Margaret Thatcher was without a doubt one of the most divisive figures in British politics, and much has already been made of this fact in the media coverage following the news of her passing this morning. Nonetheless, whatever one may or may not think of her politics, she was and will forever remain one of the most influential figures in 20th century history - both here in Britain, and beyond. The extraordinary story of a shopkeeper's daughter from Grantham who became the world's first female leader of a major power is indeed worthy of the many re-tellings it has already, ...
This story should cause concern. If a barrister who was on the verge of becoming a judge believes that the best thing to do is to leave the country what should others do. Given that Ireland, with its financial problems, has been trying to drive family court refugees back to England I have been talking to other countries to find out if they will simply apply the law to protect people from the
Photograph: Daily Telegraph Around lunchtime, on 22nd November 1990, I was informed that the then Prime Minister had resigned. It was a day that I had for some time looked forward to. Many 13 year olds at the time would have been far more interested in Rangers' chances of winning the Premier Division, Turtle Power, a crazy new TV cartoon series called "The Simpsons" (surely a fad?) or the all-important question of whether Pretty Woman was better than Ghost. This apparent indifference to political matters was confirmed when, in a rare show of excitement, I decided to inform everyone I ...
When Margaret Thatcher took office, the world spoke of the "British disease" - falling productivity, inefficient industries, industrial relations at rock bottom, a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, soaring interest rates on Britain's debt, bodies unburied, the Empire collapsing and the rest. The country had just come through a decade which arguably saw some of the most brutal civil unrest here since the 1830's, with some fearing that British democracy itself was in peril; Harold Wilson's own views on this provide a good place to begin to explore that particular line. Mrs Thatcher oversaw a government that changed much ...
Margaret Thatcher was a divisive figure in British politics and history. She will leave a mixed legacy and will be remembered differently by different people. I was still at Primary School when she was deposed and John Major replaced her. I remember a few of us, at the age of 9 talking about who wouldst replace her and the favourite at the time was Michael Hesseltine. At times like this it is easy for people to only remember the good and the achievements and not be balanced. The same is true for Churchill, remembered as a great war leader, not ...
As of today, anyone using a single-use carrier bag from a retailer must pay five new pence for the privilege. The main aim is to help protect the environment by cutting the number of carrier bags we all use. Anyone who has been shopping in a supermarket with me for sometime will know that I can ...
I first met the young Margaret Roberts (as she then was) because I was in the habit of buying my dog biscuits from her father's shop in Grantham and she would sometimes serve me. This evening of all evenings is not an occasion to record that she generally kept her thumb on the scales. Read more from Lord Bonkers on Liberal England.
Two more pubs have been listed as 'community assets' allowing local groups to bid to purchase them if they come up for sale. Applications by the local parish councils to add the pubs to the register were accepted by South Cambridgeshire District Council after the government introduced new rights and powers for communities as part of the Localism Act. The Three Tuns in Guilden Morden, which closed at the beginning of the year, and The Queen Adelaide in Croydon, which is now up for sale, were added to the register after nominations demonstrated the buildings were of high value to ...
As someone brought up in Scotland in Margaret Thatcher 80s heyday it's difficult to join in the eulogies emanating from her political successors (on all sides) south of the border. While acknowledging the grief of her family, one can't help feeling the Daily Mash sums up the feeling of many Scots to her death.
Just to say I won't be going on any social networking sites for the next couple of days. Half my friends are going to be singing "ding dong the witch is dead" while the other half will be in mourning for "the greatest Prime Minister in history", and any comments I make at all at ...
I confess I don't often see eye-to-eye with communities secretary Eric Pickles. As supposed champion of localism, he has done so much to undermine local decision making in the last couple of years. He just doesn't have a grip on how decisions in Whitehall and at the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol undermine public confidence in ...
The candidates for each division in the county council elections were published today and you can find them here. In Consett North there are seven candidates, and Owen & Margaret will work hard to convince readers of this site that the right course of action is to cast a vote for each of us. With TWO votes for each elector, we need electors to cast BOTH for us as the Liberal Democrat TEAM. A vote cast for any of the other candidates, however tempting, risks electing NEITHER Margaret or Owen. We'd like to think that anyone who has valued the ...
About 100 years ago the Birkdale and County Liberal Club held their annual picnic. In 1913 they visited Childwall Abbey. Undoubtedly the most significant figure in the photo is Charles Brumm -Birkdale's own 'CB'. He is fourth from the left. Brumm was German by birth and had become a naturalised UK citizen in the 1870's . He was President of Birkdale Liberals and held in very high regard as the last verse of this Election song shows: A year later with WW1 looming the annual picnic took them the Rufford-Hesketh Arms. In the picture of that event Charles Brumm is ...
I have welcomed news that, as part of the Unadopted Footways Upgrade Programme, a number of streets in the West End area will be brought up to good standard and adopted by the City Council over the next year. These include Arnhall Drive, Ancrum Place, Grosvenor Road and Magdalen Place and one new upgraded pavement will also be provided for Whitefauld Road and Middlebank Crescent. These improvements are to be welcomed and will see more of the very poor pavements in the West End finally brought up to standard. Back in 2007, I asked the council to improve funding to ...
I want to get on and write my essay attacking the very basis of the state that every one of our Prime Ministers has fought to uphold and develop with their own elite and more or less authoritarian vision. But I was reading the Glenn Greenwald piece in the Guardian about stifling criticism of the dead, public or private figures and I wanted to respond. There is a big difference between "criticising" someone's life, achievements and legacy and "celebrating" their death as if you are finally rid of some thorn in your side that has pained you for a long ...
The owners of Yate Shopping Centre have announced a consultation on plans for a cinema complex on the land at the back of the Overflow Car Park. At a press conference with Steve Webb MP - a long-term campaigner for the cinema - proposals were revealed for a six-screen cinema complex, six restaurants and three or four shop units. There will be extra parking spaces, and over 150 jobs will be created. The plans will be presented to Yate Town Council this week, and then they will be put on display in one of the shop units in the Shopping ...
My Liberalism grew out of a distaste for East Midland small-town Toryism, so I was not delighted when that creed took over the country in 1979. Yet today I find myself rather sad at the death of Margaret Thatcher. Perhaps it is because it has made me aware of the passing of time. My own activist years took place mainly while she was prime minister and it all seems a long time ago now. And in part it must be because Margaret Thatcher - our first woman prime minister and liberator of the Falklands from Fascism - wrote herself into ...
Few wish to speak ill of the dead. And so with the death today of Margaret Thatcher, even most of her fiercest opponents are being generous in their tributes and any criticism is muted (although Liberal Democrat Voice's insistence on "tributes only" is going too far). There will doubtless be a few ill-judged reactions in poor taste but don't waste your disapproval on them. Instead, watch out for the unscrupulous politicians who exploit the memory of Thatcher to justify what they are doing now. Because however much today's politicians pay fulsome tribute to Thatcher, they are actually deeply uncomfortable with ...
[IMG: Government total spending 1979-2015] I like this graph. Looks a bit boring, doesn't it? A few lumps and bumps but essentially just a straight line. Why's that interesting? On the day that Margaret Thatcher died, my Twitter feed has been full of arguments about her legacy. That's a big question and not one I'm going to attempt to answer. But look at the graph. In 1970 total Government spending in the UK was a little over £20 billion. By 2015 it's forecast to have increased to about £730 billion. That sounds like a really big number – and it ...
On 1 July, Croatia will become the 28th member state of the European Union, having cleared all the accession hurdles. It may come as a surprise to British Eurosceptics that there is still a queue of countries wanting to join the EU, but despite the ongoing economic and financial problems of the eurozone the EU ...
We'll be live-blogging Grill Liberal Youth here from 7pm. 1900: 15 minutes ago, get your spatulas at the ready to grill the Exec... 1907: Hopefully, we'll have a link that you'll be able to watch along. Of course, if you can't watch, you can read all the action here! 1911: We're expecting all portfolio officers, ...
There are some of us who owe our political existence to the recently deceased Margaret Thatcher. As with all political opponents I do not think she is the incarnation of all things evil, there were indeed somethings that she did which should be applauded. But it is in the areas that we disagree Poll Tax, student finance, sacrificing jobs for low inflation, some illiberal social attitudes etc that I learnt to fight my first political campaigns. Whatever your view of the Falklands conflict, her decisive action 31 years ago this month was to liberate those who self identify as being ...
Chris White has welcomed the Government grant to help cyclists in St Albans. Chris said: 'It is great to see £55,000 being provided by Government to help with the St Peter's Street and Hatfield Road junction. But we need to remember that the track record of the county council is very poor in this area. I will being demanding assurances that the money is spent wisely in this area and not wasted on frivolous schemes.' The Government has also given three further grants to Hertfordshire – including one to improve traffic signals in St Albans. The Department for Transport table ...
Thatcherism or Scargilism? No choice there as, frankly, I found them both mad, and both very divisive leaders. So I joined the Liberals in alliance with the newly formed SDP, two parties working together. During the miners strike I provoked Barnsley folk to write to me, passed their letters round the pub and we had a little vote. Six one to the miners. And that from people living in Hertfordshire, well away from coal mines. But there again you had Scargill speeding up the motorway back to Barnsley to park in his driveway to try to outwit the police for ...
Margaret Thatcher died today. I have to admit, that it feels like a really odd thing to write. When somebody's health has been in the spotlight for so long, and when somebody's death has been discussed at length before it even happened, it feels surreal to think that our first woman Prime Minister is dead. In the past few years, my views on Margaret Thatcher have changed. I still vehemently disagree with her divisive politics. I was a child who suffered thanks to the welfare model which she was so much a part of crafting. I saw firsthand how single ...
And thus I am taking some time away from the internet - twitter, blogs, the lot - until it calms down. I have no wish to get in between people gleefully installing Thatcher Memorial Dancefloors and people pompously taking the moral high ground and sneering. I'll wait till the next big news story is announced and the mayfly attention of the internet moves to that before I come back, just for my own sanity. I suspect I'll be doing the same again as and when her funeral is announced, too. Laters. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Several senior Liberal Democrats have already shared their thoughts on the passing of Lady Thatcher. We'll collate further comments on this page as they come in. Nick Clegg, currently on a visit to Cornwall, had this to say: Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics. Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served. She may have divided opinion during her time in politics but everyone will be united today in acknowledging the strength of ...
Mrs Thatcher's policies and her leadership style changed our communities, our economy and even the way we do politics. Whilst few Lib Dems would enthusiastically support much of her policy platform it is undeniable that we still live in its shadow in both a positive and negative way. It is notable that 23 years after she left Downing Street every Prime Minister and their policies have been, to some extent, measured by and compared to her and her legacy. Every death is a tragedy and it is easy to forget that behind the stateswomen, the headlines and rolling news coverage ...
Hopefully the Twittersphere will find some new dignity to deal with the demise of Lady Thatcher. I doubt it, but I hope so. She was a mum and a gran, after all. I met her once. It was in the inauspicious surroundings of Portman Road Industrial estate, Reading. She was coming out of a Tory printing works, opposite where I worked. I lined up and shook her hand. "Good morning" she said with a smile. She had meaty hands. Hands used to kneading bread and that sort of thing. Not dainty hands. Denis was more talkative. To an extent I ...
The two bus stops outside the former Tatton cinema are to be amalgamated, Transport for Greater Manchester have told us. There will be no changes to the bus timetable or to the buses using the stop. The first bus stop (as buses arrive) will be removed and all buses will use the second stop, which will be updated with the additional information. The spare bus shelter can then be used elsewhere on the bus network.
We have four living PMs/Ex PMs; here is what each has said today on the death of Lady Thatcher. Plus I now have added obama's statement as well; Click each to enlarge.
The news that Baroness Thatcher has passed away comes as no great surprise. Ros had noted that she was an increasingly infrequent attender in the Lords and looked quite frail when she did turn up. And now that her passing has been reported, the world and her grandmother have been quick to impart their wisdom (or otherwise). Oh yes, I do have my views on her impact on politics, on our country and our world, but there's time enough for that. However, it's been many years since she was Prime Minister, and a lot of the actions taken by her ...
Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg was in Cornwall today to launch the national Liberal Democrat election campaign. He spoke at the Eden Project about the faults with both of the other main parties. Nick lambasted the Labour Party for their failures in local government as well as the Conservatives for the waste they have presided over in councils across the UK. He singled out Cornwall's decision to hire taxis to ferry tea and coffee between office buildings and attempts to raise council tax year after year. He praised Cornwall's Liberal Democrats for our success in freezing tax bills and investment ...
Congratulations to Bob Girvan, the manager of Truro Foodbank, who today completed his trolley push from Land's End to Launceston. Bob has covered the 109 miles in seven days to highlight the problems faced by many people living in Cornwall who simply cannot afford to put a meal on the table. He also showed the great work that the foodbanks do across Cornwall in supporting so many people. I was proud to have been able to support the foundation of the Launceston Foodbank with a donation from my councillor's community chest. I'm glad that they have been able to help ...
[IMG: margaret-thatcher] The BBC and other outlets are reporting that Margaret Thatcher has died following a stroke. She was Britain's first and only female Prime Minister and one who changed the political landscape. While we in the Liberal Democrats often have disagreed with her, there is much to reflect on in her lasting legacy. Our thoughts are with Lady Thatcher's friends and family at this time. Comments are open below for tributes only, please.
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... EBuzzing Top Lib Dem Blogs, April 2013 | Mark Pack Still clinging on to a top 40 place > EBuzzing Top Lib Dem Blogs, April 2013 | Mark Pack http://bit.ly/Y9fanU Inside Government Event Details Page Where I'll be (speaking) on 18th April: "School Funding Reform: Accessing Funding, Raising Aspiration and Attainment" http://bit.ly/Y9cLtp Polling: Explain this, Nate Silver | The Economist Does this day more about the US public, politicians... or polling? » Explain this, Nate Silver http://econ.st/16GIvav I hate to admit it, but Ed Miliband has a point about welfare and language ...
In the fourth of our series, Sheila Jasanoff asks who holds science advisers accountable for the integrity of their advice? Institutions that play a watchdog role in society offer a persistent challenge for democracy: who shall watch the watchers? We shrink at the thought of unlimited police power or judges who place themselves above the law. Scientific advice is not immune to such concerns. Its role is to keep politicians and policymakers honest by holding them to high standards of evidence and reason. But who ensures the rationality of science advisers, making sure that they will be held accountable for ...
[IMG: Poll piechart] The latest quarterly update to my spreadsheet of opinion poll data from 1943 is now up at: http://www.markpack.org.uk/opinion-polls/ You can also sign up on that page to get email notifications about future updates. Aside from another three months of data, this update includes: Added in some missing ICM Wisdom Index polls. (Thank you to Lev Eakins for spotting the extra data.) Started new tab for European election specific polls. Added in some back figures for UKIP. Added in extra NOP polls over several decades. (Thank you to Will Jennings and colleagues for sharing their data.)
At their conference last week the National Union of Teachers' demanded that a daily maximum of four hours be placed on the amount of time their members are required to teach. That must have provoked snorts of derision from toilers in other occupations. However, when it is analysed the demand is not all that far from what used to be the established norm. For most of my teaching life I worked in schools which operated on timetables of eight 40 minute teaching periods per day. That's 320 minues of teaching, compared with the 240 envisaged with the four hour maximum. ...
High Street, Houghton Regis There is a Temporary Road Closure proposal at the above location to enable resurfacing works to be carried out in safety. Details are listed in the schedule below and having assessed the application the Streetworks Co-ordinator for Bedfordshire Highways is satisfied the request is justified. An alternative route for this closure has been devised as below. The restrictions are to be in operation only when the necessary signs are erected on site. The Legal Order will be made to cover a four month period. Access may be allowed from time to time according to local signing. ...
Despite claiming a basic allowance for being a member of Central Bedfordshire Council, and another for being the "Executive Member for External Affairs", a post no one seems able to explain, Tory Councillor Richard Stay still finds time to post many blog posts almost exclusively about the The Exclusive Brethren. To look through Cllr Stay's blog you could easily surmise that he is a man obsessed by the Exclusive Brethren. "Executive Member for External Affairs" is a role that does seem to have been created after he lost his position as leader of the council. "its so obvious that Cllr ...
This much I think I know... Cuts to the overall welfare budget are inescapable: it accounts for too large a chunk of of public spending for it to be immune — certainly if the NHS, schools and overseas aid budgets are to be protected at the same time as spending is reduced. These cuts would be happening whichever party was in power, though doubtless the precise methods would differ. The IFS's verdict in 2010 on what they termed Labour's "fiscal drift" was stark: "By the eve of the financial crisis ... the UK [had] one of the largest structural budget ...
TRIGGER WARNING: This article includes descriptions, pictures and discussion of topics which may serve as a trigger for victims of sexual violence. I'm putting pen to paper (figuratively speaking anyway) today to talk about rape culture. Rape culture is an important subject – particularly for young people (for reasons I'll come to later) – and ...
There is an argument brought to bear on the green movement by business groups and so-called 'free market' think-tanks that wealth and the environment go hand in hand. It is quite true that conventional growth goes up. So do environmental standards. The argument is used to assert that going for growth will paradoxically achieve all the objectives that the green campaigners want - less pollution, breathable air, happy bees, and so on. You have to take this seriously. Poor places can't afford to tackle the very pollution that makes them so poor. There is also an edge to the argument ...
Sunday morning saw the Lib Dem team out and about clearing up litter. First to the corner of Oakwood Avenue where someone had oddly decided to set fire to a pile of Sunday Times newspapers. Thanks to whoever came along with buckets of water to put out the fire – I didn't quite see who it was! I cleared away the ashes and the unburnt newspapers. Next to Old Hall Road and Pendlebury Road, clearing up litter around "conker island" and some leaflets helpfully scattered further up Pendlebury Road. [IMG: rec ground] Then onto the main job of the day ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by EBuzzing (Wikio as was). Hello again this month to Richard Morris. Farewell also to three of last month's four new entrants, Liberal Vision, Richard Davis and Jonathan Calder (Liberal England) – and congratulations to Nick Thornsby for being the one of the quartet to buck that pattern and stay in the list. 1 (6) Liberal Democrat Voice Down 1 2 (29) Mark Pack Down 15 3 (39) Stephen Tall Down 7 4 (49) Alex Marsh Up 9 5 (50) Jennie Rigg Down 10 6 (52) ...
another sad loss to the lib dems (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
I have, it must be admitted, been denying the onward march of time for a while now. And, of course, being human, and made out of skin, bones, and stuff, bits of me are likely to wear out at various points. At least, that's the theory. It's the practice that I have attempted to deny. But, at 48, I have managed to avoid the need to carry around very much stuff with me, and having retained my eyesight intact all of that time, spectacles are something that hasn't gotten in the way. Most people's eyesight tends to fade a bit ...
The Fountain Head village development is a pleasant little bit of new housing within Warley ward. It's situated on the site of the old Websters brewery at Ovenden wood and has beer themed names such as Golding Hop Close. I've had complaints from residents though about the speed of broadband. This is frustrating as the Halifax telephone exchange is upgraded for fibre optics. The capacity of fibre cables to carry data is much higher than with copper cables, so everyone near a fibre optic telephone exchange is tantalising close to very fast download and streaming in speeds. Most people able ...
Mon 8th
09:00
List Of Election Candidates for Cambridgeshire County Council Election on May 2nd Published
A full list of candidates standing in the County Council elections on May 2 has now been published. A total of 294 candidates are contesting the 69 seats on the Council - all of which are up for election in May. Of the present County Councillors, 21 are not standing for re-election. The full list of candidates can be found in the PDF below (via Google Drive): Cambridgeshire County Council Elections 2013 Statement of Persons Nominated Residents of Cambridgeshire wishing to vote in the elections are being reminded that they must be registered first. Paying Council Tax does not automatically ...
This is crossposted from the LY Libertine who this piece was written for. TRIGGER WARNING: This article includes descriptions, pictures and discussion of topics which may serve as a trigger for victims of sexual violence. I'm putting pen to paper (figuratively speaking anyway) today to talk about rape culture. Rape culture is an important subject - particularly for young people (for reasons I'll come to later) - and yet very few people will have heard of it. In this article I intend to explain what rape culture is and why it matters - and I hope you'll have the patience ...
Mon 8th
08:45
Eric Avebury writes... Bernie Ecclestone, F1 and Britain's shameful friendship with Bahrain
[IMG: ecclestone bahrain] Bernie Ecclestone is an appropriate person to be the public face of Formula 1, a 'sport' which is fast becoming known as the event of choice for autocrats who wish to launder their international reputation, as evidenced by the appearance of races in Bahrain and Dubai in recent years. Ecclestone famously praised Thatcher, Hitler and Saddam a few years ago, saying that he preferred strong leaders, that Hitler was a man who was 'able to get things done', and yet paradoxically, that politics 'is not for me'. Equally bizarre, he continues to support the Bahraini régime, asserting ...
I am on Wave 102 this morning about the roadworks at the Dudhope Roundabout - work here started this morning. You can hear the interview by clicking 'play' below:
The ITV website reports Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander has said that income tax changes that came into effect today will help make work pay: Mr Alexander told Radio 4′s Today programme that the coalition government "is working hard to help those on low and middle incomes". He added: "We think it's important that we make work pay, that we reward people who are working hard on ordinary incomes and that is what the increase in the personal allowance will do".
The wheels appear to be wobbling on Labour's bandwagon on changes to the welfare and tax system today. Despite producing internet posters attacking the cut in the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p, it transpires that when it came to the crunch vote in the House of Commons their MPs abstained on this specific change. Now, the Telegraph reports that some of their Parliamentarians are getting nervous that Labour may be labelled as the 'Benefits Party'. The paper says that a number of Labour MPs have admitted that the party hasd been "behind the curve" on tackling the ...
Residents are welcome to attend a book reading on 11th April at 7pm, Braes Below (downstairs at Braes Bar on Perth Road). Sharon advises : "I'll be giving a short reading from my book and generally having a chat, drink and a catch up. "Any funds raised on the evening will be donated 50% to two play/art related projects in Christchurch and 50% to Balgay Hill Nursery School Playground Fund."
Following the Older People's Summit hosted by the Dundee Adult Support and Protection Committee in June 2012 a range of agencies have come together to take some of the issues raised forward and to plan for this year's World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on 15th June. One of the issues that has been highlighted is the need to build capacity in older people to keep themselves safe. With this in mind, co-operation has developed between adult protection, environmental safety, local communities and a local drama company. The Drama Company has agreed to provide free tuition sessions to older volunteers and ...
Please excuse (or, you know, ENJOY) this moment of shameless self promotion, loyal readers. Because (*drum roll*), nuun is once again sponsoring teams of bloggers to run the legendary Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon this summer and I would LOVE to be selected! Nuun is a fantastic, Seattle-based company and it would be pretty awesome to dream about H2C while rehabbing this stupid tendinitis (I have no reason to believe that it won't be completely fine long before H2C).
It was a pretty busy day on Saturday, where I also spoke at the National Union of Journalist's Black Members Council on the subject of bullying in the media, alongside the union's general-secretary Michelle Stanistreet. ...
I was pleased to address the Lib Dems London regional conference on Saturday in Docklands, talking about 'changing demographics' in the capital. The session was chaired by my EMLD colleague Merlene Emerson and included a ...
Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. 1. Bramcote Lane Closure From tomorrow there will be tram works on Bramcote Lane in Chilwell and so it will be closed to traffic in both directions at Sandby Court for the next two months. I've had a query already from a reader about how they can access the doctors surgery during this period and I'm checking on that. If ...
