An interesting academic take on recent history of Nick Clegg has been published by the LSE. However I disagree with their fundamental point that Clegg appears to some sort of a victim of events outwith his control and a focus on personalities rather than policy. Clegg's fall (which has brought the Lib Dems down with him) are almost entirely of his own making and failure to communicate Liberal values and Lib Dem priorities in the first six to nine months of the coalition. The widely held view that Clegg is some sort of lapdog to Cameron is entirely down to ...
The Guardian has published the latest ICM poll which shows that 30% of people in the UK continue to blame debts racked up by the last Labour government as the reason for the current economic crisis; only 24% blame the coalition's spending cuts. The voting intention poll shows Labour (38%) still with a 2 point lead over the Conservatives (36%) with Liberal Democrats increasing to 14%. Others are on 12%. Translated into a general election, the country will still have no one single party with an outright majority and as the strongest third party, the Liberal Democrats would once again ...
This Thursday sees voters go to the polls in Wendron for the Cornwall Council by election caused by the sad death of Mick Clayton. Wendron division, although named after the small area we all know as the home of Poldark Mine, is actually one of the biggest wards geographically in the whole county. The boundaries stretch from the edge of the Camborne South and Troon and Beacon wards right up as far as Helston taking in pretty much every village and hamlet inbetween and across to the Falmouth road! The Lib Dem candidate is popular local man John Martin, who ...
It is easy to take buildings in your home town for granted. Monk's furniture shop in Market Harborough has a splendid tiled frontage - I have been keen on such things since visiting Jackfield - and a loving maintained painted advertisement on its side wall.
Some Lib Dem bloggers are taking comfort from a post by on Politics Home by Paul Waugh. On Friday he wrote: judging from today's evidence, it's clear that the Lib Dem brakes on the Tories are as effective today as they were back in the distant days of May 2010. In just three hours, we've had three different examples today of the way the Libs are constraining Tory ambitions.Those examples were the abolition of the 50p tax rate, the passing of more laws against strikes and the implementation of Lord Beecroft's proposals to make it easier for employers to sack ...
From the Gulistan, II.31 A man, being tormented by a contrary wind in his belly and not having the power to retain it, unwittingly allowed it to escape. He said: 'Friends, I had no option in what I did, the fault of it is not to be ascribed to me and peace has resulted to my internal parts. Kindly excuse me.' The belly is a prison of wind, O wise man. No sage retains wind in captivity. If wind twists thy belly let it out Because wind in the belly is a burden to the heart. Though the original seems ...
In October, Urban Vision announced that street lighting across Salford City was being updated with new LED lamps, rather than the traditional filament-type as a way of saving money and becoming more energy efficient. They even listed a few streets in Langworthy's neighbouring ward of Claremont where the LED lamps would be installed. Great! But what about Langworthy? About a week ago, I asked our Langworthy Neighbourhood Manager which streets (if any) would be getting LED street lights. He did not know, so forwarded my request to Urban Vision. The response? None. I've since reminded Urban Vision about my query ...
From the Friends of Hall Street Green: Hall Street Green is behind Cheadle church and the Friends of Hall Street Green have secured a grant of £42,476.60 from the Big Lottery's Community Spaces programme. This means that we can: · Reroute and re-lay the path to provide a circuit which can be used for exercise and provide a surface which is safe for all users. · Re-new perimeter railings. · Install a wildlife area. · Construct a bog garden. · Provide seats and a waste bin. · Re-plant dead and diseased trees. · Refurbish flower beds. · Replace the street ...
In today's Courier, I welcomed the proposal by the City Council to reduce the speed limit at the western entrance to the city. The proposal, to limit vehicle speed on Riverside Drive and Riverside Avenue to 40 mph between Tesco Riverside and the Landmark Hotel at the city's west entrance, has resulted in a number of residents contacting me today to welcome this (currently 25 for - 2 against!) It is something I have long campaigned for. The proposal for speed reduction will be considered by the Council's City Development Committee next Monday and, if agreed, would mean the inconsistency ...
A post on Martin Brookes's blog and the first comment reveal that the Occupied Times newspaper being published for the St Paul's protesters is edited by a Rutland man. Steven Maclean says he went to the Vale of Catmose college and Ferrers school, but I detect the influence of the Department of Focus Leaflets and the University of Rutland at Belvoir - and quite possibly the Bonkers' Home for Well-Behaved Orphans too.
Mon 21st
20:48
Australia's new plain packaging law for cigarettes may have got Andrew Lansley off the hook
HAT TIP : Mark Littlewood (formerly of this parish) has posted an interesting article over on the Daily Mail today. It concerns tobacco plain packaging – but considers it from an angle we've not seen elsewhere. In it he suggests that the Australian government may have got Andrew Lansley at the Department of Health off the hook. How ? "Well, he is a Cabinet minister in a government which claims to support deregulation....Fortunately, the Health Secretary does not need to marshal a whole series of arguments to rebut the case for plain packaging of tobacco (which would, in any event, ...
Tories are waging a bitter war against anything they see as damaging the countryside. Wind farms, high speed rail, and new housing developments are all encountering their organised resistance. This is because they have, dangerously and inaccurately, come to regard the countryside as a garden for their own enjoyment. Prince Charles described wind farms as ...
From this morning's Guardian: An article about Richard Branson's takeover of Northern Rock said Network Rail receives a subsidy of £5bn per year from the government. This should have said £3.7bn.Nice one, Beardie!
According to the local police there have been a few changes at the Werrington Police Station, we have new faces and officers covering different areas. We welcome PC Norman Pickup who joins us having been based in the City Centre. PC Norman will be covering the rural areas. Also joining is PCSO Donna Grummitt. Donna has been a PCSO based at Yaxley for three and half years. Donna will be covering Eye. PCSO Elaine Buddle who has been covering Eye for six years has moved to work with Zara Barfoot in the Paston area and will also be working in ...
Since the last weekly update, there have only been two reported crimes within Bar Hill to date;Between the hours of 19:00 and 21:00 on Sunday 13th November in Watermead, Bar Hill, unknown offender(s) have stolen the front and rear number plates from a vehicle that was parked unattended on a driveway. Between 17:15 and 17:45 on Monday 14th November in Tesco, Bar Hill, unknown female has attempted to remove grocery and electrical items from the store within foil lined bags. Security have monitored the female who has then left the trolley and all the contents at the door before leaving ...
TweetThe Evening Standard reports the Tories are negotiating changes to the Lisbon Treaty in exchange for removal of UK's duty to Working Time Directives. This is terrible. The Working Time Directive is one of the best things the EU has done for the UK, enshrining the rights of employees not to be worked into the ...
Political leaders in St. Petersburg, led by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin are about to vote on law that prohibits 'propoganda' of homosexuality and makes it illegal for any person to write a book, publish an article or speak in public about being gay, lesbian or transgender. Apparently 'the fines start at the equivalent ...
"Berlusconi", rare past tense form of Berluscere (cf. Burlesque) = to be absurd, thus "I have been absurd".
What presents are you looking forward to giving or receiving this year? That's the question LDV posed to a group of Lib Dem bloggers. All this week we're revealing what they told us, with link-throughs to Amazon for your shopping convenience (and 'cos the referral fees help support LibDemVoice: so get clicking and ordering). In part one, our first trio of bloggers - Nick Thornsby, Linda Jack and Duncan Stott - give us the low-down on their Xmas faves... Nick Thornsby 1) Arguably by Christopher Hitchens Everything written by Hitchens (or Hitch as he's known to his friends) is a ...
Is it possible that Mrs Thatcher was half right about housing? Whether she was or not, the current price of homes condemns both partners in many couples to 25 years of indentured servitude, cut off from their families, working at jobs they despise. The time has come to build new homes and then give them away:
Baroness Trumpington is the peer of the moment for her gesture in the Lords the other day. PoliticsHome has a interviewer with her in which she remembers staying with Frances Stevenson, Lloyd George's mistress and secretary: "I was sent to be a land girl, and I lived with the then Miss Stevenson, who married him in the end. I'd have lunch with the old boy when the family were there." She describes Lloyd George as "gaga in bits, and brilliant in others - but I think he was a bit scared of going to London because he didn't like the ...
One of the more diverting stories of recent days has been the news that Eric "Lime" Pickles is to found a UK curry college that would teach British workers the secret of perfect pakoras a showpiece of the government's integration strategy to be published shortly. Pickles's "curry college", as it is being called, would see the government backing a school to train British people from all backgrounds to become chefs specialising in Indian food as an answer to the crisis in the £3.2bn curry industry triggered by the Home Office's ban on bringing in chefs from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.Back ...
The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch - mark.hat.libdemvoice.org.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one) if you have any questions you would like to suggest. Today's Campaign Corner question: I know I need to ask members and supporters for money to help fund our local campaigning, but I hate writing fundraising letters. What should I say? The basic formula is thank, warn, inspire: in other words, thank people for their past support, warn them of what can ...
I'm about to go off to the Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform. We are making good progress, and further fuel has been added to our fire this week, by a very useful note from the Lords Library (already referred to by Lord Norton) setting out all the evidence of the public's opinion about reform. More detail will come in oral evidence today from Unlock Democracy, who have inspired nearly 4,000 people to write in to the Committee. So much for the public not caring about this issue. Naturally, few rank it as of higher importance than, say, the ...
Mon 21st
14:23
Andrew Stunell MP writes: Today's Housing Strategy will deliver the homes and growth we need
The long-awaited Housing Strategy was announced this morning by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. It's an important document, and it sets out the coalition's stall on how we intend to get the housing market - and in particular housebuilding - moving again. It's been a long-established view that we have a housing crisis in the UK. Although new starts were almost a third higher in 2010-11 than they were in 2008-09, there were just 103,000 new build housing completions in England last year. Meanwhile the latest household projections suggest that the number of households will grow by 232,000 ...
KCC have a remarkable record as far as it's relationships with senior management are concerned, as several high profile controversial events show a somewhat worrying aspect of an organisation, that used to promote itself as being excellent, although in fairness, some time after the dreadful state of affairs in childrens services became apparent, they eventually realised that the excellent tag was no longer tenable. Anyhow as someone reported recently on my previous "Kent Watch" posting, rumours were rife as to the future of the current Chief Exective Officer Katherine Kerswell of the council or in Kent council orwellian newspeak Managing ...
The ward forum this Thursday (24th November) takes place at the Scout Hut, Rugby Road, Chiswick. W4 1AT. We are lucky enough to have the Chair of Southfield Primary School who will speak about the school and is happy to answer questions from people who come along. There are a range of issues we will be discussing. The full agenda is below: 1. Welcome and introductions 2. Request for "Any Other Business" items 3. Notes of the last ward forum held on 27th Sept 2011 4. Southfield Primary School - presentation by the school's Headteacher 5. Thames Tunnel update 6a. ...
At last Monday's Executive meeting it was agreed to apply to the independent Leaseholder Valuation Tribunal (LVT) to make a decision on varying the percentage charges of the Benhill Estate leaseholders. Conservative opposition members applied the following day to delay the application so that it could be debated at a full council meeting in December. They ...
A couple of weeks ago I reported here on the controversy surrounding a planning application in Southwark, objected to by the Ministry of Sound, a donor to the local Lib Dems. The BBC's coverage of the story felt partial, fixated on alleging 'no smoke without fire' political sleaze, failing to question whether they were being played by property developers looking to overturn a decision they didn't like. The Corporation has now returned to the story: Lib Dems warned over Ministry of Sound donations. (Ironically the article's by Ed Davey. I assume not that one.) This is the over-hyped headline to ...
I've just been speaking to a very helpful person at Birkbeck College regarding the enquiry I made last week about the masters courses run by their department of psychological sciences. He suggested that I should call them back in February as there was a good chance that Birkbeck would also be cancelling its psychology masters courses for new students with effect from October 2012 – the next start date. When I asked why, he suggested that it was down to there being too much competition for students and also that their existing courses probably needed a complete redesign, as they ...
There are many things in life you can conceal. Records can be hidden in drawers and back doors can be snuck out of. While physical attributes can be harder to hide, birth marks can be covered, and grabbing the nearest chair instantly disguises a limp. Being small is not something that falls into this category however, and just as a tall person's head pops out above all other's, the short man is overlooked - literally. Previously I'd taken my short stature in my stride, but recently it's started to really grate on me. For most people (ie. Those of normal ...
Next Monday, I shall be seconding a motion being proposed to a full meeting of Ceredigion County Council by Cllr Elizabeth Evans, in support of our health services here in Ceredigion. The motion calls for a meeting with the Welsh Assembly's Health Minister and the change management team at the Hywel Dda NHS Trust to answer the great concerns being expressed at present about the future provision of services in mid-Wales' only District General Hospital in Bronglais, Aberystwyth and also to clarify the future plans for Cardigan Hospital, Aberaeron Integrated Health Centre and the Cylch Caron project in Tregaron. The ...
Dave Hodgson's idea for more local democracy could have an impact on other ideas of his. Has he thought through all of this? Would a Parish Council in Bedford support his change of use of the Civic Theatre? Continue reading »
Mon 21st
11:23Three hours on Sunday morning - and three examples of LibDems thwarting Tory extremism
Paul Waugh on PoliticsHome gives three examples where the LibDems "put the brakes on" Conservative policy aspirations in just three hours yesterday morning: First, Danny Alexander chucked a large bucket of cold water over Tory hopes of abolishing the 50p tax rate, saying: It's very very important indeed that we continue to ensure that the wealthiest in society pay a fair contribution. That's what the 50p rate is doing. We'll see what the numbers show; I expect it is making money for the Government. ...Well, he's in a good position to know. Second, on Sunday AM, Francis Maude raised the ...
It was bound to happen at some point. Usually I make sure that I have two sets of my medication ...Continue reading »
This is a great video all about the inappropriate use of QR codes. There's one area where I think Scott Stratten is wrong – and that's on the issue of QR codes where there is no signal. It's a common trope to bemoan QR codes on the tube, or on an aeroplane – but I believe it's not a very good argument. Firstly, take a look at the posters on a typical tube train. All of them have phone numbers, SMS activities, or URLs on them – even though there's no way to use them Yet people don't laugh at ...
Glynis was born Glynis Ellen Jenkins in Whitby on the 10th February 1952. She attended Eskdale School and often talked warmly about her time there and the friends she made. Glynis always talked fondly of her years growing up and of her close relationship with her mother Mary, her brothers David and Steven and her sister Marilyn. Glynis was devastated when her father died when she was 11. She had good memories of going to Monmouth in Wales, her father's birthplace, for a time after his death to stay with her Aunty Dorothy and Uncle Leslie. Recently we visited the ...
Standards Hearing Panel (Wirral Council) 21/11/2011 9:15am Present: Independent (2) Ken Harrison Stella Elliott Councillors (3) Cllr Chris Blakeley (Conservative) Cllr Bill Davies (Labour) arrived at 9:18am Cllr Pat Williams (Lib Dem) arrived at 9:20am Officers present: Surjit Tour, Deputy Monitoring Officer Shirley Hudspeth Rosalind Press/Public: Denis Knowles John Brace Leonora Brace The meeting started ...
London LibDems' Team London was out in force at the weekend, canvassing and delivering in the double by-election (caused by the resignation of two Tory councillors) in the Coombe Vale ward in Kingston. We were blessed with fantastic weather — though that did also mean that quite a lot of the voters were out! — ...
From Tim Hopkins, Equality Network URGENT !! More equal marriage consultation responses are needed! Your help is needed now more than ever... We know that the majority of Scots support same sex marriage, but we are in danger of losing the Scottish Government's consultation response count because of very well resourced campaigns by the Catholic Church and Christian Institute (see below). It is vital that we encourage everyone we know who supports equality to submit a consultation response to the Government, using this form: http://www.equalmarriage.org.uk/consultation.php If you have not yet submitted your own response, please do that, and please forward ...
Perhaps you want the UK to pull out of the European Union, and maybe you'd like the UK to switch to the old American healthcare system, where the uninsured poor would have minimal treatment. Perhaps you think the solution to youth crime is, not rehabilitation, but locking them away for as long as possible. If so, you probably wouldn't be very happy in the Liberal Democrats. But maybe you are a Conservative supporter who wants Britain to make a contribution to the EU, not by pulling out, but with reforms that make it more accountable and help it do the ...
Well done to Councillor Michael Wildgust, Lord Mayor of Nottingham.
So, I've started the process of turning in my sheriff's badge as Regional Constitution Monitor (the actual title is Secretary, but you know what I mean). Just one more Executive Meeting to go, and a successor in place, Lloyd Harris from Dacorum, I'm already beginning to look for ways of filling my midweek evenings whilst Ros is in London running the country. Meanwhile, my Local Party has been struggling a little. The Treasurer who, as is often the case, had his arm twisted to serve, has not exactly been on top of his game. Given that the Chair is a ...
Yesterday's Observer contains more details of the sort of discussions going on within the UK Coalition, both publicly and in private, that demonstrates the way the Liberal Democrats continue to restrain the Conservatives in Government. What is important about these divisions, as the paper terms them, is that they give the lie to claims that the Government are acting in an ideological way so as to pursue the interests of a privileged elite. There may well be one or two with that agenda, but all the evidence points to a pragmatic government working to maintain a social justice agenda, whilst ...
Cllr Frank Little writes: Contrary to Peter Rees's ludicrous assertion* that LibDems were "propping up" a Tory government, there is yet further evidence that Liberal Democrats within the coalition act as a restraint on the Thatcherite urges of some Conservatives. From "It's clear that the Lib Dem brakes on the Tories are as effective today as they were back in the distant days of May 2010. "In just three hours, we've had three different examples today of the way the Libs are constraining Tory ambitions: "1. 50p tax rate. "Many Tories are hoping that George Osborne's review of the ...
It will come as no surprise to anyone that the Lib Dems favour tax cuts for the poorest over the rich - that's why we've taken almost a million people out of tax in Government with the raising of the tax threshold - or that we don't want to see employers given the right to fire people at will, but it's good to see that journalists such as Paul Waugh recognise it. In an article titled "The Lib Dem brakes are still on the coalition" Waugh gives three examples just from yesterday where our influence had stopped the Tories doing ...
After decades of secrecy over even their chiefs' names, MI5 and MI6 in recent decades have started opening up their records and their personnel to authors of espionage and counter-espionage history. Christopher Andrew's various works played a key role in pioneering the independently written but officially blessed spy histories. Now it is an increasing crowded field with 2010 alone having brought two histories of the early years of what became known as MI6, with Michael Smith's volume Six, new out in paperback, being one of them. Written by a former military intelligence officer, with extensive access to official records and ...
As the polls had predicted, Spain has a new government: Rajoy's right-wing Partido Popular (PP) defeated Zapatero's left-of-centre Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE). The only surprise was the large margin of victory, 16%, the worst defeat for Spain's socialists in their electoral history. So yet another right-wing government takes power in a European nation. On the face of it, it seems almost perverse that at a time when confidence in the deregulated capitalist system associated with the right is at its lowest ebb that those parties which champion it are winning elections. As I noted here on LibDemVoice back in ...
I wanted to let you know that you can now contact Cambridgeshire Constabulary on 101 for all non-emergency calls. The 0345 456 456 4 number will remain in use alongside 101 for several months to allow people time to get used to the new number. The change comes part of a national programme to make 101 the single non-emergency number in England and Wales, giving residents an easy-to-remember number to contact local police wherever they are. The call system is designed to recognise where you are calling from and connect you with the local police service. If you did not ...
The stupidest feature of the Blair-Brown government was they way that they responded to every situation with a detailed policy outline or eye-catching "initiative". No aspect of economic or political life could remain undisturbed for long. More criminal justice bills, for example, were passed in their period of office than in the previous ten governments put together. From bulldozers to benefits, more and more of our lives became subject to government intervention and regulation. It was a disaster. The OCD Brown, both as PM and under Blair undermined our competitiveness, created a class of benefits dependents, demoralized teachers, health care ...
From the City Council : Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating works for flooding investigations. The Order is expected to be in force for two weeks from 5 December 2011. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Douglas Street from its junction with Milnes East Wynd for a distance of 20 metres or thereby in an easterly and westerly and southerly direction. Pedestrian access and vehicular ...
A Stevie Wonder classic ...
Anyone following the neighbourhood planning aspect of the Localism Act 2011 will be interested in seeing whether letting real people take the lead in shaping their own surroundings will actually result in better places. But professional planners are already failing to create decent places. In Middlesborough this appears to be because they are dropping acid ...
