At long last, the lovely Elephant has won Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year at a sleek and posh awards ceremony at Conference in Liverpool. You probably know much I like him by the number of times I link to him, so you'll have gathered that I don't mind not winning what Jennie charmingly described as the Big BOTY at all. Two years ago, outraged at his failure to make it from constant nomination on the shortlist to winning the title, a Bloggers for Fluffy Justice Group was established on Facebook! It's good to see that its wish has finally ...
I didn't think that I would be posting quite as quickly after the last post – but reading what I have just read really makes me want to make sure others get to read what Fr Bernard Lynch said at a rally in London today. As someone living with HIV, Fr Lynch's words somewhat grabbed ...
I'm not normally one to take to the streets, but today was an exception. Today saw the Pope giving a vigil in Hyde Park; today was also the day those of us who have been called "militant atheists" – along with discontent catholics and lots of others too – took the streets of London. We ...
What's loosely termed the awards "ceremony" for the 2010 Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards has just drawn to a glittering close. As the last firework fades in Liverpool's night sky, I'm delighted to announce the winners: Best new Liberal Democrat Blog (started since 1st September 2009) Nick Thornsby's Blog Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award) A Lanson Boy by Alex Folkes Best use of blogging/social networking/e-campaigning by a Liberal Democrat Nick Barlow (with Justin McKeating) for the hashtag: #nickcleggsfault Best posting on a Liberal Democrat blog (since 1st September 2008) An ...
... For now. I've got nothing of interest to say at the moment so best to walk away for a while. I was never 100% sure why people ever read this blog when it's just the ramblings of a humble ... Continue reading →
Having had a rapid increase in postings in recent weeks, the 100th post has come up rather more quickly than I had expected. So just a little look back at where the blog has been? Blog post 1 – Housework wings its way out the window – March 5, 2009 Well, it's been a frantic ...
We have a great word in Scots which describes the weather here in Liverpool- driech! I am down here for the Lib Dem's Federal Conference. Our first as a Party of UK Government since the 1930's. I have never been here before but I am very impressed by the architecture and the friendliness and warmth of the locals. I took the opportunity to visit Goodison Park to take in the Everton v Newcastle match this afternoon. The home team traditionally runs out to the Z cars theme tune. Unfortunately the team really didn't play at all well and Newcastle ran ...
Sadly, due to illness, I was unable to use the ticket that I had been granted to attend the Vigil in Hyde Park, but thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to lie, sit, and kneel at a friend's house in East Belfast to watch. Afterwards, he remarked that what the Holy ...
The devolution process has been a hard slog in all the political parties as we seek to establish proper lines of responsibility in terms of policy development and try and stop our colleagues from hijacking our agenda. Even Plaid Cymru, who as a small state party does not have this problem, have not always got it right in terms of what is devolved and what is not. We have made substantial progress not least in our manifestos, which have been consistently the most devolution of all the Federal parties. However, a vote in today's Liberal Democrat Conference makes me doubt ...
Popery
I am breaking free of my chastity belt, breaking my purdah, and making a rare comment on the BOTYs. Caron of Caron's Musings is a real blogger. She comments on other blogs regularly, talks charmingly about her personal and family life, and has an extremely acute political writing style. You can trust her to make a sensible and entertaining comment on most subjects. Most of all, she sticks at it, making regular posts of varying length and subject - again – like a real blogger – rather than bogging off to the undergrowth like many people who win the BOTYs ...
The cattle were lowing....As always it looked much better in real life than in my photos...
This turns out to be the answer to one of the later questions as well, but I do wish more people had read Ali and Nino by 'Kurban Said', the great romantic novel of the South Caucasus. Set in the time period straddling the First World War, it's the story of the love between Azeri boy Ali Khan and Georgian girl Nino Kipiani, culminating in the collapse of the British protectorate of Azerbaijan (which I'm sure you have all heard of) in 1919-20. Of course, it's steeped in the cultural background of its author, an extraordinary character who was an ...
The HuHas - stars of this week's X Factor
Speaking at tonight's Yes to Reform! rally at the Liverpool LibDem conference, Nick Clegg was joined by Jo Swinson MP, former independent MP Martin Bell, actor Art Malek and others. You can also now download campaign materials and find out more about the Fairer Votes Referendum at www.libdems.org.uk/fairervotes. This was the text of Nick's speech: The last few months have been some of the most remarkable in the history of our party. I'm proud that for the first time in our party's history Liberal Democrats will be addressing a party conference as Secretaries of State and government ministers. And it's ...
Best advert on the telly! Love the suitcase bit ...
All through conference, my LibDemVoice colleague Helen Duffett has arranged a series of blogger interviews of key figures in the Lib Dems, including several ministers. I think it's a testament to their openness that Lib Dem ministers, including the most senior, still make themselves available for interviews in this way. A large group of people interviewed Nick Clegg yesterday, and today a group including me convened to talk to Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. It is quite remarkable how little you can get through in an hour when the person you are talking to is ...
Apparently we should show "responsibility" and not criticise Tory policies we do not agree with. Presumably turning the party in to liars who say nothing on issues they fundamentally disagree with and campaigned against just months ago is the price Nick Clegg is willing to pay in order for him to be David Cameron's best mate. The preamble to the Lib Dem party constitution states The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved ...
I've been rained on; I've hugged confidantes, candidates and Cabinet ministers; and, like everyone else, I've kept a wide berth of the glum Labour hack staffing the TUC stall despite all the freebies they're offering. Yes, it can only be Liberal Democrat Conference time again. For the first time ever, the thing the media say we're all talking about really is the thing we're all talking about - how do we think the coalition's going? So I might write about that tomorrow, because people are also talking about the internal elections and Lib Dem Voice's Blog of the Year Awards. ...
Later tonight, the results of the LibDem Blog of the Year will be announced during our party's Federal Conference in Liverpool. Fellow Scottish LibDem blogger Caron Lindsay has been shortlisted in not just one, but two categories this year - Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year and Best Posting on a Liberal Democrat Blog! I was at Scottish Liberal Democrat HQ in Edinburgh yesterday (nothing to do with blogging - internal party elections!) and it was good to see Caron & wish her all the best for tonight. So here's a few bloggers' photos then! Above : Yours truly and ...
Lib Dem Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne today promised a 'Green Deal' Bill this autumn which he said would be a bigger attempt to dramatically improve the energy saving capability of houses that have already been built anywhere in the world. "Everything up until now has been incremental. It will make sure that every home is lagged, insulated and draught proofed to within an inch of its life to be consistent with our climate change targets - an 80% reduction in our carbon emissions. If we don't get our homes right we can kiss goodbye to our carbon ...
The Liberal Democrats have today, debated conflicts of interests and pursuit of private gain in government.
[IMG: imag0002.jpg] Yesterday I went to look at the Eco housing being built by Dunelm Homes on the old Cape site at Bowburn. It was extremely interesting and if I had the money, and wanted to live there, it would be really attractive to live in a home which will use so little energy and contribute so little to global warming. Amongst the features are an Air Source Heat Pump which supplies hot water to the underfloor heating system, mechanical ventilation which reycles the air to extract and reuse the warmth while keeping the air fresh, photovoltaic solar units (made ...
Earlier today the Liberal Democrats kicked off the process to revise the party's policy on information technology and intellectual property with a consultation session at the party's Liverpool conference. Technology is also a theme explored in the Litmus newspaper jointly produced by Lib Dem Voice, Left Foot Forward and Conservative Home, with pieces from Tom Watson, Stephan Shakespeare and Richard Allan on this topic. We've reproduced Richard's piece below and you can read the full newspaper either via the hard copies in conference registration packs or online at www.litmustest.org. [IMG: Litmus newspaper badge] The Government has to embrace innovative technology ...
Looking at these stats from Tweetminister's following of Conference it appears not so much.
"Excuse me, do you know why are there so many police and ambulances about?" "It's for the Pope's visit. He's preaching in the Cathedral and then there's a procession." "But didn't the Pope die years ago?"
Wordle created by Mícheál Carchrie Campbell I have to thank Mícheál for his regular updates of the Pope's public utterances on this trip. I know he would far rather be down in London today rather in a rather damp Belfast. However, part of that is the words that he spoke today. These ones especially stood out: "We were made to receive love, and we have. Every day we should thank God for the love we have already known, for the love that has made us who we are, the love that has shown us what is truly important in life. ...
[IMG: Diversity] Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat Minister for Children and Families, is asking Lib Dem councillors about how the current system of providing support and education for children with special educational needs could be improved so I am posting a request for information on your experiences and opinions. The views will feed into a Government Green Paper to be published later this autumn. She has said "Children with special educational needs and disabilities should have the same opportunities as other children. But the current system is so adversarial that too often this doesn't happen. I want parents, teachers, charities, teaching ...
John Curtice, well-known psephologist and one of the relatively few political academics to take the trouble to study and understand the Liberal Democrats, has published his analysis of the 2010 election from a Lib Dem point of view. Writing in the latest issue of the Journal of Liberal History, he looks at why the Liberal Democrat 'surge' eventually failed to deliver and why the party's natural disappointment at the result may be masking what was in reality an impressive result - the second best, in terms of seats, since 1929, and the second best, in terms of votes, since 1923. ...
I blogged earlier this month about Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who repeatedly froze during a candidates' TV debate. It was only a matter of time before her opponent used her faltering performance in TV ads. Here are three of them. They've done a clever job.
'Can the Liberal Democrats stope the BNP?' That's the title of a fringe event I'm chairing this Monday, 21st September, 1 til 2pm, at the Jury's Inn Liverpool, room 7. It was originally to be chaired by Nick Cohen, but alas for those looking forward to his presiding over proceedings he has had to bow out. Even more alas — for you — I've been asked to stand in. Lib Dem MP Tom Brake will be on the panel, together with Nick Lowles, Coordinator, HOPE Not Hate, and Mark Gardner, Spokesperson, CST. Further details at the Lib Dem fringe listing ...
Filed under: Benedict XVI, catholic, suffering Tagged: Benedict XVI, homily, Westminster
It's been a slightly odd 'homecoming', arriving back in Liverpool some 12 years after I was last here. Few people on meeting me imagine I could have grown up here. What oh-so-slight trace of accent I once had has been obliterated by exposure to Oxford's middle-Englandness; anyway I was eight by the time we moved up here, and I've never been any good at personation. I'm back here, of course, for the Lib Dem conference, and typing this in the apartment I'm occupying until next Wednesday — ironically, it's probably closer to where I went to school (St Margaret's, Aigburth) ...
The words of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the young people outside The Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, Westminster, today. Thank you for your warm welcome! "Heart speaks unto heart" - cor ad cor loquitur - as you know, I chose these words so dear to Cardinal Newman as the theme of my ...
Today at Liberal Democrat Conference members discussed the need for a UK National Defence Medal to Service Veterans. During the past sixty-five years, millions of personnel have placed their lives on the line to ensure the United Kingdom and its interests are kept safe and secure. Sadly the last Labour Government refused to provide the commitment and recognition by recommending to Her Majesty the Queen the award of a UK National Defence Medal to veterans.
One planning application this week. Any comments please contact either of us. Ward: Southdown App Ref: 10/03810/FUL Registered: 26th August 2010 Expiry Date: 21st October 2010 Location: ...
In the second of my interviews with the candidates for Lib Dem Party President, I caught up with Susan Kramer in the (very busy) conference centre.
As discussed in this blog, a solution focused approach looks for strengths and then amplify them so they work more. Here the Independent has been looking at the strengths of the Lib Dems so far in Government: And the good news is that he has something to work with here. There are some solid and ...
Many many thanks to Lib Dem Voice editor Helen Duffett for organising our major fringe event tomorrow. She's been hunting around the country for the best talent to speak to us, and has overcome many seemingly insurmountable obstacles to bring a stellar event to the conference. Hall 1B is a lovely room with a giant set of seats sitting on an enormous turntable, for reasons that will probably become clear if you come and see the fringe. Without further ado, our speaker lineup is: Evan Harris Susan Kramer Will Straw The title is: Fairer? For Whom? As will all our ...
Yesterday Paul Burstow, the new Lib Dem Health Minister, visited The Christie. I had asked him to visit to discuss the ongoing problems over the 62 day target, which is completely unachieveable at The Christie. At the beginning of 2009 a new method of measuring the target was introduced and despite concerns being raised about the target being unachieveable the concerns had fallen ...
Sat 18th
14:56
The Pope's fear of 'aggressive atheism' has the wrong target - he should be afraid of choice itself
So, 'aggressive atheists' are spoiling all the Pope's fun, the media are terrifying small girls in the name of paedophilia, and Mr Benedict doesn't know that Hitler was a Roman Catholic. If you didn't know better, you'd assume it was a Papacyphobe fest. If you did know better, you'd know that the reaction to his ...
Over the next few days, Lib Dem loyalists will discover for themselves the frustration and futility of supporting the coalition. They may stand on the sidelines, shouting "Well played!" "Foul!" or "Offside!". It will make little or no difference. There is no role for party activists. For according to Vince Cable, the coalition is "just business". And the business of coalition government is to do unpopular and illiberal things. Nothing here for activists to sell on the doorsteps to voters sympathetic to our usual menu of fairness, redistribution and liberty. So what are dedicated Lib Dems to do - wait ...
"Buongiorno!" was not the greeting I was expecting when Nick Clegg appeared in the small area adjacent to his Cabinet Office office where I was waiting, along with five other Lib Dem bloggers, to interview the Deputy Prime Minister. Italian, ... Continue reading →
Cuts proposed by the government have resulted in much criticism, one area being policing I just wonder if there is another way, recently police officers senior and junior have gone to the media griping about the governments proposed cuts and I just wonder if there is another way. One employee rep pointed out that its the case that something like 80% of the police budget goes on wages, therefore meaning efficiency savings elsewhere would be of minimal effect. The conclusion therefore has to be wide scale cuts in staff, resulting in much more crime, civil disturbance and the end of ...
Oh Good Lord! We seem to have had wall-to-wall coverage of the Pope's "battle against secularism", for which he has now signed up the Archbishop of Canterbury. We are a terrible secular nation, we are told he is saying. And we need to shape up. Well, first of all, he's probably not saying that but the media seem to be saying that he is saying that. But let's take it at first value. I'm not sure many people are over-familiar with the term "secular" anyway. So I think our friend from the Vatican is on a rather sticky wicket linguistically ...
As I posted before, I'm trying to interview each of the four (or more?) possible candidates for the Presidency of the Lib Dems. I'll keep the videos very brief and try to ask similar questions to each. The first candidate I caught was Jason Zadrozny.
Sitting through the consultation session this morning at Lib Dem conference on IT policy (see here for a copy of the consultation paper) I learnt lots of interesting points of detail - just how many Liberal Democrats have a connection to Cambridge, the horror many have of learning Pascal and details of the issues around virtual currencies and taxation. The session also clarified my thoughts about the role of open source software in the public sector. [IMG: Command line image. Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/150038] 'Use open source' is often deployed as a catch-all phrase which actually includes 'use data standards', 'have ...
An email to Lib Dem members, signed by Jo Swinson, is promoting the Lib Dem rally taking place on Saturday evening, with some high-profile guest speakers, as the party gears up for next May's referendum: On Saturday, join Nick Clegg, Art Malik, Martin Bell, some surprise special guests and myself as we launch our campaign for a fairer voting system. As you know , Nick Clegg is leading the fight in Parliament to secure the United Kingdom its first ever referendum on electoral reform. Fighting for fairer votes will be one of the top priorities for the Liberal Democrats this ...
If you haven't watched it, it's worth having a look at '9/11 State of Emergency' here on Channel 4. It's an excellent narrative of the events of 9/11, albeit rather truncated. (For example, it told you that Bush was heading for an air force base in Louisiana but then the Bush itinerary was left hanging. ...And I did find Condeleeza Rice's almost constant grin rather disconcerting, although it became clear at the end that she tends to smile when she is sad. A sort of brave smile, if you like.) It was quite a coup to a have documentary with ...
Unlike many of my dear friends, I am not headed off to Conference in Liverpool. This could be a good thing, for the following reasons: 1. My liver is grateful that it's not going to be asked to process too much alcohol, particularly late at night. 2. My bank balance will be in a significantly healthier state by the end of the week. 3. I get to see more of my darling husband and daughter on their long weekend off. 4. If I look sad enough about missing my chance to be at the Blog of the Year Awards tonight ...
You couldn't make it up. These two seem to be getting along very well. From the Sun Nick Clegg tells the story: David was still on paternity leave and I was holding the fort. They were installing themselves in the flat upstairs and David said to come up and see little Florence – who is adorable. So I went up, and found her asleep, but the Prime Minister struggling with an IKEA cupboard which he was assembling. I felt I was able to provide some helpful tips, having struggled with IKEA cupboards myself before. We're both young dads, with young ...
Liberator subscribers will be picking up the latest edition of Liberator magazine (issue no.341 - September 2010) this week from the Liberator stall at the Liverpool party conference. For those of you not yet subscribing, here's a summary of the contents: The editorial column Commentary questions why the Liberal Democrats aren't fighting their corner within the coalition and carving out a more distinct position. There is also a lament for the ignorance of the media about the Liberal Democrats, likely to be worse than ever in Liverpool because so many media 'newbies' will be showing up. The insider gossip column ...
CommentIsFree has published a piece from Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard about the coalition, its future and what the party's priorities should be. The Guardian has published an abbreviated version of the piece, the full version of which we publish here: Liberals and Liberal Democrats became accustomed over many decades to attending our party conferences amidst media reports of the party's imminent demise. At one of the first that I attended, I remember the then Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe describing how the "Fleet Street hearse" regularly turned up to the Liberal Assembly but went away empty. The Lib Dem Conference ...
Hearing about US Republican candidate Christine O'Donnell's idiocy: They are — they are doing that here in the United States. American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains. So they're already into this experiment. I was reminded of another reactionary blowhard's pronouncements about genetic engineering ...
I wrote yesterday (was it yesterday, it seems a long time ago?) about how the media was colluding to portray Nick Clegg as a hate figure on the left. They are also, of course, having a go at maximising trouble at the party conference today. That's their job, after all. But when I turned on the radio this morning, and heard the BBC announcing that Clegg was condemning the idea that the Lib Dems were "left wing rivals to Labour", even I did a double take. That is precisely how many of us would describe the party's position, after all. ...
One of the many benefits of being surrounded by people from other cultures is finding out about the best that their culture has to offer. In the case of my American team mate this tends to come out in the form of some fairly funny video's.
Sat 18th
11:09
Let's stop trying to kid ourselves about what the Lib Dems have achieved as part of the coaltion
If you are reading a Lib Dem press release, Lib Dem Voice or any number of Lib Dem MPs writing articles for the press this week ahead of the party conference, you could easily be fooled in to believing that the Lib Dems are responsible for the majority of what the new government has pledged to introduce. But the truth of the matter is that the Lib Dem influence is limited and strictly confined to areas of the government that do not affect the ordinary person on a day to day level. Let's get one of the lies out of ...
Maybe I'll get in trouble for this entry - but then this is my blog and my views, so here goes. Today I am angry. It's our conference and I am angry. What is the reason for my anger? Here in Sittingbourne and Sheppey we have a small local party. Like many of our local parties we are extremely short of resources, of money, of manpower. We have an entrenched solid Conservative council to fight and the local Tory and Labour parties have wealth we can only dream of. We have very few council seats. We have a referendum to ...
I can't really believe that I am writing this post. My friend, Simon Moxon died last week and I wanted to write a tribute to a great friend. It seems fitting that I am writing this during the Liberal Democrat Conference, firstly Simon would have been there and secondly he was one of the most passionate Lib Dems I ever met. I first met Simon when he started work at the same place as me, he was only due to be temporary to cover a maternity leave. I learnt so much from him during this time. He was truly the ...
We're in Liverpool for the Liberal Democrat conference and my laptop is usefully hooked up to the wi-fi here in our Hampton by Hilton Hotel which is usefully just a 5 minute walk from the conference centre. I plan to blog where I can throughout the week to give a sample of life at a conference 'as it happens'. I'm staying with a group of our students from Aberystwyth University at the Hampton and we all arrived yesterday mid-afternoon. After a 7 hour bus trip I was shattered and needed a break before setting off into town for the evening. ...
LibDemVoice are hosting four events at conference – fuller details are available here. The first of these falls tonight, at the Blog of the Year Awards. If you'd like to come along, why not click here to let your twitter friends know.
Clare Sambrook the novelist and journalist, who is the pro-bono co-ordinator of End Child Detention Now wrote to be asking if I would cross post this article writen by here for open democracy. I am happy to cross post that article in full and unabridged here today as our party gathers in Liverpool for conference. State-sponsored cruelty The Liberal Democrats must fight to salvage their promise to end the detention of children for immigration purposes in the UK. Ask Boy A what he is scared of and he says dogs, strangers and policemen. He is scared to go outside and ...
I'm in Liverpool for the Lib Dem conference, working out of the Lib Dem News office which is on one of the VIP boxes at the Liverpool Arena. Tis a long way up!
A totally predictable headline on the front page of today's Daily Mail. If you can't manage to click through to see the true awfulness of the Mail, I will tell you that it reads 'POPE'S BATTLE TO SAVE CHRISTMAS'. According to the Mail: "The Pope issued a clarion call to defend Christianity last night, saying ...
It was all planned in detail. I would take our car to conference. It would be its last journey. It is being replaced and is heading for the second hand rust market. However, I hate driving and have not driven any long distance for over a decade. So this morning, I woke up and decided I couldn't face the prospect of driving all the way to Liverpool. The detailed route I had drawn up to get there
If you want the chance to pitch your idea to our expert panel at our fringe, you have until noon on Sunday 19th September to email your pitch to politicaldragonsden - politicaldragonsden.hat.gmail.com.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one). You need to be able to attend the fringe which is at 1pm on Wednesday 22nd Sept in Liverpool ACC Hall 11C to speak for your idea! Hope to see you there!
[IMG: Harold Macmillan] Although I know Jim Callaghan didn't say, "Crisis? What crisis?" and that Disraeli's coalition quote was a case of political self-interest rather than constitutional wisdom, I had thought that Harold Macmillan really did say "Events, dear boy, events" when asked what was most likely to knock governments off course. Now, however, I know better. As with the case of Lewis Carroll, even relatively recent historical truth can prove remarkably elusive, with hard evidence difficult to find and much apparently robust evidence simply turning out to be a case of everyone quoting everyone else.
For those of you out there that cant make the Liberal Democrat Conference in person this year, I have created a daily newspaper using paper.li to follow all the latest tweets using that hashtag. You can book mark the link ... Continue reading →
16.00 Arrive Liverpool 18.30 Conference Rally 20.00 Impact of Immigration cap on Communities / EMLD and Chinese Liberal Democrats / Fringe / speaking 21.00 London Region Reception 22.00 LibDem Blog of the Year / Nominated
The debate over whether allowing graduates with a third to teach is raging on. The BBC this week reported that researchers have found that banning teachers with third class degrees would cause a really bad teacher shortage.I have always tried to keep an open mind on this subject (some might say as a typical Lib Dem I am sitting on the fence), but really there should only be one measurement- are
Saturday morning and I'm on my way to the Liberal Democrat Conference in Liverpool. The conference promises to be the busiest yet with registrations up by 40% on previous years. Security is much tighter as well body scanners and sniffer dogs. The most we normally get is a quick look in your hand bag by venue staff so I think some conference goers are in for a shock. I have a whole list of events I want to go to and then a whole list of events I have to go to. On top of that I am, as Chairperson ...
Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the UK, something you probably couldn't escaping knowing. There is lots of television coverage and huge amounts of internet chatter about the visit, most of it critical.
I've decided which political cliché I most hate. It's "it would send a strong signal..." along with its sibling "it would send the wrong signal" and its cousin "it would send the wrong message". Government is not just about money and regulation decisions; inspiring, questioning, warning and all manner of rhetoric have their role. But don't call for money or regulations just to signal something. If the substance is right, justify the money or regulations on those grounds. And if you only want to send a signal, don't summon up the law makers or accountants - summon up a good ...
A year ago, I set off for Bournemouth with little enthusiasm and not a little dread. Whilst the message for public consumption was upbeat, there was a small, still voice, clamouring for attention, warning of a likely third party squeeze, and of losses to the Conservatives as they swept to power. Little did any of us know that, a year later, we would be gathering to reflect on the unpredictability of politics, and we would have Liberal Democrats as Ministers of the Crown. And with that comes a whole world of questions, risks and opportunities. Will our conference change? Will ...
Last year I wrote: Calder's First Law of Politics is that if all the parties agree on a new law it is bound to turn out to be a disaster. My Second Law is that the more power the government takes for itself, the more arbitrary the exercise of that power becomes.I have since formulated my Third Law: The worth of a letter to the Guardian is in inverse proportion to the square of its number of signatories.Which is why I was not overimpressed by Michael Bassey's article for Liberal Democrat Voice today. In it he argues that the Liberal ...
Last night the bars and restaurants around the Liberal Democrats' conference in Liverpool, together with the online political community were buzzing with the story on the front page of The Independent. Below a photo of a pensive Nick Clegg is the following statement and quote: As the Liberal Democrat conference begins, Nick Clegg gives his party ...
I arrived in sunny Liverpool last night for what will be my 24th Autumn Party Conference. I suspect it could be one of the more interesting ones! No doubt the media, as ever, will be full of stories about how the party is about to go down the plughole, but in the 24 years I've seen them say that it hasn't happened yet! I hope wil we will see the party start to assert itself. In my view we need to put a bit more emphasis on what our plocies are and what we stand for, rather than appear to ...
A Labour Councillor in Merthyr Tydfil could report a Liberal Democrat to the Ombudsman for breaching the Council's code of conduct, after she used her mobile phone to tweet in a Council meeting. The Western Mail says that Amy Kitcher (@Amy Kitcher) was posting innocuous missives from her seat in Merthyr Tydfil's council chamber on Wednesday when fellow councillor Chris Barry took umbrage at her actions: The Lib Dem said: "I decided to tweet because I know some MPs tweet from the Houses of Parliament when PMQs are taking place and Assembly Members tweet. "Lots of people do. And I ...
Chris Henry of Winkball.com writes for Lib Dem Voice about the site's plans to give up to 10,000 members of the public their say on the big three issues facing the country... This weekend sees the party political conference season continue with the Liberal Democrat Party conference in Liverpool. Much debate will certainly surround this conference after the Liberal Democrats found themselves in alliance with the Conservatives to form a coalition government after the drama of Britain's hung parliament crisis in May. With the media storm that surrounds this the party political season, one media outlet will be finding out ...
i) births and deaths 18th September 1963: birth of Gary Russell, former editor of Doctor Who Magazine, former producer at Big Finish, author of twelve Doctor Who novels (counting the book-of-the-movie) and of various other related books, script editor for The Waters of Mars and The End of Time, and director of the two Tenth Doctor animated stories. ii) broadcast anniversaries 18th September 1965: broadcast of "Trap of Steel", the third episode of the series we now call Galaxy 4. The Drahvins hold Steven hostage while the Doctor and Vicki are sent to explore the Rills' ship; and Vicki is ...
I blogged on here a short time ago about the rather unpleasant comments that AA Gill of the Telegraph directed towards BBC sports commentator Clare Balding referring to her as a Dyke on a bike. Thankfully the PCC agreed that ... Continue reading →
Nick Clegg's interview in the Telegraph in advance of the Liberal Democrat Conference this week has got Labour tongues all wagging again with their unsurprising interpretation on his meaning in the article. One of the quotes from the article which ... Continue reading →
Former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell was one of the party's first MPs to indicate unhappiness with the Coalition's programme for government, stating he would vote against any increase in student tuition fees that October's Browne review on university funding might recommend. Under the terms of the Coalition agreement, Lib Dem MPs were supposed only to abstain on any such measure. However, this week's Times Higher Education Supplement indicates that the Coalition's proposals for a graduate contribution may just be enough to win Ming over: Speaking in the run-up to the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool starting on 18 September, ...
I'm surprised that this simplistic idea of Michael Gove has surfaced again. Of course teachers need to know what they're talking about, but I suspect that, once we are assured that a teacher has the necessary basic knowledge, there is little correlation between academic performance and teaching effectiveness. In fact, I suspect that if the teacher himself/herself has had to struggle to grasp the basics then he/she will have more sympathy with and understanding of the difficulties of a pupil who faces similar struggles. Able mathematicians and physicists in particular can easily zoom off into the stratosphere leaving ordinary mortals ...
I got to my hotel in Liverpool last night and then took a stroll down to the Conference Centre. There were police everywhere. It was to be expected of course, but still it does not feel like a Liberal Democrat Conference. The last time I saw this sort of security was when the SDP/Liberal Democrat Alliance were leading in the opinion polls, though there was also the armed patrols during the visit of the American Ambassador, shortly after 9/11. Being in government also means that the way that Conference is conducted changes as well. There will still be the fringe ...
A blurry rubbish photo, as requested1, of my St John uniform :) Off to my first duty now :) if I wasn't so excited, I'd be shattered. It's 5:30! In the morning! My duty doesn't start until 8:00, but I have to wrangle security and thus must be on site by 6:45. Blargh. I blame the Pope. 1: the photo part was requested, not the blurry rubbish part. I have no control over that; iSight is naff. *shakes fist at Apple*
FIVE Bradford men, including two former councillors, were jailed earlier this week for their parts in a failed postal votes scam aimed at getting a Conservative Party candidate elected in the 2005 general election. A judge heard that a newspaper investigation and police inquiry unearthed a plot to try to get Tory candidate Haroon Rashid elected in the marginal Bradford West seat using hundreds of fraudulent postal vote applications. Leeds Crown Court was told detectives examined about 900 suspicious forms - many from people who did not exist or had no idea an application had been made on their behalf. ...
Okay, that title is misleading, It's just another example of me trying to get as many Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine songs into my stuff as I can! However, I'm at Lib Dem Federal Conference 2010 and there are important matters to be sorted out. Not the crap that the press would have you believe about left/right, progressive/radical or any other such arbitrary construct put up by a media bereft of any anchor points for their turgid prose or indeed any ability to think beyond their proprietors prejudices. Lib Dems have been comfortable with the idea of coalition for decades, ...
This is the front page of the Independent that caused a stooshie around about the time of the 10 o'clock news bulletins and Newsnight. Quite a little bit of mischief was being created from all sorts of quarters. But that isn't the full quote indeed it isn't a direct quote at all. It is a headline truncation of this from an interview Nick Clegg gave: "There were some people, particularly around the height of the Iraq war, who gave up on the Labour Party and turned to the Liberal Democrats as a sort of left-wing conscience of the Labour Party. ...
The Pope is dominating the news and it looks like mainstream faith is being mentioned rather than than the usual presentation of Catholic minority views. I have even written previously about Sunday religious programmes being dominated by non-religious views, but the general view of the way that Roman Catholic beliefs are presented in the media is to place a token Catholic into some stories on television. Think of Ivy Tilsley on Coronation Street, Father Ted or any of the Fathers on this show or the hocus pocus of Dan Brown's books. However much you may like or dislike the Simpsons, ...
