Fracking was one of the subject on the Sunday Politics today. I have written about fracking before, and my conclusions are that essentially we have to know that we are doing our best to protect the earth's resources and secondly we have to know that fracking is safe. The spokesperson for Friends of the Earth had the same concerns. Could water contamination occur? Cuadrilla tell us that the chemical they use is non-hazardous but is that the answer to the question? What about the pollution that is caused by methane escaping into the atmosphere? It would appear, even at a ...
A recent Duport Business Confidence Report shows that there were a record number of limited company formations in Sutton last year. It reveals that 863 new companies were formed, more than any other year on record for the area. It also notes that net company growth also rose in 2012, although the UK company share ...
I've been away from this blog (and Twitter, and Tumblr, and Mindless Ones) for a few weeks now. The reasons are fairly straightforward: I started a new job three weeks ago. This means I have to get up two hours earlier in the morning than previously. Given my sleep problems, this means that I've had ...
Christopher Lee Reads Stuff Currently containing Dracula, Frankenstien and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Currently NOT containing his Heavy Metal Christmas album, although I could be tempted by a Christopher Lee Sings Stuff playlist at some point too... (X-posted personal journal and [IMG: [community profile] ] spotification) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Our thanks to the grumpy old blogger Grumpy Old Liberal, who recommends a new book called Defending Politics by Professor Matthew Flinders of the University of Sheffield. The publisher's website summarises the book's central thesis: Matthew Flinders makes a highly unfashionable but incredibly important argument of almost primitive simplicity: democratic politics delivers far more than most members of the public appear to acknowledge and understand. If more and more people are disappointed with what modern democratic politics delivers then is it possible that the fault lies with those who demand too much, fail to acknowledge the essence of democratic engagement ...
After a week of busy Lib-demmery, and a day mostly avoiding the t'interweb until I had seen the Grand Prix, I'm now kicking back listening to the new BBC radio adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Anyway, here is my selection of blogs I've liked over the past week. I don't agree with all of this, but Nick Barlow makes some good points and if we don't fight for liberalism, who will? This may be just a bit of mischief making, or mark a more general softening in tone from Labour. Either way, it's worth a read over on Labour Uncut ...
When all the most liberal colleagues around you disagree, when a speech causes so much anger, and you've just posted a positive review of it, sometimes you have to stop and think. This is what I've been doing since I ... Continue reading →
Easter madness - 50% off DVD rentals at all libraries across Cambridgeshire including your local library here in Bar Hill. Cambridgeshire library members can take advantage of half price rental prices on blu rays and DVDs this Easter. During the offer, which runs from Saturday 23 March - Sunday 7 April, prices will range between 65p and £1.35 on rental blu rays, premium DVDs and DVDs. Existing customers can reserve or borrow DVDs in the normal way - in branch or online. Cambridgeshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Learning, Councillor David Harty said "It's not just books that are available ...
"Huge pressure is being put on backbench Lib Dem peers to give up the position they held when the Bill was first debated in the Lords and back the Government line. Your support to them could make the difference." Liberal Democrats against Secret Courts wants us to write to Lib Dem and crossbench peers urging them to support the recommendations on secret courts of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Lester Holloway says Nick Clegg should ditch his illiberal immigration bond. Scrapping the beer duty escalator is good news for Shropshire's economy, argues Andy Boddington. Now do you see why ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 318th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (17 - 23 March, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. Chris ...
[IMG: Eddie Mair] Eddie Mair is rightly getting many plaudits today for a softly-spoken yet brutally effective interview of Boris Johnson. Yet Eddit Mair is by no means the first person to ask questions of Boris Johnson that leave him looking an embarrassed, evasive wreck. There's a group of people who have done so regularly for years. They're members of the London Assembly. At Mayor's Question Time at City Hall, the best of them repeatedly leave Boris Johnson looking just as bad as Eddie Mair did this morning. Yet those evasions and calamities normally get almost no attention. What's made ...
I am very excited and fighting to win.------------------From: Google Alerts <googlealerts-noreply@google.com> Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:49:45 +0000To: <matthew.harris@hotmail.co.uk>Subject: Google Alert - "Matthew Harris" Web 1 new result for "Matthew Harris" Make a Donation | Matthew Harris for Congress Mailing Address to Donate to Matthew Harris for Congress. Matthew Harris for Congress. P.O. Box 22. Runnemede, NJ 08078 ... matthewharrisforcongress.com/donate/ Tip: Use quotes ("like this") around a set of words in your query to match them exactly. Learn more. Delete this alert. Create another alert. Manage your alerts.
Last night, I was cooking something, and suddenly, it caught my attention that a bunsen burner over the stove had set fire to a salt pot on the shelf above. I calmly commented to my mum that a pepper pot was on fire, and she said "no it isn't", to which I replied "no, you're right, it's the salt pot", and then I started trying to blow the salt pot fire out. Of course, as soon as I extinguished the salt pot, the bunsen burner beneath it started the fire once again. I'm not sure why, looking back, I didn't ...
The Môn a Menai Sustainable Travel Area has been the subject of much questioning since work began on Holyhead Road several weeks ago. The project which is set to receive up to £8m of Welsh Government funding which will include a series of wide ranging developments for the area; New public transport infrastructure projects in Bangor ... Keep reading →
Earlier this week I read a really good blogpost on the Nightingale situation at Lodgehill and followed it up with the local press reports from the week before and felt moved to write to the Medway Messenger letters page for this Friday, on behalf of the local party - having received my Chair's green light. Unfortunately it wasn't published but I have published it here instead, I have also expanded the letter as well as I have more space to manoeuvre and to explain. The original letter appears in Italics. I am sure I can speak for many who care ...
A fortnight ago I announced that the UK, through the Department for International Development, would throw its weight behind the global movement to finally bring an end Female Genital Cutting (FGC). Momentum is building and I firmly believe we have a chance to end the practice within a generation, stopping the untold physical and psychological damage it is bringing upon millions of girls across the world every year. Our children's children will be able to look back on FGC as we do foot binding today. But with this goal comes a whole host of questions – how do we reverse ...
I wonder if anyone is looking for a garage in Houghton Regis? Two years ago I was told in a Freedom of Information request that Central Bedfordshire Council owned 1,016 garages in Houghton Regis, of which 565 of them were boarded up, and apparently a waiting list of only 25. Is that not an appalling waste of resources? The ones left derelict seem to attract vandalism, or graffiti, or worse. A garage is certainly a safer place for a vehicle, than being left out in the street for all and sundry to tamper with. It's not a great place to ...
In a recent burglary in the Consett area a number of Scottish £20 and £10 notes were stolen. They were issued by the Bank of Scotland and are believed to have serial numbers starting BV8426** Please be observant; any Scottish notes that are offered with the serial number BV8436** are of interest to police in Consett along with anyone having more than one Scottish note. Please make a record of the time and date for future reference to CCTV and contact local police by calling 101.
Sun 24th
16:45
Nick Clegg's Letter from the Leader: "Behind the Budget - economic analysis, confidential briefings ...
Nick Clegg's latest letter to supporters focuses on this week's Budget taking us behind-the-scenes of how it was developed, and highlighting the Lib Dem successes alongside the challenges still facing the UK. [IMG: libdem letter from nick clegg] Agreeing the Budget is a long and painstaking process. It started at the beginning of the year, with a presentation by the Chancellor to the Quad (that's me, him, the PM and Danny Alexander). The information is confidential enough that everyone in the room - even the PM - has to give back the print outs at the end of the meeting ...
Please note, before reading any further — the legality of anti-DRM tools varies from country to country. Do not do this if you live in one of those countries where it is illegal. There are plenty of guides to stripping the DRM from ebooks in Windows or Apple computers, but few out there that tell ...
[IMG: Roman Way Crossing] Councillors promised road improvements and traffic calming outside RomanWaySchool, including a safe crossing to the bus stop. But contractors put the crossing in the wrong place, closer to the busy Newbury Road junction. Residents have condemned the new crossing as useless and dangerous. Parents are also worried about increased traffic past the school despite county council claims there is no problem. I agree with the residents and parents. The crossing is not good enough and must be improved. I am pushing highways officers to improve road safety on, and approaching, the new crossing.
[IMG: Willie Rennie - Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats] This week the Scottish Parliament debated the Iraq War, ten years on. This could have disintegrated into a "this is why we need independence" bunfight, but, actually, it ended up being one of those occasions when you could be proud of your Parliament for being thoughtful and mindful of the terrible human cost of this conflict. Willie Rennie spoke for the Liberal Democrats in the debate and actually was applauded by the SNP benches who are, shall we say, not usually so friendly towards him. He visited Iraq as a ...
Liberal Democrats against Secret Courts has today e-mailed supporters with a reminder to lobby Liberal Democrat peers about Tuesday's vote in the House of Lords on secret courts. It reminds us that the stakes are high: The campaign continues and reaches the eleventh hour this week. The Lords vote on Tuesday will either improve this terrible Bill, or see it pass in its current non-JCHR compliant form which will mean the campaign to stop the Bill will have failed.You may recall David Howarth's advice at the recent party conference to the Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords, Tom McNally: Tom, ...
I was on Start the Week a couple of weeks ago together with Ken Loach, but one of the other panellists - I think the one intended to balance Loach's socialism, with her mildly Thatcherite hair-style - was a fascinating researcher from the thinktank the Centre for Policy Studies, called Harriet Sergeant. Harriet is not your average revolutionary. She is from a deeply Conservative think-tank. But I've just finished her book about south London gangs, Among the Hoods, and it is explosive and extremely challenging. It has taken me so long to read partly because it was so fascinating, and ...
"I'm not at all political but I'll help you if like." My standard doorstep smile broke into a broad grin. Half an hour and a pot of Earl Grey tea later, I had recruited myself a designer and copyrighter - @Demsburybess. Correction. 'Team Libby' had gained a designer and copywriter. One of the first suggestions @Demsburybess made is that we have a team identity. Team Libby it is. I'm just a little self-conscious about the sobriquet but I'm really excited about it at the same time. Team Libby is growing rapidly. Our helpers have been recruited through church contacts, in ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Liberator's blog: Nick Clegg and the politics of immigration Interesting analysis from @liberatormag > Nick Clegg and the politics of immigration http://bit.ly/Y7XSXm Letters: Botched draft that threatens the blogosphere | Media | The Guardian Bloggers unite against botched Royal Charter > Letter to the Guardian, signed by me, Tim, Sunny, Guido, Mark et al http://bit.ly/Y6yEsi
If there is one economic/industrial policy that defines our party surely it is employee ownership. From JS Mill to the Yellow Book, Ownership for All, Jo Grimond and on to Paddy Ashdown the central belief that those who work in an enterprise should share in its ownership and control is a constant. Nothing undermines that idea more that the barking idea promoted by Osborne that employees should swap their rights for shares and thus introduce Beecroft style management via the backdoor. It tarnishes the image of employee ownership. The good news the daft idea was defeated in the Lords last ...
Dear Chris, Agreeing the Budget is a long and painstaking process. It started at the beginning of the year, with a presentation by the Chancellor to the Quad (that's me, him, the PM and Danny Alexander). The information is confidential enough that everyone in the room -even the PM - has to give back the print outs at the end of the meeting for them to be locked away in the Treasury again. And the discussions on the fine details of our policy plans went right up to the last minute with a succession of emails and phone calls between ...
The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) has just opened up registration for their event 'Rights4Youth Summit: Access of young people to human rights', and we are delighted to invite you to attend! The event will be held in Strasbourg, France from 20-23rd April (with travel on the 19th and 24th). As well as the usual fun ...
Sun 24th
12:30Bloggers unite to oppose "botched late-night drafting" that proposes new press/web regulation
I'm one of 17 signatories (on behalf of LibDemVoice) to a letter published in Saturday's Guardian, reproduced below, which opposes the "fundamental threat" of the draft legislation approved this week by MPs of all parties which would regulate blogs and other small independent news websites. It's not often you'll see us, ConservativeHome, LabourList, Guido Fawkes, Liberal Conspiracy and Political Scrapbook agree on something. But what we term the "botched late-night drafting process and complete lack of consultation" has, for once, brought us together. And, as the letter notes, perhaps even more remarkably got Tom Watson and Rupert Murdoch agreeing, too. ...
Here's our latest email to campaign supporters... Dear Fellow No to Secret Courts Campaigner, The campaign continues and reaches the eleventh hour this week. The Lords vote on Tuesday will either improve this terrible Bill, or see it pass in its current non-JCHR compliant form which will mean the campaign to stop the Bill will have failed. The Special Advocates have yesterday evening published their response to the proposed amendments. It is here and is worth reading and circulating as widely as you can. It also provides useful arguments against some of the nonsense being talked in support of secret ...
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 650 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. You say Eastleigh shows... [IMG: mike thornton eastleigh jon aylwin] There will probably be a hung parliament with the Tories under pressure from Ukip, the Lib Dems digging in against the Tories, and Labour the largest single party LDV asked: I think the Eastleigh by-election result shows... (Respondents could choose multiple options.) 75% – Ukip will pose a significant threat ...
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Must read book by ex-tax inspector Richard Brooks 'The great Tax Robbery' [272 pages Oneworld] is subtitled: ' How Britain became a tax haven for fat cats and big business'. Just a few gems. Osborne has allowed chunks of his corporate tax policy to be written by companies with the help of the same accountants who design avoidance schemes. Under the previous Labour regime penalties levied by HMRC on very large companies for transgressions had fallen to 0.01% of their 'error' - around 200times less than the fines imposed on small companies. Also, since a Private Finance Deal in 2001, ...
The debate over Scottish independence has been mostly notable for the lack of information, as opposed to asserted opinion. And so, Ros sought to find out what the base Civil Service staffing figures were as, if Scotland does become independent, those United Kingdom functions currently carried out in Scotland might need to be repatriated... Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat) To ask Her Majesty's Government how many United Kingdom Civil Service jobs are currently located in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Northern Ireland, and (4) Wales. Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Whip, House of Lords; Liberal Democrat) The information requested ...
You'll remember our differentiation strategy, as outlined on a napkin by Richard Reeve early on in the government and helpfully reproduced below... Having spent some time establishing that we are a 'grown up' party of government by working hand in hand with the Tories, in the middle of the parliament we will slowly start to extract ourselves from their grasp, reasserting our own liberal character and credentials, in good time to make it clear that we offer an alternative to the British people at the 2015 General Election. I always thought it was a mistake. And I have to ask- ...
We could've been anything we wanted to be But don't it make your heart glad That we decided, a fact we take pride in We became the best at being bad If you don't know it, it's from Bugsy Malone, but for me it sums up a lot of my feelings about the coalition. I know it seems hopelessly naive now, but there was optimism back in May 2010, and a feeling that this was a government that might do things differently. Instead, that optimism has been methodically dismantled, piece by piece, as the government's revealed itself to be even ...
It was a masterclass in TV interviewing from Eddie Mair, occupying Andrew Marr's Sunday morning chair on BBC1. (You can watch an excerpt from the interview here.) [IMG: mair johnson -mar 2013] With documentary-maker Michael Cockerell's film, 'Boris Johnson: The Irresistible Rise', to be screened on Monday evening (BBC2, 9pm), Mair took the opportunity to put to the twice-elected Mayor of London the allegations he's always previously been able to laugh off. There's a good feature about it in the Daily Mail (sorry) here. Usually interviewers indulge Boris; I could say complicitly, but perhaps it's more charitable to say they ...
In his recent The Joy of Essex, says Adam Sweeting, Jonathan Meades: rattled off a list of cult-like startups which had flourished briefly - New Harmony, the Village Society, the Redemption Society - and detoured to the sinister-sounding Q Camp at Hawkspur Green, where the homeless and the drug-addicted experienced "tough love". They may even have been subjected to the libido-liberating Frigidity Machine, created by Theodore Faithfull, grandfather of dowager-chantoosie Marianne.And there is more to Marianne Faithfull's background than that. In an article for PsyArt Dianne Hunter says: Marianne's mother, Eva Hermine von Sacher-Masoch, Baroness Erisso, had been a dancer ...
Jocelyn Bell Burnell The connection between the discovery of pulsars and Joy Division. (tags: historyofscience ) Mark Kermode reviews Good Vibrations I am ridiculously excited about this film. (tags: films ) Everything Will Be Fine In Just One Chote Unit Chote is an old mate, but this is a solid critique! (tags: ukpolitics economics ) Twittergraphy 19th century telegraph code (some of this is difficult to take seriously). (tags: language ) Thomas de Waal's Five Books on Conflict in the Caucasus The fifth is of general applicability. (tags: azerbaijan armenia )
Following on from my post last week about Bury Council's plan to make virtually all residential roads in Bury 20mph, we are now being ask for some detailed comments on the schemes being considered. Can I thank everyone who has sent me their views. I know a lot of people are frustrated that Bury Council are going ahead with this when our roads are in such a poor state which is a matter than I am also perusing. If you have specific feedback on the following it would be great to hear from local residents with your views: - any ...
A Traffic Order from the City Council covering the Dudhope Roundabout on the West End Ward east boundary: Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating carriageway resurfacing works. The Order is expected to be in force for nine days from 8th April 2013. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in (1) all lanes of the Dudhope Roundabout, (2) Lochee Road at a point 20 metres or thereby ...
