Independent seat. Resignation
The Liberal Democrat candidate is Tony Redhead.
And so another week on the Bonkers Hall Estate comes to an end. Perhaps that is just as well. Sunday Did you see those extraordinary comments by Wendi Deng, the former wife of the newspaper magnate Rupert 'Stinker' Murdoch? (His first wife, incidentally, was the novelist and philosopher Irish Murdoch.) She was quoted as saying of Tony Blair: "He has really, really good legs, butt." I was not convinced at the time and wrote to the headmaster of one of our leading public schools on the subject. This afternoon he telephones to confirm that Deng was talking rot. Lord Bonkers ...
"The United Kingdom has tumbled down global press freedom rankings in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry and the government's reaction to the Edward Snowden leaks," reports the Independent. Not a great achievement for a government of which the Liberal Democrats are a part. A Scottish Liberal asks if we should with draw from the pro-Union Better Together campaign: "Whatever the next few months have in store for the Lib Dems, there can be no escaping that our future in Scotland will be directly affected by the stifling relationship with Better Together." "At Pendle Borough Council's meeting of Election Agents ...
Thu 1st
20:50
Nick Clegg's Twitter Townhall - an irreverent analysis, and the bit that the official account airbru...
So I spent half an hour faffing around with Storify earlier, trying to get all of Nick Clegg's Twitter Townhall session in one place. Paul Walter was so much cleverer over at Liberal Democrat Voice – he used the publicly ... Continue reading →
The editors of the academic journal Patterns of Prejudice have brought together 24 of their favourite articles of recent years into a virtual issue. The articles will remain freely available until 31 August. The raison d'être of Patterns of Prejudice, says the webpage for this issue, is to further understanding of the historical roots and contemporary varieties of the demonisation and stigmatisation of the Other. It is an eclectic collection, but I am particularly interested in: 'A curious relationship': Barack Obama, the 1960s and the election of 2008 - Brian Ward'There is no discrimination here, but the Committee never elects ...
Labour's big announcement at their European elections launch is that they will introduce rent controls. Just setting aside for a mo the fact that this has nothing to do with the EU elections, this policy is likely to do more harm than good to the housing market. It will certainly be extremely expensive. Let's start with those who will benefit - anyone already in rented housing will see their rents capped. All will be good for them, at least until any major repairs need to be done. The people who will lose out most will be people in need of ...
[IMG: nick clegg live tweet town hall 1st may 2014] Today, Nick Clegg took part in a remarkably simple and accessible Twitter Q&A on Europe, dubbed a "Twitter Townhall". Via Storify and the LibDem party website, here below is the official version of how it happened, (almost) tweet by tweet. Over on Caron's Musings, LDV Co-editor Caron Lindsay gives her take on the event and presents the complete, unofficial version of the tweetery. [View the story "Nick Clegg Twitter Townhall as it happened" on Storify]
Nick Clegg put himself through debates with Farage, and he is the only leader sticking up to UKIP:
Working under Vince Cable has obviously had a profound affect on Minister for Skill and Enterprise Matthew Hancock. He ends a rather clever Buzzfeed community post like this: [IMG: Screen Shot 2014-05-01 at 18.54.36] Which is rather a lot like this: [IMG: LD banner] This now means that Matthew Hancock is more on message for the Lib Dems than Vince Cable, which is a bit awkward for everyone really.
It has become a commonplace that when our politicians talk about "difficult decisions" the difficulties they create impinge mainly, indeed almost exclusively, on those lest able to bear them. In an astonishing article this week George Monbiot points out that whereas we humble have to pay the full whack of the cost of a passport or driving licence, the price of gun licences, which cost the police £196 to process, is to remain, at the personal diktat of the prime minister, unchanged at £50. And the subsidy for grouse moors is to be increased from £30 per hectare to £50 ...
[IMG: P1090440] With a recent COMRES poll showing 52% of the public are against the current HS2 plans and with 70 seats and 600,000 Lib Dem voters affected, I sat down one day and decided to find a better scheme. One which did unite the north of Britain to London and the South, one which didn't cost the earth, one with a minimal human impact and one which actually linked up with HS1, Eurostar and the Channel Tunnel - none of the things HS2 can boast off, but all of which an extension to HS1 would. My scheme would be ...
Liverpool City Council has ruled out the possibility of underwriting the full cost of a new stadium for Everton saying that it can only provide investment for "a wider regeneration scheme". In today's Times Page: 68, Independent Page: 72, Guardian Sport, Page: 5 Is not unraveling already I hope! With thanks to the LGiU for this story.
Cambridge MP Julian Huppert has been praised by Papworth Hospital Chief Executive, Stephen Bridge for the work he has undertaken to secure the £165 million move to the city's Addenbrooke's Hospital. Julian took the concerns of Papworth Hospital to the heart of government after fears that the Treasury might block the move. Mr Bridge said: "We are extremely grateful for all Julian's support on this complex issue." Julian said: "The work to secure this deal has been very worth it. It puts the future of Papworth Hospital on a firm footing for the future giving patients the first class treatment ...
Can I make you aware that Histon Enquiry office will be close from Friday 2nd May until Wednesday 14th May. Any enquiries or document production can be taken to Parkside police station or call 101. Kind Regards PCSO 7009 Bujar MANI Safer Neighbourhood Team
[IMG: Sachertorte] It is perhaps appropriate that, given the much-anticipated (at least by our enemies) fate of Liberal Democrats on 22 May, the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe) Party Council meets in Vienna, the city where Orson Welles set 'The Third Man', in which Harry Lime gave the impression of being dead, only to be killed in the end anyway. However, this month's European Parliamentary elections represent the raison d'être of any pan-European political party, and so liberals from across the European Union are working to ensure the strongest possible representation in the 2014-19 Parliament. And, as ...
Thu 1st
15:31Oh for goodness sake, if you don't like it when babies are being breastfed, look away. You are the o...
It really annoys me when I see things like this BBC story - a mass breastfeeding protest at a branch of Sports Direct in Nottingham. I'm proud of the women, one of whom I know, but I can't help thinking ... Continue reading →
One of my friends and neighbours is moving. He works in London town and seemingly over comes home to sleep before going back into work the next day. So he's selling his apartment. It is a beautiful apartment and if you have £275k and want to live in Thorpe Bay and be one of my neighbours then please have a look at it on Right Move However this isn't an advert for his apartment, I wanted to point out one of the photos used to try and attract people to buy the property. There are three external shots and two ...
[IMG: Nigel Farage, Leader, UK Independence Party (UKIP)] Following Nigel Farage's eventual decision not to run in the Newark by-election, Lib Dem MEP for the South-East of England Catherine Bearder shared her thoughts on UKIP's approach to holding public office, over at the Huffington Post: Following hours of umming and ahing, Nigel Farage finally declared that he won't stand for election in the upcoming by-election in Newark, desperately insisting that he is still "a fighter". It is remarkable that the very man who claims he is not your typical politician, that he says what he thinks and does what he ...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats: You can also watch this on YouTube.
That Coat As usual, last Sunday, I attended the Bothy Folk Club in Southport. Before he began his first song one of the resident musicians made the following comment. He said that "The most annoying thing about Nigel Farage is his coat!" He referred, in particular, to the coat he wears with the velvet collar, seeing it as very "uncool". Whist I agree with the annoyance of the coat I do not agree that this is the most annoying aspect of the man. The man and his party annoys many as stated by the New Statesman: The danger with extremism ...
[IMG: fixed-odd-betting-machines] The remit of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is huge. Ministers are responsible for housing, local economic development, planning policy, parking, local government finance, localism and community integration. Often these issues spark controversy. But all CLG ministers are in complete agreement that there is an urgent need to revitalise the Great British High Street, to bring back the bustling centres of retail and leisure which served their communities so well prior to the financial crash. We want high streets and town centres that encourage people to spend a couple of relaxing hours working their way ...
A recent planning application to Lincoln City council is looking at changing the use of the current Sports Direct in Lincoln from retail (A1) to a gym (D2). Having inspected the plans Pure Gym are looking to have a weights, studio, spin and general areas, plus changing rooms with showers in their new 24 hour gym. [IMG: pure-gym-lincoln] So what does this mean for Sports Direct? I doubt they would be leaving the city, and there is still any empty unit on Station Street where JJB used to be. But as I haven't contacted anyone for a comment we will ...
Nick Clegg will be taking to his keyboard for what he described as a "Twitter Town Hall" at 2:30 pm this afternoon. We'll bring you the highlights later, but if you want to ask him something, it couldn't be simpler. Why not take a few minutes out of your lunch hour to send him a question? Euro elections now 3 weeks away. I'm hosting a live twitter Q&A today at 14:30. Tweet your Europe questions to @nick_clegg — Nick Clegg (@nick_clegg) May 1, 2014
See the Green Liberal Democrats' argument here.
A few months ago, I was attending the National Hack The Government event. I was showing off some of the work I had been doing on "The Unsecured State" - looking at *.gov.uk website security. I was chatting to an envoy from the Food Standards Agency who was eager to hear more about what I'd discovered. "Oh," I said, "It's pretty easy. Let's take a look at your website. If I were to type some HTML into your search box, you would expect that the site would recognise it as dangerous content and refuse to display it." A few clicks ...
Thu 1st
11:49Call Clegg highlights: Anger management, messy cars, "inhumane" care home abuse and gambling
Here are the highlights of today's Call Clegg: [View the story "Call Clegg: 1 May 2014" on Storify]
[IMG: preston-manning600px] In the wake of Farage's decision not to stand himself in the impending Newark by-election, the nation of Canada has been evoked by UKIP once more. In an article in the Telegraph by Chris Hope, it is said that the lesson of Deborah Grey, a schoolteacher from Beaver River, Alberta, was instructive in helping Nigel to pass over the chance to enter the House of Commons. To understand why lessons from Canada are so important to Farage, one has to understand his "Canadian Model" and what it means. And, more importantly, why it will never, ever work in ...
[IMG: "Driverless Car in Bonita Springs" by Chris Griffith ] Driverless cars may not be quite as revolutionary as the 19th century spread of the railway, but there are huge benefits coming into view. The sooner we can deliver them, and the sooner policymakers can take them into account, the better - with mixed results for railways. To be conservative, let's imagine it's 2044 - 30 years from now. We will look back at the idea of people customarily directing 1 tonne cars at speed as madness. Millions of lives will be saved worldwide through autonomous driving and communication between ...
I never tire of reminding liberals suspicious of evidence-based policy informed by Randomised Controlled Trials that they are literally are a liberal idea: they're founded on father-of-liberalism John Stuart Mill's 'method of difference' through which the observed difference between two groups can be measured to identify the 'active ingredient' which works. However, it turns out I might have under-estimated the historical precedent for control group analysis to guide decision-making: Assignment of treatment to different groups and subsequent comparison of outcomes dates as far back in history as the Old Testament, in which King Nebuchadnezzar is said to have ordered a ...
Thu 1st
10:50
Call Clegg: "Inhumane" treatment of elderly in care homes, gambling, Royal Mail, Nick's messy car an...
I've done a Storify thingy of today's Call Clegg highlights. Enjoy! [View the story "Call Clegg: 1 May 2014" on Storify] * Caron Lindsay is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
A study by Bristol University reported in today's Western Mail confirms what many of us have feared for some time, that English patients are up to seven times more likely to get costly, life-extending cancer drugs than their Welsh counterparts due to the establishment of a dedicated cancer drugs fund. They say that the findings of a comparative, cross-border study by Bristol University concluded cancer patients in England became more likely to access life-extending cancer medicines through the Cancer Drugs Fund, which have otherwise been rejected as too expensive by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence which approves ...
Make sure you get your question in – it couldn't be simpler. Euro elections now 3 weeks away. I'm hosting a live twitter Q&A today at 14:30. Tweet your Europe questions to @nick_clegg — Nick Clegg (@nick_clegg) May 1, 2014
With 3 weeks to go – it's all about postal votes Last week we circulated our guidance on the importance of postal voters. For those who missed it here it is again. The deadline for applications is to vote for post is 7pm on Wednesday 7th May, so time for a last postal vote sign up push [...]
I forgot to post this link in April so here it is. It's my latest eFocus to residents of the Whickham area. The email newsletter goes directly to about 1500 households and about 100 businesses. We are aware that many people forward it on to others as well. I call it the ripple effect.
Why media can name the child suspected of killing teacher Anne Maguire | Press Gazette (tags: ) Judge refuses DWP leave to appeal ruling on Universal Credit reports (tags: ) Inside Whitehall: A sober look at costs led to the alcohol price U-turn (tags: ) The simple tests that tell if you'll live to a ripe old age Pls to be noting that this is not a binary either/or but a cloud... (tags: ) 37 Pictures Of Goths Looking Awesome In Whitby (tags: ) UKIP begin search for Newark candidate without Twitter account (tags: ) Just who IS voting for ...
[IMG: decent homes] Six weeks ago I highlighted the 17 policy areas where there is significant agreement between Labour and the Lib Dems. These range from tax-cuts for low-earners and the mansion tax to local school accountability to an EU in/out referendum. There were also two areas I omitted, flagged by Adam Corlett in a comment here: childcare and a living wage. A 20th area can now be added, with Ed Miliband set to announce Labour's plans for the private rental sector, some of which mirror the Lib Dems' Decent Home for All policy adopted in 2012 – notably this: ...
So today is Beltane, and this means contemplation of summer and less-covering clothes, and lots of us are going to be feeling a bit insecure about what we look like. I've seen a lot of posts about making your body "acceptable" for beachwear, and I've seen a lot of other posts decrying those posts and condemning the way they concentrate on percieved flaws and make people feel insecure. I have a LOT of insecurities about my body. I'm going to list some of them: NOT because I am after sympathy or argument, but purely for illustrative purposes. ( cut for ...
Generous-hearted souls that we are here at LDV Towers, we are inclined to think that the good people of Conservative Party HQ have been getting a little confused again in recent days. You see, to mark the end of the month, when many people will be receiving their pay slips, they have been tweeting about the coalition's success in raising the income tax personal allowance: Got paid today? Check your pay slip & see if you're one of 25 million benefiting from Conservatives Income Tax Cut http://t.co/PGFyvAmFrN — CCHQ Press Office (@CCHQPress) April 30, 2014 But if you want to ...
Market Harborough is to be one of 42 stations in England and Wales to share in a £100m government fund to improve access for disabled passengers. Detailed designs and costing for each station will be drawn up by Network Rail in due course, and the projects will be completed by 2019. Announcing the funding, the Liberal Democrat transport minister Susan Kramer said: "We are transforming our railways through record levels of investment and improving accessibility at stations is an important part of that. "These improvements will make a real difference to the lives of disabled passengers and those with limited ...
Residents have complained to me that the pavement on the north side of Perth Road between Hyndford Street and Rockfield Street is in poor shape. It is slabbed, but badly cracked in places, with trip hazards - see below:I took up residents' concerns with the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership who responded as follows: "This footway has been checked by the Road Maintenance Partnership inspector. He has indicated that many of the slabs are cracked and it is unsightly but there are currently no actionable defects. He is not proposing any action at present but will continue to monitor its ...
The local newspaper reports: [IMG: Labour Party Red Rose logo] Harrow Labour have suspended one of their candidates for the upcoming council elections after it emerged he was a self-confessed fraudster. The party leader David Perry held crunch talks with Canons ward candidate Yogalingam Dayanamby on Saturday after discovering that he had been convicted of defrauding Harrow Council in 2007 for north of £800... Voters will still be able to elect Mr Dayanamby however, as the party only heard of his conviction shortly following the official deadline for candidate nominations and withdrawals on Thursday afternoon. The party are insisting however ...
A poll by Survation has found that most voters want to see more powers devolved regionally and locally across England. Some 65% said "too much of England is run from London", while 70% believed "London receives preferential treatment over most other parts of the UK". Another clear pointer to what we Liberals have been banging on about for years and which other parties pay lip service to, Sadly, the Coalition talks about this far more than it delivers it. My posting of 17th April comments on Labour's flawed devolution proposals. With thanks to the LGiU
www.maghullwindorchestra.co.uk/ I attended my first concert by Maghull Wind Orchestra last Sunday in the grand surroundings of the Palm House in Liverpool's Sefton Park. And an excellent, well attended concert it was too with the 74, yes 74, member orchestra putting on a varied and entertaining performance. Cllr. Jen Robertson is a member of the Orchestra where she plays the flute. Here are a couple of photo's that I took on ht day:- [IMG: Musical Director Phil Shotton addresses the audience.] Musical Director Phil Shotton addresses the audience. [IMG: There were 74 members playing in this particular concert!] There were ...
Patients and NHS staff are being badly let down by the Welsh Labour Government. According to figures published yesterday, in March only 55% of emergency responses to Category A (immediately life-threatening) calls arrived at the scene within 8 minutes. This is despite the target being for 65% of ambulances to arrive within that time. Last month, the Minister blamed 'extreme weather' for what were the worst ambulance response times in years. This month, we have seen only the smallest improvement, yet the Minister can't once again blame the weather. It's time the Welsh Labour Government took some responsibility for the ...
[IMG: Rent House Showing Rental Property Estate Agents] Rent regulation and three year tenancies. That's Ed's big housing idea for the private rented sector. It is what the people wanted. Well, quite a lot of people appear to support the idea. But even before the formal announcement has been made it is apparent that some are vehemently against. The initial voices of outrage were those one might have anticipated. The incorrigible Mr Shapps and the Adam Smith Institute, ably supported by that other cheerleader for deregulated markets City AM were quick off the mark in condemning Labour's proposals for 'rent ...
