My thanks to those who wished me luck, and the kind anonymous donor at http://www.justgiving.com/eldonfinancialplanning . It was a glorious day in Edinburgh, and whilst I found my 8.1 miles more than enough for me, I felt something of a fraud as I was running alongside people who I knew were committed to the full 26 and a bit miles. It was the usual wonderful mix of people (from the ninety eight year old downwards) running for a bewildering array of charities. It's enogh to warm the cockles of your heart. I'm not sure where it leaves those who prefer ...
Meeting with Mental Health Trust Chief Executive Cllr Gordon-Bullock and myself as chair & vice-chair of the Health & Well Being Scrutiny Committee met with Judy Wilson the new Chief Executive of the South West London & St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust and Mark Clenaghan the Service Director for Sutton & Merton. This meeting served two [...]
This weeks headline figures:2737 absolute unique visitors since 30th April8876 visitsBusiest day: Tuesday (again the biggest peak on my graph of all time! Yay!)Readers' favourite browser: still Firefox, although it's down to 57.23% ( more Google Analytics statporn under here ) Exciting stats not from Google Analytics:# of unread emails: 101# of websites requiring work: 4# of blog posts I am committed to write that I haven't written yet: 9# of logos/headers to design: 1 (for Sarah at Same Difference)# of Dreamwidth Invite Codes Available for handing out: 0# of people added to reading list this week: 1# of people ...
A friend of mine who I shall keep anonymous has recently had his blog infected with a virus, probably the server have got affected and has since had to take down his blog. After not being able to access his blog for a couple of days I dropped him an email and he told me this and it got me thinking. What is the best way to deal with a virus on a website server, switch to a blog management software provider that is online e.g. Wordpress.com or Blogger. Simple as cake and an easy way to sort out the ...
I am in the office in Whickham printing my next Focus newsletter for Sunniside. And I can see as I look from the window a beautiful red sunset over the Derwent Valley. A gloriously sunny weekend which has resulted in my back being slightly burnt - I took my shirt off for an hour yesterday whilst on the allotment. Bit of a mistake. I am waiting for Neil Bradbury, our Blaydon candidate, to arrive
Which singer from the 1960s competed for Britain in two Winter Olympics? The answer is Noel Harrison, who was part of the skiing team at Oslo in 1952 and Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) in 1956. He is best known for this song, which was used on the soundtrack of the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair in 1968. Written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand, it won the Oscar for the best original song that year. Harrison specialised in the songs of people like Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour - he had a hit in the USA with Aznavour's ...
I am advised by Dundee City Council that traffic will be prohibited on Strawberrybank (from Perth Road to approximately 50 metres south) from Wednesday (3rd June) for a maximum of 2 days. This is because of Scottish Water reinstatement works. Pedestrians will have access, as usual. If you have any queries please call the City Council on 433168.
ICM also put Liberal Democrats ahead of Labour people were asked how they'd vote if it were a General Election tomorrow: Conservatives: 40% Liberal Democrats: 25% Labour: 22%
When I logged onto Google in the morning and so the graphic above I for a second was a little confused and thought that Brown had done the right thing and had dissolved Parliament over night and we were going to have a general election. But it turns out it is actually Big Ben's 150th anniversary and on that note I would like to wish the clock that has become a centre piece of Britain a happy anniversary! So its not a dissolved Parliament yet but lets hope its soon...
An ICM poll showing voting intentions for Thursday's European Election puts Liberal Democrats above Labour with Greens, UKIP and BNP below Labour: Conservatives: 29% Liberal Democrats: 20% Labour: 17% Greens: 11% UKIP: 10% BNP: ...
I was going to post about something else today, but I got into a bit of an argument on Twitter today, and thought I'd post about that, as it's rather important for the Euro elections next week. Now, UKIP present themselves for the most part as a single-issue party – they want a referendum on leaving [...]
This lunchtime I addressed about a thousand Spanish-speaking Latin Americans at the Fusion leisure centre in Elephant and Castle in South London, alongside Jean Lambert (the current Green MEP) and a Filipino independent. Interesting how both the Tories and Labour seem to have given up on the European elections. This is the fourth hustings in a row [...]
Gordon Brown has told the BBC that he intends to introduce a legally binding code of conduct for MPs. The BBC report says: The new code of conduct would be written into the Constitutional Renewal Bill, due to be brought before Parliament later this year. It is thought likely to include minimum service commitments to constituents, with those who break it facing possible fine or even ejection from their seats.This stands things on their head. It is not the government's job to hold MPs to account. It is MPs' job to hold the government to account. Equally, if constituents believe ...
Sun 31st
20:46
Wholesale reform is the only way forward - but we Lib Dems have been saying it for decades
The recent expenses scandal highlighted by the Telegraph articles have shown how rancid the political system is.For decades as a Liberal I have watched politicians from the Labour and Tory parties talk down at us as if we were something stuck on the bottom of their shoes.What they have never understood is that we argue our position not through our own self interest, but to hand power to the
The LibDems have overtaken Labour in a set of disasterous polls for them in advance of a make or break week at the European and County elections. The LibDems polled 25% after recent successes, such as the Gurkha U turn, whilst Labour polled just 22%. It is the first time in 22 years. If the result was uniform Chris Davies would return as North west MEP, but with a new colleague in Helen Foster-Grime. Labour would just sneak two MEPs.
Yet again, a Tory MP explains that he has done nothing wrong and was just following the rules. Quite why a multi millionaire needed the tax payer to pay for a new mortgage on a property when hr was, at the same time, paying off a mortgage in full on another house seems slightly confusing to those of us who do not have a personal fortune of more than £10 million. Still, if you are David Cameron, the sh!t does not appear to stick ? Why must Andrew Mackay step down for "just following the rules" but David Cameron seems ...
Charlotte Gore thinks Liberal Conspiracy still has some way to go before it is the British answer to DailyKos.Constantly Furious has had enough of the drip-drip of the expenses scandal and writes an open letter to the Telegraph.Mark Wadsworth hearts Andy Marr.Dizzy has a mind boggling tale from the family court.And, just because I am so pleased, another mention for Douglas Carswell and his enthusiasm for electoral reform.
I have mixed feelings returning home from Hay-on-Wye. On the one hand I had a really good time in some exceptional weather and attended a number of facsinating and enjoyable events, but on the other it was a bit of a strain being cut off from the outside world for so long. No mobile signal meant no access to phone or e-mails. Getting back to several hundred e-mails and phone messages has been a bit like surfacing for air after spending too long swimming underwater. Highlight of today had to be Vince Cable, whose appearance at the Festival to promote ...
Sun 31st
20:25
Well Mr Bell says it should be someone local to stand against Hazel whats your thoughts.
Who do you think should stand? who's the publics choice, what are you looking for in your man or women. There's going to be a lot of interest in this one. and i think there may be a few surprises Watch this space
Sun 31st
20:11Thank you Mr Cleary from the valley estate for clearing up the 10 cans of paint that some fool decid...
I have not met you but i have to say it was a public spirited action from you that made it possible for the kids to use the center. I cannot understand why any one commits selfish acts of vandalism. Again it's the acts of the minority that makes it hell for the majority. [...]
Sun 31st
20:04Thank you for taking the time out to fix the play equipment at the valley community centre.
I am really unsure who thought it was a good idea to chop at the climbing frames with an axe, What was on your mind at the time it's our kids who suffer. well thanks go from myself and the kids to City Leisure for putting in right so quickly well done . [...]
Jerry Springer was born in Highgate tube station.
I encountered this preposterous pothole in Kenwood Road N6, today. I could have got my arm in further, but thought I might never see it again.
Sun 31st
19:35Harrowby Road Pavements Fixed Bins Moved and Signs in front of Charley browns moved off the pavement...
Hope thats ok for you Mrs Smith it was great to see you again, if you need us we are always around. Thank you Again to the unsung heros of the council. Every week you get the jobs but it's the officers and guys on the ground who do the real work. THANK YOU [...]
Today's opinion polls show the Liberal Democrats surging to second place over Labour. But, as you shouldn't be too excited about one day's figures, you should note that only most polls are predicting the Lib Dems as this week's big gainers - a couple suggest the United Kingdom Independence Party. Which should you pick? Unsurprisingly, I'm calling for the Lib Dems... But only on three issues. On the fourth, you should vote UKIP. Either way, it's appropriate the polls make the big fight one between the two parties with the most straightforward views on Europe: make it work, or retreat. ...
Steve Uncles, the top candidate for the English Democrats in the South East region has decided to pick an argument he feels he has a reasonable argument of winning - on the basis that his opponent died a couple of years ago. In a forum post entitled "Fun with bloggers who hate their County [sic] 'England'" he writes: You may recall the "self hating" blogger - Chris Lightfoot, who in 2004, "went off on one" just because he got a leaflet through his letter box with an England Flag on it. 18 Months ago the poor lad Committed Suicide - ...
I notice that the Government of the French Republic has described the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings as "primarily a Franco-American affair" . Once again it shows President Sarkozy in a pretty bad light. Of the 156,000 troops landed on Omaha, Utah, (American) Juno, Gold and Sword (British and Dominion, primarily Canadian) beaches 73,000 were American and 83,115 were under British command, including a contingent of 900 Free French under the command of General Leclerc. D-day itself was not, noticeably, a primarily Franco-American affair. The largest military contingent was from Britain and the Commonwealth. The Queen ...
Whilst most people head to the beach, Lib Dems across Wales and beyond are topping up their tans by delivering leaflets and knocking on doors. Normally you can spot the difference by the slightly ingrained ink stains on their hands and a limp from the miles walked. By night I've always found curry houses to be a natural habitat. The sun poses a challenge for politicos too. So many people are out enjoying the sunshine, there aren't people at home. This does raise the question, in weather like this would we be better off heading to the beach to talk ...
Today's Telegraph story about Labour MP Glenda Jackson and how she repaid £8,000 in expenses that had gone on Labour Party campaigning may seem vaguely familiar to readers of The Voice. That's because, ahem, I broke the story back at the start of September, following which a complaint went in that resulted in her having to make the repayment, as reported later that month. Hat tip: Liberal Vision, though their "breaking news" headline is perhaps a little over-keen {:-)}
Sun 31st
18:40Thank you city west for your kind offer to pay for boxing equipment for the young men on the valley ...
Well they have had some bad press but i can only offer thanks to them for their help in supplying Boxing equipment for young boxers on the valley. lets hope the project is a great success. Two local ward councillors have both got their fingers crossed.
{overflowing-bin.jpg} I reported a bin not being emptied on Brookburn Rd about a week ago and was angry that after a week it had not been rectified. Yet what I thought was an isolated case seems to be happening all over Chorlton. I get most annoyed when our Council fails to do the basics. I know they are not alone in failing to keep pace with the need to resurface roads, but we miss our own recycling targets and can't even keep the bins from overflowing now. If a street bin near you is overflowing, ring 954 9000 to report ...
The Observer coming out today and urging a vote for the Liberal Democrats will have put a spring in the step of many deliverers, canvassers and poster teams around the country, especially when combined with the news of the Telegraph ICM poll putting the Liberal Democrats in second place. In the past both the sister papers - Guardian and Observer - have toyed with urging Liberal Democrat votes, saying nice things about the party and urging tactical voting whilst falling short of the sort of clear support for Lib Dem votes that today's Observer has. Indeed, it's easy to joke ...
Sun 31st
18:03
A devastating ICM poll for today's Sunday Telegraph puts Labour in THIRD place behind the Liberal De...
All, The poll says: Conservatives 40% (down 3%) Liberal Democrats 25% (up 4%) Labour 22% (down 4%) (if there were a General Election). The Telegraph goes on to say: Nick Clegg's party has emerged relatively well from the MPs' expenses scandal. The latest poll will worry local Conservatives who have seen support slipping away over the MPs' expenses scandal in recent weeks. Regards, Philip
{brown-and-mandelson-2} Vince Cable must think that Christmas is about to come early for him. It would seem that Gordon Brown wants to make Ed Balls the new chancellor in the up-coming reshuffle. When we all finish rolling around the floor laughing, we should maybe ask the question "why have his advisors in the bunker not told him the sheer lunacy of the action"? Pick one of the following. 1. There is no one in the bunker stupid. 2. They were too scared they would be shot. 3. They did but Gordon was in the corner,hands over ears, shouting "la la ...
I find it is very easy to criticise. Unfortunately criticism has now assumed a negative overtone when to criticise can also be positive. So now we hear or read of a theatrical performance being reviewed to "critical acclaim". One such performance has been at the Rose of Kingston, where The Winslow Boy has just finished its acclaimed few weeks, before going on tour. It is well worth...
From today's Observer leading article: Nick Clegg is the most instinctively European leader at Westminster. That is currently a lonely position, but the Lib Dems have a decent record of taking minority stands that are later vindicated. On the environment, on civil liberties and on the mounting debt bubble, the Lib Dems were quietly but consistently ahead of the Westminster curve. Likewise on transparency. In 2007, they opposed the Conservative move, tacitly encouraged by Labour, to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act. The Lib Dems alone took a party line for openness. That is worth recalling as Mr ...
One of the big problems with a Euro election is that most of the campaign isn't actually about what MEPs can and should do in Europe and the domestic focus of the campaigns (from all parties) can lead people to believe that it doesn't much matter at all whether they vote or not, or who they vote for. However what happens in Europe does matter. It matters a lot. Most of the main issues facing us all today, from climate change to the economic crisis simply cannot be dealt with by one Country alone. If we want to stop employers ...
... I suspect we'd all be paying rather more attention to Canadian politics. The Liberal's 2004 federal election victory is one that should be the sort to appeal to Labour in current times: long serving Chancellor takes over as Prime Minister, becomes unpopular, faces revitalised Conservative Party - but manages to pull victory out of the hat at the last: A Liberal Prime Minister who ran against the legacy of his own party as much as against the Opposition, criticized not for the failure but for the success of his policies, facing his main opposition from a newly reconstituted Conservative ...
I am so relieved that the election campaign in the county and European elections are almost over. As much as I do love them, I am so pleased to see them over. In Lincoln, my main focus has been Lincoln West, a division that covers the city ward we currently have one councillor in - so we hope to improve on the results previous and wipe the board with Labour. In the Euros - I hope we get Bill Newton Dunn back in for the East Mids region - having Lincolnshire Lib Dems having more County Council candidates than Labour, ...
Transport for London have been in touch to let us know that they'll be doing some work on Eltham Road. The stretch affected is just outside Lee Green ward, running from the junction with Cambridge Drive up to Weigall Road. The plan is to introduce two new pedestrian refuges on this stretch of the A20. The work will involve road widening and making improvements for cyclists and other road users. The work's due to start on Thursday and the first stage will last two weeks, with work taking place between 10am and 3.30pm to try and reduce disruption. The next ...
Of course, he hasn't broken any rules. Of course, not. He took out the £350,000 mortgage - close to the maximum amount that can be claimed for - to buy a large house in Oxfordshire in August 2001, two months after winning his Witney seat in the General Election. By nominating it as his second home, he was able to claim for the mortgage interest payments under the now-infamous Commons' Additional Costs Allowance (ACA). Just four months after securing the £350,000 mortgage, Mr Cameron paid off the £75,000 loan on his London home, taken out only six years earlier. There ...
Just when we were all getting fatigued with stories of the Commoners raiding the cash box, The Sunday Times brings us fresh tales of skulduggery in "the other place". One Labour peer and one Lib Dem peer are accused of some serious fiddling of allowances. Lord Clarke of Hampstead makes some sort of a fist of it. A true Labour peer, (starting out life as a postman before climbing the trade union pole to the top) Lord Clarke does a full mea culpa in the paper. His admissions are simply toe-curling. He admits to regularly falsely claiming overnight allowances, pocketing ...
The closely-argued leader column is at
Linda Duberley is a perfect example of a non-political, independent-minded woman with great career experience outside of politics. She's been through a great deal of screening to become a Tory 'B list' candidate but has been unable to get a seat to represent as a candidate - despite working very hard on the ground. Then she saw Cameron last week calling for more non-political, independent-minded women to be Tory candidates. She threw her mug of tea at the television. Here is her story.
{bin photo} Over 8 weeks since it was installed on the Parkland Walk, the dog waste bin I mentioned in last weekend's post still hasn't been emptied. And its now 4 weeks since I first started contacting the Council to alert them of the problem. Its outrageous that Haringey Council is so slow to act. The bin is at the entrance to the Walk by the junction of Lancaster Road and Stapleton Hall Road - so hold your nose if your strolling by in this lovely weather. I'll keep hassling the Council to do their job properly. Lets hope they ...
Departing Monetary Policy Committee David Blanchflower has given an interview in which he warns of false dawns and expresses serious reservations about the economic predictions emanating from the Treasury. Blanchflower was born in the UK but now holds a Chair in Economics at Dartmouth College in the US. His scepticism about the Monetary Policy Committee's narrow focus on the Consumer Price Index has been a consistent theme in what the most independent and thoughtful member of the MPC has said about its work. That independence and scepticism chimes in with his research interests and broader vision of his academic discipline. ...
As a Liberal Democrat supporter currently residing in Warsaw, Poland it is with great interest that I have read David Cameron will be in my adopted home town tomorrow to launch with Czech and Polish partners, a new right-wing group in the EU parliament. It is well documented that Cameron pledged to withdraw the Tories from the centre-right EPP grouping but as can be seen from this weekend's Guardian this is not altogether a popular decision amongst senior Tories. The Tory party has long made itself irrelevant on European issues - but what bothers me so much is that the ...
My candidacy in Upper Gipping came about because somebody else wanted it to happen. Kathy Pollard inherited the challenge of being our Group Leader on Suffolk County Council and has worked incredibly hard to encourage us to do our best as a campaigning force. She was determined that, unlike past years, we flew the flag in every county division and, I'm delighted to say, this time we have (with one, wholly justifiable, exception). Alright, we may not be likely to win everywhere, but there is nowhere where a voter can say that they didn't have the opportunity to vote for ...
The link is to another article about injustice.
There is a lot of excitement in the Lib Dem blogosphere today about the ICM poll in the Sunday Telegraph which polled General Election boting intentions and which shows the Conservatives on 40%, Lib Dems on 25% and Labour on 22%. I urged caution about this last night and stick by that but it does give me the oppotunity to demonstrate something that is particularly relevant given the current talk of electoral reform that is now high on the political agenda. I fed the percentages into the UK Polling Report Swing Calculator and discovered the following: Yes, that's right, you ...
It's a gorgeous day here, deep in the Suffolk countryside. The sun is shining, and I have a modest sense of achievement. The remains of a now superfluous piece of furniture plus some old textiles and ancient paint tins have been taken to the civic amenity site. I've settled some bills using my internet banking facility, I've updated the Facebook page. And now I'm at a bit of a loose end. I do, admittedly, have a glass of St Peter's India Pale Ale - damned good, I must say, and brewed within 30 miles of the Valladares demesne - so ...
{glenda-jackson-c1968} Glenda Jackson has been forced to repay £8,000 in expenses that funded a report promoting the Labour Party, according to the Telegraph (who else?). The article also outlines a number of previous cases in which Jackson has merged parliamentary expenses with party business. 'In March 2006 she claimed £7,500 in office expenses from the taxpayer to pay her local party for the "provision of constituency services during 2006". The payment was made to Hampstead and Kilburn Labour Party. ' This continued in following years and payments were also made to a Labour party product entitled: "Computing for Labour" Imagine ...
Sun 31st
13:53
As Lib Dems Surge To Second Place, Polls and Papers Say - Vote Lib Dem To Really Hurt Gordon Brown
This morning's ICM poll puts Labour in third place for both the General and European Elections, beaten by the Liberal Democrats, for the first time in two decades. That underlines why the Lib Dems are the best choice on Thursday, whether you're voting to make the European Union work better or just to hit the Labour Government where it hurts. The negative and the positive cases are clear in today's newspapers: The Sunday Telegraph calls the Lib Dem surge "the worst possible news" for Gordon Brown; The Observer calls for a Liberal Democrat vote as the best party on Europe. ...
{Three Days of the Condor DVD } The 1970s, especially post-Watergate, saw a series of high quality US thrillers that mixed politics, paranoia and a handful of good people standing up to secret plotters. One of my favourites of the genre is based on the novel Six Days of the Condor. The reason? Well apart from the film staring Robert Redford as someone who spends lots of time reading books, using computers, spotting odd details, sporting at times a somewhat eccentric hairstyle and not owning an umbrella* - there is also the little matter of the film's title. As ever ...
I have offerred to help Iain Dale out with his election coverage on Sunday 7th June. He has asked for volunteers from different parts of the country to ask as correspondents for his Play Radio UK shows on Friday 5th from 9:00am - 4:00pm and Sunday 7th from 6pm - midnight. I will report from Bracknell on the Sunday evening for the show. If you are a blogger or just want to get involved, I believe Iain is still looking for volunteers so go to the post above on his blog and see how you can. I have also put ...
We tend not to be too poll-obsessed here at LDV - of course we look at them, as do all other politico-geeks, but viewed in isolation no one poll will tell you very much beyond what you want to read into it. (And how true does that sentence read after the contrasting results in successive days from Populus and ICM, the former showing the Lib Dems as laggards, the latter as the real opposition.) Looked at over a reasonable time-span and, if there are enough polls, you can see some trends. Here, in chronological order, are the results of the ...
I have decided that I am no longer going to be grateful for small mercies. It is a small mercy that Andrew Rawnsley has said very nice things about us in the Observer today. He says the LibDems alone are truly serious about electoral reform. He skewers Cameron for his non-credentials on the issue. He excoriates Brown for his puny record on constitutional reform and his opposition to voting reform. He says quite correctly that the Liberal Democrats are the only party that has been consistently in favour of transparency about expenses. (How David Cameron must wish for a bit ...
Both yesterday and today the Telegraph has reported that Gordon Brown is thinking of asking Liberal Democrats, including Vince Cable, to join the government in a major post-European elections reshuffle. Vince's response when asked about the story on TV this morning was very robust and clear: "I'm part of the Liberal Democrat team. We're fighting to maximise our number of votes and seats in upcoming election," he said. "I've no interest whatever in being co-opted by a Labour government that has become, quite frankly, discredited".
When a Conservative MP and trade unions agree on something then you know something must be up. However, that is exactly what has happened today; Douglas Carswell has made guarded noises suggesting he might well be open to the prospect of supporting electoral reform. Kudos to him for being the most prominent Conservative voice taking this stance. [...]
{god_two} "To be honest, what I've seen offends my Presbyterian conscience." So allegedly said Gordo to Mr Marr this morning. Good Lord. I don't even know where to start; and being overcome with pollen allergy, I won't try. Except to say we all know what people really mean when they qualify their words with "To be honest." Anyone see the full interview? Oh and... ... today's Torygraph story about Labour MP and Socialist Campaign Group member Frank Cook expecting the taxpayer to cover a £5 "donation" he made to a House of God fund reminds me of an anecdote Iheard ...
A few days ago, James Graham eloquently made the case against the bastard electoral system AV+. All of the pain, none of the gain. My conclusion was very similar. Some compromises are good. AV+ is a bad compromise, pleasing no-one. But if we're to make progress, we have to come up with something better. It's perfectly OK to support STV and say loud and clear that it's the best system for our needs. Next, though, we need a direction to go in when negotiations start. James suggested a Citizens Convention to take the decision out of the hands of the ...
I went to the Norwich Theatre Royal last night to see the incredible Derren Brown in his latest tour titled "Enigma". I can only say this word is the perfect description for a man who blends 19th century spiritualism with 21st century use of ICT in order to create a show that leaves you speechless in awe at what he achieves so effortlessly on stage. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Derren Brown is his own willingness to tell people he is neither a mind reader or a spiritualist and that he, like those who claim to have such powers, ...
Sunny Hundal, over at my favourite blog, Liberal Conspiracy, has always given the impression of wanting to be Britain's answer to Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, the founder of DailyKos - the leader of an online grassroots of progressive political activists. Not quite there yet though, it seems. Unfortunately for Sunny, Markos' success came from running the leading anti-Government blog whilst at the same time being equally critical of the DNC and the sorts of candidates they were selecting (like Hilary Clinton with dubious records on Iraq) and wanting to get fresh faced people like Obama selected instead (with good track records ...
Lots of people I meet in my day-to-day casework still aren't sure of the role or powers of a local councillor, so I've decided to add a little bit of information about the kind of casework I regularly deal with. I've added a casework tag, which will cover only local casework (i.e. it won't include [...]
The last week has been an exceptionally busy one for me. Constituents have been contacting us in their droves about issues as diverse as parking, rats, problem alleyways and streetcleaning. I also had a number of Council meetings. I kicked off another year as Chair of the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel with a meeting with officers and members to plan our July meeting. The plan is to have a strong housing focus with a number of topical items including an update on the impact of the credit crunch on housing in Reading and an update on work to tackle the ...
My favourite Conservative MP Douglas Carswell may just have cemented his place in my political heart for good with his latest blog post "Electoral reform - why I'm beginning to change my mind". Here are a couple of snippets: How best to ensure our MPs face proper competition?Part of the answer is to hold open primaries and allow a recall mechanism. Since publishing Direct Democracy; an agenda for a new model party, and then making the case on Newsnight and Radio 4 the other week, I suddenly find everyone is talking about primaries and recall. Yet perhaps the surest way ...
Never known to use one hyperbole when three are available, the Sunday Sun today has a deserved pop at Alan "Six Jobs" Milburn, variously describing him as a "top dog", "big beast" and "bigwig". As I blogged recently, the Sunday Sun confirms that Six Jobs has "made hundreds of thousands from private firms".It also lists the huge amount of time he spends abroad on activities unconnected with his
This weeks post is a simple plea to vote in the upcoming European Elections on Thursday June 4th. The MP Expenses scandal has been terrible for trust in politicians, but sending fringe party MEPs to the European Parliament as a protest vote is not the way to punish the main parties. Firstly, it undermines our position in Europe. As we keep hearing a large number of our laws are made there, the fringe MEP are so badly regarded in Brussels and Strasbourg that other parties refuse to work with them. You are sending a clear message home but a silent ...
I have just finished watching Gordon Brown on Andrew Marr's show. Anyone who followed me on Twitter will have seen how frustrated and annoyed I got as the interview went on. As Iain Dale points out, he didn't answer any of the questions however Iain seems to think it was an impressive performance and I can see what he means from a technical politician perspective (i.e. Marr could not really lay a glove on him) but the overall impression Brown gave off was woeful in my opinion. At one point he even said about MPs expenses "It doesn't matter how ...
Nick Clegg is the most instinctively European leader at Westminster. That is currently a lonely position, but the Lib Dems have a decent record of taking minority stands that are later vindicated. On the environment, on civil liberties and on the mounting debt bubble, the Lib Dems were quietly but consistently ahead of the Westminster curve. Likewise on transparency. In 2007, they opposed the Conservative move, tacitly encouraged by Labour, to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act. The Lib Dems alone took a party line for openness... While MPs from all parties are tainted, the parties themselves are ...
A long interview with the PM on Sunday AM. He's looking and sounding more and more like Pa Broon in Private Eye's "The Broons". At the start he did seem honest and genuine about expenses. But then, when it got onto constitutional reform the old tribal shutters came down. When Andrew Marr talked about constitutional reforms, Pa Broon had two main deflectory tactics: 1. Yes, we need to have a debate about that. 2. We'll have a constitutional renewal bill in the autumn. But hang on. You've had twelve years to democratise the House of Lords and have a referendum ...
Well, why not? Dear Andrew Rawnsley: ...If you want to maximise the chances of securing serious constitutional reform, then the party to vote for is the Lib Dems. ...David Cameron is timid when it comes to reform in Britain. He sees the objection to privileging whoever is prime minister with the ability to try to fix the race by calling an election at any time of his or her choosing. He says he will "seriously consider" introducing the fixed-term parliament. Yes, I am sure he would think about that for all of a sub-nanosecond after he had stepped into Number ...
Nick Clegg has launched a campaign to 'take back power' from MPs. It is all very admirable, with a call for parliamentarians to miss their summer holiday and sort the problem out. The odd thing about it is the design of website. It looks like something an anarchist would do.
There seems to be quite a push for electoral reform across the whole of progressive politics at the moment. It's not something that's new as most of the people involved have been committed to fair votes forever and a day, but the cause has been revitalised as people look for a solution to the mess politics currently finds itself in. Now a group comprising musicians, journalists and politicians from all parties, from the King of the Twitterverse Stephen Fry to Martin Bell to Brian Eno, have signed up to a campaign for a referendum on PR. It's quite non specific ...
Charlotte Green's dulcet tones really cheered me up this morning, as I was reluctantly dragged from the arms of Morpheus. The 9am news bulletin on radio 4 went like this:The Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg says Chancellor Darling should resignDavid Cameron says he is willing to look at the Liberal Democrat idea of recall electionsLabour are third behind the Lib Dems in a general election voting intention poll for the first time in eleventy billion years... and then the first item on BH was a nice long interview with Nick Clegg in which there was much talk about Vince's forensic ...
The link is to a story in the ST about mental capacity and the family courts.
The newspapers are rife with speculation this weekend over what the Prime Minister is going to do after 4 June. According to the Times he will reshuffle the Cabinet on Friday. This would be a smart move. It would mean he isn't waiting for the European election results, which come out on Sunday in the UK. If he waits for the results and they are bad, he increases the chances that he will be challenged for the leadership of the Labour party. Here are some of his options for that reshuffle. They are based on the assumption that Brown must ...
Window posters have a key role to play in many winning Liberal Democrat election campaigns because the more likely people think we are to win, the most likely they are to vote for us. Seeing lots of their neighbours displaying posters helps raise that credibility. The online equivalent is to change your Facebook profile photo, Twitter avatar, instant messaging picture (and so on, depending on which services you use). There's a graphic below you can use. Just save it to your computer and then use it to change your profile picture / avatar / icon. You may have seen it ...
From a posh Marquee in the middle of Longannet Power Station the Carbon Capture Mobile Test Unit was officially launched on Friday.The Unit will show what could be done to reduce carbon emissions from our coal fired power stations which can be extremely damaging to the environment.It's the first time the technology has been tested on a coal fired power station in Europe.With easy access to the North Sea Oil Fields and a huge aquifer, Longannet is ideally sited. And as the station is the third biggest in Europe there would be plenty bang for the buck - the reduction ...
From today's leader: Nick Clegg is the most instinctively European leader at Westminster. That is currently a lonely position, but the Lib Dems have a decent record of taking minority stands that are later vindicated. On the environment, on civil liberties and on the mounting debt bubble, the Lib Dems were quietly but consistently ahead of the Westminster curve. Likewise on transparency. In 2007, they opposed the Conservative move, tacitly encouraged by Labour, to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act. The Lib Dems alone took a party line for openness... While MPs from all parties are tainted, the ...
I've had dealings with that Frank Cook, Labour MP for Stockton North, (aka Mr Grumpy) before. It breaks my heart to hear he has been humiliated for claiming back a £5 church donation. He's such a nice, friendly chap. During the 2005 General Election, when I was Lib Dem candidate in Stockton South, I was asked by the Principal of the Further Education College in Frank's Constituency if I would
For the period of May 2008 to April 2009, according to councils internal monitoring system the top 11 (you'll see why {;)} all a bit spinal tap I'm afraid) hardest working councillors are as follows: BENSON, Daisy Lib Dem 228 PAGE, Tony (Deputy Leader) Labour 204 ORTON, Mike Labour 148 EPPS, Gareth Lib Dem 143 GOODALL, Glenn Lib Dem 127 BAYES, Kirsten Lib Dem 108 LOVELOCK, Jo (Leader) Labour 94 STEELE, Tom Conservative 87 RALPH, Mark Conservative 85 BALLSDON, Isobel Conservative 80 SWAINE, Warren Lib Dem 77 Cumulative results per Group for the top 11: {Data} These results have already ...
There's this funny little man (I say man, I mean cretin) from the BNP who continually fills my blog's spam folder with his comments under a wide variety of pseudonyms. So far they've all been too inane or pathetic to publish. His latest wheeze is to say that Winston Churchill would find his natural home [...]
Haringey is consulting on an extension to the Highgate station controlled parking zone (CPZ) into the Kenwood area. If you live in any of the streets affected, you should receive a consultation form through the door, but it's on the council's website here. Some streets immediately to the west of the current zone have experienced parking misery since the scheme was extended a couple of years ago. Here's our recent press release on the issue. Highgate residents to have their say on parking controls - Liberal Democrats welcome consultation.Highgate's Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed long awaited moves to consult local ...
Someone once told me people are easily lead true-or false. My problem is i like to feel the person leading as a vision for the future, is willing to listen and take ideas on board, hate the feeling that someone might feel like he or she is a mini dictator.I think the worse part of being in [...]
If you read nothing else today, look at Andrew Rawnsley's analysis of the respective parties' commitment to proper constitutional reform. Ok, so he says that the Lib Dems are the only party with an authentic commitment to real electoral reform, but, let's face it, that ain't news. What's good is the way in which he dissects Cameron's phoney, populist and pretty much meaningless proposals and shows them up for the con trick they really are. My favourite quote in the whole article is: "As for transparency and accountability, we still do not know whether Michael Ashcroft, the deputy chairman and ...
Welcome to the Sunday outing for our Daily View. As it's a Sunday, today's comes with a special examination paper supplement. If you spot anything for future posts, do let us know on voice - voice.hat.libdemvoice.org.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one). 2 Big Stories Opinion polls It's been a tale of two polls: a disappointing Populus poll on Saturday followed by a spectacularly good ICM poll in today's Sunday Telegraph, putting the Liberal Democrats in second place in both general election and European election voting intentions: The ...
Almost time to go home. I wonder how many readers I have lost with these postings. Just four events today, A.C. Grayling arguing for a vigorous defence of our civil liberties, Richard Dearlove, who was head of the Secret Intelligence Service known as 'C' from 1999 to 2004, Vince Cable talking about his book,'The Storm' and finally Antonio Frasier marking the 40th anniversary of her biography of Mary, Queen of Scots. What a great weekend. Back to work tomorrow, in fact I expect I will be catching up on my e-mails as soon as I get home.
The Turkish Supplementary School organised a loud and impressive demonstration outside Lewisham Town Hall yesterday to demand more support from the Council. The school, which has over 200 students, plays a vital role in supporting the local Turkish community; young and old. As an entirely voluntary organisation they feel that the Council should cover the cost of the space they need to hire every time the school meets. Ultimately they would like a building of their own. We're committed to working with the school to find the best solution for its future. Pete, Dan & Cathy
Some fellow F1 obsessives in the Twitterverse have set up a website which is part blog, part discussion forum where we can indulge in our favourite passion. It's called Diffuse F1 and is shaping up to be quite fun. You are warmly invited to come over and play if you're an F1 fan, and you can even read the article wot I wrote about how there is still much drama to be had off the track. We may yet see a mass walk-out from the sport.... LibDig This!
Hard question to answer? i could never figure it out. All the main parties put out reams of policy documents like a hook trying to reel you in. But at the end of the day most never appear, it's sad all the broken promises and do half these people ever get off their back sides and ever [...]
OK, have had tea. Let the day begin. # Certif arrived from FSB, with comical covering letter: "Now, as a member, high-handed gvt officials will be too scared to bully you'. ROFL. # Sniffing an upset in Britain's Got Talent. Suspect Susan Boyle might have peaked too early and Stavros Flatley might snatch an surprise win. # Tortoises, please note, regulate their temperature by seeking microclimates. Today, one of ours dug up the strawberry patch to find shade. # Oof. More leaflets done. Back getting progressively worse. No more until Monday, though. Roll on the election. # It appears our ...
It's just an opinion poll. A lot of the Lib Dem blogosphere is cock-a-hoop at the Lib Dems being ahead of Labour in an opinion poll for the first time in years. I'm going to inject a note of caution and say that it looks like a rogue to me. Also, other polls have been all over the place in the last few weeks - some showing us fourth behind UKIP - so I wonder to what extent any poll can really be trusted in the current climate. But if this poll is confirmed by others in weeks to come, ...
Lib Dem Voice doesn't do polls. But if it did, we would draw readers' attention to two rather different recent surveys of opinion. On Friday, Populus suggested a surge for UKIP — who would relegate Labour to third place and leave the Lib Dems fighting it out with the Green party for fourth place. Sunday's papers will bring a new ICM poll putting us at 25% at Westminster and 20% in the European elections - in both cases relegating Labour to third place in the popular vote. Are they both outliers? Political Betting's sage Mike Smithson offers a possible explanation ...
