I had just arrived at my office this morning when I ran into one of my colleagues. "Hello, David," she said. "I've just been reading about you in the Daily Mail." My heart stopped for a moment. I may not have that much to be ashamed of, but still - you never quite know. What I had failed to expect was the way that speaking in public at the Hay Festival can make what you say unexpectedly interesting to the newspapers. I had, after all, been plugging away at my book Broke: How to Survive the Middle Class Crisis for ...
Thatcher/Major Blair/Brown Coalition ID cards Published Green Paper proposing a national database of personal details. Legislated for national database and compulsory ID cards Repealed database and ID legislation Public photography - Permitted arrest of anyone taking photographs near public buildings Repealed the section in question (section 44 of Terrorism Act 2000) State Pensions Broke the link between state pension and the wage rate index Did nothing, resulting in the farce one year of a 75p weekly increase Established triple-lock: pensions tied to highest of 2.5%, the wage rate index and CPI Top tax Cut top rate of tax to 40% ...
"It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change," said Alice in Wonderland. The funding for the Buttercross heritage centre has finally been approved, but Ludlow Town Council has only to November to complete the project. This is despite Shropshire Council earlier saying work in the Grade I listed building could [...]
[IMG: decision...] My goodness the atmosphere around the Libdems is febrile at the moment. No sooner had it become clear that Friday's Libdems4change petition was going to fizzle out than we learn of Lord Oakeshott's freelance polling manoeuvre. It's almost as if the timing of the leak of the poll results was planned to keep the heat on. A number of people online referred to Lord Oakeshott as a Scooby Doo villain, but his acrid resignation letter may yet prove to be genuinely damaging not only to Nick Clegg but also to Vince Cable, his preferred party leader. If so ...
Nick Clegg today ate a "bacon sandwich" on camera with reasonable aplomb. This was compared favourably with the hash which Ed Miliband made of eating a "bacon sandwich" last week. Except Nick Clegg was given, by LBC, an actual bacon sandwich. It's nice and soft, and relatively easy to eat as long as you bite hard down on the bacon. Ed Miliband tried to eat a bacon toastie which is altogether tougher proposition for eating. It's difficult to get in your mouth. You have to bite it off in small bits. [IMG: Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post
These Children are Safe (1940) from British Council Film on Vimeo. There has been a lot of news coverage today of the British Council project of putting its archive films online. In fact, as regular readers will know, some of these films have been available for a while. What happened today was that the final 25 were made available. I believe that The Children are Safe, a look at the wartime evacuation of children and a piece of propaganda for it, is one of this final batch.
Liberal Democrats are breaking the taboo on female genital mutilation (FGM). Our goal is to end FGM within a generation. Back our campaign here.
Judging by this briefing to Nick Robinson, at any rate. Robinson says that Clegg believes that the party must "stop looking in the rear view mirror" - in other words stop mourning the voters they've lost as a result of forming a coalition with the Tories. They need instead, he argues, to look forward to the voters they can gain by proving that they are a serious party of government with responsible economic policies.Nick Clegg, or whoever it was from his office who briefed Nick Robinson, is merely repeating a line from his speech to the party's 2012 spring conference. ...
Flick Rea "Our main task in the next few months and years is to make sure that we don't see a loss of the valuable experience of members, activists and former elected representatives to the Party. It is important to develop a support network for those who have lost their seats. When people have not been re-elected they can feel as if they have been cast out into the wilderness and that their hard work over many years has not been appreciated. We have to make sure that we continue to harness all that expertise to enable the Party to ...
Channel 4 has the scoop about Liberal Democrat peer Chris Rennard issuing an apology: Read the Lord Rennard Letter in full by Channel4News
[IMG: Evening Standard letter] Ex-Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott may have earned a footnote in the history books for a spectacularly self-destructive plot against Nick Clegg that simply resulted in his own exit from the party. His constituency polling was deeply flawed through failing to use ICM's usual methodology, not naming candidates in individual constituencies and for testing which question wording would produce the worst result before using that in the other polls. None of this should blind Liberal Democrats to the need to debate and improve strategy and policies. Far too often in the European elections campaign Lib-Dems sounded ...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats: You can also watch this on YouTube.
On a blog about UKIP I read this superbly accurate quote by Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis: "Nazism, fascism, racism and every other anti-social and anti-human mode of behavior are not products of ideology, do not contain ideology and neither do they constitute ideology. They're the expression of the beast within all of us growing unchecked, when its barbaric and inhuman presence is aided, enhanced or facilitated by sociopolitical circumstance. "The only antibiotic against this beast within, is education. I am talking about real education and not the irresponsible education of indiscriminate information which actually supresses restless and critical thinking. I ...
[IMG: Electronic Cigarette Inhalation] As a liberal I'm deeply sceptical of knee-jerk reactions to issues of public importance, especially when there's a severe lack of evidence to support your claim. This was a view I thought I shared with the Welsh Labour Health Minister, Mark Drakeford, after he said in the debate on my minimum nurse staffing levels bill that "in pursuing public policy, legislation should almost always be a last, rather than a first resort." You can imagine my surprise, therefore, when the Welsh Labour Government announced plans to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public places, along ...
[IMG: 1-vendetta-guy-fawkes-mask-on-black-849146] In the wake of Lord Oakeshott's epic failure to unseat Nick Clegg as leader of the Liberal Democrats, I thought it might be fun to look at the top five failed attempts at unseating someone in a position of power in the history of our great nation. 5. Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot (1605) We start with the mother of all failed political coups, one so infamous the nation celebrates it every November 5th. It was centred, as all these things were in the seventeenth century, around religion. Essentially, James I had promised more tolerance towards Catholics ...
[IMG: Phone charger] KCC Trading Standards is warning consumers to not buy cheap chargers as they may not be made to the same EU and UK safety standards as genuine chargers. Cheap generic chargers and fake chargers can be found online and in market stalls for a fraction of the price of genuine products. But these products come with a risk and may cause fires and injuries. If you have bought a cheap charger and notice it has loose casing and pins, do not use it. Report it to KCC Trading Standards online. Trading Standards Charger Tips: Don't leave electrical ...
Lambs arrive at Higher Carnyorth Farm. We are late lambing this year due to an under performing Ram!! [IMG: New Life 2014] Ewe and new born lamb I never grow bored of the new arrivals. They brighten my days and distract me from pressures and worries – well, at least for a while. This year we have one that the mother loves but will not feed so we are hand rearing her! Although time consuming and time is something I often feel I lack, it is never a chore! [IMG: Lamb Feeding] Lamb Feeding I think our spaniels think she ...
Thu 29th
14:45
Tim Pickstone: This is a rough time, but we need to get back out on the doorsteps this Summer
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] We've been searching for inspiring and helpful post-election emails this week. We covered Willie Rennie's and Maajid Nawaz's earlier. Here is what ALDC Chief Executive Tim Pickstone sent to members: This has been, and remains, a tough few days to be a Liberal Democrat. Losing elections is always tough. But in the last few days every single one of us has lost an election, and a good number of us have lost two. Again we have had to lose too many hard working Liberal Democrat councillors. In too many cases now wards which were ...
[IMG: roadwork sign] The Tring by-pass between Fox Road Roundabout and Tring Hill Roundabout is to be surface dressed due to the worn out surface. The work is programmed to start on Saturday 31st of May and should be completed within 5 days between the hours of 09.30 and 16.30 The road will be closed during these times; which may disrupt access to your property or business but every effort will be made to keep this to an absolute minimum. Diversion Route: A signed diversion route will be provided which will divert traffic via A41, A414 Two WatersWay, A4146 Leighton ...
It's been another fraught few days in the Liberal Democrats. Hundreds of councillors, and nearly every MEP, have lost their seats. A founder member, and former economic spokesman, has quit the party. An attempt to replace Nick Clegg as the leader has failed, and Vince Cable still has some questions to answer about it all. Don't believe the siren voices on the Lib Dem left who try and convince you that this was all about Thursday and Sunday's horrible election results though. Many of them have been trying to pull this stunt for months, if not years. Most of the ...
[IMG: Nick Clegg LBC square] On his weekly phone-in today, Nick Clegg announced that the Chair of the party's Campaigns and Communications Committee, James Gurling, would lead a review into our election campaign and strategy which would take advice from a wide range of party members in all parts of the country where we did well and where we did badly. I was very keen that the grassroots should be able to contribute to this and James Gurling replied to me on Twitter to say that this would be the case: @caronmlindsay Nick agrees Review will be full & frank ...
June 29, 2014 12:00 PM - 4:30 PM Military Road Recreation Ground, Sandgate [IMG: Sandgate Music on the Rec poster] Bring a picnic, relax, listen to local bands & sing along! Refreshments available. Sandgate's Got Talent competition. Free event. For more information or to take part in Sandgate's Got Talent, contact the Parish Clerk on 01303 248563. Sandgate's Got Talent performances can be solo or group, singing, dancing, acrobatics or acting. Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, CT20 3BYPrinted (hosted) by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY
A week after the local elections the Conservative run county council has announced they plan to award a new commercial contract to run its Household Waste sites that will mean two will close and others will see a massive reduction in opening hours with sites closing at 4pm and two day closures. Opposition Liberal Democrat Councillors had already warned that agreeing to a new contract without discussing it with councillors was wrong. The Conservatives have proposed a public consultation on the changes. Leader Democrat Leader Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey), said, " I am all for public consultation but ...
Bookings are now open for June's Local Government Conference and our two Kickstart training weekends - taking place in September and November. Places at both events can now be booked via our Events page. Local Government Conference - Milton Keynes, 27-28 June Satellite events on Friday 27th include: Group Leaders' Day, Researchers' Day, and the [...]
Thu 29th
12:19Before learning lessons from Ukip's success, we first have to put that success in perspective
[IMG: UKIP logo] My LDV colleague Joe Otten yesterday kicked off what we hope will be a little mini series reflecting on the success of Ukip (and other extreme right parties across Europe) in last week's European elections. I agree with Joe that is something we should discuss with some seriousness – and I look forward to reading your contributions in the comments and in posts on the site. But I think before we start to "learn lessons" we have to put the vote in some context. It is difficult to think of conditions that could be more favourable to ...
Losing seats and gaining power. It reminds me of the 2010 General Election. The Lib Dems lost four seats whilst only holding one last week as the voters spectacularly said they weren't enamoured with the party. Yet according to reports in the local rag (and lets be honest logic) they will form a rainbow coalition with Labour and the Independents to run Southend Council for the next twelve months. I wrote earlier this week that the voters had voted positively for Labour and UKIP and whilst the Tories lost seven seats, they still got the most votes across the town ...
On the theory that "no publicity is bad publicity" I'd have been delighted in most of my years as a Liberal/ Liberal Democrat to see us leading the news even on one day, never mind on four consecutive days, simply because at last someone was taking notice of us. Some fifty years (longer for some) of toiling on the fringes of the political vineyard at last brought those days to an end at the beginning of this century and I still get a mild thrill when I read or hear references in the media to "the three major parties. That ...
Four years ago, Liberal Democrats fought a General Election campaign on the basis that we would be different - not just in terms of ideas, but in terms of the way government was done. In a country weary with a Labour administration which seemed perpetually to be on the edge of internecine war, and with the recent experience of an expenses scandal that had almost overwhelmed the House of Commons, the idea of a new, more open, more transparent way of doing politics resonated with some people. It didn't have to be like that. And, unexpectedly for many, a hung ...
[IMG: image001] After being asked by many people from different parts of our party, I have decided to stand to be Party President. These last four years have been tough and no more so than in the last week. We have seen too many good friends and colleagues defeated as councillors and most recently as MEPs. I know what that feels like. I fought my first parliamentary seat in Harwich for the Liberal/SDP Alliance in 1987 and came second. I then went on to win the seat of Rochdale in 1992. Sadly, I narrowly lost in Tony Blair's 1997 General ...
Five million British children 'sentenced to life of poverty thanks to welfare reforms' (tags: ) Your Princess Is in Another Castle: Misogyny, Entitlement, and Nerds Again, grateful that I know so many geeky boys who aren't like this. Again, sad that the very fact that I'm grateful illustrates that it's notable that the geeky boys I know aren't like that. (tags: ) Lord Oakeshott, more Scooby Doo villain than Moriarty, helps Clegg by trying to destroy him (tags: ) ICO raps UK Student Loans Co for leaking MEDICAL files and more (tags: ) Disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds losing out on ...
[IMG: Social Liberal Forum] I do not buy any of Rupert Murdoch's products as a general rule, and this decision seems to have been vindicated by their printing a fictionalised account of a letter printed in today's edition, actually the Social Liberal Forum's first statement on the events of recent days. Our statement calls for a serious re-examination of party strategy which many of us feel is the key factor behind last week's appalling election results. It was agreed by the SLF Council who have a range of views about the LibDems4Change petition. For the record, I have not signed ...
Thu 29th
10:19
"very" or "a little" race prejudiced – I am unsurprised by survey of British attitudes
Growing number of Britons admit to being prejudiced The British Social Attitudes survey has found that nearly a third of people in Britain admit being racially prejudiced, a return to the level of 30 years ago. Of the 2,000 people polled by social research company NatCen, 30% described themselves as either "very" or "a little" race prejudiced. Chief executive Penny Young said the findings were "troubling", and cited the 9/11 attacks and an increase in concerns about immigration as two possible reasons for the turnaround. However, Ms Young also admitted self-reported prejudice was "very difficult" to study in detail, and ...
Thu 29th
09:55
Liberal Democrat Newswire 48 is out: Lib Dem leadership under fire after campaign failure
[IMG: Matthew Oakeshott] Edition #48 of Liberal Democrat Newswire came out yesterday, including some exclusive analysis of those Matthew Oakeshott ICM polls that have been in the news. It's now also available online to read here. Two other key pieces of analysis of the ICM polls have also now been published and both are well worth a read in understanding why the headlines attached to the polls are mostly misleading: An Evidence Based Coup Attempt Providing Evidence To The Contrary – Damian Lyons of pollsters Survation On those Lib Dem constituency polls – Anthony Wells of pollsters YouGov One other ...
In yesterday morning's rain the ward councillors for Eaglescliffe were shown round the site of the skate park being built. Since the original plans were developed some modifications have been needed owing to the fact that a sewer which runs under the park had been positioned wrongly on the map. This seems to be a common feature of maps in Eaglescliffe! As it's never a good idea to pour tons of
There's no escaping just how strongly the electorate has rejected our party's offer in the European and local elections, with a few welcome exceptions. Such heavy losses can't be attributed just to no longer being a party of opposition, even...Read more ›
The Lib Dems in Wokingham did a lot better than the Lib Dems in a lot of places. In the local elections we lost one seat, held 2, one of which was mine, and came close to gaining 2. In Emmbrook we lost by just 11 – having been 900 votes behind last time. Overall, our vote increased – and at 22% was roughly 3 times our national polling. We are definitely the second party in Wokingham Borough behind the Tories, with UKIP well beaten into 3rd place on 17.4%. In the European elections we also did better than the ...
Hollywood finally does justice to the King of the Monsters It's been 16 years since the release of the last English language Godzilla film. I can still remember my Dad taking me aged 10 and my younger brother aged 7 to see Roland Emmerich's ill-fated take on the Japanese cinema legend - my brother by [...]
[IMG: Netherlands-4778 - Wooden Grondzeiler] A few months after the UK Coalition Government formed in 2010, the Dutch Christian Democrats (CDA) formed a minority government with our sister party, the liberal VVD. To get a majority agreement, the VVD-CDA coalition made a confidence and supply agreement with right-wing Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV), which set out a number of policy concession to Wilders, e.g. on immigration. That was a decision with huge impact: the PVV was about as toxic as it could get for many CDA and VVD supporters. The fall-out of that decision has some interesting lessons ...
This is a reminder that I welcome guest posts on Liberal England. And as you can see from the list of the 10 most recent guest posts below, I am happy to consider a wide range of subjects. If you would like to write a guest post for Liberal England yourself, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. Political defections: Storms of protest or signs of political climate change? - Alan Wyburn-PowellTransition Town Market Harborough - Darren WoodiwissBullying on Leicester City Council - Ross GrantPubs must help themselves if they are to survive - Matt WrightOne ...
Last week's election raised a lot of questions, including "should Nick Clegg resign?", "should people calling for Nick Clegg to resign shut up?" and "why didn't you vote for me? Is it because I smell?" (that last one mostly being asked by me, to be fair). But one topic I've seen coming up over and [...]
Lord Oakshott has done the Liberal Democrats more than one disservice. His cack-handed focus on displacing Nick Clegg as leader has led to furore in the media, but more importantly it has enabled those responsible for our lame and ineffective European campaign to regroup and close ranks around the leadership. The chances of having a proper debate about that campaign so as to bring about change have diminished as a result. I went to a well-attended local party meeting last night, who unanimously agreed to back Nick Clegg as leader. I supported that position but we also agreed that there ...
Residents have pointed out the lack of a 'Larch Street' sign at its west end, and, confusingly, an 'Edward Street' sign was recently placed at the back of the Fire Station, which is causing confusion with deliveries. I took this matter up with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership who have advised as follows: "The replacement street name plate for Edward Street recently erected on an existing pole behind the Give Way lines on Edward Street is in the correct location. However, I would agree that there is nothing indicating the west-most end of Larch Street where it changes from Forest ...
[IMG: An opportunistic dog]
Like Margo in The Good Life, "I AM the Silent Majority" - but if I am 'silent', friends of mine might wonder what I (as a 2010 Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate) think about my party's leadership (especially as some others have been so vocal), so let there be no doubt: I believe that Nick Clegg is an excellent party leader and Deputy Prime Minister, and that Liberal Democrats can project such a record of success in government as to win key seats at the 2015 General Election, and I disgree with that minority of party members which wants a change ...
Sir Terry Leahy explains in the Telegraph why he believes that the UK's regional cities are being undersold and remain hidden in London's shadow. He says that if we are to rebalance the economy then we need to get better at articulating our strengths and demonstrating the unique opportunities of doing business in British cities. He adds that most of the UK's regional cities are well equipped with talent and capital but what are the missing is the boldness and belief to unlock potential and capitalise on the growth opportunity. The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 2 (27th May) - But ...
Figures released yesterday show that, in April, just 56.7% of emergency responses to Category A (immediately life-threatening) calls arrived at the scene within 8 minutes – down from 57.2% in April 2013 - and well below the target of 65%. In England and Scotland the target for the same priority call is 75%. When the figures were at a record low in February, the Labour health minister blamed the weather. Now they are less than 4% higher, what excuse can he use this time? Is this the level Welsh people can expect from this Labour government from now on? Welsh ...
I have been busy on a number of fronts recently so the blog has had to take something of a back seat. If you know me though, you will have been able to guess that I was keenly observing last week's elections in Ireland, North and South, as well as in Britain and indeed Colombia (it was a fun weekend, though not so much for my partner). An opinion piece I read today by Suzanne Breen caught by eye, since it chimed with my initial reflections after the conclusion of the local elections in Northern Ireland. @PJM2010 @mickfealty If I ...
I don't know if you've noticed, but there's been a lot of talk recently about how the only solution to some truly painful election results (there was a moment, on Sunday, where I confess to shedding several tears) is to ... Continue reading →
