For me the very best thing about conference is the fringe. I spent this evening attending a couple of fringe meetings on care for the elderly and on the role of think tanks in promoting democracy and Human Rights. The former featured a brief drop in by Minister Paul Burstow who seems to have got 5 years younger looking since he took power. There wasn't really a lot of light shed on how we should pay for care for our aging population save for it is very complicated. Paul Burstow wasn't about to prejudge the working group set up and ...
cross-posted at positive hivblogger (with minor amendments here) It's about twenty-four hours since I went into hospital as there was blood and pus oozing from an abscess, and the doctor on call told me to head for the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. So, BelDoc told me to go to Accident and Emergency, so a ...
Had a conversation with Kina this evening. She has to have some repairs to her pacemaker and is in Barts waiting for the surgeons to find a gap in their schedule. This is for a 90-minute procedure under a local anaesthetic which is uncomfortable but not painful. She was in good spirits and has enough to read.
I'm back in Lanson after a weekend at the Lib Dem conference. Listening to the radio on the way home, it seems that most people felt the same way about Nick's speech as I did - it was governmental. On one hand that's fabulous. We're in Government and the Deputy PM was the one delivering our Leader's speech. On the other hand, it was pretty low key stuff and many commentators claim that it could have been given equally by Cameron. I don't think it could be. Apart from anything else, Nick made it clear that he opposes the concept ...
At 12.00 today, Nasser al-Anezy, Chair of the Kuwait Community Association and I met Alistair Burt MP and FCO officials to discuss the plight of the Kuwaiti Bidoon. The Minister agreed that we would sound out the European Union to see what might be done at that level to ratchet up the pressure on Kuwait to end statelessness. There are 100,000 stateless Bidoon according to official statistics, but the real total is probably higher. There is a new Human Rights Watch report coming out by the end of the year, which ought to help focus some public attention on the ...
For me there have been two welcome and significant signals from the Liberal Democrat leadership at this year's conference. The first is that a Liberal Democrat Leader has finally drawn a philosophical line against any notion the Liberal Democrats are a left-wing party. Nick Clegg's interview with the Independent on Sunday goes some way to undoing the damage done by rolling out the red-carpet to left factions disaffected with Labour. "The Lib Dems never were and aren't a receptacle for left-wing dissatisfaction with the Labour Party. There is no future for that; there never was." The second is the quiet ...
I'm already behind in my attempts to do daily arm chair comments on Conference. But I will plough on through the BBC Parliament back log as I get time. Just the one comment on Monday so far: Free Schools were rejected by Conference in the morning. This was another opportunity for Nick Clegg to stand ...
If I'd been at the Liberal Democrat conference today this evening I would have been at Delga (LGBT Lib Dems) diversity fringe event. This would have been before heading to the General Election candidate's reception later. However, reading what I have just read suspect that I would have been sat in a corner writing what I now am. Thanks to Zoe O'Connell whose blog brought my attention first to what went on earlier. Twas the night before Equal Marriage was debated in the hall, And Stonewall weren't stirring they were scared as a mouse. Well that is what we all ...
I have faith in our party leadership, in Nick and Simon Hughes, in Vince Cable and Danny and the rest of our excellent Ministerial team.
Two and a half years ago, I stood in this very hall to make my first speech as Leader of our party. I said that the chance for change was within our reach, and we had to seize it. That chance came. Perhaps not quite in the way many of us could have expected. But the chance came and you - we - responded with real courage and conviction. Cynics expected us to back away. Instead, we confounded those who said that coalition Government was impossible. We created a Government which will govern and govern well for the next five ...
Back in August, I reported on how the Thanet Times and had taken the trouble to air brush parts of the female anatomy in a photo which accompanied their report on naked fundraisers riding a roller coaster for charity, obviously the editor assumes readers of the Thanet Times are delicate souls who eschew 21st century morality. I was surprised that Thanet councils procedure or management, resulting in exclusion of the public (see earlier mention), from a public meeting, went almost unreported apart from a jokey item in the Gazette's "Smudger" section (last Friday), which even had a seemingly sycophantic, comment, ...
The return of caravans at the Riverside Business Park has resulted in many constituents' concerns. I have received the following feedback tonight from the City Council's Chief Executive: " ...the owners have been advised today, and we are liaising directly with them and Tayside Police."
Of all the bizarre places to come out against marriage equality, an event run in conjunction with DELGA, the Liberal Democrat LGBT organisation, would seem to be the most odd. But that's just what Ben Summerskill, head of so-called "equality" organisation Stonewall did today. Also on the panel for the debate, part of the Liberal Democrat Autumn 2010 conference discussing what the coalition meant for equality, were Dr. Evan Harris who is DELGA president, Lynne Featherstone MP, LibDem equalities minister and out gay LibDem MP, Stephen Gilbert. The views of Summerskill have long been known to be unpopular amongst the ...
At tonight's Dundee City Council Development Management Committee, the planning application for the replacement St Joseph's Primary, Park Place Primary and Park Place Nursery schools was approved. I asked questions about the traffic assessment and proposed travel plan. You can read the committee papers on this matter at http://tinyurl.com/dm200910.
In the last big recession, at the beginning of the 1980s, Unemployment became a national spectre. News at Ten would intone in doomed tones the details of the latest job losses around the country, and often the numbers of jobs going were truly appalling. Thousands were laid off, and entire towns lost their very reason to exist. This recession, so far, has been different because unemployment has not in fact risen in quite the same way. Given the various changes (read: fiddles) that governments have adopted along the way in order to reduce the official unemployment rate, the numbers might ...
If you are an average person, you probably threw £167 worth of food in the bin last year. If you're from and average family you threw away £420 of food. Between us in the UK we threw away a staggering £10.2bn worth of food - That's equal to the Home Office budget for a year or enough to run the NHS for just over a month. Around 25% of the food we buy ends up uneaten in the bin. Some of the figures are incredible; 1.6 billion apples, 484 million unopened yoghurt pots and £370m worth of bananas stand out. ...
It is already day 3 as I post this. Sorry about that!( late fringe events, socialising in the main conference bar, blah blah blah.....) FIRST TIMER OBSERVATION NUMBER 1 Don't leave it late to register!! I ended up in a hotel 20 mins walk from the conference and not exactly the cheapest option. As most of the erm socialising and fringe events seem to take place close to the conference centre coming home late and carrying a laptop are not always practical in cities you don't really know. Day 1 - Saturday AM I had a choice in the morning ...
Dear Fraser, Imagine you're asking a friend or neighbour to vote Liberal Democrat in the 2015 General Election. Imagine how it will feel to say that in Government, the Liberal Democrats scrapped ID cards. To say we cut crime while stopping Labour's mass incarceration of children. That finally we have a fair tax system where the rich pay their share - and the lowest earners pay no income tax at all. You'll say we brought troops home from Afghanistan after they'd finished the difficult job we sent them to do. You'll be able to tell people they have a new ...
Stupid Lady: "Hello, Waterfront Leisure Centre, $NAME speaking, how can I help?" [IMG: [personal profile] ] tajasel: "Hi, how tall are your tallest lockers near the swimming pool?" Stupid Lady: "Er, I'm not sure, what do you want to put in them?" [IMG: [personal profile] ] tajasel: "An elbow crutch, one of the short metal ones." Stupid Lady: "Er, you know you can't go in the pool with a plaster cast on, don't you?" [IMG: [personal profile] ] tajasel: "...I don't have one." Stupid Lady: "Then why do you need crutches?!" [IMG: [personal profile] ] tajasel: "...look, can I put ...
Yesterday saw the first Q&A of the Lib Dem leader since entering government. We covered it on Lib Dem Voice with a live tweeting session, Stephen Tall's excellent live-blog and we also recorded it for posterity. Because quite a lot of what was said might be useful for campaigning purposes, and because in the fullness of time we will want to hold Nick Clegg to account for his answers, I asked BOTY-nominee and Total Politics List star Caron Lindsay to mobilise an army of volunteers to transcribe it from our slightly ropey recording. Caron and her volunteers have done a ...
I don't know if the novelty of coming home, or waking up, to freshly baked bread will ever wear off... but I damn hope it doesn't. Nom!
[IMG: On board a speeding train] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: markhillary I have a friend who swears that he travels first class at the same price (or less) than normal. I am yet to get onto www.thetrainline.com at the golden moment when such a train ticketing equivalent of the total eclipse of the sun occurs. The point is, I really could not bring myself to sit in first class even if I was given money to perform such a trick. It may be the inner socialist in me. After all, when I was aged 16, Lenin was my ...
In honour of our friend from the Vatican.
Iain Dale and Brian Brivati have once again compiled for the Telegraph the list of 50 most influential Lib Dems, and today saw the publication of part one, covering numbers 26 to 50. At 50 is leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, Kirsty Williams; while propping up today's list — just outside the top 25 — is Nick Clegg's special advisor, Richard Reeves, the former head of think-tank Demos. There are a number of new entries, many of them MPs who now find themselves government ministers, including Andrew Stunell (28), Nick Harvey (32), David Heath (33), Tim Farron (34), Lord ...
Over at the Financial Times, former Lib Dem chief executive Lord (Chris) Rennard surveys the political scene and suggests policy areas where Nick Clegg can show how the party is making an impact in government. Chris notes the problems of being the junior party in a Coalition: Junior coalition partners in many countries are familiar with getting the blame for what is unpopular and failing to get the credit for what goes well. Nick Clegg's first priority has to be to show that the coalition works - even with unlikely partners - while maintaining the party's distinctiveness. If he cannot ...
I've had a response from the council they are in contact with BT regarding moving the phone box. They are also in the process of moving the give way lines and lane markings to improve the visibility from the junction.
Back in July, Lib Dem group leader Cllr Ruth Davis won the Council's backing for a full public consultation on the Council's budget, similar to the Bristol City Council Big Budget Conversation. With the current serious economic situation the Council faces some tough decisions and the Lib Dems felt it was important that local people should have a say on how those decisions might affect the services they use. You can take part in the discussion here.
As promised I actually took some pictures from the outdoors salsa that goes on next to the Dnipro river in Dnipropetrovsk. Unfortunately I believe this is the last for the some time (I can't be certain as my Russian still isn't great) as the weather has definitely started to drop. It was a great way to go out with a live band and all the local salsa clubs there (there was definitely a noticeable
There is no news of the Village Green Inquiry result. The suggestion proved to be a false alarm. Be assured that when it arives I will post it as soon as possible, and in the meantime I'm sorry for dashing your hopes of news.
So there was one line in Nick's speech that raised my hackles a little bit: We have four years and seven months before the next election. 1690 days. You might, duckie, but quite a sizeable chunk of the party's councillors do not. For many elected Liberal Democrat representatives, the goal is next May. So a chunk of Clegg's speech was dedicated to the long term. Stick with us. Hold your nerve. By 2015 we will have achieved: restored civil liberties scrapped ID cards got innocent people's DNA off the police database action to cut reoffending, and cut crime stopped mass ...
As the music fades, and the hoardes of conference delegates file out of the Liverpool hall, what did Voice readers make of what he had to say? Here's my first impression... First, and above all, this was a sober speech. It wasn't a barn-stormer, it didn't grip by the throat or tug the heart-strings. This was a serious analysis of why the Lib Dems have gone into government, and what the party wants to get out of it for the country. Nick was careful to go through the famous four pledges — fair taxes, a fair start for children, a ...
From the Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister's speech to the party conference earlier today: I still believe in our commitments to the developing world. The difference is I get to make those commitments at a UN summit and make them happen.
You know what it's like at airports. You've been round WH Smith and Sock Shop, you've had a coffee and an apple danish and all you can do is wait. It seems Nick has at least got a wireless signal as he's dashed off a quick email to party members. Imagine you're asking a friend or neighbour to vote Liberal Democrat in the 2015 General Election. Imagine how it will feel to say that in Government, the Liberal Democrats scrapped ID cards. To say we cut crime while stopping Labour's mass incarceration of children. That finally we have a fair ...
It is going to be tricky to answer questions like this otherwise than going on about The Lord of the Rings, which really is my favourite book ever but maybe is not such an interesting answer. One other book that I rate very highly is George Eliot's Middlemarch, which puts a very human face on a historical period of rapid social, political and technological change - it may seem odd to say this, but I find it in some ways a rather sfnal novel, dealing as it does with the social impact of new knowledge, if admittedly from a historical ...
Andrew Walker of Tweetminster caught up with me immediately after the Lib Dem motion opposing free schools was carried — it was one of the issues, alongside the Coalition and the future of the Lib Dems, that we discussed. You can listen to our six-minute interview via audioboo below: Listen! (Also available here.) Share this on Facebook Email this via Gmail Email this via Hotmail Email this to a friend? Send this page to Print Friendly Tweet This! Email this via Yahoo! Mail
HACKAPALOOZA! Actually, my Livejournal has not been hacked. Neither has my prosperous or my Twitter or anything except one of my email addresses - innerbrat at gmail. One spam email to my entire address list, including those things that auto post by email, which then update my Livejournal. Hooray for interconnectedness? Anyhoo, thank you for the multiple heads up, (especially the ones that came to emails other than the hacked ones) IT only needs to be said that it's a pretty harmless hack - my gmail filters have not been touched and the message appears to be spam not viri. ...
It's two-and-a-half years since Nick Clegg stood on the platform of the Liverpool Conference Centre as the new, fresh-faced leader of the Liberal Democrats and promised to confront the challenges ahead. But as he said himself in his leader's speech, once more in Liverpool, this afternoon, there was no way he could have imagined then ...
I am now at the Mashable/92Y Social Good Summit, which is being held at the 92nd Street Y (as the YMCA is now known). This video will tell you all you want to know about it...
Hours after making his case to be Lib Dem party President, Jason Zadrozny has whipped his hat back out of the ring and thrown his political weight behind Susan Kramer. Jason has sent out this email: I wanted you to be one of the first people to know that I have today decided to withdraw from my campaign to become President of the Liberal Democrats and have thrown my weight behind efforts to elect Susan Kramer. I think the role of Party President is vital for the future of our party. I firmly believe that whoever holds the position should ...
"Britain in 2010 is anxious, unsure about the future, but Britain in 2015 will be a different country. Strong, fair, free and full of hope again. A country we can be proud to hand on to our children. That is the goal we must keep firmly fixed in our minds. That is the prize."
The councils energy team have procured £90,000 for reflective radiator panels and draught proofing to be installed before the end of the financial year (31 March 2011) in council tenanted homes. Or for leaseholders will be installed for £62 and £145 respectively. Free Radiator panels - metallic reflective film placed behind radiators - are particularly good for radiators on external solid walls and can save £25 a year or 35kg of CO2. To get these panels installed in your council home call 020 8293 6150. Free Draught proofing - if you have not had new windows or due to get ...
Mon 20th
16:57
VIDEO - neither Fox News nor Sarah Palin seem to know the name of the "guy" (woman) who Palin endors...
This is an interesting little clip from Fox News. Bill O'Reilly was interviewing Sarah Palin and forgot the name of the "guy" (who is actually a woman – Kelly Ayotte) whom Palin endorsed in New Hampshire. Bill O'Reilly seems to think it is a "guy with a long name" (presumably Ovide Lamontagne). No one on Bill O'Reilly's earpiece could enlighten him. And Sarah Palin who, let us remember, actually endorsed Ayotte, didn't say the name despite being prompted to several times. She just stared into the camera. A strange moment. Hat-tip: Ben Smith on Politico
Speaking at Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today [Monday], Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will say: Two and a half years ago, I stood in this very hall to make my first speech as Leader of our party. I said that the chance for change was within our reach, and we had to seize it. That chance came. Perhaps not quite in the way many of us could have expected. But the chance came and you - we - responded with real courage and conviction. Cynics expected us to back away. Instead, we confounded those who said ...
Over at The Guardian's Comment is Free website, Lib Dem MP and party presidential hopeful Tim Farron writes about his aim to inspire members to be proud of our party and work hard for elections and for the referendum. Here's an excerpt: When I read people telling us that this coalition government is "turning the clock back to the 1980s" because of the cuts, I know that this is witless rubbish - but I'll be honest with you, those barbs really hurt me. I was brought up by a single mum, in significant poverty in Lancashire in Thatcher's Britain. I ...
The subject of this entry in my "Great Buildings" blogstrand is actually a series of buildings and is, arguably, of more interest from an Archaeological point of view than as Architecture: Skara Brae, the neolithic village in Orkney. Skara Brae dates to c. 3,000BC but was buried under sand dunes until a storm uncovered it in 1850. Since then, work has been done to preserve it and it has become one of Orkney's many tourist attractions along with many others such as the nearby Ring of Brodgar and Maes Howe. The individual houses are formed from low stones walls and ...
At Conference today Liberal Democrats renewed their calls for Green Taxation.
September is the month that my membership is renewed in the Liberal Democrats. Seeing as this blog also started with news of my impending move to the Northern Irish party I thought I'd share this image of what came in the post for me today. Nick Clegg is speaking at 4pm at our conference in ...
Today's Daily Mail headline is 'Clegg tax war on the better-off: Tens of thousands face 'bully boy' investigations in new crackdown'. There is no pleasing some papers some times is there? Of course the Daily Mail is happy to attack any party that does not agree with it's agenda. But why does the Daily Mail not think that tax evasion is some how ok. This is not bully boy tactics it is simply investigations to find tax avoidance. There not knocking on the door with cricket bats threating to get you to pay more tax. The investigators are looking for ...
I returned from the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool last night. Those up to speed on current affairs will immediately recognise that I have returned early. I only spent the weekend in Liverpool having run out of holidays and had to return to work. However I also return early a far poorer person and in some pain and was in fact unable to get to work today due to the damage done to my one good foot! As such I have come to a very belated conclusion that before experiencing conference I need to undergo extensive, intensive pre conference training ...
I'm somewhat torn about this... If you read my previous post on electoral reform choices it becomes obvious that far from being a better electoral system; AV is in fact less proportional then FPTP, penalising minority parties and polarising the vote share even more between the big two parties. Safe seats stay safe, marginal seats become less marginal. You can say that I am therefore, 'against' AV as a voting system. And this is the problem. I am strongly in favour of Electoral Reform (STV FTW) but I'm being given two choices, both are bad, the "new" choice is actually ...
This is a time of great opportunity for our party. Whether through establishing the pupil premium for disadvantaged children, increasing tax relief for low income families, restoring vital civil liberties or putting the environment at the forefront of all we do, our values are at the heart of British government for the first time in generations. Britain is better off with Liberal Democrats in Cabinet. A strong and unified party is needed to hold the Coalition Government to account, however, and division within the party will only make this job harder. If elected as party President, I will use the ...
A constituent recently wrote to me about the play parks at the foot of Roseangle and in Balgay Park : "I write about the play parks at Magdalen Green and Balgay Park. I understand that due to the current climate that play park improvements aren't very high up the priority list but these parks are not great and really need some improvements. I have a 15 month old son and during the summer have been visiting the parks a lot and compared the the lovely play park at Castle Green in the Ferry the parks are pretty rubbish. I am ...
The roof repairs programme for the Tullideph Area continues with new roof replacement work starting next Monday (27th September) at 2-6 Tullideph Place and 9/10 Tullideph Street. This part of the programme should be completed by November. The Housing Department has written to tenants with full details and I am also happy to speak with any tenant who may have any questions about the roofing work that is about to commence.
As with the regularity of Federal Conference coming around in September so does the my new membership card turn up. It's usually waiting for me when I return, so there was no surprise that it turned up today. As you can see the local party name has been changed to Northern Ireland, so its now official my move. But to my shock the membership card is a Scottish party membership card (see the underlined) not an English one, which the party is aligned to. Just don't tell the local party chair, or should I as a Scottish member call him ...
I am at a meeting organised by the Global Campaign for Education. It is being held at the Millennium Hotel near the United Nations Building in New York. Rather than try to live blog it I shall take some notes and write it up for you later.
At the start of conference, I blogged the ten issues that I thought would shape conference. Half-way through, how are things looking on the ten? Strategy: the party's official line of loving our coalition partners in public has been firmly stuck to by the party's senior figures, and argued for by Nick Clegg during Q+A at the weekend. Bubbling under the surface are many questions about whether this is the right strategy and if the party could and would be better if it more often made public its disagreements, such as over the opting out of the EU directive on ...
I am at the Lib Dem conference for work. Here is a quick report on the mood of the delegates: Upbeat Energised Slightly concerned about the coalition but keen to make it work A more thoguhtful analysis to follow when I have time.
Lib Dem Conference (affectionately known as ldconf) has just passed a motion attacking free schools and encouraging people not to apply to set them up. The media will try and package this as a coalition split; nonsense. It is Lib Dems deciding party policy, which (alas) is not the same as government policy. It does not bind the coalition; it does change what Lib Dems argue for inside the ministerial offices though. So we could see a movement in government policy as a result, particularly as several points raised in the motion are in the Free Schools and Academies Act ...
Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today welcomed the judge-led inquiry into allegations of UK complicity in the improper treatment of detainees in counter-terrorism operations. It also called for the remit of the inquiry to be clarified. Commenting, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs, Tim Farron said: "The abuses of human rights that have taken place in the name of the War on Terror are utterly reprehensible. "British people have the right to know whether the UK was involved in, or aware of, these abuses. The lack of transparency under the previous Government damaged our reputation at home ...
Amidst all this talk of conference motions and the like, it's about time we concentrated on what really matters - cheese. The Cheese Place at The Longfield Centre, Prestwich has made it through to the final 5 shops competing for Best New Deli at the British Cheese Awards this week, despite stiff competition from over 400 other new delis (none of which are based in New Delhi, which would have been amusing). The Best New Deli Award was created, it says here on this press release, to recognise and reward new, independent cheese retailers who promote artisan British cheeses "with ...
Liberal Democrat Communities and Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell has announced that serious misconduct for personal gain by councillors will be a criminal act, while petty local vendettas will no longer get a hearing as the unpopular standards board regime is axed. Under new plans the public will also have greater confidence to challenge poor local services. The Government intends to give the Local Government Ombudsman real teeth. For the first time local authorities will be legally compelled to implement the Ombudsman's findings. Mr Stunell has also announced that the Government will allow councils to decide whether they wish to ...
The BBC's Panorama reports today that there are over 38,000 public sector employees earning over £100k a year, and over 9,000 earning more than the Prime Minister. This will doubtless elicit a slew of comments about how over-paid bureaucrats are bleeding the country dry. But, like a lot of debate in Bury recently about high pay in the public sector and how much our Chief Exec earns, I think this issue misses the point, and doesn't even mention the low pay that vast numbers of public sector employees work for. It's clear that there will be some people in the ...
I'm sure I was watching the Liberal Democrat conference earlier on BBC Parliament, I'm just not sure where the BBC were watching it. Their headline says Lib Dems suffer conference defeat over free schools Hello! This was a Lib Dem conference. How can a democratically debated and voted upon motion be a defeat? Not only that the debate as I watched it enhanced Lib Dem education policy as I have heard it debated over the last 22 years of my association. So why is it a defeat? Also they call it a rebel motion. No it was like all manner ...
Never say Mike Hancock doesn't have a sense of timing... On the morning of Nick Clegg's leader's speech to the party conference, Mike has delivered what might be considered a stark warning: I would be grateful if you could confirm in your speech on Monday that you will in the future bring any fundamental policy changes to the agreement without going through the triple lock democratic arrangements of the party. Or if that is not going to be the case that you will bring forward changes to the party constitution to change the triple lock. As I say that was ...
It would be fair to say that I am not a frequent speaker at Federal Conference. I think that, over more than twenty years, I've probably spoken five times. It may have been four. It isn't what I'm good at. However, when word reached me that there was a serious lack of cards for the consultative session on Strategy, I thought, "What the hell, what's the worst that can happen?". Admittedly, I hadn't read the paper. Alright, I'd never seen the paper, or even been aware of its existence, but it did contain a reference to the English Regions. I ...
From Stockport council: The Council has recently sent Electoral Registration Forms to every property in the borough for people to register their names on the Electoral Register allowing them to vote in future elections. If the details on the form sent to residents are correct they are given various options to register that there is no-change to their details. These options are telephone, internet or text message. The form and covering letter sent to households clearly states that there are two different telephone numbers people can call to register their details. If a residents first language is English they should ...
The Autumn Friends of Magdalen Green Coffee Morning takes place at Dundee West Church, Perth Road, on Saturday (25th September) from 10am to 12 noon. Don't miss it!
I believe that the President of the Liberal Democrats should be elected. On Thursday I declared my intention to stand as Party President. I believe it is so important for our Party to have a President who is not an MP. In Nick Clegg we have an exceptional Leader who is at the heart of Government. In Simon Hughes we have an outstanding Deputy Leader representing our Parliamentary Party at the highest level. What we need is a President who can represent the grass roots. The Party President is the highest representative of the grass roots and should be elected ...
Liberal Democrats have expressed their concern at the new policy of Free Schools and Academies.
The coalition government is pledged to introducing a package of reforms to our electoral system, including extending it to cover the House of Lords. Quite what the impact of these changes will be is an issue addressed in the Litmus newspaper jointly produced by Lib Dem Voice, Left Foot Forward and Conservative Home. Here is my piece on the topic, and you can read the full newspaper, including the other pieces on this topic from Lord Norton and Will Straw, either via the hard copies in conference registration packs or online at www.litmustest.org. [IMG: Litmus newspaper badge] The present House ...
Scanning through the papers this morning one of my pals drew to my attention the article in the Independent relating to the justification of the existence of the coalition by Mary Ann Sieghar. The last paragraph is particularly interesting. Clegg played a relatively weak hand well and - if his party is patient - has a good chance of turning this Coalition to his advantage. It's too easy to make lazy predictions like "the Coalition can't last" or "the Lib Dems will be subsumed." Politics have been transformed since May and we have to reassess our old prejudices. There is ...
The role of Party President is a flexible one. There are some things the President has to do, like chairing the Federal Executive, but most of the roll is down to how whoever is elected to the post wants to play it. Ros Scott has done a good job, and was the right person for the last two years. My reasons for deciding to support Tim Farron are based on my view of what kind of President the party is going to need over the next two years, which will be very different from the last. We are very likely ...
I'll keep it to the point: We work with the Tories because it is the only realistic option to get Lib Dem policy implemented. It doesn't mean that we need to keep praising David Cameron's "flexibility", "pragmatism" or his lack of dogma; We will loosen cabinet collective responsibility so that Lib Dem and Tory ministers ...
I'm grateful to David Briggs for pointing me in the direction of this splendid take on the Papal visit to the UK: I'm fully aware that there are some who will view the continual criticism of Mr Ratzinger during his visit as regrettable and perhaps even offensive but, despite my unashamed atheism, I post this ...
Sky News's Adam Boulton has an interesting take on this year's Lib Dem conference: ... there is an overbearing sense of seriousness as the Lib Dems cogitate on the political hand dealt them after the last election. Far from glibly queuing to speak in debates, conference organisers report that party members are hanging back, wanting to listen to the explanations from the leadership. It's a perception that perhaps helps explain why there are relatively fewer requests to speak in debates, especially considering how much higher attendance at conference is this year. Most Lib Dem conference delegates choose only to speak ...
Yesterday, Nick Clegg declared himself 'supremely relaxed' about the independence of the Lib Dems. Certainly that is the image that he is portraying around the conference. He is appearing without a tie on more occasions than with and is spending a lot of time laughing and joking. At his Q & A session yesterday he batted away critical questions with aplomb, whilst also managing to drop some nuggets of welcome news in the laps of his audience. Would the Lib Dems be getting into bed with the Tories in a more formal way at the next election? Not a chance ...
Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones is to go to a farm in North Pembrokeshire this afternoon to announce that she will be ressurrecting her plans to cull badgers in the area as part of a bTB eradication strategy. This time though she will be defining the area of the cull in the order and taking more care with the consultation after the fiasco she presided over last time. The Minister has issued a written statement to Assembly Members in which she acknowledges that an injectable vaccine for badgers is already available but argues that this will not eradicate the existing ...
Never before in a Liberal Democrat conference have I ever felt let down by former F1 World Champion Damon Hill - until today! The enjoyment levels of the night before at conference can usually be tested by whether I've been able to make breakfast the following morning. Well, yesterday morning I failed and the same can be said for my room mate Ali Goldsworthy. So we both put up a forceful show of unity in having a much needed lie-in! Damon Hill Let Me Down! I decided that my first main event of the day would be one that I've ...
And in the final episode of my interviews with the declared candidates for the Presidency of the Liberal Democrats, here is what Jennie Rigg had to say. Apologies for the background noise. Of course, if you know of anyone else who is considering standing, please get in touch.
Over at the Guardian's Comment is Free, former Lib Dem MP Dr Evan Harris develops some of the points he made at Sunday's LibDemVoice.org fringe (which you can listen to here) — that while he's broadly supportive of the Coalition he rejects entirely Nick's claim that the austerity cuts can be "fair". Here's an excerpt: The progressive wing of the Lib Dems broadly supports the coalition and the agreement underpinning it ... The party voted to endorse the coalition agreement, but we did not vote to endorse the implementation of illiberal or unfair government policies that have emerged since. The ...
The BBC report that in an exclusive interview with them the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has said she would be willing to work with other parties to "transform" the country. Kirsty Williams said she would be "fighting on all fronts" at the assembly election but told BBC Wales she would not rule anything in or out in dealing with other parties. She said she wanted to be "implementing" Lib Dem policies: Asked by BBC Wales about an electoral pact with the Tories after next May's assembly election, she said: "I'm not ruling anything in, I'm not ruling anything ...
I've finally completed typesetting Pep! 2. Unfortunately, Magcloud doesn't think the fonts have embedded, so I'll have to regenerate the PDF tonight before the paper copy can go on sale. Also, this file is much, much bigger than it should be (50M rather than ~10M). But it's there if you want it. Paper copies on ...
John Hemming MP has publicly backed Tim Farron in his campaign to be the next president of the Liberal Democrats. He said"Tim is an impressive communicator. Communicating is key to politics, particularly in government. We need to ensure that people are aware that the Coalition is cleaning up the mess that Labour left whilst protecting the weak. I think Tim will help in getting this message
No, this isn't a metaphorical warning, it's a literal one. For as the New York Times reported: There could be a surprise waiting in your mailbox this weekend, courtesy of Carl P. Paladino, a Republican candidate for governor. Not the front of the brochure, which states that "Something really stinks in Albany." Nor the back, which features images of tarnished Democrats like Gov. David A. Paterson, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and former State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi. But open it up, and you will be greeted by an unmistakable odor: rotting vegetables... The new mailer states that "the stink of ...
A combination of meetings and media mean I cannot make it into the hall later this morning for the debate on the party's Facing the Future policy consultation (pdf copy of document here). It is a document setting out the broad questions (sixty-two in all, though Q59 bears a striking resemblance to Q53) intended to shape the party's future policy development. Had I been able to make it, this is the necessarily brief speech I would have wanted to give about the last three in the document, on international affairs. There are two near certainties about any broad policy review ...
As readers of Lib Dem Voice will know (and there seem to be a lot of you, from the numbers who've already mentioned our victory on Thursday to me at conference) we have just celebrated the third of three local by-election victories in the Oxford West & Abingdon (OxWAb) constituency since May. Sadly all three by-elections were caused by the deaths of long-standing, effective and hard-working local councillors, Audrey Tamplin, John Wyse and Pat Hobby, each of whom I had helped elect originally and each of whom I had a lot of respect for. Following our loss of Evan's seat ...
Mon 20th
08:45
LibDemVoice.org 'Fairer? For Whom?' fringe with Evan Harris, Susan Kramer, Will Straw (and me) - Lis...
The second of the LibDemVoice.org conference events took place Sunday lunchtime at the conference arena in the mysteriously unsignposted Hall 1B (which appeared to be nowhere near either Hall 1, nor Hall 1C). After weeks, months even, of careful planning and preparation by Helen Duffett, both our format and our speakers fell through about a fortnight ago — at the last moment, in conference planning times, as guest passes have to be booked weeks in advance. (Image courtesy Alex Foster.) So our sincere thanks are due to two of our very best former MPs, Evan Harris and Susan Kramer, and ...
It's handy that the Lib Dem conference this year is being held in Liverpool and instead of packing all my troubles in an old kitbag I get to commute daily and sleep in my own bed every night! Don't get me wrong I enjoy the annual pilgrimage to the seaside, especially when Brighton is the venue, but after a few days in a lumpy hotel bed I'm always glad to get back to some home comforts and a good night's sleep. True it's not as easy to enjoy the social side of conference when you have to dash through town ...
Sometimes I wonder why we bother to turn up to big Conference events when you can read about them in advance in the papers. Of course the answer is that the papers often get it wrong or put their own spin on it. That certainly seems to be the case when looking at this morning's crop of headlines. Still, this particular insight from the Guardian is an interesting one. They say that Clegg will tell Conference today that there will be no electoral pact with the Conservatives and he will hold out the prospect of a coalition deal with Labour ...
The Western Mail reports that Welsh Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Jenny Randerson has called for greater transparency on the average pupil spend per local authority after figures she obtained through a Freedom of Information request showed that there is a significant funding gap between counties. In Caerphilly, Welsh-medium education costs £2,881 per pupil a year compared to £4,209 in Conway. English-medium education costs Anglesey Council £2,952 per pupil per year compared to £3,937 in Ceredigion. Rhondda Cynon Taf spent £779 more per English-medium pupil than Welsh-medium, while Newport spent £13 more per pupil on Welsh-medium education than English-medium. Jenny said ...
The news that the far right has taken 20 seats in, of all places, Sweden sends shivers down my spine. It deprives the centre right alliance of an overall majority. I am welcome the fact that the Prime Minister, Fredrick Reinfeldt, has instantly dismissed working with the far right and has made hints at overtures to the opposition Social Democrats. Coalition politics continental style is far less tribal than here. Can you imaging Labour and Tories in coalition together? It occasionally happens at a local government level but they are both so tribal that the idea of sharing power and ...
Just to let those of you in Colchester know, the next meeting of the Castle Neighbourhood Action Panel will be on Monday 27th September, starting at 1pm in the Town Hall. Any residents can come along and raise issues that they want the NAP to deal with, or if you can't make it to the ...
i) births and deaths 20th September 1925: birth of John Wiles, innovative producer who succeeded Verity Lambert but did not last long in 1965-66. 20th September 1969: birth of Mina Anwar who plays Rani's mother Gita in the Sarah Jane Adventures. 20th September 1986: death of Dennis Spooner, script editor in 1965 and author of The Reign of Terror (1964), The Romans (1965), The Time Meddler (1965), much of The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-6) and the first episode of The Power of the Daleks (1966). 20th September 2000: death of Mary Ridge, who directed Terminus (1983) ii) broadcast anniversaries 20th ...
8.00 – 8.30 Meeting ITN political editor 9.30 – 11.00 Police round table 11.30 – 12.00 Meeting YWCA 13.00 – 14.00 BBC buffet lunch with Michael Lyons 16.00 – 17.00 Nick Clegg / Leader's speech / main auditorium 18.30 – 19.30 Stonewall Fringe / What the Coalition Government means for LGB & T equality / speaking 20.00 – 21.30 Haringey representatives meeting for dinner 21.30 – 22.00 Candidates Reception / speaking 22.00 – 23.30 Sky News Reception
Nick Clegg is reported last week to have written that "there is no future for the Liberal Democrats as a left-of-centre alternative to Labour." If this is true, and I haven't actually read the alleged article, then I believe he is profoundly wrong. My analysis of British politics assumes that there will always be a Conservative party, a party which believes it is born to rule, is happy that the already comfortably off should prosper, that those not comfortable may benefit from the "trickle-down" effect, and those with a bit of gumption at the bottom of the pile will be ...
When I first worked in London I was surprised that so many buildings I had heard of could be found in such proximity to one another. New York is the same. Today I have seen Madison Square Gardens, Central Park and Time Square. And the rally I attended yesterday afternoon took place outside the Met. Modernist architecture always looks better in the sun, but I do find this more elegant than most British essays in the style.
It transpires that our recent Name of the Day winner was once married to the current President of Estonia.
I am sorry to hear that Menzies Campbell has got himself caught up in this "blood diamonds" business in Central Africa - it seems so out of character. I can only assume that Elspeth put him up to it. Earlier this week By-election fixing
After two days at party conference it has been very interesting to listen to the views of Lib Dem activists about the coalition, its policies and the implications. There is overwhelming agreement that going into the coalition was the only game in town. There is a lot of recognition that on a number of key issues, particularly civil liberties and the environment, we have already made great strides and there is more to come. And there has been jubilation that there is to be a referendum on a fairer voting system next May - an issue which has brought many ...
I have spent this weekend at the Lib Dem Conference in Liverpool. It has been an upbeat event, the first in a lifetime that has been addressed by Lib Dem ministers, but a serious one too, as is right given the continued challenges faced in putting right the legacy of Labour's economic mismanagement, that has left us, as a nation, borrowing £1 for every £4 the government spends. Or to put it in more local terms £750m just to pay this year's government grant to Birmingham City Council. I am convinced the national economic strategy the coalition is following is ...
Video iPlayer (only available for 7 days) is your friend for: Morning session: Strategy debate including contributions by David Rendel and Lord (Tony) Greaves; Danny Alexander speech; Afternoon session: Nick Clegg's Q & A; The Andrew Marr Show: Nick Clegg & Charles Kennedy; The Politics Show: Linked to the East Midlands edition but all regions ...
American Football has a lot to teach us. It does help if your team are winning, and as I write this blog my team, the New York Jets are winning going into the final stages of their match against the New England Patriots. I have seen technology being used to correct a decision made on the field of play. That's good on its own but the reaction from the commentators was an explanation as to why the error was made. They don't criticise their decision makers in the way we do in England. Whether you have the help of technology ...
