The BBC is full of the fact that, apparently, Lib Dem leaders have attacked Government cuts. I signed the letter which went to The Times, on behalf of Stockton Lib Dem councillors. We were not calling for no cuts, but for time to implement them properly instead of the front loading which Eric Pickles seems to think is so easy to cope with. The letter has been well and truly misrepresented so
Nick Perry, the Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Hastings & Rye, has slammed Conservative MP Amber Rudd for what he says is her hypocrisy in criticising Labour Party plans to replace Michael Foster as the Labour parliamentary candidate. Last week Labour confirmed that it would have an all-female shortlist for the post. Nick said: "I ...
Caron's Musings offers some calm reflection upon the enforced resignation of Matthew Oakeshott... and finds she is "probably even more livid than I was last night". Characteristically, David Boyle gets to the heart of the matter on The Real Blog: "The real problem is this. It isn't that banks are somehow unwilling to lend money to small businesses; it is that they are no longer set up to do so. They have no local managers empowered to take decisions. They have risk software that rules out most deals. They have such onerous conditions and charges that many SMEs shun them ...
I thought the following news release would be of interest. Edinburgh's ambitious project to build the first new council homes for a generation has taken an exciting step forward. Award-winning architects firm Anderson Bell + Christie have been appointed to provide outline designs and guides for the North Sighthill and Pennywell & Muirhouse elements of the 21st Century Homes programme. The North Sighthill plans will see 320 new homes being built and the Pennywell & Muirhouse will result in 700 new homes. Half of all these homes will be affordable and the other half for sale on the open market. ...
[IMG: melvin-caton.jpg] I am very pleased to welcome Melvin Caton to the Stansted North & Ugley Liberal Democrat team. Melvin represented Stansted on Uttlesford District Council for 14 years. He is also a former County Councillor for Stansted and Parliamentary Candidate for the Saffron Walden Constituency. Melvin has lived in Stansted for over 30 years in West Road. Older residents will remember his family had a store in Cambridge Road. He has a wealth of experience. I very much look forward to working with him over the coming months. He has a particular interest in environmental issues.
I'm currently creating an e-book (for work) on why it's a good idea to use (our) methodologies and tools to support "cross-silo working" as a way of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of organisations. I've decided to sprinkle a few apt quotations around my somewhat more serious prose and I thought that a few of my favourite ones deserved a wider audience than the finished e-book is likely to get. Not all of them will make the final cut, but they've certainly made me smile and think a little more deeply about the subject during the last couple of days. ...
The Independent cartoon 11/02/11
I went to see a man who lived 5,000 years ago today. I had heard of Otzi, the Iceman, whose mummy was discovered high in the Alps in 1991 but I didn't know he was in Bolzano. In his own way, he too has played a part in the rivalry of Austria and Italy in the Sud-Tirol / Alto Adige, although neither country existed when he lived. His body was flown to Innsbruck but the Italians claimed him and
Residents have contacted me to express concern about future plans for 46 Redlands Road also known as Abadair House which has recently been put up for sale by its owners. Readers may recognise this detached house which is located in an attractive corner of the ward in a popular residential area. Cllr Kirsten Bayes and I led the campaign against two ill-conceived planning applications to redevelop this property for flats. The most recent planning application was rejected by the Planning Applications Committee in December 2009 on the grounds that it would have a detrimental impact on the character of the area. But sadly despite massive ...
So it's about time I got back to blogging again. So why not begin with possibly the shortest YouTube clip ever. One filled with astonishment - and hope.....
[IMG: Queen Edith's Highways problems] Cambridgeshire County Council has introduced a nifty new system for reporting road and pavement problems on its website. Not only does it allow you to track the fault and see when it will be repaired, but it also lets you pinpoint the problem on an interactive map. The picture shows Queen Edith's — as near as I could get to the ward boundaries anyway — and as you can see, many people have been mapping problems already. Two of the little red dots are my pothole complaints this week! One recidivist pair of twin potholes ...
Since little misunderstanding during contest for Don of all Liberali, I been best of friends with Signor "Dr. Evil" Oakeshott. Regularly he come down Little Sicily to scream and shout at me about Vatican bankers. It most entertaining. Dr. Evil been trying to put squeeze on the VBs for over 30 years. But they tricky marks. Soon as you think you got them, they sneak off to Switzerland or invent new ways of hiding their stash. I most sad then he decide to go for long entirely voluntary holiday to spend more time with property portfolio. It seem he have ...
I know that the tuition fees issue has been debated to saturation point but you have only have to read the many comments still being made on various blogs, facebook pages and in newspaper comments columns to see that it remains a big topic of conversation, in fact, many people continue to ask me how I can support a political party that has clearly lied to it's voters as it broke one of it's key pledges made during last year's General Election campaign, which I always totally dispute and therefore, I have decided to express my own thoughts and opinions ...
Twenty six blogs have recently joined my Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator (sorry for not adding you sooner, been really busy and I my computer lost the original post for December): Adam Brookes – http://adambro.wordpress.com/ Neil Monnery – http://neilmonnery.co.uk/ Eric Wood – http://eric-everythingallthetime.blogspot.com/ Spencer Hagard – http://www.ginger-rodent.co.uk/blog/ Richard Davis – http://drricharddavis.co.uk/ Dan Falchikov – http://livingonwords.blogspot.com/ Julian Roskams – http://julesdr.blogspot.com/ Stuart Wheatcroft – http://liberalfreeradical.blogspot.com/ Ian Wallis – http://theliberalogrons.blogspot.com/ John Brace – http://johnbrace.wordpress.com/ Richard Kemp – http://richardkemp.wordpress.com/ Geoffrey Sell – http://geoffreysell.mycouncillor.org.uk/ Gareth Loveridge – http://garethspoliticalramblings.blogspot.com/ Matthew Green – http://thinkingliberal.co.uk/ Richard Morris – http://aviewfromhamcommon.blogspot.com/ Tim Neale – http://www.timneale.co.uk/ Rob Stickland – http://robstick.wordpress.com/ Jonathan Featonby ...
Locally one of the issues I have actively campaigned on is in relation to overcrowding. This is a significant issue in Reading where we have a real shortage of affordable housing for families. I care about it because i have seen in my own ward the damage overcrowding does to the health and well children and families in our area. We are a small Borough geographically so we do not have lots of sites available for big housing developments so it is essential we make the best use of the housing we have already got. By this I mean best ...
Great article in New Scientist a few weeks ago. Apparently learning to play an instrument brings about dramatic brain changes that not only improve musical skills but can also see other cognitive abilities, including speech, language, memory, attention, IQ and even empathy. I'm tempted to try learning the piano with the kids. Fascinating that musical training, especially at a young age, appears to significantly alter the structure of your brain. One example was after 15 months of piano lessons young children had more highly developed auditory and motor areas than their untrained peers. Hopefully this will revolutionise how music is ...
It dawned on me when I was thinking about this that there's roughly the ratio of Liberal Democrat MSPs to others that you'd find of adults to kids on a school trip, around 1 in 8. It certainly seemed like the Holyrood Chamber was full of childish behaviour today with just the occasional adult to bring a bit of sense to the proceedings. I normally watch FMQs with the slightly jaundiced and cynical air of a political junkie, wondering if anyone's going to make a big gaffe as the pantomime unfolds. Today, I found that I was watching as a ...
In China 190 children are snatched every day to be trafficked. These children are being sold for as much as £6,600 pounds. Imagine the devastation a parent faces when they find out that their child has been kidnapped. Many of these children are used as beggars to make money for their 'adopted' families. I almost wanted to cry when I read about how some of these children are then maimed so their chances of making money is increased because people will feel sorry for them. Finally, yesterday, a son was reunited with his father after being missing for 3 years ...
Yesterday I was more than willing to sign a letter submitted to the Timews by Cllr Richard Kemp and many other Lib Dem council leaders and group leaders. I reproduce it in full below because unfortunately you need to subscribe to read it on the TImes website. You can also read it and comments about it on the following websites. Our Letter to the Times | But what does Richard Kemp think? Lib Dem council leaders attack Pickles over speed and scale of cuts Ian Eiloart: That Lib Dem letter in full I won't add anything else I believe Cllr ...
I am just out of the Regeneration and Transport Select Committee and I am afraid the news is not good. Tonight we were discussing the "call in" of the Labour Cabinet member's plans to designate Stalbridge as the official "sub regional " waste site for Liverpool. The Cabinet had met last Friday and agreed the proposal, but four Lib Dem colleagues and I called it in. (And to be absolutely fair to him the Cabinet member also said it should be discussed further at the committee). There was quite an intense debate with some good questions . However that proved ...
[IMG: bob bayford] THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS BANKRUPT! Its also worth reminding ourselves that the public sector is financed by taxpayers. I mention this because both Conservative councillors including leader Cllr Bob Bayford and council officers, need to be reminded just who pays the bills, as they seek to keep us in the dark about how and on what, they often fritter our money away. I've had indications that officers at Thanet Council, have had, significant enhancements in redundancy payments or arrangements, Matt B of Thanet Star is suggesting that the Chief Executive has been awarded £230,000. Now I've heard ...
My grateful thanks to James Hargrave for sending me this link to a YouTube video of the demonstration at Stradbroke library last Saturday. Also very revealing interviews with Councillor Guy McGregor, who "represents" this area. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dVV6UjClWs Mr. McGregor's answer on the Bury Road Park and Ride closure is incorrect as the council's own figures show that passenger numbers were UP to just over 300,000 last year. Also Mr. McGregor is seen trying to blame Liberal Democrats for the Conservatives' failure to properly manage the contract with BT over the last 6 years. Mid Suffolk have made savings from the BT ...
Part One Like most people in my line of work in the city where I work, I often need a paper source for the various bits and pieces of information about key EU officials (and people in the various satellite institutions) which I use from time to time. Official websites are rather variable in quality, and sometimes, if you don't quite know what you are looking for, a physical book is easier to browse than a monitor screen. Up to this year, I had relied fully on the European Public Affairs Directory, now rebranded the European Union & Public Affairs ...
Well, the age of romance is not dead. I woke up this morning to find a CD with all my favourite disco sounds on it, courtesy of my husband, and when I came in this evening from taking Anna to choir, I discovered that he had scavenged a copy of the Times for me so that I could read the letter from the Liberal Democrat councillors. Not only that, though. After a prompt from the man himself on Facebook, I found this. Our Alistair Carmichael and Simon Hughes have been sworn in as Privy Councillors. That's a role I think ...
Many of you will have followed stories about the Council's cuts, which go to the Executive committee next Wednesday. There is some good news for Chorlton. Both the Leisure Centre and the Library stay open. In the past Chorlton Liberal Democrats have fought for Sunday opening at the Library and improved facilities at the Leisure Centre and it is good to see local services being protected at this difficult time. I lobbied the City Treasurer Richard Paver on these alongside my colleague Cllr Paul Ankers. We emphasised how good these facilities are and how needed and valued they were for ...
The first thing I'm becoming an expert in is running the fry station, been doing it all week. Much harder than you'd think, anyhow, I learnt something remarkable today at work. In the last 10 days (i.e. since the beginning of February) the McDonald's restaurant that I'm working in has served over 14,000 portions of fries. That's measured using a small portion, which if you multiply it up, means
I added my name to a letter written by Richard Kemp, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group at the Local Government Association, published in today's Times newspaper. It attacks Eric Pickles for the speed and scale of the cuts to local government funding. This article by Sara Bedford gives the text of the letter and signatories: However let's not excuse some of the awful choices being made by Conservatives in Suffolk. For two years they have said they need to cut back on bureaucracy and streamline services. They are still TALKING about it. Once more we find that ...
Housing Advisory Group Sue Holbrook and Jason Simpson attended from Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP) to talk about the work they were doing tackling anti-social behaviour in SHP properties. Trevor Hart presented a paper on the Housing Revenue Account estimates for 2011/12. Bendan Crossen from SHP presented the SHP delivery plan for 2011/12 and the latest performance tracker report. ...
Those Lib Dem friends and colleagues (including my ex-boss the Mayor of Watford and Barnet's own Lib Dem Dem Council Group Leader, Jack Cohen), who wrote that open letter to Eric Pickles in The Times - you'll be unsurprised to hear that I really wish they hadn't. You may have read my previous disquisitions on how if loyalty is the Tories' secret weapon, then perhaps we Lib Dems should take it from them and support Nick Clegg and the Coalition through these testing times, rather than creating negative headlines by attacking the Government publicly. I might have written another such ...
Here we go again... Future U.S. History Students: 'It's Pretty Embarrassing How Long You Guys Took To Legalize Gay Marriage' – I'm surprised I took this long to link to something from The Onion, but maybe that's because it's not as funny as it used to be. Which, of course, they'll also be stating as true in the 2080s. What the EU Did Next – Interesting blog collecting a number of essays on the EU The literature of ideas; or, please stop laughing at me – Very interesting post from Pornokitsch on the description of SF as the literature of ...
Sometimes I shake my head. Sometimes I tut. Sometimes I roll my eyes and sometimes I do all there. Then though there are times when I am just well and truly flat-out disgusted and dismayed. A story in my mother's hometown caught my eye and made me feel this way. Woman charged with theft for ...
Jim Devine, the former Labour MP for Livingston, was today convicted of two offences under the Theft Act. Caron's Musings fairly describes it as "an inglorious end to a chaotic career" and provides enough background to suggest that is rather a kind judgement on him. The deeper question that watching the video above gives rise to is how such a stupid, incoherent figure ever got elected to parliament in the first place. The answer must have something to with the curse of the safe seat and Scottish Labour's cynical machine politics.
Details of this planning application can be found by following this link: The case office is Monique Wallace – please email comments and objections to her at monique.wallace, and don't forget to copy us in.
There's new evidence that Liberal Democrat voters are more likely to have "centrist" political views than was the case before the coalition was formed. It comes from Times Populus poll for February, details of which are now available. Voters were asked to judge how well or badly they thought the coalition government is doing on "cutting back on public spending in the right way". Liberal Democrat voters were more prepared than others to give the coalition government the benefit of the doubt. · 14% of all voters gave positive responses, and 16% of Liberal Democrat voters did so. · 42% ...
Trevor Bailey, who died this morning, went down in cricketing legend as the supreme defensive player and was also a skilled fast medium bowler. His playing career ended just to soon for me to remember it, but he was for many years an important figure on Test Match Special as, with Fred Trueman, he provided the expert comment between overs. To explain their respective styles to readers who are too young to remember this era, Bailey was like Geoff Boycott at his best (witty, acerbic, generous to the best modern players) and Trueman was like Geoff Boycott at his worse ...
Despite the media and western governments turning their attention away, the protests in Egypt haven't gone. They're strengthening if anything. As the Independent reports, the protesters have left Tahrir Square and spread out to occupy the surrounding streets as well. They're also occupying the street outside the People's Assembly building. Meanwhile, workers across Egypt have begun to heed the protesters' calls for a strike. The spirit of democracy is live and kicking in Egypt. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the US and Europe where governments, always hesitant in the first place when it came to the protests, have ...
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituency Bill will return to the Commons on Tuesday as MPs debate the amendments made in the Lords. The Bill has to become legislation by next Wednesday if the AV referendum is to take place on the 5th May as planned. The key amendment is the introduction of a 40% ...
Over on Political Postcards, you can read the first in a series of four posts on how the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign is going in the North-East. The first post looks at the tactics that both sides are deploying to sway voters. Here's an excerpt: The Yes campaign are holding firm to their strategy. Strong messages about reform, greater choice and making politicians work harder seem to resonate with wavering voters. They use the campaign principles from the Obama campaign of 'Respect, Empower, Include'. Perhaps a bit too sickly sweet for a more cynical British audience but as Obama ...
[IMG: Command lines on screen] Last night I went to an excellent discussion at the Frontline Club titled, "Will the internet be the battleground of the 21st century?" One of the questions addressed was whether or not such military-style rhetoric is appropriate, particularly because it can imply a great level of danger than is really the case. "We're under cyber-attack!" sounds much worse than "a teenager has download a script and stuck our IP address in it". It also is a choice of vocabulary which implies that resources should go to the military or the police rather than elsewhere, a ...
An Eleventh Doctor plus Amy audiobook, read by Matt Smith himself, set in Japan under the Shogunate. A fairly standard story - the Jade Pyramid off the title is an alien artefact with mystic powers in a village temple, and thus an object of desire for the local rulers. But it is written well, and Matt Smith is good at the voices (himself as the Doctor, Amy's Scottish lilt, and the senior villager) and at telling the story; plus nice music and sound effects in post-production. Worth adding to your collection.
[IMG: week-in-action-1.jpg] [IMG: week-in-action-2.jpg]
There's much talk in today's news about a letter signed by 90 Liberal Democrat councillors and published in today's Times newspaper. The BBC and others are portraying it as some sort of mini-Lib Dem rebellion over the government's deficit plans. ... Continue reading →
Debate is currently taking place in the House of Commons on whether prisoners should be able to vote. The debate will not lead to a decision today. That will have to wait until the government brings forward legislation later in the year. I know that popular opinion on this issue is firmly against prisoners voting. ...
Today I celebrate being on this planet for 45 years. This morning I was greeted by my wife and 2 girls, given a couple of Birthday presents and a mug of Tea. The best gift for me was being part of that moment. Nothing more to add.
I've got quite a lot of time for my noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott. Always entertaining company, always ready with a witty, or barbed, comment for the media. He has reliably said what many Lib Dem activists are thinking, and his credibility as someone with a long track record in the financial industry certainly gives weight to his comments. So, the news that he has been sacked as the Party's frontbench Treasury spokesperson in the Lords has come as a bit of a blow to a number of my colleagues. I am, however, not angry, or upset, but confused. If Danny ...
Februray 10th 2011, a date that will go down in history. The dictator of Egypt, Mubarak, is stepping down. The revolution achieves a glorious outcome and liberty bestows the Egyptian people.
The BBC's excellent Westminster correspondent, Mark D'Arcy has got the measure of what's going on in the House of Lords at the moment, and his update is as good as any. I only question the credit he gives to Lord Falconer, who is far too obviously partisan to attract serious support from the Crossbenchers. It is former Labour Minister - and shrewd operator - Lord (Jeff) Rooker who has twice achieved victory over the Government by bringing a healthy chunk of them along with him. He does it by saying his amendments are meant to be helpful, to provide flexibility, ...
Thu 10th
15:10
Pickles criticism is right - Secretary of State should do more to champion local government
The letter in this morning's Times is right to criticise the Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles. He is not a champion of local government, as the holder of his position should be. His attitude, set alongside cuts which are undoubtedly very severe, is hugely disappointing. His inflexibility in frontloading the cuts and not ...
Today's news that leading Lib Dem councillors have published an open letter complaining about spending cuts and the bluster of Eric Pickles in the DCLG is not really surprising. Local government is always first in the firing line and the especially deep cuts it is facing was always bound to cause angst among Lib Dem councillors - most of whom are motivated by providing good quality services - particularly for those most in need. So public disquiet from this source was always likely. It has also been clear for some time that Pickles is the least competent cabinet minister and ...
Labour MP for Hammersmith, the delightfully named Andy Slaughter appears to be an inquisitive chap. On Tuesday he tabled a total of 173 Parliamentary Questions, to be answered today. Good holding the government you might think...until you realise that each question costs the tax payer £80, and this was a highly inefficient way of getting the data he ...
Yesterday was the latest saga in the long running Lok 'n' Store development on the Kennet opposite Elgar Road. The original application had run out of time and the developers had asked for an extension. One of the difficulties with planning is that quite often a development meets all the applicable policies and regardless of whether you think it's appropriate, quite often you have to agree to something you wouldn't normally want to see built. In this case a previous planning committee had unanimously voted against the scheme but this was overturned by a planning enquiry. The problem is that ...
Prime Minister David Cameron's speech on security and tackling terrorism in Munich in has re-ignited a debate over whether ethnic and racial segregation is the root cause of so-called home-grown terrorism, in particular the species that manifested itself so tragically on July 7th 2005 in London. Given my ethnicity (I'm the UK-born son of Hindu Indian immigrants) you may expect me to be apoplectic over the tone and content of Cameron's rhetoric; at least I should be according to Labour's Sadiq Khan MP, who accused the PM of 'writing propaganda for the English Defence League.' Yet I find myself agreeing ...
Some quick reasons why, if I was a Liberal Democrat group leader (which I am not), I would have added my name to the 91 Liberal Democrat leaders writing to today's Times:- 1. This is not a shortsighted attempt at deficit-denying. It explicitly acknowledges the need for deficit reduction – with the consequences. 2. In being scathing about Pickles, as I have done before, it underlines a collective and cross-party loss of confidence that the Secretary of State understands localism (more on that later), understands the challenges local councils face, or for that matter cares. Reports about the derisory amounts ...
Before I start, let me do a bit of a Nick Ross thing. Remember at the end of Crimewatch every month he used to say that crime was actually really rare and tell us to sleep easy. Well, that's just as true today. Most politicians, of most parties (racist thugs like the BNP excepted of course), are good and decent people who are in politics to help people. Don't let the behaviour of a very small number of people detract from that. Anyway, I feel quite sad and disappointed at how my former MP, Jim Devine, has behaved on many ...
Lockwood Road bus lane I've had this post in draft form for a a good while now. Today's Examiner article, "Penalty fines for five Lockwood bus lane drivers", has signalled that now would probably be a good time to finish this off and publish it. Following on from my recent post relating to potential problems with traffic restrictions in Hipperholme, I recalled that I had been researching some signage deficiencies for the bus lane on Lockwood Road, in Lockwood. The bus lane extends from from the junction with Summer Street to Lockwood Bar. As I explained in my previous post, ...
One thing the No2AV Campaign Against Democracy (principal funders the Taxpayers' Allowance, political parties in favour – Tories, DUP and BNP) keep saying about the upcoming Fair Votes referendum is that 'nobody really wants' AV. Now, like all myths, there is a tiny grain of truth here, in that some supporters of a Yes vote ...
As I've commented on before (such as here), there has often been a problem with the Press Complaints Commission upholding a complaint about a story but the news outlet's website not being fully updated to reflect this. For example, the complained about story might continue to appear on a newspaper website without any indication in the story that it was subsequently the cause of a ruling against the newspaper. Now however the Press Complaints Commission has issued new rules: When a complaint is upheld by the PCC, the editor is obliged to publish it with "due prominence". Here is some ...
Two factions of the Liberal Democrats have made the headlines in the last 24 hours disagreeing with different aspects of Coalition policy. The first, headed by Richard Kemp is an alliance of Council Leaders who have decided to enrich the Murdoch pay wall by writing a grumpy letter to the Times. The gist of the letter is that the local government spending is being cut too fast and should be slowed down. "This front-loading means councils do not have the lead-in time necessary to re-engineer services on a lower-cost base and ease staff cuts without forced, expensive redundancies." Most UK ...
From the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Local Government 6th Floor, Local Government House Smith Square London, SW1P 3HZ Phone: 020 7664 3235 email: libdem@local.gov.uk Sir, Local government is playing its part in tackling the country's ... Continue reading →
I don't know how it came about that Matthew Oakeshott is no longer speaking for the party on economics in the House of Lords. I don't know whether it was his decision or George Osborne's. But the fact is that he is overwhelmingly right. Project Merlin is no solution to the banking problem. In fact, by failing to recognise the real problem here, it may make matters worse. The real problem is this. It isn't that banks are somehow unwilling to lend money to small businesses; it is that they are no longer set up to do so. They have ...
The main problem with the cuts at local level is the speed. This speed does not allow the councils enough time to implement or manage the cuts in a more efficient and controlled manner were cost efficient methods or solutions can be found or even to allow councillors to understand how their voters want services to be prioritised and therefore plan a controlled reduction is services. I do agree with the coalition that more power should be with local councillors to decide what should be cut which means that less services should be ring fenced. Because if we elect local ...
Saudi Arabia has threatened to prop up embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak if the Obama administration tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt, The Times of London reported Thursday. In a testy personal telephone call on Jan. ... Continue reading →
Liberal Democrat council leaders wrote a letter to the Times today. I'm pissed off that that meant I had to give a quid to the Murdoch Empire today, but I agree with the content. The letter is also behind the Times Paywall, and printed in today's Times. Only the first few signatories are listed in the print version.Italics below are mine. I've highlighted those parts because while you can read
The aborted foetus of the National Identity Register, which would have been the heart of ID cards and the database state, is quite literally to be incinerated. The hard drives and back up tapes containing the data of the initial applicants to the ID card scheme will be shredded and then incinerated. This will be followed with long overdue moves to remove innocent people from DNA databases and other measures to restore civil liberties. It's about bloody time. Civil liberties is one of the issues which I, as a lefty, can never and will never forgive New Labour for. It's ...
I have this week, appeared in the pages of the Woking News and Mail talking about commuting from Woking to London. As I've previously blogged, the train I often catch is now universally acknowledged as being the most overcrowded train ... Continue reading →
This Sunday, I'm taking part in a sleep out at County Hall in Truro to highlight the impact of the the cuts to Cornwall's Supporting People budget and the effect they will have on homeless people in Cornwall. The government allocates a budget for this work (although it is no longer 'ring-fenced') but the Council has cut our local budget by 40%. Whilst the Council Leader claims that the same work can still be done for less money, Adult Care Cabinet member Armand Toms is more honest in admitting that it will be the entire programme which will be affected. ...
I have to say that I was utterly livid when I discovered courtesy of Jonathan Calder that Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman in the Lords Matthew Oakeshott was no longer in position because of comments he had made criticising the deal George Osborne struck with the bankers. I couldn't get on to the laptop, though, to write about it then, and thought I'd give it some calm reflection until the morning. That's more than Danny Alexander gave Matthew before he effectively removed him from his position. By all accounts, it's a modest deal. Chief Executives of banks owned by the taxpayer ...
Over ninety senior Liberal Democrat councillors have written to The Times (£) today, attacking the front-loading of local government cuts imposed by central government. The letter is as interesting for what it doesn't say as for what it does. Despite the spin placed on the letter by the BBC this morning, the letter does not deny either the need for cuts, nor the deficit which has required them. Rather the letter argues that the cuts are too big and proceeding too quickly, and that councils could protect more frontline services and save more money in the long term if spending ...
Camberwell Liberal Democrats have selected local resident Kate Heywood as the party's candidate for the Brunswick Park by-election on March 10th. Kate, who has lived in the area for 8 years, is actively involved in local community groups, including as a former management committee member of Bradfield Youth Club on Southampton Way and of All Saints Church, Peckham. Her 3 pledges to local people: To clean up Camberwell, tackling everything from dog fouling to housing repairs To listen to local people, and be an independent voice for residents To work all year round for all residents, including holding regular advice ...
Over the next couple of weeks there will be two road closures which will affect residents in the Chapel area of Launceston. Upper Chapel will be closed in part from 21st to 25th February to allow for a water main to be repaired. Western Road - the section at the bottom of Meadowside in the 'triangle' - will be closed from 28th February until 4th March for highway improvement works. This won't affect the main road itself. Diversion routes will be put in place for both closures.
Scotland's The Journal has a piece previewing the Scottish Parliament elections, along with a brief contribution from myself at the end. You can read the piece here.
10:56 There is breaking news on the BBC that a Manx 2 Flight from Belfast to Cork has crashed. Reporst are that eight of the passengers on board have been killed and 14 are injured. My thoughts and prayers are with all the relatives of anyone who was on that flight at this time and the uncertainty of their situation. update 11:48: According to the Belfast Telegraph Manx2 Flight NM 7100 left Belfast's George Best Airport at 8:12 this morning bound for Cork. There were 10 passengers and 2 crew on board. On arrival it found the airport on Ireland's ...
You know you're in trouble if Jack Straw and David Davies have joined together to gang up on you, but that is exactly what has happened over prisoner votes. A ruling by the European Court of Human Rights means that the UK must grant at least some prisoners votes, or face a fine. The two old schoolers ...
As someone who has been a trade union member since the age of 16 and a representative for almost as long I follow with interest any new developments in industrial relations in our country. Employment law has been transformed over the past 25 years to the extent that is now very difficult for unions to organise lawful industrial action. I believe Britain now has the most restrictive labour laws in Western Europe. Not content with the status quo the Tory right are now agitating for even more restrictions, the principle one being that any ballot for action has to have ...
Oh the perils of blogging. On Tuesday I submitted a piece for Lib Dem Voice on how important it was that Lib Dems made clear where they stood on various government issues and how great it would be if Ministers were a little more free to speak their mind. They liked it and it's due to be published this weekend... And then yesterday, we see Lord Oakeshott resign/get sacked/leave by mutual consent - for speaking his mind on the banking deal. Now, while there's no arguing that his criticism was fairly strident ('If this is robust action on bank bonuses, ...
I've been bashing Labour for quite a while, and so it's time to pick on some of the stupidity coming from the Right. I don't normally have a lot of time for Prince Charles, but his speech to the Low Carbon Prosperity Summit was bang-on. He argued that our long-term prosperity is threatened by a ...
Camberwell Liberal Democrats have selected a fantastic local candidate to fight the Brunswick Park by-election as the party's candidate on March 10th. Kate is actively involved in local community groups, including as a former management committee member of Bradfield Youth Club on Southampton Way and of All Saints Church, Peckham. She's lived in the area for 8 years and has made a real point of getting stuck in and involved. She is making 3 pledges to local people: 1. To clean up Camberwell, tackling everything from dog fouling to housing repairs. 2. To listen to local people, and be an ...
Dear BBC, I'd like you to reconsider your decision to ban the use of the word "reform" when your staff are reporting or commenting on the proposed changes to the voting system for the House of Commons (as reported in The Independent last month). Given that the phrase "electoral reform" has been a widely used term for decades to describe all sorts of different proposals to change the electoral system and given that it has been widely used by proponents on all sides of those exchanges too, I'm surprised that you now are of the view that it isn't an ...
Morus has a fascinating post on Political Betting today where he highlights a rather obscure feature of the AV referendum legislation which is that Nick Clegg, who is responsible for the bill and its implementation is actually more empowered by the 40% threshold clause. It means that he can make a judgement call about whether the turnout justifies the change. The 40% threshold is not binding. Of course if the turnout is very low and the victory is small, with the threshold amendment in place it may be politically very difficult to put the change through. However I can well ...
This morning's Western Mail reports on an extraordinary public row that has erupted between Labour and Plaid Cymru following months of anonymous briefings against the Plaid leader, who is also Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Government. The paper says that senior figures in Welsh Labour, including MPs, have told the Western Mail they are seriously concerned that Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones' "mismanagement" of his ministerial brief may harm them at the Assembly election in May: A senior Labour figure said: "Ieuan Wyn Jones is the One Wales weak link. This is not a party political attack - ...
"If you break the law, you lose the right to make the law", David Davis is quite right and I passionately agree with him. I do not support voting rights for prisoners – it's a liberty granted to a law ... Continue reading →
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice For the third week out of the last four, a Liberal Democrat asked the first question at Prime Minister's Questions. This is turning into a tradition! Yay! This week it was the turn of Roger Williams to go through the charade of asking the PM for an entirely predictable list of his engagements for the day. Rather cleverly, albeit interrupted by some harrying from the Speaker, Roger manage to squeeze in two points: a) the key role played by the Sennybridge ranges and the infantry battle school in his constituency and b) a question about ...
Gloucestershire County Council are planning to axe a vital bus, without consulting anyone in the parishes affected in Cotswold Edge, Yate and surrounding areas. The 620/629 bus links Tetbury, the A46 villages to Yate - so people can get to the station, health facilities and to buses to Bristol - and then links Yate to Bath - so commuters can get to Bath to work. But now Gloucestershire is planning to axe it. They have consulted BANES Council, i.e. Bath - but have not bothered to even TELL parishes along the route what they are doing. Chris Willmore, from Yate ...
Today the Independent make an assessment of Nick Clegg which highlights some of his strengths which is worth repeating. Finding strengths are important to identify what you are doing which is working well, hopefully he can build on some of these strengths: his restless desire to narrow inequality and improve social mobility he has been, ...
There's little new information on the sex-by-deception case I've been following, although it was in court again yesterday. Brooks has asked for more time according to various news sources (Daily Record) and the next hearing will be on the 8th March when a date for trial should be set. The print edition of the Metro suggests a plea of Not Guilty was also entered, but the story does not appear to be online. Some reports (STV) indicate that the reason for the request for more time is for DNA/handwriting reports and an identity parade. (How a parade will work when ...
When the last Labour government came to power it made a couple of very good decisions. Today we will hear the result of one of them as we do every month - the level of bank base rate for the next month. I don't know whether I will like or agree with their decision, I just know that since the control of the Monetary Policy Committee was introduced the tendency for interest rates to be held down artificially or hiked desperately has been changed into a more rational, smoothed and orderly system. Of course government remains, and must remain, responsible ...
I'm so proud to be a Liberal Democrat today As both a member of staff with over ten years service and a party member even longer, the last eight months or so have often been difficult with the media developing an acid tongue against us many times. But yesterday in Scotland we had some exciting news. Yesterday was the day when the Scottish Parliament approved the budget. It is a better budget because of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, after securing concessions to the budget on college bursaries and places, modern apprenticeships and support for Post Offices across Scotland. This is ...
OK, I've actually sold a pitifully low number of copies of my books, and even fewer just on Kindle, but I'm still number one in Discographies And Buyers Guides for the Kindle (and it's number 12 in Discographies & Buyers Guides when counting dead-tree books too). I'm also at number six in the 'books about ...
On Wave 102 news this morning regarding the City Council Budget - click 'play' to listen :
Overnight there have been two stories which have had some of us rather exercised. When an issue has me on the same page as Lord Bonkers, the party leadership really ought to be worried! I have never made any secret of my opposition to the coalition, Jonathan is a supporter, but now even he finds himself questioning the dismissal of Matthew Oakeshott. For me, I think the most disturbing part of this story is the quote Jonathan cites from a party spokesperson "Both Lord Oakeshott and the party leadership agreed he could not speak for the party when he did ...
This fascist frieze on the public finance office in Bolzano/Bozen has played a recent role in keeping Silvio Berlosconi in office. The embattled Italian PM needed every vote to survive a no confidence vote. The frieze displaying Mussolini's achievements in Roman style and carrying the slogan, "Believe, obey, fight" is offensive to the German speakers of the Sud Tirol and they want it removed,
i) births and deaths 10 February 1928: birth of John Ringham, who played Tlotoxl in The Aztecs (1964), Josiah Blake in The Smugglers (1966), and Robert Ashe in Colony in Space (1971). 10 February 1939: birth of Peter Purves, who played the First Doctor's companion Steven Taylor in 1965-66 and has done a couple of Big Finish Companion Chronicles since (in 2007 and 2010, and another one due this month). ii) broadcast anniversaries 10 February 1968: broadcast of second episode of The Web of Fear. Jamie and Victoria meet up with Travers, after many decades, and his daughter Anne; the ...
Come along, Ponds - Vid: White Rabbit (Two, Jamie, Zoe) Wow. (tags: doctorwho) Shoot the Messenger! « mikenesbitt.co.uk "We have lost three of the new candidates we fielded in the Westminster Elections last May. That means we have retained eight, seven of whom are standing again. Which is the more news worthy? You do the math!" - I dunno, Mike, the fact that the party has lost more than a quarter of its new candidates from what was already its worst election in history does strike me as remarkable! (tags: northernireland) Getting rid of the foreign influence in Ireland... « ...
Liberal Democrats were shocked to discover that pedestrians who fall and injure themselves on pavements are ignored in Herts County Council's statistics. Liberal Democrat county councillor Malcolm Cowan was shocked to be told, while working on an update to a county council report, that the only figures kept for 'trips and slips' on the footpath are those from residents suing the council for their injuries. The vast majority of cases, where the person goes to hospital or to the GP, do not feature, because no recording takes place. 'It just shows how much pedestrians are ignored - every accident in ...
Bank leaders are "livid" because they are receiving an increased levy of £800m. Compare that with more than £6bn about to leave the banks' coffers as bonuses. This means that there is about eight times more going to top bankers than the amount which is making them so angry. I think it is time for them to calm down. When I started out in politics as a teenager I felt that I knew the right thing to do (hence these blogs) but I did not know as much as other politicians. I went on to get a degree with the ...
