When Bryan Forbes died last week the headlines described his as "Stepford Wives Director Bryan Forbes". I found that odd, because I suspect he was more celebrated in Britain for two films he made here at the start of the 1960s. I wrote about The League of Gentlemen from 1960 a few years ago: We are supposed to think of the 1950s as an irredeemably dull decade. People sat around waiting for the 1960s, the Beatles and the invention of sexual intercourse. This film suggests that it was a lot more interesting than that. Yes, there is dissatisfaction with the ...
I was away this weekend joining in the celebrations of friends birthday. We were staying in Chipping Camden. Around lunchtime wandering around the town we came upon the village parish church of St James and, as is my habit, I went inside to look around. It is one of the finest wool churches in the country. The church was the venue of the Chipping Camden Music Festival and was laid out ready for a concert with a Steinway Grand Piano alone on the stage in front of the chancel. I sat down for a moment and a young lady came ...
From April, more than 20m working people will be paying £600 a year less than they were under Labour as the tax threshold rises to £9,440. Someone earning the minimum wage will have seen their Income Tax bill cut in half.
We all know how much we in Ireland like to celebrate St Patrick's Day, coming up soon is the Breton equivalent: Gouel Erwan, St Yves. Well this year, the Breton Association in Ireland has chosen to celebrate it in Belfast. Breizh Eire, association des Bretons d'Irlande a choisi de faire cette année la Gouel Erwan [...]
My PhD research focused upon the impact of the Internet upon political parties at a local level; more specifically, whether Facebook was any good at helping candidates to win an election... Results aside for a moment, in addition to the large survey that I carried out, I probably interviewed or spoke to well over 100 people on this topic... During this time I heard many different views on the e-campaign, or Campaign 2.0, as some commentators refer to it (personally, I think that Campaign 2.0 is a bit inaccurate - with all of the changes in campaigning over the years, ...
For more on Jefferies (about whom I wrote my MA dissertation) see this Liberal England guest post by Rebecca Welshman.
I look forward to Fridays because that is the day the Shropshire Star published a new selection of vintage photographs. One of this week's selection shows Superintendent Bob Landers of Wellington Police holding a revolver and crouched behind a riot shield during what the caption describes as "the longest peacetime siege in British history". This took place at the Shropshire village of Weston-under-Redcastle in September and October 1968. An old Birmingham Post & Mail story tells the full story: Deranged farmer John James was holed up for 17 days with a rusty shotgun in a derelict cottage near Weston-under-Redcastle, a ...
Graham Watson MEP UKIP is on the rise, the Euro is fracturing, and it looks like the entire EU project could be coming to a sticky end (to the jubilation of some). But there is another story, Sir Graham Watson MEP (Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament , will be putting the case for Europe at Foxton Village Hall on the 18th May at 1pm. Tickets are available for £15 (contact Susan van de Ven) I'll be driving down from Bar Hill on the day and can pick up 3/4 people . By all accounts this will ...
Just what is the point of re-privatising the East Coast railway operator? East Coast is the state-owned inter-city train operator on the main line from London King's Cross to Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. Along with the rest of British Rail, the service was originally privatised in 1996 but it had an unhappy history in private hands. The first private operator was Sea Containers trading as GNER, but it was stripped of the franchise in 2007 due to financial difficulties. The franchise was then awarded to National Express, which lost the franchise in 2009 when it refused further financial ...
This is a headline on the BBC website earlier today but the problem the Tories have is that they have panicked themselves into saying they would vote for just about anything that UKIP stands for at present, whatever that may be. Headless chickens running around doing UKIP's bidding comes to mind as far as the Tories are concerned. UKIP must be laughing themselves silly seeing the Tories in such a mess.
Sun 12th
19:50
Boost for Manufacturing and Jobs with Increased Allowance against Tax on Capital Purchases
[IMG: Gordon Birtwhistle] Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley, Gordon Birtwistle, who has been campaigning for years for help for manufacturing firms was delighted last December when an important tax relief measure was announced. Now Gordon, Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Committee on Business, Innovation and Skills has seen this help take effect at the start of this financial year. Small and Medium-Sized businesses will benefit from a ten-fold increase from £25,000 to £250,000 for two years in the Additional Investment Allowance. This is the sum that can be offset against tax when the company invests in new machinery. ...
The agenda has now been published for the next meeting; Open Forum 1. To nominate Chair and Vice-Chair for the forthcoming year 2. To receive apologies for absence and any declaration of interest 3. Approval of minutes To approve minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 18th April 2013 4. Matters for discussion and decisions to be made from Previous Minutes 4.1 Midas Care Ltd - Signing of lease agreement 4.2 The Farmhouse - update on new tenant and requirements 4.3 FOOTPATH Committee - update 4.4 Village Hall - update 4.5 Village Green - update 5. Clerks Financial Report 5.1 ...
Every Sunday the Guido Fawkes team write a column for the Sun on Sunday, revealing some of best gossip from the week gone by. Imagine how surprised I was then on reading this week's column to see a story revealing Chris Rennard had made a speech about gender equality and promoting female candidates. I can't ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 325th 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 (5-11 May, 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. Humiliation for Labour ...
When picking the Night Beds as their new band of the day last year, the Guardian explained the background to their first album. It explained that the band's singer Winston Yellen had rented an isolated pre-civil war home - previously owned by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash - in Hendersonville on the outskirts of Nashville. There, immersed in the history of the house and region, he spent 10 months writing songs and recording them at the local Brown Owl studio.The paper also said (in so many words) that the result was the sort of album that would appeal to ...
Gratifying news from Pakistan. Despite threats from the Taliban, there was a large turnout in Saturday's election. This will also be Pakistan's first transition from one elected government to another. The victor, Nawaz Sharif, is not exactly a paragon of virtue. But the bravery and determination of Pakistani voters is something to applaud. They defied Taliban threats and turned out at considerable risk to their own safety - in the run-up to the election, more than 100 people died in election-related violence. What can the Taliban possibly find objectionable about democratic elections? Reuters reported: Gunmen kidnapped the son of a ...
All hail the big data analysis that is Google's autocomplete function: [IMG: Ed Miliband autocomplete results] Magnets? Yes, magnets.
I've always found that, after a conference, I need a little down time. Given that I'm not overburdened with self-confidence, mingling with other delegates requires effort to relax on my part. It's not because they are intimidating - far from it - but because they are high fliers, and I don't really picture myself like that. It does get easier though, as I have learned over time that it is much easier to be myself than to try too hard. Apparently, I'm quite good at being me... So, Council finished, I have come into Pula by bus and am having ...
From The Times (£) "And how does the BBC respond to these accusations of profligate waste, political bias and child abuse? Very tamely, usually. But I've had enough. Because the BBC that's portrayed in the news is nothing like the BBC that I've known and loved for nigh on a quarter of a century."
Since last October, the pseudonymous Libby Local has been keeping LDV readers up-to-date with her first-time attempt to win Demsbury Central in Libbyshire. Here's the 16th and penultimate episode... [IMG: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA] It was mid-afternoon on Thursday and the grumbling old man at the bar shouted across to me: "Who's your candidate?" I was feeling exhausted and didn't need this intrusion from a man who had just announced that he had voted UKIP. The day had begun at 5am with letters delivered through letterboxes of hard-to-reach and wobbling voters. The post run also included handwritten notes to new young ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Combined Tory/Labour vote at lowest level in local elections since (my) records began | Mark Pack Combined Tory/Labour vote at lowest level in local elections since (my) records began | Mark Pack http://bit.ly/10rcsp8 < dealignment conts The Candid Camera of the Edwardian Tabloids | History Today 'The Candid Camera of the Edwardian Tabloids' | History Today http://bit.ly/13oZWMh < Or: 'How Politicians Have Never Liked Press Freedom' The History Today Quiz: May 2013 | History Today I got an 'A'. Sadly it stands for Acceptable (8/12) > The History Today Quiz: May 2013 ...
Bath Community Academy has issued this note, see below. We are working with the executive councillor for Leisure to try and ensure that the sports centre remains open to the public. The current arrangements between Aquaterra and Bath and North East Somerset council relating to the management of the Culverhay Sports Centre will end on 3Oth June 2013. The subsidy that has been provided by BANES
After the ALDE (European Liberal Democrats) Council in Pula, Croatia, the Ralf Dahrendorf Roundtables held a seminar on "Illegal Immigration: The Crossing Point" with a thought-provoking initial presentation by Felicita Medved, the (Slovene) President of the European Liberal Forum. Although the main purpose of the ensuing debate was to focus on illegal — or, as [...]
Those who argue that a coalition is an aberration in a system designed to produce two-party government are forgetting that political parties are themselves coalitions. That is why those of us who argue for a proportional voting system claim that it is a more honest one, because it allows factions within parties to stand alone on their own terms and fight elections on a policy platform they find more comfortable. Yes, proportional voting may lead to more coalition governments but at least they will be openly constructed administrations in which we can all see and understand the compromises being made, ...
Why did you decide to run? Essentially it boils down to the fact that there is still work to be done. LY has come a long way in the past few months but our communications strategy is only really just getting going and we need to ensure that we have someone who knows what they're [...]
So there's that post, Depression Part Two, that explains so perfectly what depression is for anyone who's not felt it. It was haunting reading it, thinking back to the worst of it - four years ago now, somehow. "And that's the most frustrating thing about depression. It isn't always something you can fight back against with hope. It isn't even something — it's nothing. And you can't combat nothing. You can't fill it up. You can't cover it. It's just there, pulling the meaning out of everything." This, this is exactly what I felt, almost constantly for 2 or 3 ...
[IMG: House of Lords chamber] After the pomp of the Queen's Speech, comes the dissection of its content. Of course, that's not all that gets done, so let's dive into the week ahead... Monday sees the debate on elements of the Speech relating to business, economy, local government and transport, whilst crossbench peer, Baroness Young of Hornsey has a particularly salient oral question, seeking a view on how UK clothing sector retailers might ensure that people working throughout their supply chains enjoy safe and secure working conditions in light of the Rana Plaza disaster. On Tuesday, Kate Parminter has an ...
Education secretary Michael Gove has calmly stuck the knife into plotting by Vince Cable and Matthew Oakshott , while backing Nick Clegg into a corner. Gove told James Langdale that Lord Oakshott is "on manoeuvres" and that he was trying to "destabilise Nick" in order to promote his old mate Vince Cable. He claimed this ...
Sun 12th
11:05
Clegg leadership plot: Gove's 'crazy grenade' detonates, briefly, before Tories revert to arguing ab...
Hats off to Mr Gove! With the Tory party in its customary state of internecine warfare over Europe, the education secretary used his interview this morning on The Andrew Marr Show to allege a leadership plot to overthrow Nick Clegg. Here's PoliticsHome's account: Michael Gove has suggested Nick Clegg's opposition to increasing childminders-toddlers ratio is due to an internal Liberal Democrat plot to unseat him as leader. Mr Clegg said last week that he was "yet to be persuaded" by the case for allowing staff to look after more children. However Mr Gove today said the reforms, which were defended ...
Nigel Lawson is one of those strange, very successful individuals, who is often right in small things but has been staggeringly, stratospherically wrong in big things. He was wrong about encouraging people into debt to buy homes (see my book Broke), wrong about the house price inflation that would result. He was wrong about Big Bang and about personal pensions. He has been horribly wrong about global warming (carbon dioxide levels hit 400 ppm for the first time this week). Now he is wrong about Europe and Britain's future. Here are six reasons why he is wrong that we need ...
'Seven dog years' myth exposed - Telegraph Torygraph "science" correspondent confuses dog breed with species. And the Torygraph wonder why we don't trust their science news... (tags: ) Ed Balls comes 2nd to "don't know" in who would win fight poll WARNING! LINK LEADS TO MURDOCH-OWNED SITE. Obviously this is only because Paddy Ashdown was shamefully left off the list of options. And yes, it's in the Sun, but worth clicking through just for the headline. (tags: ) Don't make fun of renowned Dan Brown - Telegraph Hilarious article about Dan Brown in the style of Dan Brown. I LOLed. ...
The combined vote share won by the Conservative and Labour parties in this year's local elections was the lowest ever since (my) records began. As those records stretch back to 1980, it's a pretty sure bet it was also the lowest combined vote share for the country's two biggest parties ever. [IMG: Two party vote share in local elections] Judging by my previous experience of quoting national equivalent vote share figures, it'll save time for all concerned if I have this little dialogue with myself: A. "Here's an interesting thing you find if you look at the changes between different ...
Sun 12th
08:55Nick Clegg's Letter from the Leader: "Lib Dems remain focused on the things people really care about...
Nick Clegg isn't one for the pomp and pageant of parliament (he's rather keen to let you know). He's also keen to let you know that this week's Queen's Speech was "designed to build a stronger economy and a fairer society in Britain, enabling everyone to get on in life" (to quote Her Majesty). Over to Nick... [IMG: libdem letter from nick clegg] Fair pensions. Decent care in your old age. A tax cut for small businesses taking on staff. A major new high speed railway. Energy investment to keep lights on and bills affordable. Shared parental leave. Rehabilitation of ...
Marie getting the boot as Labour Leader of St. Helens Council was interesting news this week. I met Marie many times in her two spells as Leader of St Helens at Merseyside Leaders/City Region Cabinet meetings over a number of years and to give her her due she seemed very proud of her town and always willing to promote/defend it. Indeed, Brian Spencer, who was the Lib Dem Council Leader between her two spells in charge, came over the same way. I suspect that with St Helens being on the edge of the Merseyside Empire it is a town wary ...
I know. You won't read that headline in the Telegraph (which appears to be C4Ms publicity machine) but those are the figures shown in the latest YouGov/Sunday Times poll. 53% of those surveyed supported introducing marriage equality, 36% were opposed and 12% were Don't Knows. When asked if the Government should change the law this year 46% said yes it should against 37% saying it shouldn't (i.e. almost wholly those completely opposed). These figures back up the Coalition for Marriage's own findings through ComRes the other day which found only 34% wanted marriage equality off the agenda completely. In other ...
I recently picked up a new Nook. Their manufacturer is dumping stock and the prices are ridiculously cheap for an eInk touchscreen running Android. One thing that annoys me about the Nook is the fact that you have to register for a Barnes & Nobel account before you can use it. I dislike their geo-restrictive terms and conditions, and the fact that they place advertising on my home screen. I also don't particularly want my reading habits fed back to anyone. No one needs to know that I like reading Star Trek slash fiction, and that I've read chapter 5 ...
Fair pensions. Decent care in your old age. A tax cut for small businesses taking on staff. A major new high speed railway. Energy investment to keep lights on and bills affordable. Shared parental leave. Rehabilitation of prisoners to set them back on the straight and narrow. Just a few highlights from the Government's plans for legislation this year, outlined this Wednesday in the Queen's Speech, designed to build a stronger economy and a fairer society in Britain, enabling everyone to get on in life. The state opening of Parliament is an eccentric highlight of the year in politics. Pomp ...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being one of the guest speakers at the North East Scotland Liberal Democrat Conference in Laurencekirk. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day with a great turnout of Liberal Democrats from right across NE Scotland. Christine Jardine, who has been selected as our party's candidate at the forthcoming Aberdeen Donside Scottish parliamentary by-election, gave a rousing speech. Christine is a hugely impressive candidate, pointing out that "The North East needs a strong voice in parliament, not yet another nationalist who will bang the drum for independence." It was also good to hear from Cllr Fergus ...
