Banks should be prevented from imposing "punishing" overdraft charges onto customers according to Redcar MP, Ian Swales, who has called on the new coalition Government to step in and prevent banks from issuing excessive charges Mr Swales has warned against excessive overdraft fees, which he believes can tip vulnerable customers already walking a financial tightrope into debt and has tabled a written question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP, to ask him to introduce legislation to bring an end to unfair bank charges. Commenting Mr Swales said: "Some UK banks only exist because they have ...
This is a really weird cut from AFP of snippets of an interview I did with them today on the torture inquiry.
Having clinical depression was never something that I ever thought I would have to deal with in my life. I never sat down as a child and thought, 'what will I do when I am 38 and on antidepressants and sleeping tablets to combat the stress of a harassment campaign against me on two fronts.' ...
Have had a very busy couple of days, including a poorly Hol (she's OK now), and that always leads to an overdose of Doctor Who... Have I missed anything?
I am watching a very intriguing sex education programme on channel 4. A TV show goes into a high school and doctors embaress them with live nudity and pictures of hymen. They also had interesting features in disabled people having sex. Also about coming out and gay sex. Day to day we talk about contraception, sex and STIs at work. Being a health information advisor we have been asked everything. So this programme is good as it dispells some of the myths that people seem afraid to ask.
Like you, my knowledge of what is happening about funding for new schools in Durham is reliant on the BBC. That website now carries a list of the decisions which states that that the Consett and Stanley Academies are "under discussion" unlike the Durham Academy which has been "stopped". I very much hope that in that "discussion" Michael Gove will take into account a letter he received from four of the North West Durham candidates in the General Election: Andrew McDonald (UKIP), Watts Stelling (Independent), Michelle Tempest (Conservative) and me (Liberal Democrat). Together we gained the votes of more than ...
As regular readers will know, the election re-ignited my life-long interest in politics. I've also re-joined the Liberal Democrats, having been a supported since I was a teenager, and a member in the early to mid 2000's. Recently I've started to follow a variety of political blogs, and have found LibDemBlogs. It's an aggregator of blogs written by Liberal Democrat members, although not all necessarily political blogs. It's well worth a browse, so go and explore! As of this post, I'm also listed there, so if that's how you've found me, welcome! Visit the directory for an overview of my ...
The papers are full of the cuts being made by the coalition government at the moment but the extra money being found for important things hardly gets a mention.£1 billion for areas like ours which are very heavily dependent on public sector jobs, to help with steering the economy into a broader area. Stockton is preparing to bid for money to help with small enterprises - not huge companies with
I am begging you as a human being to leave me alone. I am currently on Prozac and sleeping tablets because of the harassment that I am receiving. I have been forced into a dark corner of my life, the likes of which I have never experienced before. Some seem to think that I am trawling others ...
I watched with surprise the other day as a rather nasty episode unfolded on Twitter between a Councillor from Bedfordshire and a number of tweeters who took offence to some rather unpleasant comments that he had made regarding gay marriage. i.e. that it should not be allowed and further to that, that gap couples should ...
The weather was beautiful for Keighley Gala on Saturday. I still can't walk fast enough to collect along the procession so my role was a very low key one this year - but I gather everyone had a terrific time. Gerald dressed up as a jester (whoops, I nearly said he looked more sensible than usual). Congratulations to all who organised and took part in the gala which is a great tradition dating back more than 130 years. In the evening younger son took us out for a meal for a late Father's Day celebration; he'd been away on the ...
Paul Crossley calls on his readers to oppose plans for a vast factory farm for cows in Lincolnshire: "There are so many reasons why this kind of cow factory farming is a disaster. It relies on huge quantities of imported feed. To grow this feed, rainforest is chopped down, destroying wildlife and increasing climate change. Keeping cows indoors all year round can increase the risk of disease. Industrial milk production also threatens smaller, traditional dairy farms." There are now 18 Liberal Democrat blogs in the top 100 UK political blogs, according to the Wikio rankings. Mark Pack has the list. ...
The late Labour government did a few good things in their thirteen years. One of them was law to devolve more power to local communities and to allow parish and town councils a greater say over what happens within their areas. I'm glad to ...
I blogged earlier today about how Cornwall could protect its borders from plans to create a 'Devonwall' constituency if plans to cut the number of MPs go ahead. North Cornwall Lib Dem MP made clear his opposition to Devonwall on BBC Radio Cornwall this morning: "There is an issue of the very natural boundary of the Tamar, doing it as a mathematical exercise is too rigid. We are economically different, there's all the cultural aspects as well, and we need to make sure that we come up with boundaries which make sense."Clearly Cornwall cannot rely on any support from Labour. ...
The Kensington & Chelsea Chronicle reports: Two Tory councillors have resigned after it emerged inappropriate emails had been sent using the council's email system. Former Kensington and Chelsea mayor Councillor Barry Phelps fired off a series of emails to Councillor Mark Daley, displaying black and white images of young boys with sexually suggestive captions added by Mr Phelps... The emails were reported to the council by Justin Downes, leader of the Residents First campaign group, who had been alerted by a concerned resident. "These were innocent images and Councillor Phelps has created sexual overtones to them," Mr Downes said... A ...
Somebody has only just come to my blog through the Total Politics list of Liberal Democrat bloggers. Now it must say something that when I first started you couldn't see the next Lib Dem blogger for the trees. There is slight irony that my blog is currently located by alphabetical order on page 11 of the Liberal Democrat bloggers. Don't forget it is time to vote in the Total Politic Blog of the Year [IMG: Click here to vote in the Total Politics Best Blogs Poll 2010] The rules are simple. 1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs ...
This is a bit of a bumper edition tonight - there's been a lot of super writing on a variety of subjects over the last few days. First of all, welcome to new Scottish Labour blogger, Janis McCulloch, at Once More, with Feeling, who also loves Pavlova. Can't argue with that. Check out her debut post encouraging you to register with the Anthony Nolan Trust, a cause close to her heart. It will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Eric Joyce is backing Mr Balls for the Labour leadership and has persuaded his local Labour Party to follow ...
You may have heard a lot about being 'environmentally friendly' or of the advantages of recycling, or even about the poor ozone layer. But do those phrases leave you cold? Do you wonder whether the 'environment' is one issue or several? Well sit back as I try to make clear for you something that is really important, but that can be difficult to research without being bamboozled: The Ozone Layer People of a certain age will know that the ozone layer was in peril in the late 80s and early 90s. This was due to a particular gas used in ...
You can find this sign on a building in the Victorian industrial part of Kirby Muxloe. Presumably it was once an off-licence, though the building is large enough for it to have been a pub. It reminds me of the backstreets of York when I was a student. There seemed to be an off-licence with a "John Smith's Magnet Ales" sign on every corner.
This popular woodland festival returns thanks to South Glos, the Friends of Ridge Wood and Hanson Aggregates. Once again Woodfest will feature a wide variety of free woodland based workshops, walks and events for people of all ages. You can try out traditional woodland crafts such as wood turning using a pole lathe, stone carving (booking required), willow weaving and charcoal making. Many of the workshops will involve using a variety of green woodworking techniques to make products from fallen timber in the woodland. There will be lots for for families, including bush craft workshops, storytelling, children's forest school activities, ...
A quick update on my previous posts about the plans to open a theatre just next to Finsbury Park station, on Clifton Terrace. The team behind the plans has just issued a newsletter with latest progress: The Park Theatre Newsletter July 2010
I'd mentioned previously that Conservative peers McAlpine and Laidlaw have chosen to quit the Lords rather than have to end their non-dom tax status. With the deadline for making a final decision approaching they have been joined by a third Conservative peer – Lord Bagri – and a crossbencher – Baroness Dunn. A fourth Conservative peer, Lord Ashcroft, has instead given up his non-dom status as has the Labour peer, Lord Paul.
The Spycamera Summit on Sunday was an amazing success. Attended by 600-700, with people standing in the corridors, we were treated to a succession of high-profile speakers who spoke for and against 'Project Champion', a ring of 218 CCTV and ANPR cameras which surround 2 small predominately muslim areas of Birmingham. (Links are to You ...
An excellent sketch which you can read in full here. Nick Clegg, our deputy prime minister, outlined loads of changes to the British constitution yesterday. Clegg often has the air of a schoolboy who has spent too long in his bedroom, working out plans for an imaginary country that exists only in his head. I was reminded of Billy Liar, in Keith Waterhouse's classic novel. He was president of his own invented nation, Ambrosia, and head of the mighty Ambrosian army. In the same way, Clegg has created an ideal state in which justice, fairness and sheer practicality fight each ...
I know a Liberal Democrat MP (now a government minister, as it happens) who claimed to discourage the circulation of party policy documents in his constituency. ("They only upset people.") But then our MPs have rarely been in the forefront of policy development. When I was on the Federal Policy Committee we used to get a little frustrated that the parliamentary party did not play a more enthusiastic role in our affairs. For this reason I am not convinced that the committees announced by Nick Clegg (Lib Dem Voice has the list of chairs, which was released earlier today) are ...
Conan the Librarian cheers me up a lot. His parodies of The Scotsman are much less rabid than the real thing. http://mypseudepigrapha.blogspot.com/ I can best explain how bad the Scotsman now is, by saying that Andrew Neil was but a step in its decline. Those of us who thought it could only get better after Neil left, were proven astonishingly wrong. We should make more use of the phrase "self-hating Scots".
Well the Hell of the North certainly added to the excitement of the opening to this Tour de France. I've never seen an opening three stages being so tough and it certainly is making looking forward to the other 17 days of racing. Somehow yesterday may have been a day to wait, but today it was pedal to the medal and hope that your bike holds up to task at hand. However, one of the contenders Frank Schleck ended up by the side of the road with a broken collar bone on the cobbles, the cyclist's worst nightmare. Falling while ...
The Lib Dems have today announced the names of the MPs and members of the House of Lords who will act as Co-Chairs of the party's new backbench policy committees. These committees are intended to ensure distinctive Lib Dem policy-making continues while the party serves in the Coalition Government, promoting effective linkages between those Lib Dems serving ion government, their colleagues in the Parliamentary Party, and the party's own democratic policy-making bodies. The full list is set out below: Committee:Work & Pensions Commons Co-Chair: Jenny Willott Lords Co-Chair(s): TBC Education, Families & Young People Dan Rogerson Baroness Walmsley Constitutional & ...
Smeeton Westerby is a village near Market Harborough that has so far escaped the attention of this blog. But it does feature in today's Leicester Mercury: People in a village where the street lights have been turned off to save cash say they have not really noticed the change. Leicestershire County Council's highways engineers have adapted 39 of the 44 lamps in Smeeton Westerby, near Market Harborough, so they are unlit from midnight to 5.30am ... Kelvin Capell, of the King's Head pub, said: "I can't say that I notice the difference." I would like to see such a policy ...
Today saw one of the events marking the Cadet150 celebrations. 2010 marks 150 years since the Cadet movement first started, when the Cadet Corps was formed to help bolster the country's defence numbers following heavy losses in the Crimean War. Today's Cadet Forces are quite different organisations, having evolved into unique voluntary youth organisations, offering ...
Finally David Cameron has announced that there will be an inquiry into British government complicity in torture. It will not start until a number of civil and criminal proceedings by individuals who claim they have been tortured have been resolved - which David Cameron appears to believe will be later this year, but we can't know that. Unlike the Chilcott Inquiry, the personnel of this inquiry are not obviously packed with supporters of the government view. I am somewhat concerned that Sir Peter Gibson, who has been Intelligence Services Commissioner for some years, can be viewed as parti pris. If ...
Six blogs have recently joined my Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Charlotte Alexandra Henry – http://charlotteahenry.blogspot.com/ Chris Burgess – http://liberalsciences.wordpress.com/ Wera Hobhouse – http://werahobhouse.wordpress.com/ Andrew Brown – http://oneexwidow.blogspot.com/ Matt Raven – http://www.theravenblog.com/ Jon Walls – http://contrastingsounds.com/ Good luck to all the new bloggers, and why not take a moment to pop over to their blogs, take a read and post a comment? Whether you are a new or experience blogger yourself, you may also find our compilation of "how to blog" posts useful:
David Miliband has today signed Early Day Motion (EDM) 116 which calls for the 2004 Hunting Act to remain in place. I noted with interest that my local MP Jonathan Lord has not yet added his name to this motion. I call on him to do so. "That this House reaffirms its support for the ...
This weekend, I walked from King's Lynn to Walsingham with kittylyst, silkyraven and eline (and some of you may have seen other posts about this, so apologies for any repetition.) On paper it was a 35-mile walk, but I think we actually ended up doing slightly more due to inevitable faffage before the starting-point as we sorted out sandwiches etc. I'm not sure I can really get into words quite how fantastic it was, so perhaps I'll just sum it up by saying that I ended up extremely hot, with blisters and an unexpectedly painful hip (the socket has always ...
On Sunday I attended the Beech Road Festival in Chorlton with Lib Dem councillors from Chorlton and Chorlton Park ward. Over the years this has turned into a massive event from the Green along Beech Road and into Beech Road Park. The weather was okay which meant that the area was packed with lots of ...
The Guardian reports: David Cameron today announced a judicial inquiry into Britain's role in torture and rendition since the al-Qaida attacks of September 2001. ... it would be expected to conclude its investigations with 12 months. ... A three-person inquiry panel will be headed by Sir Peter Gibson, a former appeal court judge who is currently commissioner for the intelligence services. He will be assisted by Dame Janet Paraskeva, the head of the civil service commissioners, and Peter Riddell, the former Times political commentator who is now a senior fellow at the Institute for Government. Most of the inquiry will ...
Today Philip Blond and ResPublica think tank called on the government to create a national network of foodbanks. The idea of food banks is a very good one, a service that provides food to those individuals in desperate need who might have to wait X amount of days before they can be provided any service from the ...
I've been playing with the Facebook Social Plugins to see if they can add any useful functionality to Flock Together. I've added the Like Button and Activity Feed through most of the site, and added the Comments to the blog. So far, it's intriguing. It'll be interesting to see what sort of impact it has in terms of usage and interaction with the Flock Together site and attendance at Flock Together events...
There's no suggestion of any attempt to mislead here, but it is interesting to see how The Economist altered an image which showed Obama with two other people. Their modified cover picture showed just Obama – standing alone, looking down at the beach. See the "before and after" photos and read more here in the New York Times. Deputy editor, Emma Duncan explains very reasonably: I was editing the paper the week we ran the image of President Obama with the oil rig in the background. Yes, Charlotte Randolph was edited out of the image (Admiral Allen was removed by ...
Here for your delectation are some more instances of the utter stupidty that has fallen from Sarah Palin's mouth in the past. Wow, what a gal. "We believe that the best of America is in the small towns that we get to visit, and in the wonderful little pockets of what I call the real ...
It was a glorious weekend - the sun shone and hardly a cloud in sight!Nearly everyone we spoke to said how much they had enjoyed themselves and many said it was the best ever Festival - the music was great, the stalls were varied, there was plenty of different choices of food and dink and lots for young people to do. Overall people said there was a great community spirit. And the Lib Dem cakes/ jam and books stalls had one of their most successful years ever!We 'd like to thank all the local businesses (and the Council) who helped ...
The tranquil surroundings of the Wells constituency formed the backdrop to our best result of the day, where a Lib Dem gain from the Conservatives put us only one seat behind the Tories on Mendip D.C. and brought the council into No Overall Control. Candidate Garfield Kennedy led from the front, knocking on every door in the ward, building on Tessa Munt's election to parliament in May. Swiftly acquiring a number of strategic sites on the approach to a popular local supermarket for our superboards and a further forty different stakeboard locations, made it a high visibility campaign. Our messages ...
One thing that has got a bit lost in all the talk of the AV referendum and the size of constituencies is the fact that an important part of the constitutional measures includes fixing parliamentary terms for 5 years. I am in favour of fixed term parliaments. The nonsense that the country has to go through as we get towards the end of the fourth year of a parliament where we all have to play guessing games about when the next election will be and the Prime Minister of the day tries to juggle things in such a way as ...
It seems that both Ros and I have an interest in holding National Express East Anglia's feet to the fire whilst they work out their severance period... Railways: Franchises Question Asked by Baroness Scott of Needham Market To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Minister of State for Transport, Theresa Villiers, on 17 June (Official Report, Commons, col. 58WS) that the procurement timetable for the new Greater Anglia rail franchise is to be revised, what arrangements are in place to ensure that the performance of National Express East Anglia is acceptable. Earl Attlee: Current contractual ...
I was asked a short while ago why i thought that Sarah Palin was a racist dirtbag. Due to other circumstances which took priority in my life, I didnt have the chance to publish this post but as I am sitting here fighting demons, the chance has arisen to do some blog work and get ...
This is a beautiful and sweet little animation. However, much as I enjoyed it and especially the little details (the biscuit bending, the reflections, Karen walking round at the crucial moment), I was left wondering if there was anything in it once you got over the cuteness. Nicely observed however, and both John and Karen feel suprisingly real. Other 4mations animations are also on Youtube.
Yes I know that some heritage groupies, are seeking vast amounts of money, to launch the world's first and probably last Heritage theme park (museum to you and I), anyhow as I cycled around Margate yesterday my eye caught that view of the now derelict site, which was briefly the centre of attention, more than two years ago in 2008 when the Scenic Railway, mysteriously caught fire, having spoken to one of the owners when Waterbridge who I understand have since gone belly up were doing all that PR stuff, I know just how upset they must have been. Regulars ...
OK, we've dealt with housing benefit, now what about the rest? I have absolutely no problem with trying to get people off benefit, I have absolutely no problem with bringing to book those who are abusing the system, what I have a problem with is the catch all approach. So for those who are genuinely unable to work because of a disability or an illness (did anyone hear that poor desperate man with terminal lung cancer on the phone to Gordon Brown on 5 Live during the campaign, who kept getting forced to go for assessments?) to include them in ...
Dear graduands and recent graduates, welcome to the real world. Like me when I graduated, some two years ago now, you have come out to an environment where there are many other recent graduates competing for each job. Unemployment is on the rise, though now we are in a period of economic growth so every ...
Nick Clegg seems to be getting better at this coalition malarky whenever he apears in the chamber of the House of Commons. I note that he is wearing a rather sporting green tie in the chamber as we speak. Blue (Con) + Yellow (LD) = Green (Coalition). Well done Mr Clegg. Coalition support in all ...
On the latest episode of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson put his foot in it again during an exchange with Alistair Campbell where he made an inappropriate comment about gay people. When aked by Campbell about his views on Gay rights, Clarkson remarked: "I demand the right not to be bummed." Now, Mr Clarkson knows only ...
In 1999, the government announced that it meant to end child poverty by 2020. Making progress towards that objective is now the responsibility of the Coalition; how well is it likely to do? Tony Blair's pronouncement, made out of the blue at a meeting in Toynbee Hall, was a typical coup de théâtre, and it even surprised his own cabinet. It illustrated Mr Blair's strengths - reassuring supporters who worried that new Labour had lost touch with their Party's traditional values and at the same time neutralising critics from the other end of the spectrum. For a generation, inegalitarians had ...
Now I am not a prude by any stretch of the imagination but something caught my eye on the BBC News website this afternoon and it made me rather irritated. It seems that NHS Kensington and Chelsea allowed one of its hospitals to hire out a fully equipped (yet closed) ward for the filming of ...
Local news websites are reporting a suspicious death at a house on Ridgegrove Estate. I have received the following from the local Police: Police were called to an unexplained death in Launceston at around 6.40pm on Monday 6 July 2010. On arrival at the house in Prince Philip Road officers found the body of a man in an upstairs bedroom The body of the man has yet to be identified but police believe him to be a 42-year-old international. Due to the circumstances, police are treating the death as suspicious at this time and an investigation has been opened accordingly. ...
Should Northcross Market be expanded and Northcross Road be closed on market days? 140 people responded and resounding yes. So clearly we need to support this market and potentially closing Northcross Road when the market is very busy. Next step is to see how local residents feel. Thanks to those that responded to the survey.
I am trying ever so hard to be enthusiastic about the possible change to AV. But I'm struggling. I can see some small advantages. The biggest is the end of tactical voting. The voters can truly vote for who they want to see elected, rather than need to second-guess the behaviour of others. Never again will a leaflet need to talk of two-horse races, or X can't win here. I can also see how AV is Step 1 of getting to the holy grail of STV. Once the ballots are preferential, moving from single- to multi-member constituencies so that elections ...
I've just recently joined the Lib Dems, started blogging, and submitting pieces on Lib Dem Voice. I even have my first online comment (thank you Mike, wherever you are). That all means this piece is probably blatant self-promotion (check my blog! read my navel-gazing piece on getting into party politics! weep over the beauty of my quite-blurry-actually Franz Ferdinand photos!). In which case, I promote myself to the position of Chief Greeter: Hello fellow Lib Dems, and I hope you're having a wonderful day. If not, may you at least manage to achieve my next ambitious goal, namely a nice ...
There should be a report in tomorrow's Hemel Hempstead Gazette and I have initiated discussions with county. I was pleasantly surprised to receive from them a sympathetic hearing to our problems in Tring, which seem to be almost unique in the county. My thanks to people who have provided me with useful background information. Now I think we need a peiod of negotiation out of the public eye. Denise and I will report back again in 1 - 2 weeks.
I've been examining the plans and sketchs for the new Goose Green school entrance and children's centre. They will be a great addition to East Dulwich. The plans look good. Really good. These plans have been under development for some time so chuffed that we've finally reached planning application stage. So new entrance, kitchens, boys and girls toilets. New children's centre where classrooms used to be. Quite a ground floor reconfiguration. I just wish we could find ways to increase the playground size.
At a Conference to commemorate the third anniversary of the One Wales Government the First Minister cited his Government's mortgage rescue scheme as an example of success. I do not disagree, however Carwyn Jones' words ring fairly hollow in the light of subsequent changes to that scheme. The Mortgage Rescue Scheme supports households threatened by repossession by enabling Registered Social Landlords to buy a part or full share in the property. The owner can then remain in their home as a tenant on affordable rent. A modest £9m budget has been used to good effect. The alternative is to put ...
This week sees the launch of the Welsh Assembly Government's Food Strategy for Wales consultation paper so it seems appropriate to draw attention to the fork2fork website, which tells us where and when our next farmers' market takes place, the location of our nearest farm shop, as well as case studies' producers locally. From August 2010 onwards the campaign will be launching a pledge to encourage people to purchase food direct from local producers. The fork2fork campaign is a two year information and awareness raising campaign to encourage people to buy direct from the producer. The project has received funding ...
Nick Clegg yesterday confirmed to Parliament a package of political reforms aimed at cleaning up politics, restoring some confidence and trust in politics and making our Parliament more representative of the great British public. ("gawd bless em") From a die hard Liberal perspective there has to be an element of dissapointment that the long awaited reform of the voting system, that will be put to a referendum, will be the Alternative Vote system (AV). However, when the initial dissapointment wears off I have to accept that it will at least be better than what we currently have. It will mean ...
I just went to see my doctor for a renewal of my omeprazole prescription. For ten years I have been taking 80mg per day, for hiatus hernia. That is two packets of 7 x 40mg per week. The doctor called up the prescription on her screen and it showed £15.50 per packet charge to her practice. She asked whether I had tried a cheaper alternative. The answer was yes, without success. So I went to collect a month's supply - eight packets at a cost to the NHS of £124 less my £7.20 contribution. Yet this is a generic, not ...
[IMG: PR is sexy pic] Picture the scene: you go for a job interview, and you're facing a panel of three interviewers. You do your best, but you impress just one of the three people interviewing you; the other two really don't like you at all. Nonetheless, you get the job. It seems an unlikely scenario, but it's basically what happened to Oliver Colvile and Alison Seabeck at the General Election here in Plymouth in May. They secured 34 per cent and 37 per cent of the votes cast in their respective constituencies, they were miles from securing the backing ...
Our June enews is available at this link
Iain Dale is rather keen to make it clear why he sees nothing wrong with accepting paranoid Euroscepticism at face value. Here's his piece on the wild rumours that the EU hopes to ban selling eggs by the dozen. I was looking at some of the comments in response to his post, and I don't think they're being fair to Iain. Just because he could have looked at a packet of eggs in his fridge and found the information in question is already on the packaging hardly means we should expect such extensive research from him before posting. He wrote: ...
As we wait the outcome of the high court case to determine the legality of the Welsh Government's badger cull proposals, I am becoming increasingly concerned by the reaction of anti-cull campaigners to the forthcoming referendum on full law-making powers for the Assembly. At the public meeting I attended in Pembrokeshire last month the assertion by one participant that if the Welsh Assembly cannot exercise the powers it currently has in a responsible way then why should he support the proposition that they have more, was met with overwhelming approval. Since then e-mail circulars from some individuals have made a ...
Last night I was at the Houses of Parliament for the Liberal Democrats Parliamentary Candidates Association reception - a post-election party. This was a nice event, a chance to put the suit on, visit the House and this time I could take Mary along. It was good weather to stand on the terrace balcony overlooking the Thames (fenced off from the Lords section - and they had chairs!), chat generally and drink a lot of good wine under the eye of a disapproving wife. Words of thanks for the campaign were made by Nick Clegg and various others and there ...
Nick Clegg shocked the House of Commons yesterday by the simple act of behaving like a grown up. The Deputy PM was making his statement on the legislation for the AV Referendum, fixed term Parliaments, equalisation of constituency sizes and the reduction of the number of MPs. I still think it's a relatively modest package of proposals, but it's still the most major reform of Westminster in my lifetime. In summary, these proposals mean that: A referendum on AV will take place on 5th May 2011. Yes it's the same day as other elections around the country, notably Scottish and ...
Just had a call from BBC Radio Lincolnshire about this. On air tomorrow morning after 8am. The web is an amazing thing. Anyway it is becoming an issue in Linciolnshire. For me the issue is clear - we should not be producing food in this energy intensive manner that is based on the destruction of rainforest. Cows are grazing animals and they should be farmed in a way that allows them to graze. Simple really. The farming community needs support for proper sustainable farming that in future years will start to employ more people to work as the cost of ...
I read Precott is twittering about the morality of a VAT rise. I think he should consider morality more in the context of an illegal invasion into Iraq which saw the death of over 500,00 innocent civilians, the damage caused to numerous British families and a price tag of billions. Just one of the factors leaving our economy in a mess. Perhaps rather than twitter about the morality of VAT he should consider handing himself into the International Court in the Hague and ask them to investigate his part in the Iraq war?
I realised earlier today that I am going to miss the final four World Cup matches - well so are England and Argentina - but I hope the Netherlands win on Sunday (and I hope the Spanish come second).
Kirsty Williams has questioned the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department of Economy and Transport after research revealed that for the second year running, Ieuan Wyn Jones has one of the poorest records of responding to ministerial correspondence within 17 working days. Statistics revealed from the WAG show that the Deputy First Minister failed to reply to nearly half (46%) of his correspondence while other ministers receiving more and slightly less correspondence were answering over 80% in the target 17 working days. Items of correspondence for Ministerial answer (Last year) Items of correspondence answered within 17 working days (%) Edwina ...
I'm a big fan of Matthew Taylor, Chief Exec of the the RSA and one-time Chief Advisor on Political Strategy to Tony Blair. Matthew was appointed to the Labour Party in 1994 to establish Labour's rebuttal operation. His activities before the Labour Party included being a county councillor, a parliamentary candidate, a university research fellow ...
It appears the UK political blogosphere is just alight with exciting and vibrant conversation about how Total Politics (a site I've never visited) is having a wily waving competition and how we just don't care because all the Tory Boys always win it with their gossipy issue-free blogerising but we're voting anyway because that'll show 'em. And I'm nothing if not a complete crowd-follwing sheep. Anyway, if you'd like to vote, these are the rules (emphasis mine):1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and rank them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite). 2. Your votes ...
Twenty-six councillors (13 in Norwich and 13 in Exeter) have been booted of their respective councils following the government's decision to overturn the decision to turn Norwich and Exeter in to unitary authorities. The 26 councillors who had been up for re-election this May had their terms of office extended by a year to the date when the proposed all-up unitary elections were due to be held. Now the High Court has quashed the appeal against the decision stop the change to unitary status, a judge decided that for "legal reasons" these councillors will now have to fight by-elections if ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Wikio: 1 (4) Liberal Democrat Voice Rises 1 2 (14) Mark Reckons Rises 2 3 (30) Craig Murray Rises 5 4 (46) Caron's Musings Rises 6 5 (49) Liberal England Falls 4 6 (51) Freethinking Economist Rises 14 7 (54) Liberal Vision Rises 4 8 (57) Mark Pack Falls 13 9 (68) Stephen's Linlithgow Journal Falls 7 9 (70) Quaequam Blog! Falls 6 10 (75) Miss S B Falls 4 11 (82) Norfolk Blogger New 12 (83) Peter Black Falls 1 13 (90) Lynne Featherstone ...
Yesterday's statement by deputy PM Nick Clegg suggests that Northern Ireland will not have 18 seats in the 2015 Westminster election. The policy of reducing the House of Commons to 600 MPs, all of whom (apart from two in Scotland) will represent constituencies of almost equal sizes, would indicate that Northern Ireland, with about 1/39 of the UK's voters, would end up with 1/39 of 600 MPs, which is to say about 15.4 - and since you can't have 0.4 of an MP, that means 15 seats in Northern Ireland, down from the current 18. The current 18 constituencies, ranked ...
In the early twentieth century, large public meetings and lengthy public speeches were expected of - and needed by - Parliamentary candidates fighting vigorous campaigns. A century on, candidates fighting vigorous campaigns frequently get by without organising any public meetings or giving any public speeches longer than a few minutes of opening remarks at a local organisation's hustings. Yet although these forms of personal, direct contact between candidate and voter have declined sharply over the last century, the opportunities for such contact via the internet have increased sharply in the last few years. We are already at the stage where ...
There is the distinct possibility that the bill for an AV referendum might also be attached to a Bill with constituency boundary changes as well as the number of MP's and the 66% dissolution of parliament rule. If this is true it may well be a very cleaver move by people high up in ...
I know the Grauniad has its collection of Labour supporting ostriches on CIF – and at least it makes schoolboy and spelling errors. However, consider this and particularly `Everyone knows you never write the Germans off – unless it's at Eurovision – so their presence in the World Cup semi-final should come as no surprise.` ...
It appears that just a year into the new term of the European Parliament, the SNP's Alyn Smith MEP is already bored and getting itchy feet. News filters though to me from Strasbourg that Alyn Smith MEP will be seeking the nomination to stand as an MSP in next years Holyrood elections. Not a great shock although this is yet another SNP politician who clearly doesn't get the whole issue of dual mandates and why they are a bad thing. However, Alyn is possibly looking to stand for the SNP in East Lothian against Labour's leader Iain Gray. For now ...
With this whole debate over electoral reform it does bring up the debate whether it actually matters? After all surely issues like the deficit, public service cuts, and debates over what laws we should or shouldn't have are more important than this, especially considering the current state of our countries finance. (this is an ...
Simon Wright, MP for Norwich South, has welcomed a statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in the House of Commons regarding political reform this afternoon.
THIRTY DAYS OF COMICS: 03 Your Favourite Team [IMG: 03. Your Favourite Team<br />OK, I’ll admit I surprised myself on this one. I spent all <br />weekend thinking about this, trying to figure out whether it would be <br />the Birds or Secret Six. I was torn!<br />And then I sat down to write it, and… yeah. My heart turned to<br /> the Justice League.<br />I haven’t read all of the JLA books there are out there; I <br />don’t even think I’ve read most, and I’m <br />not reading the current title. But even though some lineups are more ...
Whilst the big political debate yesterday, and certainly most of the news coverage, focused on the announcement of the date of the AV referendum, the other significant can of worms that was opened up was the proposed reduction in the number of MPs from 650 to 600 - a proposal that the Conservatives have insisted on tying to the AV reform. The first interesting point was the figure. The Conservatives argued in their manifesto for a 10% cut (ie to 585). So how come the figure of 600 has now been picked and how firm is the commitment of the ...
Apostate, Freeborn and Steelback (who may or may not all be the same person) are not welcome on this site, under these or any other names, for persistent anti-semitism and holocaust denial. I have deleted the comments which were the last straw. This blog is very tolerant, but not absolutely tolerant.
After six European countries in 10 days, I return to the white nights of Tallinn ready to face a large pile of work. However, I must now catch up with the writing of this blog which has been much neglected of late. I spent about a week in Hungary, spending time with several American friends, then a quick trip to Estonia's southern neighbours: Latvia and Lithuania and then a trip to Warsaw. While in Warsaw I witnessed with friends (and several relatives of the new President) the election of Bronislaw Komerowski as the fourth President of the Polish III Republic. ...
News that the Building Schools for the Future programme has been frozen has been greeted with disappointment by Redcar MP Ian Swales. He said "I am well aware that the Labour government left this country in a desperate financial state. It's inevitable that all plans without funding in place will have to be reviewed. "However, This is not the end of capital investment in schools. I know much preparation has been done for BSF in Redcar and Cleveland and how important many of the projects are. I will be speaking to Schools Minister Sarah Teather to press for the funding ...
Yesterday Nick Clegg stood up as Deputy Prime Minister in the House of Commons and announced there would be a referendum to reform the voting system within the next year. If I'd suggested just a few weeks ago that I would be able to type that sentence with a straight face I imagine most folk would think I'd lost any grasp on reality. Yet it's what happened. True, the route to Nick becoming Deputy Prime Minister is not proving easy: coalition with the Tories is forcing uncomfortable compromises on the Lib Dems. And true, the alternative vote is not a ...
Yesterday Nick Clegg MP announced that for the first time, the British people will have a choice about the system they use to elect their MPs. On May 5th 2011, there will be a referendum on whether to adopt the Alternative Vote system. That's also the day that I am up for re-election to Bury Council, so make sure you come and vote! AV is a step in the right direction towards a fairer voting system. The First Past The Post system (the system we've got now) hands power to the lucky few voters who live in marginal constituencies and ...
I am currently appalled at the number of previously sane bloggers (people like Alex Folkes and Caron Lindsay) who are shamelessly touting themselves around for the TotalPolitics blog awards. What is the matter with these people? What are they doing? Who is this Dale bloke? Why on earth does anyone care?! You too can share ...
I had to attend a conference last week. It was not the sort of event where the political media would gather and therefor I found the language used by the speakers very informative. Four government ministers Nick Hurd, Iain Duncan Smith's replacement Maria someone or other, Ed Vaizey and Paul Burstow. The first 3 talked about our government, David Cameron and 'as we said in opposition' implying that the policy would transfer seamlessly to the new government. None of them mentioned 'the coalition', Nick Clegg, none referred to the Lib Dems or our partners- even when thy were talking about ...
Yesterday the new temporary library in Southport Town Centre was opened at the Southport Visiter Offices on Tulketh Street. I was delighted that Jean Alexander, who had been a key supporter of the temporary library campaign was there with the Mayor Maureen Fearn to cut the ribbon. The opening follows several months of campaigning in rain and shine by the Liberal Democrats to ensure that Southport residents weren't left high and dry with no library facilities whilst the old Atkinson Library undergoes a complete refurbishment as part of the Cultural Centre. Andrew Edwards, Group Editor of the Southport Visiter spoke ...
Life being what it is, I've only just read Timothy Garton Ash's very welcome article on the urgent need for Liberals in British politics: But it made me think. He portrays Liberals (as he wants Lib Dems to be called) as a bastion against right wing populism and left wing populism. As if somehow Liberalism was just a quiet, intelligent ideology of the BBC and the EU, and other technocratic institutions that sometimes seem to have outlived their original idealistic fire. But where's the excitement? Where is the demand? What about Liberal populism? Is there such a thing? And ...
If there's one thing that makes me reasonably happy about the coaltion, it's days like Monday when Nick Clegg takes to the floor of the House as Deputy Prime Minister and delivers yet another good performance on the issue of political reform. Yesterday the topic was a rather convenient bundling of the issues of the ...
The Metropolitan Police Authority Civil Liberties Panel held an open meeting at City Hall on Thursday 1 July to hear what individuals and campaigning organisations think about DNA in policing and the use of National DNA Database (NDNAD). The meeting enabled participants, as well as those who could not attend but submitted written evidence, to voice their concerns about the current and future use of DNA. Major themes which emerged during the meeting included: DNA collection seems to have become an end in itself, a process to be completed irrespective of proportionality there should be more transparency specifically about how ...
I was listening to John Pienaar's weekly podcast last week. The guest was my old sparring partner Shane Greer and one of the things they discussed was Ken Clarke's plan to ensure that prison is not used as a punishment so often and to make more use of community sentences. I already blogged last week about how I think Clarke's plan is potentially very good. On the podcast they were debating the merits of this but the point was made that irrespective of how well community sentences and other alternatives to prison may work out, all it will take is ...
This is a really geeky app! You know USSD? They're the codes you can type in to your phone to send messages back and forth to the networks. You've probably seen something like *#147# to display the last caller. My second app presents a series of buttons which call the USSD commands – so you don't have to remember if it's the HLR or VLR which is queried by *#103#. Useful, I know.... You can download the app by scanning in this QR code. [IMG: Android App - Vodafone UK USSD Commands] Android App - Vodafone UK USSD Commands The ...
I've been playing around with Android. It's a great platform for development. I really appreciated the speed to release of the Android Market – it's instant. Having worked with iPhone and Ovi stores where approval can take days or even weeks, it's great to have the freedom to publish immediately. The first app I've created is "Advanced Test Card". You can download it by scanning in this QR code. [IMG: Scan to download Advanced Test Card for Android] Scan to download Advanced Test Card for Android At the moment, it just has 5 modes. Red, Green, Blue, White and SMPTE ...
Politicians standing up and talking about politics – one would hope they'd know a little about the subject. But ignorance abounded in the chamber yesterday after deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, delivered his statement on political and constitutional reform. First up after the DPM was Jack Straw who is still displaying a woeful misunderstanding of ...
UK Polling Report thinks it knows the answer.
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of the Coalition Government's budget, and what you make of the Lib Dems' and Government's performance to date. Over 350 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results of our survey this week. First, LDV asked: The balance of spending cuts to tax rises announced by the coalition government in its measures to reduce the budget deficit is 77% spending cuts to 23% tax rises. What do you think of this balance? Here's what Lib Dem members said: 7% – There should be ...
There is, quite rightly, a need on the part of a host country to fund the costs of a visit to their country by another head of state. It is a mark of respect and basic good manners.
'Labour ruined my wedding day' sounds like quite a dramatic statement to make, but for many couples up until last year where one half was from a non EU country, this was the sad reality of what actually happened. Up until 2009, the Home Office used to charge roughly £300 for a 'Certificate of Approval' for couples wanting to enter marriage or civil partnership where one of the parties was a non EU national. The rule did not apply to those marrying in Anglican Churches in England or Wales. The Certificate of Approval scheme was rightly held to be unlawful ...
I have recently had complaints about the conditions of a couple of roundabouts in the West End. Firstly - from a resident - "With regard to the state of the roundabout at the junction of Blackness Road and Glamis Road, it was laid out as low maintenance but increasingly the small bushes are being dwarfed by tall weeds." I raised this with the City Council and have received the following positive response - "The roundabout at the Glamis Road/Glamis Drive junction will be added to the list of cyclic maintenance carried out by DCS Land Services on behalf of Road ...
Regular readers will have noticed a lack of book reviews in the past couple of months. This is because I'm going through one of my periodic reading droughts. The last book I read was Ian Rankin's Doors Open, which I fear I never reviewed here. I finished it at the tail end of April., just before I moved house. Unfortunately, moving house and the establishment of a new routine has squeezed my reading. Although I made a start to Vince Cable's The Storm, I never made much progress and fell out of the habit of making time each day to ...
The Home Office's guidance to gay asylum seekers who seek refuge in the UK because of their sexuality has been condemned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The discretion test where they are sent back to their homeland with the advice to keep their sexuality secret was according to UNHCR turning international convention "on its head". The UK Supreme Court is to give a ruling on the issue this Wednesday. Many of those seeking asylum in this country on the grounds of their sexuality. Alexandra McDowall, the UNHCR's legal officer in London, says the discretion test "introduces ...
It would be nice to be able to give three unqualified cheers for one of the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in the coalition, but yesterday's announcement by Nick Clegg of the referendum on AV leaves me with many reservations. To name but three: 1. It is to be on AV, which is not proportional, and, equally importantly, will do little to abolish safe seats. To revive our democracy we need an electoral system which makes it worthwhile for everyone to vote. Under AV elections will still be decided in a handful of marginals. 2. It is to be allied ...
Looking lovely this summer ...
i) births and deaths 6 July 1979: death of Malcolm Hulke, co-author of The Faceless Ones, The War Games and (uncredited) The Ambassadors of Death, sole author of Doctor Who and the Silurians, Colony in Space, The Sea Devils, Frontier in Space, and Invasion of the Dinosaurs, and writer of seven novelisations (DW&t Cave-Monsters, DW&t Doomsday Weapon, DW&t Sea Devils, DW&t Green Death, DW&t Dinosaur Invasion, DW&t Space War and DW&t War Games) and co-writer of The Making of Doctor Who. His stories showed a commitment to politics and a mild obsession with reptiles. ii) broadcast anniversary 6 July 2009: ...
Labour AMs who have been demanding all sorts of concessions from the UK Coalition government as part of the 'respect' agenda have gone missing in action in response to the decision by the Treasury to allow the Welsh Government to access around £200m of so-called "end year flexibility" (EYF) cash. The BBC say that The Treasury has announced it will give Welsh ministers access to money not spent in previous years. Wales' Finance Minister Jane Hutt had been pressing for the money to be made available and has now got her way. This decision should help the Welsh Government to ...
Ok so far we've had the many crashes in the final part of stage one. Then the wet and slippery roads of yesterday's small hills. So what does today's stage of the Tour de France hold? Well over 7 different sections there are 13.2km of cobbles in the final 90 km of the route from Wanze to Arenberg. But like yesterday the roads aren't unknown to the pros. Yesterday is was the Liege-Baston-Liege classic that had the nod, today it is Paris-Robaix. The last of the 7 sections of cobbles in 2300m worth up to 10km from the finish. But ...
There are currently two sets of parking problems: 1. At the top end by the service entrance to the Maltings Here a small strip on single yellow line is often occupied in the evening causing traffic to jam. This could perhaps be converted to double yellow. 2. On the north side between Old London Road and Alma Road. Cars can be a problem in the evening. There seems to have been some displacement parking because of the CPZ being extended into neighbouring streets. Any new restrictions could well cause problems for local residents as much as for commuters. In either ...
APOD: 2010 July 4 - Companion of a Young, Sun-like Star Confirmed Hot young planet, 8 times the mass of Jupiter and 330 AU from its sun; not much likelihood of it harbouring life I fear. (tags: astronomy)
I was pleased to hear the news today that a date has been set for a referendum on the reform of our voting system. I was disappointed when the coalition Government revealed that it would be a vote on using the Alternative Vote system in future, as I'd been hoping for STV, but as I've said all along, in a coalition, we have to make sacrifices on some things to gain results on the more important things, and to get a referendum on some form of voting reform is a big step forwards, no matter the form offered. AV is ...
I stood for Parliament in May. I was the Lib Dem candidate in the new seat of Plymouth Moor View. As you can probably guess, not least because of my use of the past tense, I didn't win. Why do I mention this? Well, whilst I was a candidate I maintained a blog. In fact, it had this very URL, so maybe that's what you were expecting to find. Anyway, I shut it down post-election, and I immediately regretted it. So, with the announcement today (I'm technically wrong as it's just after midnight, but allow me a little licence) by ...
If you live in rural Lancashire then it is fairly easy to get to a major city. I am not one for going shopping but I am quite happy with the number of events that I can attend locally. I guess I am saying that the world may revolve around Morecambe. However not everyone has the same view. Some will say that nothing happens outside London. It would be nice to have less centralisation. Our national sporting stadia are mostly in London. Most of our national museums and galleries are there too. It is refreshing when you get a building ...
