I have written a short piece for Iain Dale's new publication on the top Lib Dem, Tory and Labour blogs. You can read my piece here. I'll also be saying a bit more on the subject at Lib Dem conference on Sunday night at the bloggers' reception. So if you're a Lib Dem blogger reading this - see you there! Meanwhile it's busy, busy - with speeches to prepare for next week on top of all the other
As many of you know, China (for personal reasons) is an area of deep concern and interest to me. I'm currently toying with the idea of writing a history of political dissent in the People's Republic of China, partly to honour those who have stood up to the monolithic Chinese Communist Party over the years and to tell their story and partly because it's an area I'm interested in researching and writing about. Trouble is that I'm an economist and not a historian. Is there a historian out there who would be prepared to advise me on research ...
This summer has seen a major new cross-party initiative launched by Paul Tyler, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. As an alternative to the conferences of political parties, people of all political persuasions (and none) have been invited to register for an online "virtual" conference at www.takingpower.org The conference opened its doors on 6 September 2006 for participants to
I've known Evan for a fair number of years and I had hoped he would have seen sense over the taxation proposals. Sad to say he's decided to go over the top and is trying to keep the 50% top rate of income tax as Party policy. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What a gift to our opponents that would be. Were you not paying attention during the General Election? Did you not see the campaigning style of our opponents? Don't you think that having a top rate of 50% puts off aspiring 20 ...
Jonathan Watts once again writes another excellent article on the Guardian Online website around the chilly human rights atmosphere in China here. Things are going from bad to worse at present. New restrictions have been put on foreign media, reporting of court cases and there has been a massive crackdown on dissent. If anyone from the Liberal Democrats should meet Wen Jiabao I hope that they will be VERY firm in telling him that what is going on is bang out of order. Jonathan rightly suggests that they fear a repeat of the "Colour" revolutions in China. ...
There are too many examples of medics across the world threatening parents with reference to Child Protection Procedures when the fault lies with the doctor. There is a complex issue which is that sometimes bad things happen and they are not really anyone's fault. It is, therefore, not necessary for someone to be prosecuted every time someone dies. There are situations where doctors are
Today I finally got round to reading Saturday's Times, which contains an article in which David Selbourne claims: Islam is not even a religion in the conventional sense of the term. It is a transnational political and ethical movement that believes that it holds the solution to mankind’s problems. It therefore holds that it is in mankind’s own interests to be subdued under Islam’s rule.That looks
Nearly ten years ago, as the last dry grey ash dangled precariously from the fag-end of the Major government, I found myself perched on an uncomfortable wooden chair in the Deansgate branch of Waterstones. I had remained in central Manchester after work, accompanied by my then girlfriend (now wife) to attend a speech and book signing by Will Hutton, there to promote The State to Come, the slim accompanying volume to his earlier wannabe New Labour manifesto, The State We're In. A decade ago my unaligned self was enthused by the sense I thought Hutton was talking. Like ...
By recent standards todays meeting was quite short at a mere 7 hours. I'm going to score it a win for the Joint Administration by 55 to 45 but only really because there are more of us and we have the best debaters. The two highlights that stand out are the debate on the Weekends' Robbie Williams Concerts in Roundhay Park and the increasingly unpleasent spat between the Tory Leader and the Labour Councillor John Illingworth. The Robbie Williams "Fiasco" makes me laugh. Leeds has no arena of any sort. Any band that can sell out more than the ...
For Lib Dems who are into producing video newsletters, I have some depressing news. Politics, it seems, is not as interesting as travel to exotic places! On my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/JonathanWallace) there is a number of my Video Focuses all about local news issues. The August edition has had 170 viewings. But this is nothing compared to my travel videos on the same
Wednesday 13th September 2006 - After the visit of Pakistan President Musharraf yesterday Kashmir was again on the agenda today with an early morning private meeting with Prime Minister Sardar Atique Khan of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Trade relations, human rights and the reconstruction progress following last year's devastating earthquake in the Kashmir region were all discussed
A few month's ago York Labour Councillor David Horton, their Housing Spokesperson, managed to muddle his figues at a full council meeting. He claimed that the number of non-decent coucnil homes had increased when, in fact they'd dropped by about a third. It's obviously easy to mistake 1574 in 04/05 with 1034 in 05/06. Having demonstrated that his numeracy skills weren't up to much, he...
I watched The Path to 9/11 on Monday night, hoping for a reasonably balanced and factual examination of the events of five years previously - which were surely dramatic enough without any added spin. Unfortunately, Karl Rove seemed to have written the script, which had quite justifiably been complained about by those depicted in senior positions in the Clinton administration. The film attacked what it saw as the feeble response of that administration, which was depicted as being immersed in political manouvre and political correctness at the expense of American security. What the film did not mention was that for ...
Trotted along to Islington's Northern Area Committee meeting last night to hear the latest on the Archway development and the option selection - refer to my previous post. Islington: Archway Station will not be closed for 3 years The info received seemed to indicate that it was all done and dusted and only a formal vote by the councillors representing Islington's northern wards was
Much speculation over the last 24hrs since The Daily published their story of Clare Short discussing her retirement from Parliament at the next election.I'm surprised that she has not commented further yet, as Clare is not one to shy away from being the story.As has been commented on elsewhere, the LibDems recorded the second best result in the country in terms of swing and increase in votes. Given that Brent East was at the top of this ranking, a creditable performance!Politics in Ladywood constituency is very "interesting". It includes the ward of Aston where there was wholesale postal vote fraud ... 
The Liberal Democrat blogosphere is seething with gossip at the moment about a possible challenge to Simon Hughes MP for his position as Party President. Thanks to Niles however, an unexpected candidate has emerged and she is Welsh. Niles draws attention to the wikipedia entry for Charlotte Church, which states: "In 2006 media reported that Church was considering standing for the Presidency of the Liberal Democrats." Not quite sure why somebody might add this to her entry but maybe she should join the party first.
We've probably all seen the shortlist already. I thought it was an interesting selection by the judges. In deed, the only blog on the list that I regularly read is Liberal England. But, I'm going to pop along to Millenium Elephant more often.It would be interesting to know what other blogs were considered by the panel, although I'm sure that noone would have nominated this blog. (Not least it doesn't really fulfil the criteria). My previous experience of winning things goes back to when I used to play rugby, and would regularly win the clubman prize, or most improved player ...
Departmental Organisation Q:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will instruct his officials to develop a criminal justice, immigration and mental health flow chart to identify the different routes that offenders follow and to assist in identifying and resolving gaps in the system. (John Hemming) A:As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary made clear in his written statement of 23 May 2006, Official Report, columns 78-81 WS, there have never been systematic arrangements in place for collecting information on the nationality of mentally disordered offenders, referring them to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate ...
Before anyone gets too excited, no I haven't passed my driving test. And if you think I am talking about being in the short list for Lib Dem Blogs, don't start to worry, trying to think how you will let me down gently. I am talking about a professional development course I was particiapting in last year- 'Leading Assessment for Learning'. I had to submit an essay about a piece of development
The education of children caught up in areas of conflict is often severely disrupted. Schooling can be interrupted by periods of intense fighting, by damage to buildings and equipment, and even by the forcible recruitment of children. Save the Children claims that 43 million children are denied schooling because of conflict. This not only damages the life chances of the individuals,...
An unfortunate, but unavoidable, delay in the Elvington Airfield trial. The case, which has already been postponed since July, was again adjourned- this time due to illness. I can't believe that it's now two things in one week postponed for this reason- I'm sure if I was at all superstitious, I'd be worried about what the third thing is! Nevertheless, this delay is infinately less...
The Winchester Drinks have sent us a couple of photos from their inaugural meet up…
An e-mail response from Planning & Transportation about the street sign referred to below : "I shall instruct our contractor to replace the nameplate and inform you once this has been carried out. This should be within the next 2 - 3 weeks." Very efficient!
Don’t ask me why I was happening to browse Wikipedia’s Charlotte Church entry, but I was, and a line leapt out at me: In 2006 media reported that Church was considering standing for the Presidency of the Liberal Democrats. Strangely, this doesn’t appear to be attributed, which is against WP’s rules. I wasn’t aware that Charlotte Church had [...]
I feel I ought to acknowledge - in a suitably jovial, self-deprecating and belated tone - that this blog has, unworthily, been short-listed by four supremely attractive and wise judges for the Lib Dem Blog of the Year award. (Or the 'BotY', as I like to think of it.) Too kind. My deadly rivals (I mean, friendly competitors) blog here, here, here, here and here. Though you probably knew that
Here's what liberalism's latter-day eminence grise thinks, as recorded in today's FT: While [the Liberal Democrat] party’s main attraction still lies in its greater commitment to personal freedom and due process than the Labour or Conservative megaliths, there is now at least a chance one might be able to vote for the party because of, rather than despite, its economic policies. The part likely
The $64,000 - or є50,000 if you prefer - question that will (inevitably) dominate conference is simple: 50p, or not 50p? To levy a new tax rate on those earning more than £150,000, or leave them be? There are respectable points of view on either side of the argument, which I won’t rehearse at length here: pop over to Lib Dem Voice, and read the debate there. But I am expecting to vote in favour
While a lot of attention at Brigton next week will be spent on key motions, some people are nervously biting their finger nails for the the first Lib Dem Blogger of the year awards which are due to be announced on Sunday night. Six worthy nominees there, PoliticalBetting.com have yet to announce the odd though. Another first for the Lib Dems as we are actively seeking to encourage bloggers
So we were expecting nuclear war, but it just hasn’t happened. Always a let-down. I particularly like the countdown at the top of this modern day Cassandra’s website: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 -1 days remaining before the start of nuclear war Cassandra, as you know, predicted the future but no-one believed her and then it came true. I suppose [...]
I've been bloody busy at work this week, hence less blogging than usual. Imagine the state of my depression to then spend this lunch time reading the usual haunts only to be faced with some of the worst examples or corruption, hypocrisy and slimy behavior I think I've seen. Firstly, the Daily Mail is calling for a woman who falsely accused a man of rape to be named. Fair enough in itself, but this is the same paper that one can't pick up without hearing how terrible life is for those trying to prosecute crime. and how the courts ...
Residents in Mallet Road are angry about a sign which has just gone up suspending parking from 19-23 Mallet Road, inclusive from 13-14 September, for the purposes of someone moving house. They are concerned that: - no prior warning has been given of this suspension, for example through leaflets delivered door to door. The only indication is a single sign, which faces into the road, and so is not likely to be noticed by people using the pavement. People could easily be unaware of the suspension and risk being fined as a result (the area has controlled parking). - the two day period ...
What a fantastic result in Warrington last thursday - we won a crucial by-election with a massive 850 majority over labour! A big thank you to everyone who came to help - getting up at 4am to deliver leaflets! I was at the count and it was a great sight to behold – Lib Dem votes pouring out of ballot boxes!
Wednesday: Oooh! I have been put on the SHORT LIST of Liberal Democrat Bloggers. This is because of all the Bloggers I am the SHORTEST! It is a jolly good job that my FAVOURITEST MP Sarah Teather does not have a diary, though, or she would walk it! Here are the other people listed: Mr Andy Mayer Mr Apollo 13 Mr Jonathan Calder Mr Black Peter, self-assembly man Mr Councillor Stephen Tall Why is Mr Councillor TALL on the SHORT list? I think he should WIN because that ...
{Blog of the year} Have been judging the Lib Dem bloggers awards. Lots of nominations - lots of excellent sites nominated. I have been disqualified - in the sense that despite being nominated I am a judge so can't win. They didn't tell me that when I agreed to be one of the judges! Blogging is high profile at the moment - and Lib Dems really have been right in there at the forefront of the genre. The results will be announced at the Lib Dem Bloggers Reception to be held on Sunday at the LibDem conference.
I am against the break up of the school fraternity into trusts, foundations and academies - for very good reason of believing that the only way to bring real success to all children is for the local community school to be excellent. But we are where we are - and the reality of Greig City Academy in my constituency is that it is forging ahead to create a community school and tackling head on the challenge of creating a really good community school with what even the headmaster termed challenging children. Mr Paul Sutton (the Head) is quite something, and ...
One greek god, one cuddly toy, and four real people - you don´t come much more diverse than this. Seriously it is an honour to be listed among such blogs. And a reception in the Cherry-and-White Suite too...
Last night Faye, Ian and I went to see Nizlopi at the Wulfrun in Wolverhampton. They were great but had to describe, most people will have heard of the JCB song but nothing else - they describe themselves as Folk/Hip-Hop but there are lots of other influences in there, including John's beatbox.
So, Lord Falconer is condemning the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. Apparently the government have been doing this all along, not that I heard them. What makes this worse is that he is condemning it because it avoids the rule of law which is 'a central part of democracy'. So what about control orders? They deliberately circumvent the rule of law. Recently a man found not guilty of a
I spoke at a meeting on Saturday about the NHS where I said that until people find out that their local services are being cut they will not campaign on the issue. Well, it looks like a number of closures will be proposed by the NHS in the near future.
The Guardian reports that Evan Harris MP has tabled an amendment to the Tax Commission motion at conference - he is apparently seeking to retain the 50p top rate of tax. Evan appeared on the Today programme a couple of weeks ago to call for the retention of the 50p top rate as an easily understandable, [...]
I had a conversation with a constituent last night that underlined the problems facing young people when it comes to getting onto the housing ladder. My constituent's son is single and is 24 years old and working. He is earning £22,000 to £24,000 a year and has managed to save £6,000 towards a deposit. However, he has been told that the most he can raise by way of a mortgage is £65,000. That is nowhere near enough to buy a property in Swansea. His only real option is to buy a house which will require a lot of work and ...
Scanning the papers it seems no-one has said this so here at MayorWatch we’d like to congratulate the four senior Metropolitan Police officers who have been provisionally selected for appointment to the rank of Deputy Assistant Commissioner. This hasn’t been said by the mainstream media because they prefer to focus on the inclusion of Cressida Dick [...]
Now this is rather worrying, this blog has been shortlisted for the Liberal Democrat blog of the year award. Other nominees are: Andy Mayer: http://andymayer.blogspot.com/ Apollo Blog: http://www.liberalreview.com/blogs/apollo Jonathan Calder: http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/ Millennium Elephant: http://millenniumelephant.blogspot.com/ Stephen Tall: http://oxfordliberal.blogspot.com/ All of these are outstanding blogs and will fully deserve the award. I do not envy the task facing the judges.
Following complaints from residents about missing street sign at the mouth of Tayfield Place (see below) I've reported this to the Planning & Transportation Department for attention:
We are about to start the month long party conference season which shines a brighter light onto the British political system than at any other time of year. This year there is an online conference called Taking Power going on in parallel with the physical conferences to discuss a range of issues relating to power and [...]
Tuesday: Could it possibly come as a surprise to ANYBODY that Mr Balloon has performed ANOTHER about-face and is a "liberal" conservatory again? Billed as his "first speech on foreign affairs" (bit of an admission there that Lebanon passed him by) Mr Balloon has TACTFULLY chosen to commemorate the September terrorist attacks with a speech where he distances himself from the American Monkey-in-Chief by continuing to support 100% everything that the Monkey is doing. There is probably something a bit IRONIC about him doing this in a speech addressed to a CIA funded front organisation! ...
In more important news, our MP, Simon Hughes and the Liberal Democrats on the Council are campaigning hard against Labour's £20m of proposed health cuts to Southwark health services. A scandal that will lead to cuts in emergency mental health services. What's worse is the motivation behind these cuts is not that we don't need the money. An area like Southwark gets more than our fair share of health issues due to areas of concentrated poverty and complex health issues that need different approaches due to the diversity of our community. The motivation is that other areas that have done ...
I've been short-listed for new Lib Dem blogger of the year awards, alongside some much more deserving and long-standing entries. Winning I think would be a stretch in that field but looking forward to the glitz and glam of the awards ceremony... what to wear... what to wear...
It’s here. The moment you’ve all been waiting for and more glamorous than the Oscars in a totally non-glamorous sort of way. It’s the shortlist for Lib Dem blogger of the year. This is the first time we’ve run such a competition. The idea is to encourage more Lib Dem blogging and also to give some [...]
I feel kind of bad about returning to this topic but, regretfully, have little choice it would appear. I've already noted the lack of actual content of the motion, and now I have to admit to being somewhat depressed about the quality of the response. EMLD (Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats) and the EMETF (Ethnic Minority Election Task Force) are touting their own amendment which includes the
There is now a page on the party website announcing the shortlist for this award. The six blogs nominated are: Andy MayerApollo BlogJonathan Calder (hem hem)Millennium Elephant Peter Black Stephen TallMay the best man (or elephant) win. | < | September 2006 | > | ||||
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