Willie Rennie: Better Together was "dark" and "secretive" It's been a while since I've blogged. It's been so long in fact that people are asking me what's happened. Well, there was the issue of a lengthy hospital admission shortly before the General Election, a more recent rather nasty road traffic accident that left me unable to get around, the birth of a new baby (Heidi, who is now 11 weeks old), and the challenge of balancing my work and responsibilities with KaleidoScot with political activity. It should also be said that I've become increasingly frustrated with life as a Liberal ...
Mon 14th
21:09
Labour Parliamentary candidate quits: "the national party have chosen to ... engage in meaningless p...
Richard Wilson, who was Labour's candidate at Guildford in the general election, has quit his posts in the party following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader: I am horrified that the national party have chosen to turn their back on the British people and engage in meaningless posturing instead by electing Jeremy Corbyn as leader... Now that Jeremy Corbyn is Labour leader, I could not stand on that voter's doorstep and tell him that he should vote Labour. I could not persuade him that Labour under Corbyn would protect the economy and national security because I do not believe it ...
Angela Lansbury and the late Oliver Postgate are both the grandchildren of the former leader George Lansbury. George Lansbury had a brother called Arthur. Malcolm Turnbull, the new prime minister of Australia, is Arthur's great grandson. You are welcome.
Here you go @lauralorgy, how the 3 leaders spent the 80s: pic.twitter.com/JqAVo3e2qj — Jennie Rigg (@miss_s_b) September 14, 2015 * Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary published in print or online.
Brian Close, the former England cricket captain, died today aged 84. He played his first test in 1949 as an 18-year-old (still a record for the youngest England debutant) and his last in 1976 aged 45. Yet during this extraordinary span of 27 years, he played only 22 tests. Vic Marks pays tribute to him for the Guardian: Closey was my first county captain. He made an immediate impact upon me at Somerset; it may have taken a little longer for me to impact upon him. Unwittingly Close had an enormous impact on all of the youngsters at Taunton but ...
An article by Newshound from Lib Dem Voice Well, there's a turn-up for the books. A former Business Secretary teams up with the head of the TUC to warn about the draconian effects of the Trade Union Bill introduced by the Government. In an article for the Guardian, Vince Cable and Frances O'Grady say that the Bill is trying to resolve a problem that doesn't exist. Anyone who was brought up in the 70s would surely find it hard to argue that today is even remotely as bad as it was then. They say: "Strikes, when they happen, are not ...
What does it mean to be a 'pro-business' political party? This is not an easy question to answer, although that has not stopped many political parties from describing themselves as such. Businesses are not homogenous: from sole trader to global corporation, the requirements and priorities of firms are as diverse as the requirements and priorities of the individuals who own and staff them. Policies and laws that are highly favourable to one business or sector can be – and frequently are – disastrous for another. It is entirely possible to adopt policies that are pro some businesses, but where some ...
From the Rutland Times: Rutland county councillors will decide tonight ...whether to accept the loss of £1.88m of contributions for the Oakham North estate after a "serious administrative error" by the planning department meant developer Larkfleet Homes legally did not have to pay. The council will be asked by chief executive Helen Briggs to accept a £4.8m settlement from Bourne-based Larkfleet, rather than the £6.68m originally agreed in the Section 106 agreement for the 988-home development between Oakham and Barleythorpe, set when planning permission was approved in July 2011. The mistake, which came to light in April this year, was ...
What is it with me, animals and trains? I had to get a replacement bus to Leicester this morning and my train home was late. Still, congratulations to the Harborough Mail on winning Headline of the Day.
Mon 14th
18:47
Chi-Chi Nwanoku and other musicians of Chineke, the new Black classical orchestra she has founded
Chineke will help to encourage young BME people to play classical music. This performance at the Royal Festival Hall was a sell-out to a hugely enthusiastic audience, so there is every reason to hope the orchestra will be a fixture in the musical calendar.
6th September 2015 via Twitter – "It's between Andy Burnham and Jeremy Corbyn in the #labourleadership election. Only Andy can unite our party and win in 2020. #Andy4Leader" and 8 days later 14th September 2015 via Southport Vister newspaper web site -"Jeremy has a popular mandate and we should respect that. He has the backing of the members and he has my backing as leader of my party." No mention of winning in 2020 now but one thing's for sure it would surely never have happened under Burnham and is highly unlikely to happen under Corbyn.
To state the obvious, Europe is failing to tackle its long term refugee "crisis". Less obviously, I would argue that it is primarily a failure of analysis and planning, and above all, failure to seek consensus. Ironically, Cameron gets closest to a coherent plan. He plans a token effort, just enough to defuse criticism and satisfy shallow consciences. Then he can retreat into military fantasy, and dream of the Pax Britannica he will impose in Syria, just as we did in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq (!) Merkel's plan, if more appealing, contains a gaping hole. Germany blithely invites half a ...
I mean, how can a satirist hope to top this? Source just texted to say Brewer's Green is literally on fire and all staff are being evacuated. This is beyond parody... — Lucy Fisher (@LOS_Fisher) September 14, 2015
[IMG: refugees welcome] So on Saturday I and a couple of hundred other Liberal Democrats made an appearance in London to take part in the refugee solidarity march taking place there, as well as countless other cities around the UK and Europe. Credit should go to Zack Polanski for organising the event and for Kelly-Marie Blundell for doing the hard task of organising a couple of hundred Lib-Dems throughout the event. In fact credit to all those who helped out whose names I've either forgotten or never learnt that helped keep us all together and organised; I once heard it ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: Its rock was mostly black dolerite, smoothed flat by the ice of an ice age. The ferries carrying people landed near its west coast without incident, close to the robotic landers they had sent down previously. I am on the lookout for likely Hugo candidates at the moment, and given KSR's two Hugos and three Nebulas this seemed a decent prospect when I saw it in our local FNAC. It's also a good hundred pages shorter than any of the other novels by him that I have read (except Forty Signs of Rain). Aurora is ...
Does anyone know of a currently-available ereader which meets the following criteria? Actual eink ereader, not a cheap tablet Not made by Amazon Has buttons Ideally under £100 I'm currently using a recent Kobo, but I'll be passing that on to Holly as her ereader's broken, and I'm wanting to buy a replacement for myself. [...]
Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader has an end-of-era quality about it, perhaps the first Labour leader with something to say for a good two decades, whether one agrees with him or not. His first public pronouncements have a strange Miliband-esque quality about them, as if the rhetoric is so much about 'change' that you forget to wonder what kind of change he is talking about, and end up none the wiser. Most of his reported positions seem pretty retro so far: they remind me of my university days. On the other hand, he does have a number of important ...
Stockport Council is joining forces with Syria Relief charity in a bid to encourage residents to donate any spare tins of food and toiletries they may have to support the more than 12 million Syrian people who are in need. Photo: AP/Hadi Mizban Syria Relief has a solid network of committed management and logistics staff on the ground inside Syria, striving to deliver humanitarian aid in hard-to-reach rural areas, as well as heavily populated and even some besieged areas. Items needed include: Canned Food: Fish, Beans, Sweetcorn, Fruit, Dates, Peanut Butter, Margarine, Water Bedding: Sleeping Bags, Blankets, Sleeping Mats, Tents ...
Cllr Iain Roberts, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on TfGM, has rejected Labour demands that he not speak to the media or call for a Greater Manchester travel smartcard. "It was bizarre." Iain said. "I was just about to congratulate TfGM on agreeing to deliver a travel smartcard when the Labour Group launched their attack on me. They told me that the smartcard I wanted couldn't possibly be done by Christmas and that I shouldn't have spoken to the media at all. My behaviour was described as 'disgraceful' by the Chair, Andrew Fender. And all the time I'm thinking ...
[IMG: Germany refugees 3] Budapest, Vienna, Munich – the newspaper and television pictures show a story of refugees fleeing from the civil war in Syria and other countries, looking for a place to stay, to keep their families safe, and most of all to survive. Images of their reception in Austria and Bavaria – most notably at Munich railway station – have been seen worldwide. Helped by thousands of volunteers and the German authorities, most of the asylum seekers have found shelter. What does it and will it mean for Germany? And for the smaller towns and villages spread throughout ...
Mon 14th
14:56
Lord (Paul) Tyler writes...Government is playing a dangerous game by resisting democratic reform of ...
This week the House of Lords is set to do one of the things it loves most: talking about itself. How wonderful it is; how learned are its members, but how beastly it is that anyone new is ever placed here. We will hear many wise heads opine that the Prime Minister is guilty of a gross abuse of process in appointing new peers this year, and that he is making the place "unsustainable". We will hear over and over that the "reputation of the House" is under threat. Some Peers seem to imagine that the public would view as ...
Barely had the announcement of Jeremy Corbyn's stunning victory in the Labour leadership election been made than the Tories were on the airwaves with their demolition ball: "Labour are now a serious risk to our nation's security, our economy's security and your family's security." I believe this was originally an obviously carefully prepared "tweet" from David Cameron, and it has been repeated ad nausiam by the (carefully chosen?) Defence Secretary Michael Fallon. In an earlier post I have discussed an article by Jonathan Freedland which describes the Tory PR department's tremendous skill in coining simple and attractive phrases to convey ...
My timeline is alight with political comment! No, not my Twitter timeline, which, as it is dominated by politicos and journalists, is generally alight with political comment 24/7. No, my Facebook timeline. Full of people who rarely, if ever, have anything to say about politics. Who is the person that has suddenly inspired them? None other than Jeremy Corbyn, who just won the Labour leadership contest. They like him because he gives straight answers to straight questions. I can't fault them there, he does, and often with a bit of wit and charm. However, the answers he gives may be ...
It's just over a year since my mantle cell lymphoma diagnosis was confirmed. And as this week is lymphatic cancer awareness week, I thought I'd write this update on my progress. The quick summary is that there doesn't appear to have been a lot of progress – at least as far as the advancement of the disease is concerned. Yes, ...
Mon 14th
13:50Tim Farron MP writes...Liberal Democrats will not support like for like Trident replacement but Conf...
Another Lib Dem conference and we find ourselves talking about our nuclear deterrent once more. This is a huge and timely issue as the Tory Government will be taking the decision to proceed with the Trident replacement programme next year. In fact, with the recent announcement of an additional £500m for Faslane they have already nailed their colours very firmly to the mast. So it's absolutely right that conference should debate the issue, and I think members deserve to hear where I stand on it. There are obviously strong views on both sides, but I do not support the existing ...
Higher taxation for the wealthiest – tick Greater public ownership – tick An end to private involvement in the health service – tick A national education service – tick An agenda of "growth not austerity" - tick Should I be embarrassed at finding that I agree with all of Jeremy Corbyn's core beliefs? A bit of personal history. At university in the sixties I was not involved in politics, largely because Labour was in thrall to its militant wing and the Liberals were invisible. Academic sociology was dominated by a Marxist interpretation of society, and alternative points of view were ...
[IMG: ALDC supports Liberal Democrat candidates and campaigners across the country] ALDC – Liberal Democrat Campaigners and Councillors are looking to recruit people for our 2015-2016 Campaigns and Communications Internship Programme. Campaigns and Communications Intern(s) (Paid) October 2015 to June 2016 This is a full-time role, paid at the UK National Minimum Wage (£6.70 per hour for over 21 years olds), based at our Manchester city [...]
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across the country] A message from Cllr Jeremy Hilton, Lib Dem spokesperson on Fire and Chair of the LGA Fire Services Management Committee (FSMC): On Friday, the Tory government launched a consultation to allow Police & Crime Commissioners to take over the running of fire and rescue authorities. In the last government Liberal Democrat ministers vetoed this idea. [...]
Pinging into my inbox recently, a party press release started: Commenting on the Labour leadership result, Baroness Brinton, President of the Liberal Democrats, said... Regardless of the wisdom of the following words, what struck me most was the appellation, "Baroness Brinton". Whilst it scores points for etiquette accuracy, steering clear of making Debrett's wince with "Baroness Sal Brinton", what is the point of "Baroness" at all? Especially with its overtones of establishment and privilege, it's an odd label to voluntary assume in the party's own output. What do you think? UPDATE: Good to see Sal Brinton's response on this. [IMG: ...
This motion from the Liberal Democrat Group on Lancashire County Council specifically relates to their recent Cryptosporidium outbreak, but may be useful for council groups in other areas. The motion specifically draws attention to the need for better regulation of major industries whose activities can affect public health, and links in to the proposed awarding [...]
St Vincent (12) Life affirming drama comedy. Bill Murray stars as Vincent, a grumpy old man with some bad habits who helps out new neighbour Maggie (Melissa McCarthy)as she and her son, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) try to build a new life. ***** Black Sails (15) Black Sails Website Seasons 1 & 2Pirates, lots of them, everywhere you look, doing 'orrible, violent pirate things. Totally bonkers but brilliant back story to Treasure Island's Long John Silver interwoven into the lives of the 18th century pirates of Nassau. Five pieces of eight just for the mad, bad hair days.***** Black Sea (15) ...
I've just returned from the Rural Conference, organised by the Rural Services Network. It was good couple of days, talking about broadband, housing, council funding and elderly care. Our subjects in other words, and not areas where this Tory government is showing much competence. Here's the programme. There were three Lib Dem delegates at the conference. That's right, only three of us among a sea of Tories. The day after the conference I spent time with Tim Farron, our MP, at our local agricultural show. It was a very busy day with questions, opinions and encouragement coming thick and fast. ...
The most senior positions in the shadow cabinet have been revealed. And in the top four slots – leader, shadow chancellor, shadow Home Secretary, shadow Foriegn Secretary – it's all men. I will now explain why this is appalling. Usually, the excuse for why there aren't more jobs given to females in politics is down to the meritocracy argument. "We just took the best people for the job, really. Only 22% of MPs are women – what were we supposed to do? Give the job to someone who we didn't think was ready all in the name of positive gender ...
A week from now Lib Dem conference will be debating our position on our Trident nuclear weapon system. Two years ago I wrote and proposed the amendment to our defence policy which called for us to oppose the renewal of Trident. I still oppose the renewal of Trident and will fully support the Scrapping Trident motion. But I'm not doing so because I oppose nuclear weapons out of principle or because I think unilaterally abandoning Trident will be a step towards a world free of nuclear weapons. Let's be clear: a nuclear weapon free world is a dream which is ...
A few weeks ago, I went to Calais. I talked there with about 20 refugees. I heard their stories of harrowing risks, dangers fled, and desperation for their children. I have to tell you, not a single one of them mentioned benefits. They wanted to come to Britain to be safe, to work, to contribute. [...]
Originally posted yesterday on Liberal Democrat Voice "Bye bye, new Labour", "Death of New Labour," "Red and buried," (actually, that's quite a good one, not often you find me saying anything complimentary about the Fail on Sunday). So scream today's ... Continue reading →
We've been told of an interesting fringe meeting at Conference, chaired by Martin Linton of 'Make Votes Count'. Of particular interest will be the research they have conducted into a ward-by-ward analysis of how the local election results would have looked under STV. Fringe meeting: Changing the Political Map - how STV will affect you [...]
Blackness House (below) was a picturesque 17th century mansion, demolished before World War II. It is shown on Ordnance Survey maps of the periods in extensive grounds, and a bowling green to the south side, the North Lodge House being on Blackness Road. In 1867, J. B. Brechin published a list of paintings by the old masters in the Blackness House Gallery, which included Giotto, Bruegel, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens and Titian. In 1894, when Alexander Wilson took this photograph, Blackness House belonged to John E. Prain, listed in the Dundee Directory as a manufacturer. James Prain and Sons, spinners ...
[IMG: Jeremy_Corbyn] British politics has suffered a massive earthquake with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. There is a lot of dust; there will be aftershocks. But what can liberals say at this point? Let us for now take this development at face value. There is an upsurge of public support for Mr Corbyn amongst people desperate an alternative narrative to "austerity", and for a political party with real left-wing values. Let us say that the half a million or so people who took part in the party's election process are not mainly London clictivists, but will join ...
The Huffington Post reports: The Government is accused of "stoking up a mistrust" in migrants after fraud involving Europeans charging the NHS for care outside the UK amounted to just £700, The Huffington Post UK can reveal. An investigation by the Daily Mail [and splashed on its front page] claimed a "loophole" could be exploited allowing recent arrivals to obtain an European Health Insurance Card, issued by the NHS to British people to pay for emergency treatment on the continent. The report cited online forums where East Europeans boasted how easy it was to charge the UK for treatments in ...
Corbyn Explained For Foreigners Bias in the Work Capability Assessment: Analysis of Results of 1,000,000 WCAs [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Jeremy Corbyn's Stunning Victory in the Labour Leadership is a victory for grassroots, non-machine politics. People are crying out for authentic politics which puts people above vested interests. That is why Tim Farron won the Lib Dem leadership in July with a massive margin of support. Many of Corbyn's ideas merit cooperation : Opposition to Airstrikes, Opposition to Fracking, Opposition to HS2, for example. However most of Corbyn's Radical solutions are insane. Leaving NATO, Leaving the EU, Opposition to the Free Market & Business. His choice of Shadow Chancellor will alarm inward investors into the UK and his choice of ...
So Andy Burnham the chap from Aintree, who was backed by Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson was soundly beaten in the Labour Leadership election. Would it have been nice to have a national party political leader from Sefton? On one level I suppose it would but on many other levels it was for the best that Labour members rejected Mr Burnham. Why? Because he came over as a popularist to me who would bend what he stood for to fit what people who may vote for him would want to see and hear. I am no Labour supporter but at ...
Unshackled from the coalition and with a majority in Parliament, the Tories are starting to flex their muscles. The Trade Union Bill, which is being debated next week would never have got past the Liberal Democrats in the last government and with good reason. At least one Conservative MP agrees. The Independent reports that David Davis, a former shadow Home Secretary and noted civil libertarian has strong reservations. He says that Tories' trade union crackdown resemble measures enforced under General Franco's Spanish dictatorship. In particular he has criticised the idea that individual people on picket lines should be forced to ...
