Today's budget rather gives the lie to the Lib Dem 'Scooby Doo' message of 'look what the Tories would have done if it wasn't for the meddling Lib Dems'. The budget contained two major public policy changes. Firstly switching the focus from the government subsidising low pay to the government forcing employers to pay a living wage. And secondly lengthening the period of fiscal consolidation to smooth the public spending cuts. These two changes would almost certainly (rightly) have been supported by the Lib Dems if they had remained in government (and the latter was basically the party's economic position ...
It might have been easy to miss amidst the torrent of announcements that George Osborne finally made it clear that, whilst Britain deserves a pay rise, his largesse does not extend as far as the civil servants who are expected to deliver his reforms. The announcement that pay restraint would be extended for another four years will have come as a body blow to many who have seen their pay go backwards relative to the wider economy over the past five years, by as much as 15% in some cases. As the Budget Report says; 1.85 In the last Parliament, ...
I seem to be keener on choice than many Liberal Democrats, but I enjoyed this heretical view from the psychologist Barry Schwartz.
Yesterday, Leeds MP Greg Mulholland tried to ask a question about the availability of a drug to treat a constituent's rare disease – and was prevented from doing so by the Speaker for being "long-winded." ITV News has the story: Speaker John Bercow had warned Mr Mulholland to be quick in his statement but after referring to missed decision dates given to families by health authorities, the Lib Dem was told to resume his seat. Six-year-old Sam Brown from Otley. Sam, who has Morquio syndrome needs Vimazim treatment, mentioned by Mr Mulholland, but NHS England deferred a decision over whether ...
I have blogged more than once about the Pentabus Rural Theatre Company's new play inspired by the Lone Pine stories of Malcolm Saville - see my recent post with their promotional video, for instance. The dates and venues for the performances of The Lone Pine Club by Alice Bush have now been announced: 18-26 July - Carding Mill Valley, Church Stretton, Shropshire 30 July - 2 August - Sheffield Park and Garden, Sheffield Park, Uckfield, East Sussex 6-9 August - Buckland Abbey, Garden and Estate, Yelverton, Devon 13-16 August - Sheringham Park, Upper Sheringham, Norfolk 20-23 August - Wallington, Cambo ...
The first unfettered Conservative budget for 18 years contained all the meanness towards the young, poor and disabled that you would expect. But there was one initiative that I welcomed. The move to cut public spending on tax credits while obliging employers to pay higher wages is surely right. Tax credits are a way of subsiding bad employers from the public purse and are a move towards the intermeshing of the power of the state and the power of capital that Belloc warned about in The Servile State. It may well be that some poor people will be worse off ...
Wednesday: Master Gideon's it's-not-an-emergency emergency budget will be hailed as a triumph by all the usual suspects; the "living" wage announcement feted as a brilliant coup. They'll love the Inheritance Tax cut; they'll delight in raising the Personal Allowance that goes to the well-off (and goes against everything the Coalition did); they'll relish the allowance for dividends (favouring unearned income once again); they'll thrill to the grinding oppression of the working classes. It's a budget for rent seekers, not workers. It's a budget for the old, not the young. It's a budget for the dead rich, not the poor living. ...
Essentially abolish and start again with 'a rate graduated according to the size of the bequest and the existing wealth of the legatee, this would encourage the splitting up of large fortunes without state intervention.' This policy grew out of the Liberal Party Report 'Ownership for All' chaired by Eliot Dodds published in 1938. This policy was part of a wider approach which sort to radically redistribute wealth/ownership including taxation on land values, profit sharing, as well as graduated death duties levied depending on the wealth of the recipient not the giver. This is the alternative approach to equality not ...
ALDC and our colleagues at the LGA Lib Dems and party HQ have prepared a number of resources for members to use immediately in the wake of today's budget. Information Online resources BBC at a glance guide- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33440315 Budget calculator – LD LGA – http://www.local.gov.uk/web/lga-libdem-group Liberal Democrat HQ - http://www.libdems.org.uk/osborne-budget-one-clear-message Whole budget Shelter [...]
We have created five template MyCllr stories and an email that can be sent to members or to contacts. Scroll to the foot of the story for instructions on adding the text in the download files to your website Email Now is a great time to speak to people, either members or contacts, to encourage [...]
The press office in Liberal Democrat HQ has provided the following briefing in to today's budget giving you the party reactions to the key announcements: Amongst the gimmicks and giveaways, the Chancellor has hidden four more years of pain, austerity, and cuts. The Tories used to say we were in it together, but this budget says [...]
Our colleagues at the LGA Lib Dem Group have created some localised press releases on one of the main themes of the summer budget, housing. These are available for downloading from our File Library using the links below. Downloads Press Release: Under 21s Housing Benefit Changes Press Release: Market Rents for Higher Income Tenants Press Release: [...]
The 2015 general election has seen a change in direction in the politics of the UK, yet in Scotland the change seems not far short of a revolution. The astonishing advance of the Scottish National Party- taking all but three seats in Scotland, despite failing to gain even a bare majority of the votes cast, still less the total electorate- was certainly one of the most eye-catching aspects of the election result. For the more avid nationalists, the general election result is proof that the independence movement has become unstoppable and that Scotland will- despite the hiccough of the 2014 ...
We learned little about future science spending in the Summer Budget, says Kieron Flanagan, but there were some hints at the likely direction of future UK science and technology policy. George Osborne's second ('emergency') Budget of 2015 contained little concrete detail about the funding prospects for UK science over the next few years - that will have to wait for this Autumn's spending review. However, the Budget did include a few tantalising hints about the future direction of science and technology policy in the UK. We will probably learn more about the role Government expects science and research to play ...
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
I have blogged before about the dangers to the Liberal Democrats of a loss of political identity. Donnachadh McCarthy challenged my first piece on the grounds that it didn't mention policy. This one's for you. The problem with Cleggism was that not only did it fail to develop a clear identity, preferring tactics that didn't [...]
[IMG: Liberal Democrats] Liberal DemocratsBudget Day Response BriefingAmongst the gimmicks and giveaways, the Chancellor has hidden four more years of pain, austerity, and cuts.The Tories used to say we were in it together, but this budget says - you're on your own.When today's budget fireworks fizzle out, thousands of public sector workers, families and young people face another four years struggling to get by.If life is comfortable, if you have cash in the bank, if you have savings, or if you're big business - today was a good day.But if you're starting out in life, struggling to support your family, ...
Wed 8th
15:55
People aged over 55 are likely to make up the majority of voters at next general election
[IMG: Older people in a park] It's traditional for politicians to talk about the importance of young people – and hence the fact that many Lib Dem leadership hustings have gone past with Norman Lamb and Tim Farron talking about young people yet mentioning pensioners not once. There is, however, the inconvenient double whammy of older people being both numerous and more likely to vote. As The Daily Telegraph reported: People aged over 55 are likely to make up the majority of voters for the first time at the next general election. House of Commons research shows there are likely ...
This post will be updated during the day as more people respond. First of all, what did the leadership candidates make of the budget? Norman Lamb: Osborne confirms £8bn for NHS by 2020. Everyone knows this is nowhere near enough – and more cuts for social care due to cuts in local gov — Norman Lamb (@normanlamb) July 8, 2015 * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
This is today's snapshot of an evolving repository. A reading list almost randomly thrown together of articles, books and statements which will help to understand what Libdemmery is all about. If you join Diigo and log in (it's worth it) you can annotate these items in a Diigo outliner, and join in discussions about them. If not, just read them; your time will be amply repaid. Additions are always welcome. It's a living list. Liberal Democrats Believe A tumblr page with the ideas of many thoughtful LibDems about their beliefs and their party Our Constitution The preamble is a must ...
Today's 'emergency' budget has left much to think about, especially in terms of those who are thought to have lost out through changes to tax credits and other parts of our welfare system. And, indeed, there will be much pain in some quarters, but before I dive in, I'd like to take a closer look. In the meantime, one thought springs to mind... One of the least successful budget proposals from Gordon Brown's time as Chancellor was the introduction of a 0% rate band for corporation tax, whereby the first £10,000 of taxable profit was free from tax. Combined with ...
[IMG: img_8090] The Social Liberal Forum is, sadly, a point of contention in the Liberal Democrats for some. The candidate who went first at the leadership hustings towards the end of the conference was chosen by how fast they could name the former special advisor to Nick Clegg who made the case that all Social Liberals in the Lib Dems should join Labour (it was Richard Reeves, by the way, & he said it here). Reeves' comments show how far up in the party those critical of SLF are & how scathing their attacks can be. Nevertheless, I do wholeheartedly ...
An interesting article on Wales-on-line reporting the views of Richard Wyn Jones from the Wales Governance Centre who says that there are tough political decisions for the Welsh Government and Welsh Labour to make with regards to the Wales Bill and the reserved powers model it envisages for the Assembly: Westminster has agreed to replace the existing list of policy areas in which the Assembly can make its own laws with a Scottish-style "reserved powers" model, under which everything is devolved except what appears on the reserved list. Professor Richard Wyn Jones, director of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff ...
For all that George Osborne's budget headline is about a new £9 per hour minimum wage by 2020, poorer people, and especially the young, are going to be worse off as a result. And the lack of detail on devolution to Cornwall will have surprised many who were primed for a big (and complex) announcement. The big surprise of the budget came at the end with the plan to raise minimum wage for over 25s to £9 per hour by 2020. Osborne is going to start very slowly however and is only promising a rise to £7.20 next April. Any ...
County Council announcement Resurfacing work, carried out by Eurovia on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, will begin on Hatfield Road, St Albans on Wednesday 8 July. The £202,000 resurfacing scheme will take place overnight, between 8pm and 5am, between the junctions with Ashley Road and Clarence Road, using a full road closure. It is [...]
The Liverpool Echo has the story – see link above
Repair work, carried out on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, will begin on the Napsbury Lane bridge, which crosses the A414 between Park Street roundabout and London Colney roundabout, in late July. Preparation work will start on Saturday 25 July with a full night-time closure of both east and westbound carriageways (20.00 to 5.00). Starting [...]
Caron Lindsay 12:30 pm "A budget for working people" says George Osborne. We'll see. I guess if you are a rich working person, maybe. I've had an official hiding behind pillow for all budgets in the last five years. I need it more than ever today. So, let the budget live blog kick-off. The measures we do know about seem very much about giving to the rich and taking to the poor. People struggling to get by, stuck in private rented accommodation, will find it hard to see Inheritance Tax thresholds being lifted to more than £1 million while their ...
A recent read of railwatch magazine (July '15 edition) really made me wonder how 'Lancs leads the way' could have been seen to be the right headline for an article Chris Austin. Chris may well be right about what is going on in the east of Lancashire but over in the west of the County 'leads the way' is hardly what we in OPSTA (Ormskirk, Preston & Southport Travellers Assn.) would say about Community Rail Partnerships. Frankly the CRP for the Ormskirk – Preston Line seems to go around in circles getting nowhere. [IMG: A train from Preston pulling into ...
Wed 8th
12:10
Sefton Borough – What on earth do you do when you may 'need' to build up to 1,290 houses per y...
My posting of yesterday gave details of the staggering new range of house building figures that 'experts' are saying 'need' to be built in Sefton in the coming years. It was a target of 615 per year but now may be as high as 1290! This is my third posting on this issue. There's a link to the previous one below:- Of course building anything on high grade agricultural land which grows the food that we all eat is crazy but what will actually happen if Sefton's Labour Council goes for the latest finger in the wind guesstimates from ...
Here are the Liberal Democrat entries in the top 100 political blogs as ranked by Teads (previously Ebuzzing / Wikio). Two departures this month, hopefully both temporarily: Lynne Featherstone and Jonathan Fryer 1 (4) Liberal Democrat Voice No change 2 (9) Mark Pack Down 2 3 (23) Stephen Tall Down 7 4 (24) Nick Tyrone Down 2 5 (32) Caron Lindsay (Caron's Musings) No change 6 (37) Jennie Rigg No change 7 (42) Alex Marsh No change 8 (57) Pink Dog Up 1 9 (66) Mark Valladares (Liberal Bureaucracy) Down 1 10 (68) Zoe O'Connell (Complicity) Down 1 11 (71) ...
Wed 8th
11:50
Opinion: Lessons from Greece: why Liberal Democrats need to rethink their enthusiasm for the Euro
I can't help but sympathise with Greece. In responding to the Eurozone's latest debt offer, its people found themselves choosing between a rock and a hard place. The referendum was a bit like asking a vegetarian to choose between beef or chicken. The overwhelming rejection of the Eurozone's proposals is the act of a nation with nothing left to lose: vote 'yes' and you sign up to breathtaking austerity and misery; vote 'no' and you take a huge step into the unknown that may take you down the same path, but one which also causes your creditors some pain, too. ...
My heart sank yesterday when I saw courtesy of the Telegraph that reality TV star Francis Boulle had updated his My Sexy MP site for the new Parliament. This horrible site gives you pictures of two MPs and asks you to choose between them. As the title suggests, it's not their good works, values or key speeches you are being asked to judge. It's not even just their looks. This site takes creepiness and objectification to a whole new level, asking its readers "Which MP would you rather have sex with?" No doubt some readers will just dismiss me as ...
Councillor on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee have decided to delay a decision on whether or not to allow dogs to be carried on Metorlink. The decision will now be taken in November 2015. We reported last week on the results of the consultation with the public on this issue, which found that 79% of people thought that dogs should be allowed on trams, some who felt there should be some restrictions. Dogs area already allowed on buses and trains in Greater Manchester and transport in other cities such as the London Underground. The issue received a good amount ...
(Following on from the guest posts by Simon Banks, Nigel Quinton and Grace Goodlad on why they're supporting Tim for leader, I've been asked to host this letter from nearly 50 Liberal Youth members about why they're supporting him for leader. As I'm still a student and thus one of the older Liberal Youth members, I was happy to agree. If you want to write a guest post about why you're supporting Tim, please get in touch!) The Liberal Democrats have always been a party for young people, with our progressive views on protecting human rights, fighting climate change and ...
Transport for Greater Manchester are currently consulting on a proposal to move the bus shelter on Bury Old Road which is opposite Heaton Park Tram station. The proposal is to move the shelter slightly further north, to being opposite WAM sandwiches at 223 Bury Old Road. The reason for the move is work which is being undertaken by Bury Council, in relation to works for the Cycle City Ambition Grant routes. The works are expected to take place either late August or early September. Please let us know if there are issues you would like us to raise or if ...
One of the curiosities of the way the European Union works is the right of the national parliaments to stop, or slow, a proposal of the Commission if it is thought to violate the principle of subsidiarity. If one third of them raise an objection, a so-called 'yellow card', the commission is obliged to review the proposal. If more than half of them object, a so-called 'orange card', the Council or the Parliament can immediately vote the proposal down. There has been talk of a red card, something that William Hague raised as Foreign Secretary, whereby a majority of national ...
Cllr Keith Holloway will be leading a Lib Dem team on Sunday 26th July, but instead of knocking on doors or delivering leaflets, we'll be taking part in the Gatley fun walk – jog – cycle, going 10 miles to raise money for St Ann's Hospice. Photo from MEN, 2011. None of these people are Keith! The event, organised by Gatley Community for Local Charities, starts at the Horse and Farrier in Gatley at 12.30pm, then heads south to Heald Green, passing the hospice before turning along Finney Lane and onto Styal Road. We turn round just past Styal prison ...
Wed 8th
10:15Opinion: SLF Conference: Why social justice must be at the heart of re-booting liberalism
[IMG: social liberal forum] The Social Liberal Conference was held on one of the hottest days of the year so far but not even good weather could have kept me away from joining fellow Liberal Democrats for a day termed as 'Re-booting Liberalism'. I am a social Liberal because I believe strongly in social justice as a means of addressing the problems of inequality. This must be our fight as a party if the Liberal Democrats are to gain relevance and support from the electorate in the coming years. The keynote speech was a William Beveridge memorial lecture and was ...
As reported on Wales Online, Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Peter Black has voiced the party's objections to a measure which purports to make it simpler to rent a home in Wales. He has warned that the Lib Dems may vote down the Renting Homes Bill if changes aren't made. He said: "This bill from Labour is a disaster waiting to happen, and we will vote it down unless there are significant changes." Peter asserts that the Bill may even breach the Human Rights Act. "Removing the 6 month minimum tenancy rule will put tenants in a much more uncertain and ...
[IMG: camila cam] The charity Kids Company hit the headlines a few days ago, following a joint investigation by the BBC's Newsnight and BuzzFeed News which revealed the Government was withholding funding from the charity unless its founding chief executive Camila Batmanghelidjh was replaced. Ms Batmanghelidjh didn't take this lying down: "Some ugly games are being played. The facts are that the vulnerable children of this country remain largely unprotected. There's no point in shooting the messenger if the message is uncomfortable. I am being silenced." The Cabinet Office issued a more diplomatic statement: "Making sure that every child has ...
[IMG: ripley under ground#] Ripley Under Ground, Patricia Highsmith I loved the chutzpah of Matt Damon's Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) so was curious to see how it translated into this follow-up, the second in Patricia Highsmith's 'Ripliad' quintet. Ripley has gotten himself involved in an art scam and faces ruin when an American collector threatens to expose it. There are moments of excitement, yet there's something missing in this sequel. Maybe it's that Ripley has made it — he's no longer a thrusting young man sharp-elbowedly trying to make his way in the world, but a ...
The Magic Band had effectively split up. One at a time, every member who had played on the band's first two albums had left, except for John French. And the reason for this was simple. Captain Beefheart himself. Don Van Vliet had turned into a cult leader, insisting on twelve-hour rehearsal sessions, and then picking [...]
It is now exactly four decades since the future Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom carried out her groundbreaking research into the systems used by the Chicago police. When she won the Nobel Prize for economics in 2009, it was doubly unusual: no woman had ever won it before, and she wasn't even an economist. She had been at Indiana University for most of her career, spending much of her time in the 1960s, by her own admission, getting her own students out of gaol after anti-Vietnam War protests. It was the period which saw the huge consolidation of schools in the ...
Prestwich Township Forum is looking for a local business to join the Township Forum and help play their part in helping to determine future neighbourhood plans and priorities. The Township Forum needs a new business representatives to sit on it's advisory board. Township forums consist of councillors representing their township wards and an advisory group made up of volunteer representatives from within the local community. Volunteers span across a wide range of partnerships providing an invaluable link with the community and helping to shape the local area. Businesses who would like to get involved or find out more should go ...
[IMG: Posting Lib Dem leadership ballot paper] Remember to post back your ballot paper if you haven't yet: ballot papers need to be received by July 15th. The declaration of the result will be on July 16th. 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).
Wed 8th
08:43LibLink: Norman Lamb and Julian Huppert: Defeating radicalisation and extremism, a battle we must wi...
On the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings, Norman Lamb and Julian Huppert looked at what should and should not be done in order to tackle the radicalisation and extremism that leads to such awful attacks. They wrote for Politics Home and outlined first the measures we should not take, because they don't work and are just wrong in principle: But the 7/7 bombings also presented an existential threat to the sort of liberal society we want to live in – raising questions that many will have asked again in light of last week's terrorist attack in Tunisia. Do we ...
Steve Baker, Tory MP for Wycombe and head of the modestly titled Conservatives for Britain, has been over the moon about the No vote in the Greek referendum last Sunday. "Today's dramatic result is a wake-up call for the failed EU Establishment. Even the most vulnerable small nation will not be bullied by supranational authorities." He goes on to add a little hint of the idea that perhaps, just perhaps, some of the problems in Greece are down to a system in which income tax was not collected while the state went on a profligate spending spree and then elected ...
I feel like a wally for believing George Osborne's promises to the north - so you should The "Harry Potter" Guide To The U.K Guys, Kings Cross is literally across the road from St Pancras, and that's a phone box, not a post box. Would You Believe Me If I Told You This Wasn't a Snake? | Discovery Blog Suddenly it becomes clear why it became much easier to get a diagnosis for my daughter when they found out she was going to a private senior school [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Next Tuesday 14 July the Planning Committee will decide whether to grant planning permission for a new Harris East Dulwich Primary School. I hope they do. The council planning officers recommendation is to grant permission. You can see the full report here. I have written in support of the scheme. But I have asked for the Planning Committee to leave the proposed kerb buildout on Handcraft Road for the Dulwich Community Council to decide. Council officers have asked for the kerb to be increased from 2.1m wide to 3.5m and for 55m. This is clearly ridiculous and no other local ...
Yes, the sticker chart is back! I'm mostly following Hal Higdon's Novice II plan. I picked it for several reasons: I don't have a strong enough fitness base to start with more volume and I don't feel like being particularly ambitious. Instead, I want to focus on being CONSISTENT and getting in those four runs a week. I think that's what I need right now, especially given how busy the next month is going to be with packing and moving. So, to recap the first week of the 18 week cycle: Monday: 3M easy. Which, sadly, was hard. My hip ...
