Tag Archives: john hemming

LibLink: “John Hemming is definitely a cat man”

By NewsHound | Published 14th January 2012 - 2:10 pm

John Hemming, Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley, is an unabashed iconoclast. The Independent this week sought to understand what makes him tick a little better. Inevitably there is some focus on his private life — most notoriously brought to public attention by his estranged wife’s stealing of a kitten from his girlfriend’s house — but also a lot of space given to his views on the UK care system and the economy. Here’s an excerpt:

Hemming is serious but funny, blithely overweight, and a stickler for detail. He sits surrounded by plenty of clutter, a frisky kitten and an inquisitive

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Posted in LibLink | 1 Comment

LDV Caption Competition | John Hemming “you’ll have had your tea” Edition

By Stephen Tall | Published 5th November 2011 - 11:05 am

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

(Hat-tip to international development action group Tea Time for Change.)

Here’s Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley John Hemming enjoying a cuppa a in a good cause. What do you think might be being said or thought by those pictured?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Liam Fox “was he pushed?” Edition.

Posted in Caption Comp | 6 Comments

And in other news…

By Mark Pack | Published 1st October 2011 - 1:55 pm

Lib Dem leader of Gosport Council, Peter Chegwyn has been assaulted by one of his predecessors as Liberal Democrat leader, since turned independent, Dave Smith.
The financial sector has accounted for half of the declarable donations to the Conservative Party since the 2010 general election.
John Hemming’s wife has been convicted of stealing a cat.
The former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate Vincent McKee accused of defrauding students by Sky News has now been charged by the police.

Posted in News | Also tagged donations, gosport, peter chegwyn, vincent mckee | 1 Comment

Nick Clegg’s speech to the Liberal Democrats conference rally

By Nick Clegg MP | Published 17th September 2011 - 8:30 pm

Welcome to Birmingham, a city with a great, outspoken liberal tradition. The home of Joe Chamberlain, where Gladstone called for Home Rule in one of the most rousing speeches of his life, and where Lloyd George nearly lost his life when he spoke out against the Boer War. Now it’s the home of those great modern day, outspoken liberals – John Hemming and Lorely Burt.

I have spent the last few weeks criss-crossing the country, speaking to as many of you as possible, hearing your concerns and answering your questions. We did what Lib Dems do: discussed, debated, argued – …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged andrew reeves, chris fox, chris lucas, lorely burt | 3 Comments

Was Lib Dem MP John Hemming right to name Ryan Giggs as superinjunction footballer?

By Stephen Tall | Published 23rd May 2011 - 8:05 pm

The media can now, openly and legitimately, report the name of the Premiership footballer alleged to have had an affair with a former reality show contestant. That the name ‘Ryan Giggs’ is public is down to Lib Dem MP John Hemming, who ‘outed’ the Manchester United star in the House of Commons this afternoon using Parliamentary privilege. As BBC News reports:

Addressing MPs, Mr Hemming said: “Mr Speaker, with about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs it is obviously impracticable to imprison them all.”

House of Commons speaker John Bercow interrupted the MP saying: “Let me just say to the honourable

…

Posted in News | Also tagged law, ryan giggs, superinjunctions | 66 Comments

Opinion: Are hyper-injunctions compatible with the Human Rights Act?

By Niklas Smith | Published 21st March 2011 - 7:25 pm

“Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” That famous aphorism is commonly quoted, though perhaps not in the courts that hand down hyper-injunctions whose very existence is kept secret on the pain of imprisonment. This incredible situation was exposed in Parliament by John Hemming MP, whose work deserves to be widely read.

When you read a hyper-injunction what strikes you is the sheer sweeping arrogance of the way they make themselves almost totally secret. One of the many questions raised these injunctions is how they can be compatible with …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged human rights act, superinjunctions | 2 Comments

Fred Goodwin gets super-injunction that even stops him being called a banker

By Mark Pack | Published 10th March 2011 - 11:16 pm

The Independent reports:

Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland who became a focal point for anger over the financial crisis, has obtained a super-injunction banning the media from identifying him as a banker.

The existence of the super-injunction was revealed today by John Hemming, a back-bench Liberal Democrat MP who tabled a question in Parliament about the gagging order.

Normally the media is forbidden from even reporting that a super-injunction exists but Parliamentary privilege allows MPs to speak on the floor of the House of Commons without risk of prosecution.

Posted in News | Also tagged fred goodwin | 9 Comments

LibLink: John Hemming – Scrap tuition fees? Yes we have

By NewsHound | Published 8th November 2010 - 2:25 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment is Free website, Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley John Hemming has penned a robust defence of the Coalition’s plans for higher education funding in England, taking as his starting point the IFS’s findings that more than half of students will pay 9% of income over £21,000 a year for 30 years: “In other words this new system is a graduate tax in all but name.” Here’s an excerpt:

It is, however, not an open-ended graduate tax as it has a cap. The cap works in such a way that graduates with higher earnings get to

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged higher education, tuition fees, universities | 14 Comments

Parliamentarians in the news

By Mark Pack | Published 22nd October 2010 - 2:25 pm

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries says her blog was ’70% fiction’ – The Guardian. Surely the weirdest successful defence against expense allegations we’ll see.
Two Labour and one cross-bench peer have been suspended for breaking expense rules.
David Cameron’s former aide Andrew MacKay has been told to apologise for breaking expense rules (he and his wife have already repaid £60,000).
And finally – earlier today we covered the story of John Hemming and the kidnapped cat. It’s a serious story, but here is the cute kitten photo.

Posted in Parliament | Also tagged andrew mackay, nadine dorries | Leave a comment

Hemming in the headlines

By The Voice | Published 22nd October 2010 - 11:50 am

The London Evening Standard reports:

The wife of an MP was today charged with burgling the home of her husband’s ex-lover and stealing a kitten.

Christine Hemming, wife of John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, is alleged to have raided the home of Emily Cox, a researcher by whom Mr Hemming fathered a child in 2005. Mrs Hemming, 52, of Moseley, Birmingham, was not required to enter a plea during a brief appearance at the city’s magistrates’ court.

She was granted bail and committed for trial at crown court over the alleged burglary on the night of September 29. Her

…

Posted in News | 7 Comments

Jason Kitcat: update on the councillor facing censure for using YouTube

By Mark Pack | Published 9th September 2010 - 9:00 pm

A quick update on my post about Brighton Green councillor Jason Kitcat, who is facing disciplinary action over putting footage of a council meeting up on YouTube. He’s posted the latest news over on his blog, and it is good to see that he is getting support from across the political spectrum:

ConservativeHome’s local government blog had yesterday posted a supportive piece which Local Government Minister Grant Shapps MP then tweeted a link to, adding his own view:

Surely no justification for reporting a Cllr who seeks to promote openness to the Standards Board

Indeed! The comments on the ConservativeHome piece are

…

Posted in Local government, News, Online politics | Also tagged brighton and hove city council, grant shapps, jason kitcat, standards board | Leave a comment

LibLink: John Hemming – How the IFS got it wrong in calling the budget regressive

By NewsHound | Published 4th September 2010 - 4:25 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment is Free website, Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley John Hemming argues that the Institute for Fiscal Studies made a number of mistakes in its analysis of the Coalition’s budget plans. Here’s an excerpt:

Labour politicians seized on an Institute for Fiscal Studies report last month which described the emergency budget as “clearly regressive”. Unfortunately, some of the IFS’s conclusions and the reporting of them were misleading and inaccurate. … the IFS has made a number of important errors in its report, which tends to exaggerate the effect of the cuts on the poorest households.

…

Posted in LibLink | 33 Comments

Lib Dem MPs split on Euro referendum?

By Stephen Tall | Published 21st January 2010 - 9:50 am

Almost two years ago, in the early weeks of Nick Clegg’s leadership, the Lib Dem parliamentary party managed to tie itself in knots over the question of whether to support a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In the end three frontbenchers, David Heath, Tim Farron and Alistair Carmichael, quit after defying the party’s three-line whip to oppose a referendum.

Well, Sky News has the interesting story that the party still hasn’t managed to get its line straight and agreed, re-opening that split:

Now it seems to be deja vu all over again, with a new Lib Dem split in voting

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Posted in Europe / International | Also tagged alistair carmichael, david heath, ed davey, lembit opik, lisbon treaty, mike hancock, referendum, tim farron | 9 Comments

MPs rally to Hemming’s cause over “intimidating” solicitor’s letter

By The Voice | Published 16th January 2010 - 2:20 pm

LDV reported on Wednesday that Lib Dem MP for birmingham Yardley John Hemming had been granted an emergency Commons motion to debate what he termed an “intimidating” email received from a firm of solicitors Withers LLP.

A brief update, courtesy of the BBC report:

MPs have rallied round one of their number who said he was being “intimidated” and prevented from exercising his right to freedom of speech in the Commons by a firm of solicitors.

On 14 January 2010, they backed a request from Liberal Democrat John Hemming to refer the matter to Committee on Standards and Privileges, who will

…

Posted in Parliament | Also tagged house of commons, withers solicitors | 2 Comments

Emergency Commons debate after Lib Dem MP John Hemming “intimidated” by solicitors

By The Voice | Published 13th January 2010 - 5:00 pm

The BBC reports:

Commons Speaker John Bercow has granted MPs an emergency debate after one Member claimed he had been “intimidated” by a firm of solicitors.

Liberal Democrat John Hemming, who represents Birmingham Yardley, complained about an e-mail he had received from Withers LLP.

Mr Bercow said the MP believed it amounted to a “contempt of the House” and ordered a debate for Thursday. It was a matter “to which I should allow precedence”, he told the Commons.

Full story here.

Posted in Parliament | Also tagged commons speaker, house of commons | 5 Comments

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