LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Thursday 30th August 2007

Asking too much of preschool education

A couple of years ago I was talking to a normally sensible Liberal Democrat politico about preschool education. I said that while I was sceptical about Labour's grandiose plans, I thought institutions like playgroups were thoroughly good things. He scoffed and said that they sounded like "something out of Lord Bonkers". Well, the evidence on schemes like Sure Start is coming in, and it is disappointing for those who saw it as the start of massive state intervention in the early years. And there are signs that its advocates are a little chastened by its failure. Madeleine Bunting has a ...

How much the Lib Dems spent fighting the Welsh Assembly elections

The Electoral Commission has today published figures showing how much each of the political parties spent contesting May 2007’s Welsh Assembly elections. In total the Lib Dems spent £407,407 - £239,799 was spent by the party, with a further £167,608 incurred by candidates. This was £33,791 less than the Tories’ total (£441,198) and £10,211 less [...]

Thanks and Good Luck to Shaun Roberts

I’ve checked that it is now public knowledge that Shaun is moving on after about 5 years as South East Region Campaigns Officer. Shaun becomes national campaigns officer at Cowley Street. I first met Shaun in early 2001 when I was Parliamentary Candidate for Dover. Shaun was agent in the next door constituency, and target seat, Shepway. I learned a huge amount in my early days from watching Shaun and Peter Carroll’s solid community politics. Shaun and Peter’s advice was very important in my team in Dover getting the largest Lib Dem swing in Kent. Factors beyond Shaun and Peter’s control stopped them winning ...

Two Liberal Democrat books about to be published

Both of these should be available at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton next month: Reinventing the State: Social Liberalism for the 21st Century edited by Duncan Brack, Richard Grayson & David Howarth;Coalition: The Politics and Personalities of Coalition Government from 1850 by Mark Oaten.Enjoy.

Targets and ticking the boxes

Over the last few days meeting targets and ticking boxes seem to have dominated. What, I wonder is achieved. First the Council. We are about to have a Corprate Performance Assessment (CPA), so all eyes are on meeting the demands of that, and other reviews going on at the same time. Understandably the Council is very concerned about keeping it's "Excellent" CPA rating and doing...

Let Candidates Be Candidates Part 2

A wealthy candidate might even want to look at these two articles.... ARTICLE 13 Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity. ARTICLE 14 The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.

Let Candidates Be Candidates

Anthony Hook has raised a very legitimate concern about the partial gagging of Euro Selection Candidates. It is utterly absurd that candidates are not able to state where they disagree with an incumbent MEP on a policy issue or where they might take an alternative approach. I'm getting worried about the drift of the Party at the present time towards some kind of control freakery. For goodness sake we are supposed to be LIBERAL DEMOCRATS. LIBERAL = standing up for freedom of thought and expression. DEMOCRAT = supporting pluralistic democracy. We risk looking like hypocrites when we say one thing ...

Three deaths and a funeral

Tuesday was not a good day- three deaths and all known to me via the Lib Dems. So today I found myself at the funeral of Christine Harvey, mother of colleague Nick Harvey. Much to my surprise the Romsey by election received a mention. If I tell you that Nick mentioned that his mother had things in common with Hyacinth Bucket this tells you that she could be quite an imposing lady. During the by

Heather Kidd selected in Ludlow

Ludlow Liberal Democrats have selected Councillor Heather Kidd as their candidate for the next General Election. Heather is a Councillor in the constituency and a previous Leader of South Shropshire District Council.

For One Night Only

For One Night Only I'm guesting the Rock Show on Palm 105,5 Friday evening nine to midnight. You can tune in on 105.5 FM in the South Devon area, or on the web from anywhere i...

Facebook upsets me

Most people know that Facebook is a social networking tool used by the young but some of us oldies are getting in on the act. My offspring were deeply suspicious of my foray into Facebook but at least they both agreed to be my "friends". It has been nice to say hi to old friends but I hadn't prepared for the emotional roller coaster. It was great to see that Ros and Mark had become engaged but

Real food

I have picking raspberries every day recently. They have a delicious aroma and tang. Not only that but I have just found out they are a great source of vitamin C, minerals, antioxidants and ellagic acid which research indicates is a powerful anti-cancer agent. The plants are also tough - I have seen them growing wild near a fjord in Norway. They also grow like weeds on my allotment. The autumn-fruiting kinds are productive from now until the frosts. It is well worth while to grow some, if you have room.

Told Off by the Tax Man

Yesterday I had to phone the Inland Revenue to enquire about a tax return. I checked their website and found that they offered 0845 numbers for public queries. As I have an all-you-can-eat package for UK landline phone calls this did not make me entirely happy as 0845 numbers are excluded from this. But, I noticed that they offered international numbers for each office which are regular phone lines. I phoned the relevant number and felt especially pleased that I was not paying for the call as they kept me waiting for 5 mins before answering. This pleasure was punctured ...

New Statesman on the popularity of Norfolk Tories

A classic quote from the New Statesman on the plight of Norfolk Tories in the wake of the Norman Lamb Facebook scamming incidents and own goal howler from David Cameron claiming one thing about a local hospital whilst this local Tory MP claimed the other and apologised to the hospital for what his leader said. "A week I’m sure the Tories would like to forget as they came out less popular in East Anglia than Alan Partridge following his comments about farmers." Indeed !

What have the Lib Dems got against September ?

What have the Lib Dem e-campaign team got against the month of September ? The nominations for Lib Dem blog of the year are closing tomorrow (on the last day of August), yet, if you want to qualify as a new blog, you have to have set your blog up since the first October 2006. A very odd situation has occurred for me in the "new blog" category. People have told me that they wanted to nominate my blog, so they tell me, in the "new blog" category but I do not qualify as I set my blog up on ...

The Straight Line from Yahoo to Torture

Did Yahoo! assist in torture? A court case is currently winding its way through the US courts in which Yahoo! is accused of aiding and abetting torture by Chinese authorities. Yahoo! handed over information to the Chinese which included emails from persons who were later detained and tortured. Yahoo! have justified their action on the grounds that they were complying with the law, going on to

It’s not over, not over, not over, not over yet

Thanks to the invaluable Created In Birmingham for updating the city’s blogging community on the latest from The Jug of Ale

Time for “Hawkish” Environmentalism.

I’ve never really been one for the fluffy stuff of environmentalism. I’m concerned about global warming and in favour of cuts to carbon not because, I’m sentimental about our green and pleasant land. But because, I really, really want to make at least sixty. And on my sixtieth birthday it is nice to imagine that I can say, “yhe my grandchildren can grow up to be my age, fullfill themselves, and live happily.” Perhaps the reality of parenthood is different but it is my dream so far. The biggest barrier to this dream at the moment is the threat that ...

Blog of the Year - one day left to get your nominations in

The deadline for nominations in this year’s Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year awards is midnight tomorrow (Friday night), so you’ve got just over a day left to get your nominations in. Don’t forget that you can make more than one nomination in any given category, but that blogs and posts from the judges (me, Ryan Cullen of LibDem Blogs, Lynne Featherstone MP and last year’s winner and Liberal Democrat Voice editor Stephen Tall) are not eligible. Shucks. There are six categories, including the much sought after title of Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year. For the “Best posting on ...

Economist praises Clegg’s “impressive” immigration proposals

Earlier in the week, Nick Clegg, the Lib Dems’ shadow home secretary, set out in The Observer his thinking on what a liberal immigration policy should look like. In particular, he tackled head-on the issue of what to do about the estimated 600,000 immigrants living illegally in the UK: … a route of earned legalisation should [...]

Heather Kidd chosen to fight Ludlow

Heather Kidd has been chosen to fight Ludlow for the Liberal Democrats at the next general election. The seat was held for the party by Matthew Green between 2001 and 2005. Heather is a local councillor and former leader of South Shropshire District Council. She was selected at a constituency meeting last night ahead of Susan Juned and Christine Tinker. Thanks, as ever, to the Shropshire Star.

David Cameron and the nature of modern politics

The reaction to David Cameron's appearance on Newsnight last night tell us a lot about the nature of modern politics. No one has discussed the content of what he said and argued over whether he presented new solutions to the problems we face. Instead, his appearance has been discussed in almost theatrical terms as "a performance". Here, for instance, is Iain Dale: I thought Cameron gave a stormer of a performance - calm, collected, lucid and statesmanlike.Where there has been discussion of what Cameron said, as opposed to how he looked or sounded, it has concentrated upon how it will ...

Increase in typhoid and measles - Is Edward Jenner turning in his grave?

It really is madness that there are perfectly good vaccines for typhoid and measles but we are seeing increases in UK incidences of both those diseases. It is timely that the UK Vaccines industry group have issued a series of documents called "Valuing Vaccines", linked to a publicity campaign involving Tony "Baldrick" Robinson. My son died aged sixteen months old in 1993 of a type of

Tory members overwhelmingly reject green taxes

David Cameron is still unable to get the support of his party for anything other than traditional core Tory policies. Despite his best husky-hugging efforts, only 34% of Tory members would be "happy to pay green taxes if other taxes fall by the same amount". That is according to the latest Conservative members' survey by Conservative Home.

Sat higher

Senator Brandon McQuaig of Northern Wyoming has expressed outrage that US troops involved in recent ‘friendly fire’ incidents may have used weapons systems made outside the USA. In a speech to Connecticut Buffaloes the fictitious Senator declared: “American soldiers are responsible for regular deaths among our British allies throughout the world and they need to be properly equipped for this role.” Senator McQuaig was concerned that if more US munitions were made outside the country this might hamper their ability to kill or injure their allies, since foreign weapons may not be up to same standard of indiscriminate deaths as ...

Edwards and Meaningless Populism

According to CNN today John Edwards has made a speech to a labo(u)r group: Edwards was clearly popular with the group, several times drawing standing ovations, including once when he said weapons and equipment used by America's military needs to be made in the United States. He said now tanks and ammunition for M16 rifles are being made in other countries. "If your tax dollars are being used to produce the products that keep America safe, that provide defense for the American people, those jobs should remain in the United States of America," Edwards said. What a load of meaningless ...

Car Clubs

The opposition policy item at the next full council meeting is a Lib Dem one on car clubs. Below is the text of the item. Most of the explanation of how these clubs work is taken from the London Borough of Brent's website. Back ground As up to 90% of pollution emissions in London come from motor vehicles, car clubs can play a valuable role in the reduction of pollution. Studies in Europe have shown that each Car Club vehicle typically replaces five to ten private vehicles, thereby reducing congestion and pollution. A car club provides its members with quick ...

Dennis Wise is Manager of the Month

Dennis Wise is League One Manager of the Month but he is not too happy about it.

Kneehigh

Last word on Cornish Nationalism, for the moment. The very wonderful Kneehigh theatre are touring this autum with 'Blast', a story of Cornish direct action, and will be at a village hall near you, as long as you have the good fortune to live in Cornwall or the, rather more debatable, good fortune to live in Devon. Tough on the rest of you, but it's your own fault. The full list of dates is on www.kneehigh.co.uk

Beacon of hope

Emotionally charged cheers and applause filled parliament square yesterday morning as the statue of Nelson ‘Madiba’ Mandela was unveiled by the man himself, together with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Mayor of London and Lord Richard Attenborough. Seven years on from the inception of the idea for a sculpture, a very British, low-key ceremony celebrated the incredible life and moral upstanding of Mr. Mandela. A hero of our time, Mr. Mandela fought for the fall of apartheid in South Africa throughout his life, and now ceaselessly campaigns for the eradication of world poverty at the age of 89. The PM ...

Tories lurch to the right… of whom?

I find it funny that the leftist, Labour supporting, media is screaming about the Tory party lurching to the right… Why? Because on the issues which they actually are being right wing on, namely law and order and immigration they’re saying the same things as the Government. Hardly a lurch to the right there… Needless to say, I [...]

Barack Obama is ahead in poll of readers of this blog

There has been what I regard as a surprisingly large response to the US Presidential survey button on the right. 31 people have voted. Thank you! Barack Obama has stormed ahead with 77%. Next is, interestingly, Ron Paul with 23%.I have repeated the botton below just in case anyone is still to vote.

More EU muppetry - Mandelson listens to the candle makers

lightbulb protectionism So, having said that incandescent bulbs should be replaced with energy saving bulbs, the EU commission, or more specifically Peter Mandelson, has given into industry pressure to keep tariffs on cheaper imported energy saving bulbs meaning that energy saving light bulbs will continue to be more expensive than they need to be for at [...]

Boris hails a Lib Dem hero

Author, journalist, and occasional politician Boris Johnson has devoted his column in today’s Telegraph to hailing a new hero: Lib Dem peer, Lord Phillips of Sudbury. Here’s why: … last week he struck such a blow for freedom and common sense that, if there were any justice, the people of Sudbury would now be organising a subscription [...]

A plea for some help - socialist anarchy?

In my wanderings around politics I’ve come across many concepts. I can understand how many are theoretically meant to work and why. I can understand the appeal of totalitarianism (and oppose it all the more because of that). I have a rough idea how anarcho-capitalism might work, the same with mutualism and other individualist anarchism. I see [...]

Tory statement on immigration. another box ticked

'The opposition is utterly predictable in its drive to self-destruct. Discuss.' David Davis must be eyeing up the leader of the opposition's chauffeur driven car with increasing excitement

‘Being Norman Lamb’ in the Staggers

The New Statesman blog devotes a column to the Norman Lamb Facebook saga: In an unprecedented turn of events, the blogosphere was focused on East Anglia for much of this week. Recent reports of identity thieves finding a rich resource on Facebook were highlighted in the ongoing saga involving the profile on the social networking site [...]

The Cameron lurch to the right

The Independent reports that Cameron has re-ignited claims that he is lurching to the right after his comments on immigration last night. Seumas Milne in the Guardian writes an excellent commentary on this lurching to the right business, entitled: "Now we see what the return of Tory Britain would be like": Now, after two months of the Brown bounce, a series of public rows over policy and two

Watch Cameron on Newsnight

Cameron's interview on Newsnight last night can be seen here.

A voucher system for education

I am a firm supporter of a voucher system in education as a solution to the current dire state of this country’s education system. The current system whilst it has its success stories fails drastically too much, despite the best efforts of all involved. This is not due to evil intent, but due to fundamental flaws [...]

Tim Garden

I didn’t manage to write anything about the death of Tim Garden before going away on holiday but I didn’t want to let it pass without adding my own tribute. Tim was a great person to work with - always friendly, very supportive, and very encouraging to a young enthusiast, as well as (it goes without saying) a wise head with good advice. When I was Vice Chair and then Chair of the Lib Dem European Group he was enormously helpful as a member of its committee, from taking on running LDEG’s website (which he continued to do even when ...

Rhodri lays down the law

In this morning's Western Mail, Rhodri Morgan warns that a public clash between Labour and Plaid Cymru ministers in the coalition Assembly Government would be “hopelessly destructive”. What could he be thinking about? Is it the signs of a growing Plaid Cymru revolt over their joint decision to allow an extra million tonnes of sand to be dredged from Helwick Bank? Or is it concern that the deal that has been stitched together to keep adult neurosurgery in Swansea and Cardiff will start to come apart under pressure from North Wales? It is certainly going to be difficult for the ...

Cameron on Newsnight : The farce of the Conservative part-time shadow cabinet exposed

The Newsnight interview with David Cameron last night showed the BBC at its best. Four senior journalists interrogated Cameron, with interesting results. It was an unusual format. I suspect the deal was - "OK - make sure Paxo is two thousand miles away but we'll let four of your finest have a go instead". The result was productive - some light produced rather than the heat radiated by a "Paxo

No Free Nelson Mandela viewing

Yesterday I turned down the chance to see Nelson Mandela. The previous week I turned down Jesse Jackson. This is becoming a bad habit.

EU action could make roads safer

Northern Ireland and Eire are introducing a common penalty points system for driving licences. Good idea, but it should be EU wide. Currently in the UK you get points for, e.g. speeding (3 to 6) jumping a red light (3) or not having insurance (6). If you collect 12 points you are banned from driving (unless it would cause demonstrable and exceptional hardship). Most EU countries have similar systems but there are all seperate from each other. A driver from another EU state, with a terrible record at home can come here, commit a dangerous traffic offence and then not get banned because there is ...

Finally! plain speaking on drugs and gangs in the MSM

...but will the politicians listen? Somehow, I doubt it! Since I wrote my piece on gangs and drugs on Saturday I've seen a steady trickle of hits from Google searches about Rhys Jones and I've kept an eye on the search terms and found I was pretty well alone in voicing the opinion that drugs policy plays the biggest part in the gang gun deaths that stalk some of our estates. So it is with some relief that I find Johann Hari is another voice of sanity in today's Independent: Johann Hari: Tragic victims of a self-defeating policy: This is ...

Spending EU Money

Let me say this, without disagreeing with any identified MEP… EU action should be reserved to that which cannot be done effectively at a more local level- that’s a basic principle of liberal federalism. We shouldn’t call for more EU money on every single passing parish bandwagon. We shouldn’t call for EU money for something that effects only a limited area, has no practical human impact, and could be done by a local authority. The EU is beacon of hope and a promise of action in a world of challenges that cross member states’ boundaries. Let us never forget that- or the public will forget ...

Antony Hook on what candidates have to say about incumbents

Antony Hook posts here on candidates in internal selections being unable to say if they agree or disagree with incumbents. The same rule applied in the GLA selections, and I totally agree with him. How can members differentiate if you can't say what you would do different. While you may make a positive point, how many members will be aware if there is a contrast between what you say and what an

Partial gagging of Euro selection candidates.

European selection candidates are not allowed to say, for example: “On [insert specific policy issue] I disagree with [insert name of MEP] for the following reasons…”. It applies even if it is agreed that their view is accurately represented. People should have the courage of their convictions. They should accept that others may offer another view, which voters may find more compelling. It’s called free speech in a liberal democracy. Free internal debate is - and will always be - the greatest strength of the Liberal Democrats over other parties. It’s how we get good policies. It’s a reason I joined the Liberal Democrats when I ...

I want it now!

Please Mr Serif build this into image resizing in PagePlus. Or if not, Mr Adobe can we have it in Photoshop PLEEEEAAASE! Hat tip TechCrunch

Day 2432: Mr Balloon faces The Tribe

Wednesday: Ooh, Mr Balloon is on the telly. Whatever can HE be doing there? What’s that you say, Mr Stripy? ANOTHER relaunch? Isn’t that two in two weeks? WHAT a ridiculous repeat offender he is! This was like that new BBC Two show where Mr Balloon goes into the wilderness and faces a week of trials from a TRIBE of PYGMIES from the Newsnight Show. He tries to bribe them with SHINY BEADS and they stick him with pins coated in POISON FROG JUICE. I just have enough time to tell you about his six IMPOSSIBLE POLICY POSITIONS before breakfast… ...

The Liberal Democrats' Federal Autumn Conference Rally

The Liberal Democrats' Federal Autumn Conference Rally will this year be in the Brighton Conference Centre from 18.30 to 19.30 on Sunday 16th September.

Thursday 30th August 2007

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