In the three months to November, the number of people out of work in the UK fell by 58,000 to 1.91m – its lowest level for more than six years. And for our bit of London – Dulwich & West Norwood it fell by from 3,706 or 5.5% and is down to 3.5% of economically active adults. But that's still 2,428 people without work that want jobs. So locally we have remarkably lower unemployment than the UK rate which now stands at 5.8 per cent of the adult working population, as per Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Today's larger ...
Linkylinkylinky... Nick Barlow on the Telegraph's patronising article about the Greens' policies. I'm no fan of the Greens, but for very different reasons than the Telegraph... Speaking of which, here's Sarah Brown on the Greens' transphobic transport spokesentity, Rupert Read, and the phenomenon of male TERFs Back To The Future, Time Travel, and the Secret [...]
Former Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott (he of the controversial constituency polls and bodged anti-Clegg coup attempt) has given £300,000 to 30 Labour Parliamentary candidates up against Tories or Ukip, £300,000 to 15 Lib Dems and £10,000 to the Green MP Caroline Lucas: Britain stands on the edge of a cliff with the general election only 105 days away. Will we vote Tory or Ukip for Euro referendum chaos, lasting two years at least and putting thousands of businesses, millions of jobs and our long term peace and security at risk? Or will Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and all progressive ...
So, having worked out which day we were actually meeting (it wasn't yesterday, it seems), I made sure that I was in good time for a prompt 6.15 start, and was pleasantly surprised to find that there were a number of us from beyond the M25 present. But you don't care about that (well, not much, anyway), so let's get on with the report... We opened with a presentation by Martin Horwood MP, outlining what the key international themes are likely to be - there won't be any great surprises, you won't be shocked to hear - including Trident, FGM ...
Wed 21st
20:47
Baroness Scott urges government to let parish councils set their precept without interference
My thanks to Mark Valladares for bringing this recent House of Lords speech by Baroness Scott to my attention: @BaronessRos responds to the consultation on the Local Government Finance Settlement 2015/16... Mark writes: It gives me great pleasure to publish here Ros's thoughts on local government finance and, more generally, on the Conservative Party's view on localism and accountability... I am writing in response to consultation on the Local Government Finance Settlement 2015/16 and the statement from the Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins MP on council tax and parishes. The Minister has invited views on "whether the highest spending parishes ...
From the ONS's latest statistics: [IMG: Job growth in full time jobs]
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal today (Wednesday 21) officially opened a Cambridge city centre community development. Princess Anne unveiled plaques at the new Parkside Place Community Fire and Rescue Station and Hundred Houses Society affordable housing scheme Chester House, located on the development. HRH was greeted by Cambridgeshire civic dignitaries and was then welcomed onto station by Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service's Chief Fire Officer Graham Stagg and Chairman of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority Sir Peter Brown. The Princess enjoyed a tour of the fire station and housing development, meeting fire service staff and residents. Schoolchildren from St ...
Jan 21, 2015 Dec 24, 2014 Nov 26, 2014 Oct 29, 2014 Normal Hb 101 104 109 100 130 - 180 WBC 3.52 4.00 3.02 3.10 4.5 - 10.0 Neutrophils 1.6 1.80 1.16 1.43 2.0 - 7.5 Plt 494 551 391 427 150 - 450 None of the values are within normal range, but Hb is just above the level at which DIPSS+ indicates a worse prognosis. The consultant agreed that an abrupt change doesn't really occur, and she also acknowledges that a single point for age over 65 doesn't accurately reflect the actual position. I think my own arbitrary ...
We have a huge problem in this country with physical inactivity. Most people do nothing like enough to stay healthy, and as a result problems like obesity and being overweight are very common. But there are huge benefits from a physically active society. If people keep fit, they are healthier and happier. One way to help change this is to encourage more people to walk or cycle to work, or to school, or just to the shops. It is also far more environmentally sustainable, and a very cheap and reliable way for people to get around. So the case is ...
[First posted at the SPS blog: Comment and Analysis, 21/01/15] The housing problems facing the UK are multifaceted. They include the failure to build sufficient new dwellings to keep pace with population growth; significant market volatility; problems of affordability for both owners and renters; and problems of insecurity in the private rented sector. The Coalition government has been quite strong on rhetoric and has announced a succession of new policies and initiatives. In the social housing sector these have included changes to subsidy, tenancy security, regulation, and rent levels. The Coalition has had rather less success in bringing affordable, secure ...
I have had a lot of correspondence about the banner that has appeared on the Grade II listed Dinham Bridge. The banner advertises the Cliffe Hotel. If you want to put an advertisement up like this, it needs listed building consent and advertising consent. When the proprietors of the Cliffe were warned of this by [...]
As The Sun appears to have withdrawn the topless women from page 3, today seems like a good day to reminisce. I am, after all, an old man these days... There was a time, when I was young, when I used to travel around London for fun. Hard to believe, I know, but there you are. I could tell you how to get from just about anywhere to anywhere else, in short, a bit of an anorak. So, when an event was organised that involved travelling the Tube network, getting a card stamped at various stations and perhaps winning something ...
Climate change is one of the most, if not the most, dangerous threat facing the world today. The evidence could hardly be any clearer – unless we curtail greenhouse gas emissions sharply, the results will be massively detrimental to us all and put the lives of future generations at enormous risk. We've made progress in government. Investment in green energy has doubled since 2010, renewable energy sources now meet about a fifth of our electricity needs, and we are creating 200,000 new green jobs. That's great – but nothing like everything that we need to do. The government is keen ...
It's hard to tell if the ejection of Mahinda Rajapaska from the Sri Lankan presidency should worry Putin or Xi more. In recent years the world has seen a growing number of elected autocracies: governments that gain and retain power through elections yet repress dissent and seek to control institutions that should be independent of it [...]
[IMG: Tide bottles. Photo courtesy of Mike Mozart CC BY 2.0] Only recently did I come across the remarkable story from 2011 of how the police in one American county discovered detergent was being used as a currency: The grocery store, located in suburban Bowie, Maryland, had been robbed repeatedly. But in every incident the only products taken were bottles—many, many bottles—of the liquid laundry detergent Tide... Tide bottles have become ad hoc street currency, with a 150-ounce bottle going for either $5 cash or $10 worth of weed or crack cocaine. On certain corners, the detergent has earned a ...
President Obama has announced proposals to increase taxes on the wealthy and help those on lower incomes (such as by boosting tax credits). The plans include reforms to capital gains tax (CGT): increasing its rate and ending a loophole. Should we do the same in the UK, and how do the Lib Dems' proposals compare? It's worth pointing out first that the UK has already been through many CGT reforms. It was introduced in the 60s, modified by inflation-proofing in the 80s, which was replaced by taper relief in the 90s, which was in turn scrapped in the 00s. It's ...
The best of ALDC content from the last week, including: Finding and Standing Full Slates Latest ALDC Election Templates 'Crowdfunding' Contributions to Local Election Campaigns New Funding for Local Health Services and Electoral Registration Ask ALDC Election Law FAQs Facebook Update ALDC Blog Always Stand a Candidate Campaigns Officer John Bridges discusses the 'how' and [...]
Writing on the Liberal Democrat website, Baroness Claire Tyler sets out detailed ways in which government can radically improve the treatment of mental health problems: What's the nub of the problem we are trying to tackle? For me it is well summed up by John Lucas, a campaigner for the mental health charity Mind who has been diagnosed with both physical and mental health problems when he said: "Why does the NHS pull out all the stops to stop me dying of physical health problems, but does not care if I die of mental health problems?" Real parity of esteem ...
At the moment, there are some pretty good statistics for Lib Dems to shout about. Inflation, unemployment, apprenticeships, pupil premium figures and more are all good news. The trouble is that just shouting loudly about the numbers doesn't make for great communication with the electorate, although sometimes a graphic representation can be appropriate. Although a [...]
Figures revealed yesterday have shown that the SNP Government chose to close the busier of the Sheriff's Courts in Angus. This was despite there being over £100 million unspent in the last year for Justice and the Procurator Fiscal Service. Angus Lib Dems strongly objected to the closure of Arbroath Sheriff Court and the figures reveal that the court was heavily used. Forcing witnesses and victims to travel long distances will undermine the effectiveness of the justice system in Angus. SNP representatives for Angus, Mike Weir MP, Nigel Don MSP and Graeme Day MSP seem to have little or no ...
Over at this morning's edition of The Times's Red Box email, Philip Webster says, "I'm still looking for the "killer question" that tells us who the nation wants to form the next government". I think the one reported today is pretty close to being it — and it should worry Labour: [IMG: yougov labour econ] Overall, voters are pretty pessimistic they'll be better off under either party. However, the net figure ('better off' minus 'worse off') for the Tories, -22%, is less unhealthy than Labour's -29%. The sense that Labour has failed to make up its own deficit — polls ...
Back in October, I covered some of the madness of one of Labour's 'we are the One True Party and none shall stand in our way' true believers, and as a blog written by someone outside the Labour Party could never change his mind, he's doubling down on it. The proposition this time is that the surefire way for Labour to win the election is to proclaim that they will govern as a single party, or they won't be in government at all. Apparently the political equivalent of a child's tantrum and declaring you don't want to play with anyone ...
If there is one thing that is worse than going to the electorate with a half-worked out policy, it is then trying to avoid being held to account on the details of that policy during the election campaign. Such an approach never works out well. And yet it looks like Ed Balls is going to attempt this trick over Labour's plans for a mansion tax. The Times reports that the Shadow Chancellor has now stated that he will not reveal full details of the Mansion Tax plan until after the election amidst considerable disquiet within the Labour Party about the ...
We have not sold Joe Public the idea that 'equality of opportunity' is in the soul, in the very DNA of Liberalism, and the Liberal Democrats, and that was why we pledged free higher education. Ordinary people do not credit us with Scottish zero tuition fees. They do not realise our non-negotiable condition of joining with the Scottish Labour Party was our policy and that it flew in the face of national Labour Party manifesto then, and since. And certainly, we have never leveraged the soul-searching and pain we had to go through in our deciding to break our pledge. ...
Wed 21st
13:18
One thing we can say about the polls: the vote share for the two largest parties appears on course f...
There was a day last week when an Ashcroft poll put the Tories six points up over Labour, while a Populus poll had Labour five points up on the Conservatives. An eleven point swing during one twenty-four hour period not surprisingly had commentators wondering about why the polling had gone all wacky on us. This week, we have both Ashcroft and an ICM poll showing the Greens with very high numbers all of a sudden – 11% in one case. Amidst all the confusion, there does appear to be two identifiable trends however: one, the Labour lead continues to shrink; ...
My name is Emerson, Steve Emerson – Fox News's branding of Birmingham as city where non-Muslims don't go wasn't an accident, but part of a wider skein of the 'anti-terrorist' movement. Why Britain Doesn't Need A 'UKIP Of The Left' – I've been trying to do a a similar post to this myself for ages, but it explains how the question 'why isn't there a UKIP of a the left?' rests on flawed assumptions. What David Cameron just proposed would endanger every Briton and destroy the IT industry – But aside from that, Prime Minister, how was your day? Davos ...
Yesterday, Cornwall Council discussed the campaign to win more devolution known as the Case for Cornwall. The debate was a good one - possibly the best I have been involved in during my five-plus years on the authority. There are those who want to see only limited further devolution - principally on the Tory benches - and those who want to see much more - mainly Liberal Democrats and MK. This is what I said during the debate: We are at our best when we are bravest. Standing up for our principles at all times. For what Cornwall needs and ...
Janan Ganesh's thought-provoking biography of George Osborne, The Austerity Chancellor, explains much of Osborne's current willingness to talk of deep, deep public spending cuts even at the risk of offering up to Labour attacks about 1930s spending levels: [IMG: Extract from The Austerity Chancellor by Janan Ganesh] [IMG: Extract from The Austerity Chancellor by Janan Ganesh]
Cheadle Medical Practice have asked us to pass on their new extended hours which are as follows: Monday 8am -8pm Tuesday 7:30am – 6:30pm Wednesday 8am-6.30pm Thursday 8am-8pm Friday 8am-6.30pm Saturday 8.30am-12.30 twice per month. Please contact the medical practice for more information.
This story is being carried by the Liverpool Echo – see link above. You can see this becoming a photographers place to go for some!
Wed 21st
12:15
LibLink: Baroness Sally Hamwee - Sending overseas students home is "economic nonsense"
Writing on PoliticsHome, Baroness Sally Hamwee, describes the recently mooted Conservative plans to send overseas students home as "economic nonsense", which risk the good reputation of the UK: Around Christmas, it was reported that the Home Secretary proposed changing the immigration rules so that overseas students at UK universities who wanted to stay on to work would have to return home after graduation and apply from outside the UK. It is widely acknowledged that the presence of overseas students is important. Their fees represent considerable income for the universities, but perhaps more significant is whether they feel welcomed by this ...
Nick Harvey: "[Trident] is assumed to be beyond debate" A fair bit has been made of yesterday's Opposition Day debate on Trident - although arguably the media have not given it quite as much attention as it merits. True, it's a debate on a motion that has zero chance of being passed. This, however, does not make it irrelevant - in fact, Trident renewal is of huge interest to voters, especially in Scotland where attitudes are more clearly defined. The nuclear "deterrent" has long been an issue that has plagued, and to some degree defined, the Liberal Democrats and its ...
When I hurried to buy my tranche of the Pensioner Bonds for the Over 65s, generously issued by our Chancellor George Osborne last Thursday at the currently attractive 4% rate of interest, I was wryly aware that in doing so I was actually helping to add to the government deficit and the National Debt, both of which the Tories scream it is their number one priority to reduce. What I hadn't thought through was the idiocy of the government's doing it in such an expensive way. The hypocrisy of this is detailed in this blog, by Chris Dillow, which ...
Our press statement in advance of Sefton's Full Council meeting on 22nd January Local Liberal Democrat councillors, who have consistently voiced objections to Labour-run Sefton Council's Local Plan, say that the Plan "gets worse by each new draft". Sefton Lib Dem councillors' Deputy Leader and Planning spokesperson Tony Robertson says: "It's as though the Council's objective is simply to produce a Plan that they hope is going to be accepted by a Planning Inspector. There is no ambition in the plan for the Borough and its diverse communities. All requests to add in important local objectives are ignored." This Bootle-centric ...
I have recently been putting together the first edition of Parliamentary Campaigner for 2015. This is the newsletter/campaign manual for Lib Dem Parliamentary candidates. I've been the editor of it for 11 years. I included in the forthcoming edition a copy of the above table. It is up-to-date as of this morning when the latest unemployment figures were produced. Yet another fall in
Wed 21st
11:52
Iraq War report: Anger as Chilcot inquiry delayed until after general election – very convenie...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30913744 This is approaching a national scandal. We Lib Dems opposed the illegal war which Tories and Labour backed. Goodness knows how many thousands of people lost their lives via this Bush/Blair venture. Coincidentally the Lib Dem group on Sefton Council had already put down the motion below for debate at tomorrow's Sefton Council meeting before today's kick into the long grass was announced. Motion Submitted by Councillor Dawson "This Council notes: (i) the loyalty bravery and professionalism with which troops recruited in the North West of England, including the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, conducted themselves during the invasion and ...
St Albans City and District Council is about to begin work on restoring the façade of 35 Market Place. At a meeting on 22 January, Cabinet will hear that contractors have been appointed to repair structural brickwork at the front of the grade II listed building. The work is likely to last four months. Prior [...]
Hopeful policy portent number one: Labour's policy mastermind Jon Cruddas "now"* backs electoral reform. I used to be in favour of first-past-the-post, but my experience as an MP has changed my views into very much more support of a more proportional system because the whole system is geared to the preferences and prejudices of a swing group of marginal voters in marginal seats. It sort of corrupts the character of our representative democracy so it becomes less representative and less democratic. [Politics Home] Hopeful policy portent number two (and don't wince too much at the source of it): Peter Mandelson ...
[IMG: george iv a voluptary gillray] James Gillray: "A voluptuary under the horrors of Digestion", 1792, depicts the Prince of Wales at the time. Cartoons in the last couple of weeks have perhaps had more attention that at any time before. Deliberately offensive cartoons such as those published by the magazine Charlie Hebdo have caused much debate across the world. From some published statements it would appear that some people seem to think that this is a new phenomenon or something particularly French. Far from it – scandalous and anti-establishment cartoons have a long tradition in the UK. If you ...
Monday's Full Council saw me propose a motion to Council on the subject of Delivering Affordable Housing to Sutton Residents. The motion calls on Central Government to devolve more funding and powers to Local Authorities who show that they are willing to deliver the necessary housing growth. It also highlighted the work that Sutton is [...]
Wed 21st
10:00
30,000 reasons why Mike Hancock may not yet have made up his mind about re-standing as an MP
A tweet from BBC reporter Giles Dilnot caught my eye yesterday: Mike Hancock reveals (it's OK don't panic) he is "undecided" whether to stand at GE2015. That it is a question at all seems a tad surprising — Giles Dilnot (@reporterboy) January 20, 2015 Mike Hancock was (re-)elected as Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South in 2010. He was (eventually) suspended from the party last year, and has since admitted to "inappropriate and unprofessional friendship" with a constituent. He stood as an independent in last May's local elections and was heavily defeated. Time to call it a day, then? Not ...
The Gazette has reported that the young leaders at 1st Abbotswood Scout Group are launching a programme with new ideas and monthly activities to attract newcomers. This is against the background of youth services recently stopping at St Nicholas Youth Centre due to lack of funding. See the Gazette report here for full details. We previously reported the St Nix youth centre closure here - we'll update you on this blog as soon as we have news about replacement provisions.
There's certainly been a lot of debate over the last 365 days about renewable energy in Peterborough, specifically solar farms! As a result of one or two misinformed local politicians, the debate, in my opinion, has often swayed from the facts that should be addressed and recognised. Firstly, that Peterborough's local authority, must start to generate its [...]
Now that the eurozone appears to be about to be bailed out, very controversially, by the European Central Bank - I've been looking back through the things I used to write about the euro back when everyone was divided about it. In the Lib Dem spring conference (or was it the autumn conference) of 2001, I threatened to torpedo my reputation in the party - such as it was - by urging the reps to reject the idea of joining it. Because, as I put it then: "single currencies tend to favour the rich and impoverish the poor". They do ...
Wed 21st
09:48George Osborne's demand that Labour rule out working with the SNP is frankly, a bit weird
At a Commons Treasury Committee meeting yesterday, George Osborne gave his thoughts about a possible Labour-SNP coalition: "There's going to be a lot of hard negotiation on things like the fiscal framework and I think it would be very unfair to the whole United Kingdom if we had a Chancellor of the Exchequer who was beholden on Scottish Nationalist votes in the next Parliament. "I think that would not be fair for the rest of the United Kingdom and I think those who aspire to hold this office should make it very clear before the election that they would not ...
This post is reserved for new and infrequent commenters. "Infrequent" is defined as having post less than five comments in the last month. Yesterday, a poll showed the Green party ahead of the Liberal Democrats by two points. Last week, figures showed that the Green party overtook the LibDems (and UKIP) in terms of membership numbers. There's also talk of a (Cameron-supported) appearance of the Greens in the election leadership debates. Opposition to that has allowed the two leading Green women to appear in a poster with the line: "What are you afraid of boys?" So, should we be panicking? ...
Cheadle's Lib Dem MP Mark Hunter has thrown his weight behind a campaign for a new Metrolink line for Cheadle and Gatley. The proposed line would be an orbital route running from Reddish through the Heatons into Stockport and then out through Edgeley, Cheadle Heath, Cheadle, Gatley and Baguley. It would give residents in Cheadle and Gatley local tram stops. [IMG: Proposals for new Metrolink lines] Proposals for new Metrolink lines Using tram-train technology that allows trams to run on existing heavy rail lines, the route would run along the Stockport-Altrincham-Chester line for much of the distance – reducing the ...
Good morning and welcome to Wednesday on Liberal Democrat Voice! This morning's cheery photo (above) is of Leslie Sebastian Charles, otherwise known as million-selling singer Billy Ocean, one of the finest exports to come out of Trinidad and Tobago, via Romford. He is 65 years old today. Many happy returns, Billy! We salute you! There is a slight connection to the forthcoming general election, as one of the Billy's most popular songs is, of course, When the going get tough, the tough get going. Perhaps that is an anthem for the Liberal Democrats in the days and weeks ahead! Just ...
Residents can visit attractions for free, take part in sports and other activities and sample tasty meal deals during Residents First Weekend on 24 and 25 January. Keep a look out for your Residents First Weekend brochure that is being distributed to homes in the District. It has been put together by St Albans City [...]
A few days late, because I took a week off non-work writing to rest my hands after a particularly vicious bout of RSI. Over on Patreon, the most wonderful, delightful, people in the world (those who pay me $1 a month or more) get to read my thoughts on A Riddle A Day Keeps The [...]
The coalition cut which takes food from children's mouths - this is shameful. (tags: ) Irish instructors on jobseeker schemes were on workfare - it's like Inception, isn't it? (tags: ) I see @CalderValleySRT rescue you whether you're local or a Southerner. Good on them :) (tags: ) FCO to raise case of jailed Saudi blogger (tags: ) 11 Obscure Political Parties Who Think They Should Be In The TV Debates Church of the Militant Elvis is my favourite (tags: ) Ed Balls: Labour will not reveal details of mansion tax until after election Would you buy a used Mansion ...
The City Council's Winter Adult Learning newsletter is now available and can be downloaded here. Courses in the West End Ward at the Mitchell Street Centre are given below including a new "Options and Choices" series starting tomorrow :
Provocative but spot on from Armando Iannucci: Now is the best time in a generation to go out and vote. With such a fragmented system on offer, nothing is inevitable. Uncertainty may create instability, but it can also generate churn and change in a way that doing nothing never can... No politician voted into office is going to take the number of people who didn't vote into account; what they will do is heed the number who voted, but not for them, if that number is overwhelming. The 45% who voted yes to independence in Scotland, because it was so ...
