It is said that only two things in life are certain; Death and Taxes, although Ashcroft Incorporated is working on both. Death is only slightly older than taxes, since humans have a rather logarithmic view of time. Benefits, on the other hand, are much newer than both, being only a few generations old. But it is taxes that get my (and apparently the uk media's) attention today. The reason people (rightly) get so cross about both tax evasion and benefit fraud is that they are both stealing from you. Not some crazy tense "you" that actually means aunt Mavis, but ...
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. A special welcome to our new subscribers, which this week include Anna Soubry's office manager. That's fine, this service is read by members of all three political parties and many members of none. 1. Stapleford LIFT Project There have been rumours circulating in Stapleford that the Lift Project, or parts of it, are to close. I had a meeting with the chair of the Primary Care Trust this week so we asked him about that. He told me ...
Hurrah! My duty yesterday was largely uneventful - mostly due to Control forgetting about us for two hours, leaving us sitting in a side street somewhere near Parliament Square for two hours waiting to be re-deployed after lunch - and when we were finally sent out, we did three circuits of the square and surrounding area before we went in the correct direction. I was involved in the treatment of three or four casualties - a couple of fainters and one young man who fell off his bike onto his chin whilst staring at the crowds trying to work out ...
These two have, obviously. Action for Global Health is calling on European and world leaders to become health heroes by stepping up their commitments and rescuing the three main health Millennium Development Goals. More on their website.
The Friends of Selly Oak Park AGM will be held at 3pm on Sunday 26 September in the Scout Hut on Gibbins Road next to the junction with Harborne Lane.The agenda will follow the normal format and following reports from the existing committee will elect the committee for 2010/11.
When I was a councillor I used to remind meetings that the great improvement in health over the past century or more was not down to heroic surgery or better drugs. It was down to local authorities using their public health powers to ensure there was a clean water supply. According to a leaflet from The World Walks for Water: 884 million people don't have clean water to drink, cook or wash with - that's one in eight of the global population. 2.6 billion live without adequate sanitation. This lack of access has a staggering effect on the lives of ...
With the success of the most recent Blog of the Year still ringing in our ears, I thought I'd dig through the archive and bring you the tapes from the previous incarnations of the event. Marvel at our clipped accents and the comical costumes we wore as we take this trip down memory lane. Firstly, Jonathan Calder unearthed some footage of the very first BOTY ceremony with guest speaker Alex Wilcock. This was way back in 2006 when the world was as a younger, kinder place. I'm not aware of any recordings from 2007 – if you can help fill ...
There is an interesting debate going on on the Linux Ubuntu forums about the implications of e-books for freedom from censorship. What this amounts to is that the Kindle owner does not have ultimate control over the books on their Kindle. This is retained by Amazon which can delete them. This may not matter much now, but imagine a society in which physical books are no longer produced and everyone has their library on an e-book reader instead. Then suppose the government in that society decides to ban Orwell's 1984. One press of a button and 1984 is deleted from ...
In just 10 weeks since the start of the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats have exerted a huge influence over its agenda. Going into the election the Liberal Democrats made clear that they had four key priorities: fairer taxes; a fair start for children with extra funding for disadvantaged pupils; a comprehensive clean up of our politics, including a fairer voting system; and a green, sustainable economy. Thanks to Lib Dem involvement, the Government will deliver on each of these. There are also a large number of other Lib Dem policies and pledges that will now begin to make a ...
Am on the sofa in what has been christened The Presidential Suite, which is a really gorgeous penthouse apartment near Lime Street Station. My flatmate and I are going to eat, and then I am going back into the fray, but for now I thought you'd like a quick update. - BOTYs - Millennium finally winning the long deserved Big Boty was a very emotional moment; pointing and laughing at Charlotte as she went to collect her Non Lib Dem Blogger award was more fun. I am very pleased and proud that Andrew won the best posting award, too, although ...
Studies show that journalists are very poor at understanding science. When they might just as easily be "default" male, or indeed being aliens (even on a kids' show) have no gender at all, they are neither very patriarchical nor matriarchal, and don't seem hung up on gender at all. While Sim would probably dislike the ...
I have just got back to the hotel (on my own, on two different buses) from a rally held in a sunny plaza outside the Lincoln Centre. You can find a full list of the speakers who took part on its website. There was also music and I particularly liked the saxophone player from Mamarazzi, who made his stand against global poverty by dressing as a panda. And there was a stalls area, and I picked up armfuls of leaflets there. I shall now read them and share some of the more interesting links with you.
At the request of residents, I have been keeping a close eye on the road works and road closure in Thomson Street and have dealt with any issues residents raise. Last week, the bin collection arrangements did not work well (bins not returned to residents by the contractor) and the brown bin collection arrangements did not really work at all. I have been in touch with the City Council to ensure liaison arrangements with the contractor over cleansing collections work better in future weeks.
There was a consultative session this morning about 'Strategy' based on this document (clear print or plain text). Essentially, it was a discussion of how the party should proceed now that it's part of a coalition government; particularly how it should continue to make distinct policy, and how that policy should be presented. I managed to miss most of it, although I'm hoping to be able to iPlayer it at some point, because based on accounts from it, and from Ros Scott's summation which I did catch, it sounds very interesting. One point that did come up was that it ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 187th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (12th – 18th September, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Party ...
On Thursday, along with other members of the Dundee House Project Board, I took part in a site visit round the Dundee House construction site in North Lindsay Street. The new council headquarters are proceeding well - the view (right) is from the top floor of the building - although I raised some queries about the project at the board meeting that took place immediately after the site visit.
[IMG: Broccoli] I now have an explanation for at least for one of the comments about me - BBC1's Politics Show East ran a brief interview with me about the party and coalition. The interview included the first (and quite possibly last) deployment of my chocolate dessert and broccoli explanation. You can watch it here.
I thoroughly recommend watching 'Corrie: The road to Coronation Street' on BBC iPlayer here. It's an excellent and charming programme which plots the faltering progress of Tony Warren and his "Florizel Street" through the corridors of Granada television studios in Manchester. On a personal note, I was actually on the Granada Call sheet for one day with the Coronation Street cast that day. I was appearing with my dearly beloved in a quiz programme made at the same studios called "Perceptions" in the late eighties. I have a photo somewhere of me standing on the Rovers Return set (which at ...
Sun 19th
19:10
LibLink: Mark Pack - Coalition is like getting some chocolate but having to eat your broccoli
Lib Dem Voice co-editor Mark Pack was interviewed for BBC One's The Politics Show (East) on what the mood of conference was likely to be. Here's the write-up on the Beeb's site: The Lib Dem Party is in a pensive mood, we are told, by Mark Pack from Lib Dem Voice, a website for grassroots supporters. Although Lib Dems are pleased to be in government, they are not as upbeat as you may imagine at their first Conference in power for several generations. There is a balance to be struck between finally pushing through Lib Dem policies and having to ...
There is a Podcast here.
I have, at my heart, the needs and concerns of local people and ensuring they have a voice in local democracy.
I understand that the recommendation from the Village Green Inquiry about Belle Vue is expected tomorrow. As soon as I know what it is I will post it here.
This was the megaphone diplomacy (literally) employed by the Labour Party outside the Lib Dem Conference yesterday. I was greeted by their amplified cries as I left the conference centre and on my way back I decided to try to engage in debate with the group. When I stopped to talk it was quickly clear that debate was the last thing on their minds. Slogans were all that was on offer. There is a real debate to be had on policy. There are Lib Dems, Conservatives and Labour Party members, each with reservations about some aspect of party policy. When ...
So, I'm here in Liverpool in a largely behind-the-scenes role. I am benefitting from a Party Staff pass, which lets me get into all sorts of interesting places. The LDV office is directly behind the stage, so one of the main routes in is right behind the giant screen. Which looks like this: [IMG: Backstage at #Ldconf] Today we held a fringe in a large room in the Arena, and so I got there early to to a bit of setup. They had a giant screen, so I could wangle my way into the tech room at the back so ...
Saturday night witnessed the starriest of Lib Dem fringe occasions: the Blog of the Year awards. Ah, it takes me back. Four years ago, I won the inaugural prize. It was the last time I was eligible to win it — which is just as well, because I don't think I'd get a look-in now. This year was the first year I've had no vested interest at all: neither a nominee nor a judge. But I did get to co-compere — with 'Blog of the Year' organiser, Helen Duffett — the extravaganza that is the annual 'BOTY' shindig. You can ...
[IMG: Charity Hack Logo] This is the presentation I gave for Charity Hack 2010. If you're on mobile, you can view the mobile friendly version of the slides. Audio and video coming later. The gist of the talk is – use QR codes to drive mobile donations. Use return SMS to encourage people to share with their friends. Share This [IMG: Add 'Charity Hack – QR Codes For Enhanced Mobile Giving' to Del.icio.us] [IMG: Add 'Charity Hack – QR Codes For Enhanced Mobile Giving' to digg] [IMG: Add 'Charity Hack – QR Codes For Enhanced Mobile Giving' to reddit] [IMG: ...
Liberal Democrats discussed International Development at their Conference in Liverpool.
Three failures and one giant lost opportunityFailure 1 – TargetingThis version of the Tesco shopping app is only available on Nokia phones. Nothing wrong with that – Nokia are still the biggest phone seller on the planet. So why allow the advert to be shown to Android users? [IMG: Tesco's advert on The Guardian] It will annoy users, reduce your CPM, and make users less likely to click on adverts in future. Failure 2 – SizingThis is the full resolution on the advert. [IMG: Tesco's ad banner] (full resolution) 168*28 is barely enough to contain all the information you want ...
This lunchtime, Lib Dem conference representatives gathered in the staggeringly poorly signposted Hall 1B to hear a stellar lineup of Susan Kramer, Evan Harris and interloper Will Straw from Left Foot Forward hold forth on the subject of "Fairer? For whom?" – excellently wrangled by the chairman, our own Stephen Tall. As with all Lib Dem Voice fringe events, we were there with our trusty recording equipment for posterity, and for the readers of Lib Dem Voice at home who were not able to join us at conference. I'm sure it will also be helpful to those LibDemVoice editors who ...
So there I was, a couple of weeks ago, wandering around Office Max as part of a quest for a laptop table that I could use to save my back from sofa slouch. I did not find what I was looking for, but I did find an apparently innocent DVD titled Batman and Robin and dating from 1949. I'd only been vaguely aware that Batman adaptations existed from that era, and the opportinity to watch them seized me with excitement. Surely my roommate would be also excited to see Batman serials from the 1940s. And that's where it hit me: ...
There is only one of the four Party Presidential candidates who wouldn't get a flea in their ear for waking me up with a phone call. To be fair on Jennie, it was 9:35 and I should have got my backside of bed long before that. Anyway, it really lovely to talk to her and to hear about how her Presidential campaign is gathering pace in Liverpool, with the first Parliamentarian signing her nomination form today. She's collecting loads of signatures. I think it's great that our Party has the sort of open structure where any member can have a ...
Former Conservative MP Angela Browning, former Liberal Democrat MP David Howarth, former SNP MP and MSP George Reid and ex-Labour HQ staffer Roy Kennedy have been appointed as Electoral Commissioners by Parliament (see news release here). These are the first 'political' appointments since the laws governing the Electoral Commission were changed to permit people with recent political activity to become commissioners. Roy Kennedy's appointment may cause some comment as he was the Labour Party's Director of Compliance since 2005, a period during which there were many controversies over the Labour Party's approach to finances. For example, there were no prosecutions ...
Below is a sound recording of the Nick Clegg Q&A that just happened. We also live-tweeted it – and the tweets will not be displaced from our feed for a few hours yet. And m'colleague Stephen Tall was live-blogging the session, and his words can be found here.
The Independent, which became almost readable during the election, has — ever since the Coalition — been a sour, snarky, sarky read. Today's not an exception. Under the perplexing headline, Confused: The Liberal Democrat party disciples who can no longer enjoy the comforts of failure, the paper attempts to portray a party that's extremely ill-at-ease. Well, that's not how it feels to me. Sure, the Coalition is the topic of conversation. Sure, there's nervousness — a lot of it — about what it will mean for the party's electoral prospects. But, overhwelmingly, there's a sense that the Coalition was the ...
Another up-tick in the quality of the annuals; the stories are actually rather good, though confusingly six out of nine feature Jo Grant rather than Sarah Jane Smith who was now the established companion (and in those that do have Sarah, she is depicted as blonde). The best of the generally very literate stories is the second of the two comic strips, "After the Revolution", with art by Edgar Hodges (though author of the text unknown), which has the revolutionary leader still in charge of the planet of Freedonia [sic] decades after he came to power as a bottled brain; ...
Danny Alexander's speech this morning in Liverpool was well attended as he outlined that although going into coalition was not the easy thing to do, it was the right thing to do. Reading some of the revelations from recent political memoirs, Danny explained that we have replaced One party at war with itself - with Two parties working together for the good of the country. Danny also outlined a few things the Government is going to do to balance the budget. Necessary as the previous Government borrowed one pound in four that it spent, doubling the national debt and left ...
Copied verbatim from p. 55: Dr Who and his team have many important decisions to make and problems to work out on their voyages through space and time. How good are you at working out problems that don't always have a simple, obvious solution? Try these brain teasers: 1. The tide is rising. and you're sitting in a ship in the harbour. A rope ladder hangs over the side of the boat, its ends just touching the water. If the rungs of the rope ladder are one foot apart, and the tide rises at the rate of eight inches an ...
Over at the New Statesman, former Lib Dem director of communciations, Olly Grender, ponders the real question dominating the Liverpool conference. Not 'Do you support the Coalition?' (the vast majority of members do), but rather the key dilemma: "How much do we celebrate our separateness in government versus how much do we argue that this is a fully integrated team?" Here's her conclusion: So what is the correct answer? Celebrate the differences? Or talk about the team? I suspect that the holy Grail of "being distinctive" at a national rather than local level is far less realisable than people think. ...
I am just taking a short break from the conference to post. Nick Clegg has done a Q&A session with party members. Far from wanting to hang him by his ankles as some papers have claimed it was very civilised and mainly centred around how we keep our identity and deliver on our priorities as junior partners in the coalition. Nick coped very well as expected. While we have received more than adequate justifications for everything done so far there was understandable uneasiness about forthcoming welfare cuts. I share that anxiety but until I have seen the detail of exactly ...
Day two of the Lib Dem conference has been interesting. We had speeches this morning from two former Scottish Lib Dem Press Officers and Researchers for Jim Wallace made good. First up was Scottish Lib Dem Leader Tavish Scott who was lamenting the slippage in his celebrity status as a former minister now that we have ministers galore at Westminster. Tavish was teeing things up for next years election and provided a welcome reminder to the faithful that our experience of coalition at Holyrood was rewarded with bigger votes or shares not annihilation as some feared. Then there was Chief ...
On walking into conference hall, a steward said to me: "Do you have a painting in your attic? You're looking so much longer". Stephen Tall, for no discernible reason: "You are the Ed Miliband of the Liberal Democrat Voice team". A former work colleague: "You're big in East Anglia". Thank you one and all. Sort of.
This afternoon Liberal Democrat Conference discussed Human Rights and the War on Terror.
Sunday lunchtime saw Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander address Liberal Democrat conference. The packed nature of the hall, the fullest it had been so far save for the rally on Saturday night, reflects both the importance of Danny's role and the interest from many members in hearing direct from him. What's really happening with the cuts? How much is fairness figuring? And can Danny present the message successfully? Not being David Laws is a burden that has hung over his early days in office and this speech was his opportunity to establish himself in party eyes as his ...
Speaking to the Liberal Democrat federal conference in Liverpool today, Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, announced a £900m attack on tax avoidance and evasion. The additional investment is expected to raise an extra £7bn each year by 2014/15 from those who currently avoid paying their fair share of tax. HMRC will use the extra funding for: - A more robust criminal deterrent against tax evasion - The creation of a new dedicated team of investigators to crackdown on offshore evasion - The creation of bespoke cyber crime teams and online specialists - More investment in freight and ...
Nick Clegg has just taken to the podium to take questions from the floor... 2.52 pm... First up is Linda Jack, who asks, "Can I still trust you with my party?" Yes of course you can, says Nick. We've restored the pensions link, taken 900,000 people out of income tax, imposed a bank levy, addressed capital gains, etc. "There's nothing fair or socially just about asking our chldren or grandchildren to pay off our debts." 2.55 pm... Linda comes back: I don't see enough to deal with young people or poverty or inequality in the Coalition agreement. You can share ...
[IMG: Birthday lunch] Normally at this time of year my lunches consist of hotel buffets at whatever fringe event I have chosen to attend. Occassionally on my birthday I have been travelling so it is a package of Boots sandwiches or the equivalent that I have eaten while in transit. There have even been the odd occasion it has been by election fayre grabbed when I could be fore getting shipped back out again. Not today I was at the Cafe Manor, Donaghadee with my mum. Thinking of missing some friends I'd have loved to have seen at conference already ...
Earlier this year I visited Ratlinghope and the grave of the last sin-eater in England. The BBC News Shropshire pages report that the grave has now been restored and that there will be a service at Ratlinghope this afternoon to mark the event.
The Lib Dem conference (which I am not at, because I have enough Lib Dem in my life at home without needing to go to Liverpool to get more) is bigger than ever. And today we used the occasion to launch the biggest ever clampdown on tax evasion, which will raise £7bn a year. The Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has announced plans to crack down on offshore tax havens and other tax "dodges" which he has said are "morally indefensible." And it's about time too. Not for the coalition, which has got onto this six ...
Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today backed plans for all service veterans to be awarded a National Defence Medal. Commenting, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs, Tim Farron said: "This medal is a small token of appreciation for the huge debt that everyone in Britain owes to the brave members of our Armed Services, past and present. "The Queen has already awarded a similar medal to veterans in Australia. It is only right that we honour the sacrifice of our service men and women in the same way." Rick
The Lib Dem conference has given a cast iron guarantee on the Royal Mail and Post Office, following the recent Government announcement that the Lib Dem policy to privatise Royal Mail whilst keeping the Post Offices in public ownership .The reason behind privatising Royal Mail (the letter-delivering part) is to give it the ability to raise funds from private sources to modernise and improve, to challenge its private competitors. The commitment, from Business Secretary Vince Cable guarantees a universal service obligation - delivery everywhere for a single standard price. This is a "copper bottomed guarantee." In addition, the guarantee confirms ...
A few days ago, Nick Clegg wrote an article for The Times (reproduced for free on his site here), in which he talked about the need for reform of the welfare system. In The Times, this attracted the headline "Poor must accept cuts in benefit, says Clegg", which itself attracted much understandable criticism. Except, as you can see by reading the article, he didn't say that. Except, as far as I can tell, he all-but did. At least, he didn't give any other mechanism by which what he said made sense. The article says (a) that the welfare budget is ...
Liberal Democrat Minister of State for Health, Paul Burstow held a consultation session with Conference delegates on the Health White Paper the other day. I criticised Mr Burstow a few weeks ago about an obesity policy which I thought was neither liberal nor sensible, and pretty much devoid of any actual ideas. Unfortunately, I have similar reservations about his words on the Health white paper. Talking about the white paper, Mr Burstow said "We were among the first to argue for patient choice and empowerment, first to demand more autonomy for health professionals, first to push for more social enterprises ...
On Wednesday I was teaching my pre-intermediate teenagers and we were looking at hobbies and interests. One of the more interesting questions was "does anyone have a hobby that could become a profession, after all if they say yes to this then it would show that they must really be interested in this hobby and probably spend a fair bit of time doing this activity. One student revealed they were a
Over at The Independent today, Lib Dem secretary of state for business, skills and innovation Vince Cable declares unequivocally that he will be trying to convince the Liberal Democrat conference that the Coalition's austerity programme of cuts are right and will be fair. Here's an excerpt: What will matter for my party and the country at large is whether fiscal discipline and wider reforms are carried through in a spirit of fairness. Within a few months, some key steps have been taken in that direction. The first has been to lift income tax thresholds, taking low earners out of tax ...
Following on from my previous post with a Ukrainian political post I thought I'd show you another one. this time belonging to Aleksandr Vilkul
What do you want to see in a magazine? Do you want to see celebrities looking slightly fatter than they did in a different photo? Or people showing you round their lovely new house? Or do you want articles defending Thomas Kuhn from unfair generalisations made by the magazine's editor? Parodies of Samuel Beckett and ...
Next to my house is the truly impressive Globa Park. Coming from the UK and being use to parks being wide open spaces where one could play football, walk a dog in the wide open expanse and, a few years ago now mind, play on the swings and slides (or for some teenager swig cheap cider on said swings and slides). Here in the Ukraine the most obvious difference is the amount of tress that take up
I can't say I watched every single speech, partly because I had a phone call which took up most of the standards debate so if you have any other nominations, please put them in the comments. For me, though, it would be difficult to beat Linda Jack's speech in the Defence medal debate. She talked about her own history in the armed forces, how she now opposes Trident and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, views I share with her. She also highlighted some of the disgraceful ways in which we treat our veterans, particularly in the field of mental ...
The Guardian reports that the Liberal Democrats today offered a "copper-bottomed guarantee" that mail will continue to be delivered anywhere across the United Kingdom at the same price. They say that there had been fears that the universal service obligation could be under threat after the business secretary, Vince Cable, threw his weight behind a report on the future of the Royal Mail, which said significant amounts of private capital were needed to keep the business afloat. At the Liberal Democrat's annual gathering in Liverpool, Tavish Scott, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: "I want to be very clear ...
Nick Cohen has a good article in today's Observer (I learn over the web from my New York hotel bedroom) about the case of Paul Chambers: Because of a joke, he has a criminal record and lost two jobs. The CPS is ruining his life - for no reason.(Sunny Hundal on Liberal Conspiracy suggests that the rhetoric of journalists like Cohen has helped engender an atmosphere where it is possible for the state to get away with things like this, but we'll let that pass for now.) Cohen concludes that: I don't care what the polls say or how unpopular ...
Don has received the following emailDear Mr Don Foster, In an effort to strengthen and support the UK voluntary sector, Microsoft invests in several programmes designed to help voluntary and community organisations make the best use of our technology. We were wondering if you had voluntary and community organisations of charitable status in your constituency that would benefit from
We have received the followingDear Councillor I would like to inform you of a special offer from Housing Services open to all home owners and tenants who rent from a private landlord. >From 01 September 2010, through our "Warm Streets scheme" Housing Services are offering residents free loft and cavity wall insulation. To apply residents must phone Warm Streets on 0800 512 012. We would like to
There is little left, we have seen the affect in Odd DownWhat: Bath & North East Somerset Council is planning to cut its youth service again in the forthcoming budget process. Current plans would see the closure of another youth centre in the authority. Young people, activists, and opponents will be gathering outside the Guildhall Bath to protest against the plans before a meeting of the
Neil Kinnock had his say on the Labour leadership election the other day. He accused David Miliband's supporters of spreading "bloody bile" about Ed Miliband. It was a reminder, in two words, of just how awful Kinnock is. First, there is his love of alliteration for the sake of it - a tendency of his that Spitting Image was making fun of 25 years ago. Second, it is a ridiculous metaphor: unless the person in question is seriously ill, bile is not bloody. Third, and most important, it displays the paranoid style of Labour politics at its worst. One of ...
This morning Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Tavish Scott told representatives in his keynote speech that in talks with Liberal Democrat Business Secretary the Almighty Vince, he had secured 3 important guarantees on the future of the postal service: there will be no end to the universal postal rate - whether a letter is going to Kensington or Kyleakin it will cost the same to send it. Labour's post office closure programme will come to an endPosties will be allowed shares in the companyThis is good news for many communities across Scotland where the local Post Office is the focal point ...
With Liberal Democrats in government, and a massive increase in the number of journalists coming to Liberal Democrat conference this year, you might think the press has a different story to tell this year. In some ways they do. My first conference (as a teenager...) was the Llandudno conference that saw the launch of the Alliance. David Steel made his famous speech about "preparing for government" - and it has been used to mock at every conference since. Until now that is. Some of the papers this time are looking at how much of our manifesto is being implemented. That ...
A367 Fosseway:recently the Council undertook Carriageway Stabilization work at the top of A section from (and probably including) the Tunley junction to the Fullers Earth site.Also sections of the carriageway along the A367 Wellsway between the Park and Ride roundabout to the Frome Road roundabout. Site extents will be decided upon depending on the results from recent carriageway core tests.It is
As if attempting to make up for their shameless misrepresentation of Nick Clegg yesterday today's Independent on Sunday carries an interesting article by John Rentoul on the long term prospects for the Liberal Democrats. I do not agree with everything he says and in fact think that his conclusion is a bit fatuous, but nevertheless there are some interesting passages on why we are where we are: The historian Kenneth Morgan recently argued that those previous coalitions were also all disastrous. "The first prevented Irish self-government and was responsible for the Boer War. The second saw us plunge into economic ...
Today Liberal Democrats reaffirmed its belief in the freedom of the British press and the valuable role it can play in holding people, politicians and businesses, to account.
I was honoured to be invited to talk this morning on Gaydio, Manchester's first radio station for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Gaydio became the UK's first full time LGBT FM radio service in June of this year. It was a delight to talk about my involvement over the past few years in the Liberal Democrats and I was joined by the Secretary of DELGA Hollie Matthies who talked with passion and authority about a policy being put forward on Tuesday at the Lib Dem Conference in Liverpool entitled 'Marriage without Borders'. DELGA are the Lib Dem ...
The actor Art Malik compered the Rally at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool last night, introducing with humour and verve the Man in the White Suit, Martin Bell, the political reform campaigner Pam Giddy and a trio of LibDem stars: Jo Swinson, Tim Farron and Nick Clegg. Charles Kennedy had been billed to perform ...
At Lib Dem conference and got no time to read all the papers? Missing Lib Dem conference, and wanting to catch up on all the fun as refracted through the lens of the news media? Then look no further... (Warning: this post contains traces of Daily Mail. Avert your eyes if easily offended.) The Lib Dems should forget frog-fondling and think big (Matthew D'Ancona, Sunday Telegraph) Genuinely interesting article, well worth reading in full, but here's an interesting snippet: The Lib Dems' private polling shows a peeling-off of the idealist Left, but growing support from a group lumped together as ...
It's been wet in Liverpool so far. In fact, I was taking to one of our students Richard Morgan-Ash last night and he said that in his recollections, he can't remember a wet autumn conference. Come to think of it, in the 7 odd years I've been conferencing, neither can I. Hopefully the weather will improve. Yesterday was a good day though. A slow morning got going as we checked into conference and found our barings around the massive Echo Arena. Security As we'd been warned, security here is much more intrusive than normal but we've just got to make ...
It's been the year for reunions. Back in April I went to the 25-years-on reunion for Rathmore Grammar School; and although Cambridge undergraduate courses are only three years long, combined with my year off between school and university and the fact that our year gets rolled in with the year below, we had the 20-years-on reunion for Clare College graduates (strictly, those who matriculated in 1986 and 1987) on Friday night. It was an interesting contrast with the earlier event. There were no trailing spouses (though a few of us had married in-group, such as myself and Anne); nobody (as ...
The LibDem Voice BOTY awards are now available to hear in full via their podcast on the LibDem website. You can hear the whole ceremony by clicking on the link below. Listen here. If you cant listen to the podcast ... Continue reading →
It's Stephen Glenn's birthday today. Last year he celebrated his 40th at Liberal Democrat Conference in the company of such illustrious people as Jennie, the Elephant, Nick Clegg, and my cute little soft toy dog, Schnauzoo. Like me, he's also not at Liverpool and we're both missing it a lot. Anyway, happy birthday, Stephen, and enjoy playing with your new iPhone:-)
The Joint Transport Plan is the most important road, rail and bus plan for the next few years. Campaigners fighting for better road and public transport links from Yate were horrified when South Gloucestershire Council's only local effort at public consultation was three hours at Yate Shopping Centre on a Tuesday lunchtime. Cllr Chris Willmore complained "Yate shopping centre may be the centre of the universe to some people, but thinking you can get a proper understanding of public views by standing there one Tuesday lunchtime is mad. Our biggest problem is commuter traffic and by definition anyone who commutes ...
Nick Clegg is interviewed in today's Observer, and — as ever with Nick — there are many eminently quotable lines. So here's a filleted gamble through what he has to say... On the Lib/Con Coalition: "It's seen as unnatural. It's like cross-breeding between animal strains that shouldn't," he says, finally alighting on a comparison from the world of dogs. "We've got a sort of Crufts-like language about politics. It's all about purism and tribalism. And you're dealing with a government which is a mongrel mix of different blends and ideologies." On how the two parties are governing together: Nick's not ...
In the third of my interviews with the candidates for the Party Presidency, here's Tim Farron on why he thinks he should be the next President.
I've just been catching up on some of the tweets from yesterdays 'Protest The Pope' rally and quite honestly some of the comments made by people about the protestors strike me as downright rude and churlish. Here's a few of ... Continue reading →
Sun 19th
11:15
Evan Harris, Susan Kramer, Will Straw. And me. The Lib Dem Voice fringe, Sunday (1-2pm)
There is a stellar line-up of speakers for this Sunday lunchtime's LibDemVoice.org fringe event, titled with perfect grammar, Fairness? For Whom? Debating what the Coalition means for the Lib Dems' fairness agenda will be two first-rate former Lib Dems MPs, both of whom would have been wonderful additions to this current Parliament: Evan Harris and Susan Kramer. Joining them to offer a distinctive viewpoint will be Will Straw, editor of Left Foot Forward. Oh, and I'm chairing it. Now I've wetted your appetities, you want to know where and when you can come and enjoy it, don't you? Ok then: ...
If you are interested in representing your local community, whether as a local councillor, school governor or magistrate, but don't know where to start, there is a free community learning programme to support you. The 10 week course starts at 7pm on Monday 27 September in Yate Library. For more information, see the leaflet online. If you are interested in standing as a Liberal Democrat Councillor in next year's elections, for South Gloucestershire Council or your local Town or Parish, please contact a member of your Focus team.
Tavish Scott, leader of the Lib Dems in Scotland, bravely took the stage on a wet Sunday morning at Liberal Demcrat conference, and gave a cast iron guarantee from Vince Cable on the Royal Mail and Post Office, following from the recent Government announcement that the Lib Dem policy to privatise Royal Mail whilst keeping the Post Offices in public ownership . The reason behind privatising Royal Mail (the letter-delivering part) is to give it the ability to raise funds from private sources to modernise and improve, to challenge its private competitors. The commitment from from Vince Cable is: 1. ...
A solution focused approach seeks for strengths on which to build on. Here the Sunday Times finds strengths in the Lib Dems which is worth repeating: The party has prevailed on its coalition partner to raise tax thresholds on the low-paid and restore the earnings link for the basic state pension. New Labour's detested assault ...
A year ago today, I took to the streets of Newcastle and took part in my first (and only) Great North Run. It was the most ill prepared I have ever been for a race. I had run the London ... Continue reading →
On Wednesday evening I went to a Frontline Club event titled Who is winning the media war in Afghanistan? and was reminded of the way what journalists call "the kinetic stuff" (that is soldiers and shooting to you and me) dominates mainstream TV footage. The set of clips shown to set the scene at the start of the event were all of the kinetic kind and although during the event some journalists made the point that other types of footage is also used – they also conceded that those other reports are not the ones which grab the public attention ...
Up to 1996 in my review of Stockport's local election results from 1974 onwards, and a fourth future MP arrives on the scene as Mark Hunter is elected in North Marple. Andrew Stunell, Anne Coffey and Patsy Calton all spent time as Stockport councillors before taking their places in Westminster too. Another good year for the Lib Dems in the dog days of Major's Conservative government saw the Lib Dem Pam King win East Bramhall by just 23 votes and Suzanne Wyatt win comfortably in West Bramhall. Both are still councillors, but in different wards. Dave White took Cale Green ...
A packed rally at last night's Liberal Democrat Conference marked the launch of the Yes campaign for next May's referendum on the Alternative vote. The rally was chaired by actor Art Malik, most famous for being ejected from a Harrier Jump Jet on the end of a missile by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film, True Lies but also a regular in Holby City. Speakers included former Independent MP, Martin Bell, Jo Swinson, Tim Farron and of course, Nick Clegg. The Liberal Democrat leader told the rally : I know AV may not be the favourite voting system of everyone here, ...
Yesterday I joined approximately 10,000 other people to take to the streets of London in protest about the state visit of the pope. Its not been a popular decision for some and I have received some negative comments about it ... Continue reading →
The observant amongst you will have noticed that I'm not at Liberal Democrat Conference this year. I had originally intended to go, but then events (the Tour of Britain on Friday, the Free Festival yesterday and various meetings next week) got in the way and meant it wouldn't really have been worth my while to ...
Sting jets around the globe, lecturing people about poverty in the third world. I see nothing wrong with that.
Conference Rally was a bit weird. Instead of being the usual confidence raising, Tory-bashing session it actually had a defined purpose. We were there to see the launch of the Yes to AV campaign with the referendum due on May 5th next year. And so we had a celebrity host - Art Malik - who was sublimely suave and professional. We had speakers from the campaign partners - Keith Sharp from the Electoral Reform Society and Pam Giddy, the Chair of the Yes campaign. And we had Martin Bell, former MP and anti-sleaze campaigner, who spoke about the benefits that ...
Over the past couple of weeks I have been wondering if competition is necessarily good for the consumer, especially when it comes to transport.A new bus route has opened up between Debden and Harlow, via Waltham Abbey. Almost all of the journey between Debden and Waltham Abbey is the same. Great more choice for customers. Well not really. Although the new route offers cheaper fares, there is
The Motor Sport Association (MSA) recently commissioned the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University to evaluate the case for allowing local communities in Britain to stage 'closed road' motorsport events. The study found that the economic impact of the current portfolio of stage rallies, hill climbs and sprints in the UK is estimated to be 'at least' £23m per year. However, the report also found that up to £40m of economic benefit could be delivered to local communities over the next five years by allowing 20 motor sport events on public roads in Britain, at no cost ...
I like to walk into town and buy a loaf of bread and the newspaper. Simple pleasures! The recent loss of Sherlocks rather messed that up. So I'm really glad to see that Fellows Bakers are now in the old shop. Also Grub is now being reincarnated as Bluebells. I shall have to go along there for a coffee when the doors open. Support you local traders!
[IMG: imgres.jpg] Unfortunately today's Southport Airshow has been cancelled due to bad weather. I recieved a call from Tony Corfield, Director of Tourism, at 7.30am informing me that the beach had been flooded overnight and that the forecast was bad for the planned aviation events. Fortunately, the show did go ahead yesterday including a magnificent display by The Red Arrows, despite the showers. On a personal note I was even more disappointed to hear today's news as I was lined up to take to the skies in a glider, taking off from the beach. Perhaps next year?
In Saturday's Independent, Nick Clegg talked about being in government and what he thinks the Liberal Democrats are all about. This is part of an ongoing process to define the Lib Dems. It began with Clegg writing the Liberal Moment and has continued through the leader's debate during the general election and the speeches he has made since. The Liberal Democrats clearly face a challenge according to the latest ComRes poll. In one sense, this could benefit the party. While they will push for more of their policies in government, the poll forces them to think hard about the vision ...
There is some interesting analysis about MPs and Twitter here.
LibDemVoice are hosting four events at conference – fuller details are available here. It was brave of us to have events on two consecutive days, particularly as many of us are nursing hangovers after the display of the BOTYs last night. And yet, our next event featuring the lovely Dr Evan Harris and the erudite Will Straw takes place this lunchtime. If you'd like to come along, why not click here to let your twitter friends know.
Isn't it strange that when the Tories are successful in elections, Lord Ashcroft is responsible, and when they are not, it's nothing to do with him? From the Telegraph: On Monday Lord Ashcroft will publish his verdict on the party's failure to win an overall majority in the May general election. In his analysis, the Tory life peer criticises the party for: Failing to get its "message" and "brand" across to the voters. Relentless counterproductive attacks on the Labour Party and Gordon Brown. Agreeing to a televised debate of political leaders which enabled the Liberal Democrats to seize the "real ...
It seems to have formulated in the minds of some more of the childish elements of the internet sphere that I am somehow bereft at not winning the Best New Blog at the LibDem Voice BOTY awards. I am going ... Continue reading →
I'm taking this to mean the best books which I have read for the first time since the start of 2010. This is where my LibraryThing cataloguing is useful - I see that I have awarded five stars to the following: Non-fiction The Language of the Night, by Ursula Le Guin Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama The Bloody Sunday report Non-genre fiction Njal's Saga The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway The Dubliners, by James Joyce A Town Like Alice, by Nevil Shute A Farewell To Arms, by Ernest Hemingway sf and fantasy The Wee Free Men, by ...
I have only really got around to catching up with by now infamous Independent newspaper interview with Nick Clegg in which, according to their headline he suggested that there is no future for the Liberal Democrats as left-wing rivals to Labour. Many commentators have taken this as moving the party to the right, but not only is this not the case but the journalist spin misrepresents what the Liberal Democrat leader actually said. In fact Clegg's actual words were "There were some people, particularly around the height of the Iraq war, who gave up on the Labour Party and turned ...
The Grand Old Miliband He sought ten thousand Lib Dems He wound them up to the top of the hill But he'll let them down again You see there is one issue with being so blatent in stealing the disillusioned of another party as Dave Miliband wants to put it. The fact is that such people want the party that they then support to fit around them, rather that standing for what theye believe in, they are like refugees wanding in the wilderness seeing what fits them best. What is worse is if you are trying to attract them to ...
...in praising Nick Clegg's speech last night, I should point out that jokes about Eric Pickles being the only Cabinet Minister you can see from space are: a) unpleasantly sizeist. b) technologically illiterate. Google Earth easily has the resolution to spot someone Clegg's size.
This was an early entry on my list of sf and fantasy set in Ireland, since when I've got to know its author from various sf conventions; with slight embarrassment I admit that this is the first of Diane's novels that I have actually read. It's the fourth in sequence of her successful 'Young Wizards' series, and takes her protagonist Nita Callahan to Ireland from her home in the USA to do battle with the evil Lone Power by reuniting the four ancient treasures of Ireland; there's also some relationship tension between her usual partner Kit and local boy Ronan. ...
Yesterday North Down Borough Council bestowed the freedom of the Borough upon Bangor RNLI. As someone who grew up in the town I've occassionally seen the boats launched down the years. I've had friends whose fathers or themselves have crewed the boat, as well as others who have been rescued by them. In the 45 ...
I liked this book much more than I had expected to. The story moves back and forth between the 1940s and the 1980s, telling the life of its central character, Penelope Keeling, and her relationships with her artist father, her husband and her wartime lover, and her adult children; she's a sympathetic character who deals sensibly with life's challenges and makes her dispositions accordingly. Two of the three children are almost, bit not quite, too awful to believe; and by the end of the story everyone gets their just reward. I guess I picked this up thanks to its appearance ...
F16 Speech / Danny Alexander / main auditorium 11.00 – 12.00 Photo session with candidates and activists 13.00 – 13.30 Speech rehearsal for Keynote speech / main auditorium 14.30 – 15.30 Ministerial Exhibition Tour to meet exhibitors 16.00 - 16.30 Diversity Engagement Group AGM 18.30 – 19.30 World at One Fringe Debate: The New Politics / speaking and for broadcast 20.15 – 20.30 Fundraising Reception 20.30 – 22.00 Guardian Women's Dinner 22.30 – 23.00 Federal Executive Dinner / speaking
The tipping point for the Liberal Democrats would be where voting for the Liberal Democrats tips over into a large national movement, resulting in a massive leap in percentage points at an election. For those who have not read the Tipping Point you can read about it here or here. So what can we learn ...
date specified in canon 19th September 1835: The Sixth Doctor and Evelyn encounter Charles Darwin and the Silurians on the Galapagos Islands (in Bloodtide, a 2001 Big Finish audio - one of their best, IMHO).
Far away in Liverpool, the latest issue of Liberator is on sale from the magazine's stand at the Liberal Democrat Conference. So it is time to spend another week at Bonkers Hall. Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10. By-election fixing Like all cricket lovers, I was shocked to learn of the allegations about match fixing. They reminded me of that sad period during the 1950s when Eastern betting syndicates turned their attentions to British council by-elections. All over the country, candidates stood with the sole intention of losing - and some pretty fruity leaflets were issued as ...
Liberal Democrat Voice has the winners of this year's Lib Dem Blog of the Year awards, for which I acted as one of the judges: 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 Open Letter To The Labour Party by Andrew Hickey Best non-Liberal Democrat politics ...
Before I left town for Heathrow, I called in at a demonstration reported as follows by the BBC Leicestershire pages: A protest has been held over a cut in the number of public toilets in a Leicestershire town. Two sets of toilets near Market Harborough's bus station and Market Hall were closed in July, leaving a single set in the town. Campaigners said an earlier petition had not worked so a public protest was the next step. The people of the town will clearly not take this sitting down.
You join me in my hotel on Seventh Avenue. My room number is 2060. "Is that the second floor?" I asked. "No, it's the twentieth." Welcome to America.
The authors of this blog along with Millennium Dome Elephant, his Daddy Richard, Mr. Iagreewithnick and other bloggers at last year's #LDConf bloggers interview. I'm a Boston Red Sox fan to I believe that curses can be lifted. So while I and Lionel welcome Fluffy Justice finally being served we are a little worried about the curse of the BOTY affected the muse of everyone's favourite pachyderm over the next 12 months. So here's the deal, whoever the judges are for next years BOTY's keep up the StephenGlennPosition curse of not shortlisting me for anything, and the rest of you ...
Saturday: Well, adjectives escape me, this came as something of a surprise, but it turns out that I am Liberal Democrat Blogger of the Year. And I have the coaster to prove it. No really, it's cut from rare crystal Libroleum and is worth more than words can say. Prescious Thing [IMG: Posted by Picasa] Once they'd picked him up off the floor, they made Daddy Richard make a speach. Here're his words in full: wibble, wibble, wibble, wibble, wibbleSo let ME say, big thank you hugs to the judges for voting for me and to all the other nonimees ...
Because they have advertising from MessageSpace, which I disapprove of. But I couldn't very well not reciprocate this: For An Open Letter To The Labour Party. Without wanting to seem ungrateful, especially since many of the judges are people I admire, they're clearly mad. The four other shortlisted posts, by Alex, Millennium, Caron and Liz ...
Nomination forms have signatures on! Not enough, yet, but it's still cool. Cooler still, though, is the fact that at long last Millennium has won blog of the year. I have no laptop as yet, and the signal in the hall is pants. So blogging and even tweeting is going to be sporadic, and am composing this on my phone. Oh yes, and OI ROBSON! Where is this Liberal Youth thing tomorrow that I'm meant to be at?
Earlier tonight, the Blog of the Year Awards reached their fiery climax. Helen Duffett has already brought you the stunning results, congratulated the winners and commiserated with the runners up. All that remains is my duty to bring you, the loyal listener at home who maybe can't be at conference this year, the recording of the proceedings. And, technology permitting, you should find that below. Happy listening!
After a devestating start (my blackberry was nicked/lost/dissipated into thin air yesterday), I think the whole day picked up greatly. I want to, and will, digress on modernity. I recall a time, twelve years ago, when I didn't have a mobile phone. And I didn't miss it. This morning, when I woke and could not tell the time, I was thrown into complete disarray. All of a sudden, I was at a major
(Fair warning; these aren't going to be in-depth. I write relatively slowly for a blogger, and I'm likely to only get an hour here and there to do them.) ( Read more... )
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Andrew, belfast, daveywavey, Justin
If you have ever stood in a local election then you will know how difficult it may be to get into the papers, so well done to Darren Clifford for getting his photo into the paper last week. He is standing in a by-election for Morecambe Town Council. Well he may have announced his candidature in the newspaper, unfortunately he failed to announce it to the local authority. Nominations closed last week and his name is not on the list. I don't know why he isn't standing on behalf of the Labour Party. It may be simply human error and ...
