LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Sunday 30th September 2007

Death of London Euro-candidate

{john-stonehouse.jpg} It was with great sadness that I learned late tonight of the sudden death in Senegal of Dr John Stonehouse, who was running as one of the shortlisted candidates for the London LibDem list for the European Parliament. John was an agricultural entomologist and held the post of Research Lecturer at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College, University of London. He studied history at Oxford, but got his PhD in Natural Sciences from Imperial and was a valued advisor to specialists working in the field of agricultural pests in the developing world. John had a pied-a-terre in Ladbrooke Grove in Kensington, West ...

Boris Johnson: inventing conversations?

Boris Johnson told the Tory Conference today that he had an inspiring converation with a “14-year old young offender in Wandsworth.” If “Wandsworth” is supposed to be a reference to HMP Wandsworth, south London’s self-styled “local prison”, then there is surely some mistake. Wandsworth doesn’t hold any prisoners under age 21 let alone 14. Boris may have meant the London Borough of Wandsworth. But ambiguity is the best form of spin.

The seaside beckons

The sun is shining and no appointments in the diary, so seaside here we come. I enjoyed my walks whilst at conferences at Brighton and Blackpool recently and was ready for more. On the way, we visited Old Fylingdales Church, where there was an art exhibition. There was some beautiful work, capturing the fascinating history of the area, along with the symbolism around the gravestones,...

Solar panel update

After a few false starts and complications (nothing is ever simple with this house…) the panel has now been running for a few days. Nothing is quite perfect - the panel is in shade in the afternoon because of a tree, and doesn’t get the earliest sun anyway. The last few days have been very mixed in terms of weather. The end of September is clearly not the best time to get sun. And yet every day so far, the panel has got solar gain. Not much, admittedly: four and five degrees a day - but that’s still taking a ...

Kudos to Theresa May MP

If nothing else, she’s a quick thinker. Being interviewed on Straight Talk with Andrew Neil tonight, the conversation went thus: Brillo: “I’ve asked you to name three policies, can you give me one?” TM: “I can give you… broad policy areas” And thus the nation was spared the mental image of Theresa May giving Andrew Neil one.

BritBlog Roundup 137

Nestles comfortably at Philobiblon.

Re-writing History ? Operation Black Vote's account of Priti Patel

Just reading up on various candidates, I note that Operation Black Vote has a profile on Priti Patel, the rather vacuous Tory candidate for Witham. Having seen her on Question Time she is the biggest cure for insomnia you are ever likely to find, but her write up seems very odd indeed. Firstly it says "She spent her time growing up in areas including Islington, Northfolk, Hertfordshire and Harrow." My first question therefore is where the hell is Northfolk ? It's like the made up name of a place in an ITV drama, presumably starring Martin Clunes or Robson Green ...

Sagor & Swing

I want them to play this song as the theme tune for the epic biopic about my life, or alternativly at my funeral (whichever comes first - I dont mind). This organ-funk jazz freak-out came in as a hot-tip from my free-music Guru, Marvin Suicide whose taste is always impeccable and whose hunger for fresh sounds never seems to diminish. {Sagor & Swing} The tune is by a Swedish beat combo called “Sagor and Swing” - according to Wikipedia they’ve split up a few years ago, but their sweet sounds are only just starting to reach the rest of Europe. ...

In Stitches by Dr Nick Edwards

An e-mail arrives from Dr Nick Edwards asking me to publicise his book In Stitches: The Highs and Lows of Life as an A&E Doctor. I don't usually do that sort of thing, but it sounds rather good: Dr Nick Edwards is an Accident and Emergency (A&E) doctor working in the UK and a passionate believer in the NHS. However the reforms, political correctness and the Anglo-Saxon culture of binge drinking and fighting and the resulting A&E visits are a strain on his sanity. So to keep up his morale, he began writing down his feelings - a form of ...

Zac Goldsmith to defect?

Apparently, there is a rumour going round the Conservative Party Conference that Zac Goldsmith, their candidate standing against Susan Kramer MP in Richmond Park, is about to defect to the Liberal Democrats. You can read about it from a right-wing blog and from the winner of the Lib Dem Blog of the Year.

The Conservative Party: a better class of bonkers

It’s the 30th, so it must be the Tory conference in Blackpool and thankfully the final leg of the annual Party Conference Odyssey. Thus far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the relative niceness of our B&B (believe me, I’ve been in much worse in this town) and am slowly getting my lay of the land with regards to the culture. Thus far, it all seems to boil down to hats. You don’t see Lib Dems or Labour wearing fedoras or something that wouldn’t look out of place at Ladies Day at Ascot. Having spent much of this afternoon handing out ...

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Fighting slavery in Rutland

Sunday This year there have been many events held to celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of the passing of the Slave Trade Act, which had the effect of ending the wretched trade within the British Empire. (At the same time Napoleon was busy reintroducing the odious practice into France’s dominions - something of which you should remind your Socialist acquaintances next time you hear them talk lightly of "revolution".) I am proud to say that members of my family were to be found at Wilberforce’s side speaking in favour of his bill and against this abnegation of all that is noble ...

Sunday Caption competition

I know, just when David Cameron can't look smugger, he only goes and outdoes himself. Can you think of a caption to go with this Picture ?

The next time the Tories go on about fortnightly bin collections, remind them about Broadland District Council

Tories, in the main, like to go on about fortnightly bin collections as if they are the work of the devil, the Labour party and/or the Lib Dems, but never seem to acknowledge that plenty of Tory Councils also have such a system. In Broadland, where the Tories have run a fortnightly collection system for some years now, they are changing the collection days so they are asking us to put out both bins tomorrow. I fear this means that they are going to throw away our recycled rubbish with the ordinary waste, but that's another story. No, my real ...

Muster Of King's Scout and Queen's Scouts

I attended a Muster Of King's Scouts and Queen's Scouts with Bob Bushell Kingston District Commisioner at Kings College School Wimbeldon with Scouts and Mayors from Merton, Croydon, Sutton and Richmond. I myself am a Queens Scout, If it was not for my Scouting and gaining my Queen Scout award in Worcester, I don't think I would now be Deputy Mayor. As I gained...

Gordon and Brenda - A date for Tuesday?

The interesting thing about the Ipsos MORI poll in the Observer today is that the percentage of respondents saying Brown should call an autumn election is 39%. In last Wednesday's YouGov poll this was 29%. Of course, these are polls done by different pollsters. But I wonder whether perhaps there is a growing body of people, after all the speculation, who are saying "Oh, go on then - get it over

The Death of Political Parties?

Simon Jenkins piece today in The Times caught my eye. Titled "To the sound of dull speeches, the political parties are dying" it examines the downfall of local government and the consequences this has for political parties, who, after all should rely on membership dues to stay afloat (although they don't in practice of course): In democracies across Europe and North America millions of people

Tomorrow is Lincolnshire Day

Posted by Chris: Tomorrow (October 1st) is Lincolnshire Day and I shall be a guest on Radio Lincolnshire's Drive Time programme, at 4.40pm, to talk about County days, and in particular how Yorkshire Day has grown in popularity over the years. It is high time the yellowbellies had a day of their own. They have a smashing flag (pictured) and whilst we in Yorkshire wear a white rose on our special day (August 1st) the beeb is encouraging Lincolnshire folk to wear something yellow. In that case I shall wear a yellow tie. October 1st was chosen because the date ...

What do the Tories have against widows?

Desperately trying to pull rabbits out of hats ahead of their party conference, David Cameron has proudly trumpeted Tory plans to give tax breaks to married couple families. But it’s not just those irresponsible couples who ‘live in sin’ and refuse to conform to the Tory stereotype of who makes good parents who will be [...]

31 today!

Apparantly: You Are 31 Years Old Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most ...

Tory definition of "family" is disgracefully exclusive

When you are a parent, you pick up words of wisdom from the strangest of sources. There's a Disney film called Lilo and Stitch (above) that gave us much amusement as a family. A cartoon set in Hawaii, it tells the story of a little girl called Lilo who is left orphaned with her adult sister, Nani, after a car crash kills her parents. The two sisters are joined by a strange alien creature who is

Will there by an General Election this Autumn

Election rumours have been rife this last week. Last week I was fairly convinced there would not be a Autumn General Election but that have been wishful thinking. However this week I have become convinced there will be for various reasons.

Victory in Enfield (and hustings reminder)

Went last night to Enfield Liberal Democrats' Quiz Supper, where my team won! Thanks to the Enfield Lib Dems for a very enjoyable evening, especially as I also won a bottle of champagne in the raffle. A reminder of the Hustings for the Selection of London's European Parliamentary Candidates, 1.30pm, Saturday 6 October, at Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, Bethnal Green, E2 6HG. If you're a London Lib Dem party member, please come along - it's combined with a London Mayoral Candidates' Hustings and full details are on the party's Flock Together website. It would be great to have people who ...

Gordon’s snap poll could cause postal vote chaos

That’s the warning from John Turner, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, as reported in today’s Scotsman: Turner said: “If there is an autumn election there will be a significant number of administrative problems. I’m fearful of the possibility of things going wrong administratively because of the pressures involved.” Concerns centre on the problematic [...]

How old are you - Another online test

Another week, and another chance for a Sunday online test. Apparently I am 28, which is how old people genuinely think I am (honestly) despite actually being 36. You Are 28 Years Old Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are ...

Wise words from Michael Heseltine on Sky News

Don't give them plums until you know they can't suck them. Who could disagree with that?

Comment on Coatham Links

Posted by Chris: This blog has received a comment, via the anonymous option, to this posting which was predominantly about Labour but did make reference to Coatham Links, the topic of the comment, which we have rejected. We reserve the right not to publish anonymous postings even when the writer identifies himself if we consider them to be offensive, personal or if we think they may be libelous. All three apply in this case. The blogger whose name appears on the bottom of the comment does not allow comments at all on his blog, at least that was the case ...

Wild election rumour no.94: Zac Goldsmith defection

From UK Daily Pundit: Rumours are rife that Tory toff, Zac Goldsmith, is about to defect to the Lib Dems.

Police too busy to help

Following on from the Lone Ranger's comment on an earlier entry about the diffculty in reporting drugs crime in Lewisham, here's a (newspaper?) report I found on Facebook: Bus driver who delivered junkies to police told 'We're too busy to help' 11.09.07 When bus driver Paul Gibbs was told two passengers were smoking crack cocaine, he thought he would do the community a favour. As he drove the number 47 bus past a police station, he pulled up outside while passengers ran in to alert officers. But, to their astonishment, police said they were too busy to investigate the crime ...

Conservatives can't organise a Conference in a Conference Hall

I wonder what the Tories would fail to organise correctly in a brewery ! They have had three months to organise people's passes yet as Dizzy and Iain Dale report, some people cannot get in to the conference hall at all and others have to wait three hours and pay £105 for a fast track pass. Update : The sight of some Tory on stage using a microphone that won't work with the audience shoutin gat he "We can't hear you" was almost farcical. I wondered if the Tories might want to put on a Pantomime, with the audience shouting ...

Chris Moyles - irascible Yorkshireman or t*sser?

I’ve always had a lot of time for Chris Moyles (or Spangles Muldoon to those that knew him growing up in Leeds). He has always worn his Yorkshire roots on his sleeve and I like the way he has maintained his support of Leeds United despite some pretty grisly times recently. Nevertheless he lost me yesterday when I read the Deborah Ross interview in The Independent. In it Spangles, when asked if a spray-on deodorant wasn’t bad for the environment, replies: “Who gives a sh*t? I’ll be dead when this all goes t*ts up anyway.” And we learn on the ...

Home, sweet home

It's a beautiful day in St.Annes and the sea is right in at the moment. Actually, the photo makes it look a bit overcast, but it's actually sunny with a clear blue sky. I need to buy myself a decent camera. Always great to be back in Lancashire. The work for Tory conference starts tonight though - once I've taken my team to the Pleasure Beach, of course!

Customer service is alive and well - in Yorkshire at least

I have been spending quite a bit of time in Harrogate recently. This has meant a number of trips to my favourite eatery there (Bettys of course). Quite a pleasure actually until just the other day when the meal for the first time was pretty naff. We waited ages for it to arrive, it was lukewarm when it came and was generally not up to standard. So I dropped an email to their Customer Services people just to mention this. (I worked in Marketing for many years and I think a considered complaint is better than one delivered at the ...

Western Cemetery Association

Following the recent successful inaugural public meeting of the Western Cemetery Association (click on heading above to view), the newly elected Chair Laurie Edmond has contacted supporters encouraging participation in the Association and its activities. You can find out more by becoming a supporter of the Association - you can join online free of charge at : http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/dundeewca/ The Association has a blog at : http://westerncemetery.blogspot.com/

A Discworld Reading Order Guide

Via L-Space via Boing Boing comes this handy reading order guide for all Terry Pratchett/Discworld novices out there wondering just where the hell they should start from: (click to enlarge)

Cameron's a moderniser after all!

From the Daily Telegraph:

Not sure what the Tories stand for these days? Here's the answer

The SOAS Freshers’ Fayre

Yesterday was a busy day of London campaigning, from Orpington to Enfield. But during the afternoon, I spent some time on the LibDem stall at the Freshers’ Fayre in SOAS (where I will start teaching again tomorrow). Jo Shaw, the parliamentary candidate for Holborn and St Pancras, was there as well, alongside Mark Gettleson, Chair of Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (LDYS), and Mohamed Hassan, who has been the stalwart of LDYS on campus. The two campaigns LDYS is running nationally — Save Darfur, and countering homophobic bullying — both proved attractive to the milling throng of keen new entrants, ...

SOCPA 2005 Strikes Back

Section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 bans any protest within the vicinity of Parliament without prior permission from "Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis" (that Sir Ian Blair bloke at the moment). In practice, however, this permission has been usually granted to those who seek it, the worst elements of this Act have been therefore negated and life has continued as

Great election slogans

Paul Walter reminisces about the last time there was an autumn election. It was October 1974 and as I relate elsewhere it was the start of my party political activism. By a strange coincidence we were discussing the very same subject over dinner last night. We all thought it strange that it has been 33 years since a Prime Minister last took us to the polls at the beginning of a British winter. The Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, Tom McNally, was the guest speaker at the dinner and he recounted his own unique perspective ...

The perils of blogging: the Alisher Usmanov affair

What with party conference and now general election preparation - not to mention the normal day-to-day work for my constituents - I've not previously got to blogging about the Alisher Usmanov affair. If you don't know - he is an Uzbek billionaire (and then some) and owns a large chunk of Arsenal football club. Craig Murray - former British ambassador to Uzbekistan - made various allegations about him in his book. No libel writ. But he then repeated them on his website. Result? Threatening legal letter to the firm hosting his website. Firm then decided to pull the computer on ...

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #32

As the dogs of war circle around the Pedigree Chum of electoral conflict, Lib Dem Voice takes what might be its last peacetime foray into the blogosphere. As usual, we’ll review the top seven click-throughs from the Lib Dem Blogs aggregator, together with five hand-picked key posts that deserve targetting. So quicker than you can count [...]

A crisis of leadership

This morning's newspapers are full of a number of leaderships in crisis. By far the most immediate is the position of Gareth Jenkins as Wales' coach, whose position has now become untenable after defeat at the hands of Fiji, 38-34, last night. The WRU have moved swiftly to resolve this particular issue and will now no doubt spend several months agonising over who will take over the top job. The Wales' result was a bit of a blow on another level as well. I went to the combined Annual Dinner of Cardiff North, RCT and Vale of Glamorgan Liberal Democrats ...

Thames Water

Are there any limits to the incompetence and stinginess of Thames Water? Their contractors removed a blockage on Mercator Road on 29 July. And in the process they managed to spray a car of the daughter of one of my constituents with sewage. My constituent wrote in to complain. And heard nothing. I wrote in to complain. And heard nothing. My constituent writes again. Finally, the memorably named Mr Drinkwater writes on 19 September to say they can't find any previous correspondence, have lost the photographs of the damage which my constituent sent, and aren't going to give any compensation ...

Northern Lights connections

I didn't realise that there was a connection between my late mother-in-law and John Lennon until I came across a report of the Northern Lights festival. I wonder if she collected her souvenir at a time when the young Lennons spent their summer holidays there? - Frank Little

Solihull LDYS Quiz

Last night I attended the Solihull Liberal Democrat Youth and Students Quiz, it was really well attended and it was good to see them putting on a good event. I have been semi-involved with Solihull LDYS for a while and they are a really good bunch several of whom have now been elected to the Council.

Graffiti

Steve, my fellow Ward Councillor and I have been out about about checking up on ginnels, reporting loads of recently appeared graffiti to Bury Council and investigating where we can promote re-cycling for hard-to-reach areas without re-cycling bins. We've also knocked on the doors to talk with each and every Bury South Liberal Democrat member - at the request of one of our MEPs about our internal

Sayeeda Warsi - First pandering to homophobes, now to racists. How tough will Cameron be ?

David Cameron is going to have to decide whether he is decisive or a ditherer in the wake of Sayeeda Warsi's latest outburst of foot in mouth. Ms Warsi has been accused of pandering to racists and the BNP when she told the press that: "There are a lot of people out there who are voting for the BNP and it's those people that we mustn't just write off and say 'well, we won't engage with them." "They have some very legitimate views - people who say 'we are concerned about crime and justice in our communities, we are concerned ...

Kingston Hospital Radio 1957-2007 50th Anniversary Dinner Dance 29 September

Frank Little - an interest in politics

I am reluctantly rising to Peter Black's "First political memory meme" challenge to explain my political activism, when I should be writing articles in anticipation of a general election, among other things. It became clear only in retrospect that I was brought up in a politically-minded family. My father, and his father before him, came from a strong Labour and trades union background, though there must have been some regard for what Lloyd George did as Liberal chancellor, evidenced by a family holiday in North Wales whose highlight was a visit to Llanystumdwy. My father's regular army service prevented him ...

Analysing the Lib Dems

Earlier in the year Duncan Brack asked me to review a special edition of the academic journal Political Quarterly about the Liberal Democrats, edited by Richard Grayson, for the Journal of Liberal History. The review’s now been published and I’ve posted it here. The chapters of the original PQ edition are available to download free as PDFs here. I think the PQ edition is a really unusually good guide to who we as a party are, and I’ve used the opportunity to reflect on some of the big themes myself.

Day 2462: Mysteries of Doctor Who #12: Who sends the Doctor after the Key to Time.

Saturday: One of Dr Who's MOST FAMOUSEST adventures is Mr Dr Tom's year-long QUEST to find the six pieces of the Key to Time. For this reason Doctor Who's sixteen season is often called "The Key to Time". Obviously. This series has just come out new on DVD, for the first time (in Region Two anyway), in a spanking limited edition box set – and they are selling out FAST. My Daddies already have five! If they can find a sixth then the KEY TO TIME WILL BE OUUUUUURRRRRSSSSSS!!!!!! That's what Daddy says, anyway. The story begins when Dr Who's ...

Thanks to the Poles

Tonight, in bed feeling ill, I found myself somehow listening to a radio show that goes out on BBC Southern and Eastern stations (its a sort of way of claiming you are doing local radio when you aren't!). The show was one Richard Spendlove. I have never heard his show before, but it was full of "our country has gone to the dogs", "bring back Churchill", "bring back Nelson" etc. Apparently he is

Day 2461: In Praise of Working Together

Friday: This diary from Mr Fizzle is actually rather wonderful. I am glad that we Liberal Democrats can all pull together rather than all pulling apart. PSJust as I say this, news leaks that even Mr Balloon’s bestest chum Mr Gideon “Boy George” Oboe is trying to distance himself, and forging a split from the “uber-modernisers”. Mr Balloon responds by promising a FLURRY of policies. Ooh, is it a McFLURRY, free with the HAPPY MEAL of Conservatory policy?

Sunday 30th September 2007

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