Further to yesterday's post, the powers that be in the Liberal Democrat Party have indicated how keen they are to open the debate on the differences between Tory and LibDem philosophies by moving the writ as soon as practical. The by-election will take place on 28th February.
Applications for LibDem candidate selection closed yesterday evening. No doubt the short-list will be made public shortly. It will be interesting to see whether Eastleigh Liberal Democrats, one of the strongest and most successful parties in England, choose a local candidate or take the opportunity to return one of our national heavy-hitters to parliament.
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Assisted suicide
Sound evidence is necessary as a basis for any policy change. Proponents of assisted dying and euthanasia should take note of Alex Carlile's dissection of some of their arguments.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Eastleigh: the most significant by-election yet
As I wrote nearly two years ago: "if Chris Huhne is guilty of perverting the course of justice, then he has to leave ministerial office. It is not good enough to say, as several scribes have, that 'everybody does it'." He has now admitted his guilt and taken the further correct step of resigning as a member of parliament. If the party is consistent in its treatment of representatives who have committed imprisonable offences, it will also consider his membership.
If the cause of the by-election had been different, I would say that the result would be a clear Liberal Democrat hold. Besides the fact that Eastleigh Borough Council has an overwhelming Liberal Democrat majority, LibDems have been increasingly gaining seats from Conservatives in council by-elections throughout England. There is also the intriguing possibility that UKIP will mount a stronger challenge than in 2010, taking votes and helpers away from the Conservatives. The recent "gay marriage" controversy will not help.
The figures suggest that what might be described as the "social vote" will be crucial. If these people stay at home, or vote Labour, it may allow a Conservative challenger in. Will people understand what Liberal Democrats have been able to achieve in government and allow the fight for fairness to continue? I am sure that Eastleigh LibDems will make sure the message gets through.
Chris Huhne LDm 24966
Maria Hutchings Con 21102
Leo Barraclough Lab 5153
Ray Finch UKIP 1933
Tony Stephen Pewsey EngDems 249
Dave Stone Ind 154
Keith Low NatDem 93
Update 2013-02-05 16:20: BBC News Channel reports that \Nigel Farage has ruled out standing in Eastleigh but will instead concentrate on organising UKIP's local council election campaign
If the cause of the by-election had been different, I would say that the result would be a clear Liberal Democrat hold. Besides the fact that Eastleigh Borough Council has an overwhelming Liberal Democrat majority, LibDems have been increasingly gaining seats from Conservatives in council by-elections throughout England. There is also the intriguing possibility that UKIP will mount a stronger challenge than in 2010, taking votes and helpers away from the Conservatives. The recent "gay marriage" controversy will not help.
The figures suggest that what might be described as the "social vote" will be crucial. If these people stay at home, or vote Labour, it may allow a Conservative challenger in. Will people understand what Liberal Democrats have been able to achieve in government and allow the fight for fairness to continue? I am sure that Eastleigh LibDems will make sure the message gets through.
2010 result
Chris Huhne LDm 24966
Maria Hutchings Con 21102
Leo Barraclough Lab 5153
Ray Finch UKIP 1933
Tony Stephen Pewsey EngDems 249
Dave Stone Ind 154
Keith Low NatDem 93
Update 2013-02-05 16:20: BBC News Channel reports that \Nigel Farage has ruled out standing in Eastleigh but will instead concentrate on organising UKIP's local council election campaign
Sunday, 3 February 2013
RSPB: the Welsh connection
The spring issue of Birds, the magazine of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, reports that, though TV presenter Kate Humble is standing down early as president because of increasing professional and personal commitments, she and her husband have established a rural project in Monmouthshire. They have embarked on the preservation of a farm and use its buildings as a centre to teach rural skills and animal husbandry. Birds says that Kate will continue to support the RSPB and, of course, the couple will be in the right place to support campaigns for the Gwent Levels.
The new chairman of RSPB's governing body is Cardiff University's Steve Ormerod. He is Professor of Ecology in the university's School of Biosciences and has chaired the RSPB's Advisory Committee for Wales, as well as being Past President of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.
The new chairman of RSPB's governing body is Cardiff University's Steve Ormerod. He is Professor of Ecology in the university's School of Biosciences and has chaired the RSPB's Advisory Committee for Wales, as well as being Past President of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.
Manganese Bronze: what would my father say?
News came on Friday that the Geely company of China has bought Manganese Bronze, the manufacturer of taxi cabs, out of administration. Geely had owned 20% of MB when it was a quoted company. It will be interesting to see whether Geely keep the name of their new acquisition. They have retained the "Volvo" brand after acquiring the Swedish car-maker, but there is less reason to keep "Manganese Bronze" which, after all, does not appear on the cabs. So it could be the end of a nearly one hundred year old trade name - see Wikipedia and Grace's Guide.
The latter entry explains the origin of the company name. Manganese Bronze was an alloy used for the manufacture of ships' propellers. I would query the date that Grace's gives for the move to Merseyside, though; I once had a photograph (before it was stolen among some other personal possessions) of my father and a fellow-apprentice standing under a massive propeller in the Birkenhead works. This must have been taken shortly before the outbreak of the second world war, when he joined up in the fight against Hitler's Germany.
One wonders why the established firm of Villiers decided to assume the Manganese Bronze name when it took over the company in the 1960s, rather than use its own well-known brand. Anyway, the metal-working basis of the business seems to have withered away during the early part of that decade.
Reading the Wikipedia entry threw up another personal connection I was unaware of. Villiers/Manganese Bronze also went on to buy Associated Motor Cycles, whose AJS and Matchless factory was next door to the junior school in Burrage Grove, London SE18 which I attended for a year or so. (Army families were even more mobile in those days than they are now!)
After the end of the war in Europe, my father's tour of duty took him to Hong Kong, whence he brought back such memorable goodies as candied peel. I have the impression that he formed some admiration for the Chinese he observed there. I imagine, though, that he would have been saddened by the loss of yet another British manufacturer to an Asian conglomerate.
The latter entry explains the origin of the company name. Manganese Bronze was an alloy used for the manufacture of ships' propellers. I would query the date that Grace's gives for the move to Merseyside, though; I once had a photograph (before it was stolen among some other personal possessions) of my father and a fellow-apprentice standing under a massive propeller in the Birkenhead works. This must have been taken shortly before the outbreak of the second world war, when he joined up in the fight against Hitler's Germany.
One wonders why the established firm of Villiers decided to assume the Manganese Bronze name when it took over the company in the 1960s, rather than use its own well-known brand. Anyway, the metal-working basis of the business seems to have withered away during the early part of that decade.
Reading the Wikipedia entry threw up another personal connection I was unaware of. Villiers/Manganese Bronze also went on to buy Associated Motor Cycles, whose AJS and Matchless factory was next door to the junior school in Burrage Grove, London SE18 which I attended for a year or so. (Army families were even more mobile in those days than they are now!)
After the end of the war in Europe, my father's tour of duty took him to Hong Kong, whence he brought back such memorable goodies as candied peel. I have the impression that he formed some admiration for the Chinese he observed there. I imagine, though, that he would have been saddened by the loss of yet another British manufacturer to an Asian conglomerate.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
AV
It was good to hear John Leech on "The Week in Westminster" this morning, giving a straight account of coalition relationships. The contrast with his counterpart Graham Stringer, a fellow Manchester MP, regurgitating the Labour Party line, was striking.
In another segment, Julian Huppert explained LibDem MPs approach to social policy, reiterating that we should not be balancing the budget on the backs of the poor.
However, what struck me as much was David Davis's earlier misrepresentation of Liberal Democrats' position on the Alternative Vote. He is not alone. In an intervention in a Commons debate last week (sadly not recorded by Hansard), Peter Bone explained that in a 1922 Committee meeting before the establishment of the coalition, Conservative back-benchers had been told that, provided we achieved a referendum on AV, we would accept all their party's desired changes to constitutional arrangements. This is clearly the line that is going to be taken by Tories in future parliamentary election campaigns, that the Liberals have gone back on their word.
In fact, the big betrayal has been by Labour. AV is not a Liberal Democrat policy; the idea came from the Labour side of coalition discussions. (Peter Hain is a long-term advocate - see his section on electoral reform in "Ayes to the Left".) Why Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander picked up the idea and ran with it in the negotiations with the Conservatives is a mystery which may be elucidated only when their memoirs are written. AV is not a fair electoral system. The reasons why I will leave to electoral anoraks to explain, but I would cite the survival until 2007 of John Howard's conservative governments in Australia when Labor had the majority of the popular vote.
Having helped set up the cross-party Yes2AV campaign, Labour then proceeded to use the referendum as a judgement on Nick Clegg personally.
Friday, 1 February 2013
BBC not reporting the good news
Labour said that Vince Cable's efforts in reducing the impact of increased tuition fees would not work and that applicants from disadvantaged areas would be deterred. The opposite has proved to be true.
Source: http://news.bis.gov.uk/Press-Releases/Apprenticeships-starts-almost-double-in-two-years-686f0.aspx
David Heath has made clear that "the public forest estate will stay in public ownership. The previous decision to sell off 15% of the estate is rescinded, and I’ve been able to restore the budget that was cut as a result, and put a little more money in to ensure we take forward our proposals."
All these good news items formed or were part of official media releases within the past few days. The last was included in the BBC News web-site environment pages, but otherwise BBC has given hardly any coverage to them.
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