There was a refined debate on House of Lords reform at the Kensington and Chelsea LibDems’ ‘Food for Thought’ tonight, with the peers Matthew Oakeshott and Bill Rodgers respectively arguing for and against a predominantly or wholly elected second chamber. LibDem MPs are quite clear about their line: they would like to see an 80-100% elected [...]
The team of self-destructive Labour Councillors running Lambeth Council have gaffed again this week with the news they are to reappoint Capita to run their Housing Benefit services. It cost Lambeth Council £18m to get rid of Capita in 2001, seven years before their contract was due to expire, after 55,000 people were left waiting for benefits, leading to some being evicted and made homeless. This is the same week that it has been revealed by Liberal Democrat researchers that the Labour government has wasted nearly £9bn since 2003 in fraud, error and over-payments, £5bn of which will ...
The headline quote from Cllr Robinson about tonight's constitutional Council meeting says it all really. Four hours of annual elections, constitutional tinkering and half-hearted debates about marginal issues of internal-naval-gazing obscurity. Meanwhile in the real world hundreds of Bermondsey residents were evacuated and several stations closed causing commuter chaos after a gas cylinder exploded under a railway arch today in Blue Anchor Lane. One man was injured but his condition is not reported to be life-threatening. An Italian football team I regret to note also won a kicking-contest with a team of plucky youngsters from Liverpool. A thrilling ...
I guess this cutting from the BBC website shows why hindsight is a wonderful thing. It does, however, make Alan Hansen seem rather silly. And before you ask, no I am not gloating because I am an Everton fan. I watched the game in the company of a good friend who is a Liverpool fan and I thought Liverpool were by far the better team and I always support English teams in Europe.
The BBC has come up with an excellent top 30 trivia facts about Star Wars. As someone who has seen Star Wars more than 150 times (I insist on calling it Star Wars and not "A new hope"), this sort of thing fascinates me. And no, I am not a sci fi freak, I have barely ever watched Star Trek and hated Blake's Seven, but I love Star Wars. 
It seems that we elected one more Lib Dem than we thought we had in Scotland: Councillor_justifies_switch_to_Liberal-Democrats Mr Rimell, who represented Badenoch East in the last council as an independent, said: "I chose to stand as an independent for two reasons. Stuart Black has for a long time stood as a Lib-Dem. "With the new joined-up ward being a new concept among voters, I thought that having two Lib-Dem candidates would add to the electoral confusion. However, I campaigned with Lib-Dem stickers on my car. I distributed Lib-Dem material and canvassed with the MSP candidate and Danny Alexander MP. ...
MPs are doing themselves no favours after some of them voted to exempt themselves (and their expenses) the Freedom of Information Act last Friday. The Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, introduced by the Conservative MP David Maclean, seems to create one rule for MPs and another rule for everyone else in the public sector. Although supporters of the Bill talk about the need to protect
Our current Prime Minister has long revelled in the soubriquet, ‘Lucky Tony’. The BBC’s political editor, Nick Robinson, today suggests that this mantle has now been passed to his successor, Gordon Brown. His rationale is simple: this week’s latest shambolic performance by the Labour Government could have happened in seven weeks’ time, getting the new Premier’s tenure off to the shakiest of all
Lovely weather we are having at the mo. I took the opportunity to rush home from work and enjoy some time in my garden. Having a garden is definitely one benefit of living in a house.
Welsh Liberal Democrats in Neath Port Talbot have slammed Labour and Conservative MPs for voting for a change to the law to remove the public’s right to see MPs’ travel and expenses claims. The Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, introduced by the Conservative MP David Maclean, would remove any obligation for MPs' expenses to be made public. It would also stop people from finding out what their Member of Parliament has said to other public bodies. Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats have welcomed the launch of a national petition by Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell against the proposals to exempt ...
A new poll will disappoint the Conservatives. Just when they were hoping to open up a gap over Labour, ICM puts them down at 34%. Labour are only two points behind them. The poll suggests that the Tories have gained less than 1% since the 2005 General Election. Liberal Democrats won't be exultant at a score of 21% - but it begins to look like a solid platform for the second half of the Parliament. The electorate may have seen all the Tories have to offer. We seem to have some ammo left in the locker...
In response to the startling assertion that: At heart, tax credits are actually a good idea I trust what is meant is that Tax Credits are well-intentioned, rather than that they are a good idea. They are a shockingly bad idea: a vastly over-complicated bureaucratic nightmare of an idea. Apart from the huge sums of money which have [...]
(I appear somehow to have botched up the publishing of this story yesterday, so it didn’t appear - apologies) Association of Chief Police Officers’ Director of Communications, Hannah Gardiner, has been appointed as Head of Media for the Liberal Democrats. Gardiner will head up the Liberal Democrats’ Press Office and is expected to take up [...]
I walked out of my house in London a few minutes ago and watched as three ducks waddled down the road. It makes a change to seeing a fox wandering about the place, or squirrels munching their way through my garden! I feel like we are living in a nature reserve!---Sent via BlackBerry
PMQs today! Tony is obviously demob happy and enjoying life. He was very sparky today. Cameron had another bad hair day. I don't know who is advising him - but his choice of attack is failing. Lot's of stuff about asking what the 'new' Prime Minister will or won’t do. Firstly - he is no match for Tony. Secondly - the problem he has whenever he goes for health or education or useless ministers is
I've been getting to grips with my new rôle as joint Chair of the South of the Borough Neighbourhood. I share this with Cllr Rob Lee, and Cllr Kevin O'Connor is in support as Vice Chair. In Kingston, Neighbourhoods were always seen as a way of increasing citizen participation, so I have been wholeheartedly behind them from the beginning. In fact, Kingston led the way on this 13 years...
How excited the Tory PPC for Berwick must have been when she knew she was going to get five minutes on Radio Five Live this afternoon, and how quickly her mood must have changed after she made herself sound so foolish. Anne-Marie Trevelyan came on to the radio to talk about the nuclear issue (which she supported) and against wind farms. When questioned by the presenter, it appeared though that she opposed wind farms only in her area (Berwick) and only supported nuclear power if it was outside her constituency. As she sounded more and more like the very ...
Iain Dale's latest quest to find Labour's most incompetent Minister is a bit too difficult for me. It's much like being asked to pick out my favourite bar of chocolate - there are too many to choose from. That said, it has to be old boggle ears himself Charles Clarke, Surely I don't have to explain why.
Do you ever get the impression that some people at the BBC treat the major sports events as a bloody good excuse to get out of the country on a "jolly" ? The fact that Nicky Campbell was in Athens this morning was almost lost on me as, putting it simply, he was on the radio ! Why couldn't he speak to people in Athens via a link like they do on other occasions ? Why send him to Athens to report on one news item (the Champions League Final) when all the other news he was reporting on ...
Regular readers of this blog will know about the failed attempt by Labour to force me to take down from my blog the video of the declaration of the Dunston Hill and Whickham East election result I filmed at the end of the count earlier this month. The ward was Labour's top target in the local elections on Gateshead and they threw everything at it to try to win it back. The result was a near
Last night saw the City Council running an excellent community planning event in the Marryat Hall. It featured the work amongst communities right across the City that has been achieved over the past five years and looked towards the next community planning consultation period. Pictured above right is part of the display from the South West Dundee area, the area that covers the West End.Also attended the Blackness Area Residents' Association (BARA) meeting last night. I raised the forthcoming multi-occupancy recycling project. This will see "mini" recycling units for (initially) paper and different glass in areas where there are flats ...
This seems to be a week for major announcements: Energy Planning HIPs Is this considered a 'good week to bury bad news' or, at least, major announcements? It all seems rather strange since Blair will soon be gone. Does Brown want all the clutter out of the way before he starts? Is Blair trying to secure himself a place in history other than as an alleged, potential war criminal? Blair's
The Conservatives increased their majority on Wychavon Council, and at the same time Labour lost all their representation on the Council.
I was reminded the other day why it is important not to make promises or pledges whilst have a few drinks. On Friday night after a few drinks out with friends I happened to mention in passing that I'd always wanted to be fit enough to run a half marathon. Note, "wanted to be fit enough". This does not equate to actually wanting to do a half marathon. Within a flash, one friend who recently ran a half marathon offered to sign me up for a half marathon next April and in my jolly mood, I was dead ...
For some reason, this story reminds me of this joke (the version of this joke that I know replaces the ‘blonde’ with a Labour MP and the voice in the earphones is Peter Mandelson - which probably shows my age). Share This 
For a brief flashback in history of educational debates on Grammar Schools, take a look at Hansard for 2000 where various attitudes to grammars are paraded in a debate on selective education policy. What Official Tories say on grammars then and now may be of contemporary interest (hint, they are contrasting). Milton Keynes has a particular interest in this debate on Grammars, as before we became an Unitary Authority we were part of Buckinghamshire – and Bucks ran and runs a Secondary Modern system. The Tories in control of Buckinghamshire tried to build a Grammar in MK. They spent ...
I have been reading up a bit about the Government White Paper on planning. And it's really alarming - not just for the environment but for democracy. It seems that there will be some projects considered "national" - including airports, motorways, gas pipelines, power stations and, according to Simon Jenkins in today's guardian, retail superstores. The gist is that in these cases, the ability of local councils, organisations and people to have a proper say will be severely diminished. Now you could argue that that's to the good, that major projects shouldn't take years and years ...
Warwick & Leamington MP, James Plaskitt joined Labour and Conservative front benches in the Commons to vote for a special exemption for MPs from the Freedom of Information Act. This brings Parliament into disrepute. How can we have one law for everyone, except for those responsible for making our laws.Follow this link to see how you can help. More interesting links on this subject. Watch the progress of this bill through the house of commons.Excellent Blog by Martin Rosenbaum all about this issue.Richard Allen, onetime MP has an excellent Blog on this subject and explains why he thinks this ...
In the course of a posting on Polly Toynbee and Housing Information Packs, James Graham nicely characterises a certain style of Labourite reasoning: Something must be done.This is something.Therefore it must be done
Conservative MP, Charles Walker, has produced a report on the BNP in which he argues that the Conservative Party should treat them as a party of the left: Politically the Conservative Party should not shy away from positioning the BNP as another Party of the left operating in an increasing crowded space populated by Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Respect and the Greens. All of these parties favour high-levels of state intervention, big government and top down problem solving. As the allocation of its few council seats suggests, the BNP is not the natural home of Conservative-minded voters and the ...
Cicero asks if David Cameron is losing the plot? James Graham writes an excellent analysis on the current state of the Cameron project: Is Cameron actually leading the Conservative party? Lobbing a passing hat-tip at Iain Dale, it is interesting that Tim Montgomerie has picked up some of these themes in the Telegraph today: Cameron should look to his right. This includes some words of criticism
Last night was the first of (what I hope will be) many street surgeries in St Mary's, when cllr O'Hanlon and I can meet residents on their home patch and talk about the issues affecting them. I was at Agecroft road East/West and Sandy Lane last night for 45 minutes, before holding a second surgery at Gardner Road / Harold Street. Lots of people came down to say hello, and there's a lot of case
Although many journalists are pointing to Saturday as the crunch moment in talks to form a rainbow coalition, today may prove to be more important. To be frank, I am not expecting many problems from the Welsh Conservative's National Committee in Llandrindod Wells tonight, though I guess that their endorsement of a deal cannot be taken for granted. The crunch will come with the meeting of the Welsh Liberal Democrat NEC in the same town at 7pm. If our National Executive does not endorse the deal then put simply, the Conference on Saturday does not happen. ...
My previous post lambasting Scientology seems to have been quite popular. In light of this, can i urge everyone who reads this blog to sign up to the below petition against Scientology: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/-Scientology/ It basically petitions the Prime Minister to make sure that Scientology is never classed as a religious organisation in the UK. I was hoping to set up a petition like that myself, but it was rejected on the grounds that this one already exists. So please everyone sign that petition and tell other people about it if you can.
Party press release: The Liberal Democrats today called for the Department of Communities and Local Government to be merged with the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland offices into a single government department. The call comes following the successful reinstatement of devolution to Northern Ireland. The move could save taxpayers millions of pounds. Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Wales and [...]
With the announcement of the England to team to play (or should be to loose to) South Africa on Saturday, I'm glad to say its time for the third in the series of who the hell is.. posts on Harlequins who have got catapulted into the big time. Unlike Dave Strettle and Nick Easter, Mike Brown has risen the ranks in the more accepted way, being the product of Harlequin's Academy and a veteran of
I have just checked the words of the freedom of information amendment bill. It does exempt the House of Commons from being a "public authority" (and the House of Lords). Furthermore it is wrong to make letters written by an MP to say the local health trust exempt automatically. If they contain confidential details about an individual's case then they are exempt, but if they merely talk about
I have badly judged architects. Sorry. RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) have responded to the planning white paper with remarkable vigour: Good design and environmental sustainability need to be at the heart of a humane planning system – but on design grounds the White Paper has failed to deliver.“We support deregulation, but not at any price. Of course we welcome efforts to cut red
There was a fascinating and entertaining debate on homepathy on Today this morning. The Guardian reports: A group of senior doctors and scientists has stepped up its campaign to stop homeopathic treatment being funded on the NHS. In a letter to primary health care trusts, the seven argue that the evidence for a benefit from the complementary therapy "is equivocal at best, despite many years of
LDV was down overnight due to something going screwy with a file on the server (there’s technical for you) which required an upgrade of the blog software. This shouldn’t make any difference to you, but if you notice anything acting oddly, please say.
The funny thing about the Grammargate fiasco amongst British Conservatives is that it shows David Cameron in a consistently bad light. He must know how resented his Old Etonian background is amongst many opinion formers- not least John Humphries- so stirring the pot on education will always leave some echo of the dreaded class war. The other thing that this is showing up is that Cameron is growing more isolated in his party- it is not just the right wing malcontents this time- even centrist MPs have been showing irritation. Although this is obviously not the beginning of ...
Apparently, Crouch is big threat says Kaka. At least, that’s what it said in big black letters on a stapled bundle of paper I noticed while sitting on a bus yesterday. There was smaller lettering underneath, lots of it, also black on a white background, but I was too far away to be able to [...]
10 years of Labour have left the poor paying more in tax than the rich. Why?
I have avoided to much national political stuff on this blog. Partly because its not what I set it up for but mainly because my Journalism isn't up to it. However speaking as someone who gave Ming Campbell a very reluctant third preference choice in a three horse race last year, its time to say the following. Be very careful what you wish for. One of the reasons I was so angry about the manner of the Kennedy Assassination was that these things never stop there. Once you accept that anonymous media briefings are an acceptable weapon ...
I’ve often been challenged about what the actual purpose of Facebook is – for example by Duncan Brack and Jon Worth. Apart from the ability to take up lots of time, I’ve tended to scramble towards an answer something along the lines of it being a good way to keep vaguely in touch with people [...]
Fascinating that two men who broke into an RAF base to sabotage US B-52 bombers by clogging their engines with nuts and bolts were acquitted after arguing that they were acting to prevent war crimes in Iraq despite the judge instructing the jury to ignore the wider issues relating to Britain's decision to go to war. According to The Guardian here the two men argued that they were attempting to disable the B52 bombers in order to prevent them from taking part in attacks on Iraq and in order to prevent war crimes and loss of life and property ...
Only one seats changed hands on Worcester Council from the Independents to Labour. It must be one of the few Councils were Labour actually made a gain! The Liberal Democrats held their seat that was up.
...imagining a Wireless Oxford. I'm surprised at how good a service they offer on the Oxford Tube, wireless wise. I'm off to a day conference on "Wireless Cities" where I'll hear from other areas miles ahead of Oxford about how they plan to unwire their cities/districts, courtesy of the people that brought us the Oxfordshire Community Network, Synetrix. read more
I’m really starting to wonder. Readers might recall earlier in the year that I pointed out that Cameron could not command majority Tory support for their manifesto commitment for a substantially elected House of Lords and failed to persuade them to back his stance on the Sexual Orientation Regulations. This week, we find [...]
Happy belated birthday Ming! I know i'm not the greatest fan of your leadership but I'm certainly sure you're otherwise a decent enough bloke; you are a liberal after all. It is a shame though, you should really be enjoying your retirement with your family and friends now - not trawling along the halls of the House of Commons and climbing up and down those stairs to your office day in and day out. Go on take your well earned rest, you know you want to, you've earned it! With Love, Letterman
Having read Polly Toynbee’s spiteful article attacking the Lib Dems and Tories for opposing Home Information Packs, I took no small amount of pleasure to find Ruth Kelly capitulating and putting the scheme back. What annoyed me most about Toynbee’s article was that it stuck religiously to the rote of “something must be done, this is [...]
How hollow Tony Blair's pledges on education look now. Read this article in the Eastern Daily Press to read how jobs are going in Norfolk this year all because of the poor grant received from central government.
I attended a speech by Nick Clegg in the Commons this evening to a nascent group of thrusting young politicos. Mostly I tended to agree with him: the party is to focussed on the minutiae of policy and not enough on how it presents itself; the party does have to develop distinctive ’surprising’ positions [...]
There are those who would have you believe that young Mr Clegg is the leader-elect, and some are quite blatant about their desire to see him replace Ming Campbell, sooner rather than later. And so, I attended a meeting of a new group this evening to see Nick in action. Now, readers of this blog will be aware that I've seen a fair bit of him recently, and might wonder whether or not I'm a member
Today North Ayrshire Council had a full Council meeting. At this meeting the SNP (8 Councilors), Tories (3 Councillors) and 4 of the 5 so-called Independents produced a last minute motion to exclude our 2 Lib Dem Councillors from ALL COUNCIL COMMITTEES! This passed on the casting vote of the SNP Provost. How can these people be so arrogant as to exclude our democratically elected Councillors from participating on the Council's Committee structure? The whole thing was cobbled together by the SNP as I understand. This is a despicable, politically immature, act which makes me fear that the new ...
Ming Campbell has launched an online petition against the bill to exempt Parliament from the freedom of information rules. | < | May 2007 | > | ||||
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