Biometrics in schools
A blog written by "A concerned parent who doesn't want her children to live in '1984' type society." Monday 12th February 2007
11:42 pm
A blog written by "A concerned parent who doesn't want her children to live in '1984' type society." 11:16 pm
Iain Dale tries to bring an end to the "blogwar"
Anyone who reads Iain Dale's blog, will know that he has been subject to sustained attacks recently in the wake of his and Guido Fawkes exposure of the Smith Institute. It appears that the government and some high profile Labour bloggers have decided that Labour being "exposed" was some sort of declaration of war, with threats, insults and solicitors letters all part of the equation. Whilst I have little sympathy for Guido Fawkes (Paul ) who, in my opinion, takes credit for stories that others have led on, does not link properly in a way that gives ... 10:59 pm
More on the Tories and ID cards
In House Points last week I wrote about and welcomed the Tories' decision to come out against ID cards. As I reported: On Monday David Davis wrote to the cabinet secretary saying a Conservative government would scrap the ID card project. He asked what had been done to protect public funds against the costs of early cancellation. He also wrote to likely major contractors warning them of the Tories’ intentions.The story has moved on, according to The Register, with this remarkable exchange: The IT industry has found itself in a handbagging spat with shadow home secretary David Davis over ... 10:52 pm
It's not the drug-taking, it's the hypocrisy, stupid...
I have watched the reports of David Cameron's very minor drug-taking with some interest. Frankly, I really don't care whether or not he smoked cannabis at Eton or, for that matter, whether he dabbled in something stronger at university or some workplace social event. My view on drugs has tended to be that the actual drug taking itself is a rather minor problem, it is the crimes committed by 10:51 pm
What do other people's web searches tell you ?
It fascinates me sometimes how people get to my blog. I am able to see the referring websites that people come from and the web searches they have used. Interestingly, recently lots of people keep coming to my blog doing searches for "Bernard Matthews Labour Donor". Is he ? No, I doubt it. I was always under the impression that he was a Tory, but that was just a personal thing and based on hear say, not real facts at all. But it does tell me a lot about what a suspicious society we live in today. ... 
10:36 pm
Forced marriage
That's the topic of my latest newspaper column (Asian Voice on this occasion): Hanging together in the face of adversity - and often in the face of having a community flung into different parts scattered around the world - is an admirable trait. But it can lead to some customs, traditions and religious practices that cross a line of what can be accepted in a civilised society - and so where the 9:24 pm
Magdalen Green, Council Committees
This morning we had another very productive meeting of the Magdalen Green group; one issue that emerged from it was that of blocked drains on the west side of Windsor Street - have reported this to Scottish Water. Following a busy surgery at Blackness Primary School tonight, it was council committees, including a useful report on protecting the Post Office network. 8:42 pm
William Rees-Mogg
At what point does character blend into caricature? Try this latest offering from William Rees-Mogg on Camerons spliff smoking days: 'There might, I think, be something wrong with any teenager who went through his sixteenth year without committing some forbidden or foolish act. I remember at that age, when I was at Charterhouse, sitting in the stalls of the Farmcombe Cinema, smoking a large but cheap cigar, watching Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I was committing two school offences; I was smoking and I was out of bounds' More in a similar vein, but more convoluted: 'Harold ... 8:28 pm
Tulle Court, The Retreat, and Feeling Like Death
I am ill this evening. I left work at 3pm, with a head that felt as if the British Percussion Orchestra were attempting a world record for "World's Most Bang And Bash Filled Performance" inside it. I made the warmth of my bed by 15.45 amidst much groaning and moaning. The general consensus amongst colleagues and friends is that I have a case of "Man Flu," but I may pass away during the night, so 8:25 pm
In the Pink (or not) with Lembit and Steve Hitchins
I spent the weekend in Peterborough on a training weekend for women on the approved list, courtesy of the GBTF. It was an absolutely brilliant weekend, which I thoroughly enjoyed, only one slight incident marring the event, an incident I intend to return to later. All the women were amazing and it was a great privilege to be there. The highlight of the weekend had to be Lembit's "during dinner speech" combined with public speaking training for us MP wannabees. We were invited to ask questions which he refused to answer unless we did so with the correct degree of ... 8:09 pm
Ron Davies explains himself - Sort of ?
Ron Davis has explained his decision to stand as an Independent in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections is because he does not feel that the PR system used for the elections is fair. Somehow Mr Davies feels it is unfair that his party cannot receive more than their fair share of seats in the assembly ? It's an odd sort of politician that moans that PR won't allow him to be over represented. Read the story yourself HERE and try to work it out for yourself. 8:05 pm
I counted them all out and I counted them all back
There has been much huffing and puffing from Bromley Tories of a Councillor defection from the Lib Dems recently We have all waited with baited breath... and waited... and waited... and waited... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Oh, wake up in the corner. There has been a bit of press coverage this week. But now I can reveal the answer, all councillors have emailed, spoken, shared drinks, been 8:02 pm
Way to go, Obama!
John Howard is...er...pusillanimous. In the refreshingly straight-from-the-hip Australian political scene, that's a given. His remarks about Barack Obama seem out of order, but what the heck, Obama gave as good as he got. By the way - both of them have elections coming up (Obama's being a little way off, well....er...nearly two years actually). As a reminder, Howard said, amongst other 7:52 pm
Bernard Matthews - risky decision?
I get rather confused over whether Bernard Matthews is a person or a company. Bernard Trevor ("They're bootiful") Matthews is the person. Bernard Matthews Foods Limited is the company. I'll try and remember that - the two are rather inseparable. Their decision to resume slaughtering and processing turkeys at the farm in Suffolk which was the centre of the bird flu discovery, is rather risky from 7:30 pm
Council Chairman joins the Lib Dems
The Chairman of Malvern Hills District Council has joined the Liberal Democrats. 7:10 pm
Why does technology always let me down ?
I love gadgets, I am a gadget geek. I've ordered a new phone today so I can blog from it, but the hassles "technology" gave me in ordering it meant I changed who I ordered it from because I couldn't trust their technology would work. Confused ? I was all set to change networks and switch to T-Mobile. The only question I needed answering was "What are their call tariffs ?". Just a simple check on their website surely ? NO - I WAS wrong, it was certainly not the sort of information that they were going to give me ... 6:07 pm
Countdown
Set your video/DVD recorder/hard disc recorder/magic space box for Channel 4 at 3.30pm tomorrow (Tuesday) - or, if you’re not in gainful employment or work from home, just switch on the TV - for I will be a contestant on long-running cult afternoon game show Countdown. I’ll be joined by current champion Vivienne, hosts Des O’Connor [...] 5:03 pm
Scottish Lib Dem visit to European Parliament
As part of my day job I organise (subsidised) trips to the European Parliament in Brussels for members of the Scottish Lib Dems. generally we have a three day trip with time spent in Parliament as well as time for shopping, sightseeing & socialising. Most people report that they enjoy these trips. Ask Catherine about the one in October '05 - that's when we started dating! I'm looking for expressions of interest for a trip which I'm going to pencil into the diary for the week commencing Monday 4th June. I'm sure there are going to be a whole ... 3:16 pm
Campbell backs "Why Farming Matters" campaign
Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell has become the first party leader to back the NFU’s Why Farming Matters campaign. During a meeting with NFU Director General Richard Macdonald, Menzies Campbell said: “Farming is a key part of our economy, identity and heritage. As the Member of Parliament for a rural constituency I have always appreciated how much [...] 2:49 pm
Weight Limit Removed
The 3 tonne weight limit imposed just 2 weeks ago at the top of Stonehouse Lane will be removed today. The stabilisation of an area near the junction with North Road has been completed two weeks ahead of the initial estimate. The suspect area, with a thin roof, was identified under the pavement and a garden in Stonehouse Lane. Traffic should be able to get back to normal later today. 2:43 pm
Polar Bear Mayor
I was amused to read in our local rag Beds on Sunday yesterday that they had picked up on my comment about Mayor Frank Branston being like a polar bear, an endangered species, likely to be extinct after May 3rd! It is particularly amusing since Frank used to be the owner of said rag - which continues to be his loyal supporter. Anyway, anyone out there who wants to help us elect the next Lib Dem mayor, do come to sunny Bedford when you have time and give us a hand. Having finished second last time we have a ... 2:03 pm
Did he inhale or Blow?
I am now back, briefly, after charging about the Baltic over the past week, with only intermittant access to Blogger- why do so many public access connections seem to think Blogger is a hot porn site? Wierd huh? The issue of the moment is, apparently not the distinct possiblity of another catastrophic disaster by George W Bush, but rather the boyish antics of Cameron of the Remove. Of course it is no big deal if he smoked the odd spliff at Eton- or anywhere else. However, given that this biography was written from a largely friendly perspective, why ... 1:49 pm
Things which really annoy me part 42
The way, that many on the left use Tory as an insult to someone they disagree with and many on the right use Liberal in the same way. Both are flung around way too much and its misleading and lazy to use them. Liberal does not mean nanny-state authoritarians. It means those who believe in individual freedom. Tory [...] 1:39 pm
We will not require ID cards to access Welsh public services
Trust in Wales Ymddiried yng Nghymru Mike German, Assembly leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has given his guarantee that ID cards will not be required to receive services in any government including Welsh Liberal Democrat ministers. Mr German said: “Whatever plans the Labour government may have for England, they must never forget that Wales and Scotland are different. “We may not have the powers in the Assembly to prevent their introduction for claiming benefits, but in terms of accessing public services, so far Wales has said no. Today I’m giving my ... 1:34 pm
We would promote community media
Trust in Wales Ymddiried yng Nghymru Welsh Liberal Democrat Culture spokesperson Eleanor Burnham said: “Community based media reflects and promotes what is best about the Welsh passion for social enterprise and cultural chances for all. “I believe that the digital revolution gives communities across Wales a great opportunity to be the producers, editors and presenters of their own news. To promote this community empowerment the Welsh Lib Dems will guarantee government support for new start-ups and push the Assembly’s powers so that we can break down the barriers that prevent community media from reaching its full ... 
1:33 pm
Mike Oborski
It is sad to hear of the death of Mike Oborski. I first met Mike when I delivered leaflets for him and Fran in 1977. He had a long track record in representing the people of Offmore and Comberton and it was not surprising that they continued to support him (and Fran) when the Lib Dems in Kidderminster split into "Liberals" and "Lib Dems". He also brought Polish issues to public attention in 1:16 pm
James Gray still in the soup
The Tory MP for North Wiltshire may have survived an attempt to deselect him, but he is not in the clear yet. A couple of days ago the Daily Mail claimed: Tory MP James Gray is at the centre of a fresh controversy with the revelation that he is using his Commons expenses to support the cancer-stricken wife he dumped for his mistress instead of paying her out of his wages. The Wiltshire North MP is paying his wife Sarah £2,400 a month from his Commons staff allowance even though she ceased to work as his secretary two ... 1:02 pm
BritBlog Roundup
Tim Worstall has posted this week's selection of the best from the British blogosphere. 12:48 pm
Four abscond from Leyhill - as warned
A pager message from a local newspaper this morning to tell me that four inmates had walked out of Leyhill Open Prison in my constituency. Whilst Leyhill houses many people who have committed very serious offences but who are coming near the end of their sentence, these four all appear to have committed relatively minor offences. Which raises the question - what were they doing at Leyhill in the first place? The idea of an open prison is a very good one. Prisoners serving long-term sentences become institutionalised, and some have ... 12:46 pm
The point everyone misses with Road Charging
The current debate around road charging often gets caught up in a civil liberties argument, i.e. the scheme will involve the Government knowing where my car is and has been at any time. If that were the case, I'd have signed the famous petition by now, but its simply not true. A road charging system doesn't need to know where your car is any more than the congestion charge needs to know where you go inside London. It only needs to know what type of road you are on, at what time and for how long. ... 12:33 pm
Another shocking statistic
I found this snippet in the Times: One in three households across Britain depends on state benefits for at least half its income, according to a report released today by the right-of-centre think-tank Civitas. It says that the figure is far higher for single-parent homes, with 61 per cent relying on state support compared with 9 per cent of two-parent households (The actual Civitas report says “some 30 per cent of households”, but the editors of the Times clearly feel that percentages are beyond their readership.) While I have not had the chance to verify this, I ... 12:26 pm
How can Lib Dem Voice do better?
Lib Dem Voice has been going for coming up to six months now, and while visitor numbers are growing all the time, quantity isn’t the same as quality. About 75% of visitors to Liberal Democrat Voice come back more than once, but I’d like to take this moment to encourage people to come forward with suggestions [...] 12:20 pm
Can Islam be promoted without intellectual dishonesty? Not at Manchester!
This week's edition of Student Direct features the Islamic Society on its Societies page. The article is written by one Walead Quhill who stood for Life Sciences secretary in the Student Union council elections in 2006, and thankfully he wasn't elected given he doesn't seem to accept evolution as a valid scientific theory (or indeed understand probability theory either). Here's some choice quotes. Some people argue that this world was created through and chance there is no logic or science that can prove that this universe has come about by any divine purpose or design. That this great universe with ... 12:18 pm
Julian Cummins
I read on Jonathan Calder’s blog the sad news that Julian Cummins has died suddenly at just 52. I knew Julian from Yorkshire and the Humber regional party conferences and from the Leeds Liberal Democrats, where he was a keen activist and a former councillor. He was always friendly, encouraging and keen to get younger [...] 12:16 pm
Come to your own conclusions
My local MP is Brian Donohoe (Lab - Ayrshire Central) was fulminating, in the local press, recently agaist the proposed Edinburgh & Glasgow airport rail links and also against the new Borders rail line. This is from a man (remember he's a Labour MP) who drives around the constituency in a 4 litre Daimler with personalised number plates. He is also an avid user of BA flights to get to and from Westminster when the Caledonian sleeper service would seem a greener option. His other claim to fame is setting up the all party group on Coronation Street. ... 12:05 pm
Sudden death of Julian Cummins
It’s been a bad, bad few days for long-standing party activists, with the sudden death of Julian Cummins the latest. Julian was chair of the Yorkshire & Humberside regional party (as it then was) when I was in York and first got involved at a regional level. His enthusiastic leadership of the regional party had a [...] 12:02 pm
le Tour: get involved
TfL are looking for volunteer marshalls for the 2 days that the Tour de France is on our island (7/8 July). Sign up here. Even if I don't get signed up as a marshall, I'll definitely be in London with my camera for those 2 days. 11:58 am
10,000 now signed up to Norfolk health petition
Lib Dems across Norfolk have now gathered more than 10,000 signatures on a petition asking the Primary Care Trust to reconsider their mass cull of beds and services across the county. Lib Dem campaigners and PPC's including Simon Wright (Norwich South) , April Pond (Broadland) and Norman Lamb MP (North Norfolk), as well as council leaders, have been collecting signatures on highstreets and door to door, but petitions can no be signed on-line via a link from Simon Wright's website HERE. If you object to the closure of so many rural community hospitals only two years after Labour ... 11:28 am
An accident waiting to happen
My first response when reading about Forward Wales’ plan to field both party and ‘independent’ candidates in the next Assembly elections was, “what took them so long?” The Electoral Commission appear to have now woken up to this, but really it is too late. This is the real danger of the AMS system, not the [...] 11:10 am
Mike Oborski, Julian Cummins, Peter Billenness and David Rebak - RIP
the last week has seen a number of lifelong Liberals taken from us, many of you will have known some of all of them, we remember them now. 10:11 am
Poo-pooing McKeith
An excellent article by Ben Goldacre in today’s Guardian about Gillian McKeith, who has just agreed to stop using the word “doctor” in adverts promoting her products on the not unreasonable grounds that she isn’t one (legal qualification: with a recognised accreditation). Bookmark to: 9:39 am
Labour haven't quite understood leafletting
This little gem was emailed to me yesterday by Chris Ord one of our councillors in Gateshead. He said Labour had put out a leaflet in Lobley Hill and Bensham ward inviting people to meet their councillors at a meeting they were holding. "What's the problem with that?" I hear you all ask. Well, the leaflet came through the door on Sunday for a meeting held on Saturday, the day before! They haven't 9:09 am
Comments policy
A few recent comments I have decided not to publish call for me to state this. My comments policy is quite simple. If it isn't abusive, racist, sexist, homophobic etc I will usually publish - even if I fundamentally disagree with it. However smart arsed comments by some Bromley Tories won't be published. So Cllr Nicholas Bennett, this is my blog, not a public information channel for your own 9:05 am
Ming's BME reception..........."Chips or Pips?".........on diversity cont.
I was pleased to be able to send five local members/potential members to Ming's BME reception a couple of weeks ago, one of the non members,Tony Lindsay, shares his reflections on the evening - thanks Tony!: What a wonderful time I had at the Houses of Parliament with Menzies and everyone else. The purpose was to encourage members of the BME community to get involved in politics from the grass roots to the great house itself. It was nice to see so many people there, the audience was split about fifty/fifty, and you would expect them all ... 8:28 am
Blogwars continued - The Revenge of the Sith?
Wow, I didn’t realise that there was such a load of vitriol being spouted by members of the left-wing and Labour blogging community. Tim Ireland leads the charge with his usual blog and what he terms Guido Fawkes 2.0. The latest spat is along with Tom Watson MP and Pickled Politics, Tim Ireland has made allegations [...] 8:24 am
Muddy Red Water
The fascinating thing about this letter from Bob Hart in today's Western Mail, defending the Welsh Assembly Government's record on civil service cuts from a PCS union point of view, is not that he is married to the Social Justice Minister in the Assembly Government, but the way he tries to establish Wales Labour as a completely separate entity from Tony Blair's creation on the other side of Offa's Dyke. Bob writes: Within the constraints of limited powers and finance, the WAG is working to a philosophy quite different from that of New Labour. Most Labour AMs simply ... 7:57 am
How not to get impaled on Trident
A trident has three prongs. In political terms there are three ‘prongs’ on offer now in the Trident nuclear debate. One prong says do away with Trident altogether, and with it Britain’s allegedly ‘independent’ nuclear deterrent. Another says keep it, but offer a 20% reduction in the number of missiles (this is [...] 7:23 am
Is this what we are going to do with our nuclear waste?
According to the BBC scientists have backed the government's plan to store the UK's nuclear waste deep underground. David Miliband told the House of Commons back in October that we were to bury our nuclear waste so I guess it is handy that this report supports the governments policy. The policy announcement last year was not unexpected and was in line with the Committee on Radioactive Waste Managements report a summary of which can be found here. In summary the report states that : Geological disposal is the preferred long term solutionInterim storage arrangements will have a vital ... 7:18 am
Mice travel free
Lets be Sensible lists some of his favourite rejected petitions on the Number 10 Downing Street website. Here are some of my favourite rejected petitions. 1:46 am
Blair daughter stays at £20 million mansion on the Left Bank, a short walk from the Eiffel Tower.
The Daily Mail reports that the boss of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy luxury goods chain is thought to have provided an accommodation, security and transport package worth around £80,000. LibDem MP Norman Lamb said: "It is very dangerous to take hospitality from very wealthy individuals who may be seeking to wield influence. A Downing Street spokesman said: "She is an adult, a private citizen, 12:32 am
Today I have been mostly munching on bread
C was given a bread-maker for Christmas, and can happily churn out all sorts of loaves. A couple of weeks ago I had a whirl - and it ended in my usual culinary disaster. When I cut a slice off, the crust came away in one hand and the middle in another. Not good. Today [...] 12:32 am
YouTube suspend PoliticsTV.com
People may find some of my YouTube videos aren't working - such as Hillary Clinton's announcement she is running for President. As reported on the PoliticsTV blog: VIDEOS TEMPORARILY DOWN - NOTE TO OUR VIEWERS PoliticsTV.com’s videos are temporarily down - we are disappointed to report YouTube has suspended our account. Recent videos — e.g. the Scooter Libby Trial and DNC Presidential 12:02 am
Back from the Westminster Hour
Back from the Westminster Hour! Tonight was - is Ming too old (Lord Owen's comments in the week)? No - say I - just a grumpy old man (Lord Owen not Ming). Then it was on to Ming and his profile on Facebook – which already has over 200 friends. I've just got one too – follow my leader! – but with only 23 friends (so far!). Then David Cameron - does he have a right to a private life? Yes! Then - 
