In 2008 Nick Clegg came to the Sopwell House Hotel in St Albans to make one of his first speeches as newly elected Liberal Democrat leader. The occasion was the annual Guardian Public Services Summit.
He chose to concentrate on the inadequacies of service provision for the mentally ill. It was not an obvious crowd-puller for [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Nick Clegg'
Nick Clegg’s dogged insistence on better resources for mental health treatment
January 19th, 2012 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
Tags:mental health·Nick Clegg·Sopwell House Hotel·St Albans·time to change
Curbing excessive boardroom pay is not enough
December 4th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Sandy's blog
Nick Clegg has just announced proposals to curb excessive pay rises in boardrooms.
I recently posted a link on Facebook to a story by Mark Pack on Liberal Democrat Voice about research done by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) on the income of the richest one percent in the UK. I was prompted because it [...]
Tags:executive pay·footballer pay·Nick Clegg·prime minister pay
Go back to your constituencies and tell them what LibDems have already achieved in government
September 22nd, 2011 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
I no longer really enjoy party conferences.
I went to my first one in 1973. It was in Brighton – in the Dome next to the Pavilion, since the seafront conference centre had not yet been built. In those days it wasn’t even called a conference – it was an Assembly. There was no stage set [...]
Tags:Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg comes back to St Albans
March 4th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Sandy's blog
We had a brilliant question and answer session for local members and supporters with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg last night.
He had been in Luton in the afternoon wearing his Deputy Prime Minister hat to deliver a thoughtful and widely reported speech on multiculturalism.
Then he popped down the motorway to our own event at the [...]
Tags:Jubilee Centre·Nick Clegg·Sandy Walkington·St Albans·STAGS·Verulam School
The importance of being Mr Huhne
November 3rd, 2010 · 2 Comments · Sandy's blog
I have only just got round to reading the speech on the coalition government’s Green Deal delivered yesterday by Energy and Climate Change Secretary of State Chris Huhne. It is one of the most substantial speeches delivered by a Liberal Democrat for many years, I am hugely encouraged and you can read the full text [...]
Tags:Chris Huhne·Danny Alexander·green deal·Michael Moore·Nick Clegg·Vince Cable
Brand New Politics
May 24th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
I was asked by Julia Hobsbawm of Editorial Intelligence to write an article on the election and after for a publication to coincide with a conference on the theme of Brand New Britain.
Not an easy ask since every day has thrown up a new surprise, and doubtless there will be more today with the first [...]
Tags:Editorial Intelligence·Julia Hobsbawm·Nick Clegg·Sandy Walkington·St Albans
Tax change you can believe in
April 12th, 2010 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
This morning, at their first press conference of the 2010 General Election campaign, Nick Clegg and Vince Cable announced the fair tax policy at the heart of our General Election manifesto (which will be launched soon).
Under Labour, the tax system is complex, unwieldy and, most of all, unfair. This has to change. The [...]
Should tax be about fairness? Of course it should
December 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
An enlightening glimpse of the three main parties and tax over the weekend and yesterday.
First, Tory A-lister and high profile parliamentary candidate Zac Goldsmith was revealed to have used non-domicile status to protect some of his considerable wealth. Clearly one law for the rich, one for the rest of us. About the only firm Tory [...]
Tags:LibDem tax proposals·mansion tax·Nick Clegg·Sandy Walkington·St Albans·Vince Cable
Great turn-out for Nick Clegg in St Albans
August 29th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Sandy's blog
We were slightly worried that the Thursday before Bank Holiday would not be the ideal time to attract a crowd to a political meeting. We should not have been concerned. Three hundred people packed into the Marlborough Road Methodist Church to hear Nick take questions from all comers.
He uses no intermediary to pick the questioners. [...]
Tags:Gary Shore·gaslights·Marlborough Road Methodist Church·Nick Clegg
Captain Ashdown comes to town
May 13th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Sandy's blog
Paddy Ashdown dashed in to St Albans yesterday on the latest stage of his tour to promote his autobiography “A Fortunate Life”.
Given his current superstar status and his universally admired success as High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, it is worth recalling how much he was sneered at and patronised by his opponents and the media when [...]