LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Saturday 8th March 2008

Jersey rally in remembrance of abuse victims

Channel Online has a video report of today's rally in Jersey's Royal Square. The report says: The chance to call for political reform in Jersey in the gaze of the national media didn't pass the organisers by.Montfort Tadier told us: "The government we have in Jersey that may have worked in the past, in a different time, is not working today. And it's really just been to highlight that as well as, you know, initially remembering victims of abuse and making sure that justice is done both socially and politically in the island."Tomorrow's Sunday Times will report that the current ...

One race ends as another continues.

I know that Im late blogging about this, when you consider that it happened Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning, but its official now John McCain will be the Republican Nominee for President of the United States. Whilst for now we are no closer to knowing who will be the Democrat nominee will be, since Obama and Clinton still remain neck and neck in the race to, be in the race to the white house. It is looking more and more likely that the race is going to be decide by the Superdelegates. Although there is still a chance that the voters ...

Campaign for Gender Balance Blog Awards

The winners of the 2008 Campaign for Gender Balance blog awards are as follows: Best Blog (People’s Choice): Lynne’s Haringey and Westminster Diary Best Blog (Judge’s Choice): The People’s Republic of Mortimer Best Blog Post: What should MPs look like (Jo Christie Smith) Best Non Lib Dem Blog: Betsan Powys Share This

BBC Conference Coverage

One of the things that you notice whilst away from Conference is the actual coverage that it gets. So far I’ve yet to see any pictures of Liverpool, but the BBC ran with “less VAT on fruit juice, more on alcohol” as their 2nd or 3rd item this morning. However whilst bored on the sofa, here were the stories on their PDA version: OTHER TOP STORIES Cable rethink on homes of rich Vince Cable tells BBC News he scrapped plans for a £1m home tax over fears it would hurt middle-class voters. SCOTLAND Talks over scrapping council tax Talks have ...

Bury Lib Dems named Opposition Group of the Year at Lib Dem Spring Conference

Bury Liberal Democrats won an award at last night’s Local Government Awards at the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Liverpool. We won the Vice-President’s Award for opposition groups, meaning that your local Lib Dem team were judged as the top performing opposition Council group of the year. This is great news, and shows that our efforts in Council, for Prestwich, Bury and Greater Manchester have been recognised externally. This year has been a great challenge for an opposition group dealing with a Tory administration for the first time in 21 years, and battling against outrageous Labour lies locally whilst trying ...

A very short conference!

Taking a moment to reflect after attending a BBC reception and before attending the Campaign for Gender Balance Blogging Awards, I'm thinking Spring conference is all too short a weekend! Socialising on Friday night and a lazy sleep in this morning meant that I arrived at conference at 3pm feeling as if I had slept through half of fresher's week at university. But it's been great to soak up the atmosphere of conference, my first spring and my second one overall. Working nights at my first conference meant I couldn't attend fringe so spring has been a definite eye-opener. What ...

Taxi for the Federal Executive!

This evening saw a vote on an intriguing constitutional amendment. Intriguing, because the prospect of a proposal on internal Party governance supported by both the Liberator Collective and the Federal Executive is so unlikely, that it must surely be a good thing, shouldnt it Im a suspicious soul at heart, and the scheduling of a constitutional amendment as part of a thirty-five minute slot

English Candidates Committee - making things better, one meeting at a time

This morning was always going to be a very long one so, fortified by a vast breakfast of fruit (see, Ros is having a positive effect on me already) and various dead animal by-products (but not that positive, it would seem), I slipped into the meeting of the English Candidates Committee, and prepared for the long haul. The early part of the meeting was taken up with regional reports, the

The sclerotic defence

Amongst the weighty matters of political debate on Liberal Democrat blogs at the moment is the question of whether “sclerotic” is too recondite a word for Nick Clegg to have used. Stephen Tall posts a case for the defence, a view echoed by Brian Appleyard: I would have thought that, since arteriosclerosis is so common, almost everybody would [...]

Getting things into perspective

Some retrospective thoughts on this week. First of all, one of the most pithy and poignant postings came from Adrian Sanders MP who reminded us on his blog: The only people who voted against such a referendum were Tory and Labour MPs - not a single Lib Dem voted to deny the people a vote. Secondly, the article from Martin Kettle in today's Guardian should be required reading for all LibDems,

Sam Coates covers conference

A few good pieces from Sam Coates over at the TimesOnline blog. He was clearly at the same Vince speech as our own Alex Foster, although the idea of filling the conference hall with new Cablite Daily Mail reading Lib Dems might put the wind up some of our existing conference reps. The speech didn’t [...]

From our slightly over-heated sports desk....

Well done Barnsley !!! Man U v Portsmouth - Is it OK to laugh

Back to the fountains and public water...

My post a while back about fountains and getting them reconnected has prompted a flurry of emails and I'm now getting one resident sending me accosional notes of where they have found fountains round and about (often outside the remit of this little blog!). This one at Fortune Green (the Green rather than just the ward) - just off Fortune Green Road and the Greek streets - is small and pretty and lies slightly off-set to the main of the green - it has just had new paving around it and in fact is incredibly well-placed on the geographic ...

I'm Coming Out for Brian Paddick and other Conference tittle-tattle

I had some really intelligent things to say about Conference but can't remember what they are. So have these random wibbles instead. As many people have noted, the Liverpool Conference Centre does have a roof. It's also clearly designed as an aircraft hangar if the conference centre plan falls through. The spaces are mammoth, and fringe meetings and training events happen in little prefab huts built in the gargantuan vaults of the 'multi-purpose space'. Sadly these huts have really bad acoustics, and are either dark or roasting hot because of overpowered spotlights. Not a good place to train. The restaurants ...

The Red Book

Our LDV office, under the arena seating, is shared with the Innovations Dept and PICS, so some cross-fertilization on content is possible. George Crozier updating the party website with what goes on can call across to see if we’re doing something and vice-versa. I’d just been brainstorming with Innovations about some ideas for a podcast when [...]

Getting things into perspective

Some retrospective thoughts on this week. First of all, one of the most pithy and poignant postings came from Adrian Sanders MP who reminded us on his blog: The only people who voted against such a referendum were Tory and Labour MPs - not a single Lib Dem voted to deny the people a vote. Secondly, the article from Martin Kettle in today's Guardian should be required reading for all LibDems,

Spring Conference Update

Parliamentary Spokesman Steve Guy and Wycombe Chair Wendy are representing Wycombe Liberal Democrats at the Spring Conference in Liverpool. Steve caught up with Lynne Featherstone MP after the important debate on Ballistic Missile Defence, hear Lynne’s update by clicking on the video clip on the right. {dscf0299.JPG} Later, Vince Cable took the Conference by storm. He promised to get tough on the super rich and said that non-domiciled foreign nationals avoiding UK tax was unacceptable - and that Tory and Conservative plans did not go far enough. He also announced plans to drop VAT on fruit juice from current 17.5% ...

Alan Beiths longevity

Hooray! Someone has phoned the Podcast Hotline 020 7617 7221. Alright, so it’s a blatant plug for an event later in the year, but I have no objection to testing the technology this way.

Highs and Lows

I sat having a spot of recreation this afternoon and got up rather fed up at after watching England slump to a pathetic defeat against Scotland. I felt totally dejected and fed up that I had wasted two hours watching such a poor game by both sides. However I have just had the tonic that I needed before going out for the evening and that is seeing that Bath Rugby has just gone top of...

Programme alert: A Marriage Made in Portsmouth - 9pm tonight

Can’t get to conference, but in the mood for some Saturday night Lib Demmery At the conference, and desperate to avoid the bar Then why not switch on the telly, and tune to the BBC Parliament channel at 9 pm tonight, Saturday 8th March, when you can watch A Marriage Made in Portsmouth, a documentary [...]

Diary of a Conference Virgin (aged 29 1/6*): Friday

On Friday, I undergo the unwieldy registration process and persuade MatGB to take a new picture for my pass, because my last picture was taken in Brighton when I was both windswept and hungover, whereas today I am merely windswept. In fact this is not technically my first conference, but my only contributions to proceedings [...]

National honour for local member

Great news. One of our long standing members - Akbar Ali MBE - has been up on the platform at conference to get a long service award from Party President Simon Hughes MP. Really good to see Akbar honoured this way. He is a member in Cressington ward, and Garston and Halewood Constituency - so I know him well. Now if we are to do the double, we need Ken McKelvie to get a President's award at the regional conference next week - I nominated Ken after overcoming his modesty. Ken is another long standing member - also Cressington ward ...

Saturday conference diary: Lynne Featherstone

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=As7×4cW-dn0 UPDATE: Federal website now updated with the latest speech - Simon Hughes’s Party President words from just before lunch.

Liverpool conference diary

Watch it here:

Legal Aid debate

You cannot have democracy, civil rights and a rule of law without access to justice, and you can’t have access to justice without Legal Aid. So said speaker after speaker in interesting waistcoats. And they are right of course. There is no access to justice for millions in this country, and the move to fixed [...]

Nick Clegg on a moped

Thanks to, er, everyone for bringing our attention to the Times piece about Nick Clegg on a moped. Mixed views on the idea in the Lib Dem Voice room under the seating in the Liverpool arena, we have to report.

More on Europe

Martin Kettle has a thoughtful and insightful piece in the Guardian this morning that is worth quoting. Talking about the three line whip ordering Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain on the vote to decide whether there should be a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, he says that Nick Clegg had no choice. The Liberal Democrat leader was between a rock and a hard place: 'No party can ever be satisfied with a shambles. Yet while acknowledging the damage, it is important also not to exaggerate it. The Lib Dems will recover. Nick Clegg's fledgling leadership is not at risk. Indeed ...

Lib Dems at the front of Hampshire's recycling efforts

County Councillor Robin Hughes, pictured left today announced exciting details of his long campaign to resite and gain a 21st century recyling facility and Andover, Smannell and the Bourne Valley. The main details and estimated timescale for relocating the Andover Hampshire Waster Re-cycling centre (HWRC) as follows: Building is expected to start by the end of May 2008 (the precise date will be determined once the selected contractor has confirmed their earliest mobilisation period). The new 'split-level' HWRC will be constructed on a parcel of land known as Plot 81 on the Walworth Industrial Estate. This is located between Scott ...

Once bitten

OK, in posting this I want you to remember that I thought the V For Vendetta movie looked good in advance shots, then the actual film turned out to be something that made me want to drag out the brain bleach afterwards to forget about. So, here are some pictures of the Comedian, Rorschach, Nite Owl, Ozymandias and Silk Spectre from the Watchmen movie.

Warm reception for Vince

Conference has just listened with rapt attention to shadow chancellor Dr Vince Cable MP. As Sal Brinton pointed out in her introduction, Vince has had an amazing time of it in the last few months following events largely unforseeable as recently as the last conference. So delegates were very keen to show Vince their gratitude, [...]

Those barmy tyrant councils are at it again !

More proof that it is a slow news week from the Express today: BARMY new waste collection rules mean that councils across Britain are now refusing to empty bins altogether unless the lid is shut. One in three local authorities has ordered collectors not to touch any open bin, even if the lid is only slightly lifted. It is the latest ridiculous edict to hit householders already fuming about

Should Conference support 'Empowerment, Fairness and Quality in Health Care' Health Policy Paper

I always used to be unsure about decentralisation. But Nick Clegg has convinced me there. I can see how the local health boards will work with elected local officials and professionals and can create the right environment. But the involvement of the private sector, I'm not sure about. I understand about putting patients first. But would the patient guarantee, give local elects an excuse to cut spending because there was a guarantee We need to be sure that the private sector is controlled by the local health boards and not the other way round.

Eight Weeks to Woo London

The non-appearance of Brian Paddick at last night’s Rally at the Liverpool LibDem Conference caused more than a few raised eyebrows among members and the media alike, so I hope to goodness he is going to make a barnstorming impact in the northern city’s Arena over the next 24 hours. The London Mayoral elections on 1 May [...]

Conference to hear: Cut taxes on fruit juice!

"VAT on fruit juice and smoothies should be cut from 17.5% to 5% to help encourage healthy diets, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman is to say. " http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7284703.stm I am in full support of these kind of motives (of making healthy foods cheaper), but fruit juice isn't the most ideal to have taxes cut on. Fruit juice is good to get one portion from a day, but not fully ideal. Why Because there's loads of sugar in it, the sugar is more concentrated than in an ordinary portion of fruit, because of course the sugar is dissolved in the fruit ...

The Sun finally succombs to its most obvious headline

It took them 44 years to be desperate enough... As Edis commented on my post yesterday, it is not normal for servicemen and women to wear their uniforms off duty anyway. Do nurses wear their uniforms off duty Bus conductors Gordon Brown makes noises to the effect that he would like the RAF Wittering commander to rescind his order to his boys and girls not to wear their uniform off duty in

Send in your Golden Dozen nominations

Regular readers of our weekly Golden Dozen feature will know that we have opened up five slots to reader nominations. All you have to do is drop me a line at stephen - stephen.hat.libdemvoice.org.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one), highlighting the best Lib [...]

Lembit slagged off by Sir Alan Sugar

Surely not something to look forward to..... Worse still, we might have to witness Kelvin Mackenzie and dearest Lembit locking horns. It could all be too much...

Conference and Campaigning

I love party conference.. but I love campaigning too (well when the dogs are absent). Have just finished a session carrying out a residents survey - and am now off to the convention centre. A bit footsore but then that's an activist's occupational hazard.

Conference rally last night

Our Lib Dem Spring Conference kicked off last night at the new Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre - with a reception and rally. Nick Clegg spoke really well - and I think the other star of the evening was Carole Woods from Durham - PPC and councillor. I am sure she'll be one of our future MPs. Later went to the awards ceremony run by the Local Government Association. Mike Storey picked up a special award there.

A Referendum Constitution

The recent debacle over the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty raises the interesting Constitutional question of whether we have or should have a referendum constitution - i.e. that is one where a the people can be consulted on important issues via a referendum. Opponents of referenda argue that our Parliamentary democracy is not a referendum constitution. Logically they are right since Parliament is supposed to be supreme and the result of any referendum, even if its enabling Bill specified that the result would be mandatory upon the Government, could be overturned immediately by a new act of Parliament. Note however ...

I see now why they always say Jersey is not the ideal place to take kids to

Jersey is, by all accounts, a lovely place. My mum and dad have been a few times, but they and many other have always said that it is nice, but not the sort of place for kids. Given the recent horror stories from jersey, it is clear to see why. Perhaps the most disturbing fact though is not that this abuse happened, because sadly abuse of this sort was not just confined to Jersey as there have been cases of this sort in Britain much longer ago, and Ireland an I am sure many other countries too. No, the most ...

Neighbourhood Watch

There has been interest from a number of residents in Neighbourhood Watch schemes and the matter has been discussed at the West End Community Council. Our community policeman has been providing advice to interested residents. There's useful resources on the Association of Scottish Neighbourhood Watches website (click on headline above to view more).

Another mistake, another threatening letter

Another threatening letter from a Quango arrived this morning, telling us that we were liable for a four-figure fine for not having a TV license. A stern brown envelope, a letter with lots of red ink, nasty words and exclamation marks. “We know you’ve bought a television,” it said, “and we know you’ve not got a license.” Quite why the government thinks it’s got the right to demand that TV retailers take our names and addresses when we buy a TV is a mystery, because it’s none of their business. But that argument pales into insignificance against the fact that ...

News from the daily sheets

George Crozier, from the Political Intelligence and Communication Section wrote last night in a comment that a little difficulty was being had updating the party website from Liverpool, and gave the following information about the weekend: The two emergency motions which will be debated between 16.25 and 16.55 on Saturday (tomorrow) are on Extraordinary Rendition and [...]

Nicol Stephen challenges SNP on dumping promises on student debt

Another superb performance by Nicol Stephen at FMQs last week, challenging the First Minister to explain the SNPs broken promise to dump student debt. Last week, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, was asked on television's Politics Now programme: Are you going to remove student debt Are you going to write it off Her reply was: We never promised to write it off. Does the First Minister think that she was absolutely and completely accurate in saying that The SNP seems to have a new tactic, does it not It used to deny breaking its promises. ...

BNP "target" Duncan Hames' opponent

This should liven things up a bit in Chippenham. I would have thought that any "targetting" of Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, self-styled "Britain's only black farmer" (though note that there is at least one other), is likely to back-fire.

Charles Clarke joins LibDems

Well, it looks like him (arrowed above). He's even got this Spring Conference "Bag for Life" slung over his shoulder.

Martin Kettle: why the Lib Dems matter

There is a pretty fair analysis of the last week for the Lib Dems by The Guardians Martin Kettle today you can read it here. On the issue de jour Europe and the Lisbon Treaty referendum vote: To witness our one truly pro-European party abstaining and divided at the climax of the most important [...]

In Liverpool

I'm at the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Liverpool this weekend. I haven't been to Liverpool for years and the regeneration of the huge docks area along the Mersey since then is truly impressive. I must take some time out today to look round the transformation of the Albert Docks where the huge warehouses have been converted into shops, restaurants and...

Sclerosis of the Liverpool

Whats in a word A lot, it seems, if the current debate on Nick Cleggs use of the word Sclerotic is anything to go by. Myself, I think the British public can handle learning a new word if they dont know it already. Perhaps I can refer those who are dubious to The West Wing, and a discussion about whether the word torpor could be deployed in a political speech: It's not our job to

Liverpool Arena: first impressions

Part of observing Conference Ctte meant I got to tag along on their tour of the building, and here are my thoughts: It’s huge And Shiny And painted lots of very bright colours There are amazing views back over Liverpool when you walk out of the building (Almost) Everyone’s happy to see you Registration went really quickly (I needed to upgrade [...]

A Freudian slip

Every day those helpful people at Cowley Street send me an e-mail listing the recently added news stories on the Lib Dem website. This morning's bulletin has a story headed: PMQs: Clegg "has bottled it" on Europe, says Clegg

User Generated Content

Like a crazed talk-show host, I’m appealing for Lib Dem Voice readers at home and at conference to contribute to our coverage of conference. You can e-mail voice - voice.hat.libdemvoice.org.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real one) if you have a whole opinion piece - [...]

Liverpool Conference

Today and tomorrow I will be up in Liverpool at the Liberal Democrats Spring Conference. There will be a total of five of us going from Wolverhampton South West - two are going to a Liberal Democrat Conference the first time.

Pay and things

I do not really want to get into a debate about the alleged 8.3% pay rise for Assembly Members, largely because there are fixed views on both sides of the argument and I do not believe that anything I say will convince anybody, but also because I am reluctant to become the unofficial spokesperson for everybody else. However, I think that it is right that I state the facts. An independent Commission was asked to review Assembly Members' salaries in light of the additional powers and responsibilities we have taken on as a result of the Government of Wales Act ...

Opinion: Better health = a more equal society

Ive submitted an amendment to the motion accompanying the health policy paper well be debating this weekend at the Lib Dems’ spring conference in Liverpool, and our esteemed editors have asked to me to explain its reasoning. The amendment aims to add to the list of things we want to do: Concerted action across government to [...]

Your questions answered: Europe

As promised elsewhere, I will answer any questions received on this blog in public (unless the questioner specifically asks for a private answer). Question: The Winchester Whisperer asks: What about the LD abstention on the vote last night. If youd been the MP for Winchester would you have abstained Answer: No. I would have voted for a referendum. I was a parliamentary candidate at the last election and this is what our manifesto promised: MAKE EUROPE MORE EFFECTIVE AND DEMOCRATIC Membership of the EU has been hugely important for British jobs, environmental protection, equality rights, and Britains place in the ...

Nick Clegg: Im more hardline than Mao

Gavin Whenman has been expressing exasperation with Nick Clegg’s use of the word sclerotic. He has a point. Personally, I find the following quote equally perplexing: “It’s not an act of leadership to throw your hands in the air and let a thousand flowers bloom.” Who was it who originally talked about letting a thousand flowers bloom I believe it was a certain Mao Tse Tung. I don’t recall Mao being known for being a particularly weak leader. Why is Clegg inviting us to draw comparisons with him and the great despot What’s this obsession with being seen to be ...

Where is the man with the banana

Sadly, the most famous fruit carrier on the internet is not here.

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