So much so that I think that every team that has to play in the shadow of the Chilterns should get back on the bus and eat pizza until call up time comes for the 6 Nations....
It has been a bit wet lately, in case you haven't noticed. And all the usual drainage issues continue. For example, Arbor Lane - something wrong with the fall and with the ditch, plus the drain just peters out somewhere under the open space behind Arbor Meadows. So the ditch fills up but doesn't go anywhere, and then the drain by the end of Barley Gardens overflows, and a stream forms down the side of the road. But the rest of the drains still have capacity, so some of the flow goes into them. And the drain on the other ...
Isn't odd that in 1997 and 2001, all these ex Generals and sons/daughters/brothers/sisters of the glitterati, TV presenters and celebrity journalists were able to keep themselves as far from a Tory rosette as was humanly possible. But as soon as the Tories start doing well in the polls, there is suddenly a deluge of people with "names" or "medals" who trot themselves out as Tories, seemingly without ever done a days canvassing or delivering in a no hope ward in their lives. It must be galling for many Tories who remained loyal in the lean years that they should be ...
Orpington Tories are selecting a new Tory candidate for the seat held currently by the Tories. Anyone who knows politics will be aware that an enormous amount of Ashcroft money was spent in Orpington in recent years to keep it in the blu column and with a little bit more luck the Lib Dems might have picked the seat up in 1997 and 2001. Given the Lib Dem strength there are the fact that the Lib Dems are still within a reasonable striking range of winning in Orpington, I think the Tories are advertising for a one term MP.
I had a meeting in Gateshead Civic Centre this afternoon about the play equipment we have been planning for ages for Sunniside Park. We have quite an exciting scheme and the money for it. Next year we will be involving local schools and consulting with residents on the actual equipment to go in. Equipment that has been promised us but is yet to appear in Sunniside however is the traffic lights
Nick Perry, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has backed the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust as a safe bet to secure the future of Hastings Pier. Speaking after a packed meeting at Blacklands primary school for the candidates in Thursday's St Helens Ward by-election, Nick said, "The Trust have done great work ...
The above are not my headlines, though I am happy to reproduce them here, no, they are from the Local Government Chronicle. It seems that up and down the country, in real elections where people are given a choice to exercise their votes, the Tories have been crashing to defeat not just against we Lib Dems, but also to Labour, and God help them finishing FOURTH to UKIP! Next year's general elections may not be as clear and cut and dried as Dave "Kid" Cameron and "Boy" George Osborne would have us believe. It is up to us to come ...
In June of this year The Daily Telegraph reported that the Conservative MP for New Forest East had tried to claim £6,000.00 for a new wooden floor. Turns out he had only ASKED if he could claim for it.. "Further to our MPs' expenses coverage (June 2009) we are happy to make clear that Dr Julian Lewis never submitted a £6,000 claim for a wooden floor. Dr Lewis asked the Fees Office whether he could make such a claim and was told it would be 'extravagant'. He accepted that advice and no claim was made," the Telegraph clarification stated. Dr. ...
Type in Rod Liddle's name into Google news and the first headline that comes up is "Rod Liddle accused of racism". The reason? On Saturday he posted a short, but nonetheless explosive comment on the conviction of two African-Caribbean teenagers for the attempted murder of a pregnant schoolgirl who they believed threatened their music careers. In it, he described the two culprits as 'human filth', no argument there, but then he went on to say this: "The overwhelming majority of street crime, knife crime, gun crime, robbery and crimes of sexual violence in London is carried out by young men ...
Paul Cotterill was more right, and me more wrong, about the perfidy of ratings agencies. But this poses biggish problems for people trying to 'solve' this crisis through extra understanding.
If you live in Fortis Green, Muswell Hill, Highgate or Alexandra wards then tomorrow night (Tuesday 08.12.09) is your chance to raise concerns directly with the Haringey Council, including two Labour cabinet members. It is the regular Area Assembly and this time being held at Highgate Primary School, North Hill, London N6 4ED. The meeting starts at 7.30 pm but council officers will be available before the meeting from 7.00 pm for residents to raise any individual matters of concern. My Lib Dem colleague for Muswell Hill ward Cllr Gail Engert chairs these meetings and the agenda for tomorrow covers ...
Today's strangest story is the news that Swindon is to be twinned with Walt Disney World. The Wiltshire town has an interesting history, but it is hard to see that it has much in common with a Florida theme park. When I visited Swindon this summer its centre consisted largely of vacant plots. It seemed that the regeneration company had gone bust after completing phase 1 of its ambitious plans. On a happier note, there is a miniature railway at Coate Water near the Richard Jefferies Museum. The blog Old Steamers has some news about it.
On the surface, the Tories plans to give tax relief for married couples seems attractive to some, but a moment's thought makes it look darker. Looking at it another way, it seems a punishment for being single. Especially being a single parent. It is not clear to me why somebody who is grieving for their wife or husband who has just died should be punished for their newly-found (and unwanted) single status and taxed extra. Similarly, it seems strange that somebody who is plucking up courage to leave a violent partner with the children should be financially penalised by the ...
From the Shropshire Star: B-oink, b-oink, b-oink - Shropshire's very own flying pigs have been getting in some last-minute practice ahead of their stage debuts this week. Three little pigs from Pigs in Clover in Cardeston, near Shrewsbury, are set to wow the judges of hit TV show Britain's Got Talent at the audition stage in Birmingham on Thursday. I mentioned this story to someone at work. She suggested that the pigs could become "the new Susan Boyle".
Back in 2005 the UK was still the worlds 4th largest economy. Not any more. According to the centre for economics and business research the UK now ranks 7th in the world and on current projections could be 11th by 2015. ( China overtook us in 2006, France in 2008 and Italy in 2009) Interestingly the CEBR also say that the UK's position relative to the other European economies is unlikely to change (showing most EU economies are not likely to improve much!) If people needed anymore proof that Labour have been disastrous for our economy then this should be ...
On Saturday I reported that East Midlands Trains is to introduce a penalty fares scheme on some of its stations so that someone found travelling without a ticket will be charged a penalty fare of £20 or twice the full single fare - whichever is the greater amount - to the next station at which the train stops. The same day's Daily Telegraph carried the alarming news that these rates are soon to rise to £50 or twice the single fare. Except it didn't. Because the paper's story, written by Rebecca Lefort, began: Foreigners let off train penalty fares Ministers ...
Well, that's what it seems like from this wise crack: If the election had turned out differently, I could be the one overseeing the signing of bailout checks and Vice President Biden could be on the road selling his book, Going Rogaine.
Well the shortlist is out on Conservativehome, and not one of the remaining 15 Orpington Conservative councillors has made the cut to the final six. We all knew that Bilbo Hobbins didn't get a reply back to his application, but what about the rest? Now, I don't know, even with a sieve that leaks like Orpington Conservatives, exactly which Orpington councillors applied - but my money is on Judy
it has been revealed that the long running saga, that is the future of the British Grand Prix. has finally been resolved. The owners of the Silverstone circuit (British Racing Drivers Club) have signed a 17 year deal to host the iconic race until 2027. I for one am relieved that there will be a Formula 1 British Grand Prix from next year. This due to the fact that Donnington Park, the circuit that was due to host the race, had to be withdrawn because of financial irregularities. One of the reasons why it is good for Formula 1 to ...
Story here. [IMG: The last drop] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: lepiaf.geo (better off slipping into blur)
I'm not a bitter canine, oh no. Just because those inefficient reindeer get all the sleigh pulling jobs at Christmas, despite us dogs being faster, with more stamina and nicer on the envrionment (less methane emissions), that's no reason to be bitter at all. So just to prove I am really in the festive spirit, honest, I give you this: Send your own ElfYourself eCards
The Cambridge-based Conservative blogger Richard Normington has the shortlist of candidates for the Tory selection in the seat and the short biographies they have published. Among them is a figure who will be familiar to readers of this blog... Chamali Fernando Chamali Fernando - "more than just a Cameron cutie!" A hard-hitting, no nonsense, seasoned doorstep campaigner who may be small but packs a mean punch, is hoping to be your Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Cambridge. Chamali achieved instant national recognition as the youngest candidate to be shortlisted by a mainstream political party for the role of Mayor of London. ...
It seems that more than 5,000 demonstrators, mostly secondary school pupils, marched through the centre of Athens for the second day running. Demonstrators have been stencilling photographs of Alex Grigoropoulos on walls along the demonstration ...
For anyone fortunate enough to have enjoyed shopping at Bury Market in the last twelve months, or for anyone unfortunate enough to have become addicted to voting for stuff in the wake of X-Factor and Strictly, now's your chance to make Bury Market the nation's favourite. The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) has launched their annual nationwide competition in an attempt to find Britain's favourite market. Shoppers can register their vote online at www.nabma.com until Wednesday 20 January. These awards promote and celebrate the importance of local markets where high standards of service, products and good practice can ...
I see Mark Thompson has beaten me to it posting about the BBC's response to the complaints about the recent removal at the last minute of Jo Swinson from a Question Time panel in Edinburgh. However, that befits a man who shares his name with the Director General. Like Mark I'd raised the issue that the Lib Dems were the most differing opinion on the war of Iraq a big story of that week, on top of that I mentioned a couple of the more Scottish-centric issues that also popped up that week, I'm not sure if Mark mentioned those ...
When you first become a parent, it's a daunting experience, no matter how much you've always dreamed of it. How on earth do you meet the needs of this small person? Thankfully, you come into contact with others in much the same boat and you can help each other chart a path through those challenging early years of raising children. It's quite a bonding experience and I know that the people I shared those special years with will be friends for life. When Anna was small, I met a lovely group of other mums at a local toddler group and ...
[IMG: Ausgezeichnet] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: Die Jugend From CNN via Political Wire: Charles Montgomery Burns, better known as Mr. Burns in the hit animated TV series The Simpsons, got the most votes of any write-in candidate during last month's mayoral election in New York City...According to records released by the New York City Board of Elections, the cartoon billionaire received 27 write-in votes out of the 299 that were cast.
No Fisher Price. No Ralph Lauren clothes. No blog posts written by you. Just a photo of a silly cat. Hope that makes the search worthwhile [IMG: :-)] (For everyone else: wondering what this is about? See here.)
Hello world! Am taking a brief break from my break away from home to bring you someFresh Squeezings From the veins of the InternetAndy Hinton got up stupidly early to go to The Wave. Here is photographic evidence of what happened, including Simon Hughes evading the fashion police. Feminist Books For Five Year Olds. Miss Holly is a big fan of Princess Smartypants, having had the book out from the library a couple of times. Handy Hints for Vince Cable fans in the Graun. I know what I'll be giving him to eat, should he ever choose to visit Calder ...
As we come up to Hannukah on Saturday, I think that it is fitting that we should remember that 21 years ago today, Chairman Yasser Arafat, then leader of the PLO, recognised the right of Israel to exist. Yet, yesterday there was a story about a series ...
A couple of weeks ago, Jo Swinson was dropped from BBC Question Time at 48 hours notice. A number of Lib Dem bloggers were very unhappy about this, indeed Caron Lindsay even started a group on the Lib Dem ACT system to protest about it. Some people (including myself) contacted the BBC to complain about this decision. It seemed a particularly bad decision given that was the week that Iraq war inquiry started (Lib Dems were the only major party to oppose the war) and it was the second time in four weeks that there had been no Lib Dem ...
Seems like Labour are going on a recruiting splurge at the moment. I'm amazed that they can afford any of these positions to be perfectly honest or is this money from their much talked about big general election pot? Will be interesting to see if that pot will be able to compete with the Tories though.
Well, they've reported back, and will be recommmending a unitary authority to cover all of Suffolk. From a personal perspective, it is a bit disappointing, in that my campaign in Stowupland ward looks likely to come to a sticky end, with the new unitary divisions likely to be at least three times the size of the district wards. However, there's never any harm in sticking leaflets through doors so, until the Secretary of State makes his decision, the campaign continues. Interestingly, however, the alternative proposal from the Boundary Committee for England, two unitaries - one based on Ipswich and Felixstowe, ...
Er...no. But this does provide more evidence of an element of wishful thinking in the Labour party: Labour's election planners believe an 8-point gap between the current party of Government and the Tories can be closed. They say that a third of Lib Dem voters have suggested that they might vote Labour, which would equate to 5 percentage points. UK Polling Report has more here.
Nick Clegg, talking about the recent 'class war', got it totally wrong in saying that the Conservatives background didn't matter but it was their 'values'. Clegg's head is, frankly, buried in the sand if he does not see the two things as connected. Cause and effect become artificially separated into two hermetically sealed bubbles in the Clegg narrative which renders ...
This week sees the Government reveal its Pre-Budget Report, usually a review of spending in advance of the budget where the Chancellor says how he'll be paying for it all though, traditionally, the run-up to a general election is the time for the Chancellor to play Santa, showering presents on favoured voters in key marginals, and with all the indications now pointing to a March General election, chances are we'll never quite get to Hard Labour facing the BILL. This year, of course, there is considerably less room for LARGESS. So let's start with a look at where we're at. ...
Surgeries allow residents to meet with their MP to ask for advice and help. Sir Malcolm Rifkind's website states that if there are urgent queries from residents, they can contact his office in Parliament, but there are no surgeries advertised and no mention of even a local constituency office. Kensington and Chelsea ceases to exist as a constituency at the next election. Sir Malcolm and I are contesting the newly created constituency of Kensington. In the local press, I have challenged Sir Malcolm to match my commitment to hold regular, advertised surgeries in both North and South Kensington if he ...
On this day in 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the US Constitution. Delaware is a tiny state, the second smallest in area and the fifth smallest in population, however, it is home to Vice President Joe Biden (who was a senator there from ...
Mon 7th
16:02
Essex Village Life In the Grim Old Days- Water By The Bucket, Misappropriated Funds, And Poverty.
I'm grateful to Jonathan Calder for pointing us in direction of a website created by an outfit called Millbanksystems. It is basically an online register of what anyone has said in parliament in the last 200 years.This may seem dull, but if you search for certain words- for example the name of your village or town- you can obtain some pretty illuminating information about what things were like
The outcome of the recent Youth Service review in Bury has highlighted how badly the Conservatives are running Bury, and how, sadly, Labour are all too willing to put party politics before improved services in this borough. The Tories imposed a £200,000 savings target from a review the Youth Service. This meant that from the start the review was about money and not quality. No matter that the service is high performing and popular. The Tories wanted to cut it by £200k, and so the service would have to be changed in some way to make that cut. That's no ...
I'm one of those people who never think elections are won until the votes are counted and the returning officer has declared. Nevertheless it is a boost to read the Times this morning relating that the Tories are effectively withdrawing from from a number of seats including Cheadle. Lucky Mark Hunter-although I'm sure that he will not give up working hard. There seems to be continuing evidence that the Tory vote in the North is not strengthening in the way it is in some places further south. I suspect that the truth is that in some key constituencies they will ...
For full text of Chris White's piece, see: http://ldv.org.uk/17099
Last month members of Gatley Youth Centre made the trip to London to visit the Houses of Parliament and ask their local MP Mark Hunter some interesting questions. Led by Youth Work Manager Anthony Atkins and colleague Richard Whitwam, members of the centre were given a full tour of the Houses of Parliament. They were given exclusive access to see the House of Commons, the House of Lords and various other areas of historical significance. Following the tour, members of the centre were given free reign to ask Mark any questions they liked in a special 'Question Time'-like discussion. The ...
[IMG: Catherine Bearder MEP at the Wave climate march] So it has finally arrived, the first day of the Copenhagen Climate Change summit. We have been led to believe that it's going to fail, then it's going to succeed and then it will fail again, it's been quite a rollercoaster. This has really tested the participating countries' resolve to tackle this issue. This is made tougher because of the economic crisis which has caused hardships for so many people and so it's understandable that the economy is at the front of people's minds. We know we have a clear choice ...
I am not a big fan of benefit culture, well those of us that pay our taxes aren't. I'm dead against those that abuse the benefits system. For example those young ladies who have a new born baby every year (I know people who actually do this) and therefore they don't work and let their mothers take the strain. I'm against the rude somalian lady who pushes into you on the bus with about 7 kids in tow, who I'm paying for. Like many others this makes me very angry indeed. The other reason why this benefit culture makes me ...
Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: I gave a keynote talk at the CIPR's Digital Focus event. Here's what I said about PR in the digital age: [IMG: A railway accident gave birth to the first press release] A railway accident gave birth to the first press release Just over a century ago, back in 1906, Ivy Lee dispatched the very first press release. The communication challenges he faced back then - which caused him to invent the press release - are actually ones that sound very familiar today. The press release was born after a major railway accident on the ...
Was reading up aout the history of my family name, Lovell, the other day. Apparently it comes from the Norman French word for wolf. Well you learn something new every day! Thanks to Cardiff Blogger for the idea.
If you had asked me two years ago, would I be blogging about sheep tagging, I would have said categorically no, but now it is an extremely important part of my political work. George Lyon MEP and Jim Hume MSP have both campaigned long and hard against the EID proposals that now, unfortunately come into force on the 1st January. Following comments made by the SNPs MEP Alyn Smith, George Lyon the Lib Dem MEP for Scotland and the Lib Dem's rural affairs spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP have jointly written to Richard Lochhead MSP to seek urgent clarification on the ...
At least half of the 38 Ministers and officials that the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are taking to the Copenhagen Conference will be travelling by plane, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. The information was released in answer to Parliamentary Questions. Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Simon Hughes will be travelling to the Copenhagen conference by train next weekend. The cost of his travel will be cheaper than the average £460 that DECC is paying to send each of its ministers and civil servants to the Conference. Commenting, Simon Hughes said: "It's a ...
At Philobiblon.
One of the least surprising pieces of news last week was that Caroline Spelman had abandoned the Tory Party's pledge to abolish Regional Development Agencies: these will now 'evolve' into Local Enterprise Partnerships. Yet only a few short weeks ago, Lord Hanningfield was telling people that the Tories would ditch RDAs by Order in Council (legally impossible but heh - we'll be a new government, so why worry?). To be fair, Spelman does little to conceal the u-turn: no pretence here that RDAs will be abolished to be replaced by Something Totally Different but Much Better. No: it's straightforward evolution. ...
[IMG: Claverton Community Hall] The latest Police and Communities Together meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday 8th December) at 6:30pm in the Clavteron Down Community Hall. This is the first time that the PaCT meeting will be held on Claverton Down, so a new audience is welcomed. Residents are invited to the open meeting to share their views about policing, council services and local issues. To close the meeting, a public vote of the issues raised will decide the top priorities. Cllr Nicholas Coombes will be sitting on the panel, as ever, joined by representatives from the police and council.
[IMG: A trifle] I wasn't going to post about the trifle incident – but its not often that the Telegraph cover Stroud Green news so I've decided I have to (Telegraph article here). At last week's Full Council meeting a Labour councillor was forced to apologise to Stroud Green Councillor Laura Edge for calling her a trifle. Laura was asking a perfectly sensible question about whether the Council would support a campaign for 1 hour bus tickets, to stop people who change buses paying twice (details of the campaign here). Instead of an answer what she got was a bizarre ...
This is no doubt an important subject it was just not the sort of mole I had expected to see referred to on a Government website. It does qualify though as the freedom of information request of the month: Request for Information - reference 3725 Thank you for your request which was received by the Assembly Government on 13 October 2009. You asked for information regarding any letters emails etc. connecting these names below or anything similar regarding the Mole: • British guild of molecatchers • mole catching • mole trap use • spring traps • daily checking of mole ...
Interesting news from Gordon Brown's speech today where he said, I can announce today that the senior civil service pay bill will be cut by up to 20 per cent over the next three years to release savings of £100 million a year... For future civil service appointments and other managerial appointments to public sector bodies which are subject to ministerial approval, the chief secretary to the treasury will approve in advance of recruitment all salaries over £150,000 and any bonus payments of over £50,000. And where senior managerial appointments are not directly under government control we will expect the ...
Spotted on TwitPic: [IMG: Arriving at my home tube station late last night I was greete... on Twitpic]
There IS a big debate about global warming.
On reading Iain Roberts' blog today it struck me that this is an issue that can give evidence of how our different attitude to governing is necessary to create a better economy. Cicero's website `where does Britain go from here?` points out that although this is not enough it is a vital aspect of any recovery ...
Published November 15th about Gordon Brown What's not on, however, is pillorying him for his poor handwriting when he makes the effort to write to the grieving mother of a soldier killed in action in Afghanistan Published Dec 6th, a 'parody' of a letter from Gordon Brown to Carwyn Jones that begins by mocking his spelling Dear Carmine
I don't know about you, but I've noticed a very distinct changing of the emphasis in the discussion on climate change lately. Before I begin, though, a declaration of interest. I am one of those climate change doom merchants. I believe man is making a significant impact on the planet. In fact, I believe we're already ...
The NHS is part way through one of the world's biggest IT projects, a colossal £6.2bn programme which won't be completed until the end of the decade. So said Business IT website Silicon.com back in January 2006 – nearly four years ago when it reviewed the nine projects making up the Government's NHS IT revolution, from Choose and Book to the NHS Spine. As the end of the decade approaches, not only are the NHS IT projects far from completion, but the cost has more than doubled to over £12 billion. We now hear that the project is to be ...
I have today launched my December 2009 update to West End Community Council. Subjects covered include : â– Community Transport â– Flooding concern - action taken â– Proposed Riverside Nature Park You can read the update by clicking on the headline above or by going to http://tinyurl.com/weccupdatedec09. The Community Council meets tomorrow (Tuesday 8th December) at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall at 7pm.
Like many other local people (over 3500 already) I have signed the petition to save the Dundee 'Borders' bookstore (the online version is available at http://www.savedundeeborders.com/). As the petition states : "Borders is a Dundee institution. It is more than a bookshop - it is a meeting place, a quiet space, a family event, a passage to the amazing world of reading for children and adults, a home for book groups and community groups and a treasure trove for all booklovers. Let's not lose it. Sign the PETITION - and when you can - buy a book! Over 3000 people ...
[IMG: Facebook screenshot. Picture credit: Gauldo, Flickr] One of the reasons I often given people for using Facebook is that overwhelmingly people on it are really who they say they are. Whether it's in the world of politics, consumer goods, public affairs or one of many others that is under consideration, this feature of Facebook users is often an important advantage over some other online options as it allows people to more effectively build up relationships, and with the audiences that really matter to them. That view about people really being who they say they are is based on my ...
Britain invented industry and the modern capitalist economy. Our inventions include: smelting iron with coke, the metal lathe, steel, steam power, the railways, modern textile production, bicycles, television, telephone, the jet engine, the submarine, the hovercraft, toilet paper, the world wide web and even this list barely scratches the surface. In "soft power", our philosophers include John Locke, the apostle of Liberalism, John Stuart Mill, Sir Karl Popper and Sir Isiah Berlin. The cultural impact of our country is extraordinary: our language is universal and most of the last four decades has been dominated by music from the Beatles to ...
Back last year I asked the question "Rwandans set to vote in UK elections?" The answer has now arrived and it is 'yes'. As I blogged last November: One of the quirks of Britain's imperial past is that Commonwealth citizens living here are able to vote, including in Parliamentary elections. This includes Mozambique residents who are able to vote because, although Mozambique was not part of the British empire, it was admitted to the Commonwealth in 1995 for political reasons. As with Mozambique previously, Rwanda has now joined the Commonwealth despite not having been part of the British empire. In ...
Today's Times reports that the Conservatives are reining back their efforts in many seats to focus on their core targets, as the likelihood of a landslide victory recedes. It gives Cheadle as an example of a seat the Conservatives no longer think they can win. Cheadle, currently held by Liberal Democrats with a majority of just under 4,000, is among seats no longer regarded as likely to fall despite a well-funded, two-year campaign to woo key groups of voters. Party strategists privately admit that some incumbent MPs, particularly Lib Dems, are putting up fiercer-than-expected resistance. Might have something to do ...
Mark Hunter, Lib Dem MP for the Cheshire seat of Cheadle since 2005, could be forgiven for smiling like his county's proverbial cat this morning. Today's Times reports that the Tories are scaling back their expectations of election victory in the light of a slew of polls showing the party's support dipping: The Conservatives are digging in for a six-week election campaign and are quietly withdrawing resources from some "landslide" seats to maximise David Cameron's chances of winning a workable majority. The well-sourced article highlights just one example of a constituency where the Tories are giving up the fight: Cheadle, ...
At the risk of tempting fate and looking very stupid after May my three predictions for Lib Dem gains are as follows: Sheffield Central Our PPC for this seat is Paul Scriven who's the leader of Sheffield City Council. Paul has done a really great job of turning Sheffield into a flagship Lib Dem city after years of infighting in the Sheffield Labour group. There's now not a single Tory councillor in the whole city. Paul's other big advantage is that his seat borders Nick Clegg's. This automatically boosts the profile of the Lib Dems in Sheffield and won't do ...
The Council is again asking residents to complete a survey about life in the borough. The A4-sized 'Stockport Survey' questionnaire has been sent to 6,000 randomly selected residents, evenly spread throughout the borough's 21 electoral wards. There are questions on many topical issues including community safety and local services. The questionnaire takes about 15 minutes to complete, and all responses are completely confidential. The survey, carried out by Ipsos MORI, a leading market research company, is strongly backed by the Stockport Partnership which comprises the Council, Stockport Primary Care Trust, Greater Manchester Police, and other public, private and voluntary sector ...
Over at the Mail, Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable previews this week's pre-budget report, says what the Lib Dems' priorities would be, and and argues that the banks should pay back the taxpayer for saving their business. Here's an excerpt: This week the spotlight switches from bankers' bonuses to government deficit. The collapse of the banks and the recession has devastated public finances. In Wednesday's Pre-Budget Report, taxpayers will get the bill and the debate will begin as to who pays and how and when. ... Unless painful budget measures accompany a fairer tax system, the public will be ...
The Brown fightback was evident last week when the Prime Minister used PMQs to attack David Cameron's privileged background. Whilst Cameron was clearly stung by the attack, and Labour MPs were energised by the comment that the Tories' inheritance tax policy was invented on "the playingfields of Eton" (paraphrasing the words of the Duke of Wellington if my history serves me correctly) the question
OUR Prime Minister appears to have become amphibious. You see, as his party's European election ratings sank beneath the waves, Gordon somehow managed to keep his head above water. This is no small feat. It was the worst election result for Labour since the First World War. On top of that, some Ministers resigned- and some said that Gordy should resign too. But there's something about Gordon which people under estimate. Just when you thinks it's all over, he somehow rallies his troops and the danger recedes. All the same, there's a lot of Labour wreckage from last week's Euro ...
Welcome to the 341st day of the year, folks, a day which has witnessed in past years the births of great thinkers like Noam Chomsky and Stan Boardman. 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Why the Conservatives have been making class an issue (James Graham) ... the one party still obsessed with class in this country are the Conservatives. Frankly, it would be nice if there were a bit more class consciousness within the other two main parties. Four Years ...
All of this talk about taxing bankers' bonuses has had me a little confused. On one hand, flinging around such huge sums appears wholly irresponsible, especially when the only reason they are able to do so is that we, the taxpaying public, were willing to bail them out. Effectively, they are using our money to enrich themselves and there is a sense whereby they should be making good rather than making off with the cash. On the other hand, one is loathe to interfere with the right of a private company to determine its own remuneration policy. So perhaps it ...
Later today it is widely expected that the 2010 Fomula One British Grand Prix will be announced as taking place at Silverstone. After a couple of years of the circuit that has hosted the British Grand Prix since 1987 first looking to lose the event to Donnington, then potnetially Britain losing its spot on the F1 circuit altogether when the financing fell through, it now seems certain that it will be as you were in Northamptonshire and not a shift to Leicestershire.. The Silverstone circuit is like the heart of F1 around it are various of the works factories of ...
Here is a link to an excellent post by Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem MP. Her post is about the Tories trying to get out of their agreement to accept the Kelly report's recommendations on managing MPs' expenses: Lynne Featherstone's Post, "Tories still don't get it"
Your browser does not support iframes. Click on the picture for another gem from the British Pathe website. This one shows the wedding of Jo and Laura Grimond. Note that it is billed as the "wedding of Miss Bonham-Carter," showing who was the better known figure in 1938. And you get a glimpse of Margot Asquith at the end too. I met Laura Grimond when she came to Market Harborough in the 1980s to rally the troops. I could also have met Jo when he did a meeting in Kew in the 1983 general election, but being young and foolish ...
Yes, I know what you're thinking, how could you miss it? As one of ALDC's newer members, I get frequent exhortations to start campaigning for my District Council seat as early as possible. However, there is more than one campaign taking place in Creeting St Peter. Let me explain... Creeting St Peter is not exactly a hive of commerce. We do have a concrete factory of sorts, but it's mostly about farming. Oil-seed rape in the spring and early summer, wheat as autumn approaches and last but not least, sugar beet. Here, the sugar beet is still in the ground, ...
Kim Holt has finally broken cover over the health team's part in the Baby Peter tragedy with an interview in the Sunday Telegraph with Andrew Gilligan. Who is Kim? She is (or rather was) a senior paediatric consultant in Haringey's child protection health team. Kim first came to me (over a year ago), terrified to talk to me, as she had been gagged - forbidden to talk to anyone. However, because I was her MP, she and I believed that must give her cover as it couldn't be the case that a citizen loses their right to talk to their ...
With all eyes turning to Copenhagen this morning the world is hoping for a result that the planet can live with coming out of the Climate talks. 56 papers in 45 countries covering 20 languages (incudung Chinese, Russian and Arabic) including our own Guardian have taken the unprecedented step of carrying a common editorial, many have also moved it to their front page. I'll let you read it for yourself, but I'll also direct you to the story of how this project came about.
Commenting on Alistair Darling's warnings that he will not be 'held to ransom' by the banks and George Osborne's assertion that he wouldn't rule out a windfall tax on bonuses, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "There is a complete lack of clarity at the heart of the Labour and Tory approaches to banks. "The simple and correct approach, since many banks are returning to high levels of profitability, is for banks to pay for the taxpayer guarantee that they currently enjoy. "A 10% levy on bank profits would raise around £2bn in current conditions and would go to ...
Commenting on David Cameron's Politics Show interview, in which he tried to distinguish between the Commons and the Lords on whether non-dom tax status is acceptable, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Cameron's talking nonsense to say that the Lords has no responsibility for the economy. Many Lords votes really matter for public spending and therefore tax. "David Cameron must stop dodging the question of whether Lord Ashcroft is a full UK taxpayer. "If it is wrong for a legislator in the Commons not to pay full UK tax, it is equally wrong for a legislator in the ...
Commenting on reports that the multi-billion-pound NHS IT programme is to be dramatically scaled back in the Pre-Budget Report, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: "This whole programme has been disastrously flawed from the start. "It has held back the development of IT at a local level, cost billions and is running years behind schedule. "Labour has been in denial for years and this is a belated and partial recognition of the scale of their failure. "The truth is that the national programme should be abandoned in its entirety, subject to existing contractual obligations, and instead we should ...
Lewisham Council has apologized to the people of Catford for the Plessy Road Retail Island, Eros House and Milford Towers. "What were we thinking?" said a tearful Town Hall spokesperson. "We'll make it all up now, we have a plan" continued the crazy-eyed spokesperson laughing "we buy Catford Centre and make it beautiful!" This high rise high density ...
Featured below are Cllrs Jack Pia, Michael Green and Geoff Churchard, who attended Saturday's climate change march in London. [IMG: dsc_0272.jpg]
A couple of days ago I was speaking with a group of teachers and we got on to the subject of photography. I noticed a general sense of relief that cameras were banned from school. If cameras were allowed into schools it only takes one parent to object to their child being photographed and you have real problems. In practice what this means is that nobody gets photos of their children at any school performance. The conversation went on to the subject of photography in public places. Again I noticed a general agreement among the teachers that photographs should not ...
The 2010 Formula 1 grid is taking shape now and a number have drivers now know who they will be driving for in 2010.
We are holding a vigil to stop climate change. This is part of a string of events happening across the UK and the World headed off by the WAVE demonstration which is being held in London on Saturday the 5th of December to encourage our leaders to take the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change seriously. The plan is to assemble on the evening of Monday the 7th of December for an hour from 6pm to 7pm in the square in front of the Waitrose Supermarket Cafe in Portishead. Bring a candle and a friend. At 7.30pm following the vigil I ...
