The series of terrorist attacks across the country seems to indicate a concerted attempt to undermine a new Prime Minister at a time of transition, a sign, perhaps, of the increasing sophistication of those who would provoke us into hasty reaction rather than measured response. It would be very easy for Gordon Brown to announce sweeping measures to 'deal with the problem' and I am reassured that
Any doubts about whether the Glasgow Airport attack was by Islamist ideologues or not were dispelled by the witness who reported that he heard one of the terrorists, his clothes on fire, shouting "Allah! Allah!" as he fought off the ambulance man who was trying to help him. This reminds me of something that happened to my father in World War Two. As he was an outstanding pilot, he served with Air Sea Rescue. One night he went out and rescued from the sea a Nazi who had been shot down. The Nazi then ...
Walking along Weymouth seafront last Sunday we noticed vast numbers of Bed and Breakfast establishments. For the benefit of my daughter, I was comparing Bed and Breakfast signs through the ages. Nowadays they mention "car parking" or "en suite bathrooms". In the old days they used to say "Hot and Cold running water" or "Colour TV". Often each letter of "Colour" was printed in different colours.
Mr Eugenides presents this week's selection of the best in British blogging from "the underground, terrorist-proof command bunker beneath Eugenides Towers".
June saw 8960 unique visits to this blog with 12065 page requests. This is a new record and is up 60% on the May figures. Many thanks to all who have looked in on this blog. 
After coming up with "triplet" Trivial Pursuit questions about celebrities who wrote famous advertising slogans and ones who were jailed, I have another one on the go: Name three Bishops' children who are famous in the pop music business So far I have come up with two: Radio One DJ Tim Westwood is the son of the former Bishop of Peterborough. Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon is the son of
What a shame that the BBC seems to have given the job or putting together the Diana Concert at Wembley today over to some work experience students. For some bizarre reason, the sound kept going dead between acts (with no voice over to explain), highlights of previous acts kept being cut short, video sequences of good deeds and memories of Diana seemed to be edited in to the gaps rather poorly whilst the sound levels of the artists performing was all wrong. And that's not even mentioning the awful Fearne Cotton (don't get me started there !) ...
In honour of tonight's concert for Diana here are some appropriate lines from Half Man Half Biscuit: James Dean was just a careless driver/ and Marilyn Monroe was a slag
I couldn't summon up enough enthusiasm to watch Fern Cotton interviewing the Princes, but I could empathise with the Norfolk Blogger's pain on witnessing the spectacle. I woke up last night in my armchair and was drowsily conscious of the last few minutes of Lou Reed being interviewed on the BBC's Culture Show. I thought: "It's Fern Cotton again doing the interview - haven't the BBC got anyone
What purpose does a toilet attendant serve ? I don't know if I am giving them the correct name or "job title", but for those who don't know, they are people who stand in toilets in clubs who squirt soap on your hands and urge you to spray yourself with other assorted smelly things. In reality, what they do is they do a job for you that you are quite capable of doing yourself (dispensing soap) and demand payment for it. I ought to be able to go to the toilet in a club without being harassed ...
It is one of the vagaries of the US constitution that patient amassing of US Supreme Court appointees over many years can make a fundamental difference to the country's law-making. Even though Gerald Ford is dead, his appointee to the Supreme Court, John Stevens, still sits on the bench. Ronald Reagan is long gone but Messrs Scalia and Kennedy, who he appointed, carry on in the Supreme Court. So
Cllr Les Bennett has quit the Conservative group on Mendip Council, deciding to sit instead as an independent. The loss of Cllr Bennett means the Conservatives no longer have an overall majority on the council, which is now 23 Conservative, 23 Liberal Democrat and 1 independent.
The Washington Post has published a major four-part investigation and assessment of Dick Cheney. Entitled "The Angler" it collates a fascinating picture of the US Vice-President. The opening of the first part of this Barton Gellman and Jo Becker series, is stunning. It reveals that Cheney basically got Bush to sign the order for foreign terrorist suspects to be tried by military tribunal without
I was suitably dressed for the threatened rain when we left the house this morning for the Civic parade and church service. The weather forecast lat night had prompted me to get my raincoat out of the wardrobe and to put a small brolly in my pocket. In the event I didn't really need either. The parade assembled at Stonefield Park. Our Town Mayor, Philip Leason led the parade followed by other
I have just got back from Ealing. After English Council yesterday I headed over to help in the by-election (and stayed overnight with my friends Luke and Sarah). Most of my time was spent delivering and avoiding the rain, we are currently doing a Crime survey and I am sure there is much more to come. We are selecting the candidate later today, whether 19 days is long enough to build the momentum to win remains to be seen but we will certainly be challenging.
With thanks to colleagues, we finished the last of the latest West End FOCUS deliveries yesterday & whilst delivering the West Loan area (north side of Perth Road just west of Clouvis Duveau Drive) I was pleased to note the Leisure & Communities Department busy tidying the overgrown grass here (see photo, above right).Following residents' complaints recently, I raised concerns about the grounds maintenance both here and at the nearby Technology Park. The latter is the responsibility of Scottish Enterprise and SET locally has promised me they will raise it with their national organisation to get the overgrown grass tidied ...
Strong rumours across the blogosphere that Labour's candidate in the Ealing Southall by-election will have a 123 mile journey from Birmingham to come and campaign in the constituency. Could this be the reason that Labour are selecting so late - so as to minimise the fuss? Below are directions from the AA to help him find his way. 0.00Start out at Sandwell,West BromwichA410.000.03Continue
The story of the Save Ladywell Pool campaign, and the Mayor's burnt rubber U-turn, is long and complicated. So long that when I tried to summarise it in this blog just now, I was timed out and lost everything. So here is the abdriged version. Lewisham Council is consulting on whether a new pool should be built at Loampit Vale or on the site of Ladywell Leisure Centre. The existing pool at Ladywell is 33m long. But the Council is only offering a 25m pool at Loampit Vale, even though any additional cost of ...
Who elected them, whose interests do they serve, who are they accountable to and how do we get rid of them ? Therein lies my problem with the following appointments to ministerial posts or advisory positions in the leadership team of Gordon Brown. All the below : Sir Digby Jones: Trade minister Prof Sir Ara Darzi: Health Minister, patient care Admiral Sir Alan West: Home Office minister, security Lord Malloch Brown: Foreign Office minister, Asia, Africa and UN Lord Stevens: Adviser on international security issues Lib Dem Baroness ...
At last week’s Council meeting we introduced a motion against the present Manchester City Council's/AGMA proposals for road congestion charging – Tim, our group leader had done sterling homework – his speech was interesting, informed and focused – so much so that after the other parties had spoken and he had an opportunity to reply to their concerns, his performance made them look like complete
The Massive vacuum of leadership in the Lib Dems is becoming more and more obvious as Gordon Brown begins his Premiership. Norfolk Blogger is reporting that Lord Lester didn't even bother to talk to Ming before he decided to work with Labour - this is getting ridiculous we need to do something sooner rather than later! *Braces for bleating about how Charles Kennedy wasn't doing as well at the same time blah, blah, blah*. Get Ming Out!!
Volunteers are needed to uproot and exterminate the quickly spreading and very invasive Dreaded 'Himalayan Balsam Plant from the riverbanks at Ladywell Fields next Sunday. Bring your own Dalek, but all over equipment will be provided The reason for this urgency: It suffocates other plants, leaving river banks bare in the winter and prone to erosion. Please meet at the classroom on Sun 8th July at 10am-1pm. Bring-your-own picnic and games afterwards. All waders will be provided. Children welcome as long as they are accompanied by an adult. Please if possible confirm with Nick Harvey ...
It’s a favourite cliche of the other parties to attack Liberal Democrat campaign tactics. However, the evidence - as ever - is rather different in Ealing Southall. Ben Surtess (a name that may be familiar to some as he has written some interesting posts on PoliticalBetting.com) is a Conservative activist and over on Conservative Home has been arguing that the [...]
I spent yesterday afternoon and evening in Ealing Southall constituency (I would have been there earlier, but I had a prior meeting). Impressed with the Lib Dem campaign HQ, which is conveniently placed and just right for our needs. I thought that there was something amiss about the Tory campaign when I saw that extraordinary [...]
Lewisham Council decided to set up Ward Assemblies to replace Area Forums (or should that be 'Fora'?). Instead of Area Fora (yep, I think I prefer that) which cover three wards and which meet in public once a year, we'll have an assembly for each ward. The aim is that ward assemblies will provide residents of each ward with "a structured environment for identifying, understanding and responding to local priorities. Ward assemblies will also be a regular and direct point of contact with locally elected representatives and a recognised channel through which the ... 
An article in the Guardian got me thinking: is the title “Ms” really unkown to women under 30? A straw poll of under 30 women in my office slightly reassured me as they all use the title, but then it is a very political office. The phenomenon however is wider than just this title. [...]
Well according to Labour Home over the boundary in the next constituency (at least their campaign HQ is in Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush). Seriously though, I spent the whole day in and around both ends of the constituency yesterday and I didn't a single sign of Labour activity, you would have thought that in one of their held seats three weeks before polling day they would have had some
Am I the first Lib Dem Blogger to mention Strange Maps?. It's a site that has, well , lots of unusual maps, and is well worth a look. The most recent one is about Bruce Springsteen. But perhaps the most startling is this one here, that predicts what our climate will be like in 2071: So the prediction is here is that London will have a climate similar to that in northern Portugal now.... and
I went out last night in Norwich. I don't smoke but came home smelling like an ashtray, my clothes stink of smoke, my hair stinks of smoke and not doubt if I could smell me lungs, they do to. I'm not self righteous about smokers, I smoked at university socially, but I cannot see how making it more dofficult for people to ruin their health and the health of others is a bad thing. And the daft line that people use "Well I'll smoke more at home so my children will have to put up with the smoke" ...
Lord Lester on Radio Five has just admitted that he first spoke to Gordon Brown about constitutional matters a year ago and that he has not spoken to Ming Campbell at all about him working as an adviser to Labour. Lord Lester said he has spoken to Tom McNally, but wouldn't you expect, given what Ming Campbell said a week ago about Lib Dems not working with Labour, that Lord Lester would have sat down with Ming and discussed this rather than going through a third party ? The fact that Lord Lester accidentally referred to a Labour ...
The next meeting on the Hither Green Urban Design Framework on 2nd May, the next meeting is on Thursday 5th July 07 from 7-9pm at Hither Green School, Beacon Road. This meeting is open to all residents/tenants, business, community groups, retailers, commuters, etc. It is an opportunity for the small steering group that was set up at the last meeting to give some feedback on progress, for an update on work with local businesses, the Police and developments on Mountsfield Park. For further information, please contact Chris Freed tel 07736 814199.
I hope that Ed Hussain’s book The Islamist is on the bedside table of all those who are charged with finding long-term solutions to the recent terrorist attacks in the UK. While it is just one point of view in a complex world, I found that it offered a clear narrative and fresh insights into a [...]
...on the other hand, the one good thing about the smoking ban is that it brings starkly into the open the fact that the "state" acting in the "best interests" of its citizens can decide and enforce with legislation and criminal penalties what you can and cannot do with your own property. Of course it always has in all sorts of different ways, but at least it's out in the open now. So we can proceed to Land Value Tax unopposed by those who think it is not right for the state to take some of ...
I really should make a resolution not to believe everything that I read in the Welsh press, however this latest article in today's Wales on Sunday suggesting that the Welsh Government wants to ban junk mail throws up so many questions that it is worth querying it. No doubt further enquiries will be made in the Assembly Plenary sessions as well. The first question that must be asked is why the Minister chose a newspaper to announce such a significant policy instead of coming to Plenary? Is this a new age of spin at Cardiff Bay? I ...
John Fernely, a successful Victorian dauber who lived in Melton Mowbray, charged ten pounds to paint a portrait of a horse, but only seven pounds for a portrait of a cow. Were these costs fair? Would you have been prepared to pay more for a cow picture than a horse painting? If not, why not? [...]
Portugal takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union today, for the next six months, and has set an ambitious set of goals. One major focus will be combatting illegal immigration, but that will be counter-balanced by efforts to improve relations with the Arab states of North Africa as well as with sub-Saharan Africa. Portugal itself has had close [...]
Interesting thing over at Tim Worstall's place on the statistical evidence for the smoking ban. i wonder if it is also statistically significant that Sir Richard Peto, probably the foremost epidemiological statistician and long time collaborator with the late Sir Richard Doll on the tobacco issue, says rather non-commitally that "if this ban helps people who want to stop to manage to do so then it could save a lot of lives and prevent a lot of premature deaths."read more
Many of you will be involved in the upcoming European selections, either as candidates, selection committee members or interested bystanders. Do me and my fellow Returning Officers a favour, please be careful about promoting one or more candidates in your blogs. It isn't that I can, or want to, stop you. It's just that the endorsement rules are an ongoing concern, and I'd rather not spend my
So I'm back, and already overstretched... I was kept busy on European Selection stuff whilst I was away, with steady interest being shown by potential applicants (naturally, I can't provide you with names, numbers, or anything else), hustings to finalise, questions to answer, the usual things. I'm also in the midst of two Westminster selections, and they are ticking along nicely. However, time | < | July 2007 | > | ||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
