{griffin} Today, a democratically elected politician - albeit one with utterly obnoxious views - was denied his freedom of speech by a flash mob of Unite Against Fascism activists. BNP leader Nick Griffin had called a press conference and within two minutes it was disrupted. Griffin and his supporters were pelted by eggs. UAF has an extensive list of Parliamentary supporters. The Tory leader appears on that list. He must demand his name is removed forthwith. An explanation on how on Earth it got there in the first place would be appreciated too. And the LibDems should ensure that the ...
Just a quickie really. There is a lot of confusion in the non-wonk world about "PR". Of course there are two meanings for the "P" in "PR": "Preferential", in which candidates can be ranked and which tend to ensure that the one least out of favour with the most electors actually gets elected, which in itself has some good points - very few UK MPs and English & Welsh Councillors can claim to have the confidence of at least half their electors and this would give them that; and "Proportional", in which the aggregate votes across a number of candidates ...
The news from the Dairy Farmers of Great Britain base in Blaydon is grim and a worrying development. The organisation went into recievership last week, with 260 workers jobs at risk. The company puts the reasons for its problems on the decline in world milk prices and also because of the loss of the Co-op contract. DFOGB is a co-operative organisation and much of it was of course the Co-op dairy originally. It is a great shame that the Co-op has shown no support for fellow co-op movement members as they move to being ultra commercial in their mentality. It ...
Tue 9th
23:12
Question to the readers 2, Do you feel the condition of the roads should take priority in the budget...
Many of our Roads and Pavements are falling apart at the seems, who's to blame? should more have been spent to maintain them.We discuss Transport as a key issue but we have one of the poorest info-structure systems in the country. Have the planners failed. Are we in a situation where all roads will lead to [...]
The expected announcement tomorrow by Gordon Brown that there will be a look at electoral reform is another sign that he just doesn't have a clue about what he's doing. For a start, the issue's only going to be looked at by his 'Democratic Renewal Committee', an Orwellian sounding body which is just a fancy name for a ministerial committee. Does Brown not understand the anger there is about the failures of our political system? Does he really believe that just having the issue looked at by a group of his hand-picked cronies is the way forward, rather than giving ...
Yesterday, 8th June 2009, was the two hundredth anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine, corset-maker, pamphleteer, father of the American Revolution and member of the revolutionary National Convention of France. Despite all his achievements, six mourners attended his funeral, and his final resting place is unknown, having been disinterred by William Cobbett with the intention of giving him tomb in Britain, but the bones were lost when Cobbett died. But as so often, Paine speaks across those two centuries as clear as the day he wrote. Of particular interest today, at a time when our government, parliament and constitution ...
The "but" is usually followed by an excuse for voting for the BNP, like "... I think we should get out of Europe" or "... the UK should restrict immigration". Neither is sufficient reason to vote BNP. Although I don't agree with either of those policies, nevertheless they are perfectly legitimate political positions to take. Both are supported by many Euro-sceptic...
Alternative Vote has weaknesses. It is not proportional representation. It does not guarantee that the composition of Parliament will perfectly reflect the range of public opinion. But in the absence of a better system being achievable until we win a General Election, I strongly believe that we should support AV now. It is more democratic than the [...]
Rumour has it Gordon Brown is going to make an announcement on electoral reform tomorrow.Rumour also has it that Labour want to plump for AV.Let us get one thing straight - the prime issue is NOT to be fairer on the parties, it is to be fairer for the people!Voters need to be able to be able to cast their votes to choose between CANDIDATES not PARTIES. The system is bust, Gordon musn't bring a
There were 2 Planning site visits this afternoon and both were described thus. I make no comment here about how they fit with Stockton's planning policies but both were certainly significant applications. First we went to Yarm School to see how they propose to improve their facilities having been refused permission last year for a greenfield site. The present application has a very innovative
Seeing as there has been so much discussion on Twitter and in the blogs tonight about the floated proposals from the government for electoral reform, I thought I'd make tonight's OR a special about that:Costigan Quist thinks the lack of proportionality with AV and a timetable will make this yet another piece of Brown fudge.Andy Hinton thinks that senior Lib Dems need to get a line on our view of AV fast! I can give them one right now!Jennie Rigg pleads to Cthulhu for STV and asks why can't we have it. Amen.Iain Dale thinks the move is an attempt ...
The Prime Minister appears to be coming behind electoral reform but has not been specific about what system might be proposed. The Conservative Party say "the Prime Minister is trying to change the rules because he thinks he will lose." Perhaps he does, but that doesn't mean that democratic reform is a bad thing. Right action for the wrong [...]
A little searching inspired by my visit to Brixworth has revealed the fact that at the age of 46 the former England fast bowler Devon Malcolm opens the bowling for the village's side. Hitherto, Brixworth's claim to cricketing fame was as the childhood home of the Sussex and England leg spinner Ian Salisbury.
If the BBC reports are correct, we'll see a typically worthless and indecisive fudge from Gordon Brown on electoral reform tomorrow. "BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the prime minister's statement will not endorse a change of voting system nor any particular system but it will call for a debate on whether the electoral system should be changed and which new system could be adopted. It will not set out a timetable for any change. Our correspondent said Mr Brown chaired a meeting of the new Democratic Renewal Council - a group of ministers - which agreed to consider moving ...
The Northwest had 3 areas in the top 30 charts – at no 27 was Burnley – yes you heard it right BURNLEY! Number 12 was Stockport and at No 1 – cue Alan Freeman's music (not 'arf) was South Lakelands! The fact that these are the top 3 NW targets means we're doing something right! Now [...]
Some debate has been going on in the 'Twitterverse' about todays pelting of Nick Griffin with eggs. On one level you have to say yes of course, Nick Griffin is a repellent person with repellent politics but when you step back for a second you realise what a bad move this stunt actually is. The notion [...]
Well Mr Griffin will you talk to a liberal democrat. A person who believes in equality, freedom of choice,Anti war,democratic principles, and freedom of speech.I offer you a forum to tell your voters what you plan for the future. Are you going to move into the area, will the added income fund your end goals.A white [...]
It was a good county campaign this year. Of course, you never do as well as you hope, but we made a lot of gains four years ago, so holding our own in conservative Cambridgeshire on the same day as the Euro's was as good as it's going to get. Kept my printer very busy with lots of glossy colour leaflets, FOCI and Election Addresses. Meanwhile, I've never used my Riso Printers less. I'm using my large laser more and one of my members very kindly brought me a large colour laser printer which is allowing me to produce colour ...
When i set up this blog i was hoping to attract views from all areas of the political spectrum, i think today i have been impressed with the content,and the people taking the time to write in. It's not many new blogs have the the Leader of the council, prospective independent and conservative MPs Labour activist,and [...]
I was at the Swinton Community Committee this evening - a body that includes nine councillors and representatives from various community groups and covers the three wards of Swinton South, Swinton North and Pendlebury. The meeting lasted an hour and three quarters and covered: An open forum for questions from anyone who attended (the meetings are public). [...]
Liberal Democrat Voice has posted a list of the best and worst Lib Dem performances in the European elections. It is extracted from a list on the Guardian website that gives the figures by local authority. Congratulations to Oadby & Wigston Lib Dems, at the other end of the Harborough constituency, for being in the 13th place in the list of strong performers.
I've just watched Danny Alexander on BBC News, clearly stonewalling because he didn't have a clear yes or no to give to the question of whether we would be in favour of AV (in the absence of STV, obviously). If any more of our representatives are on news programmes tonight, can the party please provide them with a yes or a no on this question? I really almost don't care what the answer is, but we look absolutely pathetic if we don't know what we are thinking on one of our hobby horse subjects.
Maybe it's because I have been away for a couple of days and am off the pace, but I have not seen this story widely covered. From the Hounslow Chronicle: Twickenham MP Vincent Cable was recovering at home this week after being rushed to hospital in Westminster for emergency surgery.Dr Cable, 66, who is also deputy leader of the Lib Dems, collapsed on June 3 and was taken to St Thomas' Hospital with suspected food poisoning, which turned out to be appendicitis. We wish Vince Cable a swift recovery. The first deck of the headline on the Daily Mirror report ...
Gordon Brown is apparently going to announce proposals to change the electoral system at Westminster tomorrow to - wait for it - the Alternative Vote system. Not even AV+ as advocated by Alan Johnson recently (and which sparked a lot of debate in the Lib Dem blogosphere) but just plain old AV. What a surprise! After all his talk of promising to reform the system and listen to people he has plumped for a system that can actually be less proportional than First Past the Post. I am doubtful whether a change to AV is even worth the Lib Dems ...
No politician that I can remember has ever held a press conference on St Stephen's Green (I'll be happy to stand corrected if anyone can think of a previous instance). It's a place for interviews. Press conferences are held indoors. Virtually always. So it is seems to me pretty darned obvious that Nick Griffin (who has been followed by UAF protesters at every press meet he's had during the Euro election campaign) planned an unusual open press conference on St Stephens Green specifically because he wanted to be interrupted by UAF protesters so it would make the news. These UAF ...
When I wrote my last post about Labour's uneasy truce, I hadn't watched last night's Newsnight Scotland which an interview with Glasgow South Labour MP Tom Harris who as I said earlier was one of the few to tell Gordon to his face what many of the desk thumpers were no doubt thinking - that he should go and go now. He had decided to speak out earlier that afternoon, presumably as a result of the wake up call of the SNP being ahead on his patch. In his interview, which you can watch yourself on iPlayer, Tom Harris said ...
Awww, poor little Fuhrer, did the bad man throw an egg at you?There there, stop crying, run to mummy and she'll kiss it better.
Brown looks to have caved, although predictably he's going for "an AV system" - doesn't say whether it's normal AV or the execrable Westminster Fudge that is AV+ - and not STV. Oh Cthulhu, why can't we just have STV? Please? ION, hairdye is setting and I think I have a hole in my dying marigolds. It's in between my middle and ring finger on my right hand, and when I do the Vulcan salute I look like I am bleeding Vulcan blood >:D
There is an excellent post from Cabalamat on Amused Cynicism today which argues that the First Past the Post electoral system is now dead and it needs to be buried. It uses data from Political Betting to show how the European vote has drifted more and more towards the smaller parties in the last 50 years and that people are getting more and more used to and comfortable with this level of pluralism. The conclusion that he comes to however is interesting and very controversial. He thinks that the minor parties (Lib Dems, UKIP, Greens) should all come together and ...
Dear Sir, This is just a quick note, hopefully, to say thank you to everybody who voted for me last Thursday. In so doing, I also want to thank everybody who turned out to vote even if it wasn't to vote for me. There was a period with all the immoral behaviour of MPs at Westminster [...]
It is almost invariably bad luck to talk about green shoots. But there are some indications that the excoriation that Darling received in April (even from The Economist) for his growth projections may not have been all that deserved. Housing markets are stabilizing (at low volumes) and interest in property is picking up. The FTSE is about 800 points clear of its low, though still about 1000 below where it was last year. Yields on longer-dated bonds have rebounded, alarming some conservatives who think this proves the wrongness of fiscal activism. Perhaps what David Miles said at the IFS Green ...
I know Gordon Brown and the Labour Party have the Midas touch at the moment {:-)} but I have a horrible feeling they might screw this up.
Every year around the country dozens of events are held to celebrate lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual people. From huge parades in Manchester and London to the smaller events in Swindon and Stoke, the Liberal Democrats should be there. Our commitment to equality goes back decades. The Liberals fought two general elections with gay rights policies in the manifesto before the Sexual Offences Act 1967, and we have continued to make LGBT equality a manifesto commitment. Back in the 80s and 90s the Lib Dems set the progressive agenda on equality, advocating an equal age of consent and opposing Section ...
Pelting the BNP Leader Nick Griffin with eggs is not the way forward. It just makes him look like the victim of an angry mob and will elicit sympathy for him. Far better to engage them in debate and expose their policies for what they really are, hate filled, incoherent and nonsensical. There has been a good debate on this going on on Charlotte's blog here today.
This is a deeply offensive advertisement which ludicrously reinforces unnecessary and outmoded stereotypes. I apologise profusely for the fact that I laughed my head off at it. There's another one here:
Lord Mandelson gave his first speech as Secretary of State for BIS rather than BERR today following the second re-branding of the department in less than two years (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to Business, Innovation and Skills). Two things to note: 1. The comma is missing from the logo despite the shift costing a total of £70 million according to one of my sources. 2. Despite the fact that Mandelson's speech today was on how the new department would "put science at centre of vision of Britain's future prosperity," I hear BIS failed to consult either the Chief Scientific ...
Thursday Night is Liberal Drinks West Yorkshire (invite yourself on Facebook or Flock Together - or just turn up like {[info] - personal} burkesworks usually does ;)) in which we will drink liberally and plot to take over the world, and then this weekend is the 8th FuffWoo, in which geeks from all over everywhere will descend on Bradford to watch cheesy horror and sci-fi in our marvellous National Media Museum (invite yourself on Facebook or buy tickets). The films on offer include: Flash Gordonthe Call of CthulhuThe Satanic Rites of Draculaa midnight screening of Shaun of the Deada 70mm ...
Last week's election was a strange one in Wales. Certainly the strangest one that I have ever experienced. The outcome was no less strange than the campaign. The Tories topping the poll, a country that has relied on the benefits of the EU for ten years electing an MEP who wants full withdrawal, a Labour vote obliterating. For a whole generation, this was the most exciting election they have ever seen. So now a couple of days have passed, I thought it was time to make an assessment of what the results mean for the main parties, and for the ...
As m'LDV clleague Alex has just mentioned, the Guardian has kindly uploaded a spreadsheet listing all the council results from the European elections - allowing us to sort the results whichever way we wish. So listed below are the best - and worst - Lib Dem European election results. There are 41 areas which we're defining as the best-performing - ie, the Lib Dem vote exceeded 20%. As you might expect, a number of familiar names crop up, pleasingly a mixture of held and target seats. (NB: council results do not necessarily match Westminster constituencies, so careful in extrapolating too ...
It's nearly tea time and for the first time in ages, nobody seems to have resigned from the Government, so I guess for Gordon Brown this will have been a good day. After the "endorsement" of the Parliamentary Labour Party last night, he met with the other middle aged (mainly) men in suits with whom he's running the country, and, also with his Orwellian Democratic Renewal Council. No doubt we will soon hear what "reforms" we are allowed to have. The Parliamentary Labour Party last night was, bar a few honourable exceptions, falling over itself to show how loyal it ...
For my own personal amusement, I decided to feed the Guardian's statistics on the EU election votes into a spreadsheet and pull out some graphs. The fuchsia line of best fit is of my own addition. Using the data, I also compared Conservative to BNP, Labour to BNP, UKIP to BNP and Greens to BNP: Con vs BNP - weak negative correlation Lab vs BNP - no correlation UKIP vs BNP - strong positive correlation (We're talking a clear line - a strong BNP vote corresponded with a strong UKIP vote. It's even worth a graph to demonstrate) Greens vs ...
Runnymede BC, Englefield Green WestCon 485 (39.5;-5.0)UKIP 357 (29.1;+3.8)Lab 150 (12.2;-0.2)Green 128 (10.4;+10.4)LD Ian Heath 108 (8.8;+1.4)Majority 128Turnout not knownCon holdPercentage change is since 2008 St Albans DC, Harpenden SouthCon 1602 (53.5; -21.8) Lab 703 (23.5; +17.2)LD Albert Moses 427 (14.3; +0.5)Green 264 (8.8; +4.1)Majority 899Turnout not knownCon holdPercentage change is
Paul Waugh of the Evening Standard really is an awesome political reporter. He's assembled a blow by blow account of the Labour parliamentary party meeting last night. It is here.
What were these people thinking? Are they actually paid agents of Nick Griffin? Madness. {nick-griffin}
From the London Cycling Campaign: "Tube strike? Don't stress, cycle," say the London Cycling Campaign. LCC is urging commuters to beat the stress of the possible tube strike by cycling to work next week. Cyclists are being encouraged to band together on Wednesday and Thursday to form 'BikeTubes', groups of like-minded commuters cycling from tube stations to central London. "Biketube" routes have been chosen for an enjoyable, low-traffic ride, so it's a great way to get started. See the Biketubes page for route details.
Kudos to the Guardian which has obtained council-level euro results and munged them together into one giant spreadsheet with click-sort columns, over on its datablog. The hook the Guardian are using is that it allows you see just how well the BNP did in your area, but anyone with a political hat will want to play with the data and slice it in numerous different ways. Congratulations, then, to South Lakeland, for the highest Lib Dem Euro score anywhere in the country; commiserations to Barking and Dagenham where we polled under 5%... and ooh - is that a weak correlation ...
Local Oldfield Ward Councillors are encouraging former regulars of the Englishcombe Inn and local residents in the area to comment on Cedar Care's revised planning application for conversion of the Inn into a 40 bed care home. The previous planning application was not refused due to the change of use of the site from a public house to a care home, but on a range of other planning grounds....
Another European election, another disappointment for the Liberal Democrats. The party has the same number of MEPs as before. But our share of the vote was slightly down from 2004. Let's start with a bit of context. European elections are always shark-infested waters for the Lib Dems. Our vote in these contests is usually 5 to 7 points below where we are in the national polls. In the Euro-elections of June 2004, the Lib Dems gained just under 15 per cent of the vote. At the time, Populus had us on 22 per cent nationally. Last Thursday, we gained 13.7 ...
Gentlemen and Ladies of Discriminating Taste may care to peruse the Musical Delights available for your delectation here.Three quarters of an hour of music written by:Mister George Frederick Handel Herr Johann Sebastian Bach Herr Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Monsieur Charles-Camille Saint-Saens Pan Antonin Dvorak Sir Edward Elgar and Mister Ralph Vaughan Williams performed by divers Musicians with miscellaneous Silly Hairstyles.If you use a Mac, then read either of these pages to get it to work properly. Playlists like this are just about the only thing that the Blessèd Steve got wrong.
Whenever one of the big two parties crashes, there's talk of the Lib Dems replacing them as the main progressive party of UK politics, just as the Liberals were usurped by the Labour Party in the 1920s. After Blair was swept to power (with fewer votes than Major gained in the previous election), the Tories looked to be in trouble. There were those hoping that the Lib Dems would replace the Conservatives as the main party of the centre-right. Since it didn't happen some people have criticised the party, and Charles Kennedy as leader, for failing. Now there's talk of ...
Over at BBC.co.uk, Lib Dem MSP Ross Finnie reflects on some of his personal highs and lows in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of Scottish devolution on 1st July. Here's an excerpt: For Liberal Democrats, the election itself was an achievement. Due to our advocacy of proportional representation, the political parties won the number of seats in the new parliament that reflected the number of votes cast by the people of Scotland. The Liberal Democrats entered into coalition government for the first eight years of devolution and were pleased to introduce ground-breaking social health policies like free personal care ...
Yesterday I, Cllr Ricky Duveen and Cllr Kirsten Bayes (plus 3 councillors from other parties) visited the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Smallmead. This meeting was primarily for members of the Environmental Scrutiny (ES) panel to discuss the points made at the December ES meeting with regards to furthering recycling in Reading.I have to say, Officers listened to everything we had originally suggested and looked into ways of implementing these ideas. It was very nice to see every item myself and Ricky had put forward in order to reduce the 45K tonnes of rubbish, currently sent to landfill at ...
The BBC has the story: A couple have left their home in Essex and moved to Ireland after being warned that their child would be taken into care as soon as it was born. John Hemming, Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, has revealed that the couple have sought his advice after concern over English adoption law. Mr Hemming called for reform of the law saying the legal system handed "all the aces" to social workers. He said he advises couples to move abroad before legal action is taken. "I don't advise people to break the law," he said. "But ...
I think Nick Griffin is an odious little fascist who expresses opinions that have no place in a civilised society as I said in this post yesterday Several bloggers, including Charlotte who agrees with me that no platforming the BNP is not helping and James, who used the term scum and idiots where I used thugs and the alienated angry. They pretty much mean the same thing, though! Today the vile Griffin was pelted with eggs as he held a press conference outside Parliament. However old (and smelly) or foreign (the irony) the eggs might have been, all that sort ...
What a great post from Sara Scarlet on Lib Dem Voice today. Highlighting the problems with the current political class, she argues that the Lib Dems must do better to encourage a broader and more worldly set of people to stand as representatives of the Liberal Democrats . Not just those that have been raised in the hot-house of Parliament, the lobby, Cowley Street or think tanks (am plagiarising whole bucket loads from Sara here). And I couldn't agree more. But let the new broom not stop there. Lets look again at the quality, size, shape and location of the ...
Labour-run Reading Borough Council is today proudly trumpeting additional cash for council housing in Reading. Where did this money suddenly appear from? You may well ask. Councils everywhere are benefiting from extra money to spend on council housing repairs as the Labour government rushes to splash our cash on visible "goodies" ahead of the next general election in bid for votes. While I welcome more spending on council homes in Reading and the local jobs that will be brought with it, I am frustrated that thanks to this Labour government's failed housing policies Reading's council tenants continue to be forced to pay millions of ...
Faith dialogue is vital. When I heard Tony Blair's new role as a peace envoy, I was (and remain) extremely sceptical. However, from the moment he launched his Faith Foundation, I felt there was something worthwhile there. Faith, in the UK, is a hotbed of ignorance and misconception on almost every side of every debate. I came to Cardiff University this year. I remember the moments when I told people I was Catholic were met with alternating scorn, disbelief, horror or amusement. For the first few weeks, I'd hasten to add, "But I'm not one of those right-wing ones, its ...
{dna} Three cheers to Lib Dem PPC Jo Shaw who has revealed that authorities in Camden are keeping DNA records of hundreds of children. Reported by Lib Dem Voice via the BBC, a Freedom of Information request showed that an average of one child per day (in Camden alone) has their DNA recorded on the state database. It goes without saying that this is appalling, and reinforces the need for us to take action against the holding of innocent people's DNA - a policy already criticised by the European Court of Human Rights.
Last night was certainly a night of two halves for me. Up first was the rally against the cuts to the on site sheltered housing wardens. When I arrived at Barnet House a noisy demonstration was in progress. I had been asked to speak on behalf of the Lib Dem group at the rally. I spoke about our opposition to these cuts. They are mean spirited and just plain wrong. The proposal before the cabinet meeting was a kludge designed to show that the consultation process had had some effect. The problem is that the kludge didn't restore the site ...
Kirsty Williams in her questions to First Minister, Rhodri Morgan AM has uncovered the fact the Labour-Plaid Govt only met with banks to discuss lending in March - 11months after Northern Rock was nationalised! That One Wales Government, it's got all the hall marks of a lean mean machine... You can follow Kirsty on twitter, and find out about other Lib Dem tweeters over at LiberalTweets Related posts:Breaking news - Kirsty wins major awardBreaking News - Welsh Lib Dems lose vote to block Welsh Top-Up Fees.Breaking News - Chris Rennard to stand down as Liberal Democrat Chief Executive
Tue 9th
14:26Thanks to City West for looking at some issues this week looks like we might have some good news at ...
Can't knock them raised a lot of issues this past two weeks and they are being looked at,one more satisfied resident on the Phone.
Tue 9th
14:23Fingers crossed the residents group we are setting up as got the forms in i sent to apply for gating
All goes to plan one more bid as gone in for alley gating, see what news i get next week fingers crossed..
Well my Mrs and the Neighbors gave me a roasting in Pendlebury for the bins not being emptied, but i have to say thanks to the Environment they where picked up within the hour. Cant get it right all the time,
Mike Keegan June 09, 2009 TWO men with first-hand experience of the evils of fascism have spoken of their 'dismay' at the BNP's success. War veteran Cyril Watts, 84, was on a minesweeper at the time of the Normandy landings. And Mayer, a Jewish man in his 80s from Manchester, was one of the few who managed to [...]
Hi-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! How ya doing. See you at the morris dancing (which I'd actually like to see again!). Multi-faceted my interests you see!
I was at the Euro Count the other a day and i was talking to a senior Labour Member and he told me someone had kindly put some Dog Muck through his letter box. Do you Know i rarely speak with this man, i disagree with his politics and he probably hates my guts, but [...]
One good thing about the June 4th elections is that at last they have provided a firebreak for the Telegraph expensegate revelations. At one point I did think that the Telegraph would go on revealing expense claims details for ever. You know, actually add "The Newspaper of Expense revelations" to their mast head. I am glad they have stopped, in a way. Some of what they were revealing was just plain tedious. However, in toto they did the public a service. We are now moving onto a new phase and seeing some post scripts or denouements coming out of the ...
Sara Scarlett has written an interesting piece for Liberal Democrat Voice. It has to be said that some of her arguments are not without merit but I do have to take issue with her seeming assertion that our 'political class' would benefit from a familiarity with a 'corporate ethic' frankly amazing. Anybody not thinking Enron, [...]
Thanks to all who voted for me last Thursday. As expected I lost, but it wasn't a bad result. When I won in 2005 it was because many Tories voted for me because of my opposition to County Hall on Brewery Road car park. The County division includes Horsell East and Woodham which is solidly Tory no matter what. In Horsell West, where it is always neck and neck between Lib Dems and Tories it looked like we won. This bodes well for the Borough Council elections next year and of course the General Election. The result was John Doran ...
Iain Dale says that Cameron is delighted about last night's Parliamentary Labour party meeting outcome: Brown remains in situ. He's swinging from the gibbet but there is no one courageous enough at the top of the Labour Party to pull the rope tight around his neck. I don't think courage enters into it. I very much doubt that either Alan Johnson or David Milliband want the poisoned chalice of the Labour leadership at the moment. They would not have any real leeway to radically change policies at this stage and they would just caretake the party until it goes down ...
No, actually, they didn't. But fewer people voted Labour. The thing about any kind of proportional representation is that each vote makes more difference, so it's even more important to actually vote for what you want, or against what you don't want for that matter. FROM MAKE MY VOTE COUNT, (IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ELECTORAL REFORM SOCIETY): BNP gained seats with fewer votes In Yorkshire and the Humber, the BNP actually polled 6399 fewer votes than in 2004. In the North West, 2865 fewer people voted for the BNP this time than last. However, the BNP still won a seat ...
Below is the result of the European Election in the West Midlands, I'll post the other regions later in the week. Fortunately, unlike the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber we did not elect the BNP. We ended up with two Conservatives, two UKIP, one Labour and one Liberal Democrat.
The relationship between the British Tories and the European People's Party block has been an ongoing obsession for the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservatives and extracting a pledge from Cameron to exit the mainstream centre-right EPP block was - rightly - seen as a big win for the Dan Hannan wing of the party. But Thursday's results were something of a triumph for the EPP group and have left the Tories scratching around for possible allies that will allow them to form a viable group without involving too many weird and whacky minority parties. The usually unflappable Hannan gets a ...
What is the link between the Daily Mail Television review page and Susan Boyle?
Looking at how the system actually works on real data - and it is clear what a narrow squeak it was in the Southeast of England with our second seat. We came very close to a Tory gain from us. Doing some calculations with a higher vote share for us shows we would need to raise our vote by nearly 60% to get an extra seat if other parties stayed stable. Table shows the calculation. Method: top line is actual votes cast for each party that got a seat. Second line of table is this actual vote divided by two. ...
It was this comment: I would like to see the LibDems show that they are more progressive, by seeking to recruit new potential MP's from the massive 'public pool' rather than the limited spectrum of activists, advisers and councillors." by 'UK voter' on Stephen Tall's LDV article What must happen for the Lib Dems to overtake Labour, and the continuing saga of MP's expenses, that has prompted me to write. It is obvious to everyone that there is something wrong with the political class. As a political party we have to actively take steps to make it better. Right now ...
{nhs} Buried beneath the hilariously thick layers of Labour implosion last week, several stories about our health service went largely unnoticed. Firstly, the Today programme ran the story of a man who bled to death after a series of errors saw a tube incorrectly inserted into his neck. The culpable NHS Trust (Cwm Taf) is being forced to apologise, and a police investigation may ensue. Furthermore, the NHS has yet again performed abysmally in an international comparison of cancer treatment—coming bottom of a league table on access to new drugs. The study was conducted by Swedish health economists. A small ...
A while ago I wrote about how Charles Clarke could be a stalking horse in the race for leader of the Labour party and someone who would defeat Brown but now I have a little more conspiracy from Tory Bear who has written about how James Purnell might be a challenger to Brown from noon today if no one serious challenges the Prime Minister. I now think that Purnell is the stalking horse and will carry on stalking Brown and asking him to step down time and time again but the people behind the real attacks on Brown are close ...
More than 200 children and young people from Bath and North East Somerset schools have the chance to spend the first four days of the summer holidays developing their talents and learning with others who share their interests and enthusiasms. The APEX (Able Pupils Extending Opportunities) Summer Holiday Opportunity is organised by Bath & North East Somerset Council, and takes place...
There is no doubt that Wales is suffering worse than the rest of the UK in the recession. Gross Value Added, a measure used to determine how big an area's economy is, shows that Wales is the poorest of the UK's nations and regions - and is becoming poorer. West Wales and the Valleys is just 65% as prosperous as the UK average. Likewise, unemployment is higher in Wales than the rest of the UK. These, combined with structural unemployment as a result of the decline of the mining industry and the effects of the last recession are figures that ...
In reporting the European election results, the Guardian has the headline "A cataclysm ushers in eight-party politics". So lets see how cataclysmic this result was. Fewer people voted Conservative than in 2004 Yes, you read that right. In 2004 Michael Howard's Conservatives were heading to a clear defeat in the General Election. And yet they secured 200,000 more votes than in 2009. True, that's on a lower turnout, so their percentage of the vote rose very slightly, but there was clearly no great shift to Cameron. Indeed, the party's share of the vote is still 8% down on 1999. Fewer ...
Oval's Lib Dem Councillors have been listening to local residents in Montford Place over their concerns with the planned vistor centre to the Gin Distillery on Kennington Green. We have raised the following concerns with the council: 1. Residents are concerned about seven day opening. 2. Residents are concerned about the hours of operation and would wish to see a condition regarding closing, particularly in relation to hospitality. 3. Residents are concerned about coaches and about how coach parties get from the parking place to the entrance - they would wish the visitors not to have to pass along Montford ...
"He will get the space to continue until the autumn. If he makes no headway in the polls between now and then, he will not lead Labour in to the next election and, I suspect, would not try to do so."Quote from David Miliband as reported by Paul Waugh. Personally I think that says it all to me Miliband has said it. If Brown doesn't improve in the polls by autumn then he will go himself and we will most likely have a general election in the autumn! Brown's time to go is soon approaching and he best get ready ...
Over the last few weeks, as the Government's situation has gone from bad, to worse, to diabolical there has been something in the way that Gordon Brown and other ministers have tried to defend him and their position that has been really niggling away at me and I have realised what it is. Almost every defence that you hear has an implicit (and sometimes explicit) assumption that only Labour can govern. That it is only Labour and Gordon Brown who in fact have any right to govern. I have heard Gordon Brown himself respond to questions about whether he should ...
Tue 9th
11:10
CommentIsLinked@LDV: Nick Clegg - Governments that can't be scrutinised will always turn oppressive
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's speech to celebrate the 75th anniversay of Liberty is excerpted over at the Independent. Here's his sombre conclusion: for all the complaining Liberal Democrats and other liberty campaigners do about the misuse of power by government, the truth is, nowhere near all of the powers available to police and government are used - yet. Legal instruments with devastating potential are ready and waiting, all of which have been passed by a supine Parliament that misguidedly assumes government will always be benign. These powers are like the silent machines in a darkened factory, waiting for the ...
The publication of a report by the Communities and Culture Committee today, looking at Welsh broadcasting is an important step forward in the fight to secure choice and diversity in the provision of Welsh news and current affairs, as well as to ensure the proper representation of Wales in mainstream television and radio programming. The recent merger of ITV Wales with an English region and severe cutbacks in the provision of Welsh news on that network has left the BBC as a near monopoly provider. ITV have been hit by a 20% fall in advertising revenue in the first three ...
Due to serious water damage, Selly Oak Library is currently only offering a limited service at the moment.There are NO public PCs available for use and some areas of the stock will be unavailable. The Council has apologised for any inconvenience caused.For updates on the service, you can check on online at www.birmingham.gov.uk/sellyoaklibrary or telephone the library on (0121) 464 0403.
Figures uncovered by Jo Shaw, Lib Dem PPC for Holborn and St Pancras, show that DNA samples are being taken from children in Camden at the rate of nearly one a day. From the BBC: A freedom of information (FOI) request by the Liberal Democrats showed DNA has been taken from an average of 360 young people in Camden every year since 2000. The samples, from children as young as 10, have been kept regardless of whether charges were ever brought... Ms Shaw, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Holborn & St Pancras, made the FOI request to the government's DNA ...
Dwylo Cerrig takes a quick look at the need for big idea, and how close the Assembly has come to one. So, what's the big idea? It's not just the Liberal Democrats who should face the regular refrain of "what are you for?", but devolved politics in Wales as a whole. Progressives content themselves with the idea that they are the inheritors of Welsh radicalism, the only game in town if you believe that there are such things as "Welsh values" and that those values can only be protected and promoted by the left. But since 1999 have any of ...
The next Selly Oak Ward Committee meeting will take place at 7pm on Wednesday 10 June 2009 at Selly Oak Methodist Church, Langleys Road, Selly Oak.Items on the agenda include:an update on the replacement of the Dogpool Lane bridge, following the flooding in the Selly Park area last September;decisions on bids to the Selly Oak Ward Community Chest;an update on the Neighbourhood Management in the
Now that the dust has settled, one can take a rational view of the outcome of the European elections in London. The most striking thing for me is the way that Labour's vote in the capital proved remarkably resilient, compared with the party's performance in most of the rest of the country. Though they did lose [...]
Spot the difference. They both were elected to Parliament during the Thatcherite 1980s, each having risen to youthful prominence through their own talents (one as rector of Edinburgh University, the other as an Olympic sprinter), before dedicating their lives to public service. They both served with very real distinction in their respective front-bench positions, each earning deserved praise for their mastery of economic and foreign affairs respectively. They both long harboured a powerful yearning to lead their parties, but each shrunk from the opportunities when they first arose (in 1994, after John Smith's death; and in 1999, after Paddy Ashdown's ...
We are back to 1983. The New Labour coalition has fallen apart. Back when Michael Foot led the Labour Party and their vote collapsed to within grasp of the Liberal Alliance there was much said about the unelectabilty of Labour. It was widely held that a party based on Unions and working class votes could never command 40% of the vote. The changes that took place during the Thatcher and Blair years have further eroded the old Labour base. Union membership has continued to declined. The identifiable wider working class has shrunk. Public owned housing is diminished. The magic of ...
When Thatcher was under siege after the Westlands affair there were great demands from her colleagues for her to adopt a more collegiate style of government; in fact a call for a return to cabinet government. She promised to change. So has Gordon Brown. She didn't and he can't .
I have this morning launched my June 2009 update to West End Community Council. Subjects covered include : * Bulky Uplifts * Wheelie Bins * Graffiti * Potholes * Bus services * Blackness Road at West Park Road/Kelso Steps * Unadopted Footways Programme The Community Council meets tonight at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall at 7pm. You can download a copy of the update by clicking on the headline above.
{christie-petition.jpg} Thank you to everyone who signed the Christies petition fighting to get the £6.5M funds lost in Icelandic banks back. We have great news that the money is being paid back to Christies. It will come from government funds as argued over the past few months. John Leech MP said, "This is justice. The research and care at Christies is world class and they will be able to put the millions to very good use."
I am pleased to report that work on the upgrade of Smannell Road is going to schedule and contractors plan to re-open the road on 19 June. The closure has caused great inconvenience to local residents (see previous stories on this website) and I hope the contractors keep to this time table. {Smannell Road closed} The road has been closed to allow contractors to build roundabouts for the new East Anton development in safety. The diversion via Upper Enham and Little London has delayed and inconvenienced drivers and led to damage on the alternative routes. I will be working with ...
Brown survived last night, as predicted. Excellent news. He survives to lead the government of the walking dead to Labour defeat. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
The poll results are from a ComRes Poll that asks people how an alternative Labour leader would lead behind the Conservatives if Labour was to have a swap and the results can be seen below: Alan Johnson to10 points Jack Straw to 11 points David Miliband to 12 points Ed Balls and Jon Cruddas to 14 points Harriet Harman would produce a 16 point Tory lead James Purnell a 17 point Tory lead So the best option for Labour is to make Alan Johnson their leader over this summer so they have about a year to campaign and they can ...
2 Big Stories From the Guardian, Gordon Brown's great escape: A chastened Gordon Brown yesterday promised his backbench critics that he would learn from his mistakes, as he survived Labour's worst national election results since 1918 and some of the most personal attacks ever mounted on his governing style. At a private inquest staged only hours after the party came third in the European parliamentary elections, with less than 16% of the vote, a rebel attempt to call for a secret ballot on his leadership was seen off by party loyalists. Speaking to a packed meeting of Labour MPs and ...
I have already shown you the former Brixworth workhouse, but the real purpose of my trip on Saturday was to photograph its remarkable Saxon church. I came away rather defeated by the great bulk of the building, but here are some photos of it even so. The Friends of Brixworth Church website describes it well: All Saints' Church Brixworth is the largest surviving Anglo-Saxon building in this country. It stands majestically on its hilltop, a fascinating study for archaeologists, geologists and historians alike. The Church also has a unique appeal to the thousands of people worldwide who visit it every ...
Coming as I do from that hot bed of political oddity known as North Down I'm sure that one group of the strange North Down political landscape will be rejoicing. From the days of Jim Kilfedder and his Ulster Popular Unionist Party (basically him), through Robert McCartney United Kingdom Unionist Party (again basically him though it did elect others to the first assembly) to now being the sole Ulster Unionist MP with Lady Sylvia Herman North Down has often stood in the face of the traditional Unionist parties of the province. Indeed the largest party on the council has at ...
I'd just like to draw your attention to this brilliant casting of 'One More Day' from Les Miserables by Political Dissuasion. Footnote: I would have tagged more of the cast list but Blogger wouldn't let me, look for yourself.
According to a poll commissioned for today's Independent, Alan Johnson the Home Secretary could deny the Tories outright victory at a General Election. The main figures from the poll (which also tests other potential candidates) are: Alan Johnson, Home SecretaryMan most likely to succeed Gordon Brown if he is toppled before general election. Election result with him as leader: Con 36% Labour 26% Lib Dems 19% (Con six seats short of majority.)Support among Labour identifiers: 76% Gordon Brown, Prime MinisterHoping to see off plotters as Cabinet did not join revoltElection result with him as leader: Con 38% Labour 22% Lib ...
Wright Robinson Sports College is going to be busy for the next two weekends. First on 13th, there is a Health MOT Day (which apparently does not involve somebody kicking our tyres whilst sucking air through his teeth), which has a range of activities which should suit the whole age range and looks like loads of fun. The following weekend, on 20th there's going to be a Community Fun Day, which again should have masses of activities for the whole family. It should all be fun, so do come along.
On the day of the Omagh bombing I was at Stormont. No I wasn't pulling some overtime, and besides the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment, where I worked at the time, was just off the estate. I was at the Northern Ireland Civil Service sports club playing in the semi-final of the Irish Junior Cup for bowls. There were enough civil servants on both teams and from the spectators to realise that there was a little bit too much activity, mainly arriving, at that time on a Saturday to be normal. At the end of the game we learnt ...
The European Election Results have given all parties food for thought. The Parliamentary Labour Party which greeted Gordon Brown with rapturous applause at their meeting last night is providing a textbook case of the 5 stages of grief. Psychology students and fans of Frasier will be well acquainted with the concept which describes, in five discreet stages, a process by which people allegedly deal with grief and tragedy; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Denial - refusing to accept facts, information and reality. Somewhat akin to sticking their fingers in your ears and squealing I can't hear you I think ...
RT @Kate_Butler anti-BNP demos today: Liverpool 1730 Town Hall; Manc 1730 Piccadilly Gdns; Sheffield 1700 Town Hall; Preston, 1800, Flag Mkt # Some background on one of the UK's new MEPs. Source isn't exactly impartial, but oh my what a pleasant character he is. http://bit.ly/TZluO # RT @ElrikMerlin RT @theplayethic: Post-BNP, if any video should go viral, it's this one... Griffin on their 'sales plan' http://bit.ly/XZ31R # Best cure for general existential angst caused by electoral horrors: rolling sleeves up and delving elbow-deep into intimidating live code. # Well blow me down. I just made the topping for a plum ...
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited { color:#06c; } DAVID CAMERON told business leaders that there is "more to life than money" as he attempts to make a clean break with Thatcherism. He will tell business leaders that "general wellbeing" is more important than personal wealth and will list beautiful surroundings, culture and better relationships as society's new [...]
The one thing that has been worse than the BNP winning two seats in the European Parliament today has been the endless hand-wringing and excuses made on behalf of the electorate by mainstream politicians. Last night, the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour were queueing up to come up with excuses for why so many people voted BNP. It was a protest vote, they said, not a racist one. We need to listen more and learn to respond. Bollocks. The time for a touchy-feely understanding of BNP voters is well and truly over. You could make this excuse in 2001 when ...
