LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Friday 31st August 2007

Summer of British Film: War

So it's on to the penultimate week of the festival, which looks at war films. And there is a lot of pleasure to be had. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is simply magnificent. As ever, Powell and Pressburger managed to lift their wartime films high above the simple pieces of propaganda they might have been in less skilled hands. Here they tackle the moral dilemma implicit in total war. In order to defeat Nazi Germany, did we have to become more like it? Yet an Anglo-German friendship lies at the centre of the film too. Another Powell and ...

Keith Vaz tries to dodge the question on Europe

Norfolk Blogger is worried about supporting a referendum on the EU reform treaty because Keith Vaz wants one too. Only he doesn't. If you read Vaz's comments it is clear that he doesn't want the referendum to be about the treaty at all. He told the BBC: "I am absolutely convinced that we will win any test of public opinion as to whether or not the British people want us in Europe, at the heart of Europe, which is what's happened over the last 10 years, or whether they want us to turn our back on Europe."In other words he ...

I've signed the pledge: have you?

It's time we called a stop to it, it's time we called time at the bar. I talk, of course, of our fossil-fuel consumption and that's why I've been quick to sign the pledge. Good liberals all, you'll have in your diaries 22nd September: 'Streets for People Day'. Previously, it was called 'Car-free Day', but that was too catchy or too contentious (what do you mean, how can I be free without my 4x4?). So, last year, it was 'In Town without my car Day' -- nobody could have accused that of being catchy. But now we have a name ...

Plaid left out in the cold again

Another day, another press release detailing a Welsh Assembly Government initiative, that somehow forgot to mention Plaid Cymru. Instead, Labour are claiming sole credit for a £770,000 school uniform grant: PARENTS in Swansea received a helpful hand from Welsh Labour today, to get the kids ready to go back to school. Local AM Andrew Davies welcomed Labour Education Minister Jane Hutt's announcement of a massive £770,000 school uniform grant. The money will help low income families buy the uniforms their children need for the start of a new school term. It is certainly true that this grant was introduced under ...

Diana's legacy

Bagehot in the Economist gets it about right: During her short, sad life, Diana was seen as a scandalously modern princess; after her sadder death, and as its tenth anniversary approaches next week, she has been enlisted as a posthumous poster girl for various progressive causes. “She wasn't seen as posh. She was one of the people,” argues Time magazine, hailing her as “the princess [who] transformed a nation”.She wasn't - and she didn't.Beyond her roles as fairy-tale princess and floundering, suffering divorcee, Diana's appeal rested in part on an ancient archetype: the monarch who walks among the people, working ...

Hancock backs EU treaty referendum

Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South, Mike Hancock, has publicly demanded the Liberal Democrats support a referendum on the EU reform treaty - and says that that many of his Parliamentary colleagues agree. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World at One today, Mike said: “I believe [the treaty] requires the agreement of the British people - as [...]

Why do new jeans have to have a worn look?

A friend went to a shop this evening and bought 2 pairs of jeans. Both come with the ready worn look. He gave one of the pairs to me. Thank you! But I don't quite understand the fashion requirement that new clothes have to look as if they've been worn 100 times before. Surely new clothes should appear as precisely that - new! If I wanted the worn look, I would dig out one of my old pairs which

A Shade too Sensitive

The Swedish embassy in Pakistan has "expressed regret" at a Swedish newspaper's depiction this week of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Really it's just an excuse for me to rerun this cartoon and before anybody starts, I'm atheist, I respect your beliefs, but I'm not going to respect your taboos: In other news, will an October general election be announced next week? and watch out for suspicious

If Keith Vaz supports it, then I think I should oppose it

I argued earlier this week that we should have a referendum on the EU constitution. I now see that Keith Vaz also supports the idea. I now think I should oppose such a plan as if a man as dim as Keith Vaz supports the it then it must be a bad idea.

Day 2433: Face to Facebook

Friday: Access to the Wibby Wobbly Web at work, is it a problem? Or is it a Human Right? The TUC says that employees SHOULD have access, in particular to networking sites like In-Your-Facebook and FloorSpace. UNSURPRISINGLY, employers reply by saying "it's a flamin' liberty!" Mr Peter Mooney said: "Why should employers pay for the privilege of allowing their employees to access Facebook, MySpace or Bebo from work computers whether in an employee's lunch-time or not?" This is OBVIOUSLY WRONG – anyone who has READ the books will know that it is REMUS who is MOONEY and PETER is actually ...

An online campaign that worked - students out-Facebook the NUS

Many more 'online campaigns' are launched than succeed (see here for a recent Conservative failure). All the more reason for the National Union of Students to be happy that their campaign has made HSBC change its mind over a plan to raise charges on holders of graduate accounts. The NUS is normally known for its inability to organise a piss-up in a brewery. However, by harnessing the online community they've achieved their result. HSBC were on very poor ground. Their plan to raise interest on graduate overdrafts was evidently intended to push graduates towards a 'premium' account with a monthly ...

A decade to forget

It’s 10 years since we woke up to the news Diana, Princess of Wales had died. I suspect that, apart from the dwindling necro-band of Daily Express readers, many of us are somewhat fatigued by the wall-to-wall media coverage of an event which, though located firmly in the past, seems still to have a visceral presence. Last year, when speculating how Diana’s death might have been covered

Taxman ditches legal action so can we have our 15 points back please?

The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that the taxman has pulled out of the legal action against Leeds United's administrators KPMG. Clearly they had no case and this must surely strengthen United's appeal to the Football Association. Surely they can give us the 15 points back now?

Running order for Atonement Regional Premier

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has announced the programme for the 1940's spectacular street event celebrating the official regional premiere of Joe Wright's adaptation of Ian McEwan's 'Atonement' coming to town. To really get that wartime feel, a living history camp will kick off the event on Wednesday, September 5, at 11am at The Esplanade in Redcar with live music whisking visitors back to the 1940's, complete with traditional tea dances from the era with bunting and trestle tables. Hartlepool Military Heritage Memorial Society will set up a replica of an encampment, complete with field kitchen, mortars, sandbanks and ammunition ...

Diana: Still Dead

Today's top story, courtesy of pretty much every news outlet in the UK. Diana before she died ten years ago In Other News: Deaths in Darfur, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan continue.

Hearty lunch

Just been treated to a spectacular lunch by the Heart Gardeners of Burgess Park. This great project has been running for several years and gives local people, recovering from health problems, an opportunity to get some gentle exercise, growing vegetables in Chumleigh Gardens. A delightful tomato soup, some BBQ’d sweetcorn, freshly picked runner beans and some vegetable kebabs, all washed down with homemade lemonade. There was a real sense of community and friendship with people from all walks of life growing food and cooking together. The project is run by Art in the Park, a local charity which also does ...

Too 'Left Wing' for the LD's ?

During the 2007 local elections and in a recent online exchange elsewhere it was put to me - by a couple of Labour supporters that I should fight for what I believe in from within the Labour party. 'Red Flag' - curiously enough argued with me on a Tory PPC site - that : By the way Barry your left wing views challenging New Labour should be from with[sic] Labour not from inside that minor party of yours ! Lib Dems too right wing for you surely ? Now in a previous debate some Lib Dems took issue with the ...

Answers: the women who were thrust into the limelight by their fathers when they were girls

Photo 1 was of Cordelia Gummer who, aged four, was fed a burger (above) by her dad during the CJD scare. She is now 21 years old. Photo 2 was of Carole Hersee who was photographed when she was eight by her father, a designer, to feature in the BBC 2 testcard, which he designed. She is now 48 years old:

Lib Dem Blog of the Year awards

As I type, there are just 9 hours and 22 minutes left in which you can make your nominations for the 2007 Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year awards, this year run in conjunction with Lib Dem Voice. Full details of the categories, judges and rules are available on the party website here. The results will [...]

Tooth Review: 1552 (obligatory spoiler warning)

{Cover to 2000AD Prog 1552} Spoilers below… (more…) Share This

News from over the pond

Here are a few stories from across the pond; A District Court in Iowa has ruled that same sex couple can legally marry, in the state, under the states constitution which guarantees equal treatment for all people. The ruling, which also dismissed state law that stated that marriage, can only be between a man and a woman. The states attorney general has said that he disagrees with the ruling, and he will be appealing the ruling. Former senator Fred Thompson IS to announce his candidacy for the Presidency, if US media reports are to be believed. Mr. Thompson will announce ...

Good news for Lib Dems in Norfolk South: Charles Clarke has ‘no plans to quit’

According at any rate to the Norfolk Eastern Daily Press: [Charles Clarke] dismissed suggestions he was ready to throw in the towel and insisted he had no plans to walk away from British politics or his city seat. “I don’t know where the idea that I am not running in the next election comes from,” Mr Clarke [...]

The return of the great immigration debacle

David Cameron looks increasingly desperate as he turns to an old Tory favourite - immigration - to try to win ground back in the polls. Only, according to Iain Dale in the Telegraph, it's not a lurch to the right a la the 2001 and 2005 campaigns; it's simply a moderate, sensible position ("David Cameron wobbled, but didn't fall"). But the Tories can't have it both ways, and once again the policy implications of Cameron's statement are unclear. To simply say that immigration needs to be "controlled" is a non-policy, as we do not currently operate an open border policy. ...

Back to work!

Friday 31st August 2007 - Unlike that of my Westminster colleagues, the European Parliament's summer recess is a lot shorter. I was back in Brussels this week and soon getting into the swing of things. After a much-deserved break with my long-suffering family at the start of August, I rolled up my sleeves to get down to work in the Constituency. I have been encouraging Party members to share

Election Results: Thursday 30th August 2007.

Epping Forest DC, Loughton Alderton BNP 393 (32.2; -5.4), Residents 367 (30.1; +1.0), Con 163 (13.3; -3.1), LD Neil Woollcott 172 (14.1; +10.5), Lab 98 (8.0; -5.2), UKIP 28 (2.3; +2.3). Majority 26. Turnout 36.7%. BNP hold. Last fought 2006. Isle of Wight UA, Newport North Con 207 (35.5; -3.0), LD Liam Verstraeten 189 (32.4; +3.9), Lab 137 (23.5; -9.5), UKIP 25 (4.3; +4.3), Ind 23 (3.9; +3.9),

Not 2.5%: an update and clarification

Just to clarify how 1.5% + 1% is not actually 2.5%... Take a salary of 100. Increase it by 1.5% for 6 months, salary is now 101.5, and the aggregate salary for 6 months is 6 x 100 x 101.5% = 609 Then increase salary by 1%, (new salary of 102.515) and the aggregate salary for the 6 months is 6 x 101.5 x 101% = 615.09. Therefore over 12 months you have now earned 1224.09 instead of the uninflated 1200. This is a 2.0% increase. Not 2.5%! Now some of the staged salary increases have occurred after 8 or ...

The women whose dads put them in the limelight as girls

Photo 1 Photo 2 A bit of a quiz. Answers in two hours. Photos 1 and 2 above are of two women whose dads thrust them into public limelight when they small girls. Clue: The saparate images of these women as girls are extremely well known.

Roberts Takes Up National Campaigns Role

Top Lib Dem campaigner Shaun Roberts has been appointed National Campaigns Officer, working under department chief Hilary Stephenson in Cowley Street. Anthony Hook and the Anonymous Barcharter have already posted congratulatory tributes. Lib Dem Voice wishes him the best of success too!

The end?

This weekend may be my last. On Saturday afternoon I am going “sphereing” with Tamsin. This is an “extreme sport” which essentially involves strapping oneself inside a gigantic transparent sphere and being rolled down a hill. I bought this “experience” as a gift for Tam for her birthday, expecting one of her mad friends to offer to accompany her. I was quite happy to drive the pair of them there and back, and watch from a safe distance. Unfortunately, due to a date-clashing tragedy, no such friend is available and thus I am forced to undergo the undoubtedly joyous pleasure ...

The Daily “Diana” Express

{Daily Diana Express} There used to be an ongoing joke that you knew it was Monday because the Daily Express had a Diana Exclusive on the front page. Then I started to notice that almost every day was Diana day, so I thought about writing a script to cache the front page and then comeback months later and check. So the fruits of my code is this: Daily Diana Express. It goes back to the start of March and has every front cover. A quick scan of all the thumbnails and I have counted that 34 / 178 covers featured ...

Annoyed by Council - but trying to put things right

I have been busy in the last couple of days. As well as delivering the last of the current batch of Focus leaflets to homes in the Hilton Lane area, I attended a residents’ meeting in Carr Clough, where there were discussions about litter, anti-social behaviour, and dangerous dogs. What has become apparent over recent days is the frustration that local residents have about the way the Council, the Police and others are responding to their concerns. Time and time again I hear of local people being ignored or fobbed off – reporting crimes and no Police turning up, or ...

When is 2.5% not 2.5%

I find it completely maddening when Frown and co go on about the 2.5% settlement for parts of the public sector. Firstly it is woefully below RPI (ie how prices have really changed, rather than the CPI "official" measure that the BoE uses to measure itself against). Secondly it isn't 2.5%! OK if you take the two numbers 1.5 and 1, and add them you do get 2.5. But when you do the calculation of how much 100 has increased by after 12 months if you first apply a 1.5% increase, and then a 1% increase after 6 months, the ...

Has your "Blogger" blog been attacked by the virus ?

There is, according to the BBC website, a virus that is being spread via "blogger" blogs. Be careful what you link to and avoid clicking on stories from blogs you don't trust.

10 Years On

OK, so an attractive woman was tragically killed in a road accident. The astonishing outpouring of public grief, even at the time, I found rather disturbing. It seemed to be more about society's guilt at our conflicted feelings about this dramatic, disturbed and damaged woman, than any real feeling for someone that most of us had never met. The fact that every anniversary has been marked with tabloid gush, to me just shows the breathtaking hypocrisy of the dead tree press as they continue to defy their falling readership numbers. This latest wheeze, after the Diana memorial fountain, playground, walk, ...

A frustrated Returning Officer writes…

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, there are mutterings about the European selections and, as one of the Returning Officers, perhaps I should comment (actually, I’m going to anyway…). Yes, candidates aren’t allowed to attack each other, because we have anti-defamation rules. Frankly, I would be perfectly happy to see candidates attack each other’s records, especially if they have a record which

Why I Love the Economist

Lib Dem Voice carries an extract from this week's Economist on Nick Clegg's immigration proposals: … the plan looks more credible than the government’s commitment to deport all illegal immigrants, something which at the current rate would take at least 25 years. It may also be more humane: giving such migrants legal status should make it easier to protect them from people-trafficking, low pay

Charles Clarke fears tactical voting for the Lib Dems in Norwich South

Charles Clarke has today in the Eastern Daily Press turned his fire on the Lib Dems as he wakes up to the fact that his Norwich South seat is, under new boundaries, more vulnerable to the Lib Dems than ever. Mr Clarke says "I am hoping the electors in Norwich South will look at all the candidates and not vote in some kind of tactical way." Of course not. that would be the last thing he would want. The tactical vote is more likely to shift as there were some people who voted for the then second placed Tory in ...

Zero-Carbon Writings

Chris Huhne wrote about the party’s new climate change proposals on Lib Dem Voice earlier in the week. He has written at greater length about his Zero-Carbon Britain proposals at Comment Is Free. Amongst other things, he declares: “we in the Liberal Democrats have done with the first comprehensive plans ever set out by a British [...]

Mayor of Lichfield suspended from the Conservative Party

The Conservatives on Lichfield City Council have suspended the Mayor - Michael Fryer - from their group. Councillor Fryer has been accused of common assault, a charge he denies.

Cornwall County Council jobs newsletter

I didn't believe the council leader, last night in the interview on local news, when he claimed that the newsletter was revenue neutral, and even if it is, that's a great deal less than the savings promised. It could work but not as they current... Read and post comments | Send to a friend

New King’s Cross!

Over recent years there have been some quite heated local battles about the various elements of the redevelopment of the Kings Cross area and a wide swathe of land around it. I haven’t been involved in those and would be very wary of commenting on them, so I’ll keep well clear of that! But as someone who goes through Kings Cross and the large area around it affected by what is going on quite often, it’s impossible not to be struck by the impressive scale of the improvements that are taking place. Most striking of all at the moment perhaps ...

It's only money

The publication of party spending details from May's Assembly elections serves to underline my point about the ineffectiveness of the Welsh Liberal Democrat campaign. One of the reasons why I described that campaign as professional was he huge amount of money we spent that meant we were able to produce a lot of literature, direct mail and a high quality party political broadcast. Unfortunately, we forgot to factor in the need for a message that would resonate with the electorate into this equation. The Electoral Commission reveals that the Welsh Liberal Democrats spent £239,799 on the national and regional campaign ...

Drugs and poverty

Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood, demonstrates this morning that being part of a coalition government has not dulled her critical sensibilities with the publication of research, which shows that heroin users are nearly twice as likely to live in former coalfields areas than anywhere else in Wales. The study reveals 2.8 people per thousand in the valleys had asked for treatment for heroin use compared with 1.5 per thousand in the rest of Wales. Leanne is quite clear as to the reasons for this disparity: "This research shows that people who live in the former coalfields of Wales continue to suffer ...

Last chance to nominate for LibDem blog of the year awards

Don't forget that today is your last chance to nominate blogs and blog postings for the LibDem Blog of year awards. The details and a link to where to send nominations are here. I have nominate half a dozen blogs for the various awards. I will spare the blushes of those I have nominated except to say that I nominated "Daddy Alex" for "Best posting" for: David Cameron on Today: How I Long For

Seconding Thanks To Shaun Roberts

Antony Hook, a new blogger (to me at least), has offered "Thanks and good luck to Shaun Roberts" now that Shaun has moved on from being South East Region Campaigns Officer to become national campaigns officer at Cowley Street. That is something I would really, really want to second. Shaun has been a friend for years, and I've lost count of how many times I've been stressed out on the phone, e-mailing, or messaging him in the wee hours while he has been the calm, rational, and detached voice of reason that I needed to to be listening to. Ta ...

Worcester Woman

I'm back! Been away for a week to Worcester in the midlands, as my 'beautiful, wonderful, only daughter (see simpsonize me post) has come of age, and had her 18th birthday party over the weekend. It has been a fraught week, not least because of the sheer quantity and value of technical equipment that has died on me over the course of the mini sojourn, including two laptops, two iPods, a camcorder, a digital camera, a 320Gb external HDD, a DVD player, a set of iPod external speakers, and of course not forgetting, a mouse, headphones, and a whisk! And ...

Lib Dem vote surges

Thank you to all the residents who voted for me yesterday. The Liberal Democrat vote surged. Highlights include: Liberal Democrat vote increased by 10% from May 2006The actual amount of votes cast was more than triple than in May 2006The Liberal Democrats leap frogged the Labour and Tory parties in the poll.

Carnival of the Liberals

You can find a collection of the best in (mainly North American) Liberal blogging from the past fortnight over at Truth in Politics.

Bollywood at its best

Following on from last weeks Baywatch in Birmingham this week I want to share

Friday 31st August 2007

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