I was going to post something about bonfire night, but couldn't find anything on YouTube that didn't involve the overrated Katy Perry. So in memory of Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up the House of Commons 306 years ago tomorrow - here's Talking Heads with Burning Down the House...
The news that David Cameron's candidate has won the Leadership of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party could prove a watershed for the party and Scottish politics. For the best part of a quarter of century the Tories have been considered toxic in Scotland - and part of the Lib Dems current struggle north of the border is simply our association with them in coalition at Westminster - a body increasingly marginal to the lives of most Scots. Over the years the Tories have tried almost everything to re-establish themselves - more right wing policies, less right wing policies, blank ...
The above pictures shows the developer's plans for the Hardy Farm site. A number of local residents have recently contacted me after the grass on the Hardy Farm site turned brown. I asked the City Council's Environmental Protection Group to look into the issue urgently. I have since learnt that this is part of plans to convert the meadow into playing fields and carry out other works to the site. The grass has been recently sprayed to deter grass growth and will be ploughed shortly. The land will be left to aerate over the winter. Next spring the plans are ...
Last week the Westminster bubble expanded with a lot of hot air about Britain's future in the European Union. The current crop of Conservative MPs has a Eurosceptic majority, with a substantial hard core advocating complete withdrawal . They form a curious alliance with the left of the Labour party, egged on by a hysterical ...
L. to R. Matt Gallagher, John Commons, Paul Shannon, Nick Clegg & John Leech
Nick Clegg visited Chorlton last night to speak to party members and supporters. Despite the short notice and wet weather a large crowd attended the Hough End Centre to participate in a question and answer session with the Deputy Prime Minister. No one present could recall a DPM attending such a meeting outside of a General Election year. His frank assessment of the economic situation, and his impassioned defence of his party's work to protect the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society from the storm we inherited, and his openness to any question fired at him from the ...
Or: A Guide To Giving Great Head Crashes So I fetch out my external hard drive for the second time ever to try and put a Ghost file on of the work laptop I've been given, so that I can wipe it and put a fresh copy of Windows on it. And I find that having formatted it on my old Mac, the Windows laptop won't read it. So I plug it into my Ubuntu laptop, save all the documents and photos, and swallow as I reformat it, losing all my music - temporarily, at least - until I can ...
....and he apparently gives orders while on a rowing machine.... Nick Clegg photo credit: Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
See for yourself here. [IMG: 20111104-211129.jpg] [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Cross-posted from Liberal Democrat Voice In my ever-earnest toil to prepare this review, this week I have been reviewing web sites which explain cricket umpire signals. I also checked the umpire signals for netball, American football and baseball. There is no doubt about it. Ed Balls was signalling a four at Prime Ministers' Questions. His hand was a bit lower than normal, but it would pass to signal a boundary at Morley Cricket Club. For a change, I'm going to stand this review on its head this week and concentrate on questions from backbenchers, starting with Liberal Democrats. Question of ...
Today's Guardian has an interview with Toomas Ilves, the President of Estonia. His is a fascinating story - there is more detail on Wikipedia - and I was struck by this passage the interview: I would say that the European Union is really a fundamental partner, or should be, for the United States insofar as it's on the same side of the ideological page. "The competing model today is authoritarian capitalism, countries that are formerly communist or nominally communist, where they basically say, 'You can make money, but you can't have freedom of speech and you can't have freedom of ...
In my ever-earnest toil to prepare this review, this week I have been reviewing web sites which explain cricket umpire signals. I also checked the umpire signals for netball, American football and baseball. There is no doubt about it. Ed Balls was signalling a four at Prime Ministers' Questions. His hand was a bit lower than normal, but it would pass to signal a boundary at Morley Cricket Club. For a change, I'm going to stand this review on its head this week and concentrate on questions from backbenchers, starting with Liberal Democrats. Question of the week came from Tim ...
The Scottish Conservatives have squandered a golden opportunity to re-shape Scottish politics and address their decline in fortunes by opting for the newly elected MSP Ruth Davidson. The timorous beasties that bothered to vote (35% did not) in the end opted for pseudo-modernisation instead of embracing real change offered by Murdo Fraser. Despite her non-traditional lifestyle, Davidson is a Tory traditionalist on the constitution: she opposes further powers for Holyrood and sees the Scotland Bill very much as thus far and no further. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. I've previously commented on the opportunities open to the ...
There is one meeting at Blyth Town Council next week. There will be a meeting of the Full Council on Thursday 10th November, at 6:45 pm. The meeting is at The Isabella Centre, Ogle Drive, Blyth. Public Question time will follow the council meeting ( and from the agenda, that looks to be nearer 9 o'clock than 7 )
The county council is refusing to supply any more 'grit' bins. Chris comments: 'There are a number of areas around central St Albans which clearly need grit bins so that local residents can salt roads and footways. This is shortsighted decision showing yet again that the county council is entirely out of touch with the needs of local people.'
Neither the news that applications to university have dropped off as the new tuition fees regime approaches, nor the boost in applications that occurred a few months ago as people got in early before the change, should come as a surprise to anyone who knows anything about behavioural economics. For those who suspect that behavioural economics sounds like some wheeze dreamt up by a set of marketing whiz kids to pull the wool over consumer's eyes - well, yes, you'd largely be right. It's the art (I use the word advisedly) of positioning a product or service in a way ...
In the bad old Labour government days state welfare benefits and pensions were indexed in the following April according to the inflation rate in the previous September. One year, I forget which, the September inflation rate was so low that state pensioners received only a 75p increase. Even Labour was embarrassed, maybe more by the PR disaster than the plight of the pensioners, but, whatever the reason, Labour has promised that under them this should never happen again. We Liberal Democrats promised in our election manifesto that such payments would be indexed according to a "triple lock" of wage inflation, ...
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 10 Lib Dems call for emergency recovery programme (53 comments) by the Voice Opinion: Pity the Scottish school-leavers when English fees rise (35 comments) by Ewan Hoyle Liberal Democrats decide to pass up on fighting Police Commissioner elections (mostly) (32 comments) by Mark Pack Opinion: The Tories are downgrading democracy (and the Lib Dems are letting them do it!) (26 comments) by David Allen The Independent View: Labour is a puppet of the unions - Lib Dems ...
The Lib Dems gained Inverness South council ward from Labour. Carolyn Caddick for the Lib Dems defeated the SNP by 7 votes winning 1091 to 1084 in the final round of counting. With the Lib Dem poll rating in the low 10s, and the media criticising the LibDems harder than ever since we joined forces ...
I have received some unexpected but welcome news from John Thurso and Martin Hayman. Carolyn Caddick of the Scottish Liberal Democracts emerged victorious in a close-run contest with the SNP in Inverness South, a huge boost to the party in advance of the local elections next May. The full result and breakdown can be found here, on Highland Council's website. There are some interesting observations to make. Firstly and most obviously, that the Liberal Democrats are still very much alive in their traditional heartlands and that we can win by-elections. It also demonstrates the importance of campaigning for every vote ...
There were four principal local council by-elections held on Thursday 3rd November. There was a Lib Dem gain from Labour, two Tory holds and an SNP hold . There were no parish or town council by-election results reported to ALDC. [IMG: The victor Carolyn Caddick] The Inverness South ward by-election ends a run of poor Scottish by-election results, and will be used to encourage activists to keep going to the close of poll for some time to come, seven votes being the margin of victory. The sitting Labour councillor was jailed for a year for benefit fraud totalling £43,000 . ...
Today and yesterday were 'Budget Scrutiny' days at Cornwall Council. The idea is that Councillors have the chance to ask questions about the budget proposals of each directorate, and that part of the bargain was certainly fulfilled. Many Councillors, from all parties, asked many questions of the assembled officers and Cabinet Members from the Tory-led ...
I blogged about the first day of the Council's budget scrutiny session yesterday. Although day two had a few more specifics, it was still utterly frustrating. The things we learned: - Officers given 15 minutes to present their budget plans for next year are more than happy to spend 13 of those minutes talking about their achievements of the past year and in two cases never got on to future plans at all; - They never seem to give any figures; - Except those written on Powerpoint slides which are far too small for anyone in the audience to read; ...
There will be some well bitten nails on the hands of Liberal Democrat and SNP activists in Inverness this afternoon after a thrilling count of the votes in the Inverness by-election. The Highland Council seat was vacated after the previous Labour councillor was sent to prison for benefit fraud. It wasn't until the sixth and final stage of the AV count that Liberal Democrat Carolyn Caddick pulled ahead of her SNP rival to win by just 7 votes, 1091 to 1084. It's an impressive return to form for the party and a characteristically good performance from the Inverness campaign team. ...
Congratulations to all involved in this Highland Council by-election victory. The vacancy arose after the sitting Labour councillor was found guilty of benefit fraud. BBC News has the figures - after the final transfer of votes the Lib Dem candidate Carolyn Craddock had 1091 votes to the SNP candidate's 1084. And according to STV, Carolyn is a former Army Major.
The Voice is only a success because of the interest and support from our readers. For many people just lurking and reading the site is all they want to do – and that's fine, we're grateful for people taking the time to read the site. You can though help us continue to produce interesting content for a growing audience. Here are four simple ways: 1. Let us have your tips for stories. Perhaps there's something outrageous going on in your local council? Or you're an expert in a particular area and have spotted a story other people have missed? Or ...
Just one of those things you think about, and want to get it out somewhere... did you know that the current ever-more-restrictive copyright laws can be traced back to the Yom Kippur War? Let me explain: In 1973, as a result of the US support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War, the Arab members ...
According to faux-influence-measument site, Klout, I was influential on Verizon Droid Stock Market Hotels Errr.....? What? If you're following me on Twitter for any of the above, perhaps you'd like to consider your life choices. So, I opted-out of Klout. Their opt-out page is full of feel-good nonsense to try and convince people to to remove their own profile. It didn't work on me. They asked for my reasons for leaving, and this is what I told them: Three reasons. 1) You think I'm influential about things that I've never tweeted about (Stock market? Verizon?) 2) I didn't ask to ...
Self-appointed moral police and the bigots within society at large tend to make such a big deal out of sexuality, as if sexual relations between consenting adults were any of their business. Although the UK has come a long way in ridding itself of anti-gay prejudice, it is still in vogue among many children to taunt and bully others on the basis of their perceived sexuality. More disturbing is evidence that some teachers in Essex have instructed children to "act less gay". The evidence emerged in a report compiled by Essex County Council which stated that there was "anecdotal evidence ...
Recently I wrote about my concerns over plans for individual voter registration . It is something I am deeply opposed to on civil liberty grounds. I spent many years fighting off the National Identity Scheme and its planned population register. An indivudal voter registration system has the potential to develop into something simlair. I was therefore very pleased to see that the government was planning to allow people to opt out of the scheme. After all voting is voluntary, so why shouldn't people be allowed to exercise their free-will and be allowed to opt out if they so desired? Then ...
There will be a history ramble tomorrow on Bidston Hill between 10am and 12.30 tomorrow starting at Tam O'Shanter Urban Farm led by the ranger. Due to bat hibernation the windmill won't be open on this walk. It starts at Tam O'Shanter Urban Farm, Boundary Road, Bidston CH43 7PD and it's not for dog walkers. ...
The headline that is bouncing around on twitter at this very moment is that in the latest YouGov fieldwork the Lib Dems are down to 3% amongst 18-24 year-old who intend to vote. The figure further fuels the talk of a dead party wandering into political oblivion but if we look a bit closer at the numbers I think we might get a sense that daily polling really is a bit bizarre. Below is the YouGov in depth report featuring the main three parties with all the others marked as unsurprisingly others: [IMG: YouGov Polling] YouGov Nov 2-3 2011 Scary! ...
Taking a glance through yesterday's paper I read a reaction to one of those new fangled government e-petitions. Since the example being written about concerns itself with the prospect of the UK population increaseing to seventy million people, no surprise that this was an ideal subject for a "liberal" journalist to slur, us the public with the dismissive comment "What passes for a debate on immigration". Of course there has been no open public debate on migration for obvious reasons. Without a doubt being able to register your opinion in a quick and easy way, does not form part of ...
The vote to accord Palestine member status at UNESCO means that the Palestinians now have their foot in the door of the United Nations and this must now make it easier for them to obtain membership of UN specialised agencies such as the WHO. Of course, the impasse regarding Palestinian membership of the United Nations itself ...
Cornwall Council tenants - including several hundred living in Launceston - will shortly be receiving a questionnaire from the authority asking for their formal opinion on the proposal to create a new Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO). The Council's own booklet setting out the reasons for the change says: "The government is changing the way council housing is financed from 1 April 2012. The Council will have to buy its way out of the national system and take on a debt in order to keep all the council house rent we receive in Cornwall (self-financing). We think this will be ...
John Keeling has been elected Deputy Leader of Cornwall Council's Independent Group following the recent sad passing of Mike Clayton. John is a widely respected Councillor who served on Kerrier District Council for many years before becoming a Cornwall Councillor in 2009. His opponent was Andrew Wallis, himself a former Kerrier Councillor, but otherwise an ...
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A couple of weeks ago I went along the annual conference of the East of England Liberal Democrats. Whilst there, after a sudden rush of blood to the head, I decided to put my name forward for the English Council of the party. This is probably the least known of the party bodies within the internal structures of the Liberal Democrats. So my motivation for doing this can best be described as 'curiosity'. As there were twelve candidates for eleven positions an election was to be run. So yesterday I duly knocked up the artwork for a manifesto and sent ...
Whoever wins the Republican nomination for President, the campaign is likely to be fairly predictable. President Obama will argue that now is not the time for change. Better to stay the course and let him finish the job. Risking jobs and livelihoods would be madness during these turbulent times. Meanwhile, the Republican nominee will say change is necessary. Big government isn't helping but making things worse. A lot will be made of the health reforms but the battle ground will be the economy. The maverick Ron Paul has hinted he might run on the Libertarian ticket if he fails to ...
Last night I also held my usual Thursday evening surgery at Blackness Primary School. Please note there is no Blackness Primary School surgery next week (10th November) as the school is closed (in-service school day across the city) but my Monday surgeries at Harris Academy and the Mitchell Street Centre will take place next week as normal.
First it was Oliver Letwin dumping confidential documents in a park bin, now we learn that Business Secretary Vince Cable has apologised 'unreservedly' after confidential documents were discovered in bins left outside his constituency office. In Vince's case the paper says that unshredded paperwork, including correspondence from ministers and letters which contained personal details of his constituents, were found dumped in transparent recycling bags outside the Liberal Democrat's Richmond and Twickenham HQ over a nine month period. Clearly, this is a problem with the way that work is processed in his office which he has said that he will address. ...
Last night, I attended the latest Board meeting of Dundee Contemporary Arts. In addition to the usual agenda items on DCA activities, finance, staffing and related matters, there was a very interesting discussion on the partnership between DCA, the University of Abertay Dundee, the University of Dundee and the Visual Research Centre. The new Torsten Lauschmann exhibition is well worth a visit, and it is great to see DCA going from strength to strength in all areas of activity.
Pardon me for repeating myself, but I wrote an extensive comment on Liberal Vision this morning about the Occupy the London Stock Exchange protest. What was intended to be a brief explanation of Guy Fawkes masks instead expanded into a critique of the Occupy movement. My understanding of the ideology comes from my experiences of student politics at the University of Sussex, where direct democracy was in vogue, and an article by Democracy in America, of The Economist: in this article, Democracy argues that the Occupy movement is better understood as a direct democracy protest standing against the aristocratic rule ...
Yesterday, Lord (Patrick) Cormack - one of those people here who has been one of my political foes so long that he has become a friend - asked the Government to enact emergency legislation to stop people camping out in protest, whether at capitalism or anything else. The Bishop of Bath and Wells ex-communicated him neatly, saying, "The Church of England maintains a presence in every community in the land. It is a broad church-it is perhaps the original big tent. Is the Minister aware that St Paul was a tent-maker and that St John records that Jesus pitched his ...
Lord (Michael) Ashcroft is a controversial figure in politics. Looking back through my archives, I've posted some critical stuff myself, notably here and here. But he's posted an article today on ConservativeHome — The joy of giving: why the rich should be encouraged to become more philanthropic — with which I can almost 100% agree: It was Gamaliel Bailey, the 19th century American journalist, who wrote: "Never respect men merely for their riches, but rather for their philanthropy; we do not value the sun for its height, but for its use." I was reminded of Bailey's perceptive quote from nearly ...
After 8 years of leading Southwark Council the Lib Dems increased recycling from the 3.6% and falling rate when we took the lead in 2002 to 22.10% and rising in 2010. But the target for 2010 had been 24.20%. So what happened? The targets for 2009/2010 had been less than 50.01% going to landfill – we achieved 45.70%. Having less than 728.86Kg of residual waste from each Southwark households – we achieved 703.61Kg. Yes the recycling rate was slightly if annoying missed but overall 3.5% less waste was produced and 4.3% less went to landfill. So in the round an ...
Blogging is going to be light over the next two weeks, so my usual monthly round-up of how Liberal Democrat bloggers have fared in the latest Wikio ranking will also appear a little late in the month. In the interim, when the new rankings appear you can view them online here.
The cancellation of the Greek referendum is not surprising. It is, however, a good example of an issue where a government really has no choice.The problem is that if the alternative route had been taken then at a point people would not have been paid and the problem would be much bigger. Many people would then regret having taken the action that they took (or moreso inaction).This is the real
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Poking Big Brother in the eye. (Or 'How I turned the tables on an illegally parked council CCTV spy ...
I have moaned a lot about those spy cars and vans that patrol our streets, filming us in those brief moments when we're not being filmed by omnipresent static CCTV cameras. I have even written about them here on Lib Dem Voice. What annoys me in particular is the number of times I have seen them seeming to break the rules they are there to enforce. Take this example from southwest London, highlighted for me by Jason Hunter. These people are exercising power over us, filming us as we go peacefully about our everyday lives. I don't like at all ...
From 23 November, 101 will be the number that members of the public should call when they want to contact GMP when it's less urgent than 999. Until now, each UK Police Force has had a different non-emergency number from each other, most of them equally hard to remember such as GMPs 5050 – but that's about to change. The launch of the new single non-emergency number (SNEN) is part of a national project to make access to the police easier and to reduce non-appropriate use of 999. 101 is gradually being rolled out across the country, GMP joins 13 ...
Occupy Wall Street Group Looks For Financial System Fixes Innovative planning "to build a banking system with democratic management, more direct relationships between borrowers and investors and products affordable and attractive to the rich and poor". (tags: economics ) New Statesman - "You should have your tongue ripped out": the reality of sexist abuse online Shocking, but essential reading. (tags: sexandgenderandsexuality internet ) Opinion: USAID is foreign policy's best dollar value - J. Brian Atwood and Henrietta Holsman Fore and M. Peter McPherson and Andrew Natsios - POLITICO.com - especially democratisation. (tags: uspolitics ) NYT: Is Obama Toast? Nate Silver ...
So, yesterday I caught the tail end of the BBC "documentary" (given the utter lack of facts in the program it's necessary to use quotation marks) on benefit fraud. If you read this you'll see just how inaccurate and distorting the program was - for example, claiming that benefit fraud cost £22 billion when it only costs £4 billion, a fraud rate of about 0.5%. And because of programs like this propagating myths about benefit fraud being widespread, when in reality it has been falling for years, its not surprising that disability hate crime is on the increase, that politicians ...
So Derren Brown scares me. Just not as much as the mob-handed public. # Gripped, but simultaneously feeling manipulated by sensationalist tosh. Catching up with Spooks. #incaseyouwerewondering # The media's long history of exagberation » The myth of the War of the Worlds panic http://t.co/P9K1n2fp # Oh here's my belated #xfactor verdict (I know you were waiting for it)... # Hurrah: Misha B, Little Mix. Good: Marcus, Kitty & Johnny. Bleugh: Frankie, The Risk & Sophie. #xfactor # Yay for Cher Lloyd. She's totally made her first name her own. #xfactor # @sarabedford You can't hate Johnny. It's officially illegal. ...
It's a point of view. But it also one that Charles Dickens satirised 157 years ago: Surely there never was such fragile china-ware as that of which the millers of Coketown were made. Handle them never so lightly, and they fell to pieces with such ease that you might suspect them of having been flawed before. They were ruined, when they were required to send labouring children to school; they were ruined, when inspectors were appointed to look into their works; they were ruined, when such inspectors considered it doubtful whether they were quite justified in chopping people up with ...
Just a quick reminder that the Remembrance Service for the Submariners will take place on Sunday 6th November , at 11 am, at St Mary's Church, Blyth. I don't think that Blyth is unique in having a separate service for the submariners, but they played such a part in the defence of this land, that we should honour them and remember their ultimate sacrifice.
An appeal has been made by Cambridgeshire County Council this week for more families to come forward and offer a home to children waiting to be adopted. Figures released today show that 80 per cent of looked after children in Cambridgeshire who were adopted during the year were placed within 12 months of the decision being made. Government statistics also show that 14 per cent of looked after children in the county were placed for adoption last year, ranking Cambridgeshire 62nd out of 149 local authorities. Cambridgeshire's success is partly down to a partnership agreement signed in July with Coram ...
At Cambridgeshire County Council's Trading Standards Servicewe have seen a sudden rise in complaints from older residents and their familieson their behalf, about the pressure selling of vitamin pills over thetelephone. Some residents have had calls from people alleging to bedoctors telling them that they must buy certain vitamin pills to protect theirhealth. Others have been receiving persistent calls to the extent that theyhave felt bullied into buying these pills, only to find they have been sentmore and more, resulting in mounting costs. In fact, some residents have partedwith hundreds, even thousands of pounds. The advice from Trading Standards is ...
Road Safety Officers at Cambridgeshire County Council are urging all road users to take extra care on the roads once the clocks go back this weekend. The change of the clocks means it will be darker in the afternoons, when many people are making their way home from work or school. The darker conditions make it harder for pedestrians and cyclists to be seen by other road users. Parents are being encouraged to make sure they and their children 'be bright, be seen' by attaching reflective strips to their bags and coats or other clothing. Cyclists are also reminded that ...
Fascinating to read Nick Clegg's comments on Iran and its nuclear programme, as reported by the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15580907) and the Jewish Chronicle (JC - Of course, he is simply re-stating the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition Government's well-established position, but it is fascinating nonetheless. According to the JC (under the headline "Clegg won't rule out strike on Iran"), Mr Clegg said: "...we want to see a negotiated solution. But as for other outcomes, clearly, you don't rule anything out in a situation as grave as this."
Over the years, Conservative MP Greg Knight has made a mini-cottage industry out of collections of political insults, wit and invective, of which the new Dishonourable Insults is the fifth. Spot checking the content of this volume against one of his previous works - Parliamentary Sauce - you find that there is a fair amount of reused content, including whole passages which reappear with varying degrees of editing. Generally the 19th and early 20th century figures have had their range of insults edited down, losing as a result one of my favourite Disraeli insults, directed at a backbench MP: "He ...
When you have high debt, historical deficits and no solid plans to reduce both don't be surprised if your creditors demand a say in how you put your house in order Or in the words of the good book those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders.
I am outraged. The Council are planning to increase the cost of a resident parking permit from £24 to £25. If you're thinking that's not too bad, it is only part of it. The rural Tories are also planning to introduce a brand new £10 charge for a visitors permit. If you need to purchase both the combined charge for a resident and visitors parking permit from £24 a year to £35 a year.
There was one Alcohol seizure in Front Street. An £80 penalty notice was issued. No residential burglaries 2 Non residential Burglaries- A whacker plate was stolen from the building site at Spiro Court. A window was smashed at the rear of spice venue on Newmarket St and unknown persons have reached inside and stolen a first aid kit and some cleaning products. 8 Anti Social Behaviour incidents (Personal): One address has been identified as a repeat victim. A visit was carried out at the address in Clarendon St and advice was given to the occupier. There have been no further ...
What has happened to London's bendy buses since Boris Johnson banished them? The answer for at least some of them is that they have come to Leicester.
News just in from Hibs.net that Hearts owner - Lithuanian national Vladimir Romanov has been spotted asking for a handout at Cannes. Yesterday Hearts were forced to pay half a million tax (on the threat of being wound up by the Revenue), told their highest paid players to look for new jobs and still failed to pay the first team. Ukio Bank (also owned by Romanov) was marked down by the markets as a result of its Greek exposure.
