This morning I went to the funeral of Councillor Frank Donovan. Frank was a widely respected and liked member of Gateshead Council. His funeral was held in Bensham and back at the Civic Centre afterwards, I was able to have a quick word with his daughter Catherine, who is also a Council Cabinet member in Gateshead. Because of the funeral I am making no political comments today.This afternoon, my
[IMG: Christchurch 2] The new vicar for Christchurch Consett, the Rev. Valerie Shedden, was "licensed" on Thursday evening by the Bishop of Jarrow. There was an excellent turnout to welcome her as priest in charge, comprising both her own congregation and representatives from the other churches in the town, as well as members of her previous church in Heworth, Gateshead. I'm sure all readers of this blog will join in that welcome, and hope that she has a happy and successful ministry in our town.
I'm sure the actual speech, live as it were, was far from monotone but being lazy I decided to: select text - right click - 'Speech' > 'Start Speaking' and listen to Nick's words read out by a computer voice called 'Alex' on my MacBook. One reason for stating this fact is that I consider we do too little to publicise our pitch and I would like hear this as a Podcast or view it on You Tube. The content of the speech 'A liberal Parliament' (here) strengthened my sense that our leadership had not suddenly forgotten what we are ...
We watched this last night, having had it sat on the side for a week or so. I rented it because lots of people told me it was excellent, but then left it sat there, telling myself I needed to be in the right mood to watch a foriegn language film, that I could only watch it when able to concentrate, etc... Foriegn language films have a bigger mountain to climb with me than Anglophone ones. ( somewhat spoilery review below the cut ) I'd fully recommend giving this film a viewing, if you can stomach the unflinching style of ...
...It was a lovely ceremony, but the reception was awful... Apparently they held it in the wrong place........ bada bing Filed under: Spidey Says Tagged: humour, iphone joke, joke, spidey
I have spent a lot of time in Richmond Park and Kingston North, being a Kingston graduate I actually did a training run around the Park for a start. Of course at the local MP recently became the billionaire Zac Goldsmith. He has questions to answer about his expenses in the 23 days before the campaign. So he came into Channel 4 News studio to answer those questions. It appears that he spend all this time merely asking why he wasn't allowed in to the studio earlier. Not getting on to the questions that are the height of the issue. ...
Phew! I've just finished watching Channel 4 News's Jon Snow attempt to interview Tory MP for Richmond Park Zac Goldsmith about suggestions that he has serious questions to answer about the accuracy of his election expenses. It's true car-crash telly, with Zac Goldsmith spending the first seven minutes of the interview ranting against Channel 4 News in a way that will have had Tory HQ cringeing with embarrassment. You can watch the full 13-minute broadcast here: (Also avalable on the Channel 4 News website here). Channel 4 News has refuted Mr Goldsmith's allegations with Jon Snow inviting him to take ...
Zac Goldsmith was on Channel 4 News earlier this evening to answer questions about his election expenses for the Richmond Park constituency at the general election. He gained the seat from Susan Kramer and the Liberal Democrats in a closely fought contest. If you missed it you should watch the video of his encounter with Jon Snow. There is some background on the Channel 4 News website.
Following the questions raised by Channel Four News about Zac Goldsmith's election expenses and his subsequent denial of having done anything wrong, I have the following questions which he will presumably be able to answer without a problem: Campaign jackets. 1. If you are serious in only charging a portion of the cost of the stickers to your campaign expenses, presumably you have all the stickers carefully stored away and they are in a fit state to be re-used. If not, can you explain why the full cost of any which are missing or damaged has not been included in ...
Alex Cole-Hamilton has been selected to fight the marginal Edinburgh Central constituency for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the elections next year. Siobhan Mathers ran a brilliant campaign in 2007 and reduced the Labour majority, laying a strong foundation for the coming campaign. Stephen Glenn was on the shortlist for the seat and he's given a real insight to what it's like to seek nomination, going round every party member. He fought a strong campaign and I don't want to make his head swell too much, but I had very good reports from all sorts of people about his campaign ...
...Or at least she would if she had the time. Unfortunately she's just finishing off the accounts. And then she has to sign a contract with a chiropractor. But when she's done with all that she will definitely see you at the next convenient moment. That's the problem with politicians saying they want to put professionals in charge. The professionals are already quite busy being, um, professional. My experience in teaching is that when teachers take up managerial roles they stop, well, teaching. Managing complex organisations is a full-time job. So is teaching or practising medicine or nursing. It seems ...
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has today commented on the habit of local councils giving huge payoffs to officers: "The age of golden goodbyes and huge pay offs in the public sector must end. Such as a casual attitude to spending public money both looks and feels wrong and sends the wrong message to hard working members of the public." The particular case he was talking about was in Labour Newham. But presumably his comments apply equally to Conservative led Cornwall where £78,750 was given to Peter Lewis despite the fact that Mr Lewis had only been with the council ...
Nick Clegg has announced that a referendum will be held on the same day as the local elections on whether to introduce a fairer voting system. The country will decide between the imperfect AV system or to retain the old politics and the system that allowed it. I will blog later on AV, but first look at the current system Under the current system, the candidate with the most votes wins regardless of how limited there support. Often under the current system, the success of a small party can lead to the election of their opposite. In Guildford 2001, the ...
Wheels for All - Aiming High! Cycling in Longford Park Stadium 10-12 every Friday morning Aiming High funded Cycling Sessions for disabled children with their families, friends and carers - from 9th July at Longford Athletics Track, or in the park if the track is already booked! Fridays 12-5pm (following on from the Trafford Wheelers) Sundays 1-3pm Mondays 1-5pm Wednesdays 3-6pm Call Hermine Briffa on 0770 4167085 or email cyclingproject@googlemail.com. For more details go to:-http://friendsoflongfordpark.org.uk/?p=167
This week's acting editor of Liberal Democrat News was Adrian Slade - the man who auditioned Peter Cook for the Cambridge Footlights. Whenever he Adrian takes charge I feel under great pressure to be funny. As I couldn't think of any witty lines of my own, I decided to review Best Seat in the House so that I could steal someone else's. In praise of Johnson Frank Johnson, who edited the Spectator and wrote the Daily Telegraph's parliamentary sketch for many years, died in 2006. A collection of his journalism - Best Seat in the House - edited by his ...
Destination Parks 23rd July 6pm-9pm- This is a great start to the summer holidays and the event will include music, arts, sports and information ... such as radio workshops, live performances, breakdancing, theatre, martial arts, skating skills, lazerquest, aerosol arts, pony rides, inflatable's, information from connexions, friends of the earth ... For more details go to:- http://friendsoflongfordpark.org.uk/?p=165
Would Jon Sopel kindly do journalism a favour and fuck off and die. #moat #bbchaslosttheplot # @Deb9yin Broadcasting private phone conversations between distressed relatives live on air without consent kinda gets my gander rising, true in reply to Deb9yin # Yay, that's the tickets booked for the @divinecomedyhq Neil Hannon solo gig at Oxford on 16 Nov http://bit.ly/aKOw52 # Wanna complain to the BBC about Jon Sopel's piss-poor intrusive #moat coverage? Here's the link you need: http://bit.ly/cVSBEU # RT @libdemvoice New post: Clegg's verdict on Labour in opposition: "Collective bile is not a political strategy" http://ldv.org.uk/20231 # 'Mr Clegg makes ...
We are still trying to get a handle on the costs of the BSF programme in Sefton. It must go down as one of the most costly and bizarre procurement process by any government. As Jonathan Calder has pointed out: Private Eye has long been a convincing critic of this programme. Its current issue says that Gove's departmenthas finally acknowledged what the Eye has been saying for several years: that BSF is far too complicated and costly for its own good.Deals signed under the programme since 2005, along with other PFI schools, already cost the education budget more than £700m ...
I had my first drive of the Tata Indica Electric Vehicle yesterday evening at the Gaydon Motor Heritage Centre. I drove a prototype vehicle, which is very similar to the trial versions about to be manufactured, for about 15 minutes around the grounds of the Centre. What strikes you after driving the car is how easy it is. Essentially its like driving a petrol or diesel car without having to worry about changing gear. The car just has two peddles - go and stop and a simple forwards, stop and reverse gear shift. It is very nippy at slow speeds ...
If you ever get bored reading my blog (which, of course, you would be far too polite to ever tell me), you can always go and have a look at some of the blogs I like, which are listed on the left of this and down a bit. I thought it might be fun to do an occasional series telling you a little bit about the blogs on there and why I added them, a few at a time. Some people only have a few select blogs on their roll but mine now stands at around 115. There are generally ...
Now I know that there are undesirables watching this blog every day who have nothing better to do so this post is going to be fairly guarded so as not to give anything of any great detail, but subject to date confirmation and WBC fulfilling their end of the deal, Spiderplant is moving away from ...
[IMG: Highclere Castle 1] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: JBUK_Planet This has brightened up an otherwise sombre week for me. At one point I found it very difficult to contain my mirth about this story. Let's face it, if you own a 5,000 acre estate (A) with a very large house, you are somewhat loaded. But imagine if you are so loaded that you can also afford to write to the council (who else?) to offer to buy your neighbour's 5,000 acre estate (B) and castle (yes – castle - see photo above) to house your paintings. Yes, just ...
Now children... don't have nightmares!
Here are the five most popular posts on this blog from the last week in case you missed them: New poll shows 70% of people want cannabis legalised Everyone is a liar apart from Ed Balls apparentlyMark's reckless behaviour highlights a wider problem with MPsBizarre comments from David Miliband on AV referendumThree reasons why Dave will not cut and run And you should have been reading this Boing Boing piece which explains how renowned poo expert Gillian McKeith got herself into a spot of bother with Bad Science author Ben Goldacre on Twitter.
From Sky News: Tory peer Lord Taylor of Warwick has resigned the Conservative Party whip after being prosecuted for false accounting over his parliamentary expenses. The Crown Prosecution Service said Lord Taylor, whose full name is John David Beckett Taylor, has been summonsed to face six charges of false accounting. He is accused of dishonestly claiming more than £11,000 in overnight subsistence and mileage claims.
MP, Ian Swales, who has called for the introduction of a financial transaction tax. Mr Swales has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling on the government to introduce a 'Robin Hood' tax, which would take an average of 0.05% from speculative banking transactions that could potentially raising hundreds of billions of pounds every year to tackle poverty and climate change. Commenting Mr Swales said: "Given that the banks had such a large role in causing the economic crisis it's only fair that they should help pay to fix it. "The bank levy announced by the ...
The decision to schedule the planned referendum on AV for the same day next Spring as other elections are due has two primary arguments in its favour: turnout and cost. The record of combining elections is that it increases turnout for the election type which traditionally has the lower turnout without depressing turnout for the other. Similarly, combining elections reduces costs as, for example, polling stations only have to be open for one day rather than two separate days. The turnout factor is hard to estimate for a referendum/public elections combination but working out the likely costs is much easier ...
The Federal Policy Committee is setting up a Policy Working Group on Information Technology and Intellectual Property, to be chaired by Dr Julian Huppert MP. The working group will review all aspects of policy on IT and the internet. It will be necessary to give significant attention to intellectual property issues, with particular attention to their application to the digital economy. The group will take forward the issues raised by the conference motion Freedom, Creativity and the Internet adopted by the Spring Conference 2010. Party members interested in joining the group should contact Debbie Enever on d.enever@libdems.org.uk - d.enever.hat.libdems.org.uk.spam.com (this ...
It was ironic that yesterday, the day on which Vince Cable made his first speech about student funding, I returned home to a statement from the Student Loans Company explaining how much I still owe them eight years after graduating. The statement explained that my contributions in the tax year recently ended were "£0.00". This was a surprise because I had paid £200 a month to something called "Student Loan" and expected that that was what it was paying off. Evidently not. I rang the number on the top of the bill, to find it defunct. I have no idea ...
I must confess I'm a little worried about how Britain will pay for Universities. I'll start by coming clean. In some ways I am unashamedly elitist: for higher education to be worthwhile it has to exclude some people, whether through admissions processes or by people failing or dropping out. The Open University is open to all but a challenging route to a degree which some will not complete, at the other extreme the Oxford and Cambridge admissions lottery thins out many. In some sense it is unfair that not everyone is able to benefit from a university education but for ...
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has been telling think tank Demos today of his vision for the next 5 years which he hopes will build a more liberal Britain. The whole speech has been conveniently published here. I liked the way he outlined a distinctive liberal vision for which the traditional economic and big/small government are essentially irrelevant. Basically who we are as liberals and the sort of society we want to see boils down to: Trusting people - having faith in human nature; This desire to put power in the hands of people is based on an optimistic assessment ...
The UK will be a more "liberal nation" in five years time if the government fulfils its aims, Nick Clegg has said. Unfortunately, because the Lib Dem website is incapable of reducing 3,000 word speeches to manageable press releases, I will purloin the bits of the description which the BBC used... In a speech in London, the deputy prime minister said a "truly reforming" Parliament could change politics and the economy for the better by 2015. His Conservative coalition partners shared his "reforming zeal", he argued. Mr Clegg has heralded decisions taken by the government to scrap ID cards, review ...
As a long time liberal, I was shocked, but perhaps not surprised, when I listened to the Today programme on my iPlayer earlier this week (I'm spending the summer in the US), and heard that the French parliament had voted to support legislation that would outlaw the wearing of the burqa and niqab in public places, including on the street, in France. Yet, many of my liberally-minded friends (well Liberal Democrat and Labour members) on Facebook were celebrating this action. I know why people would argue that this is a positive action. As a young graduate, I started my first ...
Bury Conservatives' proposals to introduce parking charges at the Fairfax Road Car park were last night opposed by Prestwich Area Partnership. The meeting at the Maccabi Community and Sport club on Bury Old Road, received a presentation from officers on the proposals to introduce parking charges and details of parking provision in the area generally. Members of the partnership and general public were critical of the introduction of charges that officers confirmed were for financial reasons as well as to discourage Metrolink commuter parking. Councillors Richard Baum questioned whether the income generated would be spent in Prestwich and it was ...
Candidate selection is an odd campaign. For a start it is one of the most lonely because it is you who has to get around all the electorate as best you can and that can be every evening for four weeks and still not get everyone in, or even gain access to every stairwell. When you add on the fact that you are doing it in Edinburgh with it hills, the gorgeous weather that we had in June and the fact that I do not own a car I can fully recommend it for a cardio workout. You do however, ...
Here is a question I find repeated, in various formulations, by a variety of people. Mainly, I have to admit, by gay people who either honestly didn't know there was a difference (I know, mad) or by those gay people who positively embrace the difference but still think they are the same (yes, I know that's mental and conflicting). So I thought I'd put down in writing what the differences are, just so I can link to it and save myself a lot of wasted time. Gender The most obvious difference in law is gender. A marriage is a partnership ...
Simon Wright, the Lib Dem MP for Norwich South who did the nation a service by vanquishing Charles Clarke, is the first of the newbie MPs to take part in a viral video campaign called 'Mpinions'. Here's the spiel from its creators: Mpinions is allowing new MPs to properly introduce themselves to you and all in a few easily-digestible minutes! Consider it the speed dating of the political world! The video campaign itself will be running until the end of August and is being sponsored by The Electoral Reform Society and supported and promoted online by the Hansard Society, Operation ...
Nick Clegg has been giving a speech at the think-tank Demos today, setting out his vision for what this Parliament should achieve – and what the Liberal Democrats should get from it. The heart of the argument is in this early section: Now that the Liberal Democrats are in government, liberal ideas are being deployed directly. What you are seeing is liberalism in action. And I can tell you that as Deputy Prime Minister, my liberal instincts are stronger than ever. Our goal is clear. By the time of the next election, on 7 May 2015, Britain will be a ...
I have a huge problem with the coalition government. My problem is that, notwithstanding some of the measures in the budget, like the dodging of a meaningful capital gains tax increase, I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with much of what is being done. This is a difficult position to be in when I want to maintain my independence and critical faculties. When a British government owns up to the fact that prison doesn't work you have to cheer. It is easy for the nay-sayers to climb onto their tired bandwagon and mention the need to incarcerate rapists and murderers while ...
[IMG: Click here to vote in the Total Politics Best Blogs Poll 2010] The Best Blogs poll of 2010 is now open, and YOU can vote. Even if you're in jail, but not if you've shot yourself dead. Here are the rules: 1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and rank them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite). 2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted. 3. You MUST include at least FIVE blogs in your list, but please list ten if ...
Following last night's Channel 4 News report, the Independent carries details today on the possible Electoral Commission inquiry into expenses in the Richmond Park campaign: The Electoral Commission is considering allegations that millionaire Tory MP Zac Goldsmith breached election spending rules when he won his Commons seat in May. The environmentalist - who has advised David Cameron on green issues - has donated £264,000 to his local Conservative association in Richmond Park since 2007, which is believed to be a record for a candidate. He won the seat from the Liberal Democrats' Susan Kramer with a majority of 4,091. According ...
Yesterday saw one by-election in the West Midlands, Bloxwich West Ward in Walsall. Labour won the seat, convincingly.
[IMG: money] My favourite artist at Glastonbury. Forget the Pyramid stage and the Gorillaz, there was a great little party going on at the West Holts world music stage - with much more interesting messages in the music. Nneka is entirely new to me. Nigerian born, now lives in Germany, and making some great political hip-hop influenced music. I'd namecheck Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu to get a vague feel, but actually listening is the better idea of course. The tracks that really works for me (Heartbeat) has a definite flavour from Eminem's Lose Yourself in the intro, but even ...
This week in Spideys web there are some more awesome people and some very interesting blog posts that caught my eye. Top 10 tweeters LiamRhodes – He's great fun to wind up on Twitter especially when you call him a LibDem, but he's a nice chap so dont hold it against him! Jimibabe – Lovely ...
Then one hot day when fields were rank With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges To a coarse croaking that I had not heard Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus. Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped: The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting. I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew That if I dipped my hand the ...
During the last Parliament the Labour Government attempted to dramatically reduce compensation payments to Civil Servants facing redundancy by capping payments. The PCS union fought these cuts (along with some MPs including me) and the union won their case in the High Court. The new Government is looking to change the law to restrict payouts ...
As far as I can tell a Graduate Tax would take all of the problems of the current system and compound them.
Do Ministers in the One Wales government talk to each other? I only ask because I have just caught up with the interview with First Minister, Carwyn Jones on BBC's Dragon's Eye last night. When asked about the appeal court squashing his government's order to cull badgers in North Pembrokeshire, Carwyn made it plain that he fully supports his Rural Affairs Minister and his Counsel General and tried to shrug off a major setback by referrig back to the earlier High Court ruling which was overturned on appeal. He also implied that the government had taken external and specialist legal ...
Vince Cable yesterday floated the idea of a graduate tax to pay for university funding, as an alternative to top-up fees. In the early 1960s, around 4% of young people went to university. Today that's nearly 50%. Undergraduate education has changed beyond recognition over those fifty years and, with money tight, another government is having another attempt to sort out funding. As Vince has made clear, a graduate tax is one option he wants considered. Encouraging those with the ability The UK has never quite cracked the problem of getting people from poorer backgrounds into higher education. If you're in ...
RYEHILL LANE/PERTH ROAD JUNCTION : Residents have mentioned that the seating area here needs tidied and weeds removed. The Regional Operations Manager for the owners of the site (J C Decaux UK Ltd) has advised me "I will have this attended to this week and will ensure it is kept in good condition." HUNTER STREET : A resident contacted me to say that the bollard on a traffic island has been flattened by a vehicle. The Council's City Development Department advises that, "the street lighting section have recorded this damaged bollard in their defects database and it will be repaired ...
Pam King and I have been working for some time to improve the condition of the alleyway running from Gatley station past Brentwood Drive down to Gatley Road. First we had fence panels leaning out dangerously - which the Council quickly removed when we let them know (the panels aren't owned by the Council). Since then there have been the resulting gaps in the fence and rubbish dumped onto the property behind the fence - not great! Pam and I have been pursuing a couple of different routes to get the landowner to resolve the situation, via planning enforcement and ...
[IMG: Screen grab from TV chat show 'Friday Night wi...] Image via WikipediaTonight the last ever 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' will be aired. For many it will mark the end of a television era. For many others it will be a welcome change. No other modern broadcaster divides opinion quite like Jonathan Ross. Personally I quite like the the Friday evening show. Ross may not be the best interviewer ever, frequently more intent on self promotion than revealing anything about those on the opposite couch, but the show is always a fun watch. We all know that 'Sachsgate' was ...
After reading this lovely account of a surprise hen party thrown at Holyrood for Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, I wanted to add my good wishes to her and her fiance Peter Murrell for their wedding today. I hope their day is everything they want it to be and that they have many happy years together.
Vince Cable and I were at University at the same time. He came down from York to Cambridge while I went in the opposite direction from London to York. Both of us were the first from our families to go to University and both of us lived on a maintenance grant, based on our parents' incomes. (You might think that the similarities end there ...) The grant in my second year was £330 per term. I put the cheque straight into my post office account, and drew £3 a week to live on, leaving me enough to pay for rent ...
Last night, this showed up on my Twitter feed:DrEvanHarris: It is surprisingly nasty sometimes. RT @naomimc Feminist bloggers have a community. Its a lot more shouty tho ;-) #talkfestI've since been informed that there was a conversaion with @naomimc (whom I do not follow, but her tweets are unprotected and I can't see it) in which that R/T comes to more than just yet another offhand remark by a man about how nasty the feminist blogosphere is. Evan Harris, by the way, is a Liberal Democrat politician and former MP who has some pretty strong equality credentials, which I by ...
These NOTES concern a single issue, one that you have probably never heard of - the proposed new EU regulation on reducing CO2 emissions from light commercial vehicles (vans). It's a matter with which I am closely involved, and it highlights just how difficult it is to get governments to match their visionary words about the future with practical action here and now. Chris Davies MEP VANS - THE BATTLE TO RAISE STANDARDS Even when you think you must be on a sure-fire winner a combination of commercial vested interests and short-sighted politicians can line up to defeat you. But ...
Welcome to a series where old posts are revived for a second outing for reasons such as their subject has become topical again, they have aged well but were first posted when the site's readership was only a tenth or less of what it is currently or they got published and the site crashed, hiding the finest words of wisdom behind an incomprehensible error message. Today's is quite simply, still, the best headline in a Labour leaflet - ever: Courtesy of the Hull Labour Party, from the May 2008 elections. You can't really argue with that headline can you? [IMG: ...
Excellent presentation from Google's Paul Adams about how people want social networks to behave, and in particular how we want to provide different information (and behave differently) with different groups of friends. He slightly overstates the case about existing tools not letting you do this (Facebook lets you group friends for example) but the core point is very good one. The Real Life Social Network v2 View more documents from Paul Adams. Hat-tip: Mashable
I have written about the NUS graduate tax proposal before, and I think it's time for another attempt. Please read my previous post if you want to understand where I'm coming from here, and this (overdue) update aims to convince you that you do like the idea, as a compromise and a step in the right direction. Let's do a quick analysis of the winners and losers under a Graduate Tax that takes the form of a fixed term tax (for 10 years after graduation, say) which is, just like student loan repayments, 9% of income above £15k, compared to ...
One of the bigger items of news this week has been Andrew Lansley's statement to the Commons about his White Paper suggesting the poor old NHS should undergo yet another reshuffle. The issue was covered last night on Question Time, and when I heard the start of the original question my brain already started going ...
Now that it's the school holidays, I've had the chance to stay up to join in the BBC Question Time tweetfest on a Thursday night cos I don't have to get up early. You'll know that I've had my say on the lack of Liberal Democrats on the Question Time panel - even going so far as to have a geeks' special analysis at one point. Last night was a spectacular fail in the variety of opinion on the panel. Basically we had two current Labour people, one ex Labour MP, a Tory cabinet minister and Nick Ferrari who almost ...
The Press Gazette reports: A newly published Ministry of Justice Structural Reform Plan shows that developing options for reform is expected to take from June this year until March next year. The plan gives as a milestone the publication next March of a "draft Defamation Bill for the reform of libel laws published for pre-legislative scrutiny". But it gives no indication of a timetable for the introduction or passage of the actual legislation... The Government announced on 9 July, towards the end of the second reading debate on the Defamation Bill introduced into the House of Lords by Lord Lester ...
After every Council Meeting I blog on how I voted. I will do so later in the week. But I will respond to an attack on the Lib Dems by the Labour group. I was unable to do so last night as I was not called to speak. The attack referred to the budget and specifically to the VAT rise which many had campaigned against during the election. Firstly I should point out that neither Vince Cable, Osborne or ever Alistair Darling ruled out increasing VAT during the election. I will confess I am utterly opposed to the VAT rise. ...
Ed Balls was the Labour leadership contender guest last night on BBC's This Week programme (viewable here for the next week or so - see 24:45 onwards for 5 minutes). Andrew Neil gave him a grilling about his behaviour as referenced in various memoirs and political books including those by Alastair Campbell, Andrew Rawnsley and Anthony Seldon. In each case it tended to be related to how badly behaved Balls had been and also how rude and disrespectful he was alleged to have been to Tony Blair. It was also about how he was supposed to have been involved in ...
As a former Catholic no doubt I am harder than most on the church I once worshipped in, but really, even the most ardent supporter of the Pope has to question the Vatican's sanity when they encourage headlines such as these. Suggesting in a revised decree that the "attempted ordination" of women is one of the gravest crimes in ecclesiastical law and is on a par with the sex abuse of minors is not only disproportionately insulting and insensitive but also a major gaffe. It explains why there was so little action taken for so long against child abusers within ...
This morning's Western Mail reports on former Minister, Andrew Davies' on-going campaign to blame the civil service for everything that has gone wrong during his stint in government: Mr Davies said he was unconvinced that structural changes to senior management had delivered savings of £505,000. The Swansea West AM held the economic development portfolio from 2002 until 2007 and is concerned by how long it has taken to apply the recommendations of a series of wide-ranging reports. He said: "I'm asking why it has taken three years for that to happen." He added that last year's Glenn Massey report into ...
Howard's cartoon from today's Liberal Democrat News (click to enlarge).
RT @libdemvoice: EXCLUSIVE: How party members rate the performances of leading Lib Dems http://ldv.org.uk/20191 # @rfenwick To please you in reply to rfenwick # Tweed jacket? Check. Elbow patches? Check. Beard? Check. Open University filming here we come. # I just ousted Robin B. as the mayor of Eat on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/aUxMSe # So, does the new shade of blue used on the directional Victoria line signs at Oxford Circus indicated (a) mistake, (b) deliberate change? # Although I didn't highlight in my blog post, notable how it is Tom Brake using his new post to comment on the issue: ...
At a reception last night I bumped into a former colleague who I hadn't seen for a while. We compared notes on the recent election, and discovered that for slightly different reasons we had voted the same way. I was tickled by the idea of my friend, who is one of the least socialist people I know, voting for the far left PVDA+, in his case out of disgust at the raving nationalism of the other parties. We spotted the former Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies on the far side of the room; I dissuaded my friend from going ...
Exciting news. The Brampton Valley Way - which occupies the trackbed of the old Market Harborough to Northampton railway - has a blog devoted to it.
[IMG: Stationers fort event flyer] Yesterday, I spent a few hours helping the Friends of Stationers Park get the word out about the final consultation event on the Stationers Park Play Area. The event will be in the play area on Monday (19th) between 3pm and 7pm and will be a great chance for everyone to look at the latest versions of the plans. At the last consultation session in May (see previous post) it was clear that there was strong support for the new play area to emulate the old fort design that is so well loved – but ...
The year of Margaret Thatcher's final general election victory and the Liberal/SDP Alliance continued to gain ground on Stockport Council. Colin Macalister got an impressive 73.8% of the vote in Brinnington, my Conservative namesake Ian Roberts won in Cheadle and the Alliance march across the Hazel Grove seats continued. 07/05/87 1987 Stockport Bredbury (11198) @ 1 vote share Stafford G. Lib/SDP 3005 52.9 Frost S. Con 1567 27.6 Woodrow J. Lab 1109 19.5 ffff 1983: Con Turnout 50.7 25.3 Brinnington (8454) @ 1 vote share Macalister C.* Lab 2546 73.8 Griffiths H. Lib/SDP 479 13.9 Leeke A. Con 425 12.3 ...
Today's debate was initiated by our very own Lord Greaves of Pendle, and he took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of our uplands, and the issues that arise from depopulation and the difficulty in providing services to isolated communities. Ros was keen to highlight the importance of locally-based solutions and of building a sustainable economy in rural areas... Baroness Scott of Needham Market: I, too, thank my noble friend for tabling this Motion for debate today. I want to address my remarks to rural areas in general rather than specifically to upland areas. I am a country dweller. I ...
I am listening to a radio discussion about Peter Mandelson's book about the New Labour project and in particular his claim that the Labour Party in Wales suffered electorally because they eschewed the Blair project and instead campaigned as old-style Labour. Meanwhile, the BBC report that the former Labour leader Lord Kinnock has claimed that the ex-business secretary has become a "caricature" of himself: "I had cause to say some years ago - when somebody asked me, either when Peter was coming in or going out of a cabinet job, I can't remember which - that my view of Peter ...
There have been no posts for a while as I've been away for a few days, principally to see Henry IV Part 1 at Shakespeare's Globe in London. Anyone who thinks Shakespeare boring should go to the Globe, which presents generally brilliant performances of the plays in a setting as near as possible to the original. You do, however, need the strength to stand for the period of the production, or a backside inured to the discomforts of a hard wooden bench. The performance was splendidly riveting and the King, played by Oliver Cotton, had an uncanny resemblance to my ...
I had a bit of a shock on Tuesday when the Minister for Budget and Finance made a statement on how she was to apply the cuts being imposed by the UK Government this year. This was not because of the way she was going to apply these cuts, that was perfectly sensible, but because of her apparent misunderstanding of the Holtham Commission recommendations on reforming the Barnett formula and in particular, the Barnett floor. According to the Minister, these reductions will hit Wales harder than other parts of the UK because, as the independent Holtham commission has made clear, ...
broadcast anniversary and date specified in canon 16 July 1964 was that day that the last episode of The War Machines, which was also the last episode of the original third season, was broadcast. The Doctor invents a way of neutralising the War Machines, defeats WOTAN, learns that Dodo is staying in England, and takes off with new companions Ben and Polly unintentionally on board. 16 July is also specified in the script of The War Machines as "C-Day", the day when all the computers in the world are to be linked (and then WOTAN will rule supreme). The problem ...
Fri 16th
01:44
From the Review: St Albans live music festival receives more than just a round of applause
St Albans live music festival receives more than just a round of applause 4:48pm Wednesday 14th July 2010 By Alexandra Barham A festival promoting live music in St Albans City Centre was given a big hand from a Hertfordshire County Councillor who donated £1,000 towards the running costs. Councillor Chris White, who represents St Albans Central, allocated the money from his locality budget to help pay for Buskers Week, which featured in the annual St Albans Festival, ending on June 27. Included in the festival's calendar for the first time, Buskers Week saw entertainers, dancers and musicians fill the city's ...
Continuing the theme of serial delusion, the big debate on university finance within the Liberal Democrats now appears to be between those who want to bleed everyone and those who just want to bleed success. This against the status quo of making people who use a service, and can afford it, pay for it. I wrote last month criticising the uncapped graduate tax proposal in detail. It's a daft scheme. Who in their right mind would volunteer to pay a potentially unlimited liability for a degree? The long-term consequences would be to incentivise mediocrity. Like the mansion tax the sage ...
At an extraordinary extraordinary meeting tonight Keighley Town Council, after a very good debate, has voted to go ahead with buying the former police station on North Street, Keighley and making the site, part of which is a listed building, into a civic centre for Keighley. It's a bold decision for a town council and plans for it are very innovative. It will involve having tenants who will contribute to Keighley by being there, for instance by bringing back a police presence to the town centre, having an Information & Tourist Information Centre (Bradford Council has taken away the Information ...
When I was studying in higher education in the 1980s all my tuition fees were paid by the government. In fact students received maintenance grants to study for degrees. I think most people remember those days but it is a worthwhile reminder when you consider the suggestion that is now in the news for a graduate tax. Students now take out loans for their tuition fees but it must be fairer to ask a high earner to pay back more for the training received in order to earn that extra money. Universities don't like the idea of a graduate tax ...
Your browser does not support iframes. Another newsreel from British Pathé.
The founder of a Facebook site dedicated to celebrating a recently self-deceased psychopath'skilling spree, Siobhan O'Dowd has voluntarily and maybe temporarily withdrawn her controversial site. (In fact it came back up again whilst writing this) Perhaps in response to media and political pressure, perhaps as is evident from her recent interview, consistent analysis is not a skill her decade of free state education enabled. David Cameron's strange intervention in this matter was quite silly. Nudge politics maybe, but absolutely not the business of government. I'd have thought the Prime Minister had better things to do than regulate the social networking ...
The European Parliament rises today for its summer recess, which this year is one week longer than usual. We do not return until 30 August, and there was a sense of demob happiness among MEPs. I was surprised to be the only UK Lib Dem MEP who attended Wednesday evening's summer drinks reception thrown by the Brussels local party of the UK Liberal Democrats; we have many members who live and work in Brussels, for the EU institutions or in other areas, who all have a valuable contribution to make, and the event was well supported. One change associated with ...
