On Thursday 14th May I got to wear my Wandle Valley Regional Park Trustee hat as we celebrated the achievements of the Big Green Fund project. This has enabled the restoration and improvements to the boardwalk at the Spencer Road Wetlands and the opening of the Watermeads Nature Reserve to the public for the first [...]
I know that some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about and others will be scratching their heads wondering. Today, 17th May, is what used to be called IDAHO Day, the International Day against homophobia. It's now known ... Continue reading →
Not the longest slideshow in this series, but surely one of the best. But then you can make your own comparisons: Devon, Bedfordshire, North Lincolnshire, East Sussex, Leicestershire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, Cumbria,Cambridgeshire, Kent, Lincolnshire and Cornwall.
On Friday we had a get-together for new Lib Dems in Sheffield (in an excellent pub with lots of real ale - of course). It was well attended, and I got a chance to speak to several people. The similarity was in why they joined. With one exception, they said the same thing: they'd always (or usually) voted Lib Dem, and either just before or just after the election they'd felt the party and its values to be under threat, and had wanted to do something more. Otherwise, their views were as diverse as the rest of the party. Right, ...
"I don't understand the point of a political party that doesn't learn from its mistakes, and while I can understand why many aren't really excited by the prospect of introspection right now, someone has to do it." James Graham points to three things the Lib Dems could have done to avoid the disaster of 7 May. The Liberal Democrat leadership election will be closer than we all think, says Craig Dearden-Phillips. Above the Law asks why copyright law has made the best version of Star Wars illegal. Dennis Potter would have been 80 today. Love and Garbage pays tribute to ...
I know that some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about and others will be scratching their heads wondering. Today, 17th May, is what used to be called IDAHO Day, the International Day against homophobia. It's now known in various ways, IDAHOT or the one I prefer IDAHOBiT, which explicitly mentions biphobia and transphobia, too. This is the day when we celebrate those across the world who are doing their bit in their communities to make life better for lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and transgender people. In the UK that is relatively easy. In many countries, though, you ...
[IMG: My photo of a cleverly decorated emergency exit door at the new Liverpool Central Station.] My photo of a cleverly decorated emergency exit door at the new Liverpool Central Station. 1972 saw the end of Liverpool Central Station (High Level) The last trains to use it were on the line to to Gateacre in its last few weeks. Central Station was knocked down and replaced by a shopping centre and the lines it served taken underground to the 'new' Central Station. Gateacre Station did not reopen, but the line out to it from Central did of course regain ...
Something reminded me on Facebook this morning of a post I'd written almost exactly 5 years ago, on 18th May 2010. Sadly we don't have any new MPs this time, but there are a fair few brand new ones converging on Westminster from Scotland for a start. Back in 2010, I'd happened upon a guide for new MPs on the parliament's website. It told them how to make sure they got paid and how to set up their office. It mentioned that they must take the Oath of Allegiance to the Queen before they could participate in debates – but, ...
The Overall Benefit Cap – a little time bomb under UK buy-to-let housing – Not only is the benefit cap a terrible idea for the people subjected to it, Daniel Davies shows that it has the unintended side effect of causing terrible ripple effects through the rest of UK housing provision. The Seven Hurdles for Repeal of the Human Rights Act – David Allen Green goes through the hurdles that need to be surmounted before Tories would be able to push through their plan. It's almost like they didn't think this through before promising it. There was an alternative: three ...
This is just a heads up that the survey of members' views about the General Election campaign that Sal Brinton mentioned in her post the other day has now been sent out. If you are a member of the party and haven't found it, it comes from "James Gurling – Liberal Democrats" and is entitled General Election Review. Check your spam if it hasn't appeared. James is a member of the Federal Executive and is Chair of the Party's Campaigns and Communications Committee. His email contains a unique link to a wide-ranging survey which asks you to give an assessment ...
[IMG: NormanLamb] [IMG: Tim Farron MP] Most of the pundits, and the party, appear to think this leadership election is over already. Paddy Power has Tim Farron at 1/5 odd-on next to poor Norman's 3/1. My view is that it's going to be a lot closer than everyone is thinking - and that there may, just possibly, be a surprise in store. Why so? I would point to three main reasons. The first is that the contest will soon refocus from one between 'Coalition Man' and 'Dissenting Man' to one between two MPs who have to convince the public that ...
During the general election, I commented on how wise the BBC's editorial approach to opinion polls looked. Forged in the aftermath of the polling debacle of 1992, those guidelines include: When reporting the findings of opinion polls (especially voting intention polls in the United Kingdom), whether commissioned by the BBC or others: We should not lead a news bulletin or programme simply with the results of an opinion poll We should not headline the results of an opinion poll unless it has prompted a story which itself deserves a headline and reference to the poll's findings is necessary to make ...
Tim Farron might not be wanting to change the party's name, but he is talking about a widespread rebranding of the party: The Liberal Democrats could look at changing their party colour and "liberty bird" logo as part of a review planned by Tim Farron, if he wins the party's leadership contest. As Tim told me when talking about the party name non-story, you need to get the product right before the branding. Branding is, however, part of the overall package. Proper branding, that is, which I add as branding has (ironically) a rather bad brand image itself as it ...
The May Fayre at Whickham's Chase Park went ahead yesterday and was a great success. I had a table selling eggs and preserves in the bottom corner of the park and as I was out in the open, my hopes for a rain-free event were fulfilled! Lots of people spoke to me about my re-election and my self-sufficiency project. There was particular interest in my goat Pinkie who is recovering from an
[IMG: 7 ver 4 full] Many thanks to the 32000 visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... LibLink: David Steel: Six ways Nick Clegg steered the Liberal Democrats to disaster (71 comments) by Paul Walter Norman Lamb MP writes: Trust in people: why I'm standing for party leader (130 comments) by Norman Lamb MP Party membership passes 50,000 with more than 5000 new members since Thursday (69 comments) by Nick Thornsby Lib Dem/Tory waverers wanted continuity but they voted Conservative to achieve it (229 comments) by Nick Thornsby Charles Kennedy writes...The Night of ...
A good track for a lazy Sunday morning. It comes from Morrison's 1989 album Avalon Sunset. I have chosen this video because it has photographs of the locations Morrison mentions. As a bonus you get Days Like This too.
Where do we go from here? Beyond the talk of electoral strategy and tactics, methods of campaigning and targeting, we need to look at what the purpose of the party. Several people on these pages have reported that the party was clobbered by Tory scare tactics directed at a Labour-SNP coalition. If so, there's only so much we can do about that, the actions of others. But we can have control over what the party is, what it stands for and what it should do in the future. One is that image counts. Despite the electoral maths and rhetoric about ...
News Thump continue to be so sharp they're going to cut themselves (tags: ) Brighouse prepares to turn back the clock - forties weekend back in June this year (tags: ) Vince Cable among four senior Lib Dems to turn down Lords - good on you Vince (tags: ) Co-op Group to continue funding a political party - disappointing (tags: ) In which @carolinelucas writes in the New Statesman & I agree with her (tags: ) [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
After Jim Murphy's parting shot yesterday at Unite boss, Len McCluskey, the Sunday Times reports on claims that unions are trying to "hijack" the leadership election, bulldoze the Blairites out of the way and install their preferred candidate, Andy Burnham. They say that Labour MPs have followed the example of the former Scottish Labouir leader and have broken cover to denounce the leadership rules as worthy of "a banana republic". They have accused union allies in parliament of "bullying" MPs into backing Burnham rather than Blairite contender Liz Kendall: Unite has launched a phone-bank drive to convince its members to ...
[IMG: wycliffe scapegoat] Wycliffe and the Scapegoat, W.J. Burley I remember the Wycliffe ITV series from the 1990s, in which the eponymous detective was played, with an under-statedness bordering on boring, by Jack Shepherd. The Cornish scenery always seemed the most interesting part — so I was curious to find out if the character would come alive more on the page. He does, a bit: tetchy and acerbic, but also a 'proper copper', unwilling to stay stuck behind a desk just because he's a chief superintendent. In this eighth instalment in the series, Wycliffe investigates the death of respected builder ...
Sun 17th
08:55
Former Conservative councillor pleads guilty to forgery, deception and falsely claiming to be a barr...
An update to the story of Monika Juneja, who used to be a Conservative councillor in Guildford: Monika Juneja ... pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery, obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception, and wilfully pretending to be barrister as the trial at the Old Bailey got under way. Juneja, of Doverfield Road, Guildford, will be sentenced in June. Offences she admitted included giving false qualifications to Bromley Council, and constructing false letters from the University of Greenwich and the BPP Law School outlining qualifications she did not hold, between July 2000 and May 2014. When she was first charged, the ...
Sun 17th
08:54
Daisy Cooper writes... Building a diverse party: my challenge to leadership candidates
Last year, I ran for Party President on a platform of party reform, with a focus on diversity. Now that all eight of our remaining MPs are white, middle-aged, middle class men, that reform agenda is even more important than before. I'm asking both declared leadership candidates – Tim Farron and Norman Lamb – whether and to what extent they will commit to these achievable measures. 1. Will you promise to take a zero tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviour, insisting that all elected representatives and everyone in your team has a "responsibility to act" on any and all anecdotal and ...
We all thought we were now firmly in the era of hung parliaments. Gone would be the days of one party majorities ruling over us in a way that had become the norm since 1945. Then the Tories proved us all wrong. Into this idea of the "new" politics was that parties were going to have to work together now and in the future. This was very much an idea from the left of centre, and it was built on the hope from many that Labour could be in the centre of a coalition perhaps, with maybe the Greens or ...
I highlighted earlier this week that the Riverside Avenue/Drive roundabout near to the Riverside Inn (pictured right) would be closed today (9am to 5pm) then overnight next week for four nights. Here is an update from the City Council about the work being undertaken : "This will include a new road surface providing better skid resistance and new improved road markings to assist road users. The road safety scheme on the roundabout will then be followed up by a road resurfacing scheme on Riverside Drive northbound towards the Botanic Garden."
Forthcoming walks including at Balgay Hill :
Rejoice! The New Statesman agrees that having Lib Dems in government is a good thing - a brake on the Tories The Guardian agrees that having Lib Dems in government is a good thing - a brake on the Tories And now... The Labour Party seems to agree too They have put out a press release concerning news that George Osborne is about to have a new budget, saying "Two Budgets in four months from the same Chancellor raises questions about what he's planning. The country cannot afford a sharp turn to the right" Well. We did say. As indeed ...
Tim Farron's less than full-hearted voting record on same-sex marriage has already come up in many comments from Liberal Democrat members thinking about who to vote for in the party leadership contest, and it is one of the most frequent topics in questions directed at him on Twitter from party members. In an interview with The Observer, he has tried to deal with the isse: The frontrunner in the race to succeed Nick Clegg as leader of the Liberal Democrats has expressed regret for abstaining in a gay marriage vote during the last parliament. Tim Farron was among nine Lib ...
[IMG: 10407311_10153388104191042_5795956551192635423_n] "We exist to protect those without power. We exist to give them a voice. We exist to ensure that Government serves them, not the other way round. We do not hunt for some mythical place called the centre ground, we search for a place where there is justice, and compassion, and where the great talents of the people are liberated for the greater good of the community. We do not seek to rule our people, we seek to give them the tools, the knowledge and the support so that they may rule themselves." Not my words but they ...
