• Liberal Democrat Party Awards 2012: The winners

    Updated: 2012-09-30 16:20:35
    Each year at Autumn Conference, the Party President presents awards for outstanding service to the Liberal Democrats. Tim Farron appealed for nominations back in May, and presented the awards on the final afternoon of Conference in Brighton last week. Tim Farron also took a moment to thank all those who work hard in their local areas and for their local parties, everyone who campaigned in the council elections in May, and those who will play a part in this autumn's elections for Police Commissioners, the Bristol Mayor and Parliamentary by-elections. The winners of the 2012 Party Awards are as follows: ...

  • The Mobiles: Drowning in Berlin

    Updated: 2012-09-30 14:15:00
    This was playing in the buffer at Leicester station as I was on my way to Manchester last week. "Drowning in Berlin" from early 1982 was The Mobiles' only hit. You can see it as a an exposure of the dark side of the New Romantics or as an expression with Thatcher's materialism before it had taken place. There is a swish video for this song on Youtube, but I think it more impressive that the band created a Cabaret vibe live on the Top of the Pops stage.

  • Jo Swinson becomes Platform 51′s Woman of the Week

    Updated: 2012-09-30 11:15:57
    Charity Platform 51, which works towards a world where "women and girls are in control of their lives", is highlighting an MP from each party during Conference season who has made a stand for equality and inclusion. For the Liberal Democrats, it's Jo Swinson who has been given the accolade of women and the week after her keynote speech in Brighton. They also recognise her decade of work on issues relating to equalities. Platform 51 say: Jo has also chaired the Liberal Democrats Women's Policy Working Groupwhich focuses on tackling some of the key areas that Platform 51 works with ...

  • Michael Meadowcroft: time for Liberals to start truly believing in Liberalism

    Updated: 2012-09-30 11:09:51
    Years ago, I wrote a blog-post, Time for some kick-ass liberalism: Liberalism and liberals have, for too long, been on the back foot, apologetically afraid to stick up for our credo - that the individual is best able to find fulfilment through active involvement in society, and that society can best motivate the individual by guaranteeing personal freedom. Lifelong liberal Michael Meadowcroft has some at least as trenchant words in today's Guardian, lambasting those within and without the Lib Dems who seem to delight in perpetually balancing on their backfoot, then wondering why liberalism never makes a convincing leap forward. ...

  • Labour self-destruct on health

    Updated: 2012-09-30 10:12:00
    Health is, of course fully devolved to the Welsh Government but that does not stop the First Minister and other Labour AMs distracting attention from their own failures by throwing all kinds of inaccurate accusations around about the Coalition Government's intentions towards the NHS. It is interesting therefore, as revealed by this post on Liberal Democrat Voice, that Labour appear to have taken the decision to leave in place the reforms they have so vehemently derided and which they have characterised as privatisation and breaking up the health service. As Mark Pack reports, at a Q&;A session, Labour leader Ed ...

  • Opinion: An open letter to Ryan Coetzee, Nick Clegg's new head of strategy

    Updated: 2012-09-30 10:00:12
    Dear Ryan, Congratulations on your new job. Welcome to the 'family' of UK Liberal Democrat activists and campaigners. You arrive at a critical moment. But the Liberal Party and its successors have been here before. In the General Election of 1951 we fielded just 100 candidates and only 6 of these were elected. In the Euro elections of 1989, the Liberal Democrats polled just 6.2%. Our revivals in each case - in the Seventies and the Nineties – were built on an emerging development of Liberalism and its expression in a style of campaigning that sought to help people take ...

  • Municipal man

    Updated: 2012-09-30 06:09:07
    One of the saddest things about being a councillor is that you can't lift your eyes from the pavement. So imagine my delight when in Bath I saw these solar litter bins , though I had no idea what they offered: A little research, however, came up with the information. These super brainy bins can cope with much more rubbish, and even alert the council when they need emptying. Here's the gen from the BBC: Solar-powered compactor bins which flash when they need to be emptied are being installed in Bath. Twenty-five of the new bins have been bought to ...

  • Reflections of the Liberal Democrats Conference 2012

    Updated: 2012-09-30 00:06:19
    After a few days to recover, assess and dry off from a wet and windy Brighton, here are my thoughts on this years' Liberal Democrats Conference. The mode was much more business like than prior conferences. 2010 was one of great excitement from being in Government. 2011 was gritted teeth and determination in the face ...

  • Danny Alexander Announces Government Help for New Trains

    Updated: 2012-09-30 00:05:14
    The Coalition Government has signalled that it intends to make the acquisition of new rolling stock easier, by offering official guarantees. Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Treasury Chief Secretary, announced at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton last week that the first project to benefit from government help is set to be the new fleet for Crossrail. The Treasury is to guarantee funding for 60 new trains as part of the Coalition's industrial reflation strategy, to ensure there will be no problems with timescales on construction or delivery. The Coalition Government will contribute £240 million of the cost – about ...

  • Streetlights repaired in Gatley

    Updated: 2012-09-29 21:40:41
    After being reported by the Lib Dem team, several streetlights in the centre of Gatley and one under the railway bridge have been repaired by the Council. We've reported a number of other lights for repair, including on Old Hall Road and the passageway between Belmont Road and South Park Road, Gatley. Please do report any faulty lights you spot to us or directly to the Council. We're also chasing up some clanking manhole covers. They're slightly more complicated: the Council doesn't own them so can't repair them. There's an order the Council serves on the utility company responsible; but ...

  • Labour health policy descends into mess on first day of conference

    Updated: 2012-09-29 20:48:54
    At a Q&A session, Labour leader Ed Miliband said: I think what would be not sensible is for us to come along and say, 'well, Andrew Lansley, now Jeremy Hunt, they're changing all the arrangements, have these new clinical commissioning groups and so on, and we're just going to reverse it all back and spend another £3bn on another top-down bureaucratic organisation. Miliband confirms he won't repeal Health Act – talks vaguely about changing principles underpinning NHS. Interesting. — oliver wright (@oliver_wright) September 29, 2012 So Labour wouldn't just reverse all the Health and Social Care Act changes? That would ...

  • Nick Clegg apologises again

    Updated: 2012-09-29 20:11:00
    Thanks to @NickThornsby on Twitter.

  • Deborah Orr on criminalising squatting

    Updated: 2012-09-29 20:04:00
    I did not blog about it at the time, but I was deeply disappointed that the Coalition government made squatting a criminal offence. And Deborah Orr puts it very well in today's Guardian: Alex Haigh, 21, is the first person to have been jailed under new laws criminalising squatting. He has been sentenced to 12 weeks. What a joke. If a small, basic, publicly subsidised room had been made available to him in the first place, he would not now have a criminal record, along with all the lasting psychological misery that comes with the experience of incarceration. This is ...

  • Clegg: "Communities need to front up to abuse in their midst"

    Updated: 2012-09-29 18:38:49
    Nick Clegg has told The Times that Police should investigate allegations of sexual abuse "without fear or favour." His comments come in the wake of this week's report showing deficiencies in the way police and social services handled allegations of sexual abuse in Rochdale. Nick said: It is completely unacceptable if perceived cultural sensitivities or political correctness ever stops crimes being investigated fully or allows abuse to continue. No one would pretend that sexual exploitation is exclusive to any community or race, but major cases like this raise tough questions about the profile and attitude of the abusers towards their ...

  • Lib Dem members' support for Coalition still high... but approval of Government hits new low

    Updated: 2012-09-29 15:48:51
    Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum before conference to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 550 party members have responded, and we're publishing the full results. 74% of members continue to support Coalition with Conservatives LDV asked: Do you support or oppose the Lib Dems being in the Coalition Government with the Conservatives? (Comparison with August 2012′s figures) 74% (-3%) - Support 21% (+3%) - Oppose 5% (n/c) - Don't know / No opinion Support for the Coalition remains high, at 74%, in spite ...

  • 2012 A.C.T. Election Site Now Live

    Updated: 2012-09-18 05:37:08
    Antony Green's election webiste for the 2012 ACT election is now available.

  • Sydney By-election - Lessons from Federal Election Results

    Updated: 2012-09-12 12:24:03
    What are the prospects for the different parties and candidates contesting the Sydney by-election? What do federal election results reveal about the contest?

  • Sydney By-election 2012

    Updated: 2012-09-11 05:08:42
    The NSW state seat of Sydney faces a by-election as MP Clover Moore is forced to resign from parliament after her re-election as Sydney Lord Mayor.

  • NSW MPs Forced to Choose Between Local and State Politics

    Updated: 2012-09-08 03:56:26
    At today's local government elections, 27 state MPs had to choose between state and local politics. Only Clover Moore has remained in town hall.

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