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		<div class="entry">
			<div class="post" id="post-3180">
				<h2><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/30/exclusive-nick-congratulates-guido-westerwelle/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to EXCLUSIVE: Nick congratulates Guido Westerwelle">EXCLUSIVE: Nick congratulates Guido Westerwelle</a></h2>
<div class="allinfos"><b>By Mark Littlewood</b></div>
<div class="allinfos"><span class="date">September 30th, 2009 at 11:53 pm</span> | <span class="comments"><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/30/exclusive-nick-congratulates-guido-westerwelle/#comments" title="Comment on EXCLUSIVE: Nick congratulates Guido Westerwelle">11 Comments</a> </span> | <span class="category">Posted in <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/category/eu-politics/" title="View all posts in EU Politics" rel="category tag">EU Politics</a>, <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/category/uk-politics/" title="View all posts in UK Politics" rel="category tag">UK Politics</a></span></div>

					<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3187" title="nicks-letter-to-fdp1" src="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/43257794/uploads/2009/09/nicks-letter-to-fdp1-231x300.jpg" alt="nicks-letter-to-fdp1" width="231" height="300" />Following <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/28/classical-liberalism-hung-parliaments-and-coalition-governmentis-germany-a-glimpse-of-our-future/" target="_blank">Liberal Vision&#8217;s celebration</a> of the rise to power of the German liberals, Nick Clegg has now written to congratulate their leader Guido Westerwelle following the superb performance of  the Free Democrats in last weekend&#8217;s election.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not on <a href="http://www.nickclegg.com/" target="_blank">Nick&#8217;s</a> or the <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/" target="_blank">party&#8217;s website</a> yet, as far as I can see.</p>
<p>And the &#8220;latest news&#8221; from <a href="http://www.nickclegg.org.uk/" target="_blank">Nick&#8217;s constituency website</a> is that &#8211; about six weeks ago -  he wrote to congratulate someone called Jessica Ennis, who apparently won the heptahlon at an athletics event in Berlin in the Summer. It appears that she went to school in Sheffield Hallam. You can read his letter to Ms. Ennis <a href="http://www.nickclegg.org.uk/sheffield/news/jessica-ennis-20-08-2009/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p>His letter to Guido Westerwelle &#8211; dated yesterday -  is available in full <a href="http://s786.photobucket.com/albums/yy144/LiberalVision/?action=view&amp;current=NickslettertoGuidoWesterwelle.jpg&amp;newest=1" target="_blank">here</a>. My GCSE German is a little rusty &#8211; but I&#8217;m guessing it&#8217;s all pretty damned positive stuff.</p>
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Tags: <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/tag/guido-westerwelle/" rel="tag">Guido Westerwelle</a>, <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/tag/nick-clegg/" rel="tag">Nick Clegg</a>  </div></div>
		<div class="entry">
			<div class="post" id="post-3177">
				<h2><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/30/guest-post-does-debt-forgiveness-prop-up-despots/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to GUEST POST &#8211; Does debt forgiveness prop up despots?">GUEST POST &#8211; Does debt forgiveness prop up despots?</a></h2>
<div class="allinfos"><b>By admin</b></div>
<div class="allinfos"><span class="date">September 30th, 2009 at 12:35 pm</span> | <span class="comments"><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/30/guest-post-does-debt-forgiveness-prop-up-despots/#comments" title="Comment on GUEST POST &#8211; Does debt forgiveness prop up despots?">1 Comment</a> </span> | <span class="category">Posted in <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/category/uncategorized/" title="View all posts in Uncategorized" rel="category tag">Uncategorized</a></span></div>

					<p>Congo (Brazzaville) is one of the poorest countries on earth and fares badly on most measures of human well-being.  It also has enormous natural resources, particularly oil wealth which could, if used for the benefit of Congo&#8217;s citizens, provide the government with revenue to build schools, hospitals and roads.  Yet Congo&#8217;s political leadership has captured that oil wealth for their personal enrichment and use it to stifle any opposition.  As this documentary on Al Jazeera explains (see below) Denis Sassou Nguesso has robbed Congo and spends lavishly on himself and his family while ordinary Congolese starve.</p>
<p>This might sound like yet another story from the region &#8211; yet as Al Jazeera explains Congo&#8217;s corrupt elite have new friends in the US.  Hard lobbying in the US has ensure that some Congressmen are now backing plans to limit secondary debt markets that would allow companies that have bought defaulted Congolese debt to make Nguesso pay.  It is thanks to the legal action by these secondary debt traders that details of Nguesso&#8217;s corruption have emerged and stopping this action simply enriches the elites further while betraying the people of Congo.</p>
<p>The UK is now considering similar legislation which would require the forgiveness of all debt to countries like Congo, Sudan, Guinea, Chad, Ethiopia and Eritrea &#8211; all of which have awful human rights records and are economically unfree.  Lord Peter Baur once wrote that donor aid is the process of transferring wealth from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.  The same could be said for debt forgiveness and stifling the secondary debt markets to the venal and kleptocratic governments that in no way deserve forgiveness.</p>
<p><em>Richard Tren is a director of Africa Fighting Malaria, a health advocacy group.</em></p>
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		<div class="entry">
			<div class="post" id="post-3170">
				<h2><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/29/value-for-money-nhs-tenth-worst/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Value for Money?! NHS 10th Worst!!">Value for Money?! NHS 10th Worst!!</a></h2>
<div class="allinfos"><b>By Sara Scarlett</b></div>
<div class="allinfos"><span class="date">September 29th, 2009 at 6:00 pm</span> | <span class="comments"><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/29/value-for-money-nhs-tenth-worst/#comments" title="Comment on Value for Money?! NHS 10th Worst!!">3 Comments</a> </span> | <span class="category">Posted in <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/category/uncategorized/" title="View all posts in Uncategorized" rel="category tag">Uncategorized</a></span></div>

					<p><img class="alignright" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mMl3pPQUnYc/SYI4P2ClI6I/AAAAAAAABs8/dv6e7_ulaHQ/s800/nhs_logo.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="91" />The Euro Health Consumer Index has ranked the NHS a respectable 14th out of 33 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6239848/The-NHS-is-ranked-14th-out-of-33-European-healthcare-systems.html">it is revealed today.</a> However, in terms of value for money the NHS only tops the bottom ten in Europe:</p>
<blockquote><p>Dr. Arne Björnberg, Director of the Euro Health Consumer Index, said: &#8220;The    UK in 2009 has showed surprisingly negative feedback from patient    organisations on the waiting time situation, particularly after government    spending on the NHS has been increasing heavily.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p><strong>“It seems that management of the behemoth NHS organisation is difficult to do    under a centralised paradigm.” </strong></p>
<p>The report ranked the NHS 23rd out of the 33 countries on &#8216;bang-for-buck&#8217;, a    calculation that tries to take into account the different amounts spent on    healthcare in each of the countries.</p>
<p><strong> </strong>The report said: &#8220;The UK has a less prominent position in the    bang-for-buck exercise than in previous years – it would seem that the    increased healthcare spend in the U.K. has not yet materialised fully in    improved healthcare services.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Impressively the Netherlands consistently tops the Index.</p>
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		<div class="entry">
			<div class="post" id="post-3146">
				<h2><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/29/the-libdem-response-to-tory-love-bombing-should-be-to-love-bomb-cameron-right-back/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The LibDem response to Tory &#8220;love bombing&#8221; should be to &#8220;love bomb&#8221; Cameron right back">The LibDem response to Tory &#8220;love bombing&#8221; should be to &#8220;love bomb&#8221; Cameron right back</a></h2>
<div class="allinfos"><b>By Mark Littlewood</b></div>
<div class="allinfos"><span class="date">September 29th, 2009 at 12:00 pm</span> | <span class="comments"><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/29/the-libdem-response-to-tory-love-bombing-should-be-to-love-bomb-cameron-right-back/#comments" title="Comment on The LibDem response to Tory &#8220;love bombing&#8221; should be to &#8220;love bomb&#8221; Cameron right back">8 Comments</a> </span> | <span class="category">Posted in <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/category/uk-politics/" title="View all posts in UK Politics" rel="category tag">UK Politics</a></span></div>

					<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3147" title="david-cameron-and-cute-puppy" src="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/43257794/uploads/2009/09/david-cameron-and-cute-puppy-300x225.jpg" alt="david-cameron-and-cute-puppy" width="300" height="225" />An interesting subtext of the conference season is how Labour and the LibDems intend to attack the Tories and eat into Cameron&#8217;s opinion poll lead.</p>
<p>The Labour approach is to claim that the Conservatives will slash frontline services, occasionally peppered with attempts to portray Cameron and Osbourne as detached, aloof, well-heeled toffs (by, for example, having Labour campaigners prance around Crewe and Nantwich in bowler hats).</p>
<p>The &#8220;official&#8221; LibDem line (i.e. Clegg&#8217;s) is to assert that Cameron is a phoney. The LibDems are &#8220;the real thing&#8221;, while the Tories are an insipid &#8220;fake change&#8221; alternative.</p>
<p>Chris Huhne toyed with an alternative strategy &#8211; but pulled back from labeling William Hague as a modern day, Munich-putsch organising skinhead in his keynote speech. Nevertheless, in Huhne&#8217;s<a href="http://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2009/09/24/wholl-win-the-love-bombing-war/" target="_blank"> widely reported clash</a> on the Today programme with Eric Pickles, he relentlessly pursued the line that Cameron&#8217;s Tories haven&#8217;t changed and are essentially right-wing extremists.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t think either Huhne&#8217;s or Clegg&#8217;s approach is likely to work.</p>
<p>The problem with Nick&#8217;s approach is two-fold.</p>
<p>Firstly, it suggests that the LibDems and the Tories are merely differently brands of a very similar product. We&#8217;re Coca Cola, they&#8217;re Pepsi. We&#8217;re Guinness, they&#8217;re Beamish. We&#8217;re M&amp;S, they&#8217;re Mr Byrite.</p>
<p>I bang on relentlessly about the need for us to appeal to soft Tories, but I think we need to do this by offering a superior product not merely by arguing about brand superiority.</p>
<p>Secondly, the electorate don&#8217;t know enough about the LibDem product for them to be able to pick up these &#8220;real&#8221; and &#8220;fake&#8221; distinctions. If the LibDems were a fizzy drink, the public probably wouldn&#8217;t think of us as Coke, they&#8217;d think of us as Panda Cola. The makers of Panda Cola don&#8217;t advertise that they are &#8220;more real&#8221; than Coke (partly because &#8211; like the LibDems &#8211; they don&#8217;t have much of a budget to advertise at all).</p>
<p>Chris Huhne&#8217;s approach is also flawed. The voters might not be sold on Cameron, but they do believe he is a pretty moderate bloke who has decontaminated the Tory party.  &#8220;New Tories, New Danger&#8221; will be as ineffective in 2010 as the Blair red eyes advert was in 1997. Portraying Hague as a krypto-Nazi just doesn&#8217;t chime with where the public are and, anyway, isn&#8217;t remotely true.</p>
<p>So, my (risky) approach would be to love bomb the Tory leadership right back, in an attempt to open up clear daylight between Cameron&#8217;s frontbench and the more antediluvian elements of the Conservative party.</p>
<p>If Eric Pickles is attempting to seduce you on early morning radio, don&#8217;t shout down the microphone that he&#8217;s sitting there in a Gestapo outfit and an armband (apologies for the ghastly image that conjures up). Say how delighted you are that Eric and Dave are 100% fully committed to Britain&#8217;s ongoing membership of the European Union, but that you&#8217;re a mite concerned that this internationalist sentiment is not universally shared by his fellow MPs.</p>
<p>If the Tory leader has just been on television hugging a hoodie, explain how pleased you are that the Tory leader is embracing more liberal approaches to crime and punishment, but you hope he&#8217;s also weeding out the &#8220;flog &#8216;em, hang &#8216;em&#8221; wing of his party.</p>
<p>Support for Cameron amongst the electorate is wide, but shallow. This point is made endlessly by those arguing that the next election is still wide open. But enthusiasm for Cameron within his own party is pretty fragile too &#8211; amazingly so given their poll lead after a dozen years in the wilderness. Many think that splits and divisions will come to the surface within days (or even hours) of Cameron entering Downing Street. We&#8217;d be doing the electorate a great service by exposing these splits before polling day rather than waiting for them to naturally emerge afterwards.</p>
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Tags: <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/tag/david-cameron/" rel="tag">David Cameron</a>  </div></div>
		<div class="entry">
			<div class="post" id="post-3167">
				<h2><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/29/guest-post-labour-hail-the-minimum-wage/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Guest Post: Labour hail the Minimum Wage">Guest Post: Labour hail the Minimum Wage</a></h2>
<div class="allinfos"><b>By admin</b></div>
<div class="allinfos"><span class="date">September 29th, 2009 at 9:38 am</span> | <span class="comments"><a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2009/09/29/guest-post-labour-hail-the-minimum-wage/#comments" title="Comment on Guest Post: Labour hail the Minimum Wage">13 Comments</a> </span> | <span class="category">Posted in <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/category/economics/" title="View all posts in Economics" rel="category tag">Economics</a>, <a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/category/uk-politics/" title="View all posts in UK Politics" rel="category tag">UK Politics</a></span></div>

					<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3168" title="labour2" src="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/43257794/uploads/2009/09/labour2.jpg" alt="labour2" width="338" height="279" />It seems Nu-Labour are just desperate to <a title="Click click" href="http://www.labour.org.uk/minimumwage" target="_blank">remind us</a> of all their &#8216;good&#8217; policies. Probably because there is an election coming up and they&#8217;ve destroyed the economy, public finances, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Education system&#8230;</p>
<p>Anyway, one of the &#8216;good&#8217; policies they wish to remind us of is the minimum wage. Which was recently promoted by <a title="Click for article" href="http://www.labourlist.org/only-labour-committed-heart-soul-minimum-wage-jack-scott" target="_blank">Jack Scott on Labour List</a>&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>Next week, the minimum wage will rise to £5.80. Since it was first introduced in the teeth of Conservative opposition, the minimum wage has risen by 81.25%, far outstripping a decade of low inflation. Does anyone believe the Tories would have raised it above inflation so consistently?</p>
<p>Since its introduction, Labour has also legislated to ensure tips do not count towards the minimum wage and that there are the toughest powers in Europe for rogue employers who break the law. The</p>
<p>Conservatives voted against the introduction of the minimum wage and its strengthening, which went through Parliament last year.</p>
<p>In addition, David Cameron opposed longer maternity and paternity leave and flexible working – so much for Cameron’s compassionate conservatism.</p>
<p>Only a Labour government can truly protect workers&#8217; rights. The minimum wage remains one of Labour’s most powerful expressions of our values in action. I am immensely proud of the difference it makes to the lives of the UK’s million lowest paid workers.</p></blockquote>
<p>For socialists and Nu-Labour the minimum wage is a traditional, social good. It takes profits from evil capitalists and shares it among the workers. Hurrah!</p>
<p>However, in reality it is debatable whether the minimum wage is a social good. In fact I would argue it isn&#8217;t. And they&#8217;re are two main reasons for this.</p>
<p>The first and most obvious is that it raises the cost of business &#8212; unnecessarily &#8212; as businesses are forced to raise the wages of low skilled employees. And this is an important point. Because while it may seem that there are lots of evil capitalists out their making huge sums of money by exploiting workers the truth is very different. The majority of businesses are SMEs which make very small profits. So whenever costs of business go up these businesses are under threat as their profit margins are much smaller than the ones enjoyed by the Tescos of this world. And of course this therefore puts many jobs at risk.</p>
<p>The second &#8212; and most important &#8212; reason is that the minimum wage will never actually raise the value of labour. It is impossible to raise an asset&#8217;s value by simply declaring it has a greater value. Or at least it&#8217;s not possible to do this for very long. The reasons for this should be obvious. It is because the factors that influence value &#8212; such as supply/demand &#8212; don&#8217;t actually change simply because of some government declaration.</p>
<p>For example imagine it was decided that bakers were the most important part of our economy and that they were being underpaid for their fine work. The government therefore sets a National Minimum Bread Price of £3 per loaf. Sounds great for the bakers. But this action is unlikely to make bakers better-off or happy. Instead it will probably cause people to buy less bread. Because in real terms the bread has become no more valuable &#8212; so why will people pay more for it?</p>
<p>And the same rules apply for the value of labour. One of the main consequences of the minimum wage is it makes low skilled workers less employable. Because unless your skills/labour are worth £5.80ph or above, who will employ you? No-one. You&#8217;d have to be a very poor business man to employ someone who&#8217;s work was not worth the money you paid them.</p>
<p>People should be very hesitant to support the minimum wage. Because while it sounds nice on the surface it has a number of drawbacks. It jeopardises business profitability &#8212; which risks jobs. And it makes many of the low skilled unemployable. Which means they may never acquire the experience or skills that will help them gain higher wages in the future.</p>
<p>Ultimately if people want to improve the lot of the lower paid it can only be achieved by generating more wealth. And that cannot be achieved by placing undue burdens on business or creating limitations to employment. So if you are a Nu-Labour supporter I think you need to search a little harder for those &#8216;good&#8217; policies that you are trying to remind us of.</p>
<p><em>Rob Waller sits on the NCC of the Libertarian Party and regularly posts for the <a title="Click for blog" href="http://lpuksoutheast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">LPUK South East Blog</a>.</em></p>
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<li>Chris Oakley:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/13/plain-packaging-a-dirty-war-alright/#comment-40857" title="on Plain packaging - a dirty war alright!">Stuart has done a great job of</a></li>
<li>Junican:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/13/plain-packaging-a-dirty-war-alright/#comment-40845" title="on Plain packaging - a dirty war alright!">Stuart says:

I think thi</a></li>
<li>Dave Atherton:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/13/plain-packaging-a-dirty-war-alright/#comment-40822" title="on Plain packaging - a dirty war alright!">I have just done a short blog </a></li>
<li>Ramsey Soudah:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/13/plain-packaging-a-dirty-war-alright/#comment-40821" title="on Plain packaging - a dirty war alright!">EXCELLENTLY PUT Angela, as alw</a></li>
<li>Stuart Wheatcroft:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/13/plain-packaging-a-dirty-war-alright/#comment-40819" title="on Plain packaging - a dirty war alright!">I think this is a post which m</a></li>
<li>externalities:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/13/plain-packaging-a-dirty-war-alright/#comment-40817" title="on Plain packaging - a dirty war alright!">This is without doubt the most</a></li>
<li>Chessnuts:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/10/cleggs-solution-to-complex-tax-code-another-tax/#comment-40785" title="on Clegg's solution to complex tax code: another tax!">I'm tired of all this populist</a></li>
<li>Alvin Batlis:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2010/06/16/the-independent-city-state-of-ankers/#comment-40707" title="on The Independent City State of *ankers">Howdy I am so glad I found you</a></li>
<li>Simon McGrath:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/03/08/good-luck-to-liberal-reform-at-conference/#comment-40689" title="on Good luck to Liberal Reform at conference">Thanks Angela.

We hope that</a></li>
<li>JJ:<a href="http://www.liberal-vision.org/2012/02/07/turn-the-bbc-into-a-cooperative/#comment-40623" title="on Turn the BBC into a Cooperative">The BBC is rubbish, and they k</a></li>
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Crucifixion, rape, electric shocks, gouging flesh with pincers, all would be bad enough to read abo [&hellip;]'>Amnesty International report highlights horrendous torture in Syria</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://www.philipvial.org/blog/tv-celebrity-architect-to-tell-shipston-how-to-go-green/' title='[IMG: 20120314-171804.jpg] All, Act on Energy and Transition Shipston are holding a Community Energy Fair in Shipston in March. Here is their press release. It should be an interesting day – and show local residents how they can save money on their energy bills. Best of all – it&#039;s free! Philip &quot;See through the spin to really go green!&quot; That wi [&hellip;]'>Tv celebrity architect to tell shipston how to go green</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://alecdauncey.blogspot.com/2012/03/town-council-budget-for-2012-2013.html' title='The Town Council has set its budget. Total expenditure is £251,514. I have only shown individual items of over £5,000 rounded to nearest thousand. The rest is in &quot;various&quot;. Council has a full time Clerk and part-time secretary. Full details will be on the Town Council website, minutes of meeting on 30 January 2012. [&hellip;]'>Town Council Budget for 2012-2013</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-the-ongoing-disaster-of-british-landuse-planning-27604.html' title='Britain&#039;s planning system is generally defended on environmental grounds. Yet far from keepingBritain&quot;green and pleasant&quot;, the Town and Country Planning Acts have led to the creation of dormitory towns, required the building of extensive infrastructure, and have increased urban density at the expense of urban green space. In a new report relea [&hellip;]'>Opinion: the ongoing disaster of British land-use planning</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://lordsoftheblog.net/2012/03/14/party-animals/' title='I am extremely grateful to Matthew Purvis, one of the extremely assiduous and analytically astute researchers in the House of Lords Library, who has confirmed with some statistics my suspicion that former MPs and councillors (nominees of their parties, all) are indeed disproportionately represented among the active membership (those who attend and vote) of t [&hellip;]'>Party animals?</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://simonwright.org.uk/en/article/2012/570146/mp-encourages-runners-to-sign-up-to-norwich-mile' title='Norwich South MP Simon Wright today (Wednesday) took part in the Sport Relief Westminster Mile for MPs. He is now encouraging more people to sign up for the Norwich Mile on 25 March. Speaking after his participation in the Westminster Mile, Mr Wright said: [IMG: Simon Wright MP after completing the Westminster Mile] &quot;I would strongly encourage people to [&hellip;]'>MP encourages runners to sign up to Norwich Mile</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://cllrlesterholloway.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/speeding-on-sutton-common-road/' title='Read the latest about what Sutton North councillors are doing to tackle speeding on Suttton Common Road by visiting my local ward blog here. [&hellip;]'>Speeding on Sutton Common Road</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://gyronny.com/2012/03/14/it-really-would-try-the-patience-of-a-saint/' title='It&#039;s has happened again. What? I hear you ask. Nothing simpler than another occasion in which those in Lib Dem HQ in London forget about us in Northern Ireland. It is often said to me that the Lib Dems don&#039;t make policy on issues affecting Northern Ireland only – that is on issues devolved to ... [&hellip;]'>It really would try the patience of a saint...</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://www.libdemvoice.org/a-story-a-story-my-kingdom-for-a-story-27535.html' title='Neil Stockley has often, and rightly, written about the power of stories in conveying a political message. A dry recital of bullet points and decimal points may make for a good conference motion or a useful background briefing document. What it does not make for is a message that will move and convince people. It needs a story to bring it to life. Last week  [&hellip;]'>A story, a story, my kingdom for a story</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://alecdauncey.blogspot.com/2012/03/town-council-finance-and-accounts.html' title='Bank Reconciliation&quot;This is an important internal control. It compares the council&#039;s cash book with the bank statements. Typically bank statements are received monthly. Some smaller councils may receive quarterly statements. It is good practice for the bank reconciliation to be prepared every time a bank statement is received. In all cases, the cou [&hellip;]'>Town Council Finance and Accounts</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://spiderplantland.co.uk/?p=7905' title='You have to wonder where it all went wrong. I sit here at the age of 40 looking around at my life and what I have achieved and it all seems rather a waste. Perhaps I am being overly philosophical because of the death of my uncle. I don&#039;t really know. What I do know is ... [&hellip;]'>What a mess</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://bignewsmargate.blogspot.com/2012/03/re-standards-complaint.html' title='Some of you will be aware that I found it necessary to refer Cllr Wells to KCC&#039;s Standards committee. Details of their determinations follows Decision Notice Standards (Assessment) Sub Committee Reference Number: KCC/1/2012 Date: 7 March 2012 Details of the complaint: Mr T Flaig (the complainant), raised concerns about the alleged conduct of Mr C Wells, [&hellip;]'>Re Standards Complaint</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://www.markpack.org.uk/30104/clegg-hints-no-lords-reform-no-boundary-changes/' title='The FT&#039;s increasingly must-read Kiran Stacey writes: Conservative minister, Peter Lilley, ... asked why he was so focused on House of Lords reform when there were so many other more important issues to tackle. Clegg&#039;s response was very telling: &quot;There are other issues like changing the boundaries which I know are close to his party&#039;s hear [&hellip;]'>Clegg hints: no Lords reform, no boundary changes</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://richardkemp.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/a-new-source-of-funding-for-liverpool/' title='I was delighted to see that the Local Government Association issued a report to the Government this week calling for powers to enable councils to create local investment bonds to boost local growth and enterprise. This follows on from work ... Continue reading → [&hellip;]'>A new source of funding for Liverpool</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://libdemsni.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/dont-we-get-a-say-on-the-extra-60-here-in-norn-irn/' title='Obviously when the Lib Dems in Government at Westminster talked about increasing the income tax threshold they meant it be for all the UK. The excellent website, set up by Tim Gordon, asking people what they would do with it however, makes it impossible for me or the rest of our local party to tell ... [&hellip;]'>Don&#039;t we get a say on the extra &pound;60 here in Norn Irn</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://www.libdemvoice.org/lib-link-nick-clegg-my-mission-to-make-the-ultra-rich-pay-27587.html' title='Nick Clegg was interviewed in the Telegraph at the weekend. On the train journey to Gateshead, he covered how he wants to make the rich pay their fair share in tax, economic policy beyond the deficit, support for equal marriage and his relationships with his cabinet colleagues. On taxing the rich he had this to say: &quot;It makes people so incredibly angry  [&hellip;]'>Lib Link: Nick Clegg - my mission to make the ultra rich pay</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://peterblack.blogspot.com/2012/03/limited-ambition.html' title='From yesterday&#039;s debate on Housing Benefit: The Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage (Huw Lewis): ......it is my determined ambition to be labelled ‗small-minded&#039; by a Conservative. Then I will have achieved everything in politics that I set out to do. If that is all that it takes to satisfy the Minister&#039;s ambitions then that could  [&hellip;]'>Limited Ambition</a></li><li><a class='rsswidget' href='http://abriefhistoryofliberty.tumblr.com/post/19289456498' title='The extremism within the National Union of Students has become an increasing frustration to me lately. Instead of working constructively to support students and widen access to Universities, the NUS, dominated by an extremist clique, campaign negatively against the Government even when that is not in the best interest of its own members. Ex-President Aaron P [&hellip;]'>The NUS should stop screwing over its own members for political points</a></li></ul></li>
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