Islington Liberal Democrats have a tradition of letting members chew over what upcoming federal conferences are going to discuss and this evening those of us who attended a Pizza and Politics in Barnsbury had the opportunity to talk through the agenda with the Chair of Federal Conference Committee, Andrew Wiseman, who now lives in the ...
Sad news this evening. Viv Bingham, who was President of the Liberal Party in 1981-2, has died. Stephen Glenn reminds us that: Viv stood for Westminster election on five occasions the two 1974 elections for Heywood and Royton, 1979 for Hazel Grove, 1983 for West Derbyshire and finally in 2005 for Stalybridge as well as standing in the first contested European elections in 1979.He also posts a video of Viv in fine form at the Liberal Democrat Conference only last autumn. My own fondest is memory of Vic is joining him on the panel of a well-refreshed game of Just ...
This evening, Cornwall Council's cabinet came to Launceston as part of the Cornwall Conversations roadshow. The event was aimed at town and parish councils and gave them the chance to ask questions on issues that mattered to them. I'm not sure what the turnout in other areas has been, but I have to say that it wasn't the best here. And that gets to the root of the flaw with this scheme. It's good, of course, that the Cabinet has come to Launceston. But it was perhaps a mistake to limit the invites to just town and parish councillors. After ...
Today we heard that sad news that Viv Bingham National President of the Liberal Party from 1981-2 has passed away. Viv stood for Westminster election on five occasions the two 1974 elections for Heywood and Royton, 1979 for Hazel Grove, 1983 for West Derbyshire and finally in 2005 for Stalybridge as well as standing in the first contested European elections in 1979. Thanks to several people I was reminded that Viv was also captured by the Winkball cameras at what we now know was his last 'Liberal Assembly' at Conference in Birmingham last Autumn. The classic meaning of what it ...
Writing for the ePolitix website, Liberal Democrat peer (and the former Acting Returning Officer for many party selection contests) Chris Rennard has argued that the closed lists used to elect MEPs take too much power away from voters: [IMG: Lord Chris Rennard] The 'closed list' system introduced for European Elections in 1999 ensured that the parties were represented in the European Parliament according to how the votes were cast. But the particular individuals under consideration were ranked in order of preference by the parties and not by the voters. The nomination of just one person chosen by a party for ...
No to Breckland car parking charges; Final push to collect signatures Perhaps the email below is computer-generated spam, and I am doing a complete injustice to this person, but a Labour councillor in somewhere called 'Norfolk' appears to have emailed me accusing me of signing some sort of petition connected to the parking of motor cars. I am not Labour, I am not in Norfolk and I do not drive (let alone park) a motor car. I have at least one good friend who is from Norfolk and I have reason to believe that it is a very fine county, ...
It is one of the most iconic scenes in the history of British situation comedy. In the Dad's Army episode 'The Deadly Attachment', the famous German U-boat Captain who antagonised Captain Mainwaring by collecting a list of names of those who have upset him and who will be brought to account once the war ends was played by Welsh actor Philip Madoc. He appeared the 1990s detective series A Mind to Kill as DCI Noel Bain and appeared in episodes of the BBC sitcoms The Good Life, Porridge and The Goodies. He also took the lead role in the BBC ...
Tonight local Liberal Democrats voted against Redcar & Cleveland Council's unfair plan to increase Council tax by 3.5% this year.The Labour Council turned down a grant of nearly £1.5 million from the Coalition Government to freeze council tax and voted to raise it by 3.5% instead - the highest increase in the country announced so far.Across the country around 80% of councils have announced that they will freeze council tax this year. Labour bosses provided no substantial justification for refusing the Government's offer.Liberal Democrats in Redcar launched a petition to put pressure on the Council's ruling Labour Group to think ...
Last night, I had the chance to catch up with some old friends for dinner. As the conversation and wine flowed, we began to discuss which celebrities and important figures we would want to invite to a dinner party. It would be fair to say that there were some very interesting choices for potential dinner ... Continue reading »
South West MEP Julie Girling has today tabled an urgent parliamentary question (PQ) to the European Commission regarding the EU's handling of the Schmallenberg virus outbreak. Now affecting more than 1,000 farms across Europe, if not contained soon it threatens to devastate the continents' livestocks and farming industries.The virus, named after the small town of Schmallenberg, in North
"Please Sir, I want some more" A coalition play starring children from squeezed middle families and children with parents who will receive reduced welfare benefits.
On my way to Watford Met on Saturday I passed through St Albans. I came across this ghost sign on the front of a house in the shadow on the Abbey. It looks as though it has not been a pub for some time. I remember that when I was a little boy in Hemel Hempstead many of the pubs were owned by Benskins. It turns out that this Watford brewer was at one time the biggest in Hertfordshire, but an article in Brewery History documents its demise: By the mid-1950s, Benskins had 636 pubs and hotels, and 16 off-licences. ...
John Pugh, Lib Dem MP for Southport and co-chair of the party's backbench health and social care committee, has written a paper on the future of the NHS. As his own website reports, John Pugh proposes that the cluster groups of Primary Care Trusts that now temporarily run the local NHS could be the foundation for democratically controlled and clinically led Health Boards similar to those found in Northern Ireland. Such boards would control health and social care avoiding the expensive and disjointed shunting of elderly patients between the NHS and Social Services.The MP states that he has received a ...
Birkdale was a separate Parish from Southport up until 100 years ago. On the 1st April 1912 the two merged- Birkdale having previously swallowed up Ainsdale in 1904. Throughout this period the question of merger was the hot topic in local politics. In 1903 there had been a failed attempt to bring out the union following an Inquiry. The application was turned down. In "A History of Southport " by Francis A Bailey nearly two pages, 201 - 202 are devoted to the negotiations & politicking between the two Boroughs leading to amalgamation. 'The full story of how amalgamation was ...
Over the past few week there have been various attacks on the Government's proposed marriage reforms to be detailed in a consultation document later this month. The possibility of legalising same-sex marriage has led to a number of high profile Christian signatories, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, forming the Coalition for Marriage (C4M) campaigning against opening up marriage to same-sex couples. Notably the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland Cardinal Keith O'Brien has described equal marriage rights as 'grotesque' and the legalisation of gay marriages as being akin to the legalisation of slavery and warned of 'further aberrations'. ...
Earlier on today I had an email reminding me that my MITx course, 6.002x, in circuits and electronics, was available to start. This evening it's taken me a couple of hours to work through the course introduction and the first part of week 1. My first impressions are largely favourable. The materials are well laid out and presented in a clear and logical manner. The coherence of their virtual learning environment (VLE) makes it an absolute joy to use – much smoother than the OU's Moodle implementation which can be rather clunky in places. I particularly like the idea that ...
If you were casting actors of the reverse gender in the Batverse, who would you choose? Here's the list that [IMG: [personal profile] ] magister and I came up with:Bruce Wayne - Sigourney Weaver Dick Grayson - Lucy Liu Tim Drake - Natalie Portman Alfred - Frances De La Tour Commisioner Gordon - Maggie Smith Batgirl (Steph) - Cillian Murphy Oracle - Anthony Head Black Canary - Brian Blessed Lucius Fox - Halle Berry Harvey Bullock - Dawn French Joker - Juliet Landau Catwoman - Tony Jaa Harley Quinn - James Marsters Ras Al Ghul - Michelle Yeoh Scarecrow - ...
Three years ago I wrote several posts on this blog and a House Points column in Liberal Democrat News to a scandal in Pennsylvania. Judges in juvenile courts were revealed to be taking payments from the operators of juvenile detention facilities in return for ensuring that a steady supply of youngsters were given custodial sentences even if their offences did not warrant them. You can find all those posts labelled Pennsylvania scandal on this blog. This afternoon Neil Monnery wrote about the case, revealing that last year Mark Ciavarella Jnr, a former judge, was sentenced to 28 years for his ...
In December, two lovely pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, arrived from China to start a decade at Edinburgh Zoo. Yes, I know, dealing with the Chinese on this does make me feel a little queasy, but the animals themselves, bless them, are ultra cute. We've been to see them three times already. They've had a few wee problems adjusting to the local bamboo and have both had to have some time off show because of colic. I will make no comment about Yang Guang taking 2 weeks to recover, while the female Tian Tian only had a weekend off. ...
Last month I wrote about the East Hull memory hole which seems to affect senior Hull Labour politicians memories of their own legislation and their campaigns against the implementation of it. The latest example comes from our very own John Prescott decrying the potential privatisation of some police services. ( but not front line policing) At this point many Labour types are probably nodding along screaming wicked coalition privatisation but how are these forces able to privatise these services? Lets face it there has been no primary legislation to allow this. Well actually there is, the police reform act 2002 ...
Over at my Lib Dem friend Ed Fordham has written an excellent piece about Baroness Tonge's resignation of the Lib Dem whip. Well worth a look.
Great to see a poster (see picture) for a (non-party) church meeting at which Alex Carlile is speaking in Barnet in May. Lord Carlile used to be the Government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation (and is also a Lib Dem peer). Should be interesting, might well go along.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien in his Sunday Telegraph article said: "In Article 16 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, marriage is defined as a relationship between men and women."and "The Universal Declaration on Human Rights is crystal clear: marriage is a right which applies to men and women, 'the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State'."So let's take at look at how crystal clear that is. Article 16 which applies to marriage states: (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality ...
Two rowdy armies are lined up and ready for a fight. Spears, shields and banners are waved in the air, great generals parade up and down in front of their troops giving them pep talks and revving them for the fight. Jeers and catcalls come from within their ranks, the noise is almost overwealming. They are ready for the fight of their lives. There's only one problem; each army stands in an otherwise empty field. All their screaming and posturing is for nought. That's the state of the marriage equality debate at the moment. The churches have amassed a formidable ...
A great West End Christmas Week 2012 lies ahead! Towards the end of last week, I had the pleasure of chairing a meeting of the West End Christmas Week committee. A Christmas Week meeting in March might sound a little bizarre but we always have a 'debrief' meeting after each Christmas Week to go over what went well, lessons learned and so on, and with the 2011 event, it has proved a challenge to get a date for this when all could attend, meaning the 'debrief' meeting took place a little late at the start of March! We had a ...
There has been a tremendous amount of excitement about the comments of Cardinal Keith O'Brien, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, regarding marriage equality (I refuse to call it 'gay marriage', as that implies that allowing same sex marriage is somehow different). Indeed, some of my own colleagues have been somewhat aggressive in terms of the language of their response. However, whilst I strongly disagree with his position, and find his argument distasteful and over-emotional to the point where his logic is hard to discern, as a Catholic, I do see the difficulty with which he is presented. He ...
Another short fantasy story. If you like it you can buy it for 99 cents from Smashwords, Amazon (US) or Amazon (UK), but you can of course just read it for free below: I knew it was going to be a bad day when the werewolf knocked on my door and accused me of invading ...
The military would describe the UK's current governance as a 'target-rich environment' with screw-ups following each other at a positively dizzying rate. A recent Channel 4 News report on the Court Translation Service was a doozy. Seeking to save around £18 million per year the Ministry of Justice has given a £300 million contract to provide all ...
The planters at the end of Long Lane are about to have plants in them! Some time ago I got the planters donated (big thanks to Enterprise Liverpool) as part of trying to tidy up and brighten up that general area. Now Rotters and a group of volunteers are looking to start putting the plants in on Friday.
When Civil Partnerships began in December 2005 I said that people would soon refer to them as marriages. Adverts in gay magazines showed all the trappings of a wedding such as rings and cakes. It was just that there were two men or two women in the photographs or in miniature on top of the ...
Greenwich has not always been a Labour stronghold politically, although sometimes it feels that way! In fact many of you may know that the great Liberal, William Ewart Gladstone, represented the seat from 1868 to 1880, although it was not always the smoothest of relationships between MP and constituent. Gladstone had lost his seat in South ...
Launceston's own Crowns have released their new single today and the video features a criminal waste of Stoggs. Tweet
Not a particularly happy video today, kind of breaking the point of it. But it was a good watch, even if watching a pro-marriage play adapted from the court case surrounding Prop-8 is kind of preaching to the choir with my readership. [YouTube Link] Blogging was light last week because I wasn't in the right brainspace. (I'm getting better, but it's ups and downs). Blogging will be light this week because I have a lot to do for teaching and class. But how are you, my loves?
Nope, this isn't my usual dig at the council. It's their own description of the changes that are happening to the waste and recycling service as part of the new collection contract which comes into force on April 1st. The old system that used to apply in Launceston of brown paper bags for garden waste and disposable plastic sacks for other recyclables is being scrapped. Instead, a new system of re-usable boxes and bags is being introduced. Each house will receive: - An ORANGE bag for cardboard - A RED bag for plastic bottles, foil, tins and drink cans and ...
Sunday: *Well, that's about as silly as a frock-wearing man who has vowed never to marry insisting against all sense and evidence that only he can define marriage. Look, I'm just THRILLED to learn that the concept of HUMAN RIGHTS has penetrated the previously-entirely-inured-to-new-thinking sanctums of the Eternal Apostolic Catholic Church, prop Mr the Pope, but I think someone needs to inform the Holy Father's representative in Scotland, Mr Cardinal Keith - the aforementioned man in frock - that he can't just go making them up. That's a little bit NAUGHTY. Verging on the THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS. ...
[IMG: Speeding supermarket trolley] All, Just a quick reminder – this meeting is set for tomorrow night (Tueday 6th March) at 7:30pm in the Townsend Hall. And yes – I've decided to stop using that Tesco photo for all things supermarket, and have gone for the one above instead (mainly because I like the picture). There may be a prize some points for those who can guess which country it comes from. Leave a comment below if you want to guess. Regards, Philip
I was going through the blog a few days ago and came across the following story that I had written entitled Cash for Kids Judges finally convicted and I wondered what his sentence was so I googled it and boy did they come down hard on him. Last year 61 year-old Mark Ciavarella Jnr. was sentenced to 28 years for his role in the 'kids for cash' scandal where he sent young offenders often convicted of very minor crimes to private young offenders prisons because he was getting kick-backs from the prison to do so. He ruined the lives of ...
Thursday: Warming up to take a pop at our own tax policy, I'm reassured to see that the Conservatories continue to be driven into conniptions over the 50p tax rate, this week with another group of concerned businesspersons contacting the Hello-o-graph to express their anxiety that rich people contributing to the coffers and not being driven to leave the country is in some way bad. Still, you've got to be impressed by their CHEEK! "We believe the richest should help the poorest in society..." they say. Before demanding to help just that little bit less. Here's a DIFFERENT taxing idea ...
The Social Value Bill could turn out to be one of the most important shifts in this parliament. It could be a game changer for local economics, but it depends on people using it:
Barker, who I've written about previously, was today given a 30 month sentence for two counts of sexual assault and one of fraud. After a brief panic that being transgender and not totally out while kissing someone has been made illegal via case law, it seems likely that this case is being misreported. It's the usual suspects, such as the Daily Mail and the Mirror. Going back to the original reporting, this Metro story from the original hearing states that Barker was initially arrested for sexual assault before it was realised they were in fact (presumed) female – i.e. the ...
Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme Cardinal O'Brien when asked wan't equating equal marriage with slavery a bit too far said: "it is a very, very, very good example as the what might happen in our own country at this time" So let us look at what happened in the lead up to the abolition of slavery. As you may know the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 brought and end to Slavery in the UK. What you may not be aware of is that they could have been a abolition some 26 years earlier when there was the Abolition of the ...
The Campaign Corner series looks to give three tips about commonly asked campaign issues. Do get in touch if you have any questions you would like to suggest. Today's Campaign Corner question: How can I get the best out of Facebook for my ward branch? Around half the UK's population is on Facebook, so if you're wondering what to spend time on campaigning online, then Facebook is a very good choice (perhaps these days it is second only to email). Three pieces of advice then, as is traditional: Create a Facebook Page for your ward/community Lib Dem team: More than ...
EMERGE is a Manchester - based social enterprise promoting the idea and practice of the 3Rs: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE Free Event: EMERGE 3Rs: Zero Waste Celebration Join them from 5.30-7pm on Monday 19th March 2012 at Brazennose House West, Brazennose Street, Manchester, M2 5AS · Yummy Love Food Hate Waste Cookery Demonstration... · Zero Waste Exhibition · Reduce Reuse Recycle Tips & Info · EMERGE & FareShare showcase Come and have your say on what EMERGE should be doing to help the community reduce waste! Refreshments provided. If you have any questions, please contact Nicola on 0161 223 8200.
There were two principal local council by-elections held on Thursday 1st March. The Lib Dems lost one seat to Labour but gained one seat from the Tories. There were four parish or town council by-elections result reported to ALDC, two Lib Dem holds, a gain from the Tories and one from Independents. [IMG: Those members of the Abbey team left after the recounts at gone midnight. Cllr Hannah Fraser seated and her hard working husband John last row back on left] Shrewsbury's Abbey ward is an urban unitary Shropshire county council division that surrounds the shire hall. It's one of ...
First there was the positive ad: Now there's this: Give the target of that nasty ad a hand: sign up on Facebook. You can also watch the rebuttal: Hat-tip: Thanks to Andreas Kierig for alerting me to the first of these adverts I saw. * Mark Pack is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and writes a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats.
Perhaps that is a little grand but you can read Alan Rusbridger's concept of open journalism here.
Viridor are currently undergoing a round of presentations and consultation on their proposals for an energy recovery facility at the Beddington Farmlands site. The following events have been scheduled between 3pm and 7pm as follows: Tuesday 20 March Holiday Inn, Gibson Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 2RF Wednesday 21 March Bedzed Pavillion, Sandmartin Way, Hackbridge, Wallington, Surrey SM6 7DF Friday 23 ...
PoliticsHome reports: Lynne Featherstone has criticised the idea of giving married couples a tax break, saying such a move would be "extremely unfair". In an interview with The Times(£), the Equalities Minister said a reduction in tax for couples who tie the knot was a "bizarre concept... and wrongly aimed" and warned it was unfair on those couples and single parents who were unmarried.
Mon 5th
13:46
Cut back on bureaucracy and allow local authorities greater freedom to deliver public services - Pet...
Welsh Liberal Democrats at the Spring Conference 2012 in Cardiff have voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion calling for more freedom for Local Authorities. Welsh Liberal Democrats have long believed that public services are better delivered when they are managed by the appropriate level of government. In contrast to the Labour-led Welsh administration Liberal Democrats think that when it comes to local services, Local Authorities should have greater control. Councils should be able to protect local interests and services without unnecessary restrictions and interference from the Welsh Government. Peter Black, Shadow Minister for Local Government, commented: "Current bureaucracy imposed ...
Do you live in South Werrington & North Gunthorpe, does your local group have a project, event or idea, but lacking the cash to fulfill it? The local Lib Dem ward councillor, Darren Fower wants to hear from you! Each year this area gets £10k a year as part of the Community Leadership Fund, which according to the City Council is, "..to enable elected members to seek support for projects that will have a positive impact on communities within their wards." Commenting, Darren explained: "Previously we have made contributions to Werrington Neighbourhood Council, Gunthorpe Community Association, Werrington Association for repair ...
Over at The Staggers on The New Statesman website, they have a great infographic page that demonstrates the state of the race for the Republican nomination Ahead of Super Tuesday tomorrow, here's what it currently shows. 1. Romney - despite everything - yes, even this - is a clear leader. And they haven't yet added in the Washington caucus results, which he won on Saturday 2. There's a country mile still to go. Even with 11 of the States voting tomorrow, less than half of the States will have voted. 3. Major states still to vote after tomorrow include: California ...
Boris Johnson has announced nine key campaign slogans in his bid to retain the mayoralty of London. But in doing so, he has saddled himself with a Santorum of a problem which could come back to bite him if he really does have ambitions to become Prime Minister at some point down the line. Fortunately for Boris, it's not the Google thing, but the accusation faced by US Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum that he spent all his time as Senator for Pennsylvania trying to get special deals for that state - earmarks in polite company or pork in the pejorative. ...
Winner of the 2007 Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year award, James Graham has announced he has resigned from the Liberal Democrats. Writing on his blog, Quaequam Blog!, under the title "Pressing reset", James says: Last night I formally resigned as a member of the Liberal Democrats, effective immediately. To answer some likely questions: 1) No, I'm not joining another party. As if. 2) No, I'm not making a protest or resigning because of a specific issue. 3) No, I'm not planning to write a self-aggrandising article about my personal reasons for resigning, at least not this week (and when ...
"Lembit Opik Says Nick Clegg Can Not Lead Lib Dems Into Next Election" says the Huffington Post, and you know what? He might, for the first time in ages, have a point. Saying "There's no point in pulling our punches. After a year of research, [we] have concluded that Nick cannot realistically lead the party into ...
Via YouTube:
Mon 5th
13:07
LDVideo: Jo Swinson's Political Slot: The Liberal Democrats are in government on your side
Video also available on YouTube. Jo Swinson MP featured on Channel 4′s Political Slot last night, explaining how the Liberal Democrats in government are still on the side of their voters and supporters: Nearly two years ago, Liberal Democrats chose to do the right thing for the good of the country in a time of crisis. Liberal Democrats didn't come into politics to make cuts, but with the economy on the brink of collapse we knew we had to take the difficult decisions to get the debt under control and the country back on track. But there is more to ...
'Googille Invasion' is the product of Consett children. Now it's shortlisted for an International Award! Kids for Kids UK made the film as part of theirr programme of work funded primarily by the Derwent Valley Patnership and are delighted that it has been shortlisted for VAFI – 3rd International Children and Youth Animation Film Festival which is hosted annually in Croatia. Helen Ward of Kids for Kids said of it: One of the best films that I think we have made whilst working in the Consett area. This is really exciting and I am feeling especially proud for the team ...
Last November the Mayor of London announced that 125,000 schoolchildren in London would be given free tickets for the Olympic or Paralympic Games. That would have been enough to provide tickets for one in eight London children aged 10 to 18. But, as reported in the Evening Standard, Lib Dem London Assembly member, Dee Doocey, has asked the Mayor how many tickets were actually allocated to children. The answer came back: just 95,761 tickets. The remaining 30,000 or so tickets have been given to teachers to accompany them. That raises at least two questions: Why did the Mayor overlook the ...
Meet Africa's first dictator. Sir Percy Anderson, the head of the British government's insensitively-named Slave Trade department, wielded breathtaking power. Published in New Nation, 22 October 2007 Sitting at a desk deep in the bowels of the Foreign Office, this mandarin masterminded Britain's shift ... Continue reading →
This is the story of how I found myself staring at this at around 12:45 yesterday: I was sitting at my sister's dining room table on Thursday afternoon writing my cosy blog post about the weekend ahead when my phone rang. It was the BBC Sunday Politics office wanting to know if I'd appear on the programme on Sunday. I assumed they meant from Inverness, but they wanted me in Glasgow. That was never going to be possible. I miss Malcolm Bruce's speeches for no-one, not to mention Willie Rennie and the topical motion on a two question ballot paper. ...
I usually have a positive view of Icelanders. The country is in many respects a good European nation, already adopts hundreds of EU laws each year, and is in negotiation to become a full member. In the past its fishing ... Continue reading →
Transport for Greater Manchester is running drop-in sessions across Greater Manchester over the next few Saturdays to give your bike a helpful once-over. TfGM experts will give your bike a health-check, including brakes, tyres, frame, steering, gears and chain. It's not a service or an MOT for your bike but our technicians can make small adjustments on the spot, and give you a diagnosis for anything that needs a repair. Thanks to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service it has been able to line up a series of sessions at fire stations around the area, so there should be one ...
 BF 110C vs Spitfire As a teenager I had a mild addiction to the Computer game "Their Finest Hour". It was a flight simulation for the PC based around the Battle of Britain with various playable aircraft on both sides of the battle. I was challenged by a friend to try and complete the game in the Twin engined Messerschmitt 110 C which is slow and has poor manoeuvrability - basically twice the size of the Spitfire and 100mph slower with three times the turning circle. Within a short time though I mastered this and by the time I ...
A plug for the Liverpool Freegle group. Freegle (which some may know as Freecycle) is a scheme which involves people who don't want things giving them to people who do. So, for example, if I have a table which is reasonably OK I post details of it with group members and then someone who needs a table gets in touch and collects it. It's another way of recycling and helps avoid things getting chucked away. Anyway, the national Freegle lot have been shortlisted for the national climate week awards. They'll hear whether they've won next week. But this seems as ...
Imagine for a moment that the Government had decided to legalise slavery but assured us that 'no one will be forced to keep a slave. Oh 'Cardinal', did you honestly compare gay marriage to slavery? Personally, I think the institutional rape and torture of children is probably a more palatable example of modern slavery. My ...
There's been a lot of controversy around the "workfare" issue. However, while individual members have expressed clear opinions on it, our party is yet to take an official stance on the issue. With a policy paper on youth unemployment to be debated this weekend at conference we have an opportunity to decide where we stand on the issue. I propose that we make the system fairer and ease the controversy by securing the following three compromises from the Tories: 1) Ensuring jobseekers aren't misled into voluntary work schemes. Although the scheme is voluntary, many jobseekers report being misled by Job ...
Perfect for the gadget-bedecked traveller: The Mu
On Wednesday Durham's cabinet will be asked to omit the number 13 from streets across the county. A cabinet report on street names and numbers simply states, The number 13 will be excluded from the numbering scheme unless it is advantageous for the Street Naming and Numbering Officer to include it. There's no explanation of this decision which has to accord with the policy's stated aim that "When numbering properties on new streets, the Council will seek to do so in the most logical manner". From which, I suppose, we must conclude that superstition itself is logical! It makes you ...
So it's fair to say that I haven't posted properly on here for a while. Truth is I've had a pretty busy last year both in and out of politics. I finally graduated from university with a respectable degree result which, given the amount of time I spent working on elections, I'm quite proud of! I then decided to do something a bit different. I became a Healthcare Team Manager at Boots in Leeds City Centre. I loved that job and was really proud to work with a brilliant team in the Leeds store. I learnt a lot in a ...
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell has today urged the Chancellor to support Britain's beer and pub sector by calling time on planned tax increases in the forthcoming Budget. The campaign is calling on the Government to abandon a planned 5% rise in beer duty, an increase which could threaten up to 16,000 jobs across the UK over the next three years. The campaign is supported by industry and consumer groups including the British Beer and Pub Association, the Society of Independent Brewers and the Campaign for Real Ale. Sir Menzies commented: "I know from speaking to pub landlords ...
Despite the much-vaunted claims of "an end to boom and bust", the last decade, in fact, saw continuing fossil fuel dependency and a credit-driven boom, followed by a financial crisis. Our economy has been propped up by levels of public borrowing, which in Europe have proven to be impossibly large, and have led to levels of unemployment that are an appalling waste. The Labour Government undeniably failed to deliver sustainable prosperity for the UK. In the years since the global financial crisis first struck, the economy has consistently remained a dominant public policy concern. The effects of the financial crisis ...
...because he appears to be insane, or at least losing the plot, so we need to ensure he gets help. One of his arguments is the old argument against same-sex marriage, and this other is just, well, bizarre. His first argument is the classic "well, if same-sex people get married, it spoils marriage for the rest of us". Of course, this is nonsense. The institution of marriage is one where couples get together and "commit" to lifelong love. Whilst there are some very valid reasons for divorce (leaving aside whether you believe in lifelong commitment to one person or not) ...
This morning's Western Mail reports on the debate on local government at this weekend's Welsh Liberal Democrat conference, but both the reporter and the Welsh Government spokesperson who responded to it have spectacularly missed the point. The paper says that we have condemned the Labour Government in the Assembly for not ensuring that councils in Wales will have the same right to hold prayers at meetings as those in England. The spokesperson for the local Government Minister believes that we are not concentrating on the real issues. They are quoted as saying: "With record unemployment, huge cuts to funding for ...
From PoliticsHome: Nick Clegg indicated this morning the Government was ready to back down new rules on child benefit. Speaking to BBC News this morning, the Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged there were "anomalies" with two lower-rate payers still able to receive the benefit, and that was "the kind of thing that we've always said we're prepared to look at". Chancellor George Osborne is expected to reveal in his forthcoming Budget that the cut-off threshold for receiving the payment will start at £50,000, rather than the £42,475 originally planned. * Newshound sets the agenda, as you would expect from a Red ...
As Vladimir Putin embarks on a further term of office, he can at least point to the fact that even despite the vote rigging and stuffed ballot boxes, he can claim a mandate- even his opponents admit that he has won the election. As I watched the line of Russians outside the embassy in Tallinn I had mixed feelings: on the one hand a hope that Russia can become a genuinely democratic state one day and a fear that the brutal language that Putin uses against the Baltic might one day lead to brutal actions. Yet as the Murdoch scandal ...
Like many others I am uneasy about alleged plans to privatise the police, but I do think that we need a bit of context in this debate. In the face of a very difficult economic climate and cuts by both this government and the previous Labour government in police budgets it is vital that everything possible is done to protect front line policing. Irrespective of what Chief Constables decide to do, it should be clear that any move to put services out to private tender will not lead to private sector vigilantes in police uniform patrolling our streets as has ...
Retro Thrills from Ilex Press These look awesome! I defin itely want the horror, scifi and crime ones. (tags: comics ) Tessera: Marriage is for Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve How to counter the fatuous arguments put forward by the anti marriage equality lobby (tags: ) Helen Duffett: Unequal marriage: When a tradition becomes a reason, becomes an excuse, becomes a straitjacket "Claiming that someone else's marriage is against your religion is like being angry at someone for eating a donut because you're on a diet" - Helen picks out the best quote ever. (tags: ) Is the ...
Mon 5th
08:04
How Lib Dem Councillors create jobs, build houses and improve schools - a You Tube sensation
When this was broadcast on Friday night, I was up to my neck in the speed mentoring session (of which more later) in Inverness, so this is the first chance I've had to watch it. In it, Willie Rennie visits three Liberal Democrat Councillors and highlights the successes they've had in creating jobs, building houses and improving schools. I spent about 20 minutes in total with Edinburgh's Paul Edie at Conference, and he did lend me a pen to hastily write a speech - but with it he seems to also have given me his cold. I'm not bitter, however, ...
A very happy Saint Piran's Day! The website of the St Piran Trust says: Many people have claimed many things but nothing is sure, we can only ponder on who was St Piran, where he came from, how he arrived on our shores. One thing is sure. St Piran lives on in the hearts and minds of the Cornish people here in Cornwall and around the world. Legend: The heathen Irish tied him to a mill-stone, rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm, and the saint floated safely over the water ...
A very happy St Piran's Day to all our Cornish readers! The website of the St Piran Trust says: Many people have claimed many things but nothing is sure, we can only ponder on who was St Piran, where he came from, how he arrived on our shores. One thing is sure. St Piran lives on in the hearts and minds of the Cornish people here in Cornwall and around the world. Legend: The heathen Irish tied him to a mill-stone, rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm, and the saint ...
[Originally posted at Dale&Co., 03/03/12] This week's instalment of the Leveson Inquiry has raised some pressing questions about inappropriate relations between members of the police and corporate interests. We were presented with argument that highly questionable, if not corrupt, practices were commonplace among public officials. It's therefore unfortunate timing that the Guardian reports today on plans by West Midlands and Surrey Police to place £1.5bn worth of business out to tender to the private sector. Or perhaps it is good timing. Because this could prove to be a development of profound significance. It demands close scrutiny. We are not talking ...
Appearing on 176 poster sites around London from today: UPDATE: Background to this policy is on Brian Paddick's site here. * Mark Pack is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and writes a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats.
I did not immediately take to The Scarifyers, a series of audio plays starring Nicholas Courtney as retired police detective Lionheart and Terry Molloy as his sidekick, horror writer Professor Dunning, together solving 1930s X-Files type mysteries in London and elsewhere. Though the two stars are excellent, the first few scripts felt a bit thin and over-reliant on Doctor Who in-jokes. But once we get to the third or fourth story, things start to come together, and when Brian Blessed appears as a guest star in the fourth story, he fits in rather modestly and yet also memorably. The sixth ...
Download poster here.
You know how I keep saying that Lynne Featherstone is made of awesome? Lookit this (trigger warning: this video deals with consent, and how to spot a lack of it. It's not pretty) ... and tell me that's stuff that didn't need to be said? Yes, it's hard-hitting, yes, it's not fun to watch. But it's necessary. This could be as big as the AIDS videos were in the eighties, I reckon. I hope. Thanks, Lynne. This next video tells the story of how the video was made and why: The website that is linked at the end of the ...
