Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hastings & Rye, has criticized bus provider Stagecoach after its decision to change the route of the Hastings No. 23 bus, leaving many families living of Harley Shute Road, St Leonard's without a regular service to the Conquest Hospital and to Tesco's. Nick has written to the company ...
I see over on LDV that Mmes Swinson and Featherstone are getting quite excited about the prospects of some action on "airbrushing" images and the "sexualisation of children" since the psychologist they were working with, Ms (one assumes) Linda Papadopoulos has been called on by the Home Office to do some research that largely confirms their previous claim that airbrushed images should have warning labels on them and the like. The Tories have been all over this as well this week with David Cameron also worried about the "sexualisation" of children via their presumably completely involuntary exposure to imagery and ...
Many thanks to my dear pal Paul Walter for drawing my attention to this via Twitter. OK, I admit it, my iphone has changed my life! I am discovering a cornucopia of "things you always wanted to know but never dare ask" - following not only my favourite Lib Dems, but the likes of "I am trying really hard not to morph into a Lib Dem" Kevin Maguire, "if you think you're hard enuf" Charlie Whelan, "honest guv" Andrew Rawnsley "I used to be Linda Jack's fave MYP" Richard Angell and "one day I'll get a life" Chris Paul. Actually ...
The latest in the line of taking camera security too far has arisen in Sunderland, at the Bridges Centre. Kevin Geraghty-Shewan was approached first by a security guard and then by the police for taking pictures of his own son Ben having a good time. The reason was that they thought that Kevin might have been paedophile. The fact that young Ben was fully clothed for winter and that the adults accompanying him as he rode the fun ride where his parents shows how little common sense the jobsworths are showing about this. While there is a need to stop ...
Salt Bins If you don't want to send an email, you can propose a site for a salt/grit bin below
Report Poor Street repairs As you will see from the Focus that will hit your doormats in the next few weeks, I want to make sure utility companies don't leave a mess of our roads and footpaths for the tax payers to fix properly. This will be a big issue in Riverdene where much of the work is being carried out and many of the paths are private and maintained by residents maintenance payments. You can either email me or click on comments below. Note your email address will not be seen online. There may be a delay of 48hrs ...
Today's events were both at primary schools, and both inspiring. It was worth getting moving early even in the rain to get to Teesside High Prep school for their coffee morning and Fairtrade assembly. The Fairtrade committee had organised the assembly and did amazingly well. A talk about how important it is to swap to Fairtrade tea was followed by a video about tea growers in Malawi and the
At lunchtime today, we held the final planning meeting in advance of the Dundee West Transition Town Group launch public meeting. Our planning meeting today was very productive and we are hoping for a good turnout at the public meeting on Thursday : Dundee West Transition Town Public Meeting Dundee West Church Thursday 4th March at 7pm More details at http://transtowndundeewest.blogspot.com. Later today, I was pleased to be advised by the City Council that, following my raising residents' concerns about a gap in the fencing by the railway at Magdalen Green, the Council has been advised by Network Rail that ...
Where Scotland leads... Keith Brown [Scotland's Schools Minister] has told the profession's regulator, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), to introduce a system of "re-accreditation" to ensure all staff are performing competently. This is a very long overdue piece of news, and we can only hope it teaches England a thing to two. Teaching is not like ...
At last night's meeting at Broadland District Council to vote on the new development plan for Broadland, the council's attitude towards the NDR and the future of the eco town in Rackheath, amazingly more than one third of the Conservative councillors failed to turn up. Does an empty seat vote ? Despite Tory councillors at the meeting telling us how important the document was that was being voted on, despite being lectured about the vital blueprint this will give Broadland for the next decade, 12 Tories failed to turn up. If this is the way the Conservatives treat an "important" ...
In 1981, 364 economists signed a letter to the Times expressing their opposition to Geoffrey Howe's budget. As this event was being discussed in Michael Cockerell's recent programme about the Treasury, a newspaper report from the time was shown. And who should be the author? One Christopher Huhne.
Latest Nick Clegg video ...
I've been told that the front door of Forest Hill Library is now back in use.
Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. Tricky business Forget Gordon Brown and bullying. Forget even Ashley and Cheryl Cole. The big debate of the week took place in the Commons on Monday. It concerned, as Hansard puts it, the "Report from the House of Commons Reform Committee on Rebuilding the House". That committee has come up with a number of proposals for reform. Some, like sitting in September, look merely cosmetic. Others, like giving the public the power to initiate Westminster Hall debates, look to be worthwhile experiments. And one, the establishment of a business committee to take ...
Fri 26th
18:51
ConHome: Don't panic. Don't panic! DON'T PANIC! We're putting this party under martial law
As I highlighted this morning, the Tories' basic problem is that not enough people have a clue what they stand for, and many of those that have a clue don't like what they stand for. Indeed, a new BBC Daily Politics poll shows that 36% of people don't know what the Conservative party stands for. A further 36% say they know what they stand for but don't like it. That leaves a slender 28% saying they know what the Tories stand for and like it. Against that backdrop, Conservative Home presents its ten point plan to get the Tory campaign ...
The Home Office has published an independent review into the sexualisation of young people, conducted by psychologist Linda Papadopoulos. The report warns that children are being increasingly exposed to sexual imagery through advertising, music videos, computer games, magazines and some children's clothing lines. From the BBC: Unless sexualisation is accepted as harmful, we will miss an important opportunity... to broaden young people's beliefs about where their values lies," said Dr Papadopoulos, a psychologist. The report's 36 recommendations include calling for games consoles, mobile phones and some computers to be sold with parental controls already switched on." Other recommendations include banning ...
[IMG: Jason Zadrozny] There were eight principal council elections held on the 25th February. The Lib Dems gained two seats - one from Labour and one from the Tories. Labour held one seat and gained three from the Mansfield Independent Forum. The Tories held one seat. There were four Town and Parish Council results reported to ALDC. Two were Lib Dem gains from the Tories and one was a Lib Dem gain from Labour. The Tories held one seat. The Eastwood South Ward of Broxtowe District Council lies in the new Ashfield parliamentary constituency in Nottinghamshire where Geoff Hoon has ...
Although I'm happy if BBC6 is saved there needs to be a reasessment of music programming. We need a new `John Peel figure` on Radio 1 which has become a kind of `kids radio`. People looking for a more diverse and deeper reach of modern music should have a champion on the BBC. Come on BBC – ...
Hot on the heels of Debenham's announcement that they were using size 16 mannequins - comes another ground-breaking announcement that they are going to use a disabled model in their advertising - read about it here. There is a growing movement - across several industries and companies - all moving towards creating a more realistic view of us human beings. For too long the skinny, bony catwalk icons have held sway - but now the fight back begins. The amazing diversity of we humans needs to be reflected in the images we see. We are so much more interesting than ...
I blogged earlier about a "Successful phishing expedition" whereby my Twitter account, and loads of others, were hijacked to send lurid spam messages. Well, it seems that obscure Tweeters such as myself were not the only victims. The great and the good at Westminster and amongst the meejia also feel victim to the scam. The PA reports: Cabinet minister Ed Miliband has become the latest victim of a new "phishing" scam on Twitter. Many of the Energy Secretary's 6,664 followers on the micro-blogging website will have been surprised to receive an unusually personal message from him at breakfast time. "Hhey, ...
The local election in Owlsmoor has thown up a chance to see where the UKIP voters would go if UKIP don't stand or perhaps where they have taken there vote from. Given that UKIP did not stand in the Borough election but did stand in the Town. It is always assumed that UKIP votes simply take from the Tory vote. Well I'm not so sure this is the case. UKIP received 12% of the vote which is quite a large figure of the overall vote almost putting labour into 4th place. I would add some caveats to this, firstly this ...
Our parks and gardens are the green lungs of Bloomsbury and King's Cross. So it was great news that on Wednesday night council chiefs gave the green light for a new community garden on Marchmont Street. The local community has been campaigning for the garden for years. But on the night, the council's civil servants were ...
RT @nextleft @libdemvoice Cameron/Tories testing as slogan "Don't worry – you're voting for him, not us" << "or the puppy gets it" # Cameron's popularity on the slide http://bit.ly/9pSfl4 << meedja finally noticed, have they? http://bit.ly/9bd1PT # RT @libdemvoice Poll: Do you think Christine Pratt of the National Bullying Helpline has behaved appropriately? http://twtpoll.com/3t2nge # @LonelyWonderer May not work on you, prob will've worked on others who didn't read body of ltr. But agree PS has to be done well to work! # @theredbox RT @libdemvoice New post: Times report Tories "make inroads" into LD support in SW (Where's evidence?) ...
On the 25th Feb 2010 North West Leicestershire Council in the English 'East Midlands' held its regular Full Council meeting, with all Councillors and senior officers present. The main subject was the 2010-11 budget, (as well as local protests over excessive housebuilding on green land in between villages). During the budget discussions an elected spokesman for ...
According to Edmund Conway. Amazing this has not been put about more, given the headlines say, um: UK economic growth revised up. It is consistent, read his blog. Oh, and now FT Alphaville are joining the QE poetry game.
Great news following the meeting I chaired with Post Office Ltd on Wednesday. They have agreed that Launceston Post Office needs to stay in the town centre and they have rejected the proposal to move the branch to Newport. They haven't accepted the one application on the table for a town centre postmaster, but have agreed to re-advertise the position so that the people who have expressed an interest in the last few days can be properly considered. I know that there are several strong contenders out there and so I am increasingly confident that we will keep our town ...
Last time I got involved with football in the park it was protesting about permanent 5-a-side pitches being built in Regent's Park with the loss of meadowland and 60 mature trees. I fought against that, and like to think I played a minor role in the proposal's defeat. This time the furore's about showing World Cup ...
So, taking up the idea of "rigourous liberalism" I mentioned the other day, and accepting that there is a (ever less so) difference between what Americans and British mean by "liberalism", it seems an opportunity has popped up for Obama to display some. With the Republicans now capable of blocking his health care plan, they last night demanded he go back to the drawing board. "Rigourous liberalism" could just about save his skin, and is a good example for what I mean by the phrase. Instead of just accepting that health care is unaffordable for many Americans and creating some ...
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. Times report: Tories "make inroads" into Lib Dem support in south-west England. (But where's the evidence?) (15) by Stephen Tall. 2. Why Gordon Brown will start the TV election debates with an advantage over David Cameron (2) by Mark Pack. 3. BBC drops Lib Dems from Question Time, again #bbcqt (11) by Mark Pack. 4. The Saturday debate: Burkas - to ban or not to ban? (48) by Mark Pack. 5. Those Lib Dem donation figures ...
A Balancing Act/Slash and Grow/Credit Where It's Due (link to follow on Monday) are about three things: fiscal policy, where growth might come from (in demand terms), and monetary policy. Wolf ties them up beautifully in a few hundred words. Balancing Act said that fiscal deficits have to rise in a recession – well duh – ...
Today I visited Fulston Manor School in Sittingbourne to meet a group of GCSE Citizenship students. I was quite nervous about this, as young people are much more politically aware than when I was at school, and expected (correctly) some tough questioning. However it was a real pleasure to discuss politics with these students, to hear their questions, to ask some myself, and to listen to their views and concerns. The main issues raised were mostly local - how there is nothing to do in Sittingbourne, freedom passes on the buses, how teenagers are viewed with mistrust and suspicion, and ...
It would be unusual if I were to travel from A to B in a straightish line, and this weekend is no exception. I'm currently on the Virgin service from Euston to Wolverhampton, where I'll be attending the Wolverhampton South West Liberal Democrats Annual Dinner, before heading over to Kidderminster tomorrow morning for the West Midlands Regional Conference. Next, by road to Huntingdon, before I head for York and a deserved night's sleep, before having to run hustings for Liberal Youth on Sunday. Then, back to Stowmarket for a day off, with changes at Doncaster and Peterborough. Don't forget to ...
Bracknell Forest UA, OwlsmoorCon 508 (54.2; -1.9)LD Mark James Thompson 238 (25.4: +25.4)Lab 126 (13.4; +13.4)Green 66 (7.0; +7.0)[UKIP (0.0; -18.2)][Others (0.0; -25.8)]Majority 270Turnout 24%Con holdPercentage change is since May 2007Broxtowe DC, Eastwood SouthLD Keith Longdon 985 (53.1; +34.0)Lab 484 (26.1; -12.1)Con 387 (20.9; -0.4)[Others (0.0; -5.2)][BNP (0.0; -16.3)]Majority 501Turnout not
Spolier alert The Crucible Theatre has re-opened with a production of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, a battle between truth, freedom and justice on the one hand, and politics, the media and the solid majority of public opinion on the other. Dr Stockman knows he is right - he has the evidence, and initially he has supporters, but when the cost to the town in money and reputation is understood his supporters desert him. Driven close to madness by his unwillingness to deny the truth in the face of public opinion and financial ruin, he makes what he calls ...
Helen Duffett got me thinking in a Tweet earlier. Why do we stand or run for office before we take a seat? So I decided to look up the online etymology dictionary to see when and where the sources of the various words we use to describe the various dynamics of politics come from. Run Meaning: to seek office in an election This appears to come from American English dating from 1826. Ironically that was the year that the second and third men (John Adams and Thomas Jefferson) who ran, though obviously didn't use that term etymologically speaking, successfully for ...
I've prepared the ballot papers, sifted the applications, and can finally announce the candidates to fill eleven vacancies on the Federal Executive of Liberal Youth. And they are as follows; Chair Alan Belmore and Sam Potts Vice Chair Campaigns Matthew Folker Vice Chair Communications Charlotte Henry and Nathan Khan Vice Chair Membership Development Paddy Elsdon General Executive Members (7) Sophie Bertrand, Robson Brown, Cara Drury, Charlotte Harris, Thomas Hemsley, Usaama Kaweesa, Callum Leslie, Callum Morton, Ed Sanderson and Callum Stanland Voting will take place at the Spring Conference in York, and postal ballots are available to those unable to attend, ...
The posting immediately below this one, dated 22nd February 2010, is a press statement from Ian Swales Prospective Lib Dem MP for Redcar calling for the Corus site to be nationalised. The press statement was ignored by the Evening Gazette who today publish a front page lead reporting that Stockton Labour MP Dari Taylor has called for the Corus site to be nationalised. Ian's press statement points out that a letter was emailed to Peter Mandelson. On 18th December this blog reported that Ian Swales had produced a detailed plan outlining a positive future for Corus, which was also ignored ...
A report by the Royal College of Surgeons, published today, reveals that children's NHS operations are being cancelled because of the chaotic introduction of new Government safeguarding regulations. From the report: Overzealous interpretation of the requirements by NHS Trusts and long delays in the system mean that NHS surgeons cannot move between Trusts quickly enough to deal with rare cases, of which there are many in children, and to cover absences. The RCS is calling for immediate roll out of passport-style arrangements that allow NHS staff who have already received an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check for one Trust ...
Oval's Lib Dem councillors attended Lambeth Council's budget setting meeting this week and voted for a council tax cut and extra funding for key local services. We wanted to pay for this by cutting out waste at the Town Hall - for example, we don't believe the council should be spending m0ney on a fortnightly newspaper at the council taxpayer's expense. We would also stop the council wasting money on empty buildings like Mary Seacole House on Clapham High Street. And our budget would have meant more spending on services for young people, the elderly and for our local environment. ...
Al-Qaida could not hope for a more effective recruiting agent what with MI5 maltreating terrorist suspects.
I thought this piece was beautifully written and interesting. Here are some bits I found surprising or interesting: Krugman was buoyed and protected in his youth by an intellectual snobbery so robust that distractions or snobberies of other sorts didn't stand a chance. "When I was twenty-eight, I wouldn't have had the time of day for ...
The IFA, that's the Irish Football Association the governing body for Northern Ireland, is going to the Court of Arbitration in Sport(CAS) to try and stop a player drain to the Republic of Ireland The recent case of Everton's Shane Duffy would not have been stoppable under the grounds that the IFA are seeking. Duffy who had played under 21 games for Northern Ireland was included in the republic's full squad last year. He like myself though would qualify under the FIFA ruling that you can represent the country of birth of yourself, your parents or any of your grandparents. ...
With their lead in the latest opinion polls down to just 5% according to one poll, there is clearly a bit of a wobble at Conservative HQ. Right-wing website ConservativeHome has helpfully printed a ten point plan to put the Tory election campaign back on track. Here's an alternative take on it ... 1. Don't panic The Corporal Jones approach. Perhaps not the best way to encourage the Conservative grassroots to stay focussed. As all psychologists will tell you, if you tell people not to panic, the one word they remember is – Panic. What the Tories ought to be ...
Fairtrade fortnight is in full swing. Sarah and Matthew are out now as I speak with the Bradford FairTrade camper van, giving out quizzes and free samples. Matthew was having fun, but has only got the idea of handing out the teabags- not letting people take them! They will be out again in the Keighley area on Tuesday, at Silsden co-op in the morning, and Sainsburys in the afternoon.
There's nothing in ...
Tonight the Liberal Democrat Party President Baroness Ros Scott will be in Wolverhampton. Baroness Scott will be the speaker at the third Wolverhampton South West Annual Dinner at the Dilshad.
Last night, Conservative controlled Wycombe District Council voted to increase your Council Tax by 1.75%. What you may not know is the your Liberal Democrat Opposition proposed an amendment to the budget which would have frozen the increase for this year. Many residents have told us that they are finding things particularly hard this year. In the current tough economic climate, many people have seen their wages frozen – and in some cases even reduced. We wanted to do something to help people who are finding things tough. Our proposal was carefully thought out – and would not have led ...
Writing on First Post, The Mole offers three reasons why this rumour may be true:a new MORI poll published today puts the Tory lead over Labour at only five points;March 25 would mean no Darling Budget, avoiding further pre-election tension between the PM and chancellor; the bullying allegations against Brown have had little effect on the voters. And 25 March is my birthday, though that may not be a major consideration for Labour strategists.
First, independent Labour supporting cllr. Joe O'Neill used his blog to liken a Coventry socialist councillor to a Nazi. Now he's responded to a comment from truly excellent Salford Lib Dem councillor Mary Ferrer by deleting her comment and labelling her 'Mad Mary'. So much for showing respect. This behaviour, and his contempt for the ...
While I don't often listen to BBC 6 Music - and less so with its recent tendency towards dumbing down by hiring gobby, airheaded yoofs like George Lamb and Shaun Keaveny - I'm happy to know it's there and occasionally tune in to such thoroughly worthwhile offerings as Bob Dylan's Theme Time Hour (the Zimster's a far better DJ these days than he is a recording artiste, a la the much-missed Alexis Korner), Bruce Rockinson's Dick Show, and head and shoulders above all else, Stuart Maconie's peerless Freak Zone; believe me, life would be so much poorer without T. Durham ...
I know, I know, feminism is a dirty word. I mean, what else can there be to fight for, now that we have the equal pay act, anti-discrimination laws, and (puke) all-women shortlists? There are many women nowadays who will describe themselves as anti-feminists, with great passion and vigour to their voices. They speak about being anti-feminists with the same passion of the suffragettes and suffragists, when they fought for the fundamental right to vote. Every woman (and every man, for that matter) should be a feminist. Now, a radical feminist might hate the idea that a man is writing ...
Today, the famously pro-BBC Times reports that the BBC plan to slim down their radio services, amongst other things. The Times report that Mark Thompson, the Director-General, will admit that the corporation, which is funded by the £3.6 billion annual licence fee, has become too large and must shrink to give its commercial rivals room ...
Over in The Times, former Lib Dem leader Lord (Paddy) Ashdown argues that though there are reasons to be cheerful in the latest news from Afghanistan, battlefield success alone won't win the war. Here's an excerpt: ... we do, at last, seem to be getting our act together on the battlefield. We are now following the right military strategy — protecting the people, not chasing the enemy. We have limited our aims to the achievable and matched our resources to our objectives. ... it is now possible to turn the momentum on the battlefield in our favour in the next ...
Aaah "Compassionate Conservatism", dontcha just love the phrase? Then you listen to the wannabe Chancellor, multi-millionaire, and scion of a noble Anglo-Irish aristocracy, indeed heir apparent to the Osborne baronetcy of Ballentaylor in the County of Waterford, who goes and says (and can't you just hear the relish in his voice?) that his cuts to public services will be worse than those of the Thatcher years. Who says the "Nasty Party" was dead? Respected (sic) economists, Nobel Laureates, the IMF, and the blessed Vince Cable are all urging caution, but the Tories remind me of Dr. Jaffe in Terry Gilliam's ...
My latest column for ALDC has just bee published. It's on the subject of Cornwall Conservatives failing to live up to the fine words of their leadership. You can find it here.
There is a marvellous moment in the West Wing when C.J. Cregg shimmies around the office singing ''I'm too sexy for my ....'. Her suppressed joy is caused by the mega false move of one of the President's foes. CJ cannot believe their luck. The magnitude of their opponents cock up is breath taking. Now I am not here reporting that Councillor Shaw broke out in song last night but it would be fair to say that a smile spread round the room. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised any longer at our opponents self destructive tendencies , but this ...
Following on from Guido's post, I have had confirmation from a couple of other news organsations that they too are on standby for an announcement this weekend. Of course, we have heard this before. And being on "standby" does not mean that a decision HAS been made or WILL be made. But something is definitely going on. Maybe they could not see eye to eye on the budget afterall.....
What do Lib Dem MPs have in common with the Tories and Labour? Hardly any of them pay their interns - along with almost all politicians and media groups. With an increasingly competitive employment market, getting a job today often relies less on your interview skills than your ability to intern for free. An article in the New Statesman highlights this problem, but even they fail to pay those interns who are working for them. To support yourself in London for three months costs around £2000. The division between those who can afford to do internships, and those who cannot, ...
I went to a recent LGIU conference where the three party local government spokespeople were parading their commitment to localism. Ok - I'm more than a little biased and felt that the Lib Dem proposal for decentralisation, as evidenced by our record in office around the country, was the most believeable. I asked John Denham why, after 13 years of Labour centralisation, we should start to believe his promises of more power for local councils now? All would be different if Labour get re-elected, he promised. But what of the Conservatives? Caroline Spelman certainly talks the right way. But I ...
Local newspapers in western Hertfordshire exploded on Friday evening with news that the county council had lost a court case. It was chasing an invoice for £335 in a dispute with a water company over a broken manhole cover. The county council had had to put up a couple of cones to warn passing motorists and apparently cones are expensive things to handle. The water company felt that this was excessive and the council and the utility had seen each other in court. The costs of the case were awarded largely against the council and were reportedly £110,000. Debate has ...
Here's a 5 minute film put together by BBC's The One Show looking at the past, present and, most importantly, the possible future of the Liberal Democrats. Timely questions. You can see the whole programme on iplayer.
There's lots going on this weekend in Launceston. Tonight - there's a Wine and Wisdom event at the rugby club - £3 per person and teams of up to 6 allowed. Kick off is 7.30pm Tomorrow - Launceston Amateur Boxing Club are holding an event at the White Hart. The bouts start at 7.45pm. I went to their last do in Kilkhampton and can vouch for it being a great night out with lots of superb boxing. Sunday - Cornish All Blacks take on Cambridge at Polson Bridge at 2.30pm. The All Blacks are third in the table and take ...
One of the things that has been brought home to me recently is how lucky I am with regard to the number of great people, on top of my family, that I have in my life who care for me and look out for me, and are there to pick up the pieces when I cock up. It's about time I thanked them, I think. ( this list gets long, and I have probably missed some people off it as I always do ) My February Sponsor is To view this post with minimal formatting, click here. To view this ...
I see via Jeff that James MacKenzie (aka blogger Two Doctors) for the Greens is joining the race alongside Lib Dem Stuart Ritchie, my Conservative opponent from 2005 Michael Veitch, SNP blogger Andrew Sharp, and Gordon Norrie from UKIP to take on whoever the Labour candidate is for East Lothian. The reason I of course say whoever the Labour party decide is that Anne Mofatt the sitting MP has lost the confidence of the Local party and the party's National Executive is due to make a ruling on whether to deselect her next week, following a 25-5 vote of the ...
Tony Brockman, of Haringey NUT, had convened a meeting of education stakeholders last night - to prepare for the consultation that will finally arrive in the next few weeks on funding our children in our Haringey Schools. I started the 'fair funding' campaign several years ago, when I discovered from Parliamentary figures obtained - that our children got around £750.00 per head less than each child in Islington, Camden or Hackney. Hence the campaign title - fair funding! Since that discovery and the full on campaign - I am pleased to say that the Labour MP and Minister, David Lammy, ...
I was asked to provide some personal insight into my political motivation for a website and it seems appropriate to reproduce my answers here. I understand that the thoughts of candidates from around the country will be posted on Yahoo shortly and these were my responses. 1. What was your first political experience? I joined the Liberal Party in 1987 to help with the General Election that year. 2. Why did you join your party? I had always had a 'liberal' outlook in my politics, although this was quite well hidden beneath the Conservatism I inherited from my parents. 3. ...
Here's one of those posts that could quickly prove that my political soothsaying is on a par with a koala that's been kept in a dark room for a long time. Despite all the flurry of panicky emails and tweets to BBC journos, I'm convinced that Gordon Brown is not about to call a general election any earlier than May 6th. To things lead me to this thought: - First, the polls are clearly running against the Tories at the moment and their lead is down to five or six points. Is this a blip or a trend? If it's ...
Eddie McGrady has been the the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MP for South Down since I was one of those new voters on the register with my date of birth beside me but unable to vote in the 1987 election. In that election he succeeded Enoch Powell who had moved to Northern Ireland politics after his time as the Conservative Member for Wolverhampton South West came to an end at the first 1974 election. At the age of 74 I do not begrudge him taking his leave of Westminster at the next election. He has also been a ...
[IMG: William Batchelder Greene] The latest instalment in my tour round the libertarian/anarchist "classics" brings me to a work very appropriate for today's messed up world. In "Mutual Banking" American Individualist Anarchist William Batchelder Greene explains clearly what is wrong with the current banking system (now, just as much as then) and proposes a non-profit mutual bank as a solution. The bankers, he says, are the new aristocracy who, with state collusion through banking licensing and legal tender laws can buy up all the assets of a country and leave its people bankrupt and destitute. They control access to money ...
So the day I opine about QE in front of 100,000 experts in the FT – and start sending out draft copies for comment amongst a few friends – an MPC member delivers a speech on the same subject. In my nightmares, it starts with the words "Contrary to what some idiot wrote in the ...
It's official – no council tax rise for Islington this year. Last night's Council meeting did go for a freeze, as I'd hoped and predicted. Good news for Islington residents.
The railways trade union RMT has just confirmed that a ballot for national industrial action involving Network Rail operations staff across the country will begin next Thursday - 4th March. According to the union, the ballot, which will involve all signalling and supervisory members, centres on three issues of dispute with Network Rail: – plans for ...
I can hear the screams from Cowley Street already, calm down dears, its only a headline.Slanj, a kilt firm in Aberdeen has found itself at the centre of a racism row after selling tee shirts with anyone but england on them for the 2010 world cup in South Africa.Let's all calm down, I think they're great and its not racism its banter between the Scottish and English over a football game, please let's keep it in perspective.Thankfully Grampian Police, who visited the store have said no racism complaints have been lodged.Slanj are selling two designs, now both only available online, ...
An interesting side-issue coming out of the recent budget Council meeting was the ridiculous lengths I had to go to to get information from the Council that I wanted to use to help with Lib Dem budget proposals. Normally what happens at Councils is that parties come together to discuss their ideas, or separate ideas are shared in advance so that a sensible budget can be put together. In Bury it's different, and we do our dealings in secret, only sharing them with the other parties on the night. I think that's silly and want to see it changed. Whilst ...
Further developments in Buckingham, John Bercow MP's constituency, where convention dictates that other parties don't put up a candidate against the incumbent Speaker: UKIP is looking forward to a large donation, whilst claiming that fundraising on Bercow's behalf breaches Parliamentary rules. Meanwhile, Buckingham Liberal Democrats announce their plan for the General Election. The Times reports that a UKIP member from Buckingham has complained to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after receiving a letter from fundraising team "The Friends of Speaker Bercow": [John Russell] has written to the commissioner expressing concern that The Friends of Speaker Bercow may be breaching parliamentary ...
haha. This you? ...It seemed such an innocuous message from a trusted friend (appealing to my curiosity and ego) via direct message. Of course, I clicked on the short link. Then a day later, along it seems with thousands of other Twitter users, crazy direct messages were sent by direct message from my acount. Thanks to Twitter, they changed my password and I have now changed it again. Sorry for any offence caused by these messages sent by persons unknown. I am now older and wiser. There's more on this whole onslaught here.
[IMG: Empty pavement, Westminster] Empty pavement, Westminster Phew. After seven months and involving Westminster Council, the GLA, Transport for London, Virgin Media and BT the broken utility box outside my place of work finally has been removed. In the end it was a BT box, despite BT previously coming to inspect it and saying it wasn't, and Westminster Council variously insisting it was a TfL or a Virgin Media box. Thank you to those in BT who finally sorted it. Thanks too to those in Virgin Media who came, who saw and who rightly said "not us gov". A few ...
I've set my timer to count down to 7am on May 6. That's when the polls open for the local elections, and - who knows? - quite possibly the General Election too. (If you can't view this widget on your mobile or in your feed reader, suffice it to say: it's really really soon!)
Now that I have got Carly Simon out of my system I will note that the Secretary of State for Wales is all over the Welsh media today like a rash. However, unlike the song his tone is rather discordant and misjudged. Peter Hain is of course quite right to criticise the £1.6 billion in bonuses being paid to certain RBS staff. In doing so he is tapping into the mood that has bankers as the only profession lower in public esteem than politicians. However, what he has conveniently not mentioned is the role of the Labour Chancellor of the ...
The result was announced last night of the Owlsmoor by-elections. I didn't win either of them, instead the Conservatives retained both seats. We did however come second. Now that we have had the result, I will blog more fully about my experiences in my first campaign to run for elected office soon but in the meantime here are the results: Owlsmoor (Sandhurst Town Council): Peter Martin FORBES (Green Party): 50Guy Alexander GILLBE (Labour): 124Ian James SIMMONS (UKIP): 112Mark James THOMPSON (Liberal Democrats): 201Philip WALLINGTON (Conservative Party): 453 Owlsmoor (Bracknell Forest Borough Council): Norman William BOWERS (Conservative Party): 508Peter Martin FORBES ...
The result was announced last night of the Owlsmoor by-elections. I didn't win either of them, instead the Conservatives retained both seats. We did however come second. Now that we have had the result, I will blog more fully about my experiences in my first campaign to run for elected office soon but in the meantime here are the results: Owlsmoor (Sandhurst Town Council): Peter Martin FORBES (Green Party): 50Guy Alexander GILLBE (Labour): 124Ian James SIMMONS (UKIP): 112Mark James THOMPSON (Liberal Democrats): 201Philip WALLINGTON (Conservative Party): 453 Owlsmoor (Bracknell Forest Borough Council): Norman William BOWERS (Conservative Party): 508Peter Martin FORBES ...
I rarely watch it myself, but I gather that last night the BBC's Question Time again had no Liberal Democrat on the panel. Andrew Reeves tells you how to complain. "Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!/Alas! I am very sorry to say/That ninety lives have been taken away." Cllr Fraser Macpherson has the latest on moves for a memorial to the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879. 1930 to 1960 brings news of the death of the children's writer David Severn at the age of 91. There is a joke somewhere in the fact that NHS Blog Doctor has a ...
It's not often that there's good news to report, but the £450,000 which the young people on the Reclaim Project have managed to get for the Gorton area is good news. Having succeeded with their audacious bid for funding, they are now consulting on how it should be spent. So, please do come and see what Reclaim are up to, at Tesco Car Park from 10 - 12 tomorrow (Saturday 27th that is) and from 1 - 4 at the Monastery. All welcome, and please put your ideas forward.
The New Statesman magazine has a special look at the Conservative Party this week and, to assist their coverage, the commissioned a poll of Conservative candidates from ComRes. Those of us who aren't in the Tory Party often make the criticism that they don't really have a lot of policies. We point out that their only confirmed tax policy is a tax cut for dead millionaires. Given the paucity of policy in this area, you would have thought that they would have managed to get all their candidates signed up to it. But no. According to the ComRes poll, more ...
It is often said that devolution is a process not an event and, at least in constitutional terms, the last decade in Welsh politics has proved that hypothesis. But what is seldom understood, is the speed in which policy divergence has taken place between Wales and the rest of the UK. Education is an area which illustrates this particularly strongly. The prioritisation of early years education through the introduction of the Foundation Phase, rejected by England, an end to SATs and improvements in 16-19 learner pathways have all been welcome. Sadly, as the screw has begun to tighten on Government ...
@jammyholt That's poor of the BBC, esp for story that wasn't brealing news. in reply to jammyholt # Woo! New trees on Charteris Road courtesy of #islington http://flic.kr/p/7E75sk # @JemStone Indeed! Have you seen my scoring of how the papers do at reporting their own polls? http://bit.ly/ct0UYj in reply to JemStone # @DavidWorsfold Ta! in reply to DavidWorsfold # James Purnell to quit - David Ottewell's Politics blog - http://bit.ly/9xPOjW < V surprised # @peterblackwales @caronmlindsay Thanks for the #followfriday in reply to peterblackwales # @jammyholt Thanks! in reply to jammyholt # RT @brainpicker: Love this Puckman bookcase http://ow.ly/19gzo And ...
There's an entertaining article by James Forsyth in the Spectator entitled: "The Tory situation is now verging on critical" complete with a front page cartoon and the headline "Tories go off the rails". Most amusing: Since the beginning of the year, when David Cameron declared the start of his long campaign, the Tory machine has spluttered, while Labour's has revved up. The Tories have lost momentum and made unforced errors. Labour morale has not been so high for years. Forsyth indicates that the panic centres on a lack of clarity of the Conservative message: Why has the Tory lead halved ...
Since the devaluation crisis of 1967, the UK has followed a policy where problems that emerge in the economy are cushioned by devaluing the currency. The poor productivity of the British economy has thus been mitigated to a great extent. In fact, since 1992 when the Conservative government was forced to leave the exchange rate mechanism, which closely linked European currencies, Tories have tended to regard keeping the right to devalue as a key part of maintaining British competitiveness. They dress this up in the Union Jack: "Keep the Pound!", with the unspoken message that other currencies are a lesser ...
Fear over public trust in charities that run confidential helplines has led the Charities Commission to launch a probe into the National Bullying Helpline (NBH). The Commission said it had a duty to "promote public trust and confidence in charities, and is aware of the potential impact on other charities that run confidential help lines". Also that is sought to "ensure the trustees continue to protect this confidential and sensitive information" and have also made an order "preventing the transmission or disclosure of information, including details about the nature and source of the confidential calls it has received" without its ...
There I was, minding my own business when, rather unexpectedly, the skinny guy in the black, hooded cloak carrying the very sharp piece of farm equipment looked me in the eye and said, "Have you really looked at that last manifesto for Liberal Youth?". I admitted that I hadn't, after all, you know how it is, it's early in the morning, or late the night before, that kind of thing, and I'm looking for gratuitous offence rather than paying close attention to the purple prose. So I had another look. "Date of birth, ......... 1993."... And with that, my heart ...
Welcome to Friday, and with another busy campaigning weekend ahead, political parties are counting down the days and counting up the cash: 2 Election War Chest Stories Labour opts for bargain £4m campaign with no posters For the first time in more than 60 years, Labour does not plan to use its scarce resources on high street posters, such as those that the big-spending Conservatives have already set up across Britain. Instead, officials say that Gordon Brown will make a virtue out of necessity with a campaign that will lean on the "word of mouth" community organising techniques that helped ...
In the past few weeks I had two close encounters with the Environmental services of Lewisham Council. The first took place on Monday 25th January, there I met the highest echelons of the environmental services, namely the Head of Environment at LBL Nigel Tyrell (of Love Lewisham fame), and the Strategic Waste and Policy Manager Sam ...
I am not sure that Facebook groups are the answer, but there are rumours the BBC will dumb down and axe 6music. Join the Facebook group to save 6Music at http://bit.ly/bbc6music
A couple of weeks back, the Financial Times reported that donations from the financial sector have "quadrupled" since DC became leader of the Tories. The City has "donated" £16m since 2006, compared to just £3.7m under the previous three leaders ...
An evening spent checking my Liberal Youth e-mail account, the spam trap on my AOL account, Facebook, studying manifestos for potential problems and thinking about an innovative style of ballot paper has left me slightly groggy. However, I am beginning to make progress on phase 3 of "I'm a member of Liberal Youth, get me out of/in (delete as appropriate) here!". I'll be announcing the candidates in the morning, but to outline what thrills still lie ahead, there is the possibility of having to co-opt another Vice Chair, followed by the start of the formal election season for the year ...
The urgent resurfacing of London Road, due to be started this week, has been put back because of the snow early in the week. Unfortunately this means that the works won't now commence until May - something which will cause further deterioration in the surface and danger to roads users. Clearly we want this put back on schedule as soon as possible and will be using every means possible to restore the programme.
...As I found out when i went out on an unexpected jolly this evening! A colleague at work had tickets to the Total Politics Question Time event at the City Inn in in Pimlico this evening but couldnt make it so offered me the chance to go. Having nothing better to do, i went along ...
I write daily blogs on politics and on photography. I enjoy photography and I also enjoy civil liberties. I am not keen on upsetting people so I use my discretion when photographing them, even when I am being paid to do so at weddings. On Wednesday I thought I was going to combine my interests and ask for greater freedom to take photographs when writing about an Accrington photographer. I have written previously that I find great motivation to write blogs when I listen to debates and disagree strongly with what has been said. A close second is listening to ...
A special meeting of the Highways Committee of Durham County Council will next Thursday (March 4th) be asked to designate an area at the top end of Front Street as a Loading Bay. By banning the existing parking of cars in this lay-by the move is intended prevent the traffic disruption which occurs when lorries have to discharge and load deliveries "double parked" in the carriageway. A full copy of the report and diagram of the area can be seen here.
