Thank you to everyone who was so complimentary about my Webcameron pastiche. You may come to regret it though: rather than doing the sensible thing - modestly acknowledging the praise and quietly retiring from the video scene while a success - I’m afraid the muse took hold and I couldn’t resist getting the camera out [...]
An interesting day spent with Chris Huhne MP and Lib Dem councillors in Chesterfield going around the Borough and looking at sustainable technology included in recent buildings. The Lib Dems in Chesterfield have persuaded Barratts to include solar panels on a housing estate, the first time Barratts have done this. So we all got to [...]
on these days 174 years ago Charles Darwin wrote (read to the end it's worth it, except for Pink Dog, who really should look away now): "I was confined to my bed by a headach (sic). A good natured old woman who attended me wished me to try many odd remedies. A common practice is to bind an orange leaf or a bit of black plaster to each temple: and a still more general plan is to split a bean into
Tim Hames concludes his article in today's Times with a thought-provoking question: ... Mr Cameron is much more Clark Kent than Superman. The serious danger for him this week in Bournemouth and beyond is excess expectations. Once Tories no longer believe that their man can fly, will they remain inclined to follow him?The Tory leader-cum-wunderkind has enjoyed a spectacular year, having risen
Oh dear, not a good day for Francis Maude. It started off with his links to a porn company being exposed and it ended with him telling fibs on taxes to the Evening Standard. Then, later in the day, he was trying to explain Cameron’s refusal to commit himself to tax cuts. He told the Evening Standard: ”You [...]
Jo Shaw completed the BUPA Great North Run 2006 on Sunday in a stunning 2 hours 17 minutes, well done Jo! As you'll know from my previous post, Jo was running to raise money for Civil Liberties Trust (which raised money for Liberty). I set up a pledge on PledgeBank to try and raise more sponsorship. I think I may have had some success encouraging people to sponsor Jo, but sadly I only got 3 of the
webcameron webcameron webcameron
Followers of my blog may have noticed that I have been looking at the research of Professor David Southall of North Staffordshire NHS Trust. Recently I obtained a leak of the report of Professor Hull into Professor Southall's research at NSNHST. The whole issue is quite complex, but there is part of this report I cannot really believe is written down. Professor Hull is the same Professor Hull
David Cameron's attempt to abandon his party's Thatcherite past is running into the sand on Bournemouth seafront: Edward Leigh, Conservative chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, claimed that at least 100 Tory MPs wanted plans for tax cuts set out immediately. He warned: "If the Conservative Party does not promise tax cuts then it's nothing." Mr Leigh said the Conservatives would
The revolution didnt last too long; just months after we were all urged to 'vote blue and go green' the Conservative party membership today delivered a stunning rebuke to David Cameron's environmental credentials. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5400084.stm) In the days 'hot topic' debate, the Tory faithful were asked to support a motion that rightly claimed that cheap flights are flourishing in a 'false economy' and action must be taken to increase the price of flying so as to reflect its huge cost to the planet. Yet, despite their green local election campaign, their shiny new green logo and the green backdrop ...
Somerset once again proved to be haven of progressive and meritocratic thought a fortnight ago, when the people of Chard elected the youngest councillor in the country in a by-election. Dan Shortland took office today. He is, of course, a Liberal Democrat.
There is a worrying story in the Shropshire Star today: The landlords of three village drinking holes - The Swan at Frodesley, The Tally Ho at Bouldon, and The Woodcock Inn at Pulverbatch - have put forward plans this summer to convert the pubs into houses.The licensee of the splendidly named Cross Foxes at Longden Coleham in Shrewsbury says: “I think it is the money side of it. In the town, unless they’ve got darts and dominoes teams or real locals to keep them going during the week, there isn’t really anyone. “People just haven’t got the money with interest ...
In my essay in Liberalism: Something to Shout About I argued that politicians put too much emphasis on PE and organised games in school. In fact, children's free play and general levels of activity have far more to do with how many calories they burn. It is hard to resisit quoting an expert who agrees with you. Here is Professor Neil Armstrong, pro-vice chancellor of Exeter University, as quoted in the Guardian this morning: The focus of government policy, said Prof Armstrong, should be on everyday exercise, rather than school sport and regular PE lessons and diet. He ...
Everyone knows that King Arthur's Camelot was situated at Gumley near Market Harborough. Now I have come across a site which argues that the Troy of legend is to be found just outside Cambridge.
So the Tories, who used to say they were for tax cuts, only delivered some tax cuts in the mid 80's, then raised them ever since, have now said that they no longer want to cut taxes. Is this a change of policy, or perhaps, dare I suggest, some honesty ? In local government, for example, the Tories are hardly renowned for tax cuts. In North Norfolk, for example, the Tories promised (in a bye-election), that they would deliver a 0% tax rate. When it came to the budget meeting there proposals were found to be completely uncosted and ...
The Tories are getting themselves all in a lather about tax cuts. David Cameron is (wisely) refusing to commit the party to tax cuts as he seeks to drag the Tories kicking and screaming to electability. But the rank and file are not happy. Reading the Tory forums is an interesting exercise in discovering what [...]
and thinking that it's not going to plan? David Cameron's speech was workmanlike, and he had inflated his head specially for the occasion. They clapped out of duty in the scripted pause-for-applause breaks rather than with the messianic enthusiam that brought them to their feet in the 80's. Maybe it's not going to the media's preferred plan: their pack rubric is Labour in decline (ok, got that), Ming's zimmer leading us to the knackers yard, Tories resurgent. Yes, there are some bright ambitious young things gravitating to the nascent smell of power that the media deems wafts around ...
Suddenly everyone is putting videos on blogs. I cannot imagine Lord Bonkers speaking to the nation whilst doing the washing up. Perhaps he could have a scullery maid doing it in the background when he gives his address?
At party conferences, a whole host of organisations pitch up to lobby people and promote their causes. One of the very good causes is RNID - who had a stand at the Lib Dem conference (and the other party conferences too I guess) where you could get your hearing tested. A good reminder to us all to be virtuous - and be tested rather than leave it till it is too late!
My colleagues in the Lib Dem group on Haringey Council released earlier today a document summarising our position on the current CPZ and pay and display controversies. You can download it from my website (pdf format) and there's also their press release up there too.
Well haven't I done well. Please don't say about time or even take it off! But tonight I have been learning. I have learnt how to resize a picture and also to crop it. So this is me, double chin and all, suited and booted at a wedding in the summer holidays.
There are a few funny takes on web cameron. Those include award winning Stephen Tall and long time Lib Dem blogger Will Howells. As an aside, I think Stephen has the same kitchen cupboards as me. Well ok not the same because it would be quite difficult sharing these living so apart and I don't believe we have an agreement where I have the cupboards at weekends whilst he has them during the week. So why is David Cameron a mug? Well apart form the obvious, why on earth wash up? Surely that is what a ...
Redcar and Cleveland Council is carrying out an average of almost 300 bulky waste collections a week - and expects the busy service to continue in the run-up to Bonfire Night. The Council is urging residents to get rid of unwanted rubbish using the service, which charges £5 for standard jobs and £10 for an 'express' service, which promises collection within seven days. Latest statistics show that between October last year to September this week, a total of 13,739 jobs were completed - 9,233 standard and 4,506 express, an average of almost 300 per week. The Council's ...
Iain Dale is very admiring of William Hague - and it is fair to say that the bald one did a brilliant rabble rouser yesterday. But one issue troubled me. Hague is the Shadow Foreign Secretary. And, as per usual, there has been a lot of “foreign stuff” going on over the past few [...]
I am sitting in a meeting organised by the Hansard Society called "Listen to me - can politicians ignore the new media?". Tim Sullivan, a big knob from BT is speaking at the moment. Some pretty impressive figures he has just given, such as 12 million homes in UK with broadband, 35 billion txt messages last year in UK, 63 percent of households with internet access. He's also just mentioned that it
That was the title of an Iain Dale posting today where he railed against the delays and queues at Bournemouth. It has now temporarily disappeared from his blog site. It was on there long enough to attract about six comments and I was about to add one saying: "Let optimism beat pessimism. Let sunshine win the day" - but the posting disappeared as I typed. No doubt Iain will reinstate this
There was an iconic moment in Cameron's speech yesterday, when he said: "So let us show clearly which side we are on. Let optimism beat pessimism. Let sunshine win the day." What a load of nonsense! I can't imagine any other serious politician currently or in history being daft enough to emit such twaddle as "Let sunshine win the day". Simon Hoggart has brilliantly lampooned the statement
Finally made the move to Wordpress. After hours of finding a way to import my posts from Blogger as the import method just didn’t want to work, I wrote some code myself. Then I tweaked the template I had been working on, and this morning I renamed the directories so that the Wordpress version went [...]
I’ve added the functionality to register, and look for, resources such as RISOs on Flock Together. This should make it easier for people to find a printer or RISO for printing Focus and other campaign literature. You can add your RISO at http://www.flocktogether.org.uk/registerResource.php Are there any other resources you think we should include or extra functions we should [...]
Just as Eric Morecambe played all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order, I have had just the right amount of sleep, just not necessarily when I needed it! I am severely jet-lagged. Since arriving home at 07.00 on Saturday, I have slept for 21 hours, which is probably just about the right amount of time over two nights to sufficiently recover. Sadly, all 21 hours came between
Lib Dem official broadcast on climate change, as part of the Green Tax Switch
WebCameraOn 3 is particularly worth it… Will Howells blogs regularly at http://www.willhowells.org.uk/blog/
Grandees at the Tory Party conference at Bournemouth were so impressed with possible Republican Presidential candidates John McCain speaking at their conference last night that they are looking at another American solution. There are rumours that they have called upon Peter Shann Ford, who recently discovered that Neil Armstrong did say the word 'a' in his famous speech when he stepped foot on
At Comment is Free, the Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas questions the Lib Dem commitment to the environment. Is she right?
At Comment is Free, the Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas questions the Lib Dem commitment to the environment. Is she right?
I was amused to see Susanne Lamido get a whole article printed about her blog in this week’s Islington Tribune because she recommends it as “the best read for local residents”. Clearly blogging has come of age when local newspapers actually write whole articles out of the fact that a blogger has said a [...]
This is great.
I've just walked into the main conference. And the Cameroonies are discussing the environment. The hot topic is "cheap flights are a false economy". Oh dear, the environment hugging Conservatives have just voted for cheap flights. We have been given a handset as we came into the hall on which to send txt messages about the hot topic some of which appear on the main screen on the podium. Now that
For consistently reminding me that I’m the right party. Comments like this on ConHome, being a fine example. ‘Ross’ queries “why does Cameron have to go trudging down that barren valley to grub about for the votes of sexual deviants or undesirable immigrants.” He also laments the lack of support for grammar schools, whilst clearly needing to be returned to one, as he omits to employ a question mark.
I'm quickly learning that there really is no rest for the wicked in the blogosphere. I mean, there you are, drawing together a mass of thoughts on some subject or other, and before you're ready one of the broadsheets does a story about it. Then, just in case anyone missed it, the blogosphere publishes the link to the online version so everyone gets the heads-up and your carefully considered
Chris Grayling has just announced http://www.howgreenisyourcar.co.uk/ It looks very swanky, but is as useful as a chocolate teapot to people with disabilities as it completely ignores accessibility standards.
Ok so the first WebCameron cast has Dave at the kitchen sink washing up. Now I have to own up I'm currently reading John Campbell's "Margaret Thatcher- The Grocer's Daugther" otherwise I'd have to admit I'm too young to remember this. But apparently to counter Mrs T's feminine side in the 1975 Tory Leadership contest Willie Whitelaw retaliated by making a broadcast showing him, guess where? Yes,
Oh dear, it appears that David Cameron's Environment Guru A-Lististo Zac Goldsmith has been lying so low recently that he was not instantly recognised when he turn up at Bournemouth. According to The Time's conference diary Zac was unable to take his spot as a keynote speaker at the "Quality of Life" fringe event last night. He was still trying to negoiate the queues of people still waiting to
As the Conservative Conference gets underway in Bournemouth the 'loans for peerages' investigation parks itself firmly on the Tory Party's doorstep. The BBC report that four major donors to the Conservative Party have now been questioned by police as part of this on-going enquiry. They include a businessman whose nomination for a peerage last autumn was blocked by the body which vets appointments to the House of Lords. Robert Edmiston, head of IM group, was questioned by police in July. The Tories say three other donors - Lord Laidlaw, Lord Ashcroft and Swede Johan Eliasch - were also interviewed. ...
Liberal Democrat Voice carries a wonderful parody of the David Cameron speech as a mocked up BBC website page. This Tim Ireland animation is well worth watching as well.
The Birmingham Book Festival 2006 will take place between Wednesday 4 and Friday 13 October. This year's line up includes Willy Russell, Billy Bragg, Lionel Shriver, Simon Armitage, Mil Millington, Richard Dawkins, John Hegley and Julie Walters. Further details can be found at www.birminghambookfestival.org
I'm a fan of Milton Friedman. He's fought for liberalism and freedom all his life, that he isn't 100% correct is fine, nobody is that good. Cafe Hayek has a good example of Milton Friedman explaining one of the reasons for his rejection of state interference in most individual life. Its a great example of what I tend to call pessimistic liberalism (starting from the premise that humans are
I've been surprised by the vehemence of David Cameron's refusal to discuss the £20 billion tax cuts proposal with some members of his party. Seen from a strictly rational viewpoint, £20bn is actually not very much as percentage of overall government spending - about 4% in fact of a vastly expanded government expenditure since 1997. So why the fuss? I'm guessing that, as ever, this is as much about image as substance. I suspect that public perception of the billions that the government spends has not moved in line with their actual rise, and therefore £20bn is still perceived as ...
Well, after 2 hrs I got my pass. I didn't even have to give any ID. It was just unceremoniously handed over.Stephen Tall refers in his blog to Cameron's vomit inducing sunshine speech of last year. Well, he hasn't brought sunshine to Bournemouth. Quite the reverse. It is throwing it down biblical flood style. (Why is it that it is always sunny at Lib Dem conferences - except when we have the
After months of speculation and increasingly bitter internal divisions over future leadership issues, Nigel Worthington has finally parted company with Norwich City. In his 6 years in the Carrow Road hot seat, he took the club to a play off final and winning the championship in impressive style in 2004. Despite the odds stacked against them, Norwich so nearly avoided relegation from the premiership after just one season. However, the last couple of years have seen disappointing performances on the pitch and some unfortunate signings. Now Delia Smith and the Board have agreed that it is time for a change. ...
Will Howells has put up his hilarious take on the chinless wonder's latest PR stunt attempt to reach out to the voters, Webcameraon! Courtsey of Alex Wilcock Lib Dem Voice has put up Stephen Tall's (somewhat more serious) take on the subject too.
Lib Dem Voice has received a couple of e-mails from seats in England who are worried they may miss out on ‘target’ status in the next General Election, as they are unable to select candidates by the end of this year due to a lack of trained officials. I’m conducting a mini-investigation to identify the scale of the [...]
Just over two years ago we launched plans to purchase a mobile street sport unit. This was an attempt to offer young people opportunities to paricipate in a wide range of sports in their own communities. The street sport bus was also to include a mobile skate park, and given the historic difficulties experienced citing permanent skateparks it seemed a rather sensible solution. Not so...
Well it's finally happened there is a new Scottish Blogging Round Up thanks to CouriousHamster and doctorvee. A number of fellow Lib Dems earned references and they referenced two of my stories from last week. This will make interesting reading over the next eight months in the run up to the elections and beyond.
Over the years, many constituents have contacted me about traffic management in the Perth Road lanes.Quite a few people have asked if changing some roads (eg Thomson Street or Step Row) from two-way traffic to one-way would help improve traffic flow - that said, other residents have opposed this as one-way traffic would inevitably speed cars up.In response to a number of recent comments on this subject from residents, I have again taken up the issue of traffic management with the Planning & Transportation Department - here's the latest feedback received:-FROM PLANNING & TRANPORTATION, DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL :-"The main problem ... 
Well, the latest news is that everyone is still experiencing the Cameron Love Fest from the inside of the Bournemouth Theatre where after 2 hours, we are still waiting for our passes.Over an hour ago Francis Maude promised us screens to watch the conference. Fortunately we have been spared that ordeal. However I can exclusively reveal today's conference hot topic: "The Conservatives can't
David Camerons strategy appears to be coming unglued already. As far as I can see his strategy to date has broadly been as follows: 1) Apologise for past Tory mistakes when they were the nasty party 2) Attempt to reposition the party as more Centrist Liberal Conservative / One Nation Tories 3) Convince people that they are now the nice party i.e. have a conscience and are worried about poverty etc 4) Don't talk about policies on the grounds that a) it is too far away from a General Election b) if you come up with policies now the other ...
Since the arrival of babies I find myself having to do a lot of things one-handed (no sniggering at the back of the class) as one arm seems to be permanently taken up soothing one of the offspring. A particular frustration that I now face on a daily basis is the CTRL-ALT-DEL crisis as [...]
Well, I'm still stuck in the auditorim of the Bournemouth Theatre but Francis Maude has just done a star turn on the stage, telling us the delay is all the fault of the police who are still checking the identities of people. But it's all okay, says Little Frankie, as the problem was the same last week at the Lab conference. All the fault of the security alert of August. However, they have not
BBC News has the story. ‘I’m not paranoid, but the world is out to get me’…. Somewhat more seriously, Liberal Review have been digging around the Tory party’s finances, this follows on from a series of stories over the weekend about a shadowy operation called Constituency Campaign Services which may, or may not, be part of the [...]
Redcar and Cleveland Primary Care Trust (PCT) was established today and its boundary is fully co-terminus with that of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. This new PCT covers the area previously covered by Langbaurgh PCT - Redcar, Marske, Saltburn, Guisborough, Skelton, Brotton and Loftus - and now includes the council wards of South Bank, Eston, Teesville, Grangetown, Ormesby and Normanby, which were previously covered by Middlesbrough PCT. The information on this website dated prior to October 1st 2006, relates to work done by the dis-established Langbaurgh PCT. The day-to-day primary care health services - ie, GPs, dentistry, pharmacy and optometry ...
The BBC is reporting that the police are questioning four Conservative Party donors, including Robert Edmiston. Robert Edmiston is part of the Midlands Industrial Council who have donated to Wolverhampton South West Conservatives previously. I have written about the Wolverhampton South West Conservative donation/peerage connection previously.
It's Monday morning and it's my first day as an observer at the Conservative conference. And it's pandemonium at registration. No one should ever ever again complain about the regsitration at Lib Dem conference after experiencing this.We first joined a long queue for late accreditation. At the front of the queue I was asked for my name and date of birth that was then written onto the back of a
Cameron starts to flesh out Tory policy.
Imagine my surprise when after yesterday’s Mr Balloon cartoon I noticed four more mickey-takes of Mr Cameron. On the Spitting Image principle, he must be delighted that he’s being noticed, though he’s probably jealous that the vidcasts competing with his own are each from men considerably younger and more handsome than he is (take a bow, Will, and of course Stephen, who’s now definitively laid to rest any rumour that he’s a flirt*). Then there’s the BBC(ish), but my personal favourite was a real news report – well, ITV, anyway – broadcast last night. Missed it? Then here’s a transcript. ...
The Conservatives do not seem set for good luck this conference. The delays in distributing security passes have annoyed many- though you could argue that this is because of an unexpectedly large attendance. Nevertheless, it does not look too organized. Then, when people arrived in Bournemouth- in contrast to the balmy days for the Liberal Democrats in Brighton- the Tories are greeted with tornadoes in the Channel and blustery rain. Thus the very long queues to get security passes on the day got very wet indeed. Then there is the press: the opening of the conference has been greeted with ...
Following up on the New Tory Labour animation about climate change, the Lib Dems have today released another Tim Ireland animation - this time about transport. There’s quite a lot of political humour going around today, one of the best of which is Stephen Tall’s version of WebCameron. Not often a steam iron features so effectively in [...]
Davey Cameron has created a nice analogy of where the Tories are with their current policy development:Stage 1 - clear the ground (completed)Stage 2 - Lay foundations (in progress)Stage 3 - Put up brickwork (not started)I wouldn't want to use Davey's Builders if he thinks this is a plan...Many people want to know what the house will look like when its completed. So, when did he get planning permission? This would have helped his members and the rest of the country know what the house was (a 2 bedroom semi on green belt land in middle britain?)A house is more ...
The last few days have seen stories about the Midlands Industrial Council appearing in the newspapers and on television. Some may recall I mentioned in March the connection between the Midlands Industrial Council Wolverhampton South West Conservatives and the 2005 General Election Conservative Candidate Sandip Verma.
It seems only right that the Voice should showcase the best of Lib Dem video currently appearing on sites such as Google Video and YouTube. We’ll brand this section of the site a bit more ASAP. Let’s start off with Cllr Stephen Tall’s response to David Cameron’s new webcameron site. Parental guidance: contains nudity Stephen Tall blogs regularly [...] 
As expected a retired General has been sworn in as Thailand's interim prime minister. General Surayud Chulanonts profile from the BBC online site is shown below. At 62, Surayud Chulanont is an army veteran, and one of the few senior Thai figures who is respected by military and civilian leaders alike. By choosing him as the country's new prime minister, Thailand's military generals also hope he will quieten fears from the international community, who see the former army chief as a safe pair of hands. They also hope his positive standing, both at home and abroad, will allay fears that ...
Conservative finances are under scrutiny as they claim "not to know" who has sold them the freehold to two London properties
Conservative finances are under scrutiny as they claim "not to know" who has sold them the freehold to two London properties
The Times has a book plug headlined with 'a leading scientist has warned that opposition to nuclear power by environmental campaigners is irrational as well as dangerously misguided'. I'm not going to write any arguments about nuclear power specifically, but about a lifestyle trend amongst the mediaratsi (which probably means it'll be on everyone's radar eventually - aspiration and all that)
Radio 1 have recently changed their programme schedule and this could have caused me some difficulty this evening. "Why is that?" you ask. "Surely you listen to Radio 4?" Well yes, of course I do. Usually, I wake up to the Today programme and then go from there. However, within the last two years my habits, particularly on Sundays, have changed. I suppose I have been rediscovering music. And a | < | October 2006 | > | ||||
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