Apparently, today is World Autism Awareness Day. In the US, this seems to have been co-opted by the eugenicist pressure group posing as a charity who call themselves Autism Speaks, so a lot of people there have been fighting that by talking about Autism Acceptance instead of awareness. Meanwhile, in the UK, the main promoter [...]
Another day, another debate. It didn't turn into the seven-way shoutathon that I feared, but there were points when there were lots of people talking over each other – usually 2 or 3 of the men – though Julie Etchingham managed to keep them away from the worst of it. The polling results seem to be coming up with a variety of results, and I think that's because of two factors. First, there's a partisanship factor, as people are inclined to think 'their' leader won, but secondly because it's very hard for people to consistently judge who 'won' the debate. ...
Reader's voice: If only there were more slideshows like that. Liberal England replies: There are. There's Devon, Bedfordshire, North Lincolnshire, East Sussex, Leicestershire, Herefordshire and Hampshire.
Thu 2nd
23:12
Candid, competent Clegg puts in good performance in debate that fails to break the poll deadlock
The NHS doesn't need warm words, it needs hard cash. Probably the line of the debate for me, from Nick Clegg as he highlighted Liberal Democrat plans to invest £8 billion in the NHS in England with resultant Barnett Consequentials. Clegg was at the top of his game tonight. Paddy Ashdown said he was flawless, but I wouldn't quite go that far. He stumbled a bit on immigration – taking the right line but with some strange comments about good and bad immigrations. I actually feel prouder of him than I did in 2010. After all the grief he's taken, ...
The last Cheadle Area Committee before the elections is on Tuesday 14th April 2015 at 6pm. We're at the Ladybridge Residents Club, Edenbridge Road, Cheadle Hulme and, as ever, it's a public meeting and all are welcome. On the agenda: Presentation by Stockport District CAB Application for funding of £452 from All Hallows Church towards equipment for a youth group Application for funding of £1000 from Cheadle Golf Club to towards a project to offer "footgolf" at the Pitch and Putt on Bruntwood Park. Planning application 57255 – extension to 10 Delamere Road, Gatley Planning application 57582 – convert Bruntwood ...
OrStill trying to get what I want without being an arsehole. Weeks' six to eight I thought I had dealt with acronyms when I left teaching, but they crop up everywhere: even in the cluttered world of mental health. DEARMAN, RAVEN & FAST (sounds like some dodgy accountancy firm, "Hullo there, I am Mr Dearman, I am the emollient partner in the firm, to ease the burden of all your financial affairs, this is Mr Raven, he is a raving kleptomaniac and along with Mr Fast, we'll be gone so quick with you hard earned cash, you won't notice." Instead, ...
Everyone will talk about how Cameron/Miliband just edged it. Two days later, Miliband/Cameron's party will be up by less than the margin of error, and this will be called a "debate bounce" Every single party will come up with a "viral" hashtag that's based on something their leader said, like #hellyeahiwantastrongereconomynigel. No-one who isn't a [...]
First Bus have made the following announcement regarding their Easter services (for other operators, please check individual websites): Easter services for the West of England - over Easter, we will be running the following services: Good Friday (Friday 3 April) - Buses will operate Sunday/Public Holiday timetables. This includes Bath Park & Ride services (21, 31 & 41). - The Bristol Airport Flyer (Service A1) will operate a normal Monday to Friday service. Saturday 4 April - Services will operate normal Saturday service. Easter Sunday (Sunday 5 April) - Buses will operate Sunday/Public Holiday timetables. - No Park & Ride ...
The Easter Egg Extravaganza Event is coming up on Easter Monday (6th April) in Kingsgate Park.
It was one year ago tonight that Nick took on Nigel. And tonight he takes on Nigel and five others. All of them will be queuing up to attack him. Nigel because Nick's open, liberal, internationalist stance is the antithesis of all he stands for, Ed, Nicola, Leanne and Natalie because that's what they do and Dave because the last thing he wants is another coalition with the Nick. After all, he did tell the Daily Mail that he'd govern like a proper Tory if it weren't for Nick. When the Prime Minister talks about Ed Miliband being in Alex ...
A recent study of the knowledge and uptake of voting rights by adult inpatients at the 2010 UK general election found: Eligible to vote psychiatric adult in-patients were half as likely to register as the general population and half as likely to vote if registered. Nine out of ten of those unregistered cited a lack of knowledge of their eligibility to vote or of the registration process. Long-stay patients were particularly disenfranchised.In an attempt to improve this sorry state of affairs, the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal College of Psychiatrists have published a leaflet ...
On a day when Vladimir Putin threatens nuclear war to try to break up NATO, the painful and unnecessary deaths of at least 54 Russian sailors just emphasizes how cheap human life is in a country where people are simply giving up hope. It is a contemptible display from a government that is rapidly losing its grip on reality. Meanwhile a small glimpse of the nature of Russian propaganda has been given by former workers in Russia's "Troll's House". The struggles within the regime are now increasingly open: the Russian chauvinism of some significant elements in the FSB versus the ...
Got an electric car? Well if you have there is now a charging point in the car park of Meadows Leisure Centre. An electrifying time can be had or so it seems. With apologies for my April 1st posting on this matter! [IMG: Plug in at Meadows] [IMG: Plugged in at meadows]
I have seen the future and it works (but at a price). One of the books that has most influenced how I see the world we now live in is John Kampfner's Freedom for Sale. It is essentially a long rebuttal of Francis Fukuyama's End of History thesis. Fukuyama (a political theorist) believed that History [...]
Thu 2nd
16:50
The wrong sort of no fixed abode: how some people struggle to get on electoral register
[IMG: Canal boats] The Independent reports: In 1995 I made the decision, for both romantic and financial reasons, to live on a boat... The boat is now at a recognised mooring that my husband and I rent from the landowner. The problem is, this patch that we have come to call home is not an official residential mooring - in other words, in the eyes of the local authority, it does not exist as an address where people live... Nonetheless, I was aware that as a UK citizen, I was still entitled to vote, somehow or other. So I telephoned ...
Blog Categories: Economics Vote: 0 votes + Vote up! - Vote down! Renting is for losers. Apparently. It is only now that any form of buying is out of reach of so many who a generation ago would have been able to buy, that people have taken up the cause for renters of all classes. As what would have been yuppies in the 80s now see little chance of buying they have formed groups like "Generation Rent" and "PricedOut". This is good, insofar as it goes, and inasmuch as they actually understand the phenomenon of rent. But if we can ...
Many Liberal Democrats in and around Parliament have distinctly mixed views about John Bercow. Support for his (mostly fruitless) attempts to get MPs at PMQs behaving more like, well..., Members of Parliament than like tanked up football fans. Support too for his efforts to put Parliament back at the centre of political debate by making the order of business more flexible in the face of the news. But also frequent anger at the way in which he usually epitomises old-style Parliamentarianism, as if politics is still about just two parties. Speaker Bercow's reforming zeal in other areas has all but ...
Conservative Disqualification L D Candidate – David Lee Contact 01883 344031
It would be fair to say that in having a certain affection for and admiration of Nick Clegg, I am in a definite minority. His approval rating amongst voters is dire and a poll this week indicated that his own seat is in serious danger. I've not always been a cheerleader for Clegg but I do still have [...]
Following on from the post of the same name over at Nik's Blog, I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts on what I would like to hear in Nick's opening remarks. I can't stress how important Nick's 2-minute introduction is to the air-war. It is likely to be the only LibDem 2-minutes in the entire campaign (before postal votes) that anyone properly listens to. And I include the rest of the debate in this as I can't believe many normal people will last 2 hours of politics! I know it's all about the ground war this time but it ...
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 14
A message from Southport Neighbourhood Police Team Southport Police are warning residents of the High Park and Scarisbrick New Road areas of Southportof an increase in house burglaries. The roads which have been targeted include: Newton Street, Russell Road, Poplar Street, Scarisbrick New Road, Norwood Road and Pilkington Road. Some of the houses involved were accessed via unlocked doors, offenders have also used a garden spade at one location which was kept in an unlocked garden shed. The stolen property includes car keys and vehicle, handbags, and electrical items. Please keep doors and windows secure and ensure garden tools are ...
Crossens Saturday, 11th April, St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens, between 11am and 12 noon. Churchtown Thursday, 23rd April, at Cafe Moo Moo on Cambridge Road (by the junction with Preston New Road, next to Boots) Churchtown, between 10:30 am and 11:30 am.
Thu 2nd
14:27Nick Clegg says: Employers must be equally supportive of workers with mental and physical health pro...
I wrote the other day of my annoyance at the dreadfully stigmatising headlines about mental health in the wake of the Germanwings plane crash. It's good to see that Nick Clegg has given quite a detailed interview reported on the Huffington Post while on the battle bus about this issue in which he said that there shouldn't be a blanket ban of people with mental ill health doing any job. Employers had to look at people's individual circumstances and be as accepting of people with mental ill health as with physical. I think it's very important that we don't, however ...
Mental health has been a key focus for the Liberal Democrats, who have given more focus on mental health care than previous Governments. Going forward, if we're in Government, we will spend £3.5bn more over the next parliament on mental health care in England The funding would be spent on revolutionising children's and adult mental [...]
Liberal Democrat Top Priorities For 2015
This is about the future: your future, your children's future, and Britain's future. Since 2010, Liberal Democrats have worked in government to rescue and repair Britain's shattered economy. Growth is up. Jobs are up. Government borrowing is down. The repairs to our public finances must be completed. And they must be completed fairly. But I do not believe that in the next five years Britain simply wants more of the same. We need to move from rescue to renewal. We need to move from austerity to ambition. We need to think boldly and restore a sense of national optimism. After ...
I've been picked out by @DODSmonitoring as one of the 'Top 10 PPCs to watch' in financial services at this General Election! Let's go #LWP (sign-up needed)
Parliament has now been dissolved, and the election campaign is well under way. Steve Webb was unanimously adopted as the Liberal Democrat parlaimentary candidate for the Thornbury and Yate constituency at a meeting of Lib Dem members in Chipping Sodbury Town Hall this week. Steve will be very busy for the next few weeks because quite apart from campaigning he's still the Minister of State for Pensions - the government doesn't finish until the election result is known. Meanwhile local Lib Dems have been out on the streets talking to as many voters as possible, though you may well have ...
The Liberal Democrats have demanded that failing county council contractor Ringway get a grip on the number of non-working street lights within six weeks – or be sacked. Lib Dem Leader Stephen Giles-Medhurst, who proposed the motion critical of the county's street lighting performance, said: 'The levels of failure are now so high that members [...]
There are so many media interviews with politicians at the moment. We're suffering from so much information overload and it's only Day 4. It's hard to imagine that we'll be missing it when it's all over. Did I say that out loud? Anyway, here are three must watch/listen events that you might have missed from yesterday. The first is Willie Rennie's interview on Good Morning Scotland yesterday. Of course, he got all the usual really tough questions and answered them pretty strongly. Secondly, Steve Webb represented us really well on the See Hear election debate which you can watch here ...
One that does RISO ink could be rather handy for Liberal Democrat offices too:
Tonight sees the first – and only – real debate of the 2015 General Election campaign, when 7(!) party leaders will go head-to-head on ITV. Ahead of the debate (see here for speaking order), I've been musing about what I'd ... Continue reading →
Lab seat (co-opted). Cause: Resignation. LD prospective candidate: Sam Bennett Contact number for helpers: 01874 265739
With Eurosceptic Tories and Ukip candidates alongside us in this campaign, we need to challenge their assumptions in every all-party panel and debate. Here are a few I've found useful so far: 1. To those who say we want a referendum now, or as soon as possible, without waiting for negotiations on EU reform or for the next change in the Treaties: why don't they say straight out that they want to leave the EU, and not hide behind the call for a referendum? 2. Where do they think Britain will go to when we leave the EU? The Norwegians ...
St Albans City and District Council has just published the updated map online at Free printed copies of the map are also available from the St Albans Tourist and Information Centre, Parish Councils and local libraries. Members of the St Albans Cycle Campaign provided the Council with assistance to update the map.
The election campaign will take all our available attention span over the next few weeks, so I've found myself thinking back a century - exactly a century in fact - to the beginning of March 1915. It was then that Rupert Brooke was relaxing with his friends in the Royal Naval Division in Cairo, preparing for the disastrous attack on the Dardanelles. I've explained elsewhere how the Dardanelles escapade was a the brainchild of radical Liberals, desperate to avoid what looked like the inevitable carnage on the Western Front, and was stymied in the end by bureaucratic inertia. The Royal ...
A little bit of campaigning in Lamesley ward last night. I knocked on doors of some of those who would have been affected by opencast near Birklands had the plans been agreed last year. I led the successful battle against them and people I spoke to yesterday still remember my involvement. I am launching soon our eFocus for the Lamesley and Birtley wards so last night I was able to sign up a few
"Voodoo economics" was the name given by George Bush Senior to his presidential rival Ronald Reagan's economic ideas when the two were vying for the Republican nomination in 1980. Mr Bush's scepticism proved well-founded. Now I don't accuse Labour of promoting the same ideas – but there is the same sort optimistic logic and build-up of false expectations amongst supporters. Except that in Labour's case it will be politically much riskier if they actually achieve power. The original voodoo economics, or "Reaganomics" to its supporters, is associated with two ideas in particular. The first is "trickle down" – if the ...
The Liberal Democrats have always called for a proportional representation when it comes to elections. They may not like it, but they have never been scared of allowing representative from smaller parties to legislative bodies across the country. In 2010 Nick Clegg opened the leaders' debates by saying: "You're going to be told tonight by these two that the only choice you can make is between
Finding things to complain about in The Guardian is hardly difficult, but here are two little blemishes that bleed deep: First we have a quote from editor Alan Rusbridger in 2013, touching on the AV referendum: They [the Lib Dems] came up with such a weak version of proportional representation that they could not get anyone excited or enthused. And second, a report from earlier this year on a Guardian staff ballot: Staff of the Guardian and Observer have voted in favour of Katharine Viner... using the single transferable vote system... [t]he successful candidate is guaranteed a place on the ...
Message from the Centre for Public Scrutiny Dear Councillors, As some of you may know, the Centre for Public Scrutiny is currently seeking respondents for our Annual Survey, which closes April 24th2015. The Centre is aware that this is a very busy time of year for you with the local and general elections but [...]
Yesterday I posted about the lack of ambition in UK politics. Of course, it's not quite true to suggest that many of the parties or their leaders have low expectations. What I'm saying is that their ambition is limited only to the immediate, and based almost completely on the interests of a subset rather than [...]
Plaid Cymru seat, Cause: Death No LD Candidate
Oh if ONLY this were true. (tags: ) This is how much it costs to hire a worker across Europe - UK wages below average. What a surprise. (tags: ) What They Really Mean When They Say They're Not a Feminist (tags: ) Nick Clegg: People with mental health problems should not be stopped from doing certain jobs - spot on Cleggy (tags: ) Would it be legit to sack this person for gross misconduct? Cos that would be my urge. (tags: ) So, the @i100 thinks I'm Scottish. How about you? (tags: ) Genuinely would like someone to explain ...
Dog walkers, cyclists, pedestrians, youngsters heading to school and many others, all make their way through the John Clare Rec on a regular basis, but do YOU think it could do with some improvements? There is a play area up near the Hallfields Lane entrance, but that covers about 5% of the overall park area. [...]
[IMG: Portsmouth Labour Club: photo of outside of building, covered in Lib Dem posters. Photo credit: Ben Dowling]
Thu 2nd
09:24
The big problem with Labour's zero hours contract policy: it could make things even worse
"I couldn't live on a zero hours contract," Ed Miliband told the crowd and indeed the nation during the non-debate Paxo debate. So why then has he come up with a policy that will offer at least 80% of those currently on zero hours contracts what amounts to no help at all, and actually very likely make things even worse for all zero hours workers, while trying to make out that he's eradicating the problem? Let's break down Labour's latest policy announcement on zero hours contracts. It's fairly straightforward: Labour would introduce a law that would mean that anyone working ...
[IMG: ashcroft] Right at the top, I want to say I'm a fan of Lord Ashcroft's seat-specific polling. It would've been easy for him as a Conservative peer to calibrate his constituency surveys deliberately to undermine the Lib Dems — already written off by chunks of the media — by ignoring the local incumbency factor which plays well to the party's Stakhanovite MPs. The fact that he prompts the electorate to think specifically about how they'll vote in their local contest is to his very real credit. However...(!) However, in his ConservativeHome write up of his latest polling, which returned ...
There's a new acronym doing the rounds, which I think is a vicious wolf in sheep's clothing. And I fear the party may have fallen for the sheep's clothing and not seen the wolf. The acronym is TTIP. It stands for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which sounds all well and good. And if all it's doing is promoting free trade between Europe and America, fair enough. But the question we should all be asking is: at what cost? TTIP has made its way into the election campaign solely as an adjunct to the NHS debate. There are fears that ...
Here's the latest summary, after the new constituency polls from Lord Ashcroft. As before, his methodology is key to whether you think his polling is a good guide to Liberal Democrat prospects. Here's the case against, as I put it in Liberal Democrat Newswire #53: The key voting intention question asked people to think about how they would vote in their constituency - which usually gets more accurate constituency results (and a higher Lib Dem share) than simply a question about the general election in abstract. However the polling questions didn't name candidates. Where there is a high profile candidate, ...
Ed Miliband is right to highlight the problems caused by zero hours contracts but what credibility does he actually have on this issue? As this article reports 68 Labour MPs, nearly a quarter of Mr. Miliband's Parliamentary party, have been accused of using these controversial contracts to employ staff. Furthermore 21,798 of these contracts have been handed out by Labour-run Councils. And that is before we focus on votes in the Welsh Assembly where Labour AMs have twice vetoed moves to ban zero-hours contracts in public services here. />The most insidious part of zero hours contracts are the exclusivity clauses. ...
A study by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says that the number of homes planned for the country's green belt has increased 38% in less than two years. Nearly 220,000 houses are planned for green belt land – up 61,000 on CPRE's last count in August 2013. In its analysis of nine English regions, the CPRE paper shows that councillors and planning inspectors have signed off major releases of Green Belt land over the past 19 months. [IMG: This is the huge area of agricultural land that Sefton Council intends to put under concrete to the east of ...
Five weeks to go! And one week (with two bank holidays) to get nomination papers in. Today is Debate Day, of course. And it's also the first anniversary of Nick Clegg's second debate with Nigel Farage last year. Nick will be preparing ahead of the debate which takes place in Salford. His visit for the day is in nearby Cheadle, visiting a charity set up by parents after their 9 month old baby, Millie, died after choking at nursery. Cheadle Lib Dem Mark Hunter, as MP for the area, helped Millie's parents campaign for a change in the law to ...
General Elections always bring up controversial questions. Few are more controversial than the Palestinian Question. I've had quite a few questions about my opinions on it, and this piece is an attempt to answer those. Please leave a comment if there's any further aspects you want a question on. The situation with Palestine and Israel is one for which the UK bears a fair burden of responsibility. The UK was instrumental in creating the modern state of Israel, and was also responsible for the mandate of Palestine before it. Despite the original aim being a single state solution with shared ...
