I shared a video on Facebook yesterday. 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 still going ...
Copyright © Dennis Calow Back to the University of Leicester Special Collections for this photograph of Carlton Street before redevelopment in 1965. Carlton Street, close to the Royal Infirmary, still exists.
Allegations of child abuse - which he and his family have always denied - against Lord Janner were first aired publicly during the trial of Frank Beck. Beck, who was in charge of a number of children's homes in Leicestershire including two in Market Harborough, was imprisoned for serious sexual offences against children in 1991 and dies behind bars three years later. But the judge did his very best to ensure that those allegations were never heard. First Mr Justice Edwin Jowitt ruled that the trial could not be reported. This ban was lifted only after the Guardian, Times, Independent, ...
Bomb on the Buses To my solicitor to discuss the latest turn in my legal action against MegaGalactic Studios of Hollywood, CA. Perhaps you remember the film Speed, which was released some years ago? It concerned a bus with a bomb on board that would go off pop is said bus's speed fell below a certain figure. Well, here's the thing, that film's plot, twist for twist, was copied from a film we made at Oakham Studios back in the 1970s. Seeking actors who were well versed in the practicalities of operating a bus, I hit upon the idea of ...
I know what you are thinking and it's not worthy of you. Because the County Times is reporting that the former Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire, Delwyn Williams, has been backing the UKIP candidate Des Parkinson's election campaign in the constituency. Williams won Montgomeryshire from Emlyn Hooson in 1979, only to lose it to Alex Carlile in 1983.
Inspired by (ok totally blatantly nicked from Andrew Hickey) - "David Cameron just looks more like a Prime Minister than $other party leader" - yes, because choosing a PM based on what they look like is EXACTLY the best way to choose. - "Nigel Farage taps into a populism that mainstream politicians can't" - Nigel Farage taps into the unthinking, mutually contradictory opinions of the pub bore who cares only for his own prejudices and not for petty little things like facts. There's a REASON most serious politicians don't follow that route. - "The Liberal Democrats weren't perfect at $thing ...
Women who cut their hair short are committing self-harm and should be "monitored by the authorities" (tags: ) Pollinator Pledge - FAO @aremay @Sarahbrown1984 and other bee lovers. (tags: ) Starving you back to work: Why Tory policy of cutting benefits if you refuse treatment is vile (tags: ) Attention Android users: this changes everything - am I alone in finding this terrifying? (tags: ) Least surprising news ever: Express owner Richard Desmond gives UKIP £1m (tags: ) Queen legend Brian May to visit Penzance to support Lib Dem candidate Andrew George (tags: ) #QTWTAIN Should You Put Your Hands ...
"I don't like $votingsystem, because it makes $party more likely to win." Every voting system has plus and minus points, but they should be evaluated on how democratic they are, not on which party, if any, they favour. If you're going to do the latter, you might as well just advocate a dictatorship, since that's [...]
We're almost halfway through the campaign – there's no official midway day, with the same number of days gone as to come, but today we're in the 19th day of it with 20 more to come, and tomorrow it'll be the 20th day with nineteen more to come. If you're still up at midnight tonight, that'll be the moment we finally go over the top of the campaigning hill and start heading towards the bottom. We're also approaching the point when votes will start to be cast. From what I can tell, nowhere seems to have sent their postal votes ...
Fri 17th
18:31
Opinion: This isn't just an economic recovery, this is a Liberal Democrat economic recovery
IMF Head Christine Lagarde is the latest outside observer to praise Britain's economic recovery. Sitting on a panel with George Osborne yesterday she praised the UK Government's unyielding adherence to unprecedented austerity, the stern fortitude with which the harsh economic medicine had been delivered by an iron Chancellor, ignoring all calls for mercy... Except no, she didn't. In fact quite the opposite. Far from crediting unbending austerity for the UK's exceptional recovery she applauded the UK Government for having shown flexibility and balance. She commended the UK for "adjusting to the economic reality in order to provide the right balance ...
Fri 17th
17:55
Watch and laugh: Clarke and Dawe - Repairing the Budget using only a sense of wonder and a cigar.
More comedy genius from Australia's Clarke and Dawe:
Fri 17th
16:55Six ways to treat your campaign helpers well - and an excellent campaign video from Stephen Lloyd
Perhaps the most regrettable thing I've done in a Liberal Democrat training session was to get up in front of a room full of Lib Dem activists and go through my experiences of how I'd been treated when visiting numerous local parties during the preceding election campaign. It wasn't that I'd been treated badly, but rather that it's pretty rare for the basics all to be got spot on; basics such as making it easy to find out when and where to turn up to help, not assuming that people know what campaigning involves or how to do it, being ...
Riding a quad bike/mini motorbike or driving an unlicensed vehicle is illegal, anti-social and dangerous. Bikes will be seized, crushed and owners fined. Help us take action in your area! If you know a person or persons causing annoyance by illegally riding on an off-road bike you can report it. All information is welcome but below is a list to help you remember some of the more important details. You can contact us in confidence and do not have to provide any of your personal details. If known, note down the name, age and address of the person or persons ...
Blah blah impractical blah blah doesn't work with all doors blah blah. But it'd be a whole lot of fun if Good Morning leaflets were designed using this, especially if inside was one of these: [IMG: Expanding leaflet]
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 29 Freedom from Poverty
Ever wondered what happens on a Lib Dem action day? Lots of phoning voters, leafletting, delivering and stuffing envelopes. Eastbourne Liberal Demcorat candidate and MP till Parliament was dissolved Stephen Lloyd produced this video of an action day last month. It's full of people who talk about why they have come along to help. He's holding more tomorrow and Sunday. If you are near Eastbourne and can make it, please sign up here or go along at 10 am. As Stephen said in a recent email to supporters: You'll have seen my various emails and Facebook posts about our regular ...
The Liberal Party can point to the richest record of actual achievement in the removal of abuses and the extension of freedom, in securing, step by step, that predominance of the general over the particular interest, which I have described as one of the greatest principles. It may seem a truism to say that the Liberal Party inscribes among its permanent watchwords the name of liberty... but liberty itself, like so many of the rallying cries in the secular struggle of parties, is a term which grows by what it feeds on, and acquires in each generation a new and ...
Stephen Bush of the New Statesman has a very important article on "Mare Nostrum" – an Italian government policy given EU backing, providing search-and-rescue operations for illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean sea. The scheme has saved over 150,000 refugees' lives. But, says Bush: the cost to the Italian government - close to €9m a month [...]
I have not been on here for a few days due to other commitments, which I will blog about over the weekend. It was an interesting and informative trip abroad, but also very disconcerting. In the meantime, what have I missed? Well it seems this is the week the parties launch their manifesto and the Welsh Liberal Democrats are no different. Here are the highlights of our weighty tome. The manifesto includes: Opportunity for children: investing further in Wales' schools; Opportunity for young people: with more apprenticeships, discounted bus travel, and support to rent or own their own home through ...
I actually enjoyed last night's BBC Debate much more than I expected. Sure, I was livid that Nick Clegg had been excluded, but it was the price that had to be paid for David Cameron taking part in any debates at all. It was an interesting affair. There was no huge drama but it was mostly conducted in reasonable style. Nicola got her chance to bid for a coalition, Ed got the chance to rebuff her so honour was satisfied on that score. Conservative spin doctors trying to extrapolate post election chaos from that display just looked silly. It told ...
[IMG: Deadline warning] Midnight, Monday 20 April: that's the deadline for electoral register applications from people who want to be able to vote in the general election. Any applications to register after that will be too late to come into force for the general election. You can register online here. If you've recently moved and are on the register at your old address, then there's a fallback if you miss this deadline – you'll still be able to vote at your old address, either at your old polling station or via a postal vote. Details of how to apply for ...
George Monbiot puts it very neatly: The dominant Tory frame. . . is that the all-important issue is the deficit. The financial crisis, it claims, was caused not by the banks but by irresponsible government spending for which the only cure is austerity. (Guardian, 15th April) Monbiot may be going a bit far when he claims that: "In reality the deficit should rank somewhere in the low hundreds on the list of political priorities." I would tend to put it somewhere in the lower end of the "top ten," after:- low productivity;the balance of (external) payments deficit;growing inequality;unaffordable housing;destitution and ...
Fri 17th
12:30Liberal Youth members fight NUS Liar Liar campaign by donating to Liberal Democrat campaigns to #tro...
The National Union of Students has spent £40,000 of its money on billboards urging people to vote against MPs who broke its pledge on tuition fees in 2010. This, it should be noted, was a pledge in which they did not believe themselves. When the Browne Review came out, they were calling for a Graduate Tax. The system implemented by the Coalition is not a million miles away from that. It should also be noted that NUS is not endorsing those Liberal Democrat MPs who actually kept the pledge, either. The whole point of a liberal youth organisation is to ...
No swearing (one I think): no jokes (maybe a couple): no self -depreciation. this one hurts. The following I posted on my facebook page on Tuesday 14th April. I was angry then: still angry now. I hope that our (Liberal Democrats) commitment to increasing the ffunding for mental health, includes a more patient-centered course of treatment for those with multi-layered mental health /illness issues. I have been fighting this beast for 37 years, and still no where near finding glimmer of light. Ping-ponged all over the shop, coerced into futile therapy, (it does not work for everyone, when will the ...
We are facing four main scenarios for after this election; they are: A Labour led government with some sort of support from the SNP. A Labour led government with some sort of support from the Liberal Democrats. A Conservative led government with some sort of support from the Liberal Democrats. A Conservative led government with some sort of support from UKIP and the DUP. (Blukip) It is hard to dispute that a Conservative in a Labour – Liberal Democrat contest should vote Liberal Democrat, and likewise a Labour supporter in a Conservative – Liberal Democrat contest. I will argue that ...
Continuing to look at the lives of the MPs who died during the First World War Dr John Joseph Esmonde was born into the Irish gentry. His father's elder brother also John was the 10th Baronet, who had initially been elected to Westminster for the Irish Liberal Party who later transferred his allegiance to the Independent Irish Party. John was a Doctor by profession but followed the course of his uncle when he was elected as the Nationalist MP for North Tipperary in 1910. He was married firstly to Rose Magennis and they live in Pontesbury, England until her death ...
We've been contacted by Shout Out, a news network for young people who are looking for audience members for a youth leaders' debate they are holding a week on Tuesday, 28th April, at 8pm in Central London. It will be broadcast on All 4, Channel 4's digital channel. Channel 4 News reporter Fatima Manji will chair the debate with representatives from the Conservatives, Greens, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, SNP and UKIP. Alex Harding, the Chair of Liberal Youth, will be our representative. The leaders will field questions on issues that matter to young people from a studio audience, made ...
As I said in my preview to last night's debate, this pretty much came down to Miliband v Sturgeon with some background fuzz. Wood made a valiant start, not even mentioning Wales once in her introduction. However, she just couldn't help herself and soon enough had a sort of Cymru related tourettes condition throughout most of the latter half of the programme - Wales-diddy-Wales-diddy-Wales. Bennett did her usual student politics shtick - the Greens need to think about a new leader post-election. Farage did exactly what I expected, although I didn't see him turning on the audience like that coming. ...
[IMG: Do you want Nigel Farage propping up David Cameron?] That's the question posed by the (rather clever) spoof Blukip website launched yesterday by the Liberal Democrats, highlighting the extreme views held by Ukip candidates, DUP MPs and in the ranks of the Conservative Party. Views such as those in these spoof stories on the site – spoof stories, but real views: Resurrecting the death penalty! We're not inviting them to our country, but when it comes to crime prevention, we could learn a lot from the people of China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea and the US. That's because, ...
Young people are neglected by politics, and understandably so. With less than half of 18-24 year olds voting at the last election, few campaign strategists would advocate making serious commitments with relatively few votes up for grabs. There has therefore been a temptation for all parties, the Liberal Democrats included, to save their eye catching commitments for older voters. Pensioners have both a high turnout and are generally more numerous than the young in the first place, are therefore rewarded with expensive policies such as the triple lock on pensions and free bus passes. Nevertheless, to neglect younger voters would ...
Political journalist Michael Crick was in apologetic mood this morning: It is a big failing on my part & other broadcasters that none of us have really discovered or explained why Clegg wasn't there last night — Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) April 17, 2015 Still, I can sort of understand Michael's confusion. After all, the BBC continued inaccurately to report that Nick Clegg had "chosen not to take part" in the debate last night. Nor did David Dimbleby give any explanation in the debate itself why the BBC had excluded Nick Clegg from participating — presumably because the Corporation was too ...
[IMG: eef election blog - st - apr 2015] 'What should be the next government's top priority for education?' That was the question I was asked by the Association of Charitable Foundations for their April 2015 magazine, Trust and Foundation News, wearing my day-job hat as development director of the Education Endowment Foundation. Here's what I said... Our top priority for the incoming government is to continue to focus on raising the attainment of economically-disadvantaged children and young people, closing the attainment gap between them and their better-off classmates. This is, we believe, the biggest issue in education, one which ...
Yesterday, along with a representative from the Housing Department and a representative from the Environment Department, I took part in a walkabout around the Blackness/Corso/Abbotsford area. New improved street lighting being installed in the area The six-monthly walkabouts take place in a number of areas (Pentland and Logie are other examples) and are a useful way to look at local issues and problems and ensure these are taken up and resolved. Pavement trip hazard at Peddie Street/ Abbotsford Place junction reported for repair Here's a couple of photos of matters discussed yesterday, which also including bins/cleansing issues and overgrown trees ...
Fri 17th
08:25Tackling racial discrimination and boosting equal opportunities: see the Lib Dem BAME manifesto
A party press release brings the news: Liberal Democrats have set out plans to outlaw caste discrimination, overhaul stop and search powers and tackle the BAME pay gap. The announcement comes as the party releases its BAME manifesto. Other measures outlined in the document include: Building on the coalition's BAME Access to Finance report to identify ways to encourage more BAME applicants to apply for finance and set up small businesses. Encouraging businesses to ensure at least one place on their board is filled by a BAME candidate. Maintain funding for people to develop and improve English language skills to ...
[IMG: Bootle canal mural] Click on the photo to enlarge it. Seen on the tow path of the Leeds Liverpool Canal in Bootle where Stanley Road crosses the canal next to Bootle Strand Shopping Centre. A concrete retaining wall, built when the shopping centre is erected in the 1960's, has provided a blank canvass for this interesting cartoon-type mural. The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32121502 Have a read of this article (see link above) on the BBC web site as it is an interesting insight into our broken political system in the UK. As an aside, but a very depressing yet probably all too true one, I had to take someone to an appointment at Aintree Hospital yesterday. As we sat there in the clinic waiting room the BBC 1pm news came on and of course it went straight to General Election coverage. There were probably 8 of us sat there – me (a politician) and 7 what you might call normal people. One ...
On Sunday the party spelt out in detail its financial plans for the next parliament. Featuring in these plans was a pledge to deliver fair funding for Wales. • We recognise that the current Barnett formula underfunds Wales; • We will address this imbalance by entrenching a Barnett floor set at a level which reflects the need for Wales; • We will commission work to update the Holtham Commission's analysis; • Following the update of the Holtham Commission's analysis, we will then seek to increase the Welsh block grant to an equitable level. This is about Wales getting a fair ...
Four reasons to think again.
