There are, of course many good reasons why the Lib Dems in power would be in the interests of our nation, but some of the most intriguing yet have been outlined by David Yelland in a piece for the Guardian's Comment is Free. The piece has many telling details of how journalism works in this country these days, but the chilling conclusion of the piece is this: Over the years the relationships between the media elite and the two main political parties have become closer and closer to the point where, now, one is indistinguishable from the other. Indeed, it ...
Only one new poll being reported tonight ... almost not worth mentioning. Oh, alright then, it does happen to show the Lib Dems in first place, so here goes: YouGov in the Sun ... CON 32%(-1), LAB 26%(-3), LIB DEM 33%(+4)
Some #Chelmsford election info: http://www.democracyclub.org.uk/constituencies/chelmsford/ Democracy Club: Chelmsford www.democracyclub.org.uk Democracy club is building a network of election volunteers to help improve transparency in the run up to the next general election, and hopefully beyond.
Nothing to do with politics, but since no mainstream media could find the space to point this out, I thought I write a short blog post about my Home Office colleague David Smith and 10 of his friends who walked 30 miles from Chester to Hale in aid of The Christie. They started the walk at some ungodly hour of Saturday morning (10th April 2010) and most of them had made it to Hale by mid-afternoon. Even more astounding was that Christian, who is a patient himself at The Christie, successfully completed the walk. I know the team are still ...
Fantastic performance by Nick Clegg in the Prime Minister Debate on Thursday night. It's filtering through in the polls and activity on my website. I've been saying for months that it's wide open in Bromsgrove as people are tired of the other two parties and like what the Liberal Democrats say and behave. Over 60% of people ...
Lib Dem surge special:Cicero's Songs on why Labour and the Conservatives are slipping and how the Lib Dem policies will stand up to scrutiny.Stephen Tall writes an open letter to the Labour Party asking why they are saying the Lib Dems will team up with the Tories in one communication, and in another making it clear they don't think that will happen.Iain Dale says that the stupid personal attacks on Nick Clegg, such as those surrounding his "Britishness" from the Mail on Sunday (which frankly to me seem to come close to the sort of nonsense you see from the ...
Just come back from 3 days away in Exmoor. I volunteer / help with the Keynsham Open Award Centre (Duke of Edinburgh). This was a practice expedition with our silver group. Its the first trip of the season. We supported teenagers on a 3 days activity walking over exmoor. Camping 2 nights. At Westrmill and Doone. The nights were still bitterly cold but the days very hot. Managed to do a few walks whilst monitoring the young people. On our travels we stumbled upon a hunt. Well stumble from a distance. We weaved our way through the 4x4 wd hunt ...
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] I really liked this cartoony political broadcast, gets all of the Lib Dem policies across nicely and has an optimistic feel... Its great that people are finally seeing us as contenders. Its a three party race now, nothing any negative Tory or Labour campaign can take away from that now. In fact, I hear people on the door step saying how fake all the Tory and Labour attacks on Nick Clegg have been. If any thing its turning them off of the other two parties! I'm not one to believe in polls, but looking at the current jump ...
I was pleased today to speak at the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Golders Green, where many people from Hendon are worshippers. They had around 700 people there and I spoke alongside the Lib Dem councillors for Childs Hill. It was a really enjoyable and interesting event and I was pleased to have been invited.
So busy campaigning you've missed out on the latest Lib Dem campaign news? Here's two video clips from the BBC featuring man of the moment Nick Clegg ... Clegg urges voters 'get stuck in' - Nick has said there is an "immense" opportunity for voters to break with the "old parties". Clegg aims for 'contest of ideas' – Nick has called for a "contest of ideas" in the ongoing campaign to woo voters ahead of the general election.
Mark Pack reports the success of The Facebook group "We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office!" It is now bigger than the Conservative and Labour Facebook pages combined and, remarkably, bigger than the Liberal Democrats' paid-up membership. Following Nick's triumph in first leaders' election, the Conservatives are threatening greater scrutiny of Liberal Democrat policies. (There are even unconfirmed reports that David Cameron may read our manifesto before the second debate.) Bring it on! says Liberal Endevour. Giles Wilkes (aka The Freethinking Economist) has a piece on Comment is Free dissecting the ...
Just a reminder that Supermarket Shakespeare starts again at Lee Green Sainsbury's on Tuesday. This year's performances at Lee Green are at the following times: Tuesday 20th April 7pm Wednesday 21st April 7pm Thursday 22nd April 7pm Friday 23rd April 7pm Saturday 24th 12pm & 6pm Sunday 25th 12pm & 3pm This trailer should give you some idea what you're letting yourself in for... Supermarket Shakespeare Trailer from Teatro Vivo on Vimeo.
Following Nick Clegg's success in the first Leaders' Debates last Thursday, there has been a dramatic shift in the national opinion polls. The sheer scale of the increase in Lib Dem support has taken everyone by surprise and has changed the whole tone of the election campaign. To put things in perspective the Poll of Polls started last week with the Tories on 39%, Labour on 30% and the Lib Dems on 19%. We have yet to see a full slate of polls carried out since the Debate, but tonight's YouGov poll (not normally the best for the Lib Dems) ...
Over ath The Guardian's Comment Is Free website, Giles Wilkes – Lib Dem blogger, and chief economist for liberal think-tank Centre Forum – argues that its the Tories' over-riding sense of entitlement which has left them bamboozled by the Lib Dem upsurge in support. Here's an excerpt: The Tories' ascent to power was meant to have the inevitability of a family inheritance, something they are known to be keen on. Their reaction to a vanishing poll lead has all the outrage of an heir dispossessed by a long-ignored cousin. It shows a party that has long expected to win by ...
YouGov Poll Libdems 33% - Cons 32%- Lab 26% Others 8% Something special is happening. Vote Mike Priestley on May 6th.
If you support the Liberal Democrats and want to put a poster supporting the party in your window, please click HERE, just print it off (preferably on a colour printer) and stick it in your window. Thanks for the support!
The LibDem campaign across the UK gathers pace ...
Sometimes, you need to take a day off from campaigning, especially when that day features a Grand Prix and two IPL games on the TV. So, I've spent the day focusing on my involvement in the national campaign, which is key for re-tweeting interesting election-based messages. But it helped me to find little gems like ...
Following my blog post last night on Perth and North Perthshire Conservative candidate Peter Lyburn's antics,a leaflet containing his election pledges has been brought to my attention. You have to see this in the context of someone who submitted an open letter to various newspapers on the Tories' plans not to go ahead with Labour's NI rise next year which was alleged to have the support of a number of listed local business leaders. Some of those business people have subsequently told the Courier they neither knew of the letter nor consented to their name being on it. Anyway, here ...
I've been out all day, doing a leaflet drop in the morning, and canvassing in the afternoon. And to be honest I am more than a little happy about the reception on the doorstep. People are genuinely seeing this general election as a three-horse race, hitherto solid Labour voters are saying that we offer a genuine radical alternative, and many Tory voters think that, added to Vince Cable, Nick Clegg is offering an incredibly viable option to Dave "Blair Lite" Cameron. There really is a feeling, out on the doorstep, that there is all to play for.
Central FM 103.1 Forth Valley's local radio station is holding radio debates for main candidates together from Linlithgow and East Falkirk, Falkirk County, Ochil and South Perthshire and Stirling. They are looking for the people to pose questions which you can email to news@centralfm.co.uk I've been invited to a pre-recording for the Linlithgow and East Falkirk candidates on Thursday I will let you know the air time of the programme as soon as I know. But you've seen the TV debates on the national stage now you can look forward to the radio debates for your local candidates, the people ...
I never got into Heroes, but I did like the BBC trailers for the first season and their use of this song. The best account of Skeeter Davis's career is I can find is an article from No Depression magazine that is reproduced on a Linda Ronstadt website. It says that Davis was born Mary Frances Penickin in (like all good Country artists) a two-room cabin in Kentucky. There is also an article about her on BookSteve's Library.
YouGov daily poll - Sun Apr 18 LIB DEMS 33% (29%) + 4% CONSERVATIVES 32% (33%) -1% LABOUR 26% (30%) -4% The interesting thing is what happens now to Labour. Lots of people I know vote Labour only because it is the main way to stop the Tories where they live. With Labour now in freefall and looking defeated, what happens in the next week to the Labour vote could define politics for the next 20 years. Labour could (I stress could) fall away to 22/23% and the Lib Dems climb even higher or the Lib Dem vote could tail ...
Following on from Nick's fantastic performance in the leader's debates there has been a tough line coming from CCHQ, well, actually there have been two, which kind of contradict each other: 1. Michael Gove in the backdrop of the debates said: 'Nick Clegg, I think, benefits from being the new kid on the block. With novelty comes curiosity, but also with novelty will come, now, increased scrutiny' 2. Cameron claiming that "In the end the choice will still come down to 'do you want five more years with Gordon Brown or change with the Conservatives?' So on one hand, they're ...
Latest West End Updates ... * One of the safety bollards on the south side of Pennycook Lane has been broken by a vehicle. Following residents' complaints, I raised the matter with Dundee City Council, whose response is : "An order has now been raised to re-set this missing bollard." * Corner City Road & Scott Street - a bit of a mess. Following contact with the owners, Home Scotland, they have replied as follows : " We contacted our contractor and weather permitting it will be deep cleaned this week."
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 165th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (11th – 17th April, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can now sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Daily Mail: big boost ...
I am writing this at the end of an extraordinary weekend for the Lib Dems. We are ahead in two polls and we are getting headlines like this and this. I think the Churchill post is particularly freaky and along with many Lib Dem activists we can't believe these polling levels can continue; although at the same time there is nothing to say they can not :-) I did predict in this post that the right wing press would tear us limb from limb. I must admit I should have inserted the word 'attempt' and they have tried. I am ...
I interrupt my normal posting schedule to share some rather exciting, but equally dull, news. If you, like Gordon Brown, agree with Nick, and you'll be voting Lib Dem on May 6, please consider supporting my Facebook campaign to turn the country yellow in more ways than one on the big day! Go Yellow on May 6! Elections ...
I am appearing on Tuesday in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall's "In Conversation" series. Do come along if you live in the area, as I shall look silly if nobody turns up. Having said that, it is a curious fact that when people have to pay to hear me, the audiences have always been bigger than when it is free. I remember some 450 paid for Amnesty in Malvern, and twice selling out the Edinburgh Book Festival, for example.
Here it is (I'm not sure about the title). If you want more examples of the appalling arrogance of those who felt that 22% of the vote did not earn a party the right to media representation, here is Tim Montgomerie 6 months ago; very prescient, is the only lukewarm praise I can give him. I ...
Keighley's own newspaper has a page headed Lib Dems enjoy surge in polls , with a picture of Cleggy and Mrs Cleggy and a little film of Vince Cable (once you get past an advert). Lib Dem surge: Keighley News In the video clip Vince modestly does not mention that he came first in the Chancellors' Debate, though of course he did. Incidentally, a couple of days ago I pointed to the Telegraph's Poll Tracker graphic, but their Poll Tracker page was much less optimistic for us. Tonight that is reversed. The graphic on their Debate report page shows us ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free website, Lib Dem blogger James Graham makes the argument that anyone wanting to transform politics in the UK at this election has the obvious solution in their hands: a vote for the Lib Dems: "Voting Lib Dem this time is the equivalent of pressing a bloody great reset button". But what if the result is that a high Lib Dem vote isn't reflected in the number of Lib Dem MPs elected? Here's James's answer: What we've seen over the past 48 hours is the possibility of a genuinely new approach. Instead of playing ...
I went off to the allotment today. Thanks to a little planing last year there are still crops to be harvested. Up by the blue water tub there are lots of leeks as well as a decent crop of garlic for later on. There is also a glut of blue sprouting broccoli which is selling for silly money at tescos. It's like so many other things is life; good preparation pays off. Cycling back I noticed that several people had stuck our election address in the window-including one house on a main road bang next to a Tory poster.
I'm surprised I haven't already seen people do this joke. so I thought I'd see if anybody else thought it funny or clever : My first attempt was : some say he joined the navy aged just 10, and that he taught Paddy Ashdown how to blow up a tank us...
From The Times: Two Tory rising stars fighting marginal seats in David Cameron's West London backyard face embarrassment over their community projects, lauded by the Tory leader as models for his vision of a "Big Society". The Charity Commission has issued guidance to Joanne Cash after concerns were raised about her use of the word "charitable" to describe a social action project run and funded by her Conservative Association... Shaun Bailey, candidate in neighbouring Hammersmith, faces scrutiny from the commission after an independent examiner discovered £16,000 worth of unreceipted expenditure in the charity he runs. You can read the full ...
I'm trying not to make this blog be overly political at the moment, but this General Election is looking like it may be the most important in decades. It's certainly the first one in decades where your individual vote might make a difference. Currently, for the first time in the party's history, two-and-a-half weeks before the ...
[IMG: article-1266373-09210FE2000005DC-152_468x312.jpg] I wonder if they have been taught to make that Star Trek door opening noise? Thanks to Subrosa.
Dont forget that the deadline for registering to vote is this Tuesday 20th April. You can either visit the civic offices in Woking and personally collect your forms or you can download them here. There have been many myths cropping up in the news from people being told that they cannot vote for various reasons. Here ...
Posted by rosie4woking on
Conservative leader, David Cameron, told a few anecdotes -- stories -- in Thursday's TV debate. Politicians are often told, by people like me, that stories are the best way to get their messages across. But Cameron is being pilloried for telling stories. According to the Leftfootforward blog, Cameron's claims that Humberside Police had "five different police cars and that they were just about to buy a £73,000 Lexus" have been disputed by the police. The Met has challenged Cameron's jibes about "form-fillers" as misleading and out of context. You might want to have a play with the David Cameron anecdote ...
The Facebook group We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office! continues to grow at a remarkable pace. It is now bigger than the Conservative and Labour Facebook pages combined. It is also now bigger than the party's paid-up membership. I think this is the first time in the UK that a social network presence for a political party has exceeded the party's own size. Does anyone know otherwise? One explanation for this is the particular appeal the party has amongst younger voters at the moment. As Anthony Wells points out, We ...
Would you be upset if a long-term partner confessed that s/he'd committed a serious crime before you met? How do you think it would affect your relationship? View 915 Answers Wow. This question originally had "sex change" where it now has "serious crime". Way to compound your fail, dudes. So, to answer both questions: 1) This is a long-term partner, and nothing has clued me in that they might be trans, but yet I'm supposed to be upset at the revelation and put a longstanding relationship at risk? Get a grip. 2) I live in a country where entirely consensual ...
The impact of the infamous Sheffield Rally on Neil Kinnock's 1992 campaign is debatable. It took on emblematic significance after the election, rather than unarguably shifting the polls during the campaign. But it remains short-hand for a campaign losing moment. OK. David Cameron didn't do anything dire during last week's debate. There was nothing like Kinnock's primeval cries of "Well, all right!" which will be repeated on the telly ad nauseam (including, one suspects, in his obituary videos). But it is emerging that it was Cameron's personal decision to have a three-way debate. In fact, that was a decision with ...
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In amongst all the comment and reaction to the Lib Dem poll surge in recent days I have seen a comment made several times which amounts to: "Yes, it's all very well that Nick Clegg and Vince Cable are impressive but what about the rest of the Lib Dem front-bench? That's where they'll be found wanting." The problem with this is that it is a load of rubbish. Let's just have a look at some of the members of our front-bench: Chris Huhne, Home Affairs Spokesman: Chris is a great media and Commons performer. He has run for the leadership ...
With thanks to Mark Pack for spotting this...
I think Nick is right - we need change" Gordon Brown to Andrew Marr (18th April 2010) Gordon Brown keeps agreeing with Nick Clegg but he doesn't seem to understand where this agreement is leading. It leads directly to the following question, for the man who now admits he has had one damascene experience after another: "How can you or your party be the change we need?" Gordon Brown has long had trouble reading the runes (and much else besides). He says he has been appalled by dishonest dealing in the City. He admits that he personally should have done ...
When I first wrote about the winners and losers from Thursday night's TV debate between Brown, Cameron and Clegg I only briefly touched on technology: Winner - TV Loser - internet The TV audience peaked at just under 10m, far more than any online audience for a UK political event. TV kept on broadcasting whilst Facebook and Tweetminster buckled under the load... Winner - unofficial Liberal Democrat Facebook group Loser - official Conservative Facebook page Helped by the debate, the already strongly growing Facebook group surged onwards and now has comfortably more members than the Conservative Page has fans. Watching ...
I'm sure you have seen many references to this Harold Wilson quote over this last week and how especially true it has been for the Lib Dems. Many people have been commenting about how this change in polls (almost over night) has been crazy, and lets be honest it has! I Expected we might get a 3 ...
You are invited to question the candidates to be Chelmsford's next MP on Thursday evening: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=105251696180421 Question the candidates to be Chelmsford's MP
The Voice is grateful to Saoirse Cathal Kavan – a member of the Facebook group We got Rage Against the Machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into office! which is growing at a quite astonishing rate (over 80,000 members) – for allowing us to publish this alternative take on the leaders' debate ... Tim from Bristol: If you were to come into power, how would your party change a broken light bulb? Nick: We'd ensure that the people have the power to replace light bulbs when they break and also see to it that replacement light bulbs ...
Now here's something interesting in the data for the latest YouGov poll. Not the headline figures – Conservatives 33%, Labour 30%, Liberal Democrats 29% – but a question asking people whether they might change their vote. 63% said they'd pretty much made up their mind, while 31% said they might change their mind. Those 31% were ...
Campaigning in Longtown yesterday it was plain to see that the debate really had changed perceptions. Voters are energized by the prospect of an alternative to the other two tired old party's. 'Dave' did not impress and the voters of Longtown struggle to see what the Conservatives have to offer. It's clear that we are now seen as a real threat. Watch out as both the other parties turn their fire onto the Liberal Democrats! I am looking forward to this coming week. On Tuesday we launch our rural manifesto at Kirkby Stephen Auction Mart. This will establish that the ...
I mentioned on Twitter that I might have stumbled across the perfect nasi goreng recipe, and yoyoangel and ankaret both asked for details, so here goes. It's adapted from a magazine (I'm no longer sure which one), and I make no claim to authenticity. 250g basmati rice Salt 4 eggs 1 Romano pepper (red bell pepper should also be fine) 2 red chillies 2 large carrots 1 bunch spring onions 4 cloves garlic 1 punnet chestnut mushrooms Rapeseed oil 1 packet marinated tofu cubes (I used Cauldron) 4 tsp brown sugar 2 tbsp soy sauce 4 tbsp chilli sauce (I ...
I may be getting cynical, but if Nick Clegg can get an audience of young people out of bed on a Sunday morning then he must be doing something very right indeed. The location was Manor Park in Sutton where Nick gave a speech to young people asking them to get involved. Also, via the TV cameras that were there, he reminded people across the UK that they only have around 50 hours left to register to vote if they haven't done so already. Then it was a short hop across South West London to a church in New Malden ...
The Courier (covering Tayside and Fife) reports: THE WRATH of the Perthshire business community came down on Perth and North Perthshire's Tory General Election candidate Peter Lyburn yesterday after he used names on an open letter without permission, The Courier can reveal. One of the prominent business people who feels "used" is Perthshire Chamber of Commerce president Paul Shields. A letter, sent to The Courier and other newspapers on Thursday by Mr Lyburn, was critical of Labour's planned 1% rise in National Insurance and supported Conservative plans to thwart it... Mr Shields declared, "I haven't seen an open letter. I ...
I am grateful to Liberal Cynic for pointing out, in a comment on my previous post, the curious incident of Esther and the Liberal Democrat posters. Intrigued I followed up on this by asking around our local campaign team to see if they knew anything about it. It turns out they did and this is what was reported back to me; Last Saturday one of Luton Liberal Democrat's local activists Haji Abid, a former Mayor of Luton, supplied two posters to a shop run by a supporter of Qurban Hussain the Liberal Democrat candidate for Luton South. These poster were ...
It was Harold Wilson who said 'A week is a long time in politics'. How out of date that now sounds - 90 minutes is the new record after Nick Clegg's performance on Thursday night turned our traditional two-party democracy into a true three-party system. In her analysis in the Sussex Express of 9 April, Susan King predicted that, of the six constituencies in the Express circulation area, five are likely to return an MP of the same party as last time, with only Eastbourne hanging in the balance. That was a reasonably fair assessment before last Thursday's first televised ...
It might seem a strange moment for a LibDem to say this, with our party striding forward in the polls, but as always we should treat them with a pinch of salt. Indeed, let's remember that some countries ban opinion polls during the last weeks of a campaign, so that they don't become a deciding ...
I live in Oxford East, a key Lib Dem target where in 2005 Labour scraped home by just 963 votes. In the first week of the campaign, Labour plastered their literature with dire warnings that a vote for the Lib Dems would serve only one purpose: to let in the Tories. Half-truths were deployed to make the point, such as "Nick Clegg is refusing to rule out a back room deal to put the Tories into power." They could also have said Nick's refusing to rule out a deal with Labour as well. That wouldn't fit Labour's scare tactics, so ...
I am only 70 pages in Michael Sandel's Justice, but am already slightly tired of the technique, which is familiar to me from undergrad philosophy. It is, of course, to illustrate moral dilemmas with extreme examples. Already, off the top of my head, there has been: two real world examples of cannabilism (one a willing victim ...
very noticeable effect as ever warmer welcome from this ex labour stronghold thanks everyone
Nine years ago, a young man by the name of William Hague was the leader of the Conservative Party. He was running an election campaign against his Labour counterpart, Tony Blair. The campaign he chose to run focused almost exclusively on one thing: the European Union, and Labour's policy of joining the euro when the time was right. The campaign's slogan? "X days to Save the Pound". It had almost no effect on voters, and has gone down in history as one of the most ineffectual and cynical attempts to scaremonger the electorate into voting for the Tories. Nine years ...
Pushed for time, but want to keep up-to-date with how the campaign's going? Here are today's must-reads ... (Actually it's hard to avoid coverage of the Lib Dems today, no matter which paper you pick). Nick Clegg's success built on an already incoming tide (John Curtice, Telegraph) Nick Clegg seized his chance, his appeal summed up by the one-liner, "the more they argue with each other, the more they sound exactly the same". ... Today's ICM poll for The Sunday Telegraph - much of it conducted just before the leaders' debate, though some afterwards - confirms that Nick Clegg's success ...
OK, this is weird... For the first time ever I find myself actually having enjoyed an episode of the Welsh Series rather more than most people, rather than sitting there spitting bile while everyone else goes "SQUEE!" Victory Of The Daleks was far from a great story, but its main problem was that it clearly should have ...
If you're not registered to vote for the General Election, then you still have 48 hours to get on the electoral register – the deadline for registration is Tuesday. If you want to register, then you can go to the About My Vote site and follow the instructions there. Or, you can go into your local ...
The Tories say they are going to scrutinise Liberal Democrat policy but oops for a party that presents its manifesto like a hymnal it is taking lines out of it without context to what is around it. Take for example the current line of attack on seeking non-custodial sentencing for less than six month sentences, which they are currently attacking us on. You would think that is all we have to say on that. Well you are wrong it doesn't even include the other part of that policy statement let alone other compatible parts of the crime policies. Here is ...
A quick message from one of my old places of work, the London School of Economics: On the campaign trail: help LSE build our election collections The London School of Economics Archive is collecting election addresses and publicity materials produced by parliamentary candidates in the run-up to May's general election. Please send them to us at: Freepost RSHB-UHHY-RTSG Archives and Rare Books LSE Library 10 Portugal Street London WC2A 2HD The LSE Library has been collecting general election ephemera in this way since 1945. We now hold over 15,000 items covering the whole of the UK which includes material from ...
Following Nick Clegg's peerless performance on Thursday the Liberal Democrats are now being targeted by the old parties. One of these attacks claims that we will give an amnesty to all immigrants. This is a lie. There is a large number of immigrants in Britain, most of them working hard to support themselves and their families. There is no possible way that any government could afford or manage to deport every illegal immigrant so what we propose is to allow those illegal immigrants who have been in Britain for over ten years and who speak English to earn citizenship. This ...
Okay, so perhaps it wasn't the most startling insight but yesterday I said that Clegg is now firmly in control of the party and will be able to set a clear direction of travel after the election. I also warned that the media and other two parties will attempt to divide Clegg from Cable. In a blog on the FT, Philip Stephens appears to agree.
Hold on to your hat! In the Mail on Sunday's BPIX poll the Lib Dems are winning. Of course the ever-so-slightly-right-wing Mail on Sunday doesn't like that, but I do ...
Last night's email postbag includes a message from correspondents some miles outside this constituency - a group of driving instructors in Wiltshire. They are campaigning for the re-opening of the driving test centre in Trowbridge, which - like ours here in Wisbech - has been closed by the Driving Standards Agency. The Wiltshire drivers have received the support of their Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Duncan Hames, as well as the Conservative candidate. Both Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker MP and his Conservative counterpart Theresa Villiers MP have given a commitment to a full review of the Driving Standards Agency's ...
Is your window looking a little bit bare? Profile picture a little bit tired? No longer! You can download a print-your-own official Lib Dem 'Diamond' poster here ( http://bit.ly/aqLdbM ). Or you could even try out these unofficial alternative images lovingly design by yours truly. Enjoy!
It's a Doctor Who obsessive's dream. You're lying in your bed and suddenly in the darkness lights start flashing and you hear the inimitable tone of the Doctor's scariest and most deadly foe screeching "Good morning, your tea is ready." I'm not really convinced that the Dalek teasmade could have any more than the most niche of markets, but after last night's Doctor Who episode, who knows? I was on the edge of my seat for most of the episode which I guess was good but there was so much wrong with it that I barely know where to start. ...
Here's something I wanted to address after watching the "leaders' debate" on Thursday night. Toward the end there was a question in response to which all three potential leaders said they agreed: that in paying for one's old age one should not be forced to sell assets. Huh? Just what are accumulated assets for, then? Apparently they should only be so that you can leave something to your children. On the one question on which they apparently all... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Those of who in Luton recently have had the unique experience of not hearing the sound of planes flying overhead. The grounding of planes due to Icelandic volcanic ash has though caused transport problems throughout the UK and Europe. This national and international story will have a significant impact locally. Family members waiting to see loved ones, students unable to return to sit their exams and local businesses reliant on the airport will be losing money during a crucial period for the travel industry. May I offer my best wishes to all affected by the news and I hope those ...
YouGov produce a daily poll for the Sun and Sunday Times. Today's YouGov was the only post-debate poll to show the LibDems in third place. At comment 268 on the thread linked below, we hear about their next poll: 268.Just done a YouGov, Mostly about Clegg & LD Here was one of the question "Nick Cleggs says the other parties are to blame for the MP scandals, he has taken money from a criminal on the run, many of his MPs have been found guilty of breaking the rules and his own party issued guidance on how to fiddle the ...
There's no doubt that many Tories are itching to shout "soft on criminals! soft on immigrants!" at the Liberal Democrats over the next few days. One slight problem with the targets of choice: the Lib Dem policies on prison sentences and tackling the problem of illegal immigration. You see, those shouts of outrage should also be directed at Iain Duncan Smith (that well known soggy liberal who believes short prison sentences should be scrapped), not to mention notorious left-winger Boris Johnson (who believes in earned routes to citizenship for illegal immigrants). I'm sure that will happen. Of course. No doubt ...
Nick Clegg has launched a major campaign to win the youth vote amid signs that young people are backing the Liberal Democrats in increasing numbers following last week's leaders' debate. Frank Little, prospective Liberal Democrat for Neath, said: "It is not surprising that the Liberal Democrat programme is attracting younger voters. At its heart is fairness, and that must appeal to the idealism in young people."
Monday: Annual Towns Meeting. No members of the public attended. A reporter came. And so did Cllr Sue Goodchild. The meeting lasted 12 minutes. Tuesday. Lib Dem local Branch Executive meeting. 2 hours. Thursday evening. Nick Clegg scores much credit over Cameron and Brown, boosts LibDems in ratings. Friday. Helped NH in South Oxhey delivering leaflets. Saturday. Walk over Dunstable Downs. Great weather. Great excuse for a coastline.
It's appropriate that the polls are showing the Lib Dems surging into second (and in a couple of polls first) place following the leaders debate on Thursday just at the point when the largest event in the Snooker calendar, the World Championships at the mighty Crucible (coincidentally in Sheffield, Nick Clegg's patch) start. Because frankly, as far as I can see the other parties are now pretty much snookered when it comes to their options of how to deal with the Lib Dems and Clegg. Let's have a run-down of the sort of things they will be war-gaming and indeed ...
The Daily Mail really cant help itself sometimes. Given that they were more than complimentary about Nick Clegg after his appearnace on the Leaders debates on Thursday night, they have today in their Sunday version reverted to type and have decided to launch a personal attack on Clegg for his multicultural background. Claiming that his "exotic ...
Posted by Lisa Harding on
The political tectonic plates are shifting (hopefully) following the performance of Nick Clegg in the Leaders' debate on Thursday. Labour and Conservative campaigns seem grounded as they try to work out how to deal with the Lib Dem lava surge and the political ash cloud that has drifted over them. I predicted they would switch from love bombing us to nuking us after the debate. And now the
Mark Pack makes the point that the editorial line of newspapers cannot get badly out of kilter with their readers. I recall a discussion at the Policy Committee at the height of the first Alliance surge in the early 1980s. Richard Holme had had dinner with a high ranking person at the Mail on Sunday which had developed quite a sympathetic editorial line. The question was how long would it last. The answer was as long as B1 women-the main target of their advertisers- polled as pro Alliance. I say put Colin Firth in all your literature, I thought his ...
Ever since I blogging about the possibility of Esther Rantzen stealing our posters, I have had a trickle of people alighting on that post after searching for a place to get LibDem posters. Well, LibDemVoice have sailed to the rescue and let it be known that you can download the pdf of a LibDem window poster here and print it out yourself. Go on, stand proud amongst your neighbours!
In amongst all the election news and of course the wonderful Liberal resurgence that has been occurring since the leaders debates I noticed this story pop up on one of my numerous RSS News Feeds: "PLAID politicians in Llanelli are finding a crisp company's General Election sales gimmick hard to swallow." So, in the middle of ...
I've just had the following article published in the "Rhode Island Provident" of all places: You would be forgiven for having been taken by surprise by the revolution in Kyrgyzstan. A few Scrabble enthusiasts may have been rubbing their hands at the news that (now that Mattel are allowing the use of proper nouns) the tiny mountainous nation in Central Asia will earn you 80 points for just one vowel – more if you can snag a triple word score tile. However, for the most part Kyrgyzstan has been unnoticed by the rest of the world. It is now the ...
Hopefully the general election will see both David Cameron and Gordon Browns sidelined to History of great failures with Nick Clegg victorious but anyhow life will go on whatever the outcome, as will hopefully "Harmony in Europe" a concert being organised by Thanet Male Voice Choir. Details below [IMG: harmony in europe]
We have just completed two very successful high street sessions. Last week we were in Sheerness by the clock and this weekend we set up camp in Sittingbourne. On both occasions we were fortunate with the weather and were armed with policy statements, balloons and literature. Throughout these sessions I met many people, discussing with them the wide variety of issues they are concerned about, which were mostly local, but also touched on national issues, such as tax and immigration. Sheerness and the Isle of Sheppey has suffered badly as a result of Gordon Brown's recession so there was a ...
For the second Friday running, I was one of a trio of pontificators on BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight, alongside the Spectator's Anne McElvoy and the Mirror's Kevin Maguire, offering our verdicts on how the election campaign is going. You can catch up via the BBC iPlayer here - the discussion starts about 29:30 minutes in. Some incident in Iceland was, for some quixotic reason, deemed more important than 'Cleggmania', so the discussion was briefer than last week's. What I normally do before any interview is try and rough out on a piece of paper half a dozen key ...
This is an update on the High Speed 2 meeting which your local Lib Dems helped set up on Wednesday this week. We remain very concerned about this Labour government proposal which would mean tunnelling under Primrose Hill homes. The rationale for this £25billion scheme to come into Euston remains unclear and there seem many alternatives for ...
This is a series of musings brought on by quick flicks through the ash cloud of coverage we've had of the leaders' debate and the subsequent polls. Somewhere in it, I think there is a coherent narrative, which is about how much easier it is to tell the truth - hence the title. Let's start with David Cameron's stories. They've been thoroughly covered (taken apart) in many places, such as in the Guardian. Now, using stories, including fictional ones, as a communication technique has a long and honourable history. Reagan and Ted Kennedy in particular were masters of it. One ...
... but you have to do it by 5pm this Tuesday. You can download the form from the bottom of this page on the Council website. Fill it in and sign it. Then you can post it to the Guildhall (if you can trust the post at this late stage), return it in person, or fax it to 020 8547 5099. Alternatively, you can scan in the completed form and email it as an attachment to electoral.services@rbk.kingston.gov.uk. If you have already registered then you should have received a polling card. If that hasn't arrived then phone Electoral Services at the ...
I am a great admirer of Jock Coats. He consistently sets our challenging ideas about how we might move towards a more liberal society. While Jock says he is a mutualist and anarchist many of his ideas belong to the classical liberal family. But I hope people don't take his advice and spoil their ballot. I understand why Jock is saying this: his guiding lights tell him the system is rotten. For all its imperfections it is the system we have right now. While taking the moral high-ground can be attractive, a high rate of spoiled ballots may open up ...
Those that know me know that I'm not a believer in polls as they have proven to be wrong many times in the past and when an election is this close with more votes expected for smaller parties and independents and all kinds of local factors its very hard to predict the final outcome. However I believe trends are worth examining. I have been examining the ages of voters for the historic polls see below There are some interesting points to note. 1. The vote stays very consistent for over 55's however the is variation in the other ages. 2.The ...
The Sunday Times reports: The Lib Dems last night said they would resist the squeeze from the two main parties and revealed a surge in donations, with £120,000, mainly in small sums, coming in during the 24 hours after the debate. You can make a donation yourself right now here.
This weekend the pollsters are reporting that there has been a surge in Liberal Democrat support. One even has the party in the lead. The Liberal Democrat blog, 'Cicero's Songs', explains why he thinks this is happening. I suspect he is largely right. Friends of mine who have voted for the Labour party all their lives have been saying that they want Vince Cable to be Chancellor. In fact, one friend said if voting Lib Dem meant that every Secretary of State would be Vince Cable he would vote for the party without hesitation. No doubt, scientists at Cowley Street ...
I am sure that anyone who reads my blog reads Guido Fawkes. But just in case they don't here is a link to his prediction of what could happen on Friday 7 May. Definitely worth a read.
It is simultaneously fun and repulsive reading the hysterical reactions to the LibDem surge. I haven't even turned on my Bloglines account to read Guido, Dale, CoffeeHouse et al. My better-edited reaction will be online with a newspaper in a few hours; the theme is how the Tory reaction reveals their nauseating sense of entitlement ...
As with most Lib Dem activists the last few days since the leaders debate have been a somewhat giddy whirlwind of pride in our leader's performance, unbelievable polls and maybe just a small worry that it's all too good to be true. In fact, I sometimes need to pinch myself that the campaign has really taken such a turn and presented the Lib Dems with the best opportunity in a generation to break the two-party system once and for all. Of course the question on everyone's lips is can this last? There are two more leaders debates - can Clegg ...
The massive leaps in the polls that we have seen for the Lib Dems since the middle of last week (interestingly, the 7% leap in one of the polls was from fieldwork done largely before Thursday's debate) have of course got us activists a bit giddy. Some commentators and lots of our opponents are saying that this is just a bounce and that the status quo will be restored soon. They are also suggesting that the second and third debates will go very differently and not as well for Clegg. Well they were saying that before the first one and ...
You may ask what could have inspired me to write such a headline. Well, it's none other than George himself. As Iain Martin has blogged – twice, he found the Tory shadow chancellor's state of denial so bizarre – George Osborne has issued a message to Tory supporters assuring them: It's been another great week for our campaign." Hmmm, and "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?" But then it's not been a good day for George, having already launched friendly fire against Boris Johnson by attacking the Tory London mayor's own policy of an amnesty ...
Oh dear, oh dear. I see the Tories are running scared and trying to attack what they feel are weak points of Lib Dem policy. Let me look at just three of them. Trident. The best defence of our policy not to replace trident was given by Nick Clegg in the leaders debate. It is a cold war solution to a cold war situation which we do not currently find ourselves in. Want to look at the practicalities we are worried about Iran and North Korea gaining a nuclear capability. How about this as a novel way for them not ...
While we are on the subject of polls it is worth reading this piece by Martin Kettle in the Guardian. He points out that we are in now in a genuine three party election in a sense that has not been true since 1983 (and before that not since the 1920s). He adds that Nick Clegg's remarkable debate success has added more than a third to the Liberal Democrats total in less than 24 hours — 'a transient phenomenon perhaps, but clear proof of an underlying volatility in the electorate.' However, he also puts his finger on an essential truth ...
Can I first apologise for the length of this post but the detail is crucial to destroying the latest Conservative attack on Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. The election campaign has a hard but enjoyable slog but it was still nice to have something to genuinely laugh about this morning as I heard on the radio that the Conservatives have attacked us over our stance on Europe. We must remember that this is the issue which effectively destroyed the Conservatives in the 1990s and from which they are only just emerging. Liberal Democrats, building on a long tradition of ...
The Wales on Sunday political correspondent, Matt Withers has not always been a fan of the Liberal Democrats. I am therefore delighted to reproduce his Mea Maxima Culpa from this morning's edition: The party's leader in Wales, Kirsty Williams, has often said that when the voters got to know Mr Clegg, they'd like him. She was right. (I'll repeat that for the benefit of those Lib Dems who accuse me of being too harsh on them: Kirsty Williams was right.) As Matt concludes: It must be fun waking up as a Lib Dem this morning. And I've never written that ...
Interesting times to be a Liberal Democrat. One feature of the campaign that is only slowly being picked up is that the contest is shifting from the old battlefield of newspaper columns to the new battlefield of the new media: not just blogs, but Facebook and the rest of it. This is undermining a key advantage for both Labour and the Conservatives: the influence of the press. At the last election only The Independent was prepared to endorse the Liberal Democrats, while all the others endorsed to other two parties. That position seems set to be repeated. The Conservatives will ...
Here's a better way to spend a few minutes than reading my Sunday morning post. Take this window poster, print it off (preferably on a colour printer) and stick it in your window. (Why? Because the more people see that friends and neighbours support Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats, the more they are likely to do so themselves.) Then help spread the message by sending a tweet or setting your Facebook status along these lines: People are flocking to #LibDems. Help keep it going with poster at http://bit.ly/libdemposter – print off + stick up! #iagreewithnick Hat-tip: Stuart Bonar
Hat-tip to the Guardian for analysing those anecdotes that David Cameron shared as part his disappointing and lacklustre performance in the first Prime Ministerial debate last week. Firstly, Humberside police did not pay £73,000 for a Lexus. Secondly, no-one joins the Navy at 10 years old. Thirdly, no such murder happened in Crosby. That clears that up then.
Hat-tip to the Guardian for analysing those anecdotes that David Cameron shared as part his disappointing and lacklustre performance in the first Prime Ministerial debate last week. Firstly, Humberside police did not pay £73,000 for a Lexus. Secondly, no-one joins the Navy at 10 years old. Thirdly, no such murder happened in Crosby. That clears that up then.
WalesOnline reports: LIBERAL Democrat AM Mick Bates has been suspended by the party after it was confirmed he will face prosecution for assault following a late night incident in Cardiff city centre. Joanne Foster, chief executive of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, issued a statement which said: "This afternoon, Mick Bates was told by South Wales Police that he will be summonsed at a future date for various offences following an incident in Cardiff on January 20. The Welsh Liberal Democrats regard this matter with the utmost seriousness. Therefore, Mr Bates' membership of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has been suspended, pending ...
A Keighley lady explains why she will be voting Liberal Democrat in a great letter entitled "Why I can no longer vote for the Tories" in a recent Yorkshire Post. To read it click on the link and scroll down to the second letter on the ...
Yes - we have to keep our heads in the midst of all this heady stuff, remember one swallow doesn't make you know what - and make sure we all carry on campaigning until we drop. Meanwhile - Nick just has to carry on being himself and telling the people about our policies in the next Sky Leader Debate on Thursday. That's all that really happened last Thursday - and when the nation finally got a fair look at Nick Clegg - they clearly liked what they saw and heard. The Tories appear to have gone into a complete panic. ...
There was a reason for Cameron's pisspoor performance in the first debate, and that reason will be repeated in the second. Cameron is being coached for the debates by the Hon. Anthony Charles Gordon-Lennox, son of Lord Sir (sic) Nicholas Charles Gordon-Lennox, grandson of the Duke of Richmond. The Hon. Anthony Charles Gordon-Lennox is the Tories' communications guru. Tax dodger in chief Lord Ashcroft presumably thinks the Hon. Anthony is worth the £322,196 pa the Tories pay him. The Hon. Anthony is, naturally, an old Etonian. This is no laughing matter. Cameron evidently has a visceral need to be surrounded ...
As a Lib Dem agent life can be a bit tough at times (sob, sob) but since Nick Clegg did so well in the TV debate messages of goodwill and promises of support just keep on coming. It's great! Thanks Nick and well ...
Predictably Nick Clegg's success in he first leaders'' debate means that the knives are to be turned on the Liberal Democrats and our policies. According to yesterday's Guardian "Some Conservatives are pressing Cameron to expose Clegg's support for an earned amnesty for illegal immigrants, (and) his willingness to keep anyone given a sentence of less than six months out of jail..." Well, "Bring 'em on!" as I believe President Reagan (or was it Bush?) said. The first policy is the mark of a civilised society and the second is common sense, since "Prison is an expensive way of making bad ...
The Roundhouse has a whole weekend of engaging young people in politics - from political debate, to graffiti walls and musical, theatrical and film entertainment. Do you feel counted? On a fantastically sunny day - it was rewarding that so many young people had turned up for this hustings on political reform. I represented the LibDems, Meg Hillier (Labour), Antonia Cox(Tories). The Legal correspondent for the Guardian, Afua Hirsch and Fumi Abari, 16 year old member of the UK Youth Parliament added real interest and different viewpoints. What was so fantastic - were the contributions from the floor. As Youth ...
The opinion polls have made very interesting reading this morning. I imagine that the Conservative and Labour leadership and their advisers are feeling somewhat concerned about their prospects. Both parties are going backwards in this campaign. The problem that both Labour and the Conservatives face is that the surge in support for the Liberal Democrats is not just about the good performance that Nick Clegg put in to the first television debate- though this may have come as a surprise to them, used as they are to Prime Minister's question time, where he is usually marginalised. The fact is that ...
a bit of a late post from yesterday due to a very late night (or early morning) yesterday. My latest dispatch from Hull is all about the big mo! In short I think we have it on a local and a national level. Our new members and volunteers are absolutely cock-a-hoop with regards to the polling numbers. Our older members who remember the early 1980s are a little guarded. Everyone, however, has a huge bounce in their step. For the second day in a row we have had people walking in off the street offering to help the Lib Dems ...
The excellent website Liberal Democrat Voice has selected 10 key Parliamentary votes to help the public understand how liberal or authoritarian your MP has been during the last Parliament. Now, if you enter Joan Ruddock MP you'll find that she's "only" 90% authoritarian, and this because despite backing government on each and every authoritarian proposal from ...
These days I have so many individual bloggers in my feed reader who write so many varied and interesting, learned and informative pieces, that I'm afraid most things that are listed as being from the mainstream media I tend to skip over. Occasionally an interesting looking headline grabs my eye as I'm scanning a page load of their ramblings though and I take a peek. One such was Saturday ofternoon, "Blank votes would reform democracy" by Balaji Ravichandran on Comment is Free... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] ...
:( Victory of the Daleks was a bit of a flashback to RTD-era, wasn't it? There were cool things and cool moments (YAY ( SPOILER! )!) but the whole thing didn't hang together that well, and ( SPOILER! ) was an avatar, rather than actual ( SPOILER! ), and there was the whole OMG HUMANS YOU'RE SO FAB thing that Tennant did and... Yeah. A bit of a let down after the last two weeks. I don't like ( SPOILER! ). They look ( SPOILER! ). The ( SPOILER! ) were lots better than the ( SPOILER! ). Still, I ...
Seven Swords, dir Tsui Hark Another "homage" (mis-pronounced, no doubt, "omarj" in an attempt to sound all French and edumacated) to Seven Samurai, this is just as bad as the original. It was originally supposed to be 240 minutes long, but was cut to just 150, which may go part way to explain some of the jarring jumps and gaping plot-holes. These would make it an even worse film than Seven Samurai, if it wasn't for the fact that at least it's fairly well shot. There's also some ridiculous martial arts action, which always helps. The dude with the killer ...
I have delayed posting since Thursday's debate because I did not want to accidentally get caught up in any over-excitement I felt at the clear result. It was agreed unanimously amongst some friends and myself who all watched it live, that Nick Clegg 'won' (I am uncomfortable with that word, but it's what the media are using), Gordon Brown came second, and David Cameron came last. David Cameron's placement was a genuine surprise to me as I retain some sympathy for the supposed underlying ideology of liberal Conservativism. While, obviously, I am delighted that Nick Clegg's performance has received such ...
Saturday's papers were full of the leadership debate and the poll that puts the Tories on 33%, Liberal Democrats on 30% and Labour on 28%. It seems that in a gerneral election this would translate to Labour having 276 MPs, the Tories 246 and Liberal Democrats 99. I am really pleased that we are talking in terms of these sorts of numbers but just spend a moment thinking about them. Labour have managed to get nearly three times the number of seats with a smaller percentage vote. In 1974 Labour managed to win more seats with fewer votes than the ...
This afternoon I went to Maidwell, a village on the road between Marekt Harborough and Northampton, and nearby Draughton. These are three of my discoveries there. This is the (presumably) former telephone exchange in Maidwell. There is a later building next to it that may have been an exchange too and is also disused, but as with all official buildings in rural areas, you will find a sign threatening you with all sorts of penalties if you trespass. I was rather taken with this old exchange as it resembles a little abandoned chapel. I have seen it from the bus ...
