Today, RU Lib Dems launched its Clean Up Campus Campaign to coincide with RUSU's "Go Green Week." There are 3 events planned - Bulmershe Clean Up Campus – Monday 8th February – 1pm – Meet outside Bullys. We will spend the afternoon clearing up Bulmershe Campus, followed by a trip to Mojos for a well earned pint. - Grange/Pitcroft Avenue Clean Up – Saturday 13th February – 1pm meet at the corner of Grange/Wokingham Road. Our second big cleanup is in conjunction with Park Ward Liberal Democrats and your Park Ward Candidate, Alex Kirke. Special thanks to RUSU Community Reps; ...
I have tonight emailed Sports Minister John Terry to utterly condemn his interference in the FA's decision-making about England football captain John Terry. My email reads: Along with many others, I believe that it is grossly inappropriate for you, as Sports Minister, to intervene in this situation. I have never met Mr Terry or anyone else involved in the newspapers' recent stories about his private life. I do not see why the alleged state of his marriage is my business or yours. I know little and care less about the content of these stories about Mr Terry, and am depressed ...
Alastair Campbell famously reined in Tony Blair once by saying 'We don't do God!' Subsequently, of course, it became clear that whatever Number 10's Spinmeister wished, Blair did God in a big way — and thus had even more to talk about with his pal George W Bush. Together, they were indeed on a sort of ...
With the news that Brown and Labour are trying to rush through a half-hearted attempt of electoral reform next week, it really goes to show how desperate Labour have become in their attempts to make people forget how they have sat on their hands for the last 13 years when it came to the important constitutional decisions, ...
Apart from a busy day with the 'day job', I held two surgeries late this afternoon at the Mitchell Street Centre and Harris Academy. I was interviewed on Wave 102's "Dundee Tonight" at 6pm about waiting list concerns at Dundee College and other further education colleges across Scotland. This evening, I spoke with the Blackness Primary School Parent Council about parking and road safety concerns outside the school and thereafter I attended the River Crescent Residents' Association, where we discussed a number of local issues. Both the Evening Telegraph and Wave 102 today featured my concerns about the future of ...
Haringey Council is planning to introduce a diagonal crossing outside Wood Green station. However, given the paucity of the information on Haringey Council's website you may not have spotted what's implicit in that description, namely that it is only half a diagonal crossing. Unlike the diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus which, when viewed from above, is a giant X with two diagonal routes that people can take, the Wood Green plans involve only one such route. The plan is illustrated in these rather helpful pictures that Haringey Council has supplied me after I got in touch. The pictures are useful ...
Just back from a Question Time-style meeting at the Keighley Bangladesh Community Association, well-organised by a charming young man called Fulzar Ahmed, and ably-chaired by The Revd Sam Randall. It was a lively meeting and the questions wide-ranging from traffic congestion in Keighley to banning the burqa, through withdrawl from the EU and the stste of our schools. Firstly thanks to Fulzar for organising and the BCA for hosting, also thanks to all three other candidates for contributing. I believe I was robust in putting forth the Lib Dem position on issues, local, regional, and national, and indeed a gentleman ...
Speaking to the conference of the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Electoral Commission's Jenny Watson warned those planning to hold general election counts on Friday rather than Thursday night that, There may not be a lot of sympathy for a count that declares the next day and doesn't appear to be run efficiently. Jenny Watson did also highlight the need to ensure accuracy saying, It is entirely appropriate for returning officers to decide to hold the count the next day - if they are clear that this is necessary to ensure an accurate result. But as I've previously pointed out, ...
This is Giorno on Church Square, my favourite place for coffee in town. Wartime Housewife has a survey of some of the other options.
No listing this month as there are no selections currently planned to close during February (except for one which closed at 5pm today). But for further details on how you could become a Liberal Democrat prospective candidate see http://libdems4parliament.org.uk.
Ian Swales is pictured (centre) at the Eston Great Park display with current European 500m sprint cycling champion for his age group, Derek Thurrell (left) and his wife Yvonne. Redcar and Cleveland Council have announced plans for a possible cycling velodrome at the regenerated Eston Great Park. The idea has been welcomed by Ian Swales, prospective Liberal Democrat MP for the area. He said "this would be a terrific addition to the facilities of the area. With only two other velodromes in the country at Manchester and Newport in Wales, a local velodrome would attract people from a wide area. ...
Chorlton Lib Dems have criticised the Council's gritting programme. Local campaigner, Victor Chamberlain said: "During the recent cold snap some key roads in Chorlton weren't gritted. The council must learn from its mistakes and particularly grit areas around schools and those used by the elderly and provide grit bins for local residents to keep things moving. Manchester Lib Dems have called for a review of the Council's gritting strategy. I have asked for all cycle paths to be gritted as priority roads in future. Cyclists have got a raw deal. Fallowfield loop doesn't ever get gritted. One thing that clearly ...
Housing - lack of good quality, affordable housing - is something that I care deeply about as anyone who knows me will tell you. I spend a lot of time on housing casework because I think it's some of the most important work I do as a local councillor and because I have seen the difference better housing makes to people. I feel good about campaigning for better housing and the more I do the more I realise the amount of work that needs to be done before everyone in Reading is able to live in what you and I ...
From the Guardian website this evening: Three leading mobile phone companies have told the Guardian that they have discovered a total of more than 100 customers whose voicemail was accessed by the private investigator and the journalist at the centre of the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World. This directly contradicts the official version of events promoted by the newspaper and police that there were "only a handful" of victims in the scandal. And it puts new pressure on David Cameron's media adviser, Andy Coulson, who edited the paper at the time of the illegal activity and who ...
Famously, George Orwell's Animal Farm started off with 'all animals are equal' and finished declaring 'four legs good, two legs better', It is clearly a sentiment with which Pope Benedict XVI might identify. According to The Times he is due to visit Britain later this year but already he is unhappy with what he may find here. He confirmed the visit in a pastoral address to the Bishops of England and Wales today where he also indulged in what Ruth Gledhill describes as 'a wonderful Benedictine attack on our nation's move to embrace equal rights for all, in which he ...
Of the Norfolk constituencies who say that are still intending to do their general election count on the Thursday night, only two appear to be doing what Iain Dale wants. So far North Norfolk and Norwich South appear to be the only two that will not be held over until Friday. Looking at who runs the councils, it really is very interesting. North Norfolk Count - Conducted by Lib Dem run NNDC. Norwich South Count - Conducted by Labour run Norwich CC. Norwich North/Broadland Count - Conducted by Tory run Broadland DC Mid Norfolk/South West Norfolk - Conducted by Tory ...
Liberal Democrat councillors in Redcar and Cleveland have condemned Labour's handling of care home closures in the Borough. The Labour council is proposing to close the four care homes it owns in Guisborough, Redcar, Ormesby and Brotton. Their future has been in doubt for many months now, causing uncertainty and insecurity for the residents, their families and staff. Liberal Democrats believe that, whilst there is clearly a trend towards new purpose built private sector care facilities, it is vital to retain at least one public sector home in the Borough which can also provide respite care. Local Authority homes have ...
@Mark Reckons, the Tweet machine, tweeted today to ask: Why is what has happened with John Terry anyone's business except his wife and the others directly affected? Virtually completely, it isn't anyone else's business, yes (or is it no?!). Then again, to understand why his private life is getting so much coverage you have to see it in the context of the free-rein of the tabloid press (and these days, the web) to serve up salacious gossip. To an extent it was ever thus. For decades, going back to the days of actual hot metal being involved in the production ...
THIS report about the use of the TETRA police radio system comes as no surprise to me, having sat through numerous meetings in my time as a District Councillor when we discussed the siting of the police TETRA masts across North Norfolk five years ago. I was told by a police officer in North Norfolk that the rates of illness went up very quickly after the new masts and radios were introduced. Similarly I was told of headaches, nausea and other problems suffered by residents living near to the mast in one North Norfolk town. My understanding is that the ...
Some weeks ago I parted with electronic cash to buy a copy of 'True Blue: Strange Tales from a Tory Nation' by Chris Horrie and David Matthews, two Labour supporters who decided to infiltrate the Tories so see what they are really like. The book covered areas I as interested in, such as Richmond (school), Wandsworth (old home), Henley (site of recent by-election larks) and Blenheim (big bit of walled-off land just up the road from here). Sadly, the promise of the title was not matched by the words. Essentially, Horrie and Matthews discovered that Tories are mainly ageing or ...
I always strive for fairness, even to our Tory opponents, so I should note for the record that this morning, after a pathetically light dusting of snow brought chaos once more to the roads of Oxfordshire, at least the main routes had been salted so that they were clear. Well done the County Council. If only they had managed this 3 weeks ago.
With apologies to the small band of regular readers, this blog has been sadly light on postings of late due mainly to the pressures of starting a new job, not to mention the perennial demands of family life. Perhaps the most telling comment may be that now we have entered the election campaign in all but name the politics is getting a bit less meaty and lurching more towards the trite. Thus it was with Dave's pronouncements on the Tories' plans for future budgets should the unthinkable happen in May. He was at pains to assure us all that an ...
My favourite newspaper has an interview with the Lib Dem MP for Montgomery: Mr Opik said: "I didn't set out to have a high profile as an MP but it's kind of ended up that way."There is also a video of Lembit to watch.
Glad tidings from the House of Lords today, where Labour has – at long, long last – bowed to Lib Dem pressure and announced that non-doms will no longer be able to sit in Parliament. The party's terrier-like Treasury spokesman Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott has welcomed the Government's announcement: I have introduced 4 bills over the last 5 years to ban non-doms from the House of Lords with no support from the Government and with serious obstruction from the Conservatives. "Now, with an election looming, I am delighted that the Government has had this last-minute conversion and adopted my Bill almost ...
Michael Crick has picked up the complaint in the current Liberator about the way that blue - sorry, "aqua" - has suddenly emerged as part of the official Liberal Democrat colour scheme. There are those for whom Liberal orange has near theological significance. I particularly like the first comment on Crick's posting, which points out how similar the new Lib Dem livery is to that of Greggs the bakers. Pie and pasty anyone?
[IMG: Hither Green] The Lib Dem campaign to improve access at Hither Green station was 'ramped up' last week. We gathered hundreds of signatures in support of our demand to open up the closed ramps to platforms 1, 2/3 and 6. Currently anyone in a wheelchair, with a pram, or simply with heavy luggage really struggles to get beyond platforms 4 & 5. We think opening up the closed ramps to platforms 1, 2/3 and 6 would help, but in the long term we need works to ensure access for all at this busy station (2.9 million people use Hither ...
[IMG: fag-packet-initiatives] Andy Burnham today announced his plan to cut the number of smokers from 21% of the population to 10% in the next decade. This seems to be at the cost of intellectual property rights and freedom of trade of tobacco companies; will result in a huge increase in counterfeiting, causing pain for legitimate companies and consumers; put money into the pockets of organised crime, whilst reducing government tax revenue; and will impinge on our rights as European citizens to move goods and trade freely around the EU. How many lawsuits will follow? Plenty I reckon. To be specific. ...
... We'd say a big thank you to the 38,593 'absolute unique visitors'* who read Liberal Democrat Voice in January. That's a big jump, unsurprisingly, compared to our December '09 figure of c.28,000 - and is up some 60% on the equivalent figure for January '09 of c.24,000. This brings our absolute unique visitor readership for the last year to date (1 Feb 2009 - 31 Jan 2010) to 309,123, over 40% higher than the equivalent figure for 2008-09 of 218,360. The 5 top-read stories during the month were: 1. Revealed: the Lib-Con pact election poster (34) by Stephen Tall ...
Gina Ford, author of several parenting books, has launched a political section on her website ContentedBaby.com. Prompted, perhaps, by Nick Clegg's recent critique of her childcare advice, Ford has come back with The Contented Politician. The page features photos of Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg with the strapline: "Which one of these men would you trust with your child's future?" The basic idea's a good one, but oddly-named. Why should politicians be the contented ones? The three men depicted are party leaders, not patriarchs who need to be placated. From the site: "With the general election approaching, members ...
A sizeable chunk of the Formula One world has gathered in Valencia for the first official testing of the year. This is where the cars hit the road for the first time and the designers all sweat as we get to see if they do actually work in real life as opposed to in the wind tunnel. Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso and Sauber took part today. Red Bull preserves its air of mystery, as it did last year, by sitting out the early tests. It certainly didn't do them any harm in 09, that's for sure. Virgin ...
The Daily Mail and Mediawatch have got all over-excited with their 'revalations' that some of the contestants in Celebrity Come Dine With Me have homes rented for them by the production company. Apparently this is because a couple of the celebs got a little nervous about people knowing where they lived and another lived 150 ...
Commenting on Sir Jock Stirrup's evidence to the Iraq Inquiry, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: "This is yet more evidence that the Government's pursuit of this disastrous war recklessly endangered the lives of our service men and women. "The invasion of Iraq should never have gone ahead. But having done so, the least the Government could have done was ensure that our troops were properly equipped. Instead, they ignored the warnings of military commanders. "Sir Jock Stirrup's comments demonstrate that Labour irresponsibly overstretched our forces and endangered the mission in Afghanistan by trying to fight in Iraq ...
Up to the big city on the 8.29 from Stowmarket this morning, and I arrived at the station only to discover that it was running ten minutes late. Not a great start but I'm a stoical soul and waited patiently for it to arrive. Eventually, it arrived and I took my seat. It was, I noticed, a bit chilly in coach F, and I was wondering why when the guard turned up to check my ticket and advised that the heating had failed. I could, he suggested, move to another carriage. Unfortunately, as NXEA had failed to put out the ...
"There's about £57 billion worth of hard decisions that will have to be taken" Liam Byrne on PM earlier. Translated into English: "We will have to cut £57 billion from public spending" George Orwell must be turning in his grave.
Mon 1st
16:22
Cameron's Election Liability - Kent Conservatives Health issues and the £600 phone calls
Crikey, you'd think David Cameron has all the advantages facing up to the election with a discredited Gordon Brown in government but you just wonder what might happen to David Cameron's chances, if the press got there teeth in to Kent Conservatives bloated "Health Watch" project. It seems to me that Conservatives in Kent just can't add up, a bit like our incumbent Prime Minister, who's continuing to spend, when the countries on the verge of Bankruptcy. Here in Kent, the county council led by the Conservatives who have a history of big money, er incidents like Icelandic Banking, commissioning ...
The clock at the junction of Church Road, Gatley Road and Northenden Road in the centre of Gatley has stopped - perhaps due to the cold weather. Pam and I have report it to the Council to be repaired, though depending on the fault, it may take a little while to get it back up and keeping good time again.
I knew that deciding to be on Twitter was the right decision when a Plymouth resident tweeted me about home education. It was a subject that, to be honest, I didn't know much about, so I asked her about it. I didn't realise that so many parents educated their children at home, and I certainly didn't know about Government plans to hit these parents hard with planned new rules that are draconian in the extreme. That tweet led me to take a real interest in home education. I raised the issue with MPs at Westminster briefings for prospective parliamentary candidates ...
Been desperate to attend County Hall for meetings of the Full Council but just couldn't find the time? Probably not, but Full Council meetings are now being filmed and webcast so you can watch whenever you like from the comfort of your own home. [IMG: peter.jpg] The first to be filmed was the meeting on 15th December 2009, the next will be the Budget meeting on Feb 9th 2010. If you want to see a specific item there is a handy index feature so you can jump to the part of the meeting you are interested in.
We don't often link to policy announcements, but as a teacher and a school governor I was very excited by the relaunch of our pupil premium policy. This will take steps to raise the achievement of pupils in more deprived areas by providing money to reduce class sizes and provide targeted catch-up classes or 1-1 tuition. More details about the plan can be found at the Liberal Democrats website. (The next video will hopefully be John Cleese again!)
Regular readers will know that I don't do 'stat porn', but I thought this was woth sharing. Whilst looking at the stats provided by Statcounter I noticed the following. 1 Feb 12:35:56 IE 7.0 WinXP 1280x1024 London,United Kingdom Conservative Central Office (194.203.158.97) [Label IP Most interesting of all was that they appeared to be more interested in stories about Sefton Central than Southport, but they had downloaded the extract from the nasty little book slagging off our local Tory bigwigs which supporters of our Conservative Parliamentary Candidate paid to have published. You too can read those extracts here
Following on from my review of the event I chaired recently with Professor David Nutt, the former head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in Reading, here is the interview I did with him straight afterwards. It lasts just over 4 minutes: It is clear from his responses about current UK drugs policy that he thinks we should be moving towards a Portuguese style decriminalisation system in the UK too. I think it is very significant for such a recent government drugs advisor to be advocating this. They can't go on ignoring the evidence forever...
It was my privilege last week in my role as a member of the Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform to chair a talk given by Professor David Nutt, the former chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (before he was sacked by Home Secretary Alan Johnson last year). The title of the event was "An Audience with Professor David Nutt" and after a brief introduction, Professor Nutt did a presentation for about 45 minutes after which he took questions. His talk focused on the medical and pharmacological aspects of drugs and the work he did during ...
Nich Starling the award winning Norfolk Blogger has recently done a posting about six stories that won't make Iain Dale's Daily Dozen. As I'm sure you all know Mr Dale is a leading Tory blogger and -to be fair- one of the most successful and well written/read political blogger in the UK. Nich kindly mentioned the Birkdale Focus article on the woes of Southport Conservative party as one of his half dozen-for which much thanks. I was interested in another story he picked about an upcoming Tory selection and the information I glean from Mr Dale's Diary about the Tory ...
Local Lib Dems have been looking into how much aviation contributes to our total Co2 output. In 2003 the government published its Air Transport White Paper, which encouraged the UK's aviation industry to continuously expand its capacity to 2030 and beyond. In 2008 the government passed its Climate Change Act, which included international aviation and shipping into its calculations of reducing our Co2 output by 80% of 1990 levels. A study, commissioned by the Government and conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University calculated two projections for the UK's international aviation emissions It concluded that if we allow our airports to ...
Did you know? February is Women in Horror Recognition Month. Horror is a fandom I have neglected of late, so I thought I would use this opportunity to talk about it. The thing is, horror is generally seen as a very het male genre. Women are there to be eye candy, not to be the protagonist. To be rescued, not to be the rescuer. To be passive, not active. Of course, this is the case across the entertainment industry, but it is even more the case in horror. But sometimes the horror industry does produce a female lead who is ...
Given the recent comments made about the running of Common Good Funds across Scotland, I asked the City Council's Director of Finance for her feedback on the issues raised. With her permission, please see her comments below : "I have investigated this a bit further and the Council's position is that the Common Good Fund does not hold any heritable or moveable assets which is completely different from "One council (Dundee City) simply admitted it did not know and kept no record" as contained in the survey. I am not aware where the authors got this information from. The Council's ...
Mon 1st
14:35
Vince: "Labour and the Tories are accusing each other of being confused and contradictory on the eco...
Attack is the best form of defence, I guess, so it's no surprise that the Tories – seriously on the back-foot since it became clear that David Cameron and George Osborne haven't got a clue what they plan to do about the deficit – have launched a broadside against Labour. With Peter Mandelson using a press conference this morning to accuse the Tories of "confusion and disarray", the Tories have accused Labour of being "in chaos". So far, so yawn. Or as Vince Cable put it today: Labour and the Tories are accusing each other of being confused and contradictory ...
The lead story on the Tory website this morning read: 'Glover Goes in Tory Row The row over a letter showing infighting in the local Tory group has led to the removal of Jackie Glover as Chair of the Southport Conservative Association......' The full text (which I accept is too small to read above) is available here Interestingly the question that folk are asking is 'Why if the Tory AGM was due soon was it necessary to 'knife' the long serving a loyal Mrs Glover in such a humiliating manner? I continue to be impressed by Mrs Glovers restraint. She ...
The weekend's reports that the Conservatives are rowing back frantically on the subject of cutting public spending are just another sign that they haven't really got a grasp on how to run an economy. Alternatively, you could argue that it's a sign that they haven't got a clue about how to win an election other than keeping their fingers crossed that Labour will continue to find new and interesting ways to shoot themselves in the foot. As I noted last month, cutting public spending isn't that easy. If it were, everyone would do it. It isn't necessarily popular either, at ...
Innovia Films is one of those companies that is not known by name to most people although all of us are aware of their products. If you live in Wigton then you will certainly know of Innovia and there's a very good chance that you or a family member is employed at "The Factory". I found it incredibly heartening to be in a town that was built on prosperity from actually making a real product. I grew up in Kendal, which had a similar relationship with K Shoes and IBIS (Laundry machine manufacturer) Both industries gone now.Incidentally, if you travel ...
The inquiry panel asked Tony Blair if regime change was a valid objective. He replied, "No,the absolute key issue was WMD", but almost every other answer showed that the answer should have been "Yes". He conflated the two issues of WMD and regime change, saying that they were "...two ways of saying the same thing". He told the inquiry that the only commitment he had given Bush at Crawford was
Although as I've said before I'm very sceptical of lists which rate users of Twitter by the number of followers they have, there is some merit in some of the more complex Twitter rating schemes. A good example of these is TweetLevel which, as you can see from the details on its site, includes factors such as how well people are using Twitter and how much other people on Twitter respond to them. So for a bit of mildly instructive fun, I've plugged all the Liberal Democrat MPs on Twitter into the tool to see how they rate. The two ...
There is a downside to not being on the traditional toursit route. It can prove difficult to find a cup of tea!On a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon, with fingers icy from delivering leaflet, the sign offering CHIPS - Served All Day - was like an oasis in the desert. And they were first class chips too. If a town was to be judged by its chipshop then Luigis would put Wigton at the top of the list!
Wigton is right on the edge of the Constituency but it would be a mistake to neglect it! Wigton is out of the way and largely ignored by the traditional tourists who come to Cumbria for Catbells and Wordsworth. It's all the better for it, in my view, and remains one of the most genuine towns in all of Cumbria. The picture shows the Highmoor Tower, which all visitors will notice. Basically, a folly, it was built at the end of the 19th Century. It was once owned by the great uncle of John Studholme, pictured above. John is helping ...
Hello internets! Did you miss me? My week has been full of ups and downs and drama. I have had a promise to buy my car reneged on (so it looks like it will be eBayed pretty soon). I have had my hair done at Toni and Guy (been saving up for that one for ages). I have done lots of cellar work at work, and lots of karate and climbing. I have redone the menu leaflet for work. I have made a fair dent in all the web design stuff I'm supposed to be doing, but am nowhere near ...
First Capital Connect is making a dog's breakfast of its compensation offer for the months of hopeless service. Why am I not surprised? I am joining Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker MP in a meeting tomorrow with Neal Lawson, the new occupant of the FCC managing director's office, and I will be saying that they have to do better in terms of recognising what their passengers have had to endure. The latest proposals are unnecessarily complex and frankly niggardly. People who had a break in season tickets – for example when the previous one expired around Christmas and there ...
In theory the Treasury should be receiving its annual share of Ashcroft's multi-billion pound fortune, but in practice the only place his money clearly shows up is in the coffers of the Conservative Party, as the lion's share of their General Election fighting-fund.
First there was the Tory plan for social engineering and making marriage into a tax avoidance scheme. The policy changed twice in one day. Now we have spending plans mark II. The Tories re not, as of this weekend, going to be tough on spending, well, not this week at any rate. Maybe next week they will be.Press the Tories hard enough on any policy and they will change it. Pinning them down on
On the day that Edinburgh South Labour Party start the hunt for their candidate for a candidate to replace Nigel Griffiths MP, Livingston have announced that Graeme Morrice will be their third candidate in three consecutive Westminster Elections in 5 years. The former council leader will step up to the plate to replace the disgraced Jim Devine who was deselected before the party's 'star committee' over his expenses. He beat fellow councillor John McGinty, community education officer Gordon Connolly and Haackney activist Adenike Abimbola-Akindele to the selection. I don't rule out seeing the latter appear on the Edinburgh South shortlist, ...
Yes, it's February already, and as this seems to be something that allows people to judge if this blog a success, and is entirely objective, here are the figures for January... 2210 visits, up from 1462 last month (a 53.9% improvement on last month) but down from 2262 in January 2009 (a 2.3% fall) £0.73 of advertising revenue, up from £0.40 last month (a 82.5% improvement!) but down from £1.58 in January 2009 (a 53.8% improvement). I'm now expecting to qualify for my first cheque from Google Adsense in February 2012...
Last month I congratulated Devon & Cornwall Police for the restraint they've shown in using (or rather not using) anti-terrorist laws that elsewhere in England have been used to stop and harass innocent photographers (you can read that HERE). I'm afraid that I now have to tick them off. Back in December 2008 the European Court of Human Rights (nothing to do with the European Union, before you ask) ruled that the Government cannot continue to collect DNA samples from innocent people and store them on the national DNA database. They can take and keep samples from criminals, of course, ...
The effectiveness of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in the Assembly Chamber since Kirsty Williams became leader has been widely acknowledged. Today Rachel Banner, a Labour Party activist and a leading campaigner against further powers coming to the Assembly gave a nod to one of her opponents in the forthcoming referendum campaign when she said to the Western Mail: "It's important to have intellectual disagreements within the Assembly in order to find good solutions, and I think there's too much consensus – there needs to be more tension. "I think there are some good politicians at the Assembly. Kirsty Williams – ...
Those of us pushing for the development of a Conservation Area for Acocks Green were very disappointed by the report of Julie Taylor, the Conservation Officer for our area, at last week's Yardley Consituency Committee. She said that any work on developing the Conservation Area will have to go into a queue of work that is currently 18 months long and may get longer. This contradicts the information I was given by the Cabinet Member, Cllr Neville Summerfield, who said we may have to wait around 6 months, so I have asked him to comment and will blog again when ...
After former Foreign Office minister Clare Short's remarks that in the build-up to the Iraq War, Gordon Brown was 'marginalised' and 'preoccupied by other things', Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey said: "As Chancellor, Gordon Brown had the power and the opportunity to intervene to stop Tony Blair invading Iraq. Instead he signed the cheques for this foreign policy disaster. "Gordon Brown had an effective veto - he must explain his failure to use it."
Commenting on today's remarks by David Cameron and George Osborne on dealing with the deficit, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "George Osborne and David Cameron seem to be at sixes and sevens on the crucial question of how the deficit should be addressed. "The Liberal Democrats have been arguing for some time that there should be five tests on when and how we start to cut. This must reflect the position of the economy rather than political expediency. "The public must understand that we take the deficit very seriously. But it has to be addressed in a way ...
Almost 2/3 of the RAF's Merlin helicopters, which the Government has hailed as a key part of increasing capacity and 'ideally suited' to Afghanistan, are incapable of carrying out their planned missions, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats. Answers to Parliamentary Questions have shown that of the 19 RAF Merlins in the 'Forward Fleet' (those aircraft which frontline commands are meant to be able to use), just seven - or 37% - are classed as 'available' (defined as 'considered capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date'). The answers also showed that only half (23 ...
The man who came to ask the Town Council for funding for Dial-a-Ride said that none of us know when we might get a disability which makes us need their help. He was so right! They're going to help me today. So glad I voted in favour - but I would have done anyway. Of course from now on I'll have to declare an interest when anything comes up about the scheme.
Labour is reported to be putting cooperative principles at the heart of its 2010 manifesto. Anyone remember the third way? Nick Clegg is spelling out today how the Liberal Democrats propose to pay for its flagship 'pupil premium' policy for education. David Cameron is continuing to confuse over both the economy and human rights. Despite the Tory policy of making immediate cuts, we are now to understand they won't be 'swingeing'. Meanwhile, he has asserted that burglars lose their human rights as soon as they set foot in someone else's property, suggesting he is not so much in support of ...
You have to give some credit to the new Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, he can produce a good turn of phrase. His response to the Tories wanting to scrap free school breakfasts is to label them 'cereal killers' and accuse them of wanting to 'take food from the mouths of infants'. We have been here before of course. The Conservatives argue that the money would be better spent elsewhere and that parents should be responsible for feeding their children. They are right but that is an ideal world. It does not work like that in reality, because many parents do ...
I have finally defrosted after watching Manchester City labour to an unconvincing victory in the arctic cold yesterday. That's three hours of my life I'll never get back, although thankfully the pain was numbed due to my body closing down all but its vital functions in the bitter wind. Today I am at work, but looking forward to the week ahead and safe in the knowledge that I now have TWO Twitter followers. At this rate of exponential growth I will be tweeting the entire world by the end of the week. This week it's full Council again, on Wednesday ...
As I mentioned in my last posting here, a meeting was held in the Council House on Friday evening between senior managers from National Express West Midlands, Centro, Councillors from Acocks Green, Hall Green, South Yardley and Springfield and John Hemming, MP for Yardley. The purpose of the meeting was discuss the changes to the bus routes (in force as of yesterday) I have previously blogged about, which affect the south east of the City. There was an understanding and acceptance from both National Express and Centro that the way these changes have been brought in was poor with a ...
[IMG: klein_06_small] One of the established memes about the financial crisis is that it demonstrates the failure of unfettered capitalism, the dog-eat-dog, laissez-faire environment that prevailed in the West over the last few decades, all driven by the ideology of "free-market fundamentalism." This seems to be a truism among most of the Commentariat. Of course, as pointed out repeatedly on this blog, the truth is virtually the opposite: there was never any "deregulation," the Bush Administration spent public money like a drunken sailor, and government continued to expand as it always does. But a picture is worth a thousand words, ...
They're Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance. The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals. Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands. Remember ...
Alison Wolf's latest publication draws uncompromising attention to an area that desperately needs reform, particularly in the light of the coming fiscal crunch.
Bramhall North is a ward in the Cheadle Parliamentary Constituency, part of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. For the last decade, Maureen Walsh has been one of three councillors representing Bramhall North (the other two are currently Lib Dem Helen Foster-Grime and Conservative Linda Holt). A few weeks ago, Cllr Maureen Walsh was forced out. Having wanted to re-stand in May, she was blocked from doing so. The Conservative candidate will now be Lisa Walker, who also happens to be the Constituency Chair and Tory Parliamentary Candidate Ben Jeffrey's campaign manager. Maureen is so angry she's resigned from the Conservative Group* ...
I see that a German magazine, Brigitte, is catching up with Liberal Democrat policy. You can read here a Times Online article about the fact that this magazine has now resolved to use real women in its pages. The Liberal Democrats, myself as Equalities Spokesperson and Jo Swinson, MP as Chair of the Policy Working Group welcome this debate widening. So many women and young people are made to feel bad by the constant drip drip of perfected images (perfected by airbrushing and retouching) that surround us on a daily basis. The LibDem policy arising from the working group and ...
Here's the proportion of local election candidates of the three main parties who were female over the last twenty-five years. As you can see, proportions for all three parties grew in the late '80s and since then have stalled (Lib Dems, Conservatives) or only crept up (Labour), all remaining under 40%. The dips every four years are due to county council elections having a much lower proportion of female candidates than other local elections. [IMG: Gender of local election candidates] So, what do you make of this? Does it matter? Should the flat trend for the Liberal Democrats be a ...
It was instructive to be reminded by Vince Cable about the abhorrent level of abuse that the Tories dished out to Charles Kennedy as he opposed the Iraq War. The baying rabble on the Conservative backbenches who shouted 'traitor' and worse at Kennedy played their part in allowing the illegal war to go a head. It is right that they too should be held account. The Tories en mass supported the war and the ludicrous 'neo con' view of the world that underpinned it. There were a few exception but to listen to Tories now as they attempt to imply ...
Today marks the day when slavery was officially abolished in the United States. President Lincoln was concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation would be seen as a temporary war measure and so the amendment was a means of guaranteeing the permanent ...
In the Anglo-American world, there seems to be this undying belief that science and religion are opposed and in competition. As I argued previously (check labels 'science', 'religion'), this is simply nonsense. Science explains the physical world, how nature 'works' and hypothesises general laws of nature. Scientists make many assumptions on how nature works, but these are also subject to change
The Telegraph carries a report into the postcode lottery of screening for Down's syndrome, which is putting the pregnancies of many local women at needless risk. Other hospitals are using methods which falsely identify too many pregnant women as "high risk," putting thousands under needless pressure to undergo invasive procedures which increase their risk of miscarriage. From ...
David Willett's thoughtful piece about intergenerational issues shows what the conservatives are missing out on.
Local Lib Dems have welcomed plans for much-needed new homes in King's Cross. But we pushed for more family-sized houses to be built here. Campaigners have told Camden council planners that there is a great shortage of housing locally. Many people starting their family are ...
Click on picture to read letter: [IMG: information-bulletin-1-london-road.jpg]
If there's one thing the John Terry saga has achieved, it is actually to make me rather surprised at myself. The John Terry rumours are still merely allegations. However, when they are splashed all over the national newspapers and receive not a modicum of complaint from the subject... First of all, private citizens have the right to ...
Today's Guardian reports: The Conservative leadership is today accused of being "evasive and obfuscatory" over the tax status of Lord Ashcroft, the party's deputy chairman and biggest donor, in a ruling by the information commissioner that sharply criticises the secrecy over where he is resident for tax purposes. The Cabinet Office has been ordered to reveal within 35 days the nature of the undertaking Ashcroft made to become domiciled in the UK when he became a peer in 2000. ... Ashcroft made a promise to become a permanent resident of the UK as a condition of his ennoblement in 2000, ...
I have just spent the better part of 2 hours on a telephonic merry-go-round with Homeserve and their service company Valent. We have paid them via Glow-worm, a small fortune over the last decade for a repair plan for our boiler which we had never needed until now. Yesterday our boiler stopped working so we have neither heating nor hot water. I reported it to the 24 hour claim hotline expecting that they would send someone out today. It seems that every call you make over the weekend gets lumped together as having arrived at 8am on Monday morning and ...
I generally find it easier to dislike an idea or an organisation than an individual, especially as most people have redeeming features when dealt with on their own. And so one can sympathise when things don't go according to plan. I ran into Iain Dale at the weekend at the celebration of the life (so far, he's not dead!) and works of Duncan Brack. He would have had every excuse for being a little glum after the news that he hasn't been shortlisted for Suffolk Coastal (didn't I say that he would apply?), but turned out for a friend. I ...
As many of you will know, I have never been a fan of Kent TV in the same way KCC bods officers and members (Cons) have, never criticising Kent TV as if it were some sacred cow (except of course, for that scrutiny meeting which was later er re-scrutinised, after Tory Back benchers were challenged or given new info) By there own admission, viewing numbers have at times been difficult to get at, two and half million visits as its mentioned on the agenda or what we bloggers call hits, seems a big number but does not reflect regular viewers, ...
[IMG: diary.JPG] 1st - Bury Liberal Democrats Meeting - 7.30pm Prestwich Liberal Club, all members welcome. 2nd - Save the Longfield Suite Campaign Meeting, 6.30pm Church Inn. 3rd - Full Council, Meeting of all 51 Bury Councillors, 7.00pm Town Hall Bury. 8th - Heaton Park Primary School Governors Meeting, 6pm 10th - Bury Looked After Children Awards, 5pm Bury FC 11th - Standards Committee, 6pm Town Hall, Bury 17th - Polefield Fun day and community clean up, from 12 noon. 22nd - Lib Dem Council Group meeting 24th - Special 2010/11 Council Budget Setting meeting
No - this isn't about the A&E - I wish they said yes to that too. No - this is my visit to the Whittington with members of the Haringey Phoenix Group who work with blind and visually impaired people in Haringey. Have you ever thought about this - you get the results to your tests for cancer - and because it is in print - you can't read it and have to ask a neighbour to help. Can you imagine how dreadful it must be to have to bring someone else into what is a private matter. Of course ...
Happy Monday morning, everyone. And, yes, January really is over: hurrah! So let's salute the first day of February by recalling that this is the day (in 1884) when the Oxford English Dictionary was born; as were Clarke Gable (1901) and Boris Yeltsin (1931). Sadly the world lost Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; but that was 159 years ago, so hopefully everyone's over it by now. 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here's are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Six stories that won't make Iain Dale's Daily Dozen: Nich ...
LibDem parliamentary candidate Sandy Walkington has accused First Capital Connect of making "as much of a dog's breakfast" with their compensation offer as they have of running the actual rail service. "The latest compensation proposals still seem unnecessarily complex and frankly niggardly given what people have gone through. As for people who have already claimed under the Delay Repay Scheme, the way this has been handled beggars belief. I am told by local commuters that rather than one single set of tickets for a combined claim, passengers are receiving a separate envelope and letter with rail travel voucher for each ...
With the help of others I've looked into how much aviation contributes to our total Co2 output. In 2003 the government published its Air Transport White Paper, which encouraged the UK's aviation industry to continuously expand its capacity to 2030 and beyond. In 2008 the government passed its Climate Change Act, which included international aviation and shipping into its calculations of reducing our Co2 output by 80% of 1990 levels. I found a study, commissioned by the Government and conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University which calculated two projections for the UK's international aviation emissions It concluded that if we ...
The new year seems to give rise to new economic forecasts, as people try to guess what the next few months will hold. Now we are into February, the game seems to be correcting previous forecasts, and so it has been going with UK house prices. This hardy perennial of boring dinner parties seems to be a particular focus right now, and yet it is clear that all is not well. The latest forecasts seem to show that the British economy will recover and that house prices will recover even more quickly. Except that House prices have not actually fallen ...
I was recently contacted by the Parliamentary all party working group on this subject. The statistics are apalling, and the frightening thing is how widespread the problem is throughout Britain. Over twelve thousand victims in this country alone. Human Trafficking is one the top three most lucrative manifestations of organised crime - along with drug dealing and the arms trade. Human Trafficking is a fundamental assault on basic human dignity. It affects millions of men, women and children throughout the world. More than twice as many people are in bondage in the world today as were taken in chains during ...
Earlier this week, LibDem blogger Mark Thompson entered the discussion on the most influential LibDem Tweeters. Using the methodology used previously by Left Foot Forward and Tory Radio, Mark took the 20 LibDems with the largest followings and ran them through Tweetlevel, a program from Edelman which rates Tweeters on the basis of engagement, trust, influence and popularity, ...
I was lucky to be able to have a walking holiday in New Zealand over Christmas and New Year and so missed something lots of residents across Haringey had been waiting for - the introduction of Oyster pre-pay at stations like Harringay, Hornsey and Alexandra Palace. Those Oyster machines have been in place at some stations for ages (it feels like several years), tantalising passengers with the promise of integrated ticket technology at some point in the future. Well, the future is now - if you want to travel from Ally Pally to Euston, say, you don't any more have ...
Plans to move 2010 key stage 2 SATs from the second week in May to the middle of June have been cancelled. The change, which had alarmed schools planning trips and other events, will now take place in 2011. The move was recommended by the expert group on assessment in its report earlier this year and accepted by ministers. 2010 test dates have now been confirmed as Monday 10 May to Friday 14 May 2010. In 2011, under Stockport's current holiday pattern of a two week break at Whit, means schools will return directly after the holiday in June to ...
In Friday's House Points I commented on the way that Lord Laming has come to be treated as the sole arbiter of what is good practice in child protection. So much so that: After the death of Peter Connelly ("Baby P"), Lord Laming was asked to consider whether the reforms he had suggested after Victoria Climbie's death were adequate. Not surprisingly, Lord Laming came to the conclusion that Lord Laming had done a pretty good job.As a reader has reminded me, Lord Laming has not always enjoyed this status. In fact, he was a controversial choice to lead the inquiry ...
First up the rumours that Edinburgh South MP Nigel Griffiths was going to step down have been confirmed. In what was the Lib Dems number 4 target seat across the UK and top against Labour the former deputy leader of the house was defending a 405 vote majority. Unlike John McFall who announced his retirement at 65, Nigel at 54 is announcing his next career as a director of an education institution. However, even before his sex scandal on Remembrance Sunday in the House or the expenses claims Labour's popularity in the area was declining. That was evidenced when the ...
Slight chance on the title this month because I have actually made a couple of lists. First up In the Scottish Round Up Top Politicians' Blogs for Parliamentarians, Councillors or aspirant PPCs I come in at number three, plus second in the Lib Dem category. Also I'm in at number 5 on the Scottish Politico Twitterers. I did however also fill the Stephen Glenn position (number on list +1) in the top 20 Lib Dem Twitterers by followers, so maybe only maybe. Compliment of the month comes from Iain Roberts in the LDV Daily view upon the news of me ...
As reported on this blog late yesterday night, Nigel Griffiths MP is to step down as he now has a job at an "international educational institution" from June as reported in a letter to local party members. Nigel Griffiths will be remembered for many things in Edinburgh South, the MP claiming £3,605 for a plasma tv during the MPs expenses scandal, engagining in sexual activity in his House of Commons office on Armistice Day and earlier in his Parliamentary career, he was criticised for failing to declare that he owned a property that acted as his constituency office in Edinburgh's ...
The last few really cold days seem to be taking their toll of all our old pipes and road surfaces - last evening I was told by a local resident that parts of the bottom end of Agamemnon Road had turned into a glacier and iced a couple of cars into position! On checking I found a small water leak further up the road which I will report in the morning. Can't think what is the matter with all our pipes - it seemed that Thames Water had replaced all our ageing pipes - well - they said that's what ...
I watched with amazement on Sunday morning as the process to select a Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in the Salisbury Constituency was thrown into disarray after the only local candidate in the race dropped out. Ian Axton was widely seen as one of the front runners - he lives locally in Harnham and has a high profile from his work on Meridian TV. However in a shock announcement on his website, published only hours before the selection meeting, he pulled out of the race citing that it was "not the right point" in his life to embark on a Parliamentary career. ...
Here is one of those soundbites that makes me want to argue with the television. With regards to those people who are in their own home and are burgled, "The moment a burglar steps over your threshold, and invades your property, with all the threat that gives to you, your family and your livelihood, I think they leave their human rights outside". It is quite obviously nonsense but many people will be fooled into thinking that this is talking tough against crime. There was a burglar recently who managed to escape but was beaten up by the homeowner some distance ...
