Fascinating debate tonight in Cambridge on whether the preamble to the constitution of the Liberal Democrats should be amended. We decided not to, not only because Cllr Colin Rosenstiel has amended it enough already, but because it embodies in reasonable prose values which have stood the test of time. There are indeed one or two minor infelicities of expression and a bit of repetition but
Everyone involved in politics should read George Orwell's essay Politics and English Language (see Wikipedia's summary and the full original text). It was written in 1946, in an era when fascists and communists had abused language with somewhat more serious consequences than the efforts of today's spin doctors. But it remains just as relevant. The essay sets out Orwell's philosophy of good writing. His enemy was unclear prose, which hides the truth rather than expresses it. He argued that, when language is not clear, it usually indicates there is no clear thought behind it. He advocated using plain English and ...
[IMG: Philip Hammond] So far it is rather murky exactly what Philip Hammond said when meeting equal marriage campaigners, and how close he really got to bracketing equal marriage with incest. Paul Waugh's account neatly rounds-up the evidence and the questions about it. What however hasn't been challenged is what some of the protesters shouted at Philip Hammond: He was greeted by protestors' chants of 'Gay, straight, black, white: marriage is a civil right', 'Hey,( hey), ho, (ho), homophobia's got to go', 'Say it loud, say it clear, bigots are not welcome here', 'Unequal rights? We don't buy it: we ...
A few weeks ago I booked in for an allergy test - the one where they tape lots of potentially allergenic substances to your skin to see if it reacts. I should have done it last week, but had to postpone when I unexpectedly spent last Monday in an ice storm in Munich airport and needed the rest of the week to catch up. So I went to the dermatologist this morning, and she merrily stuck squares soaked in various substances to me, covering it all over with a huge bandage. She will check them on Wednesday and make a ...
The plans for the proposed two wind turbines in the Belstead/Wherstead area were on view today at Belstead Brook Manor Hotel in Ipswich. They will be at Belstead Village Hall tomorrow (Tuesday 29th Jan) from 1pm to 7pm. I previously posted on this issue back in October. My views have not changed. The proposed turbines are far too close to residential areas. Not only will they be visible from Belstead and Wherstead villages, but they will also be seen from large parts of Ipswich and Pinewood – and even from villages like Copdock and Washbrook. The turbine towers, at 80 ...
Having just returned from tonight's City Council meetings, I can only say that it was not the SNP administration's finest moment. The behaviour of the SNP group tonight at Policy and Resources Committee was playground politics and marked a new low in terms of the debate at the council. To move an amendment saying other councillors are responsible for a so-called "cynical dereliction of duty" simply because they don't agree with the SNP, says a whole lot more about the SNP group than it does about anyone else. This sort of politically motivated and destructive type of amendment is hugely ...
[IMG: House of Lords] Yes, just as late as has been the habit recently, here's your heads up for events in the upper chamber this week... anyone would think that I didn't have a day of my own... It's another long week for our Parliamentary Party, with a nod to the recent wintry weather, but Monday sees Day 2 of the Committee Stage of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, where Tony Greaves will seek to remove attempts to place further limits on the power to require information with planning applications. Frankly, when I see the word 'reasonable' in legislation, it ...
During the freeze I posted a short film about the railways in the winter of 1963. As that was popular, here - even though the thaw has come - is another on the same theme from 1955.
The Democratic Audit report The Bradford Earthquake is now online. Reading that report - or at least its executive summary - I am struck by how the themes of Labour complacency and its inability to fight when put to the test in its heartlands recall those that emerged during Liberal local government successes in earlier decades - this Liverpool in the 1970s and Tower Hamlets in the 1980s. Now that we are in coalition with the Conservatives we Liberal Democrats will find it harder to present ourselves as the tribunes of the dispossessed in inner-city Britain. And George Galloway cannot ...
Not any more he isn't, you may say. But here is Jerry Hayes, the former Conservative MP, writing on his blog yesterday: The Tory backbenches have become infested with a small coven of Cameron haters who will stop at nothing to orchestrate his downfall. They are the no hopers, the dispossessed, those who have been sacked and those who are desperate for promotion but have given up under the Cameron regime. Finally, most lethal of them all, those who feel that they are not listened to and are being condescended to by the posh boys.
I included a link to an article by David Boyle in my recent Six of the Best. In it David wrote about his review of choice in public services. You can read the whole report for yourself as Barriers to Choice can be downloaded from the Cabinet Office website. The report was the subject of a favourable editorial in this morning's Guardian: The first thing to say about the Barriers to Choice study is that it doesn't feel like a government review at all. As an independent author, David Boyle is evidently not all steamed up about bringing in more ...
I generally don't do Europe. As I get up in the morning, go through my working day, get home etc, I've never felt that our membership of the EU has prevented me from doing what I wanted to do. I am puzzled that an issue so far down the agenda gets so much attention from the media and a large part of the Conservative party. If you listen to the eurosceptics, you'd wonder why we joined and why
The hash tag #OnlyAsiansWill is currently trending on Twitter and it is giving me loads of laughs. I identify with much that is being said. My mother is Indian and, sometimes, living in the gap of a culture clash between British culture and Indian culture makes my life interesting, varied and humorous. Here are some of the Tweets I identify with: 1. #OnlyAsiansWill fill empty ice-cream tubs with curry. I just counted and we have three huge empty ice-cream tubs in the cupboard waiting to be filled. 2. #OnlyAsiansWill drive the whole family to the airport to either pick up ...
On 23 November 1890 Netherlands last work up being reigned by a King, since then there have been a succession of Queens. However, there are rumours that the announcement due from the House of Orange at 18:00 GMT is that Queen Beatriz will abdicate as her mother and grandmother did in favour of her heir apparant, who for the first time in over a century is male. Update in her speech on Dutch Television it has been confirmed that this will happen on 30th April. Our own Queen Victoria was on the throne when a 10 year old Wilhelmina learnt ...
Everyone will probably say the sonic screwdriver, although I'm not sure it's ever actually been used as a screwdriver. Yes, it's pretty versatile and useful, but it doesn't make me want one. Some people might want to say the TARDIS, but, frankly, to do so after The Doctor's Wife would be so wrong. I'm not sure that Bessie counts as a gadget, but it's too long since we've seen her and I'd like to see her brought back and given a bit of a 21st century update. That should be Moffatt's Mission for this anniversary year. The most useful thing, ...
Monday: Today is the Twenty-Seventh Anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster; it is Two Hundred years since the publication of Pride and Prejudice (no Zombies); and Daddy is One Hundred and Forty-Seven Billion, No Millions, Fifteen Thousand and Sixty years old. (Adding up on my flappy feet, I MAY have lost count.) Better bung on "The Happiness Patrol"! Given the set-up, the only way "The Happiness Patrol" could end is with Margaret Thatcher-analogue (certainly in the performance if not necessarily in the script) Helen A in tears. But do we want to see the Doctor make the villain cry? ...
H2S, hydrogen sulphide, stinks as opposed to HS2, the high speed rail scheme, which may not stink depending on your view. Arguments for the scheme include the need for strong infrastructure to support a strong economy in which wealth will spread to the north. There will be environmental benefits because travellers will use the train rather than take a plane. On the other hand there will be an impact on the environment and on local communities as building takes place and there may be cheaper and better alternatives. I am writing this blog because of a quote from a supporter ...
Perhaps it is too early to say (Mao tse-Tung said this about the impact of the French Revolution) but the response to my review of Barriers to Choice in public services looks good so far. The commentators have understood that I am trying to broaden the idea of choice, so that it is not just about competition - though competition on quality certainly has a place - but covers the range of flexibilities that people really want and need in the services they use. This is certainly how the Guardian put it this morning and I very much endorse what ...
The future does not belong to the fainthearted it belongs to the brave.
As I've just posted over on my blog for my county council candidacy, Eric Pickles should **** off following his comments today (well actually I said he should butt out as one has to moderate one's language in official communications). And, since I haven't posted on here for a while, I'm crossposting my post here as well: Today Eric Pickles MP, the Tory Communities and Local Government Secretary, has said that local councils in England are "dodging democracy" by increasing council tax without holding referendums and should "man up" about it. Now aside from the casual sexism in the use ...
The theory of Universal Credit is an idea whose time has come. For the past 50 years a relatively simple benefits system has been subverted by complicated schemes, credits, and rebates given by 3 or 4 different bodies and often ... Continue reading →
[IMG: chris_huhne] From the BBC: Former cabinet minister Chris Huhne and his ex-wife are to stand trial next Monday over allegations she took speeding points for him so he could avoid prosecution. The Lib Dem MP, 58, pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice at Southwark Crown Court on Monday. His former wife, Vicky Pryce, has previously pleaded not guilty to the same offence. They were charged last year in relation to the alleged offence in 2003. Mr Huhne, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, resigned as energy and climate change secretary after he was charged. He remained as Liberal Democrat ...
(Helps if you've seen Independence Day) Follow this link or click the image below to enlarge...
I've started reading David Boyle's Barriers to Choice Review, published last week. David, author, academic and life-long liberal, was appointed by the cabinet office to 'look at the barriers faced by disadvantaged people, in particular, when it came to accessing choice in public services'. I started at the section on schools, where two of the graphs leapt out at me showing the difficulty in making choice meaningful. First, here's the graph showing the proportion of parents who successfully got their children into their preferred school: [IMG: school choice] The average figure in England isn't too bad: 85% of parents got ...
The next week will be filled with intense campaigning ahead of the Common Fisheries Policy vote, which will take place in Strasbourg during the first week of February. The 754 members of the European Parliament will have the chance for ... Continue reading →
Today marks a very significant achievement of our party in Government. The Green Deal is being launched. After two and half years of toil the pledge in our manifesto to, "offer a home energy improvement package ... paid for by the savings from lower energy bills" has become reality. Chris Huhne started the ball rolling way back in 2010 and Nick Clegg and I are visiting a college in Sheffield today to mark the opening of a brand new market in home energy efficiency and meet trainees in home insulation. Millions of homes do not have full double-glazing. More than ...
I have long supported HS2. The announcement today of £33bn of investment over 20 years reaffirms that HS2 will be good for Manchester and create 60, 000 new jobs. 10,000 jobs during construction 1,400 permanent operational jobs 49,700 jobs in ... Continue reading →
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone with Same Sex marriage bill - Some rights reserved by Mark Pack] Lynne Featherstone (right) proudly brandishes a copy of the newly published Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 2012-13. There is a parliamentary webpage dedicated to the bill here, where you can read the document and track its progress through Parliament. The Government's Equalities Office has published a range of supplementary materials here, including a short guide to the bill, a Factsheet and a Mythbuster. Frank Cranmer on the website Law & Religion UK has written a helpful guide here. Courtesy of the Government's Factsheet, here is ...
While we'd all* like to see an elected Upper Chamber, it is not to be for now - and so the process continues to try and at least make the House of Lords membership broadly representative of the membership of the Commons To that end - the Daily Mail suggests 15 new Lib Dem members of the House of Lords will be named this week - and they suggest Rumi Verjee will be one. But this turned my thoughts to who the other 14 might be. Remembering that I know absolutely nothing and have no inside information whatsoever (before the ...
[IMG: funny man working in the cloud] An edited version of last weekend's post on the boundaries of academic blogging has been published today on the LSE Impact of the Social Sciences blog. You can find it here. [IMG: Share]
[IMG: High speed rail Medway - Some rights reserved by Matt's photostream] In the two centuries since the Golden Age of British railways, from the opening of the Stockton and Darlington line in 1825, Stephenson's Rocket and the railway boom of the 1840s, Britain has tumbled from the position of being the envy of the world, to lagging sadly behind. The busiest sections of our old Victorian railways are now struggling to cope as the railways become increasingly popular. As anyone who travels regularly by train as I do will know, the West Coast Main Line, East Coast and Midland ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Choice in public services: good policy, politically problematic, electorally useless | Mark Pack .@markpack on @davidboyle1958′s review of choice in public services > "good policy, politically problematic" http://buff.ly/X787HO BBC News – The 'sigh of relief' Davos Stephanie Flanders on The 'sigh of relief' Davos http://buff.ly/YyEzYH < any chance of a trickle-down feel-good? It's May 2018. Britain has voted to leave the European Union. The Tory Diary Cheeky look fwd by @timmontgomerie > It's May 2018 Britain has voted to leave the European Union http://buff.ly/YyCOKW a handful of possibles
Mark Ferguson has posted a call to arms on LabourList this morning urging his comrades to stop neglecting their heartlands and proclaiming that there is no such thing as a safe seat. His case-study is Bradford West where George Galloway stormed to victory in last year's by-election partly due to the indifference shown to the constituency by the local Labour Party who had been allowed to get away with this because the seat was perceived as solid red. Mark's argument sounds reasonable but let's consider an analogy. Imagine that you run a team responsible for administering a number of small ...
The Libertine has interviewed the new members of the Liberal Youth exec on a range of topics, in order to keep you in the loop. Here is the first in the series, an interview with our new Communications Officer, Steven Haynes (and my new boss). 1) What is the first thing you will do in ...
[IMG: David Laws infographic] There are full details of this good news here. * Paul Walter is Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, a LibDem activist in Newbury, Berkshire and blogs at Liberal Burblings
Follow this link to see the current county council plans for road schemes in the area: Div45 IWP D3 Jan13
[IMG: Liberal Democrat badge - Some rights reserved by Paul Walter, Newbury, UK] Progress is a New Labour pressure group. On their website, Mark Rusling argues that there are strong signs that the Lib Dems are "waving, not drowning". He bases this on evidence from local government, particularly from Waltham Forest Council: ...I have a gnawing worry that, while the Liberals aren't thriving, neither are they drowning. They might prove more tenacious than many people expect. The evidence from local by-elections backs this up. On the day that most politicos were talking about the police and crime commissioner ballots, as ...
Dear Chris, The week in Westminster has been dominated by two events: the Prime Minister's speech on Europe and this Friday's Gross Domestic Product figures. The GDP figures are always surrounded by secrecy. I am among a small group of people who get to see the data the day before it is released but with strict instructions not to breathe a word to anyone. In other words it's the exact opposite of the Prime Minister's speech, which seemed to be the subject of about a year's open speculation before we finally got to hear it. The GDP numbers were disappointing, ...
There is an interesting feature on Liberal Democrats Minister, David Laws in today's Independent. The article though is most noteworthy for his views on coalitions and how the public may view them in future: The Liberal Democrats' 2015 pitch is already clear. "We don't have confidence that Labour is serious on economic policy, or that the Conservatives have a strong enough policy commitment to creating a fairer society," said Mr Laws. The Lib Dems have always offered both but might be taken more seriously next time. A silver lining to the cuts? "Perhaps in the past people have known we ...
Mon 28th
09:54
LibLink: Lynne Featherstone - Darfur is still suffering ten years after conflict began
[IMG: Women in the Abu Shouk camp for displaced people, north Darfur, Sudan - Some rights reserved by DFID - UK Department for International Development] Just back from a visit to Darfur, Lynne Featherstone writes on Huffpo about continuing concerns for the region: Britain's aid programme is about people, not numbers. But sometimes, the figures are so shocking it is impossible to escape them. This year marks 10 years since the start of conflict in Darfur and the numbers speak for themselves. During 3,655 days of violence, hundreds of thousands have died, millions have been forced from their home and ...
Today's Western Mail has confirmed that just £25m will be available to support buses and community transport across Wales in 2013-14. That compares unfavourably with £33m last year, and as a result councils and bus companies are reducing services or drawing up cutbacks. The paper says that rural services, which have the highest subsidies per passenger, are especially vulnerable, and experts believe more young people will be forced to leave their home villages: Nick Richardson, policy director of the Transport Planning Society, has studied bus cuts in England, where the subsidy reduction was less severe than in Wales. One in ...
[IMG: rumi verjee] A month ago, the Sunday Telegraph splashed on allegations by Labour MP Michael Dugher demanding the Electoral Commission investigate donations to the Lib Dems from Rumi Verjee via Brompton Capital Limited. Well, the Electoral Commission has now investigated — and it's given the donations the all-clear, and ruled out pursuing the matter any further: "We have carefully considered whether there is sufficient reason to believe that a breach of PPERA may have taken place, and whether the matter warrants referral for a case review or investigation. Having done so, we do not consider it is appropriate for ...
From today's paper on a subject on which the Daily Mail too has been critical of the government's plans: [IMG: Andrew Tyrie] A paper by senior Tory MP Andrew Tyrie – a campaigner on human rights – and leading QC Anthony Peto, calls on the government to rewrite its plans to hold court cases covering national security behind closed doors... The report calls for new rules which would mean summaries of the national security sensitive information be provided to the excluded party and his or her legal representatives. It demands a five year sunset clause, which would force Parliament to ...
There surely must come a point when everyone realises that Eric Pickles is a master satirist. He's pulled off the routine for far longer than anyone else might have managed – Morris, Baron-Cohen, even Sellers, they could keep up a character for ages, but none ever managed anything close to the length that the 'Pickles' hoax has run for. As we all know, one of his most popular routines of the last couple of years has been localism, where he delivers a speech out of two sides of his mouth at once. On one side, he talks about the joys ...
And now we're getting very close to the present, with blog posts that reference issues that are still going on and less 'oh, I'd completely forgotten that' moments for me as I go through the blog. But still, there are interesting things back there. I clearly made a decision to start blogging more in January 2011, as not only are there several posts there, I also started off two ideas to generate regular posts. The first Worth Reading set of links appeared then, as did my 'let's blog about every book I read' plan, one of which is still going. ...
We're absolutely thrilled that a project councillors worked on last year has come to fruition and Bruntwood Park is to see it's BMX track upgraded to competition standard. Stockport Council have the full story: Stockport's popular BMX track has secured Olympic legacy funding from Sport England's 'Inspired Facilities' fund. The BMX track in Bruntwood Park in Cheadle will be upgraded to competition standard in a major project which also includes improved facilities, new coaching sessions, a BMX Club, and bike hire with improved routes into and through the park. The £303,610 cost is being met by Sport England funding and ...
If you call 999 in Greenwich Borough at the moment there is a certain black synchronicity in that all three – health, police and fire – are facing cuts. As a Lib Dem and a member of a Government party I suppose I should be defending all of this as a necessary "we're all in it together" part ...
An interesting study: [IMG: A child playing. Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1187578] New research from the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) shows that only a quarter of English primary school children are allowed to walk to school alone - yet in Germany, three quarters are. It is easy to think that the decline in children's freedom to play out of doors and get around on their own is an inevitable side effect of modern life. That is why international comparisons are so valuable: they can show us how things might be different... t finds that the independent mobility of German children has ...
The Government has announced that the High Speed 2 (HS2) train service will come to Manchester, with a station at Manchester Airport and Piccadilly. We warmly welcome this development. While journalists tend to throw around journey times (which will get shorter) the real issue is capacity. The existing West Coast Main Line train route will fill up in the next twenty years to a point where it simply won't be possible to add more trains or carriages. Something will need to be done and HS2 is the best solution. It will also bring jobs and growth to our area. HS2 ...
A critic of John Cole claimed he was too negative in his essay, posted here a few days ago, so he now adds the following: Whilst I believe there is a real probability of the UK going "to hell in a handcart" if current policies are pursued and inequalities are not addressed, such a outcome is not inevitable, given certain changes. As I see it, in very broad terms, the following needs to happen: There needs to be a change in UK fiscal policy so that, in the medium term , a Keynesian fiscal expansion is pursued. I see this ...
Nicholas Stern: 'I got it wrong on climate change - it's far, far worse' *gulp* (tags: climatechange ) Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen A hypertext version. Pride and Prejudice first published 27 January 1813. (tags: Books )
Last week, Nick Thornsby posed an interesting question on Liberal Democrat Voice: "Where is the British Borgen?" (echoing the "Where is the British West Wing?" questions we used to hear). Meanwhile, James Graham asked a related question on his blog - "Borgen: how realistic is it?" - but ended up tackling Nick Thornsby's question. Borgen, as you probably know if you're the sort of person who reads political blogs, is a Danish TV drama series set in the world of Danish politics. The second series is currently being broadcast in the UK on BBC4. It is well-written, well-acted and realistic ...
Constituents have contacted me to point out that the traffic light in Lochee Road opposite Dudhope Terrace - on the north boundary of the West End Ward - is not aligned properly and drivers cannot see the actual lights - see right. I have asked the City Council to have this repaired.
Chorlton Liberal Democrats have slammed Labour Town Hall Bosses for U-Turning on an election promise to build a new swimming pool in Chorlton. Labour Council bosses propose to close Chorlton Baths for good in 2015 and move swimming facilities to Hough End (probably near Princess Parkway Matrolink stop). However before the last election Labour promised to combine the Baths and Library in a new building in Chorlton centre. Chorlton Lib Dem Cllr Victor Chamberlain said: "Many people will find it difficult and expensive to get to Hough End, especially those with families or on fixed incomes. "Many people come to ...
