10:37 pm
For those of you interested in a night out with Doctor Who writers Paul Cornell (Father’s Day and far too many novels to list here), Steven Moffat (The Curse Of Fatal Death, The Empty Child, The Girl In The Fireplace and also Coupling and Press Gang) and ‘whoever else they can drag along’ see here [...]
9:59 pm
A very bizarre day today. Early in the morning I received a complaint about one of my postings that was so badly written it was easy to assume it was from one of the random trolls that litter the blogosphere. It was written in the name of Jeremy Fraser. Jeremy is Labour's election-agent in Southwark, or rather was during the last locals and 2002. Prior to that he was leader of the Council and ran for parliament against Simon Hughes in 1997. Back then he was also a New Labour insider with links to some of the gang currently ...
8:13 pm
The food and supermarkets debate goes on, with a thoughtful contribution by Joe Otten – making the point that it isn’t just the structure of ‘supermarkets’ that presents the problem – there are wider issues taking the problem beyond any one organisational boundary. With that point I agree –and as someone who has in the past had to live on JSA of £50.00 a week and scraped subsistence by haunting supermarkets at the times of day that ‘reduced to clear’ items came on the shelves I also concede his point on the social factor of low food prices. Just a ...
6:31 pm
I'm sure Labour party members across the country were screaming "Thank you God!" particularly loudly over the weekend, as Norman Tebbit explained to the Daily Mail exactly what the typical Tory would have done in Cameron's situation with Jonathan Ross: The Daily Mail: Lord Tebbit, Tory chairman when Lady Thatcher was Prime Minister, said: 'If I had been on the show I would have told Ross that he was a slob. It is a pity that Mr Cameron didn't tell him so and leave the show. So, berate a chat show host for exercising his right to freedom ...
6:05 pm
I’m currently fighting an uphill battle against the purchase of some up-lighters at work. Why? Because they require 300W halogen bulbs! Yes, 300W! That’s extra high energy. In fact, if used for a full working year of 800 hours, it could cost £40 a year to run each one, compared to less than £2 for [...]
5:16 pm
Respect to my other half, Cllr Jardine-Brown this evening. While on the number 12 bus to the Town Hall she witnessed another passenger assault a woman with a small child in a push-chair and her husband, and subject them to racist abuse. The police piled on and arrested him and then asked for witnesses. She was the only one, on a crowded bendy bus to stand up and make a statement, which then encouraged others. Unfortunately that says a lot about tackling crime in Southwark, whichever party, we all have a real problem encouraging members of the public ...
4:42 pm
This week I received my final letter from the SLC to say I'd finished paying off my student loan.Nothing unusual in that, apart from I took it out 13yrs ago. Through doing postgraduate study, and having a low paid job immediately following that have ensured that my loan has rumbled along with its GDP deflator rate of inflation.Anyone who ever pushes for maintenance loans to be charged at commercial rates really does need to go back to the drawing board if you want to continue training postgraduates...
3:39 pm
Small Businesses Q:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which Minister has responsibility for small firms. (John Hemming) A:I have overall responsibility for small firms. (Margaret Hodge, Minister of State (Industry and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry)
3:16 pm
Matt Seaton concurs at Comment is Free. Seaton says: "So for how long will the bloated plutocracy of the DfT continue to insult cyclists by tossing us these alms? Part of the answer to that question may be: as long as we receive them on bended knee. More than that, we need to hold the government to account: it talks a good game about reducing congestion and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but
1:51 pm
Richard Huzzey reminds me of the discussion at Stephen Tall's blog on the subject of supermarkets. Stephen and Richard are both right, although they seem to disagree with each other. We shop at supermarkets. We find them convenient. Their prices are sometimes lower than small shops and sometimes higher, which is unremarkable. But we are wary of the power that they have, we fear encroaching
1:30 pm
Bristow Muldoon MSP is to start leafletting homes in Livingston with lies about the effects on local people of replacing the council tax. He is citing figures in the leaflet which do not add Council Tax unto Incone Tax figures for the current situation. Therefore scewing the results which will erronerously show an increase in income tax as one of Labour's many stealth taxes, which would be
12:25 pm
Great to see the write-up in the Guardian of David Mwanaka’s unique farm. I must try White Maze sometimes. His inspiring story does also illuminate the debate going on about supermarkets good or not so good (and what this means for food supplies) in various blogs – Stephen Tall and Richard Huzzey to the fore. For my part I think it is clear we have a market malfunction, and need to correct it, especially if we want more peopel like David Mwanaka to get some entrepreneurial success. What actions to take? Well an example. The Women’s Institute is campaigning for ...
11:51 am
Tony Blair may not be able to recover his authority and leadership after recent damaging events, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke has said he also said his successor John Reid, was wrong to say the Home Office was "not fit for purpose". . C
11:12 am
I am going to betray my age now by alluding to a famous running joke from Monty Python. In particular the way that the Spanish Inquisition used to crash into every joke as follows: The door flies open and Cardinal Ximinez of Spain (Palin) enters, flanked by two junior cardinals. Cardinal Biggles (Jones) has goggles pushed over his forehead. Cardinal Fang (Gilliam) is just Cardinal Fang) Ximinez: NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise ... surprise and fear ... fear and surprise .... Our two weapons are fear and surprise ...
10:43 am
Ocean Youth Trust Ireland have berths on their race-winning Oyster 68 ketch Lord Rank for the 50th anniversary Tall Ships Races, and they're going very cheap. If you know a teenager with a yen for adventure, here's a chance to give them a great summer adventure for £15 a day plus travel. Tall ships has two race legs (which means means real round the clock racing) and cruises in company where the sailing is more relaxed. Lord Rank has a reputation to defend: she won Tall Ships Race 1 last year and has no wish ...
10:33 am
I am in Bridgnorth library. Not only do they have free internet access: they have the Shropshire Star as one on the Favourites in the drop-down menu. What more could you ask? And when in Bridgnorth, be sure to visit the Severn Valley Railway.
10:30 am
Somehow I sat, transfixed, by the non-event of the world cup so far: Switzerland vs Ukraine. There was something so awful about it that I couldn't move from the sofa from where I was watching it.In retrospect, I could have spent the 2.5hrs entering marked registers, or doing some other productive tasks, like cleaning the house. They should just have gone straight to penalties, instead of the charade of actually playing football.There is something also deeply ironic in that the Swiss have been eliminated without conceding a goal. On last nights performance you can see why they didn't concede, but ...
10:22 am
Kenilworth and Southam, one of the West Midlands Moving Forward Seats, has advertised for a prospective Parliamentary Candidate. Kenilworth and Southam is a 'new' seat in Warwickshire made up of bits of the previous Stratford on Avon and Rugby and Kenilworth seats, it will be a straight Liberal Democrat-Conservative fight and will prove very interesting.
10:05 am
The dictionary definition of "cranky" is as follows: 1) Having a bad disposition; peevish. 2) Having eccentric ways; odd. 3) Full of bends and turns; crooked. 4) Working unpredictably; erratic. 5) Rickety; loose. We've already had a few examples of David Cameron exhibiting the first behaviour. Now, it seems, traits 2) and 4) are coming to the fore. According to Rachel Sylvester in the Daily Telegraph, Cameron has been making up policy on the hoof, much to the chagrin of the head of his "Democracy Task Force": Kenneth Clarke, the task force chairman, knew ...
9:50 am
There was a discussion this morning on Radio 4 around the news that the world's second-richest man is to give away his $44bn fortune to the Gates Foundation. Philanthropy is a well-established phenomenon in the US. Partly this is due to the much lower level of State provision; partly due to a culture in which Religion has a much higher profile and reach than in Europe. Crucially there is also a much greater prevalence of the view that wealth is not there to be horded and passed down to the next generation. This is in marked ...
9:34 am
Andy Mayer has a few words to say about well-intentioned wish-lists masquerading as policy proposals: Activists can raise anything or vote without any sense of the implications for strategy, our fiscal credibility or assessment of how our opponents are likely to use it against us. Are we the only mainstream party in the UK that has public debates in ignorance of how the content of that debate makes us look to public... and that this matters? Quite. One change for the better would be to move conference to a weekend, so that more party members other than the uber-activist - ...
9:27 am
My eye strikes upon this discussion of supermarkets by Stephen, which argues that mindless opposition to supermarkets is not a good thing. I don't believe I have any great difference of principle from Stephen, but come to a slightly different opinion. A situation where a few businesses dominate the marketplace so much that its position approaches a monopoly is clearly bad for consumers, and a fundamentally illiberal outcome. British competition law is generally applied very patchily. It seems that the food industry is being overlooked, as the situation emerging is creating an illiberal market. (The same, to pick an esoteric ...
9:23 am
Yesterday was my first opportunity to represent Kingston at a London wide event. The occasion was a sung evensong at St Paul's Cathedral for all the London Mayors, to mark the beginning of the mayoral year. The Cathedral is looking magnificent after its lengthy facelift. (The photo is taken from their website) Entering by the north door we could not miss the new installation...
9:13 am
Claire Curtis-Thomas MP was on the Today programme this morning continuing her crusade to see saucy mags such as Zoo and Nuts banished to the newsie's top shelf. The argument ran that these magazines, read largely by Lynx-addled thirteen year-olds, "contain a softcore porn picture on the front, but hardcore porn pictures inside". I beg the debate's progtagonists to either pick up one of these silly publications or learn what those terms actually denote...
9:09 am
Anne McIntosh MP for the Vale of York, which is disappearing under boundary changes, and Tory spokeperson on Work and Pension has failed in her bid to gain selection for Selby. In another blow for Chameleon Dave's A-Lististos not even potential Government ministers, who already have Parliamentary experience, can fend off local candidates such as Nigel Adams.
9:01 am
Just catching up on things while I was away. Ross: "You would have done the same thing? You would have gone to war"Cameron: "Well, yes. That's what I voted for." Something for FOCUS.
8:45 am
The local branch of Relate serves Kingston, Richmond and Hounslow, with offices in each. Relate is the major couples counselling service in the country and they have built an enviable reputation for high quality counselling and complete confidentiality. So it was quite a surprise to discover that most of the work is done by volunteers, who even have to subsidise their training....
7:01 am
As someone who has been involved off and on in Charter88 campaigns for a Bill of Rights, who has marvelled at how enlightened a party the Lib Dems must be for having called for one for as long as I can remember being involved, I must say I am pleased. I am pleased that after so long denying it, the Conservative Party has signalled such a big u-turn on something that in my opinion has been fundamental to the rule of law and the place of the citizen in a democracy since...oh Tom Payne and before. You see, it ...
3:57 am
Bob Neill, the Conservative candidate for the Bromley By-Election, stated in his literature, to paraphrase, that in response to having 3 jobs, he would wish to retain his position on the Greater London Assembly (GLA), to save the people (as in the taxpayers of Bromley & Bexley) the cost of holding a by-election in order to replace his position on the GLA. Bob is also a part-time barrister. He also holds a position on the North East London Strategic Health authority - a post which, at the time of signing a form to declare he was eligible to ...
12:28 am
The Preliminary Agenda for the Liberal Democrats Autumn conference has just landed on the doormat. No time to analyse the whole lot in detail tonight, but we do seem, as usual to be aspiring to a great deal of uncosted spending commitments without any concurrent analysis of where the money is coming from to pay for them, or any sense of how this stuff fits into a wider narrative. For example in this batch we appear to want... "safe havens", "provision of adequate levels of dieticians", "A user-led Centre of Independent Living in every local authority", "community-based forms ...
12:22 am
What is perhaps most damaging about Charles Clarke’s “get angry, get even” attack on his successor as Home Secretary, John Reid, is the way the Labour Government appears now to be wholly fixated on bickering amongst themselves. It’s pretty much a given that, after a long-ish period in government, any party would struggle to appear always be listening to us, the public. But it would be nice if
12:10 am
For a perfect example of how confused David Cameron’s speech on human rights yesterday was, you need look no further than Iain Dale’s blog: David Cameron is getting excellent coverage this morning for his Human Rights Act policy. I just heard Baroness Helena Kennedy saying positive things, which is deeply ironic considering she was one of [...]
Monday 26th June 2006,
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