My wife received a communication from the No to AV campaign today. I'm not sure why I didn't but she very kindly let me read hers and its a shocker. The essence of their argument is that AV is bad because Nick Clegg likes it and he's bad so that's that. However, they were clearly concerned that this wasn't enough so they included a picture of an attractive female doctor and made up a figure for the potential cost of AV which relies on the lie that it requires machines and a lengthy education campaign for people if it is ...
I've been catching up with a bit of note making today by finishing off my scribbles on the attitudes chapter of the critical readings book. As I was reading it, I was reminded of an old episode of "Yes Minister" where Sir Humphrey demonstrates that depending on the sequence of questions being asked (or the context, as Potter and Wetherell might call it), the same person can appear to have an entirely different and contradictory attitude in response to the same question "are you in favour of reintroducing national service?" 1-0 to the discursive psychologists I think!
We had a good morning in Botley shopping centre this morning, with the combined candidates from Cumnor and North Hinksey & Wytham offering ourselves up to be grilled by the Saturday morning shoppers. We gave out copies of our manifesto, currently being delivered across the Vale by a wonderful group of members and supporters. We also spent much time promoting the AV campaign as well as answering the inevitable questions about the coalition. There is often not much time to tell people about the 16 years of LD control of the Vale, with the low taxes, high quality services and ...
I was invited to take part in the 'Bloggers' takeover' at Liberal Democrat Voice today by Paul Walter who is guest editor of Lib Dem Voice today. Paul invited a selection of bloggers to write today including yours truly. You can read my opinion piece on the biggest story in Scotland today. A huge thanks to Paul for asking me to write for Lib Dem Voice.
From today's Guardian: I'm frequently told that I'm a satirical writer, and although I don't think the label really fits me any more, it probably does apply to What a Carve Up!. But the problem with most satire, I've started to feel, is that it doesn't just preach, it preaches to the converted. Satire - besides being what Milan Kundera disparagingly called a "thesis art" - actually suppresses political anger rather than stoking it up. Political energies which might otherwise be translated into action are instead channelled into comedy and released - dissipated - in the form of laughter. An ...
The Comrades Club site is completely unsuitable for a supermarket because: It would cause traffic chaos on County Road and Southport Road. Ormskirk has enough supermarkets close to the town centre. It would also hit trade at other local ... Continue reading →
What a beautifiul day at the Rec to watch a great game of Rugby. Bath ran out 19 – 15 winners over Quins with a fantastic Bath try being the differnece between the two sides. The consultation on the future shape of rugby at the REC has now started. I am encouraging as many people as possible to have their say.
Of course not, but the two things are often elided, wrongly. I will be resolutely celebrating Save the Frogs day on 29th April. Either that or the anniversary of Barbara Cartland/Angela Rippon losing their virginity (not together) – but that later possible anniversary is the subject of feverish fact-checking as I write. I'm in favour of an elected head of state, even though I am an admirer of HM Queen. For some strange reason it is suspected that Republicans (not the US type) have no patriotism. But (and this is going to sound corny) I had good old British patriotism ...
They are not even married yet, and already the government is planning their children! One may have guessed I'm not a "born-again royalist". In fact, I would question whether friends and colleagues of strong Christian persuasion actually believe that their God appointed the Queen, and her rights or lack of rights to succession. However, the subject has learned me a new word, primogeniture. The
Out in the ward, talking to people and listening to their concerns, not many people raise the big questions of the day - the fighting in the Middle East, the war in Afghanistan, the level of immigration or the cost of living. Rather, they raise the things that matter to them right here and now, the things that make a difference to how they feel as they go about their daily lives - the state of
Over the next few days, more than 2,300 Cheadle and Gatley voters will receive their ballot papers to vote in the local elections and also the referendum on changing the voting system. If you're one of them (or you vote by post elsewhere), please cast your votes and return your ballot papers nice and quickly to make sure your votes count. In Cheadle and Gatley, the local election is once again between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives – Labour always come a distant third. Over the last year Pam King and I have been working hard for Cheadle & ...
This afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending the Friends of Balgay Spring Meeting at the Mills Observatory. It was a very pleasant and well-attended social event. The Friends of Balgay do much to enhance Balgay Park and its great to see the group in such good heart.
A few of us that were out campaigning for Alison Burns (centre) today!
Lord Bonkers writes exclusively for Liberal England: It is well known that my old friend Dame Shirley Williams auditioned for the part of Velvet Brown in National Velvet. What is not so well known is that a number of scenes were shot with Shirley Williams before the decision was taken to cast Elizabeth Taylor instead. Film historians have long thought these scenes to be lost, but one of them turned up in the Library here at Bonkers Hall the other day. (It was found among a collection of leaflets from Welsh county council by-elections of the 1960s.) One of the ...
Next Thursday night (21st April), Yes to Fairer Votes are putting on a music gig to raise awareness of the campaign and to encourage people to campaign for a YES vote in the run up to the referendum on May 5th. The gig will take place at Dexter's, 24 Castle Street, Dundee, DD1 3AF from 8pm. Entry is £3 and it is free for students. Playing and supporting the YES campaign on the evening will be our bands Esperi, What Would Jesus Drive and Zeigler Co.
Yesterday evening I wrote a short post giving the names of the five candidates standing in the Leicester South by-election. Being fond of self-deprecating humour, I added the comment: My prediction - "this is no Barnsley Central: we are not going to finish sixth" - is looking safer by the day.The link takes you to an earlier post I wrote about Leicester South. This morning Jonathan Isaby wrote a post on Conservative Home, also giving the names of the five candidates. And then he added the comment: The last time there were as few as five candidates contesting a by-election ...
Another day, another Labour leaflet but this one seems to have been written for them in England by people who have no idea how devolution works. The giveaway is the claim that 'NHS spending cuts across the UK mean Primary Care Trusts in Wales will have to cut services and staff - 1,600 jobs will go in one PCT alone'. The small problem is of course that health in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government, not the UK Coalition, so if there are cuts then they are down to Labour and Plaid Cymru. Secondly, there are no PCTs ...
Thanks very much to the LDV editorial team for letting me guest edit the website again today. This time I decided to randomly approach keen LibDem bloggers to ask them to write posts on any subject. I was very pleasantly surprised by the very enthusiastic response I received. Thanks very much indeed to Charlotte, Lorna, Dazmando, Andrew, Spidey, Emma, Maureen and Daniel for taking time out from their campaigns to write such splendid posts.
Over the next few days, people will start voting on the referendum to change the way we elect MPs. Here are five reasons why I'm voting Yes to the Alternative Vote. 1. It's as easy as 1-2-3 It's not complicated. Just rank the candidates with "1" for your favourite, "2" for your next and so on. You don't have to rank all the candidates – it's up to you. 2. It will mean fewer safe seats Hundreds of seats in this country are "safe" – the electoral arithmetic means that one party is pretty much certain of winning every time. ...
Voting starts today in the UK referendum on changing the voting system, as postal votes are delivered by local authorities up and down the country. Over the last few months I have done various posts on the subject, the two which I would encourage you to look at are: #No2AV's got it - mythomania. Yet more fabrication from the #No2AV camp. Margaret Beckett: your ignorance is showing Both demonstrate the fallacy of some of the claims being floated by the #No2AV camp. The Electoral Commission has produced a video showing the differences between the two systems and is the most ...
The Turner Contemporary was opened today by Jules Holland and Tracy Emin, a really pleasant atmosphere smiles all round, art lovers, the public, have today, been served up with what is a world class gallery. Margate has been full of people like me who are doubly pleased, to see so many visitors, who looked happy and satisfied by the gallery the art shops, pubs, cafes. It's proof that Margate is better than the spiral of doom and gloom perpetuated by many, and for anyone champing at the bit to wallow in misery, I suggest you get your bottom off the ...
Last February, it was revealed by the Welsh Liberal Democrats that health bosses in North Wales had been taking advantage of a £1.1m subsidy for leased cars to run top of the range Jaguars, sporty Audis and BMWs. The Betsi Cadwaladr health board pays out £2m-a-year for a car leasing contract. Some £940,000 of that is recouped from payments from staff who choose to top up the subsidy to run a higher specification vehicle than standard. The list of leased vehicles, published under the Freedom of Information Act, contained a £24,000 Alfa Romeo costing £5,311-a-year; a £36,000 Audi costing £8,188-a-year; ...
Ed Miliband and Labour as a whole keep saying they are progressives but what kind of progress do they want? I still don't know what kind of society Labour want to build. Lets take a look at a possible hypothetical in our future. Imagine, that we've mastered robotics. We can build robots to do just
When Paul asked me to write this blog post I was so chuffed to be asked, but, given we are in the middle of the Scottish Parliamentary elections, I was also really worried about being able to find the time to write it. However, I have found the time and here it is. It may not be what you are expecting. There is a massive story doing the rounds in Scotland and it is not about the election but about the tragic death of Mercedes the polar bear. Edinburgh Zoo broke the news this morning; "Given the high profile that ...
My answer is 'yes', on TV - not least because a family member will be playing in the orchestra at the Abbey. But unlike some of my anti-monarchist friends, I would have been watching even without the personal connection. You see, I have to admit to enjoying these great spectacles. The British still do ceremonial events so well, especially those that show off our beautiful city. That's not the only reason why I am not totally republican. It is true that if we were starting a democracy from scratch then we would not invent a monarchy. Our own monarchy reflects ...
This morning some activists from anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate were intimidate by EDL activists, who sang foul-mouthed chants and demanded the activists turn around. One of those present managed to get these videos: Apparently the Hope Not Hate activists faced lots of intimidation, including being followed on the train, by EDL members. It is deeply worrying ...
This time last year... ...the Liberal Democrats were storming up the polls. Nick Clegg was more popular than Churchill, and Gordon and Dave were regretting ever agreeing to those pesky TV debates. Our party leader could describe the Iraq war as 'illegal' without causing mass panic amongst Downing Street lawyers. This time last year we were asking people to put us into government. This year? This year the Lib Dems jumped into bed with Conservatives. This year the Lib Dems sold out on tuition fees. This year the party become 'just like the others'. Really? It's always worth taking another ...
I was thrilled to be invited recently to write my first ever guest post for Lib Dem Voice. You can read it here.
Every Christmas Eve throughout my childhood, a mystery visitor came to the doorstep of our council flat and deposited a bag of children's books before disappearing into the darkness. S/he never stopped to be recognised or thanked, and we never found out who s/he was, but I still remember the thrill of opening up another consignment of new reading every Christmas. Even without our mystery benefactor, however, I and my three siblings would have been brought up with books. My father left school at 14 to be apprenticed, and my mother's formal education was severely damaged by the Nazi occupation ...
Barely at the midpoint of the month and there are two new Big Finish audios to enjoy: the main range release brings the Fifth Doctor, Turlough, Tegan, and an older Nyssa together with abunch of Sontarans, and a Companion Chronicle has Liz Shaw timewarped in Cambridge. Heroes of Sontar, by the reliable Alan Barnes, is the better story of the two. At first it seems a rather peculiar and not necessarily successful attempt at a humorous twist on the Sontarans, as a bunch of deadbeat veterans are sent on a mysterious mission to a planet deep in Rutan space. But ...
Friday - 4 weeks before Election Day. Mood: Dazed and confused, tired but determined 7am: Woke with a horrible sensation in my gut that I had forgotten to do something. This is happening way too often now. 7.30am: At the laptop in pyjamas, armed with max strength coffee. Writing Focus articles. Spent 3 hours on the doorstep yesterday, so have catching up to do. Whole Focus needs to be rewritten by the end of today. Big story broke in the press. Changing lead story to reflect residents' anger on the issue. 8.45am: Finally able to remove self from pyjamas and ...
Last week I wrote of the abandoned steam tram line which passed through Sint-Joris-Weert. A little subsequent googling came up with these two picture postcards showing the two stations in operation, railway on the left, steam tram (with rails in front of it) on the right: I can't read the sign on the near end of the tram station - its inscription seems to start with 'Ma'. The sign saying 'Sint-Joris-Weert' or possibly 'Weert-St-Georges' (or both) would have been over the front door. I reckon that the upper picture is the earlier one, given that the road seems not to ...
A week after nominations closed for the Borough council elections, what's the reception like on the doorsteps here in Stockton? To be honest, it's a bit mixed. In wards where we have Liberal Democrat councillors, the reception is generally good. There are always some people who "don't do politics", and that hasn't changed. There are some who were always going to vote for one of the other parties, and that hasn't changed. There are many who support us, either because they're committed Lib Dems (not a huge number of them) or because they know that we do a good job ...
Another Ten-on-his-own Who novel, this time featuring a feud between crime lords on a spaceport, a petty thief recognisable by his skin colour, a seventeen-year-old girl detective (whose name is Nikki rather than Mary Sue), and on the plus side a Judoon commander who is actually allowed to develop a character. Rather minor stuff, frankly.
Another excellent Rebus novel, let down a little bit by the end - the solution to one of the mysteries depends on someone simply by coincidence having been in the right place at the right time and then doing something rather unexpected conveniently for the plot, another mystery depends on the memory of one of the viewpoint characters and is revealed to us only at the very end though presumably the character in question has been aware of it all through the book. Also I now have spotted that whenever we start to hear in great detail about Siobhan's (Rebus's ...
If we had several thousand pounds, could we come up with a sensible way to keep cyclists safe on the A34 between Gatley and Parrs Wood? If so, it may be possible, and drivers might benefit as well as cyclists. First, the money. The Barnes Hospital development is back on the cards, which means the developers will contribute money via a section 106 agreement to improving local infrastructure. One option the Council's transport people have come up with is using the money for traffic calming on the South Park Road Estate. We're consulting on that, but the response on our ...
I rather liked Declare. As a fan of both Tim Powers' earlier work and of John Le Carré (though I haven't read either for years), I was impressed both by the audacity of the one trying to write like the other, with added djinn (rather than gin) and by the fact that he pretty much succeeded in pulling it off. It added local colour that I read the passages set around the Soviet/Turkish frontier while myself on a business visit to a former Soviet state which unexpectedly turned out to include a reception at the residence of one of the ...
We seem to be stuck in a warp of niceties at the moment. In the bad old days the Tory party was the nasty party. Thatcher flexed her muscles and in a previous downturn we all had to get on our bikes. Yet today we seem to get a different flavour of conservatism. It's all big society, low interest rates and a penny off fuel duty. What is going on? I'll let you into a secret. The Lib Dems may have a little something to do with this. We seem to be the dose of sanity that government was starved ...
Also posted today on LibDem Voice here as part of Liberal Burblings bloggers takeover. We already know how hard a coalition is with the Tories. So what would happen if we get another choice of forming a coalition with this Tory party or Ed Miliband's Labour at the next general election? At the moment, perhaps the most likely scenario is a coalition with Labour with less Liberal Democrat MPs. On the plus side Ed Milliband will be wanting to put his new 'radical' (maybe) mark on Labour's story in power. Now this is something we can help him with. We ...
I've been out canvassing with the local Liberal Democrats in the Ringmer area on most days for the last couple of weeks. The response has been much as expected for an area where the competition is between us and the Conservatives. There is some anger about the coalition from Labour supporters who vote tactically, but ...
We already know how hard a coalition is with the Tories. So what would happen if we get another choice of forming a coalition with this Tory party or Ed Miliband's Labour at the next general election? At the moment, perhaps the most likely scenario is a coalition with Labour with less Liberal Democrat MPs. On the plus side Ed Milliband will be wanting to put his new 'radical' (maybe) mark on Labour's story in power. Now this is something we can help him with. We have learned a lot from our coalition with the Tories. We will also prove ...
I was kindly invited to take part in the 'Bloggers' takeover' at Liberal Democrat Voice today. You can read my opinion piece on arguing for Liberal Democrats to take up the defence of liberty A huge thanks to Paul for ... Continue reading →
The last year saw crime across Stockport fall by nearly 20%, but across Greater Manchester there was a significant fall too. Comparing April 2009 to March 2010 with April 2010 to March 2011: Total crime has dropped from 247,574 to 227,855, a drop of eight per cent, meaning 19,719 less victims of crime There have been 54,000 less reported incidents of anti-social behaviour. There has been 7,400 fewer victims of vehicle crime The number of domestic burglaries has dropped by more than 1,700 There have been nearly 1,400 more detected crimes The number of robberies has dropped to just under ...
There has been a lot of talk recently about negative campaigning, whether celebrities should be telling us which way to vote etc. There have been public debates and discussions. Indeed there is a varying view that we see from the ... Continue reading →
In the run-up to this year's 2011 Snooker World Championships, I've been looking back at the history of a sport of which I am a big fan and have chosen my personal top 3 snooker matches of all-time. I blogged here and here a few weeks ago of my 3rd and 2nd choices, so here now, on the morning of the opening matches of the 2011 World Championships, is the match which for me is the greatest in snooker history. 1985 World Snooker Championship FinalFor those who are avid snooker fans, it'll be no great surprise to find that I've ...
When William III arrived on these shores in November 1688, the new King proclaimed to maintain the liberties of England and vigorously defend the liberty of his subjects. In the subsequent months, Parliament adopted the Declaration of Rights - The English Bill of Rights 1689. The corner stone of our constitution, which is still in force to this day but sadly has become a forgotten relic of antiquity. It seems that we in Britain have forgotten about our hard struggles to gain our liberty. When it comes to foreign affairs, especially the European Union, we understand how unique individual sovereignty ...
Astonishingly the editorial team have seen fit to vacate the LDV control tower and let me guest edit the website for another day. Power! Last time, I contacted mainly old LibDem friends who I've worked alongside over the years, and got them to write some fascinating posts. Having now exhausted my slim LibDem "Roladex" of contacts, I took a different approach this time. I randomly approached a number of keen LibDem bloggers and asked them to write a post on any subject. To my pleasant surprise, they responded very ethusiastically with a colourful aray of articles. You could call this, ...
Rather than defend First Past the Post, the No campaign have spent their millions trying to confuse and scare voters across the UK into voting against reform. Our latest poster will put the "BNP bogeyman" to bed once and for all - but we need your help to get it on a street near you. Can you give £20 to tell the world that Nick Griffin is saying No2AV? No2AV continue to peddle the lie that AV would legitimise the BNP and "give more power to fascists". But they are desperate to make sure people don't discover that the BNP ...
i) births and deaths 16 April 1936: birth of Derrick Sherwin, script editor of Doctor Who from The Web of Fear to The Mind Robber (in 1968) and producer for The War Games (1969) and Spearhead from Space (1970). 16 April 1954: birth of Antony Root, briefly script editor of Doctor Who in 1981. ii) broadcast anniversaries 16 April 1966: broadcast of "The Dancing Floor", third episode of the story we now call The Celestial Toymaker. Steven and Dodo must deal with a not-very-threatening kitchen and some rather more threatening dancing dolls. 16 April 2005: broadcast of Aliens of London. ...
This is something festering in my mind for the past week or two; a blog post that can hardly be considered "hackery". It's really a shame that I've sidelined myself into blogging solely about British political minutae. I've got more things to blog about than just how awesome and cool Nick Clegg is. I'm pretty sure we know what a wiki is: a community-edited resource of information, usually open to pretty much everyone (sometimes registration is required). TV Tropes is a wiki geared, obviously, to tropes (storytelling devices) in television. It's not an accurate description, really; its remit has ballooned ...
This morning's Western Mail gives and indication as to why Wales is bottom of the economic league table under Labour and Plaid Cymru with a report showing that tens of millions of pounds allocated to train young people has not been spent. They say that £103.3m of European money granted to the Wales from January 2007 was allocated to be spent under Priority 1, supplying young people with the skills needed for learning and future employment. Yet at the end of February this year only £11.9m had been spent on that priority. In addition, although the intention was that one ...
The Vickers Report on banking has received a half-hearted welcome. The consensus seems to be that a "firewall" between retail banking and casino activities can be easily circumvented and will not stop them using our savings to gamble and, if the get it wrong again, once more bring the word's commerce close to collapse. Complete separation, as Vince Cable has long proposed, is the only effective safeguard. The report does not seems to touch the matter that troubles me most at a personal level: that banks (and some building societies) will, unless you watch them like a hawk, put your ...
New Statesman - The bugger, bugged Hugh Grant, journalist, taped conversation - not in the order you might expect. (tags: journalism)
As someone who goes through politics news often, the subject of climate change comes up quite often: how bad it is, does the data fit, and so forth. But even on a story about the Liberal Democrats as a whole, some people, often right-wing, will attack the party on its green credentials. This stems from a belief in climate change is a "hoax" of sorts. Like this comment on a Telegraph article: Yeah, Chris Hunhe off to Cancun, tilting at windmills, saving the planet. Didn't you know that we've had no warming since about 1998? The Man-Made global warming idea ...
Im not usually a big fan of visits by Ministers etc during elections as they can often drag you away from the real business of listening to and helping residents. Today I made an exception when Ed Davey, MP for ... Continue reading →
You often hear that a vote for some parties may be a wasted vote. However the only votes that are not wasted are those that elect the winner, so the vast majority are wasted. If the number of elected representatives does not reflect the feelings of the electorate then it is not a good democracy. Our system is definitely broken and we have fewer and fewer people bothering to vote. If you want an example of how bad our system can be then take the byelection in Morecambe last October. We had a 12% turnout. If this isn't a broken ...
