Rather major personal stuff (those of you who follow me on Twitter will know what) means that I've not got the brain to write today. Proper post tomorrow.
The approach to Breedon on the Hill from the east is dominated by the church on its man-made cliff, but the first thing you see when you arrive in the village is this remarkable Victorian school. Your first impression is that it is forbidding, but it is tamed by further study. British Listed Buildings gives its history: The school was built [in 1874] by Charles Abney Hastings as a memorial to his wife, Edith. His name had been Abney but he took his wife's name Hastings either on their marriage or on her succession to the Scottish title of Loudon ...
I am off to London for the Social Liberal Forum conference tomorrow. I hope to interview a couple of Leading Liberal Democrats for this blog. Thanks to Huffington Post and the power of the press release, I can already tell you what one of them is going to say. Step forward Tim Farron, who will say: "There is no political market for a centre right laissez faire liberal party amongst the British electorate, or for a party that sets itself up as the permanent see-saw coalition partner. "To aim to be either would be to neuter our movement and invite ...
[IMG: Election count progressing] After the elections in May, the Leader tasked a group with reviewing the elections, assessing what worked and what didn't, and produce recommendations to improve our campaigning for the future. On Monday, the Review Group presented our findings to the Leader and later to the Federal Executive. I am pleased to say that they endorsed both the report and its recommendations, and we will now set about putting them into practice well in advance of next year's elections. In what was the most-read Party email in some time, more than 700 individual members made representations to ...
Alex's Archives takes a scalpel to Liberal Democrat travails over the bedroom tax. "He was right to emphasise the importance of diversity in education, right to champion the involvement of parents in starting schools and right to turbo-charge free schools." David Boyle, rightly, writes in praise of Michael Gove. The only way to contain Moscow is to understand that there's still a Cold Warrior in the Kremlin, says Jeffrey Lewis on Foreign Policy. "Today Liberty announced it is representing James and Dana Haymore, who are being prosecuted for failing to ensure that their son 'regularly attended school' on the basis ...
19 July – 10:00 – 13:00 GOSH Charity Golf Coaching event Every year Dave Marsden holds a charity golf coaching event at Berkhamsted Golf Driving range (Spring Garden Lane, off Shootersway HP4 3GY) where 100% of the donations go to Great Ormond Street Hospital. To book either the junior coaching or adult coaching please visit my website www.davemgolf.com Childrens' Event (Ages 5-15) Admission charges: no charge just donations on the day Places on these lessons need to be booked in advance on website: www.davemgolf.com 19 July – 13:00 – 23:00 Dacorum Folk Fest A day of celebration throughout The ...
[IMG: Axe the bedroom tax - photo by Funk Dooby] I have to defend accusations my party is being 'hypocritical' over its stance on the Bedroom Tax. Thanks to Liberal Democrats being in control in Stockport we were able to introduce a local policy with our hardship fund that meant our residents would not have to pay retrospectively if there was nowhere to move into. Therefore according to Chris Bryant or Labour's definition there is no bedroom tax in Stockport. In Stockport the Lib Dem-led Council used the powers at its disposal to reform the national policy at a local ...
Well, well, well. It turns out that the bedroom tax isn't such a good idea after all. Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander have U-turned on the policy, ostensibly in the light of the (delayed) publication of interim report of the DWP evaluation. The report indicates that the policy largely isn't achieving the objectives set for it. Early tabloid headlines announcing that the Liberal Democrats were calling for abolition were misleading. Instead, what Clegg and Alexander would appear to have done is withdraw support for the policy in its current form and adopt a position broadly in line with the motion ...
[IMG: Lafrowda 2014 Gogmagog in the Plen] Lafrowda 2014 Gogmagog in the Plen Cornishman Community Event Award was won by Pirates on the Prom but I still think that Lafrowda is the best, with the Lafrowda Crew producing a huge event in our small community. When I saw the Cornishman asking for nominations for Community Event I immediately thought of our own Lafrowda. Now I may be bias but I think the combination of the talented organising crew, our compact town and amazing community spirit combine to make this an incredible festival for all ages. [IMG: Lafrowda Strictly Team Dancing] ...
The publisher, editor and longtime English PEN activist Peter Day, who has died, could on occasions be extremely sharp-tongued, but at heart he was a man of immense human kindness. He particularly sprang into action whenever any of his friends was ill. When our mutual friend, the late novelist Francis King, was in deteriorating health, [...]
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] This week saw nine by-elections in principal authorities - Argyll & Bute, Cornwall, East Dorset, Harrogate, two in Herefordshire, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, Oxford and Redditch. In Harrogate Clare Skardon held Hookstone ward for the Liberal Democrats with 51.7% of the vote; an increase of 9.1%. Cllr Skardon successfully managed to squeeze all her opponents' share of the vote: the Conservatives acquired 32.1% of the votes (-1.8%), UKIP were third with 12% (-4.3%) and Labour came last with 4.1% (-3%). Cllr Skardon puts her victory down to a strong local team with a ...
[IMG: roadwork sign] Herts County Council is to review its highways faults inspection regime following pressure from the Liberal Democrat Group Leader and Deputy Leader. Lib Dem Group Leader, County Councillor (Watford: Central & Oxhey), Stephen Giles-Medhurst said "There are grave concerns regarding our Highways safety and the regime in place to ensure it. The findings in the case of Curtis v HCC, where Mr Curtis was seriously injured because the highways inspection regime failed to spot a serious pothole and fix it. This shows that the County's inspection regime is not fit for pressure and needs a review. "We ...
Twenty six new police officers will take part in a "passing out parade" to mark the end of their training. The parade will take place on Friday, July 25, from 2pm at the Learning & Development Training Centre at Monk's Wood, near Alconbury, on the last day of their 16 weeks of training. The 26 new constables are the first intake of new officers for Cambridgeshire Constabulary since October. Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hopkins said: "We are pleased with the recruitment of the new police officers. "This is a really positive step for the community and helps Cambridgeshire Constabulary with ...
Last month, unemployment fell significantly for the third month in a row in Acocks Green. In June the unadjusted claimant count fell by 47 (making a three month fall of 139) to 828, which is 286 down on a year ago. The level of youth claimants was up 1 to 202; hopefully no more than a pause for breath after its recent sharp fall. The number of long term unemployed fell by 13 to 323. Across Birmingham, the seasonally adjusted claimant count fell by 938 to 37,021, a claimant rate of 7.7%. Across the city the long term claimant numbers ...
Here is a message that councillors have just received today (18th July 2014) regarding possible disruption to electricity supplies from thunderstorms: Today is a normal day across the networks with no widespread power cuts due to the weather. However, UK Power Networks has been notified of a severe weather warning from the Met Office with heavy rain, thunderstorms and lightning forecast to hit the East of England, South East of England and the London area this Friday night and over Saturday 19th July. Our paramount focus will be on restoring electricity to customers as quickly and safely as possible and ...
This week saw nine by-elections in principal authorities - Argyll & Bute, Cornwall, East Dorset, Harrogate, two in Herefordshire, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk, Oxford and Redditch. In Harrogate Clare Skardon held Hookstone ward for the Liberal Democrats with 51.7% of the vote; an increase of 9.1%. Cllr Skardon successfully managed to squeeze all her opponents' [...]
[IMG: Sandgate Family Fun Day Poster] Military Road Recreation Ground, Sunday 27th July, 11.00 to 5.00. Bring a picmic and relax. Boules competition. Children's fun fair. Local bands. Sandgate's Got Talent showcase. Refreshments. Falcons Flying demo. Fun Dog competition. Face Painting. Mickey Mouse and friends. Circus Skills. Dancy Demos. Inflatables. Fancy Dress Competition and more. Download a Sandgate Family Fun Day programme and timetable. 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
[IMG: Orange_Book] There have been many articles in LDV on the recent 'Orange Book Two' conference but I wanted to comment, by way of reflection a month later, on the sum of the more classical liberal ideas presented at the conference, particularly my slight feeling of, well, perhaps 'emptiness', as I left the conference for a flight at Heathrow. The presentations and speeches were polished, interesting, stimulating, and full of fact-based insights especially on issues such as the dangers of an overbearing government and how the sheer volume of economic regulation today, contrasts with the standard socialist mantras about 'unregulated ...
[IMG: Lantern] 100th Anniversary of WW1 - 11.00pm August 4th 2014 "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our life-time" Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary on the eve of the First World War. This August 4th across the country, lights will be turned out to signify the start of the 100th anniversary of WW1. In the evening of that day, The Shorncliffe Trust will be lighting 550 Lanterns on the graves of the Soldiers at Shorncliffe Military cemetery to shine a light on the men who have paid the ultimate sacrifice ...
Reading Philip Stephens Politics and the Pound has reminded me how much I love reading political history, particularly with an economic slant. I am about to get 3 weeks off. I would love to spend the child-free moments devouring more political memoires. So: any good suggestions? I have already got through a fair few: Gladstone, Peel, [...]
[IMG: Train at Alloa Station] The cost of Conference, especially of travel, can be a burden on those of us attending conference, so it's worth noting that Advance tickets to get to Glasgow on the 3rd & back on the 8th of October are now available on the national rail website. Advance will be the cheapest available ticket type, but can be used on the booked train only – no open transfers, so choose carefully! Furthermore, if you are planning to travel with a friend in both directions, it's a good idea to get a Two Together Railcard – for ...
I had not previously seen BBC's Flog It programme but last year the programme makers contacted me and asked me to do an interview for them about the Angel of the North statue. So I dusted down my suit (which doesn't get worn as often as it used to), ironed my shirt, and headed over to Gateshead to do the interview. I then forgot about it until I was told by a Labour Councillor yesterday that she
CAMRA and the Local Government Information Unit recently collaborated on a report that found 28 UK pubs are closing every week. Public Houses: how councils and governments can save pubs also found that, since January 2012, at least 208 have been converted into supermarkets. CAMRA/LGiU cite the ease by which, under the Town and Country Planning Act (1995), drinking establishments can be converted into retail outlets without the approval of the local planning authority. While noting that "there is no magic bullet" to saving pubs, the report found that article 4 of the 1995 act, putting "change of use" of ...
Fri 18th
12:50
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, the Russian Problem, and thinking the previously unthinkable
[IMG: UKRAINE-AVIATION-ACCIDENT-RUSSIA-MALAYSIA] I recall that shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, a rumour went round that Sylvester Stallone was thinking about creating a "Rambo IV", which would involve the muscled warrior going back into Afghanistan, this time to fight against the very same people he fought side by side with in "Rambo III". Wisely, Stallone probably figured out that this might call unwanted attention to some of the complexities surrounding what led up to the then recent terrorist attack in New York, and parked the film. Rambo would later resurface in Burma in 2008, you may or may ...
[IMG: Pizza partly eaten] Next Wednesday (23rd July) I'm off to Camden Liberal Democrats to lead a discussion about the plans for the party's 2015 general election manifesto, what are likely to be the most controversial elements and how party members can influence its final contents. Liberal Democrat members from elsewhere are very welcome to come too – 7:30pm, 50 Cotleigh Road, NW6 2NP. £15 including drinks and pizza. I'll also be doing a similar session in Islington in September, and am happy to lead such sessions for other local parties too – just get in touch.
[IMG: 3D Employment Graph] Recently I wrote about challenging Labour's narrative on unemployment with the facts. Since then, the points made in that article have been confirmed with even stronger jobs growth, lower unemployment, and a greater still proportion of full-time jobs. Updates of those figures, and figures used in this article are summarised here drawn from data in here. The number of new, net, full-time jobs is now up to 1.3 million, and David Blunkett's post-Soviet style meltdown more distant than ever. I dealt in that article with zero hours and our relative performance against other economies. Three other ...
[IMG: rsz_img_0002] Reading the latest edition of Narrow Gauge World magazine and seeing the front page photo of Engine No.9 Prince of Wales made me realise that I had a photo of Vale of Rheidol Railway No.8 which appears to be in the same 'Invisible Green' livery. see below:- [IMG: rsz_vale_of_rheidol_no8_1992] I took this photo on a visit to the line around 1992 and have scanned this photo from the original print. The livery is called invisible green because it is so near to black that a casual glance would lead you to think the loco was in fact painted ...
The Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, has backed a change in the law on assisted dying for the terminally ill. [IMG: index] www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28339270 I am impressed by the number of sinners who are repenting over this. Norman says "The individual should be the person who decides, not the state"; not a more true Liberal word spoken.
But not there yet. That has to be the verdict on County Durham's employment statistics. Every month Durham County Council produces statistics on employment within the county, and they all show the same trend. The employment position in the county is improving, but this county lags behind the national statistics, and the region as a whole lags behind Durham. The graph of the percentage of the working population claiming Job Seekers Allowance paints the picture very clearly. [IMG: JSA Claimants July 2014] So, even more disturbingly, does the graph showing the percentage of the 16-24 age group who are claiming ...
Nothing is more important than the protection of children from abuse. The revelations that have come to light over the last few years have been very serious, stomach-churning allegations. I [...]
A policy wonk needing to find fiscal revenues realises that there is a disconnect between citizens' ownership or use of property, and how it is treated fiscally. In simple terms, the charge for the property doesn't properly reflect how much of that property there is. So he devises a top up to make the system more progressive, [...]
A few months ago, after concern about speeding from local residents, the Lib Dem team asked people on Clifton Drive, Windsor Avenue, Wilcott Road, Barngate Road and Newby Drive for their views on traffic calming in that area. We wanted to get in as many replies as possible so we delivered two copies of the letter a few weeks apart. One resident on Clifton has also gone door-to-door asking for views and we're very grateful for that help. A number of different suggestions had been made as to how traffic could be slowed down and rat-running reduced and we asked ...
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Fri 18th
09:50
#Werrington Children's Centre de-designated after costing Council £87,362 a year! @Welbournesc...
[IMG: photo] At the latest meeting of the City Council's Creating Opportunities and Tackling Inequalities Scrutiny Committee, Liberal Democrat, city councillor, Darren Fower, was told Werrington Children's Centre, would now come under the control of Welbourne School. The move, we understand must be finalised before September 2014. Council Officers said that at present the cost of services at the centre, to the local authority, was around £87,362 a year. In the report presented to the Scrutiny Committee, it stated: Welbourne Primary School to have control over the building and become the anchor tenant. In doing so they will use some ...
[IMG: Guardian 2 photo by Liberal democrats] Personally, I'd like there to be none. And that's why I have today written to Tim Gordon, CEO, and Tim Farron, party President, asking for a message to be sent to all internal and external organisations holding fringe events at Autumn conference, to remind them of the need for diverse panels, including gender balance. I've also asked that the same be done for all local parties who will soon be electing their Executives. A while back, Mark Pack announced his decision to decline invitations to sit on all-male panels at Liberal Democrat fringes, ...
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention in the past couple of days... Malaysia Airlines crash: This could not get much worse for Moscow – Telegraph Blogs "This could not get much worse for Moscow" says @shashj: http://bit.ly/1zPJTXR Maybe Germany/EU will now take Russian threat seriously? THE MONSTER THAT ISRAEL HELPED CREATE | Pandaemonium /@kenanmalik on "The monster that Israel helped create" http://bit.ly/1zOa68W 17 policies on which the Lib Dems and Labour now agree Scrapping the Bedroom Tax was #5 on my list of 17 policies on which the Lib Dems and Labour now agree http://bit.ly/1rhQkAk Lib ...
Fri 18th
09:06
HCC Conservatives: Unrepentant over Millions of Pounds of Taxpayers Money Down the Drain
[IMG: Paul Zukowskyj and Sandy Walkington with supporters marking New Barnfield plans being turned down ] Paul Zukowskyj and Sandy Walkington with supporters marking New Barnfield plans being turned down At Tuesday's meeting of Hertfordshire County Council the Liberal Democrats demanded an apology for the money wasted in the New Barnfield waste fiasco. Despite admitting the loss of "a few million", top Tory councillors remain unrepentant at millions of pounds of taxpayers money being wasted on the controversial, unpopular and now rejected New Barnfield plan for a massive waste disposal incinerator in the Green Belt, next to a housing estate ...
You can tell that the Eisteddfod is near when a letter from the Welsh health minister refers to 'health bards'. Either that or the latest fad in our hospitals is for the doctors and nurses to read poetry at you until you are cured.
[IMG: wpid-14054436933990] Two important things happened in British politics this week: the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers (DRIP) Act was rushed through in a week, and David Cameron reshuffled the Conservative side of the Cabinet. Some have seen the timing of the Cabinet reshuffle as a deliberate attempt to divert the attention of the political press away from reporting what was going on in Parliament in favour of instead covering the soap opera of who was up, who was down and was out of Government, but as most political journalists prefer doing the latter to the former for the rest ...
The Summer Meeting of the Friends of Balgay will be held on Saturday 26th July at 2pm in the Mills Observatory. Guest speaker will be Carly Cooper, Curator of Social History with Dundee City Council, who will give a talk on Mary Slessor. Please come and feel free to bring a friend. Entrance is free for members and £1 for visitors. Refreshments will be provided - all welcome! You can access the Friends of Balgay website here.
S10: Ludlow Area Ludlow SAMDev policy maps S10.1 Ludlow town strategy 1. As the largest market town in southern Shropshire, Ludlow will be a focus for development and will continue to play an important role in providing facilities and services for the wider area. The guideline for growth in the town is for around 875 [...]
Southwark Council has to record all the risks it is at risk from. The latest report from Southwark Council officers to the Audit & Governance Committee I sit on stated that risk from the economy have dropped from 8% to 6%. That's a big drop and good news of how council officers responsible dispassionately for judging risks now see the economy seriously picking up.
The decoupling is in full swing this week as Nick Clegg goes on the record to point out that Cameron has capitulated to the Tory headbangers. He says that David Cameron signalled the "death knell" for moderate Tories by ending the frontbench careers of ministers such as Kenneth Clarke in the recent reshuffle. In some of his most aggressive comments about his coalition partners, the Liberal Democrat leader said the attorney general,was sacked to allow the Tories to line up with "tyrants" such as Vladimir Putin in opposing the European convention on human rights. The deputy prime minister laughed off ...
Liberal Democrats are introducing a plastic bag charge to help reduce waste and protect the environment. A new report published today by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) shows that 8.3 billion plastic bags were used last years by shoppers at UK supermarkets. Figures show that the use of plastic bags increased by 3.2% last year, compared to 2012. Commenting on today's report, Baroness Kate Parminter, co-chair of the Lib Dem Defra Parliamentary Party Committee said: "What these figures show is that there is still a huge number of these single-use plastic bags being needlessly wasted across the UK. ...
Thanks to Alex Harding-Last on Twitter.
This is an extract from Michael Cockerell's 1995 documentary about the operation of the party whips at Westminster. You can watch the whole thing on Youtube. The ingenuous Tim Fortescue, who was a Conservative whip between 1970 and 1973 (when Ted Heath was prime minister) explains how the system works - or at least worked in those days. It may surprise my younger readers to learn that he sat for a Liverpool constituency.
Just quick links tonight, I'm tired. Peter Watts corrects some popularisations of an interesting piece of neuroscience research The security vs liberty fallacy of #DRIP Tim O'Neill's Devil's Dictionary 2.0 Has DC done something stupid today? And a series of posts about the character of Enoch Root, speculating about what his real role is (some [...]
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Fri 18th
00:37
Knowing the unstable political tension in Ukraine (the caveat of course, if it was not a mechanical ...
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Gateshead Council abandoned the Civic Centre today to meet instead at Gibside, the National Trust property in my ward which was once the home of the Bowes-Lyon family. Gibside is now a major visitor attraction in the North East. Though Gibside Hall is a shell, the early Georgian gardens are still there. The walled garden in particular is worth visiting. It had, until last year, been used as a
