As Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg has more than enough to fill his diary, but it is good that he continues to meet with LibDem members from time to time, to hear their concerns and field their questions. He seems to relish the latter, not only at party conferences, but also at gatherings such as ...
You may have read about the letter from over 50 approved Liberal Democrat candidates many of them having stood on the parties manifesto in 2010, urging our party in the Commons to accept the three Lords' amendments, regarding contributory Employment and Support Allowance (cESA) in the Welfare Reform Bill. In particular the amendments call for: The amount of time a person can receive cESA will be extended to at least 24 months, instead of the Government's proposed 12 month limit.Cancer patients will be exempted from the time limit. The 'youth provision' of the benefit will be protected, meaning that young ...
I came home from work early one afternoon this week. Just south of Leicester station I saw a London Underground train. Presumably it was on its way to or from the Litchurch Lane Works in Derby. This train had a pair of class 20 locomotives (a rare sight themselves these days) and a buffer wagon at either end, but there was still something moving about seeing a tube train in such circumstances. It reminded me of a pit pony allowed up from the depths for a short while to frolic in a sunlit meadow.
With the fuss surrounding the timing of Scottish Independence Referendum, it makes me wonder whether the party has missed the mood of the public once again. Either that or our leaders were very short sighted in the first place.When devolution was proposed, one obvious question was not answered. What to do with England?As a proud Englishman I feel outraged that Welsh and Scottish MPs can enforce
Thanks to Peter Black for bringing this brilliant article from the BBC about the 'sing-ability' of the Welsh national anthem 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' to my attention. I have a soft spot for national anthems. They can say a lot about the country that it represents. Each has a unique quality that makes it stand out from the rest. In fact, so keen am I for these musical oddities, I have been known to run an audio round in quizzes that I have written for various gatherings, with a 'Guess the nation that this anthem represents' theme. Sad, I know! ...
Thanks to the New York Magazine for confirming a story that has been going the rounds for a few days and thus providing us with our Trivial Fact of the Day. John Tyler, the 10th President of the United States of America, was born in 1790 and in office from 1841 to 1845. Remarkably, two of his grandsons are still alive. One of them, Harrison Tyler, explains how this has come about in an interview with the magazine: "Both my grandfather - the president - and my father, were married twice. And they had children by their first wives. And ...
This morning I tempted fate by writing my quote of the day before 8:00 saying...... Very early I know but can't see anything topping this from Stuart Wheatcroft from Liberal Youth that appeared in my Facebook feed just now "Nick Clegg sets out his determination to push forward with tax cuts for struggling families. Ed Miliband attacks David Cameron for breaking his promise to make chocolate cost more. Says it all really" Well, not one to resist a challenge ( I know you come here regularly) Mr Puddlecote of Puddlecote towers comes in with a late winner.... Statisticians would punch ...
1. Introduction 2. The Three Refuges 3. The Four Noble Truths The Eightfold Path: 4. Right Understanding 5. Right Intent When one feels no shame in telling a deliberate lie, there is no evil, I tell you, he will not do. ― Buddha Gotama And so we move to the part of the Eightfold Path that deals with Ethical Conduct. These aspects of the Path are simple in their codification as lists of behaviours, which is helpful for me because following the tenants of right speech, action and livelihood is remarkably difficult to keep up at all times. Behaviour, however, ...
People of the Hebrew Israelite 'kingdom' believe now is the time for African-Americans and black British to make their Exodus to Israel. Published in New Nation, 19/01/2004 Preaching a return to the spiritual homeland of black people in the Holy ... Continue reading →
I noticed this week that the London Assembly considered the Mayor's draft budget for the next financial year. The Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group put forward an alternative budget which included targeted fare cuts to help Londoners on the lowest incomes, extra policing and action to make London's roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. In a detailed amendment to the Mayor's draft budget the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group proposed to use savings obtained from cutting waste, abolishing perks to staff, selling properties and tackling fare evasion to ensure frontline services are protected while also delivering a cut of 3.2% ...
At this week's debate on the Mayor's budget Dee Doocey once again raised the issue of senior Met police officers continuing to have chauffeur driven cars. Part of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group amendment was to remove such provision (except where required for security purposes). It was also proposed to end free accommodation that is provided to senior ACPO officers. In responding to questions from Dee, the Mayor finally admitted that these perks can no longer be justified. Explaining why these perks need to be removed Dee said: "There is no justification at all for senior police officers enjoying ...
With tuition fees of up to £9k due to kick-in for this year's university entrants, the thorny issue of application numbers is bound to generate controversy: has the price hike deterred potential students, or had no effect? The release of early data in October, suggesting an inital sharp drop, sparked controversy, not all of it well-informed as Mark Pack pointed out on LibDemVoice here. So it's good news that my colleagues at The Sutton Trust are establishing an independent commission, headed by Will Hutton, to assess the effect of fee increases, looking in particular at young people from poor and ...
It's exactly a decade since the legendary late MP Bernie Grant challenged the British Museum over its looted artefacts, and demanded their return. His efforts were rebuffed by an arts establishment playing "finders keepers." Published 15/01/2007 Now, ten years later, ... Continue reading →
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week The Independent View: The benefits cap policy is based on myths (30 comments) by Alison Garnham How should Diana Wallis be replaced? (54 comments) by Mark Pack Lib Dem peers help inflict Lords defeat over Coalition's benefit cap plan (61 comments) by Stephen Tall Telegraph apologises for false slurs on Huhne and offensive Cristina Odone article (6 comments) by Stephen Tall Opinion: MEP Diana Wallis resigns - but the European Parliament's great 'stitch-up' continues (13 comments) by ...
"and we award the games of the 3rd Olympiad to......Chicago!" Hang on you say why if Chicago in Michigan had been awarded the games did we end up in St. Louis Missouri some 295 miles/475 km away? The reason is that once again the World's Fair was taking place in the same country and the organisers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition did not want another international event to overshadow their event. They threatened to eclipse the Olympic sports with their own events if the Chicago OGOC (Olympic Games Organising Committee) didn't move them to St. Louis. So Baron Pierre de ...
A few days ago (yet again I'm slow writing about something) I was really pleased to see a high profile figure voicing a very sensible opinion on drug use due to his work as part of the global drugs commission. Below is an interview he had with Sky News: The main message he is setting out is that drugs should be a health problem and not a criminal one. I have argued this many times that the way our society acts is one of punishment - taking drugs is bad/immoral/whatever and as such you should be punished. In reality surely ...
If you've been along Church Road in Gatley this week, you'll have seen that work is underway to reflag one side, from the old Nat West along to the Horse and Farrier. We're very glad to see this, as something the Lib Dem team have worked towards. Hopefully the work itself will minimise the inconvenience but we'll monitor progress. Do let us know if you spot any issues.
Dear Jeremy, Thank you very much for your typically robust performance on BBC TV's Question Time last night. However I wish to counsel you against using the prospect of war with Iran as a vehicle to demonstrate your resolve, and the Party's new-found 'establishment' credentials. Your political future, and maybe even your personal freedom, are at stake here.... In the debate you not only expressed your support for blockade-type unilateral sanctions, that do not have UN support, but also you gave the distinct impression that you were in favour of the UK joining a major war against Iran. The recent ...
Concerns have been expressed about the Welfare Bill currently before Parliament. While some of those concerns have been expressed in a hysterical fashion, others have been expressed in a thoroughly reasoned and convincing manner. I do not intend to discuss either category in detail, so here are some links to samples of the latter sort of criticism: "Leadership programme hopefuls and new MEP among signatories of candidates' plea to Clegg on Welfare Reform" - Caron's MusingsSix days to get rid of the 12 month time limit to ESA - Caron's MusingsOpinion: Welfare reform - LibDems must stand up for the ...
First of all, let's get the facts straight. Stephen Hester has not been awarded a cash bonus. He has been awarded share options. These do not vest until March 2013 and March 2014 (50% for each date). So, OK, presumably that is where the eyes of 90% of the population glaze over and they change channels. Here's a definition of vesting: When employees are given stock options or restricted stock, they often do not gain control over the stock or options for a period of time. This period is known as the vesting period and is usually 3 to 5 ...
Fri 27th
15:56
Standards Committee (Wirral Council) 26th January 2012 Part 1 Declarations of interest, Minutes, Imp...
Present (part of Standards Committee) Independent Ken Harrison (Vice-Chair) Alex Nuttall Conservative Deputy Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Gerry Ellis Cllr Simon Mountney deputy for Cllr Les Rowlands Cllr Chris Blakeley Labour Cllr Denise Roberts Cllr John Salter Cllr Bill Davies Liberal Democrat Cllr Tom Harney deputy for Cllr Pat Williams Cllr Ann Bridson Cllr Bob ...
The campaign to push back against the relentless pressure to be a singular perfect shape and size continues. Here is my recent piece on the Government Body Confidence campaign for the Huffington Post.
Friday: If you're reading this at all, then snappily-named asteroid 2012-BX34 has probably NOT smashed into the Earth obliterating what we laughingly describe as "civilisation". Or possibly: "hello to our new cockroach overlords!" Anyway, just time before closest approach / impact at 1600 GMT to congratulate the Canadian students who managed to get a man into space. OK, he was a LEGO man, but you can't not give 'em credit for that! And while I'm talking SPACE, if you STILL need convincing about a British Space Programme... do you REALLY want the NEO-CONS turning the MOON into a DEATH STAR?! ...
UPDATE!I have reached a settlement with Sky. tl;drSky News stole my copyrighted work and distributed it without credit or payment. I asked them to pay £1,500. They refused. Full StoryDuring the recent O2 brouhaha I recorded a video showing how the issue could affect people. I deliberately gave it the standard YouTube licence rather than the Creative Commons licence. Later that evening, I was alerted to the fact that Sky News had broadcast my video without first seeking permission. Just did Sky News spot about the @O2 controversy. From sound of what came down my earpiece they also used @edent's ...
One prominent member of Liberal Youth hits the nail on the head when she says '[I am] frankly sick of all this I'm a social liberal so I'm a better Lib Dem; no it's Orange Bookers that are real Lib Dems... we're in the same party ffs.' And the contrasting Economist correspondent missed the target by a mile when he wrote - following our last conference – that 'the Liberal Democrats are still in denial about their innate dividedness.' You see according to this correspondent - quoted again in The Week - he has had a brilliant insight: 'You cannot ...
For the first time, I took advantage of being at home in the middle of the day and went to the cinema on Wednesday. The film that inspired me to do so was one about possibly the most controversial British politician of my lifetime. Venerated, in quite a scary way, actually, by the right, loathed with a passion by the left. She let me down, badly. When she uttered those words of St Francis of Assisi about bringing light and harmony and peace that day in May 1979, I as an 11 year old bought it. When she then proceeded ...
As far as I am aware, there are no meetings scheduled at Blyth Town Council next week
Sorry for doing two posts in a day, but because I only found out about this yesterday, and the deadline is short, I didn't want to delay. The good news is I won in the ballot to get a ten minute ... Continue reading →
Last night saw Launceston's annual debate at the Town Hall. More than 70 people came to discuss issues of interest to our town and the surrounding villages. We had invited Graeme Hicks, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation, to come along with Tim Wood the Assistant Head of the Council's Transportation Service because of the keen interest in buses, roads and parking. Many thanks to Graeme and Tim for coming. The first key issue was buses. Graeme was able to tell the audience that the decision had been taken to abandon planned cuts and the existing network will be ...
Local Liberal Democrats have today hit out after new research showed that people who live in one area of Neath Port Talbot can expect to live 10.6 years longer than people living in another area.Figures from the local Liberal Democrats have shown that people in Godre'r Graig can expect to live until they are 84.5 but people who live in Port Talbot can only expect to live until they are 73.6. That means there is a shocking difference of nearly eleven years just for living on the other side of the county.Mathew McCarthy, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Neath commented: "These ...
The future of Post Offices in Cornwall has been secured by Liberal Democrat Business Minister, Ed Davey. After ending Labour's Post Office closure programme, which saw more than 7100 Post Offices disappear in their 13 years in office, Ed Davey has announced that a ten-year deal between the Post Office and the Royal Mail has been reached. The deal gives additional certainty to subpostmasters across the UK and covers the full range of Royal Mail products available at post offices such as first and second class post, parcels, air mail, recorded and special deliveries. Before Labour came to power, the ...
The Daily Telegraph newspaper gardening column lists the ferneryin Southport's Botanic Gardens as the best in England and the second best inthe whole of the UK. The Telegraph describes our fernery as "A splendidexample of one of the many public ferneries constructed in the nineteenthcentury. Opened in 1876 and recently restored, the walls are covered in tufa,steps lead up to viewing platforms above grottoes at each end, and mirrorsreflect endless ferny vistas" John Dodd and his fellow councillors will fight to save the BotanicGardens fernery and the aviary from the proposed cuts that the Labour Leader ofSefton Council decided to ...
In the boom times, the tension between tax and spending was muted. The government made enough money from relatively modest taxes to fund increasingly elaborate spending plans (in the UK, forgetting that spending should be counter-cyclical – but that's another matter), meaning that while the issue of taxation existed – as it always goes and always will – it was relatively easy for the government to fend off. We're not in the boom times any more, however, and thus the issue of tax optimisation has come up again. The less tax government spends, the less it can spend on services; ...
We need to Stop ACTA Now!! Watch this Video for more Information about What ACTA is: See what you can do... http://www.stopacta.info/ Do you want to live in a World like this...? Sign the e-petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20685 Write to your MEP Repost this Blog on Twitter, spread these links; do what you can to make ... Read more
Nick Clegg has been all over the airwaves this week, promoting one of the Liberal Democrats' flagship policies: raising the income tax threshold to £10,000. This is something that everyone interested in social justice should naturally be inclined to support. If implemented in the forthcoming budget, it would reduce the burden on low- and middle-income earners, putting money back in their pockets at a time when many are finding the cupboard bare. The policy also leads naturally to what some are already calling 'Phase 2' - tying the threshold directly to the current minimum wage. This would, again, be a ...
There are currently around 5,000 professional footballers in Britain, but none are openly gay. Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin Fashanu, asks why no gay player has followed in her uncle's boots in nearly 25 years. The silence over gay footballers Football and homosexuality; it is hard to comprehend that something so liberal and accepted in ...
Nick Clegg thinks that the "short-termism and recklessness [that] eventually consumed our banks, taking the whole economy to the edge of a cliff" is an example of "market failure". For David Cameron, it is a sign of "a market failure [that] between 1998 and 2010 the average pay of FTSE executives [went] up four times". While for Ed Milliband, there is a "the market failure in the finance gap for SMEs that want to expand." All three make a common and simple mistake: they believe that market success is defined by a number of uneconomic measures such as social justice, ...
RE Request to reject the City Status bid by the Medway Towns. 17th January 2012 Dear Deputy Prime Minister, We write to you in your capacity as final arbiter regarding the City-status bids to plead the case for not granting Medway City Status. The reasons for this are three-fold: Firstly, the cost: Medway Council has played down the cost saying it will only cost 8 pence per resident. We do not believe this is a fair reflection of the cost when considering changes to signage alone, in all its forms and applications, which would be numerous. This comes at a ...
The Daily Telegraph write Osbornomics is unravelling, and Nick Clegg is right to sound the alarm in which it offers some praise for Clegg's recent positioning, which is worth highlighting: Things have come to a pretty pass when the Liberal Democrats are urging the Conservatives to cut taxes. But Nick Clegg has a point: the economic situation ...
The Guardian write Nick Clegg: taking from the rich, not giving to the poor today which offers some praise about Nick Clegg's recent positioning which is worth highlighting: Bravely opening budget negotiations in broad daylight, the deputy prime minister made plain that his overriding priority is instead a general income-tax cut... by making public demands about what should ...
Fri 27th
12:55
Leadership programme hopefuls and new MEP among signatories of candidates' plea to Clegg on Welfare ...
Today's Guardian carries a report that more than 50 Liberal Democrat candidates at the last election have written to Nick Clegg to ask for a rethink on welfare reform. This shows that many within the Party are unhappy with measures like the withdrawal of contributory Employment and Support Allowance after one year, something I've written about many times. And this is not just Gareth Epps being awkward, either. Among the signatories to the letter are Greg Judge, Belinda Brooks-Gordon, Shas Sheehan and Layla Moran, four of the participants in the much vaunted Leadership Programme as well as Daisy Benson, who ...
The Liberal Democrats believe you should keep more money that you earn. That is why we believe the tax-free threshold should raise to £10,000, saving working people £700 a year and making sure millions of the lowest paid workers don't have to pay any income tax at all. Between now and the Budget, Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats in Government will be arguing for faster tax cuts for hard-working families, promoting work and growth, and rewarding innovation, paid for by increasing the amount paid by the richest. Every politician has a simple choice: do you support a tax system ...
So today, not only do I have an article up on Lib Dem Voice, but I've also been quoted in a Guardian article (or rather, they've compiled what I said in a blogpost and turned it into a quote). As such, my mind is currently somewhat blown. (For those interested, the contents of the letter to Nick Clegg can be found here.)
A new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), headed by a foreword by Lord Peter Mandleson, takes an in-depth look at the positive and negative impacts of the increased internationalisation of trade – what they characterise as the Third Wave of Globalisation. IPPR's Will Straw and Alex Glennie set out how the modern increase in global commerce is distinct from those seen around the Industrial Revolution and World War II that were dominated by the UK and the USA respectively. Today's growth in global trade is lead by developing economies in the East with a new pluralism ...
The Medway Liberal Democrats have written to the Deputy Prime Minister, the final arbiter in the decision of which town will gain City status, asking him to ignore and deny a bid for "The city of Medway" The Council has forged ahead with the wasteful third attempt without the backing of the people of Medway. In fact we've found that on the door step the majority of people didn't know or care about the bid, which suggests yet again the Council is not carrying out the will of the people?City Status will be a lot more expensive than the 8p ...
In September 2009, Jo Swinson MP went to Auschwitz as part of an educational trip with Scottish secondary school pupils. This is her moving video account of her visit. It breaks my heart to think of the brutality that took place. I really don't understand how human beings could send other human beings to their deaths like that. This is a harrowing film that should remind us of where such detachment and cruelty can lead. Watch and work out what you are going to do to fight for human rights across our planet.
57 leading Liberal Democrats have signed a letter to Nick Clegg, which is reproduced below. Read the Guardian article about this: Welfare reform: Lib Dems urge Nick Clegg to back Lords amendments Dear Nick As you are aware the House ... Continue reading →
This week I signed a Book of Commitment in the House of Commons to honour those who died during the Holocaust. Today marks the 67th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi concentration camp which is the site of the largest ... Continue reading →
The European Union is proposing a new data protection rule - the "right to be forgotten". The idea is that individuals would be able to insist that data about themselves must be deleted unless it was being kept for a legitimate purpose. I think this is a potentially great antidote to people doing daft things on the internet and not being able to escape them. It would also be useful for escaping the clutches of annoying marketing companies. This week I've had an appalling time stopping one company from repeatedly posting things to my dead mother. This proposal would add ...
The February issue of Total Politics carries, for the first ever time, a letter from yours truly. It's all about Scotland and independence and that sort of stuff and was literally put together in five random moments. In reply to David Torrance's article on the SNP's success (TP, January), it would be churlish not to acknowledge the skill with which the SNP crafted their winning campaign last May. Their messaging and use of technology unpicked a voting system designed to create coalitions. It's disappointing that they have since returned to negative campaigning, picking fights with judges and Westminster to undermine ...
With increasing numbers of people's minds turning towards May's elections, now is a good time to dust off and update a post from 2008 about how people view their council... Improving trust in local government is important, and can't be done just by focusing on improving services: that's the verdict of State of trust: How to build better relationships between councils and the public, a piece of research from the think-tank Demos and IDeA (the local government Improvement & Development Agency), published in 2008. The report sees trust as underpinning a wide range of objectives: Trust is one of the ...
Norwich South MP Simon Wright has signed a Book of Commitment in the House of Commons, in doing so pledging his commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day and honouring those who died during the Holocaust. Mr Wright will be visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau later this year with Norwich students to experience the camp first hand. The visit forms part of the Holocaust Educational Trust's 'Lessons from Auschwitz' Project, which is supported by Government funding. Mr Wight said: "Holocaust Memorial Day is an important opportunity to both remember the victims of genocide. I would encourage everyone to reflect on the atrocities that took place ...
The Yorkshire Post reports: The husband of a Euro MP at the centre of a furious "nepotism" row has bowed to pressure and decided not to take over her Yorkshire seat when she quits next week. Stewart Arnold, husband of Hull-based Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis, has informed officials he will not be taking over his wife's post at the EU Parliament, despite being eligible to do so as the party's second-choice candidate at the last Euro elections. His announcement follows a week of mounting criticism at the possibility of a husband automatically taking over his wife's seat. Fellow Lib ...
Do click here to read the piece and the fairly strident comments that followed! Or if you can't be bothered to click on the link, here's the piece on its own... I'd be the first to admit that it's not the best catch phrase ever invented. It may be the worst. But clear yellow water is what the party grass roots has been begging for ever since we entered government. And it's a lot better than the sentiment of "not a cigarette paper between us" that we all so disliked for the first 12 months of coalition government.And while there ...
Lobbying is corrosive. The lobbying industry adds nothing of genuine value to society. It is insidious because it undermines citizens' belief that democracy is transparent and that politics seeks to serve the public interest. It fosters the impression, if not the also the reality, that policy is being made for the benefit of the few rather than the many. One of the most welcome commitments the Government made in the May 2010 Coalition agreement was that: We will regulate lobbying through introducing a statutory register of lobbyists and ensuring greater transparency. Oliver Letwin published the consultation paper Introducing a statutory ...
Today an open letter, signed by well over forty of our parliamentary candidates from 2010, will be sent to Nick Clegg. And, on Monday, a meeting, organised by the Social Liberal Forum, will take place in the Palace of Westminster in Committee Room 18 (made infamous by the story about Sir Bob Russell MP allegedly pulling the door off of its hinges). The subject of both the letter and the meeting will be the recent voting record of our peers on aspects of the Welfare Reform Bill ranging from sickness and disability benefits, to the household benefit cap and child ...
The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant: Day 4043: Yes to Help for Low Earners, But We NEED to Help the No-Earners Too! This post is ace (tags: libdemmery ) Page 163 - Friends With Boys After the comic there's a great disection of bad art in comics. (tags: comics ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
A dramatic twist today in the story of Diana Wallis's resignation and the question of whether or not her husband, Stewart Arnold, would succeed her: Stewart Arnold, husband of Hull-based Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis, has informed officials he will not be taking over his wife's post at the EU Parliament, despite being eligible to do so as the party's second-choice candidate at the last Euro elections. His announcement follows a week of mounting criticism at the possibility of a husband automatically taking over his wife's seat. Fellow Lib Dem MEP Chris Davies quit as party whip in protest, accusing ...
In 5 weeks' time, the Scottish and Welsh parties meet for their respective Spring Conferences. The Welsh are going to Cardiff while the Scots head north to the beautiful highland capital of Inverness. As everywhere which meant anything to me as a child is within 20 minutes' walk of the Conference venue, I'm delighted to be going there. Although it seems a long way north, it only costs £10 return on the bus or £22 on the train to get there.Just one weekend later, Federal Conference takes place, for the first time ever, in Gateshead.So, why, I wondered allowed on ...
I don't do fisking but I really can't help myself here. From the BBC Ed Miliband has attacked David Cameron for failing to stop the sale of cut-price Chocolate Oranges - something the PM complained about in opposition. What? Really? You have an interview and this is what you chose to complain about? In 2006, Mr Cameron criticised WH Smith for discounting chocolate rather than fruit despite the UK's obesity crisis.But the Labour leader told The House magazine the situation had not changed. "If he can't sort out the chocolate orange, he's not going to sort out the train companies, ...
This week saw the inaugural meeting of a Liberal Democrat book club which I've kicked off with Dawn Barnes in a small effort to plug a big gap in most local Liberal Democrat activities. Talk about campaigning or current policy is common; talk about political beliefs is very rare. No surprise really that our first book was John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, which generated a very good discussion around how different or not the world is now from his time and therefore how relevant some of his arguments are now (particularly given his own caveats that even his firm liberal ...
Compare and contrast: The candidate with the most votes wins. and Round one • The number 1 votes for each candidate are put into a pile and counted. • If a candidate receives more than half the number 1 votes cast, they win and there is no further counting. • If no candidate receives more than half the number 1 votes there would be at least one more round of counting. Round two • The candidate with the fewest number 1 votes is removed from the contest - in this case Candidate D. • Each ballot paper on Candidate D's ...
Right decision & good luck to him » RT @archiebland Johann Hari leaving The Independent: http://t.co/AJsjFaw5 # @graemearcher Agreed. Stupid mistake compounded by failure to understand fuss. But enough is enough. Bygones & all that. in reply to graemearcher # @sarabedford Lol, catching up with last night's #masterchef Not a general warning. in reply to sarabedford # If I say this is about our cat, is that better/worse? » RT @Noasarx "perhaps he's excited to see me and his anus swells" says @stephentall # Good luck with it all! » RT @kahunter Coming to @CASE_Europe #smi2012 Looking f'wrd to seeing ...
Having gone through a particularly rough patch as leader of the Labour Party earlier this year, the last thing that Ed Miliband needs now is more criticism, especially when it comes from former allies. However, as today's Telegraph outlines, that is precisely what he has got. The paper says that Peter Mandelson, the former business secretary and one of the most powerful party figures of the last 15 years, has said Mr Miliband is "struggling" to stamp his identity on the Labour Party and failing to distinguish himself from the last Labour government. This comes on top of criticism that ...
The school league tables were published yesterday, and this snippet from The Guardian caught my attention: The tables also show the average state secondary school spends £5,712 per pupil, but 30 state schools spend more than £10,000 per pupil. In state schools where over 90% of pupils achieve five or more grades at A* to C at GCSE, including English and maths, average spend is £5,096 per pupil. So the best-performing state schools spend less per pupil than the average school. In one sense this is obvious. Schools which are under-performing will have money targeted at them — indeed, the ...
Well, Mr Hester, Chief Executive of RBS, is not to get his £1m bonus after all: it has been cut to £963,000. For most of us a cut of £37,000 would be pretty serious. Indeed for most of us £37,000 is considerably more than we actually earn. But for Mr Hester it is a flea-bite. Mr Hester is said to be a very effective Chief Executive, and that may will be so: I have no means of judging. However, some of the "turn round" of RBS has been achieved by cutting thousands of jobs. If RBS was overstaffed and employees ...
Cambridgeshire County Council Road Safety Officers have launched a new campaign targeting young male drivers who speed. The campaign, titled 'Speeding: no-one thinks big of you', is inspired by a similar campaign in Australia and aims to use peer pressure in a cheeky, subtle way to reduce young male driver and female passenger casualties. Given the target audience, the campaign centres around information, advice and discussion on the Road Safety Team Facebook page and Twitter feed. This will be accompanied by posters, featuring students from Huntingdonshire Regional College, which depict young females waving their little fingers, 'pinkies', at guys who ...
Cambridgeshire County Council Road Safety Officers have launched a new campaign targeting young male drivers who speed. The campaign, titled 'Speeding: no-one thinks big of you', is inspired by a similar campaign in Australia and aims to use peer pressure in a cheeky, subtle way to reduce young male driver and female passenger casualties. Given the target audience, the campaign centres around information, advice and discussion on the Road Safety Team Facebook page and Twitter feed. This will be accompanied by posters, featuring students from Huntingdonshire Regional College, which depict young females waving their little fingers, 'pinkies', at guys who ...
Fri 27th
07:45
LDVideo: Clegg - "the Coalition is calling time on our unfair and out-of-whack tax system"
Nick Clegg's tax cut speech dominated the political headlines yesterday — you can watch a 4-minute snippet below: (Available on the BBC website here.) Here's what my LibDemVoice colleagues had to say about Nick's call for lower taxes: Clegg's call for income tax cuts for the low paid is welcome, but will the Tories back him? by Nick Thornsby Nick Clegg returns to income tax by Mark Pack And here's how the rest of the Lib Dem blogosphere reacted: How will Nick Clegg's call for more tax cuts be received by his fellow Liberal Demcrats? by Jonathan Calder; An interesting ...
Very early I know but can't see anything topping this from Stuart Wheatcroft from Liberal Youth that appeared in my Facebook feed just now "Nick Clegg sets out his determination to push forward with tax cuts for struggling families. Ed Miliband attacks David Cameron for breaking his promise to make chocolate cost more. Says it all really" I'm sure when the inevitable putsch happens Ed can open a shop with help from the new enterprise allowance scheme and charge what he likes for any product he wishes :)
I have today highlighted my concerns about aspects of the proposed Dundee City Council Capital Budget and urged that there be a cross-party discussion about ways to improve the proposals to benefit the city's schools. There's much to welcome in the draft capital budget and in particular the proposal to build new primary schools in Menzieshill and Coldside is good news, especially given the state of some existing school buildings. The total of £20m investment in these two areas will not only bring new primary schools but also community facilities and given the funding level for Menzieshill, presumably new nursery ...
County Council press release With the switch to digital TV services getting closer, Hertfordshire Trading Standards have issued advice to help residents stay safe and shop smart. Hertfordshire residents will have their analogue TV signal switched off in April 2012. This means that to be able to watch your favourite programmes after April you will need a digital TV service. There are many well known companies that offer digital TV packages available on a contract or one off payment basis. To find out more visit http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/cost__and__options. These companies also have their own engineers who can install or offer advice on ...
All too often, a headline like that indicates the exact opposite - that the writer has in fact made it up. On this occasion, however, I cannot resist making this contrast: Nick Clegg's speech to the Resolution Foundation: At the last election my party promised to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 for ordinary taxpayers. And I am extremely proud that the Coalition is on track to do so over the course of this Parliament. We'll make sure that anyone earning £10,000 or less will pay no income tax at all and for those on middle incomes, the first £10,000 ...
