The Liberal Democrats in Government must seek to serve the poorest in our society, to be a voice for the voiceless, a friendly face to the helpless.
The first event of Armed Forces Week was the raising of the flag today on Stockton Town Hall and Municipal Buildings. The Chairman of Regeneration & Transport committee adjourned the meeting for 20 minutes so that we could attend the ceremony. We joined veterans, senior council officers and councillors and a number of residents for a brief but moving ceremony. Lt Col Heron reminded us of the
After he promised two weeks ago that details of local highways improvements were in the post, Cornwall Cabinet Member Graeme Hicks has finally sent out the details. Each Cornwall councillor will have a budget of £24,000 to spend over the next three years. It sounds like a lot, but with individual schemes such as new crossings costing as much as £60,000 each, a lot of very necessary changes are still out of the reach of local communities. That is why I have invited Cllr Hicks to come to Launceston next Tuesday to see for himself the problems faced by local ...
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Why we have to do this Dear Friend, Tomorrow, the coalition government will deliver an emergency budget to bring order back to the public finances. It will be a difficult budget - but remember, as you hear it, why we have to do this. Labour left our country with a mountain of debt. Every minute that goes by the government spends a staggering £80,000 on interest, that's over £800 million a week. If we don't take action now, the markets will force us into even more drastic measures as they have in Greece and Spain. Without action on the deficit, ...
This afternoon, the Cornwall councillors overseeing the fire service visited the Flashpoint Lifeskills centre in Bodmin. This is a centre that was established about 10 years ago by North Cornwall Council and teaches a variety of people about safety both inside and outside the home. Now the centre is run by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service and the majority of their visitors are primary school teachers. In addition, they have other school pupils in and they do first aid courses for adults. Predominantly led by volunteers, the sessions look at 11 different scenarios from the kitchen to a farm yard ...
Tonight, at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall, I had the great pleasure of presenting awards of appreciation to the sponsors of the 2010 26th Dundee Scouts Silent Auction. Over £1300 was raised and the Campbell family deserve great credit for all their efforts with the auction to raise funds for our local Scouts. Here's a photo from the presentation, including representatives from the Apex Hotel and CityJet, who generously donated to the auction :
At the weekend, I wrote to the Chief Constable following the concern about a high-speed car incident last week in parts of the city, including across the West End. I have had an extremely prompt response from Tayside Police's Central Division Road Policing Unit as follows : "Cllr Macpherson I refer to your communication received in respect of the matter involving the car driving at speed through Dundee and found abandoned in Clayhills Drive last Thursday 17 June 2010 and the concerns raised by your constituents. As you will be aware I echoed your constituents concerns re - this type ...
With this being graduation week at the University of Dundee, I was concerned that Scotland Gas Networks are undertaking pipe laying works at the Seabraes viewing point in Nethergate/Perth Road. The Seabraes viewing point is well-used by graduates and their families for photographs after graduation ceremonies. I contacted the City Council to see if SGN would refrain from undertaking unsightly work during the week and am pleased to say that the City Development Department has advised : "SGN will stay away from the Seabraes gardens for the whole of this week."
The Daily Express tells us: THE weird world of former MP Lembit Opik has taken another bizarre turn after it was revealed the wacky Lib Dem is to perform a comedy spot at this week's Glastonbury Festival.Lembit will be performing at the festival's Leftfield event on Friday.
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) is sometimes seen as one of those really nerdy political things to be interested in. And perhaps it is, but then again, it is also one of the most important things coming up on the ... Continue reading →
Tomorrow, the coalition government will deliver an emergency budget to bring order back to the public finances. It will be a difficult budget - but remember, as you hear it, why we have to do this.
The BBC are reporting a story that I heard as a rumour on Saturday - that Conservative Councillor Bill Jenkin has been arrested over allegations of sexual assault. It is reported that he is alleged to have made unwanted sexual advances and tried to kiss a woman against her will. I take the view that I hope is shared by most people - that a person is innocent until proven guilty and being arrested should not mean that Bill should have to resign. Bill is, however, the Conservative representative on the Devon and Cornwall Police Authority and I understand that ...
Nick Clegg has emailed party members and supporters about tomorrow's budget (and it's good to see him continuing to raise the point about Labour's £44 billion of planned cuts which nearly everyone in Labour is acting as if never existed: Tomorrow, the coalition government will deliver an emergency budget to bring order back to the public finances. It will be a difficult budget – but remember, as you hear it, why we have to do this. Labour left our country with a mountain of debt. Every minute that goes by the government spends a staggering £80,000 on interest, that's over ...
I really wasn't looking forward to tomorrow's budget anyway. If you can find one person in the country who is, I'd be very surprised. Actually, though, I expect Labour are rubbing their hands with glee. They see this budget and the cuts that have to be made to clear up their mess as the key to their revival. They are gambling on the fact that people will just remember the pain as they go to vote in the Holyrood and Welsh elections next year and not Labour's culpability for it. Nor their promises made with money that just wasn't there, ...
Ross Lydall's account of how a wave of bike thefts was curtailed is a good reminder of the benefits of registering your bike at www.immobilise.com. The service is not just for bikes, but also for a range of other goods which can be hard to trace to their owner if stolen and recovered. I do like by the way the service's About page and how it uses, amongst others, the BBC and Google to highlight that the service is a worthwhile and legitimate one. For some people those are more of a recommendation I suspect than the government bodies listed... ...
The Home Access scheme is a well meaning Government-funded project to give computers to children from poorer families and so bridge the "digital divide". But, as The Register is reporting, new research from the US suggests such schemes may do more harm than good. People often worry that such gaps will be enhanced as richer families acquire computers and internet connections and poorer households don't, which has led to many initiatives by governments, charities etc designed to get digital technologies into the hands of even the poorest. ...a kid in a disadvantaged home given a computer and internet access will ...
Uh, on Friday I had better things to post about. Maybe this is better for Monday anyway, idk. Also, these links have been kind of random. Feminism and other Animals. This 'women in tech' debate is actually two separate debates, and should be treated as such Caroline McCarthy breaks it down twicewise: 1) why aren't more women learning science and tech at education level? 2) Why aren't more female engineers at the leadership level in the industry? Feminism, Stereotypes, and my War of Tweets with More! Magazine How classy is this? Seriously, people using Twitter professionally, do it with some ...
How is this news, the Daily Mail has the headline Chris Huhne's bisexual lover: Life and very different loves of the PR girl in Doc Martens What! Ok so a politician has had an affair. Big deal. I couldn't care if a politician or a celebrity has had an affair. It's not really my business but only the busniess of those involved. But what are the Daily Mail doing. This article is full of examples of gay marriages and a anti gay or bisexual slant. Why do they bother to highlight that Carina Trimingham has 'boyish cropped, spiky haircut and ...
Over at Lords of the Blog Tory peer and University of Hull academic Phillip Norton has an interesting piece on the need for fewer pieces of legislation and a new take on the sunset clause (although he does not use this word!) "We need to engender a culture of legislative excellence, where the emphasis is on quality - well thought through and evidence-based Bills - rather than quantity. " I have often described Lord Norton as a proper, old fashioned constitutional Tory but when he speaks he is always worth listening to. In this case I think he is absolutely ...
This afternoon I attended an event marking the start of National Breastfeeding Week and promoting the Breastfeeding Manifesto. Breastfeeding plays such an important part in a baby's development, and yet Britain has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding mothers in Europe. It is not only important in helping create the emotional and physical bond ...
Wimbledon 2010 is barely 4 hours old and already my nerves are worn to a frazzle. It's not so long since Alejandro Falla was serving for the match at 5-4 in the 4th set against Roger Federer, having lost a couple of good chances to finish him off in the 3rd. Luckily Federer broke serve, took the set to a tie break which he won 7-1 and then won all 6 games of the final set. Falla played well and it was only in the last set and a bit that we saw Federer in the form we've become accustomed ...
It isn't very often that Liberal Democrats are wont to celebrate a good defection, but June 17th marks a unique anniversary in the combined histories of Cold War geopolitics and international dance. It was 49 years to the day since ballet superstar Rudolf Nureyev danced a hasty pas de deux with his Soviet bodyguards before vaulting into airport security in Paris to claim political asylum in France. Unfortunately, our by-election teams proved a little less nimble out in the field - of the four principal council by-elections on the 17th, Liberal Democrats were defending in one, standing in three, and ...
Back in March I blogged about the Police being given powers to enter homes and tear down posters during the London Olympics. Just in case you thought this was a UK issue I have just picked up a story in yesterdays Observer detailing the use of FIFA courts during the current world cup in South Africa. The story also makes reference to the criminalisation of civil offences. There are two issues here. The first one is the way that large international tournament organisers seem to be asking national legislatures to change their laws to help them enforce multi million pound ...
Popped into Treehouse (our exemplar centre for children with autism in Haringey) and as usual they had a stunning new initiative about to launch. This time it is an online initiative to get the public talking about autism. Last Thursday, the world's first virtual Talkathon was officially launched by TalkTalk Commercial Director Tristia Clarke, CHI Founding Partner Johnny Hornby and TreeHouse CEO Jolanta Lasota at TalkTalk's Customer Experience Centre in the heart of Soho. Young people with autism, parents and supporters all came along to celebrate the initiative which also aims to raise £150,000 for TreeHouse. The world's first virtual ...
Chris Davies MEP has written to Nick Clegg arguing for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan. Many of us had hoped this would be in the Lib Dem manifesto at the recent General Election. I fully agree with what Chris has written so am pasting on his letter below. Dear Nick I have written to you before to urge that the Liberal Democrats call for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan. It seems sadly inevitable that within the next few days the 300th soldier from our forces will lose their life, and I write now to argue that ...
Ofcom's judgement summary reads: On 17 December 2009, BBC Radio 4 broadcast an edition of Today, its early morning news and current affairs programme, which included an item looking back at the preceding day's activities in Parliament and discussed questions put to Ms Harriet Harman MP (who was standing in for the Prime Minister) during Prime Minister's Question Time. Harbottle & Lewis complained to Ofcom on behalf of Lord Ashcroft that the programme wrongly and unfairly stated that during Prime Minister's Question Time the Liberal Democrats had accused Lord Ashcroft of tax evasion and therefore implied that he was guilty ...
Local residents must have seen by now the aftermath of last night's fire at Optaglio on Greenwich Way. More details can be found on the Andover Sound website at The fire has been controlled but the whole area remains closed while the fire service deal with the consequences including dealing with a number of acetylene cylinders on the premises. I was there earlier this morning and was impressed with the efficient way the fire and police services dealt with the incident and its aftermath. What could have been a major disaster in Alamein ward and Andover was averted by ...
A new mental health service based in South West Edinburgh opens today. Positive Steps offers visiting support for up to 11 people experiencing mental health difficulties. The project aims to help people live in their own homes and become more integrated in the local community. Staff from the Council's Health and Social Care Department will offer emotional support as well as supporting tenants in developing daily life skills such as shopping, cooking and looking after their home. The service being available 365 days per year it will also provide tenants with access to community events, employment and education. Another part ...
The Press Gazette reports: Former Labour backbench MP Frank Cook has filed a libel writ against the Sunday Telegraph over a front-page story from May 2009 about his expenses. He is demanding damages of up to £50,000 from publishers Telegraph Media Group over a front page story and two inside pieces in May 2009 in the Sunday Telegraph. The stories, which he claims were defamatory, were headed "MP claimed £5 for church collection" and "I'm sorry church claim was unfair." Cook, who represents Stockton North, is also suing over a comment headed: "Now it is the people's turn to be ...
You may not like Ed Balls but actually he's been pretty cleaver in his stance against VAT. By saying he would have rulled it out he has put distance between himself and other candidates, he has strengthened his core support and weather VAT is raised or not tomorrow there can be no doubt that Ed ...
As we await the budget cuts, some Liberals have started to argue about the size of the state. Define "state". The largest chuck of public spending is £135.7bn for the Department of Work and Pensions which is mainly dispersed in transfer payments which are then spent by individual citizens. Does this make the state large ? The second largest is £109.5bn spent by the Treasury on saving the
I am pleased to see the coalition government is to tackle the problems caused by the Labour party's introduction of uncontrolled 24 hour sale of alcohol. Plans include proposals to make licensed premises pay for the cost of anti-social behaviour and violence their premises cause. Local councils will also be given much more power to control the numbers and extent of licenses issued. As an ex-member of Test Valley's licensing committee I can say with some experience this is long overdue. The 24 hour licensing laws, claimed to allow a continental style cafe culture in the UK, were in fact ...
The news that Edinburgh's crime figures have dropped by 10 % is terrific. Over the years a lot of effort has gone into closer partnership working between Police, the council (through Community Safety, Licensing, Environmental Wardens etc) and other agencies. That work has been paying off with steady falls in crime and antisocial behaviour. That we still manage to continue this downward trend is really gratifying. Well done to all involved.
Another week dawns. I worked out this morning that it's only seven weeks now until I get married. There must be something wrong with my hearing, as the chorus of weeping from the ladies of Greater Manchester has not yet reached the heights I had imagined it would. Nonetheless, there's time yet. I hope my limp will have cleared up by the time I have to walk up and down aisles in front of my family and friends. Presently it is still causing me difficulties. Luckily, I spent the weekend being fairly sedate, trying to do an essay as part ...
I was very disappointed when Buckingham Bingo closed at the Parrswood Entertainment Centre. I have always been a bit of a fan of Bingo, although I never win, and the bingo hall fitted in with the rest of the family entertainment at Parrswod. Some time ago we successfully fought plans to have a casino on ...
I know love him or loathe him as the British people do, John Prescott has today gone all hysterical about the fact that former Labour ministers John Hutton and Frank Field have agreed to review pensions and poverty respectively for the Coalition Government. He has called them "Collaborators". He seems to have forgotten very quickly that Lib Dems, Shirley Williams and Mathew Taylor amongst others held similar appointments advising Gordon Browns government. Whilst I can tell you that there were eyebrows raised at those appointments there were certainly no screams of "collaborators". Of course John Prescott is very much old ...
The Electoral Reform Society is looking for volunteer outreach workers all over the UK. This will be especially important in the upcoming AV referendum where we need to make sure that people are fully informed and motivated to vote in the referendum. If you're interested you can apply here. It would be great to have students applying for the job. It would hugely add to your CV and the change in voting system will have a huge effect on how young people use their vote in the future.
"A government without a constitution is a government without a right" asserted Labour MP Graham Allen quoting Tom Paine in an article . He is now the new (elected) chair of the relevant select committee and part of his contribution was broadcast in Peter Riddell's Week in Westminster which is on iplayer for a week.(If you are really keen it can be listened to it by clicking on the title of this posting) He went on: A new written settlement, having created clearly defined institutions and rights, where everyone can know the rules, is just the beginning. The relationship and ...
Lib Dem councillors had their annual conference this week within the confines of Local Government House in Smith Square, London. Co-hosted by ALDC and the Lib Dem LGA group, the conference pulls together colleagues from across the country with our parliamentary team. This year, of course, our parliamentary colleagues have joined many thousands of Lib Dem councillors in actually being in charge of running things. Normally our councillors are more experienced at holding the reins of power than our MPs. Cllr Richard Kemp has written a review for Total Politics: Nick pulled no punches in telling us how difficult the ...
Many Liberal Democrats become very suspicious when they hear Labour members talk about the need for a broad progressive coalition, suspecting that for many of them the definition of progressive is really "agreeing with Labour". Labour's reaction since the general election has done little to assuage such fears, with a sequence of policies that were previously paraded as part of being progressive either now opposed or not talked about as soon as someone other than Labour goes about implementing them. Hence Labour's previous support for fixed-term Parliaments has gone missing as numerous people in Labour have opposed the government's plans, ...
I don't have a coherent storyline for how the story will end, but I do have some pointers. ( click here for speculation mixed with SPOILERS! )
I was at the Lib Dem local government conference in Westminster on Saturday. Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, spoke on Saturday morning. Here are a few of the photos I took. There are more on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanwallace
"Reblogging" (right word on an LJ clone)? from apiphile: So again, particularly in light of their work in Kyrgyzstan at the moment, I thought it would be a good use of our time to raise some money for Medicine Sans Frontiere/Doctors Without Borders. The MSF Charter Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is a private international association. The association is made up mainly of doctors and health sector workers and is also open to all other professions which might help in achieving its aims. All of its members agree to honor the following principles: Médecins Sans Frontières provides assistance to populations in ...
As this blog has asserted before the case against the replacement of Trident needs to be argued. It is clearly potty to have a comprehensive defence review and not include Trident. Shirley Williams of this parish-well Crosby- has entered the fray with an article in the Guardian today. It is not quite the solution that many of us would favour but it does map a way forward that might help us achieve the final objective. As she says: Nuclear weapons are very expensive weapons seeking a role and a purpose in the post-cold war world. But other than possibly ensuring ...
[IMG: Wild rose] Yesterday we were treated to lunch at Betty's for Father's Day, which was very nice. Gerald got a ride in son's Ferrari, roof down, revs loud; said it was fun. Today being Midsummer's Day I thought a photo of a wild rose, emblem of England, would be appropriate, though I have a confession to make: I took the photo in a country lane in Scotland last year where there was a profusion of wild roses.
The 300th British soldier killed n the Afghan War died today. The poor fellow survived for eight days before giving up in a Birmingham hospital. His injuries must have been appalling and that should remind us of the thousands of British soldiers maimed who did not die, some of whom sometimes wish they had. Afghan casualties are, of course, very many times higher, with the additional horror that at least six Afghan civilians have been killed for every Afghan fighter. We immediately have David Cameron and Liam Fox spewing out the standard propaganda about the occupation of Afghanistan making the ...
There is one application this week. The address is 6 King's Hedges Road and it appears to be for something connected to a mobile telephone network. The reference is 10/0513/TELDET and more details can be found from the online application tracker of the City Council, which has been much improved, or in person. As ever any issues contact the team.
It's all around - really - the Big Society! Yesterday it was in the form of Hillfield Park annual street party. Hillfield were ahead of the game with street parties. They started years ago and one of theirs is probably the first one I ever went to after being elected as a Muswell Hill councillor in 1998. What was so great then (as now) was the formation of a community of neighbours. At that first one - I remember people wearing a little badge with their house number on. You could hear - 'oh - you're from No 28 - ...
Luckily this story about Leeds City Council banning vuvuzelas proved not to be the case at the match in Millennium Square on Friday. I'm glad that the council didn't enforce the ban. I think the vuvuzela is a special part of this World Cup. It is part of the culture of South African football and it's great that they've been adopted in this country. However I very much hope they disappear back into obscurity after the tournament!
I've been contacted by a number of residents concerned about plans for a 2.2m wall to go most of the way round the large house at the Ferme Park Road end of Lancaster Road. I am told that this imposing house was built by the man who developed the whole of Lancaster Road, to be his own family home – which is why it is grander and larger than the rest of the houses on the street. This is one of the most distinctive houses in the Stroud Green Conservation Area, and I agree that hiding it behind a high ...
The link is to a judgment from HHJ Bellamy which in my view starts to look properly at one of the ludicrous cases that many local authorities have rubber stamped by other judges.He recognises in this that the intervention of the local authority has been harmful to the family.This is also another case where older children who are now adult were adopted and have reinstated the relationship with
The coalition is clearly making hay while the sun is still shining regarding all these external appointments. First it was leftie economist Will Hutton, asked to head an investigation into closing the pay gap between the top and the bottom. Then it was Frank Field, asked to investigate welfare. Now it's John Hutton, who's going ...
There have been reports of another vicious attack by a fox on an innocent child! These events are so shocking that they have made the front page of the BBC website! Surely now is the time to start talking about bringing back fox hunting? or maybe it's time to not sensationalise the news with using such ...
The Better Safe Than Sorry Event will be held on Friday 25 June 2010 9.00am - 3.30pm Merseyway Shopping Centre, Stockport (outside Westgate Store) To support the valuable work of Age Concern Stockport's 'Safeguarding Older Adult Project' (SOAP) you will find over 20 stalls providing free information and advice on services available in Stockport. For more information please contact Ann Smith on 0161 480 1211.
Chris and many others had an opportunity to confront the new government as Nick Clegg and other ministers came to meet councillors and campaigners in London this weekend. Chris asked Nick about the Guardian story that the free schools process might be funded from the free school meals budget. Nick said there was no substance in the story. Chris also asked CLG minister Andrew Stunell about the rather hurried dismantling of the (rather ineffective) free swimming scheme. Councillors met Michael Gove in a private meeting and were able to get some assurances that the new academies system would not wreak ...
The BBC report that the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in Westminster has put his neck on the line by saying that he would not support an increase in VAT in Tomorrow's Budget. Roger Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, told the Politics Show that VAT is a "very regressive tax that falls most heavily on the poorest in society". He said there was a concensus that the deficit had to be tackled otherwise it would "increase and increase and that would lead to increase in interest charges that would decimate our public services". He added: "Something had to ...
I know I'm stepping into dangerous territory trying to write about football, but my excuse is that this is more about people than the actual game. I'm watching in horror as I see John Terry, a man sacked as England captain several months ago, talk to the press about how the England players are having a clear the air meeting with manager Fabio Capello. His assertion that the squad was behind the manager was qualified by a comment that: "Everyone needs to get off their chest exactly how they're feeling. If it upsets him [Capello], or it upsets any player, ...
Marina Hyde has a startling article in this morning's Guardian over the way that South Africa is coping with the law and order side of the tens of thousands of football fans who have descended on their country for the World Cup. Personally, I was a bit shocked to see on last night's news the fan who dodged security to say hello to David Beckham in the England dressing room being led manacled from a South African police van, but it seems that this is the tip of the iceberg. Marina Hyde writes that in its keenness to dispel its ...
The Minister for Crime Prevention, James Brokenshire has asked organisers of music festivals this year to warn people about legal highs: Mr Brokenshire said: "During the festival season we know that people may be tempted to try potentially dangerous new drugs, particularly when they are advertised as 'legal' or 'herbal'. "That is why we are asking festival organisers and police to work with us to send out the message that these substances may not be safe..." He also talks about how they could be cut with illegal drugs. However I wanted to focus on one aspect of this that is ...
The latest issue of Liberator should be with subscribers about now, so it is time to spend another week with Lord Bonkers. He was, as he frequently reminds me, Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10. Monday Another early start in Whitehall. What? You've not heard? Why, I am the Minister for Outer Space in the new Coalition Government! The position had been earmarked for poor Lembit, but on election night everyone learned what I have long suspected: the people of Mid Wales do not care for That Sort of Thing. So here I am poring over my red boxes and ...
It is said that anticipation is nine tenths of the pleasure but in terms of tomorrow's budget it seems all that is being accomplished is that we are prolonging the agony. This is the longest day and already it seems like a year, yet it has barely started. The papers have been full of dire warnings for weeks about the consequences of George Osborne's debut performance, without having any idea at all about what he will say and do. People have been throwing up horror stories and then treating them as fact so that they can knock them down again. ...
The Liberal Democrats called it The Freedom Bill. The Tories called it The Great Repeal Bill. But the essence is the same. The over-mighty state has replaced our free society with one where personal liberty is curtailed and our ability to pursue our (enlightened) self-interest is inhibited. We need to sweep away the legislative and bureaucratic red tape and free ourselves to be the best we can. [IMG: dpm-clegg1] The government's answer is not only to repeal (or so it claims) vast swathes of legislation, but to ask the people what legislation should go: "As we tear through the statute ...
Classic Marx brothers to start your week
It's too late for me to be encouraging people to go to the Empire to watch My Fair Lady - the run finished on Saturday night - but it really was something to celebrate. The 65th year of CBS productions would have matched any they've done before, I dare say, and it's a tribute to a phenomenal amount of hard work and some fantastic talents. The cultural life of Consett is one of its crowning glories - there can't be too many towns of its size that can boast its record in choirs, brass bands and theatre. There aren't too ...
Mon 21st
00:45
The Pandorica Opens - and I set all guns blazing (in an affectionate way) on @charlottegore
... I sat there widemouthed in wonder. I was magically transported back to being eight and watching Colin Baker get ( spoiler for a very old episode of Doctor Who ). It was ace. It ticked all my fangirl boxes... I wish I had typed this up before reading around on the internet, though, because now Charlotte has pissed all over my bonfire and made me feel stupid for enjoying it, so if you loved the episode, and don't want your squee harshing, don't read THIS ENTRY ON CHARLOTTE'S BLOG which basically says that Doctor Who is crap because it's ...
Dear LDV reader, you may or may not have noticed that we have discontinued our strand of writing that used to appear under the Daily View heading, following a decision of the team last week. All of us writing it found it took a great deal of time for little reward, and some of us thought the clunky title with its numbers and acronyms did little to help our site's readability. What we'll miss is Daily View's helpful punctuation of the day, marking the passage of time, and the daily opportunity to spread the linky love through the Lib Dem ...
It has been more than a month since I said to my nearest Lib Dem MP: 'When you see David Laws give him a high five, because this really is unreasonable'. I was of course referring to the coalition agreement. As the weeks have worn on I have, however, become increasingly uneasy at the direction the government is headed, as, a huge proportion of its policy and movement are away from the principles I hold dear as a Social Liberal kind of Lib Dem. I will really depart from what is perhaps the most defining phrase for me, and for ...
... about Lib Dem activist views on the Coalition and the forthcoming emergency budget statement. You can read the article here. My comments are about half way down...
If you read my blog on the 27th May then you will know that I am not a great fan of academies. They are different because they allow for sponsorship which means that more money goes into the school and they can attract better teachers with higher salaries. They are all-ability schools and the criteria to become an academy also included such factors as the number of pupils who achieved good GCSE results. Where the results were poor then improvements could be made. Now things have changed. There is no need to be an all-ability school. You don't even need ...
