Pete York, the drummer with the Spencer Davis Group, talks about his career.
Tue 28th
22:41
Two grateful men, one scarf, an angry Baroness and an LGBT organisation that can't read what's in th...
Stonewall dropped a huge clanger yesterday by issuing a graphic on its Facebook page that gave Labour a tick for all the policies it had featured and gave only two to the Liberal Democrats. Thing is, anyone who had read the Liberal Democrat manifesto would know that all these things were in fact there. Pink News has a wonderfully sarcastic quote from LGBT+ Chair Dave Page: It is surprising that an organisation with Stonewall's resources, if it seeks to appear nonpartisan, did not seem to have taken the time to quickly search through the Liberal Democrats' main party manifesto (rather ...
James and I are discussing songs with really awesome intros, where the actual song comes as a disappointment afterwards. Not that the song is necessarily bad, per se, but that the intro is SO good that the rest of the song can't help but pale behind it. We both agree on Pinball Wizard by The Who. I suggested Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne, which for the first 30 seconds is all dark drama & then suddenly becomes Status Quo. Also Phantom of the Opera by Iron Maiden and I Fought the Law by the Clash - both of which I ...
FLIC Wiltshire reports: The Richard Jefferies Museum in Swindon will reopen to the public today following refurbishment. The Museum is housed in the farmhouse at Coate, where Richard Jefferies was born in 1848. Situated within the surroundings of Coate Water, the Museum features some of the memento's of Richard Jefferies (1848 -1887), one of England's most individual writers on nature and the countryside. The Museum includes first editions of many of Richard Jefferies writings, the manuscript of 'Wood Magic' and family photographs and memorabilia. Parts of the building have been restored to create the atmosphere of a mid to late ...
A handy infographic from Mark Pack. [IMG:
Alistair McGuire and John Van Reenen say that continued expansion of the NHS is only going to be viable through further efficiency savings of some kind - and even then it is not clear how resource levels will be maintained. "The more macho elements within Labour are fond of quoting Michael Corleone, in the Godfather Part II, when dealing with the corrupt Senator Geary. 'My offer is this,' says Corleone: 'nothing'. But to make that approach work Michael Corleone had to be willing to murder a prostitute and dupe the Senator into thinking he'd killed her. Rosie Winterton is a ...
I did not enjoy writing that title. When Andrew Turner became an MP, I was one of his constituents. I was mere weeks away from being 18 so I couldn't vote but I was an A-level students studying amongst other things politics at the time. He took the place of a Lib Dem, Dr. Peter Brand, who as I've written before was not a great constituency MP and it was no surprise that he only got the one term. To be fair, the Island is very Tory and his victory was mostly down to just being the alternative to a ...
Tue 28th
21:17
Conservative candidate for North Devon once called rural voters "straw-sucking yokels"
I suspect the Liberal Democrat campaign in North Devon will be greatly heartened by a story in the Western Morning News: A Conservative candidate in one of the South West's most rural constituencies once derided the countryside as populated by "chinless foxhunters, straw-sucking yokels and whingeing farmers". In a newspaper column, Peter Heaton-Jones, a would-be MP in North Devon and former BBC DJ, launched an attack on the huge countryside march through central London in 2002, arguing if rural life is "so bad" they should "move to the town".Heaton-Jones' defence is that the articles he wrote for the Evening Advertiser ...
Nigel Dudley has written three fine posts examining the evasive language used by Alison Saunders and her spokespeople in announcing and defending her decision that Greville Janner should not be prosecuted. They are: The evasive language of Alison SaundersThe evasions of Alison Saunders (continued)Passing the buck on Lord Janner?To give you a taste of them, here is a quotation from the second: First lets look at the phrase: "The DPP (Saunders) was not unduly influenced by anyone...". Note the use of the passive tense which makes it possible to evade identifying who has done the influencing - the phrasing is ...
Ten days ago, along with an astonishing 971 others, I was at Bloomfields, the home of our plucky little non-league football team - the Marketmen of Needham Market - as they played out an incident-packed, and ultimately indecisive, 2-2 draw against fellow title contenders Harlow Town. That meant that the last day of the season would see Needham Market travel to Chatham Town, knowing that a win would see them promoted, regardless of events at Harlow, where Thamesmead Town were the visitors. Any slip up though, and a win for Harlow would condemn the Marketmen to the lottery of the ...
The Liberal Democrats have announced a 'Five Point Plan' for teachers and parents The front page of the Lib Dem manifesto states our commitment on education, to protect education funding from nursery to 19. The Liberal Democrats are the only party to guarantee the protection of per pupil funding in real terms over the next five years. The Liberal Democrat five point commitment for teachers and parents will: - Provide an additional £2.5bn of funding for 2-19yr-olds by 2020; protecting per pupil education spending in real terms over the next parliament and increasing the education budget as a whole. - ...
Equal marriage. Something that has recently come about and an issue that is still causing some ramifications across various western democracies. Some people are concerned that by allowing people of the same sex to marry that it is an affront to God. The bible states that a marriage is between a man and a women is two places. Genesis 2:24, 'Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh' and Matthew 19:4-5 where Jesus said, 'Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male ...
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 40 Freedom - At the Heart of Now
Today someone asked me if I was a Libertarian. No. Seriously, no. The reason for this goes right to the heart of the differences between Liberalism and Libertarianism, and for that matter between Liberalism and Statism. It's all to do with the role of government. Libertarianism, especially as manifested in parts of the Conservative Party, is basically an anti-state theory that takes the obvious failings of Statist models of government and economy, and uses them as a reason to throw out all state interference in economics and business. The Libertarian definition of the proper role of government varies by the ...
That moment when (as an atheist) you agree with the church more than most politicians on immigration (tags: ) DC and Mattel Team Up to Create Superhero Action Figures for Girls (tags: ) Dismantling the Meritocracy Myth (tags: ) Election Debate at Dean Clough in Halifax: good luck to @GoltonStewart in this - wish I could be there (tags: ) In which m'candidate points out what he believes the role of the state should be in business (tags: ) Small Business letter to the Telegraph; an attempt to defraud the electorate? (tags: ) Tory letter signatory on trial for fraud ...
Tue 28th
16:55
MINI-VIDEO: Nick Clegg visits Jo Swinson in East Dunbartonshire, highlighting childcare successes
I have long fought for this station to be built and was pleased when the Coalition Government gave what amounts to around 95%+ of the money required in 2014 to The Liverpool City Region. [IMG: Site of the new Maghull North Railway Station. North of the School Lane bridge and adjacent to the Ashworth South site (right) and Mersey Avenue (left)] Site of the new Maghull North Railway Station. North of the School Lane bridge and adjacent to the Ashworth South site (right) and Mersey Avenue (left) My understanding of where we are up to is this:- * Merseytravel is ...
I just looked back at 2010, and discovered my post for day 30 then was called 'all over bar the voting', because that was the last day of the campaign, with just polling day to come. Is there anyone happy we still have over a week to go this time? Campaign duration's something else we likely need to add to the list of things to review in the operation of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. Today's excuse for the commentariat getting their knickers in a twist was the news that Ed Miliband had been photographed leaving Russell Brand's house last ...
Tue 28th
15:45Opinion: Why Liberal Democrats should respond positively to the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign's qu...
In an election Campaign in which none of the Parties has wanted to talk very much about foreign policy, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been asking candidates their views on a variety of questions related to Palestine and then urging the c.200,000 people on their mailing list to consider these responses before deciding how to vote. On average that represents 300 supporters per constituency - more than the margin that decided the election in a handful of seats in 2010, including some of ours. Over 800 candidates have responded. I did a check a few days ago and found that ...
I ended yesterday with as many black jumpers in my possession as I started with it, inadvertently demonstrating how churn is often more interesting than net change as I managed the beautifully coincidental double of both retrieving one lost jumper and losing another one on the campaign trail. In-between showing why I should never be allowed to run stock control in a jumper warehouse (and despite some eccentric travel advice from the internet), I went campaigning in Maidstone where the fearsomely effective Jasper Gerard is in with a strong chance of taking the seat off the Conservatives. For a challenger, ...
Courtesy of Network Rail. Very impressive! This video shows the replacement of Sergeant's Farm Bridge, which links Shire Way to Wapley Common and the Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve.
Canvassing over the weekend for Simon Hughes in Canada Water, (Labour-facing) and for Ed Davey in Surbiton (Tory facing), I was again struck by how much the remaining staunch Labour voters still see their party as on the left of the political spectrum. Sure they are planning to borrow much more than the Liberal Democrats, and make the UK vulnerable to another crisis. However that seems a direct result of most of their big money contributions coming courtesy of dual-hatted public sector union reps. On everything else they are looking increasingly authoritarian, and pro-war. A kind of 'Blairism without the ...
Tue 28th
14:25"Lib Dems have an impressive record of achievements on climate change" - green figures praise Ed Dav...
[IMG: Offshore wind farm] So wrote 20 of the leading figures in the renewable energy sector, calling for the Liberal Democrats to have a role in the next government: From setting up Britain's first Green Investment Bank and the first Community Energy Strategy, to battling with the Treasury over critical decisions like the Levy Control Framework or the 4th Carbon Budget, the Lib Dems have an impressive record of achievements on climate change that deserves much wider recognition. The vital EU 2030 deal – that set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets across the EU - simply would not have happened ...
I have already discussed here how the SNP's clear preference to work with Labour in Government at a UK level might be damaging Ed Miliband's prospects of entering number 10 as Prime Minister on 8th May. The Tories have been exploiting this for all it is worth and it seems that their efforts have borne fruit. The Independent reports that a new poll has concluded that the prospect of a post-election deal between Labour and the Scottish National Party makes one in four voters less likely to support Ed Miliband's party: Polling company ORB, which questioned 2,000 people, found that ...
Sunday: And now, a very special episode of... ...and just to be clear: Daddy Alex did all the hard work! Daddy Richard just pulled faces! Run VT! Happy LibDemiversay!
alexwilcock: Two Married Men Say Thank You to the Liberal DemocratsRichard and I celebrated six months of marriage on Sunday. After twenty years of waiting. We had to wait until the Liberal Democrats were in government. [IMG: image] Lib Dems pointing to the achievement at our wedding! You can read more on my Love and Liberty blog. The name is particularly appropriate this time! A slight indulgence. But we do talk about what the Lib Dems believe!
I have been blundering around trying to nail down the likely choreographic arrangements after the election result. You know, who leaves Number 10, who drives down or up the Mall at which particular time etc.. Carl Gardner on the Head of Legal blog has written an excellent post, entitled "Ed can enter No. 10 without Nicola's keys", which comprehensively explains the constitutional position, pulling in a shedload of quotes from authorities on the subject, and concluding: If it becomes clear after May 7th that David Cameron no longer commands a majority and cannot continue in office, then in accordance with ...
On Sunday, Richard and I celebrated six months of marriage. We Got Married And two-hundred-and-forty-six months since we've been together. Equal Marriage - Liberal Democrats Pointing at the Achievement We had to wait twenty years. We had to wait until the Liberal Democrats were in government. The Liberal Democrat Record on LGBT Equality - from the Lib Dem 2015 Manifesto So here's a video we recorded on Sunday to say thank you to the only party that's always been there for us, and always been there for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. What We Said We got married. It ...
14 things I desperately want to hear a candidate say before this campaign ends – And they're 14 things Jonn Elledge probably won't hear. The Cambridge Election: Princess Bride Style – Excellent exploration of an individual voters dilemma in choosing who to vote for. Mediamacro myth 6: 2013 recovery vindication – Simon Wren-Lewis's latest post on bad reporting and understanding of economics issues, but you should read his entire series of posts. Why So Many Americans Feel So Powerless – Robert Reich on an issue I've been thinking about recently – how the modern economy and modern society leaves so ...
Here's Nick Clegg speaking to BBC Breakfast about the party's red lines announced over the last day on education and the economy. He called for a "stability budget" to ensure that the recovery, which, as George Crozier pointed out the other day, is a Liberal Democrat economic recovery, continues. The growth figures announced this morning show that we are not fully out of the woods yet, although we are certainly seeing some sunshine. The message from the party is clear: we wouldn't want to jeopardise what the Liberal Democrats have achieved in the last five years. And explaining the idea ...
Lib Dems Believe Wordle 39 Freedom - Stronger Economy, Fairer Society
I am for peace, retrenchment and reform, the watchword of the great Liberal Party thirty years ago. For the disbanding of great armies and the promotion of peace, I rely on the abolition of tariffs, on the brotherhood of the nations resuming from free trade in the products of industry. John Bright, Nineteenth Century Radical Liberal MP. Thirty years ago then would be over a hundred and eighty years ago now, but Liberal Democrats today would recognise a party against Labour's Iraq War, against Labour's irresponsible and intrusive spending of money they didn't have, and against the Tories' desire to ...
Tue 28th
12:25A gift from Labour: an official list of which seats the party is, and isn't, targeting in London
Crank up those 'Labour bosses have given up here' leaflets on the RISOs: Here are the two key screenshots showing the 12 seats Labour are targeting (and hence also revealing those they've given up in): [IMG: These are the 12 Labour target seat candidates. If a seat's candidate isn't here, they're not a target seat.] These are the 12 Labour target seat candidates. If a seat's candidate isn't here, they're not a target seat. [IMG: Map showing Labour's held and target seat. If a seat isn't coloured red on the map, Labour aren't trying to win it.] Map showing Labour's ...
Lib Dem peer Zahida Manzoor has written for Muslim News setting out the reasons that Muslims should find it easy to vote Liberal Democrat. First the basics: The Lib Dems are the party of opportunity. We believe everybody, no matter who they are, should be given the same chances in life. We want to do all we can to make sure everyone has the opportunities to get on in life. Conservatives are seeking to remove some of the basic freedoms in the European Convention of Human Rights, which sit strongly alongside the principles of Islam. We are the only party ...
[IMG: Simon Hughes leaflet - how Simon Hughes saved my life] You can donate to or volunteer for Simon Hughes's campaign here.
There's been a fair amount of coverage of the 'red line' on education trumpeted by the Lib Dems yesterday, closely followed by another one on a 'stability budget' this morning. But are these, in fact, anything so novel, or is it merely ... Continue reading →
Vision Stockport is a business-led organisation to improve our town. A big aim is to introduce a Business Improvement District (BID) which raises money from businesses for them to spend as they see fit. Lots of exciting plans! Vision Stockport is independent from the council but fully supported by it and I was very pleased to attend.
After the controversy over its chief scientific adviser, the European Commission now has an opportunity to put in place a world-class, open and accountable science advisory system. Across Europe, science policy controversies - whether over climate, crops, fracking or food safety - regularly ripple across the headlines. But debates over the institutional arrangements for bringing scientific expertise into policy are more commonly confined to bureaucratic corridors and seminar rooms. So it has been surprising to see the intensity of argument generated over the past year about the structures for scientific advice within the European Commission. The decision by President Juncker ...
[IMG: agenda] Nick Clegg appeared on Tom Bradby's The Agenda on ITV last night. He was on a panel made up of satirist Rory Bremner, broadcaster Mariella Frostrup and Times journalist Rachel Sylvester from the Times. The discussion is informal and animated. Within the panel format, Nick Clegg comes across as remarkably relaxed and, dare I say it, "human". He was particularly pithy on the subject of George Osborne's £12 billion cuts. You can watch the programme for the next 29 days on ITV Player here. * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist in Newbury and West Berkshire. He ...
The Dardanelles in the early hours of 27 April 1915, exactly a hundred years ago yesterday morning. Here Agamemnon and the Greeks landed for the attack on Troy. Here Xerxes had ordered the sea to be lashed for destroying his invasion bridges. Here Lord Byron swam against the Hellespont current. Now it was the very portals of the Ottoman Empire for the crew of the British submarine E14, staring silently into the darkness from the small conning tower, eight feet above the waves. It meant mines, forts, searchlights and wire submarine nets. It meant a formidable current pouring fresh water ...
South Glos Council were awarded a grant through the Autism Innovation Fund to run an Autism Awareness Project with the Mobile Library Service. Volunteers, with a supervisor, are accompanying the Mobile Library on each of the routes in April and May to raise awareness of autism. The dates for the visits locally are: Fri 1 May - Coalpit Heath, Frampton Cotterell and Henfield Tues 5 May - Westerleigh Wed 3 June - Charfield, Cromhall, Rangeworthy, Tortworth, Tytherington and Yate (North Road)
[IMG: Lib Dem website front page with Lynne Featherstone story] Brand Republic reports: The Liberal Democrats are hoping to influence swing voters by showing them information about their constituency and candidates when they visit the party's website. Voters visiting libdems.org.uk will see news stories relevant to their local candidate's campaign, after the party forged a partnership with geolocation specialists Digital Element. For example, someone visiting the Lib Dem site from a Haringey-based IP address will see information on Lynne Featherstone, candidate for Hornsey and Wood Green. Smart move. Such techniques are never foolproof, but as with target letters the test ...
After her recent slow car crash with John Humphrys on Today, one would have thought that Theresa May would have spent the rest of the election campaign getting quietly lost in darkest Maidenhead. But, oh no, at the weekend she came back with a bang in an interview with the Mail on Sunday: If we saw a Labour Government propped up by SNP it could be the biggest constitutional crisis since the abdication. It would mean Scottish MPs who have no responsibility for issues like health, education and policing in their own constituencies [as they are devolved to the Scottish ...
This morning I have blog article published on the Socialist Health Association website. I have found the SHA to be a constructive part of the health debate. The are a helpful antidote the right wing think tanks who publish quite a lot nonsensical stuff. [IMG: Share]
Tue 28th
09:02
The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom used to be the most formidable election winning machine...
Yesterday, the Daily Telegraph printed a letter, supposedly signed by 5,000 people from the commercial world, saying that a Labour government would be bad for business. Problems with the whole move quickly emerged, however. Turns out the letter had been on the members' section of the Tories' own website for weeks, so the idea that it was a spontaneous expression of the business community was rather impossible to swallow. Then several of the supposed signatories disowned any involvement in the thing - some of them stating publicly they were members of the Labour Party. All this amounts to amateur-hour electioneering ...
Tue 28th
09:01
Which party is best for the UK's Eurovision hopes? Whichever one is led by Harold Wilson...
[IMG: Harold Wilson at microphone] A couple of weeks after the General Election, we'll all be gathering around our TVs for another night of overblown histrionics and complicated voting analysis when it's time for 2015's Eurovision Song Contest. With the death of former British Eurovision entrant Ronnie Carroll causing a bit of a stir in the election a couple of weeks ago, I decided to look at under which parties and Prime Ministers we've had the most success in the contest. My first discovery was that only three Prime Ministers have presided over British Eurovision victories: Wilson, Thatcher and Blair. ...
A series of videos has been launched which give little snippets of our manifesto. This at least partly came about as a result of a conversation on Facebook that I was involved in on the periphery. It was former Presidential Candidate Daisy Cooper who took it forward with HQ who then made it happen. Here are the first three videos: Introduction Paddy gets in on the act Education If any further snippets are released, we will update this page and share on social media so that you can see them. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and ...
[IMG: Maghull Station in Bloom r] Click on the photo to enlarge it No more needs to be said – excellent volunteer effort. The photo is amongst my Flickr shots at:- www.flickr.com/photos/86659476@N07/
Tue 28th
08:25The world's first national green investment bank: just one of the Lib Dem achievements in the last f...
[IMG: Lib Dem achievements in government - 3. Green Investment Bank] For more, see the full infographic: What have the Liberal Democrats achieved in government? [IMG: Share on Facebook] [IMG: Share on Twitter] Show support for Lib Dems on social media The Liberal Democrats have achieved so much in the last five years. Now help the party achieve even more in the next five years: Sign up to this Thunderclap to share a message on the eve of poll about voting Liberal Democrat Sign up to this Facebook event to show that you're voting Liberal Democrat
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above [IMG: 11174998_10153869196323677_2533520848106495675_n] Merseyside Maritime Museum says:- A stunning 3 Metre ship model of the Mauretania is being auctioned on 12 May and we want to buy it and bring it home to Liverpool. We are looking for donations to help us win this at auction. I have made a donation, can you help too? Just follow the Liverpool Echo story to the end where the donation process is detailed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32337990 I was somewhat surprised when I saw this article on the BBC web site because the evidence of by my eyes when out and about driving across Merseyside and beyond is that the problem is getting worse not better! [IMG: _82361235_mobiledriving] The number of times you come across a driver, usually male in my experience, with a phone held to their head whilst trying to drive 'safely' is far to often in my view. Only a few days ago I was driving along Southport Road in Bootle when a chap all but lost control of his car at a ...
A future 'BLUKIP' alliance between the Tories and UKIP is a real threat to Wales. On the Sunday Politics, Stephen Crabb refused to rule out a Tory deal with UKIP and he also failed to explain why his party's Welsh manifesto and UK manifesto said two completely different policies on fair funding. The UK manifesto said that that a 'funding floor' to protect Wales' finances will only be introduced "once the Welsh Government has called a referendum on income tax powers". There will be no-overall majority in this election. There is a danger Britain may be sleepwalking into a right-wing ...
One of the most striking buildings in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, is the Peace Palace, designed by Sir Norman Foster in the form of a pyramid. It was specifically constructed, at the behest of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, to house the triennial gatherings of lsaders of world and traditional religions — the pyramid being chosen as [...]
