View image | gettyimages.com This has to be the strangest Twitter conversation involving a Liberal Democrat MP this year. Lib Dem conference rally and party political broadcast superstar Kavya Kaushik asked Jeremy Browne on Twitter: Hi @JeremyBrowneMP do you like Taylor Swift? Do you like Libertarian Fans of Taylor Swift on Facebook? Did you create the movement? His reply: @Kav_Kaushik I am agnostic about Taylor Swift. No to the second question! — Jeremy Browne (@JeremyBrowneMP) January 6, 2015 * Newshound in training. I'm sweet and full of mischief, just like my stories.
This is the way I walk to the station every morning. If it is not your car under water, this is an oddly beautiful video. I took my own photograph of the scene, perhaps the afternoon before this video was shot, on my way home as the light failed.
Hurry over to the Talking of Food... blog to hear them.
listen to 'Ed Davey tells LBC that he has thought about becoming Lib Dem leader if Nick Clegg "hangs up his cloggs" after the next election.' on audioBoom
As a Liberal Democrat there is one thing I need to say about the first Conservative poster of the 2015 election campaign: Yeah that is right for years they have talked the Liberal Democrat mantra "A Stronger Economy and a Fairer Society", so in their first attempt to distance themselves from their Liberal Democrat partners they turn their backs on being fair to society. Therefore just as in the 2010 manifesto look out for them making pledges to cut the tax burden on the richest and very little to assist the poorest. While yesterday Ed Miliband was going on about ...
The Independent wins Headline of the Day,
The winners of the Political Book Awards 2015 will be announced in a ceremony at the BFI IMAX cinema on on London's South Bank on 28 January. Awards will be made in 10 categories: Political Book of the YearPolemic of the YearInternational Affairs Book of the YearPolitical History Book of the YearPolitical Biography of the YearWorld War One Book of the YearPolitical Humour and Satire Book of the YearDebut Political Book of the YearPolitical Fiction Book of the YearPractical Politics Book of the YearYou can find the shortlist for each category on the awards' website. I am pleased to Englanders ...
Quite right too: [IMG: Caroline Pidgeon London Mayor story] Source: Evening Standard
We told you about the secret elections earlier, but there's something else you might want to think about. The deadline for submitting motions for the Spring Conference in Liverpool is less than 8 days away. It's 1pm on Wednesday 14th January so if you are keen to see a change in policy, now is your chance. Get it drafted and get 10 voting representatives to sign it. The party website has some tips for writing motions here. In general a motion is more likely to be selected if it: Contains genuinely new and interesting proposals Is on a subject where ...
Tom Duffy on the Echo web site is reporting that there has been yet another shooting in Sefton today – this time in Litherland. The Echo goes on to report the views of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Keaton "Our investigation is still at a very early stage, although we currently believe that the victim was targeted. "Patrols have been stepped up in the local area and I'd like to take this opportunity to reassure the local community that a thorough investigation is already underway to identify those people responsible and to bring them to justice." I know some may think ...
And this is just the beginning... I spent a slightly frustrating afternoon on Sunday, applying online for a visa to visit my family in Mumbai at the end of the month (this is, I acknowledge, surprisingly early for me to do this but that's Ros's influence for you...). A vast series of questions are asked, and data regarding my parents, my spouse, my job, where I've travelled in India (ever) and internationally (in the past ten years!) is required. It is, compared to most places where a visa is required, a bit of a marathon. However, it is done, and ...
View image | gettyimages.com Welcome to the latest in my occasional series highlighting interesting findings from academic research. Today, a selection of findings from Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box: 50 things you need to know about British elections, edited by Philip Cowley and Robert Ford, which illustrate how election campaigns can maximise the impact of their efforts to get supporters to vote. First, the evidence from Eline de Rooij which points towards targeting households with multiple occupants where the other occupants are not known opponents: One study in the US found that a doorstep canvassing campaign targeted at individuals ...
A new planning application has been submitted for the development of the Barnes Hospital site, with 38 apartments to go into the hospital building itself and a further 117 new houses around it. This is a substantial reduction on the 300 homes previously proposed in the planning application granted a couple of years ago. Overall the aim is to save the historic Barnes Hospital building from getting beyond the point of repair, but to make any scheme stack up financially, "enabling development" – the houses – is needed around it. You can have your say on both planning applications: 57381 ...
You should all come and visit me in my new home because.... 1. There's a tonne of history Hanoi is a little over a millennium old and a lot of that history is on display. There's the Temple of Literature which is a university that predates Oxford and Cambridge, an imperial citadel and numerous religious [...]
It seems that the prospect of some kind of grand coalition is the bad idea that will not die of the moment, probably given an extra burst of unlife by the election campaign having started yesterday despite no one wanting it to. There's more of a link than just that coincidence, too, as both are pretty much just obsessions of the Westminster bubble right now, with no real relevance to anyone outside it. As I said in my post at the weekend, I don't think a Tory-Labour government is likely after the next election, or indeed any election unless there's ...
Many readers of Liberal Democrat Voice may have missed the Financial Times' prediction that 2015 "will see the creation of a national government in the UK." It sounds deeply implausible. But activists who remember the coalitions between Labour and Conservative that have operated in local government over the past 25 years will recognise that these two deeply self-interested parties have more in common than they admit - including a strong reluctance to share power with Liberal Democrats. So here is a New Year fantasy on how the FT's prediction might come true. No-one was surprised that the General Election of ...
Yesterday DUP MP for Lagan Valley Jeffrey Donaldson said: "British Citizens in Northern Ireland deserve the same rights as the rest of the UK." However, this was not about the rights of NI LGBT people to have the right to marry whom they choose. Nor is it to defend the Equality Act in full, in face of his colleague Paul Givan's conscience clause. Nor it is a freeing up of abortion legislation, no a whole gamut of rights issues that the people of Northern Ireland are the only ones in the UK to have equally with the rest of the ...
Tue 6th
13:51
Nothing really to add to this. He made it to France to commemorate D Day - and that, I hope gave him...
via Facebook
2014 was every bit as bad as it could be for the Liberal Democrats. Not only did the party come much closer than many thought to a total wipe-out in the European elections but a series of disasters combined to leave morale just about as low as it could be. While those Lib Dems involved in the pubco reform campaign led by Greg Mulholland were definitely cheered, elsewhere there was little cause for joy. It may give some cause for comfort, then, that so much of the Lib Dem version of 2014 was self-inflicted. This included: – The undermining of ...
There are an estimated six million carers in the UK and the system is struggling to provide them with the support they need. I have written previously about my experience, in which I abruptly had to give up a full time job to become a carer. The Liberal Democrats have included policies in their pre manifesto that will help, but it isn't just about carers while they are actually caring. What about when caring ends? In many cases this can happen as abruptly as when the caring role starts. The change can come through the death of the person, their ...
I took my daughter, who is just shy of three years of age, to see "The Nutcracker" at the Royal Ballet last Sunday. This I plan to do ever year until she's either an adult or decides to tell me she doesn't really like ballet, whichever arrives first. Last year was the inaugural event in this nascent tradition of ours. I made the mistake of not reading the fine print before purchasing our tickets, and so was left with a bit of a dilemma when I got to the doors and was told that no one under five was allowed ...
Work has now begin on the new roundabout to be situated at the junction of Staniland Way and Davids Lane, by Peterborough Highway Services. The work is taking place after several accidents occured at the junction and the Council says that the roundabout is designed to "...eliminate some of the problems that may be causing [...]
Today the Liberal Democrats announced and eye catching policy to [IMG: NHS] improve NHS funding by £8bn a year by 2020 (in England). This matches the figure asked for by NHS England chief Simon Stevens – so it isn't plucked from thin air. How is this to be paid for? First £2bn extra is already planned and accepted by the other parties (Labour want to add another £0.5bn). A further £1bn comes from more taxes on the wealthy. The rest will be gradually added as the economy grows. The Lib Dems say that public expenditure should keep pace with national ...
View image | gettyimages.com Out in a few days will be Liberal Democrat Newswire #56, including stories on why some Liberal Democrat ministers should be embarrassed when reading the latest document from party HQ, where the party gained seats in 2015, new moves to support target seat candidates and more. Sign up for it here and make sure you don't miss out. In the meantime, you can browse the previous editions online.
The formula for a better NHS? Whatever the SNP promises plus 1,000 more nurses, says Jim Murphy. Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy has issued a statement in which he promised an "additional 1,000 nurses in Scotland over and above the SNP plans that we inherit." This may sounds like a positive move, but in fact it merely highlights Labour's desperation and Murphy's unimaginative approach to political leadership. Murphy is trying to reach out to the 190,000 Labour supporters who voted Yes in the independence referendum. I wasn't one of them, but if I was I'd be hoping for something more ...
In my capacity as a member of the International Relations Committee of the Liberal Democrats, I am trying to keep abreast of events in both Europe and elsewhere. Open Europe are, to my mind, an interesting source of news and views, and the piece by their Director, Mats Persson, on likely key events this year, is well worth a read. Personally, I'd add the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the possible impact if more facts emerge linking Jean-Claude Juncker to possible sweetheart tax deals that took place whilst he was Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Given ...
LDHQ February literature templates are now available (these match the Bulk Buy offers). The items were designed for the strategic parliamentary seats but the templates can be adapted for anywhere. Template Downloads A3 Focus (Riso) versions for England, Wales and Scotland Addressed Squeeze A4 (Riso) folded lengthways for mailmmerge overprint in versions for England Scotland [...]
View image | gettyimages.com Chances are you don't know this unless you've been unusually geeky about the party website over the Christmas period, but some very important elections are taking place and the closing date for nominations is this Friday, 9th January, at 5pm. The electorate is very small – the 30 or so members of the Federal Executive. However, there are several positions, such as the Chair of the influential Campaigns and Communications Committee, that are open to any party member. Here's the call for nominations which is hidden away in the members' section of the party website. In ...
Tue 6th
10:55
Liam Fox wants to kick half a million Indians and Pakistanis off the electoral register
View image | gettyimages.com It's a well-established piece of election law that Irish and Commonwealth citizens who live in the UK can vote in general elections. Despite the minor matters of it being long-standing, a matter of past political discussion, often featuring in briefing information provided to election candidates and something that 1.5 million people get reminded about directly at election time, The Times has rather curiously called it "obscure" [£]. But more importantly also reported what Liam Fox and Conservative colleagues want to do: Senior Tories called for an emergency change in the law last night as official figures ...
At the last meeting of Bury's Full Council before Christmas, I asked a formal written question about the levels of prosecutions for illegal parking outside Bury's schools. Could you Leader please provide details of the number of prosecutions made or penalties issued for illegal parking outside of schools so far this calendar year, and in each of the last three years? It would seem that the number of prosecutions in Bury is FALLING: 2014 -2015 (to date) – 18 PCNs issued 2013 – 2014 – 28 2012 – 2013 – 32 2011 – 2012 – 34 To us this seems ...
[IMG: nhs sign lrg] Nick Clegg has set out how the Liberal Democrats would invest in the NHS in government for the next five years. From the Guardian: Fleshing out the figure released by the deputy prime minister at a press conference, the Lib Dems said they would increase the NHS's funding by £8bn a year by 2020-21 in three stages. They would make permanent the coalition government's extra £2bn a year - which was announced in the autumn statement - by 2015-16. In addition, Clegg said the party would find another £1bn a year in real terms in 2016-17 ...
I spent yesterday sorting out old papers, and what should fall at my feet but a 2008 article by George Monbiot in the Guardian with the headline: 'Labour's perverse polyclinic scheme is the next step in privatising the NHS'. It so happened that I had found myself swearing at the radio during the staged confrontation between John Humphrys on the Today programme and Labour's Andy Burnham yesterday. The combination of the two events reminded me that accusations of privatising the NHS is what oppositions fling at governments - and there is always an element of truth about it, but also ...
Tue 6th
10:04
On the economy, whether it's a Tory or a Labour government makes little real difference
Yesterday saw the opening salvo in a war of words destined to continue for the next four months (so get used to it, in other words). The Conservatives claimed that Labour has a £21 billion hole in their budget plans; Labour obviously denied this. Most of the Tories plans for holding onto the keys to Downing Street rest on asserting that their rivals to the throne will ruin the economy; most of Labour's plans rest on convincing the British public that the Tories want to dismantle the NHS and other public services. But in the end, the thrust of neither ...
Tue 6th
09:54
Liberal Democrat Voice article submissions: Let's move on from the protests, based on a feintly ludi...
View image | gettyimages.com I've written and published nearly 6,500 posts here since 2006 and had over 600,000 views from readers. I have, thereby, been able to fully exercise my right of free speech. I have said some controversial and off-the-wall things, but it is my blog and I can say what I like. Occasionally I have also submitted articles to be published on LibDemVoice, but I realise that there is only a certain type of article which I would submit to that site. Others (like this one) I know are best published here on my personal blog. Personal blogs, ...
2015 is here at last. For British politicos this is the endgame – the year of the General Election and the verdict on the politicking of the current parliament, elected in 2010. That election remains very open, but for the Liberal Democrats it is fair to say that things have gone disastrously off script. The party languishes at 5-10% in the polls, compared to the over 20% it achieved in 2010. This has shown no sign of improving as the election approaches, and there have been plenty of real life elections to show that such dismal ratings are not just ...
Young people have the chance to represent Bury in the House of Commons by becoming the borough's Youth Member of Parliament. The UK Youth Parliament offers those aged 11 to 17 the chance to get involved in democracy at an early age, and raise issues that matter to young people at national level. Bury is entitled to have one Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) and ttwo deputies, who will be elected by young people in Bury on Thursday 26 February and represent Bury for two years. Young people who express an interest will be able to join local youth democracy ...
The Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner is consulting on the level we are charged for policing through Council Tax (the Police Precept). The short survey will only take 5 minutes to complete and will apparently help inform his decision. The survey can be accessed via this link: www.gmpcc.org.uk/budget2015 . The closing date is Sunday 11th January 2015 and the results will be on the PCC's website by the end of January.
Is depression a kind of allergic reaction? (tags: ) Depression doesn't make you sad all the time (tags: ) Props to @i100 for decribing Ched Evans as an "unrepentant rapist" (tags: ) Bruges to get underground beer pipeline (tags: ) My fellow Lib Dems, according to this Kipper we want to ban sex. I don't even know where to START... (tags: ) 'Ched Evans has served his time' - and other misconceptions about the convicted rapist (tags: ) Big Cook, Little Cook - South & West Yorkshire Partnership NHS cookery courses for parents & children (tags: ) Peter Black: Tories ...
This weekend the latest Federal Party mailing further confirmed that the Party continues to define itself as a split-the-difference party between Labour and Conservatives, painting only Labour as a risk to the economy. Successive rounds of poor election results should have taught us that we need to change tack. The mailing reads, 'Our message for 2015': So the choice in this election is clear: Labour will borrow too much, risking the economy. The Tories will cut too much, threatening public services and sacrificing the least well off. The Liberal Democrats will borrow less than Labour and cut less than the ...
Nick Clegg started a fresh coalition row yesterday when he told the home secretary, Theresa May, that she will face a parliamentary defeat on the government's counter-terrorism bill unless judges are given oversight of plans to impose temporary exclusion orders on some terrorist suspects returning to Britain. The Guardian says that the Liberal Democrats leader is calling on the home secretary to introduce government amendments in the upper house to meet the concerns of David Anderson QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, about the lack of judicial checks on temporary exclusion orders: Anderson said the orders, which can last ...
Yesterday, work to create the new Roseangle playpark commenced with the start of removing the old play equipment. There was a feeling of some poignancy at seeing the old playpark being removed but the new playpark when completed in a couple of months will be a fantastic, modern facility for local children. I was pleased to join Sharon Dickie of the playpark campaign and her children Emily and Daniel on-site yesterday - a couple of photos below and more are available on the campaign's Facebook page : Sharon, Emily, Daniel & me at the playpark today Start of old playpark ...
Tue 6th
08:43
Liverpool City Region – Oh dear, the Labour ferrets are fighting in the sack yet again!
You begin to wonder just how dysfunctional the Labour Party on Merseyside is trying to be as its big Council Leader guns turn their sights onto each other yet again. What I simply can't understand is why they have to go to war with each other over just about everything. What good can possibly come from using the Liverpool Echo to chuck more bricks at each other. What on earth do they think they are doing to the reputation of the Liverpool and its surrounding communities? It's time that someone of stature took them all into a closed room ...
Which twin is the Tory? As I watch domestic politics descend into its regular pre-election contest to see who can offer voters the most 'stuff' in return for the least pain, I do find myself wondering, "where is the vision?". Is it unfair of me to suggest that responding to the media agenda tends to lead to the very worst excesses of short-termism? This election, in particular, offers the prospect of demands for legislative action on a vast range of issues and attempts to claim that, despite an acknowledgement that the deficit must, and will be, eliminated over the next ...
With the schools returning tomorrow, my weekly ward surgeries for 2015 start on Thursday at Blackness Primary School at 6.15pm. See poster below and note I can also be contacted as follows : E-surgery - e-mail esurgery@frasermacpherson.org.ukPhone - Dundee 459378 at any time
First, a completely open-ended spending commitment: whatever the SNP will spend on nurses, Labour will spend more. No consideration of whether it's the right number of nurses or an affordable number. Just more. Whatever the circumstances. JUST ANNOUNCED: Our first election pledge. We'll fund #1000nurses – over and above anything the SNP pledge. pic.twitter.com/3r6aptM4cT — Scottish Labour (@scottishlabour) January 5, 2015 Second, a continuation of the pattern of having supporters shout insults at journalists who ask questions they don't like. I first noticed this happening in the 2010 general election where the combination of having a speech with party supporters ...
View image | gettyimages.com Did they protest when, for years they watched Leslie Grantham (convicted murderer) playing Dirty Den in Eastenders for years? Do they protest when they listen to or read Johnny Vaughan (convicted drug dealer)? Do they protest when they watch David Dickinson (convicted fraudster) on Real Deal? There should be some forgiveness once people have done their time. As Jonathan Aitken said this morning, Ched Evans' story is a good role model because it tells young people that if you commit a crime you get put in jail and then have to struggle to get back into ...
Talking about the Monarchy in Britain is generally a bit like talking about the weather. No matter how odd it might be, it is simply there, a fact of life. It may seem a rather foolish institution, but it has survived into the twenty-first century for two reasons: the strength of character of Elizabeth II, sanctified by her long reign; and the lack of appeal of an alternative presidential system. This second is usually expressed as "you wouldn't want [insert the name of a party politician who is widely disliked, but nonetheless popular on their own side] as President now ...
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band were quickly getting a reputation as one of the best bands in LA. But this didn't satisfy Don Van Vliet, who didn't want his band to be recognised — he wanted to be recognised himself as the genius he was sure he was. After the band got out of [...]
