LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Friday 8th February 2008

Left to decompose for a decade

Just how is that possible How can someone die in this country and their corpse lay undiscovered for nearly a decade Thats the question Ive been asking myself ever since I came across this story in the Bristol Evening Post. Whilst Bristol City Council are refusing to speculate on why officials remained unaware of the body despite receiving several complaints from neighbours about a terrible stench coming from the first floor property, a council spokesman did confirm that there would now be an immediate internal review into the circumstances of the tenant. Bit late for that isn't it Bit like ...

123-reg - size isn't everything

The website host and domain name seller 123-reg tells us today that they are "the biggest web host in the UK". But are they the most reliable In my experience, they are certainly not good at actually answering questions to their support website, when you have queries about email delays. (That is to say, they reply but they don't answer the question!) Interestingly, they are part of Pipex, which

Latest local issues ...

Visited Pentland Avenue today to speak with residents and see the extent of flooding over parts of the footpath - I have raised the issue with the City Council. Last month, I wrote to Royal Mail about the 'missing' post box at the corner of Hazel Drive and Glamis Terrace. The Courier managed to get a commitment from Royal Mail that the postbox would be replaced (the original one had apparently rusted and was removed).Royal Mail has e-mailed me to say "... according to our system this posting box was removed from 16th January until 31st January but has now ...

Sending Jonny to Kings darling

Reading Meral Ece's letter today in Lib Dem News made me have a rare moment of insight. Yes, I thought, schemes, benefits and educational opportunities meant for poor kids really do miss their intended target and land on the doormats of middle class families instead of working class ones. The Assisted Places Scheme was intended to catch poor bright working class kids and send them to private school, indeed, my sister was offered one. However it was scrapped by Labour as a result of research coming to the conclusion that middle class parents were using it as an affordable way ...

Rowan Williams on Sharia: Right Again

People should stop pretending we live in the seventeenth century. This is one of the main things Rowan Williams has been saying recently, and it bears examination. Modern British society isn't dominated by religious ideology. Atheists and agnostics, like myself, are - except for some trivial vestiges - just as privileged as everyone else. Religion, on the other hand, is declining and falling to bits under the influence of modernity. A lot of liberal ideology dates from the seventeeth century, when there was clear centralised power - of the monarchy and the Church - which trampled over individual thought and ...

Who knew

The Northern Echo reported this morning on the General Teaching Council's reprimand for the former Head and Deputy Head of Eastbourne School, who falsified pupil attendance records in 2005. Quite why it has taken three years for this to come to light I can't imagine, but it is one more depressing chapter in the sorry history of Eastbourne School, which has consistently failed its pupils.

Letter to Lib Dem News

For the first time in a while, this week I have a letter in Liberal Democrat News. In was a response to Bob Russell MP's comment to the effec that we don't need three Tory parties in British politics. This is what I wrote: In political argument, there is an unofficial rule that the first person to mention the Nazis automatically loses. In the Liberal Democrats there should be an equivalent rule - that in any debate the first person to accuse a colleague of being a Tory loses. Bob Russell MP tells us that there is no need and ...

Million sigs vs Blair

News reaches us of a petition against Blair becoming President of the EU. Its organisers are hoping for a million signatures before June. I can’t put it any better than them: In violation of international law, Tony Blair committed his country to a war in Iraq that a large majority of European citizens [...]

Imagine the furore in Africa if a we had done this

Ghana, hosts of the African Nations Cup Football tournament (I refuse to call it the African Cup of nations as that is a direct translation from French), have made a massive gaffe, it appears, by producing posters and promotional material featuring South Africa's old apartheid era flag, which was scrapped in 1994. Can you imagine the fuss in Africa if we had done this by mistake.

Palacio Quemado by Edmundo Paz Soldán

I don't often do book reviews, but I will make an exception for this. Nepotism led me to it: I was in a bookshop in the south of Spain last weekend, visiting my in-laws and spotted a copy in their local bookshop. I recognised the author's surname. A General Paz Soldán was our landlord when we lived in Bolivia, more than a decade ago. The General was a fascinating man - the only person I have met to have met both Hitler and Mussolini (come to think of it, to have met either). He was a pilot in the war ...

House Points: Lose your job, lose your council house

My House Points column from today's Liberal Democrat News. I wrote this on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday the Guardian published the first instalment of a new weekly blog by Bridget Fox, the prospective Lib Dem candidate for Islington South and Finsbury. She wrote in stikingly similar terms. It was nice to see that a) we Lib Dems sometimes agree and b) that some of what I learnt about housing 20 years ago is still relevant. Ruler law What is council housing for For Liberals it exists because the private sector cannot fully satisfy the need for rented accommodation. Its hard ...

Where's God

I am at Belfast Aldergrove waiting for my flight home......sadly I had logged it in my brain as being at 5.40 when it was 7.40. Hey ho, it was ever thus! But recalling my journey over here yesterday. I was sat in a row with a mother and her small boy. I am not sure if it was his first time of flying but as we climbed above the clouds he turned to his mother and asked "Where's God". She didn't reply, so he asked "Is he invisible" "Yes" says she. I couldn't help reflecting on how the conversation may ...

Democracy

One law for one, one law for another Never a good idea. Are women allowed to be Archbishops yet

What Rowan Williams is proposing: Does it already exist

At the risk of being splattered by a pebbledash of bile and sputum, can I put a good word in for Dr Rowan Williams He is "shocked" at the reaction to his speech. I am not surprised. His speech was an extraordinarily dry academic tract. I managed to get about 60% of the way through it before I dozed off at the keyboard. Full marks to Alex Wilcock for reading and analysing it. I am still not

Heywood Road Traffic Calming

A number of local residents, and the Governors of St Margaret’s CoE Primary, have raised concerns about the visibility (particularly night time visibility) of the “priority restriction” (chicane) near Heywood Roa near Parrenthorn Road. I have raised this issue with the Traffic Management section of the Local Authority. It has now been confirmed that the Council are going to install some additional hazard markers on the build outs at the priority restriction which are highly retroreflective to give better visibility at night. Additional white hatch markings on the road are also going to be provided to help guide motorists through ...

I was there the last time Leeds United met the Cobblers

Posted by Chris: As Leeds United prepare to face the Cobblers at Sixfields tomorrow it is amazing to think that it is 42 years since the last time they visited Northamton Town. It also makes me feel old as I remember both games. Back in 1965/66 the Cobblers completed a remarkable climb to the top division and spent that season amongst the elite only to slip straight back down to the basement again in, I think, successive seasons. Why I remember certain things about the two games against Cobblers that season I don't know. I was a regular at games ...

Block reform to get reform

{I want a referendum screen shot} What annoys me most about IWantAReferendum.com is it’s completely anti-intellectual stance and the way it presents the Lisbon Treaty as the most significant EU treaty in terms of pooling sovereignty in history. Whether you are pro or anti a referendum, that is clearly nonsense. But I’ve banged on about the nonsense of all this in the past. What tickled me today was discovering this fantastic quote from Aromatherapist Michelle: The EU isn’t working. We need a vote for force politicians to reform it. I don’t know what she keeps in her aromatherapy bottles, but ...

Give the guy a break!

On this day in 1587 Mary Queen of Scots was executed for treason against Elizabeth I at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire. What, I wonder, do people have in mind for the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Williams is said to have told BBC Radio 4 on Thursday that he believed the adoption of some Sharia law in the UK seemed "unavoidable". For that one remark it appears its open season on Dr Williams. Is it right then that someone be 'ridiculed" and "lampooned" merely for voicing his or her opinion I don't think it is. Dr Williams, just like everyone else in ...

Lessons for an Archbishop in the Rule of Law

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. I have recently taken up The Road to Serfdom again, and happened in the last couple of days to be reading the chapter entitled Planning and the Rule of Law when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, made his comments about the adoption of Sharia in the UK being unavoidable Sharia is an emotive topic, tapping in to British fears of public beheadings and the ill-treatment of women. Consequently, much of the commentary around the subject has been rabid, suggesting that Dr. Williams is opening the gates to the barbarians. In fact, he is ...

Nick Clegg MP on social mobility and education

Latest video from LibDem leader Nick Clegg MP

Interesting discussion about Prime Minister's Question Time

It's on the Chicken Yoghurt blog and echoes some of my earlier views about PMQs.

Lib Dems come within touching distance of winning a first Council seat on Great Yarmouth Borough Council since 1998

Voters in the Hopton & Bradwell South by-election almost gave the Liberal Democrats their first representative on Yarmouth Borough Council since 1998 on Thursday, in what was formerly a safe Conservative seat. Aleck Buchanan, the Liberal Democrat candidate, was only 6.1% of the votes away from winning, with Labour in third place. The result was: Conservative 475 (37.3%; drop of 15.9% compared with 2007 result) Lib Dem 397 (31.2%; increase of 31.2% compared with 2007) Labour 254 (20%; -7.9%) UKIP 116 (9.1%; -9.8%) Green 29 (2.3%; +2.3%) Seat last fought: May 2007 Turnout: 25% The Lib Dems made a wise ...

This week I'ave mostly been ........

Wondering why Jeremy Browne MP is starting to sound more and more like the verbally challenged, country bumpkin, Jesse, in the BBC comedy, 'The Fast Show'. Jesse, you may recall, was the one who used to emerge sporadically from his shed and exclaim his strange diets, fashion tastes and experiments, usually in the form of ... this week I'ave mostly been .... Anyway, this week Jeremy has been mostly Promoting Sport. Here's what he had to said on the subject. I have a strong commitment to promoting sport at all levels. Like many people, I will be supporting the benefit ...

Results: Thursday 7.2.08

East Lindsey DC, Roughton Ind 383 (64.0; +20.6), Con 215 (36.0; -7.5), [LD (0.0; -13.2)]. Majority 168. Turnout 32.7%. Ind gain from Con. Last fought 2007. Great Yarmouth BC, Bradwell South and Hopton Con 475 (37.4; -15.8), LD Aleck Buchanan 397 (31.2; +31.2), Lab 254 (20.0; -7.9), UKIP 116 (9.1; -9.8), Green 29 (2.3; +2.3). Majority 78. Turnout not known. Con hold. Last fought 2007.

Party reform commission deadline today

A quick reminder that today is the last day for submissions to the party’s reform commission headed by Chris Bones, so please get any remaining submissions in as soon as possible. Contributions should be emailed to reform - reform.hat.libdems.org.uk.spam.com (this is spam bot hidden email address, replace .hat. with @ and remove .spam.com for the real [...]

How Much Does It Cost to Feed an MP

I am amused by stories expressing shock at the revelation that MPs can claim up to 400 pounds a month for food without producing receipts. In the not so distant past (1997-2001 Parliament), there were no limits on what could be claimed for food. They could claim whatever they liked against the Additional Costs Allowance and many did, simply putting in a claim for 1/12th of the annual sum each month. It was only as a result of additional scrutiny a few years back that the rules were tightened to give this guidance on food costs (which is intended only ...

Nick Clegg interview on ID cards

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown can wait almost a decade before holding a vote on compulsory identity cards, according to calculations made by the opposition Liberal Democrat party.

"Faceless Britain" campaign

Are you happy with dealing with Job Centres, Tax Credit or other public service queries over the phone Or would you prefer to sort out your problem face to face Why not browse the campaigning pages just launched by Julia Goldsworthy and Danny Alexander

Some Great US Election Analysis

The Real News has posted some great stuff on the US primaries, including a glut of post-Super Tuesday stuff the other day. Amongst the best of it is the following: Two part interview giving a rather pessimistic outlook for the Democrats: Trying to make sense of the votes: Two part interview on the specifics of the latino vote:

Chickens coming home to roost

The one feature of note in this year's London Mayoral elections is the way that the media have focussed on Ken Livingstone and the way that he has run the City over the last eight years. This article in the Guardian is a case in point. They are reporting a three hour scrutiny session by GLA members but there are other articles such as this one as well. Recent investigations are focusing on Lee Jasper: Yesterday assembly members unveiled an 800-page "summary document" including emails and letters that opponents of Livingstone claim proves that Jasper breached the rules. In two ...

The non consultation and a disappearing act

I had sent off my response to the consultation for the Clarence Street Surgery (see numerous previous postings!) in good time to the address that was on both the letter addressed to me personally as a Councillor from the PCT, and the same address on the public consultation letter. Imagine my shock when the letter was returned today saying "address unknown". I rang the phone number on the letter...

Rowan Williams In Detail: Deceitful, Demented or Naïve to the Point of Idiocy

Individual Muslims often complain that the press slavishly report the views of unelected, unaccountable community leaders elderly men out of touch with the real world and unrepresentative of most of the people they claim to speak for. Today, many members of the Church of England will be similarly embarrassed by their unelected, unaccountable community leader (though at least Muslim leaders dont get free seats in Parliament to boss the rest of us around). The Archbishop of Canterburys nonsense has also allowed the Labour Government to pose as defenders of the Rule of Law, when theyre the main threat to it. ...

New climate change campaign launched

Working with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, we have just launched a new campaign to get the Government to toughen up its climate change targets. At the moment, the Climate Change Bill proposes a statutory target of 60% cut in CO2 emissions by 2050. But most people - environment campaigners, scientists and even the Prime Minister - now seem to accept that 80% is probably the minimum needed to avoid some pretty catastrophic climate change. The Lib Dems are going to try to amend the Climate Change Bill to have an 80% target, but we will only succeed if we ...

Careful With That Axe Eugene

I have learnt the lesson never to use the word latest in an article that is not going to be published immediately. I write a fortnightly column for my local newspaper and submit the copy two days bef...

Another cracker from BBC Scotland's website

See for yourselves:

Clegg Spectating

The Spectator blog has been fascinated with Nick Clegg ever since his election. Fraser Nelson has consistently found that Clegg is saying the right thing on the big issue. Today Peter Hoskin is lauding Clegg: "Nick Clegg's certainly proving his worth as a newsmaker; something the Lib Dems have lacked in recent times. After his we-could-possibly-enter-a-coalition-with-the-Tories revelation in the FT, he has a very-readable piece in today's Times on "how to stop future funding scandals"." (Clegg has also been in the Sun and the Mirror this week, on the "surveillance Britain". Rather more surprisingly, I found him quoted in an ...

Another disappointing Labour budget

Wow, the time has flown by since I last blogged a week ago. In brief: Had a very nice weekend in Wales, then Monday night was Full Council. I was fairly busy at the meeting, seemed to be speaking on just about every item. It was the budget setting meeting - last year I was our finance spokesperson and made our main speech with our alternative budget proposals, this year my colleague Cllr Robert Gorrie has taken over that role and gave an excellent speech. I covered what Labour had and hadn't taken any notice of from our alternative proposals ...

Day 2589: Oh Bugger!

Sunday Mr Clogg has taken the Prime Monster to task over his obsession with transforming Great Britain into a POLICE STATE! From endlessly expensive I.D.iot cards to tracking our movements with talking CCTV; from fingerprinting schoolchildren to bugging the private meetings of our MPs: this government has made us the most SPIED on, least TRUSTED people in the Western World. Like the idea that the government could corrupt our coroners and control their courts, the notion of breaching the confidence of discussions between a constituent and their MP or a defendant and their lawyer undermines the very RULE of LAW ...

How to give head in advertising

{Car Giant Chris} Over at BAE’s favourite leftwing magazine, Richard Herring writes a blog post I’ve been meaning to do only puts it far more eloquently and humourously. One thing he doesn’t mention is that Chris’ “giant smile” on the advert doesn’t really look like a smile at all. Smug is one way of putting it. Another is to point out it looks rather similar to the expression one has when one has a mouthful of someone one does not know whether to spit out or swallow. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t get ...

Wendy still living in never never land

In Scots law we have a verdict called "Not Proven" which sits as an alternative to the usual Guilty or Not Guilty. Many people suggest that it simply means "We know that you did it but can't prove it". It could be argued that the Electoral Commission's decision that she is not to be reported to the Police over an illeagal donation (given by a resident of Jersey who is therefore non UK domiciled) to her Scottish Labour leadership campaign, in effect amounts to just that - Not Proven. I'm not going to go into the full ins and outs ...

Nick Cleggs op-ed on cleaning up politics

As if giving two major speeches today wasn’t enough, Nick also has an op-ed column in The Times, titled How to stop future funding scandals: The Derek Conway affair is not the first, nor likely to be the last, in a long line of political scandals over money. While such scandals have formed a steady trickle [...]

Poor hapless sap in the planning department

The Local Government Ombudsman has ruled that Bath and North East Somerset Council were guilty of injustice' and inconsistency over their handling of complaints made by Bath Preservation Trust in relation to a controversial waste recycling site. Following the verdict Bath and North East Somerset Council were ordered to pay Bath Preservation Trust the sum of £500 in compensation and instructed to conduct a review of its planning enforcement procedures. Following the ruling, a council spokesperson was heard to say; 'steps would be taken to ensure that this did not happen again'. How should we interpret that Does it mean ...

Nick Clegg unveils new mental health proposals (updated)

Nick’s making two major speeches today - on mental health (to the Guardian Public Services summit) and on the economy (in the City of London). The mental health speech has been released and you can read it in full over on the party website. The headline message from the speech is in the party’s news release: In [...]

House Rules for Parliament: Guest article on the Wardman Wire

As part of the Wardman Wire’s series of articles on MPs and Parliament, I’ve written an article on MPs staff and expenses, arguing that "the present system contains no inherent faults, but rather that the Derek Conway scandal proved how well the current system is coping with dishonest MPs, by providing an essentially political, rather than [...]

Monsters and road safety bring half term fun at the library

Redcar and Cleveland Council is organising half term activites for children, ranging from monster storytelling to road safety, in branch libraries across the Borough The Community Animateurs, a group of three storytellers, employed by Redcar and Cleveland College, and library staff will be sharing the workload of entertaining youngsters with tales from the five popular books of the Spiderwick Chronicles and organising craft activities to make masks, magical maps and trading cards. The Council's Road Safety Officer Roy Morris will also be bringing road safety mascot Spike to a series of fun sessions, with more stories and craft activities. All ...

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #50

Weve reached our half-century! Welcome, belatedly (technical problems, dear reader), to the 50th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (27th January 2nd Febrary), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. Dont forget reader nominations for places 8-12 [...]

The wisest fool in Christendom

Dr Rowan Williams comes across as an intelligent and thoughtful man. He rarely jumps in with both feet on an issue and clearly weighs up his words before delivering them. So it's quite surprising that he managed to come out with something so foolish as his comments on sharia law. It is a coherent opinion to say that sharia law should be introduced into the UK - coherent, but in my view wrong. What is not coherent is to say that only bits of sharia law should be introduced (who decides which bits), and that they should run alongside separate ...

Wolverhampton Council not interested in plastic recycling

Over-use of plastic packaging is a problem that manufacturers and retailers are failing to deal with leaving Wolverhampton council with the problem of what to do with up to 90 tonnes per week of plastics. Wolverhampton's Labour controlled council currently incinerates all plastic waste, doing little to reduce, re-use or recycle any of it.

What is a social enterprise Company

I have received several questions since yesterdays posting about a social enterprise company coming to Twerton as to what is a Social enterprise Company. I have done some digging around and Thanks to Business West I have attached a word document on frequently asked questions. I hope that you will find this useful. Social_Enterprise_FAQs.doc

Why I hate Mitt Romney

The man summed it up for me perfectly yesterday with his perverse logic to explain why he's dropped out of the race. Don't let people close down the discourse, especially on war. Here's the horrid man's quote: In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror

Massive by-election victory

I see this morning that there has been a crushing defeat for the Tories in Portsmouth. You can see the by-election result for Copnor here. A Lib Dem gain from the Tories, hard as it is to believe from the massive margin of vistory - you'd assume it had always been a safe Lib Dem ward. Actually, have just found this posting on Martin Tod's blog which gives the percentage increase too. See, Nick Clegg is making a difference already!

It takes two

I was at Eden Court Theatre last night to see acoustic duo Kathryn Williams and Neil MacColl. It was a great night and I can highly recommend seeing them if you get a chance. They've got a national tour coming up, so get along to see them if you can. Their concert in Inverness rounded off with an excellent version of the Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah". This has been recorded by so many artists that it is difficult to bring something new to it, but that's what Kathryn and Neill achieved. Terrific stuff.

New poll: Is the Archbishop of Canterbury right

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has sparked controversy with his lecture yesterday arguing that the adoption of some parts of Sharia law in the UK is unavoidable: it might be possible to think in terms of … a scheme in which individuals retain the liberty to choose the jurisdiction under which they will seek to [...]

A celebration of Belinda's life

The life of Belinda Eyre-Brook will be celebrated on 15th February in a church service followed by a 'big, fun party' as she wished. You can find full details on Edward Davey's website.

Tory broken promise on Prestwich deep clean is a disgrace

At the council meeting on Wednesday night I asked the Executive Member for Environment about the promised “deep-clean” of Prestwich Village. You may remember that this was promised for the end of 2007 at a meeting of the Local Area Partnership in the autumn. The promise came after growing frustration with the state of cleanliness on our local streets, and the enormous amounts of grime that have accumulated in the Precinct recently. The deep-clean didn’t happen, despite our continuing calls. A broken promise by the Tory Council. So we kept up the pressure and demanded that street-cleaning managers came to ...

A few words about the Archbishop of Canterbury

Oh dear. Sharia law at any level in the UK No chance. Disestablishment of the Church of England as the State religion Long overdue.

Full Council 6 February 2008

Wednesday night was the “full” meeting of Bury Council - this is the main formal meeting of all 51 councillors that happens about six times a year. Regrettably this meeting was not the best example of local democracy in action. There was almost no agenda - no recommendations of the Executive Committee, no motions to discuss, no Scrutiny Reports to look at. I thought for once we might all get home at a reasonable time, but I was sadly disappointed. Normally the Liberal Democrat group submit five or six questions to the Council administration at each meeting. This time the ...

Can science find a cure for conservativism

Nature always does contrive That every boy and every gal Thats born into the world alive Is either a little Liberal Or else a little Conservative. Iolanthe, W. S. Gilbert There was an interesting article in New Scientist last week about research suggesting a genetic basis for political opinion (You can’t read the full article You mean you don’t subscribe Tsk!). I have to be honest and admit that beyond the most banal level of accepting that certain genes no doubt contribute to an individuals’ personality to some extent, I’m not convinced. There are several problems with this article. The ...

Why we dont need women-only or BME-only shortlists

The statement that Parliament should reflect the society that it seeks to govern is a commonplace one, but that does not make it correct. As with all jobs, parliament should be filled with those best suited to legislate. This is not to say that parliament should be made up of lawyers (in fact, it would probably benefit from fewer lawyers, given the propensity of learned members) or other types of expert; we do not want a technocracy. But is should be made up of intelligent, talented individuals with an understanding both of what makes good law and what their constituents ...

Does Rowan Williams have any more idea of what hes going on about than I do

It isn’t every day that a single line blog post elicits quite so many responses - clearly Rowan Williams has touched on a raw nerve. I’ve listened to his WATO interview and I’ve skimmed through his speech (pdf). I’m still struggling to get my head around what exactly he’s going on about. On the one hand, much of what he’s saying seems to be what we have already. Civil law is a fairly flexible beast and contains within it the scope for individuals dealing with it however they might like. Where there are restrictions to that, there is certainly a ...

Yes HE can!

I don’t have a vote in it but if I did i would be voting for Barack Obama. Electorally he would make a better bet that Hillary - people who’d vote for her would vote for Obama - not all people who’d vote for Obama would vote for Hillary as Obama is attracting support from a [...]

US Elections - environmental outlook

With Super Tuesday over, and candidates dropping out, I thought I'd take a look at what the US presidential elections promise for climate change. Mitt Romney has dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination, leaving three candidates for each party: Hilary Clinton, Barak Obama and Mike Gravel for the Democrats, and John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul for the Republicans. CNN have a good election web site, and summarise the candidates environmental policies. I've not had time to look a lot deeper than that, but these are my conclusions: Romney was second in the Republican race, so ...

Another stunning Hampshire by-election victory - this time in Portsmouth

Following the Lib Dem by-election victories in Wickham, Whitchurch, Romsey and Baughurst, another great result in Copnor, Portsmouth earlier this evening with a 28.5% swing from Conservative to Lib Dem. Party/Candidate Votes % vs 2007 Liberal Democrats (Andy Fraser) 1,835 55.8% +38.4% Conservative 904 27.5% -18.6% Labour 349 10.6% -8.2% English Democrats 117 3.6% -13.6% UKIP 57 1.7% +1.7% Independent 28 0.9% +0.9% Swing from Con to LD 28.5% A very satisfying place to spend the afternoon and a fabulous result for Andy Fraser, Darren Sanders, Gerald Vernon-Jackson and the rest of the local team. Post-note: now corrected ...

Day 2588: British Bare-ways

Saturday: Oh, all right, they are German. Why is it that NUDISM is so intrinsically HILARIOUS And at the same time so FRIGHTENING that it is against the law! Even so, there has got to be SOMETHING wrong with the phrase "flying as god intended".

Day 2587: Good Eiggs; Rotten Egg

Friday: I am VERY impressed with the news from the good little Isle of Eigg that not only are they now fully supplied with electrical energy for the first time and ALL of it comes from their very own renewable sources! I am considerably NOT impressed though by the Internet bank Egg who have apparently taken the UNILATERAL decision to cancel the credit cards of one-hundred and sixty-one thousand people; that is more than one in fifteen of their customers. The Eigg scheme is a combination of windmill and hydro-electric and solar power providing more than 95% of their needs, ...

Friday 8th February 2008

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