Labour's cynical decision to vote against the AV referendum could potentially spell the end of the coalition. The Bill will come before the House of Commons to vote in the autumn and Labour MPs will be whipped to oppose a measure they themselves had in their manifesto. Their official reasoning is that the Bill will also include plans to reduce the number of MPs. But I believe that their real motive is that they want to cause as much friction as possible in the coalition, perhaps even to break it apart. Of course, Labour on their own cannot defeat the ...
I was contacted yesterday with a link to another blog: http://youve-been-cromwelled.org/?p=1079 A night mare evening with Rail Enforcement Officers in Kent CheersOlly The post actually references a post of mine earlier in the year regarding the deployment of Southeastern REOs and whether they were exceeding their powers, and has been forwarded ('retweeted') extensively on twitter today . Olly's story serves to highlight how private companies are trying to exercise police powers and how the laws regarding the right of photography are being misinterpreted. The British Journal of Photography have also written about this incident. Read their post here
The Social Liberal Party of the Netherlands D66 explain the coalition collapse. Clearly many of the tensions we are seeing in the UK were present. There are lessons to learn about policy and social liberals in Britain would clearly benefit from speaking to D66. The balance between cutting expenditure and tax increases looms large in this debate.
I've just come back from a chat with Paul Foster of Microsoft. We were discussing Windows Phone 7 – its promises and its problems. [IMG: Windows Phone 7] I remain convinced that Windows Phone 7 (WP7) will be a hit. There are so many delightful touches in the operating system that I won't be surprised if it is ripped off before it is fully launched. I was given an excellent overview of the software and proposed functionality. I also played with a demo handset. Even at this early stage the software is smooth and feature rich. There are two sides ...
Almost from day 1 of the new government, there has been constant press reports of tensions from the coalition parties, how the grassroots are reacting, mainly from the Liberal Democrats. This is partly true, the Liberal Democrats believe in fairness and our current thoughts are that some of the cuts are more ideological than necessary ...
Mon 26th
21:03
BSF over optimistic, creating expectations that could not be met and what about those PFIs
With Building Schools for the Future a key area for political scrapping I thought it worth reproducing this item from the Public Accounts Committee on which there was a Labour majority: 'The Department for Children, Schools and Families' Building Schools for the Future Programme (BSF) plans to renew every secondary school in the country, by rebuilding half of them, structurally remodelling 35%, refurbishing 15% and providing Information Communication Technology to all. Its aim is to use capital investment in new buildings as a catalyst to improve educational outcomes. The Department estimates that the programme will cost £52-£55 billion over its ...
As per the Conservative Home blog '44 Tory MPs sign Early Day Motion opposing Coalition's timetable for AV vote'. and Benedict Brogan Blog 'Bernard Jenkin lines up his Tories against AV '. I find myself agreeing with this motion. As a supporter of voting reform I find this a strange situation to agree with Bernard Jenkins Conservative MP who is a supporter of FPTP. I agree for different ideological reasons but I also believe the date is wrong. I think a fair time to have the referendum would be Thursday, 5th June, 2014 during the euro elections. Because the whole ...
TOP civil servants think Deputy PM Nick Clegg would make a better Premier than David Cameron. So says the Sun
I should say that I have heard some positive things about the new MP for Sefton Central despite his closeness to Unite (which reminds me we must look at their election expenses). His attempt to blame the cutting of the Switch Island road on this government was a little gauche as it was clearly a decision of the Labour government-but we are use to the unreality about spending that the Labour Party has developed in opposition. Nevertheless I was surprised to read how active he has been in Kent following Ed Milliband about (there goes that Unite connection again) : ...
So Tony Hayward is to leave BP after the environmental disaster in the Gulf that has left thousands of people at risk of losing their jobs, the homes and at risk of health issues. You would expect people to be ... Continue reading →
With work piling in at the Council I have been following the debate around Michael Gove's new education bill with a detached semi interest. In the bits I have read I started to get really perplexed about what all the fuss was about on both sides. From my perspective it does not really change anything in a meaningful way. Under Labour legislation good schools can already become academy's & parents can already set up schools if they wish. The whole point of this legislation seems to be about tweaking Labour legislation to make it easier to operate. In fact there ...
This is a bit of a bumper edition tonight as I'm catching up on a few days' fantastic blogging. These are some of the must-read posts I've found. First up, I was appalled that Bellgrove Belle was expected to sit on a cold floor to feed her baby. Tracy Cheetham is a Labour tweeter and blogger. Here she outlines her experience of recovery from Cancer. Lynne Featherstone, Equalities Minister, outlines how the Liberal Democrats' Body Confidence campaign will be carried through in Government. Helen has news of the BOTYs Mat is worried that a Creationist Zoo has won a Government ...
Writing on Liberal Democrat Voice, Helen Duffett announces the opening of nominations for this year's Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards 2010. You have until 27 August to make nominations in the following six categories: Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1 September 2009)Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award)Best use of blogging / social networking / e-campaigning by a Liberal DemocratBest posting on a Liberal Democrat blog (since 1 September 2009)Best non-Liberal Democrat politics blogLiberal Democrat Blog of the YearSee Helen's article for the details on how to make nominations. She ...
Australian Senator Penny Wong has come out against marriage equality. I guess this was a Labor party effort to back up the new Prime Minister's stance. I can imagine the meeting. "Well you know, if we get a lesbian to say she doesn't support it, all the activists out there will go 'Oh well, that's okay then', PENNY COME HERE!" It appears to have backfired. She originally said: "On the issue of marriage I think the reality is there is a cultural, religious, historical view around that which we have to respect. The party's position is very clear that this ...
TakeBackParliament.com has launched a competition to crowd-source the design talent of bloggers who support abolishing first-past-the-vote and replacing it with the Alternative Vote in readiness for next May's referendum. Andy May – occasional contributor to LDV – has mocked up this effort to get the ball rolling: [IMG: AV Poster] But he's asking for readers' assistance: What do you think? Could you do better? We're looking for your poster designs and ideas - post your design on your blog and paste the link in the comments or send them to takeitback.press - takeitback.press.hat.googlemail.com.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, ...
From Dundee Travel Active today : "As someone who has taken an interest in the work of Dundee Travel Active and taken part in the project in some way or other we would like you to know that we offer free adult cycle training to residents in Dundee. It would be great if you could spread the word to people in your workplace/group/community. We can offer up to 4 hours of free one-to-one cycle training to individuals of any ability." Anyone interested can contact Dundee Travel Active at Unit 31B, Wellgate Shopping Centre or call 0800 111 4510.
[IMG: Election expenses from the Joan Ruddock (Labour) campaign in Lewisham Deptford 2010] The Londonist reports that Joan Ruddock, the Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford, has taken the unusual step of submitting her election expenses return without attaching any invoices or receipts, instead listing all expenses as "notional": Why do we need to see boring things like receipts, you ask? Well it's so we can verify what the campaigns say they spent, to ensure no candidate received an unfair advantage by spending more than the legal limits. Without receipts, we have no evidence beyond the campaign's assurance that they stuck ...
Earlier this month, the Courier published an article about the fascinating life of Caroline Martyn, a leading social orator of the late Victorian period, who, having achieved much in the cause for the social and political advancement of working people, sadly died at the young age of only 29 whilst visiting Dundee, and was buried in Balgay Cemetery. On her death in 1896, Keir Hardie wrote that she was the leading socialist of her day, with 'a power of intellect and moral-force that was unmatched.' Today, I was pleased to attend a commemoration of her life at her grave, at ...
[IMG: Election expenses from the Joan Ruddock (Labour) campaign in Lewisham Deptford 2010] The Londonist reports that Joan Ruddock, the Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford, has taken the unusual step of submitting her election expenses return without attaching any invoices or receipts, instead listing all expenses as "notional": Why do we need to see boring things like receipts, you ask? Well it's so we can verify what the campaigns say they spent, to ensure no candidate received an unfair advantage by spending more than the legal limits. Without receipts, we have no evidence beyond the campaign's assurance that they stuck ...
Last years little shindig in Old Harry's Bar, Marriott, Eastbourne was so jam packed that I was fortunate to turn up early with Lionel to claim a good spot near all the action. Sadly Mike Fealty the big man behind Slugger O'Toole was mistakenly told that the upstairs bar was Old Harry's so I had to step up to claim the BOTY for best non-Lib Dem Blog as a contributor. Titter ye not, tis true. Yes there may be just under a week left to vote for the Total Politics Blog of the Year but the main event of the ...
Currently reading The Third Man - Life At The Heart Of New Labour - by Peter Mandelson. Clearly the clue to Labour's problems is in the title. Labour lost their heart and became autocratic, anti progressive and paranoid. Mandy writes exactly how he speaks, like creeping death.
Today the coalition Government announced that plans for a Pupil Premium will go ahead, targeting funding at schools that take pupils from deprived backgrounds. The premium, a key part of the Liberal Democrats' 2010 election manifesto, will provide additional per pupil funding on top of the existing funding provided to schools, and will be spent as individual schools choose. Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Education, Dan Rogerson said: Labour's unequal education system left too many children falling behind. The Liberal Democrats made clear during the election campaign that a Pupil Premium targeted at the most disadvantaged pupils ...
A chap named Jason got in touch with me recently to draw my attention to an article that he had written where he explains how he has suffered for the majority of his life from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and that how the only drug he has found that allows him to live a relatively normal life without dreadful side-effects is cannabis. Of course cannabis is a controlled substance under the law and there is no legal way to get hold of it so therefore he has had to regularly break the law in order to get the only medicine that ...
Am having a bad brain day. I have things I want to post, but am struggling to word them in such a way that they will be intelligible. This is because my brain is entirely taken up with something I can't post about, and it's not a happy thing, and it won't let me concentrate on anything else. Suffice it to say that I have Done The Right Thing with regard to a particular situation, and am now going to spend some quality time hating, loathing, and despising myself. No sympathy, please. It's not needed and it won't help. I'll ...
Mon 26th
17:21
A whole weekend passed w/out Lib Dem activity! Now there's a first. The garden (and its chief design...
A whole weekend passed w/out Lib Dem activity! Now there's a first. The garden (and its chief designer Mrs R) is a bit happier.
I've just signed up as an annual member of the Barclays (yawn, yawn - my ex-employer is following me around) Cycle Hire Scheme. I think I need to use it for less than half an hour once a week for that to pay for itself. I'm quite excited about it. But, jolly though it will be (see how I can't help myself slipping into Borisisms), I am a little worried that its going to be stopping people from walking rather than getting them out of the cars. My plan is to use the BCHS (*as Leo Hickman suggests, we must ...
The Wikileaks (see here) release of 92,000 reports shows not only the heavily reported coalition killing of civilians, kill or capture missions and the Taliban using deadly surface-to-air missiles. It also shows just how Taliban are killing civilians and there are some awful reports of Taliban attacks. There are also reports of funding,training and arms supplying from Iran (see here). It's worth bearing in mind that there are two sides to this story (or more) with the Afghans in the middle who are the biggest losers. I know there are now more children including girls going to school and some ...
Today the coalition Government announced that plans for a Pupil Premium will go ahead, targeting funding at schools that take pupils from deprived backgrounds. The premium, a key part of the Liberal Democrats' 2010 election manifesto, will provide additional per pupil funding on top of the existing funding provided to schools, and will be spent as individual schools choose. Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Education, Dan Rogerson said: Labour's unequal education system left too many children falling behind. The Liberal Democrats made clear during the election campaign that a Pupil Premium targeted at the most disadvantaged pupils ...
Tory Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has announced the end of the war with the motorist. In 2008 alone the war with the motorist claimed 2,538 lives in the UK. At least 230,905 people were injured, over 26,000 of them seriously. The peace treaty looks more like a humiliating capitulation, and the ongoing violence by motorists ...
Sunday: "Sherlock" is a new series from the BBC based on the famous novels of Mr Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: "The Adventures of Professor Doctor Who, er, Challenger, er, What?" It's a really classy looking production, sharply directed and edited, beautiful and clever to watch, and with an excellent cast: Mr Benedict Cucumberpatch emptying the cabinet of quirks as the original maverick detective and Tim from the Office stoically baffled as Dr definitely-not-his-boyfriend Watson. But the trouble with writing for a genius is that you don't get any excuses. So it's inexcusable when Mr Sherlock is slower than the audience. ...
If the BBC is correct there is sufficient opposition within the Coalition to stop a graduate tax seeing the light of day and instead come up with a system that is like fees, but not fees, and retains some kind of link between student and university. On that we will have to wait and see what it is before commenting. I do not though fully understand why a reputable economist like Vince Cable gave the National Union of Students' graduate tax proposal serious consideration. Apart from the clear inconsistency and hypocrisy, Vince presided over a party tax commission recently that ...
Evening - Day 1 Well, we have made it to the first hut. All 500 metres of the way. Heroic. Blizzard when we emerged from the top of the Aiguille de Midi, the double cable car up from the centre of Chamonix. Somehow coming down the thin wall of ice to get to the mountain in the fog and wind was better than doing it in balmy sunshine - you cannot see the thousand metre falls that you are reconnoitring without a handrail. Much thinner (and no handrail) than in winter with ski boots for the Vallee Blanche. At least ...
I am not best pleased that BAA have decided to charge £1 for access to a drop-off area close to the terminal at Edinburgh Airport. They try to say that there will be a free drop-off area at the long stay car park and people can get a bus to the airport. Oh well, that's fine then. Or at least it's fine if you're young, fit, male and flying without young children. If you're disabled you might be able to struggle to get a bus in the Summer, assuming that they provide wheelchair accessible buses but what if you have ...
After the operation while I was in King's my blood pressure was high and fluctuating, but after 2.5 mg Bisoprolol was prescribed Thursday morning and I was allowed to go home late Thursday afternoon it came right down and remained low. Sunday, Dr Lindsay halved the dose and the systolic remained withing a range of 99 to 117, but in the afternoon I felt totally wiped out. To cut a long story short, I was readmitted to KCH for a few hours this morning so that they could do a blood test and ECG, both of which turned out to ...
George Easton on New Statesman has recently Blogged about a possible Lib Dem - Tory pact in the 2015 election possibly under the banner "the coalition". At first my instant reaction was a gut wrenching fear of reliving the national government of the 1930 that exacerbated the lack of direction and ideology of the Liberals and culminated in the merger of certain Liberal groups and the decimation of
(In fact, it's almost 11 weeks now, as the Voice inadvertently missed the Lib Dem deputy leader's article when it first appeared ...) Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free website last week, Simon Hughes launched a vigorous defence of the Coalition Government and its initial achievements ... especially the Lib Dem ones. Here's an excerpt: In the last 10 weeks we have seen three refreshing changes in the politics of Britain. There has been change from a government which had lost direction and run out of steam, to a government clear about its direction and full of energy. There ...
The wording of the question that voters will be asked in next May's AV referendum has been published: Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons? The wording of the question is contained in the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, published last week. (The question will also be made available in Welsh.) The Electoral Commission is statutorily required to consider the intelligibility of the question, before reporting back to Parliament, who will consider the comments and ...
Today David Miliband has collected the support of two groups that have caused a bit of a stir. The first was Gillian Duffy, that's right the 'bigoted woman' has come out in support of David Miliband after he paid her a personal visit in Rochdale. A sign that we can expect a continuation of New Labours Immigration policy under David as well as Ed Balls. [here is spiderplants post on why she
Will the members of the Labour Party of old never learn? When will they realise that using members of the public for political gain is distasteful to all and will be viewed with cynicism by all? Never it seems with ... Continue reading →
Labour and the VAT rise. Given the head of steam that some of the Labour Councillors on Sefton worked up over the VAT rise it is helpful that Alister Darling has now clarified the position. Peter Black has the story. In retrospect one or two of them turn in a masterly comic performance.
I have been rather busy over the past few days working on a project that has taken up most of my time. It still isn't finished but the light is at the end of the tunnel. I have found a bit of time to do another door knocking session in my ward which went ahead on Saturday morning. In addition, as it is the summer, I have had to spend a bit of time securing my self-sufficient food supply.So,
I've just seen it reported on the BBC website that the Goverment's policy of fast track deportation has been ruled unlawful by the High Court. Yet again, the UK Border Agency has been shown to get it wrong. I wonder if this could possibly help Florence and Precious Mhango who are currently living in Glasgow. They have already in the past been detained and actually put on an aircraft for Malawi before being granted a last minute reprieve. I am not an immigration legal expert, but I wonder if making sure everyone has the right to challenge removal orders will ...
There were nine principal council elections held on the 22nd July. The Liberal Democrats held three seats and took one off the Tories. Labour held one seat and took one off the Tories. The Tories held the three remaining seats.. In the five Parish council elections reported to ALDC there were two Lib Dem holds, a Labour hold, Independent gain from the Tories and a seat won by an independent but it is not clear whether it is a hold or a gain. [IMG: Cllr Andrew Baldrey the byelection victor] St Mary's with Summercombe Ward in Torbay UA was our ...
I returned to my post-Hen do house last night to find only a small number of smashed things. It was with much relief that the number of windows, walls and ceilings was the same as it had been before the invasion of clucking women. Now all that remains is for the pair of us to get married a week on Saturday. I only hope the women of Bury can cope. They are certainly keeping remarkably calm at present, that's for sure. My own weekend, well away from the screeching hens, was very enjoyable. I went to the Farnborough air show ...
Under London Mayor Boris Johnson, Transport for London is looking to remove pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. Where he can't remove them he's having them reviewed to reduce the amount of pedestrian green time. At other sites he's having a count down to rush pedestrians along. You never see countdowns for cars do you. One set of traffic light removals that have a pedestrian phase will sever a designated cycle path - junction of Southwark Bridge Road with Union Street. Three sets of pelican crossings along Tooley Street will be removed. Apparently he hates having to stop at these when ...
I was astounded to read about the detail of the new law about Lords having to choose whether they want to remain Lords and lose their non-dome tax avoiding status or stop being Lords. Apparently five have decided to stop being Lords. Fine. Who wants tax avoiders passing laws on the rest of us. Good riddance. But it turns out they get to keep the title. How crazy is that. I think it's about time that Lords that don't, well, Lord it over us, by working actively in the House of Lords, should lose the title. As a councillor, apart ...
Over 8 years ago when Labour led Southwark Council a Planning Application was approved. My understanding is that this planning application was approved (after its consultation was later described as 'botched') and led to residential development next to a nightclub business called Imperial Gardens. The club then felt it had no choice but to close. It's very hard to keep neighbouring residents happy near a nigh club. What's particularly sad is that this club had a track record of developing local talents. One useful outcome was the Ouseley Report which made 35 recommendations for improvements to the council. Sad that ...
The wording of the question that voters will be asked in next May's AV referendum has been published: Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons? The wording of the question is contained in the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, published last week. (The question will also be made available in Welsh.) The Electoral Commission is statutorily required to consider the intelligibility of the question, before reporting back to Parliament, who will consider the comments and ...
Labour's moral outrage at the planned increase in VAT was looking a bit hypocritical and shallow this morning after Alistair Darling admitted that he had wanted to raise VAT hinself so as to bring down Britain's budget deficit. According to the Western Mail, the now-shadow chancellor told BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "It's no secret. I said at the time and, since Peter has actually spelt out in gory detail, I'm not going to deny what was patently true." Asked whether his proposal to increase VAT was a "battle" he wished he had won, Mr Darling replied: "Yeah, obviously." He continued: ...
[IMG: houses.jpg] A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood Ward of Prestwich as detailed below:- Application number: 52614 Type of application: Full Date Registered: 16/07/2010 Applicant: Mr Dost Location: 33 Glebelands Road, Prestwich, Manchester M25 1WE Proposal: Construction of ten apartments with car parking spaces and landscaping Plans are available to view on the Council's website. Should you require further details please contact the case officer: Helen Longworth on: 0161 253 5322 or one of your local councillors who will be able to advise on how to comment on this application. Your views would be welcomed ...
This morning's Western Mail reports that the cost of Wales' free bus travel scheme for older people has increased so rapidly that there is no money left over to help teenagers travel to training or jobs. They say that Assembly Government payments to bus operators for free carriage of over-60s have more than doubled in six years to £66m - while passenger journeys on buses increased by just 7.8%. New figures also indicate that from 2007-08 to 2008-09, there was no increase in passenger journeys in Wales, but the Welsh Government paid 15.8% more to bus firms under the free ...
The link is to an appeal in the court of appeal against care orders. The underlying case is important as it is one of the multiple removal ones.Even though the appeal allowed an ISW this still does not allow ISW assessments as of right.The basis of the appeal was that an initial appeal should have been heard as an appeal rather than a merits review.One paragraph is worth looking at:11. This is a
Mark Wallace, political campaigner and sometime author on Conservative Home has today written a damning piece on what he feels are charities taking money from tax payers that could go elsewhere and be better spent. Now I could start off ... Continue reading →
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that "an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man," and there are few institutions where the shadow was cast longer than at Ferrari, undoubtedly the most famous name in motor sport. Its founder, Enzo Ferrari was the giant figure who created the marque after a modest driving career, and ...
I didn't write about yesterday's German Grand Prix yesterday partly because I was too angry, partly because I had to go out, and partly when I got back in I'd had a few glasses of very nice fizzy wine. By the way, thank you, Charles and Siobhan, for that. 18 hours from the end of the race has done nothing to dampen my fury at what happened 18 laps from the end of the race. At this point, Brazilian driver Felipe Massa was in the lead. Not by much, but he had been leading the race from the start having ...
I have always been uneasy about the war in Afghanistan and Britain's continued involvement in supporting what has become an extremely corrupt regime in that country. It is good to see that the coalition government will be pulling out frontline troops by the end of this parliament. My personal opinion is that even this is probably too long but it is important that Afghanistan is left with a good infrastructure so that the region will be as stable as it can be before British forces leave.
As you may have seen on Lib Dem Voice the nominations are open for this years Lib Dem Blog of the year. The categories include •Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1st September 2009) •Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award) •Best use of blogging / social networking / e-campaigning by a Liberal Democrat •Best posting on a Liberal Democrat blog (
Another gem that popped up on twitter and led me to this website for the Parliamentary Space Committee. Sure its very very pretty but it is really a decent spend of our money? Whatever next? Filed under: Coalition Government, Spidey ... Continue reading →
The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their fifth year. As usual, they'll be awarded in a budget lavish ceremony at the party's autumn conference in Liverpool. (There's further information on ... Continue reading →
Well, I had some good news today from my consultant. They are sending me home. TODAY!!! After one month and 4 days in hospital I am finally going to see my house again and I'm sooo happy!!! Now, I've got to pack and think about what I'm going to have for tea tonight. Rest assured its not going to be beef lasagne with mash!!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!
[IMG: BOTY 2] The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their fifth year. As usual, they'll be awarded in a budget lavish ceremony at the party's autumn conference in Liverpool. (There's further information on the event over at the Lib Dems' Flock Together site). Click on the following links to see last year's Shortlist and the Winners. This year's awards are as follows: Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1st September 2009) Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award) Best use of blogging / ...
I read with annoyance this morning the article on the Telegraph's website, written by Melissa Kite in which she attacks and condescends Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone for her admirable body confidence summit being held in the summer. Kite seems ... Continue reading →
By now everyone has heard the quite blatant team orders from Ferrari's Rob Smedley, instructing Felipe Massa to move aside for Fernando Alonso. The incident came a year after Massa nearly lost his life after cracking his skull in the Hungarian Grand Prix. [IMG: Felipe Massa at Autódromo Internacional do Alg...] Image via Wikipedia If you have missed it, Smedley informs Massa that Alonso is faster. When Massa ignores this comment, Smedley says: "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?" 2 laps later Massa slowed down and allow Alonso to pass him at the hairpin turn 6, ...
Sir Menzies Campbell has written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to seek reassurance that any cuts to the BBC licence fee will not result in cuts to the BBCs programme output. Sir Menzies said: "I've had a lot of emails and letters from constituents worried that cuts to the licence fee will have an inevitable knock-on effect on the quality and range of BBC programmes. "It's right that the BBC should consider how it can cut waste and provide better value for money, but we must not take short term decisions which could impact on the long ...
As some of us head for the beach at the end of a very long term, it might be a good idea to see whether there is any light in the current political gloom. I can count no less than 6 'reasons to be cheerful'. First of all, last week saw the initial meetings of the new Westminster policy teams, designed to facilitate dialogue and communication between the Liberal Democrats in government, especially ministers, and interested parliamentarians, councillor representatives and the Federal Policy Committee. The ones I attended were workmanlike – and anyway are a great deal better than anything ...
St Albans City and District Council is to investigate a number of possible improvements to St Albans markets, including the addition of an evening weekday market, new attractive stall covers and a bicycle delivery scheme. Cabinet agreed a plan of action to improve the markets held in the City at its meeting on 13 July, following the presentation of a Study of St Albans Street Markets. The Study was commissioned as part of the Council's work on implementing the District Vision, which sets out a long-term strategy for the evolution of St Albans City and District. It makes various recommendations ...
I welcome the announcement this morning that the Home Office policy of fast-track deportation removals has been declared unlawful by the High Court. I recently blogged about the case of Florence and Precious Mhango who face deportation after having their ... Continue reading →
Girls = Time X Money Time = Money (as the old expression goes) Girls = Money X Money or (money) squared Money = √Evil (Money is the root of all evil) Girls = ( √Evil) squared Girls = Evil
Let me start by saying that when it was announced on 17 June that Sheffield was to lose government funding for 3 projects, I did have to scratch my head and think what had the City done to deserve it. It seemed to be a harsh blow to have so much news delivered to one city in one day, and think it was handled badly. The 'Yorkshire Business Insider' today has a comment that the political row over Forgemasters has damaged the region. I agree, and it has made me angry that the Labour party have used the issue as ...
Blogstandard Orange got there in the end
Three items on the weekly planning list this week. The first is an application for a certificate of lawfulness for a roof extension at 37 Lovell Road, application 10/0604/CL2PD. The second is for "installation of window openings" at Unit 7 on Kings Court, Kirkwood Road. This is application 10/0676/FUL. The third item on the weekly list is tree works on Milton Road. Number 392 has applied to do work on a Copper Beach and a Lime, in both cases to "raise to 3.5m and crown thin by 20%". Application number 10/192/TREE1. As usual more information is available from the Development ...
The Guardian proclaims itself as a newspaper that supports progressive politics. It backs fair votes and therefore by implication, coalition government. As we all know, election results can produce interesting, challenging results. As politicians we have to work with what the electoral system produces. The hostility of The Guardian, and its sister paper, The Observer, to the Coalition Government
[IMG: BOTY 2] The Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards, run by Lib Dem Voice, are back for their fifth year. As usual, they'll be awarded in a budget lavish ceremony at the party's autumn conference in Liverpool. (There's further information on the event over at the Lib Dems' Flock Together site). Click on the following links to see last year's Shortlist and the Winners. This year's awards are as follows: Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1st September 2009) Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award) Best use of blogging / ...
Just to let you know that I'll be speaking at an event in Parliament this Thursday organised by the Hansard Society. It should be an interesting discussion, and there's still time to register (plug, plug). The Hansard Society is a political education and research charity which aims to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourages people to become more involved in politics. One of the ways it does this is by putting on an interesting and varied programme of events to promote debate on the topics connected to their work. I've taken part in lots of these events, either online or in ...
I re-watched last Wednesday's PMQs over the weekend, especially the bit towards the end of the exchanges with Jack Straw. My main reason for doing so was to try to establish whether it was pre-planned, thought up while in the heat of the battle, or genuinely off-the-cuff thinking on his feet. It's my opinion that ...
Chris Nicholson has become the new Chief Executive of CentreForum, a centrist think tank closely linked to the Lib Dems. Before I get into writing this for the sake of transparency I should make clear that I know Chris's dad quite well because he is a Lib Dem activist in Leeds. Hope that doesn't make my analysis too biased though. With the coalition's government legislative program now well underway it is more important than ever that the Liberal Democrats retain a clear and separate identity in the eyes of party activists and in the eyes of the general public. Think-tanks ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment Is Free website last week, Lib Dem minister of state for health Paul Burstow vigorously defended the Coalition's health white paper, arguing it frames one overriding principle for the NHS - focusing on what people want, not what politicians prescribe. Here's an excerpt: Our consultation, Local democratic legitimacy in health, is a grand title for a simple question: how do we ensure the NHS better serves and accounts to the public for the money it spends and the results it achieves? In other words, how does the government's localism agenda fit the NHS? ... Last ...
The coalition government (yes my fellow Lib Dems, we can't escape the rap for this one) are to introduce elected police commissioners, who will be party political. In other words, the police force and its policies are to become politicised in a way we have never seen before in this country. In so many ways this an affront to the independence of the police force and digs away at the principle that the police force enforce the law by consent from the public. It will be so easy now for people to blame the police for being political servants, enforcing ...
There have been all sorts of rumours flying around in the last few days that Ed Balls was about to pull out of the Labour leadership contest and throw his weight behind one of the two front runners (one of the Miliband brothers). He has denied this and insisted that he is fighting on. He has the support of fewer unions and CLPs than his two main rivals and it certainly looks like he cannot now win. There have even been suggestions that when it comes to the vote in September that he could end up being eliminated first. This ...
Warning from Bury Council and Greater Manchester Police The new telephone 'scam' has arrived. I received a call from a 'representative' of BT, informing me that he was disconnecting me because of an unpaid bill. He demanded payment immediately of 31.00, or it would be 118.00 to re-connect at a later date. The guy wasn't even fazed when I told him I was with Virgin Media, allegedly VM have to pay BT a percentage for line rental! Read the rest of this entry.
A gentle reminder to our readers of the fast-approaching deadline ... We hope readers may be inclined to list Lib Dem Voice somewhere, alongside many of the other fabulous Lib Dem blogging talent listed on Ryan Cullen's Aggregator. 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 ...
There was speculation over the weekend that once the largest union Unite had given its endorsement to Ed Miliband and not Ed Balls that the latter would step down from the leadership race. He is however being backed by the Communication Workers Union. On Radio 4s World This Weekend Balls has denied that he is quitting, coming out saying that he was "fighting to the end and I'm fighting to win". He went on to say that he was never a front runner for this race having neither the early organisation of some of his rivals, nor the CLP (Constituency ...
A couple of telling photographs from the current trip. First, me and my colleague T with the Minister and his Undersecretary, who are both just under 2 metres tall: And then, me with (left) the head of their Addis Ababa office and (right) two colleagues from their Kampala office. Ador Akok Athuai, on the far right above, is 7'2" (2.15m) tall, and I think is the tallest person I have ever met. He is related to the basketball player, Manute Bol, who died last month and was even taller. I will never be able to pass myself off as a ...
Even if you didn't follow the German Grand Prix closely you will probably know about the controversy surrounding Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. On the news we heard an order going out to Massa telling him that Alonso is faster, and then Alonso overtakes. Some may call this cheating. In the same weekend Alex Higgins dies and we see old news reports of him saying that there is no game that is more corrupt. He is said to have refused to accept money to throw a game on more than one occassion. About ten years ago one person told me ...
