Christopher Lovell

Deputy Lord Mayor to be Abolished

2011-05-26T12:14:00.000+01:00

Tonight I will be attending the annual ceremony in which the mayor is installed at Leeds City Council. For the first time since the position was created in the 1960s there will be no Deputy Lord Mayor.

Cllr Patrick Davey who currently holds the position has said that this will save the taxpayer £100,000. This is great news in an era of public spending cuts. A lot of the discussion in the press in Leeds on the cost of the Lord Mayor stems from a Freedom of Information request that I put in last year.

Good to see the council have finally responded although if the figures quoted by Cllr Davey in the Yorkshire Evening Post are a little optimistic based on my FOI request.

Where the Yes campaign went wrong

2011-05-13T19:44:00.000+01:00

Below is a great article by Andy May of the Yes campaign. He talks through many of the issues experienced by those who worked on the campaigns side of the campaign. Andy was one of the central members of staff that got nothing but praise by all the regional staff that I have spoken to. The article is pretty frank but it is dead on.

Yes to Fairer Votes - An Insiders View [published on Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/lgw3Bk]

The aspect that I agree with most was the lack of experience within the campaign. Apart from most of the regional organisers and a select few staff at HQ there was very little experience at actually running an election campaign. Most of the interns and local staff (who were absolutely excellent) had never worked in politics before and most of the staff at the centre often gave the impression that they had no idea what was happening on the ground. When feedback was given from the ground back to London many people felt that it was at best ignored and at worst actively dismissed. The fact is the people working for the campaign who knew how to run elections were kept far away from any actual influence.

Another failing of the campaign was the constant focus on the Guardian reading set. The campaign ignored Farage and UKIP and any possible contribution they could have made until it was too late. Speaking to the Yes campaign staff who attended UKIP conference there was a huge frustration that the central Yes campaign were not allowing Farage to take part in events on a national scale. Con Home also has an interesting article on this.

What is striking is where the Yes campaign won. We won in Cambridge, Oxford and North London. It could not be clearer from these results that this was a campaign run by Guardian readers, for Guardian readers. As one member of staff from the campaign in Leeds puts it: "Everytime I hear the words "progressive majority" I'm a little bit sick in my mouth...".

What happens now?

2011-05-09T09:44:00.001+01:00

I decided I would leave it a couple of days after the results to write this post thinking that in that time my opinions may have changed. They haven't.

First a bit about the local elections in Leeds although I am sure what I am about to say will have been felt by Lib Dem councillors and activists all over the country. Especially in the North of England and Scotland. On Thursday night, when we were getting an idea of the scale of what was happening, I was gutted. I have never felt that sick about the results of an election in my life and hope I never do again. We knew we were facing an uphill battle but we were hoping that the hard work and popularity of our local councillors would win through. Sadly this was not to be.

The Lib Dems and the people of Leeds lost some truly amazing public servants this week.

Terry Grayshon (MBI, Morley South), an excellent Councillor for the Morley Borough Independents, was heavily involved in Leeds Pride and was a great moderate voice for the Leeds LGBT community in the council chamber.

Brenda Lancaster (Lib Dem, Moortown), would have been Lord Mayor of Leeds 2011-12 had she retained her seat. She was a hugely popular figure within the Lib Dems and locally in Moortown. She worked tirelessly for her community for years, often just getting on with it and rarely seeking thanks or praise for her efforts. Her selection as Lord Mayor Designate was thoroughly deserved and was fitting recognition for her years of work. It is such a shame that she will no longer get to do that.

Steve Smith (Lib Dem, Rothwell) has been a great friend during his time on the council and has represented Rothwell, Carlton, Oulton and Woodlesford superbly at council level as well as doing a sterling job as an Exec Board member. He was often a voice of moderation within the Lib Dem group and I hope he will continue to be from outside the group. Also I should say sorry to him for my phone call towards the end of polling day!

Finally James Monaghan (Lib Dem, Headingley). I have a huge amount of respect for James. He was one of the first politicians I ever met and he was the first one I ever voted for when he stood for Headingley in 2007. I campaigned for him when he was selected for the Lib Dem Yorks and Humber Euro list in 2008 and again in 2009 in the Euro elections. I was over the moon when he got onto the council exec board and he did a really great job in tough circumstances, standing up for Leeds in a way the Labour Party never have. When James stood in Morley in the 2010 general election I was his agent. We ran the biggest campaign in our history in that ward, managing to get at least some literature to every single voter. Our vote rose by 6.7%. James was (almost!) a model candidate from start to finish, and took a lot of the pressure of me (I was working for the party full time whilst also trying to do my degree during the election) by dealing with the huge national media interest in the seat thanks to Ed Balls. James also played a huge part in the fantastic victory in Leeds North West and supported our candidates across the city.

The reaction of local residents to our team in Headingley was great but many were saying that they just couldn't bring themselves to vote for the Lib Dems. Privately the Labour candidate was telling Journalists that he thought we had done great things for the area. Unfortunately in this election that just wasn't enough. Devastated doesn't even describe what I felt like when it became obvious that we had lost Headingley.

Also gutted for Kate Arbuckle who was standing for the Lib Dems in Horsforth and David Hollingsworth in Burmantofts and Richmond Hill who both lost through no fault of their own. Our vote share actually rose in Burmantofts.

So what happens next? It is clear that things can not continue as they have been. If they do then the Lib Dems will be almost non-existent in the North and Midlands at the next general election. I think it is also clear that Clegg's call for 'a louder Lib Dem voice' in government, although admirable, simply doesn't go far enough. People on the doorstep like us locally but they, rightly or wrongly, blame Clegg personally for the mess we are now in. Their anger will not go away if we shout a little about how we have slowed down the NHS reforms.

I admire Clegg personally but the time has come for him to step aside. We will not be able to start again as a party until we have a new figurehead. After the fees debate and this overwhelming defeat in the elections we also need to take a long hard look at our exit strategy from the coalition. We cannot sustain these losses for four more years and we cannot lose many hundreds of good people because of the actions of a few in London.

Writing this with a mixture of sadness and disappointment. Feel absolutely gutted at the moment but I, and many others involved in local elections, feel deeply let down.

Regional conference

2011-03-21T10:58:00.001Z

This weekend the Lib Dems held our Yorkshire and Humber regional conference in Headingley at St Columba Church on Otley Road. The event was really well attended by lots of enthusiastic activists, old and new, 2 of the regions MPs and both of our MEPs.

For anyone who has never been to a regional conference before then I would thoroughly recommend it. It is like a mini more localised national conference. There are some very good training sessions on offer, there are debates on policy and speeches by regional party officials. Most importantly however is the opportunity to meet with lib Dem activists from around the region and to listen to some of the issues they are having and hopefully be able share solutions.

During the day I spent most of my time encouraging activists from across the region to get involved in the yes campaign. I helped run a session to answer people's questions on the yes campaign and how we can link up with local Lib Dem campaigning that is already taking place. I also chaired the motion debate which called for the regional party to formulate a strong regional vision fir growth and then communicate it to the government. After a great debate with plenty of new ideas the motion was unanimously passed.

On if the key themes of conference was the difficulty of communication between ministers, MPs and activists. The party is acutely aware that it can and must do better in this area. But the key message to come out of conference was "where we work, we win". The coalition had made virtually zero difference to this. Labour and the far left will do and say anything they can to keep us off the doorsteps between now and May because they know this is true too. The experience of people who have been out on the doors since may is almost universally positive despite the doom and gloom media portrayal. So between now and may get out knocking on those doors and remember: where we work, we win!

HEART has it's official launch

2011-03-01T10:52:00.001Z

After Clegg's visit last week the HEART Centre in Headingley had it's official launch. As I have said before, this centre is a great resource for all the people of Headingley. Please make sure you use aat as uch and as often as you can to keep it safe for the future. The YEP has the full story here.

This article is a bit more balanced than the original article (which, incidentally does not appear on the YEP website) about the Clegg visit which talked of him being 'cornered' by angry mums. That could not have been further from the truth. It was a really good natured atmosphere and Clegg deliberately sat at every table in the cafe in order to talk to as many people as possible as this account from Irene Tse shows. Aisha Iqbal, the Yorkshire Evening Post journalist present in the cafe at the same time must have been blind, stupid or deliberately ignorant of what was happening around her to think otherwise!

Leeds AV 'debate'

2011-02-28T10:23:00.000Z

Last week 'No2AV' organised a 'debate' in Leeds Town Hall. A 'debate' however is probably pushing the definition of the word. After failing to invite speakers from the Yes Campaign to the debates until the very last minute the No Campaign also picked the venue, the time, the chair and the audience (tickets have to be applied for through the No Campaign website and attendees must be approved by them). These are hardly the hallmarks of a neutral event.

I applied for tickets mainly because I was curious about the process. The website that I had to apply to carried the No2AV branding and name. The email that I received back from them confirming my attendance blows out of the water the No Campaign's assertion that the debates were neutral (emphasis is mine):

Hi Chris,

Thank you very much for your RSVP. We appreciate your interest and your name has been added to the list.

XXXXXXXXX

Again, the details for the debate in Leeds are as follows:

Thursday 24 February
6:30pm-7:30pm
Leeds Town Hall
The Headrow,
Leeds, LS1 3AD

In the meantime if you require any information about the event or the referendum itself please do not hesitate to contact any member of the ‘No to AV’ campaign team.

Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards,
The No to AV Team

NO to AV
Westminster Tower | 3 Albert Embankment | London SE1 7SP
leeds@no2av.org
0844 573 6444 | 07989535172 | Media 07919 124 975

Sign up for the weekly NO to AV newsletter HERE
Get involved in the NO to AV campaign HERE

Promoted by William Norton on behalf of No Campaign Ltd., both of Westminster Tower, 3 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SP

So after the farce of a 'debate' that took place in Sheffield the week before and the above email I decided to attend the Leeds debate with the Leeds Yes to Fairer Votes Group so that we could let the members of the public that were going in know about the biased nature of the debates and give them a bit of info about the Yes Campaign on their way in.

We were outside talking to passers by for about half an hour. One of the things that struck me was how few members of the public went in. If you take out the 'neutral debate' staff (most of whom were wearing 'no2av' t-shirts), the former Conservative parliamentary candidates and the people who I know personally to be members of Conservative Future then there were 4 'ordinary voters'. I spoke to three of these people personally and they all said they would almost definitely voting yes but were just curious about the event. I should also mention that the chair of the debate was my personal tutor from uni who I am sure would have done a great job of chairing a neutral debate had the No Campaign allowed one.

We want to debate this referendum and believe that it is important that the public are informed of the lies from the No Campaign, specifically on the cost of the referendum (which the Treasury itself says is rubbish) However any debate must be free and fair. The campaigns are debating each other all over the country at the moment in local Labour Party meetings, trade union branch meetings, community groups, student unions, universities and residents associations, to mention just a few places. So for the No Campaign to say we are afraid to debate is rubbish. All that we are asking for is free and open debates, not No Campaign rallies in the guise of a neutral 'debate'.

Will Noble has a (slightly) more neutral account of the evening here.

NUS President

2011-02-21T16:01:00.000Z

So today comes the news that Aaron Porter will not be standing again for NUS President. "Who cares?" and "What difference will it make?" are just two of the many questions that rushed into my head when I first heard the earth shattering news.

On a serious point, the campaign of harassment that Aaron has had to put up with over the last few months is disgusting but it is what most of us have come to expect from student politics. It is what happens when create an organisation where the 'right wing' are probably to the left of New Labour and political differences are hugely exaggerated and often become personal.

I gave up on the NUS a long time ago. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing people in student politics who are so committed to helping their student unions and helping students but these people are sidelined by those who use the NUS as a ladder into a Labour Party safe seat.

This approach worked perfectly well when Labour were in power as any disagreement between the government and NUS was sanitised to such an extent to make it basically meaningless with NUS officers campaigning for the Labour Party up and down the country.

Why any Lib Dem or Tory minister would still listen to a word they have to say is beyond me.

On a final note though, good luck Aaron. I may not agree with you politically but no one deserves to be bullied in the way you have been.

Clegg's visit to Leeds

2011-02-21T14:40:00.000Z

I have written a piece here on the Guardian Leeds blog about Nick's visit to Leeds on Friday.

What strikes as interesting is how the media now cover the Lib Dems with an overheard joke amongst friends hitting national news websites. Before the election we had to fight tooth and nail to get the coverage we deserved and now every minute detail gets covered by the press.

What was also interesting was the narrative the media wanted of the day. It was pitched as a 'Clegg vs. Cameron' battle on the voting referendum the day before and in all the newspapers so when something threatened to get in the way of that narrative it was simply ignored.

There was a tiny protest at the Clegg speech from two or three people unhappy with the coalition's policies. They were interviewed by Sky and the BBC who seemed almost shocked that they didn't have a strongly held view on the AV referendum. I suppose it is a lesson that everyone trapped in the media and politics bubble must learn: most people aren't quite as obsessed as we are!

2011 Predictions

2011-02-02T10:22:00.000Z

Sorry these are a bit late! I try to do this every year and hear I my ones for 2010. I got quite a good record last year. Wonder how well I will do this year?

The coalition will not collapse this year. Personally I think this one is a bit of an easy one but if you were to believe the screaming hordes of Labour bloggers you would think we were on the verge of national meltdown.
The 'official' student movement will begin to distance itself from the wider anti-cuts movement. To be fair this has almost started to happen.
Balls will force out another member or members of the Cabinet. With unconfirmed reports that he had something to do with Alan Johnson leaving who will be next?
David Laws will be back in the Cabinet. Whatever you think of his politics it is clear that Laws is extremely talented. It was ahuge shame to see him leave in the first place, especially in the circumstnaces in which it happened.
Bercow will not be speaker by the end of the year. Sticking my kneck out a bit on this one. I actually quite like Bercow but it is clear there are people who want to get him out.
The AV referendum will result in a YES vote. I think I'm quite safe on this one judging by the response from the public.
Andy Coulson will release his memoirs this year. He's said he won't release them soon but I can't see him holding off for too long otherwise they won't be worth anything.
Labour will do well in the council elections in May and will take control of a number of large cities. Worth remembering that we're 4 years away from a general election though.
The Lib Dems will win Headingley ward in Leeds with a good majority. Despite the national projections the Lib Dems have a really hardworking team in Headingley and deserve to hold on with a good vote.
The SNP will lose control of the Scottish Government. The SNP haven't exactly had a smooth ride and have stumbled their way through four years of government.

Guess we'll find out next year how right I was!

Street crime figures - Where's my police force?!

2011-02-01T20:40:00.000Z

The new police.uk website is an interesting experiment in crime data allowing members of the public to see street-by-street breakdowns of crime. I would love to say that it was a great example of open government and a brilliant innovation to allow greater public scrutiny of policing priorities. Unfortunately I can't really say this because after trying numerous times I haven't been able to get it to work yet!

All it shows is this message when any postcode is entered:

Perhaps I should be worried that a government website seems to think that I now don't have a police service covering my street? I knew we were making cuts but this could be one step too far!

On a serious point I am undecided as to this being a good thing or not. I know that as a 'liberal' I should be instinctively in favour of freedom of information and statistics but I have a feeling that these new figures will be used to talk down already neglected areas. We shall wait and see.

Latest NUS Protest

2011-01-25T10:02:00.001Z

This email from NUS just dropped in my inbox:

National Demonstration - This Saturday
Join us this Saturday (29 January) as NUS and UCU join with the TUC to host a march and rally in Manchester to demonstrate against the cuts in access to education.

This will be a great event, which will unite students, lecturers and supporters in a day of peaceful protest. You will get to hear from a range of different speakers. All of who are hugely influential in the campaign.

We are aware that these changes to education won’t happen over night; however it is important that we keep up the pressure on this government, and future governments, to show them that we are determined to secure fairer access and fairer funding for education for future generations.

This is why it is important that we unite in Manchester and show the coalition government of the huge value that education brings to society and that we will not take these savage cuts lying down, not now, not ever.

What time does it start/finish?
Assemble from 10.30am at University Place, opposite The Manchester Museum. The march will begin at 11.00am.

The Rally will begin in Platt Fields Park at 1.00pm and finish by 3.00pm. Speakers are currently being confirmed and will include local, regional and national representatives from UCU and other unions, the TUC, NUS and other partner organisations.

What’s the route?
The march will start at 11.00am and proceed south via Oxford Road and Wilmslow Road to Platt Fields Park. Download the Route Map.

Where’s the rally going to be?
Platt Fields Park

Why is it in Manchester?
Manchester has both the largest further education college (Manchester College) and higher education institution (University of Manchester) in the country, and sits in a region in the UK with the highest rate of youth unemployment. It is important to ensure that not all our activity is based in London, and so staging a national action in a region with such high levels of youth unemployment, jointly alongside the TUC and UCU is a positive and constructive development at this time.

Don’t forget to join and add your friends to the official event facebook group.

We look forward to seeing you there as we continue on the campaign path for a fairer education for all.

In Unity,

Aaron Porter
NUS President

Maybe I am just being ignorant of the issue but I am unaware of the cuts in access to education that precipitate the need for a national protest. Call me overly suspicious but I have a very strong feeling that this is just another excuse for UCU and the NUS to bash the coalition, hence the zero mention of any detail on what the protest is about in the email. There aren't even any confirmed speakers yet!

Last Years Stats

2011-01-24T10:53:00.000Z

This is a bit late really considering we're well into 2011.

In 2010 this blog received 6,033 unique visitors.

The most popular blog posts were:

NUS and the right to recall - My reply to NUS President Aaron Porter over the right-to-recall campaign.
Anyone seen the Cameron poster yet? - About the now infamous airbrushed Cameron poster.
Liberal Youth Resignations - About the events in Liberal Youth at the beginning of the year.
Tips for Being a Candidate - My 20 tips on being a local election candidate. Linked to by Iain Dale, no less!
My letter to Nick... - My letter to Nick about the NUS pledge. Still haven't had a reply!
Mick Taylor to Stand for Lib Dems in Hyde Park - Announcing who was standing in the Hyde Park by-election. Unfortunately we didn't win.
BNP not Standing in Hyde Park and Woodhouse By Election - Another post about the by election.
Lib Dems to win 69 seats? - So much for that!
No Fines Issued for BBQs on Woodhouse Moor - About the enforcement of the BBQ ban on Woodhouse Moor by Leeds' Labour run council.
Gay Tory MP speaks at Leeds Pride - Leeds' first Gay MP makes a speech at Leeds Pride.

And finally my top ten referring sites last year:

Happy 2011 everyone!

A Very British Coup

2011-01-23T18:20:00.000Z

'A Very British Coup' is a political drama about the emergence of the left wing as a serious political force in the UK, set after a severe financial collapse in the 1980s.

It is set around the premiership of Harry Perkins MP, a left wing Labour MP from Sheffield who is the Prime Minister and main character in the programme. Perkins introduces a radical government programme (most associated in real life with the Militant Wing of the Labour Party and contemporary politicians like Tony Benn). He couples socialism with more open government.

The reason why the programme is so interesting is it shows how power can be manipulated by those who are unelected at the top of the establishment. It's something that politicians of all parties must always guard against.

I would really recommend it and if you are in the UK you can watch it here for free on 4OD.

Interpreting the Oldham Polling

2011-01-08T21:15:00.001Z

Obviously it is hard to properly interpret polling data without far more detail, detail that polling companies just don't have the time to ask and that voters don't have the time to answer.

The Oldham polling results are displayed here on Conservative Home.

The headline figures from the largest poll (commissioned by Lord Ashcroft) show

Labour - 46% (+14%)
Lib Dem - 29% (-3%)
Tory - 15% (-11%)

On the surface the figures show a large increase in the Labour vote and a large decrease in the Tory vote. Ordinarily this would suggest voters switching from Tory to Labour. From anecdotal evidence I have been hearing I don't believe this is the case. It is clear that Lib Dem voters are abandoning the party and either not voting or voting Labour. These voters are being replaced by Conservative voters switching to the Lib Dems to stop Labour on the back of an, at best, lacklustre Tory campaign.

This tweet from the deputy chair of Conservative Future pretty much says it all for the Conservatives in this by election:

#oldham stock doorstep response "we're #Conservatives but voting LD because we have to keep #Labour out

So where does this leave the Lib Dems in future? Well who knows but it is clear that many of our voters are not happy with the direction in which the party is heading and one thing is very clear: the chances of a Lib Dem win in Oldham look rather remote.

2010 Predictions

2010-12-31T11:19:00.003Z

So it's the time of year to take a look back at the predictions I made this time last year. I think it is fair to say that this has been one of the most politically unpredictable years in living memory. So here goes!

1. Obama's healthcare plan will have become a reality by the end of 2010. Well I suppose this is partly true. A far more watered down version of the plan did get through but the Democrats loss of control of the US Congress looks likely to scupper any reform in the near future. Half right.

2. Britain will have begun the withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2010. Thanks to the new coalition government this prediction has come true. And about time too!

3. By the end of the year Mandelson will have been involved in another political funding scandal. As far as I can remember this didn't happen but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

4. Comrade Quentin Davies (of bell tower fame) will definitely not be made a Lord despite promises that may or may not have been made to him when he joined the Labour Party. Well I got this one completely wrong. When he defected from the Tories at the time of Brown's coronation it was obvious that he was promised something like this in return but I genuinely did not think the Labour Party would have the audacity to follow through with it after the bell tower expenses incident!

5. At least two cabinet ministers will lose their seats in the election. Charles Clarke and Jacqui Smith. 'nuff said.

6. There will be more openly gay MPs in parliament than ever before. This is true too though perhaps the most surprising factor is that the Conservative party now has more openly gay MPs than all the other parties combined. Parli-out - the new LGBT parliament staff and MPs group - has now also been launched. A great step forward.

7. Nick Griffin will not be in parliament. Right on this one too. I always thought that his chances of winning were hugely over-egged by a media desperate for something interesting to happen on election night. He never had any realistic possibility of winning. Also worth noting that the BNP lost every single elected representative that they have in London this year. And they also lost the one council seat they held in Leeds.

8. The BNP will make another stupid mistake on their election literature like they did at the Euro's. I suppose this one was too easy really. The BNP made too many mistakes to feature here on their literature. Just another example of how their party is falling apart.

9. There will be no more high profile cabinet resignations before the election. As far as I can remember I don't think there were. Correct me if I'm wrong.

10. And finally I will get at least a 2.1 in my degree for this year (fingers crossed!). And i even got this one right too!

I make that a pretty respectable seven and a half. Not too shabby. This years predictions following soon.

Fees: What we should have done...

2010-12-09T09:56:00.000Z

So the day that tuition fees are set to rise to £9000 per year has come and I'm not optimistic about the outcome. Latest figures that I have seen suggest a government majority of around 20 or more.

So much has been said around this subject that I don't want to say anymore about the proposals themselves other than that I believe them to be regressive and off putting for new students. However I still believe that the overall package is fairer than anything that the Labour Party or Tory Party would have come up with by themselves.

I want to talk about the mistakes (or not, depending on your view) that the Lib Dems have made through this process and the lessons we need to learn as a party.

Signing the NUS pledge in the first place. I personally don't believe this was a mistake. I encouraged our PPCs in Leeds to sign it and I am very glad all eight did. I would like to think that, if elected, they all would have stuck by it too.
Not sorting this out in the coalition negotiations. We should have put this issue to bed a long time ago and we could have done if the special conference in Birmingham had been allowed to amend the coalition agreement to make sure Lib Dem MPs could vote against fees. It is extremely doubtful that the Tories would have given up a chance at government over this one issue.
Not describing the new proposals as a grad tax. The new proposals essentially are a grad tax apart from the mechanism that allows people to pay their loans back early. If this were got rid of then the proposals would be very much a grad tax as most would never pay back their student loans.
Dithering about how Lib Dem ministers would vote and what the whip would be. This has been hugely damaging to the party. MPs should have stated their position a long time ago. The stories that appear every day about individual MPs and ministers changing their minds are unhelpful at best. They keep this on the news agenda when it doesn't have to be.
Holding the vote now. Why is the vote being held today? Even if you support the proposals with the progressive measures that are being trumpeted you would still have to vote against the government today. None of these measures are included in this vote. It will entirely be about raising the cap to £9000. The government haven't even published the white paper with the progressive measures included yet. All we have heard officially about them is from one ministerial statement. I agree with Greg Mulholland and his amendment calling for the vote to be postponed, for their to be further consultation with future students and parents and the whole package to be published and voted on together.

This is not to say NUS has got it right either though. If this article about leaked emails from the Telegraph is true then NUS has some serious questions to answer. Were they really selling students down the river to get a cheap 'win'? (they love using that phrase). If the article is not true then NUS should sue the Telegraph. But I suspect that the Telegraph would not have published direct quotes from emails unless they had very strong evidence to back them up. the President of NUS, Aaron Porter, hasn't exactly denied it either.

Also I think that the Labour party is being pathetic about their role in all of this. They started the Browne Review and they told the Lib Dems in the coalition negotiations that they would not accept fees lower than £7000 per year. Labour students are attending student demonstrations giving out leaflets saying Labour is in favour of state funded higher education. If you ignore the fact that Labour's policy platform currently consists of a 'blank sheet' of paper, they are still not in favour of state funded HE. They have a shadow chancellor in favour of fees and a leader in favour of a graduate tax. Anyone who voted Labour at the last election voted for a rise in fees.

November 24th - student day of action - Leeds

2010-11-25T12:33:00.011Z

Last week on the 24th of November about 2000 students from schools, universities and colleges in Leeds staged a march through the city centre and then back to Leeds University.

I did not take part in this march because I felt that the march was not really about tuition fees anymore. It had been broadened out into a wider movement about government cuts in general. This is a movement that I can not really identify with. However I did go along to watch. I was particularly interested in the behaviour of the police towards the protesters.

I had a few conversations with police at the march and a spoke a couple of times with the police inspector who was the ground commander. What struck me about the whole event was how flexible and accommodating the police were. They were also pretty friendly throughout the day.

At the rally at the art gallery the police made a deliberate effort to back away from the protesters and avoid confrontation. There was excellent communication between police and stewards. The real test came when protesters then marched back up to the university on a route not authorised by police beforehand. The police tried to keep them away from the Civic Hall without success but there was no confrontation at all. Protesters then stormed the Leeds Metropolitan University Library. Again there was no confrontation by police. At this point there were only two police on horseback present.

Protesters then marched up Woodhouse lane to Leeds University where they occupied the Michael Sadler Building. They are still occupying the Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre. They have issued a list of demands most of which are frankly ridiculous:

The occupation at Leeds University demands the following;

The University should condemn all cuts.
Don’t raise fees, scrap fees, free education for all.
Schools at Leeds University get taken off Review.
No repercussions for anyone involved in occupation.
Leeds City Council should refuse to implement cuts; they should run a deficit budget and should break law if necessary.
Don’t cut funding for the arts.
No police on campus.
Keep EMA and bonuses
Nick Clegg should resign
Take inclusion and wider participation seriously
Tax the bankers, not the workers
No victimisation for the protestors at Millbank
Not a single pay cut, not one redundancy
Support UCU, Unison, Unite and other education trade unions defending jobs and education.
Cheaper public transport
Cut MP’s wages.
Freedom of education.
Solidarity with other student protests London
Security cooperating in protests and occupations not to be penalised
Don’t bail out banks
Aaron Porter and NUS stop condemning students

Here are some photos from the day:

Students march around the Leeds Uni campus at the beggining of the day. There was an egg thrown at police officers at this point.

Police stand back as students gather outside the art gallery.

The protest in all its glory.

Police lines stand back and let the protests stewards take charge.

Police Intelligence Teams enter buildings opposite in order to film protest.

Students march back towards Leeds University.

Police rush to block entrance to Leeds Civic Hall.

Students attempt to occupy the Leeds Met Library.

Students storm the Michael Sadler Building as police look on.

How do we take back control of the Lib Dems?

2010-11-24T01:42:00.003Z

Tonight the Lib Dem parliamentary party held a meeting deciding the stance that it would take in parliament on the issue of tuition fees. The outcome of that meeting doesn't sound particularly positive.

So where do we as a party go from here? It's fair to say that we as members are used to having a large degree of control over our policies in the Lib Dems. Understandably we have less control over the policies over the coalition government than our own party in opposition. But what should we do when we feel that the party has strayed so far from its path that we feel compelled to rein it in? More to the point, what can we do?

The only option now open to members is to call a special conference of the party. Both the federal executive and the federal policy committee have told the leadership that they are wrong on fees but they just do not seem to be listening.

A special conference will be inconvenient and probably expensive but the leadership has brought this upon themselves. It may not even achieve anything. It's resolutions may be completely ignored by the leadership but it is the only option they have left members with. What other choice do we have to make the party leadership listen?

Housing Benefit changes

2010-11-23T12:35:00.000Z

There has been so much discussion about the governments proposed changes to housing benefits that there is little more for me to add in terms of the politics of the situation. Basically the plans would mean that the maximum amount that a family in a three bedroomed house could claim in terms of housing benefit would be around £400 per week.

To me this seems very fair. If I were to move to London when I graduate (or live in any other city for that matter) on a wage of say £16,000 per year then there would be certain parts of the city I could not afford to live in and I would have to accept that. I'm afraid that's life. It is not fair that those whose housing costs are paid by the state are free to live anywhere they wish whilst others have to live within their means.

And to those who say that whole boroughs in London would be emptied out overnight, they wouldn't. Landlords would merely drop their rents to fall in line with the proposed changes. The one argument that I agree with from some on the left on this issue is that rent control should be considered at the same time as housing benefit reform. I do not necessarily agree with the principle of rent control but it is important to assess what it's impact would be.

The other argument that I have very little time for is saying that people would be forced to leave their homes if their circumstances change. The government will be taking this into account in the legislation and building in grace periods but this happens all the time to many people who are not on housing benefit. There is no reason why those who are should be so protected from reality.

To sum up, this reform is long overdue. It is something that the public have been pushing politicians for for a long time and one of the issues that people consistently raise on the doorstep. And before any Labourites start shouting about this, the only manifesto it was in at the last election was yours!

Housing Benefit will be reformed to ensure that we do not subsidise people to live in the private sector on rents that other ordinary working families could not afford.

Page 2:3, middle column, about halfway down.

Why I (probably) won't be taking part in the student day of action on Wednesday

2010-11-22T12:11:00.002Z

On Thursday I attended a meeting called by Leeds University Union to discuss the next steps in fighting the rise in fees and the cuts to higher education. It was attended by members of the student union exec, various socialist and political party groups from across campus including Labour Students and Liberal Youth, members of Leeds Met SU and members of UCU from both universities.

The meeting was meant to last for an hour but ended up going on for an hour and a half. It was one of the most ill tempered political meetings I have ever attended (and believe me that's saying something) and members of various socialist and revolutionary groups on campus seemed determined to use every opportunity to criticise the actions of others in the room (especially the student exec officers). Despite very good chairing of the discussion by one of the members of the exec, many seemed intent on using the meeting to make petty political points rather than fight for a common goal.

So what exactly was the common goal of the people gathered there? I went to the march in London in order to show my opposition to rising fees and cuts in the teaching grants to universities as I'm sure the vast majority of the 50,000 attendees did too. I was happy to be a part of that movement. However at the meeting on Thursday fee rises were only mentioned once in an hour and a half. For the majority of the attendees the meeting seemed to be about fighting the government in every area of cuts, from benefit reforms to local council cuts. These cuts were laid out in all three party's manifestos at the election and the British public clearly voted for them. I don't want to be part of a movement that fights against the government to bring about some kind of socialist revolution.

Then there were the suggested tactics of those present. Many from the revolutionary groups kept throwing in ominous threats of more 'militant action'. And most at the meeting seemed to think that picketing lectures and threatening students and lecturers turning up to uni was acceptable. When a Lib Dem student tried to speak he was dismissed out of hand. This is not the way to build a mass movement.

So in short I probably won't be taking part in the day of action on Wednesday. I don't feel comfortable taking part in a protest with those present on Thursday evening. Don't get me wrong, I'm still against fees, and bitterly disappointed with Lib Dem MPs (and Labour and Tory MPs) who have said they will break their pledge. Good luck to Leeds University Union and all those protesting for the right reasons (higher education cuts and fee rises) on Wednesday but this is one hijacked movement that I don't want any part of any more.

NUS and the right to recall

2010-11-18T03:50:00.001Z

I just received this email from NUS president Aaron Porter:

Dear Chris

A huge thank you to all of you who were involved in the biggest student march in decades. Over 50,000 supporters marched on Wednesday 10 November to protest against a trebling of tuition fees and savage cuts that will cause huge damage to our education system. A small minority tried to hijack our demonstration, however, we will not let them distract from the tens of thousands of supporters who showed such passion and commitment last week.

We marched together to show the coalition Government that we don’t agree with proposals to cut higher and further education, increase tuition fees and remove EMA. The range of cuts that are being imposed by this Government represent the biggest attack to further and higher education in decades, and we believe that each individual measure represents a unprecedented onslaught on knowledge and learning for people of all ages and from all background. We are delighted that you have agreed to stand firm with us and oppose these cuts.

View photos of the demo and take a look at some of the creative signs and placards on show.

However, the campaign isn’t over yet. In less then one month there is likely to be a vote in Parliament, which will determine whether or not the government implement proposals to raise the tuition fee cap to £6000-£9000 and scrap the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme.

There are a few steps you can take now to keep the pressure on your MPs before the vote in Parliament on these issues:
Join our Education Write Off
Sign our Right to Recall pledge
Students can sign up to one of our NUS Activists Academy events taking place in December
o Leicester
o London

Thank you once again for your support.

In Unity,

Aaron Porter
NUS National President

This was the reply that I sent back:

Dear Aaron,

The 'right to recall' pledge that you are asking students to sign means nothing and you know it. MPs need to be suspended from parliament by the standards commissioner before right to recall legislation takes effect and the the legislation will not be passed for a few years yet. More to the point even if I did agree with it then why would I want to remove MPs from parliament who are most sympathetic to NUS's cause and replace them with Labour MPs who have betrayed students consistently over the last thirteen years?

I'm not really expecting a reply from you guys. I appreciate that you have basically become a Labour Party front over the last 15 years and will probably not criticise your political masters but why not run a recall campaign aganst Labour MPs who voted for fees in the first place, after all they broke their manifesto promuse too.

I look forward to hearing nothing in reply from you.

Chris

Some questions about yesterdays protest

2010-11-11T13:34:00.002Z

NUS have a few issues regarding yesterdays protest that they must tackle in my view. To take a look at my overall views on the protest and on the wider fees issue take a look at my guest post on Guardian Leeds.

Before I start this post I should make it clear that I am not joining the massed ranks of the silent majority (read: right wing cranks) calling for Aaron Porter, President of NUS, to be sacked but I do feel NUS need to clear a few things up.

NUS needs to make it clear that stewards behaved well on the day. The vast majority I spoke to were there to keep the protest peaceful and avoid trouble. NUS must make a commitment to sack or no confidence any of it's officers or members of staff who were stewarding inappropriately and encouraging violence.
Were there enough stewards for a protest of this size? I didn't see as many stewards as I would have expected along the route. Most of those in luminous jackets were from individual unions and not from NUS.
Were the stewards given enough training to do their job properly and were they given enough support on the day? There were very few senior stewards seen around.
Who chose the route? It seems mad that NUS chose to march past CCHQ on a day where tempers were bound to be high.
Who chose the rally point on Millbank? Again it seems strange that this non traditional rally point was chosen. Why was somewhere like Trafalgar Square or Jubilee Gardens not chosen? This would have made far more sense and made the numbers far more controllable.
Who told the police what the numbers would be? NUS were expecting 20,000 this jumped to 24,000 overnight and then to 50,000 by the time of the rally. Were these numbers just a genuine underestimation or was it part of the publicity campaign to pass the protest off as an overwhelming success. If it was the latter then this was wrong.
NUS must immediately give legal advice to sabbatical officers at student unions who could be facing private prosecutions for facilitating the damage at Millbank. Sabbatical officers are trustees of their unions and can have unlimited liability for the actions of their unions.

#demo2010

2010-11-09T23:45:00.003Z

In just over seven hours time I will be heading down to London along with 700 other Leeds students.

There is a hugely diverse group of people travelling down from Leeds tomorrow. There are so many people coming who have never cared about politics before but they see the basic injustice of higher fees. They will put students off uni and they will create a market in education, making some courses 'worth' more than others. This is unfair and wrong.

We will be joining thousands of students from all over the country to show the government what we think of their proposals on fees. This government must be different and it must listen to this protest. There is no shame in them changing their mind in the face of overwhelming public opinion.

As a Liberal I believe that education is a right and not a privilege. I believe that education has the power to transform someones future. I believe that education benefits us all. Access to education should not be based on the ability to pay but it should be based on the potential to learn and grow. Education is the route to equality of opportunity. If we fail tomorrow and over the next few months then we have lost this battle for hundreds of thousands of future students. I want to live in a country where someone from the very worst background has the opportunity to transform their life through the power of education and where everyone is able to become the best person they can be.

If you can't make it tomorrow then please do all you can to help. Write to your MP, write to your local paper, tweet about the protest. Most importantly, don't give up. This is a battle we can't afford to lose.

Labour lies in Farnley and Wortley

2010-11-04T14:25:00.004Z

Anyone want to take a guess at what's wrong with this leaflet?

Well it seems that Labour have plucked the council election result out of thin air! The actual result is here on the council website.

It seems they can't even manage to spell the name of the councillor they beat. Note: Parnham, not Parnum.

Kirkstall Forge station

2010-10-21T10:29:00.000+01:00

This is the email that I have sent to the ministers at the departments of Transport, Local Government and the Treasury. The scheme is hugely important to the local area and the local economy. I hope it gets approved.

-----

Dear sir,

I am writing to you to ask you to support the construction of Kirkstall Forge railway station in Leeds.

The station is part of a development providing 1000 new homes and 2000 jobs for local people. I understand the need for cuts to government spending after the disastrous financial situation that this government inherited from the last Labour government but it is equally important that we continue to invest in growth schemes for the future like this.

Leeds is a bustling and vibrant city but it is in need of better transport links and more housing. This scheme helps the city with both of these problems and will allow Leeds to continue to grow.

Please support the Kirkstall Forge station and by doing so, support the whole development and the growth of Leeds.

Chris Lovell