[IMG: Lib Reform book] 'Coalition and Beyond: Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead' is published this Saturday, 15th September, at the Glasgow conference. With a foreword by Nick Clegg, and ahem edited by me, it brings together 20 essays by a disparate group of liberals. Some will have you nodding along in agreement; others will probably have you spluttering in disbelief. That's as it should be. Nowt worse than group-think, especially in a party wrestling with how to defend its record in government while renewing itself ready for the next election. Liberal Reform, which has brought the contributors together, is ...
Ed Miliband has urged unions to have "the courage to change" in his speech to the TUC at Bournemouth this morning. He is looking for union members to opt in to becoming Labour members rather than getting them to pay an affiliation fee. I was watching the Daily Politics today and two union delegates were being interviewed by Jo Coburn (around 36 minutes into the programme). Both the Unison and the GMB delegates agreed that Ed and the Labour Party's agenda was not the same as that of the unions. Union members were not asking about their relationship with the ...
Can it really be almost nine years since Conrad Russell died? In October 2004 I wrote: Conrad Russell died last week, an irreplaceable loss to the Liberal Democrats and to Liberalism in general. There were worthy obituaries in the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. I remember his saying once, rather overgenerously, that I did for the party what Matthew Parris does for the country. I also remember his asking me, as his wife had always wondered, why Lord Bonkers talked about Earl Russell and his Big Band. I explained that as there were band leaders called Count Basie and Duke ...
This is the second part of my meander through the conference agenda. You can find Saturday's here. Those Powers that Be don't miss a trick, do they? Part of Conference's job is to scrutinise the party committees. So, when do they put on the report of the most unaccountable committee in the Party, the Federal Finance and Administration Committee? First thing on Sunday morning when many representatives will be sleeping off the effects of the Glasgow ales and whiskies from the night before. Immediately after comes the vote of the Parliamentary Parties. If you have any questions about, for example, ...
"In my heart I want to support HS2; but my head just wont let me. Sure I want a railway service fit for the 21st century. But I need to see the plan that delivers that. I don't think the HS2 plan on its own delivers yet." A View from Ham Common remains unconvinced. Max Atkinson has been mystified by the locations at which the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have delivered some rather important recent speeches. George Osborne's latest effort leaves him more mystified still. On Vice, Simon Childs describes how he was arrested for trying to ...
[IMG: LDConf app] We are delighted to announce that our Autumn Conference App is now available for download. The Conference App is an supplement to the Conference Agenda, Directory and Training Guide. My two favourite features on the App are: My Schedule: add fringe events, auditorium sessions and training to an electronic diary. Business Card : swap your contact information with other attendees in seconds. We do understand there were a few issues with the App at Spring Conference due to the lack of WiFi and poor mobile signal. There will be complimentary WiFi in the SECC but we do ...
As a councillor for East Dulwich and former chair of Southwark Cyclists I was horrified to hear of the tragic death of SE22 resident Chiara Giacomini last Wednesday. The crash with a Veolia HGV happened on Thurlow Park Road near its junction with Gallery Road. Cycling is incredibly safe but when it goes wrong with a lorry especially a HGV, waste or tipper lorry, it too often proves fatal. Our roads must be made safer and policing of all vehicles must stop being a low priority in London and the Dulwich area. Such HGVs have been involved in 53% of ...
The BBC News website has a report of a pre-conference briefing by David Laws. It contains this remarkable passage: The education and Cabinet Office minister said they would use their week in Glasgow to start work on a set of distinctive Lib Dem policies to put before voters in 2015. But he stressed that the final decision on what would go in the manifesto would not be made until the second half of 2014. And although there will be a string of new policy announcements in Glasgow, they have all been agreed with the Conservatives, reflecting the coalition's desire to ...
Friendship clubs are for older people who like gentle exercise and games as well as socialising with a cup of tea or coffee. All the clubs are led by a friendly, approachable instructor with a specialist qualification in exercise for older people. The nearest clubs in our area are: Monday at 10am till 11.30am at St Nix Family Centre, Chargorve, Yate BS37 4LG Friday 10 am till 11.30 am at Cambrian Green Court. Wellington Road, Yate, BS37. 5TR To find out more please call 01454 862296 or 07825 155954 for a friendly chat.
[IMG: Energy-bills-006] I'm very aware just how many people are worried about bills, not least their energy bills. These concerns will only increase over the coming months as the nights draw in, the temperature begins to drop and the 'on switch' for the heating is flicked. I'm doing everything I can to help people keep their bills down, from piloting 'collective switching' which allows communities to use their buying power to get the best deals from energy suppliers, to legislating to make sure the 'Big 6' simplify bills, and switch people who are on 'dead tariffs' to the cheapest variable ...
[IMG: image] The Glasgow conference app is now available on Apple's app store.I have just tested it on my iPad and it works extremely well. It looks great. I have used the new "My Schedule" function to diary in my meetings for Saturday (so far). It is a superb addition which, at last, does away with the need for messing around with highlighter pens or biros. P.S Uh-oh. It seems to be losing "My Schedule" once I log out of a session on the app. Oh dear. I've now downloaded the Android versin from Google Play. That keeps MySchedule entries ...
The Western Mail reports that the use of stun guns by South Wales Police officers has almost trebled in the space of two years:. Government figures have revealed that South Wales Police use tasers more than any other force in Wales, clocking up 67 uses over the second half of 2011, compared to just 24 in the first half of 2009. Across Wales, the use of Tasers has almost doubled between the start of 2009 and the end of 2011 Gwent Police were the only force to see a reduction in Taser use, falling from 80 between January and July ...
When the Michael Le Vell verdict came through this afternoon I wasn't surprised. Not because he's famous and famous people get off. Not because I didn't believe the accuser. Not because I thought he looked like a good guy but I wasn't surprised because I have been there – in the jury room on a very similar case where it came down solely to whether we believed the accuser or whether we believed the defendant and I saw how a jury swayed from what their gut instincts were to how we found the man. You see the legal system is ...
As the debate begins once again about who, in the event of an hung Parliament we would be most likely (or most like) to go into Government with (and of course the answer is, who ever the arithmetic dictates and we can do a deal with), I'd like to ponder a different question. Which seats round the cabinet table would we like? Now of course, the number of seats will be driven by how successful we are at the election. But I thought - let's give everyone 5 votes and then see the rank order of popularity or importance readers ...
[IMG: Paddy Ashdown talks on "The global power shift" in Brussels March 1st 2012 - Some rights reserved by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE ] Do you remember your first conference? I certainly remember mine. It was in Birmingham several years ago; stewards had a quick look through my bag inside the conference centre, and then I started queueing for a coffee. I suddenly realised that the man in front of me was the great Paddy Ashdown. I was so starstruck, I had to leave! Once my overwhelming awe had dissipated, I got lost in a whirlwind of speeches, debates and policy-making; and that ...
And so I'm the new Readers' Editor for Liberal Democrat Voice, a fine body of men and women - an interesting challenge indeed, and one that may, or may not, keep me busy. What has become immediately obvious is the dilemma of balancing the desires of those who lean towards freedom against those who lean towards community. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, in that there is a 'sweet spot' around which most can coalesce. The catch? The people who are most removed from that sweet spot are often the most challenging towards that consensus. They aren't necessarily difficult, ...
[IMG: Eliminating violence against women - Some rights reserved by European Parliament] Nearly one third of women and nearly one fifth of men say they have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16. Yet it remains an under-reported, misunderstood and incredibly damaging crime. Last year alone in the UK around 1.2 million women and 800,000 men suffered domestic abuse and over 400,000 women were sexually assaulted. But, the sad fact is this number is probably wrong, the true figure is thought to be far worse. Victims still fear coming forward while there is also a significant lack of understanding ...
Another Liberal Democrat Conference starts this weekend, and once again I'm looking at What the Lib Dems Stand For. Before this Spring's Conference, I published a series of articles challenging us to combine our principles, our priorities in government, and our Leadership's message to tell other people we're about and inspire ourselves to be enthusiastic about it. Tomorrow I'll be publishing some more ideas of what we stand for written by other Lib Dems. Today, it's something more personal: how did I get here? Why did I become a Lib Dem in the first place? And why do I stay? ...
I know that it's still only September, but I thought that I'd give the basic arrangements for the various Services of Remembrance in Blyth. This year Remembrance Day falls on 10th November, and the services are around this date. 3rd November, Submariners Service at the memorial outside St Mary's 9th November, Newsham service at the memorial at "the pavilion" 10th November , Services at Cowpen memorial , followed by Bebside. With the closure of Bebside club, I'm not aware of the arrangements as the memorial is/was in the club. 10th November, Blyth Service at Ridley Park memorials 11th November , ...
Most zero hours contracts are exploitative and heavily weighted in favour of employers. The media are reporting that today Ed Miliband will use his speech to the TUC to outline his proposals for cleaning up this murky practice. Miliband wants to outlaw contracts which offer no guarantee of work, but which do not allow the employee to work for anyone else. He also believes that anyone who works regularly for one employer should be moved on to a proper contract, which will, of course, include holidays and other statutory benefits. He is right, of course, and I am rather ashamed ...
[IMG: 1920s woman in silk kimono smoking using a cigarette holder] Calling all Voting Reps - Vote for Emergency Motion 7 on Tobacco Plain Packaging At this year's autumn conference in Glasgow Lib Dem voting reps have the chance to change history, to go up against Big Tobacco and their secretive lobbyists, some of them at the heart of the Tory Party, and to help us win a vote in Parliament to protect young people from tobacco advertising. Nearly two thirds of smokers started before they were 18. Currently tobacco companies can market cigarette packs in the shape of ipods ...
Liberal Christianity is often rather lacking in bite. This Australian church seems to be rectifying this with some amusingly spiky signs. My favourite one is the one above though there are plenty more. Hat Tip: Upworthy Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Christian, gay rights, God, Liberal Christianity, religion, sexuality, theology
Something I've been helping Duncan Brack and others update over the summer: [IMG: Dictionary of Liberal Quotations 2nd edition] Now contains a quote about cockroaches. I think you can guess who said it... The Dictionary of Liberal Quotations, edited by Duncan Brack, is available for pre-order here.
My brilliant Co-Editor Caron Lindsay has helpfully collected all in one place what the Lib Dem Voice editorial team is up to during the party's Glasgow conference. Here's when and where you'll find me, at least when I'm not in the official LDV broom cupboard... Stephen Tall Stephen has 6 outings on the fringe. He's: Chairing the CentreForum fringe, 'Data world: how should liberals balance privacy and liberty', Sunday at 11am in Boisdale 2, SECC, alongside Julian Huppert MP, Sarah Ludford MEP and Lord (Tom) McNally. Chairing the Electoral Reform Society fringe, 'Asking the people: where should the Liberal Democrats ...
[IMG: Gibraltar] On Sunday 1 September, I was treated to what many of my constituents face on a daily basis, a border queue. I got off rather lightly with 90 minutes. Many Gibraltarians who dare to cross the frontier face delays of over four hours. But they are a hardy lot. They survived eighteen years under Franco with the border closed. In December 2011, the Liberal Party of Gibraltar, our sister party on the Rock, was elected to office in coalition with the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party. At about the same time, a general election in Spain saw a moderate ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... British Social Attitudes 30 | NatCen Social Research Today's mustmustmust-read is @NatCen's British Social Attitudes 30th survey http://bit.ly/19D6xEc UK becoming more socially/econ liberal... Some zero hours contacts are good for employees as well as employers Some good points from Mary Reid > Some zero hours contacts are good for employees as well as employers http://bit.ly/17mJ229 Stephen Tall: Seven ideas to unite liberal Conservatives and market liberals: a personal wish-list Conservative Home Columnists Here's my @ConHome column: 7 ideas to unite liberal Conservatives and market Liberals: a personal wish-list http://bit.ly/1dXou5C Rupert Murdoch asks ...
Dear Senator Mikulski I hope you don't mind me, a UK citizen, writing to you. I think of you as 'my' Senator as I spent a summer working in Ocean City in 1987 - when you were in your first year as a Maryland Senator. It is wonderful that you are still there. In the next few days you will be asked to vote for or against military action in Syria. I am not going to presume to tell you how to vote - I am not American, and it is clear from your proud record voting against action in ...
...writing about Lib Dem Conference "However, it appears unfeasible so close to an election that conference would be in the mood to inflict derial defeats on Clegg, even if they were capable of doing so". Um......
This week Southwark Lib Dems confirmed they would protect universal free school meals in Southwark. We have pledged to retain free universal school meals for all primary children when we win control of the council in next year's local elections. With the council's programme of free school meals now being rolled out to all primary school years, Liberal Democrats say we would make sure school meals are protected from any cuts. Liberal Democrat councillor colleagues also agreed we would look at going further than free school meals if we are running the council from 2014, looking at what other measures ...
Last week we republished in English an open farewell letter from a departing Spanish scientist to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that had generated a huge response in both the old and new media. Here, the author of that letter, Amaya Moro-Martín, describes how cuts and delays are compounding long-standing bureaucratic problems to damage the viability and international credibility of the Spanish science system. While the Spanish government claims that "a considerable effort" has been made to maintain public investment, real spending on R&D in Spain has fallen cumulatively 33.1% during this administration (45.7% since 2009), placing our country well below ...
Next Wednesday is the public meeting to discuss the proposed development of 100 houses on land to the north of Upper Chapel. The meeting takes place at 6pm in the town hall and all are welcome. This gives a chance for local residents to make their views known to Cornwall Council's strategic planning committee. The committee will be making their decision at a later date and the law states that they cannot take part in that decision if they have 'pre-determined' their position. In other words, they will not be able to make their views known or answer questions next ...
In 1929, a general election took place while Britain was in the grip of economic difficulty and unemployment was high. Under the leadership of David Lloyd George, the Liberal Party chose to stand for election under the slogan "We Can...Read more ›
A quick reminder that the Launceston event which forms part of my budget consultation roadshow takes place in the town hall tomorrow from 6.30pm until 8pm. You can find out more information about the budget process and consultation here. Tweet
There I am nestled between 'Elephant kills French Pensioner' and 'Would you let Ian Mckellan conduct your wedding?' Do pop over and have a gander; its got a fair amount of comment (340 and counting last time I looked). For me tho' that's enough Sarah Teather stuff now. Its less I disagree with what she did (in standing down) and more how she did it. But she's also done an awful lot of good for the party. Time to draw a veil and move on.
Here's a reminder for 'stop the war' types that there is a war in fact already a war in Syria. Of the two million refugees to leave Syria, more than a hundred thousand have made there way to the UN run Zaatari refugee camp. It's in Jordan and lies just to the south of its [...]
Britain's membership of the European Union used to command almost universal assent from the country's intellectuals. Just how far this has changed was made clear to me by a recent BBC Point of View talk by the philosopher Roger Scruton. He concluded a thoughtful series of talks on the nature of democracy with what amounted to a diatribe against the European Union as an "unaccountable empire". Mr Scruton is a serious man, and his criticism of the EU needs to taken seriously by supporters of Britain's membership like me. . The essence of Mr Scruton's talks is that democracy is ...
Many years ago, right back in the mid-to-late 1980s, I was editor of a wonderful magazine called Town & Country Planning. My successor has done an excellent job ever since, but I have always missed it. I remember, in those days, how many reports used to cross my desk about the estimated value of private sector housing dilapidations - the total amount that was required to repair the UK's housing stock. One of the peculiar side-effects of the Lawson-inspired house price inflation which hit us about the time I moved on has been that we don't get so many of ...
[IMG: Comic Con foursome] Last Saturday, the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre was full of trolls, superheroes, and Pokemon. I kid you not. 20,000 people, many of them in costume, turned up for the Scottish Comic Con event. My daughter, or Karkat Vantas as she preferred to be called, was one of them. The photo shows a selection of the colourful and elaborate costumes on show. Next Saturday, it'll be full of Liberal Democrats gathering for Conference. Insert your own joke here. In the first of a series of preview posts, I thought I'd let you know what the Liberal ...
A useful article (which first appeared on the European Movement's euroblog) by Matthew Donaher of the trade union UNISON on why it's important to vote in next year's European Elections — and how migrant workers benefiting from the EU's freedom of movement of labour could influence the outcome: In 1999 I was part of the [...]
posted The Blood is The Life 09-09-2013 http://t.co/GrWIdZ0KRy on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) http://www.theguardian.com/p/3ttjy/tw 'Titstare' app at Techcrunch: women in tech deserve better - Amy Gray http://t.co/BTVpbHyL3M via @guardian #sexism #womenintech (tags: (from twitter) sexism womeni ) https://t.co/OKIvW5qXTs @carlminns (tags: (from twitter) ) Thanks to @A_C_McGregor & @timfarron I have been singing The Internet Is For Porn all morning. https://t.co/qwXIFSYUtU (tags: (from twitter) ) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-23956771 BBC News - The hidden epidemic of hate crime http://t.co/lC2dr5YkVa (tags: (from twitter) ) I done been nominatamacated for an Award: http://t.co/ZOFdV5vzyA (tags: (from twitter) ) Computerisation was to ...
[IMG: Generational Trends Politics BSA] It is no surprise, but it still makes grim reading. According to today's release of the British Social Attitudes survey, most young people are no longer interested in politics. The survey shows that we are not just losing an entire generation to politics. People of all ages are becoming less engaged with the political process. We face future prospect of governments being elected on turnouts of well below 50%. As disinterest in party politics grows, we must ask whether our political structures, especially political parties, will still be relevant in the decades to come. First, ...
Most zero hours contracts are exploitative and heavily weighted in favour of employers. The media are reporting that today Ed Miliband will use his speech to the TUC to outline his proposals for cleaning up this murky practice. Miliband wants to outlaw contracts which offer no guarantee of work, but which do not allow the employee to work for anyone else. He also believes that anyone who works regularly for one employer should be moved on to a proper contract, which will, of course, include holidays and other statutory benefits. He is right, of course, and I am rather ashamed ...
This photograph shows the point where Perth Road meets Hawkhill, known locally as The Sinderins. Slightly to the east and left of the image, Blackness Avenue leads northwards towards Balgay Park. The block of three-storey buildings is known as Manor Place. None of the businesses is easily identified. The West End Drapery Warehouse may have been Jessie Croll and John Pringle, listed as Nos. 217 and 219 Perth Road for over ten years. Jessie Croll lived at No. 330 Hawkhill, and John Pringle at No. 3 St Johnswood Terrace. No information has been found about the confectionery actually at Sinderins. ...
Former Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain was all over the media yesterday telling anybody who would listen that the Severn Barrage is dead in the water and that it is all the coalition government's fault. He also dismisses the conclusions of the all-party Commons' Energy and Climate Change Committee about the supposed thinness of the business case for the Barrage. So basically, it is everybody else's fault. The Western Mail reports that the Chancellor has responded as follows: "As you know, DECC is encouraging Hafren Power to undertake more work on the details of the project, particularly the ...
Jan Berry may not have been the most original musical force ever, but he definitely knew how to knock off someone else's sound successfully. He'd been hanging around on the edge of the music business for years, first as a member of The Barons, a doo-wop group that got no further than playing a handful [...]
[IMG: 8501244926_80f2423585_n] The more I think about economic policy the more I think that there isn't a big enough dose of interpretivism applied to it. This thought recurred yesterday reading George Osborne's set piece speech in which he, as Isabel Hardman of the Spectator put it, "trashed" Plan B. I think trash-talk would perhaps be a better description of his approach. One thing that - some - economists have learnt from the Great Recession of 2007-08 is that our understanding of the economy is rather more partial than had hitherto been assumed. That doesn't mean that economists don't have interesting ...
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