For some time face to face surgeries have seen far fewer people attending. Cllr Rosie Shimell and I have offered home visits, phone calls and mobile surgeries. The next logical step is eSurgeries. If you'd like to see me for a face to face chat but over a Skype video call then please just get in touch and we will make it happen. My Skype username is CllrJamesBarber. Most evening I;ll be logging in but for a definitely appointment ping me an email or text. james.barber@southwark.gov.uk 07900 227366
Here are the five posts on this blog that recorded the most hits between July and September 2014: Uncertain terrain: Issues and challenges facing housing associations (11th May 2013) Developments in the ongoing Bedroom Tax saga (6th Sept) Why is Owen Jones so annoying? (4th July 2013) The miraculous power of welfare reform (11th Aug) The value of planning (30th Aug) This quarter feels a bit like deja vu all over again. Two of the top five posts this quarter were published last year. Not only did they both feature in my top ten posts of 2013, but they also ...
A trio of articles today from three Conservative-supporting commentators highlights why the party, despite woeful opposition from Labour, still looks likely to lose (or, at the very least, fail to win) the next election... Janan Ganesh (FT) argues the Tory right's certainty, their inability to accept any compromise, makes then unmanageable (and, whisper it, a bit un-British): What makes the Tories the most consistently unmanageable major party in the western world are not the views of its rebels, which are neither base nor unusual, but the certainty with which they hold them. They believe there is one Truth, which is ...
I have read two good articles today on the problems facing David Cameron and the Conservatives. Alex Massie writes about how David Cameron has lost his way: What is David Cameron for? What kind of party, what kind of government, does he want to lead? If he knows, he's done a grand job keeping his thoughts to himself. And yet there were once ideas. There was compassionate conservatism and the Big Society. There was the Global Race. Nor were these necessarily contradictory. A reformed, retooled, Britain is necessary to leave Britain better placed to thrive in the years ahead; that ...
A couple of days after I wrote my post on Brond, another clip from series appeared on Youtube. Not only that, it contains the dialogue about the Scottish soldier that I quoted. There are also some photos of John Hannah in the drama to be found on a fan site.
Thursday I have never been a great lover of school dinners - I date the beginning of my long career in public service to my time on the Escape Committee at prep school - so when I heard about Clegg's new policy I was less than impressed. I am, however, at a loss to know how to intervene as the man simply won't listen to me on the subject. Still pondering, I take myself off to give the prizes at the annual Well-Behaved Orphans' quiz. There are no shocks and the bookies' favourite - a bright little nine-year-old - wins ...
The Leicester Mercury wins Headline of the Day by a distance.
On Church & State vol 1
Tue 30th
20:40
Julian Huppert writes to Theresa May over Snoopers' Charter allegation: "I would expect you to issue...
[IMG: Julian Huppert MP] Remember when the Tories were, briefly, a party which stuck up for individuals' privacy? It happened, honestly – when they were in opposition. But now, in government, home secretary Theresa May is happy to push the traditional authoritarian measures beloved by Tories and Labour alike. And so it was, again, today that she pushed forward the Snoopers' Charter (aka the little-loved Data Communications Bill), noting, accurately, that it would already be law if it weren't for those pesky Lib Dems. Fair enough: it's an honest argument. Lib Dems believe in civil liberties, Tories tend not to. ...
Federal Conference is probably the best fun that you will ever have in your life. You will thoroughly enjoy every exhausting moment. If you're new, it can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to the sensory overload. I had a long break from going to them and when I returned, three years ago, I spent the first day wandering round like a child in a toy shop. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd throw together a fairly random list of tips and hints for getting the best out of the annual cornucopia of Liberal Democracy. If ...
Since Bootle Labour Party took control of Sefton Council (backed up by seemingly powerless Labour members from elsewhere in the Borough) their need to control just about everything has become more and more evident, indeed it seems to go to ludicrous extremes. Take last Thursday's Sefton Council meeting. There were 3 motions about health issues; all 3 should have gone through with all-party support but one was picked over and lambasted by Labour simply because it was from a Southport non-Labour councillor, or so it seems. The motion all the fuss was about concerned dementia and had been put forward ...
A group of residents who are concerned about the growing problem of Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) have asked me to assist in launching a campaign to bring it under control. The following photographs are of Morden Road, the River Cole in Stechford and the River Cole near Larch Walk. A lot of the banks of the River Cole in Stechford are being taken over by Knotweed. The council have sprayed a
So, the road to the FA Cup proper is a little clearer now, after yesterday's draw at Wembley. And, it's a game with a bit of spice. Last season, after the miracle that was the last game of the regular league season, when not only did Thurrock have to lose against Tilbury but Needham Market had to overturn a sizeable goal difference disadvantage against Chatham Town and both happened (the Marketmen won 7-1!), the play-off semi-final saw Needham Market travel to Witham Town. Witham won 1-0 with an 88th minute winner, helped in part by the presence on the pitch ...
Blindhole and Market Street will be closed from October 20 to November 7 while South West Water carries out repairs. Carboth Lane will be shut from October 13 to 17. If you have any questions or concerns please call 0844 3462020.
[IMG: Liverpool] Memoirs or biographies of local government figures are very rare in British politics which, when added to the paucity of media coverage about them, means that most of their goings on disappear from the political and historical record as people's memories fade. Even when the politics of a council attracts much media publicity – such as Liverpool in the days of Militant – what gets known is often only a small slice of the full range of events. That is why books such as Eddie Clein's, taking a tour via anecdote, amusing story and occasional serious politics, through ...
Paddy Ashdown has been writing in the Times about the need to get Russia onside in the fight against Islamic State. Russia has so far been excluded from our coalition that is fighting Islamic State (Isis). Why? It has a dog in this fight, too — arguably a much bigger one than we have. Sunni jihadism is roaring away in the Russian Islamic republics of Dagestan and Chechnya, almost as much as in Iraq and Syria. We in Europe may be concerned about jihadis returning from the battlefield. But Russia is one of the battlefields. Washington friends tell me that ...
Sky News covered the issue of revenge porn.One of the most prominent campaigners for a change in the law is our own Hannah Thompson. At 7:17 this morning, she found herself sitting on the sofa talking to Eamonn Holmes about her experience. Her advice to anyone else who had been abused in this way? To realise it's not their fault. She talked about how the whole experience had affected her self-confidence and how she had kept what had happened to herself for 6 months until she had the confidence to speak out. Watch the whole thing here. We would embed ...
I love party conferences. Everybody is so over-the-top that reality and real life gets forgotten for a few days. Well at least as far as the attendees are concerned. This applies most to Ministers and full-time politicians as is evidenced by Theresa May's repeat gung-ho performance and her misrepresentation of the Liberal Democrats position on the communications data bill. The Guardian has the rebuttal: The Lib Dems have accused Theresa May of peddling "misinformation" about their opposition to the communications data bill. This is from a party spokesman. We utterly reject the allegation that the blocking of the communications data ...
Followers of my twitter feed will have noticed a discussion between the local Labour candidate and myself about the way in which she was rehousing people living in Sandwell in Birmingham so that they could claim more benefits. Specifically to claim more council tax benefit. This was based upon a speech that she gave on the subject of Children and Families with no recourse to public funds at a
11 years after the American led invasion of Iraq the Chilcot Inquiry has not been published. The Inquiry was established to learn lessons from the 2003 invasion and the bloody aftermath. They were to look at the way decisions were made and actions taken. Amongst the questions we can reasonably expect to be explored are; how clearly were the war aims agreed, what was the exit planning like, how effective were the various phases of the war, was there mission creep etc. In addition have we a policy towards the Kurds? The Kurds appear to be the one coherent group ...
[IMG: Folkestone Banksy (From a Folkestone artwork by Banksy www.banksy.co.uk)] until November 2nd - Folkestone Triennial, various locations until May 8th 2015 - Your Country Calls exhibition, Folkestone Town Hall, Guildhall Street Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th - Model Railway Exhibition, Leas Cliff Hall, The Leas Saturday 4th - THE BLACK MARKET III. (from USA) live at The Chambers, Cheriton Place Saturday 4th - Out of Town DJ's at Googies, Rendezvous Street Saturday 4th - Sandgate Farmers Market, Chichester Hall Sandgate High Street, Sandgate Tuesday 7th - Supper Club, Follies, Sandgate Road Sunday 12th - Folkestone Farmers, Food & Craft ...
As the 'housing crisis' debates continue and all political parties table motions to attract voters for the 2015 elections, we in Hackney Downs feel it's time to raise our campaign which is in support of social housing in London. Our bold online petition is calling for London Local Authorities and Chief Executives to publicly declare their non-attendance and to actively refrain from selling our public land for housing at the property fair in October 2014 and thereafter. The host boroughs have already done so and it is time the remaining boroughs follow. The MIPIM event takes place over four days ...
So the Tories want to change the law so that fracking companies can tunnel under your house whenever they want without you being able to do a thing about it. Much of the argument in favour of fracking relies on the apparently profitable experience of the United States, together with concerted and persistent attempts to rubbish reports about contamination, earthquakes and so on. A publication by IDDRI, the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, "Unconventional wisdom: economic analysisof US shale gas and implications for the EU" suggests that the benefits of fracking to the USA are not as large ...
Hedges which grow to the point where they take up most of the width of the pavement (or less in the case of narrow sections of pavement) are annoying to pedestrians and potentially dangerous. Most obviously they cause a hazard for those with poor sight, but those with buggies or in wheelchairs can be forced off the pavement and into the road to avoid the hedge. Getting such a hedge cut back can take time. First the owners are asked. Hopefully at this point they get it done. But some don't and if they don't, after a reasonable period of ...
The following meetings have been scheduled for October. Unless stated otherwise the meetings will be at Arms Evertyne House, starting at 6:30 pm 7th October Allotments Committee 9th October Assets Committee 16th October Community Grants Committee 23rd October Planning & Development Committee 30th October Staff Committee * * All meetings are open to the public, except at * where the agenda is likely to be under " Part 2 " as relating to staff matters In addition there is a meeting of the Policy Working Group on 28th October ,but as a working group it is not open to the ...
-Follow and keep in touch!In America the political website Breitbart tends to back Tea Party candidates. In the UK they have been going for UKIP. It turns out that the UKIP are indeed the UK's Tea Party, with senior members even registering the name. Since launching in London, the website Breitbart London, a website I [...]
As you may know, Stockport Council is working on a development for the Bridgefield site (the area between Prince's Street and the motorway in the town centre) centred around a new multiplex cinema. This gives an idea as to what it's going to look like (click on a picture for a closer look). [IMG: Bridgefield view] [IMG: Bridgefield view] [IMG: Bridgefield view] [IMG: Bridgefield view] [IMG: Bridgefield view] [IMG: Bridgefield view] [IMG: Bridgefield view] [IMG: Bridgefield view]
Welfare reform is an incredibly important discussion and one that we, as Liberal Democrats, must keep re-visiting to ensure we're upholding those core principles we hold closest to our hearts. The Liberal Democrats are the only party that offered a home to champion the values of promoting a level playing field and protecting the most vulnerable, ensuring they fulfil their potential through equality of opportunities. After all, these are central tenets of a civilised society fit for the 21st Century. I am proud that our party has largely blunted the blade with which the Tories had brandished to slice our ...
Which UK political party do you side with? I found a very interesting quiz today that asks you questions and determines your political stance against the political parties various policies or pronouncements. You can drill down deeper and see where you share or differ in opinion to each party. It has helped me somewhat to underline my own discomfort with the Liberal Democrats (nationally), and my own decision to leave them earlier this month, making me an Independent on my local council. Looking at the comparison scores below, I guess at the General Election I would be the typical floating ...
Tue 30th
12:27Tory welfare plans are anathema to Liberal Democrats. We should not miss any opportunity to condemn ...
I suspect most Liberal Democrats will have what we in Scotland call "the dry boak"when they watched Iain Duncan Smith and George Osborne outlining plans to impose even more cuts on those people who can least afford to take the hit. A two year freeze for those who have least, including those who are working. Restricting benefits for young people. The benefits cap was a bad idea in the first place, but reducing it further is really wrong. But by far the most egregious of the measures announced yesterday was Iain Duncan Smith's plan to introduce benefit cards instead of ...
[IMG: Credit card] Continuing my series of guests posts from candidates for Liberal Democrat President, today it's Daisy Cooper talking about one of her priorities. Daisy Cooper: Inspire donors to scale up support To inspire donors, too often the only people that the party draws on are our MPs and aspiring PPCs - whether it's for the leader's reception guest list, or providing the 'window dressing' for the leaders speech at conference. But our party includes many fine campaigners - from Liberal Youth members starting up University societies and running human rights campaigns (such as "Bears for Belarus"), or councillors ...
We will go on restraining public sector pay.It was just one line in George Osborne's speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham yesterday, and it may have gone unnoticed by many out in the country, assuming that they were even paying attention to the speech itself. But, for public sector workers, it will have caused alarm and dismay in equal measure. Years of pay freezes, or 1% paybill increases, and tens of thousands of job losses, combined with sizeable increases in contributions for smaller retirement pensions have seen earnings fall dramatically in real terms. An Executive Officer working for ...
-Follow and keep in touch!The Conservatives are undergoing a torrid few days, as their pre-election conference is overshadowed by the defections of MP Mark Reckless, and former London Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes. It was thought they were coping with coalition, but the defections imply something different. It's not been a great conference season for the [...]
ALDC is pleased to announce that it has now published its' Election Law Handbook, fourth edition 2014! It's eight years since it was last updated, so there's a fair amount of election law changes now included and it's a must for all those candidates, agents and activists running elections in 2015!! Written again by Dr [...]
[IMG: Telegraph] Man, am I ever hungover. I sit in a hotel room in Birmingham feeling like I got into an ill-advised scrap with a giant. It is, of course, entirely my fault; I was seduced by that great Tory conference temptation, free champagne. And there is a whole day and a half of conference still left to go. I may be attending Lib Dem conference in Glasgow in a wheelchair. Yesterday afternoon, I was headed back to my hotel room to drop some things off when I ran into a friend of mine who writes for the Telegraph. We ...
It is rare that you get a job in politics that covers all your major interests outside politics. As Lib Dem spokesperson on culture, media and sport I have that [...]
On the eve of conference, a major new book on Liberalism is being published. "Unlocking Liberalism: Life after the Coalition" is a book of essays exploring what Liberalism should mean today, and how it can be taken forward after the 2015 General Election. With a foreword by Charles Kennedy, the book starts with a masterly essay on the philosophy of Liberalism by Dr Nigel Dower of Aberdeen University, a lifelong Liberal who is a past president of the International Development Ethics Association. This is followed by contributions from David Steel and Graham Watson, who examine Scotland and Britain after the ...
The Scottish referendum was supposed to change everything. It was supposed to have created a constitutional crisis that Westminster politicians could not ignore. Well, the Labour and Conservative party conferences have been doing their very best to resurrect a different narrative, with a rapid return to the usual political nonsense. But before long the House of Commons will have to consider further devolution to Scotland, which will bring matters back into focus. It is still worth thinking about the practical issues of devolution. And the biggest issue that needs clearer thinking is tax. Politics is not just about creating, changing ...
With the new MyCllr changes put into place yesterday, we are now in the process of reviewing the transition and ensuring that the changeover continues to proceed as smoothly as possible. In addition to last week's article on how site users can help with this process, ALDC have published four new FAQs to help members [...]
[IMG: David Laws. Photo courtesy of - some rights reserved] Caron Lindsay's piece on Scotland in the special edition of the Journal of Liberal History to mark the 25th anniversary of the Liberal Democrats reminded me of David Laws's seven rules for negotiations in a hung Parliament. Laws set out those seven rules in 2009, looking back on his experience of being involved in the negotiations when the Scottish Parliament was hung. A mere few months later, he was heavily involved in negotiating in another hung Parliament following the May 2010 general election. Given how that has since turned ...
The famous Gold Rush in California in the 1850s was a bitterly disappointing and brutalising experience for many of those taking part. But for a few, it meant a fortune. One of those, carrying his gold home with him on a ship that foundered in the Pacific, became the subject of a cautionary tale by the great Victorian critic John Ruskin a few years later. He described how the passenger, who was carrying 200 pounds of gold with him, was loathe to abandon his hard-won wealth when the ship disappeared beneath the waves. He therefore strapped as much as he ...
Labour outsources digital policy, Tories turn up to finish it (tags: ) Comics and Literacy, part 1: Why Reading Comics Matters You know, I love Neill. I love his art, I love his quietly sense of humour, I love how he engages with his fans (and my daughter is one of his biggest)... But most of all I love him for stuff like this. He really, really wants to use his talent to make the world a better place. that's kind of beautiful. (tags: ) Nigel Farage's wife bars Press from EU junkets meeting UKIP: highlighting the EUc gravy train ...
Sky News have managed to get hold of a Tory briefing document which gives its MPs and media spokespeople the messages they want to emerge from their Conference. It was drawn up in the wake of the Reckless defection and ... Continue reading →
Sky News have managed to get hold of a Tory briefing document which gives its MPs and media spokespeople the messages they want to emerge from their Conference. It was drawn up in the wake of the Reckless defection and Newmark resignation. Things drawn up in haste can often cause more problems than they resolve and this is no exception. Take, for example, the bit where they say that they are not stating red lines in coalition negotiations before, er, stating one: Q. Is policy X a red line for future coalition negotiations? A. We're not going to answer hypothetical ...
It is sad to read that Blackpool Airport may be closing if no buyer is found. I have worked within a stone's throw of the airport and I have met many people who used it. It is twenty years since I worked there but I think I was told that parking was free. This would have been a big bonus to flying from Blackpool but the main benefit to those who use it is that it saves them a drive to Manchester, Liverpool, or further afield. It is a lovely location by the Irish Sea and between Blackpool and Lytham ...
Tue 30th
08:55
Already three out of four Lib Dem President candidates back 'Organiser Programme' idea
[IMG: There's much more to being a great organiser than knowing how to unjam a RISO.] There's much more to being a great organiser than knowing how to unjam a RISO. Well, this is rather good. Last week I blogged about why an 'Organiser Programme' to accompany the existing Liberal Democrat Leadership Programme for Parliamentary candidates is needed: Candidates only get elected in tandem with great organisers and there are far too few new stars coming through. Most (though not all - there are some fabulous exceptions!) of the best election results have been secured by people who learnt their ...
There have always been those who have thought that John Redwood has come down to us from Mars, such is the dryness of his conservatism and his apparent lack of understanding that there are poor and vulnerable amongst us. I had always assumed that he just thought that people should take care of themselves and that, with enough effort, they too could be securely middle-class. A lack of empathy, if you like, but given the nature of his constituency, Wokingham, it was hardly going to cost him his seat. But the revelation that he has warned companies about the perils ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of crane lifting works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in West Marketgait (southbound from Westport roundabout to Nethergate), Dundee. This notice comes into effect on Saturday 4 October 2014 for one night (8pm to 8am) . Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for vehicles will be available via West Marketgait / North Marketgait / East Marketgait / South Marketgait. For further ...
Tue 30th
08:11
Nodding Donkeys in Southport – Well Class 142 Pacers anyway but don't tell John Pugh MP.
This class of Pacer diesel train has been panned for years and they have acquired the derogatory nick name of 'Nodding Donkeys' because of their tendency to move up and down front to back. John Pugh MP has long campaigned against them not least because they are regularly used on the Northern Rail services out of Southport to such places as Wigan, Manchester and Manchester Airport. Readers may recall that John featured in a TV programme about these disliked diesel units a couple of years ago. [IMG: John Pugh MP for Southport] But they are still in use, despite John ...
[IMG: Economy-in-the-UK] Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 735 party members responded – thank you – and we're publishing the full results. "The economy is in a bad way, but is starting to show signs of recovery" That's the view of the current state of the economy, according to 44% of Lib Dem members. One-third of you take a more optimistic outlook – 33% say "the economy is improving and on the way to full recovery". However, ...
The Welsh Government's 25th September statement that it will unilaterally end dedicated Uplands support for farmers during the next CAP period will come as a great disappointment for Wales' hill farmers. Throughout the CAP reform process, I have consistently argued that a dedicated Uplands scheme (formally known as LFA payments) should be retained under the European Union's new ANC definition. The Welsh Government's decision not to do so throughout the 2014 - 2020 Rural Development Programme will substantially reduce Upland farm incomes and will critically weaken the viability of many farm businesses. This is potentially devastating to our Upland sheep ...
It was announced today that the actor Maggie Stables died on Friday night after a long illness. She was not a household name — she was only ever really known for one part — but she was wonderful in that one role. Between 2000 and 2011 she played Dr. Evelyn Smythe, the Sixth Doctor's companion, [...]
