LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Saturday 29th September 2007

Jeremy Kyle Show was funded by the taxpayer

The other day I reported a judicial hoofing of the Jeremy Kyle Show. Things have moved on since then. First, I inspired Tampon Teabag (I know, I know) to write a much longer post dissecting the awful spectacle. Second, according to the BBC: The government-backed sponsors of The Jeremy Kyle Show have cancelled their £500,000-a-year deal over concerns about its content.Ufi, which runs the Learndirect adult learning service, said continuing the deal would not "protect and enhance" its reputation.The report goes on to say: A spokesperson for the government's communications body, the Central Office of Information (COI), said: "The criticism ...

Blackness Primary School - Barrier

I recently raised with the Education Department concerns from parents about the state of the metal barrier outside Blackness Primary School at its Pennycook Lane entrance. It has been badly mangled by a vehicle. I have now had feedback assuring me that repairs are in hand and I have asked that assurances can be given that the repairs are completed before the start of the new term in mid-October.

Chelsea 0 Fulham 0 Mourinho 1

The BBC reports: Didier Drogba was sent off and John Terry suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone as Chelsea made it four games without a Premier League victory.If you can hear sardonic laughter, it probably comes from Portugal.

Winning photos in the Hook Centre

This is Emily Godwin, whose photo of a waterfall won her first prize in the Mobile Phone category. The libraries have been running a Wildlife and Nature Photography Competition over the summer and this evening was the red carpet occasion. To my embarrassment I had left my own camera at home so used my mobile to take this shot, and it cannot begin to compare with Emily's...

Front runners miss diversity debate

The top 4 republican candidates for president of the United States missed a debate this week that focused on diversity. And before the debate got started their absence was noticed by all in the room; “Let me take a moment right here and now to say hello to those of you viewers from home: Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator John McCain, Gov. Mitt Romney and Senator Fred Thompson.” These were the opening words of the moderator Tom Joyner, who made it perfectly clear that the 4 people who have the most chance of winning the nomination were not even at the ...

Simon Carr on Gordon Brown

I am devoted to Simon Carr's Commons sketches in the Independent. He is more uneven than Simon Hoggart, but never gives the impression of satire by numbers that Hoggart can. Here is Carr in yesterday's Independent: There was a game I used to play with the children when they were young. They'd cower at the top of the stairs while I took on the role of the neighbourhood child molester. "Come here little boy," I'd coo up at them and they'd be tempted down the stairs step by step. "Come here, because I love you little boys and your lovely ...

Georgian Opposition seizes the day

Those of you who are able to look away from the approaching election are probably paying most attention to the increasingly unpleasant situation in Burma. But is there a chance something on the same scale should be happening in the south Caucasian republic of Georgia? Opposition parties in Georgia have organised demonstrations 10,000 strong calling for the resignation of President Saakashvili last week, with a promise of more to follow. These protests were sparked by a stinging attack on Saakashvili made by his former Defence Minister, Irakli Okruashvili. Saakashvili has long painted himself as a pro-Western democrat, but the fact ...

Thames Water Are Arrogant Twats

"You've been very naughty and we're going to fine you £12 million" say the regulators OfWat. "That's not a very good idea, it just means we'll spend less on repairing London's drains" say Thames Water. Obviously, their profits, which often reach £400 million a year, are sacrosanct. The reason for the fine? Poor customer service and misreporting, which sounds to me like "lying about", information it gave OfWat. The immense arrogance of public-service monopolies never fails to amaze me. It's no surprise that you get better service and indeed occasional price cuts from the gas and electricity providers, where you ...

That's Overkill

I hate to put up video from *shudder" Fox News, but it's a report on a 16 year old's wrist being broken after she ... *drumroll*... dropped some cake and left some crumbs behind when cleaned it up. It appears to be a serious case of overkill by school security guards: Ok, now I'm off for a shower to get this dirty feeling off me. I'll make sure to clean up the shower afterwards, don't want my

Lord Bonkers' Diary: Watching The Queen

Saturday Browsing in Mr Patel’s shop in the village this morning I come across a moving video called The Queen. Assured that it does indeed deal with our the monarch, I take it home to watch. I have to report that, if Helen Mirren does not quite succeed in portraying Her Majesty’s raucous sense of humour, she nevertheless delivers a sterling performance. As to the fellow who plays Tony Blair, it is a patently insincere performance combining ham acting with the most unconvincing crocodile tears. In short, he has captured the man to a tee and deserves to win an ...

Duncan Murray Wines, Market Harborough

We've all found ourselves at a loose end on a Saturday afternoon in Market Harborough, haven't we? Well, I know I have. If you do find yourself in this predicament I recommend a visit to Duncan Murray Wines in Adam & Eve Street. They conduct wine tastings every Saturday, and today I came away with a couple of bottles of very drinkable Portuguese wine. You drink just enough to loosen your purse strings, so everyone is happy. And you have to admit its a great street name too.

Has Grant Shapps been coaching Caroline Spelman?

I only ask, because Caroline Spelman has just been on News 24 claiming the Conservatives won eight of the last nine by-elections held on Thursday. One small problem. They didn’t. Make that two, rather than eight. Another one to add to the list of untrue comments made to the media by the Conservatives (who have, of course, also admitted [...]

Nine-man Leeds cling on for a draw against twelve-man Gillingham at Priestfield

Leeds United took the lead with goal from Seb Carole on 28 minutes but Jermaine Beckford and Tresor Kandol were sent off for silly infringements and left Leeds with only nine men. The bizarre decisions of the referee seemed to favour Gillingham. He clearly ignored shirt grabbing and niggling fouls by the out-played Gills and concentrated on minor descent infringements by the Leeds strike duo and three others. Leeds looked like scoring a hatful until the sendings off, which meant the whites had to quickly change things around and battle to defend the one goal lead. This they did comfortably ...

Still minus 15

According to the BBC "The Football Association has informed Leeds there will be no more action over the decision to dock them 15 points." I cannot understand why the FA refuse to act. We were rightly docked 10 points last season but as far as I can see there is absolutely no reason why we should have been docked 15 points this season. Given the saga over West Ham and given the principles of natural justice it does not seem right that teams who we are competing with were able to act as judge and jury in this matter. As ...

Carpenters and Cowley Street

Cowley Street was invaded yesterday by carpenters, electricians, furniture removal people and so on. The board room, next to the Communications Unit where I am based, was stripped bare and then refurbished in the space of one day. It is now the war room, ready for the big names to occupy the moment Brown goes to the palace. It was quite fun watching the progress through the day. I should have

Lillywhites v Tangerines

Had a phonecall a little earlier on this unbelievably slow train journey, from my Spurs-going mate Alastair. I'd forgotten it was the draw for the next round of the Carling Cup today. I wouldn't have minded a big match or an interesting away trip - maybe Coventry, where I used to live, after they beat Man Utd in the last round. Or Luton, a ground I haven't been to yet. Anyway, Alastair opened with: "Who are you going to support in the next round?". Because Spurs have drawn Blackpool. The answer is easy - Spurs, of course. But it will ...

Tories in a hurry to releae new policy details - More reading between the lines

The BBC reports that the Tories are going to release a number of new policy details tomorrow, on the eve of their conference. Usually, one suspects, these would be released throughout the week in order to maintain a steady stream of news coverage and also to provide back up material for journalists who might want to cover stories of dissent in conference if they have nothing else to report. Reading between the lines, it seems as if the Tories are fearful that brown might call an election before their policy details have been announced and so they are jumping the ...

Labour government's inhumane treatment of asylum seekers

Went to the well attended meeting at Day Mer Community Centre in Hackney last night, called by all the Turkish and Kurdish community Centres in North London. The parents and family of 24 year old Can Onel, who committed suicide, a few weeks ago, were present, as were Turkish and Kurdish councillors from all parties, together with representatives of the Police. This is the 5th suicide this year. We heard from Can's mother Emel, who, though overcome with grief, told us how her son, once a happy young man, who loved life and enjoyed his job, became more and more ...

Our secret vice

That's the topic of my latest column for the local Muswell Hill and Highgate magazines. As to what the vice is? Well, you'll have to read on... Our secret vice But {Lynne Featherstone with Highgate councillor Bob Hare's prize winning golden pears at the recent horticulural show in the Moravian Church, Hornsey} it’s a wonderful vice – it’s growing things! Having attended a number of horticultural shows this summer, including the Highgate, Muswell Hill and Hornsey Horticultural Societies - I have been staggered not only by the produce and exhibits – but the commitment and participation by so very many ...

Opinion: Will the Gordon backlash start here?

It’s certainly looking like the cautiously prudent ex-Chancellor is about to prove what a reckless gambler he is now he’s made it to the top, and become Prime Minister. The momentum behind an early general election appears to be unstoppable. Having marched his troops to the top of the hill it’s hard to see how [...]

New opinion Polls give a 10 and 11 point lead to Labour.

A comment from an anonymous source on Iain Dale's blog has made mention of tomorrow's opinion polls. "Two polls out tomorrow. Yougov labour 11% lead, populus Labour 10% lead, don't you think you should be commenting on that Iain." I don't know if this is true, but it kills the idea of last week's 11% lead being a rogue poll.

Off to Blackpool... two down, one to go

After a busy end to the working week and a good night out on Friday, am now on a train to St.Annes. Visiting my parents this evening, then on to the hotel in Blackpool tomorrow for the start of Conservative Party Conference. Will also take my team to the Pleasure Beach to go on the Big One, of course. So, three more days of fringe meetings, dinners and receptions - then it's all over for another year. Well, workwise it is anyway, I will of course be going to Liverpool for Lib Dem Spring Conference in March. It will be ...

A breakout of "Brown Tongue" in Kirkaldy

Grendel has a nice comedy piece on the lastest virus outbreak. It's called Brown tongue and has lots of symptoms. Read about them HERE.

Another new "pedia"

I've just discovered Conservapedia, another derivative of the wikipedia concept, just for Conservatives. This is really for American Conservatives but I am sure that UK Tories will find some solice with the hang'em and flog'em pro life, pro gun, pro oil (at all costs) anti Kyoto American Republicans.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

An 11 year old who has ambitions to be a professional is much more likely to grow up to become a professional that one who doesn't. My immediate reaction to that assertion was to assume that a child's ambitions would probably correlate with their socio-economic background anyway. But the fascinating findings reported today in the Guardian show that even when family background is taken...

Integral Video from the Pet Shop Boys

No, wait, come back! The Pet Shop Boys (yeah, I didn't know they were still around either) have released a new video for their single "Integral". It is, in their own words "... sung from the point of view of the authoritarian New Labour-style government. “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to fear” is always used as a justification for ID cards. What we object to about ID cards is

Will he or won't he?

All the signs are that Gordon Brown will go to the Palace next week and ask for a General Election on 1st November, but will he? Michael White in the Guardian thinks not, and he quotes Brown's moral purpose and sense of honour in support of his argument: In practical terms, it is surprising how few Labour insiders answer yes to the simple question, "Do you expect to emerge with a larger majority?'' It's currently 65-plus, but new boundaries will cost a dozen seats before they start. So the lame answer is usually, ''No, but ...'' MPs and ministers remain ...

The lesson of October 1974

I have been taking a little look back at autumn elections since the war. It's 34 years since the last autumn election. All the intervening general elections have been in May, June or April. There was an October election in 1964, when the Tories were defeated by Harold Wilson's Labour. There were also October elections in 1959 and 1951. The latter one of that couplet was due to Labour whittling

The same old story

Green Party politician, Jake Griffiths, sums up: “It was hoped that Plaid entering government would bring fresh thinking to transport planning in Wales and challenge Welsh Labour’s road building programme. “Ieuan Wyn Jones’ support for the M4 Relief Road however has shown that Plaid is also committed to encouraging traffic growth with resulting greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and damage to natural habitats.” "Ambitions to cut carbon emissions in Wales will not be realised unless the growth in car use is curtailed, he said. “Wales is one of only three governments worldwide which must promote sustainable development as part of ...

Watford weekend

I am taking the weekend off leafleting (and if Mr Brown calls a General Election, it will be the last weekend off for a while!) to go to my cousin’s engagement party in the glamour capital of western Europe, Watford. I have decided to treat myself to an hotel whilst there, and am staying in the no-doubt palatial surroundings of the Travelodge Watford Central. Prior to that I have a lunchtime date at Eastlands to watch Manchester City 1-0 Newcastle United. I might be back in time for leafleting tomorrow teatime, dependent largely on whether the company of family members ...

The angels that are Macmillan Nurses

{Coffee morning in support of Macmillan Nurses} Yesterday my pub - well I say my pub because my constituency office is upstairs - had a coffee morning this morning to support Macmillan Nurses. It was part of a national thing today - and I love The Three Compasses because they really are a community pub and do community things such as this - and have Fairtrade products and care about all of it. Seemed to go pretty well with a steady, if small, flow of people coming in to support the campaign. It's funny, you know, for all of us ...

The romance of travel is still not dead…

This entry is written on, but not posted from, flight EZY5304 en route from Marrakech to Gatwick Airport. I’ve escaped with Ros for a little sunshine and relaxation after Federal Conference, in the company of her daughter Sally. Curiously, despite my reputation for globetrotting, I’ve never actually been to mainland Africa, so it’s been just a bit of an adventure. Now I admit that, for someone

The world gets smaller every day

I have to confess to having a carbon footprint the size of Wiltshire. Indeed, Ros jokes that Liberal Democrats don’t pay a supplement on their registration to cover the environmental impact of the conference, they do it to make up for my personal carbon dioxide emissions. Naturally, in an attempt to save us all from the potential harm done by climate change, Liberal Democrats have led the way

Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry has started blogging. Amazingly, there is now a blogger who writes posts - well "blessays" (aawww, sweet) at even more length than Alex Wilcock

I'm a liberal guy, too cool for the macho ache...

I suppose that I really ought to note Iain Dale's new book, a rather dramatically expanded version of last year's guide to political blogging in the UK. Last year, he very graciously ranked this blog 30th amongst Liberal Democrat blogs, much to my surprise at the time. This year, votes came from Liberal Democrat bloggers and I can now bask in the allegation that my ranking has climbed to 14th!

The 53rd best political blog in Britain

Iain Dale has posted his list of the top 500 political blogs in Britain, as voted for by the readers of his blog. The list is taken from Iain Dale's Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2007. When Iain published the first (much slimmer) edition last year he ranked the blogs himself and Liberal England was ranked at no. 30. This time it is no. 53. As Iain was kind enough to name me as the third most underrated political blog in Britain recently, this is actually rather higher than I thought this blog would appear. He mounts a ...

Day 2450: Suicide Boris Blunders In

Thursday: We woke this morning to the sound of Mr Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson spluttering his way though an interview on the The Today Programme and denying that it was inevitable that he would be the Conservatory candidate for London Mayor. Inevitably, he is. I am not sure what was more alarming – the fact that he appeared to have done NO PREPARATION for the interview whatsoever, or the possiblity that this is what he is like when he HAS! "Um um um um um," he said in reply to a question about terrorism. Terrifying indeed! But I am ...

Labour website take the pee

The Let's Be Sensible blog has a funny story about Labour's website. They have been asking for comments on the official Labour party website on Gordon's Brown's speech. However, if you click on the Labour Party site in question, every time someone mentions the word "speech", Labour's special filtering software removes the word "pee" from the middle of the word, presumably it's a word that ha been used too often in the past by people commenting on what Labour have been doing. So now every time someone mentions the word "speech", in a story directly linked to Gordon brown's speech, ...

Day 2459: Cyber Cars and Homing Crocodiles

Wednesday: The people of Daventry in Northamptonshire are planning an experiment to cut congestion and pollution by introducing a fleet of ELECTRIC ROBOT TAXIS that will come at the push of a button and take you to your destination before finding their way home again. Meanwhile in Australia, scientists are questioning the policy of shipping crocodiles off away from popular beaches to remote areas after discovering that the dinosaur-outliving reptiles can be taken to a remote destination before finding their way home again. Saaaay, you don't think there's a CONNECTION do you?

Saturday 29th September 2007

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