Well it's the last day at this years Lib Dem conference. Usually the leaders speech is about lunchtime and there is not much on in the morning. This year though the speech was pushed back which allowed more time to discuss more policies. Of particular interest was a motion on the governments "Decent Homes" programme. The scheme, much trumpeted by Labour but in reality a plan to bring council homes up for a minimum standard, has been cut back onto and there are real problems with its implementation, noth in Gateshead and Nationally. Then Nicks speech. It was great and ...
The unmitigated evil of Count Packula, Prince of Markness, knows no bounds. He has put up a YouTube of part of the blogger interview with Nick Clegg. It may be of interest to those of you who like the internet, and are concerned about file-sharing. It might also be of interest to those of you who want to point and laugh at me. Christ I need to lose weight. And work on my posture. Eurgh. (link here) I'm blogging this to distract me from the terrible misrepresentation of my party by Digby Jones and Michael Hesletine on Question Time. Laws ...
David Mitchell on tonight's "Mock the Week", an absolutely fabulous rant, in which he said that whenever we come up with any great policies (which is of course most of the time) it precludes it being adopted by the other two ...
I spoke at a meeting of PAPH, the Plymouth Association of Primary Heads, this lunchtime. Both the Conservative shadow education minister and I set out our parties' policies for primary schools, and then faced a battery of questions from the 40 or so PAPH members present. The key LibDem policies in this area are: a cut in class sizes for 5-7 year olds to just 15 children; that's the sort of level seen in private schools (paid for by abolishing the billions spent every year on the Child Trust Fund) a pupil premium - more money going to schools for ...
It's Thursday, it's 10.35 pm ... it's BBC1's Question Time. The series opens tonight in Bournemouth, setting of this week's Lib Dem conference. The party's representative is David Laws, the MP for Yeovil who succeeded Paddy Ashdown. A leading light of the 'Orange Bookers', who aroused the hostility of may Lib Dem activists for proposing a social insurance model for healthcare in the lead-up to the 2005 general election, he has gained growing respect even among his critics for his forensic approach to education policy as the Lib Dems' shadow secretary of state for children, schools and families. Joining David ...
There was an interesting political line-up at Toynbee Hall in East London this evening, when I (representing the Liberal Democrats) spoke alongside Peter Tatchell (Green Party candidate for Oxford East), Cllr Peter Golds (Leader of the Conservative Group on Tower Hamlets Council) and a member of staff from local Respect MP George Galloway's office, at ...
[IMG: lynne-featherstone1] I am on the National Executive of Freedom2Choose, a pro choice smoking group was a guest of Liberal Vision at this year's Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth. Last year I had gone to the Conservative Party conference for the Free Society fringe meeting but needed a pair of binoculars to see the podium. I assumed this was the norm. So, it was with a certain amount of incredulity that stumbling back from dinner I walked into Paddy Ashdown and Nick Clegg sharing a beer and having a chat on the steps of the conference hotel. I can't imagine ...
I went to the Fresher's Fair at Swansea University today with Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams where all the political parties had quite conveniently been grouped together in the same area. The Welsh Liberal Democrats stall was sandwiched between the Socialists and the Tories, with Plaid Cymru at one end and Labour a few stalls away in the opposite direction. As usual it was quite lively and very noisy with students showing lots of interest in joining or finding out more about the Liberal Democrats. Shortly after I left to go to a conference on homelessness in Llanelli I ...
With thanks to Friends of Dundee Botanic Garden for permitting me to update residents about their forthcoming Winter Talks : WINTER TALKS The talks will be held in the Education Centre at the Garden commencing at 7.00 p.m. After the illustrated talk there will be a short question and answer session followed by tea/coffee. The evening will end at approximately 9.00 p.m. All welcome. Come along and bring your friends. Free car parking. Wednesday 18th November 2009 - Clare Reaney the Horticultural Technician at the Garden will give a talk entitled "Plant Conservation in Hawaii" Wednesday 17th February 2010 - ...
Residents have contacted me about the overgrown grass at the advertising area on the corner of Perth Road and Ryehill Lane. I contacted JC Decaux UK Ltd who own the site and am impressed by a super-fast response within hours of e-mailing their Regional Operations Manager : "Fraser Please leave this one with me and I will have this attended to ASAP."
Max Atkinson, the speaking guru credited with turning Paddy Ashdown into an orator, has an article on his blog about Nick Clegg's speech at Bournemouth yesterday. He writes of the "noticeable absences" in Nick's speech - no mention of the Conference rows over tuition fees and the "mansion tax" - and comments tellingly on his mode of delivery: Given Mr Clegg's obsession with not being regarded as a clone of Tory leader David Cameron, repeated in yesterday's speech with jokes about Brad Pitt, I remain baffled as to why insists on aping the management guru-apparently unscripted-walkabout style of delivery that ...
Earlier this month, I updated residents regarding the proposals for this year's West End Christmas Week - see http://tinyurl.com/xmasfactor09 (or click on headline above). We had another, very positive, meeting of the Christmas Week Committee this afternoon, to further progress West End Xmas Factor 2009. The week is taking great shape ... for further information, drop me an e-mail at xmasfactor@frasermacpherson.org.uk - many thanks!
Last week's Politics Home poll provided another example of what both public and private party research has consistently shown for at least 15 years. The biggest obstacle to persuading people to vote Liberal Democrat isn't getting them to agree with a particular policy or to like a particular candidate or leader. It's persuading people that we can win in that constituency or ward. In last week's PoliticsHome poll 44% said they would "definitely" or "probably" Liberal Democrat if we had "a serious chance of winning in your constituency". That finding is nothing new as you can see, for example, from ...
Apparently the Tories want to openly politicise the BBC by positively discriminating in favour of recruiting Tor members as BBC journalists. Another ploy by the Tories to ruin the BBC and a sign that the Tories care little for unbiased news gathering. Hat Tip to Irfan Ahmed
"Rules regulating property are absolutely necessary for the well-being of mankind. But remove the interests of society, and ownership rights would be reduced to forms of superstition." David Hume from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: On Justice So a date has been set for Aberdeenshire Council to decide on Donald's Trump to use Compulsory Purchase Orders for his own commercial gain, that date is October 1. It was one thing that I wasn't able to tell all those interested fellow Liberal Democrats while I was down at Bournemouth as I have only heard about the setting of the date today. ...
The Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said two weeks ago that "We are tantalisingly close to beating swine flu". Anyone with any medical knowledge would know that this was a stupid comment to make. Although flu numbers were at the time falling, it was obvious that this was down to the school holidays. This was made even more obvious by the fact that flu numbers started falling first in Scotland (where they go on holiday first) and then started to rise again in Scotland (when they returned earlier than in England and Wales). So knowing this, why did Sir Liam ...
So, Gordon Brown's Labour government is going ahead with it's cost cutting, and that is fine cuts have to got be made and all the political parties are currently setting out their stalls on this. However, this in my opinion is one cut too far. All members of our Armed Forces have now been advised that the British Forces Post Office facilities in mainland Europe will be shut down in September 2010. What this means in reality is that any armed forces personnel and their families who currently enjoy the same postal rates as the UK will no longer be ...
Being invited to submit a post to the aggregate blog of a political party is like being a cuckoo receiving an invitation by carrier pigeon to rest in a nest normally occupied by hungry, chirping chicks. But since Ben Lloyd and Ali Goldsworthy have been so generous in contributing articles to WalesHome this week, blogging for Freedom Central is an offer it would have been churlish to refuse. As Ali wrote on Tuesday, Lib Dems "support the freedom of the individual, it's why we trust that they will make the right decisions." In that spirit, I hope my decision to ...
Taken verbatum from the WLDC press release: "West Lindsey District Council is to consider a report on potential fraud and mismanagement in its planning department. The item will be taken in private session at a meeting of the full council on Monday (September 28). In a statement, the Council said that potential problems in the management of the planning service had been brought to its attention
Alix Mortimer of the LDV parish rounded up some of the best commentary on the Lib Dem conference here on Sunday – let me try and bring the story up-to-date ... First up, James Graham has had an active conference, popping up a couple of times at the Guardian's Comment Is Free blog. One was penned jointly with Neal Lawson of Compass – A camp site not a big tent – and made an unabashed pitch for social liberals and liberal socialists – whether they count themselves as Lib Dems, Labour, Greens or even nationalists – to come together in ...
I never thought I would say this: The Liberal Democrats have a genuine chance to win the next general election. There. I've said it. This is a fairly big change in my thinking, as I am sure you will see from below. Might this be the hubris of conference, I hear you ask? Have you been ...
Matthew Taylor, the Liberal Democrat MP for Truro and St Austell, has been elected as the new chair of the National Housing Federation at its AGM in Birmingham. He will serve a three-year term. He will stand down as an MP at the next general election.
Chimney Pot Park is the place to be this Saturday where there will be plenty of entertainment for all the family. From 2pm-3pm, there's a talent showcase – where you can get involved. Call Linda on 07534 969007 to book your place. From 3pm-5.30pm, there are top Salford bands, live on stage – Girl Peculiar, The Planets, The Harpbreakers, Out of Order and Glam 69. f you want to enter the Bake A Cake Competition just bring it along to try to win in the Best Tasting or Best Decorated categories Junior, Senior and Adult. There's loads more happening too ...
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon put together a climate summit that was designed to lay the groundwork for the Copenhagen talks in December, however Czech ODS President Klaus has another strop. Reuters has the story..
The BBC reports: A Dorset prison has removed anti-bacterial hand gel pumps after an inmate is thought to have got drunk drinking from them.This gel is now everywhere. I don't want to spoil anybody's fun, but as swine flu is caused by a virus, does anti-bacterial gel do anything to prevent its spread?
The Conservative Shadow Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is developing a worrying habit. In his two years in the post, he has come out with numerous criticisms of the operation of the BBC. These include: Jonathan Ross being paid too much.Scheduling Strictly Come Dancing at the same time as The X-Factor.Spending too much on its newer digital platforms.While these comments did raise an eyebrow (the
An interesting article by David Herdson on politicalbetting.com asks if the party now lacks a unique selling proposition. I agree with him when he says "Third parties trying to sound like governments end up sounding deluded (because no-one expects them to win) and / or irrelevant (because the bigger parties are likely to be saying something similar)." Our messages still amount to a policy shopping list - not an understandable narrative. UPDATE: I agree with a lot of what Simon Jenkins says in his biting article on Tuesday. I missed this at Bournemouth. Thanks to those who have brought it ...
Welcome to this very special bumper conference edition of our occasional LDV feature, YouTube 'cos we want to, featuring some of the most memorable moments from the past week. For those Lib Dems who've been isolated inside the 'Bournemouth bubble', missing out on all the media coverage I hope this selection of clips gives you a sense of what you missed while you were, erm, there. From Nick's leader's speech to Vince's dust-up with Paxman on Newsnight, Chris Davies's rant to the Huhne 'n' Pickles show on Radio 4 – it's all collected here for your viewing/listening pleasure. Enjoy ... ...
The media would have the public believe that Autumn Conference went badly for the Lib Dems. Well that's according to establishment figures like Andrew Neill. Frankly, despite the discomfiture of the leadership, it showed from my position on the TV sofa, that the party is a thinking party, has grown up quality debates and occasionally reminds (as it has done before) us all that Conference has to agree to policy changes (rather than the week long cheerleading that goes on at other party conferences). In my eves I see a victory for debate and democracy and accountability. Any bruises felt ...
The Autumn Conference speech yesterday by Nick Clegg with vacuous references like the notion of a 'progressive audacity' was not one to excite me as a Lib Dem, let alone those outside our ranks. As Darrell Goodliffe says it's as meaningless as the supposed 'Third Way' of Blair and Clinton. Last Autumn we had the imprecise detail as to how much of the £20bn of alleged 'savings' would be redirected towards tax cuts and we had Nick's inability to say what the basic level of the state pension was. This September we've had the irresponsible and alienating talk of 'savage' ...
The Arts Alliance fringe meeting sandwiched between the Scotch Whisky reception and the Glee club looked likely to struggle for an audience, but the presence of Billy Bragg and the quality of the presentation was more than sufficient reward for the packed room at the Highcliffe Hotel. The Arts Alliance does work with prisoners throughout Britain. Actors, musicians and other people from the creative industries volunteer their time. The evidenced is overwhelming that the arts can be a powerful and robust tool in rehabilitation. As Tim Robertson, Director Koestler Trust said 'Promoting creative activity in prisons can bring light and ...
The local Police team for Oval Ward are holding a series of street briefings and advice surgeries over the next month: Wed 30th Sept, 7pm - 8pm, o/s Tescos, Kennington Lane Wednesday 7th Oct,12.30pm - 1.30pm, o/s the 1 o'clock club, Vauxhall Park Monday 12th Oct, 4pm - 5pm, o/s Childrens playground, Wyvil Estate Tuesday 20th Oct, 6.30pm - 7.30pm, Coney Way community centre Saturday 24th Oct, 1pm - 2pm, Café in the park, Kennington Park Sunday 25th Oct, 1pm - 2pm, o/s Sainsburys, Wandsworth Road
And finally in this report from the Arts Alliance fringe meeting just a snatch of a performance of Walk the Line with Simon Hughes supported by Billy Bragg and Don Foster on Ukulele. Personally I regret the Ukulele. This clip is here just to prove it happened. I fancy Bragg's reputation is strong enough to survive. For those of you who landed on this posting first there are five dealing with the Arts Alliance fringe meeting including must longer videos of Billy Bragg talking about the projects and singing
The stats for the last week on the #ldconf hashtag reveal that I was Tweeting quite a bit, not as much as Caron from her sofa mind. But there did seem to be a fairly steady amount of Tweeting going on over the days as the chart below shows. So the scores on the doors: 1. Tweetminster 1312. Caron Lindsay 863. Cllr Daisy Benson 724. LibDemConf 705. Anna Pascoe 656. Me 647. = James Graham 637. = Lib Dems 63 9. Lib Dem Voice 6210. HouseofTwitsLib 58So Caron from her sofa at home was the Top Lib Dem activist. At ...
I have just heard there has been a fire at Bath Place Community Centre in Leamington this afternoon. This is a real shame as the centre provided a fantastic space for a wide and diverse range of community events in that part of town. I have attended a number of musical and artistic events there over the years. I hope this does not spell the end of this valuable facility and something of equal value can be created in its place. http://leamingtonobserver.co.uk/news83315.html
HEALTH WARNING!THIS POST CONTAINS CHEESY IMAGERY, MUSHY SENTIMENTALITY, AND MEATLOAF.IT SHOULD NOT BE READ BY THOSE OF A HEARTLESS DISPOSITION.Baroness Scotland's "illegal" immigrant cleaner Loloahi Tapui and her British husband Alexander Zivancevic have unsurprisingly been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. Baroness Scotland has been hoisted by her own petard; excellent karma. But I
There is an interesting story that the deputy political editor of the Evening Standard Paul Waugh has on his blog today. He has reported that Conservative Home are saying that Paul Bettison, leader of Bracknell Forest Borough Council has been excluded from the shortlist for the upcoming open primary. There are suspicions that the reason why this may have happened could be partly due to criticism Bettison made of Conservative Party Chairman Eric Pickles' use of language around so called "bin taxes": I wish Eric Pickles would stop calling them bin taxes. It is very galling. They are bin charges. ...
I've been watching through some of the coverage of Party Conference on the bbc iplayer* and have just happened upon an argument between Ming Campbell and Evan Harris on Tuesday's Daily Politics. (It' about 30 minutes in, after Nick Parsons). Ming is talking complete rubbish. It is clearly true that sometimes Leaders have to react to events. But is equally clear that Nick Clegg's comments about whether or not the abolition Tuition Fees will be in the manifesto is not something that has just cropped up - it was fully discussed just a few weeks ago in Federal Policy Committee ...
Back from the Liberal Democrat Conference. Apparently Nick Clegg's big moment didn't get much coverage on the national news as it clashed with an Obama moment! It was a bold speech and well worth a listen so here is a link to a video of the full speech.
First time delegate from Southport, Erin Harvey, certainly got the most out of her visit. She spoke in two debates and closely questioned NicK Clegg at the fringe meeting hosted by Liberty. Here she tells us about her conference:
Here's my keynote speech to the Liberal Democrat Bournemouth conference: My fellow Liberal Democrats - what a moment in world history for equality. When we were last here in Bournemouth, the Presidential Campaign in the US was drawing to a close. I don't know about you, but I can still hardly believe it. Who would have thought it possible ... there is now a black man who is president of the United States of America. The message of hope and optimism, and the potential for change could not be clearer. On that historic day when he made his inauguration speech, ...
Another song from Billy Bragg at the Arts Alliance Fringe meeting
After explaining the song Billy Bragg Sang:
Billy Bragg explains the background to the April Fool song written in response to some petty restriction introduced dealing with the content of materials prisoners can receive.
No related posts.
It's back baby! Yes, BBC Question Time is back in our lives later today and the Live Chat on this blog will start at 10:30pm. The panel will include Deputy Labour Leader Harriet Harman, Conservative peer Lord Heseltine, Lib Dem spokesman on children, schools and families David Laws, former Minister of State for Trade Digby Jones, and the editor of the Spectator (and visitor to this blog) Fraser Nelson. Liberal Democrat Voice also always have an open thread for BBC Question Time which is usually posted just before the start of the programme. Join us from 10:30pm below. BBC Question ...
Now that I am back in London (and Eddie is back on Monday), I am sorting out the photos taken on holiday and will be uploading them shortly!
Click here to view the album of our photos of our Civil Partnership held in June this year - there are more photos to come later too!
Thu 24th
15:21
Tackling climate change and building a green economy with clean energy. How would the Lib Dems do it...
Liberal Democrats talk about tackling climate change, investing in clean renewable energy and investing in green economic growth and green infrastructure. But how would we do it? The scientific consensus is clear - the world must keep the rise in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels, or we will face an apocalyptic situation where climate change is out of our control. The science is becoming more pessimistic. Last year, for instance, climate scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research found that cumulative CO2 emissions, along with carbon cycle feedbacks and the omission of emissions ...
There are no issues of greater importance than global security. War and climate change require us to seek better ways of managing our planet. Most people realise that what the old Liberal Party constitution called the 'warping influence of nationalism' which has raised it ugly and unwanted headed again militates against effective solutions to these matters. At the fringe meeting David Grace had the job of summing up. He took the chance to re-state the case for federalism. 30 years of negative propoganda from Thatcher, Callaghan, and their ilk have meant that even when folk suggest federalist solutions they sky ...
Once again teachers, anybody but the parent of the bully, must do something & be accountable. Can no one see what impossible nonsense this is? Schools have anti bullying strategies which quite rightly focus on trying to get to the bottom of why kids bully and sort out the problem, more often than not successfully. But in any population there is always a hard core who refuse to respond- and I mean 'refuse'. It is not the methods, dedication, psychology or what have you that fail. We don't want to admit it but some people are just determined to be ...
The last question of the Q&A was an amalgam of 3 questions emailed in on drugs, mine(with a typo introduced) and two others on a similar theme - i.e. prohibition, crime and prescribing heroin to addicts. And then after merging the 3 questions tog... Read and post comments | Send to a friend
Shirley Williams-who was of course a Sefton MP-was in fine form when she turned up at Bournemouth. She spoke at fringe meetings and did a book signing. We were all delighted to notice that Antony Hill get s mention in the new book; Climbing the Bookshelves.
It was good to see Chris Rennard around yesterday. I wouldn't normally discuss people's body size but Chris looks spectacularly healthier for having shed a few stone. I'm sure that will cheer many Lib Dems and spread fear and trembling amongst the opposition!
I bumped into Jonathon Fryer yesterday and told him that he ought to do a piece on the fate of Edward MacMillan Scott and the Tory alliance in Europe. I'm sure reders will know all about the bunch of right wing odd balls the Tories have as friends in the Euro Parliament-climate change deniers, homophobes etc (mind you it is not difficult to see why some Tory activists feel at home there) This whole area of politics is going to become very important after the Irish referendum. If they vote 'yes' what does Cameron do? The Tories have so 'pissed ...
. The Liberal History group was spoilt for choice this year as Duncan Brack pointed out it is the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Liberal Party at the Willis Rooms, it is 100 years since the people's budget (mind you the Cable/Clegg proposal to tax houses worth over £1m is a very practical commemoration of that event) and it is also the 200 years since Gladstone was born in Liverpool. So instead of doing anniversaries they chose instead to look at the lessons history can teach us about hung parliaments. This hasn't happened as often as you might ...
It is often easier to get a perspective on what is going on at a conference if you are viewing it from outside. My colleague Simon Shaw emails me from Birkdale observing that it is hardly surprising that Vince Cable is one of the stars in Bournemouth this week. He is reminded of a very interesting article in last Wednesday's Times, headlined "Voters tip their hats to trusty Mr Cable". It reported that Vince Cable is the politician most trusted by the general public in a recent 1500-strong opinion poll conducted by Populus. To quote: "By contrast Vince Cable, the ...
Ever since the Liberal Democrats were founded, we've had the sight of the national media only being interested at most in one figure - the party's leader - yet also running regular reports about how the party is a one-man band. Cause and effect anyone? With the rise of Vince Cable to public prominence - and popularity - the party now faces a different challenge: how best to turn the team of Clegg and Cable into votes for the party. The idea of running tickets in election campaigns is nothing new - Mayor and Deputy Mayor, President and Vice President, ...
Unfortunately, I had to leave the Castle Neighbourhood Action Panel meeting early yesterday because of it clashing with the Policy Review and Development Panel meeting, so I don't have a huge amount to report from it. However, the problems of parking on new estates has come up again, and we're continuing to try and find out from Essex Highways when certain roads might be adopted so we can bring them into our parking regulations. This is becoming a particular problem in certain areas where the developers aren't interested in enforcing any parking restrictions, so a free-for-all ensues. The other major ...
Last week I took over from Laura Willoughby as chair of the Youth Policy Working Group. Laura has been fantastic, and I feel a bit of an impostor, coming in at the 11th hour to take the work of the group forward, it is a bit like putting the roof on the house and then being able to take credit for the whole house! So big thanks to Laura for everything she has already done, and I hope I will finish the work in a way that she will be proud of. We had a consultation at Harrogate, but we ...
End of the line for the Odeon, then, just as one was expecting from this venal shower, and gallingly it came about by just 4 votes to 3 in a planning committee meeting; I sincerely hope that Cllr Margaret Chadwick was one of the three. Expect more holes in the ground, delayed building work, unlettable office space and high-rise cells for lowlife, and watch businesses and shoppers keep on flocking to Leeds and Manchester. The Odeon's death warrant comes on the heels of a report into graft and collusion involving tenders for the Eastbrook Hall project; the impressive Victorian façade ...
After a suitably dramatic birth both Tam and Bo are healthy, happy and beautiful. Posted via email from Rob's posterous
Down in Bournemouth I met a lot of Lib Dem Bloggers, but there's one I didn't meet - the pseudonymous Costigan Quist, winner of the Lib Dem Blog of the Year award on the Sunday, and ex-blogger on the Monday. Apparently he was in the room when the award was given out, yet got his friend to accept the award on his behalf anyway - there were other rumours that Mr Quist was going to a lot of trouble to avoid anyone linking the blog to his face. What was the reason for this level of paranoia? Curious bloggers had ...
It would seem that Wirral Borough Council (WBC) stumbles from one disaster to another. The latest allegations concern a co-ordinated cover up and serious malpractice regarding a special charging policy for vunerable adults. The Liverpool Daily Post reports it here. The report given to the Authority's Audit Commission has admitted the charges were unlawful, in ...
While I was away at the Lib Dem Conference in Bournemouth, the new DCSF office building in Beaumont Street received planning permission. The DCSF says it is an "inspiring office". I really don't think so! From the artist's impression it looks like the worst example of a 1960s office block. In this respect it will sit nicely across the road from our town hall, reflecting the all the style and
Rochdale Labour party is in turmoil this week, after seven Labour members were disciplined for bringing the party into disrepute for calling for an investigation into allegations of domestic abuse by their parliamentary candidate, Simon Danczuk. The former mayor of Rochdale, Robin Parker, has now quit the party in protest at what he regards as a miscarriage of justice, describing the position of Mr Danczuk as Labour's candidate as "untenable". Here's an excerpt from the in-depth report at Rochdale Online: Councillor Parker said that he had not resigned lightly; having been a member for 35 years, he said he found ...
In all the debate there has been about public spending and the cuts that it is now apparent will be necessary to get a grip on borrowing something has been bugging me. I co-own and co-run a business. Through this I also know lots of other people who run businesses. I know that throughout industry companies have been needing to cut costs and often one of the largest outgoings is the salary bill. Now traditionally the way to cut the salary bill is to make people redundant, however from what I can tell many companies have been trying to be ...
Reading the coverage of the Lib Dem Conference in Bournemouth, it's worth remembering that the media viewed Barack Obama's nominating convention as a failure at the time - and I seem to recall he then did rather well in November. Here is The Times' coverage from back then, about Obama's "message being lost" and how it was all going wrong for the Democrats
The Blog is back - and how I have missed it. After a very relaxing summer holiday I returned to find that just about every electrical item in my house has either given up and self destructed or just developed a bad attitude and begun an irritatingly slow work to rule. Most prominent of these has been my laptop ("affectionately" named Hal9000) which is currently refusing to log me on to certain sites in a timely fashion - most irritatingly my BLOG! With the reassurance of tender words and the promise of extra memory, a harmonious relationship seems to have ...
I am delighted that the Liberal Democrats have reaffirmed our commitment to creating a zero carbon Britain by the year 2050. But we need to be much clearer than the Fresh Start pre-manifesto about how we would achieve it. With every general election, we set out how much our policies would cost and how we would pay for them. We should be just as open an honest about how we will cut greenhouse gas emissions. Our next general election manifesto should set out an alternative carbon budget showing, for every major government department and every major policy area, how we ...
You can view the presentation that Kingston Lib Dems gave to the Conference on Sunday. It may only be on the BBC i-player site for a few more days, so catch it while you can. Click here and then move forward about 1 hour 13mins.
Whilst the conference has been packed with divisions and tensions, it is pleasing to see the positive reception Nick Clegg's speech has received today in the press. There has been several likening of Clegg to the succesful New Labour and Tony Blair way of handling the conflict and pressure, whilst this is not our aim, ...
Thanks to Mark Mills for these Credit Suisse seems to find that long term pay actually does work. This story is extraordinary for seeming to describe a bank that has had a good few years Common rules likely to be enforced The Larosiere plan still on course US wins G20 backing for growth plan When we did our piece on G20, the section on rebalancing was arguably the most ambitious. Now it looks like some sort of steps may be taken. Menzie Chinn has an angle. G20 must not let unity unravel The FT goes out on a limb. But ...
"I know there are people who agree with a lot of what we've got to say. But who still don't vote Liberal Democrat. You don't think we're contenders. I urge you to think again. If you don't agree with our policies;if you don't want big change in Britain. Then don't vote for us. But if you like what you hear; if you share our vision for a different kind of future. Then go with your instincts; vote Liberal Democrat. Elections are decided by your cross on the ballot paper. Power is not any party's to be inherited. Power is yours ...
I was reading Charlotte Gore's debut on Comment is Free and, once I'd managed to dismiss the image of Alan Rusbridger as a mad scientist cackling evilly that the process of Toynbeeization had begun, this section caught my eye: While libertarians, classical liberals and free thinkers were all in the bars and fringes of Bournemouth complaining about policy, the nanny state Liberal Democrats were all in the conference hall pouring reinforced concrete on our reputation as yet another mildly authoritarian social democratic party, just like the other two. What I'm wondering is how many of us who complain about the ...
The editorials of two newspapers today sum up the alternative ways in which this past week's Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth has been regarded – both internally by party activists and externally by the media. (Who knows what those members of the non-politically obsessed public thought, if anything, of the whole thing?) The Times is pretty scathing of the party's week in its leader column, Missing the Liberal Moment: This week has been an opportunity lost for the Liberal Democrats. As the week unfolded, the excitement dissipated. With an election on the near horizon, with the Labour Government's lease on ...
Residents in Redcar and Cleveland are being let down by the swine flu arrangements. Those needing Tamiflu are expected to go to either Stockton or Whitby to pick up the drug. Liberal Democrat prospective MP for Redcar has personal experience. He said: "I had some flu symptons and rang the help line. After a long pre-recorded introduction I was put through to two of the staff arguing between themselves and they couldn't hear me. Eventually I got through and was given all the help I needed. However I was amazed to be told that I had to nominate a "buddy" ...
Interesting piece in the Financial Times which shows Labour's support collapsing and the Conservatives establishing a 4% lead in northern England on a swing of 11.5%. Andrew Cooper, the founder of Populus, comments; "The only reason Labour weren't wiped out in England at the last election was their huge majority in the north." Interestingly then a Cameron ...
Below, you will find our final fringe event at conference, Beyond Twitter. MP Jo Swinson joined LDV regular Mark Pack and MySociety's Richard Pope to debate the future of public online engagement with politics. We still have one more fringe event in the cans ready for sound processing, but I won't be able to bring that to you just yet.
John Pienaar, 5 Live's chief political correspondent did his podcast this week from and about the Lib Dem Conference and he very kindly invited me to be one of his guests. I was on with Steve Webb MP, the Lib Dem spokesman on Work and Pensions. You can download the podcast as an mp3 file directly here. You can also subscribe to it on iTunes via this link here. Let me know what you think... PS: Mr Pienaar has just joined Twitter and you can follow him here: @JPonpolitics.
Although Radio 5 were umming and ahhing about whether or not to tune in to Barack Obama's speech or Nick Clegg's, they thankfully picked Nick Clegg so I had the Leader keeping me company on the drive back up from Conference. It's not easy being the leader of the Lib Dems. He's got to stop people switching to the Conservatives or the Greens, and he has to try to reach out to independents, soft Tories and soft Labour voters to, if he can, get them to consider voting Lib Dem. And... he needs to keep existing Lib Dems on board ...
Complaints against Welsh police forces have jumped by up to 127% in three years, according to official figures published yesterday. There were 774 complaints involving Wales' largest force, South Wales Police, in 2008-09, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission - an 83% rise on the number of complaints in 2003-04. North Wales Police also experienced a jump in complaints, rising in 2008-09 to 390 - a 115% increase on 2003-04. Dyfed-Powys Police saw an increase in complaints of 127% in three years, with 286 complaints, and Gwent saw a 50% increase, with 264 complaint cases. However, the vast majority ...
Ok so the conference wasn't the unalloyed success that everyone hoped for. Our main problem is that, in the words of Tim Farron, we `tend to be on the right side yet end up coming third` (ie people think we're erudite, deep and intelligent) yet won't vote for us due to a lack of `electoral ...
With the Liberal Democrat Conference behind us the media circus moves onto Brighton and a Labour Conference that promises to see the retirement of one leader (no, not that one) and a continuing crisis for another. Whilst the Welsh press will no doubt be hanging on every word of the soon-to-be-departed First Minister and monitoring the activities of the three possible successors, everybody else will be watching Gordon Brown to see if he can survive yet another crisis and start to rebuild the electoral support he has squandered in his time as Prime Minister. Certainly, one former Cabinet heavyweight and ...
Good morning. I trust your jouney home from conference, if you were making one, was uneventful. Today's birthday boy is Jack Dee, who is 47 today. Two big stories It was noticeable on the radio news going home last night that Nick Clegg's speech had been bumped below the radio equivalent of the fold to various global issues, including Obama and Brown addressing the UN, and the leaked, unconfirmed news of the state visit of the Pope, to happen next year. But todays' key stories: Both the Telegraph and the Guardian lead with poor relations between Brown and Obama: British ...
Wow, so much has changed in the three years since I started not really blogging properly. We've got a tired, fiercely unpopular Labour Prime Minister and a Conservative Leader of the Opposition of whose policies we know nought (and it's unclear which is more tragic, that the former describes a different person or that the latter describes the same one...) What's more, I'm not at Conference because I'm a fresher. Then it was my Masters in Manchester, now I'm at the University of Glamorgan doing a law conversion course and, of course, manning a Freshers Fayre stall (though thankfully not ...
The Leicester Mercury ran an interview with Spencer Davis in the run up to his concert with the Animals last Saturday: Earning a place at Birmingham University proved to be the catalyst for the band and Davis recalls travelling to the north of the city to check out a talented 15-year-old - Steve Winwood. "What I saw was a unbelievable talent," said Davis. "It was like Oscar Petersen and Ray Charles rolled into one and along with Steve's brother, Muff, and Pete York we formed the band. "We had a lot of hits, we played live on Ready Steady Go ...
... says James Purnell: British politics is better for the appointment of Mervyn Davies, Stephen Carter, Mark Malloch Brown and indeed Baron Mandelson. We should make such appointees accountable to the Commons so that this becomes an accepted way of attracting people with recent real life experience of politics. One might think this is James Purnell coming ...
As many will know, I rarely write about work related issues on here. It's probably generally a good idea not to associate one's employer with my diverse and eclectic other opinions. And, since I am also a governor of the university, I don't want to put myself in the position of making any indiscretions, perhaps where I am in receipt of privileged information. However tonight's an exception. And be warned, that this post is going to be a real monster - for which I make no apology. Last week a planning application for a key part of Oxford Brookes University's ...
Dear Mr Neil, I usually try to watch you at every opportunity, although there are, it has to be said, times when I find myself screaming at the telly, this evening was one such time! After your conference analysis and speculation about fantasy splits, I am left questioning whether not only is something rotten at the heart of British politics, but also at the heart of political journalism. I have a good friend, who, despite writing for Tory newspapers, I know to be someone of great integrity. He is a first class, award winning investigative journalist - his only motivation ...
[IMG: nick-clegg-photo] This should have been a defining week for the Liberal Democrats. Our last conference before a General Election. A chance to showcase our (relatively unknown) leader and to get across to the electorate one (or, at a stretch, two) clear, simple ideas. But a conference that began with an assertion that we could replace the Labour Party, quite swiftly descended into a rapid volley of mixed messages. The truth is that the wider electorate will not have received a positive impression of the LibDems from our activities this week. And much of the media pack were rolling their ...
It is important to recognise bias when listening to public debate. Sometimes our views are clouded by previous knowledge of people, parties or the media. When you read a newspaper headline the prime motivation is not always to inform and educate. In fact it is commonly to sell newspapers. Wouldn't it be nice to hear something and know that the person means it and they don't have an ulterior motive. I am watching Manchester United playing Wolves. In the first half Nani has just tripped a rather large Wolves defender who fell. The commentator said there was nothing wrong with ...
Wednesday: If your mansion house needs taxing just call... Rent-a-quote! We've got Clegg and Huhne and Vince and Jools... at Rent-a-Quote! The Meeja will never see ya; we have Party invisibility... Remember policy is not a mystery it's... Rent-a-quote! In the Party be a Smarty and hire... Rent-a-quote! If your Fresh Starty's looking far...faulty you need... Rent-a-quote! Mr Danny has uncanny... manifesto ministry... To get tuition fees past the FPC... ring Rent-a-quote! If you say the most horrific simple quotes not quite specific then the Guardian will "Savage" you away. Heavy hinting is a tactic but the outcome's most erratic ...
