I know I said I’d be out of action until Sunday or Monday, but I can’t resist giving the blogosphere a taste of my first afternoon at conference. I’m a saddo, I admit, but I feel if I don’t blog now I’ll forget everything. Registration was quick and simple, and I had a [...]
17 Doughty Street spoof Cameron interview
Allegedly the BBC have discovered an incriminating email.
Iain Dale sheds a little light: I understand it is to do with an email that incriminates someone in a fairly drastic way. I do not know what the terms of the injunction are, but isn't this an injunction which the Labour Party should have asked for rather than Her Majesty's Government? I am aware of the identity of the individual who is the subject of the email, but I think if I name them I'll probably be banged up at Heathrow on my return! And, dear reader, you wouldn't want that, would you?Later. A number of bloggers are ...
A question really about people's behaviour in gyms. Why do a large number of men wear trousers, special chino style combat trousers, not tracksuit trousers, but proper almost tailored trousers when going to the gym ? Isn't it odd to put on trousers ? I mean, I don't put on a jumper when I go or a tie for that matter, so why do increasing number of men wear them. Any answers ?
According to the Guardian, the Swiss Army accidentally invaded Lichtenstein yesterday morning. Apparently 170 infantry men got lost and wandered over a mile over the border. Lichtenstein has been very fair minded and has decided not to retaliate, which is probably a good thing given that they don't have an army. Before anybody laughs too much remember that British Royal Marines accidentally
No, really and it's all thanks to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act:
The continued threat of large parts of Southwark being designated ‘urban’ by a combination of the Mayor and the Government has been a continuing feature of this blog. I reported that Labour’s Mayor has sought to impose an ‘urban’ planning designation on East Dulwich. Designating the area as ’suburban’ would mean that new developments would be [...]
I had time to settle in before attending a briefing from Chris Rennard and the Parliamentary Candidates Association and then onto the ‘We can cut Crime’ rally in the evening. The Rally was hosted by Nick Clegg our shadow Home Affairs Spokesperson. It is shocking that 98% of young men coming out of prison go on to offend again. Clearly our current policy of simply locking up offenders is not working and it is the poorest communities suffer most from crime. Yet in Liberal Democrat run cities and districts across the country we are cutting ...
I got badly lost on my way to the Lib-Dem conference in Harrogate this morning. My SatNav crashed. It did not crash straight away of course, no it was fine all the way to the York turning and having worked on a project in the town for 6 weeks last year I was familiar with most of the journey. It was not even phased by the new bit of the A1(M), happily showing me skimming over ploughed fields at 70MPH. As soon as I really needed it, it crashed. By the time I pulled over to ... 
Stewart Brand, a techno-environmentalist. Hat-tip to Liberty Alone.
Where to start - enjoyed some time out on Wednesday at the Black Keys gig. Inevitably this guitar and drummer duo will be compared to the White Stripes and just like the Whites, they make a good...
Your humble blogger has been vanquished in his quest to become President of Oxford University Liberal Democrats. Oh well. At least I had the privilege of being beaten by another Liberal Democrat. But two darn swing votes away from victory ... that's a bit gutting! If anyone wants to give me a commiserative hug, that would be most gratifying. Especially if you are, in fact, a hoodie.
Disillusionment with agriculture’s poor returns sparked a major re-think for a local farming couple who I know well. Mike and Gwlithyn Owen’s family farm at Speddyd, in the village of Llandyrnog. The family have been doing so for generations but they knew they could no longer continue without abandoning tradition. They sold off more than half their land, got rid of all their cattle, and massively down-sized their sheep flock. The money raised was ploughed back into a £250,000 diversification project to renovate old and redundant outbuildings into three large commercial units. They go on the lettings market this month and you ...
That’s one of the stories on a new website launched today by the Liberal Democrats during the Spring conference rally here in Harrogate: www.homeofficewatch.com
Thursday: Viewers of that FLEETING Twenty-First Century Phenomenon, TELEVISION, will probably know that there has been a bit of a FALLING OUT between two of the PYGMIES of British Broadcasting: "Virgin Media" (the cable people) and "BSkyB" (the satellite dish people). Up until Wednesday, if you were a cable person you could watch SOME of the satellite people's programmes. Now you can't. Apparently, this is because Sky wanted more money and Virgin didn't think they were worth it. I will declare an interest: I do not watch Sky television. I do not LIKE Sky television. ...
In the autumn of 2004 I wrote three episodes of a story entitled The Horrible Cave. It was left unfinished, but I always meant to get back to it, and now I have. Rather than sending readers back to the (unhelpfully indexed) archive for the first three parts, I decided to republish the whole thing [...]
Talk to any spelunker and you will soon learn that nobody who strays into the horrible cave emerges with their wits intact. Sometimes their hair turns white, they shake and gibber, they have to be fed with slops. Others retire to farmyards and spend the rest of their lives among pot-bellied pigs. Yet still the [...]
I arrived at the Bird Inspectors’ Hut to discover that it had been engulfed by a tsunami and lay in ruins. A solitary moorhen was paddling about where the door used to be, but there was no sign of the inspectors. I fancied that perhaps this might be a talking moorhen which could apprise me [...]
Along with Blenkinsop and De Groot, Pabstus was the man who brought rigour to the study of animals’ bones back in the fifties. I wondered what he was doing wandering disconsolately around the garden of a Bewilderment Home, for that is where I assumed I had been plunked. Before I had a chance to ask [...] 
It's Friday, so it must be time for another of my House Points columns from Liberal Democrat News. With friends like these... Back in the 1970s someone observed what an advance for civilisation it was that German soldiers now had long hair and moaned about their rights. According to Liam Fox on Monday, things have gone further: Germany’s forces in Afghanistan are not allowed out at night. That would have done for many old films. No need to build a glider or hide inside a wooden horse. You just wait until the guards are drinking their cocoa ...
I stared at the cows, and the cows stared back. They showed no sign of letting me pass. And then it dawned on me that they must have been sent as emissaries to stop me returning to the prog rock bewilderment home where Primrose tended to ghouls. The cows were trying to save me from [...]
Well, he was only 21 at the time.
I spend a lot of time earnestly searching for material to blog about. For hours, I hunch myself over my PC, lovingly crafting my prose, fine-polishing my wordsmithing, checking references, putting in links and photos, answering comments and checking my Statcounter. And what do I get? A robot in Blogger thought I might be a machine and shut down my ability to post for 36 hours until some person
I watched Confessions of a Diary Secretary on ITV this week with half an eye. I suppose there were some people drooling with glee in anticipation - expecting to see our beloved Deputy Prime Minister being dragged through the mud. The actor who played Prescott, John Henshaw, is a favourite actor of mine. He was in Born and Bred and does an excellent bluff northerner. As a result, I think
Stage actors will have to go outside to rehearse smoking, but they can actually smoke during performances.
My colleague Cllr Roger Hunneman has taken these pictures to pinpoint this puddle in Bear Lane to West Berkshire Council engineers. The puddle is causing a terrible annoyance and inconvenience to pedestrians on the adjacent walkway, who are being deluged when cars pass through the puddle. The head of the Highways and Maintenance department at West Berks council has pledged to get this situation
Candidates Assembly Constituency Candidates Mel ab Owain Arfon Mandi Abrahams Ynys Môn Mick Bates Montgomeryshire Frank Biggs Clwyd South Ed Bridges Cardiff North Paul Brighton Alyn and Deeside Helen Ceri-Clarke Swansea East Steve Churchman Dwyfor Meirionnydd John Davies Ceredigion Nigel Flanagan Newport West Alison Goldsworthy Cardiff West John Gossage Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Dominic Hannigan Cardiff South & Penarth Mark Hooper Vale of Glamorgan ...
Finally, the REAL Iain Dale’s Diary. Share This
As I half-watched Top Gear going up a mountain last night, I heard them advertise a vote for a man to present Women's Hour on Comic relief day. "Vote for Richard Hammond" to present the show, they said. As well as the Hamster, the contenders are: Kelvin Mackenzie and Andy Hamilton. Of those, I would choose Kelvin Mackenzie, as he deserves a bit of ribbing. But think of all the obvious celebs
Following today’s Assembly debate on the Mental Health Bill which is currently passing through Parliament, Jenny Randerson AM Welsh Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson said: “The new UK Mental Health Bill will do nothing to modernise mental health legislation. It will introduce a broad range of new powers, yet do little to make the public safer. This is the UK government’s third attempt to reform this bill, in the face of massive opposition. “I am genuinely concerned that compulsory community treatment would be over-used and deter patients from seeking treatment they need. I want the Health Minister Brian ...
vision for the future of Wales’ education system – including radical proposals to put the nation at the forefront of international science and technology research – at a major speech in Treforest on St David's Day. In a thought provoking speech to an audience of students and lecturers at the University of Glamorgan, Mr Black – AM for South Wales West – sets out his vision for education in 2020. The article is part of a series of “2020 vision” speeches and articles being undertaken by Welsh Liberal Democrat AMs outlining their vision for the subject areas they lead ...
Welsh Liberal Democrat deputy enterprise spokesperson Ed Townsend said: “Our colleges and universities have the capacity to stimulate the enterprising spirit we want to see in Wales. Where they have the resources and services available we will encourage them to pilot new business incubators that offer opportunities for young people not in formal education, employment or training (Neets). “Colleges and universities can play a major part in offering the space, facilities, technical support and advice needed by start-up businesses. We want to develop a win-win situation where these incubators target Neets to come in for a period to work ...
I heard on the radio that some MP's are bleating about the fact that Bernard Matthews plc are to receive £600,000 in compensation as a result of the cull of turkeys after the H5N1 outbreak. This payout is made under the same rules that saw farmers receive compensation after the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. I don't remember those MP's moaning about farmers receiving the payouts then, and several large farms received payments well in excess of £600,000 at the time. With so many workers laid off in Norfolk at the moment because of the fall ...
Excerpt: One of the funny aspects of British politics is that all sides are trying to play away from home. (The tories - you may have noticed - claim to be a bit green these days, Gordon Brown made a ridiculous speech on migrants the other days, which as Mike Smithson pointed out, might have come from Michael Howard).
I'm not kidding, this photo has actually been banned. From BBC News: "News media have been prevented from showing a photo of David Cameron with fellow Oxford dining club members. The image of the Tory leader, which shows him in about 1986 dressed in the uniform of the elite Bullingdon Club, has appeared in several newspapers. It is thought Labour was planning to use the picture on an election
A happy band of 5 Voting Representatives from the Ayrshire & Arran Lib Dems arrived in Aviemore for Scottish Spring Conference, from the 16th - 18th February, this year. Some descended earlier than others - Iain on the 14th (wearing his hat of Conference Committee Vice Convener) and Ruby arrived on the 15th (she had a Steward’s briefing) Jenny & Lewis found baby-sitters for the weekend to allow a peaceful (and possibly a little indulgent) weekend and Andrew dragged himself away from studying for his finals for three days. On reflection, the only time when we were all together was ...
Excerpt:
Tomorrow morning's agenda has a soggy feel.
I note that David Cameron has been "outed" as a member of the notorious Bullingdon Club whilst at Oxford University. Andrew Gimson, author of a book on Boris Johnsson said of the clubs meetings: "I don't think an evening would have ended without a restaurant being trashed......" & "a night in the cells would be regarded as being par for a Buller man..." This archaic, aristocratic, hard drinking and badly behaved "elite" club portrays Cameron in a newer and nastier light. I feel that this revelation is much more likely to case him trouble than his cannabis at ...
It is obviously good news that the above have been acquitted. What needs to happen now is that we need to stop pointing the finger of blame at parents when doctors don't know what has happened. Doctors are not omniscient. There really needs to be some evidence that something has been done by the parents. This also applies in the Family Courts.
Regular readers of my blog may have noticed entries relating to a particular case appearing and disappearing. This case has now gone to the Court of Appeal and as such the entries have been deleted again.
The story of how Labour axed criminal investigations into bribery over the UK’s big arms deal with Saudi Arabia has been a favourite of various Lib Dem blogs (including this one), particularly given the rather curious continued silence from the Tories on the issue. (Tough on crime? Err, only sometimes, when it suits, if it’s [...]
Okay, so I’m not off to Harrogate for the conference, I just felt left out… (and yes, I have a good excuse - Carrie is going back to the US on Tuesday so we’re going to Nottingham to see her favourite band Nine Inch Nails). Those who are going, have have, those who aren’t. Well have fun [...]
Sunday found James and I at Hulme Garden Centre - photos to follow - buying seeds and marvelling at the many different varieties of potatoes on sale (as well as jokes and info about potatoes) after a bacon butty it was home to chores and leafleting. The rest of the week has been a mixture of meetings with community and Council groups (inc setting the Council budget where we proposed and it was
With only one by-election last night and with lots of Liberal Democrat activists en route to Harrogate for our (UK) spring conference, not much attention has been given to the result … but it was a Lib Dem gain from the Conservatives in Eric Pickles’s constituency. Congratulations to David Kendall and his team. More details here.
Off to Harrogate for Lib Dem Spring Conference today.
Latest Friends of Wighton update from Sheena Wellington ... The sweet sound of the Scottish Smallpipes will be heard at the Wighton Heritage Centre on Wednesday 7th March when pipe maker Ian Kinnear will give the Friends of Wighton Lunchtime Recital. The recital runs from 1.15 -1.45 pm, admission is free and the Centre is in the Local Studies Department of Dundee’s Central Library. Ian Kinnear lives and works in Forfar, Angus. He began playing pipes at the age of 10, when he was taught by John McDougall and David Taylor. Whilst studying geography at Edinburgh University he ...
I have arrived in Harrogate, and using my usual charm and a few inside contacts to insinuate myself into the auditorium and access the computers just outside. The best news so far is that due to our having, for the most part, been sent our passes well in advance, there appears to be no repeat of last year's registration fiasco. Now to check into my hotel and return for the Better Governance consultation session - an opportunity to wax about constitutional reform. Still no news about Bloggers' drinks, unfortunately. I expect we are all too anarchistic and ...
Jersey is a wonderful place to live, it’s a wonderfully brilliant place to bring children up and it’s an equally interesting political climate. But some of the people in the island can get stuck on an idea and not want to move on. The BBC Radio Jersey phone in is a prime example of this - [...]
It's been such a busy week there has been practically no time to blog... I didn't even get chance to write about how utterly brilliant Spurs were last Sunday against Bolton - just an unbelievably good performance, especially from Berbatov who was getting standing ovations just for touching the ball. Getting Jenas back has made such a difference to the flow of our game & Michael Dawson (really should be Spurs captain) gave his usual rock-like performance. Talking of rocks, Ricardo Rocha had a really good game, winning almost every header despite being a couple of feer smaller than ...
At the last Full Council, my colleague Cllr Monica Whyte proposed an excellent motion on Freedom of Information. Of course, not interested in protecting public access to information, Haringey Labour voted against it. An online petition I signed against restricting the FOI Act has just received a formal response from Government. You can see details of the petition and the response here: Freeinformation - epetition reply 28 February 2007 We received a petition asking: "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Reject the restrictions on the Freedom of Information Act proposed by the Department of Constitutional ...
Grant Shapps is frequently cited as one of the Tories’ brightest of bright young hopes, but if this is anything to go by, I wouldn’t get too breathless just yet. Access to IVF on the NHS is a lottery, with different areas adopting different rules, an MP says. … Mr Shapps, whose own three children were conceived through [...]
One of the things I really dislike about much of the green movement is its romanticism and aversion of technology. On Wednesday, Femme de Resistance over at Forceful and Moderate posted on this subject with particular reference to James Lovelock. Today I’ve come across a New York Times article (registration required - or Bug Me Not for [...]
Before I went on holiday over new year I made sure that I paid my credut card bill by my internet account. On my return, much to my anger, I relised that I had actually paid my store card by mistake. So I phoned up the company (GE Capital) and asked for them to return my money. And thus the problem started. I was informed that I would have to wait between 10 and 14 days for the cheque to
The TUC's evidence to the Borders Bill Committee was interesting yesterday. In particular the story of Portuguese Workers in Leicstershire getting false Brazilian Passports so they could prove they are illegal immigrants and get work from people who only employ illegal workers.
At Wednesday's budget meeting, the Conservatives voted through parking proposals which threaten to increase congestion, increase CO2 emissions and decrease air quality in the city centre. They've combined a big hike in parking charges at the Park & Ride - dramatically reducing the saving that this represents vs. city centre parking - with the reintroduction of 'first half hour free' for on
I suspect a large number of blog postings from Lib Dems will have the same title. We are on the 10am train out of Kings Cross. This train is packed. Every seat is booked. Unfortunately all the Communications Unit staff are travelling on open tickets so we grabbed what seats we could in the hope they would not be claimed. We've just been joined by Norman Lamb in the same predicament!At this
My final student loan payment has now ben taken out of my account. No more student debts looming over me!
My Niece Lyndsay give birth to a wee boy this morning. His name is Ross Dale Smith and he joined us weighing 7lb 12oz. Congratulations to Lynsey & David (Lynsey's Husband and Ross' Dad) and I'm delighted for Billy & Jeanette (my Brother & Sister-in-law). Another bundle of happiness to make the world a nicer place. Welcome Ross from your "Great" Uncle Iain. I suspect that there will be another of these "welcome" posts in the not too distant future as Catherine's best pal, Sam, is due in April.
Today's Western Mail reports that the so-called Jimmy Hendrix recording of the Welsh National Anthem, reported on this blog here, was in fact a hoax: The wailing, authentic sounding rendition of Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau stirred up a hornet's nest in the world of rock aficionados and collectors. More than 30m of them contacted a website run by former record producer Martin Davies, who said he found the recording on a old tape recorder left over from the 1970s. Cardiff-born Mr Davies, 50, said yesterday, "They were desperate for scraps of information about it, asking things ...
Today's story that the Prince of Wales has issued a decree for Welsh companies to stop selling items bearing the three feathers insignia is just bizarre. I do not think that anybody can argue that the three feathers belong to the Royal family but they have come to be symbolic of Wales and in particular of Welsh rugby. This royal directive appears to be a heavy-handed attempt to put some distance between the Prince and the Welsh people. At a time when the monarchy is seeking to be more open and modern such a decree can only ...
Like many people I read the Earthsea books of Ursula K. Le Guin when I was a teenager. I enjoyed the mystical sweep and the moral dilemmas that were presented in the stories. Unlike the traditional sward and sorcery genre, actions in Earthsea tend to have consequences- bad as well as good- and there are no particularly easy answers. I was talking with some fellow bloggers the other day and they also remembered the books warmly. Recently, whilst at an airport somewhere, I found several sci-fi books by the same author. I have always enjoyed the ...
I will be heading off to Harrogate shortly for the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference. Before I go I just wanted to give the result of my opinion poll. 66% of those that voted wanted no replacement of Trident, 29% thought we should keep Trident but halve its strength and 5% wanted to keep Trident at its current level.
I am sure that those who receive the Welsh Conservatives £100 discount on their Council Tax will be very grateful for the assistance. However, this latest announcement is very much a quick and dirty fix from a party, which introduced the tax in the first place and do not want to admit that they were wrong. The total cost of this policy is about £31 million a year, which is a significant public subsidy that might be better invested in schools or hospitals. The problem is that this discount will not change the unfair nature of the tax, nor ...
Amongst all the news of Charlotte Church's pregnancy (do all expectant mums now get a letter of congratulations from the First Minister or just the famous ones?) the BBC reports that one in three landlords have said that they are not ready for the public smoking ban, which begins here a month today. Only 69 of the 100 pubs across Wales contacted by BBC Radio Cymru for the snap survey said they were prepared for the new law. This was one of the concerns that I raised during the debate on the regulations. In Ireland businesses had ...
Peter Kellner, Chairman of YouGov, the UK Polling Organisation, announced on Anglia TV's 'Late Edition' programme last night (Thursday) that Charles Clarke's Norwich South constituency is vulnerable to being lost by Labour at the next general election. Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South, would be most likely to gain. The Liberal Democrats came a close second last time in 2005. Boundary changes at the next election are also favourable to the Liberal Democrats, and the independent UK Polling Report (associated with YouGov) puts the swing required for a Lib Dem gain next time as just 3.85% ...
Normal service will resume on Monday. Or Sunday evening if I’m feeling particularly inspired.
A hat tip to kiwiblog for this little gem. David Farrar, a New Zealand right of centre politician has done some research and dug out an article compiling a list of the top 10 male "whores" of all time. The maths part come in when he tries to work out just how Charlie Sheen can, at the age of 41, have slept with so many women ! Work it out for yourself and click on the link HERE. | < | March 2007 | > | ||||
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