Tonight is "Super Tuesday" - when Republican voters have their uninspiring choice of Presidential candidate in more states than on any other day of the long and tortuous primary process. Several of the worst candidates have already dropped out. The rest of the worst candidates remain, along with one interesting one. There's Mitt Romney, the robocandidate backed by big money and the establishment, but for whom no-one on Earth has enthusiasm, a former moderate mechanically outflanking his opponents to the right on every issue to try and prove the impossible to the red-meat Republican faithful: that he really means it. ...
Not the Abbey - you can't miss that - but St Albans Abbey railway station. The branch from Watford Junction does not reach St Albans City, the station used by trains to St Pancras, but has its own little terminus on the edge of the city. St Albans Abbey station was not that well signposted when I looked for it on Saturday, but I liked this little clue I came across on the edge of the Abbey grounds. And when I found it I was impressed that the line to Watford was electrified and had modern trains of a sensible ...
I'm on my way home after another night in the big city. As part of Ros's programme to ensure that I don't become completely disconnected from urban life, I was invited to a CAMRA reception at the House of Commons, and the opportunity to spend a midweek evening with Ros and drink free beer was too good to miss. The recent controversy concerning the MP for Falkirk has meant that the spotlight has fallen on politicians and their drinking. In a building which has a surprising number of drinking holes, and with far too many evenings when MPs and Peers ...
The order for naming a section of the A470 has been signed and now as you travel north up the A470 from the A55 to the Roundabout at Marl Lane just before the Bodysgallen stretch, you will be travelling along The Royal Welsh Way. Phase 2 will be the naming of the Bodysgallen stretch up to the St David's College Roundabout, Wormhout Way. I am really pleased with this project and the idea came from a resident in my ward via Facebook. Official unveiling sometime in April. I will update via this blog. Thanks to all involved.
Quick trip to the BBC news studios this evening for this interview: This was a rather bizarre and amusing prequel when the technical staff had a hurried discussion about whether or not my hair was dark enough! Something to do with problems with the green screen and so people with light coloured hair were coming out looking green. They decided my hair was dark enough to be safely broadcast, phew.
The Daily Telegraph write The high cost of coalition: Tory policies are evaporating as the tail wags the dog which is not a very positive piece on the Lib Dems but it does offer this, which is worth highlighting: On the economy, the most important subject of the lot, the Government does much of its ongoing trading ...
I learnt last night my friend Viv Bingham had died (1932 - 2012). I've known Viv since around 1974 when he fought his first parliamentary election-although before that he had be active in the party in his student days. He went on to be the candidate in Hazel Grove in 1979. His next electoral outing was in the same year at first Euro election when he was the candidate for East Cheshire and I was his agent. He served as Liberal Party President in 1981/2 and offered himself as a candidate to Warrington Liberals at the by election in 1981 ...
It's not that long since SNP MSP and senior aide to Alex Salmond Joan McAlpine suggested that the unionist parties were acting in an anti Scottish manner. Their crime? Not agreeing with SNP policy on the referendum. Now, courtesy of a lucrative new deal with the Record (I have no idea what she's being paid, but I can't imagine she's doing it for free), she's published her first weekly column for them. Now, why would a Labour supporting paper sign up a Nationalist prone to fairly poisonous comments? They clearly feel her particular sort of vitriol needs an airing, but ...
There are many people who have a few quid on their oyster cards. Perhaps relatives who visited you and didn't use up all the credit or those who have misplaced their card and bought a second one. Figures show there are about 17 million (YES million!) cards out there that have not been used for at least 12 months with a combined balance of an eye-watering £55 million. The London Liberal Democrat team, obtained the figures using a Freedom of Information request, say it is not easy to get the money back from unused cards. Hard-working Caroline Pidgeon, leader of ...
The newspapers have been quick to denounce the Liberal Democrats and imply that they are clearly fracturing with the creation of the "Liberal Left" that will be launched at the Spring Conference 2012. Alongside the occasionally maverick group Social Liberal Forum, such factionalism is both embraced and abhorred by members of this political party. The ...
Runway 1 at Manchester Airport will be closed overnight from Monday 12th to Wednesday 14th March 2012, with runway 2 being used for all flights. As the airport website says: During March 2012 we are carrying out some maintenance to the Runway 1 (Runway 23R/05L) western taxiways. The programme includes work on one of the Rapid Exit Taxiways that adjoins Runway 1 and so it would not be safe use the Runway whilst we are working so close to it. Runway 1 will therefore need to be closed for two nights to complete these taxiway works. Runway 2(Runway 23L/05R) will ...
1, The Daemons is coming out on DVD! YAYNESS! The Daemons has been my favourite ever Who since I first saw it, given that it's a perfect fusion of Hammer Horror and Who, plus has too many amazing moments to mention, including Five Rounds Rapid which is so awesome a whole section of fandom got named after it. I am SO impatient for this. 2, Given that I broke my convention viginity this weekend and really enjoyed it, I am now V tempted by more. I'm actually rather annoyed that Utopia is sold out, because it's in a gorgeous setting, ...
Greater Manchester will receive £5,085,203 to bring 461 empty private sector properties back into use. The bid was a result of joint work between our ten Greater Manchester authorities (one is Stockport) and 18 Registered Provider partners. Although empty properties are a characteristic feature in many areas of the country, the North West region is one of the worst affected making up 22% (60,862) of the national figure with Greater Manchester itself accounting for 24, 954 of these. This is at a time when there are over 100,000 households on housing waiting lists across Greater Manchester, clearly demonstrating the need ...
It was kind of the founder and chairman of polling firm Ipsos-Mori, Sir Robert Worcester, to pop by this blog recently in response to my post last week highlighting that 60% of voters back the Lib Dem policy of asking the wealthiest to pay more in tax in order to take people on the lowest incomes out of tax altogether. Sir Robert suggests here in a comment that, given the phrasing of the question, he was surprised it was only 60%. When polling for Mori, the firm once achieved a 100% response among Express readers by asking: "Are you in ...
I was going to do a blog here about how to control the powers of an elected mayor – even me! However a better story has come up which is why most of this blog is a letter from former ... Continue reading →
21:39 And Chelsea win 2-0. Not a great game. Not a great live blog. But I did it and so did they. 21:39 Arsenal win 3-0 but lose 4-0 on aggregate. 21:36 Into injury time. 21:35 Essien on for Mata - chiefly to wind the clock down 21:30 The crowd lifting Birmingham and they are having a spell of pressure. But Cahill and Luiz look secure at the back. 21:27 Birmingham miss their best chance. Mutch is through but lifts it over the bar. 21:22 Torres sets up Sturridge who falls over the ball in front of goal. There is ...
I've been watching the love in between Alex Salmond and Rupert Murdoch with an increasing sense of foreboding. And it appears I might have good reason. Have a look at this succession of tweets from Andrew Neil: Especially the one where he says: Murdoch never much liked UK but post-hacking he hates it. His revenge is to campaign for its break up. Scot Sun will back independence.Apparently there's also a plot afoot to move the whole of BSkyB to Edinburgh. The First Minister seems to be delighted to have such a backer for his cause that he's prepared to overlook ...
Tue 6th
19:13
The health and social care bill does not deliver Lib Dems' prescription | Dr Evan Harris
I will be advising party activists at the forthcoming Lib Dem spring conference to call for the NHS bill to be dropped At the Liberal Democrat spring conference last year in Sheffield a detailed amendment to a motion on the health and social care bill was passed by the conference. I was a co-sponsor of that amendment. What follows is an analysis of the motion and the degree to which its requirements have been met and what amendments to the bill could have been made to deliver on that motion more fully. (These amendments are given in full in an ...
Since the 2010 election, there have been five parliamentary by-elections (excluding one in Northern Ireland that the main three UK parties don't participate in). All five have been Labour held seats and all five were successfully held by Labour. The changes in the vote of the two Coalition parties are: Oldham: Libs up 0.3%, Cons down 13.6% Barnsley: Libs down 13.1%, Cons down 9% Leicester South: Libs down 4.4%, Cons down 6.3% Inverclyde: Libs down 11.1, Cons down 2.1% Feltham: Libs down 7.8%, Cons down 6.3% By my calculations, the Con vote in by-elections has fallen on average by 7.5% ...
Appropriately enough, following the news out on cycling deaths this morning, Greenwich Council have just announced a consultation on the introduction of 20mph speed limits in parts of the borough. The survey is here Some of the main routes through the borough need looking at – Plumstead High Road, parts of Hillreach, Greenwich west of the town ...
As some readers may know I am standing for Southend Council in May and the ward which I am standing in has been in the news today. The Sure Start centre Little Treasures in Electric Avenue was set to close under that guise in the budget but that changed following parent power and a bit of common sense. The centre will still officially be closed as a Children's Centre but the Council along with the Elim Church will work together to ensure that the services currently provided by the centre are maintained. Whilst the 23 hours of weekly Sure Start ...
Can you spare 1 minute to help my school win £10,000? Over 50 children in my school have taken part in the 'Fairy Schools Challenge'. They have designed a plate of Good Wishes for Team GB in the Olympics. All you need to do is:Visit the Fairy Schools Challenge website. Click 'Vote Now'Search for 'Leverton'Choose one of our plates (the one you like best)VotePlease share this with as many of
It was transcendentally wonderful to accompany my mother, with other members of my family, to St Piran's church, Perranzabuloe, Cornwall (pictured right) last Sunday. There, with others, she was awarded the St Piran's Cross for her years of service to the church, by the Bishop of Truro. Well done to Rev. Jeremy Andrew and his flock for laying on a marvellous welcome in the warm and comfy church, with lots of tea and cakes afterwards. All round, this was an occasion I'll remember for many years and it was so nice to see my mum honoured in this way. Here ...
This year your Liberal Democrat team has been taking action on concerns about traffic speeds in our area. Cllr Keith Hutson has been at the forefront of arranging a series of meetings, including public consultation on plans to introduce reduced speed limits (particularly 20mph limits). I am very pleased to announce that these will shortly be implemented. The new limits for rural areas will ensure that Warley village and surrounding hamlets are a safer place for us all to walk and drive around. Road safety is important for us all but particularly for the elderly and to ensure Warley is ...
Saturday saw my debut as an Officer of the Suffolk County Co-ordinating Committee of the Liberal Democrats - I'm their new Treasurer - as an attendee and, slightly oddly, social media expert.Our Secretary, Martin Redbond, had put together an interesting agenda, kicked off by a hard-hitting speech by Ros, 'our very own Baroness', as our Chair, David Miller, put it. Ros talked openly about the difficulties of being in the Coalition, with legislation that we don't necessarily like, but highlighted some of our achievements, such as the progress in taking 900,000 people out of the income tax net last year, ...
North West England Euro-MP Chris Davies has secured two key posts in the European Parliament. Every two and a half years all of the top positions in the Parliament are up for grabs in elections for senior legislators. LOCAL Liberal ... Continue reading →
A campaigner against Britain's drugs laws has welcomed the crackdown on cannabis factories being launched by police forces across the North West from Monday, March 5. Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies says that a targeted campaign against serious criminals has ... Continue reading →
Chris is pressing the county council and the police to take firm action after local residents reported that the road was closed off on Sunday morning to facilitate a car boot sale. Chris said: 'Apparently men in high vis jackets were stopping traffic and obstructing the right of way. The county council and the police have a duty to make sure that rights of way are kept open and prosecute those who block them.' It is still unclear whether there will be a further attempt at a car boot sale next Sunday or what the involvement of First Capital Connect ...
Local Lib Dem councillors are working with the Steering Committee at Halifax High School to try to obtain funding for a new Community Building at the Commander's House on the school site. This building would be available to all local people for a variety of purposes, including skills and vocational training. Lib Dem Cllr Ashley Evans is a Governor at the school and says "If the committee is successful in pulling this off, the facility will be of immense benefit, and Keith and I are right behind it". Keith Hutson is a member of the Steering Committee. Ashley and Keith ...
In September last year a member of the Ramblers Association, who lives in Stockport, contacted Manchester City Council to demand they reopen a short stretch of footpath in Chorlton. This path had not been used for at least 65 years and was now either overgrown with trees, or had collapsed into a stream. The cost of re-opening the path was estimated at £50,000, although informed opinion estimated that the true cost was likely to be at least three times this amount. Reopening the path would see the clearance of the established wildlife, including kingfishers, the cutting down of mature trees ...
This morning's Telegraph contains the rather startling suggestion that at a meeting between Government ministers and local government leaders, a senior Liberal Democrat indicated that councils should be free to charge students council tax. They say that minutes of a meeting held last October between Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary and senior figures at the Local Government Association, suggest that Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the leader of Liberal Democrat councillors and head of Portsmouth City Council said: "Local authorities should have greater discretion over Council Tax exemptions and discounts, such as the student exemption". However, in the tradition of never letting facts ...
The BBC's website has the following headline: "More graduates in low skilled jobs, figures show" Pointing to the fact that around a third of graduates from 2011 were in low skilled jobs at the end of 2011, in comparison with around a quarter in 2001. Quite an increase. This is ridiculously intuitive, yet at no point in their article/post do they mention that in 2001 there were 504,401 students who qualified from higher education of which 272,665 obtained "first degrees", whilst in 2011 there were 762,540 qualifiers with 369,010 obtained "first degrees". In other words people qualifying from higher education ...
Last weekend I joined Warley Community Association for one of their community clear ups. I had wrongly assumed this would be around the village, but instead I found myself straddling a bramble filled stream along stock lane! It is totally amazing the amount of rubbish that finds it ways into the hedges and streams. Mainly I think from litter that is blown around on collection day. There was some much welcome relief from the weather with hot cross buns and coffee. Kindly provided by one of the community association's members. It was a job well done by the end of ...
The Burgess Park landscaping is making progress. I've a real soft spot for this park to fully be as I've past relatives homes under the grass! Sadly a local business in the SW area of the park on Southampton Way burnt down. Even more dreadful it appears arson is to blame. I can only imagine the horror of losing a business. I think Southwark Council should offer to buy the business out and seek to incorporate the land into the park. It fronts a large wildness area and would open up this corner. Fingers crossed something can be done that ...
The news that the IFS has judged that George Osborne may have £10 billion to play with he didn't think he'd have in the budget has resulted in a lot of speculation on what he might do with it. And the thing currently exercising minds is scrapping the proposed changes to Child Benefits. Now, there is a lot of debate about why this is the top priority of so many Tory MPs. Primarily there is a concern that the changes affect many middle class Tory voters, that the cuts (due to take place in Jan 2013) were proposed to hit ...
[IMG: Twitter logo] If the people you follow on Twitter are anything like the ones I follow, the chances are you've had one or more direct messages recently reading something like this: Hey.. somebody is saying real bad stuff about you ;/ [Followed by a link] These are all fake messages. If you click the link a variety of bad things may be attempted, including sending on similar messages under your name to others and often also including things such as trying to infect your computer with a virus. If you have, or think you may have, clicked on a ...
Labour sucked up to the super-rich, took bribes from the super-rich, and slashed taxes for the super-rich. While doubling tax on the lowest-paid. Tony Blair's Labour outspent the Tories getting elected, with the amazing coincidence that every single person giving Labour a million pounds got a peerage or knighthood in return. Labour now pretend they'd tax the rich more (see Things To Remember About Labour #1). But they introduced their totemic socialist policy of the 50p tax rate... One month before their thirteen years' absolute power ended. That makes the LiberaTory Coalition 22 times more socialist than the Labour Government, ...
About 2 weeks ago, Shirley Williams rightly claimed that the whole competition chapter of the Bill would need to be removed before it could be passed. However, the amendments that Nick Clegg has proposed, as indicated in his letter of 28th February, just do not match up to her reasonable demand. The competition chapter contains clauses 70 to 81. The Clegg amendments only affect clauses 78, 79 and 80. So, clauses 70 to 77 remain unchanged. Hence, a lot of the Lansley 'nasties' remain and if the Bill is passed, these 'nasties' will become law of our land. For example, ...
Today an article in the Daily Telegraph has been published announcing the Liberal Democrat party policy that we are now in favour of removing of the Student exemption to council tax. I've just checked in the Conference Agenda for this weekend... I can't see anything there; maybe Robert Winnett could point it out to me? Nope. ...
Ah yes, sin taxes (sort of). The sort of taxes that the tee-total, non-smoker really rather prefers, and an issue that my friends at Liberal Vision bang on about at some length.Taking this in two parts; Beer and spirits Excise duties on alcohol are fairly easy to collect most of the time. After all, beer is brewed generally in big things called breweries - hard to move about, easy to find, and the profit tends to be in volume. Likewise for distilleries, especially as most people prefer to drink named brands. And for small breweries, producing under 60,000 hectolitres per ...
Saturday 16 June 2012, University of Bedford. Satellite events, and dinner on Friday 15 June 2012. ALDC and the LGA Liberal Democrat Group invite you to the main Liberal Democrat event of the summer, our Local Government Conference at the University of Bedford, Bedford Campus, Polhill Avenue, Bedford, MK41 9EA Bedford has seen significant electoral success for the Liberal Democrats over the last few years, and Bedford's directly-elected mayor Lib Dem Dave Hodgson was comfortably re-elected earlier this year. We've got a busy day planned for you, the programme will be available soon, but here are some highlights: Training: Plenty ...
In England, we haven't really been following the debate in Scotland on equal marriage that started with the Scottish Government consulting on opening up civil marriage to same-sex couples. It's been quite something and we're finally getting a taste of how it went with Cardinal Keith O'Brien storming across the border to come rally the defence of marriage as he would like to see it. People have written and spoken about the Cardinal's views as if it's about allowing same-sex couples to marry. It isn't. For His Eminence it's not about the marriage bit, it's about the sex bit. It's ...
When I saw that the Slugger O'Toole blog contained a tribute to Eugene McCabe I assumed that the octogenerian Irish author must have died. Happily this appears not to be the case and whatever has triggered it Andy Pollak's article draws welcome attention to McCabe's work. Eugene McCabe is not as well-known on this side of the Irish Sea as he ought to be, perhaps because he is hardly prolific, perhaps because he apparently lives a quiet life on his Monaghan farm and is not part of any literary media circuit. Nonetheless he is one of the most powerful and ...
Those of you who, like me, find the Marxism*-style cult of libertarianism fascinating will doubtless be aware of the escalating conflict between the Cato Institute and those renowned champions of planet-raping, the Koch empire.The Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, is attempting to resist its wholesale takeover by the Kochs, who own the majority of the ...
A few days ago, I posed some questions to the boss of Inox, the group behind the Stadium for Cornwall development proposals. In particular, I asked where the money would be coming from if not from Inox and I also asked that members of council and of the public should be able to judge for themselves by being able to read all the communications involved in the project to date. I've now had the following reply from Rob Saltmarsh: Dear Councillor Folkes, Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in coming back to you. As stated in ...
Tue 6th
13:52
'Students should face paying council tax, Lib Dems say' scream the Daily Telegraph. Slightly mislead...
It is all going off. The Lib Dems hate the students. They are ready to screw them over even more. The other political parties are ready to jump on the 'Lib Dems hate the students' bandwagon and the Lib Dems are up in arms. However shall we look in depth at the story before we cast judgement? Shall we...? Lets. The basis for the story is one single quote from the leader of Portsmouth City Council, 'At the meeting, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the leader of Liberal Democrat councillors and head of Portsmouth City Council said: "Local authorities should have greater discretion ...
Preserve Overseas Voting Rights for British Citizens
The Economist this week puts forward a view that the re-election of Vladimir Putin as President marks the beginning of the end of his style of rule. Given that authoritarian rule tends to become unstable, the assumption is made that Mr. Putin will now seek to engage with the opposition in order to shore up his government. I think this is rather naive. It underestimates how much Putin is a creature of the KGB school. As I watched the long line of Russians outside the Embassy in Tallinn I felt a mixture of contempt and disgust, and -I must admit- ...
Norman St John Stevas, who died on Friday, represented Chelmsford in parliament, a constituency that for much of the 1970s and 80s was a top Liberal target seat. The Liberal candidate there was Stuart Mole, speechwriter to David Steel and one of the party's rising stars. However much one wished for a Liberal victory there, I remember thinking it a pity that, of all the Tory MPs we might be glad to see the back of, we were trying to oust one of the few who seemed quite a good egg. When St John Stevas announced his retirement at the ...
I can still remember a night in 2009 when our canvass team came back from a night out on the doorsteps asking "Who is Jenny Tonge? We have just been canvassing and had the most awful time over this person who apparently is a Liberal Democrat..." I explained calmly and with a wry smile that Jenny was a former MP, now member of the House of Lords, that she held strong views and was not afraid to voice them. "But these residents are not going to vote Liberal Democrat because of the views she articulates," said one of the canvassers. ...
On 9th February, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes came to UCL to give a talk to students about what his party stands for. Here is a summary of his talk: After a long-anticipated arrival, Simon Hughes launches straight into ... Continue reading →
I blogged yesterday about the changes to the rubbish and recycling collection service that will be made at the beginning of next month. I did gloss over the impact of the changes to the garden waste service, but these deserve more study. Until now, local residents have been able to have grass cuttings and other garden waste collected in brown paper bags on a fortnightly basis. In turn, these bags have cost 75p each (up from 25p each last year). Under the new scheme, residents will need to buy a wheelie bin costing either £15 or £18 depending on the ...
Today I chaired the last Health Social Care and Housing Committee before the elections in May. Issues covered were as usual very diverse ranging from Dementia and short term lease "party flats" to dogs in high rise flats and empty homes. I have been very proud of the work we have done over the last five years and I will blog more about that in the future but today I want to pay tribute to the remarkable team of officers I have been fortunate enough to work with. Many are the very best at what they do and the results ...
It is the light that signals the changing of the seasons inEstonia. In the deep winter it is the long darkness and human life ismeasured by the welcome candles outside cafes and restaurants. Slowly though,each day begins to bring more light and soon the days grow long and bright. The low horizons of this flat and forested land makes the earlyspring sunshine blinding against thesnow- it is almost as though a searchlight has come on in order to banish thewinter darkness. The return of the sun is the promise of new warmth and byMarch and April the days are visibly ...
I am going to post ad verbatim the 26 comments currently as of 12:16PM on the article in Comment is Free entitled Why I quit the Liberal Democrats over NHS reforms by Graham Winyard. I think they are worth a read. What I get from them is that very few people are actually pro-liberal and more anti-Tory and anti-Labour. People want radical change and even though a coalition is pretty radical for Britain the people don't see it as a coalition. They see it as a Conservative government and blame the Lib Dems for everything. Not sure that makes too ...
Some interesting discoveries, in a recent YouGov poll of religion in the United Kingdom. Many of you will be surprised by the findings; especially in relation to the belief in God: 67% of respondents say that religion should be a personal matter that has no place in public life, 24% think religion should be more ...
Tue 6th
12:34
The Independent View: Budget corporate tax changes could cost developing countries billions
Ahead of the most important austerity budget in a generation, the government plans to open up a huge new tax loophole that will cost ordinary people around the world billions warns ActionAid in a new report 'Collateral Damage' The international development charity has revealed that this loophole will allow UK based multinationals to avoid an estimated £4 billion worth of taxes in developing countries and will also cost the UK Treasury £1 billion. Until now, the UK's anti-tax haven rules have provided a deterrent to companies seeking to avoid paying taxes in Britain and poor countries alike. The proposed changes ...
A few weeks ago I put together a draft topical motion with Derek Young on the issue of the party's position on a second question in the independence referendum. My motivation for doing this was primarily to ensure that this issue is debated rather than being decided for the members by the party leadership. I was also concerned that the Scottish Liberal Democrats can campaign positively during the independence referendum, that we seize the best opportunity in decades to achieve our vision for a constitutional settlement and simultaneously ensure that the Home Rule Commission has some purpose other than cynical ...
James Graham's resignation from the Liberal Democrats on Sunday created a vacancy on the Liberal Democrats' Federal Executive committee. The Electoral Commission has now recounted the votes from the original internal party election in 2010 and named Erlend Watson as the winner. Party President Tim Farron phoned Erlend this morning to formally welcome him back to FE. Erlend told the Voice: I regard myself as a critical friend of the party leadership, we agree on our destination although the precise route to get there is up for discussion. I was previously on the FE from 2006-2010 including the post General ...
Viv Bingham, President of the Liberal Party 1981-1982, who has died, was one of those politicians who never quite made it, in the sense of succeeding in getting elected . He tried often enough, standing for Parliament in Heywood and Royston (February and October 1964), Hazel Grove (1979), Derbyshire West (1983) and Stalybridge and Hyde ...
Nick Clegg carried out a nice exercise in one-upmanship in January, bringing together at Admiralty House a couple of Liberal Prime Ministers (Netherlands and Estonia), a brace of Deputy Prime Ministers, and three Liberal European Commissioners (in total, nine of ... Continue reading →
It would be nice to both have our cake and eat it, but alas that is rarely possible, and almost impossible, I suspect, in a political coalition. So I suppose we must swallow our frustration when Liberal Democrat leaders declare that the we are not ideological committed to the 50% tax rate (what's happened to the fairness agenda and all being in it together?) and accept its abolition in return a mansion tax. Indeed, there is a sense in which a shift away from taxes on income and towards taxes on assets, especially unearned ones, and including land and property ...
Ed Milliband wins quote of the day with the shock pronouncement that Labour caused the financial crisis. He made the announcement Radio 5 live whilst taking an utter pasting from listeners - many of who self identified as Labour voters. According to Ed ( who was a Cabinet member in the last government) "The last Labour government didn't regulate the banks properly. That's what caused the financial crisis." I wonder what other Ed thinks of this statement of the obvious and will he be cooking pasta at the weekend
Got a Vince Cable double whammy whilst having my breakfast this morning. On the national news, there was the great news that Nissan has chosen to invest £125 million in the UK by building its new Invitation model at its Sunderland factory! And ... Continue reading →
Use vowels! Use consonants! Use vowels and consonants together! (Sorry, but I've been reading too many heavy on hype, light on substance blog posts about the latest Facebook changes. If you've never come across one that was less useful than this list, count yourself lucky. Very lucky.)
Yes folks The British Olympic Association's Chief Medical Officer Ian McCurdie is concerned that athletes might be nice to each other and be true sportsmen and women only to receive deadly infections from each other and ruin our chances of sweeping the medal table. I know it sounds like I'm joking but actually I'm not. That is what he had to say (albeit with a pinch of paraphrasing). The headline on the BBC Sport website is London 2012: Team GB 'should avoid handshakes' at Olympics and the story goes on to quote this guy saying that shaking hands with fellow ...
Regular readers of the blog will know about my calls to allow the drug Abiraterone to be funded on the NHS. Currently, the body making the decision, NICE (National Institute for Clinical. Excellence), is saying no because they say it ... Continue reading →
Liberal Democrat run Three Rivers District Council has just set its part of the council tax at an average of £154.30 - just over 2% BELOW the equivalent figure for 2006/07. This is a cash reduction, so next year people will be paying 2.3% less than they were paying six years earlier. When inflation is taken into account, the cut is almost 20%. Only one other local authority (Hammersmith & Fulham) has achieved a cash reduction over this period - and unlike the London borough, Three Rivers was not previously run by a profligate Labour administration to provide easy targets ...
Well, that was the title of my piece in the New Statesman yesterday and the general abuse in the comments section has definitely taken a step or two up. I must be doing something right. Do click on the link above to see the comments (and maybe redress the balance a little) - otherwise, I have copied the piece below. One commentator - 'Phil' - especially takes me to task. I'll address his comment after the piece. Here's a thought to get New Statesman readers' jaws dropping. Last week - by some distance - the most popular politicians in the ...
Trouble in Paradise The ex-President of the Maldives describes how he was removed from power last month. Dramatic stuff. (tags: coupsdetat ) Opportunity cost problem The Dylan-Clapton dilemma: "You won a free ticket to see an Eric Clapton concert (which has no resale value). Bob Dylan is performing on the same night and is your next-best alternative activity. Tickets to see Dylan cost $40. On any given day, you would be willing to pay up to $50 to see Dylan. Assume there are no other costs of seeing either performer. Based on this information, what is the opportunity cost of ...
Another harrowing story in the Times today on cycle safety covering a study of injured cyclists brought into the Royal London Hospital, pointing out that a cyclist was most likely to be killed or seriously injured through a collision with an HGV. The number of badly injured cyclists brought into this hospital has nearly trebled ...
Filmed at Royal Free yesterday. All over the blogosphere, for some reason ignored by the mainstream media (unless anyone wants to tell me different) H/t to @DrEoinClark for the link originally And ahead of the NHS vote at Conference on Sunday, I have to ask, is this what we really want to face over and over again going forward, just to save a poorly constructed and badly presented piece of over complicated legislation. Surely it would be better to scrap it and start again?By the by, I know a Doctor who was visiting Royal Free yesterday. I asked her if ...
The letter below was published in the Eastern Daily Press (Feb 27th 2012) I am afraid that I must take issue with some of the comments made by John Ferguson (Solution is Simple, EDP 22/2) relating to the supposed attitudes of the Church regarding organ transplant. Christian Church leaders, along with colleagues from other faith communities remain at the forefront on the ongoing debate around issues such as the campaign for presumed consent. Church of England teaching and synodical policy suggests that organ donation be a Christian duty, in keeping with giving oneself and one's possessions freely-The ready willingness to ...
Nibley Lane will be closed between Badminton Rd and Westerleigh Rd some time within the five days starting 23 March for deep cleaning. The closure is expected to last from 9.30 am until 2.30 pm on the day in question. This information is taken from the official road closure notice - watch out for road signs closer to the date.
Tue 6th
10:20The Independent View: If I were in your shoes...views from the other side of the Coalition
At Stephen Tall's suggestion I'm giving advice to Lib Dems on what I'd do if I were in your shoes and, in return, he's giving electoral advice to my ConservativeHome readers. You can read Stephen's piece here My first recommendation is to stay the course. There is no advantage for the Liberal Democrats in pulling out of the Coalition anytime soon. You'll get the blame for having got into bed with horrible Conservatives like me but little of the credit if the economy does show signs of perkiness by the end of the parliament. I think it is to your ...
Reports over the last week have suggested that several police forces are taking the first steps in an unprecedented exercise in outsourcing police functions to the private sector, supported by the Home Secretary. Predictably this has resulted in alarm from groups such as the Police Federation, as well as howls of outrage from the Labour Party. Nobody should be fooled for a second by Labour's crocodile tears: it is they who In 2002 pushed through the legislation that enabled this to happen! But the fears of the Fed should be listened to and understood. After all, the tender document does ...
So I thought I should have a quick look back at the predictions I made at the beginning of 2011. It was quite an unusual year so I'm not holding out much hope for these! Sorry these are a bit late! I try to do this every year and hear I my ones for 2010. I got quite a good record last year. Wonder how well I will do this year? 1. The coalition will not collapse this year. Personally I think this one is a bit of an easy one but if you were to believe the screaming hordes ...
As we get more press coverage on the various mayoral candidates in Liverpool, both for political parties and independents, one unfortunate thing is becoming clear. We may well have not a single female candidate. Now I feel a bit guilty writing that as I could very well have made sure there was one. I had to decide whether to try to be the Lib Dem candidate and I decided in the end to focus on my ward,Cressington. I think this was the right decision for me. I also think standing in two elections at once (unless its unavoidable) is wrong. ...
Last month in the House of Lords I hosted the launch of the People's Enquiry into Stalking Law Reform. I was also a member of the all-party Independent Parliamentary Inquiry, which took evidence from victims and bereaved parents of murdered victims (including Clare Bernal who was shot dead in Harvey Nichols in 2005 by her stalker, Michael Pech); probation officers; police; magistrates and others in the criminal justice system. I was invited to join the Inquiry because of my own experiences, which I have spoken of in the debate on the need for stalking reform. What became clear to us ...
That John Pugh has been deeply involved in the Health and Social care debate is not news, but that he chose the week before Conference to publish an 'alternative to Lansley' will surprise some. The paper appeared on John's website last night and can be found in full here He introduces his initiative by writing: Southport MP John Pugh has presented to Coalition Ministers an alternative to Andrew Lansley's Health Bill. The bill will be debated at this week's Lib Dem Spring Conference and in the Lords. In a paper drafted by the MP he argues that should the government ...
[IMG: Caroline Pidgeon, Lynne Featherstone, Martin Newton and Oyster cards] Once again the combination of a good campaigner and a good question has turned up trumps. Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon has dug out the information that there is a staggering total of £55m on unused Oyster cards held by the public. It is money they have paid out to Transport for London but which isn't being used to pay for fares. As with bank accounts which contain money but are forgotten about, there is meant to be a system for people to reclaim their 'lost' funds. However, ...
People Aren't Smart Enough for Democracy to Flourish, Scientists Say | Why the Best Candidate Never Wins | Psychology | LiveScience This is depressingly plausible. (tags: democracy ) The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race ... is apparently adopting agriculture. (tags: ) The Reference is Lost: Stuff From Old Cartoons That Made Sense at the Time - Blog - Adult Swim (tags: ) Lego B a t m o b i l e (tags: toys ) If I don't get pants, nobody gets pants by *Theamat on deviantART LOL (tags: comics funny ) Revealed: The best and ...
I just came across this opinion piece in the LA times of 26th February by James Romm, a scholar I admire greatly. [IMG: Pericles] Portrait bust of Pericles (Roman copy). Inscribed: 'Pericles son of Xanthippus, Athenian' But here he offers an example of highly emotional rhetoric which is historically unjustified. At the same time, his article is a great example of how ancient history is used in the debate about the state of modern Greece and its finances. The article comments on the plans in cash-strapped Greece today to make money from its ancient sites, for example by hiring them ...
Reading my Spring Conference papers, I saw with interest the motion F7 "Making Tax Fairer". Would we be doing something to simplify Britain's massively over-complicated tax system, I thought? Might we be proposing something really radical like linking the personal allowance to the minimum wage or something to address the way people earning much less than the 50% top rate of £150,000 can pay much higher effective rates of tax, more than 50% - sometimes more than 60% - because of withdrawal of tax credits and then Labour's inequitable withdrawal of the personal allowance? No, I'm afraid we're not doing ...
The following is borrowed from my colleague, and part leader, Tony Robertson's Blog. I include it as I agree wholeheartedly with its content. I really did not think I would see the day when Conservatives voted to keep taxation higher than it needed to be. Yet in reality that is what the Conservatives on Sefton Council did when they opposed the Lib Dem budget proposal for a 1% Council tax reduction last Thursday. But it goes much deeper than that as the Conservatives voted with Labour not to cut senior councillors allowances and not to call for a review into ...
Yesterday's story told you of KFK's great work with Consett kids. Today it's your turn. Just by logging on & setting up an account with Enterprise Nation you can vote for KFK to get £500. That's the way the third sector gets by this day. It took me about 30 seconds to vote and the counter registered 13. Make today lucky for KFK by clicking here.
David Allen Green writes an interesting post here this morning about whether people have the right to out anonymous users on the Internet. It's something I feel quite strongly about. As most people will who read this blog will know, I was the victim of some pretty horrendous harassment almost 18 months ago from someone I ...
The Electoral Commission reports: Data matching may have the potential to improve electoral registers in Great Britain, but more work needs to be done, the Electoral Commission has advised the UK Government. The Commission, the independent elections watchdog, has evaluated pilot schemes by 22 local authorities in England and Scotland, supported by the Cabinet Office. The authorities compared their electoral registers with other sources of information, such as the Department of Work and Pensions database, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency driver database as part of the work in preparation for the introduction of individual electoral registration (IER). The ...
...as the new UKIP MEP for the East Midlands, who has just defected from the Conservative Party, cheerfully admits on the front page of his own website: I have always argued that a parliamentarian who finds himself no longer able to support the Party should stand aside in favour of another Conservative, and I have roundly criticised former colleagues who failed to do so, like Bill Newton Dunn and Edward McMillan Scott.There follows a piece of casuistry intended to show that his case is different, but I do not follow the logic of it. At the root of all this ...
A Consett reader has offered me a local site to rival Norwich's 17" double yellow line. Readers of this blog may remember the story. If not, click here. Now we have our own three foot parking area, at least that's all I can assume from the markings in this picture taken opposite Christchurch, Consett. I just love my readers!
I need a (brief) break from blogging about the misery of the Welfare Reform Bill all the time. So I am proud to present the Lib Dem Computer Virus (patent pending). If you click on that link you'll be able to download it. If you double click it, and ignore the security warning, you'll be able to see exactly what it does - but don't worry, it won't damage your computer and you can close it by clicking the exit button in the top right hand corner box that pops up (this "virus" only works on Windows computers by the ...
From BBC News: London Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse has been urged to resign after reportedly saying too many police resources were allocated to the phone-hacking inquiry. Labour MP Chris Bryant made the call in reaction to Sir Paul Stevenson's comments to the Leveson Inquiry. The former Scotland Yard commissioner said Mr Malthouse, who is responsible for policing in London, told him the investigation should be scaled back. Mr Malthouse said his role was to probe the allocation of police resources.I am all in favour of people resigning, but let us not forget that Malthouse is only the latest in a ...
Some time ago, the Courier reported the possible return of burials to the Western Cemetery, something I knew would be welcomed by many residents of the West End. I have been working with the Western Cemetery Association and the Environment Department of Dundee City Council to move forward the proposal that would see the provision of plots for the burial of urns within the cemetery. We had a very productive meeting yesterday at the West End community room at the Vine - and the proposal will now see 126 plots of lairs with a maximum of 4 family urns per ...
Isobel Luke The Friends of Wighton's monthly lunchtime concert will be performed on Wednesday 7th March at 1.15pm by Gordon Penman, on violin, accompanied by Isobel Luke on harpsichord. Held in the atmospheric surroundings of the Wighton Heritage Centre, upstairs in Dundee Central Library, the concert will highlight Scottish tunes from the 18th century books preserved and displayed in the Wighton Collection. Gordon's fiddle selection will focus on the music of General John Reid, and the programme will also feature some well known tunes performed with Isobel Luke's stylish harpsichord accompaniment. Both Gordon and Isobel are well known musicians in ...
I was on yesterday's Wave 102 news about the launch of the Dundee DisabledGo webpages last week - click 'play' to listen:
Portas Pilot - have your say in shaping Prestwich town centre Could you play a key role in helping to transform the town centre of Prestwich? Bury Council is working with Local in Prestwich (Prestwich Business Group) to become a Portas Pilot town, and win a share of £1 million to transform the 'high street'. ... The scheme was set up following a review led by Mary Portas, TV's "Queen of Shops". We want to set up a Town Team that will come up with innovative ideas to improve the 'high street' and have maximum impact on the town centre. ...
Viv Bingham was one of the first people I met at Liberal Assembly and he always had time for a chat on the rare occasions I bumped into him - at conferences or the odd by-election. The party will miss his authentic liberal voice - grounded in the non-conformist politics of the English north. Better tributes than I can manage can be found at Liberal England and Stephen's Liberal Journal. This report from the Journal of Liberal History of a fringe meeting looking back at the first 1974 election contains contributions from Viv (among others) - but not Jeremy Thorpe ...
Marvel Superhero Squad is now available in trading card/CCG form. And while I approve of many of the cards (Captain America doing the washing LOL), This one is clearly the best trading card ever made: [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
You may remember that last September I blogged about the Council's plans to reopen Footpath 181 which runs from Claude Road (at the side of Meade Manor), behind South Drive and alongside Chorlton Brook onto Oakhouse Drive. This historic path has not been in use for 65 years, however following pressure from the Ramblers Association, Manchester City Council made it a top priority to reopen the route. I was deeply concerned by this action and encouraged the Council to reconsider. I opposed the reopening of the historic path because many people told me they didn't want it reopened, it would ...
