Don't miss it! [IMG: Christnmas in the Park]
Cheadle Area Committee is next Tuesday, 9th December 2014. It starts at 6pm at the Ladybridge Park Residents Club, Edenbridge Road, Cheadle Hulme and, as ever, all residents are welcome. To be discussed at the meeting: Planning application 56291 – 50 seat stadium for Cheadle Heath Sports Club, Norbreck Avenue (note this is for Cheadle Heath, not Cheadle Town). Planning application 56810 – rear extension for 173 Stanley Road, Heald Green – coming to us because the house is in the green belt. Report on proposed polling stations for next year's elections – the one change in our area is ...
So - there we have it! Baroness Sal Brinton will be the next President of the Liberal Democrats, and a fantastic job she'll do. The one thing I love about LibDem internal elections is that generally whoever wins, we all win. Sal has massive experience in the Party, she's a proven campaigner, she's a skilled Parliamentarian, and the important thing for me - her record on LGBT+ issues is incredible. Whilst I supported Daisy, I know that Sal will do a fine job in leading our Party through the General Election and making sure our systems are fit for the ...
"The producer here is John Howard Davies, and he is holding a planning meeting for an episode of 'All Gas and Gaiters'."
The Free Movement blog has been looking at the new Paddington movie: Paddington stows away and deliberately avoids the immigration authorities on arrival. He is in formal legal terms an illegal entrant and as such commits a criminal offence under section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971. It is an offence punishable by up to six months in prison. If or when detected by the authorities it is more likely he would simply be removed back to Peru than that he would be prosecuted, though. To avoid that fate he would need to make out a legal basis to stay. ...
Who Decides? Paul Tyler Arthur H. Stockwell Ltd, 2014, £5.95 This slim volume would be a welcome addition to any Liberal Democrat's Christmas stocking. Now a Liberal Democrat peer, he was Liberal MP for Bodmin between the February and October elections of 1974, and then Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall between 1992 and 2005. It is both Paul Tyler's memoirs and a practical guide to how committees work - and how to get them to do what you want. The insights of the psychologist Edgar Anstey provides the scaffolding for the book, and it is illustrated by Thelwell cartoons. ...
Mon 1st
19:43
How many miles does it take to recycle a light bulb? 17.5 miles if you live in Ludlow. It's not a br...
If you want to know how badly recycling policy is failing here in Shropshire, just take a look at what you have to do in Ludlow to recycle a humble energy efficient light bulb. A Ludlow resident asked a question on this blog today: where can light bulbs be recycled locally? The short answer is [...]
Moldova - EU neighbour, but friend? Yesterday's election in Moldova looks like returning another pro-European coalition to power - good news for those who think that building a bigger, more inclusive Europe, bad for Russia, not great for UKIP supporters and possibly a headache for the European Union. The elections saw allegations of Russian interference - the new Patria party was disqualified three days before polling day amidst accusations, probably well-founded, that the party was funded by Russia. The fact that its leader promptly fled to Moscow might imply guilt, although the OSCE rather wisely raised its concerns that the ...
I was delighted on Tuesday to be elected as chair of the Federal Policy Committee, for the period up until the general election when I will stand down after 32 years as an MP. With the election now only a few months away it will be a busy and exciting time for the committee as we look to finalise the manifesto and the offer we will take to voters on May the 7th. I'm confident the new committee is up to the challenge and I cannot think of a more talented or committed group of people to work with over ...
I got my super new ipad from the Council last Thursday. On Friday it all went horribly wrong. No sign of emails or access to council documents. I had to be in the council this morning for scrutiny committee so I took my new gizmo in to the ICT officers who were a whiz at sorting out the mess I had caused (by using the wrong password). It waits to be seen how long it will be before I mess up the
Our East Coast Main Line Railway is somewhat misnamed since most of it doesn't go anywhere near the coast. Certainly the bit I use, Leeds to London King's Cross and back, doesn't. However, its geographical position is not the cause of the present outrage, or, rather, the lack of any. Like the rest of dear old British Rail it was taken out of public ownership and privatised by the Tories in 1993. Since then two private companies, GNER and National Express, have had to pull out because they couldn't make enough profit, and the running of trains on the route ...
[IMG: rsz_photo1083] Above is the Lydiate flag with its heraldic-type symbols. I thought it about time I got my head around what the symbols actually mean so I approached Parish Council Chairman Dave Russell and his lovely historian wife Pam. Of course they educated me..... The top left is the coat of arms of the Lydiate family who were early Lords of the Manor of Lydiate. Top right is the Anderton Family coat of arms Below it is the Ireland coat of arms The trees and earth represent the Lydiate Wood and the good arable land around it as quoted ...
Mon 1st
17:28
Why I'm always sceptical about "group X could tip the election in Y marginal seats" reports
#113717547 / gettyimages.com My scepticism is based in a very simple bit of chronology. We get lots of 'group X are vital in Y marginal seats' reports. And they nearly all appear before an election. Before. Then when the results are in, silence falls. Because most of them turn out to be vastly over-hyped when put in to the context of all the other things that have determined the election result just seen. They're great for securing uncritical headlines. They're just not so good at telling you what is actually going to happen.
Relations between Jeremy Browne and Nick Clegg have not been happy since the Lib Dem leader removed him from his ministerial post. A few weeks ago he announced he was quitting parliament at the next election. When David Cameron paid tribute to him at a recent PMQs, Jeremy tweeted, a touch plaintively: The Prime Minister just told me that he was sorry I'm standing down. First party leader to say that to me since I announced it. Appreciated. — Jeremy Browne (@JeremyBrowneMP) October 29, 2014 All snark aside, it's all a bit of a sorry ending for Jeremy, who's been ...
Today is World Aids Day and although I am not personally living with HIV I have friends who are. But my day has taken an interesting track today. For a start the letter that I had published in this morning's Belfast Telegraph led to one of my Christian friends in Northern Ireland telling me that they felt they could no longer remain my friend on Facebook and the unfriended me. I sent them the link to my blog post which gave the full version of my original letter to show them that I did not and would not have a ...
The Western Mail reports today on demands by WWF Cymru that the the Welsh Government to legislate for statutory climate targets for Wales. As useful as this may prove to be I am not sure how it will help, especially as many of the powers needed to cut emissions are not devolved to the Assembly. The Welsh Government can actually do quite a lot to meet the target of a 40% cut in emissions, but without UK-wide and international action the impact of their efforts will be limited. Still, it would be nice to give the Future of Generations Bill ...
[IMG: Lib Dem winning here] Lord Ashcroft's latest poll has some interesting findings in regards to Lib Dem marginal seats. First off, let's look at Lib-Con marginals. There's some potentially bad news here, with Nick Harvey predicted by the polling to lose his seat - but only by one point, so with swing-back Sir Nick should probably be fine. Portsmouth South meanwhile sees a whopping nine point swing from the Lib Dem to the Tories, so that looks bleak (although never under-estimate the campaigning nous of one Mr Vernon-Jackson). The rest of the Lib-Con constituencies that Ashcroft polled, nine in ...
When I wrote about the Smith Commission report last week, I was intrigued by its decision not to devolve abortion law to Scotland despite all the parties wanting to do so, Here's a reminder of what I said: One last point: I'd quite like to know the story behind the fudge on abortion and embryology: The parties are strongly of the view to recommend the devolution of abortion and regard it as an anomalous health reservation. They agree that further serious consideration should be given to its devolution and a process should be established immediately to consider the matter further. ...
On Saturday afternoon when every Liberal Democrat on Twitter was pretending not to care whilst refreshing @LibDemPress every 3 seconds to see if we had a result in the Presidential Election, I whiled away the time by asking who they would nominate to be their Liberal Democrats of the Month. It was, frankly, a more constructive use of time than yet another turf war between @LDFriendsofCake and @LibDemBiscuits. Here is what they came up with: Josh Dixon nominated Kavya Kaushik for making it on to the Federal Executive. She resolutely refused to reciprocate, but I think they are both fabulous ...
As George Osborne rises to speak in the House of Commons this afternoon, I am sure that he will be feeling a little rueful. The Conservatives have talked tough on the deficit, but the reality is that many of the cuts they proposed were quietly rescinded when it became clear that they were often counter-productive. The crisis in British government finances can not be easily tackled by the piecemeal approach that both the Tories and Labour have set out. The problem lies in the the deep structure of the British tax code, which is unwieldy and expensive to administer and ...
A quick reminder that the deadline is fast approaching for your comments on the transfer of Capel St. Mary Post Office to the Coop supermarket. All comments must be received by 4th December. More details in the attached pdf document PO flyer There is also a letter available at Capel Post Office with proposed opening times, etc. You can comment online at postofficeviews.co.uk entering the code 06313099 for the Capel PO branch email: comments@postoffice.co.uk FREEPOST Your comments (yes that is the whole address!)
Strong stuff from Nick – talking about the importance of tackling stigma, and the part sex education plays in that. Here's the text: Today, I'm wearing my red ribbon with pride for World AIDS Day. In the last thirty years, since the first cases of HIV were discovered, we've travelled a huge distance in terms of research and treatment. Not least because advances in medication now mean that, if diagnosed and treated early enough, people living with HIV can live just as long as people without it. In the UK we're committed to tackling the global impacts of this disease ...
#97769656 / gettyimages.com Would you be willing pay higher income tax to fund more spending on the NHS? (Source: Populus) Yes: 33% No: 67% Interestingly this thumbs down is partly explained by a further question: Here are some things people have said about the NHS and public services. To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of them? The NHS needs reform more than it needs extra money. Agree: 60% Disagree: 12% However, it's very hard for politicians to talk about reform without it becoming a shouting match about EVIL PRIVATISATION of which more here.
I don't like to brag (well, I don't get the opportunity very often). But I read the report in the Guardian last week with some satisfaction, explaining that the annual sale of vinyl records had reached a 18-year high - up to a million. It is now 11 years since my book Authenticity came out. I was fascinated by the re-emergence of so many of those elements of modern life which were supposed to have been consigned to the dustbin of technology - radio, bricks, bicycles, trams, natural fibres, bread-making (most real food was supposed to be too inconvenient; remember ...
As a Liberal Democrat for almost all of my adult life, I am often bemused that other citizens are yet to share my enthusiasm for our long held belief in a dynamic European Union. The prevailing phenomena of Euroscepticism is not purely a UK problem. We only have to look at France and to a lesser extent Germany to see similar. Why? In my view the failure is in not articulating the needs of and connecting with European citizens. People have felt marginalised by the closure of traditional industries and a sense of lack of power to change or alter ...
Wise words from the king of data visualisation and author of the classic book on the subject, Edward Tufte: [IMG: Edward Tufte on statistics] Tufte's name is also a good way of telling if you're a proper data geek or not, as my list test from 2009 demonstrated. For other great quotes about data, see 31 Essential Quotes on Analytics and Data.
I have another letter in this morning's Belfast Telegraph because my last one garnered a response from a fellow reader. I spent almost a full day redrafting the letter to get the right balance only for part of that balance to be edited out of the published letter. I am including the cuts from the original in red especially as sadly I think some of the editing makes it look like a Christian baiting letter. Here then in the letter: I would like to thank Dermot O'Callaghan (Write Back, November 28) for proving my point about those with privilege here ...
Mon 1st
10:25
The Independent View: Why Liberal Democrat MPs should reject Government's power-grabbing judicial re...
Undemocratic, unnecessary and unfair, over the past eleven months the Government's crude attempts to curtail judicial review have been the subject of intense parliamentary debate. And yet today, as MPs are once again called to vote on the proposals, the government is attempting to pull off an unusual parliamentary feat: disregarding fierce cross-party criticism to make its proposals worse, rather than better. Judicial review is the legal mechanism by which individuals and organisations can ask a court to check whether a public authority has acted lawfully. The powers of the court in a judicial review are limited, but in a ...
[IMG: _78411429_78410336] In an interview for Progress Magazine, excerpts of which were re-reported in the Guardian yesterday, Pat McFadden, who became opposition Europe portfolio holder a little over a month ago, described the way immigration is being discussed in the UK at present "as if it is some kind of disease that needs to be treated, rather than a fact of life that has to be coped with." After months of UKIP-lite from Britain's two main parties on the subject, and coming off the back of Cameron's immigration speech, hearing this sort of thing is extremely refreshing. "We really have ...
South Glos Council is consulting about possible changes to the Sort It Centres (recyling centres) to save money by limiting the amount of commercial waste and material brought in by people who don't live in South Glos. This could affect the way YOU use the Sort It Centres - options include: Limiting business use by clarifying the definition of a van, introducing van permits and limiting the number of times a van can visit in a yearAsking local residents to pre-register for permits before visiting to reduce the number of non-residents using the sitesIntroducing a charge for the collection and ...
A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA – Be warned, this story does describe some pretty horrible incidents, but it's worth reading for the exposure of how rape culture is permitted by institutional power. On Countering The UKIP Cri-De-Colon – "if you're not prepared to defend what are supposedly your defining principles for fear of losing just one election, you might as well pack up the whole party and leave politics to the bigots." "Immigration" is not "immigrant" – Andrew Hickey on why pandering to bigots isn't even addressing the root cause of their ...
Lib Dem Voice got the presidential race badly wrong, and it raises questions about their surveys (tags: ) How to protect yourself in the event of receiving a counter-terrorism leaflet If you get a bored tl;dr reaction about paragraph 2, skip to the last two paragraphs; that's where the point is (tags: ) Time for Yorkshire to start raising its own taxes (tags: ) Why David Cameron is wrong: the maths (tags: ) Scarfolk Council: "Democracy Rationing" Public information poster (1970) If you're a politics geek and you're NOT paying attention to Scarfolk you need to check yourself. Makes The ...
Mon 1st
08:55Last year over 200 innocent children with mental health issues were held in police cells
[IMG: Child in a cell] These figures are shocking: In England last year, more than 200 under 18s who suffered a mental health crisis were held in police cells instead of being taken to health based places of safety. These children were locked up due to staff shortages and lack of appropriate facilities. Good on health minister Norman Lamb for saying: It is not acceptable for a youngster needing mental health care to be taken to a police station and I want to stamp this out for good. I'm determined to improve care for anyone in crisis, which I why ...
Mon 1st
08:55The Independent View: Liberal Democrat MPs should vote against secure colleges which would put young...
"It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails" said Nelson Mandela. Well, what would it reveal about the state of our nation if we were to hold our youngest children and some of the country's most vulnerable girls in unsafe conditions where they felt fearful, intimidated and isolated? On Monday, Liberal Democrat MPs will cast the deciding votes on whether this becomes a reality. The Commons will consider an amendment made by the House of Lords to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill on "secure colleges" - the new form of ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above – but the quote from that article below does not really take us any further forward. 'Funding has been secured to upgrade the A5036 Princess Way - through Seaforth and Litherland - which links Liverpool's ports to the motorway network. This upgrade was announced last summer as part of the Liverpool Local Growth Deal.' This has been a subject that Sefton Council, in particular, has not been at all keen to talk about. Indeed, getting behind this story to gain some detail over recent months has been like pulling ...
The Glasite Hall Keith Walker and Gillian Molloy are giving a talk on " A Walk Through the Overgate - Then and Now" as part of the Friends of Dundee City Archives' season of lunchtime lectures. This is taking place on Thursday (4th December) at 1pm at the Glasite Hall at St. Andrew's Church in King Street - more details here. Having heard both Gillian and Keith speak at previous lectures, I have no doubt this will be a highly informative and interesting lecture.
My recent posting where I talked about working with Labour councillor Steve Kermode to address some issues in Maghull provoked comment and I was pointed to the article below run by the Liverpool Echo. Does the Echo article confirm my view that politicians across the political divides can and should cooperate? In many ways this is an interesting article and I always look at such writing from the perspective of why was it written? What was the motivation behind it? Why did the politicians involved make such statements? It may have been an attempt to embarrass Joe Anderson as ...
Dear readers, may I wish you all a happy holiday season. By ways of an early gift here are the Minions in festive mood:Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: advent, Christmas, Despicable Me, Minions, The Minions
Stockport's Lib Dem leader, Cllr Sue Derbyshire, was one of over a hundred council leaders from all parties and right across the country to call for radical reform in local government if important services are to survive the future years of government spending cuts promised by all the main parties. Funding for services provided by councils has borne the brunt of austerity while demand continues to rise. When the chancellor delivers his autumn statement this Wednesday, "more of the same" cannot be an option. After a 40% reduction in funding during this parliament, our efficiency savings are coming to an ...
[IMG: fraud-icon] From the Safer Stockport Partnership: Residents in Stockport are being warned about fraudsters posing as police officers over the phone after a recent spate of 12 offences in the area. Criminals have been telling elderly victims that someone has been arrested for committing a fraud against them, but that they need to withdraw money to pay for the investigation. They are then promised that the money will be refunded. Two victims, one of whom was 83 years old, have lost over £7,000 between them. There have been approximately 400 incidents across Greater Manchester over the last 20 months ...
TfL are currently consulting on extending the Bakerloo line via one of two routes – Old Kent Road or via Camberwell. Please whatever you do respond to the public consultation tell TfL that both routes are required. They propose two station on either route, Old Kent Road 1 & 2 stations on one route, and Camberwell and Peckham on the other route. That's 2 stations over 5km on the Old Kent Road route or 6km on the Camberwell route. South Londoners are being seriously short-changed with only two stations being proposed for each branch. The Bakerloo line is 23km long ...
Here's an interesting quote about Europe: "Those who would pull us out of Europe must come to terms with the damage that would do to our people. Even the threat of withdrawal destroys jobs. Firms that invest in Europe often decide to come to Britain. Labour's threat to withdraw makes companies hesitate to look elsewhere. That Labour threat is losing us jobs now." The author? Margaret Thatcher. She attacked the then Eurosceptic Labour Party with these words while Prime Minister. You could replace Labour with UKIP for Europesceptism but the sentiment would be the same about unnecessary risks to our ...
I welcome the Smith Commission report which I believe is another giant step towards the long held Liberal Democrat vision of a Federal United Kingdom and Home Rule. While Scotland's future devolution settlement is clear, the same can not be said for Wales - that needs to change as Wales must not be left behind. First and foremost, Wales must speak with one voice if we are to be heard. All parties had representatives on the Silk Commission, therefore all parties should at the very least subscribe to the main thrust of the Commission's proposals. So far, only the Liberal ...
