I have just returned from my brother's house in France. I was doing some work on the house and I did manage to meet a few of the neighbours and practice my French. If the people in his village are anything like the English, according to recent reports, then I was quite lucky that I didn't meet anyone who told me that I am taking their jobs and that he is taking their houses. In fact I received a very nice welcome. Compare that to the former BNP voters who feel "swamped" by immigrants. Compare that to UKIP employing an ...
Neon Trees, a band from Provo, Utah, has been invading the timeline of my work Twitter account because their new LP is called Pop Psychology. Everybody Talks is their biggest hit so far, It reached no. 6 in the US charts (and no. 192 in the UK charts) in 2011. Wikipedia explains the video: It features the band at a 1950s-esque drive-in watching a movie called "Zombie Bikers From Hell." In the film, band members are playing music to the song inside a cabin when they're attacked by a group of zombies who are leather-clad motorcycle riders. Tyler (the lead ...
Wednesday Last week's debate with M. Farage, the Frenchman who leads the UKIP Party, went tolerably well for our own Nick Clegg, but I am called in this morning to help brief him for this evening's second contest. I come armed with a particularly fine specimen of the orchard doughty - the sturdy, rugged staffs which I issue to my gamekeepers (for dealing with poachers) and tenant farmers (so that, red-faced and panting, they can wave them whist ineffectually chasing scrumpers). "The very first time he tries to be clever," I tell Clegg, "give him one across the snoot with ...
I have been let off from leafleting in Lobley Hill and Bensham ward on the grounds that our candidate, Dave Fawcett, has enough helpers to get his next Focus out. The good news comes with a sting in its tail. I am sitting opposite a pile of tabloids waiting to go out in Blaydon ward. A mere 750, many more than I would have been given to do in Lobley Hill. Ouch! I'm looking for volunteers to
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 373rd 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 (20-26 April, 2014), together with a hand-picked quintet, 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. Name 11 Liberal MPs in this 1967 ...
We've achieved much to improve North Cross Road and there market – road resurfacing last year, electric points for the market stalls, marked pitches. [IMG: IMG00353-20140323-1500] We've just had the last patch of sub standard paving relaid. The Costcutter has started to smarten up its fencing (thank you). We're now trying to get the UK Power Networks electric sub station tidied up. For years and years an abandoned UKPN employee car and trailer have been present. Getting this removed will give the place a less abandoned look.... [IMG: abandoned car and trailer]
The bridge at Church Road, Farmpton Cotterell has reopened (until the next closure later in the year) but only for single line alternate traffic controlled by traffic lights. Our advice is still to avoid it during the rush hour if you possibly can.
[IMG: Lib Dems winning here] Here's the full list of selection contests in the coming month available for Lib Dems on the approved parliamentary candidates' list, together with the closing date for applications. They include North West Hampshire – where, if rumours are to be believed, the Lib Dem candidate may get to take on Boris Johnson – and my home town of Horsham, so I'll be watching that one with interest! The following seats have selections in progress and are currently advertising for candidates: North West Hampshire, 25th April Bexhill and Battle, 2nd May Windsor, 8th May Crawley, 9th ...
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the 17,100 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Jeremy Browne MP responds to LDV debate about his book (71 comments) by Jeremy Browne MP On Sarah Wollaston's naming and shaming in the Times of "very aggressive male bloggers" (12 comments) by Stephen Tall Labour's "Easter Clegg" – that's grown up politics for you (82 comments) by The Voice There are way too many elephants in Lib Dem members' survey (46 comments) by Caron Lindsay European selection results complete (19 comments) by Jonathan Davies Exclusive: ...
On the 23rd April I attended the launch of the 2014 Sutton Business Excellence Awards, organised by Successful Sutton and the Sutton Chamber of Commerce. I was very pleased to add my backing and encouragement on behalf of LB Sutton to local businesses to enter these awards so we can celebrate the wealth of business talent [...]
[IMG: jenny willott] There are many people in the party who would like to see the Liberal Democrats with at least one female Cabinet Minister on a permanent basis. There are plenty strong candidates, not least Jenny Willott and Jo Swinson. We will have to wait a little longer for that, but this week, Jenny Willott will be there to make a presentation on Coalition efforts to close the gender pay gap. She will also attend future meetings when issues affecting women are discussed. The Independent has the story: In her new role secured by the Deputy Prime Minister, Ms ...
So who put the Welcome to Lewisham sign on Lordship Lane round the wrong way, so you only see it when you're leaving Lewisham for Southwark? And more to the point, why, a month or more since it was reported, has nothing been done about it? Not exactly the message of competence we want to [...]
As part of the "the UK is/isn't a Christian country" narrative, earlier this week the BBC published an article listing "Eight arguments about whether the UK is a Christian country". The dates of our holidays were listed in the "for" column: For: The calendar A glance at the way national holidays are structured – not to mention the working week – demonstrates the continued influence of Christianity, says Rees. The major holidays around Christmas and Easter are there for the Christian festivals and events," she says. Despite occasional warnings about a "war on Christmas", both festivals are widely celebrated by ...
Sun 27th
12:45
Coincidence or not? Ukip put candidate named House to take on Eastleigh's Lib Dem council leader Kei...
[IMG: keith house] The Eastleigh News reports what might be accident or might be design – Ukip's decision to put up a candidate called House against the Lib Dems' long-standing council leader, Keith House: Eastleigh's ruling Lib Dem leader Keith House faces an unusual challenger in next month's local elections - the Ukip candidate shares the same surname and is alphabetically listed above the Lib Dem by one letter. John House comes from Chandler's Ford, some way away from Hedge End's Wildern ward, which raises the possibility that this is a tactical move by Ukip. Keith House told Eastleigh News: ...
Sun 27th
11:36Farron on Murnaghan on Lib Dems standing up for Britain's interests, the price of government and whe...
[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-04-27 at 11.32.57] Tim Farron has just been on Sky's Murnaghan show, talking about a variety of issues from the European elections – what can the Lib Dems do to stop annihilation was the introduction. Here are the highlights: The first question was whether we are paying price for going into government If you stand for election there's an occupational hazard you might get elected and that is what you should want if you believe passionately that Britain and the world should operate in a different way. This the first liberal mid-term since Lloyd George's day and ...
It's unacceptable there's a loophole allowing paedophile "training manuals", that's why I want to protect children by making them illegal. — David Cameron (@David_Cameron) April 27, 2014I suppose this is the natural culmination of the last 20 years of social policy.
Exhibit 1 Last weeks video of Thanet District Council meeting , if you care click on the Youtube link above, you will probably have the urge to turn it off within a few seconds. For some "technical reason" the sound has an echo, making what is, often the unintelligible, even more so. This problem appeared on the previous video, and you would have thought that the council would have put some effort into sorting this out, but given their hostility to implementing government wishes, to allow the public to record meetings, they haven't. I appreciate that many Thanet councillors and ...
Just when you thought the fruitcakes couldn't get any fruitier comes news that David Parsons is to fight North West Leicestershire for Ukip at the next general election. Parsons, you may recall, was forced out of the leadership of the ruling Conservative group on the county council after what the Leicester Mercury rightly calls "an expenses scandal" - look at the David Parsons label on this blog for the gory details. After the Tory group decided that it could no longer support his behaviour, Parsons naturally discovered important differences of principle with them and joined Ukip.
As was pointed out in the excellent book Revolt on the Right, one of the factors fuelling UKIP's rise has been its ability to garner protest votes from those who don't like the way the country is heading in a way that parties such as the BNP failed to do in the past thanks to their reputation. The BNP got close to breaking through at some points, but in the end it's nasty side put off too many people. UKIP is a very different party from the BNP, but the reason some of its senior members have in the past ...
Why Today's Inventors Need to Read More Science Fiction - Rebecca J. Rosen - The Atlantic (tags: ) GitHub Sexual Harassment Investigation | The Mary Sue (tags: ) Jim Koch: How to drink alcohol all night and not get drunk Seems like a waste to me. Surely the way to not get (too) drunk is to drink less, thereby saving money into the process? (tags: ) Re: What Can Men Do? "Yes, men need to call out bad behavior—but we also need to take steps to educate ourselves on what bad behavior looks like so that we recognize when it's ...
The Independent reports: History will be made this week when Jenny Willott, the Business minister, becomes the first Liberal Democrat woman to sit at the cabinet table. In a significant step forward for gender equality in the party after the Lord Rennard scandal, Ms Willott has been given attending cabinet status. Although she does not have full cabinet minister rank, the 39-year-old will take her seat this Tuesday alongside the new women's minister, the Tory MP Nicky Morgan, to make a presentation on coalition efforts to close the gender pay gap. ...In her new role secured by the Deputy Prime ...
[IMG: An election count - ballot papers being counted] In order to avoid voters being misled by a deliberately misleading party name on a ballot paper (as happened in the Literal Democrat saga - note the third letter), the Electoral Commission these days has to approve the names that parties propose to use. There's already been some fuss over the phonebook-SEO-optimising splinter-from-UKIP party which has got itself higher on the ballot paper with its "An independence from Europe" name. Now there's also this: The Electoral Commission has been forced to make an embarrassing apology after allowing an extremist party to ...
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention in the past couple of days... Nigel Farage is a phoney. Scrutinise him and he'll crumble | Nick Cohen | Comment is free | The Observer Terrific polemic from Nick Cohen, railingng against both Nigel Farage and today's shallow media http://bit.ly/1jVfNab Elections etc: How the 2015 general election forecast probabilities have changed thus far and why As Labour's poll lead shrinks, so its probability of winning the next election increases. That's stats for you. http://bit.ly/1lUmifO Opinion: I'm voting Lib Dem in spite of, not because of, our 'Party of IN' ...
This excellent show seems to come around more quickly every year! The venue is stunning of course – Old Christ Church is a great re-use of a former building of worship. It has various events going on within it throughout the year and run by a trust. Have a look at Trust's web site www.oldchristchurch.moonfruit.com/ This is an inside shot:- [IMG: rsz_old_chist_church_waterloo] Now to the show itself; it was packed out when we got there at 11am on Saturday 26th April. I met a couple of old friends – One of the 'Babes' from a former quiz team of that ...
Sun 27th
08:30Who should be the Lib Dem shadow chancellor in 2015 - Vince or Danny? Here's what Lib Dem members th...
Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Over 830 party members responded – thank you – and we're publishing the full results. [IMG: vince or danny] Currently the Lib Dems do not have a shadow chancellor. Vince Cable held the role in 2010. Danny Alexander has been chief secretary to the treasury for the past four years. Who do you think should represent the Lib Dems in the 'Ask the Chancellors' televised debate during the 2015 general election campaign? ...
Back in October 2012, I called on Dundee City Council to be at the forefront in progressing the Scottish Government's "Saltire Card" by offering to be a pilot site for the proposed Scottish equivalent of the Oyster Travel Card that has been a huge success for public transport in London. There is a real need to make public transport as accessible as possible and having a card that passengers can use for travel on trains, different bus operators and other public transport is essential to make travel easier and possibly cheaper. The council took up the role as lead authority ...
Bikehaus, Gatley's newest shop, has opened for business on Stonepail Road, just off Park Road. They opened on Thursday with Dame Sarah Story cutting the ribbon. We've dropped by to wish them well, and the place looks great – we suggest you give it a try! You can check them out on Facebook here.
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Bus Users Shropshire held a very successful meeting yesterday in Bridgnorth. Around forty people attended, many drawn from villages where the bus service is now minimal or non-existent. The meeting highlighted the substantial problems rural dwellers have faced since the withdrawal of the Shropshire Link service. We were reminded that prior to September 2008 the [...]
Just in case people think I am becoming obsessed with UKIP, then I am not the only one. Suddenly the media are all over them like a rash. Me, I am just warming up for Nigel Farage's visit to Swansea on Wednesday. Today's Guardian says that Ukip is facing a fresh storm of controversy as further evidence emerged of racism among its local election candidates, including a suggestion by one that the comedian Lenny Henry should emigrate to a "black country": Candidates have taken to social media sites to rail against Islam as "organised crime under religious camouflage" while likening ...
It's clear that the on-going health reorganisation is causing confusion and uncertainty. No-one can argue that the Welsh Labour Government has handled this reorganisation successfully. Local people are not having their voices heard and plans have not been properly put in place to prepare for the changes. Unscheduled care is a huge problem in the Welsh health service. NHS staff work incredibly hard, yet sadly they are being asked to do far too much in very difficult circumstances. For fifteen years, the Welsh Labour Government has completely mismanaged our A&E departments which has led to many people having to wait ...
