I didn't insist that children wore goggles to play conkers, but I was right to do so.
Alright, the economy is completely screwed, and there is going to be pain aplenty over the next three years or more. But the need to survive an election has spoken louder than the state of the economy. Little has been done to address the deficit, little to address the needs of the low paid. Most tax changes are regressive rather than progressive, and the predicted growth of 3.5% in 2011 falls into the category of fairy tale rather than economics textbook. Many have said that this is a pre-budget report for the 2010 election. I disagree, this is aimed at ...
A new assessment of the performance of Birmingham City Council has been published. In the wonderful world of three letter acronyms (TLAs) the CAA (Comprehensive Area Assessement) replaces the CPA (Comprehensive Performance Assessment). Enough of jargon - what does the CAA say about how things are going in Birmingham? Well lots of things are seen as going well. The Council were praised in the organisational assessment for: · Increasing the number of adult social care clients receiving self-directed support · Improving educational attainment in line with the national picture and other similar areas · More consumers now feeling confident when ...
News that Haringey is one of nine local authorities to have been rated "poor" by Ofsted for its children's services is not really surprising.I don't think anyone underestimates the scale of the challenges facing Haringey on child protection, following the tragic deaths of Victoria Climbie and Baby Peter. Attracting enough social workers is difficult for most boroughs, but for Haringey - which has come under so much pressure from the media - it is all the more so. There are a range of services which Haringey Labour is failing local residents on however. On the new oneplace website the Audit ...
If the Tories were to win the next election, reversing the increase in national insurance would happen before any increase of the inheritance tax threshold. That appears to be what Philip Hammond has just said on Newsnight. It may be that he didn't really mean to say such a thing, but that's certainly how it ...
The "One Place" website went live this morning and so I went to look before breakfast on my council machine. However at the end of breakfast it still hadn't opened and crashed. Nota good beginning, and as I put in a comment to last night's blog - who is monitoring the monitors. Obviously enormous interest in it, but I doubt it was the British public looking. What may be of interest...
this is your successor
Our MP wrote to people who'd responded to her letter with a long epistle, part of which said that the petition she presented to Parliament suggested moving Egglescliffe school to Preston Park. Tonight one of the IBIS councillors showed us a copy of the petition form, which didn't mention either Egglescliffe school or Preston Park. Something strange is going on. Who is telling the truth? or
A few weeks ago the people at Gillette must have felt themselves very special. They had long term contracts in place with three of the most popular, wholesome and clean cut sportsmen in the world, and every advert for the company was adorned by their faces. Since then, Thierry Henry has become known worldwide not for his style, verve and footballing skills, but for his cheating handball exploits eliminating Ireland from the World Cup. Then Tiger Woods, it appears, decided to have extra marital relations with more or less anyone who fancied a go with the world's number one golfer. ...
So, it was worth holding your breath for since the promised tax on banker bonuses did happen. It was well trailed and will be well received I believe; so, it is a little disappointing to see us condemn it as 'impractical' and therefore by implication pointless measure. I am beginning to suspect this is a standard ...
One of my biggest grievances against this Labour government has been how it has failed those who needed its help most. Today the DCSF released figures showing the huge performance gap between rich and poor 7-year-olds. Despite more than a dozen years of initiatives, promises, and pledges, today's Britain is one where a child's life chances are inextricably tied to their social background, with the poorest children lagging far behind the better off. It is shocking and unacceptable that a third of poorer seven-year-olds failed to reach an acceptable level for writing. Don't fool yourselves that the Tories would be ...
Don't get me wrong, Vince Cable is one of, if not the most, influential politicians we have in our party at the moment - however, Cable's persistent pessimism towards measures that we ideologically should be supporting (if we actually are the power of fairness, and the 'new' progressive party we claim we are) is becoming ...
The observant among you will have noticed that Nadine Dorries revealed last week that she was going to take this week off to take part in a Channel 4 reality show. No expense spared she is being shipped off to a high rise in London - apparently being issued with her clothes when she gets there. To quote Nadine "Security will be with us the whole time, even when sleeping." Wow, I know MPs are a pretty unpopular bunch, but I had no idea they were quite that unpopular! Apparently "One of the objectives is for me to experience the ...
Earlier this evening I ventured into the belly of the ancestral enemies of radical liberals. I attended a lecture organised by the Fabian Society. It was given, under the title "Housing After the Crunch", by John Healey, the Minister for Housing and Planning. I seemed to have been invited as a token blogger, but I was keen to attend because housing was my main interest in the far-off days when I was a local councillor. Healey arrived late because he had to vote in a Commons division. When he did get there he was accompanied by a Malcolm and several ...
As I read about the pre-budget report on the coach home, two young smart chaps got on at Canary Wharf and took the seat behind me. Immediately they started talking about their Christmas bonuses, how they had been reduced (so they were only getting a few thousand) and isn't the world an unfair place. Being a public sector worker, this made me think of my own pay rise this year (1%), my own bonus (the fact I am still in a job unlike some colleagues), and my pay rise for the next two years (capped at 1%) - while my ...
My question at County Council today got a response that took even my breath away. I had asked questions about how much the county council spent on consultants last year, and how much it expected to spend this year. I knew the number was going to be a big one. Why else would the Deputy Leader produce such a long list of reasons why a fine, competent, imaginative and innovative council would need the services of lots of consultants. Then it came. £2.97 million last year. Expected to be £5.7 million this year. To put that in context, it means ...
Looking forward to going to this event on Monday (14th December), even if I'll have to bring my "What? No Lib Dem!" placard [IMG: :-)] Is the internet really changing politics? When: 14th December 2009, 6:00PM Where: Demos, 3rd Floor Magdalen House, 136 Tooley St, London SE1 2TU Rishi Saha, Head of New Media, Conservative Party Evgeny Morozov, Yahoo Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University Tom Watson MP for West Bromwich East John Lloyd, Director of Journalism at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University; Contributing Editor, Financial Times James Crabtree, Managing ...
A couple of days ago I reported that three trampolining pigs from Shropshire are to appear on Britain's Got Talent. A moment's reflection would have told me that such an outlandish story could not possibly be true. As a later report in the Shropshire Star makes clear, only one of the pigs uses the trampoline. The other two dance.
Sir Nicholas Stern is a world-renowned economist who carried out an economic analysis on the impacts of climate change, weighed against the cost of inaction to mitigate it. He concluded that the costs of inaction far outweigh the costs of action. Sarah Palin has decided that Sir Nicholas Stern is incorrect and that acting on climate ...
Excellent news from Barnet, where Roger Tichborne – who has run an excellent blog about local issues and the council – has decided to join the Liberal Democrats and will be standing in Mill Hill. The local newspaper reports: Roger Tichborne, who writes the BarnetEye blog as RogT, is one of the three candidates named to fight the Mill Hill ward seats, along with standing councillor Jeremy Davies and businesswoman and Times Series blogger Kim Checchetto. Mr Tichborne was a member of the Labour party for more than 20 years, but said recent policy decisions by the government had caused ...
I woke this morning to the news that Essex County Council has, for the second year running, been rated as delivering some of the worst children's services in England. Nine councils are rated as poor, including Essex [PDF report here] and the London Borough of Haringey, which faced massive criticism because of the way it handled the awful Baby P case. It seems extraordinary that the Conservative councillors who run Essex County Council allowed children's services to deteriorate so much, especially given the number of high profile child abuse cases that have featured in the national news in recent years. ...
The Government has today made a U-turn over plans that could have left low-income families £780 a year worse off, after proposed changes to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) were scrapped in today's Pre-Budget Report. Quietly sneaked into the last budget was a proposal to claw back £780 per year from some of the country's poorest and most vulnerable families. At present, households receiving Local Housing Allowance (LHA) are able to keep up to £15 a week if they choose a home with a rent below the maximum payment for their area. Alistair Darling's plan to prevent this excess payment ...
Episode IV A New Hand The Federation will in centuries know, or should that be already know, darn it is so hard to decide when Linlithgow's most famous future son managed to help invent transparent 'aluminum' [sic]*. All of course in order to transfer a humpback whale from 1986 to the 23rd Century to save mankind. Heck even in Bathgate we had a company that made more slimline and similar in manufacture communications devices to those used on the Enterprise NCC1701. Indeed the phones that came out of the Motorola factory in the 1990s and early 21st century were probably ...
Letter seen in the Yorkshire Post the other day. Couldn't agree more with Craig Harrison! From: Craig Harrison, Tadcaster Road, York. AFTER the election of the non-entity Lord Pearson as their leader, UKIP can have no moral authority to argue the EU lacks a democratic mandate. After all, UKIP's new leader has never been elected to any parliament ...
The Treasury does not systematically overestimate the budget surplus, if you take a long view.
I quite enjoyed the farewell statement by the now-ex First Minister, Rhodri Morgan yesterday. As per usual he was full of witty anecdotes of which this one was especially good: I also want to thank all the special advisers that I have had. The function of a special adviser is sometimes described as that of a spin doctor, but by and large, our special advisers have not been spin doctors but policy wonks out of the top drawer—professors of sociology, and suchlike. I will never forget one moment when Tony Blair was coming to address people in Wales, and making ...
For those of you who don't know about/aren't interested in NUS politics I apologise in advance! The NUS is controlled by two main moderate left groups: the Organised Independents (OIs) and Labour Students (NOLS affiliated to the Labour Party). It's pretty widely considered that to get anywhere in the organisation you have to be in one of these groups. This makes it interesting around this time of year because you start to see the behind the scenes scrabbling to get the nominations for key positions from these groups. Ironically most of the members of the OIs are also members of ...
[IMG: The Old Fire Station - Jewellery Quarter] [IMG: The Old Fire Station - Jewellery Quarter] [IMG: The Old Fire Station - Jewellery Quarter] This afternoon I stopped by the Old Fire Station on Albion Street for a ceremony to mark its 100th birthday. The centenary celebrations were organised by the Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood Forum with help from the History group of the West Midlands Fire Service and the owner of the building, which is now predominantly a nursery school. Children from the nursery came outside to meet the firemen and take part in the celebrations. Simon Phillips from the ...
Comes from Danny Finkelstein in The Times: Voters think that all politicians are out of touch, but — surprise, surprise — they don't distinguish much between Harriet Harman's posh school (St Paul's School for Girls) and George Osborne's (St Paul's School for Boys). Perhaps not the quote of the day, but a good one nevertheless. ...
A report by the Chief Medical Officer has found that the number of people suffering heart attacks has reduced since the smoking ban in Wales began. However, according to the BBC Dr Tony Jewell said smoking still cost the NHS £127 for each person and binge drinking and obesity also need tackling. He said NHS cash was best spent on avoiding chronic diseases developing. Dr Jewell says that although the decline could not be wholly attributed to the smoking ban, some studies suggested at least some of the reduction was due to the ban on smoking in public places, which ...
News reaches us from the Chris Beetles Gallery in Ryder Street, Westminster: On Sunday 13 December we celebrate the opening of our new exhibition, "Only Young Twice: The Lively Art of Quentin Blake". The show contains 94 new works by Britain's most beloved illustrator, largely drawn from recent commissions, and displays all his characteristic flair, invention and wit. It is an essential exhibition for anybody who has grown up with, and delighted in Quentin Blake's enchanting illustrations. A 28 page, fully illustrated catalogue of the exhibition is available from the gallery, priced at £5 (P&P £1 UK, £2 Europe, £3 ...
Darling's probable last Pre Budget Report was less illuminating or dramatic than expected. Hardly worth all the tweeting
Obviously, I can't answer that question because I'm sure you'd call me biased, but he is in the shortlist of 8 MPs for the title, drawn up by the website Yoosk. If you want to have your say in who wins the award, then go to the Yoosk site, ask questions of the shortlist – which ...
I have been in a meeting for most of the day and so am only just catching up with the PBR now. However my first impression rattling through the headlines on the BBC News website and reading initial reaction from blogs and commentators is that there is a lot less here than I was expecting. All the measures announced will make a smallish difference in each case and they do not seem to add up to anything substantial. It certainly does not feel like a government getting a firm grip on public spending and revenue raising/budget reduction to try and ...
UKIP have got themselves into a right pickle recently, poor things! It emerged last week that their new leader Lord Pearson a number of months ago made a somewhat controversial offer to the Conservative party. Pearson allegedly (The Times, 30 November, UKIP's planned deal with Tories causes outrage in anti-Europe party) approached Lord Strathclyde, the leader of the Tories in the House of Lords, with an offer to disband the party and withdraw all UKIP candidates if the Tories agreed to hold a referendum on EU membership. Lord Strathclyde himself has confirmed that the meeting with Pearson, who is in ...
Tuvalu objects, repeatedly and with determination, and the main business of the Copenhagen conference is suspended. OK, it's almost lunchtime and a temporary suspension allows time for private discussions about the issue - which is what the conference president had in any case requested - but it's still a moment of drama. The collection of Pacific islands that make up Tuvalu are about as small as you get by the standards of a nation state, but they are terminally threatened by rising sea levels so Tuvalu has huge moral authority. Decisions at the conference are taken by consensus and it's ...
Courtesy is a welcome thing, but you can have too much of it. The climate change conference president was formally appointed on Monday but Connie Hedegaard, the Danish environment minister and European Commissioner Designate, is still getting the plaudits. Every national spokesman felt the need to preface their first comments with congratulations on her 'ascension' to the role, an assurance that there was great confidence in her abilities, and some words of thanks to Denmark for hosting the event. After the first dozen they must have driven her mad! Time slips away. I whiled away my time reflecting on the ...
There are people here from across the world, but China has one sixth of the global population and they certainly don't have that level of representation. It's a rich world's conference. Lots of Europeans, and Americans, and Australians (many of them drafted in to speak on behalf of small island states). Taking part in these events costs a lot of money and requires domestic political support. You don't see many environmental activists from Russia here. Poorer countries cannot afford the huge numbers sent by wealthy blocs like the European Union, and do not have a hope of following every development ...
Manchester City Council have announced that the application from Goals Soccer Centres to build a commercial soccer centre in Heaton Park will now NOT be considered at the Planning Committee on 17 December 2009. This is the second time that the proposals have failed to make it to Planning Committee - earlier concerns meant the application was not considered in September. Local campaigners, whilst welcoming the delay, say the "fight must go on" to stop this part of the park being ruined. The application is still expected to come before Committee in the new year. Vic D'Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary ...
Down in London for the day job, I pick up a copy of the Evening Standard. An interview with Rupert Everett catches my eye: what is really exciting him now is his next film project, in which he will play Jeremy Thorpe, the former Liberal leader accused and acquitted of conspiring to murder his alleged lover, Norman Scott. The film, which is planned for the BBC, will hand Everett, he hopes, his first award-winning role.But what really catches my eye is the way this interview is billed: The star of St Trinian's on his bond with his father, losing his ...
Browsing the Daily Telegraph website I notice that they report on the Plain English Campaign announcement of the winners of its Golden Bull award for incomprehensible gobbledegook. Some of the examples they give are real beauties such as this one from Peter Manselson: Lord Mandelson on MPs' expenses (Foot in Mouth award winner) Perhaps we need not more people looking round more corners but the same people looking round more corners more thoroughly to avoid the small things detracting from the big things the Prime Minister is getting right. Translation: MPs don't need more scrutiny, just better scrutiny. One does ...
[IMG: Christmas Cracker Kickboxing] [IMG: Christmas Cracker Kickboxing] [IMG: Christmas Cracker Kickboxing] On Sunday I was a guest at the "Christmas Cracker Kickboxing" at Birmingham's Second City Suite. As well as a number of exhibition matches there were two European title fights. I was privileged to be asked to present two trophies earlier on in the evening. The event was hosted by four-times World Kickboxing Champion Kash "The Flash" Gill, who runs his own gym in Ladywood. I've been working with Kash for some time now on a project to benefit the children of Ladywood - watch this space for ...
Today, the 100th day of the 10:10 Campaign, Edinburgh became the 100th council to commit to reducing its carbon pollution by 10% in 2010. 100 councils responsible for services to 18m people, nearly one in three of the UK population. 100 councils aspiring to do what scientists say we need to do if we are to avert runaway climate change. 100 councils inspiring others to make the same commitment to a lower carbon future. Local authorities are the unsung heroes of the 10:10 Campaign. Our emissions are measured. Our decision to cut them is verifiable. We are answerable to our ...
I have noted before that our local Tory leadership does not score highly on policy. In contrast some of those on what they call the 'naughty step' are conspicuous for the grasp of the current debates and the implications for local authorities. I was pondering this today sitting on a train. Someone had discarded an unread copy of the Daily Telegraph. I don't know whether this was out of disgust or forgetfulness. One of the comment pieces asserted that 50yrs ago we opted to be a high tax country and that now we have an opportunity to reverse that and ...
The Stockport Express today has a story about how the Lib Dems and Conservatives are neck-and-neck in Cheadle when it comes to the betting odds. I guess it goes to show how quickly these things can change. Perhaps it's the admission from the Conservatives that they don't think they can win Cheadle, but the odds are now favouring a Lib Dem victory in the General Election with Mark Hunter favourite to hold the seat. [IMG: Ladrokes odds for Cheadle] Odds change over time, and you can see the latest for all UK parliamentary seats here.
Attacking Ronnie is seldom a good move. Our Tory candidate appears not to have learned that lesson............... Last week's letter from Councillor Porter attacking Councillor Lord Ronnie Fearn is typical of what people have come to expect from politicians. That is to divert blame from oneself by attacking others. What she conveniently fails to mention in her letter is that Lord Fearn, as Cabinet Member for Leisure Services, resolved in July 2009 that "the temporary closure of Southport Library be agreed on the basis that the Leisure Director make continued efforts to find a suitable town centre location for the ...
Here's what Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable had to say in response to Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report statement: What we needed was a national economic plan but what we got was a weak party manifesto. There has never been a deficit like this and we need a sensible and coherent plan for dealing with it. "The Chancellor has ducked the hard choices on spending and cuts. Instead of facing up to reality he has chosen to move the goal posts by relying on fanciful growth forecasts. He could have used this Budget to make the tax system fairer. But ...
The pre-budget report has left me feeling let-down and deflated. Let's be honest, it was never going to be a champagne-popping occasion with free money raining down on us from a great cash cannon in the sky. But what it could have been was a decisive shift toward a fairer tax system and a more manageable public debt. It has ended up being neither of those things. Instead, the lowest paid get paid even less, the gap between the rich and poor gets bigger, and Labour expect the worst off to be placated by cheaper games of bingo and a ...
With the occupation of Royal Park School now over I thought I would say a little about what my opinion of the building is. There's no denying that the building (apart from the dodgy 60s extension) is really amazing and should be saved. Councillors and campaigners from all parties and none have been fighting for years to save this slice of historic Hyde Park. It's about time that council officers worked out a creative way to allow the community to use the building and to allow the community to continue the clear up that was started during the occupation. The ...
Yesterday I attended a Climate Change Q&A session, hosted by Manchester Friends of the Earth. The star turn was Ed Miliband MP, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, but also on the panel were Sir Richard Leese who is the Leader of Manchester City Council, the Chairman of the Co-op, and a representative from FoE. It was Mr Miliband's final engagement before heading out to Copenhagen (unfortunately and somewhat hypocritically, by plane...), but he was in hopeful and inspiring mood. Much as I think the Labour government have made a mess of a lot of things, they've ...
A late Daily View today as I try to get out all my Christmas cards (37,000 of the blighters). 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: Paul at Liberal Burblings is unimpressed that Blair took us to war on the word of a cabbie. Jennie has some constructive criticism for the House of Comments podcast. A notable shortage of female Lib Dem bloggers posting yesterday – and the blogosphere is poorer for it. 2 Stories What are the odds? Keep an ...
Last week I blogged about my campaign for action for RBC tenants who are still waiting for gas central heating in RBC properties. Reading Borough Council also has a duty to act in the best interests of tenants here as the landlord. I am pleased to say my campaign has resulted in promises of action from Southern Gas. I took up this issue after speaking to tenants around Hadrians Walk East and Bamburgh Close who were waiting for gas and central heating. I wrote to the Head of Housing and the Labour Lead Member for Housing last week drawing their attention to the impact delayed installation ...
As part of the interns' series I remember when we had an intern in our office that was taken on to recruit new members to the party in South East Cornwall. He was bright and affable and exactly the sort of target driven person that is excellent for the 'salesman' type job that is involved in ...
The pre-budget report from the Chancellor seemed reasonable - that is - until Vince tore it apart. Let's just just take the bankers (no - you take them) and their bonuses. As far as I understood it - Darling was proposing that if the bankers used their profits to increase their capital reserve - they would be left in peace. If, however, they chose to use their profits to pay bonuses - then there would be a 50% levy on any bonus over £25,000. They would use anti-avoidance measures so the banks couldn't dodge this. That all seemed fine until ...
Wednesday OK, for starters, when exactly did we get the idea that our economic woes were all the fault of the PUBLIC SECTOR? Quick recap: the PRIVATE SECTOR banks indulged huge numbers of PRIVATE citizens in running up vast debts shopping on the PRIVATE SECTOR High Street with PRIVATE SECTOR store-cards supported by a PRIVATE SECTOR housing bubble (not irrelevantly connected to UNDER-investment in public housing). The Government isn't INNOCENT, but if you're going to big up the benefits of the PRIVATE sector, then you've really GOT to admit that it's time they took their share of the BLAME too. ...
This pilbox is in the field behind both where I work and the cemetary at the end of my street. Funny to see something so close to home in the paper.
Well, there has been plenty in the news recently about what makes a 'bad' MP so we at Yoosk thought that it might be a good idea to focus for a while on the qualities of a 'good' MP. End the year on a positive note. And that is why we started our 'Britain's Best MP' campaign two weeks ago. We want to find out who the good MPs are and what differentiates them from the rest. We asked our users at Yoosk to nominate their candidates and these are the people they put forward: Gisela Stuart (Lab) Lynne Featherstone ...
I'm grateful to my ward colleague Glenn Goodall (who is also Lib Dem environment spokesperson on Reading Borough Council) for drawing people's attention to tonight's meeting of the Environment Scrutiny Panel. On the agenda is an obscure-sounding, but, we would argue, vitally important report going to Environment Scrutiny on the Council's environmental enforcement activity. We have campaigned for years in Redlands and across Reading as a whole for more resources and more effective action by the Labour-controlled Council to be focussed on taking action against those who wilfully dump rubbish, abuse planning rules and generally make our streets look a mess. And in the March Budget we ...
2009 was the year I discovered Swedish crime writers. It's a surprise in a way that it's taken so long given my love of crime fiction and my Swedish background, but it was also only recently that they became widely published in English (my Swedish is simply not good enough for me to read a ...
So far the Gilt has enjoyed the PBR for some reason
[IMG: 1988_heaton_park_under_threat.jpg] Manchester City Council have announced that the application from Goals Soccer Centres to build a commercial soccer centre in Heaton Park will now NOT be considered at the Planning Committee on 17 December 2009. This is the second time that the proposals have failed to make it to Planning Committee - earlier concerns meant the application was not considered in September. Local campaigners, whilst welcoming the delay, say the "fight must go on" to stop this part of the park being ruined. The application is still expected to come before Committee in the new year. Vic D'Albert, Parliamentary ...
Microsoft and Navteq have unveiled some pretty newsworthy and geek-excitement inducing news this week, with improvements to Microsoft's mapping service that include new 3-D views and a nifty transition from bird's eye through to street level perspective. As this cnet report shows, particularly the film, there's plenty that's newsworthy and interesting here. But oh my goodness, let's take a look at the Navteq press release in its full glory. First, the headline: NAVTEQ Announces Global Technology Agreement Yup, technology company has done something with technology. No hint as to why I should be interested in what it's done as you ...
Full Council tonight (9th December) This, pasted below, is one of the motions being discussed. Its being proposed by me and Cllr Steve Radford Council notes that the Government is pressing ahead with plans to introduce identification (ID) cards. It is doing this through pilot schemes in the North West, including the planned launch of a scheme in Liverpool in January 2010. Council notes that the existing policy of the City Council is that it is opposed to the introduction of ID cards and the associated database. Council further notes that: - 1. Despite arguments by Labour ministers to the ...
[IMG: Approaching Ladywood Circus from Icknield Port Road] [IMG: Ladywood Circus sign] Birmingham City Council is consulting on proposed improvements to the Ladywood Circus junction. The A4540 ring-road roundabout is at the very heart of Ladywood and feeds on to both Monument Road and Icknield Port Road. It's a tight roundabout for the amount of traffic so I fully support these improvements, designed to increase safety and ease traffic flow. The changes include a central lane for ongoing northbound traffic, with signals for those using the junction. I'm keen to see significant changes to pedestrian and cycle crossings to improve ...
So the Chancellor is going to raise corporation tax by 1% but no longer hold off on returning VAT to 17.5%. Therefore this recressive tax which proportionally hits the poorsest more is going to have a bigger impact that on corporations, thus far. Anyone under 24 is to be guaranteed work or training after 6 months out of work. And all 16 to 17 year old's guaratnee to be extended for another year. State pension is to go up 2.5% so that will pretty much be swallowed up by VAT. But hey we'll be borrowing a whole £3bn more this ...
Dick Cole, Leader of Mebyon Kernow, is entering General Election mode. Nothing wrong with that. But he has quoted an outrageous statement on his blog which demands an answer. Dick quotes and article in the Western Morning News y a Simon Parker which is disparaging about the Lib Dems and about Nick Clegg in particular. All fairly standard stuff. But he claims that David Penhaligon, the much loved MP for Truro for many years and the man who inspired me to join the Liberal Party, would today be backing Mebyon Kernow. I am sure that, had David not been tragically ...
We seem to be becoming increasingly paranoid about photographers. People taking photographs are being frequently challenged by police. We have increasingly weird ideas of image rights and what permission is needed to take photographs in public spaces. This is just the latest case. It is often argued that people taking photographs of things some people don't think are interesting should expect to have to justify themselves. This is a bad and small minded argument, however it doesn't even apply here. He was photographing a church. An actual architectural landmark. Surely that point could be appreciated by even the most unimaginative ...
In an article in the Journal the other day, Blaydons outgoing Labour MP defended the role of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). One NorthEast is one of the best of these regional quangos, but that is not saying much. I agree that economically deprived regions such as the North East, need a body such as this but there is few arguments supporting them in other English regions, such as the East of England and the South East. In addition, One NorthEast desperately needs local accountability. Councils are much derided but at least you can vote people out if they don't perform. ...
The PBR will be tweeted live all over the place.
For decades, FWS Craig was the doyen of British electoral statistics. His reference works were widely used and often contained facts and figures that he had created from original sources. Yet today he is almost completely unknown. The reason? He died just before the internet took off. His hard work was locked away in reference volumes either sat on the shelves in libraries beyond the reach of an internet connection or available to purchase – at eye-wateringly expensive prices. [IMG: British Electoral Facts book cover] Rather like the first person to map a geographic area, even as his name has ...
According to an interview given by journalist Rosie Millard to Mother and Baby magazine, John Humphrys was once served coffee 'spiked' with her breast milk. Characteristically, Humphrys snappily downplayed the issue, saying 'It's the first I have ever heard of it. It's not really spiking ... I very much doubt that I would have noticed or ...
Leeds City Council have today released the figures for the cost of the 11 week strike by refuse workers in the city. As expected the cost is astronomical. Some £2.69 million. However a look at the press release reveals that the council SAVED £2.74 million during the 11 week period. This means that during the strike the council actually came out £50,000 above it's normal budget. So far from harming the financial position of the council, the unions actually enhanced it. Yet another example of how they have let down their members.
Liberal Democrat Voice reports that Cheadle MP Mark Hunter is one of those cheering as the Times asserts that the Conservatives have realised that many of the seats they hoped to win at the 2010 general election are beyond their reach, and have therefore scaled back their campaigns in the less marginal ones.
The north footway of Elliot Road is in really poor condition, with trip hazards, thanks to tree roots - and the south footway is not adopted at all. The City Development Department recently consulted me and other councillors about a number of options to improve matters and the option described by the department (below) is the agreed proposal. There is now consultation with householders taking place and it is envisaged work will commence on 26th January : "Elliot Road provides vehicle and pedestrian access to Royal Victoria Hospital and pedestrian access to the adjacent Balgay Cemetery. The street has a ...
The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that's fine, we're grateful for people taking the time to read the site. You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are three simple ways: 1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there's something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you're an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or ...
The public spending watchdog the Audit Commission has slammed Tory-run Herts County Council as 'inadequate' over its financial reporting, giving it a bottom score of just 1 out of 4. Liberal Democrat Opposition Resources Spokesperson Malcolm Cowan said: 'The county council has been given bottom marks by the Audit Commission because yet again its accounts have been qualified. Significantly the qualification is over the management of its assets - the county council is notoriously unable to manage its assets properly, whether it is roads, schools or multi-million pound office blocks. The auditors have rightly shown the Administration the red card.' ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] Tonight I'll be at the Environment Scrutiny (ES) panel meeting which starts at 6.30 in the Kennet room in the Civic offices. It's open to the public and looks like it will be a very interesting meeting. The agenda and papers are available here, items of note on the agenda are: Environmental Enforcement Climate Change Strategy & Action Plan
The Government's new OnePlace site, where you can find out all about the performance of your local authority and its partners, had gone down within minutes of being plugged on Radio 4's Today programme and, if the Conservatives win the next election, may be down permanently. The rating system marks a significant break with the previous star ratings awarded to local authorities. One outcome is that old and new ratings can't be compared – they measure different things about different organisations. The new assessments are largely in the form of a narrative. Instead of long tables and points scores, we ...
Something I've moaned about before, and again yesterday, is the likelihood of politicians these days farming decisions out to an external body so they don't have to take the flak when something goes wrong. There are many examples in modern political debate, from quangos in regional development agencies, to NICE – which now effectively decides which ...
From Hansard for 30 November: I hardly represent someone who is the "sweetheart" of the press, having had no background in the industry whatever. That would be Baroness Buscombe, Chair of the Press Complaints Commission. Ho hum.
Despite only scoring 2 out 4 for the Use of Resources, 87% of residents believe that West Lindsey is a good place to live. This is reported in the Audit Commission;s 'One Place' comprehensive assessment of Lincolnshire. The report also comments on how well Marshall's Yard regeneration project was managed. This can only bode well for managing the future regeneration and developing the new
Congratulations to Islington's staff and members, for the positive results of the latest CAA results published today by the Audit Commission. The Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) is an independent assessment of how well local public services are improving the quality of life for local people. It's made up of an area assessment that evaluates everything that is happening in the borough as a whole, and an organisational assessment that measures how well the council is performing. Lib Dem run Islington has received a green flag - which are awarded for exceptional performance or outstanding improvement - for our action on ...
Regular readers of this blog will know that I have recently clashed in Council with the Cabinet member Cllr Bill Dixon over his ludicrous and unsubstantiated claim in the Northern Echo that Darlington was no worse than anywhere else regarding under age drinking and subsequent admission to hospital.The publication today of the Oneplace (the website for the Comprehensive Area Assessment) report
Take a look round the internet, and you'll find stories and posts littered with icons urging you to share the content via social bookmarking services such as Digg and StumbleUpon. But take a look at the sites themselves, and it's clear that they are not only dominated by US users but also often designed with only the US in mind. For example, look at the categories available for classifying content on Digg: there's American Football but not cricket, non-US news gets lumped into the one world news category without any breakdown by other countries, and so on. The one exception ...
I don't usually agree with Op-Ed pieces in the Daily Telegraph. This morning, however, there is a very good piece from Philip Johnston. He points out that the repeated promises -over decades- from politicians of all stripes to make "efficiency savings" are actually impossible to deliver without a radical reform of the system of public expenditure. The Civil Service is only interested in controlling the costs of expenditure in the current system. They are not interested in whether the system should be changed or even whether much of what government is prescribing is actually necessary at all. What today's Pre-Budget ...
Doctor Vee explains the recent stooshies and scrimashes, as I believe they are termed.
The recent proposal from Vince "I've forgotten more than George Osborne will ever know" Cable that pay rises in the public sector be limited to £400 is one of the more astute suggestions to have been made in recent weeks. Those of us who work in the public sector - about one-third of those employed, if the old joke is to be believed! - are bracing ourselves for the worst. Both Labour and the Conservatives, egged on by various think-tanks, are now talking about the need to streamline, modernise and, inevitably, cut jobs. They also talk about the scandal of ...
Today the new way of assessing councils has been launched by the Government and the first reports are all online. Unfortunately, they aren't comparable to the old star ratings: they measure totally different things in totally different ways and have a different scoring system too. Stockport's reports are here (if the site is back up). My one-sentence summary is that Stockport is healthy, green, safe and economically strong compared to others, but needs to do more to improve our poorer areas. As with all assessments, there will be long arguments about whether it's measuring the right things and whether it's ...
Today's the day that the Chancellor makes his pre-budget statement and in the six months since his budget it would appear that he has failed to get his predictions right. Industrial output failed to grow in October, which is considerably worse than Darling expected in April. Indeed gloomy manufacturers are not expecting output to increase in future months, therefore putting Darling behind the optimistic curve he tried to portray in the Budget. The Chancellor has already said he will be protecting spending on front line health and policing, as well as education. So it is widely expected that spending cuts ...
I've already trailed a number of the items that were discussed at Scrutiny this evening. We had a big agenda: 16 items spanning a wide range of health, housing and community care issues in Reading. We kicked off with our scrutiny review of the local ambulance service which we launched after the recent 'weak' rating by the Care Quality Commission. This was trailed on BBC Radio Berkshire and Reading 107fm. The Trust representatives appeared to be feeling bruised after getting criticised by three local authorities within South Central Region about performance in rural areas (notably Hampshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire). We focussed on ...
A reader suggeted to me that I should tell you the "scores on the doors" for the surveys on this site. It seemed a good idea so I had a look behind the scenes at the latest one. Regular readers may remember that you can actually find out what the scores are by voting yourself. When you enter your details it tells you the score. The only thing is, if you look at the current scores you'll find that the don't knows have it. When I looked at the email addresses, however, I found that the don't knows are made ...
I like Gerry Robinson and I watched his programme yesterday about whether he can fix Dementia Care Homes. In 2007 I watched his programmes on the NHS when he worked at Rotherham General Hospital. The difference that he tried to make in the NHS and the difference he is trying to make this time relates to care and attitude. The staff were not happy in one home because they felt that they were not appreciated. The owner was angry with himself partly because his business was failing and partly because his communication with the staff was not good. He had ...
Last week I joined Act The Lib Dem Network. Act is open to all Liberal Democrat supporters, members and non-members.
The latest Audit Commission report on Luton Council's performance shows the authority meeting only the minimum requirements and performing adequately. The Council scored two out of four on all the five areas on which it was judged and was awarded a red flag for housing indicating there were significant concerns, action is needed. The report has been published today on the Audit Commission's OnePlace website. The report says the Council takes too long to deal with Housing Benefit claims putting some families in danger of losing their homes; too many phone calls to the Town Hall never get answered and ...
