Well we have all seen the demise of the precinct,sold off for peanuts. The owners in their infinite wisdom lease out the car park for 25 years. The knock on effect, the area as line after line of parking restrictions. The residents are fed up. business is crumbling around our feet.and people are moving further down [...]
{Yellow Bird} Better late than never I guess... Every May (ish) time we elect a Leader, Deputy and other officers. We usually do this in the run up to the council AGM and usually after local elections. This enables us to campaign more efficiently through out the year. As everyone will already know the new Lib Dem group on the council now has a new Line-up, if you don't here they are: Leader - Kirsten Bayes Deputy - Dasiy Benson Chair and Whip - Pete Beard Press Secretary - Warren Swaine The portfolio area's are as follows: Cllr Bayes - ...
Well it's been a busy week, what with the normal case work these meetings have thrown up lot's more. The sad thing is you sit and listen to more crimes many it's the first you have heard anything about.Vandalism house breaking ,Car crime.etc, but the stats you get tell you all's well, i ask who's wrong. [...]
{Catch It Bin It Kill It poster} The government's swine flu leaflet (download PDF here) dropped through my letter box this week, hot on the heels of news of the first (and I sincerely hope only) local case of swine flu. I was surprised at how long the advice leaflet was. Sadly the very basic design means it isn't a particularly user-friendly read. Given the importance of the information that the leaflet is meant to convey and the time and attention that goes into marketing and communications these days I expected something more arresting than slabs of text and some ...
A century after Thérèse Peltier became the first woman to fly as a passenger in an aeroplane, it has just been announced that the Red Arrows would be getting their first woman display pilot. Flt Lt Kirsty Moore is set to join for the 2010 season. All the very best Kirsty and well done the Red Arrows, they really have shown some "Éclat".
Just a thought – if what the Telegraph says is true shouldn't the member for Scunthorpe have the whip withdrawn or simply resign? Seems there's a very complicated set up with Ian Cawsey too. Double by-elections?
Last week, the High Court ruled against a Hindu man who challenged a ban on him being cremated on an open air pyre. The full judgment is now available here. The ruling shows the care and deliberation that senior judges excercise. Probably more than the legislature or government. It also shows that decisions within a European human [...]
The Daily Mail says that Michael Martin will face a no confidence next week. And the Guardian says that his attempts to prevent information about the work of MPs becoming known go even further that we realised. Note the class card being played at the end of that report by an unnamed Labour MP.
The danger of lumping all MPs together is exposed in finer detail than ever before now: Telegraph leaps on Elliot Morley for claiming £16,000's worth of Mortgage interest on a repaid mortgage. He is said to prefer to repay. I think not, somehow. There has to be a line, and there has to be consequences. If all MPs - whether they're squeaky clean, slightly dubious, flippers, moat-owners or actual out-and-out embezzeling - are treated the same then... then we experience a political moral crisis of the kind that other, wiser people, know does not necessarily end in a way that ...
From tomorrow's Telegraph:Elliot Morley claimed for a mortgage that didn't exist Former Labour minister claimed parliamentary expenses of £16,000 for a mortgage which had already been paid off.Fabian Hamilton overclaimed for mortgage while living with mother: MPs' expenses Fabian Hamilton, a Labour MP, declared his mother's London house as his main residence while over-charging the taxpayer by
Periodic reviews I have taken part in two periodic reviews since my last report, for the schools of Dentistry and Environment and Development. Both went well, and it was each panel's feeling that both schools are performing well, with some excellent practice but some improvements still to be made. Before the next meeting I will be reviewing the School of Law, which I will be happy to answer questions on. Course representatives I have finished the final set of meetings with course reps by school, where the main topics of discussion were discussing ways to pass on their knowledge to ...
Fabian Hamilton is a flipper and Elliot Morley is accused of claiming £16,000 for a non-existent mortgage.
Well, I suppose I had to write about this, everyone else is.The electorate disgust me. When confronted with the waging of aggressive war, deliberate attacks on civilians, support for brutally murderous regimes, and torture - nothing. But piss an insignificant amount of money away on dodgy expenses and there's a slim chance that the government might fall. By comparison with my disgust for my fellow citizens, that which I feel for the dirty thieves in parliament is but a shadow.And at least the MPs are being funny about it. Some of them are paying back what they stole from me ...
And so the Telegraph got round to the Lib Dems today. I think Lib Dem Voice, and particularly Alix Mortimer, did a fine job of sorting the wheat from the chaff. So what is the result? Chris Huhne - Claimed for a couple of things he probably shouldn't. Comparatively small scale. Hope he pays the money back. Lembit Opik - er.. Silly prat for trying to claim a court summons (or whatever it technically was) but very small beer. Alan Reid - Has a constituency the size of half of Europe and most of it takes longer to get to ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats held a debate today on top-up fees in an effort to persuade the Labour and Plaid Cymru One Wales Government to change its mind on the decision to abolish the tuition fee grant for Welsh students in Welsh universities. Plaid Cymru of course have a manifesto commitment to protect students against additional fees, they have reneged on that promise. The debate today was a chance for individual Plaid Cymru AMs to stand up for their principles. Alas they failed students once more as, with two notable and honourable exceptions, they supported the Labour line. Just before ...
I enjoyed their first posting but their second seems arrogant. It comes across as rather aloof with a yuppified sneering. I thought this lot were the `dynamic up n doing crowd`. So I take it they're going to offer their expertise to the Party perhaps have a special fundraising appeal for a better PPB or perhaps [...]
Channel 4's season on children in the care system is an honourable attempt to shed light on a forgotten group, even if its centrepiece "Find me a Family" is infected with some of the cliches of modern television (the money shot of someone crying, the wait for the judges' decision on whether the person will be allowed to adopt). Writing in the Independent, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown drew this moral from the series: We need fabulous, high tech new care homes with professionalism of a standard we have not had hitherto.This is the instinctive reaction of the liberal-left when they come across ...
Words of Grace: Life is like an airport
Well, I take it all back. I put my unnecessary cynicism back in its cage, and apologise to the Leader of Bury Council. Today's State of the Borough debate at the Annual Council meeting wasn't the political mud-slinging contest that I thought it might be when I wrote on here yesterday. The Leader's speech was a celebration of all that's good in Bury (and there's lots of that), and he barely mentioned political parties once. The Leader of the Lib Dems, my colleague Cllr Tim Pickstone, managed the same trick, although did point out that not all is rosy in ...
Hold on to your hats:Some of the most serious abuses of the House of Commons allowances system will be exposed in the latest stage of the Telegraph's investigation. The disclosures cover nine MPs, Labour and Conservative, and are certain to add to the growing public outrage over the lax policing of Parliamentary expenses by the Commons authorities.In one case, an MP representing a northern
All, As many of you will know by now Angela passed away on Saturday morning. The entire Town Council and all that knew her are saddened by her passing, and we will miss her energy and commitment to the Town. On a personal note, I looked up to Angela as a role model for how a councillor should be, and I hope that I will bear her example in mind both on the Council and in life. My thoughts are with her husband and family at this time. Philip
Article sent to me from the author: If you are sick of political and council-based treachery, hypocrisy and stifling propaganda then this book is just the right tonic for you. The exclusive content in this book, which is written from hard personal experience, affects every member of society in one way or another. Dirty Politics exposes the totalitarian actions of 21st century councils that are bullying the UK 's populace into blindly accepting their extensively detested and potentially harmful, fortnightly waste collection scheme. This book however highlights numerous environmental concerns which affect citizens in other places too such as America ...
1975 winners Teach-In, from the Netherlands, sang "Ding-A-Dong" - but, in my view, the Dutch language version "DingeDong" is better!
This morning - while the world talked about politicians who are just in it for the money - I spent with a room full of volunteers doing those unseen, unglamorous jobs that keep the political system going. Ten of us got together in Leigh to sort leaflets, and stuff envelopes - similar groups were gathering in other rooms around the constituency. Far from being paid for it, the people around the table had made the donations which made it possible to pay for literature. There will be more of the same tomorrow. Elsewhere a group were knocking on doors, talking ...
Above Ann Widdecombe makes a plea to the world not to make changes to the allowances system that would bock politics to people of "modest means". She signs off with special reference to Sir Michael Spicer. Below, the Telegraph sets out his "modest means". Sir Michael is the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, which is one of the most influential bodies within the Conservative Party. He also sits on the executive board of the party. Sir Michael claimed council tax for both his sizeable manor house and the cottage next door, although the properties were separated by ...
In response to my question on Monday Work and Pensions Minister Kitty Usher dismissed the concerns of landlords who are getting stung by the changes to the housing benefit rules.The changes mean almost all tenants now receive their housing benefit instead of it going direct to the private landlord. That is a good principle as it technically empowers tenants but too many are preyed on by loan sharks and other creditors leaving them vulnerable. The result is that landlords are left to carry the can and many are simply refusing to take on housing benefit clients as a result.I fear ...
Tonight's LibDem broadcast with Nick Clegg
I hope some of the Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs heard us students shouting our outrage about them, during our protest. It was a brilliant protest. Not only did we make our feelings known loudly and proudly, we also met several AMs. 1: Kirsty Williams visited us personally, to congratulate our stand, and to promise Liberal Democrat support for students "for as long as she is leader". It was a passionate, forthright speech by Kirsty which went down well. She took the time to speak to us after her speech, and she was warm and interested - like a friend, ...
A new site called Beechings Ghosts offers a "compendium of disused railways and stations in Leicestershire, mostly affected by the Beeching Axe of 1963". The photograpgh I have borrowed shows Desford station in the old Leicestershire coalfield. It is on a line that is still open for freight but lost its passenger service in 1964. There have long been plans to reopen this line and run trains from Leicester to Burton on Trent through Coalville and Ashby de la Zouch, two sizeable towns without a railway service. But at present the hopes of this seem slim.
{party-election-broadcast} I received an email from Chris Rennard a short while ago notifying me (and every other Lib Dem) of the Party Election broadcast this evening that you can watch now on You Tube .. What a wonderful opportunity this was for Nick to address the nation, respond to Norman Tebbit's urge to voters to boycott the main parties at the upcoming elections, and demonstrate that he really is "clean up Clegg". What we got was "Conversations with Nick Clegg - Part 2". The second part of a broadcast that should never have made it past part 1. What a ...
The House of Commons is an odd place. People try to pretend they don't know one another's names even when they do. There's the curious, formalised sparring by red-faced men who actually quite like each other. And the whole affair is officiated over by a middle-aged metalworker in hosiery, and sometimes a curious wig, referred to only as Mister. It's like the most surreal fetish party in the world. Now the first rule of Mister Speaker's Club is that you do not talk about Mister Speaker. MPs will go on record to criticise their opposing number's finances, living arrangements, office ...
Aside from the notable exceptions of Leanne Wood and Bethan Jenkins, Plaid Cymru failed to follow their party policy and have now allowed the introduction of Top-Up fees in Wales. Plaid's line has always been that they were against fees but could not persuade Labour. This afternoon, they didn't need to. There were enough votes to do without Labour, but they failed to vote for their own policy. This will doubtless raise many questions amongst the membership. Expect anger, expect rage, and probably expect more expulsions as a result. We shouldn't forget though, this is not about Plaid's hopeless divisions, ...
I see that Caron has attempted to give you tour of Argyll and Bute, Alan Reid's constituency (pictured left). It's geography can read a bit like a Whisky tour comprising both Islay and Jura the two bigger islands to the South, Mull the biggest island to the north plus the northern isles of Coll and Tiree, Colonsay between Islay and Mull plus little Gigha just off the Mull of Kintye and Bute at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde. Now some island life facts. You can only get to Jura after first visiting Islay and Tiree after first visiting ...
HMRC's rule is that "an employee or office holder may deduct expenses incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily in performing the its duties" (sic). Easy enough you might think (apart, that is, from the proofing error), but that is before this simple rule collides with a Parliamentary culture that is long past its sell-by date. Some, like Norman [...]
Channel 4 News are known for their cock ups with the Derek Draper MP thing and now they have made the following cock up. We all know Shane hasn't started shaving yet and is still in his nappies but he is a "Conservative Blogger" Channel 4!
....I shared an office with David Penhaligon...David was a remarkable man from whom I learned a very great deal. He loved to hide behind the bluff exterior of a simple Cornishman. But behind this facade was a most acute mind, butressed by a real genius for speaking in a way which made even complex issues understandable to ordinary people. He was a natural comic, with superb timing, as well as a
She is going to pay back the money she claimed for her third home Southampton. Credit where credit is due. Well done Ms Moran.
Surely tonight will be the night that the Telegraph finally gets round to Mr and Mrs Robinson...surely? The Belfast Telegraph (no relation) report that dear Peter and Iris get £572,000 in salaries and expenses a year. And look at this for keeping it in the family:Mr Robinson employs daughter Rebekah as office manager and private secretary, while son Gareth is his parliamentary assistant. Mrs
It is worth remembering that the Telegraph started all the expenses "revelations" with a massive front page splash (above) on Gordon Brown and his brother and their cleaning arrangements. The article was the flagship of their expenses reports.I was baffled as to who the photo next to Gordon Brown was when I saw the paper. It was Andrew Brown, his brother. I think the Telegraph should apologise to
Update: Julia Goldsworthy is to return £1005 claimed on that darned chair. Quite right too! It's an appalling amount of money to claim for a chair!Julia Goldsworthy has responded to the Telegraph report this morning here:RESPONSE TO TELEGRAPH ARTICLE12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 13th May 2009In its report today, the Daily Telegraph has focused on some claims I made under the MPs expenses scheme.
Note: I wrote this comment just before news came through that Ming is to return some money.I have commented on Ming Campbell's blog as follows:I understand that you have not profited from the flat, which is rented. I also understand that this was within the letter of the rules and you have acted honourably. But some of the items claimed are of a luxury nature in most people's language. For
Let us contrast two reported sets of figures for food costs claimed by Lib Dem MPs... Norman Baker July-Sept 2004: £287 July-Sept 2005: £307 Aug-Sept 2006: £178 Aug-Sept 2007: £157 Ming Campbell Sept-Oct 2004: £800 Aug-Nov 2005: £1000 July, Aug, Sept 2006: £1000 July-Aug 2007: £650 We-the-taxpayer already pay our MPs a salary of at least £60,000 a year, and provide them with an allowance for a second home to cook and eat in. I don't think, therefore, there is any justification for a separate allowance for food costs. But if there is, one can anyone explain why one MP ...
{a new bin by the university} While I can't resist a pun-headline, waste is an important issue. Litter bins in particular are of concern to many up and down Bathwick Hill. Over the course of the last two years, Armand and I have had to harrass the council bin department about the replacement of three bins on the hill, at the canal bridge, opposite Cleveland Walk and at the top bus stop. This month though, I have had the minor triumph of an all-new bin being installed at the very top of the hill. This is at the junction of ...
This whole site has one simple message - it's an Open letter to the Lib Dems and it's 4 words long. Do you think there's people out there that are experiencing, "Lib Dem Panic" - that horrible feeling where you want the Lib Dems to do well (I admit this isn't.. umm.. at least half the people who read this blog), and you go looking for them, and you just want to be wowed, you want to be amazed, you want something that's going to blow your socks off... and you don't find it. The polls suggest that more people ...
I've avoided posting on this subject for two reasons. Firstly I have essays to do and so I'm spending a huge amount of time pretending to do them! Secondly I didn't feel it was fair to post before my own party had had its day in the Telegraph. The first thing I will say is that the vast majority of the claims that have seen the light of day are indefensible. No matter which party you support or even if you don't support any at all, this has been a sad weak for those who are involved in any way ...
I do not agree with all of his political views by any stretch but Douglas Carswell the Conservative MP has really impressed me recently. He seems to have a genuine grasp of what is wrong with politics and is determined to do something about it. It is he who is trying to drum up support for the motion to have the hopeless Michael Martin removed as speaker. As Mark Littlewood said on 5 live earlier today, it should not fall to a back bench MP to have to do this but the establishment will not move so Douglas has stepped ...
Got home this afternoon to find the first election communications on my doormat from parties ahead of the forthcoming European elections. One of them was from UKIP (United Kingdom Idiots Party) and contained a big headline saying: "Say NO to European Union", illustrated with a picture of Winston Churchill giving a V for victory sign. That'll be the same Winston Churchill who famously said: "We must build a kind of United States of Europe," will it? Indeed, it's worth quoting several passages from Churchill's speech in Zurich in 1946 to show how wrong it is that UKIP are trying to ...
Writing on the Telegraph website, Ben Brogan notes an apparent correlation between the size of an MP's majority and the amount they're offering to pay back. Phil Hope is offering to pay back over £40,000 to defend a majority of just 1517 (given that the seat is almost certainly a lost cause, he must be tempted to keep the money). Brogan may be right, but he doesn't pursue it very far. Of course it makes sense that MPs are more likely to do the right thing if their seats are at risk. So what should be done about it? As ...
{balls-and-cooper} What will Thursday Telegraph bring us? Rumours abound that it's the dynamic duo up in the firing line. But we shall have to wait and see... Just in case they have accidently double-claimed on the odd lightbulb....I remind you of a quote from Niccolo Machiavelli (nice fellow): "He who blinded by ambition, raises himself to a position whence he cannot mount higher, must thereafter fall with the greatest loss."
Last night my Dad rang me all concerned about my career choices. I stood in the general election of 2005 and am planning to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn at the next election - whenever it comes. My Dad's concern was pretty simple: why would I want to join a club of such scoundrels, hasn't the career of politician been devalued and he was concerned that people get caught up in the maelstrom of the noise and the club-atmosphere and accept as the norm what in fact is wrong. I believe politics is a calling - ...
Learning that flagstone laying is best left to the experts at the snicket at Thwaites Brow { Current Judith as apprentice flagstoner }
The IMF has just published a report that slates Europe's response to the crisis so far. An exasperated tone lurks behind the economese. The UK managed a fiscal stimulus, but it was on VAT, not infrastructure. Germany has been obstructing all sorts of things, from quick accession to the euro for eastern member states in trouble, to raising the amount countries can ask the IMF to lend them. The EU's response to the financial crisis has been "unhelpfully diverse", as different countries try different bank bailouts with talking to each other about them. This causes all sorts of trouble: when ...
I'm quite used to Neil Craig using that word about me and my Lib Dem colleagues, but apparently from a pulpit at Kirkmuirhill Kirk in Lanark I was branded one on Sunday. Rev Ian Watson used his sermon to combine those who support Scott Rennie with the power behind the Third Reich. He said: "[Hitler] guessed correctly that the French had no stomach for a fight. If only they had, then the tragedy of a Second World War might have been avoided. "To claim that the homosexual lifestyle is worthy of a child of God; to demand that a same-sex ...
Paddy Ashdown dashed in to St Albans yesterday on the latest stage of his tour to promote his autobiography "A Fortunate Life". Given his current superstar status and his universally admired success as High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, it is worth recalling how much he was sneered at and patronised by his opponents and the media when he first became LibDem leader. Nick Clegg is being similarly under-estimated today. They were wrong about Paddy then and they are wrong about Nick today. Of course Paddy and I were fellow candidates in Conservative seats back in 1983 and have remained friends ever ...
I was amused by this story on The Scotsman website about the pressure on Michael Martin to quit as Speaker - not so much by the story itself, but the ingenious placing of an ad directly above it about Shipwrecks of Scotland!
{bag} Gosh, where to start? By plugging ourselves, methinks: this afternoon around 4.10pm Mark Littlewood will appear on Radio 5 Live discussing how the Lib Dems have fared during the expenses revelations. Yesterday Liberal Vision was mentioned in a politics.co.uk article that reckons us Lib Dems are doing pretty well, at the expense of the Tories and NuLabs (even if that was before Andrew George's sumptuous daughter appeared on the front of the Torygraph - no doubt provoking the same reaction from retired Colonels at Surrey breakfast tables as from a jaded Julian H on the Jubilee Line). In other ...
{chris-huhne.jpg} Commenting on the Policy Exchange report on the need for a crime reduction strategy, Chris Huhne said: "This report rightly lays bare the Government's abject failure to tackle crime despite more spending than any other country in Europe." Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, went on to say; "Ministers have consistently favoured political posturing on what sounds tough over what works. The result is the criminalisation of a generation of young people, prisons bursting at the seams and sky-high re-offending rates." "Professor Waller is right that we are missing easy hits which can dramatically cut crime, and the prevention of ...
As part of the Care and Scrutiny commission that I have sat on as a Councillor we have addressed a wide range of equalities issues. One flagged up during a recent meeting was the fall in this year's Stonewall audit result re. LGB Employees. Today several Councillors and officers met with Stonewall to discuss this and a variety of homophobic bullying issues. It was a fruitful meeting. We are doing good stuff and officers are working hard. But as with anything, no one's perfect and we can all learn from best practice. This was one of my last scheduled meetings ...
After the succesful campaign launch on Monday, Kirsty today unveiled the party's manifesto for the Euro elections in Wales. The manifesto contains a number of key commitments such as: Using the EU to close tax loopholes in order to fund big, permanent tax cuts for ordinary people Better co-operation across Europe in banking regulation, to ensure that we can help stop the recession next time Finish the single market to ensure that Welsh products and services can be sold across the European. The manifesto can be found at: English: Cymraeg:
Two further updates from the Telegraph, both amusing rather than alarming. Steve Webb This headline is just beyond parody. I kid you not: Steve Webb sold one flat and bought another, claiming £8,400 stamp duty What?? He SOLD a flat, what, and then BOUGHT another? Treachery! Infamy! Off with his head! Of course, he could have rented and saved us the £8,500. And under Clegg's original set of proposals for expense reform, rejected by Cameron and Brown, that would be exactly what would have happened. As it is, we'll have to make do with the no doubt vast profit he ...
What we have been arguing for with the "Pay It Back" campaign is now happening all across the political spectrum. As Constantly Furious points out today, Government Minister Phil Hope has now pledged to pay back £41,709 for claims he made that went beyond the spirit of the rules and Margaret Moran and Hazel Blears have also pledged to pay back aubstantial amounts. On top of this David Cameron has insisted that Tory MPs also do so under threat of expulsion from the party. Make no mistake, if it was not for the general public outcry and demands from the ...
{POLITICS LibDems 7} It is immediately clear why the Telegraph decided to run this story after revelations surrounding the other two parties (and ahead of any grand finale the paper may have planned). It doesn't have a huge amount of punch. Nick needs to be certain that any claim made by any Liberal Democrat MP was within both the spirit and letter of the law AND would withstand public scrutiny. Technical, minor errors should be repaid - and this process has begun. But if -after a full assessment of the facts which have been brought to light - any LibDem ...
A very subdued PMQ's as has already been noted; Brown trapped in a technocratic mentality where everything has to be decided by committee while Cameron does look increasingly prime ministerial and decisive. However, Brown did make one telling point about keeping the expenses debate in context, something that has been totally absent from this debate as the 'braying mob' mentality has increasingly taken hold. This has been shown in the fact that a number of the stories that have emerged are being contradicted by the established facts; which is a reminder every story does have two sides. We are not ...
You only have to read Andrew George's response on his website:RESPONSE TO TELEGRAPH ARTICLEThe Telegraph clearly didn't want a number of critical facts to get in the way of their story:Fact 1: We purchased nearly 1/3 of the flat ourselves and bought half of the furniture and fittings without making a claim from taxpayers' money.Fact 2: My daughter was living in a student hall of residence
Last weekend we were delighted to see that work had finished on the backyard of the South Lambeth Library to bring it into use as an outside space for library users, following a succssful campaign and lots of hard work by the Friends of the South Lambeth Library. The rennovation work was mostly funded by us as local councillors with some funding from the Friends of the South Lambeth Library. Lambeth gave £12,000 as a "Ward Purse" for various local projects and it is up to councillors to agree what it should be spent on. We agreed that part of ...
This is the way that the story ends: Not with a bang but a whimper. Today was LibDem day in the Daily Telegraph revelations about the abuse of MP expenses. Do we emerge stain-free? No we do not. But overall the scale of inappropriate expenditure seems to be an order of magnitude less than in some of the other parties. And I remain fiercely proud that none of the seven LibDem MPs who represent commuter constituencies has a second home at taxpayer expense - in marked contrast to all the Conservative and Labour MPs representing commuter constituencies in Hertfordshire. But ...
Ah, the sweet smell of puritanism in the morning. MPs expenses should be only what they need to do the job, and shouldn't be excessive. But we're in danger of moving from that to decrying any MP having any fun at all. Let's take Andrew George's use of his London flat. No-one is suggested that Mr George shouldn't have had a London flat. Like other MPs living outside London, somewhere to stay in London is important and a flat can work out cheaper (and more convenient) than a hotel. Having bought his flat, what's the problem with his daughter using ...
So David Cameron has finally found a policy position to lead on. Unfortunately it is only on expenses, something important to the public only in an outraged sense rather than a "oh my this caused the credit crunch" sense. Is this what we should expect from the next Conservative government? An elbow jerk Daily Mail-esque reaction? An outragegasm whenever something goes wrong? Why wont the Conservatives back the Independent Commission on MP's expenses? Theresa May refused to state that they would seeming to suggest they would take the results on a case by case basis. Me thinks they have something ...
Inspired by Alan Johnson's very, very bold statement that no-one, absolutely no-one would be better at being PM than Gordon Brown, I made top 10 list of 'better' prime ministers. Now for an altogether more difficult challenge - ten worse Prime Ministers. Sorry it took weeks. #10: George Lucas {top-10-lucas} The only person on earth surrounded by more Yes Men than Gordon Brown. Entirely oblivious to the sheer scale of humanitarian abuse his work constitutes, he makes Brown look 'in touch' with 'the people'. #9: Vladamir Putin {top-10-putin} Seemingly Brown's role model. Our ex-communist Prime Minister is but a pale ...
As I surveyed the first wave of coverage of the Telegraph's focus on Lib Dem MPs' expenses last night, my initial reaction was captured by the headline: "it could've been worse (and might still be)". That's still my feeling. So far as I can work out, eleven Lib Dem MPs have been identified by the Telegraph as having expenses claims to answer. Yesterday evening, there was talk of a dozen, so either the figure was exaggerated and we've seen all there is to see, or else they're holding back a couple of the worst for a follow-up tomorrow. Alix has ...
A red-faced and relatively subdued PMQs today all round. Cameron performed with some sincerity, suggesting that people would not accept paybacks in the short term and rule changes in the long term - political leadership was required to effect immediate changes to the rules. No-one doubted that the rules were inadequate. Unusually, however, I think Brown had the logical upperhand on this one. It is precisely because MPs have proven themselves not capable of keeping to the spirit of the rules that they have forgone any right to effect arbitrary changes to the expenses system. It's not populist, but it's ...
If you're looking for some quick guides on how to tell stories that inspire and persuade people or, perhaps, encourage people to vote for you, then check out the website of Anecdote. Anecdote is an Australian consultancy that "helps business leaders engage their people to be even better collaborators, leaders and change agents using the power of business narrative". The ideas and principles that they espouse are often applied in politics. Anecdote have just published a short "white paper" called "Why some leaders inspire action while others are mostly forgettable". The paper explains how and why stories are so effective ...
UK NEWS BROWN'S ELECTION MELTDOWN Wednesday May 13,2009 Have your say(13) LABOUR is on course to come fourth in next month's Euro elections, the party's senior MPs fear Well it comes as no surprise what really amazes me is when you see mp's offering to pay back money , our money. What is it well [...]
Douglas Carswell the Tory MP has tabled a Vote of No Confidence in The Speaker and this will lead to a debate taking place probably today or tomorrow about it and then a vote in Parliament. Gordon Prentice is among the people who have tabled the motion with Carswell but I have a few questions for Mr Prentice. First of all Mr Prentice, where were you when the people of Pendle expected you to speak out for the Gurkha's? Voting with your party I see? And now you are speaking out against this speaker who is one of your own ...
Private lobbying by an American pharmaceutical company saw government ministers back down from supporting British people who claim one of its failed drugs caused them heart attacks and strokes. Ivan Lewis MP, then Health a Junior Health Minister promised in parliament that the government would back their campaign against Merck, one of the world's largest drugs firms. But Whitehall documents obtained by the Guardian reveal Merck immediately put pressure on the minister and helped persuade the government to withdraw its support. Merck is refusing to compensate hundreds of Britons who say their health was damaged even though the multinational has ...
Neither Rhodri Morgan or Ieuan Wyn Jones were present for First Minister's questions yesterday, they were meeting royalty instead in Pembrokeshire, celebrating the opening of the new liquefied natural gas terminal that some Plaid Cymru Parliamentarians have opposed from the start. Instead, Finance Minister, Andrew Davies stepped into the breach in a possible rehearsal for his future leadership ambitions. Once more Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams stole the show with an impassioned plea for the government to take action on child poverty. David Williamson from the Western Mail takes up the story: The spectators above the AMs gradually drifted ...
Two more Lib Dem MPs' expense details are now in the public domain, bringing the total to ten. Nick Harvey Has a £30 subscription to Sky Sports at his second home. Pay attention, football fans, Sky Sports =/= necessary to perform the duties of an MP. Not a huge sum, but still. 2/5 Alan Reid Now, at the time of writing Alan Reid's page isn't linked from the Telegraph's main Lib Dem Expenses feed page, and to be honest I wonder if that's because they're bloody ashamed of it. They ought to be. He does not claim for a second ...
Jack Petchey's Speak Out Challenge Sutton Regional Final I had been invited to be a judge at this regional final of the Speak Out Challenge held at St Philomena's School in Carshalton. Sixteen young students from Sutton schools had qualified to take part in this regional final held in the presence of the Deputy Mayoress Anisha Callaghan. The [...]
By no means have I tired of this Morvah George business, believe you me, but for some of us a little break from Expenses-gate may be welcome, no? A minor distraction, perhaps, and so what to distract us? Oh yes! By Jove, we're still in a global economic recession. And rather than reading books and stuff, why not try that old hungover teachers' trick of dimming the lights and pretending that a historical video counts as work? Quiet please...
In the fourth in a series of looking at each of the regions (and nations) for the European Elections I today examine the North East.
http://www.andrewgeorge.org.uk/ To be honest I couldn't give a fig if a daughter/lover/friend stays over from time to time in a second home as long as the profit is given back to the Commons authorities once it's sold and that it's of a reasonable size. The time when we regulate these things to the new Labour nth [...]
Once again the Conservative PPC for Wallasey Leah Fraser has wriiten another misinformed piece on her latest blog, entitled Cameron On MP Expense Abuses. She accuses her political opponents in Wallasey (actually it was me) of criticising her for speaking out about MP expenses. What she doesn't say, is that in two previous blogs entitled [...]
The Traffic and Highways Representation Committee agreed yesterday that alleygates could be put on the alley that runs from Garfourth Close to Woolton Road. That will end a long running saga of problems there. I remember residents talking about this as far back as 2005. (comments still off - see earlier post)
I share Andrew's anger at the Telegraph's attacking of Alan Reid's claiming of expenses for his Summer Tour. Most MPs I know work very hard all year round, not just during the Parliamentary sessions. During the Summer recess in particular they are still fighting their constituents' cases and this can also involve travelling back and fore to London to meet ministers and the like. Don't therefore assume that if an MP has made a claim in the Summer that it automatically invalid. There are legitimate reasons for them to be in town. Anyway this isn't relevant to Alan's claims, which ...
I'm getting perplexed that on Lib Dem expenses day the Telegraph appear to have dug up not so much sleaze but MPs seeking advise about their expenses. Norman Baker asked before putting in a claim for a bicycle and home computer. Vince Cable also rather than seeking to gain an advantage missed out on the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) he could have claimed for a couple of years he again asked if this could be backdated. In both instances these MPs requests were turned down, but at least they had asked first rather than claim first ask questions later as ...
There's no peace for a blogger this morning. Earlier today I gave Andrew George, whose flat is sometimes used by his daughter, a stern 4/5 for piggy-wiggyness. My basis for this was that, whatever the precise ratio of usage between Andrew and his daughter, I didn't want to pay for something that was for her benefit as well as his. Andrew has just made the following statement on his website: Fact 1: We purchased nearly 1/3 of the flat ourselves and bought half of the furniture and fittings without making a claim from taxpayers' money. Fact 2: My daughter was ...
In what has been an historic and exhausting time in British politics although it seems we have `come off lightly` there still remains two huge questions: 1. What to do about Lord Rennard and Andrew George? 2. What self-imposed rules will we give ourselves REGARDLESS of the rules set down by either Kelly or the backbenchers. On one [...]
I'll return to write something later (my colleagues here on FC may also do the same) but in the mean time Lib Dem Voice has the low down and I'm sure will have some strong comments. As Alix Mortimer says, we are in the papers and not in a good way. And as people have asked - no I'm not related to Julia.
{chir-mccully.jpg} Chris McCulley will be at Chorlton Library in the evening to perform some of his wonderful works. Although Chris formerly taught in Manchester University, he is now based in Holland. (£2/£1)
With all this brouhaha over MPs expenses, many are starting to sing the praises of independents. Freed from the constraints of party whips, of being told what to think and do, independent MPs and councillors are free to represent their constituents and not their parties. Or so the argument goes. Clearly there are advantages to being under a party banner when it comes to getting elected. You have the party machine behind you, supporters who'll vote for any almost candidate with the right colour rosette (I'm one of those voters, of course, as are most political bloggers). Where voters have ...
Hat Tip to Andrew Reeves I see that Michael Beckford in complaining about Alan Reid MP for Argyll and Bute expenses for his summer tour around his constituency. Until she was recently made redundant on her return from her maternity leave my ex-fiancee used to work for the company that trained CalMac in their computer systems. She undertook her first tour of islands shortly after getting her job in 2005 and it wasn't cheap. For her to do all the CalMac bases in the west was something like £3-4000, before she claimed for petrol. Also for some of the islands ...
Sigh... "Not as corrupt as the others" say the Lib Dems. The fifty odd squeaky clean Lib Dem MPs have been profoundly let down by luxury cushions and non-payment of council tax. It's especially saddening to see Ming's name brought up - perhaps he won't be the new Speaker of the House after all. Mike Smithson will be tearing up his betting slips for that one. It's disappointing - no moral high ground here. It's just that in the pit of stench emanating from the House of Commons today, Lib Dems aren't quite as stinky. It could have been a ...
2 Big stories Look, mum, we're in the papers! And not in a good way. So far, the Lib Dems' expense revelations in the Telegraph are pretty small beer, on the whole - but we're not content with that, are we? Meanwhile, in the blue corner, David Cameron is getting tough on the same issue. What I'd have given to be a fly on the wall in the meetings he had yesterday. Ever seen a man with a moat get a bollocking? Me neither, alas. 2 Must-read blog posts The new all-singing, all-dancing Liberal Vision blog reckons it knows who ...
With the passengers of the gravy train nearly coming to about 50 the best thing the leaders of the three main political parties should do is accept that a Parliamentary lodge is needed and support the proposals made by the Conservative Councillor who created a petition on the Number 10 website. If any of the three leaders supports a Parliamentary Lodge then the people might take a liking for politicians in the coming year if not the normal activist like myself and people reading this are going to hear a lot about politicians being crooks come general election time. I ...
In an hour and a half, I'll be making my way to the preparations for the IR Cymru (Liberal Youth Wales) protest. Lots of banners, and hopefully lots of people! Every student I've spoken to in Cardiff is so angry about Plaid Cymru and Labour's decision. Especially at a time of such economic problems. I hope as many of you as possible can join us all outside the Assembly, at 12 noon, today. Thanks must go to all IR Cymru who have been working hard to get this protest ready, especially Leanne-Marie Cotter (also President of Cardiff Lib Dems!) who ...
So the Liberal Democrats have now come out and some hugh profile Lib Dems are in the scamming list. If you want to read more about the Lib Dem scandals then follow the link to the Telegraph news report. I will be adding the Liberal Democrats to The Gravy Train Passengers list.
How stupid is the Daily Telegraph?I've no issue whatsoever in MPs being attacked for wasting expenses, silly extravagance or for flipping but I do get annoyed when someone like Alan Reid MP gets attacked for claiming for his summer tour expenses.A Summer Tour for those who don't know is where the MP has a large constituency and they spend around a month visiting every community in the constituency offering an advice surgery in their local area. So I challenge Michael Beckford to come to Argyll and Bute and visit each of the far flung corners of Alans constituency and to ...
The recent stories in the papers about MPs expenses has really got my blood boiling. Here I am, working towards a dream that I have had all my life to become a politician and make a difference in this world, and those who have had the fortune to already be in the position have tarnished the name of the profession. While the Liberal Democrats seems to have come off most lightly, it's splitting hairs at this point; the whole thing in unacceptable. As a teacher, I was never destined to makes lots of money. I have no sympathy with some ...
Your starter for ten: do you know what Jo Moore was famous for? No? Well Jo Moore was the Labour spin doctor who, on 11 September 2001 (the day of the Al-Qaeda attack on the Twin Towers), said that the day was a good one for burying bad news. I know that there is no real comparison [...]
"Not in the same league," said Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight last night, of Liberal Democrat expense claims, as compared to those of the other two parties. Well, ok, as Norman Baker pointed out on the programme, no moats, no swimming pools, no house flipping and no Margaret Moranesque holiday homes. Yet. But there are still some pretty rotten apples. And it's worse for the Lib Dems, precisely because we have campaigned on this issue for so long. So, who are the Lib Dem piggy-wiggies? Well, firstly, the Telegraph has released details concerning twelve of them, so we can probably assume ...
Until I saw her flourishing that cheque on the news yesterday, I had some sympathy for Hazel Blears. Like Iain Dale, I suspected that No. 10 was encouraging the press to go after her to deflect attention from other ministers who had made embarrassing expense claims. Now I sincerely hope her career is over. As Craig Murray says: the sight of a "Public servant" who can at the drop of a hat dash off a current account cheque for over £13,000 is deeply unedifying. For more than half her constituents, that cheque was for more than a year's income after ...
Well it's definitely election time. My VERY comfy election shoes as they are referred to by the family (functional and practical but hardly the height of fashion) are comfortably broken in and clothing is starting to feel less snug than it has done since Christmas. Crisps are banished in favour of peanut butter on rice cakes to keep me going as I'm not home for regular meals (and yes I agree that they taste like cardboard at times but if you're intolerant to wheat like me you eventually learn to find them palatable!) Like most people out knocking on doors ...
Thanks to Jamie Saddler for the video. The Lib Dem Euro manifesto is on the web.
The promised improvements to the homes which have gone over the Eastlands are due to start in Gorton North in June. The Windows will be upgraded, starting on the Birch Estate, with other improvements being rolled out. I was pleased by the enthusiasm which the Eastlands Team seem to have for bringing the stock up to standard and delivering a good service. Early days and a few inevitable teething troubles, but it looks like most tenants in Gorton North will be seeing a positive result from the transfer very soon.
So the Telegraph have this morning got around to looking at Liberal Democrat MP's expenses saying that they "have made claims just as questionable as their Labour and Conservative counterparts". But as the BBC have said on BBC Breakfast none of it amounts to the kind of claims that have been seen from the other parties over recent days. First off they make no mention of second homes outwith their constituency or Westminster base. There is no accusation of flipping for financial gain. There is no moat cleaning, stable charges, swimming pools or the like. There is the dubious nature ...
{Chris Huhne displays his neatly pressed trousers} image (c) Alex Folkes/Fishnik.com and republished here under the terms of the creative commons licence on Flickr.com A small sigh of relief is audible in some Lib Dem circles as the Telegraph spotlight turns to the serried ranks of Lib Dem MPs. So far, the scale of dubious claims by our MPs is not in the same league as those of the other parties. No moats, no pools, no tennis courts, no flipping of houses. Just some rather excessive interior design and a trouser press. There has been a long standing joke in ...
Having previously provided such excellent financial advice, I was left a little confused when this month's Labour propaganda mouthpiece (Life in Salford) arrived on my doorstep. At least I received it this month, unlike in April when I had to call the Council and get them to send me a copy. Their answer? "It is available for you to download online" If I'm paying for it, then I insist on receiving a copy. Before I turned the page, I could see that there was obviously some kind of insert in between pages 2 and 3 - but I did not ...
So, the Telegraph has done its worst on LibDem MPs' expenses. Having spent a day periodically being blasted against the wall by colleagues (who normally take no interest in politics) whenever I breathed a word of explanation about MPs expenses, I am not going to minimise any of this.Sir Menzies Campbell should pay back some, I would suggest half, of the £10,000 used to refurbish his rented flat.
"Yak shaving" is a wonderful term — reckoned to have been coined by Carlin Vieri at MIT — that boils down to a "you can't get that done without doing this ... and this ... and this ... " (cf. "when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's easy to forget that the initial objective was to drain the swamp"). Well, earlier today I was thinking about my on-line diary. I wrote the first version — based on individual files for each month that were manually edited — back in 2002, and the following year converted it to use ...
OK, now the dead tree press, aka "The Daily Telegraph" has published the expenses of all the parties. Labour- Yueeeeech, Tories.. clean moat, Sir? Lib Dem- nice to see you look after your daughter, Mr. George. Now, will the Journalists on the Telegraph please publish their expenses. Oooooh Noooo- we work for a private company... "Power without responsibility, the prerogative of the harlot through the ages".
