The congress of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) this week brought 600 delegates to Lisbon to discuss Reclaiming Liberalism. Though it was the first such gathering since May's European elections, not too much time was spent looking backwards but rather forwards, as to how we can hone our message on the [...]
Today saw a great launch to the 2014 West End Christmas Fortnight! Here's some highlights from the day : Children's Lantern Making event at Blackness Library - hugely well-attended and many thanks to Lisa Earl of Create ... Kids Creative Craft Workshops, Sharon Dickie of the West End Christmas Committee, and Natalie Mackland, our West End Communities Officer. Sharon has also uploaded some other photos on the West End Christmas Fortnight page : Busy event! And thanks to the Royal Bank of Scotland for not only sponsoring - their staff helped out today! Vintage motor cavalcade in the West End, ...
When the text came from Ros that I had been successful in both Party elections I had stood in, I will confess to a degree of astonishment. After all, I am not a 'party celebrity', or a holder of high-profile positions, I am someone who happily works in backroom functions for the most part. But, to be elected to the International Relations Committee and re-elected to the Party's delegation to the ALDE Party Council is a tremendous honour and privilege. I should therefore thank all of those who were generous enough to grant me their support, be it a first ...
[IMG: Lib Dems winning here] Here's the full list of selection contests in the coming month available for Lib Dems on the approved parliamentary candidates' list, together with the closing date for applications. The following seats have selections in progress and are currently advertising for candidates: Esher and Walton, 23rd November Havant, 24th November Keighley, 25th November Shipley, 25th November Beverley and Holderness, 28th November Bolton North East, 28th November Bolton South East, 28th November Bolton West, 28th November Croydon South, 28th November High Peak, 28th November Halton, 28th November Leeds West, 28th November Leigh, 28th November Meon Valley, 28th ...
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30153020 [IMG: img_50f864b560bcb_svg] The BBC carries the story but frankly this had been on the cards for a while. Stags supporters have been very unhappy about performances in recent times. But hey a win today! Not been able to say that for a long time.
This is one of the great entries in Ellwood & Atfield's Political Cartoon of the Year 2014: [IMG: Osborne warns EU - cartoon] You've got until midnight on 1 December to enjoy all the shortlisted entries and to vote for your favourite.
"Flag-lowering, parade-stopping, gay marriage supporting, pro-water charging, holier than thou Alliance Party". Was the recommendation that Peter Robinson made of the Alliance Party in his speech this afternoon, so let me take those epithets that raised raucous applause from the small minded, one directioned, homophobic, financially irresponsible, holier than God himself DUP delgates found so humourous and look at them one by one. Flag lowering: Whilst this relates to Belfast City Council, for Derry City Council and many of the councils to the West of the Bann the Alliance Party policy on flying the Union Flag on designated days is ...
Should Cornwall Council ask people to pay an additional 6% Council tax? The Council can only do this if the people of Cornwall say 'yes' when the question, "Do you agree to pay an additional 6% on your Council tax, 'yes' or 'no' " is asked. The further complication is that the Council cannot ask the question until May, after all the bills for the higher amount have gone out. As the Council would have set the budget based on the higher charge, the bills would go out at the higher level so if the people of Cornwall voted 'no' ...
It was in the first of the Leaders' Debates before the 2010 general election that Nick Clegg's reputation reached heroic proportions and "I'm backing Nick" became a catchphrase. The issue which made me proudest of Nick's performance was his brave defence of the Liberal Democrat policy to grant an amnesty to long term migrants in Britain illegally. This was by no means a general amnesty: to be eligible for recognition as legally here the migrants had to have been in Britain for a minimum of ten years, had a job, paid taxes and have no criminal record. The policy was ...
[IMG: british future immigration] This week saw the publication of an important report from the think-tank British Future called 'How to talk about immigration'. Its central thrust is that the majority of the British public's views about immigration are more moderate, pragmatic and nuanced than the polarising debate often allows: How to talk about immigration challenges both the pro and anti-migration voices to respond to the public's desire for a sensible conversation about immigration. It highlights pro-migration liberals' tendency to dismiss public concerns as simply based on misconceptions and myths, or to try to 'change the subject' away from immigration ...
Having lost two safe Tory seats to UKIP and facing the prospect of more of his MPs going over to the dark side and joining Nigel Farage, you would think that David Cameron would be under pressure. He is, but it seems that Labour have once more galloped to the rescue with a display of ineptitude hitherto unseen in an opposition party this close to a General Election. As the Telegraph reports, Labouir MPs are queuing up to criticise their leader as out-of-touch after his hamfisted handling of Emily Thornberry's resignation. Hazel Blears, a former Labour Communities Secretary, has told ...
Sat 22nd
11:39
What's happening in Cornwall looks like a political scandal that should be all over the national med...
[IMG: Alex Folkes] News from Cornwall is quite remarkable. The council's Chief Executive is demanding that a councillor resign from the council. Not that they quit a council post but that they resign from public office, and that's despite not presenting details to the councillor or the public to back up their demands they quit other than 'trust me, I know best'. Imagine if the head of the civil service was to demand an MP resign their seat, and moreover without being willing to offer the evidence as to why. It would be a highly controversial news story. But because ...
[IMG: members forum wordle] LibDemVoice has two parallel sites. The first is our public blog, the thing you're reading now. The second is our private members' forum, which only current Lib Dem members can access. If you're a member and want to chat with fellow party members about any issue that's on your mind, then why not sign up? In addition, you'll be included in our regular surveys' of party members' views. Here's some of the most active discussions this past 7 days: Did David Ward go too far this time?; Failure to put up candidates; Pubs campaigning; 5% – ...
#453034628 / gettyimages.com We hear the US Republicans squealing about Obama acting like a monarch with his executive order signings. But notable Republican presidents such as Ronald Reagan and George W Bush issued far more executive orders than Obama has done. Here are the numbers from Wikipedia. President/total EOs Ronald Reagan 381 George W Bush 291 Richard Nixon 346 Dwight Eisenhower 484 Barack Obama 194 Ah but Barack Obama has still got a while left in office, I hear you cry. Well, FiveThirtyEight have done an executive orders per year rate graphic which is equally stark: President/EOs per year Reagan ...
[IMG: Nikolaj Lie Kass in Kandidaten] Kandidaten, the 2008 thriller featuring a lawyer investigating the death of his father, has many of the standard elements of the Norodic Noir wave that has been so popular in the Britain in the last few years. Handsome lead? Check. High quality acting? Check. Very few special effects? Check. Low key but atmospheric music? Check. Subtitles? Check. [IMG: Kandidaten - DVD box cover] Where it goes off piste is the massively implausible plot. The central idea is a decent, if unoriginal one, but the story relies on a series of coincidences that make the ...
Sat 22nd
10:12
The Lib Dems performance in the Rochester & Strood by-election doesn't mean what the media think...
[IMG: Lib Dem winning here] Although the political media space was too filled with Emily Thornberry's tweet diverting attention from another UKIP victory via a defecting Tory by-election, there was, as ever, some room left for a bit of Lib Dem bashing. The Indy ran a story with the headline, "Rochester by-election: The Lib Dems knew they would suffer by entering into coalition, but no one imagined it would be this bad." Uh, actually most of us did. Unless you are extrapolating the result in Rochester & Strood to signify the Lib Dem vote share nationwide. Then, I guess I ...
Sat 22nd
10:00
Classic songs one takes for granted, but which are worth listening to with new ears #1/3
#494744587 / gettyimages.com Jo Whiley. Just hearing her name drives me mad for some reason. Hearing her breathless voice is like finger nails down a blackboard for me. Excruciating. I don't know why. I'm sure she's a very nice and talented woman. But last night on Radio Two she span a disk, or clicked an MP3, which she has probably played a thousand times before. It is probably playing somewhere in the world at all times. "Midnight train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips. But it just happened to hit Chez Burbles at the opportune moment, as we ...
With worrying pointers that Bootle Labour-run Sefton Council is looking to run down this unique facility in Southport opposition Lib Dem Councillors have swung into action to help save it from the axe. [IMG: 1007178] The two links below tell the story and lead you to a petition:-
Ken Clarke lets rip at David Cameron's EU reform plans (tags: ) Women 'belittled, underappreciated and underpaid in tech industry', Guardian readers say (tags: ) The Worst "Crisis Pregnancy Centre" in Britain - A Special Investigation (tags: ) Why Ukip's rivals are fighting the wrong battle - excellent article I would also say the graphs show why UKIP get votes from the tories (graph one) and labour (graph two) (tags: ) Brodettes girls team to play at Twickenham - this is AWESOME news! (tags: ) RFU urged to start girls' tournament in NatWest Schools Cup in 2015 in wake of ...
Sat 22nd
08:55Boris Johnson turns tax dodger; will he apply the same standards to me as he does to himself?
[IMG: Boris Johnson. Image via - some rights reserved] The Evening Standard reports: Boris Johnson has revealed that he is refusing to pay a hefty tax bill being demanded by the US authorities. The Mayor of London made the admission during a discussion relating to his tax arrangements in the US. Mr Johnson said that his is refusing to pay a tax demand issued by the US authorities - despite criticising the US embassy in London over its failure to pay the congestion charge... Asked by interviewer Susan Page whether or not he would pay the demand for capital ...
[IMG: ALDC Master Logo (for screen)] Three principal council by-elections were fought yesterday alongside the Parliamentary contest in Rochester & Strood. In Stockport, the Conservatives held on to their seat in Bramhall South & Woodford despite a hard-fought campaign by the Liberal Democrat team. Polling day saw many volunteers from across the Greater Manchester area descend on the Stockport MB ward in an attempt to clinch victory from the Conservatives. However the Conservative candidate polled 53.2% to secure victory by 578 votes. Liberal Democrat candidate Jeremy Meal managed to increase the party's vote share by 5.3% from the ward's previous ...
West End Christmas Fortnight will be launched this morning with a super Children's Lantern Making event at Blackness Library, starting at 10am. At 1pm, there will be a vintage motor cavalcade in the West End shopping areas, in conjunction with Dundee Museum of Transport. Kindly sponsored by Barnetts Motor Group, the cavalcade of vintage vehicles will proceed along Perth Road, Nethergate, West Port and Blackness Road. Also : * Dundee West Church's Christmas Coffee Morning takes place in the church - 10am to 12 noon - enter from 132 Perth Road. * Carols from the staff and service users from ...
Last month I mentioned that, following the walkabout round the Pentland area with council officers, I had reported paint vandalism to a utility box at Colinton Place/Saggar Street to British Telecom - see right. I am pleased to now report that BT has confirmed it will have this issue resolved.
Congratulations to Jon Featonby, who continues to lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 11, having amassed a whopping 675 points. Not far behind is George Murray (663), then Sam Bowman (659). A bit of a gap has opened up between the top three and the chasing pack: fourth-placed Andrew Wiseman is 34 points back. However, just 69 points separates the top whole of the top 10, a gap that can easily be closed. After all, where we work we win, right? For information only, the bottom placed team has 205 points, dangerously close to a lost deposit. [IMG: ...
Yesterday's announcement by the UK Government regarding the Valleys train line electrification and the devolution of the Wales and Borders rail franchise is a landmark as it means decisions on Welsh train services will now be made in Wales. The fact that this power closer to the people of Wales shows just how strong the Liberal Democrat influence is in the Wales Office. Until now, the Governments at either end of the M4 have been able to pass the buck between them over who is to blame when things go wrong. Now we will know absolutely where responsibility lies for ...
ITV News quotes Eluned Parrott AM, the Welsh Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson, on today's decision to hand control of the Wales and borders rail franchise to the Welsh Government: "Today's announcement is a landmark as it means decisions on Welsh train services will now be made in Wales. The fact that this power closer to the people of Wales shows just how strong the Liberal Democrat influence is in the Wales Office. "Until now, the Governments at either end of the M4 have been able to pass the buck between them over who is to blame when things go wrong. ...
