Liberal Democrats today proposed a motion of no-confidence in the Labour leadership at Redcar and Cleveland Council.Labour leader George Dunning survived the no-confidence vote by 27 votes to 13. All the Liberal Democrat members present voted for the motion, but received little support from the other opposition parties.Lib Dem Council Group Leader Glyn Nightingale, who proposed the motion, said:"This is not about Cllr Dunning as an individual, it's the Labour administration that he leads. They are just not listening to the people and have no clear direction for the future of the borough."After the wasting of £1.6 million on a ...
[IMG: Broken Road] Today we witnessed a number of important developments, if you happen to be a policy geek. These developments have a substantially different character, and provide students of the policy process with much to chew on. This morning we received news that Chris Grayling has decided to drop his proposals to introduce price competitive tendering for legal aid. This follows an earlier relatively low-key announcement that the proposal to remove defendants' choice of representative was to be dropped. Instead of the model of tendering proposed in Transforming Legal Aid the Ministry of Justice is working with professional bodies ...
The first chapter from my next music book (the one I Kickstartered): Nobody knows for sure who the Gamblers were — the passage of time has added to the legend, and sources conflict as to who did what, but let's listen and try to hear who the players are at the start of our story. [...]
Willie Rennie has written to Bill Walker, the MSP for Dunfermline who was convicted of 23 instances of assault against 3 ex wives and a stepdaughter over a 28 year period to ask him to resign his seat in the Scottish Parliament. Here's his letter in full:Dear Bill, I am sure that you will be aware of the demands for your resignation from the Scottish Parliament from both members of the public and Members of the Scottish Parliament. I was disappointed to read news reports that you are not planning to leave Parliament.You will know that, unlike others, I did ...
Earlier on today my ears pricked up when I heard Liam Byrne make the following claim in his question about the shambles unfolding around the implementation of universal credit to Iain Duncan Smith: To hit your deadline at the end of 2017, you must now move over 200,000 people a month on to the new system. That is a city the size of Derby. Sadly for Liam Byrne, his mathematical abilities don't seem to have improved much since he was dumped out of office at the last election, leaving behind the now infamous "no money left" note for David Laws. ...
I laughed when I heard that The Plantagenet Alliance was to use Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to respect for private and family life) to seek a judicial review of the decision to reinter Richard III's bones in Leicester Cathedral. They argued that, as descendants of Richard, they should have been consulted. Because Richard III has no direct descendants. The best the members of The Plantagenet Alliance can be is descendants of his brothers of sisters, and their descendants are estimated to number in their millions. In other words, The Plantagenet Alliance has no ...
Whipped: From the desk of the Junior Whip The intern was so excited she could hardly get the news out. One backbencher flatly refused to believe me when I phoned. A second fainted out of relief. Because it's true: the Chief Whip has gone to Africa. As I sit with my feet up on his desk, the Chief Whip is in Cameroon working for a group called ALL - Aide Legale Libre. With the help of my Collins pocket French dictionary I had already worked out what that means, and then I found a post on the blog Liberal Democrat ...
[IMG: Dancing at Dad's 70th] Last Monday was my Dad's 70th birthday and on the Saturday before we organised a big party for family and friends. It was a really successful event and a big part of that success was the music. We had a live band in the shape of The Window Trees — the band my sister sings in — but I'd also organised the music for people to dance to at the end of the night. I'd spent a lot of time creating a suitable playlist but in the end I didn't use very much of it. ...
[IMG: Saltire and Forth Bridge] @AndrewZCooper has compiled a series of tweets about Scottish Independence, and, in particular, English support for it: A brief exchange of tweets about English support for Scottish independence http://t.co/auUn90toou #yesscot @paulwalteruk @personatia — Andrew Cooper (@AndrewzCooper) September 4, 2013 If the Scots decide to go for independence, good for them. They are fully entitled to do that. I am great believer in the basic right to self-determination. Me, and other Sassenachs, expressing a view is more likely to irritate those north of the border than anything else. If they decide to stay in the union, ...
Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats are furious about controversial plans to charge all drivers for using the county's Park and Ride sites which have come out of the blue with no consultation. They have called for the Tory plans to be withdrawn because they claim there has been no consultation with the public or elected representatives. The case for such charges has been badly presented with insufficient attention being given to risks, including more parking in residential areas and a disincentive for take-up of sustainable transport, they say. Lib Dems on Cambridgeshire County Council fear the plans, to charge all drivers a ...
MP Julian Huppert has acted to change some of the wording of the proposed Lobbying Bill to make sure that while it tightens up on big money politics, it makes sure charities not electioneering are still able to lobby government. The Bill aims to stop wealthy organisations promoting or opposing candidates or parties with large sums of money and will make the whole issue more transparent. Julian also wants to make sure that the lobby rules cover not just politicians and senior servants but Ministers' special advisors as well and that the definition of "electioneering" is not changed by the ...
Like it says on the tin: After the toughest global economic conditions in living memory, the UK economy is starting to turn a corner. And the signs of recovery are encouraging. Growth has doubled in the last quarter. Across the UK, more people are in work than ever before. And at a time when unemployment is rising across the EU, private sector employment in Scotland has grown by 146,000 in the last three years. Our focus on fiscal discipline is also helping to keep interest rates low for UK businesses and families. We've reduced the deficit by a third as ...
Project 6000 – Lib Dems Project 6000 – the Lib Dem campaign to call at all 6,000 homes in Cheadle and Gatley with our residents' survey has passed the half-way mark – more than 3,000 called on. We've had lots of people out with the local councillors including Euro-MP Chris Davies. Over the last few weeks we've called on homes around Lorna Grove and Dingle Grove, Saville Road and Pendlebury Road and Daylesford Road and Daylesford Crescent. Thank you to everyone who's filled in and returned the residents survey – we're just going through the latest set at the moment ...
Nick Clegg is in Glasgow tonight, talking to CBI Scotland. Much of what he says is applicable across the whole UK, though. Here are some of the highlights: The economy At every step of the way, in the Coalition, we're fighting hard to create jobs, boost growth and make a genuine difference to people's lives across the UK. That's why we've committed to raise the personal allowance on income tax. So that basic rate tax payers will get to keep all of the first £10, 000 they earn. We've already taken over 2 million people out of paying income tax ...
Come to a tea party at St James Church Hall, Gatley on Friday 20th September between 2.30pm and 4.30pm to raise money for St Ann's Hospice. Refreshments and children's activities available. [IMG: St Ann's Tea Party]
Thank you to everyone who has signed our petition for the Highways Agency to get a move on and sort out the M60 J3 slip road, allowing us to improve the right turn from Cheadle and Gatley at the Gatley Road junction. We've spoken to the Highways Agency today and the good news is that they've told us that they have now agreed to support the work of the Council and Transport for Greater Manchester to alter the cycle time of the lights. They're also going to install temporary CCTV cameras on the slip road to monitor queues – the ...
[IMG: image] A letter from my bank, announcing the re-establishment of the Trustee Savings Bank brought back wistful memories of the old TSB branch in Landsdown Road, Bude and the days when banks at least liked to say that they like to say "yes". There's their great advert jingle below in an ad which includes the late, great Peter Glaze. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
I said yesterday that I wanted a Liberal Democrat to come out and passionately call Alex Salmond out for suggesting that the case against independence was the case against Scotland. To recap, this is what he said in a Scotland Tonight interview on Tuesday:..let's see if we can get the pressure on to make sure we pull the Prime Minister into the ring and then let's see if he can articulate a case against Scotland because I'll certainly be articulating the case for Scotland.And that Liberal Democrat calling him out? Step forward Alistair Carmichael who described his remarks as ludicrous ...
Back in 2008 I discovered skepticism. I was, by then, an unbeliever but I hadn't really been introduced to any thoughtful considerations of atheism or real useful criticisms of religion, quack medicine and the paranormal. Though I'm sure my growing interest in Scientology and the Latter-day Saints plus research for then latest blog on the paranormal played some part in moving me towards seriously questioning things, it was really my need for more podcast listening material for a recently extended commute that lead me to first discover the Skeptics Guide To The Universe. I loved it. The reasoned debate was ...
Writing in today's Solihull Observer, Lorely Burt, Lib Dem MP for Solihull explains why she abstained in last week's vote. Personally I could not support the government's position. I will not support any more foreign war adventures: no more putting British lives at risk without broad international support and a direct threat to this country or our people. We have all been sickened by the pictures of rows of dead Syrian children, and people dying so painfully from gas poisoning. But even so, getting involved in another war is an unpalatable option for most of us. But, Lorely argues: Once ...
A bumper crop of by-elections tonight with 10 contests from Carlisle to Cornwall. And already the Lib Dems have lost a seat with their failure to defend a vacancy in the Torrington ward of Torridge. The Lib Dems are standing in six contests - Boston Fenside; Carlisle Yewdale; Cornwall Wadebridge East - where the independent councillor resigned over remarks about 'putting down disabled children' and had a majority of just four over the Lib Dems in May; Daventry Ravensthorpe; East Cambridgeshire Ely East and Northamptonshire Middleton Cheney. In contrast the Conservatives are standing in every contest as are UKIP and ...
The Better Together campaign, the campaign to keep Scotland part of the United Kingdom, hosted a dedicated Ross-Shire launch event at the National Hotel in Dingwall on August 31st. The event saw senior politicians from across political parties join together in a public Q&A session. An informative event with thanks to the three speakers; Mary [...]
Keith House, leader of Liberal-Democrat-controlled Eastleigh Borough Council, writes of his council's commitment to green policies: "The evidence is that the market alone will not deliver change. It could need a nudge but, more likely, it requires a strong prod with financial inducement. "Take energy. Eastleigh's approach is to use policy to promote change. Hence the unusual practice of not charging planning application fees for renewable energy schemes." Now there's an idea for councils in the Swansea Bay area.
This is the second of three extracts from the forthcoming collection of essays Green liberalism: a local approach to the low carbon economy. Similar collections will be published under Green Alliance's 'Green social democracy' and 'Green conservatism' projects as part of the Green Roots programme, which aims to stimulate green thinking within the three dominant political traditions in the UK. An international airport where two major motorways bisect may not, at a first glance, be the obvious place to start when looking for a council committed to the green economy. Add in support from the council for the managed growth ...
One of the best films of the year so far has been the Way Way Back. While the main reason to love it are the terrific performances, another attraction is the twist it provides on the coming of age story. As you would expect the teenage characters rebel against their parents. What is unusual is [...]
The deputy leader of UKIP on Cornwall Council has announced that he will be backing a 5% council tax rise for next year. This is more than double the council's proposed 1.97% increase and will require an expensive referendum to be held. Cllr Harry Blakeley was speaking in a finance committee meeting yesterday when the budget proposals were being discussed. Our draft budget - which is now open for a first round of consultation until mid-October - is proposing a 1.97% rise in council tax. The Liberal Democrats have always said that we would seek to keep council tax as ...
Thu 5th
14:59
Nick Clegg: All teens should have access to modern sex/relationship education, wherever they go to s...
When I was 17 years old, even if I'd had the nerve to ask a middle aged male politician about sex education, they'd probably have mumbled an excuse, blushed and scurried off into the distance. So, my hero of the week is 17 year old Yas, who phoned into Call Clegg today and asked Nick if he couldn't do something about updating the guidance on sex education. She said that the material they were being taught was so old that it came on VHS videos. Yas is working on the Telegraph's campaign for better sex education and has started a ...
Thu 5th
14:50
Treasury agrees to consider data from Ceredigion in Rural Fuel Rebate Scheme following pressure from...
I have recently sent data gathered from petrol stations in Ceredigion to the Treasury's consultation on a rural fuel rebate, having been invited to do so by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Having written to the Treasury and collected a petition complaining that Ceredigion was not one of the initial counties invited to send in evidence to the consultation on a rural fuel rebate, I received confirmation from the Minister that fuel stations from Ceredigion should send evidence if they feel they are nearing the fuel price threshold guideline. I contacted petrol stations across Ceredigion, and have submitted data ...
I see Labour appear to be claiming ownership of the recent Dreamland developments as if they are the only people involved in the whole long process. You'll have to excuse my lack of commentary just recently but apart from the disheartening state of local politics which drains the life out of me, some of us have to work for a living. As we all know local labour here in Thanet are an honest bunch, just like their national counterparts and if I may say their Tory colleagues on Thanet council, anyway again I'd like to apologise for the current malaise, ...
Thu 5th
14:30
What I did on my summer holidays, Part I (editing Liberal Reform's 'Coalition and Beyond')
Jet off for a new destination to sample the local cuisine and customs? Nah, not this year. I stayed put. Instead, I spent three full days of my holiday editing Liberal Reform's new publication, The Coalition and Beyond: Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead. It's looking very snazzy: Currently proof reading the @liberal_reform publication in #Ravellos, sign up for your copy – http://t.co/930L6OlErn pic.twitter.com/VFuoCQiziY — Alan Muhammed (@alansm) September 5, 2013 The publication brings together the thoughts of 20 liberals (19 of them party members), including six parliamentarians. It was an enjoyable (also quite knackering) process, reading through about 40,000 ...
Thu 5th
13:59The Independent View: Legal Aid for children in prison. A disastrous day for liberal values
Today is a disastrous day for children in prison. The abolition of legal aid for children in prison will give a blanket of secrecy to child abuse. The Howard League legal team has represented hundreds of children in prisons and privately run secure training centres to help them to progress successfully through their incarceration and to make sure the arrangements for their resettlement are safe and supportive. Legal aid to pay for this work is being abolished. Not only will this mean that children will not get the courses they need to address their offending or the local authority support ...
This morning, Chief Secretary, Danny Alexander visited North Kingston, with Parliamentary hopeful, Robin Meltzer, to talk to local businesses - including Pascalle of the Kings Road Cafe and Jacqueline Lott of the North Kingston Focus Team. Robin has launched a campaign against the corporate tax avoidance that means firms like Starbucks pay a lower tax rate than local cafes.
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Rhetorical gales howled through Westminster over the Syria vote, but the landscape is unaltered Ace summary by @rafaelbehr of the past week's Syria shenanigans: 'Rhetorical gales howled but landscape is unaltered' http://bit.ly/14tB6Jg Government policy to be anecdote-based #funnycositstrue > Government policy to be anecdote-based http://bit.ly/1ehYEru When 140 Characters Isn't Enough: Teach First Boosts GCSE Grades Good summary by @SamFr of the latest evaluation of Teach First http://bit.ly/1ehYyQJ by @drbeckyallen (http://bit.ly/1ehYyQL) Ed Miliband is no leader. He is a vulture | The Times Aaronovitch on Ed: "his technique for victory: follow behind the ...
Lab seat. Death.
Ind seat. Resignation.
Con seat. Death.
Con seat. Death. Prospective Candidate: Scott Collins Contact: Scott Collins, Candidate, 01295 768950 scott.libdem@yahoo.com
The Guardian reports: Ed Miliband will say to the boss of Britain's third largest union that he is determined to press ahead with reforming the Labour party's funding in the aftermath of his organisation's decision to slash its affiliation funds by more than £1m. The Labour leader is prepared to tell Paul Kenny that the unilateral action by the GMB to cut its annual funding by 88% has inadvertently made the case for reform of the historic link between the party and the unions. Full marks to Ed for the principle. But in the battle between the Labour leader and ...
Fact-checking doesn't seem to make politicians more honest. It's the needs of extractive industries that determine policy Election campaigns are strange rituals. This strangeness is most evident in promises about "the economy" - usually a code word for digging things out of the ground faster than your opponent, and shipping them to the nearest furnace or methane fridge. In this heady rhythm of deeper, hotter, faster campaigning the wet blankets known as "fact-checking units" have been a striking feature of the 2013 campaign in Australia. These units, most notably those at the Conversation, the ABC and Politifact, claim that they ...
[IMG: Carmichael looking mean cropped] I said yesterday that I wanted a Liberal Democrat to come out and passionately call Alex Salmond out for suggesting that the case against independence was the case against Scotland. To recap, this is what he said in a Scotland Tonight interview on Tuesday: ..let's see if we can get the pressure on to make sure we pull the Prime Minister into the ring and then let's see if he can articulate a case against Scotland because I'll certainly be articulating the case for Scotland. And that Liberal Democrat calling him out? Step forward Alistair ...
Many of you may have received an email from Unlock Democracy who are currently encouraging Councillors to pass motions that help protect their local pubs. The suggested wording of the motion is as follows: Sample Motion [Name] Council notes the possibility of submitting the following proposal to the government under the Sustainable Communities Act: 'That the Secretary [...]
[IMG: An election count - ballot papers being counted] You've probably noticed I quite often write about how British elections are run, how election law is changing and controversies that have kicked off. However, not all the stories appear on this blog or in my main Facebook/Twitter accounts. For a fuller range of stories (or if you just are interested in them and want to skip the pieces about toilet signage in Pizza Express and what Nick Clegg has got up to), take a look at my UK Election Law news Facebook page or follow @UKElectionLaw on Twitter. If you ...
posted The Blood is The Life 04-09-2013 http://t.co/HmAN8gx39u on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2013/09/unity-is-strength-2 GMB cuts affiliation to the Labour Party: http://t.co/pi2J7LdeHL A say day. My thoughts here: http://t.co/RtQIrLPJ1p (tags: (from twitter) ) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23955577 GMB cuts affiliation to the Labour Party: http://t.co/pi2J7LdeHL A say day. My thoughts here: http://t.co/RtQIrLPJ1p (tags: (from twitter) ) Using harsh verbal discipline with teens found to be harmful (tags: ) http://i.imgur.com/G1txSes.jpg Thomas the Tank Engine says don't do drugs, kids. http://t.co/JYR6q7ivmu (tags: (from twitter) ) http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/27/unfollowbug/ @timarrowsmith I blame the unfollow bug: http://t.co/PUmrwBMbUy (tags: (from twitter) ) http://tmblr.co/ZUhJRsu9Dph7 Holy balls, this is ...
My desk isn't a desk. Technically, it's a heavy slab of wood propped on a stand at one end and screwed into the shelves covering one wall at the other. But, functionally, for about fifteen years it's been functionally identical to a desk, so I forget the technical differences. Until I sat down this morning, switched on my computer, and the screw on my side snapped, causing the slab of wood to pivot on its diagonal axis towards me. Now, we have a small flat and a lot of stuff, so there are (were) piles of books and papers everywhere ...
Thu 5th
10:30Opinion: Regulate more lobbying and less campaigning: how to improve The Transparency of Lobbying, n...
Neither the current rules regulating lobbying nor those controlling so-called 'third party' campaigning (i.e. by someone other than candidates or their parties) are extensive enough. Both need improving. With lobbying, the case for better regulation is easy to make: pick a scandal, any scandal. With third party campaigning, the loopholes and relaxed existing rules are less obvious because, so far, they have either been largely under-exploited or have been made use of by 'good guys' such as Hope Not Hate. Yet the very same generous rules that let Hope Not Hate explicitly campaigning for people not to vote for the ...
[IMG: Vince Cable and Paddy Ashdown at conference] Edition #38 of Liberal Democrat Newswire came out last week, previewing this month's Lib Dem conference in Glasgow. It's now also available online to read here and earlier this week I also published my annual fringe conference league table complete with the Simon Hughes Memorial Prize for Multiple Simultaneous Fringe Bookings. If you would like to receive the next edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire direct to your own inbox as soon as it is published, just sign up here. It's free! You can unsubscribe whenever you want using the link on the ...
[IMG: Hume_Bettsworth] Willie Rennie has written to Bill Walker, the MSP for Dunfermline who was convicted of 23 instances of assault against 3 ex wives and a stepdaughter over a 28 year period to ask him to resign his seat in the Scottish Parliament. Here's his letter in full: Dear Bill, I am sure that you will be aware of the demands for your resignation from the Scottish Parliament from both members of the public and Members of the Scottish Parliament. I was disappointed to read news reports that you are not planning to leave Parliament. You will know that, ...
In this post we talk about the importance of validating what you are doing with your music. If you missed the first video in the series you can find it here. Video Highlights: 0:06 – Validating your music 0:26 – Connecting with your audience 0:36 – Two types of Validation 1:04 – Live shows and EP's Join Gigs Academy to boost your live career. Get the Free Video Training for Musicians Hi, its's James Taylor from Gigs Academy here. Stage 2 – Validation Stage two is all about Validation. The idea of validating what you are doing. I'm not necessarily ...
My children went back to school this morning. It has been a shock after a Mediterranean-style summer. Just wearing grey flannels again after so many weeks has been seriously upsetting. And I sympathise, I really do. I'm a Liberal and therefore wholly committed to education, but I sometimes stumbled over effective answers to the inevitable question: "Why do I have to go to school?" Because when the utilitarians are in charge of education - as they still are, despite the change in government - I'm not absolutely sure. They go to a wonderful primary school, which does so much more ...
Last Friday Liverpool City Council's Cabinet received a report so breathtakingly awful that I found it difficult to believe that it had been issued. As soon as I could I called it in for scrutiny (more about that below) Without ... Continue reading →
Now in its third year the Rotary Club of Dundee is gearing up to present another great mix of live music, real ales and authentic food from Germany from 26th to 28th September. The Club are also delighted that Belhaven Brewery are once again supporting the event as one of their main sponsors along with Dundee based Barnetts Volkswagen who serve the Tayside & Fife area. The music line-up for the third Dundee Rotary Beer and Music Festival at the iconic RRS Discovery quayside in late September has been announced. And again, there is a wealth of live music from ...
Far be it from me to seek legitimacy for my point of view from the Telegraph, however this article by Tom Chivers has hit the nail on the head as far as the badger cull in England is concerned. As it happens Mr. Chivers is repeating what I and many others have been saying for a number of years now. The difference is that he understands the science and writes more fluently than me. Surely it is significant that the Telegraph of all papers is turning against the Government on one of their flagship policies for the English countryside. He ...
chapter 1 , chapter 2 Holly watched amazed. This really was an episode of The Temponauts that she'd never seen! She'd never even heard of it. It had never been mentioned in Trans-Temporal Times. But it was a real episode, no question about it. And it was the most exciting thing she'd ever seen. It [...]
