10:48 pm
Perhaps the single most convincing message coming out of American politics about the importance of the internet is this: although Howard Dean, king of the internet campaign, crashed and burned quite spectacularly, this has not killed either his political career or the growth in the use of the internet. If both can survive a spectacular landslide defeat, then something is up. Two recent books help document what has, is and might yet be happening. The first, Crashing the Gate, is written by the people behind Daily Kos and MyDD, the two leading Democratic blogs which now have readerships rivalling that ...
10:43 pm
My entry a week ago on local government* sparked two interesting comments which makes me want to clarify what I originally wrote. It wasn't meant to be an attack on councils and councillors per se, but rather an attack on the centralised system of government we have today and the structure of governance that has caused this. I believe that solving the Local Government problem would also solve the
9:13 pm
Many thanks to the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Sheila Griffin, for carrying out all the engagements today. I was allowed a day off to attend a family wedding. So it's love and very best wishes to Ruth and Alistair as they start married life together.
9:11 pm
Time for my one hundredth post, and after questions from literally ones of correspondents, I was going to explain the philosophy behind the title ‘Love and Liberty’. Sod that; it’ll keep ‘til 200. The Doctor Who season finale tonight was too fantastic not to get immediate praise. We loved it. A superb, heartbreaking, inspiring exit for Rose, and a suitably epic story that, this time, didn’t disappoint at all (and of course Daleks trounced Cybermen). We cheered, too, when the Black Dalek wisely ordered the other million Daleks to exterminate the Doctor but, just in case, activated his ‘scarper’ button. ...
8:56 pm
Now this is good. A series of fascinating but largely irrelevant facts from Prospect magazine: Charles Dickens created 989 named characters. [The Guardian, 25th March 2006] There are more British troops in Northern Ireland (9,200) than in Iraq (8,000). [Prospect research] Three quarters of young French people say they would like to become civil servants. [The Economist, 1st April 2006] 74 per cent of the women passengers aboard the Titanic survived, compared with 20 per cent of the men. [Weekly Standard, 10th April 2006] The average IQ ...
8:00 pm
Mark has a review of Crashing the Gate by Jerome Armstong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and of The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy by Byron Yorke in this weeks Lib Dem News - bringing the story of the US political blogs to a Lib Dem audience. The review is well worth a read, and we'll ask him if we can reproduce it here. One of Mark's arguments is that together these books form an instruction manual for campaigning on the net. I'm not sure I go along with this all the way. There is a lot of good stuff in Crashing ...
7:22 pm
Today I recieved some forms I have to fill in before I start work in Parliament. One is a security check form so that I can get a parliamentary pass. Apparently these take a while to be processed because the authorities perform a security services and criminal record search! I also have to complete a declaration of interests. Including listing any gifts or benefits I recieve in excess of £300 which "in any way relates to arises from your work in Parliament". This information is then published here in the Register of Interests of Member's Secretaries and Research Assistants. ...
7:19 pm
Those who have left a hotel with the towels smuggled away in their suitcase will be relieved to know that they are in good company. It seems that Wimbldeon players have been up to the same tricks: They earn millions of pounds a year, but it seems Wimbledon's top tennis players can't resist stealing the tournament's official towels. The All England Club has lost hundreds of the distinctive towels it provides for players to use during their rest breaks on court. Once smuggled off court in their gym bags they appear to make great gifts ...
6:32 pm
...can't wait! May blog live, may be hiding behind the sofa.
5:28 pm
I'm running a new poll over at m'other gaff, inviting visitors' views on our Deputy Prime Minister. Do the last week's revelations - the stuff that matters, I mean, not the silly gossip about his private life - make him a fool, a knave, or is he still your fave? I think I've made my view pretty clear.
4:23 pm
Thank you to Peter at Liberal Review for drawing my attention to the latest IPSOS/Mori poll. It shows that David Cameron's net approval rating continues downwards. His approval rating is down from 33 to 32%. His disapproval rating is up from 27 to 28%. That means his net approval rating is down from 6% to 4%. Those comparisons are with the same question by IPSOS/Mori on 30th May with ratings
1:13 pm
There is a report in yesterday's Liberal Democrat News about Liz Lynne MEP meeting a delegation of leaders of European nursing associations in Brussels. It says: They went to the European Parliament to thank her for her work in trying to achieve EU-wide legislation to cut down on the amount of injuries suffered by healthcare workers while handling needles and other medical sharps.It is natural to try to do good when you have the power, but I am left wondering why this is a matter for the European Parliament. If there are problems in the NHS why hasn't the ...
11:26 am
A provocative headline… let me explain it. A couple of weeks ago, at Oxford city's Full Council meeting, Labour put forward a motion urging the County Council and Oxfordshire Waste Partnership "to exclude incineration in the tenders for future waste treatment". My Lib Dem colleague, Jean Fooks, proposed amending this to: "Choose the least environmentally damaging option for the final disposal of
11:17 am
There is an interesting article by Steve Boggan on the BNP in Barking and Dagenham in the Guardian. The staggering thing is the lies they have told in that area: They "leafleted the electorate, telling them grants of up to £50,000 were being given by nearby Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney to encourage people to move into Barking and Dagenham, thus helping them to buy the cheapest housing
10:23 am
There is a knife edge betting contest (proceeds to charidee, of course) going on in the Guardian World Cup section. Everyday of the tournament, the fish and the People make a £10 charity bet. Both were given a £250 kitty at the start. So far the fish, called 'Der Kaiser', is ahead. "He predicted Italy and Germany would be 0-0 after 90 minutes and won himself £55, taking his total winnings to
1:35 am
1:22 am
My other half, Cllr Jardine-Brown, has been busy sorting out the "thugs and yobs" again. The other week she was coming back from a South Bermondsey event when she encountered a man behaving suspiciously on the Tyers Estate. Specifically he was relieving himself in the bushes where the children play next to Snowsfield Primary School. Not far away from him was a rather suspicious pile of goodies and a green handbag that didn't seem to be his style. After a polite inquiry the gentleman did a runner with whatever he could grab and left Helen holding the bag. A ...
12:38 am
Dave Hill has a nice take on PMQs PART ONE Cameron: “I’m a young, modern One Nation kind of guy so I’ll make a big noise about one of the British soldiers killed in Afghanistan the other day being a Muslim. Now, as my friend Weird Willy Hague has noticed, it isn’t going awfully well out there. Our military top brass say the Taliban are feistier than expected. Do you agree with him? This is my sneaky way of saying that the mission is a shambles without risking being accused of undermining our troops, which is what always happens if ...
12:29 am
I don't always do polls, but the latest MORI seems to be pointing in the right direction. Lib Dems are up at 21%, Conservatives are down to 36%. This reinforces my view that Cameron is not going down as well n the country as he believes he ought to. Of course I reserve the right to ignore any poll that appears to suggest the opposite.
Friday 7th July 2006,
Thursday 6th July 2006,
Wednesday 5th July 2006,
Tuesday 4th July 2006,
Monday 3rd July 2006,
Sunday 2nd July 2006
