It was announced this morning that Medway's third bid for city status has failed and that Chelmsford, Perth and St Asaph have been named as the Nation's three new cities (one from England, Scotland and Wales). It'd be easy for me to write an "I told you so" blog post, but I won't for two reasons. 1. I'm not an arsehole. I know how hard people worked for Medway to become a city, and I know that they were doing it with the best of intentions and the depth of feeling behind it. I know how I would be feeling ...
The other day I wrote about the lost maverick geniuses of English football. This Goal of the Season competition from 1973 proves I was not making it up, as several of them feature here. (No disrespect to John Pratt, but he was not one of them.) As Brian Moore is the presenter, it must come from ITV's The Big Match Here are the results - Blogger cannot cope with the traditional reverse order: Don RogersStan BowlesCharlie GeorgeJohn PrattBryan "Pop" RobsonPeter OsgoodDon Rogers became famous playing for Swindon Town. As Wiltshire's answer to George Best he starred as the then Third ...
Garston will be playing host to a Sport Relief Mile later this month. It takes place on Garston Park on 24th March, starting at 11 am. There's no need to register in advance. Just turn up on the day. The starting point will be the Long Lane side of the park near the Lifestyles gym. Congrats to Andrew Colmer for sorting it all out.
The Friendly Bus sheltered shopping service is a great - and free - service for elderly folk to get to local supermarkets, have a good period of time for shopping, and get the bus back home. Having campaigned for the inclusion of Morven Terrace/Ancrum Place sheltered housing and Richmond Court to be included in the service, I was delighted that they were added to the timetable last year. There are new timetables in operation from week commencing 5th March - Tuesday remains the day that the West End is served. You can download the new timetable by clicking on the ...
No-one who has paid any attention to Parliament over the past couple of months can doubt that the decisions made in the House of Lords affect our daily lives. With working peers under the control of their whips more tightly than ever, putting their work under greater public scrutiny has never been more important. In a few months time, MPs will be given a vote over whether to introduce democratic elections to the House of Lords. It is crucial that they stick to their election promises and endorse these proposals. We've built a new tool to help you see to ...
Wed 14th
21:11
Labour opposition to the nhs changes - as principled as a news of the world journalist
Simon Carr in the Independent is a bit too frothy for my liking but his commentary on the NHS debate yesterday contains one telling paragraph: 'Labour was castigated, though probably not chastised. Oh, the things they did in government. The practice-based commissioning. The private treatment centres. The £67 billion of private money debt. The £12bn private IT system. And the franchising out of a hospital that Lansley is being vilified for. "The only secret Tory plan they find is a Labour plan," he yelled. For all the fury, maybe there is a secret consensus underneath it all.' I know this ...
James Graham Daniel Furr Chris Ward James Hargrave These are some of the people I know about who have left the Lib Dems in the past few weeks. In the case of Chris Ward, he only left today. And I only know these people because I'm friends with them or follow their blogs. I can't help but wonder how many people I don't know about are leaving. Not to mention those who have left who I know about personally but don't have convenient links for. All of these people are sensible Lib Dems. These aren't people who left simply because ...
I'm looking forward to the comments this week. We saw a newly confident Nick Clegg at Prime Minister's Questions today. I've written before that Nick's early Dispatch Box appearances were a bit like bear bating. He stood there, red-faced and growling as Labour MPs jabbed at him from all angles. But, today, we saw an assured and relaxed Nick Clegg who was convincingly combatative. Most impressively, he discharged the session with barely a single reference to a piece of paper. Not for him the "chained to my indexed folder" look of David Cameron. In short, Nick Clegg was Prime Ministerial. ...
As long-standing readers of my blog will know, supporting local businesses is one of my key commitments to the town and its workers. I was thrilled to see the West Briton joining in this campaign with their Go to Town project arranging discounts for Leap Day shoppers recently. Unfortunately I was in work all day on the 29th and didn't manage to take advantage of any! One Camborne business I visited the other day was Bengal Balti Cuisine in Cross Street. I'm happy to stand corrected, but I'm pretty sure this was the first Indian restaurant in Camborne and so ...
As I have previously announced, the next Lord Bonkers' Diary in Liberator will see Rutland's most popular fictional peer offer advice to his readers on their problems: As I pointed out last year (in all modesty), I have unparallelled political experience and I can also claim to be a Man of the World. Remember too that I have many friends and employees upon whom I may call. Meadowcroft can tell you when to prick out your begonias, Nanny is an authority on child-rearing and health problems, and the Reverend Hughes on spiritual matters. As I also pointed out last year, ...
You may remember that in February I blogged about a successful motion I put forward to reduce the default speed limit on Manchester's Roads to 20mph. This morning I attended the Council's Executive where they were considering a report about how to implement the policy. The report proposes three options to implement the policy. The basic and my preferred option would cost £2.8 million and would involve an extensive consultation and education campaign and entry signs into 20mph areas (as pictured for Chorlton ward) and reminder 20mph signs every 500m. Another option would cost £41million and in addition to the ...
Just a short post, based on something I came across today while waiting for an appointment at the GP's today. As you would, while waiting for the appointment I had a flick through some of the leaflets on display, and one of the leaflets was rather conspicuous in what was — or was not — present: Leeds Mental Health leaflet If you haven't guessed (and come on, it's in the title of this post), the conspiciously not-present item was transgender people. It's not just that page, either: crisis centres, Childline, support for most minority groups (including LGB people, women, and ...
The other day, I blogged about the vote at Lib Dem Conference on health. I said that Lib Dem activists think that THEY are the party, but actually, they are not the party, they are the party's fans Over at Huffington Post, the Lib Dem blogger Louise Phillips has written a superb, must-read piece about what is wrong with the activist culture of my party. Boy, is she right, including about the Glee Club The party's democratic structure is first-rate; what is problematic is the culture that has grown up within that structure. How do we begin the ...
Shirley Williams - for rejecting the title of living deity with characteristic common sense in her Sabbath day speech to conference. Evan Harris - for cutting through the cynicism of christening motions after national treasures by teasing conference with his "William Beveridge" amendment speech on the Shirley Williams motion. What next - the Conrad Russell memorial welfare reforms or the John Stuart Mill cuts in Sure Start? That's enough naming stuff after deities living or dead thanks very much. Pamphleteers Prateek Buch (Plan C - social liberal approaches to a fair, sustainable economy published by Social Liberal Forum) and Jo ...
Click on picture to enlarge and zoom. From Mark Pack's Blog: http://www.markpack.org.uk
I wrote that following up a website launch with further online campaigning is important when 60pounds.org was launched, and so it's good to see the email sent out from Jo Swinson MP today. It also passes many of the other tests I've mentioned about effective emails, such as putting the campaign action in the context of a bigger political story and being crafted around generating one specific action from readers. We are just one week from Budget day, and I need your help. As you may have seen in Nick Clegg's excellent PMQs today, Liberal Democrats in Government are fighting ...
My friend Shabnum Mustapha, who's Amnesty's Scottish Director, was on Good Morning Scotland today talking about the chilling report on torture in Syria produced by the organisation. I've read the report. It's utterly horrible and upsetting. Crucifixion, rape, electric shocks, gouging flesh with pincers, all would be bad enough to read about in a novel. When you think that this is most likely happening to someone in Syria as I write, it becomes even more harrowing. Syria is a place where not even hospitals are safe from a dehumanizing, cruel regime. Every single one of those people in the report ...
[IMG: 20120314-171804.jpg] All, Act on Energy and Transition Shipston are holding a Community Energy Fair in Shipston in March. Here is their press release. It should be an interesting day – and show local residents how they can save money on their energy bills. Best of all – it's free! Philip "See through the spin to really go green!" That will be the message that TV celebrity architect Charlie Luxton will be giving in Shipston on Wednesday 21 March, when he speaks at the Shipston Community Energy Fair. Charlie Luxton is the presenter and "architectural expert" for many TV programmes ...
The Town Council has set its budget. Total expenditure is £251,514. I have only shown individual items of over £5,000 rounded to nearest thousand. The rest is in "various". Council has a full time Clerk and part-time secretary. Full details will be on the Town Council website, minutes of meeting on 30 January 2012.
Britain's planning system is generally defended on environmental grounds. Yet far from keepingBritain"green and pleasant", the Town and Country Planning Acts have led to the creation of dormitory towns, required the building of extensive infrastructure, and have increased urban density at the expense of urban green space. In a new report released by the Adam Smith Institute, I argue that we need to do away with the old, top-down planning system. In this first article, I will lay out the indictment of the system. Tomorrow, I will make some proposals for how we can liberate the land and empower individuals ...
I am extremely grateful to Matthew Purvis, one of the extremely assiduous and analytically astute researchers in the House of Lords Library, who has confirmed with some statistics my suspicion that former MPs and councillors (nominees of their parties, all) are indeed disproportionately represented among the active membership (those who attend and vote) of the Lords. I am writing with regard to your latest post on Lords of the Blog in which you mention the voting propensity of Members of the Lords who have served as a Member of Parliament or as a local councillor. By my calculations, in ...
Norwich South MP Simon Wright today (Wednesday) took part in the Sport Relief Westminster Mile for MPs. He is now encouraging more people to sign up for the Norwich Mile on 25 March. Speaking after his participation in the Westminster Mile, Mr Wright said: [IMG: Simon Wright MP after completing the Westminster Mile] "I would strongly encourage people to sign up for the Sport Relief Norwich Mile on March 25th and help support the charity. Its not too late to take part. You can take the Mile at your own pace, and it's suitable for all ages and all abilities. ...
Read the latest about what Sutton North councillors are doing to tackle speeding on Suttton Common Road by visiting my local ward blog here.
It's has happened again. What? I hear you ask. Nothing simpler than another occasion in which those in Lib Dem HQ in London forget about us in Northern Ireland. It is often said to me that the Lib Dems don't make policy on issues affecting Northern Ireland only – that is on issues devolved to ...
Neil Stockley has often, and rightly, written about the power of stories in conveying a political message. A dry recital of bullet points and decimal points may make for a good conference motion or a useful background briefing document. What it does not make for is a message that will move and convince people. It needs a story to bring it to life. Last week I heard Norman Lamb talking to Twickenham and Richmond Liberal Democrats, at a fundraiser for Munira Wilson's GLA campaign. His speech neatly illustrated the point. As he was getting into the flow, he veered perilously ...
Bank Reconciliation"This is an important internal control. It compares the council's cash book with the bank statements. Typically bank statements are received monthly. Some smaller councils may receive quarterly statements. It is good practice for the bank reconciliation to be prepared every time a bank statement is received. In all cases, the council should arrange for the reconciliation to be checked by a nominated council member or officer." "Some councils will carry out a reconciliation every time they receive a bank statement. This is an example of good practice because it identifies errors early on. It is for each council ...
You have to wonder where it all went wrong. I sit here at the age of 40 looking around at my life and what I have achieved and it all seems rather a waste. Perhaps I am being overly philosophical because of the death of my uncle. I don't really know. What I do know is ...
Some of you will be aware that I found it necessary to refer Cllr Wells to KCC's Standards committee. Details of their determinations follows Decision Notice Standards (Assessment) Sub Committee Reference Number: KCC/1/2012 Date: 7 March 2012 Details of the complaint: Mr T Flaig (the complainant), raised concerns about the alleged conduct of Mr C Wells, an elected Member of Kent County Council. A general summary of the complaint is as follows: It is alleged that the conduct of Mr Wells has fallen below acceptable standards in that he has used an abusive and disrespectful term, "lickspittle" to describe the ...
The FT's increasingly must-read Kiran Stacey writes: Conservative minister, Peter Lilley, ... asked why he was so focused on House of Lords reform when there were so many other more important issues to tackle. Clegg's response was very telling: "There are other issues like changing the boundaries which I know are close to his party's heart..." The Tories will absolutely hate that. They say the original agreement between the two parties was that they would agree to an AV referendum if the Lib Dems agreed to change constituency boundaries in a way that would benefit the Conservatives. Now the AV ...
I was delighted to see that the Local Government Association issued a report to the Government this week calling for powers to enable councils to create local investment bonds to boost local growth and enterprise. This follows on from work ... Continue reading →
Obviously when the Lib Dems in Government at Westminster talked about increasing the income tax threshold they meant it be for all the UK. The excellent website, set up by Tim Gordon, asking people what they would do with it however, makes it impossible for me or the rest of our local party to tell ...
Nick Clegg was interviewed in the Telegraph at the weekend. On the train journey to Gateshead, he covered how he wants to make the rich pay their fair share in tax, economic policy beyond the deficit, support for equal marriage and his relationships with his cabinet colleagues. On taxing the rich he had this to say: "It makes people so incredibly angry when you are getting up early in the morning, working really hard to try to do the right thing for your family and for your community, you are paying your taxes and then you see people literally in ...
From yesterday's debate on Housing Benefit: The Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage (Huw Lewis): ......it is my determined ambition to be labelled ‗small-minded' by a Conservative. Then I will have achieved everything in politics that I set out to do. If that is all that it takes to satisfy the Minister's ambitions then that could explain why so little is happening in his portfolio and why we still do not have targets for affordable housing.
The extremism within the National Union of Students has become an increasing frustration to me lately. Instead of working constructively to support students and widen access to Universities, the NUS, dominated by an extremist clique, campaign negatively against the Government even when that is not in the best interest of its own members. Ex-President Aaron Porter was quietly pleased that the new Tuition Fee system is so similar to his preferred method of a Graduate Tax and tried to tone down the student demonstrations. In response, the more extreme elements of the organisation chucked him out in favour of somebody ...
This is a review of the Y-Cam Knight SD. I previously reviewed the Y-Cam S in 2009. I got this camera for a 30% discount thanks to Y-Cam's social media team. Adjust your bias filters accordingly. Unboxing Linux Set UpTo set the camera up, you need to use its internal webserver. So, how can you find out the IP address of the camera? Use the provided network cable to connect the camera to your router.If you have WINE installed, you can run the auto-run program on the provided CD. It should find the camera's IP address. [IMG: y-cam setup wine] ...
Try as we might, sometimes we stumble over our words in the chamber. I am no exception: Peter Black: Thank you for that answer. You will know that many local authorities and bus companies are struggling with your Government's decision to cut the bus fuel subsidy by £3 million this year—very much a last-minute decision. At the same time, you are subsidising the north Wales air service by £1.6 million for 10,000 passengers, and the Hollywood to Cardiff—[Laughter.] I will start again. You are subsidising the Holyhead to Cardiff train service by £1.7 million, yet 114 million passengers use buses. ...
Wed 14th
13:51
Chris Rennard writes... Who will win the debate between Shirley Williams and Polly Toynbee?
I spent some of last Saturday morning in the briefing session at the Lib Dem Conference with the Lib Dem parliamentary health team sitting just in front of Andrew Sparrow and Patrick Wintour (both of the Guardian) as Shirley Williams laid into Polly Toynbee's account in their paper of a key amendment on the Health Bill. For those of us who are fed up with Toynbee's 'tribal' attacks on the Lib Dems it was a joy to listen to. Andrew Sparrow wrote a great account of Shirley's clear rebuttal of the Toynbee attack. He tweeted that, "It wouldn't be a ...
As always, Paul Walter will be along later with his imitable account of PMQs on Liberal Democrat Voice, but I thought that seeing as our own Nick Clegg was standing in for David Cameron today, we could have a bit of a bonus. I tweeted my way through a session that could have been a tough one for our leader - but he managed to deal with the predictable Labour attacks on unemployment and the Health and Social Care Bill thoughtfully and without aggression or rancour. Here are my tweets - with apologies for the spelling mistakes. My fingers had ...
Day 3 of Garry Trudeau's take on the Texas Abortion Law strip for Doonesbury brings in the name of Texas Governor and former GOP Presidential Candidate Rick Perry who signed the law into being. The doctor is reading the prescribed words regarding abortion as obviously he cannot be trusted to aim the words at the recipient as he would be discussing cancer or HIV with a recently diagnosed patient. © 2012 Garry Trudeau , Universal Press Syndicate
As always, Paul Walter will be along later with his imitable account of PMQs, but I thought that seeing as our own Nick Clegg was standing in for David Cameron today, we could have a bit of a bonus. I tweeted my way through a session that could have been a tough one for our leader – but he managed to deal with the predictable Labour attacks on unemployment and the Health and Social Care Bill thoughtfully and without aggression or rancour. Here is a link to my tweets – with apologies for the spelling mistakes. My fingers had trouble ...
Alex Folkes has the story: At a cabinet meeting a couple of months ago, Cllr Robertson read out a number of twitter posts critical of his decision to be absent from a cabinet discussion on child safeguarding in favour of lobbying a local government magazine which had shortlisted Cornwall Council for an award. He then attempted to ban the use of twitter in meetings. The Council issued a statement saying that the tweets were "brought to the attention of the leader" so I asked who had done so. Finally – two months later and at 6pm on a Friday evening ...
The NHS is proving a political nightmare for the Lib Dems. This reflects a failure to develop a clear vision for the service before the election. The NHS is now a toxic issue for the Lib Dems. This is not because the voters are turning against the party on the issue, as they did for student loans. In the overheated rhetoric surrounding the issue there have been many claims that the public will abandon the party over this latest betrayal. But the public judges parties on what actually happens to the NHS, not on the speculations of excited activists and ...
Dear Lord Hollick, I have been wondering hard how best to phrase this message to you, especially as I would like you to read it and think about it carefully but it is also a message out of the blue from a complete stranger. It's also a message that's going to criticise you, so I suspect you'll be tempted just to ignore it. I hope you won't, but I will therefore keep the message short and polite. The topic is your decision to call Shirley Williams "the Coalition's Lady Haw-Haw". Lord Haw-Haw was an anti-Semite, a fascist and then a ...
I filmed Nick Clegg's speech on Sunday. It's now on YouTube.
Recently, there's been some controversy as the European Court of Human Rights suggested that denying all prisoners the right to a vote while also denying them the right to an appeal was a breach of human rights. Crumb-spewing social conservatives like David Davis and Jack Straw were up in arms, exclaiming such nonsense as "This is not about human rights, this is about rapists!". I have some empathy with those that believe that anybody that breaks the rules of society should be denied a say in its future but ultimately I do not agree. For me, the progression goes like ...
Norwich South MP Simon Wright MP is joining sixth-form students from Norfolk on a visit to the former Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau tomorrow [Thursday 15th March]. The visit is part of the Holocaust Education Trust's project to give students a unique opportunity to learn about what happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau, to pay respect to those who lost their lives, and to explore the universal lessons of the Holocaust and its relevance for today. The students will now use the experience to commemorate and educate others about the Holocaust at their schools and in their local communities. [IMG: Lessons from Auschwitz] Commenting, ...
Michael Moore MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, writes a weekly column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. I have been publishing them on Liberal Democrat Voice. Here are the last two weeks' columns in full. Special praise is due to him for mentioning International Women's Day and the things that the Liberal Democrats are doing for women in Government. The boys usually don't do that kind of stuff so I am well impressed. GERS figures show Scotland better off in Union Last week, the Scottish Government published the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland 2010-2011 (GERS) figures which outlined the ...
Every week, Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore writes a column for local newspapers in his constituency. These are the highlights of the last two editions. Afghanistan The loss of six young soldiers in Afghanistan last week shocked and saddened the whole country and was a grave reminder of the huge sacrifice made by our armed forces in one of the most dangerous places in the world. The work of our men and women in Afghanistan is absolutely vital for the security of the UK and the freedom of the Afghan people and the deaths of these young men ...
There have been important developments in the ongoing campaign. Lord Sharkey has tabled an amendment to the Legal Aid Bill that is currently passing through the Lords. This amendment would allow relatives to apply for a posthumous pardon on behalf ... Continue reading →
I shall not write a resignation post because I know it will be used against my friends, who remain members of the Liberal Democrats. Some of you will understand-and even know-my reasons for leaving and will be sympathetic towards this decision. Nobody, or group, should be targeted for my exit or accused of forcing me ...
The long wait is over, no Northern Ireland town will be granted city status by Her Majesty in this the Diamond Jubilee Year. However, the Province will have another Lord Mayor. No longer will we be able to refer to the Lord Mayor and mean The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of Belfast. Armagh has ...
A busy day ahead. Drive over to Reeman, Dansie auctioneers in Colchester. Sit through endless coin and toy auctioning (but not without interest - why does a George IV crown go for about three times a James II one, given that said George reigned for about four times as long as said James and about four generations later?). Packaged food at counter is surprisingly good.Three items of interest to me come up. I get one below estimate. Enough time to drive back to Dovercourt to take train to London for Meetup writers' group, parking about 1 1/2 miles from home ...
Recently Southwark Council Planning Committee approved the latest Network Rail plans for London Bridge station. The original application approved in 2002 was flawed and this one is also fundamentally flawed. I had thought by getting inserted into the Southwark Core Strategy p.43 point 4.21 that any London Bridge station improvements "station improvements should prioritise links to buses and train stations within Southwark" I'd avoid a repeat but sadly I didn't. London Bridge and its monolithic viaducts cutting through communities is a large blot on north Southwark. Such a blot having little benefit for Southwark is outrageous. The planning application was ...
Rebecca West interviewed by Marina Warner in 1981 "Perhaps there's some quite simple thing we'll think of someday, which will make us much happier." (tags: books ) Open letter to Jason Russell CEO of Invisible Children Inc on KONY2012 A Ugandan speaks. (tags: kony ) Behind The Sofa: PayPal resolution | Behind The Sofa PayPal UK (@PayPalUK) apologises for their Doctor Who charity book ****-up. (tags: paypal ) Pakistani diplomat tells tale of 'mango diplomacy' | WBEZ Click the 'transcript' button. (tags: diplomacy: )
If you want a free, fair and open society, one that gets a balance between the equality, liberty and community. If you think that someone's poverty or ignorance should not keep them trapped. Nor that you don't need to conform to some hypothetical norm to get by? If you believe that every individuals dignity, freedom and well-being is paramount. That they should have the right to develop the skills and talents that they have, with a freedom of conscience. If you believe that power should be in the hands of the most local level it possibly can. To react to ...
Last Friday night Liberal Democrat conference was blown away by 19yr old Londoner Yahaya Kiyingi's heartfelt and incredibly delivered rally speech about Liberalism, opportunity and the next generation. Yahaya talked about his family moving from Uganda to London, growing up in one of the poorest areas of his borough, but aspiring to where he is today through the principles of opportunity and empowerment which define our Liberal identity. Everyone, starting with Nick Clegg wanted to meet him and sing his praises afterwards, and as Simon Hughes told conference "You are why we are in politics Yahaya". But Yahaya's narrative wasn't ...
Don't forget that while David Cameron is off schmoozing with President Obama, it's our Nick Clegg who will be doing PMQs today at 12. He'll face Harriet Harman, who launched a bizarre attack on him, suggesting that the Liberal Democrats were being sidelined because they weren't in America with Cameron and were left here. I wonder if that's how she felt when Brown, Darling and Miliband went off places without her when she was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. She never even got to be Deputy Prime Minister. It's clear from the memoirs of others that her experience of ...
Wed 14th
10:25
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: William Shirer's magisterial work has generally aged well
William L Shirer's lengthy 1959 book, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, is still one of the most successful popular histories of Nazism, despite first coming out in 1959 at a time when an understanding of how the horrors of the 1930s and 1940s had happened was very different from what it is now. The book certainly shows its age in parts, most notably with the regular homophobic descriptions of gay Nazis, described as perverts and worse not for being Nazis but for being gay. Its story of how the Second World War came about was at the ...
The City Council periodically publishes a newsletter covering local groups and their events. Here is the latest issue: Queen Edith's Community News
Those interested in family court issues should read this article.
Wed 14th
09:25
Has something gone wrong with the Pupil Premium, as Jonathan Calder suggests? Some quick thoughts fr...
Jonathan Calder has an interesting post at his Liberal England blog tracing the evolution of the pupil premium, and asks if its lost its initial guiding purpose: The Pupil Premium seems to have dwindled into a scheme that positions the poor child as a social problem who needs more money spent on him. But if that child is in a bad school then it is hard to believe that another two weeks in the classroom or a bit more money for that school is going to make much difference. You can read Jonathan's post in full here. I've posted a ...
The controversy surrounding Jenny Tonge's resignation from our party in the House of Lords has attracted a lot of comment online. I'm co-chair of the parliamentary party's international affairs committee (although writing here in a personal capacity) and I think the stance which Nick took as leader was right. Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine - for whom I have a great deal of time - have suggested that Jenny's 'intention was to imply that Israel's wilful failure to uphold and respect the human rights of Palestinian Muslims and Christians is behaviour which is likely to lead to its self-destruction'. Interpreted ...
Andrew George's amendment: Ayes: Martin Horwood Julian Huppert John Leech John Pugh Andrew George Adrian Sanders Greg Mulholland Noes: Danny Alexander Norman Baker Alan Beith Gordon Birtwistle Tom Brake Paul Burstow Lorely Burt Vince Cable Menzies Campbel Alistair Carmichael Nick Clegg Mike Crockart Ed Davey Tim Farron Lynne Featherstone Don Foster Stephen Gilbert Duncan Hames Nick ...
One of the things Labour are criticising is the idea of patients being able to have treatment from organisations which are not directly part of the NHS. It is worth looking at their 2010 Manifesto:In health, this means if we don't meet our guarantees, for example on waiting lists, the NHS will fund you to go private. We will support an active role for the independent sector working alongside
Doctor Who charity book under threat from PayPal (tags: DoctorWho ) How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Feminists | G. Willow Wilson "For a long time my attitude was "if I can do, it, any woman can do it" but the fact of the matter is that's not true. The world my daughter grows up in will be tougher for girls than the world I grew up in. We are going backwards. And that is what makes me livid. " (tags: feminism ) Mr. Clegg and the Vision thing The always-excellent Cicero has some sage advice for Cleggy. ...
Where are our leaders? The leaders who look not to today, tomorrow or next week, not to the latest focus group or opinion poll but towards the next decade and beyond. The leaders who stand up and say "we will do this because it is hard" and the statement is not just spin. The leaders who, through word and deed, will inspire us to take risks and make sacrifices, the leaders who push us out of our comfort zones to achieve great things and advance the cause of human kind.
The link is to the Channel 4 Story last night about the unreliability of the experts in the family courts - which leads to the unreliability of the decisions as the quality of the decisions is founded on the quality of evidence.
Owen Jones sent me a fairly direct comment on my last piece for The New Statesman and not the sort that usually persuades me to write a response (and I'm honour bound to point out that this isn't the erudite and rather nice Owen Jones who wrote 'Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class' - he's written to me to say it's not him. Told you he was nice). But then the first Owen Jones did then ask me in a more polite manner WHY I was so opposed to the Health and Social Care Bill. And while I write ...
Last night, I attended the latest meeting of West End Community Council at which there was a very informative and detailed presentation from the City Council's Recycling Projects Officer about the current position of recycling efforts in Dundee and future plans to further extend recycling opportunities for residents. I have, on many occasions on behalf of West End constituents, asked about extending the kerbside plastics and bottles recycling facility that currently only covers a limited number of parts of the West End. It was therefore good to hear last night that the council is, later this year, to be undertaking ...
By far the most bizarre part of the Assembly Plenary session yesterday came right at the end of First Minister's questions when, responding to a question from Welsh Liberal Democrat, Eluned Parrott, Carwyn Jones turned his ire onto Cardiff Wales airport. As the Western Mail reports, Mr. Jones said he would not want to bring people into Wales through the airport. He told Plenary that the condition of Cardiff Airport does not give the right impression of Wales and said that its owners should "either run the airport properly or sell it". Personally, I prefer Cardiff Wales airport to Bristol. ...
Julian Huppert MP Julian Huppert, Member of Parliament for Cambridge, has today voted in favour of two bids to drop the Health Bill. Julian voted in favour of an amendment tabled by some Liberal Democrats saying that the House "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". Julian said, "I voted against this Bill when it left the House of Commons last September. While it has been improved significantly, it is not improved ...
Julian Huppert MP Julian Huppert, Member of Parliament for Cambridge, has today voted in favour of two bids to drop the Health Bill. Julian voted in favour of an amendment tabled by some Liberal Democrats saying that the House "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". Julian said, "I voted against this Bill when it left the House of Commons last September. While it has been improved significantly, it is not improved ...
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. 81% of Lib Dem members support the Coalition Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives? (Comparison with February 2012′s figures) 81% (-3%) – Support 14% (+1%) – Oppose 4% (+1%) – Don't know / No opinion Support for the Coalition remains high, at 81%, in spite of the difficulties its endured in ...
