* Following concerns from residents about flooding at the Seymour Street/Perth Road junction, I reported this to both Scottish Water and the City Council. The City Council has responded as follows : "The area inspector for Seymour Street has checked the complaint about the flow of water at the Perth Road/Seymour Street junction and has been unable to ascertain the cause of the water overflowing the footway. Scottish Water is to be notified of the problem as the source may be from their apparatus." * I recently reported the damaged street sign at Hillside Place. I have received the following ...
If ever I'm asked why I think hipsters are wankers, Watertown is exhibit one. Watertown is an album whose good qualities are absolutely self-evident. Anyone with ears – and I do mean anyone – would have to admit this is a very good album. In terms of thematic unity, quality, and feel, this site easily with ...
I do not know if there is a term of being overwhelmed by manifesto launches, but today we have had manifestoes from UKIP Conservatives Scottish Socialists Plaid Cymru and Communists which should take a few days to read (which is a shame as the Lib Dems announce theirs tomorrow, the Greens on Friday and I expect the SNP to launch theirs early next week) but one thing is becoming clear. The idea of a hung parliament (with no one party in control) is clearly gaining popular approval as a poll in the Times shows that 32% of voters would like ...
After a dose of leafletting this evening, I returned home for a politics free evening. Or rather, I returned home for a sci-fi evening. The remake of V is on the Sci-Fi channel. I'm writing this during a commercial break!---Sent via BlackBerry
Date Pollster Con Lab Lib Dem Others Lead April 13, 2010 Angus Reid 38% 28% 22% 12% -10% April 13, 2010 Populus 36% 33% 21% 10% -3% April 13, 2010 YouGov 39% 31% 20% 10% -8% April 13, 2010 ComRes 36% 31% 19% 14% -5% Average: Con 37% Lab 31% Lib Dem 21% Others 12% Forecast House of Commons (on uniform national swing) Conservatives 286 seats (+76 seats) Labour 275 seats (-74 seats) Liberal Democrats 56 seats (-6 seats) Others 33 seats (+4 seats) Hung Parliament (Conservatives short by 40 seats)
Gordon Brown (Labour) There is a complete hole at the centre of the Conservative manifesto(Source: BBC News) David Cameron (Conservative) The Labour way assumes that only big government can solve our problems(Source: Conservatives.com) Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat) Only Liberal Democrats have the big ideas for fundamental, structural changes in the way our country works to make it fair(Source: BBC News)
Since I wrote a few days ago about "The Big Society", being the Conservative party policy of that name, I have seen more information about "The Big Society Network", which, although launched on the same day, and with a speech by David Cameron just around the corner from the policy launch, is supposedly a completely separate entity that intends to go ahead and develop regardless of who wins the election. Now there can be no doubt that the Network's visionaries and founders, Executive Chairman Nat Wei and CEO Paul Twivy, are undoubtedly amongst the great successes of our social entrepreneurial ...
It would appear, that just days into the election campaign, Elfyn Llwyd has already downplayed the Plaid Cymrus' chances of getting its "balanced parliament" goals achieved. Speaking on Radio Wales, Mr Llwyd is reported to have stated that: "These are ifs and buts. I've no idea what it's going to be. Do we know for ...
Mount Hermon West is one of the wards in Woking that is having borough elections in this round of elections on May 6th. Its going to be a hotly contested seat but the web posting activity of the conservative candidate have left a rather bad taste in my mouth this evening. Now before anyone wants ...
I once wrote about Camley Street Natural Park for the New Statesman website. Now an email arrives from the London Wildlife Trust about the celebrations for the park's 25th anniversary on 24 and 25 April: LWT will be hosting a weekend packed full of Family Fun and activities including walks, talks and workshops, as well as plant stalls, live music and a pedal powered cinema. We would love to welcome all of our supporters and the capital's residents to help us to celebrate the work of Camley Street over the last 25 years, and to find out more about the ...
Today, David Cameron launched the Conservative party manifesto. I have only read summaries of it but it appears to contain a blend of One-Nation Toryism, elements of Whig philosophy, some Red Toryism mixed with Jesse Norman's belief in co-operatives. The big idea though can be summed up as you and me. Cameron is saying it is all about people and it is for people to take control of their lives. To put it another way: how many people does it take to change a light bulb? The whole country but they have to do it voluntarily. Most Conservatives seem quite ...
Tomorrow is the launch of the Liberal Democrat general election manifesto, but you can see the main policies trailed in a post I've written over on Liberal Democrat Voice: Liberal Democrat manifesto: advance peek
The embargo on parts of the manifesto has been lifted and I can bring blog readers a first look at the cover and Nick Clegg's foreword. As expected, the manifesto concentrates on the four key themes of the election campaign: - Fair taxes, including the pledge to raise the tax threshold to £10,000 giving a £700 tax cut to most workers; - A fair chance for people through a radical overhaul of our education system - A fair future, creating jobs by making Britain greener - A fair deal, by cleaning up politics The manifesto deliberately does not have a ...
Tomorrow Nick Clegg is launching the Liberal Democrat manifesto, but tonight The Voice can give you an advance peek at what it will be saying. We'd like to report that this is due to our cunning radio controlled artificial pigeon which we have flown in to the roof of Cowley Street and used to point a webcam at the desk of the Director of Campaigns, but instead it's thanks to the more prosaic method of receiving email, reading it and then blogging. Ah well, next time. But back to the manifesto and let's start with the cover: [IMG: Liberal Democrat ...
A few weeks ago, Osborne justified the furthering of the existing postcode lottery as a consequence of the Tories' localist 'policies'. Whilst, as I said back then, this is passing the responsibility of the state to the community, Michael Grove is now counter claiming Osborne. Apparently, the Tories' 'localism' education policies are not going to ...
On Sunday, I was privileged to speak at an Extraordinary Meeting in support of Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung Suing Suu Kyi. Coincidentally, the meeting took place in my constituency of Hendon, so I was invited to represent the Liberal Democrats - the NLD are members of Liberal International, a connection they take extremely seriously. I spoke to the meeting, including reading a statement from my party's Shadow Foreign Secretary, Ed Davey. This meeting was held in protest at recent events surrounding Burma's upcoming elections, which could spell the end of the NLD as a ...
A development on the car seat front. Seems from a very quick straw poll of colleagues I am not alone thinking that car seat fitting is a kyrton factor skill. I am not alone. Perhaps there needs to be some sort of helpline supported by youtube videos? As one colleague says "you are never quite sure if the thing is actually fitted right...."
I have just made a posting on The Corridor with some snippets about cricket from various blogs. One of them has not previously appeared here on Liberal England. The Bureau of Sabotage is astounded to find a double-barrelled cricketer turning out for Yorkshire, but I quote an observation of his on football: I remember Plymouth Argyle's clogging centre-half Forbes Phillipson-Masters, who talked like Adge Cutler and who had his own terrace chant that started "Give us an 'F' - 'F'", "Give us an 'O' - 'O'" and went through all the letters of his name including "Give us a hyphen ...
My fourth querent is Captain Meg, aka Sideshow Meg. She lives in the newly created seat of Meon Valley, which is projected to be a Lib Dem/Tory marginal. I would say that anybody who doesn't want to vote Tory should vote Lib Dem in Meon Valley. If you DO want to vote Tory, then fill your boots, but if you lean Green or Labour, and don't like the blues, tactically we are your best bet. Meg's number one priority is healthcare, and you'll find a lot about that on the Meon Valley Lib Dems website, so I don't propose to ...
Tue 13th
20:58
2010 General Election Diary Day 8: What this country really needs right now is a Doctor
'But what were his policies? What did he stand for?' 'I don't know...he just seemed kind of nice.' Duh-duh-duh-dum. Yes, the Doctor Who tendency strikes again. After a Labour Party film with a voiceover by David Tennant directly references Jon Pertwee, the BBC headline the Conservative manifesto launch with the headline Saxon-esque Cameron 'to make Britain better'. ...
No campaigning today (ssshhh don't tell anyone) because I accompanied Dad to Brent. The Mayor of Brent was holding an event in aid of his charity, a tour of Wembley Stadium.Now being a Liverpool supporter in the 1980s I had on many occasions visited the old Wembley Stadium to watch Liverpool play, mostly in the Charity Shield game at the beginning of the session. Until today, I had not been
Here is where I stand on some issues of civil liberties. Apologies for the size of the image, press Ctrl and + if you need to make it bigger.
My third querent is [IMG: [personal profile] ] staceyuk, who lives in North East Cambrigeshire. On the face of it, with the majority that Malcolm Moss got last time, it's a very safe Tory seat, especially given the ascendency of the Tories at the moment. HOWEVER! Never underestimate the power of the personal vote. If you look at the last election results for my home seat, you'd reckon it for a Tory/Labour marginal. If Labour come higher than third this time in Calder Valley, I'll eat my dad's leather stetson. It's entirely possible that Malcolm Moss was a popular man. ...
LDV readers may have already seen Lib Dem candidate Linda Jack's advertising campaign video aimed at raising funds to unseat controversial Tory MP Nadine Dorries in Mid-Bedfordshire. Launched today, Linda's ad will appear on leading political blogs and web sites to raise funds, as well as those searching for Nadine Dorries on Google. (Also available to view here). Here's what Linda has to say about her campaign: I am delighted with this great opportunity to raise funds for my campaign. The people of Mid Beds are fed up with a publicity seeking MP who cares more about appearing in the ...
... in the space of a few months, it's a pretty big clue that the party believes it has a strong chance of winning – and almost certainly has polling or canvass data analysis to back it up. I'm thinking of Nick Clegg and Luton South. And why am I thinking of Luton South? Because of today's Times which, apart from a most excellent page 16, made rather a misjudgement in reporting on Luton South and not mentioning Liberal Democrat candidate Qurban Hussain even once. PS Michael Crick has been wondering why "in four leaflets the Lib Dem Qurban Hussain ...
I have heard back from the Council and they have agreed with my request for the advertisements for planning applications in the Launceston and Bude areas to be extended to the Cornish and Devon Post. Previously, the Council had decided only to advertise these applications in the Cornish Guardian. Good as the Guardian is, it lags far behind the Cornish and Devon in readership in the Launceston area and so my concern was that many people would not see planning applications that might affect them and their neighbourhoods. Many thanks to Cornwall Council for listening.
Leaflet, leaflet leaflet. Music music music. E mail, e mail, e mail. One of the big challenges of being a Council Leader on the campaign trail is keeping on top of everything going on back at the Guildhall. At this time of year I am heavily reliant on my blackberry to keep track of issues. Although a part of my day was spent in the Guildhall today (don't tell the campaign team) e mails on the go have been the order of the day. Quite frankly, I am not sure how Council leaders coped in the days before mobile technology ...
[IMG: Lee Green 4] Those of you who've received our latest FOCUS leaflet will know that I'm not standing for re-election at the local elections which take place on May 6th. However, I'm really pleased that there's a strong local Lib Dem team ready to fight for our area and continue the work Paul, Sven and I have started. Paul is also taking this opportunity to stand down, but Sven is re-standing, and will be joined by Jim Caple – who's been editing our local FOCUS newsletters – and Pauline Beck, who is a former chair of the Leybridge Tenants ...
Tue 13th
20:10
The debate over immigration should not be deemed pernicious, but healthy for a democracy.
For some weird reason many think political correctness prevents the British public from having an intelligent debate and being able to speak freely about immigration. Many Liberals, not just politically think that if such a debate occurred then cries from the mob would be 'send them back' and 'pull up the draw bridge'- this of ...
There have been a couple of articles in the Herald newspaper recently on the "Project Prevention" charity, most recently this morning under the headline "Social workers urged to refer addicts for sterilisation." Barbara Harris, the Founder of the project - which hopes to pay addicts £200 each to go through a sterilisation procedure - appears to be motivated by a genuine concern for the wellbeing of children born with the same addiction as their mother and/or subjected to neglect and other abuse over the course of their childhood. On the face of it sterilisation would achieve some positive outcomes: ...
[IMG: 007] Believe it or not I was busy today, despite this photo. I was helping out a council candidate's campaign, and we took some time out to take her daughter to a local children's playground... I couldn't resist the temptation of some time on the swings. One has to indulge one's inner child from time to time. Today was more of the same: delivering leaflets and speaking with voters. The best doorstep moment today was a man who shouted to us inside a block of flats, demanding that someone speak to him. At first we thought he might have ...
Are you kidding? You even have to ask? The current MP in the seat is Emily Thornberry. What you need to know about her performance can be found on her wikipedia page. She won the seat by less than 500 votes in 2005, and second in the running was the awesome Bridget Fox. The tories were over 6,000 votes behind Bridget, and nobody else was even near to them. So it's a two horse race: Bridget, or the sitting MP. Now, my question here is a simple one: if you live in Islington South and Finsbury, how could you consider ...
My LDV Co-Editor Mark Pack has just posted up the party's official response to today's launch of the Tory manifesto. If that doesn't sate you, then here's Nick's verdict courtesy the BBC ... Clegg: 'You can't trust the Tories' – Nick Clegg has said the Conservatives cannot be trusted, after the Tory party launched its election manifesto "to change Britain for the better". ... and here's the party's full, detailed briefing document: Fake Change: the Lib Dem response to the Tory manifesto
[IMG: Philip Vial outside Stratford College] All, Last night at the Town Council meeting I proposed a motion to oppose the Conservative controlled County Council's plans to remove the transport subsidy for students in post 16 education. The plans mean that students who want to stay in education after 16 will no longer have their transport to Stratford or Warwick subsidised. For young people in Shipston and other rural areas which have schools without 6th forms, this will lead to parents having to find potentially unaffordable sums of money to help them to get the qualifications they need. Coach companies ...
Here's the party's line: The Conservative manifesto is a blueprint for fake change. It is a depressing and dishonest con with a massive spending black hole at its centre, threatening an inevitable hike in VAT. In the attached document, we detail where the Conservatives have failed to justify their promises, and why they should not be trusted with the keys to No. 10. Commenting, Nick Clegg's Chief of Staff, Danny Alexander said: "The truth is that you cannot trust the Conservatives. David Cameron simply believes it is his turn to take over in the same way the two old parties ...
I've received a letter from the Crown Estate today together with a glossy document which basically summarises all the objections they've had to their proposal to sell their housing estates in London, including their homes here in Lee Green. The document simply tells residents what they already know – that everyone with an ounce of sense is against their proposal! They tell us that their board will consider in coming weeks whether to proceed with the proposal. If they do so, and once they've selected a buyer, a further round of consultation will occur. There's no promise of a ballot ...
Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg was joined by Vince Cable on the campaign trail today as everything was themed around the subject of banking. First up was the morning press conference where Nick and Vince announced plans to limit bankers cash bonuses to £2500 and to stop banks which make a loss from paying bonuses at all. This adds to the Lib Dem plans to split the regular high street banking operations (savings, loans and mortgages etc) from the casino operations of the investment banks which contributed so much to the financial crisis. Then we boarded Fair Force One for ...
Tue 13th
19:30
Been out and about all over #chelmsford today and now heading to #roundtable AGM. Long meeting expec...
Been out and about all over #chelmsford today and now heading to #roundtable AGM. Long meeting expected!
[IMG: Manor Lane isn't a 30MPH zone...] Manor Lane must be one of the busiest roads through our area. Many residents will use it to reach the South Circular or to head down towards Lee High Road. It's also used as a rat-run by many motorists. Recently, some residents approached the local Lib Dem team, concerned that the various speed limit signs the Council has put in are contradictory. Sure enough, signs at the entrance to Manor Lane from the South Circular tell you you're entering a 20MPH zone – which you are. But drive up Manor Lane towards the ...
Another fantastic visit from Nick Clegg, following on from his great interview with Jeremy Paxman yesterday. Sure you would have seen news reports about Nick's visit. Will blog more later, off canvassing!
Daniel Finkelstein poses the question, based on the finding of an academic survey: The fact that polling stations are generally located in schools and other public buildings influences how people vote [in the US]. It makes proposals to protect school funding more potent. More in his post over on The Times.
Liberal Democrats' five point plan to tackle bankers' bonuses says Clegg Tue, 13 Apr 2010 The Liberal Democrats today set out radical new proposals to clamp down on bankers' bonuses. The five point plan will ensure the bonus system can never again encourage banks to behave in the way that led to the banking crisis. Under the Liberal Democrats, excessive cash bonuses will come to an end, there will be no bonuses for board members and there will be no rewards for failure. Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: "I want to see fundamental reform to Britain's banks. Only by ...
Cornwall Council has put out a press release today about the work on the signs and lines in Launceston. Work, it says, is underway to make the signs and lines legal and enforceable. There is no doubt that this work is very welcome. Around the town there are a number of short stay free parking spaces which should allow shoppers to pop into the shops. Too often, these are taken up by people who park there the whole day knowing that they will not be ticketed. The move will also make sure that loading bays are adequate for lorries making ...
In some parts of the country, there is a tradition of holding formal adoption meetings. It doesn't happen everywhere, but it offers the opportunity to press release the launch of the campaign, but also to rally the troops. In Brecon and Radnorshire, with two old Welsh counties within its boundaries, there is a natural, if friendly, rivalry, so this year, the Local Party decided to have two, one in Brecon for Brecknockshire, and one in Llandrindod Wells for Radnorshire. This meant retracing our steps somewhat, and we made our way to the Castle Hotel in Brecon for the first instalment ...
Last night's Paxman interview with Nick Clegg was one of the more interesting parts of the election so far. I say that not because I'm a Liberal Democrat, but simply because it was the first prime-time, national prominence (no one else has yet had 30 mins at 8:30pm in BBC1) any of the party leaders ...
Very interesting post on one of our favourite sites - completely independent and non party political which explains very clearly why Ed Fordham stands to win Hampstead and Kilburn and why the Conservatives are well behind! visit http://www.northwest6.net/
I have voted in every single election bar one since I turned 18 - my first vote was in 1987 for Bob Maclennan in Caithness and Sutherland. However, I will not be going to the polling station on May 6th. My vote for Charles Dundas is assured, though, and not just because he's a very nice man and one of my best friends. He stands for true fairness: raising the tax threshold to £10,000 making a big difference to those on lower incomes, a fair start for every child in school, building a fair and sustainable economy and cleaning up ...
Today I came across the "We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into Office!" and very quickly joined! As one of the people who joined the campaign to get rage against the machine to number one at christmas and a member of the Liberal Democrats it was not ...
Can you give me your opinion on this? Are these women the same person? First in this Conservative broadcast from November 2009 (at 1:02): And second in tonight's election broadcast (starting at 10 seconds in): she even has the same lovely blue coat (shown at 1:01 in tonights broadcast). In the first video she is at a CameronDirect event, an ordinary member of the public explaining why she is considering voting Conservative (Brown hasn't done very well, looking for a change) and in tonight's broadcast she has made the decision to go blue. Now this could be a great Tory ...
Summer is here; it's official. Yes, the cricket season is under way once again; and what a magnificent win for God's Own County in their opening match down at Birmingham! As so often these days, it was largely carried upon the broad shoulders of honorary Yorkshireman Jacques Rudolph, but there were many useful contributions across the board, notably from two Bradford players, Ajmal Shahzad and Jonathan "Son of Bluey" Bairstow, with the kind of innings his father would have been proud of. But what's this I see in the Warwickshire second innings? A five-for by a chap called Oliver Hannon-Dalby? ...
I just watched the Conservative election broadcast on BBC2 to coincide with their manifesto launch. Is it just me or did it contain no policies whatsoever? Extraordinary!
Here are the details of the debates the BBC is hosting between various Cabinet ministers and their shadows from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. All will be on the BBC's Daily Politics show on BBC2. Monday 19th April 2:15-3:00 The Foreign Affairs Debate. David Miliband for Labour, William Hague for the Conservatives and Ed Davey for the Lib Dems go head to head in live debate. Cross examined by Andrew Neil and BBC Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner. Tuesday 20th April 2:15-3:00 The Crime Debate. Alan Johnson for Labour, Chris Grayling for the Conservatives and Chris Huhne for the Lib Dems ...
So the Conservatives have launched their manifesto in an old clapped-out power station which has no power. To follow Nick Clegg's lead, it just sums up what the Conservative Party is really like.One policy that the Conservative Party has announced is a freeze in the Council Tax next year. Although this policy has been touted about for some time, it seems that the local Conservatives in Epping
Great fun on Sunday at Widemouth Bay. A police helipcopter was hovering round the beach and cliffs for a long time in the afternoon. There were four police cars in the beach car park and what looked like a CID lady "phoning in". It turned out that the police were reacting to a report of "body parts" on the beach. They had people in blue overalls forensically checking the area plus other staff minutely combing the beach. Then they got in the Bude lifeboat and a jet ski to check the shallow water. But something wasn't right here. Some people ...
Lembit sent us on our way with a gift, a faggot each. "Don't look at them, just eat them, they taste much better than they look!", he advised. We certainly needed the sustenance for the next leg of the journey. Anyone who knows mid-Wales will be familiar with two roads, the A470 and the A483, which link North Wales with Cardiff and Swansea respectively. They wind their way around the hills, occasionally joining together, passing through some incredibly pretty scenery. Quick, they aren't, but they have their compensations. Through Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells we passed, and onwards to Brecon, ...
Visit the campaign website for Zuffar Haq, Lib Dem PPC for Harborough. Or follow him on Twitter.
Tickets are selling fast for events in this year's Chipping Sodbury Festival, which runs from 11th to 20th June. Some of the most popular events are almost sold out already, so get your tickets now from Chipping Sodbury Tourist Information Centre at the Clock Tower, and from Farrago in Horse Street. For full details of the events check out the Chipping Sodbury Festival website!
Liberal Democrats promise a tax cut you can believe in Mon, 12 Apr 2010 The Liberal Democrats today set out their proposal for the most radical change in taxation for generations. The fairer tax policy will be at the heart of the party's manifesto for the General Election. Under the Liberal Democrats the income tax threshold would be raised to £10,000, meaning most taxpayers would see their income tax bills cut by £700. The move is paid for by clamping down on tax avoidance, closing tax loopholes for the wealthy, a 'mansion tax' on homes worth more than £2 million ...
The media loves nothing more than debating the prospects for a hung parliament, often implying that all sorts of let's-frighten-the-children style doom and destruction will result; the reality is that all parliaments are hung in a very real sense. To win an effective majority under our first-past-the-post system usually around requires about 40% of the vote depending on how it's ...
There seems to be an explosion of teachers who are standing for election in the Epping Forest district this year. Apart from my good self, Angela Cass and Ingrid Black are two more teachers who are trying to get elected as Liberal Democrat councillors.Elsewhere I believe at least five or six Green candidates are teachers as well as Stephen Murray, the ex-labour now independent councillor (who
In the second of three posts on election media I'll be taking a look at some of the websites outside the mainstream media that have been focusing upon the how and the why of which way the results might fall. While we're still some way from a so-called "internet election" there's no doubting that some of these sites have built a loyal and long-standing following, and there's no denying the wealth of knowledge in their field that some of the contributors bring. Of course, there's a lot of noise out there too but hopefully this will help to filter it ...
Having been directed to this ITV News report from Strange Thoughts, I was intrigued to to see the final shot of the film which was of Esther putting up one of her own campaign posters in a shop window. However in the pile of her posters behind her was clearly a Liberal Democrat poster for our candidate there, Qurban Hussain! Something fishy? Has Esther been "liberating" LibDem posters? To be fair, it is also possible that this is an example of TV fakery and they probably found a shop window which already has a LibDem poster in but took it ...
For the last couple of months, the Voice has been linking to the online campaign diary by Jamie Saddler, the 23 year-old Lib Dem candidate for Wirral South. His diary has been commissioned by Catch21, an organisation trying to get more young people interested in politics. The latest instalment has just gone live - here's an excerpt, as we catch up with Jamie in the midst of campaigning: There are two things making the difference on the doorstep for me though - honesty and fairness. If there's one thing the voters out there want it is for politicians to be ...
Conservative manifesto launched from the former Battersea Power Station; the one without any spark left. Hmmmm. Nice to see David Ward and some of my other friends on the national news today around Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg in Bradford.
Mmm, been a bit remiss on the intended daily blogging. First had a wedding in Italy to attend and then a general election seems to have been called! So been rather busy since I got back. But the latest fiasco with Westminster's mismanagement of its parking demands attention. I was appalled to see in the local ...
Another example of poor journalism in the reporting of the election in Luton South is the latest article from The Times; 'Make this general election Independents' Day, says Esther Rantzen'. The article is essentially a puff piece for Esther Rantzen without any realistic discussion of her chances in the seat. It mentions the Labour and Tory candidates and even Stephen Rhodes, but doesn't talk about the Liberal Democrats at all. I don't expect The Times to back the Liberal Democrats or declare we are set to win. I wouldn't mind if they said our chances were unlikely. But not to ...
The Conservative manifesto was launched today amid great fanfare. Apparently they want the entire British public to join the government. I'll be Home Secretary please Mr Cameron. There are various proposals in there some of which are good but plenty I am afraid which are full of holes. This one leapt out at me (from Page 75): ...we want to give individuals more direct control over how they are governed. So, mirroring our reforms at the national level, we will give residents the power to instigate local referendums on any local issue if 5 per cent of the local population ...
Last month Geoff Hoon was one of a clutch of Labour MPs caught on film by Channel 4's Dispatches selling their services. It would appear from this photo that he's now taking this very literally ... PS: what does this say about Labour's confidence in their chances of holding onto Geoff Hoon's seat of Ashfield? The Lib Dems' Jason Zadrozny is mounting a strong challenge – you can visit his site, and find out how you can help Jason's campaign here.
Beating the Bounds is a traditional local activity for Rogation Sunday, walking round the boundaries of the Common so that people know what they hold as a community asset. In some places they beat the bounds of an entire parish, or ride round the boundaries of larger parishes. The Common was nearly sold off for housing some years ago, but a determined campaign by local people (many now in the Focus Team) kept it in public ownership. This gives beating the bounds of the Common a special meaning. Please bring your children to show them what a lovely area we ...
Consider this map of the UK. Now like ye olde spot the difference games you get in Heat, see how many circles of shame you can make when compared to the Tories latest idea of the UK? Apparently we are all in this together. Unless you live on an island. In which case you aren't with us. Wonder what their candidate for Ynys Mon makes of not being in it..
'We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office!' is the name of the independent Facebook group set up just 2 weeks ago, and which currently numbers well over 13,000 fans. Which means (with impeccable liberalism) that this unofficial grassroots movement is already almost as big as almost as the official Lib Dem Facebook group. As the group's creators state: This is NOT a bandwagon! This group is intended to encourage those who would like to vote Lib Dem, but usually don't in favour of strategic voting, that if we unite we can ...
Withdrawal! before it's too late was apparently the slogan on the tee shirts handed out at the UKIP manifesto launch. I can't help but think that the YL's did that joke better in the referendum campaign back in the 70s: 'Withdrawal doesn't work' was our slogan-and you know it makes much more sense
[IMG: Recycling litter bins erleigh rd] Last month I blogged about plans by the Borough Council to extend on-street recycling which came about because of lobbying by my colleague Glenn Goodall and the Lib Dems in Reading. As a result of our campaign new bins are being installed across Reading - in Kings Road opposite TVU also Lowfield Rd shops Caversham, Farnham Drive Precinct Caversham, Meadway Precinct (Asda) Tilehurst, The Triangle School Rd Tilehurst,Coronation Square in Southcote,Wensley Rd shops in Coley,Wokingham Rd shops,Whitley Wood Lane/Northumberland Ave shops in Whitley, Whitley Street shops in Katesgrove, Caversham Road,and Oxford Road/ Norcot Road. These new ...
If you missed LDV's coverage of Nick Clegg's plans to bring the bankers' bonus culture under control this morning, then why not catch up with the BBC coverage of the announcment: Here's links to some of the media coverage the proposal has generated: Lib Dems plan crackdown on City pay (FT.com) Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, has promised to make reforming the City, including breaking up investment banks and cracking down on bonuses, one of his top four priorities should the Lib Dems emerge from the election holding the balance of power. Clegg Pledges To Ban Bonuses At Failing ...
On page 22 of the Conservative Manifesto: Does this mean "ooh, how unfair that the South is hogging all the economic wealth, making the UK all fat-bottomed"? Or, "look, the Isle of Wight is up there with Northern Ireland?" Do they think this is an unnatural state of affairs, somehow caused by government meddling? The public sector ...
"The Tories won't make life better for ordinary people. Their manifesto offers only fake change not the real change this country desperately needs," said Nick Clegg's Chief of Staff, Danny Alexander after today's launch in a derelict London power station. He said: "The truth is that you cannot trust the Conservatives. David Cameron simply believes it is his turn to take over in the same way the two old parties have taken turns for years. Today's manifesto offers the same old empty promises based on the lazy assumption that people will just give them another go. "When the Tories say ...
Mentioning that I intend to vote Lib Dem in the General Election brings with it the inevitable, what's the point type comments generally from I assume the jaded dinosaurs from Labservatives. Whilst it would be totally naive, to dismiss such sentiments, it's also dangerous and stupid to make such comments unless of coarse you happen to be happy to live in a world that never changes. In Kent a couple of years ago, Labour was the opposition party in Kent council, last year Labour were wiped out in the county elections with the Liberal Democrats maintaining and building on their ...
Last night's ITV News had a story about the election in Luton South. It concentrated a lot on Esther and the expenses scandal, but I think it gave the Liberal Democrats and our candidate Qurban Hussain a decent go. You can see the report on the ITV News website.
Two pieces of cheery news. First, from the latest Sunday Times/YouGov poll: I am so disillusioned with politics that I am seriously thinking of not voting at all in the coming general election: Agree 15% Disagree 73% All things considered, 15% is a pretty low figure. Second, from a survey of 18-25 year olds: A survey of 18-25 year-olds, commissioned by new media age and conducted by Lightspeed Research, found 46% of those aged between 18 and 21 believe increased political activity online has stimulated their interest in the election, with the figure at 41% for 22-25 year-olds...
It genuinely is a two horse race in Manchester Withington! The other day two supporters rolled up to the office on an unusual form of transport... on horseback! Since we have opened the campaign office to the public at 8 Gawsworth Avenue, the support we have received has been overwhelming. We have had helpers travelling from all over ...
The sun shone, and in the fields, lambs frolicked, as we made our way back into Montgomeryshire. Indeed, for miles and miles, there was little else to be seen but green grass, rolling hills and a vast number of white, fuzzy bundles of generalised cuteness/potentially great meals (delete as appropriate). However, having driven for twenty-seven miles, the car reached Newtown, and it was time to experience campaigning Lembit Opik-style. The plan was that there would be some canvassing, but it became apparent that, in order to get to the chosen location, we would have to walk through the centre of ...
For a long time after David Cameron's election to leader of the Conservative Party there was widespread talk of "tactical unwind", that is how his changes to the Conservative Party may result in much less anti-Tory tactical voting at the next general election. It's one of the range of reasons that many Tories quote for believing that they will do better in terms of seat numbers than the overall vote numbers suggest. However, what's struck me for some time is how the overall political campaigning is playing out in a way that is likely to rewind the unwind. For example, ...
From the outset, I would like to say that I think their basic message is more realistic than Labour's. Up to this point: Some politicians say: 'give us your vote and we will sort out all your problems'. We say: real change comes not from government alone. When a state is bringing in revenenues only 75% ...
The recent relevation that UKIP will be actively campaigning for five conservative candidates (who you guessed it, are eurosceptics) got me thinking, have they gone about there whole approach in the wrong way? Since William hauge became leader the eurosceptic wing of the conservative party won, there are a few europhiles left, like my friend Simon ...
The Liberal Democrats today set out radical new proposals to clamp down on bankers' bonuses.
Very strong performance against Paxman by Clegg. Particularly on immigration and the pupil premium. Command of detail excellent. But I am rather concerned about the wildly populist overbidding in their bankhating proposals. Do they think publishing these salaries will stop bankers competing against each other? No – when you know your mate's salary, ...
My new fundraising advert has just gone live, you can see it here. Thanks to Message Space - who made it for me and Mark Pack, who suggested me, I hope to raise substantial funds to take on Nadine Dorries in Mid Beds. They have already launched for Anthony Calvert (standing against Ed Balls) who has so far raised over £10,000. Jag Singh from Message Space says:"YouFundMe is about opening up political funding to the ordinary public, because British politics is too dominated by a few big donors which skews politics and undermines the public's trust.YouFundMe provides the technology platform ...
The Labour Party is misleading the public on their plans for Identity Cards and the National Identity Database. Their manifesto may say that the controversial Identity Cards will remain voluntary for the next five years but what it does not say is that, by 2012, anyone applying for a passport will have to also apply for an ID card, costing them an extra £30 on top of the £107.50 it costs to renew a passport.. This is another case of the Labour Party trying to hide their intentions from people. They are pretending that having an ID Card will remain ...
I've used Edelman's Tweetlevel tool for my monthly round-ups of how Liberal Democrat MPs are doing on Twitter, so the figures just outabout how the party leaders are doing as measured by that tool caught my eye. Some of the headline findings are: Gordon Brown wins Twitter war by volume Clegg is the leader with most favourability Cameron "gets people's goats" - exciting most negative Tweets, but Cameron's negative ratings have decreased since the call of the General Election Tory NI pledge gives Cameron significant uplift in favourability Over 50,000 Tweets on the party leaders since 22nd March, with nearly ...
Nich Starling, know as the Norfolk Blogger, has written a post previewing the election battleground in the Eastern Region. Initially he missed out the two Bedfordshire seats of most interest, Bedford and Luton South, but he has since updated the post with descriptions of both. He is reasonably accurate on Luton South, although over harsh on Esther Rantzen and misses out the fact that the Liberal Democrat vote doubled at the last election. What he isn't aware of will be how the campaign is playing out on the ground, particularly the strength of the Liberal Democrat challenge, and, aside from ...
Just in case anyone missed it, as of 1st May 2010 WLDC are putting up their car parking charges for anyone wanting to stay more than 2 hours, by 10p. It should be noted that the council only charges for parking in Gainsborough! The new scale of charges can be found here.
Michael White's podcast of the Labour launch was more upbeat and less depressingly tribal than I might have feared. It is only 15 minutes long. (Again, I have to say how quick and bright Ed Balls comes across as.) There does seem to be a theme, and it is The State can Help You (and ...
I have had my attention drawn to a Facebook group today entitled: "We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office!" It was founded by someone who is not even a party member but who just seems to be sick of the same old politics from the two main parties and is questioning if the only reason the Lib Dems have not been in office for so many years is because people think they won't win then perhaps a group like this could help stop this self fulfilling prophecy from occurring. Here's the ...
The death of President Lech Kaczynski is hard to write about. It bears so many echoes of the great tragedies of twentieth century Polish history. President Kaczynski is the third leader of Poland to suffer sudden death: The first President of the Second Republic, Gabriel Narutowicz, was assassinated, and of course the wartime Prime Minister, General Wladyslaw Sikorski was killed in plane crash in 1943. It is the death of Sikorski, rumoured, but never proven to be at the instigation of Stalin, that brings the most terrible echoes to Polish ears. Nor was President Kaczynski the only head of state ...
The news is out today that Twitter is going to start placing adverts at the top of search results. Although Twitter's write-up is full of phrases such as "we've resisted introducing a traditional Web advertising model" and how their approach is "non-traditional" it actually bears a striking resemblance to YouTube's use of 'promoted videos': As with Twitter, YouTube's promoted videos are adverts where the advertisement is existing content on the site rather than a dedicated advertising creative As with Twitter, YouTube mixes in the promoted content with normal content, but marks them clearly as such As with Twitter, YouTube puts ...
Today, Plaid Cymru launched their manifesto. All they succeeded in doing however is to illustrate that not only are they irrelevant in Westminster, but they are incompetent in Cardiff. No one can take their election manifesto pledges seriously. Their record in coalition government in Cardiff proves that Plaid Cymru are not strong enough partners to deliver what they promise. Over the last few years, Plaid Cymru has proved time and time again that they cannot stand up to a stronger coalition partner on their priorities. If Plaid Cymru failed to keep Wales free from tuition fees then the people of ...
Tue 13th
11:48
In which I discover that spelling Aberystwyth is far less difficult than one might think...
Until Friday, I had been to Aberystwyth only twice, once on a family holiday more than thirty years ago, once to report back on the Welsh Young Social Democrat merger ballot. Neither occasion had been entirely successful. And so, it was with a little trepidation that I accompanied Ros to the jewel of the Cambrian Coast for the first stop of our second tour. The train journey to Wolverhampton passed uneventfully, the hire car collected and we were off. Leaving Shrewsbury, we soon crossed the border into Montgomeryshire, bypassing Welshpool and heading off into the hills of Powys. The road ...
Andover Liberal Democrats today officially launched their campaign for the forthcoming town council elections. Liberal Democrats have always argued for an Andover town council and have fully supported town and parish councils in other areas like Romsey, Whitchurch and Enham. We believe that a town council is essential to increase representation and accountability in the town. Over the past months we have held discussions with many people and have selected a panel of candidates which can represent the whole town. The majority of our candidates are not sitting borough or county councillors because the town council should represent Andover to ...
Nice new website launched just in time for the election for Chris Huhne. Simon Dickson, who did most of the work on the site and who I've worked with several times, talks more about it over on his blog. I would add one observation to his: this site is (yet another) example of a politician looking for a site that can be more than just the standard in terms of design and functionality - and turning to WordPress as the solution. WordPress may have its roots in blogging, but it does more than just blogs.
The letters in the South London Press are getting increasingly interesting, I'm preparing to some kind of response to my one that was published in the paper version of the SLP last Friday. Complacency led to schools crisis LEWISHAM Mayor Steve Bullock came to power promising a new secondary school for the north of the borough. Eight ...
Eight blogs have recently joined Ryan's Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Daniel Russell - http://libdan.blogspot.com/ – news from a Lib Dem living in Poland Harry Hayfield - http://britishelection2010.blogspot.com/ – a regular commenter on sites, he now has his own blog Kevin Lennon - http://kjlennon.wordpress.com/ – currently on the campaign trail in Ceredigion Kelly-Marie Blundell - http://disconcertediscursives.blogspot.com/ – blogging since February 2009, but new to the aggregator Peter Wrigley - http://keynesianliberal.blogspot.com/ – a particularly economic take on the news Rosie Harpley - http://rosiesharpley.wordpress.com/ – our Woking candidate joins the blogging fraternity Sam Millard - http://musingsofaragingliberal.blogspot.com/ – more italics than Millennium Elephant has ...
Big Brother Watch has highlighted some excellent work by The Sun which reveals that in the past six years, 15,000 people have been mis-labelled as criminals on their CRB check. BBW's Twitter feed says that [this means] 7 people a day are being wrongly classed as sex offenders and criminals. Victims of these mistakes include people who have been branded as sex offenders, violent thugs or fraudsters. As BBW rightly says "Being incorrectly labelled as a sex offender or criminal is the sort of thing that people can struggle to recover from. These are the reasons that large-scale state databases ...
We have now got our plans for a podcast to Gateshead residents off the ground. The format we have adopted is that of a local radio talk programme - some local news plus a panel to discuss local issues and in some cases give a more light-hearted view of the elections. This is of course all rather experimental but the main audience at the moment is the group of people who receive our email
James Taylor, the Lib Dems Westminster candidate for Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock has asked South Ayrshire council to spell out its vision for Arts & Culture in the area in light of their decision to demolish Ayr's Civic Theatre. James, who co-founded the Kirkmichael International Guitar Festival, has written a letter to council officials ...
Large pictures of Labour Twitterer Ellie Gellard adorn the front pages of both The Times and The Telegraph this morning. I aint linking, you can find them yourself if you must. Ellie is know on-line for being a ridiculously on-message Labour Twitter user under the guise of @BevaniteEllie (warning, link may contain propaganda). In fact she is so blinkered and partisan that I had to stop following her, and I am pretty tolerant of that sort of thing. I remember one exchange I had with her when I didn't agree with her about something that she told me she felt ...
I have written a post for the BMA Cymru Wales website about the shortage of doctors in Wales: The need for new doctors in Wales is one that is not just confined to hospitals. The number of GPs under 45 has dropped considerably in the last ten years, from 951 to 743, while the number aged over 55 has increased from 272 to 450. This means we could expect roughly a quarter of our present GPs to be retiring within the next ten years or so. Despite this, there has been no real increase in the number of GPs at ...
It is hardly the most significant fact about the very important devolution of justice and policing to Northern Ireland but it is worth noting that the new Justice Minister, David Ford is not just Leader of the Alliance Party. David will be in charge of the department with more than 4,000 employees and a budget of nearly £1.5bn. He is the first Northern Ireland Justice minister since Westminster took policing powers away from the old Stormont government in 1972. He is also a longstanding member of the Liberal Democrats.
Tue 13th
10:14
Choice in education? yes, but only with the state to step in when things inevitably go wrong
The Conservatives have launched a manifesto pledging to give parents the power to open their own schools if they are disappointed with local provision. The Conservatives promise that the process will be made easy for these parents but it won't be easy, will it? Setting up a school will inevitably be a bureaucratic nightmare as the state will need to ensure that the appropriate checks are made on staff, that staff are qualified to do their jobs, that buildings are found or built and that they meet the required standard for access, size and local services. If the Tories really ...
Tue 13th
10:00
I'm the top listed blog on Sky News election wesbite "Decision Time" for Islington South and Finsbur...
islington south finsbury sky news libdem liberal democrats winning here bridget fox labour emily thornberry
I have just watched the shambolic launch of the UKIP campaign which amounted to a bunch of journalists crammed into a small room and the members of the panel talking over each other. The only words I could pick up from Lord Pearson, the low profile UKIP leader, were "political class". These are his favourite words. He peppers all speeches with them. The question is, does this life peer who leads
Well now that Harry Potter and more to the point Daniel Radcliffe the star who plays him are over 18 it is the first time he can vote in a muggle election. The good news is that as the election approaches Daniel is more definite in who he will be voting for than last summer when interviewed in Attitude. According to the Daily Mail the young star said: In next month's US edition of Vogue, Radcliffe - who will be able to vote for the first time at the General Election - discusses his affiliation to the party. 'I'll be ...
Birkdale FOCUS is launching a new service today; Southport TV. During the General election we will be keeping a video diary of events. To get the show on the road we have clips of Vince Cable's visit to Southport, John Pugh's adoption meeting and the first of a series of local people explaining why they are voting Lib Dem. Please bear with our team who are learning on the job!
A lot of people don't enjoy election campaigns – but here's one reason I do: the quality of Lib Dem press releases sky rockets. Today's announcing Liberal Democrats' five point plan to tackle bankers' bonuses is a case in point: punchy but detailed. So good, in fact, I'm simply going to hit the copy 'n' paste key ... Background The UK banks owe their very existence to the British taxpayer. Some banks such as RBS, Lloyds-HBOS and Northern Rock have received direct taxpayer bailouts, yet all have benefited from the explicit guarantee that none of them will be allowed to ...
The Labour party launched its manifesto and already the cover looks eerily familiar. The Inside Out Swansea website was not slow in producing its own version (left) but I think The Guardian had the real inside story in comparing the cover to that of the Tory manifesto: From one perspective, this cover calls to mind illustrations found in The Watchtower, the Jehovah Witness house journal, in which perfect 1950s-style families picnic in Elysium fields surrounded by lions and lambs happily lying down with one another. It's hard, though, not to get the feeling that both parties are sending themselves up. ...
Southport Lib Dems gathered at the Scarisbrick Hotel on 12th April to adopt John Pugh as their parliamentary candidate. Pugh predicts that the old laws of politics may about to be re-written
Pushed for time, but want to keep up-to-date with how the campaign's going? Here are today's must-reads ... Clegg's Wife: 'Coverage Of Wives Patronising' (Sky News) Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, who works as an international lawyer and has barely been seen on the campaign trail, spoke out in a documentary about her husband. "It is a bit frivolous, there is an element of frivolity obviously on knowing where your clothes come from," she told ITV's Tonight programme. "I wouldn't look on it as whether it's frivolous in relation to the women – I think (it) is frivolous in relation to the ...
After Clegg's successful interview last night here is a reminder of people who have acquitted themselves less successfully at the hands of Paxo. It should be said though that these people certainly had more to hide. No wonder Cameron and Brown won't acquiesce and appear on Newsnight. 13 May 1997Michael Howard vs Paxo - interview regarding the sacking of prison governor, Derek Lewis 03 June 2009William Hague vs Paxo - interview regarding the status of Tory donor Lord Ashcroft
Commenting on reports that NHS chief executives pay increased at more than twice the rate of nurses pay last year, Lib Dem candidate Nick Perry said, "These reports add insult to injury in our local circumstances. "First we have the doubling of staff parking charges. Then we see the Chief Exec of East Sussex Hospitals Trust being allowed to ...
Tim Donovan of BBC London has done a brilliant piece of investigative journalism on the role that Great Ormond Street Hospital played in the Baby Peter tragedy. Read the full report here. For months I banged on about the role of the health protection team and its management - on this blog and on the floor of the House of Commons. Everyone leaped (quite rightly) to criticising the Doctor who failed to recognise broken ribs and abuse injuries - but she was a locum. I, meanwhile, questioned why there was a locum there in the first place. And when I ...
This morning's Western Mail reports that Plaid Cymru officials have blocked a plan for their leader Ieuan Wyn Jones to be interviewed on TV by former Tory Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards: ITV Wales is producing a series of five Welsh-language election programmes for S4C called Etholiad 2010, fronted by Mai Davies. The first four programmes will include a feature where retired politicians from one party will review the campaign strategy of another party. In the first programme last night, former Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Wigley looked at the Liberal Democrats' campaign. Next Monday's programme will see Mr Richards reporting ...
According to William Hague on Today prog: If you don't have a good state school within a reasonable distance of your home you can `set up one yourself`. Yeh, right that's easy. All you've got to do after working 40 hrs a week, commuting, feeding and clothing your children in a decent home, holding down a relationship ...
Well I thought Nick Clegg did very well in his interview with Jeremy Paxman yesterday (you can watch it here on iPlayer for the next few days to judge for yourself). He managed to handle the difficult questions like those regarding a hung parliament deftly I thought, rightly insisting that it is up to the electorate to decide what sort of a parliament to deliver and that the Lib Dems will fight for their key principles in any such situation. Frankly, that is exactly what the people voting for us would expect. He also managed to get in plenty of ...
So I thought I'd start a series where I post Quotes from the "frontline" under the name "band of brother quotes" and possibly another one for quotes that aren't from out canvassing (called Dad's army quotes). Please send in any that you have (mention your party and constituency and i'll mark them down) All of these are from my ...
With the General Election on 6 May, there is still time to arrange a postal vote. Voting by post is an easy and convenient way of voting if you are unable to get to the polling station on polling day, for any reason. Applications to vote by post must also be received no later than 11 working days before Polling Day. The deadline to apply for a postal vote, or to amend or cancel existing postal or proxy voting arrangements, will be 5pm on Tuesday 20 April. All eligible electors have the right to organise to vote by post rather ...
The tragedy of the plane crash that has killed such a large number of the Polish government is terrible. One of the people killed was a Polish priest who used to live and work in Bradford, Monsignor Bronislaw Gostomski. There are Polish ...
The Government must rethink business regulation in order to make it easier for new companies to set up on Teesside, say North East Lib Dems Fiona Hall MEP and Redcar Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Ian Swales, following a visit to the Ensus biorefinery plant at the Wilton site in Redcar, which came online earlier this year. The Ensus plant, the largest biorefinery in Europe, produces bioethanol, high protein animal feed substituting for rain forest soy meal, and non-fossil carbon dioxide for the drinks industry. It has created 100 jobs on site and around 2000 in the supply chain. Said Ian ...
We held John Pugh's adoption meeting this evening-more of which later-so I missed the first showing of the Paxman interview with Nick Clegg. It has just been repeated on BBC News 24 and I must say that I agree with Jonathan Calder over on Liberal England that he did well. He certainly seems to have heeded the advice given to him by David Grace both in general and in particular over Trident. The overall impression will be positive. It was interesting that he returned to the thought that the Parties should work together over the economy. I suspect we will ...
One of the good things about foot slogging is that I get the time to fire up the i-pod and listen to a lot of music. My top ten for the campaign so far are: 10. Girl from Mars (Ash) 9. Bloodsport for All (Carter Usm) 8. I Am the Resurrection (The Stone Roses) 7. Dead From The Waist Down (Catatonia) 6. Disco 2000 (Pulp) 5. Girl With One Eye (Florence & the Machine) 4. Generation Sex (The Divine Comedy) 3. National Express (The Divine Comedy) 2. The Fear (Lily Allen) 1. Dog Days Are Over (Florence & the Machine) ...
If you are wanting a postal vote for the election on May 6th you have until Tuesday 20th to apply. Although as I have said before don't leave it to the last minute apply early to give the registration time to query any issues there may be with your form. 20th April is also the last day to ensure that you are actually on the register to vote. If you live in West Lothian council area you can visit their website here for more information. If you live in Falkirk council area you will want to visit here Forms for ...
I know it is no great shock to learn that the Conservatives say one thing and then do entirely the opposite but it is important that voters understand that this is coming from the supposed Prime Minister and Government in waiting. Now, let's overlook the fact that the Conservatives are being completely arogant and most of them actually think they have already won this election. Just last week we saw David Cameron campaigning in Kingston hospital, this is the very same hospital that the Conservatives attacked the Liberal Democrats for scaremongering about it's closure - as I say why should ...
Nick Clegg on Monday outlined Liberal Democrat reform of the tax system to increase the income tax threshold to £10k a year, meaning that 3.6m people will be taken out of taxation and a tax cut of up to £700 a year for most working people and £100 for pensioners. The proposals will make a huge difference ...
Happy Birthday Seamus Heaney ... once in a lifetime The longed for tidal wave Of justice can rise up And hope and history rhyme. So hope for a great sea-change on the far side of revenge. Believe that a further shore is reachable from ...
[IMG: Student housing 006] Following on from the private rented housing scrutiny review I led last year one of the oustanding issues which still needs to be resolved is the long-awaited revival of the Council's landlord accreditation scheme. This is needed to give students and private tenants greater confidence when they hunt for properties to rent and we hope will help drive up standards in the sector further. We discussed this in HHCC Scrutiny Panel last month and yesterday evening I presented a report to Cabinet in my capacity as Chair of the Panel calling for the scheme to be re-introduced to coincide with the start of ...
It's been pretty busy over the past four days, so forgive me if I take a little while to catch up. I hope that you think it's worth the wait...
Labour's prospective candidate for Harborough appears to think that knocking on doors in Corby is a better use of his time that supporting his own campaign here. A Tweet from the Labour PPC on Saturday read: "Done in Harborough, now off to join @peterbowers, @Gavinlambert in Corby #labourdoorstep" I cannot blame him given that they have come 3rd in every election since 1979. On May 6th Harborough, Oadby & Wigston will elect a Lib Dem MP or a Tory MP. Labour appear to appreciate this and are spending their time in a nearby marginal seat in Northamptonshire. Hat-tip to Liberal ...
My one to read is .... Stephen Tall on Lib Dem Voice writes about Nick Clegg's confident performance against Jeremy Paxman and highlights too that David Cameron and Gordon Brown have chickened out of being interviewed by Paxman.
Following on from my blog about my appearence on Newsnight find below pictures from my interview on ITN's News at Ten from yesterday evening. Great to see national media covering our campaign here twice in four days! The report declared that our campaign in Luton South is advancing strongly following the news last week of the local poll showing us to be the favourite to win. Thank you so much for all your support! It truly is an honour to be working for my fellow Luton South residents. Was informed during the interview about the disgraceful news about Labour MP's ...
Five new polls over the last 2 days of the campaign: YouGov in the Sun ... CON 39%(+2), LAB 33%(+2), LIB DEM 20%(nc) ComRes for the Independent/ITV ... CON 37%(-2), LAB 30%(-2), LIB DEM 20%(+4) ICM in the Guardian ... CON 37%(-1), LAB 31%(+1), LIB DEM 20%(-1) Opinium in the Express ... CON 39%(nc), LAB 31%(+2), LIB DEM 17%(nc) YouGov in the Sun ... CON 37%(-3), LAB 31%(-1), LIB DEM 20%(+2) After the small uptick in support registered by Anthony Wells' UK Polling Report 'poll of polls' over the weekend, today sees the Tories dropping down 1%, with Lib Dems ...
I was in Cambridge last week and you may have guessed from these photos that I am going to talk about transport, in particular bicycles. I was told that there are 35 000 bikes in the city and the high number is partly because all the rich students aren't allowed to bring a car within five miles of the city centre. In general I like cycling. It is healthy for the cyclist and it is also environmentally friendly. However there are poor cyclists just like there are poor drivers and even people who cause accidents by walking. I used to ...
