The official lists of candidates for the council elections are out. Here is the ward I am standing in. Shall we have a nosey at who they are? In alphabetic order, then: John Ford, ToryAn ex-councillor who was ousted by m'colleague Stephen Gow from Skircoat ward in 2007. Lives in Greetland, so not local. Clearly the local Tories want him back in; H&L has blue councillors already, and with the council elections being the same day as the general election turnout will be up and thus Tory vote is likely to be up. Sean O'Malley, LabourI know nothing about this ...
I am suffering from a bad head cold but now is not the time to be ill! I went to Winlaton to help with two casework issues with our excellent councillor Andrew Graham. The first issue was about the fence being constructed around the pitch of WInalton Vulcans Rugby club. There are some concerns that it might block rights of way and I promised to investigate. Then I met a resident with a familiar complaint, that the ob Centre Plus had rejected a claim for Contribution based Jobseekers allowance. This is a very tricky area of benefit law and many ...
What did we learn from Newsnight's visit to Luton? Well, that Luton is a very diverse place and that The Hat Factory is pretty cool place to hang out and see live bands. I am not sure that we learnt all that much about the politics of the town. Where the two ladies talking to Esther a comedy plant? "You were a sort of talk person weren't you?". Priceless. Oddly the disgraced Labour MP for Luton South MargaretMoran was the dominant presence in the piece. But the issues that the people of Luton face were barely touched. I don't think ...
The long discussed possibility became a reality today when Frank Cook MP, representative of Stockton North for the last quarter century, announced that he'd parted company with the Labour party and was standing as an independent. So we now have the incumbent standing as independent against the newly selected Alex Cunningham, until recently the cabinet member for children and young people at
We have been fast out of the blocks this week! Very pleased to have sorted and posted all of the invitations to my Adoption Meeting next Friday. Had a good morning in Eastbourne on Wednesday for the launch of our South East region campaign with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne MP. There's been canvassing and delivering galore, ...
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 ... Stuart MacLennan: Why was a Labour candidate talking about "chavs"? (Jonathan Calder) Protesting against the frankieboyleisation of society: "What is a Labour candidate – a Labour candidate – doing talking about "chavs"? Even in the post-Blair Labour Party, surely its candidates should have some vestigial sense of being on the side of the workers?" Vote tactically for usssssss (Alix Mortimer) Not enamoured of Adonis: "Get away from ...
I could turn this blog post into something resembling an advert for a bunch of ambulance chasers because today's the day I picked up my first injury of the election campaign. Normally, I can get through elections with nothing more than a paper cut or two, but today I managed to trip up on a ...
From the Guardian website this evening: Businessmen on inflated salaries lecturing the rest of Britain on how to run the country are "utterly nauseating" and "being used" by the Conservative party, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, says today.And it goes on to quote him as saying: "I just find it utterly nauseating all these chairmen and chief executives of FTSE companies being paid 100 times the pay of their average employees lecturing us on how we should run the country. I find it barefaced cheek."No doubt the Tories will try to paint Vince as some kind of extremist. ...
Whilst Labour are insulting the public with pictures of Sarah holding hands with Gordon all over the country - showing us the "warm and cuddly" Gordon (erm yes....), the Tories are not to be out done. They have decided to offer newly weds (and those in civil partnerships) on basic rate tax the equivalent of half a packet of fags a week. What ludicrous cretinous dolts do they take us for? (well we know the answer to that one). Do they really think that anyone will vote for them on the basis that they will be £1.50 a week each ...
No, Gordon Brown, Labour supporters should not vote Lib Dem. If you're still a Labour supporter at this point, you're going to find precious little to like in the Lib Dems. If you still support a party that abolished the 10% Income Tax band, you're not going to find a welcome in the party that wants to raise the lower tax threshold to £10,000. If you still support the party that brought in 28-day detention without charge - and tried to bring in 90-days - banned demos near Parliament, and brought in a host of anti-terror legislation that has curbed ...
My "One to read" today is Stephens Linlithgow Journal, who explains that if City Bankers are backing Cameron;s tax plans we ought to remember that we are in this mess in the first place because .. well ... because of city bankers ??? Read it HERE.
Watched Newsnight tonight, because there was a feature on Luton South, home of my good friend Andy Strange. I spotted him wandering about behind Qurban Hussain in Michael Crick's report, which (unusually for Crick) gave us a fairly decent crack of the whip. Luton South is an interesting seat, purely because of the number of independents standing. Obvs there's Esther, but there's three more too. This is going to make the psephology very unusual, and Mat and I will be keeping an eye on the place. For one thing, we are on tenterhooks to see if Andy gets a haircut... ...
[IMG: gordon-and-sarah] Watching News at Ten tonight. Wonder if we are ever likely to see him "out and about" without his permanent minder - Sarah Brown - constantly at his side ? Surprised that they allowed Gordon to do the interview with Tom Bradby.... Surely this can't work? Please, please , just NO! I On the other hand , if the great British public are taken with this nonsense then they deserve everything they get...
As many residents will recall, the 20mph zone between Honor Oak Road and the railway was introduced just a couple of months ago. On Dunoon Road, a resident has drawn to my attention a particularly daft bit of council work, where Lewisham have come along and painted the '20′ in white paint right into the ...
Yippee! Just four short years after I first suggested it to Lewisham Council's Head of Environment, the lovelewisham system now apparently has a MMS (multi-media message) phone number for easy submission of reports by people without iPhones or Windows Mobile phones. The number is 07725 20 20 20 and you need to start the message with ...
A public exhibition of the Forest Hill Pools designs was held around Forest Hill (at the Station, Library and in Sainsbury's) in late March. Apparently the designs were largely popular amongst visitors and suggestions were made that the architects are currently looking at. They hope to complete the design very soon so the council will ...
I was really pleased to be able to join the team at the DoubleJab boxing gym on Davids Road the other week to welcome World Champion and Olympic silver medallist boxer, Amir Khan. Mr Khan came to lend his support to the work the gym does in pulling the community together to keep kids out of ...
Users of Honor Oak Park station will have noticed the extensive works on the embankment next to the up platform. This is happening because the extensive site clearance works for Southwark Council on their old plant nursery have been causing land creep down the bank. Southwark's works to the site are intended to remove contaminated soil ...
I blogged yesterday about Labour having to make an early use of the freepost as they no longer have the manpower to deliver an early leaflet themselves in Blaydon. I speculated that Blaydon Labour Party may not be alone. Well, I was right. I was in Newcastle today to give a helping hand and I discovered Labour have done the same there as well. And I was told that Mark Pack has blogged about it
Under Liberal Democrat proposals to raise the tax threshold, 10% of workers in Norfolk would become exempt from paying income tax. Using South Norfolk as an example, the lowest paid 10% earn £7996 per year. The Lib Dem proposals to raise the tax threshold (by asking the wealthiest to pay more) would ease the burden on 3,800 people in South Norfolk alone -tthe equivalent to a place the size of Long Stratton. Across the whole of Norfolk, 27,800 people would be taken out of tax altogether - or 11.68% of the working population. Under the Lib Dem tax plans, the ...
There, I've said it. And I feel better for saying it. I thought I was alone in this opinion until I read the review by Sam Wollaston in the Guardian today. Given my belief that Western civilisation is about to collapse (quite possibly by next Tuesday), I am used to seeing Wollaston and his affected adolescent anti-intellectualism - it is known in the literature as Zoe Williams Syndrome - as part of the part of the problem rather than part of the solution. But he is spot on when he writes: "Twenty-nine!" yells nine-year-old Ben from the upper deck of ...
When Lord Adonis wrote in the Independent this morning, urging Lib Dems to vote Labour tactically to keep the Tories out, I was no worse than amused. "Oho," I thought, "Ha" and other noises. There's very little any Lib Dem can do about the increasingly desperate scrabbling of fingernails on the vertical deck of the ...
Last night as I was watching the BBC News there was a report about the UKIP candidate for Ilsford, Paul Wiffen, writing a comment on a forum that included several attacks on other contributors and also racist comments. It would be all to easy (and wrong) to accuse all UKIP members of being racists/closet racists and being ...
Looking for information about UK election law? In which case, may I recommend one of my other homes: The Election Law Channel.
Today's Courier and tonight's Evening Telegraph highlights my concerns about £100 000 of expenditure by Dundee City Council to alter parking and access at the East District Housing Office - an office only three years old. I am not against ensuring that access & egress is good as is parking at the offices - the real question is why the obvious problems that have led to the council spending an additional £100 000 of tenants' money were not foreseen at the time the offices were build. There appears to have been a project management problem resulting in rent payers across ...
Stuart MacLennan, the Labour candidate for Moray, was obliged to stand down today after his tweets came to the attention of the media. The observations he decided to share with the world in recent months were described in the Evening Standard by Paul Waugh: The 24-year-old ... described Labour MP Diane Abbott as "a f**king idiot". He said Commons Speaker John Bercow was an "opportunist little tw*t" and tennis star Andy Murray a "d**k". His message about "slave-grown" fruit caused particular offence. "God this fairtrade, organic banana is sh*t. Can I have a banana is sh*t. Can I have a ...
I was sent this comment from a constituent regarding the Conservative candidates blog for Aberconwy, I would like to point out that Crest is located in the Marl Ward, not Pensarn and I too was very sorry to hear that they had lost the green waste contract, which was part of a legal tender process. I am also confident that this innovative green social enterprise will grow from this set back and I wish them every success. A good morning in Pensarn with plenty of Conservative votes found in an area where one of my opponents, the Liberal Candidate, lives. ...
WOULD THIS WORK? All Parties bang on about Government "efficiency savings" but mainly skirt round the biggest inefficiency of all - paying benefits to people who don't need them. A typical example is the winter fuel allowance - it's not enough for the needy, and yet is completely un-necessary help for many. Why not, instead, actually INCREASE the standard £250 allowance to £416 - and then double-tax it. In round pounds, •A non-taxpayer would get a substantial lift from £250 to £416 •a 20% taxpayer would still get £250 (£416 less 40% tax), •a 40% taxpayer would get £83 ( ...
I'd previously blogged about UKIP Parliamentary candidate for Ilford South and London chair Paul Wiffen being suspended by the party after the Community Care site reported, "A senior UK Independence Party member has posted a racist comment". Not just a brief comment, but a multiple-sentence rant about Romanians, Muslims and Africans, with an extra general insult thrown in at the end. Now however UKIP has decided to reinstate him. As the local newspaper reports: Mr Wiffen, who is chair of UKIP London, was reinstated after saying sorry for the email and following an internal party inquiry.
I am just back from our candidate adoption meeting and one of the topics of conversation was a Hull North hustings meeting today. Different anecdotes of the meeting were being talked about but my favorite is the following. Apparently the Labour candidate for Hull North told the meeting that she was elected to represent Labour. I do admire her candour in this matter. She has followed the party line all through this Parliament and even voted to close post offices - after campaigning against them in Hull. It took our candidate, Denis Healy, to point out that he wanted to ...
My column from today's Liberal Democrat News. TwitterFaceblogs In a few short hours Gordon Brown will be going to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen to dissolve parliament. So we're going over to Mike Snood who is hovering over the Mall in the Radio House Points helicopter. "What can you see, Mike?" "Nothing. It's pitch black, Gordon Brown isn't here yet and, come to that, neither is the Queen." "Great, Mike. Keep us posted. Now, this is the first election where social media - blogs, Facebook, Twitter - will be really important. And we've just had our first tweet here ...
We have a had a busy few years in Wallington South. As a team, Jayne McCoy, Richard Bailey and I have worked hard to make our town a better, cleaner and safer place to live. Recently we have been lucky to have been joined by Monica Coleman who is standing for election this time with me and Jayne. If you want to get an idea about some of the things that we have done, just take a look at the map image here. It is quite a large file, so it might take a few moments to load. LIB DEMS ...
The last you heard from me South West London NHS review had just joined twitter and facebook and had started asking what the public opinion was on NHS services. Since then its good to see that in London the key service that people want protected is the NHS and this is the service that they least want ...
Valeria's story: Oscar, our first baby, was born at UCLH beginning of December. As new parents, you rely strongly on a visit from the mid-wife to make sure all is well with the little one. We waited 3 long days and nobody came to see us despite numerous phone calls to all services concerned. We did not sleep for 3 days and Oscar cried at night and during the day while he required to be breastfed non-stop. We felt helpless and did not understand what was going on. Every day we were hopeful that someone might visit us, but this ...
Reading through comments on the Guardian's election live-blog today, I noticed an interesting discussion about the Lib Dems' suitability to govern. On one side was a voter who has firmly decided to vote Lib Dem, despite some misgivings; on the other a disillusioned older person who had decided that all three major parties did not deserve a vote. The latter poster's argument was that as the Liberal Democrats have never been in government, it was impossible to know whether they would deliver on their policy promises. A compelling argument on face value, until you realise that David Cameron and George ...
A few weeks back I blogged about negative politics and my own thoughts on it, Obviously no one wants a shouting match between politicians where they both insult each other however everyone wants politicians held to account. What one person views as insulting a politician could be just stating that they aren't knowledgeable about a subject. Obviously the way this is done can ...
At last the General Election - the worst kept secret of the year has been announced. And surprise, surprise, it will be on Thursday 6th May along with the Council Election. So there will be an election for all 18 wards of Sutton Council and the General Election that Thursday. Polls will be open from 7am until 10pm. Registering to vote To vote at the borough (council) or parliamentary (general) election you must be on the register of electors. The deadline for registering to vote for the borough election is Tuesday 20 April 2010. To register please contact the Council's ...
Reporter Michael Crick has been out and about filming for BBC Newsnight in Luton South this afternoon. I was with Liberal Democrat candidate Qurban Hussain as he was interviewed for the programme. [IMG: Qurban Hussain interviewed by Newsnight's Michael Crick] Qurban Hussain interviewed by Newsnight's Michael Crick
Obama and Medvedev's signature of an new START treaty is a real achievement and should not be ridiculed. It will significantly reduce the number of nuclear warheads and guidance systems in the world. That is a good thing. Obama's aspiration for a nuclear weapon free world is also a good thing. Of course it does not do everything. It does not for example cancel the US project of a forward ballistic defence shield in Europe. It does however make ever more plain that this is an otiose project. I have come to the conclusion that it actually has no purpose ...
How the UK news media fails when it comes to reporting opinion polls http://bit.ly/b5c0By (via the fab fivethirtyeight.com) # 2 days of holiday to spare? Then try C-Span's archive (incl JFK/Nixon '60 debate) http://bit.ly/97NwUE via @pwire # First column for Int'l Business Times posted here http://bit.ly/9YI23d << The @VinceCable Factor: economic credibility and the #LibDems # Let's hope he doesn't get (nipple) clamped >> RT @iaindale Blogpost: LibDems Make a Tit of Vince! http://tinyurl.com/yhy4qfn # RT @NeilStockley Revealed: the Liberal Democrats' campaign narrative http://post.ly/Y1z7 << interesting – my own take cf '87 on LDV 2moro. # just completed the @libdemvoice ...
Happily, a Scottish court has made a very sensible ruling that anti-Israel protests are not anti-semitic and thus do not constitute "racially aggravated behaviour": Sheriff James Scott ruled that "the comments were clearly directed at the State of Israel, the Israeli Army, and Israeli Army musicians", and not targeted at "citizens of Israel" per se. "The procurator fiscal's attempts to squeeze malice and ill will out of the agreed facts were rather strained", he said The Sheriff expressed concern that to continue with the prosecution would have implications for freedom of expression generally: "if persons on a public march designed ...
18) John N. Merrill, The Walsingham Way: King's Lynn to Walsingham (John Merrill Foundation, 2010, ISBN 9781903627419). Walking guide for a pilgrimage route I'm hoping to walk with [IMG: [profile] ] kittylyst next month; does what it says on the tin, nice photos. 17) Philip Pullman, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2010, ISBN 9781847678287). A re-working of the Gospel narratives in which Mary has twins, the Jesus and Christ of the title (which has a somewhat Brechtian ring to my ears, and I think that may be deliberate, since there is also an ironic mismatch ...
Howard's cartoon from today's Liberal Democrat News. More from the Labservatives.
Our last visit of the day today has been to Leeds Rhinos at Headingley in Leeds NW constituency with Greg Mulholland MP. Nick took part in a training session with the Under 12s team and met with coaches and first team players including Jamie Jones-Buchanan. Great pics.
ITV's Angus Walker has organised a sweepstake of those on the battlebus for tomorrow's Grand National. Horses have been selected at random and Nick Clegg has ended up with My Will. It's got to be in with a chance... (I've got Vic Venturi and State of Play)
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free, blogging Lib Dem and former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray argues that – with postal ballot-rigging, partisan officials, censorship of candidates, etc – no independent observer could call our elections free and fair. Here's an excerpt: In my diplomatic career, I spent a great deal of time assessing the democratic merit of elections in various countries abroad. That gives me a peculiar perspective in looking at elections in the UK, and wondering what a foreign observer would make of them. I can do this also with the insight of having twice run ...
Below is an extract from the Bracknell Mayor Cllr Bob Wade speech given at the Sixth formers Question Time event in Bracknell (detailed here). Published here as promised. I think some of these famous quotes are worth reminding ourselves at election time. DEMOCRACY "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be; whether they are the powers that ought to be." "Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people." "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter!" VISION "It is a mistake to look ...
My friend Tilt, who I've mentioned on here before and who occasionally comments, moved last year to California from Bradford. He's currently trying to get registered to vote from abroad in the upcoming election, and – absolutely bizarrely – it appears that in order to get registered he needs to find *another* British ex-pat who's ...
I was very pleased to see that these dangerous potholes I reported on the corner of Beech Road and Barlow Moor Road have finally been repaired. I initially reported them in December and have been chasing the Council for months to repair them. These potholes represent just one example of how the Labour run Council is failing to protect and invest in Chorlton's roads. I'm proud that Manchester Liberal Democrats are committed to spending an extra £420,000 on maintaining our crumbling roads and pavements; and I know that it would make a huge difference here in Chorlton. I know that ...
that was me on the stump in south chester today only kept alive by the love of the people must have eaten 20 cough sweets and refined words down to 3 per door + gestures!
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. "You'll be found dead on the streets" - the message from a BNP supporter (16) by Dominic Carman 2. The 'Digital Economy Bill Saints': the MPs who voted against Labour's internet freedom clampdown #DEbill (25) by Richard Flowers 3. Votematch is back: which party most closely matches your policy preferences? (11) by Mark Pack 4. Election purdah period: what can and can't be done? (0) by Mark Pack 5. BNP hit by allegations of coups, infighting ...
The King's Cross one-way system is one of the most dangerous roads in Camden, according to figures obtained by local Lib Dems. The figures show that the Tory Mayor of London and the Tory traffic chief for Camden are wrong to make other areas bigger priorities. The local Lib Dem team are fighting to get ...
Just a quick reminder. You can comment on new sites being considered for housing development by following the link below.
The latest ICM poll for The Guardian gives some pointers: Very high viewing figures: 29% say they will watch all three and a further 31% say they will watch one or two Even higher viewing figures amongst older people (and older people are more likely to vote): 23% of 18-24 say they will watch all three, but this rises to 40% of the 65+ Women are less likey to watch the debates (important as Lib Dem swing voters are usually disproportionately female): 42% say they will watch none compared to 35% of men The last point may be influenced by ...
In the next hour Nick Clegg will launch the Liberal Democrats Yorkshire general election campaign in Leeds North West at Headingley Stadium. It will concentrate on fairness in every aspect of our government.
Having wandered off yesterday to campaign in Chelmsford, today was set aside to campaign in Epping Forest.I was out and about delivering leaflets and letters in Buckhurst Hill and hilly it was. I managed to get round my three walks in just over two hours, but going up and down drives and up and down hills I defiantly have to do something about my expanding waist line.After sitting in my garden to
Continuing my occasional series of opinion poll results that newspapers have paid for but then not published (all for reasons of space you understand, nothing to do with editorial lines and not liking the result, oh no of course not) we have the latest YouGov poll for The Sun: Do you think the following will or will not happen if the Conservatives win the coming election? The number of crimes committed each year will fall: 22% will, 47% will not – net -25% The quality of education in state schools will improve: 25% will, 46% will not – net -21% ...
Across the country, election address leaflets from the Labour Party have been dropping through letterboxes – even though the general election campaign has not yet formally started. These leaflets – delivered free for candidates by the Royal Mail – usually only appear during the campaign itself as candidates make use of the free service which delivers one leaflet from each candidate to each voter. However, Labour has made use of the special provision which allows leaflets to be delivered earlier, provided the party commits to paying the postage if the candidate in them ends up not being the party's candidate ...
That's the headline over on Politics.co.uk: Voters should support the Liberal Democrats in constituencies where Labour cannot win, Gordon Brown has indicated, further fuelling speculation that Labour expects to be unable to form a majority government after polling day. In an exclusive interview with politics.co.uk the prime minister gave his strongest signal yet that voters should consider tactical voting in order to prevent the Conservatives forming the next government... "I want everybody to vote Labour and I want people to vote for our party, and I want our vote to be the highest and I want our number of seats ...
Wednesday's Daily Telegraph framed the UK general election as "a battle between hope and fear". You can guess which party they think matches each emotion. But the election will come down to emotions - how voters feel about the parties, leaders, issues and candidates. During the 2008 US presidential primaries, Newsweek's Sharon Begley argued that "the debate about whether the electorate is guided by its head or its heart, by reason or emotion, is over." She went on to say: "When voters consider candidates' positions, they are drawn to the candidate who assuages fear, inspires hope, instills pride or brings ...
Tendring DC, Golf GreenLab 409 (28.2; -0.8)Con 404 (27.9; +8.6)Others: Tendring First 313 / Ind 120 (29.9; -21.8)BNP 139 (9.6; +9.6)LD John Candler 63 (4.4; +4.4)Majority 5Turnout 36.6%Lab gain from Tendring First.Percentage change is since May 2007.Devizes TC, NorthDevizes Guardian 226 (35.6)Con 219 (34.5)Lab 105 (16.5)LD Bridget Selwyn 85 (13.4)Majority 7Turnout 26.3%Devizes Guardian gain from
On Wednesday morning I was interviewed by Alan Beswick on his BBC Radio Manchester show. He was doing a piece on the Manchester Withington seat featuring myself, the Conservative and Labour candidate for the following election. You can hear each interview by clicking on the link below: John Leech MP interview on Alan Beswick show, BBC Radio ...
Copyright was designed around a particular copying technology - the printing press - just over three hundred years ago, and the technological change of the digital revolution means that it no longer works. It's going to need to be completely replaced by a new mechanism by which creators get paid from those who benefit from their creations. Copyright started in Britain - just after the Act of Union between England and Scotland, the Copyright Act 1710 (the Statute of 8 Anne c.19). In the seventeenth century, printing had been heavily restricted through guilds that prevented poaching of books from one ...
"High speed rail is hugely important, but it is only part of the 21st century rail network Britain needs. Our plans will reopen thousands of miles of track across the country and make our railway great again," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary.
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free website, former Lib Dem chief exective, Lord (Chris) Rennard – not masterminding the party's campaign for the first time in the modern party's existence – has an article analysing the Lib Dems' poition on the key election themes of tax, trust and reform. Here's an excerpt: It's often said that there are really only two political messages in any election. Opposition parties say "it is time for a change", while governing parties say: "Don't let the others wreck it." Liberal Democrat strategy in the first week has aimed to bracket Labour and the ...
I hestitated a little about linking to this article as Marina Hyde's profile in the Guardian of independent candidate for Luton South Esther Rantzen isn't really about politics. She doesn't even make a pretence of analysing the political situation in the constituency. Instead she has a look at Esther's personality and motivation: "Asked to outline her political philosophy, she explains vaguely that she believes in equality of opportunity, preferring to expand on child welfare issues, as you'd expect from the ChildLine founder. But it is with individual casework that she is most comfortable, and to spend a morning with her ...
This week has been a UK school holiday but not a European Parliament holiday week. We resumed on Tuesday, as Gordon Brown went to the Palace to seek a dissolution of the House of Commons. Most of my week has been spent on research and action relating to constituency casework involving three separate directorates general, some of whose officials were still on holiday. I have welcomed to Brussels two separate groups of visitors: the Wells Twinning Association from Somerset and the European Atlantic Movement, whose numbers included constituents of mine from Devon. I have also attended a meeting of Parliament's ...
At present the two most hated professions in the public eye are bankers and politicians. Bankers for who issue over the taxpayers having to bail them out while they still grant themselves multi-million bonuses. Politicians because of the expenses scandal, which has tarred all parties with the same brush, despite the Liberal Democrats record of fighting to clear this up even before the Telegraph started their round of articles exposing the worst last year. Therefore the news that top bankers are backing David Cameron's Conservatives most be worrying. Maybe it is a sign that the Conservatives are softest on banks, ...
Leeds University Union have a really good guide to the general election in Leeds North West available now in the student union bilding. Please pick up a copy when you get a chance and I hope it helps you make your decision. Please also sign up to the NUS 'Vote For Students' campaign and the LUU website supporting it. Every single Liberal Democrat candidate in Leeds has signed the tuition fee pledge.
The impression that David Cameron's detoxification of the Conservatives is strictly skin deep is deepened by this story from today's Leicester Mercury:A Tory candidate says he has "considerable sympathy" with bed and breakfast owners who wish to turn away gay couples.Andrew Bridgen, who is standing in North West Leicestershire, made the comments after a visit to Ibstock by shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling.Last week, Mr Grayling said B&B owners should "have the right" to turn away homosexual couples, a comment which provoked uproar from the gay community.Mr Bridgen said: "At the end of the day our policy is, we voted ...
A deeply illiberal group called MPAC has called on people to vote Lib Dem or Tory to ensure the defeat of Hendon's Labour MP. I have been aware of MPAC for many years and I most certainly do not want anyone to vote for me for the reasons that they suggest. I am a very strong opponent of this organisation. I have posted the following on MPAC's highly unpleasant website: "I am Matthew Harris, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Hendon. Just to make it clear, I do not want the support (implied or otherwise) of MPAC. I am pleased ...
Sad news today as we learn that Jim Buchanan has died. Jim was the Conservative leader of Cumbria County Council until he stepped down just a week or so ago upon learning that he had cancer. Clearly we had different viewpoints and we used to clash in the Council chamber. Most councillors look upon themselves as colleagues whatever the party and Jim and I would always make a point of chatting afterwards. Politics is always easier if you look after the relationships between parties and I know that the House of Commons runs on the same lines. But in the ...
Who should you vote for? UK General Election quiz Liberal Democrat 67 Green 59 UK Independence 10 Conservative 0 Labour -4 You expected: LIBYour recommendation: Liberal Democrat Click here for more details about these results Not in any way a surprise here, but crucially this year they appear to have takn on board criticism made last time (well, the guy who coded it read my post) and the issues appear to me to be a fair spread of party policies. However, last time it biased in favour of the Lib Dems, and I got Lib Dem, which, y'know, I should; ...
The removal of Labour's Moray candidate< Stuart MacLennan over comments he made last yearon Twitter whilst a student leads to an interesting dilemma for current and future campaigns. Candidates above a certain age don't have a history on online digital communication from their youth. Indeed it is possibly candidates around my age who started to use email at University with our tiny allowance on the server that may well be the eldest to possibly have some of our youthful comments retained for posterity on some server or someone's hard drive. Not counting University my online presence goes back for over ...
Longtown (or Langtoon if you're local) auction mart is one of the busiest in Cumbria, although much of its trade comes from over the border in Scotland. Auction marts are fascinating places and you can always have a good craic with the locals. They are the meeting place for the local farming community and the nearest thing we have to a far eastern bazaar. They also have great cafes ! All the farmers tell the same story. Rising costs whilst the price paid for their produce is kept low by the power of the supermarkets. I used to sell sheep ...
It was fantastic yesterday to attend the official launch of the Scottish Liberal Democrat campaign for the general election in Glasgow. Nick Clegg gave a brilliant speech, nailing the reasons why Scotland can't trust the Tories. We're the real opposition to Labour in Scotland – the SNP are irrelevant at Westminster and the Conservatives will never ...
Friday Lord Adonis (presumably he keeps a portrait in his attic of the twisted, scarred and unlovely Lord Hephaestus) has descended from Mount Olympus, since he's not allowed to sully his lily-white hands by actually voting for Hard Labour himself, to beg the Liberal Democrats to do his dirty work for him. Receiving today's papers in my office in Party Headquarters (all right, sat on a desk in the press office) I heard, how can I put it, a small amount of SCORN expressed. So I have two words for His Divine Lordship. And the second of them is STUFFED. ...
Remember those bankers who took us into the worst worldwide recession in decades by putting their own desire to make pots of cash over the need for financial stability? Well, they're keen on David Cameron's Conservatives winning the election. Wonder why? I guess the Lib Dem proposals to put the interests of ordinary people above those of wealthy bankers were never going to go down well with them.
Back when Lord Adonis was an Alliance councillor in north Oxford he was nicknamed 'kebab' having fought his election on the basis of defending a threat to the city's kebab vans. For this campaign I am grateful, if not for much he has said and done since. I suppose it is good news that he apparently believes that there is not much to choose between Labour and the Lib Dems policy wise. Personally I don't agree with him, but if he and other Labour types do believe that then there is a simple solution, and one with more chance of ...
labour Islington emily thornberry fail bridget fox libdem liberal democrats
An election system that does not give equal value to every vote has for many decades prevented the Liberal Democrats from exerting real influence over government policy. The outrageous insult to democracy demonstrated by the Liberals winning 18% of the votes yet less than 2% of the seats in February 1974 was the spur that made me apply for membership. More recently the scale of our under representation has been reduced. At the last election we won some 20% of the votes and more than 9% of the seats. Not fair, but less awful. The success of the Liberal Democrats' ...
If you are not on the electoral register you cannot vote. You can register to vote online. If you want to get your name on to the register - or just check to make sure you are on it - click on the link below. You must register by 20th April. Register to vote
Jim Murphy has done an amazing and swift (ish) u-turn and has now sacked Stuart MacLennan as Labour's candidate for Moray. So, not long after my initial blog post, the first candidate of the campaign has gone. Is Stuart the first candidate to be sacked because of twitter? A message to all of those candidates on Twitter - your thoughts and comments are no longer your own! Here is the official statement by the Scottish Labour party: "Stuart MacLennan has been sacked as Labour's candidate for Moray for the totally unacceptable language which he has expressed online. On reading the ...
I don't always agree with that most cerebral of tory bloggers "Letters from A Tory", but I tend to agree more often than I disagree. So I should bring everyone's attention to his excellent analysis of David Cameron's National Citizen Service.
Fri 9th
11:49
Public sector efficiency savings - is there no-one in the Conservative Party paying attention?
Listening to David Cameron this morning on the Today Programme, it suddenly dawned on me why he keeps George Osborne as his Shadow Chancellor. It's because he knows less about finance than even George does. His bumbling efforts to justify how he was going to find £6 billion made the back of the envelope job that George uses to justify the NIC non-rise (it isn't a cut, might I make it clear) look like an IMF report. So, for the benefit of Conservatives everywhere, and for any journalists keen to actually probe Conservative fiscal policy, here are a few points ...
I do like the 'Labservative' viral campaign. It is witty, intelligent and hits upon a the big problem in our democracy: the inevitability of Labour or Conservative government, and the lack of appetite for either. The election campaign is now in full swing. The key soundbites are being wheeled out at every opportunity by the party representatives. It is becoming clear what the parties' core messages are to the electorate. The core message from the Conservatives is "do you want 5 more years of Gordon Brown, or change with the Conservatives". The M&C Saatchi billboards are nothing but a straight ...
Well, of all the cheek! As Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, you have been a member of the Labour government. You could have persuaded your government to bring in a fairer voting system in which every vote for Labour would count as much as ...
PR Week has a story this week headlined "PR professionals divided over Sarah Brown's prominent general election role", including a comment from myself: Mandate Communications head of digital Mark Pack said it was a risky strategy. 'The reason they're doing it is it gets you extra press coverage, but at the same time the media tend to be reluctant to ask tough questions. But there's a risk there that they could do it too much. I would say the risk is greatest for the Conservatives as Samantha Cameron is doing more solo stuff than Sarah Brown. 'The risk is that ...
During this election I'm going to do at least one linkblog a week with no politics in it, in the hope that this plus the When Worlds Collide posts will stop this blog toppling over totally into politics-wonkery. With that in mind... My third-round match in the Pop World Cup is up. This time I'm playing ...
There'll be a glorious weather this weekend and we have plenty of leaflets to deliver and doors to knock. We are meeting outside the Kids Corner on Hither Green Lane at 10am outside on Saturday and 11am on Sunday. Join us if you can. Tagged: campaigning
If you want to read in detail the shameful expletives of the Labour candidate for Moray, Stuart MacLennan then you have lost your moment, as his twitter account has now been removed. His rants were even aimed at those from his own party, plus voters in Moray. He described fellow Labour Party Member, MP, Diane Abbott as "a f****** idiot". In today's Sun, it goes on; In one post the 24-year-old complained of being in a pub full of "depressed teuchters" then poked fun at elderly voters by branding them "bloody coffin dodgers".And despite calls for his resignation Labour are ...
The BBC reports that Facebook is working with the Electoral Commission to persuade people to sign up to vote if they're not already on the electoral roll. Facebook users who visit the site over the weekend will be offered a link to a page that lets them enter details online. The deadline for voter registration for the 6 May general election is 20 April - later than in previous elections. It is estimated that more than 3 million potential voters may not be registered.
I blogged a little while ago about doing some digging in Stamfordham Drive in Garston. We wanted to see if the ground would still be suitable for planting some trees. It was. Some residents came to us as Councillors to say they'd like to see some trees there. Now we need to see if that is a majority opinion or not. So shortly a letter from the Council will be going out to ask residents in Stamfordham their views. I don't have the exact date for the letter but I'm mentioning it now so people can look out for it. ...
I am a 10 year old girl and I want to offer a child's perspective of the election. I watched the last Prime Minister's Question Time and National Insurance tax was the main subject of the debate. In fact, it seems to be the main subject of the election so far. Is this election between Red and Blue over the effects of the recession on big business? Let me tell you what this election means for a child starting out in life. Big businesses recruit graduates from red brick universities. These universities, in turn, recruit students who are capable of ...
I blogged recently about a possibly Tory smoke and mirrors campaign in Blaydon constituency in which the Tories appear to be delivering their latest leaflet only to the homes of Lib Dem councillors. We think the aim is convince us they are putting in a campaign here when the reality is somewhat different. Well, I can report that more of my fellow councillors have received the Tory leaflet but
Well its been over a month since the Hyde Park by election now so I thought I might write up my thoughts on it. Let's put it this way: it wasn't exactly our finest hour. There was approximately a 10% swing from the Lib Dems to Labour. We went from winning the seat by 60 votes in May 2008 to losing it by almost 400. So what went wrong? In my view it wasn't the campaign. I've been told privately by a number of people in Labour and the Tories that they thought our campaign was by far the best. ...
Residents across the Bath & North East Somerset Council area can find out more about voting in the May 6th 2010 General Election through the Council's website, by email, or by telephone. All the information needed by voters can be found on www.bathnes.gov.uk/elections or the Council can be contacted by email on elections@bathnes.gov.uk or telephone on 01225 477333. On the Council website residents can download the form to register to vote, find out where their local polling station is, and apply for a postal or proxy vote. Anybody wishing to vote in the General Election must register to do so ...
I'm a member of the Liberal Democrats, but have been in and out of the party since I first joined five years ago. The toppling of Charles Kennedy did for me the first time, and I resigned my membership in disgust. Then, in 2007, I decided to rejoin the party, and have been a member since. ...
Pushed for time, but want to keep up-to-date with how the campaign's going? Here are today's must-reads .... Cameron adviser discloses cuts detail (FT.com) Anyone who heard David Cameron's BBC Radio 4 Today Programme interview today will have heard him squirming when asked to confirm the report in the Financial Times today that the Tories' tax-cuts could lead to the loss of 40,000 jobs. In an interview with the Financial Times, Sir Peter Gershon, the former government adviser who has provided the blueprint for the Conservative leader's efficiency plans, disclosed for the first time how the party's proposed £12bn savings ...
The Digital Economy Bill has been the subject of thousands of words of discussion, criticism, and whinging in recent months. And rightly so: it is full of authoritarian ignorance and it may well have a catastrophic effect on the internet as we know it. But ultimately it has followed the same path as a great deal of previous legislation. It is a Bill opposed by the Liberal Democrats (although it's true they had their wobbles along the way), supported by the Conservatives despite bucketloads of synthetic anger and invective, and rammed through by a Labour government that doesn't give a ...
Welsh Liberal Democrats will today formally launch their General election campaign in Cardiff, when Nick Clegg will be joined by Kirsty Williams and Jenny Willott on a visit to Plas Bryn, who provide domiciliary care for pensioners. The Welsh Lib Dems will also launch their priorities document 'Change that Works for Wales', which outlines the key themes the party is pursuing in this election as well as highlighting the key benefits a Lib Dem government in Westminster will deliver to Wales. The visit to Plas Bryn is to highlight how Liberal Democrat proposals for tax relief will benefit pensioners all ...
Labour are up to their old tricks again. `Vote for us in marginal seats against the Tories`. Of course, they figure that people aren't always aware of their local circumstances so they'd be able to sneak the odd vote in Islington South & Finsbury or perhaps somewhere under the radar. Thus I have put forward the ...
So the wash-up has been concluded and has left the AV referendum proposals washed-up on the rocky shore of Conservative self-interest. Gordon Brown has since come out with re-affirmed plans to hold an AV referendum early in the next parliament though. It is absolutely imperative that we emerge from this election with the possibility of these plans being put into action. If the conservatives get a majority, electoral reform will not be on the agenda and there's a real risk that Labour will not be so keen for reform next time around when they look to capitalise on the failures ...
Dear Nick, Sorry to be boring and quote things like numbers and evidence. But on the 10pm news you said, "I think both sides agree the Tories have won the politics of the first week". I'd have thought the public should get a look in on this and you know what the public's verdict is? By a slim lead (within the margin of error, to be fair) the public says that the Liberal Democrats have run the most impressive campaign so far (see http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2566). Makes the idea that the Tories have won the politics look a bit different, I'd have ...
I got a letter from my bank the other day. They were, it said, increasing my overdraft by 10 times. Not that we had asked for such a thing. We are just an ordinary family and the amount to which they were increasing the overdraft is not an amount I would wish to ever be in debt by. Here's the rub, though. That figure is authorised as long as "regular payments" are being made into the account. If I ever have an overdraft of any amount that's unauthorised, then I'm going to get charged £5 a day. That's £150 per ...
Vote Match is a quick and simple quiz that tests your views, and then works out which which political party most shares your views! I'm relieved to say that it confirms that I am a Liberal Democrat...As well as being fun, this is a good way of digging beneath the spin to find out which party's policies most closely match your own opinions. Why not have a go? And if you turn out to be closest to the Liberal Democrats, then why not vote for us? The biggest wasted vote is a vote cast for a party that you don't ...
Anybody who thinks that their vote is as good as the next person's may well be disabused of that notion by an article in today's Guardian, which reports on the New Economics Foundation's voter power index. This index ranks every constituency in Britain according to the amount of power each voter has in the election. The New Economics Foundation points out that in the 2005 election, the majority of voters did not vote for the MP that represents them (over 52%), meaning that over 14 million votes were effectively discarded: Under the current system, voters in very safe seats have ...
While I have nothing per se against the introduction of a 'lad's army' national voluntary scheme, I do have serious doubts as to its implimentation in the real world. In areas like the Upper Calder Valley where I live there is already a long history of community voluntary work which improves the communities without the need of any centralised quango imposing targets and quotas. There is a serious danger that introduction of a 'national' voluntary service could see many small groups being pushed aside by regional managers who think they know best and ignoring the needs of communities. The direction ...
In the first few days of the campaign, debate has centred around reducing the deficit and the Tories' woolly pledge to partly reverse the NI rise. However, it's become increasingly obvious that this argument is going to run and run, and in all likelihood isn't going to reach any conclusions any time soon. Meanwhile, many ...
On the day that the Lib Dems tried to smoke out the Tories' true position on whether they'll jack-up VAT by 3% – annual cost to the average household, £389 – to pay for their unfunded tax-cuts, David Cameron was joined by a man worth £45m who rather likes the Tories' promise to cut taxes for the wealthiest at the expense of everyone else. Full marks to Lib Dem HQ who were smartly on the case to splice the two stories memorably together: Lib Dem blogger Mark Thompson had his own pithy take on it: And finally, here's the Tom ...
Time for another outing for this topical film poster.
The BBC has identified Luton South as one of the key marginals in the local area ('Battles for marginal seats in Beds, Bucks and Herts') saying; "The question is how well Labour's majority of 5,698 votes in Luton South will hold up for Labour's new candidate, Gaven Shuker. Nigel Huddleston, the Conservative Party candidate, and Liberal Democrat candidate Qurban Hussain are also hoping to win the seat."
As petrol prices begin to rise again, even before the government has heaped on the increases in duty, it is becoming critical for our rural community that something is done to stop the energy crisis. Gainsborough is a small market town and West Lindsey is a sparsely populated district and transport is a lifeblood. With families already hit hard by the recession, the latest rise in fuel prices
@DrEvanHarris Think you'll like the #LibDems MPs twitter table which is out later today. # @jamescrabtree Yeah, not as of Telegraph ever published weighted polls... in reply to jamescrabtree # That's some salt cellar (16th century France) http://flic.kr/p/7QbkFg # Rather sad: museum packed with tourists but yet to see one looking happy # Traffic levels at @libdemvoice leap upwards - http://bit.ly/9ZjTK7 # Finsbury Park CPZ to be reviewed - Cllr Richard Wilson http://bit.ly/bSHo04 # Mark Williams @mark4ceredigion makes it 31 #LibDems MPs now on Twitter. You can follow them all at http://twitter.com/markpack/libdem-mps # Thanks for all the #FF folks # ...
Ros has brought home something shiny yesterday and I was duly mesmerised. It has trains, statistics and another opportunity to moan about my local Train Operating Company. What more could an irritable bureaucrat ask for then but a copy of the Autumn 2009 National Passenger Survey, produced by Passenger Focus? I have been quite harsh in my criticism of National Express East Anglia over the past year, but had I been unrealistic in my expectations? It appears not. In every category relating to train facilities, satisfaction ratings for NXEA passengers is below average except one, 'how well train company deals ...
Over at TheEngineer.co.uk, Lib Dem science spokesman Evan Harris – the party's star Twitterer – sets out the party's policy on all things scientific. Here's an excerpt: We have long-argued that the UK has become over-reliant on the financial services as a foundation for growth; that a knowledge-intensive economy is not only more reliable, but also more rewarding and a better strategic base in the long-term. It is the scientist and the engineer who will ultimately develop and build the supply of clean energy we will need, the artificial organisms key to future biotech, or the robotics crucial to our ...
Writing in today's Independent Lord Adonis the Transport Secretary says: "To avoid a Tory government after May 6, it is vital to grasp now the fundamental Labour-Lib Dem identity of interest. This can best be served by Labour coming out of the election as strong as possible, able to form a government." After I spat out my tea, wiped down my laptop screen and calmed down I asked myself what common identity of interest? Labour have brought in 4,300 new crimes over the last 13 years. The Lib Dems are bringing forward a Freedom Bill to repeal some of the ...
In Redlands ward we take the business of electoral registration very seriously. There was postal vote fraud in Redlands in 2005 and with a high turnover of voters in our ward it is important that no-one loses their vote. I blogged in March about our annual campaign to get students to register to vote and suggested that councils need to continue to work to find new ways to get everyone who can vote to register. I was delighted therefore to read that the Electoral Commission is using Facebook to remind students and young people to vote. From The Independent: "From tomorrow, every Facebook user who logs ...
The Telegraph has run a story highlighting the number of postal voters who fail to complete the paperwork correctly and so lose their vote: The Electoral Commission found that five per cent of all postal votes cast were found to be unsafe, because people's signatures did not match or they gave the wrong date of birth. Translated nationally this would mean that as many as 240,000 voters - one per cent of all those cast - could be discounted. Although the word "unsafe" is used, the evidence is that it is innocent mistakes which cause the paperwork to be wrong. ...
I have blogged recently about the lack of any Labour literature in Blaydon constituency. Well, today (Thursday) we had the answer. A Labour leaflet arrived. The fact that it was their freepost to the first name in each household was enough to raise an eyebrow with me. Labour have had to use their main freepost literature as a flying start leaflet. Yes, this frees up some election expenses for use
I saw the planet Mercury for only the second time on Sunday evening. It's a tricky planet to spot as it stays so close to the Sun on our sky and is only seen just after sunset or sunrise. For the next week or so the brilliant "star" that is the planet Venus points the way. Venus can been seen low in the west just after sunset. At around 8.30pm or after you should be able to spot fainter Mercury to the right of Venus. A clear gap in the clouds is the main problem to seeing it.
"Norman Lamb football politics genius"..... ..they chant from the stands... Newsnight (8th April) item 2 was about the NHS. Andy Burnham gifted the away teams a wondrous advantage by appearing from a remote studio (maybe not his choice and perhaps one interview too many that day. I have not checked). In any event, it effectively reduced him to a pundit on the sidelines rather than one of the main players. You really don't want to do that when you are up against the Lambster ... It surely allowed the silky attacking skills of Norman Lamb - in studio - to ...
... the last you thing you want is to be caught red-handed indulging in a bit of, er..., illegal copying online. Step forward and take a bow: the Labour Party (front bench voted for the Digital Economy Bill) Followed by a bow please from the Conservative Party (front bench voted for the Digital Economy Bill) For as The Frontline reports: Despite months promoting the rights of copyright holders with its Digital Economy Bill, the government has caused something of a furore after revelations that its recently crowdsourced campaign poster has breached copyright laws. The poster is intended to parody Tory ...
David Cameron was in Bolton on the campaign trail this week. He was at Warburton's talking about a whole range of issues but what struck me was a comment about someone earning £20k. He thought they were poor and wanted to help them. It doesn't really matter about the details, the perception is that what is a reasonable wage in the north west of England is "poor". There are millions earning much less than this. I wonder how many at Warburton's earn above this amount. The funding of the Tory party comes from big business. Businesses have also been aligning ...
Fri 9th
00:04
Canvassing today without a coat at all! Spring is Sprung. More poster sites; ever more people voting...
Canvassing today without a coat at all! Spring is Sprung. More poster sites; ever more people voting Lib Dem for #realchange
