[IMG: Erewash-Xmas-Social-Event-2] East Midlands Euro candidate Issan Ghazni met up recently with members in Erewash for a Christmas social event. Chatting to activists in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, he stressed the importance of getting Bill Newton-Dunn re-elected as MEP for the region. Ghazni congratulated Jonathan Sneade, a passionate supporter of the EU, on his election as the local party chair and was delighted to meet local activists. Afterwards Ghazni said: "It is in Britain's best interests to be at the heart of Europe, which is why it's so important to be at the decision-making table not outside the door. "Bill Newton-Dunn is ...
[IMG: Mince pies 1- DSCF1043] East Midlands Euro candidate Issan Ghazni congratulated Nottingham City Liberal Democrats for their large-scale public consultation on attitudes towards Europe. Ghazni joined local activists for a Christmas social event recently with a focus on promoting awareness about the Euro campaign. The Nottingham City party has plans to deliver 30,000 Euro-Surveys to the public for the forthcoming Euro-elections in May 2014. They also donated £500 to the campaign. Ghazni said: "It was a pleasure to attend the event for an enjoyable debate about Europe... and for their Christmas minced pies and Euro dishes! "Nottingham has done ...
I have come across a series of short videos (cut from one longer film) about the history and buildings of Northampton. They were shot in 1992, so their past and present has become past and past. Rob, who made the film, warns: "Unless you have an interest in Northampton, or in history, you may find them a bit heavy-going." But I am sure we all have those interests here. This first video shows you more of the last days of the Emporium Arcade, which Ian Nairn also witnessed.
A judge in the US has ruled that the bulk collection of telephone metadata by the NSA probably violates the country's fourth amendment, and declared the program "almost Orwellian". The Guardian also report that Judge Richard Leon "also expressed doubt about the central rationale for the program cited by the NSA, that it is necessary for preventing [...]
Activist Post explains why 500 innocent Americans are shot dead by the police each year. It is completely unacceptable for children to be placed in adult mental health wards, says Aled Roberts on Freedom Central. Matthew Taylor (not the former Lib Dem MP) passes on two accounts of the baleful effect of the current inspection regime for schools: "Understand that any sixth form discussion of a complex topic, which lasted longer than a few minutes, would be graded as unsatisfactory, because the boxes could not be ticked for the inspector." "I see the current small, but growing, community of archaeological ...
Poor Mittens has been ill this week. The thought of my favourite cat being even a tiny bit poorly really upsets me. The Boy took her to see the vet on Thursday, as I was unable to escape from work. She was very well-behaved. The vet fussed her, and calmed her down, before examining her. The vet said that she had a fever, and gave her 2 injections. She has also been on a course of antibiotics, and been taking Pro-Kolin paste. I think that she is getting better, but she is still very quiet. Get well soon Mittens...!
BT have today announced that all new customers who connect their devices to BT Broadband will have parental controls on by default. BT will also be contacting it's current customers in the new year so they "have to make a decision on whether or not to set up the controls." Previously the filtering that the company [...]
David Cameron announced today that our mission in Afghanistan has been accomplished. But was he right? Come to that, what was our mission there? I found the answer in an old House Points column of mine from Liberal Democrat News. In March 2006 I wrote: Now British troops are off to Afghanistan again. At Monday's defence questions John Reid confirmed there are currently around 1600 there, and this will increase to around 5700. Why are they going? Reid described their task as establishing democracy, ending terrorism, achieving security in the south of Afghanistan, helping the Afghan economy and dealing with ...
Party membership, and party activism have been in decline for decades. This phenomenon has been very well documented, and commentators have offered a number of potential causes of this decline. Commonly cited reasons include a decrease in traditional class-based partisanship, and the development of modern political communication, which has reduced party dependence upon volunteers to 'spread the word'. This reduction in dependence on activists results in further decline in membership. This is because ifparty members only play a very marginal role in communicating with and mobilizing voters at election times, then party organizations will be much less interested in recruiting ...
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was all over the media this morning in order to refuse to answer questions about a new immigration proposal which was mysteriously leaked from her own department. One of the proposals she wouldn't talk about was the idea that migrants from new EU countries could be refused the right to work in the UK until their home country had reached a certain level of wealth. The idea being to restrict the ability to move for economic reasons. Instead of Mrs May, the boss of think tank Demos, David Goodhart, was put up for interview and ...
Last week, David Cameron revealed he's keeping a "little black book" of Tory ideas he's desperate to implement which have been thwarted by the Lib Dems. This prompted an impressively swift imagining by Lib Dem HQ of what that black book might contain – you can read it here. It also prompted Lib Dem blogger Richard Morris pointedly to ask at the New Statesman, 'Where is Clegg's "little Black Book" of Lib Dem policies blocked by the Tories?' ... thinking back over the last few years, Lord's Reform and the Mansion Tax aside, it's hard to think what Lib Dem ...
[IMG: Clegg] It's good to have the old Nick Clegg back today. You know the one I mean: the liberal leader willing to stick up for the free movement of people and take on the anti-immigration populists. Occasionally that Nick goes missing in action, such as when he advocated security bonds for immigrants from 'high-risk' countries entering the UK or when he enthusiastically joined the general hysteria around so-called 'benefit tourism'. But today he was back, hitting out at proposals allegedly leaked by the Home Office to impose a cap on the number of EU citizens who can come to ...
As blog watchers would have seen I was busy highlighting the the things the Lib Dems had blocked and the this happened (as tweeted). A fine piece of work by someone
They've clearly got something about the ratio 1 in 3 over at Labour-run Haringey Council. It was 1 in 3 phone calls from residents that Haringey Council didn't even answer. It was one photo that showed three things Haringey Council gets wrong with potholes. Now it turns out that the blitz on potholes announced earlier this year was rather more a PR blitz than a repairs blitz for only one in three potholes that made it into Haringey Council's records* were repaired on time: Figures revealed by Haringey Liberal Democrats show that Labour's pothole blitz in Haringey has failed. Only ...
I've had a few days where I have had four "I've never seen so many........in one place before" incidents. On Friday it was with cans of tomato soup. I must have seen about 300 cans all in one place. Then I noticed about ten pairs of pristinely laundered corduroy trousers in a free clothes store. On Saturday, not only did I see more mince pies than I have ever seen before in one place, but I also opened more boxes of mince pies than ever before. I thought that would be it for a while with "Never seen so many..." ...
Today, the latest figures for the number of people placed into a workplace pension have been announced, and I am delighted to say that the 2 millionth person has now been auto enrolled into a pension. It is essential that workers are encouraged to save towards their retirement, if they wish to maintain a standard of living comparable to what they have grown accustomed to whilst earning a wage. In the year leading up to the start of the scheme, across the private sector, only one worker out of three had any pension at all from their job - and ...
My hometown of Reading is about to lose one of its most distinctive shop. The Jackson's department store was recently used as a location for shooting an episode of Endeavour, the 1960s set Inspector Morse prequel. I can't think of much that would need to change to make it work for the period. The Economist [...]
Our latest article for the Technology section of our 'Ask ALDC' advice service is an FAQ on the online efficiency tool "If This Then That", or IFTTT. IFTTT allows anyone with multiple online profiles/pages to automatically post content from one to the other. For example, a new story on your MyCllr site can be automatically [...]
The Government has unveiled hundreds of millions of pounds of investment in life sciences as a special G8 summit in London agrees a landmark international deal on tackling dementia. We will also announce that the UK has now attracted £2bn of investment in life sciences since the launch of the Government's strategy two years ago. Over the past two years we've seen £2bn invested in this country's life sciences industry. This will mean more jobs and growth, but also more research and greater progress on beating dementia. It's a huge sign of confidence, but there is still more to do. ...
I love receiving parcels in the mail. I'm quite excited right now because the postman just popped a note through my door to say that I need to go to the post office to collect an item. The note said that he'd called, and I wasn't at home; I definitely was. Does this happen to anyone else, or is it just me? Anyway, I ordered this pretty dress from In Love With Fashion, and I cannot wait to try it on: I've never bought anything from them before, but I received a voucher for £10 off, so decided to give ...
The European Arrest warrant, allowing those suspected of crimes in one EU member state to be arrested anywhere in the EU, was agreed 12 years ago. Now under fire from a small group of (soft on crime?) Conservative MPs, Sarah Ludford MEP responds in the Huffington Post. Since 2009, hundreds of suspects have been extradited back to the UK to face charges using the EAW, including 63 for child sex offences, 105 for drug trafficking, 27 for rape and 44 for murder, while 4,000 suspects have been sent to other countries. ... In fact, the EAW has become so integral ...
ALDC's Office will be closing for the Christmas and New Year period from: 5.00pm on Friday 20 December 2013, to 9.00am on Monday 6 January 2014 During this time we'll be taking a break from the regular update, members and by-election emails. If you wish to contact a member of the ALDC team urgently please [...]
While I much like Great George's Street publication 'David Cameron's Little Black Book' I wondered in The Staggers on Friday where our equivalent was - where (Mansion Tax and Lord's Reform apart) are the policies we've wanted to push through but have been blocked by the Tories. I've reprinted it below. But then 2 days later this piece from Andrew Rawnsley appeared in the Observer, suggesting that the Lib Dem equivalent does indeed exist - the Little Yellow Book, as he calls it. Which is an entirely good thing. I just wish we all knew what was in it. Meantime, ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Have the Greens blown it in Brighton? | Politics | The Guardian Interesting in-depth look at the hipsters' haven by John Harris > Have the Greens blown it in Brighton? http://bit.ly/1hdrycQ The Tories and the Lib Dems plot their coalition endgames | Andrew Rawnsley | Comment is free | The Observer Interesting from Andrew Ramsey on coalition endgames tho I think he underestimates the planned disagreements http://bit.ly/1fvb0wv
Leading US investigations TV programme 60 Minutes was allowed to take its cameras into the NSA for the first time. The online reaction to the edition, that aired yesterday, has not be positive. The spin war is in full flow.
It is all a matter of cause and effect. Does lending to small businesses create an SME sector, or does the lending happen because there is a small business sector there already? That may seem an abstruse angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin question, but it goes to the heart of the issue which looks set to be revealed tomorrow: the long-awaited, little-debated, tremendously creative moment when the UK banks reveal the geographical spread of their lending. Which, thanks to the efforts of Lib Dems in the House of Lords - Baroness Kramer and Lord Sharkey - will be down to postcode level, about 9,000 ...
In 1997 Tony Blair told the Labour Party conference "I don't want [our children] brought up in a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home." And yet speaking to the Health Select Committee in 2010, in Labour's final months in office, Andy Burnham said, "every member of the Cabinet believed social care to be an area that had not been properly reformed and was one of great unfairness". In thirteen years of talk, and promises, Labour did nothing to fix our dysfunctional, and profoundly unfair, system of funding social care. In 2010, ...
The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom is attempting to simplify the way consumers are charged for telephone calls. (Disclaimer: I work for a company which is regulated by Ofcom. This is my personal blog.) To deal with the multitude of different types of phone numbers - each with their own unique cost - and the rise of the mobile phone, Ofcom want this to be the norm by 2015: Under new rules confirmed today, telephone users calling service numbers will in future see the cost broken down into an 'access charge' to their phone company, plus a 'service charge' to the ...
Main results from blood test at 08.00 this morning were platelets 593, up from 480 in November, and Hb 95, down from 105 in November. It looks as though Hydroxycarbamide is no lomger effective in keeping the platelets down without depressing the Hb at the same time. Dr I is referring me to Dr McL, who has more experience of myelofibrosis and who may want a bone marrow biopsy to see what's going on at that level. Dr L thought one of the JAK inhibitors may be the next move, but they too have the effect of lowering Hb. The ...
Tim Farron is getting everywhere at the moment. In the last week, we've covered pieces from him on fishing and EU reform and surveillance. He's now started a semi-regular column on ALDC's website. In his inaugural edition, he had a right go at Eric Pickles for paying lip service to localism: Yet again, Mr Pickles has pushed localism in theory but in practice has used this as a tool to deliver cuts which favour Conservative political objectives. He seems perfectly happy to let the Treasury hold sway over policies which are central to his Department, hoping that Help to Buy ...
Farming subsidies: this is the most blatant transfer of cash to the rich Iain Duncan Smith lives on an estate owned by his wife which has received €1.5 million!!! From public funds!! http://t.co/BOcxdf5jIX (tags: (from twitter) ) posted The Blood is The Life 15-12-2013 http://t.co/k9t7VPsFgU on #dreamwidth (tags: dreamwidth (from twitter) ) Lol ♡ Colin (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Tuesday will see one of those moments which may prove a turning point in the development of an effective UK banking system. That is the day that the banks will reveal the geographical spread of their lending, down to 9,000 different postcode levels. It is the culmination of a major effort by Lib Dems in the House of Lords earlier in the last two years, with a great deal of help from elsewhere, to make sure that this happened. It is also a creative moment of possibility - not to criticise the banks, because they need to be given the ...
Apologies for not updating these in far too long, but here are the latest applications for Castle Ward that are still open for public comments: 132174: Change of use from dental studio to flats, St Botolph's Street. 132209 and 132210: Garden room at rear of property, East Street. 132236: Replacement windows, Castle Road. 132243: External door and window replacement, East Stockwell Street. 132312: Change of use to gymnasium, Moorside. 132314: Creation of extra teaching space, North Hill. 132323: Garage extension, Bury Close. 132325: Internal alterations and reduction in room numbers, Osborne Street. 132338: Installation of new pipes, Castle Road. 132350: ...
Volvo upped the stakes this month in the race to get driverless cars widely used on public roads: [IMG: Car dashboard. Photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1397111 - some right reserved] The project is called 'Drive Me' and is a joint initiative between Volvo, the Swedish Transportation Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and Gothenburg local government. The cars will be used on 'public roads in everyday driving conditions' on 50 kilometers of 'typical commuter arteries, including motorways and frequent queues.' The project kicks off in 2014 with 'customer research and technology development' and will then move into designing a ...
Economics is a subject that combines the abstract and the empirical.* It both builds mathematical models and uses statistics. And it needs to know how to balance the two. The danger of one approach predominating is illustrated by the issue of the minimum wage. There is a pretty strong economic reasoning for saying that [...]
At last week's West End Community Council meeting, we drew the winners of the West End Christmas Fortnight prizes - and you can download the winners' list here. The poster will also appear on the Community Council noticeboard (outside Nisa Extra, Perth Road) this week.
A review of new psychoactive substances is being launched in a bid to clamp down on the trade in potentially fatal drugs, the Coalition Government announced today. The review will look at how the UK's laws, and enforcement against, so-called 'legal highs' can be improved. Options include the expansion of legislation to ensure police and law enforcement agencies have better tailored powers. The Coalition Government is determined to clamp down on the reckless trade in so-called 'legal highs' which has tragically already claimed the lives of far too many young people in our country. Despite being marketed as legal alternatives ...
The Wales Audit Office's report into mental health services for children and young people in Wales highlights the Welsh Labour Government's failure to properly address safety concerns which were identified in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) report which was published in 2009. Whilst I accept that there have been some improvements, the fact that the report still describes many children and young people as being 'at risk' when accessing mental health services in Wales is shameful. Once again, this Welsh Labour Government seems to be completely oblivious to the reality of CAMHS in Wales, and the fact ...
The Independent reports the devastating news that one can still be jailed for being a republican and that it remains illegal to even imaging overthrowing the Queen. The revelation comes as the Ministry of Justice embarrassingly admitted that a law threatening to jail for life anyone who has called for the abolition of the monarchy had been mistakenly included on a list of 309 offences due to be repealed before May. Although the law has not been used to prosecute anyone since 1879, it means that it is still theoretically possible to imprison for life anybody who even so much ...
The views on this aggregator are a collections of views from various people's blogs.
LibDemBlogs and the Liberal Democrats accept no responsibility for the posts made.
