At Welsh Lib Dem Spring Conference today I learned three things: Sal Brinton is a thoroughly nice lady and has the makings of a fine Party President; the meaning of the phrase 'bouncing corpse'; and the significance of the number 26. Sal made it her mission to speak to as many members as possible and I was lucky enough to get a quarter of an hour with her. She listened patiently to my concerns about our leadership, my fears about our prospects in 'also ran' constituencies like mine, my predictions for 2015 and my hopes for the post-Clegg era. For ...
Thanks to Dangerous Minds for posting this video. He writes: Other than a few childhood home movies, no film footage of Nick Drake exists. So director Berkven had to create a sense of Drake through other means. That he succeeds is quite remarkable. He is enormously helped by Nick's mother Molly. Her own music uncannily evokes her son's and creates a deeply emotional dimension to A Skin Too Few.I blogged about Molly Drake a couple of years ago.
Sat 28th
21:08
Money saving expert Martin Lewis on Labour's fees policy: 'Poorer students will subsidise city inves...
Here's part of what Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, said on the BBC's World at One today: This is the worse type of politics for me. It is the politics that may appeal to people on the surface but it is financially illiterate...If any other party was launching a policy that effectively meant that poorer students would be subsidising city investment banking graduates, which is what this does, there would be protests in the streets and it would be led by the Labour party. I simply don't understand how they've launched this. Let's look at this very simply. It's ...
Sat 28th
21:04To hit the LibDems, Labour give £2 billion to graduates earning 32%+ above the average wage
Details of Labour's tuition fees policy are emerging today. There is a proposed higher maintenance grant and higher interest rates for higher earning graduates. It will remain to be seen how much those two changes alter the regressiveness of the main proposal to reduce the fee cap to £6,000. That basic policy proposal is to take £2 billion from pension tax breaks and give it to graduates who earn 32% above the national average wage. This is because many graduates will not pay back their full tuition fees "loan" under the current scheme. So only those earning £35,000 or more ...
Cataract operation on my right eye was reviewed on Wednesday and there are no problems. I am now on the list to have the left eye done. The outcome will certainly be an improvement, though nothing can be done about the macular degeneration. It advances fairly slowly, however, and may not be much of a handicap in the remaining estimated 16 months of my life.
Just over three years ago I urged people to sign a petition supporting a bill to licence all Scrap Metal Dealers. Thank you to those who helped push for this change. The Act was passed with support from the government and came into force October 2013. All scrap metal dealers had to obtain a licence from local council to trade. Near 8,000 have been issued across England & Wales. Already a dramatic reduction in metal thefts down from 59,788 2012/13 to 40,680 in 2013/14. As the new system settles down I expect the level of theft to decline further. WELL ...
[IMG: HoL_Cropped_edited-2] The whole world has gasped in horror at the hacking to death by machete-wielding terrorists of the secularist US-Bangladeshi blogger Avijit Roy, close to the heavily-guarded university book fair in Dhaka.Police witnessed the murder but the killers were allowed to escape.Extremist attacks on secularists and religious minorities add an extra dimension to the loss of more than 100 lives in the violence connected with blockades and demonstrations calling for new elections. The Awami League government and the opposition led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party must sit down together and chart the way back towards democracy and a united ...
Christians ought to show concern for the less well-off and vulnerable in society. The DUP's proposed conscience clause provides protections for a relatively prosperous sector of society while at best ignoring, and possibly even harming, the less prosperous. If this proposal provides freedom of conscience, then it only provides it to the rich. This discrimination against the poor is abhorrent to Christianity.
Labour's new tuition fee policy has certainly caused a few ripples in the electoral pond but not necessarily in the right places. As has been pointed out elsewhere the plan is to cut tax relief for pensioners so as to knock £3,000 off the cost of studying. However, the effect of this ruse is to help the well-off rather than those who need it most. Labour's new policy means that only graduates with a starting salary of at least £35,000 will pay less. Much as I dislike the system it is currently working in that there are now a record ...
One of the many nice touches put to Marvel's latest extension of its on screen universe was a show within a show. At various points we'd see and hear the recording of radio serial called Captain America Adventure Program. It is kind the affair where the sound of a fight is evoked by somebody punching a [...]
The New Statesman has published extracts of an interview with former party president Tim Farron. Their headline suggests favouritism for a coalition with Labour, but that's not quite what Tim said. He was talking about having to play the hand the electorate dealt us, just like we did five years ago: Last time round, us plus Labour was 11 short of a majority of one, so a majority where we'd have had to rely on Jeremy Corbyn voting through the Budget, things like that, for instance, so 11 short even of that level of a majority, so it wasn't an ...
The murder in Moscow yesterday of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was a cruel reminder of just how far the values of Vladimir Putin's Russia differ from the European mainstream. Many other critics of the Kremlin — not least journalists — have been killed, beaten up or imprisoned since Vlad the Bad came to power. I [...]
One for fans of brevity (which as a smart person, includes yourself of course): This has to be the best politician's press release of all time (from the Aussie Labor Party's Anthony Albanese). pic.twitter.com/0ZcMsskkso — Stewart Wood (@StewartWood) February 26, 2015
[IMG: They Say sarcasm detector] John Rentoul told us in yesterday's Independent that he had found a tool which analysed what was being said about party leaders on Twitter, taking into account whether the comment was sarcastic or not. I spoke to Karo Moilanen at the company about how "sentiment analysis" works. He told me the algorithm detects positive and negative sentiments associated with the leaders, and can even recognise a double negative as a positive, for example, "kill bacteria". What about sarcasm, I asked, thinking about how Twitter works. "We have a rudimentary sarcasm detector," he said. "There are ...
The following are the scheduled meetings for March 2015. Unless otherwise stated meetings start at 6:30 pm at Arms EverTyne House Thursday 5th March , Finance Committee Tuesday 10th March, Planning & Development Committee Thursday 19th March , Town Council Meeting Tuesday 31st March, Events Committee
Below is the text of a message I have sent to Mr Osborne, following a newspaper report that he is to "sit down" with the political establishment in Durham to talk through the Durham County Plan which was deeply criticised by an independent examiner. What Consett doesn't need is Simon Henig and Sir John Hall bending the ear of the Westminster establishment to deliver growth for Durham City at the expense of the whole county – and probably to the detriment of the city itself. Dear Mr Osborne I understand that you are to meet with council leaders regarding the ...
BBC News has a report headlined: Alistair Carmichael rules out Lib Dem leadership bid But when you read Alistair's quote below it, you can detect a little wriggle room if you want to: "I have got a family that still includes school age children. And the commitment that it takes to be party leader in modern politics is enormous. "My family already miss out on a lot just by virtue of the fact that I'm an MP and I'm a minister and I'm away from home every week . "At least I feel that they miss out on a lot, ...
[IMG: rally kirsty williams 1] It's Welsh conference today and Kirsty Williams is giving her keynote leader's speech. In it she will emphasise what the Liberal Democrats have done within the coalition, saying that we have been the good news story of the last five years. She will say: We have been the good news story, the positive story, the shining light that has come from this Coalition It is Liberal Democrat policies that are making the difference. Whether it is raising the tax threshold, revolutionising the pensions system, or introducing equal marriage, we have a strong record we will ...
[IMG: cf hero - boris nemtsov] Boris Nemtsov Russian statesman and liberal politician Reason: for standing up for the rule of law and against Putin's regime. "I'm afraid Putin will kill me." That's what Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov worried aloud a fortnight ago would happen. Last night, he was shot four times in the back and killed by an anonymous attacker. On Sunday, he was due to help lead a march in Moscow against the war in Ukraine. The man he was afraid of has assumed "personal control" of the investigation into his murder, which must be of great ...
On the BBC's World at One yesterday, Vince Cable was interviewed by Mark Mardell. You can hear the interview by clicking on the box below, and the full transcript follows: Mardell: Well, Vince Cable is the Business Secretary and the MP for Twickenham from where he joins us now. The current system isn't working is it, so it does need to be changed? Cable: (The current system) is working very well and it doesn't need to be changed. It's working well on all different levels. We've got growing numbers of people want to go to university. We've got exceptionally large ...
As someone who has fought Labour every inch of the way as they have been voting to build on our precious Green Belt and high grade agricultural land in Sefton Borough I thought I would pop along to the public meeting organised by the Maghull & Lydiate Action Group last Thursday evening. [IMG: A packed public meeting in Maghull Methodist Church on 26th February.] A packed public meeting in Maghull Methodist Church on 26th February. The meeting was held in Maghull Methodist Church Hall and was packed with locals who all clearly felt as I and indeed the Action Group ...
Part 1 took us from Wellington to Buildwas. This second part takes the journey on to Much Wenlock. Which recalls the old joke: "My wife comes from Shopshire." "Much Wenlock?" "I get my share."I once wrote about the Wenlock Olympian Games in the New Statesman.
Sat 28th
10:02
Nigel Farage hits America - a review of that and the UKIP conference he ended up missing most of as ...
UKIP spring conference is underway. Or it might be over - it's difficult to tell with UKIP spring conference. Anyhow, this year the big story was Nigel's absence. He turned up rather late as a result of having been in America for the Conservative Political Action Conference. For those who have never been to one of these hoo-haws, as I imagine most of you reading this haven't, one day in such a climate would put your "that Nick Clegg is so right-wing" delusions to bed forever. The American Republican Party is right-wing beyond the furthest dimensions of British thought, from ...
Fairtrade Fortnight runs until Sunday 8th March. Lots of information is available at http://fortnight.fairtrade.org.uk/ Our local event is "Get Fit for Fairtrade" on Saturday 7th March, 10am - 2pm, in Yate Shopping Centre. there will be a "Smoothie Bike" making Fairtrade fruit smoothies (great fun for kids!) and people talking to shoppers about Fairtrade. If you are in the area do come and look them up! If you would be interested in volunteering for an hour or so please do get in touch with Lydia Nash (South Gloucestershire Fairtrade Coordinator) on 01454 863119 or 07824 081058.
Sat 28th
09:45
IFS: Labour fees plan will not make any difference to repayments by the poorer half of graduates
Interviewed by Mark Mardell on the BBC's World at One yesterday, Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies made these comments about Labour's tuition fee plans: There is a small help there for poorer students through an increase in the maintenance grants, that would cost the government about £200 million a year. But the £3 billion a year cost of the reduction in student loans actually doesn't help the poorer half of graduates. So, half of graduates will not be earning enough to be paying back any less under the Labour party policy than under the current policy. ...
The politics is interesting, but really I'm linking to this for the headline (tags: ) RIP @TheRealNimoy :( (tags: ) Farewell Leonard Nimoy, the stars are waiting - lovely tribute in (of all places) the Torygraph (tags: ) Wil Wheaton on Leonard Nimoy "I wanted to be Mister Spock because if I was, I could be myself -quiet, bookish, alien to the people around me — and it wouldn't be weird. It would be awesome" (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
The surprising results that have happened in Group B mean that the losers of crucial games in Group A could get easier quarter-final games than the winners. Let me explain why. Group B has been the more interesting half of the draw in this year's Cricket World Cup. It's seen nail-biting finishes, the first World Cup double century, the biggest ODI win by one Test-playing country over another and the question of which four teams will go through from it is still not settled. Ireland's victories and the mercurial nature of the West Indies and Pakistan have opened up the ...
[IMG: Big ideas] A couple of days ago I was asked, at short notice, to write a brief introduction to Social Policy, suitable for young people interested in finding out more about the discipline. Even though I only had a few minutes to write it somewhat inevitably I wrote more than could be used for that purpose. So I was given a firm edit. Here is the fuller version, in case it is of interest. How does a society meet the needs of its members and promote their well-being? What sorts of things are seen as problems for individuals to ...
From Dundee Women's Festival : On Tuesday 3rd March at 6pm - Dundee Arts Cafe at McManus : Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum - Mary Slessor was an Aiberdeen quine, who moved to Dundee in the 1850's when the mills were at their height and worked tirelessly with the Church to improve lives for the working class. She then moved on as a Missionary to 'The Calabar' in modern day Nigeria. Here she fought for the lives of children, women, and slaves; for human rights. She was brave and feisty, warm and untiring in her struggle. She also outlived all ...
Congratulations to George Murray: his Marauding Fullbacks continue to lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 26. In fact, there's more than a touch of deja vu about the top 10. But let's also hear it for three players outside the top 10: Phil Redshaw (Brute Force) had the best week's performance, with 78 points. Honourable mentions go to Mark Littlewood (Sporting Lesbian [seriously, Mark?]) and Max Huntley (Absolutely Fabregas), with 74 and 72 points respectively. [IMG: LDV FANTASY FOOTBALL 26-1] There are 161 players in total and you can still join the league by clicking here.
When I first met Boris Nemtsov -he was then in his mid thirties- in addition to his obvious intelligence, he also possessed a glamour, which was not just a function of good looks, but also the determined way he had become anti-Soviet. He had begun by leading protests in his home town of Sochi and had steadily progressed so that by the last years of Boris Yeltsin, he had become mayor of Nizhni Novgorod and was in the process of being brought into the Kremlin. As such he might have become part of the corrupt cabal that ultimately- and disastrously- ...
Congratulations to George Murray: his Marauding Fullbacks continue to lead the LibDemVoice Fantasy Football League after Week 26. In fact, there's more than a touch of deja vu about the top 10. But let's also hear it for three players outside the top 10: Phil Redshaw (Brute Force) had the best week's performance, with 78 points. Honourable mentions go to Mark Littlewood (Sporting Lesbian [seriously, Mark?]) and Max Huntley (Absolutely Fabregas), with 74 and 72 points respectively. [IMG: LDV FANTASY FOOTBALL 26-1] There are 161 players in total and you can still join the league by clicking here. * Stephen ...
It seems that the Conservatives have now selected a candidate for Blaydon. Her name is Ali Griffiths and I understand she lives in Battersea. It brings the total of candidates to 5 in the constituency: Dave Anderson (Labour's sitting MP), Paul McNally for the Greens, Ali, or Alison, Griffiths for the Conservatives, Mark Bell for UKIP and me for the Lib Dems. Dave Anderson is the only one I know
