I voted in Favour of a motion that calls on the Council to protect biodiversity of the borough. It was good to see a mention of urban areas. It is often forgotten how important the green spaces in an otherwise densely populated town are. Hopefully this policy can be used to protect Eastrop from crammed developments. I voted against the Councils vision, this document is produced by the administration to give a glimpse of the future. The Council plan, policies and budget then work towards it. I felt this vision was both dishonest and vague. It talked about economic growth, ...
In my constituency, Kingston and Surbiton, like many around Britain we will be having our local election campaign along side the general election campaign. The benefit might be that we actually manage to raise the profile of our local elections and have higher turnout than we would have normally. The potential downside is that some really good local councillors might ...
[IMG: bombshell] This is the new poster from the Liberal Democrats. It's a rehash of the famous Tory poster from 1992 in response to John Smith's ill-conceived budget. The Tories have been all over the press in the last week or so trumpeting their 'tax cut' on National Insurance. The first thing to say about it is that it's actually not a tax cut at all - just less of a rise than the Labour government is proposing (0.5% plays 1%). The second thing is that it will deprive an incoming government of around £13.5 billion with which to tackle ...
One of the more colourful figures of "popular music" over my formative years is no longer with us tonight. So, given that it is also election time in which popular opinion seems to be that politicians are in the lowest esteem they have "enjoyed" since, well, the Rump Parliament, what better a tribute to Malcolm McLaren could there be than this, from his most famous progeny, the popular beat combo known as "The Sex Pistols". Take it away (we hope) "Anarchy in the UK": Advertisement: read more
A friend posted a note on my Facebook wall today telling me that according to PR firm Edelman I am the most influential Lib Dem PPC on Twitter according to my political 'Tweet Level' - this 'measures the influence of individuals on Twitter based on a number of factors (including re-tweets, followers, frequency of tweets, references etc measured by an algorithm). This took me a bit by surprise. It's a bit of fun and I'm not taking it too seriously. I'm used to politicians who don't understand the power of social media not getting it and clearly only a fraction ...
Just one new poll tonight: YouGov in the Sun ... CON 40% (+3%), LAB 31% (-1%), LIB DEM 18% (-1%) All moves are, of course, within the margin of error. So, yes, it could be the Tory lead has widened. Or it might have not. That's the joy of polls – read into them what you choose. This latest survey hasn't yet made it into Anthony Wells' UK Polling Report 'poll of polls', but it's not going to make a huge difference, I don't think, so here's the score as of 8th April: Con 38% (n/c), Lab 30% (n/c), Lib ...
Just in case Newsnight didn't notice - we have a general election on our hands. So why oh why was the first five minutes of tonights programme (8th April) given over to Liam Byrne MP (Labour) slagging off Tory plans...countered by.... James Caan (Dragons Den fame) ..oh...also slagging off Tory policy ??? Never mind the Lib Dem spokesman - where oh where was the balance ? - Jeremy Paxman left attempting (badly) to represent the Liberal/Tory case. I can't believe Newsnight were caught "on the hop" so who was in charge..and what is this? BBC left wing boys attempting to ...
At tonights' meeting of the Brixton Society we discussed a wide range of interesting developments. The most important of all is the fact that the Brixton Market has now got Listed status. Whilst this will secure the future location of the market, it still leaves the problem for the variety of businesses and stallholders (many of whom presently pay reasonable rents) with the possibility of rent hikes which they would find difficult to afford in the event that substantial renovation work to the market takes place.
Wednesday 14th April @ 19.30 - Nettlefold Hall, West Norwood, SE27 (near the entrance to the cemetery at the end of Robson road) Wednesday 28th April @ 18.00 - Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton (opposite McDonalds, nearest tube: Brixton) Lambeth Community Police Consultative Group Wednesday 28th April @ 20.00 - Methodist Hall, Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill SE24 (near junction with Beckwith road. Bus 37. Nearest station: North Dulwich)Dulwich Area Churches Meeting
Oops The new UKIP candidate in North Cornwall, Miriel Damerell-O'Connor, has committed a bit of a boo boo on her own website. In an online Q&A section there is the following exchange: Question ... 'How many jobs in North Cornwall depend on tourism?' said ... 'In my own opinion I would calculate 96%. Thank you for your enquiry. If I can help further I will be glad too.' Hmm. Not so sure about that. What about all the public sector jobs - the police, NHS, council workers? What about those who work in industry and manufacturing? Perhaps Mrs Damerell-O'Connor ought ...
Burnham-on-Sea.com ("South-West Website of the Year") chronicles Paddy's visit to Wedmore today.
Headline: pressure on Labour on NI Tories reveal more business backers (yawn - why are the BBC falling for this?) Labour hits back, apparently Clips of Brown and Cameron talking Image of Nick Clegg - but no speech (11 seconds in first 4 minutes) Samantha Cameron coming up. Sexist tripe warning. 22.02 More than 80 prominent businessmen (not a single woman, the BBC implies) now backing Tories. Amazing! Unions apparently backing Labour, too. Still treating this as if it's news: good heavens. What, the Labservatives' wealthy interest group backers are backing the Labservatives? Who else here fainted from sheer surprise? ...
The Argentinian-Canadian writer and bibliophile Alberto Manguel was the guest at the Romanian Cultural Centre in Belgrave Square this evening, at an event somewhat incongruously hosted by the Spanish Ambassador and co-sponsored by the Royal Society of Literature and the London Office of the European Commission. Author Marina Warner compered Manguel's readings and a question-and-answer ...
A short post tonight from the election trail. I have to report its finally happened. Labour have done one of their 'specials'. This is a leaflet that blames us for anything and everything. We used to refer to this as a last minute nasty as the usual tactic is to deliver this so late that we can not respond. This leaflet is the usual half truths and no truths but it highlights something deeper in the Hull Labour Party. Put simply they have no policies. They have no coherent plans for education, crime, employment or any of the other issues ...
Well done to Anastasia Beaumont-Bott. As Mary Riddell explains, she used to be the chair of the largest Conservative group campaigning for gay rights. Now she has decided she could no longer support David Cameron after Chris Grayling's remark that B&B owners are entitled to ban gay couples. Instead she plans to vote Labour.
IAN Swales, the Liberal Democrat prospective MP for Redcar constituency, renewed the call for civil service jobs on Teesside today, to help create employment in the area. "Historically, government jobs have often been moved into areas that have structural economic problems," said Ian. "The DVLA in Swansea, the Passport Office in Liverpool and the HMRC offices in Newcastle are just a few examples. "It's about time that the government stepped up and helped this area, which is suffering terribly as a result of the recession and years of underinvestment." Ian also called on Vera Baird MP to explain what had ...
During the election campaign Lib Dem Voice is each day highlighting six blog-posts from the Lib Dem Blogs Aggregator which we think are well worth reading. Here's our pick from 8th April ... Help the Labservatives choose their next Cabinet (Caron Lindsay) Highlighting the latest instalment of the Lib Dems' fantastic Labservative bit of mischief: "in a radical act of benevolence, their leader Gorvid Camerown has offered you the chance to help choose his next Cabinet." The Digital Economy Bill #debill (Andy Strange) Depressed by Parliament's failure to respond to voters' concerns: "The Liberal Democrats, despite our faults, are the ...
A truly hectic day. We managed over 1100 miles by plane and by road (thanks to Paul Harrison of Sky News for that stat). All the miles are being carbon offset, by the way. A 4.30am start for me to meet the battlebus for a very early trip to Glasgow where Nick Clegg unveiled a poster highlighting the Conservatives policies which will lead to a 3% annual rise in VAT. That equates to about £389 for the average family. As an additional means of highlighting this danger, the Lib Dems adapted a famous Tory billboard from 1992 and used the ...
I was off to Chelmsford today to help Stephen Robinson's campaign to become Essex's second Liberal Democrat MP.I have known Stephen for a couple of years now and he has been a great help to us in Epping Forest, serving as councillor for many years and in subsequent years since moving to Chelmsford. So it as only right to help Stephen.I met some great people who are clearly eager to help elect
The BBC have launched 'The Campaign Show' on the BBC news channel every night from 9pm. Great, I thought, all the day's campaign news in one bite size dose. What more can one ask for? What I wasn't expecting was 'The Jon Sopel Show'.Jon seems to like the sounds of his own voice. Rather than coaxing the answers from the politicians, he shouts (and I do mean shout) straight in when the
I got a call from the BBC earlier today to ask me my views on NHS Dentistry in Reading West. I guessed that the question would be related to lack of dentists accepting NHS patients.And I was right.Apparently the Conservative Shadow Health Secretary was visiting and had raised the issue on the back of a local survey his party had done. I won't dispute that this is a common concern in the local community here - it is certainly is. But I thought it was important to get some facts straight about the situation here in Reading - something I ...
My one story to read today is from the Tory Blogger Dizzy Thinks, who points out what a total imbecile Labour Minister Stephen Timms is. Sadly Mr Timms has a very safe seat and despite his clear lack of any knowledge on IT matters, he was one of those who pushed through (with Tory support) the Digital Economy Bill last night.
I'll be doing a series of blog-posts for The Guardian's Comment Is Free website during the course of the election campaign – the first one, cross-posted below, highlights the Tories determined attempt to hide George Osborne from the national spotlight. A number of commenters noted he's not the only missing Tory: shadow home secretary Chris Grayling is also MIA. What does it say about the Tory front-bench that two of their three most senior shadow cabinet members have to be hidden away in case they scare off the voters? What do you do with a problem like George Osborne? The ...
I thought that was a pretty stomping article for the Guadian CiF, in response to Matt Seaton's invitation to me to write for them again. However I don't quite see how anybody is going to read it. Not only is there no mention of its existence on the Guardian homepage, there is not even any mention of its existence on the comment is free page. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree So comment is free, but deeply buried. There is not really any chance of anyone reading it unless they see my link or stumble across it from a search engine.
Following the recent housing improvement works in Logie Estate, residents have complained to me that there's a fair old mess been left on the grass area in Logie Avenue (for example - near Ashbank Road) where the storage containers were - deep ruts in the grass, some debris and the grass area has been left very muddy. I have therefore asked for remedial action to be undertaken by the Housing Department.
Thu 8th
20:25
General Election 2010 Diary Day 3: Sunshine, for those of you who haven't had their sun disconnected
Watching the Twitter accounts of various campaigners in the election, it's interesting to note just how livelier and happier everyone seems today, now they can get out and campaign in the sun. Of course, it does create a few problems as well, especially if you call on anyone with a door that faces to the ...
The Scottish Liberal Democrats launched our general election campaign today in Glasgow with Nick Clegg revealing the £13.4bn VAT bombshell at the heart of the Tories' tax plans. Nick pointed out that an analysis of the Conservatives' proposed tax cuts or reversals shows that they will cost over £13.5bn a year in 2011-12 prices - yet just £100m has been specifically identified to fund them. This leaves a £13.4bn black hole, equivalent to a 3% rise in the standard rate of VAT. This would mean an extra tax of £389 on the average household. The Liberal Democrats have fully-costed plans ...
So, what did seeing the General Election campaign on TV today teach us? 1. David Cameron likes being seen with people behind in – continuing the pattern of events "in the round" with audience all around. 2. Gordon Brown likes being seen in front of a plain purple wall – that's the common Labour backdrop at speeches and press conference, though some wheat got a look in once. 3. Samantha Cameron is doing more campaigning for the TV cameras than George Osborne – a case really of "Great wife, but not so sure about my Chancellor chap" from Cameron's team. ...
For those of you who are not aware, the nominations for the local election to held on the 6 May 2010 have now closed, the full list of candidates can be found here. I notice that the British National Party (BNP) have five candidates standing in the local elections in Wirral, in the wards of ...
When you are a Parliamentary Candidate you get contacted not just by constituents with questions but by all sorts of organisations either asking for views or for support. Actually its a great chance to talk about some big issues and principles that sometimes get lost in the minutiae of campaigning. Over the last few weeks I've been in contact with some really great organisations and campaigns. It's impossible to talk about them all but I'll try to blog about some of the issues that are particularly important to me. I want today to highlight the Equality Pledge. There's lots of ...
Like most blogs, Lib Dem Voice encourages and accepts contributions from far and wide. Not only do we take articles from Lib Dems and, on occasion, others, we also allow pretty much anyone to comment on blog posts. But , if someone were to post a libellous or defamatory comment, could we be legally liable? That's the question the High Court has been considering in relation to an item posted on the Labourhome blog, and many site owners who might think they're not liable may be in for a nasty shock. In brief, a libellous post was made to the ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free website, Lib Dem blogger James Graham argues that it was the UK's broken Parliament – an antiquated Lords, a whipped Commons – which got us into the legislative mess of Labour's Digital Economy Bill. The only way to fix it, says James, is to vote for a new politics. Here's an excerpt: The real lesson from this experience is that we need a more representative and responsive political system. Digital rights will always be one of those Cinderella issues while the voting system focuses politicians' attention solely on a handful of swing voters ...
I know there are many Liberal Democrats out there who have at some time been involved with Cix conferencing. It used to be a big part of my life but I've been "blinking" less and less recently. Many Lib Dem cixen past and present will have come across Guy Kewney. I'm sorry to have to say that he died early this morning. He had been diagnosed with Cancer last year and he had written about his illness in a way which I think will really help anyone who reads it in the future. I only knew Guy from Cix. It ...
So, there we have British elections today: an unfair electoral system, censorship of candidates' electoral addresses, little real political choice for voters, widespread postal ballot-rigging and elections administered by partisan council officials in a corrupt political climate. I am back on comment is free. Please comment there as well as here. I would only note though that tte headline is not mine: I would not say the situation here is as bad as Uzbekistan.
Even top people in the pro Tory Tax Payers Alliance (TPA) are of the opinion that a VAT rise under the Tories is inevitable. Read more about it HERE on the ever exellent Liberal Burblings Blog. Looks like the Tories will trample the recovery under foot with their VAT Tax Bombshell.
An enthusiastic email arrives from the Harper Collins Young Candidates Campaign: A campaign launches this week to encourage young people to vote their own generation into power. The campaign website lists all PPC's under the age of 45 and you are featured on it.That is unlikely for two reasons: I am not a candidateI am not under the age of 45Still, this campaign has something to be said for it. You can read more about it on the BBC website.
John Curtice had a useful piece in The Independent. The Nottingham election blog adds more insight with its piece. And then there's my ten point guide plus a shorter related piece in the Guardian. Let me know if you've spotted any others and I'll update this list.
From BBC News: A UKIP parliamentary candidate has been reinstated after posting racist remarks on a social care website.The things you have to do to get back into that party's good books!
The Kings Fund has a fun little online quiz to test how well you know the health policies of the different parties. Good for a few minutes of relief from campaigning: www.kingsfund.org.uk/generalelection2010
The statement will no doubt be blogged by someone at some point from each of the parties, after all their are Christians within pretty much every party (though if there is a secularist party perhaps not!) It is also interesting with the recent events today of Cameron declaring a couple of statements that might well appear to some Christians ...
The Labservatives are pretty sure that they will remain in power. I mean, to them, it's a fairly safe bet. They've chalked up 65 years of scandal, war and recession so I guess you can understand such rampant complacency. However, in a radical act of benevolence, their leader Gorvid Camerown has offered you the chance to help choose his next Cabinet. For this you can let your imagination run riot. You just have to name your minister, or you can go so far as to photoshop them - just put your creative genius to good use. There is even a ...
I spent a lot of yesterday evening watching the debate on the Digital Economy Bill on BBC Parliament. It was a rather depressing experience. A badly written, and quite possibly unworkable, piece of legislation with serious implications for the development of the UK's online culture and economy, and for our civil liberties, was rammed through the House of Commons without proper scrutiny. There were some bright spots. I don't make a habit of praising Labour MPs, but Tom Watson was real hero last night. There was also the rather guilty pleasure of following the reactions of the assembled geeks on ...
Lots of very expensive-looking Vote Craig Whittaker - Conservative posters have gone up around here. Is it bad of me to want to get a tin of spray paint and scrawl DON'T across the top of them all? I wish I had more money to buy lots of big yellow birdie posters and put them up in suitable locations :( Watching the aborion debate happen on twitter (yes, apparently there still IS a debate) is a bizarre experience Why is it only ever teenagers who accuse other people of being immature? If the tories have changed so much under Cameron, ...
From the Guardian's Andrew Sparrow's Election Live blog today: 1.27pm: I mentioned the new Lib Dem poster about the Tories and VAT at 11.07. As you can see, it is a deliberate replica of the famous "tax bombshell" poster the Tories used against Labour in 1992.The Tories always insisted that, under their plans, there would be no need to raise VAT. But, like Alistair Darling, they have not categorically ruled out a VAT rise. Labour politicians, most notably Ed Balls, have repeatedly warned about the Tories putting up VAT after the election, as they did in 1979. But it's not ...
Everyone knows I am a Lib Dem, but in the Norwich North by-election last year this blog became the main local source of on the ground election news, with this blog predicting long before election day that the national news obsession with the Green's was massively overstated. I also made a point of publishing leaflets that I received and giving minor parties a chance to make their case to the electorate. So with the general election now properly underway, I want your stories, be you a candidate, an activist or a voter who has been called on by a politician ...
despite this still out and about in North Durham (Grampian, Pennine, Cleveland Avenues etc today) kept going by warm welcome good stuff night nurse needed toinght
Candidates and agents were invited to an election briefing by the council yesterday in March. We've received our nomination papers and sheaves of other information; told how to pay our £500 deposit - and more importantly, how to get it back afterwards; been reminded what the current spending limits are; and given some basic information about how the General Election will be run in this constituency. The count will take place on Thursday night, at the Hudson Leisure Centre in Wisbech. Ballot boxes from Littleport, Downham Villages and Sutton will be checked in at Ely and then transported to Wisbech. ...
It would have been very easy for the Lib Dem's to have joined the attack on Labours National Insurance tax rise (which it is, its not a conservative tax cut) but they haven't, and it doesn't seam to have annoyed that many of the Liberal Democrat grass roots, or Labour or the conservatives which poses ...
George Osborne and David Cameron are given to policy stunts which they should know by now will come back to haunt them. I've written about it before on Lib Dem Voice. And this time they really have messed up big time. Should they win the election they will undoubtedly live to regret their foolishness on National Insurance and, most especially, the public sector savings they have cavalierly claimed can easily pay for it. The people who know about these things - not company bosses who are quite understandably interested in reducing their company tax bills - have come out against ...
I've updated yesterday's list of Bills in wash-up here on DW and here on LJ. This is only up-to-date as of the publication of the order papers for today, so it doesn't take account of proceedings so far today - I'll do that in a final update tomorrow. Some of the Bills listed, like the Digital Economy Bill, actually had their final reading yesterday, but are still listed because amendments were made that need to be approved by the other House; that's just going to be a formality. This entry was cross-posted from Dreamwidth, where there are currently [IMG: comment ...
New Labour has made a horrible mess of the economy. We all know that. But curiously the very scale of the mess they've made offers hope for the future and a way out of the financial crisis if we have the courage to think differently, be radical and rectify some long-standing problems at the heart ...
During a quick break from a full day of meeting with local residents I thought I would share with you a video of my speech at my campaign launch meeting earlier this week:
Thu 8th
16:37
Former tax exile supports Tories, having already threatened to leave the country over tax
To be honest, I've always had my doubts about celebrity endorsements, especially given the possibility that even the most seemingly squeaky clean ones have something in their background that may return to haunt them. And today's launch of Conservative proposals for a 'National Citizens Service' had one of those touches that indicates why one should be wary. Sir Michael Caine was called upon to wax lyrical about the plans. Nice. On the other hand, having been a tax exile for the best part of two decades, I might need to be convinced that his interests are those of the country ...
Greg Callus (AKA Morus), from Political Betting, is co-ordinating a General Election 2010 Twitter initiative to ensure bloggers and journalists tweeting constituency activity all use the same hashtags. He has asked fellow bloggers to blog about this today. I think this is a great idea and should make Twitter an even more useful resource during the election campaign. Here is what Greg posted on Political Betting this morning with the list of the hashtags following below: The 2010 General Election will see thousands of people attending the counting of votes at all 650 constituencies - and many of them will ...
I was talking to a German today about coalition government and Consensus (Electoral fusion). He votes liberal in Germany. In Germany its now the Christian Democratic Union and sister party Christian Social Union (Conservative Parties) are in power with the Free Democratic Party (the Liberal party of Germany). I asked him how he felt about voting for a party he knew could not win but would try to be part of a coalition. He said he's not a natural liberal but feels that what they offer is more balance and sense to the main party policies in a coalition, this ...
Ken MacLeod's novel Newton's Wake features a character living on a distant world in a post-Singularity future who writes operas based on badly remembered and misunderstood history. This gives us classics like The Tragedy of Leonid Brezhnev with gun-toting communist leaders denouncing each other as revisionists in song. It only comes to mind because Conservative Home ...
I previously covered the Brunel study into how much campaigning is going on around the country, coming to the conclusion that it was "mediocre news for democracy, good news for the Lib Dems". Looking at more details of the poll (and thanks to the team for providing them), it's striking by how widespread email campaigning is. Of the people who said they were contacted by at least one campaign in February 2010, "mail" (probably including leaflets through the letterbox in the absence of a specific option for that) came out top: 92% received at least one item from Lib Dems, ...
Well the lawyers have released me (the academic ones, things haven't got that bad!) to fill you in on how things are developing in Wales. After all, there's only an election on... I Want You To Pull My Trigger Whatever the result at Westminster, the first item in the new Secretary of State for Wales's in-tray will be the referendum on extending the powers of the Welsh Assembly. With the final potential roadblock to a referendum removed when David Cameron announced that a Tory government in London wouldn't block it, all should have been set fair for the Assembly to ...
The Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve MP has committed his party to reforming English and Welsh libel laws, confirming that their forthcoming manifesto will include a fundamental review of the libel laws with a view to enacting legislation to reform them. This reform could best be done by means of a separate Libel Bill and this is the preferred approach for usThe Conservatives
There is a delicious irony that the last question for short debate in the Lords before the General Election was related to all things porcine. Lord Palmer was keen to debate the difficulties faced by the British pig industry, a subject dear to my own heart, as I live in a county with significant numbers of pig farms, a number of which can be seen from the A14, where pigs roam free, wallowing in the mud, before becoming pork (I'm rather fond of pork). Lord Palmer, who had called for the debate, noted that 70% of the pigmeat imported into ...
Well the lawyers have released me (the academic ones, things haven't got that bad!) to fill you in on how things are developing in Wales. After all, there's only an election on... I Want You To Pull My Trigger Whatever the result at Westminster, the first item in the new Secretary of State for Wales's in-tray will be the referendum on extending the powers of the Welsh Assembly. With the final potential roadblock to a referendum removed when David Cameron announced that a Tory government in London wouldn't block it, all should have been set fair for the Assembly to ...
yesterday i had the experience of buying a car seat. my partner is pegnant and we need one for the little one due soon. after the antenatal class we were armed with the knowledge and ready to go. to be fair, the guy from the council was thorough in his talk. down to mothercare. the assistant was very helpful. from my manual i thoguht i had an airbag, this means it is against the law to have a car seat in the front. it would have to go in the back. so we tried various options but nothing would fit. ...
The close of nominations for Sefton Council has passed and I understand that the breakdown for all wards is as follows: Conservative - 22 Labour - 22 Lib Dems - 22 UKIP - 19 BNP - 9 Southport Party - 6 Green Party - 2 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 1 Independents - 2
I blogged yesterday with the news that disgraced Labour MP for Luton South Margaret Moran had sold her Luton house. I've since seen that the Telegraph is reporting that she will make a £177,000 profit on the sale. Nice for her, but remember that we the tax-payers have funded improvements to it, so not so nice for us. "She "flipped" her second home designation to the house for just one year but in that time used £22,341 of public money on it, which included the installation of a new central heating system and bathroom, a complete overhaul of the garden ...
My 'Ask Howe' Roadshow will be in Long Stratton this Saturday (10 April) from 9.30am until 1pm. I would really love to meet you and listen to your views so if you spot me, please stop for a chat! We're hoping to set up near The Swan on the main road - look for the green gazebo!
Michael Caine appears for the Tories. He says it's non-political and it's on behalf of the forgotten youth of today. Presumably that was part of the "great ignored" theme that the Tories have now apparently ditched. So what's going on there, I wonder. I think Michael Caine, non-political or not, is a bit of a coup for the Tories. I've seen a few tweets about the Tories getting a 76 or 77 year old tax exile to front a campaign for the "yoof". Born 14 March 1933 according to Wikipedia, so it must be true, which means he is actually ...
Skeptical Voter is a non-partisan project aimed at helping UK voters make an informed choice by documenting where each candidate stands on science, secularism and evidence-based policy. Over the past few months we have been developing the Skeptical Voter wiki, a candidate database that works along similar lines to Wikipedia. Anyone can create or edit an entry, and our volunteers have been busily collating information about the views of incumbent MPs on issues ranging from the abolition of the blasphemy law to climate change science. The Skeptical Voter wiki is already a rich source of information, with Bad Science author ...
Loving these posters today.
Today was one of those days that will be easier once the Bathgate to Airdrie extension in completed later this year. The word had gone from Andrew Reeves for us all to available at 9:30 this morning for the launch of the Scottish campaign for the general election. For me that means either going into Edinburgh and out or hoping on the X14 bus at 7:20 to head into Buchanan Street. I took the first option, it is quicker, even the time for mishap is smaller. So I planned on the bus hoping the M8 wasn't too congested this morning. ...
Wednesday: Wouldn't it be FUN to MOCK Mr Balloon for DROPPING his campaign slogan of the "Great Ignored" after just TWO days. Apparently it "doesn't play well"*. But I can see I'm going to have to explain this National Insurance row, because now the Conservatories are being TOTALLY DISHONEST. 1: they're NOT "reversing" the penny-on-NI "jobs tax": they're just moving the thresholds 2: they're not REALLY saying how they'd pay for it: last week "efficiency savings were mocked as "fiction"; this week they fund a tax non-rise. 3: this does NOTHING to address the REAL problem: the budget deficit problem, ...
Finally - five minutes to myself. All the nominations are in for the Lib Dems in the City elections here in Lincoln - sigh of relief breathed. Now its time to focus on the campaign. Just about to start the city standard leaflet to go out. Two days in and I'm already shattered!! 28 days to go!! Looking forward to meeting the people of Park Ward over the next four weeks. Good luck to all other in the Lib Dems standing for the elections (whether local or Parliamentary) Ross
Eber Kington described the latest Council meeting as a Party Political Broadcast by the Conservative Party which was a pretty fair summary. Many Members weaved attacks on the Labour government into their questions and speeches alongside their utopian visions of an incoming Conservative Administration. I am not sure why the leadership expect things would improve given that Conservative cuts promise to be even more savage than those already planned; if we do get a Conservative government how long will they continue to blame Labour? There were 2 motions from the Conservatives, one of which was asking the council to agree ...
The passage of the Digital Economy Bill has been stressful for all concerned, not least those whose livelihoods it threatened. It was a bill that had been rushed in its drafting and the Government's intention seemed to be to rush it through Parliament before dissolution. The vast majority of the emails that I have been receiving ...
Another poster ... detect a theme ? With thanks to http://twitter.com/LibDemPress
It's a beautiful morning here and Lib Dem support is up in all three opinion polls published last night. YouGov in the Sun - CON 37% (down 3%), LAB 32% (no change), LIB DEM 19% (up 2%) Populus in the Times - CON 39% (down 1%), LAB 32% (up 2%), LIB DEM 21% (up 1%) Angus Reid in the Express - CON 37% (down 1%), LAB 26% (down 1%), LIB DEM 22% (up 2%) People like us more the more they see of us, it seems.
It seems unfair that I should point out some of the weaknesses and contradictions in Conservative health policy, and leave the red team out. So, I've had a look at the Labour website to see what they've got in store for us... A lot of platitudes, is the first thing that hits me; We will ensure that the NHS is always clinically driven, patient centred and responsive to local communities, and based on need not ability to pay. I do find myself wondering whether any political party would call for an NHS which was anything but clinically driven, etc, etc. ...
PoliticalBetting's Morus has sensibly suggested a 'standard' set of hash tags that people can use to identify constituencies when tweeting about the general election, e.g. #Kettering for Kettering but also ones where the constituency name makes the hash tag to use less obvious (and so otherwise we'd be more likely to end up with people using different ones), e.g. #MKN for Milton Keynes North. It's an idea that's well worth pursuing, and I say that not just because he took on board my comments about the initial draft list of tags to use [IMG: :-)] More information and the full ...
Effective, and a great deal better than the Labour "Gene Hunt" posters. Thanks to the New Statesman Website and @sarabedford on Twitter
The election date has finally been announced: May 6th - the same day as already-scheduled elections for Cambridge City Council. Work has already begun campaigning across the City to elect Julian Huppert as our next MP. If you are interested in helping with this effort - and that can be something as simple as displaying a window poster, or displaying a street sign (pictured) all the way up to delivering leaflets or canvassing - then you can either contact any of your local team (details on the left) or visit the Liberal Democrats election HQ in the centre of Cambridge: ...
Below is the video I shot of Liberal Democrat candidate for Luton South's speech to the launch meeting of his General Election campaign. We held the meeting at the Dallow Community Centre on Tuesday and the hall was packed. I am reasonably happy with the video given the conditions although the sound quality could be a bit better.
It is being reported that one of David Cameron's key advisors is heavily involved in a company that is set to gain from proposed cuts the Tories are pledging to make. Never let it be said that the Tories don't take care of their own. But hey, don't expect the NHS under the Tories to look after you.
Just about all the poll cards for the local elections in Liverpool are out now. People will also be getting a second though, for the General Election. You don't actually need your poll card with you when you go to vote (although it makes it a bit easier when you get there if you have it) There's still time to get on to the electoral roll to have a vote in both contests. The deadline to register is 20th April. That's also the deadline to apply if you want a postal vote but haven't asked for one yet.
The Internet can be a nasty place at times, either with jabbering monomaniacs of Comment is Free threatening to collapse in on themselves and create a pit of nihilistic despair which will consume the Earth long before the Large Hadron Collider ever does; to minor local disputes or questionable professional decisions which flash around the world quicker, and generating more anger than reports of Frankenstein's monster lurching towards the village. Secure behind our computer screens, we can descend into an accentuated form of road-rage safe in the knowledge that we do not even have to worry about our opponents emerging ...
Nick Clegg delivered a speech yesterday ahead of Prime Minister's Questions in which he said a vote for either Labour or the Conservatives would be a "vote for corrupt politics." He said: "They have systematically at every turn blocked every single reform: they have blocked party funding reform, they have blocked reform on lobbying." Later, during Prime Minister's questions Nick Clegg accused both Labour and the Conservatives of "trying to fool people they are serious about political reform." "Look at them now: You failed, it's over, it's time to go," he added. Chris Huhne meanwhile attacked Tory plans to introduce ...
I have just spent a few minutes talking to former UKIP leader Nigel Farage about his views on drugs policy. he recently called for a change in approach on Radio 4's "Any Questions" programme which I previously blogged about here. I did try to record the interview but my recording software has failed me! However fresh from my memory, here is how the discussion went: I started by asking him to set out his views on this subject and why he holds them. He explained that in his view the "War on Drugs" has failed. Every year things get worse, ...
Last night I vaguely discussed PR with a friend of mine, and how annoyed I was to be living in a non-marginal constituency, when a nasty thought suddenly dawned upon me. No, it wasn't a sudden realisation all along that my worship of the Meek method of counting STV is wrong, but something much more fundamental. All ...
Does anyone else play this game? So far I've stuffed envelopes addressed to Josephine Baker, Philip Larkin and Edward Woodward, but been trumped by a fellow stuffer who got Jane Austen.
Yesterday evening and today I've been contacted by more residents on Bede Walk who are angry about what appears to be a breach of planning consent by Reading Girls School. This is not the first time the School has managed to get on the wrong side of local residents - lack of maintenance of the School fence being the main cause of aggravation. Last year an impressive new building was erected on the Northumberland Avenue site. Residents have no problem with the building - neither do we. It's the fact that the school play ground is being turned into a car park bang opposite ...
Thu 8th
11:15
The 'Digital Economy Bill Saints': the MPs who voted against Labour's internet freedom clampdown #DE...
The House of Commons voted last night to push through Labour's latest bit of legislative authoritarianism, the Digital Economy Bill. The Lib Dems were united in opposing it, but Labour brooked no opposition, while the Tories supported it with vague words of change, later, maybe. The Bill was passed by 189 votes to 47. Alix Mortimer has tallied the scores of how the parties voted: Of the 189 Aye votes, I make it 185 Labour and 4 Conservatives. Plus the two tellers were Labour. Of the 47 Noe votes, I make it 23 Labour rebels, 16 Lib Dems, 5 Conservatives ...
and suddenly it's tough to find the time to post anything! Thoughts so far: - Vince Cable is extremely popular with all sections of the public. Which may explain why a Tory leaflet attacking him is going out in Wokingham. From the evidence on the doorstep I'm not sure that's going to work for them! - support for the Lib Dems is going up in the opinion polls. No wonder the other two parties try their hardest to shut us out. As soon as we start getting coverage and people start hearing our message, they start switching to us. - ...
Scrapping the Government's plans for a "like for like" replacement for Trident is one of the most frequently mentioned examples of savings Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats would make. But what would the party do instead? Nick Clegg addressed that in his Radio 4 interview yesterday: What we're saying is there are a number of options that you could explore in the future... you could equip the Astute submarine. What we've done is, I asked Menzies Campbell to look at the range of options and he's published a number of options simply to make the point which the other ...
On may 6th, there will also be a by election in Totteridge. This has been caused by the resignation of Tory Joel Foley. Wycombe Liberal Democrats are very proud to introduce our candidate, Jen Joseph. A resident of Totteridge, Jen works for BALPA (the British Airline Pilot's Association) and has an outstanding track record of community activity. We invited Jen to chat to Wendy Guy, so that you can learn a little more about her. Jen feels very passionately about the closure of Holywell Mead Pool, and will be using her campaign to draw attention to this again in the ...
For the past week, the Tories have been decrying Labour's plans to raise National Insurance, pledging to reverse the rise but with a startling lack of clarity about how they will pay for it – beyond vague talk of 'efficiency savings', the kind of fantasy finance David Cameron and George Osborne would be quick to scorn if other parties tried it on. Today Nick Clegg is showing that NI cuts may be popular with business – but they have to be paid for by someone, and the most likely people to pay the price of the Tories' cuts will be ...
I'm not impressed by the Guardian's Election Map and Swingometer. I had a look at it this morning and selected the constituency where my vote is cast - Staffordshire Moorlands. It told me that it is held by the Conservatives with a majority of 1,168 when it has actually been held by Labour since 1997, Charlotte Atkins MP has a majority of 2438; the Guardian's constituency profile gets it right.
Pushed for time, but want to keep up-to-date with how the campaign's going? Here are today's must-reads .... Nick Clegg launching Scottish Lib Dem election campaign (BBC) It will be almost like old times for the Lib Dems, with former leader Charles Kennedy joining Nick Clegg to launch the Lib Dems' Scottish campaign – as CK himself tweeted earlier today. Here's how the BBC reports it: Mr Clegg will get the Scottish campaign under way in Glasgow along with Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott and senior party figures, including Charles Kennedy. The party – Scotland's second biggest in Westminster ...
I urge you to read the full text of this speech by the current British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Rupert Joy. Delivered in what is undoubtedly one of the most vicious and ruthless dictatorships in the world, there is not the slightest hint that Britain finds anything to criticise in Karimov's Uzbekistan. This is of a piece with recent Home Office claims that there is no human rights problem in Uzbekistan. Those who have read Murder in Samarkand will know that I was under pressure from the FCO to promote "reforms" by the Karimov regime to justify our alliance with ...
There is a sharp difference between fighting the election as a candidate- as I did last time- and merely campaigning, or even observing. The process of being a candidate is all absorbing- and requires considerable concentration. The process of campaigning is a much less demanding role- though it too can be exhausting, as long hours and often repetitive jobs, like envelope stuffing, take their toll. I wonder, though, whether as a candidate I might not have noticed the extraordinary turn that the 2010 election seems to be taking. The battle remains tight. The result of this election remains genuinely unclear. ...
I might write something longer (oh no! stop her!) on the Digital Economy Bill debate later. (Highlights: losing clauses 18 and* 43, Tom Watson, John Grogan, John Hemming. Surprise of the night: Don Foster getting his shit together. Random interloper from the Planet Twat: Denis MacShane. Best moment: old Tory MP whose name I didn't ...
Never let it be said that, here at 'Liberal Bureaucracy', we shy away from technology and the new means of social intercourse. Not that we understand it, mind you, but one must apparently face the future of wireless telephony and little gadgets that allow you to play 'Word Mole' on the subterranean railway. Accordingly, a new Twitter account has been opened - no, don't understand that either - and I give you... @honladymark We'll see how it goes...
Fantastic to see Nick Clegg out campaigning with our candidate Colin Eldridge in Liverpool Wavertree on day two of the campaign. I have know Colin for many years and he has a really good chance of taking this seat on May 6th. I believe that he would, if elected, be a really good, effective hard working and honest ...
Speaking before today's official launch of the Scottish Liberal Democrat election campaign, UK Party Leader Nick Clegg said that the Liberal Democrats are offering real change for Scotland on the 6th May. Nick Clegg said: "In this election, the choice for Scots is clear. "Vote for Liberal Democrats who will bring about real change and build a fairer Scotland. "Or stick by a failing Labour Party that long since abandoned you. "The SNP cannot make a difference at Westminster, and in Scotland the Tories aren't in the game. "But the Liberal Democrats are set to make gains across Scotland. "We ...
5 Live are reporting that 98% of new jobs in the private sector have gone to foreign-born workers since Labour came to power. I find this an astonishing figure. I got my job after University in a new company, so it was certainly newly created. Am I really that exceptional? But lets assume this figure is correct. Clearly the demand for employees are not being supplied by the British population. Immigration is crucial to business, and crucial for economic growth. The Tories want to cap non-EU immigration. This would put our private sector in a straight jacket. An economy relies ...
Via the ASI I am reminded of a little story I picked up on Tuesday in the Times about poacher turned global gamekeeper George Soros's latest philanthropic venture: George Soros backs Oxford to refresh economics George Soros is to create a new economics institute at Oxford University. It is part of an attempt to steer the discipline away from the champions of the free market and deregulation who, the billionaire financier believes, share the blame for the global economic crisis. The institute, as yet unnamed, is being funded by the New York-based Institute for New Economic Thinking (Inet), a think-tank ...
Here's the full list of who voted which way regarding the Digital Economy Bill, courtesy of Gideon Hallett aka gmh who is wise and good and who has forgotten more about the Digital Economy Bill and its ramifications than your average time-serving lobby fodder MP would learn in a lifetime. Reassuring to see all the LibDems present voted the correct way, but sadly the numbers wouldn't have been anywhere near enough even had there been a full complement. Look at that list of 189 MPs who marched through the "aye" lobby and remember those names. One of the 189, unsurprisingly, ...
1. Failing to read up on blogs for a week leaves a person precisely 0% less informed. I should do that more often. 2. I've been asked by a few people what I think of the Conservatives' National Insurance proposals. Now, you will recall I was confused about how they were funded. And like David Smith ...
Somebody in my party has a sense of humour. The Lib Dems have created this website for the Labservatives, the joke being that the Conservatives and Labour are really two sides of the same coin. Since 1945, this country has endured 65 years of rule by the Conservatives and Labour - if you want more of the same, then vote Tory or Labour ("Labservative") this time around. It's a good joke, but it's also a serious appeal to think about what the Liberal Democrats have to offer. Here's a quick and simple guide to our policies, which I believe are ...
It was Gordon Brown vs John Humphries this morning and I have to say that I do not think Brown did very well at all. Humphries skewered him with his own previous words about how he had "abolished boom and bust". Brown kept answering a different question about inflation being low and of course our old friend the "global banking crisis that started in America". When pressed, as far as I could tell his argument seemed to be that he had indeed abolished the "old sort of boom of bust" which he characterised as caused by low inflation. I don't ...
I had this guest post over on the Wardman Wire earlier in the week: The liberal versus authoritarian spectrum is one that cuts across traditional party lines to a significant degree. For example, you'll find principled and firm opponents of I.D. cards not just in the Liberal Democrats, but also in both the Labour and Conservative parties. But because it cuts across party lines, the individual records of MPs in this respect often go largely unspoken at election time. Rather than it becoming an issue which attracts or puts off swing voters, it becomes an issue that gets sidelined as ...
Welcome to this morning's Daily View. We'll be changing the format of this a little over the next four weeks, in order to better reflect the way the general and local elections campaigns are progressing, so here are my thoughts four weeks out from polling day. 2 big political stories Digital Economy Bill forced through by Labservatives We've all heard the news, but those interested to see exactly how the #debill progressed through the Commons last night, the Guardian live blog makes interesting, if ultimately depressing reading . Voters doubt Cameron's readiness to lead A Populus poll for The Times ...
Liberal Democrat MPs as promised voted against the Government's flawed Digital Economy Bill last night but their opposition wasn't enough as Labour and Tories had stitched it all up between them. The Government had a majority of round about 140 and there are only 63 of us. What I don't get was why the rush? It's not as if the sky was going to fall in if this didn't get passed now. It could have waited until the new Parliament was elected. There was huge opposition in the country to this measure, but it's never stopped Labour or the Tories ...
In their round-up at the start of the General Election campaign in Luton ('Battle lines are drawn as election date is set'), the Luton & Dunstable Express have revealed that Liberal Democrat candidate for Luton South Qurban Hussain is leading in their online poll. They say; "Our online poll has revealed the public currently favours Mr Hussain as their candidate for Luton South."
The rushing through of the Digital Economy Bill through its last stages and 3rd Reading last night in the Commons was a classic example of the arrogance this Labour government has shown to many key issues. I have been shocked and appalled by the way they carry out their business - without a blush as they push through bad legislation - because they can. Rubbing right up against the dissolution of Parliament - the Government should have stop pushing this flawed Bill through - and let it come back for proper scrutiny and passage in the new Parliament - whoever ...
From the BBC News website: Lord Ashdown said Cheltenham had always been a "bedrock of strength" for the Lib Dems. "This is a really important election. We always say that, but this is important because people's jobs will rest on it according to the decisions we take about how to get out of the financial mess we're in," he said. Lord Ashdown said the second important issue was "adapting our lifestyle in order to be able to preserve our world for our children". He said: "The Lib Dems have been clear and consistent on that long before it was fashionable. ...
I'm watching this General Election through the eyes of my 14 year old son. Politics has always been around in our house, and he has seen me go through 2 County Council elections in the last 18 months. This time is different though. He realises that bar a re-run of '74 he's likely to be able to vote in the following election. So he's taking note. It's also the first time that I have been part of a General Election campaign as an activist. Previously I've just put my "X" in the box. One quirk this time around is that ...
Over at the Guardian's Comment Is Free website, LDV Co-Editor Stephen Tall poses the question, Where's George?, and suggests the Tories have shunted the unpopular shadow chancellor into the sidings. Here's an excerpt: As the three major parties launched their respective campaigns yesterday, the omnipresent St Vince appeared to have been welded to Nick Clegg's side, a perpetual reminder of the Lib Dems' twin leadership ticket. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown surrounded himself with his entire cabinet, including Darling. ... And where was George? Well, according to my spies, he was sighted at Luton airport, accompanied by one reporter. You can read ...
Via Twitter, Ben Goldacre says: Cldnt vote Lab or Con now. #DEBill isn't the most important issue, but like magic beans, its a revealing indicator http://short.to/23hp5 Well Ben, given The Guardian's report of the debate perhaps I can make a suggestion about who to vote for... Weirdly, it's the Lib Dems who are being the opposition in this: the Conservatives briefly had Ed Vaizey - can't see if he's still there - and Adam Afriyie, but they've not taken part in the debates at all apart from an aggressive grump from Vaizey where he told Labour MPs that if they ...
I posted another article on The Corridor last night.
I'm always suspicious when someone claims to have "no political affiliations" (mine are very clear!) and wants the facts to speak for themselves. It usually means that they DO have political affiliations, and they DON'T use all the facts. So I suspect this is the case with the website "www.mygayvote.co.uk", a site that claims to show ...
I don't know about you, but I quite like the Liberal Democrat campaign song written for this election. On the other hand, this Sheryl Crow song keeps coming into my head...
Whitestone Pond is something of a local legend so it's great to see the level of care and attention being lavished upon it by a joint repair venture by the City of London and Camden Council. These snaps taken this weekend just gone are of the pond being worked upon as you will soon never see it again. The pond and it's environs have an incredibly special place in the heart of Hampstead - once known as the cockney seaside we have at last restored the donkey rides and begun to re-create the victorian funfair atmosphere... Originally it was ...
The Labour Party's candidate in Darlington has produced a leaflet showing her in a red dress alongside three grey silouettes with the headline: "Not all politicians are the same." No, that's true: some of us have radical policies for a fairer Britain while others think it's what colour dress you wear that counts.
The Prime Minister yesterday promised the earth in constitutional terms in a last minute bid to secure his own re-election. In a speech he offered "most comprehensive programme of constitutional reform for a century", presumably to stop the flow of votes to the Liberal Democrats. His plan includes a written constitution, with a commitment to fixed-term parliaments, ending the historic power of the prime minister to choose the timing of future elections, referendums on voting reform for Westminster elections and final reform of the House of Lords. Other measures would include a ban on MPs working for lobbying companies, giving ...
A clutch of polls in the last 24 hours show the Lib Dems advancing on all fronts. A quick summery and some comment can be found over at Lib Dem Voice The numbers are YouGov in the Sun. CON 37% (-3%), LAB 32% (n/c), LIB DEM 19% (+2%)Populus in the Times. CON 39% (-1%), LAB 32% (+2%), LIB DEM 21% (+1%)Angus Reid in the Express. CON 37% (-1%), LAB 26% (-1%), LIB DEM 22% (+2%) Another interesting set of numbers is in answer to the following question: Putting aside your own party preference, which political party have you found the ...
Today is likely to see the rejection of the Welsh Assembly's latest attempt to draw down powers to legislate on affordable housing. Despite having three years, the Labour-Plaid Cymru Government have not been able to get their act together sufficiently to deliver a coherent and legally sound order, and when they did it was too late. The Legislative Competence Order will fall foul of Tory opportunism. The behaviour of the Welsh Conservatives on this matter has been wholly disreputable. They have indulged in scaremongering, misleading the public as to the powers that would be made available to Welsh Ministers if ...
Voters generally see the politicians on TV, on their doorstep or at local hustings and events. However there is another side of the election campaign that voters don't see, that's the huge amount of work done by our staff and volunteers across the UK. My sincere thanks to all you do to my team in Scotland - they are the very best! Take my last twelve hours as the (Federal Deputy) Director of Campaigns in Scotland: 8th April 4pm - 4.30pm - conference call with senior staff in London and Scotland then checking artwork and emails. 4.35pm - telephone call ...
In the early 1990s I taught politics at what was Liverpool Poly. I loved it, a great bunch of colleagues, fantastic students, and a senior management out of seemingly out of synch with both. The Further and Higher Education Acts 1992 allowed the thirty-five polytechnics to become universities. One of the issues for most institution was what to do about a name. For a few it was relatively straightforward: Huddersfield Polytechnic, Portsmouth Polytechnic, and Wolverhampton Polytechnic all dropped the Poly suffix and became Universities. In a few more, the insert Metroploitan was added, as in Leeds, London, and Manchester, clunky ...
Kevin Maguire in The Mirror: Millionaire Zac Goldsmith has put me on a Tory leaflet to attack his Lib Dem opponent. What an indignity! So, to even things up, here's my view of him for her to use as she sees fit. "Whatever my political differences with Susan Kramer, I admire her integrity. She's respected in Westminster and works incredibly hard for the people of Richmond Park and North Kingston. It would be monstrously unfair if playboy Zac Goldsmith bought the seat with inherited wealth. "We're all the poorer if democracy's purchased by the kid with the offshore trust fund." ...
UK elections attract a good degree of interest amongst European MEPs. Our continental colleagues are interested in the fortunes of their political kin, they wonder whether the Conservatives might prove as hostile to the European Union as some of their spokesmen suggest, and they never cease to be amazed that we tolerate an election system that can give a party with 34% of the vote a huge overall majority in the House of Commons. So there was an undercurrent running through debates in the European Parliament's environment committee last Tuesday - enlivened I think by a bit of good humoured ...
A photo of my signed expenses code, indicating my desire to be an open, fair, accountable and honest Member of Parliament. All Welsh Lib Dems will have signed the same code. For a bigger version please click the picture.
These days the media report speeches before they are made. Earlier this evening I was sent a Liberal Democrat press release (it was embargoed until one minute past midnight) giving the text of a speech Nick Clegg will make later today in Glasgow. Here is part of the section on Tory tax and spending plans: Your taxes will go up under the Conservatives, and here's why. The Conservatives have made a series of tax promises in the last few years. Tax breaks for millionaires with a £2m exemption from inheritance tax. Tax breaks for married couples. A freeze in Council ...
I use this RSS feed aggregator called NetNewsWire (it's a Mac thing). Recently though, instead of trying to plough through individual folders like "Lib Dems", "Libertarians" and so on, I've taken to look at the all unread feed so I see everything even if I skip most of them. And I've noticed something lately - Alistair Campbell's latest blog always seems to be at the top of the list. Is it I wonder just his calculating old self, or technical ineptitude, that means that whenever he posts something, it has a time stamp several hours ahead? And should I simply ...
(Part of a press release being sent to the Argus and the Gazette - hope they print it!) A Parliamentary candidate has set up a question and answer session online for the general election. Matt Smith, who is standing for the Liberal Democrats, is allowing the general public to grill him on topics of their own choice. "I feel that politicians often do too much talking and not enough listening. With that in mind I want to give people the opportunity to tell me what they think are the important issues in this election." he said. "It's a great opportunity ...
The campaign has unofficially been going on for months, but yesterday (didn't have time to blog!) the election was called. As usual, I will blog about things which are happening locally or in the wider area and link them back to Lib Dem policies and principles so you can get an idea of what our beliefs and ideals are. Hope you find it useful as you make the important decision of who to cast your vote for.
Today was the second day of tying up loose ends in the office, before hitting the ground to campaign full-time. It was also the day when the Herald kicked off its election coverage today with THIS piece in today's paper. It's interesting how quiet the Conservative challengers in Plymouth were in the piece: nothing from whoever they are putting up in the Moor View seat, and just a single line from the Tory standing in Sutton and Devonport. The comments from voters reported in the Herald (they are in the paper itself although I cannot find it online to link to) ...
My not so serious take on the days political events. It's day 2 and the Tories may be running a smoke and mirrors campaign in Blaydon.http://www.zshare.net/audio/747186409a040a17/
Andrew Neil on This Week on the BBC tonight (this morning) reports that the Tories have dropped the Cameron slogan "The great ignored", presumably after focus groups ahve shown the slogan was not working with the electorate. What a way to start your campaign with a slogan you drop after one day !
There is a by-election for a ward of Lancaster City Council and this area of Lancaster happens to be in my constituency which is Morecambe and Lunesdale. It will be held on the same day as the general election. Now to get a candidate you need ten people whose names are on the specific electoral register. For a constituency it is easy. You can go to ten people that you know and you havc a candidate. When you get to ward level you may not know ten people in that specific area. It is not necessarily a bad thing to ...
Three new polls tonight, and there's good news for the Lib Dems – we're up in all of them: YouGov in the Sun ... CON 37% (-3%), LAB 32% (n/c), LIB DEM 19% (+2%) Populus in the Times ... CON 39% (-1%), LAB 32% (+2%), LIB DEM 21% (+1%) Angus Reid in the Express ... CON 37% (-1%), LAB 26% (-1%), LIB DEM 22% (+2%) Of course, all these changes are within the +/-3% margin of error so we should be very careful about reading anything too much into these increases unless they are sustained in the coming days. Still, ...
