So Liberal Democrat Norman Baker has announced tonight that he is resigning for his post as a Home Office Minister. His announcement in The Independent as to why is not just a broadside into Theresa May's Home Office but also the denouement of the differences between Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives when it comes to policy. He says: "support for 'rational evidence-based policy' was in short supply at the top of her department." And that it was like "walking through mud". It probably came to a head with the report on drug use and punishment last week and comes ahead ...
[IMG: Norman Baker] Norman Baker, appointed Lib Dem home office minister just over a year ago, is to quit his government post and "launch a stinging attack on Theresa May", according to the Independent: Norman Baker, the crime prevention minister, is stepping down after a year of internal battles within the Home Office with his Conservative boss. In a scathing verdict on Ms May's leadership, Mr Baker warned that support for "rational evidence-based policy" was in short supply at the top of her department. The Lib Dem has publicly clashed with Ms May on issues including drugs policy and immigration. ...
[IMG: Norman Baker resigns - TV screenshot] The Independent has the story: Norman Baker, the crime prevention minister, is stepping down after a year of internal battles within the Home Office with his Conservative boss. In a scathing verdict on Ms May's leadership, Mr Baker warned that support for "rational evidence-based policy" was in short supply at the top of her department. The Lib Dem has publicly clashed with Ms May on issues including drugs policy and immigration. He told The Independent yesterday that the experience of working at the Home Office had been like "walking through mud" as he ...
Firstly many thanks to Jennie Rigg for asking internal party committee candidates some excellent, searching questions which will help us all to decide who to vote for, if we haven't decided already! So, my answers are here and you can see many other responses on Jennie's blog. Now for the postscript...... One of the things I was saddest about in not being able to continue in the Presidential race was letting down those who believed in and supported me. My friend Rebecca (who I met when she used to be a producer for the Daily and Sunday Politics) made me ...
Now I am out of the race many of my supporters have been asking me for advice on who they should vote for. Up until now there hasn't been much differentiation coming from the questions being asked, although all credit to Rock the Boat for their excellent questions which resulted in some sharp differentiation between the candidates. I honestly believe that all the candidates, as we would expect, have strengths and weaknesses. As someone said to me after the hustings in Glasgow "it would be good to have a little of all of you!" I know Sal the best, having ...
[IMG: immigration] Here's your starter for three: People sometimes talk about 'net immigration', meaning the difference between the number of people coming to Britain each year to live, and the number leaving Britain to live in another country. What do you think is the current level of net immigration into Britain? If you are not sure, please give your best guess. More than two million a year Between one and two million a year Between 500,000 and one million a year Between 400,000 and 500,000 a year Between 300,000 and 400,000 a year Between 200,000 and 300,000 a year Between ...
Mon 3rd
20:05
Time for Shropshire to come clean on why fly-tipping is growing and the costs of clearing it up are ...
For several years fly-tipping has declined. Now it's rapidly rising. Here in Shropshire, the number of fly-tipping incidents is rising faster than the rest of England. And the cost of clearing up the mess in this county has shot up by a third. Around the country, local authorities dealt with a total of 852,000 incidents [...]
Many thanks to the RSPCA for these top tips for Fireworks night. Fireworks night can be a lot of fun, but for animals, it can be terrifying. Take a look at some of our tips to help your furry friend through the fear. Top tips for cats and dogs 1. Make sure your dog or cat always has somewhere to hide if they want to and have access to this place at all times, e.g. under some furniture or in a cupboard. 2. During firework seasons, walk dogs during daylight hours and keep cats and dogs indoors when fireworks are ...
In an earlier post I've welcomed David Cameron's tenacity in making sure that the Coalition stuck to its promise to reach the target of earmarking 0.7% of GDP for aid to poorer countries. A few weeks ago I was dismayed, to put it mildly, to hear a couple of relatively senior Liberal Democrats say they felt that keeping this pledge was foolish and unnecessary. Their argument seemed to be that the the Department for International Development (DFID) is now awash with cash that it doesn't know what to do with. Well, if that is the case, then DFID needs to ...
[IMG: rocktheboat] Readers may not all be familiar with 'Rock the Boat – Lib Dems against sexual harassment' given our semi-unofficial status within the party. We are not a formal association or SAO and we are mostly organised through networking and a private facebook group. Launched in early 2013 in response to the first Channel 4 allegations about Lord Rennard's behaviour, the group was a response from grassroots members to a fervent desire that the issues raised be thoroughly addressed in the party. It has been a long twenty months since then, with the unfolding stages of the Morrissey Inquiry ...
#457202702 / gettyimages.com Each time I blog about how rents are falling, not rising, in real terms there's a burst of comments from which some common patterns emerge. So I thought it'd be useful to address them in one go: 'But my own personal experience/area is different' Yes, it might be. And so the conclusion is...? Unless you're claiming that everyone and everywhere is like your own experience, that doesn't tell us anything about the overall picture. And remember that if you're saying your area is one side of the national average, then that means there are other areas on ...
Today is a day of mixed feelings for me. First there is the great news that the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and Marriage Equality Ireland have all joined together to launch the 'Yes Equality' campaign ahead of next year's referendum in the Republic of Ireland. But also one of the greats of the time that my team Livingston spent in the Scottish Premier League has actually taken than support of at least this one football fan and thrown it in his face. Marvin ten years ago when Livingston won the CIS Cup Marvin ...
[IMG: Have_I_Got_News_For_You_titlescreen] Coming next, I'll have articles about how water is wet, and an exclusive reveal of just what bears are getting up to in forested areas so I can have equally shocking headlines for you. As you'll probably know, I've been doing my spreadsheet of the gender breakdown of Have I Got News For You guests which paints a pretty bad picture of how women are under-represented on the show, given that they're not 23% of the population. Thanks to someone on Twitter bringing us together, I've now met Stuart of @astronomyblog who's been looking at how women are ...
[IMG: Norman Lamb] In an interview with Public Finance Norman Lamb says that he has his sights on 2018, as the date by which all health and care spending will be pooled in England. He said: I want the approach to evolve rather than having anything imposed. The only imposition is to say that we have got to get budgets pooled locally completely, and I've talked to a lot of people about this and I think we've come up with a neat solution to achieve the pooled budget without a national reorganisation, which nobody wants. The Better Care Fund seems ...
I really don't know where to begin with my utter contempt with the 'tax statements' being sent out, apparently at a cost of £5m. the way it demonises those who receive the welfare budget though..... Is it just a lapse on their part or is there a deliberate ploy here to make people believe that welfare should be scrapped to the very bone as it takes the largest slice of taxation? It is interesting to note, that once a part of the welfare budget 'state pensions' has now been separated from welfare altogether for the purposes of this Goebbels propaganda. ...
[IMG: Baroness Walmsley and Cllr Keith Aspden at Castlegate] I visited York recently to campaign with our council group there, led by Councillor Keith Aspden, on a couple of important local issues. One was the Labour decision to close a multi-agency youth advice centre at Castlegate without putting appropriate alternative provision in place. This very successful centre has helped thousands of young people with issues to do with jobs, housing, benefits, drugs, education courses and a whole lot of other matters, many of them linked together. That's why the multi-agency model is so effective. We were able to highlight how ...
[IMG: Austria] Back in August I wrote about the controversy over SNP councillor Arthur Morrison who lived and worked in Austria, had stopped holding surgeries in his Kirkcaldy East ward, was turning up to very few meetings and yet was continuing in office, drawing the full allowances. Well, no longer: Controversial "invisible" Kirkcaldy councillor Arthur Morrison has handed in his resignation, the Fife Free Press can exclusively reveal. Mr Morrison, SNP councillor for Kirkcaldy East, come under fire in August of this year when the Press discovered that he spent the majority of his time living and working in Austria. ...
Mon 3rd
13:45
Spirited campaigner, wise strategist, persuasive spokesperson, team builder and great motivator - wh...
I first met Daisy Cooper in Portcullis House in December 2012 after we had been elected to the Federal Executive and had been invited, like the first day at school, for tea with the headmaster. The headmaster in this case ... Continue reading →
With six months to the General Election, and at a time of staggering change and progress, as well as unrest in the world, British politics has become trapped in a stifling cycle of smallness, and a pre-occupation with the meaningless and minute. There are only six months to go until the General Election. IS continue their brutal [...]
As some of you know, now I am no longer in the race for Party President I am standing for Federal Policy Committee. I have said more about the changes I would like to see to our policy making process here. But I also believe it is essential that FPC includes members who are prepared to challenge and is not just made up of lawyers and academics! I have a lifetime of working in diverse communities, of experience on the ground of the impact of government policy and a life long commitment to the values we espouse in the preamble ...
I was proud this morning to sign up to the Devo Manc proposals on behalf of Stockport's Leader Cllr Sue Derbyshire. Ten local authorities run by all three parties have agreed to the biggest devolution of powers from Westminster seen for many years – if this goes ahead, Greater Manchester will have more powers than London. [IMG: The ten GM authorities and George Osborne signing up to Devo Manc] The ten GM authorities and George Osborne signing up to Devo Manc As part of the deal, Greater Manchester will get an elected mayor from 2017, but it won't be a ...
First published on Liberal Democrat Voice at ldv.org.uk/43169 It was central to David Cameron's EU bargaining position: the assumption that ultimately Continue reading →
[IMG: clegg merkel] It was central to David Cameron's EU bargaining position: the assumption that ultimately the EU would do everything it could to avoid our exit. It would yield to every request placed upon it because, after all, the UK is important. It is a bargaining position that has been fatally undermined by Angela Merkel as she suggested that the UK has reached a "point of no-return", and that if the UK maintains its pressure on allowing curbs on EU migration she would be prepared to see the UK leave. In other words, the principles of the EU are ...
( answers under the cut ) All answers are presented unedited, as entered by the candidate (mainly due to time). You can find links to other candidates' entries here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
A heads up for everyone in Winnersh that after Christmas work is going to start on putting a proper cycleway on the Reading Road between Showcase Cinema and the crossroads. Mostly this is good news, but it won't be entirely perfect, due to constraints in the road width, which mean that compromises have to be made. The area around Baslow Road/Arbor Lane will have to stay as it is without a cycle lane, in order to be able to keep the right turn lanes in the middle of the road. Cavendish Gardens and Albany Park Drive will not have right ...
[IMG: Strenghten grassroots] Edition #53 of Liberal Democrat Newswire came out last week, looking at the problems with the current Liberal Democrat strategy and how to fix them. You can also read it below, but if you'd like the convenience of getting it direct by email in future, just sign up here. It's free! And if you are already a reader and like it, why not Like my Facebook page to help publicise the newsletter to others? Since #53 came out, the new slogan is creeping out more widely and the ballots for the federal committees were further delayed. [IMG: ...
According to my copy of the Times last week, David Cameron has proposed some pretty hefty tax cuts on the basis that it is a moral duty to cut taxes. Personally, I always worry when I hear the words 'moral' and 'tax' in close proximity, as what happens next may very well not sit comfortably with my personal morals. The problem is, cutting taxes is, in itself, not necessarily desirable. Yes, if the State is doing too much, perhaps, or if it is doing it inefficiently, there may be scope to cut taxes, but if by cutting taxes, you increase ...
As Christopher Nolan's latest film Interstellar is being released so this week on Matter of Facts will be largely given over to posts of me being a fanboy. And I'm sure a fair part of my real life will be devoted to finding a cinema where I can watch it in Hanoi. As he's my favourite [...]
[IMG: Amsterdam red light district by Trey Ratcliff ] On Tuesday, Parliament will debate the Report Stage of the Modern Slavery Bill, and in particular, an amendments that would criminalise the purchase of sex in England and Wales, similar to the one that was passed in Northern Ireland just a couple of weeks ago. It's important that, as Liberal Democrats, we oppose those amendments. When Belinda Brooks-Gordon and I, with the help of too many sex workers to list, put forward a policy motion towards safer sex work at Conference in Glasgow, we did so out of concern that at ...
Wales Online reports that more than 2,000 people in Wales have been on a housing waiting list for more than a decade. Nearly 9,000 people have been waiting for more than five years, the figures suggest Peter Black, Liberal Democrat AM for South Wales West and the party's housing spokesman, responds: "These figures are a stark reminder just how bad the housing shortage is here in Wales. Fifteen years of Welsh Labour in Government has led to literally thousands of people waiting over a decade for a home. It is simply unacceptable that so many people here in Wales have ...
You can now use ordinary plastic bags to line your food recycling caddy, thanks to new mechanical sorting techniques that separate the bags from food waste. This will hopefully make it easier and cleaner to use the kitchen caddies and so encourage more people to do so. At the moment, about a fifth of the waste put in black bins is food that could be recycled. Not only is this bad for the environment, it also costs taxpayers' money - money that could help protect front line services as our central government funding reduces. Further information is available at www.southglos.gov.uk/foodrecycling ...
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell is encouraging people in Fife to be 'Scam Smart'. Sir Menzies is supporting a new awareness campaign which seeks to protect those most at risk of investment fraud. The Financial Conduct Authority has launched the campaign to warn people about investment fraud and how to spot a potential scam. These scams generally involve cold calling and high-pressure sales techniques for products that don't exist such as land-banking schemes, carbon credits and rare earth metals. Retired people looking to make investments are often most at risk. [IMG: Sir Menzies Campbell with the FCA's Head ...
... so single maths, physics and chemistry (plus electronics and general studies for good measure) it was. [IMG: Letter to my parents, March 1980.] To answer all of your other burning questions: I did return the slip to Mr Champion's office "tomorrow without fail". My O level results were 'adequate'. I did go to Wilsthorpe, (not Ilkeston or even Gordonstoun). Maths, physics, chemistry is still a better A level choice in 2014 than double maths and physics. I hope that I've subsequently managed to repay Mr Champion's confidence!
Ballot papers for the party's Presidential election began to arrive with members over the weekend. At the same time, each candidate wrote exclusively for ALDC members to set out their visions for our party and its future. You can read each of the messages by clicking on the links below: Sal Brinton Daisy Cooper Liz [...]
Picture from Left to Right Leo Evans, Wavertree, Pat Moloney, Walton, Paul Childs, Riverside, Paul Twigger, West Derby, Anna Martin, Garston & Halewood accompanied by Cllr Richard Kemp Five energetic campaigners have been chosen to fight for Liverpool in next ... Continue reading →
An undecided voter muses over the Party Presidency... (tags: ) Gay rights 'nonsense' tweet clarified by education department (tags: ) Remember Movember: the science behind the moustache (an oldy but a goody) F'r'instance, tells you why men with not-ginger hair often have ginger beards. (tags: ) Raising Girls - in which @ShappiKhorsandi is made of awesome (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
#501582907 / gettyimages.com A few days ago I went to the Epping Forest Liberal Democrats AGM to be their guest speaker, talking about the party's policy making process ahead of the 2015 general election. [IMG: Speaking at Epping Lib Dems] The great turnout (around 1 in 4 of the local party's members were there), the slowly rising local party membership, local election results which are now headed back in the right direction and the very healthy finances were all interesting to see as local parties such as Epping are crucial to the long-term prospects of the Liberal Democrats. In the ...
Mon 3rd
08:55
East Midlands Regional Conference Report: useful training, policy debates, Presidential hustings and...
I'd thought about going to Liberal Democrat conferences before, but always ended up doing something else on the day. But this time, the East Midlands Regional Conference, which took place on Saturday, was on a date I could do. It seemed worth trying it at least once! It's difficult to know quite what to expect when attending an event as a first timer, or whether it's typical, but the Conference definitely had a significant amount on and a healthy turnout. We opened with training sessions on canvassing, fundraising and being a returning officer, with good content from experienced speakers and ...
Back in July, I reported that residents in Logie Gardens had complained to me about the state of part of the ground on the street's south side adjacent to Pine Court's car park. It was overgrown and unsightly, but there was some doubt as to ownership. After checking ownership records, the City Council was able to advise me that the parcel of overgrown ground was sold to the former Cleghorn Housing Association in 1991. I therefore asked Home Scotland (who took over from Cleghorn some years ago) if the area could be tidied and this has now been carried out ...
Nickie Smith writes – I am afraid I think the time is now right for me to withdraw from leading the [Maghull & District] Youth Council and the [Youth] Coffee Bar. I have been involved with the Youth Council for the last 25 years since I was 11 and with the Youth Coffee Bar since the start! In fact I was one of the members who approached the council with the suggestion of the Coffee Bar. Recent years have been very trying fighting for the Coffee Bar and the support that was once there seems very lacking these days. Now ...
[IMG: rsz_photo1038] I attended the AGM and parliamentary candidate selections of Liverpool Lib Dems recently and the troops seemed to be in rude health considering the electoral difficulties they have suffered in recent years.
I was one of those young-ish activist types who took part in the extremely unofficial talks held between the Young Liberals, Liberal Ecology Group and the Green Party in the late 1980s to see if there was any basis for a re-merger. In practice, what actually happened was that the Green Party abandoned the talks in response to their spectacular result in the 1989 Euro-elections, and - as it turned out - the Liberal Party merged with the SDP. That probably was all for the best. We have gone our separate ways as parties in the last decade and a ...
Stockport's 10th anniversary Fairtrade Fair at Stockport College, Saturday 15th November 2014 from 10.30am to 4pm. Always worth a visit!
Statistics released last week showing the rising number of treatment agency admissions for drug poisoning shows the current 'war on drugs' is not working. In 2013-14, there was a 10.1% increase in the number of working-age adults (25-49 years old) being admitted to treatment agencies for drug-related conditions. In Wales, there were 2,886 admissions with diagnosis of poisoning with named illicit drugs in any position (i.e. any drug related condition noted) in 2013-14, of which 62.7% were males. Full statistics at: These statistics came as a study published by the Home Office admits that the severity of criminal sanctions ...
( answers under the cut ) All answers are presented unedited, as entered by the candidate (mainly due to time). You can find links to other candidates' entries here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
( answers under the cut ) All answers are presented unedited, as entered by the candidate (mainly due to time). You can find links to other candidates' entries here [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Hertfordshire Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey), has lambasted the ruling Conservatives at County Hall for proposing bus cuts when council papers just released now show the savings have already been made. On 16th July the County Council put forward a public consultation saying that "the county council is committed to saving at least £700k from [...]
