Another of the advantages of country life... vegetarians might wish to look away...

Doesn't this look delicious? It's a brace of pot roasted pheasants, the sort of thing you see on those rather fancy cookery programmes. The only catch is that they're quite expensive and one pheasant only really feeds two people.

Or not, if you live in mid Suffolk, where an oven-ready pheasant costs £3.00, and there is plenty of game available, supplied by people who shoot for sport or as pest control. And at that price, braised in madeira, for example, they become very reasonable.

As a long-time 'big city' person, I grew used to eating pork, beef or chicken. Lamb is a bit expensive, and anything more 'exotic' than that was pretty pricey. Not here, where you can get quail, partridge, rabbit and hare in the local butchers, all properly prepared, skinned and ready to cook.

And yes, I can hear the cries of cruelty, and yes, I understand that the creatures have been shot, but that's how it works out here. When I hear the sounds of gunfire in and around Creeting St Peter, I know that the local wildlife is under fire. In London, I then expected the sound of police sirens. The pheasants are bred, with bird feeders set out for them, and the rabbits and hares are shot to keep numbers stable in the absence of obvious predators - I haven't actually seen a fox in the three years I've lived here, whereas they were an everyday occurance in South London.

It's all part of the different quality of life that rural communities have to offer, not necessarily better, just different. I get cheap pheasant, but it's a bit of a drag to the nearest Thai restaurant. On the other hand, if I'm organised, I can have just as diverse a cultural life, whereas in London I could be more spontaneous.

Just another phase of the adjustment, I suspect...

More tea, Vicar? - a day in the life of Paradise-sur-Gipping

Living in a small village does mean that you can expect to be a bit short of facilities. Activities are community-based rather than commercial and they rely on the efforts of volunteers. So, Ros and I were pleased to be invited to a coffee morning and produce sale in the Church Hall, at the end of The Lane, organised by the Parochial Church Council.

Now, when people think of parishes, they tend to think 'Vicar of Dibley'. Ironically, the meetings that you see there are of the Parochial Church Council, but the concept is similar, church-based rather than quasi-political.

We were apparently the first through the door, and caught the organisers in the midst of an informal council meeting, but were welcomed with a cup of tea (donations welcome) and the offer of cake. And you know something, it was really friendly. I was able to catch up with a little Parish Council stuff, as we use the Church Hall for Parish Council meetings, and owe money for room rental - we haven't actually been invoiced, and our Parish Clerk is a stickler for that sort of thing. So, I suggested to Jenny, their Treasurer, that she bill us.

There was then a discussion about the burial path, and Ros's knowledge of rights of way legislation came into play. Ironically, the old burial path ran from the church hall in a straight line to the church, until the building of the A14 cut the path in two. Now, you have to cross the A14 via the road bridge out of the village to the south before heading along its southern edge and rejoining the original route.

The problem is that of horses. The path isn't a bridleway, and when horses use it, it gets badly cut up. Worse still, because it is relatively narrow, when riders encounter walkers, there is very little room for manoeuvre. Dogs make the situation even more complex, and finding ways of keeping horses off is proving to be a bit difficult.

And as we talked, more villagers arrived for tea, and maybe a jar of preserves, and before we knew it, there were more than a dozen people, some with children, chatting away, with our vicar wandering amongst them.

The hope is that they'll hold more such events on the second Saturday of each month, and I for one will be supporting them if I can. Ah, the joys of village life...

38 Degrees - failing to mind the tax gap

I note that 38 Degrees have started a campaign to encourage the Government to close the tax gap. So far, so good. Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets...

Starting with an implied accusation that the Chancellor is evading tax, unwise unless you've got evidence that he is - don't get me wrong, he's avoiding tax (legal, if a poor example), but he's using the tax regime perfectly legitimately. However, using as your headline figure for the tax gap a figure roundly condemned as a serious exaggeration by most credible sources is not what I expect from a credible campaigning organisation.

However, the tax gap is a big one, £42 billion, according to HM Revenue and Customs itself. However, just because it's big doesn't make it easy to close. The figure includes excise duties lost through smuggling, for example, white van man driving back from somewhere in Europe where duties are lower - for personal use, of course, and then selling them to his 'mates down the pub', up to major operations where millions of illegal or contraband cigarettes are shipped in. Cash in hand payments to builders or carpenters or electricians, or those nice men with some spare tarmac and time to relay your drive.

Individuals claiming to be self-employed when they aren't, one man companies where income is paid in dividends rather than salaries to reduce the tax and national insurance liabilities, unvouched or overstated expense claims, the little fiddles around the edges, paying untraceable cash, it's amazing how it adds up.

And yes, the Government, in the form of HMRC, could probably gather quite a lot of it. The cost would be a level of intrusive enquiry and fishing expeditions that would drive the majority of taxpayers to fear and loathe it. And when you achieve that level of fear, the enthusiasm for avoiding tax increases, and tax revenues begin to fall again. A bit of a mixed blessing, if truth be told.

So, I'll see what return we get on the £900 million to be invested in additional compliance activity yields before I get terribly carried away about the prospects of huge amounts of pain-free additional revenues for the public purse...

It's been an interesting day on Planet Bureaucrat...

My debut as Liberal Democrat Voice's new columnist took place early this afternoon. And having been the first guest editor in July, I now find myself with a fortnightly gig. I'm glad that I don't have to produce more than that. You see, the Liberal Democrat Voice team combine between them a range of virtues that I don't really possess. Think of them as the three P's...

Prolific. There is always new material for the discerning reader, on a vast range of topics. And for an all volunteer team, their ability to write, commission and encourage is quite impressive.

Partisan. There is an element of attack dog which I can't do myself. And yes, pretty argument of the intellectual contest is great, but occasionally you have to put the boot in. 

Pluralist. It is a bit easier for liberals to be inclusive. After all, we're used to having to work with others because we have little experience to governing alone. But the urge to stray towards ridicule is a hard one to resist.

So I'm proud to be a distant cousin of the Liberal Democrat Voice family. And on the subject of distant, I've been paying a visit to another part of the Revenue & Customs empire today, but that's a story for another day...

A Welsh councillor defects to Labour - not many hurt?

One of the disadvantages of having travelled the length and breadth of the country is that you get to meet a lot of people. Now I know what you're thinking, "He means advantages, doesn't he?". And normally, you'd be right. But not always...

The news that John Warman, the councillor for Cimla on Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, has defected to Labour has triggered a touch of regret on my part. You see, during the Presidential campaign, Ros and I went to Cimla, to meet John, Frank Little and Des Sparkes, and some of the small, but committed, group of Liberal Democrats, striving to keep an entrenched Labour council vaguely honest. They gave us a warm, generous welcome, and organised a short but enjoyable schedule of events for us to participate in.

John, in particular, had ploughed a lonely furrow on the council for many years, and I admired their determination, against the odds, in fighting on, when the temptation to settle for an easier life and join Labour would have been strong. And let's not mess around here, Neath Port Talbot is an old-style Labour fiefdom - when we visited, full Council lasted sixteen minutes, including a gracious welcome to Ros from both the Mayor and Leader.

So, whilst some may question John's decision to join the Labour Party, I can only regret the loss of a stalwart councillor. Not a big name, perhaps, but there are very few instances where a defection is welcomed. My condolences go out to Frank Little, Des Sparkes and the Aberavon and Neath Liberal Democrats. They're a decent, warm-hearted bunch, and they deserve better.

A twenty-first century tax authority - yes, HM Revenue & Customs is on Twitter!

httpI am somewhat surprised, although I guess that I shouldn't be. But it has been announced that HMRC will be experimenting with Twitter in the run-up to the Income Tax Self Assessment deadline. So, for your tax fix, follow @HMRCgovuk.

Curiously, they signed up on Twitter on 22 January last year, but with the first tweet on 21 December, and just 607 followers, they could do with some more friends. If you're an accountant, or simply interested in tax stuff, why not join the 607?

Merger with the Conservatives? I think not...

It is a sign that we may be the only ones playing the 'new politics' game, but I'm intrigued by the mutterings coming out of the Conservative right wing, and the conjecturing of the supposedly intellectual media that there will be some sort of deal between Liberal Democrats and Conservatives before the next General Election, perhaps even a merger.

Intrigued because I find myself wondering which Liberal Democrats they are talking to when journalists write this stuff. Nobody ever talks to me about electoral pacts or merger, either within the Party or without. That could be because none of us are interested - we're Liberal Democrats, not Conservatives or Labour. If we were either of the other two, we'd have joined, after all, it's so much easier to get on in the 'ugly sisters', with their safe seats, relatively vast resources and cosy media supporters.

No, for those of us for whom ideology or philosophy is important, being a Liberal Democrat is a matter of what is in our intellectual DNA. And so, presuming anyone was daft enough to propose a closer working relationship with the Conservative Party, I would expect it to be rejected by our Conference overwhelmingly.

And that is where all the intellectual waffle runs into the sand. Yes, I acknowledge that, in the Conservative Party, the idea that members and activists are consulted on big decisions is almost absurd. They're used to doing what the Leader tells them to do, without questioning why. But Liberal Democrats are different. We're argumentative, analytical, and sometimes, as far as our leaders are concerned, a pain in the neck. But it's our Party and not theirs.

For the most part, that is respected, even if it is discomforting. It's the reason why, at every Conference, we have a debate that is presented as a potential rebuff to the leadership, generally by journalists who haven't bothered to do anything more the peremptory research. And we debate, and passions are raised, and at the end we say "goodbye, see you next year". It's about mutual respect, when all is said and done.

So, until we see on a Federal Executive or Federal Conference agenda an item on closer working relationships with another Party, relax, it won't happen. And, if that day comes, and the Party votes to go along with it (both astonishingly big ifs, I'd say), they is clearly a body of people who would go off and form a continuing Liberal Democrat Party. And I'd probably be one of them...

Guy McGregor - ITWA (It's that weasel again...)

Yes, he's back again, and this time it's our local bus services that are under threat.

As Suffolk County Council continue their hapless mission to cut spending without any thought for the consequences, the latest news is that they want to cut £2.3 million from the public transport budget for next year. That would be out of a budget of £4.2 million, i.e. a 55% cut.

Apparently, young Mr McGregor is negotiating with officers and cabinet colleagues to save some of the routes potentially under threat, but he'll probably struggle. And, ironically, one of the places most at risk is Eye, in his own division, which may lose all of its bus services.

Now I will admit that some of the county's bus services are a massive drain on the public purse. Ros, a former county councillor and Lib Dem group leader, notes that some of the subsidies were as much as £12 per passenger, a level of subsidy which would be hard to justify in good times, let alone the hard ones we're currently experiencing.

So, for example, route 453, which links the Creetings to Stowmarket on Thursdays (one journey in each direction), could probably go, given the introduction of Suffolk Links Gipping North, a demand-responsive bus service not bound by a timetable. Originally intended to be a market day bus, it links our village to a market that now barely exists. And frankly, I'd rather travel at a time better suited to my needs than at a fixed time and day.

On the other hand, core routes, such as the 87/88 route from Ipswich to Stowupland via Needham Market and Stowmarket, or the 384 which links Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds need to be protected, so make sure that they survive.

And, just in case Guy has forgotten, there is a cross-subsidy between school services and the rest of the public transport system. Axing those services that use vehicles that would otherwise only be used twice a day would increase the costs of home to school services - we're a rural county, remember? - and likely have an impact on the education budget.

But returning to Eye for a moment, their plucky representative on the county council has suggested that the county might need to talk to parishes to see if they want to support community transport. Well, we might, but we're all agreeing precepts this month for 2011/12, and without proper data, no sane Parish Council would risk taking on a potentially huge (in relative terms) commitment.

To give you an idea, if Creeting St Peter had to find £1,000 to subsidise a bus service, that would be the equivalent of adding 26% to our precept. And, under the new Localism Bill, local residents will have the power to veto excessive council tax increases. You did talk to your friends about this, didn't you Guy?

Sometimes, the sheer inadequacy of our county council leadership is enough to drive one to despair. Oh, and yes, I'm still waiting for your wretched consultation document. Or did you decide that giving us the information required to represent our electors was too expensive?...

"Wrong tax, wrong time", says Milliband. And the right tax, right time would be?

In the absence of any report back from Richard Grayson, it appears that the Labour denials continue. Yes, by all means oppose what the Coalition is doing if you've got an alternative, but until you've got one to offer, you might well choose to keep your heads down.

At every stage, Labour have decried the cuts as too fast, too soon, without ever suggesting what they might cut and when. And it really is becoming tiresome. During the election campaign, Labour talked about £44 billion of cuts. They weren't alone, although none of the three major parties were entirely clear about how they would do it. But now that they don't have a general election to salvage, all is quiet on the prudence front.

And there are only two options - cut expenditure or raise taxes. Obviously, with a Conservative Party averse to tax hikes, and with Liberal Democrats keen to take the poorest out of the income tax bracket altogether, there is some tension. But there are no Labour proposals on which taxes to raise, only protests about increasing VAT.

And on cutting expenditure, again Labour are too busy shroud-waving to offer anything that smacks of constructivism. No, we can't cut subsidies to public transport, no, we can't cut the Educational Maintenance Allowance, no, we can't cut civil service numbers. Alright then, what can we cut?

When you're as deep in the fiscal hole as the United Kingdom is, you need to act. That means either doing things better, doing less of them, or raising more money. And if every time you try to do so, you're attacked for putting vital services at risk, or cutting critical functions, or risking the recovery, without initiating a debate on what might be done instead, all you do is mislead the public.

You cannot have Scandinavian levels of public services and American tax rates, there has to be a compromise somewhere. And whilst cutting services is hardly a pain-free option, waiting for the markets to force a gruesome slash and burn of our public services and social welfare net will be unspeakably ghastly. Is that what Ed and his friends really want? Is power so much more important than the public good?

One of our County Councillors is a weasel...

Here are two pictures, one being a long-tailed weasel, the other Guy McGregor, the portfolio holder for Transport on Suffolk County Council. One of them is cute, furry and has a basic honesty of purpose, the other is a Conservative.

This week, it has been announced that the Safecam Partnership, which funds speed cameras across Suffolk, is in jeopardy because of budget cuts. If the funding is axed, the County will save £1.2 million but, and this is a big but, there won't be any speed cameras in the county.

Now, as a non-driver, I don't have an axe to grind on the subject of whether speed cameras are a good thing or not. However, I do know that, especially in villages, traffic speed is a very sensitive issue. And where those villages are on busy roads, such as the A140 which links Ipswich and Norwich, there are a sense that speed cameras save lives.

Ultimately, you have to decide whether the cost of maintaining cameras outweighs the costs of loss of life and serious injury when excessive speed causes accidents. Yes, you can argue that people should obey the law, preventing the need for cameras, but the reality is that some drivers will speed if they think that they can get away with it. The rest of us pay for their stupidity by paying for traffic calming measures, speed cameras and the like.

But Guy McGregor doesn't think like that. He is quoted in the East Anglian Daily Times as accepting that the SafeCam Partnership had been very successful, and hoping that it would be able to continue as a service provided by the police. Or in other words, it's a really good idea, and we hope that the police will take it off of our hands. Saving to the council taxpayers of Suffolk? Nil. That is, if they can afford it.

Because, lest Mr McGregor forget, Suffolk Constabulary will need to find savings of about £6 million each year for the next four years, all of this from a relatively small budget - Suffolk has some of the lowest policing costs in the country.

So, Mr McGregor, if speed cameras are worth spending money on, then let's face the music and pay for them. If not, then we won't. But please spare us the weasel words as you pass the buck to someone else...

Did I really hear Grant Shapps correctly?

For those who think that locking increasing amounts of the nation's wealth up in bricks and mortar is a nonsense, today's news that Grant Shapps believes that we should be looking for a gradual, but sub-inflationary, increase in house prices in coming years will come as welcome news. It's also one of the first intelligent things to come out of the Conservative part of the Communities and Local Government team since the election.

Combining this with reports that, without parental support to get onto the housing ladder, the age at which someone can expect to have raised the currently required deposit will be thirty-six, it is clear that something has to be done.

The idea of home ownership for all, a concept rather more alien to our European neighbours, is a nice one in principle, but if the cost of housing takes up ever larger proportions of household income, we have a societal problem. Combine that with a shrinking of the public and social housing sector over twenty years, the increasing number of small, often poorly capitalised, private landlords, and a pattern of building flats rather than family homes, and the issues are clear.

So, how does Grant get his wish? Firstly, there has to be an expansion of social housing provision. Giving local government the opportunity to invest in new homes will improve the social mix of social housing developments, take some pressure off of the private rental market (thus removing some of the inflationary pressures in parts of the country), and reduce the need for young people to buy, thus keeping house price inflation low.

And in a jobs market where loyalty to, and from, employers is increasingly a thing of the past, the flexibility that comes with renting rather than ownership should be encouraged. That may mean the encouragement of house rental, rather than flat rental, and again local government can play a part here. The proposals to encourage mobility amongst council tenants in the Localism Bill are a sign of positive intent on that score.

So, it appears that Grant and Eric may have learnt a few tricks over the Christmas break. They're still not off the hook though, and I'm delighted that Andrew Stunell is there to keep an eye on them...

Fantasy Football: Lib Dems in the Fantasy Cup - 3rd Round

Thirty teams out of one hundred and six made it into the third round, and with a mere 524,258 barriers between them and glory, Liberal Democrats were doing a bit better than expected. It wasn't to last...

So, here are some of the highlights from the third round;

Easiest victories

Ian Wallace's 'The Red n Blue Army' cruised past 'FC Riviera Luzern', winning 58 - 34, an excellent result against a team ranked 167,515 places higher at kick-off. Patrick Fancett's 'Winch United', faced a wild card, 'Vaginas Are Cool' (where do people come up with these names), whose late arrival on the scene meant that, whilst rated nearly 1.2 million places worse, on form this was anyone's guess as to who might win. However, Patrick's men came through 55 - 35 to seal a place in the fourth round.

Most effort-free victories

In a week when the average score was again forty-three, the lowest winning score was achieved by James Blanchard's 'Almondbury Athletic', who sneaked past 'Andy's Rovers' 29 -27. And yes, neither side is that great, but you can only beat whatever is put in front of you. In fairness though, 'Andy's Rovers' were ranked more than two hundred thousand places higher.

The top guns

Utter carnage amongst the remaining teams in the top ten of the league saw Carrie Henderson's 'Excaledonia' fall 33 - 57 against 'kadg', ranked more than four hundred thousand places worse, Andrew Emmerson's 'Team Extreme' lose 31 - 40 to 'citrus united', ranked nearly a million places worse and Amit Patel's 'F.C MI-LO' went down 34 -46 to 'champions elect'. I wonder if they will be, although as they were ranked 1,369,089 coming into the round, they're going to need a lot of luck to make it.

Meanwhile, Ross Hardie's 'RBC Rossendaal' comfortably defeated 'PostmanPatters' 47 - 35, making them the only team currently ranked in the Liberal Democrat top ten left in the Fantasy Cup.

MP corner

it was the end of the road for John Leech's 'Mike's Dodgy Beard', as they fell 43 - 54 against 'Fish's Football Team'. Disappointing really, as they were strong favourites on form, ranked more than 1.1 million places higher.

And finally, another classic Liberal Democrat underdog victory...

Quietly going about their business, David Camp's 'CamponFilm' had made it through to the third round despite being ranked 1,944,730 in the overall league, and whilst the draw had been generous, pitting them against two equally poor sides thus far, their next opponents, 'team ftw' were at least ranked nearly six hundred thousand places higher. It didn't help them though, as 'CamponFilm' made it into the fourth round fairly comfortably, '49 - 38'.

And the damage is...

Eighteen down, just twelve into the fourth round. And given that only seven of them are in our top fifty, it isn't looking good...

And so, until next time, cue the 'Match of the Day' theme...

Fantasy Football: Lib Dems in the Fantasy Cup - 2nd Round

With fifty-six teams out of one hundred and six surviving the qualifying round and the first round proper, and only one million, forty-eight thousand, five hundred and twenty opponents, hopes were high amongst the ranks of the Liberal Democrats. And it turned out not to be too bad a week...

So, here are some of the highlights from the second round;

Easiest victories

Jonathan Haggart's 'Bandwagonesque' were comfortably better than 'Woohoo', winning 72 - 29, although they did start the day more than six hundred thousand places further up the league table. Meanwhile, Carrie Henderson's 'Excaledonia' defeated 'Athletico Sandyford' 67 - 32, but again, there were five hundred thousand places in her favour. So, perhaps the performance of the week goes to Patrick Fancett's 'Winch United' , beating a team ranked more than seven hundred thousand places above them, 'Pelan2Kayuh FC' , 77 - 74

Most effort-free victories

In a week when the average score was forty-three, compared to the previous week's fourteen, there were unlikely to be many teams winning with scores below thirty, and indeed only two did. We'll come back to one of them later, but congratulations go to Martin Crosby's 'brackpool lock', who scraped through by 28 - 27 against 'oman legends 11'

The top guns

More unexpected defeats saw the end of Alick Cotterill's 'The Welsh Wanglers', beaten 54 - 69 by 'Multiple Scoregasms', and Charlie Garnett's 'Waa Hageeg', beaten 22 - 39 by 'Bonito Samba C.F'. Both sides went into their fixtures ranked in the top 13,000 globally, so there'll be a fair bit of disappointment there.

Meanwhile, Ross Hardie's 'RBC Rossendaal' comfortably defeated 'Irish Blues' 50 - 24, and Amit Patel's 'F.C MI-LO' defeated the evocatively named 'Poborsky's Mullet FC' 47 -40

MP corner

Good news and bad news here, John Leech's 'Mike's Dodgy Beard' scraped past 'Denaf Aitakatta' 66 -65, but Adrian Sanders' 'Torquay Utd' fell 32 - 54 against 'The Charger's'.

And finally, another classic Liberal Democrat underdog victory...

Astonishingly, there were still two survivors from the bottom six of our league, and whilst R Provan's 'The Huhney Monsters' went down 27 - 65 against 'Saint Allstars', there were 1,418,850 places between the two sides.

But in another unlikely performance, Clea Curtis's 'Purple People' squeezed through 15 - 9 against 'I LOVE RACHEL FC', ranked a mere 1,404,173 places better.

Author's postscript

If you're going to go down, do it gloriously, I say. 'Deportivo Creeting' were pipped 66 - 69 by 'the 1 eyed snakes'. In a week when twenty-one Liberal Democrats teams won their ties with less points, it was a spectacular way to go out...

And so, until next week, cue that 'Match of the Day' theme once again...

Dancing out the old, dancing in the new...

It would be fair to say that, when it comes to dancing, I need to be persuaded. Ros is less backwards in coming forward, it would be fair to say, but when an invite came to travel to Bedford for what was described as a 'proper Hogmanay', I was only too happy to accept.

For those with decent memories, two of the key members of Team Ros in the contest for the  Party Presidency were Bridget and Keith Harris. Keith created, built and maintained the amazing web presence and back office database, whilst Bridget ran the campaign. I don't know what it did to the opposition (actually, I do... sorry about that, Lembit...), but it certainly impressed the hell out of me.

And so it was to Bridget and Keith's that we made our way yesterday afternoon, with the promise of some Scottish country dancing, champagne and excellent company. Ah yes, the dancing... As a Londoner, with an Indian father, you might think this a bit of a stretch. But then, having danced Circassian circles and the odd reel at my rather eccentric junior school, and being a Scot on my mother's side (born in Keith), the memory bank does have space for how a ceilidh works.

Whilst I am, to be generous, rather less nimble than once I was, it was beginning to come back to me when I 'sprung' a calf muscle. At which point, I was temporarily 'hors de combat' but, fortified by a glass or two of fizz, it dawned on me that, with a little care, I could still take my place on the floor.

And so the evening whirled by, with the company just as excellent as promised, our hosts as warm as can be, and a glass of scotch available at just the right moment. As we set, and bobbed, and whirled into the night, and with just the right amount of alcohol flowing through our veins, we began to get the hang of it all.

It was a wonderful evening, and as I sit in the office, nursing a wounded right calf, it will be one to live in the memory. And next year, I'll be back... and slightly dangerous...

So, thank you Bridget and Keith for bringing something special into our lives!

The President is dead, the President is dead, long live the President!

And so the Presidency has been handed over, and my term as First Husband/Presidential Consort is over. Hasn't it been an adventure? We have travelled thousands of miles, by train, car and aeroplane, eaten precisely no rubber chicken, made a bunch of new friends and discovered corners of the country that had hitherto been merely places on a map - a number of which we quite fancy returning to.

But this is far from the end for the Ros and Mark show. At midnight, we took up our new roles as members of the ELDR Council, and resumed past roles as Vice Chair and Secretary of our Regional Party. There's even a gig in the diary for later this month - we're going to Basildon - so we may yet be touring in the year ahead. You know where to find us if you want us...

And, of course, there is a District Council campaign to keep us occupied until May. Ros is determined that it will be done properly, and has designed a campaign plan that will keep me on the move until the election is won or lost. You can expect to hear more about that as Winter turns to Spring.

I've got my new column for Liberal Democrat Voice on internal Party matters (which reminds me, I really need to start thinking about my first column...), whilst Ros takes up her new post on the House of Lords Appointments Commission, and starts work as a member of the EU Sub-Committee G - Social Policies and Consumer Protection (it covers health, education, employment, consumer protection, equality, cultural issues and sport).

We'll also be in Sheffield for Spring Conference, for the symbols of office, the gavel and the copy of 'On Liberty' must be handed on to the new President.

Ah yes, a new President... I suppose that it's time to confess that I didn't vote for Tim. Not because I don't think that he'll be a very good President, but because, as I noted at the time, I was very conflicted as to what the Party needs at this time. There were moments when I thought that members needed a President to 'stir the blood', others when a quiet word might be more effective.

I clearly reflected opinion amongst the members, given how tight the result was, so I can be fairly relaxed about the outcome, and I have every confidence that Tim will go on to do us proud. And if he has any questions along the way, I'm sure that Ros will be only too happy to offer the benefits of wisdom she gleaned during two of the most turbulent years of the Party's history.

And so, may I end this post by wishing Tim the very best of luck in the two years ahead. The Presidency offers opportunities to get to the very heart of our Party, to make it a healthier, happier organisation and to be inspired by the efforts of people you might never have met otherwise. It also offers access to every corner of the Party, whether you want it or not, and a platform from which members and activists can be inspired.

There will be moments when he'll wonder why on Earth he took the job on. Far from home, on a cold, dark evening, on a railway platform waiting for a delayed train with the prospect of hours of discomfort before finding the sanctuary of a warm bed and a kind word, one's spirits can falter. But, all in all, our two years were an adventure, a privilege and a pleasure.

Time to move on though, for there are adventures enough ahead...

There are more important things than blogging...

I admit that blogging has been a bit light of late, with ill health, Christmas and my campaign in Stowupland either getting in the way, or taking priority.

Both Ros and I went down with flu-like symptoms, although whilst Ros was relatively stoic about it, I ended up out of action for three days. Christmas was fun though, and I rather enjoyed the whole presents, food and general socialising stuff.

Since Christmas, we've been concentrating on getting calendars delivered across Stowupland ward. Neither of us is 100% by any means, but we've plodded on and, with a day to spare, the task is complete.

And so to 2011, with much to do, and a few changes on Planet 'Liberal Bureaucracy'. But I'll save that until next year...

Another thing learnt about country life...

Funny looking thing, isn't it? But what is it?

The answer is, a sugarbeet, or what's left after an enormous piece of farming equipment has gone through a field of beet, digging them up for transfer to the nearest sugar factory - in our case, at Bury St Edmunds.

The 'campaign' has been somewhat delayed by the frozen ground, although it was fairly late in our parts last year in any event. However, for part of a day, the main road out of our village to the north, towards Stowupland, was blocked by large lorries being loaded up with newly unearthed beet. Now I don't have the world's greatest sense of smell, but I could have sworn that the air smelt a bit like sugar.

I've also seen fields full of sugarcane, in places like Mauritius and Fiji, and when the fields are burnt, the air is filled with a caramel smell. The difference is that you can make a fairly lethal liquor out of sugarcane, and I'm yet to be convinced that you can do anything interesting with sugarbeet. Does anyone know any different?

East of England Liberal Democrat election results

It's hard to believe that the Regional Conference took place more than seven weeks ago, but we've finally concluded our business with the announcement of our Executive Committee election results for 2011. Admittedly, the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Candidates Chair were all elected unopposed, but we did need a new Vice Chair, and there were slightly fewer Executive member vacancies than there were candidates.

And so it gives me great pleasure to announce that that the results are as follows;

Chair: Julie Smith

Vice Chair: Baroness (Ros) Scott

Chair of Candidates Committee: Catherine Smart

Secretary: Mark Valladares

Treasurer: Ian Radford

Executive Members: Roy Benford, Paul Clark, Nick Hollinghurst, Sal Jarvis, Steve Jarvis, James Joyce, Graham Longley, Rupert Moss-Eccardt, Stephen Robinson, Sandy Walkington, Jon Whitehouse and Allan Siao Ming Witherick

The other sub-committee chairs will be elected in the New Year, as will the Regional Training Co-ordinator.

I'm particularly impressed at the strength at the top of the 'batting lineup', although the overall gender imbalance is a little troubling. Luckily, we have some co-options at our disposal...

Fantasy Football: Lib Dems in the Fantasy Cup - 1st Round

Alright, you knew that someone was going to start to take an interest in the Fantasy Football eventually, and those of you who hate these things might want to look away now, as they used to say on a Saturday evening before Match of the Day was on.

This week saw the first round of the Fantasy Cup, and with ninety-seven of the Liberal Democrat League's participants surviving Week 17's qualifying round, there were the prospects for a decent number of survivors, especially given the form shown by some of our leading exponents of the beautiful game thus far. And so it turned out, with fifty-six winners and forty-one losers on a weather-decimated weekend.

Given that only three 'real' matches beat the freeze, teams scouring the relative bargain basement for players from teams such as Sunderland were far better off than those focussing on the big six, only one of whom played (and don't Manchester City wish that they hadn't?). That meant plenty of potential for the top sides to be ambushed by minnows with a bit of luck, and a random element not sought after by those who have put a lot of trouble into their selections.

So, here are some of the highlights from the first round;

Easiest victories

Nick Davies's 'Wenger's 2nd XI' blew their opponents, 'Tripp United', out of the water, 36 - 0, but that's what you should do to a team ranking nearly a million places below you. On the other hand, David Powell's 'Beedophiles' 36 -5 thrashing of Marts Yellow Army, ranking one hundred thousand places better, and in the top quintile to boot, was probably very satisfying indeed.

Most effortless victories

In a week when the average score was just fourteen, it was quite possible to beat your opponent by getting a player onto the pitch at all. James Staff's 'Realpolitick' probably didn't even need to do that, defeating 'Astros' 4 - -4 (when the only player in your squad to see action gets sent off, that's never going to end well). At least Andrew Dandilly's 'Keith' had to defeat opponents who scored more than zero, even if 'Olympiakos' still went down 5 - 2.

The top guns

Some unexpected defeats in the first round saw the demise of Ryan Cullen's 'Artesea Athletic', beaten 4 - 17 by 'pluckyfish.com', and the Chair of Federal Conference Committee, Andrew Wiseman's 'Wiseman Wanderers', beaten 7 - 31 by 'Urgi'. Both sides went into their fixtures ranked in the top 12,000 globally (to give you an idea as to just how good that is, it ranks them in the top 0.5%) and would have fancied the prospects of a decent cup run.

Meanwhile, league leading Alick Cotterill's 'The Welsh Wanglers' glided past lowly 'Danson Queens' 32 - 4, and Charlie Garnett's 'Waa Hageeg' scraped past 'Relegation 10/11' by the odd point in 41. On rankings alone, it shouldn't have been close, until you noted that the opposition had only entered the league in week 13...

MP corner

Just in case the Daily Telegraph are eavesdropping, John Leech's 'Mike's Dodgy Beard' beat 'Dingle FC' 25 -14, and Adrian Sanders' 'Torquay Utd' scraped through 6 - 0 against 'Leijona Jonna'.

And finally, classic Liberal Democrat underdog victories...

To be honest, most of the teams near the bottom of the Liberal Democrat Fantasy League are there because they're rubbish. Harsh, I know, but true. So, we should celebrate their successes.

The weakest team in the league, and one that, with the exception of the reserve goalkeeper, appears to consist entirely of Scots, is R Provan's 'The Huhney Monsters'. Ranked 2,187,831 against opponent 'mudhaFC', ranked 290,070, you wouldn't have given them much of a chance, but by pulling off a 14 - 9 victory, the plucky minnow lives to fight another day.

But for sheer nail-biting randomness, how about Clea Curtis's 'Purple People'? Ranked 2,135,713, her gallant heroes snatched a 23 -23 draw against 'Timooo', ranked 469,271. Goals scored couldn't separate the two teams, but by conceding two goals to her opponent's three, she's snatched a place in the second round.

Author's postscript

And yes, my personal interest remains strong, especially after 'Deportivo Creeting' beat 'Winky Wanderers' 28 - 17...

And so, until next week, cue 'Match of the Day' theme...

Liberal Democrat Court Circular: your guide to forthcoming introductions in the Lords…

It is with breathless excitement that ‘Liberal Bureaucracy’ can bring you news of our newest Peers, who are beginning to don ermine for their big day, being introduced to the House of Lords. And whilst introductions smack somewhat of a conveyor belt at the moment (there are as many as three a day in the coming weeks), it is useful to know when our corner of the red benches becomes more populous.

Today, in fact, saw the first of the fifteen new Liberal Democrat Peers to be introduced, so step forward Lord Sharkey, who was introduced about three hours ago by the noble Baronesses Scott of Needham Market, and Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury. He has picked an excellent day to be introduced, as the ermine robes will be welcome on such a cold day.

On a personal note, I’m delighted for John, as he’s one of the good guys, and has given generously of his time, experience and knowledge without seeking the limelight or trying to change the philosophical culture of the Party. It is very tempting for people relatively new to the culture of any organisation to try to ‘kick over the traces’, but John has shown due respect for the way we traditionally do things. In a party notoriously cynical about anything that smacks of ‘public relations’ or ‘media management’, he has quietly and effectively gone about his work. He will bring valuable knowledge of the creative and marketing sectors into our team in the Lords, and will remain a valued advisor to the Leader.

Future scheduled introductions to mark in your diary are;

• 22 December – Dee Doocey
• 10 January – Susan Kramer
• 11 January – Judith Jolly
• 12 January – Paul Strasburger
• 13 January – Jonathan Marks
• 17 January – Rajinder Loomba
• 19 January – Ben Stoneham

The remainder are yet to be scheduled, but we’ll report them all here as news reaches us…

Thoughts from the Train: gosh, people really are that stupid!

The British delight in snow having been proved to possess a very short shelf life, the inquests have started into why we are so rubbish in dealing with snow. And whilst there is no doubt that our basic infrastructure weaknesses are highlighted in such extreme conditions, the stupidity of some of our fellow citizens has also become apparent.

As Ros drove me to the station this morning, across the skating rink that is the Creeting St Peter highway network, we were somewhat surprised to encounter fellow road users with a mobile phone clamped to their ear. It isn't a complex debate. Driving whilst using a non-handsfree mobile phone is illegal. The reason that it's illegal is because it is a distraction from the task of safely controlling a heavy metal box capable of causing damage to anything it hits, like me. And in these conditions? Are these people really so ignorant of the dangers, or so insouciant to the risk they represent to other road users? Or perhaps one should assume that they are just stupid.

There have been horror stories from the airports in particular this weekend, with terminal buildings designed for throughput suddenly having to become places of shelter. It does seem to have come as a surprise to people that airports aren't very good at that. And let's be honest, how many airports are designed to be cosy? They're generally big metal and glass retail opportunities.

I understand why people might want to stay at the airport. Any possibility that their flight might get away, especially for those heading home for Christmas on longhaul flights, would be clung to, especially given the allegedly contradictory advice given by airlines and airport operators. But one case caught my attention, the case of a Ryanair flight which had become the scene of an occupation by angry passengers. A woman, talking to one of the rolling news channels, was complaining that Ryanair weren't supplying drinks or food, and that children were suffering. Perhaps if they had followed the advice that Ryanair had given them, and gotten off the cancelled flight, the suffering might have been avoided. Oh, and yes, this is Ryanair we're talking about, not an operator noted for its frills.

I didn't note that there was anyone from Ryanair to respond, but I suspect that Michael O'Leary would have had a sharp response. It might even have included the use of the word 'stupid'...

Eric Pickles: if urban myths are truth...?

Ah yes, Eric Pickles has dragged the 'Winterval' legend out for another airing, as a stick to beat local government with. As has been pointed out elsewhere, it's just a story, based on a strategic decision, more than a decade ago, to attract people into Birmingham by bringing together a collection of winter festivals under one banner.

But this latest outpouring merely continues a worrying tendency to focus on marginal issues as a means of disguising the very serious dilemma facing councils across the country. Here in the foothills of local government, I worry about balancing the books whilst maintaining local services. Luckily, getting the grass cut or not is unlikely to be fatal unless a villager suffers from really bad hay fever, and a loss of street lights might cause us all to drive with greater caution, but we'd get by somehow, I'm sure.

But there are big, philosophical issues nonetheless. In a time of austerity, how do you decide what to retain? Is potentially expensive investment to save future running costs something you can justify against a generally hostile opposition? Is contracting out of services merely converting a public, democratically accountable monopoly into a private, barely accountable one? Are there services which can be best described as the icing on the cake of public provision, and what, if any, are the social costs of axing them? And the biggest of all, does the target-driven culture of service provision add intolerable amounts to the overall cost?

And here, Eric is pretty silent. We traditionally haven't been, and our philosophy is, if Andrew Stunell is to believed (and I do), will shine through in the new Localism Bill. But it would really help if the case could be made by someone with a less knockabout manner, someone who uses his or her intellect to win arguments, rather than bluster.

So, let me wish Eric a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, spending much more time with his loved ones in Brentwood and Ongar...

More examples of Labour's belief in bribing you with somebody else's money...

Last week saw the Second Reading debate on the 'Savings Accounts and Health in Pregnancy Grant Bill'. This Bill abolishes the Child Trust Fund, cancels the savings gateway scheme and the health in pregnancy grant. Naturally, Labour are opposed to the measures, and accuse the Government of abolishing these as a matter of dogma.

What they don't tell you is that these were introduced at the very end of the Labour administration, as a time when it was already clear that the country couldn't afford them. They weren't even very effective as a means of supporting the most vulnerable.

Let's take the health in pregnancy grant. Introduced on 6 April 2009, it is a £190 grant given to pregnant mothers upon reaching the twenty-fifth week of pregnancy. That is, all pregnant mothers making a claim, regardless of household income. The National Childbirth Trust weren't particularly impressed;

"if dietary intervention is to have an impact on birth weight and outcomes for the baby in later life, it should be started as early as possible"

And, of course, there was already the Healthy Start programme, which provides support by means of vouchers rather than cash, and means that you can determine how it will be spent in a much more targeted way than simply handing over some banknotes and saying, "We'd like you to behave sensibly please."

Now don't get me wrong, supporting actions designed to improve fetal health is obviously a good thing, if it is effective. But when it is introduced as a means of bribing an electorate by an unpopular government which knows that it is unaffordable, it is playing politics with the health of children. Frankly, I wish that there was the money to provide more support to pregnant women. But there isn't, and I'd rather take away the relative cream than the substantial support that families have grown used to.

And at some point, Labour politicians are going to have to come up with an answer to the question, "Where were you going to make the cuts?", rather than simply take the morally and fiscally bankrupt so-called high ground. So far, no sign of that...

Richard Grayson: he was high on intellectualism - I've never been there but the brochure looked nice

And so, farewell Richard Grayson. Or perhaps not.

There has been much criticism of his acceptance of Ed Milliband's offer to take part in Labour's policy review and, whilst I for one won't be joining him, he does offer a potential bridge on the long road towards future collaboration with New Labour Mark III (ish).

Now I have to admit at this point that, when I started in politics, I was of the view that there was only one thing better than kicking a Tory, and that was kicking one when he was down. I was young, and not frightfully clever, but after seven or so years of a Thatcher administration, they really were an awfully tempting target. I knew that I wasn't a Conservative, even if I was by the standards of most Young Liberals, pretty right wing. Add to the fact that most of the Young Conservatives I encountered were pretty vile, and it was a fairly easy choice.

At that time, Labour were still emerging from the years of Bennite agit-politics, offering nothing that could possibly appeal to anyone who thought that loosening the grip of the State could only be a good thing. And later, I had to do politics in areas where it was us versus Labour. Their utter vileness in Southwark in particular was a real eye-opener, and that was where I learned how much some of their activists really hate us. Us personally, not our ideas, as we should, in their eyes, be part of their rather ragged 'big tent'.

Over the years, all three parties have shifted somewhat. We've become somewhat less interfering, Labour fell under the spell of the market, and the Conservatives became less focused on ideology and rather more so on winning. What they were going to do when they won was rather vague, but whilst Labour's support hemorrhaged through 2008 and 2009, it didn't matter much.

And then it did. And here we are, in coalition with them. No matter how Labour whine, they made the Tories the only show in town (please don't bother trying to convince me otherwise, I had a ringside seat during those days post-election). Comfortable? No. Necessary? Certainly.

But that doesn't mean that we must inevitably drift rightwards, bound ever more closely to the Conservatives. And that's where Richard comes in. Now, suppose his efforts lead to a Labour Party more sympathetic to civil liberties, less inclined towards hoarding power at the centre and rather less messianic about the incontrovertible truth of its stance on the economy (sarcasm alert, for those who don't know me...). Wouldn't that offer a genuine choice in terms of coalition partners in 2015?

And yes, it will be more social democratic than is ideal. But they aren't us, and we aren't them. In a new, pluralist politics, we owe it to Labour to keep a watching brief on what emerges, to question, to challenge where it seems to be far from our stance, to indicate where we might share a common perspective.

In return, Labour are going to have to learn that, if they try to pick us off one by one, they end up without a dance partner. By trying to engineer splits in the Coalition by taking stances that contradict their own policy for short term advantage, they demonstrate that they don't get pluralism, and are less likely to make a credible partner in the future.

Once upon a time, I was part of a Young Liberal Democrat Executive Committee that employed Richard. He was fearfully bright then, and whilst his actions may be a bit naive, he is remaining true to his guiding principles. Just remember who your friends were, Richard...

Tonight, the Doctor Who Christmas Special...

I'm a bit busy this evening, watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Yes, the one that's on at Christmas. And yes, it's a bit early, and no, I don't have a preview copy. It's just that I have an invite to a screening.

I promise not to spoil it for you though...

Blog List: a couple of deletions

Funnily enough, I had been thinking that I really ought to review my blog design to take out clutter and ineffective links, and the news that Iain Dale has decided to give up blogging has provided me with an incentive to act.

'Letters from a Tory' bit the dust some months ago, which was rather a pity, as I enjoyed his style. However, I had stopped reading 'Iain Dale's Diary' on a regular basis some time ago, once he had left the Daily Dozen to his personal assistant. To be blunt, if I had wanted to read Grant Tucker's views on anything, I would have sought them out, and it was a bit of an insult to his readership to 'contract out' some of the work on what was a personal blog.

So, in that sense, Iain is right, it's time to go... Good luck with the other projects, vieux chap...

Big Society or Liberalism? Or both?

I note that Nick Clegg has been suggesting that the 'Big Society', as proposed by David Cameron, is not dissimilar to liberalism, as proposed by us. Well, yes... after a fashion, if you take it at face value. And that's the catch.

You see, liberalism is a philosophy which, if followed, guides a decision maker in certain directions, creating policy which has a consistent thread running through it, even if the policies aren't always consistent. The 'Big Society' is a concept, interpretable as one wishes. So, if Nick is trying to capture the concept, and make it safe for liberalism, then all well and good.

And there certainly are elements that sit well with liberalism. The notion of giving people more influence over how their local services are provided, indeed what local services are provided, is certainly a liberal one. Getting people to take on responsibility for service delivery is liberal, if they are given the freedom to choose whether they want to or not.

However, my abiding suspicion is that the 'Big Society' is intended as a cloak to cover significant cuts in grants to, and degradation of, local services to reduce the cost of central government, whilst increasing the cost of local government, i.e. a transference of liability rather than a genuine saving.

So, I watch the changes with a degree of healthy scepticism, but with a equal measure of hope. As a Parish Councillor, I am apprehensive about the prospects of being forced to take on responsibilities that my colleagues and I may not be equipped to handle. At the same time, the Localism Bill may allow the creation of new structures that bring decision making closer to our community.

There is much to ponder over the coming months...

And now for the big finale - 'Good Evening, Merthyr Tydfil!'

Yes, I'm on my way to my last gig as Presidential Consort, a dinner at the head of the Valleys. It's a particularly appropriate way to end two years in the role, as our campaign team in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney represents, in microcosm, much of what is good about being a Liberal Democrat.

We first met Amy, Kevin and Bob during the Presidential campaign, spending an afternoon meeting local businesses (Ros, Amy and Bob) and delivering leaflets to the side of a hill (Kevin and me). We were impressed that they were so determined to bring our message to a community so utterly taken for granted by Labour. There was a buzz, a sense of passion that you don't always see. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I rather admired them.

We were back during the General Election campaign, visiting the HQ office, doing a little canvassing on a sunny afternoon between visits to Montgomery and Brecon and Radnor. The response on the doorstep was friendly, almost enthusiastic, and we almost ran out of window posters. Amy was the candidate, Kevin her agent, and Bob the calm voice in the background. And it was nearly enough, with a huge swing from Labour slashing the majority to a scarcely imaginable 4,000 or so.

So, when they asked Ros if she could do a Friday night event, I was keen that we did it. After all, it sounds like it'll be fun...

Tuition Fees: the Peter Sarstedt dilemma

It's not been a great day in the political history of our nation. Obviously, the public agonies of the Liberal Democrats over tuition fees have provided an all too inviting target for the media, for the National Union of Students and for our political enemies. 

But it hasn't been a great day for the student cause either. Scenes of violence against the police, of masked individuals clearly tooled up for trouble, of damage to Winston Churchill's statue and, most unfortunate of all, the attack on a vehicle carrying the heir to the throne and his wife, have probably done more to alter public perception of the demonstrators than any of the many positive aspects of the campaign against fees.

There is another casualty too, although the damage may not become apparent for some years. Labour's cynical opposition to a set of proposals rather more progressive than their own manifesto pledge means that they are boxed into a corner in terms of future policy for the funding of the university sector. They'll no doubt be counting on the fact that the media have short memories.

But I want to focus on the damage that this has done to the Party...

Where Do You Go To My Lovely?

It has been, in emotional terms, probably the most difficult time since the merger between the Liberals and the Social Democrats. As then, there are people announcing that they've had enough and are quitting, some of whom I would describe as friends. I'll miss them, even if I don't agree with their decision.

And my question, as they close the door behind them is, where do they go? Labour, the party that introduced tuition fees and was committed to accepting the proposals of the Browne Commission? The Conservatives, who happily entered the 'yes' lobby without much in the way of public dissent? The Greens, who may be on the right side of this debate but share little philosophical ground with us? Not a terribly edifying choice unless tuition fees are a single issue cause.

I suspect that those who have quit on a point of principle will refocus on single issue campaigning, and some will trickle back to us over time. Others, disenchanted with politics altogether, will turn to community activism or retire to their armchairs. And a few will wonder why they ever thought that they could make a difference. All of them will be missed, and the political culture of a country will be a little poorer for their loss.

And so, in the words of another Anglo-Indian...

So look into my eyes Marie-Claire

And remember just who you are

Then go and forget me forever

But I know you still bear

The scar, deep inside, yes you do

Goodnight, my friends, and fare thee well...

Another year, another precept...

I have to admit that I'm quite pleased with myself today. Last night saw the discussion of next year's budget for Creeting St Peter and, like last year, I have emerged fairly triumphant from the discussion.

Our Parish Clerk is a cautious soul, allowing generous scope for cost increases of those key services that we provide - street lighting and grass cutting - and attempting to build up an appropriate general reserve. I, on the other hand, am more frugal. It's somebody else's money, at the end of the day, and whilst I am happy to fund services that support the village, I prefer not to spend it just because it's there.

Of course, you can't just slash and burn. With a small budget like ours, you have to be conscious that, whilst your expenditure might have been low in one year, the next year you might need to replace a dog waste bin, and for a small, but perfectly-formed, Parish council, that represents quite a chunk of expenditure. So you smooth things out, on the basis that you balance an underspend one year with an overspend the next. You also have to allow for potential expenses, like elections.

Luckily, I was able to find some areas that come under the category of discretionary spending, like councillor training, which might be cut back, and discovered that we had over-provisioned for legal costs related to the playground, which allowed me to propose a precept 3.4% lower than last years, but which corresponds to a standstill for the council tax payers of our village - our taxpayer base has shrunk recently.

Best of all, we'll be able to make very significant progress towards establishing a sensible general reserve, the aim being to have six months expenditure in the bank for a rainy day. And before you get carried away about our holding vast sums that might be better off in the hands of local residents, that represents £2,000...

Income tax changes - something really progressive to enthuse over

Whilst there has been a lot to ponder over of late - tuition fees and the spending review merely top the list - it is easy to lost track of those acts which have truly reflected a uniquely Liberal Democrat view of society.

For all of the figures, click here, but here are some of the key numbers;

• Personal allowance up £1,000 to £7,475 (up 15.4%), 
• Basic rate band reduced from £37,400 to £35,000 (down 6.4%),
• Starting level for the 50% rate band frozen at £150,000

So, what does this mean?

Firstly, it should be borne in mind that indexation of allowances was based on the inflation figure for September (4.7%) so, had everything gone up accordingly, the tax bands would have been;

• Personal allowance up £310 to £6,785
• Basic rate band up from £37,400 to £39,200
• Starting level for the 50% rate band up from £150,000 to £157,000

So, those earning between £7,475 and £42,475 will be £138 per annum better off in real terms. Those earning between £46,675 and £157,475 will be £702 worse off in real terms, and those earning over £164,475 will be £1,402 worse off, if my arithmetic is correct.

You might agree or disagree with the notion that the heaviest burden should fall upon the broadest shoulders, but there can be little doubting that, in isolation, this does look pretty fair. And taking the best part of 900,000 people out of the income tax net altogether is certainly a contribution towards a more just society...

Surviving the approval process in Mid Suffolk

You may recall that I was preparing for my approval interview to be a potential candidate in next year's District Council elections. Well, this afternoon saw that moment arrive, and Ros drove me to Little Finborough, a village just outside Stowmarket, where the panel awaited.

There was tea, and a chance to catch up with John Field, one of our District and County Councillors, whose wife was on the approval panel. Chaired by Ros's replacement as County Councillor for Bosmere, Julia Truelove, and with two District Councillors, Patricia Godden (Ringshall ward) and Tony Fowler (The Stonhams ward), making up the rest of the panel, it wasn't going to be easy, and I was a mite apprehensive.

That said, as an interview location, Julia's living room has much to commend it, and I got to sit in a comfortable armchair, near to a fire, with a cat sprawled across the rug in front of it. There was even tea to drink, most civilised. And then came the questions, which I won't list, simply because other people have to be approved yet. They were suitably challenging, and I had to think a bit, whilst attempting not to be distracted by the hen pheasant standing by the back window - think of it as a feathered bunny rabbit.

Interview over, I retired to the holding pen to await my fate. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long, and the news was good - I've been approved. Now, all I've got to do is achieve a 17% swing from the Conservatives, and I'm elected. That might prove to be the tricky bit...

Bill Bailey's 'Dandelion Mind' - don't look at me, I'm just a stranded Belgian tourist

I'm still gluing my sides together after a fiercely funny evening at the Wyndham Theatre, courtesy of the surreal comedic mind that is Bill Bailey.

Last year, we went to see 'Tinselworm' which was pretty damned funny, but this year we were expecting something special. We weren't let down, as the bearded one did everything from an excerpt from 'Last Christmas' in the style of Kraftwerk, to a Lady Gaga tribute in the style of the Wurzels, via a series of Dutch gags. It was clearly all too much for one woman in the audience, whose raucous and uncontrolled laughter drew Bill's attention, to the extent that she really couldn't stop.

The Large Hadron Collider, a critique of depictions of St Thomas testing Jesus's wounds, a range of musical instruments, some of them unknown to the audience, the show had it all, and we certainly had our money's worth.

So, if you get the chance to go, I heartily commend it...

So, no pressure then?

I must admit that, on discovering that the rather more talented, and certainly more prolific, blogger, Jonathan Calder has steered his readers towards me whilst he takes a break, my heart sank a little. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered beyond measure, but, if truth be told, the force hasn't been with me much for a week or so.

Fortunately, life has become a little more thought provoking all of a sudden, so there might actually be something here to read after all. So, sit back with a glass of something you enjoy, as a bureaucrat writes... 

An announcement confirming the new tax rates for next year

There are, it must be said, some terribly dull pieces of government. What follows is one of them, albeit one of the most important dull pieces of government there is...

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (David Gauke): Following decisions announced at the June Budget and the release of retail and consumer prices data for September, the Government has today confirmed 2011-12 rates and thresholds for income tax, National Insurance Contributions (NICs), and tax credits. The limit for Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) for 2011-12 has also been confirmed.

A note containing this information has been deposited in the libraries of both Houses and is available on the HM Treasury website at: http://www.hmtreasury.gov.uk/tax_autumn_updates.htm.

There is a statutory obligation on the Treasury to make an order to replace the existing amounts of income tax rate limits and personal allowances for the following tax year. The 2010 indexation order has been made today and sets out the indexed amounts of income tax rate limits and personal allowances for 2011-12. In the case of the personal allowance and basic rate limit, this order will be over-ridden by the Finance Bill next year that will legislate for the changes announced at Budget 2010.

The relevant regulations and orders for NICs and tax credits will be laid in spring 2011.

Time to have a look at what this means later...

Changing lives, one bus at a time

I've lived my life in three cities, Mumbai, London and Norwich, and one of the aspects of urban life that means most to me is the sense of freedom, of mobility, that public transport engenders. And now that I live in a small village in the Suffolk countryside, that freedom is particularly valuable, especially as a non-driver.

Previously, to leave my small, but perfectly formed, village in the morning, I either had to take an 8.26 taxibus to Little Stonham, connecting with route 114 to Ipswich, or book a cab to Stowmarket, costing about £7. The first option involved a potential twenty-five minute wait, the latter being rather expensive.

But now, my village has 'Suffolk Links Gipping North', a refinement of the existing Taxibus service. Now, I can book the bus as much as a week in advance, and use it to commute. Alright, I don't commute now, but I do occasionally need to get to the station on the morning after a Parish Council meeting, for example. Best of all, it is much cheaper than a taxi, about 20% of the cost.

What it also means is a potential escape from isolation for villagers across our part of Mid-Suffolk. In a city, you can get around, using a regular bus, but somewhere like Creeting St Peter, without a shop, or pub, or other meeting point, it can be too easy to become cut off. Services like the mobile library and our mobile coffee caravan help, but they are only a sticking plaster without independence.

So, good news for the upper Gipping Valley, and good news for a Suffolk bureaucrat...

It's not the consorting, it's the travelling that can get you down

Ros and I are home now, after one of the Presidency's more epic journeys, nine hours from Stirling by train. Admittedly, it was supposed to be just seven hours, but you get my (snow)drift.

The Presidency is more than just the meetings, the conferences, the dinners and the campaigning. That's actually just the bit in the middle, because you have to get there... and back... Take this weekend for instance. We set off from Euston just after lunch on Thursday, travelling three hours by train to Penrith. The journey was a smooth one, and we were on time. We were driven to Keswick, another twenty minutes or so, where we did the gig, retired for the night and were up in time to take a little stroll around the town with the Mayor.

Back on the train, it took us four hours to get to Stirling (track circuit failure north of Carlisle). Again, we do the gig, overnight at the hotel before heading for home. So, we've spent about five hours being President and consort, and about seventeen hours travelling. Last weekend, we spent about nine and a half hours travelling from London to Plymouth and back, with a stop at Warminster on the way back, all of that in thirty-six hours.

Sometimes, things change unexpectedly. We weren't supposed to be heading home today, but our scheduled third leg, in Aberdeenshire, was cancelled due to the bad weather in North East Scotland, so plans were rapidly reorganised.

Let nobody be mistaken, the Presidency is a tough gig. You have to do all that travelling, get off of a train or out of a car, and be able to perform, to inspire, to persuade. You have to be able to deal with questions on virtually any subject, looked pleased to be there, even if you're not feeling at your best, even if you'd really rather be at home.

And yet, the Presidency offers an opportunity that few ever get. It is a chance to see every level of the Party, to find out what makes it tick. You get to meet the everyday heroes who make this Party what it is. You get to put something back. And, you get to spend more time on trains than you ever imagined possible...

Unfortunately, there's one less gig on our UK tour...

We were due to be attend a dinner in Banchory tomorrow night but, due to the weather conditions in rural Aberdeenshire, the quite sensible decision has been taken to cancel it. I for one wouldn't want people to battle through the conditions just because Ros has, so we'll head south from Stirling in the morning.

Just three more performances for the First Husband left...

Dodging the snow in the not so frozen North

As the Presidential engagements run out, Ros and I find ourselves saving some of the greatest mileage until last. And with an increasingly hostile weather forecast for the weekend, it was with a degree of nervousness that we set off for Penrith, en route to the Copeland and Workington Liberal Democrats AGM and Dinner, just outside Keswick.

It was a pleasant enough journey from Euston, which was made all the better by a glass or two of merlot, a light meal and even a piece of cake. And, as darkness fell, we arrived at Penrith North Lakes Station to be met by the Mayor of Keswick, and our host for the evening, Martin Pugmire.

The AGM was not unusual, with individuals gently arm-twisted into filling key roles - no, it's not just yours that has that sort of problem - and a series of reports noting that life is not easy - again, most of us will recognise that - but a sense of stoic perseverence and optimism for the future that makes Liberal Democrats so persistent.

We then moved onto dinner, which was very good indeed, before Ros spoke to the gathering. It is interesting how the tone of these events has changed. Before the election, it was all about exhorting people to greater efforts in pursuit of a larger Parliamentary Party. Now, it's about reassurance of a Party prone to soul-searching. Ros is focussing on conveying a message that reflects the positive elements of being in Government, which resonates particularly with the Local Government community, whose experience of local coalitions leads to a greater understanding of the implications of coalition.

Afterwards, members were invited to contribute towards the County Council strategy for dealing with budget cuts over the next few years. Cumbria is somewhat unusual, in that we are the Opposition to a Labour/Conservative coalition running the council. I was impressed that a county councillor should take the trouble to consult members in an attempt to find the best solution, and I wish Elizabeth Barraclough, said county councillor and outgoing Local Party Chair, the very best with her efforts.

And then it was time to sleep, for we were heading north in the morning...

The knotty problem of getting a referee

Naturally, to adhere to the new English Party rules, I need to be approved as a candidate by a panel of my peers, and I've now received the paperwork from the Chair of the Mid Suffolk Panel. I've filled in the application form, including the question I dreaded - "Please give details of any offices held within the party, at all levels, past and present." Let's just say that I kept it to one side of A4...

But I need two referees, which makes life a little awkward. Most of my fellow Liberal Democrats here in Bury St Edmunds don't really know me terribly well, and I'm relatively new to the Region. So I need to find two people willing to vouch for my sanity (or otherwise). Volunteer, anybody?...