News reaches me tonight that another former colleague who is planning to defect to Labour tomorrow. Now I know he has been unhappy with some of the tough decisions being taken by the coalition government but as I explained to him myself only last week Labour were planning similar cuts themselves, as confirmed previously by former Chancellor Alastair Darling and confirmed on Monday of this week in his speech to the CBI by Ed Milliband. Whatever your view of what is happening, nobody - well except maybe for Labour politicians and some union leaders - can deny the country's finances ...
After 13 years waiting for the last government to get on with this scheme at last the lights turned from amber to green and we will get the link road from switch island to south Sefton. Lib Dem council leader Tony Robertson is seen at switch Island (where the M57, M58 and A59 meet) pointing to the route that the new road will take.
Earlier today, I sent a response to the consultation on the draft Programme for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration that is being carried out by the Office of the First Minister and the deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland (OFMDFM) and finishes tomorrow 29 October 2010. My covering letter which goes with the response is outlined ...
Bury Council has launched a consultation on parking in Bury. That's all very fine and dandy in itself. However, the trouble is that when the people of Bury give their views on such issues, too often Bury Council don't appear to listen. Take for example the very timely introduction of parking charges at the Fairfax Road Car Park. Local people, businesses, shoppers local councillors (including yours truly), were all opposed to the introduction of charges believing that it would damage local businesses. Many told the Council in so many words during that consultation. Result - charges introduced. The trouble with ...
Yesterday afternoon I did a cannonball run from Portsmouth over to Woking (the fuel burned to get there is a lot cheaper than getting a train from Portsmouth or driving back home to Petersfield and getting on from there) and jumped on a train to Waterloo. I met up with my good friend Spidey and we went to the Institute for Government for the second in the series of their "The Future of ...... Thinking" which cover all three parties. The first in the series was about the Tories, This one was about the Lib Dems and the next one ...
Dear John Gray, You have me baffled, I'll confess. Writing recently in the London Review of Books you talked about how in your view Vince Cable and others in the Orange Book a vision of a "small government". I'm confused because it's true that Vince Cable's chapter does call for a cap on the maximum that the state can raise in taxation. However, that maximum was set higher than the Labour government was taking in at the time in 2004, several years after they had 'turned on the taps' on public expenditure and left previous Conservative Party spending targets well ...
Bracknell Blog yesterday led to my doing the political compass test for the umpteenth time. As usual I'm in the bottom left hand quadrant with Mandela and the Dalai Lama, although over the years I seem to have been drifting away from the former and towards the latter. It's a bit lonely down here. I think it would help pass the time if one of us played a musical instrument. The top right hand quadrant on the other hand seems to have a party going on, though you'd want the music turned up loud to avoid having to engage in ...
My scan is on Wednesday afternoon next week. Good vibes appreciated. Trying not to think about it. I spent the beginning of the week in Luton. If you are ever in Luton I highly recommend a pub called The Castle. I bought i (the 20 pence baby indy) today, partly because its cover proclaimed it to be a millionth of a Rooney and partly because it had a TARDIS on the cover. I am shallow. Also today I visited our new local swimming pool (literally 20 yards from my house!) with [IMG: [personal profile] ] matgb and [IMG: [personal profile] ...
The sudden rise of the lead mining industry in this remote part of England in the mid 19th century meant that the Stiperstones area has the feel of the Wild West. Shanty villages were thrown together with materials like corrugated iron and their hastily abandoned remnants can still be found today. Snailbeach has this atmosphere most strongly, but you even find it down at Minsterley - a larger village on the main road to Shrewsbury. You may have to hurry though. A planning notice on a nearby lamppost suggests this shop may soon be replaced by a more conventional building. ...
There can't be many photos of Alpacas by an ancient church. These couple of Alpacas below, called Zeus and Angus, are pictured in the churchyard of St Winwaloe's Church, Poundstock, Cornwall last Sunday. They were there as part of a day's fayre which was spread ove rthe churchyard, church and ancient Gildhouse.
Thu 28th
20:14
The story and photos of Christine O'Donnell dressed as a ladybird, going to bed with a (man dressed ...
You certainly couldn't make it up. It certainly puts all those pious statements on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect into some sort of context. The BBC states: She founded the Savior's Alliance for Lifting Truth (SALT), a conservative lobbying group focused on promoting sexual abstinence... But hey – it proves she's human. And at least this revelation might lead to further airing of my favourite Biblical quote: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
My few days away saw me in Derbyshire. I was quite taken with these wall painting in the Parish Church of Nether Haddon. They are believed to be part of a scene from a morality play. History-that is my guidebook-doesn't explain the plot, but I suspect that that the congregations were being warned about the terrible consequences of their sins! I also visited the Parish Church of nearby Bakewell which had a fine collection of misericords.
Cheekily borrowed image copyright The Institute for Government. Last night I attended the 'Future of LibDem Thinking' debate at the Institute for Government in Westminster. The evening featured a panel of leading Liberal Democrats chaired by Lord Adonis who is the institutes director. I was particularly keen to hear how leading members of the party are feeling now we are in government and what they think the direction of the party should be. The panel for the evening was: Lord Clement-Jones - Lib Dem peer Julian Astle - Director of CentreForum Timothy Cox - Liberal Vision Neil Sherlock - adviser ...
Blogging has already been somewhat light over the last few days. It will however continue to be so. I have an interview for a job I'd really love to have on Monday and I have to do some preparation for it. There are some people who will read this to whom thanks are due for pointing this role out to me. There is someone else that I truly do wish all the best to, it will be an interesting few days, I just wish I could have your input. So if you don't see me on here, Facebook or Twitter ...
Johnny Sheffield, who played Boy in the Tarzan films of the 1930 and 1940s, died at his California home last week at the age of 79. According to the New York Times: The cause was a heart attack several hours after he fell off a ladder while pruning a palm tree.
I mentioned one of the UK's secret prisoners today in the House of Commons. These prisoners are different to those imprisoned through the courts where the Family Court bans the name of the prisoner being revealed.These are people whose legal capacity to decide where they live is removed from them by the Court of Protection.The Mental Capacity Act 2005 specifies in detail the circumstances in
I finally got my voting papers in the mail today for the Liberal Democrat presidential elections and if I had not made up my mind about who I was going to vote for before it arrived, I was by the time I had finished reading everything in the pack. I should note that I also got two emails today about the presidential election. One from Paddy Ashdown on behalf of Tim Farron and one from Susan Kramer. I am not doubting that Susan Kramer is very good at what she does, however one of the first things that put me ...
I have followed the Saga of Katharine Birbalsingh over the last few weeks with increasing incomprehension. For those who don't know she was the teacher who spoke strongly (and passionately) at the Tory party conference regarding her views on how the current schooling system is failing children. you can read her own thoughts on this here Now I don't agree with some of her views but as a Liberal I do believe in freedom of expression and the right to be politically active. I have not seen much comment from the teaching unions but I can't help but wonder what ...
Sunday was a stunningly beautiful day and we were fortunate enough to visit Upton beach in Cornwall, devoid of anyone else save for a single fisherman. There is something special about the light at this time of the year.
I was reading the Independent on Sunday (a regular vice I can't quite shake off) last Sunday (obviously) and found myself getting rather annoyed when I read this article by Andrew Martin about Nick Clegg's impending 'turn' on Desert Island Discs. At the time of going to press, Andrew Martin was only allowed to mention 3 of Nick's 8 choices but he instantly took against the choices that he offered from the 8 - that were the rock songs "Life on Mars" by David Bowie, "The Cross" by Prince, and "Street Spirit" by Radiohead. In particular, he made this ...
Yesterday, I met with the local operations manager of CityJet, operators of flights to London City Airport from Dundee, regarding their proposed winter timetable. This follows the concerns I have raised about the problems the new timetable will pose for business users. In a constructive meeting, I asked that CityJet rethink pushing back these flights to later time slots. It is also clear that the increased landing costs at London City Airport before 9am have not assisted and this is something I am taking up with London City Airport. Senior City Council officials and representatives from Highlands and Islands Airports, ...
Last night's Evening Telegraph and today's Courier report my concerns that, having rejected any attempts to offer Dundee council tenants any real choice for the rent increase in 2011/12, the SNP administration on the City Council has turned the so-called "consultation" with tenants on rent levels into no more than a sham. Earlier this week at the Housing Committee, I attempted to introduce an additional option for tenants - an increase 1% below anything the SNP offered. The SNP voted this down, so only options favoured by the SNP will be offered for consultation - at 4.5%, 4.75% and 5% ...
I understand that public spending, capital projects and private investment would boost the economy but there is something else that needs to be sorted in order to ensure that the big spending review gamble works. As recent figures by the British Bankers Association have shown, mortgage take up continues to fall and banks continue to have low levels of lending to small business. So we need the banks to step up their lending of mortgages so they are not as expensive for the lower deposits and banks to lend more willingly to small business. Won't that cover any loss to ...
Excellent news from Parliament yesterday over plans to privatise the Royal Mail and to mutualise Post Office Ltd, the franchising body for the branch network, 95% of which is already made up of private businesses. And what an interesting reappearance for Clause 4, last seen when Take That folded in the mid 90s and, just like Take That, now appears to be returning for a Comeback Tour. As with Take
Last night I had the pleasure of speaking at the Institute for Government, on behalf of Liberal Vision, on "The future of Liberal Democrat thinking." Chaired by Lord Adonis (boo... hiss!), the other panellists included Lord Clement-Jones, Neil Sherlock and Julian Astle from Centre Forum. The IfG have provided a comprehensive summary of the discussion here (and, for those of you who are really bored, a full podcast here!) but I thought I'd briefly add my thoughts on some of the issues raised: Lord Clement-Jones lauded our exulted one, rightly describing Clegg's decision to join the coalition as "bold" and ...
In just over two weeks I'll be attending another BarCamp in London. Whilst it will be the eighth London BarCamp I haven't managed to attend all the previous ones, so this will only be my fourth† unconference. Most BarCamps have a tshirt to mark the occasion and I'm very pleased to see that the forthcoming one has received sponsorship from Spreadshirt again, enabling attendees to design their own. [IMG: my t-shirt!] For a change, I decided to use a tactile braille message. † If I can count correctly!
It is my sad duty to chronicle yet another round in Sefton Tories' squabbles. The Crosby Herald has the story . Anne Ibbs has spent most of her time banished to the 'naughty step' by their leadership. Now she has been deselected and replaced with failed PPC Debbi Jones. Local Tory parish councillors have threatened to resign. Best of all a member of the discredited Tory Leadership group Barry Griffiths has told the dissenters to go........We love you Barry even though we predict your own party will soon turn on you.
The coalition announced yesterday that the Thornton relief road will go ahead. The week before the Labour MP for Sefton Central claimed on his website: 'Although the Labour government had given the go-ahead to the project at the start of this year the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government announced the axeing of the Thornton Relief Road project as part of its first round of cuts. Bill this week branded the cut to the relief road project short-sighted and said the move would damage the local economy' Labour didn't in fact give the approval. All that ever happened was that Labour engineered ...
People outside of London who cannot afford to buy a home or meet their rent without help from the benefit system are missing out in the current debate on the capping of Housing Benefit.The housing ben...
The Policy Consensus Initiative highlights some useful texts in collaborative governance such as the Practical Guide to Collaborative Governance & Training Manual. They have a useful outline of collaborative governance which is worth repeating: What is Collaborative Governance? Leaders engaging with all sectors—public, private, non-profit, citizens, and others—to develop effective, lasting solutions to public problems ...
I am supporting Tim Farron in the election for a new president of the Liberal Democrats. This might seem a surprising choice, as I have not always been sympathetic to Tim's views on the party's policy direction and was very critical of his chapter in Reinventing the state. If it was simply a matter of voting for the candidate I am most likely to agree with on policy or general political outlook, I would probably support Susan Kramer. There are a number of reasons, however, why at this point Tim will make a better president. In the first place, it ...
Another article from earlier in the week in the Indescribablyboring discusses the crisis among brewers who are struggling to sell beer and who are seeing pubs closed up and down the country. I'm a big fan of English beer. I believe it to be a wholesome and good thing which is only abused by a minority and which could do much to address a range of social ills in ways I could go on for at great length - but not now and not here. The problem with the brewing industry appears to me to be two-fold, with a third ...
I got a book in the post from Amazon this morning, woo! It looks like a very interesting book; it's called Permanent Obscurity Or A Cautionary Tale of Two Girls & Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death. I'm looking forward to reading it. I am quite confused though, because I didn't order the book. Amazon tell me that they had to put my details on the packing slip for the billing address because it was an anonymous gift and they can't leave it blank. They wouldn't tell me the name of the buyer, but revealed it came from Bayside ...
No amusement to be had from this. Not at all. Oh no.
Whilst the press is agnonising about limiting housing benefit to a "tiny" £400 per week (that's £20800 a year), we've been doing similar in Manchester for over a decade with all-party support. Faced some years ago with some landlords charging outrageous rents, often for grotty run-down homes, Manchester started to limit housing benefit to a fair rent. There were howls of outrage at the time from landlords (one claiming on tv that he had a "right" to a 12% return on his investment, so how dare the Council limit the rent he was getting for his shabby two up two ...
When David Laws was forced to resign from the Cabinet the loss to both the Liberal Democrats and the coalition was a immense. The Government lost one of it's greatest economic assets, and the Lib Dems lost their best fixer. The undoubted power house within the Conservative party is Foreign Secretary William Hague, there is no obvious Liberal Democrat equivalent, someone who can really knock heads together and sort through policy differences for the good of their party and the coalition. Given his experience as Nick Clegg's Chief of Staff and manifesto overlord, Danny Alexander was the obvious candidate tot ...
[IMG: Winning elections: Lynne Featherstone and David Winskill put up a poster] I'm off to Ealing Liberal Democrats as the guest speaker on 2nd November. They are holding their AGM that evening and of course it's the news that they are debating constitutional amendments which is really attracting me over there ... but I will also be talking about the lessons from the 2010 general election for winning future local and general elections. Although only Ealing local party members can take part in the AGM, my talk is open to Liberal Democrat members from outside Ealing too. I strongly suspect ...
An application seeking planning permission to erect a mobile phone mast on Slaidburn Crescent has been submitted to Sefton Council. The mast design is known as monopole which is similar to a lamp post, only not as slim, and about 5 metres taller. It is not like the monstrous box-type mast looming over Seacroft Crescent which, many years ago now, we succeeded in getting the Planning Committee to refuse. But that democratic local decision was subsequently overturned by an independent Planning Inspector on appeal, as sadly very frequently happens, and whose decision is final. So the eyesore was built to ...
With apologies for the lack of any recent streams of vaguely Lib Dem consciousness, here is an interesting article in the Independent which focuses on NIMBY power which challenges wind farms across the country, drastically reducing the number of new turbines going up. I am a strong supporter of wind farms, indeed I live in a very windy village and I would love a blooming great turbine on a nearby ridge which is currently home to a series of radio aerials - thus not exactly a beauty spot. However, I am sure that if any such plans were proposed (there ...
Thu 28th
12:08
Whoniversaries 28 October: Ian Marter, Matt Smith, Abominable Snowmen #5, Stones of Blood #1
i) births and deaths 28 October 1944, 28 October 1986: birth and death of Ian Marter, who played companion Harry Sullivan in 1974-5, and also wrote nine Target novelisations. 28 October 1982: birth of Matt Smith, an actor who I am told appeared in some new New Who episodes earlier this year, though I can't remember offhand what role he played. Oh yeah, he was on the Sarah Jane Adventures earlier this week too. ii) broadcast anniversaries 28 October 1967: broadcast of fifth episode of The Abominable Snowmen. Victoria is hypnotised by Padmasambhava; the monks evacuate; and the Intelligence grows ...
The Audit Committee of Hertfordshire County Council, which met today, heard further concerns from the external Auditor about the council's failure to provide accurate accounts even on what is already a postponed date. The reason for the further delay is that errors are still being uncovered: at today's meeting the auditor and county council staff were till tabling corrections. The Auditor commented that the 'cumulative error rate is close to "materiality" ': materiality is the trigger point at which an auditor will insist upon changes to the accounts before he is willing to sign a clean audit report. In the ...
[IMG: Sanjay with Daniel Paton, owner, George Hotel, Montrose]
Having conspicuously failed to do anything with the results of the Prestwich parking charges consultation, (except put the findings in the bin), the Council is now asking motorists for their views on all aspects of car parking in Bury. Bury Council is reviewing its car parking services, and is keen to hear from as many people as possible. Consultation begins today, and finishes on November 26th. The review covers all off-street and on-street car parks managed by the council, including the Fairfax Road car park which they asked us about last month and then just did what they wanted anyway. ...
Further to my article on 11th October and, as reported in today's Courier, I met with the Director of City Development at Dundee City Council yesterday over delays to the start of work on improving residents' parking in the area of the West End south of Blackness Road, along the Perth Road shopping corridor, and in surrounding streets. The council's City Development Committee agreed back in January to progress work to improve parking in this part of the West End and in some other parts of the city, but there's been absolutely no progress since. I therefore met with the ...
I was one of the people who signed Lib Dem Matthew Harris's petition against halting Territorial Army training for six months. I'm pleased to say that the government has changed its mind after receiving the petition and is not halting training.
My major theme recently has been the "Northern Distribution Network" for NATO supply to Afghanistan, and the fact that dependence on this has entailed a conscious decision to support actively the dictatorships of Central Asia, including President Karimov of Uzbekistan. It also of course requires close cooperation with Russia. A Jonathan Steele points out in the Guardian, the Russian help for NATO in Afghanistan is not exactly news,. In fact, transit of supplies is more valuable than the more eye-catching helicopters for the Polish contingent or Russian training for Afghan troops. Russian denials of the possibility of more ...
The Post Office will receive £1.3 billion of extra funding over the next four years, Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced.Vince told the Commons the funding would be used to reform the network and secure its long term future, reversing years of decline. Outlining the boost during yesterday's second reading of the Postal Services Bill, which sets out plans to privatise Royal Mail, Mr Cable told MPs: "I can announce today £1.34 billion of new funding for the Post Office over the spending review period. "The funding will be used to reform the current network, to change the underlying economics ...
Labour and Plaid Cymru MPs are treading a predictable route when they claim that the Coalition Government´s proposal to privatise Royal Mail could lead to the end of daily deliveries in rural and Valley areas. In fact, the commitment by Vince Cable and Ed Davey to retain the Universal Service Obligation means that this will not be the outcome of the legislation. Those deliveries are guaranteed as at present. What the privatisation will do is to help to eradicate the Royal Mail's £8.4bn pension shortfall, a matter that Labour failed to deal with. The Royal Mail´s letters division is also ...
Like an anchovy on your pizza? Enjoy them today because if some people have their way they will be gone forever tomorrow. I cannot understand why some supporters of fishermen think their best interests will be served by wiping out the fish stocks upon which the fishing industry depends, but I suppose it takes all sorts. Still, this is for once a good news story, so read on. The Bay of Biscay anchovy fishery has been reopened after a 5-year closure imposed because stocks were dangerously low. Now the European Commission wants to put in place a long term management ...
On a recent trip to Italy I got a chance to spend an evening in the city of Bologna in the Emilia Romagna region. Home to the oldest University in the world, a bastion of Italian socialism and a city renown as having some of the best restaurants in the country, Bologna has always been ...
I was saddened to read that Labour councillor Keadean Rhodean has again been convicted for benefit fraud. Apparently she'll be back in court in November for re sentencing. She intends to appeal but her grounds sound shaky "I was a struggling student, battling serious health issues". What I felt was even more shocking was that she is reported as stating that senior Southwark Labour people knew she had this court case pending but told her not to worry and she's then quoted as saying "They told me not to worry. They said it would be okay and that I should ...
As predicted here The Electoral Commission has recommended that the West Midlands should gain the UK's extra European Parliament seat (which will be a Conservative) taking us from six seats to seven.
Scottish businesses have taken a hammering over the last couple of years. Not only from the recession, which hit Scotland harder than the rest of the UK, but from the failure of the banks to see sense and lend to sustainable business. Then we see the SNP Government at Holyrood kick Scottish business when it's down by refusing to introduce a transitional relief scheme after a rates revaluation. Some businesses have seen their rates double. In England there is such a scheme which helps business to ease into the new rates. In Scotland, given that we have higher unemployment, which ...
To mark the occasion of the third PMQs between Cameron and Ed M, I thought I'd dedicate my third "proper" post here to exploring quite how good – or otherwise – a leader I think he might make in the ... Continue reading →
The Comprehensive Spending Review has, I believe, included a 20% cut in the subsidy to bus services. This is a retrograde step. Surely a government with a progressive and "green" transport policy should be promoting public transport and discouraging private transport. The free bus pass for the over 60s has however been retained. Although I am a recipient of this bonus I would have been quite happy with the re-introduction of a token payment of say 30p or even 50p a journey. Several of my contemporaries, some far less comfortably off than I, take the same view. Somehow the coalition ...
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Twitter is great. One of the best things about it is using links from people I follow to discover new blogs, stories, pictures and videos I would not have found otherwise. As these have been recommended by people I've chosen to follow, they tend to be more focused than "Stumble Upon" recommendations are. They also tend to be new and current as opposed to those things that have been round the internet block once too often. But the immediacy of Twitter is also its biggest drawback - what about the hundreds ...
The Guardian is praising George Soros. Hear, hear. Definitely one of the good guys. I recommend his dad's book Masquerade, which is about how he survived the holocaust in Budapest. It's a good read and it gives an insight into how Soros became Soros. Tivadar Soros originally wrote it in Esperanto.
I was in Foyles on Charing Cross road this evening after an enjoyable event at the Institute for Government (which I'll blog about tomorrow) and came across this book. You couldn't make it up and I swear no photoshopping has been involved. I told you Nick Clegg was a Tory really [IMG: ;-)] And if you still don't believe that it's a real book, you can see it here on Amazon for yourself. The prosecution rests Your Honour.
Today was Paul Graham's funeral. I knew Paul through his son Nick, and Paul helped me out enormously with my work quite a few years ago now. He used evey bit of skill and patience in helping to get filing systems in order, papers filed properly, efficent systems going, and was in at the beginning of sorting out files on the computer. It was a difficult time for me when I was ill, and I...
Today the County Council's Audit Committee signed off the county council's accounts for 2009-2010. They were late and there had been too many errors. In the end the Auditors gave them an "unqualified opinion" on the financial statements (which is a good thing) but only a "qualified" verdict on the Value for Money front on the grounds that they had failed in terms of timely and reliable financial reporting that meets the needs of internal users, stakeholders and local people and managing its risks and maintaining a sound system of financial control. That's pretty bad, and what really horrified me ...
HMS Astute spent more than ten hours on a sandbank last Friday off the Isle of Skye. Luckily nobody was injured and there was no threat to the environment from the nuclear reactor but it made me think about the "astute" nature of this country's defences. We heard that there are 39,000 acoustic panels so that nobody will know its location. Well I can now confirm that there are times when 39,000 panels are not enough. Accidents happen and I am sure this was not the first time that a submarine was left high and dry and it won't be ...
The national debate on changes to housing benefit has descended into a rhetorical slanging match, with both sides snarling at one another with mutual incomprehension. In the red corner the Left accuse the government of 'social cleansing'; a twisting of the language of genocidal war crimes, apparently deemed appropriate by the 'new generation' of Labour groping for a sense of proportion at the bottom of a barrel. The system it describes is one that at most will gradually force a small number of people to move a few miles from where they currently live. In the blue corner the comeback ...
Keeping Liberal Democrat MPs in line is worse than herding cats, according to LibDem Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael MP, speaking only half tongue in cheek at tonight's Food for Thought social event put on by the Kensington and Chelsea local party. As Alistair is, under the Coalition arrangements, Deputy Government Chief Whip as well, his ...
