LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Thursday 3rd January 2008

Introducing the Dirty Dozen

I am sure you all know and love the Golden Dozen feature on Liberal Democrat Voice. This is a weekly selection of the most popular postings from the Lib Dem blogosphere - based on click throughs from the Lib Dem Blogs aggregator - plus a few others of the compiler's choosing. Well, the nice people who run Lib Dem Voice have asked me to edit a new feature called The Dirty Dozen. This will appear on Lib Dem Voice towards the end of each month and consist of a dozen postings from Labour and Conservative blogs. There will be no ...

Lib Dems in the pink

There’s an in-depth interview with David Heath MP, Lib Dem shadow secretary of state for justice, in Pink News - you can read it in full here. Around half of it is devoted to exploring the Lib Dem stance on the proposed new offence of incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. The [...]

Dog Days in Iowa

Almost died laughing while watching New at 10's coverage of two very warmly-dressed girls canvassing for Hillary Clinton in Iowa. At the first door, the voter had a dog, which leapt out of the house to grapple with first the cameraman (apparently) and then one of the canvassers. Of course, neither of them had a dog biscuit to hand - or even a clipboard to whack the dog with. (What do these Americans know? Amateurs!) Then the same two canvassers were seen walking up to a different door - this time holding an absolutely massive shovel. I surmise this was ...

Clegg on social mobility

Sitting here in a state of absolute exhaustion from my second day back at work in the planning department, I really couldn't think what to blog about. Then it dawned on me. I sighed heavily and realised I was going to bang on about poverty and social mobility. Again. Yawn. Today it was announced that Nick is launching a social mobility policy group. Good news for Barnardo's - a former PR colleague is married to a Barnardo's employee and former journalist who now freelances. It's brilliant publicity for all the outstanding and worthwhile work they do. It's frightening that my ...

Paddick Attack

The polls don’t yet look spectacular for Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate, Brian Paddick, who is currently only pulling in around 7%, according to an ITV Poll. Though we are still at an early stage in a long-haul campaign, and though there are likely to be many undecided voters responding to the most familiar names, this remains a serious challenge. Paddick knows he is pitched against two political celebrities, and that he has an uphill struggle to make up ground. To do this he needs to aggressively distinguish himself from the aspects of the Livingstone administration which have really ground ...

David Heath interviewed by Pink News

As Lib Dem spokesperson on Justice, David Heath is a comforting contrast to the Cleggs and Huhnes of the party. Big, bearded, thoughtful yet jocular, the 53-year-old is a substantial politician in more ways than one, and in his present role he shadows one of the remaining big beasts of the Labour party, Jack Straw.This interview with the gay news website begins with Heath's views on the new incitement to homophobic hatred law. But it also takes in wider Lib Dem policy and prospects. Well worth a look.

The Market Harborough helmet

From the Leicester Mercury: Archaeologists have begun a four-year restoration of a piece of history that could unravel Leicestershire's Roman past.A 2,000-year-old ceremonial cavalry helmet unearthed near Market Harborough has been described by experts as "the most important find in Britain for a generation".It is believed the helmet may have been a reward given by Romans to an ancient British tribe, or was perhaps looted when Queen Boudicca led her bloody but doomed revolt against Roman rule in 60 or 61AD.The theory I have heard is that this is a ceremonial helmet which would have been given to a British ...

Attlee, Lloyd George and Macmillan on YouTube

Omar's Blog points out that there is some fascinating archive footage on 10 Downing Street's YouTube channel: Attlee in the United States for talks, November 1945;Lloyd George's first visit to Chequers;Harold Macmillan meets President Kennedy at the White House.

Rail Services - Who still thinks privatisation was such a great idea?

Having just read Lib Dem PCU table of fare rises I note that Bedford remains one of the most expensive places to commute from at 35p per mile. Basildon is the cheapest at 19p per mile. Is it time to move to Basildon I wonder? Alternatively I could move over to Sandy (where I spent many happy years working) where the cost is just 24p per mile. Just a thought. I don't bother buying a season ticket as I am not in work all the time, but I am guessing my weekly fare tomorrow will be over £100. So much ...

The old Tory Party is alive and well

Don't believe all you read about the new green, liberal, decenteralised Conservative Party. The headbangers are still with us. The evidence? First, Nadine Dorries (known as "Mad Nad" by her many admirers) has written to OFCOM to complain about Catherine Tate's Christmas show. Her reasons? It was offensive and violated the expression 'family viewing'.And: On what is, whether you are religious or not, a day which is special to all, her own version of the Christmas special was astoundingly inappropriate.This link comes via Iain Dale, who points out that the programme was transmitted at 10.30 p.m. and was preceded by ...

Anti Social Behaviour & PACT meeting

We have been going through a period of anti social behaviour by groups of youths in several areas of Twerton over the past few weeks and we are determined to stamp it out. The latest area's to experience the problems are Twerton High Street and in Particular the Highland road area. If you see and incident of Anti social behaviour let the Police know on 0845456700 as they are best...

Benvie Road and Fyffe Street

Good progress towards improvements in the road surface of Fyffe Street and Benvie Road (see photo of the current poor condition - right) - here's a news release I issued earlier today : West End Dundee City Councillor Fraser Macpherson has today welcomed feedback he has received from Dundee City Council regarding his request for improvements to the road surfaces in parts of Benvie Road and Fyffe Street. “The road surfaces here were originally cobbled surfaces and some years ago a layer of tar was added. Although this initially provided a smoother road surface, over the past few years, the ...

Escape from politics ...

So, you go to Las Vegas to escape politics for a week or so, you finally make it to your hotel room on the 27th Floor, you look out the window and ... But at least it was heartening to learn of the new potential career for the Prime Minister when Labour inevitably loses the next General Election ...

Does anyone care about the "Celebrity Hijack" rehash of Big Brother ?

I used to be a big fan of Big Brother. I cannot explain what it was I liked about it, but I was hooked. However, when things went badly pear shaped last year in the Celebrity big brother version of the show I became more aware than before just how the producers of the show were pushing contestants to produce a form of "shock-porn", where people are almost seduced in to being allowed to be unpleasant, abusive and downright rotten to the core. So when the normal version of Big Brother was launched last summer, I ignored it (along with ...

Home and jet-lagged ...

A bit jet-lagged, we are just back from Christmas and the New Year in Las Vegas. A pretty unusual experience having the festive season in Vegas. Thoroughly enjoyable time though! Our younger son got married there on 27th December (hence the visit) - here's a couple of photos : Janet and me at wedding - do not expect to see the kilt outfit again anytime soon! New Year celebrations on the Strip!

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Supergeek photos at the Guardian of some of the world's most powerful computers . I notice they didn't include my favourite one, though I suppose it never made it to number one, which was a superconnected network of thousands of Mac XSreve computers installed at Virginia Tech a few years back.

Clegg’s Commission on Social Mobility

News reaches the Voice that Nick Clegg is to establish a new commission to look into social mobility in Britain. He has secured expert help from Martin Narey, who chairs the End Child Poverty Coalition and is the Chief Exec of Barnados.

The real agenda of the anti-hunting brigade?

Police probe MP quad bike footage The picture from Hunt Monitors shows Mr Soames with the children Police are investigating a film allegedly showing a Conservative MP riding a quad bike on a public road. A child is seen perched behind Nicholas Soames, MP for Mid Sussex. Two more children and other adults are in a trailer being towed by the quad bike. Hunt saboteurs claim the footage was shot on New Year's Day in Slaugham, West Sussex, as Mr Soames followed the Crawley and Horsham Hunt. Of course these folk areas entitled as anyone else to go along, ...

This Blog is Moving

The paucity of posts today has a very simple explanation: I've been working on my new website over at www.gavinwhenman.com. Yes, that's right, I'm so vain I've even set up a site using my name as the domain. I'll put up a placeholder tomorrow directing people to the new site, but after three and a half years, this post will be the last proper one written for the Whiskey Priest (I'm also dropping

Social Mobility Commission, conclusions already written?

The Liberal Democrats have announced today that Martin Narey, Chief Executive of Barnados and Chair of the 'End Child Poverty Coalition' will chair an independent Commission on Social Mobility "to advise the party on how to help British youngsters from disadvantaged families fulfil their potential." The other commissioners have yet to be announced, and the group is due to report in July. However given the ECPC is a political campaign rather than an independent expert group, we can reasonably assume that Narey's preferred conclusions will not be a million miles from the aims of the ECPC (here). These include some ...

Did the US provoke the Kenyan crisis ?

It was interesting to hear the views of an expert on Kenyan politics on Radio Five on the way home from work this evening talking about the role of the US in Kenya. he made the point that the US favoured strongly President Kibaki and had been quick to congratulate him on his success despite wide spread fears about the validity of the results. Now, with the crisis growing, the USA, aware that they may not be dealing with President Kibaki if he is toppled, are desperately trying to back track. The question is did the tacit support of the ...

The smile that says: "Up your asteroid, Lembit"

"Snowing today but outlook is bright for weather girl Sian - she marries millionaire" Daily Express

International eDemocracy Awards

From time to time I write about my work with the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE). And the news is that we are sponsoring the new international Making a Difference Online Awards for local edemocracy. To quote from the blurb about the awards ...... .The Awards will recognise politicians and organisations who have 'made a tangible...

Politics as sport

A few months ago Westmonster was launched. The aim was to satisfy those who see politics as a sport. And let's face it a lot of people who work in and around Westminster see the political process in exactly that way. Westmonster was inspired by the US site, Wonkettte. Guido Fawkes can relax for now. As far as I know, the British version of Wonkette hasn't broken a news story or exposed a scandal. It is irreverent and probably needs more time to develop itself. Meanwhile, if you want news about politics there are various places to go. The two ...

Tackling child poverty

Recent figures from the Institute of Public Policy Research, which revealed that 68,000 children in Wales live in poverty despite having at least one parent in work, are very disturbing. They cast further doubt on whether the Government is going to meet its target of halving child poverty by 2010. I am pleased therefore that the Liberal Democrats are focussing on this issue at a UK level in a big way. Not only is Nick Clegg advocating a pupil premium, whereby funding is given to schools who teach children from poorer backgrounds but he has now set up a Commission ...

Campaign for Gender Balance Blog Awards & James' Meme

James very kindly asked me to complete his meme just before hte Christmas Holidays; I'm back, so here is my answer!!! Favourite Blogs: Urgh…there’s just too many that I like. But here’s my three! Charlotte Gore: I am deeply interested in her chosen topic of political narrative and love the fact that she blogs to engage in good natured discussion and not just to bark her opinions at the world; quite a skill! She has excellent insight and judgment and isn’t scared to leap from the logical to the intuitive and back again! Blunt & Disorderly: A bit intermittent with ...

Spoofing

Sean Thomas, writer, contributor to Pb.com and wannabee right wing nutter has managed to make me laugh for several minutes through what starts off as a seemingly straight piece of travel journalism. The easily offended should not click on the link, everybody else should make sure that they are in a place where laughing loudly will not cause embarrassment.

The Council Gritter - more scientific than I knew

I had a conversation about this at lunchtime, so interesting to see this posted up on the BBC website. I had no idea that's what those discs enbedded in the road and little grey boxes were for: When snow is forecast, local councils send out the gritters. Trouble spots are identified by networks of sensors embedded in the asphalt. How does this early warning system work? On roads and highways across the UK, discs are embedded in the road surface to measure climatic conditions. Each is connected by cable or mobile phone technology to an automatic weather station, an unassuming ...

Clarkson for PM?

On the front page of today’s Daily Mail and Daily Express were the words ‘Jeremy Clarkson for Prime Minister!’ and ‘CLARKSON: THE PRIME MINISTER WE WISH WE HAD’. These headlines and the stories that go with them are basically refering to the Facebook group and 10 Downing Street petition calling for just that - Jeremy Clarkson to be Prime Minister. As it stands right now the Facebook group has a six figure membership - somewhere along the lines of 250,000 people who would all like to see Jeremy as the next PM and the petition on the number 10 website ...

Railing against rail privatisation

So, a government owned – and therefore publicly funded - company which runs our railway lines has failed to complete its engineering works on time, due to problems with contractors, causing the private companies which own the trains to complain about a breakdown in service and massive disruption. The private companies which run the trains will now complain to the rail regulator which will in turn fine the company which runs our railway lines. The company which runs our railway lines is owned by the government which means, er, that not only do rail passengers get stuffed with declining services, ...

A radical islamic (?) look at Kenya and Pakistan

Meanwhile in apart of the blogosphere, LibDem voices are perhaps less likely to explore, the Kenyan situation is analysed on the website of Hizb ut-Tahir Britain. Apparently the problem is that ‘secular democracy’ intensifies Kenya’s sectarian divide in the same manner as it does (as they see it) in Pakistan. (Democratic) systems, rather than diminishing the ugly consequences of sectarianism, have only intensified them by actually re-enforcing sectarian grievances. Nation building necessitates the development of a bond among the indigenous peoples of a state that unifies them such that all feel they share the fruits of progress…. Some would say ...

My 8 for 2008

I have been tagged. So 3 days into the new year I have finally decided on my 8 wished for 2008. To pass my NPQH- will hopefully hear in the next couple of weeksLose weight. After all my words last year, this is the year to get healthy.To have a better work/life balance or at least to keep on top of my workload.Travel to see new placesTo contribute to a good OFSTED inspection.Electoral success

Top Quality BBC Satire

I just stumbled on this great bit of BBC satire, predictions for 2008 from their Technology team. April The UK government insists it is pressing ahead with the National ID card, despite another embarrassing breach in data security. A clerk at the Passport Office plugs his iPod into the computer at work to update, then goes on holiday to Albania. Finding it incapable of playing anything but a weird mix of what sounds like morse code and hiphop, he flogs it to a bloke he meets at a café in Tirana. A government spokesman insists there is no cause for ...

New Year's Day bush bash

Happy New Year to everyone. Haven't had much computer time over the last week or so, meaning that by the time I'd dealt with emails from families and friends and incoming casework, blogging time has been squeezed out completely. But I have just updated with some photos of my Nelson Lakes tramp. I would now be doing the same for the tramp we did in Arthur's Pass over New Year - but unfortunately my phone went a bit haywire and reset itself... deleting all my photos, texts, documents, contact details, etc etc. I haven't worked out yet if this feels ...

Clegg, commercials and children's TV

With the Christmas and New Year haze lifting, I have some quick catching up to do. So here goes: ‘Congratulations, Nick, well done! I’m sure you’ll be a great leader, but what’s all this nonsense about restricting advertising aimed at children?' One of the themes of this blog has been the contradiction between the Lib Dems’ oft-expressed commitment to individual liberty in the abstract and the enthusiastic support that the party gives in practice to banning things or activities (see fox hunting, smoking in public places, goldfish as fairground prizes etc. ad nauseam). Such a disjunction hinders the party’s attempts ...

Blue Lake

We did a 5 day tramp from 23rd to 27th December, in Nelson Lakes, which was awesome. Thought you might like to see some photos from where I spent December 25th - at Blue Lake. The top two photos are actually at the lake, the third is a not very good one of the river on the way up. The route we took for the tramp covered part of the Travers-Sabine Circuit and the original plan had been to make it up to Blue Lake Hut on the 24th - but it was raining so much that day (to be ...

Chinese corrruption - one rule for the rich?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this guy normally have been taken out the back of the court and had a bullet put into his brain? Shanghai F1 boss jailed for graft Yu Zhifei was caught up in a wider corruption scandal A sports magnate credited with bringing Formula One to China has been jailed for four years for corruption, according to Chinese media. Yu Zhifei, ex-manager of the Shanghai International Circuit, was convicted of embezzling more than 1m yuan (£69,500; $137,500) during the late 1990s. Not, of course, that I'm in any way endorsing the death penalty ...

City Council Meeting - 8 January 2008

The agenda for the City Council meeting on Tuesday 8 January 2008 has been published on the Democracy in Birmingham database. Items on the agenda include: the annual report of the Deputy Council Leader - Councillor Paul Tilsley (Lib Dem, Sheldon Ward);the annual report of the Audit Committee (whose Chair is my fellow Selly Oak Ward councillor Dave Radcliffe);the annual report of the Lead Member

London Muslim group, 'back Ken Livingstone'

Apparently a group who call themselves the British Muslim Initiative, representing 63 organisations and figures have signed up to supporting Ken Livingstone's re-election for Mayor of London. The group praise his continuing support for a multicultural society and for protecting Muslims against Islamophobia. Ken has undoubtedly been engaging and courting the BME communities of London, knowing full well that electoral success in London, relies heavily on support from ethnic minority voters, who make up over a third of the population. Whether the majority of Muslims in London will be following the lead of self styled 'leaders' remains to be seen. ...

Liberal Democrat Spring Conference deadlines

the Federal Liberal Democrat Spring Conference will take place between 7-9 March in Liverpool (which is also the 2008 capital of culture)

Alpha Donations - The more you look the sillier it gets.

Further to my earlier post on this it can be confirmed that Lord Hameed: * Has never been a Director of Alpha Health Care * Has been involved in a number of Hospital and Healthcare businesses going back (as Director) to 1993, primarily linked to the Cromwell Hospital in London. The Times talks about 'Sister Companies' but Lord Hameed is currently Director of no less than 8 businesses across different sectors. I suspect his appointment to Alpha Hospitals was as a Non-Executive Director brought in on account of his previous hospitals management experience. Such roles are very part time and ...

The Mountain Brian Paddick Has to Climb

A poll for ITV’s ‘London Tonight’ last night made the upcoming London Mayoral contest seem like a two-horse race, with Ken Livingstone on 45%, Boris Johnson on 44%, and Brian Paddick on a mere 7%. When questioned by the ‘Evening Standard’, Brian shrugged off these findings, saying that once Londonders begin to realise that he is [...]

X Ray of the Day - One Sick Snake

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Poorly python Blogged with Flock

Holistic Politics

In the recent discussion on Peter Dunphy's blog about the Political Compass quiz a few other quizzes were mentioned. And in response to my quip about being too radical for the Libertarian Party yesterday the author of one of those, Carl Milsted, responded pointing me to his other site "Holistic Politics". Not really a blog, but a pretty comprehensive "wonk site" of the type I would have liked to produce if I had the time to do so, and I'm therefore going to make it a "blogroll" type permanentt link.

Rip harry flashman

George Macdonald Fraser, the author of the unparalleled Flashman novels has died this week. I have read most of his books, including all the Flashman novels and I have probably learned more about 19th Century history from him than from any other source, all with a smile on my face and often a loud laugh. His books were always entertaining and, despite being the ultimate cowardly bastard, you simply had to love Harry Flashman VC, which is a measure of how well the books were written. The BBC says that GMF's main character was racist and sexist but that completely ...

Housing crisis looms

Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Julia Goldsworthy has warned that many more people will lose their homes next year as mortgages become increasingly unaffordable. The Council of Mortgage Lenders have warned that up to 45,000 homes will be repossessed next year, with hard-up families having to go to their local authorities in last recourse. But the building of [...]

Money

I’ve been thinking about money. What makes it special? How should it be thought of? I’ve come to the conclusion that we should just look at it as a commodity just like any other. The only thing special about it is its what we use to assign price to commodities to ease our interactions and to [...]

Limits on the size of companies:

I’ve just seen a hint at an idea which is very interesting. There is an important debate amongst economists starting in the 1920s with Ludwig von Mises’s critique of socialism. This is the Calculation Debate which brings an argument that the socialist economy cannot allocate resources and the calculations needed are not possible. Personally I think [...]

I Want The Right Not To Vote For The Huck

A Myspace friend sent me a message asking:Who are you supporting for the American Election, and why? My answer was: As I don't have a vote I haven't really thought about it, but if I did I woul...

Iowa: the race begins...

Tonight in sub-zero Iowa, the first voters will begin determining the Democratic and Republican nominees for President. Although Iowa has relatively few delegates to send to the nominating conventions, its significance is enormous: both because it is the first chance for voters to pass judgement on the candidates, and because it will lead into 5 days of solid media coverage and fundraising opportunities before the New Hampshire primary. Momentum, in a crowded primary season, is everything.For the Democrats, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both been up and down in various polls over the last fortnight, while John Edwards' union support ...

"Lib Dem" donorgate...bring it on

The former standards chief Sir Alistair Graham led calls yesterday for an inquiry into how a businessman linked to the Liberal Democrats’ biggest donor was given a peerage. Sir Alistair called for the Lords Appointments Commission to examine how it was kept in the dark about £395,000 in gifts from the newly elevated Lord Hameed’s business partners. Labour and Conservative MPs demanded action after an investigation by The Times revealed that Lord Hameed was helped towards his independent peerage by leading Liberal Democrat figures. Yup - do it. Investigate all you like. I'm pretty confident they'll find that apart perhaps ...

Times story on Lib Dem donations

The Times has reported allegations about party donations to the Lib Dems. Pete Dunphy has a post with his take on the article. UPDATE: The paper has a follow-up article today.

The real "Stumblers and Mumblers"

Why do the IPPR want to make things even more complicated: The think tank is suggesting several reforms to combat the problem of what it calls the "forgotten million", including: A new Personal Tax Credit Allowance to make it more attractive for both adults in a two-parent family to work. The second parent would be able to earn up to £100 a week before their tax credits are reduced, a move the IPPR says would make a family earning the minimum wage £36 a week better off. Raising the value of tax credits for couples by one third to £91.31 ...

Why the US left can support Ron Paul

Via my good friend John Medaille , an article from CounterPunch on Ron Paul the Jeffersonian: If we stipulate that a candidate polling at least 5% in national polls is a "major candidate," there is simply no other major candidate in 2008 who is more Jeffersonian, more committed to peace, justice, and democracy, than Ron Paul. He puts pretenders like Edwards and Obama to shame. I like a lot of what John Edwards is saying on the campaign trail today, but I don't think he means a word of it. He's a limousine liberal phony when it comes to the ...

Copyright kills a musical score...

Damn, just the other night, listening to some music I wanted to check out the score to, I was going to look for a resource such as this...(Via Mises.org again): A very cool project has been killed by copyright. According to Wikipedia, "The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) was a project for the creation of a virtual library of public domain music scores, based on the wiki principle. Since its launch on February 16, 2006, more than 15,000 scores, for 9,000 works, by over 1,000 composers were uploaded, making it one of the largest public domain music score collections ...

Leader article: 2008 for Liberalism in Wales

2008 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Welsh Liberal Democrats. May’s local government elections will offer a real test of Labour’s unpopularity. The Welsh Liberal Democrats are the main challengers to Labour in all our largest urban areas. While the first-past-the-post system remains in place, we will be pushing to strengthen our [...]

If They Don't Pick Him, They're Missing Out...

Sad passing of Councillor Jane Schopflin

Today I attended the cremation service for councillor Jane Schopflin - it was beautifully done by her three daughters. I was able to visit Jane just before she passed away and today was a lovely send off for her. A fuller tribute service will be organised later in the spring. This obituary is drawn from the illuminating and eloquent tribute given by Jane's eldest daughter Julia: Jane Schopflin (1936-2007) Liberal Democrat Councillor for Fortune Green WardJane Schopflin sadly passed away in the Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, on the morning on Sunday 30th December after a long battle with illness. An ...

Thursday 3rd January 2008

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