There's a poignant piece in tomorrow's Guardian revealing that Nick Clegg seriously contemplated resigning as Leader of the Liberal Democrats following last year's disastrous European and local election results as he feared he had become a liability. Reportedly he was told by senior colleagues that he had to hang on in there until this May's [...]
Well, as the ballot papers get sent out in the leadership election, the Guardian publishes a series of revelations tonight about the last year of the coalition and the aftermath of the European elections. Apparently Nick Clegg was ready to resign in the wake of the European elections and was talked out of it by, among others, Paddy Ashdown and Tim Farron. Certainly at the time, the feedback that Federal Executive members gave at our post Euro disaster meeting was that there was no appetite in the wider party for a leadership election, but they did want things to change. ...
In the early days of this blog I wrote: I am increasingly aware that what I value is not so much individualism as individuality - the flourishing of different sorts of people and different ways of life. (I believe I came across this distinction in Michael Ignatieff's biography of Isaiah Berlin. It is a useful one.) It is a concept that has something to do with the old schoolmaster's ideal of "character" and I suspect that the development of individuality requires strong institutions, such as schools that are not under central control. Teenage culture does suggest that individualism does not ...
The Guardian has just posted a long article under this title by Patrick Wintour and Nicholas Watt on its website. Though the site no longer has that useful button that told you an article's publication history, I assume it will be in tomorrow's paper. Here is a flavour of it: Oakeshott regarded the forthcoming electoral drubbing as the last chance to remove Clegg, whom he had long seen as a political disaster for the party. "It felt like the scene in Far from the Madding Crowd when the sheep charge over the hill together," Oakeshott recalled. "I thought 'Oh my ...
A Liberal Democrat adviser adjusts to the new political landscape. Coffee with Freddie Who should I meet when I drop into a Westminster coffee bar to treat myself to a cappuccino but Freddie? You remember him: he was one of Freddie and Fiona, the two young advisers upon whom poor Clegg leant so heavily whilst in government. I ask him what he intends to do now that Clegg has bought the farm. "I was planning to go into PR because I have such a good contacts book," he tells me, "but then I realised that all the people in it ...
Here's a copy of my op-ed for Lib Dem Voice - also available here. In the run up to the election, I sent numerous emails to activists in Hornsey and Wood Green, congratulating them for hitting 'green' in all our HQ-monitored key performance indicators (KPIs). We were model pupils. Bar membership, I think we hit green every month, on every indicator.
David Boyle lists his top 10 policy delusions that are shared by left and right. As so often, he is spot on. "As Corbyn's speech on Saturday ... confirmed, he is a perfect reflection of British socialism's shift from a once-viable challenge to the structural failings of capitalism to a form of welfarist middle-class moralism." Tom Slater is not impressed by Jeremy Corbyn's candidacy for Labour leader reveals the hollow core of British politics. The dark web as you know it is a myth, says Joseph Cox. "The way characters discuss the 'wild, cruel, medieval' magic of the Raven King ...
In August last year I wrote a blog post for the University of Leicester with the title "This is not goodbye". In it I talked about my initial lymphoma diagnosis (the post was written before I'd had the precise variant identified) and that I'd therefore decided to suspend my studies for a year to fight it off. It was also ...
I was peeved when I saw that the Scottish leadership hustings were taking place this coming Saturday as I knew I had to be in London for a Federal Executive away day. In a moment of madness, though, I decided that I would make a trip to Newcastle for the hustings last Friday night. I am, after all, the FE liaison person for the North East region so it would be good to meet people there. After a 90 minute train journey, a delicious Chicken Fajita in a place called Zapatista and a quick look at the Centurion pub next ...
As I reported was going to happen, Lib Dem London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon is bidding to be the party's candidate for the London Mayor 2016 elections. She is joined in the contest to be the Liberal Democrat candidate by five others, making up an impressively diverse field – not only by Lib Dem standards but also by London's standards too: Duwayne Brooks (who I profiled a few years back) Brian Haley Teena Lashmore Caroline Pidgeon Marisha Ray Paul Reynolds As the slightly idiosyncratic collection of links I've used in that list shows, not all of them have twigged to ...
Fantastic timelapse footage of the Northern Lights captured by Chris Small from Ocean and Earth Photography, Bude. His gallery is in what used to be Mr Bickle's cobbler's shop in Princes Street.
Wed 24th
19:50
Lib Dem Leadership: Big name endorsements for each camp as ballots are posted to members
Ballots for the Liberal Democrat leadership hit members' doorsteps from tomorrow. With that in mind, both camps have unveiled big name endorsements. From the Lamb campaign, he kind of unveiled it himself in his inimitable style: Like many #libdems i've found it hard to choose from 2 great Leader candidates. But now decision time. I've told Norman I will vote for him — Paddy Ashdown (@paddyashdown) June 24, 2015 It isn't the biggest surprise in the whole world. During our Spring conference, he was pretty critical of Tim. Paddy becomes the latest party establishment figure to support Norman Lamb. At ...
Stockport Council agreed to buy the Edgeley Park football ground at a special meeting of the Council's Executive today. [IMG: Stockport Council have agreed to buy the Edgeley Park football ground.] Stockport Council have agreed to buy the Edgeley Park football ground. The purchase will help secure the future of Stockport County football club and of an important community asset in the ground itself. The Council will have a landlord/tenant relationship with the club. The rent paid by the club would cover the cost of the purchase so it won't cost taxpayers a penny. The plan to purchase the ground ...
Lindsay goes into King's tomorrow at 06.00 to have a kidney removed by keyhole surgery, and Victoria comes to stay for the next four days to mind the shop and make sure I don't fall getting into or out of the bath. The hospital reckons she will be in until the following Monday, but she will have to kahe it easy for a couple of weeks after being discharged Unfortunately L had to spend much of the day wheeling me to a series of appointments in King's starting with a scan of both legs at 11.15. An ultrasound scan of ...
Norman Lamb and Tim Farron have been featured in the Welsh media. Norman's comments were reported in Walesonline. He talked about drugs policy: We have a really crazy situation where there are very many people who end up criminalised and with their careers blighted when actually half of the Government will have taken drugs in their early years... This is put down as a youthful indiscretion if you're a fully signed-up member of the middle classes, but there are many of their fellow citizens who have criminal convictions for doing the same thing. He says he regrets signing the tuition ...
In his Guardian article on Monday Larry Elliot refers to a book by Tony Atkinson, published in May, which lists 15 separate policy proposals for the UK. Elliot lists only eight of them, namely: guaranteed public employment;a minimum wage set at the level of a living wage;a minimum inheritance when a child reaches adulthood;a sovereign wealth fund; a universal basic income;replacement of council tax by a regularly updated and progressive property tax;a wealth tax;a 65% top rate of income tax.Eliot claims that these proposals "[give] the lie to the to the argument that in a global economy nothing can be ...
Tim Farron had been doing well at catching up with Norman Lamb's early lead in (ex)MP endorsements, but today Norman Lamb has landed one of the big undeclared names: Like many #libdems i've found it hard to choose from 2 great Leader candidates. But now decision time. I've told Norman I will vote for him — Paddy Ashdown (@paddyashdown) June 24, 2015 Which is an excuse to blog again Rory Bremner's excellent sketch: Keep up with news on the Lib Dem leadership race Sign up for Liberal Democrat Newswire here, and Sign up for the Facebook event for the contest ...
On May 8th Nick Clegg told us that fear won the election. He was right. But hope played just as important a part. It was hope that took votes from the Lib Dems: Ed Miliband's hope that shackling business would help the poor; the Green hope that uncoupling ourselves from our addiction to economic growth would deliver social justice; the SNP hope that a fiscally empowered Scotland could abandon austerity. Each of these visions is as misleading as it is inspirational. The general election amounted to a choice between firm Tory hands on the reins and the whip alike, and ...
There are very few things that I know for sure in life. Things like Homes under the Hammer is better when it is just Martin & Lucy with no Dion in sight. That Edgar Hansen is about as cool as they come. That Bangers n Mash is a tremendous meal. That Jack McCoy is one of the best characters in TV and then of course we get to the simple fact that mushrooms are evil little bastards. The first evidence I'd like to produce is the look of them. I mean look at them, why would anyone look at a ...
Tim Farron has this week committed his leadership to making the provision of affordable homes in the UK a lib dem priority. And well we should with so many families homeless, in bed & breakfast, hostels and at the mercy of private landlords. Compare a recent opinion poll carried out by COMRES in March 2015 which asked the public to compare the priority of the HS2 rail project (£60 billion and climbing) to spending on affordable homes. In Scotland 77% wanted affordable homes compared to 5% for HS2. In Wales, the figures were 61% compared to 6%. In England 63% ...
Yesterday I attended the monthly Acocks Green police tasking meeting. As usual we were given un update on the crime figures at the start. The good news is that there has been a further slight fall in total recorded crime across Acocks Green ward so far this year. There have been 2 fewer crimes, which represents a fall of 0.5%. Within this overall figure there are some bigger movements: Burglary down 21% Robbery static Vehicle crime static Business crime up 21% Drug crime down 6% The old police residents meetings have now ended with the police attending the regular Neighbourhood ...
Six candidates have bave applied to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London. They are: Duwayne Brooks OBE. Brian Haley. A strong communicator, comfortable with diverse communities. Stood to be selected as Lib Dem mayoral candidate four years ago. brianhaley1@hotmail.com Teena Lashmore. From Hackney, criminologist working in resettling those released from prisons and detention centres andsafeguarding children. teenalibdems@gmail.com Caroline Pidgeon. Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly, specialises in transport, policing and housing. www.carolinepidgeon.org@CarolinePidgeon Marisha Ray. Known as the Lib Dem crime fighting chief in her area and for work preventing teenage knife deaths. http://www.libdemvoice.org/author/marisha-ray marisha.ray.for.london@gmail.com ...
First we had Tim Farron ending his support of a 50p top rate of income tax, and now we've had this again from Norman Lamb, which I think he's said before but has gone rather unremarked given it means moving on from what was a totemic policy in the last Parliament: Delay increases in income tax allowance to pay for investment in green homes, says @normanlamb — Mark Pack (@markpack) June 23, 2015 Keep up with news on the Lib Dem leadership race Sign up for Liberal Democrat Newswire here, and Sign up for the Facebook event for the contest ...
[IMG: lib dem manifesto 2015] One striking thing about the Lib Dem leadersip contest to date is the lack of debate about policy. To some extent this is unsurprising. So devastating was the party's defeat in May that there's been more interest than usual in discussions about organisational structure – how to rebuild, how to involve new/existing members etc. It's also a reflection that few believe we lost because of the policies in our manifesto – rather it was because of the Coalition / failure to be sufficiently 'proalition' / tuition fees / Nick Clegg / the 'split-the-difference' messaging of ...
Two out of four candidates for the UK Labour leadership are women. This remarkable fact has arisen with little comment. It seems normal and there is no suggestion that either Yvette Cooper or Liz Kendall's names on the ballot are tokenistic. In contrast, no women are eligible to stand for leadership of the Lib Dems as we have no female MPs. We have two strong candidates for leader in Tim Farron and Norman Lamb. I feel, however, that it's unacceptable to have got ourselves into a position where there is no possibility of voting for a woman leader. The front-runner ...
ALDC see a real opportunity for the party to rebuild through local council by-elections. There are hundreds of areas around the country where we have residual support. We need to use every by-election to build local parties and move them forward. Why fighting local by-elections helps They are great opportunities for training particularly with Connect [...]
Last week a proposal to extend the voting age to 16-year-olds ahead of an EU referendum was defeated in the House of Commons. But, as Lord Newby said, 'the genie is out of the bottle' following the Scottish referendum and it looks as if pressure for change is ramping up. It's a good talking point [...]
Amidst all the talk of cutting the welfare budget by £12 billion per annum, the focus has been on tax credits - after all, given that pensions have been fixed through the 'triple lock', there is less scope for reductions otherwise. But, whilst there is a general acceptance that we need to ensure that benefits follow need, the actual impact on families, working or otherwise, can easily be lost in a snowstorm of statistics. So, what is at stake for residents of Mid Suffolk? The average number of families (rounded to the nearest hundred) claiming either Working Tax Credit (WTC), ...
A few years ago I gave a training session at Wyboston for target seat candidates on the role of the PPC. I tried to make it interesting, thought provoking, even different. One of the roles I had on my slides was attending funerals of long standing activists. The idea aroused some discussion with a couple of those present dismissing the idea, and one person present saying they were going to concentrate on the living only. Well I would still believe that one of the roles of a PPC is to attend funerals of long standing activists. Let me explain. Here ...
Tough new powers are being called for by councils to tackle lorry drivers who ignore weight restrictions, bringing bedlam to the nation's villages. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents almost 400 councils in England and Wales, wants local authorities to be able to fine 'heavy haulage road rogues' to bring peace and tranquillity back [...]
Jack Stilgoe: I was speaking yesterday at the Circling the Square conference in Nottingham and asked to say something about responsible innovation. Here's the gist of what I said. I've been told to issue a SPOILER ALERT!, although I don't think I'm giving away much of Jurassic World in harvesting its narrative. Frankenstein is almost 200 years old. It remains the default parable of irresponsible innovation even though it was written in the 1810s, when experiments with electricity and surgery were capturing the imaginations of Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and co. In the early 21st century, hopes and fears swirl ...
I am a Liberal, not just a Liberal Democrat, but a deep rooted Liberal. I believe in freedom of choice, freedom of expression. I believe in an individual's right to privacy, to making choices that don't hurt others. I believe in the self determination of life and of the right of the individual to end that right. I believe that everyone should be allowed to choose to live the way they are born and the way they choose, and for that to change as they grow and understand themselves better. I believe that an individual should have the right to ...
Wed 24th
10:46
Tory police commissioner (up for re-election next year) wakes up to fair funding campaign
Conservative Police Commissioner Tony Hogg is up for re-election next May and he has coincidentally decided that now is the right time to launch a campaign for 'fair funding' for rural police forces. Mr Hogg claims that the Devon and Cornwall force is under-funded by £12 million per year and he says the current funding formula doesn't take account of the huge number of visitors to the region each year. He's right in both cases, of course. So why has it taken until the start of his re-election campaign for him to do anything about it? And surely the benefit ...
At Gateshead Council Cabinet yesterday, there was a report about energy conservation and fuel poverty. I did point out that the report made very little reference to the environmental benefits of conservation but the main point of my contribution was the issue of prepayment of energy bills. I take the view that if someone is paying in advance for their energy rather than in arrears, it should not
With ballot papers going out today in the Liberal Democrat leadership race, new polling of Liberal Democrat members carried out by YouGov shows Tim Farron started the race in a strong lead. When members were asked ahead of the formal start of the leadership race to answer an open-ended question* on who their preferred new party leader was, the results were: Tim Farron 42% Norman Lamb 14% Other 8% Don't know 37% Those headline figures show Tim Farron in a strong lead, but the high level of don't knows will keep his camp on their toes given how much media ...
I heard Professor Alison Wolf this morning (0830am) confronting politicians with a perennial truth. So sensible was she about the numbers of apprenticeships we need that it slightly took the breath away. But of course she's right. David Cameron's target of three million apprenticeships - building on the pioneering work of Vince Cable - is automatically undermined just by setting a challenging target. It means, the government's obedient machine being what it is, that there will be three million empty opportunities for cheap labour. Even 300,000 worthwhile apprenticeships, with genuine and accredited training at their heart, would be better than ...
Yesterday I managed to see a snippet of Norman Lamb and Tim Farron's discussions with LibDems and members of the public on BBC. We have got two very good candidates for leader and although I know who I will be voting for I'd be more than happy serving under the other should they win. Unfortunately there are some ruptions on social media between hardcore members of each camp. The leadership contest is something that is meant to bring members together in healthy debate and discussion on where we want the party to go and what we want to achieve. Sadly ...
Party President Sal Brinton has recorded a message of thanks and support to British Muslims for their holy month of Ramadan. The text is below. As-salamu alaykum. On behalf of the Liberal Democrats, I am delighted to send this message to Muslims in the UK and across the world who are observing the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a time for self-reflection and sharing; of fasting and prayer. It is a time for renewing faith and strengthening the bonds between family and friends. At this important time in the Islamic calendar, we are reminded particularly of the value of ...
[IMG: labour leader newsnight] I've finally got round to watching BBC Newsnight's Labour leadership hustings (available to watch here for another 24 days). Here's my verdict... There was no doubt in my mind who was the strongest performer: Islington left-winger Jeremy Corbyn. This isn't a cute point by me to try and coax Labour members into actually voting for a 1983-throwback as their party leader. Obviously, they shouldn't. He would be an election-losing disaster. But what impressed me was his fluency and his intellectual self-confidence (on which it's well worth reading this piece by Jeremy Cliffe), including his willingness to ...
Wed 24th
09:25
Councillor suspended over claims he used school children with special needs to deliver election leaf...
Incredible: A Wirral councillor has been suspended from the Labour party after allegedly using children from a special school to deliver election leaflets. Bidston and St James councillor Jim Crabtree was suspended this week, the party said, following complaints against him... Cllr Crabtree is accused of using his position as a tutor who was teaching gardening skills to children from Meadowside special school in Woodchurch to have a group of pupils deliver party leaflets in the run-up to the General and local elections in May. Source: Wirral councillor suspended for using school children with special needs to deliver election leaflets ...
Thank you for everyone who has supported the campaign so far to keep the Royal Bank of Scotland on Bury Old Road in Prestwich – the last bank on the Bury Old Road side of Prestwich and the only free cash machine anywhere near Heaton Park. The branch is threatened with closure this summer. If you can please sign the online petition at www.loveprestwich.co.uk or sign in person in the Fresh Cookie sandwich shop on St Margaret's Road. We've made this short video to highlight the problems from the bank closure. [IMG: Screenshot 2015-06-24 09.21.20]
Two pieces of good news for Holyrood Ward on Children's Play areas. The children's play area on Heaton Street/Recreation Street (normally called the Bailey Street play area) is to be refurbished during the current financial year (2015-16). I know a number of residents have been in touch about some of the equipment and surfaces needing replacement, so this is really good news. We are very keen to work with the Council and with local residents and people who use the play area to make sure that the play area is what we need and want for the local area so ...
Labour should forget 'Saint' David Miliband - he fluffed his chance – A very good assessment by Steven Fielding of just why David Miliband wasn't and isn't the solution to all Labour's problems. Should we aim for budget surpluses? – Simon Wren-Lewis looks at the evidence and suggest "it is hard to justify aiming for budget surpluses within the next five years." What if the UK paid off all its government debt? – Probably not what you'd expect, if you're still the sort of person who thinks Government debt is anything like personal debt. A pound here, a pound there ...
Wed 24th
09:12
Neighbourhood Plan – You need good and clear reasons to do one or it will serve as much purpos...
I have posted about Neighbourhood Plans (NP) previously not least with reference to Maghull Town Council who did not seem to have such clear reasons to do one and unsurprisingly have struggled to engage Maghull residents in the process as a consequence ever since. Of course Maghull Council's unstated but real reason for doing a Neighbourhood Plan was as cover for the fact that under Labour they had not taken on Sefton Borough Council (also Labour run) regarding it's Local Plan which is dumping literally hundreds and hundreds of new houses on prime agricultural land to the east of the ...
I would have called this article "Kraftwerk were the greatest band of the 70s", but I've already passed that accolade onto someone else. Fair enough as well - still, being the penultimate musical outfit of an entire decade is pretty cool. And Kraftwerk deserve it as well. Let's get the basic bio shite out of the way: Florian and Ralf met in Dusseldorf in the late 60s, and the two decided to form a band together. They were highly influenced by the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and wanted to incorporate Stockhausen's ideas about synthesised instruments in a classical context within ...
This week (22 June 2015) marks 15 years since the council by-election here in Holyrood Ward in 2000 – meaning it has been my privilege to represent this area as your councillor for the last 15 years. The by-election was caused by the very tragic death of one of the three Lib Dem councillors in Holyrood Ward: Councillor Wilf Clegg. Wilf was killed following a road traffic accident on his bicycle during the previous 'regular' election campaign. A very sad by-election to be a candidate in. I can't remember much about the election itself except it rained heavily all day ...
In the run up to the election, I sent numerous emails to activists in Hornsey and Wood Green, congratulating them for hitting 'green' in all our HQ-monitored key performance indicators (KPIs). We were model pupils. Bar membership, I think we hit green every month, on every indicator. And it's no wonder. We worked so hard - and the campaign was the biggest that Hornsey had ever seen: in terms of numbers of activists on the ground, number of doors knocked on, and pieces of literature produced and delivered. We were more organised and more targeted in our approach than ever ...
Today is the day that Westminster comes to Cardiff Bay. To be precise it is the day the Secretary of State for Wales appears in front of Plenary to persuade us of the merits of the Queen's Speech. It is a tough job but somebody has to do it. Over at the Guardian, Stephen Crabbe has given us a preview of what to expect. He tells the paper that the Tories now want to deepen devolution after what he describes as a massive mistake in opposing the process in 1997: "Strategically we got it massively wrong in 1997 by setting ...
Another set of works on Metrolink start this weekend with St Peter's Square station closed for 14 months. The works are part of the Second City Crossing project to build a second line from Victoria to St Peter's Square down Cross Street. This work will require a closure of the stop to passengers and changes to services running through St Peter's Square for a period of approximately 14 months while a new station is built. [IMG: Artist's impression of St Peter's Square stop] Artist's impression of St Peter's Square stop Changes to Metrolink services will take place in 3 phases ...
Last night I attended a very productive meeting of Harris Academy Parent Council at the school's current Lawton Road base, the school's home during the rebuild programme at Perth Road. Following on from the decision made on Monday night at the City Council's Education Committee about Menzieshill High School and the expansion of the Harris Academy catchment area to include the Menzieshill school catchment area from August of next year, the Director of Education was in attendance and answered a number of questions and discussed the appointment process for the new Harris Head Teacher, with the impending departure, after 18 ...
... Tim Farron. [Insert commiserations / celebrations as appropriate.] Updated list of who former and current Lib Dem MPs are backing in the party leadership race is here. Keep up with news on the Lib Dem leadership race Sign up for Liberal Democrat Newswire here, and Sign up for the Facebook event for the contest (where Norman Lamb and Tim Farron are regularly answering questions from members).
Why didn't someone think of this amazing road safety idea before? All drugs should be decriminalised, say the Liberal Democrats - go @brianpaddick :) DWP minister denies that stopping someone's benefits could force them to use food banks ... because they can just go foraging in the woods, amirite? Oh no, they can't because some rich tory bastard probably OWNS the woods and will prosecute them for theft. This never ceases to amuse me every time it pops up on my timeline. NatWest shuts bank that starred in TV pledge to 'keep the last branch in town' They've done this ...
