Archive for News
Are these the most generous mileage allowances in the public sector?
HM Revenue and Customs set an approved mileage rate of 40p per mile for using your own car on work. That makes for a good yardstick to judge mileage allowances against and various parts of the public sector I’ve come across pay either this figure or a bit more or less.
But I’ve never come across [...]
Vince Cable 1, Labour Party attack document 0
Back in 2005 the Labour Party published a document attacking 100 (alleged) spending commitments the Liberal Democrats had made, including one which accurately quoted Vince Cable from his website:
Twickenham has one of the best bee keeping centres in the country. Many local people support it. Benefits from bees’ natural pollination activities are enormous, worth billions [...]
Stoke update
A quick update from LocalGov as I’ve blogged on the story before:
The police will not be charging former Stoke Mayor, Mark Meredith, and two other men with corruption after the Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to make a case.
Mr Meredith, who no longer holds a role at the council following a [...]
30 things any would-be politician should do this summer (Part III)
Inspired by Journalism Grads: 30 Things You Should Do This Summer post (pointed out to me by Lib Dem Voice’s Stephen Tall), here’s my list of 30 things anyone wanting to become an elected public official should do over the summer.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my Twitter, Facebook and email messages asking for [...]
30 things any would-be politician should do this summer (Part II)
Inspired by Journalism Grads: 30 Things You Should Do This Summer post (pointed out to me by Lib Dem Voice’s Stephen Tall), here’s my list of 30 things anyone wanting to become an elected public official should do over the summer.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my Twitter, Facebook and email messages asking for [...]
Speaker accuses whips of leaking information
Speaker John Bercow certainly didn’t flinch from his accusations of leaking against whips. As I Spy Strangers reports:
The Speaker of the House of Commons has told MPs that neither he nor his staff leaked details of his statement to the House on proposals to elect his deputies.
John Bercow said that he had consulted with government [...]
30 things any would-be politician should do this summer (Part I)
Inspired by Journalism Grads: 30 Things You Should Do This Summer post (pointed out to me by Lib Dem Voice’s Stephen Tall), here’s my list of 30 things anyone wanting to become an elected public official should do over the summer.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my Twitter, Facebook and email messages asking for [...]
Jenny Watson responds to criticism of her speech
On Tuesday evening I blogged about the speech given by Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission, criticising her comments about turnout in British elections:
I was rather surprised at the introduction to your speech earlier today to the UCL Constitution Unit where you painted what seems to me a very misleading picture of what is [...]
The Electoral Commission gets it wrong on turnout
Here’s the email I’ve sent to Jenny Watson, Chair of the Electoral Commission:
Dear Jenny Watson,
I was rather surprised at the introduction to your speech earlier today to the UCL Constitution Unit where you painted what seems to me a very misleading picture of what is happening to turnout in British elections.
I appreciate that is a [...]
Taxpayers’ Alliance: MPs should be bad employers
With all the genuine expenses targets available, you’d have through the Taxpayers’ Alliance would have found a better target than attacking a Plaid MP, Adam Price, for using part of his Parliamentary expenses to pay for his staff to go on training courses.
MPs, rightly, get to employ staff via the expenses schemes. (How else, for [...]
