Tag Archives: john hemming

Mark Pack

Daily View 2×2: 28 June 2009

By Mark Pack | Sun 28th June 2009 - 8:00 am

Welcome to the Sunday outing for The Voice’s near-daily Daily View series. As it’s a Sunday, today it comes with a special bonus military film.

2 Big Stories

Spotlight turns to MPs’ outside earnings

The Telegraph, in a surprise departure, runs a big story on MPs and money:

A survey has uncovered the outside interests of dozens of MPs who hold down paid positions, ranging from legal and media work to crofting, and even grave digging. One earns £750 an hour for helping to organise an awards ceremony for the drinks industry, while another is paid more than £1,300 a day to provide business advice.

Among the highest earners is Nick Raynsford, the former housing minister, who collected £148,000 from six private-sector jobs last year, mostly connected to housing, and John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP, who receives more than £200,000 a year from his computer software company.

John Hemming pre-empted the story about himself by a week with a detailed post on his blog:

I am a full time politician, but I remain a director of two companies that I founded and also other businesses that run through as John Hemming Trading. My working week is around 70 hours a week. I spend about 4 hours a month chairing John Hemming & Co LLP. This means that over 98% of my time is spent on political issues.

Iraq prepares for US troops to leave its cities

From the BBC:

The Iraqi authorities are tightening security in preparation for next Tuesday’s deadline for US soldiers to pull out of the country’s cities.

All police leave has been cancelled and extra troops have been drafted in, amid a spate of bomb attacks this week which has left 250 people dead.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says the attacks may be aimed at stirring up sectarian tensions.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

Cllr Neil Williams reminisces about the fall of the Iron Curtain
Jonathan Calder returns to the Duckworth Lewis Method album

Sunday Bonus

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The Voice

Hemming advises couple: move abroad to prevent new-born child being taken into care

By The Voice | Tue 9th June 2009 - 3:20 pm

The BBC has the story:

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.

“But

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Alex Foster

John Hemming is in a class of his own

By Alex Foster | Mon 11th May 2009 - 4:40 pm

John Hemming MP is in a class of his own. This, I suspect, will not be news to many.

The particular case to which I am referring today is that of expenses.  John is claiming via a blog post last week to be a net contributor to the public purse even after you take into account his parliamentary salary.

One of the interesting things to spot is firstly how many MPs earn more from outside parliament than from the tax payer. Then there is a question of how many MPs pay the taxpayer more than the taxpayer pays them. In calculating

…

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Posted in News | 3 Comments

BNP illustrate “Battle for Britain” using migrant workers

By Hywel Morgan | Thu 5th March 2009 - 9:10 am

File under “you couldn’t make it up”. The BNP’s 09 election campaign, which they presumably regard as the first step to the road to their promised land of racial purity, is clearly setting out to target migrant workers.Never ones to worry about a hackneyed image they use that iconic image of a Spitfire to illustrate “the Battle for Britain”.

Just one slight problem. The Spitfire they used is one from 303 squadron. Which was made up of Polish airmen who escaped from Nazi occupied France.

John Hemming MP pointed out the lunacy of the BNPs position:

They have a policy

…

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Stephen Tall

Hemming campaigns for Britannia coin comeback

By Stephen Tall | Mon 9th February 2009 - 8:14 pm

Has Britannia been missing form your life? Last year, the Royal Mint removed the image of Britannia from the UK’s coins, where her image has appeared since 1672. Now Lib Dem MP John Hemming has launched a new campaign to restore Britannia to her rightful place. I kid you not. The Birmingham Post reports:

John Hemming (Lib Dem Yardley) wants Britannia to make a comeback and believes the £2 coin would be the perfect place for her return. The campaign has won the support from MPs of all parties after setting out his proposal in a House of Commons motion.

Britannia was

…

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Alix Mortimer

The 12 Op-Eds of Xmas (Day 11)

By Alix Mortimer | Sun 4th January 2009 - 3:20 pm

Throughout the festive season, LDV is offering our readers a load of repeats another chance to read the 12 most popular opinion articles which appeared on the blog during 2008. The second most popular opinion article was by Alix Mortimer, and appeared on LDV on 16th November…

After Baby P: what can be done?

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The Voice

Conservatives join Labour in blocking vote on Pre-Budget Report

By The Voice | Wed 26th November 2008 - 7:05 pm

John Hemming reports on his blog,

Confusion reigned in The House as the Conservatives decided to vote with Labour to ensure that there wasn’t a vote on the Pre Budget Report. Personally I think they didn’t know what was going on and will regret this in the future. Some came into the aye lobby and wandered out again. Technically there was a vote to have a vote 30 seconds before the end of the debate against which Labour and the Tories voted.

Posted in Parliament | 2 Comments
Alix Mortimer

After Baby P: what can be done?

By Alix Mortimer | Sun 16th November 2008 - 10:56 am

Recently, Lib Dem Voice has been snowed under with hits and comments from new readers, all expressing their anger in the face of the Baby P tragedy. (If you’re a regular, you won’t find anything in this post you don’t already know – fear not, normal LDV service will soon be resumed, but this does seem something of a special case).

If you’re one of those new readers, I’d like to suggest ways you can put your anger to good use. We can all talk endlessly about who’s to blame, what should be

…

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The Voice

Lib Dems are best at Maths

By The Voice | Mon 27th October 2008 - 6:32 pm

Hey, don’t take The Voice’s word for it – the research is courtesy of liberal free-market think-tank Reform:

Labour is lagging in the league table of mathematical prowess, according to the results of the 2008 Reform maths challenge, released today. The independent think tank posed the taxing test to delegates at all three Party conferences this autumn as part of its ongoing campaign to promote rigour and excellence in maths – and the entries from attendees at Labour’s conference came out bottom in the battle of the mathematical minds.

The problems that tripped up the politicians also demonstrate the UK’s

…

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Stephen Tall

Lib Dem MPs divide on embryology bill free vote

By Stephen Tall | Fri 24th October 2008 - 7:19 pm

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill passed the House of Commons easily this week, 355 to 129. The Bill’s measures include allowing scientists to produce human-animal “hybrid embryos” for stem cells, use of “saviour siblings” to provide bone marrow or umbilical cord tissue for treating genetic conditions, as well as making it easier for lesbians and single women to access NHS fertilisation services and allowing a lesbian or gay couple to be named on the birth certificate as the legal parents of their children.

The Lib Dems made it a free vote, and 16 MPs voted against the Bill at …

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Stephen Tall

Poll results: Kennedy and Goldsworthy your top choices

By Stephen Tall | Mon 3rd December 2007 - 10:01 am

The final results have been tallied in our old poll asking, ‘Of those MPs who’ve ruled themselves out of standing for the party leadership, who would you have voted for given the chance?’

Over 800 LDV readers answered, and in the end Charles Kennedy just nosed in front, edging out Julia Goldsworthy by five votes. And just 17 votes separated the next three impossibles, David Laws, Steve Webb and Vince Cable. Now imagine if they, plus Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne, had been standing…? That would have been a fascinating contest.

• Charles Kennedy: 18% (148)
• Julia Goldsworthy: 17% (143) …

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Stephen Tall

How the MPs are lining up (UPDATED)

By Stephen Tall | Thu 22nd November 2007 - 11:25 am

By popular request, here’s the current list of which Lib Dem MPs have declared for which leadership candidate so far. (Originally compiled with the help of Jonathan Isaby of The Daily Telegraph.)

The list shows that Nick has attracted two MPs who supported Chris as leader in 2006: Greg Mulholland and Stephen Williams; and eight who supported Simon Hughes (all listed below). Chris has attracted one former Ming Campbell backer – Tom Brake – and three MPs who supported Simon Hughes last time.

Eight MPs have stated they will not declare for any candidate; four have yet – so far as I’m aware – to state their intentions.

As we continue to note, the number of MPs who declare for any one candidate is, in one sense, irrelevant: we are a one-member-one-vote party. Clearly, however, MPs’ endorsements will carry some influence with party members, especially among non-activists.

The full list appears below:

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Stephen Tall

How the MPs are lining up (UPDATED)

By Stephen Tall | Thu 25th October 2007 - 2:57 pm

I’m grateful to Jonathan Isaby of The Daily Telegraph, who has compiled (and allowed me to reproduce here) his up-to-date list of which Lib Dem MPs have declared for which leadership candidate so far.

Jonathan comments: “Below are my most up-to-date lists, which suggest that Huhne now cannot possibly overtake Clegg in terms of MPs declaring. Brackets state where they went in the 2006 election.”

The list shows that Nick has attracted two MPs who supported Chris as leader in 2006: Greg Mulholland and Stephen Williams; and seven who supported Simon Hughes (all listed below). Chris has attracted one former Ming Campbell backer – Tom Brake – and two MPs who supported Simon Hughes last time.

Nine MPs have stated they will not declare for any candidate; 14 have yet to state their intentions.

As was pointed out in the comments on yesterday’s thread, the number of MPs who declare for any one candidate is, in one sense, irrelevant: we are a one-member-one-vote party. Clearly, however, MPs’ endorsements will carry some influence with party members, especially among non-activists.

It will also influence how the media perceives, and then reports, the strengths of the respective leadership campaigns. Though, of course, being seen as the favourite is not always the most comfortable of positions, as Ming Campbell discovered last time. Lib Dems do love an underdog.

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Posted in Leadership Election and News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 26 Comments
Stephen Tall

New poll: the alternative leadership contest

By Stephen Tall | Tue 23rd October 2007 - 10:55 am

Barring something remarkable taking place between now and close of nominations, the coming leadership campaign will be a two-horse race between Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne.

A number of potential candidates have ruled themselves out of the race despite messages of support from many party members. So the new poll question is simple:

“Of those MPs who’ve ruled themselves out of standing, who would you have voted for given the chance?”

– Vince Cable
– Ed Davey
– Lynne Featherstone
– Julia Goldsworthy
– John Hemming
– Simon Hughes
– Charles Kennedy
– Susan Kramer
– David Laws
– Steve Webb

Feel free to mount a write-in campaign for any MPs …

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Posted in Leadership Election and Voice polls | Also tagged and | 10 Comments
Stephen Tall

A straight choice between Clegg & Huhne?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 18th October 2007 - 9:47 am

That’s what it’s looking like with the news that Steve Webb will not be entering the contest to become the next leader of the Liberal Democrats, but instead backing Nick Clegg. (Although John Hemming has also declared, currently it looks unlikely he will reach the required seven nominations by MPs.)

From what I understand, the following MPs have definitely declared for Chris Huhne, who launched his leadership bid yesterday: Lynne Featherstone, Tom Brake, Sandra Gidley, Martin Horwood and David Howarth (and also Lord Oakeshott).

Nick Clegg, who will officially declare tomorrow, is backed by Steve, Ed Davey and Sarah Teather, …

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Stephen Tall

The race for the leadership: who’s in, who’s not

By Stephen Tall | Wed 17th October 2007 - 5:10 pm

Here’s the current position as I understand it, with links where I have them.

Declared:

Chris Huhne
John Hemming

Actively considering:

Nick Clegg
Steve Webb

Unlikely:

Charles Kennedy

Ruled out:

Vince Cable
Ed Davey
Lynne Featherstone
Julia Goldsworthy
Simon Hughes
Susan Kramer
David Laws

(For those interested, the current betting prices can be found here.)

Posted in Leadership Election and News | Also tagged , , , and | 34 Comments
Stephen Tall

The race to succeed Ming starts today

By Stephen Tall | Wed 17th October 2007 - 9:03 am

Who will run? That will be the fascinating question which will be answered in the days ahead. Here’s some of the press speculation today:

Lib Dem leadership bids expected (BBC)

Charles Kennedy May Run For Leader Again (Glasgow Daily Record)

Two outsiders may run for Lib Dem leader (Daily Telegraph)

Huhne set to launch Lib Dem leadership challenge (Liverpool Daily Echo)

Please use the comments to highlight other stories we may have missed.

Posted in Leadership Election and News | Also tagged and | 26 Comments
The Voice

General election news: what the Lib Dem bloggers say

By The Voice | Sat 6th October 2007 - 5:15 pm

…

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Stephen Tall

Ming says EU reform treaty referendum “not necessary”

By Stephen Tall | Wed 12th September 2007 - 10:20 am

In a pre-conference interview in today’s Financial Times, Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell has dismissed calls for the party to back a referendum on the EU reform treaty – but has kept open the possibility of a re-run of 1975’s ‘in or out’ poll:

… Sir Menzies, a “pro-European”, told the Financial Times the new EU reform treaty was “sufficiently different” from the original constitution to avoid the need for a plebiscite. He said the only case for a public vote would be on a much broader “in or out” question about Britain’s membership of the EU, to prompt a

…

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Richard Huzzey

Elected Lib Dem Bloggers: The List

By Richard Huzzey | Sat 25th August 2007 - 8:14 pm

There’s still time to vote in the 2007 Lib Dem Blog of the Year contest, to nominate blogs for our expert panel. Find out more here.

But who, you may struggle to recall, is a publicly-elected Lib Dem blogger from amongst the many you’ve read? How many bloggers we read are secretly councillors? How many elected parliamentarians blog? How many blogs are actually eligible for the category?

I asked Mark Pack f he held such a list. He didn’t. I have therefore set out to compile one, despite my better judgement that this will be a boring and thankless task; but such a list probably ought to exist. It combines well with reading aroundly widely for the purposes of composing the Golden Dozen, at least!

This is an unofficial long list of everything which strikes me as eligible for the elected representative category, but not being one of the judges my opinion is clearly not final. They’re listed as ordered on Lib Dem blogs.

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Stephen Tall

What Lib Dem MPs will be reading this summer

By Stephen Tall | Mon 2nd July 2007 - 1:37 pm

We’re into July, yet summer seems to have decided to give the UK a miss this year (so far). No matter.

Packing books for the beach (or wherever) is as much a summer ritual as the Brits crashing out of Wimbledon, and helping out in the latest Parliamentary by-elections. So Lib Dem Voice asked a few of the party’s MPs which books they’d be taking with them on holiday this year. Here’s what they told us:

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Richard Huzzey

Lib Dem block vote in Labour Deputy electoral college

By Richard Huzzey | Fri 8th June 2007 - 10:16 pm

Members of trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party get to vote in that party’s deputy leadership contest. Lib Dem blogger and MP John Hemming was unaware that his membership of the Musicians’ Union gave him such a right until he got his ballot paper today. By expressing your choice in the comments section of his blog, you can vote as part of a Lib Dem electoral college to decide how his one vote in the TU electoral college should be cast. Feel the power; use your vote unwisely.

Posted in News | 5 Comments

Hemming threatens to name social workers in Parliament

By the founding editor | Sun 7th January 2007 - 12:29 pm

Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming has claimed that Trafford Social Services recently attempted to abduct a new-born baby from hospital. He says: “Because Amanda (the mother) was her self in care many years ago Social Services have continued to harrass her over the years.”

John has alleged that the social workers may have committed a criminal offence, and if they take out an Emergency Protection Order to take the baby in to care he has threatened to name the individual social workers in parliament on the grounds that they would be preventing the child from being breast-fed by its mother.

Naming …

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Posted in News | 120 Comments
Mark Pack

Is your site in the top five?

By Mark Pack | Tue 2nd January 2007 - 7:21 pm

Latter this week, I’ll write up the top five list of local Liberal Democrat sites for referring traffic on to the party’s main site, www.libdems.org.uk, in the second half of 2006 – plus also the top five blogs.

Will Iain Dale beat Guido Fawkes? Will Recess Monkey feature anywhere? Will any Lib Dem blog feature in the top five – and if so, will it be this one or the dog or the elephant or John Hemming?

Tune in again and find out soon…

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Selection news: Warwick and Leamington, and Birmingham Yardley

By the founding editor | Sat 9th December 2006 - 9:02 pm

Colin Ross brings news that Alan Beddow has been selected as the Warwick and Leamington PPC (Beddow caused a bit of a kerfuffle last week when he made a blog entry about his selection contest, but has clearly survived!).

John Hemming has been re-selected for Birmingham Yardley.

PPC list will be updated in a couple of days – I’m off up North until Tuesday.

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
The Voice

Voice Podcast: John Hemming MP

By The Voice | Tue 19th September 2006 - 6:37 pm

Alex Foster has interviewed John Hemming MP for Lib Dem Voice

John Hemming is one of the few blogging Lib Dem MPs, and you can find his blog at http://johnhemming.blogspot.com/

Posted in News and Podcasts | Leave a comment
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