Matthew Oakeshott's sensible advice in the Grauniad that the Lib Dems should look at 'strategy and management' in trying to turn round their dire poll ratings has been seized on as a call for a new leader. Cable loyalist Oakeshott may well have intended it to be so, but it shouldn't be the case. Sadly, the reaction from Clegg's spin doctors and advisors - wheeling out Paddy Ashdown, Simon Hughes and Tim Farron in his support - made Oakeshott's case for him. It goes without saying that a change of strategy is needed. The constant relaunches of Clegg and policy ...
At Tuesday's Cheadle Area Committee, the Lib Dems approved the detailed plans for a new puffin crossing to replace the zebra crossing on Schools Hill. The new crossing can hopefully be put in soon – and not before time, after several accidents over the last year. Other decisions taken at Area Committee include: The Planning application DC49292 to extend the previous planning permission given for a "social, welfare and educational centre" at 40 Foxland Road, Gatley was granted – councillors looked at the application closely and found no planning grounds to reject it. The 20mph zone for Broadway area of ...
The Northamptonshire Telegraph keeps us up to date as the ballot paper for the forthcoming Corby by-election takes shape. Labour has chosen Andy Sawford, son of the former MP for neighbouring Kettering Phil Sawford. And the Liberal Democrats have chosen Jill Hope, who has previously fought Harborough and Milton Keynes North. UKIP has chosen Margot Parker and the paper reports that George Galloway has said he is keen for Respect to field a candidate too. The Conservatives are meeting to choose and candidate between the lines and, reading between the lines, they may not be an entirely happy ship. Two ...
Thu 30th
21:14
London Metropolitan: that's another fine mess that Tory stupidity over immigration has gotten us int...
The combination of administrative ineptitude by the authorities at London Metropolitan University, and the pressure self-induced by an absurd promise by the Conservatives has created a nightmare for a group of innocent students far from home. There is no doubt that, if the university authorities have failed to fulfil their obligations to ensure that only genuine students are admitted to the United Kingdom, sanctions are appropriate. But whilst the university may suffer in the medium and long term, the Government has a responsibility to protect legitimate visitors to our company. So, instead of giving the students sixty days to find ...
After the Council received a petition from some of the businesses on Old Rectory Gardens, Cheadle (next to the Post Office), proposals were brought forward to reduce the maximum parking time there from one hour to 20 minutes (the original request was for 15 minutes). That proposal was then advertised, inviting people to object if they wanted and it was an example of how that was needed. We had a number of objections from other nearby businesses who clearly didn't share the view that the time should be reduced. Having looked at both sides, councillors decided to withdraw the proposed ...
Responding to the media chatter around Nick Clegg's position as Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown has an article in tomorrow's Guardian calling on the party to back him: We will be judged at the next election by one fact and one fact only. Whether we have had the mettle to stay the course in delivering effective government for our country at a time of crisis. That is the only thing that matters. All the rest is the froth.And When we all overwhelmingly supported Nick Clegg's decision to lead us into government, we knew it would be difficult. We also knew ...
Today (29th August) is the church 'celebrates' the beheading of John the Baptist, granted it is a 'lesser festival' nevertheless it is good day to turn our minds to those who abuse power and wealth. No doubt this is the reason Clegg picked today to launch his proposal for wealth taxes. Liberals have for generations challenged the mal distribution of wealth in Britain and put forward schemes to remedy this state of affairs. Most famously of all Elliot Dodds chaired an inquiry into the distribution of property set up by the Liberal Assembly meeting in Buxton in 1937. The resolution, ...
Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Mike Moore has used a speech to a business conference in Edinburgh to talk about the next steps in the preparation for the referendum on independence to be held by the Scottish Government. He's repeated the point he made so well in January that a referendum legislated for solely by the Scottish Parliament would be illegal and could be open to challenge in the courts. Apart from the uncertainty it would cause, potentially for years, I'm darned if I want the Government to be spending gazillions in legal fees. As I wrote then, ...
Who should be at the counter when I went to get a coffee at the station this morning but Roger Helmer, sometime Conservative and now UKIP MEP for the East Midlands? Not only that. As I walked in he was saying something like: "...I hope there's not a Guardian journalist here, ha ha" to an acolyte. It happens that I have written for the Guardian quite often. And I got the feeling that, had I walked in a few seconds earlier, I would have overheard some indiscretion or UKIP secret that would have made, if not an article for the ...
Kilian and Rebecca with the paralympic flame (Tony Ellis photography) On Saturday morning the Paralympic flame came to Romsey Town, just weeks after the Olympic torch passed along Mill Road. The torch arrived at the Cornerstone Café at St Philip's Church, which is run by the Papworth Trust, a leading disability charity. When I was there I had the pleasure to meet Rebecca Lawes, a competitive swimmer at a national level who lives here in Romsey and is an aspiring Paralympian. Rebecca swims a number of strokes but her specialism is the backstroke, and she hopes to compete in Rio ...
In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was with in the beginning with God. John1 v1-2 Well, that's the biblical view. Last night, it all started with the words of Stephen Hawking and a Big Bang. God was present - in the anthem at least, and also in the "god particle" - but the words were Hawking's. And Shakespeare's. And theme of Enlightenment was unapologetically scientific. The Paralympic Opening Ceremony kicked off with the words of one of the greatest thinkers to have ever lived - and one ...
Somebody's Flung the Cat Again hates it when politicians talk about "hard-working families" - and has some good news from Tim Farron. "Lives have been ruined by priests who pretend to be godly. Those priests have been knowingly, deliberately and persistently protected by others who pretend to be godly. We have even seen an abuser of children ordained as a priest, despite four bishops and an archbishop knowing the truth about him." A Comfortable Place on the publication of the report of an inquiry by the Archbishop of Canterbury's office into two decades of child protection failures in the Diocese ...
An information service which helps people stay safe, well and independent, is taking to the road to spread the word across Cambridgeshire with a series of events in Libraries. The Your Life, Your Choice service provides online information for people who need information or support to enable them to live an independent life. It also provides details of assistance for such things as social and health care and aids and home adaptations which make life easier for people in their own home. The roadshows will visit Wisbech Library during September, and will feature: Leaflets and information about staying independent, safe ...
Having talked about how I wanted to try out combining blogging with the music service Spotify in my last post — I thought I'd better make a start. Last year, for my 40th Birthday, I gave myself a project to come up with a playlist for what I would like to have played at my birthday party. Not that I actually had a party, sadly. The rules were that there should be 40 tracks – one for each year between 1971 and 2011, that they should be played in chronological order going by year of release (although I ended up ...
While attention seeking Julian Assange has been camped up in Knightsbridge, Bradley Manning has been holed up in a cell, held by the American army. He will though now, finally, face trial. But not until February next year: Bradley Manning ... Continue reading →
News via the BBC: The council's chief executive Stephen Barnes had written a letter to the Electoral Commission last year, saying allegations and perceptions of malpractice around postal voting "are seriously undermining public confidence in the whole electoral process". In the letter, the council cited examples of probable malpractice and the difficulties in taking action... The leader of the borough council's Labour Group, Councillor Mohammad Iqbal, said his party had won seats from the Conservatives fairly, adding: "There isn't a problem in Pendle"... The panel, consisting of cross-party councillors and representatives, will gather evidence at five public hearings across the ...
There I was having a chat with Caron over dinner in Edinburgh: I was talking to Mark Pack about this last week and, while he doesn't mind "hard working families", he told me that in Australia that the phrase used to describe those struggling with financial adversity is "the battlers." That's a bit more inclusive so maybe we need to find an equivalent – or just nick theirs. Certainly "hard working families" doesn't cover the woman caring for her husband, disabled after a Stroke, or the retired couple struggling to make ends meet, or the redundant factory worker desperate to ...
With my "Bedfordshire Highways Rep" for the Town Council hat on, I have been trying to piece my way through the things that are happening, and the correspondence I have had, with regard to the roadworks in Houghton Regis High Street. Morrison Utility Services are a utility company doing work in the High Street for UK Power Networks. The Morrison name appears on some pedestrian barriers in the High Street area. The work for UKPN happens to be installing cabling for the Morrisons superstore currently being constructed. Information received today says that this work was needed to be in place ...
Well, who says politicians don't listen? Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat Party President, has said he will stop using the term "hard working families" after a few of us expressed our concerns about it. I had a bit of a rant earlier and Jennie Rigg also wrote about why she finds the term deeply offensive. She said: The phrase Hard Working Families purposefully excludes and marginalises anyone who doesn't have a job, and anyone who doesn't have a traditional family. This goes across well with the general public because they are used to anyone who doesn't have a job and ...
Well done ABC News: Police Say Texas Mayor Killed in Donkey Attack
I have lived in the diocese of Chichester for thirty years. This is my church, my diocese, my patch. I have been uncomfortable here since Chichester became one of the havens for priests who think that the universe will crumble if someone receives communion from a woman. But it is my home, just as the Church of England is my spiritual home. So today's news, "Archbishop of Canterbury condemns child abuse failings", is a cause of sorrow and grief that strikes far too close to home. I feel hurt, I feel bruised, I feel angry. Not nearly as angry as ...
For the first time in its twenty-six year history, the proportion of A*—C GCSE grades fell on Thursday. Michael Gove, who has been talking about grade inflation since the dawn of time, must have felt vindicated. A 'cosy cartel' of exam boards, head teachers and ministers has resulted in a seemingly inexorable upward trajectory of student performance. This year's results, Gove's supporters will suggest, reflect his work in dismantling this arrangement of mutual back scratching. The UK has an issue with grade inflation. Although Britain's position in the OECD/Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey substantially fell between 2000 and ...
Projects must be for the benefit of the Chorlton ward - you don't have to be a formal group to submit an application- just a group of local people who want to make a difference. The maximum you can bid for is £750. If you have any questions or want a copy of the U Decide application form please feel free to contact me on 07947383740 or send me an email at cllr.v.chamberlain@manchester.gov.uk
A couple of weeks ago I managed to buy two cheap-seat tickets to tonight's Paralympic wheelchair basketball session at the North Greenwich Arena. Hurray! I reckoned it would be easier to collect the tickets than have the worry they wouldn't be delivered on time. Sensible, yes? Then yesterday London2012 emailed me to say — even better — it was now possible to get 'Print at home' tickets instead. That will save me a boring trip to the box office, I thought, and immediately signed up. Then nothing happened. At all. Still nothing today either. But I wasn't worried — at ...
Cllr Darren Fower has now reported the issue of deteriorated signage at the entrance to the footpath leading from Church Street, adjacent to Barnes Way, into the park area. Commenting, Darren said: "Its been like this for ages, and its a bit of a contemporary concern, in so much that if signs are erected there must be a need for them. Once they deteriorate to this extent they are no longer serving their purpose and need replacing. This is what I have asked the City Council to act on." To view a map of the location simply click here!
Serendipity adds spice to life and resulted in my finding myself at the Maltings at Snape in Suffolk last night, singing along with the Sound of Music. The outing was the result of a chance conversation with my old friends (Baroness) Ros Scott and her husband Mark Valladares when were standing in Republic Square in ...
Lord Oakeshott's comments on Radio 4 today made difficult reading on today's Telegraph website - but necessary. We have lost over half our market share... Since the election and any business that had done that would be looking very hard now at both strategy and its management to see how we get some of that back because otherwise we are going to lose a large number of seats. Very true. It is something I've dwelt on and something we're working hard on in the Medway towns. Lord Oakeshott also points out that 39 out of our 57 MPs were holding ...
Claire Bibby thinks so. Who is Claire Bibby I hear you ask and why should we care what she thinks? Well she was an independent candidate in May for the Southchurch ward here in Southend and she got just beaten out in the last result of the evening. Well she has blogged on councillors expenses and you can read her views here but for those who can't be bothered it is basically attacking councillors for having too many expenses and with a focus on the portfolio holders. Fair enough one might think but one thing really stood out to me: ...
Thu 30th
12:42
A cream that makes a woman's vagina 'feel like a virgin' again - I expected more uproar/debate...
I have flicked through Lib Dem Blogs and I can't believe that no-one has blogged about the new vagina cream that tightens the vagina yet. It is a real story it was on the good old BBC. Of course they may have blogged about it when it first hit the news-wire in early August but I don't recall seeing it anywhere there. I was forwarded the link yesterday asking for my views and I must say my initial reaction was that I didn't know what to think. I certainly wanted to know what others thought of it though. I think ...
Thu 30th
12:24
A response to Peter Kellner: yes the Lib Dems need a narrative, but they should reject the tired lef...
Peter Kellner, the President of polling company YouGov, has written a typically thought-provoking piece analysing – using recent polling figures – what he believes to be the reasons behind the Lib Dems' current difficulties, and suggesting some solutions to overcome them. The piece is a good one, and worth reading in full, though I have some reservations, not primarily about his conclusions but about how he reaches them. One of the key polls he cites asks voters to place themselves, the main parties and the party leaders on a spectrum of right to left. And while voters overall place both ...
Peter Kearney, a director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, only recently suggested that marriage equality would lead to teachers being sacked for expressing moral views. It's not a frivolous suggestion given past experience and I have the tiniest little bit of sympathy for him on this (although my views on freedom and employment are best summed up in this excellent article from the Law Society Gazette). However I was slightly amused to see this news story break within days of his comments. A pro-marriage equality (or at least an anti-anti-marriage equality) teacher at a Catholic college has been suspended ...
All, I'm guessing that that not everyone who reads this is on twitter, so here's a bit of news you may not have seen. Conservative District Councillor Jonathan Gullis, who has said he is standing down from the Council in November, has changed his mind and now supports the ASL development on the Campden Road. I've copied this from his twitter feed: [IMG: Jonathan Gullis] 'I have just signed the petition for a supermarket and petrol station inShipston.' He went on to say: 'The detailed reason why I have changed my position on the ASL application will be avaliable to ...
Extracts from the Review Full story Plans for a major development of eighty new houses on a site in St Albans were described as 'hilarious' at a council meeting on Tuesday night where they were turned down. Councillors on St Albans District Council planning committee criticised the plans to construct 80 dwellings, including one, two and three bedroom apartments and flats, at Evershed House in Alma Road. The application put forward by Spen Hill Developments also proposed demolishing five commercial, industrial and storage buildings, building a food superstore with a cafe, seven shop buildings on London Road, and make space ...
Politicians are always talking about how they want to help Hard Working Families. Lib Dem politicians have been doing this for some time now. I suspect they continue doing it because research tells them it goes across well with the majority. I suspect they also don't ask themselves WHY it goes over well with the majority. Myself, I blame the press. The press have spent decades demonising the jobless (workshy scroungers, rather than people living in areas with no work to get) the disabled (workshy scroungers who pretend to be ill to get benefits) the LGBT+ (who don't have families, ...
If you dial 07973100123 from any phone in the UK, you can access your voicemail on your Orange phone (a Pay As You Go phone, in my case) - you enter your Orange mobile number and a PIN, and it takes you to your messages. This is how you 'remote-access' your Orange voicemail from another phone that is not your Orange phone, and it is a very important service. Today when I did it, it was "not available", so I could not check my voicemail. Orange then told me that it had stopped working on 28 August and will only ...
Thu 30th
10:51
#ForestHill Planning Consultation: MIRIAM LODGE, 185 DARTMOUTH ROAD, LONDON, #SE26 4RJ
Details of this planning application can be found by following this link: The case officer is Malachy McGovern - please email comments and objections to him at Malachy McGovern, and don't forget to copy us in at foresthill@lewishamlibdems.org.uk
Welsh Labour Ministers often adopt the tactics of the most successful spin doctors to talk up their own record and most of the time they get away with it. However, as the Western Mail makes clear this morning, on the matter of meeting their own sustainability targets they have been well and truly caught bang to rights. Friends of the Earth Cymru have claimed the Welsh Government's own figures on sustainable development reveal a concerning lack of progress in key areas and that some of the Sustainable Development Indicators have been "skewed to give a favourable response". Of the 44 ...
We do not only ask to-day, "How much have you got?" we also ask, "How did you get it? Did you earn it by yourself, or has it just been left you by others? Was it gained by processes which are in themselves beneficial to the community in general, or was it gained by processes which have done no good to any one, but only harm? - Winston Churchill, writing in 1909 during his time as a Liberal MP
tl;dr – Excluding people, even with a "nominal" fee is exclusionary, and that can be a problem. Before reading this post, you may want to understand what I mean be "privilege". You should also understand where you are on The Global Rich List. The heavy-handed schmaltz that is Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom made an excellent point on its final episode. Voter registration which requires a driving licence is a racist policy. For a privileged guy like myself, it seems like the simplest thing in the world. Just get a fucking driving licence. What's the big deal? However, for a large section ...
I am indebted to the insights of Ed Walkington who has served a 3 month internship with Andrew Duff, MEP. He writes in the Lib Dem "easternAgenda" this Summer: "Rarely in the parliament, frequently missing committee meetings and even plenary sessions, and most frustratingly of all telling constituents they are working hard on an issue when they haven't attended the relevant committee for years, the UKIP MEPs are a complete waste of space in the Parliament. The speeches in plenary tend to be the same europhobic rants, regardless of the matter discussed. One UKIP MEP simply votes 'no' on everything, ...
Mark Steel: They can't be disabled - they can swim - Mark Steel - Commentators - The Independent "Protests against Atos by the disabled have been planned throughout the games, so this shows that sponsorship pays off. Before the games, few people had heard of Atos, but by the end millions will know them as the bastards who make a fortune out of ruining the lives of the disabled. They'll have brand recognition - proof that advertising works." (tags: ) BBC News - Why are female record producers so rare? (tags: ) What is the Everyday Sexism Project? Worth following ...
If there was one phrase used by politicians, including Liberal Democrats, I could choose to put in Room 101, it would be "hard working families." This is partly because it doesn't reflect all those who have been helped by the Liberal Democrats' tax and pension measures. All basic rate taxpayers, whether they have children or not, have been helped by the raising of the tax threshold to the tune of around three or four months' council tax, or a month's rent. The anxieties of living on a low wage in an insecure job are just as strong if you are ...
Public Negotiation: Phase 1 kicked off on Thursday 26 January 2012. It ended on 21 March 2012. The deputy prime minister's first demand was to allow the lowest paid to keep more of the money they earn next year by implementing more quickly the Lib Dem policy of raising the income tax personal allowance to £10,000. However badly the budget was presented, Clegg's stance can only be judged a success: the policy was implemented significantly more quickly, with the threshold being raised by £1100 next April. Yesterday, Clegg signalled the start of Phase 2, and it's tax policy on which ...
Cambridge City Council gives community development and leisure grants to young people's groups, sports teams, social clubs, community associations etc. This could help with events, equipment or outings. Here is a list of the types of organization and activity that attract grant funding: Organisations that provide activities and services to people who are disadvantaged or marginalised by their social or economic circumstances Organisations that enable people to improve their own well being and participate in their communities Organisations that enable people to participate in making decisions and influence the services that affect their lives Activities which increase people's awareness of ...
Polyamory (or polygamy as the media prefers) is back in the news again. Three people have managed to get a civil union approved by a Brazilian notary. Rather puts paid to the slippery slope argument of anti-marriage equality folks, it is their (suddenly beloved) civil partnerships they need to be careful of! Sadly, rather than prompting a discussion on legal protections for "unconventional" (as if any relationship is conventional) relationships, it has unleashed the fear and loathing of the Brazilian Christian community. I know it is to be expected but I am still always somewhat taken aback at the level ...
For as long as I have been a member of the Lib Dems our local party has met on the first Wednesday of every month. From September 2012 the meetings will be on the first Monday of each month, at the usual venue. The first of this new cycle of meetings is next Monday, 3rd September Alternate meetings, starting with the September meeting will concentrate on debate, policy discussions and "guest speakers"
Nick Clegg hit the headlines yesterday by proposing that the rich pay an "emergency tax" to help in the "economic war" against recession. Predictably the right bleats that that this wouldn't be fair (!!) because the rich already pay a lot of tax, and if we demand that they pay more then they might leave the country. Well, good riddance: our society would certainly be healthier without them, and I doubt that it would be poorer. That redoubtable Labour MP Michael Meacher has analysed the affairs of the rich and points out that the wealth of the richest 1 000 ...
I welcome the call by John Leech, Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington, for a review of the Government's decision to reject the findings of a report supporting the reduction in the current limit. As a police officer I have seen at first hand the devastating consequences of drink driving and fully endorse John's position on this. John said, "I was very disappointed when the new statistics from the Department of Transport were released last week. With an increase in deaths and accidents involving drivers over the limit, we are losing the war on drink driving." John points out that ...
Last night, I attended a lengthy but productive meeting of Harris Academy Parent Council. There was a very positive report from Mr Thewliss, Head Teacher, on the examination results. There was also discussion about initial thoughts on the school timetable when the school decants to the Rockwell site in August 2013 at the start of the Harris Academy rebuilding project and school bus issues. The Parent Council now has a Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/HarrisAcademyPC.
Emergency wealth tax, eh? I wonder whose bright idea that was. Clearly, as a Liberal Democrat I'm generally in favour of taxing wealth rather than income where possible, particularly unearned and property wealth. So I'm in favour of wealth taxes as part of a coherent package of reforms to the tax system. And we should clampdown hard on tax evasion and do what we can to simplify taxation systems so that tax avoidance becomes more difficult. Equally, I'm in favour of progressive taxation and the idea that those with the greatest resources should be expected to make a serious contribution ...
An evening of high culture here in Suffolk, as we've been to Snape for a singalong Sound of Music, accompanied by the charming and erudite Jonathan Fryer. I know what you're thinking - it isn't obviously a place for a jobbing bureaucrat, but I do enjoy a good sing from time to time. Perhaps that explains why I tend to avoid Glee Club at Party Conferences... However, having been persuaded, somewhat against my better judgement, that it would be fun, we set off for Snape, taking the opportunity to tell Jonathan a bit about the old demesne - he may ...
I've had a long break from blogging, due not so much to Olympian efforts elsewhere but by my usual bafflement with technology. It's been a month notable for catching up with friends and enjoying what fragments of the British summer we were given. Now, it seems, we are well and truly in Conference season. For as the briefing starts, anonymous Tory sources for once hit the nail on the head: the reports of new wealth taxes (see combined with what is reported as an acceptance by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrat leadership of an eye-watering £10 billion of ...
Thu 30th
00:01
Romney's Programme for Economic Recovery - "is like 'Fifty Shades of Grey' without the sex"
Ouch! The Economist sticks the boot into Republican hopeful Mitt Romney on the eve of his convention speech.
