To be exact, my Region needs you. As Regional Secretary, I am responsible for (lightly) whipping the East of England delegation to English Council, and for finding substitutes as required. And I need one, indeed I'll probably need more than one in due course. So, if you're a Liberal Democrat member, and live in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk or Suffolk, and want to attend one of the most thrilling events on the Party calendar, please get in touch at markv [at] aol.com. Of course, even if you don't live in the East of England, your Region ...
TweetThis afternoon I was at a Liberal Democrat party to celebrate the end of elections, attended by Winchester And Chandlers Ford Liberal Democrats honorary president, Baroness Celia Thomas of Winchester. At any such event hearing from a learned speaker, It is seemingly tradition in these tough times to break out the Jo Grimond quote about how he intended to march his troops towards the sounds of gunfire. Baroness Thomas however treated us with a modified version of the story, she regaled the group with a story about how just shortly after the Obama speech in the great hall, she saw ...
I can't help thinking I've got the settings wrong or something...
The Electoral Commission earlier today rejected one of the complaints made over Chris Huhne's election expenses. It was the complaint made by two former Liberal Democrat councillors who claimed the party had spent more than the legal limit. However, as I pointed out at the time: For somewhere such as Eastleigh with local elections on the same day as the general election last year, campaign activities could have had to count against the constituency expense limit (Chris Huhne's), the council ward expense limits, the general election national expense limit and even - in a few cases - the law says ...
From the newspaper's website: And finally, what is clear from the crimes of all these parliamentarians including Lord Bonkers is that they need a rigorous system to govern their expenses, and it needs to be run by people who take the job seriously.Lord Bonkers replies exculsively for Liberal England: I am not sure whether this comment, which has been drawn to my attention, is by the rag or one of its readers. Be that as it may, I have placed the matter in the hands of my solicitors.
Well, I'd planned an early night and a glass of wine, but Ellen suggested I take part in Transatlantic Blonde's Feminist Friday series. Today we're talking about gender stereotyping our kids, or not, as the case may be. When I was a little girl, I had zillions of dolls and the only real thing, apart from writing, I have ever wanted to do was to be a wife and mother. I'm not sure the dolls caused that, though. And I'm quite happy with the wife and mother thing, too. We will never know if things would have turned out any ...
This is a bit of a conundrum. Subsidy or no subsidy. What I find alittle close to mark is this. On the radio we have people saying how they will be high and dry without an evening and early morning subsidised bus. Yet half of the buses I see are less than half empty. Even on a Saturday. Where are you? Not on the buses?! How about this elephant in the room - bus passes. There is an entitlement across the board for diamond / over 60s bus card provision. I thought age discrimination had gone? Now a lot of ...
We're just over an hour away from setting out on our annual half-term trip to Millport. The best way to get hold of me will be to text the usual number and wait for a bit; large chunks of the island have no mobile phone reception, but the seafront usually does, and I'll be out there a couple of times a day. Originally I wasn't going to take my Kindle, but the forecast is currently for lots of rain in the first half of the week, so I've decided I will; rain never stops us going on some longish hikes, ...
Also in the JC, a nice little piece about Sarah Ludford MEP, a Vice-President of Lib Dem Friends of Israel, having scuppered attempts to block a new pharmaceutical trade agreement between Israel and the EU. Lives depend on maximum international co-operation on pharmaceuticals, so credit to Sarah Ludford and other Liberal MEPs for sorting this out.
Yes folks, for the first time since it was closed 'temporarily' to south bound traffic in 2003, Cardigan's 'Tesco' Junction at the northern end of the town's by-pass is open at long last. At the Junction with Mark Williams MP and Town Councillor Nicky Charlton-Lewis After years of procrastinating by successive Welsh Assembly Governments, it has quietly been opened today by the contractors with no fanfare, 2 months later than planned. It has re-opened with traffic lights which whilst it wasn't my ideal solution of a roundabout, it's certainly a lot better than the lego set of blocks that ...
So a group of prominent people on Israel's Left have called on EU leaders (the UK included) to recognise a Palestinian state if one is declared unilaterally at the UN in September. While several figures on the Right have condemned Binyamin Netanyahu for his declared willingness to make "painful compromises" for peace. I suggest that we expand the UK's Bank Holiday Weekend to Israel and invite both groups to take a few days off together somewhere quiet, while someone else gets on with the messy business of compromise, negotiations and give-and-take. But who? Neither Tzipi Livni nor Ehud Barak seems ...
Fri 27th
19:42
Broadband access in Suffolk: frankly, I should be grateful that you can read this at all
For those of you who live in towns and cities, or otherwise have access to fibre optic cables and all the paraphenalia of modern telecommunications, spare a thought for us country dwellers.I live about seven miles from my local BT exchange, as the ancient telephone wires run. So remote are we, that some homes still share cables. As a result, broadband speeds are astonishingly poor, a fact which has serious repercussions for the rural economy. For whilst the incidence of heavy industry is minimal, the potential for remotely supplied intellectual and professional services is vast. After all, why run a ...
* On Thursday morning, I took part in the second Harris Academy Project Board that will oversee the Harris Academy rebuilding project. * In the afternoon, I attended part of the City Council's Housing Best Value Review Group, at which I raised questions regarding the performance of the City Council in re-letting empty council houses, an issue I have previously raised at the council's Scrutiny Committee. * Thereafter, I chaired the first meeting of the West End Christmas Week 2011 committee. Early days in planning this year's Christmas Week, but great progress and enthusiasm!
As reported in yesterday's Evening Telegraph and today's Courier, I have expressed concern at the City Council's expenditure of £567 297 on office furniture for the new Dundee House, particularly in relation to the way in which the expenditure has been approved in a wholly unsatisfactory way, lacking in openness and transparency. On numerous occasions over many months at the Dundee House Project Board, I have expressed concerns at the possibility of the council spending large sums of taxpayers' money on furniture and I made it very clear that any decision on such expenditure should be brought to a council ...
Technical point. The post below was written several days ago, but for most of this week I have been unable to gain access to my blog because the blue tool bar a the top, with the "sign in" bit, failed to appear. I tried to contact Blogspot about this and was referred to a "self help" site, where lots of people appeared to have signing-in problems, but none was identical to mine and no-one wrote in offering a solution. Whilst I admire the DIY ethos I think it is a shame that Blogspot does not have some method of allowing ...
Keynesian Liberal: Preview "The right to privacy and the newspaper interest"
Give it up for Dido Blench, marketing manager for Ludlow Assembly Rooms.
My colleague Jeremy Rowe has blogged about the decision by the Council to allow companies to advertise on the Council's website. Unfortunately, this includes allowing Sainsburys - a company seeking planning permission on various sites in Cornwall - to advertise on the planning pages. Jeremy has suggested that this is a clear conflict of interest. Today all councillors received an email from the Leader seeking to justify this advertising: "Concern over sale of advertising on council website - The decision to allow advertising on the website was agreed as part of the budget savings strategy approved by the full Council ...
May have to abandon the Telegraph too. Why is it, when something in power goes wrong, eg immigration caps, it is the 'coalition' policy. And apparently this is all Clegg's fault, for describing the policy as an 'aspiration'. All successes are reported as Cameron's and the Tory party, and, like The Standard, they cannot resist the urge to stick a boot into the Lib Dems whenever they can.
Over on his blog at The Telegraph, former director of the Centre Forum think tank, Julian Astle, highlights a report by researchers at the London School of Economics looking into the effect of academies. The findings are good news for supporters of greater autonomy for schools, and one of the (perhaps surprising) conclusions of the analysis is that academies don't just raise standards for the pupils that attend them, but also for surrounding schools, even as they lose pupils to the new academies. Here's what the report has to say on that last point, followed by a brief conclusion from ...
When the forces get no danger pay, the public sector is slashing budgets and the roads full of holes no council can afford to repair, the news that world leaders pledged £12billion to the Arab Springs is rather bitter. The west appear to have moved from marching into countries and enforcing democracy (this is an oxymoron in my opinion), to simply paying for democracy instead. Britain appears
Over many months I have been actively supporting residents who live on Whitley Park Lane in Redlands.They have got very fed up with some shopkeepers on Christchurch Green failing to manage their trade waste and leaving the access road at the back of the shops (off the Lane) in a bad state. We met with officers and shopkeepers a few weeks ago to call for action. As the access road is privately owned (and ownership is shared between various shops and businesses) the Council is not responsible for maintaining it. However, residents would like to see the owners club together to tidy ...
I'm a historian so forgive me my geekiness here, but as I mentioned in my blog here back in February, Queen Elizabeth II has continued to pass new milestones as her longevity and time on the British throne knows no bounds. Today sees her overtake the mark of her great-great-great-great grand-father King George III as the second longest reigning monarch in British history. The only monarch to have reigned for longer of course is Queen Victoria and she still has a 4+ year advantage over her great-great grand-daughter. Queen Elizabeth II would surpass that record if she were still to ...
So, after the abysmal local election results last Thursday, Nick Clegg today used the first anniversary of the forming of the coalition government in Westminster to announce that there would be a more "muscular liberalism" on show to demonstrate "the real Lib Dem input" at the heart of the of the Coalition Government in London. Most supporters and members will no doubt welcome this more forthright announcement and expression of intent, but it does beg the question...where has Nick been for the past 365 days?
I'm finding it harder to remember to blog as often so I'm experimenting with doing a bit of a weekly diary. This is my diary for this week, which started on 23rd May. It includes my first speech as opposition leader so it's a bit of a biggie. Monday: I have a job as well as being involved in politics. It's a job I love as a Lecturer at Edge Hill University and Monday morning was the slot for sessions with first and second year students to get them ready for next year. There is some great potential here and ...
All conflict situations leave pain long after they have finished, as people remember family, friends and homes they have lost. In Cyprus, since 1974 the Green Line has been a border between two communities that used to live together, side-by-side, before conflict broke out in 1963; and much bitterness and anger remains. So it was ...
The latest in the main range of Big Finish's Doctor Who stories, this has the reunited team of the Fifth Doctor, Turlough, Tegan and an older Nyssa starting off with taking a holiday which descends into a surprising exploration of Turlough's past. By complete coincidence I was listening to this over the same four days this week that I rewatched Frontios, a story with some very similar elements - underground mysteries, Turlough's past, Turlough's romantic interest - which Kiss of Death does rather better. (In fairness to Frontios, there are also some things that it does well enough which Kiss ...
All my social networking feeds are a-buzz with a new website today. Sexy MP describes itself thus: In addition to my wanting to create a fun and memorable tool to help the British public get to know their Members of Parliament, I thought it would be an interesting opportunity to hold the first ever parliamentary beauty contest and find out once and for all which MPs and Parties have the most sex-appeal. Although I fully expect this to offend some people, this was never my intention and I hope you will see the funny side. Mmmm. Well. It's not just ...
If you're like me you hear the term 'narrative' all over the place these days: "What's the political narrative?" "We need a compelling narrative." "Their narrative is unclear or even non-existent." I'm certain most people have little idea what is really meant by the term. That pertinent observation comes from Shawn Callahan of Anecdote. He has written a great post that clears up much of the confusion around what a narrative is. Replying to an article by John Hagel, Shawn says: A narrative must have a narrative structure. That is, it is told as a story . . . For ...
This year's list is a good one, none of the stories being as bad as the worst in the other fiction categories. 5) One has to start pruning somewhere though, and Elizabeth Hand's "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon", though itself a nice characterful story, is only barely sf; it's really about some present-day employees of the Smithsonian setting up an elaborate stunt to cheer up a dying colleague. There is a counterfactual backstory - the Bellerophon of the title is a pre-Wright Brothers aeroplane, most records of which have been lost - and a mysterious event at the end ...
I went along to the public consultation session about Stalbridge (and the other sites) this week. It's one of a series of sessions across Merseyside . My colleague Richard Oglethorpe and I were able to ask some questions which we hope will help us get our points across. I had an interesting chat with a representative from Lovells (the house builders). They are pretty hacked off about the whole thing as they have been trying to build and sell and help regenerate Garston and this whole waste designation business is hitting them hard. Anyway, the deadline for public comments on ...
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Opinion: However unfair it is, Chris Huhne should step down (100 comments) by Simon McGrath Chris Huhne's election expenses: once again, nothing to see here, move along (54 comments) by Mark Pack Dealing with the political weather: three lessons to learn (15 comments) by Mark Pack Revealed: The Liberal Democrats' new HQ (26 comments) by Helen Duffett Tim Farron writes: Enough doom and gloom, we have the greatest opportunity in the history of our party (42 comments) ...
There are a number of centenaries today. The first is the man who said these words before adding his maniacal laugh The foulest stench is in the airThe funk of forty thousand yearsAnd grizzly ghouls from every tombAre closing in to seal your doom And though you fight to stay aliveYour body starts to shiverFor no mere mortal can resistThe evil of the thriller Yes, Vincent Price was an unlikely rapper but that is just what he did on Michael Jackson's Thriller. But he had a film career of over 50 years making his name in the horror genre. Here ...
Fri 27th
16:44
What the Church of Scotland said this week about gay ministers...and what it didn't say
Last week I blogged about the Church of Scotland's General Assembly - and the need for it to make the right decision on the ordination of gay ministers, both in the interests of an inclusive church and for LGBT rights in Scotland. The General Assembly met to discuss the issue on Monday, after which a great deal has been written in the press - much of it speculative and contradictory. So what was actually decided on Monday - and is this really a step forward or a further example of an undecided church sitting on the fence? Firstly, I'd like ...
Ok so it's Friday...you're into politics, but you've already discussed last night's Question Time ,and even This Week, with everyone in the office, so what do you do? Head over to www.sexymp.co.uk. Obviously. The site, which looks a lot like Mark Zukerberg's original conception of Facebook, makes visitors pick which MP they would rather sleep ...
You'll remember yesterday that I wrote about the extra £40 a month many low paid shop workers in Livingston are being asked to pay for parking from next week. That sum is equivalent to many of them working roughly 7 hours a week for nothing. I duly complained to the Centre via their website and was a bit surprised to find the Centre Director James Bailey on my phone within hours. It is only fair that I give him the chance to give his side of the story. He explained how Land Securities had originally planned to start charging for ...
We're fast approaching World IPv6 Day in June and, after a few hiccoughs, my servers now have an allocation of the IPv6 address space. The next step — which I have been working on for the last few days — is making my router (a Cisco 1721) 'do the business'. This requires designing what is laughingly called a 'recipe' for how the box works to connect my network with the wider internet in such a way that it maintains the current IPv4 service whilst adding on the new functionality. Hopefully I will have this working before the end of the ...
As I see it, the concept behind Cameron's 'Big Society' is one of the tenets of wikipedia: "So do it", ie. if you want to see change in your locality then take the lead and make a start by engaging with others of a similar view rather than sitting back and complaining that the council / someone else isn't doing it. Sadly, however, I believe that the difference between 'intention' and 'outcome' will never be so big again as that between the hopes and the effectiveness of the 'Big Society' concept. It promises so much in theory which it can ...
So, an elected House of Lords; a massive victory for our party from a historical viewpoint, and a good reason for longstanding party members to feel warm and fuzzy as our support collapses in the north. Yet is it the badly-needed policy victory that we can take to the electorate as a compelling reason for voting Liberal Democrats? Not by miles. Call it the dissatisfied carping of a relative newcomer to the party, but I can't help but notice our distressing tendency to be insular and self-obsessed at times like this, giving critics' barbs of 'liberal elitists' extra sharpness. It's ...
Weed treatment in the Consett area has been delayed due to the recent weather conditions. It is planned to start again on Tuesday 31st May.
Including £30,000 on a new kitchen. I'd have thought that for that money they could have afforded some proper kitchen cupboards, not just shelves.
I was going to write about the Police Authority row anyway but I was more keen to do so when I realised that one of our local papers, the Luton on Sunday, hadn't covered it. Now they may not think it a particularly exciting or interesting story. A bunch of councillors arguing about who sits on what isn't full of sexy scandal or heart warming human interest I admit. So I wasn't expecting the front page or even much of a substantial piece – but for them not to cover it at all is surprising. We are talking about an ...
I read the interesting article about Wirral Council's sponsorship of Tranmere Rovers Football Club to be decided next Thursday evening. I did leave a comment pointing out that three of the current Cabinet, Cllr Steve Foulkes, Cllr George Davies and Cllr Harry Smith had all received free tickets to Tranmere Rovers matches as evidenced by ...
The agenda for the next Cabinet meeting on 6 June makes interesting reading: ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION IN PUBLIC SESSION ACTION WARDS AFFECTED PAGE NUMBER 1. CHAIR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS - The Chair to inform the meeting of relevant issues. - 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST - Councillors to declare any personal and prejudicial interests they mayhave in relation to the items for consideration in public session. - 3. MINUTES - To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 11 April 2011 To receive the minutes of the meeting of the Mapledurham Playing Fields Management Committee held on 1 March ...
This is a spreadsheet with the full information for England as to what happened to children Under 5 in terms of destinations in and out of care over the last 15 or so years.
I am hearing an oft-repeated objection to House of Lords reform: People are not talking about it at the "Dog and Duck" Is that really a sensible test for parliamentary bills? God help us all if elected representatives only concerned themselves with what is being talked about at the "Dog and Duck". The abolition of slavery. The Great Reform Act. The NHS. The Welfare State. Were these talked about at the "Dog and Duck" before they were enacted? I very much doubt it. If parliament concerned themselves about what people at the "Dog and Duck" are talking about,then at the ...
The Holy Spirit is the master of prayer, and causes us to abide in continual peace and cheerfulness, which is a foretaste of Paradise. - St Philip Neri, Apostle of Rome Filed under: catholic, Cong.Orat., Maxim for the Day Tagged: Maxim for the Day, St Philip Neri
Fri 27th
14:07
Mark Valladares writes: ELDR Council, Dresden 2011: it was the best of times, it was the wurst of ti...
Last week, I described ELDR Council as being rather like our Federal Executive. I was wrong, but I'll come back to that... Having dropped Ros off at a VIP lunch, I made my way to a room in a distant and poorly signposted corner of Dresden's shiny new Congress Centre, cunningly designed to make it virtually impossible to tell which floor you are actually on, for a delegation pre-meeting. It was agreed that there was very little in the way of controversy to be expected. By mid-afternoon, we were all ready to go, and we took our seats on the ...
Police use force to disrupt the peaceful Spanish revolution in Barcelona. This YouTube video was e-mailed to me this morning. There have been no reports of violence by individuals representing the camps; these actions are unjustified.
Seven popular bathing beaches in Lancashire have failed the annual test for water quality.Blackpool, Morecambe and Heysham were among ten in the North West that fell short of minimum standards, said the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).Its 2011 Good Beach Guide said diluted sewage was being discharged too often into coastal waters.The Environment Agency said bathing water had improved in the past 20 years but admitted there was "more to do".MCS graded 758 beaches around the UK and the Channel Islands, with the cleanest spots given the "recommended" status.Top marks were given to just five of the region's 39 beaches: Formby ...
As mentioned in a previous post I'm currently in a wrangle with West Yorskhire police. I'm trying to reclaim some of my personal data that has been captured on their ANPR Travel Tracking cameras and stored on the national police database. The data in question is a log of my car journeys that will have been recorded on their surveillance systems. My request for my personal data was made a couple of months ago and submitted to the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA). It's this organisation that runs the national ANPR database, this database hold for a number of years ...
After Osama Bin Laden's capture and death at the hand of US forces, Bosnian Serb Military Commander Ratko Mladic has been arrested by his own Serbian authorities and awaits a probable extradition to the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. With Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi under extreme siege from NATO forces in Tripoli and with long-standing leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Syria either out of office or struggling under severe local unrest to go that way, it has been an extraordinary 2011 for those who have been seen to use their powers for wrong. Milosevic, Karadzic & Mladic ...
[IMG: Cintra Avenue Parking] This morning whilst out delivering surgery flyers around Cintra Avenue and Warwick Road I came across this inconsiderate and highly-dangerous parking on Cintra Avenue. A driver struggling to get through stopped me and asked me if I was one of the people parked on the junction making it impossible to see around the corner - as if! I have led a campaign locally supported by residents on Cintra Avenue and Warwick Road to see the Council take steps to improve road safety for all road users. We actively consulted residents about what the most practical solution ...
Reforming the House of Lords is important. I want it and so do most LibDems and some members of the other parties but is this the right time to do it? I don't think so. Having just come off of ... Continue reading →
The agenda for the first Labour Cabinet at Wirral Council next Thursday is now online. The Labour spin machine seems to be running in overdrive (at least in the Wirral Globe). First we have Steve Foulkes stating the Budget shortfall for 2011-2012 will be £24 million, the quote is We have taken a savage hit ...
I have a lot of respect for the US president - far more in fact than I have had for any other serving US president. I was naturally pleased that in the last week he has visited Ireland and the UK. That he should make a historic speech to MPs and peers in Westminster Hall is particularly fitting at a time when many have questioned the wisdom of the relationship between the UK and the US. Obama is undoubtedly a gifted orator with abilities far beyond most of those occupying front bench positions within the Commons. He can excite and ...
The Southport Area Committee meeting on Wednesday this week included a report on providing additional hackney carriage ranks in Southport town centre. The report generated a full and frank discussion from councillors of both parties and ended with votes against both the proposed rank on Hill Street and on West Street. The full report can be viewed here. The discussion also promoted me to ask a number of questions regarding the current rank provision in Southport. Did you know that there are currently 25 Hackney Carriage Ranks including 2 feeder ranks across Southport (not including those ranks in Ainsdale) with ...
Architects award for UKCCA News that the Royal Institute of British Architects gave the UK Centre for Carnival Arts in Luton one of its awards. Grender on Moore I liked this piece from Olly Grender on the man in the centre of what is likely to be one of the most fascinating political battles of the next couple of years. Guardian Q&A with Children's Minister Sarah Teather "Sarah Teather, the children's minister, comes across as genuinely passionate about helping children with special needs. So much so that at one point in the interview, she got quite cross." NEF: The big ...
Recommended reading for Lib Dem councillors and local campaigners from the last seven days: National issues: The biggest political news of the week from a Lib Dem point of view is Nick Clegg's speech on the NHS. Widely praised in the media, although less popular with Conservatives, the speech is worth a read. The Daily Telegraph environment correspondent enthuses about Chris Huhne's work on climate change. Academies and free schools are to be allowed to reserve places for pupils from less well-off backgrounds. Within the party, we had three bits of news: The party announced that it's new headquarters from ...
The Women Liberal Democrats are looking for nominations for the Patsy Calton Award 2011. Do you know of a woman/ women in your group, local branch or local party that should be celebrated? The Patsy Calton Award aims to celebrate female activism at all levels within the Liberal Democrats. From MEP's, MP's, PPC's, AM's. MSP's to councillors and activists, we are looking for someone who is an inspiration to others and their achievements deserve to be rewarded. We hope that this will encorage other women to become involved in politics in some way. Here is a form that explains exactly ...
Here is the response I have received from John Lee (LibDem peer Lord Lee of Trafford) about Lords reform. He has sent this reply to all the people who responded to his letter in the Liberal Democrat News: Dear Paul Please forgive this rather impersonal letter but it is the only way I can relatively efficiently respond to everyone who has written. As expected I have received a number of emails criticising my stance on House of Lords abolition - for that is what it is! The near universal attitude amongst my critics is that those involved in taking legislative ...
Here. (My name misspelled but the quotes are accurate!)
Within the next 24 hours British and French apache helicopters will begin operations in Libya. The Prime Minister has promised to intensify the administration of military force in order to break the Libyan regime. The Russian Foreign Ministry have aligned ... Continue reading →
The BBC has to take a lot of flack. As it is publicly funded, people seem to expect that that they should like every programme on it. Last night's Question Time though perfectly illustrated what a fantastic broadcaster Auntie is. In the week President Obama made a historic address to Parliament, the BBC had secured ...
Here's what Guido eagerly reported yesterday: Hot on the revelation that Vicky Pryce has signed an affidavit confessing to have taken Chris Huhne's points... But today comes a complete volte-face: Guido understands that both the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday have evidence that is not in the form of a "sworn affidavit" as was claimed yesterday by rivals the Telegraph. I think that's the closest Guido ever comes to saying, "I was wrong". Meanwhile, there appears to be some better news for Chris Huhne in today's Telegraph, who are reporting that his ex-wife, Vicky Pryce, is now refusing ...
I've got to know several of the residents in Dickenson Court over the months. Let us start at the beginning. One of the tenants contacted me because for number of residents they had was not enough bins. I took it up with the council and it was agreed that the 30+ flats they required an additional bin. I thought that was sorted and filed it away in the done pile. I then got a phone call to say that the bin had not been delivered. I contacted the council who, it transpired, had delivered the bin to the wrong address. ...
Fri 27th
11:16
Nick Clegg is pissing off the Tories on the NHS. I'm not complaining and nor should the electorate.
When you wake up in the morning to the top political heading in the Guardian being Nick Clegg angers Tories with new delay to NHS reforms you have to think that it is a good sign. Finally the Lib Dems in cabinet and most notably Nick Clegg have realised something – that the public need to publicly see that they are not doormats. The public have made it clear that they are panicked on any changes to the NHS. Now the NHS needs to evolve so changes will have to be made but if the changes that are made do ...
The decision to close the Holmhurst Day Centre in Dulwich was due to be taken in April and then May ie. now. This day centre centre helps older people with dementia and mental health problems. Not somewhere easilly replicated elsewhere and with patients who don't cope well with uncertainty or change. Sadly the Labour councillor due to make that decision Cllr Dora Dixon-Fyle has had a bereavement. It has been decided due to her mourning to delay the decision by one month apparently costing the council £66,000 each month. Amazingly the Labour leadership has decided not to step in to ...
If you want lots of hits on your blog, try a blog post with "Free Sex" in the title, such as Free sex change and relationship breakup, thanks to the census. It does rather well getting hits from search engines, although perhaps not the kind of audience I usually get...
For any political historian (of which I enthusiastically count myself as one), BBC Four's documentary this week on the titanic duel at the centre of British politics between 1965-1975 was a 'must watch' event. I found it absolutely fascinating. Hearing the accounts of the main players close to both Heath and Wilson at this time, mixed in with the excellent array of political archive footage and the music of the period, brought alive this pivotal period in our history which at its end, began to see the break-down of the consesual style of politics that had marked British political life ...
Launceston will have superfast broadband by March next year according to an announcement by Cornwall Council and BT. Our town will be among a number in East Cornwall which will be in the first tranche of the roll out which is the latest stage in a project started by the Lib Dem led County Council a number of years ago. The announcement lists Liskeard, Callington, Gunnislake, Launceston, Bude, Kilkhampton, Widemouth Bay, Bodmin, Camborne, Falmouth, Lanivet, Marazion, Penryn, Porthtowan, Redruth and Truro as the exchanges which will be upgraded first and St Austell as the first location for the even faster ...
The New Statesman published an interview with Business Secretary Vince Cable yesterday, in which he talks about the current economic situation, the banks' reluctance to lend, his political influences and his working relationship with Tory ministers. Here's an excerpt: "If you're trying to design a system from scratch," he says, "what you probably want is a Danish-type model, which relates tax to property values. Council tax doesn't work anymore [in Britain]. The link is broken. There are all kinds of technical problems about valuations; how you concentrate it at the top end with the bottom end. Those are the things ...
Yes, I was cross with Simon the other day, and I felt I had good reason to be. The poor man may not have read that post, but he was on the receiving end of a pretty stroppy e-mail from me. Last night he replied - and I'm not going to publish his reply because that wouldn't be right, but he said more than enough for me to forgive him. When somebody makes a mistake, you want to see them recognise it, and sincerely want to put things right. Suffice to say that if more people behaved like Simon when ...
Over the past couple of years my wife and I have been experimenting with a form of lifestyle design that I've nicknamed 'Digital Gypsy'. For us, being Digital Gypsies means we now divide our time between Italy, the UK and North America and have a number of businesses, some of which run on auto-pilot, that generate enough income to allow us to make it all possible. Digital Gypsies are part of a wider trend that also includes digital nomads and those individuals and families who are by choice location independent. We are a motley crew that consists of writers, web ...
But who will be eaten first? The House of Lords by numbers – interesting data on how many Lords of different parties have been appointed in the last few years. The Poisonous Drivel of Dr Denis MacShane MP – A Labour MP and the Daily Mail conspire in quoting something out of context to disparage the work of a feminist academic? Hands up anyone not surprised by this latest attempt to drag everyone down to the lowest common denominator. (via) The People's Pledge campaign: More lies, irrelevancies and distortions from the British EU referendum campaign – Luckily, Nosemonkey doesn't get ...
Following the disaster for the Yes campaign in the AV referendum result there has been a mass of analysis on the lessons we need to learn. Yet there is only one real lesson we need to learn which has seemingly totally escaped all commentary. As Neil Stockley points out The strategy and the messaging are ...
Oh alright then. Not really. In fact anyone following both their twitter feeds over the last few days will have been delighted as they tag team Guido and Harry Cole into knots, half nelsons, spine crushers and full on body slams. It's been a delight watching Guido work himself into a state of near spontaneous combustion as they take it in turns to gently point out the error of his ways...Take a look at the comments section on this post for example. Brilliant However, to justify the sensationalist headline I have appended to this post, Olly and Mark have in ...
Life changes, even here in my little Suffolk village, and quite often, it only needs a push from one or two people to make it happen. One thing that I had noticed in Creeting St Peter when I first moved here was the apparent lack of social activity. Yes, it is a small place, with only a church room as a social space, and given my backstory in the big city, I wasn't hugely concerned, especially as I was still working in London. There was, I was told, some activity in the past, organised by the Community Council, summer fetes, ...
There's a serious risk I might arrive early for the @libdemvoice meet-up. This will confuse everyone, including me. # RT @sarabedford: Sitting in the London sunshine with @stephentall @markpack @helenduffett and @artesea « she is, y'know. # Guido Fawkes vs Stephen Tall – The CIPR Conversation http://t.co/aGTDAC2 via @markpack < I still agree with me, too [IMG: :)] # Reasons to make proper will, No 94: have just signed-off another 4-fig £legal bill to process estate. Sum left to charity now much less [IMG: :(] # Phew – 3,500 words written in 5 hours. Shame it was for work. #banggoesanotherdayofblogging ...
Fri 27th
09:26
Should ITN's Chris Ship and the BBC's Peter Henley sue Guido for sending them on a #wildgoosechase?
Here's Guido excitedly tweeting with lots of "+++" on Wednesday evening: And here's Chris Ship, ITN's crack reporter, who hot-footed it to Eastleigh following the tip from the impeccable source of Guido: But then BBC South's excellent political editor, Peter Henley, also roused from his armchair by Guido's tweet, puts Guido right, even using the hashtag #wildgoosechase: LibDemVoice confirms: Was it an emergency meeting? No, it was a previously scheduled one. Was it a Liberal Democrat meeting? No, it was a meeting of the Eastleigh and the Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath Local Area Committees to which council officers ...
The Daily Telegraph writes Chris Huhne has achieved more in a year than most top politicians manage in a lifetime which has been picked up by LibDemVoice already but it is worth repeating, particularly as I will use it in the year round up of strengths within the party. Both decisions were cliffhangers. Both were ...
As Cameron commits apache helicopters to Libya, you have to wonder whether the economic investment that can be the only reason for this farcical activity is worth it. America didn't think so, with Obama refusing to commit any further military equipment to the fighting in Libya. So why is Cameron so hellbent on spending cash on it? Like the banks, the argument is that the initial investment
If in doubt, slow news week, let's churn out some figures on what alcohol consumption costs the NHS. Alternatively, a good story that borders racism about immigration is a good hit. What did we do to deserve both on the same day? While I'm the first to admit I have Obama fatigue, I'm keen enough to notice the huge spreads on these in the papers, fuelling further social discontent as purses
And so it starts! This morning's Western Mail carries a fairly substantive article about Welsh Tory leadership contender, Nick Ramsey being barred from his local pub for being a bit lippy during a quiz. The paper says that the Monmouthshire AM, offended Simon Key, the landlord at the Nag's Head in Usk after the landlord claims he repeatedly heckled the quizmaster during an event in aid of the Help for Heroes charity. Mr. Key has now written to the local Conservative Association saying he will not be renewing his party membership following the incident, which took place during the recent ...
Although many election campaigns and candidates are still rather old-fashioned in their approach to technology, the bundle of services that a cutting-edge campaign uses has rather settled down for the last few years, in particular since Twitter and Facebook have grown to dominate their niche and push their rivals into obscurity. What people do with these tools still sees plenty of innovation, but the range of tools has become rather standard. However, that may be about to change as geo-location based tools spread. Once you get beyond doing clever things with Google Maps or postcode lookups, you quickly get into ...
Cameron has decisively taken a back step with the economy debate, leaving Osbourne to field questions from Cabinet colleagues following the reduction in growth predictions for the UK. The I paper declares happily 'Osbourne has been forced to fend off doubts about his economic policy' and the words 'jitters' and 'wobble' are used in a pejorative manner regarding the UK financial status. As I
When locating an enemy of significant proportions, around whom an entire regime has functioned, try taking a leaf from Serbia's books. Ratko Mladic, thought responsible for thousands of deaths in a massacre in Bosnia, was brought into custody last night. Please note, he was brought into custody. There was no need to crash a chinook into his home, and even though he was armed, he gave himself
Freedom Bill: I had hoped to blog the passage of the Bill through its committee stage – but studying for it and taking it through meant that there was no time. Suffice to say it was well debated and argued. Basically on the key points Labour would put everything in it virtually back where it was under them: ie retaining innocent people on the DNA data base, continuing to take children's fingerprints without parental permission, making over 9 million people be registered and monitored continually – even if they are a parent volunteering to read to children and are supervised ...
Fri 27th
08:14
Chris writes to transport minister calling for investigation into the mistreatment of passengers by ...
Chris White, who represents central St Albans on the county council and is leader of the Lib Dem Group, has written to the Transport Minister Norman Baker calling for an investigation into the breakdown in service on First Capital Connect last night. Chris said: 'We are well used to the contempt that First Group shows to its commuters but this was exceptional even by their shoddy standards. Passengers were apparently left trapped with little air, no water and no communication after a power failure near Kentish Town. There were as ever people standing because of the chronic overcrowding. Some were ...
This is a far more grand title than deserved. I commute. I therefore read tangiable papers made of real pulped tree, allowing me to cast my opinions by Blackberry simultaneously. I adore the I paper but I find it whets my appetite and leaves me wanting. The Independent would be the logical choice, but, as with the Guardian, I find it too leftie without any good debate. I have always
Yesterday I wrote a post poking gentle fun at Guido Fawkes for claiming that an "emergency meeting" of Eastleigh Liberal Democrats had taken place the previous evening. His claim resulted in the ITV reporter Chris Ship banging on the doors of an empty constituency office. Guido left a reply in the comments saying:FYI BBC's Peter Henley was waiting for Huhne at the Eastleigh Civic Centre LD meeting.But that was not how Peter Henley saw it... If you want to know what was really going on in Eastleigh on Wednesday night, read Liberal Democrat Voice:Was it a Liberal Democrat meeting? No, ...
Vince Cable seems to be occupying a somewhat awkward role in Government as the Coalition enters its second year. While continuing as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, he appears to be acting as agent provocateur-in-chief of the new style Lib Dem "opposition within government". He popped up as the surprise guest at ...
As you know I love it when people comment here. Some of you, though, get a wee bit anxious if more than five minutes elapses before your comment is published. At the moment, I'm having trouble posting comments from my phone - it just doesn't seem to be able to find the comment published page for some reason that I can't fathom. So, I can only publish comments from my laptop. That means that it might take a bit longer if I'm out and about. And now that I'm not ill any nore, I tend to have a bit more ...
The courts have convicted Lord Hanningfield of expenses fraud, following his failed attempt earlier in the year with other accused MPs to claim that Parliamentary Privilege protected them from prosecution. The Guardian reports: Lord Hanningfield - tried at Chelmsford crown court under his name, Paul White, on Thursday - had denied six counts of false accounting relating to his parliamentary expenses. The prosecution said he had claimed for overnight stays in London, between March 2006 and April 2009, when he had actually returned home to Essex. White told the court he had seen it as a "living out of London ...
Do you know someone who is truly inspirational? Someone who always strives to do their best? This is your chance to give them their moment to shine. With one year to go until the Olympic Flame arrives in the UK, London 2012 has launched the search for 8,000 Torchbearers to take part in the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay. They will be individuals whose personal stories will inspire millions of people as the 70-day Relay travels the length and breadth of the UK. Together with their Presenting Partners Coca Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung, London 2012 need you to help ...
i) births and deaths 27 May 1926: birth of Peter Ling, who wrote The Mind Robber (1968). 27 May 1981: death of Kit Pedler, who co-wrote The Tenth Planet (1966), The Moonbase (1967) and The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967). ii) broadcast anniversaries 27 May 1967: broadcast of second episode of Evil of the Daleks; first appearance of Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield. The Doctor and Jamie are transported back to 1866, and Jamie is captured by a mysterious intruder. 27 May 1972: broadcast of second episode of The Time Monster. Stu has been aged by the effects of TOMTIT; ...
We should so blatantly do more randomised trials on policy - Bad Science Yes, yes we should (tags: science politics)
The one substantive item on the agenda of this week's Acocks Green Ward Committee this week was the approval of a substantial element of this year's Community Chest funds. Spending was approved on all the schemes recommended by the Ward Advisory Board as follows: Business Improvement District – £12,000. This money will be used to finance and complete the Business Improvement District application process now underway for Acocks Green. The application, which will culminate in a vote by businesses in the Village, would, if successful, lead to an extra levy on the businesses (totalling around £100,000) for spending on improving ...
A couple of years ago when I was Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Panel in Reading I drew attention to the previous Labour government's Mortgage Rescue Scheme in a post entitled: 'The recession, housing and health in Reading today" "As predicted we had a very interesting discussion on all things housing-related, spending a fair amount of time discussing how Reading is coping in the recession. I was very impressed by the way officers in Reading Borough Council are coming up with policies and approaches that are really helping to support people in Reading. As one officer remarked 'we've never been ...
