These days I can't stand such programmes, but when I first became interested in politics as a young teenager I listened avidly to Any Questions? on BBC Radio 4. So a few random memories of some of the more regular panellists in those days. Richard Marsh had been a trade union official and a youthful member of Harold Wilson's cabinet in the Sixties, but by the time I heard him he was gratingly pro-business - full of talk of "UK Ltd" and the like. It was no surprise when he endorsed Margaret Thatcher in 1978 and received a peerage in ...
The waiting list for diagnostic tests has risen by 525,000 since June 2019 to 1.6 million NHS target: less than 1% of people should be waiting more than 6 weeks for these tests – currently 1 in 4 wait 6 weeks or longer Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey calls for an expansion of community diagnostic centres and the legal right to see your GP in seven days as his party makes fixing the NHS a pillar of their conference NHS waiting lists for basic diagnostic tests have grown by 50% since June 2019, up to 1.6 million. The research from ...
Mean and tawdry townshorn of money and purpose; always in my blood
Lib Dem conference had a guest speaker today. Kira Rudik is a Ukrainian MP and leader of the Ukrainian Liberal party. She gave a moving speech about the horrors inflicted on her country and on the Ukrainian people. It is vital that Ukraine wins the war. A world in which Putin and fellow dictators and international bullies are free to do as they wish would bee a terrible place.
The Lib Dem ALDC local government reception last night was a rather crowded affair. I'm not sure whether that was down to people not seeing each other for 4 years, hundreds more councillors being elected since we last met or the wine being free (but limited in supply!) Ed Davey was guest speaker and I had a chat with him. We've known each other for 20 years, since he was local government
Kira Rudik is the leader of Holos, the first Liberal Party to be elected to the Ukrainian Parliament. She is also Vice President of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe – the political grouping that brings together like-minded political parties within Europe. She is a proud European and has campaigned for many years for Ukraine to join the EU. She was welcomed on to the stage by Layla Moran, who was dressed in the blue and yellow of Ukraine. Kira started with some thank yous – and it was clear she knew a number of our senior members well. ...
Here's a quick roundup of some of the things that the media are saying about Lib Dem Conference: Steve Coogan and Carol Vorderman lead rally for proportional representation. Sky Liberal Democrats face housebuilding targets row at Liberal Democrat Conference BBC Man pleas for assisted dying reform at Lib Dem Conference Bourmemouth Echo Lib Dems would double shared parental leave pay and increase leave Guardian John Curtice: Lib Dems are losing support to Labour BBC Lobbyists take a close up look at the Lib Dems BBC Lib Dems plan to focus election campaign on ultra local issues Guardian The 23 schools ...
The living streets stand was the first that I visited at yesterdays 'Car Free' event at the Mystery Playground. They were one of the many organisations campaigning to encourage more people to walk and cycle on safer streets. My second ... Continue reading →
Some patients have the same operation cancelled 13 times as backlog soars Worst offending trusts have thousands of operations cancelled twice Liberal Democrats demand urgent action to get the scandal of cancelled operations under control The number of hospital operations cancelled twice or more surged to over 25,000 in 2022, an investigation by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. That is up 18% from the 21,477 operations cancelled twice or more the previous year. The figures were obtained by the Liberal Democrats through Freedom of Information requests, with data provided by 78 of the 124 hospital trusts in England. Some of ...
When I tweeted a picture of a couple of my Liberal Party membership cards from the 1980s, something about the map on them attracted the attention of the President of the Liberal Democrats. He commented in reply: I'm not sure @amcarmichaelMP would approve of his constituency being left off :) Which got me thinking... Saturday I first met Jo Grimond during the 1950 general election campaign. He proved a charming companion, and as we made inroads into a bottle of Auld Johnston, that most prized of Highland malts, he laid out his plans to me. "Britain needs a strong Liberal ...
It is getting to the stage where Rishi Sunak is going to run out of donors. First, we had the billionaire, John Caudwell quit over the 'madness' of the PM's u-turn on green policies, now we a major donor threatening to walk because of the downscaling of HS2. Billionaire John Caudwell, who founded the now-defunct mobile phone retailer Phones4U, was the biggest donor to the Conservative party before the last election, donated £500,000 to the Tories, but says he is thinking about switching to Labour instead, because of the watering down of green policies. He told the Sunday Times: "If ...
Mon 25th
07:55
It's time for the Liberal Democrats to reclaim their place as the party of young professionals
In the ever-evolving landscape of British politics, it's easy to forget that the Liberal Democrats were once hailed as a natural choice for young professionals. With a steadfast commitment to progressive values, environmentalism, internationalism, and leading the way on equality & diversity, the party had successfully captured the aspirations of a generation. Many of these commitments remain today – we remain ahead of the conversation on social care and health, we are leading the way on electoral reform, and we have never faltered in our commitment to standing up for diverse communities. We remain a party which believes in opportunity ...
Tackling the housing crisis is one of the most important things Lib Dems can do. As the Leader of Chelmsford City Council I agonise about housing every day. We have over 450 homeless families in my city this week, and no houses to put them in. So I welcome the huge number of positive things in the conference housing motion F31 and policy paper that will allow us to do that. But one of the other really important things I want to do as a Lib Dem council leader is to help get many more Lib Dem MPs elected. And ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR THE WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2023 Brown Street (south of Douglas Street) - closed for 13 months until May 2024 for construction works. Seafield Road, Dundee - closed from its westmost end (in cul-de-sac) extending for a distance of no more than 20 metres in an easterly direction to facilitate a site access for a new housing development. Commencing Tuesday 22 August 2023 for 15 months. Riverside Drive - Phase 2 - overnight road closure for carriageway resurfacing (7.00pm to 6.00am) from Sunday 24 September to ...
What do you call a 33 year-old who still lives with their parents? No, this isn't the start of a bad joke. Instead, this is the reality for many people, including myself. Six years ago, I moved out of my parents' house with my then wife and into a three-bedroom end of terrace house. I was working full-time on a salary significantly lower than the average, while she was working ad-hoc as a supply teacher. It was tight for us financially, but we made it work, just about. How? The house we moved into was bought by my granddad in ...
