Sorry that blogging has been light. It is because the level of emails is up quite considerably on even five years ago. May well be normal service after Thursday. In the meantime that has been a hastily arranged soap box style hustings in the town centre of Newton Aycliffe in the morning at 11:30.
I've got to the point of the campaign where my feet are starting to hurt from pacing about Blaydon constituency canvassing and delivering. Last night we were in the office until 10pm printing focus leaflets which we delivered across my ward today. We have a few patches left to do tomorrow but most of my ward has been done. I delivered 5 patches this afternoon and evening. That's 2 of the
Copyright © Dennis Calow Alan Craxford remembers King Richards Road in the Fifties King Richards Road was a busy thoroughfare and bus route and it was also the main centre for shopping and our community life. In an age before the supermarket there were enterprises of all trades, shapes and sizes.And then describes its demise: There had been waves of slum clearance programmes in various areas of the city from the years after the first World War. Major demolition and redevelopment schemes were drawn up in the 1950s and by the middle of the 1970s some 12,500 slum houses had ...
What is it with Ukip candidates for Harborough and travel? In March Clive Langley resigned when he found out he would have to travel to London if he won. Now comes news that his replacement Mark Hunt has been on holiday in Florida for the past week. Thanks to Dan Martin in the Leicester Mercury for confirming the local rumours. I wouldn't be too hard on Mr Hunt. I recall a prominent Liberal Democrat candidate who spent part of the 2001 election campaign on holiday. This was because the poll took place a month later than expected because of the ...
Just as a brief explanation of why there've been few posts here for the last few days — I've been very unwell. The stress of the descent of Gamergater/Rabid Puppy filth on here a couple of weeks ago (which, again, pre-moderation stopped from getting through, but *I* saw it all), combined with the stress of [...]
It's been yet another day of potential coalition deal and red line statements, which is a refereshing change from the restating of the same policies in several different ways. Now we just get the same information about coalition deals being expressed in many different ways, of which the most pertinent information is that Ed Miliband doesn't want to work with the SNP, David Cameron still won't rule out any deal with UKIP and Nick Clegg will be happy to work with either of them, but he'd prefer an exclusive relationship. All of this does make me wonder if there's a ...
In the near future, Daisy takes part in an isolation experiment for five years only to find a very different world waiting for her when the doors open... (comedy/horror/sci-fi/distopian. All rights reserved) Part ten of many. Seventeen minutes and counting... ' ...And then they dropped plague bombs over all the major cities in Europe and Russia.''Why?'Daisy can hardly comprehend what Douglas is telling her. 'What kind of sick...''Why not?' is Douglas' weary reply. 'None of it made any sense, not the war, the killing, the death.. I think in the end the whole of humanity just went crazy and the ...
Richard Garvie, the Labour candidate for Wellingborough and Rushden, was convicted of fraud yesterday. According to the Northamptonshire Telegraph, the offence involved the purchase of £900 of tickets from East Midlands Trains using a card for a closed bank account. The sentencing magistrate told Mr Garvie the bench "did not find his evidence credible" and that they had "no doubt he had acted dishonestly". Mr Garvie says he will appeal. Garvie was suspended by the Labour Party, but of course this has all happened much too late for them to find a new candidate. Mr Garvie's solution? He told the ...
Fri 1st
19:20
Opinion: To be free from poverty, ignorance and conformity, our society must have robust support for...
Today is Blogging Against Disablism Day 2015. It's the tenth annual day for disabled and non-disabled people to blog about their experiences, observations and thoughts about disability discrimination (known as disablism or ableism). It aims to raise awareness of inequality, promote equality and celebrate the progress we've made. An online acquaintance of mine said he was going to write for #BADD2015 in terms of the political parties' manifestos. Good Lib Dem that I am, I looked forward to hearing some positive stuff about my party. I know there's lots to talk about. The Lib Dems have budgeted the £8 billion ...
Sky news have been busy bunnies in the leadup to the election, creating these lovely videos of the political leaders. If you haven't seen them, they're embedded below What I want to know is, which of these do you think is most excruciatingly, buttock-clenchingly awful? I mean yes, there's some skill involved in clip selection and editing and whatnot, but honestly... View Poll: Which is worse? * I'm allowed to ask that question cos I haven't had mine. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats:
Of late the axiom that 'less is more' has not seemed to apply to superhero films. Indeed, they have appeared to defy gravity, adding far more characters than seems feasible yet somehow not coming crashing to earth. Age of Ultron perhaps represents basic cinematic physics reasserting itself: it stays airborne but at times you can [...]
[IMG: money notes] The Conservatives. Supposedly careful with tax-payers' money. To the point of driving through policies to remove benefits from the genuinely disabled, cut the armed forces and put up VAT to reduce the deficit. However, during this election campaign they have made a whole series of uncosted spending promises. These are based on ideology rather pragmatic control of spending. Had other parties done the same, the right-wing press would have torn into them. It really does call into question their priorities and ability to think in the longer term. The "costly" policies that stand out are: Inheritance tax ...
As Simon Kelner says in today's i newspaper, electoral reform has "played absolutely zero part in this election campaign", though it "goes to the very essence of our democracy". In what has been described as a lottery election, we need to be prepared for any of the diverse opportunities for electoral reform that may open up. One thing that does seem almost certain is that the result itself will provide strong evidence of the need for change, with hugely varying seat/vote ratios. Current polls suggest the following: Conservatives and Labour each with only a third of the votes but over ...
Next Friday Liberal Democrats may not be celebrating a great victory, but it will be a lot better than 1970, see https://youtu.be/cq8PMfpA-6g?t=5h40m45s! My prediction that Mr Heath's Government would last no more than 6 months, and that we would regain Orpington, were both wrong. This time, now that Milliband has definitively ruled out any deal with the SNP, it looks as if there will be a minority Government, and it would be even more likely to suffer defeat in the Commons within six months. But now we have the Fixed Term Parliament Act, early elections can be held only if ...
I'm increasingly concerned at the way in which the prospect of SNP MPs at Westminster is being treated in the English media. My fear is that the SNP is being demonised in a way that undermines the future of the United Kingdom by bracketing the SNP and the Scots together and demonising both. I've heard many stories from people in Scotland of the bitter taste left by the Thatcher years, when the Tories foisted the poll tax first on the Scots, smashed industry and caused mass unemployment. All this led to a Tory wipeout in 1997 and they still have ...
[IMG: Golden Valley Shops] Local restaurant owner Kishore Sapkota is organising a Curry buffet dinner at his restaurant the Gurkha Palace in Sandgate Valley this Monday to raise funds to support Nepal earthquake victims. The Gurkha Palace will provide food and all the money raised will go towards the cause. Date: Monday 4th May 2015 Time: 6pm onwards till 9pm Venue: Gurkha Palace Restaurant, 97 Enbrook Valley, Folkestone CT20 3NE Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, CT20 3BYPrinted (hosted) by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY
First Bus have announced that they will be running a Sunday timetable on all their services across the West of England on Monday 4th and Monday 25th May. More details of First Bus services are available from their website.
Manchurian Candidates. I'm repeating that joke, with added background reading material. http://t.co/6vusNnAKrl pic.twitter.com/YGIWdnQFgR — ben goldacre (@bengoldacre) April 30, 2015
Shirley Williams with John Pugh on Chapel St It was great to see Shirley back in Southport this morning supporting John Pugh's re-election campaign. The sun shone on us as Shirley sat outside at a pavement café in Chapel St. In Southport we don't usually bother with high profile visitors-to be frank they can be a distraction-but we were all delighted to make an exception for Shirley Williams. Shirley has a full programme planned for the day and I will post later with some details.
An interesting snippet from the Guardian's snap ICM poll (22:15) after the Question Time for Leaders last night. They didn't find ever so many people who's minds had been changed about how they were going to vote by the event, but of those who were, most were leaning towards Nick Clegg: Relatively few votes are likely to have been changed by the evening: only 6% of the sample indicated that their mind had been changed by what they saw, as against 87% who said it would make no difference to how they voted. Among this small sub-sample, of 79 respondents, ...
[IMG: JS61766008] The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above This fascinating, well worth a read of the Echo article and a look at their photo gallery by Colin Lane.
Fri 1st
12:17
VIDEO: Your vote will be the difference between a government of self-interest and grievance or a coa...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats: Scottish version Welsh version
I am unilaterally declaring this day Celebrate your Lib Dem Organiser Day. It's 6 days out, most will be surviving on energy drinks and riso ink fumes and there's still a big push to come. Not only will they be sorting out the canvassing packs and delivery runs for the weekend, they will be organising polling day, making sure all the committee rooms are well equipped, that there are enough people around to get all the jobs done. Making sure our voters get to the polls is absolutely critical over the next few days. If you haven't already arranged to ...
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above The stats for this hidden crime are truly and sadly horrendous.
Fri 1st
11:55Fairer, bigger, more secure pensions: just one of the Lib Dem achievements in the last five years
[IMG: Lib Dem achievements in government - 6. Pensions] 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 FT has spent a huge long article endorsing the tories, and three lines towards the end of it saying "oh by the way, in a seat where the tories aren't a choice, you might as well vote Lib Dem, they're acceptable". Many of my fellow LDs have greeted this with almost orgasmic cries of joy that a serious paper has endorsed us. Eurgh. Basically we are cheering on the media for treating us as an adjunct to the tories, as opposed to treating us as Labour lite the way they did prior to 2010. Are we so inured to ...
Ed, Yesterday on Question Time, you said, as you have said many times during this campaign: There are some people who tell you that the way we succeed as a country is as long as a few people at the top do well and large corporations, that's what powers the economy... Here's a good question, which you'll be glad I asked you: Who are these people who tell us this? Have we heard of any of them? Are they standing for election? Can you give us a direct quote or two? I ask because this seems to be the core ...
Television debates have now firmly established themselves as part and parcel of the British political process, even if Prime Minister David Cameron has tried to avoid a repeat of the 2010 head-to-heads with Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg, at which the Liberal Democrat leader established himself as the exciting new kid on the block. Cameron, [...]
Liberal Democrat Voice reports this quote from the Financial Times:The country would benefit from the countervailing force of Lib Dem moderation at Westminster. In seats where the Lib Dems are the incumbent or the main challenger, we would vote tactically for them.The paper was far from complimentary about the Tories' divisive strategy.Five years ago, the prospect of coalition government attracted dire predictions of instability in markets and gridlock at Westminster. Neither proved true. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has shown European-style cohabitation can work. Curiously, Mr Cameron has not trumpeted its successes. He has preferred to wage a campaign of fear. ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat Newswire logo] Liberal Democrat Newswire #63 came out on Monday, including a look at how a minority government in the Commons will suffer in the Lords. 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 63rd edition of Liberal Democrat Newswire, rounding up some of the Lib Dem-related election news you may have missed in the last week. Statistic of the week: 48 – the number of new members the Liberal Democrats have been recruiting each day ...
The Dulwich Festival starts in 7 days time and runs from the 8th to 17th of May. As ever it includes a programme of art work, artists open house (both weekends), musical performances, literary luminaires, a fair (goose Green Sun 10th), delicious food trail, walks and so much more. To help plan how you'll take part: www.dulwichfestival.co.uk Twitter @dulwichfestival facebook.com/dulwichfestival
Interactive: The housing benefit millionaires in YOUR area (tags: ) Fake Comment is Free headlines are hilarious (tags: ) Tech Company in "only testing things on white folks" shocker. Again. (tags: ) LGBT+ Lib Dem Candidates in the 2015 general election (tags: ) Is your CV in Times New Roman? Then you'll never get a job (tags: ) This Is How Little The Polls Have Moved Since January - & why I pay little attention to polls these days (tags: ) Rosamund Urwin: My dark secret - I actually like most politicians (tags: ) Can't see the brighouse Echo doing ...
Beating the Bounds is a traditional local activity for Rogation Sunday, walking round the boundaries of the Common so that people know what they hold as a community asset. In some places they beat the bounds of an entire parish, or ride round the boundaries of larger parishes. The Common was nearly sold off for housing some years ago, but a determined campaign by local people (many now in the Focus Team) kept it in public ownership. This gives beating the bounds of the Common a special meaning. Please bring your children to show them what a lovely area we ...
First of all, as many pundits have already covered but is necessary to say again, the audience were great, weren't they? I was worried beforehand given the quality of the questions we had at the Paxman thing a month ago, that we'd end up in "Mr Miliband, your campaign has the momentum of a runaway train - why are you so popular?" territory, but the fine people of Leeds were in no mood for placation. The questions were fairly brutal: Cameron was asked in no uncertain terms about where the cuts would fall; Miliband was asked whether the last Labour ...
Here's some of the articles that have caught my attention this week... Lewis Baston >The TV debate: Colourless green ideas sleep furiously So apparently there is a post-QT poll. So here's Lewis Baston explaining why they're stupid http://bit.ly/1PbgMD2 Our endorsement: Who should govern Britain? | The Economist The Economist supports the Coalition continuing but somehow thinks this best achieved by voting Tory. Logic fail. http://econ.st/1Ir5B9j Pub must be rebuilt brick by brick, orders council, after developers tore it down to build flats – London – News – London Evening Standard 3 cheers for Westminster City Councils http://bit.ly/1zp9ee9 Conservatives target Lib ...
Fri 1st
09:27Financial Times: "In seats where Lib Dems are the incumbent or main challenger, we would vote tactic...
If you woke up in the middle of the night, chances are you might have heard in the distance a rhythmic humming heartbeat sound. That would be the risograph* in a Liberal Democrat key seat churning out leaflets with this quote from the Financial Times: The country would benefit from the countervailing force of Lib Dem moderation at Westminster. In seats where the Lib Dems are the incumbent or the main challenger, we would vote tactically for them. The paper was far from complimentary about the Tories' divisive strategy. I guess the last thing they want to do is refer ...
All hail The Admiral:
Fri 1st
08:55Manifesto snippets in BSL Part 4: Pensions, climate change and energy and environment and nature
The Liberal Democrats have produced a series of 20 videos giving snippets of our manifesto in BSL. We are the first major party to do so. The full list is here. We'll also put them up on here in batches over the next wee while. If you want to see all our posts, just click on the bsl tag at the bottom of this post. In this post, you will find pensions, climate change and environment and nature Pensions Climate Change and energy Environment and nature
[IMG: BBC_Question_Time] That's the end of the set piece events for this election, so the politicians will be relaxing and not expecting to be facing any more tough questions until around this time next week. Of course then they'll actually have to come up with an answer to the question Cameron and Miliband ducked last night: just how will you govern if you don't get a majority? I know I bang on about this, but if you want a picture of what's wrong with our political system, it's two leaders who won't get 40% of the vote, let alone 50% ...
Douglas Murray wrote on the Spectator's Coffee House blog in June 2013: I thought I might remind readers of something about Keith Vaz. The chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee has of course just applauded the banning of two American authors from Britain because of their criticism of Islam. So I turn to Joseph Anton - the illuminating fatwa-memoir released last year by Salman Rushdie. It contains a remarkable anecdote of the moment immediately after the news arrives of Ayatollah Khomeini's order of murder. Rushdie (incidentally writing of himself in the third person) describes walking into his literary agent's ...
Yesterday, along with the local Housing Officer and two representatives from the City Council's Environment Department, I took part in a walkabout around the Logie area. The six-monthly walkabouts take place in a number of areas (Pentland and Blackness are other examples) and are a useful way to look at local issues and problems and ensure these are taken up and resolved. A number of issues were raised - including the need to have this damaged fence in Glenagnes Street (see above right) repaired.
There is now less than a week to go before Britain's General Election (Thursday 7 May).The tension mounts amongst those that follow these things. So far the opinion polls swing this way and that, but on average remain nearly static. In the BBC Poll of Polls the parties haven't wavered more than 1% from 34% each for Conservatives and Labour, 14% for Ukip, 8% for the Liberal Democrats and 5% for the Greens. But things could change significantly in the last week. Much of the important movement remains invisible. It is in 100 or so competitive seats (I'm excluding Scotland ...
Activists and corporations are increasingly using public information laws to intimidate scientists. Funding disclosures are fair game, argues Michael Halpern. But documents related to the research process should stay off limits. In 2009, a law firm representing Philip Morris submitted freedom of information requests to the University of Stirling for the work of three scientists - Gerard Hastings, Anne Marie Mackintosh and Linda Bauld - who were studying the impact of tobacco marketing on adolescents. They sought all primary data, questionnaires, handbooks and documents related to the researchers' work, much of which was confidential. Although the requests were eventually dropped ...
We are told by National Grid Gas that some of the gas pipes in the town centre are on a risk register and must be replaced as a priority. This work was to commence last April but, despite the priority, NGG failed to do the work. If the gas mains are urgently at risk, surely [...]
I am off out campaigning all day so here is what we got up to last Saturday in Swansea:
