I have just watched with incredulity the Government Minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe give one of the most shambolic performances I have seen in many years at the despatch box. This came about as Labour tabled amendments (supported by Liberal Democrats) at the Grand Committee of the Enterprise Bill this afternoon, relating to the draft Pubs Code which has come under fire from publicans' groups and members of the Fair Deal for your Local campaign coalition. Lord Whitty described the Government's response as a 'travesty'. The probing amendments were met by predictable blustering attacks on licensees from former Marston's director and Tory ...
I was interviewed today by BBC Radio Newcastle abut the decision to spend £45K on improvements to the Labour Leader/Cabinet office suite in Gateshead Cuivic Centre. We got the figures from a Freedom of Information request. You can hear my interview on this link. My interview is about 48 minutes into the programme.
This is the second half of the interview with Christopher Lasch. You can watch part 1 on this blog. Lasch's ideas were discussed in an essay for The Week by Damon Linker last year: Did Lasch's merciless critique of progressives and defense of working-class mores make him a conservative, as so many leftist critics and right-wing admirers have insisted in the years since his death? Perhaps — but only if we radically redefine what it means to be a conservative. Lasch remained deeply suspicious of the Reaganite New Right, with its mania for tax cuts and deregulation, to the very ...
A correspondent has drawn my attention to the failure of the Government to post amendments that were made to the British Nationality Act 1981 by Parliament in the Immigration Act 2014 on the official Government website. The amendments were to add Sections 4E to 4J, enabling certain children whose parents weren't married at the time of their birth to acquire British citizenship. I am tabling a question asking the Government to update the advice on their website, and to amend the site legislation.gov.uk. It is unacceptable that false information is allowed to remain on the web on such an important ...
Ibrutinib, which in combination with rituximab, is proving to be highly effective in cases of relapsed or refractory MCL. However, the drug was delisted from the cancer drugs fund (CDF) today which means that new NHS patients who would benefit are now denied access to it. The blood cancers alliance has written this open letter to Jeremy Hunt and David ...
"Howard Dean, who is one of those rare politicians to whom one could happily listen for hours." Jonathan Fryer has been to the 60th Liberal International Congress in Mexico City. Kajetan Wandowicz on the benefits of teaching chess in prison. "There could come a time when motor cars are perceived as historically quaint, like steam trains. Holidaymakers of the future may go on "motorway heritage" day trips, wallowing in the nostalgia of journeying on preserved sections of Britain's dismantled motorway network." Carlton Reid dangles an enticing prospect before us. Did the 'War of the Worlds' radio broadcast really cause mass ...
Crossens Saturday, 14th November, St John's Primary School, Rufford Road, Crossens, between 11am and 12 noon. Churchtown Thursday, 26th November, at Cafe Moo Moo on Cambridge Road (by the junction with Preston New Road, next to Boots) Churchtown, between 10:30 am and 11:30 am.
A rather specialised topic, looking at one specific part of the Irish political/legal system and its role in the conquest of Ireland. The Court of Castle Chamber was effectively the Irish Privy Council sitting as a judicial rather than political body; it came into being in the middle of the Elizabethan period, and was scrapped along with much else when war broke out in 1641. It became particularly notorious in Irish history as an instrument of political enforcement, both by the zealous Sir Arthur Chichester in the first years of James I's reign, and by Wentworth/Strafford in the 1630s. I ...
In 2012 Theresa May and the Tories tabled plans to force internet service providers to keep a record of all your texts, emails and every website you visit. That was a huge invasion of our privacy, an unprecedented a precursor attempt to get hold of everybody's personal data. The Liberal Democrats were clear then, and are clear now, a snooper's charter has no place in Britain, so we blocked it. Theresa May's revised plans that are published today are another attempt to sneak these provisions back in again. The Liberal Democrats will fight any attempt to bring back the so-called ...
This video, showing how the Liberal Democrats won a council by-election to take control of the local council, is an extract from a film made a bit over a decade ago to show liberals in emerging democracies how to fight elections. The Liberal Democrat approach to campaigning: the history and debunking some mythsFail to understand what happened in 1997 and why and you not only fail to understand British political campaigning but also, closer to home, fail to understand the roots of more recent events involving Chris Rennard. more The basic advice is still very relevant today, though first computers ...
Alex Carlile has rejected any suggestion his public support for the intelligence agencies may have been influenced by his business relationship with one of the UK's ex-spy chiefs. Speaking to the Guardian he said: My relations with former intelligence chiefs have at times involved criticism...Our business relationship developed for reasons totally unconnected with Sir John (Scarlett) having been chief of MI6. You can read the full Guardian article here. Comments will be pre-moderated. * Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary published in print or online.
[IMG: hdm] There was good news from the BBC yesterday with an announcement that they've commissioned a TV adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials for BBC One. It's not the first time it's been adapted to the screen but the film adaptation spluttered at the box office and never got past adapting (most of) the first book. Indeed, the fact that it missed out the crucial scene at the end of it might be one of the reason the filmed failed, as all the events leading up to it didn't make sense on their own. The BBC plan to ...
Editor's Note: The party has been running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme "What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today." The deadline for contributions was last Monday. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to voice@libdemvoice.org.uk. My name is Frieda. Today, Friday 16th September 2016, I took the plunge and joined the Liberal Democrats. I want to explain why. My name may sound a little unusual. My mother is Danish, that's why. She met my stepfather while he was working in Aarhus, my mother's ...
Here's a few of the reactions to the new draft bill from Twitter: New bill explicitly authorises: bulk hacking, bulk interception, buying of mass datasets and retention of UK comms/web browsing data. — James Ball (@jamesrbuk) November 4, 2015 Home Secretary failed to answer @nick_clegg on why Privacy and Civil Liberties Board is not being set up — Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) November 4, 2015 HSec's words on MI5's use of s94 Telecoms Act 1984 to collect domestic comms data in bulk were a significant and necessary avowal. 1/2 — David Anderson (@terrorwatchdog) November 4, 2015 The new #IPBill ...
[IMG: p11650192_p_v8_aa] I've long been a sucker for historical what-ifs and tales of alternate worlds where history went differently, so I was very happy to discover Parallels on Netflix the other day (other ways of watching it may be available). It's billed as a film, but is clearly a TV pilot still looking for a home, both for the fact it's packed full of exposition and little conclusion and is also clearly two separate episodes bolted together. Turning unaired pilots into movies is nothing new, of course – they've made great schedule-filler for many channels over the years – but ...
The Guardian has helpfully just published this handy guide to the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, just announced in parliament by Teresa May: Requires web and phone companies to store records of websites visited by every citizen for 12 months for access by police, security services and other public bodies. Makes explicit in law for the first time security services' powers for the "bulk collection" of large volumes of personal communications data. Makes explicit in law for the first time the powers of the security services and police to hack into and bug computers and phones. Places new legal obligation on ...
Despite having to find £22 million of cuts to services this year, Labour in Gateshead have poured £45,264.89 into a plush revamp of the offices for the Labour Leader of the Council and the all-Labour Cabinet. We spotted the work being carried out during the summer and discovered how much was spent by submitting a Freedom of Information request. At a time when priorities in spending are in
The Guardian reports: Theresa May is to propose a major extension of the surveillance state when she publishes legislation requiring internet companies to store details of every website visited by customers over the previous year. The home secretary will try to sweeten the pill of her revived snooper's charter on Wednesday by announcing that the police will need to get judicial authorisation before they can access the internet connection records of an individual - something that is currently banned in the US and every European country, including Britain. She will also try to strengthen the oversight of Britain's surveillance by ...
I'm off to Derby this weekend to speak at the Liberal Democrats East Midlands regional conference. What better way to spend your Saturday than to join me?* The actual highlights of the day include: Policy debates Party president Sal Brinton EU referendum session with former MEP Bill Newton Dunn and others Evening dinner at The Waterfall Stalls and fringe meeting More information and booking details are on the East Midlands Lib Dem website. I'll also have copies of 101 Ways To Win An Election with me for sale, including rare unautographed copies. * No, this isn't a question you should ...
Editor's Note: The party has been running an essay competition for members of the Liberal Democrats, to submit 1000 words on the theme "What it means to be a Liberal Democrat today." The deadline for contributions was last Monday. If you would like us to publish your submission, send it to voice@libdemvoice.org.uk. As one of the post-May 7th new members you keep hearing about, being a Liberal Democrat today may have different connotations to me when compared to others in my adopted family. For me it is to be involved in a movement that is far greater than myself. One ...
"The Long Good Friday" is perhaps the quintessential British gangster film (it's only real competition being "Get Carter"). Bob Hoskins plays the lead role, that of a London gangster who is trying to move into mainstream business. Along the way, one of his lackeys gets into trouble with the IRA, stealing some money off of them and killing several members in a shootout. The IRA gets in touch with Hoskins to let him know they hold him personally responsible for the theft and the murders. He tells them he'll financially compensate the IRA at a meeting. Hoskins arrives with some ...
Warning against a parliamentary vote on UK air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, Tim Farron has commented: Our Prime Minister should take the lead in constructing a lasting peace with a strategy geared towards rebuilding Syria rather than constantly seeking to build a parliamentary majority for counterproductive military action. More and more bombs are not the answer. Adding extra war will simply create a bigger stream of refugees justifiably looking to escape. I have seen the consequences in Lesvos: hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes, desperate to find safety. * News Meerkat - keeping a look-out ...
I've been thinking for a while about the biggest disconnect that seems to come up in what one might loosely term "progressive" circles at the moment — the issue of "free speech". On the one side you have the people who argue against "no platforming", and "silencing", the people who said "Je Suis Charlie", the [...]
A few weeks ago, I was in Lancashire, interviewing a Labour councillor about the fascinating and pioneering work they have been doing there reshaping their local economy so that it works effectively for the people who live there. The measures were all in the local Labour manifesto last May and now they are being put slowly into effect. I think I agreed with every word of it. As it turned out, the councillor I spoke to was a big supporter of Jeremy Corbyn's. What was interesting about this emerging consensus on a new entrepreneurial future is that, actually, it is ...
[IMG: Jane Brophy and team in Oldham] The campaign HQ for Jane Brophy officially opens on Friday: 51 Union Street Oldham OL1 1HH jane4oldhamwr@gmail.com @Jane4OldhamWR It will be open 10am-7pm every day.
The controversial English badger cull has come under the spotlight again with the Daily Mirror claiming that the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has blocked publication of a major analysis into the slaughter, despite a freedom of information request by animal rights campaigners. The paper says that the Badger Trust requested details of a cost benefit analysis of two pilot schemes in Somerset and Gloucestershire from 2013 and 2014: But Defra refused to release the documents, saying: "We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosure of information concerning the badger culls in order to enable ...
Prior to the Harris Academy decant to Lawton Road to enable the school rebuilding in Perth Road, there was an active Harris Education and Recreation Association that successfully provided a programme of evening classes over many years. At the time of the decant, the previous committee retired after many years' service to the community. The City Council has now planned an informal meeting to discuss the creation of a new committee to take forward adult learning/evening classes from when Harris returns to Perth Road next August. The meeting will take place on Thursday 12th November at 6.30pm in Blackness Library. ...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-34637837 The BBC has this ASDA Liverpool store article on its web site – see link above Well this is in the utterly unbelievable category, how on earth could anyone not know that a guide dog can be allowed into a food shop. 'The guard was not familiar with rules over guide dogs in shops' said ASDA. Had ASDA not trained the guard? ASDA should be ashamed of themselves, this was an appalling way to treat a person with a disability.
Progressives need to rediscover their Promethean ambitions and counter green ideologies that hold us back and won't save the planet Despite the anti-capitalist rhetoric of green-left writers like Naomi Klein and Bill McKibben, and the anti-corporate street protests of environmental NGOs, could it be that their small-is-beautiful, degrowth, localist, organic, anti-GMO and anti-nuclear approach to solving climate change and biodiversity loss is in fact working in service of neoliberalism (while not even doing much to help the planet either)? Ever since The Population Bomb, the 1968 bestseller by serial-Chicken-Little and anti-natalist Paul Ehrlich, warning that four billion would die of ...
What does the election of Justin Trudeau mean for the rest of the world? @francescabinda explains. (tags: canada ) Britain out-spent on diplomacy by New Zealand, report finds Spending per capita, that is! (tags: ukpolitics ) Time No Longer The Mill House in Great Shelford, setting of Tom's Midnight Garden. (tags: sf ) 12 reasons why Cameron will lose on Brexit @DenisMacShane is pessimistic. (tags: ukpolitics eu ) Is the UK a winner or loser in the EU Council? Both. (tags: ukpolitics eu ) Caitlin Moran's Posthumous Advice for Her Daughter Funny and wise. (tags: parenting funny wise ) "Where ...
Green and Lib Dem voters are cleverest, says research - but even kippers are above average. non-voters SLIGHTLY smarter than those who vote BNP Whatever Happened to the Age Of Leisure? Do people understand what rape is? - tell me again that we don't live in a rape culture "We've all been in a situation with a boy trying to force himself on us - in the end you just kind of [say] 'OK, fine whatever'." [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Mexico City was an inspired choice as the venue for Liberal International's 60th Congress, not just because it culminated in the national festivities of the Day of the Dead — one of Latin America's great folkloric celebrations — but also because this was the first such Congress in the region. Our host party, Nueva Alianza, [...]
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