CONSERVATIVES: 34% (N/C) LIB DEMS: 29% (N/C) LABOUR: 28% (+1%) Changes based upon last time (yesterday). Sample consists of all polls with mid-point fieldwork dates within the last 10 days, including today (n=29). Includes all British Polling Council registered pollsters. The results above are the median figure for each party. Hang on a minute. I ...
I went along to the home of Noel Rippeth, Gateshead Lib Dem group leader and agent for Blaydon, for a war council meeting to finalise details for the last few days of the campaign here. Noel showed me today's Sunday Times which was reporting on Blaydon. They describe the constituency as "the Lib Dems' best chance of a gain in the Tyneside conurbation." The newspaper highlights our good
Filed under: Politics Tagged: lib dems
Where are the BBC and ITV when it comes the THIS story ? I don't expect Sky News to report it. The Murdoch press are firmly in the Tory camp already.
Sun 2nd
23:42
A tired but enthusisastic #chelmsford campaign team met for the final time tonight - pleased by the ...
A tired but enthusisastic #chelmsford campaign team met for the final time tonight - pleased by the amount we have done and confident about what we have still to do.
Two polls published tonight: YouGov in the Sun ... CON 34%(-1) LAB 28% (+1) LIB DEM 29% (+1) ICM in the Guardian ... CON 33%(-3), LAB 28%(-1), LIB DEM 28%(+1) So, after the excitement of today's rightwing press salivating at the inevitable Tory election victory to come, we're back to where we were at the end of last week ... the Tories at c.33%, and Lib Dems and Labour tussling it out for second place on 28-29%, firmly back in hung parliament territory. Of course, these results may be quirks, and none of us knows how far to trust polls ...
On Wednesday I spent a few hours with the students at Woking College. It was a very enlightening few hours talking to them about their feelings and concerns for the future. One of the biggest fears that students and their parents have today is the level of debt that they will be left with then ...
I today took part in a quiz from RNIB to raise awareness amongst election candidates of the leading causes of sight loss. Questions also ask who can get free eye tests and how many of us are already living with sight problems. Six million older people at risk of blindness There are around 1.8 million people ...
A break in campaigning this evening to go to Redcar and join one of Nick Clegg's Town Hall meetings. The audience of 200 was a mix of Lib Dem members & supporters, members of the public and people invited through an opinion poll company to try to ensure a good variety of people. It was good to see some young people from Yarm School there, still seeking answers to questions in order to help them
[IMG: Murdoch's man] How jaded and irrelevant the newspapers have looked through this general election. The TV debates well and truly destroyed the traditional newspaper role as the "gate-keeper" to the politicians. Why read what the editors and columnists of the papers think about the leaders of the main parties - when we can watch and listen to them directly ourselves and form our own views? We no longer wait for their daily analysis of the previous days events, when news channels, tweeters and you-tubers bring us opinion, digest and so much more in a matter of minutes. How pompous, ...
There were four of us - George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency. Surely, one of the greatest lines written in the English language! The opening lines as I'm sure you all know Three Men in a Boat.
Only a linkblog today, as I'm exhausted after delivering 320 leaflets throughout Fallowfield for Qassim Afzal (who the Daily Mail hate – good enough reason to vote for him as any) and Dave Page. Tomorrow I'm campaigning for Mat Bowles and Jennie Rigg in Yorkshire, so may not get much time to post then either. ...
I said a while ago that I'd publish some material on various aspects of Liberal Democrat policies. I have done so - although these short articles are actually on another website here. Other Lib Dems write on this section too, so you may need to scroll down a bit.
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by our parliamentary candidate David Watts. A special welcome to any new readers this week. It will only be a short edition this week. It's not because of the hours I'm putting in for the election but simply there does not seem to be a lot happening this week! I could fill this up with election comments but this newsletter is about local activities and events and I don't want to give people who have signed up over the past couple of weeks the impression that this ...
Although I am well aware of the various theories of Just War, especially St. Augustine's, I am a pacifist through and through. One of the reasons, oh and there are so, so many, why I could not abide the Tories was their cavalier (and use the ...
It couldn't last, of course. All bubbles burst, all things that have been feeling so good for such a long period have to eventually drop back down to the norm, and perhaps even below the norm in order to appease the law of averages that govern this sort of thing. Yes, today was the first day ...
During the week Alex Foster blogged about the case of Bristol East Labour MP Kerry McCarthy who is facing a police investigation following a tweet giving voting figures from a postal vote opening.* She subsequently deleted the tweet and apologised but we await the outcome of the police investigation. I now hear there is a second police investigation taking place, this time into a Scottish blogger who published information that was apparently supplied by the SNP based on postal vote opening in several constituencies. The post (subsequently removed) appeared on SNP Tactical Voting and made reference to three different constituencies. ...
Friday evening saw me once again taking part in BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight end-of-the-week discussion with the Mirror's Kevin Maguire and the Evening Standard's Anne McElvoy. You can listen again (or indeed listen for the first time) here via BBC iPlayer. But if you can't be bothered, here are the points I attempted to work in – see if you can tell which made it from my brain into my mouth, and then in to the final edit ... David Cameron – did well in Thursday's final TV debate in appealing to the Tories' right-wing vote. He made ...
My son has just pointed out to me the Lib Dem policy on alcohol which is on the Campaign for Real Ale website. Basically the Lib Dems agree with CAMRA that certain aspects of pricing and taxation can encourage or discourage responsible alcohol consumption; local pubs can encourage people to socialise and help to discourage binge drinking (because there are laws in place against selling alcohol to anyone who is already getting drunk). The link will take you to the CAMRA website where you can read the Lib Dem Pubs Policy. Lib Dem Alcohol Policy on CAMRA website
Following their sister paper, the Guardian, the Observer today endorsed the Liberal Democrats. This follows the Times newspaper's endorsement of the Conservatives. "Awarding seats in parliament in proportion to votes cast would extend the franchise to millions of people who feel their voices have gone unheard," the Observer leader says. "The Lib Dems have in recent years developed a habit of getting things right. They were first of the big three to embrace environmentalism, first to kick back against the assault on civil liberties, alone in opposing the Iraq war."
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 167th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (25th April – 1st May, 2010), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can now sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox – just click here – ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Evening Standard: Lib ...
I wrote a while back about the bogus poll figures that Hornsey and Wood Green Conservatives were using on their leaflets. They were at it again last month, claiming they had polled 27,000 voters in March... although the Tory candidate had to admit to a local newspaper that these were figures they'd allegedly compiled over a year. I don't know who the Haringey Tories think they're trying to kid. Again, here are some facts (not bogus party political numbers that are clearly make-believe): Number of Conservative councillors elected in Haringey since 1998? A big fat zero. Not one. Tory share ...
So, Gordon Brown calls Nick Clegg a "gameshow host" rather than a prospective Prime Minister. Brown therefore has no time for celebrities. And by coincidence yesterday, people in Blaydon constituency received a national mailing from Labour which as a leaflet entirely based on celebrity endorsements. Patrick Stewart is boldly going where no politician has gone before, this time in alliance with
Had a great morning today at the second makers market in Blackhall Mill. It was great event with a much bigger turnout of both stalls and people, which is great. I spoke to a lovely lady who runs a ferret refuge from her home in Chopwell. She tells me the Ferrets are very well behaved and are very well house trained but when the BNP leaflet came through their door all of them chose that moment to have a call of nature on the door mat. Anti Fascist Ferrets. I approve!
Nick Clegg told the Independent on Sunday today that voters have "A once in a generation chance for real change". What is it with Sutton and Cheam? They used to have Lady Olga Maitland as their MP - "Of course we are not patronising women. We are just going to explain to them in words of one syllable what it is all about." Now the Conservative candidate is Philippa Stroud, who is reported as having founded a church that tried to cure homosexuals by driving out their demons through prayer. Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice has today's developments in ...
An interesting snippet from today's Sunday Times reporting the latest YouGov tracker poll conducted on Friday and Saturday among nearly 1,500 voters showed that "Nick Clegg narrowly won the debate overall". You won't find the figures in the paper's report (and I can't find them on the YouGov site) but the Times's Samuel Coates reports that Clegg was judged to have most impressed by 35% of voters, compared with 32% for David Cameron. Separately the paper also reports that Clegg continues to enjoy high personal popularity ratings: A YouGov poll of nearly 1,500 people shows that the Liberal Democrat's personal ...
The LibDem team was out again today in the West End. The legs are tired, the feet are sore, but the campaign is going great! Here's LibDem Dundee West candidate John Barnett with son Rory in Middlebank Crescent!
[IMG: Mugabe supports Tories] Is Bigotgate still in the news? How very Wednesday afternoon. While the rolling news channels went into meltdown over what Twitterers called #bigotgate (Gordon Brown caught 'off mic' describing a bigoted woman as 'a bigoted woman'), no one is talking about the bigotry at the heart of the Tory party. Why is this? Do we just expect it from them? Or is it perceived as worse to call someone a bigot than to be a bigot? Or indeed to fill your shadow cabinet with them? I know the Politico-Media Establishment has decided that Gillian Duffy is ...
I had a great time today (despite the weather) at the first dig to help set up the community garden in Ruskin Park, due to officially launch on May 9th. The Friends of Ruskin Park, Lambeth Council and Herne Hill Climate Action Network have made it happen and it is exactly the kind of thing that we need in the constituency. Not only does the vegetable garden aim to help reduce the carbon output involved in food production but it also is a great opportunity to involve both adults and children in techniques for vegetable growing. This initiative is great ...
You'd have a hard time working out from this report in today's Sunday Express that it's the Liberal Democrats who are in second place in the latest Angus Reid poll the newspaper has commissioned. If you try really hard you can just about work out that it's likely that is the case (given the poll share figure given for Labour) but then there's the talk of the Conservatives being "12 points ahead". True, they are 12 points ahead of Labour, but no mention is made of the much smaller lead over the Lib Dems (6 points). And a boring, boring ...
May 2nd, 2010 You pays your money and you take your choice. There seems to be a wide variation between the online polls and the phone polls. The on line ones have Labour down and out. You can see more about the arguments around the different approaches on Political Betting OnePoll - The PeopleMay 1Apr 24 CONSERVATIVES 30% 32% LIB DEMS 32% 32% LABOUR 21% 23%
I was a little gobsmacked when the audience on Question Time turned on Liam Fox for his threat that a hung parliament would bring on the end of the world and we had to vote Tory. They booed and hissed him. Janet Street Porter also dished the argument by declaring that politicians ought to grow up and learn to share properly! I think the Tories are going to have to think carefully before trying to frighten the voters to back them. Maybe if Fox had taken time to read this article in the Spectator he may not have come so ...
This morning The Observer ran a piece detailing the less than savoury attitude towards homosexuality of Philippa Stroud, Conservative candidate for Sutton & Cheam and head of the influential Conservative think-tank Centre for Social Justice: A high-flying prospective Conservative MP, credited with shaping many of the party's social policies, founded a church that tried to "cure" homosexuals by driving out their "demons" through prayer... Abi, a teenage girl with transsexual issues, was sent to the church by her parents, who were evangelical Christians. "Convinced I was demonically possessed, my parents made the decision to move to Bedford, because of this ...
One of the fascinating things about the movement of the voters toward the Lib Dems is that it led by the member of the public. In the past -particularly in the 1980's- this was a process led from within parliament. When the gang of four and a host of other Labour bigwigs resigned and joined the SDP it was part of a parliamentary realignment. This time it is different. We have not had one high profile person parliamentarian 'crossing the floor'. This time it is a movement of people not the establishment. Many of us we uncomfortable with the idea ...
'If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and one, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind' - John Stuart Mill On Liberty One important test of a political party is how well it stands up for its principles, even when those principles may cost it votes. I'd be the first to admit the the the Liberal Democrats do not have a 100% record on this, particularly in some local councils and election ...
Nick Clegg's clear message of change ahead of Thursday:
Sun 2nd
17:44The office now has more paper in it waiting to be delivered! If you can help phone (01245) 250522 to...
The office now has more paper in it waiting to be delivered! If you can help phone (01245) 250522 to arrange - office open Monday.
A song for general election week: the Levellers at Glastonbury, but I don't know which year it comes from. As I once wrote: It seems we have become obsessed by Mill's harm principle. Yet it is only a small part of On Liberty: the essence of that work is not concerned with curbing liberty at all but is a glorious hymn in favour of its expansion. Writing in Prospect magazine last year, Richard Reeves put it well: for Mill, liberty consists of much more than being left alone. It requires choice-making by the individual. "He who lets the world... choose ...
Small wonder that Tory leader David Cameron publicly rowed back on his inheritaance tax cut for millionaires in last week's televised debate – Lib Dem research released today shows the Tories' promise would: cost £6bn over the course of the next Parliament; is aimed at the wealthiest 0.8% of estates in the UK; and would benefit 3,000 of the wealthiest estates in the country every year by almost £250,000 As Vince Cable points out: At a time when the gap between the richest and poorest is so great, it beggars belief that David Cameron wants to give the wealthiest estates ...
The Observer has a piece on how the international press view the election. The one that made me smile was the Spanish journalist Eduardo Suarez who talks of his stars of the election. He says as well as Nick Clegg, whose Spanish wife did make him a wee bit biased, his favourite is Peter Mandelson. "He's the most grotesque character." he writes "I absolutely adore him..... He's just so funny. Funnier even than Lembit Opik." Ouch! Poor Lembit!
Its winter again - quite chilly out. But have found more poster sites!
A late night Friday night not partying, sadly, but scrambling up lamp posts and tying posters to them.This little bit of election tradition is either loved or hated by activists across party lines. Attempts to ban the practice have been tried and failed over the years and off course a voluntary ban doesn't work as if one lot does it then they have a competitive advantage. Anyho' rules state that we can't put posters up until midnight so off I trundled to assist our Constituency Party Secretary for the midnight shift. Last time she had done the midnight start she ...
That's the message from Nick Clegg to voters in an interview in today's Independent on Sunday: Nick Clegg makes a final appeal to voters today to seize the "once-in-a-generation chance" for real change to Britain's unbalanced voting system by backing the Liberal Democrats on Thursday. ... Mr Clegg, trying to cast the final week of campaigning as a two-horse race between his party and the Tories, claims that Gordon Brown has "written himself out of the script of change" and that the Labour Party is in a fight for its very existence. ... In a direct pitch to voters, he ...
My immediate reaction to the final leader's debate of the general election campaign last Thursday was to call it for Clegg first, then Brown, and then Cameron last. However, the consensus of the polls and the commentators over the last few days was to put Cameron as the winner, followed by Clegg, with Brown last. Did I get it wrong? Did I let my partisanship blind me to what really happened? I have been wondering about this and I do want to, in part, change my mind. I think I was right in my judgement – but only for the ...
The 2nd Liberal Democrat Party Election Broadcast briefly features some people who have joined the Liberal Democrat cause through social networking groups like this We got rage against the machine to #1, we can get the Lib Dems into Office. The polls are all over the place. Literally anything could happen on Thursday. For the first time in my lifetime, there is a real opportunity for change. Don't let it slip through your fingers. If you feel that you want to vote Liberal Democrat, do it. Don't let anyone scare you out of it and don't believe the Labservative scare ...
Another day out and about delivering leaflets and talking to people. I know some people think they get too many leaflets at the election and I have some sympathy but I get just as much feedback from people who don't think they get much through their door from the politicians. A good response and three more people volunteered to help today, which is just as well considering all the work we have to do before Thursday!
Chris Ward, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Guildford, makes his Comment is Free début with a piece tackling Julian Lewis's irresponsible assumptions that AIDS is a solely gay disease. In every year since 1999, most new diagnoses of HIV have been through heterosexual contact. Although many point out that a good chunk of these infections are believed to have been contracted abroad, statistically meaning that in the UK you are still less likely to be infected if you engage in heterosexual activities, the numbers are still very chilling. It proves convincingly that many heterosexuals do not consider HIV to be ...
Someone asked me yesterday if Cllr Rachel Reid was my daughter. She isn't, but she is the daughter of another councillor, Kevin O'Connor. Rachel has been on the council for 8 years, representing Grove ward. During that time she married and changed her name. At that point instead of having two O'Connors and two Reids, we had just one O'Connor and three Reids. Of course, we all got each other's post from time to time. Since the last election Rachel has moved with her husband to Chessington South. So she has decided to stand there, replacing her father who is ...
Good response from people in the town centre
So says Chris Huhne:
[IMG: http://www.wikio.co.uk] It's so close to the election and the other two main parties are fighting like rats in a sack, or attacking us over the usual 'dodgy bar chart' claims. Would be nice if they had something intelligent to say about policies for a change! lol So, to make up for all the Labour and Tory shenanigans, here's a nice video from Nick [IMG: ;)] Vote Lib Dem, get Nick Clegg...
On Page 26 of today's Observer newspaper polling expert Bob Worcester identifies seats where he feels the Liberal Democrats could win from third place. No 12 on the list is Luton South. (See graphic below.) Worcester argues that if the Liberal Democrats score 28% in the national opinion polls, which is roughly where the Party is at the moment, the Liberal Democrats will need to generate a 'campaign' swing of only 6% to win. If you remember the swings achieved in some seats at the last election, for example Manchester Withington acheived 17.6%, this is very achievable. More details at: ...
Thursday is polling day not only in the General Election, but also in the local council elections. I very much hope that we Lib Dems win lots more councillors here in our borough of Barnet and here is our local manifesto, which I strongly endorse. Here's an interesting thing. Some people think that when you become the local MP for Hendon, you are somehow put in charge of delivering local services. The reality is different. I would be the local area's representative in the House of Commons, looking at national issues on local people's behalf, but I wouldn't have any ...
One of the Conservative manifesto pledges is to freeze the pay of all public sector workers who earn £18,000 and above. Yes, that's right every nurse, police officer and fire-fighter across the UK will be hit hard in the pocket by David Cameron's party should they win on Thursday. The Conservatives' pay freeze plans will hit 43,575 nurses, 4,107 fire-fighters and 14,548 police officers across Scotland. These people, care for our sick relatives, keep our streets safe and protect our children from danger - often at real risk to themselves. They have dedicated their careers to helping others by working ...
For me this election campaign has shown a clear choice between an old fashioned politics or a new dynamic approach. Nick Clegg has run a fantastic campaign showing the electorate what the party is really about. Giving power back to the people, entrenching fairness into society and changing the rotten political system for good. There is little surprise that once the electorate see Nick and hear Lib Dem policies then support comes our way. People are fed up of the blue and red teams acting as if they have a divine right to rule. The public want something different and ...
Never let it be said I'm not a softie! ------------------
"the SNP strategy fails to impress. The idea that we send a bunch of Scottish MPs to Westminster purely to turn the screw, so that we do better at the expense of other parts of the UK, smacks of the churlish small-mindedness we must avoid."For today's Scotland on Sunday where they back the Liberal Democrats as a "real vote for change". On Labour they summarise: "putting aside the obvious pitfalls of failing to learn the lessons of history, it falls on the matter of trust. Brown has become a tragic figure who can do no right, but even if he ...
It's been pointed out to me that I have only talked about this constituency. I suppose it is natural for a candidate to concentrate on what's going on in his own patch but here are some thoughts. If the polls are correct, then Labour's time in government is coming to an end and David Cameron will become Prime Minister of a majority or minority administration. Gordon Brown will be leaving Number 10 almost exactly three years after he got the job. You may recall he got praise at first for how he handled the floods and terrorist attacks leading to ...
Liberal Democrat research has revealed why Tory leader David Cameron was so reluctant to discuss his party's plans for Inheritance Tax in last week's leaders' debate. The analysis reveals that: The Inheritance Tax pledge would cost £6bn over the course of the next Parliament It is aimed at the wealthiest 0.8% of estates in the ...
That's the message from the two online campaigning groups Avaaz and 38 Degrees. One of their emails says: The tabloid press is doing all it can to skew the election result by bullying and scaring voters. The political editor of The Sun has been given clear instructions from Rupert Murdoch: "It is my job to see that Cameron f****g well gets into Downing Street". Murdoch and his tabloid press friends think they've got the right to decide who governs us. Together we can stand up for our right to choose who we vote for and expose this cynical manipulation. Let's ...
As another national opinion poll shows my party in the lead, I am really enjoying this campaign in Hendon - whatever the result turns out to be! With polls like this, I really do believe that the Lib Dems have a chance of an excellent result in Hendon, but that's up to the voters to decide. Talking of which, this evening (Sunday 2 May) at 7.30, there is another hustings meeting, this time at Mill Hill East Church on Salcombe Gardens. I will be speaking alongside the Conservative and Labour candidates, before we take questions from the audience - all ...
From the preamble to the constitution "The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundermental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorane or conformity.
I have been thinking recently that this whole immigration debate has been completely focused on the "pull factors" for immigrants coming to Britian and how we're seen a "soft touch" and how our "large benefits attract people" etc etc. Many Lib Dems have critised their comments but I want to actually talk about another approach we should ...
In case you missed this week's Question Time, here's how the FT reported it: Last night's Question Time ended on an extraordinary note. The public are more in favour of a hung parliament than the Tories care to admit. But I never expected an audience to heckle and boo Liam Fox when he warned of an indecisive election result triggering a run on sterling... This should be a salutary lesson to Cameron's team. People seem to like the idea of politicians working together. The worm in the election debate shot up when Clegg spoke about a cross-party co-operation to tackle ...
Today's Scotland on Sunday becomes the third newspaper, alongside The Guardian and The Observer, to endorse the Liberal Democrats: Make no mistake that this time around a vote for the Liberal Democrats is not a protest vote, one that can be cast casually because it will have little impact on the eventual outcome, but is a vote that could have extremely far-reaching consequences. It could increase the chances of a hung parliament, and there have been dire warnings about what that would mean for the economy. But those warnings have been exposed as barely credible. Yes, if our credit rating ...
First of all, if you are a gay Christian who is struggling to reconcile who you are with your faith, worry not. There are churches, like St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow where you will be more than welcome. They have an LGBT group on a Monday night and the Provost there, my lovely friend Kelvin, writes this fabulous blog. I wanted to say that first, because I know how awful it is for gay people to read reports like this. The Tory candidate for Sutton and Cheam apparently once established a Church in which a part of the so called ...
I received this in an email from the local LibDems - as a joke, I hasten to add. It does cause me some difficulty. I had to dig deep to get past the second question and avoid voting UKIP, but then found it almost impossible to skip past the Greens to my home as a Lib Dem!! [IMG: hate%2Bdecision%2Bvoting%2Btree.jpg]
The Chinese general and military strategist, Sun-tzu is reported to have said: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." By Friday 7 May we should know if the voters have returned a hung parliament. They may not. Even if the polls are right, it is difficult to know how the results will translate into seats. This is because it is not about national swings but what happens in the marginals and if we see swings from one party to another. We also don't know how the Lib Dem surge will work if, that is, it continues. Will it spread ...
Headlines from The Guardian yesterday "General election 2010: The liberal moment has come If the Guardian had a vote it would be cast enthusiastically for the Liberal Democrats." "After the campaign that the Liberal Democrats have waged over this past month, for which considerable personal credit goes to Nick Clegg, the election presents the British people with a huge opportunity: the reform of the electoral system itself. Though Labour has enjoyed a deathbed conversion to aspects of the cause of reform, it is the Liberal Democrats who have most consistently argued that cause in the round and who, after the ...
In recent posts, I have been speculating on whether we are seeing something like a British tea party emerging. After reading various responses to my thesis, I have been calling a peppermint tea party although it could be any herbal infusion you care to mention. The point is that what characterises the tea party is that it has responded to the Liberal Democrats anti-establishment positioning, its anti-war stance and its pro-low taxes policy. Perhaps it will all fizzle out but tomorrow a series of Lib Dem flashmobs are taking place up and down the country. The peppermint tea party meets? ...
Following the Guardian and the Observer, Scotland on Sunday has come out in support of the Liberal Democrats too. In an editorial, the paper says: So, in the hope that new faces can bring about new politics, and that the economic crisis can be tackled with maturity and responsibility, energy and vision, let's get the Lib Dems as many seats as we can.And it also gives the SNP a well-deserved hoofing: "The idea that we send a bunch of Scottish MPs to Westminster purely to turn the screw, so that we do better at the expense of other parts of ...
Much has been made in the media this weekend of the Tories' secret plan to increase VAT immediately after the election, if they win outright on Thursday. But it is becoming increasingly clear that they have another secret plan they aren't telling anybody about: a plan to prevent future hung parliaments. Right or wrong (and ...
Following on from The Guardian's endorsement, The Observer becomes the second newspaper to back the LibDems: The vital context for this election is the twin crises in our economy and our politics. On both issues most credit accrues to the Liberal Democrats. Their Treasury spokesman Vince Cable was prescient in warning of an unsustainable debt bubble; Nick Clegg pushed for greater openness about expenses long before the scandal erupted. The Lib Dems have in recent years developed a habit of getting things right. They were first of the big three to embrace environmentalism, first to kick back against the assault ...
Yesterday we ran our first street stall, since we've now got so much support we can deliver our leaflets, go canvassing and still send people to help in Brent. Phenomenal. And a fantastic reception at our stall – so many people so glad to see us mixing it up! Concerns over whether there are Tory plans ...
Well, don't just believe me. Skim through the powerpoints put together by the Institute for Government, a non partisan body that is an expert in, well, government. This scatter chart is particularly telling: Yes, one-party dominated parliaments have run worse deficits. Consider – if Brown had had Cable or Osborne to rein him in ...
From David Forward via Subrosa.
Conservative Assembly Member, Andrew RT Davies was very forthright on Radio Wales' 'Called to Order' on Friday night accusing Plaid Cymru of "whinging for Wales". Whether one would agree with that verdict or not an item in this morning's Wales on Sunday 'Spin Doctor' column does give pause for thought. The columnist asks whether it is true that it only dawned on Plaid Cymru last week that they were devoting so much of their time to complaining about not being involved in the TV debates that they weren't actually speaking about anything else? He says that the broadcasters are obliged ...
Here's a graph of the number of readers my blog has had over the past few months (January-April). What a difference an election makes! [IMG: jan-apr hits] Thank you all for reading, and don't forget to leave comments if what I've written has annoyed you, or at least stimulated you to further thought! Thanks to all those who already leave comments.
When Scotland on Sunday deputy editor Kenny Farquharson tweeted yesterday that "Well, the boss has written the leader declaring who Scotland on Sunday is backing in the #ge2010. A sound decision. Anyone care to guess?" I almost replied to him saying "well, it'll no be us, that's for sure:-(" I'm glad some instinct held me back because I would look very stupid now. Look at this. So, in the hope that new faces can bring about new politics, and that the economic crisis can be tackled with maturity and responsibility, energy and vision, let's get the Lib Dems as many ...
Here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past week: Drawing on a political point of view Phillip Lee has TV on the web Windsor MP Adam Afriyie is inteviewed by Goodbye Andrew Mackay on the street UKIP picket over hustings 'ban' If you know of any other local political stories then please add them in the comments below. Todays link is to the voice of reason http://www.thevoiceofreason.com/uk/ which is Your newspaper clippings spoof and jokes and videos - Never knowingly under-spoofed
Philippa Stroud, tory candidate in Sutton & Cheam (we'll hold this seat, right?) who is also big in IDS's Centre for Social Justice has some very dubious views, according to this Observer article. It worries me that people like this may soon have their grubby little hands on the levers of power...
One thing I have learned during this General Election is that it is very hard to keep up a blog while campaigning at the level we have been campaigning at. Our team entirely consists of volunteers, most of whom have jobs to go to plus other commitments, but everyone is doing everything they can in what has been a fantastic campaign for the Lib Dems. Less than a week to go now, and still nobody can predict what the outcome of the election is going to be nationally or locally. I can tell that some of the Conservatives are rattled ...
How impressive is this? Go to the RTL Nieuws website and, after the advertisement, you will find a news report in Dutch about the rise of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. Stay with it and you will hear Nick answering questions in Dutch. And it's proper Dutch too. He is not like Steve McClaren saying: "Yesh, I zhink we might win Leiceshter Shouth." As someone said - ooh, it was me! - the real Nick Clegg: owes a lot to his cosmopolitan - almost exotic - background and that the roots of his liberalism lie there too. It is ...
The Tories have changed. I'm not going to argue that point. I sincerely believe David Cameron took a decision to move his party closer to the centre and as part of that project he finally dropped the official knee-dragging of the Tories over LGBT rights. That's great. But this official change has not led to changes in the grassroots (which I suppose no one would've expected) but it doesn't appear to have led to much change in the upper echelons either. Firstly we had the Chris Grayling "B and B" gaffe, as Shadow Home Secretary you'd expect him to know ...
Being a councillor isn't always fun, takes up a lot of time and can be tough going sometimes. So why am I putting myself up for re-election again? Simple - the casework. I've enjoyed helping lots of people over the last eight years on a wide range of issues. It is of course always a pleasure to get a decent 'thank you' from residents - so I was chuffed to get an email earlier this week from one resident who told me she had decide to stick the following up on her Facebook profile for all her friends to see:My ...
On my way out to rejoin the campaign trail so here are a few gems from this morning's papers. The Guardian reports that a high-flying prospective Conservative MP, credited with shaping many of the party's social policies, founded a church that tried to "cure" homosexuals by driving out their "demons" through prayer. What next? Another problem for Cameron as he tries to reposition his party as modern and outward looking. Whatever happened to his talk about the 'Big Society'? Clearly, Tory society is not as big as he would like. Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday reports on the aftermath of ...
Following our election special poster and virtual poster editions, time to round off the campaign with the human poster: [IMG: Jimmy Dowsett (18) of Glastonbury, Somerset, wearing a T-shirt saying 'I've recently been diagnosed with Cleggmania and I'm loving it' during a visit to Clarkes Village, Wells, Somerset by Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg 1 May 2010. Credit Alex Folkes ]
"Liberal Democrats will change things for older people, putting fairness into social care and pensions," said the Liberal Democrat Leader.
and did anybody notice but The Daily Star urged readers to vote Lib Dem on saturday 17 april? what more does anyone need
This is a post that I wrote in late 2007, during Nick Clegg's campaign to be leader of the Liberal Democrats. I think I might have had something there. I actually had a text from a friend of mine after the second Leaders' Debate of this campaign saying that I might have been right about Nick after all. At that time I wrote that "I honestly believe we would soar as a party with him as leader", and about his genuineness and his being a fully paid up member of the human race and his ability to make complex policies ...
This made me laugh out loud. Do have a look at The flow diagram which shows you who to vote for ...
This is the leaflet we have finished delivering in my ward in the last few days.
The BBC Radio 4 News this morning reports the beginning of "a final frantic few days" of campaigning, and I'm sure there will be, but my experience is that it won't make much difference: most people have usually made their minds up buy the weekend before the poll. The exception was February 1974. On the final weekend the papers were seriously looking at the the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe as Prime Minister and speculating as to who would be in the Liberal Cabinet. This was a much more startling "turn-up for the books" than today's "Cleggmania" since, at the time, ...
I don't know about you but I actually don't mind when people disagree with me. If I'm in a debate then it's great fun when you have people with strong opinions about things and who have looked into issues, even if you then disagree with their conclusion. However today I had some moments which have ...
Over the past few weeks our greatest challenge has been coping with the surge in interest in the party and new volunteers coming forward - that's of course a great position to be in, but has slowed down the frequency of updates to this site. New supporters have provided homes for some of our biggest ever banners in both Osterley and Gunnersbury (see below). Hopefully you've spotted them whilst driving down the Great West Road or going into Chiswick. If you would like a Lib Dem poster for your window or a larger stakeboard for your front garden email Hazel. ...
You thought you knew maths? YouTube - Alex Bellos demonstrates a very cool, and strange way to multiply: How weird is that? (Via) Can't afford to buy the book, does anyone know more about the method, because if multiplying were that easy surely they'd be teaching it in schools, especially for the less numerically gifted?
The central argument he (Nick Clegg) advances for it is that we can't deport these illegals because we don't know who they are or where they are. He gets pretty impatient if pressed on this. But if we don't know who they are and where they are, then how do we know that applicants have been here for 10 years and therefore qualify for amnesty?
I took a day off on Saturday from the campaign trail to be Old Bexley & Sidcup's next MP to receive a BA degree from the Vice Chancellor of the Open University at the Barbican Centre.I was delighted to receive my degree. The OU is a great institution which gives many people the chance to gain a degree when they would not be able to otherwise attend a full time course, because of their work,
This was the second leaflet we delivered by hand last week in Broadland constituency
I was staggered today to receive through my door a leaflet that the Tories were delivering when the election was first called more than three weeks ago. This is the one and only non freepost leaflet that they have got out. Compare this to the four leaflets we (Lib Dems) have delivered by hand in my ward and across the majority of Broadland with another leaflet having gone out in my ward over the weekend before the election was called. I'll put the Lib Dem leaflets on my blog later.
Sun 2nd
00:30This morning, the office was full of paper waiting to be delivered. It isn't now! What a great day.
This morning, the office was full of paper waiting to be delivered. It isn't now! What a great day.
Putting aside the heckling Gordon Brown experienced in the Glass Centre in Sunderland today, the one thing that struck me about Labour's meeting in my own region was the way it was heavily packed out by Labour hacks. The uninvited heckler may have spoilt the choreographed meeting but it looks like he was the only "real person" who got into the meeting, despite Labour suggestions last week that
Following on from a story about doctors, police officers and council officials, I heard a wonderful story from a friend. This week a health and safety course was taking place in a room that did not have a screen for a projector. The teacher who was not used to the room wanted to project against a wall that had a large framed print on it but he didn't want to take it off in case anything happened. I think he was too used to having risk assessments written in triplicate and then getting the forms countersigned to show that the ...
