My esteemed fellow blogger Stephen Glenn gave me this excellent idea for a blog post and I seizes upon it. Probably in part through curiosity and partly due to vanity, I did a google search on my name and found a number of people who I am not. It was rather revealing. For example, I ...
So today, the BBC reports, in an astonishing piece of investigative journalism, that one of their shadowy "senior Conservative sources" has tipped them the wink that... ...there are plans to keep the payment link between students and individual universities. As such a "pure graduate tax" is described as an "unlikely" option. But... Vince Cable said ...
Eric receives a visit from Keith Porteous Wood, CEO of the National Secular Society. Eric has made good progress today. His blood pressure is stable as is his white blood cell count. He feels much better and the doctors say that he might possibly go home tomorrow. As Eric returns tomorrow, this is Lindsay signing out. Be grateful I've spared you some of the more gory details which, no doubt, Eric will fill you in on in the days to come.....
Third Sector reports: A Liberal Democrat MP is campaigning to win exemptions from fuel tax and VAT for mountain and cave rescue teams. Tim Farron, the party's MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, wants the coalition government to provide rescue teams with a VAT refund each year – a policy that was part of the Liberal Democrat manifesto. "We're hopeful," said a spokesman for Farron. "We're still awaiting a response from the Treasury, but this is something we can make a strong case for. These are emergency services, and they should be treated differently." Andy Simpson, a volunteer with Mountain Rescue, ...
Just back from holiday, so what has been happening. Bizarrely, the biggest controversy on Twitter is about Scientology and the comments of my good friend Councillor John Dixon from Cardiff. John has been found to be in breach of the code of conduct for expressing the view in a tweet that Scientology is stupid. His fate is to be determined in October but in the meantime many others have been expressing support for him and horror at what they believe is the wrong decision by the Welsh Ombudsman. Here is John's appearance on Newsnight defending his tweet:
Doctor Who - as you've heard it before before before
A written answer this week confirmed that Britain's quota of MEPs is about to increase by one: European Parliament Elections Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 6 July 2010, Official Report, columns 6-7WS, on the European Parliament Transitionary Protocol, whether the Electoral Commission was consulted on the arrangements for 20 July 2010 : Column 192W electing a new UK MEP before the intergovernmental conference on 23 June 2010; and if he will make a statement. [8599] Mr Lidington: The transitionary Protocol concerning the composition of the ...
In what could be seen by some Liberal Democrats as a snub by their coalition partners (and siezed upon by bitter Labourites) a senior Conservative source has today claimed that the Conservatives will not consent to Vince Cable's plan for a graduate tax to replace the current repayment system. Vince Cable's plans were heralded last ...
Take Back Parliament, the group campaigning for fairer votes in next May's referendum on the Alternative Vote, are asking people for poster ideas for the YES campaign. Details can be found HERE. Well, a little bird asked me to post his three designs up on the blog to see what people think... [IMG: Referendum Poster 1] [IMG: Referendum Poster 2] [IMG: Referendum Poster 3] So, let me know what you think. Please comment.
This rather horrible statue is the object I went to Gaddesby to see many years ago. It depicts Colonel Cheney who is also remembered by a plaque that sits above in the chancel of St Luke's Church: In/ affectionate remembrance of/ Edward Charles Hawkins Cheney C.B./ Colonel in the Army/ second son of Robert Cheney Esqr/ of Meynell Langley, Derbyshire: he was born 4th Nov 1778/ he joined as Cornet the Scotch Greys in Holland;/ under the Duke of York 1794; where he was severely wounded;/ and served with honour in the same regiment at Waterloo/ in the battle of ...
The inquiry into the UK security services alleged complicity in torture which was announced by David Cameron on the 6th July has come in for criticism from fellow Tory leadership candidate and pro civil liberties MP David Davis. Despite Downing Street advising that the Prime Minister had full confidence in the appointed Judge, Sir Peter Gibson, who serves as Intelligence Services Commissioner, David Davies has questioned his independence. The inquiry remit will include those subjected to rendition flights and detainees of Guantanamo Bay including claims by Ethiopian-born UK resident Binyam Mohamed that MI5 and MI6 were aware of his torture ...
What do you think of this service? Have you used it? Let me know! Here is what the police say: "Ringmaster is a computerised crime messaging system run by Bedfordshire Police, which offers local residents, Neighbourhood Watch members, businesses, farms, and Bedfordshire Police's partners, throughout Bedfordshire, details about crime and community events in their local area. • The service is free to everyone. • You don't need to be involved in Neighbourhood Watch to join Ringmaster. • You can receive information via email direct to your computer, view your messages online, or receive messages via phone at a time to ...
I received an advance copy of my mobilisation order last week, and I've been thinking it over for a few days. A bit of reflection on what needs done, and some reflection on the impact of the deployment. Inevitably it makes for a fairly challenging time, there is quite a lot of administration to ...
A few days ago Vince Cable launched his ideas on student finance, in many ways gaining favourable coverage in the press and from the NUS. It appears Vince had done the impossible in garnering support for a new method of student finance which was supported by voters, graduates and the NUS. Now, a few days later, a senior Tory has declared the policy to be a non starter. Isn't it nice to know that the coalition is a two way street where Lib Dem ideas and policies are accepted with the same amount of zeal as Tory ideas.
Central Beds Council says: "Let's Talk Central is a new interactive website for Central Bedfordshire residents that forms one of the objectives from the recently approved Web Development Strategy. As this strategy takes shape, the benefits for the Council of using new media will be to enhance its communication with the public. The site enables residents to share their thoughts with each other and us. In our first three weeks over 800 individuals have visited www.letstalkcentral.com and we have had over 100 comments on the site. Why are we doing this? As a local authority we have both a responsibility ...
Want to have your say about your local leisure centre or theatre? Then make a note in your diary of the following dates and make sure you get along to have your say: Leisure Connections - Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre, Leighton Linslade, 14 September at 19.00 pm Houghton Regis Leisure Centre, 22 September at 11.00 am Dunstable Leisure Centre, 24 September at 13.00 pm Grove Theatre, Dunstable, 29 September at 11.00 am Stevenage Leisure sites - Saxon Pool, Biggleswade, 13 October at 19.00 pm Sandy Sport and Recreation Centre, 20 October at 19.00 pm Flitwick Leisure Centre, 27 October at 19.00 ...
Having reviewed a complaint made about Zac Goldsmith's election expenses (the ones that didn't feature in that TV spat), the Electoral Commission has decided there's a strong enough case to warrant investigation by them: The assessment of the information indicated that there was the possibility of a failure to comply with the Representation of the People Act 1983 (RPA) and that further enquiries should be made in order to establish the facts of the matter. The Electoral Commission could then decide to refer the matter to the police for them to investigate and, potentially, for legal action to be taken. ...
We are told that the goal of some of the education reforms will be to free schools of burdensome regulation regarding the National Curriculum. This seems like a noble goal. After all, we want to trust teachers. They know best. Free them to unleash the spark of creativity that the rigid system often doesn't allow ...
Cornwall Council is giving residents the chance to buy a composting bin at cost price in a move to help boost recycling rates in Cornwall and ten lucky people will get their bins completely free. The bins allow you to chuck away materials such as pet's bedding, shredded paper, cardboard, clothing made of natural fibres as well as garden waste and vegetable peelings and turn them into compost for your garden. The cost is £14 for a 220 litre compost bin and £17 for a 330 litre compost bin. To make an order and have a chance of winning a ...
Today, my 'visitor counter' on http://www.dundeewestend.com/ reached 200 000 - not bad, I feel, for something that started off as a bit of an experiment four years ago and an addition to the regular West End FOCUS newsletter from the local Liberal Democrats. I'm now just shy of 2 000 blog posts and amazed at the response to the blog - so very many thanks to all who read the blog and get in touch as a result! It is appreciated.
Medway Council's CCTV car has been in Your Medway yet again for parking illegally. The CCTV car is a massive issue here, and is certainly a big issue on the doorsteps. Residents simply don't understand how it is one rule for Medway council and another rule for the public. I often have seen the CCTV car parked on Best Street in Chatham outside the Royal Mail Collection office. One recent Saturday, I decided to photo the CCTV car. As can be clearly seen from the photos above, the CCTV car is not only blocking an entrance (contrary to warning signs ...
The Harborough Museum has added more old photographs to its Flickr account. There is now a set of photos of Little Bowden, including one that shows there used to be a footbridge beside the level crossing on Scotland Road. The signal box in that picture, by the way, is the one now to be found at Pitsford and Brampton on the Northampton & Lamport Railway. There is also a set of photographs of Bricky Tip. Several of them show the houses in Bellfields Lane or the railway, so it should be possible to work out exactly where they were taken. ...
In just 10 long and unforgiving weeks since the start of the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats have got a lot of their manifesto either enacted or well on the way to becoming a reality. Obviously in exchange for this, Lib Dems have had to support some things that the Conservatives (who, remember, more people voted for in the country than any other party) wanted which we probably would have done differently. But that's how coalitions work and it's certain that the government's agenda would have been a lot more Tory and a lot less Lib Dem if we'd let ...
It is is worth reflecting for a moment on what an historic day it has been. A Liberal Democrat answering Prime Minister's Questions is something I thought I would never see. The press, of course, are on the hunt for gaffes, but I think Nick did just fine. And, whether calculated or not, his answers on Iraq and Yarl's Wood will have done much to rally his party behind him. And Labour has also been complaining today about the Coalition's approach to Afghanistan. As I understand it, Labour are angry that we appear uncertain exactly how we are going to ...
Jonathan Kay writing for The National Post thinks that conservatives global-warming sceptics are a liability to their cause.Eaten by Missionaries asks if Labour is having a reverse Clause 4 moment. Is that in the Karma-Sutra?Tom Harris reckons that David Miliband poses the biggest threat to the coalition. I'd say he poses a bigger threat to Labour.On an historic day blog guru Mark Pack ((c) Channel 4) gives us the history of PMQs.Caron Lindsay on two tales of law enforcement activity.
Last week, I reported that residents have mentioned that the seating area at the Perth Road/Ryehill Lane junction needed tidied and the weeds removed. The Regional Operations Manager for the owners of the site (J C Decaux UK) promised me action - and he has been as good as his word - with the seating area now looking substantially better - see below.
Nick Clegg stood in at prime minister's questions today. Nick Thornsby's Blog was impressed: "I thought Nick Clegg handled himself extremely well, looking reasonable, intelligent and fluent. Jack Straw proved a difficult opponent, though not because he scored some big hits against Clegg. Frankly, Straw's line of questioning was just plain weird. He went on for far too long on some technical points that, if we're honest, nobody really knows or cares much about." Jonathan Wallace was not impressed by Her Majesty's Opposition: "Labour ... are completely obsessed with having a go at the Lib Dems, to the exclusion of ...
Posting late because I have been on the road. 21 July 1994: publication of the first of the Virgin Missing Adventures, Paul Cornell's tale of the Fifth Doctor and vampires, Goth Opera. I won't normally track publication dates here but this is a significant event in the development of Who books, the first spinoff book featuring a non-current Doctor. (And also nothing else really caught my eye for today's date.)
One step forward......Last week I blogged about my hopes of a breakthrough for photographers rights. And two steps back. And then this happens. I wonder what the new liberated Home Office will do. I shall not hold my breath!
Yesterday, I received concerns that the pathway from Paton's Lane to Perth Road was badly needing tidied and the street lighting repaired. I have passed on my thanks to the Street Lighting Partnership who repaired the lighting - and to the Waste Management Department who cleaned up the pathway - both within hours of my request. The photo (above right) is of the now tidy pathway.
Nick Clegg performed well at Prime Minister's Questions in David Cameron's stead. That's Nick Clegg, the Leader of the Liberal [IMG: Clegg PMQs] Democrats, standing at the government dispatch box. This Coalition thing hasn't quite got old yet. Especially as he was up against Jack Straw, who represents the very worst of New Labour; a slimy, wriggling individual who somehow managed to stay in the Cabinet throughout all 13 years of the Blair and Brown show. I actually thought Clegg was rather let off the hook by Straw, whose style and line of questioning was completely unsuitable for the 'cut' ...
Wed 21st
19:45
Opinion: Why I am so pleased Yarl's Wood Immigration Prison will be closed for families by this Gove...
Today, at Prime Minister's Questions, the spotlight was on Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Being the first Liberal to speak to the Commons from the despatch box in place of the Prime Minister was a weird and wonderful thing. Jack Straw was expected to come out on top, yet his ranting, especially about Sheffield Forgemaster's, was a confirmation that Labour in opposition continues to put petty, political interests in front of the national interest. Nick Clegg stood up well: he wasn't brilliant, but did far better than many of the media expected. The continual baiting of Nick and the Lib ...
Back in February, I mentioned of electrical faults affecting about 70 bus shelters across the city. As a result the real time bus information service had to be 'switched off' pending repairs across Dundee. As constituents have asked when the electronic timetable facility will again be fully operational, I asked for an update on progress from the City Development Department and have been advised as follows : "The first few shelters in the city centre have been repaired and were switched back on on 19 July 2010. The programme is expected to take around 6-8 weeks to complete. Our priority ...
Wed 21st
19:30Tom Brake: ending of Yarl's Wood child detention "a sign of Lib Dem influence in Government"
Tom Brake, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Justice, has given a warm welcome to the announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today that the family unit at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre, where children are detained awaiting deportation, will be closed. Tom commnets: Locking up innocent children for months on end can lead to serious physical and psychological harm. It is a disgrace the Labour Government allowed this to take place in 21st century Britain. The Liberal Democrats have had a huge influence in Government and the closure of Yarl's Wood family unit ...
Wed 21st
19:18
Public gallery at #chelmsford council is packed tonight, to hear whether they have listened to peopl...
Public gallery at #chelmsford council is packed tonight, to hear whether they have listened to people and will drop plans for houses north west of the town
Yesterday at the Chilcot enquiry (which has been set up to find out the lessons learnt from the Iraq conflict), the walls resounded to a withering and devastating testimony from the former head of MI5 - the internally (UK) focussed security service. Eliza Manningham-Buller told the Chilcot inquiry that civil servants were frightened to speak out about their belief that the war on Iraq would raise the terrorist threat to the UK and that it had radicalised a number of 'home grown' young Muslims who saw the attack on Iraq as an attack on Islam. She went onto say that ...
It can be surprisingly easy to excite some journalists. Today is a case in point. Nick Clegg stood in for David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions. During his exchanges with Jack Straw (who was standing in for Labour's Harriet Harman), the Deputy Prime Minister referred to the invasion of Iraq as "illegal". To most people watching this is not a surprise. The Lib Dems' opposition to the Iraq war, which was supported by both Labour and the Tories, is pretty well-documented, I think it's fair to say. The fact that the Lib Dems and Conservatives have reached a coalition agreement ...
Were the Lib Dems right to tweet earlier today that Nick Clegg would taoday become "the first Liberal leader since 1922 to lead PMQs"? That's the question that's been raging today. My LDV Co-Editor Mark Pack believes he has the definitive answer, and has blogged it in his professional capacity here. His conclusion: "strictly speaking Nick Clegg won't be the first Liberal (Democrat) leader since 1922 to answer Prime Minster questions." He is, however, the first Liberal to answer questions in place of the Prime Minister since 1922. Dr Pack has spoken; surely there can be nothing left to add? ...
The Electoral Commission has decided that the case of Zac Goldsmith's expenses merits a proper investigation that might last up to three months. It still doesn't mean he is guilty, but it appears to show that there are questions that need proper explanations. In another move, the High Court has decided that there is most definitely a case to answer for former minister Phil Woolas. A special election court will sit in Oldham in September to decide whether his campaign leafets were so misleading about his Lib Dem opponent Elwyn Watkins that the election should be re-run. The court will ...
The former Chief Exec of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trusts has been awarded £67,250 for unfair dismissal after a tribunal found that he was removed because he stood in the way of plans to transfer some cancer services out of Cornwall to Devon. The former Corporate Support Director at Cornwall Council was given £78,750 when he left the Council after just 9 months of his own free will. Anyone who can explain the above should please get in touch.
I see that my good friend Caron has done a little navel gazing and listed her top ten blogs as viewed by her readers over the last 12 month. 'Tis the season for introspection in the Blogosphere after all so I thought I may as well follow suit. So as is traditional with these things here they are in reverse order of page views. 10. No Matter What: Stephen Gateley 1976-2009 my initial an then growing tribute to Stephen Gateley as news and details of his death came into the public domain. 9. Next is my reposte to Irfan Ahmed ...
From the Total Politcs website: It's that time of year again, when Total Politics asks you to vote for your Top 10 favourite blogs. This is the fifth year of the poll. The votes will be compiled and included in the forthcoming book, the Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2010-11, which will be published in September. For the second year running, the poll is being promoted/sponsored by LabourList and LibDemVoice as well as this blog, and that of our publisher, Iain Dale. You have until 31 July to vote. Many thanks to anyone who includes Liberal England in their list. ...
As it's kind of coming up to the end of the Westminster Parliamentary term, I thought I'd have a look back at some posts from the past year. I'll start by remembering the ten most popular posts as determined by Google Analytics. They may not be the same thing as my favourite posts, which I'll cover separately. So, in reverse order, here is the 2009-10 top ten posts: 10. My apology to David Tennant for so quickly forsaking him. 9. Barrichello blasts Briatore for Piquet allegations How the nicest man in F1 stood up for his compatriot. 8. How Tory ...
A High Court judge has ruled that an election court should sit in the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency on 13 September, to decide whether Phil Woolas can continue as an MP. As we reported last month, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Elwyn Watkins is challenging the result of the election in Oldham, alleging a breach of the Representation of the People Act (1983). Mr Watkins claims that literature distributed by the Labour party "contained numerous misleading and erroneous claims" regarding his personal character and reputation, and that of his campaign. Today the BBC reports: Two High Court Judges will travel ...
Labour Town Hall Chiefs have threatened to scrap an innovative Sub Group looking at engaging with Young People because they can't find enough Labour Councillors to volunteer. Labour's Mike Carmody, the Chairman of the Children and Young Person's Scrutiny Committee told Tuesday's meeting, (20/7/2010), ""the subgroup has to be 'politically balanced', and if it can't maybe it should be scrapped". He also called engagement with young people "dead issue". Chorlton Lib Dem Councillor Victor Chamberlain, who is Manchester's youngest Councillor, said, "If some Labour Councillors can't be bothered to engage with young people they should let those of us that ...
So, you can't call a bonkers, pseudo religion (well I think all religions are bonkers - but I am trying to be objective here), made up around the fantasies of a third rate sci-fi writer. I actually have given up the will here. Of all the lunatic religions we have made up in this world, this is one of the most harmful and potentially dangerous to the mental stability of individuals who have been snared by its embrace. I don't claim this lightly, for all the faults of the Egyptian god of the Nile (Winwood Reede) and the fundamentalistic devotion ...
'A Lib Dem will answer at the despatch box at Prime Minister's Questions.' If you'd have put that as one of your New Year's predictions six months ago people might have though you were going out on somewhat of a limb, to put it mildly. But if you'd have put some money on it coming ...
I really like the style of this laying-in to Sarah Palin from the New Hampshire Union Leader. It is withering and crushing: SARAH PALIN'S endorsement of Kelly Ayotte for U.S. Senate should neither surprise nor upset the other campaigns. The race will be won by the candidate who impresses New Hampshire voters, and New Hampshire voters are rarely impressed by what outsiders have to say. ...But former Gov. Palin isn't making these endorsements because, as she claims, she has spent time in New Hampshire and thus knows that the people here are a lot like Alaskans. She spent a few ...
I recommend watching the Newsnignt special where A Company, 2nd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment is followed for a year in Sanginm Afghanistan, See Iplayer here. This is filmed by the soldiers themselves and also shows the interaction between them and the Afghan army. There is a very harsh moment when you see one Afghan solder who is blown up and looses all of his limbs. In this you can see the good and bad sides of the afghan army (who only receive 8 weeks training) certainly the positives aspects such as improvised explosive device detection which is not shown ...
In just 10 weeks since the start of the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats have exerted a huge influence over its agenda. Going into the election the Liberal Democrats made clear that they had four key priorities: fairer taxes; a fair start for children with extra funding for disadvantaged pupils; a comprehensive clean up of our politics, including a fairer voting system; and a green, sustainable economy. Thanks to Lib Dem involvement, the Government will deliver on each of these. There are also a large number of other Lib Dem policies and pledges that will now begin to make a ...
I am seeing reports on Twitter (e.g. here) that a Number 10 spokesperson has claimed that Nick Clegg was speaking "in a personal capacity" during PMQs today, I think regarding the legality of the Iraq war. Here is exactly what he said taken from Hansard: The Deputy Prime Minister: The right hon. Gentleman may bellow as much as he likes. I am happy to account for everything that we are doing in this coalition Government—a coalition Government who have brought together two parties, working in the national interest, to sort out the mess that he left behind. We may have ...
From the Mail <blogger avails himself of his handily-placed spitoon>: Nick Clegg branded the Iraq War illegal today as he stepped up for David Cameron in Prime Minister's Questions. The Deputy Prime Minister risked controversy by condemning the conflict, which was backed by his Tory coalition partners. Downing Street was forced to distance itself from his remarks but insisted he was perfectly entitled to express his view. Mr Clegg criticised the invasion during tetchy exchanges in the Commons with Jack Straw, who was standing in for acting Labour leader Harriet Harman.
From Paul Waugh: The Electoral Commission have just told me that it has decided – after an initial assessment – to upgrade the Zac Goldsmith/Channel4 allegations to the status of "case under review". This means that the Commission will now spend the next 90 days checking the allegations made by Channel 4 News and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
I have added the free oil price to my blogroll. That is because it is such an important issue to so many people. We have now recreated the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas which will kick off with a new suite of meetings in September.
Part of the new electoral deal being proposed is to reduce the size of Parliament - to have fewer MPs. "And why not?" runs the argument. They don't do proper jobs, they cost a fortune (mostly in illicit expense claims), "snouts in the trough", we've got too many politicians anyway etc etc There are various tactical reasons why cutting the number of MPs will not be a good move. The increasing volume of casework will accelerate exponentially as constituencies get larger (either reducing the quality of the casework done or costing more in constituency staffing). Party-driven squabbles over electorally sensitive ...
Sir Menzies Campbell MP has branded claims by the Labour party that all three Scottish RAF bases could close as a result of the Strategic Defence Review as "naïve and damaging scaremongering". The speculative comments from one Scottish Labour MP and two of their MSPs came after reading an article about potential future MOD budget cuts. Sir Menzies said: "This type of scaremongering from the Labour party is naïve and damaging. "All political parties committed themselves to a full scale strategic defence review following the General Election. For Labour now to complain about the nature of the current review is ...
The Liberal Democrats at county hall have today confirmed that they will renew their opposition to the proposed merger between Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Police, in the light of the recent joint report between the Audit Commission and HM INspector of Constabulary. Ron Tindall, a member of Herts Police Authority, said: 'Herts constabulary has failed to make a convincing case for a merger with Beds - a county which has different policing needs, especially in relation to Luton and Luton airport. 'This week's report shows clearly that the proposals to merge were based on a set of false premises - namely ...
The latest "House of Comments" podcast with myself and Stuart Sharpe of the Sharpe's Opinion blog is now live. The 35th episode which we recorded on Tuesday 20th July is now available to download, raw mp3 file here or you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here. Failing that you can listen to it right now below: The format is to invite political bloggers on each week to discuss a few of the stories that are making waves in the blogosphere. This week we were joined by Claire Spencer of the Labour "Noonday Thoughts" blog and Alex Massie of ...
The Liberal Democrat Journey to a Lib-Con Coalition: and where next? by Richard S Grayson. The Liberal Democrat Journey to a Lib-Con Coalition - and Where Next?; Is a very informative and interesting pamphlet by RICHARD GRAYSON. I am left wondering though Where Next? Since Nick Clegg became leader, and I am as guilty as other Lib Dems here, we have collectively stayed loyal, as you correctly point out, for fear of yet another leadership crisis. But we have had to swallow some bitter pills, especially in the small state/ public services run on market based policies espoused by Clegg ...
I really feel sorry for customers of the Clydesdale Bank and it's sister Yorkshire Building Society, who today if they have a tracker or variable rate mortgage have received notification that they owe the bank money. This error by these two banks affects around 18,000 customers, two thirds of which are in Scotland. Some customers are having to find an extra £300 every month to cover the shortfall, this is despite the mistake being that of the banks, not the customers. Clydesdale Bank said it had now contacted 99% of those affected by the problems and insisted half of those ...
The Cambridge Ward Team are delighted to report that the bus shelter, which was recently removed from Albany Road, is set to be returned as a matter of urgency. Residents called the Lib Dem team to express concern that the shelter had been removed and not replaced by a new one. As residents are very aware, this is a particularly exposed area which because of its location, just off the Promenade, gets the wind straight off the coast. Bus stops and bus shelters are not, however, the responsibility of the Council instead they are managed by Merseytravel. As a result, ...
One Pot Pledge® I was down at the allotment this morning to finish lifting the garlic and I got into conversation with a new plot holder. Like many of the people who have taken up allotments in the past few years she was neither old or a man or grumpy. She has been persuading her friends to take up up the 'One pot pledge' being run by the organic gardening charity HDRA. I would suggest rocket would be a good place to start.
Cross posted from Liberal Democrat Voice An energetic Nick Clegg took Prime Minister's Questions today. Notice how casually I said that. Only the first Liberal/LibDem to take questions to the Prime Minister since Lloyd George in the 1922. Pretty blooming historic, that. If that was not enough, our cup ran well and truly over with yet another first and, perhaps, unique occasion. Jack Straw at the dispatch box pretending to be Labour leader! Clegg stood in for Cameron because the latter was in the USA. Straw stood in for Harman because she was in Peckham. Jack Straw probably does bellowing ...
The party has this morning issued the following briefing note on the achievements of the Lib Dems within the Coalition Government ... In just 10 weeks since the start of the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats have exerted a huge influence over its agenda. Going into the election the Liberal Democrats made clear that they had four key priorities: fairer taxes; a fair start for children with extra funding for disadvantaged pupils; a comprehensive clean up of our politics, including a fairer voting system; and a green, sustainable economy. Thanks to Lib Dem involvement, the Government will deliver on each ...
A quick update, Conwys parks department have won "GOLD" in the flowerbed competition. I will post on this further, hopefully when I get hold of some photos. I am pleased with this result especially because I asked our tourism department to have a presence at the show handing out information regarding Conwy, winning Gold will give even more publicity for our beautiful area.
The former head of MI5 Lady Manningham-Buller yesterday told the Iraq Inquiry that the invasion led to a massive upsurge in terrorist threats to Britain. Indeed she had warned minister to that effect before the invasion. The Baroness was dismissive of Tony Blair's argument that Britain and the US had needed to prevent Iraqi weapons of mass destruction from being obtained by terrorists. This was "a hypothetical theory" she said which "wasn't of concern in either the short term or medium term to my colleagues and myself". Describing the intelligence on Iraq's weapons threat as "fragmentary", she said: If you ...
In just 10 weeks since the start of the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats have exerted a huge influence over its agenda.Going into the election the Liberal Democrats made clear that they had...
An energetic Nick Clegg took Prime Minister's Questions today. Notice how casually I said that. Only the first Liberal/LibDem leader to take questions (acting) as PM since Lloyd George in the 1920s. Pretty blooming historic, that. If that was not enough, our cup ran well and truly over with yet another first and, perhaps, unique occasion. Jack Straw at the dispatch box pretending to be Labour leader! Clegg stood in for Cameron because the latter was in the USA. Straw stood in for Harman because she was in Peckham. Jack Straw probably does bellowing quite well when he hasn't got ...
The first Prime Minister's Questions to a Liberal Leader since 1922 (and I'm not sure they had PMQs back in Lloyd George's day) was from new Labour MP for Gateshead, Ian Mearns. So thank you to Ian for kick starting a historic occasion for the Lib Dems. I describe Ian as "new Labour" rather than "New Labour" as I am led to believe the latter has completely collapsed. Ian is "new" as in new MP. I
Nick Clegg made his debut answering questions at Prime Minister's Questions today, whilst David Cameron is at Disneyworld (or something). I thought he did pretty well, certainly better than I imagine I'd muster at the dispatch box. It was certainly an odd experience to see him there, and a happy one if tainted by the slightly sick feeling I get knowing that he's only there leading the good sixth of a majority-Tory government. Sadly, he didn't distinguish himself when it came to answering the set-piece big questions from the Leader of the Opposition's stand-in. Jack Straw was standing in for ...
Cuts in social worker training, the budget for substance abuse, and the amount of money devoted to the voluntary sector to provide protection for children were all condemned today by the Liberal Democrats at county hall. The Conservatives are proposing these cuts in response to in year grant reduction by the Coalition Government, despite the fact that many grants are no longer ring-fenced and so could be used to make up for the shortfalls. Malcolm Cowan commented: 'In a budget this size, it should not be difficult to find savings which would ensure that front line services are protected. A ...
Wow, a Liberal Democrat at the Despatch Box answering Prime Ministers Questions for the first time since 1922 and it was Nick Clegg, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister doing that historic event today, and he did well, you can watch it here. It is a great pity that the Rising of the House has been brought forward from next Thursday to Tuesday, perhaps David Cameron was nervous Nick would do well and didn't want to give him that second opportunity? Labour have been attacking Lib Dems all day today saying that it wasn't 1922 when ...
Commenting on Eliza Manningham-Buller's evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry, in which she said the conflict in Iraq 'substantially' increased the threat to the UK from international terrorism, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Tim Farron said "This is a shattering blow for Labour's claim that the Iraq war did not increase the terrorist threat to Britain."
A thank you to the donor who donated a donation this morning. I presumably know you by an internet handle (if I know you at all) because your real name is not ringing any bells. Mind you, that could just be because I am rubbish with names... You're going to be somebody I know fairly well now I've said that, aren't you? Perhaps should spend the donation on memory drugs of some kind... Sadly the donation wasn't enough to buy this, but if anybody DOES want to give me £175,000 (preferably anonymously so that I just feel generalised rather than ...
I am quite a fan of Simon Hoggart's Sketch in The Guardian. They are usually all very witty and invariably cruel; however the cruelty can sometimes cut deep. As his comments on Liberal Democrats today did in his "Coalition government is a nest of liberalism" Sketch. He makes the claim that all Lib Dems are now as 'liberal' as Ayn Rand and George Jeffreys, the so called Hanging Judge. As Liberal Democrats across the country now understand, we have to expect such denunciations from the press and opposition. but it still cuts deep. As a social liberal, I am worried ...
After and over the best part of 400 years we in Britain managed to construct a relatively free civil and civilised society in which religious and secular life could flourish in public and mutual agreement and disagreement, vigorously and occasionally scatologically critical the one of the other. Now, however, this public debate has been circumscribed by classifying such argument and such difference as expressing little more than 'hatred', a new criminal offence: And, alerted to a looming illiberality by a series of 'hate' laws relating to race, religion, gender, age, and physical disability and by the ludicrous ambitions of the ...
On 26th and 27th July there will be disruption for traffic on Badminton Road between the Stover Road and Westerleigh Close junctions due to the pavements being resurfaced. Work will start at about 8am and end at about 5pm each day.
Just a reminder about Yate Town Council's public meeting at 7.30 pm at Yate Leisure Centre on Friday, 23rd July with Steve Webb MP. Let's bring South Glos Council to its senses and get it to reassess actual housing need now that central government targets are being abolished. There's a good item about the controversy on the Evening Post website. You have until 6 August to make your comment on South Glos's Core Strategy - click here to go to the Core Strategy web page.
For those who don't follow the hive-mind on Twitter, there has been a run in with Scientology trying to stifle free speech. Or, as I think, not. Here are the brief facts of the case. A local councillor (John Dixon) has a Twitter account "CllrJohnDixon" Last year, he tweeted: "I didn't know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off." Someone in Scientology didn't like this and raised an official complaint. The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales investigated and found there was likely to have been a breach of the ...
Chris Bryant had a very failly moment yesterday, again reminding us why having quotas for specific groups in Parliament might not get the results you'd hope for. Mr Bryant is a homosexual, but doesn't appear to understand even the most basic of issues relevant to the LGBT community. Here's a question he asked yesterday: "And I should say that the people of the Rhondda remember Churchill's period in relation to the Tonypandy riots. However, the Lord Chancellor has responsibility for marriage law, and he will know that the law forbids civil weddings from including religious readings or music, even though ...
I've finally plucked up the courage to play around with the formatting of the blog for the first time in the almost 4 years. I'm still not sure about it. It's a bit like having your hair cut short after years of having it long. I played around with the new options on the Blogger Template Designer for a while. I rejected some on the grounds that they had too much blue in them. Maybe a bit oversensitive about the coalition but I didn't want to give up too much Liberal orange. I have to tell you that Anna absolutely ...
There's been discussion this morning – sparked by a tweet from Labour blogger Hopi Sen – about whether Lloyd George was indeed the last Liberal to face Prime Minister's Questions. Hopi questioned the Lib Dem claim that Nick Clegg, when he stands in for David Cameron today, will be the first Liberal leader since 1922 to lead PMQs – he commented: Asquith last Liberal _leader_ to take Qs. Also PMQ's began in '61 so no-one did em in 22. The Lib Dem press office have been quick to refute Hopi's suggestion that the party is ignorant of its own history, ...
The announcement that the new government is going to review counter-terrorism policy is a welcome one. I am particularly pleased that the review is likely to mean an end for the prevent strand. Whilst in many ways the aims behind prevent are good- getting to the root causes of terrorism, and stopping people from getting engaged in terrorism before they even start- what it has meant in practice in terms of damaging civil liberties and targeting particular communities is problematical. Alongside this review of counter-terrorism we've got the announcement that there will be a 40% increase in aid to Afghanistan. ...
A new group of Facebook is picking up numbers and making itself known. It is called 'We Want the Gay Blood Ban Debate' and its speedy growth is impressive for a specifically Lib Dem campaign. It's a campaign to try and force a debate at conference about the restrictions on who is fit to give blood. Many people are not aware of the fact gay men can't give blood. I am from personal experience. The week after the local nurse talked to my sixth form, a group of a dozen or more of us went to give blood together. For ...
Worplesdon Local Authority: Surrey County Council Electoral Region: South East England Last contested: 2009 Paul Ronald Cragg (Liberal Democrats) 1,286 (37.4%; +2.3) Mazhar Manzoor (United Kingdom Independence Party) 78 (2.3%; -9.9) John Hugh Morris (Peace Party) 39 (1.1%; +1.1) Martin Phillips (Labour) 193 (5.6%; +1.5) Nigel Sutcliffe (Conservative) 1,844 (53.6%; +5.1) Conservative HOLD with a majority of 558 (16.2%) on a swing from Liberal Democrat to Conservative of 1.4% Bloxwich West Local Authority: Walsall Metropolitian Borough Council Electoral Region: West Midlands Last contested: 2010 Christine Cockayne (Liberal Democrats) 71 (3.3%; -6.5) Zoe Henderson (Green Party) 28 (1.3%; -0.4) Theresa Smith ...
To mark Nick Clegg's first PMQs I thought I would host a Live Chat on here whilst it is in progress. PMQs starts at 12:00noon with coverage on BBC Two and the chat will start a few minutes before. Join us below: Nick Clegg's first PMQs 21st July 2010
Today sees Nick Clegg take to the Despatch Box to answer Prime Minister's Questions in David Cameron's absence from the UK. Several Liberal Democrats have taken to twitter expressing their anticipation, such as Jo Swinson: reserving a seat to watch a little bit of Lib Dem history later today - Nick Clegg taking #pmqs, first Lib leader to do so since 1922 Others have also made reference to Nick Clegg being the first Liberal (Democrat) leader to take PMQs since Lloyd George. However, as Hopi Sen has pointed out the history of PMQs is a little more complicated than this: ...
I was at the council meeting on Wednesday where the three Labour councillors for Kirkstall voted AGAINST money for improvements to the Woodbridge estate in their own ward. To give a bit of background to this, unlike the Labour government, the Lib Dem Tory administration in Leeds did leave quite a lot of money for the incoming Labour Green coalition. In fact we left £900,000 spare in the housing budget. So at the full council meeting last Wednesday we proposed that this money should be split between three estates that had been short of investment for many years. One of ...
According to a comment on Lib Dem Voice: Dave Page: LGBT Lib Dems have had confirmation today that our Marriage Without Borders policy motion has been accepted for debate at Federal Conference this autumn on the Tuesday morning. This means that equal marriage should finally become official Liberal Democrat party policy, rather than something promoted by our Leader. We would encourage all voting reps to support this motion, and everybody else to pester their voting reps to do so Good news indeed. If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist ...
New research from PoliticsHome shows a huge level of support for the key figures in the Coalition government , with Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg and Vince Cable leading the way. Deputy PM Nick Clegg was given a net approval rating of 17, compared to David Cameron's 11. The PM and Deputy PM have a combined approval rating 39%, with only 22% disapproving of Clegg compared to a 28% disapproval rating for Cameron. They are both beaten by Foreign Secretary William Hague, and Justice Secretary Ken Clarke (who lets be honest is basically the 58th Lib Dem MP,) who have net ...
Each of the two major parties enjoys the support of a substantial core of voters who are undisturbed by issues, candidates, meetings and literature...The typical voter is loyal to an "image" which his party has built up by annexing a limited range of sloganized issues. Mark Abrams, 1951, reported by David Kynaston The Lib Dem core vote has always been a lot lower than that of the other main parties, and has for some time stood at around 12%. Labour and the Conservatives have a core vote of around 30% of the population. That gives those parties a huge advantage. ...
Did you get stuck in all that rain and flooding yesterday? Parts of Liverpool seemed to grind to a halt. We had road closures, school closures and the predictable closure of the rail service to Hunts Cross. Obviously there's nothing organisations like Councils can do about the fact that it's raining. But they can make sure that whatever systems exist actually are capable of dealing with downpours... and after yesterday I am not sure that all of ours are. I'm told the Environment agency is saying that we can expect more of this sort of weather linked to climate change. ...
I can today confirm that Conwys Environment department was awarded four green flags for our parks and gardens, also our Countryside services retained a green flag for the Great Orme country park & Local Nature Reserve. My understanding is that Conwy is now Joint second in Wales for these prestigious awards. Green flag to me demonstrates our excellent parks and the facilities within them and the flag is proof that they are also nationally recognised as being up there with the best in the UK, more importantly to me these parks have management plans to continuously improve and manage them ...
Hmm, having endorsed the coalition in my last post, I have subsequently read in Private Eye that our own Nick Harvey has rejected calls for an enquiry into the suspicious deaths of four young soldiers at Deepcut Barracks, which have been called suicides but which have raised questions ever since they occurred. The Lib Dems have a proud record of raising issues like this. Indeed, our joker-in-chief, Lembit Opik, regularly asked Prime Ministers about this issue. Now a Lib Dem Minister says there should be no enquiry. Has a little corner of our credibility just crumbled and fallen to the ...
A WATER BUTT that is! I've been meaning to get a water butt for literally years, and when the hosepipe ban was introduced I said to myself now is the time! (NB - I often say things to myself, occasionally having complete discussions or as a true liberal -dissagreements!) Of course since buying and installing my butt it has rarely stopped raining for the following 10 days. So undoubtedly you can blame my purchase for the biblical standard downpours that we suffered last week. Oh the joy, the sheer excitement as I have surveyed my Water Butt each morning to ...
The results of a nationwide survey were reported yesterday on Politics Home. The main headlines were that Nick Clegg is apparently more popular than David Cameron and that Vince Cable topped the chart. These results are both good news for the Lib Dems (although we need to bear in mind our very low voting intention figures at the moment which might just check any enthusiam) but I do not think it is the most significant finding from the research. The poll also tests the profile of politicians and this is where it gets interesting. David Cameron is top of the ...
In yesterday's Guardian Polly Toynbee criticises "casual law-making by arbitrary diktat" in relation to the unseemly haste with which the Academies Bill is being shunted through the Commons. She claims the bill was "catapulted" through the Lords (where, by the way, we debated it for a full 31 hours!) and that there is now "no revising chamber: a redundant House of Lords whipped this Bill through with as little scrutiny as it will get in the Commons". Wrong! Far from being redundant, the House of Lords obtained five important amendments and numerous significant statements on the record, one of them ...
Tony Nicklinson is 56 years old. He is married to Jane with whom he has two daughters: Beth and Lauren. He used to work as an engineering executive, a job that took him across the world, and before that he was a rugby player. Now he wants to die, after a severe stroke, while away on a business trip to Athens, left him paralysed, unable to move any part of his body except his head and eyes. He cannot walk. He cannot talk. He cannot feed or bathe himself. Mr Nicklinson is, to use the clinical term for his condition, ...
"Q (from Jae): Following Ed Balls and Diane Abbott announcing their support for marriage equality, will he retract his comments about there not being enough people calling for it and come out in support of LGBT equality? A. My position on this is pretty simple, which is that we did a consultation in the run up to the manifesto, and it wasn't raised with me as an issue. But obviously if it's something that is felt to be an important issue, I understand absolutely the reasons for that, and then it's something we should definitely look at. And I'm very ...
[IMG: Mark Pack talking with Westminster Liberal Democrats] Yesterday I went to talk to Westminster Liberal Democrats about campaigning lessons from the 2010 general election. As with several other parties I've spoken at recently (such as Greenwich, Woking, Merton, Battersea and Twickenham) there was a good sprinkling of people who have joined the party in the last year. Increases of 30% or more in local party membership over the last year are quite common in London, with new members generally younger than average and also relaxed about the idea of the party being in coalition with someone else. That's a ...
Your browser does not support iframes. Earl Shilton is a fairly nondescript village in Leicestershre best known as the nursery of a brace of seam bowlers with two-test international careers - Les Taylor and Jimmy Ormond. But in 1959 and 1960, suggests this startling film from the British Pathé collection, it was in the headlines for a different reason. This film - click on the photo above to be taken to the clip on the British Pathé website - shows the return home to Earl Shilton of 12-year-old Tony Stephens after having been kidnapped and kept on the Continent for ...
If you had said to me last Summer that Nick Clegg would be answering the questions at Prime Minister's Questions in July 2010, I'd have thought that I was delirious from the fevers I was suffering at that time. I am so looking forward to 12 noon when he will deputise for David Cameron, who's in Washington DC making friends with that nice Mr Obama. One thing I'm fairly sure about is that he will actually answer the questions put to him, if his recent performance at Deputy Prime Minister's Questions is anything to go by. He is pretty adept ...
There is a attractive poetry event in Leicester the weekend after next - the Lyric Lounge: For three days and three nights, New Walk Museum will become Lyric Lounge Leicester! A whole range of free activities will run from 10am until 10pm and take place across the museum. In the day, chill out with coffee, tea, books and films, draw with festival artist in residence - Tim Clarke, or choose from an impressive host of poetry workshops and happenings - from 'Get Stuffed!' to 'The Decadent Romantics' and the amazing 'Combust Circus' company. Be entertained with music and poetry over ...
One of the questions I get asked and a frequent refrain in comments to the blog is why I support coalition with the Conservatives. Today it is 10 weeks exactly since the coalition was born. So here are some of the reasons that explain why I believe in coalition government. In the little over two months since the Government was formed - we have been able to deliver a huge amount of our manifesto as well being able to greatly influence the Coalition and its agenda. Going into the election we made clear that we had four key priorities: fairer ...
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has dismissed concerns over plans to hold a referendum on voting reform on the same day as elections to devolved administrations. Speaking to the newly-constituted political and constitutional reform select committee last week, Mr. Clegg said: "I really struggle to understand why the extensive and wide-ranging debates about the future of Scotland, about the government of Scotland, the politics of Holyrood would in any way be subsumed or overshadowed or overturned by a separate, very very clear, simple yes or no vote on how in future people vote for their MPs," he said. "I am ...
A week or so ago I was very happy to find out that newly-elected MP for Cambridge and friend of No2ID and ORG, Dr Julian Huppert was chairing a Liberal Democrat Policy Working Group on Information Technology and Intellectual Property. This is an area where Lib Dem policy has been lacking for some time. As ...
There are more vehicles on the road than ever. I'm afraid that I don't have any statistical data to confirm this but my gut feeling is that we own more cars. My family didn't own a vehicle until I was about ten. Since then family members have multiplied and so has vehicle ownership. So this trend makes me think that the amount of traffic on our roads is going to increase. When I have discussed Lancaster's traffic problems I have generally agreed with protestors to a bypass in the sense that Lancaster's specific congestion problems will soon be back where ...
