If so, please sign the Fairer Tax petition.
What's loosely termed the awards "ceremony" for the 2012 Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year Awards has just drawn to a glittering close. As the last firework fades in Brighton's night sky, I'm delighted to announce the winners: Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1st September 2011) The Libertine, edited by Morgan Griffith-David Best blog from a Liberal Democrat holding public office (The Tim Garden Award) A Lanson Boy by Cllr Alex Folkes (Launceston Central) The Andrew Reeves award for Best use of social media/e-campaigning by a Liberal Democrat Bears for Belarus by Liberal Youth Best non-Liberal Democrat politics ...
A tweet from Labour MP Tom Watson alerts us to a post on the void: An 18 year old boy was sentenced to four months in youth custody last year for an Andrew Mitchell style rant at police. A celebratory tweet by Greater Manchester Police shows that Ricky Gemmell, 18, was arrested and jailed after "ranting and swearing" at police during last year's disturbances in the city. According to Manchester Mule the youngster had never been in trouble before.
I have lots of important things to do at the moment, like fixing the formatting on the Kinks ebook so it can be published, writing my novel, and writing music for a project I'm doing with plok. However, I've decided instead to spend the weekend watching old William Hartnell Doctor Who stories. So have some ...
It's well worth watching this video on the Financial Times site: With one house in central London on sale for £300m, London prime property appears to be a bubble fit to burst. This is also socially divisive as house prices in much of the rest of London are falling. Ed Hammond, property correspondent, explains to Long View columnist John Authers where the demand is coming from.
Earlier this month I launched a national Members' Survey, which went out to all members currently on the Party's email list. Given that a previous survey told us very clearly that members want to be surveyed more it is perhaps no surprise that we had a great response rate. As well as the multiple choice responses, we had hundreds of more detailed comments letting us know exactly what you think about the party strategy, policy and your experience of being a member. This information is invaluable and I have already presented your views to Nick Clegg, key Ministers and our ...
Sat 22nd
20:10
Are you coming to the Top Secret Lib Dem Blog of the Year awards tonight? Saturday 10pm, Grand Hotel...
Tonight will be the seventh annual Lib Dem Blog of the Year awards, which LibDemVoice is once again organising (or, more accurately, which Helen Duffett is masterminding). I'm one of the judges so my lips are sealed about pretty much everything. As indeed is the Conference directory which has managed to omit entirely any mention of the Awards, and also failed to mention the omission in the subsequent Corrections sheet. So these truly are the Top Secret Lib Dem Blog of the Year awards. But let me lift the veil of secrecy just a little to tell you when and ...
This is the grave cut at Greyfriars in Leicester from which the body of Richard III - if it is Richard III, of course - was retrieved a couple of weeks ago. The little yellow disc marks the point where his head lay. And the red bricks just to the right of it are all the work of Victorian builders, showing just how close they came to destroying the skeleton. And below is one of the photographs I took on the first Saturday of the dig. (It was not open to the public, but I was able to join the ...
Nominations for the Liberal Democrats' Blog of the Year Awards 2012 closed on 14 September. Since then, the judges, Kirsty Williams (Assembly Member for Brecon and Radnorshire and Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats), Nick Thornsby (Lib Dem Blogger of the Year 2011), Tim Gatt (ITV News Digital Output Editor), Stephen Tall (Co-Editor, Lib Dem Voice), Alan Muhammed (Lib Dem Voice's social media manager), & Helen Duffett (that's me – Co-Editor (Associate) Lib Dem Voice) have been poring over the entries for the five categories. It's been a big task, and a fun one, to distil so many excellent examples ...
With somewhat ironic timing Gove's controversial announcement on the replacement of GCSEs by the English Baccalaureat was too late for it to be reflected in the conference programme. The deadline for amendments to motions has passed a week earlier. But a version of the EBacc (not exactly the same as the one that was finally announced) had been trailed for some months, so it got a small mention in motion F6 this afternoon: "Getting the most out of our schools". This reference was grasped by some conference reps as an opportunity to open the debate into a wider discussion about ...
Richard Reeves has had a go at trying to describe a path for the Liberal Democrats to follow in order to escape from our current political mire. It's an interesting read, but peppered with many more sentences that made me groan than nod along. I take particular issue with his characterisation of minimum alcohol pricing and cigarette sales restrictions as indicative of the "nanny state" at work. The nanny state slaps your wrist as you reach for the cookie jar and says "no". The nanny state stands between homosexuals who love each other and want to get married. The nanny ...
I was on the panel for CentreForum's first fringe debate of the conference season this lunch-time (held jointly with the Institute for Government and Policy Exchange). I'll jot down some of what I said later, but in the meantime here's a photo posted on CentreForum's Facebook page... Look closely at Tim Farron's face as he listens to Jeremy Browne... any suggestions for what he might've been thinking?* I like to think my expression conveys only studied intelligence. * for the record, both economically liberal Jeremy and socially liberal Tim sung from exactly the same 'proalition' hymn-sheet.
Sat 22nd
15:42
David Laws' speech to conference: no soaring rhetoric but a clear determination to deliver
David Laws is no Tim Farron. It's hard to imagine him rousing the passions of the party faithful as the party president does. But what he lacks in crowd-pleasing rhetoric he makes up for in two things: first, a clear passion for education and secondly a seemingly effortless grasp of his brief. There was little in the way of new announcements in his speech to conference, though he did confirm that the pupil premium would rise to £900 per pupil in 2013 and that by 2015 the Lib Dem pledge to dedicate a total of £2.5bn a year to the ...
Over at The Sun newspaper, the Lib Dems' new schools minister David Laws has written an article arguing that the Coalition parties are keen to put the summer's tensions behind them and to to-boot the Government in the weeks to come. Here's an excerpt: Some people even started to speculate that the Coalition would end. Or that we would be in for years of drift and dither. But I believe that both leaders have looked over the edge of the Coalition cliff — and neither likes what he sees. A break-up of the Coalition would be an economic disaster. And ...
South Glos Council has announced that the SITA Recycling Centre at Collett Road will be closed until further notice. No details have been given but we imagine it's connected to a Post report of a major rubbish fire in nearby Dean Road early this morning.
LDV was given an EXCLUSIVE tour of the Brighton confence centre this morning, as final preparations were being....er....finalised. Here, we can EXCLUSIVELY reveal evidence of secret last minute behind the scenes preparations to wire the Gents loo (of the East Bar at the conference centre) for not only sound, but vision also * Paul Walter is Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, a LibDem activist in Newbury, Berkshire and blogs at Liberal Burblings
Here is the liveblog for Saturday of Lib Dem Spring Conference 2012 in Brighton.
Liberal Youth's awesome Exec and Conference officer and committee have produced a guide to having a great time at Conference in Brighton. You can get your copy for free here! Not only does it include the amazing MP Bingo, it has some highlights of the events which may be of interest to youth and student ...
After my last couple of postings, I don't doubt that many of my lefty readers have me down as a heartless swine and who could blame them, since like many rational people I understand the need for welfare, to look after societies needy but object to having to subsidise work shy layabouts and those too irresponsible and negligent to use contraception. Likewise I understand the need for a public sector, what I never understand is the sanctimonious attitude of some of those who believe it is right and proper, that they have better pay and conditions than those in the ...
I prefer to write about things that are important to many people. Well this is important to me and maybe to others but it is good for me to have this record of how many things can go wrong when changing my internet provider. I received a bill this week telling me that I was no longer a BT customer. 'Sorry you're leaving BT' was their headline. I was not aware of this as readers will know already that I have fought long and hard to gain a service from BT. I phoned yesterday and I was assured that I ...
There is no doubt that the Duchess of Cambridge has had her privacy invaded when a photographer took the topless photographs. He was staked out for days with a long lens and the kindest words for him would be that he was a peeping Tom. Privacy should be protected for the Duchess and also for the Z list celebrity but how do you do this when there are newspapers and magazines that publish this sort of photo every day? We get the media we deserve but regulation is so much better on television than it is in the papers than ...
In London the vehicles that pose the greatest risk to cyclists are lorries. Astoundingly lorries represent 5% of the traffic in London, but are responsible for 50% of cyclist fatalities. Local council's such as Southwark are major purchasers of companies that use lots of lorries. Combined they contract 1000's of lorries to serve our local communities. The London Cycling Campaign has a great campaign to encourage councilsto ensure that their boroughs' streets are safer for cyclists. Lorries with trained driver, side-guards, better mirrors. Not big changes in themselves but would make a big change for the safety of cyclists. Currently ...
From the AP newswire: Hundreds of protesters angry over last week's killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya stormed the compound of the Islamic extremist militia suspected in the attack, evicting militiamen and setting fire to their building Friday. In an unprecedented show of public anger at Libya's rampant militias, the crowd overwhelmed the compound of the Ansar al-Shariah Brigade in the center of the eastern city of Benghazi. Ansar al-Shariah fighters initially fired in the air to disperse the crowd, but eventually abandoned the site with their weapons and vehicles after it was overrun by waves of protesters shouting ...
Sat 22nd
11:45What I said to BBC Radio 5 Live's Jon Pienaar this morning about... Nick Clegg's leadership
Another day — in fact the first day of Lib Dem conference here in sunny Brighton — and somewhat inevitably all the media questions are about Nick Clegg's leadership. I was up this morning inflicting myself on the ears of BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast show listeners with my views. At some point, I'd be happy to talk to the media about Lib Dem policy within the Coalition government too, but I realise that's much less likely. Anyway, here's the 4 minute clip from this morning's show...
Sat 22nd
11:45LibLink: Paul Burstow - Why is the Coalition failing to tackle our broken care system?
Lib Dem MP Paul Burstow, until the reshuffle the Lib Dem health minister, has written an article in today's Telegraph with a plea for the Coalition to 'be bold and take the decisions needed to fix our broken social care system'. Here are a couple of excerpts, first looking at why Paul fears the reforms he pushed in government might not go anywhere: The Coalition understood the "urgent need for reform", and has been wrestling with these issues since May 2010. In July the White Paper I drafted was published. It tackles much that is wrong with care. Widely welcomed, ...
As I noted on Twitter today that the Nick Clegg musical version of his sorry video is starting to edge towards the top fifty in the charts, I recalled that he is not the first leader of the third party to have been unwisely associated with musical publishing Deep in the recesses of time David Steel released a single as well. I cannot recall the name of it except that the word 'Liberal' was in the title. I do recall, with the assistance of Mark Pack, that the sleeve contained an illustrated guide on how to do the Liberal dance ...
At the Carlton Road Day Centre the Southfield Ward Forum took place last night where are range of local issues were discussed: Anti-social behaviourLitter, recycling and street sweepingControlled Parking Zones Before the meeting I had been sent a petition that related to a local laundry which was causing a great deal of noise pollution and disturbance to residents in Chiswick. I formally accepted the petition and the Council are taking legal action against the noisy business. Personally I hope they can be shut down ASAP, as they clearly appear to want to operate pretty much 24 hours a day, seven ...
A majestic soaring eagle. The lightning flash of a kingfisher. Feeding the ducks. For most people, wildlife ignites their first sparks of interest in environmental issues, yet it is currently conspicuously absent from the political discourse. We hear a lot about sustainability and climate change, but if this Government is to realise its ambitions to be "the Greenest Government ever" it has to tackle biodiversity conservation as well. We desperately need action: the UK has missed its commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2010; 42% of our most important habitats and 24% of priority species are declining; and the farmland ...
Sat 22nd
10:16
The sun is shining, and I'm on a train heading south(ish). It can only mean one thing...
Welcome to the 10.03 service from Billericay to Liverpool Street, the fourth leg of my seven leg journey from home to Conference hotel. Yes, engineering works are a feature of today's odyssey, in this case starring a rail replacement bus between Witham and Billericay. However, all has gone well so far which, I hope, augurs well for the week to come. As part of the Liberal Democrat Voice team, I'll be chipping in with reports and the like, but I'm hoping to keep up with my own impressions here on the blog. So, don't go away, the next few days ...
From the Office for Budget Responsibility: Last year's budget deficit has been revised down by almost £6 billion to just under £120 billion. Local authorities spent less than we and the ONS expected in 2011-12, adding £2.6 billion to their reserves rather than drawing them down. First sentence is obviously good news. Second sentence however is rather strange given all the talk about cuts.
Branded For Life (tags: ) the widow's world: Not Safe For Work : Page 3 I don't want to ban page 3. I don't want the Sun to stop printing it, either. I want the people of the UK to stop being stupid enough to buy the Sun. If Liverpool can do it, why can't the rest of us? (tags: ) HDYBAM? - The "Everybody Says Don't" Society | The Occupied Times More wise words from Loz. (tags: ) On whips and oiks. Interesting factettes in the updates. (tags: ) Daily Mail's words of Wisdom This is hilarious. No, really, ...
I admit to some surprise at the nature of this week's mea culpa over tuition fees. It seems like an odd time to choose to do so as, whilst it fits a domestic Party schedule, it doesn't necessarily come at an early enough point for public opinion. That said, many activists of my acquaintance were consistently of the view that it was the breaking of the pledge that was wrong, rather than the pledge itself. The policy was, after all, costed, and had Liberal Democrats formed a government, we might well have been able to honour that pledge. On reflection, ...
According to today's Independent Nick Clegg has returned from conference contrite about tuition fees but also with a renewed determination to fight for Liberal Democrat values within the coalition government. The paper says that the Liberal Democrats leader will veto George Osborne's demands for a two-year freeze in most state benefits from next April and a further £10bn of welfare cuts. The Deputy Prime Minister revealed he will block the Treasury's demand for more cuts before the 2015 election to compensate for lower-than-expected growth. "Not a penny more, not a penny less," he declared. He disclosed that he will limit ...
Sat 22nd
09:30ConHome pushes case for Vince Cable as Lib Dem leader. It's enough to make you wonder why...
You've gotta love ConservativeHome. No, really. This morning Tim Montgomerie reports a deliciously mischief-making poll from YouGov, commissioned by the Lord Ashcroft-backed site, comparing the standing of Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats in general. It won't surprise anyone to learn that Vince Cable performs better than Nick Clegg in all the measures of leadership qualities asked about. (You can see the results in the graph at the foot of this piece.) This leads Tim to conclude: 'If the Liberal Democrats are looking for a leader who can increase their electoral competitiveness these are powerful numbers.' Call me ...
I'm an amateur military historian, not so much of guns and bombs, but of political imperative, of the influence of nationalism and domestic politics, indeed why so many supposedly smart people sent so many young men to their death.The 'In Flanders Fields' museum, in the reconstructed Lakenhalle (Cloth Hall), in the heart of Ypres, itself a focal point for much slaughter on both sides between 1914 and 1918, offers a fascinating insight into the personal tragedies of trench warfare, of citizens fleeing a war zone, and of the industrialisation of warfare. Equally powerfully, it provokes thought in those so minded ...
Take a number – Outside magazine reports on some of the deaths to have occurred amongst people climbing Everest this year. (via) Policing The Land – in honour of #ldconf – Sarah Brown rewrites The Land to make it fit the brave new world of accreditation and security theatre. Clegg and coalition six months on – James Graham looks at what's happened in the Lib Dems six months after he left. Long, but well worth reading. Global Warming's Terrifying New Math – A couple of months old, but I've only just seen it. Some figures and projections in there that ...
Now, Andrew Mitchell certainly is a problem. Whatever he said to those police officers on Wednesday night was clearly wrong - he's acknowledged that himself with his apology. And he may well end up resigning - ideally before the end of conference so I win my bet with Charlotte Henry. But Andrew Mitchell isn't really David Cameron's problem, in the sense that what has happened can't be blamed at the 'poor judgement' door of the PM. Mitchell flew off the handle at the wrong time with the wrong people, and got caught. If he has then tried to cover up ...
There are now 43 Liberal Democrat MPs on Twitter, courtesy of David Heath's foray into the medium: Setting twitter account up in time for #ldconf — About David Heath MP (@DavidHeathMP) September 21, 2012 You can follow all the Lib Dem MPs on Twitter via this list.
So writes Toby James: There has recently been a rise in concerns about the quality of elections in the UK and electoral administrators have commonly been blamed for making administrative errors or not planning properly for elections. The causes of legal fragmentation and complexity are partly devolution. This has created many overlapping frameworks of electoral law, more frequent elections and more combined elections and the lack of consolidation. But it is also that electoral law needs to be consolidated periodically and this has not been done since the 1980s. Read his piece in full to find out what is being ...
From The Independent: Nick Clegg will veto George Osborne's demands for a two-year freeze in most state benefits from next April and a further £10bn of welfare cuts... The Deputy Prime Minister revealed he will block the Treasury's demand for more cuts before the 2015 election to compensate for lower-than-expected growth. "Not a penny more, not a penny less," he declared. The message is reinforced Danny Alexander in The Guardian: "A two-year freeze in benefits, which would freeze the incomes of the poorest people in this country, is not a place we should be looking at," he says... He indicates ...
I'm in Hove Actually. Not Brighton. Dorms and cold showers at 7am. That takes me back! 35 years to be precise. This rude shock was considerable softened by a very civilised vesperial chat last night with the Liberal Democrat legend that is Erlend Watson. The term "walking encyclopdia" is over-used. But it certainly fits Erlend as far as political matters are concerned. You press his button and he regurgitates the most extraordinary minutiae from by-elections and political personalities stretching back eighty years. Last night's featured tale from Erlend was about where he hails from – the Orkneys. Jo Grimond was ...
This week's selection is 83.33% political and 80% of the political posts are party-political. That's only fair given that the Autumn Conference kicks off later today! First, Caron brings us the party's booklet of achievements in government. Next Bristol West's Lib Dem MP Stephen Williams has blogged an excerpt from Hansard with his contribution to a debate on the morals of tax evasion. It's an insight into an important issue but also into the conduct of parliamentary debates away from the "highlights" of Prime Minister's Questions. With regular reports of disgruntled members leaving the party for pastures new, it's good ...
Andrew Mitchell's sense of entitlement is truly shocking - Telegraph Blogs - Surely he'll be out before the end of the weekend? One big rule if you're writing about politics - Pretty much agree with everything Andrew says here The amount of time and effort that must have gone into this massive scrollable xkcd picture is incredible - Good way to waste half an hour! Clegg and coalition six months on - Great post analysing LDs + coalition (good to see @jamesgraham on politics again!) Death by regulation: the EU ban on low-risk oral tobacco « Clive Bates blog - ...
When I was 23 I.. Got my first proper job. With a desk. And my own stapler. Following up on the first point, my job is in charity sector so I did a lot of feel good things to help local blind people, like walking 10 K as a guide and raising money for super ...
On Tuesday night, I wrote and published this piece on transphobic feminism, and how it's inherently part of the patriarchy. On Wednesday morning, I woke up to find out about a comment piece written by LSE student Jason Wong that was printed in London Student on the subject of gender-neutral toilets: [IMG: Jason Wong's comment piece in Leeds Student] "Should unisex toilets exist on university campus?": No, by Jason Wong. Wong is not a stranger to controversy. He has run twice for student-run positions at LSE, and both times, has been disqualified: the first time for a sexist campaign, and ...
In recent weeks I have raised with the Council the issue of safety around bonfire night, and that people felt safe during the bonfire night period. Bury is part of 'Operation Treacle'. This is an AGMA wide event tackling the anti social behaviour around Halloween and Bonfire night. The Council's contribution includes: Joint inspections with Fire and Police to all firework retailers/wholesalers. Test purchases at targetted retailers by a young volunteer. Training of PCSOs. Assisting in the 'Be Safe Be Cool' event at all schools in the borough. Dealing with complaints from the public re ASB or safety of fireworks. ...
I have received complaints from constituents that at the disabled parking space outside the Speedwell Bar (Mennies) on Perth Road, the lettering is faded and therefore many don't notice the bay and it is therefore often filled by cars with no blue badge. This bay is essential for drivers with mobility difficulties getting parked near the Perth Road shops. I have asked Dundee City Council therefore to refresh the markings and have had a very prompt response promising action to repaint them.
A little streaming music show I put together, because I've got insomnia. If the embed doesn't work, tough — I'm tired enough to sleep now. Tagged: music
My review of last week's Doctor Who. In a shocking development, I didn't like it very much. Not my best piece of writing about the show, but when it's this bad, it's hard to muster up any enthusiasm. And some questions for our forthcoming Dave Sim interview, along with a call for extra questions in ...
