Haringey Council is proposing to increase Council Tax by 2% this year. On their website - where you can respond to the consultation - the Council states:
This is the second half of the first Uncertain Truth programme. The other participant is Ernst Gombrich. Watch part 1.
Wed 27th
21:45
Another day, another time Labour doesn't bother turning up to defeat Government in Lords
You would think, wouldn't you, that if there was a chance to defeat the Government, especially if it was to do with helping out low paid workers, Labour Lords would show up, wouldn't you? Certainly that would be a triumph of hope over experience in this Parliament, given that they never bothered to kill of the tax credit rise when they had the chance. Nor, of course, did they turn up to secure votes at 16. Again tonight, they failed to show up to vote for a Liberal Democrat motion to get rid of the cuts to Universal Credit from ...
"Multi-million pound plans to upgrade a railway station to improve journey times from Leicester to London are to be unveiled on Monday," said the Leicester Mercury last week. I can't find any announcement of these plans on the Network Rail or East Midlands trains website yet, but according to the Mercury: The details will be outlined to Harborough District Council representatives at a closed meeting on Monday. The improvements, which are under wraps until after the meeting, will also include building longer platforms at Market Harborough station and building a lift to improve access for people with disabilities to the ...
A book set in a magical nineteenth-century England, with strong shades of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and also Mary Robinette Kowal, and of course pastiche of Jane Austen if she had been interested in scientific magic; but by bringing in the rest of the world, and making her central character an African orphan who unexpectedly becomes Sorcerer Royal, to the dismay of Society, Zen Cho turns a lot of those tropes sideways, and then injects a dose of Faerie and smart young woman with dragons as well. I really liked this and will be considering it seriously for my ...
Wed 27th
21:15Community, councillors and a cat stuck up a tree at night: the latest Liberal Democrat Party Politic...
The best kind of politics is done by real people in the streets up and down the country, in living rooms, in community... Posted by Liberal Democrats on Wednesday, 27 January 2016 If it weren't for the really annoying backing music, this would be perfect. The music doesn't really diminish the authenticity and positivity of these hard-working Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners. The video opens with the amazing Lauren Pemberton-Nelson showing exactly why she was such a brilliant candidate in last week's Faraday by-election. Then there's Anood Al-Samerai, Group Leader in Southwark, who was my go-to person to ask about ...
What does it mean to be a Liberal Democrat? It starts with you. It starts with you and your family. It starts with you and your family and your friends. It starts with you and your family and your friends and your community. It starts with you and your family and your friends and your [...]
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats, featuring the awesome Lauren Pemberton-Nelson and Anood Al-Samerai (see my Local Liberal Heroes profilf of Anood) amongst other great local campaigners. A welcomingly diverse set it is too. Note the focus on local campaigning and on liberalism, a focus chosen with both an eye on May's elections and an eye on how to rebuild the party's core of committed voters.
A Liberal Democrat budget amendment was agreed by St Albans District Council last night which would provide an additional staff member to help with the enormous backlog of parking schemes. Lib Dem parking spokesperson Gerard McHale said: 'Again we proposed this last year and were defeated – so we are pleased that it went through [...]
Hilary Stephenson is to step down from her role as Director of Elections at Lib Dem HQ shortly after the party's spring conference in York. Prior to taking up the role at HQ, Hilary had a fearsome record of success in shepherding constituency campaign teams to victory, including playing a key role in Tim Farron's original victories in Westmorland.Without Hilary there may well not have been a Tim Farron MP to bid to be party leader. Hence Tim Farron's words on her departure: Without Hilary there may well not have been a Tim Farron MP to bid to be party ...
The West of England (the former Avon area) is consulting on its planning issues for the next period of time upto 2036. It is important that as many residents as possible submit their views. Consultation on the Issues and Options for the Joint Spatial Plan and Transport Study, led by the area's four local authorities, comes to a close at the end of the month (29th January). More than 1,000 people have given their feedback to date, and on social media the #WEbuildourfuture hashtag has been used, shared and commented on hundreds of times since the consultation launched on 9th ...
The Tory Government is still hell bent on penalising low income families by whatever route. The latest is to penalise single parents who find happiness with a new partner. Meanwhile Google can get away with a sweet tax agreement with this Tory Government. One law for the Rich and one law for the rest of us! More details here :- http://www.libdems.org.uk/scrap-the-love-tax
Skateboard Parks attract users of all ages and nowadays and are used not just by boarders but also rollerskaters and bikers as well. In 2014 when we commissioned a large revamp of the skateboard park in Royal Victoria Park we also had a call from residents for a new facility in Alice Park. We listened and put aside £100,000 in our budget. However nothing it seems is ever simple and following a successful and well responded to consultation, before we could proceed we found we needed to sort out the Charitable issues around the park. The election in May changed ...
[IMG: StrongerIN] This weekend I attended the North-West Euro Launch and it was great to see so many campaigners want to actively get involved in the campaigning to keep Britain in the EU. With no set date for the vote, it is important that everyone gets a head start, especially when looking at the recent polling which [...]
From the Loughborough Echo: The momentous 100th anniversary of the Zeppelin raid on Loughborough, which saw 10 people killed, is being marked with a series of very special public events on the anniversary of the day the bombs were dropped - this Sunday, January 31.I came across some of the existing commemorations of those raids last summer.
More than 70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the lessons of the Holocaust are still highly relevant. Over the past year there has been a disturbing rise in anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other instances of ethnic and religious discrimination, not least in Europe, and Holocaust Memorial Day is a stark reminder of just how terribly [...]
Daisy Benson has played a key role in organising two recent Actions Days which have been very successful at getting members, especially new members, out campaigning. Here reproduced with her permission is a note she's written on the lessons learnt – and the lessons other Lib Dems can also apply to organising future Action Days: Lessons learned from leading two self-organised/crowdsourced #libdemfightback action days in Oldham and Brecon (online) attended by 100+ volunteers from around the country (offline) key ingredients: 1. Compelling reason to campaign e.g. by election. 2. Inspiring candidates people are willing to get off the sofa for. ...
Director of Elections Hilary Stephenson is to leave the Liberal Democrats soon after Spring Conference. This news comes a few months after a staff reorganisation which saw many key campaigners, including Austin Rathe, Victoria Marsom and Steve Jolly leave LDHQ. Hilary is a long-time friend and colleague of leader Tim Farron. He is known to credit her for his victory in Westmorland and Lonsdale and with supporting the local team to the point where they run the council by a significant margin. Chief Executive Tim Gordon praised Hilary: Hilary worked for 11 years outside the party before getting actively involved, ...
Wed 27th
15:48Another vindication for Alison McInnes on civil liberties as regulation of facial recognition techno...
There has been a pattern in this Holyrood Parliament of Scottish Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Alison McInnes finding out the SNP on some major civil liberties fail (armed police, excessive use of stop and search, including of children), the SNP just not getting it and then Alison being absolutely vindicated. Today, that happened again. Last year, Alison highlighted the dangers of unregulated use of facial recognition technology by the Police after discovering that over 335,000 people's images were retained on a police database. A report today makes a number of recommendations to regulate this practice. The SNP Justice Secretary had ...
Yesterday the Welsh Assembly's Public Accounts Committee published its report on the Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales and it was damning. According to the BBC, Guernsey-based company South Wales Land Developments (SWLD) bought 15 pieces of land from the Welsh Government for £21 million and made £19m profit by selling just some of them: The committee said the fact SWLD had sold on a number of the sites at a profit showed they had been undervalued. These included £10.5m for a site in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan, which the company bought for £3m, and the sale of another site in ...
We are, on account of abiding by certain inadequacies of the global community, fighting an ill-defined war, at home and abroad, which is tearing nation-states apart and dividing our own communities in abhorrent ways, and which without further strategic solutions beyond conflict, we will continue to fight perpetually and fail miserably. No, not the War on Terror, but a similar conflict against a poorly defined enemy: the War on Drugs. British involvement with the conflict abroad has always been subtle and at points, secretive. The Foreign Office has often refused to comment on Britain's involvement, and in that vacuum a ...
[IMG: Little Shop of Horrors (The Tower Theatre)] 27th to 30th January, and a matinee on Saturday at 2.30pm: Little Shop of Horrors at The Tower Theatre, Shorncliffe This is a comedy horror rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman. Tickets £12.50 full, £11 concessions and £10 for children. Please visit the Tower Theatre website for more information. Published and ...
[IMG: The LGA Lib Dems support Liberal Democrat council groups across the country] Following the government's response to the consultation on emergency services collaboration and the proposed legislation that could transfer governance of fire authorities to Police and Crime Commissioners, Cllr Jeremy Hilton, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on the Fire Service and Chair of the Local Government Association's Fire Services Management Committee, which represents all 46 fire authorities in England, said: [...]
I know this is a very "party report" heavy couple of days on LDV with Zoe's and Sal's excellent reports on the Federal Conference Committee and the Federal Executive respectively, but there is yet more. Last September, Conference approved Constitutional Amendments bringing in One Member One Vote for Conference. However, the Federal Executive subsequently received advice from the Chair of the Federal Appeals Panel that the Committee Election Regulations would need to be changed in order for the next set of Committee elections to be conducted by One Member One Vote. That's why local parties were advised to elect Federal ...
St Albans District Council last night agreed a Liberal Democrat proposal to create a £100,000 flood fund to help domestic and business premises which have been flooded more than once per annum over the past two years. Chris White, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, said: 'We introduced this idea a year ago but the other parties [...]
There have been a couple of shocking stories this week about how asylum seekers have been, however, inadvertently, stigmatised which can lead to them being attacked and intimidated. First we had the Middlesborough "red doors" controversy and then, this week, the appalling news that asylum seekers in a hostel in Caefiff were forced to wear wristbands to access their food. Newly arrived asylum seekers in the Welsh capital who are housed by Clearsprings Ready Homes, a private firm contracted by the Home Office, are being told that they must wear the wristbands all the time otherwise they will not be ...
[IMG: Calendar Image (500x375)] It is 100 days to go until the local and Police and Crime Commissioner elections on 5 May 2016. Now is a great time to take stock of your election planning to help make sure you and your team are firing on all cylinders in the run up to these crucial elections. We all know [...]
From Facebook, here is Tim's message for Holocaust Memorial Day: My reflections on this year's Holocaust Memorial Day. This is a day for everyone to remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, and the millions of people killed by Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. The years theme of 'Don't Stand By' highlights the choice we have in not tolerating unacceptable behaviour. It is vital that we remember and reflect upon these horrors of the past, and honour those who survived. Posted by Tim Farron on Wednesday, 27 January 2016 Posted by ...
Here is an extract from Primo Levi's astonishingly laconic account of his time in Auschwitz, If his is a Man. A "selection" (of those to be sent to the gas chamber) is about to take place. Our Blockaltester knows his business. He has made sure that we have all entered [their hut], he has locked the door, he has given everyone his card with his number, name, profession, age and nationality, and has ordered everyone to undress completely, except for shoes. We wait like this, naked, with the card in our hands, for the commission to reach our hut. We ...
Wed 27th
11:51Willie Rennie's penny on tax for biggest investment in Scottish education since devolution
[IMG: Willie and ACH on nursery visit] Finally, someone is actually planning on using the new tax-varying powers given to Scotland. Willie Rennie has made a big announcement on education this morning. He intends cleaning up the mess the SNP have made in education with 4 radical measures, paid for by a modest rise in income tax which will not affect anyone who earns £19,000 a year or less. That £475 million investment will include the Lib Dem Pupil Premium, already successful in England and, thanks to Kirsty Williams, in Wales. That's all about giving extra money to disadvantaged kids ...
The Journey Though all too well we know the journey's end.The rails that stop, final destination.Final Solution, more and more they sendWhere hell awaits, the terminal station.Each human tragedy within a massBeyond the most grotesque imaginings.The torture, starving, murder, death. The gas.The blind eye turned from inhuman beings. Yet, too, we must remember where it starts:Dehumanising peoples, fear and hate.A narrative, deprived of human heart,Of shadowy enemies at the gates.We can't forget that history repeats.The journey is beginning on our streets.
In the last couple of months your local councilors Tim and Mary have had the opportunity to meet up twice with the Heaton Park management and development team to catch up on developments in the park. Here is an update of current issues: [IMG: 1247230902_f76d5c613b_b] Strategic Vision A team has been working on a revised 'strategic vision' for the park, looking to make the most of the park and its heritage to make it a significant attraction for a wide region, even beyond. Certainly the impression we got was that Manchester Council are giving more attention to the park, which ...
[IMG: Students at NUSU Tim Talks] Of all the drops in the Liberal Democrat vote in May, the drop in the 18-24 vote was harshest. From 30% of the total vote of this age group in 2010, our vote collapsed to just 5% in May. Hope springs eternal in Newcastle, though - and we were delighted to welcome our leader, Tim Farron, in hosting a 'Talk to Tim' event at the Newcastle University Students' Union on Monday night. Tim was in fine form, answering questions from the packed room of well over 100 students on issues ranging from the Transatlantic Trade ...
I've often blogged about why it is a good idea to let new members vote in party selections – rather than enforcing the widespread rule that someone has to be a member for 12 months before they can vote. At the moment that would mean a third of the party's membership is disenfranchised. However I've been a little remiss in reporting on the welcome move before Christmas by the English Party in temporarily changing the rules across the board for English internal selections. London shows the way in welcoming new membersThe sensible way to treat a new member of a ...
The next Time to Talk Day will be on Thursday 4th February 2016. The day is organised to encourage people across the country to talk about mental health to help end the misconceptions around it. [IMG: Time-to-Talk-Day-Is-On-The-4th-Feb-2016] Mental health problems affect 1 in 4 people every year, yet too often people are afraid to talk about their experiences because they fear it will affect their jobs or relationships. That's not right and it's why we need your help to break the silence and end the stigma. Talking about mental health doesn't need to be difficult, order your Time to Talk ...
[IMG: 2016 Election Essentials Blog image 500 x 375] With 100 days to go until polling day and to help your election campaign go as smoothly as possible, we've gathered together some of the essential campaign templates for you to easily adapt for your own elections. We have included items for one member, two member and three member elections as well as items for promoting [...]
[IMG: Bite The Ballot is a non-party campaign group for engagement, empowerment and recognition of young people in politics] With one week to go, the UK prepares for its third annual National Voter Registration Drive Bite The Ballot ('BTB') – in partnership with a host of collaborators – is coordinating a week of social action, calling on people to register to vote and begin to drive the political agenda by becoming active changemakers. February [...]
On this day, Holocaust Memorial Day, let us remember those targeted for genocide. The Jews were selected for extermination just because they are who they are. Likewise the Gypsies and many disabled. Let us not forget those who opposed and those who would not confirm to the Nazi ideals. Homosexuals. Pacifists. Communists. Freemasons. Resistance fighters from occupied lands and those who protected Jews. Don't forget the slaves, shipped from Eastern Europe, from Holland, France and many other nations. I am sure I have missed out many. The evils that the Nazis promoted and carried out lives on, based upon those ...
Wed 27th
08:55LibLink: Caroline Pidgeon: A Lib Dem mayor would help London's lowest paid get to work
Lib Dem London Mayoral candidate Caroline Pidgeon has been writing for Left Foot Forward – a very good move, to connect with many of our former voters. Her emphasis was on transport and she set out her stall and explained why it would help the lowest paid: London's economy is served by many low-paid workers, such as cleaners and security staff, who often get to work long before other people. Half price travel for any journey made before 7.30am would directly benefit many of London's lowest-paid employees. The policy also has wider benefits as it will encourage some people to ...
It was a busy evening yesterday with my attending both the Bonnie Dundee group meeting at the City Chambers, followed by the Harris Academy Parent Council meeting at the school's current Lawton Road campus. Bonnie Dundee encourages improvements to the Dundee environment and helps local groups who keep Dundee's parks, open areas, streets and gardens in good shape, and it was a really positive meeting last night with lots of good initiatives taking place, including work on the planters at West Port, Union Street and Dundee Science Centre taking place during February and March and a litter pick at the ...
Wed 27th
08:41
Are UKIP right in saying that BME voters could swing the EU referendum for the Leavers?
Steve Woolfe, a UKIP MEP who has that particular party's migration spokesperson role (which is the UKIP equivalent of getting shadow chancellor), said at an event yesterday that: "EU freedom of movement has led to unsustainable levels of European migration to Britain. A major consequence is that in trying to reduce net migration, the government has discriminated against citizens outside of the EU. The losers have been mixed-race communities in the UK, the Commonwealth and our trading partners in the East and West. The BME community in Britain want a fair, sensible and compassionate migration policy - and only if ...
Yesterday, I met with senior TSB officials today about their proposed closure of the Perth Road Branch but, after a lengthy discussion with them, it is clear that the bank is unwilling to reconsider its decision. I met with TSB's Distribution Director for Scotland and their London-based Public Affairs Senior Manager and put the case for the bank retaining the Perth Road Branch given the loyal customer base it has enjoyed over many years, the importance of retaining one bank branch in the area and the inconvenience the closure would have to local people in the West End, particularly the ...
This blog site has carried articles before about the astonishingly poor 3rd rate devolution of power deal that Merseyside's Labour council leaders negotiated with Tory Chancellor George Osborne. It was such a poor deal that it came nowhere near to that which Greater Manchester council leaders negotiated for their communities. The Merseyside deal is shockingly poor by comparison. Here's how Southport's leading councillors and it's MP see the deal:- [IMG: IMG_0001] [IMG: IMG_0002] Click on the articles to enlarge them
Last year Lib Dems achieved a huge victory in stopping George Osborne's tax credit cuts to low-income working families. But while the Chancellor backed down on these plans, he quietly kept plans to impose similar cuts to Universal Credit. These cuts will make millions of people in work worse off from 2017, cutting their income by more than £1,000 per year. It's unfair punishment for people just trying to get by. These cuts will affect the same people as the Tax Credit cuts, just in a few years' time rather than in April this year so we have to stop ...
How Iowa Hijacked Our Democracy POLITICO on one of the worst features of the awful quadrennial cycle. (tags: uspolitics elections ) Luxembourg: Europe's Bellwether What's up with the Grand Duchy. (tags: luxembourg ) Proxima Centauri and the Imagination Fiction about our nearest neighbour. (tags: sf astronomy ) Esme's Adventure with Foxgloves A cautionary tale. (tags: children health poison )
Rod Liddle Slammed As 'Repeat Offending Bigot' For Column On Poppers And Gay Sex Why do people put on differing amounts of weight? Are beards good for your health? - #qtwtaiy What does it mean to be a Liberal Democrat today? - Essay competition vote is now open Controversial choice of voting system from the party there... I just ordered new collars for my hairy babies from here They're hand made to order, so might take a little while to arrive, but I like that they donate 10% of all proceeds to charity, and one of the charities is the ...
The 2014 -15 Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (Estyn) shows that there is still far too much variability in standards in schools across Wales. Even though the proportion of secondary schools inspected and marked as 'Excellent' increased, the number marked as 'Unsatisfactory' also increased; there are clearly issues regarding consistency of provision and standards in schools in Wales. It is disappointing to see that points for improvement raised in last year's report, such as progress in improving numeracy and effective intervention by regional consortia, are also a feature of this year's report. ...
Eric was readnitted to King's College Hospital on Tuesday 19 January. Two days later Mr Wilkins performed an angioplasty on both renal arteries, as he did most successfully two years ago. This time, various problems arose post-op. Eric appeared to have had a reaction to the units of blood he was given. Also, his body, particularly his chest, became overloaded with fluids. He developed an infection. All these symtoms are being treated and Eric is beginning to recover, albeit slowly. However, as background to this, Eric's myelofibrosis is now starting to develop into leukaemia. The family are having talks with ...
