Nigel Bakhai and the Liberal Democrats have soured Gordon Brown's honeymoon, slashing the Labour majority in Ealing Southall to just 5,070 votes. The Labour to Lib Dem swing was 5.2%. The Tories, despite five visits by David Cameron and a handpicked 'local celebrity' candidate, trailed home in third place in yesterday's by-election, picking up 22% of the vote.
There should be a "wholesale review" of the laws on peerages in the wake of the cash-for-honours inquiry, Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell has said. He said the Electoral Commission should be strengthened and the House of Lords made "wholly, or mainly" elected. "I think what we need now is a wholesale review of the law in relation to this matter. "We need to have proper regulation that's properly enforced by a revamped, strengthened Electoral Commission and of course right at the heart of this is to have reform of the House of Lords so that it's either wholly, or mainly an elected chamber."
Having a degree and excellent skills count for little if you are disabled and live in residential care. Why? If your CV read like Doug Paulley's, you would probably expect to spend a lifetime as a high-earning IT professional. First-class degree, excellent IT skills, head-hunted more than once as a web designer, age 29.
Disabled people on Tyneside are being asked for their views on how to make the housing service more accessible. The Gateshead Housing Company, which manages more than 22,000 homes, is holding a series of forums from August. These are open to any of its tenants or leaseholders that are disabled, deaf or have an impairment. Previous ones have resulted in initiatives such as a kitchen designed for visually impaired people and a new gardening scheme.
Rochdale Council are to invest £31 million into Rochdale's leisure facilities. The money will be put towards a range of projects including funding for the Middleton Arena, the upcoming Heywood Sport, Culture and Leisure Village and major redevelopments to the Central Leisure facilities.
Unlike Labour and the Conservatives, Sir Menzies Campbell's Liberal Democrats have a firm plan to tackle climate chaos.
