http://www.martinturner.org.uk Stratford on Avon's Lib-Dem Parliamentary Candidate Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:00:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Here's another question to try at home. Are you a taxpayer, a voter, a citizen, or a stakeholder? Of course, you are quite possibly all four, but which are you really? The nuances are quite different -- but if we allow ourselves to be guided into one or other, the ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/07/02/taxpayer-voter-citizen-or-stakeholder/ Do you hate the Tories? Or perhaps Labour? Or (heaven forfend) maybe even the Liberal Democrats? Or -- deep down -- did you breathe a secret sigh of relief at the rise of the BNP, as, now at last, there was someone you could legitimately hate without being diminished as ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/27/the-politics-of-hate/ "Adopt our culture or leave" -- my challenge to the BNP. Nick Griffin would be hugely funny if he were a character created by Sacha Baron Cohen, rather like Borat or Bruno. But his wilfully inconsistent line is a planned and calculated programme to court 'the plain man'. I'm not ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/23/adopt-our-culture-or-leave/ Crowdsourcing -- an idea that suggests that many people working on their own on a collective project can accomplish great things -- has put paid to the Daily Telegraph's claims that only the vast resources of a major commercial newspaper could possibly have uncovered MP expenses abuse. And it has ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/21/crowdsourcers-shame-telegraph/ Memo on expenses seen as 'invitation to deselect' -- The Guardian. David Cameron has been sailing close to the wind for some time, but, now we see the first (to mix a metaphor) truly false step. There was already suspicion that he was using the expenses crisis to sweep aside the ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/21/camerons-false-step/ MPs with outside interests could be paid lower salary -- The Times. Bill Cockburn, head of the Senior Salaries Review Board, has suggested that MPs with outside interests could be paid at a lower rate than 'full time' MPs. But Tories, who have disproportionately more outside incomes than MPs of ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/19/in-the-right-direction/ MP Expenses claims - www.parliament.uk. Here's the list of what parliament has decided should be omitted from today's expenses disclosures: Rejected claims Any residential address Regular travel patterns Names of anyone delivering goods to homes Money spent on security Hotels or guest houses used Letters/emails to Fees Office Bank/credit card statements Phone numbers on itemised bills Personal items not claimed for Staff ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/19/legit-and-illegit-expense-omissions/ The decision to publish MP expenses today with key details blanked out is, quite simply, a mistake. But it is a mistake in a long line of mistakes, and it is a mistake which the Daily Telegraph has been counting on and which it will use to justify its own ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/18/another-mistake/ Here's a game you can play at home. Imagine that you are Britain's next prime minister. You've decided that you're going to stay in power for five years. To begin with you have high hopes of changing everything for the better, but you quickly discover that there is so much ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/17/what-would-you-do/ IPSOS Mori's poll on trust in politics at the end of May should surprise no-one. 3/4 said that Britain's system of government needed improvement -- the most negative view since Mori started asking the question in 1995. At 20%, less than half the number of people believe that the Westminster ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2009/06/16/restoring-trust-how/