The Beeb reports that the po-faced keepers of the Spartist flame at Edinburgh University have banned a song because it apparently violates their 'safe space policy' among others. So here is Robin Thicke with 'Blurred Lines' - just in case you are the one person in the world who hasn't yet been exposed to it:
[IMG: Glasgow_Kelvingrove museum] I've had a wonderful day witnessing a cross-section of the industrial and cultural life of the Glasgow area. This morning I toured a remarkable IT facility which is providing much needed employement in the area. Then this afternoon I was treated to a whistle stop tour of Glasgow in a luxury Jaguar with commentary by a long time Glaswegian. It really was thrilling and included a tour of the fantastic Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum where I was particularly gobsmacked by Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dali. The day was topped off in ...
Caron's Musings finds the Liberal Democrats in a pickle over porn: "The truly bizarre thing is that the amendment that was selected is, incredibly, even worse than the main motion. It imposes a bulky bureaucracy that will have very little effect and, does not prioritise education. Why are we thinking that we can just leave it to machines and technology to sort out our warped and unhealthy attitude to sex?" A new report from the Adam Smith Institute explains why the government's Help to Buy scheme will stoke a housing bubble by boosting demand without doing anything for supply and ...
Fri 13th
20:15
First Minister wants to 'move Northern Ireland forward' - pity his colleague in Health department is...
In October 2012 the High Court in Northern Ireland ruled that the ban on same-sex couples here adopting children is unlawful. The Court of Appeal upheld this decision in June of this year when the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's appeal was dismissed. Today we hear that the DUP Minister of Health,...
Fri 13th
20:00
Liberal Democrat Voice Awards: The shortlists (8): Political Broadcaster and commentator
The Liberal Democrat Voice Awards are but 26 hours away. At 10 pm on Saturday 14 September, in Castle 2 of the Crowne Plaza, with cash bar on hand, and an imaginative dress code, the best in blogging, campaigning, social media and politics in general will be feted in a ceremony filled with razzmatazz, glitz and glamour. And so we come to the end of the shortlists we've been drip feeding you for nearly a week now. The final categories are political broadcaster and political commentator (print/online) of the year. The nominations were submitted either via the Summer members' survey ...
Fri 13th
19:05
Candles can create a warm, cosy atmosphere, however if used incorrectly they can present a serious f...
Following a fire at a Harvester restaurant in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is reminding people that if they are using candles, they should follow a few simple steps to make sure they do so safely: * Keep the flame at a safe distance from curtains, furniture and other flammable materials and keep out of the way of draughts that may blow soft furnishings towards the candle * Never leave a burning candle unattended and remember to extinguish before going to sleep * Always use a proper, heat-resistant holder and make sure the candle is stable and cannot ...
Whilst admiring the chutzpah of Grant Shapps criticising a United Nations official for an inaccurate report, there is a danger of losing sight of the fact that Raquel Rolnik appears to make some interesting points in her report. And, regardless of your stance on whether or not it is appropriate for the UN to be examining a matter of internal state policy, it is intriguing to see what others make of our national choices. For, even amongst my fellow Liberal Democrats, the idea that those in social housing should be charged a premium for occupying a property larger than their ...
Danny Alexander makes a nuanced case on the issue of the Trident renewal /alternatives issue here: The error he makes is in even mentioning comments of the US President as a justification. The current US President has shown himself to be eminently unquotable after six years in the job. Danny Alexander's admonition "...that obligation means we must work closely with all our allies, especially our closest one" shows he just hasn't got it that the US will do whatever suits the US and British interests will have to coincide. This fawning shows that even he has been sucked into ...
[IMG: Michael Foot] If you only read the Independent, it would be grim news. The paper reports that Lord Oakeshott popped his head above the parapet to tell Parliament's The House magazine that Nick Clegg is "worse than Michael Foot". We have to accept that Nick's ratings have been poor and have been for a long time. You've got to be frank that his ratings are down at levels which, if you go back, were only seen by Mrs Thatcher shortly before she left and Michael Foot. Well, that's his view and the Telegraph's venerable Benedict Brogan dismisses it outright: ...
Fri 13th
17:00
would you like to see the nailed on winner of the LDV Photo of the Year for next year ? Here you go.
Unbeatable
In the run up to London 2012 I did a series looking back at all the previous Olympics posting it at 5pm every Friday, I've decided to do the same in the run up to Sochi 2014 with the Winter Olympic Games. You can catch up on any you missed in the Olympiads Revisited tab. The 1924 Summer Olympics were to he held in Paris, France. In the 1908 and 1920 Summer Games Figure skating had featured and in the 1920 Ice Hockey had also taken part. In 1921 the decision was made to have Semaine Internationale des Sports d'Hiver ...
This will be the last post for the foreseeable future on this blog, as I have accepted a politically restricted position and will be ceasing partisan comment. Given this, I've decided to actually explain the blog's title, which – alongside people pointing out its obvious pretension – is something that has apparently caused some confusion. [...]
Over at the LSE's Impact of Social Science blog has a good piece uncovering flaws in a report by the Thatcherite Centre for Policy Studies A fortnight ago, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) published the report 'Bias at the Beeb: A quantitative study of slant in BBC online reporting', announcing, in the words of its author, [...]
[IMG: Dr Strangelove] Few aspects of British policy have remained so undisturbed for so long as the UK's attitude to nuclear deterrence. As we bring home our troops from Germany, tying up one of the last loose ends in a Cold War conflict that Britons under the age of 40 can probably barely remember, it would be wise for our nuclear policy to finally catch up. This is not a new idea for us. In opposition, Liberal Democrats opposed Tony Blair's plan for early like-for-like replacement of Trident nuclear weapons and we did so on the basis that a system ...
Dear Lord Ashdown I know you've a lot on, so I'll be brief. Obviously there's a lot riding on the next general election, and as our general election campaign chief, you'll feel the weight of responsibility to the country to ensure we finish with the best liberal representation you can deliver. To that end I have no doubt you will be pursuing an incumbency strategy, looking to retain as many of our 57 seats as you can. Doubtless this is the right way to go , and the higher the number of seats we retain, the better the chances of ...
Here is my column in today's South Manchester Reporter. It was written before the Government committed another £52million in humanitarian aid, and before Russia's offer to put Syria's chemical [...]
[IMG: Lloyd George Poster] Liberal Reform's first publication - The Coalition and Beyond : Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead is an interesting, thoughtful and practical guide to ideas the party needs to be looking at the next few years, through the rest of the coalition and beyond. We've had some really great contributions, from people within and outside the party with liberal credentials. It's been remarked already how many different levels of the party have contributed to this - from Parliamentarians, to PPCs and ordinary activists and members. We did have this aim in mind, so are pleased with ...
Fri 13th
14:52
So The Daft Buggers at @LibDemVoice have nominated me for THREE awards, including the Big Botty.
This makes this post somewhat more difficult than I was anticipating... ANYWAY. I am going to tell you who I would like to see win and who I think WILL win (with as many single intenders as I can fit) and we'll find out tomorrow how right or wrong I am. CategoryWho I want to winWho I think WILL winComment Blog of the Year (The Big Botty) Zoe O'Connell David Boyle I nominated Jonathan Calder for Liberal England, mainly because I can't believe he's not won it already. David Boyle has been consistently good this year, though... The field is ...
This is the third part of my wander through the conference agenda. You can find Saturday's here and Sunday's here. First up on Monday morning is a debate on the new Liberal Democrat approach to race equality. The motion argues that it's really important to develop targeted strategies for each under-represented or discriminated-against group to tackle the issues which are specific to them. It calls for measures on things like school exclusion, university recruitment, equality monitoring for every organisation in receipt of public money and diversity in the school curriculum. A massive confrontation on the economy? The media will bill ...
[IMG: Rocks Green Ludlow] All policies have winners and losers. The inevitable consequence of policy-making is that some people in the country must lose out; it is the Government who must decide who this will be when they are passing laws. Which is why, on the surface, few scrutinised George Osborne's help-to-buy scheme when it was introduced in the form of an Equity Loan in April of this year. The idea of giving people help to buy new build homes is one that has no immediate losers. But in the long run, we will all pay the price. The housing ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... About Fancy playing #fantasypolitics? @Demos has launched it in time for conference season http://bit.ly/1g9nqYT (I'm judging LD own goal award) Paddy Ashdown on why he's the party's 'plumber' | Total Politics Great @sammacrory interview with @paddyashdown http://bit.ly/1eKDLWg Politics Weekly podcast: Lib Dem conference preview | Politics | theguardian.com ICYMI, here's the link to the @GdnPolitics Weekly podcast previewing Lib Dem conference with, erm, me (& others) http://bit.ly/189wGre Welcome to Glasgow - my article for AD LIB My LDV Co-Editor @CaronMLindsay on the delights of Glasgow, my temporary home for the next 5 ...
[IMG: Proud of Stockport] The Proud of Stockport awards will see individuals, groups or teams that go out of their way to make the borough a better place, recognised at a ceremony at Stockport Town Hall. The Council, its partners, and award sponsors are asking people for their suggestions as to who should be honoured with a Proud of Stockport award. Do you know someone who helps to make Stockport special? Is there an individual, a group, a volunteer, or perhaps a local personality, or someone else who deserves recognition for good and community spirit? The award categories are: Ambassador ...
Stockport is supporting the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1918. Along with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Air Force Association in 1943 A service will be held at St George's Church on Wellington Road South (A6), Heaviley, on Sunday 15th September at 2.30pm. Following the service, a parade will march along the A6 northwards to the Armoury on Greek Street. The salute will be taken by the Mayor of Stockport, Councillor Chris Murphy, at the War Memorial, in front of Stockport Art Gallery, en route to the Armoury. The ...
Fri 13th
13:03Conference: Emergency Motion - Home Office Immigration Poster Vans and Attitude to Migrant Communiti...
[IMG: Go Home Poster Van] I was a witness at an Immigration tribunal hearing earlier this year for a friend. Let's call her Little Red. She came to the UK from China as a masters student and worked for the NHS on graduation. But following a painful divorce she found she no longer had the right to work and live in the UK. Little Red has appealed the Home Office's decision but is still waiting for an answer. Hers is merely one case in half a million back log of cases currently with the Home Office or in the appeals ...
Via Sam Coates: [IMG: Banking crisis graphic]
To celebrate the beginning of Lib Dem conference – which sadly I'm missing – here's a joke at our expense. In this video from the 90s Rory Bremner impersonating Paddy Ashdown sings a Lib Dem inflected version of the YMCA: Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Lib Dem, Liberal Democrat, Paddy Ashdown, Rory Bremner, YMCA
The Ancient Greeks may have concluded that cyclops existed based on fossils. The mythical giant one eyed creature that menanced Odysseus and his crew may have been based on a mammoth skull. According to National Geographic: "to paleontologists today, the large hole in the center of the skull suggests a pronounced trunk. To the ancient [...]
[IMG: Sizewell] Will the Lib Dems ditch their historic opposition to nuclear power? That debate is set to be one of the main flashpoints at the Glasgow conference. New polling evidence - published here for the first time - shows the outcome will affect support among key voter groups - 'our market', as the jargon goes - with all that means for key seats and the overall result of the next election. Of course the debate itself will be about technical details: how nuclear technology can be called safe when no solution has yet been found for waste that remains ...
As Conference comes around again there have been the usual rumblings and suggestions in the Press that Nick Clegg's leadership of the Liberal Democrat party is coming to an end and that dissatisfied activists are going to try and oust him this weekend or make serious challenges to his leadership. These have proved baseless since the Tuition fees rise three years ago but still haunt the party. The thing is there is light at the end of the Coalition tunnel and many activists are starting to look at 2015 and wondering if we were to go for a new leader ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 343rd weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (1-7 September, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. UKIP admits forged ...
This week Autumn returns, with a week of cold rain and misty days replacing the heatwave. Autumn is a great time for implementing plans and so we have started on clearing out the QMMFB in the first steps to turning it into a pond and taking cuttings of some plants worth trying to save. The change in the weather makes me think it is unlikely I'll see any aubergines fruit now but least the rain will fill the water butt for the pond. (Autumn is great time to get back to writing and the link will take you to information ...
[IMG: guardian politics] LibDemVoice co-editor Stephen Tall joined the panel for this week's Guardian Politics Weekly podcast, hosted by Hugh Muir and also featuring Guardian columnists Seumas Milne and Anne Perkins. They preview the Liberal Democratic party conference; Ed Miliband's reception at the TUC; and Boris Johnson losing the plot at the London assembly. There's also a contribution from Lester Holloway from Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats, highlighting the party's continuing difficulties in getting MPs elected from diverse backgrounds. You can listen to it here online, or download it as an MP3 here.
Liberal Democrat Newswire #38 carried my preview of what was likely to happen at the Liberal Democrat Glasgow conference. In a special update today, Newswire #39 looks at the amendments that are being taken for debate – and how they mean that two possible flash point now look less likely to be incendiary. You can read it online here. If you would like join thousands of others in receiving 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! Here too is the full update booklet ...
George Osborne claimed that his policies would reconstruct our economy, away from services and towards manufacturing. Herewith the evidence so far: Estate agent jobs: + 77 000 Manufacturing jobs: -14 000 You couldn't make it up.
[IMG: Menzies and Paddy] In today's Guardian, Menzies Campbell says that Nick Clegg has turned the corner and his role as leader is no longer under threat: Coalition politics is not for the faint-hearted. Nor is leadership, as Nick Clegg will tell you. As he contemplates his fourth party conference as deputy PM, his thoughts, and his leader's speech, need to be turning to the general election, now less than two years away. He can do so with more confidence than 12 months ago. Last year's atrial flutterings over his leadership have died away. His policy of differentiation between the ...
posted The Blood is The Life 12-09-2013 http://t.co/4Uz5gRwaQ0 on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) http://ldv.org.uk/36125 Quick! Here is your chance to vote for @EngDiscoLovers in the @libdemvoice Awards: http://t.co/Pr2q9YNlr9 (tags: (from twitter) ) http://ldv.org.uk/36126 Another shoo-in for @julianhuppert I'd wager LOL @libdemvoice Awards: Your chance to choose (2): Best photograph http://t.co/7ul54TiRHb (tags: (from twitter) ) Fantastic post on motion F17 at #ldconf by @caronmlindsay: What were the Federal Conference Committee thinking? http://t.co/FnOuJZVu9c (tags: (from twitter) ldconf ) There is no great stigma attached to being a rapist http://t.co/nsFcHLlr5H I wrote this. Was/am a bit cross... (tags: ...
Fri 13th
09:55
How to get a high-quality low-price version of 101 Ways To Win An Election at conference
[IMG: 101 Ways To Win An Election on a bookshelf at Liberal Democrat conference] Well, I say high-quality. By which I mean autographed by 50% of the authors... But the low price is a good conference-special one: £9. So if you haven't yet purchased a copy of 101 Ways To Win An Election for yourself, your parents, your neighbour and your cat*, come to the ALDC stall between 4:00pm and 4:30pm on Sunday and pick up a copy. (The book is also available as an e-book. See here for details.) * As you'll see, internet-savvy cats love Chapter 20.
Tomorrow, I am reliably informed (thank you, Simon), is the 50th anniversary of Jo Grimond's famous 'Sound of Gunfire' speech - probably the most famous speech he made, and a key moment in the very first Liberal Revival. I've just been reading it and it is strangely dated, perhaps not surprising given that it was given a month after Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech and two months before the assassination of John Kennedy. In other words, it was a long time ago. But the final peroration is memorable and important, especially for the generation of Liberals before ...
[IMG: Big Ben £] Concerted non-party campaigns now weave more citizens together than the parties can dream of, and raise a lot of money in the process. They do so not with intensely political 'values', but with a chance to pit 'the people' against 'the politicians' on a given issue. For better or worse, this has a broader appeal than the starkly partisan campaigning we are used to. The challenge Parliament has to deal with is what all this means for elections, in which non-party groups may increasingly express a preference for one party, or even a group of parties, ...
Fri 13th
09:00
Coalition and Beyond: Kirsty Williams on Grassroots Economics marks Day 4 of countdown to publicatio...
[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 ...
As a pro-Israeli British Liberal Democrat, I am very pleased that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas this week met Lib Dem Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in London on a four-day visit that also included meetings with Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague President was mainly in London for a three-hour meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry re:- the latest Israel/Palestine peace talks and it's good to see that Mr Clegg "underlined to President Abbas the UK's support for the courageous and decisive leadership he has shown, together with ...
Federal Conference begins in Glasgow tomorrow. There will be coverage on BBC-Parliament, and on Liberal Democrat Voice which will provide background information and comment. Peter Black AM will represent Swansea and the South Wales West region at conference.
An interview from last night's Channel 4 News.
Federal Conference is probably the best fun that you will ever have in your life. You will thoroughly enjoy every exhausting moment. If you're new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I had a long break from going to them and when I returned, two years ago, I spent the first day wandering round like a child in a toy shop. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd throw together a fairly random list of tips and hints for getting the best out of the annual cornucopia of Liberal Democracy. 1. ...
I love my wonderful niece Laura. 21 years ago today, she appeared on the scene 6 weeks earlier than expected, in the middle of a Liberal Democrat Conference. So I have to nip home this evening from a Liberal Democrat Conference for an early family dinner, before heading back for the Liberal Democrat Voice Awards (Castle 2, Crowne Plaza, 10-11:30 pm, host of stars, dress code imaginative, you know the drill by now). We never found out about her birth for two days. They didn't have mobile phone then, or the internet. I thought I'd share with you, not in ...
The Church in Wales at least has decided that it belongs in the twenty first century with its vote yesterday to admit women bishops. As the BBC says, their decision overturns that in 2008, which narrowly rejected the reform. With Scotland and Northern Ireland already allowing women bishops surely it is inconceivable that the Church of England will not now embrace the reform when it comes to vote again in November.
This photograph shows a section of Dundee's Perth Road's north side, looking to the west, with a no longer extant road at the righthand side. The taller block is Hermonhill (numbered 21-27 Perth Road), the smaller one Hermonhill Terrace (1-6, disregarding continuous numbering of Perth Road). George H. Gibb, the town postmaster, lived at No. 21, Hermonhill House. In 1895, the residents of the terrace included Mrs J. McCheyne (widow of the Rev. J. M. McCheyne, a [prominent Dundonian preacher), George A. Harris, an architect, and the undertaker William Scarlett, who had offices in Ann Street and Logie Street.
It is often said that it is not polite to talk about religion or politics. Well that has not deterred Liberal Democrats MP, Steve Webb who according to the BBC believes in God and thinks he is a liberal, but not a Liberal Democrat. It is an important distinction and one that Steve Webb outlines very comprehensively: Mr Webb has received much press coverage in recent weeks for claiming in the foreword to Lib Dems Do God, that God "must be a liberal". He explained his statement to The House Magazine, saying: "What I say in the foreword is God ...
I have called on the Government to back the Energy Bill Revolution, a campaign calling on them to use the money it gets from carbon taxes to help UK homes cut their energy bills. The Government will raise £4 billion a year in carbon taxes over the next 15 years. If this money were recycled to households to spend on energy efficiency measures, it would be enough to bring 9 out of 10 households out of fuel poverty. It could also be used to create 200,000 jobs and quadruple carbon emission cuts compared to the Government's new energy efficiency schemes. ...
This programme is now available on 4oD. It's a 'must-see', but deeply shocking and disturbing. Full marks to Liz MacKean for excellent journalism. The rank and file police come out of the programme respectably. Those "above" them don't. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
