[IMG: Kelly-Marie and friend] Kelly-Marie Blundell is nothing if not courageous and tenacious. For those of you who don't know her, she's our candidate in Guildford, a member of the party's Federal Policy Committee and prominent member of the Social Liberal Forum. She's been behind many of the excellent motions on welfare reform and food banks which have been passed at Liberal Democrat conference in the last few years. She's leading a lively campaign in Guildford, a seat held between 2001 and 2005 for the party by Sue Doughty. Just the other day, I saw that she was committed to ...
There is a bumper crop of funny election related things today. I hope that this cheers you up as you come in, tired, from the campaign trail. Bizarre headline of the day Clown seen running off with Liberal Democrat poster from the Telegraph: In a Stroud Life article, Adrian Walker-Smith, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Stroud constituency, said: "Our supporter was hanging out her washing in the garden when she heard a crack and saw a young man wearing clown trousers dashing along the street with the board. I think Adrian may have been a little harsh with ...
Over half an hour of Shropshire railway goodness.
There may only be five Scottish Liberal Democrat MSPs,sadly, but by heavens they have delivered incredible things. As Justice Spokesperson for the last four years, Alison McInnes has stopped the SNP Government in its tracks several times. She couldn't stop them centralising the Police, but she could make a fuss when statistics showed that officers were stopping and searching children. She made a fuss when the SNP started using armed patrols on routine duties in peaceful Highland communities. She defended our rights when the SNP tried to remove the requirement for corroboration in our legal system. She explained why this ...
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 33 Freedom and Fairness
Richard Morris argues that the Liberal Democrats are being too agreeable when it comes to the prospect of a coalition after the general election. "Davis had a number of examples of elitism to choose: his gap year, his time at Oxbridge, or his public school education. The choice to fixate upon Clegg's multicultural upbringing, suggesting it to be out of touch with "British" people, made for uncomfortable viewing." Kavya Kaushik is hard on Evan Davis - and quite right too. City of Sound notices planning notices. William Turvill on the dying art of newspaper subediting. "Here she stands, the sweetest ...
The reason I'm a Liberal Democrat, is because I believe Liberal Democrats are a voice for the voiceless - and I know it because I've been there. When I was young, successive Conservative governments vilified single parent families to the point that mothers including my own were given enough money to feed their children but not themselves. When I was growing up and realising that I wasn't like other boys, Labour legalised Civil Partnership but still didn't believe that I should be able to marry - actually, properly, marry - the person I love... The only people who come to ...
Paddy is a legend. "My old friend" he called John Major and then proceeded to outline in robust and pithy language how David Cameron would be beholden to 60 "b*****ds should the Tories gain a majority in the election. He said Major only had 16, but Cameron would have 60 troublesome right wingers to deal with and outlined the chaos that could then ensue. The Huffington Post has transcribed all the offending excerpts. If you watch no other Paddy interview this election, watch this one. It'll make you laugh. And then read what I wrote earlier about the SNP and ...
Photography by Fred Weavers I wrote recently about John Pugh's adoption meeting. Well now I can bring you the video highlights courtesy of Pughtube In these extract John talks aabout what Lib Dems stand for, the alternatives and drawing on an old Liberal Party poster that is stuck up on his office wall he outlined the Liberal way More information can be found on the Pugh4Southport website
Tue 21st
20:17
My letter to the Observer: Is the HS1 extension and the dualling of the A21 at risk from Labour?
Dear Editor, First of all, can I thank all the business men and women of Hastings & Rye for their contributions to the economic recovery that is underway in our constituency? One of the points I made at the Federation of Small Businesses hustings at Sussex Coast College on Wednesday evening is that the Liberal [...]
In 2012 I blogged about "Grant Shapps' problems with the internet". Judging by this afternoon's Guardian story, those problems continue: Wikipedia has blocked a user account on suspicions that it is being used by the Conservative party chairman, Grant Shapps, "or someone acting on his behalf" to edit his own page along with the entries of Tory rivals and political opponents. The online encyclopedia, where pages are edited and created by readers, has tracked the changes made by a user called "Contribsx" who has systematically removed embarrassing references on Shapps' Wikipedia page about the Tory chairman's business activities as Michael ...
[Chuck Wendig's latest flash fiction challenge is to take an opening sentence from his previous challenge and write a story, under 2000 words, based on it. I chose one submitted by Catkins. Like all these flash fictions, I'm writing this without knowing where it's going, and I'm trying to complete it in half an hour...] [...]
A Question on Work Capability Assessments has reached me, courtesy of the union Unite. They asked if I would support their campaign to abolish Work Capability Assessments, and this is how I replied to them: That the problem with the welfare system in this country is that it is trying to do two things simultaneously, and doing both of them badly as a result. By trying to both administer a system of benefits and encourage people into work, and has fallen into the trap of using the job seeking process as a stick to enforce compliance with the rules of ...
[IMG: pg-14-hague-ride-pa] We've had privatisations and the right to buy, but today the Tory campaign finally moved into the 90s with John Major warning us of the dangers of a Tory government with a small majority paralysed by its extremist backbenchers a Labour government working with the SNP. With any luck, the Tory nostalgia strategy will carry on moving forward through the years and the old Hague baseball caps will be pulled out of storage for one last moment in the spotlight. Back in 2001, the Tory campaign was centred around 'X Days To Save The Pound', but I'm not ...
Being the person who originally spotted the Grant Shapps astroturfing incident back in 2007, I of course in no way find this amusing at all: [IMG: Lib Dem press release re Grant Shapps] Hat-tip: Guido Fawkes.
R.I.P. Kay Crowe, 1944 - 2015 Campaigning stopped today as we said our final farewell to our dear friend and council colleague of many years, Kay Crowe. A real "community builder", a true campaigner for many causes, an enthusiast in everything she did, and a mainstay of her family. We'll miss you, Kay.
As I mentioned in Liberal Democrat Newswire #62, the party's general election manifesto gives full backing to Ben Goldacre's AllTrials campaign: [IMG: Lib Dem manifesto extract - backing for Ben Goldacre's AllTrials campaign]
There was an interesting article in the Newcastle Chronicle today about the battles taking place in the local elections in Gateshead. Martin Gannon, deputy leader of Gateshead Council, and the Rainbow Warrior of Lost Labour Causes, admits that Labour are unlikely to win Low Fell, a ward the Lib Dems are defending in the May local elections. Low Fell used to be Conservative but was an area that
The Liverpool Echo has the story and a video that is worth watching unless you a serial queue jumper of course! Don't you just love it when a queue jumper gets their just reward! I do and I love the determination of the driver who tried to stop the queue jumper from gaining an advantage.
Since he's the writer they seem to cite most often (for example Correia's "even Starship Troopers wouldn't win if it came out today"), this quote from him about critics he dislikes seems apropos: He will permit any speculation at all — as long as it is about gadgets only and doesn't touch people.He doesn't care [...]
Every opinion poll for months has said the same thing: no one party will win an overall majority on May 7th. The Conservatives are not going to win outright – so if they end up as the largest party, who will they work with? [IMG: blukip] There is a real risk that a block of right-wingers in the Conservative Party, DUP and UKIP could be calling the tune in the next parliament – BluKip. Listen to Conservative MP Edward Leigh, who described belief in climate change as a "thoroughly painful ideology" - one of a number of outspoken climate sceptics ...
Off to Ryton in the west of Blaydon constituency for a bit of campaigning and letter delivery this morning. A beautifully sunny day. I'm feeling a bit frazzled as a result. Cllr John McClurey was with me and he brought Coco, his labrador. At least he was able to have a drink of water from a bowl. The humans had to wait until they were back home!
Gatley Carrs Conservation Group is holding a Mayday Event on Gatley Carrs on Sunday 3rd May 2015 from 1pm to 5pm and everyone's welcome. Gates Open 12:30pm Avoid Queuing and Buy your Tickets Cheaper in Advance Family ticket: £5.00 (2 Adults, 2 Kids) £6.00 on the day Adult Ticket: £3.00, £4.00 on the day Extra Child Ticket: £1.00, £2.00 on the day Tickets can be purchased at the Gatley Post Office or WebGuild Media office on the first floor. Here's what's happening on the day: The Mad Hatters Tea Party, bring your own picnic Maypole dancing Diddi Dancers Fancy Dress ...
Like most other Parliamentary candidates, I've been receiving lots of emails sent out as part of mass email campaigns, most of them from the 38 Degrees Mass Email Factory. People just have to go onto the campaign website, click on the message and put in their own details in the appropriate places. But sometimes it goes wrong. I've had 2 messages so far which read: My name's [YOUR NAME]. "I'm a
The Telegraph reports on a Grazia magazine feature about "husbands of politicians." It's interesting because it captures some of the preconceived ideas we have about gender roles and stereotypes. And also because it features two people well known to us, Duncan Hames and Andrew Poole, Jenny Willott's husband. It encapsulates the sacrifices that both Members of Parliament and their families have to make. Duncan said that people are more likely to talk to Jo about their baby son: After Andrew was born, the only thing anyone in Jo's constituency wanted to talk to her about was the baby - and ...
It is fair to say that all of the Welsh Parties have struggled with the implications of devolution when it came to writing their manifestos. The careful wording of pledges so as to distinguish between English and Welsh responsibilities is an art form that tests even the most switched on devolutionist when it comes to the details of each policy. There are though very clear political issues where we should expect the UK and Welsh manifestos of each party to be consistent. One of these issues is the powers&nbsthat may be devolved to the Welsh Assembly after the election. After ...
Over the weekend I reported on complaints about the Green Party's proxy voting campaign in Brighton, handing out forms pre-completed with the names of Green Party activists in apparent breach of the Electoral Commission Code of Conduct's provisions designed to avoid proxy voting fraud. The Electoral Commission hasn't hedged its words when I asked them for a reaction: Our non-statutory code of conduct says voters should not be encouraged to appoint a campaigner as a proxy to minimise the risk of suspicions that campaigners are placing undue pressure on voters. We have been in contact with the Green Party to ...
If I was doing one of these word association games, the first word that comes into my mind when I think of Sir John Major is "b******ds". This Guardian report from 1993 reminds us of the frustration he felt as a Prime Minister who was frequently embroiled in parliamentary mayhem, not knowing whether he was going to be able to win crucial Commons votes. Except it wasn't nationalists, pesky or otherwise, who caused him the problems. It was his own party. Mr Major: "Just think it through from my perspective. You are the prime minister, with a majority of 18, ...
Launceston Police Station is under threat. And the Conservatives - whose cuts have put it at risk but could still save it - are refusing to come to the rescue. The front counter service has already gone. So local people have to rely on the very inconsistent 101 telephone service where they could be hanging on for 30 minutes or more. Before the front counter was closed, the Conservative Police Commissioner - Tony Hogg - was warned about the failings of his proposed alternative, but he went ahead anyway. The next step has been to propose to remove the custody ...
The Liberal Democrats are on 48% in a poll with the closest rival, the Greens, trailing in our wake with just a third of that total. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change anyone's vote. It's in the Big Beard Poll on Keith Flett's blog. Keith runs the Beard Liberation Front which earlier this year announced our Julian Huppert as the Parliamentary Beard of the Year. The campaign says that it is entirely up to voters to decide but a key criteria is how Parties are prepared to go in signing up to the BLF Beard Friendly Britain Manifesto (below) BLF ...
Camelia beginning to fade &Geranium leaves emerging... Grape hyacinths marching along nicely& the jasmine has a flush of new growth... There's a sprinkling of purple &A pretty pasque flower... A peony in the wrong place& a big blue sky day... (Song or mistle thrush?)
[IMG: Close up of a board game with a human shaped piece] Hard to beat this from Liberal Democrat Prue Bray: Is this a first? On the doorstep today a lady told me about some friends of hers who are so keen on me as a councillor that for Christmas the wife made the husband a board game about me, where all the pieces are made out of photos of me cut out of our Focuses. And they play it. Regularly.
The BBC says that the Chilott Inquiry into the Iraq war may now not report until next year, a full 13 years since the misguided and ill-fated invasion. A source close to the inquiry, which began in 2009, told Newsnight "nobody thinks it will come out this year". An inquiry spokesman declined to comment. British forces lost 179 personnel during the conflict, of whom 136 were killed in action. By 31 August 2010, when the last US combat troops left, 4,421 US personnel had been killed, of whom 3,492 were killed in action. Almost 32,000 had been wounded in action. ...
The Connect team are offering training in advance of polling day. ALDC's strong advice is to make sure as many relevant people as possible in your team get trained now, to avoid problems on the day.
Tue 21st
10:12
The Tories and the right-wing press have turned all their fire on the SNP - it's another misstep
It's been a bad campaign for the Tories so far. They've managed to turn Ed Miliband's public image from a geeky ditherer into a decisive, effective politician who's a hit with the ladies, as a notable for instance. Their latest trick involves attacking the SNP full on. There are only two things I can take away from this: that the Conservatives and those who support them in the media have decided that Miliband and the Labour Party are somehow indestructible; and that there is a deep hypocrisy right at the heart of all this SNP-bashing by the Tories that a ...
Tue 21st
10:06
British election: tactics have triumphed over strategy. The result is deadlock and danger.
To make sense of the opinion polls in Britain's general election it is best to look at the BBC poll of polls. [IMG: BBC Poll of Polls] There just isn't much going on. When each poll comes out there is a breathless headline, as the votes seem to shift from the last time the poll was taken – and this is usually expressed in terms of the gap between the top two parties. For example yesterday the Ashcroft poll showed a 4% Conservative lead rising from zero the previous time; and ICM showed the Conservative lead dropping by 2% to ...
Five rules of politics that Nicola Sturgeon has broken - this is written as a comedy piece, but it's not. (tags: ) Britain's immigration debate has taken a turn for the toxic by @Kav_Kaushik (tags: ) As usual the interesting bit in the latest Lord Ashcroft Polls is the focus groups "I work for Royal Mail, so I got privatised. Now I've got to work for a living and it's a killer." (tags: ) 'Ghost' railway station discovered beneath the capital (tags: ) This Doesn't Mean Yes campaign: tackling the insidious myth of women 'asking for it' through clothing or ...
The burst of excitement about politics in Scotland is really unprecedented. It requires a little explanation, and why people who have been turned off from politics appear to be turning - to some extent at least - to nationalists. Nationalists, with all their intolerance too, which is all too obvious as they shout down opposing candidates in the streets. Why? It seems to me that there are two reasons. First, the idea of imagining your own nation has an empowering effect, whether it is practical or not. It allows people to imagine solutions to intractable problems which appear to have ...
Tue 21st
08:55
Willie Rennie launches Scottish Liberal Democrats manifesto for a "Decade of Opportunity"
Edinburgh West is clearly the place to launch your election manifesto these days. However, when Willie Rennie, Mike Crockart and Jo Swinson launch the Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto it won't be in a massive venue surrounded by an audience of cheering party supporters, it'll be in the heart of the community, in a small business, in South Queensferry. Ironically, it'll be almost exactly opposite the spot across the Firth of Forth in North Queensferry where he gave his first interview as Scottish leader in May 2011. Last year, Willie talked about a "sunshine strategy" and it looks like he'll be ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat Newswire logo] Liberal Democrat Newswire #62, the latest in my weekly general election specials, came out at the start of the week, including five things you may have missed in the Lib Dem manifesto, why Maidstone is more interesting than you may think and other stories. You can also read it below, but if you'd like the convenience of getting it direct by email in future, just sign up here. It's free! Welcome to the 62nd edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire, rounding up some of the Lib Dem-related election news you may have missed in the last ...
I know it's old fashioned in the age of the internet, but window posters remain a positive way of expressing support for the party or candidate of your choice. It's also a very strong message. Anyone putting a poster in their window signals a much higher level of commitment than the average. Of course there are lots of very understandable reasons why people prefer not to do so, but if you'd like a bright orange poster for your window please get in touch and we'll get one to you. [IMG: Diamond poster]
From the City Council : Overnight Road Closures for Surfacing Work You will be aware that Dundee City Council is currently re-developing the Central Waterfront of Dundee. Another important stage of the project involves the resurfacing at Riverside Drive, eastbound and westbound at the new junction at Discovery Point. To ensure the safety of the public and workforce while construction is taking place we will unfortunately have to undertake 2 closures over 2 weekends. The first closure involves the closure of the eastbound carriageway of Riverside Drive from the mini Roundabout at Tesco Service access to the junction of Yeaman ...
[IMG: Above Cafe Nero - Lord St.] Southport's Lord Street is internationally known but how often do we look up from modern shop frontages to admire the old buildings that make Southport what it is. You can of course say this about any town or city with a rich architectural heritage in its main shopping area – Liverpool without doubt is another example. The photo is of just one Lord Street frontage, which happens to be above a branch of Cafe Nero, that caught my eye in recent times. Just think if these shops were built now how bland and ...
Tue 21st
08:05
Armed with this kind of information you can see why Labour has gone welfare bashing with bells on.
Britain backs further welfare cuts A poll for the Financial Times by Populus has suggested that George Osborne's plan to make further cuts to Britain's welfare bill has the support of 75% of voters, who still believe "too much money is being wasted on paying benefits to people who don't need them". Of the benefits a future chancellor might cut, there was most support for reducing child benefit, then working-age benefits and finally pensioner benefits such as the winter fuel allowance. Many of us on the left of British politics have been taken aback by the ruthless way the Labour ...
Every gulley should be jetted at least once a year to make sure it's free-flowing and rainwater can run away. We all know that, while most work fine, some are blocked – and look like they've been blocked for a long time! [IMG: gulleys cleared] If you spot a blocked gulley, you can report it here. If it's not sorted, let the Lib Dem team know and we'll chase it up for you. It isn't always the council's fault though – here are some reasons why we can still get water pooling: a car was parked over the grid so ...
A resident raised the issue of a large pothole in front of the parade of shops on Stonepail Road and my first thought was "is this Council land or private?". If the council's responsible we can get it sorted fairly easily. If it's private then it's a different matter. Landowners have responsibility for their own land and the Council has barely enough money to maintain it's own roads and pavements without doing other people's too. (There are some limited cases where the Council can act, normally on unadopted roads where there's a real danger). So what if you want to ...
