To my surprise it included Bromsgrove, although it shouldn't considering the hard work the team put into the campaign.
[IMG: Image]
Last night I attended our first Ordsall & Langworthy Community Committee meeting since the election. From a representative point of view, nothing has changed. All 6 Ordsall & Langworthy councillors remain the same (since neither of the 2 up for re-election lost their seats) and our first point of business was to elect our community committee chairman, who also retained his position. Congratulations to Roy Marsh, he guides us through the busy agenda with a good degree of skill. It has always slightly annoyed me that as a mere resident, representing no one group, while my voice can be heard ...
[IMG: clegg-cameron] Given the new Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville must have been many months in development the similarities between them and the symbols of the new government are just eerie. Both are men of steel forged in the last gasp of manufacturing under the last Government Both are shiny and claim to be "reflecting the people, places and things we meet along the way as we travel around the UK. You might see yourself reflected if we meet you!" They're both "novices", who learn as they go Wenlock looks rather like the Liberal Democrat logo has exploded on his ...
SOAS played host to the Arab British Centre and the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU, on whose Board I sit) this evening, for a talk on Lebanon by the former BBC Middle East correspondent Tim Llewellyn. We must have overlapped briefly in Beirut, while I was doing some work for the Middle ...
Many of us who getting involved in politics, in whatever form that may take, because we want to make a difference, help the world be a better place and help other people and generally create a society that is better for everyone. Whilst I was at the next left conference there were several people who ... Read more
Pictured left to right: Lib Dem Councillors Sue Hope, Claire Young, Dave Hockey, Pat Hockey and Marc Scawen. Years of campaigning by your Lib Dem Focus Team have paid off with news that by March 2011 there will be kerbside plastic bottle collections and weekly collection of food waste in South Gloucestershire. Cllr Dave Hockey, the Lib Dem spokesperson on waste, said, "This is good news for local residents and the environment. Kerbside collection of plastic bottles will mean many more are recycled rather than being dumped in landfill, saving oil and avoiding massive financial penalties for the Council, which ...
And here they are!
Your Focus Team has welcomed news that plans for a composting facility near Tormarton have been dropped. Over the past two years, Lib Dem Councillors have repeatedly raised concerns about the choice of technology but despite plenty of evidence of problems elsewhere in the country were told that their fears were unfounded. Now the Council is introducing a new waste strategy that does not require an In-Vessel Composter (IVC) to be built and which will lead to food waste eventually going to some sort of anaerobic digester. Now attention turns to alternative uses for the Tormarton site. Cllr Sue Hope ...
which may confuse some people, but shouldn't. Here is the graph of the June Gilt future since March: As this story indicates, yields are now at a very low level. Good news? Well, no. A naive, political interpretation of this would be: the Conservative government has impressed the market that it has borrowing under control. ...
This Government is going to give more power back to the people than any since the reforming Government of Lord Grey in 1832 and roll back the statist, interventionist, big-brother style state which Labour enforced on us over thirteen long years.
Wenlock Olympian Games 2007Photo by Sabine J Hutchinson http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/ Jonathan Glancey sums up our endearing new Olympic mascots: In images and a video released by the Olympic organisers today, the two are seen giving each other a very American high five, as if to say: "Yo! Dude/Cameron/Coe" - or whoever needs popular support two years from now. If they have American habits, Mandeville and Wenlock appear to have been conjured from Japanese comic books and computer games. Where they are evidently Londoners is in the look of their cyclopean eyes, that may remind many of the lenses of CCTV cameras ...
I have been e-mailed a copy of a letter sent by a North Pembrokeshire resident to one of his local AMs together with some photographs of the masked men who came to carry out surveys yesterday. He writes: Yesterday, Welsh Assembly representatives attended land near Newport to survey for badger setts as part of the cull process. I happened to be present as the occupier of the land in question grows crops for me under contract. Representatives from the WA were Mr TM and two other men dressed all in black with balaclavas entirely covering their faces except for their ...
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Who knew it? The children's TV funster is also an artist. An exhibition of Timmy Mallet's paintings is coming to Croft Wingates in Market Harborough. It opens on Sunday 7 June and Mallet will be there in person. It seems these paintings were inspired by the film The Railway Children. You can learn more about them in an interview Mallet gave to Adrian Peel: What, to you, is so special about the film? Why do you think it continues to be so loved 40 years on? The film deals with some of life's eternal themes - family, longing, adventure, dreams, ...
Why are people so obsessed with manifestos? [IMG: manifesto] The only important manifesto ever written More particularly, why are manifestos being touted as a reason why the current coalition is not democratic? It is one of the main arguments I have heard against coalitions: as soon as polling day is over, parties have to begin trading off parts of their policy programmes, diluting key promises, and compromising endlessly until you end up with a program for government that "NO ONE VOTED FOR!" This is not exactly a nuanced position. Firstly, it fails to take into account the fact that no ...
We are capable of making our own opinions and our own views as long as we have access to the facts, your newspaper should be a source of those facts. In my view much of the print media fails miserably to do what it is supposed to do. It got worse during the election as many newspaper editors seem to decide that there readers were to stupid to consider arguments, should not be trusted with facts and instead instructed voters how to vote. It is no surprise that people are sick of being patronised and deserting newspapers. During the campaign ...
It seems to me that many out in the real world are a tad er unsettled and confused by the Lib-Conservative government to me its simple, two party leaders have found mutual advantage in doing a deal and we the people are the beneficiaries. Anyway I recommend that you take a gander at this article by Charlie Brooker in Guardian, it may not help but will articulate what many probably feel. Anyway enjoy! [IMG: thats it]
He's Deputy Prime Minister now, but it's good to see that Nick Clegg plans to continue his practice of holding meetings where members of the public can come and ask him questions directly. Nick's starting off with a public meeting in his constituency of Sheffield Hallam. From www.nickclegg.com: He is inviting local people to come and put their questions and opinions to him in an hour long any questions event. This event is free to attend but entry is only by registration for a free e-ticket. These are limited to two tickets per application. When: Friday 21 May 2010, 18.30-19.30pm ...
I'm very glad indeed to hear that Stephen Timms MP has now left hospital following a stabbing incident at his MP's surgery in Newham. It's worth reflecting on this and also bearing in mind the surgery incident in Cheltenham in 2000 which led to the tragic death of a dedicated public servant, Andrew Pennington, and the serious injury of Nigel Jones MP (now Lord Jones). On a simple pragmatic level I hope security at all MP surgeries is beefed up and made sufficient after this latest incident. Nigel Jones stresses the importance of a "panic button" and using an appointment ...
In 1902 the Hill family presented the City of Bath with a small park area in Kensington Gardens, Walcot. The family wanted to preserve an area of peace and tranquility for future local residence and to provide a habitat for flora and fauna. The gardens have been well utilized over the last century, with local residents making the most of the wonderful views of Bath the park provides. However, these gardens wouldn't be a pleasant place for residents and visitors to enjoy if it wasn't for the dedication of local volunteers. I joined the gardening project for the first time ...
If there is one thing the media seem to agree on, it is that Nick somewhat over-Clegged it today by claiming that the package of proposals he announced today represent the biggest political reform since 1832. The BBC have compared it unfavourably to Tony Hancock's famously ignorant quip about Magna Carta (or the unstopable sex machine as it isn't rather better known). C4 News' Cathy Newman has branded it as "fiction" (it has been factchecked, so it must be true). Meanwhile the increasingly vituperative and bonkers Mehdi Hasan (what has he been on? His performance on Question Time last week ...
The Number 10 website has what appears to be the complete listing of the people in the new government. Two more Liberal Democrats names have appeared on it. Baroness Northover and Lord Wallace of Saltaire - that's Lindsay Northover and William Wallace to those of us who have been in the party for a while - have been included among the Baronesses and Lords in Waiting. It may sound Ruritanian, but they are just whips in the Lords. Trivial fact: William Wallace's father-in-law Edward Rushworth fought the Harborough constituency for the Liberal Party at three general elections - 1955, 1959 ...
Whilst much of the country has been settling down to the new Lib/Con government and adjusting to seeing the face of David Cameron and others on the other side of the bench for many the real campaign is just about to begin! That's right the Liberal Youth elections! Many people would have thought that I ... Read more
He's Deputy Prime Minister now, but it's good to see that Nick Clegg plans to continue his practice of holding meetings where members of the public can come and ask him questions directly. Nick's starting off with a public meeting in his constituency of Sheffield Hallam. From www.nickclegg.com: He is inviting local people to come and put their questions and opinions to him in an hour long any questions event. This event is free to attend but entry is only by registration for a free e-ticket. These are limited to two tickets per application. When: Friday 21 May 2010, 18.30-19.30pm ...
I don't normally do press releases on my blog but this is worth a note. PRESS RELEASE For immediate release 19 May 2010 A FRESH START FOR CALDERDALE An agreement between the Liberal Democrat and Labour groups has been reached that will see them taking over the leadership of Calderdale Council in a joint administration at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Monday (24th May) This follows the local elections that saw both the Liberal Democrats and the Labour groups increase their numbers by two, whilst the Conservatives lost ground, recording their worst result in Calderdale for over 13 ...
In the first few days of the new coalition there seemed to be what I consider a rather lazy assumption often articulated by Labour activists that the government can't last and will fall apart in a year or 18 months. I have mentioned before how I think this as a risky assumption but in the context of the Labour leadership election it becomes even more so.This is because of how the way the coalition government is perceived could significantly affect the leader they choose.I am not a great fan of David Miliband. I think he is too wonkish and does ...
Ray Earwicker Lib Dem PPC for Bracknell believes that some criticism of the election campaign is justified. Here are his thoughts. The leadership pressed home the four tenets of fairness underlying the campaign for far too long. Once it became clear that the main focus of the debate had shifted on to more controversial areas such as immigration, Europe and Trident we should have been ready to counter more effectively the arguments put forward by the media and the opposition against our proposals. The fact that we weren't able to do so undoubtedly lost us lost votes towards the end ...
So. Like everyone (except I think Tory MPs) I read the Coalition agreement and quite liked it: some really important unexpected wins on the environment and constitutionally. Remarkably little that was truly offensive. Of course, the knack is to use coalition negotiations as an opportunity to lose those bits of your own manifesto you don't like by offering them up as sacrifices on the altar of co-operation. There is of course nothing in the agreement about culture, media or sport. So I thought I would have a go: look at both manifestos, ditch the whacky bits and insert some bits ...
Wed 19th
16:54
My letter of response to the High Speed Rail consultation on the proposed Exceptional Hardship Schem...
As a Warwickshire councillor I represent the county division of Kenilworth Abbey, which includes the village of Burton Green that is in the direct path of the proposed HS2 route. I am also the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Environment & Economy on the County Council. I am therefore writing as an individual councillor and on behalf of the Liberal Democrat group on Warwickshire County Council, which agreed this joint response at a group meeting last Friday 14th May. Consultation process I am concerned that the 10 week period for consultation does not meet the Government's own Code of Practice ...
I am feeling really rubbish today. I spent the morning in bed and am now languishing on the couch listening to the therapeutic sound of Liberal Democrat Cabinet Ministers being sworn in. I am incredibly proud of Anna though. At just 10, she and her classmates have all had to give a Presentation on someone who inspires them. She's been working on her's for the past month and put together a PowerPoint presentation on her favourite actor David Tennant. It's all the more remarkable of her because she's managed this all by herself and met the deadline with no last ...
[IMG: Revolutionary Nick Clegg graffiti] Today Nick Clegg made a speech setting out the Government's plans for political reform, at the City & Islington College Centre for Business, Arts and Technology. As Iain wrote this morning, the media are viewing Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats as revolutionaries, and drawing parallels with the Reform Act 1832. Nick's speech expands on three more R's: repealing infringements on freedom, reforming politics and redistributing power. Here it is in full: I have spent my whole political life fighting to open up politics. So let me make one thing very clear: This government is ...
Sarah called Croydon Council yesterday to report fly-tipping in the local woods. Their response goes to the heart of the problem of public services over the past decade - and David Laws might do worse than looking here for a more radical and effective way of saving money. The lady at the call centre replied: "I don't think we can do this." What she meant was that our local park, and the woods attached, don't have a street address, which means the fly-tipping incident couldn't be entered on the council's database. And if it couldn't be entered, it couldn't be ...
As you may have noticed, this web site has been pretty dormant for many months! Why? Because I was acting as election agent for Nigel Rock in the parliamentary election for the new constituency of Kenilworth & Southam, and was putting all my energies into that - including running the local party's web site at www.kenilworthandsouthamlibdems.org.uk Now the general election is over, my focus is now back fully on my role as councillor, so it is time to re-launch this web site. I shall be posting to it regularly from now on.
Wed 19th
15:37
Diversity and representation - instead of whinging, why don't we do something about it?
I have a reputation for being a bureaucrat. Gradualism is my watchword, and has been for most of the twenty-five years that I've been a Liberal and then Liberal Democrat. However, suddenly, I have become an old man in a hurry. Alright, old relative to most of you at least, but still in a hurry. So, imagine I've sprouted an Old Testament beard, donned a white flowing robe and found a nice stout staff and harken to my words. I have a few jobs for you to do... First, do you want to be a candidate at the next General ...
Newly elected MP for Redcar, Ian Swales, today began his campaign to bring hundreds of Government jobs to Teesside by writing to George Osborne, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, to formally request that he consider Teesside as the location for the administrative centre of the Government's proposed 'Green Investment Bank'. Under the coalition Government's proposals, the bank will be used to provide investment for 'green' projects such as upgrading ports to make them suitable for off-shore wind turbines. In his letter to the Chancellor, Mr Swales stressed the need for increased Government support to help the North East recover ...
New York Public Library facing budget cuts, re-enacted the invasion of ghosts and their defeat by ghostbusters. When libraries in the London Borough of Ongar faced cuts, the headline in the local paper read "Book lack in Ongar".
Today Deputy Prime Minister Clegg (yeah I say that a lot now :p) laid out the reforms he hopes to bring about during his time in Government. Nothing amazingly new in the speech but plenty to smile about anyway. Here it is in full: I have spent my whole political life fighting to open up politics. So let me make one thing very clear: This government is going to be unlike any other. This government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state. This ...
Launceston Chamber of Commerce is calling for more free parking and cheaper parking at the multi-storey to give our town centre a 'shot in the arm'. Their calls echo much of what the Liberal Democrats were pledging at the council elections last year. Regrettably, the new Cornwall Council administration would not accept the introduction of 10p first hour car parking - the most popular single policy of the election campaign - and have asked a committee to review all car parking policies. Whilst we wait for Cornwall Council to reach a decision, there is still much that Launceston Town Council ...
The Labour Party are putting predictable spin on the news that the Lib Dems and Conservatives have come to an agreement to run Reading Borough Council. Their justification for holding on to control in Reading is that they gained a councillor from the Tories in Minster. Wow, Labour win back seat in Labour stronghold shocker! What we have in fact been seeing since 2004 is the long slow death of Reading Labour not being reflected in the number of wards they hold. The basic facts are that Labour lost Katesgrove, which now joins Redlands as 100% Lib Dem. They lost ...
I was interested to read Nick Clegg's assertion that his package of government reform was the most radical since Lord Grey's 1832 Reform Act. Paddy Ashdown made the same claim when speaking to students at KGV college in Southport during the general election. The 1832 Reform Act certainly did away with some obvious and indefensible aspects of the franchise. The rotten boroughs like Old Sarum which had hardly any electors were abolished and new townships that had no MPs were enfranchised. Nevertheless lots of people lost the vote. All those who lived in potwalloper boroughs had pretty well universal male ...
Here are the facts and figures from Sunday's Special Conference: Time taken to organise: 4 days - compared to the year that a Lib Dem conference usually takes. Even the Liberal-SDP merger conference of 1988 was arranged with 4 months' notice. Total number of delegates: 1650 (of whom 250 registered on the day). This was larger than any Lib Dem Spring Conference. It featured the longest debate at a Liberal Democrat conference (3.5 hours) Number of speakers cards submitted: 172 Number of speeches made: 38 Number of intervention cards submitted: 110 Number of interventions taken: 30 Number of amendments: 9 ...
Nick Clegg's speech this morning was hugely significant. The new government is promising to overthrow much of that which is unfair about our political system as well as making giant strides towards becoming a truly liberal society. Gone will be ID cards and much of the database state. In will come controls on the use of CCTV. Gone will be restrictions on the right to peaceful protest. In will come a restriction on the use of libel laws to limit free speech. And there will be a referendum on changing the voting system, a largely elected (by PR) House of ...
[IMG: Revolutionary Nick Clegg graffiti] Today Nick Clegg made a speech setting out the Government's plans for political reform, at the City & Islington College Centre for Business, Arts and Technology. As Iain wrote this morning, the media are viewing Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats as revolutionaries, and drawing parallels with the Reform Act 1832. Nick's speech expands on three more R's: repealing infringements on freedom, reforming politics and redistributing power. Here it is in full: I have spent my whole political life fighting to open up politics. So let me make one thing very clear: This government is ...
Today's Cabinet meeting made the hugely welcome decision to proceed with the building of a new school at St Tudy. It's now up to the Diocesan Board of Education (part of the Church of England) to make sure it happens. For the full story, see Jeremy Rowe's blog (Jeremy is the councillor for the area that includes St Tudy).
The Western Telegraph gives a good indication of the sort of tensions that are being generated in North Pembrokeshire by the decision of the Labour-Plaid Cymru Government to carry out a cull of badgers there. The paper reports that men, masked to hide their identities and accompanied by police, have visited farms and small holdings in the area to carry out preparatory sett survey work. They say that three people have been arrested in connection with the cull: Police have confirmed that two men were arrested under articles five and six of the Tuberculosis Eradication (Wales) order 2009. The act ...
Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who's in charge of political reform in the new coalition government, today outlined the wide ranging reforms he intends to introduce. As a speech it's pretty good and the sort of thing I'll bookmark to make me smile when I'm feeling sad. True to a programme that involves giving more power over the state to the people, he will be consulting on what laws people want to see gone. I was tempted for a moment to make the headline to this "Join Nick Clegg's big bang approach" but I thought that ...
An indication of how difficult things are already, without the further cuts necessitated by the mess Labour left behind in the economy, is evident in the lead article in this morning's Western Mail. The paper says that Health Boards are facing unprecedented cuts of up to £500m this year to balance their books. They say that some boards must make savings of up to £7m a month prompting concerns that frontline staff, beds and operations may be slashed: Kate Watkins, acting director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said: "The scale of the financial challenge for the NHS in Wales is ...
It appears likely that the lavish promises made during the death throes of the Labour Government my well cost Cornwall dear. According to news reports, it is likely that the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme - under which Cornwall was due to get enough money to completely refurbish 6 secondary schools - is to be cut. These six schools were simply the first tranche of a much wider school refurbishment programme. Also at risk is Cornwall Council's cornerstone policy of a PFI scheme to build affordable housing. It is usually a rule of new Governments that they do ...
One of the main items on today's Cabinet agenda - although tucked away at the end - was a paper on a proposal for Cornwall Council to buy itself out of the current landlord services deal with central government. At the moment, central government top slices all council house rents. This is money paid by Cornwall residents which goes to central government. It doesn't come back to the Council and so cannot be used to improve the council housing stock or to build new homes. The idea being proposed is that the Council takes out a large loan, effectively a ...
My things to link to folder has filled up over the course of the election and it's aftermath, so here I am emptying it:For the Nick Clegg fans: facebook group for the "DPMILF", his barnstorming speech from earlier today, zazzle "I agree with Nick" products, and if you're not yet following fuckyeahnickclegg, why not? Other Lib Demmy Stuff: Lady Mark's Patented 8 Step Programme For Becoming a Lib Dem MP (or perhaps you'd prefer the upper house?), Daddy Richard's unspoken speech from Sunday, and Who lost the most deposits in the election?. Amusing things: When the Grammar Nazis came to ...
In October 2009 I got the welcome and surprising news that, following a tough evaluation day, my application to join the approved list of parliamentary candidates was successful. I could now apply to represent the Liberal Democrats in any UK parliamentary seat. There was only one seat I wanted to have a shot at - my local seat of Sittingbourne and Sheppey - and I knew our local party were looking for a candidate. I immediately completed the application form, put together my manifesto, and submitted it to the executive committee. (I also got details of the almost-next-door Chatham and ...
As reported in today's Courier and in my interview today on Radio Tay, I have called on the Minister for Public Health and Sport, Shona Robison MSP, to intervene to protect services for elderly patients at Ward 6 in Dundee's Royal Victoria Hospital. Following senior doctors protesting at the possible closure of Ward 6, it is vital that the Minister intervenes to protect these important services for elderly patients in Dundee. Following a flurry of concerns about the situation from constituents, earlier this month, I wrote to Professor Tony Wells, Chief Executive of NHS Tayside to voice concerns. His response ...
Talking to people around the country in the last few days, there is a common pattern with party membership: around double the number of people have been joining the party as were leaving the party, and the typical age of those joining is (close to) half that of those leaving. There are probably two factors behind this striking age difference. First, Nick Clegg and the party more generally did particularly well at appealing to younger voters during the election. Second, amongst those leaving perhaps the most common explanation is that, regardless of circumstance or detail of the deal, simply doing ...
A follow up as requested in the comments on my earlier post, this time showing what proportion of the electorate each of the main parties won in previous general elections and also the proportion who did not vote for any party: [IMG: Vote shares graph] (Click on graph for larger version)
It is looking pretty dicey for the Bank and it's inflation-fighting reputation. Read Jeremy Warner (Does the inflation target actually mean anything any more?) and above all the point made clear in Simon Ward's post yesterday (UK CPI inflation 3 percentage points above BoE year-ago forecast). Here is a graph from last year's May Inflation ...
When the Liberal Conservative Government actually gets down to making new acts they will include the one that enables the right to recall an MP who has been proven of wrong doing. This morning's news makes one wonder if Barnsley Central MP Eric Ilsley may be the unfortunate to make the history books as the first MP to face the public's right to recall. He has been called before Westminster Magistrates Court just like his former Labour colleagues Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Elliot Morely along with Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield on the 17 June for dishonestly claiming council tax ...
Sunday: Honestly, politics moves so FAST these days, there is no time to let Daddy Richard off for a couple of days is there! Off we went to Brum again, to a BIG SHED near the motorway, to attend the FLASHMOB CONFERENCE on the Coalition between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatories AKA the Solihull-Pyongyang twinning ceremony. (Look, even Captain Clegg was surprised by the overwhelming support from Party members for the deal!) There were a-hundred-and-seventy-two speaker's cards put in, and I'm afraid Daddy Richard was NOT one of the thirty-eight called. So here is the speech wot he wrote: ...
A week may be a long time in politics but surely eight days into an new Government which only say for the first time yesterday and hasn't even been sworn in yet must be pretty instantaneous. Instead of being held behind the prison fencing at Dungavel but moved to Yarls Wood, Bedfordshire with specialist family and child facilities and support services as an interim measure before totally removing from detention only eight days into a new government. As Damian Green the immigration minister said: "This is something which many groups in Scotland have been calling for, and we are now ...
A shocking video showing Belarus Pride marchers being attacked by the Police and bundled into a bus – then another protester minding his own business at that point suddenly being attacked and bundled off with them. Homophobia seems to have a strong partner with totalitarianism – so much so that it must be normal for ...
With the number of contenders for the Labour leadership about to reach four (if John McDonnell can get the signatures) it may well be a good moment for Labour to take a leaf out of Michael Howard's book. Bizarre as that may sound, he did have one good idea. In the aftermath of his election ...
The question as to how private domestic abuse is was an important issue at Manchester City Council this morning. City Council policy is that it is not a private matter at all, but a serious matter of public interest and that the Council should have zero tolerance of any such abuse. This is at the heart of the problem regarding Sir Richard Leese's election as Leader of the Council. Whilst there might well be mitigating circumstances (including trying to prevent a minor picking up a criminal record), the fact remains that accepting a caution is an admission of guilt and ...
Like many Lib Dems my initial response to the prospect of a Lib/Con coalition was "no, please, not that!" However, following a few days' reflection I'm now utterly convinced that my initial response, although entirely understandable, was misguided. I urge Liberal Democrats everywhere to wake up to the very real possibility of the change we have longed for taking place, albeit in an unexpected way. Imagine that the Westminster Fairy had granted your wish and introduced PR. How would politics work after that? Well apart from anything else, you can be pretty sure we would have a series of coalition ...
Despite the welcome rise in turnout at the May 2010 general election, it continues to be the case that more people use the internet in the UK than vote at elections: General election turnout, May 2010 (UK): 65% Internet usage (UK adults, Ofcom 2010 survey): 73%
Clegg looking quite uncomfortable sitting next to Cameron # RT @markpack: Fun little #libdems membership trend: members "unresigning" as they decide like terms of coalition after all #fb # Ad van, parked outside main entrance to #shellagm Getting lots of attention! http://twitpic.com/1ouwjt v/@amnestyuk #fb # Thinking that @nusuk 's continuous anti-Lib Demmery stinks more each day of sour grapes! Get over it Blairites! # Thanks to everyone who has Rt'd me today. Has been far more than I'm used to! [IMG: :)] # So Labour ramp up spending substantially and against civil service advice purely to then denounce cuts from ...
Yesterday saw a vital indictation of the viability of the coalition - and it was George Osborne who delivered an extremely good result. Last week I blogged: Next week, the EU Council of Ministers plans to adopt strict regulations enforcing transparency on hedge funds and private equity firms and limiting their leverage, ie how much they can gamble. NuLabour resisted these very sensible Franco-German proposals, because NuLabour was 100% bought by the City. The Tory right wants to oppose the plans because they are European regulations. Already we are hearing bleats that hedge fund managers will move abroad. Good. The ...
[IMG: the big lie] I thought I'd finished complaining about last night's edition of Newsnight, but then I got to the interview with Shirley Williams and Hilary Benn (it's 34 minutes in, for the terminally curious). Labour have clearly decided to make the proposals on fixed term parliaments a key attack line, judging by Jim Sheridan and David Blunkett's interventions in the Commons yesterday, and Benn had another go last night, albeit in passing. This is an absolute textbook example of the propaganda technique known as the 'Big Lie' - an outrageous falsehood repeated at every opportunity until it becomes ...
This blog is not anti-American. While I may criticise the policies of that country's Government and its many excesses, I feel that America's stand on most issues is principled and right. The chief failing in America's foreign policy is inconsistency; its governing motivation is driven by the aforementioned principle, but as a highly political culture it indulges in methods that are frequently tawdry, and too often the means overwhelm the end. We're seeing an example of that this week with the latest series of twists in the Iranian nuclear drama. For those who missed the background, Brazil and Turkey brokered ...
I wasn't able to get to the Lib Dem special conference on Sunday (the one giving members a chance to have their say on the co alition deal) The fact that the deal was endorsed by a huge majority was reported widely, but I am not sure that the amendments (which were all passed) got the same level of coverage. Here is a link to the text of the various amendments - which were written to reinforce key Lib Dem values and policies.
Twenty largest swings from Conservatives to Liberal Democrats: Redcar 14.5 Westmorland and Lonsdale 11.1 Ashfield 10.8 Dunfermline and Fife West 9.2 Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney 9.2 Maidstone and The Weald 8.5 Brent Central 7.5 Ceredigion 7.2 Sheffield Hallam 6.9 Orkney and Shetland 6.6 Spelthorne 6.1 Bosworth 5.9 Bromsgrove 5.9 Bath 5.8 Hull North 5.7 Leeds North West 5.4 Canterbury 5.4 Wycombe 4.8 Newport East 4.5 Lewisham East 4.5 Twenty largest swings from Liberal Democrats to Conservatives: Hartlepool -15.0 Montgomeryshire -13.1 Orpington -12.2 St Ives -10.4 Cardiff Central -10.3 Meon Valley -9.4 Cornwall South East -9.1 Harrogate and Knaresborough -9.1 Winchester -9.1 Esher and Walton -9.0 Edinburgh West -8.7 Surrey South West -8.6 Berwick-upon-Tweed -8.3 Chesterfield -8.3 Crewe and Nantwich -8.3 Blaydon -8.2 Garston and Halewood -8.1 Windsor -8.1 Ludlow -7.8 Maidenhead -7.8
Hat Tip: Tory Bear
As first act of his new administration Steve Bullock has appointed the new Cabinet, and if this is a sign of things to come then we're in trouble. One member is in fact appointed with the title of Cabinet Member for Strategy and Communication, a job that didn't exist before, that we don't need and ...
The Guardian reports, "Germany bans naked short-selling". Years ago I asked fellow Liberal and a stockbroker, Chris Wilding, what a financial headline meant. He responded, "Oh that means you're going uncovered bears". I was suitably enlightened. Now uncovered has become naked. It's selling stocks you don't own. If you sold someone a car you didn't own, you'd be guilty of an offence under
[IMG: lordcarlile] On last night's edition of Newsnight, Jeremy Paxman interviewed Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty and Lord Carlile, a Lib Dem peer appearing in his capacity as the 'Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation'. The interview was about the case of Abid Naseer and Ahmad Faraz Khan, the two suspected terrorists who won their appeal against deportation to Pakistan. Craig Murray has already eviscerated the dubious concept of the 'Special Immigration Tribunal' or 'star chamber' as he calls it. It is astounding in a modern 'liberal' democracy that defendants should be tried on the basis of secret evidence on which they ...
Here are the facts and figures from Sunday's Special Conference: Time taken to organise: 4 days – compared to the year that a Lib Dem conference usually takes. Even the Liberal-SDP merger conference of 1988 was arranged with 4 months' notice. Total number of delegates: 1650 (of whom 250 registered on the day). This was larger than any Lib Dem Spring Conference. It featured the longest debate at a Liberal Democrat conference (3.5 hours) Number of speakers cards submitted: 172 Number of speeches made: 38 Number of intervention cards submitted: 110 Number of interventions taken: 30 Number of amendments: 9 ...
As a Councillor who has worked a lot with groups of people with a learning disability or supporting them I am fully awar of the need for complex ideas to be oput in a way that everyone can understand. This link is an EasyRead explanation to coalition
It is the case in all political parties and governments that policy and decisions are often born of compromises following full and frank discussion and the occasional bust-up. In many cases such disagreements are contained within the party hierarchy and only whispers of dissent reach the outside world. In the case of a full-blown coalition there are more difficult dynamics at work which, when coupled with outside interests seeking to exploit known differences in philosophy and policy, can prove problematic. In other words we are going to get a split story every week or more often than that depending on ...
Hot on the heels of the National Labour Party leadership contest, the local Conservative group at West Lindsey District Council are also holding one. This has been caused by the unseating of their former leader Adam Duguid, by Lib Dem Cllr Ken Bridger. I've been led to believe that this is a three way contest with Cllr Chris Underwood-Frost (Scotter), Cllr Ian Fleetwood (Bardeny) and Cllr Burt Kiemach (Market Rasen) all throwing their hats in the ring. Cllr Ian Fleetwood has the safest seat and wont stand for election for four years after being returning by the residents of Bardney ...
The media is getting excited about the coalition government's plans to reform our politics and laws, and they're mostly seeing it as Nick Clegg's plan. Nick's making a speech on the subject later today – here's how its being trailed. BBC Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg will pledge the "biggest shake-up of our democracy" in 178 years later as he expands on plans for political reform. The Independent headline is "Clegg makes his bid for a place in history" and say that Nick will go for a big bang, rather than a piecemeal approach: * scrapping the identity card scheme ...
Of the Times "Whereas all of the parties ought to have been disappointed with their showings in the general election, the eventual shape of government has – for now, at least – pleasingly marginalised the worst people in all of them."
It appears that the whole Liberal Democrat world and their mother want to be one of our new Peers. Meanwhile, I'm ruled out on the not unreasonable grounds that my wife is on the Advisory Panel that creates a shortlist of recommended candidates for the Leader to consider. Bitter? Actually, not really, as appointing me would rather smack of desperation in any event. We find ourselves in rather uncharted waters, following suggestions that between 50 and 100 new Liberal Democrat peers are required, although James Graham has graciously trawled his hard drives for the relevant information, so I won't repeat ...
19th May has often been a day for momentous political events. On this day in 1536, Ann Boleyn met her fate and the executioner's axe. In 1649, England became a commonwealth on this day and stayed that way for eleven years. On 19th May 1921, the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act. It limited the number of immigrants who could enter the US from any one European country to 3% of the total number already in the US, in an atmosphere of post-war isolationism and worries about high immigration. That it didn't apply to Latin American countries may have ...
Montgomeryshire's loss is comedy's gain. Defeated Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik "is planning a new career as a stand-up comedian - and has his first 'open spot' booked in for next month," reports Chortle.
There will be a great smile that comes across my face every time I drink a cup of Earl Grey tea today. The reason being that Nick Clegg is about to outline the biggest wholesale reform of our politics and liberties since the Great Reform Act of the Prime Minister after whom that blend of tea is named. He will use the phrase: "for the freedom of the many, not the privilege of the few" Which I know will grate with some Labour listeners as it is lifted from Tony Blair's Clause IV speech. He also said yesterday while talking ...
Tonight hasn't been an easy night, for those of you who don't know I am currently doing a CELTA course (a part time course so that I can teach English as a foreign language) and at my teaching practice tonight I didn't meet up to the mark. It was a vast improvement on my previous lesson and ... Read more
Umpteen years ago I studied some social psychology and came across a theory that harmonious personal relationships within an organisation are not necessarily conducive to efficiency. The argument is that actors in such cosy institutions tend give the greatest priority to maintaining the good relationships and the actual purpose of the institution becomes a secondary consideration. The alleged "chemistry" between David Cameron and Nick Clegg is therefore potentially dangerous, in that the purpose of Liberal Democrats in government can easily become forgotten in a desire to preserve that "special relationship." I did not attend the conference last Sunday in which ...
Wed 19th
06:34
Child detention at Dungavel finishes under new Lib Dem - Conservative coalition government
So, the Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government has stuck to it's word and ended child detention at Dungavel. Fantastic, and well done Tavish Scott for raising it at First Ministers Question's last Thursday. This shows what can be achieved when people work together towards a set of objectives. This was a Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment and unlike the SNP who are now infamous for performing u-turns on their 2007 manifesto commitments we have not performed a u-turn but instead have delivered on that pledge. Immigration Minister Damian Green said the new policy was being introduced "with immediate effect".Families with ...
On the 21st April I wrote about the Morecambe Town Council website. I can report back that the discussion board has improved. No longer does it have three areas of discussion that do not have any other information and do not recognise your comments. Now the website tells us that the discussion board is "being updated and is currently unavailable". In fact the few short paragraphs that relate to the three areas on the discussion board have moved to a link on the home page. In other words very little has happened to the website. Anyone with any knowledge of ...
