Over the past couple of weeks Liberal Democrats in the UK governing coalition have been crowing about getting one of their manifesto priorities implemented: the "Green Investment Bank". Not content with the previous government deciding that taxpayers would like to own several badly performing banks, government has decided we need to own another one, funded by £3 billion more of our money. This is bad news. Now, before people denounce me as someone who obviously doesn't care about what mankind is doing to the planet (or whether we are doing anything to it) as they probably think most libertarians are ...
It' s rather like finding a Derby winner pulling a milk float, but Dan Falchikov reports the welcome news that a preserved Deltic locomotive has been hired to haul commercial freight trains because of a shortage of locomotives. Deltics hauled the express trains on the King's Cross to Edinburgh line in the 1960s and 1970s, though by the time I was a student at York they had been relegated to heading the stopping trains from there to London. There was something very attractive about Deltics: that hunched, powerful shape and the throaty roar of their engines. People used to say ...
[IMG: Veolia's fence in Stationers Park] Last week I attended an 'emergency' meeting of the Friends of Stationers Park to discuss the state of the park, which has declined rapidly since Reg the park keeper retired. High on residents' list of concerns is the large metal fence that Veolia (the Council's new waste contractor) have been allowed to erect round the old maintenance hut. It is very ugly and visible across large parts of the park. It seems to have been put up without any warning, consultation or planning permission. The fenced of area is being used to store Veolia's ...
Is a major change in policy thinking imminent? Will Hutton's piece in Sunday's Observer focused on the question of quite what the Labour party stands for. It is relatively clear what it is against, but its positive project is rather less obvious. And it needs such a project if it is going to counteract Conservative ...
Swansea City fans have every reason to celebrate today (and for some time hence). In a few short years they have gone from avoiding relegation out of the football league, by the skin of their teeth, to the richest (but clearly not best) league in the world. The club suffered at the hands of appalling off field management with various owners bringing the club to its knees. But supporters of the Swans weren't prepared to lie down and let a series of rich, uninterested businessmen use the club as a cash cow. They set up the one of the first ...
VN just found this rather delightful offering on the Cabinet Office's YouTube channel. The coalition-cross-party-love-in recorded by Alexander and Letwin is a reminder of just what the coalition is about. Ok, this video smells distinctly of cheddar, but the Government was so much better, such a breath of fresh air, when it was positive, and ...
Back in 2007, the City Council agreed with a Liberal Democrat manifesto pledge to increase annual expenditure on upgrading unadopted pavements in the City from £200 000 to £500 000. I was therefore pleased to be advised last week by the City Engineer that the City Council intends to upgrade pavements in Marchfield Road, Marchfield Crescent and the north side of Menzieshill Road during 2011/12. However, I have queried with the City Engineer why a number of West End pavements that have high priority will not be upgraded until the following financial year. Pavements in a number of other streets ...
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dem group on the borough council. Thank you to everyone for your comments following the election results. Many people have taken the time to express your appreciation for this newsletter, and I do hope to continue this in exactly the same way that it has appeared before. The new cabinet for the council will meet for the first time tomorrow, and we will get down to the business of running the council. Portfolios will be allocated to members of the ...
There's a wonderful piece over on ConservativeHome where Cllr Andrew Povey, the leader of Surrey County Council, is singing the praises of the way the council's cuts to the library budget are leading to the involvement of volunteers from the local community and how wonderful it is to see the Big Society in action. In short, it's arrogant, bragging drivel. But it's more than that though, it's also incredibly dishonest. In the comment thread below a man has comprehensively shown the utter mendacity and dishonesty of Povey's piece. Here's what that commenter had to say: "I'm playing a leading role ...
A tale of Sefton Labour Party Roy Jenkins-the best home Secretary in my lifetime-wrote a book called 'Mr Balfour's Poodle'. The poodle was a Tory in fact it was 500 of them. As Lloyd George remarked they were; '"Five hundred men, accidently chosen from among the ranks of the unemployed". They were the House of Lords. They abused their power at the behest of Mr Balfour -the Tory leader- to cling on to unwarranted privileges in the teeth of the will of the elected government. Well they were Tories and as Vince reminded us they are "ruthless, calculating and tribal" ...
Oh dear, as usual FIFA's President Sepp Blatter cannot see the wood for the trees. This Wednesday FIFA will select its new President, however, there is now only one candidate, that is the current controversial President, one Joseph Sepp Blatter. His opponent and the only rival candidate - Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) - pulled out having been suspended by Fifa's own ethics committee over allegations that financial incentives were offered to Caribbean Football Union members. So, on Saturday there was a Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) press conference in Zurich, but only one ...
TweetPeter Hain has form in trying to make unpolitical situations exactly that on twitter, having already tried to create a fuss at the lack of Ed Miliband camera time here. Well he's at it again, this time it's about Swansea being promoted to the premier league. Here is the offending tweet. Whilst you may have views on coalition policies and what exactly it is doing to your area, i'm sure football really should be left well out of it. I'm sure not a single Swansea fan thought on being promoted to the Premier League thought, ahh there that'll show Nick ...
The Beeb this morning carried a great story about a Deltic loco - which I remember hauling the Edinburgh London expresses at great speed in the 1970s - being called back into service to meet a boom in demand for railfreight. It is good news that railfreight is booming - particularly as it is clearly switching trucks from the road. But only in the UK with its disastrous privatisation of rail (which remained basically unaddressed for 13 years under Labour) would the solution be to hire a preserved railway loco. It's a sign of how poorly the country's railways have ...
Not with me on board it won't. Rachel Sylvester in The Times (£) today has claimed that Cameron is keen for the coalition to continue even if his party wins an overall majority. Now I have to admit that I find this difficult to believe, it wouldn't surprise me if it was made up (After all only a Lib Dem would look to coalesce even when we could do it alone, painfully consensual politics?). 'For the Tory modernisers, the Lib Dems are the ideal weapon to ward off the enemy within. The news that some of the so-called "Tatler Tories" ...
I found this fascinating article about the assassination of the then Dominican Dictator Rafael Trujillo 50 years ago. It is gripping reading. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13560512
According to the Beeb the Brockworth cheese rollers defied the authorities once again by holding an unofficial cheese roll down Coopers Hill in Gloucestershire. It seems a bizarre use of police and the 'elf n safety' commissars' time to try and prevent a couple of hundred grown men and women falling down a hill in pursuit of a cheese, but they clearly don't have anything better to do there and the Gloucestershire constabulary must be so flush with cash they can afford to send 'a large police presence' on a bank holiday to try and stop it. Surely there must ...
One criticism which has been leveled at me since entering the world of politics is that I just go on about breastfeeding all the time and that I should concern myself with important things instead. So I have just been reorganising my blog and thinking about some of the posts and wether they are political or not. There is a whole book to explain this properly if you really want to understand why breastfeeding is a very much a political issue all over the world, but just on a a local, personal level, this is why I think it is ...
This morning's Western Mail revelation that Alun Cairns MP has taken his £29,000 resettlement grant from the Welsh Assembly despite having effectively been missing in action for the best part of 12 months and being able to draw on a substantially better MPs salary, must be quite embarrassing for the Welsh Conservatives. Of course, if Alun had stood down in May 2010 when he was elected to Parliament and allowed the number two on the Tory list to take his seat instead, then he would not have been entitled to the grant at all. Just saying.
Apologies for the failure to post over the last few days. It was certainly not my intention. I have been in Hay-on-Wye for the annual Literature Festival and went equipped with a number of mobile devices determined to use them to post here. However, I had not accounted for the total failure of O2 to sort out their coverage problem there. As a result I was completely cut off from the outside world. Still I had a good time and saw some outstanding contributions, including those from A.C Grayling, Michael Wood, Tristram Hunt and a panel discussing the fate of ...
Following our successful fringe meeting at the Scottish Spring Conference in Perth, the Social Liberal Forum (Scotland) will hold a further meeting in Glasgow. The venue is Room 9 in Partick Burgh Hall, from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday 25 ... Continue reading →
Yesterday's Independent on Sunday carried an editorial devoted to the energy secretary, Chris Huhne. While acknowledging that Huhne has had some personal difficulties over the past few weeks, the newspaper praises him for the (often unnoticed) work he has been doing to realise this government's ambition to be the greenest ever. And, considering he's only been in place for just over a year, his achievements to date are already commendable. Here's an extract from the piece: In all this speculation about whether Mr Huhne would keep his job, however, one consideration has been almost totally overlooked. How well has he ...
On Saturday, Andrew Grice wrote in The Independent that sources have told him the idea of a "confidence and supply" arrangement between the Conservatives and Lib Dems is now back on the cards. It was mooted in the aftermath of the election result last year before the coalition was formed and would allow the Lib Dems to oppose certain pieces of legislation but allow through others that it supported. However it would mean losing the government positions and what we would effectively end up with would be a Conservative minority government with an arrangement for important legislation such as the ...
I am not really a gardener, and not terribly nostalgic either, but Ros is keen for the former, so we've spent part of the Bank Holiday weekend working on the garden. Ros is in charge, so I dig holes where required, fetch and carry pots, compost and hosepipes, whilst Ros plants things in the borders, or in pots. However, I did feel that I should have a plant of my own, something that I could take personal responsibility for. And so, whilst at the Suffolk Food Barn today, I bought this redcurrent bush to be planted in the garden. I ...
Conferences are a foundation stone of being a Liberal Democrat. There have been some really huge and important ones - Brighton, 2002, where we laid out a principled position on Iraq; Llandudno, 1981, where Shirley Williams and David Steel spoke passionately in favour of an alliance; Sheffield, 2011, when we opposed the NHS reforms. Conference is the best way for the membership to exert their influence over the leadership. Past leaders, from Steel to Ashdown, from Kennedy to Clegg, have often feared Conference for the skill and passion with which it has put its arguments. And so the tradition of ...
[IMG: Whatever Next book cover] It's simple enough: sign up to get my monthly email newsletter before the end of Tuesday and I'll put your name in the hat, with the lucky winner getting a brand new copy of Earl Ferrers's memoirs Whatever Next? As the blurb on the book says: "When members of the House of Lords voted in 1999 which 92 hereditary peers to keep, Earl Ferrers topped the list, and from this elegant collection of engaging vignettes, it is easy to see why". My monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats is designed for busy people just like ...
After temporarily discombobulating herself with her "Blood libel" speech, Sarah Palin has been lying low for a few months. Now she's coming back with a bang. She's doing a "One Nation" tour of the East coast of the USA. She isn't telling the media where she's going, but she'll be touring iconic American sites in a bus with her family. It's unorthodox, but seems remarkably astute to me. She's started in the last day by coming into Washington on the back of a Harley Davidson, meeting some veterans and touring national monuments "incognito" (which means "wearing sunglasses"). It's all documented ...
Mon 30th
15:54
The Cameron-Clegg Government: or the perils of publishing a book early in the Parliament
Simon Lee and Matt Beech's new book The Cameron-Clegg Government: Coalition Politics in an Age of Austerity has, at first glance, a lot going for it. A line-up of significant academic names, a well-known and reputable publisher (Palgrave Macmillan) a subject matter that is rarely out of the news and (unlike for books about the 2010 general election) a field relatively clear of rival publications. A second glance suggests one of its problems: although nominally about both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, there are five contributors who are listed as having published books purely about the Conservative Party but ...
Well if it is, I've done it. Well done BBC Four. They broadcast a documentary on the A303 (A303 – Highway to the Sun) with Tom Fort. It was an absolute joy. The man travelled from Andover to just past Honiton in an old Morris Minor traveller, describing historical and natural treats along the way. Did you know, for example, that yards from the A303 at Longparish, Hampshire lies a monument to commemorate the murder of Earl Aetholdwold, Earl of Hampshire, by King Edgar in 963? There is a fascinating story behind this. Aetholdwold was the best friend of the ...
Shopping is best done at Boscombe Market for fun, value and fun. Next - for the things you cant get comes Aldi, It is on the way home, no nonsense, good quality, cheap. But there are some things that are not available from either, so thats when Ocado (deliver Waitrose products) works out well for Bread flour, chickpeas, Champagne... and if you order it late at night it is delivered for £1 so good for heavy items. On the food programme this week they were talking about food quality and supermarkets and the comment was made that the quality supermarkets ...
Camden's Labour party are this weekend rather naively claiming that their "local action teams" have won a fantastic victory in the battle to save Camden's libraries. Or is it really a victory? Perhaps they should check their facts - on a closer look this self-proclaimed miracle may simply turn out to be a clever conjuring trick! After months of talking and costly consultations (which only proved what everyone already knew - no-one wants libraries closed) a paper on the future of Camden's libraries has been produced with a flourish - like a rabbit out of a hat! Abracadra! Top line ...
Last week the Western Edinburgh Neighbourhood Partnership had its latest public meeting in Murrayfield. We have a couple of meetings in public a year and we were piped in to the meeting by a couple of young pipers from the Craigmount High School band. The band secretary was on hand to tell us what they had managed to do with the grant we gave them last year. The answer - quite a lot! They had invested in new equipment and had managed to expand their activities. They even had managed for the first time in years to enter the national ...
European Cup Finals seldom produce the great matches the occasion deserves. A few games stand out as exceptions. Hampden Park 1960 has been the epitome of the "beautiful game". Saturday night will stand as one of those occasions. Barcelona were, far and away, too good for Manchester United. It wasn't that Man U were in any way poor, though Alex Ferguson seemed less than chuffed with their standard of play, it was that Barca had that vital extra dimension. The three goals were all out of the top drawer and as far as I could see none were due to ...
The Columbus Post Dispatch is reporting that Jim Tressel has quit as Head Coach of the Ohio State Football programme with immediate effect. This comes on the heels of a troublesome few months for both the programme and Tressel personally after it became clear he had been involved in some pretty serious NCAA violations with regards to failing to report violations to either the compliance officer or the NCAA themselves. The dispatch obtained a copy of a memo to Ohio State trustees this morning: "I write to let you know that later this morning we will be announcing the resignation ...
With Laurence Cox, Marisha Ray, Caroline Pidgeon and Shas Sheehan in Harrow I was off canvassing with the Harrow team this morning for their forthcoming Canons by-election. It was a classic mix of conversations on the doorstep - from the budget deficit to personal stories about healthcare and someone with a problem with local builders starting noisy work very early on a Bank Holiday Sunday. It all rather reminded me of one of my favourite political cartoons - and was good to see a strong showing from our London Assembly team also coming to help out. Polling day is Thursday ...
The June issue of Total Politics has a profile of Lynne Featherstone MP in which interviewer Ben Duckworth looks at how Lynne thinks as a minister and how she is regarded. Here's a flavour: On ministerial visits, she will arrive to discover that people have confused her with her Conservative colleague Maria Miller: "I go somewhere and someone thinks I'm the disabilities minister. I'm taking a look at how that can be communicated better." This does seem to be down to her vague title, as Featherstone admits. "People think, because my nomenclature is minister for equalities, I cover race, discrimination, ...
I feel a bit nervous writing about the law when people like LPW and Love and Garbage, who do actually know what they are talking about, do it so much better. However I thought it might be interestingto put forward the perspective of a non legal person on this business about the UK Supreme Court hearing appeals on Scottish cases which relate to the European Court of Human Rights for the whole of the UK. Scotland has long been proud of its independent legal system, and nobody is suggesting that we should be subsumed by English law. The issue is ...
On Saturday I went to watch Rob Lowe – Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn in The West Wing – being interviewed by Mariella Frostrup at the Hay Festival. When the talk was opened up to questions from the audience, I ... Continue reading →
Three entertainers were lost over the weekend. The first is Jeff Conaway who passed away at only 60. He is best known as Kenickie in the film version of Grease the T-Bird who was second only to Danny Zuko. Then he moved on to the TV series Taxi in which he played the struggling actor Bobby Wheeler, and appeared as Sergeant Zack Allen in Babylon 5. He died from pneumonia with sepsis, which his dependence on persciption drugs meant it was discovered too late how ill he was. So here he is with John Travolta in Grease Lightning Next up ...
As a Liberal Democrat, I support UK Government policy on the war in Afghanistan. British forces are second to none when it comes to their professionalism and their efforts to avoid civilian casualties. Most civilian casualties in Afghanistan are the responsibility not of NATO, but of the very people that NATO is fighting against. Having said all of that, it does worry me that more British media attention is not being given to the issue of Afghan civilians being killed by NATO forces. I appreciate that the killings are unintended and accidental and that NATO is doing all it can ...
Earlier today I posted a video of the famous (in Scotland at least) Tennent's advert featuring a Scot packing in London life and returning to the homeland. While researching it, I found lots of other Tennent's adverts, including these two from 1994: If a certain (and preferable) Irish Stout didn't already have a monopoly on the phrase, I'd be tempted to call these adverts Pure Genius. Andrew
I may be late to the party on this one, but I was pleased to discover yesterday that the science journalist Ben Goldacre is the son of seventies pop star Noosha Fox... Perhaps his mum could have a word with Ben and tell him that his permanent student act is starting to pall? Oh, and it is rude to pull faces when the other person in a television debate is talking. Trivia fans will also appreciate Liberal Burblings' investigations of the links between the part of Velvet Brown in the film National Velvet and two prominent Liberal Democrats.
In 2015, as we approach the general election, it will be exactly 70 years since the 1945 general election. When we draw up our 2015 manifesto, we need to remember the lessons of 1945. That election saw the Labour party, after several years in a coalition government for reasons of the national interest, cast aside the memories of the wartime government to win a landslide majority based on a radical, optimistic manifesto that laid out a glowing vision of the future. Say what you like about the Labour party of old, at least they could not be accused of lack ...
Here's our latest leaflet we're delivering in Cheadle and Gatley ward. Cheadle and Gatley May 2011 Keeping in Touch leaflet
Mon 30th
11:03
Sunday Times reports purge of Tory approved parliamentary candidates - local detail awaited
This week's Sunday Times has an interesting article saying that the Tories have carried out a massive purge of their approved candidates list. No doubt the local impact of the purge will emerge in the next few days, but the story makes interesting reading as it stands. To quote a couple of paragraphs: "Deborah Dunleavy, a 2010 candidate who featured in a newspaper spread of "Cameron's cuties", is also among about 150 Tory hopefuls, most of whom have fought in one or more elections, who were dumped from the party's approved list last week." "There were also claims that Conservative ...
As Europe suffers a hangover from President Obama's visit and excitement from the media returns to normality, the 'Leader of the Free World' remains unquestioned by Europeans. The message of 'change' still resonates in European capitals and has become the ... Continue reading →
Congratulations to Amnesty International for reaching its 50th anniversary. I first heard of Amnesty in my school days and helped form a local school support group. At that time the head teacher was horrified assuming we'd become some kind of radical revolutionaries and considered expelling us – until the local newspaper printed an article. Phew. If ever a demonstration of how important Amnesty was to us about free speech that was it. We spend much of the next two years while at school writing Urgent Action airmail letters to central American officials asking for political prisoners to be treated well, ...
BANK HOLIDAY SALE: - Network DVD Grab yourselves a bargain; there's lots I'd recommend on here for mega cheap prices. (tags: film) The 24 Types of Libertarian I have met many of these people. Bizarrely Hypocritical is the one that's bothering me the most at the moment, although I meet a lot of The Island types too. Caveat Emptor is the funniest, IMHO. (tags: feminism funny politics comics) Shirley Bassey - GET THE PARTY STARTED Tom Jones? You're AN AMATEUR. (tags: music) Superhero Cupcake Set « The Cupcake Blog Want BatBuns (tags: cakeordeath) Someone who has similar feelings about The ...
Mon 30th
09:54
Sharon Shoesmith: a case of incompetent government, incompetent minister, and all the reasons I vote...
Sharon Shoesmith is a product of the system created by an incompetent government incapable of asking the right people the right questions who then became a scapegoat to cover up for the government's incompetence. Everyone in the Lib Dems should know the details, particularly if you are in a Council controlled by the Lib Dems, ...
It may be rare these days but the Guardian does occasionally see some good coming from the Lib Dems and in the article today Ed Miliband shouldn't crow. It's time to move closer to Clegg they praise not only the Lib Dem stance on the NHS but also the Lib Dems in Coalition. Interestingly, this ...
So Sebastian Vettel continues to run away with this year's world championship. With 143 points out of a possible 150, 5 race wins out of 6, he looks invincible. Having said that, Jenson Button was in the same position 2 years ago and his title win wasn't decided until the penultimate race of the season. Having said that, the Red Bull will develop more than the Brawn car did in 2009. We can but hope that others will start to win races soon. Nowt personal about the lad, you understand, but I'd just like the title race not to be ...
Mon 30th
09:39
Quiz answer: The two people, connected to the LibDems, who auditioned for the lead role in "National...
Yesterday I asked for the names of two people connected with the Liberal Democrats who auditioned for the lead role in "National Velvet". That was the 1944 film starring Elizabeth Taylor in the lead role of Velvet Brown. Two people (one of them deceased) with, let's say, "connections" with the Liberal Democrats auditioned for the role which was eventually played by Taylor. The first one, as Jonathan Calder commented was Shirley Williams – "as any fule kno". I discovered the identity of the other person last week. I saw a tweet saying that Chris Huhne's mother was the voice of ...
We've had in the media the list of the ten worst excuses given by benefit fraudsters. To be fair, the ladder one is particularly fine ... yet when you total up the sums, the amount lost in benefit fraud is about the same or less than the amount lost due to administrative mistakes*. I'm sure the list of the ten worst administrative blunders by civil servants is in the media grid coming up shortly, aren't you? * Calculations on this vary depending on precise definitions and data used, but see The FactCheck Blog for an example.
So yet another smear story about local government was in the papers on Saturday with an appropriate quote from my mate Eric. Did you see the none story? Well basically it came to the conclusion that councils in England spend ... Continue reading →
The County Durham Plan is back out for consultation, and you can join in that consultation by clicking here When the plan first came out I felt it was very Durham-City-centric, and I still have that feeling. Here are some of the quotes that make me feel that: There is broad support for Durham City being a driver of economic growth A strong focus on realising the potential of Durham City as a driver for economic development in County Durham. New employment opportunities are accompanied by complementary new housing and retail development. Within the A1 Corridor, Durham City's unique position ...
i) births and deaths 30 May 1938: birth of Christopher Robbie, who played the Karkus in The Mind Robber (1969) and the Cyber-Leader in Revenge of the Cybermen (1975). ii) broadcast anniversaries 30 May 1964: broadcast of "The Warriors of Death", second episode of the story we now call The Aztecs. In his efforts to regain entrance to the tomb, the Doctor is inadvertently responsible for poisoning Ian. 30 May 1970: broadcast of fourth episode of Inferno. The Doctor is imprisoned, but escapes, trying to stop the drilling of the planet "screaming out its rage". 30 May 2003: webcast of ...
...That I think about you all the timeCaledonia, you're calling meAnd now I'm going home. Edinburgh Castle, from my trip home last November It's not often I mention personal stuff on these pages but it's no secret that later today I'll be flying home to Scotland for a week for the wedding of my sister (and guest blogger). As ever the ol' heartstrings will be tugged by the various sights and sounds of home, as well as the opportunity to catch up with friends and family. This sentiment is aptly summed up in Dougie McLean's song "Caledonia" which I've quoted ...
I spent last Saturday helping to staff a Water Aid exhibition in York Minster as part of their campaign to highlight the improtance of conserving the environment. Many of those who showed interest were fellow exhiitors already conversant with and converted to our cause, but I like to think we alerted some of the general public to the importance of enabling all the world's people to gain access to fresh water and effective sanitation, and promoting good hygiene practices. My wanderings among the other exhibitions gave me the answer to a problem which has puzzled me for some time: namely, ...
Why White Men Should Refuse to Be on Panels of All White Men (tags: feminism diversity)
lilactoventoux: Glorious 25th of May Ventoux Report Camilla rides up a mountain to raise funds for Alzheimer's research. She's done it now, but I think is still accepting donations. (tags: coolstuff belgium) BBC - Newsnight: Paul Mason: Twenty reasons why it's kicking off everywhere Various interesting points, including: "There is no Cold War, and the War on Terror is not as effective as the Cold War was in solidifying elites against change." (tags: politics)
