Over the past year, I have mentioned the progress towards the establishment of a Perth Road Traders' Association. A traders' group for Perth Road businesses will be a huge step forward in promoting our excellent shopping area. Earlier this evening, I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Perth Road Traders' Association at which a committee was elected to take the new traders' association forward. Iain Wilson, owner of the Nisa Extra, was elected Chair, Mohammad Issa of McDermott's Sandwich Bar was elected Secretary and Kirsty Thomson of Utopia Costumes was elected Treasurer. In addition, ...
Rafael Behr uses the ongoing Rennard imbroglio as a jumping off point for some broader points about the positioning of the Liberal Democrats in a post today at the New Statesman. He argues that: Clegg's office has a clear enough sense of where they think he and the party can stand on the political spectrum ... There is, in theory, a gap in the political market - a Blair-shaped hole - for third-way candidates who combine economic rigour with a social conscience. [IMG: Juggling Magician] But to fill that gap the Lib Dems must above all look like a serious ...
Last year, the West End Local Community Planning Partnership heard from a 10 year old pupil from Blackness Primary School who had contacted me making the case for a skatepark in the West End and a very impressive and articulate young man he is too. Along with his father, around that time we met with City Council officers to see what options there might be for provision of what would be a great facility for the west of the city. Earlier today, we again met with officers from the City Council's Environment Department for an update and were pleased to ...
There's bad news for people opposed to the scheme for a takeaway at the junction of Greenhill Road and Melbreck Road. Council planners seem to want the idea to have the go ahead. Despite a large number of resident objections, the Council is recommending that the application be approved. It has still to go to planning committee and Richard Oglethorpe and I will be arguing on residents behalf against the idea. Amazing really though that the Council can want to say yes when so many residents say no. I will blog again when I have more details but its only ...
The City Council has a community skip programme which makes skips available for community clean ups or for areas where people are complaining about dumping etc. My colleague Richard Oglethorpe has arranged for the skips to be available for people in the streets near the library this coming Friday (1st March) The skip will be at the junction of Basing Street and Duncombe Street south. Do use it if it helps keep your area cleaner. The skip will be back on two following Fridays - also on Dumcombe Street South at the Calthorpe and Stormont Road junctions.
The Guardian reports: [IMG: Norman Lamb] The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is to be forced by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners to rewrite controversial regulations that prompted Labour warnings of a backdoor privatisation of the NHS... Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem health minister, raised concerns about the regulations amid fears of another rebellion at his party's spring conference next month - one year after the last such conference voted against the health and social care bill. "We are looking at this extremely seriously," Lamb told his Lib Dem colleague Andrew George in the Commons. "Clear assurances were given in the ...
[IMG: AAA screening] AAA Screening If you're a man in your 65th year, you should be offered Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening (also called AAA Screening). It's offered free of charge by the NHS. An abdominal aortic aneurysm can occur if the wall of your aorta – the main blood vessel that supplies blood to your body – gets weak and starts to expand. The condition can be serious. Screening can help to find an aneurysm early so it can be monitored or treated. All screening programmes have positives and negatives. AAA screening is non-invasive and painless, but you should look ...
[IMG: Inspector Steve Gilbertson] Inspector Steve Gilbertson Inspector Steve Gilbertson came to Cheadle Area Committee this evening to give us an update on crime across Stockport. Whilst any crime is too much, we're very pleased that it's continued to fall across the Borough. Comparing the period April 2012-Jan 2013 to the same period the year before, there were 1820 fewer victims of crime across Stockport. Although you wouldn't always know it from reading the papers, crime levels today are lower than at any time in the '80s, '90s or 2000s – you have to right back to the 1970s to ...
The Shropshire Star published my letter "huge bill for consultants" today. Thanks guys! The essence of the letter is that despite council leader Keith Barrow telling us that his council is completely open about how it spends its money, it had stopped publishing detailed financial data in April 2012. Keith was unaware of this when ...
Photo borrowed from The Cheese Grater Viewing the Rennard crisis from afar, Living on Words Alone points to a wider problem in the Liberal Democrats: "We really do not value the input of our members and supporters properly. Most local parties only use people as delivery or canvassing machines, a small clique carry on running the local party and new ideas are frowned upon. Nationally the party makes almost no effort to engage with the membership - other than to ask them for cash." Cathy Newman, who broke the Chris Rennard story on Channel 4 News, reminds us in the ...
Today, Cornwall Council accepted the Liberal Democrat budget alternative. As a result, in the coming financial year we will see: council tax frozen cuts to parking charges our roads repaired investment to tackle anti-social behaviour a spring clean for CornwallNone of this would have happened if the Liberal Democrats had not been pushing for it. The Council's Conservative-led administration was arguing for a 1.97% rise. We put together our alternative because that is what residents told us they wanted. We listened to local people who said they could not afford to pay even more on their council tax bill. We ...
Another fantastic LibDem 'own goal' with the on-going Lord Rennard saga. I've never met him personally, but was shocked today when a friend of my mother's half-jokingly asked me if I'd ever been groped. I can honestly say the only LibDem groping I've had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of was at a Party Conference in Blackpool way back in the 70s. It was entirely consensual and with another passionate Young Liberal who subsequently became a 'special friend'. But on the subject of groping, I have been amazed at how poorly the party machinery seems to have ...
Well done, LabourList: Why Labour probably won't win in Eastleigh
[IMG: Some rights reserved by Paul Walter] My heart goes out to those whose loved ones were lost in the Luxor hot air balloon disaster. Also to the survivors. We went on one of these very same hot air balloon rides over the desert a few years ago at Luxor also. It was magical – as my photo above shows. They tend to do them first thing in the morning when the air is the right temperature. For such a tragedy to happen in such idyllic surroundings on what should have been a joyful and memorable sight-seeing journey, makes the ...
If you are looking for a thorough history of the Church of Scientology, then this book is not for you. I'd recommend Piece of Blue Sky or Inside Scientology instead. But if you saw either of John Sweeney's Panorama documentaries and came away wondering what happened between scenes, like I did, then this is most definitely the book for you. John Sweeney's "exposes" of Scientology turned into more a study into just what the Church does to those who try to expose it. And here, with the benefit of hindsight and evidence from the Church's side of the story, John ...
It appears that we are now very firmly in "you couldn't make it up" territory. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
A few weeks ago I sent a tweet around about the Tory Eastleigh candidate - and it got a very funny response... Hats off Bill Anyway, I referenced it in this piece I wrote for the New Statesman - which they picked out for the headline.... But in fact, the evidence is that the latest brand of Tory MPs have more in common with Maria Hutchings, "the Sarah Palin of the south coast" as one person referred to her the other day, than they do with the leader of the Tory party. (on reflection I wish I'd mentioned Bill by ...
Radio 4 ran a piece about the allegations against Chris Rennard today which covered a wide range of the questions raised so far. You can listen to it here. (Update – also written up by the BBC here.) A spokesperson for Lord Rennard also issued a statement today, which says: Lord Rennard refutes these allegations. He will co-operate with any properly constituted inquiry. He has been notified of an internal investigatory panel within the Party. The matter must now be regarded as sub judice pending its proceedings and no further statement will be issued in the interim. He expects others ...
[View the story "Eastleigh by-election: 26 February - Ashdown does micro-micro-targeting" on Storify] Eastleigh by-election: 26 February – Ashdown does micro-micro-targeting Storified by Mark Pack· Tue, Feb 26 2013 10:19:30 Let's start this time with the latest poll: Lord Ashcroft: Liberal Democrats 5% ahead in EastleighWith two days to go, the Liberal Democrats have the edge in the Eastleigh by-election. My latest poll finds a 5-point lead for Mike Thorn... Eastleigh poll points to Clegg lifeline – FT.comThe Liberal Democrats remained confident of victory in this week's Eastleigh by-election as a new opinion poll suggested the contest coul... Why, despite ...
My latest piece in The New Statesman below. many thanks for all the positive comments folk have been sending me about it from right across the party - appreciate it. Some week, eh? As a white, middle class, Oxbridge-educated man, I'm in no position to pontificate about what it's like to suffer any sort of discrimination, oppression or harassment - although that doesn't seem to stop a lot of folk in my Twitter stream diving in with both feet on any development in the Rennard affair.It goes without saying that the most important people in all this, the ones we ...
The alleged Wikileaks leaker, Private First Class Bradley Manning, has failed in his attempts get his case dismissed. It is emerging that a judge has deemed the delays to Manning's case understandable, and that he will face trial on June 3rd.
Some good information from a local resident: For people with dementia and their families, choosing a care home can be an incredibly stressful and difficult process. Alzheimer's Society has produced a new handy guide to selecting a care home. A copy of this guide can be downloaded from their website alzheimers.org.uk/lowexpectations In addition they have developed in association with the Royal College of Nursing 'This is me,' a simple and practical tool that someone going into a care home can give to staff to help them understand their needs. To ensure everyone has access to these guides, it would be ...
Cathy Newman, who ran Channel 4′s investigation into Lord Rennard, has explained that the story was ready to go before Chris Huhne food down and triggered the by-election. She has blogged that when she interviewed one of the women making the allegations against Lord Rennard, Huhne was still pleading innocent. I don't doubt that for ...
Anchorpoint Stockport is running free sessions in March for anyone involved in a voluntary group, charity or social enterprise to help you get money!
The unpopular and ill-conceived Helioslough Railfreight plan has received a further setback when the County Council unanimously voted against the Eric Pickles approved plans. Liberal Democrat Councillors across Hertfordshire lent their support to County Councillor Aislinn Lee's impassioned speech in favour of the motion and her plea that the Council listen to the people of Hertfordshire and protect their interests. The County Council unanimously passed the motion, which after amendment was agreed as a joint motion and seconded by the Liberal Democrats.
For those who are wondering why I'm not writing more online at the moment, a brief update: I'm currently working on the first/second draft of the novel I can't talk about properly yet. I finished a very scrappy forty-thousand-word *thing* of it in mid-January, which was just enough for me to get the voices of ...
On Thursday the Assembly's Finance Committee will be scrutinising the order that will effect the merger of the Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency Wales and the Forestry Commission into a single environment body to be known as Natural Resources Wales. We have asked to look at this because of the very sparse detail of the costs of merger in this document and what looks like massive over-optimism with regards to potential savings. The decision to scrutinse this order further appears to be supported by an article on the BBC website which says that the new body is facing a ...
Another PPC selection came to fruition last night. Robin Meltzer was chosen as the Liberal Democrats' parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park, North Kingston and New Malden. He said on his website: I am thrilled to have been selected as the new Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Richmond Park, North Kingston and New Malden. A huge thank you to the members across Kingston and Richmond who supported me and to the many volunteers who worked on my selection campaign. [IMG: Paddy Ashdown and Robin Meltzer] The first thing he did this morning was to head to Eastleigh where Chair of ...
As I posted last time, the Conservatives confirmed the Council Tax rise as 1.9%. The other main message from the budget was that the Conservatives intend to spend the best part of £100 million on Wokingham town centre over the next 3-5 years. The whole of the rest of the Borough has about 1% of that between them for their communities. Children's Centres and the youth service are to be remodelled to save £570,000 a year. There will be consultation on the changes we have been told. No further details are available at the moment. The Conservatives are still claiming ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Monica Lewinsky's Political Career (or It's the Culture, Stupid!) | Scarlet Standard Also v good article by @Scarletstand > Monica Lewinsky's Political Career (or It's the Culture, Stupid!) http://bit.ly/15Mle7w Lord Rennard sex scandal: sexism is rife in Parliament – Telegraph V good article by @cathynewman on W'minster's endemic sexism > 'Sexism is rife in Parliament' http://bit.ly/15MfCtN The Lord Rennard scandal marks the moment the Lib Dems discovered they are on the big stage – Comment – Voices – The Independent Hard to disagree w/ @SteveRichards14 here> Rennard scandal marks moment Lib Dems ...
Over on politics.co.uk editor Ian Dunt has written a hilarious account of his trip to Eastleigh. "It makes for a messy, baffling scene, like Glastonbury for hideous politics people. Spotty teenagers hand out leaflets for the Tories inbetween cigarettes, then mock an eccentric Ukip man with a loudhailer who walks around the town centre ...
[IMG: Paddy at Eastleigh] It's really, really close and this election looks like it could shape the general election. This is the time to take a stand and prove that Lib Dems can hold onto Lib Dem seats. We have good things to offer people, we have brought things to the coalition (think pupil premium and the £10,000 tax-threshold) and we have limited some of the more extreme conservative policies. But to get people to recognise this we have to get the word out and the way to do that is the way Lib Dems have always done it - ...
Today is the opening day of the public inquiry for the King's Lynn incinerator. We won't be hearing any detailed evidence, but each side will be outlining its core arguments and we should get some more clarity on the procedure. Given that this is probably the best, and, last opportunity to stop the incinerator it ...
My granddad died quite suddenly at some point in the last few days. He was found by his neighbour yesterday, who went to check on him because he was feeling "a bit funny" last week, and we got a phonecall this morning giving us the news. We used to be close, but since he emigrated, he's been a distant part of our lives in more ways than one - and because he didn't come to the big family wedding in 2011, I can't even remember when it was I last saw him, or talked even, since a petty family feud ...
Counting down towards the fiftieth birthday of Doctor Who with Fifty great scenes... This time it's a brilliantly inventive mix of comedy and horror, taken from a 1987 story that brought the Doctor not to a shiny spaceship or a stylised English village but to a run-down tower block - run by Richard Briers. Paradise Towers is a grossly underappreciated story, and this scene would have been higher still in my Fifty were it not that I wanted to skip forward in order to give my own little tribute to Mr Briers. "It's - it's - aaagghh!" "Yes, I know." ...
"You know what I think is the biggest waste of money in the European Union of today? That's the salary we all pay to Mr Farage." ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt on splendid form in the European Parliament, taking apart the claims of UKIP leader Nigel Farage:
The majority of the people I would consider my heroes are long dead. Oberst Werner Moelders who overcame chronic air sickness to become one of the greatest fighter pilots and tacticians of the Second World War died in an air crash in 1941. A man who loved his country and disliked the political party in charge but was loved by his men. General Lord Charles Cornwallis the man who surrendered Yorktown and conquered much of India died at the beginning of the Nineteenth century. Finally, Admiral Natasi Daala, the flame haired Imperial admiral who fought the sexist Imperial navy's command ...
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread they say so it is with some trepidation that my blog today is about women in society. Clearly this has been a bad news week for men! A cardinal has resigned and ... Continue reading →
Yesterday, I took part in the latest meeting of the Balgay Stakeholders' group that gives the opportunity for representatives from Friends of Balgay to discuss issues around the park area with local councillors and representatives of the City Council's Environment Department. It was a very positive meeting with a number of matters discussed, including: * The "triangle" of ground outside Balgay Park at the Scott Street entrance has been improved and a new shrub bed and trees planted - see right. * New roundabouts are about to be installed in Victoria Park (and also in the Roseangle playpark). This is ...
The party's investigations into allegations against its members are traditionally internal, confidential affairs. There are good reasons for this, particularly as confidentiality can be necessary for people to be willing to given evidence and as the simple existence of an allegation can kill someone's political career, even if the allegations are subsequently found to be groundless. They are often so confidential, in fact, that the last time I was asked to provide evidence for an inquiry, I did not know what the precise allegations were, who was investigating them, who the range of people being investigate were, whether or not ...
Another in my occasional series of blog posts about our solar panels. We used both the Energy Saving Trust Solar Power calculator and the Europa Solar Calculator to estimate a generation capacity of between 2,500 and 2,700 kWh per year. [IMG: Solar Estimate] We've just done a reading for 21 November to 21 February. Right in line with expectations, we generated 205kWh - netting us ~£96 from the Feed In Tariff. Over 15 months we've generated a total of 3376kWh. Again, totally in line with the top end of expectations. Which gives me happy feelings whenever I see the sun ...
How many civilians died in the bombing of German cities during the war? The answer is about 600,000, including 72,000 children, approximately ten times the number of civilian casualties inflicted in UK cities. Churchill became ashamed of the scale of the slaughter which, because it was inflicted by the winning side, has never been classed alongside the other monstrosities of war. Those who inflicted the damage, the young aircrew, did so with great bravery and a huge attrition rate. So it may be that today's announcement awarding them medals is finally giving them what they deserve. I'm not so sure ...
Episode 48 of the House of Comments podcast "The Politics of AAA" was recorded on Sunday and is out today. This week myself and Emma Burnell were joined by Isabel Hardman the editor of the Spectator Coffee house blog to discuss the AAA debacle and what it means for George Osborne and the government, the Eastleigh by-election and what I found out pounding the streets in South Hampshire at the weekend and finally the accusations against Lord Rennard and more generally women in public life. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here (note - this is a new ...
I reported earlier this morning the latest poll from Eastleigh — showing a narrow Lib Dem lead over the Tories — but one finding in it is particularly relevant to this round-up. The question was asked: "We're interested in the extent to which people locally have heard from the political parties over the last few weeks. Please can you tell me whether Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have done each of the following..." And here's what they found: [IMG: eastleigh contacts] In short, the Lib Dems have out-campaigned both Labour and the Conservatives, with 92% of the voters ...
Lord Rennard sex scandal: here's a thought experiment for men who think sexual harassment is harmless fun - Telegraph Blogs Article good, comments depressing. (tags: ) 9 Sexist Things That Happened At The Oscars (tags: ) Embroidery Trouble Shooting Page A reminder to check that one has closed one's HTML tags (hopefully won't have been fixed by the time you click through. (tags: ) A stunning disection of Seth McFarlane's Oscar Hosting (tags: ) Update on the Party's processes following the allegations concerning the conduct of Lord Rennard Still not comfortable with the specific allegations being dealt with in-house... :/ ...
Just over a week ago a massive bomb was detonated in a packed bazaar on the outskirts of Quetta, killing at least 92 people and seriously injuring more than 200. Last month a double suicide bombing on Alamdar Road, Quetta took the lives of 108 people These were the latest in a crescendo of genocidal attacks on the Shia Hazara community in Pakistan since the turn of the century, which was considered in a packed meeting I chaired at the House of Lords yesterday, February 25. According to published accounts, these atrocities have left over 1,100 dead and 1,300 injured. ...
Heaton Park is to play hosts to the 'Parklife' music event on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June 2013. Parklife is a music 'Multi Stage Festival' – live acts and DJ's, with a daily capacity of 30,000-40,000. The event is largely aimed at a 'student' market, and has run successfully in Platt Fields for the last three years. My understanding is that the long term idea is for the event to be in Wythenshawe Park, so this probably won't be a regular feature in Heaton Park. More details on the actual event will be available from the Parklife Website here. ...
This case which is a public judgment involves the imprisonment of a woman for taking her father to see a solicitor. Firstly, people should not be imprisoned in secret. That is a clear contravention of the rules of the court. On the 12 October 2012 many of the old rules relating to committal were taken out of the rules of the supreme court see this. However, rule 81 was updated and states:
Tue 26th
07:30
Final Eastleigh poll puts Lib Dems narrowly ahead of Tories - but all within margin of error!
What will (I assume) be the final poll of the Eastleigh by-election was published this morning. Conducted by Populus and commissioned by Lord Ashcroft, it shows the Lib Dems sustaining a narrow lead — significant in itself, but the more so as Eastleigh voters were interviewed over the weekend during which the controversy over allegations against Lord Rennard were prominent. Figures shown are compared with the most recent Populus poll, published at the end of last week: Mike Thornton (Lib Dem) 33% (n/c) Maria Hutchings (Conservative) 28% (n/c) Diane James (UKIP) 21% (n/c) John O'Farrell (Labour) 12% (-1%) Others 6% ...
Last night the excellent Robin Meltzer was selected by local Lib Dems to fight Richmond Park (and Zac Goldsmith), beating off Jane Dodds and David Rendel. It will be interesting to see if David Rendel seeks another nomination given his stated desire to return to Westminster.
Lib Dem Voice co-editor Mark Pack was interviewed by the BBC yesterday about the allegations concerning Chris Rennard. Here's what he had to say:
I was in Cheadle the other day with work. Like Prestwich, parking in the local council car parks is free all day, but unlike Prestwich part of the car park was set aside for short stay parking only. You had to get a (free) ticket from a machine and a parking attendant checked that only short stay cars were parked in the short stay bays. [IMG: IMG_1170] [IMG: IMG_1168] Would this be a good idea for Prestwich – I'm thinking particularly in the Village centre (Fairfax Road and perhaps even the Longfield carpark). I know many people complain that it ...
A couple of residents have been in touch over an ongoing issue about problems with parking around the junction of Heys Road / Poppythorn Lane (near the Fairfax Road bridge). After raising this with the Council I can report the following: - The site has been visited by Council officers and the concerns investigated. - It would seem that the problem relates to (car) transporters parking on the restrictions that are already in place. Therefore, Parking Services have been requested to hotspot the area in order to carry out enforcement of any contraventions. Hopefully enforcement of the existing restrictions will ...
I recently mentioned that the Ryehill Police Station is to undergo a much-needed refurbishment. Our local police inspector has updated me as follows: "The work is scheduled to commence the week of the 11th March. Building contracts inform me that it will take approx. one week to complete; I would suggest at least two. The place is getting a decent makeover, including outside paintwork, lights being fixed, paving slabs being lifted and relaid, the bedding area being planted up, render work being undertaken, etc. and some internal work that is badly needed. I will ensure that the West End LCPP ...
The failings of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 and 2009 and the subsequent public enquiry by Robert Francis QC, is a real wake up call for politicians and people working within the National Health Service. We are, rightly, incredibly proud of our NHS in Britain and the appalling levels of care and high mortality rates in Stafford Hospital are thankfully very rare and are something that should not and must not happen again. The fact that the scandal occurred in the English NHS should not be cause for complacency here in Wales. We are not immune from ...
In the wake of sexual harassment claims it's beginning to be noticed that the Lib Dems aren't putting up many women in the media. It seems odd that women wouldn't want to go in and explain the issues, and show the Lib Dems are responding to concerns of women: Jenny Willott – Maternity leave. Jo Swinson – May ...
Note from the county council The process to renew free bus passes across Hertfordshire began in June 2012 and involved sending postal reminders to households on a district basis. The mail out of reminders is now complete and over 90,000 passes have been renewed. However, we estimate there are approx 40,000 passes left to renew. We have started a communications campaign using print and digital media targeting bus pass users and their carers and relatives to encourage them to renew now. We are aware that some applications received following 4th March may not be fulfilled before 31st. Therefore we have ...
Not the specific/non-specific allegations relating to him, but the issue as a whole. And by we, I mean everyone – not just the wimmin'. Firstly, there is something that everyone needs to be absolutely clear on – any allegations made ... Continue reading →
