If you thought coalition negotiations with the Tories were tough going then just wait until you have to do them with the many-headed Hydra of Labour. One has to chuckle at those of the more Leftist slant within our party who departed in disgust when we ended up in bed with the Tories. Ironically the portfolios that the departees most care about would have been off-limits to the Liberal Democrats because these too are the hotly contested favorites of the Labour faithful and delivering them over to the "wet behind the ears" LibDems would have caused massive recriminations on their ...
[IMG: Labour's housing shame]
This afternoon, I had the pleasure of chairing the final planning meeting of the West End Christmas Fortnight Committee and I am pleased to report that all is looking good for Christmas Fortnight 2013! The Christmas Fortnight brochure will be launched at the weekend. Thereafter, I held my two weekly ward surgeries at the Mitchell Street Centre and the West Park Centre - and then participated in tonight's City Council committee meetings at which: * At the Environment Committee, I welcomed public open space environmental improvements across the city. There are a number in the West End including at Victoria ...
We were lucky to have Liberal Democrat MP, Andrew Stunnell at our 2013 AGM. Andrew Stunnell MP In his address, he spoke about a number of areas of local and national government including: How Labour, in government, allowed a reduction in affordable or rented housing to occur. The Liberal Democrats in the coalition government have so far increased the number of affordable and social housing!When the coalition government was being negotiated, the Labour party team appeared very disorganised and had not made preparations. Andrew Stunnell sadly got none of the limelight he deserved. I see him as a fifth Beatle.In ...
Or rather the dream of being a professional blogger is dead, because I am not sure this chimerical creature ever existed. At the end of a post about the demise of Liberal Conspiracy last month, Stephen Tall wrote: the rise of the mainstream blogging has crowded out most of the amateurs. Many are still blogging, but look down the 2008 list of top 100 political blogs compiled by Total Politics magazine - and compare it with who the most influential online political voices are today - and you'll get a sense of how the caravan has moved on. Talent will ...
I have no brief for the energy companies. Indeed, it is my view that they are acting as an oligopoly and in doing so making huge profits at our expense. There needs to be some accountability but the threat posed by Labour that they will freeze prices risks an all-out war with the companies. That this is a possibility is highlighted by this article in the Independent, which reports that Fund managers controlling billions of pounds invested in UK energy companies have warned that they are considering pulling out of the sector because of political interference in the market. The ...
Eddie McGrady was the man who finally confined Enoch Powell to a life outside Westminster at the 1987 General Election. But had come close to unseated the controversial former Conservative later Ulster Unionist MP in the previous two contests for the Westminster seat of South Down.The Downpatrick born man had been on 1,842 votes away from the unseating of a second unionist in the 1986 unionism all out by elections but he'd been only 548 behind at the previous General Election. But Eddie had served almost 50 years as an elected representative by the time he retired at the last ...
The similarities between Ed Miliband and Bill De Blasio's policy platform are stark. Today the two spoke: Just had good, warm chat with winner of the New York Mayor election @BilldeBlasio. — Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) November 11, 2013 We talked about cost-of-living and importance of showing how politics can make a difference to people's lives. [...]
I am happy to pledge my support for Age Cymru's 'Scams and Swindles' campaign, which focuses on ensuring older people are provided with better protection against scammers. Currently, there is little or no protection for older people from the four main sources of scams - postal, telephone, internet and on the doorstep. Some of the people Age Cymru is trying to protect are very vulnerable, lonely, isolated, and finding it difficult to cope with the pressure exerted by scammers. Age Cymru is campaigning to get postal deliverers, especially Royal Mail, to stop delivering mail promising large winnings to individuals with ...
The new issue of Liberator arrives, so it must be time to spend another week with Rutland's most popular fictional peer. Sharing my postbag Winter draws on, as the first Lady Bonkers used to say. The leaves have fallen from the trees and the wheways (or are they hamwees?) have left for Africa. At this time of year I am at my happiest when reading and writing in front of my Library fire. Rest assured, gentle reader, I still enjoy rude health and only last week made my annual trip to Hebden Bridge and the spring which bursts from the ...
The Mental Health Challenge site has links to four useful documents: Councillors' guide to mental healthNo Health without Mental Health: A guide for Local AuthoritiesNo Health without Mental Health: A guide for Overview and Scrutiny CommitteesNo Health without Mental Health: A guide for Health and Wellbeing Boards
Last week, Conservative MP for Startford-up-Avon Nadhim Zahawi apologised to constituents for mistakenly claiming some electricity costs as expenses: On investigation I have discovered that the electricity supply for a mobile home located in the stable yard and for the stables themselves was linked to my house. Whilst a meter was installed in the stable [...]
As Salon reports: On Tuesday, the party of Lincoln notched a big win. No, not the GOP, but the Whig Party, the original party of Lincoln. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Robert Bucholz defeated Democrat Lorretta Probasco to become the judge of election for the Fifth Division of the 56th Ward by a margin of 36-24 to [...]
Due to pressure of university work, blogging has been very light lately. So I thought I'd post something, anything, to prove i'm still alive. I was going to do an updated set of views on press regulation but as I settle down to write it I get sent this from the New York Times, which includes this quote. "What we have today in Britain is a tribal view of press freedom. Both sides want to defend freedom for the journalists they like while silencing the journalists they despise. Neither side seems to understand that the moment you invite politicians or ...
Mon 11th
17:20
Swinson argues against unpaid internships, Leech advertises for unpaid interns. Who's right?
On the face of it, Liberal Democrats are sending out mixed messages on internships at the moment. Jo Swinson, as employment minister, has been promoting the Government's Pay and Rights helpline (0800 917 2368) and talking about it being appropriate to pay interns while John Leech's office in Manchester is offering an unpaid internship proramme. This is in contrast to the party's internship programme which is offering the National Minimum Wage. Jo on Good Morning Scotland (from around 1:52 in) that she wanted to ensure that employers were not unwittingly or unintentionally doing the wrong thing and making sure that ...
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone MP outside Hornsey Depot] Good news – I've just had confirmation that both Sainsburys and St James will attend the public meeting I have called on the future of Hornsey High Street. We will be discussing the planning application for the Hornsey Depot site on Hornsey High Street. The developers, St James, plan to demolish the existing structures to make way for a Sainsburys supermarket, a car park, over 400 flats and a gym. The meeting will take place this Friday (the 15th) at 6:30pm, at Greig City Academy – entrance via Hillfield Avenue – and is ...
......but these trees were not damaged by the recent storm, just by "wear and tear". And much as most of us love trees - from time to time is does become necessaryr to remove them - like this one in Hillfield Road! In addition to a list of trees in Ravenshaw/Broomsleigh Street we received recently, we have just had a second list from the Council's Tree officers. It seems they recently inspected our local trees and decided to remove some for health and safety reasons. The trees are scheduled for removal this winter by the Council's term tree contractors. The ...
It isn't every day someone launches a new think-tank, but that's what I'm going to do today (not by myself, but with others). The New Weather Institute's blog already has a version of my excuse for doing so, but I thought I should put a version of it here. Because, why would anyone start another think-tank? It is a reasonable question. The centres of the world's greatest cities are now heaving with think-tanks, full of young men in pressed blue shirts and young women juggling with PowerPoint presentations. The problem is that there is something circular about most of them ...
Last week came the announcement that basically the government have shafted the people of Portsmouth. The city of my birth (so I have a tonne of bias) has been the home of the Royal Navy for eons and should always have that at its heart. So when it comes to building new ships for the Royal Navy then it should be Portsmouth first and anyone else second if there is enough business to go around. I know that sounds like bias (it kinda is) but the home of the Royal Navy is the home of the Royal Navy. I'm not ...
Mon 11th
15:00
Carmichael: Don't question my Scottishness because I say we're stronger and safer in the UK
New Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael makes his first keynote speech in the role in Inverness on Wednesday. This is a chance for Scotland to get to know him a little bit better. The Nationalists and the media have been doing all they can to portray him as some sort of political bruiser, something which is met with a mixture of bafflement and mirth within the Liberal Democrats. This, after all, is the same Alistair Carmichael whose sharp wit has us all digging deep into our pockets at party fundraisers, whose geniality makes him one of ...
Former Conservative Prime Minister John Major is back in the news today condemning the stranglehold on power and influence enjoyed by the elite: In every single sphere of British influence, the upper echelons of power in 2013 are held overwhelmingly by the privately educated or the affluent middle class. To me from my background, I find that truly shocking. This follows his unexpected intervention in the energy debate calling for a windfall tax on energy companies. In both cases Major seems to be taking on the role of Cameron's One Nation conscience, speaking up for people in modest circumstances or ...
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone on the doorstep] Want to know how to win election campaigns? You can learn from the very best of international experience with a free 10-week email course from myself and Ed Maxfield. Sign up at www.CampaignMasterclass.com and each week you'll receive one lesson by email, helping you become a top election winning campaigner or candidate yourself. It's a great way to make sure you don't fall foul of mistakes such as Five of the most common mistakes that Lib Dem campaigners make. We've helped, advised and run election campaigns across Europe and even further afield - and ...
I used to love this show as a kid. I think I was about 8 years old when it aired in the UK, but it dates fron 1957-58, when it was first shown in the US. The main reason I liked it was because of the presence of Casey Jones Junior, who I actually thought, to this very day, was the Casey Jones mentioned in the title. – A bit like how I thought, until about ten years ago, that Andy Pandy was a girl because of the frilly bits on his hat. http://youtu.be/XQDpN_EFozk [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This ...
Last week saw the start of a concerted push by the party to promote our environmental achievements in government. Lib Dem HQ have produced a number of excellent graphics for social media and literature use, as well as a template letter to local media that can be customised to local circumstances. ALDC members can download [...]
Mon 11th
13:28
Angry pensioner tips bag of dog poo over Cambridge University lecturer for 'cycling too close to her...
Our Headline of the Day Award sees an easy win for the Cambridge News.
Mon 11th
13:11Carmichael: Don't question my Scottishness because I say we're stronger and safer as part of the UK
[IMG: AlistairCarmichael] New Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael makes his first keynote speech in the role in Inverness on Wednesday. This is a chance for Scotland to get to know him a little bit better. The Nationalists and the media have been doing all they can to portray him as some sort of political bruiser, something which is met with a mixture of bafflement and mirth within the Liberal Democrats. This, after all, is the same Alistair Carmichael whose sharp wit has us all digging deep into our pockets at party fundraisers, whose geniality makes him ...
Living Streets have just launched a campaign to ensure the rules around how much green crossing time is allowed for pedestrians reflects research by University of London. This research shows that most people over 65 years old can't walk quickly enough to cross in time allowed. It's also a dangerous problem for parents with buggies, young children. Locally in East Dulwich we have the dreadful crossing points at the junction of East Dulwich Road with Crystal Palace Road and Adys Road. Immediately adjacent to this junction on the north east side is a great playground. 200m to the north a ...
Mon 11th
13:00
Day 4698: Millennium's Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Top Trunks #18: THE CYBER-CONTROLLER
Monday: Age: On Ice Stories: 3 Awesomeness: Steel Giant; Visible Brain Cuddles: Embraced Cypber-technology. Afterwards, rather cold. AKA: The Giant Robot, mighty Michael Kilgarriff
From 1927 to the mid-1930s Manchester and Stockport vied to take over Cheadle & Gatley Urban District Council (covering Cheadle, Gatley, Heald Green and part of Cheadle Hulme). At the time the area had the fastest-growing population in Greater Manchester. First Manchester, then Stockport too, were keen to get their hands on the area. Rival Bills went to Parliament as local residents made clear that they wanted things to stay as they were. In the end both Stockport and Manchester failed, and Cheadle & Gatley Urban District remained until 1974 when Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council was created. Exclusively and for ...
Like many people, I used to be a slave to my work inbox. It's hard to maintain a decent work/life balance when you're receiving business emails during evenings and weekends. Sometimes it's due to a workaholic colleague, or someone in a different timezone, or just those damned automated reminders from the finance system. I don't want to carry a separate device, and I know I can't rely on will-power alone. So, I've been using Samsung's "Peak Schedule" feature for its Android phones. I know I usually rag on Samsung for writing crappy replacement apps for Android - but in this ...
From the Independent: The father of Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has launched a scathing attack on the "bedroom tax" in the annual report of a Scottish housing association. Di Alexander is the chair of the Lochaber Housing Association and in its annual report, he has this to say about the Bedroom Tax and other aspects of welfare reform: The Association has also been facing up to the considerable challenges presented by Welfare Reform changes. The first of these to be implemented - the so-called 'bedroom tax' - is particularly unfair in that it penalises both our ...
Reblogged from EILE Magazine: A Belfast High Court judge has ruled that the ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood in Northern Ireland is "irrational", defeating Health Minister, Edwin Poots. Justice Treacy also ruled that Poots was in breach of the ministerial code by failing to take the issue before Stormont. Northern Ireland is the only...
A young man helped finance his time at university by working as a part-time shelf-stacker in our local co-op. Nothing exceptional in that. But he graduated over two years ago and is till part-time shelf stacking. When I asked him the other week how his search for a "proper" career was progressing I found his reply painful: "Nothing," he said. "I must try harder." So our Tory party and their supporters in the overwhelmingly right-wing press have not only succeed in blaming Britain's Labour party for a world-wide economic crisis causes by Tory policies of financial deregulation, but have now ...
For all of us living with HIV there is often a worry about telling someone about our HIV status. Do we tell partners, will they react in a caring, loving way, or will it mean the end of a relationship? Instinct Magazine has recently highlighted a new Public Service Announcement made by the Impulse Group....
Quite a goodly chunk of the recent South Central Regional conference was devoted to the debates on the HS2 (already covered in one of my policy posts) and the so-called Bedroom Tax. While I have discussed the Bedroom Tax before, I thought it good to elaborate on theme most particularly in relation to the housing policy (or lack thereof) of the party at this time. As for the actual debate, I found it pretty amusing, not for what was actually said (though there were a few laughs), but because the arcane discussion of clauses to include and exclude reminded me ...
There must be something in the air in Guildford. Those challenging the Tory MP seem to have been struck down with amnesia. Chris Ward is seeking selection as the Labour candidate for the Surrey seat. In pursuing the selection, he is pushing his record as a local councillor in Guildford, which is fair enough. What [...]
The Government has announced the results of its review of planning performance. The upshot is: Blaby is the only authority that will be designated. Halton and Worthing, who were below the threshold according to data published in September, will not be designated as a result of correcting data and presenting exceptional circumstances, which were accepted. [...]
A Very Public Sociologist asks "How London-centric is political blogging?" by studying posts on Liberal Democrat Voice, Conservative Home and LabourList between 10 October and 9 November. So how did we do? Let's start with the Liberal Democrats. Between the dates there were 84 blog posts made by 55 contributors. Of these 24 posts came from 18 Londoners. The next highest was 21 posts from the WestMids (all bar one the work of the prolific Andy Boddington). The next largest number of contributors was the EastMids region with eight. The next was the South East with seven (but 10 posts) ...
[IMG: Email inbox] In the political world, advice on how to write good emails almost always means advice on sending emails to the voters. However, those involved in running political campaigns are also (or at least, should be) very busy people, trying to get huge amounts of work done and up against immovable legal deadlines. That means being efficient with your internal emails is also an important skill, just as in a rather more normal workplace it is useful to be good at writing efficient emails to colleagues and contact. So here are five tips to do just that: Be ...
posted The Blood is The Life 10-11-2013 http://t.co/QKnx00doyw on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) posted Body Confidence Part 2 http://t.co/9gCdrdXJvT on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) http://magister.dreamwidth.org/19014.html Body confidence: Not just a women's issue http://t.co/7HK1Sjrgev (tags: (from twitter) ) posted Questions it is impossible to answer on twitter: is beer better than sex? http://t.co/og9MVWyhvS on #dreamwidth (tags: (from twitter) dreamwidth ) http://pinterest.com/pin/164803667587566557/ You rock on, Sir Lee, rock on. ♡♡ - http://t.co/F50VTNsrFF (tags: (from twitter) ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
As one should "know thy enemy" (or in this case one of them) here's a week of posts on the Conservative Party. Look out for posts on: Why the Conservative party is not as free market as you think The Tories' northern problem The kind of conservatism I can get behind UKIP The Tories and [...]
Mon 11th
08:55Opinion: Auditors refuse to sign off EU accounts - the latest untruth from the anti-Europeans
I've just been accused of issuing the dullest tweet of the week. Admittedly, "This week, the European Court of Auditors signed off the #EU's [2012] accounts, as it has done annually since the 2007 financial year" is hardly the most exciting 133 characters ever featured on twitter, but with half-a-billion tweets emerging from the twitter fire hose daily, it was quite a condemnation. But the point I made in that tweet is important. Why? Because this week saw another raft of accusations that - yet again! - the European Court of Auditors has refused to sign off the EU's accounts. ...
This is a notification that my Strange Thoughts blog has moved. I've moved all the posts across to my personal website andystrange.org.uk. My blogging, such as it is, will now take place there. I've redirected everything so existing links should continue to work — as should the RSS feed. If you seeing this in your feed reader then everything is working OK! However, I suggest you update your bookmarks etc. to the new address. The plan is, with the change in address, that there should be a change in approach. I intend to post stuff in a more personal way ...
Episode 84 of the House of Comments podcast "Universal Discredit" is out. Myself and Emma joined by the editor of The New Statesman blog The Staggers George Eaton to discuss the latest Universal Credit debacle, the NHS A&E crisis, the latest on an EU referendum, the ending of shipbuilding in Portsmouth and whether there's a link to Scottish independence and finally oversight of spending on the monarchy. Warning - contains republican ranting. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here. Other podcasting software e.g. for Android can be pointed here to subscribe. You can download the mp3 for the ...
I have today launched my November 2013 Update to West End Community Council. I have devoted it to a 'sneak preview' of West End Christmas Fortnight events. The Community Council meets tomorrow evening at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall at 7pm - all residents welcome. You can download my Update here.
From the Curator of Museum Services, University of Dundee : Plants in Medicine: From ancient history to cutting-edge treatment Tuesday 12th November 2013, 5pm-7pm Medical School Foyer, Ninewells Hospital This special drop-in event for Dundee Science Festival explores the use of plants in medicine, past and present. Pharmacist Joe Richards and herbalist Terrill Dobson will be on hand to discuss how plants have been used in treatment and therapy. A variety of fascinating artefacts from the Tayside Medical History Museum's collections will be on show and vistors can have a go at making pills by hand the old-fashioned way. You ...
This past weekend, in a mad burst of coding and fiddling with technical gubbins, I've created a new theme for this website and started to restructure it. There is a lot more to do and it is rough around the edges in places but I think it is ready enough to be "launched". I've been mulling over what to do with my online presence — the collection of websites, social media profiles, and places where I've published content — for a while now. It has all got a bit confused and I am finding it difficult to manage, especially in ...
