I am v busy at the mo, but I just wanted to mention one thing: aside from my name, my top search term over the last month has been Stephanie Flanders Stockings. I am gratified to know that I am not the only pervert out there, but am slightly worried at the number of people searching for that search term. Unless, of course, it's one person searching for it several times per day, who is going to get ever so excited that I have a new entry with his/her favourite search term included in it... I wonder if anyone has ...
Last month I wrote a lengthy post giving all the background to the proposal for a GP-led walk-in clinic in the Hook Clinic in Gosbury Hill. I had to be rather guarded at the time about my views on these plans, because there was a good chance that planning permission would be required very soon. As a councillor, and Chair of the local planning committee (South of the Borough Neighbourhood Committee), if I had expressed an opinion ahead of the relevant planning meeting then I would have predetermined my views and would have been barred from the meeting. That would ...
Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News appears to argue that the trouble with the Conservatives is that they are no longer Conservative. I suppose that is what comes of turning 50. If the Conservative benches are ungovernable now they will be worse after the general election, given the intake of new members. And it is certainly true of the Conservative blogosphere. The action of Labour members in making John Bercow Speaker leads me to pose Calder's Third Law of Politics. It is: When politicians do something which they think is very clever, it will eventually turn out to ...
LAST week's Tribune was full of letters from local Labour candidates, including someone who is in fact the Labour parliamentary candidate for Tunbridge Wells in Kent but who also wants to be a Labour councillor in Islington (No place for party politics in campaign to save A&E, March 19). They all seem ...
Once again, I've been too busy to update my blog for a bit. Not for lack of news or views, but lack of time to share them. So here's another quick roundup: I've been busy lobbying away on the Digital Economy Bill, including signing a letter to the Guardian and speaking to the Open Rights Group anti-disconnection ...
I have been in a very wet Motherwell today with the "day job" but on return spoke with Clive Gillman, Director of Dundee Contemporary Arts, about a competition DCA recently ran that has raised my concerns and those of the other councillors who serve on the DCA Board. The matter is covered in tonight's Evening Telegraph, and I am pleased to say that Clive has assured me that such a competition will not be repeated in the future. I had a letter in yesterday's Tele following a resident raising her concerns about the condition of the ground on the east ...
Yesterday at 11:35 am Harriet Harman announced in an almost throw away line to the commons: The business for next week is as follows: ... Tuesday 6 April-Second Reading of the Digital Economy Bill [ Lords ], followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Equality Bill. With recent events the letter from 25 Lib Dem PPCs Bridget Fox, Islington South & Finsbury, Julian Huppert, Cambridge, Martin Tod, Winchester, Farid Ahmed, Walthamstow, Jon Ball, Ealing Central & Acton, Alan Beddow, Warwick & Leamington, Mike Bell, Weston-super-Mare, Duncan Borrowman, Old Bexley & Sidcup, Sal Brinton, Watford, Belinda Brooks-Gordon, West Suffolk, Alan ...
It's been a long, slow and uphill struggle to get the PLDP to listen but its finally happened.. well as much as we can expect from a major party with some pro-big-record-label lords and other dinosaurs dragging their feet : http://j.mp/aiKNW1 Now...
Sometimes something happens which makes the canvassing in the snow and rain, the occasional abuse, the uphill struggle all worthwhile. Often it's just a kind word from a voter or a new volunteer coming on board. It's seldom that attending a PR bash does it, but that's what happened last night. I went to the launch ...
Baroness Warnock has published some interesting reform ideas for education in Questa, a philosophy of education magazine. I feel they deserve a serious look and will post again when I have read them in detail.
Good day on the knock with a new top line young Lib Dem dude Craig "a thousand doors a minute" Man I may be losing it due to excessive canvassing in that i serenaded a resident today 'I red chestered to vote today, felt like a fool, had to do it anyway,down at the high school' i think he knew what i meant. Put it this way he got a faraway look in his eyes and retired hastily
I have an apology to make to the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary party in general, and to David Heath in particular. I'm sorry I wrote what I did this morning about the supposed poor response to the Digital Economy Bill. I pulled together a lot of links for that post; in fact, one of my main motivations was pulling together a set of links that showed what state the Bill was at, because I hadn't found anyone else who'd done that in the way I wanted. It turns out I missed a couple of important ones. For which I'm kicking myself ...
Musings about the meaning of Red Toryism. No-one can fault Paul's efforts, but even after this magnificent long post he has drawn a blank. There are so many quotable lines, that I will not pick out any in particular. It is a bit rude. I am interested to hear how Paul responds to the commenter ...
As Liberal Democrat Voice has reported in depth over recent weeks, there was a surge of debate around the party's response to the Digital Economy Bill, leading to our open letter from PPCs, and the emergency motion passed at conference. Great joy. Then it all went quiet. There has of course been a little matter of the Budget. MPs and candidates have been, quite rightly, out on the hustings and the doorsteps. But if our Parliamentary party were otherwise engaged, the blogosphere was not. The dedicated campaigning of the Open Rights Group was joined by the 38 Degrees lobby. They ...
There's been a lot of noise about the apparent lack of noise from LibDem MPs on the Digital Economy Bill (which in classic Labour style is about to be railroaded through the Commons). Like many others, I've been lobbying away on this topic and am glad to have now received this statement from Don Foster ...
I see the Guardian's review of the NW parliamentary battle it does not even mention Southport as a potential gain for the Tories and says of our neighbours: They (The Tories) have some long-shot aspirations in areas like Sefton Central (their former stronghold of Crosby) . 'Long-shot' is a long way short of 'in the bag as some close to the Tory PPC have foolishly asserted
I am getting increasingly irritated by the phrase coined by the Tories to describe the period of industrial action that we are going through at present. To be fair the term 'spring of discontent' is quite clever in that it harks back to and evokes memories of the winter of 1978/79 which led directly to the defeat of the last Labour Government. However, Shakespeare it is not. The words do not even make sense as a metaphor. It is difficult to imagine Richard III intoning "Now is the spring of my discontent", not least because the change destroys the rhythm ...
Today's BBC Daily Politics / ComRes poll asking which of the three major parties' leadership teams is more trusted to steer the economy through the current downturn has caused a bit of a stir – it shows Labour's duumvirate of Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling out ahead of the Tories, an about-turn on three months ago. Here are the results: Putting your party allegiance aside, who do you trust most to steer Britain's economy through the current downturn? Gordon Brown & Alistair Darling 33% (+7% on Dec 2009) David Cameron & George Osborne 27% (-6%) Nick Clegg & Vince Cable ...
Is it just me or do I detect a "Pick me ! Pick me !" in THIS posting ? I know Iain is not one of the options, but I guess if you can't get elected and can't get selected, you could always get appointed ? The problem is that the Lords loses legitimacy if it is filled with placemen who have failed in their attempts to get in to the House of Commons. Personally, I think the Tories have been crazy not to have selected Iain Dale in one of the many vacancies that have appeared in the wake ...
Late - because I should have blogged about earlier - is a post about doing a podcast for the 'House of Comments' where Mark Thompson (of MarkReckons' blog) and Stuart Sharpe (Sharpe Opinion blog) had a chat / interview with myself and Sara Scarlett as two political bloggers. We ranged across the sleazy Labour cabs for hire, admired Obama and his commitment to driving through his Health Care Bill. We are not used to politicians doing what they promised! To blogging - well bloggers do like talking about blogging!. If you go to Mark's blog you will be able to ...
I have blogged in the past about how I believe our town is a united community of people who look out and care for their fellow residents. Groups such as the Afro-Caribbean Lunch Club at the Bury Park Community Centre help bring together people in our community and highlights the best of our town. The Luton in Harmony scheme celebrate's the cultural diversity in our town and I am proud to support it. The community in our town is made up of people from many different backgrounds but we are united by our shared values and our dedication to our ...
Fri 26th
18:05
Been to #chelmsford mosque to meet Muslim community leaders. They DON'T want a new mosque in Chelmsf...
Been to #chelmsford mosque to meet Muslim community leaders. They DON'T want a new mosque in Chelmsford.
Wapley Road in Codrington will be closed from 8pm tonight (Friday 26th March) until 6am tomorrow morning for further resurfacing work.
The Resolution Foundation, ably aided and abetted by Mark Park, have shone a much-needed spotlight onto "low earners". As Mark says, "It's a group of people that is not that often explicitly addressed in Liberal Democrat policy debates or campaigning and messaging discussions..." It's not just low earners; I don't recall much discussion of who comprises our natural ...
It was great to spend some time touring Langworthy today with local Lib Dem ward councillor Lynn Drake. Councillor Norman Owen, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Salford & Eccles tagged along as we talked to local residents about problems and issues in the area. Along the way, we picked up quite a bit of casework, including graffiti removal, flytipping clear-ups, emergency repairs to vandalised property on Liverpool Street and, what a surprise, more potholes in need of repair. Residents on Southgarth Road in Langworthy agreed that locally we need more councillors like Lynn Drake who live in the area and ...
Rentoul: For any chance of Cable as Chancellor, vote Labour http://bit.ly/blkihk. OR to be certain of @vincecable as Chanc vote @LibDems. # @alexfoster And there I was thinking you were older than me ... That's the ageing powers of beards for you. in reply to alexfoster # Thanks for spotting @libdemvoice typo @helenduffett – that was when the kittens jumped on the keyboard! # @caronmlindsay did I really see a Lib Dem use the hashtag #stvfail? Wash your twouth out! in reply to caronmlindsay # @caronmlindsay 100 extra canvassing calls in return for chiding you over a hashtag? – I'll ...
David Cameron ought to require a change of underwear after seeing this poll. It's from the BBC Daily Politics show, conducted by ComRes after the budget was announced. Since a similar poll in December, confidence in the Tories on the economy has decreased by nearly a fifth. Labour now leads as the party most trusted to lead the country out of the economic downturn by 33% to 27%. So after Osborne & Cameron repeating the word "deficit" five thousand times on the media, and all the publicity about the budget, people have shifted significantly to Labour as most trusted party ...
In an act of shameless self promotion I would like to draw your attention to the most recent House of Comments podcast: Listen here! For those of you who don't know - House of Comments is a brilliant little initiative from Mark Thompson and Stuart Sharpe where every week they make a podcast of various voices from the blogosphere. So thank you Stu and Mark. Goodtimes.
I did an interview with Ed Fordham earlier this week for Lib Dem TV. I have met him a few times now and always find him to be an irrepressible character with bags of energy and constantly fizzing with ideas. I blogged previously about how I watched him completely skewer a former Tory councillor on a live Radio 5 show we were on at conference last year. I asked him about his earlier days in the party, his campaign, online engagement and how his experiences as a Chess player have helped with his political career. You can watch the 8 ...
Last year Salford Council put a short note on their website announcing that household rubbish & recycling services would not be affected by the Easter bank holidays (next week). It seems this year, they either forgot or simply couldn't be bothered to let residents know. I've just contacted Environmental Services (second time today) and they have confirmed that collections of rubbish and recycling will be made as normal on Good Friday. Residents due a collection on Good Friday are reminded to leave their normal bins and recycling bins out for collection by 7 am and to ensure they are clear ...
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. Ooops! Mirror gets poll graph wrong and inflates Labour's position (13) by Mark Pack. 2. Were there two YouGov polls for the Sunday Times? (3) by Mark Pack. 3. Roberta Blackman-Woods - desperately sabre-rattling on her MP's expenses (1) by Stephen Tall. 4. The 7 retiring Lib Dem MPs (and the 7 candidates hoping to replace them) (4) by Stephen Tall. 5. Cameron filmed confused and clueless in gay equality TV interview (9) by Stephen Tall. ...
BBC News & Wales Online both carried a story this morning about Highland Airways, the company that runs the much maligned "Ieuan Air" service, from Cardiff to Ynys Mon has gone into administration and the service has collapsed. Cue mock poster numero uno: Of course over the last 3 years Ieuan Air has not been cheap. ...
I attending the Have your say question time event at Easthampstead Park Community School in Bracknell on 24th March 2010 organised by Sixth form Student Andrew Best. This event was well attended although Andrew Best wished that more had come. I agree but I was pleased to see an almost full room. The meeting was chaired by Headteacher: Gordon Cunningham. The format was a two minute speech from each of the candidates then a question and answer session. The PPC's at this event were; Conservative, Dr Philip Lee Labour's John Piasecki Liberal Democrat, Ray Earwicker Green Party's David Young UKIP's ...
Fri 26th
16:31
Opinion: Opportunities abound and our opponents have rarely been so uncertain and unconvincing
Alistair Darling's pre-budget and pre-election speech was well done. Good knock about in which he steered clear of presenting a budget. David Cameron's response not only rivalled Darling's in terms of vacuity, on economic policy, but was too angry by half given the emptiness of his own party's plans and proposals. Nick Clegg did fine. It wasn't a riveting parliamentary performance but it was a workmanlike and honest response to the budget speech, and it did what Nick and Vince must have hoped it would do: it got out the LibDem message efficiently and ensured that key LibDem sound bites ...
The saga of Launceston Post Office has taken a worrying turn. Tim Nickolls of the Post Office has been in touch to say: "We have this week had discussions with all of the various people who had expressed interest in applying for the subpostmastership of Launceston and there appear to be at least 2 parties at the current time who seem committed to move forward with a formal application. On the negative side, as you will know Interim Enterprises the company that currently operates the Post Office branch, have been given notice by the landlord to vacate by the end ...
In ancient Rome, March 25th would have fallen in the middle of the Hilaria festival - a weeklong celebration of Spring that began on the first day that daylight lasted longer than the night. With Spring Equinox on the 20th this year, we've turned that particular corner and our days are finally getting brighter. There was one principal by-election and three Town Council by-elections reported to ALDC this week. The results were a little dimmer than the weather, however, with the Greens stealing a march to gain the principal seat from the Tories, and only one new Liberal Democrat Town ...
So today John Prescott is in Edinburgh trying to stem the votes before he heads to Glasgow for the Labour one day conference tomorrow. On Prescott's blog earlier today he said he will be joining the phonebank. Well, he has now appeared at the phonebank, obviously Labour are a wee bit short of campaign funds in Scotland! That's just the one phone then John, hardly a bank......So Mrs. Moffat, how will you be voting?
"Women make up 52% of the population... There are more women than men, so why should men be proposing to men?" Sadly this quote comes from Morgan Tsvangirai Zimbabwe's Prime Minister echoing the approach of President Robert Mugabe not to enshrine gay rights into the new constitution. Mugabe had said: "That issue is not debatable, it's not up for discussion. "It is just madness, insanity. The ancestors will turn in their graves should we allow this to happen." Sadly it those highlight the naivety of many of the African nations. Not enshrining gay rights in the constitution is not going ...
A petition calling for the creation of a Youth Minister has been launched by Revolver Entertainment and the Damilola Taylor Trust. As with many other initiatives around at the moment, one of its aims is to give a voice to the disillusioned young people. It certainly isn't stinting in its ambition though – aiming to collection over a million names on a petition to be presented to the Prime Minister after the election. Linked to the campaign is a new British film, Shank, which addresses issues of gang violence and knife crime. The storyline and script for Shank were developed ...
I've not seen anyone taking this line on the story today about how the Times is likely to price itself as a pay-for-wiew online publication. Let's say, as reported, that roughly four per cent of those who currently "dip in" online would pay the subscription to be able to do so regularly (I'm sure there will be some kind of one off access to an article if you really want to pay the premium rate). Now the journalists, at least those who do the investigative stuff, and the comment and opinion, for what do they do it? For the no ...
This graph shows how much money you gave to the government every time you bought an alcoholic beverage over the last 12 months. From this graph you can see why Darling is keen on upping the duty on cider. Strong, still cider is currently one of the most tax-efficient ways of getting sloshed. It is beaten only by drinking fortified wine close up to 22% ABV. Alternatively you could drink heap-loads of excessively weak beer of less than 1.2% ABV tax free, such as this ingeniously-named stuff. Be warned though, this method may cause significant wear to the carpet leading ...
As you all may be aware, in the budget, Chancellor Darling increased taxes on alcohol. And in particular cider: Cider drinkers were left with a flat taste in the mouth yesterday after the Chancellor picked them out for a punitive tax rise. From midnight on Sunday duty on cider will increase by 10 per cent above inflation. The price of a bottle of cider will rise by 9p while a litre of cider will cost an extra 5p. Naturally this has upset cider manufacturers, some what. And what part of England produces the most cider? That's right, the West Country... ...
Fri 26th
15:23Here's my slot from BBC Essex this morning talking about the shortage of school places http://is.gd/...
Here's my slot from BBC Essex this morning talking about the shortage of school places http://is.gd/b0rJT Fast fwd to 1h:04m:10s BBC iPlayer - Breakfast on BBC Essex: 26/03/2010 is.gd Listen to Breakfast on BBC Essex: 26/03/2010
Every response I've seen from Liberal Democrat Lords and MPs has regurgitated the same excuses and justifications as Lord Clement-Jones did weeks ago when taken to task on his amendment and general lack of opposition to the Digital Economy Bill. ...
Labour MP for Nottingham East, John Heppell is to stand down at the general election expected in a matter of weeks. John Heppell is 61 and had a majority of 6,939 at the last general election over the Liberal Democrats who were in second place ahead of the Tories. He will hand in his notice at a party meeting later today. John Heppell is standing down not because of expenses, but that he needed to help his wife Eileen through treatment for breast cancer. I wish his wife a full recovery and respect to John for helping her through this ...
The Young Foundation has launched a new website, First Political Memory, which aims to reconnect people's everyday lives with politics through sharing stories about when we first became aware of the wider world. You get an interesting – and broad – snapshot as you browse the site and you can also add your own memories here – and share them in the comments below.
Mrs L's story: I am very much opposed to the idea of closure not just because it is totally inappropriate/reckless, but because my family has benefited from the A and E on 2 separate occasions in the past. On the first occasion, I was phoned by the school authorities that my daughter had a nasty fall/bump on the head and wasn't feeling well. I collected her from primary school & because it was a Friday afternoon, my doctor's surgery was closed. When her condition deteriorated in the evening, I had to rush her to Whittington's A and E and they ...
Before throwing around jokes about 'Baldemort'. Dave You-Know-Who Cameron should beware of getting his own 'bald' label. With his cunning plans in Northern Ireland getting as unstuck as his brilliant idea to force his MEPs to sit with assorted homophobes, the name to recall is Baldrick. I do hope hesitations about Blackadder copyright don't inhibit the spread of such a 'Baldrick Dave' meme... Incidentally the original meaning of the word 'Baldrick' is 'a wide ornamental belt'.
6.16 As of the end of January 2010 cut-off date, 3699 First Preference applications had been received on time for the 3156 Reception places available. It's impossible to exaggerate the impact of the numbers revealed in the Mayor and Cabinet papers of 24th February (link to document) and that the South London Press reports about today. The ...
Ever so often, the European Parliament tries to do something completely bonkers. Remember all that nonsense when they tried to ban the sale of vegetables that didn't conform to a certain shape or size? Well, that issue reared its ugly head again this week. Thankfully Scotland's Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon was there to be the voice of common sense and reason. This means that he can get on with fighting for a fair deal for Scotland on a whole load of issues. One of his priorities is trying to do something about lowering fuel prices in areas of Scotland ...
North Cornwall Lib Dem MP Dan Rogerson has written to Cornwall Council calling for action to prevent second home owners skewing the general election result in Cornwall. The Electoral Commission has published guidance on the right of second home owners to register and vote. They say that where a person genuinely lives in two places for roughly equal parts of the year (such as students) then they should be able to choose which area to vote in - but can only vote once. But where a person has a second home which is only used for part of the year ...
Today has not been a very good day. I decided that I'd get up to watch the second F1 practice from Melbourne. I couldn't even contemplate the first session, which started at 1.30 in the morning as I would really have ruined myself for today. Anyway, I got up at 5.30 and felt so vile that I ended up dosing on the sofa for most of the session. It was great to have Antony Davidson back in the 5 live commentary box with Crofty. I really missed him in Bahrain. Anyway, the morning passed relatively uneventfully. I was working at ...
Mid Suffolk DC, Haughley and WetherdenGreen 444 (61.0; +45.4)Con 176 (24.2; -20.9)LD Chris Vecchi 51 (7.0; -32.4)Lab 32 (4.4; +4.4)UKIP 25 (3.4; +3.4)Majority 268Turnout 41.57%Green gain from ConPercentage change is since May 2007. Bracknell TC, Old Bracknell TownLab 380 (41.9)Con 370 (40.8)LD Darren Bridgman 107 (11.8)Green 49 (5.4)Majority 10 Turnout 22.4%Lab gain
Marie Curie Cancer Care is a charity that provides end-of-life nursing and palliative care for cancer sufferers who choose to spend their last days at home. I met with two of their nurses today, along with their fundraising director for Manchester. They told me about the support that they give to terminally ill patients at home, ...
Friday: It looks like the Times have already lost one reader, thanks to the announcement by Mr Roger Stavro Moredick that from June he'll be charging a pound a peep to look at his august organ. Liberal Democrat Voice asks how the blogosphere will react, and I'm guessing: "goodbye and good riddance!" If the reactionary old digger WANTS to seal-off his mendacious, meretricious, propaganda rags in self-imposed exile from the rest of the web that's GOOD NEWS isn't it? But if EVERYONE does that, then the Web Party is OVER! So here's an idea that might be A BIT BETTER! ...
Council tax payers in Cornwall will face the second biggest percentage rise of all who live in the 56 unitary councils according to new figures provided by the Government. Average bills in Conservative run Cornwall will rise by 3.3% in the coming year. Only the Isles of Scilly will see a larger rise (at 4.6%). Whilst 48 Conservative run councils and many Lib Dem councils across the UK are freezing council tax (or cutting it) in the coming year, Cornish Conservatives are raising local bills by more than the rate of inflation (currently 3%). Cornwall is one of the poorest ...
Founder of the All Party Parliamentary Cider Group and long time campaigner for the cider industry, Paul Keetch MP, is backing the National Association of Cider Makers [NACM] stance on the Chancellor's announcement in his Budget that duty on cider will increase by 10 per cent above inflation.
And it does it here.
The Liberal Democrats have set out plans to extend the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) to up to 1 million people with severe disabilities and terminal illness. Severely disabled adults, children and those who are terminally ill are more likely to live in poverty and many struggle to pay higher fuel bills. The Liberal Democrats will give them £200 to help with their heating bills every year. The plans would be paid for by increasing the age of eligibility for the WFP to 65 immediately. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb said: "The Government has failed to ...
[IMG: Vince Cable Chancellors Debate] This coming Monday will see the first of the televised election debates. Vince Cable will face Alistair Darling and George Osborne at 8pm on Channel 4. We want you to be part of it, there is still time for you to post a question which could be asked during the live debate. Find out more here >
The RMT is an organisation that makes even the most dinosaur of Labour backbenchers look like an evolutionary-advanced species. Their decision to strike on the day Brown will call the election is politically motivated. It's nothing to do with pay and conditions. It's all about kicking the government. Don't get me wrong, I am no fan of this government, but neither are the RMT. Their strike over
That'd be the one you can be above or below, on or off. It's rather unassuming given it's major role in the world, don't you think? [IMG: The mythical line]
Fri 26th
12:43
Steve Webb writes in Guardian - Focus remains firmly on redistributive policies and fairness
There's an interesting article by Steve Webb in the Guardian this week. Here's a short extract: "The Lib Dem policy of raising the tax allowance to £10,000 per year is described by Horton (Tim Horton of the Fabian Society) as "a juicy middle-class tax cut to sell in Conservative marginals around the country". Yet this tax cut, and the progressive tax increases which finance it, are hugely redistributive. A £10,000 tax allowance means that people on the minimum wage should no longer have tax taken out of their paypacket - surely something progressives should support? And the money for this ...
Before Council last night Gee -the Mother of Anthony Walker- came to speak about the Foundation her family has established in memory of their son. You will recall that Anthony died as a result of a racist attack in Huyton on Merseyside. For many people the sight of his Mother telling everyone that she forgave his killers was one of the most powerful acts of courage and faith they have witnessed. Please take time to visit the Foundations website and find out more
Chancellors' Debate Night. This coming Monday will see the first of the televised election debates. Vince Cable will face Alistair Darling and George Osborne at 8pm on Channel 4.
In what may go down as akin to Bill Gates saying we'll never need more than 640K of memory, I am going to make a Bold Prediction. The Times' plans to start charging for access to their website will fail. Mostly. At least, they will fail as long as the rest of the main media outlets, but ...
When my Uncle first found out I was learning guitar my Christmas present that year was a Bob Dylan songbook. It didn't get much use from me before, I think, I swapped it while at University for a couple of tickets for a new up-coming band called Seymour, you may know them better as Blur. However, one of those songs, indeed it is probably the only one I actually learnt how to play, does seem rather appropriate for a little Stephen Glenn alteration today. Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam A click on a Times link Will soon make ...
"So we know what we know but we still don't know what we don't know," is the Lib Dems view of the Chancellors 'sleight of hand' budget. According to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Local Government Cllr Richard Kemp, Alistair Darling used smoke and mirrors to distract attention away from the grim reality of the cuts that were outlined in his pre budget review last winter. "We have seen a little tinkering with local government and other budgets not of all of which are bad but what the Chancellor did not spell out was the fact that from ...
I've recently stumbled across a piece by Lynne Featherstone MP which I'd forgotten about. Written in 2006, the points it makes about political campaigning still read well: Vietnam war vet and Republican John McCain and London mayor and former restaurant review Ken Livingstone are probably not often bracketed together politically! But I have been thinking recently about them both and their own rather different political personas. Both have had periods of great popularity – though McCain still seems to be basking in it whilst Ken's has well and truly worn off – and it has not been for their stances ...
UPDATE: See below for David Heath's important comment. Here be a quote: Not having any MPs speak against the Digital Economy Bill yesterday sent a signal, though, and not a good one. To me, it said the following: It said that I can't rely on Liberal Democrat MPs to speak up for Liberal principles, even when they're party ...
I heard great things about the Farley Nursery School, but as I drove out to Farley on Wednesday morning for a visit I really didn't know what to expect. The weather was fantastic, blue skies and warm, which was good thing as the only thing which I really knew about the Nursery was that they do almost all of their early years education in the outdoors. I had heard someone say that only 5% of the kids time is spent indoors. I was intrigued to see how it would work. Sue Palmer, the Head, gave me a warm welcome and ...
I've just listened to the Requiem by Maurice Durufle on Radio 3. I've sung it with a choir I used to belong to. Several of the people I sang it with have since died; the music is incredibly nostalgic, almost like a physical pain. The musical director of the choir died at the age of thirty. There's a very special bond with people who have sung together. Rest in peace JJ, Robert, Muriel, Martin and Carol. Here's a link to one of the choruses, the ethereal In Paradisum (In Paradise) from Requiem : It will start playing if you open ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] The Indie reports that Cameron's Tory tax pledges need £7bn, where as the Times reports a tax hole of £10bn. It would appear that the Tories top priority to halt Labours 1 % National Insurance rise (planned for next year) would leave a £7bn a year hole in public finances. Current Tory thinking to plug this hole is said to be 'under construction' - so any credibility for this cut is fast going out the window. They claim they can find the £7bn, however, the Institute For Fiscal Studies suggest that their current plans may only save £1bn... ...
The Conservatives have found a way of digging themselves into even deeper trouble on their economic plans. Like other parties, they recognise that public spending needs to be heavily cut in order to balance the books. But the Conservatives have refused to say how all except a tiny proportion of those cuts will be funded. They have said that NHS spending, overseas aid and some spending on assistance for older people will not be cut - but they haven't said what will go. We are told by experts that, having 'saved' some services, everything else will have to be cut ...
Time flies – Friday already! And is it really 29 years to the day that the Gang of Four launched a new political party: the Social Democrats? Roy Jenkins said at the launch: We want to get away from the politics of our dated dogmatism and class confrontation. We want to release the energies of people who are fed up with the old slanging match. Watch the video of the launch here. 2 Big Stories Digital economy bill to be pushed through parliament next month The controversial digital economy bill will be pushed through in the "wash-up" leading up to ...
As March draws to a close and the General Election creeps ever closer (41 days to go if its on May 6th) I've been reflecting on how much I've crammed into the last two months. There are all the basics of campaigning: knocking on doors, writing and delivering leaflets, dealing with casework, organising the campaign team etc. which have ALL been increasing recently and take up a huge amount of time, but then I've been making a real effort to get myself around South Wiltshire as much as possible too. I've been out-and-about meeting with local people and organisations, partly ...
The Gorton 100 book will be launched tomorrow at the Market at 12 noon. All welcome. This book has been made to commemorate the Gorton 100 year, mixing history and last year's wonderful events. Do come along and get a copy of this unique bit of our local history.
Having covered earlier in the week the importance of 'low earner Liberal Democrats' to the party's prospects, how are things looking after the Budget? One thing Alistair Darling most certainly did not do was to raise the income tax threshold to £10,000, the Liberal Democrat policy that would take millions out of income tax completely and also cut the tax bill for those low income households on higher incomes. Instead, he went in the opposite direction by freezing (i.e. cutting in real terms) the income tax threshold. (Given the Fabians criticised the Lib Dem plans for raising the basic income ...
For a year now we have heard from Labour backbench dinosaurs about how awful the Tory cuts will be if they win the election. Famine, plague, babies eaten for breakfast and so on are the images conjured up by the denizens of Jurassic Park. And when it is put to them that Labour will have to introduce cuts, it is explained that somehow Labour cuts are good, Tory cuts are bad. The Labour mood music
As part of the Lib Dems new Investing in Camden's Homes programme – putting £413million into Camden's neglected council homes – new lifts will be installed shortly for Candida Court and Lorraine Court. Once completed they will be a welcome improvement for local residents- three new lifts, which break down less and use less energy. There will ...
You may remember my post in January this year about the introduction of full body scanners in airports following the (failed) attempt to blow up a foreign airliner travelling from one foreign destination to another. What a surprise, then, to read this story on the Evening Standard's website about the alleged misuse of one of the machines in a 'leering/ogling' incident. The potential for stories of this kind is almost limitless - the only surprise is that there isn't yet a full-blown dog-whistle tabloid campaign about it.
It is several months since a Tory first talked to me about 'getting the blackspot' since when several more Tory councillors have been visited by the Tory equivalent of 'blind Pugh'. The most recent is former Tory Leader Eric Storey-of whom more shortly. In a recent posting when reviewing the body-count in Tory Civil war I got to speculating who might be next. It must be acknowledged that I have an uncanny power of prediction in this matter. Back in November 2007 I predicted those under threat. It strikes me that the two next in line are Sir Ron Watson ...
Here's a bit of fun speculation, at least if you're not a Tory. Let's suppose most of the last 10 days' polls are right, and David Cameron's Tories are destined to have fewer MPs than Labour in the House of Commons (even if they win more votes) – what would the Tories do? That's the question Andy Beckett ponders in today's Guardian. Would David Cameron resign or be forced to quit? According to Tim Bale, author of The Conservative Party: From Thatcher to Cameron, he'd be safe if he chooses to be: "You'll get lots of huffing and puffing on ...
Or why the Times Online business model is turning me off Or after 22 years readership the grand divorce Younger readers may not realise this but when I first attended an institute of Higher Education my day started in the University Library in the newspaper and periodical sectio scanning the newspapers. Back then they were all broadsheets none of this Berliner or Tabloid format. The reason being that 22 years ago the papers were not online. Their archives where available on microfilm or microfiche after a few months, or in a filing cabinet in the Library until they were available. ...
I was stunned by a response detailed here that despite all the efforts from campaigners that the government won't help reimburse Christie Hospital with the £6.5M lost to Icelandic banks in 2008. We can bail out banks but not Hospitals.
I don't particularly want to comment on this story, other to wonder whether school leadership teams ever read those websites where pupils comment on their teachers?
I got an email a few weeks ago from the Leader of the Council saying that the press was sniffing around a story that a senior council officer of the council had been suspended and was being investigated over the disappearance of £3m . Tony told me that he had checked the story out with the Chief Exec and there was no truth in the matter. I must admit I had put the matter to the back of my mind-until last night. During the Mayor's announcements he mentioned the press enquiries that the Leader had received and offered an explanation. ...
Fri 26th
08:57
Lib Dems fiddle while the Net burns (update - I should've looked harder and withdraw the criticism)
Update: I did David Heath a disservice, and I apologise - he did indeed raise the question of the Digital Economy Bill on 11 March which was even in advance of its being debated at Conference. I'm keeping the post below for historical reasons, but I'm pretty much mollified, and feeling somewhat foolish for not spotting his contribution. My only defence is that AFAICT, no-one else did, but it's a poor one given that I'm quite used to trawling Hansard. So, once upon a time there was a Digital Economy Bill. Which, while it did many good things, also did ...
Fri 26th
08:54
Cameron criticises non-existent cider brand (and he's like a man throwing stones in a glass house on...
[IMG: Ale and cider house] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: AndyRob The Sun reports this morning "David Cameron slams 10% cider tax" or, for the hard of thinking: "Cam slam for 10% cider": DAVID Cameron shows his support for cider drinkers yesterday – by downing a pint of the West Country's finest. The Tory leader spoke up for cider lovers after Chancellor Alistair Darling hit the drink with a ten per cent rise in duty. On a visit to Devon – the heart of Britain's cider country – Mr Cameron said: "Taxing all cider so heavily is wrong. The ...
News reaches me that this week the Labour Party in Litherland met to select a candidate to replace the respected Darren Hardy. The former Sefton Tory Leader and Dukes ward Councillor Les Byrom was on the short list. I understand that the comrades selected a Mr Kelly in preference to Les.
News International announced this morning that, from June, we punters will have to cough up £2 a week to read the Times and Sunday Times online – a cool £104 a year. The sound you hear is bloggers choking on their breakfast cereal. The move makes a lot of sense for News International. True, their online readership will plummet. But, unlike most bloggers, Murdoch's willy-waving is based on the size of his bank balance, not his number of unique visitors. Online advertising, for everyone except Google, hasn't proved to be the magical money-making machine we were promised, and there's only ...
This morning News International uveiled its plans to charge for access to its Times and Sunday Times websites. I hope it's not the beginning of the end of free access to news media online. Under the News International plans, you would either pay £1 a day or £2 for a week's access. I won't be paying. If I'm going to buy news, I'd prefer to actually have a paper to flick through because it's just a pleasurable experience. Even if I did pay, I wouldn't link to a Times source because I wouldn't expect my readers to pay. That wouldn't ...
The London Wildlife Trust writes to tell me it is holding events at sites in Camden, Richmond, Hackney and Southwark on Sunday: Come and find out some fascinating froggy facts, enjoy pond dipping, arts and crafts, and fun and games for all the family as we celebrate the first signs of spring.The Camden site is Camley Street Natural Park, which I once wrote about for the New Statesman website.
Great post this morning from Giles Wilkes at Freethinking Economist about the response of the Republican party in the USA to the Obama healthcare reform bill. I thought it was worth drawing to your attention. It is astonishing that there has not yet been an attempt on Barack Obama's life, judging by the behaviour and attitudes of these people. It's hard to choose the most horrible link from Giles' post, but I have plumped for this video of Tea Partiers mocking an apparent Parkinson's victim. I hope and pray that this is not where the British Conservatives are headed.
@Norfolkblogger Well done! in reply to Norfolkblogger # My favourite campaign gaffe of the year so far http://ldv.org.uk/18432 # Government webpage for every citizen in the race to create a paperless society - Times Online - http://bit.ly/9l1ocC # Oops. For a change wanted to go to BBC website to praise a program and the relevant link is broken # Ah, found working link to praise the BBC. Lets you praise shows from as far back as 2000. Wise to let people take time to make up mind [IMG: :)] # Today's YouGov makes it seven polls in a row where ...
For too many weeks we have had to endure billboards of David Cameron and the Tory Party - funded from abroad... I'm proud and delighted that local residents, friends of mine, supporters, people who live here in NW6, NW3 agreed to fund a specific number of billboards in support of our campaign for a new type of local MP. The first of these has gone up in Hilltop Road, near Swiss Cottage and received quite a lot of comment judging by my e-mail in-box! Enjoy! :-) Ed
Last night Freedom Square here in Tallinn was covered in candles to commemorate those who were taken away from Estonia in the March deportation of 1949. By that time there had already been a huge death toll and mass exile and forced emigration. Half of Tallinn was still in ruins following the bombing of the city by the advancing Soviet army in 1944. The leaders of the pre-war republic were in gaol or dead- not just the politicians, but civil servants, priests, teachers, in fact any one with a position of any kind of authority. Then came 1949. The MGB ...
As I've just been stood waiting for the number 10 bus at the Western Harbour terminus I witnessed a dog owner behaving very irresponsibly!He came across the road from the flats with his little white dog, the dog then crapped on the grass area with the owner standing between the dog and the bus stop trying to stop us seeing.When the dog had done they then trotted over the road, the owner walked past his entrance, was loitering and then came back.He lives at 2 Western Harbour Terrace, although I don't know what flat.Given the volume of children who play ...
I believe that the vital difference between the philosophy of Liberalism and that of Conservatism is an essential and unshakeable belief in the goodness and commonality of human beings. Ours is a philosophy of boundless optimism and joyous celebration of the human spirit, forever seeking the soaring heights rather than a gloomy, despondent, and dare I say misanthropic view of our fellow men and women. Few lines sum it up better than a quartet from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass": Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands and welcome to drink and meat, A learner with ...
Yesterday the Parliamentary Standards Commission announced that it had reopened its inquiry into whether the MP for Luton South, Margaret Moran, has breached the MPs' Code of Conduct. A spokesperson said: "It was suspended on medical advice but has now resumed." You can read more here.
Last night was my first visit to the new West Lothian Civic Centre, the building is very impressive, but I wasn't there for a tour but for the business of the candidates and agents briefing ahead of the general election. Having been to a few counts elsewhere I have to tell voters that the team in West Lothian is one of the most well organised there is and at the same time one of the best for transparency and accuracy as well. Indeed when I turned up to the Electoral Commission meeting at conference and they heard where I was ...
In the radio studio. Will be live on BBC Essex at 7.05
Look at this video from Paul Sagar. And courtesy of Paul, again, Republicans are so annoyed at their country getting nearer to universal healthcare that they resort to death threats. And here, from Economist's View, how they are so against whatever Democrats come out with that they are willing to close their minds to sensible policies. Discussing ...
It is less than two days since the Chancellor of the Exchequer sat down after delivering his budget and already his sums are being questioned. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said hefty tax rises and Whitehall spending cuts of 25% were in prospect during the six-year squeeze lasting until 2017 that would follow the chancellor's "treading water" budget yesterday: Robert Chote, the IFS's director, said he was wary of the chancellor's claims that he could raise £11bn through efficiency savings, and added that capital investment in Britain's infrastructure would bear the brunt of the cuts. Current Treasury plans implied reductions ...
Gordon Brown's problems increased yesterday with the news that rail workers are to take four days of strike action immediately after Easter in a bitter row over jobs and working practices, threatening the worst disruption for 16 years. Thousands of members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) employed by Network Rail will take action from Tuesday April 6, sparing Easter holiday travellers. The RMT said its 5,000 members working as signallers will strike between 6am and 10am and between 6pm and 10pm on April 6,7,8 and 9. The union's 12,000 NR ...
We I lost but that was too be expected as this is very much a Labour/Tory seat. Roy John Bailey of the Labour party won by just 10 votes. congratulations to Roy and commiserations to Frances Moody. Both candidates campaigned hard and would of both of been worthy winners. The Green party candidate Adrian Michael Haffegee was also very impressive. I wish all council elections was full of this quality of candidate. The results are; Labour 380 Tory 370 Lib Dems 107 Greens 49 Turnout was 22.4% This is just a quite post so I would add that the Lib ...
This evening I attended the What Next? Forum which involved talks and discussions about how to make Chorlton a greener and better place to live. Marc Hudson the editor of Manchester Climate Fortnightly gave a passionate and thought provoking introduction to the science and politics of Climate Change. Mark was followed by a lady from Ashton Hayes a village in Cheshire that is aiming to become England's first carbon neutral community. It was very interesting to see how they go about it and showed how the small changes ordinary people make can have extraordinary effects. After a quick break Andrew ...
If I set out to conduct a survey on any subject I would need some questions to ask. I would need to find a target group for my survey and I would have to give an explanation of what I am doing. When I get my answers I would need to interpret the results. I know that I can exaggerate the results. I can emphasise any aspects of the results and in political terms this is called spin. I can get the answers that I want to get. You don't want that do you? Answer: no. It can be any ...
