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For once, I find myself agreeing with John Prescott. For once, I find myself understanding John Prescott: A lot of ruddy builders shout about planning, but find it more profitable to hold on to land in tremendous land banks. They are on to a damn good thing. They blame planning, but I wish they would [...]

Jonathan Calder beats me to it and does a much better write up on Polly Toynbee’s article on Narnia today than I could hope to aspire. I planned to merely say this: Toynbee here falls for the same inconsistency and double standard that a lot of atheist/humanist writers fall for (I write as an atheist myself): [...]

My specialist field is corporation tax and I was, to put it mildly, somewhat surprised, to see the Chancellor announce that he was (a) abolishing the non-corporate distribution rate (introduced in 2004), and: (b) abolishing the starting company rate of 0%, both effective from 1 April 2006. From an administrative perspective, it will make the tax affairs of a large number of small and

I remain utterly fascinated by Escape Pod, the weekly science fiction podcast magazine which just podcasted it’s 30th episode this week. Over the last month or so I have observed a new trend in this series; Steve and his assistants are busy reclaiming and reanimating defunct sub-genres of science fiction and fantasy. The recent stories [...]

I'm expecting, like just about everyone else, that David Cameron will be officially installed as the Leader of the Opposition tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, that's when the fun begins. For starters, we will see just how much of a bastard Cameron really is by how he treats Davis. Wat Tyler is arguing that the Defence job rumour is a product of Liam Fox's camp; personally I think it is more likely, if Cameron wants to rub Davis's nose in the victory, that he will be offered education. Turning down a reforming portfolio will be hard for Davis, but ...

The new road scheme has been in for over a year now and councillors are still working with officers and with residents to alleviate some of the problems that this has brought with it.

I am told that, during the Labour leadership election that followed the death of John Smith, people working at the BBC got into the habit of referring to John Prescott, Margaret Beckett and Tony Blair as the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. While I enjoyed C. S. Lewis's Narnia books when I was young, I was never mad about them. Looking at them today, there is something twee about them, while the BBC dramatisations in the late 1980s were oddly charmless. Polly Toynbee, in this morning's Guardian, has no time for Lewis or his books. But then she ...

Councillor Surgery Tuesday 6th December The Porter Butt Public House London Road, Bath 6.30pm - 9.00pm Councillors Surgeries proving a success. The recently launched councillor surgeries have been a great success. The first which was held at The King William attracted 9 visitors with lots of casework being followed up. ...

Will Howells aka No Geek is an Island is hiding in shame as a http://www.willhowells.org.uk/blog/2005/12/05/bad-geek/ ude to his poor result in the best geek novels since 1932 published in today's Guadian. Therefore I'm not sure whether it is with some pride or shame that I have read the following half of the top 20 listed. 1. The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams 85% (102) 2.

The problem faced by the NHS in trying to stick within budget 2/3 of the way through the year is it is quite difficult in a staff intensive service to find easy savings. That is why hospitals have been told to use targets as maxima rather than minima. In Birmingham it is the Sandwell and City Hospital Trust that faces a substantial end of year forecast deficit of £5,100,000. Finding this in 4

I was rather amused by the caption to the photograph that was associated with this article in the South Wales Evening Post tonight. It read "Wayne Price checks to see if there is any sign of the giant spider that has invaded his home in Brynlluan, Gorslas. The spider is thought to be an arachnid..."!!!

Habitual Residence Test Q: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will revise the habitual residence test to take into account the length of time claimants paid tax in the UK before moving abroad. (John Hemming) A:The habitual residence test is working well preventing access to income-related benefits, such as income-based jobseeker's allowance and income support, ensuring that

Apparently the smoking age might rise to 18. I’m not going to say that’s a bad idea, regardless of issues of personal liberty, but then I’m 26 and don’t smoke. However, there were a couple of things that struck me… Campaigners argue bringing the law on cigarettes into line with that on alcohol would reduce under-age [...]

Via MediaWatchWatch comes the news from The Independent that Woolworths and Sainsbury’s have withdrawn from sale our old friend Jerry Springer: The Opera on DVD due to "customer concerns". Sainsbury has admitted it received just 10 complaints. Tim was written to both expressing his disappointment. Time for a seasonal, free speech boycott of Woolies and Sainsbury’s? A [...]

Via Thinking Aloud, theguardian’s best geek novels since 1932. I won’t be highlighting those I’ve read because that would be, um, one.

My thanks to Kat for drawing my attention to Chernobyl: 20 Years, 20 Lives - a timely reminder that the ultimate price of nuclear is so often paid by innocents. The thing that is incomprehensible to me is why anyone still thinks we need nuclear power. In the 21st century, we have the ability to meet all our energy needs from a combination of investment in renewable energy sources and cutting our energy waste. Readers who want to do something positive might like to look at Juice - a joint project between Greenpeace and npower which allows you to buy ...

The Government has got itself in a huge mess over who can do what when, over the last few weeks we have seen the Government flip-flop over smoking in pubs, relax the licensing laws, propose reduce the age of standing for Parliament, oppose any reduction in the voting age and look likely to support a move to increase the age of buying cigarettes!

As a politician it is always reassuring to read that one's opponents are struggling politically and organisationally, however there is always the sobering thought that there but for the grace of God etc. In this case the decline of the Tory Party from its peak of 3 million members in the 1960s to one of 280,000 today, with the majority of members in receipt of their old age pensions, is not just the story of a busted flush (though it could be that as well) but also of the collapse of political activism and civic responsibility in general. Of course ...

Gentle reader, I have a mystery for someone out there to solve. I know that it's a bit of a long shot, but my younger brother suggested that I put it on the blog on the basis that "you never know". So, does anyone recall who wrote this...(Mark and Rachelle sit at the breakfast table. Mark is reading the paper. There is a knock at the door. Rachelle goes to answer. Returns with armful of

Ward: Walcot App.Ref: 05/03636/LBA Registered: 22 November 2005 Expiry Date: 17 January 2006 Location: 27 Walcot ...

To Hornsey, for an afternoon at Baroness Northover's lovely home, drinking mulled wine and eating the occasional mince pie, plus a little plotting and scheming. It was good to see a few other "out-of-towners" amongst the assembled members and activists, and I was able to discuss the prospects for Lambeth with Darren Sanders, who fought Streatham in the General Election (Streatham won, but it was a