Am veryt tired, so this might not make much sense, and grammar is out the window. Sorry. Work has been v busy but fun, this weekend. Am glad to have Holly back from her week at her dad's. Feels like the house is whole again. Even gladder to have watched Doctor Who with her and both of us enjoying it. When I put her to bed we snuggled up and chatted about time and space and Tardises and it was ace. It's amazing to share this with her. And she insisted on the Galaxy Song for her lullaby again. Lots ...
Over on Political Betting, Mike has several times made comments such as this: Since the start of March, there have been sixty national opinion polls published and they have shown a remarkable consistency in the total share identified for Labour plus Lib Dems. When one party rises, the other tends to fall. I've been intrigued by this because Mike certainly knows his stuff, but that's not been my impression of the data – which has been that changes in Lib Dem support are more equally balanced between Labour and Tory than the much more lopsided position Mike suggests. So I've ...
Great stuff from Nich Starling, the Norfolk Blogger.
Rewatched the episode tonight with the small person. She really likes Amy, because she's brave and clever AND beautiful. And she LOVED ( SPOILER! ). But most of all, she really, really loved the ( SPOILER! ) because it was ( SPOILER! ) and ( SPOILER! ) and ( SPOILER! ). She thought the ( SPOILER! ) were very scary, but not as scary as ( SPOILER! ) from last week. She worried that ( SPOILER! ) swouldn't be able to get rid of all the ( SPOILER! ) after they found out that ( SPOILER! ) was ( SPOILER! ...
There's this thing I call competence cascades, whereby if a fandom encourages skillsets people acquire those skills and then the whole thing escalates — one of the examples is monster makeups. And he said, "of course, one of those skills is the ability to navigate corpuses of work." Back in the early eighties I'd invented ...
Why is it that the Tories and Labour seem intent to 'crack down' on blue-collar crime (benefit fraud by the less well off), when white-collar crime actually costs the economy the same, and in many instances, more? Whilst I am not condoning those who abuse the benefit system, who acts tough when it comes to white-collar crime? ...
I've been generally optimistic about this election up to now – I've been confident of a good result, of the British people making a wise and considered decision having weighed up all the different factors before coming to a reasoned and sensible conclusion. Yes, I was naive. How naive was driven home by Channel 4 announcing ...
James Hamilton has somehow worked out how much the higher oil prices of recent months might affect the US economy. You can't be purely mechanistic about it – the hit to disposable incomes caused by having to send $$$s abroad – but also look at consumer shifts, caused by asymetric reactions to oil price changes. ...
Being lead guitarist for The Yardbirds involved something close to apostolic succession. Eric Clapton placed his hands upon Jeff Beck who placed his upon Jimmy Page. So the famous clip from Blowup, which features both Beck and Page, is a little like seeing two Popes on stage at the same time. If I have got my episcopology right, Shapes of Things is a song that dates from the Beck era but is here played by Jimmy Page.
[IMG: Ed, Katherine and I with the Lib Dem Team for Haringey] This week we launched our manifesto for the local elections with six key borough-wide pledges. The document is called 'A Fresh Start for Haringey', and after 40 years run by Labour – our borough really does need a fresh start! The six key pledges are: 1. More police on the beat – We will put more police on the beat when and where they are needed most with new 24 hour local police teams. 2. Fairer funding for our schools – We will fight to end Labour's unfair ...
Having just read this article on LibDemVoice about the usual Tory mouthpiece suspects (I'm looking at you Dale) crowing over Vince Cable's supposed bad performance on the politics show, I also followed the link to the iPlayer with trepidation. However what I found was Vince being reasonable and coping in a calm way with Jon Sopel's constant interruptions and agenda (is this really what the BBC should be doing?) and coming over well. Interestingly, Vince's very reasonableness was forcing Sopel to stay his interruptions slightly as they now made him look bad (lesson in how to deal with aggressive interviewers ...
Writing for The Corridor, Will Luke sees Steven Finn take 9 for 37 for Middlesex. Meanwhile, Go Litel Blog, Go ... sees James Taylor fail to score a century for Leicestershire. And there is a stalwart and convincing defence of the traditional County Championship on Down at Third Man from Dr Dave Allen. It is in two parts - part one and part two:Nobody knows how many members will be lost if the number of days of Championship cricket is reduced again because nobody asks. Nonetheless David Collier said about the likely reduction: "Membership brought in by the championship is ...
Lib Dems are buzzing with the news that one of the key Tory councillors in Village Ward, Robin Crookshank-Hilton, has defected to the Liberal Democrats. I recently met her in Dulwich Village and welcomed her on board the team in Village Ward which comes within the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency that I am currently contesting for MP. She told Southwark news 'The style of the operation that the conservative group was operating is just a different way of operating. I found I had a lot more in common with the [the Lib Dems]'. I wish her all the best. ...
There have been a lot of comments, in the run up to the campaign, that the distrust and general negative attitude of voters towards Conservatives and Labour suggest that the Liberal Democrats could do very well (especially as the general perception has been that we haven't been as damaged by the expenses scandal). The second is ...
Daisy Benson is the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Reading West and is councillor in Redlands, which includes the area around Erleigh Road. Background Daisy was born in London in 1978. She completed an MA in English Literature and Politics at Edinburgh University before moving to Reading in 2003 to work in a small PR firm. Daisy has worked at a large public sector organisation as a public affairs officer since 2005. She was elected to serve as a Redlands councillor in 2006. She is now the Lib Dem Group Deputy Leader and the Chair of the Housing and Health ...
A rare event happened yesterday. The Tory candidate from Tunbridge Wells was spotted in Blaydon constituency. And the person who saw him was none other than our own candidate Neil Bradbury. Neil was going into our office in Whickham at the time. Quite how long the Tunbridge Tory was hanging around outside our office door is not known. Why he was outside our office is not know either. Perhaps he
I was surprised to see, driving up Northdown Road, Stephen Ladyman, glaring from Labours office, I knew that the boundary had changed but now find myself surrounded by South Thanet. Fortunately I'm in an enclave which is still North Thanet. Anyhow I'll vote Liberal Democrat since I believe they represent traditional of values of equality, decency and fair play unlike Labour and the Conservatives who look after their own, which these days happens to be bankers businessmen and public sector. For more information Michael Child has a map of the new Thanet South click here.
I went over to Walthamstow to help Dad with his r-election campaign. We were out and about speaking with residents in Highamm Hill ward.During the morning the 'outs' won. The residents I did speak to were quite disillusioned with politics. And who can blame them? There are lots of hardworking politicians out there, and without sounding too bias, my dad is included in that. But there are many who
I've been amused to see the rush-to-rubbish Vince Cable today among some right-wing bloggers following his appearance on BBC1's The Politics Show. Iain Dale (but of course) was first up to tweet: "Well done Jon Sopel for finally exposing Vince Cable as the overrated flipflopper that he is." He was soon followed by ConservativeHome's Tim Montgomerie, and Wall Street Journal's Iain Martin, who has a pet-obsession with Vince's popularity. Having missed the show at lunchtime, I sat down nervously to catch up on iPlayer (Vince's inteview begins about 3 minutes in) fully expecting him to be eviscerated by Jon Sopel. ...
Yesterday (Saturday) saw Nick Clegg visit the Sage, Gateshead in the latest in his ongoing series of 'Town Hall' events to meet the people. Fortunately, both my wife (a floating voter) and I were free so, along with many others, we went to hear what he had to say. As might be expected it was a generally ...
Today I finally got out and did my first piece of proper conversing for the party, I was lucky enough to go around with Two of the local Council candidates (Ghazala Hayat and Kerry Williams) and the Local MP Ed Davey, it was really good to get some advice from experienced candidates. Anyway I though it might ...
From my good friend Nich. About the Tory policy which is an insult to married people. And to quite a lot of unmarried people to. Well done Nich.
Joan Ruddock didn't vote in four of the six key Parliamentary votes on going to war in Iraq used by the independent Public Whip website (which sorts and reformats the official Parliamentary voting records) to analyse MPs' voting records on the war. So how do you think Joan Ruddock describes this two-thirds absent record in a target letter to voters? This is how: I have always acted with integrity and stuck to my principles – voting against the government going to war in Iraq. As local Liberal Democrat blogger Max puts it: So, I don't think she's being straight at ...
My readers will know that I don't believe what I read in the press. I find some papers are too biased and full of half truths. Heres two examples Todays News of the World 2nd page has a Story headline 'Luxury Lags get PS3 Perk' on page two Now have a look at the photo. Thats not a PS3 controller the so called jailbird has. Its a PS1 controller. These are worth almost nothing now (selling for 99pence on ebay). If you are going to claim that half are allowed Playstations PS3 at least show the prisoner with the right ...
A planning application has finally been submitted for the fomer Gospel Oak public house on Gospel Lane. The application (number 2010/01619/PA) would involve the retention of the old pub building which would converted into two commercial units - one of 5,149 sq ft (for retail A1 use) and one of 1,325 sq ft (for a hot food takeaway). These units would take up the ground floor of the building, while the top floor would be converted into flats. 5 new mews houses would also be built on the site, accessed from a new private drive coming off Gospel Lane, between ...
I've listed below those constituency profiles for Luton South provided on the web by the main news organisations. They all provide the basic information and each has a different set of features. Sky News has a very useful feed of news from a wide range of online sources. But I think the BBC has the best description of the constituency; "As in neighbouring Luton North, the Labour majority was considerably reduced in 2005. Margaret Moran's vote fell by 12.5% but as across much of the country, it was the Liberal Democrats who benefited most." Luton South profiles: BBC constituency profile ...
The second episode of the new 'Dr Who' aired last night. 'The Beast Below' took the Doctor and his new assistant, Amy Pond, to England, England as a spaceship that is. The essence of the country had been put together and taken up in space as Earth finally became extinct. Except all is not well, which is what one would expect as this is 'Dr Who' and if everything was okay it would all be rather boring. To save humanity, the leaders have done a terrible thing but they have set up a get out clause. Every five years the ...
This week saw the return of Charlotte Gore to blogging. If you haven't read Charlotte before do so now before she decides to stop again. Her posts are exceptionally well written, pointed and funny. She is a breath of fresh independent thinking among party political blogs that say exactly what you expect they will say. Charlotte is a libertarian but even if you don't agree with you will always be stimulated by her sharp point of view. She is back for now, hurrah!
Second of three Sandy Posey hits!
The 2010 general election is meant to be the 'social media' election. We shall see if it really but already Twitter has taken one scalp. Fast forward to 2014 or 2015 and we may see a very different type of campaigning. By then more people in the UK will be connected to the web via mobile telephony. Smart political parties will develop communication messages and tools that will persuade and influence and be far cheaper than the cost of billboards etc. There will be a huge opportunity for the party, especially the smaller ones, who take advantage of these technological ...
There has always been a fear that governments will attempt to regulate the Internet so much that it will stop being the free flowing information system that it is. This would have implications for freedom of speech, political campaigning and business. The Digital Economy Bill could be the beginning of just that. I have suggested in previous posts that the Internet is the place that allows free association and the development of communities in ways that by-pass the State. If our societies have been based on our means of production, with industrial production meaning mass politics and mass economics, then ...
Under the Conservative tax plans, what happens if someone walks out on an abusive partner and separates from them? Or if someone has an adulterous partner walk out on them? In both cases, the tax man will coming knocking saying, "Terribly sorry, but I'd like some more money from you now". It's a bizarre topsy turvy situation to end up in where you get asked for more money by the state for leaving an abusive partner behind - which is one reason why I think the Conservative Party's proposals to do just that are highly vulnerable to attack. I see ...
John Barnett, Liberal Democrat candidate for Dundee West, attended the adoption meeting of Sir Menzies Campbell, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, last Friday. The adoption meeting took place in our neighbouring North East Fife constituency and, before a weekend of campaigning in Dundee West, John spent time campaigning in St Andrews with Sir Menzies. Here is John pictured with Sir Menzies Campbell MP and Iain Smith MSP.
This week, leaders of some of the UK's biggest businesses came out in support of George Osborne's plans to reverse Labour's proposed National Insurance rise. In a letter to the Telegraph, they argue that the reversal, to be funded by an extra £6 billion's worth of efficiency savings, is needed to protect jobs keep Britain's economic recovery on track. 38 Degrees has launched a campaign to persuade these business leaders to change their minds. We're concerned that their outcry might have less to do with concerns about job-losses, and more to do with the effect that the increases in their ...
Word reaches me from the East Riding, where a by-election is planned for the 6th May. This is a seat that the Tories took off the Lib Dems in 2007 so you would have thought they would make an organised attempt to defend the seat. Unfortunately for the Tories they missed the deadline for the nomination forms to be returned to the Council. This leaves former Lib Dem Councillor, Fred Smith, in a two horse race with Labour for the ward. - I would not like to be the Tory campaign organiser this weekend!
Yes, I am sure I could have done better, but this has taken me hours to do. Enjoy, share, pass it on to others please. It certainly highlight the unfairness of the Tories plans and the Lib Dems simple alternative.
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free website, LDV Co-Editor Mark Pack explains why 'uniform national swing' probably won't help to predict the election result. Here's an excerpt: ... UNS predictions based on the correct vote shares are far from perfect. In the last three general elections, UNS predicted the Conservatives would get 42 seats more than they did (1997), 15 more (2001) and 13 less (2005). For Labour UNS predicted 23 too few (1997), 10 too few (2001) and 14 too many (2005). For the Liberal Democrats it was 18 too few (1997), 5 too few (2001) and spot ...
[IMG: Richard Cheney] All, I've just been visiting the French Market held in Shipston today with Cllr. Richard Cheney (pictured). The event seems to have been a complete success (even if I couldn't afford all of the produce!) - with queues of people earlier on for the breads and cheeses. Even later in the day there were still turning up - many of whom came from outside of Shipston and wouldn't normally shop here on a Sunday. Several businesses opened up for the day, or part of it - and those that I talked to reported the good trading figures, ...
The liberal Democrats have announced they will fight the General Election to make Britain a fairer place.Councillor Ann Haigh who is fighting to become Epping Forest next MP, has set out her campaign priorities.Ann Haigh said 'I am going into the election with a clear direction and manifesto that is short, direct and to the point.The Liberal Democrats would implement fairer taxes.There will be 4 million people taken out of tax all together and tax cuts of £700 through closing loop holes for the richest.Liberal Democrats of Epping forest proposed a tax freeze when next years district council tax was ...
[IMG: Hexham flowers] I have been campaigning with my ward colleagues Glenn Goodall and Kirsten Bayes for the past four years to get Hexham Road estate the attention it deserves from Reading Borough Council - to improve the quality of the local environment for residents. On the back of the campaigning the Lib Dems did after years of neglect by Labour the Council agreed to invest in improving the estate. One of the things the Council agreed to do last year was to plant new trees and flowers. The Council's recently published Tree Strategy identified South Reading as one of the areas with the ...
I wake up from my lover's bed, unaware of what was happening within the streets of political London. I even made it into a shop to buy the morning Independent, and then home to watch the news- still unaware of what was happening. Until I saw footage of old Queen Bess arriving upon the grounds ...
Conservative MP for Romford Andrew Rosindell has again raised doubts about his team's tactics and ability to run a joined-up campaign. In March, Left Foot Forward asked Did Rosindell deliver the leaflets he denies approving? – leaflets which included alarmist comments about immigration. Now the Romford Recorder reports: Romford's Tory parliamentary candidate, and sitting MP, has been breaking the rules while canvassing for the May 6 election, says a political opponent. Andrew Rosindell was accused of fly-posting in Havering-atte-Bower – pinning election posters and placards to trees on the highway without permission – and parking unauthorised with two wheels on ...
It's obviously incredibly couragous of me (in the suicidal Yes, Minister sense) to stick my head above the parapet with anything that looks like a public prediction of the outcome of this election. But here are a few things that I think aren't being included in the debates – specifically, some reasons why (despite the predictions ...
Sun 11th
15:06
The economy is a big issue - yet the politicians are squabbling within the margins for error.
Those of you who follow this blog will have waded through 000's of words on the National Insurance cut, and the efficiency savings (I won't bother linking). What I failed to say early enough was that this is chickenfeed compared to the issues at stake. Consider: the row about an NI threshold change ...
Today is a day off for me - recharge batteries both physical and camera, clean sensor (dammit) and so on. But have just noticed a pic of the Clegg's in action taken by Reuters in Sheffield yesterday. It seems to feature a certain Lanson councillor (see three quarters of the way down).
Tory blogger Iain Dale has given his readers a sneak preview of UKIP's election poster, which, one has to admit, cheekily captures the mood of disenchantment with politicians that can be found amongst voters (and non voters) of every social stratum in Britain. It also has the merit of being funny, which most political propaganda ...
Thorne Godinho is a member of the Democratic Alliance, the Lib Dems' sister party in South Africa. Since 1997 the United Kingdom has brought in new laws that many fascists would wholeheartedly admire. Civil liberties, individual freedoms, personal autonomy and private property rights are ignored by the Labour-run government - who would rather pursue their idea of a better society, than a free one. Tony Blair's dynamic leadership, coupled with the more centrist vision of his party, won New Labour the election in 1997; but 13 years of Labour rule has shown that the former socialist party is still essentially ...
The Observer has a story today saying that Henry Angest, one of the Conservatives' biggest financial backers is: a publicity-shy Swiss-born banker who funds a network of obscure eurosceptic groups, including one run by the leader of the UK Independence Party.Commenting on this, and winning our award, Lord Oakeshott says: "David Cameron must stop taking donations in dark glasses."No wonder Lord Bonkers calls him "Knuckles" Oakeshott.
When I was scanning the blogs and online headlines this morning, as I do every day, I saw Jeff Breslin over at SNP Tactical Voting had done a good post about this with a link to the story in The Times and I was so angry after reading it, I could not actually write this blog post until now. The Labour Party have done a mailing to around 250,000 women, many appear to be cancer victims or who have only recently had scans for various forms of cancer reading all of the different newspaper stories covering this. Labour have strongly ...
Spotted in a disabled parking bay. Well, it is the one nearest the road, so all the passers-by will get to admire his posters.
I'm a little behind with these ABC posts. Even not counting the various Doctor Who related books I read in February, which I'm not going to blog about because I've submitted a story to Big Finish's Short Trips (the series many of those books were in) and so don't think it ethical to review them, ...
Gareth Epps is the Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Reading East which covers the majority of Reading University campus. Background Gareth lives near the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the heart of Reading. He works for a major infrastructure project, specialising in community consultation. He worked for the Liberal Democrats and then as a freelance for six years before joining a Reading-based public relations company in 2002. He formerly served on the Executive of Reading Council for Racial Equality. Gareth first joined the Liberal Democrats in 1992 and became active as a response to the then Conservative Government's attacks on civil ...
Pushed for time, but want to keep up-to-date with how the campaign's going? Here are today's must-reads .... Nick Clegg launches policies for families (Lib Dems) As the Tories launched their tax-war on widows, working couples and jilted wives, Nick Clegg was spelling out his priority: "We will cut taxes for all working families on low and middle incomes, not just a select few." Launching the party's policies for families – focusing on fair taxes, high-quality child-care, flexible working, care for older people, and affordable homes – Nick commented: Modern families come in all shapes and sizes. One-size fits all ...
... is Gaby Hinliff's for The Observer. Her piece gives a nice overview, looks in some detail at various areas and make some good judgements: All three mainstream parties are adopting similar techniques, but with very different aims. For the Tories, the main challenge is to persuade nervous floating voters. They want to employ social media to "normalise" the idea of voting Conservative and reduce any stigma by showing that people who seem like you back David Cameron. For Labour, it's all about motivating existing support: it uses social media to organise activists, build camaraderie, and bash the opposition. The ...
The Lib Dems have announced a full slate of candidates for the local elections held on Thursday May 6th. More than half the candidates are women and 3 are former Labour Party members. Alex Kirke former Conservative Society President at Reading University is standing for the Lib Dems in Park ward. He said, "I was inspired by the Liberal Democrats' message of fair taxes, clean government, and a decent start for every child. Reading needs a real change, and I know that the Conservatives simply have nothing new to offer". The full list of candidates is: Abbey – Jane Marsden ...
Andrew Adonis wrote an opinion piece for The Independent a couple of days ago in which he claimed that it is "madness" for the centre-left vote to be split between the Lib-Dems and Labour. He suggests: The Lib Dems have no realistic chance to implement their programme without a Labour government. In Labour-Tory marginals, a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote which helps the Tories against progressive policies. And in Labour-Lib Dem marginals every Labour MP returned is a seat in the Commons more likely to put Labour ahead of the Tories and therefore better placed to form ...
It was very encouraging to watch Martin Tod, LD candidate for Winchester, on the BBC's Politics Show today proving himself to be significantly better briefed than his Conservative or Labour opponents when debating with young people. What most impressed me during the discussion was that Martin repeated the simple message that we will reduce taxes for all people on average incomes, including young people, which crucially will give them more control over their own finances rather than having to rely on state handouts. He also made the excellent point that a fair voting system would be a major assault on ...
I had a soft spot for Clare in the 1980s, especially her campaign against the offensive, exploitative, and sexist topless "Page 3" girls [!]. Her assessment of today's parliament is profoundly depressing, "It's in very bad shape... I think a hung Parliament would be terribly good for us because it would bring some power back to the chamber". So now you have it, to bring power back to parliament, vote Lib Dem.
I feel a bit churlish bringing this up now as we seem to have been playing a blinder recently but I'm still bugged by THAT slogan. When I first got the email two months ago from the Director of Election Communications revealing the new slogan and branding I though it was some kind of joke. And when we were asked to use it as "widely as possible in campaign material and elsewhere", my immediate response was "not if I've got anything to do with it". I had a look around LibDemBlogs but didn't see the anger/disappointment I expected to see. ...
The manifesto for the City Council elections on 6th May (the same date as the General Election) has now been published and is accessible either here (or here as a PDF). Liberal Democrats - providing a fair deal for Cambridge
We are well into the swing of canvassing now. It has always been the tradition in these parts to start evening canvassing when the clocks go forward. Long experience has taught us that with our team we can knock on every door between then and polling day. We are greatly assisted by our delivery network which means that volunteers get the leaflets delivered leaving the canvassers free to knock on doors. This year we began even earlier-in fact we have not really 'knocked off' since last May. All through the Autumn we managed a few sessions each week and kept ...
Since the World Cup of 1966 there has been a number of occasions for the British to hear the first lines of the former German national anthem: "Deutschland über alles. Über alles in der Welt" ("Germany above all, above all in the world"). Should a new line been added in the wake of the recent Greek crisis, and in the wait for the next one? Then it would go as "German above Europe". As the third major country in the EU, with France and Germany, the UK opinion and leaders should pay heed, even if this distracts a bit from ...
Three new polls today: ICM in the Sunday Telegraph ... CON 38%(+1), LAB 30%(-3), LIB DEM 21%(nc) YouGov in the Sunday Times ... CON 40%(nc), LAB 32%(+2), LIB DEM 18%(-2) ComRes in the Independent on Sunday/Sunday Mirror ... CON 39%(+2), LAB 32%(+2), LIB DEM 16%(-4) (There is also a poll in the Mail on Sunday – but, as it's by the dubious BPIX, we're not giving it house-room here on LDV). There is for the first time in this campaign a small shift in Anthony Wells' UK Polling Report 'poll of polls', with the Tories nudging up 1%, and Lib ...
We all know that spending needs to be cut back sooner or later. Above all else decisions about what to cut must be governed by fairness and it is only fair that obvious waste is eliminated as well and as quickly as possible. So, that said, do we really need to spend taxpayers' money on Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs-branded T-shirts? £475 was spent on them 2005, then another £475 in 2006 and finally £497.50 last year. Not just T-shirts though. We had £435 spent on DEFRA-branded toothbrush travel sets in 2006. £5,370 spent on DEFRA mugs over ...
I've been kind of busy since the Digital Economy Bill was discussed and sadly passed in Parliament during the week. Readers may remember that I stressed my concerns, and those of a number of constituents who had written to me about the various clauses in the Bill. On the day of the rushed committee stage of the bill many amendments were raised, spoken about and then withdrawn by the proposers purely as an expediency of time. That was the shameful way in which this complex bill was rushed through the elected house. If there had been sufficient times these amendments ...
Dear David It's barely 3 months since your last episode of Doctor Who when, in common with many others, I said it would take me a good couple of years to get used to anyone else in the role you played so supremely well. I was always going to give the lad a chance because my grudge against Peter Davison for the heinous crime of not being Tom Baker hurt nobody but me. I do feel just a wee bit guilty that within 2 episodes, the new TARDIS team has completely enchanted me. Apart from the first few bars of ...
The first Tory leaflet of the campaign has just been delivered by a little old lady in a hat and dark glasses. Perhaps she didn't want to be recognised.
So, you commission a poll from ComRes. It shows a Conservative lead of 7%. Just like the previous ComRes poll. So what headline do you put on the story? Why "Tory lead cut to just 7 points" of course. Take a bow, Sunday Mirror who seems to be following in the footsteps of the Daily Mirror.
So the boy George says the Conservative Party has changed over the last four years (in a Times article, get it while you can, fifteenth paragraph). It's such a pity that the party and its supporters keep reminding us that it hasn't. Today the star turn is Henry Angest, who donates millions to the Conservatives - £7 million in donations and loans in the last nine years, including a £5 million loan last November which helps to bankroll this election fight (not that Dave needs it with all the free flights he gets from his rich mates). Meanwhile Mr Angest ...
Six months ago Lib Dem Voice featured Mrs Christine Roberts, a Tory councillor in the Cotswolds who landed herself in hot water after publicly labelling her Lib Dem opponents "morons", and then refusing to apologise. Well, it turns out this wasn't the first time she'd made gratutiously insults – only on the other occasions it was her residents who complained of her behaviour. The local paper reports: FORMER Fairford mayor Chris Roberts has been found guilty of breaching the councillors code of conduct following her involvement in the Village Green saga. ... Fairford Environmental Societ members Suzanne Jones and Mark ...
Interesting article in the Sunday Times, who reveal that Labour is facing a mass revolt from its own parliamentary candidates desperate not to lose their seats over impending plans to raise university tuition fees. They say that nearly 200 candidates, just under a third of those standing, have signed up to a petition organised by the National Union of Students opposing any increase in the current £3,220 tuition fee limit. The Labour rebels are led by six former ministers, a serving government whip and the parliamentary private secretary to David Lammy, the universities minister. It seems that nearly half the ...
The BBC report that peanuts are expected to be used as bait to trap badgers as part of a plan to cull them in North Pembrokeshire. The animals are known to like peanuts and they are commonly used to encourage badgers into people's gardens. However, the cost of carrying out the cull is far from peanuts. A response to a written question I tabled reveals that the Welsh Government will be spending £9.427m on this exercise, even though all the scientific evidence points to the cull being ineffective. Included in the cost is the provision of extra police officers for ...
We are now making much better use of the shopfront. (Unfortunately, the man upstairs does not share our politics.)
The Tories launched their plans to give 4 million married couples and civil partners an annual tax break of £150, funded by a banking levy. Nick Clegg attacked the plans as 'patronising drivel'. Most married people would not benefit from this policy. Instead, it would only reward married couples where only one partner is working and they are earning under £44,000.
Plans for tax breaks for married couples are in the news again as the latest Conservative push for votes. The Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, has decried this proposal as 'Edwardian' and rightly so. As a married man with small children I would - like everyone else in my situation - welcome any tax cut but I can also recognise that we are not living in the world of Dixon of Dock Green with old ladies cycling to church and cricket on the green, as a Tory leader of yore famously put it. The simple truth is that society is ...
I have written a piece on Funding local government: common problems, radical solutions on the Wales Home website. Read it here.
The government have recently published the proposed route of High Speed 2, a new rail service they propose will reduce journey times from London to Birmingham and beyond. The proposed route runs from London Euston and will see the creation of a new tunnel running under Primrose Hill village. Construction would not start until 2019 ...
Welsh Liberal Democrat Local Government Spokesperson, Peter Black has an article on funding local councils over at Wales Home. Go over and have a read.
Blimey, I always viewed the current crop of Tories as a lightweight bunch of chancers, and a quick visit to the Conservatives website does nothing to change that idea, as the front page is dominated by Mrs Cameron who as far as I know is no more a politician than my own Mrs Me. Also heavy weight Michael Caine is featured on the site's front page, whom appeared to be somewhat less than clear with his political endorsement earlier this last week.
Ever since I became involved in politics I have always been surprised at the number of people that say "I'm voting for so and so because my partner told me thats who we are voting for". Someone I know was marched down to the polling station by their mum telling them to vote Labour. The first time they didn't was during the London Mayor elections. Recently her mum said to her are "you voting Labour". "No" was the reply "there are two other parties and many other smaller parties too, I'm not voting Labour ever again!". Her mum replied "but ...
Caron writing about football? Has the world gone completely mad? Whilst I am fiercely loyal to the wonderful Inverness Caledonian Thistle, I don't feel I have to watch football very often. When it comes to the World Cup, the truth is if Scotland isn't playing, I don't really care who wins. If Scotland were playing I'd not care that much more to be honest. I was thrilled to see Caley's northern rival Ross County beat Celtic yesterday though. I am quite well disposed towards the Glasgow team but it has a bit of a blind spot where plucky highland teams ...
People often wonder why the Liberal Democrats are opposed to having large centralised databases containing every piece of information about you that you may have once mentioned. However today's Sunday Times leads with this story: Labour hit by cancer leaflet row LABOUR has become embroiled in a row about the use of personal data after sending cancer patients alarmist mailshots saying their lives could be at risk under a Conservative government. Cards addressed to sufferers by name warn that a Labour guarantee to see a cancer specialist within two weeks would be scrapped by the Tories. Labour claims the Conservatives ...
It's Sunday. It's 9am. It's time for some Monty Python, but first the news. 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Labour's totally contradictory messages – in the same leaflet! Jonathan Wallace highlights the Labour leaflet that contradicts itself on successive pages Question Time Woking - Did I tell you I was there? [IMG: ;-)] Lisa Harding tells the tale Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren't on the aggregator? Do post up a comment ...
The taxpayer has shelled out over £4 for every visit to a website promoting ID cards to the general public. The website (see HERE) tells people how great ID cards are, but information released recently to Parliament reveals that the cost developing the website was £8,348 with a further £15,219 spent on five YouTube videos that are on there. That's a total of £23,566. But it has only been looked at by a little over 5,301 people. Dividing 23,566 by 5,301, it comes out as £4.45 per visitor. Money well spent, not. UPDATE (11.04.2010): And thanks to Daisy Cooper, Lib ...
So, Doctor Who: "Your Government is condoning torture in your name, and every five years you ignore it because the alternative seems worse. Time you looked for a third option." Nope, sorry, can't think how that relates to current events at all... This entry was cross-posted from Dreamwidth, where there are currently [IMG: comment count unavailable] comment(s). View DW comment(s).
Why do I always forget, after all these years, that I need to wear a hat the first day the sun shines each year? Sadly, I'm not convinced my long-serving blue floppy Durham County Cricket Club hat (with the built-in headphones to receive Test Match Special) is quite what the good people of Darlington expect to see on their Lib Dem candidate standing on their doorstep.
One of the hardest fought election campaigns is going to be in Swansea West, where the Liberal Democrats are pressing very hard to take the seat. The incumbent Labour Party have a new candidate in Geraint Davies, the former MP for Croydon Central whose main claim to fame was that he had the highest expenses of any MP in the year he lost his seat, in marked contrast to previous years. Mr. Davies has a campaigning website, which to be fair, is the only significant on-line presence that Labour has in Swansea. Much of the content is the usual misleading ...
Sean O'Grady asked a question I had wanted to blog about for a while: which sort of growth figures best suit the Labour case? Given that their policies are based on the idea that Britain's recovery is still fragile – and liable to be upset by a government spending retrenchment, as Keynesian effects swamp the ...
It's late so I will just point you to Tory blogger "The Daily Referendum" who has all the overnight opinion polls. They all seem to have Lib Dems in the 16-21% range that we have been in for several weeks now, and little change for the others too.
It had ( Spolier! ) in it! And ( Spolier! ) was the ( Spolier! )! And... and... Oh, look, I've completely lost my reason. It was flawed, yes, but it was proper Doctor Who, and last week wasn't just a fluke, and I am SO happy that I have my show back. And next week ( Spolier! ) is going to be ( Spolier! )! How cool is that? YAY! A more reasoned review may follow when I watch it again. Which I will. I want to watch it again! This is the first time this has happened since ...
Earlier this week Dave Cameron claimed that we have "a budget deficit bigger than Greece". However, figures produced by the OECD shows Greece's deficit for 2009 was 12.7% of GDP, wherea it put the UK deficit at a 12.6%. Close but no ...
I have comemnted a few times on the trials and tribulations of former Labour turned Independent councillor Colin Willetts in Cray Valley West. Well news is out the Councillor Willetts is now Mr Willetts after Standards for England gave him a one year ban from office over emails abusing and bullying Bromley Council staff. I am not a fan of Standards for England, but they got this one right. I
[IMG: Nick-Clegg-001] The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was in Gateshead today for one of his 'town hall debates' where he attempts to answer questions from the public. Happily, this was broadcast on the BBC News website as part of their Election 2010 live coverage, so I was able to watch the whole thing in glorious Technicolor. I'm now going to attempt to summarise what I saw, several hours after the event and only relying on my untrustworthy memory. The first question was on the possibility of a coalition. The questioner didn't seem to be a Lib Dem voter judging ...
The Conservative candidate is back in the news again this week, even if it is his own half-page advert and his own letter. I have written recently that he complained to me last year that he could not get into the newspapers. Well it is easy if you have the money. All you have to do is buy the advert. The wonderful thing about blogs is that they don't cost anything any you are the editor. So today I will deal with his advert. I am writing this on Thursday and the advert was in yesterday's Morecambe Visitor As a ...
