This evening, after my weekly ward surgery at Blackness Primary School, I participated in the latest meeting of the Harris Academy Parent Council. Jim Thewliss, Head Teacher, gave a very interesting and useful presentation on various aspects of examination performance. Jim recently announced that he will retire from the Head Teacher's post at the end of the current academic year and he will thereafter take up the post of General Secretary of School Leaders Scotland. Jim has made an immense contribution to education in Dundee throughout his time as Harris Academy's Head Teacher and he will leave Harris Academy in ...
The Surrey Comet has more. Interestingly, despite twice being Leader of the Council, Kevin Davis has never won a borough wide election in Kingston.
Gordon and I at the Botanic Garden today Earlier today, I had the pleasure of meeting with Gordon Ramsay, Development Officer for the Dundee Botanic Garden Endowment Trust. Last October, I was delighted to attend the well-attended launch of the Trust and, today, Gordon was able to give me a very positive update about the Trust's progress and future plans. The purpose of the Dundee Botanic Garden Endowment Trust is to provide an alternative funding source which will benefit the public by: • Investing in the economic sustainability and future of the Dundee Botanic Garden • Inspiring community involvement through ...
Launceston town council is looking for a new member following the resignation of Maurice Davey. Maurice represented the Central ward. The town council consists of 16 members (I'm one), in three wards. There are seven for Central, which I also represent on Cornwall Council, seven for South and two for the much smaller North. There are currently two members elected with a party label, but it is fair to say that the work of the council is wholly non-partisan. The vacancy will be advertised and if ten electors call for an election then a full public vote will be held, ...
Why travel further? I pass through some of these every day on my way to work. If you enjoy this video, then you may enjoy Devon, Bedfordshire, North Lincolnshire and East Sussex too.
[IMG: Child in a classroom] Education Secretary Nicky Morgan today (12 March 2015) confirmed the appointment of 2 new non-executive Ofsted board members. John Hughes and James Kempton have been appointed to serve on the Ofsted board for 3 years... James Kempton currently works at think tank CentreForum as Director of Social Policy and Education. A former council leader, teacher, medical royal college chief executive and management consultant, he has worked extensively on public services reform, with a particular focus on education and social mobility policy. He is chair of Islington Community Theatre, a trustee of Music First, a governor ...
Suddenly, Britain is disappearing from the world stage, says Anne Applebaum. Stephen Glenn looks at the long career of James Molyneaux, who died earlier this week. "The jury's verdict casts a huge shadow over musical creativity and takes what should be familiar elements of a genre, available to all, and privatizes them." Kal Raustiala and Christopher Jon Sprigman are worried by the Blurred Lines verdict. "All of these pitiful excuses for an abject performance in a tournament England had cleared the decks to prepare for, resulting in a 5-0 Ashes whomping that accelerated the end of the international careers of ...
Thu 12th
21:27
I was elected as a Shropshire councillor a year ago today: it's been rewarding and frustrating since
It's been a year since I was elected to Shropshire Council. Around 11.30pm on 13 March 2014, the returning officer announced that I had won by 197 votes. Giddy headed and absolutely exhausted, I crept home via the Church Inn. Fixed in my mind was the need to send a comment to the Shropshire Star [...]
Today in the Commons I sat through impressive speeches from across the benches echoing concerns about the UK's expenditure on defence – principally, our predicted failure to meet NATO's 2 per cent of GDP target on defence spending in the approaching financial year. There was little expectation that defence would become a big election issue, but less than two months ahead of polling day all the parties share the headache that a commitment to maintaining the 2 per cent target looks frankly impossible. With the assumption that further cuts will have to be made across the board, there are serious ...
Thu 12th
18:30
And on that bombshell: Did Jeremy Clarkson really want to carry on doing Top Gear - I mean deep down...
Health warning: I've been reading the Mail Online about this. It appears that there have been more journalists roaming the North Yorkshire moors in the last few days than at any time since the invention of the printing press. On the day of the "fracas", allegedly, a helicopter was allegedly kept waiting for three hours while a certain broadcaster was allegedly in the pub. Do you know how much a helicopter costs for three hours? It's a lot of money. All paid for by the license payers, I suspect. And after an alleged three hours in the pub, is it ...
As the Lib Dems gather in Liverpool the media are once again trying to write us out of existence. Well they have been doing that for the 48 years that I have been a Party member and for a lot ... Continue reading →
Pink News wins Headline of the Day. There was no need for a recount.
On the Sunniside Residents' Facebook site there are regular photos of a hen that wanders around the streets of Sunniside. I hasten to add it is not one of mine. She seems to bring great enjoyment to local residents. I encountered her this morning when I was delivering some of my tabloids in the village. She was actually in the front garden of her owners, not wandering up the street! I snapped
Since the tragic death of Millie Thompson in a nursery in Cheadle Hulme back in 2012, local MP Mark Hunter has supported Millie's parents Joanne and Dan in their campaign to to make paediatric first aid training for new nursery staff compulsory. Mark has today welcomed official confirmation from the Childcare Minister that the Government is to announce a change in the law to make paediatric first aid training for new nursery staff compulsory for the first time. Commenting, Mark Hunter said: 'I am delighted by this news which brings to a successful conclusion a long-running campaign by Millie's Trust ...
Sir Terry Pratchett's death was announced, as Buzzfeed says, in a beautiful and perfect way. Transworld Publishers got it right too. "The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds." We mourn him not just because of the conduct of his passing but because of the conduct of his life, a life which enriched, enlivened and, in his own way, ennobled the world. To dwell on the things of this world may seem to sully the remembrance of the pure joy Sir Terry brought, but it is important to remember that his way of life was an act of ...
When parties come up with their public spending plans, one gets a sense of deckchairs being rearranged on the Titanic, with a bit more spending on something one year and then a little bit less the next, parties micromanaging (and re-announcing!) their spending plans, making compromises and trying to spread the 'jam' ever more thinly. Of course no one is really fooled. We all know that the number of district nurses has almost halved in a decade, that libraries have closed all over the country, that adult education services have been cut to the bone and that those on benefits ...
I grew up with Terry Pratchett. Not in the personal sense — I only ever met the man twice, both times briefly at signings in my teens — but I started reading his books when I was in primary school. When I read Sourcery for the first time, I don't think I'd ever laughed at [...]
In his writer's layer in Somerset a bearded fellow was leaning over his keyboard. "What next?" he thought as he imagined the characters of his creation in his head. "Maybe a little more of Death." He thought. "YOU CALLED?" "No dear, it wasn't me," he said still staring at the screen not looking round. "TERRY PRATCHETT." "Oh," he said, this time turning his head to look behind him. As he did so there was a thud as his body's head fell unto to the letter "a" and filled the screen with the letter. "Is it that time already?" "I'M AFRAID ...
In a brilliant article for the Guardian Tim Lott decried the intolerance of people on the left of politics. He complained that people, like him, who raised questions about gender discrimination, Islamism, feeling English or complaining about political correctness, risk unleashing intolerant invective from the "liberal" left. He was speaking as a Labour loyalist – but I recognise the same issue in the Liberal Democrats. Now let me make my politically incorrect contribution to the genre. It's about homoeopathy. Homoeopathy is a branch of alternative medicine developed in the 19th Century. Its theoretical grounding might fairly be called mumbo-jumbo. But ...
As the rumour mill on this is picking up, here's the party's press statement in full: A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: "Paul Holmes has been found guilty of bullying Julia Cambridge. "A disciplinary panel led by a barrister concluded his behaviour was totally unacceptable. "Mr Holmes has been given a formal reprimand for his behaviour. "In addition, Chesterfield Liberal Democrats have been suspended by the party while an investigation is carried out. "Julia is a strong and resilient candidate and we have full confidence in her ability to beat Labour in Chesterfield." Given Paul's many friends and fans in the ...
The Electoral Commission has issued new guidance on the use of Commonly Used Names on nomination papers. You have to use your name as it appears on the electoral register on the first lines of both the parliamentary and local election nomination forms. But in the past you were able to then put a commonly [...]
I wrote about prospects for a minority government if no party gets an overall majority at the General Election, and some of the things that might need to change at Westminster if it's to work. Moves away from its majoritarian and adversarial culture to one based much more on negotiation and mediation, compromises and trade-offs, and an acceptance of a more dominant role for Parliament as against the government. But will it last? Traditionally the Prime Minister asked the Sovereign for a dissolution. In the modern era such requests were always granted. Sometimes the government had lost the confidence of ...
Yate Town Council is running an interactive workshop for all ages at Witches Hat this coming Monday 16 March from 3 pm until 6 pm, with lots of fun activities aimed at planning the changes, and exploring the design of the skate park with a pro skateboarder. You can just turn up, there's no need to register, but if you would like more information please phone Yate Town Council on 01454 866506 or email them at info@yatetowncouncil.gov.uk
The behaviour of the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru towards Kirsty Williams' proposal for a cross-party commission on the Welsh NHS tells us all we need to know about self-interest, political opportunism and partisanship. Treating the health service as a political football at the expense of patients is not though confined to Wales. According to the Spectator even more cynical shenanigans are afoot in Westminster. They say that Labour MPs took the extraordinary step of blocking the publication of the Health Select Committee report into the NHS because the conclusions backed up government reforms: 'I have just been handed details ...
On the 22 May, there is a referendum on marriage equality in the Republic of Ireland. Although Faith and Pride is not active in the Republic, we hope that the people vote for same-sex marriage. The words of this couple say it all. It could happen that sometime in the future that your son or [...]
367 parliamentarians (of all colours ) voted in favour of plain packaging yesterday. Be it on their conscience. Let's look forward. What can we the average punter do? Well, we can vote them out come May 7th – not just on the issue of plain packaging – but to send a message once and for all that we are frankly fed up with soulless zombies doing what the Whips tell them to do; tired of them playing party politics at our expense; treating adults like children; or worse, disregarding the evidence because "they know best". In many cases however that ...
A reminder ahead of the Liberal Democrat spring federal conference this weekend: [IMG: Lib Dem conference app available] If you already have the app, make sure you've recently checked it for updates so that it has all the latest information in it,
First the DUP came after those who are LGBT. Now UKIP come after those not born in the UK. Next? Nigel Farage the leader of UKIP has say he would scrap most of the race relation laws in this country. The laws that protect ethnic minority workers. These laws are in place to protect the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) population from unscrupulous employers, and yes the minority ethnic does cover white non-British with certain provisos. One of those provisos of course is that EU citizens have the freedom to work in any other EU member state. That applies ...
[IMG: Newly minted coins by James Cridland james.cridland.net] Over the past few days, questions have emerged about the Liberal Democrats' proposals for fiscal consolidation. Liberal Reform felt it would therefore be helpful to clarify what the challenges are, to explain how some of the figures are derived and to help people understand what the scale of the problem is. Which deficit are we cutting and how much does it cost? All three political parties have committed to eliminating the budget deficit over the next parliament. There are two things that divide the parties, however: The speed of the consolidation - ...
I've always been rather a fan of the Friends and Family test in the NHS. It is simple. Holistic. Hard to spin. That kind of measure is never going to be very sophisticated, but it can provide an early warning system in the NHS which - in a highly centralised control system - is pretty important, as Mid Staffs Hospital showed. Of course, there are pressures to make it more sophisticated, to add numbers and measure progress. There are arguments for doing this in theory, but not many in practice - because it rapidly becomes useless. Goodhart's Law takes over. ...
Offerton Cllr Laura Booth is backing Lisa Smart to win on May 7th. "Only the Lib Dems can beat the Tories here", says Laura. Councillor Laura Booth was Labour's first choice Parliamentary Candidate here until last Autumn, when she quit Labour, and is now backing Lisa Smart to beat the Tories. "As the former Labour Prospective MP for Hazel Grove Constituency and Labour councillor for Offerton I've made a decision to back Lisa Smart in the election on May 7th. I resigned from the Labour Party last year because it has completely lost its way locally. Laura is backing Lisa ...
Independent returned unopposed Independent Hold
Gatley's former Tatton cinema site has long been a blot on the landscape and the Lib Dem team have always worked to get a sensible development at the privately-owned site, exploring options including car-parks and several other schemes. [IMG: tatton small] The latest news is that Dickens Property Group, who have owned the site for the last decade, are in pre-application talks with the council to bring forward a development on the site. We would like to see final plans released publicly as soon as possible, though that's likely to still be some weeks away as the architects work to ...
[IMG: Digital icons] Here's an interview I did with Sendible: How and why did you get started in social media? I came from a previous job working in IT, running the network for a computer software company. I started working for the Liberal Democrats on literally the first working day of this century, and as social media networks began to take off I was the obvious choice to take on that responsibility, having that IT background. That's how I got started, and I soon realized that even in traditional activities - in Britain we vote physically with pencil and paper, ...
David Cameron said he would only take part in a debate if it was held before the short campaign started. This was clearly a bid for the prime minister not to have to take part in any debates at all, which is why it's so refreshing that the Daily Telegraph, often referred to in less than flattering tones as the Torygraph, has decided to lead the charge in calling the Tory leader's bluff and offering to host a debate (in conjunction with others such as Google of course). The prospective line up (should it go ahead) would be Cameron, Clegg, ...
This is a serious matter with hospitals across the UK struggling to meet targets to deal with A&E patients on time. Below is an worrying and quirky reflection on the situation at Aintree Hospital put in footballing terms and with a potentially even more worrying possibility after Maghull 'New Town' etc. is built as a consequence of Sefton's Councils Local Plan. Massive amounts of house building without any guarantee that the infrastructure will be either there or able to cope is one hell of a big risk but that is Sefton's direction of travel under Labour! By chance I was ...
Vince Cable: adult education helped my mother overcome mental illness (tags: ) Today's "article clearly written by a neurotypical person" award goes to... Honestly, the tone of breathless surprise that people on the spectrum might have intelligence or be able to function is just DEPRESSING. (tags: ) Let's not rewrite history about the WCA » DPAC (tags: ) This comment on my blog should be read by all in government (tags: ) The Liberal Democrat peer who wants to get rid of democracy (tags: ) The lost key to the crown jewels - on how the ECB purposefully keep cricket ...
There has been an excellent public reaction to Yate Town Council's "Make Yate a Dementia Friendly Town" initiative, which Lib Dem Councillors Tony Davis and Sue Walker have been organising. Since recruiting Dementia Community Worker Debbie Woolley, they have convinced Yate Leisure Centre to train their staff, and the project team itself will be training the security and caretaking staff at Yate Shopping Centre and many others. The sessions only last an hour, but people who attend have found them really valuable. Steve Webb MP says: "I and all of my staff have already been trained. I would really recommend ...
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the latest Friends of Magdalen Green committee meeting. It was a really positive meeting and great to hear the success of the recent 'Can't Cook, Won't Cook' fundraising event. A Dance Night is now being planned for June, with tea dances later in the year. The Friends of Magdalen Green AGM will take place on the evening of Tuesday 19th May at the Friendship Hall, Dundee West Church. The speaker will be Eddie Small, author of the book Mary Lily Walker: Forgotten Visionary of Dundee - pictured right.
Despite being nominally committed to localism, this government, with Eric Pickles as secretary of state, has been unable to resist trying to micromanage councils' local policies, whether on bin collections, or imminent legislation on car parking enforcement. Even leaving aside the argument that such things are better decided locally, is there any truth to Pickles' belief that councils are 'waging war on the motorist'? In my experience, no. Councillors of all parties and council officers alike are all too aware of people's frustration about finding parking spaces or receiving parking tickets. If there has been any kind of war it ...
Residents have rightly complained to me about the poor road surface in Richmond Terrace:I asked the City Engineer if the roadway can be considered for a future thin resurfacing programme and have now been advised as follows : "Richmond Terrace will be considered for inclusion in the updated 2015-18 carriageway resurfacing programme which is currently being reviewed." Meantime, I am assured that current potholes will be attended to by the start of April.
Thu 12th
07:30
Ibrahim Taguri steps down as Lib Dem candidate in Brent Central after Telegraph donation claims
Ibrahim Taguri has stepped down as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Brent Central after the Telegraph made allegations that he had accepted a donation that was potentially outside the rules. Ibrahim will continue to fight the seat as an independent candidate and denies any wrongdoing. From the BBC: Mr Taguri had been selected to stand for the Lib Dems to replace departing MP Sarah Teather in the London constituency of Brent Central. But in a statement, he said he would step down as a parliamentary candidate and from his Lib Dem race equality role while the claims against him were ...
I had a busy time last week writing letters to the Guardian which , alas, they didn't find worthy of publication. Here's the firsst. In response to a proposal by Simon Jenkins that parliament moves to Manchester it may not wish to move back: Dear Editor, I'm sure Simon Jenkins is correct in his observation that "the Palace of Westminster may not be fit for purpose , but it is a holy of democratic holies" (Westminster may be crumbling but this is our chance to reclaim democracy, 5 March) but I believe that his solution of trundling the whole caboodle ...
