I sometimes suspect, that the labour party have not evolved too far from those gray days of the 1970's when Labour seemed more in tune with the totalitarian regimes of East Europe, than a free open society. Taking a gander at the new Thanet council website, I was frankly shocked and surprised, not that they have wasted time and money on a new website but a notification on the site that for reasons best known to the council a fleet of fifteen new dust carts, are to be fitted security cameras covering 360°, which we are informed will film continuously. ...
Four prominent Jersey citizens have sued the blogger and former senator Stuart Syvret because they want to have posts removed from his blog. They are not suing him for libel, as you might expect, but under data protection legislation. Their legal action is being funded by the Jersey government. And the trial took place in secret. That's justice, Jersey style. Thanks to voiceforchildren.
Three years ago Oxfam sent me to New York to blog about the Millennium Development Goals Summit and the Social Good Summit. You too can share in this year's Social Good Summit (without the per diem expenses, obviously) via its website. And there will be a lot of good stuff there: The Social Good Summit is a three-day conference where big ideas meet new media to create innovative solutions. Held during UN Week from September 22-24, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders to discuss a big idea: the power of innovative thinking and technology to ...
Question: What is the Council's policy with regard to the paving over of front gardens and the consequent effect that the loss of green space has on amenity and local economy? (Thank you to @D_J_Greenwood for suggestion) Answer: The Council's ability to influence the paving over of front gardens is relatively limited. The paving over [...]
Back in the real world. Where the one where I no longer am looking at how I can get called to speak in a debate at party conference I have decided to handle the three big issues that Lib Dems have been discussing since they emerged into the Glasgow sunshine (where had that been all week) inspired by Nick Clegg's words. The first I'd heard rumours of from within the SECC was that Lembit Öpik has written that he is considering throwing his hat into the ring for Brent Central. But in an article in which he decries dissent at ...
In this excellent post, blogging pioneer and creator of the Daily Dish, Andrew Sullivan explains why blogging has improved his writing. This is particularly impressive given that he was already being an accomplished writer when he started blogging: When I started blogging - writing as clearly, briefly and colloquially as possible - I worried that [...]
This is my surprisingly loyalist 'First person' column in today's Leicester Mercury. Three years in and the Lib Dems are doing okay Crisis? What crisis? When I joined the Liberal Party in the late 1970s we were finishing behind the National Front in parliamentary by-elections and our former leader was about to go on trial at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to murder. That's a crisis. The Liberal Democrats at their Conference in Glasgow this week has been wrestling with a very different problem. Our rickety electoral system managed to produce the correct result at the 2010 general election. The ...
Four by-elections this evening according to Vote UK - with the Lib Dems standing in just two - a tricky defence in Oxford North where the party came third the last time the ward voted and in a Tory seat in Canterbury. Labour, Tories and even the Greens are fighting all four and UKIP three. In addition to the contest in Oxford, the Seasalter ward in Canterbury may prove of interest with UKIP just 83 behind in 2013. Labour should hold comfortably in a six way battle in Dudley and the Tories in East Hampshire in a ward where the ...
Now while most of the western world are aware of the corruption and sexual offenses that Silvio Berlusconi faces it seems bizarre that Russian President Vladimir Putin should jump to such an unusual defense of his friend: "Berlusconi is on trial because he lives with women. If he was homosexual no one would have lifted a finger." Now I have a lesson for Mr Putin, not every gay man, or lesbian woman or anyone who is bisexual or transgender is a law abiding citizen. Believe it or not these do face persecution based on the facts of the case just ...
I have received notification that an application has been received by the City Council for a new Premises Licence for premises at: Bar, 125 Manchester Road, Chorlton, Manchester, M21 9PG. This premesis is between 1847 and De Nada. Proposed trading hours for the provision of regulated entertainment (live music, recorded music): Sun to Thur 0800 to 2400 Fri to Sat 0800 to 0100 Proposed trading hours for the provision of late night refreshment: Sun to Thur 2300 to 0030 Fri to Sat 2300 to 0200 Proposed trading hours for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises only: Sun ...
Below are recently submitted Planning Applications in the Chorlton area. You can find out more information about any of the proposals on the City Council's Planning Portal at http://tinyurl.com/yv6lex or by contacting the South Area Planning Group Manager - Roger Hall; Tel: (0161) 234 4536; email: r.hall@manchester.gov.uk . You can also make a Planning representation (in support or opposition) to Mr Hall or the designated planning officer for each application. Please feel free to contact me on (07947383740; cllr.v.chamberlain@manchester.gov.uk) if you wish to discuss any application and please also send me a copy of any representation you make. 103320/FH/2013/S1 22 ...
Chorlton Plant Swap is holding its Autumn swap on Saturday 21 September from 9-3pm at Chorlton Street Market outside the library on Manchester Road. You are invited to dig up surplus plants that have spread over the summer in your garden as well as spare seeds or ones you have collected. Try out handy little guide to collecting and saving seed, available on the website at
Whereas "Journey To God's House" was mainly a view from within the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society's main headquarters, this book is a tale of one woman's life as a Jehovah's Witness and her journey out (and into a Christian church). It gives a good overview of life in a North American congregation and showcases the "humanity" of members of the Society; the good and (to a greater extent) the bad. Through her story we learn more about the basics of being a Jehovah's Witness from the importance of baptism, through the grind of door-to-door missionary work (something the ...
I've given my views on Nick Clegg's speech to the Glasgow conference here and here. See what you make of it for yourself: Also on YouTube.
Thu 19th
16:48
Clegg: Free School Meals boost attainment, improve health and ensure every child has a fair chance
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg used his speech to Liberal Democrat conference yesterday to announce that all pupils at infant schools in England are to get free school lunches from [...]
Manchester's chosen theme for International Women's Day 2014 is 'Women as Peacemakers'. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, International Women's Day 2014 is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the role that women have played and continue to play in conflict resolution and peace building. There will be grants of up to £500 to create IWD events and activities in March 2014, and groups are invited to apply. Visit manchester.gov.uk/iwdgrants for more information and an application form, or email internationalwomensdayinfo@manchester.gov.uk There are many untold stories about the lives of women in our city whose ...
On Sunday morning, Nick Thornsby and Caron Lindsay joined Mark Thompson in the Liberal Democrat Voice broom cupboard in Glasgow and recorded a special edition of his House of Comments podcast. Have a listen and see whether our crystal balls were right as we predicted how Conference would go and discussed everything from Trident, nuclear power, fracking, online pornography and Nick Clegg's position as leader. Deficit hawk Thornsby and old fashioned tax and spender Lindsay put forward their relative positions on the economy in entirely civilised fashion.
Thu 19th
14:55
As seen on BBC Daily Politics today... Lib Dem blogger pledge 'to run naked down Whitehall'
I promised it in writing on Tuesday. I promised it live on TV on Thursday. It's amazing what you have to do these days to get a Lib Dem pledge taken seriously... (You can watch my 5-minute discussion of coalitions with Lord (Peter) Hennessey on BBC iPlayer for the next 7 days by clicking here.)
Every year, a panel of judges including Tim Farron and representatives from the Scottish and Welsh parties make 4 awards which are traditionally presented by the Party President just before the Leaders' Speech at Conference. This year's winners are as follows. The words are Tim Farron's. The Dadabhai Naoroji Award to a local party for support and promotion of BAME party members This year, our winning local party has one of our most high profile BAME candidates in a seat I know they're planning on winning - they've been reaching out to their large Indian and Jewish communities locally - ...
Now this is interesting. According to the Independent one of the Conservative party's biggest donors has launched an unprecedented attack on the Government, accusing them of squandering an opportunity to create thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of revenues by scaring off desperately-needed investors in the UK offshore wind industry. They say that Alexander Temerko, a significant British energy investor whose company Offshore Group Newcastle builds foundations for offshore wind turbines and constructs oil and gas platforms, has become extremely frustrated by what he calls the Government's "hypocritical" approach to energy policy and is dismissive of David Cameron's pledge ...
I think we can all agree that implying you can't be a good Minister for Family or Children if you haven't any children yourself is a BAD thing. Which is why Tim Laughton ended up apologising to Sarah Teather the other day for any 'misunderstanding'.... But then the news reached me yesterday that Tony Abbott, the new Australian PM, had decided to take on responsibility for the Women Portfolio himself in the new government. Now, Tony Abbott is not the best person to take on this role; after all, he was the source of inspiration for 'that speech' from Julia ...
After six years of debate and angst, the decision is final. Shropshire Community Health Trust (SCHT) decided that the new community health facility for Ludlow is too expensive and will not be funded. What we get is a review. Well, actually, two reviews. The decision is not of course a surprise. The Clinical Commissioning Group [...]
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... bit.ly Damning last 5 words of @RafaelBehr's conference preview: "Labour looks ready to lose" http://bit.ly/1gBY85Z Lib Dem conference: why is Vince Cable stalking me? | Politics | The Guardian A rather nice sketch of Lib Dem conference by @IAmTimDowling: "Why is Vince Cable stalking me?" http://bit.ly/15ENOc7 And still Andrew Mitchell waits for justice – Telegraph Dan Hodges on story behind Andrew Mitchell's long wait for justice after the police perverted its course http://bit.ly/1gBP0hP Clegg gives his party a bit of what they want | Westminster blog Sharp analysis from @kiranstacey » "Clegg ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg at LDV Awards] Nick Clegg was due to come to our Liberal Democrat Voice Awards on Saturday night to present the award for Councillor of the Year, which was won by Abi Bell from Hull. I fully expected him to breeze in at the allotted hour, present the award and breeze out again. Actually, he turned up for the start of the event at 10 pm in very relaxed form and spent time chatting to people. When the awards got underway, he even acted as Paddy Ashdown's assistant, showing off the candidates for Best photo of a ...
Fifty years ago next week, Harold Wilson opened a debate on science at the Labour Party conference in Scarborough by delivering one of the most memorable political speeches of the 20th century. This is the first of a series exploring its legacy Earlier this year, the People's History Museum, in collaboration with the University of Nottingham's Centre for British Politics, marked the anniversary of Harold Wilson's "white heat" speech with a one-day conference that examined the background to the speech and its legacies for contemporary politics. In addition to papers considering the political context of the speech and the nature ...
Lab seat. Death.
Con seat. Resignation.
Con seat. Resignation. Prospective Candidate: Doug Bagnall Contact: Roger Hayes 01204 841008, roger.hayes@bolton.gov.uk Returning Officer: Bolton.
Con seat. Resignation. Prospective Candidate: Stephen Court Contact: Josie Ratcliffe, Campaign Contact, 07808 829619 info@fenlandlibdems.org.ukReturning Officer: Fenland.
Three years ago - nearly three and a half - I walked into the Cabinet Office for my first day as Deputy Prime Minister. Picture it: history in the making as a Liberal Democrat leader entered, finally, into the corridors of power, preparing to unshackle Britain after years of Labour and Conservative rule. Only to arrive and find an empty room and one shell-shocked civil servant promising me we'd get on with things shortly - but first he had to get us some desks. You saw the calm bit in the rose garden. What you didn't see was the utter ...
When Nick called me to ask if I would be a Peer, he said, amongst other things, that it was time I had my own political platform. So that got me thinking about what my political platform might look like. Here are some initial thoughts. I know we are in Coalition with them but I can find few redeeming features in Tory economics. Of course work should pay more than benefits but have benefits really have reduced to the level where families have to resort to food banks? Are those with disabilities having to give up independent living and are ...
Thu 19th
11:30
Traffic chaos alert - Yate to Westerleigh road to be closed for 10 days from 30 September
Between 30th September and 9th October, Westerleigh Road will be completely closed at the double railway arches, i.e. between the bridge after Nibley Lane to Besom Lane, for repairs to falling masonry on the railway bridge. This means that for ten days you won't be able to get through from Yate to Westerleigh in either direction. The work is urgent and it's not possible for Network Rail to close just half the road because of the size of the machinery they need to use. There will be warning signs about the closure at the entrance to Nibley Lane from Badminton ...
There comes a time in the life of every blogger looking to attract views when they resort to posts about cats. Well for me that time is nigh. Cats have been kept by humans for so long that this has caused them to evolve to better exploit us. Take for example their meowing. According to [...]
Today's Daily Mail has an article making various allegations of sexist attitudes towards women within the Liberal Democrats. They've been running similar stories all week following the Rock the Boat fringe meeting earlier. One particular woman candidate says that she was told by someone in her local party not to get pregnant because "we don't want a baby hanging of your t**s." The Daily Mail is an unlikely feminist champion, but that shouldn't detract from the need to tackle such behaviour, which includes inappropriate questions to female candidates during the selection process about their relationships or their plans to have ...
[IMG: Email inbox] "A must read for senior Lib Dems and politicos alike" – that's how the Daily Telegraph described Liberal Democrat Newswire, my email newsletter about the party, in its profile of me for the latest Top 50 most influential Liberal Democrats. (Number 33, down 1 on last year, since you ask.) Thousands of people read it already. Are you missing out on the exclusive analysis of what's happening in the party? If so, you can put that right straight away...
OK we LibDems have got something we want - more funding to support families with children in their earlier years. The price to pay for us is our MPs having to support the Tory dream of a 'Marriage Tax Break'. Time to prepare for the justifiable derision about to be unloaded on that proposal. Back in the 2010 Election J.K.Rowling delivered a withering analysis of the small tax break idea which will no doubt be repeated gleefully shortly. How can we help our MPs deal with the nose-holding they will have to do under Coalition duties? Rowling said: "Maybe you ...
I have finally caught up with Nick Clegg's speech having been in Birmingham for work yesterday. And it is much better than previous ones as he sought to explain some of the process of government and the Lib Dems successes both behind the scenes and in public. Most interestingly he tried to reestablish the party's 'outsider' credentials with a return to the 'red, blue' theme of the last general election - something I've been wanting to hear for a while. But I do think Clegg has got it in for me personally with his policy announcements: Improved leave for new ...
By flogging off Lloyds Bank shares at 75p when, in the 2008 rescue, it bought them at 73.6p the government claims to have made a profit for the tax payer of nearly £60m (actually, by long multiplication, since my calculator batter has run out, £58.8m) However, since 2008 there has been inflation, not as much as in some five year periods but certainly some, and certainly more than wages have risen. A useful site http://www.whatsthecost.com/cpi.aspx tells me that, after accounting for inflation, the present value of the 73.6p today is 83.4p. In other words those shares, at 75p, have been ...
Yesterday morning, I didn't make a speech. That's not unusual: I didn't make a speech on any of the previous hundred or so mornings, either. But yesterday morning I had a rallying call ready, and wasn't called (as I'd almost told myself). Liberal Democrat Conferences are democratic - ordinary members or Leaders can speak, and each has one vote - and yesterday's debate more than usually so, giving us the chance to debate a "Manifesto Themes" Paper long before the General Election. So now you can see my contribution, both written and delivered on YouTube live from a broom cupboard! ...
Nanila is now a brit. I love this post (tags: ) Would it surprise you to learn that Yorkshire was the birthplace of cinema? Read on... http://t.co/yZjXzOlZ1k (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 18-09-2013 http://t.co/7kChcQNbfJ on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) @zoeimogen flying vegetarians? http://t.co/lDYJJuIi9v @A_C_McGregor @markpack (tags: (from twitter) ) Petition on http://t.co/vcdMyA5euW to put a female character in GTA. Not sure it'll work, but what the hell! https://t.co/xNQjHyv59y (tags: (from twitter) ) http://change.org/ Petition on http://t.co/vcdMyA5euW to put a female character in GTA. Not sure it'll work, but what ...
I spoke last Thursday about the investigation in the Slovak Republic into corruption in the courts in England. There is a press report on Joj TV (in Slovak, but you can use Google translate on the text), here and here The following is the statement by the General Prosecutor in the Slovak Republic Jana Tokolyova, spokesman of the only biggest institution of investigation in the country,
I heard a fascinating anecdote yesterday about a senior doctor at one of the big London teaching hospitals, who joked that his patients left the hospital anaemic because they had gone through so many blood tests in his care. I was at an inspiring conference in Oxford organised by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, so there were a lot of this kind of anecdote around. The doctor was exaggerating, of course, but for NHS insiders it is always obvious what he was talking about. The NHS payments system is set up so that there are endless blood tests, each one ...
Sadly some of the best jokes of Lib Dem conference were told at the bar but never delivered on the platform. Here are a couple that were: "Jeremy Browne was at that NUS conference too, in dungarees and moleskin hat. But he's tried to put a veil over it." Tim Farron reminisces. "Can you imagine [...]
[IMG: House Magazine photo] Here's what I told House Magazine about the tasks for the Liberal Democrats over the next year: Political parties usually know what they think should be the most important issues to talk about. But in a democracy it is the public that gets to decide what they are. As was the case for the last year, that means for the next year any sensible political party has to concentrate on the economy. For the Liberal Democrats that means a tricky balancing act, for it both requires a functioning Treasury team and government policy (which means working ...
When 444 votes were cast in the 50p top tax rate debate and 413 in the nuclear power vote, some comments were made about these appearing to be low figures compared to past conferences. However the rush to judgement on them were flawed for three reasons. First, there were rather more votes cast in the Trident debate (550 – thanks to the get out the vote operation by the party leadership not misfiring that time.) Second, attendance at federal conferences is always lower in Scotland than when it is in southern England, reflecting the relative travel distances for the bulk ...
[View the story "How Nick Clegg's speech went: the last day at Lib Dem conference" on Storify]
Con seat. Death.
Road markings for new crossing are already in place As reported in yesterday's "Courier", I have welcomed the provision of a new pedestrian crossing on Riverside Drive that will allow for safer passage for pedestrians crossing the road at the Riverside Drive playing fields. I have campaigned for safer crossing for pedestrians on Riverside Drive for a long time so it is great to see this new toucan pedestrian crossing being provided that will be sited across the road near to the Riverside Pavilion to the north and the Bridgeview Station Restaurant to the south. The lower speed limit that ...
Thu 19th
01:23
What Nick Clegg, and the Liberal Democrat team in Parliament, have said "no" to the Tories on:
Here's a reminder of the agenda for tonights Parish Council meeting. If you have anything you'd like me to raise (as your local Councillor) let me know. The agenda has been circulated to Councillors and is included below. As always the "Open Forum" is an opportunity for anyone who wants to talk to the Council to come and have their say. Open Forum Visitors to Meeting - Wiser Recycling Services - Paul Duggen - Bar Hill First responder - David Bridgmen 1. To receive apologies for absence and any declaration of interest and to welcome Catherine Foley and Simon Munford ...
Here's the link to the Consultation on the Highways Agency website; There is also a PDF with details of the consultation that is available here. As PDF's aren't always the easiest things to read (or especially to search!) I've extracted the text and selected images from the documents below. IntroductionThe Highways Agency (the Agency) is proposing a £1.5bn scheme to improve the A14 trunk road between Huntingdon and Cambridge, over approximately 25 miles. The scheme will relieve congestion on one of the busiest stretches of the strategic road network between the West Midlands and the east coast ports. It ...
