Earlier tonight, I attended the February meeting of Community Spirit - the community group for the "north" part of West End Ward, covering Tullideph, Pentland, Ancrum and the Cleghorn area. The meeting took place in the Mitchell Street Centre. There was firstly a presentation by George Gammack of Living Streets, on the advantages of 20 mph zones in highly residential areas, an issue I have long campaigned for, particularly in parts of the West End that have very narrow roads, like Logie, the Perth Road lanes, Pentland and Ancrum Drive. Thereafter, at my request on behalf of residents and with ...
The Liberal Democrats have put out their latest party political broadcast. No sorries this time, but an unashamed pro-European message. The video features Nick Clegg delivering clear reasons as to
Back in 2009 I blogged several times about the scandal in the Pennsylvania juvenile justice system. Judges in the state's juvenile courts were revealed to be taking payments amounting to $26m from the operators of juvenile detention facilities in return for ensuring that a steady supply of youngsters were given custodial sentences -even if their offences did not warrant them. Eventually one of the judges involved, Mark Ciavarella Jnr, was sentenced to 28 years for his part in the affair. This video from Democracy Now tells the full story of the Pennsylvania scandal and sounds a serious warning about the ...
It's not often we hear from the Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable on constitutional matters. But today he appeared before Parliament's Business, Innovation and Skills Committee to discuss the implications for business of Scottish independence, ahead of September's referendum. Here's what he said (via the BBC): RBS would "inevitably" move its headquarters to London if Scotland votes for independence, UK Business Secretary Vince Cable has claimed. Mr Cable told a committee of MPs that the bank would want to be based where it was "protected against the risk of collapse". ... William Bain, Labour MP for Glasgow North East, ...
In an interview with the Independent, the Liberal Democrat education minister (and much esle) David Laws has demanded reform of the system for making key public appointments to prevent cabinet ministers installing political allies. David wants to stop Michael Gove imposing Theodore Agnew, a Tory donor whose Inspiration Trust runs seven academies and free schools, as Baroness Morgan's successor as head of Ofsted. There should be no question of such an appointment: it would represent a clear conflict of interest. But, incredibly, while Ofsted has the power to inspect individual academies, it has no power to inspect chains of schools ...
Liberal Democrats will vote at our spring conference in March on a new policy paper bringing together a range of commitments to electoral and constitutional reform. Among the commitments will be one to bring proper devolution to Cornwall. Until now, those in favour of devolution have tended to seek the perfect solution that suits every area. So debates about what is right in, say, Hertfordshire have tended to be to the detriment of Cornwall where our aims and case is settled and well stated. Instead, the Lib Dems will be looking to what is known as 'asymmetric devolution'. In other ...
This was the couldn't-be-clearer headline in the Mirror today, atop an interview with Lib Dem chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander: [IMG: danny alexander mirror headline] Defiant Danny Alexander today opened up a fresh rift within the Coalition Government by vowing to block Tory plans for yet another tax cut for the rich. ... His comments will enrage Conservative MPs who are pushing to slash the rate from 45p ahead of next year's General Election. It comes just days after David Cameron refused, on three occasions, to rule out cutting tax. But in an exclusive interview with the Mirror, ...
From the neighbourhood police.
Last year, when I wrote the "Why I Am Not A Feminist" post, I was planning to write a "Why I Am Also Not An MRA". I've often found BTL comments on MRA posts pretty depressing and filled with a similar amount of bitterness, creepiness and opposite gender hating to most BTL comments on feminist sites (except perhaps for http://www.ihatemen.org/, which is unfortunately a real website). Though I've followed a few MRA blogs for a while, and worshipped at the fountain of Youtube awesomeness that is girlwriteswhat, I have kept my distance from them for fear of being tainted by ...
Manchester City Council will be constructing a new disabled access ramp and steps on the Manchester side of Jacksons Boat Footbridge. The current arrangement makes access difficult for cyclists and near impossible for wheel chair users and prams to use without assistance. The works will start on the 17th of February and be completed by April. The Council will keep the bridge open for the majority of the project but it will be necessary to close the bridge for a few days to enable certain works to be undertaken safely. The closure dates will be: 19/2/2014 to 21/2/2014 and 17/3/2014 ...
Party political broadcasts are all too often toe-curlingly bad, but this evening's LibDem PPB on "Why I am IN" (the EU, that is) is a corker. It gets across a simple but crucial message powerfully, with a stellar performance by Nick Clegg (really!) in his best relaxed but authoritative style, and three nice vignettes of [...]
It can't have escaped the notice of regular readers that there has been a lack of posts here recently. This is partly due to the pressures of balancing earning a crust whilst being back in full time education but if I am honest it is a little more than that. Every day I see the see the same old rubbish. Attacks on free speech here, more regulations on what we can eat and drink there, authoritarian criminal justice measures elsewhere. The truth is i'm just tired out and there are only so many ways I can write the same old ...
Liberal Democrat MEPs have written an open letter to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Development Commissioner Piebalgs calling on the EU to step up the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). They said: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is an appalling form of child abuse and violence against women which continues to blight the lives of millions around the world. We would like to commend the Commission and EEAS for their much-needed action to date on preventing FGM, including successful EU-UNICEF programmes in Eritrea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Senegal, Sudan and India. But we believe more could be done. Through more funding ...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats: You can also watch this on YouTube.
The latest Lib Dem Party Political Broadcast is brilliant – #whyiamIN. It's exactly the right message that the UK needs to hear right now. So why am I in? Here are some of my favourite reasons to be IN: A lifetime of peace through pan-European political co-operation. The right to move freely around the EU [...]
Today is National Voter Registration Day and an organisation called Bite the Ballot is running a campaign to get young people aged 16 or over to sign up to vote. I spent a day with Bite the Ballot last summer as a young person who is interested in politics (they are a non-political organisation) and am very enthusiastic about the work that they do. Apparently young people aged between 16 to 24 are the most under-represented part of society on the electoral register. Yet, so much of what is happening in the world concerns that age group. Why can't they ...
The loss of the sea wall at Dawlish, and with the Great Western mainline to Plymouth and Cornwall, should not come as a surprise. It has long been known that this stretch of track is vulnerable to storms and that climate change will only make the situation worse. As a result there has been interest in the idea of reopening the old London & South Western route from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock. Stretches of the line is still in use at either end. In 2010 Andrew George, the Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives in Cornwall, said: ...
The liberal blogosphere, Facebook and Twitter in Ireland (and indeed further afield) have been ablaze these past few days, following Rory O'Neill's impassioned and stirring speech after the curtain-fall of the Abbey Theatre's The Risen People last Saturday night. O'Neill (in the guise of his stage persona, Panti Bliss) gave a deeply personal and rousing exposition of the oppressive nature
[IMG: Terraced housing] Liberal Democrats have long recognised the housing crisis that has grown steadily worse since the 1979 Conservative Government stopped councils building new homes. In Government, Liberal Democrats have made a good start at increasing the number of affordable homes built for rent, with 335,000 homes to be completed between 2011 and 2018, and supported initiatives to help deliver market housing. We've also agreed an ambitious target of 300,000 new homes each year for overall housing supply as party policy. But even with some councils starting to build again, there is a long way to go before anywhere ...
Tonight's Scottish Liberal Democrat broadcast:
When a referendum on the EU comes the Liberal Democrats will campaign unambiguously as the party of IN. As Nick Clegg said, leaving the EU would be 'economic suicide'. Nick Clegg has called on pro-Europeans, businesses and organisations to join a 'coalition for the national interest' to make the case publicly for the benefits of being in Europe. He launched the party's #whyiamIN campaign, calling on people to declare why they are in favour of being in Europe, which received thousands of online responses including support from Richard Branson. He said: "Whatever you do, just don't let the isolationists speak ...
Since Honey the pig was rescued from Boscaswell, it has amazed me how many people knew her. A chap walking his dog, from Trewellard, recognised her whilst I was feeding her the other day. He told me that, if walking that way, he used to put a few carrots in his pocket! [IMG: Honey the Pig latest update] Honey the Pig latest update Then, to my surprise, chatting to some-one in St Just, she used to look out for Honey when going past on the bus. I am beginning to think she is the most famous pig in the West! ...
The claim by the Leader of the Welsh Conservative Assembly Group, Andrew R.T. Davies that he resembles 19 stone of prime Welsh beef and is not easily destabilised continues to cause much bemusement in Cardiff Bay. As the Western Mail points out this rather bizarre self-description came about at a press conference yesterday, when Mr. Davies was challenged about his relationship with the Secretary of State for Wales. A few days ago I posed the question, 'What is going on with the Welsh Conservatives?' I think that the answer to that question is summed up in Andrew R.T, Davies' comment. ...
And here's the Scottish version of the new broadcast, with a section featuring Willie Rennie arguing that Scotland needs to stay in the UK and the UK needs to stay in the EU. He said in an email to members: The European elections might be just round the corner but the Conservatives are flirting with exit from the EU. Labour won't lift a finger to keep us in Europe and the SNP's independence plans gamble with our EU membership and threaten jobs at home. The message we are sending to Scots in this broadcast is clear. Only one party is ...
Local government minister Eric Pickles has been forced to back down from his plans to cut the threshold for council tax referendums. The figure will remain at 2% meaning that the Cornwall Council budget set in November can now be confirmed. Two years ago, the government abolished the cap on council tax rises and replaced it with a referendum threshold. Any main council wanting to raise council tax by more than the threshold had to hold a binding referendum. The trouble is that the referendum has to take place in May, some two months after the start of the new ...
From the Met Office Across the East of England the very unsettled weather shows no sign of letting up, so here is the latest forecast for you: Rest of today and tonight will see some dry spells but further rain or showers are expected through the day. Strong or gale force winds blowing from between the south and south west will continue, with gusts of 40 to 50mph possible From Thursday, bouts of rain, showers and very windy weather are frequent. All parts of the East of England will be affected to an extent - but at this stage, much ...
My friend and colleague Mark Pack should have been chosen as Lib Dem blogger of the year last year. His posts are always intelligent, always thoughtful and always informed and his Lib Dem Newswire service is a major breakthrough. And I speak as a Luddite who was editor of Liberal Democrat News in the days when it was produced with copious use of the fax machine. I even turned on the PM programme yesterday to hear him interviewed about the niceties of blogging about potholes. The world is clearly changing. I say this partly because it is true, and partly ...
Tonight, the new Party Political Broadcast will be shown. It has, funnily enough, a very heavy pro EU message, showing the practical reasons we need to be in the EU. We have a sneak preview below. Nick Clegg says: Are you IN or are you OUT? That's the real question at stake at the European elections on May 22nd. UKIP wants to take Britain out of the EU - even though it would wreck the recovery and destroy jobs. The Conservatives are now openly flirting with exit. And the Labour Party don't have the courage of their convictions on this ...
The latest estimate for the cost of the flooding and bad weather in Cornwall is around £14 million. But that amount is likely to rise further as bad weather is going to be with us for the next few days at least. The £14m figure is made up of £4 million for the immediate response to the flooding and £10 million for the long term repair work - mainly rebuilding walls and repairing roads. The good news is that Cornwall has qualified for 'Bellwin scheme' funding for our response work. This means we can claim 85% of the amount we ...
What are the Local Election Expense Limits? Most local elections now have the same formula for calculating the election expense limits. The format is a flat rate, plus an amount per elector. The amount allowed is raised periodically and a consultation is under way to revise it for 2015. Always check the relevant figures at [...]
Just to let you know that individual contact details for events now stop displaying 30 days after an event has happened.
Following pressure from Liberal Democrat Group Leader and Highways spokesperson, Stephen Giles-Medhurst, Hertfordshire County Council has agreed that it needs to out in place a co-coordinated Cycleway Maintenance Strategy. Stephen Giles-Medhurst, who took up cycling again last year after a 25 year break, has been pursuing Hertfordshire County Council about the lack of any formal programme for the long term maintenance of its cycle routes and cycle tracks. Last year he got the Conservative run administration to agree that it needs a formal maintenance strategy and the first draft of this was presented to the Highways and Waste Panel on ...
My mother loves her BlackBerry, even though it is one of my cast offs. Sadly, her ancient Torch finally gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. We spent some time trying to work out the best phone for her before, eventually, settling on.... another BlackBerry Torch! [IMG: Mother and BlackBerry] Why? My mum has an Android tablet which she likes very much. Her Windows laptop suits her needs fine. She admires her friends' iPhones and iPads. Yet she still chose the classic BlackBerry - not BB10 - over all the other phones on the market. It comes down to ...
Londoners are today facing disruption as the RMT trade union strike, closing down large sections of the Tube network. As Londoners battle around the city, we've heard little from the
Recent posts seem to be all about medical, but I'm still fairly active in the House, see http://bit.ly/1epmi7F Question on the Government's failure to enforce their own policy on planning for Travellers, and yesterday I intervened about the policy for destruction of public documents, in the context of the revelations about the Indian government's request to us for military advice before the attack on the Sikh Golden Temple in 1984, http://bit.ly/MsNwyb Blood test results (last time in brackets: Hb 10.3 (9.5) Plt 590 (593) WBC 6.52 (4.16) No idea why the WBC should be so much better. Results mean no ...
For those who have not followed the long-running saga of this, there has been pressure on the passport office for some time to consider allowing the use of X (Unspecified) in place of M or F for the gender marker on passports. This is of benefit to quite a few people, as society becomes more accepting of people who do not fit within the gender binary and a number of countries already permit this. It is also of potential use for someone who might travel under one gender but work under a different one, for example. X as a marker ...
Wed 5th
11:25
What do the academics say? Using internet search volumes to track changes in the importance of polit...
[IMG: God versus Devil Google news search results] Welcome to the latest in my occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today – whether the volume of internet searches for different topics can be used to track changes in how important voters view the issue to be. For example, does an increase in search volume on immigration go with an increasing importance being attached to the issue and, conversely, if you see a change in the volume of searches on an issue does that tell you what's happening to the issue priorities of voters? Some of the time is ...
From the FT: One of the government's main tax-cutting drives has been to encourage councils to keep tax rises to a minimum. Ministers have done this in two ways: firstly, by giving councils a cash incentive to freeze council tax; and secondly, by forcing any council that wants to raise tax by 2 per cent or more to put it to a local referendum. Of course, any self-respecting council is going to set a rate that's just below the threshold. Eric Pickles was not chuffed and wanted to lower that threshold to 1.5%. He did not get his way, thanks ...
Every so often a local issue crops up that you just know is going to be controversial and provide a great opportunity to stand up for local residents and make a real difference. So it was in Botley, near Oxford, when the Conservative run council got into bed with a property developer, Doric. Initially they [...]
[IMG: Jim Caron Euan Hannah at equal marriage rally 4 Feb] Last night there were many celebrations across Scotland as the Holyrood parliament passed its same sex marriage bill by a margin of 105-18. All Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs voted in favour. While England might have been ahead of the game – its first marriages will happen next month – the Scottish Bill is much better. In Scotland there transgender people won't have to suffer the indignity of a spousal veto and religious organisations who wish to do so can opt in to perform same sex marriages. Before the parliamentary ...
"Market gurus" in Investment Banking are in the business of marketing like everyone else, so much of what they do is more to do with presentation than reality. I have been forcibly reminded of this in recent weeks as yet another "emerging markets" crisis has unfolded on the currency and stock exchanges of the planet. In a way "Emerging Markets" is itself more a presentational than real idea, because the only thing that the so-called "emerging markets" really have in common is that they are poorer than the so-called "developed markets". About three quarters of the worlds population lives in ...
This is part of a weekly series of posts to highlight key templates from our template File Library. This can be accessed by clicking on Members icon on the top bar, once you've logged into the website. This gives you four options 1. Advice 2. File Library 3. My councillor 4. Manage Membership Select File [...]
Neil Gaiman's American Gods & Anansi Boys to become TV drama They'll totally miscast Mr Nancy, won't they? And he's my favourite... :/ (tags: ) Asperger's in Women - IME this applies to a lot of the men I know too. I am very VERY glad I had my dad around when I was growing up, who ALWAYS accepted me for who I am, and taught me tricks to deal with those who won't. OfC we're now reasonably sure that my dad is somewhere on the spectrum too... I reached the point the lady in this article took till 40 ...
Liberal Democrat MP Michael Moore writes a regular column for newspapers in his Borders Constituency. Here is the latest edition. A Stronger Economy Last week, I welcomed the announcement of the strongest GDP growth figures since before the financial crisis began in 2007, with the UK growing by 0.7% in the last financial quarter and 1.9% throughout the whole of 2013. Growth is vital for our prosperity so this is a really important development. We have also seen the inflation rate dropping to 2% from a peak of 5.2% in September 2011, decreasing unemployment and both the World Bank and ...
Wed 5th
08:30
5 tables showing the best and worst places to go to school if you're eligible for free school meals
I've taken a quick look at the data of how pupils did in their GCSEs according to where they live by local authority. In particular I wanted to find out how about how pupils eligible for free school meals (broadly those from households with income below £16k) are doing in their GCSEs compared with all other pupils – the difference is what's termed the 'attainment gap'. The results may surprise you. Well, they surprised me. The 10 local authorities where pupils eligible for free school meals do least well Here's the 10 local authorities in England where the absolute attainment ...
There's a school of thought that says that the increasingly partisan nature of American politics on cable news. Liberals and Conservatives segregate themselves into different televised echo chambers that reinforce their prejudices. The Economist's Lexington column presents a different view: Yet those who blame Fox and MSNBC for dividing the country should check their sums. [...]
Further to my previous updates last year about the improvement works at Blackness Library that saw the provision of an accessible lift to allow residents with mobility difficulties to access the upstairs meetings rooms for the first time, I requested thereafter that the council's Chief Executive agree to a number of further improvements - in terms of sink provision upstairs and redecoration and I am pleased to advise that this was agreed to. Leisure & Culture Dundee has now advised me that : "The two upper floor rooms are (currently) being painted and the adult lending library will be painted ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling for '15 minute care' to be made a thing of the past. The party has tabled amendments to the Social Services and Well-being Bill calling for the practice to end. Figures released in June 2013 show 83% of local authorities in Wales commission 15 minute care visits. This can mean care workers are asked to provide personal care to an individual in a timeframe that does not allow them to be supported with dignity or for any meaningful personal contact. The penultimate stage of the bill's passage is to take place in the National ...
The agenda for tonights meeting of the Parish Council Environment Committee is listed below; 1. To receive apologies for absence and declaration of interest 2. To approve minutes of the previous meeting 3. Matters arising for discussion and decisions to be made from the previous minutes 4. Stream and Nature Reserve - Rob Mongovan to attend 5. Tree Management Programme Report 6. Litter - To make a decision on the date of the next Litter Picking Day 7. Works outstanding and approval 8. Items for information Comments or suggestions let me know.
Don't forget the police priority survey (at the bottom)! -- -- -- -- -- Local Policing Panels for the South Cambridgeshire area are changing. From February 2014 there will be three Panel areas, focused around our three Police Stations at Histon, Cambourne and Sawston. These meetings will be held three times a year for each area to allow the public to influence their local Policing priorities. (Follow this link to find out which panel area your village is in: Panel areas 2014 - Bar Hill, Boxworth, Lolworth, and Girton all come under Histon Panel) Histon Panel (combined area for Histon ...
On Wednesday Nick Clegg confirmed that the UK will be providing refuge to some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees. We will provide refuge for some of those most traumatised by the crisis, such as vulnerable women or children. Nick said: "I am pleased to be able to announce today that the UK will be providing refuge to some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees. "The Coalition Government wants to play our part in helping to alleviate the immense suffering in Syria. "The £600m we have provided makes us the second largest bilateral donor of humanitarian aid in the world. ...
