150,000 crocus bulbs are available on a first come, first served basis for community groups and schools across Durham. They'll be given out in lots of 200, with a request to match the gift with 200 bulbs of their own. To take part, contact Durham County Council's customer services on 03000 261 000. Once registered groups will be able to pick their bulbs up from the Customer Access Point on Front Street later in October.
On 20 October hundreds of thousands of people will gather in central London to march for a future that works. [Here in Belfast there is a march as well.—Ed.] They'll be taking to the streets because they believe that government spending cuts and privatisation are not the way to get us out of recession. Instead, ...
Things Labour are proposing as if they're new that @LibDemsare already doing in govt, No 1: Setting up a business bank. Things Labour are proposing as if they're new that @LibDemsare already doing in govt, No 2: Boosting the number of apprenticeships. Things Labour are proposing as if they're new that @LibDemsare already doing in govt, No 3: Separating retail and investment banking. Things Labour are proposing as if they're new that @LibDemsare already doing in govt, No 4: Boosting house building.
Last week, I proposed a motion putting forward a new housing policy for the Liberal Democrats. Reassuringly, the motion was carried overwhelmingly! This is what I said: Fellow Liberal Democrats. Late last night I was reading an excellent report on the housing crisis by Housing Voice and came across the following quote from the 1945 Liberal manifesto: There is a house famine in the land. Liberals will not be satisfied until there is a separate dwelling for each family at reasonable rent. This can be achieved only by a completely new approach, applying to housing the same drive as was ...
Interesting, he has joined just as David Cameron is starting a personal account....
In many ways the Liberal Democrat conference felt more at peace with itself last week. It was not just that it was rediscovering its mission-talking seriously about enhancing liberty through redistribution of assets -Land tax and employee ownership- but rather that it was doing these things in the context of asserting its identity with far more confidence that it has in recent times. One thing was missing-the rest of the world! I can't ever remember a time when Liberal have believed that the international dimension was not central to our thinking and policy making. This detachment from the international dimension ...
Earlier today, I had the pleasure of chairing the Barney's Fund committee, the charity set up by local business Barnetts Motor Group to help worthy causes in the local area. We are looking for new applications from local charities and good causes - more details from our news release below: NEWS RELEASE : Local charity Barney's Fund looking for new applications Local charities, community groups and worthwhile local projects are set to receive a boost to their fundraising efforts towards the end of this year with the help of Barnetts Motor Group's Barney's Charity Fund. The Barney's Fund Committee are ...
I've just sent this letter to Zac Goldsmith; I've sent a similar note my three local (Lib Dem) Councillors) I would encourage you if you live in Ham, Petersham or Richmond generally to read it. And then please sign the e petition Dear Zac I'm rather concerned by a note parents received home yesterday from the Russell School about the proposed changes with Strathmore, essentially asking us to give our blessing to the plans. I wanted to let you know how I felt and to find out what your position is - I'll be saying no to the proposals and ...
The Extra Bold Blog has the full text of Ed Miliband's speech. Well, sort of. Talking to Community Care, former Lib Dem health minister Paul Burstow calls for the closure of learning disability hospitals and for a wide-ranging review of social care funding to ensure the sector receives sufficient resources in next spending review. What is the philosophy of the Liberal Democrats? asks Decline of the Logos. The police unit that employed Mark Kennedy to infiltrate environmental protest groups has been trying to neuter anti-nuclear campaigners, reports Rob Edwards. A new documentary from BBC Arena is set to unveil the ...
Tue 2nd
20:39
Lawsuit involving a Lord Mayor, and a former council leader, follows headmaster's conviction
Two years ago Derek Slade was sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison for the sexual and physical abuse of boys in his care. Yesterday the East Anglian Daily Times reported new developments: Pannone Solicitors in London has been instructed by the Official Solicitor to pursue compensation claims on behalf of eight teenage boys who say they were sexually abused in Gujarat, India. The claims are against Derek Sawyer, former leader of Islington Borough Council and former chairman of the London Regional Courts Board, Abdul Osman, the Lord Mayor of Leicester and the Help a Poor Child charity. ...
Jonathan Portes, director of NIESR and former senior Treasury official, is not a Lib Dem — he recently contributed to LibDemVoice to critique the Coalition's economic policy — but he is addicted to robust evidence. And the recent spate of right-wing commentators rubbishing the Lib Dems' call for increased wealth taxes to help tackle the current economic crisis has roused his ire: The Liberal Democrats call for a "mansion tax" (that is, a higher rate of council tax for the most expensive properties), possibly supplemented by some form of wealth tax seems to have provoked a peculiarly illogical misuse of ...
We all know social media is changing the way we view the world yadda yadda. But a couple of articles recently have led me to wonder quite how much and in what unexpected ways. The BBC's Mark Easton poses a theory here that it is, in part, an explanation why (despite the Daily Mail headlines) "teenage rebels are not what they were", drinking less, smoking less, inhaling less: Could it be that teenage rebellion needs to look different to what your mum and dad did? Smoking, boozing, dropping pills and hooliganism – that's so Generation X. These days, perhaps, adolescent ...
Tue 2nd
19:00
Sunday Politics (East Midlands) talking about Nick Clegg's visit and Liberal Democrats in the East M...
Below is a video of my appearance on the Sunday Politics Show, the East Midlands segment. The discussion was about Nick Clegg's visit to the East Midlands and the Liberal Democrats in the East Midlands in general.
Labour say they'll do ... but Lib Dems in Government are already doing! No 1: Setting up a business bank. No 2: Boosting the number of apprenticeships. No 3: Separating retail and investment banking. No 4: Boosting house building. What next?
Courtesy of the Liberal Democrat Press Office's Phil Reilly: Things Labour are proposing as if they're new that @libdems are already doing in govt, No 1: Setting up a business bank. — Phil Reilly (@phil_reilly) October 2, 2012
I went to a packed meeting of local residents on Sunday 30th September. It was standing room only at Pinewood Community Hall where the audience heard from campaigners against the two proposed wind turbines. These would be sited on the Belstead/Wherstead border and will be visible from Pinewood and Belstead Hills in Ipswich. Local people are understandably very worried about noise and visual disturbance. The East Anglian Daily Times ran an article with a poll on whether the wind turbines should be built. The meeting also heard from two Kessingland residents who had initially supported the wind turbine adjacent to ...
So a picture is worth a thousand words? OK, no blog post on Lib Dem conference, just this.... Oh, alright then. Words too then.... Don't say I'm not good to you..... I love this picture for personal reasons because it contains a number of my very good friends, and also one or two new ones that I like very much as well. It was taken on Tuesday night of Lib Dem conference and kind of sums up a lot of the good things about the week, for me - spending time with those I like and trust, meeting more like-minded ...
With John Leech MP, Lib Dem Transport Minister Norman Baker MP and Matt Gallagher, Lib Dem candidate to be Grt Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner promoting 20mph limits in Central Manchester Last week Liberal Democrats passed the 20 is Plenty - Saving Lives on the Road motion at their Autumn Conference, which calls for a dramatic expansion of a 20mph speed limit in the UK. I was delighted to get the oppertunity to attend the debate and vote for the motion. Liberal Democrats have been leading the way on road safety. In Lib Dem-led councils, local speed limits of 20mph ...
It was a good speech First, credit where it's due. Ed Miliband's speech was very well delivered. He looked and sounded more relaxed than usual, and to speak for over an hour without notes and barely a stumble is impressive. His refrain that Labour will create a 'One Nation' country was a clever way of re-framing the debate about equality while brazenly reaching to centrist Tory voters. More on this below. But it wasn't a great speech Secondly, lets not get carried away either. The most absurd over-reaction I saw on Twitter was this one via The Sun's political editor ...
The best piece of news I heard last week was that the police had recovered the Wenlok Jug. In May of this year the Wenlok Jug, a large bronze medieval jug which is the prize object in the collection of Luton's museum service, was stolen from the Stockwood Discovery centre. The theft made national news and later featured on BBC One's Crimewatch programme. The theft was a severe blow to Luton Culture who were responsible for looking after it and a loss that I know was felt very deeply by museum staff. So I was delighted to hear that the ...
Tue 2nd
17:45
Opinion: The Ryder Cup is symbolic - Europe is stronger together - and it's more entertaining
The 2012 Ryder Cup involved a classic sporting comeback and a heart-stopping close finish. Team Europe came from kilometres behind to beat the USA 14.5 to 13.5. The Ryder Cup is one of those sporting events, like football's World Cup or the Olympic athletics, that interests people who normally take little notice of sport. I think the interest in such big events is because: They are often show a sport being played at its best. We all admire excellence when we see it. To quote Eddie Jordan, "I can watch anything being done well." They are usually close contests between ...
Matt Gallagher with Jeremy Browne, the new Lib Dem Minister for Crime Prevention Crime prevention makes sense. Less crime means fewer victims, fewer arrests, fewer court cases, fewer prisoners, and an easing of the pressure on police and the justice system. The cost of dealing with a crime and the offender responsible for it can run to several tens of thousands of pounds for each case. It can cost up to £40,000 a year to send someone to prison. A Crown Court case can cost £3,000 a day, a Magistrates hearing £900. Police investigations, and the cost of preparing a ...
There's a good Fairer Tax campaign website - with a petition to sign. Do pop over and have a butchers and sign the petition. Thanks
As this 2007 Daily Mail article reveals, the television presenter and former top-ranked British tennis player Andrew Castle is the great great grandson of Annie Besant. Wikipedia has more on Annie Besant. Thanks to @HiddenAberdeen and @openplaques on Twitter.
I fail to understand how any leader can unite a Nation while we have a neo-liberal capitalist system which has inbuilt mechanisms that divide the rich and the poor, the able from the disabled, youth from baby boomers and serves the vested interest of the 1%.
It has been brought to my attention that, under a little bit of pressure, Labour spokespersons are beginning to talk about ideas, rather than merely exclaiming that a particular cut is the wrong cut, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. And whilst that might be true, it isn't very helpful in terms of addressing the public finances. However, as usual, Labour do seem to be rather keener on finding ways of cutting Government income, rather than cutting expenditure, Liz Kendall's rather more honest piece in the Guardian honourably excepted. And, having failed to convince many people that cutting ...
When I joined the Liberal party in the 1980s, no one then used the term 'Nanny State'. Originally it was a term the political right wing started to use; I do not recall when exactly. The terms betrays its upper case origins, a class that can afford to pay for a Nanny to look after the children. Richard Reeves has recently published a Demos book that was handed out at the 'What is Cleggism?' fringe meeting at the Brighton conference last week. His use of the term 'Nanny State' is not new for the Liberal Democrats; I noticed Ed Davey ...
Tue 2nd
15:53
Judith Cochrane MLA's answer on why she was absent from chamber for #equalmarriageni vote yesterday
Just been speaking to Judith Cochrane MLA, one of three Alliance Party MLAs unable to bring themselves to be present in The Northern Ireland Assembly yesterday for the Marriage Equality vote. I asked her: "Can you tell me why you were absent from the chamber yesterday for the Equal Marriage vote?" Her response is below. ...
Tue 2nd
15:40Jeremy Browne writes ... My liberalism has a simple objective: to promote the freedom and ambitions ...
Jeremy Browne writes in The House magazine: My liberalism has a simple objective: to promote the freedom and ambitions of every individual. Their freedom from persecution, from fear, from ignorance and from enforced conformity. And their ambition to reach their full potential. Personal freedom requires the state to be the servant of the people; never their master. But that does not automatically mean that liberalism always benefits from having a small state. With the reflex authoritarianism of the Blair/Brown years, liberals have often become accustomed to regarding the state as a threat to liberty. Under Labour we saw a steady ...
Last week was the first meeting to see who was interested in a heritage group for the town. 8 of us turned out, and we have lots of ideas and suggestions. Next meeting on Friday. I've put this web site together: http://houghtonregisheritage.blogspot.co.uk I've just whiled away more precious moments of my life compiling away some of the news stories I previously posted to the News Desk Facebook Page. Did you miss the news this week? Here's a chance to catch up with some of the items reported on our Facebook Page
[check against delivery] Hello and welcome to Manchester. I'm not very sure what to talk about today. I've been leader for two years, and I'm feeling so old my memory is going. My son tells me I should be talking about dinosaurs, and that seems as good an idea as any. Anyway instead of making a speech today I'm going to do what my image advisors keep telling me to do and tell you my story. I was born in a hospital and went to a school. Just like you normal people. I wouldn't be standing here today without an ...
I've written recently about Liberal Democrat MP Mike Crockart's campaign to free us from the pain in the backside that is nuisance calls, emails and texts. These contacts aren't just a nuisance - they can be dangerous with vulnerable people being conned out of money. Today, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur will propose the following motion at Holyrood. S4M-04204 ♦ Liam McArthur () (Scottish Liberal Democrats): That the Parliament understands that nuisance calls blight the lives of many people in Orkney and across Scotland; believes that these calls are particularly distressful for older, vulnerable people; is concerned that a quarter of ...
A ballot of all ALDC members will take place for Ordinary Members only. An electronic ballot conducted by ERS Ballot Services will be circulated to members at around 17 October 2012. Statement of Persons Nominated By the deadline for nominations the following candidates have been nominated. OFFICERS President Veronica German* (Torfaen)** Chair Cllr Claire Hudson (Mendip)** Vice-Chair (2 vacancies) Cllr Isobel McCall* (Milton Keynes)** Cllr Kath Pinnock* (Kirklees)** Secretary No nominations received Treasurer Cllr Sarah Boad* (Warwickshire)** MEMBERS English Representative Steve Hitchens* (Islington)** Scottish Representative Derek Barrie (Fife)** Welsh Representative No nominations received Ordinary Member (10 vacancies) Cllr Anood Al-Samerai ...
Monday: Hard Labour's Mr Milipede has called for the "break up" of the banks. More accurately, he's called for no more than the implementation of last year's Vickers and Tarts report. Not that the Coalition's WATERED DOWN Vicker's proposals are GOOD, but Hard Labour's proposal is TIMID, and leaves a HUGE OPPORTUNITY for Liberal Democrats to lead REAL RADICAL REFORM. WE SHOULD break up the banks but NOT JUST into "high street" and "casino". We should take these ENORMOUS institutions, particularly the two that we OWN and turn them into LOTS of SMALL local and regional banks. I wanted to ...
KTS Training is starting an exciting, brand new 'I Just Want a Job' course at the Ridgewood centre in Yate. It is aimed at young people aged between 16- 18 who are not currently in employment, training or education and will give them the opportunity to achieve a qualification and enhance their employability skills. The eight week intensive programme will cover employability skills including mock interviews, CV work and help and expertise in job applications. The full range of subjects the learners will study on the programme includes first aid, customer service skills, target setting, CV and Cover letter work, ...
Last week John Leech MP was announced as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Culture, Media and Sport. John will take up his position as Co-Chair of Lib Team Parliamentary team on Culture, Media and Sport alongside Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter and Baroness Floella Benjamin. John Leech said, "The Olympics and Paralympics have shown how important sport is in the UK and because of my particular interest in sport I am delighted to be appointed. I have taken over from Don Foster who had such of wealth of experience in culture and media and I hoping to continue in his footsteps in ...
Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton saw the a motion passed calling for the party to investigate the practicalities of introducing a 'nursery premium'. At first glance this sounds like an obvious extension of the party's existing pupil premium policy. Delving more closely into the data, however, shows that it is more than simply an obvious extension; it's necessary to remove what is a bizarre anomaly arising from how other policies fit together. Here is the extra assistance which is given for the education of children from the most deprived backgrounds in England for each age band from 1 year-old to ...
Political parties are broad churches, and comprise many different ideologies and ways of interpreting the world. In the UK, it is almost certainly the case that one of the biggest pressures leading to membership of the Conservatives or Labour is being opposed to the other; both parties make such a significant play of the evil ...
The subject of Breast Cancer is one which is close to my heart, having seen both my mother-in-law and sister-in-law die from the disease. It saddens me that Anna never had the chance to get to know these wonderful women. Her granny died long before she was born and her aunt died when she was just 2 and a half. We've learnt much in the intervening years that might have saved their lives, both in recognition of the symptoms and in treatment. That's thanks to the work that organisations like Breakthrough Breast Cancer do. Last Thursday evening, Breakthrough Scotland held ...
I observed in The Herald this morning that the Scottish Liberal Democrats have denied Yes Scotland's application for an exhibition stand at the party's conference in Dunfermline on 27th October. On one level this was unsurprising and consistent with the party's attitude towards Yes Scotland. But, on another, it is inconsistent with our fundamentally liberal values, our respect for pluralistic democracy and our desire to facilitate political debate. I am not entirely sure who made this decision, but if either conference committee or the leadership feels that the party needs protecting from the evil rhetoric of Yes Scotland it demonstrates ...
Cllr Belinda Brooks-Gordon (LD, Castle) Residents living in Cambridge's Conduit Head Road have joined forces with Lib Dem Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon to fight for a solution to problem parking in their road. They are calling for parking restrictions to prevent drivers blocking their driveways during university term times. On one occasion cars were parked two metres over a driveway causing a visitor to drive over the kerb and grass to get in and out. Rubbish disposal lorries have also been unable to turn round in the road. Cambridgeshire County Council posted plans to introduce parking restrictions on the first 37 ...
[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] ........................The loud and prolonged cheering which followed the decisive rejection of a resolution urging the abandonment of the policy (employee ownership) was the climax of the Assembly and made it clear that the great majority of those present regarded the proposals as the cornerstone of Liberal Policy and the Party's main issue at the forthcoming General Election. Profit-sharing and co-partnership have, of course, been advocated by the Liberal Party for more titan fifty years; but to-day it wants to go a good deal further than merely welcoming the development of such schemes. It wants ...
Before departing for Conference in Brighton this year, I happened upon a blog post on Prospect which bemoans the way in which Party Conferences have evolved from being policy-making platforms into gory showcases for Party brands in the mould of late 90's movie 'Primary Colours' staring the fleet-of-foot John Travolta. Instead of serious politics, they've become simply a form of political mood music, so the accusation goes. Sadly it's all too easy to write off modern politics as less cerebral than it once was. But having authored a detailed policy paper about police reform and debated complex justice issues from ...
Tue 2nd
12:40
I'm starting a campaign to make the most democratic of all the party conferences...democratic
My first experience of conference was quite some years ago, not long after I joined the party and I was invited to speak at fringe at Spring Conference. I went all the way down, spoke on the Saturday evening, then went to conference the next day, and sat through a debate. This was when I learnt that I was, at conference, the 'wrong' sort of member, had no vote, and that some members were, in conference terms, more equal than others. Ever since then, the vagaries of who gets a vote at conference has troubled me. All sorts of party ...
So, on the plus side, five days ago the Daily Mail billed her as "Miriam Clegg... the wife of Nick Clegg, who goes by her maiden name of Miriam Gonzalez Durantez"... whereas today she is allowed to be Miriam Gonzalez Durantez — y'know, her actual name — in her own right. On the minus side, five days ago the Daily Mail's focus was on her clothes: And today the paper's focus trains in on Miriam's 'derriere': Two points for the Daily Mail to bear in mind: 1. Derriere is French. Miriam is Spanish. The Spanish word for bottom is culo. ...
Below are recently submitted Planning Applications in the Chorlton area. You can find out more information about any of the proposals on the City Council's Planning Portal at http://tinyurl.com/yv6lex or by contacting the South Area Planning Group Manager - Roger Hall; Tel: (0161) 234 4536; email: r.hall@manchester.gov.uk . You can also make a Planning representation (in support or opposition) to Mr Hall or the designated planning officer for each application. Please feel free to contact me on (07947383740; cllr.v.chamberlain@manchester.gov.uk) if you wish to discuss any application and please also send me a copy of any representation you make. 100510/TCA/2012/S1 7 ...
Despite the fact that I found myself speaking against a Conference motion calling for mandatory 20 mph speed limits in residential roads, I am a member of a Parish Council which would really like one in our village. There is good cause for such a thing, as our village is without footways for most of its length, and the road is quite winding, with at least two blind corners, obstructed either by houses or hedges. Indeed, it is so winding that we can't use speed guns in the village - they need a minimum length of straight road in order ...
Family Investments have produced a study of the UK and how family friendly each area is – STUDY. It says Wokingham is the most family friendly area – mostly it appears from Primary School results. It takes a whole postcode area e.g. SE22. For SE22 it suggests we're a little above the national average for crime but below for anti social activities. Above the average birth rate and levels of obtainment at Key Stage 2 but not stunningly above the average. We have a Leisure Centre but surprisingly no green flags in SE22.
So, Ed Miliband has told the public that he went to one of those hubs of poverty and human deprivation. A state school. Logically it follows that he is one of us and understands what it is like to be poor. OK fair enough, compared to the Etonian and Westminster schools that Dave and Nick went to, where privilege and wealth is the norm but does that mean he knows what it is like. I went to a state school and I didn't notice the financial situations of my friends. I was too busy doing my school work, chatting and ...
I can't over-emphasise how important the concepts in this article in last week's Economist are: An incurable disease, and I would urge my readers to try and get to grips with it. If you want to understand how our economy is changing, and the implications for public services, the idea it describes is critical. It ranks alongside Ricardo's law of comparative advantage (gains from trade) and Keynes's multiplier (fiscal policy) as a counter-inituitive idea that explains so much. What it describes is something usually referred to as "Baumol's cost disease", and reviews a book by the eponymous William Baumol, "The ...
I'm going to be standing for the Lib Dem Federal Conference Committee in the upcoming internal elections. This is manifesto I'm standing on: Who I Am I'm George Potter, member of Liberal Youth, member of the Social Liberal Forum and member of the Lib Dem Disability Association. I'm also a student of engineering at the University of Surrey and a disability rights campaigner. What I Stand For There are various issues which have motivated me to stand for the FCC but my main motive is that I feel that conference is good but could be much better. And my aim ...
Maelo put in a speaker's card to speak at the debate on Equal Citizenship- supporting independence for sick and disabled people. She was not chosen to speak, and has shared the speech she would have given here. The full text of the original motion can be found here, on page 27. Good afternoon Conference. I ...
One of the stories of yesterday's debate on Equal Marriage (I know there are more but I've yet to work out how to write this up) in the Assembly at Stormont was the non-appearance of three of the eight Alliance MLAs and the vote of one against the motion. The Alliance are often called the Liberal Democrats sister party here in Northern Ireland and it often comes as a shock to many both in Alliance and the Lib Dems in the rest of the UK that I am not and have not ever been a member. Earlier this year when ...
Today's Financial Times has a shocking story identifying that 20 million items of personal data were traded illegally over the internet in the first half of this year, as more people went online. They say that research by Experian has concluded that the amount of illegal data in circulation is likely to be four times what it was in 2010 by the end of this year. The reason for this is that consumers have more accounts online than before, using their computers to make bank payments to utility and council tax bills amongst many others. A lot more shopping is ...
As part of monthly centenary celebration events the Friends of Longford Park group is holding a 60s night of soul and Motown featuring the band Black and Gold on October 12 at the Longfords, Trafford Athletics Stadium, Rye Bank Road. Doors open 7.30pm. Black and Gold are a 12-piece Lancashire band covering music from Dusty Springfield and Wilson Pickett to Sam Sparrow and Bill Withers. Tickets are £8 and available in advance, call Sonia 864 2414. Also, you might be interested to know that Longfords Athletic club Over 50s have started running a keep fit group. The session is held ...
Devon & Cornwall Lib Dems have selected Brian Blake as their candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections on November 15th. Brian is an excellent candidate, having served for 31 years in the Police Service across the region in both counties, finishing his career as a Detective Chief Inspector. After retiring from the Police, Brian worked for 13 years for the Ministry of Defence, involving personnel vetting of military, NATO and UK Government employees working abroad. He is the only person to have announced their candidacy to have experience of serving in the Police, and worked under former Devon ...
I'm certainly not going to get excited about a brief 3% increase in our poll rating, even if 15% is nearer where we have been in mid term even in opposition in previous parliaments. The ComRes poll in the Independent published today, though, doesn't make happy reading for either Conservative or Labour leaders. Ok, so only 22% of people trust Cameron and Osborne on the economy, but they don't see Balls and Miliband as the answer to their prayers either, with only 2% more trusting the Labour team. If they can't get any traction from the luxury of opposition, they're ...
A couple of updates relating to Upper Wilton Street (the busy street which leads up the side of Heaton Park Metrolink Station): A number of residents have complained about the poor lighting on this street, which is obviously used by a lot of pedestrians walking to and from the tram. At my request Bury Council have asked Metrolink to cut back some of the trees and overgrowth which are causing the problem and are going to check back in a couple of weeks to ensure that this has been done. This does seem to be a problem that re-occurs every ...
Another growth plan falters » Spectator Blogs (tags: ) Activists warned to watch what they say as social media monitoring becomes 'next big thing in law enforcement' - Crime - UK - The Independent (tags: ) Transport for Greater Manchester chooses Atos to run new Smartcard Scheme Ugh. How does this sort of thing HAPPEN? (tags: ) Coilhouse » Blog Archive » "I am so goth, I was born black." (tags: ) Rebels with a cause: Botswana's heavy metal heads - CNN.com These guys are made of awesome! Bring back the NWOBotswananHM! (tags: ) Chuka's hypocrisy (tags: ) First Elveden ...
While it might be a stretch to say that the 2012 Lib Dem conference in Brighton was an unmitigated success, it is hard to come away from the conference without feeling a little better about life and about the party. Certainly the only consistent low point of the week was being blown sideways by the gales sweeping in from the English Channel. (On reflection I think it may have been a mistake for me to tell friends that the weather is always good in Brighton!) Of course, there is little doubt that the media will represent the conference as an ...
Information from the NHS in Bury: Flu does kill and the vaccination does give protection against it. That's the message from local GPs who are urging patients at risk of developing serious complications from flu, to get protected. The NHS in England is launching the new Flu Safe campaign to remind eligible patients that they should have the jab to get protected against flu. Flu Safe is a national message to highlight the importance of getting the jab. The campaign highlights facts about flu to dispel common misconceptions. The vaccine does not contain any live viruses, so it cannot cause ...
Tue 2nd
09:25
5 things you shouldn't miss: smarter ways to find tickets, locating lost people and more
Welcome to the latest of my monthly collections for the Engine Group of five links that you shouldn't miss. Putting 404 error pages to work: "Page not found, and neither is this person" http://bit.ly/OyMTDu A clever idea putting to good use those pesky '404 Page not found' error messages which come up when you try to visit a page that does not exist. Use them to help find missing people. AuthorRank: how to keep ahead of Google's next changes http://mz.cm/OyNjd6 What is AuthorRank? Why does it matter? How do you influence it? There are no certain answers, but this piece ...
One of the more unexpected joys of life on the Liberal Democrat Voice team is the unsolicited e-mail. Naturally, most of them are from Liberal Democrats wanting to write for the site, or campaigning groups wanting to promote their cause and reach out to us. Indeed, some of our best, most interesting articles come to us this way. However, there are others. Sometimes, they're from someone who demonstrates a slightly relaxed grasp on reality, sometimes they're from someone who wants to confront us with 'uncomfortable truths', i.e. contentious opinions that aren't actually facts, but mostly, they're from random strangers wanting ...
A couple of 'what if' questions that I've been pondering on. 1) After Ming Campbell resigned as leader in 2007, what if the Lib Dem Federal Executive had decided to delay the election of a new leader for a couple of months? (Perhaps someone mentions a possible problem with the Christmas post...) Would Vince Cable's performance as acting leader encourage him to go ahead and stand? Would he win? 2) Either as a result of number 1, or some other reason, what if the last general election had delivered a stable Labour-Lib Dem coalition government? What's the shape of that ...
Think of this as a public information post... As of yesterday, National Minimum Wage rates were changed as follows; adult rate (for those aged 21 and over) - £6.19 an hour (up 11p, or 1.8%)18-20 year olds - £4.98 an hour (no change)16-17 year olds - £3.68 an hour (no change)apprentice rate - £2.65 per hour (up 5p, or 1.9%)Apprentices aged 19 or over who have completed one year of their apprenticeship are entitled to receive the national minimum wage rate applicable to their age. I have to say that I was surprised to find that the rates were as ...
Assuming Jackie Ashley is correct in her interpretation of Labour's direction of travel, she has succeeded in making a convincing case for the continued existence of the Liberal Democrats as a progressive alternative. For example, whereas Labour will focus on populist, but ultimately ineffective changes to the top rate of tax, Lib Dems are easing the income tax burden for the lowest paid workers. Labour's politically opportunist reversal of the Coalition's NHS reforms, would presumably reintroduce the bias in favour of private healthcare providers that Liberal Democrats succeeded in reversing. While Labour's recipe for national renewal is about "changing the ...
The recent performance of First Capital Connect was reviewed by a St Albans City and District Council Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 27 September. Senior management from FCC and Network Rail were questioned about progress made in improving the train service since they last met the Committee in January 2012. Various issues raised at the meeting in January were revisited, including insufficient information during times of disruption, clarity of the compensation process, car parking provision and charges. The Local Services Scrutiny Committee heard how Network Rail and FCC responded to recent service disruption caused by various incidents including cable ...
Nick Clegg's conference speech committed Lib Dems to manage debt out of the economy and implement a fair tax regime. But the objectives of economic policy often conflict with each other. Let's take it that there are three objectives for current economic policy: to reduce deficit and the debt it accumulates to inject demand into the economy to have a fair tax system In the following table, I've had a try at evaluating recent and proposed economic policies against these objectives. Lib Dem Policy Does it reduce deficit and debt? Does it stimulate demand? Is it fair? Tax threshold to ...
An interesting poll from ComRes in today's Independent appears to show a post-conference boost for the Lib Dems at the expense of Labour: LibDems get post-conference boost in latest ComRes poll: Lab 38% (-4%), Con 35% (n/c), LDs 15% (+3%), Others 12% (+1%) — Stephen Tall (@stephentall) October 1, 2012 As UKPollingReport's Anthony Wells sensibly reminds us, this is just one poll: it might just as easily be a blip or a rogue as a sign of real recovery. BUT it is still interesting: 1) I'd expect the post-conference boost to fade away as the media focus moves on first ...
The slight bounce in the polls for the Liberal Democrats after the Brighton conference, now up to 15% support, may well be part of the froth of the conference season. On the other hand, support at that level has often been the norm for the party at this stage in many previous Parliaments. So those pundits gleefully hoping for the demise of the party seem set to be disappointed. Certainly the atmosphere in Brighton was more of a party on the way back than one on the way down. In fact I see a renewed commitment to Liberal ideas and ...
Well, it's been a miserable 24 hours for my blogging ego. First Lord Bonkers delivers some astute comment about the general state of Lib Dem blogging. Then Andrew Emmerson does likewise That's before we even get in to the fact that the best blog post anyone is likely to write in the next 12 months was published this weekend. I didn't write it. I haven't even recovered from that Hopi Sen analysis of the Orwell Prize entries this year yet. I still reckon he meant me. Blimey
The only thing wrong with Ed Balls's suggestion that the anticipated £3bn to be raised in the auctioning of some mobile phone licences should be spent on building 100 0000 houses is that he has made it in public. Such a project would relieve the housing shortage, give a Keynesian stimulus, with multiplier effect, to the economy, and have no impact on the current deficit. Three birds with one stone. But because this excellent suggestion has been made by Labour George Osborne won't implement. In our courts the adversarial system has frequently failed to produce justice. In government it is ...
Following concerns from residents that the pathway on the west side of Riverside Drive south of the Botanic Garden was overgrown - as were the steps just south of the rail bridge - I contacted the City Council regarding this. I am pleased to say this has now been attended to as a result of my request - see below:
I mentioned - earlier this year - the superb job the City Council made of Seabraes planting in the Spring. Many residents have mentioned to me how great the area looks at the moment - see below - a real credit to the Environment Department:
As my e-mail inbox gets fuller and fuller, and my ability to deal with it all becomes stretched towards breaking point, I note the arrival of a file from the Party's International Office, enclosing all of the draft resolutions to be debated at next month's ELDR Congress in Dublin. I also note that I only had six days to review them all and contribute my thoughts, and that three of them are gone already. Clearly, I can't do that or, at least, I can't do that on my own. So, I thought that I might do the next best thing, ...
Durham's bowel screening rates are well up, breast-feeding down. Many of the Adult Health and Well-being Scrutiny Committee were absent today, no doubt in rapt attention to Ed Balls in Manchester, so we had a stand-in chair, who himself needed to be substituted part way through, and it was a select group that received the good news that the proportion of Durham's eligible candidates who had undertaken bowel screening has moved from 57.5% to 66.8%, a great transformation and a credit to the public health services who have really pushed the cause. It's a campaign that will save lives. I ...
