Sky News reports some interesting background issues from the US national exit poll. The economy is the the most important issue for 60% of voters (with healthcare rating just 17%) and crucially 39% think things are getting better with 31% saying things are getting worse. These sort of polling figures would normally suggest incumbents would do enough to resist the 'time for a change' calls that see them turfed out of office.
Last night I attended a hustings for the Bristol Mayoral election which had been organised by the Institute of Directors, Business West and the Junior Chamber. I went along in support of the Liberal Democrat candidate: Dr Jon Rogers. There was quite a lot of tweeters in the audience (which has made this post rather lengthy); here is a flavour of the debate: [View the story "Bristol Mayor Business Hustings - A Storify Summary" on Storify] Bristol Mayor Business Hustings - A Storify Summary A Twitter summary of last night's #brisbizmayor with an audience from local business at Ashton Gate. ...
The news that my infamous MP had hotfooted it to the jungle hit me between the bleary eyes at some point during the Today programme this morning. A few minutes later I had ITV Daybreak on the phone, asking if I could come on the programme to talk about it tomorrow - swiftly followed by the BBC and Sky. Unfortunately I had to tell them I am currently the PCC candidate for Bedfordshire, which meant they all dropped me like a hot potato. So, I am forced to resort to my blog. Of course the last time I resorted to ...
1. Roller skating. 2. Women in comic books. 3. Living in America. 4. Social media. 5. What you miss most from home. Two of my favorite things. Women. Comics. Two ways women can be "in comics": as characters, and as creators. Two things about female characters: firstly, that the comic medium is frequently flawed in its depiction of women. Secondly, that female characters in comics are nevertheless so often interesting, amazing characters compared to stories in other media, that I fell into reading comics just because of the female characters. So women in comics are particularly important to me, perhaps ...
It's amazing what a Conservative MP has to do in order to have the whip withdrawn these days. They can try to undermine the government at every turn. They can peddle homophobic lies. They can preach a "hang 'em and flog 'em" dogma from the backbenches. But what they must not do, on pain of the highest sanction possible, is appear on a "reality" TV show so trashy even my brother doesn't watch it. Today, probably my least favourite Conservative MP - Nadine Dorries - has been suspended from the Conservative Party for absenting herself from the Commons for up ...
From the BBC News Leicester pages this evening: The former leader of Leicestershire County Council has resigned from the county's Conservative group. David Parsons stepped down ahead of a group meeting on Wednesday where he faced possible disciplinary procedures from the party.An earlier post on this blog will remind you of the background to this resignation.
So Nadine Dorries has been suspended from Parliament? Nothing to do with some of her objectionable views as - well like it or not we're all entitled to our opinions even if we, and modern thinking people disagree. Nothing to do with her conduct in the house either... It's for failing to carry out the PRIMARY purpose of a MP - representing their constituents. By joining I'm a celebrity she is choosing self image over that of the needs of the people she is working for, on top of that she is getting paid from the Public purse! If she ...
On Sunday all of the Lib Dem Euro candidates gathered at Friends House in Euston for a members meeting. There was a good atmosphere and it was great to have a more relaxed (not in public view) chat with some of the other candidates. For the hustings I was up first, my speech is given ...
It's going to be an exciting night as we live blog and tweet here on the US election results as they come in, via the magic of coveritlive.com Join in with the comments and debate NOW. You can join in by either: (a) adding your comment in the form at the bottom of the box below, or (b) tweeting with hashtag #ldvusa. Use either of those methods and your comments will show in the live stream below. #LDVUSA – Election night LIVE
The Daily Telegraph reports: By any normal standard, Romola Garai's size 10 figure would be considered svelte. Yet the 30-year-old actress, who stars in BBC period drama The Hour, has complained that she is so 'fat' by Hollywood standards that she is routinely airbrushed for magazine photoshoots. Designers will not lend her catwalk samples for red carpet appearances because they do not produce them in anything bigger than a size eight. The actress said she felt compelled to speak out because she wanted women to know the truth behind the airbrushed images... Garai described herself as a "bra-burning, building-burning feminist" ...
Oh dear. RT @jameschappers: Source: whip is to be withdrawn from Nadine Dorries until she can explain herself in face-to-face meeting with Chief Whip — Mark Pack (@markpack) November 6, 2012
Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. Three-quarters say Coalition will be bad for Lib Dem prospects in 2015 LDV asked: Do you think the Coalition Government will be good or bad for the Lib Dems' electoral prospects at the next general election? (Comparison in brackets with September's figures.) 9% (+3%) – Good 73% (-6%) – Bad 15% (+4%) – Neither good nor bad 3% (-1%) – ...
For years Europhobes have been propagating the misconception that Britain has to choose between the EU and the rest of the world. However, this 'choice' between the EU and the rest of the world is a false choice. Indeed, being part of the EU is the best way to increase Britain's trade with emerging markets. As Nick Clegg pointed out in his speech on Europe last week, the EU has free trade agreements in force with 46 countries and negotiations with another 78 countries are currently under way. In addition, the European Parliament last week lent its weight to launching ...
Colin Baker is going to be on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. I hate that bloody show. I watched it when lovely Brian Paddick and lovely George Takei were on it, and I hated the show, I hated Ant and/or Dec and I hated the concept, even though those two guys were great. This year Colin is going to be on it, so I thought "Oh bugger, I'm going to have to watch it again". But there's a complicating factor. Also appearing? Nadine Dorries. One of the very few people on this earth I cannot think of ...
As many of you know I am involved in politics locally here in Southend but I keep a keen eye on politics on the ground in several places but the one I really keep a keen eye on is in my old stomping ground of Portsmouth. I am you see a Pompey boy born and bred and I still have great affection for the city. Pompey has slowly become a Lib Dem stronghold as the council has been run extremely well for a long time and the people of the city have recognised this. In May the Lib Dems made ...
With greater ambition, the Liberal Democrats' policy of increasing the personal allowance would equalise the Living Wage and the minimum wage, without risking jobs. It was announced yesterday that the national 'Living Wage' for 2013/14 will be £7.45. This compares to the National Minimum Wage of £6.19. Boris Johnson has urged more companies to adopt the Living Wage, and Labour are even considering giving tax incentives for firms to pay the Living Wage. Few would argue with the benefits of higher pay for employees, or with other Living Wage benefits such as lower staff turnover. But evidently most employers are ...
Urgent advice has been issued by the Food Standards Agency to the public, and to people in the bodybuilding community in particular, following the deaths of two people believed to have taken a 'fat-burner' substance in tablet or powder form. The substance contains DNP (2, 4-dinitrophenol), an industrial chemical known to have serious short-term and long-term effects, which can be extremely dangerous to human health. The Food Standards Agency is therefore advising consumers not to take any product containing DNP at any level. This chemical is not suitable for human consumption. The 'fat-burner' capsules containing DNP appear to be marketed ...
Now the Executive have approved a primary school strategy, Wokingham Borough Council is now working towards deciding which sites will be chosen for new primary school buildings. In Winnersh there are two options on the table – further expansion on the site of Winnersh Primary School, or a new site for a small school on land next to the British Legion at Winnersh Farm. The new buildings need to be ready to take children in September 2013, and that will be quite a challenge! There has already been some public consultation. A working group involving local schools, parents, residents, the ...
The other morning (well is was afternoon by the time it finished) I was actually sitting here watching the final table of the World Series of Poker main event live on my tellybox. I mean how far has technology come that I can watch a live poker tournament – not just on some dodgy live internet stream but in glorious High Definition – amazing. Anyway it came down to two relative youngsters – both depressingly younger than me and they battled it out to win more money than I'll ever have in my life (unless I win the EuroMillions tonight) ...
Time is running out to take part in the Employee Share Ownership Consultation, which ends on 8th November 2012. Please complete this consultation and help the Lib Dems send a message to Osborne that workers' rights are not up for grabs. The full consultation document sets out the proposal for a new employment status of employee share ownership, but where the employee gives up employment rights in exchange for company shares. There is also a summary of the proposal on the treasury website. Some points to consider: The government suggest this scheme is voluntary, but what about those on Job ...
I must admit I had nightmare flashbacks when I heard of Hibs being drawn against Hearts in the Cup Third round last night! The fortunes of both sides have changed considerably since out "salt'n'sauce" cup final thrashing in May. Hibs are high flying and Hearts currently struggling slightly and are banned from signing more players. These are perhaps false pictures of both teams true strengths and cup games are one offs so anything can happen. Hibs are on a Nelson remember (111 not out) so it will be interesting. The other big talking point today is, what one pal describes ...
I am always wary of anybody who comes to me with a proposal that relies on Information and Communications Technology and which they say will save money. That is especially so in the public sector. I was interested therefore in reading in today's Telegraph that the UK Government plans to ensure that all websites offering services with 100,000 transactions or more, including tax and benefits payment sites, will be reviewed and redesigned to improve their efficiency. This will affect the seven departments that handle the vast majority of all such services, including Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Department ...
Hands up if you think it is possible to get any sense into the relationship between the UK and other EU countries. If no one put their hand up they are sadly all too correct. The Tory rebels who caused the defeat of the Government over the EU budget have not only shown us that the Tory party is undisciplined [ in sharp contrast to the LibDems] but have made it much less likely that Cameron can get any sort of movement towards the British position on the budget. So he might have to use the veto [which is not ...
It can often be a mathematical nightmare trying to work out who's winning as US Presidential Election night progresses. Sometimes, some poor souls even end up having to rely on David Dimbleby to explain what's going on! Poor things! Here are three nifty tools to help you make sense of what is happening tonight: Ruby Cramer's Viewer's guide to who won the Presidential Election This is a "snakes and ladders" style graphic which allows you, as the evening/night progresses, to easily see whether either candidate is winning or has won. It positions the swing states as their polls will close, ...
I imagine many people had not heard of the Liverpool Care Pathway before it hit the headlines a couple of weeks ago with allegations of patients denied drugs, liquid and sustenance and families experiencing real distress. Set up in the late 1990s, its intention was to help spread elements of the hospice model of care into other settings: hospitals, care homes and people's own homes. We all want to know that our loved ones - no matter where they are - will receive dignified and appropriate care in the last hours and days of their life. Used properly, the Pathway ...
Tue 6th
11:49
Opinion: Tough Choices - Yes, but local politicians must grasp opportunities as well as challenges
[IMG: Sheffield Town Hall] I doubt that there are many councillors who are unaware of the scale of the country's financial difficulties. Yet whatever your prescription for resuscitating the British economy, politicians of all parties agree that reducing the deficit is a crucial piece in the puzzle. Regardless of your views on the Government's strategy, it is clear that reductions in council budgets are a reality. The challenge for councillors is to best adjust to the new climate and mitigate the impact on the services that people care about most. I do not believe that the way forward is to ...
The Government once again 'pulled' the Lords' scheduled discussion of the Electoral Registration and Administration Bill yesterday. Peers were not amused, as the exchanges with Lord Strathclyde showed. The Leader of the House appeared to say that we were not permitted to discuss our scheduled business until the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister had had time to meet. So is our business self-regulated, by the House, or by No 10 and the Cabinet Office?
I do not advise citizens of other countries how to vote. It's very bad manners. But there's something very striking about viewing today's US elections from outside that country: how few foreigners support the Republicans. This is unsurprising amongst my own contacts and Facebook friends – they are largely Liberal Democrats, with the odd Labour supporter. In the US these would be well within the Democrat family, with an outlok that largely fits the American understanding of the term "liberal", a dirty word to Republicans. But a number of opinion polls show that support for the Democrats is widespread right ...
I recently chaired an event at the RSA, How to De-Spin a Party Conference, with Eliane Glaser — whose book Get Real I reviewed here yesterday. I interviewed Eliane following her talk – you can hear our 12 minute conversation here: You can see what happened on Storify here via Jemima Gibbons — with particular thanks to Alice Dyke for the photo, above. And you can listen to the full recording of the hour-long event at the RSA website here.
Liberal Youth Scotland recently contacted me requesting a copy of my How to Write Conference Motions for Dummies – a quick guide for our membership to write motions to Welsh Conferences, future IR Cymru Conferences, Liberal Youth Conferences and Federal Conference. This document is meant to empower members to engage with IR Cymru and what ...
Edition #27 of my email newsletter about the Liberal Democrats looks to have gone down particularly well with readers. If you've missed out on the special edition about the party's search for a message, you can catch-up by reading it online here. If you would like to receive the next edition of the newsletter direct to your own inbox, just sign up here. It's free! You can unsubscribe whenever you want using the link on the bottom of all the emails, and I won't pass your email address on to anyone else (except if required by law). And if you ...
I woke up this morning knowing that by the time I did that again (well unless I have an afternoon nap obviously) that the self styled 'leader of the free world' could be a different man. The US electorate goes to the polls today (well actually around 30million have already voted) but the rest are going to the polls and they have a straight decision to make. Do they trust a man with no viable plan or do they trust a guy who hasn't delivered all the hope that led him to sweep into power four years ago? I'm trying ...
I only managed to watch a little bit of last night's Big Debate on Scotland's future. I do wish the BBC wouldn't hide these things past my bedtime, but I knew that I'm not likely to get a huge amount of sleep tonight, what with the US Election and all that. I'll watch the whole thing later. There was certainly a good quality panel - Willie Rennie, Angela Constance, Anas Sarwar and Patrick Harvie. The first question from the audience of 16 and 17 year olds was on a subject close to my heart - immigration. I'd be surprised if ...
A fifth of adults in the UK believe they would be ruled out of adopting a child after the age of 40, a study has revealed. The British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) survey also found the same proportion think being single is a barrier to adoption, while almost a quarter of adults thought having a low household income would prevent them from adopting, and one in five believed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are unable to adopt. More than two thirds thought having a criminal conviction would be a barrier to adopting. Previous convictions are taken into ...
[IMG: Great Wall of China] It was not my first visit to China (in fact my third time climbing the great wall) but certainly the most intense: ten days from 22nd October to 1st November. Along with 26 other Overseas Chinese delegates involved in politics from eight nations in Europe and Africa, I was on a study visit at the invitation of the Chinese Government on the eve of the 18th Peoples' Congress. Amongst our number were an MP from South Africa, an ex-Minister from Mauritius, a special advisor to the Mayor of Cologne, Germany (twinned with Beijing), Councillors from ...
Today three reports have been published into the operations of the Bank of England. None of these pose the killer question: why, when for month after month in 2008 the UK's Gross Domestic Product in money terms (the NGDP) fell from its stable long term annual growth rate of +5% to -5% a year, did the Monetary Policy Committee stubbornly maintained the Bank's interest rate at 5%? This excellent blog by Britmouse details, details the quarterly falls in NGDP and the inertia of the Bank which has the power to set the level of aggregate demand in the economy. It ...
Help some budding philosophers out! - Blog - The F-Word (tags: ) Police dog Janus looking forward to retirement (tags: ) Crappy Computers - the logic we use is backwards On why "entry level" machines are a problem (tags: ) Unions Together | Not For Sale Even though this is a transparently LAbour page, I agree with it (tags: ) Half of Britons unaware of free alternatives to debt advice | Metro.co.uk Of course, cutbacks in CAB funding make this worse... (tags: ) Ask police for help? I wouldn't bother, Met officers tell poll (tags: ) Atos misled the government ...
Here's the Lib Dem chief whip, Alistair Carmichael, responding to this morning's bombshell news that Tory MP Nadine Dorries has signed up to take part in the new series of I'm A Celebrity... Ge Me Out Of Here: Nadine Dorries, I served with Lembit Opik, I knew Lembit Opik, Let me tell you, Nadine Dorries, you are no Lembit Opik. — Alistair Carmichael (@acarmichaelmp) November 6, 2012 Here's a brief reminder of how Lembit's spell on the show finished up: 'I didn't want this to end': Lembit Opik becomes the second star to be evicted from I'm A Celebrity... Get ...
I did not want to bid farewell to York with that grim post on the Rigg family monument, particularly as I found again my love for the city this summer. So here is something happier: Walmgate Bar. When I was a student at the University of York the gatehouse over the roadway was home to a secondhand bookshop with sporadic opening hours. I did once manage to get in there and bought a David & Charles paperback called The Lost Roads of Wessex. I could not resist books with titles like that even then. Today the gatehouse is home to ...
So he's not a Liberal. Not really. Not by British standards. But he is a Democrat. So he's half-way there. Perhaps more to the point: he's not a Republican. Surely the biggest single reason so many of us in Europe are hoping President Obama wins re-election today is that the thought of the current Republican Party occupying the White House is too scary to imagine. If Romney could be Romney — the Romney who was the moderate, business-like governor of Massachussetts, that is — it would be fine. But whoever Romney was is not, alas, who the Republican nominee for ...
Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. Majority favour votes for some (but not all) prisoners LDV asked: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the British Government cannot maintain its blanket ban on prisoners being disqualified from voting. What is your view? 30% – I support votes for all prisoners 55% – I support votes for some categories of prisoners (eg, for non-violent offences ...
Occasionally parliamentary elections throw up surprising results and an independent wins. The local media will be involved. Newspapers, radio and local television will highlight the story and as a consequence the national media will have picked it up too. You need an outstanding candidate and exceptional circumstances. Now think about the PCC elections where the boundaries are so much larger. If any independent candidate has a chance of winning then we would have heard about it by now. It looks like the party machines are taking over which will be helped by the independent candidates all saying the same type ...
Hope everyone had a safe bonfire night last night. If there are any issues that require feeding back – in particular to the organisers of the Heaton Park bonfire – then please let me know. I am particularly interested to check that the measures Heaton Park put in place to try to alleviate things for local residents (parking restrictions, cones and signage, and information about the road closures) worked or not. Please either comment to this post (which will then be public) or you can email me tim@burylibdems.net. Many thanks. Tim
Victoria Park, Dingwall - home of Ross County FC - holds 6,300 spectators. Which is 1,220 more than the population of Dingwall itself (5,080).
This is the second of my "Python Pals" short stories. They're designed to be solve-it-yourself puzzle stories to help kids learn the basics of programming. All feedback welcome! The Python Pals Write A WrongPoppy's mother, Ada, was not happy. "I don't care about that," she shouted down the phone, "Why am I always the one who has to pick up the pieces?" She carried on ranting. Penny and Poppy were sat in the lounge. Even though the TV volume was quite high, they could still hear snatches of the conversation. Suddenly, the door burst open and Ada stormed in, "What ...
NOW! 56 is an embarrasment of riches when it comes to choosing tracks that meet the remit of this series. Black Eyed Peas featuring Justin Timberlake, Rachel Stevens, Kylie, Blue, Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z, Jamelia, Phixx, Elton John, Mark Owen, Texas (yes, even with Kardinal Offishall), Starsailor, Stereophonics, and Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules. What to choose? What to choose? Well, I've gone with Little Marky Owen and his Four Minute Warning: Andrew
You can download a higher quality version of this poster here.
By the time this essay is published, most people in the United States will be fast asleep. No doubt there will be exceptions: some journalists and campaign staffers will work through the night. Perhaps President Obama will sit in the darkness of his hotel suite with the radio and television switched off while he sips ...
Yesterday David Cameron announced two new inquiries into abuse in children's homes in North Wales. The was because the original inquiry, conducted by the late high court judge Sir Ronald Waterhouse, has increasingly come under question - see the post I wrote following Friday's Newsnight report. Intentionally or not, that report has shifted the focus of public outrage from the Jimmy Savile and the BBC to shadowy Conservative grandees. Lost in Care, as the Waterhouse inquiry report was called, can be found online over at the National Archives site. Whatever its inadequacies, it is worth looking at for the background ...
