[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] As a 'thank you' for all his hard work the Liberal MP for Southport presented his agent with a handsomely engraved silver salver. I was John Pugh M.P.'s agent when he first won Southport but sadly it was not me who got given the 120 ounce silver salver. The MP was another John, J M Astbury KC, who fought and won the seat in 1906 and his agent was the legendary A. Keith Durham. Now I must make clear I do not hold a grudge against John Pugh for failing to give me such ...
[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] Back in July I got an email from Jim Hancock that read: Jessica and Katy Bingham have asked me contact you to ensure that you know that there will be a memorial celebration of the life of their father Viv Bingham (President of the Liberal Party 1981-82) on WED SEPT 12th at 6pm in the Lloyd George Room of the National Liberal Club. .. and so it was a goodly crowd of Liberals assembled at the NLC to remember Viv's life. It was the sort of event Viv would have loved to attend. The ...
I was depressed by the changes David Cameron made in his reshuffle, particularly the way they marked the death of any support for localism or green politics in Tory circles. However, writing in tomorrow's Guardian, John Kampfner argues that those changes have presented Nick Clegg with a welcome opportunity: What has been found to work is when, publicly but politely, one leader says: "We advocated A, they advocated B, but we agreed to settle on C." All surveys in Europe suggest that the public respects an open airing and settling of differences. Yet the Lib Dem leader consistently dismisses this ...
Despite the vote at Conference last year, you will again have to be approved by the police before you can attend this year's event. Once again, I call upon late Gordon Jackson to demonstrate the wrong way of presenting your papers.
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. 1. Nick Clegg visit Lib-Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg had a very successful visit to Nottingham on Thursday, taking part in a public question and answer session before meeting party members and then having a meal with some of us at Trent Bridge. It was good to see a large number of people from Broxtowe attending, and I'm sorry that more of you couldn't get tickets for the public event. The next ...
The Coalition government in Britain pledged to be the greenest government ever, though the poor economic climate has encouraged those Conservative MPs and Ministers who were half-hearted about the importance of environmental issues to question the wisdom of that strategy now. Chris Huhne, as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change made a real impact, ...
Having had for some years a cupboard full of LPs and nothing to play them on, I decided to act. I had either to take them down to the charity shops or buy something to play them on. I chose the latter course and am now the owner of a cute little portable record player. Most of my collection consists of secondhand classical LPs (always wonderful value for money), many of them bought from Yarborough House in Bishop's Castle. But I also have the LPs I bought as a teenager and there is something wonderful about being able to play ...
Could Chuka Umunna become Britain's first ex-DJ prime minister asks Gary Gibbon on his Channel 4 blog, sidestepping the small matter that he would also become Britain's first Black PM. The answer is 'yes' – on both counts ...
Unlike the other main parties our Party Conference (which is quickly approaching) is a slightly more democratic affair with individual members and local parties being able to propose motions and policies which are then adopted as is, modified, or rejected - those that succeed become party policy. This year we have a list of 20 motions to be debated. If you want to read the full text of each motion they are published for everyone to see here; Each local party, Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire for example get to nominate a number of people who will be attending ...
It is not often that a member of the Northern Ireland local party speaks to the United Nations, but that is what has happened this week. On 13 September, John, Lord Alderdice spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on the Role of Mediation in Conflict Prevention and Resolution, highlighting some key issues in mediation ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 291st weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (9-15 September, 2012), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Nick Clegg conceded ...
This morning's Independent on Sunday highlights a new report that indicates that better times may be on the horizon. They refer to a Centre for Economics and Business Research study (CEBR) that says that households will enjoy the first increase in real income next year for the first time since the credit crunch struck, and it will be middle-income earners and poorer families that will benefit the most: It predicts that families will enjoy a much-needed increase in income - after the impact of inflation - next year as stubbornly high inflation recedes and as it forecasts a welcome return ...
Those who know me well will know that I had targeted and worked really hard towards getting under two hours in the Great North Run. It looked very unlikely in the early days of training but today I snuck in at 1 hour 59:06. I'm really grateful to those of you who have encouraged me, and those who have sponsored me (It's still open at https://www.justgiving.com/Owen-Temple ). There are no worthwhile targets you can achieve on your own, so thank you all.
Over the years I've seen a fair number of TV programmes either dedicated to the fighting at Monte Cassino in 1944 or giving a good amount of time to the fearsome battle and the tragic, self-defeating destruction of the ancient Abbey. (In brief – the Abbey was not being used by the Germans; the Allies though it was; they destroyed it; then the Germans made good use of the ruins.) Some have been better than others. All, however, have been missing something which did not strike me until my own recent visit. Here is the view I had from my ...
Tomorrow, Cambridgeshire County Council plans to commence roadworks to improve Junction 11 M11. The works include widening and re-aligning some of the slip roads, installing traffic lights and re-surfacing the roundabout. Tory transport chief Ian Bates says it is to make the road fit for the future growth in vehicle numbers. The works are expected to last until Christmas, but thankfully, working hours are only 10 – 4.30pm, to avoid the main rush hours. There will be some overnight closures to resurface the roundabout but they will be advertised and there will be diversion routes. Some lane narrowing on the ...
Local LIB DEM ward councillor Darren Fower says he has now reported the "pointless sign" situated in the John Clare rec, to the City Council. The sign is situated on the Hallfields lane end of the recreational ground and has according to Darren, been like this for many months. Commenting, Darren said: "One thing that really irritates me are pointless signs! This one surely had a purpose in the beginning, but now it does nothing but contribute to a negative image for this section of the rec." View the reported incident here on FixMyStreet
Handing out Union Jacks is "inappropriate behaviour" Even when it happens at a rally to honour our Olympic athletes. So said Glasgow SNP Councillor Mhairi Hunter to me in a tweet on Saturday. I was a bit fearful as I clicked on the link, worried that it was going to be a sorry tale of some anti independence idiots beating up a nationalist. No, it was to this Facebook page from the No to Scottish Independence and Protect the Union where they said they handed out 1000 union jacks to people who went to the Olympic and Paralympic parade in ...
I was genuinely shocked by the new report on Hillsborough this week. There was already a lot we kinda knew already. We knew why it happened and where the fault lay - The Taylor report was broadly correct in its assertions - both the initial report and the recommendations. We knew the Sun lied and published a disgraceful article and that was down to Kelvin Mackenzie personally. We knew the police tried to sanitise, spin and doctor statements - but it was shocking to see the full extent of it. We knew the authorities in the 1980s treated fans like ...
Sun 16th
15:51
Local parents face 88% increase in bus fares 4 childrens' tickets 2 Arthur Mellows (Glinton)
As reported in the Peterborough Telegraph a Werrington mother is unhappy after discovering the cost of a return fare for children going by bus to Arthur Mellows Village College in Glinton, was to rise by 88%! According to the article return tickets have risen from £2.50 to £4.70 for the Kimes Route 71 service from Queensgate to the college. The article goes on to say that while a discounted rate for children aged under 14 at £1.75 single and £3.30 return, will apply, it does NOT take away the fact that parents only found out after a letter from bus ...
Cambridge City Foodbank is a local charity run by people from the city churches. It helps people in crisis by providing 3-day emergency boxes of food and other essentials while they are waiting for other care agencies to start work. Today, a representative visited St John's Church to speak on how they are doing - and to request help. The charity collects food - from supermarkets such as Sainsbury's and Waitrose, as well as from churches and schools and takes it to Pickfords on Clifton Road. There, it is boxed up to provide food boxes for three days. Those in ...
Years ago, when I was but a teenager, I borrowed a boxset of LPs from my Aunt with strict instructions that I was to make sure I didn't scratch any of the records. It was the "Reader's Digest Hits of the 50's, 60's and 70's" and I loved it - all six discs of it. One song which stuck in my head - and which inexplicably popped into my mind this week - was Ricky Valance with "Tell Laura I Love Her". Oddly, though, it is the chorus which has stuck with me for the past two and a half ...
Backbench MPs have debated tax evasion and avoidance, led off by former Labour minister Michael Meacher. The debate on Thursday afternoon was one of a series organised by the Backbench Business Committee. This committee is breathing life into the Commons chamber, stifled by Government business in previous Parliaments. They respond to Dragons' Den type pitches ...
This post is going to look very strange alongside my last one of Sept 5th & I can already hear the shouts of 'hypocrite' & other less flattering comments. But some issues are SO big that all ones determination to fight on from the inside eventually evaporates. I do not read the Daily Mail, or the Mail on Sunday. I would find it hard to believe those organs of the print media over anything. Nor do I know what Sir Nick Harvey thinks or why he left the MoD. The 'Mails' report that Nick was sacked from MoD because of ...
After my piece on muscular liberalsim yesterday, I discovered that Nick had continued the theme later in the day in Nottingham, calling our coalition partners views on Europe 'infantile', and saying ... "My own view is that if I was Prime Minister I'm sure we would be much more committed and positive and try to help them along. The Conservatives have got this total bee in their bonnet about Europe and I'm constantly trying to rein them in from doing what they want to do which is going around crowing, saying 'Ner-ner-ner-ner-ner, we're not in the eurozone', which is their ...
A quick public service announcement for those who, like me, have occasional cause to visit that London overnight... So (as, ahem, I may have mentioned) I loved London 2012 from start to finish, attending nine of the Olympic and Paralympic events. Working, but not living, in London it also meant a number of overnight stays. As we simply wanted a bed for the night that's what we booked, ending up 'sampling' three different easyHotels during the course of the Games. Like the airline, these are no-frills-what-you-see-is-what-you-get places: a room just about able to fit a bed, and a pod-like bathroom ...
I'm frankly disgusted that The Sun has decreed that I have a right to see Prince Harry's penis, but not Kate Middleton's nipples. I fail to understand how my being unable to see Prince Harry naked is somehow a disgusting breach of the freedom of speech of the UK press but my being unable to see Kate Middleton naked is completely correct because this is a hideous invasion of her privacy. Let us briefly review. Prince Harry was happily naked in a hotel room where he had a reasonable expectation of privacy, someone took photos of him from a short ...
The news that Greater Manchester Police Authority have decided to cancel their swanky dinner at the 5 star Lowry Hotel is to be welcomed, but Greater Manchester's hard-pressed tax payers may be less pleased to learn that they may still have to stump up for it. "This lavish party at a five star hotel, where champagne can cost £275 a bottle, should never have gone ahead in the first place and its disgraceful that it was only cancelled because too many people pulled out. Paul Murphy, Labour's Police Chief, is out of touch when he think taxpayers should pick up ...
The words of Emma Morley in One Day. These are however words I have also uttered in my lifetime. This evening I sat down and watched this movie and did so with a genuine interest. Rarely do I sit down and actually watch a film that I have heard about and actually wanted to see. Usually my film watching habits involve being bored but I actually did go out of my way to watch this one. Now I haven't read the book and my subsequent peruse of the reviews of this film indicate that this was not a bad thing. ...
In today's Telegraph, libdem president Tim Farron had his words slightly twisted and misquoted but what he said was very valid. Firstly, affordable housing is much needed. This isn't just for the hundreds of thousands of young people who cannot afford to even take the first step onto the property ladder and lost into the black-hole of renting or those who, like me, had to tragically wait for a relative to die to be able to afford it. It would also be invaluable for encouraging the growth and work of the lagging construction companies, more so than the puny measures ...
Yesterday, my wonderful niece Laura and her boyfriend John celebrated her 20th birthday by heading into Glasgow to see Scottish Olympians and Paralympians parade through the city. They had a great time, and were bursting with pride to see the likes of Sir Chris Hoy, Neil Faichie and Katherine Grainger honoured for their amazing performances in London. There was another side to the event, though. Someone found that they weren't quite as popular as maybe they thought they were. Laura and John told me that Alex Salmond had been booed pretty heavily, both when introduced to the crowd and when ...
As the Evening Standard reports there's good news for one of the issues London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon has been campaigning for with others: Traffic lights for cyclists are to be brought in under plans to improve safety on the capital's streets. Transport for London has pledged to test the Dutch-style lights, which will be at eye-level and could be staggered to give bikes a head start... TfL chiefs are holding talks with the Department for Transport about installing the equipment as it would require a law change. But managing director for surface transport Leon Daniels suggested that TfL would ...
Stuart Jackson MP, picked a fight with Nick Clegg yesterday, so cross is he about the loss of boundary changes. So he tweeted this... Well, he can be as cross as he likes but my back of the envelope sums indicate he's picked the wrong fight there... First let's look at the 2010 election result in Sheffield Hallam. Now lets look at the 2010 overall share of vote - and the latest of poll of polls from UK Polling.. Conservative 36/32Labour 29/41Lib Dem 23/11 So a uniform swing, Sheffield Hallam would now look something like this ( yes yes, I ...
Today sees the conclusion of an extraordinary summer of sport. I have not blogged about any of it since that dire cup final mainly because there has been so much to say that i can't see the wood for the trees. But we have had the most remarkable three months . To say it started with Andy Murray getting to the final of Wimbledon would be unfair. It probably started for London with Chelsea becoming the first London club to win the European Cup. Murray's Wimbledon started the summer as a truly all British affair. His emotion at a close ...
Nottingham City Party Chairperson, Issan Ghazni attended a European Dinner event on Friday 31st August in Rearsby, Leicestershire. The evening was organised by the East Midlands Regional Policy Officer Phil Knowles and supported by Bill Newton Dunn MEP and the ... Continue reading →
Not surprisingly, over the past few days I've been talking to Royal Mail quite a lot. Their attitude to the mail delivery problems we've been experiencing in Launceston leaves a lot to be desired. At first their attitude was one of blaming the messenger - claiming that 48 hours was not enough to make a simple phone call.Then they said that because they have a form ticked in the right place, that means that every house has been delivered to every day.Next they said that because they hadn't had very many complaints to their call centre then it can't really ...
Almost exactly at this moment 20 years ago, Bob and I were at Liberal Democrat conference in Harrogate. I just happened to casually glance up at a screen and see my name there - with an instruction to go to the front desk. It had been there since the day before. I assumed, as you do when you're at Conference because, clearly, the rest of the world ceases to exist outside that whirlwind of debates and fringes, that it was something Conference related. The instruction, to phone my parents, scared me witless. There had been no reason to assume imminent ...
Alex Salmond was jeered when he appeared in front of the crowds welcoming Scotland's Olympians and Paralympians in Glasgow on Friday. So, just like Gideon Osborne, a crowd jeered at Alex Salmond. To quote yesterday's Times, "Returning athletes were greeted like rock stars, but Alex Salmond was jeered by the crowd." This must have been all the more galling because Lord Moynihan, a sports minister under Margaret Thatcher, the sort of Tory who usually gets a knee jerk negative reaction north of the border, was cheered onto the stage and "when he was followed by Mr Salmond the boos rang ...
What Have the Lib Dems Ever Done For You What Have the Lib Dems Ever Done For You is an attempt to put across what the Liberal Democrats in Government have been doing. Some great quotes there for all the opposition parties - and hecklers - to get their teeth into. I mean, the Romans weren't too popular either but look what they ever did for you. Vince Cable Vince Cable has identified the essentials for success — the need for the right kind of finance, support for emerging technologies, a focus on and partnership with key sectors, a pipeline ...
I'd commented before on the oddity that was the Conservative Party's insistence it would select candidates for the 2015 general election on the basis of the now still-born new constituencies, thereby gifting a significant campaigning advantage to other parties. No more. The Conservatives have seen sense and, despite David Cameron's talk of pressing ahead and hoping to win a vote to get the new boundaries in place, the party organisation has instead accepted reality and is selecting candidates on the existing boundaries. * Mark Pack has written 101 Ways To Win An Election and produces a monthly newsletter about the ...
Nick Clegg's press release on the end of Lords reform, the Coalition and the Liberal Democrat party.
Bloomberg flickered on the screen as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, set out his policy before the world's press: To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate the Committee agreed today to increase policy accommodation by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month. That's open-ended Quantitative Easing (QE) to you and me; monetary stimulus a l'outrance designed to expand the money base until unemployment drops below 7% or PCE (personal consumption expenditure) core inflation increases ...
An article appearing in the most recent edition of Private Eye underlines the way the Crescent in St Albans has been mistreated. (Issue 1322 page 13). Brief summary Meanwhile, you can catch up with the latest news on these links: http://savethecrescent.wordpress.com/ http://www.thecrescent.org.uk/
This comment piece by Ted Jeory compares the cover up in Hillsborough to the day to day cover ups in the family courts. This article by Christopher Booker looks at how a foreign country is concerned about what happens in the English and Welsh Family Courts. We should really be able to sort these things out on the basis of complaints raised by victims of the system in the UK. However, if it
From the Review.
"They are the hoodlums who took a football match and turned it into 23 years of torment." - Excellent piece from Fleet Street Fox on the real hooligans of Hillsborough I look forward to screaming tabloid headlines correcting the massive scaremongering - Turns out IDS's "estimate" about benefit tourism was out by a factor of more than 10 An accountable algorithm for running a secure random checkpoint - Great idea but I suspect the TSA and other border agencies want to keep the "randomness" for themselves Publishers Hate Money, Clearly - Andrew Hickey on his frustration with being unable to ...
Quite properly much has been made of the Hillsborough Report. Our MP John Pugh- a devoted Liverpool fan - has played his part in supporting those who have campaigned on this issue. Pride of place amongst politicians must go to the work of Steve Rotheram . Last night the Liverpool Echo published this poem by Carol Ann Duffy. the full article is here [IMG: Tributes at the Hillsborough memorial 620] Tributes at the Hillsborough memorial Carol Ann Duffy is Poet Laureate - a coveted title awarded to a handful of poetry's most celebrated and talented names. A graduate of Liverpool ...
The SOLA Awards is a project created by the Damilola Taylor Trust. It aims to reward the success of talented and inspirational young people similar to the 'Pride Of Britain' Awards. The awards are primarily London based, however they also have a National Award for a National Campaigner. They are looking for nominations – so you can help them find the most talented and inspirational young people by nominating any talented/inspirational young people you know and spreading the word about this to your community contacts. To nominate, simply click on this link. Closing date: 30th Sept 2012
A friend of mine, who used to be the Editor of Newsnight- the BBC's flagship current affairs programme once said to me "Of course you must understand that television is essentially a tabloid medium". Yet, amongst the increasingly bland litany of "human interest" reality TV, celebrity wankfests and all the dross on our screens, you might have hoped that news and current affairs could hope for a greater ambition. But No. On Newsnight this week- which I caught when it was rebroadcast on BBC World- there was a spectacular example of a journalistic hatchet job, which The Sun would have ...
Another Retro Dundee West End photo - this is a fascinating photograph from the late 1970s and the landscape is completely unrecognisable in 2012. It is of the corner of Blackheath Place (no longer) and Hawkhill - and to quote Retro Dundee - "Blackheath Place - this was on Hawkhill between Annfield Road and Ure Street, pretty much opposite Mid Wynd."
There is a cruel reminder that not everything can go as you plan when you read the last comment made early yesterday on the Nevin Spence Official Facebook page. "Like milk? ..Everyone likes milk! I'll be updating progress from rugby and life on the farm (and everything in between) over the next few months. Get 'liking' the MilkItNI facebook page to keep up to date!" By the end of the day that farm was to claim the lives of Ulster's 22 year-old center, his father Noel and brother Graham in a slurry tank incident. Early reports seem to suggest that ...
Sunday and the Great North Run start line is ahead of me and there's no backing out now. Look out for race number 32819. I'll be just behind the man running with a fridge on his back and the the one running in a full suit of armour. But if you get tired just from watching 50,000 people cross the Tyne Bridge, slip out, put the kettle and then log on and put a little money on my Just-Giving site. Apart from losing some weight and feeling fitter, I'll feel really good about Traidcraft getting more to pursue its very ...
