From BBC News this afternoon: Labour and the Conservatives could unite to push through the controversial communications bill despite Lib Dem objections, a former Tory leader says. The bill, allowing the monitoring of all UK citizens' internet use, was dropped after a split in the coalition. But Lord Howard said David Cameron had "to act in the national interest" following the Woolwich murder. Labour leader Ed Miliband has said that "if he [the PM] wants a communications bill, we'll help him get it through". Mr Miliband told the Commons earlier this month that if Mr Cameron was being forced to ...
Remember Professor Alan Sked? He was the original founder of UKIP in 1993 but left the party shortly after the 1997 general election. Today he is the subject of an entertaining interview in the Sunday Telegraph: Professor Alan Sked, who set up the euro-sceptic party 20 years ago, believes the party has become "anti-immigrant, anti-intellectual and racist".In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the historian also revealed that he once expelled Nigel Farage, the party's ebullient leader.Sked seems to think he has created a Frankenstein's monster: "My great regret is that the party I founded has been captured by the ...
I'm a little bit excited, as I have been asked to attend a diversity-training day at Lib Dem HQ. It is a one-day event, and aims to train a person, or two from each region to become a diversity 'champion'. PICTURE REFERENCE: ft.blogs.com I do love the Devon and Cornwall Lib Dems; there are some very knowledgeable people in the region. After all, it has traditionally been a Lib Dem stronghold down this way. However, we really do lack in the diversity department. Looking around, I see mainly older male types in the elected positions. Although this is at least ...
We all thought the snoopers' charter (aka the Communications Data Bill) was dead. We thought Nick Clegg had killed it off. We thought it was safely dead and buried. But today, a loud creaking sound could be heard as two coffin lids opened. One coffin contained the Communications Data Bill. The other contained former Tory leader Michael Howard (who you may recall had "something of the night" about him). Besides Howard, various zombies from among the Labour Party's former home secretaries also sprang into action, aided by the Liberal Democrats' very own Alex Carlile, who seems to have gone over ...
Many British groups of the 1960s began by more or less copying records by Black American artists. Typically, even if they wrote their own singles, their albums would consist of these cover versions. And this is true even of the groups we think of as including the most creative songwriters, such as the Zombies and the Kinks. One of the best records in this class is the Spencer Davis Groups' Let Me Down Easy - in fact I am surprised to find it has never featured here when so many other Steve Winwood performances have. This performance of Let Me ...
[IMG: hacker on duty] Last Tuesday I had a curry with friends, including a good friend who is over from Greece. The conversation touched on the rise of UKIP following recent local elections and the references to swivel-eyed lunacy among the Tory grassroots. My friend gave some flavour of the way in which Golden Dawn is carrying out a seemingly choreographed series of violent attacks around Greece - ransacking buildings and setting fires for no apparent reason, other than because they're generally angry and seemingly they can get away with it. It was concluded that in the UK we are ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 327th 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 (19-25 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. More on the ...
The Daily Telegraph reports: [IMG: Alan Sked] Professor Alan Sked, who set up the euro-sceptic party 20 years ago, believes the party has become "anti-immigrant, anti-intellectual and racist"... "My great regret is that the party I founded has been captured by the radical Right and has gone all anti-intellectual. It's gone completely fruitcake."... Prof Sked also dismisses claims that a surge of party membership to 25,800 represents a "breakthrough". The party's membership stood at 26,000 nine years ago. "Ukip is for many people a stick to beat David Cameron with," he added. "That's what a lot of this is about." ...
This week's Sunday Sound is a track that was released 40 years ago today, in a performance dating to July '73. Telling the story of the fire started by a fan with a flare gun at a Frank Zappa concert in the Montreux Casino during the 1971 Jazz Festival, it's an absolutely classic rock tune, with an instantly recognisable guitar riff. Enjoy! Andrew
Well it was a great, sunny day in Newbury's Victoria Park, and her lions are ever-attentive...but somehow I still I think we are still not amused... [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Love this: Threatened EDL protest at York mosque thwarted by impromptu tea party thrown by local people to celebrate our Muslin neighbours. Sunny day! — Tim Jones (@FrTimJones) May 26, 2013 A tea party of course, should not be confused with a Tea Party.
Sun 26th
15:52
A brief editorial announcement ... and a thought or two on a sunny afternoon, deep in the English co...
Being part of a team of colleagues with a common aim is one of the things that makes politics so satisfying, with an emotional attachment and shared experience that is invigorating in an era where the freedom of individuality is often seen as trumping the benefits of community. As a liberal, I tend to want both, and having been a member of the Liberal Democrat Voice collective for the past year or so, I have been lucky enough to enjoy them in addition to the emotional bonds of marriage and family. [IMG: Sea otter] And, therefore, it is with much ...
In parts the pathway has weeds growing through the path, we have asked the council to repair this stretch.
I've spent the past few days since the Gay Marriage vote having mixed feelings about the result. Whilst I welcome greater equality and acceptance for homosexuals, I believe that government has no business sanctioning or prohibiting the relationships of consenting adults – homosexual or otherwise. There is also a bigger question: are we moving towards a greater tolerance of diverse relationships and lifestyles – or is society mostly only happy to tolerate gay couples if they behave just like straight monogamous couples? We still haven't shaken off the cloying vestiges of Victorian Morality. We are slowly seeing more calls to ...
The bollards at both end of Oolite Road, the junctions with the Wellsway and with Upper Bloomfield Road have been bashed. We have reported both to the council to be repaired.
This sign has been reported to the council to be repaired
Liberal Democrat international development minister Lynne Featherstone has written an article in the Sunday Times about the plight of disabled people in developing countries, and how they often don't receive much needed aid. But for every medal-winning athlete, there are millions more in the developing world who are treated as sub-human, hidden from view and forgotten. Millions of women who are raped and beaten because they are discriminated against or physically incapable of escaping their attackers. Millions of children denied an education because they can't see their textbooks, hear their teachers or get to school. And millions of people locked ...
[IMG: medal pic] I've just completed the 2013 Newbury Bayer 10K in a personal best time of 1 hour, 7 minutes and 47 seconds. Very well done indeed to our daughter, Rhea, who was considerably ahead of me. This was the first 10K where we've run together. Very well done indeed to Alex Muir who came third! Thanks very much indeed for the overwhelming donations to Macmillan Cancer Care to sponsor me! My JustGiving page is still open if you are in a generous mood. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
As it turned out, those who murdered drummer Lee Rigby seemed to be about as nondescript as you could get. The horrifying video of Michael Abedolajo holding blood soaked blades indicated he was wearing nothing more extraordinary than blue jeans, a hoodie and running shoes. A photograph of his counterpart showed he was similarly difficult ...
It's been like Snoopers' Charter Central this morning. It didn't take very long after the brutal murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich for politicians of a more authoritarian outlook to be falling over themselves to condemn Nick Clegg for vetoing sweeping measures on Communications data and call for their immediate introduction. LDV's Stephen Tall dealt with two of them, John Reid and Alex Carlile, by making them his Liberal Villains of the Week, saying: And then comes the next inevitability: politicians striking a pose as authoritarian strongmen by cravenly giving the jihadists the glory they seek. Two of the ...
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the longest running science fiction show in the world I am taking a weekly look at some of my favourite Dr Who episodes focusing on one Doctor a month. This month it's the fifth Doctors turn. The TARDIS arrives on Androzani Minor, the source of a life-prolonging drug controlled by Sharaz Jek, madman in self imposed exile, who blames Morgus, a powerful industrialist on Androzani Major, for all his misfortunes. Jek becomes infatuated with Peri, and saves her and the Doctor from being executed on Morgus's orders. They escape after learning that they have ...
Vale drive on the Davis estate One of the regular criticisms of the Medway Liberal Democrats is that their existence is limited to only Gillingham South and Watling wards in the Medway towns. This however is untrue. For example, one of our activists (Sid Kingman) has fought long and hard to convert derelect allotment space on Ottway Street (in Gillingham North ward) into a children's play area. The opening will be tomorrow at 10:00 am if anyone wants to pop down there and see. Then of course is Rochester South & Horsted ward where are activists are pretty active too. ...
Sun 26th
10:28Two politicians having dinner together - they must be plotting the leadership succession...
GQ shows its ignorance of just about anything to do with the Liberal Democrats: Now that Clegg is in the most stable position of all the party leaders – Cameron has overseen fractures with gay marriage and Europe; Miliband is facing his Waterloo over whether or not to accept Coalition spending plans – this Balham tête-à-tête sparked some mischievous speculation. With Alexander's star rising, did the Italian dinner involve a Granita pact for the 21st century? If so, it would – in the event of a hung parliament in 2015 – see Clegg step down for Alexander to take over ...
At it's A.G.M. Aintree Village Parish Council selected a new Chairman, Cllr Peter Gill was elected unanimously. Peter said "I am delighted and honoured to be asked to serve the community of Aintree Village once again. I look forward to the coming year, it will be testing with all the cuts culminating in our campaign to keep Aintree Library open, we are making great strides and are hopeful that we can transfer it to a community run library. I would like to pay tribute to the retiring Chairman Cllr Terry Baldwin, he has been Chairman for eighteen months and has ...
YAY depression. I feel like this a lot. (tags: ) Labour MP Diana Johnson: It's now time for Parliament to tackle the issue of gay conversion therapy - PinkNews.co.uk (tags: ) Microsoft Blames Gaming Media For Xbox One Consumer Rage? (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
I listened carefully to Eric Schmidt from Google yesterday when he was challenged on his company's tax avoidance policies and I was not convinced by his answer. As reported here Mr Schmidt argued that the UK Government should stop complaining and change its laws so that Google was forced to pay its fair share of taxes. The corporation has only paid £10m to HMRC in the five years to 2011, despite generating UK revenue of £11.9bn. Google argues that they legitimately channel their business through their Dublin office, where corporation tax is 12.5 per cent, compared with Britain's 21 per ...
In just over a week the Lords will have their Second Reading of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill. The House of Commons easily passed this Bill (with the usual ineffective Tory and DUP grumbling), but all signs point to a tougher fight in the House of Lords. It is absolutely essential that, if you support marriage equality, you write to a peer or two to let them know how you feel. There is simply no time to hang around. Do it today. Don't know what Lord to write to? Let me know, there are few that still need to be ...
Back in March, I had the pleasure of attending a Communities in Action Afternoon Tea at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall. It was a great opportunity for older people in the West End to discuss what it is like growing older in the local community and what services and opportunities are provided and what could be improved. At the time, I mentioned that a further feedback event will take place at the same venue from 2pm on 5th June. A poster advertising this is now available - see below - all welcome!
As tomorrow is the Victoria Day public holiday, my usual ward surgeries at the Harris Academy and at the Mitchell Street Centre do not take place. I can be contacted on 459378 at any time or by e-mail at surgery@frasermacpherson.org.uk. My Thursday surgery at Blackness Primary School's staff room takes place as normal this week at 6.15pm prompt.
It is my view that we need a common European strategy to combat tax fraud, evasion and havens. It is totally unacceptable that corporate tax avoidance is so easy with companies playing one country off against another, aided and abetted by aggressive tax planning and tax consultancy firms. Liberal Democrats have been fighting for companies to pay their fair share in tax for many years now, and this can only be achieved by much more transparency in how companies prepare their accounts and with much better European and international cooperation. The time has very much come to clamp down on ...
medicalschool: In this photograph taken on April 17, 2013, fifteen month old Roona Begum is tended to by doctors and family at a local hospital in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi. Doctors have successfully carried out life-saving surgery on an Indian baby suffering from a rare disorder that caused her head to swell to nearly double its size, a neurosurgeon told AFP on May 15, 2013. "The surgery went perfectly, much better than expected," Sandeep Vaishya said after the procedure on 15-month-old Roona Begum, speaking to an AFP reporter inside the operating theatre at a hospital in New ...
German is such a beautiful language...
