Maybe stick to the day job, Lorely?From the Huffington Post: A Liberal Democrat MP wore a Nigel Farage mask at the party's conference as she mocked the Ukip leader's penchant for beer. Just before Nick Clegg's appearance, Lorely Burt also mocked a former-Ukip councillor's claim that this winter's floods had been brought on by the introduction of gay marriage. This was not, shall we say, the funniest thing we have ever seen. It wouldn't, to be honest, have been funny even at the traditional end of Conference late night sing-a-long the Glee Club. To be fair, though, after an inauspicious start, Lorely went on to make ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: The Great George Street rabbitFriday I call in at Great George Street to tip off the party's bigwigs about a fellow called Hancock. Between you and me, gentle reader, he has been up to no good in both Portsmouth and far Azerbaijan, and the party must Do Something about him - I am also told that Fleet Street's finest are on his case. "Don't worry," says a one of the nobs, "we are well aware that there may be problems coming down the track, so we have someone working full-time on our response to the Hancock Affair. It's Benjamin over there." I look across ... (more) |
Liberal Democrats: pragmatic policies - small steps to a liberal futureWe ended the Liberal Democrat conference today on a high note. Ni [IMG: 2014-03-09 12.45.53-2] ck Clegg gave one of his best conference speeches, in confident form. We are now learning what this "centre ground" strategy means in practice. Mr Clegg did not utter the dread words in his speech at all. Instead he talked freely about Britishness and liberal, inclusive values. He painted an optimistic, happy picture, to contrast with the sour, pessimistic one that dominates so much of politics now. This went down predictably well with the faithful, but it is a sensible strategy in the wider political ... (more) |
Barraco Barner, tweets, Ukraine, Sarah Palin and NukesPresident Barner's got a lot to think about As always I am running a little behind the rest of the world and I didn't see the already infamous Gemma Worrell tweet until today. If you haven't seen it here is the wording: Why is our president Barraco Barner getting involved with Russia, scary This tweet has gone world wide and has been used by some commentators as a metaphor for "Dumb Britain." Let's be honest it does look like the comment of a bimbo especially when you factor in that she is a twenty something beautician. Stereotypes, media portrayal of ... (more) |
Spring Conference 2015: The Liberal Democrats visit LiverpoolSpring Conferenceis done for another year, and most Liberal Democrats will be conferenced out. However, the party has just announced that they are returning to Liverpool for the next one. 2500 delegates (who said that no-one goes to Spring Conference?) are expected to descend upon Liverpool in March 2015. The event is being held at ACC Liverpool for the third time. If policy isn't your thing, then there are lots of other things to do in the Beatle's home city. You can drink cocktails at the Albert Dock: SOURCE: Albert Dock Watch Liverpool's football team play at Anfield: SOURCE: Liverpool ... (more) |
Five reasons why Liberal Democrats leave York in good spirits.[IMG: Screen Shot 2014-03-09 at 08.06.08] Liberal Democrats left York with spirits as bright as the sunshine which brought 17 degree warmth to the historic city. Seriously. I was quite surprised about how genuinely upbeat people were. It's not that they'd forgotten that we're defending 12 European Parliament seats in 74 short days' time. By the way, if you think that's along time away, remember that 74 days ago was Boxing Day. Everyone knows the scale of what we have to achieve by then and nobody is taking anything for granted. Even the more, how shall I put this, hardened ... (more) |
Embracing Human FrailtyThe Richard Dawkins Foundation thinks calling humans sinful is a sign of religion's backwardness. It's not – it's an indication of Christianity's insight. A few days ago the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science posted this photo to facebook: I came across it when an atheist friend reposted it along with disparaging comments such [...] (more) |
Update on Garston plan consultationI blogged last year about meetings organised by Urbed ( a consultancy) as part of drawing up a "masterplan" for Garston. The consultancy was working on behalf of the Council. Anyway, a report was published and we knew the Council had to decide whether or not to adopt it before any of the recommendations could be put into action deliberately. It all went a bit quiet and in fact we asked just last week about what was happening. The latest news is that the report will be discussed/adopted at the Council's Cabinet meeting on 21 March. The paperwork isn't on ... (more) |
Doing something about housing[IMG: Modern Housing] What to do about the housing crisis? It's a question that, should you have been so inclined, you could have focused on throughout much of yesterday's proceedings at Liberal Democrat Spring Conference. A motion on the reform of planning policy was passed, unamended, during the morning's official business. The motion was particularly critical of the role of the Planning Inspectorate and the Communities Secretary in overriding local democracy and aspirations. But the programme for the conference fringe offered you a near overdose of housing. The lunchtime fringe included a session on social housing jointly organised by CentreForum, ... (more) |
Nick Clegg's speech to the Lib Dem spring conference in full[IMG: Clegg Speech] Nick Clegg is just about to begin his speech to bring to a close the Lib Dems' Spring Conference in York. You can read the full text below. The speech is most striking for its aim to reclaim patriotism. "I love Britain" is the refrain of its opening section (much of which reads a lot like the popular Twitter account, @SoVeryBritish – eg, "I love that we insist on queuing when we go abroad, even when the locals don't."), with Nick listing the things that make him proud to be British. Underpinning this section is that Britain, ... (more) |