Having spent the day at a family wedding, I used it as the perfect opportunity to test out the public response to the ATP referendum in May 2011. I am personally hundred percent behind the coalition of the Conservative and Liberal Democratic government we currently have for the next five years.People's initial response is one of disdain, but when you point out to them that a Conservative Majority
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. 1. Chetwynd Barracks Estate A good public meeting took place on Wednesday to discuss the state of the roads on the Chetwynd Barracks estate. Unfortunately I couldn't attend because of a pre-existing business commitment in Cardiff. Briefly the problem is that the developer went into administration leaving the roads unbuilt and unadopted by the council. The County Council won't adopt them until they are built and the developers have contributed money towards their upkeep. TThe council have been ...
Hot on the heels of Ken "let's raise the top level of income tax to 80 per cent" Livingstone being chosen as Labour's London Mayoral candidate (again!), the party has elected union-backed Ed Miliband — already dubbed 'Red Ed' by the more conservative tabloids — to be its new leader. This will doubtless warm the ...
We all thought we knew, as the Labour leadership candidates walked into the hall today. Ed looked utterly miserable, David was smiling. It seemed like an open and shut case. Despite all the rumours to the contrary, David had beaten his younger brother. Now the whole nation knows not to play Poker with those brothers for in fact it was Ed who prevailed. Ed looked like a man who hadn't quite thought carefully enough about what he should wish for in case he got it. He's a bright man. He knew that he didn't have the backing of the majority ...
I wanted to find an appropriate quote for the Labour Leadership Contest with "Ed" or similar in it. I failed. However; "Oh, yeah. Now for the secret of schmoozing, the rapture of rap, the snap, crackle, pop of cool. Hire a secretary, boys. Now this-" ... This will be a day you'll never forget."Ed, Edd and EddyStruck me as poignant. The other that immediately came to mind is "There is no benefit
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Sc4wS2tgg Newsnight's report on the brutal crackdown by Bahrain's hereditary dictators against pro-democeay activists including British citizen Jaafar al-Hasabi
I spoke in the debate on Localism at Conference. Here's what I said: Have you noticed the hierarchical language that is often used by public service providers? Local authorities, and others, are required to 'engage' with residents. 'Citizen empowerment' is offered as a gift by government. Even those of us involved in politics fall into the trap and sometimes talk as though it is government that drives society; we talk as though it is government that is the main source of welfare for citizens and we talk as though it is government that creates successful communities. We need to turn ...
It really did not seem to matter which son of the loathsome Ralph Miliband was to be selected to "betray the working class", but the Union block vote, by the narrowest of margins, delivered it to Edward Miliband rather than David. Lots of journalists are suggesting that this matters, that there could be a general election very soon and that Labour could win it. Well, they would, wouldn't they? The fact is that Labour have put themselves in an horrendous cleft stick. They chose the weaker brother, by the narrowest of margins, depending on the Union bloc vote. Whatever it ...
'A horse is a horse of course of course .. ' yes, here comes Mr Ed. Congratulations to Ed Miliband on being elected as the new leader of the Labour party - and use Google if you don't get that last reference - I am sure you'll be hearing it again. Two things come to mind with Mr M junior's success. Firstly, had the Labour party used the first-past-the-post system then it would be David Miliband who would be celebrating tonight. Using the Alternative Vote method has ensured that the winner has a majority of the votes unlike over two ...
39) Renford Bambrough (ed.), New Essays on Plato and Aristotle (London: Routledge, 1965, ISBN 071003625). Bambrough was my metaphysics supervisor, and I was very fond of him, so this is a bit of a nostalgia trip. It is no surprise, then, that of all the papers included in the book I enjoyed his on 'Aristotle on Justice: A Paradigm of Philosophy' most; it covers many of the key ideas he was trying to get across to me in our supervisions twenty-three years later, which still shape my thinking today. I could almost hear his voice as I read. Amongst the ...
I rather enjoyed this blog 'Yes' on the Scarlet Standard, Emma Burnell should win the award for shortest blog!. I'm pleased for Ed Miliband, for Labour, for progressive politics and maybe even for AV as Miliband is known to be a supporter. Yes most MP's and members voted for David Miliband but I very much doubt Labour are split down the middle as some TV media have already speculated. Yes 10% of union members voted and this added to a 3rd of the vote. That is shockly unfair on the party members that are not also unions members (Who get ...
Anyone starting to get conference withdrawal symptoms? For those of you who were there, here's a few videos from the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool to help you catch up with what you missed by, erm, being there. And for those of you who weren't there and saw it all on telly anyway... well, here's another chance to enjoy some of the highlights. (Please note, as most of these are BBC videos it's not possible to link to them: they will therefore only be visible to readers viewing Lib Dem Voice directly through your web browser.) Paddy Ashdown interviewed by ...
I've been boycotting The Guardian since they saw fit to print Polly Toynbee's frankly disgraceful rant about David Laws back in May (a boycott in which I'm joined by at least two government ministers, I learnt last week at conference – albeit it's different articles which have annoyed us). But today I was faced with a choice between The Guardian and The Express, and I chose what I believe to be the slightly lesser of two evils. I was quite glad I did, because there on page four was a superb shot of the weather at Roker Lighthouse yesterday. I ...
Young, personable and a superb baker, he was always going to be in the final two, and I'm so pleased he won. But enough about Edd Kimber's win in the Great British Bake-Off this week. I was also pretty glad that Ed Milliband won the Labour leadership, not least because the winnings on my small bet on him offset the somewhat larger amount I staked on Andy Burnham last Christmas. Putting my modest win at the bookies to one side, I think the Ed M result is pretty good for the Lib Dems. The fact he failed to win two ...
This is a slightly difficult question to answer. Looking through my LibraryThing catalogue (yet again) I find I have given five stars to the following books originally published in languages other than English: Albanian: The File on H Anglo-Saxon: Beowulf Chinese: Wild Swans Dutch: The Diary of Anne Frank French: Persepolis I, Persepolis II, Candide, Madame Bovary, Proust I, Proust III, Proust VI, The Little Prince German: Ali and Nino</b> (as mentioned previously) Greek: Oedipus Rex, The Iliad Icelandic: Njal's Saga Italian: Survival in Auschwitz, The Divine Comedy Latin: Ovid's Erotic Poems, Ovid's Metamorphoses, The Twelve Cæsars Portuguese: Blindness Russian: ...
So Ed Miliband is the new Labour Leader, but what does this mean for the Labour party, the Liberal Democrats and the country? The Labour Leadership contest seemed to go on forever, one thing is certain it was distinctly light on policy. Ed Miliband, fundamental in setting out the 2010 Labour Manifesto, should have been ...
Today, Ed Miliband became leader of the Labour party. In a short speech at the conference, his main one comes next week, he accepted the need to tackle the deficit, said he would say when he agreed with the coalition and set out a different vision of society to the one articulated by both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. In a previous post, I set out what I thought would be the challenge facing the next Labour leader. By accepting the need to deal with the deficit, Miliband has recognised there is a problem with the economy. By stating he ...
It's fascinating to see here the Labour leadership election votes at the various stages of the counting. Ed Mili was more than 3 points behind David Mili on first preferences. Ed Mili did very well out of Diane Abbott's votes (picking up 3 points compared to 1 by his brother), not so well out of Andy Burnham's votes (level with his brother at 4ish points) and then a bit better out of Ed Balls' votes (9ish compared to 7ish for his brother), but just enough to take him over the line. In many ways, it is a delight for fans ...
Here are some first thoughts on what Ed Miliband's wafer-thin election victory in the contest to lead Labour might mean... 1. He's going to have to work hard to prove he's his own man. There's no doubt the right-wing press and the Conservatives will do all they can to show Ed Miliband is little more than a puppet of the unions, given he won Labour's electoral college thanks to the votes of trade unionists, having lost the vote among party members and MPs/MEPs. The pressure will be on for him to show he can stand up to union power or ...
Objectively I'm pleased, of course, that Ed Miliband has won the Labour leadership contest. His brother represented all that was worst about New Labour - complicity in torture being perhaps the [IMG: Ed Miliband] most egregious element, for which he had personal responsibility - whereas Ed, rightly or wrongly, does not come across as someone who wants to defend everything Blair and Brown did in government. I hope that his more liberal stance on civil liberties, Trident and electoral reform is retained, particularly as it is hard to see how the AV referendum will not now go through Parliament. Having ...
In recent years one of the best freebies you can get your hands on at the party conferences is the Sky News-sponsored politicos special edition of that childhood playground staple, Top Trumps cards. I can't remember if it's an innovation this year, but the 30 MPs who have earned a place in the pack have each been ranked according to "fanciability". Here they are, with scores out of 100: 1 Zac Goldsmith MP 100 2 Rt Hon David Miliband MP 95 3 Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP 88 4 Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP 82 5= Rt Hon David Cameron ...
Okay, so they may have a pig's ear of a leadership electoral system, but the Labour Party's decision to publish how every MP and MEP voted is going to provide some fun and games over the coming days. The first this I have noticed is that there are a couple of high profile absentees from the voting lists. These are Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman. I suppose you could argue the point that, as Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman needed to be able to work with whoever was elected - but that's more an argument for not publishing the lists than ...
With the 10 year Millennium Development Goal Review Summit having taken place this week, now is a good time to take stock of the Coalition Government's International Development policy so far. The Coalition Government promised, in their "Programme for Government", to commit to the internationally agreed goal of 0.7% of Gross National Income spent on aid by 2013 as well as supporting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and prioritising "aid spending on programmes to ensure that everyone has access to clean water, sanitation, healthcare and education; to reduce maternal and infant mortality." As Joint Chair of the All-Party ...
Because the Labour Leadership election is not down under one member one vote just how close was the final outcome. After all1.3% is a pretty close race. But all the talk of the Unions winning it for younger brother Ed need to be looked at in light of the six people who actually cost it for David. My friend and once upon a time blogger Mark Thompson has actually done the maths. With just 1.3% in it David only needed a 0.65% swing so from the smallest electorate making up 33.33% of the electorate that was the MPs and MEPs. ...
So by the narrowest of margins the younger Miliband has won. We can now see how the PM debates will look in 2015. The 1.3% majority and the fact he was second choice among Labour MPs and members will be a short lived embarrassment for Ed. The bitterness of the Healey – Benn contest in ...
During the campaign for Labour Leader, the GMB Union came under fire for breaking election rules. The union sent its members ballot paper envelopes wrapped in what was effectively union-sponsored publicity for Ed Miliband. Today it seems that this breach of Labour's own rules by the GMB union may have decided who's the Leader of the Labour Party. Ed Miliband's final margin of victory was just 1.3%. If a total of 0.65% of votes have gone from Ed Miliband to David Miliband, the elder brother would have won. What was the impact of the GMB barons' misbehaviour? Well, Ed Miliband ...
On October 21st there is a by-election for the vacant county council seat in Andover South. I've greatly enjoyed representing Andover on Test Valley Borough Council. Working with, and standing up for local people, has been a privilege and pleasure. Andover matters to me and that's why I campaigned for a town council. We need more decisions made by local people, not by councillors from Romsey or in remote council chambers in Winchester. That's why I have agreed to stand in October's election for Hampshire County Council. Andover needs a strong voice on the County Council at a time when ...
As requested by several friends. This is from my written notes, corrected from my memory of what I actually said on the podium - I may have missed a couple of changes, but this should be fairly accurate. And you get added footnotes! Conference, when this motion was first published, I read in the press that it could not possibly pass because the Lib Dems' traditional Methodist wing would not allow it. Now, it was news to me that we have a traditional Methodist wing, but I am a member of the Liberal Democrat Christian Fellowship, [1] so I e-mailed ...
Springtime for liberal democracy and winter for Labour... as the direction of the official opposition is determined by Trade Union votes. In substance the MPs (53%) and Members (54%) showed a strong preference for David Miliband, but were out voted by Ed Miliband landslide (60%) in the Union section, each section accounting for a third of the final result. Those most closely involved in fighting and winning elections for Labour have been squished by those most closely involved in making them unelectable. Under Gordon Brown, Unions bought the party machine covering over 70% of their income. After Brown they've captured ...
Wow. That was an incredible result. For a while there I actually thought that David had held on but I had a feeling as they walked into the auditorium that his smile was false. Ed looked petrified. He looked like he'd just put a knife in his elder brother's back. I was totalling up the figures instantly in my head and once David's final total came to 49.something, I knew straight away as the audience too realised what this meant, that Ed had 50.something. The Unions decide, not the Members What strikes me is that it is not the normal ...
I spent the afternoon in Parkfield at a family fun day designed to raise funds to help the victims of the dreadful floods in Pakistan. At the Lib Dem conference Nick Clegg talked about his visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier and how flying over the floods brought home to him the scale of the disaster. The area covered and the lack of infrastructure to cope don't bear thinking about. A
Devotion to Our Lady received a strong boost at the beginning of the 10th century with the monastic reform that gave shape to Mediæval Civilization. After that epoch it became the general custom to dedicate Saturday to Our Lady. Saint Hugh the Great, ordered that in the abbeys and monasteries of his Order the Office ...
All credit to the Labour Party for providing a touch of drama at the announcement of Ed Miliband's victory in their leadership contest. After four rounds of recalculating, Miliband beat his brother David by 1.3% of Labour's slightly quirky electoral college. Miliband the Younger now faces the challenge of any Leader of the Opposition in ...
My personal choice would have been Diane Abbott, who seemed to me to be the only Labour leadership candidate to feel genuinely concerned about Labour's moral failings as well as its electoral ones; but in Ed Miliband, the Labour party at least has a leader who occasionally talks as if he might just possibly be a little bit left-wing. I'll be interested to see whether he starts to do that more, and more importantly, whether he acts on it; it's a position that deserves to have a louder voice in British mainstream politics. He'll have his work cut out for ...
Well that wasn't very edifying, was it? The Labour leadership result could not have been worse (for Labour) – not only was Ed Miliband, the least electable brother, victorious, but he won simply because of large support from the union ... Continue reading →
Oh dear. The BBC and Nick Robinson really got it wrong today - but in a way that epitomises one of the dreadful habits of modern journalism. Running live coverage of the (hugely elongated) Labour leadership election result, during the middle of the second round results being read out the BBC cut away to Nick Robinson talking about how he didn't quite know what to make of the results for sure so far. So rather than reporting the news, the BBC gave us a commentator telling us they didn't know the news. The love of having commentators tell you what ...
I spent the afternoon at the opening of Angela's Meadow, the new affordable housing scheme off London Road in Shipston. The scheme was supported by the Town Council and local Liberal Democrats, as it is a way to help people with ties to Shipston who might otherwise not be able to stay in the town. However, the person who did most to get the scheme going was Angela Noyce, the former Mayor, who sadly passed away. The scheme is named after her. This scheme provides a mix of bungalows, flats and houses - some for rent and some for shared ...
I never thought the Labour party could be so interesting! So the Geek has got it. Ed Miliband was rejected by the MPs and the Labour members, but has been foisted on the Labour party by the Trade Union vote. Labour wanted to go in the direction of electability. The trade unions wanted to go back to the 1980s. They have won. Labour have lost.---Sent via BlackBerry
As reported in today's Courier, West End residents have been querying with me the large hoardings that have appeared in recent months round the western end of the former Rail Goods Yard area (behind Roseangle, west of Seabraes). The site is owned by Scottish Enterprise and I have been in touch with them about this and the complaints about graffiti on the hoardings. See photo (right). Scottish Enterprise tells me that the work is decontamination work to make the land useable in the future. It intends to eventually sell off the ground for possible residential use, although this would be ...
In our party we choose our party leader by a ballot of party members in which each member has one vote of equal value. The Labour Party have just elected their new Leader in a system which gives some members several votes, and which allows Trades Union members who are not Labour Party members to have a third of the votes, and which allows those Trades Unions to promote a particualr candidate in the ballot mailing. So they now have a Leader who has the support of neither the members nor the MPs. No wonder they don't support Fairer Votes! ...
Sat 25th
17:00
+++ Ed Miliband elected new Labour leader: loses on members and MPs, wins big among unions
It's official. Ed Miliband has just been announced Labour's new leader by the narowest of margins, 50.4% to brother David's 49.6%. But what's most fascinating is to see the final breakdown of votes after the re-distribution of preference votes: Among party members... David Miliband won 54% to 46%; Among MPs/MEPs... David Miliband won 53% to 47%; Among trade unions... Ed Miliband won 60% to 40%. So that narrowest of wins is down to the trade unions delivering their bloc vote to Ed. I imagine they will expect him to be duly grateful. That's not a good thing for Labour, or ...
Well in the end it really was a nail biting finish. It was down to the fourth round of the ballot that decided the result between the Milibands. In the end it came down to: MPs 53-47 to David; Members 54-46 to David; Unions 60-40 to Ed. Overall Ed 50.65% David 49.35% Yes I was doing the maths in my head before the result for David was declared first (how much of a geek am I?) even turning and saying it. I knew before that forty nine came out of the Chair of the NEC's mouth which Miliband brother was ...
The side of St Nicolas Church, Newbury with Newbury Town Hall in the background. Taken this morning (a lovely sunny morning) through the window of the first floor of St Nicolas Church Hall.
Here's a photo of Nick Clegg chatting with President Obama backstage at the UN Millennium Development Goals summit.
I've just watched a man take a fast red car round the streets of Singapore and plonk it on pole position when 25 minutes earlier it had been almost knackered. Unfortunately Fernando Alonso isn't in the running to lead the Labour Party, and sorting out that organisation's problems will take a bit more than some fast tweaking by a talented team of mechanics. It looks like whichever Milibrother has won will have had only a small margin over the other. That wouldn't matter if, as between Clegg & Huhne, there wasn't much between them on policy & strategy but Brother ...
Friday was my last day working for the Liberal Democrats, after a total of eight years. I started working for Eastbourne Lib Dems in 2002, and was Agent for Stephen Lloyd in the 2005 General Election. Then I worked for Islington Lib Dems in the run-up to the 2006 elections. In Autumn 2006 I started working in Cowley Street as Fundraising Manager dealing with the crucially important income from membership, and appeal mailings and phone calls (yes, raising money from YOU!) It's been great fun, I've enjoyed it immensely. There have been some great moments - the Conference just after ...
  The calm before the storm ... setting up last night! A thoroughly enjoyable and busy morning today at the Friends of Magdalen Green Coffee Morning at Dundee West Church - here's a few photos! Coffee Morning in full swing!  Guess who was on dishes-drying duty! 
Two years ago I stood for election to the party's Federal Policy Committee (FPC). My primary reason for standing was that I wanted to help make sure that we did not ditch certain key policies from our General Election manifesto, and that I wanted to help ensure that the Manifesto was an effective campaigning document as well as a sound policy one. There was a little bit of trepidation in this move, as I've never really been that excited about the detail of policy, although I think it's fair to say that I ended up fitting in reasonably well. Top ...
 Dundee Wasps Artists' Open Studios Dundee Wasps Artists' Open Studios take place on 2nd and 3rd October. This is an opportunity to meet different artists, designers and makers working within their own studio spaces. Dundee's Wasps Studios can be found at Meadow Mill in West Hendersons Wynd : Saturday 2nd October 2010 11am to 5pmSunday 3rd October 2010 12 noon to 5pm Read more at http://tiny.cc/waspsdundee. This event is taking place in studios all over Scotland.
Wikipedia would have us believe that a diaspora is "the movement or migration of a group of people, such as those sharing a national and/or ethnic identity, away from an established or ancestral homeland" and, if you take the 'established homeland' as meaning Facebook, then the proposed Diaspora open sourced, distributed social media network concept meets that definition. Ten days ago the four student initiators of this concept — Raphael Sofaer, Maxwell Salzberg, Dan Grippi, and Ilya Zhitomirskiy — released their first parse of the product to the world in the form of a " pre-alpha developer release". Written in ...
In an hour's time we shall know who is the new leader of the Labour party. Though the bookies now make Ed Miliband favourite, my hunch is that older brother David will get the nod, just. We shall soon see. The best guide I've read on what to look out for as the votes are announced is over at Next Left; Adam Boulton's blog also has a good guide to the nuts and bolts of what happens when. But whichever of the Milibands wins through, here are three issues they will need urgently to address heading into the party's Manchester ...
I always enjoy party conference and my 24th Autumn Conference, and the party's first in Government, was no exception. Apart from the higher level of security it was little different to others on the face of it, although the mood was definitely a little different. Lib Dem Conference goers have got used, over the years, to the media coverage of our conferences bearing little relation to what those of us there experienced. If anything I would say there was less of that this time. Expectations Journalists may have to come to Liverpool expecting bust ups and for the leadership to ...
Liberal Democrat MPs, led by Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg, have voted in Parliament to give people an opportunity to throw out the archaic First Past the Post system. Up and down the country activists are coming together to campaign to replace that system with the Alternative Vote (AV). AV is a fairer system which forces MPs to work harder to earn and keep your support. Over the months until the referendum on May 5, 2011 the Fairer Votes Campaign from the Liberal Democrats will be fighting hard for a 'yes' vote. It will not be easy to win, defeating ...
"Vote early, vote often" seems to be the mantra of the Labour leadership elections. I was asked by one Labour member, "Can I put Ed Miliband 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5?" Clearly, a bit of extra guidance is still needed there about the finer points of preferential voting.
Since the election it has seemed to me that the Liberal Democrats have been somewhat flagging. The exhaustion of the general election and Clegg Mania, the immediate return of Labour Squeeze in mainstream media and the relentless coalition debate have collectively reduced the Lib Dem enthusiasts. However, there is nothing like a good Conference to cheer us all up. This was the first conference I attended alone, but with much awaited enthusiasm due to growing Twitter feeds and Facebook friends. The conference alone is a daunting and tremendous undertaking to the uninitiated. You are catapulted into fleeting and incredibly intimate ...
In the London Mayor selection contest, Lewisham councillor Duwayne Brooks has just publicly thrown his hat in the ring. More information on his Facebook page. The other declared candidate so far is Lembit Opik, who also has his own Facebook page. The number of fans for that latter page has been growing slowly but now there is a direct competitor to judge it against. So far, Lembit is ahead though Duwayne's page has only very recently appeared.
I turned to Mícheál this morning and said I was determined not to do any LGBT blog posts today. I felt that I'd done enough for the week and needed to get the balance of other issues correct on this blog. That was until Andrew, whose flat we're both currently staying in, retrieved his post. There was a begging letter for Andrew to rejoin Stonewall and the following piece of literature. [IMG: Stonewall new literature] In which they are quoting a 2008 opinion poll in the Observer. Here are the same figures as reported in the paper. The article goes ...
View Poll: Social bookmarking
Sitting at home, sorting out post, sorting out what is going to be eaten for lunch, when my boyfriend was heading out to Boots' he found some post in his pigeonhole. He, having emailed Stonewall about the Ben Summerskill affair at Lib Dem Conference during the week, appears to have promptly got a letter seeking ...
Nicol Stephen MSP has announced he is standing down after nearly three decades in public life, first being elected a councillor, then an MP and latterly an MSP for Aberdeen South. This isn't the first time that Nicol has taken the Scottish political world by surprise with an unexpected announcement – just over two years ago he stood down as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats deciding to put his family first. Nicol and his wife Caris have four children - Macleod, 15, Mirrhyn, 13, Mharni, 9, and Drummond, 6. I recall the day really well and my phone was ...
In the Californian US Senate race, the sitting Democrat, Barbara Boxer is starting to open up a decent polling gap between her and the Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP. It is thought that ads such as the one below have helped lift Boxer up the polls. This ad focusses on Fiorina's record on outsourcing. It also mentions that Fiorna amassed five corporate jets at HP. Well – one for each day of the week – why not? There is a website here called "Fiorina facts" and I have embedded one of their videos below the Outsourcing one. ...
Watch live streaming video from mashable at livestream.com
Went to see B this morning, who was very chirpy and apparently has been notably so since her exciting stay in hospital. We had a fun walk round the pools at Hélécine, and got back in time for her rather early lunch. On my way home I took advantage of the good weather and tried to get some decent pictures of one of the local ancient religious sites. It is an odd little chapel, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Steen ("Our Lady of the Stone") on the outskirts of Tienen. My first picture was certainly the best, capturing it from the south against a partly ...
Anyone starting to get conference withdrawal symptoms? For those of you who were there, here's a few videos from the Lib Dem conference in Liverpool to help you catch up with what you missed by, erm, being there. And for those of you who weren't there and saw it all on telly anyway... well, here's another chance to enjoy some of the highlights. (Please note, as these are BBC videos it's not possible to link to them: they will therefore only be visible to readers viewing Lib Dem Voice directly through your web browser.) Is Simon Hughes on the political ...
Davina Kirwan wins my award for most bonkers post on LDV yet. In it she decries the LibDems for not passing a motion enforcing "the requirement to have at least one BME candidate on shortlists where a Lib Dem MP has resigned, or within a by-election, being lost." I'm young, brown and female and I am delighted that members of this Party, young and old, instinctively knew to shoot this motion down. Discrimination, as far as I'm concerned, is discrimination and for the party to sanction it in any form would be a travesty. Ms Kirwan, your ad hominem attacks ...
First: the BBC are releasing a box set of the complete OHG! YAY! They want a hundred quid RRP for it... BOOOO! An actual complete box set is good, though, because a lot of the CDs released so far only have four eps of a six ep series on. Second: The Grauniad have "lib Dem Conference in pictures". Highlights include a very sexy Vince picture at 13/25, and Daddy Richard and [IMG: [personal profile] ] po8crg at 19/25. Daddy Richard's accusing glare at the photographer is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Three: Sara Bedford's amazing speech from ...
Saturday: Beware the CURSE of the BOTYs they say**. Auntie Alix went quiet; Lady Deputy Councillor Stephen was silenced; Wicked Uncle Costigan vanished without trace; even Mr Jumbo Graham was never heard of again... unless you read his Quaequam Blog... Well, I'm a Militant Atheist Baby Elephant and I don't believe in curses! I TWEAK the nose of the SPINDLY KILLER-FISH... and then run away and let DADDY deal with it! Besides, if Scooby Doo is right about these things, then it's probably just Auntie Helen in the Old Abandoned Mine-Shaft with some LUMINOUS PAINT and a Count Packula FRIGHT-WIG!*** ...
The 1987 General Election was my second campaign as an activist and the first one I'd been involved in from the start. I split my time between Bob Maclennan's campaign in Caithness and in the target seat of Kincardine and Deeside where the candidate was one Nicol Stephen. It was a great campaign, presided over by the legendary Sheila Ritchie. Although we made some progress, losing was heartbreaking. It was my first experience of defeat and I don't know if my expectations were too high but I took it quite hard. I was delighted 4 years later when in midst ...
Sorry it's bad news I'm afraid, although the Milliband boy might look alright, however tests have shown, that he only has partial hearing, which contributes to memory loss, this is why he wont accept complicity in the Labours economic disaster, no surprise being genetically modified from previous chancer Blair and social inept Gord. Labour will today chose one of the Milliband boys today, we are told by the pundits and yes there are worse candidates but unfortunately they are all lacking charisma and appear bereft of any really individual traits, with the exception of Diane Abbott, who despite some of ...
The Coalition has only been in office about 5 months and we have started making a real difference to Britain. It's not just about balancing the books it's also about re-shaping Britain into a fairer place to live.Listed below are some of the actions already taken by this Coalition, those promoted by the Lib Dems, although of course the Conservatives also support some of these measures. 880,000 low paid people have been taken out of income tax. All low paid workers have benefitted from the increase in income tax threshold making taxes fairer. Capital gains tax has increased so the ...
Manchester Withington MP John Leech is due to speak at a Fabian Society fringe event at the Labour Party conference on Monday. Titled "Is the Lib/Lab coalition Gone Forever?", the event will also feature former Lib Dem MP Evan Harris, Labour Mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone and former Labour cabinet minister David Blunkett. According to the Press Association, John Leech has said, The door is not shut on the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties working together. Labour need to re-think the mistakes they made over the last 13 years and get out of this immature opposition mentality that they appear to ...
A new entrant for my occasional series of Classic Road Signs (though this is still my favourite): [IMG: Secret Bunker road sign. Photo credit: http://www.ringbell.co.uk/ukwmo/]
With some amazement and inredulity, I find myself looking back on what has been a rather remarkable 10 years of my life. It was on this Freshers weekend, back in September 2000, that I arrived in Aberystwyth University as a green, naïve and shy young, just turned 18 year old. Looking back over the past decade, there is no doubt that I owe Aberystwyth and its University a great debt of gratitude for helping me to become the not so green, naïve and shy man that I am today. Pantycelyn, Freshers Week - September 2000 Over the years, some memories ...
The consultation on the bus lane proposals earlier this year produced a huge response from local residents. The results have now been summarised in a report which can be viewed here. Further consultations will take place, and localised consultations on specific proposals like those for Grove Road and Station Road. You can read this in full by following the links from the Council web site: The information point is shortly to re-open, as a further consultation period starts. Further afield the Bath Road 'showcase' route is now nearing complation.
Residents in Fountaine Court contacted Muriel Cole and I about problems with youths playing ball games in the area causing danage to cars. Muriel took this up with the Council who agreed to put up a 'no ball game' sign. This may help, but we are continuing to push the Council to provide a small area on the East Park estate where ball games can be played in a safe environment.
From Stockport Council: Stockport Council is encouraging parents / carers to give their views on childcare in the borough. The Council's Childcare Sufficiency Assessment is carried out every three years and focuses on the supply of childcare across Stockport. The assessment involves thorough consultation with parent / carers including focus groups and questionnaires. Parents/ carers are being encouraged to complete a short questionnaire about childcare. Anybody who completes the questionnaire will be in with a chance of winning shopping vouchers up to the value of £50. The findings of the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment will be made public in March 2011. ...
What is the Big Society exactly? In an age of austerity and a government dominated by deficit reduction, is this just another way to go further on cuts state reduction? Certainly, the Liberal Democrats have not gone along with the idea of the Big Society with Julia Goldsworthy saying is was 'patronising nonsense'. Some Labour ...
Over the last few weeks there has been much discussion about the proposed path through Wickham Glen. This will be funded by the Bristol Cycling City project, and will give access from a ramp connecting directly to Blackberry Hill. The plan was for a path that would be 3 metres wide. Many residents and local conservation groups were concerned that this would create a 'cycle motorway' and lead to conflict with people walking along the path, and users with disabilities. It would also lead to several mature trees being removed. There was a meeting on site with Council Officers, and ...
[IMG: The Miliblands] Just as the Labour leadership has been a stale rehash of previous policies and senior figures, I thought it would be apposite on the day of the final result to remind you all of the many posts I made, oh so long ago, on that very subject. First, on 17th May, came 'Labour's Lost, Loves' - an 'analysis' of the position of the Labour party after their mediocre (but not catastrophic) general election result. Then on 20th May, after two more candidates had announced they would run, I came out strongly in favour of John McDonnell. Given ...
Next May, there will be a referendum on changing the Voting System. It may seem a little early to be promoting this, however I feel with all that has gone on since the election people may have forgotten about the strength of feeling that I felt pervaded the election campaign and the results about how unfair our Electoral System is. I'd like you to take a look at the Take Back Parliament website with a view to pledging your support for this campaign. This organisation is not affiliated to any one political party and you can see the varied amount ...
Sat 25th
10:16
Former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy First Minister, Nicol Stephen, has announced that...
Nicol Stephen MSP has announced today he is standing down 28 years after first being elected a councillor, then an MP and latterly an MSP. Following the announcement, Nicol Stephen, former Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Deputy First Minister of Scotland said: "I have decided to stand down after serving in the Scottish Parliament for 12 years. It has been a great privilege to represent the city where I was born and grew up. "Over the years I have been involved in many successful campaigns, such as saving Garthdee and Cults libraries from closure, securing the building of ...
Lib Dem Voice is proud to have the first picture of North West MEP Chris Davies and his flying golden penis. Davies won the trophy when he was named as Politician of the Year at the Erotic Awards 2010, for his work to give sex workers a voice at last year's party conference and defending them from the prohibitionist policies of the previous government. The award, proudly on show in Chris's Stockport office, was previously held by another Lib Dem, Baroness Miller, and could be found in the office Sue Miller shared with Lord Lee of Trafford and Lib Dem ...
The one headline for literature I always had up my sleeve following the election of the Aberdeen South MSP to be Scottish Lib Dem leader was: Stephen Backs Stephen Nicol Stephen was the person I had backed in that particular leadership election to replace Jim Wallace in 2005. He was young, vibrant, environmentally aware and prepared I thought to lead our party in Scotland for a long time. In the end it proved to be only for 3 years before pressures, and we all assume outside pressures, led to his stepping down from his role of leadership. That I felt ...
Its a much used phrase, but as a party we would have to ask ourselves if Lembit Opik is the answer, what is the question ? If the question is who should be our London Mayoral candidate then the answer cannot be Lembit Opik. It is important for any politician to be more famous for their work as a politician than their outside of work activities. As Iain Dale points out in THIS article, Boris Johnson has just about managed to do this. Whilst Boris has a shady private life and seems to find it difficult to remain faithful to ...
I was never a fan of New Labour, I saw from the start what others only found out later. I have always preferred Labour to be, well, Labour - it is a great party with a great history and should remain true to it's roots and it's values.
There are times during the early days of this coalition government when you have to check yourself to ensure that it is really happening, in a good way of course. I had such a moment on Thursday evening as I was driving home and the radio was reporting that Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg was giving assurances to the Indian Government that we will do all we can to help them get the Commonwealth Games off the ground. Another such moment was this morning when I read that Clegg was to tell the United Nations that Britain regrets the Iraq ...
You select a candidate in a keenly contested election. You then receive complaints about how the contest was run. So you suspend the candidate and, er..., don't rush through an investigation or recount the votes to find a new winner or put the runner-up in post but instead your national committee hands the candidature to someone else, without members getting a say in the matter. Oh, and the original winner decides to stand anyway, but as an independent. Welcome to the tale of Labour's Mayoral selection in Tower Hamlets, as told over on Dave Hill's blog. The Liberal Democrat candidate ...
Just a brief one, I'm afraid. The BBC's main headline as of 8:23 today is 'New Labour leader to be announced'. Can you spot what might have irked me about this appearing as the main story on the NEWS website?
This is a really easy cake, which pleases adults and children. It keeps well too and can be frozen and thawed with no effect on quality – so bake one to eat now and one to freeze. If you really like citrus flavours, experiment with different marmalades. 100g soft margerine or butter 100g caster sugar ...
broadcast anniversaries 25 September 1965: broadcast of "Air Lock", third episode of the story we now call Galaxy 4. Vicki is captured by the Rills, but persuades the Doctor to help them; Steven is threatened with asphyxiation by the Drahvins. 25 September 1976: broadcast of fourth episode of The Masque of Mandragora. The brotherhood attempt to infiltrate the masque at the gathering of Renaissance savants, but the Doctor and Sarah foil their plan.
Last night we were enthralled by the theatrical company 1927 and their production of "The animals and the children took to the streets". You can see a clip from the show from YouTube above. It featured some absolutely mindblowing projected animation with which the actors interacted. Absolutely stunning! The "tecchiebox guy" as he was introduced, Paul Barritt, deserves great praise for the animation, which must have taken years to produce. This was a preview in front of some enthusiastic burghers of Newbury, preparing for Sydney Opera House where the production will run from 20th October until 6th November. It will ...
One of the most thought-provoking speeches for me at Conference this year was a speech in the localism debate by Councillor Chris White, from St Albans, who questioned if Liberal Democrats can truly commit to localism. He highlighted that our policies were a mix of localism and centralism: elected police chiefs but a commitment to ...
It's Saturday, so here's a smattering of lists that sum up the past week on Liberal Democrat Voice: (No Friday Five yesterday, to make way for Linda Jack's superbly guest-edited day) 6 most-read stories on LDV this week 1. What did you make of Nick Clegg's conference speech? (97 comments) by Stephen Tall 2. Just how daft does David Miliband think Liberal Democrats are? (13 comments) by Mark Pack 3. Opinion: Evan Harris's major error (39 comments) by Andy Mayer 4. What did you make of Vince Cable's speech? (65 comments) by Stephen Tall 5. LDVideo conference edition (1): Nick ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Veronica German has criticised the Welsh Assembly Government for setting targets for A&E waiting times which don't help patients. The statistics for August, released this week, show that across Wales A&E departments are not meeting the targets set by the government. The targets state that 95 per cent of patients should spend less than four hours in major A&E departments from arrival to admission and that 99 per cent of patients should spend less than eight hours waiting. In Wales 87.3 per cent of patients spent less than four hours ...
I hate to say it, but I fear that being elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats has gone to the head of my old friend the Revd Hughes. Not a day goes past without his issuing a statement saying the party will not stand for this or will not stand for that. Now, I am the first to admit that he is the Soundest of Liberals, but since when did being Deputy Leader make one such a big cheese? It happens that I was once myself elected as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and did not find out ...
[IMG: mark] Well said Mark Littlewood of the IEA (founder of Liberal Vision)... written for LDV.... "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 ...
The security guard at Old Kent Road ASDA tonight spotted my crutch and insisted on fetching me a mobility scooter to get around the store. (I think secretly he wanted to ride on it himself.) I felt a bit silly but it was nice to have a sit down whilst I shopped, at least. I'm pretty sure the self-propelled wheelchairs I saw as I was parking the scooter up before I left would have been faster, though. I sort of wish I had one now, to get me down the steep hill from the village to home (around a 15 ...
Can this be right? « Slugger O'Toole Fianna Fail 22%, Fine Gael 30%, Labour 35%!!!! Greens 2%, Sinn Fein 4%, Independents 8%; looks like we may see a Labour Taoiseach... (tags: ireland) Birth Pains as Southern Sudan Preps for Nationhood Excellent if slightly grim photo-essay from Time (tags: sudan) Science of the Invisible: Social is an emergent property On how social bookmarking works (tags: internet networking) British SF Masterworks redux « It Doesn't Have To Be Right... Ian Sales comes up with a list of 55 (strictly 75) classic sf books by British writers. Includes Bob Shaw, James White and ...
At next week's full city council meeting the Liberal Democrats will ask the Labour Executive to launch a full independent inquiry into the letting of contracts to the collapsed Connaught group. Their calls are backed by Norwich South MP Simon Wright.
Stonewall has made a major error in letting its Chief Executive Ben Summerskill loose at the recent Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool. His statements are now well known, but it has opened up a can of worms that Stonewall will want to shut. However, I hope that others will join me in looking at what ...
Nick Robinson was reporting from Manchester yesterday on the eve of the Labour Party conference. This afternoon we will learn the name of the new leader of the party and Nick was telling us about the contenders. It is now looking like Ed Miliband is going to win but whether he does or he doesn't the thing that struck me was a heckle (or three) from a drunken passerby. Nick managed to complete his report very professionally despite the repeated interruption and even concluded with a sentence to the effect that the announcement of the leader may attract the attention ...
