11:39 pm
The idea of localism is back in vogue. Members of the Labour government and Conservative opposition alike are repenting past addiction to centralised control of local services and promising more autonomy for local government. It would be nice to think that the Liberal Democrats, as the party most committed to devolution of power, has been making the running on this as a national issue. Sadly, this is not so. Recently, I have read two excellent publications that make the case for greater decentralisation of local powers from central to local government. The first is Tristram Hunt’s Building Jerusalem, which charts ...
11:11 pm
Every few months I take the test just to see if things differ, although apparently not looking at the result. Take the survey here.
11:04 pm
I have just put out my recycling. I haven't put any out for the past six weeks for a number of reasons: no bags, keep forgetting the dates and pure laziness. That doesn't mean that I have thrown away all the recylable goods just means it has been building up in my flat. Newspapers, plastic bottles, cardboard and yes (and I have to admit this) some pizza boxes too (although I wont tell you how
11:02 pm
News today from Q Magazine of their latest survey: pop songs that are both deeply unfashionable and irresistibly attractive, termed ‘guilty pleasures’. They’ve publicised a top ten of these, presumably as an advertising feature for a hundred in the next issue of Q, but before I list them I’ll tell you that I think four of them are terrific. Indeed, were I ever to whittle down my tastes to a ‘Desert Island Discs’-style list, one song in particular would almost certainly be there (while another is to become Earth’s national anthem). No prizes for guessing – it’s just for fun. ...
9:48 pm
Now we've upgraded the K750i to a K800i it's no longer needed. If you want the phone it's on eBay until next week.
9:35 pm
The city of Phoenix, Arizona is known as "Hoozdo" or "the place is hot" in the Navajo language. I bet you didn't know that but it's an appropriate name. According to Wikipedia , out of the world's large urban areas, only some cities around the Persian Gulf, such as Riyadh and Baghdad have higher average summer temperatures. The temperature reaches or exceeds 100 °F (38 °C) on an average of 89 days
9:09 pm
Today's Development Control meeting lasted 2.5 hours, longest meeting I've had so far on the council. I knew that when I put my name forward to be on the committee that meeting could go on for sometime and I've been expecting worse. We had 12 applications to consider with the longest being the land to the rear of 41-69 Hykeham Road. It was obvious in advance of the meeting that this might take sometime. The applicants had submitted two applications offering two options for access to the site and there were 40 pages in the agenda taken up. Almost everyone ...
9:06 pm
Information on the Selly Oak New Road and the improvements planned for the A38 / Bristol Road can be found on the City Council website here. This includes: details of the improvements planned to the Bristol Road through Bournbrook (Bournbrook High Street) when the A38 is diverted round the Selly Oak New Road;evidence presented to the Public Inquiry on the compulsory purchase of the land necessary
9:05 pm
Common Ground now have their August page in place. It covers seasonal fruit and vegetables, seasonal dishes, local customs and observations of the natural world.
8:40 pm
As you may have noticed, I have changed Craig Murray's excellent blog from an Other Interesting Blog to a Lib Dem Blog. Reader's voice. No I hadn't noticed. But seeing as you mention it, why have you done that? Craig tells me that he has been a party member since 1973 and used to contribute to Liberator in the 1970s. I have consulted the librarians at Liberator House, and they confirm that he did indeed write for us in those days. There is the little matter of Craig's having stood against a Lib Dem candidate in Blackburn ...
8:31 pm
This blog gets a mention in Iain Dale's weekly podcast for More4. (In fact the words he quotes come from Monday's Guardian Unlimited article rather than Liberal England, but who's counting?)
8:09 pm
After just over a week, I’m done with it. I’ve finished with it, given up on it and I’m leaving it behind. Yes, I’ve walked on the A9 for the last time today, finally leaving the road that’s been my companion since last Wednesday just after 2 o’clock today when I crossed over the Kessock [...]
7:15 pm
So I've learned a little more about Hezbollah in the last few days. It literally means "The Party of God" and according to Wikipedia the name is derived from a Qur'anic ayat (verse) referring to those who belong to and follow the 'Party of God'. Hezbollah is a political party and military organisation. We are talking about people who I think want to be treated as political leaders , not as
6:42 pm
Simon Heffer in today's Telegraph has a splendid rant about the woebegone figure of Margaret Beckett- our hapless Foreign Secretary. It is rare that I agree with him, but his call for her immediate resignation is something I can totally agree with. She is, quite simply, not up to the job. Her utter lack of interest in International Affairs is obvious, but then as "Yo Blair" is his own foreign minister, there is not too much for her to do. Interesting to see the British Prime Minister on such a transparent job hunt in the United States- interesting and frankly ...
6:36 pm
Today Tony Blair gave a speech in the US where he admitted that his (and therefore by association, George W. Bush's) Middle East policies are not working. The Lib Dems have been saying as much for a number of years. Today Tony said "We will not win the battle against this global extremism unless we win it at the level of values as much as force and unless we show we are even-handed, fair and just
6:14 pm
The Middle East conflict is the major issue in the world today, yet Cameron has barely uttered a word on it. Do we take it from this that he agrees with Bush and Blair? If so why is he not saying so? Sir Menzies Campbell leader of the Liberal Democrats has argued that the UN must [...]
6:11 pm
This week the Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill wellbeing of the community. Fife Council stated this week that over 390,000 people visited the Meadows, making it the most popular attraction in Fife. I put it to Fife Council that this is because it is a free resource. Why mess with that?
5:42 pm
Now, I don't subscribe to everything that appears on IndyMedia but it's often useful for local alerts about things going on around Oxford as they have an Oxford based group and server. So I was interested to see: UK Indymedia - Cargo Plane with Hebrew markings at RAF Brize Norton: Are our government, apparently wanting but not wanting a ceasefire, now routing weapons to Israel from the US or elsewhere via RAF bases? I think we should be told.
5:40 pm
Former Daily Mirror editor and media commentator, Roy Greenslade, comments on accusations about photographs of the aftermath of bombings in the Lebanon.
4:49 pm
There are surely plenty of good reasons to vote Liberal Democrat in a local by-election in Oxford. This, however, is not one of them. No political signal will be sent to Blair regarding Lebanon by voting Lib Dem in Oxford, in the same way that if Blair claimed that victory in a local by-election was approval for his foreign policy I'd laugh at the sheer ridiculous stupidity of the claim. I'm not alone in wishing the politics was more mature. I expect better than this from my own party.
3:59 pm
My letter to Jack Straw regarding his comments on TheyWorkForYou is now winding its way though the etha and also a back up hard copy is now in the custody of the Royal Mail. James Graham's pledge did remarkably well in a short space of time and 103 similar letters will be hitting Mr Straw's in-box very shortly. My contribution is below for your reading pleasure. Dear Mr. Straw I'm writing to
3:28 pm
Strange but true, the EU have decided not to place Hizbollah on the EU terror blacklist. According to EUObserver.com: Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja declared after crisis talks with EU counterparts on Tuesday (1 August) "Given the sensitive situation where we are, I don't think this is something we will be acting on now." .... he also added that "everybody in Lebanon should be a party" to a peace deal, which appeared to point to the risk of alienating Hezbollah by branding it a terrorist organisation - just when co-operation from the movement is necessary to maintain a lasting peace.The ...
3:09 pm
Thanks to Paul Clarke on the LDYS Forum for drawing my attention to this : "Nasty foreigners are ruining Britain" - spokesman for Cornerstone Group of Conservative MPs. See : http://www.cornerstonegroup.org.uk/ BBC Report on Cornerstone statement : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5232776.stm Some things don't change. The Tories are the 'Nasty Party' and the BNP the 'Nazi Party'. No
3:02 pm
Recent events in the Middle East have brought forward the "relaunch" of Inner West. I hope you like the new design. So for better or worse, I'm back. Or rather, I should say, we're back. I am pleased to be able to announce that James who formerly blogged here has now agreed to blog for Inner West. We are old friends and allies, and while there is no fixed editorial line we come from a similar stable of views. Welcome to the Inner West, Version 2.0.....
2:14 pm
Following constituent's concern have been back onto the Planning & Transportation Department about a couple of issues in Westfield Place : Need for road to be property reinstated (ie setts replaced - currently just temporary tar) where Scottish & Southern Electric undertook a repair some months ago. I raised this originally in May or thereabouts & have now asked P&T Department to chase up Scottish & Southern.Need for a "No Heavy Vehicles" sign in this very narrow street - P&T promised me this & they have now said they'll chase up Tayside Contracts to get it done ...
1:56 pm
Two fingers to Will Smith, Will Smith and Will Self because that’s me according to Google: And yet - presumably because other bloggers link me by my first or full name - I’m not even on the first page for Howells. As my boss says, “That’s the problem with ranking.”* I’m not sure what Google’s description of [...]
12:49 pm
Lynne Featherstone's blog has brought to my attention a petition against the retention of DNA from all arrested people whether charges were brought or not, or whether the person was found not guilty at trial or not. Recent reports of the misuse of this data hilights some of the problems of this practice. This database could be used as the beginnings of a national DNA database (tied in to the
12:20 pm
The G2 section of 'The Guardian' carried an article on political 'cross dressing'. Mr Blair defines the era of left / right politics over and declares that political ideas are fluid. Very fluid in his case. Now, unlike lots of Lib Dems, I do use the left / right political axis as a way of defining issues. I do it for left and right is the shorthand that the public understands. I have no problem
10:49 am
As the Jack Straw pledge was successful, I've sent the following letter: Dear Mr Straw, I'm writing with regard to your comments in the House of Commons on 20 July 2006 (HC Deb. Col. 461) in which you criticised MPs' researchers for submitting frivolous Parliamentary Questions to "prove a point" and the website TheyWorkForYou.com for encouraging this. I am surprised that you have chosen
10:19 am
As the state of Israel launches a major offensive with ground troops inside Lebanon our beloved Government stops the European Union calling for a ceasefire - doesn't it make you proud.
10:06 am
One of Blair's abilities that really does not help is his ability to argue contradictory cases in the same speech. The point about contradiction is that if you argue a contradictory case then you could be arguing anything. The syllogism goes as follows if P and not P are both true. P or Q is inherently true. Not P implies Q is true. In other words the whole system of logical argument
9:24 am
One of the main attractions of Liberalism, from my point of view at least, is that it has its foundations on a set of principles, rather than an absolute commitment to any particular policy, imagined glorious past or utopian outcome. It is only by keeping these principles to the forefront of discussion that we can avoid being overwhelmed by the beauty pagent/ media circus of modern party politics.
9:16 am
You could also smell the bullshit as he said it*, but Tony Blair has warned of an "arc of extremism" in the world. Yep, it runs from Whitehall to Washington and it's the language of the man telling us we're under attack, but vote for him and it'll all be ok. It's not the reassuring voice that it should be, telling us that realistically there will always be terrorists in the world, and the best
8:56 am
Will the new Wembly Stadium ever be finished? Speculation now is that it will not be ready to stage even the 2007 FA Cup Final. Considering that this year's final was meant to be played there this seems to be a major mess. It is rapidly rivalling the Scottish Parliament building for the position of top British construction cock-up. Fear not though, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will be there to provide a superior venue. Wembley's loss will be Wales' gain. Maybe they should just give up and adopt the Millennium Stadium as the permanent venue for the cup ...
8:31 am
Whilst speculation continues about the future of Tony Blair and just when he will be succeeded by Gordon Brown, another leadership contest gets underway in Cardiff Bay. A special edition of ITV's Waterfront is due to go out later this month in which political correspondent, Lee Waters will speculate that the leading contenders to succeed Rhodri Morgan as Leader of the Welsh Labour Party are already manouevring for position. He considers that it will be a straight fight between Environment Minister, Carwyn Jones and Enterprise Minister, Andrew Davies. Whoever wins could well find themselves as leader of the ...
8:29 am
21st July - David Livermore signs for Leeds from Millwall for £400,000 1st August - David Livermore joins Hull for an undisclosed fee Well he obviously impressed in training then!! The official line from the club is "At the time of signing David, Kevin Nicholls and another potential midfield target weren't available to us. We then managed to acquire Kevin and things have now opened up on another target. With everyone fit, David is unlikely to play - so when the opportunity came up for him to talk to Hull, we gave him that choice." This is so ...
8:17 am
Have been working with Nick Clegg to do some campaigning to follow up on the DNA database issues I've mentioned before. We've now got a petition people can sign, along with its own DNA petition website.
Tuesday 1st August 2006,
Monday 31st July 2006,
Sunday 30th July 2006,
Saturday 29th July 2006,
Friday 28th July 2006,
Thursday 27th July 2006
