My thoughts on the thorny issue of the leadership are fairly simple. I still think Nick's doing okay and should continue to be supported. Before they come for me, here's why. Nick should still be leader of the Lib Dems in 2015 and the increasing calls for him to resign just miss the point entirely. Seriously, if Lembit says something you've got to be reassured if you disagree. The phrase 'lost the plot' just doesn't do his present state of mind justice. However, others with greater control of their faculties have said this, so it needs to be considered. Nick ...
Well, even the shouting is over so a moment of reflection is probably called for. In West Oxfordshire we did okay. We won the ultra blue seat of Woodstock and we held Charlbury and Finstock, increasing the majority to one which can reasonably be described as 'thumping'. Elsewhere in the district the Labour Party did well, gaining 3 seats. It's always good to see the Tories get a kicking but I still hold to the 'plague on both their houses' line. The Greens also stood across the area, did b*gger all but took votes which could be ours - the ...
An update from the Joint Cycleway Group meeting this week - South Glos told us that all the necessary Network Rail permissions have now been granted, so that's a major step forward. Phase 1 - Railway Path Spur to Westerleigh A digger has already started on the route from the Railway Path Spur. By June it should be passable on foot or by mountain bike to Westerleigh. A compacted surface will be in by August, with completion to the final standard next year. Most of the fencing is up, except under the motorway bridge, where palisade fencing will be put ...
David Hencke celebrates the role of bloggers in the downfall of Brian Coleman. Jerry Hayes on Dale & Co. has little time for the idea that Boris Johnson is a future Conservative leader: "The women love him for that little sexual frisson that ladies of a certain age have when confronted with an old roué or sitting on a spin dryer. And the men? Well, it is a mixture of admiration and envy that the old boy can actually get away with being so outrageous. But if you are looking for someone with more than a gnat's attention to detail, ...
Sat 5th
21:17
Bombing the Wrong targets: The German Luftwaffe in Africa and the Mediterranean 1941-2 Pt I
Some readers may know that on Wednesday 9th May I've volunteered to do a talk to the Imperial War Museum History department about the Luftwaffe in North Africa and the campaign against Malta. To be fair I was at a leaving party last year, I'd had a couple of beers and got talking to one of the others about my Dissertation and said in usual Becks fuelled bravado. You know what Bryn... I could talk about that. Next year? Yeah plenty of time. Well now I need to present and the research is taking up a lot of my spare ...
The coalition government has made all local councils make public all payments of over £500. You can see Southwark's here. Sadly the barest minimum is provided – the title of the supplier and the amount spent in that month. No archive of months, no past years, no running total, no categorisation or cost centre making the order, order raiser, or even a description of what is being purchased from the Purchase Order. In fact no context at all. It's also presented as a pdf file making manipulation a little trickier. This really isn't the open government intended. It's so bad ...
I realised that in the course of my catch-up of current Doctor Who audios, I hadn't finished the recent Serpent Crest series of plays by Paul Magrs, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor; this one also with David Troughton standing in for his late father. I had very much enjoyed the fourth episode in this series, The Hexford Invasion, and had been hoping that the climax would reach the same standards. It didn't, quite; the resolution of why there are two Doctors was pretty much as I had expected, though Tom Baker gets some marvellous carpet-chewing moments, and the ...
Well, I got my wish. Nick Clegg sent an email to party members this evening. In fact we all got two emails, because whoever sent it had some problems with mail merge first time round. In them, Nick wrote: Of course, being in Coalition Government brings challenges, but our party is used to setbacks and brickbats and our values remain steadfast. We're implementing those values in Government: fairness, freedom and concern for the environment.And we will make it crystal clear that we are fighting for those every step of the way in Government.That's why we have cut taxes for millions ...
It was inevitable that the Coalition would run into trouble. One of the constituent parties had long been out of power, had leaders with no experience of government, and hordes of backbenchers and activists with bizarre views and little concept of party discipline. I'm talking about the Conservatives, stoopid!!!!!??????!!!!! The key political development of the past few weeks has been the discovery that David Cameron and George Osborne are not that special after all. Many of the criticisms of Osborne's budget were trivial, but there is no doubt that he mishandled the politics of it. David Cameron has made serious ...
Ooo! Shiny thing! I have found a few of you, but if anyone reading this wants to find me, I am here: https://pinterest.com/jennierigg/ And I appear to have invites too, if anyone wants one, but I don't know how they work... [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Another blog post about trans issues, bear with me. [IMG: :)] One thing that really annoys me about Wikipedia is that it's really progressive about LGBT issues (thanks to the very well-organised LGBT WikiProject), except where it really matters. And where it really matters is in the case of Breanna Manning, although you probably know her better as "Bradley". Yes, I'm talking about the Wikileaks whistleblower. Her gender incongruence has been known to her counsellor and CO for at least two years, and confirmed by her defence lawyers six months ago, so why do Wikipedia still refer to her as ...
Well probably not, the London mayoral election that is, I'd characterise the contest, as being a race between a couple of eccentric characters almost as relevant as the front and back of a pantomime horse. Either of these gents seem interchangeable, both appear to be misfits both seem evenly matched in as far as being able to irritate, one breeds newts and the other never combs his hair. Apart from, for me clear distinctions of background, pretty much cliched, in that Boris is clearly a Tory toff and sounds pompous like it and Ken is clearly from humbler working class ...
A fit and proper and financial system is essential to the smooth running of any modern economy. The central contention of this post is that Liberals must seek to create a financial system that works for the British economy as a whole; but not through state-ownership or the protection of existing interests. Rather, we must seek to create a more competitive financial sector in the UK that connects with individuals in new and interesting ways. Given that this is not something that will happen overnight, we must accept that in the meantime it is going to take a large injection ...
Well done to Meri O'Connell and the team for her stunning victory in Tilehurst in the Reading Borough elections. A 200 Tory majority last year has been turned into a 300 Lib Dem majority this year! Yet again, it proves the phrase: Where we work we win. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
This is the third election since 2010 where I've watched results roll in with a feeling of mild despair. Obviously I'm disappointed. Whilst losses are lower than many were predicting, Labour have taken away Cardiff and Cambridge, and we were beaten by a man dressed as a penguin in Edinburgh. In the London Mayoral Boris Johnson has been re-elected but Brian Paddick - who really has run a campaign streaks ahead of his 2008 attempt - has received a disappointingly low share of the vote. We've also seen our presence in the London Assembly reduced, from three to two. Obviously ...
News websites have a fair smattering of articles such as this one today, in which some random Tory MP demands that the Prime Minister rediscover his conservative roots, ditch the Liberal Democrats or just applies a little discipline to the boy Clegg in an effort to reverse their party's decline in the polls. What they are succeeding in doing of course is highlighting how strong the Liberal Democrat influence is on the Government, moderating the worse aspects of Toryism and ensuring that key tax cutting policies for low earners remain in place. It is shame that the country at large ...
The UK Green Party is a political success story still in motion. They've managed to combat the strictures of our First-Past-The-Post electoral system to the point of getting their leader elected to Parliament. Meanwhile, Jenny Jones has just finished coming third in London's mayoral elections, their campaign has brought them to third in London Assembly ...
A belief in Progress goes along with economic growth. While economic growth, especially as measured by GNP, isn't a total good or the only measure or process worth considering, could a tendency to believe that things will generally get better survive in a no-growth situation, which we may well be coming to? @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ If you believe in Progress, you will not be convinced by people who say things that concern you can't change. But if you believe in Progress, you may be unable to question whether the major trends you see in recent history are for the good at all. ...
There's no prize at stake - just the opportunity to prove you're wittier than any other LDV reader... Here is re-elected London mayor Boris Johnson with his fellow Etonian, Tory leader David Cameron. After this week's local election results, what do you think might be being said or thought by or about them? And the winners of our last caption comp is... Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, David Cameron & Jeremy Hunt "Human shield" Edition. The winner, according to The Voice's judging panel of one, was this one by Paul Walter: Cameron: "I knew you'd like ...
Read about the new heritage-style public noticeboard on Victoria Gardens on my ward blog here.
After the Lib Dems shocked the world by going into coalition with the Conservatives in 2010, plenty of commentators threatened the party with oblivion. At first glance this week's results in the local and London elections show this prediction to be comfortably on course. In fact the Lib Dem vote held up well in the party's strongholds (including in their vilified leader Nick Clegg's Sheffield constituency), so extinction is not beckoning. Some very challenging questions are being posed for the party's leaders and campaigners, though, especially here in London. The London results look particularly bad. Brian Paddick, the mayoral candidate, ...
[IMG: 20120505-151051.jpg] All, I mentioned at the Town Meeting that Shipston Town Council was in the process of developing a Town Design Statement (TDS). A TDS is not about whether development should go ahead or not, but more about what should it should look like if it does. I've had at least one person on this blog complaining about the standard of design in the town – so this is your chance to help shape Shipston's future. Design Statements are given some weight by the District Council in the planning process. The questionnaire/consultation on this has begun, and it can ...
This week (May 3rd) saw the mayoral and local elections in Liverpool. Sadly I lost the election in Cressington by 127 votes. You still have a Lib Dem Councillor for the area in Richard Oglethorpe and I will still be posting about campaigns and local news here. Thank you so much to all those who supported me. I have been really very touched indeed by some of the messages I have received.
A win for the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard: Firefighters rescue crow from a tree in Tetbury
Despite the cold weather this morning I attended the Southfield Park Triangle Residents' Association AGM this morning. Once in the local scout hut there was coffee which was welcomed by the residents who had already arrived. Their meetings are never boring and procedural. They chat about local matters and often have the police and ward councillors, including myself, in attendance to answer questions about some of the current topics of interest. One issue that was raised was a social summer party in June. Last year it was great - they have face painting for the children, a BBQ, a Pimms ...
The Daily Express reports: [Conservative MP for Enfield North] Nick de Bois cross-checked the names of constituents seeking his help to stay in the UK and found 21 out of a sample 100 had signed up for voting rights. The Tory backbencher is calling on ministers to tighten registration rules, claiming it is harder to get a library card than a ballot paper... The MP said some people get on the electoral roll just to obtain credit cards or commit financial fraud. * Mark Pack is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and writes a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats. ...
Throughout South West Hertfordshire geographically, not just within the constituency, Liberal Democrats by and large maintained their council representation. A Herts County Council by-election in Watford, Meriden Tudor resulted in the Liberal Democrats holding the division with the vacancy being filled by new county councillor, Kareen Hastrick Sadly, Geoff Dunne lost in Carpenders Park (Three Rivers) in a draw following a tied result with the Conservatives. However, in Three Rivers, in Choleywood West, Sue Stibbs was elected with a large majority, replacing Harry Davies who has retired. In Watford the Liberal Democrats lost one seat to Labour but gained one ...
Sternly academic book attempting to get inside the heads of the Desert Fathers (and Mothers) to establish what they really thought they were doing with their lives and what their understanding of the scriptures had to do with it.
A Torchwood novel where Cardiff is assailed by a zombie invasion and Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Rhys and Policeman Andy have to sort it out. Entertaining enough, with some decently tense horror passages, but no big surprises. By coincidence I was reading this at the same time as another much longer zombie novel, Mira Grant's Deadline; it's not my usual sub-genre.
At last the new Fourth Doctor adventures have found their feet, with the prolific Justin Richards very much on form, delivering a brilliant weird tale for Toma Baker, Louise Jameson and Ian McNeice as the sinister Harcourt (which was also his character's name in Edge of Darkness back in 1985). The Doctor brings Leela to the famous Moravanian Museum for the sake of her education, but finds instead a peculiar manor house where nothing is as it seems. The setting is one that has been done in many Who stories, but rarely this well, and the particular twists here are ...
Here's a wonderful Pathe-style video from the British Council Film Collection entitled simply 'Oxford (1941)'. The main thing that struck me watching it was that, while the style has dated, the people and place appear almost contemporarily vivid. Enjoy... Posts Related to "Women too have their place at Oxford"The view from OxfordThe Liberal Democrats are now the single largest party in Oxford - for the first time ever - after making two net gains from Labour ... Moving up the tableTwo quick questions for a Monday night: Which of the 238 district councils in England sets the highest Council Tax?Who's ...
There were no Peculiar Branch or Cerebus posts this week because I spent all of Thursday (from early Thursday morning til 3AM on Friday) on the council election — first campaigning and then at the count. The way the campaign went, incidentally, confirmed a lot of things I've been thinking for a number of years ...
Sat 5th
13:21
Baroness Tyler writes... To improve social mobility, we need to shine a spotlight on early years
One of the fascinating things I have discovered since joining the Lib Dem group in the Lords last year is the profusion of all party groups in Parliament on virtually every subject under the sun. There are quite simply hundreds of them including some pretty bizarre ones ! About a year ago I decided to join the cross party group on social mobility - a key interest of mine since my time in central government as the Head of the Social Exclusion Unit. On Tuesday we launched our first report at a packed event in hosted by the Policy Exchange. ...
35% voted Lib Dem 21% voted Con 20% voted Lab 15% voted UKIP (**) 6% voted Southport Party (**) ** = would have been higher if they had stood in all wards over 8000 votes for Lib Dems under 5000 votes for Cons 6.7% swing from Con to Lib Dem since 2011 (which is a very large swing) best swing to us was 10.6% in Cambridge (further analysis required to see if Tory candidate polled less well that other Tories in previous years and wards)
Votes returned for me roughly work out at 52.4% Marl - resultsElection CandidatePartyVotes% Mike Priestley Welsh Liberal Democrats/Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru 909 40% Elected Sue Shotter Welsh Liberal Democrats/Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru 683 30% Elected Bill Chapman Welsh Labour/Llafur Cymru 324 14% Not elected Beverley Anne James Welsh Conservative Party Candidate/Ymgeisydd Plaid Geidwadol Cymru 225 10% Not elected Karen Marie Jones Welsh Conservative Party Candidate/Ymgeisydd Plaid Geidwadol Cymru 157 7% Not elected Voting SummaryDetailsNumber Seats 2 Total votes 2298 Electorate 3165 Num. ballot papers issued 1299 Number of proxy votes 13 Number of ballot papers rejected 5 Number of postal votes sent ...
Well, that went well! The local elections were an unmitigated disaster for the LibDems in Edinburgh, where I live! I scribed most of my thoughts on a comment on the Better Nation website, so I thought I would lay them out on my own blog. We all knew this was coming a year ago. Things were always going to get worse for us before they get better and fighting locals as the lead party what with the Trams, some big budget challenges and LibDem group's 'talent' for self promotion was likely to lead to another pasting. Well, we got that, ...
I'm back from my foray to the capital of Europe, laden down with good things for other people. And, before you ask, it was nice to be back in a city I know better than most. I am better informed than I was when I set off on Thursday, in that I now know what ELDR's Financial Advisory Committee is for, and better still, that this is a committee designed for a faceless bureaucrat. How things work, how the numbers stack up, these are issues that I can cope with, and contribute too. So, what does this newly reconstituted pillar ...
Abba's Voulez-Vous. Actually, this album choice shows the excellent, un-prejudiced taste of the great man. It was probably their best album, having on it "Summer Night City" and "Does your mother know" – both corkers. You can see some other "A" albums from John Peel's vast eclectic record collection on the wonderful John Peel Archive – well done to "the Pig" for putting this great national treasure on line! A truly inspired move! [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
First up my Candidate Richard Hands who stormed home with a healthy majority against impressive opposition. Well done Richard! Birkdale - results Election CandidatePartyVotes% Richard Ronald Hands Liberal Democrats 1225 39% Elected Terry John Durrance United Kingdom Independence Party 707 22% Not elected Ged Wright The Labour Party 688 22% Not elected Nigel David Clifford Ball Conservative Party 555 17% Not elected Voting Summary DetailsNumber Total votes 3175 Electorate 9763 Num. ballot papers issued 3175 Turnout 33% Share of the votes (%) Richard Ronald Hands 39% Elected Terry John Durrance 22% Not elected Ged Wright 22% Not elected Nigel David ...
This latest entry in my list of guilty pleasures is the very epitome of what of what I mean by phrase. It's a song which, let's face it, was always a bit naff. But it also has the ability to fill dancefloors when the mobile DJ plays it at weddings and birthdays. It was a staple at Edinburgh's Tackno and is more cheesy that Cheese Strings Spaghetti... ...here is Mr Chesney Hawkes explaining why he is the One and Only: Andrew
International Compost Awareness Week runs from the 6th to the 12th May this year and Dundee City Council is playing its part by offering residents the chance to collect Discovery Compost for free from Riverside Composting Facility in Wright Avenue in the West End. There is also a limited supply of seven litre brown bins available without charge on a first come first served basis. Here's details from the City Council: • This is a limited offer available only from Sunday 6th May to Saturday 12th May inclusive.• Special opening hours will apply from Sunday 6th to Saturday 12th May ...
Forgive me someone, for I have sinned, and I know not where I should begin, and some days it feels like you just can't win no matter what you do or say. I went to Nottingham a week or so ago, to do a trial shift with a brewery who have a small chain of bars. I'm not naming them, at least not yet. I really enjoyed the work, got on with the staff, and they reported back to the guy in charge of hiring people that I was good at the job. Last Sunday, I got a text from ...
I assisted Brian Paddick's campaign for selection as the Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate for 2012. I am very proud of how well he did in the actual mayoral election campaign, as I saw him speak to one audience that left the meeting feeling more positive about the Lib Dems than they did at the start, which is a key test for any candidate. I was moved by his references to his husband and to gay marriage in his concession speech last night. I do not see how I would have the right to deny Brian and his partner the ...
Resolution 8A: - legitimises witch-hunts against gay clergy; - can be used to exclude gay people from Communion; - demeans the relationships of re-married divorcees,
We all know the routine for post-election interviews by government ministers: hard choices, mid-term blues, giving the government a kicking, will listen carefully, must stay on course...blah...blah....blah. What you don't do is tell the voters it's all their fault. Sirry iriot.... [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Lotte Time Lapse: Birth to 12 years in 2 min. 45 Amazing. (tags: children ) EU Looks to Its Own Asia Pivot What lay behind Ashton's trip east. (tags: eu ) How women won it for George Galloway Old news but I missed this good piece at the time. (tags: islam ukpolitics ) Interview with a censor "Many people consider the censor to be a fanatic and uneducated person, but this isn't true. We are the most literate people as we have read much, almost every day." (tags: freespeech ) de Brun resigns as MEP And discussion of how her ...
No, not last week's elections...Ritual slaughter (kosher and halal) is in the news again (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17966327). This is a policy area that is fraught with controversy and misconceptions. I assume that (like abortion and capital punishment) it is a 'free vote' issue of conscience for individual MPs, rather than a party political issue. In a speech in November 2010, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg correctly said: "...on 'shechita', the Jewish humane way of slaughtering animals for meat - I have always supported its continuance in this country, and I always will. The Liberal Democrats have never adopted any policy that threatens ...
From today's paper: You are right to highlight the extraordinarily long time it is taking to introduce individual electoral registration in the UK* (leading article, 3 April). However, it is a little unfair to blame the Electoral Commission for that. They have been calling for its introduction for many years, and it was the slowness of the previous Labour government in responding that has caused the long delay, encouraged no doubt by the lack of media pressure for action either. Now that there is both a government legislating for individual electoral registration and a media eagerly calling for it, progress ...
Quiet Hands « Just Stimming... This made me cry. (tags: ) Golcar man has both legs amputated, applies for disability benefit & gets asked: 'So, how far can you walk?' - Local West Yorkshire News - News - Huddersfield Examiner (tags: ) Judge: An IP-Address Doesn't Identify a Person (or BitTorrent Pirate) | TorrentFreak (tags: ) BBC News - Child online safety plans unveiled by Brussels (tags: ) Scientists to breed Liberal Democrats in captivity cruel but funny (tags: ) Nine Articles 'for Women' That Journalists Should Stop Writing - National - The Atlantic Wire (tags: ) Peace advocates' website ...
I was one of the co-chairs of the No campaign in Birmingham. I won't reiterate the detailed arguments against a Directly Elected Mayor (DEM). All of that information is available on the No to a power freak website. Initially it was thought that the "yes" campaign would have an easy victory. However, on the day, of the 10 referenda mandated by central government, 9 went against a DEM. Only
Velkommen til turen i Italien. Yes we are at the Giro d'Italia but we are in Denmark for today's opening 8.7km individual time trial around the town of Herning. Herning lies on the mainland of Denmark due west of Aarhus and due east of Edinburgh. The rainbow jersey wearing Mark Cavendish is returning to Denmark where he won that jersey last year. This stage is longer than the 3km prologue of the Tour de Romandie 2 weeks ago in which Cav ended up in third place behind his team mate Geraint Thomas. Although Cav has worn the pink leaders jersey ...
One constant from across the country following Thursday's elections is laments about the low turnout. Even by the usually low standards for local elections, where getting over 40% turnout is seen as an achievement, Thursday's turnout was pretty woeful. Now, it may be possible to come up with some explanations for the specifically low turnout this year – I do wonder how much campaigning by everyone was limited by the poor weather of the preceding month, which reduced voter awareness – but we can't escape the fact that turnout is generally poor at just about all elections in Britain, especially ...
Clearly a tough set of results for the Liberal democrats – but not all gloom and doom. Here is Mark Pack's post on LibDem Voice (before the London results came in) Beyond the headlines, six points in particular strike me: 1. It looks as if the party will keep control of all the councils that had Lib Dem majorities before Thursday. Cambridge is a technical loss, but the party will keep control on the Mayor's casting vote. Each of those Lib Dem council leaders and their teams deserve heavy praise for that impressive verdict on their council and political skills. ...
Apparently Nick Clegg and David Cameron are to hold a joint event, dubbed "Rose Garden 2", to show that the collation partners are determined to stick together, united by the "glue" of taking tough decisions to rescue the economy. This is about the last thing Liberal Democrats need, and one wonders what on earth Nick Clegg and his advisers are thinking about. The "tough decisions" policy, in other words public expenditure cuts, has been opposed by we so called "Social Liberals" from the beginning and, after two years the failure of the austerity approach which we predicted is now amply ...
There's no getting away from the fact that the Scottish election results are heartbreaking and disappointing. Some very dear friends of mine, excellent, hard working Councillors, have lost. I've had a few very big sighs of relief as others managed to hold on. We now have just 70 councillors left. It's not as bad as last year's Scottish Parliament elections where we lost more than two thirds of our seats, but don't let anyone tell you that there is anything remotely pleasant about it. In East Lothian, North Ayrshire, Stirling, Midlothian and Clackmannanshire we were wiped out completely. Large groups ...
The local elections are over and the press are pushing the predictable diatribe of woe regarding political parties who didn't fare so well, and giving plaudits to Party leaders whose input probably didn't change anyone's minds... From a Lib Dem ... Continue reading →
This Bramall Hall and Park Bat Walk has been recommended – booking essential. Bat Walk Flier
There are two meetings scheduled for next week. Thursday 10 May 2012, 6.30pm at the Briardale Community & Training Centre - Annual Meeting of Blyth Town Council - Thursday 10 May 2012, 7.00pm at the Briardale Community & Training Centre - Blyth Town Council Meeting -
