This evening the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan closed down twitter in his country, having previously warned he might do so. As a longstanding friend of Turkey I tear my hair out. There's a saying in Britain that politicians go off the boil after 10 years (think Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair) and Erdogan [...]
[IMG: steve webb] According to The Guardian's Andrew Sparrow, at any rate, who noted the Lib Dem pensions ministers fingerprints all over this week's budget: The Lib Dem pensions minister, Steve Webb, has now become one of the most important people in government. A rare example of a minister who is an expert in his area, he has been pushing the pension pot liberalisation plan (which is firmly rooted in longstanding Lib Dem party policy) and the legislation on this - which he will almost certainly have to take through the Commons - may be the most important of the ...
Tributes were paid in the House of Commons today to the former Labour MP Tony Benn, who died last week. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg led them – here's what he had to say... The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Nick Clegg): May I, on behalf of the House, commence the tributes to the right hon. Tony Benn, following the warm words from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition yesterday? As others have already commented, Tony Benn will be remembered as a dedicated constituency Member of Parliament, a tireless campaigner and, of course, an astute political diarist. He ...
Eleven contributions on the Immigration Bill Committee stage yesterday, including a win for certain illegitimate children: http://bit.ly/1l8lmHS
Blood test yesterday: Plt 535 (638)Hb 10.4 (10.4) WBC 5.3 (6.5) There bis no explanation why the platelets have improved with no change in the hydroxycarbamide dose, but it simply means the dose is kept at its present level. It would be unfortunate if the platelets did start rising, as a higher dose would cause a reduction in the level of haemoglobin.
Independent seat. Death Lib Dem candidate is Bob Wootton (policyguru@hotmail.co.uk)
Staffordshire Independent seat. Death Lib Dem candidate is Phil Routledge.
Liberal Democrat seat. Resignation Lib Dem Candidate: Alex Cassam. Agent is Michael Kitching (mwkitching@gmail.com 07515 112032)
Con seat. Death Lib Dem candidate is Davinder Virdi.
Inspired by this blog's recent 10th birthday, I have been looking through the archives. Here is post from February 2005. It makes too much of a report in the Guardian, but I obviously enjoyed writing it. Ambridge riots Sometimes it is hard to escape the conclusion that some people working in the public sector would be happiest living in a totalitarian state. Take this report in today's Observer about reactions to Brian Aldridge outburst at Alice's intention to leave her fee-paying school and do her A levels at a further education College. (We're talking about the BBC Radio 4 soap ...
I'll be honest. I don't yet know what I think about the Coalition's plans to liberalise pensions. I like the idea people should have greater control over their own money; I'd like to know more about how the government proposes to deal with the moral hazard of those few retirees who splurge their pension pots, lack the means to live adequately, and end up on state benefits. But one thing I do know. Tom Watson's state-knows-best knee-jerk blog-post against it sums up the attitude that made me leave the Labour Party 15 years ago: When you pay into a pension ...
Liverpool City Council is organising a drop in consultation at Gilmour Infants for people who live nearby. It takes place next week (25th March) at the school from 3 30. It's to give more info and discuss plans around the potential expansion of the school. The Council should deliver leaflets about this consultation to houses nearby, but I am posting it here as an extra way of letting people know.
It's certainly no secret amongst Liberal Democrat activists that held, and target seats are expected to use templates from HQ when designing their leaflets. HQ might argue that the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages; they get to control the content of the message, it fits with party branding, and the party can benefit from economies of scale when placing large orders. This probably worked quite well until the introduction, and subsequent diffusion of the Internet. These days, elections geeks, and competitors can easily share political leaflets that come through their doors with thousands of interested viewers from a range ...
It was reported a few days ago that Fred Phelps was terminally ill, and it's been reported today that he's died. For the lucky and uninitiated, Fred Phelps was the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church - a small church from Kansas who have been picketing various things for the past twenty years, warning people of the sins of homosexuality. The way that I've described that almost reduces what they do. What they actually did, time and time again, was turn up at the funerals of soliders with signs like these... Charming, no? Fred Phelps and his church have targeted ...
Black Lace watched their #TOTP appearance at the house of their guitarist's Uncle George - nightclub owner George Deakin... — Top Of The Pops Fax (@TOTP1979) March 20, 2014My favourite television programme at the moment is the reruns of Top of the Pops from 1979. You can see them on BBC4 at 7.30 on Thursday evenings - providing the DJ presenting has not been arrested under Operation Yewtree in the past few days. The pleasure of watching the show is greatly enhanced if you follow Top of the Pops Fax on Twitter. This evening, while Mary Ann by Black Lace ...
Thomas Williams, Labour Tony Benn, Labour Michael Colvin, Conservative Michael Stern, Conservative Robert Rhodes James, Conservative Paul Boateng, Labour Tom Cox, Labour Matthew Carrington, Conservative Jenny Tonge, Lib Dem Susan Kramer, Lib Dem Zac Goldsmith, Conservative Scroll down for the answer.... The answer is: me. They are the MPs whose constituency's I have lived in during my lifetime
[IMG: Image under Open Government licence from gov.uk] Image under Open Government licence from gov.uk The Association of Liberal Democrat Engineers and Scientists (Aldes) welcomes the positive language used by the Chancellor in his aspirations for Britain to continue to play a globally significant role in science, technology and engineering. We are also pleased to see the increase in capital spending, which partially mitigates earlier underinvestment in this area. We welcome the proposal to found a data science and algorithm research facility and the recognition accorded to Alan Turing in its name: the Liberal Democrat paper on policies for science ...
Another year, another set of uninspiring elections. Voting has now closed, by the way – I hope you voted, otherwise all those leaflets were a complete waste of time, rather than just a partial one. Every year, I'm surprised by how uninspiring candidates are – maybe it's because I'm jaded from running and being a part [...]
A hole has appeared in the bottom of the pond through which a great volume of water has escaped. Until it's investigated further, we can't be sure exactly what's happened and why. There is some evidence on site to support the idea that a leak through the clay lining of the pond has been in existence for a long time but that this has suddenly expanded. [IMG: 140320 Pond showing levels and hole] There is a small body of water remaining in which the few fish that live in the pond have congregated. The water that continues to flow out ...
Many moons ago I listened to a rather interesting Feast of Fun podcast (haven't listened to them in a long time, I really should give them another go) which featured a discussion between Shirley Phelps-Roper and an OUT magazine journalist who argued she, her family and the Westboro Baptist Church were one of the greatest things to happen to LGBT rights in the USA. Ever. The argument has become a fairly common one, but no less compelling for that. Fred Phelps' church had become such an extreme caricature of religious hate and had pissed off a wide enough demographic that ...
[IMG: pensions] The world of the private "Defined Contribution" pension is one that sees so many hidden fees it has been described as generating a greater return for the financial services industry than it does the saver. A large bite of this comes with the annuity purchase, where the pension pot, built up over the years, is spent on an annuity, converting a cash sum into a fixed (or index-linked) income for life. Annuity purchase represents a kind of insurance against getting too old and running out of money. However, like any insurance, it will pay out on average less ...
Thu 20th
15:56
4 weeks of disruption as lights at the junction of Sandpit Lane and Beechwood Avenue are upgraded
Note from the county council What are we doing? We will be refurbishing the junction of S236 - Sandpit Lane / Beechwood Avenue, St Albans. The works will involve updating the traffic signal equipment to provide PUFFIN facilities. The main difference between the existing Pedestrian facilities and the proposed PUFFIN facilities is that the red and green man symbol will be near to the push button and not on the far side of the road. A PUFFIN crossing is an intelligent type of crossing that will allow users the necessary time to cross the road and will not let traffic ...
[IMG: Tens of thousands of Ukrainians in pro-Europe rally] Given some of the comments being widely made about the crisis in Ukraine, particularly those defending or minimising the actions of Russia, I thought it would be worthwhile to point out some facts about the situation and counter some of the popular myths. They doesn't necessarily establish that one side is completely right or wrong but they are worth bearing in mind. The overthrow of Yanukovyh as President was done (mostly) constitutionally Two hours after an EU brokered deal between Yanukovych and protesters he left the capital without formally informing anyone ...
A long and comprehensive guide and review to Cheadle on the Manchester confidential website – some really good stuff.
[IMG: Parliament - parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of Parliament] Queen of the geek scene Emma Mulqueeny has recently been asked to sit on Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy. They're currently soliciting for comments on the question: The system of laws and law-making in the UK is complex, but is that inevitable given the highly developed and interconnected society which laws regulate? Should you need to be a lawyer to understand and use an Act? You can leave your comment on their forum - here's what I submitted. Albert Einstein said: [T]he supreme goal of all theory ...
[IMG: Unemployment falls once again] I've brought together "claimant count" statistics for Folkestone & Hythe and Dover constituencies for 2014, 2013 & 2012 in the chart below. [Update 20 March 2014] To the end of 2013, I'd used the BBC website economy tracker at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117 but that source now seems to have disappeared. I have therefore changed to using the raw statistics from the ONS website monthly "Regional Labour Market: JSA01 - Claimant Count for Local and Unitary Authorities" releases. There were some marginal differences in figures (mainly percentage claimant counts rather than the number) between that and the BBC ...
Thu 20th
13:30
Call Clegg: Proud of Budget, help for parents, taking on Ed Balls and "silly" Shapps and keeping Sco...
[IMG: call clegg] Another good Call Clegg this morning with one question from Philadelphia on Scottish independence. The caller asked if David Cameron should resign if Scotland voted yes. Nick didn't get into that, but he said he fervently hoped that Scotland would stay in the "UK family of nations" with more powers. One criticism of the budget is that it only helps working parents, not those who choose to stay at home. Nick expressed his admiration for those who make that choice, but he said that so many had said to him that they would love to be able ...
Poster boy for statistical predictors, Nate Silver, has a new piece out explaining the vision for the future of journalism which lies behind his new site FiveThirtyEight: Our methods are not meant to replace "traditional" or conventional journalism... Still, I would never have launched FiveThirtyEight in 2008, and I would not have chosen to broaden its coverage so extensively now, unless I thought there were some need for it in the marketplace. Conventional news organizations on the whole are lacking in data journalism skills. He then sets out a four part process to follow "by which anecdote is transformed into ...
[IMG: Liberal Reform] Liberal Reform had this to say about the measures contained in yesterday's budget: Liberal Reform welcomes much of this year's budget, which once again has a clear Liberal Democrat thread running through it. From income tax to pensions, the changes announced by the chancellor come from Lib Dem thinking. There is one area where we would liked to have seen further progress, and that is on housing. We have been critical of the Help to Buy scheme and maintain that it is the wrong way to tackle a problem that is primarily one of supply. The new ...
Proof, as if we needed it, that Liberal Democrat and Tory mindsets are very different can be seen from Danny Alexander's reaction to Grant Shapps' "Bingo"poster. #budget2014 cuts bingo & beer tax helping hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy. RT to spread the word pic.twitter.com/5vbL7RDAg5 — Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 19, 2014 Danny talked about it on last night's Newsnight and you can watch it here. This is what he said: I thought it was a spoof at first. It's pretty extraordinary. [Paxman: it's your budget they're talking about] It may be our budget but it's ...
In all the target wards that you and I are working in, it may not be warm but it's certainly lighter and a lot nicer on the doorstep. With the budget out of the way the election is picking up pace. You will rightly be defending your local record campaigning record of action. The materials [...]
With the search for Malaysia Airline Flight MH370 ongoing, I thought I would share a story of the hunt for another missing plane: the Star Dust. Star Dust (registration G-AGWH) was a British South American Airways (BSAA) Avro Lancastrian airliner which crashed into Mount Tupungato in the ArgentineAndes on 2 August 1947, during a flight [...]
[IMG: Social Liberal Forum] The Social Liberal Forum's Gareth Epps responded to yesterday's budget over on the SLF website: Much of this year's Budget comes as little surprise. With a tight fiscal background and given George Osborne's penchant for playing to the gallery, so much is predictable. Ditto the widely-trailed coalition announcements on the income tax threshold (where Nick Clegg has been desperate to stop the Tories claiming credit for the policy they opposed in 2010) and childcare. But where - again - are the unequivocally Liberal policies? Extending childcare for those in receipt of Universal Credit is absolutely the ...
My favourite images around yesterdays budget. Probably not the ones you're thinking of.
In my rapidly receding youth, Budget Day was a bit like the Grand National or the FA Cup Final. You half expected the Chancellor to be led from his paddock while Jimmy Savile was being dragged out to lead everyone singing 'Abide With Me'. These days, most of the budget is leaked in advance and doesn't amount to more than a few tweaks here and there, and then there is the Autumn Statement and the Mansion House Speech and all the rest. The Budget is important, but somehow not the spectator sport it once was. I remember people crowding round ...
Local Conservative MEP Giles Chichester is calling for drugs to be decriminalised and taxed to raise money for the Treasury. In a letter to local papers, Mr Chichester, who has been an MEP since 1994 and is a former leader of the Tory MEPs, says: "The war on drugs has not failed completely but needs to change to meet the demands of a new social order... Criminal prosecution is not solving the [drugs] problem. I can see a potential benefit to health by making recreational drugs available on prescription... I can see a potential reduction in crime by cutting out ...
[IMG: Landlod and tenant License Some rights reserved by umjanedoan] In his recent article, Julian Huppert MP declared that "landlords should have to compete on quality not just on price." The Residential Landlords Association agrees. The question is how to achieve this. Many councils have chosen some form of licensing to identify the 'rogues' who over-crowd homes and rent sub-standard properties. The problem with licensing schemes is they identify the good landlords who sign up but fail to find the crooks. Even Newham, the most pro-active borough in this respect, has failed to reach the hardcore of 20% of rogue ...
Why not scrap the annual Budget? (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
This is john McTernan from the Labour Party on last night's Newsnight. Those of us who have had to work with the Labour Party know this is a refrain that is oft heard behind the scenes but it rarely surfaces in public Give them all your money. If you are lucky they may give you some pocket money to spend!
I was on Wave 102 News yesterday about my call for free public wi-fi for Dundee. You can listen to the interview by clicking 'play' below:
Dr Sally Garden From Sheena Wellington: Friends of Wighton Cappuccino Concert this Saturday - 22nd March - at 11am. (Doors open, coffee available from 10.30am). Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library. Dr Sally Garden, the former Historical Musician in Residence at the Wighton Heritage Centre returns with a fascinating illustrated talk: Mine's a 'double tonic'! - native tradition and the making of Scotland's art music. The story of how Dvorak, Sibelius, Grieg, and the composers of the 'national romantic', took interest in their native folk music is well known. But what about Scotland's big story? Musician and writer Dr Sally Garden ...
Giles Chichester, Conservative MEP for South West England and Gibraltar, has written to one of his local papers to say: Criminal prosecution is not solving the [drugs] problem. I can see a potential benefit to health by making recreational drugs available on prescription... I can see a potential reduction in crime by cutting out the illegal market in drugs. I could even see a fiscal benefit in taxing things like cannabis so as to put it on a par with alcohol and tobacco We need to consider what is happening in other countries to combat the spread of hard drugs. ...
The University of Cambridge's investment in community-building reached an important milestone today as the application for the Community Centre on the North West Cambridge Development was approved by the local planning authorities.The Community Centre will be operated as a Joint Venture with trustees from the University and Cambridge City Council, and the facility will serve the new community and the wider Cambridge public. Heather Topel, Deputy Project Director of the North West Cambridge Development said: "The proposal for the Community Centre is a culmination of thoughtful intelligent design and genuine dialogue with the local community. This aspect of the development ...
I had tickets to go and see the film Inside Llewyn Davis but unfortunately had to cry off due to attending a question and answer session with young people sponsored by Mencap. It was a worthwhile diversion and can catch the film another day, but would not want to miss this opportunity to highlight the film's real star, Ulysses, who is a ginger cat. The trailers I have seen for this film indicate that it has an annoying thread of mispronouncing the leading character's name as 'Loowin' when any self-respecting Welsh person knows differently. But back to the cat. One ...
Figures released yesterday show that the rate of employment has grown with over 36,000 more people in work across Wales compared to this time last year. The economy is picking up and along with a rise in wages people are beginning to feeling it, employment figures are on the up and the number of people claiming unemployment benefit is on the way down, but there is still work to be done. Whilst this is good news, we mustn't forget that The Welsh Government still has work to do in terms of job creation around Wales' Enterprise Zones. We want to ...
Thu 20th
03:00
Monthly Report by Cllr Sebastian Kindersley: Ambulance Services, Grants, and Papworth Hospital
Cllr Sebastian Kindersley Ambulance ServiceThere are hundreds of vacancies in the East of England Ambulance Service which is somewhat concerning. We have been assured that 400 new paramedics will be recruited in the next 12 months. These trainees will learn on the job alongside qualified paramedics and will take just over 2 years to become qualified themselves. The number of highest emergency calls responded to in the required 8 minutes is still going down (just over 60%) but steps have been taken to improve this. Many residents use the service and we would welcome feedback from you especially 1) about ...
Here's the agenda for tonight's Full Council meeting. Feel free to attend, it's an open meeting and every Councillor there will be up election in a few months time so if nothing else it will be a good opportunity to see what being a Councillor in Bar Hill actually involves! Open Forum - Visitor to discuss the Community Car Share Scheme 1. To receive apologies for absence and any declaration of interest 2. Approval of minutes. - To approve minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 20th February 2014 - The February Minutes (unapproved) are available via Google Drive; http://goo.gl/LbuAGG ...
