Really? Will there be candy floss? And dodgems? Is that really the best they can come up with after 13 years of making the poor poorer and the rich richer? You have to laugh. I have had a very enjoyable evening. I am just a slightly bit tipsy after Mr Glenn and i shared a bottle and a half of Spain's finest red. I don't know whether he came to see me or because he saw this tweet, but I don't mind. We have been watching Election 74 since just after 5pm with a little break for the Eastenders live ...
Last summer we reported that Peter Chegwyn, Lib Dem leader on Gosport Council, had been banned from being a councillor on both Gosport Council and Hampshire County Council for two years in a dispute over a local music festival. However, Peter Chegwyn has taken that Standards Board ruling to the Hight Court and this week won a significant set of victories. The two-year disqualification from Hampshire County Council was quashed completely. The two-year disqualification from Gosport Borough Council was quashed and replaced by a two-month suspension, and the Judge ordered the Standards Board for England to pay Peter Chegwyn's full ...
Former cabinet minister who turned out to be a failed anti-Brown suicide bomber, James Purnell, has announced he is to leave Parliament at the general election. So another Labour MP, and another Blairite, passes through the Labour resignation floodgates. Apart from his attempt to sink Brown the moment the Euro-election polls closed last year, Purnell is memorable for only one other event. He was
On the New Statesman site (I'm not bitter) Rowenna Davis writes about the way that MPs' dependence on unpaid interns gives young people from richer backgrounds a head start on breaking into politics. John Bridges discusses the results of this week's local authority by-elections for Liberal Democrat Voice. TransportCrucible.com has the story of the grounding of the Merseyside police sky drone. The pinpointing of the exact location of the Battle of Bosworth makes the Medieval News. I am glad to say it is still in Leicestershire. Old Holborn worries about the built-in webcams on all our shiny new laptops. With ...
The 10-day Parliamentary recess comes to an end on Monday, and its back to work, only six weeks before the dissolution and the general election campaign. Having this week off has been a good opportunity of clearing up some of the heaps of paper on the floor, as well as having a bit of time off. I finished Christopher Hogwood's Handel, a great book which increased my admiration for the composer. Its a pity we still hear mainly the favourites like Messiah when there's so much else in his huge output, like Giulio Cesare in Egitto which I listened to ...
Labour have just announced their election slogan as "A Future Free for All." Surely if we are facing a double dip recession they have edited the third word a little too much for accuracy.
I recently received an email after I asked Councillor Clifton Thompson some questions on the Look In Cafe. This is after I blogged on the concerns of a local campaigner contacted me and Ray Earwicker Lib Dem PPC has called for Cllr Thompson to go as Older Peoples Champion SeeLocal Blog: The Look In Cafe Campaign Continues Councillor Clifton Thompson email is below; Hi Darren Thank you for inviting me to have my say on the Look In. As you will now know the Council has issued a press release confirming that the Look In will remain open thanks to ...
No, it's not Iain Lindley the Tory candidate over in Worsley & Eccles South – but our own Ian Lindley, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for North Durham. Cut 'n' pasted from libdems.org.uk... Ian Lindley - PPC for North Durham [IMG: Ian Lindley] PPC for North Durham Liberal Democrat candidate for North Durham About Me Occupation: Centre Risk Assessor (Edexcel), County Councillor (Northumberland) Marital Status: Married, two children Education: BA (1976), PGCE (1985), Dip PG Policy Studies (2004) Biography Ian was born into a hard-working Yorkshire family. His family moved to South Africa when he was young, where the experiences ...
As a friend of mine texted me this evening "Why can't Archant (publishers of the EDP) get your name right ?" Yes, it might seem odd to some people for me to shorten my name to Nich with an "h", but I've never seen the point in shortening my name and then adding a letter "k" that isn't part of my name. You'd imagine that after all the letters I have had printed in the EDP over the years, all time they reported on things I was doing when on North Norfolk District Council, they'd be able to get my ...
Elm Road - that is, the road surface itself - has suffered quite badly in the freezing weather recently. So much so that the traffic engineers have decided to carry out an emergency investigation. The contractors will be drilling bore holes in the road between Moor Lane to Rhodrons Avenue on Monday, so the road will be closed along that section during the day. The idea is to find out the exact nature of the problem, before the road is repaired and resurfaced. So on Monday the K2 will be sent on a detour. Instead of turning left at the ...
Testing for comments
The death of Lionel Jeffries was announced today. I would say that two of his films - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (which he starred in) and The Railway Children (which he directed) - were central to the childhoods of my generation, except that I cannot remember watching either all the way through until I was an adult. Anyway, this clip comes from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It is a measure of the glorious cast of that film that one of the inventors here is played by Max Wall. Jeffries, famously, was younger than Dick Van Dyke, whose father he played ...
I had a useful meeting today with members of the Western Cemetery Association and the Director of Leisure and Communities of Dundee City Council. We discussed a proposal to provide an additional area for urns in the cemetery. It was a very productive discussion and we agreed steps to be taken to hopefully provide the additional urns in the future.
It is so good having my colleague David Tattersall writing a blog. He is the Lib Dem cabinet member for the Environment on Sefton Council and he has a very important story on the future of recycling in the borough
One of the things that so hacked off Nicholas Winterton was that councillors got first class travel. I was about to dismiss that as ill informed fantasy when word reached me of the Tory and Labour budget on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. My on the spot reporter-no other than Jack Colbert wites:Libdems put forward a budget at today's Merseyside Fire Authority's meeting. Yes, you guessed it, Labour and the Tories voted against it and voted through 3.85% increase- the biggest Fire Authority increase in the Country!!! We put into the Libdem budget to reduce councillors allowances by 10%., stop ...
Top NW political journalist Jim Hancock tipped Tim Farron to hold his seat with an increased majority when spoke in Maghull recently. He cited Tim as the sort of Liberal who will be very hard to shift. This evening we learn that the Tory HQ in Kendal burnt down last night. Conservative Home has the story. It is interesting that one of the comments on the story reads 'bearded man in sandals seen running from site...' which really tells you a lot about the folk there
Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. Perhaps the truth is that, like John Reid, Howells has just been a consistent authoritarian all his life. Hornsey College of Art at the sit-in point at something more libertarian, or am I just being seduced by the glamour of the sixties? Incidentally, do people still read Kim. They certainly should do. When someone told Evan Harris on the Today programme this morning that India was Kipling's home, he scoffed at the idea. He would not have done that if he had read his best book. Kim what? "I am Kim. I ...
Wonderful sequel to Michelle Obama's memorable visit to EGA, as some Islington pupils got to visit the White House in return. Michelle Obama's philosophy that 'whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude' chimes perfectly with EGA's motto of learning without ...
Back in 2006, I raised with both the City Council and Stagecoach Strathtay the suggestion that a small extension to the then 72 (now the 69) bus service route to include the west end of Richmond Terrace and Richmond Court would be a boon to the residents there - particularly the elderly folk who find it difficult to walk to Windsor Street/Magdalen Yard Road, currently the nearest point on the current route. At that time, the bus company did not take the suggestion forward, but I recently raised the matter again, following further discussions with residents. I am pleased to ...
Its always difficult deciding whether what you hear and read on blogs , tweets and facebook etc is fact or hype.Today is one of those days where the rumour mill is running on full speed.The only thing Gordon Brown has now is the element of surprise for announcing the date for the general election. There has been a buzz all day today that tomorrow is that very day, and given the tweet earlier from Douglas Alexander: "Big day for Labour 2moro, will keep u updated"The volume of the rumours has grown louder and louder as the day has gone on.Now ...
Dundee City Councillors were advised this afternoon of electrical faults affecting about 70 bus shelters across the city. The Head of Transportation wrote : "Dundee City Council has been advised that an electrical fault has developed in a significant number of the bus shelters (as a result of moisture getting into the electrics). We have been told by external contractors that there is a small risk that this fault could cause a danger to members of the public. As a precaution, we have taken the decision to switch off the power at these sites - at least until the full ...
There were six principal council elections held on the 18th February. Labour held one seat and the Tories two. We lost two seats to Labour but gained one from the Tories There were four Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC. A Tory hold, two Lib Dem holds and a Lib Dem gain from Plaid. In the Pendre Ward of Bridgend Council in Wales we managed to lose to Labour by just seven votes having won the seat by seven votes just two years ago. We ran a good literature and doorstep campaign but we needed to use the ...
Been out today on operation Portcullis with, local activist Paul Gregory and our fantastic local PCs and PCSOs. There were 23 arrests this morning for alcohol and outstanding crimes, and the police have been doing a range of activities to crack down on alcohol related crime and antisocial behaviour. The operation will be running up till ...
This week's shocking U-turn by the Labour Government, to allow religious schools to put their own slant on sex and relationship education, will let down thousands of teenagers (and younger children) across the country. Ed Balls' amendment to the Children, Schools and Families Bill will almost certainly lead to state-funded religious schools teaching that contraception is ...
Friday, February 12, 2010 by Daily Sport. IT'S beginning to look like the understated and sometimes grumpy looking giant—also known as Gordon Brown—is beginning to limber up to the challenging task of trying to win the next election after all. In a spirited performance in Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Flash Gordon took on Dangerous Dave and, in my view at least, actually did a rather better job. It wasn't so much the content of what he was saying. Frankly, half the time Prime Minister's Questions is about as informative as an edition of Celebrity Wife Swap. But you can ...
Friday, February 19, 2010 by Daily Sport. IT'S that time of year again for a load of argy- bargy over the nasty practice of whaling. The Japanese fleet is currently on its annual hunt, sailing around the Antarctic looking to bump off Free Willy and his pals. And a bunch of activists from the group Sea Shepherd have been chasing them around, trying to save our giant friends. This year's Whale War has been the roughest yet. The whaling fleet, which is backed by the Japanese government,has so far managed to sink one of the Sea Shepherd boats and kidnap ...
Saturday, February 06, 2010 by Daily Sport. DID you watch any of Blair's appearance at the Iraq inquiry? The former PM faced a gruelling six-hour session. During that time he was questioned about everything from his relationship with George Bush to his feelings on Saddam Hussein. Tricky Tony answered in a calm and composed way before wrapping up by declaring that he had NO regrets about going to war and that he'd do it again. Woah,that's controversial stuff Mr Blair, especially since nearly 200 British soldiers and over 90,000 Iraqi civilians died in the conflict. Still, you've got to give ...
Right, that's tomorrow's @libdemvoice Saturday debate set up – wonder if the sparks will ignite? Find out tomorrow from 8am ... # Many thanks for the #ff @CllrDaisyBenson – tho social media guru really is pushing it cf the others! # Just finished compiling the most popular LD shadow cabinet members as voted for by 200+ @libdemvoice party members. Will publish Mon, 2.45pm # @CllrDaisyBenson Prolific or Political OCD ... Still, what else to do on Valentine's night? # #ivenevervotedtory Never. Not once. Even when Chris Patten was standing as Oxford Uni chancellor, cdn't bring myself to do it. # ...
Finally some good news for the leaseholders hit with massive bills from the Council for the installation of digital aerials. This paper is going to Tuesday's meeting of the Labour Cabinet that runs Haringey, with some clear recommendations that will help leaseholders. It's taken a lot of nagging from me, Lynne Featherstone, leaseholder groups, individual residents and others to get to this stage - but now at least some success. Assuming that the recommendations are accepted, the biggest news for leaseholders is that they will see the costs of digital aerial installation capped at a maximum of £400. This is ...
Corrie's Ken Barlow – otherwise known as lifelong Tory and (probable) multi-millionaire, William Roache – has recorded a video for the Tories to talk about "Labour's plans for a 'death tax' of up to £20,000 per head to fund the cost of a National Care Service." This comes after Tory health spokesman, Andrew Lansley, boycotted ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week 1. Clegg sacks Jenny Tonge (73) by The Voice. 2. How Lib Dem members rate the performances of our shadow cabinet (2) by Stephen Tall. 3. Are these the three most fanciable Lib Dem MPs? (13) by Stephen Tall. 4. How can we sell the Single Transferable Vote to the public? (39) by Stephen Tall. 5. Jonny Oates writes: The Lib Dems' campaign slogan - Building a fairer Britain (40) by Jonny Oates. 5 active LDV Members' ...
Well tomorrow Gordon Brown celebrates his 59th Birthday. So lets have a little look at how other's see him. An intriguing take as Gordon as Skeletor. Classic John Clushaw turning Gordon in a rapper. Meanwhile Rory Bremner sees Gordon more as Mika singing the music to Grace Kelly, of course the lyrics aren't the same. Finally Jeremy Vines looks at Vince Cable's phrase "From Stalin to Mr Bean" one that Piers Morgan brought on Sunday. I wonder if we'll have an updated version on election night 2010, this from the council election night in 2008.
Reams and reams and reams and reams of words representing thoughts have been spewed out onto the internet and the print media over the last month on the subject of climate change, the IPCC, and how scientists have been simply dreadful. Talking about that would be fairly pointless, as everything I could possibly say has ...
So, arch Blairite James Purnell is the latest of the 87 or so Labour MPs to decide to quit politics. Why? Surely in a few short months he'd have had a shot at standing for Labour leader as a defeated Gordon Brown headed back to Fife in disgrace. He could have been the one to have given the kiss of life to the Labour Party as it licked its wounds in opposition. Or, maybe Labour's tails are starting to come up again. They can see the polls tightening and the Cameron majority evaporating. Maybe they think, and some are starting ...
There were six principal council elections held on the 18th February. Labour held one seat and the Tories two. We lost two seats to Labour but gained one from the Tories There were four Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC. A Tory hold, two Lib Dem holds and a Lib Dem gain from Plaid. In the Pendre Ward of Bridgend Council in Wales we managed to lose to Labour by just seven votes having won the seat by seven votes just two years ago. We ran a good literature and doorstep campaign but we needed to use the ...
The main reason for linkblogginess today (other than me being off work ill) is that if I do a linkblog now, my post on the White Album (discussing all thirty tracks) which will take a couple of days to write, can be a Super Special Anniversary Post, as it will be my 400th since I ...
Bridgend UA, Pendre Lab 200 (36.6; -12.7)LD Anita Dawn Davies 193 (35.3; -15.3) Ind 68 (12.5; +12.5)Con 60 (11.0; +11.0)PC 25 (4.6; +4.6)Majority 7Turnout not knownLab gain from LDPercentage change is since May 2008Charnwood BC, Birstall WatermeadCon 674 (47.7; +2.8)Lab 452 (32.0; +32.0)BNP 288 (20.4; +20.4)[LD (0.0; -55.2)]Majority 222Turnout 26.94%Con holdPercentage change is since May
To help make your campaigning as easy as possible, we've gathered together some of the essential campaign tools, paperwork and information that you'll need as the campaign goes on. Do let us know if there is anything else that you need and we will add it in. Campaign artwork tools Liberal Democrat fonts: Helvetica Neue & Andrew Garrett only (zip file) Liberal Democrat fonts: other useful fonts (zip file) Liberal Democrat logos (zip file) Liberal Democrat General Election Campaign Logo Liberal Democrat clipart Liberal Democrat colours Buy PagePlus software More campaign resources also available on the Liberal Democrat Members' Site ...
This has been spread all over the place but I cannot resist it. You really need to listen to Sir Nicholas' comments on FiveLive. What a pompous prat! People in standard class on the trains have a "different outlook on life" than those in First Class like himself, he says. There is noise, distraction and people would be looking over his shoulder in standard class. And people in standard class don't do any "serious work" there. That's what he says. Just everything he says is wrong. Serious business people do serious work in standard class and people keep themselves to ...
[IMG: College Ward Councillors: Cllr Christine Key, Cllr Julie Morris and Cllr Anna Jones.] Well, Epsom and Ewell actually. Channel 4's Best-Place-To-Live-In-The-UK in 2004 (or was it 2005?) but relegated to 4th place more recently. It is a unique form of government we have in this borough: controlled by Residents' Association councillors for more than 70 years which are a group of so-called independent councillors mostly registered as Residents Associations of Epsom & Ewell. We call them the Residents' Party. There are 23 RA, 10 Lib Dem, 4 Tory and 1 Labour. The Lib Dems are strong in the Epsom ...
The Western Mail reports on concerns that the Welsh Government's vision of a primary care-led health service is under threat for lack of investment. They say that there are concerns that some practices are being forced to cut patient services, and even refer patients back to hospital for basic tests, because they do not have enough space. And there are fears that those new health centres and GP practices which have been approved do not contain enough room for further expansion to meet future service and training needs: Doctors are now are calling for additional funding to allow Wales' network ...
I suspect that one of the reasons why the Tories do not have a commanding lead in the opinion polls at moment is that their leadership does not inspire confidence. David Cameron comes across as a poor man's Tony Blair, whilst George Osborne projects the image of somebody who we could not trust with the household budget, nevermind the country's finances. Alas for the Tories, Mr. Osborne has lived up to his reputation again with more than 60 heavyweight academics, many of them professors, issuing a stinging rebuke to his claim that a consensus of economic experts support his policies: ...
Schhh! Keep this very quiet. It's all very under wraps but Sophie Shrubsole of Conservative Future (and yes, she is a real person, she's CF area chair for Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry) wants all CF members to turn up at Coventry railway station tomorrow. She says: CCHQ have requested that Conservative Future members from across the country gather in Warwick to form our own publicity stunt. It's all very exciting. But of course, keep this very quiet. This will not appear as a facebook event, as we are trying to keep our preparations as low key as possible.
Just when Labour thought they had pulled off a feather soft landing it appears that the UK economy is still up in the air and is still facing turbulence A number of indicators are suggesting that the possibility of a double dip is even stronger that was initially feared. The oh, so small recovery in December, may end up being also oh, so short lived. So what are the figures that are causing concern. A £4.3bn deficit in public sector borrowing - first time on record Treasury ahs not recorded a January surplus 1.8 per cent drop in sales volume ...
I am on record in a number of places as being opposed to the retention of DNA records by the Police, when the person concerned is innocent. I have also expressed my scepticism of and opposition to a universal DNA bank, which I believe is unworkable and undesirable. However, that does not mean that I am opposed to the use and retention of DNA records when that is justified by the circumstances. None of this chimes with government policy of course where Ministers seem intent on ignoring human rights rulings so as to allow the existing illiberal regime to prevail. ...
There are many, many things that get me really annoyed about this Government. Its complicity in torture, illegal wars, control orders, the many failures of the benefits system that I could write a book on, the list goes on. One thing that's always guaranteed to make me absolutely livid is the way in which it treats children in the immigration system. The UK Borders Agency lacks any sort of understanding, compassion, or ability to listen to evidence. In the last few years, I've seen appalling things happen to women and their children. I've seen an instance of a mum of ...
I have lots of phonecalls to make, I have to plan my London trip, and I have to go to work at 4. I haven't even had breakfast yet. My February Sponsor is To view this post with minimal formatting, click here. To view this post in your own Dreamwidth style, click here.
Together they have caused the demise of British Steel at Redcar (renamed Corus). The Tories started the slide with the privatisation and selling off of the Redcar steel industry (and other plants too). Labour has not done enough to save it. Our Labour government's priority is to save the useless bankers who shuffle numbers around on computers and produce nothing. Shame on them both! No wonder the Lib Dems are doing rather well in the Redcar area. I was born at Marske-by-Sea, a couple of miles from Redcar, and my mother's family (the Hudsons) lived there for centuries. My grandfather ...
There was one by-election in the West Midlands yesterday in Evesham South Ward on Wychavon Council. The Conservatives held the seat.
I have just got onto a very crowded train heading from Newcastle to London. Standard class, please note. For ten years I did the weekly commute to London and in most instances I travelled by cattle waggon class. Sometimes I would get my hands on a cheap first class ticket. But not very often and not today. So the comments by Tory MP Nicholas Winterton really caught my attention. He doesn't want
On Tuesday I wrote about how out of touch the Tories are, and as if by magic up pops one to prove me right. Nicholas (Tory MP for Macclesfield) Winterton's comment that people in second-class train carriages were "totally different type of people" just goes to prove my point. I travel regularly by train, and sometimes have to work on the old laptop, and do you know what I do? I book into the quiet coach. So do thousands of other normal people. Do you know what Nick old boy? Those "totally different type of people" are the very folk ...
Beddington & Wallington Local Committee The main focus for this meeting was to seek new ideas for spending the committee's public realm allocation for 2010/11. I was pleased to see a good turnout of residents (and members) despite the threatened snow. Some suggestions had already been submitted in advance of the meeting and representatives came along to ...
That's the question a series of governments across Europe have been grappling with in the last few months. Stolen Swiss bank data reveals key evidence about tax evaders from several countries. Not only is it stolen data but it is only being made available at a price: A CD identifying around 1500 Germans who have illicit Swiss accounts was procured by a former employee at the Geneva branch of HSBC bank. The disc, which could return an estimated €200 million ($393 million) in lost revenue, was offered to the German Government for €2.5 million... Merkel and her Finance Minister, Wolfgang ...
Just to let you know that you can now directly donate to Colchester Archaeological Trust through Justgiving as well as through Charity Choice. In other news, Sunday's weather forecast is still looking dry. Fingers and crossed and wood is being touched in the hope it stays that way.
Well this morning, just before 7.30am I made my way over to the torture area that is the gym and started on my programme created by Richard just last night. It took me a little longer today as I was just getting used to machines and the set up etc I have to be honest, I am sat here writing this aching from top to bottom, there were definitely some aspects that were harder than others but on the who fairly enjoyable. I'm in Inverness tomorrow so day off, but back in the gym on Sunday.
It is now as if someone is holding the flood gates open as Labour MPs are streaming out to resign before the general election takes place, it is as if they fear an early election. Yesterday it was Bruce George and today it is the turn of James Purnell. James Purnell was the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, in Greater Manchester, said on the BBC website that it was a "difficult decision", but he did not want to spend "all my life in frontline politics". Given he has only been an MP since 2001, it is hardly all his life, ...
The Government's decision to allow faith schools to teach sex education "in a way that reflects the school's religious character", is an unwelcome and undesirable turn of events. Labour has already given an opt-out from sex and relationship ...
Some people may have picked up on this already, but I am the official Liberal Democrat candidate in the Taverham North Ward by-election to be held on 18th March 2010. Many people will know that I used to be a District Councillor in North Norfolk and I have taken what has been something of a break from front line politics for nearly three years. This has allowed me to properly recharge my batteries as well as spend more time with my family. I was approached by the Lib Dems a couple of weeks ago, apparently more in hope than expectation, ...
So the Conservatives have refused to take part in a conference organised to look into the future of social care. Surely this can't be because actually they don't care? They claim that the event is a political stunt, but - as well as Labour and the Lib Dems - it will be attended by the Local Government Association (chaired by a Tory) and a wide range of charities involved in the sector. One of the future options that will be discussed is the Government's 'death tax' option that the Conservatives hate so much. They are, of course, entitled to their ...
[IMG: The new Stroud Green team] Last week, local party members met to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidates for this May's local elections. I'm really pleased to announce that Ed Butcher and I have been re-selected, along with fantastic first-time candidate Katherine Reece. This photo is a result of a 'photo shoot' for the local papers which was held a few days ago. The papers are obviously very interested in the Lib Dem team that could end 40 years of Labour control of Haringey in May. Sadly, Laura Edge decided not to re-stand, and is moving on to pastures ...
James Purnell a former aide to Tony Blair and a former Work and Pensions Secretary is the latest on the lengthening list of Labour MPs to step aside from Westminster. With the time getting shorter and shorter to a General Election it most be disturbing some Constituency Labour Parties if their MP is next to have a sudden change of heart. It is somehow hard to work out how the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde can be tired of the Westminster machine, he is only 39 and only been an MP since 2001. Although as he says he has spent ...
Yes, that's what I'm hearing live on the BBC at the moment. Sadly I have not managed to shift the space-time continuum to overnight on May the 6th; what's being broadcast is, of course, BBC Parliament's fascinating as-live re-run of the February '74 General Election coverage. How eloquent, genteel, and sober-sided it all seems now in these days of aggressive sleb- and CGI-driven television; about the closest this coverage has come in that field was a piece from Julian Wilson, the racing commentator of that era, talking briefly about electoral betting. Amazing, too, that Margaret Beckett has not changed a ...
Well, there's a turn-up: James Purnell – former secretary of state for work and pensions, the man who almost brought down Gordon Brown, and seemingly a strong contender for the Labour leadership after the next election – has announced he will be quitting Parliament at the general election. Here's how The Times reports it: Labour insiders said that he was telling his Stalybridge and Hyde local party that with regret he was standing down to seek new challenges. ... After his resignation Mr Purnell returned to the back benches and has played a big part in running the Demos centre-left ...
[IMG: cash] Back in April 2009 I wrote a piece "Councillors join the gravy train" pointing out the ludicrous rise in councillors remuneration in recent years. Now, despite a demand from the Government for councils to allow public scrutiny of senior local authority officials pay and benefits, Councils have resisted the order. The reason - it would lead to a public outcry- that "it could lead to personalised attacks" ... officials "families could be at risk of abuse" etc etc. I don't know about you but that has eyebrows raised in my house - just how big a scandal is ...
From this..... http://carlminns.blogspot.com/2009/04/london-away-day.html to this...... I wish Corus all the best but it really does show how an election can focus the mind. For the record Hull finished with this.
There is a growing row about whether or not sufficient is being done to reduce the budget deficit.The problem behind all of this is an absence of sufficient data. The inputs into the Treasury Economic Model remain a state secret. Hence we cannot be certain what is likely to happen and we cannot properly scrutinise the future of the Economy.There is no question that a sudden and abrupt halt
With the party's spring federal conference just round the corner, the latest report from the party's Federal Finance and Administration Committee (FFAC) is out, which gives the chance to compare the party's finances now with five years ago. The good news bit The federal party's core activities are generating significantly higher income. General fund surplus after income generation costs: 2004 £2,642,253 2009 £3,214,500 That 22% increase is impressive, particularly given the recession in 2009 and its impact on fundraising. The no news bit The federal party's debts have not changed much over the last five years, with only a very ...
A couple of papers this morning are featuring the Tories sudden reversal of interest in backing a new high-speed rail line. Upon closer inspection, however, the story does not quite match the headline. Apparently, Labour and Lord Adonis are backing a very specific route, while the Tories have decided to become more coy over the issue, ...
I've just received word that, after a lot of work acting as a go-between and negotiating on behalf of one of my residents, her housing adaptations are finally being delivered. This elderly lady desperately needed adaptations to her property so that she could live a normal life - go to the loo, wash, get up ...
I had a notable experience this morning. I was trying to book an appointment for my wife to be able to go and see her doctor. She was told by NHS Direct yesterday that she should call her surgery first thing (8am) to make an appointment. I called on her behalf at 7:58 (message saying surgery closed) 8:00 (same message) 8:01 (waiting on hold for about 3 minutes) and when I finally got through to someone I was told that all the appointments for today were gone and the earliest that she could see our doctor would be 8th March, ...
There's a class war going on. So the Tories tell us. They treat it with distaste. But they rather seem to revel in doing so. It's all about one man, David Cameron. So the Tories tell us. It's all about the disgraceful proposal from Labour that we should vote against Dave simply because he went to Eton. Pause for breath. Labour, let's face it, make a pretty implausible bunch of class warriors these days. As Blair put it, they are all middle class now. Recently, the Tory press pilloried Harriet Harman as a class warrior when she dared to point ...
Andrew Gilligan in the Telegraph points out some interesting information about public sector expenditure. As always, the most juicy bits are the salaries. In transport for London (TfL), for example there are 231 people are paid more than £100,000. The UK Treasury has 21. Meanwhile it may be worth remembering that an MP has a salary of £64,766. The Chief Executive of Shrewsbury Council earned £335,000 last year. The Head of TfL earned £494,884 It may be worth recalling that the Prime Minister earned £197,689. Although I think "Sir" Nicholas Winterton has been one of the more egregious expenses cheats, ...
More evidence that despite optimistic Government pronouncements, the long tail of the recession is still affecting us. Shelter have published figures showing a fall in house-building, mortgage lending is down, and unemployment in London is the worst since Labour came to power in 1997. Last week I met with the National Federation of Roofing ...
Cross-posted from the Mandate blog: For this week's PR Week podcast, I was interviewed about the launch of Google Buzz and its implications for privacy and for those working in PR: These issues also get a further airing in PR Week's story, Tech Giant Google Backtracks Over Concerns With Google Buzz Privacy Settings which says in part: Google Buzz collects a range of content from social networks within one platform and has the unique selling point of building the network directly from the user's Gmail contacts. The privacy issues being questioned stem from the public being able to see Gmail ...
This weekend see's the unveiling of Labour's four point election strategy at a special launch event in the West Midlands. The four key battle areas that the Labour party wants you all to get behind are securing the economic recovery, protecting frontline services, protecting future jobs and industries, and "standing up for the many" ...
Why oh, why has Tiger Woods chosen this Friday to break his long silence, since November, to make a public announcement? Indeed why has he chosen a Friday at all? Thursday through to Sunday are the competition days in a golfer's life, Woods may have forgotten this is his short absence from the game, or maybe not. As Ernie Els has said: "It's selfish. This takes a lot away from the tournament. "I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday." Just who is the sponsor of this week's match play event in ...
Martin Kettle has an interesting piece in today's Guardian looking at what might happen after a hung parliament: The idea canvassed by Armstrong and Lord Crowther-Hunt in 1974 that the Queen might consult some national elders - Harold Macmillan and Manny Shinwell were suggested - and might even invite Willie Whitelaw or Roy Jenkins to form a government was fanciful even then. Today such a "Miliband option", as it is optimistically dubbed, would be even more for the birds. If Brown was persuaded to step down in order to enable Labour to govern, there is no way the palace could ...
The Welsh Party had to learn some quick lessons with the coming of the National Assembly. Years of policy debate had to be turned into a costed and deliverable programme. And a programme for government it became - the backbone of the Lib Dem/ Labour partnership government. Gareth Jones was the mastermind behind the programme. Gareth was born in Blaina in the Welsh valleys. A man with dogged determination - a feature of that close, self supporting community. After a very successful career in international business he returned to his native Wales, learning the Welsh language and writing a book ...
@ruskin147 Isn't their key to success large volume of unique content, so paper is good format + readers can't find stories on other sites? in reply to ruskin147 # Sky's general election coverage will boost social media campaigning http://ldv.org.uk/17918 # Main lesson so far re Yammer: if internal messages about chocolate on people's desks migrate from email to Yammer, so will users # Q: What's the number one thing people want their browser to do? - http://bit.ly/9sUmBv # Views on best Twitter app for Blackberry if you want to access multiple accounts? # The London Weekly: it's back and it's ...
It's half term. Three kids. I'll be back on Sunday night. Probably writing about which parties in the last 40 years have the best record in managing the reserves, following this logic here. In the meantime, these two letters here in the FT are the major talking story. They back up the thoughts that were given ...
Fri 19th
07:43
As far as I know, there are no Conservative* District Councillors buried in the foundations of the n...
...although, in truth, there could be and I'd never know. At least, it would probably take a long time until I did. Before we continue, let me assure any casual readers that this is not the sort of thing that a bureaucrat would encourage. In any event, burying people in the concrete tends to destabilise your foundations and cause potential subsistence difficulties. Yes, the concrete has been poured into the trenches and I am therefore unlikely to come home and fall into a seven foot deep trench. The duckboards are still there, and the garden is a sea of mud, ...
Chrich Church is a stunning landmark over Brondesbury looking down to Kilburn. Work on the Church started in 1865 and it is a classic of it's time - a daughter church of St Mary's, Willesden, the church was opened by the Bishop of London on 21st November 1866. It was widely acknowledged as a local landmakr and in the centenary of Michael Faraday's discovery of electricity was lit up in 1931.
Ah, Friday! It's the 336th anniversary of the Peace of Westminster. It's also nearly the end of (relative) peace in Westminster, as the Parliamentary Recess draws to a close. 2 Must-Read Bloggers' Anecdotes What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two news-related stories that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Sir Nicholas 1st Class Comment Reminds me of a Story of Revenge by Dazmando at Bracknell Blog My UFO experience by Jane on My New LD Blog Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren't on the aggregator? Do post ...
Darlington has lost its status as a Fair Trade town. As one of the biggest Fair Trade retailers in the town, I sat on the original Steering Group, under the leadership of the Council, which worked hard to gather together the information required to achieve that status. Shops, restaurants, cafes, public offices, schools: all were contacted and many persuaded to sell or supply Fair Trade products.
Following the disclosure of correspondence between the Chancellor and Treasury Permanent Secretary Nicholas Macpherson relating to RBS' toxic loans, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable has written to Alistair Darling and FSA Chair Adair Turner to ask for a full independent valuation of the Asset Protection Scheme to be carried out. He commented: "From the outset the Liberal Democrats have consistently raised concerns about the Asset Protection Scheme. "Not only is this a massive fraud on the taxpayer but it seems that we are now underwriting some potentially illegal assets. "The Chancellor must now order a full independent valuation of ...
Commenting on the news that the UK's public finances deteriorated further in January, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: "This is worrying news for the state of the public finances. "The weakness of the economy is having an inevitable impact on tax receipts. "These figures underline the importance of having a credible plan to tackle the deficit and stimulate growth and jobs to strengthen future tax receipts. "Simply slashing spending now regardless of the economic circumstances is not only a fruitless labour but a damaging one. If we cut too soon, the economy will be pushed back into recession, ...
As a small local party, I wanted to say a big thanks to all the volunteers who slogged through the snow blizzard on Thursday to deliver our latest Focus. We don't have the mega bucks funding of the two main parties, so we deliver everything ourselves by hand. A huge thank you to Geoff, Janet, Paula, Irene and Eric ...
[IMG: Lib Dems gain Ivybridge Filham, South Hams DC] (From left: Councillor Tony Barber; Anna Pascoe, Lib Dem PPC for South West Devon; Stephen Kearney, Chair of South West Devon Liberal Democrats; Councillor Keith Baldry; Jill Barber) Liberal Democrat Tony Barber has won the Ivybridge Filham by-election, following the resignation of the Tory councillor. The result: Liberal Democrats 379 Conservatives 356 Labour 121 Turnout: 21.76% Liberal Democrat PPC for South West Devon Anna Pascoe (also the agent for this by-election) said, This is a great result for Ivybridge! Local people have chosen Tony Barber because they know he will work ...
Eric Pickles, the Conservative Party chairman has taken exception to a phrase on Twitter written by Labour MP David Wright. While referring to the Conservatives, he had written "you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig". Mr Wright claims that the words "scum-sucking" were added by a "third party" but Eric doesn't accept this. It seems that Mr Wright had already used the term "scum" to describe the Tories. I don't know if Eric objects to the word sucking because if the word scum has been used previously then an objection should have been made earlier. ...
