With all the talk of `broken Britain` the Conservatives still haven't fleshed out those policies stating the facts and figures of where the money would help. Interestingly, John Leech MP for Manchester Withington has done just that
Letter written to the Hebden Bridge times today, following an article they published, which looks like it was heavily based on a government press release. In response to the article "New records will help patient care" published on 25 February, I am writing to express serious concerns that myself and others have about the new system ...
Just back from a family event in Manchester, and shattered. My eldest is in a band, and they had managed to pass an audition last month to get to the regional finals. While of course they were the best act there, unfortunately they didn't make the cut to get through to the national finals. Nil desperandum, we all went off to Chinatown in Manchester and had a great Sìchuānese meal.
Mark Field MP in his desperate defence of Lord Ashcroft on `The Westminster Hour` said: `what do you want billionaires going from gated community to gated community with not a thought about others. At least Lord Ashcroft created crimestoppers.` Ah, so that's alright then – let's doff our cap to Lord Bountiful who deigned to give ...
Mike Smithson has some potentially disturbing news for hung parliament advocates. I think he means people like me...Mark Pack has a detailed review of the "Why Vote Liberal Democrat" book which has just been published.Martin Bright reveals some of his personal experiences with Gordon Brown's "bad citizens".Bracknell Blog asks whether the UK media is as right wing as its US counterpart.Bloggers4UKIP wonder if Lord Tebbit might be about to get on his bike and travel over to their side.
I have just posted a piece worrying about this subject to The Corridor.
For each person, 8 oz of steak, a teaspoon of capers, half an onion, an egg yolk, salt, pepper, parsley, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. Finely chop everything that can be chopped, mix it all together, leave to moulder for half an hour or so, and serve on toast.
Come and join us at Browns in Covent Garden for dinner with Paddy Ashdown! This Wednesday night (March 10th), 3 course meal and wine, tickets £65. I know it's a lot, but should be a great evening, and at the moment we're a couple of hundred quid below what the Tories have raised in Westminster ...
Single topic for this meeting was Mayor for next year. The issue I convered in detail here was whether there was good reason to break with the tradition - the longest serving is the most deserving. There was not an argument strong enough, so I voted for Phil Heath to become Mayor. A move blocked by the Tories he worked so hard for and with for many years. You simply can't trust the Tories!
Over at the Independent today, Nick Clegg argues that the electorate is weary of two-party wrangling and tactical voting. The voters, he says, are ready for a third option, one which breaks new ground. I guess that would be us, then. Here's an excerpt: This election could be an election of renewal, when the old politics finally passes its sell-by date and a new era of pluralism and accountability is ushered in. The one advantage of a crisis - economic, political, social - is that it can open the door to a new way of doing things. It can make ...
About ten years ago, a couple of Conservative local councillors came up with the bright idea of conducting opinion polls over the internet. All the traditional polling companies said it would never work and their polls were dismissed. Now the company they formed turns over something like £40 million and year and employs around 450 staff. You Gov is one of the biggest polling companies in the world. Jeffrey Archer's former assistant Stefan Shakespeare, one of the You Gov founders, hit on the right technology at the right time and made it work for them. Today the Gauge Opinion team ...
First up I apologise that blogging has been light this weekend. It has been a full couple of days between events in the conference halls, general election sessions on the fringe plus honing my speech for moving amendment one on the equal marriage debate this morning. It was a very good weekend, the highlight of which was Nick Clegg's visit on Friday. Some of us had already met Nick before he got up to make his speech. He took to the stage just after Gordon Brown had finished giving his evidence to the Chilcot inquiry. The colliding of the two ...
This really is quite staggering. The outcome of the election rests on the economy. So the Conservatives would be making sure their economic maestro is seen everywhere, making the case for the great Tory economic policies, would they not? Not a bit of it. George Osborne has been relegated to the backroom. OK, full marks to the Camster for recognising that our Gideon is a 24 carat drongo. But, come on, he's meant to be the person who will be Chancellor in a few weeks, in the midst of a generational economic crisis. If Cameron can't trust him to put ...
If you go to Amazon searching for "Why vote Liberal Democrat?", edited by Danny Alexander and just published by Biteback, you may be surprised to find yourself being presented instead with a book of the same title from 1997, written by William Wallace. The new book is misfiled by Amazon under the title "Why vote Lib Dem?" but actually the 1997 volume provides an interesting contrast with the 2010 version. The 2010 book is one of a series, covering also Labour, Conservatives, SNP, Plaid and the Greens. All the others are single person authored books (with the exception of a ...
Gateshead Council and my Labour opponent are very keen to boast about the governments Decent Homes standard and the great work Gateshead Council is doing in improving homes. I am getting an increasing load casework from Council tenants who are not so impressed. Today I visited the home of a Council Tenant in Blaydon, who is having her house rewired by the Council. I have to say I was totally disgusted. As a council tenant in the house of 13 years and a single mum with three young children, she has been treated very shabbily. The house is riven with ...
and a moving mass at St Cuthbert's where its Fr John's 39th Anniversary of his ordination what a fantastic record of service and what a top man. Then to great lumley to shoot a short video to go with our campaign song which is on this site The vid should be ready by end of this week so look out hollywood
We keep being told the General Election Leaders' TV debates will bring a bit of excitement to the contest and could make or break the parties. I must be in a minority here. I find the prospect of these programmes boring in the extreme. In fact I am stiffling a yawn now. (Actually Dominic Lawson in the Sunday Times today seems to feel the same - not someone I usually agree with but still) There are two main reasons I think these debates are a mistake. Firstly the huge number of agreed rules means this is not a debate but ...
The Ashcroft affair is proving to have stout legs. We have very clearly moved beyond the simple non-dom status element and moved into two equally, if not more, serious areas: 1. Tony Blair and The Queen, and potential constitutional implications The Observer today raises a new point: The row over Lord Ashcroft's donations to the Tory party threatened to erupt into a full-blown constitutional crisis last night as questions were raised over whether the Queen and the former prime minister, Tony Blair, had granted him a peerage under false pretences. William Hague features as a central figure in the article. ...
Not a combination I'd expected to put in a headline, especially as wrestling with recalcitrant letter boxes, RISOs or activists isn't quite in the Lara Croft style, but courtesy of the BBC we have: A new £36.2m Derby road is to be named after computer game and movie character Lara Croft following a public vote. The star of the Tomb Raider franchise was originally devised by a computer game developer based in the city. More than 27,000 people took part in the vote to name the Osmaston Road to Burton Road stretch of the new route, with 89% opting for ...
The more I read of Miles the more convinced I become that he is to science fiction novels what Grant Morrison is to comics. Miles is clearly influenced by Morrison, in much the same way the Morrison himself is influenced by Alan Moore – I recently read a message board thread in which a fan ...
I had been thinking of posting this, then yesterday I heard it playing in a cafe so I knew it was meant to be. There was not a lot of sophistication around in the singles chart in 1973, but I recognised even then that there was more to this than you found in Suzi Quatro. I wouldn't claim that it sounds great today, but it has lasted better than most singles from that year. Wikipedia tells us that this, which reached no. 13 in the UK singles charts, is faithful translation of a song originally written and performed by Véronique ...
Yesterday, Pollwatch looked at the state of the parties in January; today it's the turn of the party leaders. As with all polls, what follows comes with caveats. Only two polling companies - YouGov and Angus RS - this past month asked questions specifically to find out the public's views of the three main party leaders. And each asks variants on the basic question - do you think Clegg/Brown/Cameron are doing a good job - to come up with their figures, so comparison ain't easy. But, still, we don't indulge in polls often, so here goes ... Here, in chronological ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free website, Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne argues tht locking up more people is a populist ploy that doesn't cut crime. Instead, he says, we should focus on rigorous community sentences instead. Here's an excerpt: It should be a given that important matters of public policy are based on evidence and research, rather than political whim. Why, then, is the field of criminal justice uniquely and scandalously divorced from this obvious rule? ... Both [Labour and Tories] continue to try to frighten the public into the arms of their party. It is ...
The spam filters at libdemvoice as obviously quite strict, as they seem to gobble up my comments on an interesting discussion happening there regarding the placebo effect. So here are my comments:shame I've some late to this - at the risk of making this into a Sunday debate, here's me sticking my oar in.I am in broad agreement with the 'lying is wrong' position many of you have taken - as was
So I've had the joy of flying abroad and back recently, and on the return it really hit me just how much time, energy and money we waste on trying to keep people born in different geographic locales from entering and staying in our geographic locale. How pointless is it, that we in the West consider ourselves so much better than everyone else that the dirty foreigners must be boxed in, tagged, queued up and questioned? It's entirely depressing. Along with the new e-passport cages at Bristol airport: "Come in to our country! But you'd better be the right sort, ...
Do read this typically articulate article by Chris Huhne on the Guardian website. In it, Chris rightly condemns Labour and Conservative politicians for engaging in a race to the bottom on who can sound toughest on crime: Both sides continue to try to frighten the public into the arms of their party. It is this politics ...
Today's Telegraph reports that Lib Dem peer Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott has called for all documents relating to Tory donor Lord (Michael) Ashcroft's peerage to be made public to establish whether the Queen conferred the honour under false pretences: Lord Oakeshott, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, wrote to Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, urging him to publish all relevant papers as a matter of urgency, to make clear whether the monarch had been misled. ... William Hague, the former Conservative leader, said that he discovered only a few months ago that Lord Ashcroft had enjoyed "non-dom" tax status for the last 10 ...
Lancaster and Fleetwood Liberal Democrats have posted two news items to their website discussing the issues surrounding the future of the Lancaster Indoor Market. The first news item outlines the importance of finding a solution and highlights the financial implications of "a problem that has been ignored" for far too long: Stuart Langhorn and the local Lib Dems have been working hard since leading the Council in June 2009 to find a long term solution to this critical issue. Stuart Langhorn says: To do nothing is not an option and for too many years the problem has been ignored. It ...
Reviewing the Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference in Perth from the comfort of her couch, Caron's Musings finds it to be chiefly concerned with schools, fairness and Viking dress. Norfolk Blogger reports the welcome news that Tesco's attempt to take over the known universe had been stalled in Sheringham. The Turkish genocide against the people of Armenia during and after Word War I is in the news. On Friday Eric Avebury attended the showing of a documentary on the subject. Madame Arcati reviews the front cover of Tony Blair's The Journey: "Notice how the corners of his mouth level off against ...
A Conservative political adviser at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has been forced to resign, after a taped phone conversation was posted on the internet, alleging that he was conspiring to oust the council's deputy leader Alison Knight. André Walker, a former high-flying Conservative student, who has previously worked for London Councils, and Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham councils, was recorded and photographed on a phone by another passenger on Tuesday night, travelling travelling back from Waterloo station. The Slough & Langley Observer has the story: A statement from the Royal Borough said: "Effective from this morning (Friday ...
Ten million people bought Make Poverty History campaign armbands in 2005. Some would hold that voters give development issues a low priority. But those armbands showed that a lot of voters care. More and better aid, debt relief and trade justice were the demands of campaigners. Five years later, how is the government doing? Brilliantly if you fall for Labour's spin. Mediocre if you analyse the facts. An OECD report says that Britain is expected to devote 0.56% of national income to development aid this year. That hides a few things. The government arrives at this figure by including money ...
The posting below comes from a BNP suporter in response to my post about the BNP in Barking. It is too long to submit as a comment so I place it here as a post on its own merits, to show just how clever the BNP have gotten in their use of words. For all ...
Chris Dillow takes to bits the various aspects of Conservative economic philosophy evinced by John Redwood, which is all aimed at the same point: the idea that you can't make the economy stronger by borrowing to spend. Ever. Because you either just defer pain, or drive up rates, or prevent the good ol' private sector ...
Vince Cable was excellent on the Andrew Marr show this morning. This is him speaking a couple of days ago on a number of subjects including economic recovery, investing in green jobs and nuclear power :
I am not usually one for posting content of an excessively personal nature, but the time has come to lay some old ghosts to rest and get this stuff out of my head. It's one of those posts that might be seen to be designed to garner sympathy, but that's not the case. It's just ...
One way from Greg Mankiw. In fact, being an economist gets in the way of seeing things normally. Last night I was treated to a visit to the Olivier to see an 1841 farce called London Assurance. Richard Briers, Fiona Shaw and above all Simon Russell Beale were excellent, and the play surprisingly feisty for a ...
Excellent piece in Slate about the new street maps which are sprouting up around London (mostly central London at the moment, though also a strong showing in Islington), including this snippet: People often overestimate the difficulty of walking to nearby locations, taking the familiar tube instead. In recent years, as the tube has become more congested, that's become a problem. The tube in central London often operates at maximum capacity. At rush hour, the Oxford Circus station—located in a busy shopping district—can get so crowded it will close its doors, waiting to clear passengers from the station before it lets ...
It's Sunday. It's one o'clock. Which can mean only one thing: we must apologise for the late running of our regular Friday Five supplement. So, sorry. So sorry. Anyway, here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week 1. Lord Clement-Jones on the Digital Economy Bill: web blocking amendment (205) by Tim Clement-Jones 2. How much of a battle does Bercow face in Buckingham? (16) by Helen Duffett 3. Lord Cashcroft and the Tory Banana Republic: your LDV reader (28) by Stephen Tall 4. NEW POLL: What's the main reason you ...
On Friday evening we held a excellent Beer and Bangers event for the ward. The beer came from the prize winning Southport Brewery-their Sandgrounder bitter-and the bangers came from our excellent local butcher Robert Tear (Vegetarian one came courtesy of Linda McCartney). Birkdale Beer and Banger Thanks to all who came and especially those who helped. If you click on the picture you should access a few more
I've got the politics show on TV in the background here today and one thing strikes me about the young people who the programme interviewed about the BNP, and their chances in the forthcoming elections, is that they are startling ignorant of what the BNP are actually about and the kind of people who they ...
It's not like Nick Griffin to shy away from publicity. His reaction to any possibility of a flicker of spotlight is to run towards it, maximising the impact of his message of hate. But it seems that the BNP leader is now revealing a reticent side to his personality. Today's London edition of the BBC's Politics ...
The Mail on Sunday has splashed today with the "shock horror" story that David Cameron's wife Samantha might once have voted Labour. This is according to Ed Vaizey. Frankly, who gives a flying fig? If anything, that fact that David Cameron's wife might have had political views of her own in the past and maybe even now is actually a good thing. Far better than he was married to someone who was brought up in a family who had voted Tory for the last 10 generations. How dreary would that be? This is froth of the most insipid kind. Just ...
Commenting on Ofgem figures showing that energy companies are making £105 profit per customer, a 40% increase in the last three months, Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Simon Hughes said: "Energy companies clobbered households even as they struggled through the cold snap. "Cynical price cuts now won't disguise bumper profits made on the back of grossly unfair fuel bills. "Energy firms should be forced to show how much profit they make on every pound they charge at the bottom of every fuel bill."
Cutting the cake to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Angulimala, with 'Bhante', the Spiritual Director.
A bit for libetarians and for regulators – so take what you will. It was laws and regualations, not market forces, that ended this, though it seems we can never under-estimate the ability of a greedy State to make a bad situation worse. This is an account from 1942 looking back to the condition of the poor a century earlier. In the early years of the [19th] century the builder and landlord were unrestricted. The filthiest hovel or cellar could be let to as many people as would take it; no drainage or water had to be provided. Ventilation the ...
Saturday, at the Forest Hermitage to celebrate the silver jubilee of Angulimala, the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy, of which I have the honour to be Patron. There was a good attendance by Buddhist chaplains from all over the country. and we had a stimulating discussion led by the Ven. Ajahn Khemadhammo (Chao Khun Bhavanaviteht) OBE, the Spiritual Director of Angulimala, see angulimala.org.uk. The chaplains discussed their work, including some of the problems that arise. When they visit a prison by arrangement, for instance, the Buddhist prisoners may not have been assembled in the multi-faith room or chapel. A very high proportion ...
This week has been a week of strange ups and downs for Gordon Brown. The first down came when he appeared at the Chilcott Inquiry into the war in Iraq and gave his side of events with regards to military funding during his time as chancellor under the premiership of Tony Blair. It couldn't have been ...
On the 4th March at 2.05am Beatrice Mary Cullen was born weighing 6lb 1oz. [IMG: Beatrice] Sometimes I feel like putting my hands up in the air Many thanks for all the cards, tweets and facebook messages we've received. Just a couple of quick points, until she feels old enough herself: she won't have a Facebook account she won't have a Twitter account she won't have a blog she won't be joining the Liberal Democrats She will however have her photo taken at every opportunity and have the images uploaded to both Flickr and Facebook as quickly as possible, as ...
It's not like Nick Griffin to shy away from publicity. His reaction to any possibility of a flicker of spotlight is to run towards it, maximising the impact of his message of hate. But it seems that the BNP leader is now revealing a reticent side to his personality. Today's London edition of the BBC's Politics Show will be covering the constituency of Barking, the one which Griffin hopes to win and become the BNP's first MP. The programme will feature a discussion between the main parties' candidates for the seat - and in the case of Barking, the BNP ...
Having spent a couple of weeks filming and editing videos for candidates, today I am doing a video with a difference. I have just arrived in Chester le Street in Co Durham to film a video for our candidate. But this one has its own music. The Lib Dem candidate Ian Lindley has persuaded a musician to write a campaign song. All that is needed is the campaign video to go with it. That's my job!---
The Independent on Sunday is looking back on a 100years of the Womens' Movement and list women of distinction. I was struck by the absence of Nancy Seear, Shirley Williams and one or two others.Having searched through Google images I can find only one picture. Wikipedia is not much better but if the Independent had consulted its own obituary section they would have found Geoff Tordoff's excellent reflection on her life. As Geoff points out even The Times acknowleged her contribution: While scathing on the subject of positive discrimination she was fiercely active in campaigning for equal pay for work ...
I was reading an article on the website www.consortiumnews.com (a Independent Investigative Journalism site) titled The NYT Veers Neocon The article opens with the paragraph 'Many American progressives don't want to recognize how bad the U.S. mainstream news media has become. It's easier to praise a few exceptions to the rule and to hope that some pendulum will swing than to undertake the challenging task of building a new and honest media infrastructure.' News media has always been biased. but there is a difference between commentary which can be biased and reporting facts based news. I wonder if there are ...
This week The Times reported of Nikki Sinclaire: The UK Independence Party has expelled one of its MEPs after she refused to sit with its right-wing Italian allies in the European Parliament and fell out with former leader Nigel Farage... Ms Sinclaire, 41, an MEP for the West Midlands, insisted that she wanted to stay with the party but would not join UKIP's alliance in Strasbourg with the "extremist" Northern League of Italy. She has also said that she lost faith in Mr Farage because of his "personal animosity" towards her... UKIP has a track record for losing MEPs, having ...
Photopolis is a major photographic resource in Dundee City Council's ownership that I have, with the permission of the Leisure & Communities Department, featured photographs from in the past. It consists of a significant selection of quality photographs from various collections in the Central Library and the City Archives that can be accessed via the City Council's website, allowing easy access to large numbers of historical photographs. Give the history events taking place in June as part of WestFest 2010, it seemed an appropriate time to feature some of the superb West End photos on Photopolis. As a start, pictured ...
Yesterday's Daily Telegraph reveals details of some of the submissions made by MPs to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the body charged with drawing up a new system of allowances to replace the discredited expenses system. Some of the representations are reasonable in my view, especially in relation to the amount of money MPs have to run their office. However, it is noticeable that the proposal that MPs should only be allowed to travel first class in "exceptional circumstances", such as a journey of more than two and a half hours, has met with particularly strong opposition by parliamentarians: ...
I am grateful for the correspondence I have had from constituents to back CAMRA. I have signed up to the following commitments: • Promote the interests of Britain's pub goers • Champion well-run community pubs • Support the rebalancing alcohol taxation to support beer and pubs • Press for reform of beer tie to deliver a fair deal for ...
As the Daily Telegraph reported: Selfridges said sales of Filofax personal organisers had increased by 25 per cent during January and February compared with the same period last year. Other organisers, including those made by upmarket stationery company Smythson were selling equally well, it said. The retailer put the revival down women shunning iPhones and other electronic organisers, in favour of solid, easy-to-use stationery, which were more personal and distinctive.
Sun 7th
09:00
Daily View 2×2 6 March: featuring Iraq, how parties are campaigning and the best pothole photo...
It's Sunday. It's 9am. It's time for the best pothole photo, ever. FACT. But first, some other stuff. 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Fraser Macpherson has the party's latest Scottish TV broadcast The Futility Monster ponders how many friends we can have Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren't on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all. 2 Big Stories Brown 'disingenuous over war funds' The Press Association ...
This nationwide scheme is supported by the Council as part of the Stockport Boost campaign, Home Access is a national project to supply low-income families with a laptop and access to the internet through a national application process. The aim of the programme is to support families by ensuring access to the educational and social benefits of current technology. Applications for the Home Access grant were invited from January this year. Feedback from Welfare Rights and other local support services has identified a high level of interest. The scheme is due to run until February 2011, or until the grant ...
Alison's Story I've lost count of how many times I've had to go to the A&E with small children and for myself. Often I've gone by bus as I don't have a car (not possible if A&E gets transferred to Royal Free - takes an hour and 2 buses!) with my thumb hanging off, or an eye that's been poked but at least it's been relatively local to where I live. The kids - broken wrist and front teeth bashed out; an eye nearly lost through a collision with child cyclist in park and blood pouring everywhere etc etc. Always ...
Broomsdene Household Waste Recycling Centre (Stony Heaps tip) is due to be improved along with 14 other sites across the county. The intention is to make the site safer and more convenient to use whilst at the same time improving rates of recycling and sending less to landfill. The imporovements are due to start on April 16th and to be completed by May 24th. During that period we'll have to divert to the nearest alternative at Annfield Plain. If you have useful suggestions to make, or queries to put, the process will be managed by Jo Lane on 0191 383 ...
I haven't been tweeting or blogging much from the Scottish Liberal Democrats conference in Perth because it's been both a busy conference for me, 12 hours in a basement meeting room, The Old Library meeting MPs and candidates and their campaign teams and the fact that the mobile phone reception is so awful, not just in the Library but generally around the conference centre and the Royal George Hotel. A great day on Friday with a great speech from Nick Clegg and a fantastic photo session with a stack of our candidates signing the NUS pledge on tuition fees. Yesterday ...
The shop I'd like to showcase this time round is Specsavers opticians, on Trelowarren Street. All that peering at council documents over the last few years has had its effect on my eyesight and last year I got my first pair of glasses. In contrast to some retailers, where you've barely stepped inside the door and someone is asking you what they can get you, I've found so far that the service is always tactful and unobtrusive in Specsavers. I needed to get some budget glasses for netball, so that if they fell off and broke it wouldn't be horrendously ...
I missed this when it first came out but it seems that Plaid Cymru and the SNP are so upset at being excluded from the Prime Ministerial debates that they are threatening to take their toys home. The BBC report that each of the parties is to look again at their broadcasting policy and their support for the license fee in response to what they call a 'stitch up' over live Prime Ministerial TV debates: SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson MP argued that broadcasters, "in cahoots" with the three political parties who would be taking part in the debates, are ...
Reply to Richard Hider's invitation to attend a public meeting concerning proposals to build a fish restraurant on Babbacombe Downs:Adrian Sanders MPMr Richard HiderRef: AMS/JB/Babbacombe DownsDate: 0...
The British general election campaign hasn't even started yet, but already the wheels seem to be coming off the Conservative campaign. They'd hoped to swing voters in marginal seats by pouring in lots of money, much of it donated by Lord Ashcroft. But the protracted revelations about the peer's nom-dom tax status and his relations with Shadow ...
Last Wednesday a number of people marched from Lancaster Market to the Morecambe Town Hall. They were protesting about the closure of the market and while they were marching I happened to be walking my dog. I often carry a camera with me and I took a photo of the marchers. I thought that it would be interesting to compare the number on the photo with the reports that would follow of how many were protesting. On the radio on Thursday I heard that hundreds were protesting. On the BBC website they wrote that at least 200 were marching, see ...
