Category Archives: Daily View

Welcome to the new bloggers…

By Ryan Cullen | Published 24th July 2010 - 12:07 pm

Four blogs have recently joined my Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Good luck to all the new bloggers, and why not take a moment to pop over to their blogs, take a read and post a comment?

Do you know of a blog by a LibDem which isn’t listed? Why not get them to add it as well?

Whether you are one of these new bloggers or someone who has been on the aggregator for rather longer, why not add you blog to the Wikio

…

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Daily View 2×2: 8 June 2010

By Sara Bedford | Published 8th June 2010 - 11:04 am

Good morning and welcome to World Oceans Day. Apologies for having missed last Tuesday’s Daily View – I was over-excited as it was my birthday – and half term!

On this day in 1999, disgraced ex-cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken was given an 18 month jail sentence, after he admitted lying during a failed libel action.  The former Conservative MP admitted both charges earlier in the year, following the collapse of his libel case against The Guardian newspaper and Granada TV.  Passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Scott Baker told Aitken he had woven a web of deceit and committed an inexcusable breach of trust.

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Daily View 2×2: 28 May 2010

By Helen Duffett | Published 28th May 2010 - 7:00 am

As Big Ben chimes seven, it’s time to celebrate the day 151 years ago, that the famous bell was drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses from Whitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster.

To show that cuts in Westminster are nothing new, the cost of the bell was reduced by recycling the metal from the previous, faulty bell:

George Mears, then the master bellfounder and owner of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, undertook the casting. According to foundry records, Mears originally quoted a price of £2401 for casting the bell, but this was offset to the sum of £1829 by the metal he was able to reclaim from the first bell so that the actual invoice tendered, on 28th May 1858, was in the sum of £572.

If you’d like to know what Big Ben itself has to say today, you can follow it [him?] on Twitter: @big_ben_clock.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

2 Big Stories

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Daily View 2×2: 27 May 2010

By Alex Foster | Published 27th May 2010 - 7:33 am

Detail of the art deco crown of the Chrysler Building, New YorkGood morning, and welcome to Daily View on the day which sees New York’s Chrysler Building celebrate its 80th birthday. Completed in 1930, it was the tallest building in the world for all of 11 months, before being replaced by the Empire State Building. After 9/11, it is once again the second tallest building in New York.

Also celebrating birthdays today are the chef Jamie Oliver (who is currently applying for planning permission to build a restaurant in Nottingham I will probably never be able to afford to eat in); West Wing actor Richard Schiff and the Lib Dem MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron. Some have speculated he might be in the running to replace Vince Cable as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats; he tweeted last night that as Vince Cable’s PPS, he got to hear the “Stalin to Mr Bean” gag in rehearsal. Tim is 40 today.

2 Big Stories

Coalition government sets out radical welfare reforms

So says the Guardian headline, anyway, but the article is light on detail if heavy on mood music. A lot of people will be watching anxiously for the detail.

Duncan Smith says he is to propose to the Treasury a radical scheme that includes simplification of the complex benefits system designed to make it financially worthwhile for unemployed people to work, including in part-time jobs.

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Daily View 2×2: 25 May 2010

By Sara Bedford | Published 25th May 2010 - 9:21 am

Don’t panic! Today is Towel Day.

Seventy years ago today, the Battle of Dunkirk began. On this day in 1967, Celtic FC became the first British team to win the European Cup, beating Inter Milan 2–1 in Lisbon.

Perfect Housewife Anthea Turner is 50 today, joining birthday boys Julian Clary (51) and Paul Weller (52) in a sixth decade.

2 big news stories

Poll shows broad support for coalition
The Guardian reports its ICM poll,  which shows broad support for the coalition government.

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Daily View 2×2: 24 May 2010

By Stephen Tall | Published 24th May 2010 - 9:15 am

Happy Monday morning, everyone, and welcome to the second full week of Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government. Ironically, or not, today marks the 22nd anniversary of the Tories’ homophobic Section 28 being enacted as part of the 1988 Local Government Act … how far we’ve al come since then.

2 Big Stories 1 Big Story

Normally the Daily View features 2 Big Stories from the news – but today we can only afford one. Not even Lib Dem Voice is immune to the age of austerity. This isn’t a U-tun, by the way, we’re just responding to events.

The UK embarks …

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Daily View 2×2: 19 May 2010

By Iain Roberts | Published 19th May 2010 - 8:02 am

19th May has often been a day for momentous political events. On this day in 1536, Ann Boleyn met her fate and the executioner’s axe. In 1649, England became a commonwealth on this day and stayed that way for eleven years.

On 19th May 1921, the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act. It limited the number of immigrants who could enter the US from any one European country to 3% of the total number already in the US, in an atmosphere of post-war isolationism and worries about high immigration. That it didn’t apply to Latin American countries may have set the foundations for a radical change in the ethnic make-up of the USA.

2 Big stories

All change in the chamber

MPs took their seats in the House of Commons for the first time since the General Election, with Lib Dems and Tories mingling on the Government benches and Labour sharing the opposition benches with the smaller parties.

The Guardian had a minute-by-minute account, including reports of tweets:

From Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson:

rather disorientating sitting on the other side of the house – where @tomharrismp used to sit

From Labour MP Tom Watson:

In the house of commons, looking at these new MPs and feeling like a gnarled up old veteran at the age of 43.

From Paul Waugh:

The story of the opening day? The strange silence of the Lib Dem benches. Speeches from Tories, Labour, even SNP, but no LDs

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Daily View 2×2: 18 May 2010

By Sara Bedford | Published 18th May 2010 - 9:15 am

Good morning and welcome to today’s Daily View on International Museum Day.

On this day in 1991, Britain’s first astronaut, 27-year-old Helen Sharman,  blasted into orbit on the Soviet Soyuz TM-12 space capsule. I wonder if I should mention that Ms Sharman is from Sheffield?

Sixty years ago, twelve nations agreed the aims and objectives for the permanent organisation of NATO. The founder members at the launch at Lancaster House in London were: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States.  Later that year, Dwight D Eisenhower was appointed Nato’s first supreme commander.

 

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Daily View 2×2: 17 May 2010 (with bonus ‘Prophet Steel’ video)

By Stephen Tall | Published 17th May 2010 - 7:45 am

Happy Monday morning, everyone, and welcome to the first full week of Lib Dem / Conservative coalition government. Let’s get down to the news …

One Big Story

Lib Dem members give overwhelming thumbs-up to coalition government agreement

The Daily Telegraph has a fair-minded report proving that extraordinary things really can happen in the new politics (and in stark contrast to the snarkiness of the Grauniad):

… members voted “over-whelmingly” in support of the deal with no more than a dozen of the 2,000 delegates opposing the deal in a show of hands at the gathering in Birmingham. Speaking after the vote, Mr Clegg said: “It is a big step. There are lots of unknowns, there will be bumps and scrapes along the way”. He said the party’s special conference had taken a “very, very important decision” to approve the coalition “which is utterly new in modern British political history”. .. It is understood the while 100 members had quit the party since the deal was signed – a further 400 had joined.

The conference even earned plaudits from an unlikely source: ConservativeHome.com offered three cheers for the Lib Dems’ commitment to party democracy:

I take my hat off to the Liberal Democrats for the attempt to involve party members – the people who work so hard without expectation of office – in the decision to form a Coalition with the Conservatives. On a number of occasions Clegg met his MPs and party officers in a bid to hear their views and explain what he was doing. Today’s ratification of the deal will help bind the party into the fascinating Cameron-Clegg experiment. What a contrast with the Conservative Party where there has been next to no consultation of the party membership. Coming on top of Team Cameron’s various attempts to dilute Tory members’ role in membership selection it is all very disappointing.

Here’s how the BBC reported the day:

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Daily View 2×2: 14 May 2010. “Do or do not. There is no try.”

By Helen Duffett | Published 14th May 2010 - 11:51 am

Welcome to the Daily View for May 14. Happy 66th birthday to George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars movies.

“Do or Do not. There is no try” video also available on YouTube.

Perhaps Lynne Featherstone had this in mind this morning when she wrote Doing – not saying! Congratulations, Lynne, on your appointment as Under Secretary of State for Equalities.

Do or do not? – 2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

  • We have to make this work

    • From Cllr Steve Guy’s blog, “The Sandals are Off”:

    To be a Lib Dem who doesn’t agree with the new politics is to fundamentally have misunderstood what being a Lib Dem means. Central to our manifesto in every year of our existence has been our commitment for fair votes (proportional representation). If you believe in PR, then by definition, you believe that the old two party seesaw was bad.

  • Why I am leaving the Liberal Democrats…

    • by Jane Watkinson:

    I do leave the Liberal Democrats still fully supporting what they stand for. Unfortunately, I think we have compromised too many of our central beliefs in a bid for power. I know many of you agree with the coalition, and it has become apparent that it is best I leave instead of trying to argue my case within.

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

Doing and trying – 2 Big Stories

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Daily View 2×2: 13 May 2010

By Alex Foster | Published 13th May 2010 - 7:19 am

closeup view of velcroGood morning, and welcome to your super soaraway Daily View on this, the first full day of Liberal government in the UK.

Today in 1958, Velcro was trademarked before going on to applications in haberdashery and space travel.

Birthday boys today include Arthur Sullivan, Armistead Maupin and Stevie Wonder.

2 Big Stories

There’s no doubting from the papers that today is all about the new inhabitants of Downing Street. From a Lib Dem perspective, there’s wor Vince, about to wage war on the banks. Or is he? Does the update to the Guardian’s article, filed 90 minutes after the article itself, herald the first hint of trouble in Paradise?

City is right to fear Vince Cable

Make no mistake, Cable’s appointment matters. David Cameron could have given him another economic job that would have kept him well away from anything to do with City reform. Last night it was mooted that the MP for Twickenham might be made chief secretary to the Treasury, and thus responsible for the delicate negotiations with Whitehall ministries over spending cuts.

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Daily View 4×4: 11 May 2010

By Sara Bedford | Published 11th May 2010 - 8:00 am

Good morning and welcome to the most environmentally friendly 4×4 you will ever meet. It looks like 11th May 2010 could itself go down in history, but until then, here are a few fascinating facts from previous years.

  • 198 years ago today, Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons.
  • One this day in 1985, 56 people were killed following a fire at Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground. This had particular meaning to me, as I had been at the ground for the previous home game.
  • Today in 2001, author Douglas Adams died suddenly at the age of just 50.

4 must-read newspaper commentaries

But hold on tight to your blood pressure!

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Daily View: the human poster special

By Mark Pack | Published 2nd May 2010 - 9:00 am

Following our election special poster and virtual poster editions, time to round off the campaign with the human poster:

I've recently been diagnosed with Cleggmania and I'm loving it

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Daily View: the virtual poster special

By Mark Pack | Published 25th April 2010 - 9:00 am

Posters matter in election campaigns, because they show people that a party has plenty of support. Knowing that a party has lots of support in turn encourages other people to vote for that party. So last Sunday’s Daily View was a poster special with one you can print off and put in your window.

Today it’s the turn of the virtual poster. Take this graphic – also at http://bit.ly/ldvirtual – and use it to as your Facebook profile picture / Twitter avatar etc. That way we can help turn the 49% who say they would vote Lib Dem …

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Daily View: the poster special

By Mark Pack | Published 18th April 2010 - 9:00 am

Here’s a better way to spend a few minutes than reading my Sunday morning post.

Take this window poster, print it off (preferably on a colour printer) and stick it in your window.

(Why? Because the more people see that friends and neighbours support Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats, the more they are likely to do so themselves.)

Then help spread the message by sending a tweet or setting your Facebook status along these lines:

People are flocking to #LibDems. Help keep it going with poster at http://bit.ly/libdemposter – print off + stick up! #iagreewithnick

Hat-tip: Stuart Bonar

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