Party members' website gets a new look
The members only section of the Liberal Democrats national website has recently had a makeover and some new features have been added. The site is at: Tuesday 3rd April 2007
11:47 pm
The members only section of the Liberal Democrats national website has recently had a makeover and some new features have been added. The site is at: 9:50 pm
9:50 pm
Royal School of Needlework
How could anyone do a day's work with a view like this from the office window? The Royal School of Needlework is located at the back of Hampton Court Palace, with this glorious view towards the Long Water and the Jubilee Fountain. But inside are even more stunning things to look at. This is the organisation that trains and employs specialists to conserve and reconstruct old... 9:21 pm
Midsummer Buildings and Hampton View - Footpaths, dog mess and rat running!
Over the past 4 years of the Conservative rule over our highways - including footpaths we have seen more and more deterioration of the footpaths. We will be asking the highways department for more attention to be paid to the footpaths around Hampton View, Midsummer Buildings and Croft Road. I think that the picture here sums it all up quite well. 21st century footpaths and roads? More like a 18th century dirt track. The Romans did a better job than this! We have asked that seperate dog bins are installed near children's play areas for dog mess. Hampton ... 9:04 pm
Honey Lane ... Crossing Patrol Needed
Last April Tory run Essex County Council removed the crossing patrol outside the school. One of the reasons that the patrol was withdrawn was the council felt that it was safer for the children to cross at the pelican crossing because it didn't confuse drivers using Honey Lane. The school argued back and a petition with 249 signatories, a very helpful argument in the local guardian and support 8:52 pm
Murder at Bonkers Hall
The court case which has been transfixing us here in the Welland Valley has reached a conclusion. The bungalow where the murders took place is part of the Nevill Holt Estate, which some literary historians have identified with the home of my old friend Lord Bonkers. But I am sure you would not find That Sort Of Thing taking place at Bonkers Hall. 8:45 pm
Home Start - re start
In Speke this afternoon for a preliminary meeting about setting up a Home Start organisation in South Liverpool. Home Start is a charity which recruits volunteers to provide support for families. ( Parents of children under 5 are the main focus of work) There was a Home Start in Speke a while ago but it folded. The national charity is now looking at whether there is enough demand, and enough people interested, to start one for a larger South Liverpool area (but obviously including Speke). Not many of us there - but a good ... 8:36 pm
Back on track?
Today's news of £2.4 billion to be spent on railway expansion in the UK is welcome - indeed, it's long, long overdue. The investment isn't as London-centric as I'd feared - however the biggest single spend is still the Olympic transport project at £400 million. However, news from France puts this all into perspective. The rail speed record in UK: 208 mph The new rail speed record in France: 8:35 pm
Tory Lies
When it comes to politics sometimes I will admit that things can be dressed up and made to sound better or worse - personally I try to call a spade a spade and tell it how it is. What infuriates me though are outright lies. A resident today thought that the Council were going to move to fortnighty refuse collections. This, it appears as stemmed from Tory literature recently sent out which objects to Lib Dem and Labour plans for fortnightly waste collections. The Liberal Democrats have no plans to move to fortnightly refuse collections and to say ... 8:30 pm
Debunking our Jimmy's boast
There is a remarkable article about Sir Jimmy Savile in this week's Guardian Guide, published last Saturday. It includes a number of extraordinary boats from the man: Jim's amazing but true tales"I'm an honorary Royal Marine and Green Beret.""I turned a £600m pound loss into a £700m profit for British Rail in just over four years.""I invented the plastic railcard.""I invented Top Of The Pops."" 8:26 pm
Newbury smelling of manure
There are not many tangible reminders of Newbury's agricultural past. So it was good to have one the other day, although it was not entirely tangible. We came out of our house the other Sunday and inspected the bottoms of our shoes. There was a nasty smell about. A dog? But as we travelled around Newbury, the smell remained, despite there being nothing on the bottoms of our shoes. We checked 8:24 pm
Midsummer Buildings and Hampton View
This evening we have picked up a number of issues at Midsummer Buildings and Hampton View. Firstly we found this fly tipped rubbish and we have reported it to be cleared to Council Connect. We have also spoken to a number of residents about the state of the footpaths both on the highway and between different areas. We were more shocked to realise that some had not been resurfaced too long ago - we will ask that these are given some attention. We have also been notified of an increase in dog mess and have asked the Council's ... 8:22 pm
Triumph of new squeezy sauce mini-containers
While I am not a fan of any packaging in canteens or restaurants (why can't they just put a ketchup bottle of tables?) there is a new type of ketchup squeezy mini-container which deserves praise. The old sauce sachets are often impossible to open, and you often end up squirting the sauce all over the shop. But there are new sauce containers, for which you pay about 10 pence. You twist the top to 8:21 pm
What will happen in the 2007 local elections?
About this time last year, I wrote an article for PoliticalBetting.com, attempting to predict the parties’ shares of the votes based on their ICM opinion poll ratings. And, if I say so myself, I didn’t do too badly. I guesstimated Con 39%, Lab 25%, Lib Dem 29% - but noted in the comments thread that followed: “my instincts are that Lab and Lib Dems will be slightly closer together than my 8:20 pm
The strange case of bare feet in sofa adverts
Apart from hot summer's days, it seems that people do not lounge around their houses with nothing on their feet except in TV adverts for sofas. Why is this? 
7:41 pm
Day 2283: Mr Frown Makes Plans for Retirement
Monday: Once upon a time, the LIBERAL Government of Mr Squiffy and Mr Lloyd George introduced a PEOPLE'S BUDGIE that would raise tax from the rich in order to provide welfare for the unemployed, insurance for the sick and a PENSION for the elderly. And everyone lived happily ever after. Nowadays, the Labour would say this was all just a FAIRY TALE. Which is why, when they got into government, the COMPLETELY ILLIBERAL government of Lord Blairimort and Mr Frown decided to do a smash and grab raid on everyone's pension fund! Now, to be ... 7:28 pm
Video Leaflet Launched on Whitchurch Chicanes
Lorriane and I, in an attempt to save a little paper, have launched our first video leaflet on the Whitchurch Lane Chicanes. To view the video you can go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Nug1... 7:20 pm
Labour's new plans for labour
The government today announced that within two years every pregnant women would have proper cover from a midwife or a doctor and every woman would have the choice of home births. Three questions instantly jumped in to my mind. Firstly, the are massive shortages of midwives at present. This is already leading to a postcode lottery when it comes to maternity care. In Norfolk you can see a midwife once every eight weeks until you are 28 weeks pregnant compared to Cornwall where you see a midwife every three weeks throughout the pregnancy. The government is providing no ... 7:02 pm
The weather jump
One minute it’s wind and rain and then the next it’s rain and wind, then for a freak moment we get sun with haze, sun with cloud, sun with rain or even … on a rare occasion sun with sun. Then we have the bizzare snow, sleet, hail and thunder moments in the middle of what [...] 6:57 pm
The new look
Well the 5tracks look and feel had been in place for more than six months and being slightly ADD I felt the need for a change. Also it was a bit too close to the ‘default’ Wordpress theme. So I’ve put a new, heavily customised template in place - I’d love your feedback, is it as [...] 6:18 pm
(Some) Success as Labour’s high-rise plans foiled
Liberal Democrats have succeeded in fighting off Labour’s worst plans for high density developments in East Dulwich. As previously reported, we have been fighting off the Mayor’s plans for high density development coming to East Dulwich. The local Labour party said we were telling ‘porkpies’ but recently, the Labour Government directed Southwark Council to designate our area as suitable for buildings [...] 5:54 pm
More excitement in City of Westminster
The council is the Tories' flagship, the ward is Marylebone High Street, the cause is resignation, the circumstances are intriguing (allegedly missing cash) and there's another council by-election in my patch. To lose one councillor is unfortunate but to lose two...? The story made it into the Evening Standard yesterday. Apparently the police have been called in. We have had our work cut out to select our candidate and collect the nomination signatures. Nominations close tomorrow at noon. Fingers crossed, despite the extremely short notice we will have made it just in time. 5:52 pm
Trick or treating
Lord Greaves warns candidates to lay off the food. Mind you, as for his quote “Some people go along to the rallies of a particular candidate because they know they are going to get a lot of food” - isn’t that the reason the National Union of Teachers fringe is always packed at conference? Yum [...] 5:39 pm
National Local Campaigning!
Bury Lib Dems are busy across the Borough with the Local Election campaign, and today the national party officially launched the campaign across the country. Election day is now only a month away, and whilst the focus of this blog is on St Mary’s Ward and Prestwich, Sir Ming Campbell and the Lib Dems today gave us all some fantastic reminders of the successes that Liberal Democrats in town halls 5:00 pm
Libby Purves sings a liberal song (though sadly it’s not The Land)
Regular listeners to Midweek on Radio 4 will know better than I whether Libby Purves is a liberal-minded soul (it is possible to be a journalist and still have one!), but her column in The Times, today, is certainly singing a Liberal Democrat song. Admitting the impossibility of achieving true equity of public services across the entire UK or even one of its constituent nations, she cries out for a greater devolution of powers, a renewed localism. She even calls for a local income tax. I’m beginning to suspect we have a fan. “[D]evolve more!” she cries. “Bin ... 
1:59 pm
Home Office
Dear Mr Khalid Mahmood MP, 1:44 pm
Paediatricians keep digging
There are clearly some paediatricians who like the idea of not being responsible for their statements in court. After all there are fees of around £3000 a go for writing basic reports. A group of paediatricians from the UK have supported an article written by an academic lawyer in a US Journal (see link). To see the detailed article requires a subscription account. However, there is a clear 1:21 pm
Look there at cigarette-end smouldering on a border
The decision to implement a ban on smoking in public places in Wales some months before it comes into effect in England has had some strange consequences, reports the Shropshire Star: For pub-goers and landlords on the border in Llanymynech, it has drawn a line down the village, with The Dolphin Inn - in Wales - smoke-free, while at the Cross Keys Hotel - in England - people can still enjoy a cigarette.This situation has the makings of a minor Ealing Comedy. Elsewhere in Shropshire: The Malthouse in Ironbridge will be introducing the pub smoking ban on Good Friday ... 12:55 pm
Hiatus And Auction
Hmm. Another hiatus. I would like to report that I have been away at the Vatican, making use of the Latin language cashpoint machine* and giving the Pontiff tips for his speech on Hell, but alas, the truth is more mundane, so mundane in fact that I shall spare you the details. But excitingly, there is [...] 12:42 pm
Matthew Taylor's 20th Dinner
That's where the Folkes family (senior members) were on Saturday night. It was a really pleasant evening but quite peculiar to hear Matthew's time being reflected on in such a way when he still has a couple of years to go yet! As Matthew said himself, shades of Reginald Perrin, minus the stripping off! 12:24 pm
Illogical Thoughts
I can only remember one occasion when I was seen by a Doctor as soon as I had arrived at the surgery. It was actually quite embarrassing as it was shortly after I was elected and the waiting roo... 12:21 pm
Last full council
Well, that's it for this term. The last full council meeting of North Cornwall was held last night and my nomination papers are now all completed to put myself through the madness once again! I had a few bits of casework to catch up on yesterday and it was interesting to be asked how I was finding it, I had to admit that I was quite naive prior to my election last year and thought that I would be able to revolutionise local government by making things happen quickly and efficiently. (!! I have now learnt !!) I ... 12:20 pm
Running for public office
Jon Whitehouse, our Lib Dem Group Leader on Epping Forest Council, is coming round later so I can sign the nomination form for the forthcoming district council elections. I will be standing as a candidate in neighbouring Lambourne ward against Tory incumbent, fellow Loughton resident and Customer Services, Media, Communications and ICT Portfolio Holder Stephen Metcalfe. This development will no 12:11 pm
Favourite Word
I hate surveys that are sponsored by a company with the goal of using the results to showcase their own product or service, but this latest one, trying to find the nations favourite words seems to be a good one. Unlike other surveys where people stop you in the street and try to get you to [...] 12:11 pm
Our blackest hour?
The bitterness of political rivalry can sometimes carry us away, and opportunism is devilishly tempting. So when Brian Gordon , the Conservative councillor for Hale Ward, Barnet, decided to “black up” so as to attend a fancy dress party as Nelson Mandela, he was asking for trouble. And the local Liberal Democrats were quick to make it. Now the authorities and the supposed victim have poured a lot of ice-cold water onto the row. Scorn might have been more appropriate. When the news first broke I was very sceptical. Blacking up may be a rather stupid thing to do, ... 11:57 am
The great pensions robbery
Or was it? After yesterday's initial scandal-mongering, some semblance of rationality seems to have return to most of the broadsheets. Least surprisingly, Polly Toynbee rails valiantly against the right-wing press (The Tory tactic is simple - get low down and dirty), accusing them of whipping up a scandal in order to serve the Tories' electoral interests:"The Tory tactic is simple: demolish what they see as Labour's great asset - Gordon Brown's record and character. Fairly or not, Tony Blair's character has been shot to pieces on the streets of Iraq, in the White House rose garden, in holiday villas, his ... 11:51 am
Childwall tribute
There's a nice item on the agenda for tomorrow's City Council meeting. Its a motion paying tribute to cllr lady Doreen Jones, who is standing down as a Councillor. She is well known for her work on the planning committee, but is also a Councillor for Childwall, where she has worked hard to represent people. I know Childwall a bit (mainly the streets off Chelwood Avenue) and I am sure Lady Doreen will miss it - although she may be standing down as a Councillor but, as she has made clear (!) she is certainly not ... 11:30 am
With thanks!
Thankfully my little lap top is back up and running again! Thank you IT support. I've no excuse to catch up with emailing case work to the Council - it's amazing how much case work you pick up when canvassing. 10:46 am
Plaid fight dirty again
Things are getting heated on the campaign trail with Labour wheeling in the big guns to wind up Plaid once more and the Nationalists responding with a completely untrue and unfounded slur at us. When I read this article in the Western Mail, I did have a lot of sympathy with the view being put by Adam Price that Derek Simpson was taking his union blindly into the campaign on the side of Labour, despite the fact that many of his members do not vote Labour and of those who do a large number will be sitting on their ... 10:02 am
Scottish Lib Dems launch new website
And very shiny it is too. 9:37 am
Half a setback for the SNP?
That is the way the Scotsman is writing up the latest opinion poll north of the border. 9:32 am
Scottish election predictions: Lib Dems and SNP to gain seats
The latest poll (in today’s Scotsman) would give the SNP 44 seats (+17), Labour 39 (-11), Liberal Democrats 24 (+7) and Conservatives 15 (-3). (There aren’t complete figures for the other parties). These figures are not nearly as good for the SNP as previous polls, causing the Scotsman to write: Voters bring high-flying SNP back down to [...] 8:37 am
10 things your boss hates about you
From yesterdays Guardian: 1. Lateness Everyone has days when the bus breaks down, the washing machine packs up, or the alarm doesn't go off. The problem is that some people have those days Monday through Friday. But what really cheeses off your boss is your lame excuse. "It shows you don't care," says Louis Halpern, CEO at advertising agency Halpern Cowan. "Why they can't just tell you that they find it hard to get out of bed and be done with it I don't know. It really makes me furious." 2. Lack of initiative "Don't ask ... 6:39 am
Nearly there….
An annual report. As submitted to Chard Town Council, Combe St. Nicolas Parish Council and Buckland St. Mary Parish Council. Dear Parish Clerk, This last financial year has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride in Local Government terms, a time of considerable change not only for our area, but for the whole of Somerset, and the whole of Local Government nationally for that matter. Some of the highlights are: Somerset County Council has been awarded the highest possible rating for the services we deliver from the independent Audit Commission. We are now a four ... 12:03 am
18 Doughty Street
I finally bit the bullet and made a hopefully unremarkable appearance on Internet telly station 18 Doughty Street tonight. I’m just watching the replay. I haven’t seen a video of myself talking before. I have weird lips. 
