You'll be relieved to know that as a ginger, I'm not going to comment on Harriet Harman's attack on Danny Alexander. Suffice to say I've joined the 'Outraged at Harriet Harman's Anti-Ginger Slander' Facebook group, and have been muttering to anyone who'll listen about Robin Cook turning in his grave. No, tonight, my wrath is reserved for Nexus and DB Regio UK for what they have done to the Metro. When I was a lad (cue Hovis theme tune) the Metro was a civilised place where friendly Geordie drivers urged you to "stand clear of the doors please". The phrase ...
Over the weekend we saw two stories, two prominent Liberal Democrats, two public staking out of positions on issues that are the subject of much debate within the coalition in Whitehall: David Cameron was warned yesterday by a senior Lib Dem not to delay the introduction of legislation banning non-doms from making donations to political parties in Britain. In a sign of strains within the coalition, Treasury spokesman Lord Oakeshott said there was "absolutely no reason" to delay the legislation. (The Guardian) and Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat energy secretary, reiterated his party's strong opposition to retaining a policy that ...
Central Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP Hugh O'Donnell is currently visiting Jordan and Israel with an international delegation. Yesterday he sent a report and photographs. This is his account of what he's seen today. Al-Aqsa Mosque Day two ends and we have just finished at 10.30pm local time!! Talk about a Cook's Tour. Today started with a breakfast at 7.30am and a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem and a visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque, A real privilege because unlike local Palestinian men (between the ages of 16-45 years) the Israelis did not stop us going into the holy place. ...
You got love Quentin Letts when he pulls something like this out of the bag ;-) Almost half a year into the 2010 Parliament, and as dawn broke yesterday, one of the new MPs had yet to break his duck speechwise. Was the big moment about to arrive? Earlier this month Julian Smith, Tory MP for Skipton and Ripon, made his maiden speech in the Commons. That left Jonathan Lord as the last man still stuck on nought. Mr Lord, a former Saatchi & Saatchi advertising type, is Conservative MP for Woking. There had been a few signs of life ...
A little while ago I mentioned the growing trend among Democrats to suddenly be in favour of military spending in hope that it will provide a stimulus to the economy. Well, Ezra Klein has written a special, special little article which continues in the same vein: I'm pretty skeptical that a war with Iran would do much for the economy. It's not just that the inevitable spike in energy prices would grind everything to a halt (and what if Russia or Venezuela or OPEC decide to stand with Iran?), but the war itself wouldn't be large enough. Wow. Just wow... ...
Following on from the first of my monthly reports on the usage of this site at the end of September, here is my second round of blog figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog. A new beginning After a busy first month, October has been more stable with 23 blog posts as opposed to a frenetic opening salvo of 30 in September. Here come the stats... In October, I had 701 absolute unique visitors to my blog - up from 597 in September. The 701 visitors visited the blog on 1,107 occasions and viewed ...
So, Conference and Presidential hustings over, it was time to find out whether or not I would have to produce a manifesto... The answer? Let joy be unconfined, let the seraphim and cherubim sing the praises of the new Regional Secretary for the 2011 calendar year... me! Yes, I rule, too ruthless to allow a challenge, too intimidating to attract one, empowered to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting Region for another year.* And now that I understand how it all works, I might be even more dangerous... * I may have become a bit carried away here. I promise to ...
We're half way through a 3 year programme of reviewing all council services to see if they need to be done, if they can be done with less money or if they can be done better with the same money or should they be transformed into a different kind of service ..... or some mix of these. The Environment committee is engaged in a review of the Built & Natural Environment - ranging across car parking,
The latest news is that consultation - officially a 'trigger template' - has been issued to withdraw all blood testing from Dulwich Hospital and midwifery services.
In the light of today's news that 3.5 million voters are missing from the electoral register, and in view of the forthcoming boundary changes based on the number of voters on the electoral roll as it stands next month, a timely email reminder today to Liberal Democrat members from Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes: I'm sure you will agree that we as Liberal Democrats need to play our part in helping to ensure that everybody who should have the right to vote is in a position to exercise that right come next May. Tomorrow we will be debating the third ...
The encampment of travellers today apparently left the Riverside Business Park site that they had occupied since last week. It is vital that site owners Welcome Estates Limited now take action to properly secure the site so it cannot be reoccupied by illegal encampments in the future. To avoid the possibility of yet further occupation of this site and the resultant mess created immediately adjacent to the airport, I have asked the City Council's Chief Executive to impress upon the site owners to get the site properly secured. I have also asked that the rubbish left behind is cleared up. ...
Over the weekend there were reports that a confrontation between Nick Clegg and Bob Russell had left a Commons door hanging off its hinges. The Daily Mail, for instance, said: Colchester MP Bob Russell's fury over the Coalition's housing benefit cuts boiled over at a stormy private meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister. To the astonishment of fellow Lib Dem MPs, it ended with Mr Russell storming out and slamming the Commons' committee room door behind him. Witnesses said last night: 'He took the door off its hinges.'But today Bob told the Colchester Daily Gazette that the story is "complete ...
The removal of the greatly overgrown foiliage at the Riverside Avenue/Riverside Drive roundabout to improve safety for pedestrians crossing has now been carried out. Although the roundabout looks very bare at the moment, I am assured by the City Engineer that replacement greenery will be provided as follows : "It has been agreed that low level shrubs should be used and not trees as previously considered. As such a work order is to be issued to replace the existing shrubs with low level varieties, eg Euonymus and Hebe which will reduce future maintenance costs but retain a 'green' element to ...
[IMG: funny pictures-single white female lolcat enjoyz readin, long waks on da beach, and eatin spiders] see more Lolcats and funny pictures
With thanks to Sheena Wellington : "Spirit of the Dighty" is a site specific entertainment launched to great acclaim over the Halloween weekend: the remaining performances are on 6th and 7th November, 3pm - 4.30pm. Meet at Mains Castle car park (Caird Park) at 2.45pm - outdoor clothing required. The tickets are £5 and £3. Forthcoming Friends of Wighton events in the Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library, Dundee : Quick reminder that there is no Lunchtime Recital on Wednesday 3rd November (managed to get Aileen Carr at half term last week!) The next Lunchtime Recital is on Wednesday 1st December ...
Birkdale Focus reports that council by-elections continue to be far more rewarding for the Liberal Democrats than the national opinion polls would lead you to expect. With the verdict in the Phil Woolas case due on Friday, Saddleworth News looks back to recent parliamentary contests in the area - the 1995 by-election in particular. A Liberal Helping offers some reflections from the East Midlands regional conference. The Commons is taking internet privacy far more seriously these days, says The Register: "One possible difference was the nature of the new intake, with 2010 members, such as Julian Huppert, Lib Dem MP ...
And that's Ken Buck the Republican the District Attorney in Weld County, Colorado and Republican nominee for the senate seat in the same county. I came across him in the BBC 2 documentary that is on in the background and his views quite honestly terrify me. Buck opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest but makes exceptions if the mother's life is in danger. This view makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable as a woman. I know my own body and if, heaven forbid, I was raped and got pregnant as a result, I simply could not go through ...
I have just seen the most beautiful site. A meteor of the deepest red, a distinct flare with a tale, came over in a great arc, moving very slowly and slightly wobbly, and gradually dwindling away to nothing. Just as it vanished, a second one appeared from the original spot and traced the same arc, like a celestial action replay. Each was visible for around two minutes. It was breathtaking and beautiful. I don't care if it was space junk frazzling as it entered the atmosphere, the effect was divine. My plans for November 5 seem a bit pointless now. ...
I was asked to play devil's advocate at Lincoln University debating society as no one would speak for tuition fees. As an individual and a Liberal Democrat I firmly believe that everyone should have access to education and it should be free at the point of use, the better educated our populations are the more ...
Cllr Ann-Marie Barker is gathering opinion on the proposed headquarters of the WWF on the Brewery Road Car Park site in Horsell, Woking. Have you had your say about the development and do you feel strongly about it? Pop on over to Cllr Barker's blog and take part in her survey or leave her your comments and feedback so that she can continue to fight your corner.
Tonight when I got home there was an email waiting for me in my inbox from Nick Clegg with the title 'Funding Higher Education'. Was this going to be the email that finally proved to me that Nick was actually going to start listening to grass roots activists that have been incredibly angry over the uturn on tuition fees that has left many of us with egg on our faces? Sadly not. The following points were highlighted in the email that Nick felt obliged to reply to from the 1,000 emails that he claims he received in response to his ...
Cornwall Council's Conservatives are planning to oversee the end of vital bus links across Cornwall which serve some of our most remote towns and villages. The Council is planning, in its budget, to cut the subsidy that it pays to bus operators to run evening and weekend services on 27 routes (full list below). The Council admits that this is almost certain to mean that these routes will cease to operate outside peak times. As a result students, workers and even those visiting relatives in hospital will be affected. The 27 routes carry a total of 460,000 passengers on subsidised ...
Four o'clock came and went, and I really should have gone to check the final list of nominations. However, I had another of those "Ooh look, it's a bunny rabbit!" moments and was distracted by the need (or otherwise) for a roving microphone for the Presidential hustings. So, I obtained one from the venue staff, manning the lighting and sound systems, and found myself the Chair's aide as a result. I've remarked in the past that this contest makes for a very difficult choice, and the hustings that followed makes my choice all the more marginal. Yes, I've already voted, ...
VN is sad to have to bring readers the news that singer Lily Allen has suffered a miscarriage. The 25 year old singer was around 6 months pregnant with her and builder boyfriend Sam Cooper's child. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the singer has gone through this, having suffered a previous miscarriage when dating a member of the Chemical Brothers. Allen's spokesman said: "It is with great sadness that we have to confirm that Lily Allen and Sam Cooper have lost their baby. The couple ask that their privacy be respected and that they be left alone at ...
In case there is any comment anywhere bemoaning the fact that, as well as aircraft carriers which fly French planes, we are to have a joint Anglo-French expeditionary force; I thought I would remind the world of the date when British foreign policy first came to rely on close cooperation with our nearest continental neighbour. The relevant date is: 17 July 1912. This was the date when that well-known pacifist Winston Churchill announced that the Royal Navy would no longer be able to maintain a Mediterranean Fleet capable of beating the Italian or the Austrian navies (and at the time, ...
There've been various comments in the press and elsewhere maintaining that the Jack Allen plans can be stopped by simply asking a Government Minister to intervene. I've been pretty sure this isn't the case but didn't want to write it off completely without checking up on the law. Having fired off enquiries in several directions, I today got replies from a Lecturer in Planning law, the City Council's planning department and the City Council's legal department. The bad news is that ministers don't have the power to intervene now on this one (ironically they could have done so before the ...
A bit of what? Sounds like it could be a bit rude. I certainly had never heard of it until last night when my curiosity was pricked by an exchange on Twitter between writers Ben Johncock and Keris Stainton. It was none of my business, but my nose got the better of me when Keris played to me what seemed to be a trump card: Not really. Last time I just told you I got a book deal with my#nanowrimo book. And yet you still mock.I'd seen passing references to this Nanowrimo thing and had assumed it was some sort ...
President Obama famously said on the John Stewart Daily show, "Yes we can but...". Obama, oh what hopes the world had. It turns out that Obama likes to let others push through his reforms and is happy to have them watered down. He only has himself to blame for Democrat voters not flooding out in their droves to vote for his party in the mid term elections. Obama has blown it. The Republicans and the Tea Party supporters would of attacked Obama and the Democrats with the same vigour with or without Obama's watered down reforms. So Obama should of ...
New Market to bring extra Christmas cheer to Gatley This year Gatley Net will be hosting a Christmas Market on the 25th November, for all the local community to enjoy. The market opens at 3.30pm for the after school visits up to 8pm for the out of hours shoppers. The new Christmas Market featuring festive stalls will provide an array of seasonal treats from local traders and crafts people this winter. Stalls will be selling unique crafts and Christmas decorations, Belgian chocolate, handcrafted accessories and artisan jewellery as well as fun puzzles and games for all the family. Organised by ...
For those who have found it hard to get the site or to post comments, we are under a massive and concerted spambot attack. See this: Download file The interesting thing is that this is disguised as commercial spam but it isn't - there are no real car dealers, fake watch salesmen and loan sharks at the end of the links. Tim and Wibbler have repeatedly said they will look into a simple Captcha device to eliminate these attacks, but it appears not possible, perhaps due to our rickety old blog platform.
Contrary to the false reports disseminated by government agencies, there were no detonators in the toner bombs. They would therefore almost certainly have failed to go off, just like the self gonad immolating bomber. As for the weird insistence by the government that the bombs were designed to go off on the plane, I just don't believe it. What is the evidence for this? If the object was to bring down a plane, why possibly call attention to the packages by addressing them to Chicago synagogues? The only possible reason to insist that planes, not synagogues, were the target is ...
It wasn't a huge surprise that the East of England would debate tuition fees, especially with such an august university just down the road (I refer, of course, to the University of East Anglia...). Under the careful eyes of session Chair, Susan Gaszczak and her trusty aide (that would be me), the debate was carefully balanced, but with Norman Lamb speaking against, as well as, somewhat unexpectedly, Andrew Phillips (the Chancellor of the University of Essex), it was always likely to be close run. And so it turned out. The movers spoke passionately of the tuition fees pledge that so ...
On the eve of the US Mid terms, it may be a bit perverse to turn away from the travails of America, but this is what I propose to do. Regular readers will know that I am generally pretty critical of the regime in charge of Russia. In my view the gradual erosion of freedom and the spectacular accumulation of ill gotten wealth in the hands of a mere handful of individuals marks Russia out as an increasingly nasty place to live. I also believe that the aggressive use of military force to challenge democratic forces in any area that ...
There's only a week to go in the hard-fought Presidential election between two of the Liberal Democrats' most impressive performers - but back a month ago, I put three questions to each of them, and to Jennie Rigg, who but for a handful of nominations was so nearly the third runner in the race. So here are those nine answers, with each of them saying what they believe the Liberal Democrats stand for, why people should vote for us... And being put on the spot with a personally tailored 'nasty question' I wanted to hit them with. Remember to vote! ...
Halloween is one of the delights of living in Canada. Canadian kids are very well behaved; there is no risk of getting broken eggs all over your parked car as there can be in the UK. They only call if you have your lights on, and most will only call if they see you have a pumpkin or other Halloween decorations. We were visited by about 20 trick or treaters this year. Their costumes were mostly home-made. One child was a "transformer" made from cardboard and papier mâché, with flashing head-lights -- amazing! There was one embarrassing moment when a ...
It is becoming increasingly clear that the next big row facing the coalition is control orders, the legislation brought in by Labour to control terror suspects they could not bring to trial. The drum for them to go is being banged by former Shadow Home Secretary David Davies, who told the BBC that 25 Lib Dems and at least that many Conservatives would vote against the illiberal measure being retained. How bizarre that a coalition that prides itself on the restoration of civil liberties, and did so well to promptly scrap ID cards, should get itself into a mess over ...
It is now November, a time of remembrance. Remembrance of All Saints (today) Remembrance of All Souls (tomorrow) Remembrance of all who fell in the Great War, the Second World War and all wars since (Remembrance Day); But more importantly, it is a time to remember the living. Those who have served in Her Majesty's ...
If you've got a minute, take the time to read this number by Cicero: making the progressive case for a flat tax. Well, it's about time someone did. As Mark Littlewood and Phillip Booth noted earlier this year, Britain's tax code is ludicrously complex and costly: Early this year, an IEA research paper showed that with over 8,000 pages of primary legislation - in very rough terms about six times the length of War and Peace - Britain has the longest tax code in the world. For those inclined to believe that other Western European countries are always more bureaucratic ...
I have wondered if we might ever see the equivalent of a tea party in the UK. Julian Harris over at Liberal Vision has backed the suggestion by an American professor that there should be a coffee party. Perhaps my idea of a peppermint tea party wasn't so far-fetched?
One of the great achievements of the coalition so far is the rid us of most central government targets. The trouble is that Whitehall has agreed to get rid of them without really understanding why. The result is, I'm afraid, is that we are tiptoeing right back where we came from - at least that is, I believe, what the flagship policy of 'payment by results' will mean. It's a good idea in theory. In practice it will mean targets again, with all the waste and bureaucracy and distortion that they caused. But it isn't too late and there is ...
Another shortish chapter, mainly about Attila the Hun with quite a long account of the mission of the Byzantine official Maximin to Attila's headquarters in 448, presented as a first-hand travelogue by Priscus. At the end Theodosius II dies and is replaced by Marcian who marries his sister Pulcheria. Lots about Genghis Khan also for some reason.
A person's liberty ought not be taken away from them - whether by detention or by tagged house arrest - without due process. It should not be done on the basis of secret or undisclosed information that cannot be revealed to the person concerned - and so they cannot defend themselves. I refer to control orders which permit a person under suspicion of engaging in terrorism to be tagged and placed under house arrest for 16 hours a day. A person should either be held for questioning for the time allowed and then charged (and perhaps held on remand) or ...
I know it is only Monday but that is not the week I'm referring to. Some of the more observant of you will have noticed that both myself and Michael posted rather similar posts on Thursday, basically because we were going in for exactly the same job, interviews for the two of us have now finished*. There was some preparation work involved which took up a lot of our time in recent days. Both of us wanted the other to be the one that we turned to for areas of advice in what we were preparing for, but this obviously ...
The Vice Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University writes... I am opposed to what are commonly called 'top up' fees in higher education and would resist any move to impose upfront fees for higher education. But, this is not what the Browne recommendations propose. The weekend before Browne reported I was in despair and angry. It was becoming increasingly apparent that the Coalition government was going to impose a 75-80% cut on the teaching budget for higher education and expect the shortfall to be recovered through an increase in fees. I am the Vice-Chancellor of a large metropolitan university, with just ...
I must have first read this when I was seven; of course as an older reader one realises the depths of the narrative a bit more, understanding a bit better the warped family dynamic between Huck and his father on the one hand and his various prospective adoptive households on the other. Indeed families are a major theme of the book in a way I hadn't realised before - Jim's search for his own lost wife and children, the feud between the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons, the fake dynastic history of the duke and the king, the affair of Peter ...
I am back in the groove today after my week off, with council engagements appearing on my horizon like alarming unmanned drones about to launch bombs on things. This week I have a meeting of the Rainsough Tenants and Residents Association and a Scrutiny meeting amongst other things, to ease me gently back into the swing of stuff. The business of government has somehow managed to continue even whilst I was on holiday, and it has been announced that the coalition Government has promised a new £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund. In addition, the first wave of 24 local enterprise partnerships ...
Ok, he hasn't actually started a "Coffee Party" movement, but he has written a blog post. In his hypothetical half-serious 10-point manifesto, the excellent Bill Easterly proposes a tolerant, liberal agenda. Among their policies and ideals, the Coffee Party... ..."likes free trade" ...recognises "tax-bloated government" ...proposes "ending the War on Drugs" ..."hates xenophobia towards immigrants", specifically when "aimed at particular trading partners, falsely blamed for our economic woes." ...believes that "ALL 'are by nature equally free and independent,' and have 'inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' men and women, blacks and whites, gays and straights, ...
In common with much of the UK Trans community, I'm too angry to write a coherent post about this right now. The Daily Mail have just published an article about the defendant in the recent death on the London Underground also being Trans. This gives them the perfect opportunity to engage in mis-gendering, bad stereotypes and all the other bigotry beloved of that publication, particularly given the possible sex worker angle too. (I'm sceptical on this point, a renowned human rights lawyer would not typically need the extra money) I'm not just angry with the Mail though, I'm also angry ...
So, last week I had a little accident which resulted in the HDD in my netbook making the sort of sound I might imagine coming from a puppy being kicked repeatedly. I made a bootable USB stick to try and rescue the data, but whilst my computer could see and talk to the hard drive, it was doing the computer equivalent of sticking its fingers in its ears and crying "la la la I can't hear yoooou!" In other words, it was a very unhappy HDD. After asking around a few friends, one managed to find me a new HDD, ...
Harriet Harman's gag at the expense of Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander - referring to him as a ginger rodent, both show the extent of Labour's anger towards the Coalition but also it's lack of direction and uncertainty in opposition. Whilst some might think that the Harriet Harman outburst, followed by a hasty apology, was untypical it would seem to be increasingly the policy of Labour politicians at all levels to descend into some kind of urban guerilla politics. I know our democracy was in poor shape but didn't think it was that bad! At local ...
Hmmm, I'm not one for conspiracy theories but...mid-term elections in the USA...embattled American President...terror alert...lots of grand pronouncements about the threat we face. And this is the world Tony Blair delivered us into: fear, bomb threats, dubious alerts in bizarre language that says nothing to no one ('MI6 has said there is a 'very real' threat of a terrorist incident' - as opposed to?!) and a perfect opportunity to ratchet up international tension when the mood arises.
Its not too late to join the Movember revolution, I have donated my face for the "Movember" cause this month to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer. Movember is a worldwide charity event where men are encouraged to grow a moustache for the month of November to raise money and awareness for men's health ...
Trying to get lighting put into a ginnel where two years ago there was an attempted rape so that local residents can feel safer travelling to their homes. The Council's Community Safely unit support the proposal, local residents support the proposal, and local police support the proposal. However, the council's street-lighting unit don't even have ...
Regular readers of this occasional missive (hello Sid, hello Doris) will be aware of my tendency to draw somewhat left field conclusions from events. So you'll unsurprised to discover that my main thought on the comprehensive spending review, and particularly on tuition fees, is that we really didn't deal with MPs expenses very well... One of the stranger suggestions amongst the litany of Lib Dem psychoanalyses that have emerged of late is the idea that our policies existed because we never expected to be in government (Andrew Rawnsley's crack at this theme being one of the best). On the one ...
At today's Children's Scrutiny Committee, the Conservative led Cabinet's proposal to remove the subsidy it provides to help young people over the age of 16 to get to colleges was debated. I spoke in the subsequent debate and asked for details of the young people who would be affected by this proposal. In North Cornwall (and in particular in Launceston) we have the lowest take up of post 16 education in Cornwall. I therefore made the point that young people in our area would be disproportionately affected by this proposal. The Cabinet proposal also claimed that local colleges would be ...
I've been selected to be part of a series of training events taking place over the coming year called the Local Government Next Generation Leadership programme. The first event took place for three days at the end of last week in Portsmouth and Eastleigh. The training programme is operated by the three main political parties individually and there are 18 councillors from around the UK on the Lib Dem course. The aim is to understand local government and leadership better. This is the fifth year of the course. Our visits to Portsmouth and Eastleigh were based around understanding how two ...
And as my first term as East of England's Regional Secretary headed towards a close, was I going to get a second term. Was I even going to seek another? Questions, questions as Ros and I headed towards Huntingdon and our Regional Conference... So, on arrival, I made my way towards Alan Window, our Returning Officer, graciously giving up a day at his own Regional Conference to help us out. No, not a single nomination for Secretary, so it was clearly down to me. I needed two nominators, so I did what any gentleman would do, and sought out the ...
In a weekend that witnessed one of the most bizarre goals of Premier League history, Chelsea maintained their grip at the top of the title pack while Manchester United and Arsenal eventually took all three points from their opponents. The controversy began in the late Saturday kick off. Manchester United versus Tottenham. A game billed as a spectacle. The billing was certainly correct, but only for the wrong reasons. In a tight contest that only mainly saw shots from distance going the goalkeeper's way, Vidic thundered in a header in the first half to give United the lead. Tottenham tried ...
[IMG: I'm an energy saving blogger] 1. If we suggested you should clear out your attic and pay for insulating your home with the proceeds, what would you say? There isn't much up there, bar Christmas lights. The loft is lagged, but the windows aren't double glazed. There are, of course, other initiatives that can be implemented. I am very interested in the government's green deal, which will have an impact on fuel poverty as well as climate change. 2. Are you interested in microgeneration? Are there any good initiatives in your area you'd like to tell us about? The ...
After her delightful comments about the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, and her rather pathetic apology, VN wondered what animal was a good comparison for the queen of patronising political correctness, Harriet Harman. We think we have found a rather good likeness:
Is Lib Dem policy and philosophy getting all mixed up? Are we confusing incentives when it comes to human nature? Have we not fully understood the realities of combining the different strands of our party? Economic and social liberalism have produced many benefits in their own right and the instinct to combine them has produced ...
The Social Liberal Forum supports the Coalition Government's commitment to maintain and develop the network of post offices. In particular, it warmly welcomes the announcement from the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, that he will be doubling the subsidy to the Post Office over the next four years. We greatly regret the closure of some 2,500 post offices by the previous Labour Government, as we are very aware of the impact of their loss on many small communities, especially in rural areas. Liberal Democrats believe in supporting and enhancing the role of post offices, and in future would like to see ...
In May 2010, the Labour Party pledged to cap Housing Benefit. In their manifesto [pdf], they argued that the State shouldn't be subsidising people to live in private rented properties that "ordinary working families" couldn't afford. Over 600 Labour parliamentary candidates happily stood on the pledge, not a whisper of opposition to the idea was heard from their ranks. Fast forward to October 2010, five months later, and the Coalition Government come up with the same plan. Not only was the Coalition scheme denounced by Labour in the strongest terms, with talk of "social cleansing" echoing the horrific Kosovan experiences, ...
Orals I had two questions in Equalities Orals this week: one was on human trafficking and the other on keeping women out of prison. The human trafficking question is raised because of the coalition decision not to opt into the European Directive on Human trafficking at this point. We have deferred this until we see final proposals. At the moment we cover almost all of the things in the directive. The piece that is different is extra territorial jurisdiction. We believe that if trafficking is taking place in another country – then that country has the jurisdiction to make the ...
He could have just pulled the plug. But he does it in typical style – leaving a profile picture of what looks like very expensive high quality parquet flooring.
Nick Clegg faces a tough challenge in getting control orders abolished. I know that much of his influence has to be used behind-the-scenes and in private, but this is one battle that he has to be seen to fight, and he has to win. If he does not, many Liberal Democrats will question the value of being in this party. Introduced by Labour in 2005, control orders represent a fundamental attack on the principle of liberty. By allowing restrictions to be placed on an individual's freedom solely at the whim of the Home Secretary they undermine the presumption of innocence. ...
As Mark Easton reports in his blog this morning, The Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs has today released an analysis of the relative harms of the drugs that are routinely used in the UK today. The analysis has yielded a quite different result to a previous harm assessment that Nutt and colleagues carried out in the fact that alcohol has come out as a clear "winner" in terms of harm done to others and overall harm, with heroin and crack coming in second and third and the rest trailing some distance behind. The analysis has been made very accessible ...
Having written a manifesto for Liberal Youth, I'm now going to have to back it up with action, now that I have been elected as an Honorary Vice President. Yes, I have been triumphant, in spite of the fact that I am not called Chris. Indeed, the Honorary Officers do now rather resemble the Philosophy Department of the University of Woolamaloo (look it up...). So, what do the Honorary Vice Presidents of Liberal Youth do? Well, there may be some drinking to be done, in moderation, of course, but more seriously, one of us acts as Honorary Treasurer and shall, ...
In Mark Pack's generally excellent piece the other day entitled Role reversal for the Liberal Democrats he suggested that, love it or hate it, we have a long term positioning strategy in place at the moment but we're missing out on tactical battles. On the long term strategy bit, I beg to differ. I worry we're being taken to the brand cleaners at the moment. In the commercial world, brand owners try to turn their ordinary everyday brands into brand icons. They do so for three reasons: Icon brands tend to have a huge range of appeal stretching far beyond ...
The new system for bin collections start today (Monday 1st November 2010). If you previously had your rubbish collected on a Monday (as I did) it will not be collected today. The bin men are off collecting black wheelie bins elsewhere. Across Cheadle and Gatley our new collection day is Wednesday. Do not put out blue bin bags today or tomorrow, but do put out your black and green wheelie bins on Wednesday. To get all the details on your new collection times from the Council, go here and enter your postcode. You should also have received details through the ...
It seems as though every Regional Conference has been debating the tuition fees question this Autumn, and whilst South Central were passing a motion supporting existing policy in Oxford on Saturday morning, the East of England had saved their debate for the afternoon session in Huntingdon. This was useful from a personal perspective, as I was starting the day with Ros in the Festival Hall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, where the East Midlands were meeting. Ros was scheduled to kick things off with a speech and a question and answer session, and it turned out to be a fairly feisty one. It is ...
There is a major profile of me in the latest Der Spiegel. It is slightly overdrawn in its desire to paint a contrast between Ambassador Neuen and I, but is not unfair. Where it is wrong is its easy acceptance of the false dichotomy: is it better to suck up to a dictator and gain quiet influence over him, or to take a moral high stand but have no influence? The mistake is in believing that crawling to a dictatorial regime makes them respect you. In fact the diplomatic cringe posture only enhances the super bloated ego and confidence ...
It's that time of the month again to sum up my month in one song. Whose clever idea was that? Oh yes it was mine. As I say every month the song can be anything something that struck a chord with me during the month, one that has been constantly in my mind, one that either means something personal or that sums up the events of the month. So here is this months. Again no explanation just enjoy. Update: Oops. As Caron pointed out below, somehow after copying the embed code I somehow forgot to check it was included.
Census time is coming around – which brings with it the tricky question of religion. Regular readers will know that I self identify as an apathist – a peculiar sub-branch of atheism. Those with longer memories will have seen me self identify as a Jedi (Dark Side). So, when the 2011 census rolls around, how should I identify myself to the state? The Census Campaign [IMG: Census Campaign - donate] An offshoot of the Atheist Bus Campaign, the Census Campaign wants non-religious people to identify as "no religion". Last census, hundreds of thousands of people stated that their religion was ...
So after Sydney, I stopped in Singapore for a few days on the way back to the UK.
Ron Davies famously said that devolution was a process not an event, well it seems that for some in Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Gymraeg the process has become more important that the event itself. They are launching a campaign to encourage people in Wales to boycott the TV licence in protest at UK Government plans for S4C they describe as "a stitch up." The decision that has angered them is that of moving most of the Welsh-language channel's funding into the control of the BBC. They say that S4C will also lose 94% of its UK Government grant, though actually, most ...
Both of the candidates to be the next Liberal Democrat President have expressed their support for the party retaining a long-term aim of abolishing tuition fees. Tomorrow Liberal Democrat Voice will publish in full the answers from Susan Kramer and Tim Farron to a set of questions Lib Dem Voice has posed them. Their answers paint two different views on what the role should be of the Party President and how they would approach it. But on several issues they both agree, including on tuition fees: Do you believe the party should have a long-term commitment to the abolition of ...
So, I was lying in bed at 7:30 yesterday morning, dosing away, like you do on a Sunday, when I was roused from my semi consciousness by my phone beeping at me. The message was one of a stream of photos I received during the course of the day from Hugh O'Donnell, Liberal Democrat MSP for Central Scotland, who's currently on an international delegation to Jordan and Israel. You can read his first report of his visit -which to me is pretty harrowing - here. Their day started in Amman, Jordan's capital, yesterday: Says Hugh: So, here we are! No ...
broadcast anniversaries 1 November 1975: broadcast of second episode of Pyramids of Mars. Scarman and the mummies chase the Doctor and Sarah around the Priory. I was just watching this the other day and it is still brilliant. 1 November 1980: broadcast of second episode of Full Circle. The Marshmen take the Tardis, with Romana inside it, and she gets to meet the spiders at close quarters. 1 November 1986: broadcast of first episode of Terror of the Vervoids (ToaTL #9), and first appearance of Bonnie Langford as Mel. She and the Doctor investigate mysterous goings on aboard the spaceliner ...
The funding of HMRC is to be reduced by 15% (£3.2bn) over the next four years, and 13 000 personnel whose job it is to collect taxes are to lose their jobs. Yet in the latest tax year, 2009-2010, according to HMRC itself, £42bn of taxes went uncollected. This amounts to 9% of all tax revenue, and is £2bn more than the amount uncollected in the tax year 2008 -2009. In the latest year £15.2bn of VAT was uncollected, £6.9bn of corporation tax was uncollected, and £6bn of income tax was uncollected. (In response to a comment below, for the ...
BBC Wales reports that more than 100 people protested at Rest Bay, Porthcawl, yesterday in support of the rentention of 24-hour search and rescue cover for the Bristol Channel and South Wales from Chivenor in Devon. A review started by the previous Labour Government that proposed cutting cover to 12 hours was extended for further research by the Coalition. The Department for Transport has said that no decision has yet been taken, but there will be "the same amount of search and rescue cover" afterwards. Among those at the protest were politicians such as Bridgend Labour MP Madeleine Moon and ...
This debate is a great reminder, however, that the Lib Dems as a party is an independent party and has a number of policy positions not currently being put forward by the leadership.
Mon 1st
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Norwich South MP opens Liberal Democrat Conference: Simon Wright speaks of opportunities and challen...
Norwich South MP Simon Wright opened Saturday's Liberal Democrat East of England Conference in Huntingdon.
If, as Cllr Stuart Bray pointed out in his remarks to regional conference on Saturday, we continue to work hard for local people in the communities we represent (or seek to represent) we have a good chance of retaining seats we have in local government and gaining more next May.
I came home from holiday on Sunday and I was catching up with the local news by reading the weekly local papers. The Friday paper has a headline about the Morecambe link road and it may still be going ahead (see yesterday's blog). There is significant support from businesses and from our MP. There is less support from the Green Party who will not be on friendly terms with civil engineers and a local pressure group is vociferous for its environmental and financial concerns - and there is a NIMBY factor. The leader of this pressure group tells us that ...
