Conservative seat. Death LD Candidate is Roger Mullenger
Conservative seat. Death Lib Dem candidate is Richard Anthony Robinson.
[IMG: Clegg_PMQs] Nick was standing in for David Cameron, who was visiting Israel, at Prime Minister's Questions today. The half hour was, of course, punctuated with the usual pantomime and point-scoring, but it seemed a lot more relaxed and good humoured than it usually is. Cameron acts sometimes like the event is beneath him. Nick just took all the jibes, responded with a fair bit of patience and humour and even seemed amused by some of them. The Labour spin doctors must have been up all night thinking of Elvis puns after we were beaten by the Bus Pass Elvis ...
So, I'm in Brussels, and it's dark. It was surprisingly dark outside the train, as a dark and gloomy sky 'welcomed' me to France. Frankly, there wasn't much point looking out of the window unless one's life is so depressing that looking out at a vista like that might cheer you up. You'd have to be pretty depressed though... I did manage to find a pair of vacant seats, which allowed me to escape my neighbour's snoring (something that Ros, at least, will find vaguely amusing) and gave me a window seat to enjoy. Or not, as it turned out. ...
David Willetts talks a good game on public engagement with science. Diversity is good for science, just as it is good for life on Earth. At the moment, public engagement tends to be quite polite and organised. Jack Stilgoe asks whether messier public engagement might be a good thing for science. Jack Stilgoe
[IMG: Au pairs - Some rights reserved by LisaBPhoto] While we've had the Tories tying themselves up in knots so as not to have to admit to anyone employing foreign staff in their homes, Ed Davey and Vince Cable have an entirely different attitude. Ed's au pair is from Hungary and Vince Cable's cleaner is from Poland, as the Telegraph reports: The willingness of Mr Davey and Mr Cable to disclose details of their help at home contrasts with the vast majority of Conservative ministers, who have declined to say if they employed a foreign cleaner or nanny. Mr Davey ...
I'm not a well boy at the moment — I'd had a throat infection for a few weeks, but over conference it turned into what seems to be pneumonia (and again, I cannot apologise enough if anyone else has caught this from me — I wasn't *ANYTHING LIKE* this unwell before going, or I would [...]
The results of the parking survey across Fortune Green and West Hampstead which took place last autumn have now been announced by Camden Council. There was a response rate of 13.9% which doesn't seem high when there are such strong views about parking in parts of our area. The overall results were about two to one "satisfied" with current parking hours but this varied considerably across the three zones. Hardly anyone was keen on an extension of weekend hours, but it's clear that there was a clear area of disagreement in one area in particular. The report says: On a ...
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. 104788/FO/2014/S1 Land ...
[IMG: nhs sign lrg] Over the last week I have been working with 38 degrees who ran a strong campaign raising concerns about a key clause in the Care Bill that made changes to the way in which a hospital in serious financial or clinical trouble would be handled in the NHS. Trust special administration (TSA) as it is known, was introduced by Labour in 2009. It is a blunt process that should only ever be used in exceptional circumstances of financial or clinical failure. The principle was welcome, but when I looked closely, I felt the execution left unintended ...
Here's my final blog from New York, where I represented the UK at the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Also available here. As I'm sure you know by now, I am passionately committed to tackling violence against women and girls wherever it occurs, and this issue was the theme of my last speaking event at CSW before heading back home. The Millennium Development Goals have led to remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation over the last 15 years. But for all their good, the MDGs omitted a crucial element – a target for ending gender-based violence. I'm proud that ...
As I have noted before, I do like a nice train ride, which is why this post comes to you from St Pancras International. But, instead of taking the Midland Main Line service to Market Harborough for stations to Bonkers Halt - hope that you enjoyed the cake, my Lord - my train will turn right and head for the Continent, en route to Brussels. I am off to meet up with Ros, who is safely ensconced in her hotel room in Aalborg, where she is preparing for the 25th Anniversary Conference of the North Sea Commission. She had to ...
Harry Hopkins, the close adviser to Franklin Roosevelt as president, ran some of the key agencies of the New Deal, including the Works Progress Administration. Roosevelt asked him to run it because of the urgent need for unemployment relief during the winter, then just weeks away, and because he was capable of getting money and jobs where it was needed within a matter of weeks. In fact, as head of the new Civil Works Administration, Hopkins summoned the mayors and governors to see him in Washington on November 15 1933, and asked them for immediate proposals for work projects. By ...
[IMG: shekhovtsov_ends_468w] At our spring conference in York, there was an emergency 'Topical Debate' on the Ukraine crisis. The debate reflected United Kingdom attitudes to the Ukraine crisis, but there were some far-reaching implications for some of the views expressed. Importantly, the UK was a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, whereby Ukraine gave up its massive nuclear weapons stockpile in return for full guarantees of its territorial integrity – an agreement now clearly breached by one of its other signatories, the Russian Federation. Today, the UK has military surveillance aircraft flying along the Polish and Romanian ...
The continuing controversy over the increasingly unsustainable independence proposals being put forward by the SNP Government in Scotland have been set alight again today with an unlikely intervention from one of the World's leading businessmen, George Soros. The Telegraph reports that Mr. Soros believes that Alex Salmond's proposal for an independent Scotland to share the pound is impossible. He has also warned that starting a new currency would be "potentially dangerous" as speculators would sense weakness and launch attacks. The paper suggests that his comments undermine the leading currency options for an independent Scotland, raising the possibility of the country ...
[IMG: cpo tatton] The Lib Dem team have launched a campaign to get the Tatton site developed, if necessary by using a Compulsory Purchase Order from the Council. "The Tatton site is an eyesore in the heart of Gatley and it has to be sorted," said Cllr Iain Roberts. "Dickens Property Group, who own the site, have been talking about bringing a new planning application forward for over a year and we have been speaking to them regularly, hoping for positive news. They've had more than enough time, and we're now calling on the Council to take action." A Compulsory ...
If I needed any reminder of the degree to which female genital mutilation (FGM) has shot up the international agenda in the last couple of years, the scrum to attend this morning's FGM event at the UN Commission on the Status of Women did the job. I was speaking alongside the First Lady of Burkina Faso, who I met on my recent visit there, ministers from Italy and Somalia, the head of UNESCO, NGOs and, most importantly, young people from across the world to discuss how to empower youths to end FGM. The energy in the room was palpable, and ...
We now know that the Home Secretary behind the legalisation of homosexuality had himself been in a relationship with another man. How does that change our view of that seminal reform? In Britain, the politics often gets left out of the story of the Sixties. The American narrative of that decade requires rock and roll, [...]
[IMG: Archbishop Justin Welby Some rights reserved by Messiah Lutheran (Mechanicsville, VA)] For those of you in York, and indeed last September at Glasgow, one of the loudest cheers in the closing day of the Leaders Speech always comes when the pre-film, or Nick as leader mentions the Same Sex Marriage Act. Indeed Lynne Featherstone will go down in Liberal Democrat history, indeed in wider history, as the MP who made such a massive impact and a positive one upon society. It's a small irony that the MP who in a former role designed the cover of the Liberal Democrat ...
An original, fresh campaigning effort from the University of Warwick Liberal Democrats. We need to let these talented people loose on some more of our campaigns. You can keep up with these talented young people on Twitter and Facebook. * Caron Lindsay is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
After a number of years in Debian, in various roles, I decided to put my name forward for election to Debian Project Leader. My platform has now been published, and campaigning is now under way! Featured image is CC-BY by State Library of Victoria Collections
It has been an intense few months digging through the security failings of the UK Government's websites and trying to responsibly disclose them. It culminated with a week of blog posts exposing the vulnerabilities - and an award winning hackathon project. So what has been the reaction? The Good Privately, I've been contacted by people within the Civil Service who are working hard to make things better. I wouldn't exactly say they're overjoyed with what happened - but they're certainly pleased that external people are highlighting the problems. I've sent highly detailed reports to people who should be responsible for ...
When the financial meltdown of 2008 to 2009 occurred, most people said that the science of economics was in state of collapse. And yet conventional economics ploughed on with barely a wobble. To see this you only have to listen to the commentary around central banks, which uses language from old text books, with only slight adjustments to modern jargon, such as "forward guidance" and "quantitative easing". And this in spite of the fact that monetary economics was at the heart of the failure of economics in 2008. This is leading to false optimism about the prospects for the world ...
[IMG: Whisky] As the local MP for Islay, I see frequently just how important whisky is to the island. Eight distilleries (and another planned), and the world famous brands they produce, help to drive the local economy and attract tourists from around the world to a remote corner of the Scottish west coast. What is less easy to understand is why the UK continues to penalise the industry in its home market. Today, nearly 80% of an average priced bottle of Scotch Whisky - four pounds in every five you spend on a bottle – is accounted for by tax, ...
Chris Davies has been speaking in the European Parliament about the voting record of his UKIP colleagues and how they just don't turn up for important votes. He also mentioned how one turned up to a vote on e-cigarettes not long after UKIP received a donation from an e-cigarette manufacturer. That, he said, was the price of a UKIP vote. He called their voting record dire and said that they were well known for taking their money but did precious little to defend the interests they hold dear. And he did it all in his own inimitable style. Enjoy.
Here's my fifth blog from New York – this time on clean energy access for women and girls. Also available here. There's a key ingredient to women's equality that just hasn't made it far enough up the agenda, yet could literally power development: energy access for women and girls. So, this morning, I spoke at a meeting hosted by the Global Alliance of Clean Cookstoves, of which I am a leadership council member, and Energia. I was also joined by Cathy Russell, US Ambassador for Global Women's Issues. We were there to work out how to get clean energy access ...
Wed 12th
10:46
Rachel Smith talks to the Telegraph about the Coalition, being a politician's wife, and how she's a ...
In 2001, Rachel Smith, went along to a local meeting in the New Forest at which Vince Cable was speaking. She asked him a question and the rest is history. They were married in 2004. Last year about this time, she gave an interview to the Telegraph. This year, she's done it again. She comes over as very warm, human and honest – just the same as she does when you meet her. She had this to say about Vince's supposed leadership ambitions: She pre-empts questions about her husband's alleged bid to oust the Lib Dem leader. "When people mutter ...
What is happening in Wales?
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) operate an appeals system for over or under blocking of web content, following the implementation of Perry & Cameron's Porn Filters. The appeals system is designed for cases where there is some dispute between operators and site owners about the blocking of sites. Usefully, the BBFC have just published a report about which disputes they had to adjudicate on. So, what sites are tricky enough to handle that they needed external input from a regulator? Firstly, cases of over-blocking: A number of abortion related websites. Although "controversial for some", the BBFC "found no ...
Conservative seat. Disqualification.
Conservative seat. Death
Labour seat. Death
There is a lot of hot air being blown about by people who have only just noticed what the implications of Russian policy in the Crimea actually are. Some of it is along the lines of "making a stand", as if forcing oligarchs wives out of Harvey Nicks will have a material effect on Putin's decision making. Some of it, by contrast is hand wringing at the impotence of the West. I do not -yet- believe- the Putin=Hitler narrative, but there are now some very uncomfortable parallels, and it does not take a Nazi level of evil to cause a ...
Ed Miliband has decided, once and for all, what Labour's position is be on an in/out EU referendum – the same as the Lib Dem policy. Writing in today's Financial Times, the Labour leader has said his party's manifesto will commit to a referendum on whether the UK should be in or out of the EU only if there is a proposed transfer of more powers from London to Brussels. This is subtly different from the Government's 'treaty lock' agreed within the Coalition Agreement: that promised there should be a referendum on any future treaty that proposed a transfer of ...
Here's my fourth blog from my recent visit to New York for the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Also available here. As long as there is gender-based violence, we will never achieve gender equality. The Prime Minister appointed me as Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence against Women and Girls Overseas in 2010 for exactly that reason. And today Poland organised their first ever high-level conference on women's equality, which I have just attended and which focused on this issue. 67% of women will experience gender-based violence at least once in their lives. This doesn't just cause short-term damage. ...
MiniVAN is an app that enables you to canvass using either your smart phone or a tablet. It's cutting edge technology, but once you get past the hurdle of getting it all setup it's surprisingly easy to use. In order to get started using this MiniVan you firstly need to install the app on your [...]
Job Centres need to be radically reformed or scrapped - The Backbencher (tags: ) Social housing stock rises back above 4 million (tags: ) Pregnant great white shark only heading to UK for the benefits, claim UKIP (tags: ) Cutting Through the Bullshit Surrounding Flight MH370 (tags: ) ICYMI: Dogtor Who: Artist Draws Doctor Who Perfectly As Dog Breeds (tags: ) Natural selection has altered the appearance of Europeans over the past 5,000 years -- ScienceDaily (tags: ) 8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today ... and he doesn't even mention aleebi ;) Or, more ...
Tim Berners-Lee has called for a digital bill of rights. Last Sunday, the Liberal Democrats passed the following motion (amendment indicated by change of typeface) at their spring conference in York, in spite of some resistance by Martin Horwood over the lines relating to the collection of bulk data. (Martin Horwood is the MP for Cheltenham and therefore for GCHQ, and both his parents worked for the security services.) : F19 A Digital Bill of Rights Mover: Tim Farron MP Summation: Dr Julian Huppert MP (Co-Chair, Parliamentary Party Committee on Home Affairs, Justice and Equalities) Conference believes: i) Monitoring or ...
Following residents' concerns about the continuing lack of adequate disabled parking facilities in Union Place (particularly in the south car park), I raised this with the City Council's Head of Transportation who advises: "I have arranged for a further review on the Union Street Council Car Parks. The north car park has 18no bays and 1no disabled bay. Normally the ratio is about 6% for disabled bays so 1no would be appropriate for this car park due to the limited total amount of bays. I will arrange to continue to monitor this car park and give consideration to an additional ...
Our Headline of the Day comes from Canada and the Toronto Sun.
ScotlandsPeople is a superb on-line source of original genealogical information. It is invaluable for anyone researching UK genealogy, Scottish ancestry or for anyone building his or her Scottish family tree. ScotlandsPeople has almost 90 million records available and a new, additional, resource was added last month with the addition of the Scottish Valuation Rolls for 1885. These 1885 valuation rolls include the names of owners, tenants and occupiers of each property. The named person in the roll is usually the head of the household and, in many cases, occupations are also listed. Since the rolls list every type of rateable ...
Wed 12th
08:22Opinon: The Calder Valley needs a modern transport system to maximise economic potential
The declaration that Hebden Bridge is the UKs 'second city' – lying at the heart of the suburbs of Bradford, Leeds & Manchester – has come as something of a shock to most people living there, including myself. However, underneath the hyperbole lies a serious point; that the Calder Valley lies in a sweet spot for ease of commute to the major employment centres. But what the Calder Valley lacks – and what holds back prosperity and employment opportunities within it – is a modern, efficient transport system. We are cursed on the Caldervale line which runs along the Calder ...
In Southwark planning applications for schemes up to 50 new homes were decided at local planning committees. Southwark had eight to cover the whole borough and one main planning committee for schemes greater than 50 new homes. These were swept away Southwark Labour. Supposedly to save money but the amount of money spent on each community council meeting is now so huge that you could hold the dames number of meetings as used to be held for less money. It is so embarrassing that local schemes aren't decided locally that Labour cabinet councillor Barrie Hargrove pleaded a special case for ...
[IMG: An application for a function room at the former Nat West will to the Planning & Highways committee.] An application for a function room at the former Nat West will to the Planning & Highways committee. Here are the main decisions the local councillors took at last night's Cheadle Area Committee. We gave £150 to Gatley Village Partnership to cover their costs for meeting hire and administration over the coming year. Planning application 54385 is for a private function room in the new Indian takeaway soon opening in the old Nat West building in Gatley. Concerns were raised about ...
We reported last night on the attacks on Nick Clegg's plan for free school lunches for infants by the Daily Mail and by former Tory adviser Dominic Cummings – and the Lib Dem counter-attack. Here's the lighter side of things, courtesy the newspaper's cartoonist Mac: [IMG: daily mail free school lunches - mac]
Holding the position of Chief Secretary to the Treasury through the difficulties of the last 3 and a half years has been a great privilege and an enormous challenge.After the huge task of tackling the deficit, after all the criticism from our opponents, after the headwinds from the Eurozone and the United States. Employment is rising. Unemployment falling. Growth is back. We know that Governments don't create jobs and growth. It is the hard work of millions of people and hundreds of thousands of businesses that does that - but Government can and must create the right conditions for this ...
There is an urgent need for a review into the remit and functions of Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW), in light of the concerns raised regarding waiting times and mortality rates in the Welsh NHS. I am deeply concerned that the current system of inspection in Wales is not fit for purpose. We need a robust, proactive and strong system of inspections in our hospitals and I do not feel the current system provides that. Many hospitals are not being regularly and routinely inspected. When giving evidence to the Health Committee, I asked the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales if they could assure ...
