The Joy of Six 1488"It's what happens when the NHS has run out of room. It means intimate conversations about cancer, stroke, or dementia in earshot of strangers. It means delays to assessment and treatment, including pain relief, become more likely - dignity stripped away through lack of capacity."Danny Chambers says corridor care will continue for another three years - and that's not good enough. Nick Bowes reckons political fragmentation could lead to the most interesting London election results since the 32 boroughs were formed. "When e-cigarettes first appeared around 2010, they were hailed as a breakthrough: nicotine delivery without the toxic tar and ... (more) |
A Radical Proposal from The Spectator?Tanya Park had an excellent article recently in LibDem Voice on the decline of The Telegraph and The Spectator, each displaying what she brilliantly describes as 'permanent performative outrage'. But I'd like to suggest that occasionally an article comes along in The Spectator that is.... well, a bit radical! Take the recent article by Michael Simmons, The Spectator's Economics Editor, entitled 'It's a Faustian Pact: Rachel Reeves is giving bankers what they want'. It begins with Peter Mandelson's advice to the Chief Executive of the investment bank JPMorgan in 2009, that if he was worried about a pending tax on ... (more) |
Celebrity dog trainer sues government for £8m over upheaval caused by HS2The Independent wins our Headline of the Day Award and the judges thought you might enjoy this example of a celebrity dog trainer's work. (more) |
Achieving economic growth takes more than booing NimbysNew housing at Wellington Place, Market Harborough There's an article on Liberal Democrat Voice today by Steve Wootton announcing the formation of Lib Dems for Growth. The group will have a stall at the York spring conference this weekend. Economic growth does sound like the answer to our prayers, though the environmental constraints on it are becoming more apparent. But that's not what worries me about the statement from the group that Steve quotes. Like a lot of people who call for economic growth, it rather assumes that British industry would leap into action and deliver growth at a startling ... (more) |
Local Government Matters - a dedicated place for a Lib Dem Councillor on the conference committee"Conference, this is just a tidying up amendment". Well I hope this may be true. Amendments to the Lib Dem constitution may not be the most exciting thing to discuss on the doorstep – but it is important that we recognise and value the hard work of our councillors at all levels of the party. This includes ensuring the party's voice in local government is heard when planning the Federal conferences. At the moment there is an inconsistency in representation on the FCC (Federal Conference Committee). Other sections of the party have places on the FCC guaranteed, for example the ... (more) |
Arthur Preece - a tributeArthur Preece OBE (1928 - 2026) was a figure of both regional and national stature in the Liberal Party, and then the Liberal Democrats. He will be greatly missed by those he worked with and supported in the party, as well as by his nieces and their families and his Church, the three passions of his life. Born in Sheffield, one of four brothers, Arthur spent a period in the Army from the age of 18, later moving into NHS service in 1954. He developed his professional skills in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire before moving North to Northumberland in 1967 where ... (more) |
The missing half of the beyond-GDP conversationThere is a welcome conversation happening in our party right now about the limits of GDP as a measure of success. As our Thriving Economy working group develops the policies that will take us into the next general election, colleagues are rightly asking whether we should measure what actually matters for people and the planet rather than treating growth as the ultimate aim. I am firmly in the "measure what matters" camp. But I want to push this conversation somewhere it too often fails to go. Because the history of beyond-GDP thinking is littered with beautifully designed frameworks that changed ... (more) |
Lib Dems for GrowthLast year, I wrote about the lack of a Lib Dem vision for economic growth here. Since then, we have started to sketch out some ideas. Last month, in a speech encouragingly entitled "Get Britain Growing Again" Daisy Cooper, our Treasury Spokesperson, announced a new policy to establish a Department for Growth that would seek to de-fang the "anti-growth" Treasury. While this headline (and a move to Birmingham) got most of the attention, Daisy also clearly stated that "Getting Britain Growing Again must be any government's number one goal". I agree with this and, in my earlier article, I rather ... (more) |
We need to crack down on crimes related to public officeThe latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Yesterday we were debating (again!) the Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Lords, and so I had the chance to propose an amendment to help tackle the recent wave of political scandals. A dedicated police team to tackle crime in Parliament and Whitehall Here is the amendment I proposed: [IMG: 409FA ... (more) |
The train at platform 1 is....On Sunday there was a model railway exhibition in Birtley Community Centre. As someone who had a trainset as a child, this was an event not to be missed. I filmed a video of my visit to the exhibition and will post it when I find time to edit it. I did discover a constituent who recognised me and who has a great passion for model railways!Alas, I got rid of my model railway decades ago.& (more) |