I live in Little Bowden, a village which has been all but engulfed by Market Harborough. So here is a plug for the Little Bowden Society's website. One interesting point is that Little Bowden was in Northamptonshire until about a hundred years ago. The county boundary was moved as Market Harborough began to spread south to the River Welland. Which means that my house was in Northamptonshire when it was built. 
Fascinating stuff from Sinclair's Musings: Parental will is weak because of relativism. Though they want the best for their children they feel guilty about placing any stricture upon their behaviour. They have spent a lifetime being told that to be judgemental is the worst kind of sin. In the adult sphere they are expected not to tolerate every moral choice but to go way beyond that bar and treat them as equal.As a result they don't feel at all credible themselves when confronting their children and telling - for example - their nine year-old that dressing like Christina Aguilera isn't ...
The street I live in has to be one of the best in the entire world. Tonight 30 of us went to see Joseph in Edinburgh. On Saturday, we are having our street Christmas Party. This year we have celebrated four 40th birthdays and numerous other parties together, and we all get on so well. In a country where many people don't know their neighbours, I have to thank mine for being such good fun.
This time last year, Keith Jack was working in Tesco, Dalkeith, directing irate shoppers to the sausagemeat and wrestling with huge piles of Christmas baubles and selection boxes. I can't imagine that he realistically thought that a year on he'd have a key role in a major production of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat which opened at the Edinburgh Playhouse tonight to a wildly cheering 3000 strong audience, including 30 from my street. We supported him all through "Any Dream Will Do" and were delighted to see him become runner up. His role in Joseph is that of the ...
BBC Political Correpsonsent Nick Assinder reveals on the Corporation's Commons Confidential Blog that Charles Kennedy has told journalists at a press gallery lunch that a candidate had taken his children to London where they visited the famous Madame Tussauds waxworks and found the model of Mr Kennedy so convincing they had their picture taken with it, at some cost. I've been using it in my 
A boy in Norfolk will not be allowed to keep £44,000 in cash he was sent in a Playstation 2 box he bought off ebay. The police ahve returned it to the Pakistani businessman concerned. The businessman gives his excuse in THIS story on the Eastern Daily Press website. Can you smell something ?
I'm sorry, please can someone explain what the point of the new 8 O'clock news bulletin is ? The news only finishes at 7pm on BBC One whilst if you have BBC News 24 (which nearly 70% of the country have now on Freeview, cable or Sky), you are just a click away from the news. Taken with the fact that the BBC also do a 60 second news on BBC Three almost every hour and news bulletins on BBC4 too, you have to ask why there is this overkill of news "lite" on the BBC. This excludes the plethora ...
Redbridge Liberal Democrats — including seven local councillors — gathered at the library in Barkingside this evening, to hear Dee Doocey outline what she gets up to on the GLA, not just as one of the List members (and therefore with London-wide responsibilities) of the Assembly, but notably as Chair of the Economic Development, Culture, [...]
Spot the difference? Three times longer. Three times the leadership potential.
Further to my recent posting on the controversy surrounding a group of gypsies taking up residence in a Somerset field - this letter has appeared on the council's website today from the gypsy traveller in question. You can also view it at tauntondeane.gov.uk - clicking on the planning pages and typing in '06/2007/064'. "I wish to apply my gypsy status to my planning application and would like to object to a full stop order being imposed at the next council meeting. I cannot be there as I have other commitments. I would also like to add I am absolutely disgusted ... 
Bloody Hell. This is simply amazing. Now as even the official press coverage admits the details need a little work but the Lib Dem/Conservative minority administration has announced firm plans, starting next financial year, to build the first new Council homes in the City for 30 years. A clear target of 5000 new properties has been set. There is no greater failure by the political class over the last 30 years than the failure to see the Housing crisis coming and do anything about it. At least recently we have started to talk about it but, in Leeds at any ...
Incredibly, the Plain English Society have actually found someone who mangles the English language even more than George W Bush. They have awarded their latest set of Golden Bull awards, and the winner of the 'coveted' Foot in Mouth award is..... Steve McLaren - (who said he'd never win anything with the English?) McLaren's impressive contribution, 'He (Wayne Rooney) is inexperienced, but he's experienced in terms of what he's been through.' (Makes a foreign manager seem much more attractive somehow. At least he'd be likely to have a better grasp of the language.) My favourite entry was this one from ...
MPs Matthew Taylor (Truro and St. Austell) and John Leech (Manchester Withington) are now on board for Chris - confirming that his momentum is continuing to grow. Matthew Taylor said: “I have taken my time to decide this time, because both candidates have excellent qualities. The pressures of the campaign hustings, interviews and debates reveal a lot about leadership quality, and over and over Chris Huhne has shown experience counts when it matters most - under pressure. “I am sure Nick Clegg will one day make an excellent leader too, but Chris has shown that he has right now what ...
November was not prolific on this Blog. On a personal level Chez Morton has had better times. On a political level there were two events that were the Equivalent of being bottled off stage while being slow hand clapped. This raises two blogging dilemmas ( Is it pompous to think Blogging an Art Form and therefore has dilemmas?) Firstly given that Blogs thrive on regular readership, should you just plough on regardless, even when times are tough? Secondly given that Blogs are about Topicality can you write retrospectives weeks after an events? I suspect the answers is "Yes" and " ...
Anyone outline plans for a nationalisation of a private company would until recently have been laughed out of any debating society, and a politician demanding such action might have been expected to be regarded as a dinosaur of the Labour left representing some former mining area of the country. yet acting Lib Dem leader Vincent Cable is demanding such action at the moment and increasingly more and more people are accepting his arguments. Okay, so it is an exceptional circumstance. Who would have thought that a major UK financial institution would suddenly suffer such crippling financial problems as those suffered ...
Sorry to go on about this, Iain I was loitering with intent on Conservative Home and saw the following comments under the posting about the Maidstone and Weald selection. The following exchange of comments is most intriguing: I understand that Maidstone & The Weald have still not informed applicants of the results of their sift (Cambs NE did so about 10 days ago) and I'm hearing that the
One Piece of Uncomplicated Good news for the area is the Community Buy out of the Natural Food Store on North Lane, Headingley. ( Its number 23 opposite the Green Grocers ) The story is a familiar one. A Small and Independent shop was under threat of closure. The existing leaseholders wanted to retire and in that location it would have been a very lucrative takeaway or letting agency. However an off shoot of the Headingley Development Trust decided to attempt a Community buy out - and it worked. I'm told the financing was a bit touch and go but ...
This question was asked as part of the latest populus poll for The Times: The Liberal Democrats are currently in the process of choosing a new leader to replace Ming Campbell, who resigned last month. The two candidates for leader are Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne. From what you have seen & heard of this contest so far, which of them do you think would be most likely to improve the party's prospects? If you have no opinion either way, or don't know enough about the candidates to have a view, please say so Here are the key findings: All ...
"The rag was soaked rapidly. Water flowed everywhere: in my mouth, in my nose, all over my face. But for a while I could still breathe in some small gulps of air. I tried, by contracting my throat, to take in as little water as possible and to resist suffocation by keeping air in my lungs for as long as I could. But I couldn't hold on for more than a few moments. I had the impression of drowning, and a terrible agony, that of death itself, took possession of me. In spite of myself, all the muscles of my ...
I was very sad to hear today that one of my Labour predecessors as a Headingley Councillor, Paul Moxon, has died. Paul was a Local GP for over 20 Years, a local resident for a good while and a decent Councillor. I didn't know him well but three things always struck me as a measure of the man. Firstly when he lost his seat and clearly wasn't trying to get it back he kept on loads of unpaid and unglamourous roles in the community. Secondly he attracted the ultimate accolade in Local Politics, the personal vote. This doesn't happen without ...
I went with my wife for the first ultrasound scan of our third baby a while ago and it was as magical of an experience this time as it has been the previous two. Actually seeing the little baby mooning me and sticking its fingers up its nose really brings home just how amazing the whole pregnancy and birth process is. But, I wanted to take a few photos in the room for prosperity and maybe take a quick video clip to send the rest of the family. But when I got my camera out I was shot down by ...
There are two issues that I want to talk about relating to censorship. I've been muddling my responses to them together, so this is really a post to clarify my own thinking. 1. Torture porn Basically, I think that films like Sin City are pretty gross. I usually avoid them, and only saw Sin City on the basis of faulty advice (and left the cinema when Clive Owen started chopping dead bodies up). Honestly, I don't think that Sin City is really the worst offender, because most of the films I put in the "torture porn" category involve a lot ...
(Is it a wonder that most blog posts are fatuous? Bloggers must surely expend most of their mental energies thinking up suitably punnishing titles - I know I do!) I find the current discussions on child poverty infuriating. The notion of 60% of median as a floating scale for child poverty is, frankly, bonkers. We should be looking at how much it costs to actually house, feed, clothe, etc a child today. If a parent doesn't have that much money to spend on their children, then those children should be definitionally "in poverty". Otherwise not. Okay, it may be that ...
Question: Can you spot the odd one out from this list of 5 political events? 1. September 2004: Russian President Vladimir Putin commits to democracy, the market economy and press freedom. 2. February 2005: Former Pakistani premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif sign a three-point agreement for promoting democracy in Pakistan. 3. January 2006: President Bush calls the landslide win by the radical Islamist group Hamas in Palestinian parliamentary elections a reminder of the "power of democracy". 4. June 2006: Tony Blair reminds us that our job is “to stand with the thousands of people who are fighting for democracy" ...
I'm delighted to publicise this years Bingo Bells! Production from Hyde Park Unity Day. More Delighting still ( erm...) is that I shall be appearing as Santa Claus. The Bingo Bells Christmas Cabaret will be at 7 pm this Saturday 15th of December. The Venue is Wrangthorne Church Hall off Hyde Park Corner (AKA St Augustines). Its very Child friendly, there will be mince pies and sherry and fun for all the family. A caberet is a bit of a departure from the ususal panto theme but will be endless fun. Admission is £2.50.
Redcar and Cleveland Council's Road Safety Team is offering free winter car checks next week to ensure your car is both legal and prepared for the winter months. The free drop-in clinics will check the vehicle's lights, tyre treads, examine windscreen wiper blades and windscreen wash reservoir levels and top up if required. They will also confirm any child seats are fitted correctly and provide information on many road safety issues to help you keep your licence and keep you and others safe this winter. Dates, venues and times are: Monday, December 17: Asda car park, South Bank, 10am-3pm. Tuesday, ...
A busy day (largely in Edinburgh) and having issued a news release about the Botanic Gardens concerns (pasted below), I was interviewed by both Radio Tay and Wave 102 (the latter whilst on a train to Edinburgh!) about the situation. The matter is also covered in today's Courier and Evening Telegraph. The meetings in Edinburgh were with my TACTRAN hat on - along with my Regional Transport Partnership Chair colleagues from across Scotland, we met firstly with COSLA and thereafter with John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Sustainable Growth, and Stewart Stevenson, the Transport Minister. On my way ...
I wanted to digest this news before passing comment on it and now I have reflected here is my take. Now I'm sorry dispite all the protestations that come out of Linlithgow's most powerful son, he is anything but a mere constituency MSP, in the same way that the MP for Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath is anything but merely and MP. Imagine the uproar there would have been if say a certain billionaire
A couple of months ago I attended a town forum meeting to look at ways that our town centres could be improved. I was reminded of this last night when speaking to a resident who was expressing their dismay at the state of the High Street. In the last few months we have lost Argos, Pizza Hut and now apparently Mothercare is closing. One of the big problems with Chipping Barnet is parking. The Spires shopping centre car park has recently put up it's prices and the Council car park is no cheaper. Shoppers can go to Borehamwood or Brent ...
Should sex education be compulsory in all schools? If your answer to that question is no, may I recommend you watch - Kizzy: Mum at 14, tonight at 2230 on BBC3, you may just change your mind. What struck me was what Kizzy herself had to say about sex education. Kizzy says "Since I got pregnant, I've learnt so much about contraception, abortions and sex”. Now hang on a minute. Can that be right? Should our teenagers really be learning about sex after they have tried it? Surely thats like bolting the stable door once the horse has bolted. I ...
I have read today that Al Bangura, a young professional footballer with Championship leaders Watford, is to be deported. This is crazy and makes a nonsense of the whole deportation system. We read constantly about convicted criminals who have had their "human rights breached" because we have attempted to deport them back to their country's of origin. Yet, when it comes to someone from Sierra Leone who escaped at the age of 15, has become a professional footballer, earning a very good living and paying a large amount in tax to the UK economy, which is more than paying his ...
Barack Obama was not doing as well as might be expected amongst "African-American" voters. Oprah's endorsement has changed all that, at least in South Carolina. Obama has surged ahead by six points.
Now that Conrad Black is in the slammer for six and a half years, will the Conservative Party be paying back money that Black donated to them (given that one of his convictions is for defrauding shareholders) especially in the run-up to the bestowal of his peerage, for which he was recommended by William Hague? After all, the Tories keep on banging on about wanting the LibDems to pay back money
The Voice doesn’t normally obsess over each individual new opinion poll, but today’s MORI poll is of interest as it has a question about the leadership election: Q6 Which one of the following politicians I am going to read out, if any, would you like to see lead the Liberal Democrats? Base: 938 British adults 18+ % Chris Huhne 12 Nick [...]
During my morning trawell of the newspaper websites the other day I came across a piece on the Times site about Australian saying goodbye to the Queen - but as with most newspaper stories, the interesting stuff was in the comments. You see, journalists have a fairly limited space (often restricted by number of words or time) to put a story together - so they pick key points and hope they’ve got the gist across. The point of this story was that the new Australian Prime Minister is a republican, in the ‘not wanting to be a monarchy’ sense and ...
You can view the beta version of the new look BBC Homepage right now and it seems to have been up since Sunday. http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/beta/ Share This
In a week or so’s time, the Lib Dems will have a new leader - either Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne will have succeeded Ming Campbell. Lib Dem Voice is inviting party members to tell us what you think should be his top priorities. Paul Walter got the ball rolling yesterday. Today, it’s Linda Jack’s [...]
From today's Times: Officials admitted yesterday that, following a risk assessment, there was only an 80 per cent chance that the Games would be delivered within the £8 billion ODA budget In other news, the world is "only" 70 per cent water and that canoeist was "only" 99 per cent lying.
Is it a) Vince Cable The acting Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, has written to the prime minister to urge him to introduce a bill in parliament before Christmas to permit “temporary” nationalisation of the bank. … Cable said efforts to sell to a private buyer had so far failed and temporary measures must be taken [...]
This is all very predictable stuff but what else is there to do? The budget motion this afternoon has 19 tabled amendments, only one makes a suggestion as to an alternative way forward. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have asked that new commitments in the One Wales programme be postponed in order for the Government to focus on core services. The problem is that the budget is so vague that it is difficult to pin down specific commitments within it and that makes it very hard to be more constructive. It is also the case that this is the Government's budget ...
I have worked in the NHS, in various jobs, from 1986 until 2006. I started as a physio department porter, then night telephonist, occasional CSSD storesman, domestic assistant in Stoke-on-Trent, and then as a student nurse in Hull. I flunked the Health Promotion section of the Foundation examinations. I was then a nursing assistant [...]
Perhaps The Guardians Q&A on the Terror Detention Limit could be a little more explicit on exactly what it means by..... And the position of the Home Affairs Select Committee? Its 14 members are badly, according to reports. Well, that's clear as mud then.
Sorry for bunging up the aggregator with random cack this morning ("What's new?" I hear the cry). I have taken feedback and will do roundy-uppy type posts for my other blog in future - like this one.
My blog of the 17th November suggested that Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was running a close second in the important Iowa Primary. Latest polls have him in the lead and t...
Well done to LibDem Voice for starting LDVUSA, in respect of the upcoming US Presidential primaries and election campaign proper. Paul Elgood commented on the relevant thread: I’ve just got back from the States, and it seems that the two with fresh momentum (this week) are Obama and Huckabee. Political Wire this morning provides more evidence for this Obama/Huckabee trend (which coincidentally
I love this post by Meral Ece, our acting leader seems to be making a habit of turning down invitations to go to what are traditionally perceived as Rather Important Events.
As part of the investing in Camden’s homes consultation two sisters from Belsize have been awarded top prize in the Council’s ‘Picture your home’ art competition. Sisters Natasha Petrie-Baker (11) and Alexandra Petrie-Baker (14) were announced joint winners in the age 11-14 category. Samuel Alferink (8) from Holborn won the age 7-10 category. More than 80 children aged 14 or under, from across Camden, entered the ‘Picture your home’ competition, which was launched to help children and young people to have their say on the Council’s plans to invest in Camden’s homes. Entrants submitted hand-crafted pictures of their home, along ...
This evening is the annual State of the Borough Debate. It is a special meeting of Full Council when members of the public can raise questions about the broader issues within Kingston. Community leaders have been specifically invited, but anyone can attend and join in. They will have to put up with speeches from the Leader and Leader of the Opposition, as well as other councillors -...
The US-styled ‘Children’s Plan’ is, linguistically, like saying this is a plan that Children themselves would actually want. Once again, children are Labour’s favourite political football. Against the Children’s Plan? You’re against children! Of course, this is the same Labour Party that’s given us Academies as a “gift” to children living in deprived areas, replacing failing schools. The headline: Expensive and smart state of the art education facilities for those most in need. That’s a good thing, right? The reality? I got talking to a teacher for one of these academies, who told me a tale that chilled me. He ...
I'm pleased to hear that our team in Westminster have forced a debate on the Military Covenant on Wednesday. The Covenant is an unwritten agreement between our military forces and the nation - a pact that means our service personnel agree to lose certain rights, even make the ultimate sacrifice for the defence of Britain. In return Britain must take care of our military, and their dependants, ensuring their welfare is taken care of. The Royal British Legion have declared the Covenant broken, by this Labour Government, and are campaigning for it to be Honoured. Our top Military Chief, Sir ...
I was holed up in bed with man flu over the weekend and so missed Chris addressing the climate change rally in central London, but extracts from his speech are now available on his campaign web site. Liberal Democrat leadership contender Chris Huhne called for the international community to by-pass the Bush White House if that is what it takes to achieve an ambitious new treaty on climate change. At last Bush is isolated. His is the only government not to send a high-level delegation to Bali. Across America ordinary Americans are saying enough is enough, and taking environmental action ...
Travelodge give free Christmas rooms for couples called "Mary and Joseph" /If you want to manage the England football team - don't be English /Aren't sunrises great? /Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire
Tomorrow the Plain English Campaign will award its annual prizes for clear language and its justly celebrated Golden Bulls for the, er, not quite so clear. The press release quotes the Bulls in mocking detail, if you fancy a smile. It has always seemed to me that the Campaign suffers from a couple of key misapprehensions, which [...]
Unseemly scenes on Lemon Quay last Saturday. Every year the Mayor holds a Charity Day where local charities take stalls in a marquee on the Quay. The Transition Truro team unfurled their banner for a photo opportunity and Labour PPC Dr Charlotte MacKenzie, who has attached herself to the Greens to their increasing dismay, caught hold of one end of the banner and despite much tugging couldn't be dislodged. Not while there was a camera there, anyway! I only mention this small matter because Dr C is keen to be in my blog. I've published two of her comments, but ...
It was like a total eclipse of the sun on Today this morning. David Cameron was talking about economics! Flush the loo and you miss it for another five years. So, any substance? He wants regulation to ensure that mortgage lenders share credit risk data. Fantastic. And? er....that's it. But he has been talking to HBOS and Lloyds and lots of other bankers. He's had lots of prawn cocktails
Here's the fax I've sent off, via the invaluable WriteToThem, in response to my MPs letter from earlier this month in which he supported Guantanamo Bay: Dear James Clappison, Thank you for your letter dated 26th November 2007 regarding your decision not to support Amnesty International’s campaign to close Guantanamo Bay. I can appreciate that, as your constituent, I should not expect you to do
Driving to work this morning I faced, along with hundreds of other drivers, the nightmare of trying to drive across four lanes of traffic across the Norwich inner ring road when the traffic lights failed on the Drayton High Road near Asda. This will mean little to people who don't live in Norwich, but believe me, it is a nightmare junction when the traffic lights do work. I wondered how long it would take for a police car to arrive, and was then shocked, as I finally made a dash across the four lanes to see a police van, sat ...
Well, I made it to the Christmas lights sitch on after work - too late to actually see them switched on, but not so late that I mssed either their full effect or indeed the free mince pies on offer in the Longfield Suite afterwards! The tree looks fab, and even the much maligned Retreat fountain looks an awful lot better now that it isn’t surrounded by fencing. Unfortunately it isn’t fully functional as yet because the sloped part is missing some kind of valve or other (Cllr O’Hanlon tried to explain but I was momentarily distracted by a spare ...
Dear Friend, As I’m sure you know this is the last week of the Liberal Democrat leadership contest. For your vote to count it needs arrive by first post on Saturday. So if you haven’t already voted I urge you to do so now. We are fortunate to have two excellent candidates to be leader. I would [...]
At our monthly executive last night, our outgoing Chair, Ian Barnes (who has presided for three years over our most successful period in terms of membership gains and seats won), asked how everyone had voted in the leadership contest. The result: Huhne 9, Clegg 1. But as someone said, the majority of activists went for Huhne last time too...(PS I was one of the nine).
Linda Jack has given her 10 reasons to vote for Nick Clegg, all of which I can agree with. I doubt I can do it as eloquently as her, but I feel I should have a try: He is a Liberal who knows how to communicate Liberal values to the very many people who have not yet voted for us; he has already done this on a smaller scale in the East Midlands and can do so now across the UK; He is brave enough to risk prison to protect our civil liberties; he was brave enough to give up ...
I have an interest in romantic 19th century poet Robert Bloomfield. Such an obscure poet (he was the best selling poet of his lifetime and indeed one of the best selling of the entire Victorian period) means you end up referencing your interest by the 'other' more household names. In the case of Robert Bloomfield these are John Clare and William Blake. Clare was the great articulation of rural england and his reputation is increasingly being restored to public attention - Blake has enjoyed long recognition as illustrator, artist, poet and of course the author of 'jerusalem'. But of course, ... | < | December 2007 | > | ||||
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