I'm too angry and depressed by today's news to write a proper blog post. Not just by the news itself, though that's depressing enough — eleven people (at least) killed for the "crime" of drawing some lines on paper, or for attempting to protect those people — but from the reactions to it. Everyone seems [...]
Our health, physical and mental, is one of the most important things in life. Everybody will sooner or later use one or the other form of health service. Our health services matter a great deal and it is therefore quite legitimate that the issue is being publically debated. But four months away from an election [...]
Wed 7th
21:56
Vince Cable at his best or... What we shall be missing in the general election campaign
Back in June of last year I wrote that Nick Clegg would be making a mistake if he appointed Danny Alexander as our economic spokesman for the 2015 general election. He has now made that mistake and I hold by what I wrote six months ago. The video above (thanks to Nick Thornsby for the link) gives us a glimpse of what we shall be missing. It shows Vince Cable's contribution to the Budget debate in March of last year. It shows a passage I quoted at the time, describing it as a "master class". You can watch the whole ...
BBC News reports that the grandparents and aunt of a five-year-old girl who died after being hit by a car in Eastbourne have been refused permission to enter the country to attend her funeral. The case has been taken up by the town's MP, Liberal Democrat Stephen Lloyd. He told the BBC: "I am extremely angry at the callousness shown by the Home Office. "To me this is an immigration decision which lacks compassion and basic decency, attributes which I know are front and centre with the vast majority of British people."Stephen has written to the immigration minister, James Brokenshire, ...
From the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald: The identities of dead teenagers as old as 17 were stolen by undercover police officers according to figures released by Scotland Yard after Chippenham MP Duncan Hames' near two-year battle to expose the information. The Metropolitan Police revealed that dead children aged "0, 1, 4 to 14, 16 and 17" had their identities stolen by the potentially rogue Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) in a practice the force conceded was "morally repugnant". The information was obtained by the Liberal Democrat MP after a two-year Freedom of Information (FoI) battle with the Met. The force only ...
Wed 7th
19:54
Teads Top Lib Dem Blogs, January 2015: the return of Jonathan Fryer and Millennium Elephant
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Teads (previously Ebuzzing / Wikio). Just one site drops out this time, Cllr James Baker, and there's a very welcome return for both Jonathan Fryer and Millennium Elephant. 1 (4) Liberal Democrat Voice No change 2 (13) Mark Pack Down 2 3 (25) Stephen Tall Down 2 4 (29) Jennie Rigg Down 4 5 (36) Zoe O'Connell (Complicity) Up 34 6 (37) Nick Tyrone Up 6 7 (38) Alex Marsh Up 4 8 (46) Caron Lindsay (Caron's Musings) Up 20 9 (57) Lynne Featherstone MP ...
Honest London has a brief interview with Madeleine Moxham, founder of the jewellery and accessories brand MOXHAM and resident of Camberwell. Asked which current or historical London figure would you most like to meet, Medeleine unexpectedly and wonderfull replies: "Liberal politician Charles Masterman - lived in Camberwell and laid the foundations of the welfare state."That is a generous description, but as Masterman was the minister who took Lloyd George's health insurance measures in the face of opposition from the Conservatives and the medical profession, it is not an inaccurate one. There is a lot about Charles Masterman on this blog, ...
The way we register to vote has changed and with the General Election and local elections in May you should make sure you're registered. You can register to vote here – it takes about five minutes. Simple!
I was greatly saddened to learn yesterday that Jim Lee, former Managing Director of Travel Dundee (now National Express Dundee), has passed away. Jim was very approachable and helpful during the time I was the City Council's Planning and Transport Convener - the photo below is of Jim & myself at the launch of a safer travel initiative back in 2007. He was also a constituent in the West End and a former neighbour of mine - a thoroughly nice man who will be sadly missed. My thoughts are with Jim's family at this sad time. With Jim at the ...
[IMG: nick clegg] It's Nick Clegg's 48th birthday today, so I'm going to start off nicely. I like him, admire him, respect him. To have endured what he's endured these past five years - a campaign of belittling vilification by the media which bears comparison only to the attacks Neil Kinnock was subjected to - and still to be standing, and sometimes smiling, is deeply impressive. The easy gag about him - the one plied on panel shows passing themselves off as satire - is that he's weak, put upon, no more than Cameron's cushion. Just as Spitting Image got ...
Mike Apps asks for more policy details and less rhetoric from the parties on the key topic of immigration. I am happy to oblige. Liberal Democrats believe in the positive attributes of immigration and freedom of movement - in allowing our businesses and industries to employ the cream of the world's top executive talent, in being able to employ foreign citizens to do jobs that British workers do not want to do, and in giving opportunities to our own citizens to live, work or study abroad. This does not mean though that we should not crack down on those that ...
Wed 7th
16:50
LibLink: Edward McMillan Scott - The embarrassing link between Cameron and Germany's anti-Islamic mo...
Writing on Politics.co.uk, former MEP Edward McMillan-Scott highlights a potential cause of tension at today's meeting in London between the Prime Minister and the German Chancellor: When Angela Merkel meets David Cameron in London today, one topic could cause embarrassment to both leaders: Cameron's association with the German anti-Islamist movement, Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West), which was condemned at the New Year by the German chancellor. After the European election in May, Cameron's controversial group in the European parliament voted to include Germany's Eurosceptic Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) MEPs, a move which infuriated Merkel, especially now ...
In the modern era of soundbites and short term solutions to long term problems, I have noticed recently that, if you really have no idea what to do about something you don't like, calling for a pause is an increasingly popular choice. For example, Rachel Reeves is apparently calling for a pause in the rollout of Universal Credit whilst, well, what exactly? Labour activists in Camden called for a pause in work on HS2 rather than call for it to be scrapped altogether - perhaps because scrapping it would be unpopular with Labour politicians in the North and Midlands. You ...
[IMG: vincedanny] So, despite months of people consistently saying it's a bad idea, the Liberal Democrat leadership has confirmed today that Danny Alexander will be the party's main spokesperson on Treasury issues for the election campaign, while Vince Cable will be restricted to commenting purely on BIS matters. Some people are claiming that this is no big deal, as those are related to their Cabinet positions, while others are not very happy. The point here is that this isn't a case of two people doing the same jobs they've been doing for the last few years. This is the announcement ...
Nick Clegg has responded to the news of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris: Horrible news of a barbaric attack on freedom of speech in Paris. My thoughts are with the victims, their families and their colleagues. — Nick Clegg (@nick_clegg) January 7, 2015
I was thinking recently about how to increase opportunity and impact in UK politics for people, in a popular way. I came to an idea which I thought was worth floating, not because of its originality, but because of its obviousness: why not limit Westminster terms for MPs? Given Fixed Term Parliaments, this seems the time to propose reform to related rules and limitations. After all, in a given 20 year period, we can now expect an average of four parliaments rather than five, with the decreased turnover in MPs that suggests. The current average of service is about 10 ...
The best of ALDC content from the last week, including: LDHQ February Bulk Buy Details Making the Most of Social Media New By-Election Email Notifications service 'Strategy' FAQs via Ask ALDC Facebook Group update Imprints and the 2015 Elections ALDC Blog LDHQ February Bulk Buy Templates Next month's LDHQ literature templates have been made available. [...]
The news from Paris today is deeply shocking. There are twelve people who are reported dead and four reported injured by the attack at the offices of satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. Four cartoonists and the editor-in-chief of the magazine are reported to be among the dead. We express our sincere sympathy to those who have lost loved ones and those affected by the tragedy. We also express our solidarity with the French people and Charlie Hebdo magazine in standing for free speech and against such mindless acts.
Hello all, Don't worry, I haven't stop posting, I have a new website! Please head to www.johnleech.org.uk for all the latest and where I will continue to post my blog. [...]
The Stroke Café is now held at Badminton Road Methodist Church, Badminton Road, Downend BS16 6NU on the second Friday of every month between 11 am and 1 pm.
Stockport Council has re-launched its Kill the Chill campaign to make sure the local community is prepared for the winter months. Each year, thousands of people die in England as a result of cold weather. Keeping warm and safe over cold periods can help prevent colds, flu or more serious health problems like pneumonia. There are simple things you can do for yourself and others, as well as ways the Council can help you, to keep warm and stay healthy this winter: Looks after yourself this winter: Make sure you get your flu jab if you are aged 65 or ...
Writing in today's Telegraph, David Laws says that Tory plans will mean huge cuts to spending on schools: The Conservatives are offering unfunded tax cuts, meaning they will have to go on making deep cuts to public spending - by far more than is necessary to balance the books. This would be a huge threat to all we are achieving on education. Our analysis, based on independent research by the House of Commons library, has found that if the Conservatives are in Government on their own, they would be obliged to force through education budget cuts of £13.3bn a year ...
In two weeks time it will be 100 days until polling day. For me this is a scary prospect, but it is also a good hook to start your fund raising campaign for May. Many Local Parties have a tradition of doing 'an election appeal'. Those who raise most know that you increase your fund [...]
Are you starting a new business, or thinking of working for yourself? Cool Ventures offer introductory sessions to help you understand what it means to work for yourself or start a new business. Starting with an enjoyable and interactive two hour session they introduce you to the basic concepts of running a business and help you decide whether it is right for you. There's a FREE one-evening session at Emersons Green on Monday 2nd February. Check out this link for details and to book your place
[IMG: Poll piechart] The latest quarterly update to my spreadsheet of opinion poll data since 1943 is now up at: http://www.markpack.org.uk/opinion-polls/ You can also sign up on that page to get email notifications about future updates. Enjoy!
The Food Standards Agency publishes hygiene ratings for restaurants, cafes and many other establishments. The scale goes from 0 to 5. As the FSA website explains: At the inspection, the officer will check: how hygienically the food is handled - how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored the condition of the structure of the buildings - the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities how the business manages what it does to make sure food is safe and so that the officer can be confident standards will be maintained in the future Each of these three elements is ...
When David Cameron ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2005, he had a two pronged approach towards Europe: he would tell his party to shut up about it, and as a sweetener style adjunct to this request, would pull the Tories out of the European People's Party and place them into a new EU parliamentary grouping of his own invention. A carrot and stick method, if you will. Only problem is, it didn't stop the Tories "banging on about Europe" at all, and in fact, pulling his party out of the EPP seemed only to make the ...
Angus Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news that Legal High or "Head" shops in Angus will soon stop selling the controversial products, but have called on the shop owner to close the shops immediately. The owner of shops in Arbroath and Montrose has said that the campaign against the selling of Legal Highs has been successful and has forced him to reconsider. In addition, the Lib Dem led policy to make New Psychoactive Substances illegal in future will mean that he will no longer be able to sell the products legally. [IMG: Sanjay Samani and David May outside Montrose Legal ...
Wed 7th
12:14
Acocks Green Post Office's move to go ahead, co-located with a new WHSmith Local store.
Post Office Ltd have announced that their proposed move of Acocks Green's Post Office from its current location (1100 Warwick Road) to 1131 Warwick Road will go ahead. The current site will close at 5.30pm on 11th March 2015, with the new branch opening at 9am on Thursday 12th March. As discussed in previous posts the move over the road will involve a number of changes in the way it operates: On the positive side opening hours will be considerably longer : 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday (apart from on the 11th March 2015), against 8.30am to 6pm currently. ...
The scale of this film production was truly epic: over 15,000 Russian troops used as extras (for a film that was, perhaps surprisingly, financed by the old Soviet Communist regime), two hills demolished to help landscape the location where it was filmed and more than six miles of underground piping laid to help recreate the battle's crucial mud. [IMG: Waterloo - DVD box] The battle scenes when they come – roughly halfway into the movie – are immense in scale and dazzling in execution. They focus very tightly in on Wellington at Waterloo itself. The preceding linked and dramatic battles ...
Wed 7th
11:54Shirley Williams talks about the new film based on the life of her mother, Vera Brittain
Baroness Shirley Williams has been speaking to the Telegraph on the occasion of the release of a film based on her mother, Vera Brittain's memoir, Testament of Youth: Baroness Williams has praised her mother Vera Brittain's lifelong efforts as a pacifist, saying her only regret is that "she wasn't here when we fought against the Iraq war." The 84-year-old Lib Dem grandee spoke about her mother at the premiere of the film adaptation of Brittain's First World War memoir, Testament of Youth. She said of the writer, feminist and campaigner who died in 1970: "She never gave up. She was ...
Tesco in Launceston have been refused planning permission for a new 'pod' to be attached to the outside of their store to operate a dry cleaning, shoe repairs and key cutting operation under the Timpson brand. The decision was taken unanimously by Cornwall Council's planning committee on Monday which heard representations from my colleague Jade Farrington and myself as well as the town council and a local business which would be affected by the move. The decision was not a matter of seeking to deny competition. But such competition should take place within the town centre where there are around ...
Many members having contacting ALDC regarding the legalities of imprints within the long campaign ( that's the first regulated period for the general election in parliamentary constituencies) Our basic advice is outlined in the AskALDC articles below: Imprints and the Law Digital Imprints and the Law Posters and Imprints for those with our MyCouncillor sites [...]
If you didn't get to see part one of "Kate Humble: Into the Volcano" on Sunday night (available on BBC iPlayer until 3 February), you missed a treat, especially if you like volcanology. Deliberately not getting too close to the edge of the crater... Admittedly, I don't really understand it, but I have been to Vanuatu, where the programme was filmed and, in particular, to Mount Yasur, the volcano featured. I went there to climb the volcano in 2007, as part of my 'see all the places I ever wanted to go' phase. What interested me about the programme, apart ...
Despite the stunning brutality its war with the US, Vietnam is now one of the most pro-American countries on the earth. The discovery of a mutual enemy may explain this turnaround. It's unclear how many Vietnamese perished as a result of the Kháng chiến chống Mỹ or 'Resistance War against America' but even [...]
"Oh, the sad condition of mankind," moaned the great Belgian pioneer of statistics, Adolphe Quetelet: "We can say in advance how many individuals will sully their hands with the blood of their neighbours, how many of them will commit forgeries, and how many will turn poisoners with almost the same precision as we can predict the number of births and deaths. Society contains within it the germ of all the crimes that will be committed." It is a frightening thought, just as it was frightening for Quetelet's contemporaries to hear him say it in the 1830s. But he and his ...
Wed 7th
09:54Offering "heart and spine" - should we be mentioning the "c" word in the election campaign?
As an experiment, comments for this post will be moderated and confined to new and infrequent commenters on this site. "Infrequent" is defined as having posted less than five comments in the last month. We have 40 posts a week where our frequent commenters have more than enough space to express their views. This post is reserved for new and not-so-frequent commenters. We carried Nick Clegg's Monday press conference speech in full. It was a very well-written and compelling narrative. He said that the 2015 election will be about: Who is best placed to finish the (recovery) job and do ...
A very good morning from your Wednesday editor. Our cheery morning photo (above) shows Stephen Fry and Elliott Spencer. Many congratulations to them both on their forthcoming marriage, the plan for which became public yesterday. We're going to try something a bit different today. As an experiment, comments on the next post, to follow in ten minutes' time, will be moderated and reserved for new and infrequent commenters on this site. "Infrequent" is defined as having posted less than five comments in the last month. We have 40 posts a week where our frequent commenters have more than enough space ...
HomeSense, a homeware store that's part of the TK Maxx group, plans to move into Unit 1 at the Stanley Green Retail Park filling the vacancy left by Comet, the Lib Dems have discovered. The news has become public following a planning application to expand the mezzanine floor in the unit – the Lib Dem team spotted the reference to HomeSense in one of the submitted documents for the application. [IMG: HomeSense]
There have been so many brilliant UKIP related pieces of news this week thus far, I figured spending a whole article focusing only on one of them would be a waste. So I'll run through the best ones – hang on tight. First off, obviously, the website thing. For those who may not be aware, yesterday the UKIP webpage went down. There was widespread speculation as to the cause. Sabotage by the Tories? MI5? Ex-Kippers angry about not getting selected for an unwinnable seat in the Midlands? Nope, none of these were the culprit. Someone at UKIP HQ forgot to ...
French TV battles over women's club rugby (tags: ) Disappearance of UKIP website 'caused by immigrants' (tags: ) Factcheck: Campaign posters don't show the full picture (tags: ) Ladies and gentlemen, your culture secretary - and a terrible insult to the noble Sontaran race (tags: ) George Osborne has a point about Labour's spending plans (tags: ) The Top 101 Astronomical Events to Watch for in 2015 (tags: ) Speccie reckons Vince Cable will definitely lose out to Danny Alexander as economy spokes for the election. This is the most bone-headedly stupid decision that the leadership could have made. Although ...
Wed 7th
08:36Vince Cable and Danny Alexander to be confirmed as Election Spokesmen for Cabinet jobs they have bee...
Exclusive, Vince Cable will lose his economy job with the Lib Dems tomorrow screams the Spectator headline. In fact, this is the second biggest surprise since the sun last rose in the East. The first biggest surprise, by the way, was that Alex Salmond would stand in Gordon where he faces defeat by Lib Dem Christine Jardine in May. Anyway, back to the story which is about the party announcing its spokespeople for the General Election. It is hardly a surprise that Vince and Danny have been named as covering the roles they have been doing for the last five ...
Tomorrow and Friday sees a real opportunity to hear from the University of Dundee's new professors newest professors and award-winning teachers and communicators, as they share with us the ideas that inspire them. Everyone is welcome including school pupils, members of the public and our staff & students. Discovery Days 2015 will take place on Thursday 8th (1.30pm-5pm) and Friday 9th January (9.30am-4.30pm) at the Main Lecture Theatre, Dalhousie Building on Old Hawkhill. You can download the Discovery Days 2015 programme here or see more on the Facebook page here. Refreshments and lunch are available and the event will close ...
The Times has the news that the latest accounts of a company set up by Tony Blair to handle his business interests managed to halve its corporation tax bill to less than £300,000 despite generating turnover of £14 million: The figures for Windrush Ventures showed that nearly £13 million was written off as "administrative expenses" and more than £5 million was held in cash by the firm. It is believed that the expenses cover hotels and flights for his staff as well as for the former prime minister's own travel, including his private jet, dubbed Blair Force One. Windrush Ventures, ...
Wed 7th
07:55Trust in professions: it's generally good news but there's a real puzzle about journalism
The latest data on the public's trust in professions is out and thanks to MORI's great long-running series of comparable data the new figures can be put in decent historic context. And the context is surprisingly good, unless you are a politician or a journalist. I say "surprisingly" because the usual tenor of discussions about trust of others in society is of a troubling long-term decline. For example, see Anthony Seldon's book Trust. Yet the long-term trends, as I speculated a few years ago, do indeed now generally look promising. [IMG: MORI trust graph January 2015] The clergy aside (and ...
Last Saturday I was in Southport taking some pictures and the one below I took at Southport Station. [IMG: rsz_southport_station_at_dusk] But when taking this very shot I was approached by a British Transport Policeman and asked why I was photographing in the Station. Don't get me wrong the chap was polite and friendly and immediately accepted that I was just a railway enthusiast taking pictures. But it does bring it home to you how the Police are trying to keep us safe from those who are determined to do us harm, even in England's classic seaside resort. The photos above ...
It's Nick Clegg's 48th birthday today and we at Liberal Democrat Voice obviously wish him a happy day and successful year ahead. I thought it might be a good idea (with a little help from LDV colleagues) to take a look at some of the good things he's done, 48 of them to be precise, and encourage party supporters to make 48 calls to voters in our key seats to tell them about them this week. Not all of them in each call, of course, but there's plenty to be going on with. So, here we go: 1. From his ...
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have uncovered figures that show nearly 4,000 people working for Plaid Cymru-led councils are not being paid the living wage, with nearly 600 are employed on zero-hours contracts. This is despite Plaid Cymru recently writing to organisations urging them to pay the living wage. The living wage, which is £7.85, is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually by the Living Wage Foundation based on the basic cost of living in the UK. Despite campaigning for the living wage to be paid in the public sector and for zero-hours contracts to be scrapped, Freedom of ...
I'm too tired to write after the first day back in the office, so while I've got the next two days' blog posts (on Oscar Wilde's influence on Cerebus tomorrow, and on Different Drum by the Stone Poneys on Thursday) planned out, I don't have the brain to finish them, so you get links. Slate [...]
