So George Parker reckons on the Financial Times site: Senior Conservatives are plotting an audacious "cash-for-seats" offer to Nick Clegg, where the Liberal Democrat leader would back a Conservative-friendly Commons boundary review in exchange for millions in state funding for his party. Grant Shapps, Tory chairman, said on Sunday he had not "given up hope" of winning Mr Clegg's support for the boundary review, which could give David Cameron 15-20 extra seats at the next election. Although Mr Shapps denied on the BBC's Sunday Politics that talks were under way, senior Tory figures have told the Financial Times that they ...
How about this for a working men's club? This is - or rather was - Lawrence Street WMC in York, just outside Walmgate Bar. The club occupied these rather grand premises until it moved to a modest new building next door in 2005 or thereabouts. York Stories has a picture of the club in its original home in 2004 and says the building is now on Save Britain's Heritage's 'at risk' register. This house originally belonged to the Tukes, an important family of York Quakers involved with Rowntree's cocoa works, three Quaker schools(Ackworth, Bootham and The Mount) and the nearby ...
We know Nick Clegg's ambition is for the Liberal Democrats to become "not ... the third party, but ... one of three parties of government". Yet one of the reasons I was depressed by the summer's reshuffle (as I blogged when discussing John Kampfner's more optimistic take on it) is that we now seem further from fulfilling this ambition. I share Nick Harvey's disappointment that we not longer have ministers at Defence or the Foreign Office. And I am not convinced by the posts we have taken instead. Lynne Featherstone will do a good job at Overseas Development if she ...
Missed writing some of my rants - not because i want anyone to read them just as a way to get them off my chest, should anyone read my rants and agree this is a bonus as far as i'm concerned. Anyone out there i hope that you enjoy and can make a comment Thanks Chris Jennings
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. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. We have now hit a new record for the highest number of subscribers that we have ever had. Thank you all for this. I'm going to start off this morning by plugging three different charity events. 1. Oxjam Oxjam is the series of concerts and events held on one day in Beeston in aid of Oxfam. It will be taking ...
Concessionary Fares issue to be looked at again The County Council Cabinet has been forced to look again at their decision to provide only the statutory minimum free travel (0930-2300 weekdays, all day weekends and bank holidays), after the Liberal Democrat Group called the decision into the Scrutiny Committee at the end of September. The original decision had failed to take account of a number of important principles. Not only was there a lack of consultation, but the Conservative administration had also failed to take into account the negative impact their decision had had on many peoples' lives, including those ...
There is an article in Tomorrows Daily Post regarding the decision to switch treatment of Head Trauma from North Wales from The Walton Centre to Stoke in North Staffordshire. I have some information that I will use to check the performance of this decision. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board say that they will save around £240K a year (Let us see). I have concerns regarding the extra time this will take in getting seriously injured patients to North Staffordshire down the M6.
Wow, it's over two months since I blogged about anything. Life has not fallen apart. Work has been frantic to be sure, but it's not as if there's been nothing to blog about. Still, with a new semester under way, lots of interesting modules and discussions to report on as well as the usual crap coming out of our politicians to criticise, there's plenty to write about. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up for a while at least. But first, a few things from the last few weeks that have caught my eye, and often my ire: Andrew ...
The last time I wrote about a 'robust' system it related to Justine Greening describing the selection process for the West Coast main line. She was obviously wrong in using this word but I haven't heard any apologies yet. Apart from the obvious error that the system was far from robust, her use of this word must now mean we need to take a pinch of salt whenever we hear it. Another Tory offered a possible defence for Justine in that ministers don't look at any details and rely on their advisers. My point was that a minister still remains ...
[IMG: Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice] To judge by the delegates I met at Confrence David Howarth's demolition of Richard Reeve's arguments at a fringe meeting was most welcome. Reeves-who it must be said wrote an excellent biography of J S Mill - has been peddling some odd ideas since he left Clegg employ. He has produced a pamphlet and that was the basis of the discussion at the fringe meeting. Howarth had the advantage that he had read the pamphlet in advance and so was able to un-pick the argument. to make sense of the rest of this posting ...
If taking the final step off a ladder unto the moon just below you is "One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind" what is jumping off a platform 39km above the earth? In the last hour that is precisely what Felix Baumgartner did. Following the words from the man whose 52 year-old records he was setting out to break, Joe Kittinger. "Item 38. stand up on the exterior step but be sure to duck your head down low as you go out that door....The rest is yours." About to leap He had already set the world ...
With the revelations about Jimmy Savile and John Peel, life as a 1970s; DJ seems a lot less poptastic than it did even a couple of weeks ago. But Harry Chapin knew that at the time, as he proved in this 1973 song. WOLD (not "Wold"- that would be a song about Lincolnshire) made no. 36 in the US singles chart that year, but does not seem to have been a hit over here even though I remember it being played at the time by some of Radio One's cooler DJs. Harry Chapin, who was also an activist for social ...
It's been another excellent day here in Creeting St Peter, as we have had a visit from a 'proper liberal', as I like to think of him, David Grace. I've already said some nice things about him, so I won't belabour the point, but we've had an excellent roast for lunch, with a fruit crumble for dessert, and stories have been told. It's been fun. He's running for a place on the Federal Conference Committee, and I'll be giving him a prominent place on my list of preferences which, I guess, makes this an endorsement.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 295th 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 (7-13 October, 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. Lib Dems and ...
The internet is well-supplied with useful, clear and sometimes witty explanations of what words mean. Some of these concentrate on distinguishing words with similar spelling or sound but different meaning. Most of these sites seem to be American. This could be because most wise English language wordsters are American or because most people making silly mistakes with English are American. Probably both, given the population. Well, here's my contribution. SPECTACULAR: Wearing spectacles or possessing spectacles - "She looks spectacular". UNSPECTACULAR: Not needing or not having with one a pair of spectacles - "I am unable to read this document because ...
One of the distinguishing traits of a senior politician is to be in possession of a circle of loquacious friends, always ready to talk to the press about things they don't feel ready to talk about personally in public. Michael Gove's friends have been talkative this weekend, telling the Daily Mail all about his views on the European Union. It's pretty much just Gove throwing a bone to the Tory Right, of course, saying he'd vote for the UK to leave to the EU, coupled with complaints about how those horrible human rights laws stop him from doing exactly what ...
Sun 14th
15:54
Full Council 2 - 11/10/12 - the car parking issue and who is the party of small business?
The most publicised motion was for putting more money into improving car parking capacity in our residential areas. If you were wondering why no one had thought of this before, it is because they did. It was back in October 2004 that a motion was moved to address the issue. At that time it had full party support and on the back of it a list of sites was drawn up and a budget commitment made
Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum before conference to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 550 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. BBC Radio, Channel 4 and The Independent top our poll for best-quality political coverage LDV asked: How would you rate the quality of political coverage in the following UK-wide media outlets on a scale of 1-10 (where 1 is very poor and 10 is outstanding). Rated positively... BBC Radio Not good quality = 22% Good quality = 78% ...
Birkdale Library issued over 150,000 items for the last year we have figures, Netherton issued 35,000. Guess which is on Labour's closure list?
I'll be pleased tomorrow to welcome back Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader, Willie Rennie MSP (pictured right), to Dundee, in a visit that will see Willie and myself meet the great team at Maggie's Centre, who recently celebrated the centre's 9th anniversary. During his visit, Willie will also visit local businesses in the West End and will take part in a joint surgery with me at the Mitchell Street Centre (see below) at 4.20pm, to which all West End residents are very welcome to attend.
We're supporting the campaign by housing and homelessness charity Shelter to 'Evict Rogue Landlords'. Shelter are running a national campaign to tackle the problem of the small minority of private sector landlords who are renting out homes that are in an appalling state of disrepair, and deliberately exploiting vulnerable tenants. These landlords not only condemn their tenants to living in rundown, unsafe, or overcrowded properties, often severely harming their health and wellbeing, they also blight their local neighbourhoods with increased refuse, sewage, and antisocial behaviour. The Government recently published comprehensive guidance on how local authorities can use their powers to ...
A rare event in Greenwich. The Council actually issued a press release on Friday highlighting a piece of news that wasn't ridiculously positive. It is instigating a review on the chaos that has surrounded the refurbishment of our two foot tunnels across the Thames, at Greenwich and at Woolwich. The link to the press release is ...
Gordon Wilson, former leader of the SNP, is just never going to be on the same page about marriage equality as this liberal unionist. He has come out firmly against it before and is now set to be even clearer at an upcoming Coalition for Marriage SNP Conference fringe. He said to BBC Scotland: "What you have to watch is when the state believes that it has a superior claim to tell its own citizens what to do and what to think." I couldn't agree more. The state must never demand people do something (or not do something) without extremely ...
Sun 14th
12:28
Jimmy Savile was formally challenged by Radio 1 bosses about his behaviour with young girls
Derek Chinnery was on Radio 4′s Broadcasting House this morning. (You can hear the interview here at 7'00"). "Who, he?" I hear the reader cry.... Well, for those of us of a certain age who were Radio 1 fans in the late 60s and 70s, his name is very familiar. He was the programme controller of Radio 1. Now aged 87, he sounds a delightful old boy with fond memories of leading the One Fun factory. The BBC inquiry into Jimmy Savile will talk to a lot of delightful old boys and girls like Derek Chinnery. But, as those with ...
This piece by Steve Buttry is written for newsrooms; however its advice applies just as well to campaigners. Well worth a read. And then a second read.
Would you support or oppose the following policies? Introducing a new tax on homes worth over £2 million Support 73% Oppose 20% Net: +53% (+22% amongst Tory voters, +75% amongst Labour voters, +78% amongst Lib Dem voters, +32% in London) Source: YouGov
The drains in Georgian View are due to be cleared shortly
Yesterday was another of those days that remind you, if reminder were needed, of the precious nature of community. I have written before of the Parochial Church Council's efforts to create a social scene for the village whilst raising funds to preserve the parish church. Last night, it was Tex Mex Night, with home made Mexican food prepared by various villagers, and Ros and I weren't going to miss it. As usual, the Church Room was full, with every seat taken, and a buzz of conversation around the tables. Accompanied with real ale - 'Scorpio' from the Rougham Brewery - ...
Today's Observer contans the most devastating attack yet on the UK Government's plans to launch a badger cull in England. The paper says that Britain's top animal disease scientists have launched a devastating attack on the government's "mindless" badger cull, accusing ministers of failing to tell the truth and demanding the immediate abandonment of the killings. More than 30 eminent animal disease experts have written to the paper to describe the cull as a "costly distraction" that risks making the problem of tuberculosis in cattle worse and that will cost far more than it saves. The scientists have rejected the ...
Something I wrote back last autumn is rather applicable to my views of the Nobel Peace Prize going to the European Union: Sat on a shelf a few metres away from me is a box containing the various military medals won by my relatives over previous generations. The medals criss-cross Europe, coming from different countries, over the three wars that had a German-French conflict at their centre. To British eyes that count of three wars may seem odd at first, but for the German and French politicians building new European structures in the aftermath of the Second World War, their ...
Sun 14th
10:17
Michael Moore MP tells Marr: Both Governments have met their objectives over Independence Referendum
Michael Moore MP, the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland has just been on the Andrew Marr show talking about the deal brokered between Scotland's two governments over the Independence Referendum. The two people conducting the negotiations, Mike and Nicola Sturgeon, have sorted everything out in just over a month and there has been very little bitching on the sidelines. What little there has been has come from the Tories. There certainly has been a high degree of professionalism about the whole thing. We'll see the detail tomorrow, but Mike was keen to stress that both governments had been ...
Last week saw the celebration of Nation Poetry Day so let us start with a poem. It is often said that the poems you learn by heart as a child stay with you. So here is the beginning one my English teacher, Mr Russell, made me memorise: WHY is it that the poet tells So little of the sense of smell? These are the odours I love well: The smell of coffee freshly ground; Or rich plum pudding, holly crowned; Or onions fried and deeply browned. The full text can be found here Those words came to mind when I ...
Today I have launched my campaign for the East Midlands Liberal Democrats European Parliamentary list for the 2014 elections. With the increasing levels of euro-scepticism, it is important for the Liberal Democrat Party that the East Midlands Region fights a ... Continue reading →
Towards a geekier wicca (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Sun 14th
10:00
What do Obama, Merkel and Nick Clegg all have in common? Choice of Clothes. No really...
In his amazing piece in Vanity Fair, reporter Michael Lewis (who was allowed to follow Obama everywhere close up for 6 months) revealed why Obama only wears Grey or Blue Suits. It's a great insight into the minds of politicians... This time he covered a lot more ground and was willing to talk about the mundane details of presidential existence. "You have to exercise," he said, for instance. "Or at some point you'll just break down." You also need to remove from your life the day-to-day problems that absorb most people for meaningful parts of their day. "You'll see I ...
Please let us have any comments. Note from the county council The Highway Authority proposes to implement by means of Traffic Regulation Order, an amendment to the current 'Prohibition of Driving Order' which regulates the use by vehicles that part of St. Peters Street north west service road. (Near to the junction with Catherine Street). This proposal will amend the current Order to allow taxis access to the restricted area and taxi stand in order to assist with the dispersal of persons associated with the night-time economy and is aligned with the provision made for taxis by St.Albans City and ...
Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum before conference to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 550 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. LDV asked: How would you rate the performances of the following leading Liberal Democrats and government ministers? This was the first post-reshuffle survey of what members think of the new Lib Dem ministerial team. As it was conducted mere days after most took up new posts, the figures are of course based on pre-conceptions of how the new ...
More on the story here. * Mark Pack has written 101 Ways To Win An Election and produces a monthly newsletter about the Liberal Democrats.
Back in January 2011, I looked at what would have happened if cricket's Ashes weren't restricted to being won by Australia and England. As much cricket has been played since that time, I thought it was time for an update to see what had happened since then. At that point, India held the Ashes, holding them after a drawn series with South Africa. Their next series was in summer 2011, when they visited England, and lost 4-0, thus handing the Ashes back to England. England, however, weren't able to hold onto the Ashes very long, and lost them 3-0 to ...
Yesterday's Courier highlighted concerns about the Tayside Superannuation Investment Fund's holdings in companies such as Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco in terms of concerns about ethical behaviour. The investment fund's holdings in these companies are significant: This is an important issue and, in short, I do not believe superannuation investment should be investing in any companies that do not act ethically. During the time I chaired the Tayside Superannuation Investment Sub-Committee from 2005 to 2007, I had concern that the fund was purely required to maximise returns for its members and I called for changes to legislation to be ...
I have some more waiting to be posted - including the current chair of FCC - but I also have a particular heavy weekend at work this week* so the fact that none have appeared shouldn't be a cause for concern. I am kind of bowled over by how popular this series of posts have been, and really stunned that I've had as many sets of answers as I have - I was expecting them from people I knew, but the fact that the first two responses I got were an email from a peer of the realm asking for ...
Over on the Decline of the Logos blog, Adam Bell asked each of the Euro candidates who had announced their candidacy 'what single power is it your priority to repatriate from Europe?' Along with several other shortlisted candidates I responded to Adam's question in the comments to the post, and for wider dissemination I reproduce my answer here: That is a very good, if somewhat trickm [sic] question to ask. The reason why I think it particularly tricky (aside from all the in-principle difficulties with properly grasping the concept of subsidiarity and applying it correctly) is that the temptation is ...
