MOLLY LEPEL, LADY HERVEY by Knapton, in the Bedroom at Ickworth, Suffolk. ©National Trust Images/Christopher Hurst www.nationaltrust.org.uk [IMG: Posted by Picasa]
East Belfast Exploration, a set on Flickr. Yesterday as we had a guest staying for Belfast Pride, I took the opportunity to explore the neighbourhood with him. These are some of the photos that I took. Filed under: Blogging Tagged: belfast, Flickr
Posted in PoliticsSalford Today saw an announcement from Nick Clegg that because David Cameron is unable get his Conservative party to support Lords Reform in this parliament, the Liberal Democrats will therefore not support the proposed Boundary Changes. The Deputy PM's stance is that the coalition agreement is a "contract" and that Lords Reform and Boundary Changes were inexorably linked – if one can't be delivered, then neither can the other. Opponents and those fed-up with the state of politics in the UK today have been quick to denounce this as a "tit-for-tat" action that borders on the childish and ...
I recently promised that I would share my eight picks for Desert Island Discs just as Stephen is doing over on his blog. For once, it's a promise I'm keeping. I've said this before but I make no apologies for repeating myself (hey, this blog needs to be filled up somehow) in saying that I love Desert Island Discs and the stories it can throw up. For those guests that you know - or think you know - you often get additional info and tit-bits of background that you wouldn't otherwise here. For those guests that are lesser known, the ...
With the demise of Lords reform, caused by the unholy combination of rightwing Tory back-benchers and the Labour Party's opposition to any reasonable timetable motion, we are stuck with an undemocratic second chamber composed of an ever-increasing number of Party appointees, bishops,hereditary peers and 'cross-benchers' whose voting performance is as arbitrary as the method of their appointment. There are 815 peers at the moment, an impossibly large number made barely tolerable by a large fraction of the membership being absent most of the time, with an average daily attendance of 429. There is no upper limit on the size of ...
Here follows the release from the Deputy Prime Minister on Lords reform... Reform of the House of Lords is a key commitment in the Coalition Agreement - the contract that keeps the coalition parties working together in the national interest. The Liberal Democrats have held to that contract even when it meant voting for things that we found difficult. The Conservative Party is not honouring the commitment to Lords reform and, as a result, for the first time part of our contract has now been broken. When part of a contract is broken, it is normal and necessary to amend ...
So. Farewell. Then Louise Mensch Bagshawe Was your pen name Chick lit Was your pen style Plastic surgery? - don't mention it You kept Labour's seat very warm For two years Now we have the trouser press by-election* You said anyone who can afford a coffee Shouldn't protest More or less Enjoy New York! New York With apologies to E.J.Thribb *Corby? Geddit???!!! [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
No five day week for the Royal Mail stamp design team as Team GB continue to bring on the Gold rush. Over at Greenwich Park our show jumping team of Nick Skelton, Scott Brash, Ben Maher and Peter Charles were taken to a jump off by the Dutch team, but they had three clear rounds in the jump off while the Dutch had three fences down between two riders so they couldn't discard both. The gold paint will be out for post boxes in Peebles (Scott Brash), Alton (Peter Charles), of Bishops Stortford (Ben Maher) and Alcester (Nick Skelton) The ...
I spent ages watching this heron on the way home from work. I didn't have my camera with me, but then I remembered my new toy. The Blackberry Playbook has two cameras...
I've had a while to adjust to the heavily trailed Lords Reform announcement. Now, I'm not particularly bothered. The alternatives, a tepid (further) compromise or the bill suffering death by a thousand cuts, would have ruined the whole project for another hundred years. As to the future of the coalition, I have always thought that the Fixed Term Parliament Act was well worth being in coalition for on its own. It is such a fundamental change which does away with endless childish machinations and, let's face it, allows relatively stable coalitions like this one. Lords Reform now has the clear ...
My inner child is a little disappointed Mars is not like this
Imagine the situation. You are a Liberal Democrat peer. You have voted for several measures you did not like because they were in the Coalition Agreement. You have now seen the Conservative Party walk away from a major part of the agreement. You now know your place in Parliament is secure for a good few more years without the party's whips being able to hold over you anything about your fate when reforms kick in, even if they should wish. How do you think you are going to vote on future issue after issue that is in the Coalition Agreement ...
Having heard of Louise Mensch's resignation this morning, I had intended to write a guide to the Corby constituency when I got home, but I find that Lewis Baston has done it for me on Huffington Post: The road into Corby town itself from Rutland offers a startling vista that summarises the constituency. One trundles along through woods and gentle hills, and the little English village of Rockingham, and suddenly WHAM! You're in the middle of some gritty council estates in an industrial town that looks as if it were hundreds of miles to the north. Industrial Corby was a ...
MP Julian Huppert will take a river cruise on the Playboat on Wednesday (August 8) when he joins the young crew drawn from the city's Chypps Playscheme. Julian will climb aboard at Jesus Green to find out more about the boat - the first of its kind in the country - which journeys along the River Cam to Stourbridge Common and back. Crew members - school age children living or staying in Cambridge - will be given the chance to steer the boat and work the locks on the journey. And Julian is likely to be invited to join in ...
A little over two years ago, the Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition with the Conservative Party. There were a number of reasons even cynical liberals like myself, who had expressed a preference for a "progressive alliance" following the election, felt we could and should support it. Firstly, as a pluralist, I hoped we could demonstrate that coalition government can be effective and that the adversarial politics of the past might be replaced with a less combative, collaborative approach. Idealism aside, there seemed strong practical reasons to provide stable government in the interests of the nation and to tackle the ...
Last night's men's 100m final put me in mind of a 2008 story from the Washington Post: The American Family Association obviously didn't foresee the problems that might arise with its strict policy to always replace the word "gay" with "homosexual" on the Web site of its Christian news outlet, OneNewsNow. The group's automated system for changing the forbidden word wound up publishing a story about a world-class sprinter named "Tyson Homosexual" who qualified this week for the Beijing Olympics. The problem: Tyson's real last name is Gay. Therefore, OneNewsNow's reliable software changed the Associated Press story about Tyson Gay's ...
Dear Sheryll Are you a secret supporter of Devonwall? I always assumed you weren't on the basis that the idea is an anathema to Cornish history and culture and about as popular around here as a cream tea with the jam on top. But then, this afternoon, you used your twitter account to post the following: "I thought Lib Dems believed in fairness for all yet they don't now appear to agree with equal representation for all voters. Disappointing!" Obviously you were referring to Nick Clegg's decision to order Lib Dem MPs to vote against the new parliamentary constituencies after ...
Today Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, announced that Britain's Coalition government would end its attempt to make the country's upper house, The House of Lords, mostly elected. It is a bitter blow for Lib Dems, but not unexpected. What does this say about the state of British politics? The problem was that the plans did not command sufficient support on the Conservative benches. There were 90 or so rebels at an earlier vote, and this is enough to kill the bill if Labour oppose it. Labour had supported the reforms in principle, but said ...
Following Nick Clegg's statement on Lord's Reform, it seems as if the Lib Dem's dream of proving that coalition politics can work is in tatters. Nick Clegg campaigned on a ticket of coalition politics being the way forward. He wanted to break the monopoly of two party politics and for a time it seemed as if coalition politics was working. Over time coalition politics is starting to reveal cracks. Individual parties are so entrenched in their own ideology that coalitions cannot function properly. Parties have become so position centric with beliefs based on economic and political philosophy. The call of ...
This was the finishing line at Chester Race Course yesterday. My wife and I have attended this event for the last few years and generally had very good weather. I have to say I haven't seen so much rain fall so heavily for so long as it did yesterday. We stayed overnight and some shops were closed today due to flooding. Nevertheless we had a good couple of days.
Reform of the House of Lords is a key commitment in the Coalition Agreement - the contract that keeps the coalition parties working together in the national interest. The Liberal Democrats have held to that contract even when it ... Continue reading →
ALDC are pleased to announce the appointment of our fifteen Regional Representatives, who will assist our co-ordination with regional parties and take part in regional conferences and events as parts of the ALDC team. They are: Devon and Cornwall Cllr Alan Connett (Teignbridge) East of England Cllr Alan Dean (Uttlesford) Cllr Jane Chambers (Suffolk) East Midlands Cllr Philip Knowles (Harborough) London Cllr Graham Neale (Sutton) Mark Pack (Islington) North East Cllr Anne-Marie Curry (Darlington) North West Cllr Richard Kemp (Liverpool) Cllr Irene Davidson (Rochdale) South Central Richard Cole (Portsmouth) South East Cllr Martin Cox (Maidstone) Western Counties Cllr Christine Headley ...
One aspect of today's final confirmation that Lords reform is being dropped for this parliament that has not generated much comment is that just such a policy was part of the Conservative manifesto in 2010. Given this, it is surely quite strange that nearly 100 of the party's MPs were willing to vote against it? It seems clear also that if things had progressed further, more Tories would have lined up against the measure. And when you include ministers who were likely supporting the measures under sufferance it wouldn't at all surprise me if less than half of the Parliamentary ...
Reform of the House of Lords is a key commitment in the Coalition Agreement - the contract that keeps the coalition parties working together in the national interest. The Liberal Democrats have held to that contract even when it meant voting for things that we found difficult. The Conservative Party is not honouring the commitment ...
One of the best examples of sheltered accommodation in South Manchester is the Arden Court scheme, run by Anchor Housing, and expertly managed by Jean and her staff. Whenever I visit, I notice that they always try to remember that they are ... Continue reading →
Lords Reform might have only gone missing, but we should prepare for the idea that we might find a body. We should first realise that we haven't yet made a single, big achievement in this government. That is not to say that I do not think that the Pupil Premium is a bad thing – I am a passionate advocate. The same with the £10K tax threshold; I even believe we could move forward on that. These are good achievements, but not legacies. The Conservatives have introduced Police and Crime Commissioners and presided over a massive shake-up of the NHS. ...
Mon 6th
15:34
Nick Clegg has a pair of bollocks - fires shots at the Tories - finally disproves that he is a close...
No doubt by now you'll have read that House of Lords Reform has been 'paused' to use Nick Clegg's terminology. Also as part of this the Lib Dems will not be backing the boundary review. It is a bit tit for tat but I suppose that is part of coalition politics. To read Nick Clegg's statement in full you can do so here. So anyway what did I read from his statement? Well mostly that Nick Clegg despite what every single Labour supporter says with such vindication – Nick Clegg isn't actually a Tory. I know it's hard to swallow ...
Today is a sad day for democracy. I wanted Lords Reform because I believe that the people who make the laws should be elected by those who abide by the laws. Becoming a lawmaker because of accident of birth or ... Continue reading →
I could be gloating about today's announcement by Nick Clegg that Lib Dem MPs will be voting against the new boundaries (including Devonwall) thereby all but ensuring that they won't be in place for the next election. I predicted that the next general election would be fought on the same boundaries as the last way back in September last year. The fact that I'm not is for two reasons. First, because the relief may only be temporary. Clegg has said that the changes to constituencies should be stopped only until after the next election. It may well be that any ...
I have no idea why the first round of the men's 800m is taking place today between the men's 1500m semi finals and the final. Historically to allow doubling up one of these two events have been completed before the other began. But this rather bizarre scheduling has claimed a victim. The easy winner of the first semi final yesterday Algeria's Taoufik Makhoufi lined up today in the heat five of the 800m. When the runners entered the back straight he was already far behind and by the end of that straight he had stepped off the track. But he ...
Nick Clegg's statement dropping Lords Reform in this Parliament should come as no surprise following David Cameron's failure to persuade barely half of his backbench MPs to support the Government's Bill on this. Two years ago, Conservative MPs were supporting a Queen's Speech that made explicit the Coalition agreement to elect members of the House of Lords through Proportional Representation. The Coalition Agreement is the contract that underwrites this government. In its name many Liberal Democrats have voted for compromises in legislation that we would not on our own have put forward. So, the question is what to do when ...
Despite the media perception of the Liberal Democrats as a party of Euro fanatics, there is arguably a wider divergence of opinion on this issue in the party than in any other UK party. Defence Minister Nick Harvey voted against the Maastricht treaty (which only 22 of the more than 300 Tory MPs at the time did), while many others in the party are confirmed federalists. In the broad media discourse, the EU draws only extremes of opinion, based either on a nationalism whose stripe is funneled through a yearning for a "them" to give an identity to the "us". ...
Lords reform off, boundary changes off, plenty MPs thinking "Hooray, my seat is safe and so is my retirement home" — Mark Pack (@markpack) August 6, 2012
Nick Clegg's statement on House of Lords Reform. My thoughts to follow. I however expect people care more about what Nick said than what I think but ho hum... I support an elected House of Lords because I believe that those who make the laws of the land should be elected by those who have to obey the laws of the land. That is democracy - and it is what people rightly expect from their politics in the 21st Century. When the Liberal Democrats came into Government, I knew that creating a democratic Lords would not be straightforward. This cause ...
The resignation of Louise Mensch as as MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire has come as a bit of a shock, but her reasons for going are familiar ones in the world of politics. Frankly, being an MP or any kind of full-time politician is not conducive to family life. Parliament is littered with the debris of failed marriages and broken relationships. Not many MPs though have a substantial private income as a best selling writer, and a husband based in New York, whose job is to manage well-known rock bands. In the circumstances I am surprised she was able ...
If you've been following my updates on Twitter or Facebook, you will know that I've become just a wee bit obsessed with the Olympics. On Friday, I actually spent the entire day, from morning until gone midnight, watching various sports. Ok, I was blogging and doing other work at the same time, but still! I haven't been this captivated by a Games since 1980 when I was gripped by the rivalry between Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. As a 12 year old, I had an immense crush on Coe, which I came to bitterly regret when I discovered he was ...
I'll admit that in my youth I was a bit of a philanderer with regards to my choice of political party. At 13, in the midst of the 1997 election I declared myself a Tory like my forefathers before me. But, as I learnt about the multitude of evils (i.e. MPs) within that party, I soon came under the delusion that Tony Blair and his New Labour project was the way forward. The momentum of this forward motion sadly propelled us into war. Not being an utterly heartless, warmongering bastard I decided New Labour was no longer the place for ...
So it looks like another Liberal Democrat constitutional reform is going tits up. Well, that is according to the BBC news website. I am not surprised as to be honest there is far more pressing situation that our leaders should be focusing on, the declining economy for one. I do not share with Nick Clegg's argument that Governments can focus on more than one thing. The country has slipped into
I have just done a very quick and very unscientific poll* of the effect of Scotland gaining independence and the impact this would have on Great Britain on the Olympic medal table, as it currently stands. The good news is the Untied Kingdom (without any Scottish athletes) would still be in third place in the table, with 11 gold medals. However, this is only 1 more than Korea. Scotland on the
So it's looking less and less likely that Cameron will actually be able to get his party to keep their end of the coalition agreement on any important matters. And now Louise Mensch has resigned. Mensch is MP for a highly-marginal seat, which *will* fall to Labour in the by-election. That's a drop of two ...
Good luck to Louise Mensch as she heads to New York to live with her new husband. It didn't take long for Political Betting to kick off the speculation that Boris Johnson will fight this highly marginal seat for the Tories. I don't think he will, however, for three main reasons. First, he's only just been re-elected as London Mayor. Technically, he could do both jobs, but in a highly marginal seat, which he'd have to defend on new boundaries before the next mayoral election in 2016, this would be a huge issue. "Two Jobs Boris" would be on the ...
OK, let's just keep this between you and me. Don't want to let anyone else know in case it upsets them. We both know how unsettling it can be for people who love to moan about how the country is going to the dogs* and how feckless the young are to be confronted with any evidence to the contrary. I think I just about got away with sharing that poll finding with you last year about how the number of people thinking our society is broken has fallen. So fingers crossed, let's take a risk again: Researchers, who surveyed 6,500 ...
For all that politicians seem to have had an uncanny knack of getting tickets in the Olympics ballot, there is a role for those of us who have been elected - making sure that everything is in place to take the best advantage of the Olympics legacy. I think our role should be to make sure that young people have access to facilities and coaching and encouragement to learn and improve. Most will get nothing out of it other than becoming fitter and having fun. But a few will turn out to be good and need to be helped to ...
There will be a public meeting on Thursday 9th August at 7pm, Sandgate Library (James Morris Court, Sandgate High Street CT20 3RR). There will be a presentation by Quinn Estates on the proposed redevelopment of Eversley College, Coolinge Lane. This meeting will be a presentation of proposals and opportunity to ask questions, prior to any planning application being submitted. The proposed development plans can be seen here. Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, CT20 3BYPrinted (hosted) by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY
Although I don't have broadband at home, I was tempted to go to Morecambe Library to publish this blog. Do you remember the football match between Germany and Austria in 1982? They played out a less than convincing 1 - 0 win to Germany which happened to mean that both teams qualified from their group. Was it cheating or just tactics? Well the teams didn't mind and I suppose both nations supporting their team's qualification. However it was fairly obvious that this sort of thing shouldn't be allowed and the organisers realised their mistake and changed the rules so that ...
The news from my latest broadband service provider is not good. I was told officially that I would be moving on Friday 27th July only one day prior to moving but I took a risk and paid for a new provider for my new house on Tuesday 24th. The first bad news was that the provider couldn't provide the service until Tuesday 7th. Unfortunately I wanted to keep my old number and this meant a delay of two days. I would have to wait until the 9th. A few days later there was more bad news. There had been a ...
The euphoria over TeamGB's triumphs at the London Olympics over the past few days, as well as the boost to national morale that the Games have been giving, has caused a flurry of speculation about whether London Mayor Boris Johnson could become the next leader of the Conservative Party and therefore possibly Prime Minister. He ...
In recent years, Liberal Democrats have been political frontrunners in identifying ways to tackle the insidious issue of homophobic bullying in our schools. In a 2010 interview with Attitude, Nick Clegg called for all schools - including faith schools - to implement anti-homophobia bullying policies and teach that homosexuality is "normal and harmless". Our 2010 manifesto said that we would "confront bullying, including homophobic bullying, and include bullying prevention in teacher training", with the coalition agreement stating that the government would "help schools tackle bullying in schools, especially homophobic bullying". It is to our credit that, in government, we have ...
The MP for Corby, Louise Mensch has resigned this morning to spend more time with her family and children. Without getting into whether I personally believe her or not, I'd like to think about why we never ever believe a man who says the same thing - it's always - "What's he done?" and speculation about why he's had to resign. Whereas we accept this one at face value and plunge straight into articles about how it's hard for women to balance kids and career. While not disputing that, (the brief time I've tried anything even slightly similar had me ...
Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander has signalled an interesting shift in the government's economic approach, downplaying the significance to the economy of the UK's continuing triple-A credit rating. Here's what he told the BBC (courtesy of PoliticsHome): "The credit rating is not the be-all and end-all. What matters is have we got the right policy mix for the country to get people back into work, to support economic growth, to deal with the huge problems in our public finances and the credit agencies reflect on those things and the ratings they give are a reflection of ...
South Glos Council's consultants, Kendall Kingscott and an officer from South Gloucestershire Council, will be at the library tomorrow, 7th August, from 3.00 - 7.00pm, to answer your questions about their plans for the Rodford School site. Tell the officials what you thinkFill in the survey form at the Library (but also keep a copy!)Email: the South Glos Officer in charge of the consultation: Chris.cox@southglos.gov.ukWrite: South Gloucestershire Council, Property Services, The Council Offices, Castle Street, Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, BS35 1HF It's really important for residents to let them know what you think of their plans. If you can't get your ...
The Lib Dems published its statement of accounts this week, including the most recent membership figure for the calendar year 2011. If you don't want to know the score, look away now... As at 31 December, 2011, there were 48,934 Lib Dem members. That's 25% down on the previous year, 2010, when there were c.65,000 members. True, that figure was inflated by the 'Cleggmania' of the 2010 election and the initial excitement of the Coalition, but it is still down 17% compared to the pre-election year, 2009. Though this is by some way the sharpest recorded decline in the modern ...
Congratulations to Samuel Watkin who was the winner of my prize draw for new people signing up to my monthly email newsletter about the Liberal Democrats. A copy of Prime Minister Boris and other things that never happened (edited by Duncan Brack and Iain Dale) is in the post to Samuel and if you're one of those who missed out, you can always get the book from Amazon instead.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the City Road Allotments' Open Day. It was a well-attended day and good to see the allotments in such good shape! Here's some photographs from the day:
On Saturday I took myself up to London, and one of the purposes was to visit the Damien Hirst retrospective at Tate Modern. Hirst is an artist who divides opinion - not least in my own mind. Having only seen a limited amount of his work "in the flesh" this was a chance to review his oeuvre and, perhaps, revise my ambivalent opinion of his work. It was also a chance to see some of the pieces that I've most wanted to see - the famous pieces and also "Away From The Flock" which I missed when it was part ...
Recently I went to see the fencing at the ExCel centre, in East London. I had once played the Epee type of fencing and it was great to see fencing live as part of the London Olympics. I had tickets to see the men's team Sabre quarter finals and the play off matches to decide the ranking of the 5th to 8th ranked teams. In the team competitions each team has three members, each playing in round-robin matches, the team aim is to get to 45 points. Epee is often slower as the opponents can score points off the whole ...
The excellent Andrew Page's Scottish Liberal blog reports more indescretion by Judy Steel - following from the revelation she had a pink jaguar tattooed on her shoulder for her 70th birthday. This time she declares she will be voting 'Yes' in the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 - unlike her husband. It is of course her husband - David Steel - who has disloyally and foolishly lead the opposition to Nick Clegg's Lords reform proposals from the red benches and provided succour to the 91 Tory backswoodsmen in the Commons whose intransigence appears to have scuppered the whole reform ...
