The past fortnight in Turkey has been transformative for many Turks, especially the young, as a protest against plans to redevelop Gezi Park near Istanbul's Taksim Square turned into a national uprising, with demonstrations in all but four of the nation's cities. The Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appears to have taken the protests as [...]
This is the Wheel & Compass at Weston by Welland, which was one of the pubs taking party in the Welland Valley Beer Festival last week. If you think the building looks a little top-heavy, there is a reason. As Unmitigated England once explained: As you can see, it has a slightly odd upper storey that is obviously an addition. Originally this was a two storey ironstone pub with a thatched roof. But the arrival of surveyors in the adjoining fields in the mid-nineteenth century meant that life was to be as upturned as the Welland Valley pastures that surround ...
Guess what, I think I'm parked in the red zone! Reservoir Dogs [IMG: 5862495241_72837a4859_m] Phillip Blond has posted a provocative piece offering his perspective on the deficiencies of the social sciences and his prescription for rectifying them. Yesterday ConservativeHome described the piece as "an important article" which touches on how research funds should be spent and from which "the rationale for reallocation is clear". It might therefore be wise to pay some attention. Blond's piece is sure to meet with strong objections from within the British social science community. Indeed, it already has. A number of academics have been spluttering ...
I'll leave it to others to decide on the accuracy of Helena Morrissey's report on how the Liberal Democrats dealt with, or didn't, allegations of sexual harassment, and the validity of her recommendations. Most of her report deals with allegations about Chris Rennard - which he has denied - though other cases that clearly do not involve him are also in there. However her report, issued by the party today, includes an extensive section on how Rennard came to accumulate an unusual degree of power in the party - whether real or imagined - and about what happened when his ...
When I discovered that I had been given a 'Keeper for a Day' experience for Christmas, I was presented with a dilemma. Which of the three programmes should I choose? Scheme A had tigers, giant anteaters and inferior African elephants - clearly second best to placid, patient Indian elephants. But I'm not fussed about sun bears and wolves, so I rejected that. Scheme C had penguins and sea lions, but also had chimpanzees, and I've never really been keen on them. And so, it was Scheme B... And so, bright and early this morning, I left our cottage in the ...
From the Kingston Guardian website this evening: The leader of Kingston Council has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. Councillor Derek Osbourne was arrested at his New Malden home on Tuesday morning. Councillor Liz Green, acting leader of Kingston Council, said: "Derek Osbourne has resigned from the Liberal Democrat group. "We are deeply shocked by these allegations but I am unable to comment further as we must now allow the police the time and space they need to investigate the allegations thoroughly and without prejudice."
More here.
Tomorrow evening, Launceston Town Council's planning committee will consider the application by Hallam Land Management to apply for permission to build up to 100 new houses on land north of Upper Chapel. This is a very controversial application which has the potential to create a lot of highways problems. The applicants have asked to be able to speak at tomorrow's meeting. The meeting takes place at 7pm at the town hall and is open to the public. I don't sit on the town's planning committee but will be going along to hear what the applicant, residents and councillors have to ...
As with any new job, there are a series of firsts. Today's biggie was the first cabinet meeting. There were only three substantive items on the agenda for us to discuss. One was the regular performance and budget monitoring report. This details how the council is doing against a range of measures. These range from pretty technical to absolutely fundamental service and they do vary. But the end of year performance was pretty encouraging and that is credit to the officers and, yes, the previous administration. The second part was the financial out-turn. This showed a £119,000 net underspend. In ...
As ever, as soon as you look back at blog posts they seem much worse. Not just that, but I think my posts about my personal life aren't really what I should be sharing with the world, especially considering that I have much more interesting things to talk about. So, the plan is as follows: [&hellip
[IMG: A million jobs for a stronger economy] Welcome to the new Liberal Democrat campaign website: A Million Jobs For A Stronger Economy. As it says: The Liberal Democrats are building a stronger economy in a fairer society, enabling every person to get on in life. That's why Liberal Democrats in government have helped business create more than 1 million private sector jobs, and why we're working to help create a million more. In government, we have already helped create: Jobs for young people - 1.2 million apprentices and 110,000 work placements for young people out of work Jobs in ...
It's hard to think of a sorrier episode in the party's modern history. That a liberal party that stands for equality should be the one that has its reputation dragged through the mud for failing to deal properly with serious allegations of sexual impropriety is wretched. Stephen Tall, Liberal Democrat Voice. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
Sutton Council is proposing to install a new Pelican signal controlled crossing in Stanley Park Road outside Bandon Hill Primary, Woodfield School (the site of the old Stanley Park High School). The location of the crossing was agreed at the Beddington & Wallington Local Committee and with Transport for London. The Pelican signal controlled crossing has been designed to provide a safe crossing point on Stanley Park Road outside the school for pedestrians, particularly primary aged pupils and parents attending the school which is due to open in September this year. Proposals for yellow lines are being put forward to ...
[IMG: helena morrissey report] I attended Helena Morrissey's media briefing this afternoon, marking the publication of her independent inquiry report into the 'culture and processes' of the Lib Dems following the allegations of sexual impropriety levelled against the party's former chief executive, Lord (Chris) Rennard. I've not yet had chance to read the full report, so this post is based on a skim read only, together with Helena's own summary of it to the assembled journalists. First, Helena set the context: not simply of the specific allegations, but more widely of what she termed "the dangerous environment" of Westminster politics, ...
If we want to bring trams to Sutton we will need support from local residents and businesses. So I was really pleased that our campaign to bring an extension of Tramlink to the borough received a massive boost recently as key local businesses rallied round to offer their support. Over 100 guests, including Norman Baker, Parliamentary Under Secretary for theDepartment for Transport, attended an event in Sutton town centre to demonstrate the progress made by the borough's economic growth programme "Opportunity Sutton". During the evening I explained the benefits an extension of the Tramlink service would have for Sutton, our ...
Just to say that for the last four nights straight I've had less than five hours' 'sleep' (that's my sleep, which is interrupted by by inability to breathe every six minutes anyway), thanks to all sorts of bizarre things up to and including tropical birds in our garden making ray-gun noises. Assuming I manage to [...]
Here is Helena Morrissey's report into Liberal Democrat culture and processes, a report triggered by the allegations earlier this year that the Liberal Democrats had failed to handle properly previous complaints of sexual harassment. In addition to the main purpose of the report, if you are not familiar with what political parties are really like as organisations, the start of Chapter 2 is well worth a read. You can download this document here (PDF, 2.35MB)
We should note that Lord Rennard vehemently denies any wrong-doing. Despite being a general report on the party's procedures, the Helena Morrissey Independent report, issued today, covers the handling of the allegations against Lord Rennard in great depth, particularly from pages 36 to 46. You can read the report in full here. It will take a while to absorb the full detail, but here are some key passages: Paul Brustow involvement Conclusion: The fact that no one wrote any of this down was a mistake right from the beginning - by all. This was a missed opportunity to investigate the ...
At last nights ward forum Paul Tait from the Action for Pellon Community group rightly raised concerns about the state of the Pellon estate and the lack of investment from Pennine Housing or Calderdale Council. Paul is right In recent years neighboring communities have seen investment in their estates and housing stock. Take for instance the flats in Mixenden that got a £3.6 Million make over to improve insulation, and cut heating bills or the announcement that the Council wants to redevelop the Beech Hill area. Councillors Ashley Evans and I want to campaign to ensure the Pellon Estate is ...
Note: this is not about sexual harassment, the primary focus of the recent Lib Dem harassment scandal. As with the recent BBC scandal, sexual harassment is the most serious form of harassment (with child abuse being the most serious form of that), but may only reflect wider problems with harassment and bullying in general. My post focuses only on my own experience; I do not wish to diminish the even more serious problems elsewhere. The conclusions of Helena Morrisey's independent inquiry have now been published. It is a valuable document. It will make painful reading for Lib Dems, but also ...
[IMG: robgladwin] I recently had the chance to visit the 2013 Cheltenham Science Festival and it was wonderful to be gathered together with scientists and engineers, academics and practitioners, geeks and boffins (and I use those colloquialisms with affection!), presenters, enquiring minds; young and old and pretty much anyone who loves experimenting with, well, SCIENCE! The atmosphere was brilliant. Even some MPs were in appearance: Festival Director, Universities and Science Minister the Rt Hon David Willetts MP and our very own Martin Horwood MP (LD Cheltenham), together with Lib Dem councillors from the local area were milling about the 'discovery ...
Wed 12th
16:10
Independent inquiry report published into Lib Dem processes and culture post-Rennard allegations
Helena Morrissey's independent inquiry into the Lib Dems' culture and processes has just been published — it's the first of two inquiries launched by the party to report. The other, specifically investigating the allegations against Lord Rennard, is on hold pending police investigations. I've just come back from the media briefing given by Helena (no party personnel were present). More later once I've had chance to read the report (available online here) but here are my initial reactions... Just back from @morrisseyhelena's media briefing on her independent inquiry into processes & culture within Lib Dems after Rennard allegtns — Stephen ...
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has made this statement following the release of Helena Morrissey's independent report into processes and culture within the Liberal Democrats and her recommendations for change: I'm very grateful to Helena Morrissey for her very thorough report. It makes sobering reading. It shows that stretching over a 20 year period a series of mistakes were made which left a number of women feeling seriously let down and for that there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever. The report also shows that the individuals who dealt with their complaints had the right motives, but there weren't the right ...
Liberal Democrat Chief Executive Tim Gordon has just emailed Party members about the Helena Morrissey Report, published at 4pm today: Today Helena Morrissey published the report of her independent inquiry into allegations made in February that the Party had failed to respond adequately to complaints and warnings of alleged sexual harassment. You can find Helena's full report here. The report concluded - and the Party has accepted - that, despite recent improvements, and despite the fact that the report is clear that those with whom issues were raised acted in good faith, it failed to deliver the procedures needed in ...
Many business owners consider Section 179 to be somewhat of a mystery, but in reality, it's not that difficult to understand. In essence, Section 179 is a part of the IRS tax code that allows you to take the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and deduct it from your taxes. Of course, like any tax code, there are going to be exceptions as well as considerations. These may differ depending on whether you file as an individual or as a business owner. One of the things that many people wonder is if a used pickup truck for sale is ...
Yesterday, this blog linked to research that proved extremely high pay does not improve CEO performance. But why do CEOs behave worse yet receive more pay? In the journal Democracy, Chrystia Freeland reviews a new book by Mark Mizruchi, The Fracturing of the American Corporate Elite, which examines the fundamental shift in corporate culture that took place in the 1980s. Unlike today, big business in the 1950s and 1960s wanted strong government, for "steering the economy and underwriting the well-being of the middle class": The business heroes in this narrative are the leaders of the "moderate, pragmatic corporate elite [that] ...
Metrolink will be carrying out essential maintenance work to the steps at Heaton Park Metrolink stop. This work can only be carried out when the tram is not running and has therefore been scheduled to coincide with planned engineering works taking place at other locations on the Bury Line. Work will take place between 8am and 6pm on Saturday 15th June and Sunday 16th June 2013. The Bury Metrolink line will be closed on both these days with replacement buses provided. At times, these works will cause some noise as we will be removing and replacing the surface of the ...
Watch the new video from Amnesty International UK: Also on YouTube.
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Tom Harris MP: I can't stand the heat, so I'm leaving the kitchen – Telegraph Good article by Tom Harris explaining resignation from Lab shad cab – except his conclusion: only freaks need apply http://bit.ly/11vdXU3 Carlton couple return from holiday to find grass by their street cut to different lengths | Nottingham Post AWFUL AND SHOCKING: "Carlton couple return from holiday to find grass by their street cut to different lengths" http://bit.ly/11uZt6k Michael Gove's new GCSEs: a complete guide | Education | guardian.co.uk "Isn't having 8 as the top mark counter-intuitive?" I ...
[IMG: Luton Carnival 2013] A few weeks ago I went to along to Luton's annual Carnival. It was held on Sunday 26 May. The town seems to be taking a bashing recently so it was good to see the positive face of Luton on show. The weather was good and the atmosphere was relaxed. The carnival seemed to be a slightly smaller affair than the last time I went along to it, but no less enjoyable. The parade also had more of a Latin element than I seem to remember from before — which I also appreciated. Below are the ...
Councillor Mike Rook, the former leader of Harborough District Council, has been suspended from its ruling Conservative group, reports the Harborough Mail website: It comes after Cllr Mike Rook, who stepped down as leader last month, sent a letter to the Mail criticising his successor Blake Pain for his conduct during a row last year over the development of a masterplan planning document which could see up to 1,800 homes built on land north west of Harborough. The issue led Cllr Rook to sack Cllr Pain as his deputy leader back in November. In a letter to the Mail this ...
[IMG: Cissy 009] Cissy Nasande is facing a potentially life changing operation on 15 June but is most concerned to stress how nice the British medical and charity staff are who tend to her. It is at moments like this in our friendship that I am reminded about how life can be just about compassion and kindness and is not always about politics. Cissy has a severe facial disfigurement. A growing bone tumour is pushing her right eye forward. 'Facing the World', a wonderful charity for children with severe facial disfigurement, has brought Cissy over for medical treatment. Cissy cannot ...
I must admit that I am not an educator so I cannot comment on the full impacts of the proposed reforms butI do have a few criticisms from my own experience in Education. The removal of coursework from the examination process is, in my view, a fundamental error for several reasons. The most important is the loss of transferable skills that are needed by individuals in the workplace. Course work and project work is an important skill with sub skills in time management, research skills, editing and even presenting your findings via PowerPoint or written report to your ...
What if ministers had to make an announcement every time the government spent £2m? The other day I received an email that could herald a revolution in Britain's public finances. It was a press release from the government, proudly informing me that Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, would be announcing a £2m investment into research into a new type of semiconductor. Now the research itself is nothing out of the ordinary: it's an experimental technology much like thousands of others being tested around the world. What's remarkable is the sum of money. It struck me as odd ...
At Ealing Council's full council meeting last night we discussed the last year of the Council's performance and highlighted problems that will hit residents in the future... The first speech of the night came from Councillor Julian Bell who spoke at great length about the many herons he has seen in the borough recently. So this photo is for you Julian. Julian's favourite grey heron After welcoming the new Mayor to his first main Council meeting I surprisingly welcomed a couple of areas where Ealing Council has taken the right decisions such as becoming a Living Wage employer and the ...
I've spent the last two days in a couple of seminars at the European Commission in Brussels about the future of work, and it was fascinating. I was there to talk about time banks across Europe and how they are developing, but I also heard about the developments in crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, micro-finance and online volunteering. All this is developing extremely fast, and it was good to chat to Wingham Rowan, the founder of Slivers of Time - the website that allows people to work very flexibly for a few hours a week, when they can. In this case, incidentally, they ...
LIBOR-fixing, ineffective banks, corrupt Parliamentarians and the Murdoch press may not appear to have much in common with the fact that median earnings have become decoupled from growth in economic productivity - signifying rewards accumulating to a few at the very top. To my eyes, however, they are all symptoms of the same phenomenon: that the concentration of economic and political power in the hands of a few, hidden from adequate scrutiny and the power to affect change, impinges on our freedom to live lives free from poverty, ignorance and conformity. To any liberal with a sense history this is ...
posted The Blood is The Life 11-06-2013 http://t.co/G7DDU3MtZ8 on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) #DoctorWho fans are putting a TARDIS into orbit to celebrate #DoctorWho50th. Find out more: http://t.co/ho1HCctQbK (tags: (from twitter) doctorwho doctorwho50th ) What Do Dress Codes Say About Girls' Bodies? (tags: ) Spiritual healer accused of sexual assault blames "phantom hands syndrome" for Halifax victims' claims - Local - Brighouse Echo See, although I have heard of phantom hands syndrome, this write up REALLY makes it sound like "Its wasn't me, guv, it was the GHOSTS, honest!" (tags: ) Why rape has a place ...
[IMG: your vote matters lib dem leaflet] We Lib Dems are past masters of the squeeze message. "The Tories can't win here: vote Lib Dem to keep Labour out"; "Labour can't win here: vote Lib Dem to keep the Tories out". But since 2010 we have become the victims of a just-as-vicious squeeze message. Labour says: "Lib Dems are propping up a toxic right-wing Tory government pushing through disgraceful policies (which we will quietly sign up to later — viz cutting child benefit for wealthier parents — once we've capitalised on public anger)." The Tories say: "Lib Dems are stopping ...
[IMG: William Shakespeare, not Ryan Coetzee] "On message, in volume, over time" is one of the favourite phrases of Nick Clegg's strategy advisor, Ryan Coetzee. As a way of bundling up several pieces of good campaigning and communication advice into a simple, memorable phrase it is great. Understanding the importance of repetition is nothing new, nor indeed is the resistance to repetition from some who think concentrating on repeating a message makes for dumbed-down politics for stupid people and is all rather beneath them. In response, I have in the past liked pointing out how even Martin Luther King was ...
A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood ward as detailed below:- Application number: 56377 Type of application: Full Date Registered: 03/06/2013 11:01:16 Location: 86 Warwick Avenue, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 6TT Proposal: Rear dormer extension Plans will be available to view on the Councils' website here (use the planning application number to search). Any questions or if I can help please just get in touch.
Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP, writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition. The Queen Last week, the Queen celebrated 60 years on the throne since her coronation in 1953. She has been a dedicated servant of the nation throughout these years and I am sure everyone in the Borders will want to join me in congratulating her on reaching this milestone. It was a real pleasure to meet representatives from my constituency in Dover House who had travelled to London for the thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey. ...
The Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley meets the American journalist who was banned from Britain, apparently because she wanted to investigate the murkier aspects of Jersey life.
I have long argued that the UK Government's sledgehammer approach to tackling bovine TB in cattle is questionable. They are focussing on one possible carrier of the disease when many other animals can also pass it onto cattle, including farm cats and when all the scientific evidence points to the fact that culling badgers is a short term solution that achieves only small reductions in the incidence of the disease and in fact spreads it beyond the cull area. That UK Ministers have failed in their duty to introduce comprehensive measures to tackle this disease is illustrated by this article ...
Wed 12th
08:08
Sefton Council's Local Plan – A guest posting from the Lib Dem Opposition Leader on the Counci...
[IMG: Iain Brodie-Brown] We Lib Dems feel that the views of local residents are hugely important. We understand why Labour run Sefton Council's proposals to allow building on Green Belt are extremely unpopular. We do not oppose all house building, indeed we encourage it on the Borough's brown-field sites, as there is a need for more housing -in particular low cost homes.* However, building on high grade agricultural land, which is how virtually all of Sefton's Green Belt is categorised, is environmentally unsustainable. There is a balance to be struck between the need for more low cost housing, especially in ...
Earlier this year, I pointed out that Media Discovery (New Web Ltd) is encouraging blogs to run paid for advertorials, without disclosing to their readership that the content is an advert. This appeared to be in breach of the advertising industry's code of practice. I complained to the Advertising Standards Authority who have confirmed that they are looking into this company and their business practices. [IMG: New Web ASA Complaint] I'll let you know if anything comes of it. [IMG: flattr this!]
Last night, alongside a packed audience, I had the pleasure of attending Harris Academy's production of "Oliver." See below:It was a superbly well-produced musical that showcased the talents of all the pupils who performed and also all the staff and others whose hard work made it a production to remember. As Harris Academy shortly moves to its new temporary home at Rockwell, last night's production certainly ensured that the school leaves the 'old Harris' on a high!
The Friends of Magdalen Green's Roseangle Playpark campaign did a superb job at WestFest Big Sunday, raising nearly a further £700 towards the target to get improved play equipment in this much-used playpark adjacent to Magdalen Green. Thanks go to local artist Stu Ivins who created the banner - see below:
From Matthew Jarron, Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee : D'Arcy Thompson As part of Dundee's WestFest, I'll be giving a talk about D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, his work in Dundee and his extraordinary influence around the world, on Friday 14th June at 1pm in the old lecture theatre, Carnelley Building at the University. Admission is free and all are welcome. Enter by the modern link entrance on the west side of the building. Also for WestFest, on Wednesday 12th June at 2.30pm, I'll be leading a guided walk round the houses and studios of notable Dundee artists ...
I welcome the First Minister's announcement that the NHS financial regime will now operate on a three year cycle, rather than the current one-year cycle. The constant cycle of end of year bailouts was completely unsustainable. Therefore it makes sense for this system to be altered. It will hopefully allow Local Health Boards an opportunity to plan for the longer term, rather than being forced to make sharp unplanned cuts at the end of each year - cuts that could affect patient care and safety. In the past some Health Boards have started the financial year without even having plans ...
Some rare footage from the Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election from 17 September 1987 with the late great Vincent Hanna.
The fightback starts here. Yesterday I blogged about the benefits of the ECHR and the insane campaign by certain right-wing Tories to get Britain to remove itself from the Convention (thereby putting itself in the sole company of Belarus). But this evening I was speaking about why Europe — i.e. the EU — matters, at [...]
