Often there is manufactured outrage in politics, usually over some slip of the tongue or a policy U-turn. Rarely though as a MSP made such a greater fool of himself that today, when SNP's Dennis Robertson stood up in parliament and said: "The member just mentioned a crisis in the jobs in the North Sea and oil. "There is no crisis. We have just actually extracted more oil than ever before in the North Sea. "We have the most skilled workforce in the North Sea and it is booming." Let's remain calm and see what Robertson was referring to. It ...
Last Friday was a Bank Holiday, so naturally Nottingham Castle was closed. But there are exciting plans for it, as the Nottingham Post reported a couple of years ago: Nottingham Castle is to be revamped into a "world-class tourist attraction" with plans for a £24 million redevelopment. The project is designed to double the number of visitors to 400,000 a year by celebrating its history and making more of the Robin Hood legend. New features will include a redesigned and extended museum telling the history of the wars, protests and riots that have centred on the castle over the years. ...
Tue 5th
21:45
Willie Rennie on the four key Liberal Democrat values and the Lib Dem record of achievement
Willie Rennie put in a strong first day at work and set out the ideas on which the Scottish Liberal Democrats will fight the election in just 4 months' time. [IMG: Willie Rennie values] He firstly intervened on the First Minister whose government promised to give 27% of 2 year olds nursery education. They've managed barely half that. Before the First Minister moves on from education, new official Government figures show that only 7 per cent of two-year-olds are receiving nursery education. The First Minister's promise was that 27 per cent would. How can she talk about a revolution in ...
A good write up for the Liberal Democrat peer in the Shropshire Star: Lord Mike Storey is the Lib Dem spokesman on education in the House of Lords and will be visiting two south Shropshire towns whose leisure centres both receive funding via schools, and face a shortfall of tens of thousands of pounds due to cuts. Lord Storey, who was a headteacher and also leader of Liverpool City Council, is expected to visit Church Stretton on January 22, where the future of the town's swimming pool is being reviewed. He will then visit Norbury Primary School, near Bishop's Castle ...
Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Tom Brake has torn into the Government's statement on the executions of 47 prisoners in Saudi Arabia in a series of tweets this evening. Shamefully weak statement from the UK Government on the Saudi execution of 47 people and its impact on the whole of the Middle East. — Tom Brake MP (@thomasbrake) January 5, 2016 How can a country which executes peaceful protestors & advocates the subjugation of women chair UN Human Rights Committee? #SaudiArabia — Tom Brake MP (@thomasbrake) January 5, 2016 Fundamental questions need to be asked about the UK Government's relationship ...
Just before the festive season, I mentioned the fun run being organised by the Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden immediately after the New Year (on the 2nd). I am pleased to say it was a great success, and, with thanks to Colin Robertson, the Friends' Membership Secretary, here's some photos from last Saturday's event :
I spoke on Wave 102 News today, speaking about the temporary road closure at West Henderson's Wynd/Douglas Street, which starts tomorrow. You can listen to the interview by clicking 'play' below :
[IMG: Woman using a laptop. CC0 Public Domain] Richard Berry writes: Few democracies have so far introduced online voting for regular elections, with Estonia the most notable example. Much closer to home, e-voting is widely used in NHS elections, specifically for the election of governors of Foundation Trusts. Although run privately, these elections are in effect choosing senior representatives at major public agencies responsible for billions of pounds of taxpayers' money, and therefore provide in important test of this reform. E-voting is not universally available, with many NHS trusts still relying solely on their more traditional method of postal voting. ...
Since he became leader, Tim Farron has been confused with Michael Fallon and today a BBC New Channel caption labelled maverick Eurosceptic Tory MP Michael Fabricant as Tim Farron. I wonder which of them was more embarrassed by the error. Strong new look for Tim Farron. pic.twitter.com/pRMWixNLyM — Andy Mannion (@andymannion77) January 5, 2016 * Newshound in training. I'm sweet and full of mischief, just like my stories.
This was a book I picked up on the basis that it was likely to be on the BSFA long list (as indeed it is), and also because the bulk of it consists of Roberts' reviews of sf and fantasy books published in 2014, many of which I also read for the Arthur C. Clarke Award (Roberts was also a juror for two of the Kitschies' awards). We agree more often than I had expected, but where Roberts' opinion differs from mine it is always entertainingly so. The reviews, of course, cannot be separated from the wider context. As Roberts ...
I was very sorry to learn of the death of Brian Niblett from the excellent obituary on Liberal Democrat Voice. My chief memory of Brian is of an afternoon I spent driving around rural Leicestershire with him and his wife. I was helping them find some of the more obscure addresses of Liberal Democrat members so they could deliver Brian's campaign literature as he strove to be first on our East Midlands list for the 1999 Euro elections. As Lib Dem Voice says, he was the early frontrunner in that contest. But he was to be overtaken by a smooth ...
This article first appeared on Liberal Democrat Voice One of the weirdest things about Scotland at the moment is that there is no great sense of an asteroid, let alone a bullet, being dodged. The SNP's predictions about oil prices, ... Continue reading →
One of the weirdest things about Scotland at the moment is that there is no great sense of an asteroid, let alone a bullet, being dodged. The SNP's predictions about oil prices, based on them being around $113 a barrel, have been shown to be well wide of the mark. They said we'd have this massive oil boom. That's before some of their more excitable supporters started going on about secret oil fields whose existence was being kept from us by a malevolent Westminster establishment. Nobody really appreciates how lucky we are. Scots could be facing independence, which the SNP ...
[IMG: Liberal Democrat members helping with local voluntary flood relief.] The flooding across the North of England has devastated many of the communities that we live in and represent. From Tim Farron's seat in Cumbria, across Lancashire, Scotland, Greater Manchester, and Yorkshire thousands of residents and businesses have had their homes and livelihoods wrecked. Many ALDC members will have been personally affected by these floods, [...]
2015 was a strange year for me, as it was a strange year for the party; an odd, jarring mixture of losses and new hopes. In my case, one especially sad loss was that of my grandfather, Ted Smith, a pioneer of nature conservation across the UK, and especially in his native Lincolnshire - and also a Liberal and Liberal Democrat since the 1930s (one of the last few times I saw him, I helped him fill out his ballot for last year's leadership election). He was a kind, quiet man, relentless in his pursuit of good causes; but others ...
This Saturday, there is a day conference for Liberal Democrat members on the Syrian issue, sponsored by Lib Dem Lawyers association, Liberal International, and the Lib Dem Christian Forum. It looks excellent. To quote from the organisers, the event is to "discuss/disagree/learn from others in a respectful way to promote better understanding". It won't be for recriminations over the vote in parliament or looking backwards; but rather an event where we can all learn a lot, and share forward-looking ideas. In the Lib Dems, we've a wide range of opinions over Syria. There certainly are in the Social Democrat Group. ...
Over the past few days, I've been suggesting some New Year's Resolutions for Liberal Democrats to see us through 2016. Here's number 5. Pay attention to the Governance Review There has been a group putting together proposals about the way our party is run. The last few years has given us many examples of where our disciplinary and other processes simply aren't fit for purpose and it is difficult to see where accountability lies. The Federal Executive will be drawing up a set of proposals for change. As an FE member, I do not want to see the power of ...
Party leader to allow his frontbench team to campaign for a different position. Will Labour ever be united again? What do you mean this isn't about Labour? Oh. This is the announcement that ministers will be able to campaign against the government at the referendum. Tim Farron is demanding that Cameron shows the courage of his convictions. David Cameron should have the courage of his convictions and make the case we all know he wants to make, that by staying in Europe, Britain can thrive. The Prime Minister is failing to lead his own Government, let alone the country, putting ...
How on earth can we continue to partner this state that has no respect for human life? Cameron needs to rise above all the money we get for arms sales to this despotic state as we can no longer be seen to be their partner in anything until they seriously mend their ways. With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this article.
[IMG: July 2010 Seaforth Floods] July 2010 Seaforth Floods www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35199963 The BBC has the story on its web site – see link above [IMG: The Maghull area flooding pressure points] The Maghull area flooding pressure points
[IMG: Help UK] Over the festive period, I saw the image on the right on a social media site, stating, against a backdrop of flooded housing: It's time to STOP sending money abroad and help people in the UK now. LIKE, COMMENT or SHARE if you agree? A comment under the image mentioned: ...the 250 million we are giving to India to fund their Space Programme. Oh dear. Where to start? Call me an old pedant, but I'm naturally suspicious of any entreaty which feels the need to include block capitals. But that's just one of my little foibles. My ...
[IMG: Coming soon to a Canadian billboard] Coming soon to a Canadian billboard In one of last year's few political highlights, Justin Trudeau led the Liberal Party to victory in Canada's general election, and one of their manifesto pledges was to change Canada's electoral system from first past the post. The Liberals won a majority of the seats in Canada's Parliament, and reforming the electoral system is also backed by the New Democratic and Green parties, meaning that a substantial majority of the electorate backed parties that want change. So, that's an electoral majority, a Parliamentary majority and a clear ...
No, they don't actually want to bomb the country from Aladdin nor do they believe that solar panels will drain the sun. Recently the American anti-tax campaigner Grover Norquist tweeted that: An armed people are a free people. If our forefathers were not armed before the American Revolution we would all be speaking English today. — Grover [...]
[IMG: Brian Niblett] Veteran Liberal Democrat campaigner, Brian Niblett, sadly passed away on 10 December following a year-long battle with cancer. Brian Niblett came from modest beginnings, growing up in Filton, South Gloucestershire, the youngest of four children. Brian joined British Gas as an apprentice and went on to become a chartered engineer and enjoy a 22 year career with the company. His final role was as head of public relations for the Middle East and Africa before he left in 1996 to focus on politics and to set up his own PR and marketing consultancy with his partner, Lisa. ...
I saw very little Christmas TV so am busily batting away the January blues by catching up on what I missed. Two highlights so far: BBC1's And Then There Were None (I read a second-hand copy of the book with its still-non-PC-but-not-as-non-PC-as-the-original title Ten Little Indians) was the best Agatha Christie adaptation I've seen in a long while: genuinely suspenseful and just the right side of over-wrought. [IMG: stephen rea] And Dickensian is simply sublime. I'm not a great Dickens fan. I (aptly) struggled through Hard Times, which I found tedious, so have since stuck to Trollope. But no denying ...
New year predictions are not something this blogger has indulged in before – but it seems to be a universal obligation for the first blog of the year. There is little to be said for it at face value: predictions are either banal continuations of current trends, or depend too heavily on events that are unpredictable. Still, they may reveal something interesting about the way the blogger sees the world- so here goes. The most important event of 2016 in British politics (and that will be my main focus) will be a referendum on UK membership of the European Union. ...
Jeremy Corbyn stood outside of King's Cross station yesterday to protest about rail fares. Let's stop right there for a second: the leader of the opposition, one of the most powerful men in the country, a member of the Privy Council who can appear on television pretty much any time he likes and reach millions instantly, decided a good use of his time was to stand outside a London rail station with a handful of protestors. I don't mention this as another stick to beat Jeremy with, but rather because it provides such an insight into his mind. Corbyn was ...
[IMG: Garden plan View Sketch] Over at the Guardian Dawn Foster kicked off the year with Five steps to fixing the UK housing crisis in 2016. The five steps proposed were: build social housing; scrap the bedroom tax; improve renters' rights; tackle homelessness; scrap help to buy and right to buy. At the end of the article Dawn speculates that perhaps next year she might propose a land value tax as well. This list of five steps will be relatively familiar to those inside – and, most probably, outside – the housing world. It mixes some very concrete proposals that ...
Westminster's International Development Select Committee has backed calls by Save the Children for the Government to take 3000 unaccompanied refugee children from Syria. From the BBC: The International Development Committee said it backed calls from charities for the UK to accept more unaccompanied minors as a matter of "utmost urgency". Lone children risked being forced into prostitution or the drugs trade unless given sanctuary, the MPs said. The UK has taken 1,000 refugees so far as part of a 20,000 five-year target. But humanitarian campaigners say this is inadequate and that refugees already in Europe should qualify for resettlement under ...
The City Council advises that, if you are on a brown bin collection route, your real Christmas Tree can put the next scheduled brown bin collection day. Please cut up your tree and put it in your brown kerbside bin (if you have one) for collection, add it to your garden compost bin should you have one, or take it to your local recycling centre, such as the Riverside Civic Amenity Site. For more information, please telephone 433710.
The Western Mail reports that Welsh Tory MPs have secured a debate in the House of Commons in an attempt to reverse the damaging cuts being made by their Government to Welsh language broadcaster, S4C in defiance of the manifesto commitment on which they fought the General Election. S4C plays a valuable role in safeguarding the Welsh language and in enriching the culture of Wales. But, equally as important, it also brings significant benefits to the Welsh economy. Every £1 invested by S4C in the creative industry more than doubles its value to the economy, with individual productions having a ...
The floods have revealed the imbecility of Osborne's economic strategy [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
This is the second post in a series of New Year resolutions for the Lib Dems. You can read the first one, on diversity, here. Resolution 2: Keep as many "surge" members as possible During the week after the General Election 20,000 new members joined the Lib Dems - on the Wednesday after polling day over one third of the party had been a member for less than a week. It was a remarkable surge. To put it into context, during the "Cleggmania" surge of 2010 we recruited about 8,000 members in a couple of weeks, so 20,000 in just ...
