I have mentioned this book a couple of times - including one posting which gave the full contents. If you would like to order a copy it is available from the Liberator website for £5.50 (includes postage) or £6 outside the UK.
Wednesday 4th October 2006 - I attended an excellent exhibition today celebrating Indian art and culture. It's the first time that an exhibition dedicated to India has evertaken place within the European Parliament and with so many European perceptions of India dominated by stereotypes of call-centres, IT hubs or the deepest poverty in city slums, the"Colours of India"
Tuesday 3rd October 2006 - Party Leader Sir Menzies Campbell QC MP visited Brussels this week and took time out to stop by my office for a chat on various issues of common concern. It was the first time I had had the chance to speak to Ming since the Conference in Brighton and it was good to reflect with him on how the week had gone. I am also pleased that Ming is keen to develop closer working
The Independent Monitoring Commission has now said in the conclusion to its latest report (pdf): PIRA has undergone the largest and most substantial change. It is not the same organisation that it was three years ago. Three years ago it was the most sophisticated and potentially the most dangerous of the groups, possessed of the largest arsenal of guns and other material. It is now firmly set
There has been a fair view reactions to last night's BBC1 drama "The Amazing Mrs Pritchard" (which I discover has its own website) in the Lib Dem blogosphere most of which seem to be negative. Paul Walter thinks it "a rather lukewarm show", Richard Huzzey was "disappointed by it" and thinks it "a missed opportunity", James Graham hasn't seen it but wouldn't have liked it if he had, and Alex
Had a lunchtime meeting with the University of Bath Vice Chancellor Glynnis Breakwell. Over two hours we discussed Youth Olympics 2008, the UK Olympics 2012, student accomodation, the Swindon connection and the Festivals Trust. Glynnis as well as being Vice Chancellor has taken on the challenge of chairing our new Festivals Trust - a big job - with lots to sort out and resolve to...
Having purchased this book by it’s cover some time ago, I’ve finally got around to reading and finishing The Manuscript and whilst it had some geeky Usenet and Grepping, it let me down on the blackberries (as featured on the cover) and a plot line that was just too unbelievable. I couldn’t workout where [...]
I promise this will be last post about the Conservative Party Conference. Just a few thoughts: 1) Doesn't David Cameron ever stop giving us a running commentary. He is one of those guys you want to turn round and say 'shut up' to; the runner giving a running (like the pun) commentary as he runs on the treadmill. I would hate to hear him on the toilet! It could go sosmething like this... I am
Many thanks to Cllr Paul Bentley, my neighbour in Lee Green ward, for asking TfL about the road works on the junction of Lee High Road and Belmont Park. Here is TfL's reply: "Our Network Operation Team have informed me the two-way traffic signals have been erected to allow Thames Water to carry out an emergency repair to a water main. The repair is complete, but an underlying sewer has been damaged. The damage was either caused when the water main burst or when the water main was repaired. Thames Water are currently investigating ways on how to ...
Common Ground's page for the new month is in place.
I am going to London with work tomorrow, and staying overnight, so there'll be no blog update. We are discussing a potential partnership between Oldham Council (where I work) and a private sector consortium. We are meeting our legal advisers to run through some documents, and for me it will be a learning experience more than one in which I can actively take part. Still, it's a great insight into
I met with Donal at his house this evening. In attendance were the two of us, and his two cats, Eric and Ernie. We talked about lots of things going on in the Ward at the moment. I am way off the pace at the moment after my three weeks away. But there’s lots that your local Lib Dems are currently involved in, and that we talked about tonight. Here are some of them: - Plans for the future
Will Howells reminds us that tomorrow is National Poetry Day. Like Will I shall be posting a favorite poem to help celebrate it. Why not do the same yourself? There is a theme this year - "identity" - but you needn't worry too much about that. I shall try to be more cheerful than in the past. In 2004 I offered Geoffrey Hill's elegy for a child gassed by the Nazis and in 2005 Edwin Muir's vision of life after the nuclear apocalypse.
Continuing my viewing of the Conservative party conference (I am getting sick of the webcameron endless showing now) and the language is not very clear. They don't talk about Cameron being the next Prime Minister after the next General Election they talk about Cameron being the next Conservative Prime Minister. Does this mean they don't expect to win the next election?
An informed post by Auberius on nuclear power. I was going to blog about nuclear power when I had the time to pull some stats but Auberius is an expert and tackles this subject far better than I could. Anyway, I've found a better target. Longer-term job seek permitting, I'm intending to tackle the eminent David Duff since on climate change...
Dont shoot me or even tear up my membership card, but I have been watching the Conservative Party conference. Now to be honest (and again please don't call me a traitor) but there are some elements I thought was okish, even boardering on the good side. I liked the idea of PPCs presenting a policy and the idea of open discussion on the main confernce floor instead of the fring. But I would not
I have been meaning to post a further article on the Lib Dem approach to a balanced parliament to follow up on my previous post on this subject and in response to Millenium's comments last week, but I keep getting distracted. However, It will appear eventually.
This story about a prosecution of a mother for poisoning her son with salt shows a key conflict between Medical Logic and Legal Logic. The Doctor concerns believes honestly that the mother poisoned the child, but he has no evidence and was "unable to exclude the possibility that an accident was made". We really need to be able to have criminal trials based upon evidence rather than opinion.
Firstly, thanks goes to Tesco Riverside who have taken action regarding a shopping trolley left by some joker 12ft up in the air on a "No Waiting" sign in Seafield Road! Residents pointed it out to me when I was round there last night and following my e-mailing the Tesco Manager, its been removed. Frankly it has the potential to drop off the pole onto a parked vehicle, but as the Tesco Manager says - "the trolley is now back in the flock!!" Secondly, for those West End residents wanting to be added to ...
Here's a really cool thing: mini business cards with your Flickr photos on the back. They're from a London company called moo.com (you can guess the web address, I think...) and they're a) cheap and b) exceptionally high quality. I got a free sample of 10 cards as part of their launch, and will certainly be ordering a pack of 100. Only problem is, I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to give any of 'em away ;o)
The Foley scandal is having an interesting effect in the US. There is the prospect that the hordes of Evangelist Christians, normally relied upon to vote Republican, may sit at home on Election Day. They are so disgusted by the scandal. The Rising Donkey comments: What seemed unlikely a couple of weeks ago is now a very strong possibility -- a Democratic takeover of the U.S. Senate. As a result
The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, featuring Jane Horrocks, got 4.3 million viewers or a 19% audience share on BBC1 last night. This was more than Trinny and Susanah's heavily trailed debut on ITV earlier, which had 4.1 million viewers, an 18% share. These figures are reported by Media Guardian, which needs a registration to read. I found the Amazing Mrs Pritchard reasonably good entertainment. The
I just nipped in to Chapelfield shopping centre in Norwich to get some football boots after work. The parking charges are £1 per hour, with a flat rate maximum fee after 3pm of £1.50, even if you are more than an hour. So what would you expect to pay if you are there for just 35 minutes (as I was) ? I expected to pay just one pound, but I was charged the full £1.50. I could see why I was charged £1.50, but it hardly seems fair. What a daft system. Next time I'll got to the ...
Political arse-licking is unappealing at the best of times, and this article by Ed Vaizey relating to David Cameron takes the lick to a new level. My favourite claim: Single-handedly, after a decade of Labour inaction, he [David Cameron] has pushed the environment to the top of the political agenda. Yes, with just a single hand. He also defends Cameron against the charge that he is a policy-lite spin-merchant who believes that that primary function of the Tory Party is has a vehicle for his own personal political career: It is a lazy charge to make. As Cameron made ... 
In the years between the Second World War and the advent of Thatcherism, British politics ran along a line of very cosy consensus. The era of so-called Butskellism was, however a failure. The consensus of "don't rock the boat"- of cosy agreements between militant trade unionism and incompetent management led to a precipitate decline in the economic power and political influence of the UK. Thus I can only greet the drive by the Conservatives to enter the "centre ground" of Blairism with the sound of one hand clapping. Unlike Ming Campbell, I do not consider myself "of the centre left"- ...
Blogging on energy policy is a tricky business for me; I have to declare in the register of interests that I’m currently finishing an MSc in Nuclear Reactor Technology and have worked previously for both British Nuclear Group and National Nuclear Corporation. In any case, if I were to post an extended pro-nuclear polemic, the grief received would not be worth it.Instead, I thought I’d offer a few of my favourite insights into the underlying science. Because if anything strikes me about coverage of energy matters, it’s that no-one in the political or journalistic spheres really understands how energy production ...
The Northern Distributor Road (NDR) is an often talked about issue in Norfolk, and it gets people on both sides of the argument very passionate. However, it strikes me that those who are in favour of it are nearly always the "have-nots" and those against are the "haves". Let me explain. In Norwich, there are some who have good regular public transport. Some of those people in Norwich cannot understand why people in the countryside need a car, after all, "Why can't they use public transport ?". Those country dwelling "have nots" also don't have services on their door ...
When I was school I used to mock the gaggle of boys who were all earnestly engaged in following the fortunes of their fantasy teams in various leagues. To their annoyance, Viz ran a very good satire on this kind of thing called 'Billy the Fish' about a team called Fulchester United whose team included a fish, (funny that?) a busty female Red Indian who used her breasts to control the ball and an invisible striker who always scored because, oddly enough, no-one could see him. Now it seems that the BBC has come to aid of political geeks like ...
It’s time for another blogmeet up here in the land of the Scots. Gordon has once again done all the hard work and found us a place to drink meet: the bar of the Radisson Hotel in central Glasgow (we’re avoiding the pubs because Glasgow Scotland are playing at the football). Gordon will be there [...]
The Amazing Mrs Pritchard is supposed to be the BBC’s new ‘political comedy drama’, but it failed dreadfully on all three counts. Something positive first, though. Jane Horrocks is very engaging as the supermarket manager whose gobbiness suddenly catapults her into power, despite the unbelievably crass script she was given. I’m also all for saying that sitting at home and complaining is no good if you’re unsatisfied with how things are; if you want to change the world, get off your arse and do something about it. My problem was with what she thought the problem was, and her ‘solution’. ...
Choice in the NHS remains a controversial topic. Is it a harbinger of the death of public healthcare, or a necessary element of successful reform?
Choice in the NHS remains a controversial topic. Is it a harbinger of the death of public healthcare, or a necessary element of successful reform?
Choice in the NHS remains a controversial topic. Is it a harbinger of the death of public healthcare, or a necessary element of successful reform?
From John Cole, mocking Republicans' response to the Mark Foley sex scandal If the terrorists kill your kids, who cares if GOP congressmen are diddling them?
I am looking forward to seeing Tommy Sheridan facing criminal charges for perjury. Of course, I hold no brief for the News of the World rag either, but the hypocrisy of Sheridan is a nasty infection on the Scottish body politic. The fact that he calls his diminishing band of followers "Solidarity" is yet another example of the vanity and delusion of the man. Solidarity was the name of the Union in Poland that defied Socialist rule. The fact that Sheridan still uses the language and proclaims the policies of Communism mark him out as either stupid or evil. The ...
David Cameron has just introduced himself, as it were, via archive video clip. “He is an analogue politician in a digital age. Mr. Deputy Speaker, he is the past!” - and in walks David Cameron. Surreal. Later: Poor Samatha Cameron (I’m not taking the p**s here) appears to be not at all comfortable with the typical “leader’s wife” role. [...]
Dare I say it, but it's great to be back at work after experiencing the Cameroonie Luv Fest. Sorry to all those readers who were hoping for a live update from Bournemouth today! Nevertheless, the entries from Beautiful Bournemouth appear to have been well read with 236 hits on the blog yesterday, the largest number I have received in any one day. There are a few things we can learn from the
Liberal Democrat Youth & Students (LDYS) have launched a campaign to stop homophobic bullying in schools. This important campaign was launched at over 150 fresher fayres across the country including at the Bucks Chilterns University College freshers day. Local Wycombe members distributed loads of pink badges with the satirical slogan “Homophobia is Gay”. The pink [...]
I think Channel 4’s Fact Check is being a little unfair to Gideon Osborne here in stating that is claim that Ed Balls was a member of the Tories at university is completely bogus. It is true, at least in my experience, that there is a very different political culture in Oxford and Cambridge when it [...]
Perhaps because it is still Conference season and Assembly Members have had other outlets for their views Plenary has not yet descended into the party political free-all that it became in 2003 and which we are all expecting it to become as the elections draw closer. However, First Minister's questions yesterday gave us a hint of things to come: Q2 Jonathan Morgan: Has the Welsh Assembly Government set a date by which Wales will no longer need European aid? OAQ1863(FM) The First Minister: This is a curious question, Jonathan, as it recalls the era ...
Answers in Genesis ("upholding the authority of the Bible from the very first verse') are insensitive assholes. The answers may be in the book of Judges, where is no shortage of massacres (the Ammonites cop it here, amusingly restaged in Lego) and smiting.
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 [...]
Almost a century ago, the poet Hilaire Belloc warned children against lying, eating bits of string and leaving nurses in a crowd. Landale’s Cautionary Tales - comic verse for the 21st century (Canongate, £7.99, published Oct 19) brings Belloc up to date, offering fresh poetic advice to address the sins of the modern child, namely [...]
Last night I went along to the Birmingham Rep to see the play Pravda. Its set in the mid-80s at the height of Thatcherism and the toing and froing of the fleet street industry (Freddie starr's hamster etc).The play had its moments, you can't deny it is funny in places. There were some good individual performances (Roger Allam playing the South African media mogul). But in the whole it didn't pull together in an enjoyable way, I was left admiring the lighting and staging, which is usually top notch in this superb venue.
Initially when I copied the cached blog entries from the censored Angry NHS Doctor onto my website I didn't have time to read them. I have managed to do this now. I am sure the revelation that the figures used for NHS Targets are fiddled from time to time would concern the management of the hospitals. However, it is not as if it is a secret. Targets have been fiddled for as long as there have been targets so it is not in any way a surprise. I suppose it is a bit more surprising that ...
Unfortunately, I missed the Amazing Mrs Pritchard last night. I say unfortunately, but by all accounts I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. I really wanted ot watch it to see if it was really as bad as it looked. Richard Huzzey confirms my worst fears: Having opened up a critique of the modern party system, and [...]
Over the last few days I have posted about the Midlands Industrial Council (MIC), Coleshill Manor, the Conservative Constituency Campaigning Services and Wolverhampton Conservatives. A number of people have asked me if it all matters and why, well it does matter and it matters because of the lack of transparency in party political funding.
A quick plug for unitnews where we’re reviewed BBC One’s latest political drama ‘The Amazing Mrs Pritchard’ which stars Jane Horricks as Ros Pritchard - a woman so fed up with the banality and self interest of British politics that she decides to stand for Parliament at the upcoming General Election. The review can be found [...]
For anyone motivated by a passion for vegetable growing, Rosemoor - the RHS gardens near Torrington in Devon - are a 'must see' at this time of year. I said I'd write more about our recent weekend spent camping, but frankly I'm inclined to let the photos do the talking. Squash-like thing with blue flowery thing One thing you learn early in vegetable growing is that it's not just utilitarian - you can grow for colour and beauty and contrast too. Mirkwood Rosemoor's atmospherically-gloomy woodland walk is a marked contrast to the floral bedding and homely veg of the ...
Boris Johnson is at it again. First he insulted the people of a city Liverpool, now he is taking on a country, Scotland. While his leader Dave Cameron is tring to revive the position of his party north of the border, Boris has stampeded in with a bulldozer that is likely to scupper Scottish Conservatives' slim hope of any breakthroughs next may. Boris Signled out two Lib Dem policies when he
News reaches me that a number of different people are continuing to dig into tory funding that originates from the Midlands Industrial Council, and the Tory candidates who have been helped by this shadowy and mysterious organisation.I have no doubt that the MIC will have operated within the PPERA law, but I seriously wonder whether it is within the spirit of the law with regard to being open and honest about the people behind the donations, rather than using this unincorporated association.Watch this space, or rather watch out for the Sunday's.
A colleague pointed me in the direction of this great piece from BBC Online here. Brings back memories of all those gaffes most of which I recall from when they originally occurred. Still I was amazed that Prince Phillips comments to a group of british students in China in 1986 didn't make this list. He famously told them "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed". I went in search of the details of this gaffe and was amazed to find a whole list of them on Wikipedia which I have reproduced below. Speaking to a driving instructor ...
Tomorrow, being the first Thursday in October, is National Poetry Day. This year’s theme, according to the website (and I’m not sure I was aware before that they had themes), is “Identity”. I’ll be endeavouring to join in by posting a poem on my blog, as I did in 2004 and 2005. If you’re a [...]
I see in his usual attempt to out-Blair Blair, David Cameron has changed his slogan to three letters (as opposed to Blair's, three words: the irritatingly pointless "education, education, education"). The letters are N.H.S.- the National Health Service. I am sure that all the Healthcare professionals in the country will be delighted that politicians are coming to second guess them and impose more outside controls. I listened to Andrew Lansley, the Tory front bencher, on the Radio this morning. Oh Dear! He was totally glib, shallow and pointless. "Yes, there must be more money". When pressed as to where and ...
The excitement is manifest throughout the Assembly today as workmen begin to erect lighting scaffolds and instal what looks like a giant spaceship with arms in the Neuadd area of the new Senedd building. Staff are talking about bringing their kids down to the Bay and we are expecting groupies to start camping out on the Senedd steps. You will have gathered that none of this excitement has anything to do with this afternoon's Plenary debates nor the visit of Government Minister, Hilary Benn later today. Instead, we are preparing for ten days of filming the new series of Dr. ...
I think that it is accepted now that the Welsh Liberal Democrats could have secured better coverage from our recent Federal Conference in Brighton. However, at least if we had staged a debate on devolution we would have ensured that there were speakers from Wales. As it happens we are a Federal Party with a longstanding commitment to devolution so such a debate would have been out of place in Brighton. We would be holding it instead at the Welsh and Scottish Conferences, where representatives have the authority to make appropriate policy. We recognise however that other parties are well ...
Last night, I watched the first episode of The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard - the BBC’s new comedy drama about a supermarket manager who becomes a non-partisan Prime Minister. I wonder if I’m the only viewer who was disappointed by it? The basic premise - for those who didn’t see it - was that Mrs. Pritchard, after [...]
David Cameron, may have finally found his Clause 4 moment. Having manufactured a row with the rightwing phantom, in the shape of John Redwood & Edward Leigh, over tax, he is now able to show himself bravely holding on to the centre ground. Like Blair before him he has chosen the ground for his party's internal fight carefully. He knows he will win that fight, not because the party agrees with him but because the party is so desperate for power after 3 election losses that it6 will put up with virtually anything in order to win ...
This week has seen the issue of Autism make the national headlines after George Osborne was claimed to have suggested that Gordon Brown might be autistic. Yesterday former Tory leader William Hague suggested he too might be “faintly autistic” - when asked he if thought he were Hague responded “Yes, I think I probably am a [...]
I really enjoyed watching "The Amazing Mrs Pritchard" tonight on BBC1. Some slightly uncomfortable moments, particularly early on when the floppy haired Lib Dem is rather cruelly dismissed, but overall an excellent and acute drama. I don't want to make great claims for what is essentially an entertaining fantasy, but there are a lot of serious points being made that those involved in politics | < | October 2006 | > | ||||
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