I'm a thousand words or so into the Surf's Up post, which will be up some time this week, and I'll have a post on Shada up on Mindless Ones on Thursday, but until then, have some links: Firstly, for those of you who miss the old Google Reader, theoldreader.com, which is in beta, has ...
BBC News reports that two Cold War missile sties near Market Harborough have been given listed status: The former RAF sites - in Harrington, Northamptonshire, and North Luffenham, Rutland, are the most intact examples of Thor missile bases in England. They were put on alert as the Soviet Union and the US came to the brink of nuclear war in October 1962. The USSR eventually agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba and the US pledged not to invade the island. The Thor missile site at the former RAF North Luffenham, Rutland, has been given a Grade II* listing. And ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert MP Julian Huppert has welcomed the Home Secretary's decision not to extradite computer hacker, Gary McKinnon to America. Julian said: "I am delighted that the Home Secretary has seen fit to intervene in this case. This is excellent news. "Mr McKinnon's case is not clear cut. He is clearly unwell and needs to be treated with compassion. He has suffered 10 years of torment and I hope now he can start to get the help he so clearly needs." Julian has been fighting the extradition warrant against Mr McKinnon, who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome. He admits ...
Says BBC News: Downing Street has denied rumours of a feud between cats belonging to the chancellor and prime minister after they were pictured fighting. George Osborne's Freya was photographed slugging David Cameron's Larry with a nasty-looking left claw, the evidence being posted on Twitter.And here is the picture - thanks to @PoliticalPics - though, to be honest, it looks a little too good to be true. Still, never believe anything until it has been officially denied... Later. The Daily Telegraph assures us the photo is genuine.
An important intervention today in the debate over the Draft Communications Data Bill. The Information Commissioner has issued a strongly-worded warning about its impact if implemented: Plans to monitor all Britons' online activity risk uncovering "incompetent criminals and accidental anarchists" rather than serious offenders, the information commissioner has warned... Christopher Graham said the "really scary people" could simply avoid detection by changing their behaviour... It was up to Parliament to decide on the merits of the proposals, he added, but there were "important data protection principles at stake", such as the length of time material was retained, the risk of ...
Irresistible is the prospect of an overnight journey by rail. Rattling across dark miles; for me the classic evocation is not Agatha Christie, but the rather finger marked Europe-at-a-crossroads experience captured in Stephen Poliakoff's Caught on a Train - and I frivolously imagine - alluded to by Visage's Night Train. My own first journey by ...
From BBC News: Mr Clegg yesterday slapped down the idea and insisted that all 50 Liberal Democrat MPs will vote against boundary changes in retaliation for the Conservatives' failure to support House of Lords reform. He went on to mock Mr Shapps with a reference to the MP's controversial history of running a business under an alias that sold advice on how to make a quick fortune. "I suppose finally that's a get-rich-quick scheme which he is actually prepared to put his name to," Mr Clegg said.I wonder if something is stirring in what we may loosely call the minds ...
Gary McKinnon is not going to the United States to face trial. Nick Clegg was pretty darn clear when asked about this before the General Election in 2010 and he has come through. No doubts he put heavy pressure on the Home Secretary to get this decision and it is one I think it fair and we should be very happy with. Nick (or someone writing on behalf of Nick) sent the following e-mail out to Lib Dem members earlier this evening. In opposition, we were unequivocal: Gary McKinnon should not be extradited. I said at the time that he ...
News from the Tripping up Trump campaign arrives in my in box saying their award winning documentary about the stand off between local people and ludicrous US golf magnate Donald Trump will be aired by the BBC on Sunday 21 October at 10pm on BBC2. You can watch the trailer here.
Nick Clegg has just emailed Liberal Democrat members about today's announcement that Gary McKinnon will not be extradited to the US: In opposition, we were unequivocal: Gary McKinnon should not be extradited. I said at the time that he was too vulnerable to be uprooted from his friends and family and sent across the Atlantic, and if there was a case to answer it should be here in the UK. So today I am absolutely delighted by the Home Secretary's decision to withdraw his extradition order. I want to congratulate Gary and his mother Janis on their deserved victory. They ...
I believe an agreement of "historic significance" was signed in Edinburgh yesterday. This is welcome, if largely expected, news. I didn't foresee the Westminster government actively blocking the SNP's reasonable claims to hold the referendum on the date of their choosing, or the SNP providing too much resistance to Cameron's insistence of a single question. I was moderately surprised that 16 and 17-year olds will be allowed the vote, something of which I am personally supportive. There has predictably been a great deal of excitement surrounding this. I'm afraid I don't share it. To be honest, I was more concerned ...
The Liberal Democrat Group on Redcar & Cleveland Council is urging the Council's Labour bosses to accept a freeze in Council Tax next year if it is offered.This year Labour raised Council Tax by 3.5%, the highest in the country.This came despite the Government's offer of £1.4 million to the Council if it had frozen its council tax in 2012-13.At the Conservative Party conference last week, the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, announced that councils which wish to increase Council Tax by more than 2% will have to hold a referendum.He also announced that £450m would be available for councils to ...
As a signatory to this open letter to Vince Cable, I am republishing the letter as published on Lib Dem Voice this morning. We, the undersigned, are extremely concerned by the employee share ownership policy. We call for this bill to be amended to remove the part where workers have to give up their rights for share-ownership and, rather, for the proposal to mirror that agreed by the Liberal Democrat conference in this document. The proposal appears to allow for workers to give up their rights in return for company shares, as detailed on the HM Treasury website: Under the ...
A quick additional post to point readers in the direction of the blog written by Cornwall Council new media manager Matt Bond. Matt has pointed out that there was a huge engagement with the debate via the webcast (more than 4000 viewers) and on Twitter (the third highest trending topic in the UK at one point). Read more here. Tweet
This is what is going in the ballot mailing to Liberal Democrat conference reps, winging its way through the post as you read this: You can also find out more in the Q+A I recently took part in: What would I put on the front page of the 2015 manifesto? If you like what you see, do please 'Like' my page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MarkPackFPC.
The bare facts are that Cornwall councillors today voted to remove Alec Robertson as Leader of the authority and to install Jim Currie in his place. But such bare bones cannot possibly do justice to a day of drama and frustration. The most 'normal' part of the meeting was the debate on the motion of no confidence in the Leader although even that took place in the absence of the man himself. New rules on the declaration of interests mean that the Leader is deemed to have a pecuniary interest in whether he stays in his job because of the ...
Ah, bless: The Yorkshire and Humber MEP Andrew Brons has announced he has resigned from the British National Party... "The current Chairman of the rump BNP has described me in a text to his attack dogs as 'vermin'." [ITV]
So, here are my brief comments on the dances from this weekend's Strictly along with a few selected tweets from others. For the first time ever, I didn't vote for Anton the first chance I could. I couldn't justify it when literally everybody else was better than Jerry - and Jerry simply isn't willing to put the hours in. Apparently she is doing the contractual minimum rather than the "stay here till it's right" approach of other celebrities. I thought Craig was particularly mean to Richard. That routine may have been camped up to the extreme, but you couldn't help ...
Several newspapers have highlighted the fact that Starbucks has paid no corporation tax in the UK in the last three years. This is rather surprising. I'm a bit of a latte junkie but resent coughing up about £2.80 a cup. You don't have to be a business genius to realise that this is one hell ...
I don't know Maira Miller and I'm sure she's very nice. Sadly she appears to be poorly advised by those around her. Since her party colleagues intended to build on sites she wanted to protect and then ended up in Court for an 'unlawful' policy she supported, she has been understandably quiet on the issue for of housing, until the other week here It appears she is opposed to building
Really touching poem by Carol Ann Duffy about the Hillsborough disaster. The Cathedral bell, tolled, could never tell; nor the Liver Birds, mute in their stone spell; or the Mersey, though seagulls wailed, cursed, overhead, in no language for the slandered ... Continue reading →
Tue 16th
16:42
Opinion: Abu Hamza isn't Gary McKinnon but we should still be concerned about his extradition
The extradition of Abu Hamza and 4 other men to the US seems to have given almost universal pleasure and there is no doubt that he seems an extraordinarily unpleasant man, with a long criminal record and deeply repellent views. But it is in just these sorts of cases that a Liberal needs to be careful and not just go with popular opinion. When you look at what crimes he and the other men involved are accused of it is impossible not to be concerned. It is, interestingly enough, quite difficult to find exactly what they are accused of; the ...
Although the boundary changes are now very unlikely to go ahead (as the Liberal Democrats have confirmed they are opposing them after the Conservatives went back on their Lords reform agreement), the Boundary Commission is still proceeding with its work. The latest proposals are out, and Labour's idea of splitting Cheadle Hulme down the middle has been firmly rejected. Cheadle constituency will gain Davenport and Cale Green, but lose Stepping Hill. It keeps Cheadle & Gatley, Cheadle Hulme North, Cheadle Hulme South, Heald Green, Bramhall North and Bramhall South. Hazel Grove constituency loses Bredbury and Woodley but gains Poynton (in ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister] Talking of the idea that Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps will offer the Liberal Democrats party funding reform in return for Parliamentary boundary changes (a non-starter, as it happens), Nick Clegg said in Parliament today: I suppose, Mr Speaker, finally that's a get rich quick scheme that he's prepared to put his name to. Ouch.
From Stockport Council: WINTER WASSALE AND CHRISTMAS MARKETS CONFIRMED FOR STOCKPORT It'll be double the festive cheer in Stockport now that a medieval 'Winter Wassale' event - including a Handmade Market – AND special festive market will both go ahead at Stockport Market, in the weeks leading up to Christmas. The Winter Wassale festival, originally planned for Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 December, will now take place a week earlier on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 December. The festival will celebrate Stockport Market's historic origins with winter ales, ciders, meads, hog roast, pies and medieval themed entertainment. On the Sunday ...
All in one gov.uk is launching tomorrow. Here is a video from the Government Digital Service explaining the site in one minute.
Following complaints from residents, the Lib Dem team are speaking to the Police and Council about how further action can be taken to stop problem football parking around Grange Park Road, Cheadle and Beech Avenue, Gatley. Recent attempts to tackle the problem by asking the clubs to get people to park considerately have failed, and we don't want to use the ultimate sanction of stopping them playing football altogether. The Police have agreed to patrol on football days and issue Fixed Penalty Notices to cars causing an obstruction (to the pavement, on the road or blocking people's driveways). We are ...
Many readers will remember the excellent archeological dig at Cheadle Green. Another very interesting dig has been running in the last two weeks just down the road in South Reddish, and again the local community – including schoolchildren from across Stockport – have been getting their knees dirty. Wood Hall is at the southern end of Reddish Vale Country Park. It dates back to the 16th century and, despite only being knocked down in the 1930s, there are no known photographs of the hall (though there are some of the outbuildings, some of which remained until the 1960s). The Hall ...
I have written to my MP John Pugh today asking him to sign the Early Day motion on the badger cull. The motion has been sponsored by, among others, Adrian Sanders (pictured here with Brian May) and reads: That this House opposes the mass cull of badgers; urges the Environment Minister to follow the lead of the Welsh Assembly by implementing a vaccination programme with increased levels of testing and improved bio-security as a more effective way to tackle bovine tuberculosis long-term; notes that vaccination is the more sustainable and humane solution which has already been shown to significantly reduce ...
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has today been accused on Lib Dem Voice of having "cocked-up" over his refusal to sign a petition calling for an end to topless women appearing on Page 3 of The Sun. Daisy Cooper, arguing that Nick Clegg should "sign the petition now", feels that by not signing it, and through defending this decision on Radio 5 Live, the Deputy Prime Minister has undermined Lynne Featherstone and Jo Swinson, who are both supportive of the campaign. Some background would perhaps be useful. The campaign, @NoMorePage3, has been campaigning for the cessation of Page 3 for ...
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU on Friday was met with predictable derision from the likes of Nigel Farage, who described it the decision as "baffling," and leader of the Tory MEPs Martin Callanan, who said it was "a little late for an April Fools' Joke." Admittedly, the current social unrest across Southern Europe made the award seem a little incongruous, especially coming just days after Angela Merkel's visit to Greece was met with violent protests in Athens. Yet in fact, this was precisely the logic behind the decision by the Norwegian committee, as explained in ...
Congratulations to Sutton United football club who are celebrating 'multicultural day' on Saturday when the team take on Staines Town. The event is part of the Sutton Black History Month programme, which the club have ...
Tue 16th
15:35
On this day 14 years ago the BBC lost Test Cricket coverage. A day that changed how live sport was p...
14 years ago the BBC lost cricket coverage to Channel 4 in a move that stunned everyone and in all honesty heralded the end of the BBC being the natural home for many of our top sporting events. The decision to switch coverage away from the BBC caught many off-guard and in the end it did spell the end of cricket as a Free To Air sport. However the move itself was not a bad one as Channel Four showed that when they really want something then they can really go for it. As a long standing cricket fan this ...
Yesterday I mentioned the use of aiming Quantitative Easing (QE) direct to the people through funding tax cuts or even personal cheques. This in itself will not aid a global recovery. Another necessary step is for the entire world to do this at the same time - globally co-ordinated action. Effectively the recession is a ...
Holland has a population of 16.7m and is nearly 40% more densely populated than the UK. It is very dependent on Foreign Trade. They are the UK's fourth largest export market, and Dutch companies are the second largest investors ... Continue reading →
The controversy over Prince Charles' private correspondence to UK Government Ministers so as to influence policy seems likely to rumble on after the Attorney General overturned a decision made by three judges to publish his letters to seven different government departments. The Independent reports that Dominic Grieve believes that the letters reflect the Prince of Wales "most deeply held personal view and beliefs" and "are in many cases particularly frank." As such he said that publication of the letters, written between September 1st 2004 and April 1st 2005, and believed to primarily concern environmental matters on which the Prince is ...
Tue 16th
14:22Opinion: Clegg's cock-up over Page 3 - he should sign the "No More Page Three" petition now
In a BBC Radio 5 Live interview last week, Nick Clegg declined to back "the campaign to ban page 3 girls from the Sun," on the grounds that the state should not dictate the content of newspapers. But the campaign in question- entitled Take the Bare Boobs Out of The Sun but better known by its twitter handle "@NoMorePage3" - ISN'T calling on the government to ban page 3. It is appealing directly to The Sun's editor Dominic Mohan to stop printing it, on the basis that it simply isn't appropriate to "show the naked breasts of young women in ...
I can imagine that one of George III's ministers looked at the world map in 1783 and the newly independent American states and said; Don't worry my Liege, they won't last as an Independent nation. They'll need England The same thing is happening now with Scotland. Many Unionists - if indeed that is the term - are arguing that Scotland needs the Union to survive. It is true that both nations have a large interlinked economy and infrastructure and that the separation would be gradual and staged - unlike the ripped plaster that was the Americas and India. Yes Scotland ...
As usual, I have been vacillating about what to post for this year's Ada day. I toyed with the idea of posting about the frankly awesome and criminally underrated Pat Moss, because being a racing driver is TOTALLY a STEM career, right? And then I thought maybe I should give signal boost to the excellent Little Miss Geek project. But then I thought about what Ada day is for. Ada day is meant to highlight women in STEM careers who should be an inspiration to the kids of today. And I thought about the people who inspired me when I ...
Many local politicians and others asked for big changes to the original new parliamentary boundaries in Greenwich when the first proposals were announced. Many of these changes have now been incorporated in the revised proposals published by The Boundary Commission last night. So will the local commentariat be happy? Answers on a postcard! In fact trying ...
There's a petition doing the rounds at the moment on pathologisation of Trans people in medical classification. Please don't sign it. The petition misses some important caveats that are critical to ensuring Trans folk continue to get healthcare and it is not clear if the authors of the petition realised this. Many people believe that if being homosexual could be removed as a disorder, so can gender dysphoria. But you don't need a doctor to be gay. I don't need a doctor to be Trans either, but access to surgery and HRT makes life liveable. If Gender Dysphoria is no ...
Just this once, and probably not for very long, Theresa May, I love you. Conservative Home Secretary displeases America, and stands up forhuman rights and disabled people all in one go. Put that in your pipe, right wingers, and smoke it. While I'm very glad to see that the UK Home Secretary's eyes have been opened to the idiocy of both the extradition treaty,and this particular exercising of it, I am very afraid that the Americans are still walking around with their eyes shut. I have said all along that, if I were in charge over there when the extent ...
Sign up to the Dispatch Box, the new weekly political e-magzine from digitalpolitico.net Freya Osborne vs Larry Cameron, currently unconfirmed who won or if the plebs had to break them up. Pic via @PoliticalPics Sign up to the Dispatch Box, ... Continue reading →
Liberal Youth Scotland Calls for a Ban on Snaring! This year Liberal Youth Scotland, the youth wing of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, have chosen to campaign against snaring, believing it to be cruel, indiscriminate and needless. In 2008 the Scottish Government introduced new measures to regulate snaring further in response to a consultation which resulted ...
With almost ten years of blogging experience behind me (and just typing that makes me feel old) I think it's time that I found some ways to cash in all the time I've wasted on it to make a quick buck. Sorry, what I meant to say there was 'utilise my extensive cross-platform social media communication skills to monetise my experience and provide a variety of value-added activities to my valued clients'. The problem, of course, is that I'm not shameless enough to even attempt some of the con tricks that others use as a business model. As a councillor, ...
Jo's answers are ( under the cut ) You can find links to all the other candidates' answers here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
It has been confirmed that Home Secretary Theresa May will block the extradition of computer hacker Gary Mckinnon to the US. Mckinnon is 46 years old and suffers from Aspergers Syndrome. He may now have to answer charges in a ... Continue reading →
The Boundary Commission have just announced their latest thinking on the proposals to re-draw boundaries. They have decided that Fortune Green belongs with its Camden colleagues in the constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn. This is excellent news! Flick, Nancy and myself - along with a lot of local people from all parties and none went to considerable lengths to explain why putting Fortune Green at the bottom of a Barnet constituency was such a bad idea. Fortune Green would have sat in the Finchley and Golders Green constituency. This was what their first proposal looked like... Fortune Green was tucked ...
As I watched the events unfold in the Edinburgh sunshine today, as Alex Salmond and David Cameron signed the historic Agreement on the process for the Independence Referendum, my thoughts were with the man who actually put the leg work in on this. To put it bluntly, if we'd waited for David Cameron and Alex Salmond to reach agreement, we'd be waiting until people were telling their grandchildren about the day Hell froze over. In fact, only recently the Tories were murmuring about the UK Government running its own referendum. That, believe me, would not have ended well. Had Labour ...
As I watched the events unfold in the Edinburgh sunshine today, as Alex Salmond and David Cameron signed the historic Agreement on the process for the Independence Referendum, my thoughts were with the man who actually put the leg work in on this. To put it bluntly, if we'd waited for David Cameron and Alex Salmond to reach agreement, we'd be waiting until people were telling their grandchildren about the day Hell froze over. In fact, only recently the Tories were murmuring about the UK Government running its own referendum. That, believe me, would not have ended well. Had Labour ...
A Conservative Chief Whip, Margaret Thatcher's last Home Secretary, Leader of the House of Lords and Governor of Bermuda; David Waddington's political career was a successful one that should make for a fascinating set of memoirs. It was certainly a political career from another age as illustrated by the book starting with a reference to a colleague who had managed to write a whole volume of autobiography and forgotten to mention their wife. It is also a career very much from the right of the political spectrum, (nearly) finishing with attacks on equal rights for gay people. The best part ...
We, the undersigned, are extremely concerned by the employee share ownership policy. We call for this bill to be amended to remove the part where workers have to give up their rights for share-ownership and, rather, for the proposal to mirror that agreed by the Liberal Democrat conference in this document. The proposal appears to allow for workers to give up their rights in return for company shares, as detailed on the HM Treasury website: Under the new type of contract, employees will be given between £2,000 and £50,000 of shares that are exempt from capital gains tax. In exchange, ...
If you like reading the stuff I write, here's the 5 easiest ways NEVER TO MISS A SINGLE WORD I UTTER. I spoil you, I really do... 1) Email – there's a little widget in the right-hand sidebar which allows you to enter your email address and get sent updates direct to your inbox at a frequency of your choosing when A NEW THING appears here. 2) Twitter – follow me here, and you'll find links to all my posts sprinkled through my timeline. Though you will also be inflicted with my more random unstructured views and occasional pix of ...
We should not send people to prison for being offensive – Jonathan Calder explains what should be a simple principle, but it's one sadly forgotten by many people. Eric Pickles: are you a cigar-chomping Commie? – Writing at Liberal Democrat Voice, Andy Boddington points out some of the Communities Secretary's inconsistencies and hypocrisies. Perpetual Peace and European Union – To mark the EU winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Chris Brooke reproduces a lecture on some of the philosophical origins of it. NHS Reform the bill that "no one voted for"? Not really. – Mat Bowles looks at what was actually ...
Last Thursday, Antony Hook spoke in Canterbury against the Conservative City Council's decision to consider giving its waste handling contract to a company whose Israeli affiliate are alleged to be linked to human rights abuses in Palestine. This is what Antony said: "Mr Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. The issue is whether Canterbury City ...
Defence minister, Conservative Philip Hammond, has confirmed reports that the UK will seek to end participation in dozens of EU-level crime-fighting structures. This has got to be one of the most breathtakingly stupid of all the disasters promulgated by the Conservative part of the coalition. Right wing, anti EU, Tories have now so captured their party that even the most sensible of co-operations with Europe must now be sacrificed. Why don't they be honest for a change & all shove off & join UKIP.
What The Swedish Pirate Party Wants With Patents, Trademarks, And Copyright - Falkvinge on Infopolicy Having breifly studied intellectual property law, I think this is very sensible, but most lawyers will HATE it. (tags: ) When the Most Personal Secrets Get Outed on Facebook - WSJ.com (tags: ) Problem family on the cards | Edinburgh Eye (tags: ) On the use of weapons and being pro abortion. | Hopi Sen (tags: ) The Incompleteness of the Abortion Debate | Robert Sharp (tags: ) Shares for employment rights - another quack remedy | Flip Chart Fairy Tales (tags: ) THE CURSE ...
This post carries a trigger warning for domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape. The author's name has been changed to protect her identity. The allegations of Jimmy Savile's serial sexual abuse of young girls have been met with universal outrage. It has helped many more women to speak up about their own horrific stories. Rape and sexual harassment happens to women daily across the country, the majority of whom never speak up. I was raped by a friend from university earlier this year. He never apologised and I suffered abuse from his friends worse than the incident itself. They routinely ...
Martin's answers are ( under the cut ) You can find links to all the other candidates' answers here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Whitefield Halloween Festival, 'the North West Premier Halloween destination', takes place 20 - 31 October at various locations in Whitefield. Due to the enormous success of the inaugural Festival last year the team are rolling the event over half term to include a series of interactive workshops, educational talks and fun activities to cater for all ages. The main festival day will take place on 28 October, Hamilton Road Park, Whitefield (opposite the Police Station on Bury New Road). The Town Centres Team and Whitefield Business Group have joined with key partners to bring you a festival packed with activities, ...
As Chair of the committee which oversees Planning, amongst other things, concerns over statements made by Jason Hughes, a Tory activist and election agent, at a recent Development Control Committee meeting were brought to my attention. At this public meeting Mr Hughes alleged that the perfectly legal and transparent pre-application advice process used by the ...
It occurred to me that you might like to sponsor Jo Shaw, someone who's well known to many readers of this blog in her latest venture. Jo is running 10k next weekend to raise money for the Charity, Rosa UK, that she has recently joined as Chief Executive. An example of the work they do is found here at Shape your Culture. There are so many aspects of our culture and expectations of how women should behave and look which are really toxic and SYC aims to change that. Anyway, you can sponsor the Rosa team here.
What Andrew Mitchell should have said - Telegraph Blogs Wendell Potter: Romney's Talking Points on Uninsured Are Like the Ones I Wrote When I Was an Insurance Industry Flack At work it's called banter: but there's still a culture of sex harassment in TV Why Nick Clegg should be copying Michael Gove Weakness and left denialism FactCheck: What does British Gas spend your money on? | The FactCheck Blog Jimmy Savile Has Tainted My Childhood - Peter Watt - Dale and Co. via @daleandcompany The evil of Jimmy Savile was not his alone | Jonathan Freedland Jimmy Savile: Going on ...
... to announce that the list of candidates to be put before members across the Region for consideration is as follows;Hugh AnnandAladdin AyeshBelinda Brooks-GordonAndrew DuffSamuel FiskMichael GreenJosephine HayesLinda JackMartin LandIan MackStephen RobinsonPeter Welch It's a pretty diverse list, I would suggest, offering a real choice to members. To find out more about them, if you're a Party member, why not come to the members' meeting, which takes place on Saturday, at Cambridge Regional College, starting at 4.15 p.m. (more details on the Regional Party's website)? We'll not be following the usual format, instead there will be three minutes speeches, followed ...
The Boundary Commission has today published its revised proposals for Cornwall parliamentary constituencies. They have maintained the proposal of a cross-border Devonwall seat but with even more Devon wards thrown into the mix. Instead of being roughly 50-50, it would now be a seat heavily skewed in favour of Devon. But while all of these new borders are fairly alarming, the good news is that they are a purely academic exercise since the Liberal Democrats announced that they would vote against the new boundaries in Parliament. Together with Labour, some of the smaller parties and a few Conservative rebels, there ...
Lib Dem Voice regularly surveys current party members to find out their views on a range of political issues, with some 550 individual Lib Dems taking part. Our most recent survey was conducted in the days leading up to the party's Brighton conference, and asked our usual range of questions about how the Lib Dems and the Coalition Government is doing, to rate the performances of leading party figures, as well as on on a range of topical matters. Here's a quick summary of 10 things we found out: 1. Support for being in Coalition with the Conservatives remains high: 74% ...
Jennie links today to an article on the OpenDemocracy website about the BBC coverage of NHS reforms. I'm afraid I didn't finish reading it. I generally have a little rule, if I'm reading something that claims to be factual and come across something that's egregiously annd blatantly false, I find it hard to take anything else it says seriously, if it gets something wrong that I know to be wrong, how many other things wrong are there that I don't know about? If the article is headlined two years of censorship and distortion , then I expect it itself to ...
I was delighted to welcome Willie Rennie MSP, Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, back to Dundee yesterday. In addition to doing a joint West End Ward surgery with me at the Mitchell Street Centre, Willie and I also visited Maggie's Centre, the Shelter shop on Perth Road and the Wave 102 studios. Here's some photographs from Willie's visit: Willie and I had a really enjoyable visit to Shelter's shop in Perth Road, managed by Karen Kelbie and her super team. Here's Willie (left) and me (right) with some of the team, including Andy Moodie, regional manager. Willie and me ...
Sign up to the Dispatch Box, the new weekly political e-magzine from digitalpolitico.net I don't really want to discuss too deeply the allegations surrounding Jimmy Savile. Suffice to say that I consider them shocking and disgusting, and the potential victims ... Continue reading →
I have been considering the current Witch hunt that has followed the Jimmy Saville saga, now before I start this rant may I point out that I in no way condone anything that this sick weirdo has carried out for his sexual gratification. Lets be honest he was always weird, and just a little to creepy to be taken seriously. So whats this rant all about, its the double standards of the witch hunt
From ELDR: In two recent publications released this month, prominent liberal MEPs Guy Verhofstadt and Andrew Duff make the case for a more federal Europe. Last week, ALDE Group Leader Mr Verhofstadt launched his book 'For Europe: a manifesto for a postnational revolution in Europe' alongside co-author Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit."What we have tried to ...
