Thanet South appears to be the most interesting parliamentary seat in the country, it has a rich biodiversity, candidates from the weird, comic, boring, environmentally friendly, inexperienced idealistic socialist wonder kid, through to ex UKIP member now Tory and the real McCoy and the plain bonkers in my opinion. I doubt if any parliamentary contest has ever been as diverse as that, which will be taking place in Thanet, the conservatives party held the seat till this week with Laura Sandys who throughout her tenure remained competent, rational and sane, lord knows, which of these highly individualistic candidates will win, ...
Victoria Park Bowling Green Earlier this evening, along with representatives from the council's Environment Department, Friends of Balgay, West End Community Council, Community Spirit Action Group, St Joseph's Primary School, Victoria Park Primary School and fellow ward councillors, I took part in a meeting to discuss what can now be done with Victoria Park Bowling Green, following the council's decision to close it. I was critical of the closure decision, particularly after the council recently spent nearly £23 000 re-roofing the green's pavilion, so I am anxious that positive alternative use is found for the bowling green and its pavilion. ...
Young activists do not understand why so many people still hate Margaret Thatcher. Let Stewart Lee explain why...
Further to my post this morning, 38 Degrees have made another step to making amends for their mistake on the NHS. However, they have had to be dragged at every stage. They have retweeted a graphic produced for them by Lancashire Lib Dem Paul Valentine, and have been tweeting it to people who have complained at their lack of response. @MarkReckons Hi Mark, sorry about the mistake. Here is a correct chart, kindly adapted by @iampavpic.twitter.com/jaa9rYaF4r — 38 Degrees (@38_degrees) March 31, 2015 It's only taken them five days. That really isn't good enough for an organisation which was so ...
The first major judgment of the General Election campaign has been made, and although it was conducted with an obviously flawed system, I'm not going to challenge the result. Yes, according to the list here, I'm ranked 45th amongst journalists and commentators on Twitter based on some election-related algorithm, so I'm not going to challenge their findings for now. More interesting on that site might be the listing by constituency of the various candidates with Twitter accounts, both to help find them but also to stoke pointless Twitter feuds between them to see who works hardest to get their ranking ...
With the death of Terry Pratchett this month, I've seen a lot of people sharing beginners' guides and reading lists describing his work for the uninitiated. Most of them make some fairly basic mistakes, like describing a "Death series", a "Watch series", and so on within the Discworld books, and saying to read those in [...]
I often lament the fact that I have grown up as part of the most ironic generation of all time. The so-called "millennials" are surely characterised most of all by their sub-absurdist approach to everything, whether it is in trivial matters of appearance or in serious matters of the heart or of the head. As [...]
Plaid Cymru really have made an awful tactical decision by deciding to enter into a 'negotiating bloc' with the SNP and the Green Party in the event of a hung Parliament and, inexplicably, they've made this public. We Liberal Democrats can appreciate how difficult it is to negotiate a coalition deal, and many of us were far from happy with having to dance to the Tories' tune far often than we would have liked. Imagine therefore how difficult it must be to influence any policy agenda, whether it be coalition or 'confidence and supply', when you must first make policy ...
For those who are donating $1 a month or more, you can now read the first 25 pages of my new novel at Patreon. I decided the reason I was going so slowly with this compared with my other writing was that I wasn't writing to an audience, so I've uploaded chapters one through eight [...]
One of the lessons I learnt as a child was that if a restaurant didn't list their prices on the bill of fayre outside the establishment it was because my two teacher parents probably couldn't afford it. Today we are hearing that the Conservative party are saying that there will be £12bn in cuts after the election, but they are not telling you where on that menu those cuts are coming. Therefore you do not know if those cuts will be affecting you. This is not good enough the people are going to the polls in 37 days and deserve ...
Tue 31st
20:10
Ludlow town bus services to go out to tender before we have fully tested new timetable
We have just about got the Ludlow town services settled down but now they are to go out to tender. The 701 and 722 are running around town giving a good service. They are usually on time after recent changes to the timetable for the 722 bus that serves the park and ride. The buses [...]
Mark Hunter and the Lib Dems have always made road safety a priority – and as a result we have some of the safest roads in the country. Every accident is one too many, but we're proud that fewer people are injured or killed on our roads than almost anywhere else in the country. This graphic produced by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) tells part of that story.
Tue 31st
18:55
Most impressive straight face during a photo opportunity / most ill-advised speech location / and ot...
[IMG: Political horserace gets underway at Lingfield. Picture credit: Dan Abraham racingfotos.com] Political horserace gets underway at Lingfield ahead of the All-Weather Championships on Good Friday. Most impressive straight face during a photo opportunity Not always easy on campaign trail-Nick Clegg had to do 'concerned face' today as he heard about hedgehogs having 'maggots in every orifice' — Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) March 30, 2015
Peterborough City Council are trying a new tack, for issues with ongoing problems of dog poo not being picked up by owners. Having visited South Yorkshire at the end of last year, where they have permanent markings on the footpaths, I did previously suggest that the idea could be adopted here in Peterborough. The new stencils [...]
Over the weekend, there was discussion of a certain product being offered on the Labour Party website. Specifically, it was a mug in glorious Fabian red, for the princely sum of £5, bearing the words of Labour's fourth most important policy (if we are to assume that their pledge card is ranked in order of [...]
At conference, we received a number of requests to explain a bit more about the [your name].4mp.org.uk web address style that we offer as an alternative to our traditional 'MyCouncillor' website brand. I've written up a short summary for anyone interested in creating their own PPC website, or converting their existing MyCouncillor website to the [...]
I saw the chart above in an excellent article by Matthew Yglesias on the parallels between the civil rights and gay rights movements. It shows the results of Gallup's polling on interracial marriage dating back to 1959. It took me aback for a number of reasons: I'd have guessed the pattern would be that support would start [...]
LDHQ have published a new batch of templates some of which are available on a bulk buy deal if you're quick. The artwork as PDF's and PagePlus files are available here Items are as follows: Switch A4 Version 3 Part Printed A3 Focus Personal Story Letter Examples RISO A4 Squeeze RISO A3 Attack LDHQ are [...]
[IMG: House of Comments] On Saturday afternoon, I joined Mark Thompson on his recently rejuvenated House of Comments podcast. He's doing it in a new format with just one guest. We spent around 45 minutes chatting about the week's events. We kind of had to talk about the Camibland debate. I mentioned the imbalance between the questions the two men got. Kay Burley actually asked Cameron if he'd ever eaten three shredded wheat. In the same segment, Ed was asked if he had done a better job than his brother could have done. All in all, our conclusion was that ...
LDHQ have produced a leaflet that is not intended for localisation and can be simply ordered through the bulk-buy below or printed via the PDF's in the download links. The leaflet outlines the party's record of delivery and promise of more, to use in their General Election Campaigns.LDHQ are therefore offering a B4 National Leaflet through [...]
Mark, Graham and the Lib Dem team have been working to improve parking in Cheadle village. Over the last few years the village has got busier with more shops, cafes and restaurants and – as a result – more people wanting to park. Last week we told you that we were freeing up ten spaces for short-stay parking. Following a meeting with BMI (owners of the Alexandra Hospital) we now have another piece of positive news. BMI currently have around 40 permits. These are not for the hospital, but for BMI's UK finance division based in Eden Place. They manage ...
Tue 31st
15:25It's obvious; it's true; and it's usually ignored: the basic fact election coverage forgets
It's obvious. It's true. And it's usually ignored. The majority of the electorate is female. So stories about how 'party X is targeting the female vote' or 'women could decide the result in marginal seat Y' are really just ways of dressing up the banal obvious statement that 'the majority of the electorate matters'. Except for one thing they do reveal: how the focus on British politics is still male dominated. Targeting the female vote, separate chapters on the women's vote, special features on women's policy – the way these are written is all quite bizarre when you remember that ...
[IMG: the-nature-and-origins-of-mass-opinion] As we're now into the election campaign, the entire purpose of which is to get people to form a certain set of opinions and then act on them on May 7th, I thought it was about time I went back to doing another post on a concept from political science that seeks to explain how opinions are formed. What I'll be looking at in this post is John Zaller's 1992 book The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion , and the model for public opinion he sets out in, which he terms the Receive-Accept-Sample or RAS model. This ...
As some of you who read my infrequent blog posts will know, I have taken the big step of standing as a candidate. Not just for Yeovil Town Council, but for South Somerset District Council too. To accompany this I ... Continue reading →
The Liberal Democrats are quietly breaking all sorts of records at the moment. Membership is increasing, a million doors have been knocked on this year and yesterday, we passed a significant milestone – £500,000 has been raised from members and supporters, a record for this stage of any election campaign. As we reported the other day, there's a match funding offer on at the moment with a target of raising £300,000 by the end of today to support the election campaigns of our key candidates across the country. The party hopes to raise £600,000 in total simply from online donations. ...
Originally published in Wonderful Books' The Doctor Who 8th Anniversary Special... To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who's return to our screens, and today the eighth anniversary of her first appearance in Smith and Jones, here's my interview with the Doctor's friend Martha Jones: Martha Smith-Jones writes... "I LEFT THE TARDIS WITH MY HEAD HELD HIGH!""I chose my vocation a long time ago, and even meeting the Doctor was never going to change that," says Dr Martha Smith-Jones. "With a family like mine, you grew up learning to make your own mind up - or Mum made it up ...
General Election Hustings Patchwork is honoured to invite you to our General Elections Husting on Monday 13th April 2015 with Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP – Secretary of State for Justice – Conservative Party Chuka Umunna MP – Shadow Business Secretary – Labour Party Rt Hon Ed Davey MP – Secretary of State for Climate [...]
Five principal council by-elections were contested last Thursday, with SNP securing two gains and a hold from the four contests in Scotland. The party polled 59.5% and 55.3% respectively in gaining seats in Moray and Fife from an Independent and Labour. The SNP also saw a stark increase in their vote share in the West Lothian [...]
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 12
"Of course, you won't be fully accepted as a member of the Liberal Democrat group until you've rebelled against the Whip at least once on a point of principle." Nancy Seear's advice to Conrad Russell on his becoming a peer. She was Leader of the Liberals in the Lords, then Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Peers, and it's hard to imagine any other party leader or deputy giving this instruction to a new Parliamentarian. Conrad was both the last Liberal and the first Lib Dem to take a seat in the Lords - going through different stages of becoming ...
Tue 31st
12:46
P-37: What are the Liberal Democrats talking about today? Mental Health and the manifesto for the mi...
We'll be having daily deeper and more detailed look at the party's main theme. Today it's mental health. Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb this morning said that Liberal Democrats (or should that be Democats?) would invest £3.5 billion in mental health over the next Parliament. Part of our record in Government includes securing £150 million to help young people with eating disorders. A new video shows Kat sharing her experience of living with an eating disorder: The Party's Manifesto for the mind outlines a wide-ranging suite of measures to improve mental health services: ● Continue to roll out access and ...
Chris at county hall today has demanded that Eurovia be banned from receiving any further work from the county council. Chris said: 'They failed in Grosvenor Road, Burnham Road and Clifton Street – in each case not informing residents of works or changes to works nor indeed local councillors. 'I was assured that they would [...]
[IMG: Liberal Democats] It's fair to say that one of the last people we expected to turn up at a Liberal Democrat press conference was Joey Essex from TOWIE. He was there this morning, though, as he's doing some briefings for young people. He managed to grab a selfie with Nick Clegg: .@JoeyEssex_ Really nice to meet you this morning. Sorry about the early start! Hope the programme goes well! pic.twitter.com/QOyyIUSc1I — Nick Clegg (@nick_clegg) March 31, 2015 The Mirror has details of the conversation between them when Joey revealed that he thought we were called the Liberal Democats: I'm ...
The choice is simple: "competence and a clear plan" with the Conservatives, or a "coalition of chaos" with Labour. So says the leaflet just delivered on behalf of my Tory MP, and so every Tory spokesperson has been saying in answer to any question from the media. Clearly this has been a carefully researched formula, since it is part of well-prepared election campaign. That's a bit strange: since political chaos would certainly follow a Conservative victory – and that would overwhelm any governing competence that they may be able to offer. The proximate cause of that chaos is easy enough ...
Labour has made a tremendous fuss on social media in Blaydon about delivering their leaflet over the past few days. Dave Anderson, my Labour opponent, praises the "volunteers" who have been helping to deliver his literature. It's always good to thank people for volunteering their time. Perhaps Mr Anderson may wish to thank the staff of the delivery company which he forgot to mention who have been
Former Guardian editor Peter Preston has been reminiscing about the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election 50 years ago which was won by a young David Steel. He's been to the opening of a new exhibition celebrating the by-election and muses on the difference between politics then and now. First, he sets the scene: Fifty years ago, as a neophyte Guardian reporter, I covered the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles byelection that catapulted David Steel into parliament. Now I'm back in Selkirk to open an exhibition celebrating his victory: a kind of still living artefact in a mini-museum full of faded speeches, ...
Today the Harris Federation requested that the proposal for a new Harris Nunhead Primary School be withdrawn. Please see the letter here: Proposed Harris Primary Academy Nunhead 2 It seems unlikely that the Education Finance Agency will refuse this request. The proposal had generated much opposition from people concerned it would reduce the amount of space for a new secondary school on the Dulwich Hospital site but also people not surprisingly unwilling to send their children the 1-2 miles from the Nunhead/east East Dulwich area to a new primary school at the Dulwich Hospital site. Harris Federation have listened to ...
Another of Labour's misleading comments about tax relates to the government and tax cuts for the rich. It is true that the government cut the top rate of tax to 45% from 50%. It is worth noting, however, that it was only at 50% for one month of the Labour Government from 1997-2010. However, if you want to look at how fair policies are then you need to take into account more than just income
Lords accuse Tories of 'burying' review that cleared EU of interference (tags: ) An interesting post on why some of Clarkson's fans refuse to let the facts dull their fury (tags: ) Outrage at 'back door' criminal court fees - Grayling does it again. (tags: ) Cameron and Miliband set out horrible, soul-destroying choice (tags: ) This "who should I vote for?" infographic made me laugh more than it probably should have (tags: ) Huge hugs for the incredibly brave @Juvelad - this is an incredibly powerful article (tags: ) Beautifully judged comment on @Juvelad's interview by @davepage_mcr, current chair ...
Community groups have until 10th April to apply for grants to be awarded at the July meetings of the Area Forums. Frome Vale Area Forum, which covers an area including the Yate, Dodington and Sodbury wards, has £21,450 left for community grants. It is also possible to apply for New Homes Bonus and Positive Activities Funding (the latter is for provision for young people). More information and links to the online application system are available from this page. Applications can be made throughout the year, which decisions being taken in July, September, December and March, but the money available will ...
Tue 31st
09:1538 Degrees get it badly wrong on Lib Dem funding for NHS - but don't do nearly enough to put it righ...
Everyone makes mistakes. That's a fact of life. However, when you do, you need to properly acknowledge it and make amends. One of the key Liberal Democrat priorities for this election is that we would fund the £8 billion that the NHS in England needs. In fact, we're spending more than that on health because there are Barnett consequentials giving about another billion to Scotland and Wales. It's not difficult to understand. Last Thursday, campaign organisation 38 Degrees put up a graphic on its Facebook page which compared party's pledges against what the NHS needed. The figure cited for the ...
Jan Berry was back from Dead Man's Curve. At least, he was part of the way back. Jan was, if not an actual psychopath (a diagnosis it would be improper to give without knowing him personally, but which is not implausible), certainly an incredibly impulsive, thrill-seeking personality. His car crashes had caused problems for Jan [...]
[IMG: View from Bootle Wood r] Seen from Stanley Road Bootle, Liverpool. The trees were planted a few years ago along Stanley Road to green up this brick, concrete and tarmac urban environment. Sadly, last year a whole row of these trees outside the Strand Shopping Centre were stripped of their bark. Let's hope those who care nothing for our environment do not strike again. The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
Tue 31st
08:56
Finally, an aspect of Labour's "35% strategy" that makes sense (reflections on Miliband's Bloomberg ...
For most of this parliament, Labour have been pursuing what they refer to behind the scenes as the "35% strategy". The logic of it is that Labour only needs that percentage of the vote or thereabouts to win a majority. The theory is faulty in many respects, not least of which is that it doesn't matter what percentage of the vote you get in the British electoral system so much as where you get it. I have complained about its lack of wisdom so many places I'm not going to bother linking you to any of them. I wouldn't know ...
Back in 2002, I came across an old copy of Hilaire Belloc's book The Old Road. It was being sold off for 40p by my local library, along with many of their other books most worth reading, and I bought it and devoured his journey along the old Pilgrim's Way. Reading Belloc changed my outlook on many things. He was a former Liberal MP who left the party and launched one of those Liberal breakaway movements - like the Greens - this one called the Distributist League. I've written elsewhere about the links between the Liberals and the Distributists, but ...
Today was the first of the traditional morning election press conferences. Liberal Democrats hold ours in the National Liberal Club, just off Whitehall. It's a lovely building with super views over the Thames. This morning Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb launched the party's Manifesto for the Mind. This sets out how the party would invest £3.5 billion over the next Parliament to improve mental health service, reduce waiting times. Nick Clegg said: Liberal Democrats believe that no matter who you are, where you come from and what your circumstances, you should not be denied the opportunity to fulfil your potential. ...
Headline of the Day goes to the Leicester Mercury.
From Sheena Wellington : Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library - Wednesday 1st April at 1.15pm Bob Knight, singer/songwriter Admission free, donations welcomed. A return visit to the Wighton from Bob Knight, a singer from Aberdeen who has slowly but surely been making a name for himself in the world of folk and traditional music. He is well known in North East Scotland folk circles as a singer and writer of songs in traditional style, having performed at most of the local clubs, and festivals, including many events at Aberdeen University's Elphinstone Institute. Bob doesn't just confine himself to his home ...
Following on from the good news on party membership and canvassing, comes this on fundraising: We've raised £500,000 in small donations since January. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters. #GE2015 pic.twitter.com/gdBUY5E7XW — Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) March 30, 2015 At midnight tonight (Tuesday) the party's latest matched fundraising drive closes so it's worth repeating: if you donate before midnight, a group of donors have agreed to double the value of your donation. Donate and get your donation doubled here. So far over £232,000 has been donated - and doubled. The doubling will apply on all donations up to £300,000, so ...
[IMG: borrow-less-cut-less] Well of course because it stops the worst of the Tories cuts but also stops Labour bankrupting us all again!
It certainly is well behind time now with a date in May being identified for opening this time. Environmental campaigners that I work with seem unsurprised at the water logged land that the construction company have been bogged down in though. Here are a few photo's of the Thornton end of the new road as it looked a few of days ago:- [IMG: IMG_4229] [IMG: IMG_4230] [IMG: IMG_4231] Click on the photos to enlarge them I notice that Labour are still trying to claim credit for getting the road built when it was really the campaigning of the people and ...
Just a quick reminder that Northumberland County Council bin collections will be put back one day next week. So if your regular bin day is a Tuesday, next week it will be Wednesday ...I'm sure you get the pattern! Next week is a blue ( ie dry recycling) bin week Because there are not usually bin collections on a Friday, this week is unaffected
The Liberal Democrats will continue to build a stronger economy and a fairer society for Wales, Nick Clegg has said today as he launches the Welsh Liberal Democrats' General Election campaign. Speaking ahead of a visit to Panasonic Manufacturing in Cardiff Central with Jenny Willott and leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Kirsty Williams AM, Nick Clegg MP said: "Liberal Democrats will continue to build a stronger economy and a fairer society for Wales. We'll build on our work in Government to deliver economic growth that benefits all of the UK. "The Tories and Labour's over-reliance on the financial sector ...
The Telegraph reports that Labour is facing embarrassment after businesses featured in a political advert about the risks of Britain leaving the EU distanced themselves from Labour. They say that the party took out a full-page advert in the Financial Times featuring quotes from six of Britain's biggest business leaders warning about the risks of leaving the EU.The advert has the tag-line: "The biggest risk to British business is the threat of an EU exit. Labour will put the national interest first. We will deliver reform, not exit."However, the quotes used in the advert were up to two years old ...
It's that time again, politicians from left and right are out pounding the pavements across the country looking for people to vote for them. The 2015 general election campaign looks like it will be the closest election in decades. Either Labour or the Conservatives could win it and the Liberal Democrats, or the SNP are likely to be the kingmakers. The political marketplace is now more crowded than it has ever been and yet millions of people at this election will not even bother to vote. Not to mention the fact that hundreds of thousands may not have even bothered ...
I have just read in Pink News that the LGBT Consortium are writing to all general election candidates to support the Trans Manifesto. There are three main strands to that manifesto: Regard trans individuals as equal citizens with equal rights, Empower trans individuals to be authorities on all aspects of their own lives, Encourage diverse, representative, realistic and positive portrayals of trans individuals.Regular readers will know my record on Transgender issues, but I understand in the run up to the election some of you are landing on my website for the first time. So here are some of the things ...
