And so our week with Rutland's most celebrated fictional peer draws to a close. Sunday The wireless news tells me that a number of slaves have escaped after living for 30 years in a collective they joined "through a shared political ideology". If this turns out to be the final issue of Liberator - those envelopes take a lot of stuffing, you know - I should like to thank you for reading me over the past century. Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10. Previously in Lord Bonkers' Diary I am the Lib Dems' new pastoral care officeDavid ...
I love those free cups that the Guardian newspaper sometimes gives out on campus when you buy a newspaper. I don't know why. Maybe seeing the logo makes me feel a bit educated and clever. They're always pretty too. Sadly, I broke my last one (and the one before that). It may've been a freebie, but I was pretty traumatised. In hindsight, I think that it was probably karma for secretly reading the Telegraph. I was pretty excited when one of my colleagues gave me this amazing gift today: The happiest cat ever. Purrrrr. He did tell me that he ...
The Alphaville blog on the Financial Times makes a very important point: "until your local stock market can adequately price one of your biggest banks, your local finance sector still has some way to go." It draws attention to the massively inflated valuation of AIB on the Irish Stock Exchange. This follows a report in today's Irish Times, that Ireland is still the 5th most expensive
And so, Chris Rennard refuses to apologise for allegedly sexually harassing four women. Quelle surprise. Elton John was right - so often sorry really is the hardest word. I am not necessarily convinced of Rennard's pleas of innocence. At the very best, I suspect he has rather limited self-awareness. But this alone does not mean that I believe that he should be treated in the way he has. Every convicted criminal in this country has been subjected to due process, and that should also be the case for Lord Rennard. The problem, as so succinctly described on Channel 4 News, ...
A couple of days ago I blogged about comments Chris Davies, MEP had made in relation to the Chris Rennard case – and they seemed wholly inappropriate. Chris Davies has since apologised, so good on yer, Chris. Chris Davies said: "My remarks about Italians pinching a woman's bottom were crass and I apologise "They were [...]
I have received notification that an application has been received by the City Council for a new Premises Licence at: Morrisons, 435 Barlow Moor Road, Manchester, M21 8AU. This is the premesis that was formally the Blockbuster Video. A summary of the application is as follows: Proposed trading hours for the supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises only: Mon to Sun 0600 to 2400 Proposed opening hours for the premises: Mon to Sun 0600 to 2400 If you have any comments, you can make these directly to The Licensing Unit (e-mail: premises.licensing@manchester.gov.uk) or write to: The Licensing Unit,PO ...
Having sat the exam, pruned my portfolio of activities somewhat, and recovered from the jetlag that followed our fabulous holiday - and no, I didn't wish that most of you were there - I can finally settle down to catching up with the stuff that needs catching up with. First on my list is my Treasurer work, in part nailing down the 2013 accounts for Bury St Edmunds Local Party, but also setting things up for its successors, Mid Suffolk and St Edmundsbury/Forest Heath. And it is now that you realise just how unhelpful some people can be - failing ...
Meols Ward Lib Dem Councillors John Dodd, Nigel Ashton and David Rimmer, together with FOCUS Editor Jo Barton, are holding their next advice centre in Churchtown. We will be at Cafe Moo Moo on Cambridge Road (by the junction with Preston New Road, next to Boots) from 10:30 to 11:30 am on Thursday 23rd January. We will be there to meet you and discuss any Council problems you may have. No appointment necessary. Just pop in. We also hold a monthly advice centre in Crossens, at St John's School, Rufford Road, Crossens every month (except August) on the second Saturday ...
New Statesman has a report. So does the BBC. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
The ongoing scandal around allegations against Lord Rennard has left many party activists battered and bruised, but leaving would not help fix the problem. I said in the Independent on
As a candidate for the European Parliament my focus is on EU-related issues: trade, climate change and cross-border crime. But some national issues are, in my view, so pressing that I cannot ignore them. Among these are Chris Grayling's proposed cuts to criminal legal aid, so severe they threaten whether defendants will have proper representation at all. On 6 January, I was in Oxford to support a protest against these cuts. Concurrent protests happened at courts all over England & Wales. The campaign aims to raise public awareness and persuade parliament to say 'no' to Grayling, as Parliament did over ...
I am reluctant to comment publicly on the rapidly spiralling Chris Rennard affair. It is not that I don't have a view — quite the contrary — but I don't think that lots of people expressing their opinion is helping the situation. Particularly those who have been especially crass or hyperbolic. However, slightly bizarrely, I have this afternoon been explaining to a journalist from The Times the existence of the Regional Parties Committee. I am always happy to bore people senseless about contribute to a greater understanding of the organisation of the Liberal Democrats. As it seems that recent developments ...
RTÉ are cheerfully reporting that the British Tommies have been pilfering supplies to fill their johnnies. I couldn't help but think of this Second World War propaganda poster.
[IMG: closing the gap] Yesterday was an important day for anyone concerned about the state of mental health care in this country. It was also an important day for me as not only did I find myself agreeing with Nick for the fourth time in a fortnight (scary but true) but I could applaud a coalition policy. Just over a year ago I lost my younger sister Sarah, who was suffering from schizo affective disorder. As a family we had grown up with a bi-polar father at a time when so few of us, or the wider population, understood the ...
Tue 21st
16:08
'Westerners are so convinced China is a dystopian hellscape they'll share anything that confirms it'
That's the headline in a piece from Quartz.com, which is pretty much the same theme that I wrote about a few months ago. This time it's the infamous 'video sunset', allegedly set up for the benefit of Beijing's residents who can no longer see the real thing due to the thick pollution. This is, of course, a load of cobblers. The photo is actually from a tourism advert for Shandong province, and
There aren't many of us who read constitutions, even within a political party as full as anoraks as the Liberal Democrats, a point that has given me great entertainment in the past, and the occasional political coup de theatre. I might well be correct in suggesting that not many Party members have been involved in its disciplinary processes. But, having written the framework for dealing with disciplinary matters in the East of England, I ought to offer some thoughts before the bandwagon to rewrite the disciplinary rules rolls too much further. The rules are, in part, required to protect ordinary ...
It's probably fair to say campaigning as a Liberal Democrat in Labour facing Northern Mets hasn't been a walk in the park in recent years. Although there are pockets of Liberalism across the North and a band that runs up the Pennies, much of our support has been won over from disillusioned Labour voters. These [...]
Earlier this month Lib Dem Voice ran a series of posts under the heading 'Liberal Democrat Voice Roll of Honour 2013′ (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). One submission reached us too late to be included, but given that we all need to be cheered up today, we decided to share it with you. Harold Woodman For delivering in the Wells constituency come rain or shine. He delivers many thousands of leaflets / publications each year. One special task that he undertakes is that prior to our MP Tessa Munt holding a surgery in a village (she has recently ...
Yesterday I had an appointment with the physiotherapist. I have been attending since just before Christmas. My GP had referred me there as I have been complaining of pains in my knees for quite some time. I have been given daily exercises to perform, and although I may have forgotten on one or two occasions...
Although the world seems to have accepted the subordination of Ukraine to Putinist Russia, the Ukrainians themselves clearly have not. Protest continues against the illegitimate regime of the utterly discredited "President" Yanukovych. Although the government has lost all legitimacy, it continues to press ahead with a deliberate subversion of the right to assembly and democratic free speech. If ever there was any doubt as to Yanukovych's credentials, there is none now: his hostile intentions are clear. The fact that Russia continues to steer and intervene while condemning any other outside involvement suggests that they believe that the situation remains volatile. ...
Chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander has stamped his authority on, the anti independence, by demanding SNP leader Alex Salmond face him in a debate Salmond has always tried
I am sure you will forgive me if I indulge in some displacement activity and talk about the internal problems of another political party rather than dwell on what is going on in the Liberal Democrats. The Times reports that Ed Miliband has been told to clamp down on Labour in-fighting after he was forced to defend his Shadow Chancellor against anonymous sniping. The paper says that the Labour leader has insisted that Ed Balls was not facing the sack before the election whilst a senior Labour figure warned that the "real issue" was not the Shadow Chancellor but "the ...
Some years ago now, I was involved with the team at the New Economics Foundation running the highly influential Clone Town Britain campaign - the one that argued that every high street was beginning to look the same. As an aside at this point, I might say that - although I still think we were right - I don't think any of us expected that the situation would be changed, not by the disappearance of the little shops, but by the euthanasia of most of the clone retailers. But that is beside the point, for now. During the umpteenth Competition ...
Tue 21st
14:00
We should support Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Maajid Nawaz in the face of death threats
The announcment by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board that all non-urgent elective surgery on its three main acute sites (excluding cancer surgery) will be suspended until Monday 27th January is very worrying. The Welsh Labour Government had previously said that it was confident that winter plans were in place. However, these plans are not holding up well at all. This is yet further evidence that Betsi Cadwaladr health board is under an immense amount of pressure and that it is really struggling. Recent figures have shown that Betsi Cadwaladr is the worst performing health board in Wales with regards to ...
Here's today's hand-picked selection that caught my interest... Liberal Democrats: Watch this personal space | The Economist Economist verdict: "...the Lib Dems claim to be a "serious party of government". It doesn't look that way currently" http://econ.st/1e8GMig Statement on Westminster Hour interview – Chris Davies MEP and the North West Lib Dems Kudos to @ChrisDaviesMEP for this retraction of his "Italian bottom pinching" comments http://bit.ly/1fSdvfN Why Labour should be terrified of Ukip - Telegraph Blogs This is @timwig's appliction for a job at The Economist [IMG: :)] It's good, mind > "Why Labour should be terrified of Ukip" http://bit.ly/1eZR59x
[IMG: Males] True liberalism is hard. Sometimes we don't understand this. Lacking an urgent, reformist edge, we let others define us. Our milder critics used to style us sandal-wearing fruitarians who knitted their own CND badges. Hostile tabloids called us dangerous deviants. Oddly, we were comforted by these perceptions. Underlying them was a sense that Liberals are relaxed and open to all-comers. But this vision of our tolerant Party has two problems. Tolerance can degenerate into shoulder-shrugging passivity and turning a blind eye. And we're not that open anyway. We're a Party of ageing, white males. Just like we used ...
Numbers matter to some people. It's sometimes not important who did something first - but rather who did things on "milestone" numbers. Here are the billionth messages posted on Twitter. 1,000,000,000 — annchan (@annchan2) November 11, 2008 Kimmie is a relentless Twitter user. ...and then? Late in 2010, Twitter switched to Snowflake for generating IDs. This meant Tweet IDs were no longer guaranteed to be sequential (although they are usually sortable). [IMG: flattr this!]
With the European election controlled period just starting many of us have been madly getting our pre-Euro Election literature out before the deadline! Calendars and Focuses have been flying out of the door. What that also means is that many of us are artworking the next tranche! So we thought it was wise to reiterate [...]
[IMG: nhs sign lrg] In the post-Lansley NHS the Secretary of State for Health no longer has the duty to provide a comprehensive health service. Such responsibility as remains has been handed to the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). CCGs do not have a responsibility for everyone in the neighbourhood – there is no universal state responsibility to provide us with healthcare any more – but they do at least have the responsibility for commissioning the care needed by their own registered patients. The Clinical Commissioning Groups are about to be undermined. When Jeremy Hunt, the current Secretary of State for ...
Just when I thought things might be looking up a little for the Lib Dems, the Chris Rennard affair comes back with a vengeance. While my own views on the affair will become clear, I want to use this post to reflect on wider issues. Lord Rennard (as he now is) was the party's chief executive, and the ruthless leader of a number of highly successful by-election campaigns. The peak of his influence was under the leadership of Charles Kennedy and the 2005 General Election campaign. This was the party's most successful campaign, marked by a manifesto that I personally ...
A friend has asked me to sign an Avaaz petition supposed to influence decisions of the European Commission about action to fight climate change. Here was my response: I have signed Avaaz petitions before but will not sign this one because of the misleading information they supply. They seem to assume that all politicians are corrupt and in the pockets of lobbyists and the industries they
The suspension and threatened expulsion from the party of Chris Rennard for 'failure to apologise' takes the Rennard affair into a new and much darker place. Even those of us who think Chris should apologise should stop and think about where this is taking us. Alistair Webster's statement seemed to me to be entirely sensible, but there was one issue Alistair should have said more about, namely what can count as 'bringing the party into disrepute'. That issue is crucial because on it depends the rights of minorities in the party to stay within it. If, for example, disagreeing with ...
BBC News - Lord Rennard row: What does it tell us about Lib Dems? reasonably fair assessment that actually pays some attention to how the party works (tags: ) Cicero's Songs: Power, Principles and Execution (tags: ) The internet revolution versus the House of Lords (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
What is Pentecostalism? It is a body of more than 250 million Christians who belong to denominations and churches defined by a distinctive theology and style of worship. So are they catholic, protestant or orthodox? Oh definitely protestant. They do not accept the authority of the Pope or the Patriarchs. They emerged from within existing [...]
The news that Guy Verhofstadt and Olli Rehn have shaken hands on a deal whereby Verhofstadt will be the ALDE candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission, whist Rehn will be promoted for a key role in the new Commission as part of a joint ticket, will have come as a disappointment to Nick Clegg. The deal. drawn up by the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, and the National Chairman of the FDP, Christian Lindner, was confirmed by Guy Verhofstadt yesterday afternoon.Thks to @c_lindner @MinPres for the Proposal under which I'm candidate for CommPres & #Rehn for one of ...
Sorry for my extended absence from writing. I had the flu over the Xmas period, and I've been wiped out ever since — utterly exhausted and unable to deal with the most basic things. I've not been able to even cope with Tumblr or Twitter recently, let alone anything requiring actual thought, and not only [...]
My latest email newsletter to constituents is now available by clicking here. Enjoy!
