Last November the Mayor of London announced that 125,000 schoolchildren in London would be given free tickets for the Olympic or Paralympic Games. That would have been enough to provide tickets for one in eight London children aged 10 to 18.
But, as reported in the Evening Standard, Lib Dem London Assembly member, Dee Doocey, has asked the Mayor how many tickets were actually allocated to children. The answer came back: just 95,761 tickets. The remaining 30,000 or so tickets have been given to teachers to accompany them.
Our constitution has many interesting anomalies, but to me one of the most obvious has always been the way we treat the ‘nearly-adults’ in our society. Our 16 and 17 year olds are subject to a whole set of rules that are thrown out of the window when they turn 18; similarly, they are unable to do a whole set of things that they are suddenly allowed to on that most auspicious day. We don’t let these nearly-adults vote, have credit cards or bind themselves into a credit agreement. They can, however, commit themselves to an extended period in the …
You may well have seen the press coverage of Reg Bailey’s report on the commercialisation and sexualisation of children, published earlier this week. While some of the coverage was the sort you’d expect from the conservative-leaning press, most of it was more balanced and thoughtful.
As Minister for Children and Families, I’ve been closely involved in this work and I’m really pleased with what he’s come up with. It demonstrates Liberal Democrat values and approaches, and has already started to make a difference in practice – which is what matters.
Over at the Independent on Sunday, Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne rails against the UK’s asylum system for combining ‘staggering bureaucratic incompetence with institutionalised cruelty’. Here’s an excerpt:
… It is one thing to stamp out abuse among asylum-seekers, but quite another to devise a system that combines staggering bureaucratic incompetence with institutionalised cruelty, for every year we are locking up hundreds and probably thousands of children, who have committed no crime, in prison-like conditions.
We do not know exactly how many, because the Government will not provide regular figures, but in June there were 470 such children, most of
By Stephen Tall
| Sun 13th September 2009 - 10:05 am
Welcome to the Sunday edition of LDV’s Daily View. And as Mark Pack of this e-parish is (apparently) forraging for chocolate in Bristol, it falls to me to bring you today’s supplement with extra multimedia entertainment.
2 Big Stories
NSPCC and Nick criticise new Government regulations for parent helpers
Ministers are under intense pressure to scale back plans for a “big brother” child protection database which will force millions of parents to undergo paedophile and criminal checks. In a major blow for the Government, Britain’s largest children’s charity, the NSPCC, criticised the regulations for parent helpers which it said threatened “perfectly safe and normal activities” and risked alienating the public.
The paper also quotes Nick Clegg’s condemnation of Labour’s proposals:
This scheme is wildly over the top. How are we supposed to create a country fit for our children if we regard every adult looking after children as a potential threat?”
Independent broadcasters will be allowed to take payments for displaying commercial products during shows. The change is intended to bring in extra funds for commercial broadcasters. Experts believe it could raise up to £100m a year.
There are currently strict rules against product placement and this ban would remain in place on BBC shows. Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw is expected to announce a three-month consultation on the changes in a speech to the Royal Television Society next week.
The move will not apply to the BBC, and children’s programmes will remain product-placement free. A long-overdue acceptance of commercial reality? Or a retrogade intrusion into public broadcasting space?
After about an hour or so of having my knuckles scraped by ridiculously snappy letterboxes, and falling over on uneven paths, and generally feeling pretty battered and bruised and grumpy, I got to a house where a skinhead with no shirt on and a BNP tattoo set his dog on me. … I suspect that this is a big part of the reason political parties are haemorrhaging membership. The expectation that people risk their own personal safety for nothing on a regular basis is not a rewarding experience for the activist.
… the whole point of blogging is that it is interactive, or it is nothing. If most committee members don’t blog, don’t engage with the blogosphere, in short, have lives, and do not respond immediately, or even at all, will they be criticised? You bet they will and, like I did, would probably withdraw back into their collective shells.
Sunday Bonus track
You may have noticed a chap called Derren on the telly this week attracting a lot of attention. Here’s a reminder of him at his best:
A couple have left their home in Essex and moved to Ireland after being warned that their child would be taken into care as soon as it was born. John Hemming, Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, has revealed that the couple have sought his advice after concern over English adoption law.
Mr Hemming called for reform of the law saying the legal system handed “all the aces” to social workers. He said he advises couples to move abroad before legal action is taken. “I don’t advise people to break the law,” he said.
nigel hunter Davey has sacked Ludford as our European spokesperson.Is he reigning as 'supreme leader' in charge?When Ashdown was in charge we were a tolerant party with good...
Peter Davies On the name of UBI, National Income Dividend is the most philosophically satisfying as it provides a moral justification to counter the Moral Hazard argument. H...
David Raw @ Russell, you say, "I’m surprised to hear that the Green party doesn’t support PR".
Actually, Russell, in the interests of truth and accuracy, the Gree...
Peter Davies There is only one form of PR that been this party's policy for as long as any of us can remember and that is STV. It doesn't have thresholds but parties do need...
Steve Trevethan Thank you for a so important article!
To what extent has the fashion for, and implementation of, austerity been responsible for the contexts which increase m...
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Michael's weekly ward surgeries today! #dundeewestend
Shane Warne watches a 13-year-old Rehan Ahmed bowl
A Liberal vision for Urban Britain
Double standards
nigel hunter 
Peter Davies 
David Raw 
Steve Trevethan 