( 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
( 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
( 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
The nights are drawing in, and so it's that time of year when a young man's thoughts naturally turn to making a list of Hugo nominations. Sadly, this year I don't know what to nominate. I'll be putting Philip Purser-Hallard's The Pendragon Protocol at the top of the Best Novel ballot, (and probably also nominating [...]
In truth his first appearance, also in Heartbeat, was as an extra two years before this. But here he is in 2000. The music at the start is Morning Dew by the Jeff Beck Group from 1968, with Rod Stewart singing.
( 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
You can't have too many ... Television Channels. When I was growing up in the 1970s, we had three – and these didn't start broadcasting until mid-morning, finishing around midnight with the national anthem. My YouView box reports that I have around a hundred or so available and if I felt like disfiguring the side of the house with a satellite dish I know I could view even more. Three channels certainly didn't mean better quality – have a look at the Radio Times archive for the 1960s or 1970s if you don't believe me. Television didn't start to get ...
#1305845 / gettyimages.com A press release from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard tells us: A new study co-authored by Assistant Professor Todd Rogers of Harvard Kennedy School finds that winning elections barely improves the happiness of those affiliated with the winning political party, but that losing reduces self-reported happiness and increases sadness substantially. Rogers, along with coauthors Lamar Pierce of Washington University in St. Louis and Jason Snyder of UCLA, analyzed thousands of daily online survey responses from CivicScience, a market research and data intelligence company, to compare the happiness and sadness reported by those who ...
A fairly short Cheadle Area Committee this evening – just over an hour. The decisions we made were: Money given towards repairing the minibus for Chelwood Foodbank Plus (I think £450) £1000 given to Cheadle Village Partnership towards the £5,670 needed to fund the Cheadle Victorian Christmas Market Day Planning application 56489 (Retetion of woodland/agricultural land for dog care day facility (Muttley Crew Dogs Ltd) at 90 Manchester Road passed onto the Planning & Highways committee (because it's in the greenbelt) with a recommendation to grant. Double yellow lines at the junction of Cranston Grove and Park Road approved Amendment ...
Tue 4th
20:10
Norman Baker "accomplished more in one year ... than most people do in their entire career"
Ian Dunt gets it spectacularly right on politics,co.uk. First on Norman Baker's achievements in his year at the Home Office: Baker accomplished more in one year in the Home Office than most people do in their entire career. Baker went into the Home Office as the Liberal Democrat's man. He performed that task with aplomb, forcing through an international study of drug policy - an investigation long-resisted by the department because it suspected it would show its policy caused harm. ...Baker fought the battle over that report behind the scenes for months. The department refused to publish it. The civil ...
In the heady days of May 2010 there was much chattering about how coalition would work, and who would get what job. This was all new for many the senior figures who were organising it all. On top of that the were coming out of a gruelling election campaign, and coalition negotiations. Not surprisingly everyone was [...]
( 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 smoke filled room comes to mind having read this on the Liverpool Echo web site – see link above. The big question is will Bootle Labour Party, who run Sefton Borough, give in to the demands of Liverpool Labour Party who want to be in the big boys club. Historically Bootle Labour and Liverpool Labour have not got on so there may be some hope; we shall see. Putting power in one person's hands is never a good idea and those that want such power are usually, in my view, the very people who should not be given ...
The Conservatives seem to be taken the collapse of their vote to UKIP in Rochester and Strood quite badly. According to Mail Online's Jason Groves the Tories campaigning in some unlikely settings in Rochester. Tories appear to be campaigning in a graveyard in Chatham (in Rochester + Strood).Looks a bit desperate pic.twitter.com/Bb8biAjard — Jason Groves [...]
Exciting events, festive markets, free parking and late night shopping are just some of the great things on offer in Stockport this Christmas. Celebrations kick off with Merseyway Shopping Centre's Christmas light switch-on event on Wednesday 12th November. The Council will be providing FREE parking from 2.00pm in its pay and display car parks and bays in the town centre. Shoppers can find everything they need for the festive season with a wide variety of high street shops and small independents, both in the town centre and in the district and local centres. Town centre shoppers can hop aboard the ...
Today, I was appointed as Minister of State for Crime Prevention at the Home Office. You can read more about the changes here. I am of course sad to leave the Department of International Development – but I also look forward to returning to the Home Office, with a portfolio that covers tackling violence against women and girls and preventing FGM here in the UK. In my previous role as a junior minister at the Home Office, I led efforts to introduce equal marriage, end the fingerprinting of children and ban wheel clamping on private land. I have already emailed ...
#149564660 / gettyimages.com Back in early September I blogged about the book that most shaped my political views (it's one you've probably never heard of). Both in the comments on that post and elsewhere other people shared the books that had most influenced them, which made for an impressively diverse and interesting set of titles to read about. So here's a related question: which book has most challenged your previous political views, putting them under heavy strain or even changing them?
Today I have resigned as a member of Cornwall Council's cabinet. This is the text of the letter I sent to the Leader, John Pollard: Dear JohnAs you know, I am currently dealing with a personal issue. I am therefore writing to tender my resignation from the cabinet with immediate effect. I would like to say what an honour it has been to be part of Cornwall's cabinet. I believe that we have achieved a huge amount. The new budget is extremely tough but I believe that it is the fairest and best way of addressing the challenge that Cornwall ...
As a recent newcomer to my small, but perfectly formed, village, I have grown to accept that the notion of convenience in terms of facilities is by its nature more relaxed. I can't walk to the bank, or a shop, or indeed anything apart from a postbox in much less than half an hour. Admittedly, the postbox is just thirty yards from our gate... The theory, and one that I broadly accept, is that facilities are to be located in larger villages and small towns, so as to benefit from economies of scale. However, there does come a point where ...
[IMG: IMG_9128] Today the Commons debates amendments to the Modern Slavery Bill which would criminalise the purchase of sex. Sarah Noble argued against this approach yesterday. The party emphatically passed policy which rejected this "Nordic Model" on the basis that all the evidence suggests that this puts sex workers in danger. Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon, who summated on that motion at Conference, debated the issue on Women's Hour on Radio 4 with the amendment's proposer Fiona McTaggart MP. You can listen here from about 20 minutes in. Belinda had with her a letter signed by herself and a number of academics ...
A new planning application has been received within Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 58077 Registration Date: 28/10/2014 Location: 45 Milton Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1PT Proposal: Certficate of lawfulness for proposed addition of a rear dormer to second floor Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
A new planning application has been received within Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 58113 Registration Date: 27/10/2014 Location: 127 Simister Lane, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2SA Proposal: Prior Notification for a proposed single storey extension at rear Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
A new planning application has been received within Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 58102 Registration Date: 28/10/2014 Location: 13 Oaklands Drive, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1LJ Proposal: Single storey and two storey rear extensions Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
A new planning application has been received within Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 58109 Registration Date: 24/10/2014 Location: 42 Ludlow Avenue, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 6TD Proposal: Prior Notification for a single storey extension at rear Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
A new planning application has been received within Holyrood Ward as below: Application Number: 57974 Registration Date: 20/10/2014 Ward Name: Prestwich – Holyrood Location: 10 Roseland Drive, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 2GX Proposal: Single storey rear extension Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require further information or help with this. The details will be on the Council's website here. Tim
I am still trying to get my head around Norman Baker's resignation as a Minister in the Home Office. He says that he resigned after facing a "constant battle" to introduce policies in the face of a Tory "lurch to the right" in pursuit of Ukip voters and likened his experience of working under the home secretary to "walking through mud": Baker told the BBC News channel: "The home secretary was reluctant to let me have my head and it was a constant battle to try to get things through. That is unfortunate not just for the Home Office but ...
Jenny Willott has stepped down as Assistant Government Whip to free herself up to concentrate on her constituency and to be able to speak in the House of Commons. Here are the letters exchanged between Jenny and Nick Clegg in full: Letter from Jenny Willott to the Deputy Prime Minister Dear Nick, As we have previously discussed, I would like to tender my resignation as a Government Whip. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Government, both in the Whips Office and as a Minister in the Departments for Business, Innovation & Skills and Culture, Media and Sport. In the ...
[IMG: Lynne Featherstone on the doorstep] Want to know how to win election campaigns? You can learn from the very best of international experience with a free 10-week email course from myself and Ed Maxfield. Sign up at www.CampaignMasterclass.com and each week you'll receive one lesson by email, helping you become a top election winning campaigner or candidate yourself. It's a great way to make sure you don't fall foul of mistakes such as Five of the most common mistakes that Lib Dem campaigners make. We've helped, advised and run election campaigns across Europe and even further afield - and ...
I suppose I should open this blog post with posting my personal knowledge on drugs. I have never taken them, no politicians answer of 'I had a toke once but I never inhaled' – I have just never done drugs. It has never interested me. So take my views with that knowledge out there. Sensible debate is something that isn't conducive to politics in democracies. It is often about who can shout the loudest and who are are voting against and not for. It is one of the large drawbacks of politics and it saddens me deeply. Listening to opposing ...
Look at this post on Lib Dem Voice. Look at it. It makes me want to weep. Loook! Look at all the lovely lovely power we get! And it only comes with the TINY strings of a total lack of democratic accountability - the mayor that Manchester didn't want, and voted against, will be elected, but it's OK because (s)he'll be totally hamstrung by the appointed committee (s)he's serving on! It's not another tier of government! The combined authority you were paying for anyway is just being dragged into the light, rather than being abolished and turned into an elected ...
I got back from a trip to London yesterday afternoon just in time to milk the goat, collect the eggs from our poultry and get to Gateshead group meeting before going to the Lib Dem Presidential hustings in Newcastle. All three candidates were there: Sal Brinton, Liz Lynne and Daisy Cooper. I have met Sal and Liz in my previous days as a policy officer in HQ. I have met Daisy once before when I
Tue 4th
12:52
++BREAKING: Lynne Featherstone to replace Norman Baker at Home Office, Lindsay Northover to go to DF...
I have to say I'm pretty chuffed with Nick Clegg's announcement that Lynne Featherstone is going back to the Home Office for the final 6 months of this Government. She spent the first two years there and in that time did all the set-up work for the Same Sex Marriage Bill. Since she's been at DFID, she's maintained a good working relationship with the Home Office because she's been implementing a cross-Government plan to tackle FGM that involves them. I hope that she might also be able to dig her Transgender Action Plan out of the long grass where it's ...
Please find the announcement here: Stakeholder update – 10.10.14
This week is national Free School Meals week and Liberal Democrats across the country are promoting one of our key achievements in government, the extension of free school meals to all 5-7 year olds. Please find below some materials to help you promote our policy of free meals for all infants during National Free School [...]
How do you pronounce Shrewsbury? Should it be, as some people maintain, Shrewsbury? Or should it be Shrewsbury? I once sat at the front of the bus into the town from Bishop's Castle and noticed that half the passengers asked for Shrewsbury and half asked for Shrewsbury. So there may be no right answer. The other evening the Chelsea footballer Eden Hazard cut through this debate by calling the town Strawberry. It was a stroke of genius. I really think it is the best thing he has done since he kicked that ballboy at Swansea.
( 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
Tue 4th
12:00
My "It's 8th May 2015″ scenario-question to the Lib Dem party president candidates - Liz Lynne...
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the forthcoming election for the Lib Dem party presidency – the post about to be vacated by Tim Farron – between Sal Brinton, Daisy Cooper and Liz Lynne. Here's the question I said would ask all three of them (my post offers fuller background about why I'm asking it): It's 8th May, 2015. The Lib Dems have lost some MPs but are still a force to be reckoned with in the House of Commons. Nick Clegg announces he will step aside to let a new leader take over. No single party has ...
On Monday morning I was very pleased to be able to sign up to Devo Manc. I was deputising for Stockport's Lib Dem leader Sue Derbyshire, joined in Manchester Town Hall by the leaders of the other nine Greater Manchester authorities along with George Osborne. The Greater Manchester devolution deal came out of months of negotiation with the government, and it gives the city region more devolved powers than anywhere else in England, London included. I was surprised at how much we got. To give one example, I was assured just weeks ago that a regulated bus network for Greater ...
I'm still undecided. I really want to have a candidate with the best bits of all three. Taking them in alphabetical order: Sal Brinton is an extremely capable and experienced campaigner. She's au fait with the LGBT+ stuff and lots of the other internal party groupings, which is a big thing for me. She's got contacts - actually not just contacts, friends - at the highest levels of the party. The main criticism I hear from other people of her is that she might not be physically capable of the job, which I think is ableist - I think we ...
Tue 4th
10:44Norman Baker's advice to his successor: Be firm, be fair, be courteous, promote Lib Dem policies - b...
Norman Baker's departure from Government has been done in a clear, principled and utterly reasonable manner. In an interview with the BBC's Norman Smith shown on the BBC News Channel, he even praised Theresa May as formidable, intelligent and competent, before saying her problem was that she didn't recognise that she was in a Coalition Government. Here are the highlights of the interview: I've ben thinking about this for some time and disused it with the Deputy Prime Minister over Summer. I feel I need a break 4.5 years is a long long time. It's particularly onerous if you're the ...
Stephan Shakespeare, a founder and global CEO of YouGov, has been looking at the details of his firm's polling data: Looking at wider voting considerations - rather than stated voting intentions - suggests the Liberal Democrats have the potential to exceed expectations. He says that because, although his polling puts the party on 7%, that rises to 19% when the question is whether people would definitely or probably vote for the party in future. [IMG: You Gov - Lib Dem polling data] The boost between the normal voting question and the second question is biggest for the Liberal Democrats, leading ...
Continuing this week's theme of Christopher Nolan related posts, Here's a fake trailer imagining his version of Pixar's the IncrediblesFiled under: Uncategorized Tagged: Christopher Nolan, Cinema, Films, Interstellar, movies, the Incredibles
[IMG: mothers pride] Sometimes I still hear the expression "the best thing since sliced bread". This refers to the 1960s revolution in bread production, whose leading brand was Mothers Pride (missing apostrophes were another aspect of 1960s modernity). This was not just a matter of slicing the bread, but the invention of new baking processes that made the bread last longer. What was not to like about the new, modern stuff? It lasted longer and you did not have the hassle of cutting it. Sandwiches and toast became a doddle; the daily trip to the baker was no longer needed. ...
Tue 4th
10:00My "It's 8th May 2015″ scenario-question to the Lib Dem party president candidates - Daisy Coo...
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the forthcoming election for the Lib Dem party presidency – the post about to be vacated by Tim Farron – between Sal Brinton, Daisy Cooper and Liz Lynne. Here's the question I said would ask all three of them (my post offers fuller background about why I'm asking it): It's 8th May, 2015. The Lib Dems have lost some MPs but are still a force to be reckoned with in the House of Commons. Nick Clegg announces he will step aside to let a new leader take over. No single party has ...
It's a tricky job because every film from #7 onwards is excellent. But here's my utterly subjective attempt to rank the master's work. *Light spoilers ahead* #9 The Following (1998) What's the story? An out of work writer seeks inspiration by following strangers. When one of them turns out to be a burglar, things [...]
3 of the 10 most generous cities in the UK are in Yorkshire (tags: ) After stitching up Manchester with fake devolution, govt moves to Leeds on Thursday (tags: ) Quiz: Are you wrong about nearly everything? (I got Life Expectancy & no of pensioners wrong) (tags: ) PHOTOS: Houses of Parliament And Damage To Palace Of Westminster (tags: ) DWP orders man to work without pay for company that let him go ... but they're not letting paid workers go to get free ones from the government, oh no, because that would be BAD... (tags: ) 36 candidates for ...
Last week the Council agreed a major report which transferred control of hundreds of staff and millions of pounds of assets and running costs from a joint venture to the direct control of the council. You would expect that as ... Continue reading →
[IMG: York Minster] ALDC has published a really good write-up by Steve Galloway of how and why Andrew Waller won so spectacularly in the Westfield by-election in York. There are lots of good lessons in there for people fighting elections all over the country. Do go take a read.
We headed out of town, south, past the Hezbollah controlled suburbs. Driving past them on the motorway gave me the same feeling previously felt when going past South American shanty towns, or actually come to think of it a bit like scooting past South-Central Los Angeles in the same fashion. These southern suburbs have been subjected to various kinds of attacks from Sunni extremists over the past couple of years, mostly out of a desire to draw Hezbollah into direct conflict with ISIS, thus initiating the big Sunni-Shia war these types hope for and that the rest of us fear. ...
[IMG: jenny willott] Norman Baker's decision to quit as Lib Dem home office minister — citing significant differences with his boss at the department, the Tories' Theresa May — means a vacancy has opened up. How will Nick Clegg fill it? We're unlikely to have long to wait, but here are what I see as his options... Nick could simply promote a current MP. If he does so, then the obvious choice would be Jenny Willott. She covered Jo Swinson's maternity leave at the business department, earning good reviews along the way. A promotion would be well-merited and would mean ...
I recently highlighted the poor condition of the north end of Strawberrybank's road surface (also used by pedestrians on this very narrow street) - see right. Having raised this on behalf of residents with Dundee City Council, I have been given the following feedback : "The Roads Maintenance Partnership inspector for the area advises that this area will be kept in a safe condition over the winter and grano work will be carried out in the next financial year."
Hamish McRae in the Independent tells the story – see link above – that our political leaders are too frightened tom tell us. This and climate change are our biggest challenges – Don't get side tracked into issues that are nowhere is big as these.
[IMG: key_Norman_Baker] The Guardian has the story – see link above. Only a few days ago a ran a posting about Norman Baker's rational stance on drugs; seems rational is not what you could call Mrs May's Home Office.
Tue 4th
08:00My "It's 8th May 2015″ scenario-question to the Lib Dem party president candidates - Sal Brint...
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the forthcoming election for the Lib Dem party presidency – the post about to be vacated by Tim Farron – between Sal Brinton, Daisy Cooper and Liz Lynne. Here's the question I said would ask all three of them (my post offers fuller background about why I'm asking it): It's 8th May, 2015. The Lib Dems have lost some MPs but are still a force to be reckoned with in the House of Commons. Nick Clegg announces he will step aside to let a new leader take over. No single party has ...
Don't know why this didn't post last night, so here it is a little late. Tonight's post tonight. Jennie Rigg has asked questions of every candidate standing for internal Lib Dem elections. Many have answered them. Voting members should go here to get better informed. What mental disorder do you have? What do you do [...]
I'm a little behind with my reading, what with moving house in the summer and the constant business of navigating the remaining cardboard boxes full of books. So it has taken until now for me to read the edition of Fortune magazine from last month about the progress of General Motors. What I read was so fascinating and seems to me to shed light, not just on the strange business of the Home Office's failure to appoint anyone to head the historic abuse inquiry who can sustain the job for more than a few days, but the mysterious business of ...
The Liberal Democrat Schools Minister David Laws is warned in a BBC interview of the "corrosive impact" of self-interested political meddling in schools policy in England. He seems to be spot on in his analysis. He is calling for an independent body to set the curriculum content and measure whether standards in schools are really improving or declining. The "whims of here-today, gone-tomorrow politicians" should not decide which books pupils study, Mr Laws said. The schools minister is setting out Lib Dem ideas saying parents and teachers would have much greater confidence in an education system with less "political interference". ...
Watch immediately! This is not a drill. I repeat this is not a drill. Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Cinema, Despicable Me, Film, Minions, movies, The Minions
( 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
Norman Baker has quit the Government, blaming Home Secretary Theresa May. It is likely that Jenny Willott will replace him in the Home Office, although a more wide ranging Lib Dem reshuffle to put a woman in the Cabinet is also a possibility. Baker has battle boss Theresa May over drugs law reform Blames Home [...]
Tue 4th
00:43
Rebecca Taylor, From Calder Valley in West Yorks, currently living in Islington; Standing for FPC
( 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
( 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
( 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
