Welcome to my round-up of some of the best news sources and blogs, all brought together in one place. If you have any suggestions for other sites to include, please do get in touch and if you would like to get a convenient summary of Liberal Democrat news, just sign up for my monthly email newsletter.
-
Housing market 'not being fixed'
Housing groups warn that problems in Britain's housing market are not being fixed, on the day that figures on new house building are due.
-
PM: UK my priority in euro crisis
David Cameron is expected to say it is his job to keep the UK safe whatever the fate of the eurozone.
-
Some work schemes 'of no benefit'
A parliamentary committee questions the length and quality of some apprenticeships, saying six month programmes are of no real benefit.
-
Equality laws to be 'simplified'
Ministers announce plans to "simplify" equalities legislation and remove what they say are "unnecessary" obligations on business - a move criticised by Labour.
-
Cameron To Step Up Eurozone Break-Up Warnings
David Cameron will step up his warning to eurozone countries to sort out the present crisis and uncertainty as a matter of urgency.
-
Jobs Saved As GM To Build New Astra At Ellesmere
More than 2,100 jobs will be saved and more created as General Motors prepares to announce the new Vauxhall Astra will be manufactured at Ellesmere ...
-
Home Secretary Heckled By Police Over Cuts
Theresa May has been jeered and heckled by rank-and-file officers as she defended herself against accusations that spending cuts are "destroying" Britain's police service.
-
Cameron Critics Ousted In Tory Elections
David Cameron has won some welcome respite from his troubles after loyalist Tory MPs ousted many of his right-wing critics in elections for key party ...
-
Government accused of abandoning poor families by slashing fuel poverty spending
The Government has been accused of turning its back on hard-up families by slashing spending on fuel poverty. -
Straw and Brooks met for gossip on the train, Leveson Inquiry is told
Britain's strangest commuting couple, the Lord Chancellor and the editor of The Sun, kept their political gossip to a minimum, just in case anyone on ... -
Cameron's allies take control from critics in rebel Tory group
Critics of David Cameron last night lost an acrimonious battle for control of an influential Conservative backbench committee with direct ... -
Cameron to meet Hollande with message: austerity is working
David Cameron will claim today that austerity is working despite Britain's slide back into recession as he urges eurozone countries ...
-
1922 committee election: PM's loyalists and critics share honours
Modernisers gain ground but fail to take key posts in Tory party's 12-strong executiveSupporters and opponents of David Cameron achieved ...
-
Cost of Greek exit from euro put at $1tn
UK government making urgent preparations to cope with the fallout of a possible Greek exit from the single currencyThe British ...
-
Conservative party: terms of engagement | Editorial
The question about what Conservatives are for if they cannot manage the economy successfully remains unresolvedPolitics in an age of ...
-
Steve Bell on Mervyn King – cartoon
The governor of the Bank of England says there is no obvious solution to the crisis gripping the single currencySteve Bell
-
Dr John Sentamu: gay marriage plans are for 'emotional need' not righting injustice
Same-sex marriage plans have only been tabled to meet "emotional need" not to right injustice, Dr John Sentamu says. -
Philip Hammond backs down over Scottish regiment names
Philip Hammond has backed down over proposals to abolish Scotland's historic regiment names after the Daily Telegraph's disclosure of the plan provoked widespread fury. -
Britain 'forced to leave EU if Scotland separates'
Scottish independence could see the UK kicked out of the European Union and forced to surrender its £3 billion annual rebate if it wanted to ... -
PFI contracts 'costing departments 12 times more than they raise'
Contracts signed under the Private Finance Initiative are costing some Whitehall departments 12 times more than the amounts that they raise, a new study shows.
-
Iain Duncan Smith: Call to slash £25bn off benefits is ‘daft’
WORK and Pensions Sec dismisses call from former No10 guru Steve Hilton
-
Home Secretary Theresa May branded a ‘disgrace’ by cops
UNDER-FIRE Minister faces chorus of heckles and boos at Police Federation conference
-
Wounded heroes beat MoD in benefits battle
VETERANS injured during military service are to keep their disability benefits for life after PM halted bid to cut them
-
Cameron warns: It’s make or break time for euro, as Mervyn King slashes UK growth forecasts by a THIRD
DAVID Cameron is to issue plea to Angela Merkel to fork out billions as the only way to stave off imminent meltdown
-
Willie Rennie’s first year as Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader
Tomorrow it’s a year since Willie Rennie became Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader. What have been the highlights of that first year? Well, on his first ... -
Liberal Democrats reject Steve Hilton’s £25 billion welfare cuts call
David Cameron’s adviser Steve Hilton heads off for a sabbatical in California, where he will be learning more about governance. However, he is reported in ...
-
Lynne Featherstone’s honeycomb surprise
MPs’ offices get stacks and stacks of mail. Every day all manner of things arrive, from invitations, to big glossy brochures from various organisations, to ... -
Liberal Democrat MPs fight for blind people hit by welfare changes
The Independent reports that Liberal Democrat MPs are trying to change the new assessment process for the Personal Independence Payments which will replace Disability Living ...
-
Colonial Drive Planning Meeting - the outcome
Earlier today (well Wednesday night) I attended the Ealing Council planning committee where the Colonial Drive application was discussed. Let me thank all of the ...
-
IDAHO - International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia
I have always been committed to promoting equality for all; whether I'm signing a Parliamentary motion on human rights abuses in a foreign country, campaigning ...
-
Market Harborough gets a Star Wars makeover
From the Harborough Mail: It may have happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but Star Wars has come to Harborough ...
-
Urlay Nook Plans
This afternoon was the "community consultation" on the proposal by Taylor Wimpey for houses on the field at Urlay Nook Rd opposite Hunters' Green. The ...
-
Police urged to investigate campaign against Labour and Lib Dem councillors in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes Liberal Democrats are asking the police to investigate campaign leaflets put out during this year's council elections which attacked both Lib Dem and ... -
A much better email from Nick Clegg
Good to see the recent improvements in the party’s general emails continuing with the latest from Nick Clegg. It has a clear, simple message, presented ... -
The Best Man: Gore Vidal’s film about a US Presidential selection contest
Until I read about The Best Man in a positive review from a friend, this political thriller has completely passed me by, yet it is one ... -
TalkTalk’s HomeSafe mysteries
Welcome to a new occasional series about the mysteries of TalkTalk’s HomeSafe web filtering service and some of the sites it decides to block. Today ...
-
Mulder, Scully, Ed and the Fabians
I’m an odd sort of politico at times. Like all other political obsessives, I have my passions, my causes and my beliefs. I have a ... -
Missing People missing from the Queen’s Speech
One of the many surprises caused by its absence from the Queen’s Speech was any mention of the long-sought legislation on addressing the impact a ...
-
Jack Straw on his time gossiping on trains with Rebekah Brooks
Related posts: Abolishing an elected European Parliament is no way forward – a response to Jack Straw Jack Straw on the battle to lower the ...
-
New Labour Lords Front Bench revealed
* indicates shadow cabinet member Department Spokespersons Whip Opposition Leader Jan Royall * - Opposition Deputy Leader Philip Hunt - Opposition Chief Whip Steve Bassam ...
-
As Greece melts down, is anyone meeting in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA)?
by Peter Watt Over the years, you always knew when there was a real crisis on, when you heard there was a meeting in COBRA. ... -
The fall in unemployment is based on p/t working & self-employment
by Tony Dolphin The news that unemployment fell by 45,000 in the first three months of this year, compared to the last three months of 2011, ... -
The status quo in London is not an option
by Rob Marchant As the post-election dust settles, we must hope that the party is, somewhere, currently holding a quiet post-mortem, to take away the ...
-
Gus O’Donnell gives Leveson his prescription for media mismanagement
by Atul Hatwal A little tidbit from Gus O’Donnell’s written evidence at the Leveson Inquiry yesterday: “When Alastair Campbell was appointed Director of Communications at ...
-
MSPs outline “grave concerns” about UK welfare reforms
MSPs today expressed “grave concerns” over the likely impact on Scotland’s most vulnerable people as a result of Westminster’s £2.5 billion cut in benefits. -
As Europe looks set to back a Robin Hood Tax, Osborne remains on the side of the 1%
A Robin Hood Tax would be a tiny tax on the vast wealth of our financial sector; by taxing the few, we could do so ...
-
Europe’s Right still full-steam ahead on mad dash for austerity
Shadow Scotland Office minister William Bain MP writes about the insanity of the European right’s mad dash for austerity.
-
Unemployment: Headline figures camouflage underlying picture of weakness
A recovery driven by part-time work and accompanied by falling living standards won’t feel like a recovery to most people, writes Duncan Weldon.
-
It's a change of generation at the '22
By Paul Goodman Follow Paul on Twitter Some quick points about this evening's '22 result: The elections were a clean sweep for the 301 Group ...
-
PMQs: Cameron is equal to Miliband's economy attacks, as he hints at Eurozone "break up"
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter After recent troubles with issues like Leveson and the local elections, the Prime Minister was bound to have ...
-
Grant Shapps, sounding like a Party Chairman, says David Cameron should be judged only after a full term of office
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter It's worth noting Grant Shapps' Daily Telegraph article this morning. There are a trio of reasons for this. ...
-
Unemployment is down, exports are booming but Paterson, Hague and Fox all urge Chancellor to do more
By Tim Montgomerie Follow Tim on Twitter The latest jobs data have been published and they show another rise in employment. The number employed in ...
-
Europe's voters are in denial about the need for austerity; the solution is MORE democracy
I've been musing for two days on an unusually troubling column by Matthew Parris. The great man begins reasonably enough, wondering at the refusal of the Greek ...
-
An EU referendum is coming. Which party will get the credit?
It's the Prisoner's Dilemma. The party which offers a referendum on leaving the EU will gain a hefty electoral premium. Though neither of the big ...
-
European integration does nothing for peace
Happy Europe Day. Or is it 'Merry Europe Day'? I always forget. No doubt most readers will be spending the day in prayer and fasting, ...
-
Even as it drags them under, Greeks cling to the euro
The markets are now, according to some calculations, pricing in a 75 per cent likelihood of Greece leaving the euro. Most analysts have been of ...
-
ASA semantics and lies
The Advertising Standards Authority have issued a statement relating to their investigation of the Coalition for Marriage advertisements. ... -
ASA – His Grace responds
His Grace apologises to his readers and communicants for his brief absence from his cyber pulpit: he has ... -
Advertising Standards Authority persecutes His Grace
Apparently there have been a number of complaints about one of the advertisements His Grace carried ... -
Invoking Christ and conservatism in the cause of gay marriage
His Grace has noticed something: when right-wingers quote Jesus or other verses of Scripture in defence of the ...
-
Who made up 'Make up or Break Up'?
David Cameron's most striking quote at PMQs today came when he warned the eurozo...
-
British-Indian hisTory
A little bit of history was made today in Justice Questions: the Commons saw the...
-
Labour's Eurosceptic tinge
Are both Labour and the Tories edging towards an in-out referendum on Europe? ...
-
The fractious 1922
It's hard to believe now but just a few weeks ago, the Conservatives were defyin...
-
The 301 Group purge the 1922 committee
The 1922 elections were not a clean sweep for the loyalist 301 Group slate, they missed out on ... -
Metaphorical Merv
Mervyn King unfurled a mast of metaphors this morning. ‘We are navigating through turbulent waters, with the risk ... -
A part-time recovery
Today’s jobs figures show a 105,000 rise in employment and a 45,000 fall in unemployment, from the final quarter of 2011 to the first ...
-
Cameron injects some anger into a playful PMQs
-
Students: help us demand accountability from University Vice-Chancellors
It's clichéd to say, but the next 6 months really will be a vital period for English Higher Education. Broader and more strategic political action ...
-
What do we want from the BBC?
A new Director General is being appointed to take over the leadership of the single most important cultural and current affairs institution in Britain: the ...
-
IDS facing defeat at the next election
-
Cam more unpopular than Brown in ’10
-
From: 1922 Committee
From: 1922 Committee Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 07:30 PM Subject: Election Results Please find attached results for today’s elections. I am very grateful to ...
-
Julian Lewis Claims Tories Would Have Majority Without Clegg
Without the Coalition, the Tory MP reckons the government would be very different: From: “LEWIS, Julian” Date: 16 May 2012 13:49:32 GMT+01:00 Subject: 1922 Committee ...
-
Revolving Dawes
With the sudden, and possibly unwilling, departure of Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Ian Watmore, the job has been given temporarily to Melanie Dawes. AKA “her in doors” ... -
Boris Has Landed in Athens
As mob unrest continues and the country is on the brink of economic collapse, who should land in Athens? Boris. Orator and traveled diplomat. Remember his speech ...
- What’s this going to do to the Scottish independence debate?
-
Romney punters will have to wait until Tampa
Betfair Politics A couple of people have raised with time the question of when they can expect to pick up their winnings on Mitt Romney ... -
What if the blues conclude that Dave is a loser?
Would Phillip Hammond be best placed to become leader&PM? These have been a bloody few weeks for David Cameron. One problem seems to have piled ... -
It’s PB NightHawks time after a very busy day
What a day for political news This has been one of those days. After last night’s YouGov poll with its record lead we then had ...
-
YouGov/Sun – CON 31, LAB 45, LDEM 9
Tonight’s YouGov poll for the Sun has topline figures of CON 31%, LAB 45%, LDEM 9%, Others 15% (including UKIP on 8%). So, a second ...
-
Ipsos MORI/Standard – CON 33, LAB 43, LDEM 9
Ipsos MORI’s monthly political monitor poll is now out in the Evening Standard (which seems to have become its new home after living at Reuters ...
-
Lib Dem support at local elections
I’d have several comments here (and seen countless similar comments on Twitter) asking why, if the Lib Dems got 16% in the local elections this ... -
YouGov/Sun – CON 31, LAB 45, UKIP 8, LDEM 7
Tonight’s YouGov poll for the Sun has topline figures of CON 31%, LAB 45%, UKIP 8%, LDEM 7%. The 14 point lead is the biggest ...
-
Analysis of proposed changes to the EU PSI Directive
(Report) The European Commission recently presented a proposal for the review of the EU Directive on the reuse of public sector information. Since the original ...
-
New ORG report reveals UK mobile Internet censorship
(Press Release) Open Rights Group and LSE Media Policy Project launched a new report, 'Mobile Internet censorship: w…
-
Mobile Internet censorship: what's happening and what to do
(Blog) A new report from Open Rights Group and LSE Media Policy Project reveals widespread over-blocking on mobile networks, helping to demonstrate why we shouldn't ...
-
Can you help stop the Snoopers' Charter?
(Blog) The “Snoopers’ Charter”: the Communications Data Bill is about to be published by the government.
-
Non-job of the week
Last week I wrote about a major management reorganisation at Hull City Council. The council leader, Cllr Steve Brady, said he was looking to make ...
-
West Country against Caravan tax
MPs in the South-West have joined the growing wave of anger against the government’s proposed tax on static caravans. Cornish MPs Dan Rogerson and Andrew ...
-
Pushing for transparency in Nottingham
After weeks of heavy rain, the sun shone in Nottingham at the weekend where TPA activists were collecting more signatures for our petition calling on ...
-
More full-time politicians for Southampton
Southampton City Council, in common with many others around the country, changed political colours last week. Shortly after the empty ballot boxes were locked away, ...
-
Is this the worst government statistic ever created?
I forgot to post this column up last year. It’s a fun one: the Department for Communities and Local Government have produced a truly farcical ...
-
Is there statistical evidence of fraud in the Russian election data?
James Ball sent me the data for the Russian election vote counts this morning and asked me to test whether it deviates from Benford’s law, ...
-
The golden arse beam method.
Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 9 July 2011 Since I was a teenager, whenever I have a pivotal life event coming – an exam, or ...
-
These Guardian / Independent stories are dodgy. Traps in data journalism.
Here’s an interesting problem with data analysis in general, and so, by extension, data journalism: you have to be careful about assuming that the numbers ...