First laugh of Question Time was for Liam Fox's squirming remark that the "half a million undeclared by George Osbourne" is "not the same thing at all" as the Hain imbroglio. "Pot", "Kettle", "black" was mentioned by a subsequent audience member. Chris Huhne is doing fantastically well on Northern Rock. The Tories have two representatives on the panel, while we are lucky to get one most weeks. 
I know all regions want their own club to be part of. We have NAFTA, The EU, SEATO, and I am sure I am doing a disservice by missing many more. But of all of them, is their an organisation as wholly useless as the African Union. Whenever there is a conflict, a coup, a civil war, indeed, any sort of trouble in Africa, Africans demand an African solution, at which point the Africa union is rolled out. However in each and every case they turn up, they have some meetings, they might send a few peacekeepers, but in truth ...
My electric meter reading yesterday afternoon was 000000! This is because Eon contacted me at the start of the new year and said it was time to replace my electric meter, which had reached the end of its life. So yesterday, we went from this meter, with its old dials and wheels, and the wheel at the front to show how fast we were using power: {Old meter} To this soulless white monstrosity: {New meter} On the way, we also lost our radio teleswitch. No more thunks at 8am as the house is remotely switched off the Economy 7 tarif. ...
Where would you like to celebrate your 67th birthday (if you haven't already done so) 1. Working in Kabul (photo on left)2. Relaxing in Norton sub Hamden (photo on right)After saying a few months ago, sensibly in my view, that he was concentrating on being a gardener and a grandfather, Paddy is choosing option 1.After a couple of pints I would probably call him "mad" to take this option. But to
Congratulations to First Group on keeping the need for specialised school buses before the public. Admittedly, the company will be looking for a commercial return on their investment, but it is open to other bus companies to do the same. The Evening Post featured the campaign last week.
They say that, with the exception of losing a close relative, moving house is the most stressful thing in the world. They obviously haven’t sat through a Prestwich LAP meeting when street cleaning is on the agenda, but other than that minor omission, I reckon they are more or less right. We are in the process of moving at present. From Clifton Road to Butterstile Close. Last week we exchanged contracts, having been informed by our solicitor to get buildings insurance straight away because “now that you’ve exchanged, if the house blows up you still have to buy it.” With ...
Pink Dog is rooting for Michael Crick and more news about Sark. Presumably this refers to Jack Straw telling the Sark legislature that they must elect a democratic legislature without reserved seats for land owning tenants. Things have been bubbling away in Sark for a while. The owners of the Telegraph and many other media outlets, the Barclay family, live on Brecqhou, which is a small island
Tonight I attended my third Council-related meeting of the week, and this time it was the turn of Rainsough Tenants and Residents Association. It was their first meeting of the year, and it was great to see well over two dozen people in attendance, including representatives from the police, Six Town Housing, Salix Housing (from Salford), and two Councillors including me, as well as lots of tenants and residents of course. We seem to be making a bit of progress on improving the park on Kersal Road, and I have this evening made further enquiries with the Council to see ...
I've seen several articles about this very worrying piece of research. Research carried out in Hackney, showed that Black women are more likely to get breast cancer earlier- 46, than white women - 67. Worse still, they are more susceptible to the more aggressive form of cancer. Hackney has a very large Black community, with high levels of socio-economic deprivation, which disproportionately affects its Black communities. More research is still ongoing looking at causes, but there's no doubt that a higher take up of early screening is a factor for improved survival rates for all women.
Where's the last place on earth you should put an angry young heroin addict who has just stolen from a supermarket to fund their habit Prison. Prison doesn't work. David Heath MP has recently commented that: "Far too many young people are imprisoned when there are other more appropriate sentences. Prison sentences of less than six months simply dont work and should be replaced by tough community sentences."Yes! Tough community sentences coupled with rehabilitation. A Home Office document 205 states that: "Arrestees who tested positive for three or more drugs reported on average three times as many offences as those ... 
This time, another trip to Estonia Always a pleasure to come to a country where the safety Nazis do not have the last word Also a place where Liberalism is a given- the answer is always "why not"instead of "why bother" The whining Daily Mail subtext of fear and defeat seems to be a very long way from a country where the worst already happened. When you meet Estonians the verbs are never "can not", only "possible, although difficult". What a relief from the fear and negativity of 98% of British politics. Perhaps that explains why Estonians will be richer ...
Chris Huhne, Lib Dem shadow home secretary, and the man 49% of the party voted to be its leader, is one of the panellists on 2008s first edition of Question Time tonight (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT). He’ll be alongside Labour’s Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, the Tories’ shadow defence secretary Liam Fox, [...]
http://www.london-eating.co.uk/1626.htm
My favourite peeress Baroness Ros Scott has started a blog this week - using one of my favourite Blogspot templates. You can find her writings here. She’s not the only Lib Dem member of the House of Lords to write a blog. Eric Avebury - Lord Lubbock - can be found here. And you can still find the writings of Lord Garden here - but his sad death last year means he won’t be updating any more.
I've never been a fan of PFI schemes. They are simply a ruse to allow the government to pass debt off to agencies, councils and other public bodies, at an inflated rate, so that the government does not look like it is getting in to debt. For example. a few years ago the government paid of several billion pounds of the national debt with money received from 3G phone licenses. However, in the same year NHS trusts, and other public bodies borrowed money in the form of PFI schemes. So what is wrong with that The difference is that the ...
Alan and I started this morning in the pouring rain at the open space between Hindhead and the end of Hazel Slade. Older teenagers have been playing some pretty rough games of football on this grass for months now and making life miserable for the residents of this little road through their rudeness and foul language. Most of us don't want the open space to disappear but we also don't want this
One of the attractions for me of Saturday’s Lib Dem Manifesto Group One-Day Conference was the opportunity to informally debate a range of issues and their implications for policy. It is a rare opportunity and one that I think we should consider using more, both at party conferences and beyond. So, in the morning I [...]
So the Bexhill Observer informs us: Speaking in the Lords, Labour peer Lord Berkeley said the book contained sufficient evidence to warrant the opening of a new inquiry into the death of the government weapons inspector in 2003. In his exchange with the Minister, Lord Berkeley highlighted the unsatisfactory, non-statutory nature of the Hutton Inquiry and the [...]
I set myself the challenge of writing a whimsical, ironic and irritating blog post using no more than 22 words. Mission Accomplished!
The Spectators Coffee House blog is reporting that the House of Commons clerks have kaiboshed Lib Dem plans to call for a referendum on the UKs membership of the European Union when Parliament debates the Lisbon (European reform) treaty: They have apparently told the Lib Dems that they can not put down an amendment to the [...]
Via Andrew Sullivan via Shane Greer, comes the response to Obama Girl: Share This
Dear oh dear Plaid dont seem to have got the hang of this being in government bit do they. No sooner is the change to the budget for local government announced than we have Dai Lloyd on the floor singing the praises of his party in securing the change. Plaid Cymru AM Dai Lloyd welcomed the final budget, saying, Todays announcement comes after weeks of intense activity by Plaid Cymru AMs and
Listened to Mayor Livingstone on Nick Ferari this morning. Ken really does have no shame. With all the muck flying about the London Development Agency (LDA) - known colloquially as Ken's Bank - around LDA funding and the behaviour of the Mayor's Policy Adviser, Lee Jasper - a decent Mayor would engage properly with the allegations. But - hey - cheeky chappy believes he is right whatever the situation. Evidence: see yesterday when he said that the investigation into the LDA funding was 'independent' - and then the financial officer of the LDA at an evidence session before the London ...
The Daily Telegraph says that Graeme Gerrard, head of CCTV at the Association of Chief Police Officers, has said Surveillance cameras do little, if anything, to prevent late night alcohol-fuelled crime and violence on Britain's high streets. The report goes on: He told a parliamentary committee that while other countries were astonished at the scale to which Britons were snooped on by the authorities, the evidence suggested CCTV had little impact on levels of late-night violence. He also admitted the public had been "misled" into believing that installing camera systems would have a big impact on anti-social behaviour.And it quotes ...
On Sunday I shall be hosting the BritBlog Roundup here on Liberal England. If you see any blog posts you think particularly fine over the next few days, please send the link to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com. Any posting from a British-based blog or a British-born blogger made before Sunday lunchtime can be be nominated. And, yes, you can nominate something from your own blog. 
The regime in the Kremlin is out to annoy the UK as much as possible, but the actual losers are Russian citizens. Article 44 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation provides: "(1) Everyone is guaranteed freedom of literary, artistic, scientific, intellectual and other types of creative activity and tuition. Intellectual property is protected by the law. (2) Everyone has the right to participation in cultural life, to the use of institutions of culture, and access to cultural values." This provision is in practice waste paper as individuals lose the opportunity to use British Council services. And the British Council's ...
Writing under the title Because Baronesses Are People Too, Ros Scott has joined the blogosphere. This is a good chance to remind you that Ros will be standing for president of the Liberal Democrats when Simon Hughes steps down later this year. She launched her campaign at last year's Lib Dem Conference, which was maybe on the early side, but I have been happy to carry her button on this blog ever since. It is on the strict understanding that Honeysuckle Weeks is not going to stand too.
I phoned TV Licencing yesterday to renew my TV licence. Basically I wanted to switch from a monthly to a quartely direct debit as I’m then paying for the licence as it comes up instead of in advance. Anyway it took about ten minutes to get through and finally speak to a person instead of listening to a long list of options followed by god awful music. I gave the guy my details (I didn’t have my current licence fee number but then who does) and after giving them to him the third time he said he would have to ...
prick. Having wanted the job for so long, Brown seems unable to grasp the idea that he is now the PM and that at PRIME MINISTER’S QUESTIONS he is the one doing the answering. I feel genuinely ashamed of PMQ’s. I know people always say it is just a theatrical show but there should be at least some meat in the debate, not just GB’s slimy fat. In his two weeks Clegg has bought up genuine issues that matter to people and, I for one, would actually like to know what the PM is doing about them. But all Brown ...
Just saying, but possibly, just possibly, the applications on Facebook need to be trimmed back a bit. Evidence for the prosecution, taken when I logged in today: I say possibly. Share This
As a lay member on Somerset Schools Appeals Panel I'd always assumed that schools in Somerset all operated under the same admissions code. It seems I may have been wrong. Today, I discovered that some schools are continuing to interview parents, assess their financial, marital and social status, (favouring those parents that had put them first), use subjective tests and criteria (asking why parents wanted that school) giving places to children on the basis of what interests, knowledge and even hobbies they liked. Clearly, these practices are wrong. Why are they wrong A new schools admission code was introduced last ...
Gavin Whenman’s realpolitik podcast highlighted this story in the Times. The government is to step up a Risk and Regulation Advisory Council - a body for common sense to combat what it sees as the increasing “cotton-wool” approach to risk in our lives. In itself this is not a bad idea. One of my bugbears is the lack of critical thinking in the general population and people’s inability to calculate real risk. But the project is misguided as it seems to pander to the common assumption that all these nannying approaches are caused by over-zealous apparatchiks of the HSE, who ...
For anyone who hasn't seen the latest episode of 'A Daily Show with John Stewart' (I deeply advise you to do so now if you haven't) you will have missed one of those interviews you really just had to see. Jonah Goldberg, author of 'Liberal Fascism: the secret history of the American left from Mussolini to the politics of Meaning', seems to be convinced that American Clintonesque liberalism is fascist. The interview went on for 18 minutes (I think that might be a record) so the editors had to cut it down to a 6 minute production which Jon Stewart ...
Fraser Nelson, writing on the Spectator's Coffee House blog, has heaped praise on Nick Clegg for his performance at Prime Minister's Questions this week: Nick Clegg had a brilliant point about the RICS projecting that home repossessions will rocket by 50 percent this year to 45,000. Brown was gloating about Americans losing their homes recently: this is toxic to him.
News reaches me from my old friend Sarah Carr in Hereford that the local Conservative-led Council plan to close or amalgamate more than 30 local schools! What I find really incredible is that the local Conservative candidate is running around distancing himself from the plans and blaming the government. He claims that no councillors new of these plans, and it has all come from council officers
...I shall now be hoist by it. The gods, clearly angered by my complacency, have decided to open the sluices in the heavens and provide the downpour we have been waiting for. Still, it shows the divine ones read my blog, which is nice.
I have a moment to comment on yesterdays Prime Ministers Question Time. Gordon Brown showed a remarkable skill in not answering both of Nick Cleggs questions on House repossessions. Nick opened by asking what comfort the Prime Minister could offer the 45,000 British families who now face the prospect of losing their homes this year Gordon Brown replied that he is determined to have low interest rates and that to have low interest rates we have to have low inflation; and to have low inflation we have to have a decent economic policy. This does not answer the question. Low ...
Terry Sanderson has an excellent article over on Comment is Free about the BA “Christian Martyr” case: In order to be fair to everybody, BA used a union-approved ballot system to ensure that those who worked on Christmas Day were fairly and objectively chosen. If their name came up, they were at liberty to negotiate with their colleagues to change shifts and days on a like-for-like basis. But not Nadia. She insisted that, because she was a Christian, she must not be required to work on Christmas Day - or Sunday, come to that. The tribunal commented: “[Eweida’s] insistence on ...
Juice Seller
David Laws, constituency MP for Yeovil, has signed a House of Commons motion calling for the Government to act to protect pensioners and others from the effects of above-inflation rises in fuel costs. He said: "The Government need to act quickly to stop millions of people falling into fuel poverty during 2008, including those making high pre-payment charges," "Pensioners are particularly at risk, as these increased will wipe out their winter fuel payments. The Government should urgently reconsider their decision to wait until 2012 to restore the link between the state pension and earnings." Here, here David! Why aren't we ...
The news here today has been dominated by the massive flooding in Oxfordshire, with reporters on BBC Radio Oxford falling over themselves to interview worried residents and ask the various agencies what they are doing, whether they learned any lessons from last July, whether they have enough sandbags, whether they are doing enough etc etc until radios across the county are thrown against whatever walls or hard surfaces are available nearby. Now BBC Radio Oxford did a great job last July, keeping everyone locally up to date with all the major problems which affected the county. Back then we were ...
Yes, its that time of year once again, when the Government decides that the best way to look like it is cracking down on wage inflation is to offer below-inflationary pay rises to civil servants noting, as usual, that MPs will be offered a rather more generous settlement. In my own beloved Revenue & Customs (HMRC), we are in the midst of a programme to cut staffing numbers by 25,000 over six
Rod Liddle in the Spectator is in particularly fine form this week, denouncing the idea of presumed consent for organ donations. He remarks that the BMA and GMC that are often criticised because they: fail to treat patients as human beings they are viewed instead as an array of disembodied, problematic health issues; a dodgy ticker here, clogged-up lungs there and so on My own view is that the correct liberal approach to expert opinion, whether from the medical or other professions should be one of respect for specific knowledge and expertise, but not one of uncritical deference. Even those ...
Well I might moan about planning, but there's no doubt that it's important to people. A four and a half hour Planning Committee meeting last night, with a couple of controversial issues and quite a crowd. People get quite passionate and it's good that they get to see the Committee deliberating. What does annoy me though is the Committee Members who get up and go as soon as the issues in their Ward are dealt with. There was nothing for Truro, the nearest was in Malpas, but I stuck out the full session. One Tory wandered in and out during ...
As the Realpolitik podcast reaches double-digits, Richard and myself discuss The potential Northern Rock nationalisation, the first since 1977 - will it be this governments Black Wednesday A donations scandal rears its ugly head once again, this time Peter Hain and George Osborne are involved, along with 80 Tory MPs, if Labour are to be believed. Race becomes [...]
It's that time of the year again. Councils across the country are considering their budgets, to the usual chorus of cheap political point scoring. But that's not the point of this post. I believe we have seen a 'Culture of Crisis' evolve in local government. It's a culture which is so often irrational where officers and councillors indulge in a feeding frenzy living off each others fears. Council financial reports are structured in such a way that what the private sector would call of change of direction or new priorities, becomes a cutback or is underfunded. Budgets are rigid and ...
Go, Michael, go. Don't let Mr Paxman's dismay put you off. Carry on reporting about Sark! Don't let him shut you up next time!
Edward Davie (no relation) on ePolitix passes "The Verdict" on Prime Minister's Questions each week. So far, Nick Clegg has beaten David Cameron both times: 9th January Verdict: Gordon Brown: 6/10 - Not bad but he set the bar low in '07. David Cameron: 6/10 - Some way to go if he is trying emulate Obama. Nick Clegg: 8/10 - Sensible question, competently delivered - a sure-footed debut. 16th
The Russian governments blatant bullying of British Council staff is the latest in a series of gifts for nostalgic journalists. Whilst rising tensions between the UK and Russia perhaps shouldn't be an excuse for trawling over Cold War clichés, its easy to see why everyone is tempted. They're rather like comfort food. Dealing in edgy language and unfamiliar terms to describe the dynamic complex threat of Jihadist terror is a tiring business. So it may feel like something of a sinecure to hark back to a simpler, if no less frightening time, when the west stood nose-to-nose with a single ...
Just a slight drawback to the recent frenzy of ridding the house of the mountain of paper which has accumulated over recent years. Several carrier bags as well as the blue bag went outside on Tuesday morning ready for our ever-willing collectors. Unfortunately, one of the bags went out in error as I realised when one of the men knocked at the door to return the plastic box of money which had
The nominations deadline for the Campaign for Gender Blog Awards is 1 February, so you still have time to nominate your facvourites. Were particularly keen to hear your suggestions for the best blog post. Of the three categories, this is the one we have had the fewest nominations for, and while it is a less eclectic [...]
Labour Minister Lord Digby Jones has been caught in a row over his shareholding in a firm set to benefit significantly from government plans for the NHS. Two Labour MPs have reported 80 Conservative MPs to the Electoral Commission over donations from unincorporated associations. Good news for Peter Hain: he has won the backing of his local [...]
For too long the North London Line has sat neglected and tatty. It is without a doubt one of the most useful lines of transport in London - for starters it goes across London (east west) rather than the perennial north south, second it stops in places people live in rather than just shopping centres (such as Brondesbury Park) and third it goes to really useful places (connecting at Willesden Junction, down to both Stratford and Kew). However, for a long time now it has felt low grade - unstaffed at night, poorly lit, subject to a lot of graffiti ...
Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating carriageway overlay and cycleway works. The Order is expected to be in force for eleven days from 9 February 2008. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months. The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in A85 Riverside Avenue from Riverside Drive to a point 100 metres or thereby west of Wright Avenue. Access to Dundee Airport and retail parks will be maintained from the East. Access to Wright ...
Plaid Cymru abandoned yet another of their policies yesterday as they continued their love-in with New Labour. They have previously reversed their position on a local income tax and fair voting for local government. Yesterday Plaid voted against a motion which called on the UK Government to drop plans for compulsory ID cards. They also helped to vote down a motion that noted the incompetence of the UK Government in ensuring the security of individuals personal data. Although I accept that being in a coalition government can limit the room for manoeurve for a political party, I had not realised ...
It would seem the conservative chickens have finally coming home to roost. The BBC has reported that as many as eighty Tory MPs have now been referred to the Electoral Commission for failing to properly declare cash given to them by fund-raising "patrons' clubs". Of those 80, 13 are said to be members of the conservative shadow cabinet, and include both the conservative party leader, David Cameron and Shadow Chancellor George Osborne. A spokesman for the Conservative Party has said that the complaint is "a desperate and hypocritical stunt by the Labour Party designed to deflect attention from their own ...
Before I start to write this post, I think its important to say, right from the start, that I am not against the parents of 10-month-old Rhianna Hardie. In fact, I have every sympathy for them. When Matthew Hardie and Charlene Haworth were fighting to ensure steps were taken to prevent such a tragedy ever happening again, I too voiced my support. When they fought to get justice for Rhianna, I admired their courage. However, as they now fight for financial compensation, I am saddened and disappointed. Is this what the death of a child now comes down to. Their ...
Last night was a Special Cabinet meeting. The first item on the agenda was the decision on the new concessionary bus fares scheme, which will allow the over-60s to travel anywhere in the country on local buses for free between at least 9.30am and 11pm. Unfortunately, Darlington's proposed variation of this scheme will mean free travel is being withdrawn before 9.30. As the Leader said, if you're
It seems that Jeremy Browne MP and I are in total agreement when it comes to the provision of affordable housing in Taunton Deane. Heres what he had to say in his weekly column in the Somerset County Gazette; Many people in Taunton Deane are desperate to find suitable housing. There is a real shortage of social accommodation with people staying on the council waiting list for years. First time buyers also struggle because the average property now costs so much more than the average Somerset wage. Middle-aged people who were delighted to see their home soar in value are ...
Inspired by the welcome news that Helena Bonham-Carter has purchased The Wharf at Sutton Courtney, which was once the home of her great grandfather H. H. Asquith, Iain Sharpe offers a survey of the current state of the homes of other Liberal prime ministers. This brings to mind the extraordinary boyhood home of the Liberal leader Sir Archibald Sinclair (John Thurso's grandfather). My knowledge of it comes from a memory of reading the opening chapter of Gerard J. De Groot's Liberal Crusader: The Life of Sir Archibald Sinclair, though I will admit that it does sound just the sort of ...
In the summer Grace and I went to the Electric Gardens Festival. One artist we stumbled across on the second stage (a tent) was Newton Faulkner. He was excellent. I see he has been nominated in the Brits this week in the Best Male Solo Artist category. Thoroughly deserved. Here he is covering Teardrop by Massive Attack:
Avid followers of the bits of furniture in my sidebar may have, at some point, clicked on my link to the Real News. If so, they may have looked and thought "huh... not a lot to see here". Which at the time was true. However, lately, the site has really hit its stride, so I have added to my sidebar their blog applet for playing their videos. I do hope people make use of it, or go look at the full
Monday Torchwood's back! So here's Daddy with some proper Doctor Who: First, a confession. Simon is a friend. That's why my name is included in the acknowledgements, much undeserved. Beyond consultation on one or two little points of science and continuity I didn't contribute nearly so much at all, unlike Alex who proof-read, argued points extensively and is certainly responsible for placing the Chapter One cliff-hanger (which is therefore obviously the best). And for some reason Alex was very nervous about how I was going to react to the finished book. Which really was quite silly. Because, obviously, it's brilliant. ... | < | January 2008 | > | ||||
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