Hi every one-just a quick update before we start a new week.I am delighted to say that since 1st of jan my blog has had over 15.000 visits and this week our weekly average is over 2000 visits[The highest yet].So a big thank you to all my supporters and other? Kind Regards, Mark Young Welsh Lib Dem Assembly Candidate Vale Of Clwyd
Sad to hear that Alan Simpson will be standing down at the end of this parliament, not least because I’m sure I heard that he was intending to challenge Gordon Browm for the premiership post-Blair. He has frequently been a critic of the Labour party locally and nationally, and I think some of the local Labour [...]
Well, a surprise invitation arrived, to lunch with the SHA midwife to discuss Real Baby Milk. This co-incides nicely with our lottery bid for £0.5million to enable to us to take the project further afield. If I can engage the SHA then that would smooth the path to take Real Baby Milk even further afield and the supporting of even more women. I was going through some files and found this picture of me launching the project initially at Treliske Hospital with the midwives there (me holding the brochures). Matthew Taylor MP attended the launch along ...
http://www.cnduk.org/pages/24feb.pdf
The Sunday Times has an interesting reminder of the court case 30 years ago when Peter Hain was acquitted of bank robbery. The story does not come up with the revelations it promises, but it seemed obvious even at the time that Hain had been framed. The story quotes an unnamed MP as saying: “All this stuff coming out now at this time is great for Peter ... After all, it reminds everyone of the antiapartheid hero he was. Shame he has turned into such a boring bastard now.”It will also remind people that Hain used to be a ...
British Bacon Education Week starts tomorrow.
I've been thinking about my recent, rather narrow, victory in my quest for re-election as Regional Secretary and, it would seem, my problems come down to a mistaken notion that I am unreliable in my approach to confidentiality and in the choices of people I interact with. The post that follows might well be seen to be confirming that but, sometimes, the only way to put the record straight is to
I can’t pretend that delivering leaflets to tower blocks is my absolute favourite activity for a Sunday afternoon. However, it does have its compensations, as I re-discovered today when distributing the latest Lib Dem newsletter round Ploughman’s Tower in the Northway estate of Oxford East. First, it’s warm and dry inside - less important today, but a boon when you’re seeking refuge from wet
The arcane procedures of the US Senate have recently come to the fore. They needed 60 Senators to vote in favour of debating a motion about Bush's troops surge plan. Only 56 voted for the debate, so it will not happen. For the above 56 Senators to vote for the debate, it took seven Republicans to vote for it, which seems reasonably significant. In the House, 17 Republicans voted against the
As the Anglican church leaders meet in Dar-Es-Salaam, The Observer reports that "A (Anglican church) schism has been avoided after the American wing of the church gave in to African demands that it installs no more gay bishops." However, I can find no confirmation of this report. It appears that the discussions centre on the Episcopal Church of the USA's response to a 2004 Anglican commission
Friday morning, having really had to drag myself out of bed, I arrived on the platform awaiting the 8.25 to be greeted by my old pal, Tory boy Cllr ......sorry Speaker, Andrew McConnell who persuaded me it was worth paying the outrageous £8 upgrade to travel with him in first class............now...........I have been known to fork out £4.50 on the way home (figuring that if I've had the kind of day where I want a glass of wine, a coffee, sparkly water and two snacks its pretty good value), but now that has risen to £8.......and in the morning........when all ...
A friend of mine releases the music video to his band's 2002 hit, Stuck in the Woods with a Bear: It's just for fun you see.
It is interesting to see that S.S. Napoli is still disgorging its cargo, which is continuously ending up on Branscombe beach in Devon. The Sun pictures thousands of "Troy" chocolate biscuits on the beach. They look like Waggon Wheels to me. Given the previous cargo washed up of Bibles in Swahili, perhaps these are, in fact, Waggon Wheels under a different trade name for some exotic country. A
Following the worrying incident yesterday in McDonald's in Reform Street in my ward in which an 11 year old girl was shot with a pellet gun, the Courier has asked me for a comment - please click on headline above to view. I missed party conference in Aviemore this weekend (which is very unusual for me as I always like to attend Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference). Reason was that a large team of colleagues were campaigning across the City and I felt it only right that I should be helping too - especially as some of the ...
Sorry for the radio silence of the past two weeks. I've been doing plenty of reading, but most of it has been German literature, and none of it has put me in the mood for political polemic. Anyway, let me ease myself gently back into the blogosphere with a meme sent my way by Leo Watkins (via Sam Tarran, via Jingoistic). 1) Grab the closest book to you. Die Unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story) by Michael Ende - see what I mean about too much German literature?! 2) Open to page 123, go down to the ... 
News in the Telegraph this morning that the David Cameron has been reassuring his MPs that the Tories would "overturn the Hunting Act as a matter of urgency". Now on its own its not much, just a sliver of red meat to keep the headbangers on the backbenches and out in the shires happy. But throw it in with his musings on Friday on family values, legislating to force fathers to stay with their
Alright, it doesn't quite scan, but at 3.30 a.m. it seemed like a pretty good line... A work colleague and friend celebrated his 60th birthday with a party for family and friends in Southall last night, and what an evening it turned out to be. Admittedly, Errol is probably one of the very few people who could persuade me to venture into darkest west London (it always worries me that if I miss my
Great cover of one of my all time favourites. I saw them cover this at Brixton Academy on my birthday last year. Several versions on YouTube - including that night - but this is the best.
So the five fearless MPs, my friend Richard Stephenson and the rest of the Westminster Challenge team made they. They all completed the Arctic Challenge, well done to Nick Clegg MP, Patrick Costello, Adam Doran, Tobias Ellwood MP, Chris Golding, Mick Laurie, John Prust, Richard Stephenson, Emily Thornberry MP, Ed Vaizey MP and Jenny Willott MP.
News that Channel Four are under investigation following complaints that the phone in quiz "You Say - We Pay" on the Richard and Judy Show highlight that these sorts of phone ins are scams of the first order, but also ignores the fact that they could be described as barely legal in any case. . Quizzes are supposed to have some element of "skill" in them, requiring the person answering to have some sort of special knowledge. It is in these circumstances that TV companies are allowed to charge. However, the sort of phone in questions they charge for on ...
Did the Politics Show on gun crime in London today. It is the big story at the moment, courtesy of a spate of killings and the shocking ages involved - but gang culture and guns have been running for years. So - yes it's right to look at lowering the age at which the mandatory sentence for being in possession of an illegal gun can be prosecuted from the current 21 to 17 or 18. But don't just put
Recorded recently in Wood Green: Of course, if you are an iTunes user and have signed up to my iTunes feed (see panel on the right) you'll already have had this film delivered to automatically!
Today we went to Heaton Park to attempt to get the cold air to blow away the remnants of our illnesses. It looks like the ducks have been stricken with the same lethargy - they seemed very reluctant to take the bread we were chucking at them. Normally they bite my hand off. I love wandering round Heaton Park. I think it's one of Manchester's finest treasures and I am sceptical of any plans to
I only ask, because that seems to be the logic behind many of the fingerpriting systems in use in schools around the country. As I say in my latest newspaper article: The technology being used on British children is similar to the identification systems used in US prisons and for the German military. This system is now being used in thousands of UK primary schools up and down the land - sometimes
As I am in a nostalgic mood it is worth noting this article in the Sunday Times about the 1976 trial of Peter Hain, accused of robbing Barclays Bank in Putney, southwest London. The occasion is the release of legal papers relating to the case under the 30 year rule. The suggestion is that Peter Hain was framed by the South African Intelligence Service and there is a great deal of circumstantial evidence to support that hypothesis. As the paper says: Hain was from a white South African liberal family that had moved to Britain in ... 
Reading went to Old Trafford yesterday with their reserve team and I guess most people would assume that their FA Cup adventure would come to a halt at that point. But no Reading battled and fought as they always do despite going 1-0 down and being a little fortunate to not concede further goals and instead got an equaliser themselves through a fantastic header from Brynjar Gunnarsson. I was slightly disappointed to see Manchester United officials complaining about the need for a replay in amongst their busy schedule. Two answers to that one (and to Arsene Wenger ...
A few days ago Iain Dale brought to my attention, first raised on Conservative Home, an issue to do with the Downing Street online petitions. He asked what control there would be over access to the millions e-mail addresses the government has now amassed. Now we read that Tony Blair is to send an e-mail to the 1.5 million people who have signed on-line petitions. So the real value of the petitions is shown. They are simply a tool for the Labour government to be able to get e-mail addresses so they can they be used to "persuade" ...
Some of you have been confused,thinking that nice Mr Borrowman has taken me to Scotland - but then wondering how come he was in Folkestone yesterday. I have travelled to Aviemore by myself. As the Campaigns Department's mascot I occasionally have to do these trips as their representative, as my travel is cheaper than paying for their Westminster Bubble Champagne lifestyles. I haven't been able
Read Tim Worstall.
Trust in Wales Ymddiried yng Nghymru WELSH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS DEMOCRATIAID RHYDDFRYDOL CYMRU Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport Eleanor Burnham has today responded to the news that in a letter to UK Culture Minister Tessa Jowell, Welsh Culture and Sport Minister Alun Pugh has predicted that Wales could lose between £24m and £36m due to the current 2012 Olympics overspend. Ms Burnham said: "It's no secret that here in Wales we have always had a severe lack of funding for basic services, let alone our cultural and sporting causes. "The estimated ...
The Shropshire Star reports: Organisers of a Mid Wales village show have decided to spice up the annual event - with a spot of nudity. Villagers behind the Trefeglwys Show have put out a call for “tasteful” photographs featuring nudity to make this year’s craft competitions more interesting. The event is on August 4 at Glangwden Fields, with a full programme of events starting at 1pm. And the committee are hoping the new category will bring in a “few bare bottoms”.
{Eleanor with Chairman Gareth Williams and Chief Commissioner Jill Gloster at the Scouts Centenary Exhibition in the Senedd (photography: eve white)} {Eleanor with some of the Scouts at their Centenary Exhibition in the Senedd (photography: eve white)} Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for North Wales Eleanor Burnham this week sponsored a centenary exhibition by the Welsh Scout Council in the National Assembly for Wales. Scouts from across Wales were invited to the Assembly by Ms Burnham to show politicians and visitors alike how Scouting has changed since its beginnings ...
Does John Reid know where these men are? Are they terrorists? Are they really men? And who's afraid of Virginia Woolf anyway*? Some mild warship geekery this weekend thanks to a visit to Portsmouth. Pepys would no doubt have approved - after all, when not writing the leading blog of the 17th Century he did run the Royal Navy. Thought I'd share an anecdote I read over the weekend. In 1910, at the height of the naval arms race between Britain and Germany, Virginia Woolf and a few of her friends bluffed their way onto the British flagship, ...
Liberal Legend wishes us all a Happy Chinese New Year. To those of us who were lucky enough to grow up during the Golden Age of Blue Peter, the Chinese New Year will always mean Val, John and Peter introducing the dancing dragon. The only problem is: I swear that the dragon came on more than once a year. I have a dark suspicion that if Biddy Baxter found herself short of an item she decided to pretend that it was the Chinese New Year again. In those less multicultural days, there were few viewers who would ...
A Happy Chinese New Year to all my friends out there. This year is the year of the Golden Boar/Pig. Let's hope that it is a great year for liberalism.
I was somewhat shocked on Friday evening, to open an e-mail, sent, it seems, to a few hundred people who work for part of the Government, encouraging everyone to sign the anti-road pricing petition. Shocked because someone who’s work involves environmental issues could take such a conservative line on a measure designed to reduce CO2 emissions. Shocked also because my local police force are under scrutiny for a similar e-mail being circulated on the police’s IT system (i.e. for using resources funded by the taxpayer) – see Dorset Echo piece listed below. The message I saw said, ‘There ...
Yesterday I was in Shefford Ward in Bedfordshire helping Councillor Mark Chapman campaign there. Mark bought my services at the Bedford Promise Auction at the end of last year.
With Downing Street still reeling from the 1.5 million on-line signature petition against road pricing another interweb initiative is being launched, this time in Scotland. Two former Labour activists are attempting to appeal to disaffected voters and transform democracy through YouScotland.com. The founders tell us that this site will rely on digital technology to challenge Holyrood's political establishment and change the 'malaise, cynicism and disillusionment' with the Scottish Parliament. It is modelled on the three-million-member US site moveon.org, which was hugely influential during last November's Senate and Congressional elections. The objectives of the Scottish site are ...
You don't get better than this. It reads as if it could be science but it's as "the great Professor Richard Feynman described Melanesian religious activities 30 years ago: "During the war they saw aeroplanes with lots of good materials, and they want the same thing to happen now. So they've arranged to make things like runways, to put fires along the sides of the runways, to make a wooden hut for
Today is a very special day at Hooting Yard. It’s Yoko Ono’s 74th birthday. Just as the people of Tanna, in Vanuatu in the South West Pacific, worship the Duke of Edinburgh as a god, we here at Hooting Yard recognise the divinity of Yoko. Our devotion took a bit of a battering a few years [...]
Left the Lakes yesterday after an excellent week. Was staying in a cottage in Glenridding (on Ullswater) with some uni mates - and my parents came over for a couple of days for my mum's birthday too. Despite the constant rain that was forecast, we managed to walk everyday without seeing a drop - had some excellent weather actually and some awesome hilltop views. Will post some photos when back in London. Was nice to be out of phone range for most of the time, made a pleasant change... However, I was too much of a loser ...
Is it only this country that would regard a glut of doctors as a bad thing? One of the reasons why many Eastern Europeans, for example, are disappointed at the standards of health care in the UK is that we have so few doctors per thousand population.
A local posse of myself, Grace (Orpington Chair) and David McBride (Bromley Council Group Leader) set off to Folkestone today to give fellow blogger, Toby Philpott and the Shepway Lib Dem team a hand. The picture, taken by Grace, is of myself, Toby and David at the top of George Gurr Crescent. In the evening it was off to Sandgate for the Shepway Lib Dem Valentines Quiz. We were joined by a | < | February 2007 | > | ||||
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