My old university friend Tim Farron MP was back on his old Newcastle stomping ground yesterday. We went to Newcastle University together in the late 80s. Tim ended up doing a year as the students' union president. I went off to try to get elected to Parliament. A generation later he got to Parliament and became Lib Dem President whilst I ended up taking early retirement (at 46) from the rat
This closure is to enable sewer diversion works, which will probably take some 6 weeks to complete to be carried out to that length of road.
Labour seat. Death There is no Liberal Democrat candidate.
Labour seat. Death
Conservative seat. Disqualification The Liberal Democrat candidate is Jim Sibbald (JSibbald@esriuk.com).
LD candidate is Jim Sibbald
Conservative seat. Death There is no Liberal Democrat candidate.
[IMG: house of lords] Noticeable by their absence during the Lords debates on the Immigration Bill were the three Peers who are members of UKIP. A cross-party group of peers, including our Shirley Williams, Roger Roberts, Bob Maclennan, Jonathan Marks, Alex Carlile, Nigel Jones, David Chidgey and Mike Storey thought this was worth mentioning in a letter to the Standard. This is what they said: The report stage of the Immigration Bill concluded in the House of Lords on Monday April 7. During this (three-day) phase of the bill's passage through the House, peers continued to examine its provisions in ...
The land behind what became The Empire in Leicester was developed by Issac Harrison. And don't we know it! Have a look at the initial letters of the names of the terraced streets in the map above. Their initial letters spell out "I. Harrison".
Do you know what, this independence referendum is actually starting to have some nice moments. I would never have thought it. Sadly, few of them are to do with the actual substance of the campaign, but there's always hope. One ... Continue reading →
Do you know what, this independence referendum is actually starting to have some nice moments. I would never have thought it. Sadly, few of them are to do with the actual substance of the campaign, but there's always hope. One of the best things about it for me is that for what I imagine will be the only time in our lifetimes, my Dad and I are on the same side in a political debate. I was absolutely thrilled when he took up volunteering for Better Together one day a week and he's become a bit of an expert on ...
This morning Charlotte Henry tweeted that she would "officially give up" if Gareth Epps gets into Hansard. We can only hope that, however Gareth fares, she does not do so. But her tweet did remind me that I was mentioned in the House of Commons three times in June 2003. The first mention was by Angela Browning on 5 June. She asked John Reid, as Leader of the House: Can we have a debate next week on the middle classes? I am sure that the Leader of the House will have noted that in Liberal Democrat News of 30 May, ...
This afternoon I'm having an echocardiogram, and I am feeling very nervous about it. I know it won't hurt or be uncomfortable, but I'm frightened they will find something wrong with my heart. Or to be more precise, something wrong that I don't already know about. This is ridiculously irrational, of course. I've been told [...]
The verdict is in, and Nigel Evans, the MP for Ribble Valley, has been found not guilty of various charges of sexual misconduct. Presuming that the verdict is the right one, and one should presume that, he is now free to pick up his life where he left off when the charges were laid against him. And whilst I suspect that his life will never be quite the same again, given the unforgiving nature of some people, I can only hope that he is given some space and privacy to come to terms with his experiences. However, I do note ...
Thu 10th
18:13
I don't care where Alex Salmond lays his head - but does he have to be so evasive about it?
[IMG: The Benjamin Hotel] Buckwheat or memory foam, or water. Those are some of the pillows Alex Salmond could have had, according to the Telegraph when he stayed in New York's Benjamin Hotel in 2007 when he was there on official business. But, do you know what? I'm not really that bothered. Yes, luxury hotel suites are expensive but in the world of international diplomacy and business, it's pretty much par for the course. Sure, some people would be happier to see our politicians stay in a Bed and Breakfast with squeaky, staticky, purple nylon sheets and those duvets with ...
Thanks to a sharp-eyed follower on Twitter, the Torquay Herald Express wins Headline of the Day.
Caron Lindsay has rejected a comment I've made on Lib Dem Voice, on the grounds that I use profanity and am impolite, which I own up to, but also that I have generalized about parents of kids in poor areas, which I reject. I was going to leave it at that, but on reflection, the [...]
The Liberal Democrats have revised their long-standing plans for a "mansion tax" and would instead impose higher council tax bills on homes worth more than £2m. The switch could give Nick Clegg's party a better chance of achieving its goal of higher property taxes for the rich if there is another hung Parliament after next year's general election. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said his party would no longer call for a 1% annual levy on the value of a property worth more than £2m. Instead, it would propose a "modest additional banded levy on top of ...
There seems to be more trouble for the Step Short Arch project. During construction works on site, BIG problems have been discovered with drains that the project was planning to use, with water from those drains not passing down the drains as expected by instead leaking out of the cliff face below the Leas. Wash-out from broken drains in Sandgate Road over recent years has seen the road collapse there, and there are real concerns that if not tackled this could occur in the Leas. I'm told that urgent repair or even replacement of the drains is needed/ That is ...
Local Liberal Democrats are stunned that for the third year running street lights could still be thrown into chaos as the clocks were moved forward. Leader of the Opposition on HCC, Liberal Democrat Stephen Giles-Medhurst said, " After almost three years of switching the lights off at midnight, we still cannot get assurance that the problem we have had every time the clocks change will not re-occur. "Each year and time we are assured it will not be a problem. At least this time the Tories admitted in advance that there would be problems. But the questions I want answered ...
The plan is for a pavement café area tucked into the dogleg between Corve Street and the Bull Ring. As you approach the front door of the Compasses, the café area will be in front of the window to the left, out of the way of pedestrians. The seating and tables are to be used [...]
A few months ago David Cameron, the Prime Minister, defending the government's austerity policy said that "Money doesn't grow on trees!", a well used expression when discussing household budgets. The Financial Times economics columnist Martin Wolf responded that money did indeed grow on trees, and the money tree went was the Bank of England. Can Mr Wolf be right? Mr Wolf was referring to the Bank of England's policy of buying government bonds, known as Quantitative Easing or QE. One arm of the government, the Treasury issues bonds to pay for government spending; another, the Bank of England, buys them ...
Thu 10th
15:27The Independent View: The case for 'bedroom tax' reform is clear - the test is for Lib Dems to take ...
[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-04-10 at 15.25.47] In physics the conservation principle dictates that in closed systems, energy can neither be created or destroyed, but only turned from one form to another. New research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation examining recent welfare reforms suggest that a similar law applies to housing support costs. Applying size limits to social tenants - better known as the spare room subsidy or 'bedroom tax' – aimed to do three things. Reduce costs; ease overcrowding and introduce greater fairness into the system. Specifically, if you were a social tenant with extra space that you didn't strictly ...
Current per diem rates Last update / Dernière mise à jour: 01/07/2013 In the framework of EC-funded external aid contracts and in case of missions requiring an overnight stay away from the base of operations , the applicable rates to the per diems must not exceed the scales detailed hereunder. These rates are applicable from 5 July 2013Per diems cover accommodation, meals, local travel within the place of mission and sundry expenses Les per diems couvrent le logement, les repas, les frais de transport à l'intérieur du lieu de mission et les menues dépenses. Dans le cadre des contrats d'aide ...
Cut the expenses paid to consultants on EU funded aid projects. In February there were two major conferences in London on EU reform. One hosted by a centre right think tank and a Conservative Party group (which had speakers from parties across Europe and got lots of publicity), one by the European Commission itself to consult the public (which didn't). I tweeted to join in to both debates (a little late on) one simple way to start cutting wasted EU expenditure - cut the expenses paid to consultants on EU funded aid projects. The conferences were a 'Pan-European Conference for ...
It's a little over 9 years since I first wrote about tuition fees and specifically the Lib Dems' then commitment to abolishing them. I criticised the party's anti-fees policy as "seriously flawed, and risks condemning British universities and students to an increasingly mediocre future." It's a little under three years since I praised the Coalition's fees reforms package for successfully achieving two seemingly impossible goals: lowering the amount that students re-pay in loans while simultaneously increasing the amount that universities can spend. The Coalition's reforms have come under assault in the last month. "But it costs more" First came the ...
I know that the vacancy has already been filled, but what the hell... Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining me here today. Firstly, it is the convention to thank my predecessor for their hard work and to note their achievements in office but, given the circumstances of her passing, you will forgive me if I forego this opportunity. Second, can I say how pleased I am to have this job. Naturally, you wouldn't expect me to say anything else but I am genuinely pleased to be at DCMS, as it gives me the opportunity to support ...
[IMG: Folkestone Harbour (Sebastian Maier)] Southeastern are running a competition for keen photographers in the Folkestone area to showcase your work to mark the end of the project to redevelop Folkestone West station. They are offering local photographers the chance to have your work displayed in the refurbished station booking hall to coincide with its reopening this spring. If you'd like to show off your skills to the local community, please submit an entry to fit the theme 'capturing Folkestone's beauty' and submit it to Southeastern's press office team, who will work with Folkestone's Creative Foundation, which supports the town's ...
Tim Harford takes a look at recent research showing why rising long-term unemployment is such a problem: A recent Brookings Institution research paper by Alan Krueger (a senior adviser to Barack Obama during the recession), Judd Cramer and David Cho examines this discomfiting thesis in greater depth. The researchers conclude that people who have been [...]
Further to yesterdays revelations about Douglas Denny UKIP candidate in Portsmouth City Election May 2014, and his homophobic ramblings, I just had a glance at their Facebook page, interestingly it states and I quote:- Note to users of this page; we welcome free and fair debate, but we will not tolerate comments that are racist, homophobic, abusive or the use of frequent expletives. We will also not tolerate repeatedly 'spamming' posts. We don't like to delete posts or ban users so welcome supporters of all groups to engage in debate in a manner appropriate to a political page. Thank You, ...
Radio Cornwall have splashed this morning on figures for the amount paid out in compensation to people by Cornwall Council for trips, falls and suchlike. Overall the amount paid out is relatively steady at about £200,000 each year. That's quite a lot of money which could be better spent on providing frontline services. But it is actually a comparatively low amount when you look at other councils. Cornwall Council receives just over 5 complaints per 1000 residents each year. In comparison, the average for our sort of council is just over 7 complaints per 1000 residents. And in terms of ...
[IMG: berkhamsted THall] There have been two Berkhamsted Town Council By Elections recently – one last June in Berkhamsted East and one last week in Berkhamsted West. The first was won decisively by the Liberal Democrats and the second was won narrowly by the Conservatives. Now both wards have almost the same number of electors, the turn-out was 25% both times and 5 candidates stood for the same parties on both occasions. This means that the two by elections are directly comparable and it makes perfect sense to add the votes for the parties in the two elections to get ...
Always stand a candidate, every ward, every election. In May's local elections we need Lib Dem candidates more than ever: The Euros. Being on both ballot papers will help our euro candidates. National Credibility. We need to stand a nationally credible slate of candidates to compete with other parties. Every voter deserves the opportunity to [...]
Last week Andrew McDonald, on stepping down from his post as head of Ipsa, the body which scrutinises parliamentary expenses, called for greater state funding of political parties, but acknowledged that this is unpopular witht he pulbic. In addition to its unpopularity, a danger of further taxpayer funding of political parties is that, freed from the necessity of raising money from their members and supporters, the party organisations become more and more detached from the public and operate in their own little bubbles. Some years ago Professor Stein Ringen, in an article in Liberal Democrat News, proposed a way round ...
OK, I know readers of this blog now "get it": Russia under Putin is a bad guy and a serious threat to global peace. However it is now a race against time: Putin's greed and contempt for all laws, whether domestic or international, is sending the Russian economy straight onto the rocks. On current trends, the Putin regime is creating so much damage that Russia has a very short window of maybe less than 3 years before its sustained challenge to the international system leads to firstly economic crack up and secondly political meltdown. The latest numbers must make for ...
Thu 10th
10:49
An Illustration of Calderdale Council's priorities: community centres cut; £680,000 for CCTV
So this news story popped up on my feed this morning. Calderdale Council's Labour cabinet have agreed to spend £680,000 on upgrading the borough's CCTV system. £680,000. SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THOUSAND POUNDS. This is the same Labour cabinet who threaten community centres with closure, and when anyone complains bleat about ConDem cuts and wring their hands ruefully. Community centres, which, lets not forget, actually address the root causes of crime and ASB, unlike CCTV which just allows the police to sometimes have the evidence to prosecute after the fact. Now, to be fair, only about a quarter of a ...
A short but interesting report from Al Jazeera about the growing role for social media in Indian politics:
Thu 10th
10:30LibLink: Alistair Carmichael: Let's cut out referendum tension and concentrate on historical signifi...
[IMG: Carmichael looking mean cropped] Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael has written for the Daily Record about the need to conduct the independence referendum in a more respectful tone, citing examples of attacks from independence supporters on those who want to stay in the UK: Cybernats - or internet trolls, to give them their proper name - wish Eddie Izzard serious harm simply because he has the cheek to disagree with them. SNP MSPs are accused of "mob rule" after they dish out a verbal duffing up to industry boss Iain McMillan, the head of the ...
There will be no changes to refuse and recycling collections over Easter. Collections will take place as normal during the Easter holidays, including on Good Friday (18 April). People are advised to put their bins out for collection by 7am as usual on their normal collection day.
[IMG: Rome] Rome was lovely. I left a London that was 6 degrees to arrive into 22 degrees of southern Italian paradise. So the sunshine alone would have made the trip worth it. But I learned a great deal during my brief time in Italy as well. I knew a little about the proposed changes to the electoral system the current government are trying to shove through, but I now have a much greater idea about how terrible the effects could be for Italian democracy. Also, how much of a struggle liberals in Italy have against the two main parties, ...
Just an update for residents in the Baguley Crescent (Heywood Court and Middleton Road) areas on the issues of waste and flytipping. Officers have been working hard on some of the problems that people have been reporting and have given me the following update: Communal Recycling Bins At Baguley Crescent additional communal bins have been installed into the Heywood Management Company flats and all recycling bins have been secured and are being well used. There has been a significant increase in the amount and quality of recycling being carried out at these flats and a reduction in the amount of ...
I've been interested in the future of money for far too long, and fascinated why it is that so little attention is paid to the problem of where it actually comes from. I don't mean 'wealth creation' and the other cliches of politics. I mean who actually creates the pounds and euros in the first place. This is a particular blind spot for the English, who are deeply conservative about these things. I was assured some years ago by the Washington correspondent of one of our biggest newspapers that all money is based on gold (not the case since 1931). ...
Report from Brussels Conference on Food and Climate Change by @emcmillanscott on @LibDemVoice (tags: ) The new minister for women and equalities, ladies and gentlemen Personally, I'm still offended by the very concept of a minister for women. That means that by definition every other ministry is NOT for women, and that's fucking atrocious. (tags: ) Don't flip your toaster on its side to melt cheese, Fire Brigade warns Londoners "The fire, which broke out at an address in Croydon last week, damaged part of the resident's kitchen and left the snack completely charred." (tags: ) Labour's response to Maria ...
At the recent meeting of Bury's 'Full Council' I asked a question on how the Council will be addressing issues of air pollution. I asked the question because of a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) Report which indicated nearly 8 million people a year die prematurely as a result of air pollution, including nearly a million in Europe. In our area we have a particular issue with air pollution from the M60, one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the country. Only last November the Highways Agency admitted this at a consultation meeting on hard-shoulder-running: "The Agency admitted that ...
The Welsh Language Socety have been busy They have published a word count for all Assembly Members' contributions in Plenary sessions for the first three months of this year. The intention is to measure the use of Welsh by AMs and the former Presiding Officer, Dafydd Elis Thomas leads the field with 96% of his contributions yn Cymraeg, closely followed by Rhodri Glyn Thomas (93%) and Alun Fffed Jones (92%). As a monoglot English speaker I was a bit surprised to see that I used 61 Welsh words during this period but I am not going to look into it ...
Two of our local parkland areas, Heaton Park and Prestwich Forest Park, have been included in the list of 'Greater Manchester's 'Top 5 Parks' by Visit Manchester (the Tourist Board for Manchester). (More information on the list here.) Heaton Park, as the regions largest park, we might expect to be included in the list. Visit Manchester describe the park as: "Unmissable. This huge, beautiful park 4 miles north of Manchester city centre, is easy to reach by road or public transport. It features an historic hall, a farm and animal centre, two excellent large playgrounds, a boating lake, tram museum ...
Thu 10th
08:50
My column for ConHome: Why I loathe tribalism (even and especially when I'm guilty of it)
[IMG: con home cartoon] Here's my latest The Other Side column for ConservativeHome, published here on Tuesday. I sometimes get asked what on earth I'm doing writing for a Tory site: here's my rationale. My thanks as ever to the site's editors, Paul Goodman and Mark Wallace, for giving a Lib Dem space to provoke – constructively, I hope. Commenters below-the-line sometimes ask what on earth this site is doing letting a Lib Dem loose on its pages. Here's my favourite example: "Why do we have to keep putting up with this Haw Haw-esque propaganda on ConservativeHome?" I get occasional ...
The huge project to refurbish Kings Gardens on Southport's front next to the Marine Lake are showing signs of the area being returned to if not its former glory then a modern interpretation of it. I went to have a good look at the work recently and took a number of photo's. Here are some of them with a brief commentary on each one:- Click on any photo to enlarge it [IMG: The old cast iron and glass shelters were a sorry state but have now been given a new lease of life] The old cast iron and glass shelters ...
As reported in last night's "Evening Telegraph", I am calling on Scottish Government to properly address roads condition across Scotland with a view to giving additional funding to local authorities to tackle the worst-conditioned non-trunk roads. Trunk roads are a central government responsibility but the same issue with regard to inadequate funding applies to trunk roads too. In the recent budget, the Chancellor announced a £200 million new budget to allow local authorities in England but, as the national roads budget in Scotland rests with Scottish Government, the announcement for England merely served to highlight the need for Scottish Government ...
Nominations are being sought for the 2014 'Made in Bury' Community Awards. These awards are to recognise the good work of many of our residents and community groups throughout the borough. If you know an individual or community group that is making an outstanding contribution to a community in our borough, please show your appreciation by nominating them for an award. About the 2014 awards There will be one winner in each category and the deadline for receipt of entries is 5pm on Friday 9 May 2014. Winners will be notified after 12 May and announced on Tuesday 3 June ...
Currently, I have four ways to monitor the total power generated by my solar panels. Check the meter. This is the most accurate way - but it is located inside a cupboard. Read the total from the Fronius API. Unfortunately, this rounds off to the nearest kWh, so isn't brilliantly accurate. Use the Fronius API to check the power being generated every minute, then convert to kWh. That seems accurate, but show discrepancies when compared with... Solar.web takes a reading every five minutes from the solar panels, and then graphs them. Obviously, the meter in the cupboard is the one ...
An application for planning permission reveals the future for De Grey's tea rooms. Many would have hoped that the building would have been resurrected as a traditional café and tea rooms. Some feared it would become a Wetherspoon pub, though many others have told me they would welcome a cheap beer and food outlet in [...]
Our children, they say, are our future. So how we educate them is all of our business and as you may recall we have been pressing hard for fairer funding for Cambridgeshire schools. Last month the Government announced improved funding for Cambridgeshire (and 60 other authorities) which are towards the lower end of the league table. This will mean about £20 million extra in 2015 (nb not 2014) and that has been widely flagged as £275 per pupil. It will not quite work out like that by the time the extra money has been through the County distribution formula so ...
I was at a party. The party of IN.
