.....He cares about himself and has a total disregard for the three party system in UK politics. His video on the South East Party candidates website is nothing more than an attack video on the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. There is nothing in here that could possible make anyone want to vote for him. Click on ...
...and in particular for whoever is dreaming up your sad, tawdry bits of so called election "literature" to bombard the poor beleaguered people of this city with. A whisper in my ear this evening from a source I believe should be accurate suggested that you have been thinking of running again with some of the drugs stuff from this blog that you got Harperson and others to deliver on the weekend before polling in May 2008 when I was standing in Headington Hill and Northway ward. I can still recall having what I thought was an exchange of pleasantries that ...
Councillor Ian Haszeldine, the combative and respected Labour Councillor for Lingfield ward, former mayor and proud lifelong citizen of Darlington, has started a blog. It's called Lingfield Matters and promises to be a ward-based blog dealing with local community matters. Check it out.
[IMG: Lee Green Lives] Lee Green Lives is the campaign group that's grown out of the Local Assembly decision to make the state of the Leegate Centre one of our priority issues. The group will be holding its first meeting this Wednesday, 24th March, at 7.30pm at the New Testament Church of God on Lee High Road. Everyone's invited to come along and discuss how we can work together to breathe life into the Centre and develop a community vision for the longer term. We've drafted a constitution for the new group (which was discussed at the last assembly meeting ...
Interesting to read: Polite, but for me confirms the basic problem: the airy concepts all sound fine, but where is the real content, the substance, the policy? It seems to be a speaking tour not a policy programme, so far. Despite my nasty libertarian streak, I found a lot to like in Blond's talk, particularly in his ...
A bit late this one but Alix Mortimer in a post she wrote last month showing why we all wish she would post more often. A brilliant piece analysing the real reasons for young people's political apathy.Roll-up, roll-up! It's the Stuart Sharpe's Opinion Draft Sale. A real snip.Mark Pack reports on a cock-up by a Tory candidate in the Hebrides. Am I the only one who feels a bit sorry for her?Liberal Conspiracy says teenage girls have sex, get over it! Indeed. So do teenage boys.Jonathan Calder has a review of Lib Dem Spring Conference. Friday bonus is one of ...
Anne Moffat MP has been de-selected this evening losing a vote 130 votes to 59. Given this is the constituency where Labour's Scottish Leader, Iain Gray is the MSP, this is very bad news. Labour in East Lothian are in tatters and with the Liberal Democrats being in second place is this the seat where a shock result could happen at the general election? Labour members in East Lothian attended a special meeting in Haddington this evening where they decided by more than two to one that Anne Moffat should not be the party's candidate in the general election. However, ...
News of the day is that Norfolk Blogger is now a member of Broadland District Council. Nich Starling gained the Taverham North ward from the Conservatives in a by-election yesterday. Congratulations. Martin's View writes about the Say No to Trident group on Lib Dem Act website. There is only one way to travel to Shropshire these days. Liberal Bureaucracy samples the delights of the Wrexham & Shropshire. The Bureau of Sabotage mourns the passing of Alex Chilton, whose "gift to the world was a whole set of perfect pop songs that nobody bought at the time, but which have proved ...
I was filled with trepidation when I inched down towards the junction at the bottom of the hill. So far, and a week later very little has happened. The digger seems to be concentrating on the green by the side of the road. I hope it stays that way! The thought of a gridlock of traffic by that spot was leaving me a little anxious. Previous flooding has been a bit patchy. The odd flash flood from the drain. Lets hope this does the trick
Today Iain Dale wrote one of his daily Lib Dem attack stories and sadly (again) totally misses the point. The story Iain is trying to push is that "Lib Dem MPs are just like the Tories" when it comes to having dodgy MPs. Of course Iain would love this to be true, but with dozens of Tories standing down after expenses allegations involving heli pads, duck houses and numerous other spurious expense claims, Iain somehow wishes to link this to four Lib Dem MPs who took it upon themselves to raise an issue affecting their expenses and claims. No credit ...
FOUR years ago the Tories spent £4m - against your wishes - on the Guildhall scheme. Your doubts at the outset, recorded in a LibDem survey, are now confirmed as correct - it is a white elephant. The Tories' risky and reckless scheme has failed to work out. The building, which the district owned, didn't sell. Massive business rates were incurred. Energy projections on the new scheme were not
As a voter in Woking I have been looking at the other candidates from the other parties to see what they are up to in these early stages of the general election campaign. My disdain for the Conservatives parachuting Jonathan Lord into Woking and expecting him to be shoe horned in as MP off the ...
I don't know whether to be angry or bloody angry by the crassly stupid comments made by US General John Sheehan. This eejit, who rather than blaming tens of thousands of Bosniak Serb forces for the massacre of 8,000 male civilians in Srebrenica, chose to focus his condemnation on unionisation and gays in the Dutch military. Srebrenica is a stain on the conscience of post-war Europe, the EU's response to the break-up of Yugoslavia was woefully inadequate, and the Dutch forces "guarding" the safe area were understrength, but for General Sheehan to blame gays is ridiculous and he should apologise ...
Many thanks to the always interesting Birkdale Focus for alerting me to Mr Ramage, who the Liberal Candidate for Southport in 1929 and appeared in one of my favourite films: Kind Hearts and Coronets. In fact it gets better than that, because it turns out that Cecil Beresford Ramage was briefly a Liberal MP. He fought the Newcastle West three times, losing in 1922, winning in 1923, then losing again in 1924. Incidentally, Ramage did not play the defence counsel in Kind Hearts, as Birkdale Focus suggests, but the Crown counsel whose powerful prosecution did much to secure Louis Mazzini's ...
Friday I have fond memories of Eastleigh; it was here at the Southern Railway works that I received help in building the prototype of the Bonkers Patent Shuttleworth Press - an invention which was to revolutionise committee room practice in the years before the Second World War. So when the town's MP, our own Chris Huhne, invited me to tour his constituency I was happy to accept. As we drive through the Hampshire countryside this morning he is full of the virtues of his Toyata Prius (apparently no polar bears are harmed in its manufacture), but as we near a ...
Today's House Points from Liberal Democrat News. You can tell an election is near: I am turning into a party loyalist. Conference conversion I have never been one for spring conferences, reasoning that there is too much travel and not enough conference. But this year's event was a great success and Nick Clegg was reported everywhere. In the Guardian Michael White said: "The lucky charm that the Lib Dem leader inherited from Charles Kennedy ... is still working for Clegg as the long-awaited Westminster grand prix starts. Team Labour has serious engine trouble, the Tory alternative has blown two tyres ...
HuffPo on a crucial matter of our times. 53.61% say "yes".
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire runs down the likely historic legislative events in the USA this weekend: With assistance from David Waldman and Sarah Binder — and the caveat that we don't know many details yet — here's a very rough guide to what will happen with the health care reform bill this weekend: The House Rules Committee will likely meet on Saturday morning to draft a special rule that allows the House to pass a bill by approving the rule and not necessarily the bill itself. By all indications, this rule will be the now famous "self-executing" rule which "deems" ...
On the one hand, the leader of UKIP, Lord Pearson doesn't want his party to be seen as a "one issue party" based on Euroscepticism. On the other hand he says he wants his party not to stand candidates against Euro-sceptic candidates from other parties. So, the latter proves that all his party are indeed a single issue party. All they judge an MP on is their attitude to Europe despite the multitude of other issues there are at stake!
Under the heading Unite and Labour working together to bring down British Business, Denis Knowles latest blog shows a British Airways passenger plane about to be hit with a Cruise missile; the missile has the Unite slogan printed on the side. If Denis intended the post to be humourous then he has failed abysmally. In the ...
Not a good week for the Labour Party or Unions, especially Unions funding the Labour Party. Unite force planes to stay on the ground in dispute with British Airways. RMT force trains to stay in sidings in dispute with Network Rail. Labour force car owners to stay at home with increase in petrol duty - £1.20 per litre. Unite is one of the major funders of the Labour Party. With Ashcroft's millions funding the Conservatives and Unions funding Labour, it is time for real change. The Liberal Democrats are offering real change with four steps to a fairer Britain,
The Porter Parry Tory leaderenes on Sefton Council are at it again. What was it that Lord Acton said about power. Like some dragon in a tale from the dark ages the Tory Leadership is being placated by sacrifices. Cllr Roberts has the 'blackspot' and is standing down and it is being whispered that a former Tory Leader-Eric Storey-is also in line for a visit. Cllr Roberts is not a man I cannot recall ever having ever heard speak on the council-not even to ask to have the window open. He has done sterling work for the Tories propping up ...
I'm not one of those who think that the electorate always get it right-as Dr Owen asserted last week. I can think of quite a few governments that Britain could have done without! But when they rejected William Hague I think that broadly the electors had summed him up quite well. Therefore I am not surprised by his subsequent behavior. I guess like many Tories he starts with the premise that if you can avoid paying tax then that is perfectly ok. He sees no issue with the growing inequality in our society. We are not all in this together ...
15) Sheri S. Tepper, The Margarets (New York: HarperCollins, 2007, ISBN 9780061170690). Science fiction with some fantasy elements. The child Margaret lives in a dystopian future where humanity has almost destroyed Earth and several colony planets and is being subjected to increasingly authoritarian attempts to reduce the population in order to stop a wider interstellar federation from exterminating all humans for the wider good - a measure which would be popular with some alien races who have a grudge against humanity that is so old they have forgotten the cause. Margaret copes with her surroundings by developing six imaginary selves, ...
I was pleased to learn that Parrs Wood High School in East Didsbury has now been removed from special measures after the latest inspection of the school by Ofsted. All the staff and pupils at the school should be congratulated on their good work in this regard, and hopefully can now build on this progress further. I ...
Cornwall Council will be funding free activities for a range of young people from the beginning of April. The activities will include events at Council leisure centres as well a range of private providers. The Activity Pass will be provided free of charge to families with school aged children who are in receipt of free school meals or the higher rate of working families tax credit and to children in care. The value of each pass will be £195 and they will last for a year. Each time a child uses the pass, the cost of the activity will be ...
Sad news has reached us here at Lib Dem Voice that Islington Councillor Donna Boffa died today after a long illness. From the Islington Tribune: Cllr Boffa, 43, was first elected to represent Bunhill ward in 2003, in a by-election following the death of Lib Dem Cllr Rose Wooding. She leaves behind five children. Islington Council leader Lib Dem Cllr Terry Stacy said: "Donna was a fighter right through to the end. From the day she was elected a councillor, Donna never forgot where she came from or who she was there to represent. Donna was all about helping the ...
In a speech today, new UKIP leader Lord Pearson announced that UKIP will not be fielding a candidate against hardline Conservatives who favour the UK's withdrawal from the EU. I wonder whether this will include George Eustice, the former UKIPper now standing for the Tories in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle?
A new report from Shelter makes challenging reading. My thanks to Roy Connell for bringing it to my attention. The headlines from the report assert that Sefton is 278 out of 323 councils for supplying affordable housing.You would have to earn £40,761 to afford to buy an average-priced house in your Sefton. (this average is significantly reduced by taking the Borough as a whole. If you were living in Southport then the cost would be much higher).Independent experts say our area needs to build 2,398 homes per year. Our council planned for 180 new affordable homes to be provided in ...
When I first moved to West Lothian there were two names outwith my own party that the political activists held in awe. One result may have determined the paths of their political careers, but both were held high. For Labour there was Tam Dalyell for the SNP there was Billy Wolfe. The two went head to head when this was just one West Lothian seat, before there was 'The Question', in the 1962 by election that was the start of the former Father of the House's career. The latter a former leader of the SNP has passed away aged 86 ...
At Government office in Newcastle this am meet with all region big shots to talk about dealing with it. My point is we need to stop wasting money and sort it out firmly whilst supporting familes to improve their own lives. its called hope We are working on it already in Lib Dem Northumberland
RT @ caronmlindsay Am very sad that I'm not going to be at the @libdemvoice fringe chaired by @helenduffett. #ldconf << me too. 8pm if u can # @libdemvoice's secret project now public >> 'Project Rank' – how liberal / authoritarian is your MP – is now LIVE http://bit.ly/bp6qJD << # And u can read all about @libdemvoice's How liberal / authoritarian is your MP 'Project Rank' on Guardian website here http://bit.ly/awGmtR # RT @libdemvoice New post: LAUNCHED TODAY: new Lib Dem Voice website – How Liberal / Authoritarian is your MP? http://ldv.org.uk/18316 # Andrew Smith Labour MP for Oxford ...
I was watching the BBC South Today local evening news yesterday and during the programme there were two similar news reports that were reported in quite different ways. Firstly there was the tragic story of a man in his mid-forties from Hove in Sussex who had taken the legal drug mephedrone and had subsequently died of a heart attack. The report started by outlining the circumstances surrounding what had happened. It then moved on to a telephone interview with the brother of the man who had died who insisted that the drug should be made illegal. Next up was a ...
Earlier this week, I was pleased to pledge my support to the NSPCC and their General Election campaign. The NSPCC is an important ally of social workers in protecting vulnerable children and I am delighted to back them. The Campaign's focus is ...
Here are the answers of the trivia quiz I've set over the last couple of days.
With an increasing fall in the level of interest - it was becoming apparent that election to the list guaranteed very little - the 2006 contest for places on the Interim Peers List was rather more gentle than even the 2004 contest was. The result was; Michael Steed - stage 1 Dee Doocey - stage 1 Kate Parminter - stage 1 Philip Goldenberg - stage 1 Gerald Vernon-Jackson - stage 1 Steve Hitchins - stage 1 Sue Garden - stage 1 (12 September 2007) Paul Marshall - stage 1 Olly Grender - stage 1 Stan Collins - stage 1 John ...
I had a very enjoyable holiday in a rented cottage at the Hill of Tarvit in Fife many years ago. I was very pleased to read that the Lib Dems there Ming Campbell and Iain Smith have been actively involved in the campaign to keep that and another National Trust for Scotland property-Kellie Castle -open. We visited Kellie during our stay and they were just embarking on restoring the walled kitchen garden on organic lines that Lawrence Hills would have approved of. I recall that whilst we were there we also went to a performance of the Pirates of Penzance ...
As many of you will know, I won the Taverham North local council by-election held yesterday by 159 votes. The result was Conservative John Griffin 471 - 41% Green Party Jennifer Parkhouse 54 - 4.5% Liberal Democrats Nich Starling 630 - 54.5% I just want to say a massive thank you to all those people who voted for me and all those people who offered kind words verbally, through emails, twitter and on the phone before and since. People in Taverham North were obviously keen to vote and are enthusiastic about the idea of having a councillor that will be ...
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. Will £66,000 expenses claim sink Dawn Butler? (4) by Mark Pack. 2. New Lib Dem song - Hit, Miss or Maybe? (20) by Helen Duffett. 3. Colin Firth on why he's stopped voting Labour and now supports the Lib Dems (5) by Stephen Tall. 4. The 39 Labour MPs who are 100% authoritarian (0) by Stephen Tall. 5. Election purdah period: what can and can't be done? (0) by Mark Pack. 5 active LDV Members' Forum ...
From Multimap, here's an aerial picture showing Achmore (ringed), on the Isle of Lewis. Miles from the sea, you will notice. So when asked to list important issues for local islanders, why did the (not so-) local Tory candidate single out the need for "the building of the harbour wall at Achmore"? It is baffling. It reminds me of a campaign a long time ago when we hoped to get a non-local Tory candidate to pontificate on the future of Donnington Hospital (which he wouldn't have known is not a hospital, but almshouses). Sadly, it remained an unfulfilled campaigners' fantasy. ...
Like many other people I got an email this week with a campaign song. Southport has had many campaign songs and most of them are recorded in Michael Braham's History of Southport Liberals. The practice has died out and the last one that seems to have had widespread use was for C.B. Ramage in the 1929 election. He has an unusual man being a barrister and an actor. His most remembered role was as the barrister in Kind Hearts and Coronets where he defended Louis in front of his peers in the House of Lords. Anyway when I got the ...
The council has started work on tidying up Sulis Meadows, following the adoption by Crest. There have been a few concerns, this is what the council has to say."As you may be aware work has started on site to cut back the overgrown hedge and litterpick. I am receiving a few complaints regarding this about cutting hedges when birds nesting season so I will clarify a few things. It is not illegal
We have ask the executive councillor what is going on with the roads in Kngsway1. Question from Councillor Nigel RobertsWith the announcement of extra money for road repairs could the Executive Councillor give an assurance that Kingsway's Roads will be repaired, as he knows I have raised this several times, and although repairs have been made after a few months the pot holes return?Answer from
This isn't the fault of the officers, there is a policy vacuum we asked the following question at the recent council meeting.There are plenty of empty houses, but the proposals are to build 2000 more houses on green fields.3. Question from Councillor Nigel Roberts Please could the Executive Councillor answer, how many empty houses are there in Bath and North East Somerset ?How many basements
Dear old Iain Dale. He never abandons his "old one-two" does he? You know – the one where he invents something that somebody has said, and then attacks it with all the venom he can muster. Take this classic. You will notice that not a single one of the quotes, in inverted commas or not, are actually real quotes from LibDem Voice, Chris Huhne or Nick Clegg. (A typical LibDem Voice expenses article ends "I wouldn't reckon on printing "we're not as bad as the other two" too large on your Focus leaflets.") I think the post tells us more ...
Odd Down Councillors Steve Hedges and Nigel Roberts will be using part of 'their' share of B&NES Council's Ward Councillor's Initiative Fund to help cut traffic speeds through Odd Down.The Ward Councillor's Initiative Fund is a pilot scheme which allows local Councillors to respond quickly to local needs with small amounts of financial support. All B&NES Councillors will have the chance to
The stop cock cover outside of 92 Cranmore place in the pavement has been reported to the council
Dawn's story: My four year old son caught his finger in the door of some public toilets in Highgate last summer. It was a very bad cut and looked as if the bone had been crushed. Naturally, he was in agony and great distress and the finger was bleeding profusely. I was with our two other small children and we ran to the A and E at the Whittington and were soon reassured that no bone had been broken, there was no sign of likely infection and that the cut just needed gluing. The thought of driving all three children ...
Ah, mankind, I haven't patronised you lately. You do make it really easy though, as this story stands as evidence. The chap at the end appears to be claiming that humans instinctively practice a sort of transactional approach to morality; maintaining their moral character as some sort of checking account. Now, to a large degree, this ...
We believe that an application for the sixth form will be shortly
[IMG: hill-of-tarvit1] North East Fife's MP Sir Menzies Campbell and MSP Iain Smith have urged the Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland to ensure that the Hill of Tarvit Mansion House near Cupar remains open permanently. In a letter to Kate Mavor, Chief Executive of the NTS, Sir Menzies and Mr Smith highlighted the importance of the property to the cultural heritage of Scotland and North East Fife and its positive contribution to the local tourist industry. Following a hard fought campaign last year by Sir Menzies, Iain Smith, members of the public and the East Fife Members' ...
Further to my earlier post I think this is needed following the partisan line taken by others (named above) In common with other commentators, we may in the past have given readers the impression that Conservative MPs were, in the area of Dolphin Square cash payments, paragons of virtue. We may have written sentences like "The Tories have escaped censure," and "The Tories have emerged from the scandal smelling like a baby's powdered arse, or "The Lib Dems gaze at then Tories and Labour benches (and indeed neighbouring flat occupiers) in bewilderment at the smell of Mr Sheen, who, like ...
I've just had a look at the Warwick Town Centre Plan. The consultation is available on the website its worth a look as this is our chance to have a say on how the town may develop in the future.
The RMT have just announced the results of their ballot to cut their own throats. Strikes seem to be the flavour of the day with unions in the transport sector. BA cabin crew, amongst the best paid in the industry, are striking. The rail maintenance and now the signal workers are going on strike. There seems to be a new militancy in the trade union leadership. And it comes on the eve of an
a little missive from the BBC telling me that the leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg will come face-to-face with undecided voters in a battle of the ballot. In a special debate on the BBC Politics Show, Jon Sopel will see if Mr Clegg can persuade the public to cast their votes for the Liberal Democrat party. Will they be won over or continue to Nick Clegg is on the BBC Politics Show at noon, Sunday 21st March, BBC One and later in the evening on the BBC iPlayer.
Imagine the following scenario. Labour (or the Conservatives) lose the general election. Gordon Brown (or David Cameron) resigns as party leader. With much of the rest of their frontbench team also discredited, the party elects a non-MP – the (ex) Mayor of London – as its leader. A sitting MP then resigns so the new party leader can stand in a by-election for Parliament. With me so far? Now imagine that in the by-election the other main parties do not put up candidates but rather give the new party leader a free pass into Parliament. Pretty unthinkable, isn't it? Yet ...
[IMG: Nich Starling and Taverham North winning team] Congratulations to Councillor Nich Starling (aka Norfolk Blogger) who gained a seat yesterday from the Tories on Broadland District Council. The result, courtesy of ALDC: LD Nich Starling 630 (54.5; +24.3) Con 471 (40.8; -3.0) Green 54 (4.7; +4.7) [Other (0.0; -26.0)] Majority 159 Turnout 31% LD gain from Con Percentage change is since May 2007. This is a big swing from the Conservatives, (who have previously taken voters for granted here) in a ward from Chloe Smith MP's Norwich North constituency. Taverham North had the lowest turnout of any ward in ...
I've been doing a bit of work in Newcastle recently to help out the Lib Dems with campaigning. I seem to have used up plenty of shoe leather in Denton and thanks to Ron Beadle, our candidate, who has kindly asked me to deliver another stack of leaflets, I am due back there shortly. I guess now I could walk the streets with my eyes closed there. Kenton was more interesting however. The tabloid
It's 19th March and LDV Towers will shortly be taking delivery of an enormous cake for Co-editor Stephen Tall's birthday. Rumour has it he will be leaping out of said cake, and if he does, we'll be first with the news and photos. In the meantime... 2 Big Stories Clarke fails to toe line on party pledge David Cameron last night overruled Ken Clarke, after the shadow business secretary appeared to backtrack on a Tory commitment to spell out details of a core tax policy ahead of the general election. The Conservative leader acted after Mr Clarke told a London ...
London to Craven Arms, change at Shrewsbury, obvious really. So why am I going to Wrexham General? Easy really, because I can... full steam ahead for the Marches!
Today's South Wales Evening Post reports on some unusual controversy over at Neath Port Talbot Council: The mayor of Neath Port Talbot had been holding out for a hero when the time came to decide who should be awarded the freedom of the county. Councillor Pam Thomas was expecting former chief executive Ken Sawyers to be the sole nominee, believing it was only fair he should have his moment in the spotlight after 15 years at the helm before his retirement. But no sooner had members unanimously agreed to Mr Sawyers getting the freedom than, faster than the speed of ...
I can remember where I was when I first heard of the Dolphin Square property situation, I was preparing Lib Dem posters ahead of last year's European election.It was at the height of the MPs expenses scandals that the Lib Dem MPs raised the issue with the Standards and Privileges Committee. The one reaction of those around me was "stupid". The fact that the payment was made by the landlord in return for them agreeing to pay higher rates meant that the payment should have been made to the public purse rather than their own pockets. I think you will ...
Six blogs have recently joined Ryan's Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Janet Nunn - http://allaboutbartonleclay.blogspot.com – ultra-local blogging from Bedfordshire covering the sorts of issues the media rarely touch these days. John Leech MP - http://johnleechmp.wordpress.com – he's been blogging since November, but is new on the aggregator. LibDemTV - http://libdemtv.blogspot.com – existing Lib Dem blogger Mark Thompson goes multimedia. Mathew Hulbert - http://mylibdemlife.wordpress.com – a new member chronicles life in the party. Tom King - http://eachwishresigned.blogspot.com – music, politics, religion and a rather nifty banner graphic. James Taylor - http://liberalthought.wordpress.com – back blogging after a seven month pause. Good luck ...
Earlier this week I penned the following guest post for the Wardman Wire: It's become something of a truism for believers in the utility of Twitter in politics to say, "Of course it's no good for local campaigning, but..." usually ending with a point about motivating activists or joshing with journalists. Those certainly are uses for Twitter, but I've always been puzzled by the dismissal of Twitter's local power. That is partly because I've found interesting but previously unknown to me people living nearby who I get fun or useful information from via Twitter. If I can find a local ...
Some months ago, I wrote a slightly tongue in cheek piece about how nice it would be if Deutsche Bahn ran the trains between London and Norwich. However, it was pointed out to me that they do actually run trains in this country, as Chiltern Railways and the newest addition to the ranks of Train Operating Companies, the Wrexham & Shropshire, are partly owned by them. The Wrexham & Shropshire, which runs four trains a day in each direction between Wrexham General and Marylebone (except Sundays, when there are three trains), has, according to Passenger Watch, a 98% satisfaction rating. ...
For the first time in UK political history we have the mouth watering prospect of seeing all three of our main party leaders debating live on television in the run up to the general election. The head-to-head debates should be a real chance for the people of Britain to see what the leaders have to say ...
Broadland DC, Taverham NorthLD Nich Starling 630 (54.5; +24.3)Con 471 (40.8; -3.0)Green 54 (4.7; +4.7)[Other (0.0; -26.0)]Majority 159Turnout 31%LD gain from ConPercentage change is since May 2007.Gravesham BC, Meopham South and VigoCon 515 (59.5; -4.4)UKIP 122 (14.1; +14.1)LD Ann O'Brien 114 (13.2; +13.2)Lab 114 (13.2; -2.5)[Others (0.0; -6.2)][Green (0.0; -14.2)]Majority 393Turnout 25.3%Con
I dont know if many of you have heard about the delightfully mental report "Cough Up" by Policy Exchange. The report concludes British government have got tobacco tax pretty much spot on - well, they don't tax tax cigarettes quite enough - citing a whole list of "costs" to society including litter collection, house fires and employee absenteeism, as well as, of course, the cost of treating tobacco related diseases etc.... Well if Policy Exchange truly is "David Cameron's favourite Think Tank" then heaven help the sovietised state we can all look forward to come May 7th, should he get ...
The Travelodge assessment of Bradford's charm, or charmlessness, is a tad unfair in my opinion. Classifying it as "dangerous, ugly and boring" is somewhat uncalled for. The city really isn't dangerous - I'm not at all frighttened of it. Boring? Not really, quite a few interesting events happen there throughout the year. Ugly? Yes, you've got me there! Bradford is a city with some fairly impressive architecture of the Victorian prosperity flaunting kind. But for ages now there's been what we refer to as "the great big hole" at Forster Square. It seems no-one can afford to do anything about ...
This morning, in my mayoral capacity, I opened the new park on Scout Road in Mytholmroyd. This park is part on an ongoing regeneration of the old methodist's cricket pitch. About 5 years ago the methodists were selling the land in a blind auction and a community group formed to save the park from development. With a little bit of help from Hebden Royd Town Council and a lot of work at a community level the group were able to buy the land. Today's opening was the latest stage in what has been an exciting development locally, driven by a ...
A significant number of my colleagues presume I am mad for having a second job as a Councillor. This number has grown significantly since I announced a third job - that of prospective parliamentary candidate. By 7th May, I may well have joined them in that opinion. There are days, greater in number and closer together at the moment, when I wish I could just crumple into the sofa and watch Eastenders of an evening. Sadly though, there's canvassing to be done, and my group leader won't let me rest until I have single-handedly accomplished Nick Clegg's Million Door Challenge. ...
Mark Pack has details of the worst gaffe so far in this General Election campaign over on Liberal Democrat Voice. He refers to an article in the Hebrides News in which the Conservative candidate for Western Isles didn't so much as put her foot in it as leap head first voluntarily into a steaming pile of muck: The prospective Tory general election candidate for the Western Isles has made a hugely embarrassing gaffe by backing a spoof harbour in a landlocked village. Conservative hopeful Sheena Norquay confusingly insists that developing the fictional port at Achmore in the middle of the ...
At the request of the University of Dundee's here's details of their new video competition! "The University of Dundee is currently running a video competition, asking entrants to create a short video detailing the discoveries they have made in the city. If you would be able to mention this on your blog, we would be very grateful, as hopefully it would be of interest to your readers and would encourage more entries. We're looking for videos covering any aspect of life in Dundee where there is a discovery worth sharing. This doesn't have to be anything groundbreaking, but something a ...
In this morning's Western Mail their Chief Reporter, Martin Shipton provides his less than glowing assessment of Carwyn Jones' first 100 days as First Minister: His first significant achievement is in getting the referendum "trigger" vote through the Assembly. There had been concerns it would be sabotaged by Peter Hain, other Labour MPs, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats. If it had been, Plaid would have pulled the plug on the coalition. In the event, thanks to adroit negotiating and no desire to end up in opposition either now or after next year's Assembly election, the requisite two-thirds majority was ...
Ian Swales, Prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Redcar, has pledged to support the NSPCC's 'I stand for children' campaign which aims to make child protection a priority for the next Parliament. Ian Swales said: "Many residents have contacted me to raise awareness of the NSPCC's valuable work and I am supporting the NSPCC's new campaign to ensure protecting children is a political priority: I Stand for Children." The NSPCC's campaign is calling on all candidates at the General Election to commit to a range of child protection measures including: * Making the internet safer for children * Continued funding of ...
Post conference edition of the Northern Democrat has now been published. I produce this monthly for Lib Dems in the Northern regions though most of my readers are in the North East.Northern Democrat No 49 Mar 10
Hebrides News reports: The prospective Tory general election candidate for the Western Isles has made a hugely embarrassing gaffe by backing a spoof harbour in a landlocked village. Conservative hopeful Sheena Norquay confusingly insists that developing the fictional port at Achmore in the middle of the barren Lewis moor is a top priority. The 22-year-old hopeful unexpectedly stressed one of the main island issues is "the building of the harbour wall at Achmore." However, the policy is a complete nonsense as no such harbour exists. Achmore is a dry land village is located in the centre of Lewis, surrounded by ...
Imagine my surprise this morning when I read that the government is taking seriously a report by their new "watchdog" on criminal records which says... ... many lives have already been affected by... disclosures [of old and minor crimes] in employment vetting checks. The extent to which such information is passed on to employers will now be ...
[IMG: no2id_badge_new_600dpi] Some of us, myself included, have a tendency to think that we, and NO2ID, have won the ID card battle. We should all be under no such illusion. The fight is still very much on. Earlier this week there was a little-reported matter of Meg Hillier, the Home Office Minister, suggesting that Gordon Brown's government may ask U.K. banks - specifically Govt "owned ones" - Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc - to subsidize its national identity-card program, paying for documents for poorer customers to attract business... "attract business" yeah right. And rather ...
... not to my complaint earlier this week about Stephanie Flanders' article, but to my complaint from the 4th February about the episode immediately after Clare Short's appearance at the Iraq Inquiry. My original complaint read thusly: "It is a disgrace that once again, there is no liberal voice on the Question Time panel when the two main issues likely to be discussed are the Iraq war and electoral reform. The BBC has clearly recognised the former of these as a key topic and has got Clare Short and George Galloway in to discuss it - why not a spokesman ...
Development Control Committee The applications for consideration at this committee were Beddington Farmlands Landfill Site, Royal Marsden Hospital, Land rear of 96-98 Worcester Road, 27 The Market, Wrythe Lane, a tree preservation order confirmation for 15 Cornwall Road and a parks maintenance area in Beddington Park. Beddington Farmlands Landfill Site: this was a retrospective application to extend ...
HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL TEMPORARY CLOSING OF VARIOUS ROADS IN ST ALBANS NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using the following lengths of roads, except for access:- 1. that length of Belmont Hill, St Albans from its junction with A5183 Holywell Hill south eastwards to its junction with Thorpe Road, a distance of approximately 257 metres. It is anticipated that this section of road will be closed between the hours of 7.30am and 5.30pm (Mondays to Fridays inclusive) for up ...
Over on ConservativeHome Richard Benyon MP is very proud he raised the issue of troops serving abroad not being able to vote in the forthcoming general election. A really important issue Mr Benyon, I completely agree, as did Willie Rennie MP and Michael Moore MP back in February, good to see you copying the Liberal Democrats lead on this issue. Once again though, it is not the Conservatives leading the opposition, it is in fact Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats team who are one step ahead and staying ahead and the Conservatives just jump onto the bandwagon. Changes to voting rules ...
CentreForum, (largely in the shape of Julian Astle), has long pondered where political parties are on the Liberal spectrum.* Now we have released a new paper entitled "A Lib Con trick", that by identifying those policy areas where the Lib Dems and Conservatives converge or diverge, assesses how the two parties might relate to each ...
We all know that Labour thought it was a smart idea to allow every car over 10 years old to be part of their scrappage scheme, despite the fact that some of those cars probably weren't that great a pollutant to the environment. However, yesterday as part of Labour's call for better buses in Scotland at Holyrood Liberal democrat transport spokeswoman Alison McInnes call for that scheme to be transferred to buses. "The bus industry is critical for vast areas of Scotland, especially areas without good train links. Scotland deserves bus services fit for the 21st century. "We need measures ...
Conservative Assembly Member, David Melding's brilliant intervention on questions to the Rural Affairs Minister on Wednesday has now made it to the pages of the Western Mail. David has a knack of making off-the-wall contributions with a serious point. This one was no different: David Melding: I wonder whether, on one of your many shopping trips to Harrods or Fortnum & Mason—or, indeed, a particular favourite of yours, Partridges of Sloane Square—you have noticed that much of the laverbread that they sell is sourced from the west of Scotland. Do you not agree that posh ladies who lunch should be ...
Readers curious about the secret I could not let you in to in last week's newsletter may have noticed that the news (embargoed for Saturday) leaked out last Friday night. Tory MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, former leader of the UK Tory MEPs and now a Vice President (deputy speaker) of the EP, joined us last week. He is the third Tory MEP I have persuaded to join the Liberal Democrats in my fifteen years as a MEP. (The first was James Moorhouse and the second Bill Newton-Dunn.) It's not hard to coax them over, though deep reserves of patience help: their ...
Caroline Lucas was on Question Time yesterday, taking a fairly straightforward pro-Union line on the BA strike. It can be seen here on iplayer, starting about 13 minutes in (until the next episode replaces it)."...I deeply regret that the dispute has been allowed to escalate to such a point that we are now looking at a strike..."Is this the same Caroline Lucas, who considers flying to be as bad as stabbing? (Yes it is.) This raises the obvious question - why would you not want the stabbing industry to be hit by strike action? As I said on Twitter at ...
The work began this week to resurface Moor Lane between Gosbury Hill and the railway bridge - that's good news, of course. But the bad news is that the contractor uncovered an old Thames Water trench near Tudor Close that needed to be repaired before the road could be tarmaced. Thames Water have been working on it, and eventually Bardons, the road contractors, will be back to finish the resurfacing. In the mean time, Bardons had to withdraw their team and put them on another job while Thames Water were doing their repairs.
Arising out of the recent Tayside Police Community Surgeries, including one at Blackness Library, the local Police are now introducing Community Letter Boxes to allow the public to raise non-emergency issues and any suggestions they may have. The library is the location for the one in the West End, although I have suggested to the Police that another at the Mitchell Street Centre would be a good additional location for the north of the West End Ward.
In the past week, the Conservatives have been talking up their chances of doing a deal with the Liberal Democrats if the forthcoming general election fails to deliver them a working majority. Conservative shadow business secretary Ken Clarke has even suggested that "Nick Clegg is a conservative". David Cameron meanwhile regularly describes himself as a "liberal Conservative" and has claimed that on a range of policy issues, "there's barely a cigarette paper between us". But in a new report from CentreForum, the liberal think tank, we argue that the two parties' similarities are being wildly overstated, as are the chances ...
The Dundee West Transition Town Group and people and planet are hosting a free film screening of "The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" on Thursday 25th March at 6.30pm in the University of Dundee's Dalhousie Building, Room 2G14. It will be followed by a discussion on how we can create a more resilient local economy and sustainable future in the face of climate change and depletion of fossil fuel resources. Starting at 18:30 Watch the trailer of this inspiring film: www.powerofcommunity.org
Lib Dem Voice launched our new website – How Liberal / Authoritarian is your MP? – at the party's spring conference last weekend. LDV has identified 10 key votes from the 2005-10 Parliament – ranging from ID cards and freedom of speech to freedom of information and trial without jury – in order to rank all MPs according to how liberal or authoritarian their record is. All MPs are marked out of 100: the higher their score the more authoritarian they are. The lower their score the more liberal is their voting record. On Wednesday, Lib Dem blogger James Graham ...
Ben Somerskill and Stonewall sponsored by Village Drinks (network for Lesbian and Gay professionals) put on a hustings last night in the West End. They do things really well. Well thought out. Well arranged. Well chaired. I think all the candidates did well and set out their stall - and the debate was interesting and the questions wide-ranging. Chris Bryant represented Labour, Nick Herbert represented the Tories, Chris Smith the Greens - and obviously I was there for the LibDems. The basic LibDem stall is that the clue is in our name - Liberal - through and through - and ...
In 2004, it was time for a new list, and another election was held. For those who hadn't been lucky thus far, another hurdle beckoned. At least this time, the competition was less fierce... much less fierce. The result was; Robin Teverson - stage 1 (10 April 2006) Ramesh Dewan - stage 1 Hilary Stephenson - stage 1 Monroe Palmer - stage 18 Celia Thomas - stage 49 (10 April 2006) Jonathan Fryer - stage 56 Jock Gallagher - stage 61 Dawn Davidson - stage 67 John Stevens - stage 69 Bill Le Breton - stage 69 James Kempton - ...
Just listening to Khalid Mahmoud MP saying there should be sackings at the top at Birmingham Social Services. Isn't it a pity that they don't hold to account the leadership of Tameside Council over David Askew.
Further to yesterday's post on Grove Mills I've been having a conversation about it and the person I was talking to pointed out one or two mitigating factors as far as Skipton Properties is concerned. He was saying that the economic situation has ...
I find that I posted an interesting snippet on my long-neglected anthology blog Serendib a few years ago: Charlie Whelan Born in Peckham in 1955, Whelan would above all be obedient and loyal to Brown's cause. "Able but very lazy," was his headmaster's conclusion after the young Whelan failed one examination. In the hope of solving the problem, his parents sent him to a fee-paying boarding school in Surrey. He secured an unimpressive degree in politics at the City of London Polytechnic. When he started his first job as a foreign exchange dealer in the City, he spoke in a ...
Stockport West police are asking anyone who has their car registration plate stolen to report it to the police. They're taking it seriously, and have special screws which can be used to fix plates and make it much harder for criminals to remove them.
Off to #ldconf today - and don't forget, it's the @libdemvoice fringe meeting at 8pm tonight (Hall 8b) # Why do washing machines have windows in the front but not dish washers? # @TimMontgomerie Phew! Liked your answer on how faith + your political views in reply to TimMontgomerie # Guest post by me on Left Foot Forward: Tax policies aren't just about who gets what money http://bit.ly/dlv2Bf # @DonataHuggins Not sure dirty socks are than enticing a view either... in reply to DonataHuggins # Nick Clegg's conference speech: what does it need to do? #ldconf http://ldv.org.uk/18272 # The old ...
A couple of years ago I found that I had been quoted in the book Richard Jefferies and the Ecological Vision by Brian Morris. The whole work can now be found on Google Books, which allows me to post this rather vain graphic...
The link is to case where a family from Germany has won refugee status in the USA in January 2010 as a result of german family court procedures.
Great to hear the news of his election to Broadland DC. LibDem 630 Con 471 Green 54 2007 result Con 497/478 Libdem 344/307 Ind 295/240 Change in result: Con -3.0 LD +24.3 Gr +4.7 Ind -26.0 Just goes to show that the Tories support is pretty shallow and what a fillip to the local party.
I must admit that when I wrote yesterday's post, I did not expect it to be that high. I still stand by the general principle – when demand-led items improve, use them for the debt. 'Demand led' meaning: caused by better than expected economic outcomes – better revenues, better AME caused by lower unemployment etc. Another ...
The Liberal Democrats have a campaign song - all about the slogan that sums up what we are about this election - "Change that works for you". This was the background to Nick Clegg's keynote speech to Lib Dem Party Conference last weekend. The full version can be downloaded from ITunes here!
The police, along with other agencies such as the Council and Stockport Homes, are taking the anti-social behaviour issues in Cheadle's Oak Road area seriously. In addition to the regular patrols, the mobile police station is on Oak Road a day a week and some people who've have particular problems have had detailed discussions with the police. Inspector Gilbertson, at this evening's Cheadle Village Partnership, was keen to stress their zero-tolerance approach and encouraged residents to report any problems. Stockport Homes is taking action against some tenants who have been responsible for certain problems and are in breach of their ...
Well yesterday was the first full 24 hour period of being selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk. So while I wasn't blogging I was busy with other stuff online which may to a casual observer seem trivial are none the less vitally important. For example no longer am I merely a politico who blogs, I am a parliamentary candidate that blogs so certain subtle changes to my online presences had to be made to keep everything open, honest and legal. One of the highlights for me in the first 24 hours was after letting the ...
As I said in Full Council last night: Darlington's hard won £57m from the Building Schools for the Future programme has an axe hanging over it if the Conservatives win the next General Election. Unless final contracts have been signed by May 6th, the Conservatives have made it clear that these schemes cannot be guaranteed.We know the Conservatives intend to divert money away from capital
It's not a dirty word this side of the Atlantic To mark the 200th anniversary of the first written usage of the word 'liberal' in a political document, Liberal International, the Liberal Network of Latin America (RELIAL), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty and the ALDE Group in the European Parliament are organsing the upcoming weekend in Cadiz, Spain a Conference '200 Years of Common Liberal Identity, A Liberal Agenda for Europe - Latin American Relations'. Over 50 leading liberal politicians and thinkers from the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and Europe have confirmed their participation. Next to LI President Hans ...
This is one of the videos I've produced recently for Lib Dem MPs. In this instance it is Bob Russell who is one of the colourful characters in the Commons. He is rather chuffed with this Lib Dem Oscar winning 3 minute video, complete with sky diving photos and pictures of him in Iraq and Afghanistan, complete with khaki.I'm currently editing the video I shot with Chris Huhne at Conference over
Article by Simon Hughes in the Guardian on being a constituency MP for Southwark and Bermondsey. I've met Simon a few times and he's always struck me as very diligent, and like all good MPs has a photographic memory of faces and names. He writes "It is a seven-day, 80-hour a week job being a constituency MP. Every day by phone, letter, ...
Last week I mentioned that the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow had described a heckling MP as boring and boorish. We all know that there are many MPs who would fit that description. Sitting on those green benches must make them think that they are back at school and they behave accordingly. It was with great pleasure that I saw the speaker admonish another heckler this week. There are stories that he has shown bias and if that is the case then he needs to reconsider the way he works but we all do this all the ...
