I took a few snaps of the Platt Fields Centenary Festival when I was in the park last night. I caught the Bollywood Brass Band, who were awesomely entertaining, in the big marquee. I was examined by Arthur the Health Inspector, and sampled a pint of bitter from Kro’s inflatable pub. The bandstand looked wonderful - Friends of Platt Fields have done a fantastic job of decorating this section of the park for the festival.

If you didn’t make the festival on Friday or Saturday, then it’s still well worth going along tomorrow for the last day; you can check out the programme of events on the Friends’ website. Here are some photos - click on them for the bigger versions!

I have campaigned against the Digital Economy Act 2010. The law will require the University to spy on student Internet traffic, and could stop bars offering free wifi to customers. It can force people to be disconnected on mere suspicion of copyright infringement.

I attended a recent demo in Manchester organised by the Open Rights Group (of which I am a member), wearing a gag to symbolise censorship. I handed out copies of the Liberal Democrats “Save the Net” factsheet to passers-by and discussed the issue of arbitrary disconnection without trial.

The Liberal Democrats voted against this law in the Commons, and have pledged to repeal it if elected. The elections in Fallowfield and Gorton are between the Lib Dems and Labour. A vote for anyone else supports Labour’s Digital Economy Act and arbitrary disconnection without trial.

Every third Sunday of the month, Friends of Platt Fields holds a volunteering afternoon. A couple of weeks ago, I went along to find out more, accompanied by some friends.

Platt Fields is supported by the Council, but a lot of the excellent work done in the park is undertaken by volunteers. On this particular afternoon, I found myself working as part of a team of half-a-dozen, stuffing barley hay into tubular bales. These bales will be dropped into the boating lake at Platt Fields, where they will counteract the troublesome lake algae by natural processes. It was hard work but enjoyable, and the organisers and other volunteers were great fun. Other groups were planting seeds in pots, and painting things for the celebration weekend on 7-9th May.

Platt Fields is an excellent resource for Fallowfield, and I will continue to support it if elected. I’m also planning to return for more volunteering, and I’d recommend it as a fun and rewarding way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I’m not going to be able to get along to this myself, but I’d like to let you know about a Reclaim the Night march this evening, leaving from Manchester University Student’s Union at 8pm (though you can turn up from 6:30pm for free food and placard-making). All genders are welcome.

Reclaim the Night is an empowerment campaign and protest against violence towards women. Marches have been going for over 30 years, around the world, each organised locally as a grassroots statement. Unfortunately, violence against women, both public and domestic, is still a major concern in the world, and events like Reclaim the Night are needed to continue to raise awareness and promote action.

Facebook link for the event.

Today is the day of St. George, patron saint of England. We live in a diverse and inclusive society, and it’s only appropriate to celebrate all the elements that make up our society, including the English traditions. These days, definitions of Englishness might well include a chicken tikka masala as well as a pint of real ale (indeed, I’m a fan of both!), but it’s entirely appropriate that we take time to celebrate England and Englishness, however we choose to do so.

This Sunday, there’s a St. George’s Day Parade in Manchester, starting at 11:30am in Park View Community School, Miles Platting. John Leech has more details. Further, the Manchester Lib Dems are calling for St. George’s Day to be a Bank Holiday.

However you celebrate the day, I hope you have a great one!

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow (Tuesday 20th April) is the last day for you to register to vote in the upcoming elections. If you haven’t already received a poll card, you may not be registered to vote - and that means you don’t get a say in the future of Fallowfield and Whalley Range.

If you think you are registered to vote, but haven’t received a poll card, contact Manchester City Council’s Electoral Services Unit on  234 1819. You’ll need to download and print off a registration form today and put it in first-class post today, or you can pop into the ESU at the Town Hall (it’s just off the Lloyd Street entrance on the corner of Albert Square) and do it in person, but you’ll need to bring some proof of identity and address.

The upcoming elections could well be the biggest change in UK politics for a century. Polls are currently showing the Liberal Democrats ahead of Labour nationally, and some even put us in first place ahead of the Tories. It seems that the televised Prime Ministerial Debate last Thursday has given people a chance to understand our policies of fairness, and people like what they see. Why not watch the next debates over the next few weeks, read the Manchester News papers we’re putting through your door, or check out our manifestos for Manchester and the country?

POWER2010 is a new campaign aimed at grassroots democratic reform - putting more power in the hands of people, and giving us more say over what goes on in Westminster. They have a list of proposed reforms, of which five will be chosen on 22nd February to form the POWER2010 Manifesto, on which the group will campaign during the election. Most of their proposals seem sensible, and many are already Liberal Democrat policy for democratic reform. I’ve voted in favour of the following reforms:

• Scrap ID cards and roll back the database state - the compulsory £10,000,000,000 National Identity Database is an enormous invasion of privacy and waste of money. If you’ve done nothing wrong, you still have to fear Government incompetence like the 25 million innocent people whose personal details were lost in the post by HMRC. This is already Lib Dem policy, and the Lib Dems support the non-partisan single-issue No2ID campaign. I’m involved with Manchester No2ID.
• Introduce a proportional voting system - because most people’s votes don’t count, and half the seats in Parliament haven’t changed hands since 1970. Proportional voting means fewer safe seats, which means less corruption as MPs are forced to actually work on behalf of their constituents to get re-elected. This is already Lib Dem policy.
• Stronger local government - many decisions about the places we live are best taken by local councils in consultation with local people. Even on the rare occasions that local councils have the power to affect a local decision, Westminster is still holding the purse strings. Giving councils more budget to enact local change will get local people more involved in the communities around them and bridge the gap between people and politicians. This is already Lib Dem policy.
• Votes at 16 - a sixteen year old is old enough to leave home and live independently, old enough to join the armed forces and face lethal combat, and old enough to pay tax. But they’re not old enough to have a say about the homes they live in, the wars they fight or the taxes they pay? Many sixteen year olds are interested in politics and the world around them, but unable to have a say at the ballot box. This makes people resent politics and that resentment can last for the rest of their life. This is already Lib Dem policy.
• Compulsory politics lessons in school - I never studied politics at school, because at that age I just didn’t see the point. I feel that I lost out as a result - it took many years for me to learn how I could do my part to improve the world around me. I think that such lessons shouldn’t just cover the traditional Westminster process though, they should include community activism and local government as well.

There were several other reforms I supported, including right to recall, strengthen select committees, transparent lobbying, Parliamentary timetable reform, reducing statutory instruments and stopping revolving-door politics - much of which, again, is already Lib Dem policy. However, because the voting system used by POWER2010 gives equal weight to all your votes, I want to concentrate my voting power on the reforms which I think will provide the most benefit.

As well as voting for reforms, I’ve put my name down to keep in touch with and get involved with the campaign. I’m not sure how much I’ll be allowed to do as the Lib Dem local election candidate for Fallowfield, but I think that POWER2010 looks like a great idea and one which I want to support.

I think this also makes it clear that the Liberal Democrats have sensible policies to make politics cleaner and fairer. When Qassim Afzal is elected MP for Manchester Gorton I look forward to him do his part in cleaning up Westminster, rather than failing to improve the corrupt status quo like his predecessor.

Which POWER2010 reforms do you support, and why? What do you think of my choices?

U Decide is a project funded by Manchester City Council which aims to
direct cash into local communities like Fallowfield. It’s been running for a few years, and the initial phase this year has finished, wherein people proposed community projects they’d like to get funded.

There’s a Fallowfield U Decide meeting on Thursday 4th February at 6:30pm in Platt Lane Methodist Centre to decide which of the proposed projects will be funded from the £10,000 pot. Obviously it’s in the interests of Fallowfield residents to come along and vote for what they want to see happen! Previous funding bids have been included a Family Day in 2008.

I’ll be there to see what projects are applying for funding, and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.