Two and a half weeks in, three weeks to go and it feels to me that we might have had the first big moment of the election tonight. There'd been a lot of pre-event discounting of tonight's debate: Farage was guaranteed to win as the only right-wing voice, everyone would gang up on Miliband, Cameron would look good for staying out of the fray and much more. Instead, it felt like everyone had made a similar calculation: why go for Miliband when he's there and can fight back when you could take as many free hits at David Cameron as ...
The polls are consistently predicting that neither Labour or Conservatives will have a majority in the next Parliament and while they could all be wrong, don't bet on it. Betfair says that 87% of thepunters are putting heir money on a hung Parliament. That seems to indicate another coalition, but the British people wouldn't take kindly to a deal between Labour and the SNP, the only combination which might produce a Commons majority. The alternative would be a minority Government. The moderating influence of a strong LibDem contingent will be essential to stability in any imaginable scenario..
The reaction of Leicestershire Police to the decision not to prosecute Greville Janner has been extraordinary. First they issued a media statement quoting their Assistant Chief Constable Roger Bannister: Thanks primarily to the courage of 25 victims who have made a complaint and the complete professionalism of the investigation team, we have built a case that the DPP has acknowledged is the result of a thorough investigation, evidentially sufficient and gives rise to a realistic chance of conviction. "There is credible evidence that this man carried out some of the most serious sexual crimes imaginable over three decades against children ...
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 28 Freedom from Conformity
A liberal bureaucracy should bolster the freedom of the individual against the danger of an overmighty state. It should respond, not react, to the established needs of the individual, enabling them to make informed decisions in their lives, participate in their society to the extent desired and take advantage of the full range of opportunities available to our society. It should enable, rather than proscribe, protect, rather than abuse, and encourage, rather than place obstacles in the way of, innovation and diversity. It should encourage imagination in problem solving rather than impose blunt conformity by its methodology, and should be ...
Filed under: General Election 2015 Tagged: elections, general election
Thu 16th
20:11
Lib Dems publish constituency poll for Jo Swinson, putting her just ahead of SNP (within margin of e...
The Liberal Democrats have released another constituency poll, carried out earlier this month and this time in Jo Swinson's East Dunbartonshire constituency. The voting intention question, which names the candidates, found Lib Dem 35%, SNP 32%, Labour 16%, Conservative 13%, Green 2%, Ukip 1%. With a sample size of 413 the basic margin of error in the poll is +/-5%, putting Jo Swinson and the SNP neck and neck. The full data tables are here. P.S. For anyone who is tempted to say how outrageous, fiddled, flawed and requiring eating of babies it is to have questions rating the main ...
The new issue of Liberator arrives, which means that it is time for another visit to Bonkers Hall. His lordship's remarks here appear to have influenced my recent column in the Leicester Mercury. Richard III, Twycross Zoo and Foxton Locks What scenes we have enjoyed in Leicester this week! The eyes of the world have been upon us as we reintered Richard III - and I know for a fact that more than one envious city mayor has given instructions for all his city's car parks to be dug up Just In Case. I won't pretend to have agreed with ...
People have commented to me that the Lib Dems have delivered more leaflets, got more posters and seem to be knocking on more doors than the Conservatives or any of the other parties contesting the elections locally. It doesn't surprise me – part of the Lib Dem ethos is working hard, not just at election time but all year round. And you should expect your politicians to work hard for your vote, because you want them to show you that they can work hard for you after that too. Anyone can say the right things. But I want an MP ...
A really neat new campaign from the Liberal Democrats: David Cameron and Ed Miliband won't win this election outright. That means that someone else will hold the balance of power on 8 May. That could be BLUKIP - a bloc of right wingers from UKIP, the Conservatives and the DUP. There is a very real danger that Nigel Farage and his friends could hold David Cameron to ransom. The only way to stop this is to make sure there are enough Liberal Democrat MPs to keep the government in the centre ground. Read all about Blukip (and the Liberal Democrat ...
Lib Dems enlist drunk raccoon Just the WiFi password, actually. But the link also takes you to the encouraging news that Charles Kennedy has crowdsourced £6,500 in small donations, more than his SNP rival who has only managed £4,405.
I shared a video on Facebook today. It was a video of Ed Miliband repeating himself rather than listen to the questions from an interviewer. I would have left it there but I got a comment that the reason why poor Ed had to repeat himself was because of bad interviewing typical of right wing media. Here is the clip and the responses. You can make up your own mind. My initial comment was: I am saddened by this video. W.S. Gilbert told us over a century ago that politicians leave their brains outside the House of Commons. It's ...
Save for a patronising and inadequate reference to 'jam jar' style savings accounts, the Liberal & Welsh Liberal Democrat manifesto proposals on Welfare fail to acknowledge the huge financial capability implications associated with the introduction of Universal Credit. I argued the case for its inclusion in the Welsh manifesto, but seemingly lost that battle. My argument is simply this: if you streamline welfare payments and offer the benefit directly to the beneficiary, you have to be sure that they have the requisite budgeting skills to manage their affairs. The evidence clearly suggests that some of the most vulnerable benefit recipients ...
1. We've lived through an era of appalling growth in income and asset inequality. Locking that in for a 2nd generation is very bad news. — ben goldacre (@bengoldacre) April 12, 2015
[IMG: ukip manifesto] Like the Lib Dems and Greens (and unlike the biggest two parties), UKIP have released a manifesto that includes a list of what each policy costs (see pages 74-75). They have even had an independent body check that those costs sound reasonable, and put a lot of emphasis on their manifesto being "fully costed". Kudos to them, you might say, but unfortunately their sums don't add up. For 2019-20 they have identified £32 billion of savings - largely from slashing overseas aid, ending EU contributions, cancelling HS2 and reducing Scottish spending. And £32 billion is then used ...
This evening, the BBC hosts a "challengers" debate, one involving five of the seven from last time, so minus the "governing leaders", namely Cameron and Clegg. The idea, I suppose, is to give voice to those party leaders who haven't been governing recently or ever, but may be doing so in the future. Or something like that. This debate is happening mostly by accident; the broadcasters had a set of debates they wanted to hold and their plans were bulldozed by the Tories. So they've come up with tonight as a weird alternative. I guess it's better than nothing. So ...
The Liberal Democrats 2015 manifesto has been published and I'm really pleased that the theme is opportunity – we want to ensure that everyone, no matter where they are born, their ethnicity or religion, or how rich their parents are, has the same opportunity to reach their full potential, and to live their lives as [...]
Nearly there... The last dog stretches and shakes off the remnants of sleep, there is a hint of mist in the pre-dawn air and as he leaves the comfort of his sleeping den, the motorway is quiet. He quickly picks up the scent of the ICL and starts at a brisk trot after it. By the time the sun burns through the mist, he has reached where it had crashed with the trike and where the stag and dog pack had run through. The mix of scents are heady and enthralling. He runs around for a while, trying to work ...
Thu 16th
14:54
Lord Navnit Dholakia writes..Lib Dem BAME manifesto takes pro-active approach to valuing different c...
My core belief that we all have a right to be treated fairly without reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnicity is one of the reasons I have remained committed to the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats for over fifty years. The party's fundamental rejection of prejudice and discrimination is just as important now as it was when I joined the Brighton Young Liberals in the 1950s. Britain has a proud record in race and community relations, but at a time when we see the rise of the divisive politics of parties like UKIP, it has never been more ...
Oh look, it's another National Union of Students general election campaign. As someone who was involved in, then worked in student politics and student unions for most of the 90s, it's somewhat of a surprise that NUS are carrying on with this, given the lack of success they had in the past. Of course, most of them wouldn't have been born when NUS tried the 'Target 70′ campaign in the 1992 election, highlighting the constituencies where the student vote could swing the result. It was a great campaign, if you forget the fact that election occurred when students were on ...
[IMG: blukip] Nick Clegg has today been warning voters to Beware Blukip. Everyone knows that David Cameron and Ed Miliband won't win this general election out right. The prospect of a left-wing alliance between Labour and the SNP has been well covered. What's equally possible is an alliance that will drag Britain further and further to the right: BLUKIP - a bloc of right-wingers from UKIP, the Conservatives and the DUP that could hold the balance of power. They're the MPs that could hold David Cameron to ransom. Listen to Conservative MP Edward Leigh, who described belief in climate change ...
The Bar Council's response to the Liberal Democrat manifesto: "Neither main party will protect the Ministry of Justice budget, but judging from today's manifesto pledges from the Liberal Democrats, it looks like politicians are finally addressing the legal profession's concerns about access to justice," Alistair MacDonald QC, Chairman of the Bar, said yesterday. "In a week of manifesto launches, today feels like it is third time lucky. "Promises were long over-due on reversing the hike in up-front court fees, reviewing tribunal fees, ensuring legal aid is available to those who need it and re-introducing legal aid for judicial review. But ...
A new poll carried out by Survation for the Liberal Democrats has shown that Jo Swinson is in a tight race with the SNP in her East Dunbartonshire constituency. The Kirkintilloch Herald reports: The poll, with methodology designed by the LibDems but carried out by an independent company, shows a mere two per cent divide between Ms Swinson from SNP candidate John Nicholson. It also predicts that Labour will take just 16 per cent of the vote and the Conservatives just 13 per cent. The results were: Lib Dem 34.5%, SNP 32.1%, Lab 16.2%, Con 13.1%, Green 2%, Ukip 0.7% ...
The Scottish Lib Dems have published a report showing the impact on SNP centralisation on Scotland. You can read the full report here: The SNP have centralised the life out of Scotland. The impact just for Tayside has been: What has been lost: Perth & Kinross Council, Dundee City Council and Angus Council stripped of financial responsibility. Tayside Police abolished and their Dundee HQ scrapped. Police public counters closed in Auchterarder, Blairgowrie, Brechin, Carnoustie, Crieff, Kinross, Longhaugh, Maryfield and Montrose. Arbroath Sheriff Court closed. Tayside Fire and Rescue Service abolished and their Dundee HQ scrapped. Local Tayside Enterprise company board ...
[IMG: Labourleaflet039] I went to see David Hare's play 'The Absence of War' last night. I hadn't seen it before and it is absolutely gripping at this stage in the election campaign. So if you can make it to the Rose Theatre in Kingston between now and 25th April, you are in for a treat. The plot follows the (fictional) Labour leader and his core staff during the election campaign in 1992, and examines whether it is possible for politicians to maintain their integrity and project their real personalities, when all around are urging party discipline. So it is timely ...
1. Rachel Reeves [IMG: Rachel Reeves on benefits] [IMG: Labour promise more welfare cuts] 2. Yvette Cooper [IMG: BBC report: Labour supports Tories over immigration] 3. Harriet Harman Harriet Harman asked if Labour should be tougher than Tories on benefits: "I'm happy to go along with that" #BritainDecides — Mark Pack (@markpack) April 9, 2015 4. Ed Miliband [IMG: Independent front page: Miliband to axe jobseeker's allowance for young people] And a free bonus reason Don't like the cuts during this Parliament? Sorry, Labour won't change that: [IMG: Ed Miliband - Labour will not reverse cuts]
Yesterday I went to the launch of the Liberal Democrat 2015 Manifesto, [IMG: 2015 Manifesto] which sets out the party's policies for the forthcoming British General Election. It is not a ringing declaration of liberal values designed to strike fear into the party's opponents. It is a triumph of practical politics. The first thing to notice is that it is quite small – A5 format rather than the showy A4 of former versions. But that is not because it lacks content. It has 151 pages plus an index, and these are typically densely written in a small script. Almost nobody ...
I wrote earlier this week about selling social housing to tenants, and the circumstances where it could be a radical idea again, as perhaps it was in 1980 - backed at the time, rather bravely, by the Liberal Party's housing spokesman, David Alton. Of course, what we didn't know then was that local authorities would be forced to hold onto the money they made from the sales, rather than investing them in new stock. That small mistake made an excitingly radical idea into the foundation of our current housing shortage. What I wrote seems to have been read more widely ...
Labour seat. Cause:Resignation. No LD Candidate
Nigel Farage believes in a Britain which doesn't exist (tags: ) Taking paracetamol has serious effects on your emotions, study finds (tags: ) I tawt I taw a puddy tat a cweepin' up on me... (tags: ) Violent thug "too dangerous for prison" given suspended sentence - for very good reason (tags: ) PM anger at 'party of the rich' claim - awwwww diddums. Note that both things he claims for helping poor are LIB DEM policies. (tags: ) The really troubling thing is that somebody had to do research to find this out (tags: ) On the effect of ...
[IMG: Go sign - road sign from Mauritius. Image courtesy of Kingroyos. Some rights reserved Want to get a summary of new posts on this blog by email rather than having to check the RSS feed, stalk me on social media or manually come back to this site? Or fancy getting my monthly Liberal Democrat Newswire? Or even want both? Then my email list sign up form awaits. Usual points apply about how you can leave the email lists at any time and how I won't be selling your email address to a Chicago chemical supplies for plumbers firm ...
So, nominations have closed for both the District and Parish Council elections and Creeting St Peter will go to the polls on 7 May accordingly. Yes, I know that there is a General Election, and that we'd all have to vote anyway, but the chances of a Parliamentary candidate coming our way is rather less than nil - the Conservatives sent us a leaflet for the wrong constituency in 2010, after all - so the real interest is in people who might have to come here whether they like it or not. In 2010, the District Council ward - Stowupland ...
[IMG: Democratic dashboard] I've been telling you about a number of independent election-related websites that either provide you with an answer to a simple question (Do I need my NI number to vote?) or mash-up data from many sources in one convenient package (Online democracy tools that inform the general election debate). Today's example is one of the latter. When you go to Democratic dashboard you enter a postcode and are then presented with a rich selection of information about the constituency, its history and demographics, the current candidates and the polling forecasts. This is probably the most comprehensive collection ...
When I was a teenager, I thought of myself as left-wing. I loathed conservatism with every fibre of my being: the idea that those who were born without wealth somehow automatically deserved that lowly position in the socio-economic scheme of things made me furious; the xenophobia of nationalism I despised; the persecution of minorities and the sexism of our society made me feel like things had to change. Thing is, I still believe in all of those things as much as I ever did. But now I'm usually characterised as centre-right by a lot of people. I didn't change, in ...
Now here's the immigration issue from the other end of the telescope – the number of UK citizens living in or have migrated to other EN countries:- [IMG: 11074169_10152623791780927_1349567924662430283_n] My issue with immigration always been about environmental sustainability i.e. the ability of the UK to be able to feed itself without requiring the present huge environmental impact of importing massive amounts of food. Of course this also links to my campaigning about not building on Sefton's high grade agricultural land.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-32317297 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above [IMG: Cllr_Joe_Anderson,_Leader,_Liverpool_City_Council.jpeg] I begin to wonder if Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson can't see how he looks to the wider world? No good was ever going to come of this and no good has come of it. Check out the Southport Visitor's take on the matter as well – see link below:-
I've had a look through the Lib Dem manifesto today, because of course I have. It's long — something like three times as long as the larger parties' — and full of detail (as someone — I'm afraid I can't remember who — pointed out on Twitter, only the Lib Dems and the Greens have [...]
