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The Telegraph reports today that two Lib Dem MPs – Malcolm Bruce and Matthew Taylor – are among the 17 MPs who have protested to Sir Christopher Kelly at the proposed ban on employing relatives: Malcolm Bruce Liberal Democrat MP for Gordon Employs wife, Rosemary Bruce, as Office Manager and Diary Secretary “Having my wife as office manager, diary [...]

What’s cost the taxpayer £82m over the last five years? Answer: compensation claims against county councils and unitary authorities by members of the public who have tripped on pavements. The figures from 90 local authorities were obtained by the Lib Dems under Freedom of Information requests; there are still 10,000 claims unsettled. Here’s what the Lib Dems’ shadow transport secretary  [ Read More ]

Here’s the innocuous-enough sounding press release from the Deprtment of Transport, ‘Cost of Ministerial Cars for 2008′. But look at the bottom-line – well, you could do if they’d published one. What the bottom-line would show is that the cost of ministerial cars has increased to more than £6m, with the number of ministers claiming for cars also increasing. As  [ Read More ]

2 Big Stories British economy in worst state in over half a century Perhaps it’s the sweltering weather, perhaps recession fatigue has set in, but there is little reaction to yesterday’s startling news that the British economy contracted by 2.4% in the first quarter of 2009 – the worst decline in more than 50 years. It isn’t the main story  [ Read More ]

From today’s FT (well worth reading today for other reasons): The government will “definitely not” proceed with a national road-user charging scheme if it wins the next election, the new transport secretary has said, in the most comprehensive renunciation so far of a policy adopted in 2004. … In July 2004, Alistair Darling, then transport secretary, committed the government to  [ Read More ]

The news isn’t all doom ‘n’ gloom, y’know – even in the Telegraph: Trains are more punctual than ever, Network Rail has claimed, with more than nine out of 10 arriving on time over the past year. The figures are the best since the industry started collating punctuality statistics in 1992. Last month the performance was even better than the  [ Read More ]

Welcome to what’s intended to be a daily feature here on LDV: an early preview of the two big news stories of the day, and a click-though to two of the must-read Lib Dem blog posts just published. Each day a member of the LDV collective will take their turn to bagpipe fact into news*. 2 Big Stories MPs’ expenses:  [ Read More ]

Stormin’ Norman Baker, the party’s shadow transport secretary and tenacious campaigner par excellence, is the Lib Dem representative on tonight’s Question Time (BBC1 and online, 10.35 pm). He’ll be joined on the panel by Labour’s environment secretary Hilary (“I’m a Benn not a Bennite”) Benn, Tory shadow health secretary since 2003 Andrew Lansley, comedian, columnist and disaffected Labour supporter Frank  [ Read More ]

Today’s Telegraph reports that Lord Turner, the chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, has said people should be given personal flight limits to lower pollution from the aviation industry: “We will have to constrain demand in an absolute sense, with people not allowed to make as many journeys as they could in an unconstrained manner,” he told the Commons  [ Read More ]

As BBC News reports: The government has won a vote over plans for Heathrow’s third runway – but saw its majority cut to just 19. … The Lib Dems supported the [motion urging the Government to "rethink" plans] but the ministers argue scrapping the plans would seriously damage the economy. More than 50 Labour MPs had previously expressed concerns about  [ Read More ]