It's the start of the festival season so here's one of Scotland's finest live bands. Biffy Clyro with 'Many of Horror' at T in the Park.
The by election was caused by the death of the former Liberal Democrat councillor, John Lythgoe, and was heavily contested by the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and by UKIP. The campaigns were followed with keen interest by the electorate and the turnout of 25% was reasonably high for a town council by election. The result (shown below) restores the position of two Liberal Democrats and 13 Conservatives on Berkhamsted Town Council. Berkhamsted Town Council, East Ward Lib Dem 456 (Danny Bonnett) 41% ( + 4%) Con 315 28% ( - 15%) UKIP 184 16% ( + 16%) LAB 92 8% GRN ...
As some people will have noticed, the last few weeks have seen a lot of talk about (as opposed to consumption in) pubs, as the long-awaited Government consultation on pubco reform has progressed. Today (14 June) marks the last day of the consultation, and I will be making a submission, as I hope will many licensees and others affected by the problems affecting the tied pub trade. Meanwhile some interesting correspondence has been flying around between the pubcos and their hired hands, and the coalition of 10 groups in the Fair Deal for your Local campaign. It was triggered by ...
Isn't this sweet? The tiny church of All Saints is in Sutton Bassett. It was locked last Saturday - though the addresses where you could call for a key were listed on the door - but you can read about the interior on The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland. Although Sutton Bassett is a small village, a few houses and the Queen's Head strung out along one road, it used to have a Methodist chapel too. And what with the beer festival, a vintage bus parked on the road and an ambulance trying to get through the ...
On 23rd May we held an event ,together with the Sutton Town Centre BID, at Uno Tapas to update local businesses on progress following the launch of our Opportunity Sutton Economic Strategy in June last year. I was very pleased to be able to announce that since the launch we have seen an amazing £317 [...]
I'm buggered if I know. That's not really enough, is it? No wonder this blog is slipping down the rankings. But let's try to write the sort of post the punters want. Earlier this week Stephen Tall wrote about the need for a distinctive Liberal Democrat narrative for the 2015 general election: For sure we all know the on-message-in-volume-over-time mantra by now: "A stronger economy, a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life." But that's not ... a narrative. It's fine as a slogan and I'm not claiming I could better it. But I strongly suspect that if ...
Various bits of life stuff are getting in the way at the moment. Normal service will resume over the weekend with a bit of luck. I've discovered that a friend of mine is planning a similar book on Nilsson to the one I was thinking of writing, so I won't be Kickstarting that next month [...]
Mosaic Community Care is a company that has been suspended today by the UK Home Care Association following yesterday's publication of CCTV footage by the BBC. The lady's grandson had installed two CCTV cameras in order to "monitor her movements and to provide help should she fall when she was home alone". If that is the case then this would have involved regular observation of the footage. I watched those three clips on yesterday's news and saw a carer touch food to check its temperature. This is what a mother may do for their child but of course it is ...
Like many I rarely have a stamp at hand or can remember where my cheque book is as we live in a direct debit world. Last year a finally got round to moving the last of the utility companies onto direct debit - South East water. They were very helpful and confirmed that I would need to pay £37 a month. I queried this as I am a bit of an obsessive about not wasting water. Dripping taps are
We have had two crime reports recently in Bar Hill, please see below. Between the 2nd June, 1800 hours and 3d June 1800 hours, a theft from a motor vehicle took place in Pheasant Rise, Bar Hill. Vehicle was left unattended parked in Pheasant Rise, unknown offender/s have removed and taken the rear taxi plate. On 12th of June, at approximately 02:10 hours, a theft from a vehicle took place in Oatlands Avenue, Bar Hill. Vehicle is taxi plated and was parked on the drive way of a property in Oatlands Avenue locked and secure, unknown offender/s have used an ...
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert is lobbying the government for youngsters to be taught about relationships as part of their school sex education. He is concerned that sex education on the school curriculum focuses on the mechanics and biology of sex and good sexual health, but it fails to equip young people with the knowledge and language they need to talk about relationships, abuse, gender and the pressures they face. Julian wrote to the Education Minister, Elizabeth Truss about the issue and the government's draft science curriculum and asked what steps the government is taking to ensure children and young people ...
[IMG: eorlcrabtree] Nicolas Crane has been doing some great programmes in his Town series. I was particularly enthralled by the one on Huddersfield. What a very proud, independent history that town has! It seems the Luddites were emblematic of a rebellious streak in the town, echoed down the years with the establishment of the Rugby League at the town's George Hotel. But, IMHO, there is no greater claim to fame for Huddersfield than it is the birthplace of Harold Wilson. When I had my long cosy chat with him, he very proudly announced that he came from "'Uddersfield". In his ...
[IMG: UNHCR: World Refugee Day] Regular readers will, I'm sure, be pleased to note that the UNHCR is also using Thunderclap to promote World Refugee Day [IMG: :)] Note: This is a sponsored post via Ebuzzing.
...Jack Straw, David Blunkett and Alan Johnson are on the other. These were the men who felt it was alright to hold people for 90 days without trial in this country. A figure that if I recall at the time would have left us only behind Russia, Georgia and China (I stand to be corrected on these facts) and the unfortunates at Guantanamo Bay. One advantage of having a blog that is almost 8 years old is that I actually blogged about the result of that vote on 90 days back in 2005. It was of course under their successor ...
The first challenge will be to find a world-changing challenge - preferably something that won't cost much to solve The world of science policy is currently getting excited about prizes. A piece in Thursday's Nature, for which I provided some grumpy quotes, discusses the recent wave of science prizes that are trying to take their place beside the Nobels. And David Cameron on Friday announced a new set of prizes for solutions to "some of society's most pressing problems". Broadly speaking, prizes fall into two types - recognition and inducement. The first aims to draw attention to people doing good ...
James Elles MEP writes on his blog today: I for one will only be able to vote Conservative at the European elections next May if good sense prevails - as I still hope it may - and we do not go down a route that can only lead to disaster, both for Britain and for the Conservative Party.
It's Friday. It's five o'clock. Here's a fistful of lists that sum up the LDV week: 5 most-read stories on LDV this week Ashcroft's latest poll: a couple of interesting findings about the Lib Dems (39 comments) by Stephen Tall Unpaid internships: Tim Farron replies (23 comments) by Tim Farron MP The Lib Dem narrative dilemma: forget about 2010, start looking forward to 2015 (47 comments) by Stephen Tall Helena Morrissey's report: my first impressions (15 comments) by Stephen Tall Would PR spell the end of the Liberal Democrats? (38 comments) by Nick Thornsby 5 sample LDV Members' Forum threads ...
Many residents have been telling us how messy our streets have become. This is one of many pictures residents have recently sent me. [IMG: Dirty street picture] But the council is telling us our streets have never been cleaner since they've reduced the street sweeping to once every four weeks and litter picking to every other day - which is right, tell us what you think? Out of 10 how clean is your street with1 being terrible and 10 being fabulously clean – tell me at james.barber@southwark.gov.uk? Locally in East Dulwich we've allocated £20,000 from our Cleaner, Greener, Safer annual ...
From the BBC: Nick Clegg has rejected calls from three former home secretaries to revive plans for more data monitoring powers, after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby. The deputy PM warned the cross-party group against "knee jerk" reactions to difficult events. He said proposals to store all website visits on a database were neither "proportionate nor workable". A bill allowing the monitoring of all UK citizens' internet use was dropped after Liberal Democrat opposition... He added: "These former home secretaries will know from their own experience the dangers of knee-jerk reactions, over-the-top reactions, to the difficult events we encounter ...
Most people would put jobs high on their list of priorities at the moment. Even if they are retired themselves, they will have family or friends who may be at risk of redundancy or who are unemployed at the moment. This weekend sees the launch of a major new Liberal Democrat campaign, A million jobs for a stronger economy. Its twin aims are to highlight the fact that with the Liberal Democrats in Government a million jobs have been created and to campaign for a million more. This is an ambitious campaign that's going to last for a year. The ...
The Social Liberal Forum (Scotland) is holding a Conference in Glasgow on Saturday June 29. Our speakers this year include Craig Harrow the Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats The sessions will include: Skivers or Strivers: the causes of poverty...Read more ›
In the last few days, Reuters have produced a graph titled "Top 10 countries requesting for user data from tech companies". It's been circulated widely, having been picked up by Techspot, ISPreview, Gizmodo, io9 and others. It is also very misleading because it reports the absolute number of requests, ignoring the relative size of the countries concerned. I have covered this before with Google's transparency report, analyzing the data based on the population of the countries concerned. The Reuters graph goes beyond the Google data and includes the more recent Twitter and Microsoft/Skype transparency reports. So, I have repeated the ...
The most important thing the party needs to do is recruit new volunteers. We all know it, and everyone talks about it. But Devon and Cornwall are doing it. This week they've organised recruitment training evenings in key seats. And this Saturday, as part of the National Day of Action on Jobs there will be a Regional Action Day in North Cornwall which will include practical training in recruitment. This training isn't just talk. After a short session of training, with scripts giving examples of what to say, they involve practical on-the-job training. In other words, going out and actually ...
Helena Morrissey is a businesswoman, not a lawyer. She brings to our party her experience of functional and dysfunctional organisational practices, and a sympathetic, listening ear. After a long, hard look at our organisation, our internal party culture, and our values, she finds us broadly well intentioned, but structurally deficient. Chiefly, we fail to have widely advertised, open and transparent procedures in place to deal with a clear organisational risk: abuse of power. As a member of the parliamentary staff of the Lib Dems and a PPC, I applaud Helena Morrissey. When you read the report you will see that ...
Everything seems abundant, billowy and in full flower today. The recent rain has cleared and all the late spring and early summer flowers are here in a rush of green and blue and pink. The roses are racing to bloom as is the love-in-a-mist and the irises are in full bud. The lawn is a bit of a chore to cut, more a meadow after being left for two weeks, with the daisies and buttercups taking over from the dandelions. There is even a silvery blue butterfly on the geraniums and plenty of bees, finally. All I need to spot ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Lib Dem MPs to abstain on Tories' EU in/out referendum bill? | Stephen Tall Lib Dem MPs to abstain on Tories' EU in/out referendum bill? http://bit.ly/13KoVaO Lord Rennard sex scandal: why have no heads rolled? – Telegraph Hmm. @CathyNewman's Telegraph piece on Morrissey ("why have no heads rolled?") makes me think she's not read report http://bit.ly/14AqYAX We must push bright children to succeed – Telegraph T'graph urges streaming http://bit.ly/17LwR1f Even tho evidence is clear that reduces children's overall attainment https://bitly.com/18AJjC4 Liberal Democrats: no more excuses | Editorial | Comment is free | ...
The first interactive reporting map is being piloted on the Council website for the public to report street lighting faults. Residents are able to select individual street lights (or cluster of lights) from a map, before completing the form to report the problem. To report a faulty streetlight, you can now locate it on the map, click on the streetlight and click the "Report it here" link. Report streetlights here. [IMG: Report a faulty streetlight]
There was another modest but welcome, fall in Birmingham's level of claimant unemployment in May. Seasonally adjusted claimant unemployment fell by 116 to 48,184 a rate of 10.6%. The national rate is 4.7%. Unadjusted claimant unemployment in Birmingham fell by 745 in May (unemployment tends to fall in May, hence the lower seasonally adjusted fall) to 47,365 or 11.7%. This is 2,402 down on a year ago. In Acocks Green unadjusted claimant unemployment fell by 32 in the month to 1,145, or 10.2%. This is down 36 on a year ago. Total UK unemployment (rather than the claimant figures described ...
Come along to Cheadle Village Partnership next Thursday 20th June 2013. It's at the Cheadle Village Hall (the Drill Hall) on Brook Road (behind St Mary's Church). It starts at 6pm and usually lasts for about an hour.
Those mysterious people, 'Senior Liberal Democrats', have been at it again, according to yesterday's London Evening Standard: Senior Liberal Democrats want Nick Clegg's stance on Europe to shift, amid fears that voters will believe him unwilling to offer an in-out referendum on EU membership.The group warns there is a danger Lib-Dems will be portrayed as not trusting the British public to make a decision on Europe. They say the Conservative Party has stolen a march in painting themselves as the only party wanting a vote on leaving the EU.A Lib-Dem source said: "The Tories are saying they are the only ...
Remember text adventures, eh? They were pretty nifty! "You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike" >Go East "You have been eaten by a Grue. A dwarf starts singing about gold" Smashing! Just like the pictures are better on the radio, so the graphics are immeasurably superior when they're in your head. Don't get me wrong, I love the 5.1 surround sound snarl of a rabid beast rendered in 1080p - but nothing is quite as good as using your imagination. Text Adventures - or, more properly, Interactive Fiction - is enjoying a mini-renaissance at the moment. ...
[IMG: EU flag - Some rights reserved by European Parliament] On 5th July, Tory MP James Wharton's private member's bill — laying out Conservative plans for an in-out referendum on the EU in 2017 — will get its second reading. The Tories are on a three-line whip to support it (very unusual for a private member's bill). Labour has confirmed they'll shun the vote, branding the bill "a gimmick, a political stunt". The Lib Dem parliamentary party will decide its position in a couple of weeks' time, but is likely to abstain with Labour. It's a potentially risky decision, giving ...
The News is one of my favourite shows, but over the last few years it's been replaying the same old story with slightly different characters. Every week, some new evil big company will be accused of paying beancounters to manufacture complex legal frameworks in order to avoid paying the 'correct' amount of tax, as defined [...]
On Wednesday night, I attended Sefton's Planning Committee, as one of the Liberal Democrat members. I have read many articles and emails on the contentious subject of the need, or lack of a need, to build on greenbelt land. I approached the meeting with an open mind, but as the meeting progressed my reservations grew. I was not convinced that the statistics used for future population trends were accurate. In particular the emphasis on an inward migratory trend. Not enough protection had been given to high grade agricultural land. I asked a question seeking clarity on the meaning of "mitigation ...
In the 24 hours since the publication of the Morrissey inquiry report, an alarming trend has developed: an expectation of a 'command and control' system of party governance in the Liberal Democrats. On the Daily Telegraph's blog, Channel 4's Cathy Newman (who first broke the story of the Rennard allegations) demanded to know why no heads had rolled, which seemed to assume that one person was ultimately responsible and it was simply a matter of deciding who. On the Guardian's Comment is Free blog, Melissa Kite made various false and sweeping assumptions about the party, one of which was that ...
Fri 14th
10:20
Kingston Lib Dems' council leader Derek Osbourne arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images...
Lib Dems in Kingston have been left shocked by the sudden resignation of council leader Derek Osbourne following his arrest on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. The news broke on Wednesday, with the local paper reporting a statement by Cllr Liz Green, acting leader of Kingston Council: "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." The paper reports today that he has ...
I don't feel that sorry for outgoing RBS boss Stephen Hester. Nobody with a licence to extract money from the economy - in this case for severance package worth £5.8m - really deserves much sympathy. But he has had an impossible job. Does he follow the regulators' demands (reserves) or the Treasury's demands (profits leading to early privatisation)? Or does he follow the political imperative (lending to small business)? In fact, of course, the infrastructure making small business lending possible has been dismantled long ago, so that is impossible, but he can't admit that in public - any more than ...
KEEP CALM and Carry On: PRISM itself is not a big deal • The Register (tags: ) Top ten countries requesting data from tech companies Not surprising in the least (especially given that China don't ask) (tags: ) The way people engage with politics is changing and MPs need to play catch up (tags: ) BBC News - Making things worse? Woe betide ANYONE who exposes a weakness to the playground... And politicos wonder why nobody respects them. It might start with them respecting each other, perhaps? (tags: ) SCOTTISH GREENS LODGE COMPLAINT WITH BBC QUESTION TIME | Patrick Harvie ...
Reflecting on the departure of Baroness Margaret Thatcher and on her ideology (often described as "neo-liberalism"), it is a paradox that an individualist should put so much faith in an institution - the market. To paraphrase her much quoted remark...Read more ›
Note from district council officers As you are probably aware the ramp into Clarence Park from Hatfield Road is currently closed. The supporting timbers along large areas of the ramp are rotten and no longer provide any support to the timber slats. This is a serious health and safety risk which needs to be rectified before we can open it again. Cost estimates are due back today and we are anticipating works starting on site during the week commencing 24 June. The works should last 2-3 weeks. We have placed signs at the entrance advising members of the public of ...
The public hates MPs and all that. That's been the tone of the coverage for the latest IPSOS MORI polling into what the public thinks of MPs. Here's an alternative headline which you could also draw from that polling: PUBLIC TRUST IN THEIR LOCAL MP HITS RECORD HIGH Not a headline spotted so far. Funny that. Here's the detail, which shows the classic difference between what people think in general and what they think about something closest to their own experience. This happens not just for MPs, but for hospitals, schools and the like too – the local gets much ...
More than 22,000 scams were reported Citizens' Advice Consumer Helpline last year. As a result DCC's trading standards team is supporting a national campaign to help people spot scams and avoid being victims. Leaflets outlining the warning signs will be provided through libraries, customer access points, Citizens Advice Bureaux and housing association offices; these are things like being contacted out of the blue, being asked for money up front or being asked to keep things secret from family and friends. Top warning signs are listed as: The call, letter, e-mail or text has come out of the blue. You've never ...
[IMG: helena morrissey report] My co-editor Stephen Tall has already published his first thoughts and a follow up post outlining where praise is due, which I agree with pretty much entirely. I've now emerged from my trip to London and subsequent burial under a pile of things that need to be stuffed into envelopes to add a few random thoughts of my own. "A missed opportunity" Norman Lamb started to draw up procedures for dealing with harassment in 2003. This work was never completed. Morrissey says: Lamb is unsure why the drafted procedures were not incorporated into the Standing Orders ...
I am a big supporter of Parish Councils so this Liverpool Echo story worries me. I am not sure what is behind the move by Knowsley Borough Council but my understanding is that this used to be an independent run Parish Council but became Labour run in recent times. I find it rather sad when grass roots local democracy is potentially under threat of being chopped when many have so little confidence in the higher levels of government in England. The Echo story is below:- ***** A century-old parish council which represents more than 1,000 families could be abolished. Knowsley ...
In May I posted a political infographic, 1980s style, showing how the Liberal Party was structured. Here's an equivalent one for the Liberal Democrats, taken from the Morrissey report. [IMG: Lib Dem party organisation] [Click on the image for a larger version.]
The BBC is this morning running a story about motoring fines unpaid by foreign drivers. In Cornwall, these average around £25,000 each year owed to the council which we cannot recover. If the council issues a parking ticket - for failing to display a ticket in a car park or for a yellow line violation for example - then we have the right to get the driver's details from the DVLA if it remains unpaid after 28 days. The council can then pursue the debt through the courts and, ultimately, employ bailiffs to recover the money owed. For drivers of ...
I am really terrible at this blogging thing. So, just wanted to comment on tonight's run, really...I'm into week 2 or so of official "I'm GOING to PR a half marathon this fall, which will involve me actually training for a half marathon for a change" training. Tonight was my first official tempo run at goal pace (I'm not saying what that is right now). It was only three miles, but I'm torn between being cool with having finished it with each of those three miles at or just under goal pace (with some hills thrown in, because this is ...
Figures released this week show that over 7,600 patients had been waiting for more than 36 weeks until the start of their NHS treatment, an increase of around 2,000 when compared to the previous month. The Welsh Government's target is that not a single person should wait longer than 36 weeks. These figures are atrocious. It is shameful that the Welsh Labour Government has allowed the situation to get this bad. The First Minister seems content to sit back and say that things are improving, but the fact is that he is wrong. Things are getting increasingly worse, yet he ...
As far as I am aware there are no meetings planned for Blyth Town Council next week
I was campaigning again in Aberdeen Donside yesterday morning for our excellent candidate Christine Jardine and this time was joined by my Dundee LibDem colleague Daniel Coleman - see Daniel (right) in the constituency. It was a beautiful morning in Aberdeen - I'm pictured below:
The failure of the Welsh Labour Government to match the offer to housebuilders available in England has come under fire once more, this time from house builders themselves. The Daily Post reports that some of North Wales' biggest house builders have warned they will construct homes in England ahead of those in Wales due to the failure of Ministers to implement market stimulus schemes here: Construction giant Watkin Jones issued the warning over the failure in Wales to mirror England's Help to Buy and NewBuy schemes which are credited with reviving the new build market. The Bangor firm, which employs ...
shawnhatesyou: horrorharbour: cevansydg: As a Xbox fan from day one this is my thoughts on what they said about the Xbox One.... God it hurts. What about all of my old games? WHAT NOW. IT'S NOT FAIR. This saddens me. PS4 it is. Hah perfect
putthison: What I Learned From My Father Recently Max Wastler of All Plaid Out asked me to write a brief piece about what I'd learned from my father. The result has almost nothing to do with clothes, but I thought I'd share it here. Above: my father and I at Disneyland, December 27th, 1985. My father was homeless when I was conceived. That's something I found out recently. I knew he'd been without a home and had even lived on the street a little, but I didn't know that particular circumstance of my origin story. It's true, though: In 1980, ...
