holland than we do here, and the Dutch are equally conscious of health and safety issues. If ...
A Nurse who did some secret filming to expose neglect of the elderly has been banned from working by the Nursing and Midwifery Council... for misconduct. Enough said, really.
In last Friday's House Points I wrote about a debate called by the Tory MP John Randall to publicise the way that innocent photographers are harassed by the police: Someone photographing decrepit properties in Uxbridge had inadvertently snapped a car containing community support officers parked on a double yellow line. One of them came over and said he must delete the photograph. A 15-year-old in school uniform taking pictures at Wimbledon station as part of a GCSE project was stopped by community support officers and asked to sign forms under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act. Andrew Pelling (the former ...
Unmitigated England has been to Hallaton for the bottle kicking and hare pie scrambling: Easter Monday for centuries has seen local (and not so local) lads fall down the fields in a mass of thrashing arms and legs in order to put a bottle (in fact a small wooden keg) over a stream that runs in a deep cleft to the south of the village. This is pagan rivalry, an annual contest of brute force between Hallaton and the neighbouring village of Medbourne, shrouded in ritual and very, very, tribal. It starts with the cutting-up and distribution of a Hare ...
My cousin has drawn my attention to this story regarding the recording of Susan Boyle for her bit on Britain's Got Talent. What struck me most was the insult to Blackburn in West Lothian from Piers Morgan one of the judges. JUDGE Piers Morgan has branded Susan Boyle's hometown of Blackburn, West Lothian, "a dump". A camera crew filming the Britain's Got Talent singer were ordered to shoot in nearby Bathgate instead after the area "appalled" Morgan. Camera crews were supposed to visit the village and film in locations including the community centre and the run-down council estate. Whilst crew ...
No, not the result of Lord Bonkers' latest trade mission but a true story from the Leicester Mercury: Matthew O'Callaghan, chairman of Melton Mowbray Food Partnership, said the deal was significant in two ways. He said: "First, it shows stilton is becoming much more popular abroad and, second, it shows how the Chinese economy is expanding. "It is certainly the case that the Chinese are acquiring western tastes. Maybe Melton Mowbray pork pies will be next."
Over the last few days something of a scandal has brewed as books with a gay theme were removed from the bestseller lists, even when they contained no sexual content. Similar books featuring heterosexual sex were not affected. It's unclear whether this was a deliberate policy from Amazon or, as the company now claims, some sort of glitch. Whichever, the company has 'fessed up and corrected the issue. But what's going on with the Daily Mail's online comment section on the story? There are the usual range of knee-jerk homophobic comments, but they're all voted down. The comments voted up ...
Political Betting has a blog post about how the Smeargate and how it will probably not effect the polls and I personally don't think it will also. The Smeargate is a Westminster issue, no one in the rest of the world gives a damn about what happened. I was polling people asking them about the whole issue and the reply I got from people was "and what?". This whole issue will effect the polls by about one or two points but that's about it and nothing much! So Guido's and Toy HQ can stop thinking this has cost Labour the ...
The circus of the contents of Gordon Brown's special advisers inboxes continues apace. Peter Black reports that the Independent is saying that Westminster is 'awash' with rumours about forthcoming leaks. No doubt there is much more to come; who knows, for example, exactly how all that stimulus money was spent in precise detail. Meanwhile, the debate about our response (or lack of) continues over on Liberal Democrat Voice. Regardless of the specifics of the story and the further revelations that are to come a number of things are clear; the chief one being that this government is 'undead in office'. ...
Clement Freud, former Liberal MP has passed away.
Hello fluffy friends! I hope that you have had a Happy Easter break and that you all watched new DOCTOR WHO. But now, it is time for another interview. Short notice, this time, but if you can be in WESTMINSTER next TUESDAY, 21st April, at 5.15pm then this is your chance to put the questions to the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Mr Chris Huhne. We have not spoken to Mr Chris since the LEADERSHIP CONTEST, but since very nearly pipping Mr Clogg at the post, he has been working hard on the important Home Office and Civil Liberties brief. ...
Professor Alec Jefferys, the scientist who developed 'genetic fingerprinting' to use DNA in criminal cases, has criticised Labour's use of a database to hold samples from the innocent. He told the BBC: My concern is that the way the database is now being populated by increasingly innocent people - and getting hard numbers on this is difficult. I've seen figures as high as 800,000 entirely innocent people on that database. My concerns, which were very much reflected in a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, is that this is a real violation of an individual's privacy. Currently, ...
I'm usually the first to moan about the party's propensity to jump on populist bandwagons. In darker moments I have imagined a press release attacking Galilee's Labour-controlled council for poor litter collection after the feeding of the five thousand, or poor traffic management at the Sermon on the Mount. However is there a campaigner alive who can resist a phrase like the "Rain Tax"? www.dontdrainus.org is a non-partisan campaign site set up to oppose new, deeply unfair surface water charges which may cripple many churches, charities and clubs. The regulator Ofwat has allowed - or encouraged? - water companies to ...
After the Labour Party threw their toys out the pram when they were stopped from having the mayoralty this year (despite only recently allowing Liberals and Lib Dems to become Lord Mayor at all!) Judith Elliott from the Morley Borough independents will become Lord Mayor of the City and Horsforth Lib Dem Andy Barker will become Deputy Lord Mayor. Andy will be making history as it will be the first time that three sitting ward Councillors have served in the office. Andy will follow fellow Lib Dem Councillors Brian Cleaseby and Chris Townsley into this post. Congratulations to Judith and ...
Tory MP Damien Green will not face criminal charges for his alleged role in leaking confidential home office documents, the Crown Prosecutions Service has announced. Menawhile the home affairs parliamentary select committee has found that civil servants exaggerated the seriousness of the leaks, claiming they had caused 'considerable damage to national security'. Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne has not minced his words: This is a monumental shambles. It is astonishing that ministers were not consulted, if the Home Affairs Select Committee is right, as they should have realised the political consequences of being seen to harass an opposition ...
Personally, I think this "Homecoming Scotland" advert, particularly the toe-curling 'contribution' by Sean Connery, is utterly dire. However, what is way worse is its cost. The best part of £600 000 it appears. What a total waste of public money by the SNP government, particularly as it has failed to provide funding for so many of its promised policies. In response to a Parliamentary question SNP Tourism Minister Jim Mather revealed that the cost of production including filming, production, producer and director fees was £233 450 along with a further £299 287 for its broadcast. The advert was also broadcast ...
Commenting on the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions not to press charges against Damian Green or Christopher Galley, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne said: "This is a monumental shambles. It is astonishing that ministers were not consulted, if the Home Affairs Select Committee is right, as they should have realised the political consequences of being seen to harass...
Commenting on Government proposals to offer subsidies to encourage people to buy electric cars, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: "This announcement is like adding a small dab of green paint to the rusty hulk of the Government's failed transport policy." "Discounts on electric cars are all very well for those who can afford to buy a new car but it cannot...
Polling has started in the world's most populous democracy, and across India, voters are having their fingers indelibly marked to prevent multiple voting. The Times reports that all of the special ink comes from a small company founded by the Maharajah of Mysore in 1937, and has been conveyed to every one of the 828,804 polling stations. It's good to see that India produces such a world-beating product, and it's so effective and cheap that they export to several other countries, including Canada and Mongolia. This year, their work has been complicated by the decision to mark voters with a ...
Commenting on the report on school discipline by Sir Alan Steer, Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws said: "The Government needs to do far more to address the root causes of bad behaviour, rather than treating the symptoms with gimmicks or more central interference in schools." "One of the main reasons for poor discipline in secondary schools is the huge number of...
Ah, the joys of a Lib Dem conference agenda. Sid and Doris will know that it's been quite a while since I managed to get to any form of one (pretty much bang on two years, as it goes) and while things are being made fairly easy for me this time, it would be churlish not to go when it's pretty much as close to Cardiff West as it's possible to be without being in Cardiff West (and we'll gloss over
Commenting on Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson's announcement of a review of tactics following two alleged assaults during the G20 protests, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "This is a welcome review of police tactics but there's also a question of whether discipline broke down in the Territorial Support Group (TSG), which Sir Paul Stephenson must...
PR Week has dubbed Cobden's Comments an 'influential blog' causing much hilarity in the office. Well, not PR Week directly but Marshall Manson, Digital Director at Edelman, who has written a piece about how the blogosphere treated the recent rise in inflation and the way the announcement was handled by the Bank of England. Marshall quotes my words of wisdom, which I'm very grateful for, as evidence of the 'negative blogoshere response, sparked by a belief that the BoE is causing inflation by introducing quantitative easing.' He advises the Bank to contact bloggers to see if they would be 'interested ...
I know this has got nothing to do with McBride, Derek Draper or anything that is hot cakes at the moment but I think its worth blogging about. Yesterdays Apprentice candidate Paula Jones who got sacked is to get her Boxer brother to beat up Ben Clarke the guy who cost her the job. Personally I am someone who has never liked Paula from the start she has been sliding through the whole show with no talent or skills to bring to Sir Alan so its great she has been sacked. Me making this statement better not get me beat ...
Obvious, innit?
So Gordon Brown has done what I told him to. Perhaps I should set myself up as a political adviser.
Charlie Brooker's Newswipe has been a bit up and down so far, but Charlie excelled himself last night with his review of the G20 summit. You can see it on the iPlayer here. In particular, his review of the TV news coverage of the protests, which begins at 14 mins 36 secs, is fantastic, and provides a nice overview of the relationship between the protests, the media, and the possibility (and later
Well i have been looking at some projects that have been floating round,excuse the pun. Sound good on paper but how do we get to them. Half the city as little road structure someday's it's at bursting point. But i am sure our planners will see us through safely? or not,what do you think. [...]
Costigan Quist has taken issue with a report I referred to in this posting the other day. My main issue was with reality show Britain's Got Talent including an act at the very end which was to all intents and purposes a striptease - and one which got through the audition stage, too. Children are not normally permitted to view such material. Lapdancing clubs are open to adults only, yet this show brought what I feel is an inappropriate environment for children into our living room. For those who say that it was all good harmless fun and it was ...
Personally I don't like any Tory and don't mind people attacking them but when I heard what Tim Ireland was doing to Iain Dale I had to blog and get everything of my chest. Tim Ireland the scum bag has been phoning Iain Dale threatening him and has spammed the comment section of the blog leading to Iain having to put moderation back on. Tim Ireland needs to find something else to do with his time, and I can think of another person like Tim who doesn't have much of a life but I will leave that out. Tim has ...
I don't think I could honestly include the word "Liberal" in the title of this blog if I didn't mark the passing of Clement Freud, once described as "one of nature's liberals". Liberal Democrat Voice carries a tribute to him. I would just like to add my own personal dimension to the tributes, from the point of view of a Liberal party supporter from 1970ish onwards.It's very important to remember
Craig Murray remembers his predecessor as rector of Dundee University:I was more than once the beneficiary of Freud's largesse as he took groups of apparently random students out for boozy meals. Fot the student charities' campaign he produced The Rector's Cookbook, a collection of recipes that could be cooked in one pan on a single gas ring - in those days a not unusual sole cooking facility for a Dundee student.He did a promotional piece for STV in a student flat in Springfield, equipped with a fold-away gas ring that swung out from the wall. Halfway through his cooking demonstration ...
These reports prove that ideologically polarised think tanks sometimes come to the same conclusions: The Adam Smith Institute and the Fabian Society, who'd have thunk it.
Friday 3rd AprilNew YorkUp early again and go and take some photos of New York landmarks...First meeting of the day is with Rachel Ehrenfeld and her lawyer Daniel Kornstein. I think it can be safely ...
Questions are being asked by some members of the Calder Valley Labour Party over the selection of Cherie Blair's stepmother, Stephanie Booth, as their parliamentary candidate.
Of all the great souls who have passed before us the one, I think, that moves me the most is Beethoven. I am inspired by literature and art, but music expresses even more to me. The majesty of his Ninth Symphony alone expresses a joy and freedom that takes us beyond our own confines and out into the Universe. His sombre sonatas express the ultimate inescapability of our human fate. Yet always when I listen to this music of a genius I am filled with compassion for the Beethoven the man. The pain of his disease which robbed him of ...
Eaves is a London charity providing housing and support to vulnerable women. Back in 2003, the Lilith Project, an Eaves offshoot, produced some research suggesting that the existence of lap dancing clubs leads to more rape and sexual assault. This is in danger of becoming one of those pieces of research that starts to take on a life of its own, with the conclusions being quoted as fact when the actual paper is long forgotten. I'd quite like to put a stop to that. Whatever your opinions on lap dancing clubs might be, quoting this report as fact does you ...
RIP Clement Freud: Liberal, wit, and raconteur. :( If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don't actually live longer; it just seems longer.
No sooner have I been tickled by one amusingly subtitled clip from Downfall than someone sends me another very topical one based on this week's events (PARENTAL GUIDANCE: contains rude words in the subtitles and an evil ranting dictator). NB As an interesting future historical note, clips like this make sense now to those following the story but will be almost completely unintelligible to later watchers trying to figure out references like 'Guido', 'Grand Bargain' etc.
Following my visit to South West Hertfordshire the other week, I tabled a written question to the Government asking about the performance of London Midland. I've just received their reply, which confirms the lamentable performance of London Midland - in February, average punctuality across the franchise was 81.6% . Lord Adonis ( who I happened to see on the station in Ipswich yesterday) tells me that there is a joint action plan between Network Rail and London Midland which has put measures for improvement in place which will be monitored regularly. At the same time, I also wrote to the ...
On her latest posting the PPC for Wallasey Leah Fraser writes, Why People Love Frank Field, see the posting here. In her somewhat mini hagiography she says many consider Frank to be one of the best MPs in the country. Little comfort then to Andrew Gilbert the Conservative PPC for Birkenhead who must be feeling a [...]
Sir Clement died last Wednesday evening at the age of 84. There is a BBC tribute here, which naturally concentrates on his contributions to Radio 4. However, his career as a Liberal MP is also significant, from winning Isle of Ely in a by-election against the odds in 1973, to his part in the downfall of the Callaghan government six years later. I have the impression that cash-strapped Liberal HQ would not or could not give any assistance in that 1973 campaign, preferring to concentrate on the by-election in Ripon on the same day, which makes Freud's success all the ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free, Lib Dem shadow justice secretary David Howarth asks if police interference in the right to protest is designed only to protect the political and economic status quo. Here's an excerpt: The arrest of more than one hundred climate protesters alleged to have been planning to disrupt the operation of the Ratcliffe coal-fired power station is, I am glad to see, raising questions about undue interference in the right to protest. Prior restraint of protest, especially in the form of preventive arrest, is difficult to justify. Adding restrictive conditions to the protesters' bail makes ...
Very sad news that the former Liberal MP Clement Freud has died. Nick Clegg said: Clement Freud was part of a generation of larger than life figures who kept the Liberal Party alive through thick and thin. It is astonishing to remember all the things he did, all the things he was; wit, raconteur, politician, chef, advertiser of dog food, writer, comedian, a devoted father, husband and grandfather and someone who could never resist a flutter. They don't make people like that anymore and he will be sorely missed by millions. For all his political and other achievements, the memory ...
The old Liberal Party had more than its fair share of characters who won (and often kept) seats in Parliament largely on the strength of their personality. But few were ever quite as well-known — and at times infuriating — as Clement Freud, who has died. Catapulted to TV fame as the lugubrious face of dog [...]
OK, people getting paid £300 per man-hour are perhaps not first in line for recognition as heroes of the financial crisis. But, like the bugs that swarm over the decaying carcass of a dead lion, the administrators pulling Lehman Brothers apart are clearly doing a difficult, unglamourous but necessary job. So far, it has taken 234,000 hours, with the job barely started. More to the point, the astonishing effort and difficulty involved in working out who is owed what points to a serious flaw in our financial-regulatory system. It has now reached the point that they can't even reimburse commedians ...
{Steve waite graffiti cleanup} In October 2008, Steve Waite (pictured here, copyright the Evening Post), former Labour Lead Councillor for the Environment on the Council, said of the Council's Big Clean Up" campaign: "The project so far has been an unprecedented success and a tribute to the staff involved. However, this is just the first stage of the clean up and we are not complacent and expect our work to continue for some time to come." I'm sorry to have to report that earlier today a Council officer confirmed to me what Superintendent Steve Kirk hinted at last week, that this highly successful campaign is no ...
LDV has a blog post in which they write about how LabourList might get into serious trouble with the Election Commission. According to the Election Commission LDV is a members association so it has to follow the donation rules, like the political parties in this Country do but does LabourList follow the same rules.LabourList has said via Draper that it will publish its accounts for donations, but what does the Election Commission class LabourList as being. If the same rules apply to LabourList as they do to LDV then doesn't Draper not need to put the truth out in the ...
As we always knew they would, Helioslough are back with a repeated application to build their monster freight terminal. It's a kick in the teeth for local people. St Albans Council still needs to see the detail of the application to check that it fits the rules. If it really is unchanged from the previous application then I hope the council will simply refuse to consider it under the two-year rule where developers cannot simply repeat previous applications ad nauseam at huge expense to the council taxpayer when they have already been rejected. We know there are better alternative sites ...
There is a chance to comment on Lambeth's planning policies and how they will affect you in future. You can find out more details at either of the links below: http://tinyurl.com/dedhp3 And keep us informed about what you think! The closing date is May 18th.
It's a small street in Hampstead, but given events, events dear boy, events, it's highly significant... The street is Rowland Hill Street and this plaque notes the former house of Sir Rowland Hill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowland_Hill_(postal_reformer) Hill's reputation was formidable and established during his lifetime and he was a key political figure in non-Conservative Government's as a passionate advocate of public service, social reform and institutional reform that sought to break vested interest and development based solely on profit. The plaque erected by the Society of Arts has under it a small brass plaque that reads: THE ABOVE PLAQUE WAS FIRST ERECTEDBY ...
The decision of the Welsh Government to withdraw its £2.2 million grant to the Wales GB Rally has set off a political storm that threatens to run for some time.International Motor Sports Ltd (IMS) plans to sue for breach of contract. It said: "This unprecedented action towards WRGB by the Welsh Assembly Government has been instigated without any prior notice or consultation. It is in breach of
Farewell to a larger than life character who's been around for as long as I've been interested in politics. Perhaps my abiding memory of him isn't political though. It's of him on one of his cookery programmes telling us with a completely straight face that we must always never cut lettuce with a knife when making a salad. You'll hear it scream in protest he said. Even now, if I take a knife
Those Labour Party members who thought that the continuing controversy over e-mails between Damian McBride and Derek Draper was out-of-control and doing their party irreparable damage will be relieved to know that the head of the Civil Service has stepped in to block an inquiry into whether other ministers or special advisers were involved in the attempt to smear senior Conservatives. This is just as well as according to the Independent rumours are swirling around Westminster that more damaging emails, which would embarrass the Prime Minister, are about to be leaked. They say that Labour MPs are appalled by the ...
Another notification from Islington Council: "We are proposing to resurface Essex Road between Greenman Street and Church Road. The works will be carried out at night to minimise disruption to traffic. During the work, traffic on Essex Road will be reduced to one lane with temporary signals to allow vehicles to travel in both directions. On the [...]
Ignoring the "smeargate" furore over the weekend, the Lib Dem press team clearly took a doubtless well-deserved break over Easter before returning to the fray with a few press releases on Tuesday. Yesterday Simon Hughes joined this swathe of media activity, slamming Government plans for new nuclear power stations. A big mistake, says Simon. We need more renewables, not expensive, dangerous and slow-to-build nuclear. Getting a proper handle on the evidence around energy production is on my to-do list. Right now, far too many people seem to think they have the answer without really understanding the issues. If I were ...
I wrote the other day about the drugging of children at Kendall House, a children's home in Gravesend run by the Diocese of Rochester, between the 1960s and 1980s. It turns out that the home was described in the book In Whose Best Interests? Unjust Treatment of Children in Courts and Institutions, which was written by, amongst others, Laurie Taylor and published in 1980. No 2 Abuse has some extracts.
The FT's series on 'shrinking the state' - which kicked off yesterday with a broad review of various political goals that will be put on ice - produces a surprisingly kind account of improvements in public services under Labour: "Across large swaths of the public sector, ministers can point to improvements. Benefits claimants no longer have to brave local offices that were often dirty, linoleum-lined halls with chairs screwed to the floor and staff cowering behind glass screens. Jobcentres, while undoubtedly under pressure, no longer rely on tatty rows of cards advertising a few local jobs. These days they offer ...
Sir Clement Freud, who was Liberal MP for the Isle of Ely between 1973 and 1987, has died aged 84. More in the Daily Telegraph.
I see today the sad news that Sir Clement Freud the former Liberal MP and panelist on Just a Minute has passed away aged 84. I shall attempt to pay tribute to the man in that length of time without deviation, repetition or hesitation as seems fitting so to do. He was erudite in the extreme and looved* to fill the period against three others under Nicolas Parsons with lists. When he would rattle off compendia of foods, animals, places, things, people that were relevant to the subject on the card. His Grandfather of course was Sigmund Freud and what ...
Well we now have two of the runners, We wait for the conservative and BNP.
Let me know if you need news every week on what's going on Sorry no Labour Members. It's quick and environmentally friendly so what's to loose give it a go. Any activist fancy joining with us your welcome.
Who exactly is funding LabourList? That's the question which is beginning to be asked in the wake of 'Smeargate', in which Gordon Brown's chief spin-doctor, Damian McBride, conspired with the website's founding editor Derek Draper to defame various Tory figures. It's a question of keen interest to us here at Lib Dem Voice. We're an independent website run by a volunteer collective of seven party members, including one (departing) member of the party's Cowley Street staff. Our running costs are - just about - covered through a combination of advertising revenue and those readers who are kind enough to donate ...
Just what was Andy Burnham playing at yesterday? I didn't get to see the live coverage from Hillsborough yesterday and still being without Broadband at home* was unable to do more than throw up a few Tweets from my phone as I watched the news coverage. First off I would say that most of the people present at Anfield would have had no problems with the Sports Minister a lifelong Evertonian being present at yesterday's memorial service to the Hillsborough victims 20 years on. After all the grief engulfed the whole city as well as us fans not from Merseyside. ...
I have recived an email to inform me the pictures of officers with local Councillors being used in a election period will be removed from the Salford Labour Website, I wonder how long it will take. I have marked the day on the calender i will let tell you when it happens. [...]
Liberal Youth Scotland has its own channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LiberalYouthScotland
With all the dreadful news of this crappy Government, the recession, the violence and the general lowbeat mood Britain can still produce this to lift our spirits and gladden our hearts. I can't stop watching it - i'm moved to tears every time.
It's been a while. Hopefully everyone has forgotten all about me by now. This isn't a new blog. It's an old one that has been dormant for a depressingly long time. So long in fact, that the posts that remained on it gathering dust were so absurdly out of date, (and frankly embarrassing to re-visit) that I have deleted them and decided to go for a completely fresh start. So, hello everybody. Just so you know. I am a Lib Dem 'activist' living in the South East. Once upon a time I might have been described as a 'hyper-activist', but ...
I am wondering if it really is time to knock this whole blogging business on the head. After 30 months, thousands of postings, lots of ranting, and lots of time wasted, I really am finding it very difficult to summon up the energy to write anything that is not only interesting to someone else, but is of interest to me. Things that used to get me bothered, things that really did put fire in the belly I just seem to be able to ignore, be this a council expenses scandal involving a local Tory (which I know about but cannot ...
See, The Right, as I'm calling them for the sake of an easy pun, have an image problem. This snap, stolen from Flikr thanks to Chicky Yog, shows some highly optimistic Pro-Capitalism G20 protestors. Chicky calls them, "masters of the universe." ... which strikes me as odd. These guys don't look like masters of the universe [...]
The man from Kirkleatham Museum has kindly sent me a CD of photos of my father's little knights when they were on display at Kendal's Abbott Hall Museum. Must get some work done on that. The CD player on this computer is bust so I'll have to ...
I've just finished the latest in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. I love the series, Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and all of them. I think they are very positive books ...
