LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Saturday 12th January 2008

Affordable Housing

Taunton Deane Borough Councils Housing Enabling Team, The National Trust and Summerfield Homes are inviting members of the public to consultation plans for 120 affordable homes on a site at the top of Cheddon Road near the Wellsprings Centre, Taunton. The homes, a mix of one and two-bedroom properties are expected to start at £69,000 for full owner occupation and are being aimed at single people and couples in Taunton who want to own their own home but cannot afford to pay the full market price. The consultation will take place at Ladymead School, Taunton between 3.30pm and 7.30pm on ...

Our tainted coasts

This year has not started very well for me: my reaction to the Governments announcement of the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations is a feeling of dread. I was brought up near the north Essex coast, and in my teenage years the view from my home across the estuary encompassed Bradwell power station. Though not particularly significant visually, it was in fact a Magnox type nuclear reactor which had been a source of plutonium for use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. And, as we locals knew, it had a crack in it, so it had ...

Racing post

In horse racing terms the favourite got off to a good start with the advantage of a lighter handicap (from MPs and journalistic pals, you understand) but soon began to flag badly, and it was just as well for him that the race was a sprint and not a steeplechase because the challenger was gaining on him fast by the home straight. I never believed the hype about a 60:40 lead. If the course had been a week longer, I believe the favourite would have lost. But the ballots have been counted, and under the rules of the course the ...

One quarter of the income tax I paid this year went to bail out Northern Rock... I want to know when we are going to get our money back

It's been my first full week back at work this week and the first that I have felt fully back to normal after a bout of flue over Christmas. So many people I have spoken to say they have felt wiped out for a couple of weeks by it. My day job this week has been focused on managing some changes to emails that gets sent out to tell my clients customers that their bills are ready to view on line. All quite simple you would have thought! Not so, my client keeps changing his mind at the last moment ...

Just how powerful is George W Bush

After {Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem} their escapades in Iraq, George W Bush and Tony Blair dont make the most likely duo to bring peace to the Middle East. But as they say truth is stranger than fiction, so who knows what they will achieve! Itll be interesting to see just how much power Bush and American can really wield in the Middle East because it is Bushs desire for a peace deal by the end of the year, and consequential political legacy for him as he leaves office, that is driving this latest attempt. Theres been no big change ...

Debrand your W960 / P1 for FREE (or your P990, M600, W950)

After my successful debrand your phone for about a £5 (33,618 hits, 104 comments) and then debrand your mobile for free (11,680 hits, 161 comments) posts. I now bring you the easiest way to de-brand your phone for free. No more looking for files in folders which are about 41 bytes, no more trying to get the Box.com to download the files, no more running SEUS fifteen times, just 8 simple steps. But before I begin, here are the usual disclaimers: WARNING doing this could brick your phone! Whilst I have successfully converted several Vodafone W960i into unbranded ones, I ...

Hillary's Hispanic Firewall

Ryan Lizza must be one of the best young political journalists in America today. Thankfully, even though he has moved from The New Republic to the New Yorker, he is still thankfully turning out some of the best stuff on the presidential election. He talks about a lot of the stuff that I have addressed previously, but here is the money quote about the Hispanic/African American dynamic: On the morning after Clintons victory, I talked to Sergio Bendixen, one of her pollsters, who specializes in the Hispanic vote. In all honesty, the Hispanic vote is extremely important to the Clinton ...

New badges for a new era

The BBC has reported that the Scout Movement is updating the range of badges that Scouts can earn. Of course, as with anything, there are those who believe this is totally wrong. The BBC has asked for views. This is my posting: I was involved in every section of the Scout Movement, achieving the top ward in each. The badges and activities provided appropriate challenges. Just as one needs

It's not for no reason he is known in some circles as Peter Vain

The vanity of Peter Hain is well known. A man barely able to pass a mirror without taking a second glance at himself, never afraid to chase a headline, gets some column inches or turn up for the opening of an envelope, he is everything that gives politicians a bad name. Take the brazen way he used the Young Liberals to get himself well known before jumping ship to Labour, a classic sign of a man without political principles, obsessed only with power and himself. This has been my own personal opinion for some years, based on what people in ...

Victory in parking signs battle

At last! Last year my colleague Martin Newton (Fortis Green ward) took up with the Department of Transport the case of some badly designed and confusing parking signs in Haringey. The Department confirmed our view - and said they were unsatisfactory. Haringey Council has now agreed to take proper action on the signs. I hope this will finally put an end to the parking roulette residents often have to play on streets of Haringey. Parking restrictions should be about sensibly managing limited spaces rather than frankly confusing signs that can lead to people being unfairly caught out. Well see!

More on Nick Clegg and Free Schools

Further to my posting on Nick Clegg's speech today... Andy Mayer gives something of the flavour of the Lib Dem manifesto conference: An auditorium speaker repeated the mantra that people don't want choice they want a good local school and hospital. Half the audience cheered. Tom Papworth highlighted that, while that's right, the point is how you get those good schools and hospitals. Choice helps drive up standards faster than just voting out incumbent Councillors every four years. The other half of the audience cheered.Meanwhile, Jo Anglezarke is inspired by Nick Clegg's talk of Free Schools: One school you should ...

10 Reasons Why the Govt is Wrong on Nuclear

1. Nuclear power is not green Mining uranium requires fossils fuels. So does building a nuclear power station. And so does trying to dispose of radioactive waste. Over its lifecycle a nuclear power station produces as much carbon dioxide as a gas-fired power station (Van Leeuwen & Smith 2005). Better than oil or coal but not carbon-free. And it will get worse. In the not too distant future uranium will become so hard to mine that it will require more fossil fuels to extract it than the energy that will be produced from it. 2. Nuclear power will do little ...

Shami Chakrabarti is our Liberal Voice of 2007

Liberty Director Shami Chakrabarti was the clear winner of our Liberal Voice 2007 poll, taking 101 votes (a third of all votes cast). Her only serious opposition was Radio 4’s The Now Show, who took the lead for the first day but came second with 72 votes (24%). The other candidates were: John Bercow with 18 [...]

Nick Clegg's speech on the reform of public services

Nick Clegg made his first big speech today at the Liberal Democrat Manifesto Conference, which was held at the London School of Economics. See Paul Walter for a comprehensive survey of the media coverage it has received. His proposals on education - allowing parents dissatisfied with existing provision to set up their own schools - are exactly what I have been wanting the party to support for years. Here is an extract from Clegg's speech (I was not there to "check against delivery" as the drafts they send journalists always say): There is plenty wrong with the governments Academies programme ...

How It Might Have Been for Harold, Iain and Jo.

For fans of alternative histories: From La Libre Belgique, Friday 23rd October 1964: Du chaos en Outre-Manche The attempts by M. Wilson to form a new and stable government in Britain were given fresh impetus by the demands of his new coalition partner, the Liberal leader M. Grimond. M. Grimond has called for Parliament to vote next Tuesday on Proportional Representation, his condition for

The Observer cartoonist's output for kids

It is very strange when you find out that someone associated with one sphere, is also associated with another completely different sphere. I was blown away by Des de Moor's interpretation of David Bowie's song when I heard him at New Greenham Arts. I immediately bought up his CD of Bowie's songs, which he did with Russell Churney, called "Darkness and Disgrace". I was then gobsmacked to open up

Clegg's great day's work - fullly updated media and blog round-up

Here is a fully updated round-up of media, website and blog reaction to Nick Clegg's speech this morning, so far. Other commitments allowing, I hope to update this with Sunday paper coverage later. It's all great reaction (including one Tory who is obviously jealous) and it is abundantly clear that Nicolas William Peter Clegg has completed a very good day's work and deserves a large portion of

The perils of Facebook

I joined Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) while ago and whilst it seems fun, some even may say addictive, I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the various requests I am sent. They range from being bitten by a vampire, to likeness requests and betting requests - they are not fun they are just annoying!

Avram Grant's family and the Holocaust

The Jewish Chronicle has an interview with the Chelsea manager, who has been rather an anonymous figure until now. The newspaper begins by describing the fate of Grant's family during the Second World War and says that he: knew nothing of their fate until one night when he was only 15.He heard his father screaming in his sleep and rushed into his room to find that he was having a bad dream.His father explained he had been dreaming he was back in the Russian forest in which he had been forced to dig graves for his parents and five brothers ...

MPs: incumbancy and miscommunication

I got not one but four annual reports in the post today by my MP Andrew Dismore, with the promise of a basketful of others if I can claim to be jewish, chinese, tamil, cypriot and a bunch of other ethnic communities (Labour corporatism is alive and well). In fairness to him, his reports are quite comprehensive and, as he is not shy in emphasising (not that I can see any of his constituents caring), he has eschewed the glossy-photo-zero-content approach that MPs of all parties frequently adopt. But it does raise the issue of the MPs’ Communications Allowance, introduced ...

From Clee to heaven the beacon burns

Photo by Sabine J Hutchinson http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/The BBC reports: The South Shropshire Hills celebrate their fiftieth anniversary as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) this year.Beacons are to be lit on the Long Mynd and Brown Clee on Sunday 13 January as the first of several special events.Which seems like a good reason for reproducing another lovely photograph from Virtual Shropshire.

Seeking the best Council Groups

For the second year, the Lib Dem Group at the Local Government Association are seeking to promote the best Lib Dem council groups in the country, by inviting groups who have made a difference in the past year to send in details of their achievements. They are particularly looking for groups with a track record or [...]

Right royal sexism

Lynne Featherstone has launched a campaign against the institutional sexism of the British monarchy, referring Prince Edward’s demotion of his daughter Louise in line to the throne in favour of her newborn brother (see the New Statesmanperson for more details). It’s an excellent idea; the equalities post is a worthy one but one that rarely makes it to the column inches. This is a brilliant way of vicariously having a debate about prevailing sexist attitudes in society. The only slight flaw I can see in the argument however is that since age discrimination has now been outlawed as well, why ...

How Hillary did it

Well, my wish came true with Hillary. But what was it that helped her win. Speculation is that there were three factors involved: - Her late display of 'emotion'. - Possibly linked to this, a surge in her support among female voters. - Complacency of the part of Obama's team. The problem for her is how she will be able to sustain this long term: and perhaps importantly, how has her image been affected nationwide. Anyway, it is going to be a fascinating race for the Democratic ticket. I think Edwards is out of it now. Agree with some of ...

Please report yourself for deportation

BBC 5Live have uncovered a shocking scandal in the criminal justice system that leaves many petty criminals, in the UK illegally, free to re-offend. Once arrested, we might reasonably expect someone who has no legitimate reason to be in the UK, to be processed with a view to rapid repatriation. This apparently is only the case in respect of the most serious offenders. Otherwise the Border and Immigration Agency does not always pick them up from the Police station, leaving the Police with no choice but to set them free... with, and this beggars belief... instructions to report themselves to ...

"Love-bombing" (yuck!) Chris Grayling

I am delighted to second the Norfolk Blogger's praise of Chris Grayling. Iain Dale chose NB's posting about Grayling as part of his Daley Dozen yesterday. Apart from Grayling, I cannot think of a single Conservative spokesperson since Keith Joseph who does not turn me into immediate apoplexy the moment they appear on telly. William Waldegrave used to make me shout at the box. Teresa May sends me

Who says the Countryside Alliance are not a Tory front organisation

Whenever I suggest that the Countryside Alliance are just Tories supporters, a front, by which Tories get headlines outside of politics but actually secretly campaigning for the Tories, it is denied. The denial usually consists of naming about three non Tory MP's who are members. However, aside from the well know CSA support in Taunton, which last the Lib Dems the seat in 2001 (before it was regained in 2005), the CSA do not admit openly the level of support they give to the Tories. So it was interesting to read on PoliticalBetting.com two accounts from readers of that website ...

Something for the Weekend: Running up that hill

Recess is over, Parliament has returned from its Christmas break, and so has Something for the Weekend. Thank goodness it’s Saturday. You find me relaxing on a beach, sipping a mojito and catching some rays. And not in Cowley Street, oh no. In the Something for the Weekend goody bag today: we reveal the secret of [...]

Is there anyone Blair won't fawn over to ingratiate himself

In a speech clearly aimed at winning over French support in order for Tony Blair to become the first President of the EU, Tony Blair fawned his way through a speech to delegates from the french UMP Party, telling everyone how he loves the EU, how much he cares about Europe and how close he and President Sarkozy are. In much the same way as Tony Blair fawned all over George Bush in order to "get in" with the neo cons in America, Blair seems to know no borders when it comes to wanting to further his own prospects. The ...

Clegg should take inspiration from Summerhill School

Nick has today outlined his proposals to take schools out of council control in a speech made at the LSE. His ideas to create 'new, Liberal' schools reminds me of why I am a Liberal. In my ideal world everyone would be free to set up their own school. It worked in the past, before the creation of considerable state intervention in education and I believe it will work once more. Only this time the idea will seem fresh and crisp against the Government's plodding and repetitive education policy. One school you should read about as truly Liberal, and one ...

Jim Moley R.I.P.

Sad news yesterday that one of my best friends of recent years, Councillor Jim Moley, has passed away. I'm told that he was found by local activists who turned up to his house to pick up some campaigning material, which, if true, would be fitting. I first got to know Jim when we were both elected to Oxfordshire County Council in 1997, and even better following my selection as parliamentary candidate for Wantage and up to the 2001 election. Jim had been elected as a Vale councillor much earlier, and then as a Town councillor, and by the time I ...

First the excuses

My regular readers, both of you, will have noticed a lack of posts recently. We are still out of our home and don't have internet access in the temporary home. Thankfully we do now have contractors appointed for the refurbishment of our downstairs so the end is now in sight. I've also been very busy at work, though it best to avoid blogging entirely about the leadership, and have spent the past month down with Pneumonia (my tip, avoid it!) and recovery from it. I probably won't be blogging frequently until I'm back in the house.

The Clegg era starts here

Notwithstanding my gripe on Thursday, Nick Clegg has had a very good week. He started by putting the finishing touches to his front bench, made a series of appointments regarding reforming party structures (about which I must get around to blogging about it detail at some point), made a well-judged debut at PMQs and has now made a major speech on public services reform. This is the speech I didn’t get during the leadership election but nonetheless voted for, so I’m delighted my gamble seems to have paid off. Linda Jack’s point that he spelled out his approach in an ...

Iain Dale's new blog goes "Beta"

I note from Technorati that I have had a link to my blog from a blog called "Iain Dale Beta", from a URL which is presumably blocked at present except to certain people. There is a thumbnail available (see picture), but nothing more than that. How nice that for once I appear to have beaten Dizzy in to spotting a new website/blog that is in development. Interestingly, it appears Iain Dale's new blog may be being designed with Cassilis because it's temporary url appears to be http://www.cassilis.co.uk/relaunch.html

Gordons Clunking Foot

The Prime Minister has said that patients entering NHS hospitals will be screened for the super-bug Clostridium difficile, but health ministers have contradicted him saying that screening patients for...

Monarchy revisited: why should sexism in the choice of monarch be acceptable

{Buckingham Palace} Well, well. My raising of the issue of how women get bumped for men when it comes to succession to our throne has caused a bit of a fuss! And my old sparring partner at the GLA, Tory Brian Coleman, does in particular seem to have got really quite excited! (He also distorts our monarchy's actual history. He says we shouldn't touch something that has been in place for hundreds of years, but in fact the monarchy has been repeatedly reinventing itself and much of what we now think of as traditional was actually started in the twentieth ...

You know how much Conservatives hate the Guardian when

… it triggers support for a policy of introducing a central, nationalised monopoly to take business away from a diverse range of different private firms. In this case, the idea is that “All government and local authority jobs will only be advertised on a single government-run website” - in other words, throw market forces out the [...]

A chink of light

Is this a chink of light in an otherwise dire government approach to constitutional issues The Telegraph reports that Harriet Harman has suggested that the voting age could be lowered to 16 to encourage young people to get involved in politics: "My concern is that there's a generation of young people who are never going to get into the voting habit," she said. "We've got citizenship classes going on in schools... If people come straight out of the citizenship class into the polling station then there's continuity and that might be an opportunity for them to get the habit of ...

Terribly Boring II: the doctrine of progress

Being the second instalment of Terribly Boring, an occasional series for hungover weekends, in which I consider two utterly disparate ideas side-by-side for no discernible reason. This became so long and had so few jokes that I eventually had to split it down into two - in my defence, I will add that after reading it you can cross [...]

Alert! Alert! ConservativeKennel hacked by left-wing inflitrators

Quick someone, change your password. (It wasn't 1234 was it) ConservativeKennel has clearly been hacked by left-wing infiltrators because today it has a post calling for the government to nationalise the public sector jobs ad by introducing one new big IT project and ban adverts from the private media. I can't imagine any right-thinking free marketeer wanting to go back to Tony Benn style 1970s nationalisation, can you

Clegg calls for radical grassroots innovation in public services

That’s the headline the party’s given to Nick Clegg’s speech this morning to the party’s one-day manifesto conference. You can read more, including a link to the full speech text, over on the party’s website. Media coverage so far: BBC: Lib Dems want parent run schools ePolitix: Clegg backs ‘diversity and choice’ Independent: Clegg to call for smaller state Press [...]

US Politics - which candidate are you nearest in terms of policy

It's worth trying this on Electoral Compass USA. It asks some pithy questions about key issues. And then it tells you which candidate you are nearest. Phew! I came out nearest to Barack Obama. That's a lucky break! I have to admit that I have not studied his policy positions in detail - I have just caught "Obama-fever" from being inspired by his speaking. I am on the economic left and I am

Hilary gaffe over Martin Luther King

Oh dear. This isn't the thing to say when you are asking for votes in South Carolina, of all places: Mrs Clinton, trying to make a point about presidential leadership and Mr Obamas constant references to Dr King, the civil rights icon, said: Dr Kings dream began to be realised when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done. Mrs Clinton

Surge in baptisms to get into Catholic schools

This is crazy: New evidence that middle-class parents are playing the system to get their children into church schools emerged last night prompting calls for the Government to put a halt to new faith schools. A surge in late baptisms into the Roman Catholic Church is reported by researchers as part of a phenomenon known as the Year-Five Epiphany. The findings have reignited the debate about

Capital of Culture kicks off officially

Last night was the opening ceremony for Capital of Culture Year - music, fireworks, acrobatics, light shows - all on and around St Georges Hall. Thousands of people there - and from what I have seen, some great news coverage. I know that, despite what we living here have seen of positive change, the image of the City in other parts of the UK is not always good (negative stereotypes take a long time to disappear). Hopefully the ceremony coverage, and all the fantastic things coming this year, will hope change some of those preconceptions and bring many more people ...

Liberal Burblings - The Home of comments on Top Gear: Polar Special

They've just shown Top Gear: Polar Special in Australia. How do I know Because I am getting lots of hits via www.google.au Yes, I am very big in the Top Gear world, you know. Ever since I wrote a few off-hand comments about their positioning of the North Pole, I have been inundated with visits (3929 and counting) from Top Gear fans to such an extent that I am considering sub-titling my blog "

Orange Book was right says Clegg

Writing from the auditorium of the Liberal Democrat Manifesto Conference in LSE, London. Nick Clegg has outlined his vision for the party's policy agenda, moving forward to the next election. Taking David Laws's opening chapter of the Orange Book as his reference, he stated explicitly that we are "Marrying our proud traditions of economic and social liberalism, refusing to accept that one comes at the cost of the other. On that point, if not all others, the controversial Orange Book in 2004 was surely right". He repeated the call at the end of the speech to a rousing standing ovation. ...

Nick Clegg - Sounding a bit like the Tories, but better

I am a firm believer in democracy and believe that where state money sis spent in vast amounts, like education, then the spending of that money should be accountable to elected politicians who can be removed via the democratic process. That is why I oppose a privatisation of schools. On a Tory website I found this from the Tories "Michael Gove, the Shadow Children's Secretary, set out plans to tackle educational under-achievement in the immediate term through policies ... that: - Allow educational charities, co-operatives and parents to set up new schools - Removes obstacles which prevent new schools being ...

UPDATED: LibDems gain a seat from Tories

The Liberal Democrats in Thatcham, Berkshire have stormed home to win a clean-sweep of Town Council seats over the Tories. This includes one seat in North ward which was previously held by the Conservatives. The results were: Thatcham North:- 27.7% turnout Boeck - Conservative 527 Sparkes - Liberal Democrat 625 Thatcham Central:- 28.1% turnout Crumly - Conservative 515 Leake - Liberal

Nick Clegg's clear and compelling speech on public services

Nick Clegg this morning makes a comprehensive, passionate and intellectually robust speech on public services at the party's one day manifesto conference at the London School of Economics. His speech contains a good clear statement about the government's role in public services: I stand for the following principles: the state must intervene to allocate money on a fair basis in our heath and

Hinkley Point Power Station

Given the recent announcement by the government that there will be a new generation of nuclear power stations it seems a safe bet that Hinkley Point, near Bridgwater, Somerset will be chosen as an area suitable to build a new power station. So, why do I think that. Well, when the government finally gets around to considering the location of possible sites one consideration has to be local opposition. Is it really likely that a new power station would be sited in a area where there is strong Labour support I personally don't think so. In my opinion that would ...

Thailand Photos (4)

Long tailed boat

Liverpool transformed

I remember my first visit to Liverpool some years ago. It was for an open day at the university, where I'd applied to study politics. I probably shouldn't have gone, as I was feeling pretty ill with flu. I had to get up very early to get the train up from Folkestone in order to be there on time. When I arrived in Liverpool, I wasn't greatly impressed. Lime Street isn't the most welcoming of stations in the world. I then walked up towards the university, using a route which I was later told by a friend of mine was ...

Estate Agent boards as a blight

In some parts of Camden (mainly conservation areas) estate agent boards have been banned. The view is held that they are a blight - they run the area down, it let's people know that lots of people want to move out, that properties are not selling - it's a host of mixed messages, largely negative ones. I think estate agents are increasingly high street blights in their own right. Further, I am increasingly of the view that their boards can go - that in an area of mansion blocks, flats and multi-occ houses, they are unecessary, excessive and unsightly. This ...

Day 2565: Nuke Labour New Danger

Thursday: The bright hope of the sixties that turned into a frightening nightmare relic of enormous expenses overruns and imminent danger of meltdown: it can only mean fuchsia-finished old fraud, Mr Peter Vain! Oh no, sorry it's the return of Nuclear Power. What MOST turns me off the Nuclear Industry yes, even MORE than the thought of becoming a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK toy! is the way that their ADVOCATES cannot seem to control their TELLING of FIBS. A typical one is the "you cannot rely on renewables the wind doesnt blow all the time" meme that they trot out. It seems so ...

Saturday 12th January 2008

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