Been collecting litter in Park Wood this morning. The weather was ideal and the company very pleasant. What a pity people drop litter though! [IMG: Judith working with the anti-litter volunteers at Parkwood ]
Today's Independent features a guide to the top 50 beers. Oxfordshire breweries have done rather well with four of the fifty being brewed in the county. Hook Norton Brewery does particularly well with both their bitter, Old Hooky, and their Double Stout both featured. Brakspear Triple, which is nowadays brewed by the Wychwood Brewery, and Ridgeway IPA, from the brewery set up by Brakspears former head brewer, also feature. This is great news for local brewers and the top 50 as a whole, which is mainly made up of UK beers, demonstrates the strength of the growing UK small brewery ...
Time for a little digression into American politics... For those of us who've been following the US healthcare reform debacle, things appear to be coming to a head. The House of Representatives is probably going to insist on a very strong set of reforms, with serious involvement for the public sector. Meanwhile, if the Senate had ...
Northern Region Conference today, and lots happening with an enthusiastic bunch looking forward to the next general election. We had training, plans, speeches an election, but most importantly a vision for the future. Vince Cable, as ever a great thinker and speaker spoke on the recession and the broken banking system we had with the legacy it was leaving, and now the Government was...
The second session of "Be a Councillor" was this morning at the Town Hall. Amazingly, one person had not previously realised that the building is the Town Hall! It's common to have people who've never been inside the building because it never used to be opened to the public except for special occasions. But to meet someone who's lived in the borough for many years and didn't know what the
For a while now, I've been complaining vociferously on Twitter about the lack of a vocalist for the National Pep, my band (such as it is) – my friend and songwriting partner Tilt Araiza has agreed to continue writing songs with me, but for some reason seems to think "I don't want to, and anyway ...
The result has just been announced of the Conservative Bracknell open primary/caucus and the winner is Dr Phillip Lee. I want to extend my congratulations to Dr Lee for his victory in this hard fought contest. The contest has been very closely tracked in the blogosphere not least because of the presence in the shortlist of the leading Conservative blogger Iain Dale who came third. My commiserations to him. What I wanted to focus on in this post though is what message Bracknell may be trying to send to the Conservatives and politicians in general about these primaries and the ...
Quick thought sparked up by this post by Paul Walter – it tends to be Tories who tell us how First Past The Post is the best system for electing MPs, so if it's such a good system for choosing political representatives, why don't they use it for their caucus meetings?
A quite hilarious sideline in the story of Sarah Palin. The father of her grandchild, Levi Johnston, is preparing to be photographed for Playgirl, which I am informed is now a website, after folding - centrefolding - geddit???!!!! - as a magazine. So how is he preparing for this arduous assignment? With a rifle. "Moose meat is very good for you, high in protein and very lean," his trainer, Marvin Jones, tells PEOPLE. "He's an avid hunter, so he has his own." The 19-year-old father of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's grandchild has adopted a 3,500-calorie low-carb diet as part ...
NEWS FLASH Dr Phillip Lee wins Bracknell Primary for Conservative PPC. It was a very long day. Started at 2pm and ended 7.10pm. Well done and Congratulations to Dr Phillip Lee. I will write a full report on the events on today on Sunday. But I would like to give my commiserations to all candidates. Iain Dale has already given his congratulation on Tweeter to Dr Phillip Lee "Many many congratulations to Philip Lee. And I mean that. He is a worthy winner. Naturally I'm gutted, but there can only be one winner."
Update #2: 19:21: Iain has just tweeted: Many many congratulations to Philip Lee. And I mean that. He is a worthy winner. Naturally I'm gutted, but there can only be one winner Update: A few seconds after I published the post below, Iain tweeted: I'm out in the fourth ballot. Rory Stewart and Philip Lee now in final ballot Oh dear, dear,dear. He's never going to be an MP is he? Oh well ho hum, he can continue to do things he's actually good at, instead. Being an MP is an utterly pants job anyway Iain Dale won't win the ...
I have, happy days!, managed to find my copy of Nozick's "Anarchy, State and Utopia" and have started reading it. I found him quoting a lovely piece from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's "General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century" - an analysis which, I think you will agree, stands even today, indeed in many aspects unimagineably more so: To be GOVERNED is to be kept in sight, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right, nor the wisdom, nor the virtue to do so.... To be ...
Tomorrow, Liberal England will be hosting the latest Britblog Roundup. If you have seen a posting on a British blog over the past week that you think particularly fine, please send the URL to britblog [AT] gmail [DOT] com and I shall include it. Nominating a posting for the Britblog Roundup is a good way of promoting a blog that you think deserves more readers. And you are welcome to nominate a posting on your own blog too. All nominations by tomorrow (Sunday) lunchtime please.
A fascinating little campaign for the New Jersey Governorship in the US. The sitting governor has been letting it be known that his opponent is.....er.......overweight. His opponent, Chris Christie, is here. Christie has hit back with this priceless quote: I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. I know most of you didn't know this -- but the governor's been whispering this to the press for months and months and months, and now he's trying to be a little cute about talking about it too through his TV ads. I want to make sure you're all seated and you're ...
We must be most grateful to James Graham's little sideline, Prawn Free Lembit for bringing us dear Lembo's weekly Daily Sport column. This week's column contains this classic: ON Wednesday, the Prime Minister committed yet more troops to Afghanistan. In my view, and this paper's view, that's the wrong policy. Crikey. Do you see what he did there? That's Lembit really building up his employers, isn't it? He smuggled that in, so we hardly noticed it, didn't he? The Daily Sport (lead story today "Corrie girls get rude"), he reckons, actually has a view on the Afghanistan conflict! Astonishing! They ...
As we often do, we went for a walk on Snelsmore Common, near Newbury, this afternoon. We went down a path I'd never walked along before. The ferns looked exceptional - a combination of autumn brown and greens with the trees in the background and the sun playing on them. It was wonderful. My sneaky piccy, below, hopefully captures some of the magic.
Fascinating stuff. I mailed a complaint about the Daily Mail Stephen Gately article at 17:33 on a Saturday. At 17:34 I received a reply which included this utter gem: On initial examination, it would appear that you are, therefore, a third party to the complaint, and we may not be able to pursue your concerns further. "On initial examination"?! Who are they trying to kid?! It was an automatic reply.
With the writ moved on Friday, all four main parties in Scotland are getting on with the campaign and their campaign launches. On Wednesday, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP both launched their campaigns, Thursday it was the turn of the Tories, and then on Monday it will be Labour's turn. The good people of Glasgow North East have now been 117 days without Westminster representation, and – as our candidate Eileen Baxendale said at the launch with Scottish Leader Tavish Scott – this is simply unacceptable, and Labour should be ashamed of themselves they have left it that long. ...
I have just left Gateshead Civic Centre where the North East Lib Dem conference has now finished. We were in the council chamber, all feeling rather happy, with Vince Cable as the guest speaker. Down the other end of the civic suite, in a smaller room, Labour were meeting. You could tell who were the Labour members. The "socialist" brethren were the glum looking ones! Vince spoke well but don't
Apparently over 20,000 people died in Scotland last winter due to the cold weather, this was a rise of over 600, according to government figures. This was the highest rise for almost ten years. The SNP government in Scotland staggeringly described the figures as 'a downward trend', a position that is both complacent and apparently callous. It's vital ...
The world seems to have gone beard crazy. It is a subject on which I can speak with a little authority, having worn a beard for twenty years (I grew it to look older when I was 20-odd and shaved it off when I wanted to younger at 40). BBC News 24 went particularly beard crazy this morning. David Beckham has grown what could, perhaps, loosely be described as a "beard". In fact, it just looks like he hasn't bothered to shave for two weeks. It is really one of the most ludicrous so-called "beards" I have ever seen. I ...
Yes, you probably heard it here first, the faceless bureaucrat won't be on ECC next year. It's funny really, as one of the things this blog has hung on is 'candidate stuff', and I rather enjoyed using it as a means of floating ideas before taking them to ECC or, on occasion, to London Region. However, problems relating to the position of my spouse have recently made that a bit awkward, so that's done for. Also, ECC has introduced a new approval system, and is in the latter phases of developing a new set of Selection Rules, so that there ...
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of meeting with two residents of Blackness Court, the sheltered housing complex at the east end of Blackness Road. The residents showed me their concerns about the condition of the pavement east of their homes - on the north side of Blackness Road, at the road junction with Rosefield Place and on the road at the pedestrian crossing immediately west of that. The photo (right) is of the poor road condition at the crossing. The current condition of the road and pavement causes difficulties for the elderly folk in Blackness Court to get ...
Oh Good Lord. I did think that it was only a matter of time before the mention of the word "cannabis" would cause the Daily Mail to jump out of its tree about the death of Stephen Gately, and, indeed, they have done so - with knobs on. One of those columnists they hire who has a picture above her column which looks as though it required about three months of airbrushing and make-up on-slapping, has had a go: The ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see. And what might that ...
It sounds like a random and pointless activity: Fold photos of Ross Kemp to make him look funny. But it results in an hilarious and strangely compelling blog: Kemp folds - Ross Kemp's face folded.
THIS was the week that the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize was announced. It's awarded to the person who's made the world's biggest contribution to peace and human rights over the past year. Previous winners include Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Sometimes it goes to organisations like Amnesty International and the Red Cross. So it's a big deal. If you were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, you'd certainly be swinging it around in everyone's face in the pub that evening. But surprisingly, this year's winner was US President ...
So, we are having a Hallowe'en Beer festival at work, and several of the things we are doing (Costume Competition, pumpkin-carving, Quiz, etc.) require FABULOUS PRIZES TO BE WON! Now, while I would like to be able to offer (for example) free passes to next year's FFW (Aw, go on Tony, Peer, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE??) and signed prints of [IMG: [info - livejournal.com] ] pmoodie's Werewolf and Cthulhu pics, I recognise that maybe people won't be willing to give away such valuable things in these hard economic times (whilst, obviously, still hoping that they will). I have a couple of duplicate DVDs ...
Just a brief word to point out, if you don't already know, that I'll be holding fort at The Silver Cross this coming Wednesday (7.30pm on 21 October to be precise) for Westminster Liberal Drinks. I haven't held one of this since January and already it is looking like there might be a good crowd. ...
Well it was fun being part of a winning campaign! Massive congratulations to Dave and his team... People speculating on how this Bedford Mayoral result could impact on a Parliamentary result should note that Bedford Unitary Authority spreads over three Westminster constituencies namely: 1 ALL of Bedford Borough constituency. 2 Three wards of Mid-Bedfordshire constituency 3 Ten wards of Bedfordshire North-East constituency Bedford Borough constituency is held by Patrick Hall, Labour. Libdems third in 2005 with 21.5% Labour held three double and two one-seater wards here in June. The Conservatives had two one-seaters. Libdems took four two-seater wards and one ...
A story we didn't get the chance to cover this week was Nick Clegg's speech to the National Liberal Club in which he gave his personal backing to an idea being developed by Lib Dem shadow business secretary John Thurso – the potential for a system of localised stock markets across Britain: Regional stock exchanges are one way of getting vital investment directly to small and medium-sized businesses. They could give local investors - many of whom are disillusioned with the City - an opportunity to see business grow and keep jobs in their communities. "Too many are struggling and ...
The Square this morning.
One thousand new people joined Hook and Chessington Library between April 2008 and March 2009! That is pretty impressive and far exceeds the other libraries in the borough. The librarians believe that this is because the Hook Centre itself attracts many people who might not otherwise go into a library. And that figure is even more remarkable when you realise that it builds on the huge jump in membership during the previous year, after the Hook Centre opened in January 2007. At South of the Borough Neighbourhood Committee this week we were presented with a review of the library service, ...
Due to the planned postal strikes by Royal Mail workers next week, South Gloucestershire Council is strongly advising any parents who have yet to submit an application for a school place to do so online or in person. The closing date for the return of applications for primary and secondary school places starting in September 2010 is on Friday 23 October at 4.30pm. As a precaution and to avoid any unnecessary concerns over whether a postal application will reach the authority in time, parents are advised to... Apply online at www.southglos.gov.uk/admissionsHand deliver the admission application form to the Student Access ...
The spectacular victory in the Mayor of Bedford election is covered in full at Lib Dem Voice First preferences: Lib Dem 9428 Con 9105 Indy 7631 Indy 4316 Lab 3482 Green 1183 After second preferences: Lib Dem 13352 Conservative 11543 Turnout: 30% Many congratulations to Dave Hodgson and his team on a fantastic victory! Update: Nick Clegg has issued his congratulations ... This is a sensational victory for Dave Hodgson and I congratulate him and the Bedford Liberal Democrats for an outstanding campaign. By electing Dave Hodgson as Mayor the people of Bedford have put their trust in the Liberal ...
Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik makes the argument in (where else?) his Daily Sport political column: I AM delighted to see the Daily Sport taking a courageous and honest stand against the unwinnable and hopelessly expensive war in Afghanistan. The only WAY OUT is to PULL OUT. Then we can start talks with the other side and find a better way to sort out the mess. In hundreds of years, nobody's ever beaten the Afghans on their home turf. It's an away match the British and Americans cannot win — not least because, when they were our friends, we actually ...
Posted by Chris: It is more than 24 hours since the alarming news broke that Leeds United had failed to meet the conditions laid down by Leeds City Council in time to meet the midnight on Thursday deadline to purchase back Thorp Arch training ground. The current market value of this world class facility is said to be £11m. United had the opportunity to get it back at the exclusive price of £5.8m and the more I think about it the more angry and frustrated I get. With the Council borrowing the money and the cost of that covered by ...
So, I'm actually writing this from the conference front desk. I should probably be doing something more useful, but bugger it, I'm gonna blog instead. I am also campaigning to try and get '99 Red Balloons' made into the official conference song. I don't see that being a campaign I win. It's exactly five years since my first conference. The whole event has grown and matured even in such a short time, just as the party has. Our debates so far have included a consultation on the green economy, as well as adjusting our position on prescription charges to take ...
Twenty-five years in the Party, pretty much all of them in London, and it is finally time to move on. So, I've resigned my seat on English Council in favour of someone else, and transferred my membership to my new Local Party, Bury St Edmunds, in a new Region, East of England. Of course, I haven't been active for all of that time. I tend towards bursts of enthusiasm which gradually fade. I have (effectively) retired from political activity twice, and returned on both occasions to loyally serve the Party in a bureaucratic capacity. It's been fun and I've been ...
Mark Pack has a great post on Lib Dem Voice today where he dissects the Press Complaints Commission's remit and explains why he thinks their oft-used criteria of "normally" requiring the person or family of the person directly affected to complain should not apply in the Jan Moir, Stephen Gately article case. He suggests the following reasons: (a) The widespread public reaction to the publication of the piece, resulting in the crashing of your website, a special page being added and your staff going on the record that they have received a near record number of complaints. That by itself ...
The following people have said informative things about me:She drinks BEER! She has BOOBIES! She eats Daily Mail readers for BREAKFAST! She's [IMG: [info - personal] ] miss_s_b and she's awesome. - [IMG: [info - livejournal.com] ] burkesworks I find myself agreeing with Jennie more than almost any other blogger, especially when she says I'm always right. She is in possession of uncommon sense (much rarer than the common kind) and gets annoyed at all the right things. - Andrew Hickey More a non-shrinking Venus Fly Trap than a shrinking violet - The Honourable Lady Mark Valladares. brimming with imagination, ...
Ben Storrs, Press and Publicity Officer At the beginning of the credit crunch questions focused on how responsible Gordon Brown was for building a financial economy dependant on the competitively minimal regulation that partially led to the crunch. The answer is Brown led the way to deregulation. Now the question is how well Britain is placed to deal with the problems. A lot has been said about how "the cupboard is bare", our "record debts" and the "largest expenditure since records began" but this conceals a few important facts. Firstly Gordon Brown lowered debt as a proportion of GDP from ...
Firstly, it's coming up to the 21st of the month which is when I change sponsor. I do have one lined up, but he's not been particularly active on his blog, so I'm not sure it's worth his money me linking to him at the moment; also he's a PPC, so sensibly his timeslot should be the month before the election... Anybody fancy giving me some money for next month? Or anybody I owe money to fancy reducing my debt a bit? Drop me an email (jennieDOTriggATgooglemailDOTcom) or leave a comment to this post if you want to appear at ...
The reaction to Jan Moir's article about the death of Stephen Gately has been widespread and swift. Fuelled primarily by Twitter and Facebook, complaints about homophobia flooded in on the Daily Mail, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) and the firms who were unlucky enough to have their adverts appearing on the page. The headline was changed, the PCC's website crashed, the adverts were pulled and many members of the public got a taste of how effective a simple tweet, email or phone call can be. The big dilemma now is for the Press Complaints Commission because, although many of the ...
Sat 17th
12:50
Mandate research identifies Conservative plans for radical new members of the House of Lords
Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: Research conducted by Mandate Communications' public affairs unit - Political Mandate - has revealed ambitious Conservative Party plans to introduce a raft of new Tory Peers to the House of Lords in 2010. Political Mandate spoke with over 50 senior Conservative advisers, MPs and political commentators at this year's Conservative Party Conference. Mandate's research shows that the Conservative leadership is poised to elevate a number of figures from the arts, business, charities and popular media to the House of Lords, in an attempt to boost Conservative populist credentials. Political Mandate Managing Director Fiona Mason commented: ...
There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader ... [IMG: clegg vann hodgson 16 Oct 2009w] Here's newly elected Lib Dem mayor of Bedford Dave Hodgson with party leader Nick Clegg following the sensational Lib Dem victory in the mayoral by-election – but what do you imagine they might be thinking / saying? Photo: Mark Fitzpatrick. The winner of last week's caption competition (according to a judging panel of one: me) – Tabman, with a highly commended placing to Simon Titley.
As George Lyon MEP quite rightly states, if the words President Tony Blair don't send a shiver down your spine, they should or you aren't entirely normal - or you are Peter Mandelson (then please see previous comment). With Ireland voting yes to and then Poland ratifying the Lisbon Treaty this is something that could in fact become reality. Imagine the destruction Tony Blair could do with armies from across Europe? Wasn't it bad enough that he and George Bush took us into an illegal war in Iraq? I fully believe that Tony Blair has to answer for the illegal ...
All this week, LDV has been compiling a full list of the findings of Sir Thomas Legg's inquiries into MPs' expenses as they related to the Lib Dems' 63 MPs. We are adding to this list as information is received by us or published elsewhere. We now have information on around two-thirds of the Parliamentary party, 39 MPs – but this still leaves 24 Lib Dem MPs whose Legg letters we don't know about. The party's whips office has recommended all the party's MPs publish a statement on their websites in order to ensure the party's representatives are as open ...
When bees leave their hives en masse and disappear, when predators like wasps steer clear of the abandoned hives, then something is very wrong. But what? A crisis known as Colony Collapse Disorder has affected beekeepers around the globe, with some reporting losses of more than 90 percent of their colonies. And there are no dead bees to be found. Bees are disappearing all over the planet and no one knows why. For the past five million years, the bee has been a creature of special sanctity, representing many things such as the human soul, industry, cooperation and the sacred ...
The funeral service for Stephen Gately is about to start at St Laurence O'Toole's church in the area of Dublin where he grew up. The words of Words are possibly the most poignant Boyzone song for this time. Indeed the opening lines could almost apply to Stephen at this time: "Smile an ever lasting smile A smile can bring you near to me. Don't ever let me find you gone 'Cause that would bring a tear to me. This world, has lost its glory Let's start a brand new story Now my love." So here is a rendition by the ...
This tale, which could become a totemic example of the financial boom and bust, involves Wrekin Construction, from Shropshire. As Management Today explains: Wrekin Construction, a builder based in Shropshire, had a slightly unusual balance sheet: its biggest asset was a massive uncut purple ruby, known as the Gem of Tanzania, which was supposedly worth £11m... Someone called David Unwin used the gem to finance a short-lived rescue of the loss-making firm back in 2007. Somewhat dubiously, Wrekin apparently used this £11m valuation to issue preference shares and transform the state of its balance sheet; according to trade mag Contract ...
If being brazenly out of touch with the public mood is your idea of being a top-notch MP, it's time you started singing the praises of Ann Keen, Jacqui Lait and Harry Cohen. For as the Evening Standard reported yesterday: Five London MPs are refusing to say if they are being asked to repay part of their Commons expenses. They are Ann and Alan Keen, the couple dubbed Mr and Mrs Expenses, senior Tories Jacqui Lait and Richard Ottaway and Labour's Harry Cohen... Mrs Keen told the Standard to "get stuffed" when approached politely at the Commons. Her husband Alan ...
Ever seen official-looking spray paint on the pavement or road and wondered what it's doing there? I have, and it turns out it's often not what I thought. So here's your handy guide - true for Cheadle & Gatley at least. Orange paint is from the Council, normally marking up something to be repaired like a paving stone or pothole. Blue paint is the water people Yellow paint is the gas people Pink paint is telecoms - normally Virgin Media (NTL in the olden days)
Back in February, the Home Office's decision to ban Dutch MP Geert Wilders provoked controversy – not least here on Lib Dem Voice, after the party's shadow home secretary Chris Huhne backed the government's decision. This week an immigration tribunal overturned the government ban, so we invited Chris to set out his views ... The Home Secretary's decision to block Geert Wilders from entering the country was controversial for all sorts of reasons. For libertarians, it was appalling to deprive anyone of freedom of speech. For many Moslems, it was astonishing that anyone could fail to see the need to ...
David Wilshire the Conservative MP for Spelthorne, who was behind Section 28, is now moaning that because of the hours he works he earns dangerously close to the minimum wage. This is the same MP who claimed his own company £105,500 using his Parliamentary expenses. The Directors of the company are erm, him and his girlfriend. The company is not publicly registered and doesn't file accounts. David Wilshire MP also could not prove what the money had been spent on! He claims that neither he nor his girlfriend have benefited financially from his company or this £105,500 payment - but ...
Yesterday evening, to the Shiraz Mirza Hall, for a packed dinner with Ed Davey MP, with guests from the local communities including Ahmadis, Arabs, Tamils and Koreans. It was great to meet so many of Ed's supporters from such a wide variety of backgrounds. The hall was named after Councillor Shiraz Mirza, the Deputy Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, who had raised the funds to build this and another hall for the benefit of local people. He told me he had served as Mayor twice, the first Asian councillor in the Royal Borough to have been ...
The family fun day at Aspinal School takes place today - 11 till 3. There wiill be fun and games, lots of events and residents and Councillors in period dress. On the last point, yes I do know what I look like in the rig. You have been warned!
If you live near, or work near, or use Garston Park do come and join the Friends of Garston Park this coming Saturday (24th). We are having a planting session to plant some crocus bulbs. We are meeting at 11 am in the foyer of the Leisure Centre (but if you are a little late you will spot us as we are planning to put up a gazebo near the planting so we can offer some refreshments) If you have gardening tools it would be great if you could bring them along as our supplies are a little limited. If ...
Back in June I carried the news that a Liberal Democrat councillor from Winchester, claims to have seen an alien in the city's High Street one Saturday afternoon in 2004. I have now found the video of an interview with Adrian Hicks, the councillor in question. It is on his own website: The Interview is the second video of the three recorded and edited by Vinci Recorders by request of Councillor Adrian Hicks. The Interview is a short video of a mixture of questions ranging from personal, private and in-depth questions about the event that took place. The video was ...
At the Long Lee Neighbourhood Forum meeting on Thursday people were asked to say which priorities they wanted the police to concentrate on for the next few months. The priorities that emerged were bad driving and parking in the vicinity of Long Lee ...
I'm reposting this from the many e-mails I've received advertising the Hither Green Cinema event tomorrow, Sunday 18 October. Like a mirage, the Hither Green Cinema will appear for one day only and we really hope you can come along and support this venture. It's all in the best cause- highlighting the fact that Hither Green and Lewisham desperately needs a cinema and a community space where we could hold events such as this. We are campaigning to save the historic cinema building,which is in danger of being demolished. For more information see http://www.facebook.com/l/a6f60;www.hithergreenhall.org/ This coming Sunday the 18th of ...
Welsh Party Leader, Kirsty Williams previews the Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference in this morning's Western Mail with an interview that outlines her confidence in the party's future: She said the main message she would be sending out to campaigners in her keynote speech this afternoon was that "the stakes are high" in the run-up to the general election. "There's an opportunity, a gap, that is opening up," she said. "The Labour Party is obviously failing, support for the Labour Party is falling away, but the Tories haven't sealed the deal with people. "So that presents us with an opportunity to ...
Lib Dem Deputy Leader and all round economic guru was in Gateshead today for a packed North East Lib Dem regional conference. It was interesting to hear his opinions on the economy and what is needed to turn it around. It's clear that tough decisions will have to be made about taxes and spending over the coming years. Vinces proposed "mansion tax" has been criticised by the tax but I really do feel that a simple tax on owners of very expensive houses is not as controversial with the public as the media make out. Vince was also keen to ...
There was a fascinating letter in yesterday's Western Mail from a Robert Haines of Pontypool attacking Kirsty Williams for wanting to bring value for money to our efforts to attract jobs to Wales. He wrote: I have nothing but contempt for our so-called MPs who on the one hand praise individuals who bring investment into Wales, then criticise them for their expenses (Welsh civil servants paid for football kit and children's textbooks on expenses, October 14). How do they expect our men and women who move to foreign countries to live? It costs more to live abroad and the expenses ...
Over on Wales Home, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Kirsty Williams sets out her vision for how we develop a stronger Welsh economy: But as well as facilitating the entrepreneurialism of the Welsh people, we must better protect and enhance the structural, environmental and cultural capital which underpins our economy. It is the health of our nation, in the broadest sense, that will ensure better times are ahead. So we must better capitalise on the investments we already make in people, capturing more of the talent and expertise that comes from, and comes to Wales. If Wales is a great place ...
[IMG: Young woman, blogging by window] Welcome to part two of our "Introduction to blogging" guide for Liberal Democrat bloggers or would-be bloggers. It's appearing each Saturday between now and Christmas, with all the posts available via this page. The series will then be revised and collated into an e-book, so please do post up your comments as the series progresses. Today it's the turn of Mat Bowles, advising on the technical side of getting started with a blog. So, you're thinking of starting a blog of your own. You could do what most people seem to do at this ...
It has been a busy few days not least because I spent Thursday at a funeral in London, causing me to re-organise my diary. I managed to get back in time to attend an event in the Senedd on 'Mediation in public law", which was interesting and then to Gilfach Goch for a public meeting on wind farms. In many ways this was not a typical anti-wind farm meeting. The 70 residents present largely recognise that turbines are a legitimate part of the energy mix and accept that some will be located near their village. However, what they are not ...
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone MP presenting 5E student Rachel Williams with certificate of achievement ] I was invited to give out some of the certificates yesterday and make a short speech at the celebration of 5E being awarded Beacon Status by the Learning and Skills Council. 5E is a local provider of education and training to employment for those groups in the community who struggle against various barriers. The litany of who those groups are is familiar: black and ethnic minorities, refugees and asylum seekers, women, those with disabilities or health or mental health problems, lone parents, long-term unemployed, older people, ...
Happy Diwali to all my Sikh and Hindu friends. As the nights draw in this time of year it's nice to celebrate a "festival of lights", celebrating the pure, infinite, and eternal. I shall be out for some pista barfi and laddoo and a nice cup ...
Just when you thought the US was "post-racial" having elected Obama, along comes Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace in Louisiana who has refused to marry a couple of different ethnicities. What's even more shocking is that this is not his first ...
I have just writted to the PCC, like many other people today, to register my sheer seething anger about Jan Moir's article today in the Daily Mail. Here is what I wrote to them: Before you ask, no, I'm not directly affected. I just wanted to add my voice to the other people sending you complaints, because ...
The quote was unwittingly provided by one of their own columnists in an article about the premature death of singer Stephen Gately. It's sometimes jaw-droppingly astonishing what utter bile some journalists are willing to write for their ill-earned ...
Of course Jan Moir's article would have to be published on a day I was exceedingly busy then out having a good time. Indeed by the time I got home this evening the article appears to have been pulled from the Daily Fail website and the Press Complaints Commission (PPC) actually on their page about making a complaint saying, 'if you want to make a complaint about Jan Moir's article click here'. Apparently their website was down earlier so this may be to avoid too much overload on one server. If you really want to read the full contents Cardiff ...
Whilst commenting on the possibility of a strike from postal workers, Peter Mandelson described it as almost like a death wish by the unions. As far as I can see it is about communication (no pun intended) between Royal Mail management and the unions. I am not sure why Peter puts the blame fairly and squarely with the unions. The unions are resisting change. That is what unions do, and they also fight for the best terms and conditions for their members. They don't want jobs lost and an attack on their integrity from Mr Mandelson will not go down ...
