For several years Diplomat Magazine in London has hosted an annual awards ceremony at which members of the diplomatic corps get to laud those of their number deemed worthy of special praise. This year, once more, the event was hosted by the Langham Hotel just opposite BBC Broadcasting House — an elegant establishment that claims [...]
[IMG: Raceplancover] The arrival of Jeremy Browne's Race Plan, published by the think tank Reform, has generated plenty of coverage in the mainstream and new media. Everyone - within the community of political nerds at least - has, for a few days at least, been talking about Jeremy. Presumably that was a large part of the point. So it's already mission at least partially accomplished. Much of the talk in the yellow corner is about quite what possessed JB to publish the book just a few weeks before a key election in which the party faces a wipeout. Given that ...
Cambridge Liberal Democrats launch their election manifesto tomorrow (Saturday, April 12) with a promise to continue tackling the city's challenges to ensure everyone has a stake in its success. Cambridge Liberal Democrat Leader, Tim Bick said: "The Liberal Democrat City Council is leading Cambridge through a remarkable period of success. Success inevitably brings challenges of its own and we have put in place compelling strategies to address them too. We are asking residents to enable us to carry them through." He said that the party had shown it can deliver for the city through: the bold City Deal which brings ...
Since launching the campaign for a new East Dulwich secondary school we've had many suggestions for who could provide it. East Dulwich councillors worked our socks of to find supportive families. The total of families is now at 540. We thought it important that parents make that decision of who the provider should be. WE expect this school to be around for not just decades but centuries to come. This was the driving force for us creating the Parents Steering Group – I wish we'd done it sooner. The following document explains the thinking behind choosing Haberdashers's Aske's over The ...
More buses on the way? Some promising news from TfL for our campaign against bus overcrowding. They are 'exploring the possibility' of providing extra services. As I wrote back in March, we asked Lib Dem London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, who is Deputy Chair of the Assembly's Transport Committee, to take up overcrowding on the 176 [...]
You can find several of these large shelters scattered across the city. They were built at the far ends of Leicester's various tram routes. There is even one, says Leicester Trams, that was put up to serve a line that was never built.
If you're wondering when your bin will be collected over the Easter Bank Holiday the answer is a day later than usual. Here's a link to the calendar
The next Liberal Democrat leader must come from the party's left, says Leicestershire's own Mathew Hulbert on The Staggers, the New Statesman's rolling politics blog. "Given that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's stated reasons for invading Crimea was to prevent 'Nazis' from coming to power in Ukraine, it is perhaps surprising that his regime is growing closer by the month to extreme right-wing parties across Europe." Mitchell A. Orenstein writes for Foreign Affairs on the close links between Putin and the far-right in Europe. The Needle has a guest post by Richard Scorer on his book on the English ...
I wholly, 100%, unreservedly agree with this article. It hasn't been easy, and I've struggled since 2010 with some of the things that the Lib Dems have been a part of. On quite a few occasions, I've also nearly handed in my resignation and cancelled my membership to the party. Whether its been the bedroom [...]
This story appeared in the March – April 2014 Forest Hill Focus Private tenants and leaseholders would be able to rely on Lewisham Council's support to resolve problems with landlords and freeholders under proposals put forward by the Lewisham Liberal Democrat council group. Rogue landlords providing sub-standard accommodation would be targeted, with the aim of [...]
This story appeared in the March – April 2014 Forest Hill Focus Campaigners have vowed that the fight to get a pedestrian crossing on Kirkdale will continue, despite being told by Lewisham Council that it does not meet the Council's 'predetermined ratio'. In 2012 local residents collected a 400 signature petition calling for a safe [...]
Works to improve access to Honor Oak Park station continue. For anyone wondering why this is taking so long, here is a letter I received from Network Rail in early February in response to an enquiry: Dear Mr Crozier Lifts at Honor Oak Park Station Thank you for your correspondence below in regards to lifts [...]
Blog Categories: Economics Education Vote: 0 votes + Vote up! - Vote down! What to think of this...the Times Higher reports that (new window): Research by the Complete University Guide says graduate starting salaries in professional posts fell by 11 per cent in real terms, from £24,293 to £21,702, between 2007 and 2012. If falling salaries (many of them in fact "rents" in economic terms - the largest falls have been in heavily regulated, and therefore rent-receiving, professions, medicine and law) are going to feed through eventually to lower costs for consumers of those rent-supported services then this is, by ...
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 371st weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (6th-12 April, 2013), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. The riddle of ...
[IMG: brexit20winner] It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. A while back a right-wing think tank, the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), launched a EUR 100,000 prize for a blueprint for Britain's exit from the EU, the "Brexit". The winner was announced last week, to not very much fanfare. You can read it here: Brexit Entry 170_final_bio_web. It is not surprising that our mainly Eurosceptic media have given it a low profile. It exposes flaws that go deep into heart of the Eurosceptic case. Better to stick with Nigel Farage's meaningless soundbites. No doubt the Europhiles ...
I have just had a break in the Yorshire Dales so if you have been in touch, I will catch up as soon as I can. Things I am already chasing the saga of the bus stops – being boarded up abandoned caravan & rubbish in a field in Botallack impact of reduced hours on St Just Library/ TIC services state of the old Sunday School building at Trewellard The post Back From Yorkshire & Catching Up appeared first on Cllr Sue James | St Just in Penwith | St Just and Pendeen.
That's the title of my column in today's Times. The link's here, but sorry, it's paywalled. However, there's a snippet below... [IMG: 2014-04-14 10.48.41] The argument will be familiar to those who've read my review of Jeremy Browne's new book, Race Plan. While I'm sympathetic to his freedom-loving liberal outlook, he hasn't yet persuaded me either of the specific free market reforms he proposes, nor that his ideological purity is a viable election-winning strategy: Team Clegg's strategy is clear: for the Lib Dems to be seen as a "well-defined moderating centrist party". It doesn't excite party activists, who would like ...
Peter Kellner today assesses the lie of the polling land – and concludes it's looking good for the Conservatives. This in spite of the fact they still trail Labour by around 5% in most polls. Why? He lists 5 fundamentals which favour David Cameron: 1) The economy is improving - and voters are noticing. A year ago, 74% said economy was in a bad state; just 4% said it was good. Today, just 43% say 'bad', while 22% say 'good'. Add in the 32% who say 'neither good nor bad' (up from 19% a year ago) and 54% think Britain ...
[IMG: Holstered taser] Most of us have an idea of what is, and should be, understood by the the term 'reasonable force' – presumably, that which a reasonable person would consider reasonable in the circumstances, and generally the lowest amount of force necessary to achieve the desired objective. However, in the heat of the moment, what one may subjectively regard as reasonable in the circumstances may not be judged by others as acceptable after the event. As a now ubiquitous piece of police equipment, the TASER is marketed and deployed as a 'less-than-lethal' weapon for use in situations where closer ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg Q&A York Some rights reserved by Liberal Democrats] The BBC reports: Up to three garden cities, each with more than 15,000 homes will be built to help deal with a "chronic" housing shortage, Nick Clegg has announced. The deputy prime minister promised "high-quality homes in thriving new communities", on potential sites yet to be identified. Funding from an existing £2.4bn pot will be made available for developments being built up to 2020. Councils will be asked to raise any concerns over the schemes. Last year 109,370 new homes were completed in England, the lowest figure for four ...
There's a thorough review of a new biography of John Wayne in Salon. Its theme is the gap between Wayne's image and the reality of his life. This is mostly in the service of making serious points about the cultural roots of American conservatism. However, the discrepancy that caught my eye was that: the man [...]
CCTV stands for close-circuit television. It's the use of cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, most often to some monitors for surveillance purposes. Given it was reffered to as CCTV most people then would expect it was a closed-circuit television system being discussed in the following Calderdale Council minute (a) a contract be entered into with Virgin Media Business, as the single supplier for Networks and Associated Services under the Yorkshire and Humber Public Sector Network Framework, to provide a next generation integrated platform for CCTV in Calderdale; and This isn't the case – the cabinet has ...
Let me be clear from the start I am biased in my consideration of the importance of Europe to the City of Liverpool. At the time of the Heath Referendum 40 years ago I was a co-chair of the ... Continue reading →
I'm a big fan of the EU. For all its flaws, it has kept the peace for decades. Not only does it prevent physical wars - but it reduces the harm caused by companies warring against each other. Like most legislatures, it works on glacial timelines. Not only tackling the problems of the past, but also assuming the future is static. In the fast moving technology industry, this has been a mixed blessing. Mandating the need for a physical SIM and ensuring phones can be unlocked has kept EU customers in a much better position than the Americans, for example. ...
The amount British taxpayers can earn before paying income tax is the highest starting threshold across the G7 countries, Treasury analysis released by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, has revealed. The personal allowance has risen by over 50% since 2010, an increase five times larger than any other G7 country has increased their income tax starting thresholds. [IMG: G7incometaxBlog] In 2010 the personal allowance was £6,475. It has risen each and every year of this Parliament, and thanks to the Liberal Democrats it has reached £10,000. This represents an income tax cut of up to £705 for ...
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] Last Thursday saw four principal by-elections. In Wantage Charlton (Vale of White Horse district council) the Liberal Democrats missed out on taking the seat by just 49 votes. The by-election, caused by the conviction of the previous Conservative councillor, saw the Tories hold the seat with 41.9% (-5.3%). Jim Sabbald, the Liberal Democrat candidate, took 38.4% (+2.5%). Labour came third with 11% and the Greens last with 8.8%. However the by-election on Wantage Town Council caused by the disqualification of the same former councillor saw Jim Sabbald gain the seat with 39.9% of the ...
[IMG: UKRAINE-CRISIS-POL_2875822b] Over the weekend, several towns in eastern Ukraine were taken over by "pro-Russian militias", including Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Druzhkovka. I put the militias bit in quotations due to there being a lot of scepticism on the ground about just how grassroots these uprisings were. Many of the fighters for the pro-Russian cause were sporting fairly notable St Petersburg accents according to witnesses. It appears that the invasion, by stealth, of eastern Ukraine by Russia is underway. That the Russians continue to deny any culpability for these uprisings while simultaneously building up the numbers of troops they have on ...
In among all the cuts that the council is being forced to make in order to achieve £196 million of savings over the next five years, there are still some areas which we are able to protect. These are services which are considered to be so important that we cannot afford to lose them. One of the services that Liberal Democrats have most championed is the local bus network. We have said that we will seek to protect lifeline services that allow those without access to cars to get around. Whilst some services are commercially viable, others rely on council ...
Last Thursday saw four principal by-elections. In Wantage Charlton (Vale of White Horse DC) the Liberal Democrat missed out on taking the seat by just 49 votes. The by-election, caused by the conviction of the previous Conservative councillor, saw the Tories hold the seat with 41.9% (-5.3%). Jim Sabbald, the Liberal Democrat candidate, took 38.4% [...]
Yesterday afternoon BBC1 hosted a debate between lead candidates in the European elections: Syed Kamall MEP (Conservative), Richard Howitt MEP (Labour), Sarah Ludford MEP (LibDem) and Patrick O'Flynn (UKIP). It was rather odd of UKIP not to field an MEP, but given some of the extraordinary things some of them have come out with, perhaps [...]
Under The Paw: A pie chart I made about sleep and cats (tags: ) Did the earth move for you? I didn't feel a thing (tags: ) Erosion of council tax benefits hitting the poor hard (tags: ) "The public actually believe Ukip are not like the rest of us. Of course they are. And actually they're worse," (tags: ) On Nigel Evans and the costs of cutting justice (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Here's my latest Ham and High column – on why Haringey Council needs to change. A few weeks ago, the Broadway exposed the cost of Haringey Council's trip to Cannes in South France. It was three times more than the council originally stated. So, not only did they use taxpayers' money for the jaunt, they didn't tell us the truth about the cost, either. This is just one of the reasons why I believe that Labour's control of Haringey Council needs to end. Those on the trip were two senior council officials and one Labour councillor - who is responsible ...
[IMG: Statue of Justice - The Old Bailey] Nigel Evans's acquittal on charges of rape and sexual assault has triggered various expressions of concern. Those expressed, trenchantly by some, are: 1. The Crown should never have prosecuted him because the evidence was weak. 2. The Crown treated him differently because he is an MP. 3. The case shouldn't have relied on alleged victims who did not consider themselves to have been victims. 4. Nigel Evans is left with a huge bill to pay his defence. "The Crown should never have prosecuted him because the evidence was weak." I am very ...
The First Minister of Wales started his own personal twitter account over the weekend and was immediately drawn into discussion with a wide range of people on local government reorganisation. When I suggested that he should have come onto Twitter earlier so that we could make progress on these sorts of issues he said: I was afraid it would become compulsive. I'm still afraid. What is most revealing is that the conversation between Carwyn and the various parties local government spokespeople on twitter is the first time we have really discussed this issue despite the fact that the Welsh Government ...
Today's Western Mail reportsthat the respected transport journal, 'Local Transport Today' has launched an attack on the Welsh Government, describing its policies as " a muddle. The magazine, which is widely read across Britain by civil servants and ministers, local government officers, academics, transport consultants and lobbyists, says that only a year ago the Welsh Government was strengthening the powers of the four regional transport consortia - representing all local authorities - and urging the 22 unitary authorities to collaborate: "A change of minister has seen the collaboration agenda largely grind to a halt and the regional transport consortia stripped ...
Independent Respecting and Protecting our Skipton 264 Labour 114 Conservative 60 LD John Graham Manley 34 Majority 150 Turnout 17.34% Independent hold.
The co-operative sector is having a tough time at the moment. Not because the 6,000 or so mutuals in this country are in any difficulties - quite the reverse - or even because the biggest and most impressive employee mutual in the country is failing to thrive. On the contrary John Lewis and Waitrose are storming ahead. But there is no doubt that the Co-operative Bank (not actually a co-op at all, but owned by a co-op) is causing a sense of crisis for everyone else. And because the bank is having a torrid time, its 30 per cent owners ...
Voters trust their local councils nearly twice as much as they do MPs, but most people believe politicians at all levels in England are liars, research by IPPR North has found. Years of expenses scandals and accusations of sleaze mean that only 36% of English adults have faith in the parliamentary political system, compared with 64% of people who trust local councils, according to the study. Just 15% of voters believe that government ministers tell the truth most or all of the time, compared with 24% believing the same of MPs; 28% of voters believe councillors usually tell the truth, ...
My Trivial Fact of the Day comes from a BBC News feature on "10 inventions that owe their success to World War One".
I recently received residents' complaints about the condition of Glamis Drive - several potholes, sunken water drain covers and a damaged channel along the roadway at one section. Earlier in the month, I raised these matters with the Roads Maintenance Partnership and also asked that, given the general deterioration with the whole section of roadway in Glamis Drive, the road be considered for full resurfacing in the future. I have received a response as follows: "The defective water toby covers have been reported to Scottish Water. A number of potholes have recently been repaired. An order is to be raised ...
Here's the voting record of London's Euro-MPs: [IMG: London MEPs - voting record]
[IMG: September 14th "Welcome to Scotland"] In September 2014, the Scottish public will vote on independence from the rest of the UK. As of mid-April 2014, the opinion polls suggest that the pro-UK camp is ahead, but over the past few weeks the pro-independence camp has been fast catching up. Why? One reason seems to be the spat between the London-based UK administration and the Scottish National Party (SNP) over the role of Britain's sterling currency. All three main UK national parties stepped in behind a sudden policy of non-cooperation with an independent Scotland over the retention of sterling north ...
Via James Baker comes this. I can only imagine the disgrage* if this came from the Twitter feed of another party Anyhoo, I think I'll donate some tin foil to the Branch. With tweets like this they clearly need it. *Disgrage - A feeling of outrage whilst thinking something is disgraceful
Youngsters from a Cambridge school, who are planning a protest outside a giant tobacco company's London offices, are to meet MP Julian Huppert to tell him about their campaign for plain cigarette packaging. Eight students at the North Cambridge Academy in Arbury Road will meet Julian on Thursday, April 24 six days before their planned demonstration. The students are working as mentors at the school for the young person-led smoking prevention programme for the under 16s, Kick Ash. They will tell Julian about the work they are doing in Cambridgeshire to campaign for plain packaging and about their protest outside ...
"For half the time since the end of the Second World War we have been saddled with governments we did not vote for. Even when Scotland votes Labour, there is no guarantee that we end up with a Labour government at Westminster. That decision is made by others. It is out of our hands." Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish National Party Conference April 2014 This is a common theme behind a lot of the Yes campaign's arguments, particularly from the SNP. On a superficial level, it is seductive. The narrative of Scotland as a centre-left Labour stronghold and that governments voted for ...
