9.30am Shotfield Health Centre Meeting Cllr. Colin Hall & I met with the developer and architect to be updated on progress with the Shotfield health centre rebuild. Amendments had been made to the original plans to improve the main reception area and the natural light coming into the consulting rooms. This meant that a revised ...
Tom Stubbs is the new Truro City Councillor for Trehaverne ward. In today's voting: Tom Stubbs (Lib Dem) 604 Conservative 524 Mebyon Kernow 156 Turnout 31.7% Tom lost the same ward last year in the Cornwall Council elections by 4% so this represents a strong swing to the Lib Dems from the Conservatives.
So, entirely unsurprisingly, England have waltzed to 362-4 against the poor Bangladeshis at Lords today, largely thanks to an unbeaten 175 not out from Jonathan Trott. Bizarrely Mr Trott was 'under pressure' at the start of play, despite holding an average of 41 from his eight Test matches to date; in the 1990s that would have seen him pencilled in for a 100-Test career. How times change. More interestingly, England have decided to 'rotate' for this series, bringing back Andrew Strauss as captain and opening bat but resting Paul Collingwood after his heroic leadership in what is surely the pinnacle ...
So, a few weeks in, Queen's speech done, and the coalition is yet to collapse. I guess this is hardly a suprise - the challenges are still to come. The economic recovery is slow, and could falter. There are bound to be disputes on issues like Europe, voting reform, taxation (and probably more). BUT...so far, so good. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are acting extremely responsibly, and everything I have heard so far seems to have the national interest at heart. This will probably all be different in a week when I return from a short break, but for ...
I congratulate the people of Eritrea most warmly on this 19th Anniversary of their independence, for which they had fought so long and hard. Throughout the seventies I was chairman of the Eritrea Support Group, which campaigned for Eritrea's independence in Parliament and the media, repeatedly tried to persuade Ministers to support the self-determination of the Eritrean people. We pointed out that self-determination is a right under international law, not only by virtue of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, but also the Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and ...
Well, there are more disappointing things than not having an iPad. However much I want one, it's the worst name for a product in the history of time. Jo Swinson's tweet that she wasn't standing for Deputy Leader made me very sad. She would have been completely awesome. She has a high media profile having done brilliant things with her campaign for excess packaging and the Real Women campaign and she has literally thousands of young followers on Twitter and Facebook. She doesn't have to be deputy leader to go on inspiring and encouraging though. Had it been up to ...
Eurovision final on Saturday! Tomorrow, I'll give you my top tips for the winning song ... but meantime, here's my two favourite winners of all time - both from the 1970s.
Great news today. The Coalition Government confirmed that the ID cards scheme will be scapped within the next 100 days. Labour pushed and pushed ID cards. The rationale changed over and over again. And then they tried to get take up voluntarily in pilot areas (including Liverpool and the North West). They spent huge amounts on marketing and planning. Anyway, it's great to see a manifesto promise being put into effect almost immediately. ID cards, and the associated database, would have been part of a change of the relationship between the citizen and the state - so thank goodness the ...
Last month, I reported on the site visit I organised with City Council, community council and parent council representatives about pedestrian safety at the Sinderins junction. I have now had the following positive feedback from the City Council : "Regarding your concerns relating to the operation of the traffic signal junction at Perth Road / Hawkhill / Blackness Avenue, I will arrange for the green man indicator to be illuminated for a longer period and also the audible signal for the visually impaired to sound for this duration." A follow-up site visit is now arranged for early next month.
Well, strictly speaking, I spiked my own peony after Iain Dale kindly provided me with alternative material. It's been one of those weeks when I've had trouble finding stuff to blog about (but, I stress, blogging has not been 'light'). At one point I seriously considered putting up a photo of my peonies. They are quite beautiful again this year. However, I did what I often do when pushed to find something to rant about. I went to Iain Dale's Diary. It's nothing if not exciting. It normally reminds me why I am a liberal in short order. This week ...
As Cressington Councillors we do regular walkabouts (or driveabouts) with Council staff. The idea is to look at particular issues - maybe a fly tipping site or somewhere needing attention. We've got one of these coming up next month. We've already got quite a list of sites but if there is anywhere you particularly think we should include (and it's in Cressington) please e mail me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk.
After attending the West End Schools Project Board this morning, I passed the rather amazing sight of the 'post-it-padded' motorbike in Roseangle - see below - and it is now the star of tonight's Evening Telegraph! A busy surgery tonight at Blackness Primary School - but no surgeries next Monday because it is a school and public holiday.
One thing I've wanted to do with this blog for a while is sit down and watch every Doctor Who serial, in order, until I get bored with them or reach Survival (whichever comes first). I'm going to try to do one serial a week, and stick to a few simple rules: 1) If the ...
Different members of the Labour party seem to be responding in different ways to their general election defeat. The majority I have met seem to be treating their move to opposition as an excuse to celebrate. "We won't have to make the cuts now," is a common claim by them. Others seem to think they have an automatic right to rule and they regard the Coalition as a bunch of thieves who have done a
It's #bbcqt day again and the Live Chat starts on this blog from 10:30pm as normal. I will be in the hosting chair. David Dimbleby will be joined by the Conservative MP and former Welsh Secretary John Redwood and the Liberal Democrat Susan Kramer who lost her Richmond Park seat in the recent general election. Tony Blair's former Director of Communications and Strategy Alastair Campbell and the former newspaper editor Piers Morgan will also be on the panel together with the journalist and historian Sir Max Hastings. Join us below from 10:30pm: BBC Question Time - 27th May 2010
Judging by the conversations on Twitter, many Liberal Democrats' favoured candidate to be the party's new deputy leader is Jo Swinson. But this evening Jo has tweeted as follows: surprised & touched by lovely tweets & emails encouraging me to run for Lib Dem deputy leader - however I will not be standingSo back to the drawing board.
I noticed in the list of political advisers employed by Lib Dems in Government was Duncan Brack's name. Duncan is a leading light in the Lib Dem history group and I was recently checking up on the 'official' history of the SDP/ Liberal policy statement of 1987. Duncan wrote the key document recording the incident thus: Steel's undoing was his habitual disregard for policy detail, leading to the disastrous farce of the 'dead parrot' draft of the founding policy statement of the merged party, a poorly thought-through sub-Thatcherite document which he should have known would have been unacceptable to the ...
I have shown you the Victorian St Andrew's church in Tur Langton, but there is an intriguing note in Pevsner: Of the church demolished when the new one was begun, no more remains than the N doorway, single-chamfered, of the C13. It is in a field to the NW of the manor house.And here it is, easily found under horse chestnut trees beside a bridleway. The Victoria County History has more about the old church:A view of the building as it existed in 1791 shows it to have consisted of nave, chancel, south porch, and a west bell-cote with space ...
Caron confesses to having iPad envy.Lib Dem Voice reports on Tim Farron's bid for the Lib Dem deputy leadership - I think Tim would be brilliant in that role.High praise for Iain Duncan Smith from an unlikely source - Labour blogger Hopi Sen.And a second happy blog birthday to Tory MP and blogger Douglas Carswell. Given how many of his (and Daniel Hannan's) ideas seem to have ended up as government policy he must feel like every day is his birthday at the moment! Thursday bonus is David Laws' masterful performance at the dispatch box this week dealing with the ...
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Apologies for the lack of statporn in the last few weeks. To be honest I completely forgot about it. Not that you really care anyway. Here's the stats for the week beginning May 16th. The OS/Browser stats are since the site began, all others are from the 16th. Site Views: 3,652 Unique Visitors: 2,462 Most Popular Story: Fisking Ellie Gellard Most Used OS: WinXP (46.63%) Most Used Browser: Firefox (27.57%) Referrals: 2, 962 Biggest Referrer: www.order-order.com As you can see, traffic was through the roof this week in comparison to the last month. That was mainly because Guido Fawkes was ...
Welcome to the eight in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here. Despite the importance of rural constituencies to the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary ranks, DEFRA (Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs) is one of the few government departments with no Liberal Democrat ministers. That makes the wording of the coalition agreement on policy in this area particularly important. In content it is very similar to the energy and climate change section; that is, a long list of Liberal Democrat policies, with some amenable Conservative ones ...
There will be closures on two roads in Lanstephan in early June to allow for road surface works. These closures will no doubt have an impact on local residents but should result in better driving conditions in the future. The roads affected are St Josephs and St Leonards and the work will start on June 2nd and last for five days.
For six weeks this summer, Cornwall Council will be holding a waste reduction initiative in Launceston and the surrounding area. The aim is to get householders to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste. As an introduction to the programme, there will be a short seminar in the White Hart Hotel on June 24th from 1.30-4pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and find out more. For more information or to book your place, contact Richard Haycock - rhaycock@cornwall.gov.uk or call 01872 323541.
David Cameroon, whenever he enters the room. A work collegue got me with this one today. Ouch.
On Tuesday I made my House of Comments debut with Walaa Idris Conservative Blogger, Tracey Cheetham Labour Blogger at A View From the Public Gallery, Mark Thompson Lib Dem Blogger at Mark Reckons and Stuart Sharpe of Sharpes Opinion. I managed to stumble my way through, The subjects of the Queens speech, The removal of the Parliament Square protest, Diane Abbott running for the Labour Leadership and the Times Newspaper pay wall. Please do go and have a listen at http://houseofcomments.com/
Today is polling day. But don't worry if you know nothing about it, the vote is for a new City Councillor in the Truro Trehaverne ward following the resignation of an independent. I'm sure that voters there could hardly have missed the event as candidates and supporters have been knocking on doors and delivering leaflets since the general election. The Lib Dem candidate is my friend Tom Stubbs who missed out by just 40 votes when he stood in the same ward for the Cornwall Council elections last year. This time round there are three candidates - Tom, the Conservatives ...
Redcar & Cleveland's Labour controlled Council today altered the petitions scheme for the Council, limiting them only to residents of the Borough and attaching minimum numbers of signatures before they can be debated by the Council. Petitions to be debated by the Council is now set at "1500, but reduced to 500 where the petition related to a local issue, affecting no more than two electoral wards within the authority" Petitions requiring attendance by a senior council officer to answer questions at an overview and scrutiny committee meeting is now set at "750, but reduced to 100 where the petition ...
So far, the Deputy Leadership election looks to be shaping up as a contest between Tim Farron and Simon Hughes. Tim is the one public candidate so far and there's plenty of chatter about other possible candidates. In particular, there is an impetus from some quarters for a female candidate to balance out the all-male Cabinet team. However, that is rather muted by both the Party President (Ros Scott) and Chair of the Parliamentary Party (Lorely Burt) posts being held by women and the combination of circumstances, such as being a minister or holding a marginal seat, which rules out ...
Ian Swales MP has welcomed the coalition agreement to freeze the controversial backdate tax rates on port operators. This week, David Laws and George Osborne announced the decision to freeze the backdated tax rates. Under the Labour government, the Valuation Office Agency, believing it had been under-taxing port companies for some time, altered the tax system and backdated the new taxes to April 2005, giving firms up to eight years to repay millions of pounds. Now, the new Liberal Democrat - Conservative coalition government has decided to freeze these rate demands. Ian Swales said, "I am delighted that the government ...
Just to give you an update, I submitted the Early Day Motion in the new Parliament about the polling fiasco, in fact it was the first early day motion of the new fixed term Parliament, and so it has attracted a lot of attention and I hope it will help to bring about the necessary changes ...
Within a fortnight of becoming Redcar's new Member of Parliament, Ian Swales paid visits to Eston Park and St. Peter's schools in Eston and South Bank. Both schools have been scheduled for closure and visiting the schools was high on the new MP's list of priorities. Ian Swales said, "I felt that it was important to meet with staff and find out more about the situation. I've had contact from staff, pupils and parents about the issue and I visited the schools to understand fully the concerns I am hearing "I intend to find out the details of what will ...
In his first couple of weeks as Redcar MP, Ian Swales has been working tirelessly on the issue of the mothballed TCP plant at Corus. He has met Corus and Tata management, Middlesbrough mayor Ray Mallon and union officials. He has also had discussions with representatives of potential buyers of the steel making assets and others who are interested in investing in potential surplus land. He is now heading to Thailand with a delegation of union officials to meet SSI, who are interested in the steel-making assets. Ian said, "Corus is obviously the number one issue for local people. Our ...
I'm not one for material things, normally. Our television is antediluvian, our sofas are second hand. I don't have to have every new and shiny thing that comes along - unless it connects to the internet and is called an iPad. I want one so badly it actually hurts. I know I don't need one and that the walloping dose of iPad envy I have developed is nothing in comparison with most if not all of life's problems but I don't think I have ever hankered after a gadget so much in my life. If I hadn't bought my iPod ...
As you may have seen from my previous post on labour uncut, their open sourcing of questions didn't quite turn out as they might of hoped. The volume of questions was spectacular but the quality was a lot more critical then they must have been expecting, due in no small part by such bloggers as ... Read more
Those of you living in the East and of a sensitive disposition might want to avoid watching Look East this evening as I've filmed a short interview for them that's likely to be on it, talking about some of the issues relating to population growth here in Colchester. Those of you not in the East ...
Local victims of the Equitable Life collapse can finally expect compensation as Liberal Democrat MPs push forward new legislation. Some of our local firms had pension schemes with Equitable Life. Many of my colleagues were affected and I had many letters and emails from people during the general election who were worried that years of saving would amount to nothing. The previous Government continually ignored the millions of people who lost their savings. The Equitable Life Bill, which was outlined to the House of Commons on Wednesday, will give the Treasury the authority to make payments to policyholders or dependents ...
The prophets of doom had an off day this week with Camden Liberal Democrats winning the delayed Haverstock election. They held all three seats against a Labour challenge and even scored a small swing from Labour compared to the last Camden council elections. The next election test in London will be south of the river in Lambeth for, as the Evening Standard reports, A London Labour councillor has been arrested by police on suspected child porn charges. Toren Smith, 42, was arrested at his home and questioned before being released on bail. His computer was seized for further examination. He ...
That is, of course, metaphorically smoke-filled rooms now that smoking indoors is banned. One of the commonest arguments of those opposed to any form of PR is that key decisions would be made in "smoke-filled rooms", by which they mean private meetings between coalition partners out of the public ken. This, they argue, would reduce democracy. This is utter nonsense. ...
geranium virginia stock and oak A bed of wallflowers, love-in-a-mist and sweet william weigela ornamental cherry blossom
The Municipal Journal is reporting that councils are being told to stop work on Comprehensive Area Assessments (CAA) with immediate effect. The policy is contained within the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, but legislation is required to remove the requirement to complete CAAs. However, in the meantime auditors are advising councils that all meetings on CAAs have been stopped and that councils can drop their own work on them. A formal announcement is expected tomorrow, but more details are available here.
The most illiberal policy in the Lib-Con deal is the plan for a cap on immigration. Now, we all know that as part of a coalition we have to put up with policies we dislike, the real problem with this policy is not just that we dislike it but that in the words of the IPPR, it is "unworkable" (see "The Limit to Limits: is a cap on immigration policy a viable policy for the UK?" March 2010). Here's why: 1) A cap is a clumsy, inflexible mechanism, owing more to Soviet style central planning than to the needs of ...
I haven't put up many posts here this year due to the joys of trying to sell our house! But, it would be nice to reflect back over what has been the most extreme winter/spring for quite a while with some photos of stuff that has survived and indeed flowered so far this year. If you want to keep up to date with the garden, I regularly update on flickr and am on twitter as well (see twitter feed >> ).
This morning's Guardian confirms that the £4.5bn national identity card scheme is to be scrapped within 100 days. They say that abolishing the cards and associated register will be the first piece of legislation introduced to parliament by the new government. The identity documents bill will invalidate all existing cards and the role of the identity commissioner, created in an effort to prevent data blunders and leaks, will be abolished. This move is set to save £86m over four years and avoid £800m in costs over the next 10 years that would have been raised by increased charges. The paper ...
Freedom Central have a poll here
The new body responsible for administering MPs' expenses (the IPSA) has come in for some stick recently from MPs themselves recently. It seems that some MPs are having trouble adjusting to the new regime following the expenses scandal last year. Now I am not one of those people who think all MPs are "at it". I believe lots of them are trying to do a good job in often difficult circumstances and that they generally work hard. However one of the things that last year's scandal threw up was the sense of entitlement that some MPs seem to have (see ...
[IMG: david-laws3] So the coalition have settled in, and our very own David Laws has got his chainsaw out. Well, NO actually, it's a scalpel we are told. (I am hoping that like most good gory video games he'll reach level 5 and swap that "scalpel" for something that's more appropriate for the task - like a chainsaw gun at the very least, but anyway...) Wielding his trusty "scalpel", Laws is stating that the government will find £600million from Quangos. That's really not very much when you consider what we spend on them. According to the (previous) government's own figures, ...
My third piece for First Drafts, the blog of Prospect Magazine UK. I'm quite pleased with this one. I offer a few critical thoughts about how the show was wrapped up. I think most sensible folk agree that it was unsatisfying. But I also argue that the fun was always in the magnitude and cleverness ...
From the Guardian: So no overlap on the venn diagram between "foreigners" and "decent, law-abiding people" then, Theresa? (h/t Jenny for the spot)
Iain Duncan Smith isn't having a good couple of days. First the new Secretary of State for DWP forgot Yvette Coopers name. No big deal in my eyes, I forget stuff all the time as my Mum will testify. But today IDS entered himself into the 'Poorly thought out turn of phrase' competition when, live on television, he uttered the words 'Work makes you free.' I'm pretty sure he'll win. Quiet! I think I can hear the sound of an apology being furiously written.
News from the Tim Farron campaign camp: Following the announcement by Vince Cable that he will be stepping down as Deputy Leader to concentrate on his new role as Secretary of State for Business, Tim Farron MP has been urged by colleagues to stand for the position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Commenting Tim said: "Having served as Vince Cable's PPS during his eight glorious weeks as acting leader, I am fully aware of what a difficult act he will be to follow and I'm so grateful to Vince for what he has achieved in the role. "His ...
Courtesy of Paul Waugh on the Evening Standard "Labour MP Geraint Davies was last in Commons in 2005 + seems stuck in timewarp. Just referred to the Govt as "the Opposition"
Welcome to the seventh in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here. The ultra-quick summary of this section: a long list of Liberal Democrat policies – and then a bit about nuclear. The longer version is that however questionable the Conservative Party's commitment to green issues looked at times before polling day (particularly when Conservative Party conference was expressing its opposition to green taxes), out of the negotiations has come a firm commitment from the Conservatives to back a long, long list of green measures. Many ...
Just a little thought. If you're going to have a heading "Ed's Principles", it's probably not a good idea to have a big blank white space underneath it. Ooops: [IMG: Ed Miliband - principles section]
Until a few months ago I'd never heard of Julian Huppert who won Cambridge for the Liberal Democrats in the recent election. He first came to my attention as one of the proposers of the fabulous emergency motion on the Digital Economy Bill passed at Spring Conference. Julian is continuing his campaign against this noxious legislation in the House of Commons. One of his first acts has been to find his way to the Table Office to put together Early Day Motion 17. For those of you not familiar with EDMs, they're a bit like House of Commons petitions, a ...
It has been announced that the next Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee is going to be a Conservative MP. Assuming that it is intended that he will represent a Welsh Constituency we would like your views on which of the eligible MPs might succeed in securing this post. Some points to note: David Jones and Stephen Crabb are not eligible as they have government posts. Jonathan Evans has apparently ruled himself out. David TC Davies has already announced that he will be seeking the post. Let us have your preference below. Who should be the next chair of ...
Thu 27th
11:42
The DEputy Leader is Dead: Long Live the Deputy Leader? In which I come out for @joswinson
Vince Cable has stood down as deputy leader of the party in order to concentrate on his role in cabinet . Several names are being punted about as a successor: # Lorely Burt # Tim Farron # Lynne Featherstone # Don Foster # Simon Hughes # Adrian Sanders # Jo Swinson # Sarah Teather # Steve Webb Some of those I would be agin instinctively, some I'm not bothered by, and two I would heartily support. Given the criteria the electorate (our MPs) ought to be considering, though, there's only one I'm going to shout for, and that's Jo Swinson. ...
From Hansard. 'The Minister' is our very own David Laws. "Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab): Is the Minister aware that not a single member of the Cabinet has turned up to back him in this statement here today? They are all part of this rag-tag and bobtail army-not one of them is here. Can there be a more pathetic sight than this Liberal Democrat, who campaigned against cuts in 2010, now hammering the young and the old and putting people on the dole as a member of this rag-tag and bobtail Government? Get out!"
This article is written by Matt Folker, who is a candidate for the chair of Liberal Youth. It is a response to this article which appeared yesterday. Lib Dem Voice welcomes articles from any candidates in the Liberal Youth elections. One of the things which believe makes Liberal Youth and the Liberal Democrats so special is that the Chair or leader of the party does not determine the organisations policies, indeed no one member does. The policies of the organisation are and should always be determined by conference, the beating democrat heart of our organisation. Therefore I would welcome any ...
Cut out and keep guide to tonight's semi – BBC Three 8pm 27/5 Lithuania – innovative trash-funk using the kazoo and their own mouths as instruments (no chortling at the back). Watch those trousers! Armenia – sturdy and qualitable well-produced plodding rnb number about an Apricot Stone Israel – passionate ballad and a good singer ...
David Laws has rightly attracted a great deal of praise for his first appearance at the famous government dispatch box yesterday, responding to Alistair Darling's Urgent Question on spending cuts. For those who haven't seen it, I would urge you to do so here: Others have waxed lyrical about Laws' ability to master what is an extremely complicated brief in a very short space of time. And many have praised him for his sharp responses to questions from all sides of the House. He is certainly on top of the facts, and he is a very good example of the ...
It was announced earlier this week that The Times and Sunday Times online versions would, as indicated last year finally go behind a pay-wall next month. The price will be £1 per day or £2 per week for access to their content. Now have a quick look at what I did above. I linked to The Times online story about the decision. You can click on that link and go straight through to it within a couple of seconds. Now imagine that it is behind a pay-wall. You'll click on it and will be faced with a demand for money. ...
It's early days – Vince only announced he was stepping down as the party's deputy leader last night, in order to focus on his cabinet responsibilities – but who would you, LDV's readers, like to see take over from Vince? Of course the electorate for the deputy's post are the party's 57 MPs (party members choose our leader and president), and I imagine and hope there will be four criteria uppermost in their minds: 1) Ensuring a 'balanced ticket' for the party leadership. Nick and Vince have worked well together precisely because they look, sound and are different. Their combined ...
Sometimes, just sometimes, being the Presidential consort gets you to some unexpected places. And today, I find myself on the 'Maersk Dover', with a vehicle deck full of vintage military vehicles, veterans of the Dunkirk evacuations and representatives of military charities, the Royal British Legion and the War Graves Commission. This is, in its way, a rather poignant event. The youngest of those who lived through the horror of Dunkirk are now in their late-eighties and early nineties, and there probably won't be many such gatherings in the future. However, those who have made it are a remarkably spry bunch, ...
As some residents may be aware your local Lib Dem team campaigned to have the Exceptional Hardship Scheme consultation deadline pushed back so that more information could be sent to residents. We are pleased that the new government has decided to listen to local concerns and the new consultation deadline is 17th June. We remain ...
There is much consternation at the apparent decline of Gulnara Karimova's multi-billion dollar company, Zeromax - which owns Uzbekistan's most valuable economic assets. http://www.eurasianet.org/node/61072 Gulnara is of course the daughter and favoured successor of dictator "President" Islam Karimov. Zeromax is, in addition to interests encompassing gold, uranium, coal, cement, cotton, hotels, night clubs and sex-trafficking, the Pentagon's major conduit for land supply to US forces in Afghanistan. The immediate cause of the shutdown appears to be arrears of US $440 million on multi billion loans given to Zeromax by the Uzbek government. The loans were secured on assets which Zeromax ...
Former Cumbrian Lib Dem councillor and education advisor to the party, Patrick Short, died on Monday in the tragic school bus accident in Keswick which claimed the lives of two teenage children. The BBC reports: Tributes were also paid to the car driver killed in the crash – Patrick Short, from Braithwaite. His wife Wendy described him as a "generous, principled man". "He loved me and the family and was committed to his work with Barnardo's. As a parish councillor, chairman of Cumbria Rural Choirs and a former church warden, he was dedicated to the local community," she said. Lib ...
The election of Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion was one of my bright moments of the night. In fact, it was one of a very few for me, given the disastrous result for my party. It's nice to have a different party in the mix, no matter how extremely unlikely it is her vote in ...
The slight musty smell of a church hall, the hushed chatter amongst early arrivers and the squeak of cheap plastic chairs as they are laid out ready for the new members, who inevitably then never materialise. This might have been my first Lib-Dem meeting, but it wasn't my first ever political meeting and I felt ...
Yesterday I covered the news that Liberal Democrat Lord Lester is going to table a bill to reform libel law. He's now released details of what approach the bill will take: Introduce a statutory defence of responsible publication on a matter of public interest; Clarify the defences of justification and fair comment, renamed as 'truth' and 'honest opinion'; Respond to the problems of the internet age, including multiple publications and the responsibility of Internet Service Providers and hosters; Protect those reporting on proceedings in Parliament and other issues of public concern; Require claimants to show substantial harm, and corporate bodies ...
David Laws, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is justly getting glowing notices in every Parliamentary sketch column in the papers today. I'm thrilled to see someone whom I've long suspected is the most talented MP in Westminster picking up some recognition. Otherwise known as one of the central negotiators and architects of ...
The other day I took the Airplot badge off this blog because the fight against a third runway at Heathrow has been won. Now a similar tactic is being used in Aberdeenshire in an attempt to block Donald Trump's bid to build a new golf course: The Bunker is a plot of land slap bang where Donald Trump wants to build his golf course. Sign up for free and be part of the plot. Join us in The Bunker. Stand with the local families of Menie who face eviction from their homes because of Donald Trump's demand of Aberdeenshire Council ...
It can't last
As regular readers will know, I've been a long term opponent of Donald Trump's plans for a golf course, hotel and housing development in Aberdeenshire. Suffice to say that I don't feel that he has shown sufficient respect for the democratic process, and he has been very unpleasant to people I care about. I have to say I felt sick when I discovered yesterday that he planned to call this new development the Great Dunes of Scotland. Given the destruction to the Dunes and wildlife necessitated by this project, those words have a very cynical and taunting edge to them. ...
Tim Luckhurst had an article on Comment is Free yesterday arguing that: for radicals who cherish equality of opportunity, excellence and social mobility, a glorious opportunity now presents itself. The flaw in Michael Gove's plans for free schools is that they exclude the creation of new grammar schools. The left has chosen to ignore the benefits of academic selection; Conservatives have had injustice imposed upon them by a leader whose sensitivity about Eton renders him a poor judge of what working families really value. Controversial stuff, but I think he has a point. And the comments on the post are ...
70 years ago, a large number of ordinary people helped to ensure that Britain still had an army by helping to rescue them from the beaches of Dunkirk. If people hadn't pitched in to help (initially over a fair bit of resistance from the authorities who were trying to organise things), very few of our soldiers would have returned to Britain and we'd have been wide open for invasion. My Grandfather was there. At the time, he was in the Merchant Navy and he was allocated to a Thames pleasure boat of the type which would never have usually left ...
As a relative newcomer to the world of local government, I am still of the perhaps romantic view that, as a councillor, I would have the ability to influence change in, and delivery of, services. So, when I see any proposal which appears to take responsibility away from local government, I am wary about what happens next. 'Academies for all' does worry me. Yes, I accept that some Local Education Authorities need a good kick up the backside, but they are at least democratically accountable. What hasn't become clear to me is how a school, newly independent from 'the Council', ...
[IMG: Detail of the art deco crown of the Chrysler Building, New York] Good morning, and welcome to Daily View on the day which sees New York's Chrysler Building celebrate its 80th birthday. Completed in 1930, it was the tallest building in the world for all of 11 months, before being replaced by the Empire State Building. After 9/11, it is once again the second tallest building in New York. Also celebrating birthdays today are the chef Jamie Oliver (who is currently applying for planning permission to build a restaurant in Nottingham I will probably never be able to afford ...
On Tuesday I was invited to a debate on the future town council with Phil North of the Conservatives and Derek Kotz of the Campaign for an Andover Town Council. The debate was chaired by Ben McGrail of Andover Sound and broadcast on Andover Sound last night. I would like to thank Ben for organising this and for all the pubicity he has given to the elections to ensure they and the new council are a success. If you missed the debate you can listen again via the Andover Sound website at
Cornwall Council has commissioned an independent survey of visitors to this year's Du Maurier Festival in Fowey to help determine the level of subsidy that the festival will get in future years. At present, the festival gets a large subsidy in cash and officer time from the Council - more than £100,000 which comes from Cornish taxpayers. Of course it generates far more money in terms of business for local firms. The present position for the Council is that it wants to gradually reduce the level of subsidy to longer standing festivals like Du Maurier so that they become self ...
Thu 27th
00:34
Air South West sale means trouble for Newquay airport and trouble for local businesses
Today's news that Air South West is up for sale is worrying for Cornwall, for local businesses and for Newquay Airport in particular. The airline's owners are stressing that they are seeking to sell it as a going concern, but in the current climate it is not certain that anyone will want to take the business on and maintain the current levels of service. I've travelled on the Air South West service to London a number of times and it was speedy and convenient. But the airline accounts for more than half the flights from Newquay and if the current ...
How time flies. It seems like the last one was just a few months ago, and here I am forgetting to promote this one properly. Every year, in June, the National Media Museum holds a festival of SF/fantasy/horror themed films, TV shows, talks, etc. 9th Fantastic Films Weekend sacrifice and horror films festival UK Jennie first dragged me up for the 2007 weekend, soon after we'd met, and I've been to each one since. I normally find the whole thing utterly exhausting, so this year will be cutting back attendance a bit. And probably baking more cakes in the time ...
When the brewer Matthew Brown was taken over by Scottish and Newcastle there was a huge outcry in Blackburn. How dare this huge firm take over a much-loved Blackburn firm? Well they did and shortly afterwards Matthew Brown closed. You would not think that Scottish and Newcastle would be popular but a couple of years later many Blackburn residents were walking round with McKewan's Lager on their shirt. They had sponsored Blackburn Rovers. Guess who owns McKewan's. Sponsorship may be a useful tool to make yourself popular even if you have just taken someone's job off them. Academies are schools ...
Saturday: They say that a week is a long time in politics. Well, sometimes a bit of politics means it's a lot more than a week between episodes of Doctor Who. I'm going to have to have a stern word with Daddy Richard. Last time he did any of his reviews, Dr Woo was trapped in the Maze of the Dead and surrounded by the Weeping Angels. Honestly, I've not BLINKED for a MONTH! "Flesh and Stone" feels less like part two of "The Time of Angels" and more like part five of "Doctor Who and the Cracks in Time". ...
