Wed 12th
23:29

Lazy blogging

I was going to post about the uproar caused by US right wing nutjobs telling lies about the NHS. But instead I'll link to this piece from Andrew Hickey, which although aimed at his US friends, hits the nail on the head and says all I wanted to. It doesn't mean we see eye to eye on the relative merits of Russel T Davies and Big Finish, mind.

The argument raging in the US about President Obama's plans for a scheme to ensure that all Americans have health insurance appears to have spread over here via a 'hashtag war' - #privatisetheNHS versus #WeLovetheNHS, or some such thing. I will say this, for trite comments, Sara and Charlotte have set an astonishingly high standard. 'We love the NHS... Like hostage victims love their hostage takers." is slightly more patronising than "If you love the NHS so much - marry it!", but as neither of them will be using the system any time soon (that would be far too hypocritical, ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy

A news release pings in to my inbox about the repairs being made to Stroud Green Road's heritage potholes (northern section). I had actually wondered when going past the roadworks why there wasn't the usual smell of sticky black stuff, and it turns out there's a green reason: A greener solution to road repairs emerged this week as Islington trialled a new type of tarmac which saves money and helps the environment. 'Tempera' is a road material that looks and pours like regular tarmac and is just as durable but with one key difference - it can be handled at ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack » Pink Dog

A couple of readers have contacted me today about the Green Party's election for its external communications officer. Rupert Read and Jason Kitkat are standing on job-share basis against the current incumbent Tracy Dighton-Brown. And their supporters are fighting a personal and dirty campaign. On Read and Knight's own campaign site one supporter has written: On Friday 12 June, Tracy Dighton-Brown, the current External Comms Co-ordinator, said to me, and I quote exactly: "I'm going to destroy you, Mark Hill."I can work with the madness of the Royal Mail. I can cope with the civil service for the sake of ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

{Allotments at Passmore Edwards House} Today's main event was a visit to Passmore Edwards House (sheltered housing) to see the joint working they are doing with kids from Bounds Green School. As it is National Allotments Week it seemed appropriate because this marvellous project brings together the not so young with the young to tend the soil and grow produce. Not only is the activity healthy physically for both groups - but they have fun, grow real vegetables and probably most importantly - become friends. Hats off to Marion Carden who is the scheme manager and whose enthusiasm and commitment ...

Posted by Lynne Featherstone MP on Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary
Wed 12th
22:55

Pontardawe Craft Fair

Because of technical difficulties, South Wales West Liberal Democrats will not after all be able to have a stand at the Fair in Pontardawe the weekend after next.

Posted by Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Came back from holiday to breaking news of those convicted following the death of Baby Peter being named and shamed in a media tsunami which has only just (mostly) abated. Had been on Monday to Bangla TV to do a long (one and a half hours) interview on various issues that affect the Bangladeshi community - chief amongst them - stop and search; ID cards; work issues (my anonymous job application proposal); terrorism and so on. Very nice to be given time to actually expand discussion properly around a topic rather than the usual nano second soundbite. Around four o'clock ...

Posted by Lynne Featherstone MP on Lynne's Parliament and Haringey diary
Wed 12th
22:25

How to please women

How would you like the chance to please more than 20 women at the same time without risking divorce or arrest? The answer will appear here tomorrow

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

It had been my intention to update the site today with an article about useful discussions with PricewaterhouseCoopers, administrators of the former Duncarse Riverside Limited - with regard to public safety at the former Homebase site on Riverside Drive. Err ... but "Blogger" has technical problems tonight so that update will have to wait until tomorrow. Meantime, here's the video of the new Dundee branding ...

Blogger back in business, so - as reported in today's 'Courier' - I have had useful discussions with the administrators of the former Duncarse Riverside Ltd in respect of the former Homebase site. Here's my News Release from yesterday on the subject : "Dundee City Councillor for the West End, Cllr Fraser Macpherson, said today that he had had constructive discussions with the administrators of the former Homebase site on Riverside Drive, following concerns about public safety around the site. There have been a number of incidents of concern on the temporary pathway around the site including an assault and ...

YouGov

I was somewhat astounded to hear posh Tory MP Alan Duncan saying that MPs "have to live on rations", especially as the £64,000 salary alone means they never will have to. Although, when he says rations what does he mean, 100g of caviar instead of 300g? Just one pack of smoked salmon for his bagels instead of the two? lol. Yet again though, another comment from a Conservative MP just showing they are out of touch with the rest of people out there in the real world. I have some sympathy with how all MPs are being tarred with the ...

Last week I reported the rows with St Albans Conservatives. Tonight comes news from the St Albans & Harpenden Review that Matt Peck, a deputy chairman of the party in the city, has written all its members saying: The initial actions to de-select Anne Main were as a direct result of information about poll data obtained by Central Office informing us that our seat is likely to be lost to the Liberal Democrats, with a significant contributing factor being the public's perception of Anne Main's expenses claims.Thanks to Rob Prowse.

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

 

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats
Wed 12th
21:45

We Love The NHS...

... like hostage victims love their hostage takers. The world's most disheartening hash tag on Twitter today: #WeLoveTheNHS, throwing up lots of rather highly strung debates. Why disheartening? As with most things in the political realm, one emotion dominates: Fear. Fear trumps everything else. Most of the hostile comments I get on this blog come from people absolutely terrified of something or other. For many unscrupulous politicians, fear is the simple and easy way to bypass people's reason and make them believe... well, whatever you want them to believe, really. In the UK it's fear of losing free at the ...

Posted by Charlotte Gore on Charlotte Gore
Wed 12th
21:27

The English disease

A friend of mine has been taken ill whilst on holiday in England. The hotel my friend was in tried to get a doctor to see her but because one of her symptoms was flu-like she was refused and told to ring the swine flu hotline. She does not have swine flu but because she had no choice she rang it and was told to take tami-flu. Effectively she was told to take an inappropriate drug by a call centre operator who has had about half an hours training, has no medical qualifications or experience and was working from a ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black AM

MEN comment taken out of proportion by Salford Tory councillor. Only stated what retired MEN journalist had said. 51

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats
Wed 12th
21:20

This from Cllr ws Blog.

Q: What do you call a basement full of Liberal Democrats? A: A whine cellar. 50 minutes ago I am really looking forward to this election, the fights the political rhetoric,the nasty leaflets accusing me of supporting guns, drugs, and free sex, and thats only from my own party, But when i see the top comment [...]

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats

This is going to be a thorough demolition of libertarianism in a handful of blog posts. Today self-ownership. What does it mean? Devil's Kitchen, in a comment here, explains it to us. a fundamental—actually, the fundamental—principle of libertarianism is that you own your body (and your life): it is your property (to claim otherwise is to claim that someone else has a higher claim on your life). Any property which you have legitimately come by is as much yours as your body is—because it is by your body's efforts (and your mind's talents) that you have earned said property.The idea ...

Posted by Joe Otten on Joe's Extra Bold Blog

From today's Leicester Mercury: Experts are to study Leicester's Bowstring Bridge before its planned demolition next month to ensure no protected wildlife lives on or around it.People have claimed to have seen bats around the Duns Lane bridge and its arches, which could cause delays for Leicester City Council.When any structure is due to be demolished, an expert must inspect the site to ensure no endangered species are there, because it is illegal to disturb or hurt them.A bat comments exclusively for Liberal England: Frankly, I found that a disappointment. Couldn't hear a thing. Now read more on the bridge. ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

Great to see them and i cant wait for their first project to take shape. I firmly believe groups like these are the way forward for true community engagement.

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats

Strange scenes at Cabinet as Graham Hicks, Independent councillor and cabinet member for planning, transport and regeneration, had to publicly ask for a detailed breakdown of his department's budget. In the six weeks since the cabinet members were chosen, surely they should have been getting a full breakdown of all the services that fall within their portfolio including the budgets for each. Cabinet members receive an allowance of about £16,000 in addition to their basic councillors' allowance of £12,000. Just what have they been doing for this money if they haven't been getting to grips with every aspect of their ...

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

I did want today to write something about comics, and I've also got a playlist I want to post, but I felt compelled to write this after various news reports over the last couple of days. Unlike most of my writing (to which I retain the rights for various reasons, I've decided to license this [...]

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!

Another snippet from the Cabinet. The Conservatives lambasted the Lib Dems after the new Council was elected for refusing to join a rainbow coalition. We made clear that our opposition would be principled and not automatic. Where we could help we would do so and where the Conservatives proposed ideas we could agree with then we would support them. And yet... The Cabinet today voted to add new names to the board of the local Building Schools for the Future programme. Lib Dem Schools Spokesperson Graham Walker asked to join the board as well. A cross party grouping would carry ...

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

As expected, the Tory led cabinet today voted to hold a review of the plans for community network areas. The network areas were a key part of the move towards unitary status as they form the link between Cornwall Council and the parish and town councils. Tory Leader Alec Robertson refused to allow any discussion on the networks themselves saying that today was about 'holding a debate about a debate'. The paper put before cabinet said that there could be no 'one size fits all' way for network areas to work. That is quite right. But in deciding to hold ...

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

I subscribe to http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ and read Martin Lewis' email each week. Today he has revealed that Nick Clegg also reads his email.I think that in today's debt ridden days when people are struggling to make ends meet, the Lib Dems have hit the right note. Nick Clegg has pledged to put a motion before parliament supporting Martin Lewis's campaign. I look forward to hearing hist

Posted by Kristan Smith on Cllr Kristan Smith

Over on the SLF blog, I've written a short piece about the People's Budget's 100th anniversary and land value taxation. Please read!

Posted by James Graham on Quaequam Blog!

I have been having a number of conversations with Brenda Osbourne , our excellent councillor for Winlaton and High Spen, about the half hearted nature of the "Decent Homes" programme in Blaydon, which is due to be rolled out to Winlaton soon. Government funding has been released to Councils/Almos/ in order to bring Council Housing up to decent standards. There is concern that in Blaydon and Winlaton, being at the end of the programme in Gateshead appear not to be receiving anything like the investment made in homes at the commencement of the programme several years ago. Decent homes ...

Posted by Neil Bradbury on Diary of a candidate

Yesterday, obscure fact fans, was the 98th anniversary of the first Parliament Act*. The Parliament Act 1911 came about because of Asquith, Lloyd George and Churchill's 1909 'People's Budget' which proposed paying for, among other things, the first state pension with a rise in taxation aimed mostly at the most wealthy - and in particular proposed establishing a land tax. The landed gentry wouldn't stand for that and, having control of the House of Lords, vetoed it. This lead to two general elections, Asquith threatening to fill the Lords with his own placemen and the aforementioned restrictions on the Upper ...

Posted by James Graham on Social Liberal Forum

Courtesy of Rupert Murdoch's announcement that he wants to start charging for access to online content from News International's titles, starting with the Sunday Times, the question of charging for online newspaper content or services is very much in the news. {A collection of tabloid newspapers. Photo credit: franckdethier, Flickr} Almost all the discussion, however, has been based on the implicit assumption that the only business model available is "put some content behind a login that requires people to pay". Up against that is the argument "but lots of other news is available for free, so why would anyone pay?" ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack's blog feed

Bracknell Forest Council have withdrawn their objections to the late opening and Sunday opening of the Tesco's store in Martins Heron. Bracknell Forest Council had already refused permission for the store to open from 7am to 10pm during the week and 10am to 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays. Tory councillor Trevor Kensall has been heading these objections to stop the store from opening longer because of strong public objections. One of these objections was because of the noise made by delivery lorries in the morning and their effect on traffic as well as customer traffic (This site also has ...

Posted by dazmando on Bracknell Blog
DataFlame
Wed 12th
18:00

West Lindsey By Election

Next Thursday (20th) there is to be another election for the Saxilby Ward of WLDC. I hope that we have support for Dean Woolley, the Lib Dem candidate. The £6,000 cost of this is to be footed by the taxpayers of West Lindsey.I have said in the past and will say in the future, what price democracy? The local residents are entitled to their say, but in this case there has been an unnecessary by

Posted by Kristan Smith on Cllr Kristan Smith

MoneySavingExpert is reporting that Nick Clegg answered an open letter to David Cameron before the Tories managed to get their boots on: It came about in an unusual way. Clegg (pictured, right) is one of the 3.5 million recipients of the MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) weekly money tips email. In it, three weeks ago, he spotted an open letter to David Cameron where MSE asked the Tory leader to back the campaign for automatic refunds. While Cameron has not replied, Clegg, and his Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable, in a letter to MSE this week (see full text below), have promised to table ...

Posted by Alex Foster on Liberal Democrat Voice

This blog post was originally published in December last year but my readership figures were low at that time and I thought I would give it another outing: I have just read this post on the Coffee House Spectator blog by James Forsyth which is an interesting post about the possibility of David Davis returning to the shadow cabinet. I think this would be a good development as I have posted about earlier. However there is an example in the article of something that I have noticed quite a lot of recently. That is to dismiss Lib Dems out of ...

Posted by Mark Reckons on Mark Reckons

Whilst I have been doing some unpaid work, Tory Bear has been busy and has blogged about how Don't Panic might be run by a Lib Dem. This comes after Don't Panic released a video of Alan Duncan claiming how life for MPs had become sh** since Expensegate. First of all many will know about the run in I had with Alan Duncan with that in mind all I can say is that I agree with Tory Bear and other political commentators that Cameron needs to get rid of him. Duncan is a clown, he is like the Lembit Opik ...

Posted by Irfan Ahmed on Irfan Ahmed's Blog
Wed 12th
17:51

Irfanpedia: Irfan Ahmed

Irfan Ahmed is a blogger from Pendle in Lancashire and is the founder and editor of Irfan Ahmed's Blog. Irfan also is the founder of the Irfanpedia and has had an online presence May 2008. Irfan has a blog and is on twitter @irfanahmed.

Posted by Irfan Ahmed on Irfan Ahmed's Blog

'Tis the season for lists... All this week we are publishing the top 100 posts by Lib Dem bloggers, in descending order of popularity, for the last year - August 2008 to July 2009, inclusive, according to click-throughs from the Aggregator. (Profuse thanks to techno-wizard and stat-monkey Ryan Cullen for compiling this table.) In today's third instalment we run through 41-60: 41. Opinion: Have the Tories gone mad, or am I missing something? (Lib Dem Voice) 42. Quite simply, the best headline in a Labour leaflet – ever (Lib Dem Voice) 43. My cat and Ren? Kinzett (Peter Black) 44. Are Lib Dems 'down ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

Those of you who are familiar with Twitter maybe aware of the pro-NHS/anti-NHS hashtag war raging right now. If those of you who have had NHS nightmares want to share them then the appropriate hashtag is #privatisetheNHS If you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about - then you're not familiar with Twitter and you aren't insane - well done and feel free to ignore this post!!

Posted by Sara Scarlett on Liberal Vision

Around 8 miles from the sizeable spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire, but in the quaint and tiny village of Great Hucklow, activists from across the country assembled together for Liberal Youth's Activate/Motivate training weekend at the Foundry Adventure Centre. This was my first time at a Liberal Youth specific event, having only previously attended the Federal Conference in Harrogate as a Liberal Democrat member. Intensive training from a team of four party campaigners, including one current councillor and a full-time training officer, gave us tuition on a range of skills including: canvassing technique; writing campaign literature; writing short speeches; ...

Posted by Mark Whiley on Liberal Democrat Voice

SALFORD COUNCIL DAMNS ITSELF SALFORD COUNCIL SECTIONED! Star date: 11th August 2009 Millions and millions of pounds collected by Salford Council from developers under controversial Section 106 agreements have been `insufficiently monitored' according to an Internal Audit, completed in July last year but which has only recently come to light. Section 106 payments are contributions that developers [...]

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats

Amidst rising unemployment across the UK for the last two quarters, we have seen drops in the official unemployment rate here in Wales. This has of course been met with wild backslapping celebration by Labour and Plaid Ministers. For Labour it is an example of Gordon Brown growing Wales out of recession, while for the Nationalists it is a clear case of the expert handling of the economy by their leader. All this is a distraction, and seeks to pull a thin veil over what is really going on in Welsh lives and communities. If you look at two other ...

Posted by Jenny Randerson on Freedom Central

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of our local campaign for more action by the Council, University and Police to tackle the problem of the build up of rubbish in and around the University area. There has been a potentially positive development today with news that the local Neighbourhood Police team is set to start issuing fixed penalty notices of £75 against those who despoil the local environment. My Lib Dem colleagues and I have been campaigning for several years for a better response from local public bodies and we have regularly highlighted the problems of overflowing bins, skips and bulky waste dumped in ...

Posted by Cllr Daisy Benson on Redlands Liberal Democrats

Nich Starling aka Norfolk Blogger is a Liberal Democrats blogger, despite his blog not winning as many awards he is clearly among the top political bloggers in the UK. Nich is online over at his Norfolk Blogger blog.

Posted by Irfan Ahmed on Irfan Ahmed's Blog

I've been thinking on this for a while now and thought I might need a bit of scientific research to back up my assumptions. Sure enough, stick "loud music alcohol consumption" into Google and you find this: Following this discovery, I can now confidently propose my solution to binge drinking. The plan would be to reform the licensing laws to create premises (or zones within premises) either designated as conversation areas or dancing areas. Conversation areas could be limited to a music volume of around 72dB, and could be your usual pub environment: tables and chairs, wine bottles with ...

Posted by Ewan the liberal beardy on Ewan's liberal musings

Just quick plug for Colchester's Carnival, which returns this year after too long away on Saturday September 5th. As I'm going to be away on that day, I can't make it along to help out on the day, so this is my attempt to help out. So, if you want to take part in the carnival - and I'm informed there's always room for more floats, bands and whatever else - there's details available by clicking here. Volunteers are also needed to collect for the various charities, if you want to help in that way. Or, just turn up on ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

One of Obama's key pledges in the US Presidential elections was major healthcare reforms. The US is a deeply divided nation on health as in many other policy areas – it is simultaneously home to some of the planet's best hospitals, the best research in medical advances and the best healthcare practioners – and also home to some of the worst poverty and barriers to healthcare, the worst developed-world child mortality rates. Without being facetious, almost all of my knowledge of the American healthcare system comes from my knowledge of US TV. And whilst House has access to an amazing ...

Posted by Alex Foster on Liberal Democrat Voice

Last week I wrote that Tom Watson MP was six months behind me in questioning why the DVLA were giving away Spanish built cars instead of British built cars. This week a Tory MP asks the same question. Nice to know that the Tories are six months behind the Lib Dems and a week behind Labour. Hat Tip to Peter Black.

Posted by Norfolk Blogger on Norfolk Blogger

adverts.addToArray("banner", "468×60,728×90"); Unemployment leaps 220,000 to 2.4m..... Economic growth set to resume – BoE..... 1979 murder: Suspect's body exhumed..... Duncan sorry for 'whinge' comments..... New piracy fear as ship disappears..... 21 injured on roller coaster ride..... Woman jailed over fiance car death..... £40m jewellery heist – man quizzed..... Pensioner suffered a brutal attack..... Football star ignored [...]

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats

Catching up on council news from outside my home patch of London*, here's a report from The Guardian: A group of young people who claim an "atmospheric soup of toxic materials" released when an old steelworks was redeveloped caused their birth defects won a landmark ruling today when it was found that the local council had been negligent in its handling of the site. The high court decision clears the way for 16 successful claimants, who are aged between 11 and 22 and have missing or underdeveloped fingers or deformities to their feet, to set out to prove their individual ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice

Whilst traveling this morning, I listened to the Today program on Radio 4. It contained an interview with Ed Vaizey from the Conservative party where he was decrying the closing of libraries by local councils. This started me thinking of Lincolnshire County Council and some of the changes that they have made. In the not to distant past, this Conservative controlled council decided to

Posted by Kristan Smith on Cllr Kristan Smith

The leadership? Any one wish to comment or do we hide under the bed untill all is well?or do we fight.Why are we losing ground to the likes of the BNP.

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats
Wed 12th
14:30

Thought of the day,

"There is a choice and a contrast between a Labour government that really cares about doing something about the unemployed, and the Conservatives who regard it as a price worth paying."? A strong statement for any one to make any views?

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats

Unemployment has risen to 2.44 million, up 220,000 in the three months to the end of June, figures released on Wednesday revealed. This represents the highest level of joblessness since 1995. Figures published today by the Office for National Statistics also showed the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance in July increased by 24,900 to [...]

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats
Wed 12th
14:21

Toys Out Of The Pram?

Chat with retired MEN journalist last night. Scathing on the direction the MEN has gone and its lack of quality. Bit strong iain, How do you say Mr W has thrown his toys out. how do you not no it was the MEN guy who said it. Naughty Naughty. Are you trying to say we can't [...]

Posted by mole45 on Swinton South Liberal Democrats

I feel we may need to change a terrace chant:We are the Livingston FC,We hate the Pars and we hate ******The last word used to refer to the team at the west end of Tannadice Street who play in blue. Ever since Kachloulgate there has been a bitterness to the rivalry. However, while John Yorkson the Dunfermline Chairman may well indeed still be a bawbag* the same cannot be said of Dundee Chairman Bob Brannan. He is prepared to look beyond the past like so many other SFL Chairman have, look to the future and realises:"It's been suggested that Livingston ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Linlithgow Journal
Wed 12th
13:51

Elect the Lords

An email arrives from Unlock Democracy reminding me that yesterday marked the 98th anniversary of the Parliament Act 1911. The Parliament Act, one of the great reforms of Asquith's Liberal government, was the first serious attempt to restrict the powers of the unelected House of Lords, over the elected Commons. The natural Conservative majority [...]

Posted by bridgetfox on Bridget's Blog

Before the expenses scandal really got a head of steam, Alan Duncan, when answering criticisms from Ian Hislop on Have I Got News For You described his ability to claim for a second home even though he own half a dozen homes as "wonderful". He later described this as a joke, in poor taste, and he apologised. Now we read that Alan Duncan has described the MPs salary of £60k as having to "live on rations". Again, Alan Duncan has apologised unreservedly. Now what will Cameron do ? Come on Dave, show some backbone.

Posted by Norfolk Blogger on Norfolk Blogger

The Liberal Democrats continue the fight to protect our civil liberties - because the other parties won't. Writing for Comment is Free on the Guardian website, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne condemns the extent of Government snooping in modern Britain. Figures buried in the annual report from the Interception of Communications Commissioner revealed that 504,073 requests for communication data were made by public bodies last year - a staggering 1,381 a day. The news received broad media coverage and prompted widespread consternation. While no-one disputes that communications data can be of immense value to the police and security ...

Posted by Web Team on The Freedom Bill » Campaign news

{Birmingham City Centre Neighbourhood Forum} On Monday evening I was invited along to a committee meeting of the City Centre Neighbourhood Forum. The group have trouble communicating on a regular basis with residents of the city centre, because the vast majority live in private developments with door entry codes. I joined them for the first portion of the meeting, where I presented a few tips and tricks on getting the local community engaged via the internet and specifically blogging. Before I left we discussed a number of other issues including the Broad Street BID. If you live within the city ...

Posted by David Nikel on Liberal Ladywood
Wed 12th
13:19

Aha, we have a policy

I am encouraged to have found that the LDs' policy on local government addresses many of the issues I mentioned in the previous post. The polcy includes a call for 75% of income to be raised locally, for models of local government to be decided locally and for regions to be changed to reflect actual regions rather than the Tory fudge introduced by Margaret Thatcher purely to frustrate the European Commission. The paper also includes a lot of sensible stuff about abolishing government targets and a ludicrous suggestion for 'governing boards' of service users, or put another way, another layer ...

Posted by wit and wisdom on wit and wisdom

Climate Change minister Ed Miliband was in Ladywood recently to visit the Summerfield Eco-Village project. Local news project TNT News were on hand to interview him. Click here to view the video. What's interesting for me is how uncomfortable he seems when being questioned by the children (should he look at the camera or the kids!?) but also the following comments on the TNT website: It was interesting for us to see the minister's public relations team. I think there were at least four of them and they all seemed scared stiff at the thought of us interviewing him, perhaps ...

Posted by David Nikel on Liberal Ladywood

Norway 4, Scotland 0"William Wallace, J.K. Rowling, Sir Walter Scott, Sir Jackie Stewart, John Logie Baird, Adam Smith, Robbie Burns, vi har slått dem alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen [we hav...

The new fountains in Wolverhampton's Queens Square are now up and running and I must confess I like them.

Wed 12th
12:46

Blooming marvellous

It's Britain in Bloom time again, and Islington is going from strength to strength. After last year's Gold standard in London in Bloom, this year, Islington is one of four national finalists in the city category of Britain in Bloom. The other finalists are Newport, Plymouth and Stockton-on-Tees, making Islington London's best borough (of course!). [...]

Posted by bridgetfox on Bridget's Blog

Many of us are aware that some Americans can seem a little, well over-emotional, particularly in comparison to us buttoned-up Brits. But once in a while something comes along that proves that our transatlantic friends can win Olympic medals for over-egging. The wild tweet of Michigan Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra, shared with the world by New [...]

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing

The newly elected Chloe Smith at the Norwich North by election needs IT training as she doesn't know how to blog properly. Chloe has been updating her blog since the by election but seems to be making a lot of mistakes. Clearly CCHQ should have left someone to run the website/campaign for Chloe Smith, something which it looks as though they didn't. Chloe, take someone on that can update websites or learn to do it yourself because this way you are asking for trouble. Chloe also needs to remember that despite her being elected to Parliament she still will need ...

Posted by Irfan Ahmed on Irfan Ahmed's Blog

{skool} This may surprise you, but I think Conservative George may actually be bright enough to have a rather cunning plan. And I believe his cunning plan is to weaken the left's strangle hold of the education system. It should be obvious why he would want to do this. The state education system is notoriously left wing, a bed rock of Labour support and has massive influence over the development of the next generation of voters. In his speech to Demos George said... Sweden introduced its supply side education reforms in the early nineties in the aftermath of a banking ...

Posted by admin on Liberal Vision

As the new South Gloucestershire Council office nears completion on the fringes of Yate, there are doubts about whether the car parking will be adequate. Even with optimistic car sharing figures, it is calculated that there will be a need for 594 parking spaces, and they have only supplied 332. This means that a third of the employees will have to change travel plan habits, or find on street parking. There is a Green Travel Plan which includes a shuttle bus from Emersons Green, but initial ideas for shuttle buses round Yate have suddenly been dropped. And the offices will ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

The closing date for objections (the original date was extended because of the second letter with new information) is tomorrow (13th August). However the planning department will consider objections arriving late as long as they arrive before the material is sent to the planning committee. I have been doing some checking about when the planning committee may consider this. The likely date at the moment is 15th September. This is very provisional at the moment though so my advice to anyone wanting to come to the committee is to mark this date (morning) in their diaries for now and as ...

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

During the Norwich North by-election Chloe Smith was the face of the campaign for the Tories, but everything else was, I have on good authority, done by outsiders from CCHQ. A blog (which nobody could comment to) mysteriously appeared overnight and her website was suddenly updated very regularly. Now, it appears, the people who did this have done home. Witness the mess that is now her website. It seems the phrase is very much the order of the day. If you want to join Chloe's campaign to supportEmptyParas click HERE, and HERE and HERE and HERE to read more. Perhaps ...

Posted by Norfolk Blogger on Norfolk Blogger

A quick note to say that the next meeting is on Friday 18th September at 6 30pm at Long Lane Church. I will post again nearer the time with any other details. Meanwhile there is a website for the Friends which is www.fogp.blogspot.com.

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

Number 10 have issued a reply to the petition for MPs to be given residence in the Olympic village after the 2012 events with a reply that doesn't answer the question. Number 10 have put spin on the answer, and we rather have had a yes or no answer. I wanted a yes we will or no we won't answer, not a lecture on MPs expenses and what the government is doing about it. Clearly the petition service on the Number 10 website isn't promoting democracy or politics and is more a way for the government to promote itself to ...

Posted by Irfan Ahmed on Irfan Ahmed's Blog
Wed 12th
11:37

Edinburgh Fringe

I'm currently up in Edinburgh, enjoying the fringe with a few friends from uni. The city is amazingly beautiful, and when I get home over the weekend ill post some of the photos up on here, for all to see. I would just say though if you get the chance to come here take it. Even if it is not the time of the Fringe, there is plenty to do in this wonderful city. That said I would just like to know which idiot in the city council decided to effectively dig up all of Princes Street during August - ...

The deadline for people commenting on this off license application has been extended. The law says that the details have to be displayed on a pale blue sheet for a given time. Because the sign went missing, the deadline has been extended to late August to give people a proper chance. I've blogged about this previously so please scroll down to see the information.

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

{Chris_Huhne_large_portrait} By Chris Huhne MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary The extent of Government snooping in modern Britain is shocking. The scale of the state's prying was buried in the back of the annual report from the Interception of Communications Commissioner, Sir Paul Kennedy, one of a flurry of reports released by the Government just before MPs broke for the summer recess. The report revealed that 504,073 requests for communication data were made by public bodies last year - a staggering 1,381 a day - or basically one request for every minute of last year. Most of these requests were ...

Posted by Web Team on The Freedom Bill » Campaign news

The party's Federal Conference in Bournemouth is now just a few weeks away – and the key policy papers including the Agenda are now available from the party website. Conference is such a huge topic, and will be covered so extensively here on the Voice that it's hard to know where to begin. Here are just a few interesting things to highlight: The timings are a little different this year. Conference kicks off on Saturday morning with consultative sessions, and is formally opened Saturday afternoon. It continues through until Wednesday afternoon when the Leader's Speech will be after lunch. Conference ...

Posted by Alex Foster on Liberal Democrat Voice

After yesterday's media glee at finally being able to name the killers of Baby Peter, the spotlight has turned away from young Peter's awful fate and onto the fate for those responsible for his horrific death. Whilst my maternal instincts lead me to feel that however long they serve in prison it cannot be too [...]

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing

ALDC reports on an article in the FT about Tory Councils involved in fundamental cuts in services. ALDC as a major organisation of the party is sensibly rather circumspect in its view of why it thinks this is happening but others don't have to be... ALDO usefully makes the point that some of the Councils concerned are changing services to make them more accessible and prioritising frontline services, something they note that LD Councils would have no problem supporting; indeed the LD Council I worked for did precisely this some years before the Tories got wind of the idea. Indeed ...

Posted by wit and wisdom on wit and wisdom

{David_Howarth_1_large_portrait} ... or more government window-dressing? By David Howarth MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary On the day the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act became law, Stop the War Coalition members stood silently in Parliament Square with their mouths bandaged so that they could not speak. They were arrested. In 2007, Milan Rai was sentenced to 14 days in prison after refusing to pay a £600 fine for organising an unauthorised protest opposite Downing Street at which he had read out the names of Iraqi civilians who had been killed. In April of this year, environmental protesters who glued ...

Posted by Web Team on The Freedom Bill » Campaign news

Liberal Democrat shadow foreign affairs minister (and previously shadow to women's and young persons' portfolios) Jo Swinson's proposals are: 1. Protect children from body image pressure by preventing the use of altered and enhanced images in advertising aimed at under 16s, through changes to Advertising Standards Authority rules. We would work with industry regulators and professionals to find ways to ensure that children have access to more realistic portrayals of women (and men) in advertising. 2. Help women make informed choices by requiring adverts to indicate clearly the extent to which they have been airbrushed or digitally enhanced and altered. ...

Posted by Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats on Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats

Over at David Jones' blog, the Clwyd West Conservative MP writes about his experience at renewing his car tax online. David relates that on entering the DVLA website, he was surprised to be informed that those who 'tax or SORN on-line or by phone this month' will be entered into a free prize draw for one of three brand-new SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive cars. Naturally the MP is shocked that, given the current fragile state of the UK motor manufacturing industry, the DVLA is not offering British cars as prizes. I have a more fundamental question though: why did David not ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black AM
Wed 12th
10:07

Mobilise! Organise!

Here's a simple plan: 'The Blogosphere' produces a simple black and white leaflet with the headline, "Free Trade is GOOD" and a brief explanation about why. We put links on to a website with more information. Keep it aimed at people who don't read political blogs, keep it simple - the desire is just to get the message out there. Then, get as many blogs as possible (at least the ones that support Free Trade anyway) to write about this particular campaign, encouraging their readers to do just one simple thing: Print out the leaflet go deliver it on just ...

Posted by Charlotte Gore on Charlotte Gore
Wed 12th
10:01

Swimming

I went for a rather pleasant swim this morning. Easton pool is a delight for a quick set of lanes. I say this because they have music panned through the loudspeaker. Nice hairdryer, clean floors and hot showers. So there I was pootling along to Hey Jude and other retro classics. Thinking how nice this was compared to my last swim... I have to say Easton is a delight compared to Jubilee pool. Last time I went there I experienced a swim doomed from the start. No-one there at reception. Anyone could have walked in. I was told by another ...

Posted by Emma Bagley on Emma Bagley's Blog

The irony might be amusing if it wasn't affecting me and the people I represent but Lord Hanningfield, the leader of Essex County Council and a man who's never shed away from grabbing any power that comes within a few miles of him, believes County Councils should have the power to hold quangos to account. The proposals are interesting, and might be worth discussing, especially if any of the quangos have the power to react in the same way Hanningfield does whenever anyone tries to hold him to account or question him. Oh, and the first comment on Hanningfield's post ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

The Government has been accused of failing to invest in Birmingham's Job Centres despite unemployment heading for a 15-year high. From the Birmingham Post: "Nearly 50 job centres across the West Midlands need expanding as they struggle to cope with soaring unemployment and a rapid increase in the number of people seeking work, managers have admitted. But the comments came in the wake of a series of job centre closures. In the West Midlands, 53 job centres have closed their doors since 2002." In recent times unemployment in Ladywood constituency has consistently been the highest in the entire UK. According ...

Posted by David Nikel on Liberal Ladywood

Today's Financial Times is running a feature on the cuts in spending by Conservative run councils, with a particular focus on Essex, Barnet and Hammersmith & Fulham. Whilst the Liberal Democrats have also talked about spending money better, and indeed many Lib Dem councils have also worked hard to keep tax rises low, this article suggests that what the Conservatives are doing is something much more fundamental. Many of the changes in these particular councils have revolved around further outsourcing of service provision, cuts in frontline services such as parks, street cleaning, libraries and 'culture'. Core services that Liberal Democrats ...

Posted on ALDC.org RSS Feed

This biography first appeared in the Dictionary of Liberal Biography, produced by the Liberal Democrat History Group. Right from his London birth on 15 March 1779, at Melbourne House in Piccadilly, William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne, was at the centre of Whig social circles. The second son of Peniston Lamb, first Viscount Melbourne, he followed a normal early life for sons of Whig magnates - Eton, Cambridge University, and education for a legal profession. Politics came naturally into his life, but was not his only interest. As Cecil put it in his biography, 'he had learnt to play the political ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack's blog feed

Last Wednesday I tweeted the unlikely words: "Never thought I'd say this, but Perez Hilton has blogged about a Lib Dem policy paper http://bit.ly/Dkfe5". It's fair to say that the Real Women policy paper proposals on body image have stirred up quite a bit of debate: in the press, on TV & radio, in the blogosphere and, I also hope, in the pub, around the dinner table and over a cup of coffee. Lots of women (and a few men) have got in touch to say they're glad someone is finally trying to tackle the huge pressure on women to ...

Posted by Jo Swinson MP on Liberal Democrat Voice

A report published by CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) says what many of us have been saying for a long time - that today's homes are just too small for a decent lifestyle. Coining the phrase 'rabbit hutch Britain', Richard Simmons, CABE's Chief Executive, thinks he knows who is at fault: "Housebuilders often [...]

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing

Since my last posting Tory Bear has been busy, he has blogged about how Tom Miller who was Draper's secretary at LabourList and now works with the Recess Monkey on Game Changer has become a PPC in a seat he has no chance of winning. Tory Bear has then moved on and blogged about how he thinks Labour blogger Kerron Cross who quit blogging a few weeks ago could be getting a job at Game Changer! The Bear really loves attacking Miller, I don't know what they have against each other but mind you I have a duel of my ...

Posted by Irfan Ahmed on Irfan Ahmed's Blog

Local Government consultant, Jeff Jones and the Welsh Local Government Association join forces in this morning's Western Mail to argue that Welsh councils are facing their worst financial crisis since the 1930s and will be forced both to make cuts and hike service charges: "My view when I was a councillor in the 1980s was it was tough, but I still believe that local government is facing its toughest crisis it has ever faced since the 1930s. "It isn't just cuts in money from central government, there's a lessening income from investments. "They're not getting the money they thought they ...

Posted by Freedom Central on Freedom Central

This blog has made the newspapers today with two Plaid Cymru MPs taking exception to some of the comments in a well-argued piece by contributor Jeremy Townsend here. Jeremy suggested that in a harsh political climate the Welsh Government needs to ensure that politicians should not be involved in deciding artistic priorities and that inevitable cuts to the heritage budget need to be delivered in a creative manner. He made the point that because the Eisteddfod was being held in a sparsely populated area it had received an additional £100,000 in grant this year despite having made a profit in ...

Posted by Freedom Central on Freedom Central
Wed 12th
08:10

Gumley's cricket field

At the top of Gumley village the road curves around the mysterious mound and then takes you to one of my favourite cricket grounds. It stands in open country with a single farmhouse in sight and merges into the surrounding fields. The fence most in evidence is the electric one keeping livestock off the square. That, as I remarked to a member of the family group who were playing on the outfield as he stepped gingerly over it to retrieve the ball, is not something you see on many cricket grounds. To the south are open views across the Welland ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

James Graham's excellent contribution on libertarianism reminds me that I've said some fairly nasty things about libertarianism in the past (I believe I went for "it commits gross historical and sociological negligence" the last time) but haven't taken the opportunity to extend and revise those remarks.It's worth reflecting, however, that I come at this as something of an amateur political

Posted by Gareth Aubrey on Long Despairing Young Something

The UK Border Agency has made a major faux pas in banning 60 Pakistani's from a trade and cultural visit from Lahore to its twin city Glasgow. The rejected visas of the 60 covered two groups a delegation of the District Government their failure to arrive meant that trades talks with local officials in Glasgow were called off, as only the deputy mayor was allowed a UK visa. All the delegation had been invited by Glasgow City Council. The cultural element was the return of the Patiala Pipe Band, who for the last four years have added colour to the ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

The US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was upset when she was asked about the thoughts of President Obama. Unfortunately it got translated as what were the thoughts of her husband. Hilary answered that she was the Secretary of State, not her husband, but the main point is that she was irritated by the question. Politicians are supposed to remain calm when questioned so regardless of the subject of the original question we found out that Hilary's public face can be one of annoyance. Even if the question had been about her husband she could have calmly answered that she ...

Posted by Michael Gradwell on Politics for Novices
Wed 12th
00:02

Thorpe park

Recently I went with some family members to THORPE PARK. This was my first ever visit to THORPE PARK and I have to say I was impressed.