I watched the Question Time tonight with the five Labour leadership contenders. I've already done the Labour Vote Match questionnaire, which showed me that Diane Abbott should be my choice followed by Ed Miliband. So what did I think after tonight? Ed Balls - everything I don't like a modern Labour. Smarmy, convinced he's always ...
I was delighted to find that the amendment I had worked on with Philip Latham and others from Stockton and the Northern Region Lib Dems has been listed for debate at confernece. The amendment is to a motion on "Fairness" which is fine as far as it goes, but we are very concerned that the fairness stretches to fairness in benefits, especially housing benefits. Also that there is a "fair chance"...
One of the great by-election wins in my first years of becoming politically active was the Brecon and Radnor by-election in July 1985. This was when Liberal/SDP Alliance candidate Richard Livsey snatched the seat by just 559 votes. I was sad to hear the news tonight that he has passed away at the age of 75. Particularly touching was the tribute from new peer Meral Hussein Ece on Twitter: Saddened by report that my colleague in Lords, Lord Livsey has died. He was a very active Member, showing great kindness to us new membersHe didn't have to go out of ...
I'm feeling pretty low this evening. It has just been announced by the BBC that Lord Richard Livsey of Talgarth has passed away peacefully, aged 75. Its come as a complete shock. Only 2 months ago I was having a drink with Richard, his successor as MP for Brecon & Radnor, Roger Williams and Mark Williams on the Terrace of the House of Commons with my mother on our visit to London to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party. Richard was on such great form and as ever, just great company. A Liberal Giant A true champion of rural Wales, Richard ...
I have just signed the 38Degrees letter to Vince Cable urging him to hold firm and not allow the Sky consolidation of media power and the BSkyB takeover. 38 Degree email Dear Paul, Exciting news! It looks like our campaign to stop Rupert Murdoch taking control of BSkyB might be on the verge of a massive breakthrough. [1] Tens of thousands of us signed the petition telling Vince Cable to stand up to Murdoch's power grab. Now the BBC has revealed leaked documents. They show that even Vince's own advisers are now telling him he mustn't let the deal go ...
As reported in today's Courier (and last night's Evening Telegraph): "Details of the thousands of pounds in expenses claims made by Dundee councillors have been revealed by the city council. The release of a list outlining every single item councillors claimed for from the public purse in the last financial year only came after the intervention of the Scottish information commissioner." Over the past few weeks I have been in correspondence and discussion with David Dorward, the City Council's Chief Executive, about this matter. Whilst it is good that the information has finally been revealed, I would make two points ...
Lots of people have been commenting on their favoured candidate for Party President and I will do in time. Not before I've said a proper thank you to Ros Scott, though, who I think has been an absolutely brilliant holder of that office. It wasn't a difficult decision for me to back her for President in 2008. The work she put in was phenomenal. She came up to help us in Scotland in the 2007 election and spent huge amounts of time and her own money travelling round the country listening and helping. At that time it looked unlikely that ...
Tim - campaigning in the North East a few years ago The Liberal Democrats are a party that has a lot of internal democracy, as you might expect. The two positions that all members vote on is Leader and President. Most people know who the Leader is and what they do but the President has been more of a strange post. The President has the job of motivating and working with the party but also of reflecting grass roots feeling to the party establishment. In the current political climate I think the President also has a role in communicating a ...
The BBC have more on the death of Richard Livsey, (Lord Livsey of Talgarth) including tributes from across the political spectrum. He will be hugely missed.
Near the Iron Church at White Grit - and just over the English border - stands these remains. According to Michael Shaw's The Lead, Copper & Barytes Mines of Shropshire: White Grit engine house dates from 1783 and was extended and heightened in about 1840 to house a new engine.These engines were Cornish beam engines, used to drain and provide power to the area's lead mines. The remains at White Grit are the most obvious, as they stand beside the Bishop's Castle to Shrewsbury road. On the other side of that road stands the former More Arms, where Ronnie Lane ...
First and foremost, happy birthday to the lovely [IMG: [personal profile] ] magister. See you soon, sweetie. I have a Jennie-for-pres facebook page now, courtesy of [IMG: [personal profile] ] tajasel. Mat is making vanilla buns and they smell awesome. I am a bit stunned by how quickly people have started publicly declaring for presidential candidates when nominations haven't even closed yet, let alone made a proper pitch, but I suppose that's the nature of the beast. I should clarify that I am not going to be offended by anyone, even Mat, voting for someone else; it's entirely possible that ...
The iconic gappy face of Nobby Stiles which many of us remember with pleasure Spare a thought for Nobby Stiles and his family. Who he? Well, he was a key player in our England World Cup '66 victory and also in Manchester United's European Cup win in 1968. He is one of only three Englishmen who have been in teams which won both the World Cup and the European Cup. But for many of us, it is his funny face, without a few of his teeth, for which he is remembered. A bit of a character, was our Nobby. Like ...
This report is from the Lib Dem Voice court reporter. You may also like to read Nick Thornsby's account of the trial Helen Mountfield QC today led the special election petition court through the substance of the arguments, case law and disputed facts of the case. Representation of the People Act 1983 section 106 was a specific time limited right of prosecution in relations to the conduct of a particular election. Both Helen Mountfield and Gavin Millar used many of the same pieces of case law and legislation. Amongst these was the Human Rights Act which applies to all cases. ...
Tax avoidance is the legal means by which people minimise the amount of money they pay to the government each year by taking advantage of opportunities not to pay. Tax avoidance for example includes paying money into a pension scheme, buying second hand goods, shopping on holiday in lower tax countries, utilising tax-free saving schemes, the capital gains allowance on shares, and charitable donations utilising gift aid. Very few of us are not tax avoiders. At the conference next week our Treasury spokesperson in the Lords, Matthew Oakeshott, intends to attack tax avoidance as anti-social and poisonous to the concept ...
In the same way many in England were aghast when Ken Livingstone invited unpleasant fellows to London, many are now unhappy with the Pope's State visit. As the great Stephen Fry asked, why are we paying for his holiday to preach intolerance? (I may have paraphrased slightly.) The pope presides over a church which stated aims are to make worse the lives of the uneducated, homosexuals and children. The uneducated by lying to them about the benefits, both the health benefits and the benefits of birth control, of contraception. Homosexuals by dehumanising them and trying to treat them other than ...
Since that slacker Mark has hung up his keyboard I thought I'd give it a go. Live chat for Question Time, (nearly) all welcome. It's the Labour leadership contenders this week. Hmm. The chat will start at 10.30. Andy Burnham Diane Abbott David Miliband (Did they go out of their way to find a profile pic that unflattering?) Ed Balls Ed Miliband Depending on how well tonight goes, this could become a regular feature. Edit: Ah, Dazmando has beaten me to it. Go to his one instead tonight. I'll start next week.
PEP! is going to be this weekend coming, not the last one, as I've spent most of the last week laid up with the 'flu. I'll be getting the book out some time in the week or so after that, and then I'll be back to posting here again. In the meantime, some links: For ...
Join me for the return of Question Time with the Labour Leadership Special. David Dimbleby chairs as the five candidates - Diane Abbott, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, David Miliband and Ed Miliband. Starts at 10.30pm ready for BBC Question Time at 10.35pm Question Time Labour Leadership
The link is to a story in the USA where a child was improperly diagnosed and as a consequence taken into care and not treated appropriately for his condition whilst in care.This sort of thing really concerns me. Medics are too willing to blame patients for their undiagnosed symptoms. This causes them to stop researching for the real causes.
I have now reached the 'milestone' of 1000 tweets on Twitter. Twitter has proved to be a useful campaigning tool and fantastic way of reaching out to Liberal Democrat supporters beyond Kent. It has also allowed me to communicate with people tweeting about my other interests - languages (especially minority language preservation and rights) and Moldova. I suspect going forward I may have to create different twitter accounts for Moldova and languages, but will maintain one account for now. I had wanted to do a clever link here between 1000 tweets and my family history which I have been researching ...
Trenchant stuff from the Harborough Mail: Under pressure Harborough District Council is facing flak on three different fronts as public anger with the authority grows. The level of dissatisfaction with the council hit a new low this week as placard-waving protesters announced they will take to the streets of the town centre this Saturday to campaign against the council's recent unpopular decision to close public toilets at the Market Hall. It comes on the back of another deepening row this week as councillors on both sides of the political spectrum took umbrage at the way its chief executive Sue Smith ...
I've gone through the arguments on the new Directive in my previous post Cameron's comments at PMQs yesterday showed that the current government thinking is not to opt in to this. This may be our only chance to change it. The motion which I drafted up is on the ballot for emergency motions on Sunday. ...
Aberavon & Neath Liberal Democrats have selected Mathew McCarthy, a young student of history and law, as their candidate for the Neath North by-election on October 14th.
In case you have missed the words of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at Mass for the Feast of St Ninian in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow today, here is the text of his homily: Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, "The Kingdom of God is very near to you!" (Lk 10:9). With these words of the ...
I'm watching the Pope give mass in Glasgow. I must admit, it's quite a moving experience. Now, on blogs and on twitter, on Facebook and on the news, all we have had heard in recent days is the coming of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK. It is after all, only the second visit to the UK of a Holy See since the Reformation in the 16th century following Pope John Paul II's visit in the year of my birth, 1982. Much of the chatter has been negative. The cost to the taxpayer, the media faux pax's of his entourage ...
So today we really have the Liberal Democratic Presidential race up and running and unlike two years ago it is causing some real debate with my closest friends and allies within the party. Most of the people I respected then were for Ros. The Hon. Lady Mark the outgoing consort of our current President is sensible not taking sides or endorsing anyone given his position. However, he did over the weekend post his idea of what was required from his seat whether across the room at home, next to in the car/train or watching his wife the President perform her ...
An opinion poll of over 500 Liberal Democrat party members carried out by YouGov for Greenpeace has found that 7% said they supported a like-for-like replacement of Trident. The key question asked was: As you may know, there is currently debate about whether or not the UK should replace its Trident nuclear weapons system. Current policy is to replace the Trident submarines with a new fleet of boats, and to replace the ballistic nuclear missiles they carry at a later date. Which of the following options would you favour most? Replace Trident with a broadly comparable system: 7% Replace Trident ...
Nick Harvey has told MPs that the timetable might slip for the renewal of Trident. He has made no suggestion that there is a proper re-evaluation of the part Trident plays in our defence. The correct thing is not to treat Trident separately but to subject it to the same scrutiny as the rest of the defence spending. It is not just a question of whether it is value for money but rather what part it plays in furthering our foreign policy objectives. War, armies is just policy pursued by other means.
Earlier in the week I blogged about how some parts of the press are still very backward when it comes to a willingness to admit error and make proper corrections. A great example of how to do it well by the Nieman Journalism Lab has been spotted by Martin Belam over on his blog.
Last month I blogged about the Liberal Democrats setting up a policy working group looking at information technology and in particular its implication for intellectual property (see my post along with a copy of the consultation paper). My email inbox today brought me the news that I've been appointed one of the members of the Policy Working Group, which is being chaired by Julian Huppert MP. (I don't yet know who the other members of the group are.) I'm really looking forward to this, especially as this is an area of policy neglected by the otherwise excellent Why Vote Liberal ...
Am I the only one to be constantly asked by corporate call centres to prove who I am? It would be quite understandable, of course, if I had called them - but they are calling me. I got the third of these calls in the last few weeks last night, and it was from British Gas. But I am not, however many times they bleat 'data protection' at me, going to tell them my date of birth or any other personal details over the phone. They will be a good deal more certain about who I am than I can ...
So I'm a Nazi, am I??? How bloody ridiculous!!!!!!!! BHA Reacts to Pope's first remarks on state visit
ALDC is running a host of training events to help improve campaign skills and to help people do a better job as a councillor or in leading their local council at the Federal Conference You can now download a handy list of all of the sessions that we are organising in Liverpool below. Our Essential Campaign Skills are a series of eight sessions giving you all the key skills you need for a winning campaign. Download details here. Our Lib Dem Councillor Training is eight sessions organised with LG Improvement & Development (formerly the IDeA). Download details here.
Alyson took me shopping the other day in Carmarthen. Now, I don't mind shopping if it involves books or DVDs. But this wasn't any old shopping trip - this was clothes shopping. Just the thought of it sends shivers down my spine. I know it's a stereotypical male response, but I really can't think of anything more excruciating. Personally, I'm relaxed with what I wear. During the past 12 months in particular, I've been glued to my suit, shirt and tie -as Mayor, it goes with the territory. But then I'm a farmers boy and I rather like relaxing and ...
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell reiterated his view that the two aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, should be built. Speaking to Liberal Democrat supporters, Sir Menzies said: "Aircraft carriers have a great deal of flexibility and can adapt to widely varying military challenges. They can also make an enormous contribution to humanitarian and relief operations. "Ship building capability is vital for our long term national interest and when this is allied to the military requirement, the case for the carriers is overwhelming."
Writing in the current edition of the Liberal History Journal John Prof Curtice looks at the Party's 2010 performance. I have no doubt his figures are correct- the only problem for me is that the conclusions he draws do not fit Southport-we did far better. It is not the first time we've bucked the trend. Chris Rennard in his obituary of Cyril Smith pointed out that there were 4 important new second places at the 1970 election -and one of them was Southport. In some ways even more exceptional was Sam Goldberg's second place in 1959 achieved in a three ...
Could the story about a possible delay on the Trident replacement decision be the first step in the Government getting rid of it? Three cheers if it is. Personally I have moral objections to the UK having this weapon. But even without those a replacement would be hugely costly and there are plenty of senior military figures saying that it's not needed and that the money would be better spent in other ways. It's probably fair to say that this is one of the policy areas causing the most disagreement between the Coalition partners. If some of those who have ...
We are unique amongst the main political parties in having a democratic internal structure. This weekend is our opportunity, denied to both Labour and Tory members, to decide the future of our party and proclaim what it means to be a Liberal Democrat. In addition to major policy announcements, there are six possible emergency motions listed in Conference Extra. Only one of these will be chosen for debate on Wednesday morning, following a ballot of conference attendees on Sunday. Bermondsey and Old Southwark have submitted one of these emergency motions, and it is not without controversy. It is in direct ...
Back in July the City Council decided to have half an hour set aside at the start of each Full Council for Public Statements and questions etc. A version of this had in fact always existed but it was at the discretion of the Lord Mayor and not very formalised. Having agreed to identify part of the agenda for this purpose however, the Council then managed to do absolutely nothing to publicise it, with the result that there were no applications to speak at last night's meeting. Obviously something like this takes a while to get known (although people seemed ...
Just a note so that anyone reading this, candidate or potential nominator, is aware. You can only sign one nomination paper for the position of Party President! For what it's worth, I'd also recommend that you get at least 10% more nominations than the minimum (some of them are bound to be invalid, and with at least four candidates doing the rounds, some people will sign anything and everything...).
No, I'm not really talking about David Cameron's concept of the Big Society, which is essentially about empowering local communities and within that, encouragement for the voluntary sector. Its official website is at www.bigsociety.org. Instead, I am highly suspicious of a website also called The Big Society, to be found at www.the-big-society.co.uk Now whenever I find a new website I always check its credentials. The Contact Us, or About Us pages should tell us who is behind it. But no-one reveals themself as the owner or creator of this hyphenated site. That immediately made me suspect a trap - the ...
Facebook too gets a walk-on role in this Iowa Senate TV advert: If the ad makes you want to follow him on Twitter, his account @grassleyworks is here.
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell joined Gary Lineker and his wife Danielle this week in Parliament to pledge his support for the '1 Goal' campaign. Gary Lineker is an Ambassador for the campaign which aims to mobilise support for education for all through football. Commenting, Sir Menzies said: "Mobilising the passion millions of people feel for football is a brilliant way of raising support for a campaign which seeks to increase access to education for some of the world's poorest children. "Providing children in developing countries with an education is a goal which has the power to combat ...
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale has today announced his candidacy for the position of Liberal Democrat President. Current President Ros Scott announced last week that she would not be restanding for the role, citing her desire to hand over the ... Continue reading →
Before I jetted off to the Ukraine I was sat down chatting to my brother and one of his friends and we started reminiscing about a prank social experiment we started called "Blame Ollie Ewing". It all started after facebook introduced the option to mention a friend using a @ in a post. as such all of our statuses (I prefer Stati but google chrome tells me that statuses is correct and who am I to
Gosh, haven't events moved quickly? From there not apparently being a vacancy a week ago, we now have four candidates emerging to contest for membership support. For obvious reasons, I'm not going to endorse any of them, especially as I have a lot of respect for all of them, but particularly because I promised one of the candidates that I wouldn't. I know Tim Farron from my days in the Young Liberal Democrats. He was one of those annoying Student Liberal Democrats (in fairness, I thought that they were all annoying, bloody students...). Expert paper aeroplane manufacturer, Blackburn Rovers supporter ...
In just five days the Liberal Democrat Conference will be gearing up to what for some is the highlight of their week. The tradition will again be honoured of singing songs from the history of Liberalism as well as more recent topical and light-hearted offerings. There will be a brand new edition of the Liberator Songbook with new songs, and I'm sure some offerings to mark the return of Liberals to Government. A further tradition of the Glee Club is that new MPs 'do a turn'; we know some of them are regular members of the Glee Club, and we ...
Today Chileans are celebrating their country's bicentenary, though for many the festivities will be tempered by concern about the miners who have been trapped underground for over a month. Mercifully, none of them has died (unlike in China, where mine disasters are often horribly fatal) and they seem to be in remarkably good spirits. Managing ...
Thu 16th
13:51
Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness: Unless it's in the interests of the Popes PR, obviously
So, 'The Rat' has landed and Pope-o-mania sweeps over our shores. He's not best impressed by us and the whole equality schtick we've been getting on with since the last papal visit in the seventies and it's clear to see ... Continue reading →
Spiderplant Land has put keyboard to blog and written a post about 'Encouraging the blogosphere and challenging the status quo' .The blogosphere has become a little predictable over the last year or so with no real movement. I think the bigger issue as Iain Dale points out (in (Is the MSM Eating Up the Blogosphere?). It is hacks and other established media blogs taking over from independent bloggers (that is to say bloggers who are not paid for by a media organisation). Blogs should be an alternative to the media to allow other expression. This take over will hide the ...
Last night was the regular "Full" meeting of all 51 Bury Councillors, which takes place about six times a year. Sadly too much Council business is decided by the leader or his cabinet without any involvement of ordinary councillors or opposition parties and this has tended to reduce the full meetings to something of a party point scoring debating chamber. last night was no exception. LEADERS STATEMENT The leader took the opportunity of full council to make a statement on the financial situation facing Bury The Conservative leader of the Council highlighted the significant savings that will need to be ...
Reading my copy of the Times this morning, I am confronted with a front page headline suggesting that the man I voted for to be Leader believes that the State must not "compensate the poor for their predicament". I can't help but feel that he is either being wilfully provocative or foolishly naïve. And, ironically, the rest of his piece contains much that Liberal Democrats can readily agree with. He makes entirely valid points about marginal tax rates for those seeking to move from benefits to work, on the increasingly frustrating multiplicity of forms and rules, about the need for ...
It's almost exactly a year since the Liberal Democrats became the first political party to commit to reforming the outdated and unbalanced libel laws of England and Wales - a year that has seen a hugely effective public campaign for libel reform culminating in Lord Lester's Defamation Bill being debated during a Second Reading in the House of Lords - with the Coalition government now firmly
An odd question I know, having read Michael Child, of Thanet Online blog, waffling on about the council recently, not mentioning synagogues being open in Ramsgate, in a press release referring to Margate, in fact, a cursory glance of his blog and it looks like quite a campaign. I've not had much time or inclination to blog this week, but I have to say Michael's claims are extraordinary, not having mentioned last weekend's Heritage day, I'm not sure what I might be guilty of can you be anti history, culture? In my defence, I have mentioned such events and taken ...
It's good news (if slightly geeky) that the Government have announced that they have dropped the planned voluntary phase of the move towards individual registration of electors. That means that the process will start for real in 2014. Individual registration means that each adult will have to complete an electoral registration form rather than a single form being completed for each household. It means that personal identifiers (signatures or dates of birth for example) can be collected and these are the best possible way of combatting fraud in elections. The phased introduction (no one will be excluded from the register ...
The BBC reports: Egypt's state-run newspaper has come under fire for altering a photograph to suggest President Hosni Mubarak was leading the Middle East peace talks. Al-Ahram showed Mr Mubarak walking on a red carpet ahead of US President Barack Obama as well as the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders. The original image, taken at the White House when talks were formally re-launched, shows Mr Obama leading the way and Mr Mubarak trailing behind. Full story with before and after photographs here.
Nope, this isn't another candidacy announcement. But it's great to see that so many people are putting their hats into the ring. According to Lib Dem Voice, the possible candidates so far are: - Jason Zadrozny, the candidate for Ashfield who came so close to winning in May; - former MP Susan Kramer; - blogger (among many other things) Jennie Rigg; - Tim Farron, MP for Westmoreland and Lonsdale. And there may well be more to come. Of course, with the need to find 200 nominating signatures from 20 constituencies in just 2 weeks, it may be that not all ...
The Liberal Democrats are getting a huge amount out of being in government: protection for the lowest paid, the most ambitious political reforms since universal suffrage, restoration of civil liberties... in fact the only thing we're not getting is the credit we deserve! That's why I've decided to run to be President of the Liberal Democrats. It's not easy being in Government. As part of the Coalition, our distinctive message has often got buried, what we stand for has got blurred and our ability to campaign is blunted. I'm not having that. I joined the Liberals at 16. A Focus ...
This weekend I will be away from the Blog and Bracknell at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool. I will try to bring reports or pictures if anything interesting happens (like these planned protests). It will be interesting for me to see more media and high security at a Liberal Democrat Conference. I thought it would be a good idea to list my program for Saturday and Sunday just in-case any other readers are attending the conference as there is an opportunity to meet. Sunday evening I will be in Manchester as I am staying with a friend. Lib Dem ...
So apparently the other people thinking about standing are Tim Farron, Susan Kramer, and Jason Zadrozny. If I get the noms, I know who'll get my second preference out of that lot. I'm bowled over by the number of people who have signed the pledge, and some of the names on that list are really surprising and humbling. I've set up a google group for the campaign team. You can request membership if you want to help out; I'm not saying I'm going to say yes to all of you, though. And now I must got to work...
In a statement to Parliament yesterday, Mark Harper (Minister for Constitutional Reform) announced that the Government will speed up the introduction of individual electoral registration by axing Labour's plans for an interim phase of voluntary individual registration. Instead, individual electoral registration will be introduced in 2014. The principle of switching to individual registration has been supported by all the main parties. I previously wrote about the reasons for this support for individual electoral registration: The current electoral registration system is based on one registration form being delivered to each household, with the head of the household completing the form on ...
The Pope starts his much discussed state visit to the UK today. He will be greeted by the Queen at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh before coming to England. The trip comes against the backdrop of continuing anger at allegations of child abuse within the Catholic church, and comments yesterday from a senior Cardinal that Britain is a '3rd world country'. The issue of pedophilia is important, and should never be allowed to be swept under the (red) carpet. The problem was widespread, widely known about, and covered up by the highest echelons of the Catholic church. The Pope is reported ...
Thu 16th
11:02
Crowdsourcing Shows The Inadequacies Of The Current Bureaucratic System: The Lib Dems need to challe...
There is a movement in politics to a more transparent, collaborative, and participatory government, but there is a lack of substance and detail that will achieve each of these goals. The Obama Administration is a good example of how one country is looking into how to make this work with their Open Government Initiative. As ...
Nick Clegg has written an article on welfare in The Times (£) [UPDATE and also available for free via his website], which the fine organ is keen to portray as putting him "on a collision course with his party by championing radical benefit cuts and arguing that the state must not compensate the poor for their predicament". Having read the article, I don't believe many Lib Dems will find themselves disagreeing with much of what Nick has to say. Instead of turning the system from a "safety net" into a "trampoline" as Labour promised, people have been stuck on benefits, ...
We only had one planning application to deal with at Cheadle Area Committee on Tuesday - 23 Crescent Grove. The owners want to build an extension, which no-one has any problem with (or, if they do, they've kept quiet about it). They also wanted to replace the 1m high fence around their back garden (a plot of land purchased from a resident of Greenvale Drive) with a 1.8m fence and put a gate in it, giving them access onto Greenvale Drive. As far as I know, no-one doubts that the applicants simply want to have a bigger house and a ...
With the Conference season now upon us and with Labour preparing to crown their new Leader it seems appropriate that we lay to rest the myth that BSF (Building Schools for the Future) was some great effective scheme. In fact it was a bureaucratic joke with too few beneficiaries and huge expensive processes. The Liberal Democrat Conference is a good chance to cheer and toast the end of BSF and focus on education and pupils and real improvements. It was 2005 and the local elections in London were scheduled for 2006. It was clear, we were clear, parents were clear, ...
There's been much consternation recently about the government's decision not to opt into the draft EU Directive on Trafficking. Harriet Harman used her last PMQs appearance - and all six of her entitled questions as Acting Leader of the Opposition - to quiz David Cameron about the whys and wherefores. As the Prime Minister said, we often think we live in a world without slavery; while trafficking continues, we do not. It is a dreadful crime, and those people who force women and children into prostitution should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. It's important, though, that ...
The BBC have provided a helpful little report into the popemobile I for one can't wait for the first video syncing various clips of the pope to the classic batman theme music oh wait....
There were four debates on the order paper for the Council meeting last night. One was from the Lib Dems about how the Council could use a new coalition government directive and make money generating its own renewable energy. Unfortunately we didn't get to that because it got to half ten and we were all losing consciousness with tiredness, so adjourned. I like to think it would have been passed, and hopefully we can make progress on that agenda regardless. Another was a largely uncontroversial one about voter registration. Although I think the Labour proposal that we voted for isn't ...
Chris Huhne yesterday spoke about the thousands of new green jobs that are going to be created over the coming years. In Scotland alone they are talking of 48,000 jobs being created by 2020. So in recognition of the country ... Continue reading →
I am not sure what this will do for David Melding's chances of topping the Tory list in South Wales Central but his assertion today that the Welsh Assembly should have tax-varying powers and that this should be addressed in the referendum is entirely sensible. David point out that this issue is the elephant in the room when the debate as to how people should vote in this referendum gets underway with a vengence. It is already the case for example that True Wales are misrepresenting the question by suggesting that higher taxes will be the outcome of a 'yes' ...
What's the idea? Help support Phones4Zimbabwe by giving us your old, neglected and unused mobile phones (ideally with chargers). We will send them over to Zimbabwe to schools and health clinics. Why? You get a warm fuzzy feeling from helping a community in Zimbabwe to improve communications and information flow in an often forgotten part of the country. The health clinics and schools receiving the phones can use them for emergencies, for every day use, to share and coordinate information and make life a little easier. We are focussing on Binga, a remote and neglected area of North West Zimbabwe, ...
As well as the statement on cuts, last night's meeting was notable for the news of the Chief Executive's decision to retire (see below) and for the various questions and debates that took place in between the meeting starting, and its conclusion years later. There were a number of questions about the Council's ongoing review of Civic Halls, which seems to have been rumbling on since the dawn of time. The problem is, I think, that we have a set of facilities which the public profess to love but which almost nobody ever uses. They are the civic equivalent of ...
Last night's Council meeting was the longest in recorded history, not ending until we crawled out of the chamber in weary despair at about 22.30. Despite the controversial subject matter it was, thankfully, one of the calmest I can recall as well. The evening started with a statement from the Leader of the Council about the financial predicament facing the borough. Government cuts mean us having to find £28m or so in savings over the next four years which, out of a budget of £100m or so is going to mean some very radical departures from what we do now. ...
At the meeting of Bury Council last night it was revealed that the Chief Executive, Mark Sanders, will soon be retiring. Bury Liberal Democrats on Council will be extremely sorry to lose Mark Sanders. Mark has been a key part of some significant progress in Bury over the last nine years and will be a great loss to the Borough. Even in the timing of his retirement shows leadership around the significant savings that the Council has to make over the coming years. I am sure there will be proper tributes and thanks to Mark as the time of his ...
Last night was the regular "Full" meeting of Bury Council. This is where all 51 councillors meet together, about six times a year. The meetings seem to get more confrontational all the time, and last night last no exception. We finished at 10.20pm, with still loads of business that hadn't been concluded. Leaders Statement The most important pieces of news came in a special statement from the (Conservative) Council Leader. This highlighted the significant savings that will need to be made by the Council over the coming years, as its part of the public sector savings that are necessary following ...
This morning's Western Mail blows the lid off the behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings amongst Welsh Conservatives as their head office sought to secure the nomination of Plaid Cymru-defector Mohammed Ahgar (Oscar) as a Tory Regional Assembly Member. They report that David Fouweather, a Newport councillor who chairs the Tories' South East Wales Area Council, was told that he could be suspended from the party unless he backed the selection of Oscar, the only AM from an ethnic minority, who defected to the Tories from Plaid Cymru: The Western Mail has obtained a copy of a letter sent last week by Mr Fouweather ...
It's less than a week since Baroness (Ros) Scott announced she would not be standing for a second term as President of the Lib Dems, the only post directly elected by all party members other than that of Leader. But with nominations closing in less than a fortnight — and 200 nominations to be secured from conference representatives of at least 20 local parties — those looking to contest the position are going to be scrambling to get their supporter networks up and running. I've heard from one in-the-know source that Jason Zadrozny, a district and county councillor in Nottinghamshire ...
Today history will be made when two octogenarian heads of State, and leaders of their respective Churches, meet in Edinburgh. I don't often feel glad about our Head of State also being the Head of the Church of England, but, for this one day, I can live with it. The Pope is not so keen on women having any positions of authority, so it'll be good for him to have to meet one who is his equal in every way. I wrote last night about my mixed feelings about this visit but something else crossed my mind as I woke ...
At approximately 1315 hours on Friday 3rd September 2010 a male attended an address in Roundhill Park, Bath, purporting to be working as a gas engineer. Items were removed from the property whilst the occupier was in another room. The offender is described as being a white male, in his 20's, 6 foot tall, slim/lanky build, with short blond hair which was longer on top than the sides. He...
The Financial Times has reported on the successful Constitutional Referendum in Turkey. Their report at
The proposed closure of both the Magistrates and County Courts in Southport has been in the news recently and the consultation on this closed at 5pm yesterday. Your Liberal Democrat Team are very concerned about the planned move of our court service to Bootle and Liverpool as we believe it will have a detrimental effect on access to local justice. Both John Pugh MP and myself have met with a number of solicitors and the court users group to try and respond to the consultation. Some residents feel that it will only effect those people who are defendants and so ...
[IMG: SureSignal and Kindle] I've got a rather neat femtocell – the Vodafone SureSignal. It extends the 3G signal into my house by way of my broadband. To stop anyone leaching my broadband, you need to register "approved" phone numbers with the SureSignal. So – given that the Kindle has a Vodafone SIM card – how do we find the Kindle's phone number and register it with the SureSignal? There are three ways you can find your Kindle's phone number. None of them are "easy". Ask AmazonOpen your Kindle, remove the SIM card, place the SIM in a phone, dial ...
Copies of the popular 'Being a Good Neighbour' guide will be issued by the Student Community Partnership to over 11,000 students returning to study in the Bath & North East Somerset Council area and this year the students will be getting it via email rather than in paper format. Hopefully this will mean more of them are read. Although Southdown and Whiteway does not have as many...
We're currently having lots of meetings talking about Colchester Council's budget for next year. Because of the economic situation and the likely severe drop in money we get from the Government – despite the fact we still send them far more of the business rates we collect for them than we get in return – ...
The third witness called yesterday, and the final one of the case, was Joseph Fitzpatrick, Phil Woolas' election agent. Before Mr Fitzpatrick was questioned, Helen Mountfield QC, Elwyn Watkins' lead counsel, rose to clarify an issue relating to Mr Fitzpatrick. ... Continue reading →
One of my friends this morning on Facebook has posted this: "happy to welcome the pope to Scotland but hopes that amid all the pageantry, the survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of catholic priests, will receive compassion, apology and a fair hearing. Oh and your holiness, some people are gay, get over it."I was tempted to add the title of this blog post as a follow up, but decided it neither further expansion, so this is it. I think that says a lot about where some of the disquiet about this state visit, but at the same times ...
George Parker (who once kindly described me as a "Liberal firebrand") writes about United We Stand, a new report from the Institute for Government, in the Financial Times: Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats need more civil service and political support in government to maintain the coalition's stability when times get tough, according to a think-tank. The Institute for Government says the deputy prime minister has "insufficient support at the centre" and that the Lib Dems need to have more junior ministers so that they are represented in all main departments. The report, says Parker, goes on to say the ...
Thu 16th
07:31
Pope Benedict's Adviser pulls out of UK visit after describing UK as third world country
A senior adviser to Pope Benedict, Cardinal Walter Kasper has pulled out of the Pope's UK visit after saying arriving at London's Heathrow airport was like landing in a "Third World" country. Cardinal Walter Kasper Across at the BBC News website;The German-born cardinal was quoted as saying to the country's Focus magazine that "when you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country". The article goes on;Vatican sources said Cardinal Kasper - who stepped down in July as the head of the department that deals with other Christian denominations - was suffering ...
The BBC reports that the government is considering putting off the key decision on replacing Trident (known as "main gate")until after the next election. As so often, this decision not to decide is driven by saving money not by any principled discussion of the role and usefulness or lack of usefulness of Trident. That discussion would only happen if the government stopped ringfencing Trident
i) births and deaths None that grabbed me. ii) broadcast anniversaries 16th September 1967: broadcast of episode 3 of Tomb of the Cybermen. The Cybermen reveal their plan to convert all the explorers into Cybermen; the expedition have different views on this prospect. 16th September 1978: broadcast of episode 3 of The Ribos Operation. K9 rescues the Doctor and Romana from the Graff, but they encounter him again in the catacombs (with Binro the Heretic). iii) date specified in canon 16th September 1909: Martha and the Tenth Doctor get caught up in Lord Haleston's hunt for monsters near the Lake ...
"Pandas always find their way into politics" were the words with which the Today programme woke me this morning.
... was how Queen Elizabeth described St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol. Here are some photos I took of it during Bristol's Doors Open day last weekend. Although the church itself is normally open, the public doesn't often get into the bell tower or on the roof! N.B. Unfortunately I hadn't charged up my new phone and so the photos are not as good as I'd have hoped... Maybe next year I'll get some better ones! Andrew P.S. For an external shot of the church, see here.
Prestwich & Whitefield Heritage Society have a new website up an running and still being developed. It will showcase the activities of the Society and celebrate the history and heritage of the Prestwich and Whitefield. At the moment the webmaster is looking for old school photos for the Gallery section. Can you help ? The website is at www.prestwichheritage.co.uk Contact Details are on the website.
Charlie Milne was born at 11.00pm BST on Sunday 12th September, 2010, weighing in at 9lb 9oz. Unfortunately he is not yet out of the Special Care Baby Unit because his blood sugar is not doing what blood sugar should – that is, being high enough to support a human being. The last I heard, he is beginning to respond to treatment, but there's no word on the cause of his symptoms. His mother is physically well. This post can also be found at Thagomizer.net. Feel free to join in the conversation wherever you feel most comfortable.
Taking a welcome break away from the UK, work and everything, we are on holiday in Khon Kaen, North Eastern Thailand. We've been here for two weeks and have another two weeks remaining. Lots of sun and lots of torrential rain too. Still, it is nice to be away from London, work and everything else. ...
This weekend I'll be off to Liverpool for LibDem conference, leaving Richard in charge of the kittens. Or vice versa. Conference will be different this year. With LibDems in government, we'll be mingling with Ministers – once we've got past the extra security. Recent conferences had become dominated by candidate training and networking. Now I'm ...
I have been out leafletting again recently, and have ben struck by the random way in which our streets may, or may not, have No 13s. This is not like Paris, I understand, where none of the streets have a number 13. At first I thought it was more typical of modern private housing and that seemed logical. If having the number 13 might depress the house price, why would any housebuilder include it? But then I noticed the same phenomenon in public sector houses, and read that at least one local council had decided to have no number 13s ...
Cthulhu Spice!: I'm assuming everyone has seen Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, but for those still under a rock, this vid makes no sense at all if you haven't. (via)
Following on from yesterday's blog, the main headline in the local newspaper, The Visitor, is "Closed Down Town". Shops and businesses are closing in Morecambe. I know this happens everywhere but "Morecambe came fifth in a league table for having the most empty shops in the country". Our new Tory MP blames the previous Labour government for the lack of regeneration in the town along with the need for a sign pointing to the shops. A local shopkeeper reckons that a lack of parking has been the problem. Signs are nice and they may influence some people to go to ...
