What is liberalism for? This was a question that the Liberal Party began to ask itself at the end of the 19th century. Following the defeat of the Liberal Party in the 1895 general election, it became clear that the Liberals had to examine their guiding philosophy. Liberalism, the radical ideology that had sought at the start of the 19th century to provide everyone with liberty and rights had ended the 19th century looking out of touch and unable to address the problems which people faced. The one time philosophy of radical reform looked uneasy and unable to acknowledge the ...
This is Old Bill, who was set up in the odd little Shropshire town of Craven Arms to be its war memorial. You can see him standing beside the main road in this old photograph. At some point, because of a road-widening scheme, he was moved to a very different setting. Old Bill is now on parade in the churchyard of St John the Baptist, Stokesay. This church, which stands next to Stokesay Castle, was partly destroyed in a Civil War skirmish and rebuilt later in the 17th century. The lump you can see behind Old Bill in the photograph ...
Cornwall's Conservative leader today made the extraordinary claim that the best way to deliver Cornwall Council services is from offices in Plymouth. At a briefing to discuss the authority's long term strategy, Cllr Fiona Ferguson said that the council should consider renting office space in the city and requiring Cornish residents in South East Cornwall to travel there to access council services. The hostility of Cllr Ferguson to the new offices in Bodmin is well known. She has opposed the plan despite the fact that it will save money and could bring new jobs to Cornwall. But abandoning Cornwall to ...
Report back from this week's Cheadle Area Committee, covering the three wards of Cheadle & Gatley, Cheadle Hulme North and Heald Green. The Area Committee meets monthly at the Ladybridge Park Residents Club, Edenbridge Road, Cheadle Hulme. Meetings are always on Tuesdays and always start at 6pm. Development application for a new building with three dwellings to the rear of 8 Brooklyn Road, Cheadle The application (52620) was to demolish the existing industrial building and contruct a new building with three dwellings and three parking spaces. Concerns were raised by local residents covering three issues. Whether there was a legal ...
A pleasing trivial connection from Meades' An Encyclopaedia of Myself: My mother once mentioned (parenthetically, forgetfully) that when she was a probationary teacher at Basingstoke in the early Thirties and he was a policeman, she had known John Arlott 'quite well'. This might have meant anything. It probably meant no more than her having 'gone to a couple of dances' with the young Hugh Casson, whom she had met through his father, University College Southampton's rowing coach.
I hope my Lib Dem Group did not act in an arrogant way when we were the largest party on Sefton Council. And I say this now we are the largest opposition group on the Labour-run Council. My reason for saying this is because Labour don't seem to get the fact that for democracy to flourish on a Council the scrutiny of the all powerful Cabinet needs to be managed by councillors who are not of the same political party as the Cabinet. Tonight Labour voted down a Lib Dem proposal for the Audit and Governance Committee to be chaired ...
I was going to put up a Mindless Ones Cerebus post today, on High Society, but am not well enough to get the thing formatted — I've been having dizzy spells all day — so that'll have to wait. Have some links instead. The cover to Tales of the Great Detectives, the book I've contributed [...]
[IMG: Megaphone, some rights reserved by garrykinght] I've made no secret of my view that a change in leadership is likely to do little to revive Liberal Democrat fortunes at the polls given the rather more structural reasons for the decline in support for the party. But I also recognise that to continue doing and saying the same things over and over again and expecting a different result is not only the definition of insanity but is unlikely to lead to an electoral revival: We should not simply keep calm and carry on, but nor should we lose our heads ...
This morning, I took part in a number of council meetings, starting with the School Parking and Pupil Safety Working Group, at which I again raised the issues at the West End Campus (Victoria Park and St Joseph's Primaries and Balgay Hill Nursery School) and also praised the work of the community police and parking attendants in tackling the road and pupil safety concerns. I am pleased to report that safety barriers are to be erected over the summer holidays at the entrance lane to the schools and the car park, to avoid unauthorised vehicles gaining access. Other morning meetings ...
Biodiversity offsetting promises to be Britains next big environmental battle. Can we have the necessarily robust debate? Today and tomorrow, London Zoo hosts the first global conference on biodiversity offsetting. Its co-hosted by Defra, who seem keen to implement the approach in the UK, possibly as a way of speeding up the planning process. So, in response to this conference at the zoo, a group of NGOs and academics held a sort of counter-workshop in Regents Park last night. The central idea of biodiversity offsetting is compensation for works which is environmentally damaging but, for various reasons, we still want ...
[IMG: Stephen Williams MP] The Queen's speech tomorrow will include a Lib Dem commitment to make every new home built in England from 2016 zero carbon. As Stephen Williams says: This was one of Nick's earliest environmental priorities and it has taken the combined guile and will power of Sir Andrew Stunell, Don Foster and myself as well as Nick's dogged determination to make it a reality. He explains: We built 112,630 homes last year in the United Kingdom and all three major parties have committed to increasing that number dramatically (indeed Liberal Democrats intend to more than double it). ...
The Lib Dems are looking for a Director of General Election Strategy and the job description makes interesting reading: Essential Skills and Experience 1. The ability to articulate a vision for Liberal Democrat electoral success in 2015.2.A record of delivering national electoral success. 3. 10 years' experience of providing strategic leadership for a national political party . 4. A deep understanding of UK electoral politics. 5. A background and 5 years' experience of delivering political marketing and market research. 6. 10 years' experience of leading political communications or campaigns for a political party, including for a national general election. 7. ...
[IMG: Map of the European Union] At the beginning of the year, the European elections were looking touch and go for the Lib Dems. Our poll ratings were on the borderline of losing our MEPs, so we took a risk. We gambled on a strategy that, if it paid off, would win us the few percent of extra votes needed to hold most of our MEPs. The tactic was to highlight that we are the only truly pro-Europe party, which would attract swing voters from more lukewarm parties. So we went all in with 'The Party of In'. It was ...
Just a couple of things that may be of interest 1 Sainsburys have submitted a planning application to expand their store at Winnersh crossroads. It isn't a massive change, but does mean a slightly bigger store which will take up some of the existing parking spaces. So they are looking to add extra parking on the piece of land that is currently unused at the back of the car park. There are also implications for the card shop. You can see the full details by searching for F/2014/0949 at http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning/services/search/ 2 The Council will be carrying out work on the ...
[IMG: Turning point in politics?] So where are we? The UK and the rest of Europe have lurched to the right. People and countries are becoming more insular and less internationalist, less tolerant of difference and are looking for "others" to blame. Almost inevitably during times of austerity, people do not like those inflicting the pain, however necessary. Of course, some will argue that the cuts in public spending are not necessary, are not fair, are not reasonable, do not need to be so severe or all of the above. The fact is, for years the UK has been spending ...
And not globalisation. You can read from time to time statements about how stagnant wages are all about globalisation. Maybe. Over the long term, a great increase in one economic factor – labour – is going to depress its price. But extending the size of any market is also, usually, good news as all the other [...]
Today's announcement of reform to the tied pub industry is a huge victory for publicans, communities and consumers alike. It is something that I have been campaigning hard to ensure for the last five years alongside Greg Mulholland MP for the last five years. I first discovered the issues of licensees being mistreated by pubcos several years previously, and read about them as a CAMRA member. It is particularly satisfying given the number of times that industry vested interests, abetted by pubco lobbyists the BBPA, had previously been able to frustrate all-party calls for reform. It has taken Liberal Democrats ...
[IMG: Canada flag License Some rights reserved by archer10 (Dennis)] For many progressives, America's northern neighbour Canada has long been associated with progressive social change, with successive governments of the past century introducing such policy innovations as universal family allowances, supplementary pensions, and free health care. 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the election of the innovative Liberal government of Lester Pearson. Holding office from 1963 to 1968, the Pearson Government implemented a programme of social reform that not only led to the emergence of Canada's contemporary welfare state, but arguably cemented Canada's reputation as a leader of innovative social ...
Christian Wolmar is hoping to be Labour's candidate for the next election of Mayor of London. This may excuse the large amount of London detail which gives his article in the London Review of Books, "What's the point of HS2?" a somewhat discursive nature. However, extracted from his attempt to show his familiarity with the London scene, the meat of his arguments against HS2 are powerful and I summarise them as follows: 1. The original argument for HS2 was environmental: that it would cut down on carbon emissions. However, given that 57% of travellers would be transferring from the conventional ...
I'm currently in Rwanda in my capacity as Minister for International Development. Here's my first blog from the three-day visit: On arrival in Kigali this morning, I went straight to the genocide memorial at Ntarama Church to lay a commemorative wreath for the Rwandans who lost their lives in 1994. Only twenty years have passed since the Genocide, and – understandably – it remains an episode that defines and shapes the political, social, economic and development context of the country today. At Ntarama church, the story of the genocide unfolds before me as my guide from the Aegis Trust explains ...
Last night at the National Liberal Club, Liberal International British Group hosted a panel discussion on the political situation in Egypt, with former Nile TV presenter Shahira Amin, democracy activist Ahmed Naguib (via skype), the Treasurer of Liberal International, Robert Woodthorpe Browne (who has been involved in a lot of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy's [...]
[IMG: My mother] There are currently 800,000 people living with dementia in the UK. By 2021, that figure is expected to rise to over a million. The disease costs the economy £23 billion a year, and that figure is expected to treble by 2040. But as anyone who has come into contact with dementia will know, no statistics can convey the loneliness, isolation, and acute emotional distress that all too often comes with it - not just for those with the condition, but for their carers and family too. Improving care for people with dementia has been one of this ...
[IMG: Clegg_16-17-jobs] Nick Clegg has announced that for the first time ever, 16 and 17 year olds in the UK will be able to get help from their local jobcentre. Young people will get support uniquely tailored to them from specially trained coaches who will help them to find work and training. Thanks to Liberal Democrats in government, the number of unemployed young people fell by 48,000 in the last three months and is down by 75,000 since 2010. The number of 16 and 17 year olds who are not in education and training (so-called "NEETs") is now at the ...
[IMG: image] According to the media Liberal Democrats are behaving like rats in a sack with each member trying to eat (and in some cases spit out the other). Of course the media are less accommodating when it comes to highlighting the review that Nick commissioned with James Gurling, Cllr Abi Bell, Cllr Ruth Dombey and George Lyon. While a review is welcome it is not the whole answer. What will help us in 2015 is engaging with some of those traditional Liberal Democrat liabilities, namely our compassion. Take Lord Oakeshott. While I can't comment on the specifics of the ...
One of my more exciting posts – the list of the official Stockport Council meetings for 2014-15. Try to stay calm! You can find all of these on the Stockport Council website where they include links to see the minutes, agendas and other papers but this is a handy summary.
In addition to their roles in their wards, most councillors sit on committees and outside bodies where they represent the interests of Stockport as whole, or even a wider area in some cases. In Stockport, these appointments are generally agreed between the parties and then formally approved at the Annual Council Meeting, which this year is on 10th June and last for one year. Here are the appointments. Ordinary committees and working parties
This article on the BBC website from 2010, found via the Twitter feed of the Welsh Lib Dem policy officer, offers an interesting insight into what exactly went wrong in the Clegg-Farage debates and some pointers about how the party can improve our performance for the 2015 general election. The Liberal Democrats national message, that we are building a stronger economy in a fairer society enabling everyone to get on in life, encapsulates what we have achieved in government but it does not immediately grab you at an emotional level. To do that we need to fill in the details ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat badge - Some rights reserved by Paul Walter, Newbury, UK] I may have been rash. The Friday of the Council elections results saw me make a decision. Finally - after wrestling with mixed feelings whilst rejecting the electoral blandishments of other parties - I would join the LibDems. So I did. Then I went on a family holiday (it was half term). Why did I join the party at what many have proclaimed was its lowest ebb? For me, it's about a longterm aim to reshape the governmental structures of our country where power is held nearer ...
My unscripted, if not wholly impromptu, event at Hay on the plight of the middle classes has been bizarrely well reported, if not entirely accurately. The Telegraph has even written a leader about it. I believe that those newspapers which reported it were relying on the notes made by one journalist and, inevitably, they didn't get everything right. The trouble is that badly articulated answers to questions (badly articulated by me, that is) have been fed through the prism of a number of different reports - until the final version can sometimes be wholly incoherent. Then the incoherent version goes ...
[IMG: David-Cameron-and-Nick-Cl-006] In the wake of the recent Oakeshott inspired madness, an argument lays unresolved, both within the Liberal Democrats and in the wider body politic. Should the party remain in government until the end or retreat early, say six months before the election, in order to let the "differentiation strategy" breathe a little? I'll examine both choices with as much of an open mind as I can. Let's start with ending the government prematurely, pros and cons. The upside of such a manoeuvre is it would allow space between the Coalition and the election, a time when people could ...
Way back in the 1980s, cartoonist Alison Bechdel developed a way of measuring the portrayal of women in various media. The idea is that to pass the Bechdel Test, any given work has to have at least two women, talking ... Continue reading →
Back in April we reported that there was finally hope that the George and Dragon could be coming back into productive use in Cheadle. Two planning applications were submitted by new owners Amber Taverns to fully refurbish it and keep it as a pub. This week the planning applications have been granted by Stockport Council. We hope Amber Taverns will now get going on putting those plans into practice so we see the new George and Dragon open in the next few months. [IMG: georgeanddragon] [IMG: georgeanddragonf]
Openly trans politicians - election results « Complicity (tags: ) Be the 80th Writer Competition | Liberty I can't do this because I'm published. Could you? (tags: ) Ending free movement is the wrong lesson to learn from the European elections (tags: ) GodDAMN it i hate agreeing with Tony Blair (tags: ) Qatar World Cup 2022: Why is Fifa 'corrupt'? Because it can be. We don't care. And this is why I pay the scantiest attention to top flight football (tags: ) All aboard Japan's latest luxury train - hope some people are sitting down before clicking this (tags: ...
[IMG: Lib Dem manifesto cover] In the annals of political farce, Matthew Oakeshott has now secured himself a special place, managing to run a plot that was so counter-productive it left his party leader more secure and himself the one ousted from the party. But whilst the saga may have strengthened Nick Clegg's position as party leader, it still leaves the party with some major questions over policy and strategy in the wake of the European and local elections. Even those elections left the psephological experts predicting a Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party of 40 or so at the general election ...
Sorry for the hiatus. I have just spent four years working for Vince Cable, as special adviser in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. (I was so unprepared for the job that I didn't know what the 'I' stood for at the outset). It is strange to revisit this blog and remember everything that occupied my [...]
Nobody expects May 2015 is going to be much fun if you're a Liberal Democrat. However, you'd have to be very pessimistic to imagine that we'll take a beating quite as brutal as the Indian National Congress just faced. In India's 2009 General Election it won over the 200 seats making it easily the largest [...]
[IMG: William Beveridge] Lib Dems don't need a change of leader. What we need now is a radical change of policies and direction. This starts with a total repudiation of the War on the Poor, waged by Tories through austerity and so-called "welfare reform". Waged, it must be said, by stealth. But waged in a manner that should have been more obvious to Lib Dems in Parliament and in government. The cause of this myopia can be debated. What is clear is what occurred while we were looking the other way. First they came for tenants on benefits living in ...
Yesterday afternoon, I attended the City Council's Local Economy Monitoring Group, at which senior council officers, councillors and business representatives such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses discuss matters of economic importance to Dundee. We had an extremely useful update from Working Links and Triage, two of the Work Programme providers, on Work Programme progress in Dundee. At previous meetings of the Local Economy Monitoring Group, I - and other members of the group - have expressed concern at the poor level of positive outcomes for Dundee people in the early days of the life ...
Tue 3rd
08:42
Ormskirk, Preston & Southport Travellers' Association - time to redress 50 years of neglect!
The article below, about the Ormskirk, Preston and Southport Travellers Association (OPSTA) is from the May edition of Rail User Express the newsletter of Railfuture ***** Much of the committee's time in the early part of 2014 was taken up with formulating a response to the draft West Lancashire Transport Masterplan. Useful meetings were held with both council officers and local MP's, and the group is hopeful that many of its suggestions will be incorporated in the final Masterplan. The lack of any statement about the Southport-Wigan line was an omission; also the group wanted to see a firm commitment ...
From Sheena Wellington: Tomorrow's Lunchtime Recital is at 1.15pm and features the Erskine String Quartet sponsored by Live Music Now. Admission is free, although donations for Live Music Now are welcome. The Erskine String Quartet comprises four of Scotland's leading professional string players, all in high demand as freelance performers in Scotland. They are Aaron McGregor, violin, Daniel Paterson, violin, Emma Peebles, viola and Duncan Strachan, cello. Graduates of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Erskine String Quartet is one of the country's most popular and versatile string groups. They have recently been accepted onto the Yehudi Menuhin LiveMusicNow Scheme, ...
[IMG: RISO printing machine. Photo courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Riso_HC5500.jpg - some rights reserved] As I mentioned yesterday, there's one simple example of why sorting out the party's future isn't simply about leadership or overall popularity: the combination of Charles Kennedy, polling ratings up to treble the party's current level and the Iraq war didn't result in a boost in the party's membership. As a result, the party missed out on the chance of having more strong local constituency organisations that could exploit the tide flowing in favour of the party at various times to turn them into a greater number of ...
The Welsh Labour Government's Jobs Growth Wales scheme is failing to help young people who are long-term unemployed. As of April 2014, only 507 of young people completing a Jobs Growth Wales placement had been unemployed for more than 12 months. As of April 2014, there were 3,120 people aged 18-24 who had been claiming Job Seekers' Allowance in Wales for more than 12 months. This figure rises to 6,490 when considering those claiming JSA for more than 6 months. Young people participating in the UK Government's Work Programme are also barred from access to Jobs Growth Wales placements due ...
This is to remind you that the A14 consultation closes on 15 June 2014. The Highways Agency is keen for all those who use the A14 and who live or work nearby to have their say on the scheme before the consultation closes. There will also be an opportunity to talk to members of the project team during the second and final web chat. This will take place between 4pm and 5pm on Wednesday 4 June. To find out more please visit the schemes web chat page. To find out more about this scheme and comment on the consultation please ...
