Friday 27th October 2006 - Another busy week that started with me able to celebrate Eid with my family and friends before heading off to Strasbourg for another plenary session. My trips this week took me via Frankfurt, a journey I will have to get used to through the winter as Easyjet's schedule to Basel from Liverpool is no longer an option. Met up with my fellow North West colleague Chris
If you’re still up at 11.30, The Avengers is on BBC4. Tonight’s episode is unusual if not quite thrilling; a rather violent, bitter ecological fable in which Steed and Emma seem curiously out of place. Unusually, then, it’s not the best thing on this week. Torchwood’s smashed ratings records (by BBC3 standards) for its opening episodes, an impressively noirish set-up story wrapped up in a bit of a hurry and an Angel-ish sexfest with a rather slight plot, while Robin Hood’s third episode was far better written and characterised than its first couple of bits of laddish but brainless entertainment. ...
Just a shame his name is Jeff.
as someone said to a fish-buying haggler, 'it's no fish you're buying, it's mens' lives'. The news tonight suggests another trawler has sunk in the North Sea. THis summer, sailing in the Irish Sea, the danger of fishing and sailing as a lifestyle came home to me hard. I visited two ports where dive boats sailed to help in the recovery of fishing boat wrecks both of which had cost lives. In
I have just had an email telling me that I've not been blogging enough, which is fair. Tonight is not going to be a night when I write a great deal as I have to get up early for a meeting in London. I will say this: Tessa Munt has been reselected as PPC for Wells. That is all.
It's awfully kind of the Department for Work and Pensions to be thinking of me: We are writing to tell you how much State Pension you may get when you reach State Pension age. Retirement may seem a long way off but thinking about it now can make a big difference to your future. ... If you retire at State Pension age, we estimate your total State Pension will be £85.81 a week at today's prices.
I am reminded that today is the thirty-ninth anniversary of the passing of the landmark 1967 Abortion Act, one of those pieces of legislation that changed the lives of so many and yet remains a subject of so much controversy. As a Catholic myself (observed more in the breach than in reality), I have always had mixed feelings about abortion. I fret about the impact on the unborn child, and on the
I received a complaint yesterday that in Tay Square at the doctor's surgery - the pend on the right-hand side - where the recycling bins are - some of the setted surface is loose and one cassie is lying on its side.Very efficient feedback this afternoon from the City Council : "One of the inspectors from our team on his site visit has identified loose Cassie stones/covers. The area is adopted. A works order will be issued to Tayside Contracts to undertake the work."
The EDP highlight's today Dr Ian Gibson, Labour MP for Norwich North and Norman Lamb, Lib Dem MP for North Norfolk have the highest office costs out of all local MP's whilst Christopher Fraser, Conservative MP for South West Norfolk has one of the lowest. Forgive me if I am not shocked about this announcement. The local press are full of Norman lamb visiting here there and everywhere and similarly, the Evening News always has reports about the work Ian Gibson does in Norwich. However, if Christopher Fraser came up to me and shouted in my face "I'm ...
Forget the Arctic Monkeys (pretty easy, actually), it’s time to out the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, as a fan of popular New York disco-combo, Scissor Sisters. Yesterday, Mr Brown and his Tory shadow (in every sense), George Osborne, went mano-a-mano at their monthly House of Commons duel. I’ve just watched the exchange on ParliamentLive.tv, and the deep contempt in which the doughty old Labour
Ming Campbell discusses his concerns with the unfair US/UK extradition treaty, as raised with (but not addressed by) the Prime Minister at Question Time on Wednesday.
Funny thing, looking through my blog stats, we are all just a bunch of big gossips aren't we. Forget all my screeds of writing on my pet subjects like drugs laws, land value tax, whacko economics and community planning and development. The top posts, every time, are ones that have a whiff of scandal about them, or at least someone's name in the title. Yesterday I got the most hits for a while and the most popular of those was my post about Greg Barker. I notice it also made it to top outgoing post on the Lib Dem aggregator. ...
The Government yesterday produced its long awaited "Strong and Prosperous Communities" White Paper on the future of Local Government, and I for one think that there is much within it to applaud. Aside from the headline-grabbing news about Councils being allowed to impose byelaws and on-the-spot fines for breaking them, there is lots of intrigue beneath the surface. So forgive me this lengthy
North Norfolk Liberal Democrats are launching a day of campaigning tomorrow in support of local cottage hospitals and other health facilities facing closure and cuts from Norfolk Primary Care Trust. Lib Dem councillors and activists along with Norman Lamb MP will be collecting signatures for a mass petition in Cromer, Sheringham, Wells, Stalham, North Walsham and Holt. In Fakenham activists will be joined by new Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate April Pond. When Wells Cottage Hospital faced closure some 18 months ago, local petitions and concerted community action showed the PCT that Wells Hospital still had a ...
If any of you would care to look, I have finally got around to uploading my holiday snaps from California. They are on my photo site here. I'm all geared up for the Lib Dem NW Conference in Blackburn tomorrow. Significantly more prepared for that than for the Accrington 10k, at any rate... We shall see how the weekend progresses. Rick
I am proud to be an Assembly Member whose region is virtually coterminous with that covered by the Ospreys. Based at the Liberty Stadium this is one regional rugby side that seems to be going places this season. I was quite amused therefore to see that the region has been renamed for Wednesday's match against Australia. I am now the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Ospreylia. Beats South Wales West as a name anyday.
According to this morning's Western Mail Rhodri Morgan has warned Labour Party members that they have six months to save Wales’s public services. Apparently, he believes that the only alternative to him as First Minister is a Tory-led coalition of Opposition parties. A Carly Simon song that springs to mind. Rhodri's warning is ominously similar to that given by Tony Blair back in 1997. Then, the Labour Leader told the voting public that they only had 48 hours to save the NHS. If Rhodri reduces our public services to anything like the condition New Labour has left ...
There is something seriously awry in the Welsh Assembly Conservative Group. They all appear to have caught the blogging bug. The latest to succumb is Mid and West Wales AM, Lisa Francis, who in her first post admits to 'slightly ludite- tendencies'. This could explain why she relied on her staff to e-mail us with news of this latest venture rather than doing it herself.
The second of the results as part of the 5 key cases mentioned below where the results on four are due either yesterday, today or on Monday cleared Marianne Williams of poisoning her son with salt. There is a really big problem that lies in the use of expert witness evidence to convict people where the expert witnesses have a conflict of interest. In the case of Roy Meadow it was merely that his
More than 2,000 children in Redcar and Cleveland will mark the start of an educational era next week when three brand new schools simultaneously open their doors. Pupils at Bydales Specialist Technology School in Marske, Gillbrook College in South Bank and Sacred Heart RC Specialist Science College in Redcar, will return from their half term holiday on Thursday, 2 November to study in new state-of-the-art buildings as part of a £155million project. The new schools are the latest of five new schools to be built in Redcar and Cleveland in just 18 months thanks to a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) ...
Had a chance earlier this week to look at the demolition site in Garston - just opposite the Church. For ages we had a row of derelict buildings.. but its going to be housing and its now being demolished. The only thing left now is an old sub station, lots of bricks and tyres and this chimney (picture). This is also the site of an old mill belonging to Adam de Gerstan (Garston is named after him) so we are hoping for something to mark the spot when the new houses are built. That's me in the picture ...
Friday 27th OctoberThe morning was spent at sea, sailiing south westward across the Black Sea to Constanta in Romania, the 2nd biggest port in Europe (largest being Rotterdam). This really was a whistle stop tour. We got off the boat at 3pm, an hour late and then had rushed visits to the museums of the city and some of the Roman remains. Our tour guide was very entertaining and kept slagging off
Tomorrow I am at the Lib Dem regional conference in Blackburn. We have these events twice a year and we talk about policy and campaigns as well as hearing from guest speakers. This one has a special environmental theme.. and I am on a panel along with MEP Chris Davies and someone from the Lib Dems in Stockport.
Are here. Unless you know some worse ones... Hat-tip : Political wire
According to this piece in todays Guardian Wise said "I've told the players I want them to be a bit like the Leeds of before, who were horrible. I've explained that I want a bit of that nastiness and togetherness.". We don't want to get a reputation for being dirty and we don't want to get lots of red and yellow cards but if he means the same sort of grit, determination and togetherness that say Reading exhibited last season then I say brilliant. Meanwhile speaking of Reading and according the BBC here - Graham Stack (Readings 2nd choice keeper) ...
Chris Huhne is appealing to us all to support the Climate Change March in London on 4th November. You can watch the video on our video page here and you can find out how to take part at the Campaign on Climate Change website.
The annual MP bashing season opened today with the publication of what each MP claimed towards the costs of the their offices, travel and staying in London in the last financial year. I'm not go...
Well how about this then? A biometric scheme that scans drinkers' thumbprints before they enter a pub hashelped cut alcohol-related crime in the South Somerset town of Yeovil.South Somerset District Council said it has seen a 23.5 per cent drop in alcohol-related violent crime inside licensed premises in Yeovil since the system was introduced, compared with figures from the same period last year.Under the pilot scheme every drinker must supply a thumbprint, name, address and date of birth before being allowed to enter any of the seven licensed premises in the town centre using the technology.A drinker barred from ...
I nearly fell into the Barker trap. Fortunately I saw sense in time.
has sent a communique to the San Francisco Chronicle: Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary. Go read.
Hilary Benn is one of a pretty exclusive group of Government Ministers who I wouldn’t push down a well. I was therefore interested to read that he’s running for his party’s deputy leadership. I know very little about the Labour Party internal politics, but I would imagine he has a good chance of winning. He strikes me as affable, humane, quietly intelligent and in possession of a genuine passion for his work; though I’m not sure how valuable these qualities are currently considered to be in the Labour Party.
I've know Norman Lamb for many years now. I think we first met in 1992, and since then I have travelled back and forth across North Norfolk delivering, canvassing and spreading the word about what a great person Norman is. However, Norman has had one major fault in the past, and that is is inability to master modern technology. I remember in the run up to the 2001 election when I had to ask Norman to leave his mobile phone "on" and that it wasn't just for him to make outgoing calls. He was also completely shocked that you ...
This lunchtime saw me eschew my usual bagel or toasted sandwich, to visit Kurz and Lang of Farringdon. To the grating sounds of Teutonic volkmusik we gorged on hearty Oktoberfestwurst, sauerkraut und brot. I think it was okay, but now I feel incredibly sleepy. Oh, and since it's Friday.
Keith Vaz, that enormous wit (not the missing T) and intellect that has given so much to Britian during Labour's time in government has shown us just what talent the cabinet in his latest bleatings. This time it's him moaing about a computer game. Yes, you heard it right, Kieth Vaz has so little to do that he has taken it upon himself to attack a computer game. The game is called "Canis Canem Edit", which I think is Latin for Dog Eat Dog. If so, at least the three months of latin I did at school was not ...
The whirlwind tour of places in need of a Returning Officer continued last night as this usually mild-mannered city dweller found himself in deepest Oxfordshire, Didcot to be precise, meeting the Selection Committee for Wantage Liberal Democrats. I used the outward train journey to mark application forms for Parliamentary Candidate approval so the time was at least spent profitably, although I
Pharyngula is always worth a Friday click: more Cthulhumour here.
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Government proposals have been met with a warmer welcome than the Local Government White Paper. Many have also been greeted with more outraged cries. The FT outlines the mixed reaction from lukewarm to wearied disappointment - whereas the Guardian Leader manages to get more worked up:"Yesterday's white paper contained some worthwhile ideas, but was silent on so much that it is most unlikely to rescue councils from the anonymity and obscurity to which they have been consigned by decades of centralisation under governments of both stripes."Considering the many ideas that have been floated around for so long (see our Local ...
I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to the National Family and Parenting Institute. It is a pleasure to take part in the Parents Meet the Politicians series, and I look forward to hearing your views and answering your questions. The NFPI fills a unique role in our society. It exists to identify the needs of [...]
In a speech to the National Family and Parenting Institute (NFPI) today, Liberal Democrat Leader, Ming Campbell called for a profound change in the way that family-centred policies are developed. He proposed that policies can only be family friendly when they put support, care and value for individuals at their heart. He described this as [...]
Reproduced directly from the Guardian last week - absolutely brilliant (although clearly published to promote "How Work Really Works") most of it has a lot of truth to it especially point 20. 1 Never offer to make coffee In an open plan office there is a ritual where everyone waits hours for the first person to say: "Who wants a coffee?" That person then finds themselves in the kitchen for the rest of the day working as a junior catering manager. Also remember that nobody ever gets to the top of an organisation by drinking stinky teas. No ...
After a mad, mad few weeks of all work and no play, I've just had a great wet weekend in the Lakes (with hubby) followed a few days alone to catch up on my studies (looming tutorial). Coming home I find an article in our local paper advertising an on-line petition, from a guy we knew way, way back - as the petition link didn't work, I set about trying to trace him and an email address ... Taking
Green Tax Switch - Kentish Town will be having another stall this Saturday. That's the plan anyway if it doesn't rain. Had several telephone calls making sure I'm going to front it again. Can't let down the troops when they ask so nicely. Got the table and all the stuff in my hallway. It coincides with our by-election. Ralph Scott be our candidate, building on his established popularity in the ward is vigourously campaigning so it looks like the table will be the meeting point for all the expected helpers. Front of the Coop it is if anybody is coming ...
Dramatic new figures revealed by the Liberal Democrats show that Wolverhampton is doing better than the country as a whole in keeping down emissions of the gases that cause climate change, but is still emitting more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the global average.
BBC News website ticker. “The Lib Dems may have to pay back a £2.4m donation. More soon.” More to follow. UPDATE: False (ish) alarm. There’s still nothing concrete: “The Liberal Democrats could still be forced to pay back £2.4m in donations from convicted perjurer Michael Brown, the Electoral Commission has said. The watchdog has previously said the [...]
The government has backed down on requiring new faith schools to admit 25% from outside the faith, having extracted promises from Anglicans and Catholics that they will do it anyway. Muslims schools such as there are, are willing to join in too, although there is, as expected, little interest from non-Muslim parents. Guido seems rather skeptical of the Catholic promise. And the small print seems
Thursday 26th October - Sebastopol As with Yalta, Sebastopol was a place I visited last year whilst exploring the Crimea. We had three tours fixed up for today. The first was to look at some of the war memorials in the city before heading over to the excavations at Chernosus, the ancient Greek settlement overlooking the city's northern bay. The site also contains the recently restored St Vladimir Cathedral (I visited it last year). We saw a second St Vladimir Cathedral in the morning as well. this one was new to me. Back to the ship for lunch followed by ...
Went to London earlier this week to see Liverpool organisation Bulky Bob's win an award in the national competition for social enterprises - enterprising solutions. Along with the certificate and trophy, the organisation also gets £5,000 - which will come in useful. Bulky Bob's do a great job collecting furniture etc and then recycling what can be recycled. A year or so ago I spent a day with one of the crews "helping" them and shadowing what they did... and I am glad I did because it gave me a much better understanding of how the whole thing ...
As another week trundles by in British politics, the disillusion of the British people with their leaders grows still further. After the pathetic display of John Reid on immigration- showing yet again why "Yes, Minister" really was so painfully accurate- we now have the usual Tory sex scandal. I make no judgment as to whether a man leaving his wife for another man is any better or worse than leaving his wife for another woman. It is to be regretted either way, when there are children involved, but I will make no Jeremiad - although since he seems to have ...
Yes, yes, you probably heard about this months ago, but if you haven’t already, check out Amnesty’s Irrepressible online campaign.
The 2010 local elections in Lewisham could be held under a system of proportional representation following widespread support to a Liberal Democrat proposal at a recent Council meeting. Proposing the motion Cllr Mark Morris said “Lewisham Council have volunteered for various pilot schemes at previous elections, now that Scotland have agreed to fight next [...]
Today's House Points from Liberal Democrat News. It owes an indecent amount to the Manifesto Club report The Case Against Vetting: How the Child Protection Industry is Damaging Social Relations. Checking out On Monday MPs from all parties gave final approval to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill. Who could object to legislation designed to ensure people who work with children do not endanger them? Well, let’s have a try. First, look at the scale of the new law. A report from the libertarian Manifesto Club suggests that 9.5 million adults - a third of the working population - ...
Vets are investigating a suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at an abattoir in Essex where the 2001 outbreak was first discovered. A 5 mile movement restriction area has been imposed. Fingers crossed that if it is Foot & Mouth they’ve found, the Government a whole lot better than last time. More. No Tags
Just in case you missed it on the news yesterday, two men have been committed to trial next year after they were arrested following the discovery of bomb-making equipment. However neither of them were a Muslim nor dark-skinned, so there’s clearly nothing to worry about, as they obviously can’t be terrorists if that’s the case. The Muslim [...]
The main UK environmental campaign organisations have declared 4 November - on the eve of crucial climate change talks in Nairobi, Kenya - as a day of action. Thousands of people will be flocking to central London to join a march, rallies and festivities. Play the video above to watch Chris Huhne speaking about the [...]
Wednesday 25th October By a quirk it is exactly a year ago this week I was in Yalta visiting Crimean and World War Two battle sites. So here we are, a year on, back in Yalta. The ship docked before we were up this morning but at 7am we saw from the top deck daylight starting over the town. All the places visite today I did last year with one exception. In 2005 I went to the Massandra Winery for a wine tasting session. Today we sampled the same wines, though not in the Winery itself. ...
Sunday: (Wednesday for terrestrial viewers): Mr Stripy and I have been sent to bed because this show is only for grown up and not for six-year-old [R: FIVE-year-old] baby elephants. Humph. It's not like I haven't seen BOTTOMS before. I happen to have a rather magnificent fluffy bottom of my very own! It's not like I haven't heard BAD LANGUAGE before: Daddy is QUITE capable of turning the air BLUE if it is a REALLY good Today Programme or Newsnight Show! Anyway, it's not like I don't know how to use the DVD RECORDER, either! I may have big ...
News reaches me that the Conservatives in Wolverhampton South West have started their selection process - the closing date for applications on Thursday 9th November. I look forward to seeing the shortlist - I have already posted the former Chair of Wolverhampton South West's views where he launches an attack on two Wolverhampton Conservative Councillors for being far from outstanding, and suggests there is a racist element in the Conservative Party in Wolverhampton, I reprint these below:
The House of Commons has published MPs expenses for April 2005 to March 2006. A total of £85 million in all, but that is the price of democracy. By far the most interesting column in the list is 7a: postage costs associated with the use of House of Commons Stationary. The variations in expenditure under this heading is massive. How, for example can an MP justify spending £25,146 on stamps in a year when another MP spent only £79? We could ask of course but, as I said yesterday, they will not tell us. Secretary of State ...
It's scary to think that twenty years have flown by since Big Bang. When I was doing my A levels a couple of years before I had ignored all the advice of my tutors and applied for the wrong Oxford college (New) in the wrong year (their first year taking women) to do the wrong subject (English) and didn't get past the entrance exam (in the last year people a whole year older than me were allowed to take it after their A levels). I got offered a place at Durham in the New Year, however, but not ... 
So, Patricia Hewitt says that tax on alcohol should rise to reduce binge drinking among teenagers. Jeez - my Puilly Fume is already approaching ten quid a bottle. Why should I have to pay for matron Hewitt's inability to enforce the law? Or to educate people properly about drink and drugs? It is illegal already for the kids she's talking about to buy booze. But at least it is licensed and there are people who care about their livelihood and liberty enough to help enforce that law when Vicky Pollard comes in to the shop wanting to ...
Over at the Latin lovers collective David has been trying to fathom why anyone would call Milton Friedman a "liberal". I responded with a long comment that really deserves to be a post of its own on my blog... See, I actually think Milt is much misunderstood and misrepresented. Just like Smithy. I've seen him make the "claim" that a company's only duty is to create profit for its shareholders. And there's a but. He is talking about the sole legal obligation, indeed the founding rationale, of the law that created incorporated companies in the ...
They work in Texas, and they make Alsoft Disk Warrior, which has just brought my iMac back from the dead. Mac Disk Utility was stumped and Norton System Works? Well, I now use that CD to stand my coffee mug on, and next season will string it above the decks of my boat to stop the seagulls shitting on the decks. If you have a Mac, get Disk Warrior. It's the kiddy. And do backups more than once every 18 months.
That bastion of radical Democrat thinking, Fox News (prop. Rupert Murdoch) are saying that the Democrats are ahead on most issues. But what concerns me the most, after so many false Democrat dawns is the Republicans ability to GOTV. I am on the receiving end of the DNC and John Kerry email lists - and the one thing that has struck me has been the amount of effort that has gone into the 50
Every time she speaks my mind's eye is filled with peasants with pitchforks and flaming brands marching on Castle Frankenstein. Wierd synesthesia. Today she pronounced on local government. In tone it was very New Labour: full of meaningless blither (parish councils to get 'general power of well-being', councils must be community "champions") and demonstrated their fetishistic obsession with instant fines. You're guilty because we say you are. Hmmm. Dangerous. So much for the tone. The effect: very British, government by accretion. Local government (certainly outside cities) needs reform: we have a lot of layers of ... 
Question Time was filmed in Exeter this evening so I decided to try and go along ... managed to go and my question was picked... "Should the government be embarrassed that a Lib Dem run council has taken a far firmer lead on tackling the grass roots of carbon emmissions?" I alo spoke on another matter - the integration of migrant communities into our own -but think I may have fluffed it a bit as on reflection it may have seemed like I was suggesting that migrant workers live in Ghetto's. In fact I was referring to what I have ... | < | October 2006 | > | ||||
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