This evening I attended Islington Liberal Democrats' traditional pre-Conference Pizza and Politics, at which local party members get the chance to discuss what will be coming up on the agenda (at Bournemouth, from this Saturday, in this instance). Islington South PC Bridget Fox chaired the event, at which presentations were made by Ruth Polling (of the ...

Posted by jonathanfryer on Jonathan Fryer

There has been a long string of phone calls to the house tonight but the one that stands out was one of those calls from market research companies trying to build a profile of my shopping behaviour. I guess I wasn't much help.After asking if I could spare a few minutes to answer a few questions, I was asked, "Where do you do your food shopping." "We don't," I replied. "We grow our own food."

Posted by Jonathan Wallace on Jonathan Wallace

Senior Conservative Councillor Barry Macrae has recommended that empty shops in Bath should not be used for Charity organisations to use. In a council watchdog committee looking at how the Council uses it large property portfolio to benefit local communities and charitable organisations, Cllr Macrae stated that he did not want to see empty Council properties use for charity shops. Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Member for the Economy, Cllr Colin Darracott, hit back at this saying, "During these difficult times there is a risk that the number of empty Council owned properties will increase and we should be looking at ...

Posted by David Dixon on Walcot Ward

I was a sixth-former and student in the 1980s. I was also a fairly 'Leftie' person before (and to some extent after) joining the Liberal party. So Margaret Thatcher is no friend of mine. Back then, I hated her with a passion and even now in the unlikely event of meeting her, I would find it difficult to extend ...

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing

If you promise me a call back within 2 working days, it'd be really nice if you had then actually made the call. Especially given you'd admitted you had lost my details in your system - but that wasn't a one-off error, but rather a systematic problem with thousands of your existing phone customers who signed up for a broadband trial. And more so given I'd pointed out to you how the software you supplied frequently fails to work on a machine with a fresh install of its operating system. And even more so given I'd pointed out problems with ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack's blog feed
Wed 16th
22:21

Off to Bournemouth

Apologies for not updating for a while. This weekend it is conference time and I am off to sunny (I hope) Bournemouth. The main items for me will be the various training that is on offer which I hope will strengthen my application to join the approved parliamentary candidates list - and as this is the last conference before the election there is lots of training on offer. Despite what Alan Duncan may think, the job of MP seems quite attractive to me - and although the chances of becoming a Lib Dem MP are very slim (and the chances ...

Posted by Keith Nevols on Keith Nevols

Virgin Media abandoned Chessington and Hook for nearly 24 hours. No TV, no cable broadband, although the phone was still working. I'm actually writing this on Word, with the hope that I can copy it to my blog once it's back. It feels as though I am writing in the dark. It's a shame because I wanted to share with you yesterday the Lib Dem policy paper called 'Real Women'. Instead of a text-heavy report we have been sent a lively and colourful magazine. It has already been commented on by the press, although they have mainly been salivating over ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Mary Reid

Whilst people are still suffering the effects of the recession, Labour and the Conservatives are engaged in a war of words - manoeuvring about how they will spin the next General Election. On Tuesday, Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor, launched his pamphlet for the 'Reform' think-tank, outlining in the most specific terms of any ...

Posted by nickperrylibdem on Nick Perry for Hastings & Rye
Wed 16th
21:56

New blog site!

I have changed my blog site from blogger to wordpress, so here is the new site:) http://myliberaldemocratpoliticalramblings.wordpress.com/ It offers more options so yeah, I decided a change was needed. Thanks

Posted by JaneWatkinson on My Liberal Democrat Political Ramblings...

Dear Michael, Please wear both MP and Minister's hat for this... We have some concerns about the consultation process for the proposed Academies for Hastings. Two weeks ago, a concerned local Lib Dem member sent various questions to ESCC via the consultation website, and no reply has been received. Also, my own emailed request to meet with the ...

Posted by nickperrylibdem on Nick Perry for Hastings & Rye
YouGov

We have a dogsitter. My lovely brother, [IMG: [info - personal] ] angeliiiii, has volunteered. He is a lovely brother and I love him much. The irony is that upon exiting my place of work this evening I went over on my ankle and it's now all huge and swollen and purple. So even though we have a dogsitter, I'm still not a happy bunny... I am watching Columbo in bed, with my foot elevated, desperately hoping to be able to walk tomorrow. This blog is proudly sponsored by

It would be pointless me reviewing the latest Vince Cable initiative-lots of people have already done it better than I can-suffice to say that his controversial views have been well received. But you can read the press release here and download the whole pamphlet here

Posted on birkdale focus

So, finally the "C" word is out in the open, cuts, cuts, cuts. We all knew it was coming. Vince Cable was first out of the blocks with his pamphlet 'Tackling the Fiscal Crisis: A recovery plan for the UK'. Vince outlined nine specific areas of potential savings that are identified as a start to a radical programme of reform, with the emphasis on controlling public spending, not higher taxes. Today's Scotsman has a fantastic editorial where it says "....we can only hope that both Mr Brown and ....David Cameron, are as honest as Mr Cable has been." "....the Liberal ...

Wed 16th
20:51

Out & About in Deganwy

Canvassed in Deganwy this afternoon and early evening and have to say Thank you to the residents who gave myself and the team a warm welcome. I was very encouraged indeed by the positive response on the doorstep. We never identified one single Labour supporter and that seems to back up the views that Labour are going to collapse here in The New Aberconwy Constituency and the UK in general. Also some interesting views regarding Plaid and their ability to influence in Westminster, an interesting campaign to come. Conwy Valley tomorrow evening.

Keith Floyd was a colourful character who died on the 14th September aged 65. The cause of death was a heart attack. He was a smoker and liked a drink. He never looked like he was in perfect health and he did have a stroke in 2002. I remember that I nearly got to see him in Morecambe but his show was cancelled for health reasons, but he did live life to the full and his last meal included Morecambe shrimps. His doctor had told him to stop drinking but he had still managed a glass of wine. The Government ...

Posted by Michael Gradwell on Politics for Novices

I used to love IDS when he was leader of the Tory Party. Slightly hapless, vague, lacking direction, uninspiring & ineffectual were words that summed up (probably unfairly) his stewardship of the Tory Party. However, opinions can change. In recent years IDS has cleverly created a niche of expertise for himself by becoming the Tories equivalent of Labour's Frank Field in becoming an independent minded expert on Social Security and benefits who is able to say the things that their party leaders are not brave enough to say. And so it is today in the latest proposals from IDS. I ...

Posted by Norfolk Blogger on Norfolk Blogger
Wed 16th
20:41

Old St Pancras Church

I have shown you Sir John Soane's mausoleum and The Hardy Tree in it its churchyard. Here is Old St Pancras itself. It is an oddly rural looking building for such an urban setting. When I arrived there were people coming and going. I thought I was going to achieve my ambition of getting inside to have a look. But when I reached the door there was a handwritten note saying: "PRIVATE BOOKING TODAY. THE CHURCH IS NOT OPEN TO VISITORS". If I were a believer I would be quite offended by that. I did consider faking a spiritual crisis ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

The Bowstring Bridge has made it into the new Private Eye. Unfortunately they refer to the Pump & Tap, the pub that is also threatened with demolition, as the "Pump & Tab". Shurely shome mishtake?

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

Oh dear. I had just regained my usual cheerful equilibrium when I looked at the shortlists for the Lib Dem Blog of the Year awards again. And I saw that Mark Reckons has not been shortlisted for the main award. I find this inexplicable. In my book he was one of the two favourites to win it. Rather than rant about cliques, let me be try to be constructive. Writing your blog posts in the style of essays or newspapers comment articles is a perfectly valid method. There are some excellent examples of blogs using this approach on the shortlists. ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

Yesterday saw the launch of Vince Cable's and the Lib Dems' plans for tackling the fiscal crisis, widely praised by commentators (though perhaps less so in Wales). Today it's not just the Guardian which is singing Vince's praises, the Economist's Bagehot is also writing In praise of Vince: The real winner of today's fiscal tussle, however, was Vince Cable. He published a pamphlet that I doubt will be widely read, but which offers some specific and credible ideas for restraining public spending. It isn't all Liberal Democratic policy yet, but much of it is likely to be. Neither Mr Brown, ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

I don't want to keep attacking Mark Oaten, but a myth about him is in danger of developing. It is fuelled both by Oaten himself and by his supporter Mark Littlewood. Let us be clear. Mark Oaten was not a dangerous, exciting politician brought down by a straitlaced press and public opinion. He was probably overpromoted when he was made Lib Dem shadow home secretary and his performance while in the rule was neither particularly impressive nor particularly liberal. As evidence I refer you to a post of mine from a couple of years ago. It reminds us that though ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England
Wed 16th
20:00

More on MFI

The 64 members of the MFI who sought asylum in India have now been detained in Tihar Jail New Delhi for 29 months, on charges of making false declarations to get Indian visas, and of burning their passports. They admit the visa charges but say they were desperate to escape from a country where they were vulnerable to charges of blasphemy which carry a maximum penalty of death. The UNHCR won't intervene, because India isn't a signatory of the Refugee Convention. And the Indians are understandably reluctant to grant the detainees permission to remain, whether as refugees or in any ...

Posted by Eric Avebury on Eric Avebury

Summary of the history of the case of the 64 members of the Mehdi Foundation International, detained in Tihar Jail, New Delhi The Mehdi Foundation International is a multi-faith organisation of the adherents of H H Ra Gohar Shahi, who revealed his Sufi teachings in 1980. The set of beliefs he taught are considered to be heretical, and blasphemous under the blasphemy laws of Pakistan, where conviction for this 'offence' is punishable by a maximum sentence of death. Many believers have served long prison sentences, and charges were made against HH Ra Gohar Shahi himself from 1997 onwards. In one ...

Posted by Eric Avebury on Eric Avebury

My colleague Sasha Gillard-Loft (councillor for Launceston South) has taken the lead on trying to sort out the mess of street parking in the town. As local residents are all too well aware, there is little or no enforcement of the parking rules in Launceston. This has a severe impact on visitors, locals and businesses. What people may not know is that the reason for the lack of enforcement is that many of the rules cannot legally be enforced. If a double yellow line is not correctly marked then no ticket can be issued. The same is true for loading ...

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

The Council is considering putting forward a bid to become the European Region of Culture in 2014 as well as UK City of Culture in 2013 and to host the European-wide Manifesta event in 2012 as part of the Cultural Olympiad. All of this is a very ambitious programme but it could have huge benefits. For a sizeable investment, there could be 5000 jobs created, 3000 new students at university in Cornwall and lasting cultural legacy. But none of this is guaranteed. I think it is right that we spend a small amount to see whether it is really possible, ...

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

Welcome to another in my occasional series on useful, interesting or controversial findings from academic studies of our politics and elections. Today it's turnout and the question, "Is voting habit forming?" In other words, if you persuade someone to go out and vote in one election, do you get a bonus benefit in that they are also then more likely to vote in future elections? That's the question David Cutts, Edward Fieldhouse and Peter John studied for their article in Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, Volume 19 Number 3. The study was a follow up to a practical ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice

The Cornwall Library Survey 2009 is under way. This is the chance for library users to make comments about local facilities, services on offer, staff and the number of books. I know from talking to officers that they take the results very seriously and I'd encourage all library users - whether you use them every week or just once a year - to fill in a form. It is quite apparent that the administration is considering cuts in the budget for next year and I want to make sure that valued library services are not targeted. So if you like ...

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

I've finally (after waiting since May) got a reply from officers to my concerns about the play areas on the Ridgegrove Estate. I wrote concerned about the litter and dog mess there as well as the generally unkempt state of the areas and the lack of decent modern play facilities. It has also been noted that someone decided to take away the soft landing mats and so the areas underneath swings have turned into a mud bath. There will now be a formal audit of the play facilities in the area on October 8th and there should be action to ...

Posted by Alex on A Lanson Boy

What a horrible day this is for Formula 1. I always thought the day that Renault Team Principal Flavio Briatore, a man I have absolutely no time for whatsoever, left the sport would be a day when I'd hang out the bunting and have a party. The circumstances of his departure, however, are very bad news for the sport. Next Monday, the Renault team will face a World Motor Sport Council hearing to determine whether allegations made by Nelson Piquet Jr, the driver Renault sacked earlier this Summer, were true. Piquet had told the FIA that he had deliberately crashed ...

Posted by Caron on Caron's Musings

This news item may explain what a little of what the police activity near me was last night. A body has been found in a house in Balbardie Crescent in Bathgate reports say today. It appears that a body was found in the house according to a police spokesman for Lothian and Borders police has confirmed but investigations are currently at an early stage. In a statement L&B police say: "We can confirm that a major inquiry ahs been launched on Wednesday, following the discovery of what appears to be a body within a house in Bathgate, West Lothian." Neighbours ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Linlithgow Journal
DataFlame

Just in case you've forgotten what the hardcore BNP activist is REALLY like: Sickening

Posted by John on Liberal Revolution

Just a reminder that it's Open House London this weekend. Thirteen buildings in Lewisham will open to the public, including three in our immediate area - click through for details: Boone's Chapel, Lee High Road Manor House Gardens Ice House Manor House Library You can view all the Lewisham properties opening their doors here.

Further to my post yesterday on the benefits of prescribing heroin, I'd today like to reflect on the language used to sell drug reforms to the public.In the mind of the public, the name Heroin is understandably associated with many negative connotations. It is linked to property crime, prostitution, gangs and decline. Heroin is seen as the cause of society's problems. So if a reformer says, "I

Posted by Duncan Stott on Split Horizons

Two weeks ago Sky News's political editor Adam Boulton launched a campaign to to get the leaders of Britain's three main political parties to take part in a televised debate at the general election. Lib Dem Voice asked Adam to pitch his arguments in favour to our readers, and he gamely said yes... Liberal Democrats know what it feels like. You've got a brilliant idea, it's so obvious it just has to be right. But your competitors make patronising noises about your initiative, while trying to work how they can nick it for themselves. That's how I feel about Leaders' ...

Posted by Adam Boulton on Liberal Democrat Voice

I have always been firmly pro-choice. Not pro-abortion - no-one would wish that any woman would have to go through what must be a traumatic and upsetting experience - but someone who believes that at the end of all discussions it is unreasonable and dangerous to force a woman to carry a baby she cannot ...

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing

I've mentioned before about tax credits, how one third of claims made end up being overpaid, resulting in the unfortunate recipients having to repay money they thought they were fully entitled to, and have probably already spent, what with being poor and all. In fact, as a further 1/3 are conversely underpaid by the system, what's significant is that the people for whom tax credits actually work as they are supposed to are very much in the minority. But hey, the system is a nightmare in practice, we all knew that already surely? So let's look at the idea in ...

Posted by Mike on The Atomium

Watch any recent news item about Afghanistan, and the chances are you will only hear about it from a military perspective, and not hear a peep out of any of the country's women. You'd be forgiven for thinking that women are restricted to a ghost like presence scuttling in the shadows covered from head to toe in a burkha. Five years ago, we were told that traditional taboos were easing and with the West pushing for women to participate in democracy, millions of Afghan women eagerly registered and then voted for a presidential candidate. In a few districts, female turnout ...

Posted by Meral Hussein Ece on Meral's Musings

Been a while since I've done an afternoon quickie, but I wanted to draw a tiny bit more attention to this post over on Heresy Corner: Three trillion. I don't know what that is. Technically, of course, I know what it is: it's three followed by twelve zeroes. I just don't know what it looks like. If for every pound this government has wasted you scooped out a teaspoonful of earth, the resulting hole (by my very approximate calculation) would be about 15 million cubic metres. That's big enough to swallow the Great Pyramid six times. Thanks a lot, Gordon. ...

Posted by Charlotte Gore on Charlotte Gore

Over the last week or so, Lib Dem Voice has invited the members of our private forum (open to all Lib Dem members) inviting them to take part in a survey, conducted via Liberty Research, asking a number of questions about the party and the current state of British politics. Many thanks to the almost 200 of you who completed it; we're publishing the results on LDV over the next few days. You can catch up on the results of our exclusive LDV members' surveys by clicking here. First up, LDV asked: What is your view of Nick Clegg's performance ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: mark-oaten] Some Liberal Democrats are aghast- but not necessarily surprised - that Mark Oaten is in the newspapers again. This time with a lengthy article in The Independent providing excerpts from his new book, the rather bluntly-titled Screwed Up! I was the Head of Media for the party during the protracted downfall of Charles Kennedy and the subsequent leadership race. On the Saturday that the news about Mark Oaten broke, I was just about to head the south coast to watch Saints lose at home again, when I received a call from Chris Rennard asking if I could be ...

Posted by Mark Littlewood on Liberal Vision

Yet another Labour/Tory head to head that sheds about as much light as a diamond in a coalmine. Yet another wasted opportunity in which we could have put out our stall. If you're not in the fight you're merely spectating. When people watch a boxing ring very few are taking in the full picture (ie the ...

Posted by John on Liberal Revolution

I was delighted to learn earlier today that Friends of Magdalen Green has won the environment category of the Dundee Partnership Awards 2009. The Friends have worked hard over the past few years to protect and enhance Magdalen Green, and a great debt of gratitude is owed to our first chair, the late Sheila Roy, who did so much to establish and grow the group's activities. It is fitting that our Vice Chair Angela received news from the Dundee Partnership today - Sheila's birthday. The Friends will receive a small cash award to help its activities and a trophy and ...

Humans have "Take your dog to work day" today, so in keeping with the spirit of that, me and my cousins are holding a "Take your human to work day" today. Woof woof. Related posts:If I was a human, I would be buying... ... this t-shirt. Woof woof! ...Good news from Greenland Christmas card and bone have arrived from my cousins in...Has Chairman Mao taken up residence at The Guardian A little Friday afternoon quiz for my two-legged friends. How...

Posted by Pink Dog on Mark Pack » Pink Dog

This is the third in a small series of articles with what every delegate needs to know about Conference. See also our posts on how you don't have to be a registered delegate to attend fringe and training events, and how to be a voting rep at conference even if you weren't elected to that position at your local party's AGM. This is perhaps the area where I am least qualified to speak, since I have never given a speech to Conference in the eight or so years I have been attending. But I have noticed there's very clear and ...

Posted by Alex Foster on Liberal Democrat Voice

The most colourful boss on the Formula One Grid Flavio Briatore and his executive director of engineering Pat Symonds are walking away from the Renault Team. It comes days before the team of the Italian former boss of the Benetton team was to answer questions about Nelson Piquet Jr's crash in last years Singapore Grand Prix. An incident that required the safety car to come out as there was debris all over the track in the early stages of F!'s first night race. His team mate former World Champion Fernando Alonso had come into the pits early two laps before ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

The Conservatives have expelled their longest serving MEP and former leader Edward McMillan-Scott.

It has taken a generation but at last the old inadequate canteen at Farnborough Rd Schools is going! The full story is best found on the school's website with lots of photos the children have taken. The schools have almost a thousand primary age pupils and as such is one of the biggest in the country. The old single brick structure with its 'tin' roof was erected as a temporary structure decades ago. After much lobbying and pushing the project is now underway. The completed building may be available for community use which is in short supply in Birkdale.

Posted on birkdale focus

Meeting with residents about flooding issues Cllr. Hall & I met with a group of neighbours in Beddington Gardens to hear about the flooding problems they were experiencing more regularly. The man whose house we were in had previously come to surgery to tell us about the problem and had insisted that we visit and watch ...

Posted by jaynemccoy on Diary of a Sutton Councillor

Next in my series on lost causes that are suddenly being taken up comes PR. In recent times Industrial Democracy has re-emerged and allotments (don't laugh. it was a vote on allotments that once brought down a Tory Government) and now PR is back. Lib Dem Voice reported the Lord High Mandy's view yesterday and today in the Times Roy Hattersley declares himself as a convert: I admit to arguing the case for PR with the zeal of a recent convert. My mind has been changed by disappointment. Ten years of timid Labour government has convinced me that under the ...

Posted on birkdale focus

If this story by Guido is true, it's hilarious! They can't even get enough people to pay to come to their conference anymore. This quite possibly stems from the fact that a normal party member at Labour Conference has virtually no influence over policy making at all. Why would they bother to pay to go?

Posted by Chris Lovell on Christopher Lovell

There is of course a deluge of comment on Brown's TUC speech (see yesterday's piece). Some are word-counting: Brown used the C word, so he has finally come clean about Cuts. As Brian Groom says, "semantics matter". Other commentators (Polly waiting for the detail; FT Leader claiming he flunked the test) seem to agree with me thatmore detail is needed. Nothing Brown said gave us much of a clue of what department will lose what cash. So, just by saying Cuts, is Brown being honest? I think not. When the Prime Minister first tried to squirm out of the realisation ...

The taxpayers alliance aren't representing me with this article. Are they representing you? Here is my comment in response to the blog post that I have posted on their website: There are several problems with your arguments against prescription. Firstly, not including the criminal act of taking heroin, nearly all of heroin addicts' crimes will be acquisitive crimes to fund the drugs that will cost them around £400-£600 per week. If you reduce the cost of this habit to zero, you remove the need to commit crime to fund it and so are likely to greatly reduce your criminal ...

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

Haven't done a star of the week for a while but surely no one is more deserving than Eddie Izzard and his 43 marathons up and down the UK for Sport Relief. If you didn't get to sponsor him, you can still donate here, read his blog here, read about the event here. What a star!

Posted by Trisha xx on ripplestone review

And another reason to hate the TUC: The predominantly male Trade Union Congress yesterday backed a motion decrying the stiletto heel as a sexist health and safety hazard. Activists claimed that while glamorous footwear is appropriate for the 'Hollywood catwalk', many women are compelled to totter around in vertiginous shoes. Union leaders insisted that female workers should instead sport 'sensible shoes' to avoid injuries and long term foot and back problems. Women wear high heels in the work place largely because they want to. Someone is going to have to explain to me how the male members of the TUC ...

Posted by Sara Scarlett on Liberal Vision

I apologise from the outset, but this is going to be one of those posts that not everyone understands. If you're not technical, or if your diary is still entirely paper based, look away now. Neil McGovern, a Cambridge City councillor, has grepped the conference directory so that you don't have to. He's written a program that scrapes the information about the training and fringe events (including LDV's fringe fiesta) and plugs them into a Google Calendar. This means that if you use GCal yourself, you can import all those events into your diary – and from there, straight into ...

Posted by Alex Foster on Liberal Democrat Voice

The unions will start to lose a lot of sympathy for their cause if they allow actions like this to continue. When I've heard reports of refuse workers who are having to empty bins with scarves round their faces to hide their identities because they are so scared of what the striking workers will do, I lose all sympathy that I have for their cause too. Unless the unions tackle this behviour by their members then they may find that the people of Leeds are not as forgiving of the strike as they have been so far!

Posted by Chris Lovell on Christopher Lovell

'I've not felt this well for ages Keith Floyd's last words (after champagne and oysters)

Posted by Alison Wheeler on AlisonW - mostly harmless

Less than two days till we're meant to be setting off for conference and it's all gone horribly wrong AGAINThe major problem is that dog-sitter has cancelled. It's kind of understandable - one of the other dogs he looks after from time to time is owned by an old lady, and she's had a fall and gone into hospital, so he's got her dog and thus no room for ours - but WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN??? ARGH! Any volunteers gratefully received... Holly has been off school sick all week, so not only does this mean that the house is ...

The Conservative selection of their Mayor candidate in Bedford was, on any sensible meaning of the words, a caucus, not a primary. A caucus requires people to turn up to a meeting and sit there for a while before casting a vote. A primary simply requires people to vote. They've both got their pros and cons - most simply, a primary gets more people involved, a caucus requires more commitment from those who get involved. But it's just a route to confusion to start calling caucuses primaries. (Even if you're tempted because primary = Exciting! Modern! Good! and caucus = ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack's blog feed

Have you caught any of BBC Four's "This is Scotland" season? Because some of it makes you think, 'No, it really isn't'. A rare showing of Culloden was impressive, only a few weeks after I praised it, but as for last weekend's outing for Brigadoon... It's a textbook example of a story which, when someone tells it to you in a few lines, really captures your imagination - but which, when you actually sit through it, makes a terrible movie. An enchanted old village appearing from the mist just once a century... What could possibly go wrong? Go on, guess. ...

Posted by Alex Wilcock on Love and Liberty

... courtesy of Unite Against Fascism. Complaining about the BBC's proposal to invite a BNP representative to appear on Question Time, UAF wrote: "As a publicly funded body, the BBC in particular has a duty to oppose racism. Black, Asian, Jewish and LGBT people pay the licence fee too." Yes, because all Black, Asian, Jewish and LGBT people agree with your (failed) tactic of refusing to challenge the BNP in debate, do they? And because Black, Asian, Jewish and LGBT people care more about combating bigotry than everyone else? (So much for uniting against facism.) Well done UAF, you've just ...

Posted by Jonny Wright on Hug A Hoodie

Am I unusual in being irritated by attention grabbing headlines and sensationalism in news stories. When reading a story logically I find the substance more mundane than the headline and tone suggests, am I wrong to feel annoyed? Yesterday in many publications came the headline "showers could make you ill". Turned out the real story was that a third of showers are dirty and really should be cleaned before they make you ill. Today there's a headline saying climate change could cause health problems, written in such a way as to suggest my reaction should be shock. When on reading ...

I've got a few blogs on my "would like to follow in my feed reader, but there are just too many posts" list. The blogs are mostly full of fun or interesting posts; reading them all is too much, never reading them is being a bit too puritanical with my time. What I'd really like to do is to subscribe to a feed that only includes, say, 1 in 10 of the original posts. So, what's the best way to do this? Related posts:Ten top internet tips for councillors Cross-posted from Dave Press, where I did a guest slot...My favourite ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack's blog feed

Here is a link to the minutes from yesterdays meeting.

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

Interesting article in this morning's Western Mail about a new service in which drug addicts in Swansea are to get advice on subjects such as "how not to overdose" sent to their mobile phones. What is most interesting is the difference in attitude between two high profile and key Tory spokespeople. On the one hand the regions Conservative Assembly Member Alun Cairns, says: "The cascade of drug information might be useful provided it's not presented in a way that gives the impression that drugs are acceptable or tolerated. Information about drugs should always contain the information that drugs destroy lives ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black AM
Wed 16th
09:05

Voodoo psephology

With such a catchy title this post has to be about the Guardian and indeed, one of their reporters has managed to ease himself from behind his comfy London desk this morning so as to consult a map to refresh his memory as to where exactly Wales is. Any indication that he actually crossed the Severn Bridge to meet and talk to voters and get a feel for the political landscape before setting fingers on keyboard is missing from the article. The fact that he ended with the line: 'Land of my fathers no more' suggests that he accidentally picked ...

Posted by Peter Black on Freedom Central

Yesterday I commented that Polly Toynbee's support was not only based on a number of false statements, but also appeared to be merely toeing the party line. Today comes the evidence of a new PoliticsHome poll, which shows not only the depth of public opposition to the proposed Independent Safeguarding Authority, but also the party political split ...

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing

The new London Tube map is out, and overall it's a big improvement on the most recent versions. There's been a thorough decluttering, removing a lot of the fiddly, little used detail which usually gets added because someone says "But we must include..." and no-one replies "Putting more and more on a piece of paper doesn't mean you get more and more over to its readers". Here are the old and new versions (click on pictures for fuller versions): [IMG: London Tube map: previous version] [IMG: London Tube map: new edition] Aside from the improvements, the new map has three ...

Posted by Pink Dog on Mark Pack » Pink Dog

Welcome to Daily View. Today is the anniversary of Black Wednesday, and bunny hops for today's birthday boys: Henry V and Russ Abbot. 2 Big News Stories Wor Vince has fleshed out Lib Dem policy on how to respond to the parlous state of public finance – and Michael White approves. Number crunchers at the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, whose own estimate of the required squeeze will be published tomorrow, call his nine suggestions a "state-of-the-art shopping list". As so often with Lib Dem ideas, it includes some which bigger parties are closing in on: trimming tax credit for ...

Posted by Alex Foster on Liberal Democrat Voice

Later: Details here. The following press release reaches me, but I am not sure precisely where it comes from: On Thursday 17 September, Vince Cable MP will give a lecture at the University of Leicester entitled The Economy: The Way Forward. Vincent Cable has been an MP for Twickenham since 1997. He read Natural Science and Economics at Cambridge University, where he was President of the Union, followed by a PhD at Glasgow University. He worked as Treasury Finance Officer for the Kenya Government, then lectured at Glasgow University in economics; worked as a first Secretary in the Diplomatic Service ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

Good news. Musical Ruth, the nun with the mobile electric piano who was a highlight of Market Harborough Arts Fresco, has her own website. With video. There is also some footage of the day on the Harborough Mail website.

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England
Wed 16th
07:31

It's a Matter of Trust

Peter Riddell in today's Times looks at a Populus Poll on the most trusted politicians. Top of the list comes Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable who is more trusted by Tory voters than William Hague, George Osbourne or Boris Johnson. He also scores over 53.4 on the scale of 0-100 of trust with Labour voters too. The only other leading politician to score over 50 with the supporters of another party is Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who is also the third most trusted non-Labour politician behind Cable and Johnson, only just 0.1 behind the London Mayor. Overall the ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Linlithgow Journal

At a time when trust in politicians is at an all-time low, it seems that voters are saying 'Hooray for Vince Cable. A poll in today's Times places the LibDem's Shadow Chancellor as the most trusted politician in the country, especially by Conservatives who have more faith in him than they have in George Osborne, their ...

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing
Wed 16th
06:35

The ISA To My CRB

The government likes its three letter acronyms. A few years ago, in response to the Bichard Inquiry, Labour decided to implement a brand new "vetting and barring" scheme. As usual, it was a typical Whitehall reinvention of the wheel. The government already had its own vetting and barring scheme. It had existed for a long time in ...

Posted by The Futility Monster on The Futility Monster

As has already been discerned on a number of blogs the rather Welsh Liberal Democrats' chaotic response to Vince Cable's Reform pamphlet setting out proposals for tackling the fiscal crisis was not planned. It has been described as a cock-up and actually that is not far from the truth. Contrary to some claims the Welsh Party was consulted on the contents of the pamphlet, however when it was sent to us it did not contain the suggestion that the St Athan project should be scrapped. It seems that this was added later and at a time when our staff member ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black AM
Wed 16th
05:17

Regional Waste

Waste affects us all and is one of the biggest environmental challenges facing us. North Wales has historically had a poor record of managing waste sustainably. We have an over reliance on dumping in landfill sites. Some of this waste is a potential resource which can be re-used, recycled, composted or treated to produce energy derived fuel. Llandulas landfill site will be full in about seven years time, so we need to find a solution, one of my meetings this week will be looking at this problem. Five North wales authorities are working together to find a solution to this ...

I'm really chuffed to have been nominated for the Tim Garden award - the annual award for the best blog from a Lib Dem holding public office. The awards will be announced at Lib Dem conference next week. Once agin, I'm up against tough competition - Peter Black AM (who won last year), Dundee's Cllr Fraser MacPherson, by-election winner Willie Rennie MP and fellow Lewisham Councillor Pete Pattisson. My personal favourite is Fraser's blog, which is always full of local news - and shows how much hard work he does for his ward. I was also pleased to see that ...

Hello from Vermont! I'm currently in the States with my day job, looking at the award-winning Community Land Trust in Burlington, Vermont - the Champlain Housing Trust. We've been looking at schemes like the one on the right - permanently affordable homes on land held in trust on behalf of the community. That particular scheme brought an abandoned corner store back into use as a commercial unit with two affordable apartments above it. We've also been meeting with local politicians, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Mayor Bob Kiss and local councillors. As a politics-and-housing geek, it doesn't get much better than ...

Wed 16th
01:50

The BOTYs!

I'd better post this now, in the middle of the night, while no-one's paying attention. It seems that I've been very generously nominated by my fellow Lib Dems for some shiny awards and the judges have, in their wisdom, put me in the shortlist for 3 categories, which is wonderful - thank you very much. I think I can speak for most of the shortlistees when I say that the competition this year is terrifying. I'll hopefully be three sheets before they start reading out the results. While you're over on Lib Dem Voice looking at the lists, there's a ...

Posted by Charlotte Gore on Charlotte Gore

I found out earlier today that I have been nominated for the 'Best use of blogging/social networking/e-campaigning by a Liberal Democrat' award in the national Lib Dem Voice Blog of the Year Awards 2009. This came as a complete surprise to me. I have been nominated for my innovative use of Facebook and Twitter as part of our local Lib Dem campaign for better standards in the private rented housing sector in Reading which was also featured in The Times earlier this year. Facebook was the obvious medium for me to use for this campaign (given that many people living in private rented housing tend to be young and ...

Posted by Cllr Daisy Benson on Redlands Liberal Democrats

As well as whisky tastings, I go to similar events for other drinks too. This one being for an Armagnac house. Armagnac is "the other brandy", that shouldn't be confused with cognac. Darroze mature and bottle armagnacs from lots of small vineyards and distillers in the Bas Armagnac region, but generally release them as seperate bottlings per vineyard and vintage.I didn't know much about armagnac before tonight. I feel not only somewhat refreshed but also edumacated. Hurrah! Even so, my tasting notes are somewhat incomplete, because not being much of a brandy drinker, I don't really have the vocabulary to ...

Posted by david on Dave's Free Press

Good grief. Who put Lily Allen up to this? It has become a cliche to bemoan politicians for not "getting it" but where does one start? The whole POINT about file-sharing is that it enables artists to by-pass record companies. This massive debt that Allen complains about is part of an old, outmoded business plan. To complain about it is to give the game away about what it is that the music industry is really seeking to defend here. And mix tapes are crap quality? Oh really? So before the internet we didn't have vinyl, tape and CDs and had ...

Posted by James Graham on Quaequam Blog!
Wed 16th
00:33

The party left him

I was reading some of the comments on Conservative Home (it was quiet night) about Edward McMillan-Scott being expelled from the Conservative Party and noticed that many were demanding that he should resign as an MEP. The reasoning behind this is that he was elected as a Conservative MEP from the party list, and as he is no longer a member of the Conservative Party he doesn't have the right to continue as an MEP. Now, I'll admit to the usual politician's bias on this issue – if someone defects to my party, they're doing it as a matter of ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

Jenni Russell has written an article attacking ContactPoint, the much maligned national children's database that the government are still insisting on trotting out. The only problem is, she has written it as a piece of Tory hagiography. We might be able to let her off the title – Another invasion of liberty. And only the Tories are alert – as a bit of subbing hyperbole. I've written enough articles for newspapers over the years to know this happens. But she can't blame the sub for the final paragraph: Labour will not reverse this; only the Tories might. They promise to ...

Posted by James Graham on Quaequam Blog!
Wed 16th
00:19

The week so far: Part I

Well, it's only Tuesday but it feels like the end of the week already: I've had meetings coming out of my ears again. On Monday I attended my first meeting of the LGA Safer Communities Board where topics for discussion included the forthcoming Policing White Paper and plans by the Home Office for a new strategy to stop violence against women. It's difficult to know how much of this stuff will get implemented by the government with a General Election expected within the year - but we had an interesting discussion nonetheless. You can find the agenda and minutes of the last Board meeting here. My ...

Posted by Cllr Daisy Benson on Redlands Liberal Democrats

I was fascinated by the advert for an Adult Christmas decoration workshop on the Redbridge Council web site. There are two sessions - one for beginners, one for improvers, but nothing for those who are fluent. And the advert woos potential participants with the information that 'one circular ring, moss, and silver birch logs' are provided. Now knowing that the ...

Posted by Sara on Always win when you're singing