In June of last year I passed on the top trivial fact that, aged six, Carole Caplin - who later became Cherie Blair's style adviser and had a dodgy boyfriend - played Dirk Bogarde's daughter in Accident. I have now seen the film again and it is definitely her, though it has to be admitted that she was a funny-looking kid. The picture above (borrowed from Chained and Perfumed) shows her with the director Joseph Losey and the French actress Jacqueline Sassard. (I don't know the dog's name.) Emma Brockes published an interview with Caplin in the Guardian three years ...
Nick Clegg and David Cameron, leaders of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties respectively, have agreed that the three MPs facing criminal charges over their expenses should not claim privilege as a defence. Cameron said he was disgusted and Clegg that the public would be outraged if Elliot Morely, David Chaytor and Jim Devine used their stated 1689 Bill of Rights defence of privilege. While Cameron is saying he will say more at a press conference on Monday Nick Clegg speaking at the Welsh Lib Dem conference said: "Lawmakers shouldn't be above the law and they should not be invoking ...
The Tories' flawed "Broken Britain' philosophy, if judged on 'policy' announcements hitherto, appears as though it will actually cost more, not make the cuts that the Tories promise. Personally, with the sort of ideas coming out of Iain Duncan Smith's think tank, Centre for Social Justice (which is the back bone to the 'Broken Britain' concept), it worries me ...
The Southport Visiter has the story New blow for Southport Conservatives as activists quitFeb 3 2010 by John Siddle, Midweek Visiter 1 2 nextSOUTHPORT'S Conservatives lurched into deeper crisis following the resignation of two of the party's top activists. Retired judge Stuart Fish, chairman of Dukes Ward Conservative Association, has sensationally quit the party, with Michael Hunton stepping down from his role as Kew Ward chairman. Both left following the controversial removal of Jackie Glover as chairman of Southport Conservative Association, after her involvement in an extraordinary spat with Tory election candidate, Brenda Porter and husband, Ken. Read the full ...
I am just hearing news that Michael Hunton has resigned as Chairman of Southport Conservatives Kew Ward branch. This is just the latest in a long line of resignations, sackings and defections since Brenda Porter became the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Southport. The latest resignation follows Southport Conservative Association being placed into the political equivalent of 'special measures' by the national Conservative Party Board, and the sacking of the respected and long-serving Jackie Glover as Chairman of Southport Conservatives. More to follow...............photo by Richard Hands
Today I had the privilege of seeing 7 year old Alex Phornnarit from Netherby Road complete his four-circuit lap of Dulwich Park for the Red Cross's Haiti appeal. He's only fairly recently been riding his bike without stabilisers but managed a five mile ride. You can still donate to his campaign at this link. ...
[IMG: Benjamin Tucker] Last week I ordered a copy of "Instead of a Book: by a man too busy to write one" by Benjamin Tucker, late 19th Century American proponent of Individualist Anarchism, and from which tradition much Mutualist thinking is derived. I was intending to give it the Audiobook treatment. But when it arrived today I found that it was a facsimile edition and therefore not ideally suited to easy reading into a microphone (small text, difficult fonts, awkward spacing and so on). I had previously found just the one complete online copy of the work, (there is an ...
David Cameron has recorded a really nice new YouTube video for schoolchildren. I think it's really aimed at the 4-5 age range, though I don't think children of this age are that interested in how Select Committee Chairmen are chosen. I might be wrong though. Anyway I think it's fantastic that he's doing these videos ...
[IMG: Image of the planned development on Stroud Green Road] At the end of December I was alerted to the fact that there had just been a public exhibition about a huge proposed new development on the Stroud Green Road. As the image on the left shows the John Jones arts centre plan to put a large 6 storey development on their site. They are at an informal consultation stage – the formal planning application has not yet been submitted. The development is on the Islington side of the road, and Haringey don't seem to have made much effort to ...
The appointment of Tess Culnane, an ex-National Front candidate, to work for the BNP GLA member Richard Barnbrook has been well covered elsewhere. But one detail intrigues me. As I understand it, Tess Culnane's job is one that comes with a salary. So does that mean she'll now start paying off some of the tens of thousands of pounds she owes to two Liberal Democrat members the Liberal Democrats? The debt comes from her loss of a libel action taken against Lewisham Liberal Democrats Mark Morris (who now works at City Hall too) and Vijay Naidu. As a result of ...
As well as all the individual bits of work we do in Cressington, Richard Peter and I make sure we organise regular visits to areas where some work might be needed - a flytipping spot for example. We do this with others - say a council officer or someone from Enterprise Liverpool. Anyway, we've got a day coming up when we are going around a list of locations. I already have a list, but I'm posting now to say please let me know if you are a Cressington resident and have a spot that you want us to have a ...
Last week hundreds of reactionaries met in Nashville to show their displeasure at the "socialist" [sic] Obama administration the "cult of multi-culturalism", "Islamification", and large numbers of immigrants who did not want to be Americans. The solution is "Education, Education, Education". [IMG: Cocktail-hour-at-the-nati-002 ] Just look at the back of that woman's jacket. We're as angry as hell and we just can't spell!
Stockport's Mayor, Colin MacAlister has switched to the Liberal Democrats from Labour (via Independent), whilst the Conservative deputy leader also recently switched to Independent. That's not the only bad news for the Conservatives though. In Aberconwy the local Conservative president (and councillor) Dennis Tew has also quit the party, switching to Plaid. Meanwhile in Southend, Jason Luty's switch to Independent removes the Conservative Party's overall majority on the council. Perhaps surprisingly, Labour has also picked up two councillors recently – John McNamee from the SNP and Arshad Hussain from the Conservatives.
Welsh Lib Dem conference is happening this weekend in Swansea. If you want to keep up with the goings on you can do it via the many traditional media outlets of our friends in the fourth estate. Alternatively a few activists, elected polticians and others use the #wldconf hashtag. Some may not yet have Liz Newton on their twitter feed. I'd suggest adding her. Nick Clegg and Kirsty Williams are in Swansea and spoke.The beeb and others have lots of coverage... Nick's also got a piece on Wales home.
They would have you believe that no-one is interested in politics any more and that public meetings are dead. Yet on Thursday evening more than 400 people flocked to Thornbury Leisure Centre to hear former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown reflecting on the current political situation at home and abroad and to answer questions on a wide range of issues. Paddy is rightly respected across the political spectrum, and it was his answers on foreign affairs and defence issues that were particularly eagerly sought. Although Paddy spoke and answered questions for over an hour, we could easily have gone on ...
I was very sad to hear of the death of Ian Carmichael. He was a comedy hero of mine from an early age. In the various Boulting Brothers films he shone as a sort of "upper class twit" but I think that description didn't do him justice. He was a brilliant comedy actor often providing a fantastic "trampoline" for other actors such a Terry-Thomas in "School for scoundrels" and William Hartnell (below) in "Private's Progress". Later he was Bertie Wooster on BBC TV's "The World of Wooster" opposite the Jeeves' of Dennis Price. I emphasise the "was" because in my ...
I'm just back from a very successful Liberal Democrat South Central conference in Newbury today. There were a whole clutch of impressive speakers. It was the first time I had seen a full speech from our President, Ros Scott, and I was very impressed. Ros gave a brilliant overview of the current political scenario. I was also very impressed by Martin Tod in his speech as the donation buckets went round. He was in severe danger of enlivening those same high liberal emotions which were inpsired in me when I first heard John Pardoe MP speak from the top of ...
No, not the former vice-president – I'm talking about the employee-owned sportswear, textile and polymer company. Recently I bought a Gore-Tex jacket made by the Gore Bike-Wear company. Gore make some very expensive cycling garments. Mostly their stuff is awesome and well worth the money – unfortunately I've noticed that after some very modest use my "Paclite" yellow cycling jacket has become a lot less yellow. It's become almost brown in places. From gorestains The strange thing is that these stains do not seem to be visible at all on the main parts of the jacket's fabric – only on ...
I took part in an event with the Cardiff branch of theInstitute of Welsh Affairs on Wednesday discussing the role of new media and its impact on traditonal journalism. I formed part of a panel with Lee Waters, Alistair Milburn and Bethan Darwin. It was chaired by IWA Chair Geraint Talfan Davies/. A report of the discussion can be found on the IWA blog here.
All last week BBC London took a look at what is happening - or likely to happen - to our health services in London. Their survey includes, obviously, the threat to A&Es in London - and in particular the Whittington. You can see my interview -and the whole piece here in the A&E section.
Start with this pair of sentences: Policing isn't about communicating with people. It's about communicating with people. That would be a pretty daft instant contradiction, wouldn't it? But wait. Let's say "PR" instead of "communicating". Because PR = boo! bad! nothing to do with communicating! Policing isn't about PR. It's about communicating with people. Doesn't quite work, does it? So let's throw in something about the nasty internet: Policing isn't about PR and fancy websites. It's about communicating with people. Ah, that's better. Second sentence is still a bit contradictory though. So let's add in something about cutting crime. Cutting ...
The upcoming election is both a real threat and a genuine opportunity for permanent change at the epicentre of British politics: the Houses of Parliament. The extent of the wave will vary, all depending on how big a swing to the Tories Cameron can muster, but even without that, the unprecedented numbers of retirements – voluntary ...
Now it's February the talk of local elections in May is increasing, which is very exciting, if slightly scary as we'll be up for election again. It will be exactly a year on February the 19th that you kindly elected Duwayne and I and I hope you feel we've helped you to the best of our ability with any problems that you've had. [IMG: Jenni and Duwayne 2009.1] I realise I haven't written anything for a while on here, really it's a good thing as instead of sitting at my computer typing I've been keeping track of casework. Anyway, I ...
In this week's Economist there are two powerful pieces that well and truly scotch the Tories' dangerously ...
I recall when I worked for Vince Cable MP, that we worked hard on the BAE Systems issue and the continued highlighting of corruption within their aircraft sales to Saudi Arabia and the highly controversial sale of the military radar to poverty-stricken Tanzania. Well today, finally they seem to have admitted anything but struck a plea bargain of £286million to avoid further investigations on the various corruption charges arising from their dealings overseas. New Labour pet and former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has welcomed the deal saying that this sort of plea-bargain is "the best way to work". Paying this ...
[IMG: prstwich-grocers.jpg] Hot on the heals of their meddling with the Prestwich area partnership and threats to Prestwich's Longfield Suite community Centre, Bury Conservatives are now planning to introduce parking charges at the Fairfax Road car park. The proposal has been introduced into their proposed council budget for 2010/11 and is budgeted to provide income of £35,000. But the proposal is yet another example of Bury riding rough shod over Prestwich the town and its residents, no proper consultation, no consideration of the local situation and not even the courtesy of a an email to local councillors. What's more it ...
Four blogs have recently joined Ryan's Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Alistair Carmichael - http://alistaircarmichael.wordpress.com – the MP for Orkney and Shetland is a very welcome addition to the ranks of blogging Lib Dem Parliamentarians. Daisy Benson - http://daisyscampaigndiary.blogspot.com – our Reading West candidate gets stuck into local issues. Dave Page - http://davepage.focusteam.org.uk – good to see a new local blog using the excellent ALDC MyCouncillor system. Mike Finn - http://histospeak.wordpress.com – a blog from a former historian; my views on the virtues of that are of course completely unbaised. Good luck to all the new bloggers, and why not take ...
This might change, depending on reaction, and how it looks in the finished PDF/print copies, but I thought something like this... (Part of the problem I'm having with this is getting all the good material into few enough pages while leaving it readable and well-designed. At the moment it'll require charging $16 for the paper copy, ...
A few weeks ago, RU Lib Dem Campaigns Officer Peter Walley, raised the issue of bike security at Student Voice. This week, new figures have emerged showing a huge increase in bike thefts during University term time. Local Lib Dem Councillors have long been concerned about bike theft in Reading and the lack of action the council is taking on the issue. At the last full Council meeting, Cllr Glenn Goodall asked how many bicycles had been reported stolen in the last 2 years - having had several bikes stolen since moving to Reading: - On average 70 bicycles are ...
Taking a break from all the jobs that need doing I thought I'd check on Facebook for updates on the Against Egglescliffe School Being relocated to Preston Park group. It's been a really active group, started by two ex pupils who felt strongly about our petition but wanted to expand it to enable people who weren't going in to local shops etc to be able to join the campaign. Now people are really
Salford Council has budgeted for 0% pay increases this year. On the surface this is understandable - the national pay offer from the Local Government Employers is 0%. However, negotiations are not yet complete between unions and the Employers' organisation. This headline says it all: "Council employers looked set for another explosive showdown with the ...
As reported in today's Courier, I have raised my concerns that Dundee City Council appears to be backtracking on promises to construct a multi-storey car park in the city's Hunter Street/Hawkhill that would have provided much needed parking adjacent to the University of Dundee campus and have eased the parking difficulties for residents across the West End. Providing a multi-storey car park for over 400 vehicles right next to the University of Dundee campus would greatly improve the difficult parking situation. During my period as City Council Planning & Transport Convener, I brought the project to committee for approval in ...
Dear citizens, your help is required! The Cleggster is going to be interviewed for the readers of Company Magazine this Tuesday, and your humble Head of State (as she clings for dear life onto the upper end of Company's target age range) will be asking the questions. Cameron and Brown are going to be interviewed by ...
Second "Journey" upload!
There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader ... Here's Nick Clegg on a recent visit to cheer on Burnley Lib Dems and their candidate Gordon Birtwistle, as they attempt to unseat Labour and stop the BNP. (With thanks to Hywel Morgan for the picture). What do you think they might be saying to each other, or thinking about each other? The winner of our most recent caption competition, the 'never work with children' edition just six weeks ago (ahem) – according to The Voice's judging panel of one – ...
I seem to be falling out of love with the Britblog Roundup, so let's try a new feature to showcase interesting links I come across while browsing. How often Six of the Best will appear, I don't know - presumably whenever I have accumulated six links worth posting - but a couple of times a week feels about right. And the title? Well, this is Liberal England, and what could be more English than corporal punishment? Anyway, here is the first selection: Let's start with one for the Lib Dem loyalists. Liberal Democrat Voice has copious quotations from Nick Clegg's ...
Listen very carefully. That grinding noise? That will be Robin Cook turning in his grave. You can only guess what the architect of the "ethical dimension" of Labour's foreign policy would make of the news that BAE Systems has struck a plea bargain to avoid court proceedings on corruption charges arising from their dealings overseas. The most breath-taking comment ...
(A rhyming account of its long history & folklore with accompanying annotation) Together, as brothers stand, whether Man of Kent or Kentish Man. Foreword And the last bell(1) rang long ago Echoing on those ancient stones As kings of yore and pilgrims still Walk up on windswept Blue Bell Hill Stag, bear and baying hounds Chased the chalk hill hunting grounds Pilgrim, trader Refugee, invader Paced their tales o'er the North Downs Sit with me, here on this hill And hear the echoes if you will Of ghosts and battles long since lost And how too many paths have crossed ...
John Barnett's LibDem team in Dundee West has been campaigning today in Strathmartine Ward and getting a great response on the doorsteps. Here's a rather wet Fraser in Downfield this morning - see right!
At Bury's Full Council meeting, we get to ask questions to the Council's Executive Committee. Since the Conservatives changed the rules a couple of year ago, hardly any actually get answered nowardays, but we do get written answers (ie a written copy of what was to have been said) after the meeting if they're not answered. I've not posted all of them this time, as it would take too long (perhaps a role for the Council's website, rather than a Councillor's blog!), but given that this doesn't happen, here are some of the more interesting questions asked by the Lib ...
Howard's cartoon from this week's Liberal Democrat News.
At Full Council we get the opportunity to ask questions to "Joint Authorities" in Greater Manchester. Here are quesions asked by me and my Lib Dem colleagues Richard Baum and Donal O'Hanlon. Fire Authority: Cllr Tim Pickstone Would the Council's representative to the GMFRS join me in congratulating all GMFRS staff who have been involved in work in Haiti following the recent terrible earthquake there. A. Following the terrible earthquake in Haiti on the 12 January 2010, 9 of our colleagues travelled down to Gatwick Airport as part of the UK Fire Service International Search and Rescue Team, preparing to ...
Just over two years ago, Ros and I went to Newbury to attend the South Central Regional Conference, where I got to chair a leadership hustings under somewhat unexpected circumstances. This time, I wasn't expecting anything like as much drama... This was good, because I'd been somewhat out of sorts following the events of Thursday. Having made my way to our hotel, we were collected by local PPC and, of course, former MP for the constituency, David Rendel. Interesting fact - I have now been driven somewhere by three leadership candidates. They all lost. David whisked up off to the ...
So says Norman Lamb, who has campaigned for corruption charges to be brought against BAE since 2001, in response to the news that BAE admits guilt over corrupt arms deals ... firm pays out £300m: It is a damning indictment of the political interference by the British Government that the Americans have secured admissions by BAE on Al-Yamamah while we allowed them to get away with it. I'm pleased that BAE has admitted its wrongdoing in relation to Tanzania and that the people of Tanzania will get some recompense after this outrageously unethical deal. However, I'm deeply concerned that there ...
Having spent the last few weeks charging around all over the UK, I am now paying for it by enforced bedrest due to gammy leg/back. The only benefit being that I have been more able than usual to catch up with blogs and tweets. This tweet from Charlie Whelan caught my eye - My pal Graham Sharpe from William Hill contacts me again. Money piling on to Boris to replace 'vulnerable' Cam. Hague still favourite.
If you haven't read it yet, can I urge you to click here to read a fantastic interview of Nick Clegg by Mary Riddell in today's Telegraph. For a start, it's well-written; for another it covers a fair chunk of policy ground accessibly; but most importantly it is one of Nick's most quote-tastic interviews. Here are a few of the highlights: On taking over as party leader: When I took over, morale was low. It was a horrid time, and I made mistakes. You get thick-skinned pretty damn quickly or you just get knocked over in the animalistic culture of ...
Conservative candidate for Edmonton, Andrew Charalambous, has run into trouble with the law after tethering a large advertising helium balloon to the grounds of his office and also placing advertising hordings outside it (see photo in the Enfield Independent's story). Such actions normally require planning permission and although there is a special exemption for the period of an election campaign, that exemption has not yet come in to play for the general election. Despite this, Andrew Charalambous has been unapologetic, defending to the media his use balloons and posters as a matter of freedom of speech. However, seeing how countries ...
Well, I have hit the milestone. One million viewings of my videos on YouTube. Or to be precise, 1,000,012.So if you want to boost my viewings (and my advertising revenue as well!) visit my channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/jonathanwallace.My top video is "Inside a former secret, Soviet, submarine base" which I filmed inside a nuclear bomb proof submarine bunker inside a mountain in the
Janice Small of Conservative Action on Electoral Reform (and also now Conservative PPC for Batley & Spen) wrote a piece on Comment is Free recently where she discusses the merits or otherwise of the Alternative Vote system that Gordon Brown is now trying to push through for Westminster. She rightly identifies that AV is not proportional and can actually be worse than first past the post. However her post seems a bit muddled in places. She criticises Brown for his latest move, dismissing it as cynical political positioning (and urges the Lib Dems not to fall for it). She does ...
I've just spotted a pavement sweeper - a machine, so not able to get everywhere, but at least it can move quickly and clean a lot of pavement in a short time. Hope it's sweeping up dog pooh, though I'd rather pooh wasn't left on the pavements in the first place! More on that story tomorrow.
I find it rather shocking that Conservative Leader of Kent Paul Carter, is so upset about a report referred, to on this blog Wednesday, which focused on an astonishing pay deal, done with Peter Gilroy Kent Chief executive. Indeed so upset is he, that he has sent an open letter, to the Kent Messenger which I understand is reproduced on KCC's website (taxpayer funded) as well as that of the KM group. His open letter starts thus "I feel very strongly and I am extremely upset by the way the Kent Messenger has orchestrated their story regarding KCC Chief Executive ...
Nader's post of 1st February rightly celebrates the anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States of America. However I heard a thought provoking piece on a TV current affairs programme this week. (I'm sorry, I can't remember which ...
It's good to see progress being made in Northern Ireland - and all credit to Gordon Brown for his part in it. Maybe being a Celt helps. The new agreement on policing may help to keep things on an even keel over the 'Marching ...
A total of 13 polls were published during January. Now, as our readers know, LDV doesn't cover them with the same breathless excitements as other parts of the media. Most poll movements are within the margin of error, so it is only looked at over a period of time that you can detect whether there has really been any significant movements between the parties. With those caveats in place, let's succomb to the inevitable and start poll-obsessing ... Here are January's polls in chronological order: Con 40.0, Lab 31.0, Lib Dem 17.0 (7th Jan, YouGov) Con 42.0, Lab 30.0, Lib ...
Forest Hill Library's front doors have been out of use for a few weeks now. It's because the new steps up to the door have been found to be loose and so judged to be too dangerous. This is a couple of years after they were built as part of the library's ￡1m refurb. The contractors ...
The Greek crisis continues to develop. After the implosion in their public finances which was revealed after they stopped faking the numbers, the markets have taken fright at the scale of the problems in Athens. So far so unsurprising: Greek public finances have been weak or very weak for decades. However, there is now a strict discipline that Athens must adhere to: membership of the Euro. Instead of printing money and getting out of trouble by devaluing the Drachma, the Greek government must now impose tight fiscal discipline, despite the grim outlook for economic growth. Many Anglo-Saxon commentators do not ...
The Islington Tribune has picked up my comments on the legacy of Gordon Brown's disastrous PPP for the tube. They've quoted me as saying "the public is being asked to pay three times the rate for the job, plus face disruption". I actually said that the public is being asked to pay three times over ...
The Daily Mail today is covering the story so a hat tip to them. The Conservative high command has issued a directive to every one of their candidates in the forthcoming general election that all twitter, facebook, blog and website comment must be checked first! So, they are saying every tweet must be approved, every facebook status update must be approved, every letter in the local paper must be approved, every blog post must be approved and every comment or post on a website must be approved. What they are actually saying is this, we don't trust you to make ...
This building used to house Leicester's Department of Museum Studies. Now it is hard to say what goes on there.
As a Vice-Chairman of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel (LDFI), I was delighted to see a letter from LDFI's President, Sir Alan Beith MP, in yesterday's Independent. Sir Alan, a former Lib Dem Deputy Leader, eloquently expresses the case for a two-state solution that would bring peace, justice and security to Israelis and Palestinians alike: Sanctions against Israel will not help Lord Phillips is right to demand attention for the awful plight of Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants (Opinion, 1 February), but his analysis misses some key points. Egypt has closed its own border with Gaza because it does not want ...
Yesterday the Conservatives held a seat in Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Liberal Democrat David Murray was elected to Shifnal Town Council.
In their statement yesterday MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine said: "We maintain that this is an issue that should be resolved by the parliamentary commissioner, who is there to enforce any breach of the rules." However, the Director of Public Prosecutions has decided they they should be charged under the 1968 Theft Act. Keir Starmer in his statement said: "We have considered that question and concluded that the applicability and extent of any parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court." So what is it that the court feel they can do that the MPs are saying ...
Here's your starter for ten as we experiment with a new Saturday slot posing a view for debate: Here's what David Marquand had to say in a recent issue of the New Statesman: The truth is that the left commentariat's default position – social permissiveness combined with economic regulation; toughness towards bankers, but softness towards cannabis hawkers – was always incoherent and has now become disastrous. Of course, the right's alternative – economic permissiveness combined with social regulation – is equally incoherent. But for the left to rely on that kind of yah-boo retort only deepens its current malaise. After ...
As this weekend is full of canvassing and delivering, both in my own ward and in our other target wards, there'll be a fair bit of walking done. Especially if you add in the walk home from White Hart Lane after the Spurs v Villa game this evening. So, while thinking of that very purposeful and practical walking ahead of me, I'm just reminiscing back to a more leisurely walk over Christmas. Well, the Rees-Dart track in the Wakatipu area of South Island, New Zealand, is not really all that leisurely. It's a four-day walk (I get used to using ...
Green minded Solutions SK, a Stockport Council wholly owned company are converting waste oil from secondary school kitchens to bio-fuel. With the help of their suppliers Solutions SK have arranged for the used oil to be taken from the kitchens and used as bio-fuel by local company Green2Go. The oil is used by Green2Go to fuel generating systems that provide heat and power to public buildings. The use of this fuel delivers an 80% reduction in carbon emissions compared to an equivalent amount of energy from the National Grid. Waste oil will therefore make a valuable contribution to reducing carbon ...
It is a really busy day at Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference so I may not have time to blog again until much later. I will content myself for the time being therefore in observing that this interview in The Times in which Sir. George Young is being touted as the man who will come riding to the resue of Parliament is very conveniently timed. Sir George Young of course, was the runner-up in the contest to become Speaker of the House of Commons and many MPs stil harbour ambitions to depose Speaker Bercow after the next election so as to ...
Three months. That's how long we have to put up with Alan Milburn as our MP. In fact, were he not standing down in disgrace, I think I would still be typing exactly the same thing.The revelation that he's been asked to repay £11,000 in over-claimed expenses on his second home mortgage will come as no surprise to his long-suffering constituents who have had to put up with an MP who doesn't live
On the opening day there will be speeches by Peter May, PPC for Swansea West, Roger Williams MP, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Kirsty Williams and the Federal Leader, Nick Clegg. Subjects discussed will include The Future of Social Care, A Fair Deal for All Our Children, Fairer Taxes and Making Private Sector Housing Work. There is a full programme of fringe events and exhibitions. For more details, see the Conference Guides on LibDem Today.
New figures published by the Insolvency Services have shown that there is now a record 58 bankruptcies in Wales every week. Jenny Willott, the Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, said: "These figures show that the full impact of the real recession is only now being felt in Wales. "The government's official figures show that we are experiencing economic growth again. But these bankruptcies indicate that the full pain of the recession is only now being felt. "Many businesses have struggled along hoping to see out the recession, but the ongoing strain is proving too much for many. "The ...
News that an agreement has been reached on a trigger vote this Tuesday has paved the way for a possible referendum on the Assembly assuming full law making powers in the autumn according to the BBC. What is more the insistence by the Welsh Liberal Democrats that some sort of assurance should be given on the date of the referendum has forced the government parties to engage on this issue at a time when they seemed set to proceed unilaterally. As a result all four parties are now on board and are more likely to work together for a 'yes' ...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the case that the reason given for Labour's decision to spend £200k on a temporary landscaping doesn't make any sense? Let me explain. If you read the Mayor and Cabinet item about this expenditure here's how it's motivated: 2.1.6 An allocation of £200k for temporary landscaping in Lewisham Town ...
Three British members of the House of Commons (all Labour) and one Conservative peer are to be charged with offences under the Theft Act, relating to allegations of false accounting for personal gain. They strongly deny the charges and intend to fight cases that are expected to come to court next month. The specifics range from claiming for ...
Keep the pothole reports coming in! Meanwhile, I have spoken to Herts Highways about various troublespots. One of these is the Victoria Street rail bridge. This is scheduled for urgent works, but Network Rail need to give permission. It is never easy in practice dealing with railway companies and so the emergency treatment may not be as early as any of us would like.
A fundraising campaign has been launched to save the Staffordshire Hoard for the West Midlands. In July last year a metal detector enthusiast discovered the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, in a Staffordshire field not far from Birmingham. News coverage of the find was huge - and over 40,000 people queued to see the Hoard in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, before it went to London for study by the British Museum. The Hoard includes over 1,500 incredible objects - all apparantly drawn from the battlefield and displaying breathtaking craftmanship, from a period of our history described as ...
If you want to make a decision you need information. So you may choose to look for help from statistical experts, say for information on crime statistics. You also need to know how the statistics are collected. Take something easy like car drivers breaking the speed limit. It may be that numbers caught go down because drivers are used to the speed cameras or become better drivers. It may be that numbers go up because there are more speed cameras or there is an initiative by the police to catch more people. Do we want more drivers to be caught ...
