What a bad night and day for David Cameron and the Conservatives last night. A bad night that the Liberal Democrats joined them in. Labour managed to surpass the modest target they had set. In the 181 councils across the UK that elected new councillors Labour gained 32 of them. The Conservatives lost 12 councils and the Liberal Democrats lost 1. Labour gained councils in the South and Midlands where they needed to regain ground if they are to...
The Catholic Church in the UK has stepped up its opposition to Gay Marriage being introduced in the UK. Today mass-goers will be urged to oppose any moves towards Gay Marriage in a pastoral letter from Archbishop of Westminster Most Rev Vincent Nichols and Archbishop of Southwark Most Rev Peter Smith. They argue that they must save marriage for “Future Generations”. They of course join the hierarchy in opposing this move as Cardinal Keith O’Brien last week compared Gay Marriage to...
This year the people of Northern Ireland will go to the polls to elect 108 MLA’s to the Northern Ireland Assembly on May 5th. The current standings of the parties are as follows: Democratic Unionist Party: 36 Sinn Fein: 27 Ulster Unionist Party: 18 Social Democratic and Labour Party: 16 Alliance Party: 7 Green Party: 1 Independents: 5 The campaign is well under way since the Assembly was dissolved on 24th of March and a number of issues have...
I am on the mailing for Yes2AV and today they sent out a preview of their broadcast tonight for the referendum on May 5th. This will be the first broadcast and it will be aired at 5:55pm on BBC 1 and an hour later on BBC 2 and ITV. I think it is a really smart broadcast and focuses and all the relevant stuff. Must say it has impressed me hugely. Related articles AV Special: What is it? How...
I was doing my usual perusal of Guido Fawke’s blog this morning. This is a blog I normally find interesting and informative but as the Alternative Vote (AV) referendum campaign continues it seems to be peddling more lies about AV and STV (the PR varient used in Ireland). To try and show AV as a confusing system he posted this picture to try and show how confusing it is. Now that picture above would be ok if it showed...
Today the House of Commons will consider as a Committee of the whole house, the European Union Bill. This will mean that in future the United Kingdom will have to hold a referendum on future treaties which amend the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Function of the European Union Under the Bill the UK will have to hold a referendum if the treaty meets one of these conditions: (a) the extension of the objectives of...
Image via Wikipedia This Evening the House of Commons will be debating the Loans to Ireland Bill which will allow the United Kingdom to give a loan of £3,250 million to Ireland. The plan is that the bill will finish off all stages today. It will pass the Committee stage in the whole House. Already today the issue has been raised four times in the House of Commons. The first time by Mark Reckless, MP for Rochester and Strood,...
Image via Wikipedia A statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. Mr George Osborne. From Hansard: With permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to make a statement regarding financial assistance for Ireland.I hope Members will understand that an announcement had to be made at the weekend, ahead of markets opening this morning. Last night, I spoke to the Chair of the Treasury Committee and the shadow Chancellor to keep them informed of the latest developments. The...
Image via Wikipedia My last post had a quick look at what the Con/Lib Agreement said on Political Reform. Now look at what should be a what the Agreement says on the EU. As a Euroblogger I probably should have done this first! The UK will not join the Euro. No surprise there. They will try to limit the Working Time Directive in its application to the UK. The 1972 European Communities Act will be amended so that any...
Image via Wikipedia The Liberal Democrats have posted the agreement online. Here are some of things that jump out at me on Political Reform. We agree to establish a committee to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper chamber on the basis of proportional representation. The parties agree to the establishment of five year fixed-term parliaments The parties will bring forward a Referendum Bill on electoral reform, which includes provision for the introduction of the Alternative...
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