Lembit Opik has launched a short campaign video as part of his bid to become the Lib Dem Mayoral candidate. It suggests that Lembit's narrative will be handing power over to you and I. Its flaw is that not everyone will have seen the BBC sitcom Citizen Smith and so might be a touch bemused by the whole thing. Citizen Lem from Mancha Productions on Vimeo.
Primary schools have found out in the last few days that their targets for this year's KS2 SATs tests are to be upped by 5%, just a few weeks before the tests are to actually take place. Anyone with any common sense would accept that waiting until just 8 weeks before the tests is a ridiculously late time to change school targets, but that is not the worst of it. In know there are some target nuts who think that by raising targets schools will suddenly achieve more, but that assumes that teachers, or anyone for that matter, only respond ...
You know how it is – or maybe not – perhaps your lifeworld is a little different to mine [IMG: :)] . You're sitting in bed on a Sunday morning, surfing the blogs, and you come across something that is just too irresistible to pass up the opportunity of commenting on. Last Sunday, I found an interesting article over on the "Politics for novices" blog, which suggested that the current changes to university funding will aid social change. I couldn't resist commenting on it (you'll have to follow the link if you want to read the article and what I ...
The next meeting of the Acocks Green Ward Committee will take place at 7pm this Wednesday, 9 March at Oaklands Primary School, Dolphin Lane. There are two substantive items on the agenda: Kerry Jukes from National Express will attend the meeting to discuss the ongoing problem with buses queuing down Summer Road (and at times in Shaftmoor Lane) to get into the Bus Garage in the evening. Community Chest. With £100,000 now confirmed for the Community Chest for 2011/12, the Ward Advisory Board had made the following initial recommendations for funding: Mayfield Road Allotments £1,000 Wards Mean Business £10,000 John ...
Some conservatives, and even some libertarians, say that they favour a small State. They say this to contrast their approach to the the big State socialists. In the past, I have suggested that there is another divide. That is one between the Statists and the non-Statists. Both groups can be found in all three main parties. Those who say they are in favour of a small State tend to emphasise their classical liberal beliefs. Paul Staines's blog order-order is normally associated with such views. Staines has said that he is a mix of anarchist and libertarian. These days he doesn't ...
If you read the budget papers from Wokingham, bearing in mind they are supposed to cover plans for the next 3 years, you would have absolutely no idea that tens of millions of pounds of council assets and services are to be held and run by council-owned commercial companies. One of them already exists. Wokingham Enterprises Ltd. is the company to whom the council's assets are being handed over, initially as part of the Wokingham town centre regeneration. But it is not mentioned in the Medium Term Financial Plan, not even in the evaluation of major risks. We're not talking ...
Last week seemed to be very busy even if I can't point to specific events. Monday there was a meeting of the Zimbabwe All-Party Group, and Wednesday I spoke on two Orders to do with Gypsy sites and security of tenure under the Mobile Homes Act. The Coalition Government has completed the process started by Labour, for which they should be given due credit. Also on Wednesday I attended Dr M's cardiology clinic at King's. The tests he had ordered show that all is OK. This afternoon I had an unsatisfactory answer to my question about LBGT asylum seekers. I ...
All, There was an interesting story on the BBC tonight about cash given by developers for local services being unspent by councils. You can read the story here. This is a story that's of interest to people in Shipston on Stour (honestly!). For some years now the Town Council and local Liberal Democrats have complained that this money, given to councils when large developments go ahead (such as the Tilemans Lane estate, where I live), has not all been spent. Now it turns out that we were right – and Warwickshire County Council is one of the worst offenders – ...
Nick Clegg is still good at making speeches, whatever people say I still think that he does come across as someone who is genuinely passionate about the issues which he is discussing. Unfortunately for many people now they don't see this as being sincere after the tuition fees debacle, which is a shame, especially since I am sure that free tuition was not his preferred system in the first place and a pay after you graduate system is probably the fairest for society in general (even if the amounts are extreme). This post isn't about tuition fees however, I could ...
Apparently for trying to give support to the opponents of Gaddafi. If that's bungling - then what's this then?
Well, maybe. Went to my doctor this evening to get him to take a look at my right foot, which has still not recovered. The doc was excellent. Suggested that there was a chance that it was a stress fracture and so immediately referred me for an X-ray, which should hopefully be in the next day or two. He said that it was most likely just tissue damage which is taking longer to heal to due to the location of the injury. Being on my feet all day at work is not helping. While the pain has not got worse, ...
I'm trying to understand David Cameron's speech. I'm sorry but I'm failing completely. I cannot get the mindset that sale of arms is in any way justified no matter how much of an "entrepreneur" you are. Lateral Application of IdeasI think that the Conservatives are very good at cost-benefit analysis, but completely useless are applying this to any of the system outside of economic. One has to
The connection between the Liberal Democrat think tank CentreForum and the concerns of the wider party has sometimes been difficult to discern. So it is good to see them publishing Getting Your Share of the Banks: Giving the banks back to the people by the Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams. The pamphlet endorses a plan, drawn up by the corporate finance firm Portman Capital Partners, under which every British adult would be given shares in the banks that were rescued by the government. As the Daily Telegraph says: Under the plan, each UK citizen could receive about 1,450 shares in ...
It's the end of an era and Reading politics is really going to miss Jo Lovelock's incompetent performances as leader of the opposition. I wish her well in her retirement from front bench politics but from of the sound of it local Labour member's wish her a happy retirement as soon as possible as well. What's that you say? You haven't heard the announcement. Of course not, but we all know it's inevitable. It didn't help her campaign to retain the top job emailing the administration her strategy for the crucial budget meeting but hey, we've all sent things over ...
And we're back... we've got net access back now, at least. But I'm still getting through the backlog of a week with no internet, so don't expect a proper post til tomorrow, when I'll be finishing off my Pet Sounds post which I started on Tuesday last week. Then on Wednesday I'm going to do ...
I am now officially sick to death of hearing or reading journalists making a big thing out of Tavish Scott not mentioning Nick Clegg in his leader's speech to Scottish Conference on Friday. Apparently, according to Raymond Buchanan, Brian Taylor and Saturday's Courier, this means that Tavish is trying to distance himself from Nick and considers him an electoral liability. That would be why Tavish gave Nick such a warm introduction on Saturday, then. And that wasn't cobbled together at the last minute as some PR stunt because of the press - it was in the agenda, printed weeks ago, ...
To say that there appears to be inconsistency, incoherence or complacency at the centre of Government policy is not a particularly novel observation. Indeed, it doesn't really narrow down what we're talking about, given the generally rushed and badly thought through nature of current policy proposals in many fields. Nonetheless the point reasserted itself with ...
Two links to mark British Pie Week: First, the website of the august Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association;Second, a recipe for Shropshire fidget pie.
My good friend Jack Colbert has drawn to my attention this article by Solicitor Rex Makin in the Liverpool Echo. AT a time of cutbacks across all public bodies, one bastion against change stands firm. The Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority (MITA) has a members' allowance system seemingly written on tablets of stone since the good old days. Last year its affable chairman, councillor Mark Dowd, received over £54,000 in various allowances. Unlike other authorities, members can receive more than one Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) for additional jobs such as chairing a committee. Unlike those other bodies, deputy chairs of its ...
Anger over Sefton Labour's 29% Council Tax Rise Plan - £427 increase for Band D houses On Friday last week I reported on the Militant-like behaviour of Sefton's Labour Group Leader Cllr Peter Dowd. My Birkdale Ward colleague Councillor Simon Shaw (Chartered Accountant of this parish) has carried out a detailed forensic analysis of Sefton Labour's truly appalling plans for Sefton's finances. Simon has produced some fascinating workings which show that Labour's approach would have cost local residents a massive hike in Council Tax of no less than 29%. Under Labour, Band D Council Tax would rise from £1477.68 to ...
Thank god I was busy building railways yesterday, otherwise a peaceful Sunday would have been disturbed by the dull thud of Labour propaganda which on its own I can take, however its the hypocrisy, no mention of Labour's attack on job creation, improved infrastructure, social housing or even more remarkable de-selecting one of their ablest councillors. Still most disappointing is Clive Harts waffle at the back of their pre-election leaflet no mention of accusations made about his competence to lead even more remarkable he makes no mention of his offer to resign as leader. Can you trust Thanet Labour, I ...
This week is another huge one for British teams in the Champions League, but how will North London neighbours Arsenal and Spurs fare against their high profile opposition? Barcelona (1) vs Arsenal (2) Arsenal's victory in the first leg was deeply impressive, but Barca still have a vital away goal, and surely can't perform ...
Alberto Granado, who famously chummed his pal Ernesto Che Guevara around South America on a motorbike, has died in Cuba at the age of 88. The pair's epic journey was recorded in Che's Motorcycle Diaries which were later made in to an award winning film. The 1951 journey exposed the two medical students to deep poverty and awakened in them their revolutionary tendencies. I read the Diaries after seeing the film. I was struck by a number of things. Obviously their deep seated anger at what they saw and the formulation of their response to the iniquities was what first ...
Much public disgust at Bob Diamond's bonus. In a free society, government can't start dictating incomes for particularly industries. Apostles of the market usually argue that competition brings down costs, but not when it comes to bankers' incomes. The solutions shouldn't be too taxing for the First Lord of the Treasury nor all the politicians and civil servants who report to him, with their
Part of my day job is to be the press officer for the Liberal Democrat county group in Hertfordshire. This experience gets me working closely with the group on scrutiny of the introduction of Liberal Democrat policy as part of the coalition. Tails in nicely with being a member of Federal Policy Committee. This afternoon it had me hopping mad. The county council seem to be finding imaginative uses for schools. Today it was the pupil premium... to replace the school transport budget they have just cut. I thought you may enjoy the press release. Tory-run council suggests misuse of ...
Tory-run Herts County Council is issuing advice to schools with ideas on how to use the Pupil Premium. The Pupil Premium was a key part of the Liberal Democrat manifesto designed to ensure that pupils from the most disadvantaged backgrounds get the best possible outcome from their education. The money, paid directly to schools, is not ring-fenced for specific projects but is cash for the school to put to the best educational use. Hertfordshire County Council, however, is recommending to schools that they can use the funding to 'plug' the hole in the home school transport budget – which they ...
Here's a screenshot from a new widget from the Robin Hood Tax campaign: So a 100% Tax on something worth £7.2 billion would raise £7.2 billion for public spending, would it? Short answer: No. Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Here's some content harvested from Wikipedia: A 100% tax rate will also generate no revenue because at such a rate there is no longer any incentive for a rational taxpayer to earn any income, thus the revenue raised will be 100% of nothing.
Last weekend saw the Welsh Liberal Democrats hold their Spring Conference at the Barceló Cardiff Angel Hotel in Cardiff. · Watch the BBC 2 coverage here on iPlayer · Read Kirsty Williams' speech here · Read Nick Clegg's speech here
Cornwall Council will continue to fund the sea pool for another year but we need plenty of people to come along a to a meeting and form a community group... -Update 3rd March from Cllrs Nigel Pearce and Nathan Bale – below on YouTube. Facebook campaign page is here.
Mon 7th
17:25
LibLink: Dominic Carman - What it's like to be the most despised man in the town political correctne...
There's what you might think is a somewhat over-the-top headline on Dominic Carman's piece on the Daily Mail website detailing his experience as the Liberal Democrat candidate in last week's by-election in Barnsley Central, but after having read the piece it seems somewhat less hyperbolic. Barnsley is not natural Liberal Democrat territory – the content of Dominic's article will demonstrate why. You couldn't invent a better example of a Labour stronghold if you tried, and the historic and deep hatred of the Conservative party by many in such seats means campaigning there as a Liberal Democrat now is especially tough. ...
Conference Diary in brief Day Time Event Friday 11th 3pm Inequality consultation Friday 11th 8pm Fringe meeting on health Saturday 12th 1pm Q and A with Vince Cable Saturday 12th 6.15pm Staying distinctive from the Tories Sunday 13th 9.20am Emergency motion Friday 11th March Consultative session on Inequality This takes place from 3pm to 5 30 in the Mercure St Paul's Hotel City Suite C. Chaired by SLF Chair David Hall- Matthews, this is an opportunity to have a say in the party's future policy on this vital issue. Special fringe meeting on Health Ahead of the key debate on ...
I have just been attending the Inside Housing "Scottish Housing Hustings" meeting. A very civilized panel from five parties and admirably chaired by Bill Jamieson of the Scotsman. The setting was the Merchant Company of Edinburgh's Hall which is one of Edinburgh secret gems tucked away next to Clydesdale Bank in Hanover Street. Issues thrown up included whether we wanted house prices to rise or fall (I want stability), energy efficiency and the poor share Edinburgh and the South East gets as a share of the Housing investment. I thought all speakers accounted for themselves admirably and I was delighted ...
There's no hiding the fact that the tuition fees issue has been bad for the Liberal Democrats. We promised to abolish fees, but on unexpectedly finding ourselves in power couldn't deliver on that promise. There is a rational explanation for ... Continue reading →
I agree with each of these eminently sensible amendments-which don't seek to stimy reform, but to make sure the reforms don't change the very nature of the NHS.
Call my interest unnatural, if you will, but I really was tickled pink to see the workmen re-tarmacking several weakened areas of Queen's Road, Newbury yesterday. Full marks to Councillor Roger Hunneman for persuading West Berkshire Council to invest in a full overhaul of the road surface. Over the last two years I've taken a long series of photos of potholes in these areas, plus logged a whole series of repetitive calls to West Berkshire Council, plus had a Newbury Weekly News letter published, plus watched as previous repairs have failed after a few weeks. So to see the workmen ...
A matter of hours after his party finished a humiliating sixth in the Barnsley Central by-election, Nick Clegg's 'Muscular Liberalism' speech gave him an opportunity to appease disillusioned party members ahead of the spring conference. Amid the continuous onslaught of accusations of 'selling out', Clegg's defense of multiculturalism showed clear water between his policy and that of the Conservatives. In this speech, Clegg highlighted an indisputable split in the Coalition Government's approach to tackling extremism. The deputy prime minister showed that he is unwilling to compromise on the communities agenda that remains the Liberal Democrats' strongest suit amongst the inevitable ...
Want to know what this is all about? Click here still a great song though
Prime Minister David Cameron has turned on his own civil service, declaring some of its members 'the enemies of enterprise'. It was yet another 'heir to Blair' moment, (the former PM famously said he still 'bore the scars' of civil service opposition to reform,) and came in Cameron's speech to his party's Welsh spring ...
Today I launched my proposals for the distribution of shares in the state owned banks to the public. Since the government stepped in to save Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group in 2008 the Treasury has owned about 118 billion shares in the companies. They cost us all about £66 billion to acquire ...
As people across North Africa and the Middle East rise up against their oppressive regimes, the international community is preparing to let Sudan's dictator, Field Marshall Omar Bashir, off the hook for killing millions of his own citizens. In 2009 the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Bashir for genocide in Sudan's remote western region of Darfur where his policy of ethnic cleansing led to the deaths of 300,000 people. For years Khartoum used the same tactic, arming poor Arab nomads to kill their black Africa neighbours to similar effect in South Sudan, where an estimated two million died. These are ...
Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams has proposed a plan to give shares in Lloyds and RBS to every adult in the UK. The banks are part owned by the taxpayer since the banking crisis. We own 83% of RBS and 41% of Lloyds. The plan would see each of the 46 million adults on the UK allocated shares - equivalent to roughly £1000 each. The shares would not be able to be sold until they rose above the price paid by the government but any profits would be kept by the individual. One benefit of the plan would be to ...
Tomorrow Linda Jack is returning as guest editor for the day on Liberal Democrat Voice. Linda was our second guest editor, back in September and is a blogger herself at Lindylooz Muze. Have fun with the site Linda...
The Labour MP - I'll say that again with emphasis, the Labour MP - Tristram Hunt has proposed that we start charging for the national museums and collections, most of which reside in London. Apparently - and if you can't be bothered to read the whole article, there's a précis in the news section of The Observer - it's unfair that local council cuts mean that provincial museums are forced to start charging entrance fees, while national museums still get a subsidy to allow free entry. And furthermore, to quote Mr Hunt, 'At New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, there ...
As I was repulsed by this article by shadow minister Yvette Cooper last week, it's only fair that I should praise shadow minister Sadiq Khan for this article in which he argues that Labour made a mistake by "playing tough" on crime and allowing the prison population to soar and that they didn't do enough on re-offending. He says: "A focus on rehabilitation and reducing reoffending was seen as being soft on crime, when in fact it is effective in reducing crime." Blimey, it read like LibDem policy, one of course Labour relentlessly criticised us as being "soft on crime" ...
Popular capitalism is a doctrine that I am quite sceptical about. The individual should have a choice; not the government instructing us how to invest. Ownership democracy is a noble course of action for any government to pursue, but it's ... Continue reading →
Welcome to my weekly round-up of two blogging highlights from the past week: the post that I found most interesting or enjoyable to write and the post from someone else that I found most interesting or entertaining. A post from me... Want to run a successful campaign? Read Minority verdict by Michael Ashcroft Michael Ashcroft's book, Minority verdict: The Conservative Party, the voters and the 2010 election, should be on the reading list of anyone wanting to run an election campaign whether at local or national level in the next few years. Read the full post about Lord Ashcroft's book ...
The whole point of representative democracy is that the MPs we elect to Parliament will represent the will of the people who elected them. There are lots of ways to test this. One way is to see how many votes are represented by an MP. This is done by adding up all the votes that were cast for the candidates that got elected to Parliament. This can then be compared to the votes that didn't get represented - the sum of the votes that weren't for a candidate that got elected, and also the votes that didn't get used. Together, ...
Had lots of fun yesterday geocaching around Greenwich with [IMG: [personal profile] ] dunharrow, DanG (her partner) and Jonty. We picked up nine caches from the Gates of Greenwich multicache series, missing one as it's been temporarily disabled after being muggled by a non-cacher. We started off at Gate 2 and moved up Royal Hill first, along Charlton Way and then down Vanbrugh Hill, mostly inside the park to shelter from the wind. It was a lovely day exploring, having not really done so all that much so far. After we finished the series, we stopped off for celebratory drinks ...
This Icelandic woman offers perhaps the sanest thinking about banking crisis I have yet heard. "Halla Tomasdottir managed to take her company Audur Capital through the eye of the financial storm in Iceland by applying 5 traditionally "feminine" values to financial services. At TEDWomen, she talks about these values and the importance of balance. "
Following the disasterous showing in the Barnsley by-election, it is encouraging to see prominent Lib Dems supporting a radical scheme which could see up to 46 million UK residents owning shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds banking groups. The idea would be that each person on the electoral role would receive shares, which based upon current market conditions could be up to £1,000 in value. Then the Government would set a floor price and it would only be at a value above this that these give-away shares could be sold with individuals retaining any profit made (subject ...
I'm beginning to despair of The Herald, I really am. Let's take a brief look at what have recently passed for political news in Scotland's leading quality newspaper. In the last few days we've seen The Herald reduce the Liberal Democrats' position on drug sentencing to the glib headline "Lib Dems back move to give addicts NHS heroin", a truly irresponsible distortion if ever there was one. The Herald has also reported in the last few days that a "Green coalition could hand power to Labour" and that "any prospect of the Liberal Democrats forming an alliance with the SNP ...
The four main parties' Scottish education spokespeople will be taking part in debate at 3pm today organised by Scotland on Sunday and Weber Shandwick's Scotland Votes website. You can either attend in person if you register within the next 38 minutes (it's in the Scotsman building on Holyrood Road) or you can watch online here. I shall be tweeting throughout the event from my kitchen table. Mike Russell, Margaret Smith, Liz Smith, and Des McNulty will answer questions - which you can still submit via Twitter to @scotlandvotes. I'm sure Mike Russell would particularly welcome questions on schools in Argyll ...
Unfortunately I can't make it but I would like to remind my local readers that there is an AV debate on Tuesday 10th at Irish Centre, 104-108 Chatham St, Reading RG1 7HT see http://avdebates.com/reading/ There has already been a number of Yes to AV stalls in Bracknell and Wokingham including last Saturday (There was also a stall in Reading town centre at the same time), see picture from this saturdays Yes to AV stall in Wokingham. More Yes 2 AV stalls are planned for Bracknell and Reading. Watch this space for any updates
Cornwall Council's spending on temporary staff and consultants has risen even further. This is Cornwall has revealed that the total in December and January was £6 million for just two months - equivalent to £70,000 per day for consultants and £27,500 per day for temporary staff - despite Council Leader Alec Robertson telling councillors a couple of months ago that the figure was £750,000 per month on non-contract staff. Some spending on consultants and temp staff can be justified. There will be times when specific expertise will be needed but is not available within the Council workforce and it costs ...
Seeing today's headline in the local newspaper "Evening Star man 'banned' by county council over chief's £12k coaching story" one could be forgiven for thinking that we are now living under a totalitarian regime in Suffolk. The man in question is reporter Paul Geater. Whatever happened to free speech? And why ban a reporter just for reporting the truth? In my experience Paul Geater's only crime has been to report what is actually happening at Suffolk County Council, rather than the gloss and spin which the Conservatives would prefer to send out from their £1m communications team. Here's one definition ...
According to today's Daily Telegraph Stephen Williams MP has come up with a cunning rouse to sell off the nationalised banks. The plans are contained in a pamphlet for the 'think' tank Centre Forum. ( I find it is always wise to check out who funds these bodies-he who pays the piper...) Stephen has : ..........endorsed the plan, drawn up by corporate finance firm Portman Capital Partners, to re-privatise the two banks by distributing shares to all 46m adults on the electoral register. The taxpayer owns 84pc of RBS and 43pc of Lloyds after providing both lenders with billions in ...
There has been a lot of work put in by Belle Vue Aces and Council Officers to guarantee Speedway's future in Gorton. (After all, it started here). The idea has been to produce a truly state of the art speedway track and stadium. Since the old Stadium was pulled down, the Aces have shared the Greyhound track, but that is not an ideal long-term solution for a whole raft of reasons. Plans are coming to the next Executive meeting on 16th March for new sporting facilities in East Manchester, which should include the much-desired new Speedway facilities in Belle Vue. ...
A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood Ward of Prestwich as detailed below:- Application number: 53720 Type of application: Full Date Registered: 04/03/2011 Applicant: Turning Point Building Futures Limited Location: Leigh Bank 4 Glebelands Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1NE Proposal: Variation of condition no. 2 of planning permission 52762 – Approved drawings to allow alterations to single storey extensions at rear Plans will be available to view on the Council's website within 2 working days. Should you require further details please contact the case officer: Tom Beirne on: 0161 253 5361 or for advice on commenting ...
Today co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Treasury committee Stephen Williams has announced policy proposals to give shares in RBS and Lloyds to the British people. In his pamphlet "Getting your share of the banks" Stephen Williams argues that the mass distribution of stakes in the banks is the fairest way of giving taxpayers a ...
Mon 7th
12:41
Share and share alike? My reservations about Stephen Williams' bank share giveaway plan
Ok, I'm going to write about something I know very little about. I will ignore the shouts of "what's new?" I can hear in the distance. Today liberal think tank Centre Forum has published a plan by Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West, which would involve shares in the banks bailed out by the taxpayer being distributed free of charge to British people for them to do what they liked with. My gut instinct is to be opposed to it. Not because it isn't a good idea to give ordinary people a say in how businesses are run. ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Wikio: 1 (6) Liberal Democrat Voice Up 1 2 (33) Caron's Musings Up 4 3 (36) Jack of Kent Down 11 4 (40) Liberal England Up 16 5 (66) Mark Pack Down 2 6 (72) Lynne Featherstone NEW 7 (74) Mark Thompson Down 19 8 (76) Liberal Vision No change 9 (83) Miss S B Down 3 10 (86) Nick Thornsby Down 14 11 (91) Millennium Elephant Down 3 12 (94) Liberal Burblings Down 7 Andrew Reeves and Peter Black drop out this month, but ...
At the last full council meeting, I asked whether the Council supported the idea of St Piran's Day being a public holiday. I got a mainly supportive answer from Culture Portfolio Holder Joan Symons. Now several colleagues have submitted a motion for the next full council meeting backing the idea and seeking to make it formal council policy. The motion links the move to the Government consultation on changing the current May Day holiday to a different day. The motion reads: Cornwall Council notes the recent government white paper on changing bank holidays and instructs the chief executive to respond ...
Over the past few weeks we have had ever more terrible stories about the procurement ability of the Ministry of Defence. They send soldiers to battle with guns that won't fire; procure all major contracts years late with a massive ... Continue reading →
Trying to stop Murdoch from consolidating his hold on BSkyB was always going to be difficult. That is mainly because the case for stopping him was rather weak in the terms that governments are allowed to intervene in such matters. Murdoch already has practical control; he does not dominate the total television market, with the BBC and ITV still strong. The case rested on the proposition that he would further dominate the news market as a whole. But what really drove the campaign against Murdoch was fear and loathing. Liberals should have no difficulty with the loathing side of this, ...
The parliamentary elections in Estonia did indeed deliver the result that I had forecast. The government coalition parties made gains, the opposition Centre Party made losses, yet neither the gains nor the losses amount to a significant breakthrough. The liberal, Reform, party can be pleased to have made gains after an economically punishing few years, although their Conservative coalition partners have slightly more to smile about. By contrast the biggest winners were probably the Social Democrats who nearly doubled their representation at the expense of the Greens and the Agrarians, who did not qualify and the Centrists who lost a ...
I have been a passive supporter of the Campaign Against Arm Trade (CAAT) for many years, having been introduced to it by a member of one of my WEA Classes who was an enthusiastic anti-arms campaigner as well as an advocate of the wit and wisdom of the Methodist Recorder. I regret that I've never found the time to come to grips with the detail of the iniquity of Britain's trade in arms but of the following broad principles I am sure: 1. We supply arms to all sorts of unsavoury regimes. The excuse is that every country is entitled ...
[IMG: Map of the consultation area] Last week I held a meeting with parking officials to discuss the implementation of the new Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) extension in Stroud Green. As I mentioned in my previous post, residents were concerned about how long they would have to wait for the controls to be introduced in roads like Mount View, Quernmore and Granville. The nearby Crouch End CPZ extension is taking effect in early April, but at a recent meeting with residents officers said it would take until November to implement the CPZ extension in Stroud Green ward – leaving over ...
With the Liberal Democrat (federal party) spring conference coming up in Sheffield on 11-13th March, I am going to be doing a series of posts previewing some of the main items up for debate, expanding on my previous whistlestop tour of the conference agenda. First, however, is a look at the fringe meetings being held over the weekend. These meetings may not have the power to decide in the way that conference debates can, but they do often give a great chance to hear issues discussed in greater and more expert detail than the rather staccato main hall style of ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2QE65R66wU
Census forms are in the post and should be with residents of Bidston & St. James in the next few weeks. For the first time Census forms can be filled out online on the Census 2011 website. In fact, the government prefers this method as it saves time deciphering people's handwriting. Each Area Forum has ...
We've had a refresher training session on taking planning decisions, and I thought it would be useful to share a list of things which can and can't be taken into account in planning decisions. As you may know, planning decisions cannot currently be taken on whether a development is popular or whether we as councillors happen to think it's a good idea. They're decided on whether they comply with the rules: with planning law and the Council's planning policy. Issues that can normally be taken into account Government policy The Local Plan, including supplementary planning documents Consultee responses overshadowing overlooking ...
In amongst all the political skulduggery at Conference, there was a quiet moment of literary celebration as Scottish Deputy Leader and East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson gave away copies of one of her favourite books, Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. The photo shows, clockwise from left to right, Andrew Page, who blogs at A Scottish Liberal, Cathy McInnes, Jo Swinson, me, Stephen Glenn (yes, him), Highland Councillor Angela McLean, Jean Davis, formerly candidate for the Western Isles and Eleanor Anderson who was my campaign mummy during the Livingston by-election and who has been a great friend ever since. Update; I was ...
"Women to be treated like women in prison" probably isn't a newsworthy headline to most people or, in fact, a particularly surprising statement. But as some have probably seen, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail reported yesterday that the Ministry of Justice have "published" a guide on trans prisoners. (Published in quotes because as yet there is no indication of anything new on the web sites of either the Ministry or the Prison Service) It's likely the content of the manual isn't anything new given that the prison service policies are nothing new, so they presumably only warrant a story ...
Please come and help Wapley Bushes Conservation Group members and friends plant some groups of fruit trees on Wapley Common next Saturday, 12 March. We aim to create a community orchard - an "Orchard for the Future", if you like - where in years to come our children and grandchildren will be able to come and pick delicious fruit straight from the trees. The project is being funded by Dodington Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council, but the labour is all being provided by local volunteers. The planting session will start with a workshop led by local supplier "Mr Fruit" ...
Recently Mark Pack wrote the secret to getting 1000 ward residents to follow you on twitter citing the secret to getting 50, 000 followers on twitter. The questions comes to mind of whether having a lot of followers on twitter actually makes a difference? And by make a difference I mean do we have any ...
The increasingly anti-Lib Dem paper The Observer offers some hope to the Lib Dems yesterday which is worth repeating: There has been a precipitous plunge in Nick Clegg's personal poll ratings for trust. One consolation is an uptick in his ratings for decisiveness and resilience. Another is that people continue to place him in the ...
This YouTube video from Haringey's young people about the 75% cuts Labour Haringey have made to youth services just about says it all. Watch it here.
A fortnight ago Luton Borough Council issued a press release that included a blatant attempt to rewrite history. Al-right, they weren't attempting to claim that it was Harold who won the Battle of Hastings, that Henry VIII was a loyal and faithful husband, or that Genghis Khan was a meek and mild mannered sort of chap. It was a much more minor matter of limited local interest, but it was extremely irritating to members of Luton Liberal Democrats. The main purpose of the press release was to announce that work will soon begin on improvements to the public space outside ...
Some people like regularly visiting a site to see if there's new stories of interest. Some people like subscribing to its news feed (RSS) and checking that way. But if you prefer email, you can instead sign up to get a daily early morning email with a summary of the previous day's posts from Lib Dem Voice, complete with a note of how many comments each post has got and convenient links to click on if any take your fancy and you want to take a read. [IMG: Hello inbox zero] Just go to our email sign up page to ...
Yesterday afternoon I spoke to residents on Northumberland Avenue. One of the issues that was raised by several residents was speeding cars. This has been a problem for a number of years and I have been raising this issue with the Council on and off since 2006. The presence of a speed camera at the top of the road that hasn't been working for years just adds insult to injury. Overall the lack of action from public authorities on this issue has been very disappointing. I have written to Thames Valley Police and senior officers a the Council to see what they are doing to reduce speeds in this area. ...
To read The Herald or The Scotsman, it would be reasonable to assume that the Scottish Liberal Democrats' spring conference was something of an irrelevance, a mere prelude to the conferences of the SNP and Labour. If you're a Daily Record reader, however, you would be excused for not knowing there was in fact a conference at all. But the Perth conference was both positive and purposeful. In spite of what some commentators assumed, there were no mutterings of discontent among the party faithful, no fear of the annihilation that is supposedly inevitable in the May election. Total Politics correspondent ...
To be honest I am finding it difficult to motivate myself to even comment on this latest row over the future of the Wales Office. The Presiding Officer, Lord Elis-Thomas told the Sunday Supplement programme: "Now that the responsibility of ministers for administration of policy and indeed for legislation is now here, it makes more sense for us to be organised in a proper inter-governmental and inter-parliamentary way. "That is assembly to Westminster, government to government. "That would mean, I think, winding up the Wales Office and as far as I'm concerned the sooner the better. "I would like to ...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a get-together of residents from River Crescent, at the Botanic Garden cafe. It was a very pleasant event and a good opportunity to chat with residents about local issues.
i) births and deaths 7 March 1930: birth of Brian Hayles, author of The Celestial Toymaker (1966), The Smugglers (1966), The Ice Warriors (1967), The Seeds of Death (1969), The Curse of Peladon (1972) and The Monster of Peladon (1974) as well as of the novelisations of The Ice Warriors and The Curse of Peladon. 7 March 1934: birth of of Gordon Flemyng, director of Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966) ii) broadcast anniversaries 7 March 1964: broadcast of "Five Hundred Eyes", third episode of the story we now call Marco Polo. ...
The other day I made a post about an article written by Dominic Carman, the Lib Dem candidate for Barnsley in the recent by-election. My post speaks rather rudely about the people of Barnsley. However, I recently read this by Jon. Because of this, I've reassessed my opinion a bit. I don't think that Dominic lied in his article but I accept that it could be an unrepresentative portrait of Barnsley. Because of this, I want to say sorry to the people of Barnsley as a whole. I'm sorry that I tarred you all with the same brush. However, I ...
The following is my reply to Tim's comment on yesterday's "social engineering is good" blog. Since his comment was bigger than my initial blog, and it raised a number of points which I hadn't raised, I thought it would be better to deal with it by writing this blog. If a majority of universities do charge £9000 (still a big if) then that will have the positive effect of funding the development and expansion of those universities to a greater extent - surely a good thing. Tim says that the effect "will be to divert money away from wealth creating ...
