The Cambridge MP, David Howarth, entertained Kensington and Chelsea LibDems this evening, when he addressed a Food for Thought event on Liberal Politics in the Era of the Superficial. His sub-title was a question, whether the political life is still worth leading. Given the fact that David followed several years as leader of Cambridge City Council by getting [...] 
There was an interesting piece in today's Eastern Daily Press about Charles Clarke highlighting the precarious situation Labour find themselves in at the moment. "Former home secretary Charles Clarke, has warned the prime minister that Labour is in danger of losing power at the next election and that it may need a maximum, five-year, parlia-ment to rebuild public confidence. In an article - written before he was passed over in last week's cabinet reshuffle - in today's Progress magazine he argues that most people in the country believe that Labour has a long way to go to establish both clarity ...
Tonight;s Question Time panel features a Tory MP (Ken Clarke), A former Tory employee and Tory Spin Doctor for William Hague (Amanda Platell), an MP first elected as a Tory before defecting to Labour (Shaun Woodward), an actor and a playwright. Notice who might be missing A programme about politics therefore includes just two politicians out of five panellists (40%), three people from the political world out of five (60%), and 0% Lib Dems. Whatever next, should we have newsnight review, a programme on the arts with the panel made up of 60% politicians or perhaps Melvyn Bragg could be ...
Channel 4 News reported this evening that the UK government is minded to approve an application for oil and gas exploration in the Moray Firth. This seems to me utterly bonkers. The area concerned is in a Special Area of Conservation due the unique colony of bottlenose dolphins which exist there. They are the most northerly colony in the world and already face significant threats. The Channel 4 report indicated that the dolphins could be particularly affected by the noise of explosions connected with seismic research. If like me you think this is an outrageous proposal, then you still have ...
Gale force winds and icy cold sleet reminded us today that winter can still have traditional weather. There's snow forecast over the next few days so the winter woollies can come out. All the more appropriate then, that the EU has been debating global warming and in particular the sale of items such as patio heaters which are now so popular but are also very wasteful of non-renewable energy. 
Oh dear… Dave didnt do his homework - Ben Brogan has more: At PMQs yesterday Mr Cameron challenged Gordon Brown about his reluctance to ban from the country Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi: “He was banned by a former Conservative Home Secretary, so why won’t the Government ban him” All well and good, except that a few minutes later [...]
Reading the reports of the death of a senior Al-Qaeda Afghanistan leader in Pakistan, I can’t help thinking of the opening statement of Robert Jackson at the Nuremberg trials: “The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to [...]
Theres no Lib Dem on tonights Question Time (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT), so former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke is as close as well get to a liberal voice of sanity on the panel. Hell be alongside Northern Ireland Secretary (and Tory turncoat), Shaun Woodward, Daily Mail columnist (and former Tory spindoctor) [...]
AREA COMMITTEE NUNTHORPE YOUTH CLUB 6 PM TUESDAY 12 FEBRUARY We have been proved right that this Labour invention to keep control covers too big an area. The previous Ormesby, Normaby & Eston Area Committee made regular visits to our area. But this is the first meeting locally since the May elections of the new Greater Eston Committee. You need to know that the local police inspector attends the Area Committee and answers residents' questions. He needs residents' suggestions for neighbourhood policing prioriities. The latest spending from our £6000 allocation are getting a grit bin for the Laburnum Rd-Lilac Road ...
Cllrs Eric Empson and Irene Nightingale showed local team member, Ann Wilson, the new bench on Orchard Way. A local resident suggested that one was needed there. So we used some of our Area Committee allocation. We also got officials to move the litter and dog bin.
Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall's call for an EU ban on patio heaters has provoked a lively debate on Liberal Deomcrat Voice. I have mixed feelings on the subject - I certainly agree that these things are inherently wasteful. But I am opposed to the proposal (as seem to be the majority of Liberal Democrats commenting on the subject. Why For three principal reasons: first, this seems to be a case of "prohibition creep" - people are gathering outside pubs because of the smoking ban - so polticians respond by banning something else. Second, patio heaters do not seem to ...
Ian Swales,the local Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, has unearthed the shocking fact that the Governmetn is forcing the fire service to make massive cuts. He said recently, "Our area is highly populated with the risk of fire on major chemical, steel-making or nuclear plants. "Yet cutbacks in the local fire service are on the cards. And its all because Government has cut funding to Cleveland Fire Brigade by £2million forcing cuts in services, such as - cutting crewing on fire engines, abolishing community safety teams, cutting staffing, and response times for environmental protection and incident command support, closing a ...
Labour are spending over £120,000 of your Council Tax money repairing and re-decorating the Town Hall and Finegan Hall which is planned for demolition. At the same time they are making £5½m cuts in services.
New Lib Dem Leader, Nick Clegg, outlined his plans for a Liberal Britain to local Councillor Glyn Nightingale when he visited the region. "As the only Northern MP to lead a major party, Im fully aware of the importance of the region and the concerns of local people. New rights for parents, pupils and patients are at the heart of everything the Lib Dems stand for. No-one should be condemned by the circumstances of their birth. A fair deal for every family means investing in education, cutting income tax and reforming tax credits. Ill campaign to cut crime and get ...
Not quite a typical week, even more meetings than usual, but as an example... Monday to Thursday this week I've had: - an Audit Committee meeting - a Governors meeting - a budget scrutiny meeting - Muswell Hill & Highgate Area Assembly - scrutiny training Add to that the usual casework, from planning applications to refuse collection and anything inbetween, it's been a busy week so far. But, after work tomorrow I'm off to Wales for a nice, relaxing weekend. Well, will have my council phone and email with me and have a speech to write for Council on Monday ...
Labour promised no cuts in services and boasted about zero Council Tax rises. It was just election spin. Now they plan cuts including spending on the old, disabled and children in need. The only growth spending is on £350,000 to pay for free junk jobs and throwing money down the drain on Eston Town Hall when the office space isnt needed. Thats an extra 1% on Council Tax pushing it up by 4.9%. WHERE THE OTHER CUTS FALL Promised weekly refuse collection kicked into the long grass Slashing library spending - no childrens librarian, book fund cut and opening hours ...
I'm a big rugby fan - and looking forward to watching England against Wales this weekend. Wales have picked almost the whole of their side from just one club (Ospreys). England include a new face in number 8 Luke Narraway. Some rugby fans will be asking "who's he" but not this one. Not only have I seen him a play a couple of times, I also canvassed him in the General Election. Best of luck to the new boy on Saturday!
I host meeting of Liberali Euro Enforcers in Little Sicily tonight. It not warm but I want to show off new garden grill, so we hosting outside on terrazzino, using patio heaters to keep out the chill. To help out, my friend Capo 'Supertram' Mulholland, serving the drinks. It task we occasionally give to junior Capos as it important they learn to show respect before being allowed to rise up the ranks in the Inner Circle. Guests arrive one by one. There's Signora Lynne of the Rochdale Cyrils, the Baroness, 'Glasgow Slasher' Attwooll, Badboy Billy, Signora 'Cheery' Bowles, the other ...
Reading through my 'guide to trust schools for governors' was enlightening. At first I couldn't see much difference between the idea and Nick Clegg's radical ideas for public services recently outlined in his major speech. What did Nick say on January 12th Lets remind ourselves... "So, with these principles in mind, I want us to look at establishing a new liberal model of schools that are non-selective, under local government strategic oversight but not run by the council, and free to innovate to drive up standards for all our children. They could be established by any suitable sponsor, including parents, ...
Found out at the weekend that the government, or rather the MOD this time, has lost more personal data from my family. This time my brother’s armed forces recruitment data was lost in a stolen laptop along with the data of 300,000 other recruits. Amongst the more mundane pieces of personal information lost/stolen were scans of his [...]
Ken Livingstone is currently running for a third term as London Mayor. Pre-2000 he said, “I would not seek to serve more than one term”. Is the number three greater than, the same, or less than one Discuss. (Hat tip: Benedict Brogan for the quote) In other London election news, tomorrow (Friday) is Brian Paddick’s Facebook Friday (as [...]
Sleaze has been firmly off the agenda at Prime Ministers Questions for the last two weeks. If you mention Hain, Ill mention OsbourneIf You mention Conway, Ill drag up Hain, Alexander etc has led to a sort of stalemate situation. ...The parliamentary equivalent of dancing round the handbags or dont mention the war. The three party "beasts" have bitten so many chunks out of each other than
Over a million and a half families have been paid the wrong amount in tax credits at least twice according to new figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats.
Tory MEP Daniel Hannan (no, I've never heard of him either) has probably ever heard of Godwin's Law, which states that the first person to mention Hitler or the Nazi's in an argument automatically loses what ever the argument is about. If Mr Hannan had of heard of this law I doubt it would have stopped him making silly comments comparing the EU and some of its officials with Nazi Germany, unless Mr Hannan would care to divulge where the death camps are. It is a shame that Euro sceptics cannot express themslves in a way that wins argument rather ...
Excellent news: Mrs Jill Pay has been appointed to be the Serjeant at Arms at Parliament. First woman ever in the post - hurrah! She is lovely - and I am not surprised that she has been promoted so swiftly. 
It occurs to me that it is a little odd that, despite my self-avowed obsession with semantics, I have so far failed to explain my most obvious semantic foible. Allow me now to remedy that by taking you on a trip down Lloyd George Avenue Metonymy has infected most political jurisdictions around the world. Westminster, Holyrood, The Hill, The Kremlin, LElysee; all instantly recognisable as the
The Yorkshire Evening Post reports: A Leeds MP could be forced to apologise to after he called a government minster an "a***hole" and stormed out of a debate. Speaker Michael Martin is today investigating Greg Mulholland's outburst, made yesterday during a fiery debate in Westminster Hall - the second Commons debating chamber. Mr Mulholland was enraged after health minister Ivan Lewis refused to let him intervene into the discussion about the funding of hospices. The Leeds North West MP, a Lib Dem health spokesman, had earlier spoke passionately about "inequalities" in hospice funding.You can find a transcript of the debate ...
The Powys County Times reports the existence of "the only official Lembit Opik lookalike in the UK". His name is Neil May and he lives in Leicester. The newspaper goes on: The only problem is Neil's never had a booking, the demand for a Lembit lookalike just doesn't seem to be there yet. "To be honest, this is the first phone call I have ever had," he told the County Times.
This week I visited Yarl's Wood, an Immigration Removal Centre, in Bedfordshire. It was an eye opening visit. The unit is used mainly for Fast-track removal of single females who are most likely not to have a reason to stay in the country. It is also used to hold families at the last stage of their removal process. The centre is run by SERCO and supervised by the Border and...
Just received from my university, thought I should share in case anyone who reads this uses the machine: “We have just been advised that a skimming device was found on the NATWEST Automatic Teller Machine on Aldwych. The device has now been removed, but I would urge you to check your bank statements if you [...]
There has been a fair bit of commentary on the Conway affair, go Duncan Borrowman! It seems clear, as the BBC have observed, that this will open a can of worms, or maybe Pandora's Box...... The house has just debated the issue. George Young, chair of the Standards Committee opened the debate by explaining the unanimous decision of his committee. He commented on the belief in some quarters that perhaps they had not been hard enough, but reflected that "reputational consequences can be fatal". The conclusion of the committee was that Freddie had done some work for his father, but ...
It’s okay! The police aren’t racist any more! Dave says so! Erm… {Police Federation march (BNP Mayoral candidate Richard Barnbrook circled)} (Photo credit: Evening Standard.) Or, to put it another way: We didnt ask him to leave because whether we like it or not we live in a democracy. More rantiness. Share This
You never see them together do you: Hat-tip: Shane Greer.
This deserves wider circulation. Hidden by a silly and misleading title the BBC's Nick Robinson has a post which links to a speech by former Home Secretary Charles Clarke which savages the record of the current Labour Government. Clarke's historical analysis is a bit dodgy, but it is difficult to disagree with remarks like "Labour has wasted much of the first half of this parliament." Obviously
Okay, I admit it, I’m a geek. Last night, I received a book from Amazon which I was first promised back in 1983. Somewhere in my boxes at my parents’ house is a battered old copy of the very first Citadel Compendium. According to this, one of the products which Citadel Miniatures/Games Workshop was planning to produce was a science fiction roleplaying game called Rogue Trader. Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader eventually came out in 1987, but it was a skirmish battle game not a roleplaying game. That quickly mutated into the full on war game that has impoverished spotty oiks ...
I've been following the US Primaries with some interest. Would you like to know whose views you most agree with You can take an interesting quiz here on GoToQuiz which matches you against the contenders. This was my match list. 96% Dennis Kucinich 93% Mike Gravel 85% Chris Dodd 84% John Edwards 83% Barack Obama 81%...
With high winds again battering large parts of Britain, and claiming at least one life, we would do well to keep in mind why this is happening. Global warming is making weather patterns more violent. According to a new study by British scientists, warmer waters in the north Atlantic have made hurricanes stronger and more frequent in the past decade. The finding has raised fears that global warming could unleash more devastating storms in the region, if sea temperatures continue to increase. A rise in surface water temperatures of 0.27C between 1996 and 2005 was responsible for 40% of the ...
Its a big day for patio heater manufacturers, as the European Parliament looks set to approve a Lib Dem-inspired measure which would see the faddish appliances phased out, along with electrical stand-by modes, and minimum standards set for energy efficiency on air-conditioning, television “decoder” boxes and light bulbs. Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall is behind the [...]
I have been sent home from work so am curled up on the sofa with my duvet and BBC Parliament on the television. Currently there is a debate on Derek Conway affair. If we want to make politicians more accessable, then there must be allowance for the MPs. As a Liberal Democrat who has pounded the streets with FOCUS leaflets under my arms, I am not sure whether the new cmmunication allowance is
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act ...
The National Audit Office today released a report into the supervision of community orders, and it is clear that the government needs to do more to make sure that they work properly. Community orders have the potential to work very well. If they function properly, they provide an effective alternative to prison, which brings all sorts of benefits in itself, not least in helping the government out of the overcrowding mess it has got itself into. They can benefit the community and the offender as well though, by reducing re-offending. But at the moment they are not working ...
In this weeks Realpolitik podcast with myself and Richard: Derek Conway MP will step down after his Lib Dem opponent, Duncan Borrowman, reports him to the police. Brown and Cameron clash at PMQs over stop and search powers, as Richard believes the lack of volunteering may be a cause of crime. Edwards and [...]
Princess Marys Hospital Development - Planning Reference 07/03446/ADP Too Dense to feel like Wendover As this brown site has been derelict for many years I welcome the initiative to develop it. However, the high density approved in the outline planning has resulted in a detailed plan that includes unwelcome precedents that brings us nearer to a status of an Aylesbury Suburb: * Houses with no gardens or no parking; * Awkward building relationships corner houses in funny angles to their neighbours and interesting garden boundaries. * Three and four story apartment buildings that for some reason are considered in keeping ...
Big issue around parking near the Highgate Group Practice but good news at the Area Assembly this week - managed to extract a public promise in blood from Brian Haley (Haringey Council Labour Member for environment) that the ten desperately needed (and long promised but not delivered) parking bays for the Highgate Group Practice would indeed finally be installed by the end of February. Hurrah!
Google are on a charm offensive. Such a successful product. We nearly all use Google Search - don't we And thus - earlier this week I visited their London offices - and found out! They gave us a tour of their offices. In short: it was geek heaven. The Google logo and colours stream through every department - reminiscent of a children's nursery. Primary colours - and decorated departments. Toys and props of all sorts - cuddly, inflatable, cardboard cut-out everywhere. Quite a few plants and several pieces of immiation picket fencing. Not quite sure why the fencing is so ...
Found this radio show via Philippe Legrain’s website. It is originally broadcast on resonance 104.4 FM in London on Friday’s 19:00 - 19:30. From its website: “Little Atoms is a show about ideas. Each show features a guest from the worlds of science, journalism, politics, academia, human rights or the arts in conversation. If the show has a dominant and recurring theme, then it coalesces around the ideas of the Enlightenment, by which we mean freedom of expression, free inquiry, empirical rationalism, scepticism, the scientific method, secular humanism and liberal democracy. These ideas find their opposite in superstition, religious fundamentalism, ...
And then there were four… As we approach Super Tuesday on 5th February, when over 20 states vote in their primaries, its clear there are two two-horse races for the Democrat and Republican presidential nominations. So when better than now to ask: who would you prefer to see occupy the White House in a years [...]
Fly tippers have been issued with instant £50 fines after a targeted clean-up of the back streets in South Bank by Redcar and Cleveland Council. Over a tonne of rubbish was cleared in the operation by the Council's area supervisors, working with Community Protection Officers, to tackle the ongoing problem with fly tipping and dumped rubbish. The collection included two fridges, two freezers, four mattresses, four dining chairs, a hot drinks machine, a Christmas tree, two TVs, two three-piece suites, three carpets, a gas bottle and 74 bags of domestic waste. As well as clearing the rubbish, the taskforce also ...
For the last fortnight, weve had a poll running asking, How many days should we permit detention without charge In total, 69% of you reckoned this should be 14 days or fewer, compared with Labours full-throated support for 42 days to deal with hypothetical situations. Here are the results in full: 14 days, as before Blair: [...]
Best not to say which candidate this was suggested for: Vote for XXXX. He won't be restrained by Euclidean geometry.But what does a mere dog know about such things Woof woof.
Further to yesterday’s post on police powers, Steve Bell of The Guardian hits the nail on the head with this cartoon:
When people borrow too much, the best thing that can happen is a large dose of inflation. The nominal value of the debt stays the same, (plus interest) but the real value of the debt falls dramatically. The second rate cut from the Fed in less than a week now takes interest rates under the US inflation rate. The consequence will be a sharp fall in the US Dollar. All the massive debts that the US has contracted in Dollars will now fall in real terms. The Fed is debauching the currency: the cardinal sin of Central Banking. The consequences ...
There are two actions I would like people on Facebook to do. One for today is to join the "Derek Conway should resign as an MP" group. This group has grown to 124 members since it was set up yesterday. One for tommorow is to support Brian Paddick's Facebook Friday. This is a good initiative in communicating Brian's message as the serious candidate in the London Mayoral elections. So join Brian's
Progressive Vision tells me that on this day in 1849 the Corn Laws were abolished in the United Kingdom. The culmination of a great campaign by the Anti-Corn Law League led by the great radical Richard Cobden, this directly led to the splitting of the Tories and the later creation of the Liberal Party. It was [...]
At 66 Ming Campbell MP was considered by sections of the British media and characterised by political opponants as being too old to challenge for the position of Prime Minister. Senator John McCai...
What Derek Conway did, in defrauding the tax payer, was wrong (obviously); he broke the rules but there is no need to change the rules as a result. We dont need to ban politicians families from working for themindeed it is one of the few areas where the valuable contribution that spouses often make to the careers of ambitious people is actually given a value. If someone is doing the work, they should be paid for itit doesnt and shouldnt actually matter what their relationship to the employer is. If someone breaks the rules, the fault will be down to ...
Another week, more focus by Nick Clegg on domestic bread n butter issues during his exchange with the Prime Minister at the weekly PMQs: this time taking Gordon Brown to task for the poor conditions of the British armed forces living conditions. The spectres of the last weeks sleaze allegations Labours Peter Hain and the [...]
Sometimes it's not the big gestures which get things done but the little conversations and debates behind the scenes. That's what's been happening this week. First of all there was the first meeting of the new Health and Wellbeing Partnership for the borough - a mix of councillors, council officers, health professionals and community representation. As part of a discussion on community cohesion
I passed my audition for another go at Mastermind! Help! I am now revising my first "special subject" which is the TV comedy show Seinfeld (sadly neglected by the BBC which, when it showed it at all, managed to put it on at a variety of times after Newsnight)
A not very prominent story in yesterdays local press repeated the fact that the government has blocked a move to get extra coaches on the mail line train route between Liverpool and London. Now I know this suggestion was partly to do with Virgin wanting to make sure they got the franchise again when it's up. So it's not an altruistic act! But by blocking this the government has made sure it will continue to be difficult to travel on that route. Put quite simply it is overcrowded and you sometimes end up standing or sitting on the floor. We ...
The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it A Death! What's that, a bonus I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, ...
Alwyn Ap Huw suggests that Elfyn Llwyd's reluctance to support a referendum on full-law making powers for the Assembly in 2011 is not so much a u-turn as a bend in the road. Well it is a pretty sharp bend, almost 180 degrees in fact.
The blogger, prolific photographer and linchpin of the now defunct Liberal Future, Andy Mayer, gave a very professional presentation on the Orange Book last night, at a Pizza and Politics at the home of the leader of Islington Council, James Kempton. When the book came out, it caused quite a stir, not least because of [...]
The new Secretary of State for Wales told us yesterday that cutting the number of Welsh MPs to reflect the post-devolution age would be bonkers. It is a point of view I suppose and certainly one that will continue to secure Mr.Murphy the support of other Welsh Labour MPs. However, how realistic is such a stance in a future Wales which has a law-making Parliament of equal stature to that of Scotland's Why do we need so many politicians when AMs will be able to pass domestic laws currently debated and voted on by MPs In Scotland it was accepted ...
I had the pleasure of being in the public gallery for Prime Minister's Questions today, first time I'd been in there, and an experience I'd recommend. All the normal cliche's probably hold true, the chamber is much smaller than you'd imagine, for example, but the more important things are probably the more subtle. Cameron looked nervous when the cameras weren't on him, and I thought he talked nothing but nonsense, Nick Brown is clearly still a very influential figure for the PM despite not having a cabinet position, he stood behind the speaker keeping an eye on the Labour benches, ...
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