Well its been a couple of weeks since I did Spidey's web but this week its back with a vengeance. Its been an interesting week with the Liberal Democrat Conference, some interesting new bloggers and some fascinating news stories. Hopefully you'll find something in this post to tickle your reading tastebuds Top ten tweeters SamMcCarthy - ...
If Stonewall spin any faster, they could double as a centrifuge! Benji, comment no. 11 on Pink News article £5 billion marriage equality figure was calculated by Stonewall Filed under: LGBT Tagged: Ben Summerskill, Justin, LibDems, Pink News, Stonewall
Local Liberal Democrat MP, Ian Swales has written to all schools in his constituency to encourage them to take part in the 'Get Set' London 2012 education programme. Ian met with Seb Coe earlier this week and was encouraged to hear about how many schools were involved in the 'Get Set' programme. This programme aims to engage with young people in many different ways from encouraging active lifestyles to enterprise and creativity. Become part of it Ian Swales said ''There are plenty of ways in which we can and should be encouraging children to get involved. This is a once ...
Make Roads Safe: The Campaign for Global Road Safety has produced a report called The Missing Link: Road traffic injuries and the Millennium Development Goals. You can read more about it and download a copy from the Campaign's website. Link TV has launched ViewChange.org to harness the power of stories about real people and progress in global development. I can now throw all those leaflets away with a clear conscience.
It appears Stonewall have admitted to blatantly lying about the five billion figure. Sunday night, it was a DTI figure. Tuesday it was a Treasury Impact Assessment. Today it's an "extrapolation" – I guess they had to admit this as we FoIed the original documents and the Home Office already said they "didn't recognise the £5bn figure". Yet they had the face to accuse Pink News of being "dishonest" and running an "unethical campaign"? Did you "extrapolate" the RadFem argument from a random lesbian you met too, Ben? And how much of the money given to you to further the ...
for the majority of the 1,500+ journalists who attended. Hundreds and hundreds of the journalists who turned up in Liverpool, whether they were in the conference hall, the stunning exhibition, the many bars or even trying to sneak into the member only training were there to report on the great divide in the Party. Unfortunately for them, it never existed and to be honest, I don't think it ever will in the way the media want. One senior journalist said to me on Wednesday morning, "there have been some grumbles though". As I then replied, how does a few grumbles ...
The Education for All - Fast-track Initiative is a global partnership between donor and developing countries to ensure accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015. The Global Campaign for Education has produced Back to School? The Worst Places in the World to be a School Child in 2010 (pdf). Since you ask, the bottom three are Haiti, Eritrea and, worst of all, Somalia.
After an extended break I have brought back Tweeters of the week. For those who aren't in the know, there are a few of us in the political twitterverse who don't do #ff's. This was started by a Tory blogger friend of mine. and it is he who is number one on my list. 1. ...
Another good resource that is too good to throw away without blogging is the Amnesty International report From Promises to Delivery: The MDGs promised some of the worlds most impoverished and excluded a fairer future but it is now painfully obvious that unless urgent action is taken governments will fail the most vulnerable communitiesYou can download the whole report from the Amnesty site. The quotation above comes from a press release on the same page.
It is sad how many leaflets from good causes you pick up but end up throwing away unread. Here is one good link rescued from the wasterpaper basket. Run by UNICEF, Back on Track is: an innovative programme designed to support and further international development work on education in emergencies and post-crisis transition countries. This site is a platform for ideas, information, materials and discussions on current trends and issues in the delivery of education services both during and after conflict and natural disasters.
Well, that's it then. First lesson to anyone else thinking of following Mark and me in guest editing LDV – it's not really the day you are doing it you need to take off... it's the day before! Ideally you need to have your contributions done and dusted the night before. In my case, so close to conference, yesterday was what you might call a challenge. I had a normal day at work, extended because I had been out of the office for nearly a week. I had then booked to meet fellow Tweeps for a #tweetup, thinking I wouldn't ...
The rumours emanating from Whitehall that, as part of the review of Government spending, 10% of the current workforce, 70,000 strong, will be of concern to those who believe that service levels are already poor. From the perspective of the 'poor bloody infantry' on the frontline, it will certainly come as a blow. And yet, there is potentially scope to achieve such job losses. The new PAYE computer system spells the end of manual reconciliations, and therefore the people who carried them out. Mandatory e-filing of company tax returns for corporation tax will severely reduce the need for filing and ...
Great news as West Yorkshireman Edd Kimber wins the BBC programme 'The Great British Bake Off'. Less good for Yorkshire spin bowler Adil Rashid strangely overlooked for selection on the Ashes tour. I say strangely because everyone seems to think that the young bowler, unlikely to play many games given the form of Graeme Swann, could only ...
A big thank goes out to all at the Voice to Linda Jack, who has been our guest-editor for today. Taking the theme of conference reviews, Linda has kept us busy with interviews and articles all day. For posterity, here's a list of the posts we have featured today. So how was it for you? Opinion: subtly different Opinion: no-one said government was easy Making LGBT history: an interview with Adrian Trett Opinion: the last chance saloon on diversity Opinion: looking through the tealeaves of Liverpool Opinion: Perspective – my thoughts on Liverpool Simon says: so what does our deputy ...
I've given a partial answer to this with the earlier question about books I hate; I have seen no merits in Dan Brown, J.D. Salinger, Stefenie Meyer, Arthur Golden, Alice Sebold, Paulo Coelho, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jodi Picoult or Anne Rice worth celebrating. So I'm going to veer into my own specialist interest, and single out three Doctor Who writers whose works I find consistently sub-standard to the point that I find it astonishing that they get commissions. They are Eric Saward, Nigel Robinson and Keith Topping. Eric Saward's overall contribution to the decline of Doctor Who in the period when ...
Chris Huhne has warned energy companies not to block changes which would give energy consumers advance warning of hikes in bills. Energy companies currently can wait up to 65 working days before having to tell their customers that bills have increased - meaning that some consumers are unaware that they are paying more for their energy, and giving them no chance to budget or give an updated meter reading. Ofgem is due to consult with energy companies and other groups next month about ending the practice, which could see the regime changed by the end of the year. But energy ...
I always love conference, in fact I love all three Party conferences. Because inspite of the fact that I am most comfortable with my LibDem tribe I am on the whole comfortable with people with a genuine interest in politics. Let's face it all of us are such a small proportion of the population. As I walked through Liverpool in the evening I strongly suspect that those girls dressed up to the nines, well kind of in nothing actually, had no idea they were hosting a party of Government in their hometown. That is what is so great about conference, ...
With less than a day to go to the declaration of the Labour leadership result, I thought it would be worth delving into the what the outcome could mean. I don't think there is a need to waste our time on the non-Milibands as the consensus from all sides is that Abbott, Balls and Burnham are out of the running.So firstly, David Miliband (DM). He was clearly the front runner in the eyes of the
As I mentioned earlier, conference is always a mixture of emotions, but none more so than this year. I thought it would be fun if we could do a meme in the comments thread and answer the following questions: The funniest moment The saddest moment The most embarrassing moment (OK, so I know its only me has them!) The most challenging moment The moment I will remember most And please feel free to add to the list. My answers? You'll have to wait until the end of the day for those! And to start with I'm tagging Helen Duffett [IMG: ...
From Camden Council website: Following the death of Councillor Dave Horan, an election is to be held for ONE Councillor for the Kentish Town Ward. Nomination papers may be obtained, during normal office hours, from Electoral Services, Room 11, Camden Town Hall, Judd Street, London, WC1H 9LZ. They must be returned to the Elections Office by 12 noon on Friday 1 October 2010. If the election is contested, the poll will take place on Thursday 28 October 2010 between the hours of 7.00am and 10.00pm. Camden residents can apply for a postal vote: you can download the form here. Councillor ...
I had a very useful meeting earlier today with the Director of Housing, City Housing Manager and the Homeless Services Manager about the homeless in Dundee and the council's progress with the issue. This follows on from recent correspondence I have had with the Housing Department recently. Later, I attended a briefing for councillors on council rents issues. Also today we held our latest West End Christmas Week meeting. The 10th Anniversary West End Christmas Week is taking great shape with great events being planned. Residents will recall that at the 2009 Christmas Week, we held a balloon launch and ...
As I was passing through the bookshop in Heathrow Terminal 3, I noticed that some wag had placed a copy of Tony Blair's turgid tome The Journey in the "True Crime" section. Seemed about right to me, even the prose is an offence against nature... and as for the sanctimonious waffle, words fail me, and I wished they had him too.
It was rare to attend a fringe event, or listen to a speech, at last week's Liberal Democrat conference without the deficit being mentioned at least once. Rightly so, you might say, given that this is an area of policy ... Continue reading →
I have had a further useful update from the City Council about the proposed Riverside Nature Park : "I am pleased to report that good progress has been made and that the project is still on programme to meet the end of March 2011 deadline. To be more specific, Cut and Fill Earthworks have been underway for the past two months and are on target for completion at the beginning of October. The site will subsequently be seeded, followed by the creation of paths. Planting works are then programmed during the Winter period. Following your enquiry and a review of ...
Residents will be becoming aware of the trajic murder today in Heaton Park. My understanding is that this took place near to the reservoir, which is obviously near to our part of Prestwich. I have contacted the local police, and asked them to help us reassure local people who will understandably be worried. I will post whatever information I can on this website as I get it. If you're a Twitter user, the quickest way to get updates from me is via my Twitter feed which you can follow @timpickstone. This is the current statement from the Police: Police investigating ...
Oblivion; rebellion; split; tension. Words that the media reporting on the recent Lib Dem conference - and gosh weren't there a lot of cameras, reporters and microphones present? - used both before and during the last few days in Liverpool - and crucially, words that were largely conspicuous by their absence inside the arena. Not a surprise given that large parts of the media, and the pubic too perhaps, is still coping with having a democratic, pluralist party at the heart of government. My word of the week, in contrast is perspective - and here's why. Paul Reynolds has written ...
This week, Stephen, Andrew and I have been finding lots of fun now that there are two incarnations of Bagpuss, one Panda, two incarnations of Paddington and one Matthew le Cygne in the flat as well as the three humans. Some our particular favourites during our late night, just before bed, youtube surfing include: to ...
I was very proud to see a special session at Federal Conference on Tuesday in which Cllrs Elizabeth Riches and Tim Brett, Deputy Leader and Chair of Health and Social Work respectively were invited to give a presentation on the successes the Liberal Democrats have achieved during the 3 years of their administration on Fife Council. Elizabeth and Tim outlined a number of initiatives they've undertaken to strengthen the community partnerships across the Kingdom. Elizabeth talked about the difficulties of coalition, with 2 groups of backbench councillors' agreement to secure but how it's been worth it. The coalition administration agreed ...
Fri 24th
17:51
Not great news from Sweden for liberal parties in coalition with 'modernised' Tories...
'Modernised' leader of centre-right party forms coalition with liberals to defeat a centre-left government that has been in power for over ten years. Sounds like the 2010 UK General Election, right? Well, it was also the story of the 2006 Swedish General Election, and on Sunday the Swedish electorate got to cast their verdict on four years of liberal/centre right government. The news that the far-right Swedish Democrats have won twenty seats in the Riksdag made the headlines. But beneath that disturbing development, there is also some uncomfortable news for liberals, with both the liberal parties in government losing modest ...
You can now find Nick's speech on the Number 10 website: The UK is wholehearted in our support for international development. Like many nations, we are having to take tough action to reduce our financial deficits. But we are not budging a millimetre from our commitment to development. We are standing by our promise to devote 0.7% of GNI to international development assistance from 2013, and we will enshrine this commitment in law.Later. Watch the BBC News video report of this speech.
Yesterday the world's biggest offshore wind farm off the Kent coast was officially opened. There was plenty of news reports taking the wind farm in isolation. I do understand that this technology is expensive and that British ports can't handle the larger blades. Although in return for General Electrics £100million investment they want the government to enhance an existing UK port to handle the large blades used in offshore wind turbines. Once this is done then new wind turbine factories can be built near the port. The cost will come down over time. I also understand that if the wind ...
Simon Hughes has been walking an oil sodden, slippery, wobbly tightrope since he took on the role of Deputy Leader. I have to say I have been impressed at the way he has managed to rattle equally the right and left wing press while managing the balancing act with aplomb! It is a frighteningly difficult task and one that is crucial to get right. I may not always agree with him but I am hugely grateful and reassured by his being there. I think one of his undoubted attributes is to be able to listen and take back concerns, whether ...
Planet of the Daleks is one of the rare cases where my opinion of the story has dropped largely as a result of watching it in sequence. Picked randomly out of a set of Old Who stories, it seems inoffensive enough; but eight years on from The Daleks' Master Plan, it's more obviously a rehash of Terry Nation's previous Dalek stories, combining various elements from them without bringing much new to it, a collage of bits of First Doctor space fantasy except in colour this time. This is the third consecutive future history story (after Carnival of Monsters and Frontier ...
[IMG: The victorius Cllr John Peter Alistair Dewhirst and Cllr Alan Connett] There were six principal council elections held on the 23rd September. The Lib Dems made a gain from the Tories and the Tories made a gain from the Lib Dems. There were two holds each for both the Tories and Labour. In the one Town and Parish Council result reported to ALDC there was an Independent gain from Labour. The Ipplepen by election on Teignbridge District Council was a great result for the Lib Dems. The campaign was intentionally very local and focussed on John's record of campaigning. ...
In marriage equality news here in the UK: Well the last week has been "fun" hasn't it? First up we had the Stonewall fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference where Ben Summerskill (of Stonewall fame, and of particular infamy here for many blog posts past) may have said he didn't support marriage equality and civil partnership equality because of the cost and because of some incredibly ridiculous "feminist" arguments about the evils of marriage. I love it when men use feminist arguments to deny choice to men and... WOMEN! I'm always amazed that these people stand up and declare ...
As many of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook will be aware I've spent this week up in Belfast. My good friend Mícheál late on my birthday was rushed into A&E and the following evening while we were up visiting he was discharged and me and Andrew have been keeping an eye on him, catching him when he fell asleep in an upright position (whilst the anaesthetic was still wearing off) and generally keeping him company. Of course we have found many ways to keep each other entertained and our collective spirits up. So here are some of ...
[IMG: 6292] [IMG: Creative Commons License] photo credit: BobPetUK Two stories this week which chime rather similarly: The Queen has been criticised after a freedom of information request revealed she tried to use an anti-poverty grant to heat her palaces. A senior Royal aide wrote to the Government in 2004 asking whether Her Majesty would be eligible for a handout from a £60m energy-saving fund. He complained that the cost of keeping the Queen and her staff warm had doubled to £1m a year, and the £15m Government grant to maintain her palaces was inadequate. And, in a similar development: ...
What a strange few months it's been for the Liberal Democrats. In Bournemouth a year ago, few LibDems would have truly believed that this was to be their last annual conference in opposition. My sense of the mood in Liverpool this year was that it matched the political and economic times we live in. Serious, but somewhat apprehensive. There seemed a lot of quiet satisfaction - although never smugness - that there were Liberal Democrats in government, but a nervousness about what the "end game" might be. A few things truly surprised me. Support for the principle of entering Coalition ...
The publication today of the Commission into Banking's report on the issues they will consider has not come a moment too soon. They have a year to come up with their proposals to reform the banking system. I am looking forward to what they come up with. As a supporter of liberal economics, for capitalism to work properly, competition is needed. When markets are dominated by a small number of
The Guardian reports: Nick Clegg will today issue a strong condemnation of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, telling the UN that his claims, made yesterday, that the US government was behind the 9/11 attacks on New York are "bizarre, offensive and attention-grabbing". The deputy prime minister has added the comments to a speech he is to due to make to the UN general assembly after an international outcry over Ahmadinejad's comments to the same meeting yesterday.I took some photos of Iranian anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrators here in New York on Wednesday. I shall add one to this post when I get back ...
The Health Minister tried to bury or downgrade an adverse consultants' report. And there is a huge backlog of continuing care claims.
One of the major events of Conference was the Saturday evening rally launching the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign. Presented jointly by the Lib Dems and the Electoral Reform Society, the rally saw a semi-political broadcast aimed at convincing the public of the benefits of AV. Now, aside from the presentational issues (the video was clearly influenced by Nick Clegg's 'walk and talk' PPB during the election campaign, and featured farcical and hilarious coffee drinking), there is a more worrying concern for Liberal Democrats and others committed to proportional representation. At least one of the main arguments for AV is ...
Well I know that I am renowned for being late to everything, but surely a claim to be live-blogging something 4 days after the event is a bit much? I was away with the family in Dundee when Nick stood up to make his speech to the Conference on Monday and it's only now that I have the chance to sit down and watch it, so I wanted to record my initial reaction as it happened for my own benefit. I guess the person googling for Nick's speech in 6 months' time won't care that this version was 4 days ...
I went to conference expecting something entirely different, perhaps influenced by the daily articles and news reports, that this conference was going to be like no other. That there was much unrest, and even anger amongst the Party's ranks. Instead I found myself amongst many Lib Dem party members and friends who were upbeat and positive. I didn't speak to anyone – nor as far as I can gather did the media – who was vehemently opposed to the Coalition Government. Yes, this conference was like no other. It was the largest conference we've ever had, and our Leader is ...
At The Lib Dem Party Conference this weekend in Liverpool, Chorlton Councillors Victor Chamberlain and Paul Ankers raised the issue of the Mega TESCO in Stretford with Liberal Democrat Communities and Local Government Minister, Greater Manchester's Andrew Stunell MP (pictured). Cllr Chamberlain said: "I told Andrew Stunell how inappropriate and damaging the Mega TESCO could be for Chorlton's Independent shops. I welcomed the fact that Ministers in the Local Government Department have decided to review the application, and asked the Minister to hold a public enquiry so we can really see how much one of the UK's largest supermarkets could ...
The Party President Ros Scott along with Daniel Bridgeman (from the sponsors Midshires and Riso) presented this year's Campaigner Awards at a packed meeting at the Federal Conference in Liverpool. [IMG: ALDC AGM and Campaigner Awards 2010 Lib Dem Federal Conference Liverpool 2010] This year's Campaigner Awards attracted an ever-improving quality of entries with the overall winner coming from Bath & North East Somerset Radstock Ward, who took the seat with 40.1% of the vote share after not having a candidate in May, and indeed Simon Allen is the first Liberal Democrat elected in the town. See the literature here. ...
Member of Parliament for North East Fife and Former Olympic athlete Sir Menzies Campbell has been appointed to the Olympic Board for London 2012. Sir Menzies, who held the British 100m record from 1967 to 1974 with a personal best of 10.2sec, will be joined by Lib Dem MP Don Foster on the Board. Ming ran the 200m for the GB team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and was captain of the UK Athletics Team 1965-66. He also captained the Scotland team at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Jamaica. The Olympic Board provides oversight of the entire London 2012 Games ...
[IMG: Alistair Dewhirst gains Ipplepen from the Conservatives] Congratulations to new Liberal Democrat councillor Alistair Dewhirst at Ipplepen, Teignbridge District Council. The Liberal Democrats gained the seat with a massive 34% swing from the Tories following the death of the previous councillor. Turnout was up too, and high for a council by-election: 58.7% compared with 52% in the main elections in 2007. Central Devon Liberal Democrats are also reporting an increase in party membership. The result: Lib Dem Alistair Dewhirst 756 (62.3; +34.5) Conservative 458 (37.7; -34.5) Total votes cast 1217 (3 spoilt papers) Majority 298 Percentage change is since ...
Blogging as The Disgruntled Radical David Grace records the success of the motion on Trident at Lib Dem Conference last week.He has every reason to be more gruntled than usual. The party wanted to debate the issue and if a way had been found within the rules for Emergency Motions to decide that Trident should be scrapped, I am confident the party would have backed it no matter what the platform thought. (I notice that a poll in the summer suggested that 60% of the population was of that opinion also.) Mind you getting the motion on to the order ...
The team from ALDC are now back from the Party's Autumn Federal Conference in Liverpool. Conference was the largest Liberal Democrat (or Liberal) conference in living memory, one of the many impacts of the new circumstance of being a Party of Government in Westminster. [IMG: ALDC Members Reception at Liberal Federal Conference Liverpool 2010] [IMG: ALDC Members Reception at Liberal Federal Conference Liverpool 2010] [IMG: ALDC Elected Police Commissioners Fringe at Lib Dem Conference Liverpool 2010] [IMG: Next Generation 5 Launch at Lib Dem Federal Conference Liverpool 2010] Here's a selection of photos from our Flickr Site. And here are ...
Statement from the ALDC Returning Officer 2010 At the deadline of 1.00pm on 24 September 2010, nominations had been received from the following members who have been declared elected to serve on the ALDC Management Committee 2010-2012. President: Cllr Veronica German AM (Torfaen) Chair: Cllr Kath Pinnock (Kirklees) Vice-Chairs (2): Cllr Claire Hudson (Mendip) Cllr Mike Ross (Hull) Secretary: Cllr Sarah Boad (Warwickshire) Treasurer: Mike Ward (Mole Valley) Ordinary Members (10): Jon Burden (Hammersmith and Fulham) Cllr Sarita Bush (Hull) Cllr Stan Collins (Cumbria & South Lakeland) Steve Hitchins (Islington) Cllr Graham Knight (Mid Sussex) Cllr Isobel McCall (Milton Keynes) ...
[IMG: Chief Secretary at Sutton Council] Image by HM Treasury via Flickr It has been quite a steep rise for current Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rt Hon. Danny Alexander MP. Prior to being an MP he worked as a press office for a Scottish National Park, and was involved in the pro-Euro campaign. He now finds himself as number two in the treasury. Many Lib Dems, and even more Conservatives, despaired at the loss of David Laws to trial by Telegraph. For Liberal Democrats, it seemed their most credible economic force about form Vince Cable had just been squashed. ...
As was widely predicted, Ken Livingstone has beaten Oona King to become Labour's candidate for London Mayor in 2012. I have shared platforms with Ken several times, as well as taking part in joint photo-ops, and have always found him personally agreeable. But I know from political friends and colleagues — including many inside the ...
This is my article for the Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2010/11 which was published yesterday. I was asked to contribute something about how new media helps me as a councillor and why I take the view that, whilst it won't win me re-election, it's still something councillors should be doing. David Penhaligon's famous advice to politicians was that if you have something to say, you should write it on a piece of paper and stick it through peoples' letterboxes. In today's digital world, that advice is still as true as it ever was. I'm an ...
[Edited text of my speech opening the debate on a topical issue, "Building a Low Carbon Economy" at the Liberal Democrat conference, 21 September 2010] What a year it's been for the planet! Last December, we saw the disappointing conclusion to the UN climate change summit at Copenhagen. We've seen the US Senate fail to even vote on a bill to cut carbon emissions. We've seen heat waves scorching Russia, and nearly one-fifth of Pakistan submerged underwater, vindicating predictions by the IPCC that such events will be more frequent in a warming world. Whatever the climate sceptics say, the evidence ...
In Liverpool this week, for many, the Liberal Democrats' Autumn Conference was a slightly different affair than usual. It seems most members have been to umpteen Conferences, and the heightened security, along with the sight of Lib Dem Cabinet ministers and senior political journalists, was something of a shock to them. For me, however, it was an entirely new experience. Never having been at party conference before, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew, of course, that the Lib Dems were the only party that actually debated and agreed policy, allowing members of all types a real say. But ...
For many Lib Dems, Anglesey will be associated with family holidays away on the North Wales coast or perhaps taking a ferry to Ireland from Holyhead. But politically Anglesey County Council is one of the most controversial councils in Wales, something which has had a number of consequences for one particular councillor. Aled Morris Jones was elected to Llaneilian ward in 2004 as the first Liberal Democrat councillor on Anglesey. This was a hard won success after nearly 20 years as a party member and activist. In 2008, Aled was re-elected with an increased majority and helped to ensure the ...
Mike Smithson has called it for Mr Ed (Milliblair). Charlotte Gore is relieved because he is a clear loser.Much like the other 4. But why haven't Labour got somebody with a bit more about them? It reminded me of the post-Thatcher years in the Conservative party. John Major rose without trace. William Hague was known only for being a pompous schoolboy. IDS - well I can't think of anything to say about him. And each time they rejected better-known party heavyweights. Strong leaders like Thatcher and Blair it seems instinctively create the wrong environment for the nurturing of their successors. ...
Adrian Trett is Chair of DELGA, the person responsible for the Equal Marriage motion and someone I am proud to call a dear friend. Following the success of the motion I interviewed Adrian about his feelings about conference in general and the motion in particular Q: What was your overall impression of conference? A: I was really pleased, I thought it was exhilarating, everyone was so enthusiastic. On the way to conference I thought there may be arguments, but I found it to be a pleasing atmosphere and was thrilled to be there. Q: How did you feel when you ...
I have been following the saga about the state of the Commonwealth Games Atheletes Village and can't help thinking that it would be wrong for nations to refuse to send their teams. I appreciate that the facilities need to be completed, clean and safe and the hosts must be held to that, but we should also remember the struggle India has had to put on these games and so we should be supportive as a nation , it's too easy to heap criticism from several thousands of miles away from the comfort of our western affluent lifestyle. We must remember ...
Always ones to nick ideas from us, Labour are this week holding a conference of their own. And it's in Manchester, only up the road, which is very exciting. The major talking point will of course be which of the five leadership candidates will be elected party leader. Since they all disagree on how to tackle the deficit it'll be fun to see everyone lining up behind the winner instead of behind the defeated opponent they'd been supporting for the previous three months. But that's for another post. In the meantime, whoever the winner is will have to deal with ...
Never let it be said that I am too partisan. I was delighted to see my good friend and vice convener Cllr Norman Work - SNP - launching the National Housing Trust with Housing Minister Alex Neil. Two nationalists given space here - I deserve a Nobel Peace prize. From Left: Jonathan Fair, Homes for Scotland; Barry White, Scottish Futures Trust; Cllr Norman Work, Edinburgh Council; Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities Under the National Housing Trust (NHT), spearheaded by the Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust, developers have been invited to participate in a scheme that will see ...
This is my chapter for The Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2010-2011, which is available from Amazon. [IMG: It's arrived: I are an author! (Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2010/2011)] Politicos use Twitter to communicate with voters, activists and the media. It's sociable and fashionable. It's useful but it has its limits. And if this was Twitter I'd stop there, for the paragraph above is a 140-character summary of the popular micro-blogging service and its emerging role in politics. Having the luxury of a whole chapter, rather than a couple of lines, ...
Have just come across this, courtesy of BBC Comedy: Hope you enjoyed! Andrew
Whilst I can understand the desperation of the left to present itself as better than what we currently have (I make no bones about the fact I would have preferred a Lib/Lab alliance to what we have, unfortunately it just wasn't feasible), the constant flinging of mud in the early days of a government is just not the way to do so. I believe that a more nuanced and reasonable approach to opposition is one that should certainly be considered by the incoming leader of the Labour Party, and most certainly by the trade unions (who I consider to be ...
The furore about the Royal Finances in recent days should be really quite easy to fix. Stop the Civil List system, and return the surplus from the Crown Estates to Her Majesty The Queen. After all, if it is Crown property then Her Majesty should be allowed to benefit from it. There is no prohibition ...
The next U decide event will take place on 4 November. At this stage we are looking for project proposals to be submitted by 4 October. To ensure this event is as successful as last year we need as many projects put forward as possible. If you have any questions please contact Katrina Keane. We are holding drop in sessions on Sat 25th Sept 12-3pm and Tuesday 28th Sept 5.30-7.30pm at Chorlton Library For anyone wishing to discuss a project
Remember that old chestnut that "The only organisations bigger than the NHS are the Chinese People's Liberation Armyand the Indian Railways"? Well, according to the NHS, there's a new sherrif in town, courtesy of Wal-Mart, the first private sector employer to break into the top three largest employers in the world. Congratulations to Wal Mart for creating nearly 2m jobs! [IMG: wal-mart-employees]
Labour have selected Ken Livingstone as their London Mayoral Candidate. Ken polled 68.6% to Onna King's 31.4%.
Dear Nick, You told us that if we always do what we have always done then we will always get what we have always got, so we needed to do something different. I have admired your drive, vision, passion and clarity that have made the UK sit up and notice the Liberal Democrats and our ...
You may recall back in July I condemned Labour's objection to equal sized constituencies by quoting from the 1838 People's Charter which gave rise to the Chartist movement. Well the people at Take Back Parliament have taken up the theme. They are holding a rally at the Reformer Tree in Hyde Park, London this Saturday to remember the Chartists and their aim, relisted below. A vote for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for crime.The secret ballot. - To protect the elector in the exercise of his vote. No property qualification for members ...
At The Lib Dem Party Conference yesterday in Liverpool, Chorlton Councillors Victor Chamberlain and Paul Ankers raised the issue of the Mega TESCO in Stretford with Liberal Democrat Communities and Local Government Minister, Greater Manchester's Andrew Stunell MP. Cllr Chamberlain said: "I told Andrew Stunell how inappropriate and damaging the Mega TESCO could be for Chorlton's Independent shops. I welcomed the fact that Ministers in the Local Government Department have decided to review the application, and asked the Minister to hold a public enquiry so we can really see how much one of the UK's largest supermarkets could affect local ...
I know that there are five candidates running for the position of Leader of the UK's Labour Party, whose result is to be announced tomorrow. But is there also an election for the position of Deputy Leader, which was narrowly won by Harriet Harman (now in her last 24 hours as acting Leader) back in 2007? Or does she stay on as Deputy until she too resigns?
Much has been said and written about the current state of the Liberal Democrats, with seemingly desperate poll ratings and talk of a total sell-out to the Tories, and I realise a post like this gives free rein in the 'Comments' section to continue the kicking so willingly dished out by so many in the ...
Ken Livingstone has beaten Oona King to be the Labour' party's candidate for London Mayor, winning a massive 69% of the vote of London Labour members. Mr Livingstone had previously held the post of London Mayor, but was defeated by Conservative Boris Johnson in the 2008 election. The election of Livingstone might be encouraging for Ed Miliband, as it clearly demonstrates to an lurch to old Labour leftism, and a rejection of New Labour candidates. Once again the union backed beast has beaten off a dynamic, young, female contender. Even if there is some overlap with Ed, this result will ...
I attended my first Liberal Party Conference at Blackpool in 1968, in the days when our MPs could all fit in a taxi, rather than needing a rather large bus. Work in education prevented me attending regularly again until 1998, but I have been at every autumn conference since. For those with long memories, 1998 was the year of the community school motion when, despite an impassioned speech by Phil Willis, the leadership lost the day, just as they did with amendment 2 on Monday: more about that later. When I arrived in Liverpool on Friday afternoon, I detected a ...
I've been taking part in a lively debate on Liberal Democrat Voice, sparked by a young black woman (her description, not mine) called Davina Kirwan. And whilst her approach is rather spikier than mine (whose isn't?), it has been interesting as a means of rooting around behind the text of the Conference motion to see what the underlying evidence is. As a result, I am more troubled than ever. There appears to be little available data as to the success and failure rates for BAME applicants in target seat selections, and at least one proponent is convinced that there is ...
 Lib Dem Fly-tipping removal cart in action  [IMG: Enhanced by Zemanta] Old tree stumps outside Stockwood library oldstumps are left so new trees can be replanted
On Wednesday morning, the Liberal Democrat Conference unanimously passed a motion calling for Trident to be included in the Strategic Security and Defence Review. For a few days the debate can be found on BBC I-Player. The Financial Times decided that Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge, looked like an anarchist and I looked like the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. Actually the Marquess looks more like
Just been entering my details on Who's Who in the Liberal Democrats and come across a couple of minor problems. Minor problem number 1 I am a member of the Northern Ireland local party – indeed I am currently chair. However, although I can put my constituency in (Belfast North), there is no region for ...
Together with the musician and long time electoral reformer Billy Bragg, Neil Lawson (Compass), Billy Hayes of the CWU and Fiona McTaggert MP Take Back Parliament are holding a purple rally for reform in Manchester Town Square. YOU DON'T NEED A PASS FOR THIS EVENT - Its outside of the security zone. Message from Billy: "In just a few weeks we'll find out who the next Labour leader is - and just how committed that leader is to renewing our democracy. We're going to need a united front to win this referendum on AV. We're going to need people of ...
Suffolk Coastal, Nigel Ashton and myself accept the Penhaligon Award from Party Presidnet Baroness Ros Scot Conference is over and its back to work as usually. I was delighted that so many members from Southport Lib Dems made the trip to Liverpool, 25 at last count, to attend what was an excellent conference. The atmosphere was electric as Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Simon Hughes gave detailed accounts of the current situation and what we as Liberal Democrats want to deliver in government. The week ended on an high note for Southport as we became joint winners of the national ...
Just been entering my details on Who's Who in the Liberal Democrats and come across a couple of minor problems. Minor problem number 1 I am a member of the Northern Ireland local party – indeed I am currently chair. However, although I can put my constituency in (Belfast North), there is no region for ...
I have just been updating my entry for Who's Who in the Liberal Democrats and interesting exercise when your local party chair is sat on the other end of the sofa adding his. A few things have changed since the last time I updated. A second Westminster candidacy, a publication, one or two minor tweaks to information here and there. Plus of course a change of address and local party. Of course updating the address details is simple. However, when it came to the party details there was an issue. I could select my new (well once again) constituency as ...
The Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference this year was subtly different from all others I have attended. Being part of the Coalition of course meant a larger UK and international press contingent, and a greater diplomatic representation from around the globe. Lib Dem ministers talked of the problems of persuading their Conservative colleagues of the benefits of key Lib Dem policies and approaches, as well as the more general problems of working with the slippery inflexibilities of government administration. However by far the more significant difference was for me something unseen, almost unconscious. It affected every conversation, every fringe meeting, and ...
Yeah, so I should probably grow up. Butfuckit, I'm already anticipating with relish the next dollop of celluloid HP courtesy of The Deathly Hallows Part I, the seventh film of eight, in Warner Bros adaptation of JK Rowling's septet. (Makes sense, no?) Here's the latest trailer, just released to get all us wizard-wannabes salivating: (Also available on YouTube here.) That I put finger to keyboard — and in so doing expose my kidult obsessions — is The Guardian's fault. Ben Child makes the claim, fashionable with a certain sort of critic, that the films are tosh... save for one: the ...
Tomorrow we will know the new leader of the Labour party. From an onlooker's point of view this has been the most interesting Labour leadership contest in years - because of the range of candidates and that, unlike the contests with Kinnock, Smith and Blair, we don't know who will win. My money is still on David Miliband. However I am swinging to Ed Miliband who has had an excellent campaign - he would be a difficult opponent for us, the main advantage would be any grievances David would feel working under his younger brother. Andy Burnham has had a ...
If this story in today's Independent is correct it is astonishing. They say that the Queen's deputy treasurer wrote to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ask whether the Royal Household would be eligible for a grant to replace four combined heat and power units at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle: He asked: "Community Energy can fund up to 40 per cent of the capital costs of implementing a community heating scheme... Since we are already grant-in-aid funded [the Queen receives £15m a year for the upkeep of her palaces] we would like to know whether the Household ...
The Western Mail reports on the continuing row over the McKinsey report saying that Welsh Liberal Democrats have accused the health minister of trying to underplay its importance. Edwina Hart referred to the McKinsey document as "some little discussion paper" as she answered questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday, but the Welsh Liberal Democrats said the conclusions of the external management consultancy were more significant and had been used as the basis of a report by NHS Wales chief executive Paul Williams about how the health boards can weather the coming financial storm. Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Veronica German ...
At 7.10am today (Friday 24th Sept) one of the trees in the patch of land next to the Horse & Farrier pub in Gatley crashed across Old Hall Road, blocking it. There looks to have been damage to one car and some (hopefully minor) damage to the buildings opposite. No-one appears to have been injured. Workmen from the Council were quickly on the scene and clearing away the tree, which will probably take most of the day. Obviously anyone wanting to enter or leave the estate by car should use Cambridge Road. It is possible to walk around the tree ...
Finding strengths are an important part of the change process as we are able to identify them, build on them, and expand them into other areas. This regular feature finds the Independent giving a good assessment of Nick Clegg's speech at conference: Clegg's speech reflected the clarity of purpose. I cannot recall a leader's speech ...
[IMG: Department for Work and Pensions logo] Spending on search engine advertising at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) more than quadrupled in 2009-10 before being stopped as part of a general freeze on government marketing. The £956,000 bill for search engine advertising was revealed in a Parliamentary Question answered by DWP minister Chris Grayling. The axing of the budget for this year reinforces the point I have previously made about the importance of search engine optimisation in the public sector (i.e. getting high up in search results without using paid-for advertising) and the missed opportunities for better SEO: ...
We are looking for volunteers to help create our own Longford Park community allotment alongside the bowlers in the park. It will be a green venture between the volunteers with shared planning and cultivation. There will be no individual plots. All levels of expertise are invited. PLEASE COME ALONG TO OUR DROP IN SUNDAY 26th SEPTEMBER at 2PM Longford Park Bowling Greens For more information contact Adrian on 01613745542, email info@folp.org.uk visit http:/folp.org.uk
Want to catch up on what I've been writing at Lib Dem Voice and here? Then here's a quick round-up of posts from the past week... Returning to Liverpool after 12 years away #ldconf The Indy labels me "The worried blogger". Hmm, not so much. Richard Grayson and me debate the Coalition on Radio 4 Westminster Hour – listen again Free schools, the Coalition, and the future of the Lib Dems – my 6-minute take LibDemVoice.org 'Fairer? For Whom?' fringe with Evan Harris, Susan Kramer, Will Straw (and me) – Listen Again LibDemVoice.org 'Blog of the Year Awards 2010′ – ...
I am a huge fan of Macmillan Cancer Support and have been since they helped us during my mother-in-law's final illness. They were there for the whole family and even came out on Christmas Day to get us through one of those horrific times that anyone who has gone through losing someone they love to Cancer will recognise. I honestly don't know how we would have coped without them. Ever since, they've had my money at every opportunity except one. Their annual World's Biggest Coffee Morning is a big fundraiser,but they used to run it in association Nescafe. Our Toddler ...
RT @helenduffett Nick Clegg at the #LibDems Bloggers' Interview http://flic.kr/p/8BCDar < ah, the dignity of being a Lib Dem DPM # @mjturner1975 Collective responsibility is going to have to be (rightly) flexible during Coalition – maybe beyond too. And why not? in reply to mjturner1975 # On train to Liverpool for #ldconf On time so far. Tho confused by having seat reservn for coach F as there is no coach F. #squatting # RT @parsingphase: What @nick_clegg said: "LibDems aren't Labour's left-wing conscience". What press report: ... http://tmi.me/1uQxF # Returning to Liverpool for 1st time in 12 years. #ldconf about ...
Well fellow Lib Dems, Bloggers and Tweeps... what did you make of conference then? Having been granted the honour of being "Guest Editor" (quaking in me boots it has to be said!) I thought, given the timing, it may be an opportunity to reflect on the last week in Liverpool. What I want to do is to try and get a feel from members across the spectrum of our party, has conference left them feeling uplifted, confused, motivated, anxious, hopeful, proud? I hope what follows today, especially for those of you who weren't there, will give you a bit of ...
[IMG: Clegg Speech 19] Image by Alex Folkes/Fishnik Photography Max Atkinson blogs some interesting stuff about the nuts and bolts of public speaking and presentation. This week, he's covered Nick Clegg's and Vince Cable's speeches to Liberal Democrat Conference - noting in particular the audience's physical response in the form of clapping. He talks about the way that applause was sometimes delayed during both Clegg's and Cable's speeches and wonders whether that was a sign of audience dissatisfaction with their messages. See Max's blog for more on this, including Claptrap the movie, which explains the devices (including applause hooks) which ...
The Southport delegation had a good conference. Over 20 of us turned up-surely the biggest delegation in living memory- even bigger than when the Conference/Assembly was in Southport. (Please note Conference Committee we'd love to welcome you back to our new improved facilities.) There were a number of awards and competitions we were involved in. Firstly the ALDC campaigner awards-where this photo was taken. We had no luck there. Then the were the BOTY's-where we were shortlisted but no luck there either. Congratulation to the Lanson Boy -to whom we have 'linked before- who won on our category with his ...
Dear Which? Magazine, I did chuckle on reading the Editor's View column in the September edition of your magazine. Why? Because the editor revealed that he had twice recently purchased goods from a firm that consistently does badly in Which? surveys. So if even your own editor does not follow the Which? advice... Yours etc.
On Tuesday mornings at 9 am there is a Radio 4 programme called "The Brown Years." This week's was largely devoted to the inside story of whether or not to call an election in the autumn of 2007. Both private and published opinion polls were pored over and apparently the crucial factor in making the decision not to call an election was that not enough southern middle class voters were thought not to be likely to vote Labour. Now that the coalition is to introduce fixed term parliaments the gross unfairness, and time consuming burden, of allowing one contender to ...
As expected last night, at a public meeting, Thanet Councils Cabinet colluded with council officers and agreed to discuss the passing over of their own democratic powers to an unelected council officer or as the agenda has it "each of East Kent's authorities shall delegate to its Chief Executive". The main body of the agenda item 11, was concerned with this surrender of control to the chief executive and role of East Kent Shared Services and should have had a public explanation, sensitive aspects of this item could then have been addressed in private. It's clear that efficiencies will lead ...
Usual procedure for book memes: bold if I've read it, italics if I've started but haven't finished it, if I couldn't stand it. Discussion welcome here but probably better directed to Ian Sales' post here (revised from his original list). Writers are listed from 1 to 55 but there are in fact 77 distinct works. Only six women out of 55, three writers from Northern Ireland, no books post-1995 (I suppose to be a 'masterwork' you need to have demonstrated longevity). 1 - The Time Machine, HG Wells (1895) 2 - Last And First Men, Olaf Stapledon (1930) 3 - ...
Fri 24th
05:28
Whoniversaries 24 September: Downie, Colbourne, Banks, Smugglers, Fang, Paradise, Slitheen
i) births and deaths 24th September 1925: birth of Gary Downie, production manager on the later years of Old Who, partner of producer John Nathan-Turner, and editor of the immortal Doctor Who Cookbook. 24th September 1939: birth of Maurice Colbourne who played Lytton in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984) and Attack of the Cybermen (1985). 24th September 1951: birth of David Banks, who played the Cyber-leader in Earthshock (1982), The Five Doctors (1983), Attack of the Cybermen (1985), and Silver Nemesis (1988) and also wrote the New Adventures novel Iceberg (1993). ii) broadcast anniversaries 24th September 1966: broadcast of third ...
You will by now, I am sure, have bought your new Liberator songbook. In my introduction, I mention Liverpool's important role in popular music and my own visit to its famous Cavern Club. I fear, however, that I was forced for reasons of space to omit a rather shameful detail. You see, I misheard the location of that club and wasted two days looking for it in Hartlepool before I realised my mistake. In my defence, I have to say that I thought it sounded unlikely even at the time. The moral of this story is that it is a ...
Chrononaut: Many writers have all the virtues of civilized persons One of the best comments on the recent nastiness. (tags: islam sf) YouTube - Do you want to know more about Belgium? Explains everything. (tags: belgium) (live blog) And the UUP leader is ... Tom « Slugger O'Toole Liveblogging the UUP leadership election (tags: uup northernireland)
Public services are at a crossroads - the Lib Dem conferences fringe events were dominated about the future. Today I am attending a "meet the primes" event for the voluntary sector in the North East . This a curious name for a event organised for the voluntary sector to engage with private and third sector bidders for the larger contracts likely to be put to tender in the North East. This reveals the classic problem that public services are cheaper when put out on a big scale but that innovative local solutions to local need are often best provided by ...
Not everyone welcomes new housing developments locally, but I hope that everyone will welcome this one now that it is coming to fruition. Durham Aged Miners Housing Association (DAHMA) are planning to build 24 two bedroomed bungalows for elderly people on the Steel Street site, part of which was formerly allotments and the rest rough ground. Today's Planning Committee gave a unanimous go-ahead to the scheme which will fill a much needed role in providing homes for the elderly close to the town centre. Anyone who has seen the DAHMA scheme behind the swimming baths, Harvey Court, will know what ...
There was a traumatic news item on television yesterday. I know that most news is bad (and traumatic) but I am referring to the footage of the police video of Mark Saunders. He was the barrister who was shot dead by police officers. It's not a nice subject but I think it served a useful purpose. You heard the negotiations that were going on at the time. You saw Mr Saunder's behaviour. All barristers will know that interpretation of events may make black look white but this one wasn't communicating with the police, had a gun in his hand and ...
