The latest obstacle to Alex Salmond's vision of an independent Scotland within Europe comes from a rather unexpected source: Spain. They have indicated that they would veto accession of an independent Scotland into the EU. The separation of other European states is something that Spain in the past has taken a dim view on, they have refused to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. The Spaniards have real fear that a peaceful split in the United Kingdoms 300+ year Parliamentary union could lead to increased calls from the Basque and Catalonia regions for independence. The Basque region in particular has ...
Last week's article by Katy Gordon on Liberal Democrat Voice this week makes one fear that leading Lib Dems north of the border are still falling into Alex Salmond's trap of branding us with the 'Unionist' parties. We now run the risk of being portrayed, with some justification, as a home rule party that insists home rule isn't an option in the referendum and as supporting votes for 16-year-olds but opposing it for the referendum. Those will be tricky positions to to explain to the electorate. I have mentioned recently the very wise advice given by Dan Falchikov on this ...
The Kinks' first album, titled simply Kinks, is a mish-mash of different styles, only some of them effective. While Ray and Dave Davies had been playing together for many years, and had been working with bass player Pete Quaife for some time, the final line-up of the band, with drummer Mick Avory, had only settled ...
Today (Sunday 22 January 2012) there was a well attended street meeting outside Acocks Green Police Station to discuss the issues raised in my recent post (see January 17th). This photo was taken immediately after the meeting: The photo shows just some of those who attended, including Ann Clarke from the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum, Jon Morris and Julia Lardon from Acocks Green Focus Group, the three local Acocks Green Councillors – myself, Iain Bowen and Stewart Stacey, the local Member of Parliament, John Hemming, Cllr Bob Jones from the Police Authority and Cllr Ayoub Khan, the Birmingham City Council ...
History is littered with famous last stands; The French Imperial Guard at Waterloo, Custer leading his men to massacre at Little Big Horn, he Wehrmacht fighting in the ruins of Berlin and the stand at Rorke's drift after the heroic defeat at Isandalwana. There is something romantic about fighting against the odds to either an amazing victory or to noble defeat. My Grandfather defended Meiktila against Japanese onslaught in Burma but the world has changed and thankfully I doubt that I will ever be involved in a military last stand but I will probably be involved in a political one.I ...
A post by Jon Henley on the Guardian's Shortcuts blog suggests that it may: A new US study has found "significantly more conservative social and political attitudes" among people near churches than those near municipal buildings like schools. Since both serve as polling stations, voting location could affect a close-run election. The research is reinforced by a 2008 study by Stanford business school, which found that in Arizona's 2000 elections, people voting in schools were - regardless of other factors - more likely to support higher education spending. In a control experiment, people shown images of churches proved less likely ...
[IMG: Overflowing rubbish bins] There was consternation at this week's Area Forum, when the Council spelled out its plans for forcing households to have two wheelie bins – and cutting the non-recyclable waste collection from weekly to fortnightly. Residents from streets like Woodstock Road have complained that they just don't have enough space in their tiny front gardens for so many bins – and that people wont be able to get in and out of their front doors if the Council push this change through. Whilst lots of residents are really keen to get a recycling wheelie bin because they ...
Last year, I was rather pleased that I had managed to freeze the Parish Council precept by cutting a swathe of utterly superfluous proposed expenditure from the draft budget. Indeed, I probably felt a bit smug about it at the time. But something was bothering me. Our Parish Clerk produces an exquisitely detailed budget document each year, which we, the Parish councillors, look at and, apart from my enthusiasm to cut out things that I deem unnecessary, accept. I had therefore assumed that the income and expenditure balanced, as it all added up. And, indeed, it does. However, it gradually ...
Cheerful news on the electoral front today. Croatia has voted by almost 2 to 1 - rather more strongly than opinion polls suggested - to join the European Union. (Official results are not out yet but my old friends at GONG have done their own calculations.) And the Finnish presidential election will be a runoff between the establishment Conservative candidate and the gay Green; the extremist nationalists placed a poor fourth with less than 10%, less than half what they got last April when they nearly ended up the largest party. A few days ago I was on a radio ...
Apologies for the links not being right - I'm doing this on my iPad and I Aven't quite worked out how to do it properly. I'll fix it in the morning when I get ack on the laptop. Anyway, The Question is a meme set up by Stephen Chapman at The State of the Nation UK He wants bloggers to answer the same question on the same day. This month it's 'what would you do if you knew you could not fail? Where do you start with that? I thought about literary success J K Rowling style as a ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 257th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (15-21 January, 2012), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can 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. Chris Davies slams ...
Better watch out here - there's a sign of some joined up thinking from 'them indoors' in the Westminster Bubble. Hot on the heels of Nick Clegg's mostly successful interview on Andrew Marr this morning an e-mail appears from him carrying on the themes. I'm glad to see the signs of a more aggressive tone with Labour. We have been putting up with too much of their hypocritical nonsense for too long. A good sign - but we still need a decent, fast rebuttal system otherwise ales statements about us go unchallenged and become accepted fact by default. Here it ...
(Meme via State of the Nation) Man, this is a tough one. So many wrongs to right, injustices to fight, people to help... If I'm only allowed to pick one thing I suppose the obvious answer would be: I'd buy a Euromillions ticket. A big fat bucketload of money could do so much good. One of those #130 million rollover ones. I'd pay off all my debts, build myself a nice house, buy a couple of motorbikes, make sure my family and friends were comfortable, and then start on regenerating my home town. We could do with a nice little ...
In my earlier post about Nick Clegg's interview on the Andrew Marr show I speculated: I suspect Nick Clegg went into the interview wanting to talk in some detail about his vision of fairness in a time of economic austerity as each time he half got going on such a topic it sounded like there were well prepared answers starting to come out, but each time also Andrew Marr quickly cut him off. And lo, what came into my email inbox a few hours later? An email from Nick Clegg to party members setting out exactly that case. Here it ...
Back in May 2010 I posed the question. With police chiefs on the way is this the future? With the Guardian now reporting JP may stand for Humbersides police Chief This seems a little less funny
The benefit cap was announced by George Osborne at the Conservative Party Conference in October 2010. It means families will not be able to receive more than a total of £500 in benefits each week – regardless of local rental values or how many children are in the household. As the crucial votes on the cap take in the House of Lords on Monday, it's important that the myths on which the cap policy is based are exposed. Myth 1: The cap is just for out of work claimants of benefits Ministers fostered the impression that this is about ensuring ...
Stephen Chapman used to challenge us to take five pictures for the fifth of each month, but now he is trying to spark us bloggers in different ways with The Question. The first Question, for this month, is: What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail? The sportsman in me though tempted to select a sporting achievement, also realises that to be guaranteed success on the field of sport is something that is also somewhat unsportsmanlike. So all my dreams and aspirations in that area will have to continue to be through hard work and training, or ...
FROM: Simeon Lascelles, Director of Spatial Exploration and Direction Management TO: All Directors cc: Edelbertha Spengler, Chief Executive Colleagues: AGILE WORKING A recent study by Gomez Pertwee Associates shows that the seat/head ratio in local government can be reduced to 1:2.93 recurring without impacting on service delivery. We currently stand at 1:1.41. Ed has asked me to task you all with producing business plans by the month end to reduce your head/seat ratios to at least 1:2.43 recurring. Cllr Wayneflete is showing a personal interest in this issue. I attach a presentation by Gert Offenbach of Gomez Pertwee to a ...
During the week, David Cameron said that the Honours Forfeiture Committee would be looking into whether or not Sir Fred Goodwin should have his knighthood taken away. When I first heard this, I thought it sounded quite a sensible move. But it looks a bit less impressive when you take a look at who is on the Honours Forfeiture Committee – five senior civil servants – and how they do their business, "the Committee normally conducts its business by correspondence". "I've asked five of my civil servants to write to each other" doesn't quite have the same ring to it, ...
Liberal Democrats have been accused by Labour of propping up the Conservatives and worse, but Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister reminds us: Nearly two years ago, Liberal Democrats chose to do the right thing in the national interest at a time of crisis. We put tribalism aside and the good of the country first. We didn't come into politics to make cuts, but with the economy on the verge of collapse we knew we had to take the difficult decisions necessary to get the deficit under control and the country back on track. And how did the Labour Party react? ...
Towards the end of last year, a homeless person knocked on my door on a Sunday morning, seeking help with being housed. He knew me to be a local councillor, but I hadn't received any information about homelessness, and I wasn't sure how to advise him. Unfortunately none of my colleagues on Central Bedfordshire Council were in to advise me. I managed to find a page on Central Bedfordshire Council web site that informed me of a duty person who I could ring. That person rang me back and spoke to the homeless person. But the advisor could not provide ...
The other day Mark Pack, one of the editors over at Lib Dem Voice, and someone whose opinion I respect, wrote a piece on his blog entitled "The best kept secret in the Liberal Democrats" which is a response, in part, to my article on Lib Dem Voice last week. In it he argues that the reason for Lib Dem peers voting with the government to time limit contributory ESA is because they must have secured improvements in the government's plans through negotiation and that the real issue is them failing to communicate this and thus giving the impression of ...
The resignation of Diana Wallis, MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, came as a complete shock to her colleagues, and not least to the MEPs from across the political spectrum, including myself, who were with her 10 days ago when she ... Continue reading →
Sun 22nd
14:15
Vince pushes the 'mansion tax' - could the Tories yet be persuaded to take tax reform seriously?
Shock! Horror! Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable advocates Lib Dem manifesto policy! The Telegraph today reports that Vince's policy — which would levy a 1% annual charge on all properties valued above £2 million — is still on the table as the Coalition writes its second budget: Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, is pushing for a mansion tax to be introduced on properties worth more than £2million in this year's Budget. While the policy is likely to be opposed by George Osborne, the Chancellor, Mr Cable said that he had spoken to Conservative MPs who backed the ...
Book your stall at The Teenage Market in Stockport's Market Hall. The event, on the afternoon of Sunday 1st April 2012, offers free stalls to young people and arts-based entrepreneurs who would like a platform to sell their products, promote their skills and engage with the local community. Check out the video below and the Teenage Market website for more information. The Teenage Market from Screen Stockport on Vimeo.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg appeared on BBC1′s Andrew Marr show this morning, and stuck up for the Coalition policy that there should be a £500 a week benefit cap: "It surely can't be fair, can't be right, that you can be earning more on benefits than someone going out and earning £35,000, which is the equivalent if you were to go out and work." You can watch an excerpt below: (Clip available on the BBC website here.) You can watch Nick's appearance in full on BBC iPlayer here for the next 7 days. * Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of ...
Leonard Cohen has been in the newspapers this week because of the release of his album Old Ideas. His later style may not be to everyone's taste: "Catch Leonard Cohen's UK tour before his voice drops outside the range of human hearing," as someone said when he released The Future in 1992. Come to that, Cohen's earlier wasn't to everyone's taste either, but I find this wonderfully bleak. More about Leonard Cohen on his official website.
[IMG: Newt Gingrich - Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Gage Skidmore] A fascinating result from South Carolina. Newt Gingrich was expected to win yesterday's primary there by a nose. But in the event he won by a mile – 40% against Romney's 28%. The primary in Florida will be the crucial test on 31st January. Unlike South Carolina, it's a huge state with, perhaps, a less conservative tinge. Romney does better when the air war is paramount. He doesn't do touchy-feely. My gut-feel is that Romney will still win the nomination, especially because he has prepared for a long ...
I'm starting, today, to serialise my next music book here. This one is on The Kinks. Just a note as to how I'm dealing with the records. For each album, I'll be using the most complete version to have been released (usually the 2-CD deluxe editions that were released last year) – any bonus tracks ...
On the Andrew Marr Show, Nick Clegg strongly defends the £500 benefits cap while strongly supporting transitional arrangements. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
I wonder if somewhere deep in the BBC there is a target for how many different topics must be asked about in political interviews each month and someone woke up this morning to realise that January's quota is about to be missed. Or perhaps there was a typo in Andrew Marr's contract and his BBC salary is based on number of topics covered rather than number of minutes of screentime filled. Whatever the reason, this morning's interview with Nick Clegg saw a helter skelter tour around a huge number of topics, making for a comprehensive tour of current political issues ...
Jude Robinson, Cornwall Council's only Labour member, has written a post arguing that Cornwall would be wrong to freeze council tax this year because it would create bigger problems in the future. Rather than me try to summarise and get it wrong, read her post here and then come back and let me tell you why I disagree with her. Welcome back. In essence, this argument boils down to who pays for the necessary increase in council tax that needs to be imposed in order to protect essential services. That increase - after taking account of efficiency savings - is ...
Nick Clegg hit the headlines last Monday in a speech at a CentreForum/City of London event calling for a "John Lewis economy" . John Lewis is employee owned where employees get a bonus each year depending on the performance of the group. Last year this led to every employee getting an 18% bonus on their salary. But they do not hold individual shares in the company and so do not have the associated direct potential of building up substantial asset ownership . I, along with most liberals judging by the reaction on Lib Dem Voice, warmly welcomed the substance of ...
Nick Clegg was interviewed by Andrew Marr this morning and, as has become my tradition, I've tweeted my way through it and preserved my commentary for you all to read. He came across very well in the interview. You see, I first knew him a long time ago, and he talks to Marr in the same genuine and open way as he did with all of us way back then. He's being himself, which is something you don't often see with politicians at his level. In my view, Marr didn't quiz him hard enough on welfare reform and particularly the ...
I scraped the ice off my window screen this morning wrapped up in a warm overcoat and a heavy tweed suit I still felt I was ill prepared for the weather. At lunch time I entered the Mayor's Parlour to attend the unveiling of a Blue Plaque (possibly the only one in Southport) to commemorate F J Hooper -Percy to his friends. Percy was the Town Hall Keeper from 1922-1955 only breaking his service to serve in the armed forces. He joined Scott's expedition to the South Pole (as the youngest member) as a steward but soon became part of ...
I noted yesterday how the Telegraph had been forced to retract its false claim that Chris Huhne had tried to plunge Michael Gove into trouble by leaking his let-taxpayers-fund-the-new-royal-yacht letter. Today's Independent covers the resulting row, while Matthew Bell's diary highlights columnist Cristina Odone's bit-part role: As discussed elsewhere in the paper, The Daily Telegraph has been left red-faced by an apology to Chris Huhne after wrongly claiming he had leaked a letter to journalists about the possibility of there being a new royal yacht. Unusually, the apology singles out one writer in particular, columnist and novelist Cristina Odone: "We ...
Faith and Pride is holding it's first Faith, Pride, and Chat meeting at 7 p.m. on Friday 27th January in the Sunday School Room at St George's Church on High Street in Belfast. It will last about an hour, and afterwards some of us might be going to the cinema in Victoria Square. Everyone is ...
When you are one of Nick Clegg;'s harshest critics the world generally makes a universally groaning noise when you start live tweeting about one of his interviews on the TV. Not so this morning when Nick Clegg appeared on the Andrew Marr show on the BBC. To me at least, Nick is sometimes fragmented in his ...
The link is to a copy of a report produced by the Australian Government in 2009 which was then as far as I can tell sat on and removed from the list of reports.The summary includes the following:The trends in discovery of oil can be used to project similar trends in the subsequentproduction of oil. Using a method developed here, forecasts of future oil/liquidsproduction for 40 countries/regions
Whatever one might think of Newport West Labour MP, Paul Flynn it cannot be denied that he says what he thinks, irrespective of the consequences. It comes as no surprise therefore that this morning's Mail on Sunday carries news of a host of outraged MPs at the portrait he draws in his latest book of life in the House of Commons and some of them in particular. The paper says that Mr. Flynn's book, 'How To Be An MP', exposes junketing, boozing and 'serial seducers who have sex in their Commons offices'. It adds that 'travel glutton Gulliver' MPs 'prostitute' ...
Anna built this virtually single handedly Junk mail - the takeaway leaflet arrived inside the gym leaflet Bob at his new DJ station I was not impressed with the rather mean topping on this Morrisons pizza More whirling dervish than puppy - Maya has a new vest Brian Taylor at the Big Debate - but he made me sad because he wasn't wearing brightly coloured braces. I had some very negative feedback on Facebook about the fact that he's from the BBC and wasn't wearing a tie - but some people need to get a life:-) Social Liberal Forum meeting ...
Early last week the deadline for reception class applications passed. A difficult set of choices that always stresses out parents – it certainly stressed me. The pressure is even higher at the moment with so many extra, until recently, unforecast extra children chasing the available places. Southwark Council has arranged extra bulge places: Albion, Bellenden, Bessemer Grange and Ivydale will all take an additional 30 reception pupils Charles Dickens, Grange, and Robert Browning will each take an additional 15 reception pupils These extra 195 places will help. They have made it even more complicated for parents trying to choose a ...
France remains one of the cornerstones of the European Union. A founding member of the organisation, it has been French philosophy that has shaped the ideology of the bloc and French systems and vocabulary of administration- "conseil", "stage"- that dictate the implementation of policy. The EU, primarily conceived as a way of eroding the hostility of enemies, in practice has become a way for France to project its power and influence over the whole bloc. The latest alliance- of President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel at first sight looks like only the latest in a long series of ...
Drunk Texts from the U.S.S. Enterprise This is very very silly (tags: silly trek ) BBC News - Live music red tape likely to be relaxed A victory for the sensible wing of the Lib Dems. Now if only we could restrain those who keep voting with the Tories on stuff like bashing the disabled it'll all be good... (tags: libdemmery music ) This anti-gay marriage stance is far worse than homophobic Amen to that. (tags: bloodytories ) Sleep preserves and enhances unpleasant emotional memories One of the few things that makes me glad for my insomnia (tags: memory sleep ...
I recently received complaints that work to tidy up the grassed and tree lined area in Baxter Street was "overkill" with damage to the trees. The area is pictured - right. I took up the matter with the City Council which has advised me that it will improve the site with new shrubbery in the Spring. That is to be welcomed.
When Associated Press finally join the other news organisations a whole half hour after the pools close you know the exit polls had to be clear. CBS and Fox had taken all of 4 minutes, ABC and CNN eight. As I write this with 85% of the results reported the result in South Carolina is (final result in red): Newt Gingrich 40.4% 40.4%Mitt Romney 27.1% 27.8%Rick Santorum 17.4% 17.0%Ron Paul 13.4% 13.0%That is as much of an owning of a state result as Romney managed in New Hampshire. In fact it is more so. But then like New Hampshire the ...
(For those who haven't been reading my blog before, or who've forgotten, I've been doing a series of posts (to be turned into a book, with luck) on Doctor Who spinoffery. Click the 'bigger on the outside' tag to read the rest of these posts.) For those who are interested in ideas, The Book Of ...
Long time no post - sorry about that. I'll try and actually have a decent and interesting blog post up tomorrow. Right now I'm sitting in bed and will shortly be going to sleep. This evening my father and I went to see 'The Iron Lady' at a local independent cinema. It's certainly a good film and personally I think it very much reminded me that, no matter how much I despise her politics and the poisonous legacy of a divided country which she left us, Margaret Thatcher is now just a widowed old woman struggling with dementia. In the ...
Yes as you may have noticed, I am back and posting on a semi-regular basis. As the mayoral election creeps up on us, I will be blogging more and more. Chris A disgruntled but loyal libdem member in NW1
Burns Night has become an even more quintessentially Scottish celebration than Hogmanay (New Year's Eve). It is normally celebrated on the 25th of January up and down the country with haggis, tatties (potatos) and neeps (swede), usually washed down with great quantities of alcohol, not least the whisky used in toasts. Apart from the wonderfully ...
