As you may be aware, this blog is hosted on wordpress.com — its actual hostname is olsenbloom.wordpress.com — but I have the domain andrewhickey.info mapped to it. This has worked well for me for the last six years, but I may have to change. The reason is that the internet is slowly moving to HTTPS [...]
[IMG: jeremy thorpe_2] The party website records the passing of former Liberal Party leader, Jeremy Thorpe, who died today aged 85: Mr Thorpe died today (4 December) at his home in London. He had battled with Parkinson's Disease for more than 35 years. He was elected as Liberal MP for North Devon in the 1959 General Election and held the seat for 20 years. Following the retirement of Jo Grimond, he was elected as leader of the Liberal Party in 1967. He was a fervent supporter of Britain's membership of the the EU and played a leading role in the ...
From the Leicester Mercury: Former Leicestershire County Council leader David Parsons has been selected to fight a south Lincolnshire parliamentary seat for UKIP in May's general election. Mr Parsons has been chosen as the party's candidate in South Holland and The Deepings two months after quitting his campaign to become a UKIP MP in North West Leicestershire. The former Tory politician defected to UKIP after quitting as Conservative leader at County Hall in 2012. He was chosen for the Lincolnshire seat by UKIP branch members on Saturday. ... Mr Parsons told the Mercury: "I am an A-list parliamentary candidate and ...
Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grudzinski .. wait!, what!??? #ukip pic.twitter.com/yNSq2cndeP — UKIP Trumpton (@Trumpton_UKIP) December 4, 2014 Nigel Farage presents himself as the beery scourge of the humourless left. The reality is that he and his party are extraordinarily thin-skinned and cannot stand the faintest hint of mockery when it is aimed at them. Take David Coburn, who apparently is a Ukip MEP, and his campaign to have the @Trumpton_UKIP account removed by Twitter. The good news is that his foolishness has helped to win that account more followers. And you have to feel sorry for Ukip because ...
#79658659 / gettyimages.com The fall of Jeremy Thorpe had already taken place by the time I joined the Liberal Party, but he was its leader when it won the by-election victories in the early 1970s that helped get me interested in politics. In his pomp Thorpe was a dazzling figure - though without the intellectual appeal of Jo Grimond - and Jonathan Fryer was from just the generation to be dazzled by him: I first met Jeremy when I was Secretary of the Oxford University Liberal Club about 1971 and he came to speak at the Oxford Union, as Liberal ...
Over the last few months Bath and North East Somerset Labour activists have been spreading a lot of negative stories about the future of B&NES Children's Centres and I would like to set the record straight. The future of Children Centres is not uncertain! All 11 centres are to stay open and will continue to offer [...]
Thu 4th
19:00
Ed Davey MP writes...An Autumn Statement for more green energy and more help to keep energy bills do...
Liberal Democrats in Government already have a record of green energy delivery to be proud of. Renewable electricity generation and investment have both more than doubled since 2010 and our reforms will create 250,000 low carbon jobs by the end of the decade. Britain is ranked No.1 in the world for offshore wind investment, onshore wind now produces around 5% of the UK's electricity and solar generating capacity increased by 60% last year. But is that where the story ends? No, and our ambition outlined in the Autumn Statement proves it. The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project is something I ...
I am so frustrated by what has happened that I have found it difficult to take a step back and write a measured blog post about it, and instead have been engaging in debates/arguments on Facebook. I still haven't coalesced all my thoughts, so instead am just going to flag a point I made in response to someone on Facebook, which somewhat gets to the core of my thoughts on this troubling issue. It is impossible, in my mind at least, to say "I am on one side on Mike Brown and the other side with Eric Garner", because in ...
A government with Liberals in it has banned spanking on film. Who would have thought it? I was hoping for a society where the state at least kept pace with social attitudes. Instead we find that through obscure bits of legislation we are continuing a move towards controlling people more and more that was started by the Labour party. Porn made in the UK can no longer include sexual acts such as facesitting, spanking, caning, fisting and female ejaculation thanks to the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 . There are many reasons why these changes are bad, 10 of them ...
The following application has been received/accepted by Durham County Council. Application Type – Application for a Minor Variation Applicant: J Noble & Sons Ltd Premises - Nobles, 17 Middle Street, Consett, Co Durham, DH8 5QP Proposed variation - To change the layout of the premises and replace current conditions with new conditions. Date of Application - 04 December 2014 Last date for comments - 18 December 2014
The Autumn Statement raised as many questions as it provided answers. Kieron Flanagan explores some of the implications for science policy In keeping with the trend of recent years, Chancellor George Osborne yesterday included a number of science and innovation announcements in his Autumn Statement. The long-awaited Science and Innovation Strategy due at the same time did not materialize, so much of the detail remains to be filled in. This means the Autumn Statement raised as many questions as it provided answers - I run through some of these below. Science capital spending Continue reading...
As public funding for universities reduces, is it time they became as exempt from Freedom of Information laws as the private sector? Or should we reform FOI instead? Times Higher magazine recently ran an interesting exchange about universities and Freedom of Information. It's not a new controversy. Back in 2010, Adam Corner and I co-authored an article in the same magazine on the topic. We argued that Freedom of Information legislation — welcome as it was in many ways — probably wasn't the best way to learn about science. Is a request for 'information' — especially the sorts of oddly ...
Jeremy Thorpe, who has died aged 85 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease, was a politician of great charm and brilliance who was brought down by a persistent streak of recklessness that prevented him achieving his full potential. The scion of a family steeped in Conservatism, he dressed like an Edwardian but identified himself [...]
#450371167 / gettyimages.com Texas's recent moves towards prison reform are interesting for two reasons. First, the substantive policy of trying to cut prison numbers via a strong emphasis on rehabilitation. Second, the politics of it because the moves are coming from the right, not from liberals, as the BBC reports: Something happened in 2007, when Texas Republican Congressman Jerry Madden was appointed chairman of the House Corrections Committee with the now famous words by his party leader: "Don't build new prisons. They cost too much." The impulse to what has become the Right on Crime initiative was fiscal conservatism – ...
Well, sort of. He tried to sign up to a news website the other night and this is what happened: [IMG: Willie Rennie profanity] There was a certain irony given that this was the same day that he had slated abusive shockblog Wings over Scotland for its abusive and profane petition about Gordon Brown.
Jeremy Thorpe the leader of the Liberal Party from 1967-1976 passed away this morning according to the Breaking News header on the BBC website. John Jeremy Thorpe was born in 1929 the son of John Henry Thorpe who had been Conservative MP for Manchester Rusholme and Ursula Norton-Griffiths, whose father Sir John Norton-Giffiths was the Conservative MP for Wednesbury until the end of WWI and then Wandsworth Central. However, while he was reading law at Trinity College, Oxford he broke with family tradition and became President of the Liberal Club. He first stood for Parliament in 1952 for North Devon ...
I am overjoyed with the wonderful news that the Chancellor has extended tax breaks to children's television productions. This is something I have campaigned on for years as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Children's Media and the Arts. I have asked questions and spoken on this issue in the House of Lords, supported by Pact (Producers Alliance for Cinema & Television) and the Children's Media Foundation. I always say, 'Childhood lasts a lifetime' and we can all remember our favourite children's television programme, they hold fond memories, which are part of our formative years. But even though children's ...
Breastfeeding is in the news again after Claridges thought that it was ok .to tell a mother to cover up as her baby nursed. Nick Clegg was asked a rather strange question, which he eventually answered pretty well, about whether the importance of breastfeeding should be covered in Personal Health and Social Education classes and whether mothers should be told that it should be done in private. The right answer is, of course, yes to the first and no to the second. It's really quite ridiculous to think that it took until 2010 for the rights of mothers to breastfeed ...
The government's counter-extremism strategy, Prevent, is often criticised. Some say it acts like a thought-police, criminalises Islam and over-securitises places like schools. Others claim there is not enough buy in from Muslim communities, that it funds non-violent Islamists to tackle jihadists, or that it is not the government's job to challenge ideology. Neither criticism is absolutely fair, but as criticised as Prevent is, it undoubtedly serves an important function and is here to stay. While all terrorists are extremists, the vast majority of extremists do not use terrorism as a viable strategy, and a liberal and democratic nation cannot and ...
The year for most UK citizens is organised by retail festivals. New Year's Day pumps up the sales fever generated by Christmas, at least for those whose credit cards are not maxed out. Then we have Valentine's Day: big opportunity to sell cards and chocolate Then Mother's Day: big opportunity to sell cards and flowers Then Easter: more cards, more chocolate Then things go off a bit, with no recognisable festivals for a while. They've had a bit of success getting Father's Day off the ground. Otherwise it's summer with promotions of barbecues, umbrellas and wellingtons. Things pick up again ...
[IMG: frackingex] Calderdale Council has passed a motion I proposed opposing fracking, and has now declared itself a frack free zone. The original text of the motion was the model text suggested by Friends of the Earth. Labour had also proposed an anti-fracking motion so we worked with them to agree an amalgamated text prior to the meeting , and one of their Councillors seconded the final motion. The amalgamated text was passed with support from the Liberal Democrat and Labour groups, with the only opposition coming from some Conservative members of the Council. The wording of the motion passed ...
Are current politicians turning into the new Victorians? I ask as in recent days there has been an increasing case of prudishness in a number of things that have been done. Of course firstly the UK has decided to bring in line what is allowed in online pay on demand pronography with what is produced in DVD in this country. The new law bans scenes of caning, aggressive whipping, penetration with an object "associated with violence", physical or verbal abuse (regardless if it is consensual), urolagnia (ingesting during "water sports"), female ejaculation, strangulation and face sitting. This list seems more ...
Today's Telegraph has an astonishing piece on man-of-the people, Nigel Farage who apparently is having difficulty surviving on his £109,000 per year salary: The Ukip leader told a Channel 4 programme that he made significant financial sacrifices to pursue a political career and has had to live on "about half what the local headmaster or GP earns". "I don't think I know anyone in politics who is as poor as we are," Mr Farage claimed in a spin-off of Gogglebox, the Channel 4 reality show about families watching television. "We live in a small semi-detached cottage in the country, and ...
The debate on fracking and renewables is warming up. Ed Davey's LDV article on renewables set the scene, Norman Baker contrasts renewables and fracking, and my article from August - Renewables not Fracking — remains relevant. There are some Lib Dems who support fracking. In response to that, I set out here a vision for sustainable energy in the UK, a vision that, in the long term, does not include any fossil fuels. Renewables currently supply about 15% of UK electricity supply. By 2020, Ed Davey's aspiration is 30%. With a clear political vision, electricity from renewables can grow by ...
David McCandless has updated his previous figures and, as before, there is a much higher proportion of women using social networks that you might think if, say, your main areas of interest are technology or party politics, both of when tend to see conversations on social networks dominated by men. Note that the gender figures are from the US, but the traffic differences are calculated using global figures. [IMG: Who rules the social web]
So the country has money to burn and the government is going to splash out with an extra £2bn for the NHS, for road improvement schemes including a tunnel under Stone Henge, for flood defences, railways in the north and Lord only knows what else. All this is possible, in Chancellor George Osborne's very words, because the economy is now "on course for prosperity." But, just a minute, the economy was growing, when he took over the reigns from Labour and 2010. And not only that, but the deficit was then falling as well: it's rising again now. Had Osborne ...
Thu 4th
10:10Lord Ken MacDonald writes... For Liberal Democrats, civil liberties belong to every age
The closer we get to the election, the louder the question resonates: what have Liberal Democrats brought to government? In all the compromises and stresses of coalition, has our difference made it all worthwhile? In the area of civil liberties, so important to us as a party, the answer must be a resounding 'yes'. Of course not all the coalition battles around freedom have taken place in public, but they have been fiercely fought nonetheless- sustained, difficult struggles against the Tories and parts of the Whitehall machine, to keep our country loyal to its most enduring values in the face ...
"What is the name of this place, I asked him. Valerik, he answered me. And translated into your language, That would be... River of Death." Lermontov In a short while Vladimir Putin will make his state of the nation speech in the St. George's Hall of the Kremlin. Perhaps in the chandeliered magnificence of this room, the Russian President may feel safe. He may make a rousing and grandiloquent speech making the case for Russian greatness. Perhaps he might offer an olive branch to the West that he has spent the past year excoriating, more likely he will add to ...
[IMG: Cameron MG] I have been less than impressed by David Cameron's premiership, I'll announce up front. Faced with deciding that either the reason his party hadn't won a majority in 2010 was because the modernising project hadn't been taken far enough and thus opened a window to the Lib Dems to retain seats they would have otherwise snagged, or that they had to go "back to basics" as it were, meaning he was then going to appease his right flank and go all Philip Davies on everyone, David Cameron decided to do neither and both at the same time. ...
UKIP seat, death No Liberal Democrat candidate For more information:
Mansfield Independent Forum seat, death No Liberal Democrat candidate For more information: http://www.mansfield.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5740
Labour seat, resignation No Liberal Democrat candidate For more information:
The weather is glum, but there's no need for us to be! South Glos Council is running a campaign to encourage people to think about the small things that they can do that will make a big difference to other people. Find out more at www.southglos.gov.uk/smile What are you doing to make someone else just a bit happier? Please comment below to let us know.
Thu 4th
09:59
Labour should be taking credit for the coalition's economic policy, not whingeing about it
"Too far, too fast." Remember that criticism of the British coalition government's economic policies? It was repeated incessantly by Labour politicians in the first years of the government. And, it appears, the government was listening. The actual trajectory of progress on the country's massive fiscal deficit is close to what Labour were recommending. And economic growth has returned. So what are Labour saying now? They are vilifying the government for going not going far enough and doing it too slowly! It is, in fact, quite hard to understand Labour's political strategy on the economy right now. The party lacks credibility, ...
nIn August, Ros and I ran into members of Folkpartiet, campaigning in Sweden's General Election, and I later reported on the rather unstable minority coalition government that emerged. It indeed turned out to be unstable, when its first budget was defeated by the combined Opposition. And so, another election will take place on 22 March, which may offer a window into what might happen here in the event of an inconclusive election on 7 May. Admittedly, with first past the post here, the chances of UKIP having the same sort of directly malevolent impact on the ability of other parties ...
I've been mulling over the big items in the Autumn Statement and have come to the conclusion that the establishment have very little sense of how economics actually works. I suppose they are muddled by the politicial rhetoric that house prices rise because there aren't enough homes - which of course they do, somewhat. But it isn't the main reason, and it isn't clear to me why Whitehall doesn't understand this. If you thought the main problem was too few homes - and there are too few homes - then perhaps you might imagine that lowering stamp duty would tackle ...
The 'Save Bury Children's Centres' campaign group is having a 'final push' to encourage local residents to sign their online petition to save the Childrens' Centres which are threatened with closure by Bury Council: Bury Council is trying to close Butterstile, Toodle Hill, Daisyfield, High Meadow, Moorside, Stepping Stones, and Ramsbottom Children's Centres. Their plan is that they want them to be independently run nurseries. [IMG: Screenshot 2014-12-04 09.01.37] In the Prestwich area the Council is proposing to close TWO children's centres – Toodle Hill on Cuckoo Lane, and Butterstile off Butterstile Lane. Other areas are seeing less proposed closures ...
I'm a top Lib Dem and so's my treasurer. And lots of other people I know :) (tags: ) Cookery masterclass: prawns. Warning: contains explosions. (tags: ) This quote about Putin's machismo from Angela Merkel is just devastating Resonates about a lot of British leaders and their yearning for empire etc too, if I'm honest. It certainly explains Cameron's willy-waving over Europe (tags: ) Warnings that Netflix ought to give (tags: ) Girl on the Net has the best (sweary) summary of the new porn rules and their absurdity (tags: ) The facts behind The Sun's editorials, December 2-3, 2014 ...
The following information is from United Utilities: Update - Croft Lane, Bury Christmas Break Croft Lane will be reopened from Saturday 20 December until close again on Monday 5 January 2015. Shuttle Bus Service The shuttle bus service we have provided for Blackford House Medical Centre will be temporarily suspended from Friday 19 December and will resume on Monday 5 January 2015. Still have a question? Please call: 0345 672 3723 quoting project number NCA 80028286.
Thu 4th
08:57"This is not a snub. I thought it would be a nice change to get out of the Westminster bubble": Cleg...
[IMG: clegg on leveson] Nick Clegg has taken my advice.* Back in July, I offered the Lib Dem leader five unsolicited pieces of advice. Most he's ridden roughshod over: Vince Cable wasn't appointed the party's shadow chancellor for the next election, Jo Swinson wasn't promoted to the cabinet, and (as far as I know) Nick continues to rule out options other than a full coalition in the event of a hung parliament. But item number 4 was this: 4. Stop going to PMQs, start touring the country Focus groups, I'm told, show the public is baffled why Nick Clegg simply ...
The Coalition Government made its 'Autumn Statement' on spending plans this week – the last before the elections next May. Five highlights which the Liberal Democrats in Government are happy to announce: Help for low and middle earners The the tax-free Personal Allowance by another £100, giving basic rate taxpayers a further tax cut of £120. This means we've now cut taxes for millions of people by £820 since the Government started. Stamp duty cuts Stamp duty has been cut for the majority of homebuyers and risen on the most expensive houses. 98% of buyers will pay the same amount ...
[IMG: British passports. Photo courtesy of http://www.freeimages.com/photo/245333 - some rights reserved] From Wednesday's Daily Telegraph and organized by Robin Meltzer: SIR - David Cameron's recent speech on European immigration is the latest in a series of desperate moves from a Conservative Party in full-scale panic. We've had: "Go home or face arrest" vans. We've had: if you are from the EU and want to move to Britain, go and register at a police station. We've had: if you're out of work, even for a few months, go back to where you came from. In her Bruges speech in 1988, Margaret ...
Thu 4th
08:54
Sefton Council – How come an anonymous leaflet pretty much foretold the Council's unpublished ...
My posting of 14th November reported on an odd an anonymous leaflet being circulated around the Maghull and Lydiate communities. See link below:- [IMG: images] Sefton's latest Draft Local Plan has just been published and strangely it seems to broadly follow the predictions in the anonymous leaflet! So, who knew what was going to be in the draft prior to publication? Did Sefton Council knowingly allow such information to leak out or has it been the victim of someone acting without its knowledge? Could it be an incredibly good guess at what was going to happen? The latter seems ...
As part of West End Christmas Fortnight events, we had an extremely well-attended social event at the Vine last night for representatives of West End community groups, local churches and charities active in the local area. Susan Keracher, Art Curator at The McManus, gave a very interesting talk on the paintings of the Vine collected by George Duncan, MP for Dundee from 1841 to 1857. Many thanks to Susan for this, Peter Menzies, owner of the Vine, Sharon Dickie of the Christmas Fortnight team and Natalie Mackland, West End Communities Officer, for making it such an enjoyable evening for everyone. ...
Well, well, well - the Autumn Statement was quite a bonanza wasn't it? Well, no, actually. Or at least, not if you're one of the 9 million people currently renting property in England - if you're one of those people, you've just been screwed over royally, all in the space of one week. Tessa - fast becoming one of our best MPs on this issue. First, we had the second reading of the Bill on Revenge Evictions last Friday. This is something that has made Tessa Munt one of my favourite MPs, because she's campaigned on the issue for a ...
On Monday the Government made a detailed announcement on investment in roads across the country. In the North West, this amounts to nine new schemes, worth about £800 million and estimated to create 600 jobs in construction. Three will be of particular interest to local residents: M60 Junction 18 (Simister Island) "Improvement to the Simister Island interchange between the M62, M60 and M66 to the north east of Manchester. Introduces more free-flowing movements to substantially improve 1 of the busiest junctions in the north west." We have asked for more information on this, as the details will no doubt be ...
The Friends of Magdalen Green Christmas Newsletter is now available. Giving a review of 2014 activities and looking forward into 2015, the newsletter can be downloaded here. The Friends' website can be accessed here.
The Autumn Statement shows that the Liberal Democrats are building a Britain where everyone is given the opportunity to get on in life. The radical reforms announced to stamp duty are great news for potential home buyers in Wales. These changes will introduce fairness into the system by easing the burden on the vast majority of people looking to buy a home in Wales. This Liberal Democrat policy means that 99% of Welsh homebuyers would benefit. Raising the tax-threshold to £10,600 is a clear win for the Liberal Democrats. Let us be in no doubt that this policy is only ...
