The Lib Dems are running a huge campaign to tackle the stigma around talking about Mental Health issues, where people suffering from it feel they cannot talk about it. Oddly I have been happy to talk about my mental health issues to anyone who wants to listen. But sometimes it feels as if there aren't that many people that want to hear about it. There was the campaign day from Mind on 5th February about taking the Time To Talk, which I was delighted to take part in. And the Lib Dems want the NHS to handle Mental Health in ...
Thank you to everyone who gave up their Friday evening to join us at Mark Hunter's public meeting about the Kingsway/Gatley Road junction. We had people from the Highways Agency, TfGM and Stockport Council to give a presentation about what's happened, the challenges of the junction and what's planned. We then had a Q&A before breaking out into smaller groups to come up with ideas for improving things. We'll be reporting back in more detail in the next few weeks, with several pieces of work already planned to make further small improvements and a big study over the summer looking ...
MP Julian Huppert, who fought for Britain to lead the way on overseas aid, is visiting a Cambridge charity dedicated to supporting girls and young women in the poorest rural communities of Africa. Julian will be joined on his visit to Camfed - the Campaign for Female Education - on Monday, February 23 by Liberal Democrat Peer and Minister for International Development, Baroness Lindsay Northover. Baroness Northover has been a Member of Council of the Overseas Development Institute, Trustee of the Tropical Health and Education Trust and a Trustee of UNICEF UK. During their visit to Camfed in Castle Street ...
Thanks to a reader for telling me that television presenter Bob Symes, who died last month, fought the Mid Sussex constituency for the Liberal Party in the two general elections of 1974. He finished a respectable second each time though, like most Liberal candidates, he did a little better in February than October. His Telegraph obituary says that Symes was later a Conservative candidate in an election for the European Parliament.
The Liberal Democrats want to build a fairer society and that's why we are absolutely committed to the NHS. It is one of the world's best health services with care based on need, not on your ability to pay. We have protected the NHS in this parliament while still cutting the deficit and we will back the NHS in the next parliament by providing £8bn per year more by 2020 - the amount the head of the NHS says is needed to keep it sustainable. We will also hold a review of health and care right after the election so ...
(I posted this on Facebook as just a normal rant, but a few people wanted to share it, and couldn't because I lock my FB to friends only. I've copy-pasted it here for those people, but be warned that it's not a properly thought out post) Now, the Pope doesn't need me to defend him, [...]
Over the last three years I have put up with a rather old and indiosyncratic laptop. I always had to use it on mains – the battery didn't work. And a particularly fun feature of it was that I had to open and start using Internet Explorer three times before the session finally "stuck" and continued uninterrupted. Suffice it to say that I was in extensive correspondence with a trading standards officer about that purchase. Fortunately, I have been blessed with both iPad and iPhone which have filled the breach. But there are certain things which need a laptop. I ...
Lord Bonkers continues his survey of Liberal Democrat prospects at the next general election. Oxford West and Abingdon All this talk of holding seats is a little dull: why should we not gain a few? Take OXWAB, as my younger friends are given to calling it. Whilst I bow to no one in my admiration for Dr Evan Harris, it has to be admitted that his habit of grafting the heads of rabbits on to humans to form an army of Focus deliverers proved controversial, efficient as they were (at least in my experience). So much so, indeed, that on ...
Just links today, I'm afraid... I don't normally link to the other Mindless Ones here — I'm not sure why, it feels like nepotism or something, even though it's a fantastic site — but since all the Big Serious Important Comic Sites seem to be ignoring Brett Ewins' death, all the more reason to link [...]
In his recently published book, Bill Browder gives estimates of how much Vladimir Putin has stolen from his Russian fellow countrymen. The number he gives is a truly staggering $200 billion. If this is even remotely true, it makes Putin one of the greatest thieves in human history. We already know that Putin is presiding over a propaganda machine that rivals and even exceeds the worst that Josef Goebbels presided over. The use of propaganda is sophisticated and relativistic- Peter Pomerantsev in his book "Nothing is True and Everything is Possible" outlines just how pervasive and evil the Putinist lie ...
Redcar Constituency Liberal Democrats are celebrating this week following the rejection of intrusive housing plans at Longbank Farm, Ormesby. The application for 320 houses received widespread objections from local residents, councillors and business and was refused during a planning meeting on Thursday. Ian Swales MP commented: "This is a great result for the residents of Ormesby and for local councillors Glyn and Irene Nightingale and Ann Wilson who have all worked extremely hard to ensure the plans weren't approved." Ormesby Ward Cllr Glyn Nightingale and Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources said: "Alongside our residents, we've worked hard to ensure the ...
From Manchester Airport: The Highways Agency and their appointed contractors are continuing work to replace the Thorley Lane Bridge over the M56, situated between junctions 5&6. To enable the successful completion of the works a full closure of the M56 between Junctions 5 and 6 in both directions is planned from 22:00 on Friday 27 Feb to 05:00 on Monday 2 March 2015. This is to permit the new bridge to be installed in its final position. Following this work it is anticipated that the bridge will be fully open for public use at the end of March. Whilst significant ...
Week Three...but my reactions to issues that piss me off are wise!!!OrSorry, I cannot help focusing on my pain and illness when the reality is, it fucking HURTS! The theory of 'Wise Mind' (Lineham 1993) asserts that there is a 'wise mind' to be found where our emotional minds and rational minds overlap: it is the mind that supposedly allows us to be more intuitive than purely emotional or rational. The difficulty with me is: my rationality affects my emotions and my emotions affect my rationality. Example: I get ever so slightly annoyed (just a tad) with customers in shops, ...
I have sat out a lot of the local blogosphere recently because I have other things to do, my work life is very busy at the moment with it being our busy time of the year and that has just taken up a lot of my time. I jumped it two-footed though when I saw a candidate state that the Lib Dems would not be putting up a candidate in Blenheim Park ward because only Labour and the Conservative's had announced their candidates 79 days before the election. It was total bollocks and I called him out on it. That ...
What ISIS Really Wants – Long but very good piece about the history, ideology and theology of the Islamic State. The national interest demands it, let's ban golf courses – If you think solar farms are a waste of productive land, why do you not protest about an even bigger waste? The Austerity Con – A good explainer of the situation by Simon Wren-Lewis in the LRB. How I became an erratic Marxist – Having just been writing an essay on Marx for my MA, I found this piece by Yanis Varoufakis fascinating, but I think it'll be of general ...
Fri 20th
14:25
"It's not the policy, it's the pledge." Ed Miliband joins the tuition fees U-turn Clegg club
[IMG: fees miliband] "It's not the crime, it's the cover-up" originated with Watergate. There's a British political equivalent now: "It's not the policy, it's the pledge". First, it applied to the Lib Dems. My party's infamous U-turn on fees has bedevilled Nick Clegg ever since. Not because the policy has failed - applications to universities continue to rise, including and especially from students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and universities are better funded - but because the Lib Dems had campaigned so heavily agin them. (Despite Nick's subsequent and disingenuous attempt to distance himself: "I didn't even spend that much time campaigning ...
Liverpool's famous Pier Head at the Heart of the City Region 110,000 people work in Liverpool City Centre. Of those just 55,000 live in the administrative area that we know as Liverpool City Council. If you are one of the ... Continue reading →
When somebody is grieving and in the run up to the death of a partner they deserve respect and understanding. But for Paul Finlay-Dickson and his late partner Maurice that was not to be. They were receiving threats and intimidation for being who they are in North Belfast, even while Maurice was going through the...
Remember when developers tried to get the go ahead back in 2006? Together the Focus Team and Cambrian Drive Residents stopped them. Now new developers are trying. They've bought a house in Cambrian and plan to knock it down, put a road through, across the footpath from Wellington Road to Mountbatten and then build 18 houses. They've knocked on doors in Cambrian to try to win support, but Focus got a warning out to residents and we're working with residents to stop the plan. It would wreck the footpath's safety, make traffic worse in Cambrian - and eat up land ...
Writing in the Times (£), Philip Collins makes some predictions about the Liberal Democrats' fortunes. He reckons we'll be part of a coalition with the Conservatives after the general election. I suspect party members will have a different feeling until we see what's on offer. Collins also has some fairly unpalatable recommendations for the party, such as ditching climate change. He reckons we won't face the wipeout many predict: The party's own polling is the clue to the relentless optimism of its senior personnel. Where they have a presence on the local council and the sitting MP, the Lib Dems ...
Despite the rain and the cold weather, it was a wonderful Southfield Ward Forum meeting in St Albans Church. Since the church was saved from being converted into a number of luxury flats we looked forward to using the venue for public meetings. The meeting was kicked off by Rev Mike Tufnell who updated residents of future events to be held in the large church. Although I am not religious, churches like St Albans are amazing places due to the arhitecture and the stained glass windows. The next Ward Panel meeting that will take place in the church we hope ...
Interesting insight into British attitudes to public health policies going into 2015. Here's a taster... When asked explicitly whether they believe in personal responsibility or government intervention, the British public strongly supports personal responsibility over 'nanny state' regulation. 70% agreed "Individuals should be responsible for their own lifestyle choices and the government should not interfere". Those opposing the 'regulating and taxing high-calorie food and drink' outnumber supporters by nearly 2 to 1 and there appears to be little appetite for further intervention in lifestyles. Only 2 in every 10 people thought that "there should be more government regulation to stop ...
The Scottish Conservatives meet in Edinburgh today for their Conference. The other day, the STV political correspondent filmed with them and talked up their chances in seats like Argyll and Bute and West Aberdeenshire. He can't have realised that those seats are among five Lib Dem seats in Scotland that appear on the list of seats that the Tories are not targeting in Scotland as Mark Pack reported last week. The Tories have also written off their chances in Edinburgh West, Ross, Skye and Lochaber and North East Fife. Shetland MSP Tavish Scott described the Tory leak as a "letter ...
[IMG: Lib Dem website] This post first appeared in 2009 but the mistakes are still very widespread, so here it is again with a light dusting of updates. During my time running the internet presence of the Liberal Democrats, including through the two general election campaigns of 2001 and 2005, I frequently saw the work of myself and of colleagues subjected to outside reviews. Whether it was from the media or academics, a review would appear comparing some aspect of our work (most frequently the party's national website) against that of other parties. Overall we came out of the reviews ...
Nick Clegg is the leading British politician on a Mumsnet poll. Sadly, it's not for voting intention. The Mirror has the story: Over at Mumsnet, one user started a thread asking "Am I being unreasonable to ask which politician would make the best lover?" There were over 400 replies and we added up the mentions of each name for you. The results are in... American President Barack Obama beat all local politicians to come out top with 22 votes. Nick "Clegg-over" Clegg makes a close second, showing he's kept his sex appeal since 2010 despite the battering his political reputation ...
Fri 20th
09:37
The polls will probably stay where they are - until April, when they could move a great deal
The other day, an ICM poll came out that put the Tories up by 4. A few weeks ago, there was one that had Labour up by 6. Each time, the political media jumps all over it for signs that one of the two biggest parties is definitively pulling ahead of the other one – but then the next poll has them back to where they have been for the last few months fairly consistently, the odd outlier aside: neck in neck. A lot is made of the fact that despite the polls having Labour and the Conservatives at level ...
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention this week... Lib Dems will prove to be the great survivors | The Times Odd that a Blairite (Philip Collins) more 'proalition' btwn LDs/Con than an Orange Book LD like me http://thetim.es/1zr6dEj Lib Dem polling brings hope of future coalition role | Politics | The Guardian Gdn report on internal Lib Dem polling showing party vote holding up in LD/Con battlegrounds http://bit.ly/1vkf3Y4 Introducing the New Statesman Political Index: Lib Dems to win at least 30 seats | May2015: 2015 General Election Guide /@May2015: Lib Dems to win 30-35 seats http://bit.ly/181d80p ...
here's why smoking pot gives you the munchies (tags: ) There but for the grace of God go all political canvassers (tags: ) How random is random on your music player? - the less random it is the more random it feels (tags: ) An interesting (& IMHO broadly correct) analysis of what the coalition has done for the lib dems (tags: ) Women's cricket needs to be covered by more than just the BBC & a couple of bloggers (tags: ) So @fullfact want to fact check the election. I approve of this idea. (tags: ) 'Smoking kills, nicotine ...
Fri 20th
08:55
Lord Wallace of Saltaire writes....Liberal Democrats' investment in education has been socially prog...
I took part in a five-party panel at York University the other weekend, organised by the University's Politics Society, in front of a packed lecture hall with over 200 students. No other panellist or questioner mentioned the subject of tuition fees, believed by some Liberal Democrat activists (and right-wing journalists) to be an issue that hangs like an albatross round Nick Clegg's neck. The overwhelming impression I came away with, reinforced by informal conversations with several students after the meeting, was not that we face an outraged student body which can never forgive us for the tuition fees 'betrayal', as ...
Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar but it should be for acting not in some specially created category. The winners of this year's Academy Awards will be announced tomorrow. However, we already know that some of the best performances of the past year won't be winning anything. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Andy [...]
In exactly four weeks time Friday 20 March there will be a total eclipse of the Sun visible from East Dulwich. [IMG: 20March] The eclipse will begin at 8.30am and reach its maximum by 9.30am and finish around 10.40am. What will we see – 95% coverage of the Sun by the Moon. Pretty spectacular. WARNING you can not look at this astronomic event without proper CE approved eclipse glasses. Do be very careful especially with children who probably don't fully appreciate the risks of losing their eye sight if they look directly even at a partially eclipsed Sun. So do ...
Numerous West End residents have raised with me the overgrown ivy protruding across the pavement on the north side of Lochee Road opposite Tullideph Road junction. It is actually on the Coldside side of the ward boundary but many local residents use this pavement. Having contacted the council about this, I am pleased to report that work to address this has been agreed and is imminent.
As part of the ongoing attempt to sell off every part of the British state that isn't nailed down (while issuing a tender to recruit a specialist nail removal company), it looks like attention is turning to elections and voting because those are exactly the sort of things you want to entrust to the lowest bidder. Even less surprisingly, it's being driven by the 'Hey! Why can't we vote online?' mantra, in which people who really should know better pretend that the well-documented security issues of moving voting online can be ignored. The companies who stand to make a tidy ...
Prestwich Beer Festival is looking for volunteers to help make the festival happen. Prestwich Beer Festival, 26th - 28th March 2015, Longfield Suite, Prestwich is a 3 day event for beer and foodie lovers alike. [IMG: Beer] The team from the festival say: "Volunteering at Prestwich Beer Festival could not be easier. Just fill out a simple form and let us know when you are free and we'll do the rest. You'll receive a full briefing prior to the event and gain free access for your shift and beyond, plus food vouchers and free beer. This is the perfect opportunity ...
As we all freeze here on Merseyside here is a panoramic shot of Liverpool which at first glance looks to be out of focus. In reality it is caused by a heat haze over the City on 25th July 2014:- [IMG: rsz_heat_haze_over_liverpool] Click on the photo to enlarge it. The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
The Guardian has one of the most bizarre stories of the week, with yet another telling intervention by a UKIP candidate. This time it is Victoria Ayling, who is standing for election in Grimsby who, during a Question Time-style debate in Cleethorpes this week, prompting "guffawing" from the audience, when she asked: "What happens when renewable energy runs out?" Clearly, UKIP are not so much planning an election campaign but an apocalypse.
Although coming somewhat late to the tributes to George Mackie who died aged 95 earlier this week I thought I should put on record my one anecdote about him. It comes from the 1980s when Mackie was the Liberal candidate for NE Scotland for the European Parliament (I was a student in Aberdeen at the time). He was on a walk about in the city centre and was approached by a local punter who greeted him warmly... 'You're George Mackie'. 'Yes' replied Mackie. 'Your brother owns the dairy?' says punter. 'Yes' replied Mackie. 'Sold it to the fucking pakis' says ...
