Show me » Lib Dem MP Blogs
 | Blair admits overspending from 2005The link is to the BBC story which includes the text:The UK should have addressed its public deficit back in 2005, former Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the BBC.Speaking to Andrew Marr, Mr Blair said: "We should probably have taken a tougher fiscal position than we did."He said that this was also about the time when disagreement between himself... |
More Articles
German Army Report on Peak Oil
The link is to an English Translation in the german newspaper Der Spiegel. They are talking about Peak Oil being around nowish. (Although on a geological scale even a thousand years from now would be around nowish)....
Letter from Chief Executive NHS Direct
Dear Colleague, I expect that you will have read or seen the media coverage over the Bank holiday weekend about NHS Direct. I wanted to write promptly to you to correct any misleading impression that this may have created that NHS Direct as an organisation is being closed down. This is not what the Government...
Leaseholders in Haringey – are they being stung?
I was interested to see a documentary recently which looked into the charges that leaseholders pay. The program seemed spot on in terms of the sort of issues that leaseholders have raised with me in the past. Leaseholders have to pay for work in advance – edict of Labour run Haringey Council –...
111 and Labour’s synthetic rage over NHS Direct
So the government under Labour piloted a new scheme This was a scheme to replace NHS Direct with a new 111 non-emergency number.Quoting from this:In the future, it could become the single number for non-emergency services, including NHS Direct.Ministers did know about it:Health Minister Mike O'Brien...
City to win The Europa League?
Having disposed of FC Timiosoara very easily and installed as favourites for the Europa League at 6-1 (only a mug would take these odds on a team that haven’t won a cup since 1976!) we have been drawn in a Group with Juventus, Red Bull Salzburg (hopefully without wings!) and Lech Posnan. I’m...
Wheel clamping continued……..
Here is my column, published yesterday in the Ham & High, on the government’s decision to ban wheel clamping on private land. Denver booted out! When the Denver boot (wheel clamp) was introduced in this country – I remember wondering what the logic was of this new ‘solution’. A car is...
26th August 2010
Britain’s pensioners have been entitled to feel pretty fed up in recent years. Remember Gordon Brown’s measly 75p increase in the basic pension a few years ago? And the decision taken by Mrs. Thatcher’s Government in 1980 to break the link between the basic state pension and the increase...
Manchester Case
The link is to that dreadful case in Manchester.It does appear that it would have been possible absent adoption targets to have kept the elder child with her birth mother....
The Emergency Budget and the IFS report
The "new" IFS report repeats substantially what they said at the time of the Emergency Budget.Firstly from a tax perspective the budget is progressive. It in fact is more progressive than Labour because of the CGT increases.Where the debate exists is on the treatment of benefits. The biggest factor...
Lord Prescott for Labour Party Treasurer?
I see that the recently appointed Lord, (John) Prescott is campaigning to become Labour Party Treasurer. He is quoted by the BBC as saying that “The treasurer has got to say to the central body, you cannot keep on spending, we haven’t got it”. He has even talked about the possibility...
Coalition government backs new housing project
I was delighted to hear last week that the Housing and Communities Agency (HCA) and Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) had committed £25.3mn for new housing projects across Manchester. This investment by the coalition Government will deliver 670 new homes and also create a large number...
Panorama and the William Ward Case
The William Ward case was an exceptional case in a number of ways. However, Panorama have really missed the key points.Most mothers facing a case like this one would not only have lost their son to adoption, but also lost subsequent children.Firstly, they were allowed to have the grandparents supervising....
Childrens Commissioner on experiences of Safeguarding
The Childrens Commissioner has published a good report looking at the experiences of the safeguarding system from a family perspective.There are some strong quotations in the report and it is surprising that it has not had any press.egOne parent described how a male social worker had been allocated toher...
Victoria Ward and Panorama
The link is to a Panorama programme tonight about a family court case.This case was unusual because the Ward's were allowed to get a second opinion. Normally the parents are refused a second opinion and lose the case.It should also be noted that quite large expert fees are paid to those people who...
