Apologies for the delay, conference ended on Sunday but it's only now that I've had the time to write things up. Saturday 12th March After a decent night's sleep the missus and I headed off to the conference pausing only for a quick breakfast of pastry, cheese, ham and orange juice. The supposedly ten minute walk from the hotel to the conference took double that time - but only because of my complete inability to use a map and the sat nav on my phone concurrently. That and what my girlfriend charitably described as "a complete lack of a sense ...
Are there LGBT people involved in sport? I look at my trophy collection and say that yes there are. Are there LGBT people involved in elite sport? Looking at the list of sportsmen and women who have are known to be out* they are there, even if the number is still surprisingly small. So what is holding them back? For some it is the attitude of managers, some of whom have openly said a LGBT person has no place in my team, and won't get selected. This is enough to keep many sportspeople who are involved in a team sport ...
What a lovely phrase. There's a nice little story about an astrophysics professor explaining how the heart of the Sun was estimated to be about 15,700,000 degrees in temperature. A student wanted to know whether that was in Celsius of Fahrenheit. The professor has to catch himself before seriously considering the question, answering, "Is that relevant?" From The Economist: Mr Balls indulged what appears to be a boundless desire to justify his own record in office and to set out all the marvellous things he would be doing if only he were in charge right now, complete with thickets of ...
On Saturday at Liberal Democrat Spring Conference I voted in support of an amendment put forward by Dr Evan Harris, Baroness Shirley Williams and other Liberal Democrats expressing concerns about the Health and Social Care Bill currently going through Parliament, championed by Andrew Lansley.The amendment was overwhelmingly carried by voting party members. Before voting I reflected carefully on the issue. I voted the way I did as I have some concerns about aspects in the Bill which open up the NHS to greater competition. However, I do support the proposals contained within Bill which aim to increase local accountability, clinical ...
The Sheffield conference shows that the Liberal Democrats are starting to find their feet as a party of government. I spent the weekend in Sheffield attending the Liberal Democrats spring conference. As usual the conference generated an awful lot of things that I wanted to write about and comment upon alongside ensuring that it was almost impossible to do so at the time. So it is afterwards that I can sit down and try to work out what it all means. First is an attempt to sum up what it means for the Liberal Democrats as a whole. The Sunday ...
After my weekly ward surgeries at the Mitchell Street Centre and Harris Academy, I attended tonight's City Council meetings, at which : * I welcomed progress with the proposed Riverside Nature Park. * I expressed concern about the City Council's SNP administration being £1.5 million over budget as highlighted in today's Courier, and asked questions about the huge jump in City Development Department overspend. * I queried slippage in capital expenditure - as of 31st January, the council's outturn is only 68% of budget, down 8% on the equivalent outturn last year. * I asked questions about the suggested Scottish ...
Ed Miliband has said he will refuse to share a platform with Lib Dem Deputy PM Nick Clegg - even though they both want to see a yes vote in the referendum on electoral reform. He said Clegg should 'lie low for a bit'. Yet Mili minor is quite prepared to share a platform with all sorts of unsavoury people in the quest for votes, so why his reticence over Clegg - who as far as I'm aware has never been photographed embracing mass murdering dictators like the man he is sharing a platform with in this photo...
I haven't been blogging a lot this month, a combination of being busy at work/studying and the feeling out of the loop as all the main political action is relating to the Spring Conference season. So far I have not exactly been the most supportive member (having only joined the party last year) however I am trying to improve, this week I will be going on my first leaflet round and I have been invited canvassing for the May elections which I hope to get involved in. However one thing I do want to talk about is in relation to ...
An interesting discussion has happened on twitter. Someone suggested that people should not disagree with our party leadership publicly. I disagree, We have a right to freedom of speech. It is something as a Liberal I treasure. It is fundamental ... Continue reading →
Today I wrote an email to the executive committee of the Salisbury Lib Dem party explaining that I won't be putting myself forward as a candidate for them at the next election. I tweeted last month that I finally felt comfortable describing myself as a "ex-politician" and I thought it was only fair to explain this in more detail. In the email, I gave two reasons for not putting myself forward: A) I can't afford the financial cost. I don't think that most people realise this, but being a parliamentary candidate is a really expensive thing to do. In the ...
The Government announced that it would be supporting Liberal Democrat peer, Lord (Tim) Clement-Jones' Live Music Bill, which seeks to remove the bureaucratic burden from small venue owners, such as pubs and community halls, who want to have live music play for their guests Lord Clement-Jones said: "The Live Music Bill will benefit hundreds of small pubs, restaurants and church and community halls who want live music at their venue by generally removing the need to apply for a complicated licence." "I'm glad the Government has responded so positively to this Bill and I look forward to working with them ...
I suffer from hypothyroidism, a very common complaint. I have to take levothyroxine every day to compensate for the thyroxine my thyroid gland is not making. The dosage is determined by an annual blood test. The test should be for TSH, which stands for Thyroid Seeking Hormone. This hormone is produced by the pituitary gland ...
The 'Cleggzilla' posters I love Conference time. It is better than Christmas for me. The buzz, the sense of community and a shared belief in the party is a positive experience. What I noticed the most was how comfortable the party feels about being in Government. These was an atmosphere of calmness and acceptance, different from the Autumn conference last year. There are my thoughts: 1. The demonstrations weren't as disruptive as the media had predicted. When I went into the City Hall entrance on Saturday morning there were some demonstrators outside who were asking delegates what they were going ...
I was appalled to read in The Evening Standard tonight about potential lobbying by the British Government to allow the EU to provide Libyan Residents with weapons. The ever-present war in the media at the moment is constant chipping at the well being of civilisation. The 24 hour news culture of western society is presenting all conflicts in the Middle East as battles of democracy, adopting a
From today's Leicester Mercury: Nearly 400 people, some with horses and dogs, turned out yesterday to protest against plans for a football pitch on a nature reserve. The Save Aylestone Meadows campaign wants members of Leicester City Council's planning committee to reject a proposal for a floodlit pitch in Braunstone Lane East when it meets next week. The plans have been recommended for approval by officers despite the site in Aylestone Meadows being part of a nature reserve and designated "green wedge".Save Aylestone Meadows will be holding a gathering outside Leicester Town Hall at 4 p.m. next Monday before the ...
The Friends of Kingsgate Park have recently been successful in winning a South Glos Council grant of £1200 towards replacing some of the fencing along the Scott Way end of the park. The Friends are having a workday to bolt on some of the new pales on Saturday 26th March, 10.00am - 12.00, meeting at the double gates on the Scott Way side of the park.
Towards the end of his life, the former Rajah Muda, whose obituary in The Times is quoted below, wanted an acknowledgement by the British Government that he had always been a loyal servant of the Crown. He had opposed the cession of the territory to Malaysia by peaceful means, but he felt that his name had been tarnished when he was banned from entering Sarawak under the 'Undesirable Persons Enactment for fear that his presence there "might lead to insurrection". He had a loose connection with the group who plotted the assassination of the Governor, but an investigation by MI5 ...
Anthony Brooke Last of the dynastic 'white rajahs' of Sarawak who fell out with his family and the British Government over his plan for independence For more than a century the kingdom of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, was ruled by three generations of the Brooke family. The power of the "white rajahs", as they came to be known, end ed only with Sarawak's invasion by the Japanese during the Second World War and its subsequent ceding to Britain. As the Rajah Muda or crown prince, Anthony Brooke was heir to the throne and the last member of the ...
If anyone thinks Kent's grammar school system has anything to recommend it by way of social mobility, think again, new research undertaken by academics involving a sample of 3300 adults across the country has revealed that children do no better than those who attended comprehensive schools, at this point some of you are thinking so what? Well here is the so what?, this morning's BBC Radio Kent, breakfast news revealed that despite 20 children from Sheppey qualifying for entry to Kent's grammar schools, at present they will be excluded from Kent's grammar school system, why because there are no places ...
So, I've tweeted about it already but last night I was asked if I wanted to write a letter for the London Evening Standard about Nick Clegg and what he needed to do to win over party activists, especially where ... Continue reading →
Having signed up to govern in coalition with the Conservatives for five years, the Liberal Democrats face the problem of maintaining a separate identity in the public eye. While making that coalition work, we have to make ourselves attractive enough and distinctive enough to retain existing our supporters and gain new ones. Because in 2015 we shall have to fight an election as an independent party. Given this need to differentiate ourselves from the Conservatives, why oh why did we choose a blue background for the platform at the Spring Conference in Sheffield? The party high command will tell you ...
Good news on human rights: Lib Dems thwart Tory hopes of human rights convention withdrawal Decision will infuriate Tory rightwingers unhappy at what they believe is Strasbourg judges' interference in UK rights Chris Rennard writes in The Guardian: Those seeking a fairer voting system may be rather more dismayed if the Guardian is correct that there are difficulties getting Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg working together in support of the referendum. Political rivalry over other issues should not prevent all supporters of reform from campaigning for a cause on which they agree. Lessons should be learned from the Scottish referendum ...
Young F managed to find the Dutch translation of this children's book by the glorious Tom Baker in our local library, and I'm ashamed to admit that I snatched it from his grasp and devoured the text as rapidly as I can manage a short book in a language I don't use much. I've given it back to him now. It's very short - only 120 pages, and half of those are a series of evocative line drawings illustrating the text. The central character, Robert Caligari, is a horrible boy who enjoys causing fatal road accidents, and comes to a ...
Not many people know this but Hull has had a sister city relationship with the City of Niigata for the last 20 years. Niigata was hit by two earthquakes over the weekend but given that the city is on the West coast it, thankfully, seems to have avoided the Tsunami that hit east coast towns and cities. There is no way we can make comparisons between Japan and what Hull suffered during the floods of 2007. Never the less a number of people have talked to me over the past couple of days wondering if there is anything they can ...
I'm still working on the High Society post, which is taking longer than I thought it would (but will be several thousand words when done), so here are some links to keep you going: Zom has a look at the Joker in The Killing Joke Jac Rayner, who you may know as the writer of ...
At the moment, my favourite TV programme is the Danish crime drama The Killing. It's the latest in a line of Scandinavian crime imports which are putting the BBC's own outputs to shame. Previously, I was glued to the Swedish Wallander (which is miles better the Kenneth Branagh version). So what is it about Scandiweegie crime drama? Deborah Orr reckons it's got something to do with the tension between Scandanavia's struggle for social democratic utopia, and the limits that places on personal freedom. Except of course, Scandinavia isn't striving for social democracy much at the moment. Since I was born ...
The new Eleventh Doctor audiobook, a story by Jason Arnopp read by Meera Syal, featuring Eleven and Amy dealing with some dubious nanotech-like entities (or "sentient micro-organisms" if you prefer). The usual good fun; Meera Syal's Amy sounds a bit Ulster at first but settles down, and her portrayal of the lead supporting character, an alien scientist called Korn Palloa, is very good indeed. Definitely worth getting hold of.
As Cornwall Council sends out its council tax bills for the coming year, residents will get the chance to have their say on the future waste collection arrangements for our area. The ballot paper is on the inside back page of the Guide to Council services which is enclosed in every bill envelope and looks like this: There are two choices. Option A means keeping weekly black bag collections and fortnightly recycling and garden waste collections plus the addition of a new weekly food waste collection. Option B means losing weekly black bag collections and instead having weekly recycling pick ...
Nick Clegg's speech at the Liberal Democrat spring conference set out his liberal vision. I have been arguing for many months now that Clegg was developing a liberal story that weaved elements of classical liberalism with other currents within the party. His positioning of the party at the radical centre is, in my view, the culmination of that process. It is something that Liberal Vision have been suggesting for quite a while. David Chiverton speculates that this could lead to a real Liberal party: smaller than the Lib Dems but with an Orange Book agenda. A yes vote for AV ...
Former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott has told Richard Bacon's radio show that he rang Gordon Brown and urged him to seek a coalition with the Liberal Democrats last May. This will be quite hard for many to believe, given that, as Bacon pointed out, Prescott proved the major obstacle in a Lib-Lab pact between Tony ...
So, for a bit of R&R at the weekend, and prompted by a few requests from fellow students on the Mises Academy course I've been doing on Libertarian Legal Theory, I decided to sit down and do an audiobook version of David D Friedman's "The Machinery of Freedom". Or at least of most of it. So far, there are the three parts of the original 1970s edition minus the appendices, and since it was a weekend project I decided to release as much as I have done and release the fourth part, added for the 1989 edition, and those appendices ...
Following on from my recent blog posts about the return of the comic leg-end that is Alan Partridge to our airwaves, we continue with the series. He's back hosting Mid Morning Matters on North Norfolk Digital Radio (with new sidekick Zoe Scott). Episode 12 demonstrates that Alan has no idea what 'Uggs' means in modern parlance and if you give him 6 months notice, he can can borrow you a Range Rover 'like that'!
Lynne Featherstone, Minister for Equalities, has launched Charter for Action – a set of principles to help stamp out homophobia and transphobia in sport and make sport a welcoming environment for LGBT people. The Pink Paper reports: A groundbreaking gay sports charter which will invite national governing bodies of sports to commit to tackling homophobia was launched yesterday. The announcement was made by Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone as she attended the Sheffield Eagles rugby league game - a match against Widnes Vikings which saw players take a stand against homophobia by wearing specially made kits bearing the slogan 'Homophobia: Tackle ...
[IMG: Newsletter screenshot] As we've just had the Liberal Democrat spring conference in Sheffield, I've done a special mid-month edition of my email newsletter to report on what happened and what party members were saying. You can read it here. In an experiment in publicising the existence of the newsletter further, I've tried setting up a Facebook page for it. So if you like the newsletter and would like to help let other people know about it, please "Like" the newsletter's Facebook page. Finally, if you would like to get future edition of the normally monthly newsletter direct to your ...
Local Councillors have been working with officers to get the few derelict building in Chorlton sorted out and back in use. The empty property at 5-7 Egerton Rd North is likely to be sold by the Council after the shelter there closed. Other properties such as the Masonic Hall, 477 Barlow Moor Rd & 131 Beech Rd need bringing back into use, and many owners are being served notices to achieve this. Cllr Ankers said, "Empty buildings can drag an area down. I want nothing but the best for Chorlton and will fight till they are valued sites again." Local ...
Thanks to Caron's Musings for alerting me to the excellent idea which is going on over at Authors for Japan as a way of helping Japan in these dark days. Please do go to browse and bid for the services that are being offered. Filed under: Authors, Humanitarian
We've a Cheadle Area Committee meeting next Tuesday (probably the last before the local elections on May 5th). Two of the items we're looking at are: Proposals for a 20mph speed limit across the South Park Road estate, plus speed humps on South Park Road and the Kingsway Service Road. Additional parking restrictions on Greenbank Road, Gatley Pam and I would like to have as much feedback as possible from residents at this stage – so please let us know what you think. There will be a full consultation over the next couple of months if we approve them at ...
Today we hear from the courts in Londonderry that two men aged 29 and 30 have admitted charges in connection with cocaine. The judge has stated that it is 'almost inevitable' that a custodial sentence will be given. However sentence has already been passed and carried out by a grouping called Republican Action Against Drugs. ...
Dame Helen Mirren, David Tennant and others recently wrote to the Observer demanding that no cuts should be made to arts spending. My view is that state subsidisation of the arts is one of the most unnecessary, illiberal and regressive things that government does, and should in fact be cut by considerably more than has been proposed in the Spending Review. Given the subjective nature of artistic creation, it is unacceptable that the state should decide that we are valuing the "wrong things", or not valuing certain things enough, and therefore need to pay extra tax so that the "right ...
You don't need me to tell you how utterly devastating the earthquake and tsunami has been in Japan. You'll have seen the pictures yourselves of houses being toppled as though they were made of tissue paper. When something like this happens, you want to do something to help. Some people have gone from the UK to help in the rescue effort. Let's hope that their courage and skill saves lives. For most of us, giving money to help in the relief effort is all we'll manage. Author Keris Stainton has come up with a novel (sorry) idea. She has persuaded ...
The Independent on Sunday's food critic finally got as far as this neck of the woods for his review and choose 60 Hope Street where he ate Southport Shrimps. My starter of smoked salmon and shrimp is exactly what you expect from 60 Hope Street: fresh, unpretentious and elegantly presented. The shrimp are described as coming from Southport - a reassuringly local name that, unlike nearby Morecambe, evokes no visions of panicking, trafficked Chinamen inexorably overwhelmed by a swiftly moving tide. My companion has the scallops: the traditional plate of three, stripped of orange corals, as is usual with the ...
Just before the Spring conference started I blogged about what I hoped would be coming out of it - and my frustration at how difficult it was to get people to debate with us. Even as I typed it I received an appropriate tweet from Armando Iannucci so I added the following addendum to the post: "Just seen this Tweet from Armando Iannucci (@Aiunnucci on twitter). 'Tomorrow, Lib Dems vote whether to back changes to NHS. Let's see if they're upright and principled or a clump of twats'. Well: at least he's willing to give us a hearing....' Well after ...
Mon 14th
15:10
Tony Greaves writes... The health and social care bill. The party has spoken. What happens now?
The next big event comes very soon and is nothing to do with the Liberal Democrats or the coalition per se - it's the BMA's Special Representative Meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) which they say "will form a key part of our activities to step up member engagement and lobbying". I suspect it will also get a lot more publicity than the Liberal Democrat conference did. There are some outrider motions of no confidence in Andrew Lansley and calls for "industrial action" which will result in a lot of press noise and no action, but there seems little doubt that the meeting ...
I know I'm coming late to this one, given that the Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services in Scotland was established nearly 4 months ago. What sparked my interest is that they are coming to West Lothian next week. I've copied the Commission's full remit below so you can see what they're about. It certainly seems sensible that we look at how best to deliver our public services in the future, given the fact that we have an aging population and shrinking budget. What annoyed me was seeing that the 10 person commission is made up of 7 ...
It's a question that was asked at our spring conference. It's a timely debate to have. In spite of the positive rhetoric, as a party we haven't developed any cogent strategies for increasing participation from minority groups. However, while I welcome the question being put, I am less convinced that the answers being offered at conference actually constitute a sensible solution. It might firstly help by looking at the motion being put forward for Saturday's debate: Improving the diversity of our MPs. Conference notes with concern that at the General Election in 2010 the party did not improve the number ...
Thanks to Lib Dem Voice for drawing my attention to this video
I'm glad I picked Spring Conference as my first; I think if I'd thrown myself in the deep end at Birmingham later this year, I would have been somewhat overwhelmed. Three days was just enough to gently insert myself into the community; I'm known online1 If anything, I was almost disappointed by the fierce agreement of most of the speakers. I was expecting much more debate, much more contention, much more fire. That said, the amount of agreement going on contributed to my mood a lot, and made me think back to the video posted just before the election last ...
I thought I would share this story from the Edinburgh Evening News with readers. Margaret Smith makes a very valid point here. MSP claims Lib Dem deal takes 4500 in Capital out of tax MORE than 4500 people in Edinburgh will no longer pay income tax from next month, Liberal Democrat MSP Margaret Smith claimed today. The increase in the personal tax allowance - one of the concessions secured by the Lib Dems in their coalition deal with the Conservatives - meant that from the beginning of the new financial year no-one will pay any tax on the first £7475 ...
It seems the old war horse is far from extinct, there is still some life in the left. Deficit reduction across the Western World has met with some (albeit not strong) resistance from a growing force from the left. This ... Continue reading →
Kept on meaning to blog about the interesting post with its thought provoking barchart Is Labour marooned in the new politics of identity?. But I keep on not having time, so go take a read and then imagine I've just written whatever you'd like to read about it. And no, this isn't me being lazy and ingratiating, it's post-modern individualised meta blogging. It's personal targeting without any tracking cookies. It's the future, oh yes.
I fully support DR Evan Harris (former MP Oxford West and Abingdon) on the amendments put forward at the Liberal Democrat conference on the health bill. I watched Evan Harris give details of the amendments and his concerns which are supported by him and Baroness Shirley Williams at Februarys Liberal Democrat South Central regional conference. The amendments which can be viewed at the social Liberal forum here. I support the cutting of the size of administration and removal of the huge hierarchy such as cutting out some of the levels such as PCT's, but some extra safe guards are required, ...
There are only a few more days to try and save Prestwich Tip. The Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority is consulting on plans to close it, and Friday is decision-day as the GMWDA meets. Quite why closure is on the cards is a mystery. The GMWDA, a Labour-run organisation, is actually getting a big budget ...
In the Financial Times, Paddy Ashdown (former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and former Leader of the Liberal Democrats) calls for a no-fly zone in Libya: It is difficult not to feel a wearisome sense of déjà vu watching European leaders on Friday saying something needed to be done in Libya, but failing completely to say what. Libya is not our backyard. But what happens there and in the other countries of the Maghreb matters to us Europeans very much. If those who have overturned dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt (and hopefully Libya) in this "Arab spring" can create ...
AllSoulsFair.pdf Download this file Filed under: Blogging
There's always an overall mood to conference. Liverpool was cheerful and full of hope, for example, which resonated well with the host city. This one, though... was harder to categorise for me. It felt like there was something missing. Well, there were several things missing, from our beloved blogger of the year, to Viv who always leads us in We Shall Overcome at Glee Club, but there was something missing in the atmosphere. Old friends and new were there in abundance (shout out to the DELGA massive, among many many others), and yet somehow the smiles and hugs felt slightly ...
I read today on the BBC that a number of health groups have refused to sign up to the government's alcohol strategy. What I find interesting is this comment, about halfway down the article (at the time of writing): They also said there was not enough being done to make alcohol less affordableWhy does the debate on alcohol always seem to come down to this? There is a problem with excessive drinking, but the solution is emphatically not to try to price people out. That's simply not fair: it hits the poorest hardest, including perfectly responsible drinkers. Changing the word ...
Yes I admit I may have used some poetic license in that title. So Ed Miliband believes that the best way for the YestoAV campaign to win is if Nick Clegg does nothing, says nothing, believes nothing on the issue. The leader of the Labour party is apparently pro-AV and will be backing the Yes ...
All, Every year at the Annual District Council meeting there is a lunch for Councillors and some senior Officers. Last year (my first year as a District Councillor) it cost £1400 (yes, of council tax payers money). This year it has been suggested that we cancel the lunch. Some people are saying that in a year where we're making people redundant, charging more for services and even cutting back on public toilets (thanks to the Conservatives) how can we spend this much public money on a meal for Councillors? I agree that it should be scrapped – not just for ...
The early stages of our local election campaign are going smoothly. We've knocked on many doors in the cold and dark nights and we are looking forward to when the clocks change and it gets bit lighter. We've found support for us and also support for Labour but the biggest response is 'don't know' or 'oh, is there an election on?' We haven't yet found any support for the Conservatives - but then we didn't find much in the local election canvassing last year - and that didn't stop them winning everything. (Voting Conservative is a bit like watching adult ...
Communication is meant to be a two-way process, which is something which many of the demonstrators outside City Hall at Sheffield seemed to be unable to grasp. Some of the demonstrators were there on specific issues (like EMA) and it was possible to have a genuine two-way conversation with them about what was happening and the fact that the EMA was to be abolished by Labour as soon as post-16 education became compulsory (on the grounds that the threats of fines were far more effective than paying young people to stay on), however unlike Labour the Coalition was looking at ...
I've blogged before about two appalling decisions about Garston. The first was the independent Planning Inspectorates verdict on a planning appeal. That means Jack Allen Holdings was given permission to build a waste plant at Stalbridge Dock (just off a busy road and next to a housing development). The second was the decision of the Labour run Liverpool City Council to designate this piece of land as the "sub regional" waste site for Liverpool. (We tried to get this particular decision changed but were outvoted) As part of the second decision, there is a six week "public consultation." This was ...
Lib Dem conference seems to be going down the Labour route of quotas and "positive" discrimination. This is a shortsighted policy and counter productive to the actual aims. It is also extremely illiberal. What is at the heart of the lack of diversity is the culture resultant from being an activist led party. Unless Liberal Democrats stop choosing candidates on the basis of how much shoe leather they can wear out or financially contribute to the party, there is little hope of changing the situation. Right after conference and without irony Tim Farron sent out the following to party members: ...
David Owen chose the weekend of the Lib Dem Conference to offer his advice for the AV referendum. Having attacked the 'First Past the Post' voting system so vociferously for many years, it may seem odd to some people that he now urges support for this system on May 5th. He says that he hopes for a referendum with an option of a Proportional Representation system instead. Almost all those people who have consistently supported the cause of electoral reform for much longer than he has take a different view. It is very clear that voting against change on May ...
Welcome to Sheffield. The police are very helpful-even though none of them seemed to come from Sheffield and didn't have any notion as to where any of the hotels are or the pubs were to be found. I am most unimpressed with the demonstrators. There are comparatively few of them and most of them are Trots. I was standing on the steps of the City Hall surveying the scene with some YL's of circa 1960/70's and we unanimously concluded that we could teach them a thing or two. They certainly had no stamina. There weren't many in the first place ...
It is Commonwealth Day and so all of us who live in the Commonwealth have a message from Her Majesty The Queen Filed under: Blogging
The keynotes speeches at conference were a bit of a mixed bag this time. Floella seemed to be having bother with the autocue at the rally, and El Ex-Presidente's emotional handover of the gavel and On Liberty to Tim Farron was beautifully done but (given my I'm 4 Ros ness) was a bittersweet moment for me. Farron's speech was a barnstormer, as usual, and Cleggy did ok. Cleggy's Q&A was interesting. Quite a lot of the questions he was asked were giving him a very respectful and mild-mannered kicking, and to his credit he only did a bit of ducking ...
In some more and definitely good news, in the Scottish "Sex-by-deception" case I've been following, it's now been reported that all charges have been dropped. For those not familiar with the story, a woman was being prosecuted for "deceiving" other women into having sex by pretending to be a man, something that could have quite worrying consequences for any Trans folk in Scotland who are not out. (And being out to just your partner might not be enough, if you were not out generally and they later claimed otherwise) It's not been reported why the charges have been dropped, but ...
When the results came in after last year's general election, one thing became clear: the only stable coalition on the cards would be between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties. Given the Tories and Labour are too belligerent to work with each other, the one remaining alternative would be between Labour and the Lib Dems. But the election result didn't allow for this: Labour seats + Lib Dem seats only comes to 315, but 322 MPs are needed for a working majority (accounting for Sinn Fein MPs not taking their seats). With 7 more MPs, the Lib Dems would have ...
Clearing up mess that other people left behind might be nasty and unpleasant. But when the man in charge gets the speech right and the stage star dishing out the bin-bags has such a cheery smile, who could fail to get caught up in the spirit and get down to work? We were getting ready to answer to the rallying cries of protest but our messy adversaries are keeping a low profile. Even the Pied Piper couldn't lead enough of them here to leave more than a handful of messy placards in their wake. We're sure we sang our cause ...
I see the BNP got to second place at a recent council election in Burnley, following Lib Dem councillor Julie Johnson's departure due to health reasons. You can't read too much into ward by elections, but I wonder how many people will nonetheless use votes for the only non-major party on the ballot (all of which have made themselves hated in such areas in the past year) as a reason to write the area off as racist scum? Any trip to a BNP website will reveal psychotic hatred of all things foreign and non-white, of course. For the actual electorate, ...
At something of a rough time for the party, the FCC was perhaps wise to pick a series of Bread and Circuses motions for conference. Although some of what was said in debate might have been controversial outside the hall, not one of those votes was going to cause real ructions among the party faithful. I suspect, with a heavy heart, that this is why no Immigration motion was on the agenda again. The possibilities for adverse publicity are just too high with that one. But no true Lib Dem was going to seriously argue against saving the NHS, or ...
Mon 14th
11:54
How the world is slowing down and Labour would have doubled tuition fees: posts of the week
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... Is the world speeding up? No, it's slowing down Faster, faster, faster: that is the classic mantra of many a presentation about the way social media, technology and indeed the world is changing. And my idea? That if you look closely at the evidence, the world is actually slowing down, not speeding up. Read the real story of how ...
Lord Hanningfield, a Conservative Peer, will appear in court charged with falsely claiming accommodation expenses. Hanningfield, along with Labour MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, had originally tried to avoid trial, claiming parliamentary privilege. Chaytor was jailed in January, while Devine is awaiting sentencing. Morley is also due to stand trial. From the BBC: Lord Hanningfield faces six charges of false accounting between March 2006 and May 2009. They are said to relate to overnight allowances for staying in London when records allegedly showed he was driven to his home near Chelmsford, Essex. Lord Hanningfield, who will appear ...
Monday, Monday. Bit of a dramatic few days since the Commons last sat. The awful earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan is a story that will dominate for some time to come, especially in regard to the nuclear debate. The tsunami has pushed the Libya situation from the front pages, but the situation there is ...
Nick Clegg's speech to the Liberal Democrat conference was an interesting, wide ranging attempt to reassure the party faithful. It was counter-intuitive - at times seeming to hark back to the SDP, whilst also emphasising his continuing and full-throated support for the coalition government. It was passionate, articulate and strong. It ran on many strong ...
Housing Advisory Group The group approved the revised London Borough of Sutton & Sutton Housing Partnership Management Agreement which is to be extended to 2021 and received an update on progress with the Borough Investment Agreement and Devolved Delivery Agreement. There was some discussion around the summary of housing clauses in the Localism Bill and ...
As the people of Japan are suffering following the earthquakes in recent days, there will be some assistance given by the people of Belfast. The Dean of St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, The Very Reverend Doctor Houston McKelvey, has said that The consequences for life, livelihood and the people affected in Japan and elsewhere, are so ...
[IMG: Creative Commons Witches Image via Jeff Hitchcock, http://www.flickr.com/people/arbron/] For those who haven't seen, the catchily-titled Royal College of Psychiatrists' Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Mental Health Special Interest Group is holding a one-day meeting titled "Transgender: Time To Change" (Word DOC link) in May. There has been much grumbling about this behind closed doors for a while now and it's now been officially confirmed with the speakers including the ever-controversial Julie Bindel. Reading the line up, this meeting looks like it could be a welcome step for the wider Trans community as with the exception of Christina Richards, all the ...
Welcome to the latest in our series giving the human face behind some of the blogs you can find on the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator. Today it is Alex Folkes, who blogs at lansonboy.blogspot.com. 1. What's your formative political memory? My first memory was a mock election at my primary school during the 1979 general election when I was one of about four people to vote Liberal. My most abiding memory is of David Penhaligon driving me home after a party fundraising event in about 1983. I only lived about 100 yards from the venue but he insisted on driving ...
The national coalition government has told local authorities that they must publish and itemise all spend of £500 or more every month and top council salaries. To see Southwark's spend visit: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/opendata Sadly the data is only presented as a bland pdf document so you can't see what was bought or by whom in the council or whether it was one or more transactions. It should be realitvely easy to allow direct access via a guest portal to SAP which sits behind this or to post an excel spreadsheet to view. Perhaps that's a little more open than council officers ...
Following Clegg's speech at conference the Independent give him a good review and show that there are some out there who see he has some strengths Instead of running the same tsunami footage over and over again, BBC News would have done better to broadcast the Lib Dem leader's speech in full. For Clegg actually ...
Before the coalition the Liberal Democrats were perceived as a left-of-centre party. Since entering the coalition people's perceptions have slightly changed with the party now being seen as more centrist. Given the public themselves generally place themselves in the centre, should in theory be good for the Liberal Democrats. But it isn't. People now view ...
I have blogged on the subject of Earthquakes a few times over the years, the last time was during the General election last year. The fact is that several major cities: San Francisco, Istanbul and of course Tokyo, stand in areas of occasionally severe seismic activity. In fact the earthquake that hit Japan was not the one that they expected: along the Kanto fault beneath the City of Tokyo itself, but rather along the plate boundary, somewhat out to sea from the Japanese archipelago. Nevertheless the 'quake when it hit was huge: probably the largest in recorded Japanese history, a ...
South Gloucestershire Council is installing the central barriers at the Rodford Way fatality site. The plan was discussed at the recent Yate Safer Stronger Communities Group, and the general feeling was of dissatisfaction about lack of consultation. The meeting decided not to protest against the impending work, but to keep an eye on the situation and if necessary raise the issue again. The point was made that people have been seen locally to vault barriers like this into the path of oncoming traffic. Many residents still feel that their preferred solution would be light-controlled crossings.
I've been looking ahead at my calendar for the next few weeks and I've come to a simple conclusion about it – there's just far too much stuff I need to get done. Some of the "stuff" is unavoidable of course. I'm going to be particularly busy at work, but that's good, as it probably means we're going to be successful in winning business on at least a number of the things I'm busy with. I'm fortunate to enjoy what I do and that it also pays the bills. Family and friends take up a fair amount of time too. ...
Recent research shows that the average parents of new babies spend £4,000 in the infant's first year on nursery furniture, clothes, toys and food. That's not even counting lost income! The costs do not stop there, as any parent knows! With all that expense, any way of purchasing baby and child stuff has to be a good thing - so hooray for the Cambridge National Childbirth Trust's Nearly New Sales. These take place twice a year and have recently relocated from Comberton to Cambridge. The next sale is Saturday 26th March at Cambridge Regional College, Kings Hedges Road. There will ...
I always find that people who didn't go to conference get a different impression about what happened at conference than those who did. This is because, for obvious reasons, the press are selective about what they can and do report. ... Continue reading →
It's really odd weather this morning. We've got hail coming in the chimney. Hopefully this will pass – as I'm heading out with my parents tonight for a St Patrick's night dance. Yes I know it is not St Patrick's day yet! Filed under: Belfast, Northern Ireland
This year's Lib Dem spring conference was an interesting affair. Here's a few thoughts about it: 1. The narrative of the party leadership. The tone of much of what the party's coalition frontbench is saying is not massively changed, but there has been an evolution if not a revolution. As was widely called for and ...
Gender Differences and Casual Sex: The New Research « (tags: science gender feminism)
As part of the national coalition agreement the Lib Dems manifesto pledge that the first £10,000 of income would be tax free was included – taking the poorest out of income tax – is starting to happen. This manifesto pledge was one of our 4 main promises. From 1 April the start of the next tax year 1,560 Southwark residents will no longer pay income tax and another 78,200 will pay less income tax. A big start. Once the promised £10,000 threshold is in place 6,850 Southwark residents will no longer pay income tax as all. Combined with the government ...
Any voter can apply for a postal (or proxy) vote in the usual way for May's elections, including the AV referendum. However, people who have previously applied for a permanent postal vote may also be entitled to one without having to re-apply. There are three categories: 1. People who have a permanent postal vote for a UK Parliamentary election – they will get a referendum postal vote too. 2. People who have a permanent postal vote for a local election and are on the register for somewhere that is holding an election in May – they will get a referendum ...
It's three weeks since Bill Aitken chose to resign as Convener of Holyrood's Justice Committee in the face of public pressure after making highly inappropriate comments about a series of gang rapes in Glasgow in which he asked if the victim was a prostitute and implied, against the evidence, that "the police say there's a lot of drunken carry-ons that result in rape allegations which are subsequently dropped, put it that way" As I said at the time, the Conservatives are usually falling over themselves to support victims of crime - unless that crime is rape, when their first instinct ...
Whilst I am trawling the papers it is worth mentioning this intriguing article by Mary Ann Sieghart in today's Independent. She argues that Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats have been misjudged in their contribution to the coalition government and have the opportunity to really make their presence felt. She starts off by discussing tuition fees: Of course, he didn't get all he wanted on tuition fees, but had he gone into coalition with Labour, he would have faced exactly the same problem. It was Labour that first brought in the fees, and Labour that commissioned Lord Browne to suggest ...
Andrew has posted on his blog... There was recently a case in the UK when two Christians who owned a hotel wouldn't allow a gay couple to have a double room. Obviously, as a gay Christian, I disagree with their decision because I don't think it is wrong for anyone (Christian or not) to be ...
Liberal Democrat conferences are a wonderful thing. I just went to my first with pre-conceptions in hand, expecting something similar to trade conferences I've attended. Well, colour me converted, it was an altogether different and far more rewarding beast. Kudos first to the logistical efforts involved. I was seriously impressed in Sheffield this weekend. From registration and hotel booking, through sorting out my never-arrived-in-the-post photo pass, to speaker after training class after intervention – utterly flawless. Having gone to my share of conferences, deeply impressive. Some personal highlights The weekend delivered unto me any number of splendid moments: Being greeted ...
There is more speculation in this morning's Daily Telegraph about what may be in the forthcoming budget with an indication that the coalition government will introduce a further increase in the basic-rate tax threshold from £6,450 to £7,450 next month. These increases will take thousands of low-paid workers out of tax altogether, and cut tax bills for many more. The paper understands that it will be funded by freezing or lowering the threshold for higher-rate taxpayers pushing more people into the 40 per cent band. In his speech to Conference, Nick Clegg told more than 1,000 delegates that the tax ...
In the world of Google this may be redundant but for anyone looking:
In a Guardian article John Cridland, Director General of the CBI, paints a glowing picture of public service pensioners living off the fat of the land on pensions funded by the taxpayer whilst the sternly realistic private sector cuts its coat according to its cloth. Somehow he fails to mention the absurdly high pensions paid to Fred the Shred and others of that ilk, nor does he mention what pension he expects for himself. Several facts reveal Cridland's views to be somewhat distorted to say the least. Lord Hutton's report shows that the flow of income into public service pensions ...
broadcast anniversaries 14 March 1964: broadcast of "The Wall of Lies", fourth episode of the story we now call Marco Polo. Marco Polo confiscates the Doctor's spare Tardis key; Tegana continues to plot against him. 14 March 1970: broadcast of seventh episode of Doctor Who and the Silurians. The plague is cured, the Silurians return to hibernation, and the Brigadier blows up their caves. 14 March 1981: broadcast of third episode of Logopolis. Nyssa arrives at Logopolis; the Master has sabotaged the city and it collapses. But will he bring the rest of the Universe down with it?
Going around Gatley, Pam and I have noticed someone has posted anonymous notices on the Tatton and some noticeboards complaining of the lack of progress on sorting out the Tatton site. The notice suggests you give your councillors a call to ask what's being done. Pam and I are more than happy for you to call us about that – or any other issues. The Council is still today investigating options that might be of interest to the owners to get something done, but it remains a privately owned site. We can put suggestions to the owners and we can ...
Somerset Carnivals is one of the highlights of the year. It's now known to be the largest illuminated procession in the world! Every year it raises tens of thousands of pounds for charity, raises the profile of all the local towns and villages, increases revenue for the local shops in the area and brings a much needed boost to tourism in the area during the winter. It provides a sense of community to all the locals and gives people, young and old alike, a project to work on for the year. I think we can safely say it's a good ...
Hunting Monsters: Modelling Language Survival "Now, of course, the fellows producing this model are physicists and they are not directly familiar with the socio-political factors that can strengthen or weaken a language, though they did attempt to factor some of these into their results. Their model nevertheless produced some interesting findings. They reckoned that there are three factors that allow two languages to coexist indefinitely in an area. Firstly, there needs to be a significant number of speakers of each language there. Secondly, the languages need to be somewhat similar. And thirdly, there needs to be a large bloc of ...
If you are going to go to an unfamiliar place, and fancy somewhere cheap and cheerful to stay, you might be considering an Etap "hotel". We decided when we went to conference that we would take that option. We were paying £40 a night for it; for reference, this is more than four times as much as you can pay for a night in a Travelodge. I realise that £40 a night is a low price by hotel standards. The thing is, the Etap hotel in Sheffield doesn't meet hotel standards. I'd actually posit that it would struggle to meet ...
Johnny Ball was on the Politics Show's 'soapbox' last week complaining about the science curriculum which he says is scaring pupils about global warming and pollution. "In a few years' time", he said, "the world will be their oyster. So why are we filling their heads with doom and gloom?" I would say it's maybe that with oysters in particular you have to be very careful to avoid pollution, or severe food poisoning might ensue. "There are wind generators everywhere", he goes on to say, "and not one would be built without public subsidy. Two new nuclear reactors on old ...
