So says the ever informed Scots Law Thoughts. One of the problems (a few bloggers excepted) of the reporting of Rangers administration is the supine cravings of the Scottish media. Sports journalists north of the border fish in a very small pool and the often tedious going ons at both halves of the Old Firm conjoined twins are given prominence they rarely deserve. As a result journalists enjoy too close relationships with the PR departments of Rangers and Celtc in a bid to get the next 'scoop'. And therefore the serious investigation and questioning of Ranngers and their administrators has ...

Posted by Dan Falchikov on Living on words alone

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. Opening lines of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 1937 However... In a street in Southampton, England there lived a public house. Not a nasty, dirty, wet pub, filled with the end of cigarettes and an oozy smell, not yet a drt, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Liberal Journal
Tue 13th
22:19

I am back!

So finally back from my Dissertation hiatus (better to concentrate on one piece of writing, I have a feeling that I only have a limited amount of creativity and if I do too much at once it decreases in quality). However I have been doing things outside academia, and so without further ado here are the editions of The Gaudie, for posterity and your enjoyment: 14th of February 28th of February 13th of March I have also taken up photography. I've always wanted to but never got around to it. Here is a photo I took: And lastly here is ...

Posted by Henry Booth on Strolling Slowly
Tue 13th
21:57

Speeding in L19 - action

One of the most common complaints we get as Councillors in Cressington ward is about speeding or dangerous traffic. We have asked for speed checks on quite a few roads in the area. Among those they've taken place in is South Mossley Hill Road, Aigburth Hall Road, Aigburth Road, St Mary's Road and Darby Road. There were some checks this weekend just gone on Aigburth Road and Darby Road. On Aigburth /Road 9 people got penalty notices for speeding. On Darby Road there was one incident of speeding but nine of people using mobile phones while driving along. While I ...

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

When I saw this tweet saying I assumed it was a spoof or at least about another Shooters Hill entirely. Not so.

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

Some time ago I, and some other Lib Dems, suggested to the City Council that we find an extra way of honouring Harold Newgass. He was involved in dealing with a bomb that had got into the Garston Gas holders during the war ( if it had exploded it might have been good bye to much of that area including my house I imagine) Anyway, there is a plaque in St Mary's Church but several people felt we ought to do more. We now have the chance to name a new street after him. To do this I had to ...

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

As David Cameron arrives in Washington Barack Obama's drones continue to attack Somalia. Is it any wonder African nations are so keen to clasp the hand of China, when Europe and America seem more interested in bombing them than providing genuine ... Continue reading →

Posted by Lester Holloway on cllrlesterholloway

With the news that the police in Derby strip searched 10 15 year olds in school without parental consent left BBC Radio Derby looking for people to comment (2 were found with drugs, 8 were not). They called me for my comment due to my experience in working with children/young people and you can hear ...

Posted by Matthew Gibson on Solution Focused Politics

Chorlton MP John Leech has today voted in favour of a backbench Lib Dem rebel amendment, following the decision of the Secretary of State for Health not to publish the risk register in contravention of the tribunal judgement that it should be released. John joined other backbench Lib Dems voting for the amendment put forward by five Lib Dem MPs: Andrew George, John Pugh, Adrian Sanders, Greg Mulholland and David Ward. John Leech said, "I voted with my Lib Dem backbench colleagues because I have consistently called for the Government to release the risk register. By failing to release it ...

More reports from residents about traffic and parking chaos around the new Tescos on Holmefield Road. Along with Lib Dem Councillors Richard Oglethorpe and Tina Gould I met traffic officers and PCSOs last week to discuss what would help make the situation better. I had earlier contacted Tesco and suggested they pay for some H markings and some bollards and the Council officers were following this up. (H markings help prevent people parking across drives and so can potentially ease some of the problems) However this won't be sorted until Tesco acts more like a good neighbour and less like ...

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner
YouGov

Cllr Andy Pellew Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed an independent panel's recommendation that County Councillors' pay should remain unchanged. The move backs up the Liberal Democrats' view that a freeze in Councillor allowances is the right decision at a time when jobs and services are being cut. The Lib Dems are now calling for the £100,000 Conservatives set aside to give themselves a 25 per cent pay rise to be invested in free public transport for 16-19-year-olds seeking employment or education. They will put this in a motion and ask for council support on March 27. Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat Leader, ...

Posted by Andy Pellew on Focus on King's Hedges

Cllr Andy Pellew Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed an independent panel's recommendation that County Councillors' pay should remain unchanged. The move backs up the Liberal Democrats' view that a freeze in Councillor allowances is the right decision at a time when jobs and services are being cut. The Lib Dems are now calling for the £100,000 Conservatives set aside to give themselves a 25 per cent pay rise to be invested in free public transport for 16-19-year-olds seeking employment or education. They will put this in a motion and ask for council support on March 27. Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat Leader, ...

Posted by Andy Pellew on Focus on Bar Hill
Tue 13th
21:15

Speeding on Seddon Road

I have had quite a few complaints from residents about speeding on Seddon Road in Garston. I have raised this with the police but also put down a motion about this to the City Council to try to get some action that way also. Hopefully the relevant Cabinet member will reply with some action. " Speeding on Seddon Road, L19 by Councillor Paula Keaveney Residents on Seddon Road in Garston report frequent speeding along this road. The road is residential and includes several pensioners houses. Residents believe that a speed indicator device at some point on this road could prevent ...

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

One of the motions I put in to Liverpool City Council, which sadly won't be debated tomorrow at Full Council, was one calling on the City to support the Times newspaper campaign to make the roads safer for cyclists. As a cyclist I have had a few near misses and its always been because drivers either haven't spotted me or are a bit on the impatient side. Anyway Liverpool Confidential has reported on my call (although I don't agree with everything written in their article). You can find it here You can find my motion, which I am reliably informed ...

Posted by Paula Keaveney on Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

I'm feeling quite good at the moment - well in fact I'm feeling pretty damn awesome. On Sunday I ran the Bath Half Marathon in a time of 1 hour, 44 minutes and 36 seconds - beating my previous time by over 8 minutes from way back in 2007 (i.e. the time before the booze and bad food really took hold, and definitely before I had a 9-5 office job to sit around not exercising all day). How did I achieve this? Simple - practice, I trained and changed a few things about my lifestyle... and I did one thing ...

Posted by Radar on iRadar

There are good schools and there are bad schools. The good schools tend to have a disproportionate number of children from wealthier families. In part this is almost a tautology: children from poorer backgrounds tend to bring behavioural or motivational problems with them that make teaching harder. And in larger part it is a reflection of the effect of good schools on house prices: if a school becomes known for its quality and maintains it then after a while only wealthy families will be able to afford to live in its catchment area. The pupil premium was first suggested by ...

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

I wrote an article arguing that reasonable debate is fast going out the window, in return, we're getting a heels-dug-in, polarised set of views where those of us who occupy the myriad of grey in-between are attached from both sides. None such more of a view than the current debacle of the Health and Social Care bill about to receive Royal Assent. The two camps (of "left" and "right") are entrenched, fervent and refusing to listen to any notion that isn't their own. The left argue that the NHS is going to be half-privatised and thus shouldn't go through, the ...

Posted by Lee on Lee Dargue

Unsurprisingly, there's been plenty of post-conference reaction to the weekend's events. A quick recap of what happened: on Saturday, Lib Dem conference representatives narrowly voted not to debate a motion that called for the NHS Bill to be dropped. Then on Sunday, Lib Dem conference representatives narrowly voted following a debate not to support part of a motion that called for Lib Dem peers to back the NHS Bill. Here's how Lib Dem bloggers have responded to these events: The Shirley Motion: what does it actually mean? (Harry Matthews) In my personal opinion, I hope to see large rebellion in ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 13th
20:25

LibDemBlogs Delays

So whilst at work this morning I noticed I had several alerts from LibDemBlogs telling me it had been unable to create the half hourly updates. I get these once in a while, but as long as it's just one it will be fine on the next build. However these were pretty much every 30 minutes. With a spare few minutes I could see in the logs that a request to read an RSS feed of a site had gone from taking a few seconds to over a minute, and LibDemBlogs reads the RSS feeds of over 400 sites. However ...

Posted by Ryan Cullen on The Artesea
Tue 13th
20:13

Calling all feminists!

Sexism is a symptom of our society. But is feminism on the rise again? A piece in The Independent reflects that Toy Story 3 is "carelessly sexist". Rachel Shields and Susie Mesure are correct. The film is sexist. It is based around detrimental stereotypes of women, alongside detrimental stereotypes of pretty much every "type" that ...

Posted by Curious on Political Parry
eUKhost

This splendid woodland in Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve was planted by volunteers in a single morning on Mothers Day in 1994. Eighty people took part, half of them children. The trees are now over twenty feet tall, and now they need a hedge to mark the border between the woodland and the Upper Meadow. Please come and help this Sunday morning, March 18th. It would be lovely to see some of the parents and particularly the children, now grown up, who took part in the original planting so long ago. Who knows, maybe they could bring along some of ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

This is just a random thought, I have like many of you, just been sent a begging letter from my water supplier, these blighter's seem to think I'm going to hand over the best part of 500 quid. Now I don't worry too much about a hose pipe ban, but I do get a bit hacked off, when year after year, they charge for draining surface water, despite the fact I had a soakaway drain dug so that rain water goes directly into the ground which they were informed about years ago. Frankly like everyone else I'm angry, companies like ...

Posted by tony flaig bignews on BIGNEWS MARGATE

The Coalition Government has just now defeated by 314-260 votes an attempt by five backbench Lib Dem MPs — Andrew George, John Pugh, Adrian Sanders, Greg Mulholland, and David Ward — to halt the controversial Health & Social Care Bill. Their move came in the form of an amendment to this Labour motion: That this House notes the e-petition signed by 170,000 people calling on the Government to drop the Health and Social Care Bill; and declines to support the Bill in its current form. The Lib Dem 5 proposed the following amendment, which was accepted by Labour: Line 2, leave out ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

I know a lot of readers have concerns about family courts, and child care. Channel four news carried a report suggesting that many child experts giving evidence are not qualified. This was shown at around 19:30 13-03-12 I suggest you check out ch4 +1 or check out their catch up page later.

Posted by tony flaig bignews on BIGNEWS MARGATE
Tue 13th
19:28

Calm down dear

Well that was my thought when I had calmed down somewhat from reading what I described on twitter as "That was the most incoherent, self indulgent, self absorbed piece of uneducated misinformed drivel excuse of a blogpost I've EVER read" But you know, you can't tell some people to calm down when they clearly think they ...

Posted by Spidey on Spiderplantland

I've blogged previously on how Scottish news is useless and is incapable of holding Scottish politicians to account. Tonight's Reporting Scotland is a very good example of how the Scottish media is failing Scottish politics. What I learnt from tonight's reporting Scotland: - Neil Lennon gave his testimony to the high court today. This piece was ...

Posted by Nicola Prigg on Nic Prigg's Blog
Tue 13th
19:17

Idiot of the day...

...clearly goes to this guy who seems to think that if his girlfriend doesn't want to consent to sex then he can just take it anyway. As someone rightly said, you can't joke about thinking about blowing up Robin Hood airport, so how in the name of all that is holy is THAT allowed.

Posted by Spidey on Spiderplantland

David Coburn, a UKIP candidate for the London Assembly, wrote an article in Pink News "defending" UKIP's anti-marriage equality stance. It amused me greatly, so I thought I'd break it down for you all. "The same-sex marriage debate is not an old-fashioned left-right political issue. It's about freedom. The definition of parties as right or left is increasingly out of date. Parties these days are more accurately described as authoritarian or libertarian." I'd agree that the same-sex marriage debate is about freedom. And I agree there's a scale upon which you can judge a party's libertarian or authoritarian leanings. "If ...

Posted on Neue Politik

Just over a year ago the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) produced a scathing report on the Coalition Government's approach to creating a "bonfire of the quangos". It suggested that the whole process was fundamentally inept, as I discussed here. The Coalition nonetheless moved forward with the Public Bodies Act 2011, which was enacted in December 2011. This is the vehicle to be used to abolish public bodies deemed no longer necessary. Last week the PASC produced a report on a more specific component of this agenda: the proposed abolition of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC). The report ...

Posted by admin on Alex's Archives

Love and Garbage reports: Two undercover police officers who have spent the past few years masquerading as a retired Metropolitan Police Service pantomime horse have today broken their silence following the arrest of a horse trainer, 49, and a flame-haired woman and former newspaper editor who shall remain nameless in any official utterances from the Metropolitan Police, 43, at their Oxfordshire home.It seems I was on to something.

Posted by Jonathan on Liberal England

Sad news to relate as the party's MEPs decide on their plans for the next European elections. Sharon Bowles, MEP for South East England and one of the most powerful Liberal Democrats, will be standing down. Sharon's power comes from her highly influential role as Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in Europe. It was this role which made her the highest placed British person in the GFS Power 50 list of the most influential figures in global financial regulation. At home, she's also been great at supporting local parties in her region, even after taking over the ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Just a very quick tip for Linux users with iPods – you can use Spotify to sync music between your desktop and the iPod. The reason I mention this is that my wife's well-meaning parents got her an iPod for Xmas, and we quickly discovered that it's not possible to plug a new iPod into ...

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!

David Cameron will soon be beamed across the world from OHIO sitting at a basketball match beside President Obama with hot dogs in hand. Why is he doing this? Ohio is a swing state and the American presidential elections will be held in November. Cameron is helping Obama win over voters. I don't know whether it will be Cameron or the hot dog or the basketball match that will gain Obama more credibility. I suspect that to the Americans they probably will be expecting Tony Blair to appear as the British PM so will say,'who's that guy?', when they see ...

Posted by Maelo Manning on libdemchild, aged 11

An issue anyone has when writing political literature is to ensure you spell everything correctly. You proof-read then someone else proof-reads and then someone else does exactly the same. It is just prudent to do so. So what happens when you don't do this? Well you might find that you give out 5,000 odd leaflets where you didn't even spell the name of your own Political Party correctly... Just a tad embarrassing eh? [IMG: sue abrahams] Vote for the Conservatrive Party Candidate... I do feel for her. We all make mistakes but where was the proof-reading and even more importantly ...

Posted by neilmonnery on The Rambles of Neil Monnery

I appreciate that I've said nothing to date on the Health and Social Care Bill (referred to almost universally as the NHS Bill) - something that has been commented on by some readers. There are a number of reasons for my apparent silence. The first is that this Bill will not have much of an effect on the Scottish NHS, concerned at is it with the reorganisation of the NHS in England. Secondly, I actually continue to work in the NHS and it is therefore appropriate that I am more careful than usual regarding what I say in relation to ...

Posted by Andrew on A Scottish Liberal

How can we explain the decline in public concern about climate change over the past four years? A new study of over thirty years of public opinion data about the environment and global warming, by Lile Scruggs and Salil Benegal of the University of Connecticut, puts it down to economic insecurity caused by the Great Recession. The alternative explanations focus on partisan politicization (in the US), biased or waning media coverage and fluctuations in short-term weather conditions. But none of these appears to drive public opinion in anything like the same way as economic worries. I was especially interested in ...

Posted on NeilStockley.com

Originally posted by [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] creatore_magico at Join In & Help Rainbow SupportOriginally posted by [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] felidaeryl at Join In & Help Rainbow SupportOriginally posted by [IMG: [livejournal.com profile] ] moonlit_violets at Join In & Help Rainbow Support [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments

I realise what I am about to write will probably prove very controversial. I make no apologies for being so outspoken. We as a party have proved that we are an ineffectual rabble no better than the rest. We have no self-confidence, no self-belief, and no liberal conviction. We haven't helped our future, and we've set in motion everything needed for a full blooded civil war over a completely unnecessary fight. It's not very often that I would ever feel comfortable with quoting David Starkey, but in regards to the NHS I do. A few weeks back on BBC Question ...

Posted by Andrew Emmerson on

I first started reading DC comics, after being a 2000AD reader for a long while, when I read Judgment on Gotham. I'd always had a soft spot for Batstuff; the Keaton Batman was one of the first films I went to see with friends rather than parents; reading the comics just seemed to be a natural step. I didn't really know where to start, given that American comics are very different in structure from British ones (What do you mean you only get part of one story per comic? 2000AD has at least 5!) but I dived in, picking up ...

It's time again to nominate your favourite south Asian restaurant in the constituency for the 2012 Tiffin Cup Competition! Nominate your top Tikka or best balti below! This year, once again, I'm running a competition alongside the South Manchester Reporter ... Continue reading →

Posted by John Leech MP on John Leech MP
Tue 13th
16:41

Green Philosophy

Today the conservative philosopher Roger Scruton is giving a talk at Policy exchange about his new book, "Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet". The title itself is an interesting challenge to environmental philosophers – thinking about the planet is, in itself, impossible; forming a judgement about the billions of separate inputs, parameters ...

Posted by Adam Bell on Decline of the Logos

As a member of the All Party Parliamentary Save the Pub group I have always campaigned against the beer duty escalator and this year will be no different. Beer and pubs contribute £21 million to the economy and support almost ... Continue reading →

Posted by John Leech MP on John Leech MP
Tue 13th
15:41

A Very Proud Son moment

My Mum is a private Speech & Language Therapist; she works with children with all sorts of learning and speech disorders. She is nearly at the end of her PhD, examining how Skype can be used to provide Speech & Language Therapy. I've seen the research and it is revolutionary stuff, if the NHS take ...

Posted by Harry Matthews on Yellow Tinted Spectacles

Just now across three social media platforms three different people within about two minutes of each other told me (well anyone who followed them on these platforms really – it wasn't a direct message to me) that everyone should read Andrew Emmerson's piece entitled It's time I spoke out on the NHS: I'm angry, but probably not for reasons you've heard. I took their advice and if you haven't read it yet it is part ranty and part factual – just like a good blog should be. It is worth a read. I won't rehash what he said in too ...

Posted by neilmonnery on The Rambles of Neil Monnery

Just before conference I caught some largely unreported news on a Private Member's Bill, put to the Commons by Steve Baker MP, founder of the Cobden Centre, and one of the Conservative 2010 intake. My usual response to scant coverage of a Conservative backbencher's bills would be thankful, but in this case, the bill highlights something that has received astonishingly little attention: reforming the personal liability of directors. We've rested on the important points of how to discharge shares in effectively state-owned institutions, and how to increase lending to struggling businesses. On these issues Stephen Williams and Vince Cable have ...

Posted by Mike Bird on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 13th
15:07

Going to the wire

Yesterday's Guardian outlines in some detail the frenzied activity that is going on behind the scenes as the UK Coalition partners seek to find a formula they can agree on for next week's budget. The paper says that it is possible that talks will still be going on at final budget meeting 48 hours before chancellor unveils his plans in Commons. That is unprecedented but a clear indication that coalition politics has landed with a bump in the United Kingdom: Cameron and Osborne, who fly to Washington on Tuesday for a three-day visit to the US, are due to hold ...

Posted by Peter Black on Peter Black

Some of you might have read the Independent article today "The PM, his pro-smoking aide, and a dirty war over cigarette packaging". In the article it says (amongst other things...) "...The All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health has asked Vince Cable, the Trade and Industry Minister, for reassurances that Mr Littlewood will not be advising on tobacco-related matters because of his "clear conflict of interest". "....Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the anti-smoking organisation ASH, said: "Mark Littlewood is not independent, he has nailed his colours to the mast by supporting the tobacco industry-funded campaign against plain packs, just ...

Posted by Angela Harbutt on Liberal Vision

add "declines to support the bill in its current form" and calls for an urgent summit of the royal colleges, professional bodies, patients' organisations and the government to plan health reforms based on the coalition agreement. It appears that five Liberal Democrat MPs Andrew George, John Pugh, Greg Mulholland, Adrian Sanders and David Ward have listened to Spring Conference. Not necessarily how votes went down over the weekend but the body of the speeches from the debate on Sunday. They have tabled to above amendment on the Health and Social Care Bill opposition day debate. They are not leaving it ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Liberal Journal

Last weekend at the Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference, I went to a fringe event on minimum pricing for alcohol with Dr Peter Rice from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Dr Adrian Bonner from the Salvation Army with Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie in the chair. It was an interesting fringe event which I mainly ...

Posted by Nicola Prigg on Nic Prigg's Blog
Tue 13th
14:20

The Hackney Goal machine

Just back from a game and a visit to Whitmore Primary School in Hackney with the Parliamentary Football team. We are sponsored by National Grid, and their volunteering charity is City Year. http://www.cityyear.org.uk City Year is the leading youth and ... Continue reading →

Posted by John Leech MP on John Leech MP

Figures announced today by Caroline Pidgeon showed that the amount of unpaid Congestion Charge and penalty charge notices owed by embassies and diplomatic missions that evade paying the Congestion Charge is now more than £60 million. Shocking is the only words that can be used. That means that every single Londoner is owed more than £8 by non paying embassies and diplomatic missions. Perhaps I shall visit each embassy and get my £8 this weekend? Two months ago Transport for London admitted that the total unpaid bill had reached £58.1 million by the end of December 2011 (see page 14 ...

Posted by Gary Malcolm on Councillor Gary Malcolm

Usually I use this site for local issues. For once I am going to post about something national. Last weekend was the Lib Dem Spring Conference. At that Conference we debated the NHS bill (though we did not debate dropping it)- and voted against calling on Lib Dem peers to back its third reading. I am on the side of killing the bill, and starting again. I was lucky enough to be called in the debate on Sunday morning. This is what I said: "Conference, Lib Dems in parliament have done a tremendous job in working through Lansley´s bill line ...

Posted by pruebray on Prue Bray

This weekend saw the LibDems argue both for and against the Health and Social Care Bill. It may be a cliché, but whilst I'm in the #KillTheBill camp, I am still proud of our democratic system that allows votes on both sides of the argument to be counted (interestingly, I had to explain to supporters of the bill that those of us arguing against don't want NO bill, just not THIS bill - for some reason they seemed surprised at that). I spoke to both Paul Burstow and Judith Jolly about some of the concerns I have, and I pay ...

Posted by Lee Dargue on Liberal Democrat Voice

Why have allotments become so trendy? Where did the idea come from that everyone could have a plot of land to grow their own food? Allotments are part of the zeitgeist, so these are important questions. Yet most histories of the allotments movement are brief online lists of parliamentary acts, and they don't tell the half of it. So I wanted to bring the story alive, from Jesse Collings and 'Three Acres and a Cow' to Dig for Victory, and the campaign of direct action that led to the same thing in the First World War - and some very ...

Posted by Davidboyle on The Real Blog

Ken Livingstone, mayoral candidate for London, has just developed some policies for the Trans community as part of his manifesto. Now, I like Ken. If I lived in London he'd probably get my number 2 preference behind Brian Paddick. After all, when the alternative is Boris, I probably don't need to say much more. But it's pretty clear he has absolutely no clue on what issues face the Trans community. Here's the very first entry: Most importantly, it will try to mitigate the worst effects of the government's disastrous NHS privatization. Local commissioning makes the postcode lottery much worse, hitting ...

Posted by Zoe O'Connell on Complicity

The wholescale mass privatisation of a service is rarely needed, but a little gingering up round the edges has an electrifying effect on sleepy outfits. Often, private provision makes sense where small units need to buy in some expertise or back-office work they can't develop themselves. Some things have always been private - GPs, for ...

Posted by danielfurr on Too lib·er·al [adj.]

I imagine that Nick Clegg might well be feeling a bit irritated right now, especially if he's read the Liberal Democrat Voice survey which shows his overall approval rating at an all time low of 16% among the members who responded. As author Stephen Tall says, those figures come with a bit of a health (sorry) warning, given that the survey had an awful lot of questions about the NHS in it. I have always believed in Nick Clegg. The very first time I met him was in 1998 when he pitched up at East Midlands Lib Dems tiny, dingy ...

Posted by Caron on Caron's Musings

Welcome back to Liberal Democrat Voice's coverage of the House of Lords, where the denizens of the red benches are now at the sharp end of the legislative agenda for the parliamentary session. With sixteen votes taking place last week, Peers can expect no let up in the race to complete the Government's programme for its first session. And with the Queen's Speech now scheduled on 9 May, and the Lords due to go into recess for three weeks after business ends on 28 March, time is running out... How could we start, other than with the Health and Social ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 13th
12:51

Rebuilding Britain

The Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Gateshead showed a party confident in its ideas and confident in discussing and disagreeing about ideas. This is good news for the party, because coalition government is absolutely about discussing and winning the argument. There's no doubt that raising the tax threshold for the low and average paid while ...

Posted by williamhobhouse on William Hobhouse

Highgate, in North London, has a dilemma faced by many communities around the country. It is split down the middle by major organisational units, London Borough boundaries in its case. One side of the main shopping/eating street is in Haringey, the other side is in Camden and Islington is just down the hill. That is why the new powers introduced by the Coalition Government to create cross-border Neighbourhood Forums should be really good news, making it easier for residents and local businesses to get the sort of cooperation they have every right to expect but often don't get. Alas, Haringey ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack
Tue 13th
12:40

A Price Worth Paying?

Here's yesterday's piece in the New Statesman. Do pop over if you'd like to see the comments. Generally speaking - they didn't like it. Especially one Owen Jones..Oh dear... And of course, if you are a Lib Dem MP or Peer, do have a read. I wrote it for you. Everyone else - do feel free to send it to a Lib Dem MP or Peer... There appears to be some confusion as to what the Lib Dem members were saying about The Health and Social Care Bill at Spring Conference over the weekend. Let me attempt to clarify things. ...

Posted by Richard Morris on A VIEW FROM HAM COMMON

Apologies for missing the last few weeks. Here is a round up of planning applications in the ward. This week there is a significant application at 110 Arbury Road, for "Outline Planning Permission for the erection of five apartments and widening of existing access onto Arbury Road following the total demolition of the former caretaker's house." 110 is the Manor school caretaker's house. Follow the link for more details. The reference is 12/0147/OUT. Of a smaller scale there is an application in Arbury Court for "Extraction canopy and ductwork to exiting fish and chip take away", reference 12/0213/FUL. Also I ...

Posted by Mike on Focus on King's Hedges

Garry Trudeau carries on with is Doonesbury strip looking at the Texas Abortion Law. Today it features a legislator called Sid Patrick an amalgam of Sid Miller Texas Representative and state Senator Dan Patrick. Miller when talking about cuts to Planned Parenthood clinics last year said, women who lose their family planning provider can find services elsewhere at "faith, community-based pregnancy care centers". Of course these locations unlike Planned Parenthood don't provide any type of medical care, no cancer screenings, STD Tests, Pap smears or oral contraception. The 'slut' part of the cartoon refers to the comments that Rush Limbaugh ...

Posted by Stephen Glenn on Stephen's Liberal Journal
Tue 13th
12:00

Ten bob a year

Or 50p to younger readers. That's what Medomsley Parish Council agreed to pay the Consett Industrial and Provident Society each year to lease the allotments in Bramwell Terrace to the rear of Villa Real Road. The agreement was made in 1920, getting on for a hundred years ago, and was only designed to run for seven years. And from what I have come to understand it's the same agreement that governs it today – though Medomsley Parish Council has long since been merged out of existence and its eventual successor is Durham County Council, and as far as I know ...

Posted by Owen Temple on Owen Temple

After several months, quite a few emails, a few phone calls and with the assistance of one London Assembly member (Caroline Pidgeon, of course), last week I finally meet a couple of the Transport for London staff at Finsbury Park station to talk about what happens when they temporarily close the station. Typically when there is a problem with overcrowding, crowds build up on the concourse next to the Arsenal shop (on Station Place, the south-east facing side). However, no information is given out. There may be a member of staff by immediate entrance to the tunnel, but the crowd ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

There I was with a couple of mates when a group of police officers appeared and started filming us. None of us had a criminal record, nor were we doing anything remotely suspicious. We were not drunk, we were in a public place and there was nothing untoward going on around us either. Our only crime was to have visited a football stadium to watch a match. To rub it in even further, not only was one of the officers recording video for almost the entire 90 minutes another stood right next to her and took dozens of pictures. At ...

Posted by Gary Shearer on Liberal Democrat Voice

I wasn't friends with anyone at school 4 years above me. Were you? So why IS he pretending they were friends at school. Martin Bright was one year ahead of me at school. He doesn't know me from Adam. :-) Update: Political Scrapbook just mentioned that David Cameron's brother is a lawyer who was also at Eton - and he is older than David, so is more likely to have been friends with Charlie Brooks. The recomendations on his website are also endlessly entertaining ...

Posted by Richard Morris on A VIEW FROM HAM COMMON
Tue 13th
11:00

New Grove Vale Library

Yesterday core samples were taken under the Dulwich Garden Centre – see the picture. Core samples of the ground are used to check how much weight the ground can hold and what type of foundations will be required and a key step forward. It also marked the Section 106 agreement making another step forward. Watching paint dry would be quicker but progress is progress. Still not resolved and still with some daft sections but close to being sufficient for building to be started. If you'd like to know more about this scheme for a new Grove Vale library in late ...

Posted by James Barber on James Barber

PayPal is blocking the book | Behind The Sofa @paypaluk screws up. Please RT. (tags: paypal ) PayPal protection racket: update | Behind The Sofa @paypaluk covering themselves with glory. Or something. (tags: paypal )

[IMG: Water running into a bath from taps.] Veolia Water has announced it is introducing a ban on the domestic use of hosepipes from 5 April in order to conserve water supplies. The move follows months of below average rainfall and with forecasts indicating no end to the dry weather. Water companies across the South East are also imposing similar restrictions. The hosepipe ban includes: watering a garden or plants cleaning a motor-vehicle or a private leisure boat filling a domestic swimming or paddling pool drawing water for domestic recreational use filling a domestic pond or ornamental fountain cleaning walls ...

Posted on Tim Prater

There has been a very welcome recent revival of policy thinking in the Liberal Democrats, despite the large cuts to the party's official policy research staff. This has included a new think tank (Liberal Insight) and good work by Richard Kemp and the local government sector in encouraging imaginative plans for making use of the new legal powers going to local government. Added to this is the Social Liberal Forum's further foray into economic policy-making, following up on some of their successful events with their first policy pamphlet. Prateek Buch's "Plan C - social liberal approaches to a fair, sustainable ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice
Tue 13th
10:41

Sign up tax petition

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/28640 As the budget gets ever closer now is the time to sign up to the petition in support of raising the tax threshold to £10 000. This progressive measure would particularly benefit those on low or moderate earnings.

Posted on birkdale focus

There was much talk at this Conference about the factions that were launching – primarily Liberal Reform & Liberal Left. I don't have much time for what Liberal Left seeks to do. It goes completely in the face of the pluralistic principles of Liberal Democrats. It's almost as if they don't want to see Liberal ...

Posted by Harry Matthews on Yellow Tinted Spectacles
Tue 13th
10:20

Assisted dying.

My Grandmother Sams died when I was four from throat Cancer, my Grandfather was at her side and took care of her through her illness but would never talk about it, except that he had lost the love of his life. However when I was at school and there was a debate on assisted dying and Euthanasia he did say in conversation that the hardest thing in life is to watch someone you care deeply about suffer in agony and slowly. He said that, if a dog was dying from an illness or hideous injury the humane thing to do ...

Posted by Chris Sams on The Ginger Liberal from Medway

Polly Toynbee writing about the role of private provision in the NHS under Labour:* There is no doubt that putting some services out to tender has vastly improved certain standards over the years, broken the power of vested interests and brought in competition that has sharpened up results. Just look at how hospital consultants' waiting lists plummeted when a few Independent Treatment Centres were set up nearby. Suddenly, long waiting lists for hip and cataract operations fell because patients had a choice. The wholescale mass privatisation of a service is rarely needed, but a little gingering up round the edges ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on stephentall.org

Tony Nicklinson had a massive stroke some 6yrs ago and is totally paralysed. All he can move is his eyes & blink but his brain is unimpaired. He cannot commit suicide [which is legal] by himself. Anyone that helps him may be charged with murder. He has recently [12th March] won a High Court ruling which will allow his case to be considered in open court. He doesn't want to go yet but what gives the likes of Ann Widdecombe, Baroness Finlay and their supporters the right to deny him the choice? Come to that what gives them the right ...

Posted by coldcomfort on grumpyoldliberal

The link is to a story in the Daily Mail which relates to a news story on Channel 4 tonight. It confirms what I have been saying for some time which is that care proceedings are routinely flawed. What is important about this report is that it is commissioned by the Family Justice Council (a system organisation). Here is part of the article.Life-changing decisions about the care of thousands

Posted by john on John Hemming's Web Log

Polly Toynbee wrote in 2009 (with my emphasis): There is no doubt that putting some services out to tender has vastly improved certain standards over the years, broken the power of vested interests and brought in competition that has sharpened up results. Just look at how hospital consultants' waiting lists plummeted when a few Independent Treatment Centres were set up nearby. Suddenly, long waiting lists for hip and cataract operations fell because patients had a choice. The wholescale mass privatisation of a service is rarely needed, but a little gingering up round the edges has an electrifying effect on sleepy ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

There has been some concern and excitement (depending on your political persuasion) of the news of Lib Dem members leaving such as James Graham (2007 best blog) (you can see why he left here) or Graham Winyard as reported in The Guardian (and see the excitement from Guardian readers about this here). When I checked with the ...

Posted by Matthew Gibson on Solution Focused Politics

As soon as the Liberal Democrats bravely stepped in to coalition with David Cameron's Conservatives we knew tough times may lie ahead. Whilst the coalition's majority party has sailed through relatively unscathed, the junior partner has suffered an incessant flow of unfair and unjust criticism. Just as we thought this was beginning to wane, this month has witnessed an increase in anti-Clegg rhetoric. First to weigh in was the Lib Dems' very own Lembit Opik (as eccentric and publicity-seeking as ever), who has outlined in his new book a plan for a Lib Dem resurrection. He states that Clegg must ...

Posted by Scott Hill on Liberal Democrat Voice

Are you handy with a hammer or perfect with a paintbrush? Do you know your nuts from your bolts? Have your home improvements gone way beyond fixing the odd drawer? Love Productions are on the hunt for Britain's most talented amateur DIY enthusiasts to show off their skills and prove they're the best in the land. Whether you're into woodwork or weaving, floors or fabrics, decking or décor; if you could be Britain's handiest DIYer, they'd love to hear from you. To apply or find out more, email diy@loveproductions.co.uk or call 0207 067 4881. Published and promoted by Tim Prater, ...

Posted on Tim Prater

The BBC reports: Almost 100 permanent posts at local councils are being filled by people paid through limited companies, the BBC has learned. Dozens of high-earners are allowed to make their own tax arrangements rather than be paid through the PAYE system. Public accounts committee chair Margaret Hodge described the situation as a "tax avoidance scheme, which is totally wrong."... Hackney Council in London had the highest number, with 39 of its permanent staff paid through external companies. You can read the full story about Hackney and other councils here. Note: another great example of the Freedom of Information Act ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Jo Swinson: The Invisible Woman Caron details the Fail's wilful blindness (tags: Sexism ) Jim C. Hines » Freedom of Speech 101 Jim Hines reiterates in the clearest terms why "I don't like this" does not always mean "this should be banned" and why people who pretend it does are just arseholes. (tags: awesome ) When Geeks Have Empathy Problems | Geek Feminism Blog Remember this next time someone defends something odious, and feel sorry for them. Also, probably pass them a link to this post, even if it is a bit long. (tags: geekery ) Insect Memories Gina posts ...

I'm barely a couple of weeks into 6.002x and yet I'm already finding new methods of procrastination. Sigh. Some ways are more fruitful than others, however, and I've managed to find a number of people who are also blogging their way through the course. Here's a selection of some of the more interesting posts I've found so far. In an incredibly enthusiastic first post, Anna Chiara announces that MITx is alive, managing 6 "cools", 3 "greats" and 3 "amazings" in quick succession. Her motivation for taking the course? "... I'm a real fan of e-learning. It's a really new field, ...

New figures reveal that 3,382 homes in Norwich have received free loft or cavity wall insulation since 2008. While welcoming the progress made to make the city's homes warmer, Norwich South's MP Simon Wright has said he wants to see much greater numbers benefit following the introduction of the coalition government's Green Deal later this year. Mr Wright said: "Going green and insulating homes saves money for residents. Thanks to the current duty on energy companies, which forces them to insulate houses without cost to the homeowner, thousands of people in Norwich have lower bills and warmer homes." Under the ...

Posted on Simon Wright MP

The latest Liberal Democrat conference has trumpeted the achievements of the party as part of the coalition government. Taken as a list, I think there is little doubt that the party has gained many policy victories. It may even be that the government is enacting more of the Liberal Democrat manifesto than that of the Conservatives. Unfortunately that is not really the problem. Where the Lib Dems have been defeated- especially on electoral reform- those defeats have been comprehensive, while many of the victories have been managerial executive victories, the defeats have been philosophical and principle defeats. Talking to a ...

Posted by Cicero on Cicero's Songs
Tue 13th
08:23

Afghanistan debate

The following is my question at the "Urgent Question" relating to Afghanistan yesterday:John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD): The Minister will be aware that a minority of the House, including myself, voted for withdrawal some time ago.In an asymmetric conflict, emotions are very important in driving people's behaviour. Will the Minister agree to review the current strategy to identify whether

Posted by john on John Hemming's Web Log

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 500 party members responded, and we're publishing the full results. Miliband rating slips back again, to -84%, among Lib Dem members LDV asked: Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party? 0% – Very well 7% – Well Total well = 7% 47% – Badly 44% – Very badly Total badly = 91% 3% – Don't know / No opinion Will party members ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Liberal Democrat Voice

All, An interesting (at times) and very long meeting last night (finishing at gone 10pm). The most contentious bit was a presentation by a Planner from Stratford District Council about the draft Core Strategy. He did not give the impression that the Core Strategy would necessarily prevent the approximately 500 new homes that developers have either planning applications in for – or are about to. The latest potential development is from Banner Homes, who have asked to speak to the Town Council about a housing development on the other side of the road from ASL. We shall have to see ...

Posted by Philip Vial on Shipston on Stour blog

Local councillors have been working with the council to try and get an upgrade of the Rec. Nearly £50,000 has been found from section 106 monies – developer contributions agreed as a result of local planning applications. You can fill in the questionnaire on-line by clicking here. The closing date for responses is 10 April.

Posted by chriswhite on Chris White

I have today launched my monthly update to West End Community Council. Issues include: Riverside playing fields - safety concern Roundabout tidy-up Strawberrybank footpathsBellefield Avenue and Seafield Road - potholes action The Community Council meets tonight at 7pm at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall. All residents very welcome. You can download my Community Council Update at http://tinyurl.com/weccmarch2012.

Tue 13th
03:45

More blog admin

Right, have totally redone layout. It's nearly 4 AM now, though, so I;m going to stop tweaking because I have to be up at 8 to take Holly to school. Things still to do include:Sort out positioning of titleMake metadata and entry text more distinguishable - with colour or fontSort out how to rename "syndicate" to "subscribe" and "profile" to something else in the sidebar boxesSort out how to reorder nav links, and change what they link toPlus anything else that you guys can see that's an issue. Do comment and let me know it;s all gone horribly wrong, assuming ...

Health and Wellbeing Committee scrutiny of Care Quality Commission inspection of Kent House.

On The Daemons and pseudoscience.

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!