Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…
Confectionery giants ‘not doing enough’ to reduce Easter egg packaging (Daily Mail)
Easter egg manufacturers have been criticised for not doing enough to reduce packaging and improve how much can be recycled. Currently, an estimated 3,000 tonnes of waste is produced in the UK every year just from Easter egg packaging alone. And an annual survey by Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson has found the percentage of Easter egg boxes actually filled by chocolate was 38 per cent – the same figure as last year.
You can read Jo’s report in full here.
Brian Paddick: ‘Boris is a caretaker… Livingstone really is unpleasant’ (The Independent)
Lib Dem aides suggest Mr Livingstone cannot now win, and soft Labour support could yet switch to the Lib Dems. Brian Paddick is a different sort of candidate. No career politician, he spent 30 years in the police, rising to become Britain’s most senior openly gay officer, later becoming the face of Scotland Yard in the wake of the 7 July London bombings. This marks him out from the other candidates, he says.
Polls suggest a third of Labour voters won’t back Ken Livingstone; he is “evading tax – OK, legally”; and gaffes have raised doubts about the Labour candidate’s reputation as an opponent of discrimination. He suggested the Jewish community was too wealthy to vote Labour, and said the Tory party was “riddled” with homosexuality.
Mr Paddick says: “I remember a big black guy who used to teach us in the police about racism. He used to say that if it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it is a duck. And what Ken Livingstone is saying sounds like a homophobic anti-Semite. He may not be, but that’s what he sounds like.”
Liberal Democrat achievements in government (Mark Pack’s blog)
My infographic on Liberal Democrat achievements in government is now updated with post-Budget information such as how the richest are having to pay £5 in extra tax for every £1 in tax cuts they are receiving. You can view it and share it here.
Former Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley given £1,000 fine after admitting charge of perjury (Liverpool Echo)
FORMER Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley was fined £1,000 after pleading guilty to lying over his son standing in local elections. The ex-Lib Dem appeared at Liverpool magistrates’ court this afternoon where he admitted a charge of perjury over allegations he made a false statement on an election form.
‘A gentle giant’ — tributes to Fife councillor Dave Herbert (The Courier)
Described as a ”gentle giant” by many of his friends and colleagues, Mr Herbert, who was the Liberal Democrat representative for Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, passed away in his sleep at the end of last week after years of battling ill health. … Depute Provost Ian Chisholm led the tributes on behalf of the council Mr Herbert has served on for many years, extending his sympathies to Mr Herbert’s family. He said: ”I have known Councillor Herbert to be a diligent and caring councillor who served Fife Council extremely well over the years.
Defection update: Mark Young in Denbigh and John Keys in Sutton
Twickenham MP Vince Cable cleared by Information Commissioner (Richmond & Twickenham Times)
Vince Cable has been given the all clear by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), following an investigation into why constituents’ data was found in clear plastic bags outside his constituency office. … Dr Cable wrote in an email to the RTT: “The Information Commissioner has now fully investigated the matter and looked through the material which you provided, obtained by an unnamed resident systematically searching through the waste, recycling, bags outside my office over several months. Your readers may be interested to know that as a result of the investigation no criticism has been made of my staff or me.”
* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.
