Earlier this evening, I attended this month's West End Community Council meeting - one of the best attended in a long time. It was good to see so many members of the public there - and part of the reason was that there was a presentation by council Environment Department staff about the revised waste and recycling collections in part of the West End, about to be further rolled out. There was some concern expressed about the consultation process and the extent of communal bins being rolled out in part of Blackness Road. I discussed these concerns at some length ...
This photograph dates from 1910. I like to think that theatrical trains roamed the rails of Edwardian England presenting the latest play to commuters,
The Agenda has been published for the final conference before the General Election. Besides the main debate on the election manifesto, there are policy debates planned on Mental Health Five Green Laws A better deal for Britain's workforce Freedom of expression in Europe and Beyond Education Funding and speeches from Danny Alexander, Jo Swinson, Vince Cable and Norman Lamb. Nick Clegg as usual is doing a Q&A session with members as well as delivering the closing speech. For more details including the fringe programme, training and ministerial Q&As see the agenda and directory here.
I've taken the unprecedented step of contacting NHS England to complain about the Dulwich Medical Centre. I have had a number of patients highlight how impossible it is to get appointments at this GP practice. This has been the situation for more than two years. The practice have tried a number of appointment systems and non have solved the problem. They simply don't have the capacity to cope with their patient lists. I fear that sick patients are not being seen in a timely manner with the obvious risks their conditions will get much worse. Urgently they need to stop ...
[IMG: New life at Carnyorth] New life at Higher Carnyorth Farm begins with twin lambs. Despite any other worries or stress, there is always time for and joy in new life. And for me this year is news of some very special new life as our eldest daughter has told us she is expecting a baby so, with everything crossed, we hope she delivers our first grandchild as easily as the sheep delivered her lambs! The post New Life appeared first on Cllr Sue James | St Just in Penwith | St Just and Pendeen.
A new report from the US National Academies looks at the "wildly, utterly, howlingly barking mad" idea of geoengineering the climate. Jack Stilgoe, a sociologist who has spent the last three years working with geoengineering researchers, takes an early look. Earlier today, the American National Academies published their much-anticipated report on geoengineering. I am about to publish a book about the emergence of geoengineering as everyone's new best bad idea. So you'll understand that I take a greater-than-usual interest in such arcane reports, especially since my book contains a chapter that explains what was going on behind the scenes at ...
Tue 10th
22:11
Introduction by Lord Avebury, Vice Chair, Parliamentary Human Rights Group, at a press conference on...
The price we pay for being given facilities for our aircraft carriers in Bahrain became clear when the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in response to a question by Jeremy Corbyn in the Commons a few weeks ago that Bahrain is "....travelling in the right direction. It is making significant reform. The crown prince who is charged with this agenda is directly engaged and has made significant progress over the last few months".( House of Commons Official Report 20 Jan 2015 : Column 66) This extraordinary statement was made on the same day that the world famous human rights activist ...
H/T Velvet Glove Iron Fist has flagged up a new campaign that is up and running... and most intriguing... Totally Wicked, the British e-cigarette company, is challenging the EU's Tobacco Products Directive's regulation of e-cigarettes. The company's challenge is based on the view that "Article 20 of the TPD represents a disproportionate impediment to the free movement of goods and the free provisions of services, places electronic cigarettes at an unjustified competitive disadvantage to tobacco products, fails to comply with the general EU principle of equality, and breaches the fundamental rights of electronic cigarette manufacturers and users." The Court of ...
Liberal Democrat activists have remained remarkably cheerful despite our abysmal national opinion poll ratings and our failure to score even one per cent of the vote at the Rochester and Strood by-election in November. The chief reason for this may be an earlier by-election in this parliament, Eastleigh, which we held in defiance of may predictions. But I wonder if we did not make too much of Eastleigh. For the Liberal Democrat vote fell substantially - Mike Thornton received 32.1 per cent, against the 46.5 per cent Chris Huhne recorded at the 2010 general election. The reason we held the ...
Here's the agenda for the Liberal Democrat spring conference in Liverpool, including the pre-manifesto motion which sets out the party's policy approach for the general election. Download this document
Plans for up to 215 houses with road access from a new roundabout on the A49 were rejected by Shropshire Council's South Planning Committee last July. They were rejected again today. Officers had recommended approval of the plans on both occasions. This afternoon, I told the committee this was a difficult application that demonstrates how [...]
Nick Clegg spoke to the British Chambers of Commerce conference in central London today. He spoke about creating opportunities for women, about the Liberal Democrats' role in bringing about the recovery and about our plans for the future to boost business and the economy. Questioned afterwards, he also added that he wanted to see much more help for childcare in the future. Here is his speech in full: British businesses have led an extraordinary success story over the last five years. And you have done so in extremely difficult circumstances. We have one of the fastest growing economies in the ...
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Tim Gordon is the Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats. In the three years of his tenure he has done wonders to professionalise our Headquarters operation and make it election-fit. He is also a very nice man. So what has he done that deserves such a provocative headline? We first need some context. It's barely two weeks since we had those "you must give us all your money now because we have some major donors who will match it" emails. I gave the first time, and when there was a push on for donations after Nick Clegg's Last Leg appearance, ...
I'm seeing a lot of people sharing things about how Beck deserved the Grammy more than Beyonce. I'm not a fan of either, and I've never heard either album, so I don't have an opinion on which album deserved to win. But one thing I'm *very* tired of is the "I'm going to compare these [...]
Including tone, casting and whether Sony will retain enough creative control to muck the whole thing up. Oh and why I think the new films should be set in China. So Spiderman is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. First, in some of the franchise existing films and then in his own standalone adventure. The perceived failure of [...]
I've seen quite a bit of traffic recently to a post I did before the last general election, setting out what the different parties stand for. As obviously some things have changed in the intervening time, here's a rewritten version. I'm going to try here to set out what all the major parties in the [...]
Note from county council contractors ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF CARRIAGEWAY RESURFACING WORKS Carriageway works are due to commence on the A5183 High Street, St.Albans, between the junctions of Chequer Street (Peahen Junction) and Verulam Road. In order to create a safe working environment for the workforce and members of the public alike, the works will be completed using [...]
Tue 10th
16:24
"I think you're inflaming this," McVey told the sanction inquiry last week when challenged on benefi...
via Facebook
A dramatic thing folks, a political party coming from nowhere to take out a knight of the realm. Well that is what is going to happen in just under three months as the Green Party surge has reached Southend West and the party now have confidence that they can pull off the dramatic upset of all upsets, in what would be a bigger surprise than me breaking my lip-locking duck with members of the opposite sex that I've been rolling for a depressingly long time. Well that is if you believe their candidate Jon Fuller anyway. I have long been ...
From the Council: We will shortly be commencing highway drainage repairs and improvements on Cheadle Road, Cheadle between St Andrew's Church and Cheadle & Marple Sixth Form College. This work is due to start week commencing Monday the 16th February and will be carried out by our Alliance Partners George Cox & Sons Ltd. The scheme is anticipated to take up to a week to complete, weather permitting. We always aim to have a minimal impact upon the traffic flows along this route however, to ensure the work is completed within the school holiday period, it will be necessary to ...
It is human nature that the immediate threats are those that grab our attention. More longer-term dangers – like climate change can appear to be – are harder to keep high on the agenda. Come another crisis, it too easily slips off. So it might seem strange, especially in the wake of recent events, to say that climate change is the biggest threat to Liberalism. This is what Duncan Brack, Neil Stockley and I argue in Centreforum's publication of "The Challenges Facing Contemporary Liberalism: 2015 -2025," published this week here: Yet stepping back from the very real threats we ...
Tue 10th
14:30
For Nick Clegg to stay, the Lib Dems need to "confound expectations". What does that mean?
[IMG: Nick-Clegg] What is the 'Clegg threshold'? That's a question I intended to touch on in my ConHome column today - looking at the prospect of a Lib-Con Coalition 2.0 - but didn't manage to fit it in. Though I think it's likely Nick Clegg will depart soon after the 7th May election, it's by no means certain. Assuming he holds his Sheffield Hallam seat (and I still do make that assumption) and assuming he still has the appetite (and I'm told he does) then it will hinge on whether the Lib Dem result "confounds expectations". But what does that ...
When it comes to fundraising the Tories are clearly in a different league to the other parties. This is evident by this story in the Times about last night's fundraising ball. They say that the elegant black-and-white ball, stuffed with would-be donors, was attended by 16 of the 17 Tory cabinet ministers. Also present were the party's strategy chief Lynton Crosby and the former Obama campaign guru Jim Messina. Missing from the Great Room at the Grosvenor House hotel in London was George Osborne, who was at a meeting of G20 finance ministers: In an attempt to depart from stereotypes, ...
[IMG: Hooray! A new post has appeared on Lib Dem Blogs.] Hooray! A new post has appeared on Lib Dem Blogs. There has been an interesting discussion triggered by Mark Valladares and picked up by Alex Marsh, Jonathan Calder and Nick Barlow* (who wins the prize for best tag, surely) about the state of Liberal Democrat blogging. There's much good in their posts, and the comments on them, so rather than repeat what has already been said, I'll just add two new-ish points. First, a consolidation from a large number of creators to a smaller number is a common feature ...
Back last summer, we decided not to put solar panels on our roof, but recently we have reconsidered the pros and cons and decided to get fresh quotes. On the con side are the aesthetics. This was the deciding factor last year, since our house is part of a terrace of coastguard cottages which are [...]
A City Deal for Cardiff and the Valleys would be a golden opportunity to rejuvenate the south Wales economy. Together with Cardiff Central MP Jenny Willott I have led calls for a City Deal for Cardiff. They have proactively held meetings with the UK Government to discuss how a City Deal for the Cardiff City Region could work. The Coalition Government has already invested billions of pounds in City Deals - a Liberal Democrat policy - across England and Scotland, with Glasgow and the Clyde Valley recently receiving £1.13bn from the UK and Scottish Governments to boost its economy. Local ...
[IMG: General_Election_Poster_270115] Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has set out the Liberal Democrats' vision for delivering a balanced budget in the next Parliament. http://bit.ly/1AagusJ
Having not had hustings in 2010, the candidates (or at least the Lib Dem, Labour and Conservative) candidates have arranged a hustings event between 2 and 4 pm at South Yardley Library on 21st March 2015. The Respect and UKIP candidates have been told of the event, but neither have confirmed attendance.
Last Friday I had to face off against serious opposition to Michael Moore's International Development Private Members Bill (The 0.7% Bill) during its Committee Stage in the House of Lords. It was clear from the Second Reading debate a few weeks ago that the overwhelming majority of Peers, across all Parties, support the aims behind Michael's Bill. Its aim is simple- to enshrine in law our commitment to spending 0.7% of Gross National Income on International Aid, helping some of the world's poorest people. Led by Nigel Lawson, a small number of Peers tabled a large number of amendments. Variously ...
Iain Duncan Smith has become a figure that the left regards with great disapproval. I don't really share this. Duncan-Smith is a brave thinker, as his think-tank the Centre for Social Justice demonstrates. But he has made one gigantic misjudgement which goes to the heart of the mistakes the coalition has made on public services. He says he is proud of his record on payment by results. The truth is that it will become an increasing problem as time goes by. Shortly after the coalition took office in 2010, I was invited - for reasons I never did understand - ...
As we reported recently, First Bus are planning to change the timetables on the 81, 82, and 83 routes with effect from 29th March. You can now search for journeys after that date on the Traveline South West website, and the correct details will show up. In case you want to compare the old and new timetables - for example if you want to find out the effect of the changes on your journey to work - we've captured the current and future timetables as they stand now. Important - these versions will not be updated if First Bus make ...
In light of the Tories plan to paint Labour as anti-business, a manoeuvre that any semi-astute watcher of British politics could have predicted in June 2010, Tristram Hunt has been tasked (or taken it upon himself, who knows) to punch back. Excerpts from the Andrew Marr interview Tristram gave on the topic: "I'm enormously enthusiastic about businessmen and women making money, about delivering shareholder return, about making profit, not least because that will help to support the Sure Start children's centres and the schools. "What is the challenge for our business as well? It is markets. Only the Labour Party ...
Tue 10th
09:21
Danny Alexander is the Lib Dems most successful minister. Why does he not get the credit?
The Liberal Democrat Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander's place [IMG: Danny and George] in history is assured. He is a member of the "quad" that sets the coalition government's agenda, along with the Lib Dem Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the Prime Minister David Cameron and the Chancellor George Osborne (with whom he is pictured here). But recently there was a revealing kerfuffle, when the Lib Dems named their election "shadow cabinet" with him as the Treasury spokesman. Shouldn't it be the more senior Vince Cable, people asked? Many Lib Dem activists fell for the bait and were suitably ...
Junior DWP staffer tells IDS truth about Universal Credit to his face (tags: ) Keep daffodils away from food, supermarkets warned - or, you know, maybe EDUCATE PEOPLE (tags: ) Which 22 motions did not make it to Liberal Democrat Conference? (tags: ) Football Club ask fans' mums to become stewards in bid to stop violence at home games This is a genius idea. Employment opportunities for older women, promoting peace and being-sent-to-your-room... I totally want to be a Security Mum! (tags: ) Divided UK: for every 12 jobs created in the South, one is lost in the North (tags: ...
[IMG: I am an immigration poster] The Independent reports: A campaign has been launched to celebrate the positive effects migrants have on our everyday lives through a series of posters and billboards. The Movement Against Xenophobia has so far raised £15,000 of the £44,000 it needs to put the plan into action, with posters set to feature the words 'I am an immigrant' followed by a variety of job descriptions from real migrants working in the UK. 'I am a brain surgeon, I have saved 2000 lives,' one reads. 'I am a tube driver, I take millions of people to ...
[IMG: jo_swinson] At 10am tomorrow, 11 February, our Jo Swinson will be one of five panellists taking part in an hour long Twitter election debate run by Marie Claire magazine. Here's an extract from their blog about it: A third of us still have no idea who to vote for in the general election in May, so many of us won't vote at all. To help us work out who should get our valuable, individual votes, Marie Claire has invited five of the most powerful women in politics to take part in a live Twitter Election Debate. Gloria de Piero, ...
I have today launched my February 2015 Update to West End Community Council. Subjects covered include: • Update on Riverside Drive roads issues • Getting things done : Seymour Street• Lighting concern - Riverside Avenue to Perth Road The Community Council meets this evening at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall at 7pm - all residents welcome. You can download my Update here.
I have today issued a last minute appeal in advance of this Thursday's City Council Budget Meeting to save the Victoria Park Bowling Green in the West End but also the Baxter Park Bowling Green, both facing the axe by the SNP council administration. The council claims that these bowling greens could be better used so they intend to axe them but the council itself has failed to properly promote the greens and their availability for local people to use. If the council had been more proactive in advertising these bowling greens, they would been better used. In the West ...
Fiona has been involved across the county in the provision of special educational support for children. "Yes, times are tough and money is in short supply, but we must not ignore our responsibilities to those who are more vulnerable and in need of support." "This also applies to Adult Social Services. Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk has worked hard to improve the support given to adults with mental health issues and to ensure improvements in government funding. With an election coming up we must ensure that these issues are on the table and that they stay there." ...
A follow-up to last night's post about the Conservative Party website leaking a list of non-target seats, here's the full list (from Richard Taylor) of seats the Tory website blunder revealed are not target seats for the party. There are several seats of interest to the Lib Dems in the list and also, intriguingly, Rochester and Strood. Note: this isn't the full list of all non-target seats for the Tories, but rather the full list of those that have been leaked. "Non-target" means either 'we're not going to win' or 'we think this is super-safe'. Ben Adams – Stoke-on-Trent North ...
On Saturday I attended the official opening of a new large events space in central Sutton: SM1 The Grand Hall. The Grand Hall is the conversion of the old Snooker Halls at 1A Throwley Way and now offers three large event spaces over three floors suitable for weddings, banquets, parties, meetings and formal events. The [...]
